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Beacon Academy had never looked better. After the war with Salem had finally come to a close, the four nations had rebuilt what was lost: their infrastructure, their hope in humanity, and their relationships to one another.
Team RWBY were among the first to return to the school they had begun their harrowing journey in. Despite it only having been a few years since Beacon fell, they were hit with waves of nostalgia. Everywhere they saw the stories of their beginning.
The book shop where Ruby beat up those thugs, the nightclub where Yang trounced Junior and his bouncers, the courtyard in which Weiss’ sister Winter fought with Ruby’s Uncle Qrow, and the very same dorm room where Blake revealed her past with the White Fang.
Not every place had good memories of course, but those events still helped shape the girls into who they became today, and who they would become in the future.
For now, in the present, the girls decided to just have fun. They’d earned it after all, having to defeat an as-old-as-time-itself grimm woman!
Ruby, being the take-charge leader she had grown up to be, had handed out the team's itineraries for the couple of days they were to spend around the academy.
Yang doesn’t look down at the piece of paper her sister has just handed to her and instead stands up and stretches.
“Why can’t we just do whatever we so choose to do? Schedules just make things boring!”
Weiss raises an eyebrow over in Yang’s direction, “They keep things organized, they keep the chaos out of the days that are supposed to be serious. Aren’t we supposed to be speaking somewhere? We don’t exactly want to run late to that.”
Yang rolls her eyes at Weiss, “Have a bit of fun!”
“I have plenty of fun I’ll have you know.”
Ruby slams her fist against the table, “We have free time today, but we also do have to be in certain places at certain times, and do not fear Yang, we get to participate in a fighting class so you will get to fight since I assume that is what you want to do in the first place.”
Yang smiles, “Hell yeah! When is that!”
Ruby sighs, “Yang… we have other things we need to do first. First, we are going to go talk at an assembly… then we have free time, then you get your fighting class, after that we once again go talk in a class. Oh! Lunch is during that freetime.”
Blake stands up, “Do we need to be there soon?”
Ruby nods, “In like.. 5 minutes and it’s like on the other side?”
There is a brief moment of silent processing, but then Yang blurts out, “Race you there, then!” and takes off.
Ruby is hot on her tail, making good use of her Semblance to counter the advantage Yang has gained. Weiss turns to Blake, who looks after her girlfriend with a fond smile, and resists the urge to facepalm. “We should also get going, though maybe in a slightly more dignified manner.”
“Oh?” Blake starts walking. “You’re not afraid to be late?”
“Fashionably late,” Weiss counters. “We can use that time to figure out what we’re going to say.”
Blake hums thoughtfully, “Do we have to?”
Weiss can only laugh and quicken her pace. A few years back, she couldn’t have imagined Blake being so… bold. And comfortable. Hell, she couldn’t have imagined herself being so free and happy.
Maybe that was one of the reasons they needed to come back here, she thinks. To fully see how much things have changed — and what stayed true, like their friendship. Maybe that’s why they need to talk at that assembly — so that others can see it, too.
“Do you think it’s fine to tell them the truth as it is?” Blake suddenly asks. “It’s… not pretty. Being Huntsmen and Huntresses.”
Weiss stops, reaching for Blake’s hand. “Was it worth it?”
Blake looks up and smiles in that pretty and rare way that is usually reserved for Yang. “Wouldn’t change a thing if I could.”
They smile at each other, a secret shared between friends, and make the rest of the journey in silence.
They arrive at the assembly just in time to witness Ruby and Yang giving a passionate, if slightly messy, speech. Weiss looks at the faces of the students, drinking in every word said and clearly eager to hear more, and wonders if they will actually manage to have some free time for lunch once the assembly is over.
"Hey, Weiss."
A cautious hand reaches to her shoulder from behind before withdrawing immediately when two blue eyes meet two even lighter blue eyes, and Weiss stares at the boy for a few seconds, not really wanting to skip parts of the speech. But she was raised in a sea of politeness, after all.
