[Opener is Burning Cold, by Eurielle]

After a long time off alone in the woods on Patch, Qrow and Winter finally turned back to the house.

"I needed time to think after all that," Winter remarked. "But I suppose now it'll be time to leave, before it gets dark."

"Yeah...those were some big bombs to drop," Qrow admitted. "Our lives seem pretty tame compared to theirs, huh?"

He patted her shoulder. "I'm okay with that though. I've had enough excitement to last me a long time."

Winter smiled oddly to herself. "Yes, but I doubt we'll stay clear of it for very long. I never do seem to get away from it. And you certainly don't."

"Funny, I almost think I'd prefer to be boring now," Qrow said. "But I just can't help being naturally cool."

Winter rolled her eyes.

"Oh there you two are," Meridian walked toward the two of them. "You've been gone for hours. Not that I blame you, this here is lovely weather to be off alone."

Winter frowned at him. "What do you want, Wallace?"

"I was hoping you'd be a bit less formal," Meridian said. "I was talking to you family in there a bit ago and they all were very amiable, but they all said what I already knew, I should be talking to you... but then I didn't like to look for you at the moment, given the circumstances--"

"So what was it?" Qrow asked before Winter could explode.

"Oh I've been planning on this for a while," Meridian said, casting a look back as if to make sure no one had followed him. "But I thought why not wait till after graduation? Just to clear our schedules up?"

"Oh I know what this is about," Qrow said.

"You do?" Winter said.

"I mean if I was him there'd be only one direction this was going from her if I went to this much effort," Qrow said.

"I knew you'd understand, Qrow," Meridian said. "And as you're part of this too, I'm glad you're here."

"What is it?" Winter was puzzled now.

"To put it in few words, I want to ask Weiss to marry me," Meridian was not bashful about this at all. "And I wanted to ask your blessing."

This should not have stunned Winter as much as it did, but she was speechless.

"That's nice of you," Qrow said. "Not many young men would do that now--I cannot believe I just used those words...ugh, Oz must have rubbed off on me."

"I wouldn't normally," Meridian said. "But Winter has never liked me," he was rather blunt as usual. "And I thought it wouldn't sit well to just spring it on her either. After all, Weiss cares about her older sister's approval more than anyone else's and I want to acknowledge that. She'd not be happy if Winter wasn't in support."

Winter swallowed her shock.

"That is true," she said. "But before I approve anything, I want you to answer something."

"If it's if I've had my shots, Theo makes us get them to enroll," Meridian said.

"I didn't want to know that," Winter really hadn't. "But that's a relief. No. I want your assurance that if we consent, you will never do anything to disappoint Weiss."

"Do you mean really disappoint her or the fake disappointment thing she does?" Meridian asked amiably.

Winter frowned.

"This is why I can't please you, ma'am, no sense of humor," Meridian tugged his collar.

"This is not a joking matter," Winter was severe.

"I know it's not," Meridian sobered up. "But if I tell  you how much I really care about Weiss, you'll think me daft or a liar."

"That's good." Qrow looked like he wanted to take notes. "I should use that line."

"Don't." Winter wouldn't be able to unhear Meridian's accent using it.

"What about you?" Meridian asked Qrow.

"I've always liked you." Qrow shrugged. "And you've been respectful all this time and more patient than I'd expect any Vacuo guy to be, no offense. Weiss makes you tow the line."

"Does she?" Meridian asked.

"Well, if she doesn't have to, so much the better," Qrow said. 

"I promise I would never hurt Weiss on purpose," Meridian said. "And if I may say so, is our relationship really any weirder than yours?"

Winter tried to think of a comeback from that.

Qrow was trying not to laugh. He imagined Meridian had wanted to say that for years.

"Be honest, are you actually not going to ask her if I say no?" Winter said.

"Of course I would," Meridian said. "But it would be nice not to have unhappiness about it. Not the tone I'd want to set, if you understand what I mean."

Winter tapped her chin. "I suppose, in that light, there's no point to me not assenting. You had better take excellent care of her. I will be watching, Mr. Wallace."

