Team JNPR took the news of becoming honorary aunts and uncles well, Jaune felt. There was only a little screaming, a little panic, and then Ren calmed them all down so Jaune could explain it fully.

Not that having time to explain really helped in any way.

"You're younger than her!" Ren said. "What made you think it was a good idea to convince her you adopted her?"

"It wasn't a planned thing! I was grasping for straws and she waved one in front of my face when her dream-self begged me to adopt her. I ran with it."

"Explain that to us..."

It took half an hour to get the basics out – and it was all well and good for them to come up with alternative ideas, and things he could have done better. They had the benefit of hindsight, and they didn't have to worry about a hundred little things including Salem and Yang's safety. He'd been the one under pressure and he'd done the best he could with the hand he'd been dealt.

And he liked to think removing Cinder and Emerald from the board was a pretty good result.

"So, she thinks we're her old friends...?" Nora asked. Jaune nodded in response. "Huh. That's gonna be weird. And we're, what, twenty years younger than you...?"

"Yep."

"Despite looking the same age."

"Good genes."

"And parents who are middle-aged."

"Good genes must run in the family."

"And how about all the people in Beacon who aren't going to be in on this, and who will say you're seventeen?" Ren asked. "Or are you going to come clean to everyone? Cardin included? Because we can't keep Cinder away from them all, and they'll recognise her as a fugitive."

That might be a problem. Jaune had been more worried about Team RWBY and having to tell the truth to them, but what about everyone else? The teachers would keep his secrets and play along with Cinder, but no one else would. Most of them would recognise her, and although the ears might convince some that she wasn't the same person, it wouldn't work for everyone. Cinder still looked the same as she always had.

"I could suggest she cut her hair. Change her style."

"You'll almost have to," Pyrrha said, "but the more immediate thing is us meeting her, isn't it? We need to act natural. Can you at least run us through what you made her dream? It's going to be awkward if we get our friendships with her wrong. How did we act? In what way were we friends? Are there things we're supposed to know? Did I meet her in tournaments or what?"

"I don't know."

"Jaune!"

"I'm trying to remember. It's... You know what it's like recalling dreams, and I was at knifepoint the moment I woke up. And then we had to take the hostage back to his mother, and I had emergency meetings with Ozpin, and I was busy trying to sort Cinder out. Remembering every little detail isn't easy."

"It might not be for Cinder either," Ren said, coming to his defence. "The story of her being in a coma can be a convenient way for us to write off any discrepancies. Though I hate to say it, we could just gaslight her if she thinks we're acting strange. Convince her she's muddling memories with us and dreams she must have had of us when she was in a coma."

Nora crossed her arms. "That's cruel."

"I know. But it's an option."

"And this is Cinder," added Pyrrha. "She tried to kill Jaune before, so let's not feel too sorry for her. Even if she's now Jaune's daughter." Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is going to take some serious getting used to."

Jaune laughed. "You're telling me. I just became a dad."

"At least you skipped the vomit and diapers stage," Ren said. "And how hard can parenthood be? People manage it all the time, and often without anyone teaching them. We have the internet, too. We can look up articles and videos." Ren chuckled. "How hard can it be?"

/-/

Jaune was feeling very much on the spot.

The fact that Cinder was sat in his lap didn't help. This was a woman a little older than him, and undeniably attractive despite being a colossal bitch, and she was wriggling her butt into his lap and tilting her body to shyly hide her face in his neck.

It was very distracting.

Don't react. Don't react. Don't react.

Not only because his team were watching but because Cinder was now mentally (if not physically) his daughter, and while it absolutely wouldn't be incest or attraction toward a child, it would feel like it to her.

It was unusual given her age to want to sit on his lap at all, but all Cinder remembered was waking up from a coma and missing years of her life, so it was understandable she'd want some physical assurance he was there. Not to mention she was nervous about meeting her old friends. Long absences could tear friendships apart.

"Sooooo...." Nora was the first to break the silence. Someone had to, and it was obvious no one else was going to. Nora fought for a topic, her eyes flashing left and right. "It's... uh... been a while. You feeling okay?"

"Mmm." Cinder nodded. "I'm okay, I guess."

The shyness was certainly new from her, and Jaune wondered if it was her true personality, something he'd forced on her, or just a result of the current situation. For all he knew, this might have been how Cinder would have grown up if she hadn't faced abuse. And if she hadn't decided to respond to that abuse with murder.

Pyrrha and Ren still didn't know what to say, forcing Nora to continue.

"So, how much do you remember from before the, you know, long sleep?"

"Not much," Cinder admitted. "I remember us, all of us, but I don't remember being sick or what happened to make me fall asleep like this. Do you?"

