'Thought' "Speaking" {On the Phone}
Qrow opened his eyes to see he was in a hospital room, as he looked around, he saw a nurse checking his vitals.
"Hey, can you tell me where I am?" Qrow asked, feeling like shit.
"You're at the Medical ward in Atlas," the nurse answered. "I let the general and the other two know that you've woken up."
"Thanks." Qrow said as the women left. "Wait, other two?" The next moment Raven walked in with an annoyed look on her face, Qrow then sat up as best he could. "Raven? What are you doing here?"
"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm the one that gave you blood." Raven said, pointing to the blood bag connected to Qrow. Qrow looked somewhat confused looking between Raven and the blood bag. "They used most of their blood reserves saving the old man."
"So, he survived." Qrow sighed, laying back down.
"Yeah," Raven said, taking a seat on an empty chair. "You spared him."
"At first I was going to kill him so he wouldn't ever come after them again," Qrow explained, staring up at the ceiling. "But then I heard Summers' voice tell me how she didn't want more blood to be painted onto our hands."
Raven chuckled then said, "She really changed us for good."
"Yeah, but I don't hate that." Qrow claimed.
"You and me both." Raven agreed. "I fell in love, and I've got a daughter that wants me to be in her life. Speaking of which, did you…?"
"Don't worry, I've done what I need to." Qrow quickly said, knowing what Raven was going to ask." Raven nodded her head in understanding.
The door to the room soon opened again and Ironwood stepped in.
"Sorry Raven but do you mind if I speak to Qrow alone?" Ironwood asked.
"It's fine I need to get back to Tai anyway." Raven said, getting up. "Told him once the idiot woke, I'd come back and tell him what happened." Raven then walked to the door but stopped. "Oh, right before I forget, Yang & Ruby said that if you leave them they would never forgive you."
"Don't worry, something tells me I'm going to be benched for a while as I heal." Qrow said moving the bed so he could step properly. Raven waved, then left the two men alone. "Ok Ironwood let me have it."
"Do you realize how reckless that was?" Ironwood growled.
"I do, but I won't regret my actions." Qrow said back. "Falcon was my fight not yours, and I knew you had enough problems to handle."
"As true as they might be, why didn't you at least take your partner with you?" Ironwood questioned.
"That's something I'd like to know as well." A voice questioned.
Both men looked at the door to see Aqua waiting there with a smirk on her face but an air about her that said I may look happy but I'm not. Qrow then took notice of a small girl that looked to be at least six years old with half pink hair and half brown hair that had her bangs covering her eyes, holding on to Aqua's cloth.
"I tell you to be careful and you end up in a hospital with me needing to call Raven so that they can get you blood." Aqua said coming into the room. "Tai I could understand he was attacked first, but you were the one that went out so I thought you would have a plan. But you just went in sword draw didn't." When Qrow remained silent Aqua knew she was right. "Honestly it's like your family is prone to getting injured."
"Well, I had to stop that guy, or he'd go for the kids again." Qrow explained. "Speaking of which, who's the kid holding onto you?"
"I took your advice and followed the feeling I was getting and found her hiding in an alley." Aqua answered. "She was running away from some men that didn't seem to be her parents. When I got her back to the hotel and got her cleaned up, she answered a few questions, but she doesn't want to leave my side." Ironwood looked at the girl then back to Aqua and listened for any information that might be important for him to know. "She told me her name is Neapolitan."
"Um, that's." Qrow started to question.
"Those men called her that because of her hair." Aqua answered. "I chose to call her Neo, she seems to like that name better." the little girl smiled, liking the way Aqua said her name.
"So you found another lost soul." Qrow said smugly. "I'm starting to think your semblance could be finding lost children and adopting them."
"Haha, very funny." Aqua said calmly. "True as that might sound it's the right thing to do, everyone deserves a nice house to call their own."
"You and I can both agree on that." Qrow agreed, thinking about team STRQ and the kids along with Winter."