"Well greetings, Neptune. It's good to see you."
The blue haired boy smiles and turns his gaze to Ruby and Yang, apparently happily living their best life. "It's been a crazy week. A crazy month. A crazy adventure. But... everything is fine now, everyone is safe from the Salem threat and... I don't know, it just feels surreal."
Weiss can't restrain a little grin. "And may I know why, exactly, are you saying all this to me specifically ?"
"Hey don't take it like that! I've had this conversation with every person I came across the past few days. I guess I just need people to remind me that it's real. That it's all finished. That we're done with this shit."
"Hey."
Weiss gently pats his shoulder, and the boy can't hold back a chuckle, before looking right into her eyes. But those shiny blue eyes are now settled on Yang, settled on Ruby, settled on the future, and a bright one on top of it all.
"You see them? That's the reminder you need. That's the reminder we all need. They've won the fight, and now they're working on fixing the broken, and moving on. It's real, Neptune. It's real. We've lost a few battles but in the end, we're the ones who won the war."
Weiss sets her eyes on the boy again, a hand still on his shoulder, and smiles fondly at him.
"Thank you Weiss. I needed that."
And after a few seconds of staring at the Schnee girl, the boy, with a big smile on his face, quickly disappears into the wide sea of people.
Weiss focuses on the two sisters and their speech again, starting to really wonder when they were gonna eat.
She knew the festivities today, they... traditionally called for exemplary food, more so than the food she remembers eating beforehand at Beacon, back in a simpler time. Something special, something able to represent the mix of emotions she’s sure everyone must be feeling, if going by the expressions on everyone’s faces as Ruby interrupts Yang for the third time.
Whether it’ll actually be that way, she honestly doesn’t care. She could go for the simple, the comfort - everyone surely needs that now.
It’s already a comfort they’re alive, honestly, at the end of it all.
“How long do you think they’ll go on?”
Blake steps up and stands at her side, quiet enough to scare but present enough that Weiss feels at ease with her there. She knows without looking that Blake’s wearing that small smile, eyes locked on Yang as she nudges her sister none-too-gently away from the microphone.
“There’s no telling,” Weiss replies, sighing for the sake of it even though her tone is fond. She’s aware of how she sounds, thank you very much. “Probably until Ruby realizes she’s hungry.”
“Then it should be any minute now.”
True enough, Weiss watches as Ruby’s eyes begin to drift away from those in front of her, her sister’s playful jabs over control of the speech far less important than the smells coming from the other room. Yang’s slowly becoming aware, too; everyone’s ready to finally eat.
“All right, all right,” Qrow calls out to the room, stopping the girls’ speech and drawing the attention of everyone in the crowd. Weiss finds herself smiling at how openly amused he looks. “We can continue the theatrics later. Go eat, the food’s ready.”
Yang and Ruby mockingly salute him while Blake simply gives him a soft smile as they walk towards the food. He rolls his eyes at them but then huffs and gives their retreating backs a fond smile. He’s happy they can be themselves after everything that’s happened.
They can finally take a break and be kids again.
“That was quite the speech, it was very… Team RWBY.” Qrow is brought out of his thoughts when he hears Clover’s voice and turns to see the man standing next to him.
He’s wearing a fond smile of his own and it's all for Qrow.
“What, thought it was gonna be something stuffy and boring?” Qrow asks him teasingly as he bumps his shoulder in greeting.
“Of course not.” Clover tells him as his smile never fades. “That’s not their style.”
Qrow laughs, its music to Clover’s ears.
“You’re not wrong there, Lucky Charm.” Qrow says as his eyes drift to the girls mingling with Team JNOR while getting their food. They’re adults now but they’ll always be his kids, all of them. “I’m really proud of them.”
Clover takes Qrow’s hand in his and squeezes it reassuringly. “Me too.”
