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It was days after team RWBY's disappearance. Ozpin sent team JNPR to oversee the destruction of the Vex structures with an Atlas demolition team. If there were any Vex that came to attack, they were quickly killed via bullets, explosives, swords or disintegration by Pyrrha. 

Qrow and Taiyang were back at the small cabin on the Island of Patch, still worrying about their family. Tai barely slept and Qrow's drinking got worse. They decided to share stories about the past, hoping to distract themselves from the stress of their missing family.

"Hey Qrow, you remember during our academy days I tricked you into wearing a skirt? Man, the girls always said you had nice legs." Taiyang loved reminiscing about the past. It gave him an escape from all of this.

Qrow chuckled, "The funny thing is, I know I had great legs. It wasn't just Summer that told me this, I had other girls cat call me because of it. But hey, at least I had something useful for my landing strategy."

"You mean your over sized gardening tool? Least I know how to engage in a proper fist fight." Tai remarked.

"And what's the first thing Summer made both of us do?" Qrow asked.

"She had me teach you how to throw a proper punch." Tai said, laughing.

They needed this time to remember the good things about the past. A few minutes of silence pass by and the only thing making any sound was the clock ticking back and forth, until Taiyang broke the silence.

"Hey, did Nightmare say where he was goin'?" He asked.

"Him and his team went back to Beacon so he could tend to his first team. Heh, hard to believe that he fought a war dozens of star systems away. I'm getting off topic. He said that his friends were dead, but David survived his wounds and an escape pod crashed in Forever Fall, and the doctors in Vale operated on him and he's up and running. Carol though... apparently from what I've heard, she was brought back from the dead with whatever God juice she was injected with, and brainwashed by some revenge driven alien who's hellbent on killing Nightmare. So, he's just trying to mend old wounds, to distract himself from the girls' disappearance. Honestly, I don't blame him..." Qrow went off into a tangent, but at least he was able to answer the question in his drunken state.

"If they get back, the last thing I need to worry about is Ruby dating that boy. He's a good kid, but it's just me being a dad." Tai said.

Qrow just stared at him and sighed.

"What's that look for?" Tai knew Qrow was about to slap him with a hard truth.

"So I'm guessing you being a dad is tossing a shotgun shell at Nightmare's feet and telling him to bring her home by 8 otherwise it moves a lot faster?" Qrow asked.

"Your point?" Tai asked.

"That insult really doesn't mean much consider that Ozpin opened Beacon back up since the attack! Telling him to bring her home by 8 is kind of redundant since they'll be heading back to school! On top of that, give the kid a break, Ruby is teaching him how to be a person and not a war machine like General Iron-fuck." Qrow clearly still didn't see eye to eye with Ironwood.

"Sounds like you and Ironwood are getting along." Tai said sarcastically.

"He's a good guy, it's just he gets under my skin sometimes." Qrow explained as he took a swig from his flask.

Nightmare had come back from Beacon with his team to tell them how the demolition was going.

"Hey kid, how's it going?" Qrow asked.

"Well, Jaune tells me the demolition was a success. The Vex won't be coming back here any time soon. Any news about Ruby?"

Qrow shakes his head. He didn't want to say no, but that's what he had to do.

"Dammit..." Nightmare was really worried for them.

"Look, we're all worried about them, but it isn't going to help if you're constantly stressing over it. I trust them, Qrow and I trained them well. They'll be okay." Tai tried to reassure him, and thankfully with enough time, he finally listened to his advice.

"Alright... and um, Carol's doing better too. She's trying to cope with Celeste ever since she put the beat down on her." Nightmare quickly changed the topic.

"What do you mean?" Qrow asked.

"Well, considering you went straight to a bar after we got back from Coruscant, you weren't there for when she was brainwashed into killing us and she beat up a student with heart problems. She's trying to make it up to her by helping her with her needs." Nightmare said.

"And how is that going?" Tai asked.

"So far really well. Celeste seems to open up to her more." Nightmare replied.

Snow heard a noise and looked out the window to see a ship land nearby, it's one she doesn't recognize.