"Sorry to interrupt this good atmosphere, but I need to talk to both of you about something important." Ironwood said then looked down at Neo. Aqua sighed then walked over to the door and got close to eye level with Neo.
"Neo, I need you to wait outside for me okay," Aqua said, seeing Neo start to shake out of fear. "Don't worry I'm not going anywhere, but I need to have a conversation with the general," Aqua then handed Neo her wayfinder. "This is a very preaches object from my homeland. Keep it safe." Neo nodded her head walking outside the room holding the blue wayfinder. "Okay, what did you want to talk about?"
"I need answers." Ironwood said plainly. "I had Jacques Schnee in my office asking about Ms. Eraqus. So, I got a little interested to see what he might be looking for."
"That man is convinced that his wife's first-born child is mine." Qrow said, waving his hand. "He probably was looking into Waterfall her because he was hoping to find out if he could use her in some way or another."
Ironwood immediately started to laugh loudly and harder than ever. Once the man was done, he whipped a tear away and said, "I'm sorry Qrow but the thought of you having some secret child is priceless." Aqua couldn't help but look away knowing that Qrow in fact did have a child. "Any way, sorry but I looked in your file Ms. Eraqus." Aqua's attention was immediately caught.
'Wait, I don't need to worry.' Aqua thought to herself looking towards Ironwood with her hands behind her back trying to keep her cool. 'Ozpin and Qrow assured me that records they made would be fool proof to anyone and everyone. There's no way he knows about me or the other worlds.'
"I saw that you were raised outside the kingdoms and was wondering if you were having any difficulties adjusting to life here." Ironwood said.
"Oh, um, no I'm fine TaiYang and his family have been a really big help." Aqua said.
"I see, so he's doing better?" Ironwood questioned.
"Raven's keeping him in check for the most part til Summer comes back." Qrow answered. "Seems she can still make a portal to her but the dame thing is unstable. Raven thinks she must be too far away and with Waterfall here, she thinks she might be outside the kingdom trying to get back to us." Ironwood opened his mouth to suggest something, "No, this is our family we'll be the ones to do it, besides you have your own thing you need to be doing." nodded his head in understanding.
Just then Aqua looked towards the door getting a feeling she should check on Neo and opened the door not seeing her anywhere.
"Um, excuse me, there was a little girl at the door to this room earlier." Aqua said to a nurse passing by.
"Oh yes her father came to pick her up." the nurse said as she walked away.
Aqua looked back at the men scared.
"I thought you found her in an alleyway running from some guys?" Qrow questioned.
"I did." Aqua said back then ran off. She quickly made her way out the building. "Neo! Neo! Where are you!" Just then Aqua felt her aura spike and saw two lines appear in front of her connected to her chest. She blinked a few times and the strings were gone. "What was," Aqua then thought about finding Neo again and the strings appeared again. She touched one that was yellow and heard Yang's voice.
"Hey mom can you tell me a story of when you were at the academy with Uncle Qrow?"
Aqua took her hand away then touched the other string.
"No! No, please don't take me to him!"
"Neo?!" Aqua said, taking hold of the string then ran following it to the end. She soon came to the tram station to see the string was going towards the city below. "I'm coming, Neo, don't you worry."
"Alright, thank you." Ironwood said getting off the phone.
"So?" Qrow questioned.
"She just by passed the trams and ran down the line like it was normal." Ironwood said. "How is it, she knows where she's going? she's never been to Atlas before."
"Maybe she does know where she's going." Qrow stated.
"What?" Ironwood questioned.
"I was just making a joke before but what if her semblance is what's guiding her right now." Qrow suggested. "I would explain how she's moving like she knows where Neo is."
Aqua jumped off the cable and ran down the street till she came to the spot she found Neo.
"Hold still you little brat or…" the man complained
"Or you'll do what." Aqua questioned having summoned her keyblade.
"Look here missy," one of the men said, taking a gun out. "Just walk away and nobody gets hurt."
