The heroes were hailed by several different people who wanted them to attend their events, but the main party was of course at the Council's location.

Winter said they all had to show up there at least for an hour and then they could quietly excuse themselves, but it was important to at least greet the officials after the ceremony.

And since promoting unity between the kingdoms was priority for now, they all agreed.

It was a short drive there, and thankfully the press were kept mostly out of the place.

"It's like being royalty almost," Blake said, looking back. "Wow..."

"I feel so important now," Sun fingered his medal. "We're legit. We're going to be considered important huntsmen now."

"It's a lot of pressure," Neptune said. "I don't feel wiser or stronger than anyone else."

"Says the guy who can make a literal tidal wave." Meridian said.

"Where did you crawl out of?" Mercury looked at him. "And what is that get up?"

Meridian was wearing his reigons fancy attire, which had a different look to it than the usual.

"I thought I looked right dashing," he said.

"Well it suits you," Weiss said drolly.

Willow finally found them. All their families had been invited to this part of the celebration also.

"I'm so proud of both of you," she hugged her daughters. "Your Grandfather would be so happy... he was awarded things once, you two have truly followed in his footsteps."

Whitely was hanging back and he looked a little forlorn.

"But really we couldn't have done it without Whitley's help," Weiss had learned a thing or two about sensitivity lately. "I know you guys didn't get a medal," she looked at him, Libby, Klein, and Willow. "But that was just because they only awarded them to people who did the last thing, up to that point you were all helping, so don't think we're just going to get a big head about it."

"Most heroes go unsung really," was Winter's acknowledgement of that. "But I must see to the officials before things get out of control."

She walked away.

Raven coughed. "Qrow, go with her."

"Why? I'm terrible at diplomacy," Qrow said.

"Not to drop hints," Glynda said. "But I think you would be wise to take Raven's advice for once."

"Why?" Qrow narrowed his eyes.

"Just do it, man," Wally said.

Qrow shrugged and walked away.

"Some people you have to beat an idea into their head with a sledge hammer," Raven gestured wildly.

"I must say, Raven, the irony of you getting a medal for your service after everything is not lost on me," Glynda said. "But I admit you earned it. I hope you plan to stay on the straight and narrow now."

"Well, I'm too old to start another tribe," Raven admitted. "But I don't know if I'm cut out for the cute little huntress life. I never was."

"We had an idea about that actually," Robyn said. "But I'd better let Winter talk about it. Well, congratulations to you all."

"I'm sorry you didn't get an award," Ruby said. "You guys helped a lot."

"Oh, what do I need an award for?" Robyn snorted. "Trust me, the networking I've done because of all this has been more than enough. In a weird way this might actually have saved Mantle in the most roundabout method possible. Go figure."

"So is this it then?" Marrow asked. "We all live happily ever after and go on with our  lives? It's weird to think about it. Is it bad if I wish the General could have seen this too?"

Robyn shook her head. "I don't know, Wags, things happened the way they happened. But at least it happened with us on the winning side. Salem is gone, Ozma is gone, we can rebuild. It's never been a better time to be me, that's for sure. Things that were in my way are mostly gonna be gone. There's going to be new challenges, sure, I get that, but they seem surmountable compared to what we went through. Don't you heroes all feel the same."

"That is kind of what I feel like," Blake said.

"There you are," Kali had finally found her, Gira and Illea were with her.

"Blake!" Illea hugged her. "I can't believe it! It was incredible. The entire world just got to see Faunus honored for helping to save it, and you defeated... whoever that person was. Did you ever think this would happen?"

"No, never," Blake laughed lightly. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Of course," Illea said. "And Sun found you again, huh?"

"He always seems to," Blake said.

Illea nodded. "I'm really happy... Things are changing, I can tell."

"Indeed they are," Kali said. "The Faunus have made such strides because of all this--I hate to say that we succeeded because of the terrible tragedies of the kingdoms, but in another way, rising above it has seemed to empower us. It's not going to be easy to remove prejudices components, but Blake, we've made real strides, I think if we keep it up, it's going to be different. We've seen so much change in the last year."

