(At this point, I'm just gonna stop apologizing for taking so long- y'all shouldn't be surprised by now- I am sorry though- anyway, Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays!)

Y/N P.O.V.

After Oscar came back upstairs, he and I just hung out in our shared room while everyone else was preparing dinner. Ren seemed pretty reluctant to let anyone help, even though I knew Oscar could cook, so we just decided to do our own thing and stay out of the way. We mostly talked about training and different fighting strategies I learned while at Signal. Compared to what people learned at Beacon or Atlas academy, it wasn't much but it was something since Oscar was still somewhat new at this. 

Suddenly, we both heard a crash and jumped up a bit in surprise. We both looked at each other before going to the door. I peaked my head out first to see it was Ruby who had dropped the tea tray in her hands, causing all of the contents on top of it to shatter. She seemed to be apologizing to someone but I couldn't see who until a tall, busty gal with long blonde hair came up and hugged her. She seemed familiar... Oh yeah! Yang Xiao Long! She was the one who got in trouble at the Vytal Festival for attacking Mercury Black after she already won the match... On the way to Mistral, Ruby explained to me that A. The two of them were half-sisters and B. That incident wasn't her fault.

"I love you..." Yang squeezed Ruby as she started tearing up, the silver-eyed huntress in her arms hesitating before sobbing into the blonde's shoulder.

"I love you too..." I started walking out as Ruby responded, Oscar following me as he still had no clue what was happening. We both looked at them hugging and smiled a little before I noticed there was another girl, Weiss Schnee, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Weiss..." Ruby and Yang opened up their hug to include her, the heiress (or ex-heiress, technically) eagerly joining them.

~TIMESKIP~

The only person in the main group I was relatively close to was Ruby and the rest of them seemed like they needed this reunion... so I decided to take my dinner and eat in my room as Oscar joined me not too long after. I was sitting on the bed so the farm boy decided to sit on his sleeping bag. "You know you can sit up here, right? I can scoot over-"

"-It's okay, Y/N," He interrupted with a smile. "I'm alright down here on my bed."

"Well then, if you're sure," Smiling back gently, I took a bite of my meal and closed my eyes as the wonderful taste hit my tastebuds. "Mmmm, this is so good!" I stated, my voice muffled due to the food in my mouth. Oscar chuckled a bit before taking a bite himself.

"Wow, you're right! It IS really good! I should really get some cooking tips from Ren sometime."

"Well, this is good, but I can almost guarantee nothing can beat your casserole!" I covered my mouth as I spoke, my fork picking up some more food before we both heard a loud thud from outside.

"What are they doing in the-" Just then, Nora screamed and interrupted my statement before I heard Yang, I presumed, exploding in a fit of laughter. I rested my head on my hand as I started thinking about all the fun they must be having out there, catching up. Suddenly, a gentle knock on the door could be heard before it was opened by Qrow. 

"Hey pipsqueaks, they should be done soon so once you finish up, meet me outside and we'll fill Yang and Weiss in," he simply said before he left, closing the door behind him.

"Well, I think I'm ready to dump a bunch of information on these unsuspecting fools. What about you?" I chuckled a bit as I joked, looking over at Oscar. Even with all the craziness going on with Oz and Salem, just hanging out with him makes me feel... at peace.

Once we finished eating, the two of us got up and joined Qrow outside. "How can six kids possibly make so much noise eating dinner?!" The drunkle asked once we made it to where they were. Oscar gave a small laugh at the scene and I couldn't help but look over at him. 'My Oum, even his small laugh is cute! And the way he smiles like- OKAY, FOCUS!' After snapping myself out of my thoughts, everyone made their way to the living room.

The two teammates were given the same information the rest of us had about Ozpin (meaning that Oscar had to hand over control for the time being), Salem and magic.

"...So, the Maidens. Magic. Salem. It's all true?" Weiss asked after a moment of processing, to which Qrow responded with a short and simple "uh-huh."

"Miss Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?" Ozpin asked Yang, not receiving a response from her.

"For the most part," Weiss started before Yang finally piped up.

