Titles and chapter titles come from "Gold," by Jeff Williams feat. Casey Williams from RWBY season 1.

Chapter One: I will pick you up and we will fix it all

"You are a disgrace, Yang Xiao Long." Weiss stomps into From Dust Til Dawn, her heels clicking. She doesn't bother holding open the store's door for the rest of her team. Yang catches it before it swings shut, letting Ruby and Blake through the door first with a chuckle.

"A-meow me, Blake," she says with a wink and tip of her head.

Ruby passes without comment and Blake levels her with a hard stare before letting out a long-suffering sigh and joining the rest of their team inside. Inside, the room is bright and wide. The shelves are clean and not dusty (ha) and the aisles wide enough for them all to fit without resorting to a single file line like a pack of kindergartners.

"You love me just the same, Princess," Yang calls to Weiss who is up ahead and still yammering on about how it was supposed to be Yang's turn to keep inventory of how much Dust the team had in supply that week. Yang doesn't see how it matters, given that they are on semester break. Weiss doesn't seem to be paying attention to what Yang has to say right now anyway so it doesn't really matter.

"I don't know why I put up with you and your irresponsibility, Yang. It would serve you right if I complained to Professor Goodwitch about your behavior. You are lucky we are on break right now."

"You put up with her because we are teammates, Weiss," Ruby pipes in while looking around. "Hey I've been here before. When I first visited Vale and fought Roman and met Goodwitch! I wonder if that old man is here… I never got to check back in and see if he was alright. They sure fixed up the shop though! I kinda back-flipped through that window there, but it's as good as new now."

Yang ruffles her sister's hair for her efforts in diffusing the situation, even as Weiss continues her tirade of all Yang's faults. "– and another thing,"

Yang steps away and wanders off to the discount section at the back of the store, leaving her team to scour the aisles for the dust they need. Some balding man with squinting eyes wearing a red apron joins her.

"Hello," he greets. "Do you or your friends need any help?"

"Hey! Are you that old guy my sister was talking about?"

"Er –," he starts but she shrugs him off, she'll reintroduce Ruby and the old guy in a moment but first –,

"Hey, what is this? I've never seen dust this color before." She holds a corked test tube with neon-pink Dust that glitters when the light hits it right. It was originally in a small cardboard display with the rest of the discount stuff.

"Oh, that is the Youth Dust," the old guy explains. "It has been discontinued because it poses a hazard on public safety. People have been using it recreationally and not as intended."

"How's it work?"

"It was meant to be used upon criminals and render them a non-threat by reverting them to age six." Yang draws her head back at that and raises an eyebrow at the guy before returned her attention to the dust in her hand.

"It lasts for twenty-fours, give or take an hour or two. However," he says with a firm glance at her, "It is recommended to be used on anyone below the age of twenty-one." She hears the voices of her team as they come to join her.

"It is the same old guy as last time!" Ruby exclaims. "How've you been? Been okay since the robbery? You remember me, right?"

"Hey can I open this," Yang not-quite asks as she uncorks the Youth Dust to peer curiously at it. The shopkeeper's eyes widen and dodge between the sisters unsure of who to answer first. Her team has just reached Yang and she turns towards them just as she sneezes right into the dust which sprays all over her team.

"Oops," Yang wheezes, "I hope I don't have to pay for that." Then the cloud of dust dissipates and her team isn't there, at least not the team she knows.

They are significantly shorter than they were and their combat clothes hang off of them, no longer fitting them. Blake's ribbon has come undone from her cat ears and Weiss's ponytail hangs loosely at the side of head. She can't account for Weiss or Blake, but Yang is staring into Ruby's six year old face. The dust works. Her teams stares at her in astonishment and the shopkeeper rests his palms against his forehead, hissing in frustration.

"Oh shit." Yang drops down to her knees at grabs all three of them before realizing something. "Shit, they are all under twenty-one, fuck Ruby's fifteen! Are they going to be alright?"

