Never too Easy (2)

"Of two sisters one is always the watcher, one the dancer." – Louise Gluck

I was incredibly nervous when we first reached home. My worry was stoked by Ozpin's continuous comments over his distrust for any Cinder and the fact that she could easily be Salem's minion even at this point.

The mere idea that I was inviting our enemy right to the heart of our own 'base' was more than enough to renew worry over the chances of being attacked so suddenly. This very notion was still as troublesome as unrealistic, and it was Sally that brought up two details that I had taken notice about while leading the girl back to my house.

Her hands were both normal, with none having the parasitic addition of a Grimm meant to absorb magic. While the singular element could've been given after years of loyalty and training, I could also tell that the very circumstance was odd and… too sudden.

While the Queen of Grimm had shown interest in me, I knew that she wouldn't have sent someone that she couldn't trust just yet. Cinder's village was attacked a little less than a year ago, and the timespan just wouldn't favor someone like Salem in the long run.

It didn't help the corrupted monarch that her current court lacked people to send in missions, and wasting a new recruit like this wouldn't help her chances of building up a competent staff of advisors.

Despite these convincing points, I still held a degree of cautiousness over Cinder as she started to look around the living room, studying how she reacted to the size of the house and her newest setting.

Golden eyes glimmered intensely as the young teen spent a while getting accustomed to the house, and I kept on staring at the situation with morbid curiosity. Sienna took a seat beside mine as we settled by the table, alternating a curious look over Cinder's activity and a questioning one directed at me.

"What did Cinder do in the future?" The comment was offered in the most quiet tone available to the Tiger Faunus. It was a blunt query that snapped me out of my reverie, with my now panicking eyes glancing over the girl to see if she had heard of the young woman's comment, easing down just as I picked up that she didn't.

Finally, I stared at Sienna with a tense gaze. "Similar to Adam. She is just… a tiny bit worse."

"And how much is 'a tiny bit worse' to you, John?"

I sighed. "She is responsible for the Fall of Beacon and Vale. She was… the mastermind behind the catalyst for the end of peace."

"And… you think that she is redeemable?" The tanned woman inquired, a hint of surprise and uneasiness now reaching my ears. "I mean, I can see how Adam will have a better upbringing and a better life, but didn't she already lose what she considered her closest family."

She did.

And that can't be replaced. We're playing with literal fire here, John.

[As if this ever stopped him from trying. Give him a chance, I know you can see him succeed this time too.]

Maybe, but is it worth the risk? Will you put your children's lives in peril if this turns out to be a failed attempt to save another one?

...Yes. As much as it worries me to allow this situation to unfold, I know that this is the right thing to do.

The Queen doesn't care if you can work with this or not.

And that's wrong for you to assume. Salem needs a stable connection to the Kingdoms if she wants to know how things are faring and the only one I could think of right now is…

Oh God, I forgot to check on Mistral for a long time now. I wasn't sure when Headmaster Lionheart had planned his betrayal, but surely that couldn't have spanned for that long. The damage would've been more extensive than it had been in Canon… and yet I couldn't help but be worried that it was just Lionheart being an incompetent in handling the extermination of Haven's own Huntsmen.

"I believe it's possible," I finally admitted, smiling at Sienna. "I want to believe in my chances that this will go well for us all."

The Tiger Faunus smiled and nodded, looking as supportive as possible of this decision. It was going to be tough but… I wanted to try. I just couldn't give up without trying.

"Sir."

I blinked, turning my attention back to Cinder. "Yes?"

"I know this is sudden but… may I ask where I will be sleeping?"

I nodded, standing up. "Sure. If you want I can give you a proper tour of the house too," I offered. "But I can already tell you that you will sleep in my children's room."

She blinked in surprise, a degree of confusion and nervousness flashing briefly before she gave a slow nod to me. "But is this… alright? I mean, I don't wish to intrude."

