[RWBY] The Great Temporal Step-Sibling War!

[FinalFormer]

Cross-posted From the SpaceBattles Thread

Glimpses Into Another Timeline: Dammit
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Beacon Academy, Vale. 4 Weeks Before the Fall of Beacon.

This should've been easy. And yet, it wasn't.

"I... I know it's a bit early..."

This wasn't supposed to happen.

"But... I know in my heart that what I feel for you is real..."

She wasn't supposed to let this... this farce go on any further. She couldn't!

"Cinder Fall. I love you."

Cinder Fall couldn't let that idiot Jaune Arc steal her heart.

She furiously tossed and turned in her bed out of frustration. So much that she couldn't hear Mercury complain about her making too much noise.

The plan was simple. It was always supposed to be simple.

After she had accidentally seduced the blonde buffoon, Cinder was advised by that nuisance Neopolitan that latching onto his arm could help them. She knew what the girl was suggesting: Seduce the idiot. Get information on The Invincible Girl, the red one, and the bimbo by inserting herself into his love life. Wrapping him around her finger and get him to talk his big dumb, luscio-- ugly lips about what makes his friends tick.

As much as it disgusted her to debase herself like that, Cinder played along. A flirtatious line here. A hand feeling up his muscles there. It was easy enough.

At first.

The plan had gotten complicated.

It all started with a kiss.

A damned kiss.

After The Breach, she, in a brief moment of weakness, had been worried for his well-being. So much so that upon seeing that he was safe from the invading Grimm, Cinder had kissed him.

She didn't know what had come over her. What compled her to kiss him like a lost lover.

From then on, the remarks from Mercury had gotten worse. He had the nerve to suggest that Arc had some kind of hold on Cinder's heart. That if Arc had been more of a 'badass' (His words), Cinder would dragged him to the nearest love motel.

But it somehow got even worse when Arc had asked her to go on a 'real' date with him.

"Ooooh~. Look at you getting all dolled up for your man~." Mercury mocked. He shared a smug grin with that pipsqueak Neo.

"Shut up, Merc!", Shouted Emerald. She wouldn't let any insult befall her mistress. "Maybe if you tried to schmooze up with Xiao-Long or something, Cinder wouldn't have to throw away her dignity!!"
"That's enough!", Cinder snapped at the two of them. Neo had quickly put her attention on her scroll, not caring about whatever threats Cinder would make. "As much as I don't like this, it's necessary. The more I indulge in Arc's little fantasy of our 'relationship', the more useful information we can use to bring this kingdom to its knees."
"Oh, I get that," Mercury said, leaning back into his bed. "But I think you need to remember where the line is drawn. If you get too close to Arc, this whole operation will be a bust."
"How dare you suggest that!", Emerald shrieked. "Cinder would never let that happen! She has that hick right where she wants him! Right, Cinder?"

If only she had known.

He had taken her to some park in the city. Apparently, it had some cultural significance that was probably tied to that skinwalker Ozpin, no doubt. The weather was also terrible that day. It was too hot. She kept suggesting they just go to a restaurant instead of some street festival but Arc making those ador-- stupid eyes!

They ended up staying in the park. They played a few games. Ate some rather fattening festival foods. He even won her a stuffed animal. A brown rabbit that he stupidly named 'Rumi'.

They walked around the city for awhile until they ended up at the pier. The sun was beginning to set. She knew what was happening. The fool was going to confess his feelings for her. All apart of the plan.

And yet... it didn't feel right.

"I... I know it's a bit early..." Arc stammered. She was taking in every detail of him but not in the way she used to. His jawline. His neatly combed hair. His brilliant blue eyes. She wasn't looking at him as a mark. But as a man.

"But... I know in my heart that what I feel for you is real..." He continued. Why? Why was she doing this? She never did this before! Why now!? And just what did he mean by that!? What was he--

"Cinder Fall. I love you."

Three words.

Those three words were all it took to break the walls of Cinder Fall.

She kissed him, her body acting on its own accord.

"I love you, too." She said, her heart speaking for her.

She couldn't say anything to Mercury or Emerald when she returned to their dorm. She couldn't trust her own words. She didn't even have the heart to indulge in Emerald's ego-stroking praises, simply wanting to be left alone for the rest of the night.

Because deep down, she knew it.

She meant every word she said.

She was in love with Jaune Arc.

Cinder felt the tears go down her cheeks. Try as she might, she couldn't snuff out the embers of love that had sparked in her heart. It yearned for him. His laugh. His eyes. His love. She wanted it all.

But she knew she couldn't.

Cinder belonged to The Queen. There was no happy ending for her. Only a throne. A lonely throne made from the bodies The Queen's enemies. And among them was the man she loved.

And as she silently wept, she simply let out one word;

"Dammit"

----------------------------------------
A little on the short side but I really enjoyed writing this one. Having Cinder realize her feelings for Jaune and overcoming Salem's hold on her will always be my favorite aspect of this timeline.

 

[FinalFormer]

Cross-posted From the SpaceBattles Thread

Glimpses Into Another Timeline: First Date

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Vytal Festival Grounds, Vale. 6 Weeks Before the Fall of Beacon.

"I think you should go. He seems like a great guy!"

"Yeah, May! You're worrying over nothing!"

"If he tries to pull any funny business, we'll kick his ass!"

Those were the.... 'inspiring' words that May Zedong heard from her team when she asked for advice about her date with Jaune Arc. She knew it was a longshot, but she still felt like they had some kind of advice to give her. Roy and Brawnz had been on dates before! Couldn't they say something other than 'Wear something pretty'!?

'I mean... technically they're right." May thought, looking at her attire. She was wearing a white sundress that was given to her by Beacon's resident fashionista Coco Adel. The third-year had heard about her outing with the knight (How she found out in the first place was beyond her) and decided she needed to wear something that would make him "worship her like a goddess'.

And while it did look pretty, the white contrasting against her skin, it put too much emphasis on her... 'assets'.

"Don't you think this is a bit much!?" May whined. She felt too exposed in the sundress. She desperately wanted to crawl back into her beloved baggy hoodie (Which Coco had rudely thrown on the ground!).

"Listen," Coco adjusted her sunglasses, eyes narrowing towards May's. "I know Arc, ok? The guy's as dumb as rock when it comes to girls, so nothing short of an all-out assault is gonna get him to fall head over heels for you."

"You're making it sound like I'm going to war!" May argued.

"I've got news for you Mayday! It is war. And you need to use every advantage you have!" Coco readjusted her sunglasses, a wicked grin spread across her face.

May sighed. She still couldn't believe she let Coco get away with this. At least she stopped Coco from messing with her hair.

"HEY!" May seized up. That was his voice. Jaune Arc was here.

She saw him approaching and...

Wow.

He was... he was really handsome. His blonde hair looked like it shimmered like the sun. His aura was so beautiful. His smile was so bright--

"--nd I kinda lost for sec-- Uh, May? You ok?" Jaune asked.

May blushed. She had been so enamored with Jaune that she spaced out... again... for the 3rd time since they met.

"W-what w-were you saying?" May stuttered.

"I saying I hope I didn't make you wait too long." Jaune replied. May frantically tried to remember the advice Coco told her.

"N-no. You didn't! Not at all!," She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. (That was supposed to show interest, right?) Now she has to give him a compliment. "I like your... shoes."

Dammit! She should've said shirt!

"Oh, thanks! My sister got them for me!," Jaune beamed. They were pretty sturdy for a pair of sneakers. "I really like your dre--"

May noticed Jaune's pause. Her sniper's eye had lined Jaune's eyeline towards her... assets. She saw his jaw hesitantly dropping. He... He thought she was attractive?

'Holy crap! She was right!?' May thought. She might actually have to apologize to Coco for doubting her.

Jaune then coughed, snapping the two out of their thoughts.

"S-so. What do you want to do first?" Jaune asked, hoping May didn't think he was being a creep.

"W-well," May stuttered (Again). "L-let's just walk around for awhile? If we see any stalls that look fun, then we'll check it out."

"Sounds like a plan." Jaune smiled.

And so they did just that. Jaune and May walked all around the festival, playing games like 'Pin The Tail On The Beowolf' and eating very unhealthy festival food.

At first, May had thought her timid and shy demeanor would ruin their date. But to her surprise, Jaune had been accommodating to her. He took quick notice to how she reacted when they went to a game or ride that too many people. And if there was too big a crowd at one food vendor, Jaune would suggest they go to another one. All to make sure she was having fun.

He was such a gentleman.

They were having so much fun that she had forgotten her fears. So much fun that she forgot her insecurities.

Once it got late, he walked her back to the dorms for the students of Shade. As they walked, that part of herself, the one that kicked her around and made her feel insecure, crept up.

"So, this is it. Right?" Jaune said. He had lead May back to her dorm room.

"S-sorry." May apologized. Her head lowered.

"Huh? For what?" Jaune tilted his head.

"W-well... you had to drag me around everywhere," She felt guilty about it. The voice was getting louder. "A-and we really couldn't enjoy the festival because I was getting anxious. If y--"

"May, it's ok," Jaune cut her off. He could tell where this was going. " You have no reason to blame yourself. I had fun. You had fun. That's all that should matter right now. Just because you're a little shy doesn't mean you can't have fun."

"But--"

"And I hope we get to have fun again."

May stood there, stunned. He... he really liked her.

*Smooch*
Her body moved before she realized it. She moved close and kissed Jaune. He tensed up, but slowly wrapped his hands around her waist. The kiss went on for ages. But May's heart didn't care. She wanted him to know she liked him in a way that her words couldn't.

Once the kiss ended, May pressed her head against his chest. She couldn't look at him. If she did, her brain might short-circuit.

"S-s-so, I'll see you tomorrow?" She stuttered. Jaune could only nod in response. She turned to her open her room's door... only for it to fly open with extreme force

"ARC!" Brawnz shouted, fury burning in his voice. Roy and Nolan were holding him back. "IF YOU KNOCKED UP MAY, I SWEAR TO THE GODS YOU'RE DEAD MEAT, MAN! YOU HEAR ME!!! DEAD MEAT!!!"

If May's face wasn't already red, then it was now. That (Wonderful, amazing) kiss had May so dazed, she completely forgot her teammates were staying in the dorm to have a lazy Saturday.

"No, wait that's not--" But it was too late.

"He did what!?"

"That guy? Seriously?"

"My man!"

The reactions from the other visitor students from Shade had caused May's brain to fry. They were actually celebrating!?

Overwhlemed by embarrassment, May fainted. She fell right into Jaune's (Strong) arms. Before she lost consciousness, she heard her teammates preparing to attack Jaune. She was told later that Jaune had successfully taken all of them down.

Had she seen it for herself, May would be sure that her heart would skip a beat.

--------------------------------------------

So, Andrew gave me a few prompts and I really wanted to do a first date story. So why not do it with the girl with many anxieties? Also, I just noticed that both my previous side story and this side story are titled after Blink-182 songs. So that's neat. Hope you enjoy.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Vale

Six Years after Salem's Defeat

- - -

It was the middle of the night when the cries knocked Jaune and Arslan out of slumber. Just as they had for most of the week. Jaune groaned, and slowly pushed himself out of bed. Arslan stirred next to him, mumbling.

"I-I can do it-" Arslan tried, but Jaune shook his head.

"I've got it," he whispered. He kissed her cheek. He got up, pulled on a shirt, and walked out of the bedroom. He headed over to the nursery, where the cries continued. He walked in, his keen senses letting him navigate through the darkness. He found his daughter easily enough-She was in her crib, crying and squirming. He gently picked her up, holding her in his arms.

"Shhh, shhh," Jaune murmured, rocking her, "Quiet Petra, it's okay, it's okay..."

He carried his daughter downstairs, Petra's wails quieter but still persisting. He went to the kitchen, taking some milk out of the fridge. He warmed it up, and while that was happening, he stepped out onto the porch.

The first fingers of sunlight were stretching out across the sky, turned purple and orange by the mountains. The Radian Valley was still mostly in shadow but the lights of the nearby villages were still glowing, like stars at night. Jaune sighed softly. The milk machine beeped, and he turned back. Arslan was already at the machine, pulling the bottle out. Jaune shook his head with a sigh.

"You could have just slept," he said, "You had the baby."

"And I'm fine," Arslan said, handing the bottle to Jaune. Jaune took it and held the bottle to Petra's lips. She suckled, slowly calming down into content silence. Arslan smiles and brushes her hand over Petra's smooth head.

Jaune smiled. They went out to the porch together, sitting down on the warm wood. Arslan scooted up against his side, as Petra guzzled her milk. Arslan wrapped an arm around her wait and rested her head on his shoulder. Jaune shuffled a bit, laying his artificial leg on the porch with a soft sigh.

"How is the leg?" Arslan asked quietly. Jaune snorted.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Are you sure?"

Jaune gave her a weary look.

"Ars... It's fine," Jaune said softly, "I mean, you're the one who carried and birthed her. Why are you worrying over me?"

"Because you worry over me," Arslan shot back. "I believe that is what marriage entails, does it not?"

"It is," Jaune sighed, "So why are we arguing?"

"I wasn't aware we were arguing," Arslan deadpanned. Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Neither was I," he chuckled. Arslan sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder, growling low in her throat.

"Rrrr... You take on so much," she muttered, "The wife should do her part."

"We both do our part," Jaune countered. "Besides... You should worry about yourself. Not my leg."

Arslan sucked in a deep breath and winced quietly.

"You read me too well sometimes," Arslan murmured. Jaune nuzzled her back as Petra snoozed in his arms.

"That's marriage," he said softly. Arslan sighed. Jaune sighed back.

"... Tablebreaker, I pray: Let my wife forgive herself for something she had no control over," Jaune said, "and let her relax from time to time?"

Arslan huffed and snuggled against him.

"Emperor Above, please make my husband realize I do it because I love him so much, and he's even more stubborn than me?"

"Impossible," Jaune countered, "Nobody's as stubborn as you."

Arslan snickered.

"And yet you won't give up. I believe you are more stubborn, my dear husband."

"Hmph," Jaune mumbled, "I thought you liked stubborn men."

"I do, but too much of anything is never a good thing," Arslan giggled. "Lord Aslan, let my husband realize he is not being funny."

"You laughed. I'm still funny."

"It was out of exasperation," Arslan defended herself, leaning in and closing her eyes.

"I could tickle you," Jaune suggested.

"Not when she just got to sleep," Arslan mumbled.

Jaune sighed, his smile impossible to remove.

He looks out at the sunrise, his daughter and his wife snoozing against him. He watches the golden orb rise, bathing the valley in color. He leaned in and kissed the top of Arslan's head, and then Petra's.

"Tablebreaker... Thank you for everything," he murmured.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Vale

Two Months After the end of the Vytal Festival

- - -

The Arc farmhouse was full of a hundred little sounds that put Emerald on edge. All unknown, all potentially threatening, save for Jaune's breathing in the bed they shared. She stood up silently, pulled on one of the Arc's provided robes, and stepped out as quietly as she could into the hallway beyond.

The Arc farmhouse was... Warm. From the greens and blues of the wallpaper to the dark red of the floors. The endless pictures on the walls, tapestries from ancient times and photos from now. She walked past them silently, staring almost blankly ahead.

It was alien. Strange. So many signs of sincerity, a sincerity she could not believe in.

It was overwhelming, all of it. Too overwhelming-

"Hello Emerald."

She froze. She turned and looked behind her. Isabel Arc was standing there, her face grim. Emerald sucked in a breath.

"Hello Doctor Arc," she managed. The older woman held an old fashioned lantern, its faint light shining off the walls and windows and picture frames.

"Can't sleep?" Isabel asked. Emerald remained silent and unreadable. Which didn't seem to matter to Isabel, who nodded. "I see."

"What?" Emerald asked, trying not to snap but she was so uneasy. Isabel hummed.