Blake looked amazed. "So... we've really already helped? I know you've been saying that, but I guess I just couldn't believe it, not while we were fighting Salem."

"You tried to the right thing by the world," Gira said. "But following your example, the rest of us started to see that it was also going to help us. That's not why we did it, but that's how it worked out. And now that you've been recognized by all of the councils, it's even more official. I can't imagine a Faunus leader like me being part of that ceremony 50 years ago. We just want you to know, you've already changed things."

"I feel like I did so little of it," Blake said.

"You were there," Kali said. "Sometimes dear, you just have to be there, that's the most important part. Being part of things."

Blake sniffled. "I guess I just had to figure that out after all."

"Oh, don't cry again," Yang was not being overly sensitive. "We're supposed to be celebrating. Neptune are you going to dance with me or what?"

"You've seen me dance before and you're asking me that?" Neptune winced. "I'll kill any street cred I got back from this."

"Oh please, no one's going to think less of the heroes of the world if they can't dance," Yang snorted. "Besides, I'll teach you. I'm good at that."

"True..." Blake said.

"Anyway, no one will be looking at you, they'll be looking at me," Yang tossed her hair.

"Also probably true, for better or worse," Emerald muttered. "But dancing doesn't sound so bad, what do you think, Merc?"

"I don't really want to," he said.

Emerald pouted.

"I guess maybe for a short time, I wouldn't want to kill your buzz," he said.

"Since I don't want to schmooze, let's just go now," Emerald said.

There were already some people dancing, Vacuo tended to get rowdy fast--even the most official members of it.

"Come on Blake, let's go, it'll cheer you up," Sun said.

"I'm happy Sun, I'm just emotional about it," she said.

"Well  it's not good to be crying at a party," Sun said. [Cue the 'it's my party and i'll cry if I want to' joke.] "Come on," he used his tail to pull her after him toward the dance floor. [I never get tired of that gag.]

"Pyrrha!" Pyrrha's parents had finally spotted her.

They rushed up to her to envelop her in hugs.

"Sweetie, you did it," her mom said. "I'm so proud."

"We always knew you'd do great things," her dad said. "But this was even better than we thought."

Pyrrha was happy to see them.

Jaune hadn't seen his yet, but suddenly half his sisters all tackled him at the same time.

Most of them were older than him, but not by that many years in most cases, so they were hyped up like teenagers.

Sapphron had made it, though. She waved at him.

Then his parents were there too.

"Jaune," his mom hadn't seen him since he left Vale the first time, she hugged him. "Thanks goodness you're safe."

Safe wasn't quite the word Jaune wanted applied to the situation, but he knew his mom had probably been going out of her mind with worry.

"And you're a hero," his dad sounded pretty surprised. "Well son... I think we owe you an apology. "

"Huh?" Jaune said.

"After I told you not to get your hopes up too much," his dad shook his head. "But going and saving Remnant? I guess it's a good thing you're so stubborn."

"Oh, it's okay Dad, really," Jaune said. "I'm glad you guys are here."

He had missed them after all. Even if he'd been worried they'd give him a hard time.

Turned out he didn't need to worry about his parents, but some of his sisters hit him.

"You just went off on that mission without even letting us know!" they said. "Wow Jaune, who are we, nobodies?"

"And did you really get a girlfriend?" said one. "Sap told us you did."

Sap make an apologetic shrug at Jaune.

"Well... yeah," Jaune glanced at Pyrrha like: "help me."

"I'll be back," Pyrrha told her parents.

She glided over. "So you're Jaune's family? I'm Pyrrha."

His sisters gaped at her.

"This is your girlfriend?" His dad sounded amazed.

"Dear," his mom nudged him.

"You're Mr. Arc?" Pyrrha said. "I'm glad to finally meet you."

