The morning after Jacques closed the Schnee Dust Company's nonessential facilities; the Mantle rioters are sitting on sidewalks and in police airships with their wrists bound by bolases. The outside walls have campaign posters for both Jacques and Robyn, and Jacques' posters have been spray-painted over, "Although rioting in Mantle is finally under control, how does it feel to know that the majority of those involved were your supporters?"

In a building somewhere, a reporter from the Mantle Daily is interviewing Robyn, "I don't condone rioting, especially when our city is being denied aid for the hardships we've already had to go through, but Jacques Schnee's latest stunt is holding the city hostage for his own political gain."

You were in your room, closing the windows preventing the cold air in. Qrow was sleeping on the bed, he had a late job the night before, and you had let him sleep in. You walk to the side of the bed, covering Qrow with a blanket, which he softly smiles in his sleep, and he lightly mutters your name.

You smile before leaving the room, "So I understand their anger, but ask that they show it not in the streets but at the polls today."

In the Atlas Academy training room, Blake uses her Semblance and jumps from pillar to pillar while Yang follows and attempts to catch her.

Below Blake and Yang, Winter sends her Beowolf Summon to attack Weiss, who creates black glyphs above, below, and to the left and right of it. Weiss then uses the glyphs to throw the Beowolf Summon around, slamming it against the glyphs. She creates a white glyph in front of her and uses it to send the Summon back toward Winter, who creates her own white glyph to stop it. However, Winter suddenly winces in pain and drops to one knee. She then discovers that a small version of Weiss' Arma Gigas Summon snuck up to her and cut her ankle with its sword. The Arma Gigas strikes a pose with its sword on its shoulder, and Winter glares at Weiss, who gives a smug smirk in return and giggles.

Behind Weiss, Jaune is using his shield to deflect a rubber ball, while Nora keeps hitting it toward him with her hammer. Nora activates Magnhild's upgrade, charging herself up with electricity. She swings Magnhild around and sends the ball rocketing toward Jaune, who blocks it and slides backwards several feet before dropping to one knee. The emblem on his shield glows cyan while he blocks, and the ball eventually turns to ash.

Nearby, Oscar is using his Scroll to keep track of Jaune's Aura, which has been reduced to approximately 65%. Jaune sits up and takes a deep breath, his Aura glowing for a moment, and Oscar watches Jaune's Aura increase to approximately 95%, "Nice, your recovery is getting faster."

Nora walks over to Jaune, who gives a cheerful thumbs-up. Nora then gives him a heavy pat on the back, still using her Semblance, which knocks him onto the ground, reducing his Aura to approximately 64%. Ruby zooms past with her Semblance, heading straight toward Ren who is meditating in front of a pillar. She splits into three red blurs, which all go around Ren and the pillar, before merging into one blur and becoming Ruby again, "Have you always been able to do that?"

Ruby peeks out at him from behind the pillar and then walks over to him, "I don't know. I don't normally think it through that much."
"You guys are evolving, and I still don't have my Semblance."
"Well, I bet we'll all be jealous when you do."

Ren continues meditating, deep in a state where he has blocked out everyone around him. There is a ringing sound, followed by the sound of the training room door opening, and Ren opens his eyes and looks toward the door, "(Y/n), and Clover wasn't kidding. You're really giving this your all." Ironwood walks into the training room with you and Clover following behind.

You take notice that Clover's pin was crooked, you fix the pin, which surprised Clover. "The Ace-Ops are training them; it's a perfect way to train the next generation of huntsmen and huntresses."
He smiles and thanks to you, which you nod.

Oscar and Ren stand up.
"Well, we have to with the way things are going."

Ironwood takes out his Scroll, which projects a screen depicting the live election results. Currently, Jacques has 30% of the vote, while Robyn has 70%, "They're not going well, are they? (Y/n), you should have joined the election."

You raised a brow, "And stay cooped up behind a glass wall, pretending to be perfect, like many years ago. I first joined for you..." Clover places an arm in front of you, knowing that you could start an argument, "...and you know the reason why I left. Besides better Robyn than that clip-on tie."

"I suppose so. Either way, this election doesn't bode well for our stability."
"It could be a chance to work with Robyn and get Mantle on your side. It seemed that you knew Robyn a long time ago, couldn't you talk to her?"

"Would you think she would believe anything we say? About Salem, about me?" You put your hands on your hips.

"The likelihood of that working- About you?" Ironwood and Clover pay close attention to your words.

Nora speaks up, catching the attention of the two men, "Ruby's right, you have to do something about Mantle. If you could get Robyn to trust you..."
"I bet if you opened up to her, she'd understand that you're being framed."

