Two Years Later

Yang Xiao Long had to admit, despite everything she'd ever been through, she really did like driving. At least, she really liked driving Bumblebee. Her trusty motorcycle didn't give her the same occasional fears that resurfaced when she was in a car, even if, logically, it was far more dangerous to ride Bumblebee. Yet, unless she needed to bring more than one person, or items too large for her backpack, somewhere, she still drove Bumblebee everywhere, including to and from work.

Most people would have hated Yang's commute. Even though she left work at Valkyrie's Auto Repair at four in the afternoon on most days, she usually didn't make it home until after five. A straight drive through half the city of Vale, during the busiest time of the day, would have made most people crazy, insist on moving closer to their workplace or finding a new job, but Yang wasn't exactly most people. She didn't mind it one bit.

The shop was in the Downtown District, just a few streets over from the diner that she'd worked at for several years. As soon as she'd gotten her acceptance back into trade school, she had quit, much to her relief. Several years of waitressing had filled her with a very deep respect for any wait staff, ever, and had cemented her desire to never work in food service ever again.

The commute home brought her out of the Downtown District and into the Faunus District. It was the fastest route home, straight down Menagerie Avenue through to the Residential District. Sometimes, she took a detour into the University District if she wanted to drive for a bit longer, past her old apartment and the surrounding neighborhood. It was a good reminder of how far she'd come in the last two years.

Plus, it didn't help that seeing the CONDEMNED sign in the window of University Pizza that popped up about six months back always brought a big smile to her face. The lawsuits started popping up in the paper not long after that. Checks withheld, illegal business practices, and a massive fraud scheme.

Sometimes, justice was sweet. Other times, it was greasy, and way too cheap to be anything of any quality.

Yang didn't feel as out of place when she drove through the Faunus District as she did two years ago. Sure, her bike was still newer and flashier than most of the cars, and her bright yellow arm still gained her looks, but they weren't glares anymore, just the usual looks of curiosity and double takes she'd get anywhere else in the city. She'd receive waves and nods from some of the locals of the Faunus District. She'd been shopping there many times with Blake, and she'd made a positive reputation for herself in the area among the business owners and some of the regulars.

Well, that, and Ghira would point her out to anyone near him as his future daughter-in-law, much to Blake's protests, and Yang's amusement. They weren't engaged yet, but there was a pretty big yet on that one. Both families just knew it was only a matter of time.

And, if Yang were asked in private, a matter of finding the right ring.

It usually took Yang the majority of her commute to get through the Faunus District. The drive down Menagerie Avenue was fairly long, filled with traffic, and filled with plenty of stoplights. When she finally broke through to the Residential District, marked by houses with progressively bigger yards and far fewer storefronts, she finally made the first turn since she had begun her commute home.

The street had become home to Yang and her family. It was a quaint neighborhood, filled with rental homes that changed tenants regularly. It was cheaper than most places in the Residential District, since it was so close to the Faunus District. The cheap prices and rotating tenants led to an interesting cast of neighbors, but Yang couldn't exactly claim that her family was the most typical either.

Between her uncle, a retired secret agent turned boarding school foreign language teacher, Ruby, the genius engineering student who was working to build her own Vale-based prosthetic company with the help of Penny and Penny's best college friend, the former heiress to Schnee Corp., Weiss Schnee, and Yang herself, a mechanic with a bright yellow robot arm and a loud, equally bright yellow motorcycle, they certainly hadn't been the most typical family in the neighborhood.

Of course, things had changed dramatically within their own family, even since they first came to the neighborhood two years ago.

Yang smiled at the blue house on the left side of the road. All the lights were off inside, and no cars were in the driveway. Ruby would only be getting out of work now, and Qrow usually stayed at the school until five or six most days, so he was rarely ever home before Ruby. She continued on down the road, past the place she had called home for a year and a half, before stopping at the smaller, yellow house just four houses down.

It was quaint, a cute little cottage-like house nestled between two average-sized houses. She pulled into the driveway, parking her bike. A small, black car was already in the driveway, bringing a smile to Yang's face.

She slipped off the bike, tugging her helmet off in one pull, a move she had mastered over the years. She shook out her hair, fluffing it up in the mirror on the handlebars to combat the helmet hair that always seemed to be ever so slightly present in her usual mane. Content with her work, she slipped her helmet under her arm and headed towards the front door of the house.

