Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with RWBY.

Author's Note: It's certainly been an incredible twelve weeks getting to read everyone's reactions to this story. I'm so elated so many people enjoyed reading it, I had a lot of fun writing it, and I wish it didn't have to end too. Don't be sad about it ending though, be happy you got to experience it. :) Plus there might be a bonus chapter in the future (not next week but anytime in the future) so you can keep an eye out for that and I have been thinking about a possible sequel but whether that happens yet, I don't know.

Thank you to my good friend Callum for proof reading for me, and to bsl for editing the chapter too! Without both of your help this story would be filled with a lot more of my Dyslexia mistakes and grammar errors.

Also shout-out to kisaramix on tumblr for their awesome drawing of Kit and bonus pictures from this fanfic! Be sure to check out their tumblr and have a browse at their art! :D

Here's hoping we get our Team RWBY (and BEES) reunion coming soon in the new episode of RWBY tomorrow! So excited! For now though, you wonderful, amazing readers, enjoy the final chapter of Swimming Lessons, and thank you! 3

Reeves3.

Chapter Twelve

Six Years Later

Menagerie was known for their warm winters. It was a frequent destination for those wishing to spend their Christmas vacation away from the winter weather, but the island paradise was even more well-known for its scorching summers. Hundreds usually swarmed to the white beaches, clear blue ocean, thriving greenery and plant life. Yet this year half an million arrived only to ignore the beaches and instead gather inside the newly built Olympic stadium.

The participants for the Olympics had already won their medals but now it was time for the Paralympic athletes to win their bronze, silver, and gold. The Olympic grounds contained the stadium where the opening ceremony had taken place, and where the track and field stars would make history. There were also several indoor and outdoor arena's where numerous sports would take place, and finally the Olympic village where the athlete's could stay.

In one of the arenas thousands had assembled and filled up every seat in the stands while up in the commentator's booth Sue Scott and Harvey Chapman faced the TV camera, that was broadcasting worldwide to millions of viewers.

"Welcome back to the Paralympics," greeted Sue, with a large smile. "Up next we have the women's swimming events. There's a lot of excitement in the air as much attention is on Yang Xiao Long for Patch, hoping to take gold in the one hundred meter backstroke and four hundred meter freestyle. Harvey, let's talk a bit about Yang, shall we?"

Harvey's shiny white teeth glinted as he smiled charmingly. "Yes, she's the only female swimmer representing Patch, a small island off the coast of Vale, and is well known for her record breaking qualification times. In an interview earlier today she mentioned how she wouldn't be here if her wife hadn't talked her into it. I believe you can see all her family down there supporting her."

The camera cut to a large crowd, some people sitting while others were standing waving around flags of their nation. The shot panned down towards a group sitting along the front row. Taiyang Xiao Long was standing tall wearing a t-shirt with Yang's face on it along with the words 'GOING FOR GOLD' . Beside him were Ghira and Kali Belladonna, holding up posters with the same image from Taiyang's top while they chatted to one another. At the other end of the group sat Weiss and Ruby with their three year old twins sitting in their laps as they snacked on popcorn. Blake Belladonna Xiao Long sat in-between the all with her thirteen year old daughter at her side. One of her hands ran circles over her extended belly as she laughed at whatever joke Kit had just finished telling.

The camera cut back to Sue and Harvey as they turned away from the glass window behind them.

"A wonderful family, and she's rallied a lot of fans from all over the world too," commented Harvey.

Sue nodded. "She has indeed, but we'll have to talk about that later because it looks like the one hundred meter backstroke is about to start, so let's head down to the pool..."

{-}

Yang let out a deep shuddering breath, expelling the built up nerves in her stomach, as she stepped out of the tunnel and into the arena. Her body was covered by a tracksuit, littered with sponsor logos, and the right arm of it swung uselessly at her side. Her hair was completely encased in a swimming cap and her bright yellow goggles rested on top of her forehead. In her hand she carried a fluffy white towel.

Cheers escalated in volume and cameras flashed repeatedly in the stands as a cameraman tracked Yang's movements with the handheld monitor he was carrying by Yang's side. Yang flashed a grin straight down the barrel of it and he gave her a thumbs up before stopping to go and film the next swimmer to walk out. Coming to a stop at her lane Yang put down her towel and began to remove the tracksuit from her body revealing a simple black swimsuit with the Olympic logo over her left breast.