"You know, when I can't sleep, there's a place I go to in the woods over there," she said, gesturing to a small grove out the window. "Would you like to come with me?"

Is that... Is that an order? Emerald wondered, trying to dissect the woman's tone and body language. It was so controlled she couldn't get anything from it.

"... Okay," Emerald said softly. She was at a disadvantage... But she was used to it.

"Good," Isabel smiled. She turned and headed downstairs. Emerald followed silently.

They went out into the night, the chill of winter in the air but not overwhelmingly so. There hadn't been a lot of snow this season, so they walked through the fallow fields to the grove. They walked deep into the forest. Isabel paused on the path, one made of old stones that once fit together into something more grand.

"Let me get us a little more light," she murmured, channeling more Aura into the Dust. The light burned brighter, and Emerald looked up. Her eyes widened.

What she thought were trees were columns, arches, and battlements. Ruins from long ago, illuminated in the lamp's glow. Isabel led her deeper into the ruins, old stained glass and solemn statues with swords, shields, and spears glowing faintly.

They came to the center, a great tile mosaic floor where several statues stood in silent watch. Isabel turned to Emerald, her face still blank as she held up her lantern.

"This is Arcadia," Isabel explained, "Once our family's great fortress manor. It burned down eighty years ago, and we never had the funds to rebuild it. But we still maintain the crypt, and our family memorials."

Emerald sucked in a breath, amazed at how many statues and monuments there were. Isabel turned and pointed behind her, and Emerald turned. Isabel's lantern illuminated a statue of a nervous but determined young woman in armor with wings made of flame.

"That of course is Jeanne D'Arc, our founding Matriach," Isabel explained, unprompted, "she defeated the Witch Queen of Argus and liberated Gallia."

She pointed to another statue.

"That's my namesake, Queen Isabel II," Isabel stated, this one a stern woman in stone with a spear, "She defeated the Vacuoan invaders at the Battle of Rounders, and the Grimm hordes at the Three Turn Bridge. Almost the entire family was wiped out, save for her one infant son Louise I. She sacrificed herself to save him and the kingdom."

She turned, illuminating another statue: This of a solemn looking man with a beard, cloak, and sword.

"And that is Roland III, the last Arc to be a king," Isabel said, "He had to slay his own father, Louise XV, who had become a Grimm cultist and dictator. He abdicated the throne after, to atone for everything his father did and retired here."

"I..." Emerald shook her head. "I don't understand... Why you're showing me this."

Isabel nodded.

"It can be hard to find your way when you have nothing and no one," Isabel said softly. She gestured to a statue of a couple, a man and a woman: The man wielded a sword and shield, the woman a shotgun. "Those... Are my parents. Jonathan and Elizabeth Arc. When I was eleven, they were killed in a Grimm ambush on their way home. They... Sacrificed themselves to protect everyone else in their group."

Emerald grimaced.

"I... I'm sorry," she tried. Isabel shook her head.

"At the time... I hated them for it. For abandoning us."

Emerald started and stared at her. Isabel shrugged.

"Anger is a natural part of grief. It's why I despised being a Huntsman. I... Saw it as just a way to pay for medical school and make real money-Support my family."

She let out a soft sigh, and a wan smile full of nostalgia spread over her face.

"But... I was lost. And I was lucky I found Nick and my other friends. Who... Taught me that to be a hero was more important."

Emerald was silent. She slowly shook her head.

"I... I'm still feeling lost," she admitted.

"Because you can't believe that our family is genuine?" Isabel guessed. "That love isn't transactional? That this is real?"

Emerald was silent, still. She slowly nodded. She waved her hand at the statues.

"All of this legacy, I... I can't understand it. I had nothing, grew up with nothing... I was so dumb that I-I sold my soul to the first person to show me even the smallest bit of kindness..." She sighed. "I... I care about Jaune. I really do... But this... Where do I belong in all this? Can I... Can I ever belong? After all I've done?"

Isabel chuckled. Emerald shot her a confused scowl. Isabel smirked.
"All of these heroes? They were still people. Jeanne was a ditzy farmgirl who accidentally burned down half of Argus. Isabel II was a terrible queen and relied on the Sith Family to run things-She couldn't figure out a financial report if she tried. Roland... He could never forgive himself for killing his father... Or not killing him sooner. And my parents..."

She sighed.

"My parents were human... And good people, who did the best they could. And I love them,," Isabel said softly. "In the end, Emerald, what you are is up to you. But no one is beyond redemption, if they want it. That's one lesson I have learned from my family... And I hope it's one you learn, too."

Emerald studied the statues. Weather worn, damaged... But still standing, despite everything.

She clenched her fist and slowly nodded.

"I will... Jaune... Jaune is teaching me it."

Isabel smiled at her.

"Then I hope that one day... Though not for a very long time... Your statue will be here, too."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Beacon, Vale

One week after the Party

Three Months Before the Vytal Festival

- - -

Glynda sighed, her shoulders tight and her mood dark. Everything seemed to hurt. Even though Emerald Week was over, she was still catching students with contraband booze. She practically stomped to her office, any remaining students out this late wisely getting out of her way.

Her mood was foul and dark, and all the paperwork she had to deal with in her office was making her cringe on the inside.

I might need some of that contraband for myself, she thought. Maybe Arc's gotten somewhere with some of the paperwork...?

He had stepped up and taken the blame for a party he clearly had nothing to do with planning. So she'd made him her assistant for a few weeks as punishment. She winced a bit as she approached her office.

I hope he's not too overwhelmed... I'll do what I can, let him take off early, she promised herself.

She opened the door. Jaune was working at her desk, looking over some reports on the holoscreen. He looked up and smiled.

"Oh! Hello Professor!"

"Hello Mister Arc," Glynda sighed. She shut the door behind her, and sighed. Her shoulders sagged a bit, the scent of warm tea filling the air. Jaune frowned.

"You okay?"

"Today was... Difficult," she said. She walked over to the desk. "You have the financials?"

"Hm?" Jaune blinked. Glynda frowned.

"I did give you access to them? If you haven't gotten to them, I... I understand. It's quite a lot-"

"Ohhhh! Those!" Jaune smiled. He brought up the financial forms. "They're all done!"

Glynda blinkded. She blinked again.

"I... What?"

"Yeah! I triple checked them. I haven't sent them yet, I wanted you to look them over first," Jaune said. He stood up and moved behind the chair, holding it out for her. She frowned and sat down.

"Mister Arc, after my day, I don't appreciate practical jokes," she said, "What do you mean you finished them? It takes days to get them all done!"

Jaune walked back from the tea kettle. He held out a cup of tea with a smile which Glynda took and sipped from. Red Leaf Tea with honey, just the way she liked it.

"I'm serious!" Jaune insisted. "Also, geez, your shoulders bothering you again?"

"I... Yes," Glynda managed. Jaune moved behind her and began to massage her. She bit back a moan-His abundance of Aura and bad control with it, plus his skilled fingers, made her relax instantly.

Granted, it might be a bit inappropriate for him to give her a shoulder rub or two... But given everything she'd been dealing with lately, she hadn't had it in her to refuse. And he was very sweet. Just like his father, really.

She opened the files and scanned through them very quickly. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"They... They're all done?" Glynda whispered.

"Yeah!"

"I... How?" Glynda managed, flustered for the first time since she graduated from Beacon. Jaune nodded.

"I asked my sister-in-law, a computer programmer, to send me some financial software. I used it to sort it all out." He beamed. "I've mostly been taking care of anything else finance related. I haven't sent anything yet, like I said, so you can make sure it worked."

"How... How much?" Glynda asked softly. Jaune pointed at the holoscreen.

"I took care of the quarterly financial report, the budget proposal, the tax accounting... Again! We'll need to look over it all but I hope you're happy-MMPH!"

It took a moment for Glynda to realize what she was doing. Her lips were on Jaune's. Her arms were around his shoulders. His arms were down at his sides, but slowly going up to her hips. Her tongue was pressing against his lips for entry-

"Ah! Haa!" Glynda pulled away like Jaune was on fire, panting hard. Jaune panted as well, his cheeks bright red. He stared at her in shock.

"Um, uh... P-Professor, um-"

"Okaythankyouwe'llcontinuethisnever!" Glynda cried, waving The Disciplinarian and sending Jaune flying through the door with her Semblance.

"UWAH!" Jaune cried.

Glynda slammed the door behind him, breathing hard, her chest heaving.

"Okay... Okay, I kissed my student and assistant," Glynda murmured, "This isn't the end of the world... This isn't the end of the world...!"

She sat down at her desk and bowed her head. She held her hands to her temples.

"It is the end of the world," she groaned.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Professor Goodwitch firmly believed that everyone could learn something from any fight, so It was a bit of a surprise that she had allowed him to slip out of the room before combat class was over when he had vaguely hinted at a need to use the restroom...

...Okay maybe it wasn't. Professor Goodwitch... Glynda. He should be thinking of her as Glynda when he wasn't in class...

Glynda had been sending looks his way even as she supervised and critiqued the fights of the day, not exactly scowling as she saw his other future brides vie for his attention between bouts. Whether her annoyance stemmed from the mild disruption to the class this was causing or if it stemmed from the fact that her duties were keeping her from joining in was currently a mystery to him but it was a mystery he would dwell on later, not now.

Jaune splashed cold water on his face. It was refreshing and grounding and just what he needed; just a few moments alone to reorient himself before going back out there and taking things head on again...

...And maybe brainstorm a few ways to subtly introduce a few more boundaries going forward. Cuddling wasn't supposed to be that aggressive, and his left arm was questioning its' virginity right now so yeah a few more ground rules wouldn't hurt.

He heard a brief and muffled exchange of formalities at the public restroom's doors between Penny and someone else before the doors opened and two sets of footsteps made their way to the urinals behind him. Jaune ignored this and kept washing his face in cold water, soothing his nerves and clearing his thoughts.

Then the two newcomers joined him at the sinks, and apparently thought it was socially acceptable to start a conversation in the bathroom.

"So your life's taken a turn for the weird, hasn't it Jaune?" His sink neighbor asked while starting their faucet and putting soap on their hands.

"I suppose it has," Jaune glanced towards the speaker, having already identified them as Hex Skavader. The other team leader could be a bit of a boor at times, but Hex hadn't ever really directed that boorishness towards him and had actually been one of the first team leaders after Ruby to take him seriously in their leadership classes. So as long as Hex was going to be polite Jaune could be polite back.

"I don't know if I should be congratulating you or offering my condolences," Hex said as his teammate Kupa pulled paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to Hex. The rabbit faunus dried his hands as he continued, "I mean they're all gorgeous girls but there's almost enough of them to make three different teams and you got some pretty headstrong personalities in the mix. Managing three different teammates is already enough of an uphill battle that I can't imagine keeping track of that many women."

"It may be daunting, but it can work if you put in the right amount of effort," Jaune shut off his faucet and was only slightly surprised when Kupa handed him some paper towels as well. He sent the turtle faunus a thankful nod before drying his face. "And since it can work we've agreed to try and make it work."

"I guess it could," Hex acknowledged. "But do you really need to?"

"Yes," Jaune emphatically replied a bit more forcefully than the meant to. "I mean, the marriage contracts were very explicit in their wording," He bashfully supplied to cover the outburst. He continued with a more subdued tone, "None of them can be dropped lightly."

Hex had quirked an eyebrow and his rabbit ears had twitched when the words marriage contracts had left Jaune's lips, while Kupa silently nodded on the side like someone making note of something.

"It's still eleven contracts," Hex crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall between Jaune and the exit. "With that many you could cancel some of them without losing face, and even the most stringent legal agreements can be dissolved under the right circumstances. I highly doubt any judge would hold you to all of them, especially since most of these contracts would have had to of been made back when your parents could have expected to have more than one son. So why would you try to honor all of them instead of cutting things down to a more manageable size? I mean does each contract stipulate that the girl it's about has to be a full blown wife? Or would making a girl a consort or concubine fulfill the contract? I could picture things being manageable if you could do that, especially if some of them are willing to act as handmaids for a proper wife. But that does raise the question of who would be willing to do that," Hex brought a hand to his chin and rubbed it thought. "Emerald would have done that for Cinder if Cinder hadn't blown up on her Saturday and then pulled the runaway bride act... The Schnee sisters would probably need to be proper brides, same with Blake Belladonna. Would Ruby be willing to be a handmaid for Weiss...? Yang for Blake...?"

Jaune closed his eyes and sighed. Hex trying to be helpful was the last thing he needed right now.

"Look," Jaune interrupted the rabbit boy's musings, "I'm planning on making everyone a proper wife. We're all going out on dates this week to see if everything can work out like that, so speculating about alternative arrangements is pointless unless that doesn't work out."

"You are?" Hex stepped away from the wall with an inquisitive look that Kupa mirrored. Hex proceeded to chuckle in amusement before he went on, "I don't know why I'm surprised; every leadership class you've worked to go above and beyond to prove yourself to everyone. Just don't wear yourself too thin trying to prove you can do this to yourself okay?"

Hex started walking to the door before looking over his shoulder and adding, "I'll be keeping my ear to the ground to see how things play out. See you around!"

With that Hex and Kupa were out the door.

Jaune let out an aggravated groan before turning the sink back on as cold as it would go and splashed more frigid water on his face. It wasn't as refreshing as before.

Roughly ten minutes later Jaune exited the bathroom felling somewhat put together.

"Combat Class will be over by the time we return to Professor Goodwitch's classroom," Penny observed.

"We can still meet up with everyone else there," Jaune replied as he shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "Let's go."

The two made there way through the halls, and just like Penny had predicted students were shuffling out of the room by the time they got there. They were greeted by the smiling faces of his future children and potential brides. They all rushed forward to pull him into their circle, but slowed down and stopped before that actually happened.

The reason why jovially clasped Jaune on the shoulders.

"Hey son," His father grinned down at him, "Are you free now that class is over?"

"Ah, kinda? I need to get ready for my dates in about an hour and a half."

"An hour and a half huh?" Nick nodded in thought, "That'd be enough time to go over the basics." The blond swordsman looked up to his son's fiancees and the grandchildren before asking, "None of you mind if I borrow my son for a little bit of light training do you?"

The future brides and grandchildren exchanged looks.

"Um, I guess you can borrow him," Ruby allowed after nobody thought of a good reason to object.

"Excellent! Let's get going son!" Nick started to drag Jaune in the direction of one of the school's gymnasiums somewhat faster than Jaune expected.

"What's the rush dad?"

"NICK! GET BACK HERE!" Isabel bellowed from somewhere behind them. "THE MEETINGS ARN'T ANYWHERE NEAR OVER!"

"WE'RE WELL PAST THE POINT WHERE I CAN CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING MEANINGFUL!" Nick yelled back as he picked up the pace and picked his son up like a sack of potatoes. "SO I'M GOING TO DO SOMETHING MORE USEFUL THAN SITTING AROUND WAITING UNTIL I CAN HIT THE PROBLEM!"

"NICK!" Apparently Isabel thought differently, her bellowing echoing closer through the halls in a way that implied she was picking up speed.

"GRANDCHILDREN!" Nick commanded, "GRANDMOTHER SUPPRESSION MANEUVER 1A!"

Most of Jaune's children reacted immediately, rushing towards the corner Isabell was about to round. The instant she was clear Julian slammed into her chest with the battlecry of "Dogpile!"

"DOGPILE!" Xia agreed as she latched onto Isabell's left arm.

"Dogpile!" Petra proclaimed as she latched onto the right.

"Dogpile!" August shouted as he went for the shoulders.

"CATPILE!" Leander objected as he went for the right leg.

"CATPILE!" Leandra backed him up as she went for the other leg.

"Dogpile!" Xander corrected as he followed after them.

"Dogpile!" Dorothy flew in at top speed.

"Oh! We're doing a dogpile?" Nicholas smiled as he rushed to join in.

"HECK YEAH! DOGPILE!" Theodore cheered as he teleported to come in at an elevated angle.