With a pointed look.

"Of course." Meridian bowed either seriously or in jest, she couldn't tell. "Well, glad that's out of the way. I'll leave you to your 'walk'."

He hurried away.

"Be honest, you were always going to say yes," Qrow said. "You didn't actually dislike him this whole time. You were just giving him a hard time to see if he could handle being with the Schnees."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Winter was a terrible liar.

"If you really didn't like him, you'd have killed him or something ages ago," Qrow said. "No one gets close to Weiss without your approval."

"Please, Qrow."

"It's okay. I would have too," Qrow said. "After all, she's family now. But he's a good kid. I'd have told you if he wasn't. You think I didn't check up on him in Vacuo while I was there?"

"I was sure of it," Winter said. "You wouldn't be so careless." She smiled. "Well, there's no getting away from him now. I suppose, at least, he does make Whitley more cheerful."

"Any way we can do that is good," Qrow said drolly. "I'd like to stay out here a while longer but wouldn't want to miss the big moment."

"Oh, no," Winter agreed. "It had better be where I can see it after that."

They hurried towards the house.

* * *

"Did anyone see where Meridian went?" Weiss asked, holding a cup of tea.

Most of the boys already knew what was up and simpered oddly.

"I think he just stepped out to see if Qrow and Winter had come back yet," Sun said.

"Why?" Weiss asked. "I'm sure they're fine."

"I think he had something to ask them," Neptune said.

"What would he ask them and not me about?" Weiss wondered.

"Shut up," Blake told Neptune. Of course she knew too. "I'm sure it's nothing, Weiss. They're just teasing about it."

Blake was a more convincing liar than them.

"We'll have to be going soon," Yang said. "They'd better hurry. Ugh, married couples, they are the worst."

She grinned.

"This is so surreal for me," Tai muttered in the back. "I think my daughter has a more mature relationship than I did."

"Oh, the horror." Raven was savage--to herself. 

Meridian came in then, and everyone looked at him.

"Well, don't tell me the party ended without me?" he said smoothly.

"Dude," Sun said, "it gets so much less pumped when you leave."

"I can't help it. I'm gifted." Meridian shrugged.

"Well, did you see Winter?" Weiss asked.

"I wouldn't tell on her if I did," Meridian said cheekily. "But I do think they'll be back soon."

"Oh brother," Whitley said.

"Close, Mr. Whitley, close," Meridian said.

"Hhu?" Whitley was confused.

"Ooh, here we go." Libby clasped her hands together.

Winter and Qrow entered not that many seconds later, looking interested.

"It's a shame that some people left already, but oh well," Meridian said. "Now that you're all here, I have a very important announcement to make."

"You do?" Weiss said blankly.

"Yes, love. I wanted it to be a surprise for you," Meridian said. "But now that Weiss is graduating and all, I'm taking a break from teaching."

"Awesome, dude," Sun said.

"Always wanted to see more of the world," Meridian said. "So I'll be off, maybe cruise around on a ship. That's a nice way to travel."

"And you're just telling me this now?" Weiss sounded irritated. "Seriously?"

"He'd better hope this goes well," Qrow muttered to himself.

"Oh, crap, is this what I think it is?" Raven hissed.

Mercury was giving Meridian an odd look. He wasn't the only one who had no clue what was going on; Ruby and Yang didn't know either. Blake hadn't told them a thing.

"I would have told you, darling, but I had to take care of something first," Meridian said.

"And what thing was that?" Weiss still didn't get it and was still annoyed.

"Well, first of all, I had to get this." Meridian was smooth as butter. He pulled a ring case out of his pocket.

Weiss' whole face changed from annoyed to stunned, and then she looked at everyone as if to ask if this was for real.

Those who knew were grinning, and those who didn't were gaping but in delighted stupor. The look on Ruby's face was priceless.

"And second, I had to ask your family's permission first." Meridian knew he was already winning. He was smirking.

Weiss covered her mouth.