"Same, same,"  he shook her hand. "So our Jaune managed to land a real looker like you?"

Pyrrha took that to be a compliment, though Jaune wanted to die of embarrassment. 

"See? I told you, Jaune, confidence," his dad nodded at him.

Pyrrha choked back a laugh. "Your son is quite amazing," she said.

"Of course he is," his mom said. "But you're the famous warrior right?"

"Yes, I'm his partner also," Pyrrha said.

"So that's why he got to be so good at fighting," Mr. Arc said.

"Oh no--" Pyrrha began.

"Yeah," Jaune put a hand on her shoulder. "Pyrrha taught me. She believed in me. I'm glad we did this together. I knew you guys would like her."

"She's wonderful," his mom said. "Both of you... Oh I'll be telling all my book club friends about this. They'll be so jealous!"

"Yeah, the guys will have to treat me with more respect now," Mr. Arc joked.

"Are we, like, famous now that Jaune is famous?" One of his sisters said. "That would be awesome."

They all started chattering about it.

"Your family certainly is energetic," Pyrrha said. "And enthusiastic."

"I've only seen them like this when we were going on vacation," Jaune said. "They can be a little over the top."

"No, no, I like them," Pyrrha said. "They seem so... close."

Jaune reflected that Pyrrha was pretty lonely in her home sometimes with just her parents.

"Well, they like you," he said. "They'll like you even more when they get to know you, trust me."

"I hope so," Pyrrha said.

Jaune rubbed his neck. "You know that reminds me, I've been thinking... I mean about what to do after this.

"Oh yes..." Pyrrha said.

"I don't know if I'm going back to Vale yet," Jaune said "Winter's going to need a lot of help setting up Atlas again... I think most of the team is going to Argus for now. I thought maybe I could help. And the world's gonna need to know about what we've seen and learned. Seems like a good place to start."

"I agree," Pyrrha said. "And I feel I owe it to my parents to spend some real time with them now that the crisis is over before I officially move out... maybe not too long but... you know, they are my family."

"Yeah... but you know we've been talking about what to do after this is over, but I'd like to stay together," Jaune said

"Jaune, was that even a question?" Pyrrha said almost irately.

"Not for me," Jaune said.

"Well, not for me either," she said, with a stern look.

"So we'll keep working as partners?" Jaune said.

"I don't think I'm ready to go solo yet," Pyrrha said. "I did miss all that training," she said lightly. "Maybe I should take lessons from you in field experience."

"Heh, I think you got enough time on the field," Jaune said. "The grimm lands were a big equalizer anyway."

"Personally, I don't care that much anyway," Pyrrha said. "I care about staying with people, not in the same place." She took his arm. "Perhaps there's going to be more change coming, but as far as I'm concerned, Jaune, I have everything I want now. Of course, I'll keep growing, and learning, but I'm happy. I hope you're happy too?"

Jaune looked around and let out a long sigh, almost of relief.

"You know Pyrrha... there was a time when I thought I was never going to be happy again," he said. "And throughout this whole journey, I didn't know who'd make it and who wouldn't. At some point I realized that I just had to try my hardest and let the rest happen the way it would. Even if it meant I wouldn't make it myself... but, since I did, and you did... it's like... I don't even know how it ended up this good."

Pyrrha smiled at him. "I know just what you mean."

"Yeah... so together," Jaune said.

"Together," Pyrrha agreed, kissing him.

This got a reaction from his sisters who saw it, but they were too distracted by the party to dwell on it that long.

[It's nice to have kissing scenes that aren't immediately followed by disasters happening for once with this show.]

* * *

"Neptune!" Neptune heard a familiar voice.

He turned.

His mom, Opis, was standing off the dance floor waving at him.

Jupiter was there, checking out some of the girls--and also giving Yang a wary look.

[Opis is the Latin name of the mother of Jupiter and Neptune. Also represents work, among other things. Think "magnum opus".]