"Nonsense, young lady," I muttered calmly. "If I decided to have you as my apprentice, I wouldn't certainly have you live in a situation less comfortable than anyone else in the family. I will have to call a few people to get a new bed there but… it's doable."

Cinder paused for a single moment at that last detail, her eyes narrowing on me out of confusion about this sudden decision.

"Isn't this… too much? I- I do appreciate the offer, but wouldn't that be-"

"Too much?" I interrupted for her, and she nodded to confirm that was what she was trying to say and I shrugged. "It's not. It wouldn't impact on our finances, and I can already say without hesitation that the kids will be happy to have a new roommate."

"But what if-"

Before the girl had any chance of rebuffing this offer, her intervention was interrupted by the loud noise offered by the entrance door suddenly opening and a giggling missile bolting inside and towards me.

Nora paused just before reaching for a hug, her blue eyes widening in surprise as she noticed the slightly older girl I was talking to. Her jaws dropped, and she started to vibrate in preparation for a pounce.

Of course, Cinder wasn't accustomed to this and merely frowned at the sudden development. Soon, the younger child went for the tackle much to the young teen's surprise, but Cinder quickly caught the tight hug before it had the chance of making them both trip down to the ground.

"Hi, I'm Nora!" The hyperactive girl introduced herself. "Who are you?"

While my 'apprentice' was quick-witted about physical interactions, she didn't seem to have the same prowess for dialogue much to my growing amusement. Instead of letting the silence continue and for poor Cinder to suffer through this little encounter, I decided to move in and speak for her.

"Nora dear, you should probably allow her some space," I started to say, and my adopted daughter swiftly ended the hug, only to keep close to the fellow girl. "This here is Cinder, she will be living with us from now on and-"

"Is she going to be my big sister?"

I opened my mouth to try and defuse the little misunderstanding, but before I could Nora squealed and gave another hug to the confused teen.

"Oh, we're going to be besties! Besties Sisters!"

After this comment, Nora proceeded to drag her new 'sister' off to their room, giggling all the way through and ignoring Cinder's reluctance to leave the living room so suddenly.

I continued to look at the duo as they started to leave until they turned the corner away from my sight, and I was left to deal with the rest of the small group at the door.

"Did you really adopt her?"

I blinked at Ren, the boy giving me a curious but mostly neutral look. It was a change in life, but not one that severely made things much different for us all.

"Not truly, no," I admitted with a calm voice. "I will probably sign some paperwork to confirm my guardianship over her, but I don't think she wants to be adopted, so she will just be a ward for now."

"But then… why is she here?"

Noticing a pair of cat ears peeking from over Ren's shoulder, I smiled and nodded at Blake.

"She asked to become my apprentice regarding what happened in Atlas," I replied with a nod, turning to her side as I saw a certain redhead looking slightly uneasy at this. "And no, it's not about writing, so you're not going to lose these lessons, Ilia."

The Chameleon Faunus blushed a little bit at the kind assurance, and she nodded swiftly at it.

"I- I suppose it's alright."

My smile widened and she huffed at the attention she was receiving.

"So, I guess you three are already done with your homework."

The trio nodded and I was glad that they got their priorities set already. It was rare for children to get this done at this age, but then again… Ren, Blake and Ilia. They weren't certainly the standard energetic kids that skipped duties for only entertainment.

It wasn't unusual for the three to reunite here for some planning over stories to write or draw. Ilia was the writer, Blake would help about any drawing by adding quite the unique style to the paper, and Ren would serve as a proof-reader for anything produced there.

While the latter task wasn't 100% perfect, I swiftly noticed how the boy had taken interest in reading 'tougher' books to get more accustomed to grammar. It was absurd but I could see his quiet but tenacious self going that far for friendship's sake.

I was still there to keep an eye out about him going overboard, but the curious project only helped them fix some of the flaws they had back with their homework and school's tests.

Adam would also join from time to time but, as far as I could see, the boy was probably busy at home by either helping his mother with house chores or assisting Watts through some simple tasks at his laboratory.

