The girls had said it was obvious. And maybe it was obvious now—looking at him, and remembering every touch, every smile. The way he looked at her made so much more sense now, and it filled her middle with fluttering butterflies. Never once—not since she was a little girl—had she imagined that Qrow Branwen would make her feel this way. It was time to be honest with him—and be honest with herself.

"Qrow…" she whispered, her hands shaking. She raised one towards his chest, her heart was hammering in her ears. She could hardly hear anything else. "I… I have feelings for you!" She gasped, "I… think." Qrow blinked, and then he threw his head back and laughed. She felt her face grow hot. "Hey!" She snapped. "It's not funny!" She crossed her arms.

"You think?" He asked, still trying to stifle his laugh.

"I'm being honest with you and you're just—!"

"Okay, Ice Queen," Qrow took in a breath, leaning close, a smirk on his lips, "Tell me why you think you have feelings for me."

The question caught her by surprise. Her heart was practically in her throat. She could hardly breathe. "I…" That smirk… it made her knees weak. She felt a hot blush rising to her cheeks again. "I think I always have. All the times you've cheered me up. The times you've danced with me." She pressed a finger to his lips, making him blink. "That smile. All the time you've been here for me, Qrow, and I never… I was too stupid to realize. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Qrow shook his head. "I was too afraid to ruin what we had. And you seemed happy chasing after Tai. I wanted nothing more than for you to be happy."

Winter smiled, shaking her head, "I was just a crazy teenager. Tai was never there for me when my father forgot to send a birthday card. He was never there when I fell and scraped my knees when we were young. He was never there for me to dry my tears. You were, Qrow. And last night… Last night was the first time I realized that, I think. Last night I wanted more than anything to…" Her eyes moved to his lips. No more hesitating. She grabbed his collar, hesitating, "I wanted to…" then she leaned forward, pressing a kiss against his lips, pulling away only half a second later.

Qrow was stunned, her cheeks flushed, his eyes tracing over her features as if he were trying to determine if this was reality or a dream.

"J-just… just to see what it felt like," Winter whispered.

"And…?"

There was a moment of silence, before, tightening her grip on his collar she pulled him in for another kiss. It was sweeter than the first, but more desperate. His hand found her waist pulling her closer, she tangled her fingers in his hair. They were breathless when they pulled away, Qrow resting his forehead against hers. He let out a breathy laugh.

"I never… I could never let myself believe this day would come," he murmured.

"I'm sorry," she said, her heart still pounding against her ribs. "I'm sorry I was always so blind. You were right there in front of me the whole time…."

"Don't be," Qrow frowned, "I always just figured with my luck—" Winter pressed a finger to his lips.

"Forget about luck, forget about fate," she smiled. "Let's make our own destinies."

"So what do we do now?"

"Make up for lost time." She pulled him in to kiss him once more.

"Hey, c'mon, kids. Let's get up. First day of school." Qrow leaned over the bunk bed with a groan.

"I don't want to go to school!" Azura screamed right into his ear from where she was perched on his back for a piggy-back ride.

"Az—"

"You don't have to!" Argent snapped from where he was pulling himself out of bed, clearly irked. "You're just a baby! Babies don't go to school."

"Daddy!" Azura wailed, "Ari's being mean."

"Argent," Qrow groaned, "Your sister's only three, can you please be a little considerate?" He reached up to the top bunk, "Roux." He gently shook the little ball under the blankets. "Roux, come on—"

Roux let out a wail, "I don't WANNA!"

"Come on, guys, you should be excited—" Azura slipped, arms suddenly tightening around Qrow's neck and he choked. "O…kay, no more." He reached back, grabbing his daughter and pulled her away from his shoulders, setting her down on solid ground.

"Daddy, no!" She shrieked.

"Shut up, Azura!" Argent snapped, pulling on his shoes. Qrow's youngest burst into tears.

"Ari." Winter! Thank gods! His wife was leaning in against the doorframe of the little bedroom, her hair tied up, her expression calm… only mildly concerned. "Apologize to your sister, please. I know first days can be stressful, but please, dear, that's no reason to be cruel to one another."

Ari let out an exaggerated sigh, "Sorry, Azura."

Winter leaned over and gently wiped away Azura's tears. "Come on, darling, lets let daddy get Roux out of bed. I'm making a special first-day breakfast! Do you want to come help?"

Winter led Azura out to the kitchen with Ari following closely behind. "Roux," Qrow frowned, reaching out to gently pull the blankets down so he could see his daughter's face. She was beautiful, with Winter's features, Qrow's eyes. Her hair was dark brown, a little lighter than Qrow's. She stared up at him, waiting to see what he would say, or do. But he just smiled. "Hey, you need to get out of bed, kiddo."

"Can't I stay home one more day?"

"You know if you miss today you'll miss all the fun class stuff, like getting to know your teacher and your classmates. I'm sure they'll play games. That'll be fun."

"Not as fun as staying home," She scoffed. Qrow bit his lip to hide a laugh.

"What could I pay you to get out of bed and get dressed?"

"Pay?"

"Yeah, like a toll. What can I give you in return?"

Her scarlet eyes lit up, "Can you tell me a story?"

"A story, huh? Like one of my huntsmen stories?"

"No, daddy, like a romantic story."

Qrow narrowed his eyes, "Aren't you a little young to be thinking about romance?"

"No, I'm six," she said, "I'm old enough, of course."

"Of course," Qrow nodded. "Well, then… how about I tell you about the story of how your mama and I ended up getting married."

"That does sound romantic," She said thoughtfully, "Okay, I'll get dressed." Thank gods. Qrow stepped aside as his daughter climbed down the ladder of her bunkbed and moved over to her dresser. It's going to be like this for a while isn't it? He stepped out of the kids' room. In the kitchen Ari was frantically stuffing his backpack with the school supplies he should have put in there a week ago. Winter was showing Azura how to flip pancakes. She turned to see Qrow standing in the hall, and she smiled. It was the same smile he fell in love with years and years ago.

If this is fate, he thought, thank you.