Pyrrha smiled softly at the small brunette girl with red-tipped hair that walked in between herself and their raven-haired girlfriend. The three of them were holding hands as they trekked through the woods.

She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of the wilderness, but still cognizant of threats this far from the civilized parts of Patch. They were all in their combat outfits, armed and armored.

Any Grimm that came across them would be in for quite the surprise.

"Are there many attacks in these woods?" the redhead inquired curiously.

"Not so much anymore," Ruby replied quietly, her eyes focused on the path ahead.

Pyrrha nodded and sighed softly, glancing aside at Blake. The Cat Faunus gave her a small, reassuring smile.

Ridiculous as it might have sounded, she was more than a little nervous.

It wasn't every day your girlfriend took you to see her mother.

Before long they broke through the line of trees and onto a clearing set onto the top of a cliff. At the end, right against the edge, was a small stone marker.

Without hesitation Ruby continued forward, her girlfriends pacing her on either side, until they came to a stop a couple of feet away. The brunette gave her hand a squeeze before letting the both of them go, clasping her fingers together in front of her. Pyrrha and Blake respectfully did the same.

The redhead stared at the stone marker ahead of them. A large rose adorned the surface of it, very similar to Ruby's own emblem. Underneath it was the name Summer Rose, followed by a short phrase.

Thus Kindly I Scatter.

"Hi, Mom," Ruby began with muted cheer. "I know, I'm a little early this summer. It's just that I'm cutting my visit home short, 'cause, well… I got somewhere else to go for the rest of it."

She took a deep breath as if bracing herself. "So, here's the thing, and the reason I'm leaving early… Well, this is Blake, and this is Pyrrha, and… Well, they're my girlfriends. Like, the both of them, we're all… involved."

Pyrrha suppressed a small grin at the quick blush that raced across Ruby's face, likely as she recalled just how involved the three of them became a few days ago.

And every day and night since.

"Anyways, yeah, we're in a relationship together, and… um… Well, I wanted you to meet them. Oh, and we're all going to Mistral after this to meet Pyrrha's family, so that'll be cool. But yeah, that's my big news…"

Ruby looked up then, her eyes darting between the other two, the silver orbs shining with emotion. "So, look, I know it's kinda weird for you guys, and you don't have to-"

She cut herself off as Pyrrha took a quick step forward, already having decided as to her actions for that day. She dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

"Hello, Mrs Rose," she began respectfully. "It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you. I wanted to let you know just how much I love and appreciate your daughter…" She cleared her throat, her emotions threatening to get the better of her. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos, and I swear to you that I will continue to love, honor, and respect Ruby for as long as she shall have me."

She stood up then, allowing the tears to flow down her cheeks, but glanced down as Ruby hugged her side. The brunette had tears of her own that she wiped away with her sleeve.

Blake cautiously approached next, the Cat Faunus gracefully dropping down onto one knee as she pressed her palm to the ground in front of the memorial.

"I'm Blake Belladonna," the raven-haired girl began quietly. "I've been on Ruby's team from the start, and I've known her as a team leader and a friend. I'm… very lucky to have met your daughter, Mrs Rose, and even luckier to have her love." She sniffled as a stray tear ran down to drip next to her hand. "I swear to you I will always work to deserve that love, as much as I will always cherish the love the three of us share."

As she rose up, Pyrrha brought her arm around so that the three of them could encompass each other in a hug. Their soft sobs were a mix of happiness at what they shared together, as well as a sadness that the incredible woman that Ruby missed so terribly could not be there to witness it.

At least, not in person.

As they stood there together, swaying slightly, an errant breeze kicked up. The tendrils of warm air wrapped around them in a warm caress, Ruby's cloak and Pyrrha's long red hair flapping in the wind. It eased their sorrow and spirits, reminding them of the life they had. The life they shared.

The future that they now had together.

Soon enough they separated, wiping their faces on their sleeves as Ruby faced the marker once more.