"GO YANG!"

Raising her head towards the sound of her father's voice, Yang beamed broadly as she spotted her family waving from the edge of the stands. From their position they had a perfect side view of the entire fifty meter pool. Yang waved back and for a brief second she met Blake's gaze. Seeing the pride and love directed towards her, sent the last of Yang's jitters away.

Yang did a couple of muscle loosening exercises while the remaining seven swimmers walked out from the changing room and to their pool lane. Once all of the competitors were ready, they dropped into the water and turned their back to the rest of the pool, and Yang slipped her goggles over her eyes before gripping the edge with one hand. Silence fell upon the crowd, except for an occasional cheer, as everyone waited for the signal to start.

A loud buzzer echoed throughout the arena.

The moment it went off Yang pushed herself back fully into the water, just barely hearing the audience erupt into screams of joy and applause before her ears were submerged in the water. With strong, powerful kicks she propelled herself, keeping her head up and counting on how many strokes her arm had completed. When she counted up what she knew was the appropriate amount, her eyes glanced to the left, looking at the colour of the divider and watched it change colour, signalling to her that she had reached the other end of the pool.

Turning on her side, she smoothly tucked herself into a tumble turn. The second her feet made contact against the wall she kicked herself off it with all her might and carried on back down the lane. With the end in sight, Yang used the stored energy she had saved in the first length to give her that extra momentum, and soon felt her fingertips touch the wall.

Yang leaned an elbow against the divider and lifted up her goggles. To the left of her she saw a couple of other swimmers do the same thing while the stragglers were just finishing. Wiping the water from her face, Yang's eyes zeroed in on one of the massive electronic scoreboards around the room and waited to see the results.

Her fist raised high into the air and she let out a loud shout of joy upon seeing her name appear next to number one. A large grin stretched across her face and she looked over at her family to see them all jumping up and down with excitement and hugging one another. As she laughed at the sight, Yang's attention was drawn to the silver medal winner next to her, as she dipped under the divider to congratulate her.

"What a swim! Awesome race, Yang," she praised, wrapping her one good arm around Yang's shoulders.

Yang hugged her back, "You too, Hannah. That was such a close one."

They parted from their hug and everyone got out of the water, grabbing their towels and starting to dry themselves off. A few of the other Paralympians came over to congratulate Yang, and she thanked each one until eventually the gold, silver, and bronze winners were led towards the stage at the far end of the arena for the award ceremony.

There was a system set up so that while the swimmers for the next race got ready and prepared, the winners of the previous swim would go and collect their medals. The three men from the previous S8 race, greeted them as the three ladies joined them before they were ushered up onto the podiums. Yang, Hannah, and the bronze winner Alicia, continued to dry themselves off as interviewers for different TV stations came over to talk to them.

"Yang, you just won gold, how're you feeling right now?" A zebra faunus asked with a bright smile as she held her microphone out towards Yang. Her I.D. card read 'PRESS' in bold capital letters and below that it showed her name as 'Clara Hartman'.

"Oh, I'm stunned, elated, it's a childhood dream come true," confessed Yang, her mind still reeling that she had won.

"You've had a lot of trials and tribulation getting to where you are now, what advice would you give to people who are struggling themselves to achieve their goals?"

Yang took a few seconds to think about her answer as the national anthem of Mistral rang through the stadium.

"It's okay to stumble and fall because what you're going to do is pick yourself back up and keep going. It might take you longer than you had originally planned but the end goal is always there, waiting for you. Believe in yourself, have family and friends believing in you, and if you don't have either one, then I believe in you and you can do it."

Clara let out a quiet laugh, "Now I feel like I could swim for the Olympics."

Yang laughed too, "Maybe you'll be in my place in four years time."

"Indeed," chuckled Clara. "Speaking of being where you are now, you have the four hundred meter freestyle coming up in an hour, do you think we'll see another victory?"

"I certainly hope so. I've been training for so long and worked ridiculously hard for these wins and I'm one down, one more to go," she said, positively. The people around them started to cheer as the music came to an end and the three male finalists posed for pictures on the highest podium.

"Thank you for answering our questions, Yang, and good luck in your next race," said Clara, and Yang smiled.

"Thank you as well."