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

"What is she talking about?" Jaune asked, looking back and forth between Qrow and Oz.

"Hm, that's not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. Your mother must trust you a great deal," Oz began as he walked over to Qrow. "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. Rather ridiculous-sounding out loud, isn't it?" I could practically hear Oscar in his mind going "Wait, what?", being just as confused as the rest of us.

"You turned them... into birds." "Alright, now you're just messing with us," The not officially together-together power couple spoke up, Jaune stepping in to comment "What else is new?" Nice to hear the blonde is still pissy.

"He's telling the truth. We saw it. Yang's mom... changed, right in front of us." Yang's attention was dead-set on Oz as she spoke once Weiss finished. "Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?-"

"-Yang, that's enough! We made a choice. We wanted this." Qrow sighed as Yang relented.

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

"Okay, so, have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked, her silver-eyes focused on Oz as well.

"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 that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather minuscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens.  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 over at Qrow who gave a small chuckle and a "yeah" in response. 

"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 abandon her 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." Everyone is silent as we ponder Ozpin's words.

"...Very well, then." Just then, Yang stood up suddenly. " If Ruby sticks around, then I will too. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she somehow always knows 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."

Everyone remains silent. Ozpin and Qrow exchange a brief look with each other. Ozpin ponders Yang's words for one last moment, before responding. "Understood," he smiled a little as he responded.

"So... what now? I mean, what can we do?" Jaune asked once Yang sat back down.

"Mm, that is a difficult question. One that I believe is best answered tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" I asked, finally speaking up after not saying anything this entire time.

"The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it's been far too long since you have all been together." Oz begins walking over to Yang, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Please, take tonight, enjoy this moment." Just then, Oscar was given back control. He realized his hand was on her shoulder and jumped back, nervously taking his hand off. Yang and Weiss laugh at him, before hearing a noise from Nora.

"Oooohhh. Raven? Qrow? They're birds!! Cracked it!" Ren shakes his head at Nora being slow on the uptake. After all that, we retired to our rooms for the night. I immediately landed on my bed, letting out a breath.

"I thought that information dump went relatively well, don't you think?" I asked Oscar as he closed the door behind him, standing still in his spot for a moment. It was like he was lost in thought... or Oz was speaking to him, one or the other. "Oscar?" Sitting up, I noticed him just standing there like he didn't even hear what I said.

"H-Huh? Oh, yeah, I think it went pretty well... Sorry, Ozpin was telling me something."

"You're all good. What'd he say?"

"Umm... well.." He stuttered a little, hesitating before sitting next to me on the bed. "He just... said I should join you up here.."

"O-Oh.. well, you're more than welcome," I chuckled awkwardly, my cheeks heating up a bit. Back home, sitting on the same bed and talking wasn't a big deal at all... but this time felt different. Maybe it has something to do with us being apart for so long? Or it has something to do with Ozpin technically being here? I'm not sure... We sat there in silence for a good while before the farm boy gently spoke up.

"You know... the moonlight really makes your eyes sparkle..." He said, glancing over at me as his cheeks began heating up as well. It took me a moment to realize the window in our room was open, allowing the moonlight to shine in.

"T-Thank you..." I look down for a moment. What was this? Oscar had never really been this... forward or anything... maybe he did feel the same about me and Oz was helping him? Hesitantly, I lay my head on his shoulder gently which caused him to jump a little. He calmed down before wrapping an arm around me, keeping me close. The silence between us started becoming less awkward and more... comfortable, like it used to be. Almost like it was magic... 

The thought of telling him about my feelings sprung up multiple times but... I couldn't shake the feeling that he also liked Ruby as my mind flashed back to when I heard him talking about her so fondly in the dojo... eventually, we both started falling asleep in our somewhat comfortable silence, falling back onto the bed as we relaxed. His arm still around me, Oscar mumbled a little "goodnight" in the middle of a yawn before he closed his eyes. Even with the thought of him liking Ruby remaining in my mind, I smiled a little and decided to just enjoy this moment we had as my eyes fluttered shut. "Goodnight... Oscar..."