"So, yeah," she said with a broken laugh. "Those are my girlfriends. Pretty awesome, right? And I really, really love them, Mom. I know you would have liked them."

The brunette sighed, glancing up at the position of the afternoon sun. "So we gotta get going now. I just… I wanted you to meet the two most important people in my life."

Ruby stepped forward, placing a hand on the rose symbol. "I love you, Mom. I still miss you… but I'm in really good hands now, okay? So don't you worry any."

She stepped back once more, a melancholy smile on her face. "Bye, Mom. It was nice talking to you again."

"Goodbye, Mrs Rose," Blake said softly.

"A pleasure meeting you, Mrs Rose," Pyrrha added.

The three of them turned and walked off once more, this time with their arms wrapped around each other.

Keeping the ones they loved close.

A/N: Mmmm yeah. Feelsy. Before anyone complains, you all asked for this, so just take the feels, dammit, take all the fluffy feels! And no, I just have something in my eye. Shut up.

This chapter marks the last one for Patch for now. Next one, Purruby travels to Mistral. I'm going to have to take an itty-bitty hiatus though, as I haven't started writing any of the Mistral chapters yet, though I'm pretty much recovered physically I'm still catching up on my sleep, mentally exhausted to boot. And to top it off I have to travel to Ohio this weekend. Sooo maybe by the end of next week? I'm hoping, fingers crossed. The next chapter is going to be one of the bigger ones, though, lots of stuff happening, so it's not going to be an easy writing job. As far as my other stories go, Pearls is going to have to take a break too as the next chapter is also somewhat major and requires work. I'll post up the last Ember Legacy chapter I have written tomorrow, and then that will be all for it as well. Sigh. I'll be back, promise…

Thanks again for all the well-wishes (yosai, ExKage, ILikeHotDogs, LE Whisper, and everyone else)!

NobleMETA: "A nice mix of funny, serious and awkward all in the same package." I cannot possibly think of a better summation of a chapter for Thorn. Mission successful.

Boombox94: Heh, I'm sure Weiss' heart needed a good kickstart. Good thing Yang is on hand…

DschingisKhan: Zwei is such a diabolical genius.

Demonic Angel C: Yeah Ruby's feelings are likely the only thing keeping Zwei alive right now.

Jack Inqu: Nah Zwei has the others still wrapped around his little paw, only Blake knows the true evil he's capable of…

kaiju62: Thanks! Happy to provide another episode of 'Zwei vs Blake'!

THB4: Heh, Blake is indeed like Ahab, hunting down the mighty Corgi…

growlscout: Zwei is nefarious indeed, the smug little bastard.

FelipeCH98: LOL, yes Zwei will always be four steps and a stubby little tail ahead of poor Blake…

Uriel Godfire: Glad you enjoyed the Zweijinks. And yes, I have indeed decided to provide a Freezerburn chapter to give a little insight as to how the Atlas trip goes, it will be the only chapter not to include on of the Purruby ladies. It's further along, though, maybe another 5-6 chapters ahead.

Marauderby: Oh yes, Blake will indeed be making herself scarce come bathtime. Fool her once… One last note, though. Drop whatever you are doing and go watch Firefly, now. It's a moral imperative. Only one season (more's the pity) and a movie (Serenity) but you will not be disappointed, brilliant beyond words. And then when you want more, you can waste more of your life on my opus fanfiction, Nothing in the Verse (which amounted to 456k words or so), LOL

RealTerminal: You make an excellent point, I can see how Weiss would suddenly have this rebellious side awakened by Yang. I can see her shaking her head as Weiss drags her off to yet another storage closet. "I've created a monster…"

Gorsouul: Thanks! So many ways a wet dog can cause endless trouble…

MakaS0ul: Glad you managed to track down your pup! And yep, as I noted above for Uriel, should have a Freezerburn chapter about 5-6 chapters ahead.

Stay shiny!