RWBY: The Bumblebee in the Rosegarden

Ch 29: For the Future

Oscar's POV:

After Blake left, I headed to the balcony and stared out in the distance, watching her get in an airship headed back to Vale. As I stared, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey Osckie," teased Ruby, "whatcha doing out here?"

"Oh, just...thinking about stuff," I said.

"What kind of stuff," said a voice.

It was Nora; she had come in with Ruby and a few of the others too.

"Just about my future plans," I continued, "I need to train harder now, and I want to make sure I'm better than I was before."

"Oh, cool."

Then it got awkwardly quiet.

"So," said Ruby trying to break the silence, "you were pretty angry back there."

"Yea, I was," I said.

"I didn't realize you had been through something terrifying and horrific. I feel bad for laughing at you earlier."

"Yea, so do I," said Nora, and the others agreed.

"Thanks," I said, "honestly, I'd laugh too if it happened to someone else. But, I mean, a giant chicken bullying a child is either a nightmare or a bad joke."

We all chuckled.

"You know Oscar, I gotta ask," said Jaune, "is that why you ate so much chicken during Batman-i mean Ruby's party?"

"I believed that if I ate chicken, I'd have the strength to beat Scratchclaw himself. No mercy for the birds."

Everyone started snickering again, and eventually, so did I, until we all started laughing.

"Thanks," I said, "I needed that. I didn't mean to yell at Harriet during the meeting; I was just upset."

"Yea, we know," said Yang, "you were just feeling pressured and scared. I know what that's like, to worry that your past might hurt the people you care about."

"So Scratchclaw was your bully," said Nora, "he attacked you and your aunt to a point where you developed a fear of him? What'd you do after he ran away?"

"Well," I said, trying to remember, "my aunt and I stayed at her friend's house while our home was rebuilt. And I remember my first meal after that ordeal was her homemade cinnamon rolls. I like to close my eyes and imagine I'm still eating them. At times I feel like I can still taste them."

"Is that why you had so many of them in the house," asked Velvet.

"Yes. When I saw the signs of Scratchclaw returning, I needed a way to stay calm and not let my stress take over me."

"And we forced you to make all of them," said Nora shakily.

"Yea, but don't worry about it. I can always buy more, so-"

I felt arms wrap around me tightly, and Nora put her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I didn't realize how much it meant to you, and I was selfish. I shouldn't have made you make all of them when something this tragic was at our doorstep!"

Velvet and Coco hugged me, too, with tears in their eyes. I accepted their hugs with tears coming out of my eyes too.

"It's alright, guys," I said, "my aunt taught me how to make those; she'd be happy to know so many people got to enjoy them, and it made me happy to know you all liked my cooking."