It’s been two years since Yang last set foot in Vale. She was in no hurry to return considering the less than ideal circumstances that led to her leaving. After she had finished training with her father she decided that this was another obstacle she needed to overcome before she could set out on her journey. Besides, she needed ammo and her weapon needed refitting. She looked around the city. It looked different. There were no burning buildings, no bodies in the streets, no Grimm, and no sword wielding Faunus coming to chop her arm off. She could feel sweat on her forehead. She flexed her mechanical fingers, the soft whirring noises always helped her relax. She took another look around. She could see what was left of Beacon Tower in the distance. That giant Grimm was still there, completely immobile. There were also several raised platforms all around the area with machines at the top. She wondered what they were when there was a sound like a siren and a short burst of gunfire. She jumped at the noise and got into a fighting stance before a large black wing fell to the ground and dissolved.

“Ha!” a citizen said as he gave the sky a rude gesture.  Yang had no idea what was going on, so she decided to keep moving. She made her way to the commercial district. As soon as she arrived she saw a giant black slab. She got closer and saw that there were names carved into it, hundreds of them. She decided to read every single one. She didn’t find many she recognized, but the ones she did made her heart ache.

Penny Polendina, Professor Ozpin, Pyrrha Nikos.

 At the bottom there was a steel plate with another engraving. Though they are gone, they will forever remain in our hearts. Beneath that, in much smaller writing was something else: This memorial paid for by the Schnee Dust Company.

Yang shook her head, thinking of how her teammate would react to her father’s craven PR stunt. She looked around. This part of the city had those same platforms she saw before. There were soldiers and what looked like adult hunters patrolling the city. She looked around more and saw that the path to Beacon had been closed off. Even after all this time they were unable to clear the Grimm from the school. She sighed and made her way to a smith shop.

She walked inside and saw a clerk fiddling with a disassembled rifle. “Give me one sec and I’ll be right with you” he said without looking up. He assembled the gun in seconds and smiled. “Done. Now then, how can I help yo-“. He looked up at Yang and his eyes widened. She could have sworn she had seen him somewhere before. He had dark orange hair that was streaked with grey, pale purple eyes, and a scar on his cheek. He looked familiar, but Yang couldn’t recall where she had seen him. Whoever he was, he knew her.
“Oh my god, Yang? Yang, is that you?” the clerk jumped over the counter and walked up to her. Yang stepped back.

“Who are you?” she asked him.

“You don’t remember me?” he asked her. Yang shook her head. “It’s me, Cardin.” Yang just looked at him. “Winchester?” Yang just looked at him. He sighed. “I put wax in the barrel of your sister’s rifle and you beat my ass, that Cardin?”

Yang finally remembered. He was that guy who liked to bully and harass people. “Oh, you’re that Cardin. Sorry, it’s been a while. What are you doing here?”

“This is my dad’s shop, I’m working for him. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Patch?”

She pulled out her weapon. “I need this refitted. It’s getting kind of tight on me.”

He pulled out a tape measure. “All right, hold out your arm.” He took her measurements and wrote them down on a notepad. He put the pad and weapon on the counter and shouted into the back. “Hey dad, order for you.” he went towards the door. “This could take a while, you want to go somewhere and chat for a bit?”

Yang had nothing better to do, and figured it couldn’t hurt. “Sure”

They sat on a bench in the park. Yang was nervous. She hadn’t seen another student in years, and she just happened to walk right into the biggest asshole at Beacon. Though looking at him now you would never be able to guess what he used to be like. Everything about him was different; the way he talked, how he carried himself, the genuine smile on his face that didn’t have any poorly hidden malice behind it. The years had changed him for the better.

“So how have you been?” he asked.

“I’m doing good.” she replied. This was too awkward. “What happened to Russel and Sky?”

“They transferred to Haven. I thought about going with them, decided not to.” Cardin couldn’t help but look at Yang’s arm. It was beautiful, in a way. “Any idea where you’re going after this?”

Yang thought for a moment. “Don’t know. Got some people to find, that’s all I know for sure.” There was another siren and another burst of gunfire. “What is that?” she asked.

Cardin laughed. “It’s actually kind of funny. You know how that giant Grimm on top of the tower is still drawing smaller Grimm to the city right? Well a bunch of Atlas scientists have been studying them and found out that Grimm emit some kind of signal. I’m not really sure how it works, but the long and short of it is that those turrets can lock on to a Grimm and fill it with lead if it gets anywhere near the city.”

Yang was surprised. Something like that would have made all the difference two years ago. She remembered how they were caught completely off guard by Grimm being dropped out of airships. The idea was so ridiculous that no one considered it possible. She decided not to voice those thoughts. “How did you end up working in a shop? I figured you would just transfer to another school.”

Cardin had a serious look on his face. “After everything had settled, I asked myself what the point in all of it was. I’d had enough. The fighting, the killing, I was done with all of it. I asked my dad if I could work in his shop, maybe save up and open my own one day. Pretty pathetic, huh?”

