Wednesday, the 5th of August, 79AGW.

Midori's Bar, Mistral.

"Not a chance, Lima," Midori smiled.

"I'm seventeen," Lima pouted, "If I'm old enough to go out and fight to the death against monsters, I should be allowed to drink something."

"Nope," Midori said, shaking her hair about, "I've heard it all before from the boys up at Haven; you're not saying anything new, trust me."

Lima sagged against the bartop, wondering at the unfairness of it all. It wasn't like he'd never gotten drunk before; he'd raided his fair share of Sage's personal stash over the years. He almost always got caught afterwards, but still. Lima groaned out loud, the noise a tortured expression of just how sad her decision made him.

"Oh my god, Lima, everyone is looking at you now," Midori said, flapping her hand at him. "I'm sorry, he's my little brother. Please ignore him."

"I'm so sad," Lima whined, "Can't you hear how sad I am?"

"It's not going to happen," Midori said, giggling. "I'll tell you what, next year when you come to visit us, and when you're actually allowed to drink, I'll take you out to all the best spots in Mistral."

"But Midori, your bar is the best spot," Lima said, trying hard to keep the one-sided debate alive. "A year is an entire lifetime away; I'll be an entirely different person then—I might even have a beard."

"You haven't even got a scrap of stubble yet," Midori said without mercy. "It's going to be at least three or four years before you'll need to start shaving."

"That's totally not true," Lima said, pained. "You'll see, I'm going to have the best-looking beard in all of Mistral—Midori, you're laughing at me—"

Some of the nearby Huntsman was laughing at him too now, and Lima spun around on his stool to give them the stink eye. One of them gave him a kind of half-shrug that seemed to throw more doubt on his ambitions than he thought was warranted.

"I'm sorry, Lima," Midori said, still giggling. "I'm sure you'll have a lovely beard."

"Whatever," Lima pouted, "What's this about boys from Haven? They better not be trying to chat you up."

"A few of them have definitely tried," Midori admitted, "I just tell them to come back in a few years—that's usually enough to shut them down."

"What?" Lima said, alarmed. "You're giving them hope, and that's the last thing those nasty little degenerates need—you need to make it absolutely clear."

"Oh really?" Midori giggled. "How do I go about doing that?"

"I'll buy you a gun," Lima decided. "That should be enough to get the message across."

#

Saturday, the 8th of August, 79AGW.

Haven Academy, Mistral.

Haven was large, spacious, and beyond all else, beautiful. The buildings were tall, and the ceilings were so high that Lima was starting to think they should just get rid of them entirely. There was a forest up on top of the mountain, although it was nothing like the ones surrounding Beacon. Just a thick strip of trees, long since cleared of any and all Grimm, if they'd ever managed to climb all the way up here, to begin with.

Right in the centre of the Academy was a large quad, framed on two sides by the twin CCTS towers that were his first stop for the day. The Grand Hall stretched across the mountaintops, a massive building that dominated the area entirely, casting a shadow on the rest of the campus.

"I'm good to just run in and call my team?" Lima asked. "I'm not going to have to fight through the security or anything?"

"Nah, you've got my card; just show it to the receptionist and tell her who you are," Sage said, waving him off. "I already told them you'd be making some calls; I'll be in my office doing those forms I was telling you about—come find me once you're done."

"Will do," Lima said, nodding. "Thanks, Sage."

"You can thank me by working as my assistant-slash-slave for the day," Sage said, rubbing his hands together. "You've been lazying around since you got here—get ready for the pain."

"Bastard," Lima accused. "That wasn't part of the deal."

Sage tossed a wave over his shoulder, content to ignore his complaint as he strode off in the direction of the Grand Hall. Lima grunted in annoyance and then turned away, with his face scrunched up, heading in the direction of the closest CCTS tower.

A pair of girls crossed the Quad in front of him, eyeing him as they went. Considering they were still here during the break, they must have been the Noras, Rens, and Luxs of Haven. Lima scratched his chin at the uniform—grey-black, with a checked skirt that he could definitely appreciate. The attention he was getting from them wasn't really anything of note either; it was probably the fact that he was the only person their age who wasn't following the dress code.

Lima pushed the doors to the CCTS tower open and nodded approvingly at the conditioned air that passed over his skin. He aimed for the desk, Sage's card already in his hand, held between two fingers as he approached.