"Heck yeah! Dogpile!" Ash and Ashley echoed each other as they rushed in.

"Dogpile!?!?" Amethyst squeaked as she ran to not be left out.

Isabel was brought to the ground in seconds beneath the pile, and for a moment the pile was still.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGH!" With a surge of aura and a mighty inarticulate yell Isabel managed to leverage all of her strength to both stand up and throw her grandchildren off of her.

For a moment Isabel stood there panting, her grandchildren scattered around her on the floor. She cast her eyes about trying to figure where her husband and son were as she caught her breath, but before she could catch a hint of them she felt a sudden impact from behind.

"DOGPILE!" Nora screamed as she swept Isabel's legs.

"DOGPILE!" Arslan agreed while Ruby and Yang followed up with "HECK YEAH! DOGPILE!"

"Oh dear, we're doing a dogpile." Pyrrha wasn't sure if she or May had said it. In any case they were both grabbing on with Emerald right behind them.

The grandchildren got back to their feet and hopped back on, while most of the remaining brides pitched in.

Glynda and Winter slowly looked to each other.

"Um... should we..." Winter stammered as she saw her younger sister jump on out of the corner of her eye.

"I..." Glynda was at a loss as her jaw worked up and down.

The pile bucked as Isabel tried to get out form under it.

Winter's expression changed to that of someone biting the bullet.

"Dogpile," she vowed as she marched to her destiny.

Glynda watched her go before sagging in resignation.

"Well, I might never get the chance to do this again," Glynda mused before straightening up and dawning a look of determination.

"Dogpile."

By the time Isabel managed to crawl out her husband and Jaune were long gone and she was forced to admit that Nick had won this round...

"...Why?" Isabel groaned as she finally got to her feet again. "Why did you all hold me down?"

"Oh, ah," Ruby was the one who found her words first, "We were hoping to cut down on any further internet drama..."

"What kind of drama?" Isabel asked while the others got to their own feet and collected themselves.

"Doctor Arc," Arslan began somewhat abashedly, "You punched out your husband on camera yesterday. Some people have claimed you're a spouse beater, and having another altercation with him the very next day would give that accusation a leg to stand on."

"Oh," Isabel suddenly became very still.

"Edits of the punch are also becoming a meme online," Theodore supplied as he held up his scroll. "There are already sixty-four different captions and it was added to the Morning Dose of Internet compilation, receiving almost as much attention as Aunt Weiss' metronome moment."

"Oh no..." Isabel buried her face in her hands. Her own grandparents and siblings watched that channel. Some of her daughters to! She was going to be mocked relentlessly next call home...

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Beacon, Vale

One week after the Party

Three Months Before the Vytal Festival

- - -

Glynda sighed, her shoulders tight and her mood dark. Everything seemed to hurt. Even though Emerald Week was over, she was still catching students with contraband booze. She practically stomped to her office, any remaining students out this late wisely getting out of her way.

Her mood was foul and dark, and all the paperwork she had to deal with in her office was making her cringe on the inside.

I might need some of that contraband for myself, she thought. Maybe Arc's gotten somewhere with some of the paperwork...?

He had stepped up and taken the blame for a party he clearly had nothing to do with planning. So she'd made him her assistant for a few weeks as punishment. She winced a bit as she approached her office.

I hope he's not too overwhelmed... I'll do what I can, let him take off early, she promised herself.

She opened the door. Jaune was working at her desk, looking over some reports on the holoscreen. He looked up and smiled.

"Oh! Hello Professor!"

"Hello Mister Arc," Glynda sighed. She shut the door behind her, and sighed. Her shoulders sagged a bit, the scent of warm tea filling the air. Jaune frowned.

"You okay?"

"Today was... Difficult," she said. She walked over to the desk. "You have the financials?"

"Hm?" Jaune blinked. Glynda frowned.

"I did give you access to them? If you haven't gotten to them, I... I understand. It's quite a lot-"

"Ohhhh! Those!" Jaune smiled. He brought up the financial forms. "They're all done!"

Glynda blinkded. She blinked again.

"I... What?"

"Yeah! I triple checked them. I haven't sent them yet, I wanted you to look them over first," Jaune said. He stood up and moved behind the chair, holding it out for her. She frowned and sat down.

"Mister Arc, after my day, I don't appreciate practical jokes," she said, "What do you mean you finished them? It takes days to get them all done!"

Jaune walked back from the tea kettle. He held out a cup of tea with a smile which Glynda took and sipped from. Red Leaf Tea with honey, just the way she liked it.

"I'm serious!" Jaune insisted. "Also, geez, your shoulders bothering you again?"

"I... Yes," Glynda managed. Jaune moved behind her and began to massage her. She bit back a moan-His abundance of Aura and bad control with it, plus his skilled fingers, made her relax instantly.

Granted, it might be a bit inappropriate for him to give her a shoulder rub or two... But given everything she'd been dealing with lately, she hadn't had it in her to refuse. And he was very sweet. Just like his father, really.

She opened the files and scanned through them very quickly. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"They... They're all done?" Glynda whispered.

"Yeah!"

"I... How?" Glynda managed, flustered for the first time since she graduated from Beacon. Jaune nodded.

"I asked my sister-in-law, a computer programmer, to send me some financial software. I used it to sort it all out." He beamed. "I've mostly been taking care of anything else finance related. I haven't sent anything yet, like I said, so you can make sure it worked."

"How... How much?" Glynda asked softly. Jaune pointed at the holoscreen.

"I took care of the quarterly financial report, the budget proposal, the tax accounting... Again! We'll need to look over it all but I hope you're happy-MMPH!"

It took a moment for Glynda to realize what she was doing. Her lips were on Jaune's. Her arms were around his shoulders. His arms were down at his sides, but slowly going up to her hips. Her tongue was pressing against his lips for entry-

"Ah! Haa!" Glynda pulled away like Jaune was on fire, panting hard. Jaune panted as well, his cheeks bright red. He stared at her in shock.

"Um, uh... P-Professor, um-"

"Okaythankyouwe'llcontinuethisnever!" Glynda cried, waving The Disciplinarian and sending Jaune flying through the door with her Semblance.

"UWAH!" Jaune cried.

Glynda slammed the door behind him, breathing hard, her chest heaving.

"Okay... Okay, I kissed my student and assistant," Glynda murmured, "This isn't the end of the world... This isn't the end of the world...!"

She sat down at her desk and bowed her head. She held her hands to her temples.

"It is the end of the world," she groaned.

- - -

Click to shrink...

The next day, Glynda headed into the city. It had been a while since she'd been able to get away. She'd stopped by her small house-Still untouched, still barely lived in. It only made her more depressed.

But it got her out of Beacon. It got her away from her work and Jaune Arc and remembering Jaune's lips-No. Do not think about that.

There was something to brighten her day. She finally had enough time to visit and volunteer somewhere she loved.

The red brick building with a green roof was in Old Vale-The center of modern Vale geographically, if not politically anymore. Nestled between several other older buildings, it had a bit of green around it fenced in with wrought iron bars. The sign outside read "Saint Lucy's Orphanage."

Glynda entered through the twin front doors. A kindly old lady, the matron of the orphanage, looked up from the front desk with a broad smile through her hornrimmed glasses.

"Glynda! It's been so long!" The old lady cheered. Glynda smiled back gently, and walked forward to hug the nun as she hobbled around.

"Sister Margaret, it's good to see you," Glynda greeted her, "So! Am I too late to read to the orphans?"

"Well," Sister Margaret smirked a bit, "You can, but another regular beat you to it."

Glynda raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah! He's a student out of Beacon," Margaret explained, leading Glynda through the side door into the library. It was very well stocked-Glynda, Ozpin, Port, Oobleck, and Mombi Lang (Beacon's librarian) had seen to that. Glynda's eyes weren't focused on that though.

Sitting in a grown up chair, surrounded by children hanging off his every word... And now looking up with a shocked look was-

"Mister Arc?" Glynda blurted out. Jaune flushed.

"Oh! Uh, Professor!"

Sister Margaret looked between them with a raised eyebrow.

"You two having problems?"

"No!" They both said, far too quickly. A number of kids smirked. A girl giggled.

"I'll... Just wait outside," Glynda said quickly.

"No! No, you can-It's all right-" Jaune tried. Glynda shook her head.

"No! No, it's fine. I-"

"Just sit and wait for him to finish, honestly," Margaret sighed, pulling out another chair. Glynda stared back at Jaune, who was bright red. She sighed and sat down.

"Of course," she said, "There's no problem at all."

"No problem!" Jaune insisted.

Margaret looked back and forth between them, and shrugged.

"All right," she said, turning to the kids, "I'll be right outside if you need anything, sweeties."

"Okay Sister Margaret!" They chorused.

- - -

Glynda sat quietly and let Jaune continue. And she had to admit, he had a talent.

"'Now, fools,' cackled the evil Cooboth, 'you and your clone shall fight! Whoever wins will be my apprentice, and let me dominate the galaxy! The two Lucians fought, green beam saber against blue beam saber. Kssh! Krrrsh! Their sabers crackled against eachother, equally matched, as Kara Maid watched helplessly,'" Jaune recounted.

He built up the drama of the fight, doing good impressions of the character voices, and the kids were silent and transfixed. Jaune then rose his hand up.

"Cooboth, seeing everyone was down thanks to his Shwartz scream, declared, 'You have bested my clone! You will be my apprentice! Come with me to the cloning room, and we will dominate the galaxy!' But Kara shot back defiantly, 'Like hell you freak!' Cooboth attacked her with the Schwartz, hurling stones from the roof above. Kara swung the lightsaber, deflecting was she could, but her powers were fading. She was tired. She was injured...'" Jaune looked up to the eager children.

"So?! What happened?!" A little boy demanded. Jaune looked the clock and sighed.

"Sorry guys, we gotta end here for today. I still gotta work on the boiler," Jaune said apologetically, and he was greeted with a chorus of groans. He smiled, "But I'll be back next week!"

The kids brightened up considerably, and took off to play and read and chatter. Jaune stood up, tucking the book into his bag. He walked over to Glynda, looking awkward. She felt awkward as she slowly stood up. They looked at eachother's shoulders.

"Hello Professor," Jaune managed.

"Mister Arc," Glynda said.

Silence fell.

"So... You volunteer here?" Glynda offered.

"Yeah," Jaune nodded. Glynda nodded back.

"I see. That's good."

"Thank you."

Silence. Jaune smiled awkwardly.

"So, um... I'd better go do that. You... You can play with them if you'd like. Not like you can't."

"I..." Glynda sucked in a breath.

You're an adult. Deal with it like an adult.

"May I accompany you?" Glynda asked. Jaune tensed, and slowly nodded.

"S-Sure! Um, yeah. No... No problem," he managed.

They headed out, and descended into the basement of the old building. It was brick and dusty, but fairly well maintained-Many boxes and crates of supplies, along with a thick iron door in case of emergency, were the main features aside from the boiler. The boiler itself was large, old, but fairly well maintained, though there was a rattle. Jaune walked over to it, already reaching for the tool box.

"Well, I can just get started-"

Glynda waved her riding crop, unleashed her Semblance, and the rattling immediately stopped. Jaune blinked.

"Or... You could do that," Jaune managed. He slowly turned back to Glynda. She cleared her throat.

"... Mister Arc," she began, "I am very sorry for... For what happened last night."

Jaune coughed.

"I uh... I-I mean-"

"This is a difficult position for me," Glynda went on with a sigh, "You... You have me dead to rights. You could easily blackmail me over this. A teacher, abusing a student-"

Jaune walked forward, trying to close the distance. She instinctly backed up in shock.

"You didn't abuse me!" Jaune responded angrily. "Look, I'm not some horny 13 year old boy. You're not a monster! I would never blackmail you over this!"

"You're my student and assistant," Glynda responded back, "I-I can't just-!"

"Do you regret it?"

Glynda was silent. Her eyes couldn't meet his.

"Do you regret it?" Jaune demanded again.

Glynda winced. Jaune got closer, his arms twitching as though to hold her, but still he held back.

"Professor," he murmured, "Glynda... You've been so kind, so supportive. You're not a bad person. I-I care about you."

"I'm... A very lonely, frustrated old woman," she whispered, "I'm not someone you should care for-"

"Well I do," Jaune stated firmly, "So there. So... What do you feel about me?"

Glynda was silent. She slowly shook her head.

"I... I don't... I can't feel these things for you," she whispered.

"But you do, don't you?" Jaune pressed.

Glynda sighed.

"... If I did," she murmured, "That doesn't mean we could do anything about it."

She shook her head. She cupped his cheek, looked into his eyes.

"We have to be professi-"

He leaned in to kiss her deeply. She gasped... And didn't pull away.

They broke apart, panting softly for breath. Glynda shook her head rapidly, and pushed him away.

"W-We have to be professional!" She hissed.

Jaune scowled... But nodded slowly.

"Then... That's for kissing me first," he murmured, "We're even... For now."

"For now?" Glynda asked. Jaune nodded and smiled.

"Because one day, we won't have to be professional," he murmured. Glynda flushed.

"Jaune-Arc... I'm an old woman. There are plenty of girls you should chase-"

"And I want you," Jaune said firmly. Glynda sighed and shook her head.

"You're young, Arc... You won't feel like this forever."

Jaune shrugged.

"Maybe... But maybe I won't. I just know... I really care for you. And that's not gonna change."

Jaune headed up the stairs. Glynda watched him go, her cheeks head, her heart pounding.

She rapidly shook her head.

"No! No, it... It's just a crush," she murmured, "It means nothing. He'll grow out of it... He will. And so will I... Right?"

The bricks and boiler had no answers.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Dorothy sighed heavily, leaning back against a tree in the Bastinda Memorial Gardens. Marble collonades lined the smooth tiled brick paths, along with flower beds full of poppies. There were a few fountains trickling merrily away, as her... Half-sisters? Step-sisters? All lounged around nearby.

"I am so glad to get away from everybody else for a while," Xia admitted, stretching her arms up over her head with a wince. "Mmm! Also, geez. These old Beacon uniforms feel a bit tight. They feel a bit tight for anyone else?"

"We did have to borrow them," Petra reasoned, eating a sandwich. She frowned. "Are you sure we shouldn't all be together? Better protect Father and the others?"

"Ugggh," Ashley groaned from where she laid back on a bench, "We've been packed together like sardines since we got here! It's not normal for so many family members to be crammed together all the time! Ash gets really clingy."

"Was normal for us," Leandra opined, eating a potato chip. Ashley snorted as she ate some sushi.

"That's because your mom is a baby machine!"

"I think it was because everyone wanted to make sure she didn't run off again," Leandra mused, her ears twitching a bit. Ashley was unimpressed and snorted, while Amethyst shook her head.

"Not like the rest of our moms can talk," Amethyst mumbled, sitting with Xia on a marble seat. She looked over at Dorothy. "Dorothy? You okay?"

Dorothy started, and then sighed.

"Oh, sorry," she admitted, "Just... I love this tree back in the future. I was just noticing how much smaller it is. Now that I've had a chance to stop and think... I dunno, I suppose I'm a little... Melancholy, you know?"

Everyone went quiet, save for scattered whisps of conversations from other students in the gardens. Ashley and Xia both groaned.

"Enough of that," Xia admonished, "Being sad isn't going to fix anything. We're stuck here, so we may as well make the best of it."

"Yeah," Ashley said, "Besides, Moses is going to be all right."

Dorothy started and stared at Ashley. She smirked, kicking her long legs up in the air almost childishly.

"I'm not just a pretty face, you know," she said. Xia nodded.

"Yeah. Poor guy," she said. She shook her head. "Not that I'm too worried. He got himself out of a Sobek Grimm nest once."

"Did he lose his pants in your timeline too?" Leandra asked, curious. Xia smirked.

"Yup! And I got photos~!"

"Same," Ashley chuckled, "Good thing he started working out, he was so scrawny!"

