RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 4, Home

"'Home's a nice little one.'" The note read. "'It's a...general themes one. One specific theme, actually. Played at the end of the volume and everything. You'll figure it out. ...Alright that's all I've got, bye.'"

That...wasn't really much, so Ruby just hit play.

[Song Start]

[*Calm Buildup*]

"Hm. Relaxing." Ren noted.

"Well, after last time I guess it needed to slow down a bit." Jaune proposed.

"I'm still not over it." Nora admitted. "I'm not your pet..." she muttered off to the side.

"So, what do you think the "theme" is?" Pyrrha changed the subject.

"If taken literally...I don't see how "nice" it would be for me." Weiss admitted. "Home has never been...safe. At least, not for a while."

"Well, "home" can mean a lot of things." Ozpin stated.

"Not necessarily a place, but..." Blake agreed.

"So, given that, what do you THINK it means?" Glynda asked.

"I...think I might have an idea." Yang replied. "But idunno if I'm looking at it right, so..."

"...Let's just watch. Listen." Ruby finished. Indeed, they let the rest play out.

[Hush your cries
Close your eyes]

"Heh, guess we kinda needed that after the intro & Uncle Qrow's song or the start of the last one." Ruby admitted.

"Yes, well..." Weiss trailed off, "...I'd say the middle & how it ended made up for that."

[Stay with me]

"Yes, I get the point." Blake deadpanned. "I...really should have before, though."

"...yeah, don't beat yourself up over it too much, okay?" Yang requested. She was still kinda mad, but...

[Let's just dream
Quietly]

"I suppose it's my turn, then?" Pyrrha joking asked. Hey, she was getting the hang of this. "Though perhaps I should have been louder..."

"I mean, you WERE pretty loud anyways." Jaune admitted before mentally slapping himself again.

[Of what might be]

"Well, I mean, you're gonna SHOW us what's gonna happen. Kinda. So..." Nora trailed off.

"Still, in general such things are...unpredictable, outside of vast generalizations." Ren added.

[*Brief Interlude*]

"I think I know exactly what the theme is." Glynda whispered. "And they seem to be getting close fto figuring it out already.

"Yes, it-" Before Ozpin could finish, the lyrics cut him off.

[Calm your fear
I'll be near]

"Well, not if the intro's right." Weiss deadpanned.

"Well, maybe not physically, but..." Ruby couldn't think of a way to finish that. Big important speeches about generalized stuff, THAT she could handle, but THIS? Argh, this was frustrating.

[To you I'll cling]

"Yeah that's a nice sentiment, but..." Blake immediately turned to look at Yang, hoping that she understood what she was saying

"Can be creepy in different circumstances, yes, we've been over this." And Yang did. She even smirked a little. Okay, they were...okay.

[Rest my friend
Time can mend]

"Well, as Die said, it won't always, but-" Pyrrha began.

"-If you let it, then yeah." Jaune finished. He hoped he could get there.

[Many things]

"Well that's specific." Nora sarcastically noted.

"If it IS for the general themes, then I think it's appropriate." Ren countered. "And it's not wrong."

[I don't know the answers
Tomorrow's still unknown]

"And much of it still will be." Ozpin pointed out. "Even with this. ESPECIALLY once we're done, come to think of it."

"Yeah, but I still think we got this." Ruby replied.

[But I can make this promise
You won't be alone]

"Unless I just run off like an idiot..." Blake muttered.

"It...may be difficult, but I know you. You'd find your way back, even without this, even without the show saying so." Weiss promised.

"...Sometimes you just have to have faith." Yang granted.

[I don't know
Where we should go]

"Tell me about it, I mean you're all scattered everywhere." Nora noted.

"Not the time, Ms. Valkyrie." Glynda instinctively scolded.

"Eh, they seem to be okay with it." Nora retorted. Indeed, Blake was snickering a little despite herself.

[Just feeling farther
From our goal]

"But yeah it's..." Jaune began, trying to think of the words, "...yeah, to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing. It's..."