"Hi," Lima said, "My name's Lima Morta. I'm here to make a call to Vale?"

"You're Sage's son," The receptionist said pleasantly. "It's nice to meet you, Lima; please go ahead—the terminals over there are already configured for a Vale connection."

Lima smiled at her in thanks and set off towards the indicated area. He dropped down at one of the terminals and flipped through the menu until it asked for the caller ID. He typed it out, sent it off, then sat back, and then settled in to wait for the connection to resolve. He was a few minutes early before the time they'd agreed to, so he messed with his Scroll to pass the time. Three minutes later, the black screen flashed and revealed Teak, smiling at the screen.

"Teak, my poor sweet boy," Lima cried, "What have they been doing to you?"

"They haven't done anything to me, Lima," Teak laughed, "It's nice to hear your voice again—did your raid on Haven go well?"

"I infiltrated the building during the bright of the day because I wanted them to know who they were dealing with," Lima bragged, "They haven't even tried to repel me yet—cowards, the lot of them."

Teak shook his head at the story, clearly too used to his nonsense to believe a word of it.

"How have you been doing, man?" Lima said, leaning forward.

"I think I'm doing okay, now at least," Teak said, hesitating. "I felt awful the first few days; I guess I got used to everyone up here at Beacon—It's really nice to spend time with my mom again, though."

"Claire sent me a message about Lux using you as a shield," Lima said, waggling his eyebrows. "So the apprentice becomes the master, huh?"

"Stop moving your eyebrows around," Teak squeaked, "Lux was just nervous about meeting her, that's all. Mum really likes them both; she keeps asking to have them back for dinner."

"That's awesome," Lima said, smiling. "I was telling Midori about you guys the other day; she wants to meet you—we'll have to swing by Mistral when we graduate, yeah?"

"That sounds lovely; I can't wait to meet her," Teak said, pleased. "Mum wants to meet you too—when do you come back? Do you think there's time to meet her?"

"I'm leaving Mistral on the 24th of August, which means I should get back in Vale on the 31st?" Lima said, titling his head for a moment, "I think it's going to be pretty late when I get back, though—think your mum wants me to rock up at midnight?"

"Maybe not," Teak said, a bit disappointed. "Class starts the morning again after that, doesn't it?"

"Don't worry, we'll go down and see her on the first weekend after I'm back," Lima promised. "Sound good?"

"It does," Teak said, smiling again. "Claire said that you were on the same train as Jaune and Pyrrha? How were they doing?"

"Dude," Lima said, leaning forward again. "Jaune pulled the most ludicrous line out on Pyrrha—I almost fell in love with him, and it wasn't even directed at me."

"He did?" Teak said, eyes bright. "What did he say?"

#

"What all this about you hiding behind my boy?" Lima said, amused. "Don't tell me you got scared?"

Lux narrowed her eyes at the camera, clearly trying to set him on fire through the CCTS.

"I wasn't hiding," Lux said, breathing out of her nose. "I just didn't know what I was supposed to say—I've never been to a boy's house before, and his mum hugged me."

"That is adorable," Lima admitted, "I'm actually sad that I missed it."

"Shut up," Lux complained. "Whatever—you're at Haven? Have you fought anyone yet?"

"Nah," Lima admitted, "Most of the students are down running around in the city; the only ones up here at the ones who live in other countries and don't know anyone down there."

"That's lame," Lux frowned.

"It is what it is," Lima shrugged, "Sage keeps telling me there is one girl here he wants me to fight, though—she's hanging around up here somewhere, supposedly."

"Yeah?" Lux said, looking interested. "Why's he want you to fight her? Is she strong?"

"Knowing Sage, he either wants me to kick her ass, or he thinks she can kick mine," Lima said, scratching his chin. "I'm not sure which it is, honestly, but I'll probably find out at some point."

"You should have fought her before you called us, dumbass," Lux sighed, "I haven't fought anyone in weeks now—I went looking for Ren and Nora when we came back up here, but they've vanished."

"You ended up staying at Claire's house?" Lima guessed.

"Yeah," Lux admitted. "Tell me more about this chick who's going to kick your ass."

#

Lux stepped out of the frame, spinning the chair sideways so Claire could drop down into it—her hair looked different than he remembered. He wasn't sure exactly what had been done to it, but it was something—she'd also pulled it up into a thick ponytail at the back of her head, which he hadn't seen outside of training sessions.