“No one would blame you for wanting to walk away after what happened.” She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I saw Dove’s name on that wall.”

“Yeah, at least we were able to get his body back to his parents so they could give him a home going. That’s more than some people got.”

“How did it happen?”

“He saved my life. Took a hit that was meant for me. I watched my best friend bleed out because I screwed up. He was a good man and he died for a guy like me.”

Yang looked at the ground as she recalled the sheer number of names on the memorial. “We lost a lot of good people that day.”
Cardin sighed. “We did. Team MRBL, Team SLYM, three from Team LILY, Pyrrha. Those are just the ones from Beacon. Some students from other schools got killed too, and don’t even get me started on the civilians.” Cardin put a hand on the side of his head. “I’m sorry. I wanted to catch up but all we’re doing is opening up old wounds.”

 “No need to apologize. I haven’t actually had the chance to talk to anyone about that day. I was… out of commission during most of the fighting.” She noticed a small bit of light coming off of Cardin’s hand. She looked closer and saw it was a gold ring. She raised an eyebrow. “Is that a wedding ring?”

Cardin’s face lit up. “Yeah. I got married a few months back”

Yang would have been less surprised if Cardin had suddenly grown a second head. “How did that happen?”

“She was standing next to me when the smoke cleared. Helped me through some things. I don’t know what I would have done without her. After a while, we kind of ended up together.”

“So, who’s the lucky woman? Is it someone I know?”

His face went red and he looked away from her. “You’ve met her before”

Yang had a mischievous smile. “Don’t be shy, tell me.” Her prodding was interrupted by a new voice.

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you. Why aren’t you at the shop?”

Cardin stiffened at the sound. “Sorry Bunny, I was catching up with a friend.”

Yang looked at the woman. She was holding what looked like a lunch box in her hand.  She had brown hair down to her waist, brown eyes, and a pair of rabbit ears on top of her head. On her right hand was a gold ring identical to the one on Cardin’s left. Yang’s jaw hit the floor. “You have got to be kidding me” she said. There’s no way. As insane as the world had gotten some things were beyond the realm of possibility.

The woman looked at Yang. Her ears stood up. “Yang? Oh my god, Yang!” she ran to Yang and lifted her off the bench. Yang was in the air, caught in the vice-like hug of Velvet Scarlatina.  “It’s so good to see you again.” She spun around with Yang in her arms.

Cardin looked worried. “Aren’t you supposed to be avoiding strenuous activity?”

Velvet gave him an annoyed look. “Don’t be rude. Yang isn’t that heavy. And since when do you use words like ‘strenuous’?”

“You know what I mean”

Yang felt something crack. “It’s good to see you too Velvet. You think you could put me down?”

Velvet set yang down and handed the box to Cardin. “You left this at home.”

Carding rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks. You know you could sent someone. You should be at home resting.”

Velvet laughed at that. “You worry too much. If you’re this bad now what are you going to be when I start to swell up?”

Yang was more confused than ever. “What do you mean?”

Cardin’s smile could have lit up a room. “I’m gonna be a dad. Man, saying it out loud makes it feel so different. I’m gonna be a dad!”

Yang gasped. “Congratulations. How far along are you?”

Velvet smiled at her. “A couple months.” She motioned to Cardin. “When I told him he started rambling about having to take responsibility and proposed on the spot. I had no idea he was so traditional.”

Yang chuckled. “Yeah, he’s much different than how he used to be.”

“Tell me about it. It wasn’t that long ago he was pulling on my ears and calling me a filthy animal.”

Cardin’s face reddened. “Do you have to bring that up all the time?”

Yang tried not to laugh. “Have you decided on a name yet?”

Velvet nodded. “If it’s a girl, Violet. If it’s a boy, I’ll let Cardin choose.”

Cardin stood up and stretched his arms. “Let’s hope I don’t have to. Alright, it should be ready by now, let’s head back.”

As the three of them walked back to the shop Yang asked Cardin one last question. “What will you do if your kid wants to be a hunter?”

Cardin looked up at the sky. “I wouldn’t stop them. My dad didn’t want me to be one either. I’d only hope that they turn out better than I did.” He started laughing. “Want to hear something funny? I asked Ozpin why I was team leader if Dove was smarter and a better fighter than I was. You know what he told me? That making me leader was the only way he could come up with an acronym that worked. I’ll never forget the look on Dove’s face when I told him that.”

“You and Dove were really close, huh?” Yang said.

“Yeah we were. First couple weeks after he passed were rough. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for Velvet and Russel. I still remember what Russel said to me before he left. ‘Sitting around feeling sorry for yourself won’t bring them back. Only thing you can do for the dead is write their name across the sky’.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that since they’re gone, you have to live twice as hard for them. I asked Russel where he heard that from. He told me that when he was a kid a friend of his got killed, and someone else told him that. I guess it stuck with him.”

Yang had no idea what to say to that. They walked back to the shop in silence. The sirens and gunfire the only things that broke up the sounds of footsteps.