Yang gathers her team in her arms, her heart beating rapidly in her ears. She feels like when she was six herself and pulled Ruby in a wagon to find her mom and had almost gotten her sister killed. There is a roaring in her ears, body throbbing with with adrenaline and guilt and nowhere to channel her energy. She has nothing to punch into the ground for this, the usual way she likes to solve any problem that threatens her team. All Yang can do is cling to the three that mean more than anything to her and try and hold all four of them together.

The shopkeeper closes down the store and tries to calm her down while they wait for the police and medics. He explains that the Youth Dust wasn't recommended on anyone below the age of twenty-one because it tends to have longer-lasting effects but shouldn't pose a threat to their health or lives. He doesn't seem too certain though and Yang isn't pacified. Everything is just buzzing in her ears.

Yang refuses to let her team out of her arms, who seem dazed, when the medics finally arrive. She struggles with them when they try and examine them, til finally she lets herself be prised away.

Distantly, she hears the medics explain that they'll be dazed for a while and then they'll be like they were when they were six years old. Their memories and personalities, everything. They wouldn't remember anything past being six.

"When will they return to normal? They will right?" Her words sound garbled, but they all assure her that they will be. Then they tell her to take them to the hospital if any of them develop nosebleeds, complain of headaches, or if the effects last longer than 56 hours. Yang is not assured.

A police report is filed and then they are told they are free to go.

They're given a ride back to Beacon Academy, but then Yang is left alone with her miniaturized team. Yang stands dumbly with her team on the quad where they'd been left, unsure of what to do now. Pyrrha and Ren passing by on their way to meet with the rest of team JNPR is a blessing.

While Pyrrha helps Yang get herself together, Ren sits with the girls silently on a bench.

After explaining the situation, Pyrrha informs the rest of team JNPR over scroll, as well as team CFVY. Everyone responds that they'll help out anyway they can and asks if they should come over right now. Yang refuses, because she doesn't want the girls to feel crowded while they are already so dazed, but it is a relief that everyone is willing to help her and her team. Velvet and Coco insist on coming anyway. They bring some child-sized clothes and shoes for them to wear and they stick around while Yang and Pyrrha help the girls into their clothes.

Her team is still mostly unresponsive, but Ruby's eyes light up a bit when Yang pulls out the small red hoodie. Velvet must have picked out for her specially for her sister. It is a bit too large and flaps over Ruby's hands, but Yang rolls the sleeves up around her sister's wrists and it fits well enough.

Pyrrha puts the discarded clothes into the empty shopping bags for her. Yang tries to wrap up her team's scrolls in Ruby's cloak so they won't get jostled and break.

By the time they finish, it is almost lunchtime, but her team is still confused and quiet. Despite Pyrrha's insistence that they all try and eat, Yang takes her team to the small park located on Beacon's campus. She thanks Pyrrha, Ren, Coco and Velvet before she waves them off, with the promise she'll call if she needs help.

The park is mostly trees, flowers, benches, and a picnic table but it's also got a small swing set. Usually the upperclassmen lay claim on the swings. It is empty now because most of the students are either visiting their homes for break or playing in the city for the day.

Yang sits silently at the picnic table, mulling over what to do next and anxious for her team to wake up from their daze, when Ruby stirs and stares at her for a long moment from across her.

"You look like Yang," Ruby says like it's an accusation. It probably is.

Yang doesn't know how to answer and doesn't have anything prepared to say, so she sticks with the truth. "That's because I am. Don't you recognize your own sister?"

"How?" Ruby looks equal parts wary and curious.

Touching her chin thoughtfully, Yang considers her options. Yang doesn't think telling her sister that Ruby is the one that aged down is the way to go, and she is unsure that a six year old would understand.

"I got a power-up." extending her bicep and flexing, Yang adds, "Look at my guns. Now I'll be able to beat up all the bullies."

Ruby looks and then asks, "So now you are my BIG big sister?"

"Sure let's go with that." Ruby seems to accept it because she grins widely and bounces in excitement.

