Beacon of Hope

Part 4

An ending... and a beginning.

Just about two years ago I wrote "Hearts and Sacrifice" with my first major character. Edda was a lot of fun to create even with a dozen rewrites before publication, and his persona started growing on me. But he needed more history, and a little Faunas girl was came into being. From that little girl grew two years of story and more characters to populate the world of Remnant.

The team has faced many challenges, yet their friendship and courage had seen them through it all.

All stories must end... sort of.

Glynda looked up from her paperwork as Harper entered her office. She frowned in annoyance at the interruption, but said nothing as he shut the door before depositing a long bag next to the chair opposite her.

"Professor!" he nodded, assuming a position of attention, a folder of papers held tightly in his right hand.

Setting her own work aside, she tapped the table with her fingers. Beneath his calm exterior there was a hint of nervousness. "I assume you have the reports from your people about the condition of Beacon?"

His hand tightened on the folder. "I do, Ma'am. But before we get into that, I'd like two questions answered." Setting the paperwork on the desk, he bent to retrieve the bag.

"Do you recognize this?" he asked, pulling a long sword from the cloth sack. Yellow flecks sparkled on the walls as the rounded amber Dust crystal set in the hilt caught the light as he laid it on the desk.

"Where was this found?" Glynda's voice took on a harsh tone as she gently touched the silvered blade.

"In a sub-basement. Actually in a tunnel that had been dug into the basement, according to the man who retrieved it."

Glynda leaned back in her chair, one hand covering her eyes. "They got into the vault, then! Blast!" Leaning forward once more, she rested her splayed hands on the table, eyes on the blade. "Did they find anything else?"

The Sergeant-Major shook his head. "Nothing. If the Headmaster's cane was down there, it's buried under tons of rubble."

"I see. We'll just have to hope they didn't get that too, then. And your second question?"

Harper took a step closer to the table, his voice taking on a formal tone. "Professor Goodwitch... can you explain the presence of a woman in that same basement, one who died trapped inside what appeared to be some kind of mechanized coffin!?"

Glynda's eyes were chips of ice as she lifted her head to look at him. "Are you accusing me of something, Harper?"

"I make no accusations, but I request an answer! I need to know, whatever may have happened in there, it won't affect the men's safety, Ma'am!"

Seeing no retreat in the stony face, she relented after a moment, gesturing towards the chair. "Sit down, then. This is going to take a while."

When he was seated, she sat rocking in the chair for a moment, marshalling her thoughts. "She was the Fall Maiden. One of our people found her on a country road after she'd been attacked, and brought her here." She watched his face as he assimilated that bit of information. "Ozpin had a plan to transfer her powers before she died of her wounds, and with the help of Atlas, had the machinery built to do it. Whoever attacked her stole half of her powers, and we hoped to deprive them of the rest by transferring them to the next Fall Maiden. But that obviously didn't happen!"

Harper nodded solemnly as he pushed the reports across the table towards her. "Tell me more, please. If the enemy has her powers, is there anything we can do to protect ourselves?"

"Possibly," she responded, lifting the first sheet. "But those powers may not be directed at us just yet."

Akiko's mother had set a generous table in the newly re-opened store. Hart's old friend had willed his business to the woman, a last gesture of the kindness he'd shown the world at large. In the months following the expulsion of the White Fang and Grim from the city, she'd worked tirelessly to restore 'General Goods' to its former state. Now it sported new windows and doors, and no longer showed signs of the ravages from the night of the Fall.

Gundar sat self-consciously next to his wife as she joked with her teammates, feeling a bit left out as they recalled their adventures to the hostess. His own accomplishments in the military seemed to pale to insignificance by comparison.

"Yang is not so tough!" Akiko muttered.

Renee rubbed her chest where the blonde had once left a bruise the size of a dinner plate despite thick armor. "You wouldn't say that if she'd landed a punch on you." Her hand moved lower, rubbing her stomach with a look of discomfort.

The elder Washi stood in the doorway, a candle laden cake in her hands, and frowned at the girl. She was trying to remember if anyone had mentioned food allergies when Renee suddenly lurched to her feet and ran past her to the bathroom.

Quickly setting the cake on the table, she firmly pushed Gundar and Hart back down into their seats. "I will see to her! You have a cake to cut," she told the Faunas.

Hart looked around the table as the woman hustled out of the room. "Maybe we should wait?"

"If you wish to go against Mother's orders," Akiko stated primly, "by all means do."

"When you put it that way...!" Hart drew a deep breath and blew out the candles.