A soft, easy smile pulls at Qrow’s lips, as he squeezes Clover’s hand in return.
Clover’s thumb smoothes over the back of Qrow’s hand as he leans against him gently.
“I’m proud of you too, you know.” His voice is quiet, delicate.
Qrow’s cheeks burn slightly, but he doesn’t balk at the praise. He just nods, raising their hands and kissing the back of Clover’s gently.
“Thank you.” He pauses, sighing heavily. But it’s the kind of sigh that’s freeing. That lets the last of the gloom hovering over you finally clear.
“You know, I think for once I can truly say the same. I.. I’m proud of myself. Of what I’m doing, where I am.” He looks back out at the kids fondly. “I’m proud of becoming who they needed me to be.”
Qrow wheezed as the wind was knocked out of him by Ruby, who tackled him in a flurry of rose petals.
“We’re proud of you too,” she whispered, face buried in Qrow’s chest.
Yang joined from the back, squeezing what remaining breath Qrow had left out of his lungs. He felt his niece sniffle a little bit, and he smirked.
“Getting a little emotional, firecracker?” Qrow gently teased.
“I’m gonna punch you into next week,” Yang mumbled.
“Aww.. get in here, old man!” Nora cried, zipping forward and tackling him with enough force for all four of them to fall over.
The rest of the kids eventually followed suit, and it wasn’t long before Qrow was buried under a pile of teenagers.
Qrow was cursed from birth, he knew that much. Doomed to lose everyone he loved, through death or betrayal. After maybe the third or fourth time he simply stopped trying, not that it helped. Good fortune would be thrust into his lap, only to be cruelly ripped away.
But the kids, the faith they had in him, filled him with the hope he had lost a long time ago.
In that moment, as he looked back at the kids that surrounded him, Qrow Branwen felt like a new man.
...a new man who was drastically losing his ability to function without oxygen.
“Okay kids, get off of me,” he rasped, “I can’t breathe.”
This dire pronouncement was met by a chorus of giggles, which was about what Qrow had expected. He put one hand to Harbinger, activating the weapon’s scythe form. The hydraulics that extended the blade were powerful, levering him upright despite the mass of children weighing him down.
Yang never would have stood for being called a child anymore, though he didn’t think Ruby would have minded. His younger niece had always seemed to yearn for simpler times; she had a lot of Summer in her that way.
She was staring at Harbinger now, an undisguised hunger in her eyes, and Qrow sighed, handing over the weapon. Yang rolled her eyes as Ruby squealed with delight.
“You’d think it was alive,” she said, watching her younger sister whisper lovingly to Harbinger’s blade.
“Good weapons are alive, in their own way,” Qrow replied. “Even those punching mitts of yours.”
“Hey!” Yang protested, giving him a solid, if loving, punch to his shoulder. "These weapons are great!"
"I never said they weren't! They're just very...direct."
"Right," Yang said, chuckling. "Unlike the most complicated weapon in the world."
Qrow smirked, "Yeah. Speaking of, I'll need it back now, Ruby."
Ruby sighed but handed Qrow's weapon back to him. "Well, we still have lots to do here! I'm glad you're here to help Uncle Qrow."
Yang strolled up at that moment, holding a bag in her hand and grinning wider than Qrow would have thought possible.
“Okay, Uncle Qrow. I know today is all about looking forward to the future and so on, but sometimes you have to look to the past for inspiration, right?”
Qrow eyed her narrowly. “What’s going on, firecracker?” There was an evil gleam in her eyes, which reminded him too much of Raven. Of himself .
“Uh, Clover’s right behind this idea, aren’t you, Ace?”
Clover appeared from somewhere behind Qrow, smiling widely at Yang. “Absolutely! You could say, we shouldn’t skirt around the issue any longer.” He moved to stand beside Yang, earning a punch on the arm.
“Excellent punning, Ace!”
Ruby looked from Yang to Qrow. “What’s going on?”