I had the chance of visiting it and it was… improving every day. Part of the funds for the research that was provided by the Chieftain was employed to expand the workplace, but it was going to take a little more than just a couple of months to fix this.

Still, it was still impressive how that family was coming together so well. It was incredibly odd how Arthur had taken the role of father figure for Adam, and that made me wonder how the Bull Faunus was going to handle this new childhood between moderation and a closer understanding of intellectualism.

But between wondering and contemplation, I still found space to handle the present just fine as the group settled by the living room while I went back to the kitchen.

"Did you hear that Kali is considering having another child?"

I almost tripped at hearing that, my eyes turning to Sienna with a confused look and she returned it with one of hers.

"What? Didn't she try again at motherhood in the 'original timeline'?"

"No," I admitted with a surprised tone. "Still, it's not that strange for her to consider that."

"How so?" The Tiger Faunus inquired.

"Well, at this point Menagerie's economy wasn't improving this quickly, and families generally expand when it's economically possible," I explained quietly. "So I could see Ghira relent on this decision and accept the possibility of bringing a new son or daughter to their group."

"I can see that. But then, isn't this change still a… divergence from what you know?"

"I made numerous changes already, I think some indirect ones are to be expected."

"But what if this… ends up with unpleasant changes?" Sienna pressed on. "What if this results in Salem growing stronger?"

I nodded at her, glad that she was looking that far. "We will be prepared. Always."

"You're generally not this confident. Don't turn arrogant on me about it or else-"

"You will put me through hell training, I know," I interrupted with a groan. "But, I plan to make preparations for anything Salem can throw at us directly. I've already discussed with Arthur about creating some anti-Grimm equipment for the militia and maybe handle the sea Grimm issue first before focusing on the mainland situation."

"That sounds ambitious. We're talking of problems that have been there since Menagerie came to be."

"And a gun aimed at us as far as I'm concerned," I added with a grim look. "Preparation for an eventual attack is the priority, then we act to remove the possibility from ever happening."

"And you've a solution to it?"

I nodded. "Something I've once read while studying a city back home. The system was used to handle any increase of the sea level in its lagoon area, but I think it can be modified and used in this instance here too," I explained calmly. "It will take funds, time, and some huntsmen to hold the line while we do this as I know Salem will move up at the first hint of her leverage being snapped out of her clutches. Still, Arthur believes it's possible."

"And you think it is?"

…

"Yes."

And it better damn work or else life will turn problematic because of the increase of Grimm activity.

~Cinder's POV~

The room wasn't as big as she had expected it to be. But then again, she didn't have a reason to truly whine about living arrangements after living in the worst of situations.

Cinder Fall wasn't someone that generally liked to share a place where to sleep. It wasn't that she disliked the company, but that she didn't trust anyone she hadn't the chance of knowing beforehand.

This very element was quite easy to relate to her hatred for betrayals, for those infuriating fools that condemned her to this life of vagrancy and aimlessness.

But while this should've easily become a reason to ask for another place where to rest during nighttime, this resolve wavered the moment Nora decided to 'get to know her big sister'.

The rambunctious girl was genuinely excited by the misunderstanding, and Cinder was unsure how to handle this predicament without making herself look impolite or perpetrate the issue for far too long for her sanity to handle.

The situation itself wasn't truly problematic. In fact, she wasn't having much of a hassle with the hyperactive child pestering her with simple questions that she didn't have trouble answering to.

"What is your favorite color?"

"Fiery red."

Hmm, the mattress is quite soft.

Cinder didn't project her inner thoughts as she quietly studied the room that was going to be hers. If her bed was going to be as soft as Nora's, then there was no reason to worry much about waking up sore and still tired.

An improvement, but her mind quickly reminded her of how cramped things were going to be by sharing a room with two other individuals.

"Oh, and what about flowers?"

"I don't have a preference."

She did, but just didn't want to remember the times she would spend taking a few from her former home's garden.

It's been a while. I wonder if it was burned during that assault or if it was raided by thieves.