The wedges of cake were still sitting in front of them when their hostess returned. Seating herself in Renee's vacant chair, she held a fork over the slice in front of her.

"Your wife will feel better shortly." she said pleasantly. "She is resting in my room." A sly smile stole over her face as she turned to the man. "I believe her pregnancy is affecting her appetite."

A dropped pin would have sounded clearly as four jaws hit the floor simultaneously.

She motioned towards the door with the fork. "Go on then! The bed is big enough for two."

As he staggered through the doorway, she turned back to her plate. The fork stopped halfway to her lips as she returned the frozen stares of the other three. "Was it something I said?" she asked innocently.

Three months later, people were moving around the campus of Beacon once more. Harper had sent two more groups to check on various parts of the school, and one very special mission to close the tunnel that had been dug by the Grim.

Hart's hand trembled slightly as she brushed the leaves from the monument.

"We're back, just like I promised," she whispered. "There's a lot to do yet. Glynda told us we're as good as graduated, what with all the things we've been doing. I guess field experience counts."

She turned to retrieve the flowers that had been laid aside, catching sight of Renee, belly beginning to show the life growing inside, wrestling a broom from her husband's hands. Despite her pregnancy, the brawler refused to slow down. Hart resolved to talk to the doctors about when to exert her authority as team leader to make the big girl take time off for more important things than killing Grim.

But right now, she was another pair of hands helping restore Edda's memorial.

They'd all come to help with this. Everyone who could make it was here, even Glynda had cleared her morning's schedule to start the rebuilding. The ever-present riding crop was secured to her belt, replaced by a shovel in her hand. She had announced her intention to turn the first shovelful of soil by hand as a symbol of the rebuilding. Magic could do many things, but it couldn't match her determination to open Beacon again.

Tenderly laying the blooms across the sigil etched in the marble, Hart smiled sadly. "It'll be a while before the school's ready for a new batch of students, but I'll visit whenever there's time," she promised. Rising smoothly to her feet, she looked around at the expectant faces. "Let's get started!"

The cheers echoing off the walls startled birds into flight.

Gundar winced as his hand was compressed again, the bones grating against each other as Renee endured another contraction. His free hand moved to wipe the sweat from her face as the spasm eased.

Eight months of silent worrying about her had ended with this hospital room. The first few had been difficult enough, the 'morning sickness' finally passing, only to be replaced with cravings.

Raspberry ice cream? Easy enough, he thought. Not so easy at two in the morning, he found out. He'd called in every favor his fellow troopers owed him, and some they didn't, to keep her happy. Then there was the color blue. For two weeks she wanted everything in blue. He'd searched the whole city for anything, no matter what it was, in any shade of blue. That ended after the third week when she decided that blue was horrible. A Yard Sale at give-away prices had solved that problem. Who knew that Aldus and McCoy both liked the color?

The final three months had been the easiest. She'd lost all the cravings, and he'd finally come to terms with his role as the expectant father. He learned to anticipate others, starting conversations with, "She's doing fine!" before saying hello.

Apparently, to his disgust, his wife and unborn child had the same sense of humor. Renee would nestle into his back while he slept so the baby could kick him awake. It had been a frazzling, frustrating, and sometimes sleepless experience. And through it all his love for her deepened.

Behind the cloth at the other end of the hospital bed, the doctor gently lifted the newborn into the waiting blanket. A nurse wiped the red face and suctioned the nose and mouth free of fluid. The tiny face wrinkled as the newborn drew a first breath and let it out in a cry of discomfort.

"She doesn't like it out here," the nurse quipped.

Gundar felt a sense of wonder as the sound reached him. The room suddenly seemed to fade away as he looked into his spouse's face. Renee smiled wearily up at him.

"We did it!" she whispered hoarsely.

The new father's knees gave way as the nurse shoved a chair under him. His eyes never left Renee's as he collapsed, blowing out a huge gust of air. The woman slipped a blanket wrapped bundle into his chest, smiling lightly as his arms unconsciously wrapped around it. She gently rearranged his grip as he stared into the tiny blue eyes that were blinking at him.

"Say hello to your daughter while we get your missus cleaned up," she told him firmly.

He gently touched the pink cheek as the woman bustled back to her work, apprehension and joy filling him.

I'm a father!

He lifted the top of the blanket slightly and kissed his daughter's forehead. "I promise to try and be the best daddy I can!" he whispered to her.

Renee's hand on his arm drew his attention. " You will be!" she assured him.

Hath snagged Tan's arm as he paced by once more and forced the younger man into the chair next to him. "Will you relax! Your prowling around is making me nervous."

