Y/n POV

We were all gathered around the table having a nice dinner with the gang all around me. It's nice to see us smile and laugh again after so much has happened. We've been separated from each other for a few months since we've traveled to Mistral, and Yang and Weiss finally came here to see us again, I'm glad they came back to us. This won't be different without them. I was sitting on Ruby's left side of the table, while the others told their stories about fighting that Grimm when I was unconscious, they laughed at what Ren said to Ruby. Yang then spoke to me and noticed something different about me.

Yang: I hardly recognized you Y/n, you've been growing that stuff on your face for a while right?

She noticed the facial hair on my face.

You: Oh, this? This is nothing. I've had it for a few months now.

Ruby: You just wanted to look like Qrow huh?

You: Hey, he has like small set's of facial hair on him. All he has is a small beard under his face. He didn't grow a mustache or a beard. I guess I'm the only the one growing these types.

Everyone laughed at me for my joke, it's good to be happy with the gang again.

(A few minutes later)

You: And after that fight when Qrow was distracted, I took the hit for him from Tyrian's tail.

Yang and Weiss gasped in shock from what I said.

Yang: You did not!

Weiss: You took the hit for Qrow, and you've been poisoned?!

You: Yep, and now I feel better.

Yang: It took a lot of guts to do that, but wow you literally just took a hit for Qrow.

You: But hey, I saved his life.

Ruby: Yes you did.

We were nearly almost done with the food and Weiss told us about how she summoned a Grimm at her party at Atlas.

Ruby: (gasp) You did not!

Weiss covered her face with both of her hands.

Weiss: Yeah, right in the middle of the party.

Yang: Please tell me you let that lady have it.

Weiss then removed her hands from her face and looked at Yang.

Weiss: Of course not! Even if I did really want to.

Nora: No way, I don't believe it.

I then noticed Weiss summoned a Boarbatusk next to Nora.

You: Uh, Nora?

Nora: Yes?

You: You might wanna look to your right.

Nora did what I said and looked to her right and saw the Boarbatusk growling at her.

Nora: AAH!

Nora screamed in shock and fell on her left, and all of us laughed at what Weiss did to Nora.

After that crazy summon that Weiss did to Nora, Yang showed her robotic arm to everyone and gasped in awe, I was amazed by this.

Yang: It's no replacement for the real thing, but I'll make sure to make good use of it.

Jaune: That's amazing.

Ren: Incredible.

Ruby then gasped excitedly and went to Yang's arm to inspect it.

Ruby: And it's just as strong?

Yang: Hm, sure is.

I then heard Nora slamming her elbow on the table to challenge Yang for an arm wrestle.

Nora: Want a bet?!

You: Oh, it's definitely on!

Weiss: Nora, Y/n please, now's not the time.

Right on queue what Weiss said, Yang and Nora were already arm wrestling.

Jaune: Don't let her beat you! You can do it! C'mon!

Ren: C'mon! You can do this! Show 'em what Team JNPR's made of!

You: My money is definitely on Yang! Come on BD, cheer for her!

BD-1: Bweeeep-whoooooop!

Ruby: C'mon sis! Aw, you can't lose to a girl in a skirt!

Weiss: You wear a skirt Ruby.

Ruby and You: Weiss, you're not cheering loud enough!

Nora: It definitely feels like the original, I'll give you that!

You: Come on Yang, you can do it!

Yang: Yep. But, it does have some new features!

Nora: Heh, oh yeah?

I then heard something in Yang's arm. Yang launched Nora on to the wall while she still had Yang's arm on her while Nora groans in pain.

Jaune: Did she... win?

You: I don't know.

Nora sat up where she was launched, and she realized she was still holding Yang's robotic arm.

Nora: Huh?

She looked at the arm and screamed in terror while Nora threw the arm away from her, Yang caught her arm and started to laugh at Nora while I did the same.

You: And the winner is...

I did a drum roll on the table and pointed at Yang with both of hands out.

You: Yang Xiao Long!

BD then did victory beeps on the table next to Yang. Everyone laughed at BD and me for being so childish of myself.

Yang: I missed that thing so much.

I leaned next to be BD-1 on the table.

You: What can I say, he's the best. Right buddy?

BD-1: Woop!

Me and BD fist bumped and went back to our seats.

I then showed everyone my blaster sidearm that I got from the weapons vendor today.

Ruby: Wow! You got a sidearm now?!

Nora: Not gonna lie, that does look way better than you use your weapon.

Jaune: Does it fire any bullets?

You: Well, it does have something in it.

Ren: What do you mean?

You: Hold on a second.

I went to go find something to demonstrate the others how it works. I then found a empty plastic water bottle and placed it on the table in front them.

You: You guys ready?

