54 From Ashes, A new Story (1)

"Home is where you go to find solace from the ever changing chaos, to find love within the confines of a heartless world, and to be reminded that no matter how far you wander, there will always be something waiting when you return." – Kendal Rob

Fair warning: If you haven't read the canon omakes, you will not understand a couple of things happening from this chapter onward. Readers' discretion is advised.

Six years.

I've been in Remnant for six years now and many things have changed since my arrival. Many important things if I have to be incredibly honest. While I knew that I hadn't prevented the worst to actually happen since Mami Salami was still alive and taking new turns to her previous plans, I hadn't remained idle during this time.

New technologies were created by Watts, Menagerie had officially 'conquered' the fullest of its territories with the new updated weaponry and equipment at the militia's disposal, and I was quite proud of my kids.

Cinder had, much to my immense relief, taken a very 'positive' take on her own ambitions. Sure, she still aimed to reach the top the quickest possible to impose changes and do things for the best, but there was always a hint of competitiveness being her rise to power. Something within her that urged her to rush things at times and get some minor mistakes made that made things 'awkward for her'. Nothing too big, and definitely not permanent, but still amusing when I was the one noticing those.

A little more than a year ago she had decided to join the White Fang and rose to the rank of Captain in a little less than two months. While that ascent into the position should have gained some suspicions concerning her family ties, nobody seemed to question that the decision was still a brilliant one. With an excellent career within the Militia, she was set to be a treat for both pacifists thanks to her moderate views on retaliations against the rallies, and a favorable pick for the warhawks within the organization that wanted some figures to rely on thanks to her experience as a frontline fighter. Things then took a higher turn when Sienna decided to send her to lead the branch in Vale and the young woman proved to be more than qualified for the job.

I had studied the matter myself and that had been a nightmare to fix. One that I believed her capable of working on, and definitely one that she managed to do so while exceeding any expectations. What was considered the 'Vale Branch' was more of a small building that was housed by a dozen of recruits that were ill-equipped for proper rallies. Cinder's arrival led to a sudden restoration of the main building itself to fit more than just a couple of dozens of people. It was reshaped and reorganized so that it properly fit as a headquarter for the White Fang in Vale. Receptionists were selected among the unranked mass of people that were part of the branch, with a couple more set out to act as promoters rather than active members. It was a decision that was aimed more at creating an administration within the branch that could have worked out a better intake of people. And that seemed to happen 'overnight' when a more aggressive recruitment campaign was optimized to attract partial members.

The objective wasn't to establish a big army, but to create a steady flow of supporters that were keen to at least let out a minimum bit of their money or even take part in the rallies. The duties weren't exactly as tall and big as those were in the original timeline, and it was all thanks to the fact that the White Fang hadn't militarized ever since Ghira had retired to take the role of Chieftain.

…

Because yes, the big guy did take on the job once Zardulla took a sudden heart attack as a reason to step down and get away from the stressful paperwork. With that decision, Sienna was quickly pushed to replace him as the leader of the organization. And I was directly chosen as the second-in-command.

You literally became a subordinate to your wife.

She doesn't abuse that power over me. I believe she has more than enough influence thanks to cuddle privileges.

Because, while I didn't mind sleeping on the couch, I was rather annoyed when I was deprived of some long-deserved cuddles after work. The paperwork was a monster that can never be tamed, so I would seek relief in the form of sleeping in the bed with my wife… and child.

Just about three months ago, a new element joined the Bukharin family. Tiny, very receptive and demanding for closeness from either his father or mother, Damian Bukharin was born with an adorable bundle of joy. Dark-hair, tiger-like black ears atop his head, and a pair of curious and joyful brown eyes.

He was… incredibly cute. I couldn't believe that something out of me would have been conceived in such a heartwarming form. A little brother for Nora to spoil without reservations. Of course the girl wasn't as hyperactive as her canon self. While she was still a giddy girl that loved her family and friends the dearest, she had grown a little more mature thanks to training under both me and Sienna while also starting her own career in the militia. Our talk did well to turn her interest into becoming a huntress into doing more work in the local garrison. She had her fair share of experience of fighting Grimm, to try out her abomination of a weapon that was Magnhild X on the bastards themselves, and also understand how boring policing people was when she needed to go through that part of her duty.

