I awoke the next morning to see Summer gone. I got up and went to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. Summer was already there, cooking some breakfast.
"Morning, Qrow," she said, smiling. "I'm making us some breakfast. Want some pancakes?"
"Sure. Sounds great," I said sitting at the table.
After a moment, she placed a plate of pancakes in front of me, as well as a cup of coffee.
"Yang was born," I told her.
"Yang? You mean Ravens and Tai's baby? That's great!" she said, fixing herself a plate of pancakes.
As we were eating, I couldn't help but think about Deacon. I really hoped he was doing okay out there alone...
"So? Got any plans today?" Summer asked, interrupting my thoughts as she drizzled some syrup on her pancakes.
"I was thinking about seeing Oz. Would you like to come?" I asked.
"Sure. It's been a while, and I'd love to see him. Plus we need to tell him about what happened to Deacon's parents," she said quietly.
"Dammit. I forgot about that. What do we even say to him?"
"That I'm not sure of yet. But we can't tell him about Deacon. Damian told us not to," she said.
"Yeah. Let's just keep what happened with Deacon just between us. Besides, it's not really anyone's business," I replied.
"Yeah. You have a point. Did you want to go to Beacon and talk to Ozpin right now?"
"Sure. I'm willing to go if you are."
"Okay, let's get going. I'm dreading telling him, but he needs to know," Summer said.
We finished breakfast quickly and caught the ferry from Patch and headed straight to Beacon. Ozpin wasn't anywhere to be seen on the campus.
"He's most likely in his office. Let's check there," Summer suggested.
I nodded. "Okay."
We walked inside the school and went to where the elevator was. Summer pressed the button to the highest floor and the elevator started to go upwards. We waited in silence until the elevator dinged and opened for us. We walked out of it and started to walk through the corridor to Ozpin's office door. I knocked a few times and waited.
"Come in," I heard Ozpin say.
Summer opened the door and we both walked inside. Ozpin stood from his chair at his desk and stood up to greet us.
"Welcome back, you two. I was starting to get a bit worried," he said.
"Yeah. Some stuff happened, and we ended up staying out there longer than we had intended," I told him. "I wish it was good news we had to share with you. But unfortunately, that isn't the case. Do you want to tell him, Summer?" I asked, turning my head slightly to look at her.
She nodded and said, "The Mission didn't go as planned and... Damien and Della were both killed. I'm so sorry, sir. I feel partly responsible for all of this."
Ozpin put his hand in her shoulder.
"Don't fret, Summer. That was a difficult mission I had you do for me. I expected some hardship, but please don't blame yourself. You both did the best that you could. That's all I can ask. Now... is there anything else you wanted to speak about with me?"
"No. Not at the moment," I said. "Thank you for being understanding."
He smiled. "Of course. You both have a wonderful afternoon."
"You too, Professor," I said, following Summer out the door.
Once we were alone in the elevator, Summer turned to look at me.
"Oz surely took that news well," she said.
"Yeah. But he's had more experience than both of us. Surely he knew the risks of Damien and Della staying out there," I replied.
"Maybe," she said.
The elevator door dinged and we both stepped out and made out way back to the ferry so we could return to Patch.
Once we got back, Summer and I lounged around for a bit and watched some TV.
Summer turned to me and said, "Hey, do you mind if we talk for a few minutes?"
I turned to her and kissed her lips tenderly.
"Of course, my love. What's on your mind?" I asked.
"Well, we've been together for a long time now. I love you more than any words could express. And it fills me with joy that you feel the same way. If you don't mind, I'd like to make things official," she said, pulling out a small black velvet ring box.
I watched her open it. It was a silver and obsidian ring. It looks amazing.
"Summer... what is this ring for?" I asked her.
"Well... I was hoping that you would do me the honor of... being my husband. Qrow Branwen... will you marry me?" she asked.
I didn't even hesitate to answer.
"Of course. I'd love to!" I told her.
She smiled and I kissed her lips again. After we kissed, Summer put the ring on my left hand.
I couldn't believe it. Summer had asked me to marry me!
"I'm so happy," I told her. "Thank you so much, Summer."
"I'm happy, too. To be honest, I thought you would say no to my proposal."
I chuckled. "It's extremely hard to say no to you Summer."
She giggled and took me hand.
My luck was finally starting to turn around.