This is going to be easy, Yang thinks. She's dealt with six year old Ruby before and she was eight then. She could deal with Weiss and Blake at six too.

"That's so cool!"

"Isn't it? But I'm always cool anyway."

"But you are really cool now! You look so big you could be a huntress now!" Yang smirks at her sister and reaches across the table to ruffle her hair before standing and stretching. Weiss and Blake are starting to perk up and Yang feels like she can finally calm down. Things are going to be alright, probably. Maybe she can even enjoy this, especially if she doesn't have Weiss yelling at her for a day.

"Can I swing?" Ruby asks, pointing at the swing set, "Bet you can push me even higher now that you are even bigger!"

"Er, yeah, hang on Ruby-roo," Yang turns to Weiss and Blake.

"Weiss? Blake?" she asks. She doesn't want to leave them alone at the table. "Want to try swinging on the swings with Ruby?"

Weiss blinks and stares at her for a bit before nodding shortly and Blake shrugs. They both get up and follow along obediently as Ruby squeals and dashes to the swings at full-speed. Yang's relieved that her sister's Aura isn't activated right now – Ruby's Semblance had been activated at age eleven while attending Signal Academy with the guidance of her teachers, the proper way. It had been hell dealing with Ruby at the time and lots of rose petals for Yang and Uncle Qrow to sweep up for the rest of the year until she'd learned to control herself. Ruby'd been a hellion at the time, not that Yang should really be one to point fingers about that – she'd been seven when herself when her Semblance had been activated in a storm of rage over a stubbed toe and caused a lot of damage for years to come. That hadn't really changed, even now.

Still, Ruby's quick and makes it to the swings before the rest of them and is already clambering onto a swing and kicks her legs to start.

"Come on! Push me Yang!"

There are four swings on the set and Weiss chooses to sit on the swing next to Ruby. Blake takes the furthest one away, leaving one swing between herself and the other two girls. Yang frowns but doesn't comment and starts pushing Ruby higher.

By the time Ruby is as high as Yang is willing to go with her sister and Ruby is shouting in exhilaration, Weiss is begging her to push her just as high. Weiss is just as demanding and noisy as she was when she was seventeen, but at least she is a lot cuter and cheerier about it now.

"Me too, me too, Yang! I want to go even higher than Ruby!" Weiss is shrill, but she adds, "Please, please, please!"

So Yang obliges and pushes both girls at once and they shriek with glee whenever their momentum brings them higher. They kick their legs, trying to beat each other to see who can get the highest. Yang offers to push Blake but she shakes her head resolutely and sits wordlessly on her swing without moving. It makes Yang nervous, but she doesn't press the issue.

"I'm gonna jump, watch me Yang!" Ruby says just as she starts sailing forward to the highest point.

"What? No, Ruby – ," Yang cries out as Ruby jumps. Ruby is six again and her Aura hasn't been activated yet, as Yang'd already deduced, so she won't be able to heal. Yang's heart hammers in her chest and she steps forward as Ruby soars through the air and lands on her feet at a crouch.

"You jump too!" Ruby crows to Weiss, still at a crouch to mark where she landed. She wants to see who can jump the furthest, Yang knows because they used to do it when they were kids. She now knows why her parents and Uncle Qrow didn't like it back then. Children seem so fragile when they can't heal with an Aura. Yang remembers being rather resilient as a child, but nothing compares to the resilience of being able to heal right away like she has gotten used to.

Weiss looks determined and prepared, butYang grabs her around the waist before she can jump as well. "Oh no you don't!"

"Yang!" Ruby whines, "Why'd you do that? You are being just like a grown up. Stupid head." Ruby stands from her crouch and stomps her feet on the grass. Yang gapes at her sister.

"Am not!" she says despite herself. Looking at a six year old Ruby is making her feel like she is a kid again herself, trying to match her sister's mentality. "Come on, let's go have lunch." Hopefully food will distract them.

It does and Ruby raises her arms above her head in excitement, "COOKIES!"

She takes them to the vending machine located just outside the park. While there is no cookies, there is enough junk food and soda that Ruby is satisfied.