"Perhaps... but it will only work if she's open too." Nora starts to say something, but Ren steps forward and interrupts her, earning a look from both her and Jaune, "I take it you're here for new mission assignments?"

"You could say that. The General and I want you to take the rest of the day to recuperate. Some of you need it." Clover speaks as he glances at you.
"You're giving us a night off?"

"Ordering it. After tonight's election, we'll be waking up to a very different Atlas tomorrow. I need you rested and ready for whatever that may bring." Ruby starts thinking to herself, looking uncertain.

At sunset that day, Team RWBY is in their dorm room. Blake is sitting at one of the small desks with a mirror in front of her, while Ruby and Yang are lying on beds, and Weiss is leaning against the ladder between the bunk beds. Weiss has a live report from the Daily Mantle playing on her Scroll. While Blake puts on mascara, Yang looks over at her, "We still have hours ahead of us, but as votes come in, it looks more and more certain that Robyn Hill will fill the open council seat."

Weiss closes her Scroll and walks across the room, "There's no way my father could've thought layoffs would do anything but hurt him. So why announce this the day before the election?"
"Just seems like a power play that backfired to me. Won't matter in a few hours, though."

Yang stands up, stretches, and walks over to Blake, "Where are you guys going?"

Blake adjusts her hair, and Yang rests her hand on Blake's back, leans down and adjusts her own hair while looking in the mirror, "Team FNKI invited us out dancing. Yang and I thought it would be good to get our minds off the election."
"I thought you said Team FNKI was annoying."

Yang straightens up, "That's the best part about dance clubs. I can't hear you." She whispers her last sentence in a joking manner. Blake giggles. Nora and Ren slide the door open from outside, "Ruby, come on!"
"I still can't believe you're going to that thing."
"Just because Ironwood dislikes Robyn doesn't mean we all have to. From where I'm standing both of them seem to be trying their best to help Atlas. As to who's doing a better job..."

"But a victory party?" Ruby walks past Weiss, shrugging, and stops next to Nora.
"Invite's still open if you want in. Penny's gonna be working security."

On the other end of the room, Yang starts laughing. Weiss turns to see Blake trying and failing to dance, "Oh my gosh, no. You gotta do it like this." Blake stops and watches as Yang begins dancing, "That's what I'm doing!" Blake holds her hands out in exasperation, her cat ears folding over, and Yang laughs again.

Jaune and Oscar lean into the doorway, while Weiss watches Blake and Yang with an unamused expression, "Hey, Oscar and I are hitting the movies if anyone wants-"
"Yup!" Oscar gains a happy expression, and Jaune rubs the back of his head, "Oh, okay."

Later, after the sun has set, Ruby, Nora, and Ren are walking in Mantle, on their way to Robyn's victory party. A truck drives down the street, honking its horn, with people standing in the bed holding signs, which say "HILL IS HERE" and "HILL 4 COUNCIL".

"I understand Weiss' point, though. A victory party does seem a bit premature." Ruby, Nora, and Ren continue on their way down the sidewalk, "Aw, let them have one sure thing."
"Probably the last sure thing before Amity Tower goes up, and every learns about... what we're fighting."
They walk past a group of people watching the live election results on a TV screen. Jacques has 33% of the vote, and Robyn has 67%.

"We spent so much time worrying about how Ironwood will react to the truth about her, but have any of us considered how we're even going to beat her if we manage to work past that?"
"Jinn said she can't be beaten."
"She told Oz that he couldn't destroy her."

Nora looks at Ruby, "But maybe someone else could? What about (Y/n)? She is the opposite of her."
"I don't know.
"We should be training right now."
"We've trained enough! Take some time to-"
"We don't have time!" Ruby slows down and watches as Ren and Nora angrily walk on ahead.

A large crowd of people have gathered inside a small auditorium for Robyn's victory party. Wires have been taped up along the walls, and Robyn Hill campaign posters are decorating the walls. Above the stage is a giant hologram screen showing the live election results. Jacques has 36% of the vote, while Robyn has 64%. A pair of camera drones float around the room, one of which has a "Kick Me" sign taped to the back of it, and the other of which has a gift ribbon stuck to it. While Ruby, Nora, and Ren enter the building, the vote percentage shifts to 37% for Jacques and 63% for Robyn. Penny makes her way through the crowd and sees her friends, "Ruby, Nora, Ren!"
"Hey, Penny."
"I am so glad you made it. It's just Marrow and I tonight, so more friends means more fun. Where are the others?"

Ruby is the first to speak, "Uncle Qrow and (Y/n) are spending time together." Nora and Ren, still in a bad mood, cut off Ruby, "Weiss is out with the boys, and Blake and Yang are off doing their own thing... again."
"At least they're back to being friends."
"Friends, huh? Just friends?"