Things at Menagerie were definitely less rough than in Vale, with the crime rate fairly minimal despite the growth of the cities within it. Some of the smaller settlements in the island had become outright villages themselves and had some leaders appointed by the chieftain himself. With the entire main island cleared from dangers, and resources available to fully expand, there was a serious increase to the economic balance in recent years. That and the fact that with new fishing equipment to deter marine Grimm did double the money made by fishermen in the last few years.

Things were flourishing for everyone as taxes were lessened, expenses were the lowest in the last few decades… and I had to work doubletime to get this economic miracle to wane off or even cause a full economic collapse in a little while. Some of those good things weren't meant to last forever… that is if someone like me didn't take precautions to soften up the knockback that was going to happen the moment the growth had stabilized to a slower rate.

I was way too familiar with recessions, and the last thing I needed was being the guy that failed to prevent the Great Depression from happening here in Remnant. I wasn't even joking much about it since the risk was rather real and I ended up wasting long nights to get through some of the paperwork and other documentations needed to avoid that kind of disaster.

[I'm still thinking of the chances of my other self using an economic recession to get some horrible thing happening.]

That's a scary thought but…

Impossible. She would need to have someone among the higher-ups at the Menagerie Bank to do anything that damaging.

And I have plenty of security locks to prevent minor infiltration.

It was a front I knew I couldn't afford to leave untouched, so fixing it so any effort through it wouldn't go through became a priority that would get monthly checked just to see if there had been any situation regarding the matter that I should have been concerned about. And… nothing, there was no attempt on that opening.

Beyond that, things were going fairly well for the family as a whole. Damian was looked after by trusted people if both Sienna and I were busy at our respective work, with the two of us making sure to come up with ways to get back at home as quickly as possible to be around the newborn. Sienna had it easier since her job wasn't as… complicated as mine. She could delegate some of the paperwork to other people and be done a little before lunch each day in exchange for working from home during the afternoon and early evening.

I would still get the chances of leaving work with documentation to sign at home, but I never tried to delegate anything too important out of fear of things getting messed up or misinterpreted by my subordinates. Good people, but just a few knew how my mind worked at the job and how I wanted things done. Considering how stressful the line of work was, I was relieved I had some trustworthy individuals to rely on.

Finally… the quietest but the more active member of the family regarding civilian-based work. Ren hadn't kept idle despite his disinterest for fighting. Sure, he would still be p to train with me on a weekly basis, but he was still interested in drawing and writing. That kind of combo aided him to offer his own assistance to Ilia about her books. And also foster his relationship with her.

I spotted them being fairly close, blushing, holding hands- I was quickly concerned of what these two bookworms were going to make out of this. Possibly a ship that, albeit abnormal in the original timeline, was blessed and much-supported in this one. Seriously, why would I try to sabotage that adorable set up?

With their careers improving even more, these two were able to secure a future for themselves and any eventual family they were going to create. Three books had been produced since last time the first one was edited and published, and they were all successes in their own regards. They weren't sparing themselves when it came to producing good pieces, and I was glad to see the duo growing into proper self-sufficient workers… in good part. They were still quite far from actually being given the chance to go through the paperwork behind their kind of job, but I would sound unfairly dishonest in saying they weren't in the road to get things done well even on that front.

But the more I thought about how nice things were after six years of hard work, and I still couldn't shrug off the idea that Salem was still going to pull something so cunning and unexpected, that I was really going to have to work on things I hadn't planned to handle until that point. The worst part? I had a couple of suspicions, but nothing that really hadn't been approached by the Queen of Grimms.

For now the best course of action was 'wait and see', and hopefully get the chance to counter any dangerous move before it had the chance to fully unfold against me. I wasn't overly-confident things were going to remain quiet for too long, but I was relieved when I was given confirmation that Salem hadn't done anything that big during those six years.

But as I enjoyed those days as much as I could, I was finally given a big event that needed some serious preparations. Something fairly important to me and that saw me take a good amount of free time to get things ready to accommodate the return of someone I hadn't seen for five months now.