Dorothy scowled, bright red. She stood up and glared at her temporal half sisters.

"What does that mean?" She demanded. Xia held up her hands.

"Woah! Easy there, Dorothy! Moses is like a little brother! I don't have any interest in him like that!"

"S-Same," Amethyst added. Dorothy's glare swept her others sisters. Petra shook her head.

"Zero interest. It would be like dating a cousin," she opined.

"I uh..." Amethyst blushed, "I like someone else."

"He's not my type," Leandra stated firmly. "Too short."

Ashley sat up and shrugged, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"I banged him once or twice but we're still just friends," Ashley stated nonchalantly. Much staring, and Dorothy's face turned bright red in fury.

Ashley smirked. "HA! The looks on your faces!"

Petra sighed much like her mother. Amethyst bit back a nervous giggle, as Xia guffawed.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Leandra muttered, chewing on another potato chip. Dorothy glared at the smirking Ashley.

"That wasn't funny!"

"Yes it was," Ashley sang, sing-song. She sighed. "Honestly though? Yeah... Hope he'll be okay. Time travel really sucks, huh?"

Another silence fell. Xia groaned.

"Ugggh! Enough with the woe is me bullshit!" She shouted. She held out her Scroll. "The Beacon CCTnet is talking about us."

The rest of the daughters of Jaune Arc got out their Scrolls as well, flicking through the pages. Leandra grimaced.

"Ugh, this UI is so old! I feel like an archaeologist!"

"Can't be helped," Dorothy shrugged, "Most important thing though is that so far, I think they buy our story."

"And they're ranking us all by hotness!" Xia said cheerfully. "Let's see..." Her face fell and her eyes glowed green. "What?! I'm third?!"

"How am I not number one?" Ashley demanded. Dorothy rolled her eyes.

"Do you have to be so immature?" She asked in exasperation.

"Said by the girl in last place," Leandra teased. Dorothy went bright red.

"What?! I am not! Let me see!"

She brought up the chart. She shook her head.

"I am not!" She insisted. "It's a dynamic poll so we're all changing positions!"

"That's what she said," Leandra joked. More giggles abounded. Dorothy sighed and sat back down, shaking her head in exasperation as she leaned back against the tree. Amethyst sat down with her as their half-siblings continued to argue.

"If I wanted all this, I would have stayed at home," she muttered.

"Still," Amethyst said, "It's... Kind of reassuring, in a way."

Dorothy slowly nodded, a small smile on her face.

"I suppose it is," she said. She turned to Amethyst. "So... Who is this boy you have a crush on?"

Amethyst blushed heavily.

"O-Oh, well... You know Auntie Blake's little brother, Felix?"

Dorothy laughed.

"Wow, him?"

"What's wrong with him?" Amethyst pouted. "He's nice! He's fun! He's super handsome! He's a prince! And he likes my jewelry!"

"Wearing it or giving it to other girls?" Dorothy asked.

"He would never!" Amethyst gasped.

"Sooo," Xia broke in, "Is Ozpin still having us shadow everyone else for that assignment or whatever?"

A long pause. Leandra finished her chips and shook her head.

"Best not to remind him, maybe he'll forget," Leandra opined.

There was another pause. Dorothy and Petra went for their Scrolls. Ashley, Xia, and Leandra moved to stop them.

"Oh no you don't!"

"We deserve a break!"

"No homework!"

Amethyst winced. She then giggled a little at the childish struggles of her sisters.

"Just like home," she sighed.

- - -

I decided giving the various groups a bit more focus would be a good idea.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Theodore had opted for the Star Maiden Memorial Park for lunch, and the rest of the boys had followed. Julian in particular was flitting about like a hummingbird, stretching and zipping about with his Semblance. Ash scowled a bit over his lunch.

"You gonna sit down and eat or what?" He grunted.

"Sorry-I love this place in my timeline!" Julian enthused. He zipped back to the stone benches arranged in a circle the other sons of Jaune Arc had taken for their lunch area. He pulled open his lunch bag and began to happily devour cookies. "Omnomnomnomnom!"

Xander shook his head, eating a sandwich. "You're gonna die of diabetes at this rate."

"My mom hasn't! So I won't either! Ha!" Julian laughed. Nicholas shook his head as well, eating a ricebowl with refined manners.

"I suppose that's true. Aunt Ruby can eat like, a pound of sugar and not gain any weight."

"It all went to her boobs in my timeline," Leander observed. Julian coughed, and then glared at him.

"Do you mind?! That's my mom!"

Leander shook his head, his expression haunted and broody.

"You catch your mom and dad in a fivesome and tell me what's disturbing, kid," he muttered. Everyone shuddered. Theodore, laying on his back while eating chips, looked over at Leander in interest.

"Who was involved?"

"DUDE!" Julian cried.

"What is wrong with you?" Xander demanded.

Theodore sat up, shaking his head.

"No no no! I'm not some weird pervert! I'm just curious. Did you always have these memories or... Is something else happening?"

A silence fell. Leander frowned.

"How would I know if I'd only just recently gotten these memories?" His eyes widened a bit more. "Oh crap... You think the timelines are converging?"

"Maybe," Theodore hummed, taking a bite out of his burger, "Or maybe your mom is just really, really kinky."

Leander made a face.

"I already knew that," he muttered. August rolled his eyes.

"How about something we don't know?" He demanded. "Are we any closer to finding Cinder?"

He gave Ash a meaningful look. Ash scowled back over his lunch.

"No, nothing yet," he admitted.

"That's pretty dangerous," Xander said, leaning back on one elbow, "I mean she's-"

"I know," Ash gritted out. "We know. But what else can we do? Besides... Ashley would be heartbroken if we didn't try. She's way too sentimental and weepy." He huffed and leaned back. "That's why we needed some time apart."

Xander was too polite to snort, but it was clear he didn't believe his half-brother's declaration. Neither did anyone else.

"Man, you're just like super tsundere towards everything!" Julian observed. At Ash's glare, he wilted a little. "Um, sorry."

Nicholas shook his head. He stood up and walked over and rested a hand on Ash's shoulder. The dark haired boy looked up at him.

"I understand," Nicholas said gravely, "And on my honor as a Knight and your brother, I will do everything possible to stop and save your mother. Arc's word."

"Arc's word," August contributed. Leander nodded too.

"Arc's word."

"Arc's word," Julian and Xander repeated.

Theodore nodded, his face serious for once.

"Arc's word," he agreed. He then smiled and held up his Scroll.

"Now! Onto more pleasant topics! Looks like our cover is holding on social media... And hey! They have a ranking for how hot we all are!"

Theodore walked about, looking at his brothers.

"And who is number one? The brooding bad boy wannabe with the broadest of shoulders?" He pointed at Ash.

"Bite me," Ash retorted, though he was smirking. Theodore pointed at Xander.

"The overly polite warrior with a lot of hidden issues?"

"What issues?" Xander demanded, flushing. Theodore pointed at Leander and August.

"The tall foreign prince who talks too much, or the mischeivous but tortured catboy prince?"

"I don't talk too much!" August protested, "I've learned how to keep my speeches down under the limit!"

"The tortured part is really prominent right now, listening to you," Leander shot back. Theodore swung around, his long coat flaring dramatically, as he pointed at Julian.

"The adorable hyper little brother?"

"HEY! I'm not adorable! I'm handsome!" Julian protested. Theodore looked over at Nicholas with a grin.

"Or my sort of cousin-half brother knight... With a not-so-well hidden chuuni side?"

"I gave that up in middle school, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Nicholas protested, his cheeks slightly red. Theodore smirked.

"The answer is... None of you! I'm the hottest!"

Everyone pulled out their scrolls. Many groans ensued.

"You cheated somehow!" Leander growled.

"Moi? Would I do that?" Theodore asked. "Maybe I just have a natural charisma? Maybe I'm just naturally The Honored One-?"

"Hey, uh... Theodore Schnee, right?"

Theodore started and looked over his shoulder. A Faunus cat girl with rainbow colored hair grinned and waved.

"Uh, that's me," Theodore managed. She ran up to him.

"I just wanted to say, you're really cool! You want to hang out some time?" She asked eagerly. Theodore flustered a bit.

"Um, I don't-I mean-"

"Here," Neon grinned, handing over a piece of paper with her number on it, "Give me a call~. I'm down for any kind of call~. Especially the booty kind." She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek, before flouncing off with a burst of rainbows. Theodore twitched a bit.

Theodore turned back to his brothers, all smirking at him.

"You just got solicited by Auntie Neon," Nicholas grinned, "How are you feeling now, Honored One?"

"... Slightly less traumatized than I thought I would be, but not much," Theodore sighed, adjusting his glasses. Much snickering ensued. "You're all going to suffer the same fate, you know."

"So you think we're handsome too?" Julian asked. Xander rolled his eyes.

"We knew that. Lian tells us we're handsome all the time."

"Oh yeah!" August nodded, "So does my girlfriend, Tala."

"Mine too!" Julian crowed. "Serena Winchester! Though she's also mean sometimes she's super sweet and bakes me cookies and we like to work out and stuff! It's great!" He grinned. "Other than August, do you guys have girlfriends?"

"What? No!" Xander insisted, shaking his head, "I'm far too busy for a girlfriend right now! Lian and I are just friends! Same with the other girls in my team!"

"Likewise," Theodore added.

"I've got too much to focus on for a girlfriend," Leander added, "like managing Lian and Nickle in my timeline. They keep fighting and Leandra laughs about it but won't tell me why. And Serena's always mean to me too, no matter what I do, and fights with my team!"

"Oh! You also have a Serena? Cool!" Julian chirped. His eyes narrowed. "Hey wait a minute... She's fighting another girl for you?"

"How is that unusual?" Theodore asked, eating some chips, "All three of the girls on my team fight. Often over the dumbest things."

"And do they also dress in the most outrageous sleepwear?" Nicholas asked. Many nods ensued, and Nicholas sighed in relief. "Thanks! I thought I was the only one! How am I supposed to concentrate if they're practically half naked all the time?!"

"Thank you!" Xander cried, holding his hands up, "That's what I've been saying! Though I let Lian sleep with me in my bunk. We're childhood friends so she gets scared."

Julian blinked. August did too. They both looked over at Ash, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I guess the Oblivious Arc Harem Lead curse skips a generation sometimes," he stated.

"Hey!" Theodore, Nicholas, Xander, and Leander shouted. Ash smirked.

"Here's to having girlfriends, huh guys?"

"Who is your girlfriend?" Julian asked eagerly.

"Serena Winchester," Ash stated. Julian gaped.

"What-NO! She's MY girlfriend! You can't have her!"

"We're in different timelines, dumbass," Ash snorted, "She's not the same as yours! Why is she dating a guy two years younger than her?"

"One year! Kind of! And it's because I'm super mature and cool and awesome!" Julian puffed himself up, "And her mom Velvet loves me because I'm so cool!"

Julian felt a pair of heavy hands fall on his shoulders. He gulped and looked up into the furious face of Cardin Winchester.

"Oh? Does she?" Cardin growled.

"I-I mean, hello, person I have never met who isn't the father of my future girlfriend!" Julian squeaked. "How nice to meet you!"

"Smooth," Ash muttered, as the other sons of Jaune Arc facepalmed.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Beacon, Vale

One Month after the Party

- - -

Yang was sitting in front of the mirror in their dormroom, mechanically brushing her hair as she stared at her reflection. The sun was just setting outside. Everything was quiet... Before the door burst open and Ruby stormed in, followed by Weiss and Blake.

"Yang! What the hell?!" Ruby demanded angrily. Yang started and swung around, her eyes narrowed.

"Hey! Language-!"

"You don't get to pull that with me!" Ruby growled, advancing up close to her sister, "You broke up with Jaune?!"

Yang winced. Her fist clenched around her hairbrush. She turned away, sitting back down and resuming brushing her hair.

"S-So? It-It wasn't working out!"

"You were over the moon over Arc," Weiss stated flatly, as Blake went to sit on her bed and stare at Yang, "You were having fun. You were giggling."

"I was not!" Yang scoffed.

"Did he do something?" Blake asked pointedly. Weiss nodded.

"Yes, did the oaf make a fool of himself-?"

"NO!" Yang looked over her shoulder and growled, making Weiss start. Even Ruby was surprised. Yang flushed and went back to brushing her hair.

"I... No, he didn't do anything," Yang muttered, embarassed and soft. Ruby frowned.

"Then why?"

"I... W-We have too much to do," Yang stuttered, "We're in the Vytal Festival. He's busy, I'm busy..."

"Yes, incredibly so," Blake deadpanned. Yang slammed her hairbrush down and turned around, scowling at her team.

"It's my decision! Who the hell are you three to question it?! I-I didn't want to do it anymore! I need to look after Ruby and I..." She looked to the side. "He's a nice guy, and... And that's all..."

Blake stared as intensely as a cat at Yang. Ruby scowled, her hands on her hips.

"Yang," she pressed. Yang took a deep breath.

"Look, I... I've been on other dates with guys before-"

"One date! One! Or half dates! You were happy with Jaune!" Ruby insisted. "So what's wrong? He was devastated!"

Yang swallowed thickly and shook her head.

"He-He'll get over it! He's tough... He's-"
"Yang," Weiss stated flatly, "Even I am not so cruel."

That hit like a punch to the gut. Yang sucked in another breath.

"... I-I just... I do like him... A lot," Yang murmured. Blake stared. Ruby scoffed. Weiss scowled. "Okay fine! I REALLY like him, all right?!"

"So why?" Blake asked. Ruby shook her head.

"If you have to look after me-You don't have to anymore! Heck, you haven't done it since we got here! You just dumped me with all the responsibilities!"

"I did not!" Yang growled.

"You basically did," Weiss sighed, "You never help with team paperwork, at all. Then again neither does Blake."

"Hey," Blake scowled. Ruby took Yang's hands in hers.

"Yang... Please, just tell me the truth," she pleaded, "Please."

Yang looked down. She let out a long, hard sigh. Blake shook her head.

"You're afraid he'll leave you. Or you'll leave him. Aren't you?"

Yang's head shot up as she gaped at her partner in shock. Weiss hummed as she looked over at the cat Faunus.

"Huh. So you aren't completely self absorbed."

"Says the spoiled brat," Blake shot back. Weiss scowled, but bit her tongue as she looked back to Yang. Ruby looked into her big sister's eyes.

"Yang... Is that true?" She asked. "You know he'd never ever leave you-"

"But I don't know I wouldn't," Yang hissed. "I don't know that I'll never... Never turn out like... Like her."

She turned back to the mirror. She winced at how red her eyes were. So much like...

Ruby hugged her tightly from behind.

"Yang..." She murmured, "You aren't her. And Jaune's not her either."

"I-I just," Yang whispered, "I..."

Weiss huffed.

"You told me to make more friends, to open myself up and, what did you say? Oh yes, pull the stick out of my-"

"Language!" Yang snarled, again glancing at Ruby. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"'Ass'. I know what it is, Yang! I'm not six!"

"And now you can't do the same?" Weiss demanded. Yang grimaced. She looked back in the mirror. She saw Blake rise, and walked up just behind the sisters.

"If you keep everyone at arms' length, all you'll have is a lonely life, Yang," Blake said softly. "You don't have to walk alone out of fear. That's... That's what you all have taught me."

Yang opened her mouth to speak... When an acoustic guitar playing filled the air. The source was outside, below their window. Then, a familiar male voice began to sing:

"I've had time to write a book
About the way you act and look
But I haven't got a paragraph
Words are always getting in my way
Anyway, I love you
That's all I have to tell you
That's all I've got to say~..."

Blake and Ruby both went to the window, and looked down. Weiss stayed by the door, her arms over her chest. Yang sucked in a deep breath. She rose, and walked over to the window. Blake and Ruby parted for her, and she looked down. Jaune was there, playing his guitar. He looked up at her, his face troubled and uncertain... But he kept playing and singing.

