RWBY 1. Chapter 1

**This is my very first RWBY fic! I'm really excited about the story, and plan for it to be pretty long (if I can find time to actually finish writing it). Bumblebee is my main focus, but White Rose will be around, as well. If you don't like those pairings, you don't have to read this! I'm not forcing your eyes to the computer screen, click away, click away!**

**Please review if you like the story, it gives me encouragement to keep writing more, and faster!**

**Also, I don't own RWBY or the characters :(**

Blake Belladonna stood impatiently in line at the checkout counter, looking pointedly at the ground while doing everything in her power to keep her ears still. Of course, her agitation at having to try to keep them still only made them twitch more. She sighed in exasperation. You'd think that since she was a regular at this particular supermarket, she'd be receiving less attention by now.

Her turn to checkout finally arriving, she quickly paid for her groceries and began collecting her bags. It was at this moment that she felt a shift in the room. Attention was no longer being paid to the Faunus girl; someone else had captured the store's attention.

Curiously, Blake looked up, trying to find the person who would garner so much attention. No doubt, it would be some other poor Faunus who had wandered into this human dominated area.

Quickly finding the focus near the front door, Blake gasped at loud as she unconsciously shouted, "Yang!"

Hearing her name, the blonde huntress quickly snapped her head in Blake's direction. Locking eyes, Blake watched as a small flurry of emotions passed through those lilac eyes. Finally settling on an emotion Blake couldn't quite pinpoint…relief, maybe…Yang gave a small smile and wave as she started walking in Blake's direction.

Blake could certainly see why Yang garnered such complete attention from the onlookers. To say that Yang had aged well was…well, a complete understatement. Her blonde hair was still long, wavy, and wild, but now it seemed to have a permanent around the edges. Almost as if it were actually aflame. It looked like her huntress uniform hadn't changed much from their time at Beacon, as she still wore the vest over a crop top, showing off her ample chest. She must have grown another four inches since Beacon, as her short shorts made her legs appear even longer than before. She truly looked like a model, especially with the way her hips swayed as she walked.

Her features had changed slightly though. Once carefree and overly confident, a greater sense of maturity and sophistication could now be seen lurking in her eyes.

Blake exhaled, realizing that she had been holding her breath for far too long. Suddenly, she started to panic as she had no idea what to say to her old partner. Did her heart always beat this loudly?

If Blake had been bothered by the attention before, now every eye in the store was fixated on the two girls, wondering what the famous huntress, Yang Xiao Long, could possibly want with the Faunus girl who came in from time to time.

Stopping a few feet from her, Blake felt the familiar heat wave wash quickly over her body. She closed her eyes for just a second as she savored the familiarity of that little moment. Yang noticed and gave a small smirk, which Blake noted never fully reached her eyes, but was the first to speak nonetheless.

"Fancy meeting you here, Blakey."

Blake flinched at Yang's use of the pet name she had given Blake while at school. She tried to smile in return as she attempted to keep the conversation lighthearted, "I should be saying the same to you, as it's not every day we get to see a famous huntress in this neighborhood. What brings you here?"

Yang scratched her head in a very Yang-like manner before responding, "Oh, well, I was here dispatching some renegade Grimm and…you know…I got really _hungry_ and came here to pick up some snacks!"

Blake laughed as Yang grinned at her. Hearing Yang talk put her more at ease. The Yang she knew was still very much in there.

Slowly, Yang's grin faded as she began looking more and more uncomfortable.

"So…uh…you living in this area?"

Looked at the ground, Blake responded, "Yes." She hoped that Yang would just leave it at that and move on to another subject. There were so many other things that Blake wanted to talk about. She wanted to know all about how Yang's life was going right now. What it was like being a huntress. How Ruby and Weiss were doing. All of the things she was missing out on…

"With him?"

But of course, it was unfair for Blake to think that she could ask about any of those things when there was a giant elephant in the room they needed to deal with first. Sighing, Blake looked off to the side as she answered, "Yes, with him." She couldn't bring herself to look Yang in the eyes, although she could tell that Yang was trying just as hard to avoid eye contact with her.

But never being the one to shy away from uncomfortable situations, Yang gave a small chuckle (or was it a sarcastic scoff?) before nonchalantly saying, "Well, that's cool. How's that going?"

Frowning, Blake decided to answer somewhat honestly.

"It's…different…than I thought it would be." Internally, she rolled her eyes. _Different_ was the nicest way to describe the past three years. Disappointing, frustrating, _heart-breaking_ would have been much more accurate.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" she began, looking truly sorry for the girl, "But uh…I should probably head back now though…don't want to get chewed out again for being late…"

Blake quickly snapped her head up, finding Yang already turning to leave. She felt her throat constrict as her eyes burned with threatening tears. Before realizing what she was doing, she reached out a hand and grabbed Yang's arm, shouting, "No, wait!"

Yang paused, looking at the hand on her arm, which Blake quickly dropped, before turning back towards her. Curiosity filled her eyes, along with pain and…was there a tiny bit of hope in there? No, that was just wishful thinking on Blake's part.

Suddenly feeling rather shy under that gaze, she looked at the ground as she shuffled her feet a little bit. She didn't really know what to say, but she really didn't want Yang to leave so soon. "I was…uh…I was just about to make dinner…so if you're hungry…you're welcome to come over…."

She looked up once the invitation had been made to catch Yang's reaction, which was the epitome of confliction. She couldn't explain why, but she really needed Yang to say yes, more than anything else in her life. She took a deep breath, swallowing her large amount of pride, as she added, "Please, Yang. No one else is at home and I…just…just please let me make you dinner."

Finally making up her mind, Yang resumed her jovial nature in an instant and grinned at Blake. "Ok, ok, no need to beg, Blakey! Just as long as we aren't having tuna fish sandwiches!"

Blake chuckled lightly before asking, "How about just tuna?" causing Yang to burst into laughter.

"God, I haven't had tuna in forever!"

Blake was willing to bet that "forever" had been about three years, since the last time they had eaten it together.

* * *

The walk back to Blake's apartment had been cheerful and light as the former partners began to catch up on what team RWBY had been doing since graduation. From the way Yang told it, she spent most of her time beating up bad guys with Ruby, while Weiss nagged at them from the sidelines.

Reaching her apartment, Blake unlocked the door and flipped on the light switch while gesturing Yang to come inside.

"Sorry, I didn't really expect to have company tonight…" she began, almost apologetically, feeling the somber energy that had come over her friend.

She watched as Yang stepped into the center of the small living room, taking a quick surveillance of her surroundings. A sofa with an accompanying coffee table took up one half of the room, littered with newspaper and magazine clippings of any article that had the word "Faunus" in it. A small, wooden dining table with four wooden chairs was situated close to the kitchen, which was viewable over a bar countertop that was also covered with clippings. And in the corner nearly hidden by the front door was one comfy, worn out chair sitting next to a slender, floor to ceiling bookcase that was bursting at the seams with carefully organized books.

Yang smiled as she turned towards the bookcase. "I can see the one place you spend a lot of time," she said while gesturing towards the beaten up old chair.

Blake chuckled in response as she went into the kitchen to start preparing the food. The blonde huntress walked up to the bar, planting her elbows on the countertop as she closely watched Blake. Feeling the lilac eyes upon her, Blake cleared her throat nervously before asking, "S-so any other interesting developments in Team RWBY…recently?" She felt herself swallow the words "since I left," just in time.

"Yes, actually," Yang began as Blake turned her attention back to the tuna. "Ruby and Weiss are dating now."

"W-What?" Blake managed to squeak out in surprise, looking at Yang incredulously as the blonde-haired girl laughed at her response.

"Yeah, just recently it happened. And you'll never guess who actually had the courage to admit it first," Yang wiggled her eyebrows at Blake as the Faunus girl continued to stare at her, mouth agape.

"No way!" She shook her head vigorously in denial. "There's no way Weiss Schnee confessed to Ruby! Just no way."

Yang nodded enthusiastically. "She totally did! I saw it with my own two eyes," she said as she pointed to her eyes as emphasis.

"Amazing," Blake said as she flipped the tuna in the skillet, still shaking her head in disbelief. She found it very difficult to picture the icy heiress professing her love for the bumbling brunette whom she loved to scold at every possible opportunity. Now, she could see Ruby doing something like that. And Yang…but Weiss seemed too emotionally distant for that.

Breaking up her train of thought, Yang added, "You know, they're actually super cute together now. Weiss still scolds the hell out of her, but it's a little bit…softer…now. Almost like she's only doing it because she cares so much for Ruby and wants to protect her. Well, most of the time, anyway. She is still Weiss after all."

Both girls chuckled as Blake picked up the two plates containing their dinner and walked towards the dining table, motioning with her head for Yang to join her. The blonde eagerly pushed away from the counter and dropped herself into the chair in front of the first plate Blake had set down.

As the two girls began eating, Blake was quiet for a moment, still thinking about Ruby and Weiss dating. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Weiss had let Ruby get closer to her than anyone else in her whole life. For her part, Ruby and Yang shared the quality of being able to weasel their way closer to people who tried to keep them away. Breaking down walls was their forte. At least, that had certainly been Blake's experience with Yang.

"So," Yang began after not too long, snapping Blake back to the table, "I was sent out this way today because there was a Grimm in the city, like I told you. But recently, someone has been releasing a _lot_ of Grimm all over Vale _all_ of the time."

"Grimm being…_released_…in the city?" Blake narrowed her eyes as she thought about the potential implications behind this.

"Yeah, released. Like someone is scooping Grimm out of the forests and dropping them in the middle of the suburbs or a busy intersection or a school parking lot." Yang's features filled with anger as she spoke, while Blake felt herself filling with concern.

"Has anyone been hurt? Do they know who's responsible?" Blake's mind was working overtime, trying to figure out who would be doing such a thing and any possible motive for doing so.

Yang shook her head forlornly as she set down her fork, now finished with her dinner.

"Several people have been seriously injured, but we have no idea who's behind it or why. As you can imagine, the snow queen is loving not being able to solve this riddle." Yang sniggered at Weiss' plight before continuing. "It's not hard to dispatch the Grimm, you know how easy most of them are."

"But most citizens of Vale aren't trained as huntresses," Blake cut in.

Yang nodded her head, "Exactly. It's getting awfully hard to be everywhere at once."

Her adrenaline was pumping now. God, how she had missed being a part of this world. "Have you thought about splitting everyone up? Covering areas solo so that someone will be able to respond quickly to any attack?"

Leaning back in her chair with a sigh, Yang nodded at her. "That's what we've been doing. Divide and conquer, blah blah. Luckily, Ruby can cover three times the normal area with her speed, but Vale isn't exactly _small_, you know?"

Blake leveled a serious gaze at Yang, locking eyes once again, she felt her heart beat increase, but this time it was from a combination of those lilac eyes and the news she had just been told.

"You have to let me help you," she began forcefully. "One less area to worry about. And I can help find whoever is behind this. You _know_ that I can be useful, Yang."

Yang looked at her with solemn eyes as she slowly began, "Blake…"

At that second, the front door rattled as a key was inserted into the lock and the doorknob turned. Blake felt her heart drop in her chest as the door opened and in walked a tall Faunus with brown hair highlighted in red. Clearly, he wasn't in the best of moods, judging by the way he slammed the door shut behind him and threw the newspaper in his hands towards the mess on the coffee table.

"A-Adam!" Blake stuttered, turning towards him as he finally noticed the blonde girl in the room. She grimaced at the smirk that spread across his face as he recognized who it was sitting at his dining room table.

"Why hello there, blondie," he began as he walked over to them. "What brings you down from your castle tonight?"

The sound of chair legs scrapping across the ground filled Blake's ears as Yang abruptly stood up from the table. Not knowing her own strength, her chair crashed into the wall behind the table and fell to the floor with a loud bang. The temperature in the room also noticeably increased by several degrees.

"I was just leaving, actually, so don't waste anymore brain cells trying to be clever," Yang said coolly as she straightened out her vest and began walking towards the door. She stopped in front of the door, turning her head slightly towards where Blake was still sitting, frozen to her chair by the sudden change in atmosphere. "It was good to see you, Blake."

Adam sneered at the huntress' back as she turned the doorknob and opened the door. "Thank god you dumped this loser of a partner," he directed at Blake.

Yang froze in the middle of the doorway as Blake quickly stood up, knowing the fiery girl didn't exactly have the longest fuse and she would likely need to intervene in the upcoming fight. After a couple of seconds, a scorching wave of heat burst out of Yang, quickly washing over the room and disappearing as the young huntress slammed the door behind her.

The bang of the door made Blake jump. She hadn't been expecting Yang to leave so peacefully after that comment. She glared at Adam as he sniggered. "Oh come on! That was funny!" he said as she shoved by him and out the door. She needed to catch up with Yang.

Thankfully, the blonde huntress had not yet mastered the art of being stealthy, quiet, or low-key. Especially when angry. Blake easily tracked the fireball's trail of heat and scorch marks down to the street, where she could see the glowing of Yang's hair a short way away.

"Yang, wait!" she called out as she ran to catch up with the girl. Yang continued walking away, but thankfully didn't try to run from her.

Reaching out, Blake grabbed Yang's shoulder, but quickly recoiled as Yang's body temperature was scolding hot. Clutching her hand to her chest in pain, Blake felt tears sting at her eyes. "Yang, I'm sorry!" she shouted.

The blonde whirled around, causing Blake to take a step back from the level of heat radiating off of the girl. Yang looked at Blake's hand briefly with concern, so Blake shook it lightly to show that she was ok. Satisfied with this response, concern quickly turned to hurt and anguish.

"Yang…" Blake began, not entirely sure what she could say to take that pain away, but wanting to say something anyway.

"No, Blake," Yang interrupted, shaking her head as she took a step backwards. "Don't try to apologize to me."

"We had a good thing going, Blake," Yang continued, voice cracking with emotion as she threw her hands out to the side as emphasis. "You…me…Team RWBY," she continued, "and you choose that no-good loser who lured you in with promises of changing the world. And guess what? The world hasn't changed a bit. You deserved to be a part of something so much better, Blake."

No longer shouting, tears began to well up in Yang's eyes, but she looked directly at Blake anyway, not embarrassed to show how deeply it had hurt that Blake had left her. "You could have changed the world with us. With me…" she said softly as she dropped her arms to her side, defeat written on her face. She took one last long, shaky breath before she turned away from Blake and began to walk away.

Blake hadn't felt this broken in years…not since leaving Beacon. She wouldn't have thought that it was possible for her heart to break into more pieces, but watching Yang walk away from her was doing just that. She clutched her arms to her chest as the long overdue tears began spilling from her eyes. She couldn't handle this, not again.

"What if that's what I want now? What if I need you now?" she shouted at Yang's back, "A-and Team RWBY…" she added as a wave of embarrassment washed over her, erasing her short spike of courage. She was hoping beyond hope that Yang would turn around, that she would come back and wrap Blake up in a warm hug. That things could return to the way they had been.

She watched with bated breath as Yang paused for a second, before clenching her fists tightly at her sides and looking down at her feet. Her answer was barely more than a whisper, so inaudible that a normal human ear wouldn't have even been able to pick it up.

But Blake's Faunus ears picked up every painful syllable. The words echoed in her head as she watched her former teammate walk out of her life once again.

"I don't think I can handle being your second choice."


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope that everyone likes the premise of the story so far! Please read/review and I will try to find more time to finish this story (which could still be a long way off). Hopefully, it holds everyone over to season 2 though! **

**I don't own RWBY or the characters.**

* * *

Letting the door shut heavily behind her, Yang fought the desire to lay down on the ground right there in the foyer and go to sleep for a long, long time. It might even be worth the scolding from Weiss. Well…maybe not.

Deciding that she could at least reach the sofa in the giant study to the right of the main entrance, Yang clumsily pulled off her boots and trudged over, throwing herself down face first, allowing her right arm and leg to hang off at an odd angle. Moving them just seemed like too much effort right now. Not when her head was swimming with so many conflicting emotions at the moment. When she jumped out of bed this morning, she had not been ready for this day _at all_.

After a few minutes, Yang heard voices coming down the stairs into the front entryway. The next second, she heard a gasp and immediately knew what was coming next.

"YANG!" Weiss shouted shrilly from the foyer, stomping into the study in order to properly scold the girl, trailed silently by Ruby Rose. "How many times do I have to tell you to put your boots into the closet _where they belong_?!"

The girl under scrutiny rolled over on the sofa sluggishly in order to properly face the enraged heiress.

"I think one more time ought to do it," she answered with a weak grin, knowing that Weiss' face would turn an extra shade of red at the response.

Stomping her foot like a child, Weiss yelled "Ugh!" throwing up her arms in exasperation at Yang's insolence.

It was at this time that Ruby decided to step in and try to placate the situation between her older sister and girlfriend before it could escalate into a large argument like it usually did.

"Weiss, I'm sure she has a good reason for just leaving them there…" Ruby looked at her hopefully, while Weiss crossed her arms over her chest and glared her. Yang sighed, realizing that she would need to give them her reason for so flagrantly disobeying general princess etiquette.

"I found her."

The admission came out soft and barely audible, but the meaning behind it rang throughout the room as if Yang had shouted it at the top of her lungs.

She sat up on the sofa, allowing Ruby to quickly take a seat beside her. The young girl threw her arms around Yang's shoulders in a comforting hug. Yang held on to her sister's arm, trying to soak up as much comfort as she could from the young girl.

Hearing a small cough, Yang looked up to see Weiss still standing with her arms crossed in front of them.

"Well it's about time you found her," she stated flatly. "You've only been following every piece of gossip you've heard about a Faunus frequenting an area for _years_ now." Weiss tried to roll her eyes at Yang to underscore her sarcasm, but couldn't quite pull it off. Her slightly furrowed brow gave away her own concern over the missing Faunus girl.

Sighing again, Yang said, "I told her about the Grimm attacks that have been happening and…she said she wanted back on the team."

At this, Ruby gave a small squeal from beside her on the sofa. Weiss shot her a glare that quickly silenced the brunette as she turned back to Yang, regal annoyance back at full power.

"She thinks that we will just let her back in, just like that?" Weiss snapped her fingers before she began pacing angrily across the room. "She hasn't trained with us since Beacon, for crying out loud, and she's not even an official huntress! Plus, for all we know, she could be the one dropping Grimm in the streets in some sort of Faunus independence movement!"

Yang felt anger start to bubble up at that statement and opened her mouth to let Weiss have it, but thankfully Ruby stepped in first.

"H-hey, Weiss, you know that's not true! Blake would never endanger innocent people like that," Ruby stammered as she jumped up to stand between two older girls upon feeling the rise in temperature coming from her sister.

Trying to calm down her aura, Yang closed her eyes and took two calming breaths before responding curtly, "One, Blake would never do that. And two, she was genuinely shocked to hear about the attacks. I don't think anyone could possibly be that good of an actor."

Weiss let out a "tsk" sound as she continued wearing a track into the study floor. "Well, it could be that Adam guy. We know he's definitely not against some Faunus/human violence."

As Yang opened her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by the sound of one of their scrolls beeping to announce a new alert. Weiss quickly strode over to pick the small tablet off the table to read the message, letting out a sigh as she read its contents.

"Another Grimm just got dropped in the middle of the Arroyo district. Beowulf."

"I'll get it!" Ruby yelled as she waved her arm enthusiastically in the air before racing to the hallway closet to retrieve Crescent Rose. Yang couldn't help smiling at her younger sister's enthusiasm as raced out the door.

"Be…" Weiss began, only to be cut off by the sound of the front door slamming as Ruby's semblance carried her outside at lightning speed, a trail of red rose petals left in her wake. Weiss sighed before finishing, "…safe."

"Aww…look at the ice princess, all concerned about my little sister!" Yang cooed as she stood up and sauntered over to the smaller girl, feeling her attitude pick up immensely at the small blush that crept onto Weiss' cheeks.

"S-shut up, oaf," was the only response the proud girl could come up with. As Yang started laughing, Weiss' blush only deepened.

"Doesn't it bother you, all of the random rose petals that get left everywhere?" Yang continued to joke at the other girl's expense.

Weiss looked at the petals littered across the ground, gaze softening slightly as she quietly responded, "I'm actually quite fond of them…"

Yang was so taken aback by the honest reply from the heiress, she couldn't even think of something witty to say in response. Weiss finally noticed what she had just admitted to and quickly picked up her frosty demeanor, throwing up her hands in defeat and stomping out of the room while saying, "Picking up rose petals is much better than trying to get burn marks off of things!"

Yang laughed as she walked into the foyer after the girl. Rose petals did clean up a lot faster than burn marks - that was for sure. They ruined less articles of clothing, as well. Her laughter quickly faded as her thoughts turned back to their ex-teammate.

Truthfully, most of what she had focused on over the past few years was simply _finding_ the Faunus girl. She had never thought to plan out what to do if she found her, mostly because she didn't think Blake could be found. How do you find a ninja in a city the size of Vale? Yang had known that she had to at least try to find her, but why? So that they could become friends again? Teammates? More than that?

But Blake had wanted to come back. That's what she had shouted at Yang as she walked away, so why did Yang keep walking? Yang scrunched up her eyes in an effort to stop all of the thinking and come up with a simple conclusion.

It might actually be pretty nice to have Blake back, she thought to herself as she slowly picked up her boots and tossed them into the hall closet. As a teammate, at least.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to those that have written reviews! I've actually gotten some good ideas from some of you (which is making the story even longer, I believe). We still have a long way to go, so I hope that you're up for ride! Everything will (or should, unless I forget) be explained in due time. I hope everyone enjoys this continuation of the story.**

**I still don't own RWBY or the characters.**

* * *

The next day, Blake sat curled up in her favorite chair with a book open in one hand and a cup of hot tea in the other. Try as she might, she could not get her mind off the blonde haired huntress who had stormed back into her life last night. Realizing that she had just read the same sentence for the fifth time, she gave an exasperated sigh and set the book down in her lap. There was no use in even trying to avoid the thoughts of Yang and her former teammates today.

For the past three years, she had done a decent job of shutting out memories of her time at Beacon. That was one of her skills, after all. Being distant and unattached were two of the traits that had allowed her to survive years in the White Fang.

Beacon had changed all of that. She had enrolled in order to hone her fighting skills and become a huntress. Once a huntress, she would be able to protect others from some of the dangers in the world; she would be able to protect her Faunus brethren, as well.

She had never expected to make friends there. In fact, she had intentionally been keeping a distance from the other students when she first arrived. The last thing she wanted was someone to become a distraction for her. Of course, once they had been forced into pairs, Blake ended up with the biggest distraction of all, Yang Xiao Long.

On Team RWBY, Yang and Ruby had gone out of their way to try to form a closely knit group. Blake had been opposed to this at first, just as Weiss had been, but eventually she found the two sister's appeals to be too overwhelming. They were so sincere and honest that it became increasingly difficult to rebuff them time after time.

After several months, Blake had the first two human friends she'd ever had in her life. Weiss soon came around, as well. A year into their schooling, they were all close friends, which led to the unintended benefit of a startling improvement in their fighting capabilities. For their second and third years, Team RWBY was consistently the best team at Beacon, a fact that had made Weiss exceptionally proud (and sometimes downright unbearable).

Blake smiled, remembering the time Yang and she had intentionally fumbled their parts of a "relay" race in order to let Team JNPR win. Weiss didn't speak to them for an entire week after that.

It was during these last two years of school that Blake felt her relationship with Yang begin to shift slightly. At that time, it had been easy to find other students who would get fed up with their partners at one point or another. Or partners would avoid each other because they "spent too much time together already." Blake had thought that these other students were strange because no matter how much time she spent with Yang, she never got tired of the girl. In fact, she always felt like she didn't spend _enough_ time with her fiery partner. And, strangely enough, the immensely popular Yang seemed to feel the same way.

It had taken Blake a long time, much longer than she'd like to admit, to realize that the feelings she had for her partner ran deeper than just friendship. And when she had realized, she had decided that she could never say anything, afraid of ruining their friendship and the team chemistry.

This had been one of the most difficult decisions in her life. It had been especially hard to adhere too when the object of her affections was becoming increasingly flirtatious towards her. On multiple occasions, Blake had overheard students in the hallway wondering if they _were_ actually a couple. Those comments always brought to live the butterflies that seemed to live eternally in her stomach when Yang was around.

She was still happy and excited to be with her team, although they were all a little unsure of what the real world held for them after graduation. Would they stay together as a team, or drift apart as many hunters and huntresses seemed to do? There were currently no active teams of huntresses, only individuals who worked alone. Weiss was going to be taking several months off to attend to some family business obligations. Ruby and Yang didn't have any real plans other than to "have a blast," as Yang had so eloquently put it.

It was at this time, shortly before graduation when the future was so uncertain, that a surprise visitor had showed up at Beacon. Adam.

Blake had been delighted to see him. She had never really been sure if he had made it off that train alive the last time she had seen him. Without realizing it, she had been harboring a great deal of guilt over maybe having gotten him killed by leaving in the middle of the operation. Seeing him alive and well lifted this unknown burden completely off of her shoulders.

But Adam hadn't come all the way to Beacon just to say hello. He wanted her help. "_Needed_" her help. He said that he was still committed to improving the world for the Faunus race, but through non-violent means. The White Fang had become corrupt and uncontrollable, striking deals to work beside criminals and create a "new world order," and this didn't sit well with him.

She was the only other Faunus he knew that was also committed to non-violence. If they joined together, soon they would be able to recruit others like them. They could form another group to stand against the White Fang, a group that would show humans that not all Faunus were violent criminals.

All of the time spent at Beacon, Team RWBY had talked about how they would be able to save people. Save the world. Save Vale. But Adam was offering something that Blake hadn't even realized she wanted desperately. She wanted to save the Faunus.

So, under that intoxicating haze of saving her race, she had said yes.

She had gone back to the room to tell her teammates that she would be leaving. Even though it was only a few weeks before graduation, she couldn't see a real point in becoming an official huntress anymore. It was only a formality, after all. At least, that's what Adam had said at the time and Blake had wholeheartedly agreed.

Weiss had only said, "You're making a huge mistake," and stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, head turned away from Blake in apparent disgust. Ruby had started crying and said, "If you think it's for the best…" before giving her a long hug. And Yang…well Yang wouldn't even look at her. She only sat on the edge of Blake's bed staring at her hands, which were balled up tightly in front of her.

When Yang wouldn't even acknowledge her as she tried to say goodbye, Blake had become unreasonably angry. Uncharacteristically so. She had shouted at the silent girl that now she could see how Yang truly felt about her. Apparently, they had never been as close as she had imagined, Yang had just been playing with her emotions with all the flirting and "innocent" bits of physical contact. It was such a typical _human_ thing to do.

Blake cringed, that was one sentence she wholeheartedly wished she could take back.

She had then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, seething in an uncontrollable rage. But Yang had followed her. She caught up to Blake near the front entrance and had grabbed Blake's hand to stop her. Blake had spun around, ready to chew the blonde out some more, only to bite her tongue when she saw the tears in Yang's eyes.

"Please…" Yang had begged her as the tears began to spill over, "Please don't leave. We're partners, remember? If you want to help the Faunus, then I'll help you. Team RWBY can do anything, remember?" She had given a tiny, quivering smile at the end, looking so hopeful that Blake would reconsider.

But Blake was too disillusioned at the time to think through anything properly. Adam's offer had cast a spell so fiercely over her that she could not use think and anger was still clouding her normally astute judgment.

In the face of her tearful partner, she had said, "You could never understand what it's like to be treated differently just because of your appearance. How could you possibly fight for something you could never even truly understand?"

Looking back on this moment, Blake may as well have slapped the girl. It would have hurt her much less than that statement had. It had taken Blake several months to realize that Yang _was_ treated differently just for her appearance. Although it was different from some of the bullying directed towards the Faunus, Blake had personally witnessed many people judge Yang unfairly based solely on the girl's beautiful looks. If only Blake had understood that then…

But Blake had then turned and walked away, leaving the stunned girl behind. As she was walking through the exit, Yang had shouted after her, "But Blake, I love you!"

She had pretended that she hadn't heard her.

Adam had heard the confession as well, and was laughing outside when Blake walked up to meet him. He had said, "Such infatuation from a human girl…I think that's one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time!"

Blake had told him to shut up and tried to seal her heart shut once again.

Blake wiped her eyes on her shirt, realizing that her tears were freely flowing at this point from the memories she had been avoiding for some time now. She was such an idiot. Why hadn't she taken the time to think things through like she normally did? How could she ever have thought it was a good idea to leave her team? Why hadn't she responded to Yang?

All she could remember was how intoxicated she had felt with the plans Adam spun for her. That together, they would be able to conquer the world.

The days after Beacon had been filled with one disappointment after another. While it had initially been nice to be working with Adam again, she soon realized just how difficult a task there was at hand. There were three groups of Faunus: those in the White Fang, those who tried hard not to draw attention to themselves, and those who hid their Faunus traits in order to avoid discrimination. Finding people willing to break out of any of these molds was exceptionally difficult.

Blake and Adam had moved into the little two bedroom apartment, which Adam had dubbed their "HQ." In the past three years, they had been able to recruit several willing Faunus, but nowhere near the amount that would likely be needed to make a real change. They had ended up back at the crossroads the White Fang had found themselves at years ago. Continue on this path of failed peaceful protests, or resort to more violent measures to garner attention.

It seemed Adam had given up a long time ago. Only months removed from Blake agreeing to help him. He would go out for long periods of time "recruiting," but would never have much success to speak of. He always rationalized that it was difficult to find people willing to risk their lives for any cause these days.

Blake had realized her mistake around the same time, but she didn't think she had any other options at this point than to continue down the path she had chosen. She was too proud to try to rejoin Team RWBY, not like they would take her back anyway, after what she did. Even if they were to let her back on the team, she would be far too humiliated with having left them for such a failed cause. Their movement could hardly get out of the grassroots stages.

To top that all off, they were doing just fine without her.

She had been exploring a new part of the city some six months after she would have graduated from Beacon, when she had heard a familiar laugh. Her ears had instantly perked up as she followed the sound towards its owner, and that's where she saw them. Her old teammates.

They seemed like they had gone shopping, judging by the bags that Ruby was carrying (no doubt for Weiss). Ruby and Yang were laughing as Yang seemed to be making a joke at Weiss' expense. The heiress was pouting, but didn't seem to be all that disturbed by the occurrence. In fact, she looked rather pleased by the attention she was getting.

Her heart had constricted tightly at the sight of the three of them walking along so jovially. They were still together. They were still a team. And they were still happy, even without her there.

She had hidden in the shadows as they passed on the other side of the street. She concluded on that day that even if she was able to swallow her pride and ask for their forgiveness, they had already moved on. It was too late.

But that was before the events of yesterday.

Looking around the apartment, she suddenly realized that the most alive she had felt in years had been the hour she had spent with Yang yesterday. Yang's confidence and energy had always spilled over onto her. When Blake was with Yang, she always felt like she could accomplish anything in the world. It was like Yang ignited a fire within her that could never be extinguished, as long as they were together.

At that thought, she jumped up out of her chair, setting the book carefully back in its place on the bookshelf and placing the mug on a small table. She knew what she had to do now.


	4. Chapter 4

**The saga continues...thanks to all of you that are reading and reviewing! It makes my day to hear that other people are really enjoying the story! I'm trying to update this regularly, pending work getting out of hand or some severe writer's block. **

**I don't own RWBY or the characters.**

* * *

"Then, just as he charged me, I ducked under his arm and let loose a super charged ball of flame right into his gut. And FWOOSH!" Yang threw her hands above her head to symbolize a giant ball of flame. "He completely disintegrated! It was SO awesome."

She crossed her arms across her chest and beamed after retelling her most recent Grimm battle, satisfied at the admiration she saw in Ruby's glistening silver eyes. The youngest huntress still idolized her older sister, and Yang adored every moment of the continued admiration.

Weiss…well Weiss was another story. While Ruby held on to every syllable as Yang spoke, squealing or cheering at all of the right times, Weiss just listened with that slight frown of concentration on her face, looking for some flaw in the story. The same expression she was wearing right now.

"That is pretty cool, Yang," she said with only slight enthusiasm.

Yang sputtered in disbelief. "_Pretty_ cool? How is that only 'pretty' cool?!"

"Well…" Weiss began as a faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "because it was slightly entertaining, but I do believe that I had the more impressive Grimm kill today."

Yang's mouth dropped open as she stared at the girl in astonishment, before remarking, "What could _possibly_ be better than turning a giant freaking Beowulf into a pile of hot ash, which then blew away with the breeze?"

Weiss arched an eyebrow at the heated girl before slowly responding, "How about…creating a Beowolf ice sculpture, which I then shattered into tiny pieces that finally melted on the sidewalk under the sun?"

Ruby gasped as she heard this, turning those awe filled eyes towards her girlfriend. Yang felt a small growl escape her throat as tiny flames began licking out at her fingertips.

"Wow, Weiss! You actually froze an entire Beowolf?" Ruby gushed, hardly able to conceal her excitement.

The admiration dripping from Ruby's words made Weiss break into something between a smile and a smirk as she responded, "Yes, I did. Frozen through and through." Yang rolled her eyes at the heiress' rapidly inflating ego. Someone needed to pop that bubble, and quickly.

"And when you shattered your Grimm-sicle, did you manage to skewer _all_ or just some of the innocent bystanders with shards of Grimm ice?" Yang asked sarcastically.

"Did you give third degree burns to everyone with your flakes of super-heated ash?" Weiss shot back, both girls now standing several paces from each other with arms crossed.

"Ooook, you two," Ruby said as she stepped in between the two girls, holding both of her hands up. "Both of you are amazing. I can't believe that Yang can disintegrate people and Weiss, you can freeze them solid! Go Team RWBY!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but backed down from the impending argument. "More like Team RWY now."

As Yang opened her mouth to say something smart in return, most likely about Weiss' height, the three girls heard several knocks on the front door. Ruby quickly shouted, "I'll get it!" and sped to the front door, leaving the other two girls behind.

With the peacemaker gone, Yang didn't feel quite as willing to give up on the nonexistent Grimm Kill of the Day award. She leaned forward and hissed at Weiss, "You _know_ that disintegration is far harder to do than simply freezing someone."

Weiss took a step back, holding a hand to her mouth in fake shock. "You mean that freezing a Beowolf is easy? Oh, why didn't you say so? Why don't _you_ give it a try then, if it's _sooo_ easy?"

Yang scowled at Weiss, who only scowled in return until they heard Ruby shout from the entrance to the house.

"Blake!"

Scowls were quickly replaced by looks of confusion as the two girls hurried to the front door. Upon arriving there, they found that Blake was in fact was there, with one bag sitting by her feet in the doorway and one Ruby Rose wrapped around her like a koala bear.

Seeing the remaining members of Team RWBY enter the room, Blake sheepishly said, "It's good to see you too, Ruby," patting the girl's back awkwardly until Ruby dropped back down onto her feet and stepped backwards, ushering Blake into the house.

Once inside, there was a moment of awkward silence, as none of the four girls knew what they should say, or where to begin. Yang felt her heart rate rising rapidly as she stared at her former teammate. She hadn't thought that she would see Blake again so soon, especially not in her own home. Being this close, she was quickly remembering just how beautiful Blake really was…and how much her heart hurt just thinking about the girl.

Finally, Yang decided that she would break the ice, although she was surprised that the jackhammer of her heart hadn't already done that.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Everyone groaned loudly, with Weiss saying "Really, Yang?" But it worked, lightening the mood in the room immediately. _See, I'm such a genius_, Yang thought proudly to herself before turning her attention back to the new arrival.

"How did you find us?" Ruby asked first.

"Well," Blake began slowly, "Schnee manor isn't exactly one of the most inconspicuous places to live…" Yang noticed a small blush begin to form on Weiss' cheeks at this comment. "Plus, you three are pretty popular now, so people tend to notice where you go. The first person I asked knew exactly where you lived."

"Great deductive skills, as we would expect from our Blakey!" Yang said cheerfully, even though she was having problems keeping memories of their last encounter out of her mind. Yang shook her head, trying to clear out the scenes that were threatening to make a resurgence. She was still angry and heartbroken, but right now she just wanted to be happy to see her former partner again.

Blake flashed her a grateful smile, sending little butterflies all around her rib cage. Yes, she was definitely a little bit happy to see the girl.

Weiss wasted no time asking the question that was on all of their minds.

"What are you doing here, Blake?"

Blake sighed, ears drooping slightly with what appeared to be a great deal of exhaustion. She must have known that that would be one of the first questions they would ask her, after all.

"I…I want to come back," she began, looking intently down at the floor in between them. "I made a huge mistake by leaving. And now Vale is in trouble again. I want to help the people of Vale and…I want to help you guys…"

The three huntresses looked at each other. Yang could already tell that Ruby wanted to say yes, as the youngest fighter was looking at Blake as if she had just found an abandoned puppy. Next, she would turn those pleading silver eyes to them and say "Please can we keep it?" Yang knew that was coming. Ruby had always been quick to give second chances, no matter if the person deserved them or not. Weiss was walking proof of this. The icy girl has said plenty of cruel and hurtful things to her partner, but Ruby always took her back with open arms.

But, for someone who had been forgiven time and time again, Weiss was an unyielding person. And she was definitely against the notion of Blake rejoining the team, which she quickly expressed.

"Absolutely not," she stated flatly. "You didn't graduate from Beacon, so you aren't even a true huntress. Even if we were to say that you spent enough time at Beacon to have the necessary skillset, you haven't trained with us in _years_, which would be an incredible liability going into a battle. And, to top it all off, you _left_ us." Weiss' voice broke slightly on the last sentence, and suddenly Yang realized that the girl was on the verge of tears. So the heiress wasn't frozen solid, after all.

Blake was shocked by Weiss' outburst and subsequent emotion, but as the truth behind the heiress' statements sunk in, she lowered her eyes to the ground in defeat. Yang felt her heart sink at the sight; she didn't want Blake to give up. She didn't want Blake to go. And the Blake she had known would never have given up so easily.

Ruby also frowned at the sight, and, ever the mediator, quickly tried to come up with an acceptable resolution.