"I suppose I should do this the right way..." Meridian got on one knee. "Weiss Schnee, I've loved you from the first second I laid eyes on you in that club and you gave me what for. I've seen the good and bad sides of people my whole life because of my Semblance, but every side of you only made me like you more. Even when you're being as salty as you can possibly be, I feel the same way. And I know you like me too or you'd have sent me packing a long time ago, so I'm not too worried about what you'll say, but this entire thing has made me a bit more uncomfortable than I expected, so, I'd appreciate it if you just say yes or no real quickly. Will you marry me?"

[I got one normalish proposal in here.]

Weiss sniffled. "That was so weirdly romantic and not romantic at the same time."

"Just answer him. I'm dying," Sun said.

"Dude, don't step on the moment," Neptune said.

Weiss looked at her family, who were nodding and smiling, except Whitley, who was just staring.

"Well..." Weiss pretended to think about it. "There are all these people here...and you got the ring...and it's been 3 years.... I guess, all things considered, it would be pretty mean to say no. But this is a one time thing, got it?"

"It better be. You know what this cost?" Meridian joked, slipping the ring on her finger.

Then he picked her up and spun her around and almost knocked over one of Tai's decorations.

"You all knew!" Weiss said, once she caught her breath.

"Not all of us." Ruby was a little peeved. 

"I had to get their blessing," Meridian explained.

"Oh, wow, you did that?" Weiss said.

"I know how you like to have everything proper," he said.

"Wow, he's a keeper." Blake thought it was romantic.

"Just because of that?" Sun said.

"Uh, yeah," she said. "My dad would love that."

"Seems a little old school to me, but that is kind of Weiss' thing," Neptune noted.

"I guess this really wins out over our big announcement," Yang noted. "But I guess that's okay. We all had our moment today. Wow...crazy day."

"I'd prefer it to be crazy because we had good news than the stuff it used to be," Blake mused.

"Aren't you going to give him a kiss or something?" Tai asked Weiss. "That's the traditional thing to do."

"It is?" Weiss said.

"Tai, don't pressure them," Winter said severely.

"They can't be so shy if they're going to get married," Tai said.

"Starting to think the kids don't just get it from me and Raven," Qrow said.

"When did I ever pressure anyone to do PDA?" Raven defended herself. "Really, Qrow."

Weiss kissed Meridian anyway, mostly to show Tai she wasn't scared of him--or to show the Branwen twins, either or.

"It's a shame Emerald missed this," Oscar reflected.

* * *

Emerald had her own surprises though.

Cinder had...not looked very comfortable about following Shine and Wally thus far, and now she was just standing awkwardly there.

"Come to see us off?" Royal was so incorrigibly sassy, Emerald wanted to strangle him.

Not that it was so bad for him to try to make light of it, but it wasn't the kind of thing that would make Cinder of all people more at ease.

Indeed Cinder just glared at him. "Shove off," she said tersely.

"Fine, I think it's for you anyway." Royal nodded at Emerald. "Just don't fight on the airship. The insurance on these things is insane."

"Need a hand with the supplies?" Wally asked him.

"Oh...well, if you're offering I still need to move it inside the unit," Royal said.

The town had a single storage unit pad for deliveries and other things. It was tricky to unload into it from something as big as a plane, but Royal's precision always seemed to help him land in the right spot.

Wally must have slowed himself down by several degrees, because he only moved slightly faster than any normal person should have been able to move--at least while Royal was looking his way.

But all the packages seemed moved in less time than it took to even ask if it was odd.

"Huh...that was fast..." Royal rubbed his head.

"Did you want something?" Emerald was asking Cinder in the meantime.

Cinder shuffled like she was kid.

"I was...a bit...abrupt before," she said, like she hated it. "I didn't intend to...offend you."

Cinder never ever apologized for anything.

"Oh...wow..." Emerald was dumbfounded.

"Don't start," Cinder said.

Emerald swallowed her shock.

"Sorry, I...it's fine. I didn't have any real business pushing you when I don't know what it's like here. I just...I guess I get ahead of myself." She shrugged. "But you want to be left alone, and I can respect that. I'm getting a lot of practice at it these days."

