Summary: With the end of the war, Velvet tries to find something else to distract herself from her memories. The memories have a strong grip though, and won't let themselves be cast aside so easily.

Main Characters: Velvet Scarlatina, Sun Wukong

Chronology: This story begins right after the epilogue of War in Remnant.

Velvet waved goodbye to her two friends as they walked down the aisle to their honeymoon limousine to the cheers of the crowd. Jaune and Pyrrha were now happily married, and Velvet couldn't be happier for them. She was honored that Pyrrha had asked her to be the maid of honor, and happily accepted the invitation. Though, Velvet wasn't fooling herself. She knew that she wouldn't have been asked if Weiss hadn't gone missing a month ago. Nevertheless, she was touched. Velvet had helped plan the wedding, as rushed as it was, and found that the hectic planning had provided her a needed distraction from her bad memories.

Her work as a medical officer for the army kept her busy, and the end of the war only made her work life even busier. During the war all Velvet had to worry about was injured soldiers, but now she had nearly an entire kingdom's worth of civilians to worry about. She treated illnesses and injuries, taught them preventative medicine, and helped out with a myriad of other tasks. Now, with Jaune and Pyrrha now leaving for a three week honeymoon, Velvet had even more responsibility on her shoulders. There were facilities to be built, people to transport, and budgets to be finalized. While others may have seen the immense load of work on Velvet's shoulders as a burden or a curse, Velvet thought of it as a blessing of sorts. Being so busy meant she didn't have time to think about the terrible things that had happened during the war.

"Hey there, everything okay?" a man's voice asked from Velvet's left.

Velvet looked over to see none other than Sun Wukong, who had come to the wedding on behalf of Tamamo and the other hunters at the fortress that Pyrrha had invited. Only Sun came though, with the explanation that they had to man their fortress, not to mention that they had spent so long away from other people they would feel unbelievably awkward. Velvet suspected that there were other reasons, but couldn't really figure what they could be, if there really were other reasons. Then again, as Velvet tried to imagine people like Cheshire or Vimentis sitting in at a wedding, she kind of understood that there may be more truth to the statement than she first believed. "What? Yeah, everything's fine, why?"

Sun blinked. "Well, you kinda have a tear falling down your cheek and your eyes are watering up." He was surprised Velvet hadn't noticed.

"Huh?" Velvet quickly reached up to wipe away the tear with her finger. "Oh, I'm just happy for them. Aren't you supposed to cry at a wedding?" Velvet lied.

Sun just smirked as he raised an eyebrow. "That so?" He looked down at Velvet and didn't say anything else, his expression clearly conveying he knew Velvet was lying.

Velvet shifted uncomfortably. "You know, I thought only Weiss could give people that look."

Sun laughed merrily. "You pick it up from spending time with Tammy."

Velvet let a smile creep on to her face. "I suppose so. I guess I didn't quite pick it up while I was there."

"You're too kind to have picked up a look like that." Sun said with a chuckle. "So really now," Sun clapped Velvet on the shoulder lightly, "what's wrong?"

Velvet gave in to Sun's persistent questioning. "I was just… remembering things." Velvet answered vaguely.

"Ah." Sun didn't need to press Velvet any further. He knew what she was thinking about. "I'm sorry for asking. I know it can't be easy for you." He had heard from Jaune that Velvet had spent the last month constantly working, but also spent her free time mostly staring into nothing or laying in her bed.

"I'm fine, really." Velvet said. "It'll just take some time. Or at least, that's what everyone keeps telling me." Velvet added with a hint of sadness.

"Well, they're right." Sun said, much to Velvet's surprise. She expected the thief to have a different outlook on life than that. "It'll be hard, but you have all the time in the world. Not everyone who went into the war can say that, right? You have to wait until you can find the strength to move forward into a new day. And most of all, never forget the people and friends that have faded away. They're important to who you are today, and eventually they will become your strength in the hard times ahead."

Velvet's eyes were wide with surprise. "I never expected you to say something so… poetic." Velvet said, suppressing a chuckle.

Sun blushed. "Hey, I was trying to help you here." He began to chuckle too though, and before they knew it both young faunus were laughing. Velvet was nearly bent over double with laughter, and a distant part of her mind still had the clarity to marvel that she could in fact still laugh, especially since she had yet to even crack a smile since the war's end.