"But Weiss," she began frantically, trying to smooth things over before Blake disappeared again, "we could always train together using the situation room here! She'll be up to speed in no time; you know how good of a fighter Blake is."

Weiss frowned, but couldn't find any way to immediately discredit Ruby's statement.

She had spent so much of the last few years trying to hate the girl. She had replayed their last moments together in her head over and over again, but no matter how hard she had tried, she couldn't hate her. Angry? Yes. Heartbroken? Definitely. But she could never hate her. So Yang finally decided that she would rather have Blake here where they could try to regain whatever might be left of their friendship, than to have Blake holed up in some dingy apartment with that even dingier Faunus boy. Plus, at least then she would know that Blake was safe.

"We could use the extra hand," Yang added. "Plus, since we're running solo most of the time, we won't even really need to train together. And I don't think having an official "huntress" title matters when innocent lives are at stake."

Weiss looked at her in surprise, having thought that Yang would be on her side for once. She peered closely at Yang, studying the girl as she thought about what Yang had just said. Yang then realized that Weiss hadn't said what she had solely for herself. The heiress had thought that she was doing what Yang wanted, as well, in keeping Blake away. If Yang didn't want Blake to come back, Weiss was willing to be the bad guy and toss the girl out on her behalf. Yang felt a wave a gratitude for the girl, who had truly become her good friend since they became teammates.

As Yang gave her a slight nod, Weiss sighed, placing two thin fingers to her right temple as an apparent headache set in.

"Fine," Weiss said curtly. "But if you quit on us again, you're out for _good_. Do I make myself clear?"

Blake was now grinning from ear to ear as she nodded and said, "Don't worry, you guys are stuck with me now."

Clapping her hands, Ruby shouted, "Yay! Go Team RWBY! Back together at least!" Striking a pose at the end with one fist held high above her head.

Yang smiled weakly as Ruby wrapped Blake up in another crushing hug (they were sisters, after all). As Blake smiled at Yang over Ruby's shoulder, Yang tried to temper some of her happiness. She quickly told herself that she was only happy because she had a friend and teammate back, _nothing _more. She was not going down that road again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay! I've had family visiting from out of town the entire week, plus a little bit of writer's block. :-/ **

**I still don't own RWBY or the characters!**

* * *

Blake woke up the next morning full of excitement for the first time in a very long time. She hopped out of the decadent bed in the oversized bedroom she had chosen and went over to her still unpacked bag to pull out clothes for the day. She could feel her skin tingling with anticipation at what the day could bring. Would she get to fight a Grimm today? She truly hoped so; her combat skills could use a quick dust off.

As she walked out of the connected bathroom, fully dressed and prepared, she heard what sounded like Weiss scolding someone downstairs. What used to make her roll her eyes only made her smile today; some things never changed.

She softly closed the bedroom door behind her as she stepped into the hallway, which sported a railing that overlooked the foyer and front entrance below. At the same instant, Yang came tumbling out of her own room next door, nearly tripping over herself as she tried to put on her boots while still pulling on one sleeve of her vest. Blake's eyes widened in surprise at the girl as she opened her mouth to ask where the fire was.

Before she got a word out, Ruby suddenly appeared below them and looked up at the still struggling Yang.

"I'll answer the first alert today, Yang!" she said cheerily as she waved to her sister, before she shot out the front door, leaving a small cloud of rose petals floating softly to the floor behind her.

Blake turned back to Yang as the blonde haired huntress gave a loud huff of annoyance, taking slightly more time to pull on her boots properly now. No doubt seeing the surprise on Blake's face, Yang said, "I always want to answer the first call of the day, to start the day off right, but Ruby always beats me to it."

"Ahh…" Blake began, trying to act like she understood why the first call of the day was such a big deal to the girl, but she apparently didn't succeed in convincing Yang, who continued, "The person who answers the first call has a better chance of having more Grimm kills for the entire day! Which means that they'll have more kills for the week, which means that they'll have more for the month…" The girl trailed off, seemingly depressed by her train of thought.

"Stop your complaining," came an icy order from below as Weiss now stood in the foyer. "Come eat breakfast before another call comes in and you whine about having to skip a meal again." With that, she stalked off below them, presumably towards the kitchen.

Yang sighed before trudging off towards the stairs, beckoning for Blake to follow her.

"She's just mad because Ruby is beating her in the kill count too," Yang said with a slight grin. "She's right though, you never know when the next call will come in and it sucks to have to run out on an empty stomach."

Blake let out an uncharacteristic giggle. It was just like Yang to worry about food when she had to fight a huge monster.

The two girls joined Weiss in the combined kitchen/dining room area that was nearly twice as large as the apartment Blake had just been living in. After taking a moment to absorb the massive space, Blake decided that it was time for her to gain some background knowledge on how this operation was actually working.

"So, who's calling in the locations to you guys?" she asked as she followed Yang's lead in grabbing a bowl and pouring in some cereal from one of the boxes sitting on the countertop.

"Glynda and Professor Ozpin, of course," Weiss said somewhat derisively, earning a small glare from Yang.

"Oh, I see, so when they're notified of a Grimm sighting, they notify whoever's closest?" Blake sidestepped the attitude gracefully; she was fully expecting much more of that in the future, actually. It wouldn't be fair for her to have hurt feelings after what she had done to them.

"Yup," Yang replied before Weiss could begin her answer. "Which reminds me, we'll have to get you one of our scrolls so that you get notified too. Weiss, do we have an extra one somewhere?" she asked as she turned towards the third girl.

The heiress gave a heavy sigh, clearly not very thrilled about being interrupted while trying to read the paper and eat her breakfast.

"I'm pretty sure my old one is in the closet in the hallway," she lowered her reading slightly to look at Blake and continued, "If you can find it, feel free to use it."

"Thank you…" Blake responded. It was truly going to be an uphill battle to win Weiss' trust and friendship back. It had been a near miracle that they became friends in the first place, and now Blake had to hope for the same miracle to happen twice. She let out a small sigh. That wasn't even the only miracle she was wishing for.

She decided to go find the scroll now so that she could learn how to use it while eating her breakfast. Opening the hallway closet, she looked around for a light switch, quickly finding it on the right hand wall and flicking it on. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she slowly looked around the closet at the shoes that were strewn on the floor, jackets hanging in one corner, Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster leaning against the back wall, and some boxes on shelves towering up to the ceiling. The scroll was likely in one of those boxes, Blake thought to herself as she reached towards the first one before gasping.

"Weiss, Yang, why would Ruby go out without Crescent Rose?" she yelled frantically back towards the kitchen.

"What do you mean? She wouldn't," Weiss snapped as she sauntered out of the kitchen towards Blake.

Blake felt the blood drain from her face as she silently pointed towards the back of the closet. The heiress' eyebrows furrowed as she came over to peer at whatever Blake was pointing at. Upon seeing Ruby's precious weapon still leaning where it had been since last night, Weiss gasped as well.

"She must have forgotten it being in such a rush to beat Yang outside!" she exclaimed, voice filled with terror as she pushed past Blake and grabbed her own weapon, then raced out the front door without another word.

By this time, Yang had come out of the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. As she watched Weiss fly out the front door, she quickly glanced into the closet, confirmed that Crescent Rose was indeed still sitting there, and took off after Weiss.

"Wait," Blake called out, "I'm coming with you!"

Yang stopped for a half second, turned and threw her scroll towards Blake before racing out the door, yelling behind her, "You have to stay here in case another Grimm is dropped somewhere!"

She sighed, realizing that Yang had a good point. They couldn't all be away from the house if another call came in from another location. There had to be someone to answer that call if it did come in.

_If_ it did.

Since she was stuck here for the time being, she might as well find that other scroll so that she could have her own when everyone returned. She pulled down some of the boxes and placed them out in the entryway to sort through, hoping that everyone would return shortly and that Ruby would be safe and unharmed.


	6. Chapter 6

**And now for the continuation...please read/review/enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

"You could have gotten yourself _killed_, Ruby! Do you realize how bad of a situation you were in?" Weiss continued her never ending rampage of admonishing Ruby as the three girls walked home from their battle, slightly bruised and tired. "What would have happened if Blake hadn't noticed that you had left without Crescent Rose? What would you have done then?"

Ruby stared at the ground as she shuffled her feet forward, clearly embarrassed and ashamed at her forgetfulness. "I would have just kept running around them as fast as I could…" the young girl timidly said, earning a scoff from Weiss before the white haired heiress drew her breath to begin another tirade.

Yang decided that the poor girl had finally had enough and stepped in, saying, "Everything turned out ok, Weiss, so you can lay off her for a little bit."

Weiss glared at her as Ruby looked up and gave her a grateful smile. Yang placed one hand on Ruby's shoulder and gave her an encouraging grin.

"Everyone makes mistakes, baby sis! I think you were doing quite well for the situation you were in. A true improviser!"

Huffing, Weiss turned away from both of them and muttered something unintelligible under her breath as their home came into view.

"What was that, princess?" Yang asked.

Weiss turned towards her, blue eyes flashing, and angrily shouted, "The last thing we need is _another_ improviser on this team!"

Laughing as she walked up the open the front door, Yang said, "You're right. I think that I should be the only one." She added a wink at the end just to ruffle the girl's feathers a little more.

"I wonder if Blake got called out today…" she pondered as she stepped into the house leaving a steaming heiress behind her.

As she walked towards the kitchen, she heard Ruby softly say, "I'm really sorry, Weiss," tears evident in her voice. Yang didn't hear a response from Weiss, so she quickly glanced back as she reached the kitchen, just in time to see Weiss wrap Ruby in a firm hug that was the likely most tender thing Yang had ever seen the icy girl do.

"Aww…" she said softly to herself as she turned to find Blake sitting at the kitchen table, fiddling with her new scroll.

"Aww what?" the Faunus girl asked as she tore her amber eyes away from the new piece of technology and set it carefully down on the table.

"Weiss is being all cute with my sister!" Yang whispered excitedly, in case the two girls had followed her inside by now. She didn't know why, but it made her extremely happy to see Weiss behave so cutely around Ruby. Maybe it was because then she didn't have to confront the girl about mistreating her little sister; although…on second thought, that might be kind of fun too.

She watched Blake's ears twitch slightly as a reserved smile appeared on her face, which was _also_ just too cute for Yang. She quickly looked away as the younger couple walked into the room, now hand in hand. Weiss looked slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but didn't let go even as a faint blush crept on to her cheeks.

"So, Blake, did another call come in today?" Weiss asked as she looked anywhere but at Blake.

"Nope, all was quiet," Blake said. Maybe it was just Yang, but the Faunus girl seemed almost saddened that another monster hadn't been dropped in the city just so that she could go fight it. "But I did find your old scroll in the closet. I think that it's working now too."

"Oh, here I can make sure it's working!" Ruby said excitedly, dropping Weiss' hand as she waltzed over to look at the device. Yang immediately noticed Weiss' look of disappointment at Ruby leaving her side and sent the girl a knowing wink. Weiss' blush grew as she crossed her arms firmly over her chest and looked pointedly away from the now snickering Yang. Teasing her sister's girlfriend just never got old.

As Ruby was playing with the device, it suddenly started making beeping noises as a new message was received. A similar sound was heard from the devices of the other three girls, as they hastily checked to see what the message said.

_Team RWBY,_

_Important development which needs to be shared with you immediately. Please call ASAP._

_-O_

Yang felt her excitement rise after seeing the message. A new development? Maybe they had an idea of who the person responsible for the attacks was. Even better, maybe they had an actual name of someone that Yang could personally visit and make pay for all of her lost sleep and relaxation. The looks on Weiss and Ruby's faces told her that they were thinking the exact same thing.

"Let's go see what Professor O. has!" she exclaimed as she started heading out of the kitchen towards the living room opposite the study, which housed the screen and computers they used to have "strategy meetings" with Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.

As everyone settled into their normal chairs and sofas in front of the screen, Yang noticed that Blake was looking a little lost, just like a kid at a new school at lunch time. Yang patted the seat of the chair next to her, motioning for the girl to sit next to her as Weiss made the call into Professor Ozpin and Glynda.

The screen came to life after several short seconds, revealing an almost life-size view of their mentors.

"Hello girls," Professor Ozpin began, nodding at them as he looked around the room, eyes finally resting upon Blake.

"Oh, Miss Belladonna. It is really nice to see you back with the team again," he said happily. Maybe it was just Yang, he didn't seem at all shocked that Blake was back. Had he expected this to happen all along? She shook the thought from her head. There's no way he could have predicted this happening, not with how she had abandoned them so long ago.

"A rather…alarming…pattern has developed recently. We will play the video we have for you now."

The girls watched intently as the screen cut to what looked like footage from a security camera placed on the corner of a building, overlooking a large public square with travelers walking every which way. It looked just like any other normal space on a busy day with citizens walking to and fro, some in a great hurry while others took their time. After a few seconds, all four girls jumped in their seats as a Death Stalker suddenly appeared out of thin air in the middle of the square.

"A Death Stalker?" Ruby exclaimed as they raptly watched the scorpion-like creature. It seemed a little dazed when it first appeared on the screen, but gradually seemed to come to its senses. As civilians ran every which direction away from the giant creature, it began snapping its claws and lashing its tail out towards them. They watched for several minutes as the Grimm terrorized the area until they saw a familiar flash of red in the corner of the screen.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby exclaimed as they all exhaled in relief. Thankfully, help had arrived on the scene.

They watched as Pyrrha fired several rapid shots at the Death Stalker to draw its attention. The massive creature swung to face the girl and began charging towards her. When it got close enough, it lashed its tail down at her, just as she rolled under one of its claws, slashing up at it with the edge of her shield.

The strike seemed to do little harm as the Grimm quickly swung around to get her in its sights again. Pyrrha got off several more shots, aiming towards its eyes, before the Death Stalker struck at her with its stinger again. This time, Pyrrha didn't have the time to dodge the attack, so she threw up her shield in order to block it. The force from the strike threw the girl backwards some twenty feet; she crashed into the ground roughly and didn't immediately get back up.

Yang felt her level of concern rising greatly. Glancing nervously to her teammates, she saw Weiss with one hand covering her mouth and Ruby with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide. Blake's ears lay flat against her head and she almost looked…scared. They weren't going to watch Pyrrha bekilled, were they?

"Come on, Pyrrha…get up, get up," Yang muttered to herself as Pyrrha began to lift herself slowly to her feet, but the Death Stalker was already almost upon her. She wouldn't have time to get to safety, so she raised her shield again to block another attack from the creature, which would surely send her flying once again.

As the tail lashed out towards Pyrrha, it suddenly snapped sharply to the side as it was hit heavily by a blur of white and pink. Gun shots were now being peppered into the creature's eyes as they saw Lie Ren appear on the screen. Jaune Arc ran up to grab ahold of Pyrrha's arm, pulling her a safe distance away from the thrashing creature.

Nora appeared out of nowhere again as she landed directly on the Death Stalker's back and gave a quick salute towards Lie Ren. She deftly dodged the stinger as it came down towards her and watched as it clanged harmlessly off of the creature's own back. She grabbed ahold of the creature at the base of its tail, right where it could neither sting her nor easily throw her off. As it widely swung from side to side in an effort to dislodge her, no one could doubt that the girl was having the time of her life.

After several seconds, she finally seemed to get bored of the creature. She used her hammer and quickly swung it straight down onto the creature's back. The force of the blow temporarily flattened the creature against the ground as Nora was catapulted high up in the air. At this precise moment, Pyrrha launched her javelin with pinpoint accuracy to the flying girl, who caught it in mid-air as she began her rapid descent back to earth.

Holding the javelin tip down, Nora crashed into one of the creature's eyes at terminal velocity, forcing the javelin into the Death Stalker's head. She quickly jumped away to safety as the creature began flailing wildly for several seconds, before it finally slowed down and eventually came to a stop. The video feed stopped as Pyrrha walked up and retrieved her javelin.

"Wow," Yang began, her own adrenaline pumping from what they had just seen. "Nora sure knows how to have a good time, doesn't she?"

She grinned at her teammates, who all looked at her with varying amounts of dismay written on their faces. She couldn't help feeling slightly jealous that Nora's team allowed her to be completely crazy and no one batted an eye. If Yang were to jump onto a Death Stalker's back, Weiss would never let her hear the end of it.

Weiss added at that moment, proudly, "Pyrrha is so proficient in combat. Did you see that javelin throw?"

Yang giggled as she watched the girl swooning over Pyrrha's fighting abilities. "Jeez, Weiss, I know you have a massive crush on Pyrrha, but you could at least wait for Ruby to leave the room!"

"I do not have a…c-crush…on Pyrrha!" Weiss yelled as her face grew red. She quickly turned to Ruby in concern. "Ruby, you know I don't have a crush on her, right?" she asked pleadingly, begging Ruby to believe her.

Ruby grinned at the heiress and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder in response. Before she could answer, the four girls jumped as they heard someone clear their throat. They suddenly remembered that Professor Ozpin and Glynda were still there watching them. Ruby and Weiss flushed in embarrassment at the display they had just put on for their former teachers.

"So," Professor Ozpin began now that he had their attention again, "can you tell me what is so alarming about what we just showed you?" Yang liked how even though they had graduated long ago, he still treated them all as his pupils.

"We've only been fighting smaller Grimm so far," Weiss answered immediately, no doubt in an attempt to redeem herself. "How on earth did they get a Death Stalker into Vale without being killed themselves?"

"Good question. One for which we're still searching for an answer…" Professor Ozpin trailed off in deep thought.

"Needless to say," Glynda began when it became apparent that Professor Ozpin was too occupied with his thoughts to continue, "We believe that it's now too dangerous for any of you go into battles solo. Split yourself into pairs, so that you'll at least have one person to watch your back in case you come across a Death Stalker or Nevermore."

"Good luck to all of you. And Blake, it's good to see you back," she finished with a quick glance at the still contemplative Professor before shutting down the communication.

Yang stared at the screen as it faded back to nothing. Forming pairs…she didn't know if she was ready to be partners with Blake again so soon. She had thought that they would just be fighting solo for now, and she would only see the girl when they happened to cross paths in the house. But fighting together meant that they would be spending pretty much all day together…could she handle that proximity without falling for the girl again? Could her heart even handle that emotion anymore?

She turned hopefully to Ruby, but Weiss quickly wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist and said flatly, "Don't even think about it; Ruby's my partner."

Ruby saw the predicament Yang was in, and attempted to help her older sister by saying, "W-well…I could partner with Blake, at least for a little while…"

Weiss pulled away from Ruby as if the younger girl had slapped her. Hurt and betrayal flashed across her face as she said, "Y-you don't want to be my partner?"

Ruby waved her arms wildly in front of Weiss as she tried to backpedal out of the position she had just gotten herself in.

"N-no! Weiss, of course I want to be your partner!" she said, grabbing one of Weiss' hands in her own. "I just thought it could be a good short term solution, but I don't want to be anyone's partner but yours!" Weiss gave a small smile in return, somewhat pacified by Ruby's response.

Ruby looked at Yang apologetically as Weiss pulled her closer, protectively. Yang glared at the heiress, not quite convinced that that little display hadn't just been to get what she wanted.

"Well, looks like we're partners again…"

Yang turned towards Blake, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She briefly wondered if Blake could hear her heartbeat with her extra strength Faunus ears, before forcing a smile she didn't quite feel onto her face and replying a little too cheerfully.

"Fine, fine, I guess it makes sense to pair the _best_ fighter with the rookie!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Enjoy! (can't think of anything else to say)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

The next morning, Yang didn't bother rushing to get ready like she normally did. Now that they were back in pairs, she no longer felt the need to be the first one out for the day. Plus, even if she did get ready quickly, she would have to wait for Blake. And there was no way they'd be able to beat the combination of Weiss and Ruby if they even tried too. With Ruby's speed and Weiss' crazy competitiveness…those two girls would be out the door before Yang could open her eyes.

Once dressed in her trademark yellow tank, brown vest, and black fighting gloves, Yang walked out of her room. She could hear voices coming from downstairs; Weiss and Ruby must already be eating breakfast. Weiss certainly kept Ruby on a strict schedule, Yang thought with a small smile.

She decided against taking the stairs today, instead opting to hop the railing, do a flip in the air, and land with a thud on the floor below. Nailed it.

As she sauntered into the kitchen, she was surprised to find that Blake was already up as well.

"Am I really the last one up?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Of course you're the last one up. You're _always_ the last one." Blake and Ruby smiled at Yang, in silent agreement with the girl.

"Well, it's not easy to look this good all the time!" Yang remarked, full of bravado. She was being somewhat serious though. Managing her hair in the morning could be a major pain in the you-know-what.

As she sat down to begin eating her breakfast, Weiss and Ruby resumed their idle conversation about battle strategies. She contributed to their discussion every once in a while, but she wasn't paying them too much attention. She was much more concerned with the raven haired girl who was silently finishing her breakfast across the table.

She found it incredibly hard to believe that Blake was actually sitting there with them. Eating breakfast as if she'd been doing so for the last three years. Multiple times, Yang caught herself staring at the girl, but she would look away quickly whenever Blake looked up from the paper she was reading. What Yang wouldn't give to know what was going on inside that head of hers…

Yang's scroll interrupted her thoughts as it lit up with a new message. She quickly read it and summarized for her teammates, "Five Beowolves in Evergreen Park. That's pretty close! Who wants to go first?" She looked at Ruby, expecting the younger girl to be speeding out the door already, but the young girl only looked back at her steadily as Weiss took ahold of one of her hands.

"Well…Weiss and I thought that we would let you guys take the first call today."

Yang felt her brow furrow in confusion. They agreed to go second? But she didn't have time to think about that right now, they had to get going. She hopped out of her chair and waved at Blake to follow her as they raced towards the front door.

"Guess I'll be taking the rookie out for a test drive then!" she yelled back at them jovially as Blake and her exited the house at a run. "Too bad it's only a few Beowolves," she added with a slight pout.

"How long are you going to call me that for?" Blake asked curiously as Yang swiftly led her to the top of a nearby building in order to race across the rooftops towards their destination.

"Rookie status until you prove that you can keep up with me!" Yang quipped, turning back to flash Blake a grin. She was really going to enjoy being the senior partner in this pairing. Her grin widened when she saw a flash of black whiz past her on the rooftop.

"So that's the way we're going to play?" Yang chuckled to herself before kicking her semblance into high gear, tearing off in pursuit of the Faunus girl.

Yang became increasingly more serious the closer they got to their destination. As much as she liked to have fun and make jokes, there was nothing to joke about when it came to innocent lives being at stake. Fortunately, she knew that Blake felt the same way from the grim expression the Faunus girl was now wearing.

They quickly made it to the last rooftop before the buildings fell away in favor of the large park. She could now hear the screams and cries of terror from down below as they saw people running out of the park and towards the shelter of the buildings.

Although called "Evergreen Park," it was actually anything but green. While it used to be covered in Evergreen trees, they had steadily been cut back in favor of more open space for sidewalks, fountains, and playgrounds. There were still some trees and several fields for sports activities, but it was mostly just a flat, open expanse of land. The layout was extremely fortunate on this day, as it allowed the two girls to quickly scan the area and locate their targets.

"There," Blake pointed off to the left where two Beowolves were terrorizing a group of people near a large fountain.

Yang squinted as she spotted them before letting out a loud groan. Elderwolves. You could tell that they were Elders because the bony spines on their back were tinted gray in color. And while being older should have slowed them down, it only made these Grimm stronger, faster, and _smarter_. They weren't too tough if you were able to get close to them, but that certainly wasn't everyone's fighting style. She had thought that they were going to get to stomp through some easy _Beowolves_ this morning.

"Who saw these and thought that they were just Beowolves?" she asked incredulously. "You take those two," she ordered Blake. "I'll take that group of three over by the ball field."

She didn't wait for a response as she jumped off of the roof, landing heavily on the ground before she took off running towards the field. She needed to dispatch her three quickly in order to go help Blake with the other two. Yang wasn't sure how rusty Blake would be after a few years out of the game, but getting thrown back in solo against a pair of Elders would not be the easiest test of her skills.

As she sped towards the group of three, she realized that she currently had surprise on her side. The Grimm had rounded up and were currently converging on a group of ball players. She called on her semblance, feeling her heart burst into flames as it rapidly pumped fire into her veins, spreading throughout her body. She saw her fists ignite as raw energy surged through every fiber of her being.

Before the Elderwolves even sensed her presence, she had jumped onto the first one, wrapping her legs around its neck as she fired six rapid shots into the creature's skull at point blank range. He didn't even stand a chance.

She nimbly jumped off of the body as it fell to the ground and began firing shots at the two remaining. They were both racing towards her now, deftly dodging her shots as she alternated shooting at each one. At the last minute, they split apart as one began circling off to her left, while the other circled right.

She cursed under her breath. This is why she hated Elderwolves.

They were now coming at her from opposite sides. She stayed facing forwards, trying to watch them both out of her peripheral vision, hoping for an opening to dodge or attack. They were nearly upon her when she found her opportunity. One of the Elders lunged at her slightly before the other, allowing her to react solely to his attack.

She dodged the first outstretched claw as it flew by her face. Spinning away from the rest of the creature's body in the direction it had lunged from, she quickly fired as many shots as possible, hoping to at least land a hit somewhere. She heard a cry from the creature as its momentum carried it past her, crashing into its partner from the other side.

As the two Elderwolves untangled themselves, Yang flung herself backwards several paces from the two creatures, putting a full field of distance in between them. She fired off more shots as they began racing towards her again. Although one was now bleeding from the shoulder, it didn't seem to slow it down very much.

She risked a quick glance across the park towards Blake, seeing the girl in a ferocious battle with the other two Elders. Blake's shadow clones were swarming all over the place, but Yang didn't know how long she would be able to keep it up. She needed to get to her soon.

She kept firing, waiting for the two to split apart again, but they were getting increasingly close to her and didn't look like they were going to be altering their course anytime soon.

Yang grinned. A head on assault was exactly her style.

She shot forward, racing directly towards them, prepared to meet them in full stride. She watched their strides carefully as she counted down in her head. _Three…two…one…NOW!_

The second the Elderwolves left their feet, she threw herself down onto one thigh as she slid rapidly underneath them. The giant creatures could not react as she slipped underneath their outstretched claws, firing rapidly upward into their exposed underbellies. She heard two loud _thumps_ hit the ground behind her as she lithely popped back onto her feet.

She took a quick moment to collect herself and dust some dirt off of the bottom of her jacket, not bothering to turn around.

Then, she remembered. _Blake_. Yang turned and quickly found the Faunus girl still locked in battle with the two Elderwolves near the fountain. A small wave a relief washed over her as she fired up her semblance once again, tearing towards the continued battle. She needed to get there, and fast. It was evident from the speed and fluidity of Blake's movements that she was being worn down by the never-ending assault by the creatures.

_Please don't try to attack them. Just defend until I get there. _ Yang willed her partner as she bounded across the park as fast as her legs would physically allow her. If only she had Ruby's speed right now.

Twenty feet away, Yang cursed as she watched Blake land a finishing blow on one of the creatures, leaving herself wide open to the counter-attack from the second.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay! I just adopted a puppy and she has been taking a lot of my time! If you want to look, I posted a picture on my tumblr (same username). Thankfully, I had written ahead! This chapter is short, but hopefully things return to almost normal soon. Also, I know some of you don't like Weiss; don't hate her! She's good, I swear!**

* * *

Blake realized her mistake too late. She had seen a small opening and thought that she could take down one of the creatures while still having enough time to block the second, but the Elderwolves were much, much quicker than she remembered. As the Elderwolf in front of her began to crumple, she could see the giant claw of the remaining creature hurtling towards her neck out of her peripheral vision.

The next second, she felt something heavy crash into her side, knocking her violently off her feet and to the ground. Blake looked up in confusion as she tried to gather the breath that had just been knocked out of her lungs. Realization dawned on her when she saw Yang climbing back to her feet, clutching her right shoulder. If Blake had been able to breathe, she would have gasped when she saw the blood running through the girl's fingers from four large gashes.

The remaining creature was pacing in front of them slowly, trying to decide the best way to attack the weakened girls. Yang planted herself in between the Elderwolf and Blake like a shield; her aura blazing. Her entire body seemed to be engulfed in a single ball of flame at this point; the heat radiating from her was almost unbearable. The message was clear: the creature would have to go through her first.

Air finally returned to Blake's lungs just as the creature charged at Yang. She quickly got to her feet as Yang spun around the first attack, leaving Blake a clear line of vision on the creature as it tried to spin around and find Yang again. Gambol Shroud quickly found its way around the creature's neck as she yanked it face first into the ground. The next instant, Yang was on top of it, leveling the finishing blows.

A sigh of relief escaped Blake's lips, until she saw the state that Yang was in. The wounds in Yang's shoulder were bleeding freely, staining her brown vest in a much darker, shiny hue. Yang was holding a hand to her shoulder in an attempt to stem the blood loss, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. She needed medical attention.

Blake quickly removed her scarf and rushed over to Yang. She pulled the girl's hand away from the wounds and wrapped her shoulder up as tightly as possible with the material, hoping that it would slow the bleeding at least a little bit.

"Yang, we need to get you to a doctor."

Yang only grinned at Blake in response as she replied, "You mean that we need to get me home!" At that, the blonde hair girl began jogging lightly in the direction they had come from.

Blinking in confusion, she hastily followed Yang. Blake spoke again, her voice rushing out as she became more and more worried.

"You need medical attention!"

"Exactly!" Yang exclaimed happily. "And who better to provide it than my very own little sister?"

Blake couldn't figure out for the life of her how Yang was so calm and jovial when she had what appeared to be_ serious_ injuries, but hoped that Yang knew what she was doing. Besides, the house wasn't far away and Blake had no idea where the nearest hospital actually was. She let Yang set the pace as they trotted towards their home, feeling increasingly concerned as she saw that the wound was still bleeding.

No longer able to stem the panic that was bursting inside of her, Blake finally said something.

"Yang, I'll carry you the rest of the way. Climb on my back."

The girl looked at her dubiously as she continued jogging.

"I can make it myself," she said stubbornly.

"Yes, I know you can…" Blake began delicately, not wanting to bruise the girl's ego. "But it would make me feel a lot better if you let me."

The girl finally acquiesced and did as Blake had ordered. Blake buckled slightly when Yang wrapped her legs around her waist and one arm tightly around her neck. The girl was little heavier than she had expected, but she set off at a pace that had her muscles screaming in no time.

She certainly hoped that Ruby would be at home.

She stumbled up the steps to the mansion, nearly tripping over the last stair in her haste. Thankfully, the front door was unlocked, so she burst in yelling frantically, "Ruby! Ruby, come quick, Yang is hurt!"

A red blur flew down the stairs and stopped abruptly inches from Blake. Weiss rushed down the stairs several seconds later as the youngest huntress was already peering anxiously at the injured girl. Yang said in a voice lacking some of her usual vigor, "That's four more kills for me, and one for the Rook. I'm beating Weiss now." She somehow mustered enough energy to raise her fist up in the air for Ruby to pound it in recognition of her grand accomplishment as Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Follow me," Ruby told Blake as she turned and walked quickly through the kitchen to another room that looked almost like one found in a hospital, although the operating table looked much more comfortable and the walls were a relaxing light lavender color. In one corner of the room, there sat an immaculately made twin bed. It looked especially comfortable, likely where someone could sleep while recovering.

Ruby motioned for Blake to put Yang down on the table, which she quickly did. Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw the blood that had completely soaked the right side of Yang's vest. This was all her fault.

She felt a hand land on her left shoulder. She looked over to see Weiss standing beside her, steel in her eyes.

"You should go clean up. We'll fix her up now," the heiress said sternly.

Blake opened her mouth to protest, but Weiss just shook her head and said firmly, "Go."


	9. Chapter 9

**I probably could have combined this chapter with chapter 8, but I'm trying to keep each chapter from only one point of view. Anywho...I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

As Weiss "asked" Blake to leave the room, Ruby was busy unwrapping the scarf from Yang's shoulder as the blonde sat upright on the table. She winced slightly when the last layer of cloth was pulled slowly away from the gashes it had been sticking to. Tossing away the ruined article of clothing, Ruby motioned for Yang to pull off her jacket. She slowly complied, receiving Ruby's help to try to keep the material from scraping against her wounds.

Now in her tank top, Yang took a quick look down at her shoulder. It didn't look so bad now that her jacket had been removed. As Ruby leaned in to inspect the extent of her injuries, Yang's eyes turned to follow Weiss as the composed girl expertly dashed around the room collecting all sorts of tools and bandages.

"It doesn't look too deep," the young girl said as she began cleaning the wounds carefully with an antiseptic in a spray bottle. "There doesn't appear to be too much damage; they're just bleeders. I can stitch them up and you'll be just fine."

Yang grinned at her diagnosis. With the speed at which she healed, she would be better than new in no time.

"Are you going to use an anesthetic?" Weiss asked quickly as she brought Ruby the first tray of tools.

Ruby looked at Yang questioningly, so Yang shook her head no as she shot a smirk towards the heiress. Anesthetic was for wimps.

Weiss sighed as Ruby motioned for Yang to lay down flat on the table.

"I wouldn't make fun of you for accepting legitimate medical treatments."

"That's what you say _now_," Yang said. She gulped as she saw Ruby pick up a needle to begin her sutures; she really didn't like needles. She quickly looked back towards Weiss, who was now standing with her arms crossed on the opposite side of the table. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Refusing painkillers but afraid of needles?"

"I'm not afraid of them!" Yang answered hurriedly. "I-I just can't seem to tear my eyes away from your breathtaking beauty right now. Really, Frosty, have you done something different with your hair or something?"

Weiss glowered at Yang in response before Ruby giggled beside her and quipped, "She looks that beautiful every day; she doesn't have to do anything differently."

Yang grinned as she watched the blush emerge on Weiss' cheeks from the compliment. She really hoped that her younger sister knew how much her offhand compliments affected the icy girl. Probably not, though. Ruby could be quite dense when it came to people sometimes, but she was the only one Yang had ever seen leave the heiress speechless.

Weiss' blush deepened when she noticed Yang grinning at her. "Well if you aren't scared of needles, why don't you watch Ruby put in your stitches?" Weiss snapped as she tried to direct the subject away from herself, but there was no way Yang was going to allow her to do that.

"Because, like Ruby just confirmed, you are much more beautiful than mere stiches," she smirked back at the girl. She could tell that Weiss was getting more and more agitated, but the banter was keeping her mind off of the throbbing pain in her shoulder. And the thought of a needle pulling a piece of thread through her skin…she shuddered slightly at the thought.

"And…we're done!" Ruby said happily as she carefully set the needle and leftover thread back on the tray before picking up some bandages to cover the fresh stitches.

"Jeez, Ruby, you're getting really fast at these," Yang complimented the girl as she sat up and finally turned to take in the four lines of neat stitches that now graced her shoulder. Her sister had become quite the little doctor recently. And Yang couldn't be prouder of her.

"I might have used a _little_ bit of my semblance to finish these extra fast…" Ruby gave her sister a big smile before she started placing gauze and bandages on Yang's shoulder, ignoring the look of horror Yang was giving her.

Suddenly, a slim, pale hand appeared right in front of Yang's face, holding two small white pills.

"I'm guessing since you're so _tough_, you won't be wanting these painkillers now, right?"

Yang wrinkled her nose as she thought about whether or not she could deal with the pain before Ruby interrupted.

"As your doctor, I am _highly_ recommending that you take those, Yang."

Yang gave an exaggerated sigh as she took the pills from Weiss and popped them in her mouth, secretly grateful that Ruby had made the decision for her. "Well, if that's what the doctor orders!" she said cheerfully as she swallowed them dry.

Ruby and Weiss now stood in front of where she sat on the edge of the table. Yang raised an eyebrow as she saw Ruby glance at Weiss, then look down at the ground. Something was up with them.

"So…are you going to be ok, Yang?" Ruby finally asked quietly.

Yang started laughing at the question. "As my doctor, I would hope that you would have the answer to that!"

She stopped laughing as both Ruby and Weiss looked at her seriously, neither cracking a smile at her joke. Ruby, with her puppy dog silver eyes, and Weiss, with her stoic light blues, were completely different, but both were seriously concerned for her nonetheless.

Yang sighed, realizing that they wouldn't allow her to humor her way out of this one.

"It's weird having her back…" she began slowly. "It still hasn't quite hit me that she's actually here yet, but I think that it will turn out alright." She realized from the looks on their faces that she wasn't doing a very good job of convincing them.

"I'm fine," she concluded a little more emphatically in an attempt to ease their worries.

"Would you tell us if you weren't?" Weiss asked steadily, blue eyes locked onto her own, as Ruby nodded slightly beside her.

"Of course-" Yang began to reply immediately, but stopped when she saw Ruby frown and Weiss narrow her eyes. She paused to wonder if she would actually tell them if she couldn't handle Blake being around. Looking back and forth between the two girls, she came to the conclusion that they had each risked their lives for her multiple times. They deserved more honesty from her.

"I will," she stated firmly, more for herself now than for them. "I will tell you if I'm not fine with her being here."

Weiss nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer, as Ruby gave her a one shoulder hug. Feeling the atmosphere was a little too serious for her liking, Yang continued, "I know how much Weiss would love to throw her out on the street, anyway. Wouldn't want to deprive her of that."

Ruby giggled as they both turned to Weiss, who looked away from them while muttering, "It's not like I _want_ to kick her out…I just _would_ if you needed me to…"

Ruby continued to giggle as she leaned over and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before adding, "Weiss! You're the sweetest person. We're so lucky you ended up on our team."

Yang smiled and nodded in agreement as Weiss' face lit up with another blush. Maybe it was just the painkillers talking, but she did feel very lucky to count the heiress as one of her closest friends.

Suddenly, she began to feel exceptionally tired. Most likely, the drugs actually were kicking in as her adrenaline from the morning finally wore off. That would definitely explain the warm, fuzzy feelings towards Weiss. She felt her eyes start to droop as she fought against the oncoming exhaustion.

"Ok, you need to get some rest now," Weiss stated authoritatively. Yang wanted to argue with her, but that just seemed like so much effort right now. Plus, some sleep probably would be a good idea. She hopped down from the table, catching herself on the edge as the action made herself instantly lightheaded. Ruby grabbed her good arm and guided her over to their "recovery bed" for some much needed shuteye.

