"Captain Rose?" Ruby heard a voice from behind her call.

Ruby turned around to face her Executive Officer, a young woman by the name of Ophelia Nightingale who had just graduated from the academy almost a year ago.

"Yes, Commander?" she asked.

"We're about to pull into dock. Sorry if I'm bothering you, ma'am," she finished.

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said, giving her a bright smile. "Just been thinking, is all."

"May I ask what about?"

"Just the past fifteen years, is all," Ruby replied.

It had been that long since the Grimm were annihilated in the battle that resulted in the destruction of their gate and all of their remaining warships. What few remained were quickly swept up by the combined Terran and Remnant fleets, and, in the aftermath, the two empires had decided for forge a more permanent alliance. In the years since, they encountered two entirely new species in the galaxy, and had continued to expand their empire.

Five years after the battle, the Terran Imperium and Remnant Federation had become such strong allies that the two empires formally disbanded and formed the Terran-Remnant Coalition, a single, united empire that combined the strengths of both of its previous two.

"Was there anything else you needed?" Ruby asked her Executive Officer.

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?" the other naval officer asked.

"Go ahead," Ruby replied.

"I'd have thought you'd be more excited to get home," Ophelia said. "After all, aren't your wife and daughter waiting for you?"

Ruby chuckled slightly. "Well, we were supposed to be deployed for another week, so they're not expecting me to be home yet. My daughter is going to be at school right now, and I'm sure Weiss is probably pretty busy as well."

"If you say so, ma'am," Ophelia replied. "In any event, we'll be docked in about two minutes."

"Sounds good," Ruby replied. "You're dismissed, Commander. Enjoy your leave."

"Yes ma'am," the officer replied with a smile and a salute.

"Hello there," Ruby said with a smile as she approached the reception desk at the main office of her daughter's school.

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" the woman sitting at the computer asked, looking up from her work.

"I'd like to check my daughter out of her classes," Ruby replied. "Diamond Rose."

"Do you have your I.D.?"

"Just a sec," Ruby replied as she dug through her pockets, pulling out her scroll and handing it to the woman.

She quickly scanned it and handed the small object back to Ruby. "Perfect, that's all I needed. Just a moment," the woman then keyed the intercom. "Diamond Rose to the front office for checkout, please."

Ruby waited for several minutes before a twelve-year-old girl who had silver eyes and white hair with red tips walked into the room.

"Mom? What's going..." the girl paused as she looked at Ruby. "Mommy!" she yelled, wrapping Ruby in a tight hug as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Hey, kiddo," Ruby said, pulling her daughter in close.

"I thought you weren't going to be back until next week?" the girl asked.

"Well, we got home a little early," Ruby replied, giving the girl a smile. "Come on, let's go get your mom and we can all go out for cookies."

"That sounds great, mommy," Diamond replied with a tearful smile.

Weiss sighed to herself as she completed what felt like the hundredth lap her hers and Ruby's house.

Come on, Weiss, she scolded herself. You know Ruby can handle herself out there. Especially after everything that happened during the Grimm war. You really shouldn't be-.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Just a minute," she called with a sigh.

Weiss navigated through the house until she finally found her way to the front door. Her hand hovered over the control to open the door before she finally activated it. The doors slid open, revealing Ruby standing in the doorway next to the couple's daughter.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, pulling Ruby into a tight kiss, which Ruby happily reciprocated. "What are you doing here?" she asked finally. "I thought you weren't due back for another week?"

"The C.N.S. Artemis volunteered to finish up our patrol," Ruby replied, smiling. "We tried to decline, but their captain insisted."

"Well, I suppose I won't argue with that," Weiss replied before shooting Ruby a disapproving glare. "Though why did you take our daughter out of school early?"

"Well, she's already a year ahead of the other students, so I figured that there wouldn't be any harm in us going out as a family," Ruby replied, giving Weiss a smile.

"I suppose you're right," Weiss said, sighing. "Come on, I'm sure your mother promised you cookies again."

Diamond replied with a grin.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain Rose?" a voice from the entrance to the C.N.S. Vale's bridge asked.

Captain Diamond Rose turned to where the voice came from. When she saw her mother standing in the entrance to the bridge, she smiled and gave a salute.

"Permission granted. Welcome aboard, Fleet-Admiral," she replied. "Though, I suppose you should be saying that to me, ma'am."

"Nah," Ruby answered, chuckling slightly. "You earned this, kiddo."

"Thanks," Diamond replied, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I hope I do you proud, mom."

'You'll do fine," Ruby said as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You graduated with top marks form the academy, and got the highest grade ever in Operation Black Flag. You're more than ready for this."

"Are you sure?"

"Diamond, as an Admiral, I wouldn't have promoted you if I didn't think you could handle it," Ruby replied, giving her daughter a reassuring smile. "And, as your mother, I'm already proud of you, and I'd still be proud of you if you were an engine technician, fighter pilot, or shipyard staff, so don't worry about making me proud."

Diamond smiled. "Thanks mom," she replied before turning back to the tactical display. "All sections, report status," she called.

"All sections report ready, Captain Rose," the X.O. Said.

"Very well," Diamond replied, turning back to Ruby. "Since this was your ship, would you like to the honors?"

"Sure thing," Ruby replied, stepping up to the display, smiling. "Helm, bring us out of dock, quarter speed."

The mighty dreadnought rumbled as the engines came to life. The ship slid ponderously forward, leaving the now-empty dry-dock in its wake.

"We're clear of the dock, ma'am," the helm officer replied.

Ruby nodded. "All hands, stand by for phase jump," Ruby paused for a moment to smile and think about all of the moments that brought her here before opening her eye. "Jump."

A/N: And here we are at the end. Sorry for the short chapter, but I kinda just wanted to give this this thing a good send off here, so I hope you enojuyed it for what it was!

Anyways, quick announcement before I go, for those of you who listen to the Legion205 podcast, we unfortunately need to take a month for a hiatus to give our editor a brief break as well as to buildup a backlog of episodes for you guys. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, please do if you'd like to meet some of your favorite writers! It's been a hell of a lot of fun for me to record with these people!

With all that said! I hope you enjoyed both this little epilogue and the story! I will see you folks when I post the next chapter of The Rose Guardian.