"Perhaps the wry comments about that might not be helping," Shine remarked in the background.

"Who are you?" Royal asked Wally.

"Name's Wally." Wally shook his hand. "I've heard of you--the guy with the shoe last name, right?"

"Huh?" Royal said.

"It wouldn't be, here," Shine said, looking at them sideways.

"Right, right," Wally said. "But I've heard good things. You're Emerald's friend."

"I'd like to think so, though not sure I'm in the ring, but I might be in the audience, so to speak," Royal said. "How do you two know her?"

"We go way back," Wally said.

"I'm Shine," Shine introduced herself. "His fiancee."

"Oh, congratulations. You two look like a couple," Royal approved.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Wally said. "I get teased about finally settling down, but I'm not sure I see it that way. I can't say Shine is a very settled down kind of person."

"I'd say the same about you, but partners for life is more along the lines of what I'm looking for," Shine said.

"I know I've heard the names Shine and Wally before." Royal frowned in consternation. "Emerald's mentioned it."

Emerald hadn't said it to him directly, but of course he caught bits of conversation from where he sat.

"It's not as if I've ever been one for friends," Cinder was saying to Emerald. "You don't have to take it so personally. It's just the way I am."

"I know. I know you don't 'feel' things." Emerald made quotations. "Or at least not nice things."

"It's not that exactly, but it's better if I don't have any reason to think of the past," Cinder said flatly.

"Are you worried you'll relapse?" Emerald said.

"You don't go from being the way I was to being a normal person," Cinder said. "But I've been able to function at least. Because few things ever will remind me of it. There's no temptation here. Mostly. It wouldn't be the same if the others were around. Besides, they don't like me anyway."

"Time changes. Most of them wouldn't care now," Emerald said. "Sometimes they ask what happened to you, you know."

"They hope I'm not plotting their deaths." Cinder was quite cavalier about that.

"I think they know you're not. Don't you ever wonder if the whole team should really be separated?" Emerald said. "It just feels wrong."

"Now you sound like them," Cinder said. "I don't know what it would accomplish for me to see or talk to anyone."

"Wouldn't know till you tried, I bet," Emerald said. "It's not like I knew what I'd like about this before I started. Maybe you want to know too badly beforehand."

"You didn't used to question people's inner motives so much," Cinder said, a bit annoyed. "You're awfully nosy now."

"I've picked it up from Shine and Pyrrha and Oscar's influence, I guess," Emerald thought. "I didn't notice I had. But no, Mercury has said stuff like that too..." She paused.

"You never did say why he didn't show up." Cinder remembered her suspicions. "What did he do? I assume he's not dead, but something clearly happened."

"I thought you didn't care." Slyly.

"I don't care that much. It's just weird."

"Uh huh." Emerald shrugged. "Mercury and I broke up. He's been assigned to other teams now. I guess my team didn't like him so much."

"WHAT?" Cinder was stunned. She forgot her caution.

The other three looked at her weirdly.

"Do you have to yell?" Shine asked, wincing.

"Sorry." Cinder only ever told Shine she was sorry without thinking about it, notably.

"Why are you so surprised? You literally told me to do that." Emerald rubbed her ear.

"I didn't expect you to listen." Cinder was surprised enough to be honest.

[Cinder would get Rikki on H20's dilemma with her advice giving. If you've seen it, you get it.]

"I had to," Emerald said. "But can we not talk about it? I'm sick of talking about it. I gotta go anyway. You should really drop by Argus though. It'd be cool. Pyrrha and Jaune are gonna have a baby."

"Not only that--" Shine checked her scroll. "--apparently we just missed it, but Meridian proposed to Weiss."

"Dang, we missed that?" Wally said.

"So you know all of them?" Royal said.

"Oh, sure," Shine said.

Emerald was looking at her like "stop talking."

Royal snapped his fingers.

"Shine Likstar," he said triumphantly. "Wally West. I remember now. You're the out of kingdom heroes for the quest. No one ever knows anything about you. And they never tell us anything about you either. But you disappeared right after Deliverance Day. That's right, isn't it?"