Sleep enveloped her as soon as she felt the soft mattress on her back.


	10. Chapter 10

**I got sidetracked by the newest chapter of Citrus, but I'm back in action now! Please read, review, and have a great weekend!**

**PS don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Blake sat at the kitchen table, head resting in her hands as despair consumed her. She should never have come back to the team. If she had just stayed away, Yang would never have had to partner with her and would never have gotten injured. Yang hadn't even wanted to be her partner, anyway, with good reason.

While she hadn't been completely inactive during the past few years, she certainly hadn't been as active as she had been while a member of the White Fang or while at Beacon. There had never been good opportunities to do battle against Grimm, unless she traveled all the way back to the Emerald Forest. Going there alone just hadn't seemed like the safest idea, at the time.

After Weiss had made her leave the med room, Blake had decided to go change her clothes, which had been covered in Yang's blood. She had then taken a quick shower and gone back to the kitchen to wait in the same place she still occupied.

Having run out of things to do to distract herself, she could not keep her mind away from the thoughts of the day. She replayed the battle over and over again in her head, trying to pinpoint exactly where she had made mistakes. So far, she had come up with a list of at least twenty major things she had done wrong.

The door to the med room finally opened as Ruby and Weiss exited, closing the door softly behind them. Blake scrambled to her feet. "How is she? She's ok, right?" Her eyes quickly shot back and forth between the two girls, looking for the answer.

Ruby gave her a small smile before saying, "Don't worry, Blake, she'll be ok. We stitched her up and stopped the bleeding. The cuts weren't nearly as deep as they seemed. She'll be back up on her feet by dinnertime!"

Feeling relief wash over her, Blake took a couple steps backward until her back was pressed against the wall, sliding down until she could rest her head on her knees. Ruby carefully sat down on the floor next to her and put an arm around her shoulders reassuringly as Blake began crying as the events of the day finally caught up to her.

Weiss quietly passed by the two girls, muttering, "I need to call Glynda and fill her in on the situation…"

Ruby held Blake close as she sobbed, telling her that it wasn't her fault. Blake heard Weiss walk back into the room at one point, but the heiress had quickly exited again without saying a word.

Ruby and Blake sat there for some time, until Blake could find no more tears to shed. The young girl stood up and offered a hand to Blake, who somewhat reluctantly accepted it. Once on their feet, Ruby handed a nearby box of tissues to the sniffling girl as she said, "She's resting right now, but she'll probably be up in a few hours. You should probably get some rest as well, or maybe eat something."

At that moment, Ruby's scroll began to buzz. As she fished out the device to check the message, Weiss poked her head into the kitchen.

"Time to go, Ruby!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby saluted, gave Blake's hand a quick squeeze, and quickly exited the room after her partner.

After trying and failing to force down a little bit of food, Blake had sat at the kitchen table again, staring at the closed door to the med room. She convinced herself multiple times that she should go check up on her partner, standing and walking over to the door, only to back away right before touching the handle. She didn't want to accidentally wake the injured girl up. Or worse, she didn't want Yang to already be awake and yell at her for causing her injuries.

Now she roamed the upstairs hallways of the huge mansion. She hadn't explored much of the building yet, mostly because she was afraid of what her teammates would think if one of them caught her strolling around the place alone. She wasn't dumb enough to play so loosely with their trust so early; even she would admit that it would look a little suspicious. And she hadn't thought to ask one of them for an official tour yet.

She passed by the door to her room and came to a stop in front of Yang's bedroom, peering inside. She didn't want to go in and disturb the girl's privacy, but figured that she could take a look from the hallway since the door had been left open.

From what Blake could see, the girl's living habits had changed little since their time at school. Various articles of clothing were strewn haphazardly about the room, which only served to direct attention away from the tangle of covers on the unmade bed. Across the room, several picture frames resting on top of a chest of drawers caught Blake's attention. Straining her eyes, she was able to make out one that was familiar. It was taken of the four of them plus Penny after Ruby and Penny had won the Vytal Festival in their first year.

Blake chuckled at the memory. Penny had completely obliterated all of her opponents and then refused to fight against Ruby in the finale. Ruby wouldn't fight against someone who wouldn't defend themselves, so the tournament directors had decided to call the Festival in a draw in the first time in the history of Vale. Though Blake believed that they had probably just been happy to end the tournament unscathed, after Yang had nearly burned down the entire stadium in her battle with Nora.

Weiss had been beyond furious at the results.

She turned away from the room and continued down the hallway towards Ruby and Weiss' rooms. Both girls had closed their doors in the morning, so Blake didn't get to look inside, but she couldn't help wondering if the two girls even slept in separate rooms anymore. If not, whose room did they spend most of their time in? She was willing to bet it would be Weiss' immaculate room.

Besides their four rooms, there were many other rooms upstairs that were currently unoccupied. Satisfied that there wasn't much else to be seen, Blake had decided to head back downstairs when she heard the front door open. She descended the stairs to find an exhausted Weiss and Ruby slowly putting their weapons and shoes back into the hallway closet.

"Are you guys ok?" Blake asked, concerned by how gingerly Weiss was moving.

"We're fine," Weiss replied tersely, flinching slightly when Ruby shot her a quick look. She continued in a somewhat softer tone, "We just had to deal with a Nevermore, is all. Stupid giant birds…"

"But we taught him! Didn't we, Weiss?" Ruby said proudly, earning a small smile from the icy girl. "I'm going to go check on Yang real quick. Weiss…why don't you show Blake around a little bit?"

The heiress sighed before slowly replying, "I guess I could do that…"

"You're the best!" Ruby exclaimed, leaning in quickly to give the surprised girl a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing in a cloud of petals.

Blake watched as Weiss briefly closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of roses Ruby left in her wake. Yang was right; Ruby had certainly done a number on the girl. She smiled, but it quickly faded as Weiss turned to her, exasperation radiating off of the girl.

"You don't have to take me for a tour…" Blake said as she involuntarily backed away. She didn't want to make the girl angry by having her do something she clearly didn't want to do.

Sighing again, Weiss replied, "Yes…I do. It will make Ruby happy. So which parts of the house have you already seen?"

"Well…" Blake began slowly. "I've only see the upstairs bedrooms."

Weiss arched an eyebrow at that response, so Blake quickly put her hands up in defense, "I didn't go into anyone's rooms! I was just walking the hallways."

"Ok…" Weiss said slowly, "then let's start right here."

"That room is the study," she began, pointing to the room on Blake's left. "And that is the TV room slash living room" she continued as she pointed to the room on her right. "Ruby and Yang watch a lot of old action movies in there," she added with an eye roll.

Weiss then walked past her, beckoning for her to follow the girl underneath the staircase.

"This is obviously the kitchen," she said as she waved one hand absentmindedly. "And you now know where the med room is."

Yes, she was certainly familiar with the med room now, Blake thought, feeling her heart clench as her thoughts flew back to her injured partner.

"Through the kitchen is what I consider to be the best room in the house." Weiss continued walking without noticing Blake's pause. Walking through an open doorway on the other end of the kitchen, they reached an empty hallway that contained a massive set of double doors directly in front of them.

Weiss walked purposefully up to the doors and pulled both of them open at the same time as she proudly said, "The situation room."

Blake followed the girl into the enormous room, looking around her with her mouth hanging open in amazement.

"Wow, Weiss…" was all she could say as she walked further into the huge empty space.

The situation room was nearly the size of an auditorium; it felt cavernous. In its inactive state, the walls and ceiling were composed of solid black tiles. Tiny seams could barely be seen where the tiles had been carefully fitted together. The floor was composed of similar tiles, only these were a light gray in color. The only piece of equipment that could be seen in the room was a standing panel located right by the front door.

Blake walked over to look at the panel, careful not to touch anything under the heiress' watchful gaze. This was the most hi-tech room she had ever seen.

Weiss walked over to stand beside Blake as she continued, "This room has the best equipment money can buy. You can create multiple different environments and fighting scenarios from this panel. You can summon any Grimm creature that is known to exist, as well as change some of their core attributes: speed, strength, health. You get the idea. And the best part is, it's completely soundproof. Yang and Ruby have definitely tested out that feature more than a few times…"

Blake looked at the girl in awe as she asked, "Can you be injured during a simulation?"

"Well, you can be thrown around quite a bit." Weiss waved her hand dismissively at the question. "But if the Grimm is about to land what the computer calculates to be a lethal attack, the simulation will automatically end. Game over."

Running her hand absentmindedly along the outside of the panel, Blake took in the rest of the room. She had heard that this technology was available, but only to the ridiculously wealthy. She didn't know why it surprised her that Weiss had her very own then; you couldn't get much richer than the Schnee family.

"You can use it whenever you'd like," the heiress said, tearing Blake from her thoughts. "Actually, you probably _should_ use it before you get one of us killed," she added sarcastically.

Blake looked away, feeling the sting from that comment.

"I know…" she said sadly, ears drooping slightly. "I feel awful for what happened to Yang, you know," she added.

Weiss scoffed at her response. "Do you mean what happened to her today or what you did to her at Beacon?"

Blake shrank back from the girl's withering tone and stared at her in shock.

"I'm sorry…" she began, not knowing what else to say in the face of the girl's wrath.

"You should be sorry," Weiss snapped at her, arms now folded across her chest as she prepared to lay into the Faunus girl.

"If you feel awful about seeing her hurt today, then I can't imagine how you must have been feeling for the past few years. Oh, that's right, _you _probably felt nothing because _you_ didn't stick around to see the damage _you_ caused." Weiss jabbed one of her fingers towards Blake's chest as she emphasized each 'you' she spoke.

"Ruby is too forgiving to say anything to you. And Yang has, unsurprisingly, gotten pretty good at hiding her feelings, but I'll tell you what really happened after you left."

"You _broke_ her, Blake," Weiss continued, fire now burning in her eyes. "She wouldn't leave the room for weeks. She skipped graduation; she's lucky she even graduated with all of the classes she missed. It was months before we even saw her smile again. And then, she just wouldn't let go of you. She insisted that she had, but Ruby and I knew better than to believe that. We knew that she was searching for you; everywhere we went she was always searching for you."

"And then, we finally got the distraction we needed. She finally started focusing on something _other _than you, and surprise! You finally decide to show up."

Blake looked at Weiss sadly as the fuming girl finished her tirade. She could feel the moisture building in her eyes and willed herself not to start crying. She took a deep, shaky breath before she began speaking.

"I'm truly sorry for leaving. I really am, Weiss. If I could go back and make another decision, I would! Believe me that was the single biggest mistake I've ever made in my life."

She felt the first tear roll down her cheek as she tried to continue. "I've spent so many days wishing that I could go back to that day….but no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I can't change the past. I can't take away all of the pain I've caused. I can only try to make things right going forward."

"I promise you," she said as she looked Weiss in the eyes, "I will not hurt her again. I would rather die than to cause her anymore pain."

Weiss scrutinized her closely as the two girls stood in silence for several seconds. Finally, Weiss slowly nodded her head as she mumbled, "That could be arranged."

Blake managed a wavering smile, until she realized that she wasn't sure if Weiss was actually joking or not. Either way, it seemed like maybe her response was somewhat acceptable to the heiress.

"Come on," Weiss continued in a much softer tone as the fire left her icy blue eyes. "There's one more room I want to show you."

Exiting the situation room through the door they had used to enter, Weiss took a right in the hallway and quickly strode towards a second unimposing door that Blake had failed to notice earlier. Reaching the door, Weiss turned back and motioned for Blake the hurry up. When Blake reached her side, Weiss gently pulled open the door and stood back, waiting for Blake to step through first.

The instant the door was opened, a familiar smell washed over Blake's senses. As she peered inside, she gasped at what she saw. The room was filled with books, lots of them. While nowhere near as big as the situation room, the library was as big as the study, with high ceilings and walls that were covered, floor to ceiling, in bookshelves. Rolling ladders were placed strategically around the room so that readers would be able to reach the books furthest from the ground. Lounge chairs were located in the center of the room with some small tables.

Walking further into the room, Blake closed her eyes, using a few seconds to take in the smells and sounds (or lack thereof) of the room surrounding her. She looked back at Weiss, who was still standing by the door, looking slightly unsure of herself.

"This room is amazing," Blake said as she continued to eye the stacks and stacks of books. She managed to stop herself from racing over to them and pulling out the first one she got her hands on. So this is what a child must feel like when they're in a candy store…

"It's not used very much. Ruby and Yang aren't exactly avid readers, you know," Weiss said. "Except for comic books," she added with a huff.

"So…you can borrow any of the books you'd like read, whenever." Weiss' words came out in one breath, as if she wanted to breeze past the implication of what she had just said.

Blake looked at the girl in shock. She could borrow _any_ of these books? Whenever she wanted to? This was effectively like giving Blake her own private library. Something she had always wished for, but knew she realistically would never have.

"Weiss, thank you!" she exclaimed, unable to control her jubilation. "I think this is the nicest thing anyone has ever offered me!"

A faint blush grew on Weiss' cheek as she quietly muttered, "It's not a huge deal or anything…"

She grinned back at the embarrassed girl. It was a huge deal to her, and that's all that mattered. Weiss grew even more uncomfortable under Blake's gaze and coughed slightly before saying, "I'm going to go prepare dinner with Ruby. It will be ready in about 45 minutes, if you're hungry."

Before Blake even had the chance to respond, the girl had turned on her heel and strode back out of the library towards the kitchen. Blake watched the girl's back until she was gone, before letting out a sigh. Maybe now that Weiss had aired some of her grievances to Blake, she would start treating Blake with a little less hostility. Weiss was just trying to protect Yang. Blake couldn't be angry at her for that.


	11. Chapter 11

**I finally managed to get a decent amount of time to write in peace and quiet today! Thanks to everyone for their reviews and follows. It makes me want to write more so that you guys have more to read! I'm kind of excited to finish the story (a long way from now) and then be able to read the entire thing through at one time. But for now, one more section of the story :)**

**Disclaimer: don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Blake spent the next half hour before dinner roaming through the library, pulling out novel after novel from the bookcases. It would take her an entire year just to read the books she'd picked out from one side of the room! Setting a stack of nearly twenty books onto a small table located by one of the reading chairs, she sat down and slowly went through the pile, book by book. She carefully narrowed down her choices until she was left with just one; this one she would begin reading first.

Satisfied with her choice, she placed the rest of the books back on their respective shelves and left the chosen one on one of the chairs to be started at a later time. She didn't have time to start it now, not if she wanted to be on time for dinner. She didn't want to risk getting on Weiss' bad side once again.

Walking towards the kitchen, she sniffed the air to see what it was they would be eating tonight. Smelled like shrimp and pasta. Not necessarily her favorite meal in the world, but she certainly wouldn't complain.

Blake entered the kitchen to see Weiss standing at the stove, stirring the pasta and shrimp together, as Ruby stood at the counter tossing together a salad.

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

"You can set the table for us," Weiss said without turning around from her spot at the stove. She gestured over to one side, where Blake assumed the dinnerware was held. She strode over and opened the cabinet door, finding the plates that they needed. The drawer below this cabinet held all of the silverware.

Pulling out four sets of everything they would need to eat, Blake carefully carried them over to the dining table and began setting out the place settings. As she set down the last of the silverware, Ruby brought over her finished salad and Weiss finished up their main course.

"Mmmm…what smells so good?"

Blake spun around at the voice and found Yang standing behind her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before stretching awkwardly with one good arm. She looked slightly pale and her right arm hung somewhat awkwardly by her side, but other than that, she seemed perfectly healthy. Her trademark food-induced smile was already plastered on her face. Blake felt relief wash over her at the sight of the rapidly recovering girl.

"See, I told you that Dr. Ruby would fix me up!" Yang said triumphantly as she walked past Blake to take a seat at the table, carefully pulling out her chair with her left arm.

"When did Ruby become a medic, anyway?" Blake asked as she took the remaining seat once the other three girls had sat down.

"Ah! That is a good story," Yang replied with a grin. "It all happened when Weiss caught a giant Beowulf claw in the back and needed some stitches. She complained _sooo _much about how much she hated going to the hospital. 'It's too _far_, the doctors are _unqualified_, the rooms are _unsanitary_, the beds are _uncomfortable_, the food is _awful_.'" Blake grinned at Yang's near perfect impersonation of Weiss as she continued, "Ruby decided to spend the next few months endlessly studying trauma procedures so that she would be able to help next time." Yang beamed at her little sister at the end of her story, clearly proud of the young girl's accomplishment.

Blushing, Ruby added, "I wanted to be able to help _you_ too, Yang! I know how much you hate going to the hospital, as well."

At this, Weiss gave a very unladylike snort of laughter. "She just hates getting hit on by all the doctors!"

Feeling a little prick of jealousy as Weiss and Ruby laughed, Blake tentatively asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Weiss shot her a grin as Yang looked pointedly away in embarrassment. "She's a celebrity in the hospital to all of the doctors, male AND female! 'Oh, Miss Xiao Long, how can I help you feel more comfortable? Miss Xiao Long, are you _sure_ you don't want me to check your stitches again? Miss Xiao Long, please marry me and have my little doctor babies.'"

"He did not ask me to have little doctor babies with him!" Yang protested loudly.

"But he _did_ ask you to marry him!" Weiss countered.

"Yeah, Yang, I think that the babies were kind of implied…" Ruby added timidly as Yang sputtered.

"W-well he didn't explicitly _say_ babies!" she shouted stubbornly. "Weiss is just still upset because he said she was the shortest huntress he'd ever met."

Weiss puffed out her cheeks, but Ruby butt in before she could respond. "Size isn't everything, Yang! Weiss more than makes up for her height with her fighting ability."

"I'll remember that the next time Weiss hides the cookies on top of the fridge and you need _my_ help to get them down!" Yang remarked with a sly grin.

Blake listened for the rest of the meal as her three teammates continued on in what seemed to be a perpetual circle. Yang would make fun of Weiss; Ruby would stand up for Weiss; Yang would make fun of Ruby; Weiss would retaliate somewhat harshly at Yang; and, lastly, Ruby would step in and pacify the two girls before a bigger argument broke out.

Watching their interactions filled her with remorse. She tried to remember what her place had been in their circle, if she had even had one. Had she always sided with Yang? Or made fun of Yang? Whatever her place had been, it clearly was no longer there; that void had been glazed over in the years she had been gone.

Shaking her head slightly to clear it of these thoughts, Blake tuned back into the conversation at the table, smiling at their jokes and asking small questions when she was able to get a word in.

As their meal came to an end, Blake stood up first and said, "I'll clean up the kitchen since you guys made dinner," as she picked up her plate and utensils.

Weiss nodded at her silently as Ruby beamed at her and said, "Thanks, Blake!" The two girls stood from their seats and began to make their way out of the kitchen; Blake overheard Ruby asking Weiss if they could watch a movie together as they exited.

Turning to the last remaining person in the room, Blake realized that she still needed to apologize again to Yang. But as she opened her mouth to speak, Yang quickly held her good hand up in the air to silence her.

"I hope you're not planning on saying that you're sorry again," Yang said as she stood up slowly from the table, expression and tone uncharacteristically dull. "Because I think that it could wait until tomorrow."

Blake snapped her mouth shut, swallowing the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She was having a difficult time reading Yang's emotions right now. Was she mad or upset at her? Or maybe she was just tired.

Yang stacked the remaining three plates on the table and carefully picked them up with her left hand before carrying them over to the counter above the dishwasher. Blake tried to take the dishes away from the injured girl, but Yang brushed her off.

"Yang, you should go rest. Don't worry about these; I can finish by myself."

At these words, Yang sighed, looking physically deflated. She quietly replied, "I guess that I could use another quick nap…" and with those words, quickly walked out of the room.

Blake listened intently as she followed Yang's footsteps upstairs and towards her room, finally hearing a bedroom door closing. Satisfied that Yang had actually gone to lay down, she turned her attention back to the task at hand.

After not too long, she had finished putting dishes away and walked softly out of the kitchen. She could hear the sounds of a movie playing from the living room. Quietly creeping over, she peeked into the dark room to see a movie playing on the large screen. On one of the sofas, Ruby was curled up against Weiss' side. Seeing this, Blake silently backed away and snuck up the stairs to her own room. She didn't want to disturb their alone time.

Deciding that she was also quite tired from the day, she thought that now might be a good time to try to get some rest as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**My apologies for the delay! I've been quite busy with...life. *sigh* But I am actually getting a few days off next week, so I hope to get a lot of writing done. *crosses fingers***

**Disclaimer - I don't own rwby.**

* * *

Several hours later, Blake had only managed to get a few minutes of rest, try as she might to calm her mind and fall asleep. Her brain was working non-stop as she tried to analyze every interaction she had had with her teammates so far. She so badly wanted to know exactly what was on their minds and what they were thinking of her, to know if she was even making progress in regaining their trust.

Looking at the clock that was placed on one side of the room, she saw that it was only slightly after midnight. She sighed. She still felt wide awake, even though she should be exhausted from all that had happened in the last few days.

After a few more minutes of fruitless rest, Blake decided that since she clearly wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, maybe some physical exhaustion would allow her to overcome her overthinking brain. Quickly getting changed out of her pajamas and into her combat gear, she snuck out into the darkened hallway; Ruby and Weiss must have gone to sleep after their movie had ended, as the living room was now dark and quiet. Taking the stairs two at a time, she swiftly found herself standing in front of the massive doors leading to the simulation room.

As she opened the doors, the inside of the room lit up one section at a time with a florescent light that burned her eyes at first. Letting the door fall shut behind her, Blake could feel her adrenaline starting to kick in as her eyes finally adjusted to the artificial light. She was excited to see what this room could really offer.

Heading over to the control panel, she tapped it to wake it up. Thankfully, the menu was pretty intuitive as far as selecting what sort of battle she was looking for. With hardly a second thought, Blake set it to spawn two Elderwolves with some default structures as scenery. A rematch of the day was exactly what she wanted right now.

Giant numbers composed of tiny green lights covering the far wall appeared as the computer began counting down the seconds until the Grimm would be generated. She watched in awe as trees, benches, and shrubbery materialized out of thin air around her. She walked over to the nearest tree and put her hand on it: solid. It would definitely be painful to be slammed into.

As the countdown reached zero, she heard a buzzer sound, notifying her that the simulation was now underway. She crouched down in a ready stance as she watched two Elderwolves materialize across the room from her. She couldn't help but stare in amazement as the creatures were crafted, crystal by crystal – they looked completely realistic.

She didn't have more than a couple of seconds to appreciate the technology as the two Grimm were sprinting at her as soon as their last cell had materialized. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two as they split apart, trying to decide which one she should go after first.

She hesitated as the Grimm on her left disappeared from her vision behind several trees. After a couple of wasted milliseconds, she finally made a decision and set off in a sprint towards the one she could still see. Hopefully, the one she lost track of would circle around and she could catch him before he snuck up behind her.

As she reached the first Elderwolf, she leapt from the ground, unsheathing Gambol Shroud and expertly spinning the end around the creature's neck as she tightly grasped the end of the ribbon. Reaching the apex of her jump, she yanked harshly on the end of Gambol Shroud, hearing the creature cry out as it was yanked backwards into the ground.

Landing silently in a crouch, she quickly turned back to the creature to finish it off, but realized that the second Elderwolf was already rushing past his downed brother towards her. Cursing, she pulled Gambol Shroud back to her as quickly as she could. Leaping to the left, she dodged the first claw that came her way. Feeling her weapon land back in her hands, she hastily split it into two large blades, just in time to block the second attack.

She felt herself fall into a heightened state of focus as she deflected each rapid blow, searching for an opening to attack. But every attack seemed to be coming sooner than the last one, quickly putting her on the defensive. Was it usual for an Elderwolf to be striking out so rapidly?

Too late, her eyes fell briefly behind her opponent to see the empty ground where the first creature had been laying several seconds before. Not a second after she realized her mistake, she felt a large force slam into her right shoulder, throwing her unceremoniously to the grass. The strength of the blow caused her to lose hold of one of her blades, which slid several paces away under a nearby shrub.

She had no time to pick herself back up as both Elderwolves were on her in an instant. She held her one blade up in an attempt to shield herself, but it was no use against two of them.

The room suddenly made a loud beeping noise. The Grimm in front of her froze mid attack, jaws open and drooling as they dove in for the killing blow. She hurriedly scrambled backwards away from the creatures, breathing heavily as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. Only once she felt confident that the creatures were not going to spring back to life did she feel her heart start to slow.

She shook her head as she retrieved her other blade from the ground before walking back to stare at the frozen creatures, figuring out where she had gone wrong. She had been so focused on blocking the attacks in front of her, she had allowed herself to lose track of one of her opponents. It was most rookie mistake a fighter could make. If she ever wanted to redeem herself, she would have to do a lot better than this.

"You're thinking too much," a voice spoke out suddenly from behind her.

Blake spun around at the comment, unaware that there had been anyone else in the room. She could feel the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks as she watched Yang walk slowly out of the shadows by the door and further into the room. The girl was wearing what were mostly likely her pajamas, a light yellow spaghetti strap top with a pair of light brown short shorts. The clothing perfectly accented all of her curves, only causing Blake's blush to deepen more.

However, Blake couldn't keep her eyes from drifting hungrily over the huntress' form, before finally settling upon the gashes on the girl's shoulder. The wounds had been stitched up nicely, but were still red and swollen. Yang didn't seem to be hurting too badly, but Blake knew that the blonde huntress had a pretty high tolerance for pain, plus was very prideful about not being viewed as "weak."

"You're thinking too much," Yang reiterated as she reached Blake, stopping a few feet in front of her. "And you're not having any fun," she continued as she pointed towards one of the still frozen Elderwolves. "You were thinking so much about how you _needed_ to find an opening that you missed what was going on around you. You need to let your instincts take over more and loosen up!"

Blake frowned as she listened to Yang's critique of her battle.

"Where you watching the entire time?" she asked.

"Yup!" Yang smiled proudly at her accomplishment.

Blake felt her blush intensify as embarrassment overcame her. It was one thing for her to have been "killed" in the simulation, but knowing that Yang had seen the whole thing made it at least ten times worse. Adding insult to injury, the Faunus girl, who prided herself on having acute senses, had never even noticed that the girl had entered the room.

"When did you get so good at blending into the shadows?" she asked. Being sneaky had never been one of Yang's strong suits. And the blonde had never been able to sneak up on Blake before (something she had tried to do more than a few times while at Beacon).

Yang's smile disappeared as she looked away before replying softly, "Since I lost the person who used to do it for me."

Blake felt her ears droop as she looked at the ground. She had not been expecting that response, but there was truth to what Yang said. Blake couldn't even count the number of times her partner had 'requested' Blake sneak up on someone, or in somewhere.

"I'm sorry…" she said meekly, knowing that saying she was sorry probably did little to make her partner feel better.

After a few uncomfortable seconds passed with neither girl speaking, Blake eventually watched Yang's feet move the last few feet between them. As Blake looked up, she resisted the urge to take a step back as Yang put her face close to Blake's, a grin inching its way back onto her features.

"Hey, wanna wrestle?"

Blake raised an eyebrow as she slowly replied, "I don't know, Yang…you're still really injured and I don't want it to get any worse…"

The blonde took a step back and waved her left hand in the air. "Oh, yeah, you're right. It would be pretty embarrassing to lose to an injured huntress." Yang looked at her, violet eyes sparkling with mischief. Blake felt her competitive spirit flare, but she just didn't feel right fighting Yang while she still had stitches.

"I really don't want to be responsible for any more damage," Blake answered, hoping that Yang would drop it and they could both move on from the suggestion.

"Pfft, you couldn't touch me if I had _both_ hands tied behind my back, Rook," Yang said as she continued her provocation.

Blake only shook her head. She knew enough about Yang to know that the girl wouldn't drop the subject now, no matter how much Blake resisted. She may as well agree and get it over with, than to spend more time arguing with the girl. Plus, it might be kind of fun to wrestle with her again. She would just make sure to avoid Yang's injured shoulder as much as possible.

"I was going to let you off easy with your pride, but I guess you're just a glutton for punishment," Blake responded, accepting Yang's challenge.

Yang's only response was a smirk, obviously pleased at having gotten her way. She backed away from Blake as the two girls got into position, crouching slightly as they prepared for their friendly 'wrestling' match.

"Here, kitty kitty," Yang jeered, motioning Blake towards her with her left hand.

Blake scowled.

"Let's see if you can back up all that hot air."


	13. Chapter 13

**Surprise! A double feature tonight! We'll call this a 4th of July present. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own rwby. **

* * *

During their time at Beacon, Yang and Blake had made a habit of sparring with each other on a regular basis. They had called them their "wrestling" matches, but they were far from real wrestling. No weapons or semblance use was allowed, but the two girls would go all out after each other regardless. The first one to pin the other won the match and all the glory that came with it.

Most of their matches ended up drawing quite a crowd at the Beacon auditorium. It would become quite a lively event, with wagers being placed on who would win or how long the match would last. With Blake's speed and agility, she was able to lithely escape many of Yang's attacks and strangleholds. However, Yang's strength and endurance were almost never-ending, resulting in a clash that was both evenly matched and entertaining.

They had mostly split their matches evenly, but Yang thought that she had had the slight edge before Blake had disappeared on her. Of course, this match would be quite different with her injured arm and Blake's lack of practice, but she was still confident that she would be able to beat the girl. After all, she had picked up a few new skills in the past few years.

She focused on the Faunus girl crouching slightly a few paces in front of her, arms held up in preparation, ears completely at attention. Blake's amber eyes were focused intently on her own, waiting for her to make the first move. Yang felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward at the familiar sight; oh how she had missed this feeling.

She called upon her aura, but not to use in the fight (that had officially been ruled as 'cheating' some time ago). She watched as her long blonde hair start to take on a life of its own, flickering and flitting like real flames. She'd always liked to add this little flare to their matchups.

Wasting no time, Yang took off, hoping to take Blake off guard by rushing straight towards her. One, two, three strides and she was already upon the Faunus girl, leveling a left hook straight towards her chest. Blake reacted too slowly to completely dodge the attack; her only option was to throw both of her arms in an "x" to block the force of the blow. Yang grinned as her knuckles connected with the girl's wrists and the power of her blow caused Blake to slide backwards several feet.

She straightened her posture and flipped her golden mane back over her shoulder; she could practically feel the swagger dripping off of her as she gave the girl a couple of seconds to recover. There was no need to take complete advantage of Blake's rustiness, after all. She smirked as Blake shook her arms lightly, trying to shake the sting out of them.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Yang couldn't keep the smirk from growing on her face as Blake returned her gaze with a glare.

"I'm just trying to boost your ego a little bit," Blake retorted as she settled back into a ready stance, shaking her arms one last time.

Yang rolled her eyes before taking off in another dash. This time, she veered left, then right, and finally threw in a slight stutter step before trying to land another blow with her left hand. Blake was much more prepared for her this time and easily jumped backwards to dodge the blow. Yang felt herself fly past the girl, having expected her punch to reach more resistance than the air her fist had found.

She quickly put on the brakes, whipping her head around in an attempt to locate the Faunus girl. She briefly saw a flash of black cloth disappear behind her before she felt two boots slam into the small of her back. As she was propelled forward off of her feet, she corrected into a tumble as she hit the ground. Pulling up, she hastily scanned the room for Blake again.

When she didn't see the girl after a half second, she instinctively spun around just in time to block another blow from directly behind her. Yang countered with another left hook followed immediately by a relatively meager (by her standards) right jab, feeling the slight twinge of protest from her still healing injury. Blake blocked both attacks and threw back a few of her own as the two girls traded blows in a ferocious hand to hand battle.

Yang could feel herself rapidly wearing down from the over exertion of her right arm, the slight twinge quickly becoming a more and more searing pain. But with the speed of Blake's attacks, she couldn't rely as heavily on her good arm as she would have liked to. Not if she wanted to win, anyway.

Yang continued to block Blake's incoming blows, stepping backwards with each one, drawing Blake along with her as she tried to come up with a plan to end the fight as soon as possible.

Finally, she feigned like she was going to block the next incoming blow, but at the last second raised her hands up to catch the girl's fist. Using Blake's forward momentum against her, Yang twisted around and carried Blake's arm over her right shoulder. She winced as she felt the girl's weight slam into the back of her injured shoulder, but was able to flip the Faunus girl completely over her back and onto the ground in front of her. Blake let out an "oomph" as she hit the ground.

Yang kept her hands locked around Blake's wrist as she quickly twisted and jumped onto the fallen girl. She sat down straddling the girl's waist and managed to grab ahold of her other arm as Blake swing it up at her, pinning both of Blake's arms firmly to the girl's chest. She leaned forward carefully, using her weight to apply enough pressure to keep Blake from ripping her arms free, but not far enough so that the girl could dislodge her.

"Hah!" she exclaimed, panting heavily from exhaustion. "Got ya."

After struggling for a few more futile seconds, Blake finally realized that she wasn't able to move from her position on the ground. She looked up at Yang with a glare.

"Congratulations," the beaten girl said sulkily.

Yang could feel her happiness bubbling up inside her, along with a little bit of relief. Blake had really had her on the ropes for a few seconds there, not that she would ever admit that. She had beaten the girl fair and square, and with an injury to boot! She couldn't wait to tell Ruby about this.

"Thank you!" she responded to Blake, flipping her hair over her shoulder again while keeping the Faunus girl pinned firmly to the ground. "And what will be my prize for this monumental victory?"

Blake let out a small snort of amusement at that question as she arched an eyebrow at Yang.

"Well, we didn't wager anything, so…pride? Glory? Bragging rights?"

Yang pulled out her best fake pout at that answer. "Aww…you're no fun! Who would want those prizes when they have a beautiful girl pinned under…"

She froze as she heard the words come out of her mouth and saw Blake's eyes widen slightly. Suddenly, Yang found herself back in the gym at Beacon, looking down at a much more irritated Faunus as their fellow students cheered or groaned around them, depending on which partner they had put their money on. It didn't matter the time or the day, Yang had always suggested the same prize when she won:

'Who would want those prizes when they have a beautiful girl pinned underneath them? I think a _kiss_ would be much more appropriate."

Blake had always scoffed at her, saying that the crowd would certainly enjoy that show. Yang had taken that reply as a "no," but certainly would not have hesitated in making a spectacle out of the two of them if Blake had ever agreed.

Looking down at Blake now, Yang watched the blush grow on her cheeks as the girl averted her eyes from Yang. She could feel her heart begin to beat more rapidly as she was flooded with emotions. Suddenly, she felt like she was way too close to her Faunus partner. She could feel Blake's skin far too vividly through the palms of her hands; she could see the silky black hair fanned out beneath her far too clearly; she could imagine those beautiful amber eyes even though they were being directed away from her.

Quickly releasing the girl's arms, Yang scrambled to her feet. Not two seconds later, she was walking rapidly towards the door when she heard the soft, "Yang…" from behind her. Turning slowly around, she found that Blake had also gotten up and was standing uncomfortably where they had just been. The poor Faunus girl's ears were twitching slightly as she looked anywhere but at Yang, her hands fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

After waiting several seconds and watching Blake open and shut her mouth several times, Yang concluded that the girl was at a loss for what to say. She decided that she would help them both out of this predicament, if only so that she could put some distance in between them that much faster.

"Bragging rights actually sound pretty good. They'll be telling this tale for years to come!"

She was continuously surprised at how her voice could sound so upbeat when inside she was filled with turmoil.

Blake opened and closed her mouth one more time, glancing quickly at Yang before looking away again. Yang sighed before continuing, "You should get some rest, you know. Tomorrow could be just as eventful as today."

At this response, Blake's ears drooped and Yang felt her heart drop right along with them. The sight had always broken her heart a little bit, and apparently that hadn't changed in all these years. She felt the strong urge to walk over and pull the girl into a firm hug, to make her feel better in any way that she possibly could. She used every ounce of her remaining willpower to turn away from the sight instead, leaving the Faunus girl standing alone in her wake.

With every step she put in between them, she felt a hand tightening around her heart, squeezing more tightly with every breath. As soon as she had passed through the large door to the simulation room and heard it shut behind her, she broke into a sprint, passing quickly through the kitchen and foyer before ripping open the front door. Bursting into the cold night air, she ran from the mansion as fast as her legs would allow her. The rough pavement grinding into the bottoms of her bare feet provided a welcome pain to go along with her internal chaos. She could feel her throat constricting as her eyes burned with the tears that were streaming down her face. She didn't bother to wipe them away as she kept running, wondering how much distance she would need to cover before she could feel her heart beating normally again.


	14. Chapter 14

**And now for a White Rose chapter! I have just felt like writing a little bit of White Rose because they're increasingly capturing my attention in the story. Plus, I know that a lot of people out there won't complain :P At least, I hope not! As always, please enjoy! Leave me a review if you have any comments. I really love hearing what you have to say!**

**I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

Weiss was growing very impatient. Lying in her bed, staring out the large bay window into the darkness outside, she could feel her thoughts beginning to spin more and more quickly as her impatience continued to build with every passing second.

Where was Ruby?

Ruby had been nearly asleep by the time their movie had ended, so Weiss had insisted that they both head to bed. Ruby had complained that she wasn't tired at first, but had eventually acquiesced.

As the girls headed towards their respective rooms, Weiss had given Ruby's hand what she hoped to be a loving squeeze before they separated to head to bed. She still couldn't bring herself to say something sweet or endearing as they parted, but hoped that Ruby was able to understand her feelings through the slight squeeze.

After she had changed into her ice blue pajamas and slipped into her overly decadent bed, Weiss had laid there for several minutes in peace, decompressing from all of the events of the day. She did this every night, going through every word said and action made in order to file away the important moments that she might need to recall later.

But now that she was finished with her daily analysis, Weiss lay there for several more moments in quiet before she glanced towards her door, confusion etching itself on her face.

What was taking Ruby so long?

She would never admit that it was a "routine" or anything of the sort, but she had grown quite…accustomed to…Ruby sneaking in to her room not long after the two girls separated for bed and spending the night with her.

It never took the young girl _this_ long to appear though, she thought as exasperation began to set in.