"And now, I'd like to make a speech
About the love that touches me
But stumbling, I would make you laugh
I feel as though my tongue were made of clay
Anyway, I love you
That's all I have to tell you~..."

"Hey, I remember this song," Ruby murmured, "It's from The Last of the Unicorns."

Yang knew it. It was one of those nerdy fantasy movies from when she was a kid that she had watched with Ruby. She'd even read the book. She and Jaune had gone to a midnight showing of it. Something she had never done with anyone before-It was too embarassing to admit she liked dorky fantasy movies like that.

Too embarrassing... Except to Jaune.

"I think he wants to talk to you," Blake suggested.

Yang sucked in a deep breath. She turned and ran out the door, down the hallway, down the stairs, and to the door. She hesitated a moment, before emerging and walking outside, heading around the dorm building.

He was still singing as she rounded the corner. He locked eyes with her as he kept singing and playing, his face sad.

"I'm not a man of poetry
Music isn't one with me
It runs from me
It runs from me~..."

Yang approached him. the lyrics coming to her in that moment. The way she'd sung along to the song with Jaune in the theater...

"And I tried to write a symphony
But I lost the melody
Alas I only finished half,
And finish I suppose I never may
Anyway, I love you
That's all I have to tell you
That's all I've got to say
That's all I've got to say
That's all I've got to say~..."

They stared at eachother, as Jaune stopped playing. He let the last note reverb just a bit. Yang licked her lips.

"... What's all this?" She asked.

Jaune hesitated, but pushed himself forward.

"Pyrrha told me... If I really loved you, truly loved you... Then I'd be willing to fight for you. And... I do," Jaune said.

Yang sucked in a deep breath, her heart pounding in her ears. She took a few more steps, their noses only a few inches apart.

"I... I might... I'm scared, Jaune," she admitted quietly. Jaune nodded.

"So am I. It's not easy for me to... To make a fool of myself all the time."

"You... You make it look easy," Yang said with a small smile. A smile he returned.

"Yeah... But, you know... I'm willing to be brave, and a fool... If you're there alongside me."

Tears were in her eyes. She tried to turn away to wipe them up, but Jaune's hand got there first. His hands were rough, but gentle.

"So...?" Jaune asked softly.

Yang laughed, her tears still coming. She reached out her hands and hugged him tightly. A hug he gladly returned.

"... You're such a freaking dork," Yang whispered, kissing him deeply.

It would take a while for her to admit she loved him back in words. She just hoped her actions spoke for themselves.

- - -

A bit schmaltzy and romantic, but it's what I was in the mood to write. The song is from "The Last Unicorn" but this version is my favorite rendition:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utt2wLMbz0k&list=RDUtt2wLMbz0k&index=1

 

[AndrewJTalon]

(Set before the end of Glynda's class)

- - -

Nick was often bored. This is why he worked and moved constantly. Movement of any kind was welcome to his restless spirit, whether it was playing with his children, working on his farm, sparring with his wife and the militia-Anything. Sitting around for hours on end wasn't always unpleasant: He did meditate, pray, and even did some studying. Heck, he could do taxes!

Not that he would ever let his wife know.

Sitting around talking about stuff could also be fun, as long as it was interesting. Like what his wonderful grandson Adrian was up to. Or how he totally won that last Grimm killing competition with Arjun. Or sitting in church, singing the hymns and listening to the sermons!

But this...?

"... As it turns out," WIllow went on, smiling a bit, "Jacques wanted to exclude those sights for exploitation because while the Dust was classed as inaccessible, it was to stall so that new mining equipment designed to extract it would come online. It's all a massive con."

Ironwood and Arjun frowned heavily. The general made a note.

"Another charge for the numerous suits to be brought against him," Ironwood growled.

"Indeed," Arjun added angrily, clenching his fists, "That Dust mine was marked off limits to us even though it's in our territory! We abided by the SDC's recommendation it was worthless! I'll need to find how many inspectors were bribed..."

"We'll track them down," Saia said, "But knowing this gives us another means to get the treaty finalized!"

"And another common link," Ghira added, "If he's been doing this to all of our nations, that means we can make him the true villain to direct all our ire at. Very useful to have a common enemy."

This was torture to Nick. Now, he wasn't as immature as he used to be. Back in the day, he would jump out a window with some kind of lame excuse to get out of boring meetings. But even he had a limit, and it was fast approaching.

Poor Whitley looked bored out of his mind, and he was very nerdy! Not that Nick disliked nerds. He appreciated their ability to handle things he could not. But he was and never would be a nerd.

Except about fighting. He was a super nerd about fighting!

Isabel rested a hand on his forearm. She smiled in understanding.

"We're almost done, I promise," she murmured softly. Nick smiled back warmly, and squeezed her hand in his.

"You are my heart," he signed to her. It was how he had expressed his love for her the first time. Grandpa George, his mentor and father, had told him his heart was his greatest source of strength. And over time, he had come to realize Izzy was his greatest source of strength. So he had told her she was his heart.

She'd blushed and stuttered and giggled when he told her that. And she blushed deeply when he told her that now.

"You two," she signed back. They caught Saia's eyes. The queen smiled knowingly, and rested a hand on Arjun's forearm. They had been at this for several hours now-Even Arjun seemed to be getting a bit impatient.

The elevator doors opened. Everyone turned to see Athena Nikos, with her butler, and Barsara Atlan with her husband Logos, stride into the room. Athena herself was in a dark red dress with a feathery headdress. Some kind of Hellenic style, though Nick didn't know the terms.

"Hello all!" Athena said grandly, "I hope we're not interrupting?"

"Not at all," Ozpin said, "I was hoping all the parents could contribute what they could to our enterprise."

"Of course!" Athena declared, pointing a finger to the ceiling, "And we have a wonderful idea! You see, I believe making videos for the Festival to help sell the idea of the treaty would be a great idea!"

"I have wanted to try directing," Logos admitted, as Barsara nodded. Orestes was playing with his butterfly knife and looking exasperated as usual.

"And," Athena added, striding forward to lean against the table, "I was thinking that all of us working together to get ideas for shorts would be grand! You've all lived such interesting lives and had so many adventures! I want to get as much as I can from all of you!"

"Much of what we're discussing is classified," Ironwood pointed out. Athena shook her head.

"I know and we won't get into that, but we still need to put a human face on this whole endeavour!" Athena cried. "That and... It would help if we could better sell the cover story for Jaune's arranged marriages."

"Agreed," Barsara said intently, "People are going to question it and we need more background."

Nick sighed. Well, this was also really boring. But hopefully they'd just dismiss it or focus on it tomorrow, after a break-

"Agreed," Ozpin said thoughtfully, "It would be useful to get on top of the public relations game."

"Me too!" Kali said with a big smile, "I've always wanted to work with real Thornywood stars anyway!"

"Oh, you look wonderfully photogenic, Kali!" Athena giggled, "So does your daughter! Oh this will be so much fun! We'll need lights, cameras, catering...!"

Nick looked over at Ironwood, hoping the stern military commander would veto this.

Come on, come on...!

Ironwood looked considerate... Then nodded.

"I suppose we could add that to the docket of things to work out," Ironwood ground out, "PR is important. The military is fully aware of this."

Nick looked over at Arjun. His last hope...

"And you too, Saia!" Athena enthused, "May's story is the stuff of Thornywood magic! I want to bring it to life!"

"Oh, well," Saia smiled, "It is nice it has a happy ending..."

Arjun looked back at Nick, sighed, and shrugged.

"I obey my wife as much as you do," he replied.

Nick nodded. Well... There was only one thing left to do.

"And you, Mister Arc? What would you like to contribute to the discussion?"

"My Father senses are tingling!" Nick declared, standing up abruptly. "Excuse me!"

"Nick, wait!" Isabel cried, as Nick ran out. He hit the call button several times. He scowled.

"It's in use," he muttered. "Plan B! See you all later, guys! I'll pay for the window, Headmaster!"

Nick barreled right out a window with a crash. Isabel stood up, angry and mortified.

"NICHOLAS ARC YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" She bellowed, running out and jumping through the broken window after him.

The elevator opened, revealing Professor Port. He beheld the shocked individuals sitting around the table. He looked at the broken window, and nodded.

"Ah," he said, "I take it Nick Arc just left?"

"Is... Are they going to be all right?" Barsara asked slowly. Port chuckled.

"Of course! They used to jump out windows all the time back in my day!"

"So dramatic," Willow sighed happily. Arjun and Saia just rolled their eyes in nostalgic exasperation. Athena nodded and beamed.

"YES! Oh, we're gonna make such amazing cinema with all of you!"

"I can hardly wait," Ozpin deadpanned.

 

[FinalFormer]

Cross-posted From the SpaceBattles Thread

Glimpses Into Another Timeline: Dance The Night Away

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kuo Kuana, Menagerie. 3 Years After The Defeat of Salem.

"You really look amazing, tonight."

No matter how many times she heard it, Blake Arc-Belladonna blushed at her husband's words.

"You say that every time we go out." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Then stop being beautiful." Jaune Arc smiled, pulling his wife's chair for her as they sat down for dinner.

It was the first Friday of the month, which meant that it was time for their monthly dinner and dance date night. It was the first one they had in since Leander and Leandra were born. Kali was more than happy to babysit for them if it meant that she got to spoil her grandkittens and if it increased the possibility of Jaune and Blake having more kids. She even hoped that they'd have another set of twins or by some miracle have triplets.

Like that'll ever happen.

Since it was her turn to choose the restaurant, they went to Blake's favorite noodle shop. Sure, they could go here any day they want, but tonight they had a special Lovers menu that had Rainbow trout, halibut, black cod, and (Her favorite) Atlesian Tuna. These fish were served as a stew with thick noodles. The staff was surprised the first time Jaune and Blake came here after their wedding because when she was a pre-teen, Blake would order this special swearing up and down that she had a boyfriend.

What was funnier to them was Jaune fitting the description of the fake boyfriend Blake claimed she had.

"You know," Jaune leaned in, hoping no one would hear him. "If you wanted fish noodles, I could've just made this at home."

"That would defeat the purpose of us going out tonight," Blake snarked. "Besides, you'd still owe me a dance."

The two laughed. Enjoying their meal together. It was nice to enjoy nights like these, Blake thought. They shared some stories about their embarrassing families.

"I really hope my mom doesn't make another scrapbook," Blake sighed, her cat ears flattening. "It's bad enough she shows everyone the one she has for me. Leander and Leandra don't need that kind of embarrassment."

"I think my mom has yours beat," Jaune said. "She has a whole page dedicated to their first medical chart. And remember when we did your first ultrasound? She has a copy of the paperwork in there, too."

"Oh, no. Please don't tell my mom, Jaune. If she finds out, She'll end up starting a war with your mom." Blake laughed.

"My lips are sealed," Jaune motioned sealing his lips. He took a piece of tuna and ate it. "My mom would win, by the way."

Once they finished their meal, the mood in the restaurant began to change. It was time to dance the night away.

"Well, my lady," Jaune stood up, sticking his hand out towards her. "I believe I owe you a dance."

Taking his hand, Blake let Jaune lead her to the dance floor. She still remembered how well he danced back in their Beacon days. The dress she was wearing was similar to the one she wore back then, the only difference was the skirt was a bit longer.

The band began playing. The music they chose was Vacuoan Tango. Jaune knew this. It was his specialty. He had to help his sisters dance to this after all.

It was thrilling. It was powerful. It was romantic.

Every turn and swing made Blake look like twirling darkness. Jaune was leading the whole time.

They got lost in their movements for what seemed like hours. All that existed was them and the music.

When the music ended, took up a striking pose. The other guests began clapping. The two were nearly out of breath. Blake was close to Jaune's chest, looking up at him.

Jaune looked at Blake and noticed something. He knew that look in her eyes. He knew them very well.

He wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

--------------------------------------
I know I should be writing Side Stories for the first date of the others, but I re-read the Jaune and Blake Heart to Heart chapter and I really wanted to write a short story about one of their date nights would look like. Especially after Leander and Leandra are born.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Isabel smiled warmly as she sat down in one of many courtyards in the Elphaba Memorial Garden at Vale. Unlike the others this one was replete with ancient statues alongside the flowers, as well as a few trees. Her future daughters-in-law (and one son in law) and Nora had all convened here with her, sitting on stone benches or just on the grass around her with their lunches.

"Aw, this brings me back," Isabel sighed, as Nora eagerly devoured her lunch next to her. Glynda had ended up on her other side, while Winter, May, Pyrrha, Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Arslan, Ren and Emerald were scattered around close by. "I always liked this garden for lunch and studying, so much privacy!"

"I seem to recall you using it for romantic encounters with Nick," Glynda said dryly. Isabel flushed and glared.

"I wouldn't be talking given you're involved with my son, Professor Goodwitch," Isabel hissed. Glynda went bright red, and cleared her throat.

"Th-That's in the future!" She said weakly.

"Great to know, Mom!" Nora said cheerfully, and Isabel blushed. The rest of the future brides all blushed and looked around in speculation. Blake was already making notes.

Ren remained stoic, though he couldn't help a small smile at Nora when she looked at him.

"Still, it is nice to know these things," Yang sighed, "The upper classmen are a little stuck up and not many talk to us newbies."

Glynda frowned.

"I'll have to address that," she muttered, "We did help instruct the younger classmen back in the day-I wasn't aware it had changed."

"I mean, Team SLVR is pretty cool," Ruby chirped, "And so is Team CFVY! But most of them don't seem to bother much with us."

"Simin Magister, leader of Team SLVR," Weiss sighed happily, "He's so helpful and kind and knowledgeable about Dust," Weiss beaed, "And handsome-Ah..." She panicked. "B-But Jaune is far more handsome! Really!"

She immediately pulled out her Scroll and began texting. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think your son is going to vanish just because you thought Simin was hot."

"I-I'm just making sure!" Weiss stuttered, as similarly uncomfortable looks fell on everyone's faces. May and Emerald immediately pulled out their Scrolls and texted frantically, shortly followed by everyone else. Winter looked like she was tempted to pull out her military communicator.

Isabel cleared her throat, her maternal authority coming out as naturally as breathing.

"Now now. We need to take time to relax and rest," she advised, "And not invent worries for ourselves. There's no indication the time travel works that way. Let's focus on something else, huh?"

"How about how you all met Brother Jaune?" Nora suggested cheerfully. Ruby beamed.

"Oh, that was great! I got blown up by Weiss' Dust because she didn't secure it properly-"

"It was secured properly, you're just an idiot," Weiss sighed. Ruby continued undaunted.

"And he helped me up and was super nice and friendly!"

Isabel glanced at Weiss.

"And you, Weiss?"

Weiss coughed as Yang and Blake both shot her smug looks.

"Um... He hit on me and I insulted him before heading off," she managed. To everyone's surprise, Isabel chuckled.

"Oh! Just like how I met my Nick! Well he didn't actually hit on me, I thought he was. But he was just being sincere." She sighed fondly.

"He threw up on my boots on the airship," Yang volunteered, chuckling a little. " He cleaned them off himself, so I was still annoyed with him but... Hey, he did clean up his mess."

"Ew," Emerald wrinkled her nose. Isabel again laughed.

"Nick did the same thing on our first training mission! He got airsick back in the day."

Yang was very smug and didn't try to hide it. Weiss scowled.

"You're proud of that?"

"Prouder than your first meeting. Well, technically second since we're childhood friends," Yang sing-songed. Ruby glared at her big sister.

"Yang!"

"Sorry, sorry," Yang managed, holding up her hands.

Blake cleared her throat.

"We... Haven't really talked much before now," Blake admitted. "Though he did recommend me a book once in the library. I-I rather liked it."

"We met when I was praying in the Star Maiden Garden," Arslan said calmly, "He prayed with me and it was very nice."

"Um... When our teams met during the transfer," Emerald said with a shrug, "I was supposed to spy on him for... You know..."