"Ah, well, it was a sudden thing," Nora said, lamely. "But we were all worried. Right, guys?"

"..."

"RIGHT! GUYS!?"

"Oh. Um. Yes, of course." Pyrrha laughed awkwardly. "It was such a big scene, everyone was worried. Ren was especially worried. Weren't you, Ren?"

"Huh? Uh. Yes. I suppose I was. Though not as much as your father, obviously."

His team passed around the hot potato like it was a live grenade and tossed it back in his lap. Jaune scowled at them over Cinder's head. Seriously, they weren't the ones who had to be kidnapped twice. The least they could do was act this out.

"We were all worried," he stressed. "And helping to fix you is why I came to Beacon, because they could get you the best support – and it's worked wonders because you're back with us. You've just missed a couple of years."

Cinder was a smart girl. Woman. Smart enough to sense the awkwardness in the room. She turned away from the three of them and into his chest. Jaune wasn't sure if the glare he shot at his team was out of panic or genuine parental concern for her, but the message was clear either way.

Get off your asses and do something.

Again, Nora was the one to move. "We should fill you in on all the stuff you've missed since your dad joined Beacon. There are so many funny stories! Do you know your dad got bullied by someone half his age?"

Cinder turned back with a hopeful smile. "Really...?"

It wasn't real, that smile, and yet it also was. It was real to her, because she thought of Nora as an old friend of hers and wanted to reconnect with her, but it wasn't real in the sense that it was built on a foundation of lies.

But lies could become truth, couldn't they?

He'd gotten into Beacon through lies and yet here he was, holding his own and arresting and redeeming (in a sense) Cinder Fall. No one could argue he hadn't earned his place. Maybe Cinder could earn hers. Make these lies a reality.

"Yeah. I'll tell you all about it! And I can show you a new fighting game that just came out. You're behind on consoles too. We'll have a mini tournament! Ren cheats—"

"I don't cheat. I just learn the moves."

"See?" Nora leaned into Cinder. "Cheating cheater."

Cinder laughed. "I guess—"

The door slammed open. Doctor Oobleck poked his head in. "Ah, Mr Arc. The headmistress needs to speak with you. Are you free?"

Jaune looked at Cinder – panicky – and at his team – even more panicky – and nodded. "Sure. I'll just leave everyone to catch up and have some fun."

It was hard to tell who wanted to tackle him more – Cinder or his team – but Jaune extricated himself from among them and slipped out before anyone could, closing the door behind them. They'd be fine, probably. Besides, it felt like a very parent thing to do to just lock them in a room and force them to get over their awkwardness.

/-/

"Quite the fresh predicament you've found yourself in," Oobleck said, as he led Jaune to the office. "How are you handling it?"

"Awkwardly."

"I can imagine. Parenthood is something you normally have at least nine months to prepare for. Anything I can help with?"

"You could help explain to me how Cinder can accept the excuse I'm thirty-plus when I'm obviously not. How does she not take one look at me and realise her memories must be fake? I looked older in the dream than I do now. She should know something is up."

"Ha. Well, you've no doubt heard how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Correct?"

"Sure."

"Vision is in the eye of the beholder too, or how we interpret it. If you've ever been in love, you might see that person as the most beautiful woman in the world – even as others call her plain or unimpressive. It's mindboggling to you, enough to make you wonder if your friends aren't blind to not see her as you do."

"But I don't see them as younger."

"Some people do. It might not be obvious at your age – you're still teenagers – but older people can perceive those they love as being younger, overlapping their faces with memories. You have to remember that your eyes don't always see what they see. Vision is light bouncing off objects that is then interpreted and pieced together by your brain. Human vision can't even see in as wide a range as actually do see, but our brains fill in the blanks on our peripheral, taking limited light information as our eyes twitch and building up an image. That's why your peripheral vision is blurry until you look that way. You're not actually seeing it – or not as you are what's ahead of you."

Jaune frowned. "So, Cinder sees me as older?"

"That's quite possible. You may look different to her eyes but her mind might show her what she believes to be your face, or she finds it similar enough to blur the two. Imagine your mother one day had plastic surgery. Though she'd technically look different, you would still recognise her – and eventually you might struggle to even remember the differences between her new face and her old one. Your mother is your mother, and you are Miss Fall's father. Any differences in appearance will be dismissed from her mind. Perhaps you just cut your hair, shaved, or look younger. Or maybe she sees you as looking over thirty. Maybe, to her, you do look like a man in his mid-thirties."

It was all strange and hard to believe and yet it took a weight off his shoulders. "You think it'll hold, then?"

