reccommended story: "Souls Entwined" by Archer1eye

betaread by: Crescent Sunrise

Graduation Day

It had taken many hints being dropped in front of teachers and students alike in both Beacon and Shade. Suggestions and ideas spoken loud enough to be overheard and planting the seed before it started to take hold during the last Vytal Festival Tournament. That had been a year ago and now the fruits of their rumor mongering were being received. As fourth year students from each academy in Remnant were all gathered in one place.

A massive crowd made to show the unity of huntsmen. A united front displaying how the huntsman organization is meant to be separate but supportive of all four kingdoms. With that in mind, the idea of having the fourth years all graduating in neutral territory came about. And why such a massive collection of students from all over Remnant were gathered here in Menagerie the Heads of each academy on stage as friends made during the festivals mingle and mix, greeting each other with elated cheer.

All throughout, a nervous sniper remains perched outside of the crowd, her head turning to try and spot that familiar splash of red before it's owner notices her own white cloak wrapped around her like a protective blanket. Having perched herself in some of the scaffolding surrounding the large stage does give the sniper a distinct advantage.

"I don't understand why you're so nervous, May. You talk to her every weekend, you visit her every holiday or she comes to you. You two spend every summer together and half of last year both of you were in Atlas for the last Vytal Festival. We barely managed to pull you both away away from each other long enough to train for the tournament." Comes the voice of a very put upon Nolan below her position. With a roll of her eye she looks away from the crowd and tugs her hat down.

"I'm not nervous, it's just good p-practice." She replies lying through her teeth. Her stuttering had improved in the past two years but still wasn't completely gone. In truth, May was extremely nervous. Sure they talked often. But anytime her and Ruby were due to meet up in person, she always got nervous. Her mind playing out any and all terrible endings to her relationship.

None of those endings ever happened. But it didn't stop May from stressing about them. Her self confidence had grown but she was certain there would always be that niggling doubt in the back of her head reminding her that she didn't deserve her girlfriend and one day, Ruby would realize it too.

As her nerves built her hands shake a little and she takes a long, deep breath to calm them before looking again she spots a flash of long yellow hair and her eye is immediately drawn to it, spotting two others with the eccentric brawler smiling as they look around.

'There's Yang, Blake, and Weiss, but no Ruby. Did something happen to her? Is she avoiding me? Oh of course I must ha-'

The snipers line of thought abruptly ends as heat wells in her chest. A pair of pale slim arms wrap around her stomach and pull her backwards and into a hug. That red coloring she had been looking for entering her peripheral vision as tension and nerves start melting away immediately.

"Hey there. Did you miss me?" The young voice asks breathing softly against May's ear driving a blush onto the older girl's cheeks even as she watches Nolan chuckling and walking away below her, his head shaking slowly.

"I-I always miss you." May replies letting herself lean back into the shorter girl. Ruby would always be on the shorter side of the height spectrum. Something she had hated until the first time she had snuck her way into May's bed at night and found herself the perfect fit against the taller form of her girlfriend.

"I missed you too, but after this we won't have to anymore. We'll be full fledged Huntresses. We can work as a pair and take any jobs we want." Ruby replies pressing herself more into May's back. Something she had delighted in doing once her chest had developed a little more. She would never be as buxom as Yang or Blake but they were plenty enough for her and May could only agree as she blushes a bit harder feeling them pressed into the sniper's back.

'I should ask now. Now is a good time.'

May opens her mouth and freezes up for a moment as her mind immediately jumps to all the negatives before she forcefully pushes them aside shifting to turn a little so she can look into Ruby's silver orbs. The molten pools not having dulled a bit through the years.

"Ruby... Um, would you... do you want to..." She starts her voice trailing off as she tries to ask.

"Yes." Ruby answers with amusement as May sputters for a moment before narrowing her visible eye and frowning.

"Y-you didn't know what I w-was going to ask." May replies a bit put out at being cut off as she shifts around. Losing the feeling of Ruby pressed into her back but gaining a look at the younger girl's lovely face.

"Does it matter? It's you and me right? I can't imagine anything you could ask me to do with you that I would say no to." Ruby replies with honesty as she gives the sniper a fond look, leaving May to blush all over again. "Though I would like to know what I just agreed to." She adds moving herself into May's lap now that her hug has been broken.

"W-well, after we graduate we're going to look for a place to live together. That's what you agreed t-to." May admits looking at Ruby with a small smile. "Only if you s-still want to though."

"Wait, really? You want us to move in together?" Ruby asks sounding a little surprised as she shifts in May's lap to bring a little distance so she can look directly into the sniper's eye.

"Well I... I mean if y-you don't want t-to then we don't h-have to. I just th-thought it w-would be nice." May mutters her head dropping as a crushing pain enters her chest. "S-sorry it w-was a stupid idea." She mutters cringing at her own defeated tone and the mess of stuttering. It's like before she met Ruby all over and the stuttering regression does not make her happy.

She's drawn out of the line of self deprecating thoughts when Ruby places a hand on her chin. Lifting the snipers gaze from her lap to gaze into those same entrancing pools of sparkling silver that tugged on May's heart from the first glance. She feels her eyes watering even as Ruby pressing into her again the shorter girl's lips pressing softly against her own for a moment before breaking apart.

"I would love to move in with you May. I'm sorry if I sounded hesitant, I was just a little shocked. Where were you thinking about living?" She asks next waiting patiently as May soaks in her words. Before grinning wide as the snipers arms tighten around her waist.