Not long after they had begun officially dating, Weiss had been startled one night when she was woken by a soft tap on her shoulder. As she peered into the darkness for the source of the disruption, she had found a very bashful Ruby standing by the edge of her bed, hesitantly pulling at the drawstrings on her pajama bottoms while staring at the ground.

Weiss had been immediately concerned upon seeing the girl and had asked, "Ruby, what's wrong? Are you feeling ok?"

Her questions had only seemed to make the girl more nervous, but Ruby had eventually been able to stammer, "I-I couldn't sleep…s-so I thought that, maybe, I could…sleep in here? Maybe."

Weiss had been astounded by the request. Her initial reaction had been to say no, simply because she had never shared a bed with anyone before in her life. She had never had any reason to share a bed. She was an only child, there was never a dearth of empty beds in her family's mansions, and she had never gone to spend the night at anyone else's home.

However, she had thankfully been able to suppress her instinctual response and give a quick nod of her head. She could hear her heart pounding as she had hesitantly pulled back a corner of the covers for her girlfriend to slip underneath, feeling the cool night air slip under the covers as she did.

Weiss could still remember clearly the look of shock Ruby had given her, as she looked from the covers to Weiss and back again, eyes wide as saucers with her jaw hanging open.

"Y-yes? Really? O-oh, ok!" Weiss had felt a pang of guilt at Ruby's reaction; was Ruby really so used to Weiss turning her down? She clearly had not expected Weiss to agree to her proposal. She had made a mental note to try not to reject Ruby so often.

Weiss could swear that her heart stopped beating for several seconds as the young huntress had clumsily climbed into the bed beside her. But once in the bed, Ruby had quickly pulled the covers back up over her, flopped down, and rolled over onto her side, facing away from the now confused heiress.

As she stared at the back of Ruby's head, mouth hanging slightly ajar, she had slowly settled back against her pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep. Quickly, she picked up the sound of Ruby's breathing beside her, a new addition to her normally quiet room. Warmth could also be felt spreading through the covers as the blankets absorbed some of Ruby's body heat, dispelling some of the chill that had crept under moments before.

What was she supposed to do now?

Weiss had little knowledge and zero experience with these types of situations, something that continuously terrified her. A horde of Grimm was perfectly fine; she knew precisely how to handle the creatures. Sleazy businessmen, strict professors, corrupt politicians…Weiss Schnee was highly adept at dealing with any of those people. But the young girl lying beside her terrified her in a way no adversary had ever been capable of.

Maybe it was because she had never cared for another person so deeply, the inexperience scared her. Maybe it was because she had knew very well her own personal failings, and was afraid that one day Ruby would be able to see them as well. Maybe it was because she couldn't read Ruby like she could other people, so there was no way to calculate a perfect response. Maybe it was because she thought that Ruby deserved someone better, and would one day find that person and leave her.

Her insecurities concerning her young girlfriend had no bounds, and Weiss was always able to find a new reason to be afraid of the relationship they were in. Weiss refused to give in to her fear however, because for the first time she actually knew what she wanted in life. Growing up, she had been handed everything, but nothing she had ever truly desired. She had thought that she wanted to become a huntress for superficial reasons, but that merely turned in to an afterthought after she had met Ruby.

So, no matter how uncomfortable or afraid Weiss felt, she always tried to push through her fear and solidify her relationship with Ruby in any way that she could. This, however, was much easier said than done. Weiss found that she failed to show Ruby her true feelings much more often than she succeeded.

Weiss had finally decided what she should do next. But she had moved her arm no further than a few inches towards the younger girl before she quickly drew it back to herself. Ashamed that she once again wasn't able to conquer her fear when it came to Ruby, she spun over onto her own side, facing away from the girl in disgust.

'_I'm sorry_," she had directed towards Ruby, letting out a heavy sigh. If only she could be as open and unrestrained as the young leader.

As she had lain there, berating herself for yet another failing, she had suddenly picked up the sound of the blankets rustling once again. Several seconds later, Weiss had nearly jolted out of the bed entirely as she felt an arm encircle her stomach and a warm presence move closer to her back. Holding her breath, she remained as rigid as a board as her mind exploded with thoughts that she couldn't even begin to make sense of.

After nearly a minute had passed, Ruby had apparently decided that her advance was unwelcome since Weiss' body was still completely frozen in place. Weiss felt the warmth begin to recede as Ruby began withdrawing her arm, murmuring a soft, "Sorry," as she retreated.

Only then had Weiss been able to act as panic began to grip at her chest. She had grabbed ahold of Ruby's hand before the girl managed to pull it completely away. Weiss held on to the young girl's hand tightly, praying that Ruby wouldn't move any further away. She had tried to say something, but no words seemed to be able to make it past her lips. All she had been able to do was hold on to Ruby's hand, squeezing her eyes shut as her heart beat loudly in her ears. If she had messed this up, who knew how long it would take before Ruby would try this again, if the poor girl would even try again at all.

Thankfully, this had been enough of a sign for Ruby, and the brunette had settled back in at Weiss' back, resting her arm carefully around Weiss' stomach. For her part, Weiss had done her best to relax her muscles, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves and her heartbeat.

Slowly, Ruby's warmth had begun to work its way through Weiss, tiny tendrils of heat that loosened every tense muscle reached. Weiss breathed deeply the slight aroma of roses, a scent that long ago had become a natural relaxant to her. Unfortunately, Yang had since figured this out and dragged Weiss through rose gardens as often as possible; the fiery girl seemed to love the effect the scent had on the heiress, much to Weiss' chagrin.

Before too long, Weiss had been able to relax in Ruby's arms, a feat surprising to the both of them.

That had been the first night Weiss could ever remember when she had felt…warm. And not the superficial surface warmth that one could create with blankets and heaters. She felt that the warmth was actually coming from within her, from within both of them.

It had been the best night's sleep Weiss had had in as long as she could remember.

The next night, Ruby had woken Weiss again, the same as before. Weiss had been surprised, but found it much easier to allow her girlfriend into her bed this time. Her nerves were still rampant, but Weiss fought through them as hard as she could, for she knew that it would be worth it in the end.

Before Ruby had even had the chance to tap her shoulder on the third night, Weiss had said, somewhat impatiently, "You don't need to wake me up every night, you know. You can just get in."

She had pretended not to see the huge grin Ruby had given her as she rolled hastily onto her side so that Ruby could slide into bed behind her.

Now, several months later, she found herself lying there, waiting for Ruby to sneak through her door and into her bed, but the young girl was nowhere to be found. She cursed herself as she tossed under the covers, each passing minute making her more and more annoyed and irritable. She had been fine sleeping alone her entire life; she should be able to sleep perfectly fine with or without her bubbly girlfriend nearby.

But, why wasn't she there?

Could it be that Ruby was angry with her? Weiss felt her heart clench at the thought. Maybe Ruby was upset about something Weiss had said today. It certainly wouldn't be the first time the heiress had said something callous and not realized it until much later. Weiss wracked her brain, trying to find what she could have said to upset her girlfriend so greatly.

After analyzing every conversation they had had that entire day and finding nothing, Weiss finally pushed the covers off of her in a huff and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Feeling her feet hit the plush carpet of her bedroom, she found herself headed towards her bedroom door before a second thought passed through her mind.

However, upon reaching the door, she suddenly became very self-conscious of her actions. What if Ruby was coming over to her room right now? What if she ran into Yang or Blake in the hallway? How would she explain to them what she was doing, sneaking in to Ruby's room late at night? It certainly wouldn't look very innocent to a bystander. And Yang would surely tease her until the end of time if she found out about this.

Weiss stood there, hand frozen a few inches above the door handle, as she waged this internal battle with herself, listening intently for any sounds of movement out in the hallway. After several minutes of indecision, Weiss finally cursed softly under her breath, pulling the door open as quietly as possible.

Quickly creeping the few yards to Ruby's room, Weiss had wasted no time in opening her girlfriend's door, not wanting to increase her risk of being caught by one of her other teammates in the hallway. Once the door was closed behind her, she allowed her eyes several seconds to adjust to the darkness of her girlfriend's room.

Peering towards Ruby's bed, Weiss was able to pick out the shape of Ruby, sound asleep. The brunette had apparently fallen asleep before she had even been able to get under the covers, as she lay curled up on her side in the middle of the bed.

Weiss instantly felt her unease dissipate at the sight. Ruby hadn't been snubbing her or angry with her; she had simply fallen asleep. She was instantly able to breathe a sigh of relief as she slowly approached Ruby's bed.

When she was close enough, she reached out and carefully pulled the covers out from underneath the slumbering girl, who merely mumbled softly in her sleep at the movement. Once that was done, Weiss used as much stealth as possible to slip into the bed beside the girl before pulling the covers back over their bodies.

Weiss now felt her nerves begin to unravel. She had explicitly given Ruby permission to come to her room anytime, but Ruby had never done the same for her. In fact, this was the first time Weiss had ever come into Ruby's room without approval. What if Ruby didn't want Weiss to be in her room? What if she would ask Weiss to leave once she woke up?

She shook her head as she tried to remove some of the insecurity that was creeping into her mind. Those type of thoughts were what kept her from acting the first time Ruby had snuck into her room. She firmly reminded herself that Ruby cared about her, as well, so likely wouldn't reject Weiss in that manner. At least, she hoped that Ruby wouldn't reject her…

Slowly, Weiss scooted towards Ruby, feeling her heart beating more rapidly in her chest. Gently setting herself down right behind Ruby, she nimbly slipped an arm around the girl's waist. She let out an audible breath of relief as she laid her head down on the pillow next to Ruby, please at not having woken the girl.

Her breath must have tickled Ruby's neck, as the young girl moved her head slightly to one side after feeling the irritation. Weiss felt her heart stop in anticipation as Ruby sleepily looked down at Weiss' arm, before craning her neck around to lock eyes with the heiress.

The darkness in the room hopefully kept Ruby from seeing the blush that was blossoming on Weiss' cheeks as Ruby peered back at her in confusion, silver eyes holding the question that was not spoken aloud.

"You were supposed to come over," was the only thing Weiss could think to grumble at that moment.

Confusion quickly turned into an apology as Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, Weiss, I'm so sorry! I was just so tired from today; I'm so sorry that I didn't wake back up!" Ruby cried, remorse beginning to fill her eyes.

Weiss felt guilt begin to build as she watched Ruby become more and more despondent. She had not meant to make Ruby feel this badly, at all. Thinking quickly, she tightened her grip on the girl, pulling her close enough so that she could lean in and give her a quick peck on the lips, effectively silencing anymore apologies that were about to be issued.

"It's ok now…dunce," she said gently as she rested her head on Ruby's shoulder, feeling content that she would be able to sleep, at last.

It was then that the two girls heard the front door slam with a loud bang downstairs. Weiss gave a heavy sigh, wondering which of their two teammates had just run outside at this hour. She couldn't keep down the small pang of worry that a certain Faunus had already broken her promise and fled from their lives once again, leaving a broken hearted fireball behind.

Ruby gently rubbed her hand up and down Weiss' arm after hearing that sigh, bringing Weiss back from her thoughts while sending small waves of contentment through her.

"Don't worry, Weiss," she whispered softly. "They'll get it sorted out, eventually. I don't think we need to worry about them too much."

Weiss snuggled closer to Ruby in silent acceptance of the girl's words, trying to claim some of her girlfriend's warmth for herself without seeming overly needy. She had believed Blake earlier today, that she would not leave them again, but she still couldn't help being worried for Yang's health. Weiss couldn't imagine the blonde huntress surviving another unexpected separation from her Faunus partner.

Weiss and Yang were surprisingly alike, in this way. It was this similarity that had brought the two girls closer several years ago.

Weiss had grown tired of Yang refusing to attend classes and moping over her lost partner, so she had started in on another harsh lecture about responsibilities, the importance of education, how unreliable the Faunus were, anything that she thought would get through Yang's thick skull.

Of course, Yang had only stared at her with those dull, lifeless eyes as Weiss laid into her. She made no reaction whatsoever, no matter how cruel the words became. The lack of response had only served to infuriate the heiress even more; at least give her some sort of reaction! At this point, even anger would have been a better response than nothing at all.

When Weiss had finally paused for a second to catch her breath, Yang had finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Weiss, what would you do if Ruby was gone?"

Weiss had, of course, scoffed at the question and responded quite haughtily, "I would be _perfectly_ fine with or without her!" But Yang had already lost interest in her and was crawling back up into her bunk bed. Infuriated by the girl's indifference towards her, Weiss had turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door as hard as she could on the way out to lend voice some of her fury.

As she stalked off to class, Yang's question kept popping up in her mind again and again.

What would she do without Ruby?

While they hadn't been a couple at that time, Weiss had already become painfully aware that her feelings for their team leader ran far deeper than any she had ever felt before. She tried to imagine a world without Ruby in it, but could not even fathom what that might be like. In fact, she was already looking forward to making it to class so that she could sit down next to her partner and decompress.

Weiss had shrewdly recognized that she could not imagine a world without Ruby in it because, simply, Ruby _was_ her world. If Ruby was no longer in her life, Weiss would cease to exist as she was now. Her world would have effectively been torn apart.

For the first time, Weiss had felt an unfamiliar feeling spread in her chest for the blonde brawler.

Sympathy.

From that moment on, Weiss had ceased lecturing Yang about skipping classes. Instead, she decided to do whatever she could to help the girl succeed in creating a new world for herself, a world without Blake.

She convinced all of their professors (leaning quite heavily upon her last name in some cases) to allow Yang to take her final exams as take home tests. She "grudgingly" leant Yang all of her meticulous notes to study from and quizzed the girl incessantly. She made sure the girl finished all of her tests on time and turned them in to the professors on her behalf. She personally went to Professor Ozpin to petition that Yang graduate with their class, even if the blonde refused to show up to the ceremony.

Yang was going to move on, if Weiss Schnee had anything to say about it.

But now, Blake had returned, threatening the delicate world Weiss had so painstakingly stitched together for her dear friend. If Blake did change her mind and if she did leave again…well, Yang's world had been fragile, at best, before her reappearance. If Blake left again, Weiss didn't believe that anyone would be able to save Yang a second time.

As for herself, she felt immeasurably grateful to have Ruby beside her at this moment. The heiress could no longer imagine life without being able to see Ruby's face every day, and she didn't even want to try to imagine that possibility. She obviously couldn't even sleep one night without the young girl by her side.

"You know," Weiss began, her voice showing far more conviction than she was actually feeling at that moment. "I think that you should just come to sleep in my room when I do every night, instead of sneaking in later."

"R-really?" Ruby stammered in surprise before letting out a nervous giggle. "I think that's a great idea!" she ended, unable to conceal the excitement in her voice.

She didn't have to look up at Ruby to know that the brunette had a maddeningly large smile on her face. She couldn't help a small smile from forming herself. No feeling was more satisfying to the heiress than being able to put a smile on her girlfriend's face.

The two girls fell asleep shortly after that conversation, leading Weiss to this morning, where she currently lay.

As she thought about the girl lying next to her, she couldn't help a feeling of pride growing in her chest. While she knew that she often gave Ruby a hard time, she was immensely honored that Ruby had agreed to be her girlfriend. Now Ruby was going to be staying in her room every night, but Weiss still felt like she wanted more. Witnessing the devastation Yang had been put through, Weiss knew that she would not be strong enough to survive if Ruby ever left. She needed to do something to prove to Ruby how much she meant to her.

Suddenly having an idea, Weiss delicately detached herself from Ruby and began sliding out of bed. Standing, she walked around to kneel down by Ruby's side, leaning forward to kiss the girl gently on the forehead.

As Ruby's eyes fluttered open, Weiss gave her a loving smile.

"Good morning," she whispered. "I have a meeting with my parents, but I'll be back in just a few hours."

"Mmk, Weiss," Ruby replied groggily, giving Weiss a sleepy smile that made her heart flutter. "But don't be gone too long, ok?"

Weiss couldn't help thinking that Ruby looked absolutely adorable when tired. She hesitantly swooped in and placed another kiss directly upon Ruby's lips.

"You know that I'll always rush back to you," she said with a flush, knowing that she was speaking about much more than just her meeting this morning.

Ruby gave her another drowsy grin before she began snuggling back into the covers, eyes already sliding shut.

"And I'll always be here waiting for you…" the young girl mumbled out as she slipped back into her slumber.

Face blushing from her girlfriend's candid response, Weiss hastily stood up, straightening her pajamas and suddenly feeling very self-conscious at her behavior. Clearing her throat quietly, she whispered, "Make sure you eat something decent for breakfast," before turning on her heel and quickly heading back to her room to change.

She had a lot to discuss with Mother and Father today.


	15. Chapter 15

**We are officially almost caught up to as far as I've written...dum, dum, dummm...just means I need to write faster! I'm trying to make the chapters longer, so there might be more of a delay in between updates. However, after reading many fanfics myself in the past week, I realized that I should not be holding back completed chapters that people might want to read! **

**Thank you to everyone who continues to read and review. I love hearing from you guys! The reviews seriously make my day :)**

**I still don't claim to own RWBY. I think I'll stop saying this every chapter. If something changes and I suddenly DO own RWBY, believe me, you'll be the first to know.**

* * *

Blake woke the next morning to the sound of cheerful birds singing, as the early morning sun drifted through the white curtains of her bedroom windows. She sluggishly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, remaining in bed as she cursed the tiny beings for being so happy this early in the morning. She immediately felt guilty at her resentment towards the joyful creatures; it was not their fault that she was in this predicament, after all.

She felt no strong desire to get out of bed this morning, especially after what had happened the night before. But she was finally able to force herself out from under the covers to get dressed and ready for the day. It was shaping up to be a very long day, as she was already exhausted from getting hardly any sleep the night before.

Blake had listened to the sound of Yang's footsteps echoing through the house as the blonde huntress had raced away from her, flinching as the front door slammed, carrying Yang out into the night. For several seconds, Blake had stood frozen as she debated whether or not she should chase after the girl. It wasn't exactly safe to run around in the middle of the night, especially dressed in her pajamas as she was. But Yang hadn't seemed very willing to speak to Blake at that moment. Chasing after her could just make things worse, if Blake was able to catch up at all.

So, with a heavy heart, Blake had slowly ascended the stairs to her bedroom and tried to go to sleep as her partner had suggested. However, she had only managed to toss and turn for several hours as she worried about where Yang might be and, more importantly, if she was ok. She had even considered waking Weiss and Ruby to have them go in search of the girl, but she couldn't bring herself to face their judgment.

Thankfully, Blake's ears had picked up the sound of the front door gently opening several hours later, as Yang had quickly padded up to her room and jumped into bed. Only then did Blake feel like she could breathe easily as she let out a sigh of relief, drifting into a restless sleep several moments later.

This morning, she was very much dreading having to face her partner. Their wrestling match last night had dragged up memories from when they were at school, for both of them. When Blake had heard Yang suggesting the same prize as always, she had wondered if she could respond in the same way she always had.

It had been easy at school to brush off the comment as Yang just being Yang. The beautiful blonde huntress-in-training was widely known to be flirtatious, so Blake had always figured that it was only natural for some of that energy to rub off on her as well. She did spend almost every waking second with the girl, so it would make sense. That had been before Yang had confessed her true feelings to Blake.

Now, in hindsight, Blake recognized that Yang had probably not been joking with her all those times at school. The fleetingly intimate touches, the exuberant compliments, her possessive nature…those had just been ways for Yang to express her feelings for Blake, without the latter catching on to her true motives.

So, had she been joking with Blake last night? Before Yang had run off, the atmosphere had felt vaguely familiar, but also somehow different. Maybe it was that Blake was now more attuned to her partner's true feelings, but the air in the simulation room had felt charged with energy in that moment.

Blake couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if Yang had actually made it through her full suggestion and Blake had managed to say yes. Would Yang have…kissed her?

She quickly shook her head as she tried to squash the butterflies that appeared in her stomach. Yang would probably never have those kind of feelings for her ever again, so there was no point in dwelling on them. She needed to focus on being Yang's friend, first. On regaining her trust and mending the broken feelings from years ago. Nothing beyond that mattered at this point.

But what might have happened…

As she finished dressing, she slowly crossed the room to stand in front of her door. Listening carefully for a few seconds, she tried to pick up any sounds of Yang talking from downstairs. Hearing nothing, she gingerly turned the doorknob and stepped hesitantly out into the corridor. Turning to her right, she saw that Yang's door was still shut; the girl must still be sleeping.

Blake heard a small sigh of relief escape her lips. At least she would be able to put off the confrontation with Yang until a little later. She padded down the staircase as quietly as she could, unintentionally nervous that any small noise she made could wake up the blonde haired girl at any second.

Once downstairs, soft noises coming from the living room caught her attention. Entering the room, she found Ruby sitting on one of the sofas watching something on the projector. Their team leader was focused intently on the images upon the screen, pausing and unpausing the muted video repeatedly.

Ruby hadn't yet noticed that anyone else was in the room, so Blake coughed lightly to announce her presence, not want to frighten the girl by sneaking up on her. Ruby jumped slightly anyway as she turned towards the new arrival.

"Oh hey, Blake!" she greeted cheerfully as she paused the video yet again. "How did you sleep?"

Blake gave a small smile and decided that it might be best not to answer completely honestly in this situation.

"Oh…you know…sometimes it's a little difficult to sleep in new places."

Ruby nodded her head knowingly as Blake continued, not wanting to delve any deeper into the subject. "So, what are you watching?"

The young girl spun back towards the screen at her question, seemingly having already forgotten that she had been watching anything at all. After taking in the image, she turned to look sheepishly back at Blake.

"I was just…um…watching some of the videos we have of the Grimm appearances so far…trying to see if I can notice anything that might help us figure out who's doing this, why, or how even. Weiss and I have gone through these videos hundreds of times already, but I thought that maybe, without her here, I could catch something…"

Blake couldn't help but smile at the young girl's admission; Ruby had always been disarmingly honest. The girl couldn't hide her true intentions if her life depended on it. In that way, she was almost exactly Blake's opposite, something Blake had grown to be quite fond of many years ago.

"Do you want an extra set of eyes to watch with you?" she offered helpfully.

"Maybe next time," Ruby began as she shook her head. "I've already been watching them for hours. I don't think that I can watch another second today without going crazy!"

Blake chuckled.

"Hey, where is Weiss, anyway?" she asked, suddenly taking in the fact that there was no heiress barking orders or stomping around the house.

"She had a meeting this morning with her parents," Ruby replied. "Something big and important, I'm guessing. It always is."

"Do her parents know you two are dating yet?" Blake asked casually. She found herself immensely curious about how serious Weiss might actually be about her relationship with Ruby. It was difficult to imagine any relationship with the icy girl progressing very easily; even friendship was difficult to accomplish with the demanding heiress. Weiss telling her parents that she and Ruby were dating would certainly be a monumental step for the reserved girl.

Ruby looked away from Blake though, blushing slightly. "No, not yet…but we haven't been officially dating for that long. And you know her relationship with her parents can be kind of difficult. Plus, it's easier for me because I only have Yang. I don't really have to consider what my family might think or do if they disapprove…"

Blake felt her eyebrows knit together at that response. While those reasons held some validity, they sounded an awful lot like explanations that _Weiss_ had given Ruby, not ones that Ruby had come up with on her own. She silently prayed that Weiss wouldn't let her obsessive need for control ruin what she had with Ruby.

However, her worry for the girl quickly dissipated as Ruby turned back to her with concerned eyes of her own.

"How are you doing, Blake? With Yang…and with everything?" the brunette asked hesitantly.

Blake sighed as she glanced away from those caring silver eyes. Ruby would ask her that this morning. She reminded herself that she should be grateful that Ruby cared enough to ask the question at all. It's not like Weiss was going to be running around anytime soon asking how Blake was feeling.

"It's been a little rocky so far," she began, "Weiss really let me have it yesterday, but I figured that was coming sooner rather than later. And Yang…Yang still needs some time."

Ruby nodded at her response, as if that was exactly what she had been expecting. "Yeah, Weiss told me that she had spoken to you. I know what her idea of 'spoke to' means. It seemed like you said enough to make her a little bit happy, at least!"

"Well that's good to hear," she said in relief. That would likely be some of the best news Blake would hear all day. Something she had said had actually made a chip in the ice queen's shell.

"What about you?" Blake tentatively asked, somewhat afraid to hear the answer. "Do you have anything you would like to yell at me? Because it's open season right now…"

The only response she received was a sigh.

"Blake…" Ruby began, "I know you. I know that I don't have anything to say that you haven't already said to yourself. And you were probably much harsher about it than I would ever be."

Blake smiled grimly at that. What Ruby said was true. She was constantly berating herself for the mistake she had made and all of the consequences that came from it, many of which she had not even been aware of until a couple days ago. She was pretty sure that even if her teammates forgave her, she would never be able to fully forgive herself.

"Well, for what it's worth, I am really sorry for what I did," Blake said. "I know that it's going to take a long time to make it up to you guys, but hopefully you're willing to let me stick around that long."

Ruby giggled. "Just try to stay on Weiss' good side then."

"I didn't know Weiss even _had _a good side!" came a sudden voice from behind them. Blake and Ruby both jumped in surprise as they whirled around to find Yang walking towards them, yawning as she stretched. Blake flushed, silently cursing herself for being snuck up on for a second time. She really needed to start using her senses more passively again.

"Good morning, Yang!" Ruby sang happily at the sight of her sister, running over to give the girl a quick hug. "How is your shoulder feeling this morning?"

Yang grinned back at the young girl as she answered. "It's feeling almost brand new, thanks to the best doctor ever! Just a little tender right now, but nothing I can't fight through." She threw some quick jabs at the air to emphasize her point.

For several seconds, Blake thought that Yang might not even acknowledge her presence in the room, until the blonde huntress finally turned towards her. Blake watched the smile on Yang's face fade a fraction of an inch as she muttered a quiet, "Good morning, Blake."

Blake looked down at the ground as she said "good morning" quietly in response. She couldn't stand to see Yang with anything less than her fully radiant smile. And maybe she was just overanalyzing the situation, but she could swear that the room had gotten slightly cooler from Yang's detached greeting.

Just then, Ruby seemed to perk up noticeably before shouting, "Weiss is home!" and dashing to the front door, leaving the two girls behind in awkward silence. After a few seconds, Yang finally turned and silently followed Ruby to the door without another look in Blake's direction.

Blake sighed and followed Yang out of the room, realizing then that there actually _had_ been a drop in temperature. But it was due to the angry heiress currently standing in the foyer, not the cold shoulder Yang was currently giving her.

Ruby was watching silently as Weiss stormed back and forth across the front entryway, waving her arms as she ranted, blasts of cold air emanating from her.

"They're just so _frustrating_. Nothing I say is ever good enough. I always have to _prove_ myself to them by some elaborate gesture. Why can't they ever just _listen_ to what I say and _believe_ me?"

As Weiss stopped stomping for a split second to throw her arms up in defeat, Ruby rushed forward and quickly grabbed one of her hands.

"What do they want you to do?" she asked, voice filled with concern over her girlfriend's plight.

As Ruby held Weiss' hand delicately, Weiss looked deeply into the girl's eyes. Blake felt the room start to warm slightly as Ruby was able to thaw some of Weiss' anger.

After several seconds, Weiss sighed, reaching out to grab Ruby's other hand so that both of their hands were now locked together.

"Nothing that I'm not willing to do," she said tenderly, seemingly oblivious to the onlookers. "They're just frustrating sometimes. But I'll tell you about it later."

Ruby nodded in complete acceptance of that answer. "How about we go make some tea?" she offered, pulling Weiss gently backwards towards the kitchen.

Weiss rolled her eyes slightly, but allowed the younger girl to pull her forward. "Only if you let me make it."

"Deal!" Ruby shouted cheerfully.

Blake watched as the two girls disappeared into the kitchen. She couldn't help feeling…jealous…of how close the two girls were. Was that what Yang and she could have had?

She shot a quick glance towards the girl standing quietly to her left, wondering what Yang was thinking as she stood there. The girl in question suddenly turned to her with a smile.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

Caught off-guard by the sudden mood change, Blake stuttered, "I-I don't know…what are our options? I thought that we had to stay here in case of calls."

Yang laughed. "Naw, we only have to be nearby. But it gets boring to be out shopping all of the time, so we normally stay here. Let me show you around the neighborhood! I can point out _all_ of the best places to eat."

Once out of the house, the two girls strolled down the sidewalk in a nearby shopping area. True to her word, Yang was pointing out _every_ restaurant that she liked to go to, as well as the ones that she didn't like and the ones that she had never been too. Blake couldn't help being very amused by the girl's fascination with every eatery in the vicinity.

What Blake was finding to be less and less amusing was the amount of attention Yang was drawing. It had always been obvious to Blake that Yang was extremely attractive, but she had completely forgotten what it was like to be out in public with the blonde haired beauty. Without even trying, Yang succeeded in turning every person's head as they passed, resulting in more than a few overly confident men approaching the girl.

The current suitor stood in front of the two girls; tall, dark hair, with striking blue eyes, he had introduced himself as Carson. While Blake would have no problem ignoring or brushing off such advances, Yang's playful personality did not lend itself to overtly shooting these men down. So Blake just glared at him as he continued speaking, making no effort to mask her displeasure at his presence.

"So…why is such a fine lady like yourself out alone today? Would you care to join me for a drink?" he asked flirtatiously, leaning forward slightly into Yang's personal space. Blake rolled her eyes; apparently she was invisible now.

"Well, I'm not alone," Yang replied with a friendly smile as she gestured towards the agitated Faunus girl. "My friend, Blake here is new to the area and I'm showing her around."

Carson shot a surprised look at Blake, suddenly realizing that she really had been walking _with_ Yang, not just near her.

"She's a Faunus," he stated in shock upon taking in Blake's ears. Blake couldn't help rolling her eyes a second time as her ears twitched in agitation. This guy was _really _slow.

"Of course she is!" Yang replied without a moment's hesitation. "You see…" she began, leaning in close to him as she stood on her tiptoes to whisper suggestively in his ear, "I find the Faunus to be _exceptionally_ sexy."

Yang giggled as she stepped away from the boy, his mouth hanging open in astonishment as he stared at Blake with wide eyes. Blake could feel her face heating up from Yang's comment, but returned Carson's gaze steadily as he began sputtering.

"B-but the Faunus are…they're…well, they're Faunus!"

Blake felt her ears twitch at his comment. He was implying that a Faunus could never date someone like Yang Xiao Long. That only a _human_ could be worthy of her affection. Well…Blake wouldn't exactly consider herself to be worthy of dating her, but maybe some other Faunus would have a chance in the future. Yang had seemed to get along quite well with Sun, after all.

Yang simply laughed at the sputtering remark as she began to walk backwards away from the boy, motioning for Blake to follow her as she replied jovially, "There's just _something_ about them that's so _alluring, _don't you think? Maybe it's the ears." She finished with a wink before blowing a kiss back towards the dumbfounded boy.

Blake felt a sharp jab of jealousy at the gesture, even though she knew that Yang was only doing it in jest. She couldn't understand how Yang made it look so easy to flirt with creeps like that.

As they turned around to continue walking through a beautiful outdoor shopping plaza, Yang sighed heavily, "Ugh, I hate guys like that."

"Well, most people still aren't as tolerant of Faunus as you are," Blake began. "Especially the suggestion of Faunus-human relationships…"

"Oh no, not that," Yang said, waving a hand dismissively, "I mean guys who act like they can't see you. It's like saying a tree is beautiful and ignoring the sunrise right behind it."

Blake felt her face flush at the compliment. But before she was able to say 'thank you,' Yang had already moved on to another subject.

"Ooh look! This is my favorite spot!"

Turning her attention back to their surroundings, Blake realized that they were standing in an open, circular area positioned around a large, ornate three tier fountain. Small black tables with matching chairs and umbrellas were placed strategically about the area, where shoppers were sitting, chatting or eating food from one of the nearby restaurants.

"I like to sit here and people watch," Yang continued as she walked over to a nearby empty table, pulling out a chair and plopping down into it. Blake followed her lead, sitting down across from her and turning her attention to the people walking nearby. She watched as couples and families passed, engrossed in their own conversations. She could see why Yang liked it here. It was cathartic to watch the shoppers, each lost in their own world and own problems.

Her attention was suddenly drawn to a small girl who was hesitantly approaching them. With her blonde hair tied back in pigtails, she couldn't have been more than seven years old. Blake watched her curiously as she crept slowly closer.

"Excuse me…" the young girl finally spoke, voice hardly more than a whisper. "A-are you Yang Xiao Long? The huntress?" The girl looked at Yang with wide eyes, nervously waiting for her answer.

Yang smiled warmly at her, responding happily, "Yes, I am! And who might you be?"

Having her suspicions confirmed, the young girl broke into a huge smile, clasping her hands happily together in front of her. "I knew it! I knew you were! My name is Violet. Can I have your autograph? Please?" She thrust out a pen and crumpled napkin as her words finished tumbling out.

Blake smiled as Yang chuckled softly.

"Of course, Violet," she replied softly as she knelt down from her chair directly in front of the small girl. Taking the pen and paper from Violet's small hands, she set the napkin down on her thigh and began writing, speaking out loud:

"To Violet, my biggest fan. May you never lose the courage you displayed today. Love, Yang Xiao Long."

Violet squealed in happiness as Yang handed the napkin back to her.

"I want to be a huntress just like you when I grow up!" she nearly shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down while clutching her new treasure.

Blake felt her heart warmed from the entire exchange. Yang was being exceptionally sweet to the young girl, who was practically bubbling over in her idolization of the blonde brawler. She couldn't help thinking that Yang would make a really good mother, if she ever decided to have children.

Violet suddenly looked over at her, causing Blake to freeze and pray that the girl wouldn't notice her ears. Her wish was not granted as she watched the little girl's eyes lock on to her most prominent feature. She struggled to keep her ears still, but found that they were trying to take on a life of their own under the small girl's intent gaze.

Yang quickly noticed where Violet was staring.

"Hey," she said, capturing the little girl's attention again with a big smile. "Want to meet my new partner?" She gestured towards Blake with her head. "Her name is Blake!"

Violet looked at Blake again, confusion emanating from her. Her eyes never leaving Blake's ears, she whispered sideways to Yang, "But…she's a Faunus…"

Blake couldn't stop her ears from flicking at that comment, which caused the young girl to scoot marginally closer to Yang.

Yang merely chuckled happily and replied, "Of course she is! She's great too. One of the best huntresses in all of Vale."

"But…they're supposed to be mean…" Violet continued in a hushed voice, as if afraid of what Blake might do if she overheard her.

Laughing again, Yang leaned in close to the little girl and whispered back, "Yeah, they are supposed to be, but let me tell you a little secret…some of them are actually really friendly."

Before Blake had the chance to react, Yang reached out and pulled Blake down from her chair to the ground beside them. Placing one hand on the back of Blake's head, Yang gently but forcefully pushed her head down slightly towards the girl as she said delightedly, "Plus, look at how cute these ears are! Go ahead, you can touch them."

Hearing this, Blake immediately stiffened. She never let anyone touch her ears, partly because they were very sensitive, but also because she didn't want to be viewed as a pet that people could…pet. However, she didn't want to risk scaring Violet by jerking away, so remained as still as possible, eyes staring at the pavement.

After several seconds of waiting, she finally felt Violet's hand brush her ears quickly, causing her to flinch slightly at the abruptness of it. She heard a small giggle before Violet's hand appeared again, this time petting her ears more steadily, tickling slightly as she pulled gently at one of her ears between her thumb and forefinger. Blake had to use all of her willpower to keep her ears still as the little girl kept tickling her.

Violet continued giggling as she exclaimed, "They're so soft!" Blake smiled, realizing that the girl was practically squealing in delight. She heard Yang start laughing as well as she removed her hand from the back of Blake's head.

Suddenly, Violet's small hand was replaced by Yang's as the blonde huntress' warm fingers expertly ran themselves around Blake's ears, scratching slightly in all the right places. Blake closed her eyes with a small gasp as ecstasy flowed within her at the contact. She heard a low rumble escape her chest before she swiftly cut it off with a blush. And, just like that, Yang's hand was gone.

Blake looked up and saw that Violet was now beaming at her, holding out her pen and napkin once more.

"Can I have your autograph, too?"

She felt her jaw drop open in surprise before she managed to respond, "S-sure you can!" She took the items from the girl gingerly and quickly signed the first thing that came to mind, 'Violet, may all your wishes come true. Blake Belladonna.'

As she returned the objects to Violet, the little girl held them closely to her chest before exclaiming, "Thank you both so much!" And with that, she turned and ran back to where her mom was still sitting and waiting for her.

Blake and Yang watched as Violet ran up to her mom, thrusting the napkin into her hands as she waved her arms around, jumping up and down in excitement. Blake smiled as she watched the little girl making hand gestures as if she was petting Blake's ears again.

"Sometimes the smallest things can change a person's entire perspective," Yang spoke up from beside her. "She could grow up without fearing the Faunus, just because you let her touch your ears."

She turned to Yang and found the blonde's caring, lilac eyes locked onto her own. She flushed under the power of the girl's gaze and quickly looked away.

"Thank you, Yang," she said quietly. "That was…one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced…"

She replayed the scene again in her mind. The little girl had gone from scared to thrilled in a matter of seconds, all from touching her ears. It was amazing to see someone lose their fear of her just like that. It was something that she had never witnessed before. And she would never have had that experience if not for Yang.

"Sure thing, partner," Yang responded casually, as if it weren't a huge deal at all. "So what do you think about heading back to the house now?"

Blake nodded in approval as they turned to head back the way they'd come.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, Yang finally broke the quiet as she added cheerfully, "By the way, I think that Ruby will be really upset to hear that you ate her bag of marbles. She really loved those."

Blake instantly felt her face heat up. She had really been hoping that Yang hadn't heard that.