"I'm home," Yang called into the house after opening the door, hanging up her helmet and her jacket up in the closet. Two black cats came trotting up to the door, meowing excitedly. Yang crouched down on the ground, greeting them both with soft head scratches. "Hello Gambol, hello Shroud. Where's Mom?"

"In here!" Blake called from around the corner.

She turned the corner into the living room, finding her gorgeous girlfriend curled up on the couch with a laptop in her lap. Blake was staring up at her, a smile on her face at the sight of Yang.

"How was work?" Blake asked as Yang dipped down for a brief kiss.

"Good," Yang finally answered when she pulled away. "Nora's looking into new places to expand to. She likes the idea of changing it to VXL Auto Repair too."

"That's amazing!" Blake replied with a smile, pulling Yang back in for another kiss. "I'm so proud of you. You've earned it."

"Thank you," Yang replied, coming around the corner of the couch and taking a spot next to Blake. "How was your day?" she asked while Blake shut her laptop, placed it on the coffee table, and leaned into Yang's side.

"Good! I'm almost done with my latest chapter. I've only got four or five left before I've officially finished the first draft of my first novel."

"That's incredible! You're incredible!" Yang leaned down, planting a kiss between Blake's cat ears. "Can I read it later?"

Blake nodded, blushing. "Later though. I wanna cuddle right now."

"Even though I smell like grease?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow.

Blake rolled her eyes, snuggling in closer. "Oh, you know I don't care if you smell like grease or not. I just want cuddles."

"Well, I can certainly provide those." Yang pulled Blake in closer, running her metal hand up and down Blake's back. "How about work at the rescue? How was that?"

"Really good! We got a new cat in today, this really sweet orange kitty that literally just strolled up to the door and meowed until we let her in. We already started putting up Found Cat posters and reached out to vets and other shelters with her description, but no one's reported her missing or put up any Lost Cat posters. She's too well fed to be a stray, but we think she was abandoned."

"Poor thing," Yang replied, continuing to idly trace up and down Blake's back. It was still an odd sensation sometimes, being able to feel the temperature with her right hand, despite Penny's chip being installed nearly two years ago. The readings only worked sometimes- she'd need a full new arm with new hardware in order to get it all the time, but she was always pleasantly surprised when she could feel the warmth of Blake under her fingertips.

Blake nodded, looking up at Yang. "If no one claims her in two weeks, we'll put her up for foster availability. You'd get along with her well. She's got your fiery personality. You should come and meet her sometime."

Yang looked down, seeing the twinkle in Blake's eyes, and smiled. "You better be careful, or you'll become not only a cat faunus, but a cat lesbian too."

Blake rolled her eyes, nestling back into Yang's chest. "As if I wasn't already."

Yang let out a long laugh, causing Blake's entire body to shake on top of her. "Yeah, you got me there. Sure, I can go meet her sometime soon. Maybe a new sibling for Gambol and Shroud."

Blake looked back up, a huge smile on her face. "Yay!" She paused for a moment, before speaking again. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. My mom invited us to a family dinner this weekend, with Qrow and Ruby too. I already texted them about it, they'll be there."

"Which night?"

"Saturday."

Yang nodded. "Sounds good. At your parents' place?"

"Yep. I don't think Qrow's ready to try and host again yet."

Yang let out another laugh at the memory. "He would have been fine if he'd gone with something a bit simpler."

"My mom tried to teach him," Blake replied with a laugh.

"She can try all she wants, but after two years of lessons, I really don't think he's going to get any better."

"Yeah, well, he had to actually start trying again after you moved out and Ruby got busy with her work, so he didn't really get two years of experience in."

"I suppose you're right. He was able to get away with me being the main cook for a year and a half."

"I sure am glad you paid attention during her lessons," Blake said with a smirk. "I don't know if I could handle your cooking if she hadn't helped you out."

Yang smiled. "Yeah, well, I had to learn how to make all your favorite dishes. Kali made sure of it. She wasn't exactly subtle about it either."

Blake burst out laughing. "I don't think my mother has been subtle a single day in her life."

"Yeah, that sounds like Kali," Yang replied with a small laugh of her own. She paused for a moment, looking down at the girl in her arms.

How did I get so lucky?

Blake looked up, catching Yang staring. "Whatcha thinking about?" she asked, twirling the end of Yang's hair in her finger, a small smile on her lips.

"You know," Yang began, smiling down at Blake, "when I showed up at the rescue two years ago, I planned on going in and getting a cat. I didn't know I'd get such a good deal."

"What deal was that, exactly?"

"Two for one."