Chapter Text
After their inevitable honeymoon phase of their relationship passed, Qrow and Clover sat down and talked for the first time since they met each other. There was a lot to go through, with the literal existence of merpeople and the near end of the world obviously being at the top of the list.
They decided to give themselves a few months, and they spent every day getting to know each other more until Qrow made his proposal official. The rest of their time was spent painstakingly planning the wedding (a duty that mostly went to Weiss, who almost immediately took over when the grooms couldn’t distinguish between two shades of white for the tablecloths).
In the end, it had all culminated into one elaborate wedding cruise, two rings and the words both of them had been waiting for since that reunion on the beach.
Ozpin smiled, looking between the two men, “I now pronounce you married. You may kiss each other.”
Cheers erupted from the audience as Clover grabbed Qrow by the front of his suit, and swooped him into a dip kiss. Bells chimed, the cake was cut and the bouquet was hurled into the crowd (and caught by a very flustered Blake).
Clover exhaled, looking out at the bustling crowd. They were well into the reception now, the party still going strong. He had never experienced anything like this back when he was a merman. Actually, there was still so much more for him to experience now that he was human. Luckily for him, he’d be able to experience it all with his new husband.
His husband. Just thinking about the word made him giddy.
“No magic shenanigans, no crazy sea sorcerer trying to kill us, and the cake tasted great,” Qrow said, leaning back on the deck’s railing, “I think this was a rousing success.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Clover said, smirking, “Though I’d say your wedding with Tyrian was a lot more entertaining.”
Qrow groaned, burying his face in his hands, “Don’t remind me.”
“What, there’s no harm in remembering!” Clover added, his face splitting into a shit-eating grin, “Though I guess I should count myself lucky we ruled out exes being invited to the ceremony.”
Groaning louder, Qrow lightly shoved him aside as he laughed.
“You’re a brat, you know that?” he grumbled, shooting him an incredulous look.
“You love me,” Clover teased, wagging his eyebrows.
Fondly rolling his eyes, Qrow reached out and tangled their fingers together.
“...yeah, I do.”
Fingers still entwined, their laughter died down as they stared into each other’s eyes, before slowly leaning closer-
“Uncle Qrow, come on!!” Ruby yelled, grabbing her uncle by the arm, “Yang and Nora are having another arm-wrestling match, you have to come watch. Sorry, Uncle Clover!”
Before he could protest, Qrow was quickly dragged away by his niece. Clover laughed, waving at the pair as they headed towards a ruckus on the other side of the party.
...Uncle Clover. That was going to take some getting used to.
In the meantime, there were still a few people he hadn’t gotten around to talking to yet.
“Clover!” Penny yelled, waving as he approached her and Weiss, “It’s a pleasure to see you again! I hope you’ve been enjoying the party.”
Despite the beating she had taken on the day of Tyrian’s attack, Penny had recovered at an almost scary rate, and had gotten back on her feet within the week. When she told Clover about it, he had half a mind to resurrect that tentacled bastard and kill him again himself.
“Likewise,” he said, “I’m just glad nothing went wrong.”
“You’re right, everything did go perfectly,” Weiss said, casually glancing at him as she adjusted some nearby floral arrangements, “If only the person who planned all of this was right here so you could properly thank them.”
“Alright, alright,” Clover laughed, holding his hands up, “You did a great job, Weiss. You should be proud.”
She visibly preened at the praise, “All in a day’s work. I’ll be expecting my pay sometime in the next week.”
“Right, remind me why we have to pay you when we didn’t technically hire you in the first place?”
“I’ve had to sit through six months of Ruby interrogating me about merpeople because of you. You owe me.”
Ahh, that was a whole other story. After Weiss’ identity as a former mermaid was revealed, she had to sit her friends down and explain everything to them in full detail. It had worked, and the group was now closer than ever, but as ‘punishment’ Ruby had from then on asked Weiss literally every question that came to mind about merpeople every time she’d seen her, much to her annoyance.
“Other than...that, how’s the reception been for you?”
“Good,” Weiss casually said, “Mostly uneventful.”
“Uneventful?” Penny asked, tilting her head slightly, “But you finally got to talk to Winter!”
Clover blinked. That would be the first time the two sisters had talked in...who knows how long.
“Huh. How did it go?” he asked.
“...We cleared the air,” Weiss said, “I finally got to say some things I should have a long time ago. She didn’t try to drag me back underwater, so overall I think it went pretty well."
She huffed, discreetly wiping her eyes, “Still...it was nice to see her again.”
Clover let out a small sigh of relief. Honestly, he was glad the Schnees were still on good terms. It looked like both sisters were going to have to carve their own paths, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be there for each other as they did.
“She’s over there if you want to see her,” Weiss said, gesturing towards a spot over the railing a few feet away, “I’m pretty sure Robyn was with her too.”
“And they definitely don’t have a surprise for you,” Penny added, bouncing on her toes.
“...subtle, Penny. Very subtle.”
Clover smiled, “Thanks, you two. You should head back to the others before Yang breaks her arm.”
“What?” Weiss scanned the other partygoers and spotted the arm-wrestling match, which by now was well underway.