A few more reporters came up to ask her all kinds of different questions as the men's one hundred meter backstroke took place. When Yang felt as though she was significantly dry she put her tracksuit back on to keep her body warm, and passed off her wet towel to one of the many volunteers. The crowd erupted into more rounds of applause and screams of joy as the men's race came to a finish and the winners were revealed on the scoreboard above.

It wasn't long afterwards that Yang, Hannah, and Alicia were each handed a small bouquet of wild flowers before being guided over to the platform. Yang took her place on the top tier and stared out amongst the ecstatic crowd. Her eyes quickly zeroed in on her family, and she brought her hand up over her head to give them a massive wave. A member of the International Paralympic Committee, a smartly dressed man with a handlebar moustache, began walking up to the three of them and a fish faunus with rainbow scales and fins along her arms followed him - carrying the royal purple cushion where the three medals rested.

Yang waited patiently as third and second place were awarded, and then finally he stopped in front of her and turned around to lift up the golden medal. Bowing her head slightly, Yang smiled proudly as the ribbon was placed over her neck and as she stood up straight the medal gleamed brightly off her chest. Basking in the glory of the joyous screams and applause around her, Yang could feel her heart swell with pride as the national anthem for Patch began to play from the speakers. She sang along with the lyrics, having long since memorised the honourable words from childhood, until the final note played out. Hannah and Alicia joined her on the podium, and all three waved out at the cheerful crowd as the cameras recorded and photographs were taken.

Eventually the three of them were herded off back to the locker rooms where the five other swimmers representing Team Patch stood waiting for her. The men ran towards her and crowded around her in a giant hug as they all jumped up and down in celebration.

"You did fantastic, Yang!" Jet, the team captain, said.

"That's two bronze and a gold for Team Patch!" Andrew hollered, elated.

"And we're going to get more!" Ben encouraged, knowing they had four more races out of all of them to compete in.

"Hell yeah, we are!" Yang agreed, with a nod.

When Yang had first met these guys, she wasn't sure how well she would get along with them, but it turned out her worries had been for naught. They all had similar common ground; growing up on Patch, their interest in swimming, and how they dealt with their own disabilities. They had met each other's families as well - three of them were married and the other two gentleman, Darren and Jack, had a boyfriend and girlfriend respectively. They hadn't known each other for very long but they had all quickly become good friends.

They broke apart from their mini celebration to go back to mentally preparing themselves for their upcoming races. Those who had finished encouraged other others as they stretched and kept themselves warm. Yang worked on her upper muscles first, then slowly worked down her body for the remaining time until her final race.

Yang was sure only ten minutes had passed when she was called to start getting ready for the eight hundred meter freestyle. She couldn't believe how quick the last hour had gone. A few ladies who she would be racing against started to walk past her towards the entrance and as she started to follow, she realised she still had her gold medal dangling from her neck.

"Hey Jet, can you hold onto this for me?" She asked, lifting it off her and handing it over.

"Course I can! Go out there and give it a twin," said Jet, grinning as he accepted the medal.

Grinning to herself, Yang hurried up to join the rest of the competitors. They quickly lined up in the order of which lane they would be swimming in and waited to be called out one by one by the announcer. She waited for a couple of minutes, her nerves building again, and finally heard her name being called out.

Stepping out into the massive arena once more, Yang couldn't stop the grin spreading from cheek to cheek at the roar of cheers from the crowd. As she made her way over to the pool she spotted her family in the same place and chuckled as they waved erratically at her. She came to a stop at her lane and Yang began to undress out of her tracksuit to put beside her towel. She did a few final stretches and began to focus on what she needed to do. She had come here for two gold medals and that's what she was going to get.

Silence was called upon and the thousands of people instantly quietened down. The eight swimmers got into their starting positions and waited for the buzzer. Yang stared at the ripples in the pool, her breathing steady and relaxed as everyone vanished around her leaving only her and the water.

The buzzer went off and with an almighty push Yang dived into the pool.

She paced herself to begin with, not wanting to exert all her energy in the first few lengths when there was eight in total she had to complete. It was around the fifth length in when she started to kick her legs with more power and use her arm to push herself further along. The water filled her ears but she could still hear the excitement from the spectators, along with whistles and horns blaring. Yang counted in her head how many laps she had done, and how many strokes she needed to do each length with a front crawl, and when she tuck rolled into the final lap, she gave it everything she had.