Aqua spun her keyblade around then shouted, "Blizzaga!" The next moment the two men's legs were frozen. "Don't worry the ice should melt by the time the authorities get here." Aqua then walked over to one of them and picked Neo up. "Now then little missy you're coming home with me." Neo held on tightly to Aqua as they made, their way to the trams.
Aqua took Neo back to the hotel and got her into bed then saw she was still holding her Wayfinder. She softly got it out of Neo's fingers and placed it on the nightstand. Next to the flask she took from Qrow since he was in a hospital.
"I wonder if I can still do it." Aqua said, closing her eyes. Once she opened then again, she saw the strings, but only one this time. "Weird, I saw a second string the last time. Is it because she's already close to me? And what's the condition in getting a string? I've got one for Yang, but Emerald & Ruby don't have one." Aqua stopped her semblance then saw the flask and picked it up. Aqua then tried again and saw another string appear, this one unlike the yellow one was black. The moment Aqua touched it she saw a sleeping Qrow in a hospital bed. "Okay, so I need to have something of theirs in order to use me semblance, no that can't be it. I don't have anything of Yang's on me." Aqua then remembered she gave Yang a Wayfinder for her birthday and Neo was holding her wayfinder when she was looking for her. Aqua smiled then put the flask on the table away from Neo. "I better get to sleep too." Aqua closed the bathroom door.
Neo's dream
Neo opened her eyes to see she was in the street then saw Aqua walking past and tried to run after her only for someone to stop her.
"Now where do you think you're going, brat." a man's voice said.
'No, No, NO!' Neo thought, reaching her other hand out prying for Aqua to see her and come for her.
"Stop acting like anyone cares about you." the man said, forcing her to follow him. "You'll never be able to get away from me, Ice cream."
"Aqua!" Neo shouted while sitting up as tears rolled down her cheek.
Aqua ran out of the bathroom holding a towel with one hand and her Keyblade with her other hand, still soaking wet from her shower shouting, "What's wrong, who's hurt you." Neo immediately ran to Aqua hugging her leg crying. Aqua un-summoned her Keyblade then picked up Neo. "It's okay Neo, I'm right here." Aqua then smiled and carried Neo to the bathroom. "Come on, a little lady needs a bath."
Once Neo was cleaned and got a change of clothes Aqua stripped the bed and gave the bellman the old sheets while taking the new ones.
"Sorry." Neo whined holding her new pajamas.
"Don't be," Aqua said, making the bed. "We all have our accidents, it's all about growing up." Neo nodded her head. Aqua then laid down with Neo in her arms. "Now rest your head and don't worry I'll be right here when you wake up. Promise."
"Okay." Neo said with a yawn as she closed her eyes, handing on to Aqua's shirt.
When morning came, Aqua tried to sit up but saw that Neo was holding her shirt collar tightly while sucking her thumb.
"Such a cute little thing." Aqua said, picking Neo up. "She's still a little underweight for her age, but I'm sure we can fix that in time."
Neo soon opened her eyes feeling that she was being carried.
"Good you up," Aqua said, putting Neo down at the table. "Why don't we get something in your belly, then see if Qrow can be released yet."
"Okay." Neo said as Aqua placed a bowl of cereal in front of her. After they were done eating, they changed their clothes with Aqua wearing her combat outfit with Neo now wearing a white jacket with black pants. As they made their way to the hospital, they saw the General was in Qrow's room again. Neo's grip tightens somewhat. "It's okay this time you're not leaving my sight."
"I'm just saying Ozpin could be a little more…" Ironwood started.
"Am Interrupting something." Aqua asked, walking into the room.
"No, just Jimmy being a bit over cautious." Qrow growled. "Look we'll talk later or better yet you can call Ozpin yourself instead of using me as a messenger."
"Fine, but my point stands." Ironwood said leaving the room.
Aqua had Neo take a seat in the chair while she got a glass of water asking, "What was that about?"