"We'll look together. I'm thinking Vale m-might not be a bad idea. Since it's more centralized, when we t-take jobs we avoid longer flights." May offers before their attention is draws down from the perch and towards the stage. The microphones are turned on and one of the teachers was calling everyone to gather up with their teams in the sections designated for their school.

The two girls shared one last lingering kiss before climbing down to rejoin their teams in the crowds. There is a period of chaotic movement and voices before dying down to a dull murmur and finally silence as the graduating students turn towards the stage.

Each head of school stands behind their own microphone and it's Ozpin's voice that rings out first.

"Like many things, it started small. An idle thought spoken aloud that grew to cacophonous proportions as others heard and began repeating it themselves. 'Why, if all of us are huntsmen and huntresses do we graduate at the same time, yet separately?' Now no one can be quite sure just where the thought began but it's been growing for a few short years now and repeated so often in each academy that we began asking the same thing," he comments as his eyes seem to move from one point among his own students before shifting to look directly at May before he continues.

"But the beginning is not as important as the result and here we are. The graduating classes of four separate academies. All entering the world of hunters after spending the past four years fighting and struggling to learn everything you can about your chosen path in life. This is my favorite moment of each and every year. To look out upon my graduating class and see so many faces of former students eager to perform their chosen duty to Remnant. And starting this year. I will get to see even more than my own. I could not be more proud of each and every one of you." He finished stepping back as Ironwood move in to speak up.

"You are here from all walks of life. Individuals with the drive, passion, and skills required to slay the monsters that threaten our world. You applied to our academies seeking training to hone your craft in hopes of protecting the innocents of Remnant. And now that you have completed your training, it falls upon your sense of honor and duty to carry out that task wherever and however you can.

"It is important to remember. That being a hunter does not define a person. While you can make a career out of it and are certainly welcome to do so. You are not mindless killing drones. You could choose to join the military, open a store, become a guard for a village, or even return to your academy after a time and seek the chance to pass on your knowledge of hunting to students of your very own. I may be a General, but I will never stop being a huntsmen. And no matter where you go in life, neither will any of you." He finishes and the cheers are loud as he gives a stiff half bow before returning to the line of his peers.

When Ozpin went to take the podium again with an enigmatic smile on his lips he clears his throat before speaking up. "And now we come to the closing of this ceremony. One I fully believe will soon become an annual recurrence. Let all of you here with us today now stand as as lights shining in the dark serving to push back the terrors that threaten the peace of our kingdoms. I look forward to fighting alongside all of you."

He states and a loud chime rings throughout the crowd as students blink and pull out their scrolls. Their student ID's replaced with an hunter's identification showing each person's name and image as well as registration number.

"With this, you are now fully acknowledged hunters and huntresses. Please do remember to pick up your physical copies as you leave. Your lives will only become more dangerous from here forward so I highly recommend taking time after this ceremony to celebrate before diving in, but, that is entirely up to you." He finishes giving a bow before heading off the stage as the former students give out deafening cheers.

As the students move to leave in waves May waits behind letting the crowd pass her by as she closes her eye to try and ignore the loud noise and bustling bodies that occasionally bump into her as she pulls her cloak tighter around her until she feels those familiar arms around her waist.

Ruby doesn't say anything as she holds May until the crowd is past them earning herself a smile from the shy sniper who leans into the embrace. "D-do you still want to find a place together?" May asks before being nearly blinded by the bright smile lighting up Ruby's face.

"Of course! Buuuuuut, we might have to wait a few days. Yang is going to go crazy celebrating this and there's no way anyone in my team will be able to avoid it. Not even Weiss." Ruby replies taking one of May's hands in hers and lacing their fingers together.

"Okay, I think she should be allowed to let loose a little." May replies feeling much more comfortable as the crowd has left their area entirely. Moving to completely surround the 'entrance' of the area chosen for their graduation ceremony. Tables are lined up for each school with people behind each to try and hand out the ID's as quickly as they can.

"Oh woe is me, not even ten minutes go by after graduation and my partner has already abandoned me. Whatever shall I do all on my lonesome?" Nolan jokingly laments as he pulls the two girls into a hug. "Ruby, you look after my partner, okay?"

"You say that like you aren't going to see me again." May mutters shifting in his embrace to hug him back. "I'm not going to vanish, we'll see each other plenty."

"Make sure we do. I need to catch up with the guys now but we'll talk soon. Yang invited us to some big party she's cooking up in town." He admitted chuckling as Ruby groans loudly.

"It was inevitable, I guess." May admits with a small smile as she watches the crowd slowly starting to thin out as she starts making her way to the tables with Ruby.

"Yeah… Wanna sneak out halfway through and go to a bakery?" Ruby replies looking really excited for the prospect getting a soft giggle from May in response.

"O-okay, you know…" May starts before stopping as she realizes Ruby is doing it for herself as much as she is for May. Neither of them are big on parties after all. "Nevermind, thanks Ruby."

The smiles and hug she gets back has her blushing a bit until they break apart at the nearly empty tables for their ID's.

The bakery would be nice, so long as she doesn't let Ruby indulge in her cookies too much.

'Then again the kisses always taste like chocolate after…'

AN:

I'm so sorry this has taken as long as it has after I promised these would be coming. Thank you all for your unbelievable patience. I"m pressed for time right now but Still. I love all of you and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read my work.