"Are you a fanboy?" Wally asked.

"It's...more like a vested interest," Royal said. "Oh, wow..." He had stars in his eyes.

"Oh, no," Cinder and Emerald both said, in different tones.

"You have got to fly back with us." Royal clearly didn't want to miss a chance to talk about this.

"This is bad," Emerald hissed. "I never told him about them because of that...you know, the thing."

"He can't find out about that. Do you think they'd tell him?" Cinder replied.

"I don't know. They don't usually, but he's not stupid, you know. I'm sure he knows there's something odd about them." Emerald didn't think Royal would just brush off them only showing up like this once in a while.

"Good luck with that." Cinder threw her hands up.

"You've gotta help me cover for this," Emerald said.

"I'm sure they can handle themselves," Cinder said.

"They'll just leave. That won't help."

"You expect me to help?"

"You're a better liar than I am."

Well...that was true. Not much better, but if she could avoid smirking surreptitiously, she was more convincing.

Cinder had no wish to go anywhere with them, but on the other hand...what if they came back? That wouldn't go so well for her if their cover got blown. Should she just...?

But no, traveling with them just to cover for them was ridiculous and irrational. No way would that make any sense.

As fate would have it, though, Cinder wasn't left to decide this on her own.

"Oh, there you are." Wanda Fay walked into the yard right then. "I was hoping you hadn't left yet."

"Ma'am." Royal tipped his hat. He knew what to be to a city manager.

Fay seemed to like him, which annoyed Cinder further, as she thought she'd encourage him to linger around more.

"Mr. Zapato," Fay said, with a nod. "How is your family?"

"It's just me now, I'm afraid, save for my one cousin. Last I heard she's doing fine." Royal shrugged.

Emerald suddenly recalled what Darren had told her. She'd wanted to ask Royal about it but didn't know how to.... Now she wondered if Fay knew him.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Fay seemed to know more than Emerald had. "But we must go on with life. I didn't realize you knew my store manager and her huntress friend."

Cinder wanted to deny that Emerald was her friend--and realized just in time that acknowledging that remark would be more suspicious than just letting it slide as a joke would.

She'd learned a few things in three years.

"Ms. Fay?" Shine piped up. "I've heard of you. Scarlet has told me all good things."

"I'm flattered she mentioned me at all," Fay said. "I think I've seen you in the shop before. Out of  town visitors, aren't you? Miss Scon, you didn't tell me you had so many distant friends."

"Friends might be putting it strongly." Cinder felt she could say this now. "But you know I'm not from around here. I know them from a long time ago."

"Yeah, just casually," Emerald said flatly. "Small world, right?"

"It certainly is," Fay said. "I appreciate you checking on us, Miss Sustrai. We've been doing just fine the last 6 months, better than ever. I heard about your dust strike."

"Oh, yeah," Emerald said.

"I wanted to talk to you about that project of yours you mentioned last time," Fay said. "But I see you don't have time now. Maybe you could come back another day."

"I could, yeah," Emerald said.

Cinder rolled her eyes to herself.

"I'd like to stay, but we should really go congratulate Weiss," Shine reminded them tactfully.

"Oh, yeah, we should do that," Emerald said. 

"Are you flying back to Argus?" Fay asked.

"Yeah, this was my last stop. I try to plan it that way on purpose," Royal said.

Cinder gave him another look.

"It's closer to Argus, so it makes sense. What?" He shrugged.

"I did have some more things to order..." Fay said. "Miss Scon, I have a bit of a favor to ask of you."

Cinder didn't like the sound of this, but of course she said, "What?"

Her laconicness didn't seem to bother Ms. Fay.

"There's this very rare indigo fabric I've wanted to have in the shop for the longest time," she said. "Just to give us a little more exotic flair, you know? But it's almost impossible to find it outside of Argus and the kingdom capital cities. Frankly, the cost of trying to order it from this far away is worse than the fabric itself. But I was thinking to myself, you haven't had a real work holiday in ages."