"Yes. I do. I think that in a few months or years she'll even subtly alter her memories without realising it to update them with your new face. We have mental pictures of our parents, and those don't tend to change as they grow older. We just use the one same face. Maybe the hair colour is different, but we don't remember twenty or forty years of facial evolution. The brain is an organ that likes to take shortcuts. It has to, given how much work it has to do to keep us alive and functioning."

Good old brain. He'd learned a lot more about it this year than any other in his life, both the psychological and physiological aspects, and it never ceased to amaze him. Hopefully, Cinder's brain would also help her write off the age discrepancies among her "friends" as well.

One short elevator ride later had Jaune admitted to Ozpin's old office, and Glynda's new one. Oswald wasn't there at all, which surprised him. He'd thought the invitation to speak with her a cover for Ozpin, but apparently it wasn't.

"Ma'am." Jaune stood at attention. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. It's about your..." She sighed. "Daughter."

"Is there a problem?"

"Several, but it's also necessary to talk about what we're going to do with her. I imagine you haven't put any thought into whether she'll be joining Beacon or not. Or where you will be living outside of term time."

"I... I hadn't..."

"There's no need to look so ashamed," she said, with a rare and amused little smile. "You've been a parent for less than twenty-four hours. Oswald is busy securing you a place of residence and creating for you – and her – a history and paper trail. Doctor's appointments, dentists, the like. Enough to give you a plausible backstory should she ever ask for it."

Thank goodness for Ozpin planning ahead. Jaune sagged. "Thank you!"

"Given the threat of Salem, you'll obviously not be leaving Beacon anytime soon, nor will Cinder since she's very much a target for her as well. However, we can't afford to make Cinder a student either. Not only because she's a criminal but because other students will surely recognise her."

"Yes. We were going to work as a team to convince Cinder to change her hairstyle and cut it shorter to help there."

"A good first step but it won't be enough on its own. We've also spoken with Doctor Oobleck and he feels that certain memories might jog her mind and bring back old visions. We don't want that. As such, we're looking to keep her away from combat – even sparring. There's too much risk of her activating her Semblance and remembering how she first unlocked it. Those memories coming back could conflict with yours."

"Okay. I mean, I guess we can explain it to her as being too weak after her coma. If I tell her that straining her aura might push her into another, she'll believe it."

"Good. Do that. We're also going to have to make some kind of announcement as to her presence, mostly to explain her as not being Cinder Fall. Her new faunus nature should help, but what would help even more is if you could change up her appearance as you said. We're prepared to provide you a budget both to buy her clothes and also to provide her with what she may need. You're her father and she'll expect you to provide for her but you naturally don't have any income – but, as a doctor, you should. We'll cover that."

"Is that okay? Does Beacon have the budget?"

"Beacon does not. Ozpin does, and this will come officially from his accounts – he's retired, after all." Glynda stressed the official story. To most people, Ozpin was alive but had retired to quiet solitude in his old age. "It will be a modest sum, but enough to support yourself and your daughter for the coming years in Beacon. After, I'm sure the life of a huntsman will be enough to support you both."

"Okay. And thank you again. I'm really grateful."

"This isn't just to help you, of course. We want Miss Fall dealt with. More than that, we'd rather she be on our side than not – especially with Salem rumbling around the city. Qrow is recovering from his encounter but it's been hard work supressing information on her given she attacked in the middle of the city with numerous witnesses."

Jaune could imagine. There'd been all the people at the restaurant who saw her. Making up a cover story wasn't his job or business, and he got the feeling he wouldn't normally be told about it. Glynda must have decided to tell him so he wouldn't accidentally ruin their story.

"Have you told this to Yang as well, ma'am?"

"Yes. Miss Xiao-Long has had a private meeting with me this morning. While she was not enthusiastic about it, she did agree to stay silent for now." Glynda sighed. "Given how important the information you have it, you really should discuss with us before informing others."

"Sorry. It was a hectic situation."

"That's why we're not too angry. Either way, Salem is being written off as a humanoid-shaped Grimm, and we're keeping the public calm by highlighting how bad a job disguising as a human she did. If we didn't, we'd have people turning on one another in the street. It's still bad Grimm made it into the city, but that's our business to deal with. You should focus on your new daughter."

"Is that all then, ma'am?"

"No. The other reason I needed to speak with you was about her crimes. Or theirs. Emerald Sustrai has been arrested but General Ironwood is pushing for Cinder's arrest as well."

"No surprises there," Jaune scoffed.

"We're holding him off currently and he won't try anything while you're both in Beacon but take this as further reason to stay in Beacon. Change her appearance and come up with whatever excuses you must to convince her. Given she'll be able to access a television and the internet, you might need to find a way to explain how there's a criminal version of her with her name running around as well. Do whatever you must. We'll support as best we can."