"There they are," Yang put her real hand on her hip.

"Oh boy..." Neptune said. "Just be cool."

"I'm always cool," Yang said.

"I was talking to myself," Neptune said. "Where's Sun?"

Sun was still with Blake.

"You'll be fine," Yang said. "Anyway, I should meet them--again."

"Can we maybe not mention that your mom is a famous bandit though?" Neptune said nervously.

Yang glanced toward Raven, who was off to the side watching the action. She caught Yang looking and then looked at Opis and Jupiter and raised an eyebrow.

"Sure..." Yang said dubiously.

They moved towards them.

"Hey Mom... bro," Neptune said.

"Hey princess," Jupiter said. "Some party."

"I can't believe you're a hero now," Opis eyed the medal. "When you went off to Beacon, I never expected this."

"Yeah, I didn't expect it either, but it's cool right?" Neptune said uneasily.

"Of course, I'm proud of you son," Opis said.

"You are?" Neptune said. "I mean, thanks Mom."

"Who is this?" Opis said.

"This is trouble," Jupiter said, with a nasty look at Yang. "She jacked the bike like I told you about."

"That was you?" Opin frowned. "Young lady, I'll have you know my son was quite distraught by that."

"By that?" Yang said tightly. "What a pansy."

"Excuse me?" Opis blinked.

"Uh, I think maybe Jupiter exaggerated slightly," Neptune gave him a pleading look. "Yang was just returning it to me, that's all."

"That's not how I remember it," Jupiter said. "You hang out with female delinquents now, Tuna?"

"You want a piece of this?" Yang made a fist.

"Yang, he's just kidding," Neptune said. "Uh Mom, this is Yang Xiao Long, she was on the mission too. She's a hero. Seriously."

"Isn't she the one who got kicked out of the tournament," Opis suddenly narrowed her eyes at Yang.

Emerald and Mercury, who weren't that far away, suddenly looked their way.

Yang clenched a fist. "I didn't do anything."

"Hey yeah, you hit some kid while he was down," Jupiter pointed at her. "Wasn't it that guy?" He had spotted Mercury.

Emerald gave Mercury a nudge and then headed toward them.

"What kind of friends have you been making?" Opis looked at Neptune. "That Wukong kid was bad enough, but this? How are you a hero--"

"Hey..." Emerald slid into the middle of it. "S'up? Uh, Neptune's family right?"

"Who are you?" Opis asked.

Jupiter gave Emerald a sly grin.

Mercury put a hand on her shoulder and glared at him.

"So that whole thing at the festival was our fault," Emerald held up her hands. "Just a... a little trick. Right, Yang?"

Yang frowned but then said. "Yeah, it was fake."

"Technically, she did hit me," Mercury said.

Emerald frowned at him.

"But it wasn't her fault, I guess," he rolled his eyes. "Who cares now? That's all in the past."

"We're all friends now," Emerald said hastily. 

"Wait, weren't you one of the people responsible for Beacon?" Opis said.

"And saving the world, Mom," Neptune said. "They both helped. They're really skilled."

"Is that so?" Jupiter said, winking at Emerald.

"Ew," she backed up. "Mercury we should beat up this jackass."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Mercury put his hand into his fist.

"What?" Jupiter lost his confident pose real fast.

"Jupiter, stop it," Neptune said. "They don't have your sense of humor, all right? We should just go get some punch or something. Catch up."

Opis frowned. "I don't know about this."

"Oh for the love of--" Yang took Neptune's arm. "It was great meeting you," she said flatly. "We've got people to meet, you know, hero business and all, excuse us."

"Yang--" Neptune began but she yanked him away and Emerald and Mercury followed.

"Your brother is the worst!" Emerald hissed.

"I really didn't thnk he was so bad," Neptune said. "I guess hearing it around strangers, it sounds different. I'm sorry guys. He's just always been kind of overt with no filter. He doesn't really mean any harm."

"Oh sure," Yang snorted. 