"I've never had food like this before!" Ruby tells Weiss. "From a machine in a little baggie like this. Usually daddy and Uncle Qrow make all our food for us. Mommy used to too." They've returned to the picnic table and Ruby and Weiss sit on either side of her while Blake sits alone on the other side alone.

Yang has never really thought about it, but she guesses it is true that until she'd gone out with friends from Signal, all of the food she'd eaten had been fresh and homemade - by one of her parents or Uncle Qrow. She and Ruby been loved and cared for; even when things got hard Taiyang or Qrow always managed to make them warm meals and snacks in between.

"Me too," Weiss says. She struggles to open a bag of pretzels that Yang has to help her with. With a shrug, Yang starts opening all of their soda cans for them as well. "My dad usually has a personal chef make all my meals for Winter and me."

"Oooh," Ruby says with interest before turning to her snacks. Blake doesn't say anything and just eats quietly, thanking Yang with a nod when she opens her soda for her. Weiss leans into Yang's side and Yang is surprised when she glances down to see Weiss staring openly up at her. She doesn't have a scar over her eye, Yang notices.

Blue eyes wide, Weiss reaches up with crumby fingers and touches Yang's scarf.

"I like your scarf. Soft and orange." Weiss pets at Yang's neck, touching the fabric.

"Oh." Yang blinks and wipes her greasy chip fingers on the kerchief around her waist and undoes her scarf. She winds it around Weiss's neck. "Here then, you can wear it for now. Looks cute." Weiss has got on a cheap cotton dress on, white with yellow flowers, and white flip-flops that are a size too large. The orange of Yang's scarf adds a cute accent.

Weiss lights up with the attention and grins with all of her teeth up at her and touches the scarf. Weiss shifts and moves into Yang's lap to eat instead. Yang isn't certain why Weiss is suddenly so attached to her, but it is cute. Plus, Yang can't wait to tease Weiss about it when this is over.

Ruby's burping on soda when she notices the new seating arrangements. She stares at Weiss for a bit before declaring she wants to sit on Yang's lap too.

It takes some readjusting, but Yang manages to sit both girls on one leg each before she looks over to Blake. "Want to sit with us, Blakey?"

Yang might have to scoot back a bit, but she is certain she can fit another, but Blake shakes her head. Her ears are drawn back in their ribbon and Yang worries wordlessly. She had fixed the ribbon back over Blake's cat ears before returning to campus because Yang didn't want to out Blake to anyone at school.

When she hears the sound of bags crinkling into balls she returns her attention to Weiss and Ruby. Weiss is staring up at Yang in a way that can only be described as adoring and Ruby is glaring indignantly at Weiss, bag crumpled in her hands.

"My sister! Get off!" Ruby screams just before she shoves hard at Weiss, who almost falls off Yang's lap except Yang catches her. Her mouth drops as she looks at her sister, whose jaw is set and angry and her hands are raising in fists to hit Weiss again.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaims and grabs her sister's fist before she can hit Weiss who has started crying. "What's gotten into you? Stop!" Ruby struggles against Yang.

"Yang's my sister, go away!"

"Fucking hell, calm down Ruby." Yang pushes both of them off her lap and keeps Ruby from attacking Weiss again by pinning her sister between her thighs. She sets Weiss on top of the picnic table. Blake watches them with wide eyes and has removed her crackers and soda from the table and inched away from them, ribbon plastered flat against her head. "Hey, shh… are you okay Weiss?"

"You swore!" Ruby shouts as she struggles and Weiss shakes her head while crying. Weiss throws her arms around Yang's neck and hair which just makes Ruby angrier. Yang stares at her team, one crying, one terrified, and one seething. She is feeling a mixture of all three right now and she isn't sure what to do. She wipes at Weiss's face which is getting snotty and coaxes Blake into sitting back down and finishing her crackers while waiting for Ruby to calm down, still wedged in between Yang's thighs.