"Your terrorism plot," Yang stated bluntly, as Emerald glared back. "What? That's what it was!"

"Um," May managed softly, "He-He helped me out in History Class since I'd forgotten my notes. He was very kind." She blushed deeply.

"Unfortunately I only just met him this weekend," Winter confessed. Glynda shrugged.

"First class. He... Didn't do very well," she admitted. "Later he asked if I could help him outside of class and I gave him my Scroll number."

Isabel glared. Glynda shook her head.

"Just to help him!" Glynda insisted. She glared at the younger women. Yang was the only one brazen enough to smirk back... For a moment, anyway. Even Emerald lowered her eyes.

Pyrrha beamed, just the tiniest hint of smugness in her eyes.

"He was the first person not to know who I was," Pyrrha sighed happily, "And I pinned him to a tree during Initiation so he couldn't get away."

Emerald stared at Pyrrha in disbelief, as did most of the other brides. Arslan shook her head.

"That you consider that romantic says so much," Arslan muttered. Pyrrha flushed, but continued.

"And we became Partners... After Weiss saw him pinned to the tree and walked off."

"You what?!" Winter demanded, turning on and glaring at Weiss. She coughed.

"I-I'm sorry!" Weiss cried, holding up her hands, "He was annoying!"

"It's all right, it's all right," Isabel said, holding up a hand, "We all make foolish mistakes! Especially at this age." She shook her head then looked back at Pyrrha. "And then?"

Pyrrha beamed, her cheeks bright red.

"And then I unlocked his Aura with the sacred chant I used~." She sighed and held her cheeks. "It was perfect!"

She didn't seem to notice or care about the jealous glares directed her way. Isabel blinked and then laughed.

"What? Unlocked his Aura? That's silly! Nick unlocked his Aura before he left!"

Pyrrha was shaked out of her flashback, and blinked at her future mother-in-law.

"Um, n-no, sorry Doctor Arc," she said, "His Aura was locked. He even bluffed that it was before I unlocked it."

"Wh-Why didn't you unlock it, Aunt Isabel?" May managed. Isabel shook her head.

"I was going to unlock it when he went to Medical School... If Nick didn't unlock it then..." She rounded on Glynda, her eyes blazing in fury.

"YOU LET MY SON GET CATAPULTED INTO THE EMERALD FOREST WITHOUT HIS AURA BEING UNLOCKED?!"

Glynda immediately lifted up her hands in appeasement.

"T-To be fair, his Aura was fairly strong before being unlocked! And who would be crazy or stupid enough to undergo Initiation without their Aura being unlocked?"

"CLEARLY MY SON!" Isabel growled.

"It wasn't my fault! Ozpin overruled me!" Glynda said quickly.

"D-Doctor Arc, please!" Pyrrha tried, "We don't need another scene!"

Isabel scowled, and resumed sipping her tea. She calmed herself down.

"Fine," she muttered, "But the Headmaster and I are having words."

"Please don't throw another bus into the office," Glynda sighed. Isabel flushed.

"I-I only did that when I was... Ahem... Inebriated! Just a little!"

"Really?!" Nora gasped. "Can you tell me about that, Mom?"

Isabel sighed.

"Yes, but only so you can avoid making my mistakes in the future."

"Oh, I'll just make whole new ones!" Nora said cheerfully.

Emerald slowly shook her head and chuckled.

"Well... He has balls. I will give him that," she admitted.

Winter sighed.

"Seems we'll have a lot to discuss on our date," she murmured, as Isabel regaled them all with the tale of the Party That Got out of Hand and Ended with a Bus in Ozpin's Office.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Glimpses into Another Time: Winter: At the Office

- - -

Northern Solitas, Mantle/Atlas, Five Years after Salem's Defeat

- - -

"Seriously General," Marrow Amin sighed, leaning back in his chair in General Arc-Schnee's office, "You could hire a babysitter."

"You'd have no shortage of volunteers," Elm Ederne added.

"Don't look at me!" Harriet Bree huffed, "I don't want to look after any brats! Er, kids," she said quickly, at Winter's glare.

Winter shook her head with a sigh.

"Honestly, can't you be professional?" She asked.

Theodore suckled rather loudly, despite the blanket over him and Winter's chest. Her subordinates gave her dry looks.

Winter shrugged.

"What? My son needs to eat and well... I forgot the bottles. It's not like I'm doing this in public."

"Would make your addresses more memorable," Marrow joked, even as Winter, Harriet and Elm all glared at him. He coughed. "Still! You're already carrying your next kid! You have plenty of leave time!"

"And I'm going to take it," Winter insisted. Theodore cooed, and so she gently pulled him away, holding him with one arm while fixing her uniform under her blanket. She pulled the blanket away and expertly cleaned off her son's mouth, smiling as he snuggled against her. She turned back to her subordinates as she tucked her son back into his baby carrier.

"But we're still not stable enough for me to leave the public spotlight," she stated firmly, "So..." She looked apologetically over at her son, "I have to split my time." She reached up to caress his chubby cheek, and he flailed and wriggled about, impatient.

Winter sighed and pulled him out of the carrier. She turned and set him down on the baby blanket next to her desk, and handed him a few toys to chew on. He gummed them aggressively, making happy hoots and squawks. She turned back to Harriet, Elm and Marrow with a shrug.

"That and... I never want to be like my parents," she murmured, going through her paperwork while sparing her little son a glance. Elm shrugged.

"You love him and take care of him-I think you're already doing better," she said.

"Yes, but I still want to be there for him," Winter insisted. "Even while I'm working. And I can't put it all on Jaune! He has his own duties!"

There was a call on the holo. She activated it.

"Yes?"

Her aide, Marcus Cole, shook his head.

"Sorry to bother you, General, but Colonel Falke has an urgent message. Looks like Vale's Southern Islands might be about to revolt."

"What?" Winter asked icily. Cole nodded.

"Yes. His training group was assigned to the area and ROE wasn't updated for this. It's a huge diplomatic mess already and the High Council are already demanding answers."

"I'm on my way," Winter sighed. She turned off the holo, and looked at her subordinates. She bit her lower lip.

"You three aren't doing anything important right now, right?"

"Well-" Harriet tried to protest, but Marrow put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Elm smiled gently for all of them.

"We'll handle him, Winter. Don't worry about a thing," she said warmly. Winter slowly nodded.

"All right." She got out of her chair, knelt down, and kissed and hugged Theodore.

"Mommy will be right back, I promise," She whispered. Winter stood up and strode out of the office, the doors sliding shut behind her. Harriet sighed and went around behind the desk. She knelt down and scowled at Theodore, who was rolling around happily as he chewed on a cute duck toy.

"See? He doesn't even care she's gone," Harriet said, "Little guy's stronger than she thinks. Why have all three of us watch him?"

"Beats filling out paperwork," Marrow said, dropping his Scroll on the table and going around to kneel and watch Theodore from the other side. Harriet huffed.

"Watching him wiggle and squeal isn't my idea of fun-OW!"

Theodore had thrown his toy right at Harriet, and nailed her in the eye. He clumsily reached up and grabbed onto his feet as he giggled up at the growling Atlasian officer. Elm and Marrow both tried and failed not to laugh.

"Little brat!" Harriet snarled. Elm came around and bent down, looking at the giggling baby with a smile.

"That can't have actually hurt," she said, between coos at the baby. Harriet scowled.

"No... Just my pride," she huffed. Marrow grinned as he held a set of plastic keys over Theodore and jangled them.

"Just think of how badass he'll be when he finally grows up," Marrow said. Theodore grabbed the keys and yanked them out of his hand. "Ha! Strong grip already!"

Harriet huffed.

"If we're looking after a baby, the Chief's baby of all babies, we're doing this right!"

- - -

Winter stormed back towards her office, her heart pounding in her ears. Turns out that the reports of revolution were a bit exaggerated-Terrorists had taken over the local governor's office and declared a full uprising, but had almost no support. They'd just used lots of bots to simulate it on social media. The local Valean security forces had dealt with it (with an assist from a few Hunters) and the High Council looked like idiots for believing something trending on XYZ.com.

Not the first time, and certainly not the last, Winter sighed mentally. Colonel Falke had gotten a good laugh out of that.

Now she could get back to her usual paperwork and her son.

She rounded the corner, headed for her office. She opened it... And frowned. Nobody was inside.

She quelled the spike of panic in her chest with long practiced ease. She used her Scroll and dialed up Harriet.

"No answered," she murmured with a frown. She then heard Theodore squealing happily down the hall. She walked briskly down the hallway, towards the local break room.

She peeked inside. Her eyebrows nearly shot up to her hairline.

"Yeah! Hang on little guy!" Marrow cheered.

"You can do it!" Elm encouraged him.

"Hang on tight, you brat!" Harriet encouraged in her own way.

Theodore was holding onto a robot vacuum cleaner, same as multiple drones across Atlas' new military HQ. And Theodore was perched on top of it, laughing happily as it jerked and scurried about like a panicked mouse. Theodore lost his grip and fell back, but before Winter could move to intercept, Harriet gently caught him and held him up.

"How long that time, Marrow?" Harriet asked.

"Three minutes, ten seconds!" Marrow cried. "A new record!"

"He's such a badass!" Harriet crowed.

"Haha! You're so good at this, so good!" Elm teased, bending down to nuzzle Theodore-Not an easy thing to do given her height. Theodore giggled and reached out to her chest, hanging on tightly. "Woah! Eager little guy, huh?"

"Takes after his dad," Marrow joked, and the other two specialists laughed.

"Ahem."

All three Specialists turned to look at Winter. She scowled at them. Marrow coughed, Elm winced, and Harriet scowled.

"Ah, hey General," Marrow said, "How'd it go?"

"Just fine," Winter stated coldly. Elm held up her hands.

"Sir, he's totally fine. And he loves it!"

"Yeah!" Harriet enthused, holding Theodore up, "He's a little badass!"

Winter looked at Theodore's happy face. She melted inside and sighed.

"Just be careful with him?" She said firmly, walking up and holding him tightly. He snuggled into her arms.

"Of course we are!" Marrow insisted. "Nothing's happening to the little guy. Not on our watch."

Winter was silent for a bit, before she nodded.

"I know," she said, the weight of old fears in her grateful voice.

She looked to Theodore, who happily grasped her face. She sighed.

"Well, could be worse. You could have been betting on him."

All three Specialists looked very guilty.

Winter scowled. Harriet shrugged.

"What? We were betting on him, not against him! That's gotta count for something!"

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

"Alright, it's just down these stairs, son!" Nick set Jaune down as they stopped at a stairwell Jaune had passed many times before but had never gone down.

"Why are the training rooms for aura blade techniques in the basement?" the younger Arc wondered as he followed his father down the stairs.

"Safety concerns, mostly," Nick answered, checking to see if the room he had practiced in during his own school days was available. It was, and Nick led his son inside. "Aura blades cut through their targets, so when you're practicing, you need an incredibly solid backstop. Some aura blades can be insanely powerful—powerful enough to blast through the normal backstops you'd find at a shooting range. So, the school has the aura blade ranges down here on the edge of campus, where the backstop is bedrock, and the consequence of blasting through it is just making the room bigger."

"I guess that makes sense," Jaune allowed as he looked around the room his father had led him into. It looked a lot like an average indoor shooting range, with several holographic emitters along the floor and ceiling to create targets. The back wall, acting as the backstop, was different, though. As his father had said, it was bare bedrock, with several gashes of varying lengths and thicknesses painting the history of those who'd used the room before.

Penny followed them into the room, locking the door behind her before making her way to the old control panel the elder Arc fiddled with, her eyes literally glowing with curiosity.

"That shooting range control module looks like a brand that was discontinued before I was ready for my first combat trials," the redheaded gynoid observed. "I was always curious about what the old systems our current ones replaced were like. How does it work?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Nick admitted as he finally managed to power the thing on. "This was installed after I graduated, and it's a different model than the one the militia back home uses."

"May I take a look, then?"

"Hmm? Oh! Sure! Go ahead!" Nick smiled at her. "While you're figuring that out, I'll go over the basics with Jaune. We'll waste less time that way."

Nick made his way over to Jaune, who was examining Crocea Mors in preparation while standing beside the firing line.

"So, we should probably start at the beginning, right?" Jaune looked up from his sword with a nervous air. "Because I haven't learned a single thing about aura blades since I was catching up on my fundamentals instead."

"Don't worry, son," Nick gave a reassuring grin. "It's simple! You'll get the hang of it in no time!"

"Hopefully," Jaune worried.

"No, seriously, aura blades aren't complicated at all," Nick held up his own sword in demonstration. "You're just taking control of something your aura does reflexively and shaping it deliberately instead. It's not that much trickier than controlling your own breathing."

"What am I doing reflexively?" Jaune asked.

"Extending your aura to your clothes and weapon," Nick answered. "Everyone with an active aura does it without even thinking about it because everyone, on some level, recognizes their clothing and weapons as an extension of themselves. That's why no huntsman or huntress rips up their outfits when taking hits and why we don't damage our own weapons when we hit stuff with all our might. The trick behind aura blade techniques is becoming aware enough of the process to redirect it so you can make it do things it wouldn't normally do."

"And that's why we can use stuff like baguettes like they're real weapons, instead of flimsy bread that'd just crumble under that kind of abuse," Jaune added to show his understanding. "How does this translate to aura blades?"

"Well, it's connected to intent," Nick explained. "Which your example of using food as a weapon actually feeds into. Heh, feeds," a small smile graced the man's lips. "Anyways! Since your aura is your soul manifesting into the world, the way you view the things you extend your aura into can help shape things a little bit. Thinking of a baguette as a sword or club lets your aura imbue that baguette with some of the qualities of a sword or club, but that can only go so far because not even the craziest person in the world can convince themselves on every level that a baguette isn't bread. That's why you need a real blade to make aura blades."

The elder Arc held up his own sword, its edges starting to glow the same color as Nick's aura.

"By redirecting your aura into the edge of the blade, you make the edge sharper because your soul recognizes the edge as an edge," Nick turned to face the wall acting as a backstop. "Once you're aware enough of the process, you can concentrate even more aura into the edge, creating a substance of pure aura that has all the features of the edge underneath it used in its shaping. Make that substance substantial enough, and it will retain its cutting properties even as you slide it off the blade and into the distance!"

Nick casually swung his sword in the direction of the back wall, the aura sliding off the blade and flying through the air in a vaguely crescent shape before striking the bedrock with a loud crack. A fresh, shallow gash was carved into the stone.

"With practice, your aura blades can become stronger and sharper," Nick's blade lit up with his aura again. "The edge of your metal blade becomes the suggestion that helps shape your aura into something more than a normal cutting edge! You can manifest the very idea of slicing into your aura and send it out into the world!"

He swung his sword again, only this time Nogg shone much brighter, and Nick swung with more vigor. The resulting crescent of aura slammed into the bedrock with a notable THWAM that sent tremors through the floor and left a deep canyon cut into the stone.

"Once you're manifesting the very idea of slicing into your aura, the aura blades you make will be able to cut into almost anything!"

"Woah," Jaune looked at the damage with awe before his gaze drifted down to Crocea Mors. The hints of the family crest could be seen on the sheath, which raised the question: "How is the family technique different from a normal aura blade?"

"Watch closely," Nick instructed as he held Nogg where Jaune could get a good look at it and lit the blade up with aura once again. He deliberately charged the aura slowly so his son could observe every second of the process, wondering if and hoping that Jaune would notice the trick if he did it in slow motion. Eventually, the aura had been concentrated enough to be ready, and Nick let loose:

"TWIN MOON SLASH!" The elder Arc shouted as he turned to face downrange while swinging Nogg towards the back wall and then immediately swinging it back along the same trajectory. A sharp crescent of brilliant aura surged through the air with a second, slightly smaller crescent of aura following several inches behind the first.