"I think I see why you didn't want him to show up," Mercury said. "Also your personality is making a lot more sense. Is that the same guy who tossed you in the ocean?"

"Yeah," Netpune said.

Emerald said. "Actually makes the phobia make a lot more sense. What a prick."

"Just make a tidal wave and douse him in it," Mercury said.

"No!" Neptune pleaded.

"That's just what he doesn't want to do," Yang said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "So shut up Mercury."

"I didn't mean it like that," Mercury said. "Just shut him up. Want us to cream him for you?"

"No, he's my brother, I don't want you to beat him up," Neptune said. "Just leave him alone, I'm sure he'll entertain himself here just fine without me. I just hope my Mom is okay. She's kind of tends to hang onto her first impression of people."

"Well, at least you didn't apologize for us," Emerald folded her arms. "That's something. But I'd have just told her off... if I were you."

"My mom?" Neptune laughed weakly. "No way. I guess that could have gone worse...vshe could have called the cops."

"Let's not give her the chance, I say we get out of here," Mercury said.

"Sounds good to me, we've met enough people," Emerald said. "They don't wanna talk to us anyway, we're ex criminals, let's ditch this joint and find one of the more low key parties."

"I'm with you for once," Yang said. "Come on, Neptune."

"I guess it'll be okay now," Neptune agreed.

They left the hall.

"I might use that new penchant they gave us to get  a new bike," Yang remarked as they entered the cool night air. "I don't want to keep borrowing yours."

"Yeah, it'd be nice if you had one, you could get the latest model," Netpune said.

"Yeah, all the bells and whistle," Yang said. "And spray paint it yellow again. Then I can go anywhere I want."

"So where do you want to go?" Emerald asked.

"I don't know, maybe I'd just like to go all over, see the world without it being in peril," Yang said. "That's always what I wanted to do. But maybe not alone." With a glance at Netpune.

"It sounds fun," he said nonchalantly. "I wonder if Sun's going to settle in one place or if he'll keep moving.

"I bet him and Blake will follow the Faunus movement around and keep working on that," Yang said.

"What about Ruby, though," Emerald said. "Won't you worry about her?"

"I know Uncle Qrow and Dad will keep an eye on her," Yang said. "And..." she paused. "Well, I... nothing against Ruby, but it would be nice to not be her big sister following her around all the time. Don't get me wrong, I care about Ruby and I'm not sorry I joined her on this, or that we are on the same team, but Beacon was supposed to be my chance to get away from being the one who had to take care of someone constantly and just to do my own thing finally. I got delayed on that...cbut Ruby will be fine now. She won't need me anymore. I don't have to feel guilty if I go off alone."

"Sounds like you're more like your mom than you think," Mercury said.

Yang frowned. "I stuck it out, Ruby's going to be an adult soon anyway, that's not the same."

"I think he just meant you want to be free, right?" Emerald said.

"Sure," Mercury shrugged.

"It does sound fun," Emerald said. "But personally... I'd like to stay in the same place for a while maybe, actually belong somewhere. I've never had a home. Winter's been saying they'll need a lot of help in Argus and I think Jaune and Pyrrha were talking about heading there. I liked it there when we stopped by with Winter. Maybe I'd like to join there. Helping rebuild Atlas will take a while, but... I helped destroy it. It feels right. And Vale's just a plane or boat ride away too, if we want to change it up."

"Yeah..." Mercury said. "They gave me my dad's property, can you believe that? Like I want to see that place again."

"Still it's a house," Neptune pointed out.

"Yeah... I'm just going to sell it, maybe to land developers so they can burn the whole place down," Mercury said. "There's nothing there I want... but I wouldn't mind some cash. I don't know if I really care what I end up doing. But if I'm not going back into the crime business, going into the killing grimm business make more sense. I am good at it."

"Do you eyes still work?" Yang asked.