"I'm sorry for laughing so much," Velvet continued as the laughter began to subside, "it's just hard to stop after so long."

"No worries, it was my pleasure." Sun said, scratching his ear. "Do you want to-" Sun stopped talking as his eyes glanced over Velvet's shoulder for just a moment, but that moment was enough to cause him to do a double take and to stop his question dead in its tracks. "Well, I'll be damned." He managed to say after a couple seconds of shocked silence.

"What?" Velvet asked, tilting her head questioningly.

"The dead walk, apparently." Sun said flatly, pointing over Velvet's shoulder.

Velvet turned around to look for the walking dead person that Sun alluded too, thoroughly confused. Her eyes immediately caught on to the person on the other end of the room she thought Sun was referring to, the formerly missing Weiss Schnee. "Weiss?" Velvet said to herself in surprise. She hadn't realized Weiss had even been present during the wedding. "She was missing, not dead." She said, taking a step towards her friend who was currently conversing with someone over her scroll.

Sun reached out and lightly caught Velvet's hand, stopping her before she could approach her friend. "Not Weiss. Behind her." Sun corrected, pointing.

Velvet adjusted her gaze to look at the taller woman standing behind Weiss, a familiar red haired woman. Velvet immediately recognized the woman as the one who had attacked Vacuo with the Grimm, but different. She looked cleaner, less wild, and was much better groomed than when Velvet had seen her at the end of the war. The most striking thing though, was now the woman was instantly recognizable as Ruby Rose, who had been officially dead for the last two years. "Ruby?" Velvet said reflexively, almost too surprised to comprehend what she was seeing.

And adding onto the mountain of surprise that Velvet was feeling, Ruby reacted to Velvet saying her name by turning and looking in Velvet's direction curiously. With her hyper sensitive hearing from her faunus heritage, Velvet was used to being the one able to hear people from great distances but she was not used to being the one heard from far away. "You can hear me?" Velvet said, seemingly to herself to outside observers.

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Yup." Velvet found she could hear Ruby just fine as well at this distance now that her sensitive ears were turned to face Ruby.

"What was that?" Weiss asked as she turned to face Ruby, closing her scroll.

Ruby nodded in Velvet's direction. "I was talking to Velvet."

Weiss turned to look at Velvet, and waved once she found her. "You can hear her through all this noise?" Weiss asked, referring to the chorus of conversations, music, and other noises one hears at a wedding.

"Yeah." Ruby answered as they made their way through the crowd towards Velvet and Sun. "Want me to say 'hi' for you?" Ruby grinned.

"I'm perfectly capable of greeting Velvet when we're close enough for me to hear her reply." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes. Ruby just laughed.

"So, I wasn't wrong, right?" Sun asked. "Didn't everyone tell me she died?"

"I guess we were mistaken." Velvet shrugged, her surprised emotions finally returning to normal levels.

As Ruby and Weiss finally arrived in front of Velvet and Sun, Ruby broke the ice. "Long time no see." She said with a little wave.

"You're telling me." Sun said, moving over to hug Ruby, who returned the hug affectionately. "How've you been?" He asked as Ruby hugged Velvet as well.

"Pretty good. Been spending a lot of quality time with Weiss this past month." Ruby replied. "Making up for lost time and all that."

Weiss' face reddened at Ruby's response. "Ahem." Weiss interrupted before Ruby could elaborate and embarrass her even further. "It's good to see you again." Weiss said to the two faunus across from her.

Sun nodded in greeting but otherwise ignored Weiss' words, too focused on Ruby. "The last month? Try the last couple years!" He asked. "Where have you been?"

Weiss tensed up at the question and looked at Ruby nervously, a detail that both Sun and Velvet didn't miss. "Oh, it's a long story. One for another time." Ruby answered with an innocent smile.

Sun didn't seem very surprised that Ruby responded that way and went with the flow of the conversation. "And you Weiss, dropping off of the radar like that." Sun scolded playfully. "I don't think you realize how worried the rest of us were."

Weiss looked down at her feet abashedly. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Velvet assured her. "Now that you're back, are you rejoining the army?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, I don't think I will. I quit and left Jaune and Pyrrha in charge, so there's no point in me coming back."

"What are you planning on doing now, then?" Velvet added.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. It all depends on what we decide to do." Weiss said, reaching to her side and entwining her fingers with Ruby's.