"Lima?" Claire said, then hesitated.

Claire turned to check over her shoulder to make sure nobody was listening.

"Hey," Lima said, nodding his head at the camera. "I like your hair; it looks good."

"I—thank you," Claire said, derailed for a moment before rallying. "You didn't really cry, did you? I didn't abandon you in the cafeteria; you told us to leave."

Lima started laughing because he hadn't expected it and that she'd apparently been worrying about it.

"Don't laugh," Claire said, looking upset. "It's totally not funny."

"It's a little bit funny," Lima corrected, "Listen, I was joking about you guys abandoning me, and don't tell anyone, but I did kind of cry. I guess I'm a bit of a wuss after all."

"You're not," Claire said, shaking her head. "We all cried as well, even Lux."

"Now you're just making stuff up," Lima said, laughing. "You still getting along with your family? Or did Lux end up chasing them out of Vale?"

"Lux is a total suck-up with parents," Claire said, smiling. "I thought it was just Willow, but apparently, she gets skittish around everyone's parents."

"Willow is Teak's mum?" Lima said, blinking. "I think that's the first time I've heard her name—wait, didn't I call Teak that once?"

"That, along with every other type of wood in Remnant," Claire said before laughing. "Lima, my dad, challenged Lux to an arm wrestling contest—he was so sure he was going to win, and then she almost broke the table when she slammed his hand down."

"Geez," Lima said, startled. "Doesn't she know how to hold back at all?"

"Not even a little bit," Claire said, her ponytail waving around as she shook her head. "How are Sage and Midori?"

"They're both doing great," Lima admitted, "Midori's bar is looking even cooler than the last time I saw it. Sage is sitting in his office—somewhere in that direction—apparently, I'm supposed to go help him sort paperwork as payment for getting to call you guys."

"Ouch," Claire winced, "You spent weeks doing that back at Beacon—bad trade, huh?"

"Nah," Lima said, unbothered. "I got to talk to you so that more than makes up for it."

"Wow," Claire said, smirking. "Real smooth, Lima."

"I don't want to hear that from the girl who didn't even notice my hair," Lima said, pulling his hand up to study his fingernails. "Some teammate you are."

Claire blinked at the comment, looking a bit taken aback.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lima," Claire said before leaning forward to get a better look at the screen. "Wait—It looks exactly the same as it always does."

"So you did notice," Lima said, voice bright. "Claire, that's so sweet."

"You're such an idiot," Claire said, laughing.

"I sent you another message a couple of hours ago?" Lima said, glancing down at his Scroll. "Did you get it yet?"

"I was writing my response before you called," Claire admitted, picking at the hem of her shirt for a moment. "I guess I'll have to start over now—it's better now that you're near a CCTS tower, and I don't have to wait as long."

"I kind of liked the thought of you nervously checking your phone every couple of minutes," Lima said, folding his hands behind his head. "Did he message me? Not yet? How long do I have to wait?"

Claire looked a little bit flustered at the teasing.

"Is that what you think I sound like?" Claire said, trying to play it cool. "I think you're just—stop smirking at me."

"Claire," Lima said, "I'm glad I got to talk to you today."

"Idiot," Claire said, flushed. "I'm glad too."

#

Sage's office looked like it could have eaten one of their classrooms back at Beacon and still had room left over for seconds. The longer he was at Haven, the more Lima realised how ridiculously large the place really was.

"Why are you still smiling like a schoolgirl?" Sage said, peering over his reading glasses. "You're not still thinking about your little girlfriend, are you? Do you need me to find you somewhere private to crank one out?"

"What the hell?" Lima said in alarm. "She's not my girlfriend, and I'm not cranking one out at Haven."

"Uhuh," Sage said, grinning. "You've brought her up four times in the last two hours."

"I haven't spoken to them in weeks," Lima said in his own defence, "I'm just excited; get off my case, you old bastard."

"If you say so," Sage said with a laugh, "I know what that's like, though; it's always hard splitting up like this."

Lima pulled the next form up, checking each part for any missing information. An inability to fill out forms properly was apparently a trait that students shared across all of Remnant. Still, it gave him a chance to get eyes on some of the competition coming to Beacon for the Vytal Festival—which was probably the reason Sage had really brought him in to help out.