"I actually don't know, we haven't seen any grimm," Mercury said. "Ruby thinks they might since hers got stronger after she started switching her power over to the new kind, maybe they'll just be different... won't matter much if we can just command them to do stuff and they do it."

"I was good with the mind ones," Emerald said. "I didn't like them, but... if they're any left out there. And so is Mercury."

"And people will be moving out further now that the grimm are less," Neptune reflected. "And maybe this time those places won't get destroyed by grimm. There's no Salem now to egg them on, and grimm tend to move away from humans when we're really strong..."

"Yeah," Emerald said. "I mean... going forward, it's probably gonna be that people will have more kids and stuff if there's less grimm to stop them."

"That means more jobs for people in the trades area too," Mercury said. "But that means more huntsmen to guard them. I don't think we'll be hurting for employment, any of you certified huntsmen, for a long time. Go figure."

"I guess that would be good for you," Neptune said to Yang. "They'll need huntsmen everywhere."

"Yeah, sounds fun," Yang put her arms behind her head casually. "I finally feel optimistic again about the future. Who knew? Now let's find somewhere and throw down, I'm in a good mood."

"Yeah, sure," Emerald said.

She thought to herself, when did she and Yang become friends? Somewhere along the line they'd gone from hostile to forgetting about it. She didn't even know when. [I couldn't answer that myself.]

 * * *

Weiss and Meridian made their escape from the stuffy official party not long after the other 4 did, and the rest of them made an effort to do so also.

Winter very much wanted to herself, but people kept wanting her to talk.

Qrow was around, surprisingly, though he had little idea what to say to anyone... Some people did speak to him since he was a renowned huntsman.

"A new Headmaster of the schools will have to be chosen," Minerva mentioned to him. "Ozpin's loss is heavy still, though I'm glad that the danger was averted. I still don't know how we didn't know about that creature before."

"I'm sure she tried to stay hidden," Qrow said.

"I didn't quite care for the way your friends handled it at the time when you spoke to us," Minerva said, with a glance toward the DJs. "But I suppose you all proved yourselves. You know, you could have your pick of any kingdom to settle in, Mr. Branwen, with a teaching or huntsman job, as I recall you're credentialed."

"I don't think that's for me anymore." Qrow very much wished to get away. "I'm still deciding what to do with my time."

"I hope you're not thinking of retiring?" Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You're still a young man, really. We'd be sorry to lose you. With Atlas gone, we'll need as many capable huntsmen as we can to compensate for the lack of supplies and military power. Though we didn't always have the best relationship with Atlas, they did provide a lot of protection."

"I'd say that they'll get back on their feet as long as no one tries to be a jerk about it." Qrow might have used strong language if not for the company around. "Schnee is a formidable force. I wouldn't bet against her."

"Hhmm... " Minerva eyed Winter. "Perhaps, but she is so young. She wasn't an officer for that many years. I wish Ironwood had not succumbed to insanity. One Council member is hardly enough to direct Atlas armed forces. Mantle also... But we can talk about business another time. Are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Oh, sure, they're nice." Qrow wished she'd leave him alone. He hated politics.

"And are you accompanying anyone in particular tonight?" Minerva asked.

Really, Qrow should have seen that coming, but he'd completely forgotten about his reputation till now. He'd been so busy focused on business.

"Oh, ah..." He fumbled for a safe response.

"Councilwoman Athens." Winter thankfully joined them right then, though she hadn't heard the remark. "I wanted to thank you for your generosity earlier. It was more than we could have asked for."

"Well, between you and me, Schnee, it wasn't really for you," Minerva said. "Frankly, I still think Atlas needs a more experienced leader, but we're making the best of it, and I certainly wanted to reward the crew who saved the world. Though we may not know exactly what happened on the journey. The media won't leave you alone for weeks. They've been a problem ever since that witch showed herself in Mistral as it was. I hope all her supporters have been hunted down."

"I only know that they all either are dead or left her services after they found out the truth," Winter said evenly, trying to ignore her comments about her qualifications for leadership.