Once Weiss's tears have stopped and Blake's finished eating, Ruby's mostly calmed down but she is still scowling at Weiss.

"Hey, Blake?" Blake startles and looks up at Yang, eyes darting between the three of them. "Do you think you can take Weiss and go play on the swings or pick some flowers over there, while I talk to Ruby?"

Blake nods cautiously, her ears are less tense in their ribbon. Weiss shakes her head and her hands pull at Yang's hair trying to hold onto her tighter and refuses to let go.

"I wanna stay with you, make Ruby go away with Blake."

"Please, Weiss?" Yang tries to untangle her hair from Weiss's sweaty grip. Weiss pouts and looks at her forlornly when Blake takes her hand and leads her away to go look at some flowers the opposite way of the swings. She can hear Blake talking softly to Weiss as they go. Well at least Blake can speak.

Making certain that their teammates are still within her sight but not too close (just in case Ruby wants to take another swing), Yang finally releases her sister who pulls away after a moment and crosses her arms and turns away from Yang. She sighs and picks up Ruby's black flip-flop that had fallen off in the struggle. The black pair had originally been for Blake, but the red pair had been much too small for Ruby and the red fit perfect on Blake. Yang picks her sister up and sets her on top of the picnic table to put her flip-flop back on. Ruby turns her head away, her lips pinched together, unwilling to look at Yang.

"Hey, come on Rubes. Look at me." Ruby glances over at her nickname but doesn't respond. "Can you tell me what is wrong?"

Ruby shakes her head, but mumbles, "'hate you,"

"Aw, Ruby. I love you." Yang knocks her forehead against her sister's and ruffles both her hands into her sister's hair. "You're my little baby sister, okay? No one is more important to me than you."

Eyes watering, Ruby sniffs. "Really?"

"Of course."

Ruby snots all over Yang's combat jacket as she buries her head into Yang's shoulder. "You're mine. My sister. Not Weiss's. Blake's neither."

Yang sighs, rubbing her sister's back.

"I'm always your sister, Rubes, but now I am your BIG big sister and I have more responsibilities now. Weiss and Blake don't have a big sister like me right now, so I'm going to be there for your friends too, okay? But you're still my baby sis and I'm always going to be there for you, so when you need my attention you have to ask, understand?"

Ruby frowns, "Blake and Weiss are NOT my friends."

"'Course they are Rubbles. You guys had fun together on the swings didn't you?"

Ruby shrugs, "I didn't even know them 'fore today…" she trails off and frowns. Yang rubs her sister's back and sighs. The medics had told her that while the girls were now six, they were not from any specific time when they were six - just a composite. Thinking about what had happened just before they'd been changed back into six year olds would disorient them and eventually give them headaches that Yang'd been warned to take them to the hospital for.

"Hey," Yang says lightly, trying to bring her sister back to the present. "Ruby, whether or not Weiss is your friend, you can't hit people." Ruby grunts.

"You hit people all the time."

"Well," Yang hedges, because it's true. Especially when she'd been eight, which is what Ruby remembers her as. "That is wrong of me Ruby. I shouldn't hit people, even when they make me mad. You shouldn't either. So let's do better together, okay?"

Ruby watches were a long while, silver eyes shining before she finally sighs. "Fine," her sister moans in resignation.

"Do you think you can apologize to Weiss, the way mama taught us?"

Ruby doesn't hesitate before nodding. Yang sits back and lets her sister jump off the table and watches as Ruby runs in the direction of Weiss and Blake. She watches them and can hear Ruby when she apologizes and tells Weiss she was wrong and she wouldn't hit Weiss again. Yang smiles when Weiss and Blake bestow Ruby with a bouquet of flowers they'd picked – technically it was against the park's rules to pick flowers, but she watches them as they start picking more flowers together while giggling.

Before getting up and joining her mini-team, Yang digs through her pockets to find a hair elastic and quickly French braids her hair. She doesn't want to chance her hair getting pulled again.