"Hey, anyone recognize this ship?" She asked with some concern in her voice.

"Ohhh, no..." Nightmare's worst fears come to life. He knew who's ship that was, and the pilot made his life a living hell before he came to Remnant.

"Is everything oka-" Tai was about to finish the sentence, then he saw his girls step off, and he rushed outside to greet them.

"Dad!" Yang and Ruby hug him tightly and tears were streaming down their eyes.

"I missed you girls so much..." He was so happy to see them, and he looked over at Weiss and Blake, "Oh come here and give papa Taiyang a hug."

The other two girls smile and join in, hugging their Godfather, if that is the case. What do I know, I'm just the amateur writer trying to make a good story.

Qrow looked over at the Guardian in the hood, "So, this is a Guardian huh?"

"I'm surprised you even know what a Guardian is, Stilts." Qrow knew that voice all too well, and he couldn't believe it was actually her...

"No... it can't be you... can it?" He was in disbelief.

Tai heard it too and he turned his attention to the Guardian who brought his children home, meanwhile Nightmare was absolutely confused on what was going on.

"U-umm... can I elaborate? This pain in the royal ass is Ashla Bloodfire, and I was assigned to work with her when I was a mercen-" Nightmare was cut off

"You shush, shrimp." He didn't know that this was Summer Rose.

"Shrimp?? Coming from the person who's shorter than me!" Nightmare retorted. Nightmare is 5' 9" and Summer would be 7 inches shorter than him, just being as tall as her daughter at 5' 2".

Summer pulled out Thorn and threw the gun itself at him, knocking him to the ground.

Nightmare groaned, "See? Pain. In. The. Ass."

"Will you shut up a second?!" Qrow snapped at him, not wanting to hear his mouth run. Qrow knew that this wasn't the pain in the ass like Nightmare is claiming. This was Summer Rose, his friend, and leader of team STRQ...

Summer removed her helmet and the two men couldn't believe what they were seeing, and a tear ran down her cheek, "I missed you so much..." 

Taiyang ran up to her, crying his eyes out, "I thought you were dead for so long! I-I couldn't deal with being without you..."

"Oh Tai..." She ran her fingers through his hair.

Qrow smiled, "I'm happy to see you too Short-Stack." He hugged the two of them. Team STRQ was almost complete, but without Raven, it can't be, and Qrow has no idea where she went.

Summer looked over and saw Nightmare who was visibly shocked at what he was seeing and trying to process, "Hey Qrow, I understand this is an emotional moment and you didn't want shrimp ruining it, so cut him a break. But, if there is one thing I agree with him about, is that I was a super pain in his backside when we were working together on Earth. It was insult central with each other."

"And at no point did you put 2 and 2 together about the connection between her and my sister?" Yang asked him.

"S-s-she never took her helmet off! Ever!" Nightmare tried defending himself.

"Yeah, he's right about that too. I like my helmets." Summer said, "And on another note, I hear you're dating my daughter, am I correct?" She walked over and kneels down next to him.

He gulped down that last bit of fear, "Y-yes."

"And I'm sure Taiyang has already did the shotgun shell scare tactic, yeah?"

Nightmare nods hesitantly.

"Then I'm sure you remember what Thorn can do to your robotic hand?"

"You are just determined to make my life a living hell aren't you?" Nightmare asked.

"You know it! Just bring her back by 8 and there won't be any problems! The adults and I are gonna chat inside, so you two can catch up." Her, Qrow, and Taiyang head into the cabin to chat a while.

Ruby went up and hugged Nightmare as tight as she could, and with him returning the hug, "I'm so happy to see you..."

"Me too, Ruby... me too..." He runs his fingers through her hair. He was glad to have her back, but to think that the Guardian that harassed him for a year straight was her mother... well, maybe he could learn to live with it. She is Ruby's mom after all, and family always comes first.

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Holy crap, how long has it been, August? Sorry about that. I'm easily distracted by other things, like college and such. I know I say I'll get them out sooner, but you can see how well I've kept that promise. So maybe just stay tuned in for next time I update? Again, really sorry for my absence. Take it easy everyone!

~Chelchis