They nodded their heads to let me know that their ready for me to test out my blaster. I fired the shot at the plastic bottle and it flying a little bit and to the floor and it went to my friends. They saw the burning shot hole in the bottle and they all had shocked looks with their mouths open. They looked back at me to see that my blaster was smoking from the shot.

Jaune: That.

Yang: Was.

Ruby: Totally.

Everyone: Wicked!

I spin my blaster with my left finger and placed it back in my holster.

(A few minutes later)

We all finished the food that the others made while I was out there, Jaune was getting all of the empty plates to put them in the sink in the kitchen.

Jaune: Gyah... We ate it all... Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick.

Yang: Easy there, Vomit Boy, I believe in you.

I snickered a little bit from Yang said to Jaune. I still remember Ruby and Yang how we first saw Jaune and called him Vomit Boy.

Jaune: Ooh, we're doing nickname throwbacks now. Wonderful.

He then went into to the kitchen to take the empty dishes, while Weiss was giggling from Yang said.

Nora: I mean, the Ice Queen seems to like it.

After what Nora said, Ruby was laughing at how she remembered Weiss was being called Ice Queen back in Beacon. Weiss's smile went away, but came back and rolled her eyes and looked at Nora.

Weiss: I so did not miss you people.

Nora: (gasp) Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?

Weiss: Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible.

Yang: Nah. Just a lot to do deal with it once.

Weiss: Hmph!

Yang: Hmph!

Yang did that while sticking her tongue out.

Ren: It's been a long time. We've all grown in our own ways.

Ruby: You really think so?

Ren: Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon, would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?

Weiss: Oh gosh.

Weiss said while covering her face with her hands.

Yang: I may have been a little too gung-ho from time to time.

Ruby: Hee, you? I tried to 1v1 a Nevermore on the second day of school.

You: And I wouldn't have made it through the initiation without this little guy here.

BD-1: Boop!

I pet BD-1's head and he really liked it.

Ruby: Oooh! He's just like Zwei!

I laughed at Ruby's cuteness then Jaune spoke.

Jaune: Yeah, well... don't even get me started.

Ren: Well, that embarrassment- that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be stupid - that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, or kinder, or stronger,and you're not done growing yet. None of us are.

There was a moment of silence until Ruby broke it.

Ruby: Yeah, turns out Ren gets real deep when he feels like talking.

We all chuckled at what Ruby said to Ren.

You: How did I end up being with you?

Ruby: Because you love me.

Ruby gave me a really cute smile, she always brighten up my heart when ever I see her smile, I chuckled when Ruby smiled at me.

Nora: Well, hold on! I thought I was pretty great in school!

Yang: Even at the dance? When you spilled punch all over yourself in front of-

Nora: YES, especially the dance! THANK YOU, YANG!

Me, Ruby, and Weiss laughed at Nora said while Yang was covering her ears when Nora yelled at her.

Qrow: How can seven kids possibly make so much noise eating dinner?!

We all saw Qrow and Oscar standing next to Jaune.

(Timeskip)

We all were gathered around in the living room every one was sitting in their seats except for me and Qrow, I was standing in front of my team and friends while Ozpin was in control of Oscar again. We all explained about the Maidens, Magic and Salem to Yang and Weiss.

Weiss: So, the Maidens. Magic. Salem. It's all true?

Qrow: Uh-huh.

Ozpin: Miss Xiao Long, is this more or less while your mother told you?

Weiss: For the most part.

Yang: You forgot something. You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother.

Ruby gasp quietly about what Yang said.

You: Wait, what did he do to them?

Jaune: What is she talking about?

Qrow: Oh, great.

Ozpin: Hm, that's not a secret I thought she give up so easily. Your mother must trust you a great deal. My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain... "magical" power. Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to "see" more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I... Well... gave them the ability to turn into birds.

Ozpin chuckled from what he said.

Ozpin: Rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn't it.

You: You gave them the ability to turn into birds?

Ozpin: That's right.

Ruby: Uncle?

Ren: You turned them... into birds.

Nora: Alright, now you're just messing with us.

You: He's not Nora.

Jaune: What else is new?

Weiss: He's telling the truth.

We all looked at Weiss.

Weiss: We saw it. Yang's mom... changed, right in front of us.

We all went quiet for a second until Yang broke the silence.

Yang: Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?

Qrow: Yang, that's enough. We made a choice. We wanted this.

Ozpin then looked at Qrow.

Ozpin: May I?

Qrow nods his head at Ozpin and continued talking.

Ozpin: Granting this power to them was no trivial, and I can assure you it is not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, and well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear.

Ruby: Okay, so, have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?

Ozpin: As helpful as that might be, unfortunately it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount of that I gifted Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped I use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens.

Everyone went silent for a second. Wait... that tale that Pyrrha told me, that was Ozpin? He gave those Maidens magic? I don't understand.