When her hand touched the wall, she quickly got into an upright position to tread water and removed her goggles, to see she had clearly won. The other seven swimmers were still halfway down the pool and her eyes started to sting but it wasn't from the chlorine. She lifted herself out the water and sat at the edge with her eyes trained on the scoreboard once more, ready to see her name appear next to number one.

It soon materialised on the screen but her eyes widened further when she saw the 'WR' next to her time. She lay down on her back, her hand covering her eyes as she let out a choked sob from the overwhelming happiness that enveloped her. Her childhood dream had come true after years of doubt.

Slowly sitting up, Yang grabbed her towel and wiped her face to clear away the water and tears before removing her swimming cap and goggles. As she stood up and wrapped her towel around herself her hair fell down into its ponytail. Some of the other swimmers came over to congratulate her, but they were swiftly followed by two organisers who tried to herd them all out of the way for the next race. Yang quickly picked up her tracksuit and was led over to the podium - where the men's S8 eight hundred meter freestyle medals were being awarded - with the second and third place ladies from Vale close behind her.

When Yang had finished drying herself off and put her tracksuit back on, Jet came running up to her, her previous gold medal in one hand and a suddenly and mysteriously acquired flag of Patch in the other.

"You should have heard your family screaming your name when you took the lead, oh my god! I think they made up half the noise of this place," he laughed. He handed over her previous medal which she slipped into her jacket pocket, and he then tied the flag around her shoulders like a cape.

Yang laughed too. "I wouldn't be surprised. I can't wait to get over there."

"They're going to be so proud of you, just like all of Patch is," smiled Jet.

"Thanks, buddy," said Yang, appreciatively.

Jet headed off to help mentally prepare Jack for his upcoming race, and Yang and the two ladies next to her were called up onto the podium. Yang took her place on the top tier once more, her smile contagious as she stared out over the crowd of elated fans and her adoring family. The same distinguished gentleman handed out the medals to the three of them, and Yang gave him her thanks after he had placed the medal over her head. The song for Patch played out once more and Yang sang along with it as cameramen and photographers buzzed about in front of them, to get a good angle for their picture or live stream.

As the final notes played out, Yang pulled out her first gold medal from her pocket and placed it around her neck and allowed a couple more pictures to be taken before she stepped down off the podium.

Instead of heading into the locker rooms however, Yang completely walked past it and made towards her target. She hurdled over the security barrier and jogged towards the stairs, where she stepped up them two steps at a time, and walked along the front row. A few people reached out to her and she gave some brief high fives and handshakes, but she was intent on getting to her goal.

She reached her dad first who swallowed her up in a gigantic hug and he ruffled her hair, Ghira clapped her on the shoulder and Kali brought her in for a much more gentler hug, before finally Yang reached her wife and daughter.

Admiration and love shone in Blake's eyes like the light of a thousand suns and Yang was quick to wrap her up in her arms and bury her face in Blake's dark tresses. Blake wrapped her own arms around Yang too and held her close, murmuring words of devotion quietly into Yang's ear. After a minute or so Yang pulled back and glanced down at Kit, who was standing beside them both with a giant beaming smile.

Removing her hands from around Blake, Yang lifted up one of her gold medals and placed it over Kit's head, before doing the same with her second medal and putting it on Blake.

"Y-Yang, what are you doing?" Blake asked, stunned.

Yang smiled lopsidedly, "You both deserve these. You conquered your fears and you both learned how to swim. I won these for you two because if it wasn't for the pair of you, I wouldn't be here now. I love you both, so much."

Kit wrapped her arms around Yang's middle and hugged her tightly, "Love you too, Mum."

Grinning, Yang put a hand on Kit's head and glanced at Blake who was smiling at her with tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to Yang's lips, who happily returned it as her free hand came to rest upon Blake's extended stomach.

"I love you too," Blake said once they parted from their kiss, and she gently rested her forehead against Yang's.

The End.

Fun fact: The question Blake was going to ask Yang before being interrupted by Kit (and Sebastian) was if she had ever considered applying for the Paralympics. :D Looks like she later did. :P Also if people get put off or confused with 'how're Yang and Blake having a baby when they're both women' (because some people might not like the dust can make babies theory which isn't used in this fic) then let me answer now - a different kind of swimming donation. ;) And Ruby and Weiss adopted! :D

Well, I hope you all enjoyed it, and don't forget to leave a review!

Here's to a Happy New Year to you all too!

Reeves3.