Ruby takes on a somewhat fed up expression and sinks down to the floor, while Ren turns to Nora, speaking slowly in confusion, "What else would they be?"
"Two people, who've gone through that much? I think there's more going on."
"Well, maybe one of them feels that way, but the other might be worried."
"About what!?"

Ruby rises back up next to Penny, still fed up, Ren continues to talk back, "It's just, there's a lot of things going on right now."
"Well, how can they figure things out if they don't talk about it?"

Penny leans to Ruby, "I believe I may be confused. Who are we talking about again?"
"I'm not really sure."

Nora and Ren continue talking while Penny gets communications from Marrow through her earpiece, "Penny, where'd you go?"

Penny starts to leave, and Ruby clings to her arm in a panic, "Please don't leave me."

Ruby and Penny go backstage together to meet up with Marrow, "Oh, hey, what-- what're you doing here?"
"Just, uh, hangin' out with a friend while she's on the job."

Ruby casually holds out her fist for a fist bump. Recognizing the gesture, Penny gasps, her eyes wide and shining with excitement. She makes a fist, closes one eye, sticks her tongue out, and lines it up. She pulls back her fist and then slams it into Ruby's with a big smile. There's a dull "ding" noise, and Ruby gains an expression of deadpan shock, her hand throbbing with pain. Penny turns to Marrow with an innocent smile, and Ruby cradles her hand, groaning quietly in pain, "Yeah, real cute. Look, try not to be too much of a distraction. We need to be vigilant in case-"

May suddenly approaches Marrow, setting the tip of her weapon to the floor, "In case what?"
"In case someone tries to start trouble."
"Oh, funny, that's why we're here. So feel free to take a hike."
"Listen, the General's trying to help, all right? Just 'cause you can't understand-"
"What's going on here, Wags?" Robyn has suddenly entered the backstage area next to Ruby and Penny. She notices Ruby, "Oh, and the pipsqueak is back. She isn't with you, is she?" Robyn looks around

Ruby gives a slight glare, growling a little, "If you mean (Y/n), no. She isn't here."
"We're concerned about security risks, ma'am. The General doesn't want any surprises tonight."

May smirks in amusement. Joanna is now standing next to her. Robyn walks over to Marrow, "Fine, but stay out of the way." She then walks over to stand with May and Joanna, the former of whom gasps in surprise and confusion.
"If I get elected tonight, we'll all have to learn how to get along."

She looks at May, who rolls her eyes and walks away, "Sure, we won't have any problems, as long as you stay within the law."
"The law isn't perfect, you know. It's certainly not equal."
"Trust me; I'm well aware." Marrow tilts his dog tail to the side to be more visible to Robyn.
"My only goal is that all the citizens of Mantle and Atlas- and Faunus- have an equal shot at a good life."
"That sounds great. And you're planning to do all that equalizing legally, right?" Behind them on the stage, Fiona is fidgeting with a microphone. Joanna is grinning. Robyn looks at Joanna and smirks, causing Joanna to grin more, "Everything I've done is legal."
"Of course, one hundred percent."

Fiona taps on the microphone, causing loud feedback, much to the crowd's displeasure, "Ha-ha, well, that worked."

Joanna walks away, and Marrow groans in annoyance and walks away toward Penny and Ruby. The crowd begins chanting, "Robyn."
"Scram kid, we've got a job to do." Marrow gestures to himself and Penny.

Marrow exits the backstage area, and Ruby hops out and blows a raspberry at him, which Penny giggles at. Ruby and Penny wave to each other, as Ruby walks away into the crowd. Ruby's smile fades when she sees that Nora and Ren are still arguing, "Can we please just not do this right now?"
"I should've just gone to the movies."

Ruby turns back around and heads to the front of the crowd. Fiona has begun giving a speech, and the live election results show Jacques now has 43% of the votes, "I want to thank everyone for going to the polls today. This is Mantle's moment. I know that, like me, you're all thrilled that we chose Robyn as our voice in Atlas. No one has fought harder for Mantle than she has. And..."

She covers her mouth, trying not to cry, and then wipes a tear from her eye with her palm, "I know Robyn will continue that fight on the Council. Will you share a few words?"

She turns to look at Robyn, who is off stage, and the crowd begins chanting Robyn's name again. Robyn walks onto the stage, causing the crowd to cheer. She takes the microphone, and Fiona excitedly talks to her for a few moments, before walking off stage, "I've never been much for public speaking, probably wasn't my best idea ever to go into politics."

The live election results show Jacques has 45% of the votes, and Robyn has 55%, "Thank you so much, everyone, for choosing me. You said you believe in me. But I'm the one who believes in all of you. You've proven to me that as individuals, we are strong. But together, we're unstoppable."