Cinder was finally visiting for a few days. With her work in Vale mostly over, it would take her a few more months to be properly able to leave her workplace more than a few times each month. I wasn't expecting her to abuse that opportunity as much as others would, but I was quite confident she was going to make a couple of trips for family-related reasons.

But what really had me interested wasn't how many times Cindy was going to come back home, but about her reaction to her baby brother and how she was going to handle him. That, I was going to have countless photos about.

I woke up alone in the bed. A blink, then two… and yep, I was really alone on the mattress.

No Sienna, no baby. I heard noises from the kitchen. I quickly realized what was going on as I heard something on the stove, cooking. Milk, for Damian. Pulling myself off the inviting softness, I knew that I had to get my mind out of the sleepiness. While today I took a day off at work, I still needed to be impeccably early with my usual routine to be ready for Cinder's return.

I slowly made my way through the hall and into the living room. In those six years, the house has been subjected to two renovations. Each was meant to bring a bigger size to the rooms and expand on some spaces that required a unique room rather than a combined one with another. Specifically the kitchen and the living room.

There was enough money to get it all done and more. The garden was expanded too, but there wasn't that much interest in it. Neither Sienna or me found it interesting, and the only one that seemed to pay it any attention was Ren… but even then that was rather minimal and more stress-relief than anything serious.

Without wasting too much time slouching around, I arrived at my current destination and took a moment to greet the two individuals already sitting there. Ren looked… still sleepy, but nonetheless active as he greeted me with a curt but still calm 'Good morning'.

Nora had her head neatly placed on the table, looking more asleep than awake, but still able to let out a slurred 'morning' before nuzzling her face on the cool surface of the wood. I paused near to her, patting behind her neck and replying to them both with a simple 'good morning' myself. After that I entered the kitchen and studied the situation there.

Damian had been placed in his special chair, giving me a satisfied look since he had just finished his breakfast from the small stains of milk that were on his tiny desk. He started to pat the small table as soon as he noticed me, a giddy expression on his face and happy gurgles leaving his mouth.

"Good morning," I muttered glancing to the side, right where Sienna was trying to handle multiple things at once by the stoves.

She blinked, turning to stare at me in surprise as if I wasn't supposed to be there in that exact moment.

"I thought you would have remained to bed a little more," The Tiger Faunus explained and I hummed, frowning at her.

"Why? Today is such an important day."

"And I would have expected you to get some more rest so you had more energy in handling Cinder's visit."

"I might have long work hours, but I'm still far from being an old man," I replied with faux annoyance. "And I see that you need some help with the rest."

"I'm doing just fine," The woman tried to defend her pride, failing miserably as she quickly panicked over some pans that were now smoking a few dark clouds over them. It was comedic… but also not. That was good food getting wasted.

I quickly moved in to help her through that task, knowing that the proof advanced by the scene itself was more than enough to silence any reluctance to give me space on the task. She might have gotten better at this, but I was still several steps above her abilities in the kitchen. But my padawan was getting better and I took immense pride in aiding her to the correct path.

[Cooking is a journey best loved when you tease your student. Especially if they are your lovers. Am I right, Ozma?]

No comment.

Once breakfast was served and everyone was given the chance of getting over with their bathroom routines, we quickly took a moment to visit Watts and check on a couple of things I had to make sure before reaching the landing grounds. The rest of the family had moved on their own to wait for the big arrival, while I had to retrieve a little gift I had planned to give Cinder once she was done greeting the others.

I found Adam waiting at the entrance of the building, the young man having grown in a fine young man that spent most of his time between helping his mother around since she had just recently grown a pregnancy-induced belly and she turned clumsy because of it, helping around at the labs with his new father and… then training with Raven.

That last bit had happened out of pure coincidence. The red-eyed woman had decided to look around Kuo Kuana during one of her visits and, during her boredom-induced journey around the settlement, she ended up finding Adam, the Bull Faunus busy training with a wooden sword. The moment the two meet, things really took a strange turn for both.

Raven found herself surprisingly invested in training the red-haired teen and Adam found a reason to be involved in showing his new teacher that he was no pushover. The first times were humiliating for the guy, his temper rising to a level that weren't ever shown ever since he came to Menagerie, and, for the first time ever, the Bull Faunus came to meet his own demons when it came to fighting someone he wasn't truly attached to.