"Oh? Mine are pink flowers. I don't think I ever asked about their names, but I just like how they look."

Pink is soft to the eye, and a very calm color to look at.

I guess she likes calm and quiet herself from time to time.

Still, the questionnaire continued for a little while with other silly queries that were quickly dealt with. Cinder was curt, reserved, and she was blessed with a positively receptive Nora as she didn't press on the weak replies she was handing out.

Eventually the large number of topics the orangette could've exploited came to a solid conclusion after twenty minutes of solid questioning.

Cinder expected for the conversation to branch out into bigger and sensible subjects, and yet the young Valkyrie kept on struggling to find some more safe topics to bring up. It was an amusing sight for a while, and yet the scene grew stale and boring once the stubbornness over the matter turned out to be awfully dumb.

Sure, Nora was younger than her and she really was trying to make a good impression, but to go this far just sounded so… excessive.

It reminded her of-

"Too much?" John interrupted for her with a kind smile, and she nodded to confirm that was what she was trying to say. "It's not. It wouldn't impact on our finances, and I can already say without hesitation that the kids will be happy to have a new roommate."

Like a father like daughter, I suppose.

She could see some similarity between the two in terms of personality. Nora was way more bubbly compared to the level headedness displayed by her adoptive parent, and yet the kind core was something that matched incredibly well with one another.

Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on her.

The mere fact that the attempt to be polite was akin to the kindness displayed over her comfortable stay at Menagerie did soothe the unnerving sensation of being around so childish.

Plus, she could now see an opportunity to shift the discussion elsewhere and onto a topic she was more than interested to converse about.

"Can we talk about… Mr. Bukharin?"

"Daddy?"

The term sounded affectionate. Incredibly so. The degree of attachment has to be incredibly high to get this kind of voice while addressing her adoptive parent.

"Yes… Can you tell me how did you and-"

"How did Renny and I find him? How did he take us in?"

Yes and yes.

Cinder nodded and Nora's smile changed. It was no longer the overly-giddy one that had been there ever since they had been in that room.

No, it turned in one of fondness. The affection that she heard in that word was now displayed in her features and she found it… compelling.

"Well, Renny and I have been alone for a few days ever since he lost his parents because of a Grimm attack and… we ended up finding the abandoned village where Daddy was staying at," Nora started to narrate. "He was busy trying to place some boxes inside his old truck when we found him. Once he was done with that we entered behind the truck and tried to hide there."

And?

"Then he found us and we thought he was going to hurt us at first but… but he actually made us breakfast!"

"That's… interesting."

"Mhmh! He was super-nice from the very start and then bandits attacked," Nora said with an overly-serious tone, making it clear that part of her story was going to be severely expanded to make it 'cool' to listen to. But Cinder didn't need 'cool', she needed the truth. "There was this lady that ended up hurting daddy a lot, now she is nicer but still trying to steal daddy from mommy Sienna, and then we ended up here."

That was quite the short story. But then again, a few details happened to stand out from the rest considering the importance Nora gave them to bring those up.

John was attacked by bandits, a lady, possibly the bandits' leader, hunted him down a little after but now they are in good terms, and that the Tiger Faunus that was seen walking beside her new teacher was his romantic interest from the way they were close and how Nora already addressed her as her mother.

Sienna Khan was the leading diplomat during the visit to Atlas, and she seemed rather confident in her abilities and strength. Maybe she could become a source of wisdom and power just as John was going to be to her for the next few years.

Who knows what will happen next? The world changes and every turn needs to be addressed with calm and attention.

Emotions were powerful sources of might, but to exaggerate would just mess her hopes of finding growth and improvement to face Remnant's cruelty on her own.

"So your father is capable of fighting on his own?"

"I think?" Nora replied with some uncertainty. "I mean, he can fight and he is super-cool about it, but I think mommy is stronger than him right now."

So it was correct to assume that John was best at dealing with dialogue and political situations rather than physical confrontations, while the opposite was to be considered for the tanned woman.