THWAM-WAM! The sound of the first crescent striking the bedrock blended into the sound of the second crescent impacting in the exact same location.

Jaune blinked in amazement. The two aura blades had been a dead ringer for the family crest from the moment they left his father's blade to the moment they struck the wall. He mentally compared the two normal aura blades he had seen with the family technique, trying to pinpoint the difference from what he had seen. Eventually, he thought he had something, but to confirm it...

"Show me again," Jaune asked with a focused brow.

Nick obliged his son, holding Nogg where it was clearly visible before slowly building up the aura and sending another pair of cutting crescents downrange.

THWAM-WAM!

"You never built up aura on Nogg's tip," Jaune slammed an excited fist into an open palm. "That let you make two separate aura blades on the same sword simultaneously!"

"Exactly!" Nick grinned proudly. "And with a little practice, you can send both aura blades along the same path to a target, striking them twice in quick succession. Do it right, and the second aura blade will be directly behind the first and almost unnoticeable to your opponent, making it more likely they'll try to block or deflect when they really ought to dodge."

"Because if they try to block, they'll get hit with twice the force they're ready for," Jaune reasoned out from his father's words. "And if they try to deflect... If they can deflect the first aura blade, their guard would probably be out of position to deflect the second one, which will hit before they can get back into position."

"You got it, son," Nick happily confirmed. "Now, there are a handful of warriors in the world talented enough to deflect both, but they'd either have to notice it coming first or always assume it was coming. And if it wasn't coming, then they just cost themselves a precious second that could be the difference between life or death."

"So, if someone starts throwing aura blades at me, I should always dodge, unless someone's behind me," Jaune concluded. "In which case, I'd be better off blocking while being ready for a double hit instead of deflecting."

"Yeah, that's more or less what you'd have to do," Nick agreed before reassuringly going on, "Though it's not likely you'd ever find yourself having to do that. It's honestly surprising how few people learn how to make aura blades, and out of those that bothered, even fewer of them learned techniques as effective as the Twin Moon Slash. I mean, we call it a family technique for a reason! The list of people outside of the family that have learned how to do it is really short."

"Why, though?" Jaune wondered. "The basic idea seems simple enough."

"It goes directly against most aura blade traditions," Nick shrugged before elaborating. "You see, most techniques that use the edge of the sword to form an aura blade are for curved swords with a single edge, like a katana or saber, because the curve makes it slightly easier to slide the aura blade off of the sword. On the other hand, most techniques using straight swords focus all of the aura into the tip of the blade, and they kind of draw the attack into existence like they're swinging about a firebrand."

Nick focused his aura into Nogg's tip to demonstrate, swinging the sword about in a fencing salute that ultimately sent a crescent of aura energy downrange and left an interesting wavy pattern on the backstop.

"In other words, you're going to learn a style most people assume is better with curved single-edged swords, and then using that style in a way that can only be pulled off with a straight double-edged sword," Nick summarized as he turned to face Jaune again. "That little bit of non-standard logic has made the Twin Moon Slash a mystery to those outside of the family in spite of how simple it is."

"Right," Jaune pulled the blade half of Crocea Mors from its shield-sheath half. "So, where do I start?"

"You start by consciously redirecting your aura," Nick instructed. "It shouldn't be hard for you since your semblance is all about redirecting your aura. Once you've gotten a good grip on how your aura flows within you, focus on how it flows through your effects and protects them too. Notice how the aura flowing through your clothes and armor differs from the aura flowing through your natural body, and then notice how the aura flows differently through your weapon."

Jaune closed his eyes and focused, his breathing falling into a similar pattern he used when meditating with Ren. Now that he was looking for it, he could feel it: how his aura pulsed around his heart and swirled around his cranium, flowing up and down his spine and out into his limbs before circling back into his core. And on his skin, he could feel the aura pouring out and soaking into his clothing like sweat, while the aura soaked into his clothing clung to him and soaked into his skin like a damp washcloth draped over his neck.

He turned his mind's eye to his sword and shield. He could sense his aura moving into Crocea Mors in a strange combination of how it moved into his clothing and how it moved into his limbs. It was disconcerting for a moment, like his soul recognized them as extensions of his own limbs in spite of their artificial nature.

"You're seeing it now, aren't you?" his father calmly observed. "Good! Now focus on the flow between your hand and your sword. Try to put more aura into the blade and push it towards the cutting edges."

Jaune did his best to follow his father's direction, and after a minute or so of concentrated effort, he could feel himself increasing the flow of aura, pushing it into the sword half of Crocea Mors and directing it to the edges of the blade. The aura he sent there felt sharper, and it became sharper still as he pushed more and more into the sword.

"Excellent work, son!" Nick congratulated, prompting Jaune to open his eyes. Crocea Mors shone brilliantly with the color of his aura, just as Nogg had shone in Nick's demonstration. Jaune's father then pointed downrange. "Now let go of it all as you swing!"

Jaune swung his sword towards the backstop, the aura energy cleanly sliding off his blade to form a brilliant yellow arc of slicing death. This slicing crescent of aura slammed into the bedrock with a mighty wam that left a distant gash in the stone.

"HA! Fantastic!" Nick celebrated his son's first aura blade by slapping Jaune on the back. "Now let's work on your speed and aim a bit before we move on to proper Twin Moon Slashes. Penny! Give us some targets!"

"Yes, Huntsman Arc!" Penny saluted before her fingers flew over the keys of the control module. The holoprojectors sprang to life, creating three-dimensional images of Beowolves and Creepers, some standing idle while others prowled about like they were patrolling their territory.

Jaune glanced at his sword before turning his gaze down the firing range and picked his first target, a Creeper gnawing on its own foot. Aura flowed into Crocea Mors, and a crescent of slicing aura streamed through the air and clipped the holographic Grimm's tail. A few moments later, another crescent of slicing aura properly struck the false Creeper solidly enough for the system to consider it a hit, even though it was still off-center.

And so it went on for the next fifteen or so minutes, with Jaune creating aura blades at a faster and faster pace while getting better and better at sending those destructive energy crescents where he wanted them to go. After the seventeenth holographic Grimm was cut in twain, Nick put his hand on Jaune's shoulder in a signal to stop, and as Jaune relaxed, his father handed him a bottle of water.

"You're picking this up quickly enough, so let's move on to creating a Twin Moon Slash after you've had a breather."

"Okay," Jaune accepted the water bottle, drank deeply, and took a moment to recenter himself. He worked out what he had to do in his head: create two separate aura blades on his sword by not connecting the sheath of aura energy at the tip of his sword, allow one to slide off his sword as he swung while keeping the other one on the blade, and then slide the second one off towards the same target with the backswing.

After running the process he was about to attempt through his mind a few more times, he nodded to show he was ready and faced downrange again.

With the first attempt, he failed to separate things at the tip of Crocea Mors, same with the second and third. On the fourth attempt, he separated things successfully, but both aura constructs slid off his blade at the same time. This repeated on his fifth and sixth attempt, but he almost worked it out on the seventh. On the eighth, he overcorrected, and neither aura blade slid off his sword when he swung the first time, both coming off on the backswing instead. Both aura blades left his sword on the appropriate swing during his ninth attempt, but they failed to head towards the same target. Ten and eleven worked out like nine, but on try twelve, he formed both blades, slid them off his sword with the correct swings, and sent them both crashing into the same target.

It was still sloppy as hell, but he had done it.

His first proper Twin Moon Slash.

"Well done," his father clapped. "Very well done! Keep this pace up, and you'll be ready this time next week!"

"Ready for what?" Jaune looked at his father and tilted his head in curiosity.

"To teach your wives how to do this!" Nick enthused. "At least all of the ones that can use a straight double-edged weapon. Teaching is a good proof of mastery, and it'd be a great bonding opportunity on top of that!"

Jaune's mind raced through the weapons his future brides used. Pyrrha's Milo and Weiss' Myrtenaster could easily be used to pull off a Twin Moon Slash, same with Arslan's dagger. Would anyone else's weapons work? Maybe Blake's Gambol Shroud... its sword mode was straight enough, and the cleaver sheath was a straight-edged sword in and of itself, but both of those felt like a stretch... The only other swordswoman in the group was Winter, and while he hadn't gotten a good look at her sword, he thought it was a saber, though maybe she'd be comfortable borrowing a straight sword for this...? He could also picture Ruby making some minor alterations to Crescent Rose that would make it work with the technique...

But other than that... Yang was all punches with the occasional kick. May had an ax. Emerald's blades were curved. Glynda used a riding crop.

He wouldn't be able to include everyone in this.

What could he do to make it up to the ones who couldn't participate? He highly doubted there'd be a true equivalent that could balance things perfectly. Something for each girl individually? But what if the girls who could learn the Twin Moon Slash were upset that those who couldn't were getting individual attention when they had gotten a group activity? Then he'd have to do individual activities with them too, which would still leave things out of balance, and then he'd have to do another round of individual activities and...

...Maybe he could make the Twin Moon Slash lessons one-on-one instead? But would the girls like it if their one-on-one time was training instead of some other activity? Could he combine Twin Moon Slash lessons with another activity the other girls could join in on? What if he—

Nick's fingers snapped in front of Jaune's face, breaking his line of thought.

"You're wearing your mother's overthinking face," Nick observed. "What's eating at you?"

"Oh, ah, I was trying to figure out a way to make the lessons fair to everyone," Jaune admitted.

"Well, there isn't a way to do that," his father said sagely, "but that isn't a problem."

"It isn't?" Jaune's voice was slightly incredulous.

"Oh no! Little bouts of unavoidable unfairness are going to crop up from time to time, no matter how hard you try to keep things fair, and in the end, all of you are going to be okay with it, so long as you're really trying," Nick reasoned. "Firstly, because your wives will all come to realize that those little bouts of unfairness will be to their benefit sooner or later, so they'll be willing to bear the little bouts that benefit another girl. Secondly, and more importantly, you love all of them, and all of them love you too, and everyone knows a little bit of unavoidable unfairness isn't going to change that. So, as long as you can clearly express that love, you don't need to keep things in perfect balance, because earnest love will help make up the difference."

"It will all work out because we really love each other...? I guess that's..." Jaune trailed off, uncertainty lacing his voice. Silence hung in the air as his father waited for him to find his words.

An undercurrent of worry found its way to the surface, and the words that made it real slipped past his lips. "My kids have done a good job selling me," Jaune's voice grew subtly shakier as each syllable flowed through the air. "All of them painting me as a dreamboat of a husband and father, and possibly the greatest hero of the century... And all of their mothers have grabbed onto the image they've painted with both hands and..." Jaune stopped for a moment, swallowed as his off hand started shaking, and started again. "I-I mean... What if they're in love with the guy I could be and not me? Am I a disappointment next to my future's shadow? What if I screw up and never become that guy? Would our kids vanish? What if—?!"

"Son! Son..." Nick placed a firm hand on Jaune's shoulder, cutting off the spiraling rant. "Que sera, sera."

"Huh?" Jaune tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow. "That old song they kept playing at Doris' Diner?"

"No, no, no," Nick gently shook his head. "What will be, will be."

"That's not helpful. That's not helpful at all," Jaune scowled as he looked his father directly in the eye. "In fact, a lot of your advice hasn't been helpful ever since I left home."

"I guess that's true," Nick heaved a weary sigh. "Sorry, son, I'm not the greatest at using words. Better with swords."

His son's unimpressed look made Nick wince at his own joke. The older Arc then snapped his fingers as he found a new way to put his words together.

"Okay! So what that means is: Worrying doesn't help you. It just wastes energy. The Breaker has a plan for you and your family, and worrying and twisting yourself up into knots isn't going to do you any good."

"I mean..." Jaune's scowl faded as he mulled over his father's words. "Okay, I get that. But is the Emperor Above still in control when time travel is involved?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't be," Nick affirmed with confidence. "Sure, I can see all of the thorny theological questions people can raise about this situation, but people have been asking those kinds of questions since the dawn of time! Why do bad things have to happen to good people, and other stuff like that. But worrying and second-guessing yourself isn't going to help this situation."

Nick placed his other hand on Jaune's other shoulder as he went on, "These girls like you, in the here and now. Sure, they might also like who you become, but that doesn't mean you need to become the Rusted Knight himself overnight! And remember: They aren't the women you marry yet either, so they have their own future shadows they're dealing with right alongside you. Everyone's gotta take this one day at a time. So don't be too hard on yourself, son. Whether it's learning how to fight or how to protect your women."

"I need more protection than they do!" Jaune reflexively objected.

"Ha! For now? Maybe," Nick gave his son's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "But there's all kinds of strength, son. The most important kind is the simplest: just continuing on the path, even when you can't see anything but a faint light ahead."

Jaune relaxed as some of the tension left his frame. His father's words weren't a panacea for his worries, but for the moment, they made things seem manageable.

"And look how far you've come already!" Nick enthused. "It's only been a few semesters since your mother unlocked your aura, and you're already learning advanced techniques that need years of preparation to be ready for!"

"Mom didn't unlock my aura," Jaune absentmindedly corrected his father.

"Huh?" Nick's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "But she always said she'd unlock your aura before you went off to medical school and—" Nick's eyebrows shot up in shocked realization, "—you didn't go to medical school."

"No, I didn't."

"Who unlocked your aura, then? And when?"

"Pyrrha unlocked it," Jaune explained. "During initiation, after she pinned me to a tree with her spear when I didn't have a landing strategy."

Nick suddenly pulled Jaune into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm glad you're here, son," Nick's hug grew tighter as he patted the back of Jaune's head. "I'll have to find a way to thank your partner later..."

He then grinned.

"But hey! The fact you pulled off something that crazy definitely proves you're gonna be amazing when you grow up, son!"

"Thanks Dad…?" Jaune managed, confused.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Radian, Gallia, Vale, Remnant

Nine years after Salem's Defeat

- - -

Yang Xiao-Long didn't feel like a human being. More like a tangle of scars and regrets holed up in a cozy cabin on Ruby and Jaune's farmland in Radian. The place was almost too perfect—clean, well-appointed, with wide windows that let in golden sunlight and a fridge perpetually stocked with beer from the local brewery. It was a haven, free of rent, free of demands, and yet… It felt like a cage. Yang slumped on the couch, a bottle in hand, nursing a hangover that throbbed like a second pulse, when a knock at the door jolted her.

"I'm not home!" she yelled, her voice rough with irritation.

The door creaked open, and Jaune Arc stepped in, his blue eyes bright despite the mechanical hand he adjusted absently. "Well, that's a neat trick."

Yang glared, her lilac eyes bloodshot and sharp. "What do you want, Vomit Boy?"

"It's a great morning," Jaune said, undeterred by her venom. "Why don't we spar some?"

Jaune's face had that stubborn look she knew too well—no room for argument.

She groaned, dragging herself to her feet, the weight of her hangover making every step a chore. "Sure, not like I had anything planned for today," she muttered, grabbing her gear with a begrudging scowl.

They stepped out to the lawn just beyond the farmhouse, where Zwei and his pups romped through the grass, their yips mingling with the laughter of Julian, Ruby and Jaune's three-year-old son. The boy, a mini-Jaune with Ruby's silver eyes and heart-shaped face, spotted Yang and barreled toward her.

"Aunt Yang!" he squealed, wrapping his arms around her leg in a fierce hug.

Yang's face pinched, fighting the urge to melt under his affection. Ah, my heart! He's too cute! she thought, schooling her features into something cooler.

"You sure it's safe for little P-money to be out here while we do this?" She asked Jaune, nodding toward the baby carrier where one-year-old Pyrrha slept soundly. Jaune smiled, ruffling Julian's hair. "Yeah. Zwei Junior never leaves her side. And my Aura sensing's good. Plus, I've got Julian to look after his little sister, don't I?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Julian chirped, puffing out his tiny chest.

Jaune hugged him tightly. "That's my boy."

There went another shot to her heart. She grimaced.