"Jimmy thinks we need to be more aggressive in teaching the next generation." Qrow answered. "You see in Atlas the school is connected to the military, and they lean more in teaching the kids combat so that they can fight in a war."
"That seems a little…" Aqua started.
"Overkill." Qrow finished.
Aqua nodded her head in agreement as she gave Neo the water then said, "What about the other schools."
"The other three mainly teach general studies along with combat plus a few extra things considering what that regain deals with on a daily basis." Qrow answered. "Also, can I have my flask back?"
"No." Aqua immediately said. "The doctor said no alcohol until you're outside, besides you told Ruby you would learn to control it since Tai was doing better."
Sighed then said, "Fine, but I still want the flask back. It was a gift from Raven after the last one was used to start a fire."
"Once you're released from this place I'll give it back." Aqua said, picking Neo up then placing her on her lap. "Also, I found my semblance."
"Oh really, that's how you found the kid?" Qrow questioned.
Aqua chuckled then "Yes, it is. Seems I am able to find those I have a connection with."
"Sort of how Raven needs a bond to make a portal to someone else." Qrow suggested.
"Kind of." Aqua agreed. "But I need an object from them to do it and it has to mean something to them, but it seems I can see where Yang is just fine even though I don't have an object from her, so I had these made." Aqua then brought out a Wayfinders that had pink and brown glass with the outline be white and a centerpiece that looked like an ice cream cone. "Made it for Neo and the moment she holds it I can find her as well."
Qrow laughed for a bit then said, "So your human wayfinder then."
"Guess I am." Aqua said, tying the wayfinder around Neo's neck. "So, when are they letting you out of here?"
"Got another day of rest then I can leave but they said I've got to take it easy for a bit over the wounds could reopen even with my aura healing me. Dame poison."
"Still your own fault for being reckless." Aqua claimed. "Also, what are they going to do about him?"
"Since the kingdom Mistral has a warrant out for his arrest, Atlas has been ordered to hand him over." Qrow explained, rolling his eyes.
"I'm guessing Atlas wants to deal with him." Aqua guessed by the way Qrow was acting.
"Yep." Qrow said popping the p. "Atlas has this mindset that since they are more advanced than the other kingdoms, they need to constantly show others that they have more power than the rest." Aqua easily rolled her eyes now understanding Raven's problems in coming here.
"I just know that at some point it's going to bite them in the butt big time." Aqua said, looking at the door.
"Yeah, it is, and I hope when it does the rest of the world doesn't take damage along with them." Qrow said seeing the girl smile at him.
Once Qrow was healed enough for the doctors to let him leave, they got ready to go back to patch. Ironwood tried to assure Falcon would be better tailed at Atlas but Qrow used the fact that he was his father and wanted the trial to be on their home turf. Ironwood also tried to get Neo into a program that would find her a good home and family but Aqua stood firm and got Neo to become her new second daughter.
"I'm sure Emerald is going to love you." Aqua said, placing the last of her things in her bag.
"Emerald?" Neo questioned.
"Your sister Neo." Aqua answered. "Like you I adopted her wanting her to have a family. You're both the same age but she's older than you by a mouth."
"Will she like me?" Neo asked as her feet dangled off the side of the bed.
"Of course she will." Aqua said, rubbing her head. "I'm sorry but do mind if I cut this bang of yours. The world is a lot better to look at when you can see it clearly." Neo shook a bit then nodded her head. "Okay hold still." Aqua picked up a pair of scissors and cut a few strands of hair then brushed Neo's hair to the side. "Now open your eyes."
Neo opened her eyes to see a mirror in front of her, seeing her long hair now in a ponytail with her brown and pink eyes visible.
"You don't need to be ashamed of Neo." Aqua said, putting the mirror away. "You're an adorable little girl and when you get older, you'll be a beautiful woman." Neo began to cry then hugged Aqua tightly. "It's okay Neo, I've got you and I promise if you let me, I will be there for you always."
"Okay." Neo said as they made their way to the platform to go home.