"...we'll figure it out together." Pyrrha assured him. ...Actually, come to think of it, was that the...?

[I don't know what
Path we will be shown]

"And yes, we can SAY that we WILL be shown, but truthfully, we still don't know what will happen from here." Ren pointed out.

"Indeed not..." Ozpin agreed.

[But I know that when
I'm with you I'm at home]

"...THAT'S what what the theme is." Weiss deduced.

"What, that friends are like home?" Nora got the ball rolling. She already agreed, but...

"...I think, cheesy as it sounds, it's more like...family." Weiss elaborated. "Given the last song, I think..."

"I mean, your family's not great, right?" Jaune pointed out.

"I don't think he needs to count." Blake continued, seeing Weiss's logic...& pulling on her experiences with the trope in books. "He doesn't have the right to call himself family, so why should he count?" Nora was nodding along. "And in contrast-"

"-You also don't need to actually be, y'know, related like that to count as family." Ruby agreed. "That's just dumb." Qrow WAS her Uncle. Yes, they were similar, but he inspired her, taught her. What, were they going to say that-what was her name...?-The Grimm Reaper was her grandma, then?

[Yes, I know that when
I'm with you I'm at home]

"Family is what you make of it, yes." Ozpin added.

"Yes. "Cheesy" or not, it's certainly accurate & aplicable." Ren continued. "Nora and I have been family for years, even before all this. Even if we didn't quite have the specifics figured out. We still don't."

"Yeah, I guess sometimes it's hard to really define it." Yang added. "Mostly cause you don't even KNOW the person. But other times..." She looked over to her sister. What does being "half" matter? Like, at all?

"I know it's rather soon to presume such things, given that we haven't even finished our first year," Pyrrha began, "but with that in mind, I feel as though that applies even to us, not to them. Not just friends. But family. Again, I don't wish to presume..." But the others shook their heads, Ren & Nora especially. No, this was fine...even if some were still struggling with the idea.

"As an outside observer...I'd say so." Glynda granted. "That is how it's MEANT to work, after all." Didn't always, of course. Some Teams, especially in Atlas, either fell apart after the school or avoided getting close at all.

Still, THESE ones went well and beyond. It was a bit difficult for some to see it that way, but all of them already had started to, at least on a subconscious level. On Remnant Prime, that likely would likely become more pronounced...but there's only one way to know.

[*Calm Interlude*]

"Yes, I...suppose that IS a way to describe it." Weiss reiterated. "And here I thought the last song would be the only one to get me thinking..."

"The found family trope is a thing for a reason." Blake lampshaded. "And if anyone here NEEDS it...I'd say it's us."

"...I don't think I'd mind that." Weiss finished.

"Also you have us. Just a reminder." Ruby added.

"...Yeah, we're here. Always." Yang reiterated, looking at Blake, who, after a moment, nodded back. Okay. Right.

"My dad would REALLY say this is chessy, but...yeah, it fits. Maybe not for all of us right now, but..." he looked over to his Team

"I'm glad." Pyrrha smiled.

"Eh, whatever we call ourselves, if it works it works." Nora declared. "I don't care HOW cheesy it is, I'm sticking with it."

"Frankly, I don't believe that's automatically a bad thing in any case." Ren concluded.

"They seem to be taking this well." Glynda noted to her employer. In her mind, they weren't at the point where people usually admitted to that, but lo and behold, here they were.

"Perhaps." Ozpin couldn't help but utter that. He'd seen so many times these sorts of this, genetic relation or not, fall apart. He couldn't help but be a little cynical about it.

Still, it was gonna take a bit of adjustment to think in those terms, but they were all for it now that they were thinking about it. The rest of the interlude played out in silence...save for Ruby humming along in a few places. Still, once it was done...

[There's a quiet place
In my embrace]

"I'd forgotten that." Blake admitted. "It was never "quiet" after a while, at least not internally." Ruby responded by-quietly-grabbing her into yet another hug. Lot of that going around these days.