Julian scampered off to sit by Pyrrha, clutching a Scroll to record the spar. Jaune swung his sword into a well practiced stance, his movements smooth and practiced. Yang tried to mirror him, but her stance was a mess—wobbly, restrained, nothing like the fiery brawler she'd once been. Her thoughts drifted, dark and heavy.

Not like I was actually looking to fight anymore… close your heart to it, Yang. That life's gone, along with who I was.

Jaune struck first, a simple kata she could've parried in her sleep at her peak. She got the first two strikes, but fell for the feint and took the real strike head on. The blow sent her skidding across the dirt, landing hard on her back.

"Ow…" she groaned, rubbing her head.

"Yang!" Jaune called, reaching for her, concern flashing in his eyes.

"Aunt Yang!" Julian echoed, his little voice trembling.

Yang grunted and got back up, waving off Jaune's hands.

. "Since when did you get so fast?" Yang muttered, squinting at him.

"Ruby and I still spar when we get the chance," Jaune said, steadying with a warm smile. "And we do missions—Alliance needs us to take down Grimm cultists sometimes. Good exercise."

Yang rolled her eyes, not sharing his enthusiasm. She pushed his hands away.

"If you say so." She tried her stance again, just as sloppy, and lunged—only to trip over her own feet, face-planting into the dirt. "Shit!"

"AUNT YAAAANG!" Julian cried, running to her side.

"It's okay, she's fine!" Jaune assured him. Yang tried to brush his hands off, but he pushed through this and held her up. He helped Yang to the porch.

Julian's big, watery eyes locked on her, full of worry. "Are you okay, Aunt Yang? Are you?"

"Sure, kid," she said, forcing a smile, dirt still smudged on her face. Against her better judgment, she wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close, his warmth a small comfort against the ache in her chest. "Just got a bit of a headache, is all."

"I'll get breakfast," Jaune said, "Julian? Keep an eye on your aunt and sister, okay?"

"Okay Daddy!" Julian promised, as Jaune headed back into the farmhouse. Yang glanced over at Pyrrha-She was still sleeping peacefully, Zwei himself resting his head on her belly to keep her calm. It was so precious…

Julian hugged her tightly, and she felt his little heartbeat against her chest. She pinched her face again, and held his head against her chest to keep him from seeing it.

Jaune returned with plates of scrambled eggs, pancakes, ham, and fruit, handing one to Yang. "Here, we can train afterward," he said, shooing Zwei away just enough to pull Pyrrha up and into his lap as she woke, whining softly. He fed her bits of fruit and pancake, her one-toothed smile lighting up as she babbled, "Dada!"

"It's gonna get hectic with the twins," Jaune said, chuckling. "But Julian and Pyrrha are on solid foods, so it's smoother."

Yang snorted.

"Yeah, I was there last month," she mumbled, digging into her food slowly. She still felt sick but the protein helped. She was interrupted moments later by an adorable attack:

Pyrrha toddled over to Yang, collapsing onto her thigh with a gummy grin she shared with her aunt. Julian joined her, hugging his sister, their giggles filling the air as they playfully wrestled.

Yang's heart clenched, and before she could stop herself, she scooped Pyrrha up, nuzzling her close. "AWW, WHY ARE YOUR KIDS SO CUTE? NOT EVEN RUBY WAS THIS CUTE AT THEIR AGE!" Tears pricked her eyes, her voice breaking. "Why couldn't I have kids like this…"

Jaune's face softened, concern deepening. "Y-Yang?"

Pyrrha began to cry, and Julian kissed Yang's cheek, his little arms tight around her. Jaune stood, guiding Yang up to her feet. Pyrrha held on as Julian slid down to hold onto Yang's leg, and Jaune guided the whole group inside the farmhouse as Yang wept.

"Hey, champ, let's get Pyrrha and your auntie settled, okay?"

"Okay!" Julian chirped, toddling after them.

Yang collapsed onto the nearest couch in front of the TV, still sobbing.

Jaune set the kids in a fenced-off play area with Zwei Junior watching over, then returned to sit beside Yang on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she hesitated before leaning in.

"Yang… I haven't asked you anything since you showed up a few month ago. I respected your privacy. Ruby said you needed time… but if you want to talk, I'll listen."

"I-I'm fine," she tried desperately, even as she stared into the distance.

Jaune pressed gently, "At the moment, a first-year student—hell, me as a first-year—could beat you."

A heavy silence ensued, only broken by Pyrrha's babbling. Yang sucked in a deep breath.

"Do you think something's wrong with me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, not meeting his eyes.

"I do," Jaune said softly. "I think you're hurting… and I want to help. Ruby's worried too."

Yang's lips trembled, tears spilling over. "Why does everyone always leave me? Why is it that when I try to make them stay, it just pushes them farther away?" Her voice shook, raw and jagged. "I tried, I really did, but no matter what, I couldn't get her to stay…" She laughed, bitter and hollow. "Story of my life, am I right?"

Jaune hugged her tightly, his warmth steady against her trembling. "Yang… I'm sorry, please don't get angry… but Ruby and I think Blake did you wrong. She was a total… bad word I'm not saying in front of the kids."

Yang's breath hitched, but she didn't pull away.

"Raven didn't deserve you. Neither did Blake. You're better off without them. And you know who didn't leave? Me and Ruby. I know I'm biased, but I think we're better company."

Yang's tears fell faster, her voice small. "D-do you really mean that?"

"If Salem and the Ever After couldn't separate us, what could?" Jaune said, his smile warm. "Look at Julian and Pyrrha. They love you. Do you really care what Raven or Blake thinks? To them, you're as important as me, Ruby, or anyone in our family."

"Daddy! Daddy!" Julian called, waving a scribbled card. "Pyrrha and I made a card for Auntie Yang!"

Jaune grinned.

"Really? That's great, buddy!"

Jaune got up, walked to the play area, scooped up the kids and helped them toddle over.

"Cause you give cards to make people feel better!" Julian said, handing Yang a mess of scribbles—a rough sketch of blonde and black-red figures, a house, a rocket-horse, and cookies. He eagerly pointed out everything to Yang.

"See? That's Mama, Daddy, me, Pyrrha, Granny, Papa, you, and the house, and—and a horse. With a rocket. And cookies. Are you feeling better?" Julian asked, his eyes wide and earnest.

Pyrrha hugged Yang's leg, drooling slightly, babbling as she looked up at her Aunt, "Yam."

Yang's heart cracked open. She pulled Pyrrha close, nuzzling her, overwhelmed by their love.

"I… Y-Yeah," she murmured with a smile. She sighed softly.

"I just wish I had my own baby, my own family," she whispered, her voice thick with longing. "Something I can say is mine, that won't disappear on me."

She looked up at Jaune, his warm smile, his kind eyes, his broad chest and muscles… She flushed.

Oh no… No, don't you even think about-!

The door burst open, and Ruby's voice rang out. "I'M HOME!"

"MAMA!" Julian and Pyrrha squealed, toddling toward her. Ruby set down the baby carriers with the twins, Nick and Isabelle, bundled in bunny onesies, and hugged her older kids tightly before kissing Jaune.

"The twins are all right. Got all their shots!" she said, beaming. She took in the scene with a steady eye, and glanced at Jaune. He nodded, as Ruby turned to her older sister.

"Yang, I want you to get to know them better! You haven't even cuddled them yet! Come on!"

Yang, flustered, took the twins as Ruby handed them over, their soft cries tugging at her instincts. "Shh, it's okay, your Auntie Yang's here," she murmured, soothing them until they calmed. She smiled, but it was tinged with longing.

"I'll handle Julian and Pyr," Jaune volunteered. Ruby beamed and kissed him. Again Yang winced.

"Mm… Thanks sweetie," Ruby said. "Come on Yang!"

Ruby led her to the nursery, where she began feeding the twins. Yang flushed a bit, even as Ruby continued to chat breezily.

"Isabel taught me this great Aura technique to make breastfeeding way easier! Way better than with Jules and Pyr!"

"I… That's great," Yang said with a slow nod. Ruby finished, did up her top, and deposited the twins into their crib. She looked back over her shoulder at Yang.

"Hey, Yang, are you doing okay?" she asked, her silver eyes soft with concern. "You haven't cuddled the twins enough yet."

Yang glanced at her chest, then glanced at Ruby's. "They weren't kidding about having kids making 'em bigger," she said, deflecting. "Yours are almost as big as mine now."

Ruby laughed, winking. "Jaune's not complaining. Neither am I~." She grinned and gestured back at her babies. "Come on, touch them. Feel how soft they are!"

Yang blushed, turning away. "Heh, yeah, no, I love ya, sis, but not like that."

Ruby blinked. "…I meant my babies, you weirdo."

"Wha—but I—" Yang stammered, mortified, and gently caressed the twins' heads, her embarrassment fading as she watched them sleep.

Ruby's voice softened. "Yang… Julian streamed me your spar with Jaune this morning."

Yang froze, her walls crumbling as tears spilled over. Ruby immediately moved to hug Yang, but she pushed her away.

"Yang, I-What is it?" She asked. "What's wrong? Please, just tell me! Let me help-!"

"Nobody can fucking help!" Yang sobbed. "After Beacon, I came apart," she said, her voice raw. "I didn't know who I was anymore. Dad tried to help, but something inside me was still broken." She paced almost frantically in the bright, colorful nursery, her words pouring out like a reopened wound. "I pushed it down—there were bigger things going on. Then Haven happened, Raven, then Blake… it was too much."

She leaned against the wall, running her hands through her hair. "I learned that day Raven left because she was a coward, running from a situation she couldn't handle. I wanted it to be more than that…" Her voice broke. "When Blake came back, I got scared. I didn't want another meaningless answer for why someone left me. So I avoided her, forced myself to forgive her—not because I did, but because I was terrified of facing why she left. I knew it'd be the same as Raven's—she ran because she was a coward, too, who didn't know how to deal with me! Didn't know how to deal with fucking anything! And-And I'm just the fucking same!"

The twins began to cry.

Ruby moved towards her babies, soothing them. Yang, lost in her pain, didn't notice. "And Blake? She acted like nothing happened, believing the lie I told her—that I forgave her. She thought I was falling in love with her, but I never loved her!" Her voice cracked, despair taking over.

"I just deluded myself into thinking I did to keep her from leaving again. I abandoned you, Ruby, everyone, just to save myself from that pain. I became the very thing I hated… a coward like Raven."

She sank to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I hurt you, my-my own baby sister. I raised you, took care of you when Dad was drowning in his sorrows. I taught you everything to keep you safe. If that doesn't make me your mom in some way, I don't know what does." Her shoulders sagged. "But part of me doesn't want that, because it means I'm closer to Raven than I ever wanted to be. I left you to handle being a leader alone when I should've been there."

The room fell silent as Ruby settled the twins. Yang's lifeless eyes met hers, hollow and devoid of the fire that once defined her. "You wanna know what makes it worse? I hated you. All of you—Jaune, Weiss, Ren, Nora, Dad. I saw how happy you were, living lives I couldn't, not while I was trapped in that fantasy. But you and Jaune… you were everything I wanted. The Rusted Knight and his Red Reaper, chasing each other for decades despite everything. I wanted someone to love me like that, to stay no matter what. After all we've been through, I thought I deserved that. But everywhere I looked, others had it, and I… I was never enough."

Ruby's eyes brimmed with tears. "Yang…"

Yang's voice turned bitter. "I know why. A coward like me, no better than Raven, doesn't deserve that life. Someone who makes her mistakes isn't enough."

Ruby took a deep breath, stepping closer. "You're wrong, Yang. You do deserve better. You made mistakes, but you fought with us, risked your life for the world. You're punishing yourself, and that means the real you—my sister, my… my mother—is still in there. You're family. I'm sorry I didn't help you. I was overwhelmed, but that's no excuse. And… I hated you for a while too."

She hugged Yang tightly, her voice trembling.

"But I love you more than I hated you. You were always there for me when we were kids. You stumbled, screwed up, but you're not hiding or running anymore. Not now."

Yang's body shook, slowly returning the hug. "You should hate me… I deserve it."

"Did you kill Pyrrha? Murder Ozpin? Cause a war or serve Salem?" Ruby asked, her voice firm. "You fought to save the world. I could never hate you. And after what Blake did? I'm angrier at her than you. I don't hate her, but I don't like her right now." She stroked Yang's hair. "You took care of me for so long. I get how hard that was, how much you wanted to be free. I'm a mom now—I feel that little voice sometimes, wondering 'what if I didn't have kids?' But I love them. You weren't old enough to handle that burden, and I couldn't help you then… but I can now. You've been the strong one for so long. You don't have to be anymore. Jaune's strong enough for us both."

Yang laughed bitterly, pulling back. "Heh, Jaune's not mine."

Ruby's eyes sparkled with mischief. "No… but he could be. And more importantly… you could be his."

Yang and Jaune, who'd been listening silently from outside the nursery, blurted in unison, "WHAT?!"

Ruby grinned, undeterred. "Part of what I've learned is not repeating past generations' mistakes. Oz was an idiot until he listened to us. Dad screwed up with Raven and Mom. Yang, you're tired of being strong. Jaune saw how tired I was and stepped up. That's why I love him—among other reasons." She blushed, giggling. "I love him, and he loves me back. We're happy together. And… And so could you!"

Yang's face burned, her voice rising. "Ruby, are you asking me to get with your husband?!"

"Yes," Ruby said simply. "What, don't you like him?"

"You kidding? You could grate cheese off those abs…" Yang caught Ruby's smug grin and backtracked. "But that doesn't matter! You're asking me to be with someone who's married—to you!"

"Yes," Ruby said, unfazed. "You could be married to him too. No law against it. And you like him for more than his abs, right?"

"Y-Yes, but…!"

Yang's blush deepened, her mind reeling.

"You've carried so much guilt," Ruby continued. "Wanna make up for it? My way's simple: be Jaune's second wife and be happy with us forever."

Yang's protests faltered, a small, reckless part of her speaking before she could stop it. "W-would Jaune even want someone like me?" She slapped a hand over her mouth, mortified.

Ruby's grin widened. "How about you and Jaune talk in the bedroom? I need to check on Jules and Pyr!" She opened the door, beaming at Jaune. Not even surprised he was there. "You two talk it out, sweetie."

Jaune blinked, dazed. "I… o-okay?"

"J-Jaune?!" Yang squeaked, her face scarlet.

"Great!" Ruby hugged them both, then zipped off in a burst of petals. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do~!"

Jaune checked on the twins, still in a fog, then turned to Yang. "Um… hey… let's… go talk, huh?"

"Y-Yeah," Yang agreed with an awkward smile, "Talk. Talking sounds good. Let's just talk."

"Totally! Sounds great," Jaune agreed.

- - -

One month later…

In one of many examination rooms in the Arc-En-Ciel hospital, Isabel ran her Aura glowing hands over Yang's stomach. Yang laid on the exam table, looking anxious even as Ruby and Jaune stood alongside her. Julian was standing next to Jaune, gripping his hand, while Ruby carried Pyrrha. The twins were being babysat.

Isabel smiled at Yang.

"Congratulations!" She said, "You're pregnant!"

Yang beamed, tears coming to her eyes. Ruby laughed and hugged her, and soon after so did Jaune. Yang held onto them both tightly, her eyes glowing.

"Really? You've gotta be… Kid-in-me!" She laughed.

"Ah, there it is," Isabel sighed. She raised an eyebrow at Yang. "So.. Who may I ask is the father?"

Yang flushed. She glanced over at Jaune, who cleared his throat. Ruby beamed brightly. Isabel sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course… Well… I see you're both Summer's daughters."

"Thank you!" Ruby said brightly, as Jaune and Yang blushed bright red. Isabel smiled, and hugged Yang tightly.

"Welcome to the family," she murmured, "We're never letting you go."

Yang sobbed, and hugged her back.

For the first time, she could believe it.

- - -

Written with RedDragonEmpress.