Cinder blanched.

"Oh--" she began.

"If you'd like a few days off," Fay said, "I'd pay for your passage if you'd just be so kind as to look for it for me. I have the order number here." She held up a magazine. "I'd go myself, but I have a big town hall meeting tomorrow and I just can't get away. Spring is so busy for me.... Would you be so kind?"

Now, most assistants would have jumped at a chance to get a mostly paid-for vacation on so slight a favor, and Cidner was having a difficult time coming up with a plausible reason why she wouldn't be enthused about it.

"We can wait an hour if you want to pack." Royal was no help.

"That would be so kind of you," Fay said.

"Oh, what are friends for, ma'am?" Royal shrugged.

"You know, it wouldn't be that hard," Emerald said. "I could hook you up with some lodgings for real cheap. Maybe even free. I'd have to ask."

"I don't think that's--" Cinder began.

Shine shook her head at her.

Fay looked hopeful.

"--too much trouble, is it?" Cinder finished saltily.

"Oh ,no, it's no problem. I do it all the time," Emerald said.

"Want me to help you get your stuff?" Wally asked.

Either he meant to be nice, or he was rubbing it in. Either way, Cinder almost blew up but recollected in the nick of time that her boss was watching her.

"I guess..." she said very flatly.

"Cool, let's go." Wally sped away.

Cinder walked away stiffly.

"I hope you won't take her manner as insulting to you," Fay said. "I've known Miss Scon for years now, and she's just one of those odd ducks who doesn't understand social graces, but she means well. She's a smart worker and manager, just not as extroverted."

"She must be able to get along with customers okay though, to be manager," Shine said.

"To tell you the truth, dear, that was my concern when I promoted her." Fay was very blunt apparently. "But I made sure she knew what she had to do. She's been just fine. Just because something doesn't come naturally to someone doesn't mean they shouldn't be given a chance to learn how to do it well, don't you think? Once, I wasn't so good at politics, but here I am. You learn to do a thing when you have to do it, dear."

Emerald nodded slowly.

"You're very right," Shine said. "That's wise. I've known Scarlet for a while. She's one of the most determined people I've ever met. I'm glad she's decided to improve her skills in this way."

"I'm sure she's always been determined to succeed," Ms. Fay said, significantly. "But our definition of success can change, thank goodness."

Emerald frowned.

"I thought so," Shine said in a low voice. "You know more about her earlier life than you've told her, Ms. Fay?"

"I wouldn't be much of a manager if I couldn't do a background check," Ms. Fay said, "or read a newspaper, you know. Not that this town is much interested in the outside world. We live a small, simple life here. Most people don't care what you were in the past as long as you're a good worker and fond of tea. I find, though, that the past catches up with a person. Miss Scon is not the first person to come here in search of a respite from something."

"Speaking from experience?" Shine asked.

"If I was, I wouldn't tell you what," Ms. Fay said. "That's a part of leaving the past behind. But Mr. Zapato there would be proof that it never entirely leaves you."

"I don't want it to," Royal said seriously. "You can't learn from it if it does."

"Quite right," Ms. Fay said. "And I do worry, just a little, that some people may try to close themselves off too much. People who have the best stories should share them. In some way."

"Doesn't sound like you've shared yours," Emerald noted.

"Mine's not really worth telling, and it might harm more people than me to do so," Ms. Fay said. "Not like yours, I'm sure, dear."

Emerald raised an eyebrow.

"Do keep an eye on Cinder in Argus," Ms. Fay said, nodding and walking away. "I hear it's got a lot of ruffians in it since the fall of Atlas divided everyone so much abroad. I'm glad she has friends."

It took Emerald a second to realize that she'd just used Cinder's real name. She did it so naturally.

"I knew it," Shine said, smugly. "She was much too intentional. She seems like a sweet, innocent, old lady, but she's sharp, mark my words. Cinder getting hired by her was no accident. She was testing her."