""Your father's company, perhaps?" Sun asked. "You could always return to the fortress and stay with me and the rest of us, if you haven't decided on anything else. I'm sure Tamamo would love to see you again."

"I might visit you, sure. I don't know about staying though. To be honest, I have enough money in my accounts to live comfortably for the rest of my life without worrying about finding work or anything." Weiss explained. "But I doubt I'll have reason to visit my father."

"You could at least meet with him once." A voice said from behind Weiss. "He did provide all the funds to rebuild Beacon, after all."

Weiss and Ruby turned around to see the one and only Professor Ozpin standing behind them. Velvet could hear Weiss' heart, because it started racing and pounding loud enough for her ears to pick it up. "Calm down, Weiss." Ruby said soothingly." Apparently Ruby could hear Weiss' heartbeat too. Velvet made a mental note to ask about how that was possible at a later point.

"Hello, Professor." Ruby greeted.

"Hello, Miss Rose." Ozpin greeted. The three former students felt like a part of Ozpin was missing as they looked at him, and they realized it was because he wasn't holding a mug for the first time that they had ever seen. "Miss Schnee."

"Um… hello." Weiss greeted. Clearly she had not wanted to meet the Headmaster for some reason. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing well. Beacon is rebuilt better than ever before, enrollment is high, and life is good." Ozpin said. "Can't really complain."

"That's good to hear." Ruby said. "I hear my father is teaching at Beacon now?"

"Yes, he's quite popular among the students." Ozpin said. "Especially the girls…" He added off handedly. "And a number of the female faculty as well."

Ruby laughed. "Well, dad has always been popular with the ladies."

"I can't disagree." Ozpin said with a nod. "You seem remarkably healthy, Miss Rose, considering that by all reports you were dead."

"I got over it." Ruby chuckled.

"Your uncle will be quite surprised." Ozpin continued. "I assume that since I haven't heard anything, you haven't told your father or uncle that you've… gotten better."

"Was planning on doing that soon." Ruby answered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but did you say my father paid for Beacon to be rebuilt?" Weiss interjected, hoping to direct the line of conversation away from Ruby.

"He did, Miss Schnee." Ozpin replied. "Though he may not wish me to reveal it, I feel you should know that. He does care for you, even if he doesn't quite know how to express it at times."

"Maybe you should visit him." Ruby said, turning to Weiss. "At least once."

It seemed Weiss couldn't refuse Ruby. "Okay. I will. Later, though. After we get all our other business settled."

"Weiss, we've been living alone for a month doing nothing but whatever we wanted. We don't have any 'business.'" Ruby laughed.

"With your family and reintroductions." Weiss said. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ozpin chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you four to enjoy yourselves then. Farewell." He shook everyone hands before waving goodbye and wandering off into the crowd.

"I think we should be off too." Weiss added a few moments later.

"What? We've only just discovered neither of you are dead and that's it?" Sun asked incredulously.

"I'll come and visit the fortress soon." Weiss assured him.

"You better." Sun said with a cheeky grin. "Can we at least grab lunch?"

"I'm actually a little busy." Velvet said quietly. "I have to go back to work in a couple hours."

"Work? Today?" Sun raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Especially today, with Jaune and Pyrrha off on their honeymoon." Velvet explained. "I have a lot of work to do in their place."

"I see." Sun unwillingly admitted.

"I think Sun is disappointed that he doesn't have an excuse to spend more time with you, Velvet." Ruby said with a yawn.

"Ruby!" Weiss scolded while both Velvet and Sun blushed and glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes. "You really need to learn what's appropriate to say in a conversation again." Weiss looked apologetically at Velvet and Sun, who were pointedly not looking at each other. "Sorry about her. She… needs practice with social etiquette again."

"Pffft. Do not." Ruby complained, yawning again. "I'm just speeding up the process a little, being a little more forward. Like I did when you-"

Weiss quickly reached up and placed a hand over Ruby's mouth. "That's enough for today, we better be going now." Weiss said as she reached up and felt Ruby's forehead to check her temperature with the back of her other hand. "You're starting to get a little warm again." Weiss observed.

"It's just warm in here." Ruby objected playfully.