	16. Chapter 16

**I promised someone this would be up on Friday, and I succeeded! I hope that everyone likes this one. I think I've finally gotten a bit of a rhythm down for writing, but it could all go out the window if I run into another case of writer's block (or laziness).**

**I want to thank everyone again for their favorites, follows, and reviews! I write a little bit for myself, but a lot for you! So it's great to know that people are actually enjoying it :)**

**And now..the continuation of...The Fire Within (Says in awesome narrator voice)**

* * *

Yang was feeling positively giddy. She felt like skipping down the sidewalk next to Blake, only barely managing to keep her steps somewhat normal. A little more bounce in them was all the Faunus girl would notice, plus the stupid smile that refused to leave her face. Her heart was soaring at that moment, and probably wouldn't come down anytime soon.

She could not stop thinking about the little rumble she had heard from Blake. So fleeting, it hadn't lasted longer than a second, but Yang had heard it clear as day. Blake had _purred_.

If there was one thing that could melt her heart faster than her own internal flame, it was that sound emanating from Blake's chest. It was so soft, so subtle, so _pure_. Yang knew deep in her soul that when Blake made that noise, she was truly happy or content. Most importantly, Blake would only make that noise when she felt _safe_. Knowing what she did about the early years of Blake's life, it made Yang elated to know that she was able to create an environment where Blake felt protected enough to be her true self.

She had only heard Blake purr a handful of times before. Every one of those moments was clearly etched in her memory, but none was more vivid than the very first time.

It had first happened when Blake had come down with a terrible cold one winter at Beacon. She had told her teammates to go to classes without her that morning, but when the girl hadn't shown up by lunchtime, Yang had really started to worry about her. In between classes, Ruby had used her semblance to speed back to their room to check on the girl. She had returned to report that Blake had caught a really bad cold and would be missing the rest of her classes that day.

This had been the first day Yang had spent without her partner since they had been paired together and she hadn't enjoyed it one bit. She found her thoughts constantly pulled back to their room, wondering if Blake was feeling better or if she needed anything. She had tried to skip class and head back to check on her partner several times, but was always stopped by a very forceful Weiss Schnee lecture.

After what had seemed like the longest day of her life, the team had finally returned to their room to find Blake tucked under all of her covers, asleep. Yang felt better when she could see her sickly partner, but wondered what she could do to help the girl feel better. Ruby had wisely suggested that they all just go to sleep so that Blake could continue to rest peacefully, which Yang and Weiss quickly agreed to.

As they settled in for the night, Yang laid in her bed, wide awake. She was trying to figure out why her day had felt so incomplete without her quiet friend by her side. She had finally decided that it was simply because Blake had been such a constant presence over the past year at school that being without her, even for the day, felt foreign.

Finally feeling like she would be able to go to sleep, Yang had only then noticed a quiet noise coming from somewhere in the room. Holding her breath, she tried to find the source of the sound. Rolling over to the side of her bed, she had poked her head down over the edge and listened intently.

It was then that Yang had realized what the noise was; it was the sound of teeth quietly chattering together.

She strained her eyes to peer down at her partner's bed, finding Blake's form under a mountain of covers, barely making out the tiny movements of Blake shivering fiercely beneath her blankets. Not being able to watch her partner suffer for a second longer, Yang had quickly dropped down from her bunk, landing with a small thud on the floor. Reaching out her hand, she had softly tapped on the section of blanket that she believed was covering the girl's shoulder.

She could still clearly remember Blake's amber eyes peering out through the dark at her, the only feature visible above the girl's comforter. She had frozen for several seconds under her intense gaze, transfixed by the luminescence and beauty staring back at her.

Giving her head a quick shake to bring herself back to the present, Yang had heated up her aura and tenderly laid the back of her hand across the girl's forehead, eliciting a sigh of relief from her shivering partner. After Yang gestured towards the covers, Blake had hesitantly released them, allowing Yang to quickly crawl underneath, trying not to let any cold air in.

Hastily heating up the rest of her body to a moderate temperature, Yang had slowly inched towards Blake. At the time, she hadn't understood why her heart was beating so rapidly, but she could hear it pounding in her ears as Blake had watched her with tired, uncertain eyes.

When she was close enough, she reached out and pulled her shaking partner gently into her arms. Blake initially stiffened, but the Faunus' muscles quickly relaxed as Yang's warmth enveloped her. She held her arms carefully around Blake's back as the Faunus rested her head underneath Yang's chin. By this point, Yang had been certain that Blake could heart her heart pounding in her chest, but the sick girl had quickly fallen asleep without a comment.

As she laid there, Blake's silky black hair and velvety ears pressed against her chin, Yang had felt something she'd never felt before. She had always been aware of the flame within her heart; it was what she called upon whenever she needed her semblance. But in this moment, that little flame seemed to have received a spark. It had become a blaze, spreading like wildfire through every capillary in her body. Yang had gasped as she felt every one of her cells come to life, tingling with energy.

She had reveled in this feeling for several moments as she breathed in deeply the smell of Blake's hair.

She had never felt this…alive.

Without thinking, she had tilted her head down and placed a loving kiss on the top of Blake's head, right between her ears, giggling softly at the feeling of the girl's soft ears grazing her cheeks.

That's when Blake began purring.

At first, Yang had frozen, having absolutely no idea what the sound was. She held her breath, trying not to move a single muscle in order to hear more clearly. It sounded like…marbles rolling around in a wooden box. After several moments of utter confusion, Yang had finally realized that the sound was coming from the girl nestled in her arms.

She could have cried out of happiness as she listened intently to Blake's purrs. Closing her eyes, she could actually _feel _the gentle vibrations against her own chest, quickly radiating throughout her entire body. Combined with her own super charged heart, Yang had been in complete bliss.

This was the moment Yang had realized that she was in love with her partner. Deeply, completely, utterly in love with the girl. She wanted this every night. She wanted to hold the stoic girl in her arms. She wanted to be the one that Blake always felt this safe with. The person that Blake could finally be her true self around. That Blake could _always_ be her true self around. And with the power currently coursing through her veins, Yang knew that she would use it to move mountains in order for her partner to, one day, always feel this secure.

Yang had laid awake that entire night listening to the sound of Blake's gentle purrs.

She had never mentioned the episode to Blake for fear of embarrassing the girl and risking never hearing the endearing sound again. But, from that day onward, Yang had made sure to pay extra special attention to her partner, lavishing her with compliments and her affection.

She also began offering every single night to act as Blake's personal bed warmer. Although Blake hardly ever took her up on the offer, the few times she did were more than worth all of the rejections. Those were the nights that Yang hardly slept, staying awake as long as she could to listen to the heartwarming sound, to feel that unbridled energy. Unfortunately, after not too long, the purrs would become so peaceful that they would lull her into a wonderfully deep sleep.

She began looking forward to the bitter cold winters in Vale, formerly her least favorite time of the year. If she had been closer to Weiss at the time, she would have asked the icy heiress to chill down their room at night just to make Blake too cold to sleep alone.

But, after losing Blake, Yang had been certain that she would never hear that sound again.

She had never been so happy to be wrong in her life.

As they continued their walk home, she could tell that Blake was beyond embarrassed. As far as Blake knew, that was the first time Yang had ever heard her purr. But as she opened her mouth in an attempt to ease the tension, she was interrupted by the sound of her scroll going off. Quickly pulling it out, she read the message from Weiss:

_Beowolves + King Taijitu, Sapphire Square. Will meet you there._

Yang swiftly shoved her scroll away saying, "Duty calls!" before taking off in the direction of Sapphire Square, knowing Blake would be right on her heels.

As the pair of huntresses reached Sapphire Square, they were greeted with complete pandemonium. The Square was exactly as described, a small, square clearing blocked in by tall buildings on all four sides. Retails shops and restaurants filled the bottom level of each of the buildings. In the center of the square stood a massive, ornate obelisk, built in honor of one of the greatest huntresses from the early Grimm wars, Dana Sapphire, after whom the entire square was named.

On this day, however, the great huntress would be rolling over in her grave at what was occurring in her namesake area.

Beowolves were running amok among the sidewalks and streets, chasing down fleeing civilians and crashing through storefront windows. Worst of all, a King Taijitu had taken up residence at the center of the square, claiming the Sapphire monument as its new territory. The serpentine creature had wrapped itself completely around the obelisk, with both heads observing the chaos surrounding it, occasionally lashing out anything that got too close to it, Grimm or human alike.

Blake looked over at Yang, eyes slightly wide at the sight, before asking, "You go left, I go right?"

Yang quickly took in the situation again, trying to come up with the best plan to eliminate the creatures as quickly as possible. Coming to a decision, she shook her head at Blake, not wanting to split up again.

"No, we stick together this time. Let's round up all the Beowolves before getting to King T." She noticed her partner's ear twitch slightly, suddenly realizing that the girl was nervous about going into battle once again. She flashed Blake a big smile, trying to reassure her.

"Just like old times!"

Blake gave a small smile in return before Yang lit up her aura and sped off to their left, her Faunus partner a half step behind her. Yang couldn't help grinning at the familiarity of the feeling as her confidence shot through the roof. There was nothing that she and Blake couldn't accomplish together.

She rushed straight towards the nearest Beowolf, who was still blissfully unaware of the huntresses' presence. One hit with her fist was all it took to put the first creature out of commission. Without losing a step, she quickly targeted the second victim and altered her path. However, this one saw Blake and Yang coming and was able to dodge Yang's initial attack as she flew by him. Unfortunately with Blake mere milliseconds behind her, the creature was not physically capable of dodging the second huntress' attack. The blade and sheath of Gambol Shroud quickly found their way into the weakest spots in the creature, ending its time terrorizing the Square.

Yang couldn't help letting out a joyful laugh at their fluidity. It was just like old times, after all. Blake shot her a quick grin, clearly enjoying herself a little as well, as they raced off to find another unfortunate target.

As the two girls swept around the Square, making sure to keep out of the reach of the King Taijitu's two heads, Yang could feel Blake easing back into the rhythm they had spent years honing while together at Beacon. Most importantly, Blake seemed to be relaxing with each successful attack.

Completing one lap around the perimeter of the Square, the two huntresses had dispatched all of the loose Beowolves, allowing them to turn their attention to the serpentine creature still coiled around Sapphire's monument. Pausing for a second, Yang tried to figure out what the best plan of attack might be. She could feel Blake's silent presence beside her, knowing that her partner was waiting for Yang to give her some direction.

"Umm…" Yang began uncertainly, not sure what their next step should be, "Let's separate and each try to take one end."

Blake nodded her head curtly, showing no apprehension at all.

"Which one do you want?" Blake asked seriously.

Yang couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face as she practically purred, "Oh, Blake…you know I've always had a weakness for black…"

She giggled at the slight blush that appeared on the Faunus girl's cheeks.

"Black it is then," Blake murmured as she set off, positioning herself on the opposite side of the square in front of the white half of the serpent's body, staying carefully out of the creature's striking range.

Yang practically skipped over to the black half of the King Taijitu, firing up her aura once again and clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Bring it on, King T.!" she yelled, pointing one flaming hand towards the creature, watching carefully as it trained its red eyes on her, a thin forked black tongue quickly flitting out of its mouth.

"I hope I smell good," she muttered cheekily, nodding to Blake that she was ready.

Watching her partner rush towards the white King Taijitu, Yang took off towards her own half, preparing for the first attack. She saw the snake's neck muscles ripple slightly as it sprang towards her, giving her just enough warning to nimbly jump to the left. As the creature's head flew by her, she spun and landed one hard jab to the side of the snake's head, causing it to hiss out in pain as it recoiled from her. Looking towards the other side of the obelisk, she saw Blake contemplating the white half of the creature, which now looked much angrier than before, but with no visible signs of damage.

A split second later, the creature lashed out towards her without warning. Yang jumped backwards as fangs snapped inches from her face. Just as quickly as it had happened, the King Taijitu had pulled back the black half of its body, allowing the white head to lash out towards Blake. Luckily, the Faunus girl was prepared and leap lithely backwards.

_This thing is fast_, Yang thought to herself as she stood slightly further away, crouching down as she watched the creature swing its head smoothly back and forth in front of her. Luckily, since it had wrapped itself around the monument, it would not be able to move any further very easily.

Suddenly the creature's head jerked violently to the side as a blur sped in front of Yang. The creature let out a loud hiss of displeasure as it raised its head high above the girl, a small red gash now visible behind its left eye. Yang smirked.

_But Ruby's faster._

"Must we do _everything_ for you?"

Yang's smirk turned into a huge grin as she turned to look at the heiress who had just slid to a stop beside her, arms crossed over her chest in apparent disdain as she flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder.

"Aw, come on Weiss, I know how you are when you rush out for a fight and don't find one!"

"She's gets super cranky!" Ruby answered cheerfully as she appeared beside her girlfriend, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, eliciting a deep blush from the girl.

"Let's just finish this, shall we?" Weiss said in a huff before fixing Yang with a pointed glare. "Why don't you go help your _partner_ over there?"

"Yes, ma'am!" she answered with a fake salute as she skirted around the edge of the creature's striking range to join Blake on the other side of the monument.

"You remember how to do this?" she asked her partner, getting a hesitant nod in response.

"Alright, let's do this!" With that, she reignited her fists as she ran straight towards the white snake's head, watching without fear as the creature bared its long fangs at her. She felt Blake's presence several paces behind her, in perfect position, which was vital as Yang was about to put her life completely in Blake's hands.

Yang jumped directly towards the creature's open mouth as it lunged towards her. At the last possible second, she watched the silky ribbon of Gambol Shroud slide around the bottom half of the snake's mouth. Blake jerked the creature's head down just enough so that Yang would not be impaled on the fangs, but was still able to spin around in the air and grip her hands into the nearly nonexistent slits at the front of its face.

Hanging on for dear life as the snake struggled for several seconds in vain to throw her off, she was finally able to plant one hand firmly enough to hold herself in place. She stole a dangerous glance towards the other half of the creature, making sure that Ruby and Weiss were keeping it occupied enough so that it would not attempt to help its brother out.

As the black snake currently had ice covering its eyes as it blindly lashed out towards where Ruby had been standing seconds earlier, Yang figured that she was currently in the clear.

Using her free arm, she reached down into the snake's mouth, which was still being held half open by the struggling Faunus girl on the ground. Grasping on to one of the creature's fangs with her super-heated hand, she focused all of her available fire into those few appendages. The creature let out a pained hissing sound, beginning its struggle anew as its tooth began to melt away in its own mouth, spraying venom.

Feeling that the tooth was weakened enough, Yang ripped her arm backwards as hard as she could, hearing a satisfying snap and hiss of pain as the snake's fang came away with it. In the next movement, Yang plunged the tooth, dripping in venom, through the top of the creature's own head.

She leapt backwards to the ground as the white head of the King Taijitu came crashing down in front of her. Satisfied, she looked across just in time to see the remaining half of the creature lunge futilely towards Weiss, only to receive the business end of Crescent Rose through the soft underbelly of its throat. She couldn't help snickering at the blatantly lustful way Weiss eyed Ruby as the young girl removed her weapon from the creature.

That's when a cracking sound caught her attention.

"Uh, Yang…" Blake began, pointing towards the source of the noise.

"Oh sh-," she began, before her voice was drowned out by the sound of the base of the monument crumbling where the King Taijitu had crushed the stone during their battle. The four huntresses watched in horror as the obelisk tipped towards one side, before watching it fall away from its base towards the buildings surrounding it.

A horrendously loud smash was heard as the obelisk fell into the building closest to it, shattering the glass in all of the windows on that side of the building and sending bricks crashing to the ground below.

Yang breathed a small sigh of relief as the sculpture came to rest in that location, leaning up against the buildings. She turned to smile at Blake, who nervously returned her smile before fortune turned against the four girls.

The roaring sound of more glass shattering and stone scrapping filled their ears, only to end with a deafening boom as the monument finally lost its battle with gravity, shattering into hundreds of pieces against the ground while sending a massive cloud of dust and debris everywhere. Yang turned to the side and held up a hand to block the dust and rubble from getting into her eyes.

After several seconds of an eerie quiet, Yang cringed as she turned back to take in the extent of the destruction. One side of the Square had been completely destroyed. The remaining three sides were in various states of disarray, most with broken street level windows from the Beowolves.

As Weiss and Ruby joined their teammates in the midst of the rubble, Yang grimaced at the sour look on the heiress' face.

"Well…at least it's dead!" she attempted jovially, a nervous chuckle escaping as she ran a hand through her hair.

Ruby let out a nervous giggle along with her sister. "And I think there's one unbroken window…" They flinched at the sound of more glass breaking in the distance. "Somewhere…"

Weiss let out a giant sigh as she slowly looked around, taking in the wreckage.

"We probably should have handled this differently."


	17. Chapter 17

**Another week, another chapter. That is the schedule that I'm going to ****_try_**** to follow as much as possible! Thank you to everyone for the follows and reviews. I appreciate them all! This chapter doesn't really have a lot of large leaps forward, but introduces important things for later on. I hope that it is enjoyable, regardless. :)**

* * *

Several hours after their battle in Sapphire Square, the four girls found themselves sitting around the dining room table in Schnee Manor after cleaning themselves up. Blake would describe the mood as somber, at best. They were all exhausted, hungry, and, most of all, disheartened from how quickly the Grimm battles were escalating and the destruction that was being caused. It didn't need to be spoken aloud for all of them to know that soon they could face a fight that they might not be able to win.

However, Blake quickly noticed that Yang did not seem to be very disheartened at all. As she carefully stole glances of the girl sitting across the table from her, she could almost swear that Yang seemed…giddy…about something. Blake felt her eyebrows furrow as she contemplated the blonde. What could she possibly have to be cheerful about right now?

At that moment, Yang looked over at her, causing Blake to blush as she was caught staring. Yang gave her a goofy grin and a wink before she began speaking.

"It's not every day you get to destroy a priceless monument, am I right?"

Weiss and Ruby groaned at the question, no doubt both were trying to avoid the memory of the shattered obelisk from this afternoon. Blake couldn't help a tiny smile forming at Yang's attempt to lighten the mood. It was always Yang who tried to make the best out of a bad situation.

"Hey, maybe instead of rebuilding Sapphire's statue, they can build one for us instead!" Yang continued, this time earning a small giggle from her sister and a scowl from Weiss.

"The only thing they'll be building you," Weiss began through gritted teeth, "is a tombstone next to Sapphire's new monument."

Blake couldn't keep in the small giggle that escaped as Yang and Ruby laughed at Weiss' comment, causing the heiress to blush slightly. It was comical to picture Sapphire's grand statue rebuilt in the square, plus a tiny tombstone set by its side for their fiery teammate.

As Yang's laughter faded, she said, "Well, on the plus side, it looks like some of the rust got knocked off of Blake today. You seemed to be hitting your stride!"

Blake felt herself go red in the face as her three teammates turned to face her.

"T-that was only because I was following your lead…" she stammered quickly, not particularly enjoying the calculating gaze Weiss was leveling on her.

"At least that's a step in the right direction!" Ruby piped in as Yang nodded in agreement.

"We should still have a team practice," Weiss stated matter-of-factly. "Our scripted moves from Beacon won't work out perfectly every time."

Everyone nodded in agreement at her statement. They could all think of multiple times when their planned attacks certainly had not turn out as intended. Next time, they might not be so fortunate.

"Oh, before I forget," Weiss began as she stood and walked to a nearby drawer, opening it and retrieving something from inside, "this is for you."

Weiss tossed an unassuming cream colored envelope down on the table in front of Blake, who picked it up quizzically. On front of the envelope, written out in beautiful calligraphy was her name, "Blake Belladonna." She looked up at Weiss questioningly, wondering what it could possibly be. The heiress merely motioned impatiently for her to open it and find out.

Opening the envelope, Blake pulled out a piece of expensive cardstock paper ornately designed with more black calligraphy and elaborate silver snowflake patterns around the edges. It was an invitation.

As Blake was about to begin reading through the invitation, Weiss began speaking again.

"Schnee Dust Company holds a…large…fundraiser each year at one of my family's villas. The richest and most powerful people in Vale are invited to raise awareness…"

"And money," Yang added helpfully, earning herself a glare from the heiress.

"And…money," Weiss continued patiently, "for a good cause."

Blake looked down again at the invitation she was holding in her hands. Her heart started beating a little faster as she read aloud, "Benefitting the Human-Faunus Relationship Council?" She looked back to Weiss, eyes asking her silent question.

"That was decided way before you came back," Weiss said somewhat snappily as she looked away from Blake, crossing her arms over her chest. "We had no way of knowing that you would actually be around, so you didn't factor into the decision at all."

Blake felt her mouth drop slightly open in shock at the girl's response. She hadn't thought that she had anything to do with her decision, but…

"The Council hasn't be founded officially yet, but the proceeds from the fundraiser will be more than enough to get it off the ground," Weiss stated proudly. "In fact, with just this one event, Schnee Dust will raise enough money to make the Council the best funded Human-Faunus group that has ever been created."

Blake stared at the girl, shocked at what she was hearing. She understood that it had nothing to do with her, but at the same time…it had _everything_ to do with her as a person, as a _Faunus_. Having Schnee Dust Company throw such a high profile event…with the proceeds going to fund a Human-Faunus Council…it was a _huge_ step forward for Faunus everywhere. It was the type of progress she could only dream of accomplishing over the past few years.

She felt tears begin welling up in her eyes, but she refused to look away from the heiress. Her appreciation for the girl had just grown by leaps and bounds in a matter of seconds.

"T-thank you, Weiss," she said thickly, trying to keep her tears from spilling over. "I know you didn't do this for me…but thank you, from the bottom of my heart." Looking back at the invitation clasped in her hand, she finished, "This is truly amazing…"

Weiss grew uncomfortable at the thanks she was receiving, frowning before grumbling, "It's not that big of a deal; it's my duty as next in line to head the company. Plus, it was Yang's idea, anyway..."

The air in the kitchen stilled at Weiss' confession. Blake looked at Yang in dismay, finding the blonde brawler blushing furiously while staring at an invisible spot on the ceiling. She couldn't help smiling at the sight, feeling an immense wave of affection and pain wash over her at that moment.

If only she had made a different decision so many years ago…she could have made more of a difference with Yang by her side than Adam, as Yang had already proven time and time again since Blake had returned. Even though Yang wasn't a Faunus, she always tried exceptionally hard to make the world a better place for them…a better place for Blake.

She felt more tears threatening at that moment. She couldn't help remembering what she had yelled at Yang as she had walked out of her partner's life. That Yang could never understand what it was like to be treated so unfairly, to be discriminated against and persecuted for her race.

Well, maybe Yang could never truly understand what being a Faunus was really like, but that didn't mean the blonde couldn't help them in her own way.

Realizing that Yang was not going to make eye contact with her at that moment out of embarrassment, Blake recognized that there was another shocking aspect to this revelation.

"Why would your parents even agree to the idea, Weiss, when the White Fang are responsible for so many attacks on their company?"

Waving a hand through the air as if brushing Blake's question aside like a cobweb, Weiss replied, "There really wasn't much they could say about the matter, as they agreed that this would be the first year that I would coordinate the entire event _without_ their interference."

"But," she added, "They actually thought that it would be a good idea."

Blake raised her eyebrows in shock. She found it extremely difficult to believe that Mr. and Mrs. Schnee would forgive the Faunus so easily for the continued harassment and theft targeting their company over the past few years.

"They think that establishing Schnee Dust as a firm supporter for improving Human-Faunus relationships will ease some of the Faunus hatred for our company. It will show White Fang members that we are committed to bettering their place in society, even as they continue to attack us. From a PR perspective, it is taking the high road to an extreme degree, but…they think that Vale is finally ready for this. Schnee Dust will pave the way."

Blake could only nod in agreement as she looked back down at the invitation, once again becoming overcome with emotion at what it stood for.

Yang must have felt that the mood had become much too serious for her liking, as she suddenly quipped, "Hey, Weiss, where's my fancy invite?"

The normally sophisticated heiress let out an undignified snort of amusement as she rolled her eyes at the blonde.

"You're lucky to have been invited at all, Yang. I know how much damage you can do with an open bar."

Yang giggled at her response, turning to Blake with a wide smile as she nodded and mouthed 'it's true.'

It was at that moment that Ruby finally spoke up, voice quivering slightly as she asked, "But Weiss…why didn't I get an invitation?"

Blake watched in amazement as Weiss instantly dropped her indifference towards Yang and turned towards Ruby with concern filled eyes. She stretched her arms out to grasp Ruby's in her own as she attempted to get the young girl to look her in the eyes, which Ruby skillfully avoided.

"Ruby…" Weiss began, panic lacing the edge of her voice, "I…I didn't think that you would need an invitation because I personally invited you to accompany me weeks ago! B-but I can have another invitation made, just for you. In fact, I'll go do that right now."

As Weiss hastily turned to walk out of the room, Ruby let out a small giggle, pulling her girlfriend back towards her.

"Weiss!" Ruby said through more giggles as Weiss peered carefully at her. "I was only kidding! Of course I don't mind not getting a formal invitation. Being personally asked to be Weiss Schnee's date is _so_ much better than a pretty piece of paper."

The heiress blushed intensely at Ruby's comment as she took a step closer to the girl, muttering quietly, "_Accompanying_ me…"

The embarrassment only made Ruby laugh as she wrapped Weiss in a giant hug while Blake and Yang chuckled at the heiress' discomfort. Blake picked up the invitation and began sliding it back into its envelope, only then noticing the date of the event.

"Wait…it's only two days from now!" she remarked in shock, double-checking to make sure she had her dates correct.

The two girls finally separated from their hug, as Weiss turned back towards Blake.

"I apologize for the last minute invitation, but we weren't really expecting you to be here."

Flinching slightly at the bluntness of Weiss' comment, Blake gave a timid smile in return.

"I don't have anything worthy of wearing to such an elegant event…"

"I can take you shopping for a dress tomorrow!" Yang exclaimed after Blake's admission.

Blake felt her heart speed up at her partner's offer. Dress shopping with Yang? It sounded too good to be true. Although, Yang probably wouldn't be trying on any dresses for Blake…

She nodded her thanks as she accepted Yang's offer, trying to ignore the small glare Weiss sent Yang's way.

"Oh! Blake, I have to show you the dress Weiss picked out for me to wear!" Ruby said, excitedly bouncing up and down as she grasped on to Blake's hands and began pulling her out of the room. Blake could only grin at the girl's excitement as she allowed Ruby to pull her along.

Casting a quick look back to see if their partners were following them, she noticed Weiss pull Yang aside for what appeared to be a serious conversation. She could only imagine the things Weiss wanted to say to the blonde right now…

Sighing, she pushed the thought from her mind as Ruby continued to pull her towards the young girl's room.

Several minutes later, Blake looked around Ruby's bedroom as the younger girl was changing into her dress in the attached bathroom. From her spot on Ruby's bed, she had already noticed that Ruby's room was immensely more organized than Yang's was, although the overall décor gave off a more childish vibe. Ruby had hung pictures of her favorite huntresses on the walls; Blake was amused to find that Dana Sapphire was amongst them. The top of her chest of drawers was littered with various tiny action figurines, the type that many of the small children of Vale collected religiously.

One corner of the room, however, was devoted to a large desk with a variety of very technical devices resting on it. Sketches were taped haphazardly to the walls surrounding the area. Peering more closely at them from her current position, they appeared to be weapon designs.

Blake furrowed her brow at the discovery. She certainly hoped that Ruby was not trying to build another weapon in her own room! From what she knew of the process, it was extremely dangerous to build something the likes of Crescent Rose. Ruby wouldn't try to do anything like that from in here, would she?

The sound of the bathroom door opening brought Blake's attention back to the reason she was here to begin with.

Ruby came hopping out of the bathroom and gave Blake a full twirl in her gorgeous red cocktail dress. The dress was strapless and ended just above her knees, similar to the skirt she wore in combat. While it was predominantly a satiny red color, there was a shimmering, exquisite black snowflake design embroidered right on her chest. The skirt of the dress was made up of plates that were nicely accented underneath in black. Black tulle peeked out from underneath the skirt, adding a nice texture to the overall smooth presentation of the dress.

It was perfect for Ruby. It showed off her strong shoulders, built through years of wielding her ungodly heavy weapon of choice. Red had always been Ruby's best color and this certainly proved that theory to be correct, but the black accents made the young girl look more mature and sophisticated than usual.

The snowflake pattern was obviously Weiss' personal touch, Blake thought in amusement. The frosty girl just couldn't help placing her own personal mark on Ruby for all to see.

"Wow…" was the only word Blake could find as she gazed at the cheerful girl.

"Isn't it great?" Ruby asked as she twirled around several more times in front of her, causing the skirt of the dress to fan out around her.

"It really is…" Blake replied with a smile. "And I love it. It suits you perfectly; Weiss really has great taste."

"Doesn't she?" Ruby squealed as she swished the material back and forth in front of her gently.

Blake couldn't miss the glazed look that came over the young girl's face just then, a stupid smile frozen on her face as she stared down at the fabric between her fingers. Clearly, lost in thought over the girl who had chosen this dress for her.

Suddenly snapping out of her thoughts, Ruby looked back to Blake with a huge grin.

"I'm so excited for the party though!"

She couldn't help but chuckle at Ruby's enthusiasm.

"I am, as well. Although…I still in a bit of shock about it."

Ruby walked over and sat down on the bed beside Blake, making sure to carefully smooth out the bottom of her dress before sitting down.

"Yang would probably never admit it…" Ruby began slowly looking down at her hands carefully placed in her lap, "And Weiss certainly never would, but…we were all secretly hoping that this fundraiser would catch your attention. That it would bring you back to us…"

Feeling the burning of tears behind her eyes, Blake looked quickly down at her own hands, not wanting Ruby to see the emotion that statement had brought forth.

"It certainly would have caught my attention…" she responded softly as the two girls sat in silence.

"I'm sorry that I ruined the surprise though!" Blake added several seconds later, attempting to lighten the mood. Certainly not her forte. That's what she had always had Yang for, after all…

Ruby laughed anyway as she bounced off of the bed and headed back towards the bathroom to change out of her dress.

"We would much rather have you here with us to enjoy the party together!" The young girl gave Blake a grin before stepping into the bathroom and closing the door.

Blake felt her own smile fade as Ruby disappeared from the room. She could only imagine how she would feel if she had found out about the forming of this Human-Faunus Council after the fact, still living with Adam. As much as she'd like to believe that she would have sought her teammates out, she didn't know for sure that she would have. A part of her believed that she would have been so crushed by the weight of her mistakes that she would never have been able to face her teammates, especially Yang, again.

Standing, Blake walked over to the bathroom door and called to the girl inside, "Ruby, I'm going to head back to my room now."

"Ok, Blake!" came the slightly muffled reply from within.

Blake turned and quietly let herself out of Ruby's room and headed to her own. Once inside, she looked slowly around herself. The room was not bare, by any means. There were generic paintings hung on the walls which, in actuality, probably were most likely worth a small fortune. Her gaze finally fell upon her still unpacked bags sitting by the chest of drawers.

Deep down, she had been afraid that her teammates would ask her to leave, so she hadn't felt any strong desire to unpack her things. There was no reason to get comfortable somewhere she might not be welcome for very long.

But after hearing Ruby talk just now…admitting that she had been hoping Blake come back to them…it made Blake realize that even if her teammates were mad at her or didn't trust her, they still, for whatever reason, loved her.

She smiled as she grabbed a handful of items from the nearest bag and began looking for places to store them in her room.

Humming a tune contentedly to herself, she quickly had most of her clothing stored safely away in the chest of drawers or closet. Reaching back into the bag to pull out the last of what she had packed, she was surprised to find one of the only dresses she had ever owned in her life.

Deciding to try it on, Blake changed in front of the closet doors, which doubled as floor to ceiling mirrors. As soon as the garment slipped into place, she knew that it was nowhere near fancy enough to wear to Weiss' party. The plain black dress hung off of her shoulders slightly and was a tad too small for her now. The material was peasant's garb compared to the dress Ruby had just shown her. But money hadn't exactly been plentiful when she was growing up, and dresses were expensive and impractical purchases if you wanted to survive.

Staring at her reflection for some time, she finally sighed, averting her eyes. She would need to go shopping for a new dress after all.

She shrugged out of the dress, allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap at her feet before stepping out of it. She bent over to pick up her discarded clothing from the floor. As she straightened up to pull on her top, she finally heard the footsteps right outside her unlocked door.

"Hey Blake! Weiss wants to…"

Yang's voice cut off abruptly as Blake froze, still clad only in her undergarments, her clothing clutched in her hands. Blake felt the blood rush to her face, positive that she was now just as red as Ruby's dress.

After what felt like an eternity, Yang finally shouted, "S-s-sorry!" followed immediately by the sound of the door slamming shut.

The sound jolted Blake out of her paralysis as she put her clothing back on with record speed. Breathing a small sigh of relief now that she was fully clothed, she crept over to the door, believing that an embarrassed blonde would still be hovering on the other side.

Coughing slightly, Blake nervously spoke to the closed door, too embarrassed to see her partner's face at this time, "Y-Yang? Is there something you needed?"

"O-oh, uh…yeah," came Yang's muffled response from the hallway. "Weiss wants to have a team practice in ten minutes."

"Ok, I'll be right down!" Blake replied somewhat too cheerfully, grimacing at how high pitched her words came out. She listened carefully for the sounds of Yang moving away, determining that the girl was headed quickly back downstairs.

She hid her head in her hands as she stood rooted to that spot by the door, mortified at what had just transpired. Yang Xiao Long had just seen her practically naked.

Maybe she had unpacked too soon, after all.

At Beacon, she had changed in front of Yang countless times. Sharing a room with four girls certainly didn't allow one to be modest (although, Weiss had managed to go an awfully long time without changing in front of any of them). However, that had been when they were all just friends and teammates. If Blake had been aware of Yang's feelings for her at the time, she certainly would have been more hesitant to change in front of the girl.

Heaving one last sigh, she lowered her hands and yanked open the door to exit her bedroom. This could be one of the only instances when she did _not_ want to see Yang's gorgeous face. But the last thing she wanted to do was anger a certain heiress, plus she really could use the practice.

Padding quietly into the simulation room, she saw that her teammates were already gathered there, chatting around the control panel.

Seeing her enter, Weiss clapped her hands together once, saying, "Alright! Now that we're all here, let's begin."

"We obviously haven't spent much time fighting together recently, so I wanted us to hold this practice so that we could work on our team chemistry."

Blake found it very difficult to focus on the words Weiss was saying, as she was too busy trying to avoid making eye contact with Yang, while keeping her blush at a minimum level. Unfortunately, she was only successful in one of her endeavors. Keeping her eyes trained firmly on the wall far beyond Weiss, she at least wasn't able to see Yang out of her peripheral vision.

The sound of Weiss loudly clearing her throat brought Blake's attention quickly back to the irritated girl's face.

"Would you like to pay attention, Yang, or would you like to continue staring at Blake?" she spit out in frustration.

Blake felt her blush intensify tenfold as she shot a quick glance towards her partner, just in time to see Yang look away, a small blush tinging her own cheeks.

"Maybe you should let the missus lead this; she is team leader after all," Yang remarked brazenly as she turned back towards Weiss.

The stunned heiress opened her mouth to retort, but apparently thought better of it, snapping her mouth shut the next second with a curt nod of her head.

"You're right…Ruby?" she said, turning towards her girlfriend while gesturing for her to take charge.

"Aww…Weiss, you have such good ideas though!" Ruby exclaimed as she leaned against Weiss' shoulder for a quick one armed hug, causing the heiress to blush considerably.

"I guess we can start though! Let's just spawn in a whole bunch of Grimm at one time and see what we can accomplish!" Ruby continued, grinning widely at each of them.

"_But_," Weiss cut in before Yang could finish punching buttons on the control panel. "We need to at least _try_ to minimize damage to the surrounding area."

Blake smiled as Ruby and Yang's matching smiles faded. Trying to minimize collateral damage certainly took some of the fun out of it, but it was definitely a priority after the events of today.

As buildings materialized around them, Blake caught Yang staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards the girl, Yang smiled widely as Blake felt another blush appear on her cheeks. Yang sidled over towards her and slung an arm nonchalantly around Blake's shoulders, causing her blush to intensify.

"Ready, partner?" she asked casually.

"I-I think so…" Blake replied, Yang's proximity beginning to mess with her coherent thoughts.

"You'd better be," Yang replied as she removed her arm and lit up her aura as Grimm appeared around them. "Wouldn't want you to get caught with your pants down, would we?"

Blake's mouth dropped open in shock as Yang shot her a wink and tore off towards the first group of Beowolves.

"Blake! Stick with Yang!" Weiss yelled as she set off in the opposite direction following Ruby.

Blake did as instructed and sprinted after the blonde brawler, who was already engaging several Beowolves at once. She would just have to be embarrassed later on.

The team spent several hours fighting countless creatures at once. Sometimes, they were not successful, resulting in the simulation terminating early. Most of the time, however, they were able to work together as a team and clear out the hordes of Grimm without a casualty. Blake found that the longer they spent fighting together, the more comfortable she began to feel, both in her own abilities and those of her teammates.

Most shocking to her was just how _good_ the three girls had become in the past few years. It was almost as if some of their inherent fortes had spread amongst the group. Weiss had always been a decently fast fighter, but she seemed to be even quicker than before. Some of her moves bordered the blur status that was normally reserved for Ruby. Yang was also a bit quicker, but her ability to work off of Weiss' glyphs was phenomenal. It was as if the two girls were now operating on the same wave length, with Weiss sending glyphs Yang's way without even looking at her. And Ruby…well Ruby had developed some of her older sister's penchant for close quarter combat. Blake had witnessed the youngest girl deck several Beowolves square in the face with nothing but her fist, knocking the creatures out cold.

The three of them together were quite powerful. And, if Blake could hold her own, she thought that the four of them made quite the team.

As the last round of Grimm lay scattered around the fake city block, the four girls looked at each other in satisfaction. They were exhausted, but they had succeeded once again, and this time with very little structural damage.

"I think that's good for today…" Ruby announced tiredly as she rested the tip of Crescent Rose on the ground beside her. She looked towards Weiss to see if the heiress would complain about them stopping now, but only received a fatigued nod of agreement. Smiling, Ruby turned back to Yang and Blake.

"Go Team RWBY!" she shouted enthusiastically, pumping one fist in the air. "Time to hit the showers." And with that, she disappeared in a flash, the large door banging open loudly to let their leader fly through.