"I think going to Beacon might have been a mistake," Lima muttered.

"Hm," Sage said, flipping his own page over to get at the backside. "Why's that?"

Lima spotted a missing section and put it in a pile with the others that were missing genders. Sage waited with patience born out of decades of practice. Lima sorted two more across into their own piles, depending on which portion was missing, before he finally brought himself to speak again.

"When I'm in Vale, I miss you and Midori, and when I'm here, I miss my team," Lima said, smacking down the next sheet with far more force than was necessary. "I've trapped myself into always feeling bad—it totally sucks."

"Hm," Sage said again.

"I don't understand how I got so close to them so quickly. I mean, I know it's proximity, but it still feels so—so—I don't know," Lima said before giving up with an explosive sigh. "I keep thinking that If I'd just come to Haven, I wouldn't have to deal with it."

"But then you remember all the things you've been through with your team," Sage said, tapping his pen on the desk. "You've put yourself in a tough spot, Lima."

"Sage," Lima said, dropping his pen down on the fresh form without looking at it. "What am I supposed to do about it?"

Sage continued searching the forms in thoughtful silence, and Lima didn't have nearly as much skill in the game of waiting. He fidgeted with the edge of the desk, unwilling to look back at the form lest it drag him back into the soul-crushing work.

"I think you already know what you have to do," Sage said, eventually. "You want me to say it for you?"

"Yes," Lima said, "At least then I can blame you instead of myself."

"Sounds about right," Sage said, amused. "Lima, the answer is simple—be miserable."

Lima sagged down into his chair as Sage gave him the answer he'd already arrived at.

"You're supposed to miss us, and you're supposed to miss them," Sage said, scribbling away. "Be miserable, and when it becomes unbearable—you know where we are, and you know where you're team will be."

"I'm going to spend a lot of time travelling in the future, aren't I?" Lima wondered.

"Buy an airship," Sage suggested.

Lima grunted at the comment, not sure he could dismiss it entirely out of hand considering the travel time differential. He slapped a hand down on the sheet and dragged it towards him, narrowing his eyes at the incredibly familiar face staring back at him. The eyes were the wrong colour, and the hair was entirely black, instead of half-black, half-blonde, but it was undeniably the exact same girl.

"Huh," Lima said, dragging the blunt end of the pen around the girl's picture. "Huh?"

"I didn't break you, did I?" Sage wondered. "What's the problem, Lima?"

Lima frowned at the image, trying to understand the mechanics behind it. If this girl was a second-year student of Haven Academy, in the Kingdom of Mistral, on the continent of Anima. Then how could she have been sitting at a café in the Kingdom of Vale, on the continent of Sanus, during the middle of the school year, eating tiny cakes with a purple vegetable?

"These are the Vytal Festival Tournament forms," Lima restated, already knowing the answer. "As in, students from Haven who will be travelling to Vale to fight in the tournament.

"Yes, Lima," Sage said, turning to look at him with a strange look. "I told you that the moment you sat down—didn't I?"

Lima peeled the page up off the table, scanning the entire form for her information—Nori, Tan. Eighteen years old, a second-year student of Haven. Team name; CNEM, Cinnamon. Each of her teammates was listed in the correct box, and she even had a passport listed as well.

Lima reached over to the pile of unsorted forms, making a mess of them as he searched through the names for each of her teammates. Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Cinder Fall—all second-year students. Each form was meticulously filled out, not a single missing piece of information, and all written in the same handwriting—they'd clearly designated one of the four to fill out all the forms and then dumped it on them.

"Do you know this girl?" Lima asked, slapping it down. "Nori Tan?"

Sage, clearly interested in whatever had tipped him off balance, snagged it for a moment and frowned at the picture.

"Black hair, green eyes—she looks quite a bit like you, doesn't she?" Sage said, raising an eyebrow. "I only deal with the first-years, though, so she's not in any of my classes."

"Ever seen her around the school before?" Lima wondered.

"There are hundreds of kids here, Lima, and at least a fourth of them have black hair," Sage said, handing the page back. "You think she's some distant relative? Your old man might have sowed a few stray oats around, I suppose."

Lima snatched it back with a frown.

"I doubt it," Lima said, suddenly annoyed at the direction the conversation had moved. "Forget it."

#