"You still need your rest. We don't want any unexpected side effects." Weiss said, ignoring Ruby's playful protest. "It was nice seeing you two again, I'll be sure to stay in touch this time, okay?" Weiss said with a sincere smile.

"Bye bye!" Ruby exclaimed, hugging both Velvet and Sun again before the couple left and disappeared into the crowd.

Velvet and Sun watched wordlessly as the two women left, still a little baffled at the whirlwind of events that had just occurred. "Well, that was certainly unexpected." Sun said, more to make conversation than to actually make an observation.

"Yeah." Velvet agreed. "Ruby is definitely… different." Velvet continued.

"Tammy will be interested to hear about Ruby, at the very least." Sun commented. "I wonder how a meeting between them would go."

Velvet tried to imagine the eternally cheery Tamamo meeting the now playful and womanly Ruby, and shuddered at the image. "Weiss would have a fit of anger. Or embarrassment." Velvet chuckled.

"I bet." Sun laughed. "So, uh…" Sun scratched his head nervously. "The offer extends to you, too."

"What offer?"

"To come to the fortress." Sun explained. "I know things have been rough, with all the work you've been doing lately. And now you say you have even more work. You would be welcomed with open arms if you came back. The fortress is surprisingly relaxing when you aren't training day and night." He elaborated.

"... Thank you, Sun." Velvet said softly. "I think I may consider it. It won't be for a while though. I need to help Vacuo's civilians first."

"I understand." Sun said with a nervous grin.

"Ruby was on the right track, by the way." Velvet said, looking at her finger tips.

"Huh?" Sun was clueless.

"Being a little more forward isn't a bad thing. Like you used to be." Velvet continued, her face reddening slightly as she continued make an effort not to look at Sun.

Sun could only chuckle before nearly giving in to full blown laughter. "Okay, okay, I get it. How about you put off work for another couple hours and we go grab a bite to eat."

"Sorry, can't do that." Velvet said emotionlessly. "I have work."

Sun just stared. "Bwuh?" After that lead up, Velvet just turned him down? What kind of joke was that?

Velvet smiled playfully. "I could do dinner though, if you're willing to eat a little late."

Sun let out a sigh of relief. "Oh man, I thought for sure you were messing with me. Maybe you did learn something from Tammy, eh?"

Velvet just laughed as they left side by side, debating which restaurant to go to.

The next four months ranked among the most exhausting three months of Velvet's entire life, even including her time in the war. As it turned out, people who lose nearly everything in their lives are quite needy. The former citizens of Vacuo needed food and water, housing, living amenities, land, jobs, and a whole host of other things that Velvet didn't think about until they came up. Work was progressing quickly, though there was some trouble procuring supplies in the first weeks because one of their suppliers had disappeared. The obstacle was quickly overcome with the assistance of the citizens of Vytal, who sympathized with their Vacuoan neighbors after the true cause of the war was revealed.

Even with the return of Pyrrha and Jaune and the end of the first month, Velvet's workload wasn't noticeably lighter no matter how you looked at it. However, much to the newlywed couple's surprise, Velvet didn't seem as down or as sad as she had been. After surreptitiously spying on Velvet after hours, they soon discovered the reason for Velvet's slowly improving attitude and outlook. It seemed that every night after she got into bed, Velvet spent an hour or two talking to Sun Wukong over her scroll. It had started off with Sun just calling her every evening unannounced, and soon developed into a sort of nightly ritual.

The two faunus talked about all sorts of things- their pasts, what had happened during their day, stories they had heard, jokes, and anything else they could think of. These brief periods of time each night became the highlight of Velvet's days, and soon she found herself working as hard and as fast as she could during the day so she could try to get in a few extra minutes with Sun each night.

Near the end of the second month, Velvet became self aware and noticed that her mental health had been improving. She was smiling more and eating healthier, and even her nightmares had slowly subsided, eventually disappearing. And in what to her was a strange twist of fate, she found herself thinking more about Sun Wukong himself, and not just the enjoyable conversations. This caused Velvet a small amount of distress at the beginning of this discovery because she felt that she was, in a way, betraying her feelings for Blake. But as Sun had told her after the wedding, time had resolved any doubts she had on the matter.