Weiss shook her head, muttering, "I told her to open the doors more gently…" as she made to follow her girlfriend upstairs.

Left alone, Blake could feel Yang's eyes on her once again. Suddenly, her forgotten embarrassment came flooding back as she flushed once again, causing Yang to giggle slightly.

"Good job today, Blake," Yang said, actually sounding somewhat serious for a change.

Blake glanced at her quickly, too embarrassed to make direct eye contact, before directing her eyes away again.

"Thank you," she replied timidly. "You did quite well, yourself."

Yang laughed in response and clapped one of her hands somewhat roughly against Blake's shoulder, throwing her forward several inches.

"That's because I've got my partner back!" she said jovially as she made her way towards the door.

"Be prepared to shop til you drop tomorrow morning!" she continued. "But…let's try to use the changing rooms as much as possible, shall we? I wouldn't want anyone else to be treated to the same view I got this afternoon." She turned around to give Blake a huge grin at that statement, laughing again at the blush Blake felt reappearing once again.

Blake could do nothing but blush furiously as she watched the blonde saunter from the room. Hopefully Yang would forget about that little incident by tomorrow…


	18. Chapter 18

**A day earlier than expected, but I don't think I'll hear anyone complain :) The next chapter has arrived! Thank you again for everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, etc. I really appreciate all of them.**

**I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter!**

* * *

Yang bounded out of her room the next morning earlier than usual, already dressed and ready to start the day. While she was normally somewhat of a slow riser, that was not the case today. She was enormously excited to take Blake shopping for a dress.

It was well known that Yang personally enjoyed shopping to a high degree, but shopping for Blake was on a whole different level entirely. The thought of having Blake try on multiple cute dresses in one sitting was enough to make Yang's heart swoon. It was an added bonus that Yang had only seen Blake wear a dress a handful of times, all for special events at Beacon. Those events had been nowhere near as extravagant as the ball Schnee Dust was going to be throwing though.

Skipping lightly to land outside of Blake's bedroom door, Yang made sure to temper her excitement and remember to _knock_ this time. She felt her face heat up at the memory of Blake standing there in nothing but her underwear; that had been quite fortunate timing for her rudeness.

Rapping her knuckles sharply against the door, Yang bounced lightly back and forth on the balls of her feet as she waited impatiently for Blake to answer. She _had _to be ready to go already!

After several seconds the door finally opened, revealing her Faunus partner. Thankfully, Blake was already dressed, as well. Yang didn't know what she would have done if she had had to wait a minute longer to get on their way.

Now their adventure could finally begin!

"Good morning, partner!" she said enthusiastically, giving Blake a big smile. "Are you ready to go?"

"Good morning," Blake replied calmly. "I'm happy to see you've learned how to knock."

Yang couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing, earning a pleased grin from the Faunus girl to go along with a slight blush. This was one of the things she had always loved about Blake. While she appeared on the outside to be serious and unyielding, the Faunus actually had a good sense of humor and was able to easily laugh at herself.

Her laughing subsiding, she motioned for Blake to follow her downstairs.

"Come on," she said along with a wave. "Those dresses won't try on themselves!"

Blake sighed before obediently following as Yang hopped down the stairs two at a time and skipped to the front door. Pulling the handle, she held the door open for Blake with an exaggerated bow, nearly touching her nose to the floor as she waited for the girl to walk outside.

Once Blake had passed her, Yang let the door swing shut with a heavy *click* and joined her partner at the sidewalk. Yang gestured towards the direction they would be headed, to the right of where their house sat, and the two girls set off.

"We're going to a store that Weiss recommended," Yang said preemptively, knowing that Blake's innate curiosity would force the girl to ask sooner rather than later.

Blake sighed at Yang's comment. "Knowing Weiss, this place is going to be ridiculously expensive…" she lamented.

"You know it!" Yang said confidently. The heiress had never been great at understanding the difference between "affordable" and "I'd need to sell my kidney to make the down payment."

Thinking of her teammate brought Weiss' words of advice back to her mind, causing Yang's excitement to flicker slightly. 'You need to be become _friends_ again before you can even _think_ of anything else.' Stealing a glance at the quiet girl walking beside her, Yang knew that Weiss made a good point. It was just extremely difficult to not flirt with someone so cute and funny and kind and selfless and…

"Oh!" Yang exclaimed as she suddenly thought of something, "But Weiss will be paying for your dress, so why not buy something super extravagant with the snow queen's money?"

Yang watched for the ear flick that she knew was coming, grinning when it did. She had known that Blake wouldn't enjoy that little revelation of hers.

"Why would Weiss pay for it?" she asked in confusion.

"Because…" Yang began slowly, "she wants you to have a beautiful dress you can wear to events like this!"

"I somehow don't think that's the reason…" Blake said doubtfully as they continued walking.

"Ok, ok. She wants everything to be perfect at her giant party, which means all of the people need to be perfect too," Yang blurted out, hoping that Blake would just go along with it.

She watched carefully as Blake slowly nodded her head, smiling at the girl's agreement.

"Good. Now let's rack up some credit card debt for the ice queen!"

With that, Yang turned her attention back towards her surroundings. They had just entered one of the more popular shopping areas in Vale, an area frequented by many of the more wealthy citizens as well as the hopeful window shoppers. However, as Yang looked around the stores she began to get that weird feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Uh, Yang…" Blake spoke quietly, as if afraid she would wake someone if she was too loud. "There don't seem to be many people here today…"

The light bulb went off in Yang's head. That's what was wrong! Normally this area was filled with shoppers, but today it seemed almost like a ghost town. She could only see a handful of people walking around far in front of them.

"Hmm…I wonder why…" she began before she realized that Blake was no longer walking beside her. Turning back, she found Blake had stopped several paces behind her. Walking back to her partner, Blake pointed at a rack on the edge of the sidewalk holding a stack of The Daily Vale newspapers.

"That probably has something to do with it."

Yang leaned in closer to see what it said. She was surprised by the photograph on the front cover which looked like a warzone, crumbled buildings and crushed glass everywhere. Picking up a copy, she unfolded it to read the headline. She winced as she read the abnormally large type taking up nearly all of the bottom of the first page.

"Sapphire Square Destroyed as Grimm Attack. Is Vale Safe from New Threat?"

"Well…" Yang began as she carefully folded the paper back up and set it back with its siblings. "That will certainly keep people at home!"

She attempted a smile, but Blake looked back at her with concern filling her eyes. Sighing, Yang continued.

"It was only a matter of time before everyone in Vale realized just how serious these attacks are. At first, with only one or two Beowolves to deal with, we could clean up the mess easily. But with something like yesterday…it was bound to happen, eventually."

Nodding, Blake continued for her, "People will either stay inside or avoid heavily congested areas…"

Not enjoying the depressed mood settling over them, Yang decided to try to lighten the mood once more.

"Hey, that means less people to bump into while shopping, right?"

Blake gave her a thin smile as they resumed walking. At least the atmosphere seemed a little less heavy than a few seconds ago, which Yang was thankful for. She didn't want anything to ruin her day with Blake!

Finally reaching their destination, Yang skipped ahead once again to hold the door open for Blake. Although, this time she did not bless her with a bow. She didn't want to embarrass the girl _too _much in public, after all.

Once inside, Yang was pleased to see that they were currently the only shoppers. This would certainly make their outing much more enjoyable, since she knew that Blake would be much more comfortable modeling outfits with no one else around to see her.

"Good morning," the young store associate said as she walked over to greet the two shoppers. The attractive redhead gave Yang a wide smile as she none too sneakily looked her up and down. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she continued as she continued to stare at Yang, eyes burning with attraction.

"We're just going to be browsing," Yang answered lightly. "But thank you…" She leaned forward slightly to get a better view of the girl's name tag. "Taryn," she ended with a smile.

Taryn's grin widened at Yang's use of her name. "I'll be right over there if you need me," she said, although she seemed to only be offering her assistance personally to Yang.

"So…" Yang continued awkwardly as the store clerk finally left them alone, noticing Blake staring silently after her. "Why don't you pick out some dresses that you like?" she suggested, turning towards the first rack of dresses.

Blake nodded as she walked off towards another row of dresses while Yang absentmindedly browsed through the ones closest to her, not looking for anything in particular. She would know it when she saw it though.

Several minutes later, Blake walked back towards Yang with several gowns draped over her arm. Yang beamed at the sight, motioning for Blake to hold up her choices. As Blake held up the ones she had selected, Yang giggled. They were all so…Blake. The girl was modest to a T.

But, not wanting to make her partner horribly uncomfortable this early in the day, she nodded her head in approval and pushed Blake towards the dressing rooms.

"Try each one on and come out to model for me!" she ordered with a firm push into the first open room. She smiled as Blake grumbled slightly before obediently closing the dressing room door.

Taking a seat on the plush chair located closest to the dressing room, Yang waited for her partner to reappear.

A couple minutes later, Yang sat upright as she heard the door handle begin to turn. She held her breath in anticipation as Blake walked slowly out in a floor length black gown. Letting her eyes slowly move down Blake's figure, Yang greedily took in the girl's image. Realizing that she was staring a little too hard, Yang finally decided to speak as she thought to herself, _she's just a friend, she's just a friend. Your very attractive, sexy friend…_

"You look _beautiful_, Blake!" she said honestly as she motioned Blake to spin around, which her partner immediately did.

"You think?" Blake replied with a small smile and light blush as she gazed down at the outfit she was wearing.

Yang nodded her head enthusiastically, extremely grateful for this opportunity to stare at Blake's body without seeming too infatuated.

"So…is this the one I should wear?" the Faunus girl asked hopefully.

"Oh, no, of course not," Yang replied with a chuckle, quickly dismissing Blake's attempt to get out of trying on more dresses. "Go try to other ones on!"

Blake sighed as she walked back into the dressing room to try on the next one. A few minutes later, she returned in another dress, this one maroon in color with a full length ruffled skirt and sleeves that hung off the shoulders slightly.

Yang couldn't help staring at Blake's exposed collarbones, recalling the image of the girl she had seen yesterday evening in Blake's room. Her silky smooth skin…her toned arms…the way her black hair fell down to the small of her back…

"Are you sure that you wouldn't like any help?"

Yang jerked abruptly out of her thoughts at the voice, realizing that she had been on the verge of fantasizing a bit too vividly.

Turning to find that Taryn had returned to help "them," she tried to politely decline the girl's offer again.

"We're fine, thank you! Just looking for a dress for my friend for tomorrow," she responded.

Taryn looked vaguely disappointed at her response, but pressed on.

"Won't you be needing something, as well? I'm sure that I could pick out a dress to highlight your…assets…incredibly."

Yang felt herself flush slightly at the comment and glanced towards Blake to see if she could get a little help.

But her partner was looking towards the ground, looking defeated as she softly said, "I'm going to try the next one now," before heading back into the dressing room.

Sighing, Yang turned towards the expectantly waiting girl, now feeling slightly annoyed at how she had scared Blake away before Yang had had the chance to adequately compliment her.

"Thank you, but I already have my dress," she responded with a small smile. "We'll make sure to call you over if we need any help."

Finally getting the hint, the girl blushed softly and slunk off towards the counter at the front of the store once more. Yang turned her attention back towards the dressing room door, waiting for Blake to emerge in the next candidate.

This cycle continued through many more dresses, though thankfully without any more interruptions. Yang could have sworn that Blake became more beautiful in each one, but none of them were perfect. They needed to find _the one_. The perfect dress that matched both Blake and the event. And they needed to find it soon, before the increasingly exasperated Faunus clawed the dresses into very expensive shreds.

As Blake dragged herself back into the dressing room, Yang looked casually around the empty store. The sales clerk was happily sending messages on her scroll over at the front counter. Chuckling at the oblivious girl, a dress hanging to the left of the counter suddenly caught her eye.

Standing and crossing the store to better examine what she had seen, Yang pulled out a black dress, holding it out in front of her to take a better look at it. Grinning like a madman, Yang clutched the item in her hands and skipped back to her seat, waiting impatiently for Blake to reappear.

As soon as she stepped out of the dressing room, Yang rushed forward and pressed the dress into her arms, hardly looking at the outfit Blake was currently wearing.

"This one," she said excitedly. "This is _the one_."

Confusion filled Blake's face as she looked at the gown she was now holding in her hands. Holding it up and looking at it more closely, the Faunus girl's confused expression turned in to one of apprehension.

"I don't know, Yang…it's pretty…"

"Slutty?" Yang cut her off with a laugh, knowing that was exactly what Blake was thinking, ear twitches confirmed that she was correct.

"It's not slutty, Blake," she continued as she tried to assure the girl. "It's just not as modest as the ones you're used to!"

Blake opened her mouth to protest some, but Yang interjected before any words came out.

"Please, Blake? Just try this one…for me?"

Yang didn't _want_ to use a guilt trip to get Blake into the dress, but she couldn't think of anything else that would work in the moment. And this was _the dress_; Blake just had to try it on!

As she suspected, Blake's ears drooped slightly as the girl retreated into the dressing room without another word. Yang immediately felt horrible for having made the poor girl feel so guilty, but it couldn't be helped now. She made a mental note that she would somehow make this up to Blake later on as she paced outside the room in anticipation.

The door opened moments later and Yang felt her heart stop beating as Blake shyly emerged.

The dress was strapless, with a bodice made of a fine weaved fabric that gave the appearance of ripples in the material. The gown clung to Blake's body, perfectly accenting her hips. The skirt of the dress fell into a black sheer fabric that provided a clear view of Blake's long legs, showing off her pronounced calve muscles. A slit in the front of the skirt ran all the way to her thigh. Intricate white beading across the bust as well as a white ribbon outline to the skirt finished off the effect, adding a dash of color to the otherwise dark tone.

Blake stood bashfully in front of her, clearly feeling self-conscious, but Yang could not take her eyes off of the girl. She let her eyes slide up and down the picture of perfection in front of her time and time again, feeling more voracious with each passing.

Blake looked absolutely radiant. Yang tried to speak, but found that her mouth had gone exceptionally dry. Swallowing thickly, she finally managed to say, "Wow…Blake, you look _amazing_," before she went back to unabashedly staring at the girl.

Blushing, Blake turned away from her in embarrassment, but Yang could swear that the girl looked slightly pleased with the reaction.

"D-do you think this is the one then?" Blake asked quietly as she turned back towards her, amber eyes shining in virtually concealed delight.

Yang could only nod her head stupidly as she thought to herself, _Yes, that's the dress for the party…but _you're_ the one…_

She quickly shook her head; Weiss would be so angry if she knew what had just gone through Yang's mind!

"Yes, that's the one," she confirmed. "You should just wear that every day!"

Blake laughed, causing Yang's heart to soar as Blake's beauty skyrocketed through the roof.

"How on earth would I fight in _this_?" she asked incredulously, gesturing towards the floor length skirt falling around her feet.

"Well…" Yang began as she walked slowly around Blake, taking in the dress from every angle, praying that she would be able to commit the image to memory. "Wearing something like that, you wouldn't need to fight at all. You're so drop dead gorgeous that the bad guys would just give up and run away. That, or they would try to ask you out..."

Blake blushed fiercely as Yang continued looking her up and down, drinking in every curve of the Faunus' body. She was only half kidding that Blake should wear that every day. Although, if she did, Yang was pretty sure that she would die from blood loss within a couple of days. That, or she would go to prison for punching all of the suitors Blake would attract.

"So…we're done now?" the blushing girl asked hopefully.

Yang nodded as she chuckled. She would never get tired of seeing Blake try on dresses, but she imagined that it was quite tiring to try on so many in one sitting.

"Thank god," Blake replied as she set off for the dressing room one last time. "I think I might have shredded the next dress I came across…"

Once Blake was back in her usual attire, the two girls carried their selection to the front counter to pay. As Taryn rang up the gown, Yang slapped one hand to her forehead as she pulled out her wallet.

"Oh shoot, I forgot my scroll over by the dressing rooms. Could you go get it for me while I pay?" she asked Blake with an innocent smile.

Blake replied, "Sure" and set off across the room as Yang handed her card to the girl at the counter, who swiped it after glancing at the name on the front.

"This is quite the gift you're buying for her…Yang," she said politely as the receipt printed up. "She must be very special to you."

"We're just friends," Yang replied quickly, and maybe a little too defensively since the girl chuckled at her response. "And…uh...if anyone asks, can you say that Weiss Schnee paid for this?" she asked as she stuck the receipt in her back pocket.

Taryn giggled as she handed the bag over the counter.

"She's very lucky. I'm more than a little jealous, but your secret's safe with me," she said, adding a wink just as Blake walked up beside Yang, holding Yang's conveniently misplaced scroll in her hands.

"Thank you, Blake!" Yang exclaimed, ignoring Taryn as she took her scroll from Blake's hands before pulling her towards the exit of the store, slightly worried about what else the store clerk might say.

Just as the partners were about to push open the front door to return to the street, they caught a glimpse of a Beowolf rushing past the storefront.

"What the hell?" Yang yelled as she opened the door in time to see the creature round the corner.

She threw the dress back to the clerk, yelling, "We'll come back for this!" as she ran out into the street with Blake right on her heels.

They flew off in the direction they had seen the creature heading in, turning the corner just in time to see the Beowolf sniffing around some trash cans halfway down the block. She grinned. Her and Blake versus one Beowolf…this would end quickly.

Shooting off, she reached the creature in no time. Lunging towards it, she watched as Gambol Shroud wound its way around the creature's neck from behind her. The Beowolf finally noticed their presence as Blake yanked it forward, directly into Yang's fists. She quickly put an end to its existence with several pummels to the skull.

Once the creature had been destroyed, they paused for several seconds as new sounds began reaching their ears. Focusing intently, Yang was able to make out the sounds of crashes and glass breaking somewhere nearby. Glancing worriedly at Blake, they ran off in search of where the sounds were coming from, realizing that there might be more Beowolves nearby.

Rushing around the corner onto a narrow street lined with small, mom-and-pop shops, Yang couldn't help but grin as they finally found the source of all the commotion. Standing in the middle of the street was none other than Nora Valkyrie, slamming Beowolves through shop windows with her trusty hammer, Magnhild.

A little ways down the street, Yang picked out Lie Ren, busy fighting his own set of creatures.

"Nora!" Ren shouted as he lithely dodged a leaping Beowolf. "You're...causing…more damage…than they are!" he managed to get out between the endless sounds of destruction and fighting.

Nora only giggled in response as she effortlessly knocked another Beowolf through a plate glass window, clearly having the time of her life. If Yang didn't know any better, she could have sworn that the girl was intentionally aiming the creatures towards the unbroken windows on the street.

Just then, one of the Beowolves broke away from the crowd surrounding Nora, hurtling towards Yang and Blake as it ran from the maniacal huntress in fear. It skidded to a stop as it saw Blake and Yang standing at the end of the street, but decided to try running through them anyway. Yang waited patiently as it approached. When it was close enough, she shot forward a few steps, leveling the creature with a single punch before unloading several shots into it.

"Need a hand?" she shouted towards the hunter and huntress pair, not waiting for a response as she set off to join Nora in a friendly game of window smashing while Blake went to assist Lie Ren.

With the four of them together, the Beowolves didn't stand a chance. When the fight ended a few minutes later, the four convened in the center of the street, looking around at the mess surrounding them.

"Thanks for the help!" Nora said happily as she held up her hand for Yang to give her a hi-five.

Slapping the girl's hand with enough force to knock a regular person through a wall, Yang grinned at her kindred spirit.

"You're welcome!" she replied. "I haven't seen you guys in _forever_!"

It was only then that she realized Ren and Nora hadn't been informed yet that Blake had returned. Turning apologetically towards Blake, she prepared herself for what could possibly be a very uncomfortable line of questioning. She just hoped that they wouldn't make Blake feel _too_ badly.

"It's good to see you, Blake," Ren said quietly, cutting Yang off before she had a chance to speak as he gave her a small smile and a nod.

Nora looked quickly from Ren back to Blake before unleashing one of her own giant smiles.

"Looks like you haven't missed a step!" she said as she punched Blake "lightly" on the shoulder, sending the poor girl staggering backwards several feet.

Blake smiled widely as she rubbed her shoulder gingerly. "Well, you didn't see me on the first day back," she added with a laugh.

Yang joined her laughing as she slung her arm casually around Blake's shoulder, happy that Ren hadn't asked any questions about how or why Blake had returned. They were also fortunate that Nora had become slightly better at reading social cues from Ren's own behavior.

"Don't listen to her modesty," Yang commented with a grin, feeling giddy at her increased proximity to her partner. "So do you guys want to come say 'hello' to Weiss and Ruby? I know they'd love to see you two!"

Nora gasped before turning to Ren with pleading eyes, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "Please, Ren? Please, please, please? Just to say hello!"

Ren rolled his eyes good naturedly as he tried to hide a slight smile from appearing on his face.

"We can…" he said, smiling at Nora's squeal of happiness, "but _only_ to say hello. We don't want to keep Pyrrha and Jaune waiting for us again."

Nora didn't hear the rest of Ren's answer as she was too busy bouncing around happily.

"Come on, let's go!" Nora said, motioning for everyone to follow her.

Setting off after the girl, Yang suddenly remembered why Blake and she were out to begin with.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as it hit her. "We have to go pick up Blake's dress!"

Nora and Ren looked at her, eyebrows raised in confusion, but Nora quickly shrugged her shoulders as they followed Yang back to the dress shop. Yang motioned for them to wait outside as she ran through the door, quickly locating the girl sitting behind the front counter.

Jogging over, she waved as the girl looked up at her.

"Hey, I'm here to pick up that…"

"Dress for your girlfriend?" Taryn finished for her with a sly smile as she grabbed a bag and walked out from behind the counter to meet Yang. "I have it right here for you," she said as she held the bag out towards Yang, who took it from her uncertainly.

As soon as her hands closed around the bag, the girl pulled it back towards herself, drawing Yang in with it. Surprised to find that their faces were now mere inches apart, the girl leaned in even closer to whisper to her.

"And…I put a little something in there for _you_, as well."

With that, she released her hold on the dress, allowing Yang to step quickly away from her.

Yang often wished that she didn't receive as much attention from strangers, as there was just one person whose attention she truly desired. However, all of the practice did allow her to deal gracefully with situations such as these, without becoming flustered.

Grinning as she stepped towards the door, Yang replied, "Thank you…but, like you said, I'm taken." She winked as she made a beeline for the exit, making a note to check the bag _before_ she gave it to Blake.

Back outside, she smiled at her waiting friends.

"All set! Let's go!"

The four slowly made their way back to the mansion, enjoying the opportunity to catch up with each other. But when they finally reached their home, Yang raced up the front steps and pushed open the door, striding into the foyer.

"Ruby! Weiss! Guess who we brought home?" she yelled out.

Her sister came whizzing in from the kitchen, stopping abruptly in front of Yang before noticing the two new people standing behind her. Letting out a giddy squeal, Ruby ran to wrap Nora in a huge hug.

Weiss sauntered in several seconds later, perpetually trailing her speedy girlfriend.

"Who is it?" she asked curiously before she noticed Ren and Nora. Her eyes narrowed as she stalked directly up to Nora and held out one hand towards the girl, saying, "Manghild."

Nora pulled her trusty weapon off her back and clutched it tightly to her chest, a pout settling on her face.

"But…he promises to be good this time!" she pleaded, lip quivering slightly.

"No," Weiss remained unmoved, hand still extended to receive Nora's weapon. "_He_ goes into the closet while you're here."

"It will be fine, Nora," Ren said calmly in an attempt to get the girl to acquiesce.

But Nora only turned towards him with a hurt expression, lip quivering and eyes brimming with tears. Ren quickly opened his mouth to say something else, but Ruby motioned to him that she would help as she moved closer to Nora and placed a supporting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Nora, he won't be lonely. Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster are in there too!"

Ruby's words seemed to reassure the girl, who hesitantly extended Manghild and dropped it in Weiss' hand. Not prepared for the weight, Weiss nearly dropped the weapon, causing Nora to let out a strangled "eep." Thankfully, the heiress finally caught the weapon before it touched the ground.

Huffing in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, Weiss walked to the closet and, very carefully, placed Manghild on the ground next to Crescent Rose. She then motioned for everyone to follow her into the kitchen so that they could chat.

Blake stepped next to Yang as everyone else followed Weiss.

"Why can't Nora keep Manghild with her?" she asked curiously.

"Well…" Yang began as she turned to face her partner. "The last time Nora was here, she kind of…removed the floor of Ruby's bedroom..."

Blake laughed as she asked incredulously, "How did she do that?"

Remembering the scream she had heard reverberating through the mansion that day, Yang couldn't help grinning. "Nora was trying to prove to Ruby that Manghild was more functional than Crescent Rose and…they got a little out of hand."

"Yang! Blake! Come here!" they suddenly heard Ruby shout from the other room. "Nora and I are going to arm wrestle!"

"Oh, we have _got_ to see this," Yang said, grinning as she grabbed Blake's arm and rushed towards the other room.


	19. Chapter 19

**I didn't take my dogs hiking today...so that I could finish editing this tonight (well that and it was hot outside plus I didn't feel like it...) I would like to say that the story is going to get more interesting from here, but I kind of hope that you're finding all of it interesting!**

**I am hoping to keep up this pace of weekly posts, but no guarantees!**

**Anyway, please enjoy! (Bonus points if you tell me how much you enjoy it, because then you've made me happy!)**

* * *

Weiss, Yang, and Blake stood behind Ruby, noisily cheering for their teammate as they tried to will her to victory. The brunette was seated at the kitchen table with her hand locked in Nora's, struggling to keep her arm upright. Ren stood opposite them by Nora's side, offering a few quiet words of encouragement every once in a while. As far as the fan section went, Ruby's side was definitely winning.

However, the same could not be said for how Ruby was personally fairing against Nora. Their young leader's brow was deeply furrowed as beads of perspiration could be seen growing on her forehead. She was managing to hold Nora to a stalemate at the moment, but Blake wasn't sure how long she would be able to hold out. She could see Ruby's arm quivering more and more fiercely as she struggled to push Nora's arm back.

Nora was fairing much better than the brunette. She was far more focused than usual as she lightly bit her bottom lip in concentration, but her arm was still holding steady on the table.

After several more seconds, they all noticed Ruby's arm inching backwards, bit by bit, towards the table.

"Come on, Ruby, you can do this!" Yang shouted, moving in closer to Ruby's left side. "Fight back!"

Ruby seemed to redouble her efforts, managing to regain a few of the inches she had lost. Nora growled slightly in frustration before *BANG*.

Blake let out a surprised gasp as the back of Ruby's hand slammed forcefully into the table. Only, instead of meeting solid wood, Ruby's arm found the butter dish that had been left far too close to the scene of their battle. As Ruby's arm smashed into the butter, it had sprayed everywhere, but mostly onto Blake, who was unfortunate enough to be standing near that edge of the table.

Everyone froze as Blake looked down at herself in shock. Little dollops of butter were stuck to her everywhere. She giggled slightly before she realized that there was also a great deal of butter strewn about the table and floor behind her. She turned to Weiss, eyes wide at the storm that was likely to follow.

Weiss' lips were pursed tightly, with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the butter dish, then Ruby, then Nora. Ruby turned towards her girlfriend with a meek smile.

"I'm sorry…" Ruby began pitifully, but Weiss sprang to life before she could finish her apology. She moved forward and nearly pushed the girl out of her chair. Straightening herself out, Weiss firmly placed her own elbow down and glared across the table at Nora.

"My turn."

The tension immediately dissipated as Nora broke into a huge smile, happy to have avoided a famous Schnee tantrum.

"Woah ho ho," Yang sang cheerfully. "Looks like someone is trying to show off for her girlfriend!"

Weiss blushed slightly, but ignored Yang's comment, still glaring towards Nora, who more than happily obliged in setting her own elbow down again.

Seeing that they were able to get started, Blake decided that now might be a good time to slip upstairs and change out of her butter spattered clothing. On her way out of the kitchen, she noticed the bag holding her new dress where Yang had hung it after they had rushed in moments earlier.

Walking over, she picked it up to take it up to her room, careful not to get any of the butter on the bag.

"Uh wait, Blake!"

She turned around as Yang's voice called her from near the table.

"Let me take care of that for you!" the blonde offered as she walked towards Blake.

"No, that's ok," Blake began, slightly confused as to why she would need Yang's help to carry a dress to her own room. "You stay here and cheer Weiss on. I'll be right back."

"Oh, but!" Yang sputtered out as Blake turned towards the door.

"I think that I left the receipt in the bag!"

Blake felt her brow furrow slightly. "But you put the receipt in your back pocket, remember?" She was sure that she had seen Yang slide it into her pocket earlier today…

Yang shook her head slightly.

"I'm pretty sure that I put it in there," she said as she began reaching a hand out towards the bag in Blake's hands.

At that moment, Ruby decided to help them, dashing over and thrusting her hands into both of Yang's back pockets, causing the older girl to yelp in surprise. A second later, Ruby pulled out a crumbled piece of paper and held it triumphantly over her head.

"Here it is!" she proclaimed, pleased to have found the missing item.

"Yang, should I be concerned that you're forgetting things? You aren't even that old yet…"

Yang grabbed the receipt out of her hand and gave her sister a soft punch on the shoulder, appearing slightly deflated.

"My memory is _just_ fine," Yang mumbled defensively as she turned back to give Blake an embarrassed smile.

Blake returned the smile, sensing that it was her cue to leave, and walked out of the kitchen.

After heading up the stairs and walking in to her bedroom, Blake laid the bag carefully down on her bed before pulling out some new clothes to change in to. She didn't really want to spend any more time in her butter covered clothing than she needed to.

Finally dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a button up shirt, she walked back over to the bag on her bed and unzipped it. Pulling the dress out of the bag by the hanger, she admired the craftsmanship that had gone in to creating such a splendid article of clothing. She ran her hand across the bodice of the gown again, still finding herself pleased by the sensation of the silky ripples against her fingertips. This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and expensive item she had ever owned (besides Gambol Shroud, of course).

Making room in the closet, she hung up the dress and then turned back towards the bedroom door, hoping that she would be able to catch some of Weiss arm wrestling Nora. Although, knowing both of them, Weiss had probably lost long ago. The heiress wasn't exactly known for her strength, after all.

Rushing towards her door, a flicker of white caught her attention on the floor by her bed. Curiously, she turned back to find a small slip of paper laying on the ground. She couldn't help grinning at the sight of it. Maybe Yang was right and she had put a copy of the receipt in the bag, after all!

Blake walked over and swiftly picked up the paper. Turning it over in her hands, she felt her heart drop as she read the words written on it.

'_When you get tired of the ears, call me. 3 Taryn_'

The girl's scroll number was scrawled across the bottom.

Blake felt her blood begin to boil as she stared at the note. She had noticed the girl's behavior towards Yang while they had been shopping. She would have had to be blind to not notice the blatant flirting and lustful looks that had been sent Yang's way. It had taken all of her energy not to snap at the girl to back off. Yang was _HER_…partner.

Sighing in defeat as she finally looked away from the message, she considered ripping it into shreds right there and throwing it away. Yang was far too good for that girl, anyway.

Looking back at her hands, she felt her anger begin to slowly melt away, being replaced by pain and…anguish.

It was not her place to decide who Yang should or should not see…romantically. Maybe, years ago, Blake would have at least been able to give her opinion on the girl's merits, but that was not the case anymore. If Blake wanted to be Yang's _friend_ again, she needed to regain Yang's trust first. Bad mouthing anyone who showed interest in the attractive blonde probably wouldn't be the best way to do that.

Carefully slipping the note into her pocket, she plodded her way back downstairs with heavy feet and a heavy heart. The message was meant for Yang, so Blake would deliver it to her. She could only imagine the repercussions if she _were_ to destroy the note, only for Yang to find out about it later.

And, who knew, maybe this Taryn girl was _the one_ for Yang, after all. Even Blake would have to grudgingly admit that the two of them would make quite an attractive couple.

Walking back into the kitchen, it appeared as if Weiss had already lost to Nora from the way Ruby was rubbing the heiress' shoulder in a comforting manner. Seated at the table, Yang looked like she was up next, only against Ren this time.

Seeing her partner, Blake felt her pulse quicken as she became more and more anxious about the paper in her pocket. She hesitantly walked over to where her partner was seated. Pulling out the note and extending it towards Yang, she realized that her hand was shaking slightly. Yang turned towards Blake as she saw the piece of paper come into her peripheral vision.

"This was meant for you," Blake managed to mutter as Yang silently took the paper out of Blake's hand, looking at it curiously.

As Yang read it, she grimaced before turning back to Blake, lilac eyes filled with apology and regret.

"Blake…I'm so sorry…" she began to say as she looked back down at the paper.

At that moment, all of the pieces fell together in Blake's mind. This is why Yang had wanted to take the bag to her room. This is why she needed to get the "receipt" out of it. Yang _knew_ that the girl had left her phone number in there for her. And, apparently, Yang had wanted to retrieve it before Blake ever saw it.

She couldn't decide which hurt worse…the fact that Yang wanted the girl's number, or the fact that she had made up a lie in an attempt to hide it from Blake.

And now here Yang was, apologizing to her for having other people who wanted to be with her. What had she expected? That someone as gorgeous, inside and out, as Yang Xiao Long would be alone forever? That Yang would never find someone else that she was interested in?

Feeling tears burning her eyes, she quickly turned and walked back out of the kitchen. She tried to walk as normally as possible, until she heard Yang shout, "Blake, wait!" accompanied by the sound of a chair scrapping against the floor behind her. She picked up the pace as she rounded the corner and began racing up the staircase. Only halfway up, she felt a warm hand latch firmly onto her own, halting the fleeing girl in her tracks.

She didn't have to turn around to know that Yang was standing there, those caring eyes fixed upon her. She remained focused on the step at her feet, watching as tiny splashes of water began to darken the wood.

"Why are you crying?" Yang finally asked, soft voice filled with concern.

Remaining silent for several moments, Blake took several deep breaths in an attempt to stem her tears and steel her nerves. Turning around, she forced a smile onto her face as she attempted to sound as cheerful as possible.

"You should call her. She seemed to really like you."

She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. Yang looked as if Blake had just slapped her across the face, instantly dropping Blake's hand and retreating backwards one step.

Her heart broke at the sight, but how could she say what she was really feeling? That the thought of Yang being with _anyone_ else made it feel as if her heart was being removed from her chest. That it made it difficult for her to think, or even breathe.

As much as it hurt her to remain quiet, she couldn't say anything because she finally realized that Yang's heart wasn't hers to hold anymore. If she was going to be Yang's friend, she had to come to terms with the fact that someone else would receive Yang's heart, eventually. And when that day came, Blake would try to be as supportive as she could possibly be.

Focused on the staircase railing, Yang refused to look back towards Blake. The normally sunny girl looked absolutely miserable, further increasing Blake's internal anguish.

"She was pretty cute, right?" Yang mumbled, mostly to herself, as her index finger traced tiny circles onto the banister.

More tears instantly welled up in Blake's eyes at Yang's admission.

"Yang!"

Ruby's voice drew their attention back towards the kitchen.

"Nora is ready to wrestle again and she wants to challenge you!"

Blake felt the situation diffuse as Yang looked at her bashfully. The blonde gave her a sad smile, the kind that died before it ever reached her eyes. It barely managed to mask a portion of the hurt lurking there.

"Do you want to come watch me destroy Nora?" she asked, lacking nearly all of her trademark bravado.

Wiping her eyes, Blake nodded slowly, hoping that it wouldn't be too obvious to her other teammates that she had just been crying.

Nodding briefly, Yang turned and walked back down the stairs as Blake followed her. As soon as they reached the kitchen, Yang turned on her normal megawatt smile as she skipped to her seat opposite of Nora. Blake couldn't help feeling shocked at the girl's abrupt change in attitude as she took a spot standing next to Ruby.

Feeling someone grasp her hand, she looked down to find Ruby's small hand clutching her own. Peering at the girl inquisitively, Ruby whispered softly, "Don't worry, Blake. Yang will win. No need to look so worried!"

Blake couldn't help cracking a smile at Ruby's mistaken comfort, squeezing the younger girl's hand slightly in return before turning her attention back towards the table.

To say that there was a bit of bad blood between Yang and Nora when it came to arm wrestling would be an understatement. Both girls were immeasurably proud of their strength, so losing was a huge blow to either of their egos. Blake had been pretty sure that it had been banned for the two of them to arm wrestle ever again at Beacon after Yang set a small table on fire after losing one time. Somehow, the two girls must have convinced everyone else that they would behave themselves this time.

"No cheating this time!" Nora sang happily as she set her elbow down on the table, hand open and ready to receive Yang's.

Snorting, Yang clasped her right hand in Nora's.

"Why would I cheat when I can beat you fair and square?" she tossed back at the girl as they prepared to begin.

"Oook, are you two ready?" Ruby cut in before Nora could come up with a comeback.

As both girls nodded their heads, Ruby held out her hand out to count down for them.

"Three...two…one…go!"

The girls' muscles immediately tensed as they struggled against one another, Nora's teeth gritting as she strained against Yang's arm. Although Blake couldn't see from where she stood, she was sure that Yang had a similar expression of effort on her face.

"Go Yang!" Ruby yelled as the match progressed. Although, to the viewers, it didn't look like much progress was being made at all; the girls' arms remained perfectly perpendicular on the table.

Several minutes later, Blake glanced sideways at Weiss and Ruby, seeing the younger of the two growing increasingly disinterested as the match continued to drag on. Nora also appeared to be losing interest as her eyes began flitting around the room more and more often.

Ren leaned in close to Nora's ear and whispered something that only Nora and Blake could hear.

"Play to her weakness…"

Nora grinned at his suggestion as she focused her attention back on Yang before she innocently asked, "So, Blake, how was your time away?"

*BANG*

Nora yelped in surprise as her arm slammed backwards into the hard wood table. Everyone stared at the girl in shock as she gingerly rubbed the back of her hand. Blake felt her ears flatten as she stared at the back of Yang's head, scared to know what thoughts might be going through there right now.

