RWBY Through Worlds (End)

BC88: Bait (Heroes)-1

"You know, some of Shine's other students call her that," Yang remarked. "I guess in the cultures she's been in, it's normal to refer to some adults by that title as a form of respect, but she said she melted too. I gotta admit, I kind of thought the whole taking in kids who weren't yours permanently thing was weird." She shrugged. "But you guys did seem really natural together. Don't you ever feel like it's too much responsibility, though?"

"No," Pyrrha said. She paused. "Well, sometimes, I get overwhelmed. I suppose anyone would. But I don't regret it. I know, everyone tells us we're too young to take them in, but I think that's kind of a funny thing to say. There was a need. If you can fill it, you should. Who cares about age when people are starving and alone? We had the means, so Jaune and I decided not to let any silly inhibitions that people had about it stop us. And I suppose people think I'm wasting the best years of my potential, but I don't know if that matters to me now. I enjoy being a huntress--I was born with all that ability...but that's not all there is to me. I found that I like teaching and caring for people a lot more than I even liked slaying Grimm. I want to have both, but it's not a bad trade, is it, if I did have to pick?"

"No, you seem happy," Yang said. "I can't believe I ever envied you your talents. But maybe I just envied you how happy helping other people makes you. It doesn't do the same for me. Maybe I'm more selfish."

"Yang, I'm sure that you enjoy that people get stronger," Pyrrha said. "Shine was right about that. That's what really brings the spark into your eyes. That's still helping them. We're just different. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Yeah, well, maybe you have a point," Yang said. "Still, branching out might be nice. I wonder if I'm ready to be a mom. Blake's gonna be one now... I don't know if Sun is ready."

"He'll be fine...eventually," Pyrrha said lightly.

"But you know, I keep thinking, it'll be Weiss soon," Yang said. "She's eager. And Ruby will get married and have a family before long. Maybe I'm thinking too small. Neptune and I get along fine, but things can be a little too tame when we're at home alone."

"Too tame? With you?" Pyrrha said.

"Well, we don't fight, you know," Yang said. "And we're both pretty self sufficient. It's weird, I always thought I'd like not being the big sister all the time, but since Ruby and I don't share space, and I don't need to take care of anyone, I kind of feel...a little like I miss doing that."

"Of course you do. If you truly hated it, you wouldn't have taken care of Ruby so much," Pyrrha said. "Maybe it was good to take a break, so you could evaluate if you liked it, but I think it's normal to miss it. But Ruby's grown up now, and she doesn't need you to take care of her. Maybe it's time to think of letting some other people in."

"I could babysit for you," Yang said. "Emerald can't have all the fun."

"Oh...I suppose," Pyrrha said nervously.

"You just hesitated," Yang said. "What, you don't trust me?"

"Oh, no, it's just that, well, the last time you watched the kids, I caught them trying to cook food on the patio using a fire starter."

"So I might have shown them my trick with the Semblance, big deal," Yang said.

Pyrrha shook her head.

* * *

"Well, this is nice," Roman said, when he and Neo had set up a tea table on the sun deck. Neo had her umbrella over her shoulder. "Nothing like a little relaxation after all that hard work."

"You did one thing." Cinder was watching them while leaning on the side.

"On the contrary, Cinder, we did plenty," Roman said. "Don't get all high and mighty just because you keep ending up in the right place at the right time. How do you plan that anyway? It's like you got drugged just so that you'd have a chance to linger around and be part of the action."