In the third month, Sun and Velvet had a grand time talking about the unexpected rise of the new CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee. It seems that Weiss had kept her word and visited her father, an event which appears to have led to some sort of reconciliation, or at least a civil agreement. Interestingly enough, Ruby Rose still had made no appearance of any sort in any public setting, not even at public appearances with Weiss, which the pair found curious. But even this huge event wasn't enough to distract the two faunus and their growing their affections for each other.

And now, at the end of the fourth month, Velvet had finally finished her work and was free to leave her position if she so desired. It seemed that Jaune and Pyrrha would be choosing to keep their positions as Lord Commanders, so Velvet said a farewell but not a goodbye and left them to pursue her own dreams. This brought her to where she was now- standing in front of the gates to the fortress she had trained in years ago, hoping to surprise Sun with her arrival. Velvet pulled out her scroll and called Sun, waiting patiently as the line rang.

Only a few seconds later, there was a click followed by a voice. "Velvet?" Sun asked. "You got off work early. What's up?"

"I'm actually done with all my work now." Velvet said from her position outside the closed gates. "Mind opening the gates for me?"

Velvet could sense Sun's bafflement through her scroll. "The gates?"

"I'm standing outside the fortress." Velvet chuckled.

"What! You're here?" Sun exclaimed in surprise. Velvet could hear frantic movements on the other end of the line as Sun rushed through the halls towards her position.

Velvet ended the call, figuring that Sun would be too busy making his way to the gates to waste breath speaking. She only had to wait a few minutes before Sun managed to make his way out of the massive fortress to the front gates, where he had to stop and bend over at the waist to catch his breath. "A little… warning would've… been nice." He gasped between breaths. Despite his complaint though, Sun had a smile on his face.

"I thought I'd surprise you." Velvet said simply as Sun fiddled with the gate controls.

"Well you certainly surprised me, I admit." Sun said as the gates slid open, allowing Velvet access to the fortress. "Welcome back, I suppose?" said with a shrug.

Velvet giggled. "Thanks."

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Sun asked, checking the time on his scroll.

"Not yet, no."

"How about I cook something up for us?" Sun suggested.

"You can cook?" Velvet's face was a mask of surprise.

"Of course I can." Sun sniffed with faked arrogance. "I'm insulted you think I can't."

Velvet laughed. "I'm sorry, you just don't seem like the kind of person who would take the time to learn how to cook."

"Well, I can. And I shall blow you away with my virtuoso skills." Sun puffed out his chest.

"That good?"

Sun looked back at Velvet silently for a few minutes before deflating. "No. actually." He sighed as Velvet laughed at him again. "I can just cook some simple things, honestly."

"Well, simple is nice." Velvet assured him. "I look forward to a home cooked meal. Is this a date then?"

"…If you want it to be." Sun said after a moment's thought, giving Velvet full control of the situation.

Velvet needed no time to think about it. "I do want it to be."

"Well, shall we?" Sun held out his arm.

"We shall." Velvet took the offered arm and walked into the fortress with Sun, smiling all the while.

It seems now, looking back, that Sun had been right. Time did eventually heal the wounds in her heart and mind. She found something new to look forward to, and new reasons to continue living her life. Her memories of her friends were no longer painful reminders of what she had lost; Instead they had become reminders of how good life could be and that everything would eventually work out. And though she had wanted to forget her memories and the pain that came along with them in the beginning, now Velvet wouldn't want to forget them for anything. These memories were a part of who she was now, and forgetting them would surely be as debilitating as cutting off part of her own body.

"Whatcha thinkin about?" Sun asked as they entered the fortress doors.

"Oh, nothing." Velvet answered with a smile. "By the way…"

"Hmm?"

"You aren't still sleeping with Tamamo, are you?" Velvet asked innocently.

Sun stumbled and nearly fell in surprise, and would've without the support of his arm been interlocked with Velvet's. "What! No!" He said defensively.

"Really?" Velvet continued playfully.

Another voice answered in Sun's place. "He's not lying." Velvet looked left to see Tamamo descending a set of stairs, tail flicking back and forth merrily behind her while she twirled her scroll in her hands. "I let him off the hook months ago, after he started talking about you twenty-four seven." Tamamo said with a mischievously innocent look on her face as she continued past them towards the front doors of the fortress.

"Aw, you talked about me to them that much?" Velvet teased.

Sun's tanned face had flushed red in embarrassment. "Damn it, Tamamo."

Velvet smiled. She had a feeling that life here would be good.