“This is!” Yang held the bag out to Qrow, who took it reluctantly. “In a totally fair vote, the best moment from Beacon’s past was voted for, and you wearing a skirt came out on top. It’s the one thing everyone would like to see again.”
Qrow’s face grew pale as he stared at her. He turned his gaze to Clover. “Were you behind this, you—”
“Careful Qrow, youngsters present.” Clover pinched his lips to stop himself laughing too much.
Ruby clapped her hands. “This is great! At last we’ll get to see Legendary Huntsman Qrow Branwen in a skirt!”
“It’s a kilt,” Qrow growled. What did I do to deserve nieces like these? He looked helplessly at Clover. “Do I have to?”
“Come on Qrow, we won’t see anything we haven't seen before. Well, as long as you got fully dressed this morning.”
“Ew, gross.” Ruby and Yang were united in their desire to see no more of Uncle Qrow’s anatomy than was decent.
Qrow’s shoulders sagged. He knew when he was beaten. “Ebi, we will be having words later. Alright then,” turning to the girls, “where can I get changed?”
Qrow held the red plaid fabric in his hands as he stood in front of the mirror. It was a silly thing--something he had worn years ago, when everything was different. His heart felt heavy, as he reminisced.
When he had last worn this, Raven was his best friend. They were twins! Inseparable, and partners in crime. When they had arrived here, at Beacon, it was the two of them against everyone else. At least until Tai and Summer entered the picture. And Summer--he still remembered her expression, that vivacious smile, and those caring eyes. She had laughed when she saw him in the skirt, but he had known even then that she was laughing because she cared about him, not because it was humiliating.
Summer. If only you could be here now, to see this. To see me. And Clover. And the girls--gods, you would be so happy to see the women the girls have become.
A tear fell onto the fabric of the kilt, and Qrow shook his head. It was hard to believe how much things had changed. They had cared about so little back then--catching the eyes of boys and girls, sneaking out of class and going on unsanctioned adventures, pulling pranks on their teachers. He and Raven hadn’t yet been gifted their ability to turn into birds, an ability they had put to such extensive use in the years that followed that Qrow sometimes wondered how much of him was bird, and how much was human. They hadn’t worried or known about Salem, and the kingdoms existed in peaceful prosperity--air fleets didn’t show up in the skies over Beacon, and borders didn’t close out of fear.
Qrow sighed. And he also hadn’t met Clover. Many things had changed--that perhaps most of all. More than anyone, Clover had helped him reclaim the parts of himself that he had thought were sources of shame--his solitude, his semblance, and his past failures. Clover had shown him that he could love those parts of himself, forgive them, and then actually find happiness.
Happiness! Gods, to think that he would find happiness. He was happy, now--he wouldn’t trade his life with Clover for anything. But part of him still, even now, after all that work, feared that this wasn’t his to keep--that he would someday lose Clover.
But that day wasn’t today. Today, Clover would see Qrow as Qrow had been the last time he was truly happy.
Qrow put on the kilt, and admired the way its pleats fell around his thighs, and luxuriated in the flow of cool air between his legs.
Qrow pushed open the door, and stepped out.
Everyone’s eyes turned to him, looking him up and down. He saw Ruby and Yang trying to hold in the building laughter. Clover was relaxing in a chair, looking him up and down, one eyebrow raised.
Clover began to laugh. A big, hearty laugh, from deep in his belly. Ruby and Yang burst into giggles as well, and then everyone else joined in as well. These laughs were not like the ones he had received from his classmates so many years ago.
These laughs were like Summer’s. They were laughing with him, delighting in the absurdity, and revelling in their affection for him. Their joy washed over Qrow, breathing new life into him.
Qrow grinned, and lifted one bare leg onto a nearby table. “You like what you see?” he asked Clover, gesturing along one exposed thigh. Ruby and Yang roared with laughter.
Clover grinned, and rose to his feet.
“Come here, you,” he said.