When the girls see Yang approach, they gather all of the flowers they've picked together and put them together, even the flowers Weiss and Blake had given to Ruby. They give it to Yang with smiles and dirty fingers. Yang pretends she isn't touched over their present and brushes dirt off their clothes for them.

"I've gotta go pee, gotta go pee." Weiss tugs on Yang's shorts before letting go and stepping away sending a cautious glance at Ruby who doesn't notice and is instead complimenting Blake on her ribbon which keeps twitching.

"Um, okay then. Let's head inside and take care of that, I guess."

By the time they make it back to the campus, Weiss is jumping from foot to foot and chanting about how she has to pee. They don't have time to make it back to the dorm bathrooms on the other side of campus, so Yang leads the kids into the closest building. The closest bathroom happens to be right next door to the lecture hall where Professor Port's Grimm's Studies class takes place. Yang crosses her fingers in hope that Port is not in the vicinity.

Weiss dashes into the first stall she sees before coming straight back out looking miserably at Yang. "Someone peed on the seat."

"Go into the next one then." Ruby is starting to look drowsy and she raises her arms to be picked up and Yang obliges her. Blake hangs back like usual and doesn't say anything – Yang is starting to get concerned about her. "You okay, there Blake-y?"

Blake just nods and plays with the bottom of her too-big t-shirt, which falls nearly to her knees and almost covers up her shorts. The shirt is printed with ladybugs and she'd look adorable if she didn't look so despondent.

Weiss takes a while and Yang has to ask, "You don't, you know – Need help in there, do you Weiss?" Yang can't remember what age kids stop needing help using the toilet and she really hopes it is sometime before they turn six.

Weiss responds by flushing the toilet and comes out, cheeks red. "Someone needs to clean these toilets."

Weiss has trouble reaching the sink so Yang has to balance Ruby in one arm and a bag of clothes hanging off the crook of her elbow and give Weiss a boost up with her other arm all while trying not to squash the flowers. She has to remind Weiss to use soap and to work up a sud before rinsing her hands.

It is a relief when they can finally leave the bathroom, though the walk back to the dorm couldn't be longer. Ruby falls asleep in her arms and Weiss insists on holding her hand that isn't balancing Ruby on her hip and Blake follows with her head down wordlessly and Yang just really wishes she'd left the bags with her friends to take back to their dorm for her. Plus she really needs to put the flowers in water, because they are starting to wilt in her hand.

Just outside the dorm, Nora pops out of team JNPR's dorm and trills, "There you guys are!"

"Yeah," Yang says and tries not to make her smile too pained but it must show on her face because Nora hums in laughter.

"Aren't you guys just the cutest, look at you!" Nora says, mostly to Weiss who stares at her with unblinking eyes. Sensing their nonrecognition, Nora introduces herself, "I'm Nora and I could just eat you guys up."

Weiss's hold on her hand tightens and she shuffles behind Yang and away from Nora who laughs.

"Well I got some stuff for you." Sure enough Nora has two large plastic bags, full to the brim. Digging through one, Nora pulls out a picture book, "Even got a book! It has a sloth on the cover, isn't that just the coolest? Here Blake, I got it for you mostly."

Eyes glancing at both Yang then Nora, Blake reaches for the book with a small smile.

"Thank you," Yang mouths and Nora waves her off with a grin.

"You know, if you like, Blake and Weiss can come hang in our dorm – maybe build a blanket fort, if you want to put Ruby down to sleep in your room." Yang's tempted, but she knows things about her team that they've trusted her with because they are a team and for no other reason, things that their six-year old selves will not know to hide. They are in a particularly vulnerable position and Yang doesn't feel comfortable leaving them without her for too long. She has to protect her team, especially now when they cannot protect themselves.

"Nah, I think I got this for now – but thanks."

Nora nods knowingly and smiles at the girls one more time before tossing her bags in team RWBY's dorm for her and tells them they can come play with her and Ren anytime. Finally they can get inside and Yang can hopefully drop everything, as she steps back and beckons to let Weiss and Blake into the dorm first.

This is not the relaxing break she'd imagined for herself or her team.