Nora looks at Ren. The live results shift to Jacques with 46% and Robyn with 54%, "So no matter what happens tonight, win or lose, we will continue to fight for our city, because it is this city that brings us together."

The crowd cheers and upbeat music begins playing. Nora reaches out to touch Ren's arm, but he turns away from her. Nora finally speaks up, "Ren, what's going on? Why won't you just talk to me?"
"You know I've... never... been really good with talking."
"Then screw talking!" Nora grabs Ren's shirt and pulls him to her, planting a kiss on his lips. His eyes widen, and he holds his arms out in surprise, but then he closes his eyes and kisses back. As he wraps his arms around her, she moves her arms behind his neck. Ruby looks around happily. Penny and Marrow look at each other.

Somewhere else, in a room filled with Schnee Dust Company crates, Arthur Watts is watching live drone footage of the party on a screen projected from his Scroll. Beside the live drone, feed is a recorded video of Penny fighting Sabyrs in the streets of Mantle. In windows behind the live and recorded footage, there is a Mantle election map and the live election results screen with the numbers erased. Watts taps the screens of an array of Scrolls laid out in front of them, and the screens light up. He adjusts one of his rings, and all eight of them light up. He strikes a pose with his hands in the air, "You ready, Tyrian?"

Tyrian is standing among the crowd at Robyn's party, with the hood of his jacket obscuring his face. Robyn walks past on the stage. Tyrian chuckles, "Always."

Penny cheerfully salutes to Ruby, who grins at her, "The polls are about to close. Twelve, eleven..."

Penny looks over at Robyn, while the crowd carries on the countdown. Ruby notices Tyrian's prosthetic tail slither out from the crowd as he begins walking away, "Ten, nine, eight..."

Ruby moves and leans into the crowd to look for the owner of the robotic scorpion tail, her eyes widening in panic. Tyrian chuckles maniacally and looks at Ruby, "Seven, six, five, four, three-"

Ruby gasps and reaches out toward the stage, "Watch out!"

Ren opens his eyes and looks in Ruby's direction. All power in the building shuts off—the crowd murmurs in confusion. May and Joanna are leaning against the wall opposite from the stage, looking up at the lights. Ren and Nora hold onto each other, looking around with confusion and worry.
"Go."

Both you and Qrow could have wandered off and explored Mantle or Atlas together yet decided to have quiet time together, only enjoying each other's company. Qrow was laying next to you; you felt that you still needed to tell Qrow so much, and you knew that you couldn't hide anything from him anymore, "I owe you an apology for hiding everything." You sit up as Qrow opens his eyes and turns his attention to you.
"No, none of that matters anymore."

"Qrow, there are things that I want to tell you." You place a hand on his cheek, Qrow relaxes to your touch.
"I want to tell you about me and about Cyan."
Qrow sits next to you, signaling that he was going to listen to you.

"A long time ago, I was in a forced marriage to a man that had many wives. My mother didn't care what happens to me as long as my brothers were not involved with me. They were born with magic, and I wasn't. Luckily, my bothers cared about me, and when my mother didn't want to deal with me, they took care of me. When I married, I was forced away from them; they couldn't save me from that man."
Qrow nods, as you continued to talk, "After getting married, I changed... Because of him. One of the wives pulled an awful prank on me by trying to drown me in one of the lakes on the outskirts of the kingdom. Since I was scared, the Grimm looked for me, but not in the way you would think. When I got out, they protected me until one of the maids came to my aid. That's when I found out about my connection to the Grimm.
Later I found out I was pregnant with his child, and I was scared, to be honest, I didn't want the child. He told me that if I give birth to his child, I could leave, and he wouldn't think about getting me back, but I don't want him to be like his father or worse killed."

Qrow pulls you into a hug. "I couldn't leave him; I was going to be worse than my mother if I left him."
"It's okay. It's all in the past, you're here now, and I will be here for you, we will be there for each other. I love you." You hugged Qrow back; you still hadn't told Qrow everything, yet you knew it was a start of understanding each other. Qrow kisses your cheek lovingly, showing his feelings for you, you felt warm and safe in his arms.

A bit later, Qrow woke up, seeing you asleep. He takes your hand and removes the ring he had first given you and removes his as well. He opens the nightstand next to the bed, removing a small black box that held rings. He takes out the smaller ring and puts it on you as he put his on, a smile plastered on his face seeing the ring you deserved, there wasn't a need to make a huge proposal, it was oblivious how you two feel about each other. He loved you dearly more than he had ever loved anyone, as you did the same for him.

Qrow laid back down and pulled you back into his arms, kissing your forehead, muttering a small yet meaningful, "I love you."

End of Vol. 7 Chapter 6

Blep!