Ren brought a hand up to his face as he quietly said, "I said play to her weakness, not make her angry…" Nora looked at him sheepishly as she mouthed, "oh."

Standing up from the table, Yang laughed, although the sound seemed strained to Blake's sensitive ears. Stretching out a hand towards the dumbstruck Nora, she said, "Better luck next time!"

Nora hesitantly shook Yang's hand, seemingly unsure if it was a trick or not.

When Yang released her without a hitch, Nora broke out another big smile, sensing that the danger had passed. Blake breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Nora's question would be quickly forgotten.

"We should really get going…" Ren began, trying to remove Nora from the situation before she could say anything else. "We promised Pyrrha we wouldn't be out late…again…"

"We had to go to all of the ice cream shops on that list before midnight! We got a prize, remember?" Nora sputtered out in disbelief as she obediently stood from the table.

"Yes, I remember…that stuffed animal…" Ren said as he and Nora began walking towards the front door, the four members of Team RWBY following close behind. Ruby and Yang giggled at Nora's protests as Weiss respectfully went to fetch Manghild from the hallway closet.

Stopping at the front door, Nora gave them each a giant hug in turn, reaching Blake last. Holding on to her for a second longer than the first three, Blake flinched slightly in surprise as Nora whispered into her ear, "I knew you would come back."

Bouncing backwards, Nora flashed a big smile as Ren gave them each a polite nod of his head, stepping backwards out the front door and disappearing in a flash.

As soon as the door closed, Weiss rounded on the three of them, placing her hands on her hips.

"Now _which_ _one_ of you is going to clean up the kitchen?" she demanded, glowering at each of them in turn.

Ruby and Yang immediately took a step back, pointing at each other in unison with silly grins on their faces.

The heiress rolled her eyes as she stalked past them, saying, "Come on then."

The four of them spent the next few minutes wiping up splotches of butter from various parts of the kitchen. Once Weiss had deemed the area to be clean, she released them, suggesting that they get to sleep early to prevent bags forming under their eyes for the big event tomorrow. Ruby blew out of the room, littering the recently cleaned ground with fresh rose petals. Yang was right on Ruby's tail, not wanting to get stuck doing anymore cleaning.

Weiss sighed as she watched the rose petals flutter softly to the ground.

"She makes such a mess…" the heiress muttered as she reached down to begin collecting the fallen objects.

Blake quickly rushed over to help the girl, reaching down to pick up the petals one by one.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she suddenly remembered something important.

"Thank you so much for the dress, Weiss. You really didn't have to do that…"

The icy girl looked up at her as if she were speaking in a foreign language.

"What do you mean?" she asked Blake curiously, throwing the Faunus completely off-guard.

"The…my dress…for the party? Yang said that you bought it for me…"

Weiss stared at Blake for a second longer, eyes narrowed at her thoughtfully, before she finally smiled.

"Of course, you're welcome," she replied as she bent down to pick up the last of the petals. "It's the least I could do."

Blake smiled in relief as Weiss deposited her collection of petals into the trash can, holding the lid open for Blake to do the same.

Letting the petals roll off her fingertips and drift into the container, something inside caught her eye. She didn't have a chance to see what it was though, as Weiss let the lid fall closed once again.

Walking out of the room, Weiss turned back to her and asked, "Are you coming?"

Blake glanced back towards the trash can. She wanted to know what she had seen there.

"I'll be right up. I'm just going to get some water."

Weiss nodded her head at Blake's words as she walked out of the room.

She waited until she heard Weiss walking up the stairs, not wanting to risk getting her hand literally caught in the garbage. Once she was sure the girl was a safe distance away, she lifted the lid back off of the can and peered inside.

As she had suspected, there was a small, familiar looking piece of paper resting inside. Quickly reaching her hand in to snatch up the item, Blake closed the lid to the trash can once more. Turning around so that her back was to the doorway, she slowly unwrinkled the paper, feeling her body tense with anticipation as she did so.

She smiled as she made out words, confirming her suspicion that it was Taryn's phone number. Her heart soared at the find. So, Yang hadn't wanted the girl's number, after all! Blake had not felt this…ecstatic…in a very, very long time.

Balling the paper back up, she threw it back into the garbage where it belonged.

Feeling rather vindicated, Blake climbed the staircase towards her room. About to enter, she looked up curiously as she heard another door open nearby. A grin crept onto her face as her eyes met embarrassed silver ones.

Ruby gave her a sheepish grin as she crept across the hallway to Weiss' room, pajamas clutched in her hands. Lifting one finger up to her lips, the young girl slipped into the heiress' room, closing the door softly behind her.

Chuckling lightly to herself, Blake entered her own room, swinging the door shut behind her.

She immediately froze as she looked up, finding Yang sitting uncomfortably on the edge of her bed. The girl was sitting so close to the edge, Blake was surprised she hadn't fallen off.

"Yang?" she asked as she approached the girl, wondering why Yang was waiting for her there.

Shooting to her feet, Yang looked at Blake carefully, pain emanating from her lilac eyes. Blake slowly moved closer to the girl, guilt washing over her for the hurt expression that she _knew_ she was responsible for.

Stopping directly in front of her partner, she wracked her brain, trying to think of something, _anything_, to say to take that pain away. Saying that she was sorry again just didn't seem to be good enough, but what else could she do?

Before she could utter a single word, Yang reached out with both hands and gently pulled Blake's face towards her, her warm hands tenderly tilting Blake's chin upward. A second later, her eyes widened as she felt Yang's warm lips pressed against her own. The initial shock swiftly disappeared as her eyes fluttered shut, relishing the feeling of Yang's soft lips on her own. For as much as Yang was a brawler, her hands were surprisingly soft and gentle…

There was so much emotion being passed through such small contact, Blake felt like her heart might beat out of her chest from it all. She could intimately feel all of Yang's happiness, love, fear, and…pain. Her heart wretched as she felt her partner's sorrow channeling through the kiss. She could feel herself drowning in those emotions, struggling for air as Yang pressed more forcefully into her, pouring more and more of her feelings into Blake's chest.

Blake moved closer to Yang in response, reaching one hand up to run through her partner's blonde mane as she felt one of Yang's hands reach around to grasp the back of her neck.

She tried to push as much of that hurt out of the way, focusing on sending love in return.

She loved this girl. She _loved_ her, with all of her heart. Completely, head over heels, crazy for the girl. Why had it taken her so long to realize?

It was playing out like an inverse version of tug-of-war, each girl struggling to push their emotions through. To make the other understand how they truly felt in a way that mere words could not communicate. How much Yang hurt…how much Blake loved. It was a battle that Blake so desperately needed to win.

The next instant, the feeling disappeared as Yang abruptly pulled away. Opening her eyes, Blake saw Yang looking pointedly away from her, face flushed, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

"I just…I had to do that at least once…" her voice cracked as more emotions came to the surface, spilling forward as fresh tears.

Blake didn't know what to do as confusion flooded her. She yearned to reconnect with her partner, to regain the feeling that had just been cut abruptly short. But as she stepped towards Yang, reaching out a hand towards her, Yang stepped backwards, out of her reach.

"We can just be friends, now," Yang said, finally looking up at Blake with tear filled eyes that cut right to Blake's soul. "You don't need to worry about any of those other feelings anymore. They're gone."

Each word rip through Blake's heart like a bullet, leaving tears behind that began slowly bleeding into the rest of her body. Her eyes rapidly filled with tears as Yang pressed by her and left the room. The door clicked shut softly, but to Blake it sounded as if an explosion had just gone off, leaving her blind as tears began to flow freely. She could hear nothing over the sound of her heart as it struggled to beat on.

Falling to her knees, she held her head in her hands as her body trembled with uncontrollable sobs.

Yang had finally unlocked something deep within her. The last barrier…the last wall Blake had built around her heart in order to protect herself. The wall that had been holding Blake back. But now…it was already too late. Yang had already let her go.

Remaining there on the floor for quite some time, she shed her tears, overcome by a devastating feeling of loss. She had had the opportunity to be a part of something magnificent…and she had thrown it away all those years ago. For what? What did she have to show for it?

When she had finally cried herself past the point of exhaustion, she crawled into her bed to try to get some rest, even though she knew that her chances of a good night's sleep were slim to none.

She didn't want to just be friends…but maybe, just maybe, that was better than nothing at all.


	20. Chapter 20

**No A/N, just story!**

* * *

Curled up in one of the comfortable library chairs, Blake flipped the page of one of her all-time favorite mystery novels. She had been incredibly surprised to find that Weiss even had a copy in the library. Some of the scenes were quite…steamy. But the familiar text provided a sense of comfort in her otherwise tumultuous brain.

She had been holed up in the room for the entire day, losing herself in her reading. She was doing her absolute best to avoid seeing Yang after what had happened last night. She realized that she would not be able to evade her partner forever, but she at least needed some time to figure out her thoughts before then. Or at least, to come to terms with what Yang had said.

Her heart clenched as the memory of the kiss came rushing back to her. How devastated Yang had looked as she rushed out of the room. How Blake could do nothing but stand there in shock, rooted to the floor with cement blocks in place of feet.

Refocusing her eyes on the page, she reread the same sentence for the third time, this time trying to actually process the words. Reading had always been a way for Blake to avoid dealing with her reality: losing her parents, working in the White Fang, constantly questioning her moral grounds…but today, her book seemed to be doing nothing more than give her fingers something to idly flip through.

Feeling her stomach grumble, she realized that she had also skipped both breakfast and lunch. Sighing, she decided that eventually she would have to leave her sanctuary in order to find food. Maybe after a couple more minutes though…she thought as she settled back into the chair.

A few moments later, a light knock on the door caused her to nearly jump out of her seat. After only a second, Ruby poked her head through the doorway, quickly locating Blake before entering with a shy smile.

"Sorry to interrupt," Ruby said sincerely as she crept closer to where Blake was sitting.

Making a mental note of what page she was on, Blake closed the book and set it down on the arm of the chair as she gave Ruby her full attention.

"No need to apologize; I just wasn't expecting anyone to come down here. Where you looking for me?"

Ruby nodded enthusiastically at her question.

"Weiss and I are going to head over early to make sure everything is set up properly. Well…Weiss is going to make sure everything is right while I stay out of the way…" Ruby grinned in embarrassment as she lightly ruffled her hair with her hand. "Did you want to come with us? Or Weiss can have a car come pick you up later."

"When are you leaving?" Blake asked curiously. "I'd love to help, if I can."

And avoid having to ride to the gala with Yang if at all possible, she thought to herself.

"Ruby!"

Ruby grimaced as she heard Weiss call for her from another part of the house.

"I guess I'm already late…" she chuckled nervously as she began backing out of the room. "She'll message and let you know when the car will be out front. Sorry!"

Blake couldn't help but laugh as Ruby shouted "Coming!" before disappearing from the room in a blur of red. At least she would have a little more time to try to read before she had to get dressed. And maybe she could sneak something to eat without getting caught in the kitchen…

Shortly before the car was supposed to arrive, Blake finally made her way up to her room to get ready to leave. As she stood in front of her door, she held her hand hesitantly above the door handle for several seconds as a part of her wished to find Yang waiting in there for her again.

Opening the door, a surge of disappointment and sorrow passed over her as she took in her empty room. She stared at the spot on her bed where Yang had been sitting yesterday, touching her hand lightly to her lips as she remembered the feeling of Yang's mouth on her own. Shaking her head, she turned away from that moment, wishing to shut it from her thoughts for now. She headed over to the closet to pull out the dress Yang had picked out for her.

Once changed, she stood in front of the mirror taking in the reflection staring back at her.

The outfit was a little more revealing than she was used to, but she had to admit that it made her feel quite sophisticated and glamorous. Even the feel of the material was extravagant. Combined with her shiny black heels, she thought that she would at least be able to fit in with the rest of Vale's super elite.

Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she headed downstairs to wait in the foyer for their ride to arrive.

It was then that she heard Yang's door open upstairs. This was the moment she had been dreading all day: having to face her partner after the kiss they had shared last night. But it had to happen sooner or later, so she might as get it over with now so that they could both move on to being friends.

Turning towards the second story, Blake's jaw dropped as Yang walked carefully across the hallway to the staircase in her own pair of black heels.

The blonde was wearing a sheening, gold, _plunging_ halter top gown. The slit in the front left of the floor length skirt slid all the way to her upper thigh, offering a spectacular view of the girl's toned legs. The draped front of the dress hung all the way down to her sternum, leaving very little to the imagination regarding her...assets, as the store clerk would have said.

She looked absolutely ravishing.

Blake could do nothing but stare as her partner gracefully descended the stairs towards her, blushing furiously as she took in more and more of Yang's bare skin. Compared to this, Blake's dress might as well have been a monk's robe.

Reaching the foyer, Yang walked up to Blake with a small smile.

"Ready to go?" Yang asked, hardly a spark of life behind her words.

She flinched at the tone. The Yang she knew would have been practically bouncing off the walls in excitement right now.

But Blake forced a smile onto her face as she nodded in response. Satisfied, Yang walked by her without another word, opening the front door to head towards the waiting car outside.

Blake felt her cheeks burn as she followed Yang to the vehicle.

The back of Yang's dress was…nearly nonexistent.

An uncomfortably silent half an hour later, they pulled up to one of the myriad of Schnee estates. This one was massive, at least five times the size of the current home they were living in, and located on the outskirts of Vale. The front of the mansion was covered in huge windows emitting a warming orange glow from the lights inside. The large half circle driveway was filled with expensive black town cars dropping off their wealthy passengers. Blake stared in amazement as their own car waited in line to pull up to the glistening, marble front walkway.

Never in her entire life had she seen a display of such opulence.

"This is hardly a home," Yang commented, pulling Blake from her thoughts. "The Schnees have never lived here; they built it solely to host their company and family events."

"Must be nice…having a house just for your parties…" Blake responded placidly, feeling a sliver of resentment growing in her chest as she thought about how many people could be pulled out of poverty just by selling the massive, mahogany front door. She couldn't feel too bitter towards Weiss though, since Blake had personally seen some of the sacrifices the heiress had had to make on account of her family's status. All of that power and wealth certainly came with its own massive price tag, that was for sure. And there was little doubt in her mind that Weiss worked harder than anyone to feel as if she deserved everything she stood to inherit.

Finally reaching the front of the walkway, several immaculately clad butlers quickly stepped up to the door of the car. One pulled open the door while another offered his hand to help the two girls gracefully out of the vehicle and onto the marble path. Once outside, Blake straightened out her dress, feeling slightly self-conscious standing next to Yang. Her partner was already beginning to draw attention from the other party guests, and the butler was still holding on to her hand as he gawked at her.

"Uh…thank you, sir," Yang said awkwardly as she pulled her hand from his grasp, giving him a crooked smile to drew a blush onto his cheeks as he finally turned away.

"Let's go find Weiss…" Blake said as she began heading towards the open front doors, feeling smaller and smaller the closer she got to the massive structure.

Walking inside, they found themselves standing in an enormous ballroom that was quickly filling up with lavishly dressed party goers. The freshly polished wooden dance floor gleamed under the light of at least two dozen crystal chandeliers hanging above. An enormous double staircase was situated in the middle of the opposite side of the room, allowing access to the second story balcony that wrapped all the way around the ballroom below. A raised platform located in the center of the two staircases was occupied by a quartet of musicians who were currently playing some tune that Blake recognized, but couldn't remember the name of. The platform appeared to be floating several feet above the ground; Blake couldn't help wondering how the musicians had gotten up there, until she noticed an expertly concealed door placed behind them.

It would have been impossible for them to miss Weiss, as she was standing right by the front door graciously greeting all of her guests as they entered. The heiress was wearing an exquisite silver gown with a V neckline and thin halter straps connecting at the base of her neck. The skirt of the dress clung to her form, nicely accenting all of the right places, before flaring out towards the bottom. The bottom half of the skirt really caught Blake's attention. Blood red crystals were sparsely placed towards the middle of the skirt, becoming greater in number and density as they fell to form a nearly solid layer encircling her feet. The overall effect looked eerily familiar to Blake. Like red snowflakes falling on a winter day. Or…Blake grinned as she finally made the connection.

Rose petals.

Ruby Rose wasn't the only one wearing her partner's mark tonight.

Pared with some silver heels and dangling diamond earrings, the heiress exuded affluence and sophistication.

Standing beside Weiss was her equally well-dressed girlfriend, nodding nervously as she shook hands with all of the guests after Weiss introduced her.

Blake followed as Yang sauntered up to the two to say hello. As soon as Ruby caught sight of them, she broke in to a huge smile and rushed over to give them both a big hug.

"So glad you're here!" she said excitedly before something across the room caught her eye. "Hold on, be right back!"

Yang chuckled as Ruby dashed away.

"You serving cookies at this shindig?" she teased as she poked a finger towards Weiss' ribs.

Weiss backed away quickly while trying to remain her poise.

"It's great to see you both here," the heiress replied politely, ignoring Yang's joke as she carefully took in both of their appearances.

"Although…I think we're seeing a bit _too_ much of you, Yang," she added through slightly pursed lips, causing Yang to burst into laughter as she wrapped the irritated host in a big hug.

"It's great to see you too, Weiss. You look great!"

"You really do," Blake added honestly, causing the heiress to blush nearly imperceptibly.

"You look great too, Blake," Weiss replied softly. "And Yang," she began as annoyance crept back into her voice, "you're _almost_ dressed appropriately this time."

Yang laughed again at Weiss' indigence before she was interrupted by an impeccably dressed young man walking up to her.

"Excuse me, Miss, could I offer to get you a drink?" the gentleman asked, confidence oozing from every fiber of his body.

Blake noticed Yang glance quickly her way before she happily agreed and walked off with the boy, leaving Blake standing behind with Weiss. Her eyes followed her partner longingly, a feeling of loathing rising towards the boy who had just stolen Yang's attention.

"And you're just going to let her go?" Weiss suddenly asked.

Blake looked at her, startled by the question.

"We're just friends, she's allowed to have…suitors…" Blake replied, picking her words carefully.

"Is that what you want?" Weiss asked sternly, placing her hands on her hips as she stared intently at Blake. Her eyes were furrowed as she frowned in displeasure.

Blake looked at the ground in an attempt to avoid the icy blue eyes that were drilling into her deepest hopes and desires.

"I…it doesn't matter what I want anymore. This is what she wants."

Hearing the girl sigh in exasperation, Blake looked up in confusion.

"Blake Belladonna, you are an even bigger idiot than I gave you credit for. Do you _really_ believe that she just 'wants to be friends'? After all this time? After all she's done trying to get you back?" Weiss scoffed at how naïve Blake was to have believed such an obvious lie.

"If you _love_ someone, you don't just let them walk away. No matter how hard they push you away, you just keep trying."

With those words of advice, Weiss turned to walk away from Blake, but stopped as another thought popped into her head. Turning back, she added, "But you'd better be _sure_ before you do anything."

Blake stared after the girl. Had she really just received relationship advice from the ice princess herself? _Good_ advice, at that?

She watched closely as Ruby zipped up to Weiss' side holding two champagne flutes in her hands, somehow managing not to spill any of the sparkling fluid. Weiss immediately began scolding the girl, gesturing towards the rose petals still floating towards the ground. Looking downcast, Ruby quickly sat the drinks down on a nearby table and carefully knelt down to begin picking up the petals. Completely shocked, Blake saw Weiss kneel down in front of Ruby a second later, grabbing Ruby's hands and gently pulling her girlfriend back to her feet. Smiling apologetically, Weiss picked up the glasses from the table and smoothly pressed one into Ruby's hand before tapping her own lightly against its edge.

Ruby instantly lit up in a smile as she brought the glass to her lips, giggling happily as Weiss did the same. The heiress motioned to a nearby waiter, who immediately dropped whatever he had been doing and ran over to scoop the petals off of the ground.

Suddenly, Blake realized that Weiss' advice was not from the experience of pursuing someone, but as the pursued. She could remember how often Weiss had put Ruby down or snapped at her, when Ruby had just wanted to be her friend. Their first night at Beacon still stuck out in her mind, as Weiss had completely dismissed the younger girl, who had only been trying to be friendly. At certain points in the first few weeks, the heiress had been almost cruel to her bubbly partner.

But, Ruby always tried again. She kept trying to get closer to the girl. She never let Weiss' words sink further than skin deep, brushing them off seconds later as if they were grains of sand.

And look what the two of them had now. Look at how much Weiss had changed. The ice princess radiated happiness whenever she snuck a quick peek towards her partner.

Newly determined, Blake set off in search of her own partner, knowing that she would most likely find her near the bar. Sure enough, she spotted the girl seconds later, now surrounded by several young men all clamoring for her attention. The blonde was laughing happily at someone's joke as she playfully pushed his shoulder away with one hand, a glass held carefully in the other.

Blake heard a small hiss of air escape her lips at the sight as she stalked up to the crowd, agitation blossoming within her. Brushing past several of them, she didn't stop until she stood directly in front of Yang.

Giving her a wide (only slightly alcohol induced) smile, Yang greeted her with a cheerful, "Why hello, partner!"

Blake attempted what she hoped was a flirtatious smile as she reached out and grabbed Yang's free hand with her own. Her nerves jumped into overdrive the second she felt Yang's warm palm pressing against her own, but she was determined to move forward. It was either this, or watch Yang get hit on by strange men all evening.

"Dance with me," she ordered the girl, feeling somewhat pleased at the shocked expression appearing on Yang's face. The shock quickly turned into doubt and uncertainty, but Blake was not going to let the girl say no. She began pulling gently backwards, drawing Yang to her feet. Once up, Yang finally smiled at her, though Blake saw that doubt still lingered in those lilac eyes.

As she pulled Yang out towards the dance floor, she couldn't help a small smirk forming on her face at the looks of dismay the young men were giving her at having snatched their prize right out from under their noses.

"Blake Belladonna, are you gloating?"

Blake blinked as she turned back to Yang, feeling her face grow crimson at having been caught enjoying her small "victory."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, feigning indignance as they reached the center of the dance floor.

Yang gave her a knowing look as she held up her hand for Blake to take.

"Well, I'm sorry to pull you away," Blake said apologetically, placing one hand on Yang's shoulder while her other rested in Yang's outstretched palm. "It just looked…a little stifling."

Yang chuckled lightly, but Blake couldn't help noticing that her partner seemed a little unsure of herself, for once. Avoiding eye contact, Yang was delicately resting her free arm on Blake's hip, so lightly that Blake could hardly even feel it was there. She was moving almost mechanically, making Blake look like the better dancer, which she knew for a fact wasn't true.

"It's nothing I haven't handled before…" Yang replied softly, as they fell into an awkward silence once more.

They continued moving slowly to the rhythm of the music, with Blake taking the lead. Yang was moving a little more fluidly as she settled in to the situation, but silence still enveloped them. Blake needed to think of something to talk about, but what?

She then realized that she had never complimented Yang on her dress. Well, gawking at her when she had come downstairs really didn't count as a true compliment. She had to use _words_. And Blake most desperately needed to break this quiet between them; it was becoming more and more painful with each passing second. _Any_ words would help, at this point.

Her face heated up as she struggled to say the words out loud, finding them to be exceptionally difficult to force from her mouth.

"Yang…you, you look amazing, by the way…" she was finally able to stutter out before she looked away, feeling a furious blush rising on her cheeks.

_How does Yang do this? _she thought to herself as she stared intently at the windows on the other side of the room, realizing that silence had probably been better than the situation she was now in.

A light chuckle drew Blake's eyes back to her partner. She froze, stunned by how gorgeous Yang looked with a true smile on her face, her wavy blonde hair cascading over her shoulders.

"You know," Yang began thoughtfully, "I spent over an hour getting ready tonight, and I'm still not even _close_ to being the most beautiful one here."

_Like that_, Blake thought as she turned away, overcome by modesty. _How does she do that so effortlessly?_ Blake was sure that her face was as red as the crystals on Weiss' dress by now, all from a single sentence Yang said so flippantly.

The blonde had always had a way, with just a smile or a few simple words, to capture the hearts around her. It was a quality that Blake did not understand, but clearly she was not immune to its effects.

Yang suddenly seemed to grow self-conscious, allowing her smile to fade as she glanced away. Feeling the silence settle over them once again, Blake again began searching for anything to lighten the mood.

She just wasn't _good_ at this. The playful banter, the flirting, the offhand compliments. She had always been so guarded and deliberate, especially with matters of the heart. There was something especially terrifying about putting herself out there in that way. While she should have felt more comfortable with Yang, since the brawler flirted with anything that had a pulse…their conversation last night had destroyed that confidence completely.

Thankfully, another topic of conversation presented itself to her at that moment.

"Is that Professor Ozpin and Glynda?" she asked in astonishment as her gaze fell upon their two mentors standing together across the room. This didn't really seem like the type of event the two would normally frequent; a theory Glynda was proving to be correct by the irritated expression frozen on her face as she glared scornfully at anyone near her.

Yang chuckled at the sight.

"Looks like Glynda just ate a lemon, doesn't it?" she said as the two of them sniggered together.

"Reminds me of the time she caught Team CRDL in the hallway in nothing but their speedos after we took all of their clothes and towels from the pool room," Blake recalled thoughtfully.

Yang burst out laughing at the memory.

"If I do recall…_I _had the idea, but _you_ were the one who actually did it!"

Blake glared at her disdainfully, drawing another laugh from her partner.

"Only because _someone_ wasn't able to sneak past the cameras so we wouldn't get caught in the boy's locker room."

"I'm sorry!" Yang cried out, not sounding apologetic in the least, "I know that you're still permanently scarred from holding Cardin's underwear." Yang dissolved into giggles once more, no doubt remembering the revulsion on Blake's face when she had realized the clothing she had grabbed.

"She made them go to class like that, remember?" Yang crowed happily. "I thought Weiss was going to have an aneurism!"

Blake couldn't help grinning at the memory. The heiress had been nearly steaming the entire class as she glared daggers into the boys.

Feeling the ice break, they continued dancing for quite some time, recalling some of their best pranks from Beacon. Blake could feel that Yang was trying to maintain an emotional distance from her, but it was beginning to lessen minute by minute as they recalled their past times together. For her part, she was fine with any conversation as long as she could stay this close to Yang, feeling her partner's warmth spreading through her hands, earning a smile every once in a while when Blake made a particularly corny joke.

The entire time, she kept Weiss' advice at the forefront of her mind: persevere, above all else.

They came to a stop as the lights in the room flickered on and off several times. A spotlight lit up the top landing of the grand double staircase towering over the dance floor, drawing everyone's attention there. Weiss stepped into the light, moving elegantly to the edge of the banister as every eye in the room locked on to her.

"Good evening, everyone," she greeted the guests kindly, causing a hush to fall upon the room as everyone paused their conversations to listen to the hostess.

"As many of you may know, I am Weiss Schnee, daughter of Christophe and Isabella Schnee." She paused for a few seconds as light applause greeted her introduction.

"I would like to thank each and every one of you for being here, as tonight marks an important step forward for all of Vytal…"

"As the announcement said, this year's fundraiser will help form a Human-Faunus Relationship Council. While not the first of its kind, this will be the first such endeavor to receive the _full_ backing and support of the Schnee Dust Company, as well as the Schnee family…"

She paused as muffled words of surprise could be heard spreading throughout the room. She raised her hand slightly to quiet the crowd in order for her to continue, voice growing even stronger than before.

"From this day forward, Schnee Dust Company and my family will be committed to the betterment of Faunus livelihoods in all of Vale."

"Many of you know that our company has used Faunus labor in the past. While we cannot correct those mistakes, we can set a precedent for the future. As such, all of our Faunus employees are now being paid equally as their human counterparts; they are also being granted full benefits."

Voices in the room began to grow as more people began speaking as Weiss continued her speech, becoming more and more shocked with each statement. Weiss did not stop though, speaking louder each second in order to project her voice over the din, years of vocal training allowing her to still be heard clearly in every corner of the room.

"We are dedicating ourselves to loving our Faunus brethren, regardless if they be members of the White Fang, employees of our company, or members of our community. We will not rest until every Faunus child can walk down the streets of Vale feeling no shred of fear or intimidation. We will not cease our toil until _every_ Faunus can raise their head high, knowing that they do not risk persecution for doing so."

"My parents and I feel that it is time for us…_all_ of us…to end this discrimination once and for all. We humbly ask for your help in making this great endeavor a success. Thank you."

With those last words, Weiss backed slowly away from the balcony as the spotlight disappeared. Looking around, Blake could see everyone staring up at where the girl had just been standing, surprise still registering on their faces. After several seconds of muted astonishment, Blake heard one person begin clapping, followed quickly by another, and another. Soon, the entire room exploded in applause at Weiss' words, instantly bringing tears to Blake's eyes. She clapped loudly along with the rest of the audience, dumbstruck, not quite believing what she had just heard.

Yang leaned briefly against her shoulder to gain her attention as they continued clapping.

"She's quite something, isn't she?"

Blake could only nod in agreement as tears continued falling down her cheeks.

As the quartet began playing and people started dancing once more, Yang motioned for Blake to follow her towards one end of the staircase. They found Weiss still descending the steps, shaking hands with the crowd of people who had congregated there, Ruby trailing closely behind.

Not wanting to push through the masses, Blake and Yang picked out a good spot to wait at the bottom of the steps for Weiss to reach them. As soon as the heiress was close enough, Blake rushed up and gave the girl a huge hug. She knew that Weiss would stiffen at the contact, but she just couldn't help herself. She was so grateful for what Weiss had said and what it meant for Faunus everywhere.

"Thank you, Weiss," she said as she pulled back from the now slightly rigid girl, feeling more tears beginning to accumulate in her eyes. "Thank you…for everything."

Weiss gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement before a smirk snuck onto her face.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you two," she began as she gestured towards Blake and Yang. "Since you'll be the ones in charge of running this council once it's been formed."

At that moment, another guest captured Weiss' attention, drawing her quickly away from the two dumbstruck huntresses. They looked at each other in dismay at the girl's revelation.

"Uh…excuse me?" Yang asked incredulously as she turned to follow the heiress.

Mouth still agape, Blake looked at Ruby, who only giggled at her expression.

"Weiss decided this the day you came back," she said with a grin. "She had been looking for someone 'just like Blake' to help Yang, since it was Yang's idea to begin with. Who's more like you than…well, you!"

"But…I don't know the first thing about running something like that," she answered honestly. Not to doubt her partner, but she highly doubted that Yang would have much expertise in that area either.

"Oh don't worry," Ruby laughed at her concern. "Weiss might say that she won't help you, but she will. It would look bad for her if the council failed. But we have to figure out this whole Grimm situation before any of this…"

Blake nodded in agreement, feeling slightly less apprehensive now. Of course Weiss would help them…she just wondered what the consequences would be for enlisting the heiress' aid…

She glanced in the direction Weiss and her partner had headed in, catching a glimpse of blonde hair through the crowd. She finally smiled as she began thinking what this new twist meant.

After they found out who was behind the Grimm appearances and put a stop to them, Yang and her would continue to be partners. They would be working together for a long time to come.

Even if they were only friends, Blake could think of nothing that would make her happier.


	21. Chapter 21

**I can actually see an ending in sight! Very, very far away...like how you see a tiny pinprick of light at the end of a very long tunnel. Even so, the thought of this ending makes me exceptionally sad! So let's enjoy this while we can, right?**

**Here's the new chapter for everyone. It's a little sappy. I think because I overcompensated for Bumblebee being so hot and cold so far...I just want them to get together already!**

**I hope that everyone enjoys a little more White Rose in their lives, though (I know for a fact, that several of you do :P)**

* * *

"Thank you very much, Mr. Yimota. That is an extremely generous donation. I assure you that it will be well used." Weiss gave the established businessman a warm smile as she gratefully shook his hand. He bowed his head slightly, returning the smile.

"I'm glad that your family is taking the lead in this matter. It will be great for business!" he replied gleefully, causing Weiss to cringe internally at his care for money rather than the greater good. But what had she really expected from this crowd of people?

Hearing someone clear their throat, Weiss turned to find Yang standing behind her. The blonde clearly had something on her mind.

"Yang? What can I help you with?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at the girl in question as she made her way over.

"_Blake_ and I are supposed to run this thing?" Yang hissed as she stepped close to her. "What the hell, Weiss!"

Weiss smiled thinly at her, having figured that that's what Yang had to say.

"You two were the best options," she stated plainly. And it was true. Who better to lead this massive venture than their bleeding heart Faunus teammate and her passionate partner that would follow her through hell and back? Plus, Weiss knew that she could trust Yang; having someone she trusted in charge was vital to the success of the entire endeavor.

"When were you planning on telling me this?"

"When were you planning on telling me that "I" bought Blake's dress?" Weiss shot back, feeling a spike of agitation hit her as she gestured in the direction of the Faunus girl. The stress of the evening had certainly been wreaking havoc on her nerves and having to deal with Yang on top of it was not something that she had planned to do. Plus, she had figured that Yang would be over the moon with excitement over the prospect of working together with Blake, not pissed off about it.

She sighed, feeling suddenly guilty for having lost her temper in that manner. Yang continued to stare at her with that dumbfounded expression, somewhere in between embarrassment and shock at her secret having been found out.

"Listen, can we discuss this later? I kind of have more important things to deal with tonight…" Weiss said quietly, praying that the blonde would drop the subject for now. They could discuss it in far greater detail later, but she just couldn't handle that tonight on top of everything else.

Yang immediately split into a wide smile, saying "oook, but don't think I'll forget about this!" before sauntering back towards Ruby and Blake. Weiss sighed in relief, thankful that Yang could be so reasonable sometimes.

She rolled her eyes as she watched every man stare at Yang lustfully as she passed by, while most (but not all) of the women looked at her in unveiled jealousy. Maybe Yang should be the one asking for donations tonight. Weiss could think of several prominent men here who would gladly sign over their entire personal fortunes just for the opportunity to speak to the beauty.

Of course, Weiss knew that Yang wasn't that type of girl. The blonde brawler was attainable only for one person in this room; the one person who seemed completely unable to get out of her own way first.

As soon as Yang had left her, someone else caught her attention as they wanted to speak with her, as well. She made sure to keep her sigh internal; life of a party host…everyone wanted some of her time.

Weiss lost track of how much time she spent talking to one person after another, accepting donations and congratulations on a successful speech and party. She was pleasantly surprised how well received the idea for bettering Faunus relations seemed to be. Of course, this tended to happen whenever the Schnee's put their family name behind any particular cause, but she would like to think it was because this was actually a _worthy_ cause. Unfortunately, deep down she knew the guests were just telling her what she wanted to hear.

What she hated most about these parties was the posturing by the guests to win her favor, or the favor of her parents. She knew that most of the donations were not given out of goodwill, but out of greed and the quest for power. Everyone was on a constant crusade to prove that they would be more useful to the Schnees than the last person and, in return, hoped to gain some personal recognition for their "benevolence" and "loyalty." There were strings attached to everything going on at this party tonight, strings connecting her to all of the guests. Every hand that she shook would demand a favor somewhere down the road. They were leeches, all of them. And Weiss couldn't help but to loathe them.

Thankfully, she had learned at a very young age how to handle them. How to play to their egos, how to make them feel more important than they really were, how to use them to accomplish her own goals. It was not a skill that Weiss was particularly proud of, knowing how to manipulate people in such a way, but in this case it allowed her to accomplish something for the greater good. She needed their money to make sure this party and the council it would be forming would be a success. Whether they understood what they were doing or not, they would be part of creating a better world for the Faunus.

After speaking to what felt like the one hundredth person in a row, she suddenly realized how badly her cheeks hurt from holding her forced smile for such an extended period of time. She was growing quite tired of this: her fake smile, her fake laugh, her fake conversations…She missed Ruby.

Ruby was the only one that she could just be herself with. There were no fake smiles or fake laughs when she was with Ruby; those were all real.

She glanced around quickly, hoping to catch a glimpse of her girlfriend before appearing too rude to the husband and wife who were currently trying to hold her attention. Not seeing the brunette immediately, she forced her eyes forward again, only to feel them begin to wonder again seconds later. Not able to stand it anymore, she politely ended the conversation with the pair and started walking away, eyes scanning the crowd in search of the girl.

Not paying very much attention to where she was walking, she accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she began respectfully before looking up and seeing who it was she had stumbled into.

She sighed. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was talk to Ruby for a few minutes to regain her sanity, but the universe certainly wasn't letting things fall her way at this moment.

Her father brushed the sleeve of his suit lightly where Weiss had stumbled into him, as if she had somehow managed to leave a stain upon his clothing. Her mother stood beside him, giving Weiss a small smile.

"Congratulations, honey," her mother began, stepping forward as she placed a hand softly on the arm her father was using to brush his suit, subtly pushing it down to his side. "This is quite the event you've organized. Wouldn't you say so, dear?"

"Yes, quite nice," her father replied gruffly as he glanced around the room, undoubtedly already lining up the next person he needed to speak with. It took all of her willpower not to scowl at the man; would it kill him to pay her a real compliment for once?

"Thank you," Weiss responded instead, being very careful not to mumble in her response. "Have you seen Ruby?" she asked nonchalantly, trying not to appear as needy as she was actually feeling.

"You mean your shadow?" her mother replied with a laugh before pointing over Weiss' shoulder.

Weiss spun around, following the direction her mother had pointed in. Searching rapidly, she was finally able to find Ruby perched on the staircase, legs dangling over the edge through the bars of the railing. Her silver eyes locked with Weiss' for an instant before Ruby hastily looked away, pretending that she hadn't been watching the heiress at all. Weiss felt her heart skip a beat at the brief eye contact as relief flooded through her system.

Weiss stared unabashedly at the girl; Ruby was surely a sight for sore eyes. The mere image of the girl made Weiss feel as if she could tackle ten of these parties in a row. Or, at least just survive this one.

Her father's voice suddenly cut into her concentrated gaze, ruining her otherwise happy moment.

"I should go speak to Mr. Howe before he gets too drunk again," he said firmly before striding off without another word, leaving his wife and daughter behind.

Weiss scowled slightly at his back before she felt her mother's hand land softly on her shoulder.

"He is proud of you, you know," she said, a sad smile marring her strikingly beautiful features.