And that state of true revelation only aided the Branwen to help him turn that anger, that fury, into a weapon rather than a drive to help his resolve. Pain, sweat, and lots of determination helped up shaping an individual that knew how to jump between ferocity and intellectual placidity when he wanted either one or another.

"Uncle John," He calmly muttered and I nodded.

"Adam. I see you are up and already up for some hunting."

He was wearing something close to his original outfit, except he didn't have a mask covering his unblemished face. Well, mostly unblemished since he had a tiny scar that came out from pissing Raven during a spar. It took him just a poorly-given insult to ensure a vicious retaliation from his teacher.

"I will leave for a mere scout mission. I will be back a little before lunch," Adam replied with a nod. "Still, I suppose you are trying to get to father, right? He should be in Lab 2 right now. Something about the surprise you two have been working on."

I nodded. "For now is an experiment, but I believe he has plans to get you something cool the moment you hit Captain in the militia. Something something a new prototype for the sword you asked him to make."

That response had him perking up with attention. "Do- Do you have any info you can spare about it, uncle?"

"Not much. Plus, if I knew a little more, I wouldn't tell you," I rebuked mirthfully, ignoring his frown at that comment. "It's a surprise. A big one at that. I don't need to explain to you how a surprise is best enjoyed when the subject isn't aware of what it actually is."

…

"Fair enough," He said with a shrug.

I nodded at him before entering inside the large manor. Watts did make a fortune with his inventions despite his small prices set for each product. He had played the long game and won big time with his risky offers. The price had been cheap, but the massive selling had still resulted in a hefty fortune for him and his family to enjoy. Which resulted in this manor becoming a mix of living quarters and laboratories. Some more assistants were hired, but Emma was still the second-in-chief as far as Arthur was concerned.

Still, I ended up finding the researcher in the place Adam had told me he was working by. The man's attention was aimed at the workbench where he was adding the final details to the gift I had asked him to complete after paying him a decent amount of money. It wasn't expensive, but this was just an addition to an already existing product.

"Arthur," I greeted quietly. "I hope I don't find you too busy."

The scientist paused and glanced at me, nodding as he replied to my comment. "I'm mostly done. There were a couple of issues I had noticed earlier this morning. I had to fix some of the additions to it but… it should work."

He moved away from the bench, bringing with himself the small parts he had been applying the finishing touch to. He placed those inside the small bag I had prepared for the occasion, but he held me by the wrist before I could leave.

"I need you to promise me that she will not let those to waste. Differently from before, I don't believe I have the material to get those addons created again. So she better give those uttermost attention to."

I nodded, surprised by that warning. "She will be careful. It's Cinder we are talking about."

That seemed to be enough to convince me to let go of me. I spared a curt greeting before leaving him for his usual work. After a couple of minutes wandering the streets, I arrived at my last destination just in time to see the airship coming from Vale softly landing over the planned landing area. I paused just a moment by Sienna's side, glancing at Damian and giving him a little poke on his nose before glancing at the descent of the passengers.

Cinder wasn't the first or the second… nor the third. She might be a prideful young lady, but she wasn't far from pompous, especially for petty things like this one. Eventually we spotted her leaving through the only exit, right behind her a certain mint-haired tanned girl following her down the ramp that led towards us. Emerald looked quite fine, maybe a little annoyed by the flight if not more than how Cinder had to have felt about that.

I took just a couple of steps forward, wanting to be on the forefront for the reunion and… that proved to be a 'mistake'. The moment I did so, Cinder seemed to realize that I was there and, dropping her luggage behind, in a pure action of absurd childishness, she bolted towards me. Before I knew it, her arms were wrapped around my neck, her head was happily nestled on my left shoulder and she almost tackled me on the ground by the sheer power behind that hug.

Surprise swelled at that action, but I felt calming almost instantly when I heard her utter a few warm words.

"I'm back, dad."

It's been a while since I heard her talking. Sure, we had our conversations through the phone, but it wasn't the same as speaking by person. The warmth, the relief, she felt nostalgic. And I too was happy about her return.

I sighed, still amused by her words, patting her back and enjoying the hug myself.

"Welcome back," I replied to my daughter.