Tan wrapped his arms around his chest and glared at the soldier. "How can you be so calm?" he demanded.

Hath slammed a hand down on the leg of the man on his other side, stilling Sergeant-Major Harper's jitters. "I ain't the one having a baby, and neither are you!" he told the older NCO sternly. "Would you all just chill out!"

From the other side of the room Akiko was just about to respond in her usual manner when Gundar stepped through the door with a blanket wrapped bundle in his arms. Conversation among the group stopped as he lifted the cloth and revealed the pink face beneath.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Autumn Hart Delacourt!" he announced proudly.

Grinning widely, Akiko threw her arms around her partner, spinning the taller girl around. "We're aunts!" she crowed.

Harper stepped across the room and laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Congratulations son!"

Gundar blushed slightly as he ducked his head in acknowledgement. "Thank you, sir."

Glynda appeared at his other shoulder, gazing wistfully down at the tiny face. "Thank you, Mister Ulfur." She smiled at the confused look on his face. "The two of you have shown us that there will be a future, one worth the effort and loss!" She wiped a hand across her damp eyes. "I do wish Ozpin were here to see this, though."

Hart slipped up next to the professor and hugged her tightly. "And Edda too!" Goodwitch nodded in reply.

Harper sighed wistfully. "Ishiro also." He glanced down at the petite Huntress who moved to his side.

"And Pyrrha!" Akiko whispered.

Gundar dropped his eyes to his daughter as the people in the room whispered the names of those lost since the Fall. As silence descended once more, a white gloved hand lifted his chin. Glynda looked into his eyes. "Thank you both, for she is living proof that their lives were not wasted!"

The young father blinked as Hath's chin landed on his shoulder from behind. Looking down into the newly opened eyes, the sniper smiled. "You're gonna go far kid!" he assured her. "With family and friends like us, there ain't no way you can lose!"

Ulfur chuckled as he tilted his head to the side, resting it against his partner's. "You're right, bro! She really can't!" He lifted his eyes to Hart. "I think it's time her godmother held her for the first time!" he announced.

Hart's eyes widened. "What?" The faunas girl stumbled forward as her partner gave her a shove from behind. "I don't...! Godmother? Me?" she stammered, staring down at the baby that had been gently thrust into her arms.

Akiko grinned up at her. "Have you suddenly grown deaf, stupid girl? Autumn... Hart!... Delacourt."

Gundar smiled at Hart's confused expression. "She has plenty of aunts and uncles here, but Renee and I agreed that you should be her role model."

Hart drew a shaky breath. "Thank you," she finally squeaked, trying not to drop the suddenly squirming infant. A small hand grasped a curl of hair, the newborn quieting as she tried to focus on the face above her. "Welcome to the world, little one." Hart whispered to her. She hesitated a moment before handing the baby back to the father. "Really, I'm honored!"

"Mister Ulfur?" the nurse called softly from the doorway. "It's time we got Autumn back to her mother!"

Harper rubbed his hands together as the father carried his daughter through the door. "I'd say this calls for a celebration!" he announced with a grin. "Luckily I made previous arrangements. Vale's finest restraunt re-opened last week and we have a reservation for tonight."

Glynda looked over the confused faces in the room. "Well? What are you waiting for?" The riding crop pointed towards the exit. "Let's go!"

The end.

Wow! What a trip. I admit to having put off writing this last chapter. But every story must come to an end sometime.

Thanks to everyone who followed Hart and her friends from the beginning, and all of you who discovered them along the way. It's been a great ride for me, and I hope you enjoyed reading their stories as much I did writing it all. It seems really strange to have come to the end after all this time.

... but wait. What's that noise?

The printer started up. Something is... hmmm!

( Scratches head in puzzlement) Maybe not an end?

What!? Give little kids weapons? Hart as a teacher?

And more characters to go along with the old? Who's responsible for this!?

... oh... yeah. (Hangs head while holding hand up) Guilty as charged.

Well, if that's the way it's going to be, then I guess I'd better get started on it. Two more years of this? Sure, why not? A man can still type when he's sixty! As long as you lot are entertained, what's the worst that could happen? Besides, how else are we going to find out just how far our favorite Faunas' patience can stretch? (Ask any middle school teacher!)

What's it like, learning how to be a Huntress? How difficult is the schooling that teaches kids to take on a pack of Beowolves? What does it take to learn how to handle deadly weapons (and not kill yourself in the process)?

Perhaps Autumn Delacourt, and some new students, will show us.

HART- The Next Generation (TNG) , coming soon.

I hope you'll all be there.

Keep writing!

Vindictious