"In the meantime, Oobleck has offered to tutor Miss Fall for her missing years and that will give us an excuse to keep her away from the student body while you're in lessons. It'll be civilian academics. Whatever her potential as a huntress, we don't want her becoming one. General Ironwood will lose his mind if he hears of us arming her. Convince her to become a nurse, a doctor, an ecologist. We don't care what, but make it a safe, benign job." Glynda slid a card across the table. "This is your bank account. Good luck with parenthood. Dismissed."

/-/

Jaune opened the door to Cinder's room and poked his head inside. To his delight, Cinder was sat cross-legged next to Ren, with Nora kneeling behind her and trying to help by belting out advice.

"Go low! He always attacks high!"

"No, look out!"

"Combo! Use the combo!"

Cinder's thumbs struggled furiously with a controller she obviously wasn't used to using. "I'm trying!" she snarled. "You're not helpi—Arghhh!"

"PLAYER TWO WINS!"

"Arghhhh!" Nora groaned. "Renny is too good. Only Ruby ever has a chance against him and even she loses more than she wins. He's, like, a pixellated ninja."

"What's a ninja?"

"Ancient warrior from Japan."

Cinder's eyes crossed. "What's a Japan!?"

"You know what, I've no idea." Nora shrugged. "Hey look. Fearless leader – I mean dad – is back!"

Having Nora call him that, even if she meant it for Cinder, was still very strange. Not least of which because they all knew he'd accidentally gone and genetically adopted Nora in a dream before. He was thankful she hadn't thought to accuse him of having a fetish, given that he'd now adopted two girls via dreams.

"What did Miss Goodwitch want?" asked Pyrrha, apart from the rest.

"She was just making me aware of the various threats facing Cinder and I. Also, we were setting up Cinder's education." The girl – woman – in question looked up. "You're going to be having private tutoring with Doctor Oobleck to catch up on what you've missed during your coma," he told her. "Trust me, he's a great teacher. He's helped me out a lot."

"What will I be learning...?"

"Things you've missed out on. You're a few years behind on your subjects and I don't want you to fall behind your friends and have to go to school with people two or three years younger than you." Jaune ruffled her hair, and Cinder grumbled but allowed it. "Private tutoring was the best I could manage."

"Mmm. Kay..."

"We also need to cut your hair."

Cinder pouted. "Why?"

"It's too long. Also, there's a criminal running around with hair similar to yours. It might cause some issues." It felt like a weak reason, and Cinder scowled. Jaune tried another tack. "How about a compromise? If you let Nora and Pyrrha pick you out a great new hairstyle, I'll treat you to some new clothes. You desperately need a new wardrobe."

"If I need a new wardrobe anyway, doesn't that mean I'll already be getting one?"

Huh. Good point. It looked like Cinder still held some of her manipulative self in there, and that she was smart enough to not take a deal she didn't want. "What do you want, then?" he asked. "What can I bribe you with?"

Cinder blushed and looked down. "—ty..." she whispered.

"What was that?"

Eventually, she looked up, face flushed red. "Birthday party," she mumbled. "I... I can't remember my last one, but I remember the one after you adopted me. I want to have a party for all the birthdays I missed." She glanced at the members of Team JNPR. "With everyone there. Yang and everyone else, too."

Adorable, yet also concerning.

"Ah. Well, I mean..." Jaune searched for an excuse. Nora, apparently finding Cinder adorable, crossed her arms and fixed him with a glare that threatened divine retribution if he did not provide this girl a birthday party. "Um. Okay? But it'll be after your haircut. You need to look good for the party. Also, you have to be good!"

Cinder smiled. "When am I not?"

Always.

Usually.

In every occurrence before this point.

"W—Well keep being good, like you have been. And I'll tell Team RWBY and—"

Another knock came on the door. Given the teachers had already come, he didn't know who it could be.

Up until Yang's voice came through.

"Knock, knock! I've brought Team RWBY to meet the special person!" Her voice was somehow equal parts jovial and threatening. "And to get a very late and much-needed explanation from my lovely boyfriend! Come on out, Jaune. There's explaining to do!"

Jaune grimaced. Yang had told him she'd be patient, but apparently that only meant patient by her standards. A day or two was apparently too much time to be asked to wait. Jaune waved for his friends to keep Cinder occupied as he slid outside.

Yang, Ruby, Weiss and Blake were waiting.

Yang with a weak grin, Ruby with confusion, Blake with suspicion, and Weiss with crossed arms and a scowl.

"I figured it'd be best to rip the bandage off," said Yang. "Get it all out in the open."

"Get what out?" asked Ruby.

"Jaune – my definitely awesome boyfriend – has a secret he's been keeping from you all. And he's just been itching to come clean. Right, lover?"