"Ethan...." A woman called. She sounded far away. I opened my eyes, and I saw a blonde woman, perhaps about my age. Her hair was long, and she had lilac eyes.

I called to her, but I made no sound. I knew she heard me, however, because she came running towards me.

Suddenly, she fell to her knees, tears beginning to slip from her beautiful eyes. As I reached over to comfort her, the woman vanished, only to be replaced by some kind of huge Grimm. The thing exploded, and I felt something slam into me.

And then my eyes opened.

Blake POV

Waiting for my brother to wake up meant I had lots of time to think. I'd also had the time to do things Ethan and I could never do anymore.

"Ethan, I brought one of your favorites! Today it's 'Engines Of Fire". I'll go ahead and start reading, OK?" I chirped, desperately willing the boy to wake up.

As I began to read to him, I noticed my voice becoming less steady, and that the pages were becoming wet with my tears.

"Ethan.... Please wake up..." I began to sob. Suddenly, I felt the boy shift beneath me. I jumped off his bed, my eyes wide as saucers.

And just as suddenly, Ethan began to convulse. Nurses burst in, one carrying a defibrillator, and another holding a syringe.

As they held him down, I saw that Ethan's eyes were open. They didn't hold the familiar twinkle, though. No, today they held fear and confusion within the amber orbs.

When Ethan stopped moving, and his heart stopped, Ethan's Aberrant had to remove me from the room. I shouted at the nurses, and I swore like a sailor. I did everything I could to get to Ethan, but his Aberrant simply dragged me out of the room.

After the door slammed shut, the shadow turned to me. As it approached me, I flinched away from it, only for it to wrap me in a gentle and comforting hug.

"Ethan..... Still.... Alive....." It hissed, as through speaking took great effort and caused it physical pain.

I looked at the shadow in wonder, my tears forgotten. "Ethan never told me his Aberrants could speak." I replied. The next words it said left me shaken.

"Ethan.... Is..... One.... Of.... Us...." It spoke once more. Then, its form flickered. The Aberrant became shorter, and it began to become lighter.

It continued its change until a near-perfect copy of Ethan sat before me.

Except it wasn't Ethan.

It had his face. It had his tail. It had all of his physical features, but it just felt wrong. Its eyes were cold and dull. There was no warmth in the hug. No smile dancing upon its lips.

"S-stop! STOP MOCKING HIM!!!" I shrieked, stabbing the Aberrant. It became a normal shadow again, and backed away from me.

It nodded to me, then silently slipped back into Ethan's hospital room.

And then I heard it.

Ethan crying. Calling for his sister.

Calling for me.

Ethan POV

"Blake! Blake, please! This isn't funny anymore!!! Let me out!" I cried. Suddenly, Blake burst into the room, startling both me and the nurse still in the room.

"Ethan!!!! Oh my god, you're awake!!!!" Blake exclaimed, looking elated. She grabbed me in the tightest hug she'd ever given me, and squeezed me until I felt like I'd explode.

"B-Blake!" I croaked, clawing at her arm, which was locked around my throat.

"Sorry, sorry~" She chirped, releasing me. As I coughed and tried to regain my breath, I managed to get a good look at Blake.

And promptly realized that she was standing in front of me.

"You came back!!!" I exclaimed, jubilant.

Blake gave me a weird look, then ruffled my hair. "Yes, I'm back. Where else would I be?" The girl asked with a smile playing on her lips.

"I thought you'd be with Adam... I thought you hated us, Blake!" I cried.

Blake stepped back, stunned. Her smile had fallen, and her eyes were clouded. She placed a hand on her lower torso, just above her hip, like she was making sure something was still there.

"Adam is dead, Ethan. And I helped kill him."

After dropping this bombshell, Blake walked put of the room, like she couldn't bear to be there any longer.

Shortly after Blake left, a brunette girl poked her head in the room. "Weiss, he's awake!" The girl chirped happily, skipping into the room and trapping me in a bear hug.

"Ruby Rose! Let go of him! He might still be hurt, dolt!" Another woman exclaimed.

When I turned, I swear my heart stopped. I looked at the brunette. "Is she an angel? Because I'm pretty sure they don't make most girls that pretty." I whispered.

Ruby beamed at me. "Weiss my angel, and that's all you need to know." She whispered back, her billion watt smile still on her face.

I looked at her, confused. Then it dawned on me. I must have looked dumb, because Ruby giggled. "Yes, we got married. Right after Beacon. We would have invited you, but you were on a mission. Does Yang still give you crap about that?"

As I watched the bubbly girl talk, I saw that she had tear trails on her face. Weiss did as well. To be honest, they looked awful.

"Why were you two crying?" I asked. Both of them looked back at me. Before either could answer, a nurse walked in.

"Ah, Ethan. You have another visitor!" The man exclaimed.

(Yes, men can be nurses too.)

When I turned to look, a pair of hands covered my eyes.

"Guess who?!?" Another girl exclaimed.

"Mary, mother of Jesus?" I replied sarcastically. I swear, I heard the girl pout.

"You're no fun anymore, honey." The girl grumbled, removing her hands from my eyes.

When the girl stepped into my field of view, my heart stopped, started, then stopped again.

She. Was. BEAUTIFUL.

I must have been blushing hard, because the blonde girl giggled. "Looks like I've still got it!!!" She cheered, getting a high-five from Ruby.

A few minutes later, right as everyone was laughing at a story Ruby had told about Weiss falling into their Christmas decorations, Blake stumbled in.

Crying.

Immediately, all three girls were up and trying to figure out what was wrong.

And Blake pointed to me.

"H-hey, what'd I do?" I exclaimed. Ruby, Weiss, and the blonde girl looked at me, confused, and that's when it happened.

Blake drew Gambol Shroud, and attacked me.

The other three were too slow to stop my sister. But my Aberrant wasn't.

The shadow grabbed Blake's hair, and threw her across the room. It then raced over, and pinned her arms behind her.

In the process, however, the shadow had pulled me off the bed, and I fell.

When I hit the ground, I heard screaming, and then I blacked out.

As everything went dark, I heard one name resonate in my head.

'Yang.'