[A haven of safety where...]

"Hah, Haven." Nora laughed to herself. Then she thought of something. "...So do you think we're heading over there? Team JNRR?"

"...I mean, Team RNJR would probably have to meet up with Professor Lionheart, right?" Ruby reasoned. "Just to...y'know, plan."

Yes, they WOULD, wouldn't they? Ozpin knew rhat to be true...& he remembered his doubts from yesterday. Leo should have KNOWN. It was likely nothing, but...

[I'll dry your tears
Shelter here]

"Yeah. Screw Jacques, or Adam, or whoever, we're here." Yang affirmed to her Team.

"Still, it takes time to heal. Remember that, Ms. Xiao Long." Glynda could see where that train of thought may have been going.

"Yeah, I'm...getting there." Her right arm still felt physically a bit weird when she thought my about it, though. What WAS that?

[In my care]

"I mean, we're not really the BEST at this stuff, are we?" Jaune pointed to himself.

"Do try to give yourself more credit." Ren told his leader. What was it with the blondes & feeling inadequate right now in the moment. ...& why was he confident that that's what it was?

[But even when we stumble
And someday when we fall]

"Yes, we remember I May Fall, thank you." Pyrrha actually managed a sarcasm. Nora gave her a fist bump in excitement.

"...was not expecting that from you." Weiss admitted. "Still, reoccurring motifs, we've been over this."

"Indeed" Ozpin finished. There was still part of him that wanted to say more, but most of him still didn't dare to truly hope. Still...maybe, just maybe...

[What I will remember
That I had you
Through it all]

"I...wish I could promise that." Weiss muttered.

"And even though I'm staying, the things he can do..." Blake agreed.

"...It's like Ruby said, it's not always...physical, I guess." Yang reassured them.

"But you DO have us. And we have you. And...I'm really happy that we do." Ruby concluded. She always seemed to find a way to cheer them up, _WBY noted again. And she was right, so they just nodded along. (...How long would that last?)

[I don't know
Where we should go]

It was true, they didn't...but they could admit that. Could still sing along.

[Just feeling farther
From our goal]

And yeah, they had the benefit of being closer than their original selves as far as they could tell-sorta-but they all understood where it was coming from. The good and the bad.

[I don't know what
Path we will be shown]

Nora might have been tempted to say that they WOULD technically, but they didn't yet. That would take time. This entire day, from their perspectives, & that's not counting the AMVs.

[But I know that when
I'm with you I'm at home]

And yeah. Singing this part out loud helped to empathize it. This wasn't the most energetic song & probably wouldn't be the most memorable for some...but it worked.

[Yes, I know that when
I'm with you I'm at home]

Weiss & Blake had to admit...it did. Being with Ruby & Yang, & even the others, it felt like something they hadn't felt in a LONG time, or never truly did. They cuddled up to their partners...though as Nora could see, only Blake & Yang were blushing lightly at that. Was this...?

[*More Interlude*]

And with that, the song was winding down. Still stuff to hum along to, but nonetheless.

"Alright, so, I think we-" Nora was cut off when she finally decided to end the silence.

[Yes, I know that when
I'm with you I'm at home]

"...okay, one more." Nora finished.

"Emphasis is important." Ren agreed.

"Anyways, that was...nice." Weiss granted.

"Calm." Blake added.

"Maybe a LITTLE cheesy by...well, by someone else's standards, but..." Jaune trailed off.

"...Who cares?" Pyrrha finished. The partners shared a smirk...& then blushed. How very predictable, Nora giggled to herself.

"It was appropriate enough." Glynda granted.

"...And yeah, we'll get there, eventually." Yang looked at her partner. Okay, they seemed to finally being calming down about that.

"Nothing is instantaneous, but I'm...glad that you've been able to find these things here." Ozpin stated.

"Thanks!" Ruby exclaimed before turning back to her Scroll. "And up next we haaaave...Armed & Ready. Huh, sounds more intense."