It was kind of poetic how the two matched each other so well.

Yet there has to be something I'm missing. About why he grew to become an individual worthy of rumors and conversations, and how people now wish to have a chance to meet him.

He was the only human living in Menagerie. The exception that eventually brought in Arthur Watts from Atlas to become a scientist on the island.

Cinder didn't know for sure if the researcher was given an important role or if the man had preferred for another kind of job. It just wasn't her concern at the moment, and thus her mind returned to John.

Charismatic, kind, generally well-liked and a family man. He was the pure representation of a good man before the eyes of many, and some saw him as a staunch emissary of reform whenever he went.

And with good reasons.

The SDC, despite having taken a road for reactionary laws in the last few years, had reverted its course after the trial to Jacques Schnee. Many rich families had tried to attempt to tie themselves to the most influential family in Remnant at the news that Willow Schnee had divorced from her former husband, but none was expecting an absolute decline from both Nicholas Schnee and his daughter.

The family didn't need more members and there were plenty of heirs to depend on if anything happened to the two.

Winter was the first in line, and her younger siblings were going to either be given subsidiaries to the SDC to control at their own leisure or… do whatever they wished for their lives.

It was a surprising decision, but one that unexpectedly drew some support from both Atlas and Mantle.

John was the main catalyst behind this development, and thus many regarded him as a powerful ally or a dangerous enemy to handle whenever the circumstances were.

I think Mistral was making plans to invite him soon but… there is also the fact that many are opposed to this decision.

Incorruptible and devoid of blackmail, John was a predator without weakness before the eyes of anyone wanting to oppose his ideals.

A political animal, and that was more than enough to scare the peak of civilization to reconsider some minor changes to anything noted as corrupt.

Reputation and fear born from a good-standing figure. It was odd to believe it but… John was killing some paranoid bureaucrats' shady businesses with mere kindness.

And that was something that not only left Cinder stomped after trying to grow accustomed to the need to be the toughest possible before the adversities, but also kind of awed at the degree a single trial can change the world as a whole.

Fear was an indirect effect, but it was still there just like a reminder to any scum of what can or can't happen if things aren't completely safe for them to handle.

And the only safe thing they can manage are legal businesses.

Which is why, despite the lacking capacity to dominate through physical fights, John was someone Cinder was trying to learn from.

What kind of secrets was he holding? What made him this much troublesome to handle and incredibly persistent to defeat through dialogue?

These few years are going to be quite interesting.

But just as Cinder lost herself in these thoughts, Nora took notice of this and started to smile teasingly as her mind brought her a mischievous idea.

"By the way, Cinder, what do you think of Daddy?"

Amber eyes retained focus as the teen glanced at the grinning girl with a confused look.

"He is an impressive conversationalist, and I hope to learn a lot from him."

Nora's smile grew smuggler despite the neutral response. "I think you like him."

A frown adorned Cinder's face.

Of course she liked him as an outstanding figure. A role model to follow and-

Oh no, she is- Oh!

Realization struck her worse than a train, and she squirmed a little as she thought about it.

John wasn't ugly, and while she had seen men more handsome of him… she could see a degree of charm in his appearance. And by thinking so, her cheeks flared a soft pink.

The change was more than enough to cause a giggle to leave Nora's lips. "I knew it. Cindy likes Daddy."

The pink turned red almost instantly, and Cinder's jaws dropped low at that kind of accusation.

Her first instinct was to jump at the girl and get her to quieten up. If such scandalous words managed to reach her newest teacher-

The ramifications were as tremendous as horrifying.

Pressing her palm over Nora's giggles did little to suppress those and, while she had some dominance early on with the ensuing struggle, the younger girl quickly cracked her control by reaching for her hips and tickling her without any mercy.

The laughter ended up mixing with the giggles and soon what had started as a mere misunderstanding from both sides now became a clear scene worthy of amusement from any onlookers.

If only Cinder knew that these simply calm days were going to be her life from that day onward…