"The Catalyst" : A Yang Xiao Long AU! #RWBYWATTYS

Chapter 12 : "The Nightmare"

Rei walked out of the hospital, a smile plastered across his face. Behind, the blonde brawler cross her arms behind her head, yawning with both exhaustion and eagerness in her amber eyes. Rei's bright, blue eyes landed on the little girl standing outside waiting for them. Her beautiful violet hair gave her away instantly, a large and toothy smile already spreading.

"Yuki!?" Rei exclaimed, his eyes widening greatly in surprise. The child, around the age of 6, shook her head excitedly. Her violet hair flipped over many times, her energetic presence widening Rei's smile.

"Papa!" Yuki shouted, running towards him, her arms flailing at her sides. She reached Rei, just as Rei swallowed her into a massive hug.

"Is it really you? But how....?" Rei asked, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"Papa! Why did you leave!?" the little girl asked, tears leaving her own eyes as she removed her head from Rei's chest. Rei paused for a slight second, wanting to shout his thoughts. He so badly wanted to, to ask how she escaped.

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Papa's at school. He's studying hard to keep his promise, remember?" Rei responded, just before the world before him blew into flames. He was thrown from his original position, relatively un-wounded. He opened his eyes, painfully slow. The small, minimal movement caused him to use a great amount of energy.

"Yuki!" Rei shouted, leaping to his feet while denying his mind that he was in pain.

"Not again....Please no...." Rei thought to himself as his eyes darted around, looking for his adopted daughter. He spotted her, aways off to his right. She was struggling to stand, as her legs had been completely blown off by the explosion.

"Yuki!" Rei shouted, running to her. He nearly made it, but he was blown back towards the hospital ruins. He grunted in pain, opening his eyes just briefly enough to see Yuki raising her hand, calling for help.

Just as she disappeared in an explosion of flames.

---

Rei awoke, sweat beading down his face. He quickly shot up from his bed, his panicked eyes shot around the room he was in. After another second of searching, he realized it was just a nightmare. The same nightmare he'd been having for years.

Ever since it did happen, in real life.

Rei allowed himself to fall back to his bed, his head hitting his pillow the exact time his back made contact with the sheets. After some restless turning and a few abandoned attempts at sleep, he decided he couldn't sleep much more.

At first, he thought he was still on the hospital recuperating in his room. After stumbling to the door, he realized that he was in his room at Beacon, with the other three girls. He quickly exited the room, not wanting to wake the others.

---

Ruby moved slightly, shifting uncomfortably in her bunk above Weiss.

"Yang? Are you awake?" Ruby politely asked. Yang got up from her top bunk, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"Yeah..." Yang replied, looking sympathetically at Rei's exit. He'd left only moments ago, but it felt like years to Yang.

"You heard him too, didn't you?" Ruby asked once again, searching the darkness for her sister.

"Yeah, I did." Yang replied, walking out of the room in the direction Rei had left.

"Weiss? I know you're awake. You can stop hiding it now." Ruby said to the darkness once again.

"Oh, shut up dolt. It's not like I'm hiding in my own room or anything. Besides, I'm a princess. I don't need to hide in my own kingdom. M" Weiss replied in a hurt tone.

"Our room." Ruby corrected jokingly.

"Dolt. So, what was that about? With Rei? And why was he shouting 'Yuki' in his sleep?" Weiss asked Ruby, listening intently.

"Three years ago, Rei found a little girl while buying food with my dad. She was abandoned, at the age of three. That's what we thought at first, but then we found that her parents were murdered. Rei felt bad, so he took her home with my dad. When they first found her, she was crazy. She was crying, shouting sad things about her parents and how she wanted them. She even screamed 'Mommy' and Daddy' every now and then in her sleep. When they got home with her, she had fainted. She woke up the next day, only she kept calling Rei 'Daddy'. Apparently, her dad looked exactly like an older Rei." Ruby paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"She also called Yang 'Mommy' after a while. She was with us for 2 years........" Ruby trailed off, the very thoughts beginning to hurt her mind.

"What happened?" Weiss asked, very intrigued.

"She died in an explosion, a year ago."

-----

Rei found himself at the training rooms, a quiet and peaceful place for him to practice and vent his feelings god to himself. He turned the lights on, flicking a switch that illuminated the room in a bright light, basking the equipment in golden yellow. To his right, a very large battle simulator stood where one could fight holograms that landed punches that felt real. To his left, small arenas meant for sparring were scattered throughout the room.

He walked to the Simulator, activating the machinery by placing his scroll.

"Now, I do believe it is well past curfew, Mr.Schnee." Ozpin said as he slowly walked to Rei. Rei let out an annoyed sigh, but held his temper. He knew that, despite his current state, even he didn't get special privileges.

"How'd you know I'm a Schnee? I never told you." Rei asked as he turned around. His blue eyes met the brown Irises of Ozpin's.

"Qrow says a lot of things." Ozpin replied simply.

"Oz, I'm sorry but I can't sleep. I know, I'm breaking curfew. I don't care. All I need to do now is clear my head. 30 minutes. That's all I'm asking." Rei stated, opening his arms slightly and in a questioning manner. Ozpin smiled, probably knowing exactly what Rei was going to say before he said it.

"You have an hour. If you're not in your room by then, Ms.Goodwitch will see you in detention."

"Thank you, Oz."

----

Rei had set the simulator to create 4 holograms, each at Diamond leveled difficulty. The simulator had a function that allowed the user(s) to select different difficulties, allowing for rookie use.

The levels were as follows:

(1.) Grand Masters
(2.) Diamond
(3.) Gold
(4.) Platinum
(5.) Bronze

As he fought the bots in hand-to-hand combat, his mind couldn't help but wonder and wage war in his conscious.

Why did the nightmare return after almost a month? What brought the memories to the forefront of his mind so much that he remembered everything so vividly. Why did he remember it so vividly?

Rei clocked the last bot in the face, the hologram disappearing in a haze of small orange cubes.

"Roman Torchwick...." Rei said, thoughtfully. He had to figure out why Roman was after Weiss, and why Roman had killed his mother years ago.

But then one had to ask themselves, who was evil enough to kill the Queen of Vale?