"I haven't heard you use that tone in a long time," Emerald said. "That was weird. Cinder doesn't know.... No, I think she might know she knows. I guess they don't talk about it."

"Keeps up the illusion so that they can live in peace," Shine said. "But she knows why you know her so well, clearly, or she'd never have said that. The past has followed Cinder here from her very inception into the town. I think that says something."

"But how did you know Fay?" Emerald asked Royal suddenly.

"She's an old family friend, you could say," Royal said. "But I haven't seen her up close in ages. Took me a spell to realize it was her after you mentioned the manager's name. But she threw me a line after she realized it was me. She used to be an overseer in one of the warehouse divisions. I guess she was from a small town originally, though. Must have gone back to it. Maybe she was visiting when Atlas fell."

This was the first time he'd alluded to his family's past openly.

"Okay, so it is true," Emerald said. 

Wally and Cinder reappeared right then, but her back was turned, and she didn't see them.

"Why didn't you ever tell me your family lost its fortune when Atlas fell?" Emerald barreled on.

"Didn't think it was important." Royal didn't want to talk about this so openly from the look of him.

"But...but I thought the whole thing didn't affect you that personally. That's what you made it sound like."

"Captain, I was already working at Argus when it happened," Royal said, a bit terse for him. "So you could say that it didn't affect my life materially at all."

"But your father...didn't he...pass away in Atlas?" Emerald said.

"Not when it fell." Royal was rather abrupt with her. "Don't worry about it."

Wally saw Cinder pale and look stunned.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Impossible..." Cinder muttered. "No, I could believe it. I shouldn't go with you."

"You kind of have to. It's for work," Wally said.

"I...just..." Cinder sputtered.

But of course she did have to.

She didn't say another word as they climbed on the ship and took off.

Emerald was puzzled by Royal's odd reaction. He'd never been anything like cross with her except when the Irasci had made them all fight, but...she'd touched a nerve of some sort.

Shine kept giving her odd looks.

"Darren told me about it," Emerald explained to her in a hushed voice so Royal wouldn't hear. "It sounded bad. But he's never said one thing about it. He's so laid back, I never thought he'd have any personal connection to Atlas beyond being from there. But it was more."

"Perhaps he didn't care for his family business, like Winter," Shine suggested.

"Still, not even mentioning it? I mean, we're responsible for it," Emerald said.

"That's probably why he didn't mention it. He doesn't seem to be a big grudge holder," Shine said.

"Why are you so spooked?" Wally asked Cinder. "I don't think it's got much to do with you from the sound of it. You hardly did anything on Atlas except fight us."

"Well, that was enough," Cinder said. "I couldn't understand why he was so cavalier about our past. He must be plotting some kind of revenge."

Wally gave her an amused look. "You really think that's it?"

"It's all that makes sense. No one acts so carefree about loss unless they have a plan and want you to not suspect it."

"Cindy, that kind of sounds like the old you talking. Don't you know by now that not everyone wants revenge? Hello?" Wally waved his hand.

"You're an enigma, West, and stop using that nickname," Cinder said.

"I don't see what's so wrong with it. It's a real name," Wally grumbled.

"Would you like to be called 'Waldo'?"

"I got called that a few times--it's like this book series in my world," Wally said. "But usually they made fun of my middle name."

"Middle name? What is it?"

"I don't just tell it to people."

"You know my real name."

"Okay, but don't tell anyone else," Wally said. "It's Rudolph."

[It is. Look it up.]

Cinder thought that was funny--but she suppressed it.

"That doesn't suit you," she said instead.

"I know, right? That's why they made fun of it. I never thought the name Wallace really suited me either."

"Isn't that that annoying Vacuo huntsman's last name?"

"Yeah. Coincidence, right?"

"Fay has never asked me to do this in approximately 3 years," Cinder changed the subject. "I can't believe it. Unless she's conspiring with the pilot."

"I wouldn't be as paranoid as you for a million dollars," Wally said. "It's fine, stop worrying." He leaned back complacently.

https://youtu.be/Debe8T_H5rI

[The Crane Wives--"Keep you Safe"]