"Hmm. Well, good," Minerva said. "There is the matter of the SDC..."

Winter frowned.

"What happened to no more business tonight?" Qrow tried to say nonchalantly.

"You're right, Branwen." Minerva nodded. "Anyway, I heard there's a new head of the company. Perhaps I should talk to him--though he also seems a little young for the job. Still, the time is now... but you're right, no more business for now. Care to join me? I thought I might inspect more of the night life around Vacuo. Should be fun for a novelty."

Winter gave Qrow a look that wasn't to be described.

"The thing is--" Qrow was trying to figure out what to say here. "--I really don't think I can--"

"He's already engaged in other matters," Winter cut in firmly and coldly.

"Hmm?" Minerva looked from her to Qrow. "Wait... wait a moment." She got an odd look. "Are you...? No, that can't be. I heard that you hated each other."

"Hate is a strong word--" Qrow began weakly.

"What concern is it of yours?" Winter forgot her tact--as she was all too likely to do when provoked.

"I'm sorry if I seem surprised. It's just so unexpected," Minerva said. "But of course... Still, you can't blame me for not thinking of it. I suppose rumors abound... Well, excuse me, I should make sure the other council members aren't getting into a scuffle with Vacuo's hooligans."

She walked way.

Winter gave Qrow a severe look.

"What?" he said. 

She turned and stormed away.

Qrow followed. "Winter, come on, she started it. I wasn't going to go anywhere with her. I was trying to explain."

"Right." Winter cooly walked to the side of the room where there were archways that led onto a balcony.

She paused on one. It was cooler out here. "Well, excuse me if I found it a little more plausible after the way you've avoided me since we came back."

Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. "I shouldn't have done that," he admitted. "But it's... No, I shouldn't make an excuse. I've been in my own head too much about stuff. I know, real unusual for me. I should have said something before, but I lost my nerve."

Winter tapped the railing of the balcony. "You're embarrassed now?" she said in a voice that sounded like it was trying to stay calm. "I suppose Athens just reminded me of how well our animosity was known among the schools. She won't be the last to find the idea unbelievable that we put it aside. I personally now find it hard to believe it ever lasted so long, but perhaps you're ashamed to own up to changing your mind?"

"What? No," Qrow scoffed. "Are you kidding? What dignity do I have to lose anyway? Probably would only help my reputation. It's you I thought would be embarrassed."

"Me?" Winter said. "Why?"

"You don't find it all a bit weird, the way people are looking at us?" Qrow asid. "They won't think this makes any sense. I wondered if, being back in civilization, you'd start to think that."

"So I would discard the changes of the last several weeks just because I'm back in familiar terrain?" Winter looked at the sky and horizon, rather annoyed. "That wouldn't say much for my ability to learn from it, would it? Really, is that what you think? I'm shallow and easily swayed by everyone else?"

"No, I don't think that." Qrow leaned next to her finally. "I guess I just think I'd see where they'd be coming from. I'm not sure I'm a good influence on your reputation for credibility."

"It depends on how you look at it. You seem popular enough with the council," Winter said rather warmly.

"Yeah... well, not for the right reasons," Qrow said. "That's... kind of the problem with being famous the way I am. I'm a good fighter, but people don't take me that seriously for anything else. This is all new to me. I guess it makes me nervous. I know that sounds pathetic, but... well, it's the truth. Sorry."

He sighed. "So much for being the cool guy."

Winter finally smiled slightly to herself.

"Well, I prefer honesty," she said. "Perhaps if you weren't trying to be cool, you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable."

"My coolness is all I have going for me," Qrow remarked.

"Is it?" Winter cast him an odd look. 

Qrow felt kind of nervous.

Clearing his throat, he said, "So you want to get out of here?"

"Please," Winter said almost too quickly. She formed glyphs over the side of the balcony and jumped down.

Qrow followed a lot more clumsily, but since he couldn't do bird form anymore, he didn't have a choice.