She rolled her eyes, “Yang, Nora, now’s not the time!”
Weiss stormed towards her friends, ranting about the proper etiquette that should have been employed during a royal wedding reception (not that any of them would listen). Penny trailed behind her friend, sparing Clover one last wave that he gladly returned.
Following Weiss’ gesture, Clover walked over to the side of the deck and leaned over the railing, two familiar faces immediately coming into view as he did.
Robyn immediately grinned at the sight of him, “About time, your highness! I was starting to think you wouldn’t show up.”
“You started to think he wouldn’t come to his own wedding?” Winter asked, giving Robyn a deadpan stare. The mermaid blankly returned the look. It was nice to see those two were getting along.
Opening her satchel, Robyn rummaged through a few pieces of assorted junk before pulling out a fabric pouch and chucking it towards Clover.
“It’s a wedding gift. Congrats on tying the knot.” she said.
“Umm...thank you,” Clover said, staring at the pouch in his hands, “It’s a nice bag.”
“The surprise is inside the bag,” Winter responded.
Ah. That made a lot more sense.
Slowly, Clover unbuttoned the pouch and pulled out its contents. His eyes widened with shock.
It was the pin. Last he had seen of it, it had been shattered on the deck of the ship on the day of that wedding gone wrong. Somehow the trinket had been restored to its original form.
“The kids found the pieces onboard the ship,” Robyn explained, proudly crossing her arms, “It took a lot of planning and our group efforts-”
“Penny took it to a jeweller behind your back.”
“-but we managed to get it back into one piece! What do you think?”
It was just as beautiful as he remembered it being. Silver leaves perfectly set in place, catching the sunlight as Clover traced them with his fingertips.
He looked up, clutching it tight with tears in his eyes, “Thank you so much. Both of you.”
Winter scoffed, looking away, “It was nothing. There’s no need to get emotional.”
She was right, the three of them didn’t need to get all sad again. They had already said their goodbyes the day he left for the surface, and they were sappier than any of them would like to admit.
Besides, despite the cold words, Winter’s eyes were suspiciously red. For her dignity, Clover decided not to point it out. Robyn on the other hand...
“Awww, Ice Queen!” she cried, “You really are just a big softie!”
“Say one more word and I’ll cut out your tongue.”
Clover chuckled. He was really going to miss those two. Leaving them behind might have been his only regret.
Save for…
Gently the water nearby started to rumble and glow with a bright teal light, and Clover watched, dumbstruck, as King Ironwood slowly surfaced from the sea.
Ironwood glanced to his left, directly at Robyn. It was only then that Clover realised he had invited both the king and the fugitive he was supposed to be hunting to the same event.
“Ms Hill,” Ironwood murmured, barely trying to hide his contempt.
“Ironbitch,” Robyn saluted, quickly dipping under the waves before he could react.
He let out a heavy sigh, turning to Winter, “May I speak to Clover alone?”
“Of course, your majesty,” she immediately nodded, bowing before ducking back underwater.
With a wave of his staff, the water raised the king above the waves until they were at eye level with each other. A few merpeople around them stared in awe, whispering amongst themselves, and even some guests on the ship gasped at the sight.
“Congratulations on your union, Prince Branwen-Ebi,” Ironwood greeted.
Husband. Uncle. Prince. Suddenly Clover had all these new titles, and yet he felt he hadn’t changed at all (though he supposed that wasn’t exactly true either).
“It’s still Clover to you, sir. Nothing will change that,” he replied.
There were a few awkward seconds of silence before Ironwood broke the tension.
“I won’t be here for long, I just wanted to..um...well,” he let out a nervous cough, looking away, “I’ve never been one for earnest expressions of feelings, but...”
Hesitantly, the king held out his hand for a shake.
“Clover, I’m glad you’ve finally found your happiness,” he said, “I wish you all the best.”
Clover looked at Ironwood’s outstretched hand, before he took it and pulled the merman into a hug.
“Thank you, James.”
Ironwood tensed in Clover’s arms, before melting into the embrace with a relieved exhale.
“So, you must be King Ironwood,” Qrow’s voice drawled from behind him, “It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
Talk about timing. Clover turned to his husband. Apparently he had been watching the whole exchange with an amused look on his face.
Looking at Qrow over Clover's shoulder, Ironwood gave the two men a respectful bow before lowering himself back into the water with another wave of his staff.
Qrow’s eyes narrowed, “Didn’t he destroy all your human belongings?”
“...maybe,” Clover said, wrapping his arms around the other man, “But if it weren’t for him, I might have never found you again.”
He lightly chuckled, returning the embrace and leaning forward until their foreheads touched, “I guess I owe him a thank you, then.”
It was true. Without James, and the cavern, and Tyrian, they wouldn’t be where they were now. It had been a long battle, but whatever pain they had felt at the time was long behind them. They were finally together, and everything was perfect.
“I love you, Cloves,” Qrow murmured, cupping his husband’s cheek with his hand.
Clover smiled until his cheeks ached, leaning into the touch.
“I love you too,” he whispered, pressing their lips together for the nth time.
He was right where he belonged. On solid ground, with the man he loved, underneath the bright blue sky.