Ozpin: Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to... "play close to the chest". I believe that's how you phrased it?

Ozpin looked at Qrow

Qrow: Heh. Yeah.

Ozpin: Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandoned their duties, in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There's no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat.

The room went silent again until I spoke.

You: I'm not going anywhere.

Everyone looked at me.

You: I didn't come this far just to leave, we all traveled this far just to save the world, not just back down from anything. For the first time I came here, I had nothing to do, just hiding and keeping my identity hidden, I'm not doing that again. We are not doing that. I can't change the past, none of us can, but I'm done hiding. So yeah, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here until the end. I'm staying here to fight for my friends, and the one I love.

I looked at Ruby and she was smiling at that last part I said.

Ozpin: Very well, then.

Yang got up from her seat where she was sitting with Weiss.

Ruby: Yang?

Yang: If Ruby and Y/n sticks around, then I will too. If there's one thing I know about them, it's that they somehow always know the right thing to do. But, if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half-truths.

The room went quiet again for a few seconds until Ozpin spoke.

Ozpin: Understood.

Yang sits back down in her seat.

Jaune: So... what now? I mean, what can we do?

Ozpin: Mm, that is a difficult question. One that I believe is best for tommorow.

Jaune: What do you mean?

Ozpin: The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it's been far too long since you have been together. Please, take tonight, enjoy this moment.

After that, Oscar's eyes glowed green, knowing that he is back in his body. He then noticed he has his hand on Yang's shoulder and came back to his senses and stepped back while Yang and Weiss chuckled at Oscar for a second.

Nora: Oooooohh.

We all looked at Nora.

Nora: Raven?! Qrow?! They're birds! Cracked it!

I facepalm at Nora's dumb realization, did she really had to do that?

(Timeskip)

I was in the training room downstairs inside the house, I was just sitting on the floor against the wall. I was just thinking about the future ahead of us, can we really win this fight? Can we actually save the world? No. I know we can do this, and I know we can defeat our enimies. I continued to sit in silence until I heard a familiar voice.

Ruby: Hey.

I looked to see it was Ruby coming down the stairs.

You: Hey.

Ruby: I figured you would be here.

You: Yeah.

Ruby: What's wrong?

Ruby sat down next to me to see what was wrong with me.

You: I was just, thinking about what I said to all of you, that I was done hiding, that I was done running away, all of what I said. I don't want to run away like Blake did, I don't know why she ran. But I know she'll come back, and be with us. We can be together again.

Ruby: I know, Blake will come back to us, and we'll be together again. I just hope Yang would will forgive her.

You: I know she will, she has to.

There was a moment of silence for a second until I broke the silence.

You: Do you still remember the day I met you guys?

Ruby: Yeah, I did.

You: I guess I was a special person to meet you guys.

Ruby: (chuckle) I remembered those days.

There was another moment of silence until I spoke again.

You: Do you think it's worth it?

Ruby: Huh?

You: Is it worth being here? All of us, risking our lives, just to save the world. We've lost two of our friends, and we lost Beacon. I don't know if I can keep going?

Ruby placed her on my shoulder and I looked at her.

Ruby: Y/n, you said it yourself, that you won't run away, and you won't hide anymore. You're here with us, and that's all that matters for now. You gotta keep fighting for us, for the world and for me.

You: You're right, just like I said back in the forest. " We gotta keep getting back up, and as long as we back get up, we're still in this fight".

Ruby: That's right, and we will continue to fight, and keep moving forward.

I smile at Ruby from those same words she said to me back at Beacon.

You: You said those same words when we were back at Beacon.

Ruby: And you heard it from me again.

We all smiled at each other and we kissed each other on the lips with our eyes closed for this beautiful moment. After a few minutes, we let go of each other and we looked at each other's eyes, Ruby's beautiful silver eyes looking into my E/C eyes.

You: I love you.

Ruby: I love you too.

We then connected our four heads together and closed our eyes for this embrace moment. I really needed this moment, I'm still struggling with the way things are. People are trying to kill us, trying to take over the world, and take the Relics so they can have power. We're not going to let that happen, they will never have the Relics or take over the world, we'll be ready to stop them.

Me and Ruby then moved back and we started to stand up to head back upstairs.

Ruby: Ready for bed?

You: Yeah, I really could use some sleep.

Ruby: Let's go then.

Me and Ruby went upstairs to go to our bedroom where we are staying. We always sleep together and I'm really getting use to it of sleeping with her. She keeps me safe whenever I'm being so stressed out, I'm glad she's with me. We into our bedroom, BD-1 went to the desktop to sleep there, while me and Ruby changed into our night clothing, I still did the usual every night. Me and Ruby got into bed and we kissed each other good night and went to bed. I hope we can make it through this, and we will save this world.

To be continued.