180

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" 

The ball dropped, everyone cheered. Penny and Ruby kissed as hard as they possibly could, amidst the various other couples and throuples that made up the group- mostly teens, it turned out, with most of the adults looking away awkwardly.

Somehow, the house had gotten even more impossibly full since Wynterfest- the short span of time between the two holidays having seen the arrivals of one Willow Schnee, as well as Ghira and Kali Belladonna… and one Sienna Khan, who seemed very smug with herself as she stood between the husband and wife and held onto their hands.

Said faunus were currently in the middle of a steamy makeout session in the corner fueled by copious amounts of wine and fine liquor and good food, a mirror of their daughter's position halfway buried under Yang and Weiss as the three of them took turns peppering each other with cheerful, rowdy kisses and leaving stains of lip gloss everywhere.

Ilia, in the corner, tried not to seethe with jealousy, largely failed, and instead just slipped away to go grumble about losing her chance with Blake in the bathroom. At least they were still friends, even after everything.

Willow was passed out on one of the many beanbag chairs, completely drunk off her rocker from having celebrated the new year a little too hard- especially since she'd snuck out without Jacques ever knowing she was gone. After all- he never bothered checking on her and always assumed she was either drunk in her study, drunk in the kitchen, or drunk in her room. That her liver hadn't given out yet was a testament to how strong her Aura remained despite the years of wallowing in her own misery.

If one were to check on Willow's condition, one might have seen three prominent bite marks around her neck area- all three imprints in her skin matching the slightly fanged dental patterns of Ghira, Kali, and Sienna respectively.

Winter stayed studiously ignorant of her mother's dalliances towards the Balladonna family and Sienna Khan, and instead tried to not drink too much while loudly complaining about work back in Atlas to Robyn Hill, who had flown down for the holidays before the election season really kicked off. She and Robyn had largely failed at the remaining sober part, though they continued complaining about politicians and military men and asshole businessmen long into the night anyway.

Penny and Ruby, of course, were still in the middle of a heavy makeout session and were unlikely to stop anytime soon seeing as the two of them had literally flown out of the living room on a tide of green and red rose petals and slammed Ruby's door shut upstairs. 

With Raven and Vernal, though, the older woman was trying to remain uncomfortably maternal towards the younger despite the swift change in personality being quite… awkward for Vernal, who had been introduced to the entire family as kind of a huge bitch and someone who still followed the Branwen Clan philosophy . Fortunately, the presence of Glynda Goodwitch did much to assuage most of her bravado fueled antipathy given that the woman had thoroughly and comprehensively kicked Vernal's ass without even looking at the teen, having just tossed the girl several miles out of the way on her beeline march straight towards the closest thing Vernal had to a mother. Ruby's presence took care of the rest, somehow.

Raven was very, very drunk because Qrow refused to drink still, and thus was both clingy, weepy, needy, and using Vernal as a pillow/tissue up until the former bandit got tired of the indignity and stormed off to go brood in the bathroom with a bottle of some kind of fruity vodka that she'd stolen out of the fridge. 

Cinder, Emerald, and Neo were in Patch's main town, in one of the hotels. One of the soundproofed hotels.

No guesses as to what those three were doing, given that they were still riding the honeymoon high of being finally engaged to each other.

Mercury and Yatsuhashi, despite their usual flowery gay romantic overtures towards each other, weren't actually doing anything remotely sexual for once- having long since retreated to Mercury's room instead to go play games and stay up late. Fox, meanwhile, was snoozing on a cushion he'd pilfered from the living room whilst making some kind of odd nest in the corner near the Wynterfest tree. Coco and Velvet were whispering sweet nothings to each other, giggling as they talked about things they would do with their thoughtful gifts they'd given to the other, and how they would spend the rest of their holiday break moving forward.

Qrow and Tai and Glynda were talking about classes in the coming semester, and how Team RWBYP would be third years instead of second years because, really, all of them were too strong now. Even with the WBY part of RWBYP spending almost a whole school year in Menagerie, it was clear that it hadn't dulled their skills in the slightest and that the self study they'd done allowed them to test out of second year and into third. 

The fact that Ruby had given all of their weapons a mild tuneup had probably helped. 

Ruby, meanwhile, despite having spent an entire year encased in crystal, managed to test into third year with a bit of assistance from Penny, who had tutored her specifically to help with that.

Regardless, the three adults spent the majority of the night discussing the plans for the upcoming school year, handling everything from the budget to the curriculum to everything involving the myriad of politics that they would need to play in order to ensure that the Vale Council didn't overstep their bounds with regards to the oversight they continually wanted to place over Beacon. Not that some oversight wasn't fine, but the Vale Council was the same as any other group of politicians and none of them wanted the casual and petty game of politics to infect a school meant to raise teens into heroes and the saviors of humanity.

Oscar, meanwhile, had thankfully gone to bed… in the attic. With the raccoons. For some reason. Instead of going back to the barn he was now sharing with the two Branwen women.

Pietro, meanwhile, was silently working at the dinner table by his lonesome- tinkering with some work that he'd brought with him in order to pass the time while he delicately sipped at a glass of eggnog and listened to the sounds of the winter holidays wash over him with a little smile on his face. It was nice, really. The atmosphere was, after the initial cheer of the ball dropping, quiet and contemplative- cozy, romantic, sleepy, slow, and warm by the fire. The house was filled to the brim with decorations, there was good food and good drink, good company to be had…

The only shame was that Team JNPR wasn't there to share in the mood. The shrine in the corner was as much a method of catharsis as it was a damper on the festivities, and although there were many sad looks levied at the picture frame surrounded by candles and incense, no one dared move the shrine away- Team JNPR was like cousins to Team CMNE and Team RWBYP, after all.

They sent as many well wishes as they could to Team JNPR, wherever they were. If they were still alive.

They had to be alive- Ruby could feel it in her soul. They wouldn't just die like that- not when she'd had that dream that felt so utterly real. Not when she'd seen them in the midst of her journey through her own self. 

It still hurt, though, not knowing how they were.

Regardless.

The members and guests Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen household remained steady and cozy and warm, well lit and full of good cheer and holiday spirit as they chatted and laughed and hugged and caroused and continued to celebrate the new year- resolutions made and pinned up as if to try and make sure that they actually went through with their resolutions that year. It may not have always worked, but it was at least motivation to try and get things done.

And far away in a long dead place, in a long dead land, in a castle of crystal and fog and death, a woman who should have been long dead plotted and planned, pushing things into motion behind the scenes and setting up dominos to fall.

And far away in a place of lush jungle, in a time almost forgotten, in a tree long in the distant past, a group of travelers prepared to step through the doorway to return them to whence they came- exactly at the right time, in exactly the right place, where they would be needed most. 

Together as one, they took the step through the doorway and…