"Well, it wouldn't kill him to say it once in a while," Weiss grumbled as she looked back towards where her father and Mr. Howe now stood chatting. It was no secret that her relationship with her father had never been easy, but, for some reason, she still always desired his approval. She would have thought that by now she would have been over that need, but…

"Your father leads a very demanding life, sweetie," her mother responded diplomatically. "It leaves little room for soft or tender feelings. He has always worried that you would be taken advantage of when your time came to lead the company. He wanted to make sure you would be able to handle it."

"By being a cold hearted drill sergeant? Gee, thanks, Dad," Weiss retorted sarcastically, earning a disapproving look from her mother. She dropped the attitude immediately with a long sigh.

"Grandfather isn't that way though. And _he_ was in charge of running the company for more years than Father has been doing it."

It was now her mother's turn to sigh.

"Sweetie, your Grandfather was much, much worse than your father has ever been."

Weiss felt her jaw drop slightly at her mother's revelation.

"But Grandfather has always been so patient and kind to us!" she remarked incredulously. The image of her kindly old grandfather came to mind immediately. Sure, sometimes he could be quite stern, but Weiss had always enjoyed his visits immensely.

"Yes, he has been good to you girls," her mother replied. "But only because I told him that if he dared treat you how he treated me, he would never see his grandchildren again. Apparently at his age, when he no longer had the company running his life, family actually became somewhat important to the man."

Weiss was suddenly looking at her mother in a new light. She had always thought that her mother had been so lucky to grow up having Grandfather as her father. He had been so knowledgeable and gentle to be around, and never impatient no matter how many questions she had bombarded him with. It was almost impossible to imagine that he had actually been _worse_ than her own father was.

"One day," her mother continued, "I hope that you will be able to see your father as the man he was when I first met him. Sharp, charming, funny, quick to laughter…"

Weiss couldn't help scoffing at the thought of her father laughing or even telling a joke. She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen the man _smile_. If she ever saw him laugh, she would probably burst into flame the very next second.

Concern flooded her system as she suddenly processed what it was her mother was truly saying.

"Has the company really changed him that much?" she asked, alarm creeping into her veins. If what her mother said was true, what if the same thing happened to her? What if she became a cold-hearted monster who did nothing but make business deals all day? Who treated her family as nothing but obligations?

Her mom looked at her tenderly, seeming to know what it was her daughter was now afraid of.

"People change for many reasons, my dear daughter," she began softly. "Necessity, desire, self-preservation, anger…but do you know the most common reason why people change who they are?"

Weiss shook her head, not knowing where her mother was planning on going with this conversation, and too distressed to think through it very clearly.

"Love," her mother whispered, eyes saddening as she turned to cast a glance towards her husband.

"I wasn't strong like you are now, Weiss. You may think that your father was hard on you, but he has blessed you with a thick skin that allows you to be resilient and fight back. My own father, your Grandfather, broke me down, but I never developed that strength, that drive. When I met your father…I was a shell of a girl, insecure…weak…ruined. Your father promised to protect me, and so he did. He fought my battles for me, in the boardroom, in meetings, in negotiations, in my own family."

Weiss couldn't help turning back towards Ruby, worry creasing her brow as she listened to her mother's story.

"Don't worry, you don't need her to be like your father," her mom said, reading her daughter's mind.

"Because I'm already like him," Weiss remarked sullenly. It had always been her greatest fear…to become like him.

Her mother started laughing at that comment, the soft, tinkling sound that had been Weiss' only source of comfort as a child. It had either meant that her father wasn't at home, or he was in a spectacularly great mood. Normally, the former.

"You are like him, Weiss, but not in the way you seem to think."

She looked at her mother quizzically, silently begging for her to explain further.

"You are both willing to do anything for those that you care about…even at the sacrifice of your own happiness."

Weiss paused at this, thinking on the words her mother had just said. She supposed that it could be true, if what her mother had said about her father was true. She would do anything for Ruby, or for Yang, even if it made her completely miserable. She felt closer to those two than she did to her own family, outside of her mother.

"Now, go see your little rose before you give yourself wrinkles," her mom joked lightly, bringing Weiss out of her thoughts with a soft blush. "And…good luck tonight," she added with a wink before walking away to join her husband on the other side of the room.

Weiss didn't really know what to think about the conversation that she had just had. She had never really thought of her father in any way but negatively. But she would have to think about what her mother had said at a later time, since now she was finally able to seek out the source of her happiness.

"Hey Weiss!" Ruby called happily, pulling herself quickly to her feet as Weiss approached her on the stairs.

"Ruby…" Weiss replied softly, feeling relief fill her the closer she came to the brunette. She grasped one of Ruby's hands when she was close enough. "I'm very sorry that I was gone for so long…"

Ruby waved off Weiss' apology with her free hand. "I know you're busy and important, Weiss! I just didn't want to get in the way."

Weiss immediately felt guilty at the girl's offhand comment. _Ruby, you could never get in the way_…she thought to herself, but couldn't find the words to say it out loud. She wanted to…she wanted Ruby to know how important she was…but, as usual, she was having difficulty expressing her emotions. Instead, she said, "Come dance with me," pulling the girl behind her as she headed back down the stairs to the dance floor. If she couldn't tell Ruby how she felt, she could at least try to show her.

Thankfully, several months ago Weiss had had the foresight to ask Ruby if she had ever been taught how to dance. It had come as no surprise to her that what Ruby had known about dancing came from Yang, and it was hardly appropriate for this event. So, Weiss had been making Ruby get up early to practice with her several times each week.

The first day had been bumpy, as Ruby's incredible speed made slow dancing something like trying to walk a cheetah. A cheetah who stepped on your toes every other second. But once Weiss had managed to slow Ruby down (with the promise of cookies after each successful five minutes without stepping on Weiss' toes), the results had been fantastic, as Ruby was easy to teach and eager to please. She could now say that Ruby was a superb dancer.

Gliding around the room, Ruby giggled every time Weiss would spin her around, making Weiss smile at the same time. They were very much in sync with each other, making their dance seem effortless and carefree. This is what Weiss loved about being around Ruby. It was so…effortless. She didn't have to hide behind a mask; she could be herself, all of her flaws included.

"Ruby…you look stunning…" she said slowly, taking a few moments to fully appreciate how beautiful Ruby looked this evening.

"Thank you, Weiss!" Ruby replied, blushing at the compliment. "But it's just the dress. I'm sure I'm nowhere near as gorgeous as you are."

"Ruby…the kind of beautiful you are has nothing to do with the dress," Weiss stated matter-of-factly. Her face immediately warmed as she realized what she had just said without thinking.

She was still pleased that Ruby thought that she looked pretty though, since the brunette had been the one who had inspired the gown she was wearing.

Weiss had spent many weeks designing and redesigning her dress; she even had the input of some of the most sought-after designers in Vale. It had to be elegant, stylish, but most of all, she wanted Ruby to like it.

Then, Blake had showed up. Ruby had been in Weiss' room, asking if Weiss was really going to be ok with Blake rejoining the team. The heiress hadn't really known what to do about Blake's reappearance, but she could tell that her girlfriend really wanted their team to be back together. So, she had said yes.

Ruby had been so excited, she sped rapidly around Weiss, hopping up and down while circling her hundreds of times in a mere minute. Weiss could do nothing but watch in wonder as the red blur kicked up a storm of rose petals that swirled around her. She felt as if she were standing inside a red tornado, but completely safe and secure from the turmoil outside. After Ruby had abruptly stopped by her side, the rose petals had continued to spiral around them for several seconds before falling into a thicker and thicker layer of red encircling their feet.

She had, of course, scolded Ruby for the mess afterwards, but it had been one of the most beautiful experiences she had ever had the pleasure of witnessing in her entire life. And so, she finally had the design for her gown, recreating the moment out of jewels and fabric.

Spinning Ruby around once more, Weiss earned herself another giggle. The sound made her smile, but also set her nerves on edge. This moment was so perfect, so peaceful…she didn't want to do anything that would shatter it, but she was determined to go through with her plan. She was quickly running out of both time and courage though.

Clearing her throat, she forced herself to look Ruby in the eyes as they swung around the ballroom floor.

"Thank you for being here with me tonight," she said earnestly, knowing the silent support Ruby provided her by her presence alone was enough to keep Weiss sane. If Ruby hadn't come tonight, Weiss probably would have canceled the entire event rather than come without her.

"Of course!" the younger girl replied sincerely. "If I wasn't here with you, where would I be?" The question seemed to genuinely perplex the girl, as if the thought of not being by Weiss' side was the strangest idea in the world. Weiss felt her heart swell at Ruby's candidness; maybe this would be a little easier than she had originally thought.

"I know that I haven't been the easiest to deal with since I've been trying to put this thing together perfectly…"

"Oh please, Weiss, you were just stressed is all!" Ruby cut in.

Before she realized it, Weiss had sent Ruby a small glare, effectively silencing the girl and allowing her to continue. She sighed, feeling guilty now on top of everything else, but continued anyway.

"I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with, Ruby. I'm impatient, quick to anger, a perfectionist, hyper competitive…I don't forgive people very easily. I don't open up about my feelings. I don't like to admit my mistakes…"

"Woah, woah, Weiss!" Ruby interrupted her, bringing the heiress out of her spiraling level of self-loathing and back to the moment.

"You might _sometimes_ be impatient, and _sometimes_ get angry, but you're a wonderful person! You're the most thoughtful, intelligent, caring, generous, and beautiful, inside and out, person that I've ever met. I'm so incredibly lucky to call you my partner _and _my girlfriend."

Weiss peered closely at Ruby as the brunette gave her a radiant smile, feeling her heart warmed by the words. Ruby's vision of her was clearly very different than the one she held of herself. The thought that one day Weiss could truly become the person Ruby viewed her as was only one of the many reasons she was in love with her so greatly.

"So…does that mean you'll accompany me to more of these horribly long and shallow events in the future?" Weiss asked hopefully, immediately pleased by the enthusiastic nodding she was receiving in response.

"Of course!" Ruby responded cheerfully, with a slight bounce added as emphasis. "I'll come with you to these parties for the next hundred years! Or for eternity, whichever comes first."

Weiss couldn't help but grin at her partner's use of exaggeration.

"Till death do us part?"

The phrase elicited an adorable giggle from the brunette before she answered.

"Yes, Weiss, till death do us part. But I'm pretty sure that's a long way off, since Grimm can't touch us and Time can't catch us!"

She grinned at Ruby, feeling her confidence surge as she squeezed Ruby's hand a little tighter.

Taking one last deep breath, she spun Ruby out away from her once again. But this time, when she swung Ruby back towards her, Weiss knelt on ground, still holding onto Ruby with one hand, while the other shakily held out the ring she had carefully hidden in her dress that evening.

"Then…will you be my wife until that time comes?"

Her confidence from two seconds ago had already completely disappeared, leaving Weiss more nervous than she had ever been in her life. She knew that everyone was staring at them, but she could see nothing but the shocked silver eyes gazing down at her. She knew that people were whispering around them, but she could hear nothing but the pounding of her own heart in her chest.

This was the moment Weiss had been terrified of. No matter how strong her mother thought she was, Weiss knew that her life was now held in Ruby's strong, calloused hands. The strength that she had developed while at Beacon, it had all come from the beautiful girl standing in front of her right now. And Ruby now held the power to completely destroy her, all she had to do was say…

"Yes."

Weiss blinked at the soft response, not sure if Ruby had actually said it or if she was just imagining things.

"Y-yes?" she questioned, still afraid to hear the answer, until she saw the tears begin to spill from silver eyes.

"Yes, _yes_, Weiss!" Ruby cried, kneeling down on the ground to wrap the shocked girl in a giant hug.

"Of course I'll be your wife!"

The words finally sank into Weiss' head as she returned Ruby's embrace in shock, feeling tears of happiness and relief well in her own eyes. What had she been so afraid of? Of course Ruby said yes. She loved Weiss just as much as Weiss loved her. She had proven as much time and time again.

Pulling the girl to her feet, Weiss was able to slip the ring onto Ruby's finger after much fumbling with her still heavily shaking hands. She leaned forward and gave Ruby a quick kiss before pulling back to beam at her. Standing there, hands clasped together, they grinned at each other like idiots, tears of happiness still fresh in their eyes.

Weiss had been wrong about earlier; _this_ was the moment she wanted to stay in forever.

The resounding sound of clapping finally brought Weiss back to her senses, flushing as she remembered that they were standing in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by hundreds of onlookers. Ruby looked slightly embarrassed, as well, especially when they heard Yang shout, "That's my baby sister!" from somewhere in the room.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Weiss asked her, hardly receiving a nod in response before she turned and raced towards the stairs, holding tightly onto Ruby's hand as the girl kept pace behind her.

She couldn't help the grin from spreading on her face as she pulled Ruby away from the party.

_She said yes._


	22. Chapter 22

**Annnnd we're back with more White Rose! We'll be returning to Bumblebee shortly (and you will see why).**

**In this chapter, we're going to play a little game, for which there will be a small REWARD! (let's see how many of you are actually reading the A/Ns!)**

**The rules of the game are as follows: within this chapter, I have used a term/phrase that might have you thinking 'huh, I wonder what that is.' If you find it, send me a message and ask 'what is [blank]' and you win! (if you get it wrong, don't worry you'll still win for effort)**

**WHAT do you win? Well, I wrote a small (about 900 words) fic elaborating on that term. It's a small bit of White Rose fluff. I will respond to you with this story.**

**I have no plans to post it, since it doesn't really fit into the story well, but I'd like to reward those who are paying attention! If you don't want to message me on here, you could use Tumblr (i have the same username) or sky writing.**

**As for this chapter, I hope that everyone enjoys it!**

Standing alongside Ruby on the rooftop terrace of the mansion, the younger girl looked in awe at the view of downtown Vale in the distance. The lights of the city provided a stark contrast to the darkness of the expansive forest on the opposite side of the house. Above them lay a blanket of stars strewn as far as the eye could see. Weiss couldn't think of a more beautiful place to spend this moment with Ruby.

Much like the rest of the house, the terrace was exceedingly opulent. Elegant white sofas and chairs were placed strategically around the space, with a full service bar situated in the center. Standing chandelier lamps provided a soft light in the darkness of the night, but in no way diminished the glow of the stars overhead or the city in the distance. The lamps also doubled as heaters, emanating enough heat to keep the chilled wind at bay in the open space. Cleverly hidden speakers relayed the music from the quartet below, but the volume had been turned down so that it merely provided a subtle background noise to the serene atmosphere.

This had always been Weiss' favorite part of this house. When she had been a child, she used to look out towards the city of Vale and pretend that she was a princess being held captive in a faraway castle by oppressive rulers, but that, one day, she would break free and run towards those city lights. Even if she had nothing but the clothing on her back, she had been sure that she would be able to survive in such a sparkling, vibrant place.

Of course, looking back now she knew that would have been a terrible idea, but she had been young and naïve. The idea of being free from the stress and expectations of her rigid life had always called to her as if an invitation straight from heaven.

But now, as she fondly watched Ruby take in the view of the world around them, she realized that she had never needed to run away from this place in order to feel free.

"It's amazing up here, Weiss," Ruby remarked in wonder as she spun slowly in a circle before finally stopping when her eyes fell upon Weiss. "It's so pretty…why didn't you have the party up here?"

Feeling her face warm, Weiss hoped that the low lighting would hide some of her blush as she fibbed a little bit.

"It wasn't large enough to accommodate all of the guests," she responded quickly, pleased that Ruby seemed satisfied with the answer as she gave an understanding nod.

It wasn't a complete lie. The area _was_ too small to hold all of the guests at once, but it would have been easy enough to allow access to the terrace so that people could come and go as they wished. However, Weiss had planned to bring Ruby up here after she had (hopefully) responded positively to her proposal. She had wanted the entire area to be empty so that they could enjoy the scenery and each other's company in peace. Besides, the ballroom below was more than large enough to house everyone comfortably.

As they stood underneath the twinkling lights of thousands of stars, she was glad that she had decided to do so. This was their moment. They deserved somewhere beautiful and private to celebrate before their families got involved.

Reaching over, she gently took Ruby's hand in her own. Having held Ruby's hand perhaps a million times by now, Weiss had memorized every millimeter long ago. She couldn't help smiling when she felt the newly placed ring on Ruby's finger press into her hand. The smooth band stood out amongst Ruby's calloused fingers like a trespasser in Weiss' own home, yet she welcomed the intrusion happily.

The decision to become engaged had come much sooner than Weiss would have originally anticipated, but she had no regrets in the timing now that Ruby had agreed. In fact, if she had known with all certainty that Ruby would have said yes, she would have asked much, much sooner. Weiss had known that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her effervescent partner the day she had managed to summon the courage to ask Ruby to become her girlfriend.

But, it would now officially be set in stone: they would be together for the rest of their lives. The band around Ruby's finger symbolized this promise to each other.

Ruby suddenly began giggling, breaking the comfortable silence they had been standing in.

"What is it?" Weiss asked curiously, wondering what Ruby was thinking. She found liquid silver eyes looking into her own as Ruby continued to giggle to herself.

"I can't believe that you asked me in front of so many people!" she finally exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide and letting out a laugh at the memory of it.

Weiss felt her face flush as she recalled how many people had just witnessed what she considered to be a very personal moment. Not only the number of people, but the _type_ of people was what really bothered her. Thankfully, Ruby was clearly happy with how everything had happened. And as long as Ruby was happy, Weiss didn't care that much for what anyone else thought of her.

"Well, that's not how I would have _wanted_ to do it…" she replied slowly, gaining Ruby's attention once more before explaining.

"When I spoke to my parents several days ago, I informed them that I intended to propose. My father…well, he flat out said no at first until my mom stood up for me. But they were still concerned. They questioned whether I was ready for all of the attention, good and bad, that an engagement announcement would garner. They didn't think that I was ready for my personal life to be put on display like that."

She sighed, knowing that her parents hadn't been completely misguided in their worries.

"I…kind of lost my head. I told them that I wasn't afraid. That I would propose in front of the entire world if I had to. And…they thought that that was a great idea. My mother suggested that this party would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. I think she may have thought that since it was so close, I would back out…but I have never been so determined to do something in my life…"

Ruby squeezed her hand tightly, giving Weiss one of those smiles that made the normally well-spoken girl completely forget the words on her tongue.

"Well, I, for one, am glad that you did ask," she said happily, "so that I could say yes!"

Weiss smiled at the girl's elation.

"You weren't just messing with me by saying yes, were you?" she teased as she poked Ruby playfully in the ribs, earning a cute squeal from the unsuspecting girl.

"Of course not!" Ruby exclaimed. "Would I ever joke about something important like this?"

Attempting to keep a serious face, Weiss replied, "Well, there was that time you fooled me into thinking I had failed that History of Vytal final…"

Ruby laughed nervously as she ran a hand through her short hair.

"Oh yeah…I did do that…but that class wasn't really _important_..."

"And there was that time you and Yang set me up on that 'date' with Neptune only so that I would be stood up…"

"But I showed up instead and we had a great time!" Ruby cut in, her voice nearly a wail as her large silver eyes begged for forgiveness.

Weiss chuckled at her partner's distress, having long since forgiven her for that transgression.

"Yes, we did have a great time…and that was one of the first moments I remember thinking that maybe my feelings for you were more than just 'friends.'"

"Aww…Weiss!" Ruby said as she gave her a quick hug. "Well then I'm glad that I showed up! Yang didn't want me to because she was still upset at you for suggesting that Blake go on a date with Sun…"

Weiss looked down at her hands with a small grimace.

"Yeah…looking back, that obviously wasn't the nicest thing to do…"

She looked up in surprise when Ruby suddenly let out a small yelp.

"I'm surprised Yang isn't hunting you down for not speaking to her first before proposing!"

Weiss blushed.

"Well…I did ask for her permission…" she replied with a shiver as she recalled the moment several days ago in the kitchen, after Ruby had left to model her dress for Blake.

That conversation would be etched in her mind for quite some time.

Weiss had hardly been able to get the question out, she was so scared of what Yang's reaction could be. And then, when she had finally managed to spit out the words, Yang had looked at her, expressionless, and asked, "Why would I want my baby sister to marry someone like you?"

To say that she had not suspected that response would be an understatement. Anger, she had expected, but not that. She had thought that they actually had a decent relationship now…that they were close friends, if not _best_ friends. But apparently she had been horribly mistaken. She had nearly crumbled into tears at that moment, worried that she would not receive Yang's blessing, after all. And then what would she do? Would Yang force Ruby to break up with her?

She had replied that she knew Ruby deserved someone so much better than her. Someone who wasn't self-centered, snobby, a know-it-all, arrogant, cruel…all Weiss really had to offer was her parents' money. She had started crying as she realized that maybe she shouldn't be with Ruby, after all. Ruby deserved someone with a warm heart, who was more patient, and kind, and open, and willing to give her everything in the world…

On the edge of despair, she had felt Yang's warm hands come down heavily upon each of her shoulders. Looking up, she had found Yang smiling widely at her. The blonde brawler had said, with tears glistening in her own lilac eyes, "You make Ruby happier than I've ever seen her. I would _love_ for you to be my sister-in-law."

Weiss had been so relieved at that moment, she had given Yang a giant hug. As she had pulled away with a smile, Yang had lightly wiped a hand across her eyes to dry them before continuing.

"Of course, it goes without saying that if you hurt her, I will kill you."

Weiss had scoffed at the statement, saying (maybe a little too indignantly), "That would be a lot more convincing if you weren't smiling right now."

That smile had immediately disappeared from the blonde's face as her eyes turned red. In a fraction of a second, the room had become unbearably hot, causing sweat to break out on Weiss' brow as waves of super-heated air pulsed from the brawler.

Weiss prided herself on knowing when it was best to stand and fight…and when it was best to admit defeat. She had raised her hands in surrender in order to cool the girl off before they both became melted puddles on the kitchen floor. The temperature had instantly cooled as Yang shut down her aura, her cheerful smile once again lighting up her face.

Weiss had been relieved only for an instant before she realized that with Yang's permission granted, she would actually have to ask Ruby now. But, surprisingly, that wasn't even close to the worst thing that came out of their conversation…

"I have to do one favor for Yang once every five years now…" Weiss told Ruby solemnly.

The brunette held a hand in front of her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"_Anything_ she wants?" she asked in shock, not succeeding in keeping the large smile from creeping onto her face.

Weiss nodded unhappily, feeling a slight chill travel down her spine. "_Anything_ she wants."

Ruby couldn't help herself any longer, bursting into laughter at Weiss' plight, covering her stomach as tears sprang into her eyes.

"Oh no…I can't even begin to imagine what the first favor will be."

Weiss sent a playful glare her way. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"What do you mean, _'we'_?" Ruby squeaked out in surprise. "I'm not the one who agreed to this deal!"

"Yes, but when we're _married_, we're going to be in everything together, right?" Weiss asked with a grin, knowing that Ruby wouldn't be able to say no now.

Ruby grinned back at her.

"Well, as partners, that was already the case. But yes, I will continue to support you through anything and everything! Even the horrors my sister might come up with…"

Weiss thought on Ruby's comment for a second, thinking that maybe the girl had a point. Not too much would actually change in their lives from this decision. They would still spend all of their time together, they would live together, they would support each other through good times and bad. But, at the same time, she felt like everything would be completely different. Maybe just knowing that Ruby would be by her side for the rest of time was enough to make her feel that way. Not that she had been particularly worried Ruby would ever leave if they _didn't_ get married…but…it just seemed like it had more weight to it when it was spoken out loud.

Looking back out towards the city lights, Weiss noticed Ruby staring down at her hand out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you like it?" Weiss asked, realizing that she had never asked for Ruby's opinion on the ring Weiss had had made for her.

It had taken a great deal of time, influence, and money to acquire the small stone that was set in a narrow band made out of white gold, but it was worth every minute of headache to see it on Ruby's finger right now.

A red diamond, rarest of the gems. There were very few of the stones available to the public at any given time. If they were available, they were exorbitantly expensive to acquire, _after _the right strings had been pulled. Round in shape, this particular gem was the deepest red Weiss had ever seen in a stone. And tonight, under the stars and moonlight, it twinkled as if Ruby had captured a tiny red star.

"It's stunning," Ruby answered as she gazed at it fondly. "I absolutely love it. Although…it's not as beautiful as you are, but it will remind me of you when you're away."

Weiss flushed at the compliment. Would she ever get used to receiving those offhand comments from Ruby?

"But…I didn't get you anything!" Ruby exclaimed regretfully.

Weiss could only shake her head at the younger girl's concern.

"That's ok, silly. How were you supposed to have something prepared for me when this was a surprise?"

Her logic seemed to ease some of Ruby's guilt, but not all as she muttered, "Still…"

Suddenly perking up, Ruby said, "I have an idea!" before dashing over to the bar. Sighing, Weiss leisurely followed the girl, knowing that their peaceful moment had been put on hold until Ruby finished whatever idea she had just had. She leaned against the bar counter, watching curiously as Ruby zipped back and forth behind the counter. Her brow furrowed when she saw Ruby casually pull the wire cages off of two _very_ expensive bottles of champagne. The hyper focused girl then began pulling open drawer after drawer, clearly looking for something specific.

Before Weiss could offer to help in the search, Ruby found what she was looking for, grabbing a pair of scissors out of one drawer and a small kitchen torch out of another before flying back to the cages. Picking up the delicate pieces of wire, Ruby turned her back to Weiss (much to her consternation) as she continued to work on her project intently.

Weiss loved seeing Ruby in this mood; the girl's laser focus was absolutely a thing of envy. There was no bouncing or giggling or lack of attention. Ruby would work on whatever she put her mind to until it was finished to perfection. It was something Weiss only saw when Ruby was working on her weapon or in rare moments such as these.

Still, that didn't mean that she enjoyed waiting for Ruby in this particular situation. She tapped her fingers lightly on the countertop as she waited impatiently for Ruby to finish whatever it was she was working on. Thankfully, a couple minutes later, Ruby spun around with a huge smile lighting up her face.

She raced around the counter and stopped directly in front of Weiss, reaching out to grasp one of her hands tenderly.

"Weiss Schnee," she began with confidence, "I've already agreed to marry you, but would you also agree to…marry me…as well…maybe?"

She couldn't help giggling as Ruby became more and more nervous during her 'proposal.' It was as if Ruby actually thought there was a possibility that Weiss would turn her down, even though Weiss had asked her first.

"Of course I will," she responded warmly, not wishing to prolong Ruby's suffering any longer than necessary.

Frozen for several moments with a grin on her face, Ruby gave a start as she finally remembered what she held in her hand.

"I know it's no diamond ring," she began as she slid her creation delicately onto Weiss' ring finger, "But I can always get you a real one later if you want…"

Holding her hand up, Weiss couldn't help but to admire the impromptu ring Ruby had just made for her. The girl had twisted a strand of silver wire together with one of gold to create a dual colored braid. She had then fitted the pieces together, melting the ends seamlessly to create a modest band. It was beautiful, humble, and unpretentious…just like her partner. Most surprisingly, it fit her finger perfectly.

"I love it," she remarked, looking back to Ruby. "It's perfect. It reminds me of you, completely."

The ear splitting grin that hit Ruby's face could have sent Weiss to the moon and back several hundred times.

"Yeah?" Ruby asked as she began to bounce up and down in excitement. "When we get home, I can add to it, if you'd like. I can have it double as a taser…or hide poison darts in it…or put a tracking device in it…"

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss cut in as her partner was becoming lost in thought over potentially deadly double uses for her creation. "Why would I need a tracking device in my ring?"

Ruby grinned at her sheepishly.

"In case you're lost and I need to find you?" she suggested helpfully.

Weiss chuckled at the girl's expression.

"You know," she began, pulling Ruby into a hug and allowing her lips to lightly touch the girl's ear.

"Sometimes it's ok for a ring to just be a ring," she whispered, relishing the slight shudder she felt run through Ruby's body. She placed a kiss on the girl's temple before drawing away, allowing one hand to slide comfortably into Ruby's.

"But a taser would be pretty cool," she commented lightly as she pulled Ruby over to the railing of the terrace to look out towards the city of Vale, new rings now gracing both of their hands.

"Consider it done, my lady," Ruby answered facetiously. "You shall have the most deadly engagement ring in all of Vale!"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she leaned against the railing.

"Did you not hear a word I just said?"

"I did," the brunette responded with a giggle. "I just chose to ignore them!"

Weiss couldn't help sighing slightly at the comment. At least Ruby was honest.

"It looks so beautiful from here…" Ruby continued calmly as she rested against the railing, looking out towards the city.

Weiss kept her eyes trained happily on Ruby as the younger girl gazed contentedly towards Vale. She had spent so many hours at this precise spot, thinking the exact same thing as Ruby. But now she knew that the girl standing beside her was much more beautiful than the city lights could ever be. Those lights played tricks on people, appearing attractive from afar only to become more and more unpleasant the closer they became.

But Ruby…Ruby was not a trick or an illusion…as Weiss grew closer, the girl only became more and more gorgeous to her.

Something seemed to catch Ruby's eye at that moment, causing the girl to straighten up as her eyes focused on the sky in front of them.

"Hey Weiss, do you see that?" she asked intently, her voice hardly above a whisper as she tilted her head slightly in the direction Weiss should look towards.

"No…" Weiss responded as she shifted her vision out into the night, seeing nothing but trees, street lights, and the city far off in the distance.

"Right there!" Ruby said, finally pointing towards nothing but sky. "That ripple in the air. It's the same one I thought I saw when I was watching videos of the Grimm attacks!"

"Ruby, I don't see…" Weiss began replying. Without warning, Ruby went tearing off after whatever she had seen, catapulting off the edge of the house and hitting the ground at a run.

"Come on, Weiss!" she heard the girl call back to her. "We have to see what it is before it gets away!"

Weiss sighed as she carefully jumped down off of the terrace and chased after Ruby. Running through the woods after something only Ruby could see had certainly not been on the list of what she had planned to do tonight…

"Ruby! Slow down!" she called, realizing that she had certainly done herself a disservice in the selection of her partner's dress, as it allowed the girl to run much more freely than her own. Plus, the speedster already had a head start on her. She pursued the trail of rose petals as well as she could, barely able to make out Ruby's shape as she moved further and further ahead of her, zipping in and out of the trees as they sped through the forest surrounding the Schnee estate.

"Ruby! Stop!" she yelled again, hoping that her partner would be able to hear her at this distance.

Thankfully, Weiss saw Ruby pause in a small clearing up ahead, allowing Weiss to begin closing the distance between them. Ruby was peering around carefully, as if searching for something that she couldn't quite see. The brunette turned back towards Weiss, waving her hand guiltily as Weiss slowed down to approach her.

"Ruby," she scolded as she walked the last few paces up to the girl, slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with a huntress whose semblance was _speed_. "Don't just run off alone like that!"

Ruby looked at her apologetically, instantly cooling Weiss' annoyance with a single gaze.

"Sorry, Weiss. I just could have sworn I saw something…" she trailed off in thought as she looked around once more, confusion etching itself on her face.

Weiss shook her head. She would have thought she would be used to Ruby chasing things through the forest by now, especially after watching Ruby and Pyrrha play "cookie retrieval" so many times.

Suddenly, the hairs on Weiss' arm stood on end. She looked at Ruby, only to see the girl jerk her head to look directly above them.

"Rub…oomph!"

The brunette dashed forward, planting both of her hands into Weiss' chest just as Weiss had been trying to speak. The force of the blow threw the stunned girl backwards nearly twenty yards, clean off her feet. Landing roughly on her back, Weiss quickly jumped up, alarm bells now ringing in every cell of her body.

Her mouth dropped open as she saw the airship that had appeared directly above the brunette. A giant cage attached to the back of the ship had already dropped down on her partner, trapping Ruby within its iron bars.

"RUBY!" Weiss shouted as she raced towards the ship, pushing her legs as hard as they could go in an attempt to make it back to her girlfriend in time. But the ship then disappeared as suddenly as it had come, taking Ruby along with it.

_No, no no no no no, _she thought as she raced back to the spot where Ruby had just been standing,her heart pounding in her chest from exertion and fear.

She frantically searched around for any signs of the ship, growing more and more frustrated with the lack of any evidence that Ruby had ever even been there. She looked to the sky, but there was nothing to be seen but the stars above, the sparkling lights now mocking her from a great distance.

Tears were streaming down her face as she could find no trace of the ship at all. She didn't even know which direction it had headed in so that she could _try_ to follow. Not that she would be able to see or hear the ship if it was still sitting directly above her head. She sank to her knees at the spot where Ruby had just been, feeling despair overcome her.

How had this happened? Why would anyone kidnap Ruby?

Pushing herself back to her feet, she tried to pull herself together as she began racing back towards the mansion. There was no time to grieve right now; not if she was going to get Ruby back as soon as possible.

Yang. She needed to tell Yang.


	23. Chapter 23

**New episode today...new chapter today! We're going to be traveling through some rough waters the next few chapters, but don't worry, we'll get through them in no time at all! (I think)**

**Thank you to everyone who is following and keeps reviewing! You guys are the best and I love hearing from you!**

* * *

Yang tore her eyes away from Blake for what must have been the seven hundredth time that evening. She just couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of the Faunus girl. It certainly didn't help that Blake looked absolutely exquisite tonight; her partner was, hands down, the most beautiful person in the room. And most likely the most beautiful person Yang had ever seen in her life.

She had thought that kissing Blake would help her finally get over her feelings, providing some sense of closure. She would be able to say to herself 'well, we at least kissed once and it didn't work out.' Oh, how wrong she had been.

If simply being in the same bed with the girl made Yang feel like her heart was on fire, kissing Blake was actually stepping into a wildfire. Every inch of her skin had been aflame with sensitivity, every little movement Blake had made against her was amplified tenfold. She could swear that she could feel the _air_ burning against her. The softness of Blake's skin, the smell of her hair, the tiny noises she was making in the back of her throat…Yang had been ablaze during that moment. And while she had never wanted the kiss to end, at the same time, she _needed_ it to end before the fire consumed her and she burned into nothing.

But now instead of feeling like she could move on, she found herself wanting to kiss her partner more than ever before. Instead of feeling a sense of freedom, a longing she didn't even know she possessed had been unchained within her. It had been taking all of her willpower this evening to resist dragging Blake into a closet somewhere and locking them both inside.

Topping it all off, Blake had been acting…odd…all night. The normally composed girl had seemed nervous and on edge. She had even been the one to initiate a dance with Yang, thankfully dragging her away from all of those clingy boys. And Yang was pretty sure that Blake had been _flirting_ with her, maybe just a little bit. It was subtle, definitely, but Yang thought she had seen a twinkle in the girl's eyes that suggested a bit of playfulness.

It was completely anti-Blake behavior. Yang couldn't help thinking that maybe…just maybe…

No, she couldn't think like that anymore. She was determined to shut those feelings out, once and for all. This time, she wouldn't fail. She would move on; they would just be friends, totally…platonic…friends. That kiss last night had just been a simple kiss. Blake had probably returned it out of obligation, not desire.

That's what Blake wanted, anyway. She wanted Yang to find someone else to date, undoubtedly so that Yang would stop bothering her with these mushy feelings all the time. Or so that Blake wouldn't have to feel guilty for not feeling the same way in return. Yang couldn't blame her partner for that…she was sure that her constant flirtatious behavior could be quite a drag for someone who didn't feel the same.

So, while they had pretty much been inseparable all evening, Yang was doing her best to keep her flirting to a minimum and her feelings at bay. It was an extremely difficult thing to do, but she would like to think that she was mostly successful in her endeavor as the party had begun to wind down.

Mr. and Mrs. Schnee had done a tremendous job stepping in as hosts after Weiss had unexpectedly run out, dragging Ruby behind her. Now standing near the front door, they were bidding goodnight to those who were calling it a night early. Yang sat with Blake at the bar, watching as some guests shuffled out the door, while some were still on the dance floor, determined to make this party last as far into the night as possible.

Yang briefly wondered what Weiss and Ruby were up to, but quickly decided that she didn't want to think about that too hard. They probably just wanted some privacy to celebrate their engagement…_platonically._ There was nothing wrong with that.

She glanced towards Blake, who was lost in thought while fiddling with the straw in her drink, and smiled. _I wonder how we would celebrate _our_ engagement…_she thought as she absentmindedly twirled the straw in her own drink, becoming lost in thought.

Feeling eyes upon her, Blake looked up suddenly and smiled, causing Yang to flush and curse herself for the thoughts which had just been running rampant through her head. Fortunately, Blake couldn't read her mind, or Yang was sure that her partner would be sporting a blush that would rival her own.

"I can't believe that Weiss asked Ruby to marry her," Blake said, voicing what she must have been lost in thought over.

"I know, right?" Yang replied with a laugh, relieved that the girl hadn't commented on her blush. "I mean, I know she said she was going to, but I never thought she would go through with it in front of _so many_ people. This is Weiss Schnee, after all, queen of 'stay out of my business.'"

Blake looked at her, eyes wide with shock.

"You knew she was going to ask?"

"Yup," Yang nodded proudly as she smiled. "She actually _asked_ me for permission."

"No way," Blake responded, looking very doubtful.

"Yes way!" Yang confirmed. "_And_ I even got her to agree to do one favor for me, _anything I want_, once every five years." She smiled smugly, quite proud of the agreement she had extracted from the heiress in exchange for her little sister's hand in marriage. These favors could turn out to be quite handy indeed; Yang only needed to make sure she didn't squander them.

Blake's only response was to shake her head slowly.

"Oh Yang…"

"What? I won't make her do anything _too_ crazy. Maybe she can just dress up as a clown for my birthday or something…"

Blake shook her head again, smiling this time.

At that moment, one of the waiters collecting a glass from an older lady on her way out the door caught Yang's attention.

"Hey, doesn't that look like…"

The next second, the waiter turned around and she realized who it was.

"Sun?" She and Blake exclaimed in unison as they saw the blonde Faunus headed towards them with a huge smile on his face, dressed from head to toe in one of the waiter's outfits (complete with tie). Yang had to admit that he looked quite dashing in a suit and tie; it was completely unlike the ripped clothing he normally sported. Although, his swinging tail was very much out of character compared to the real waiters.

"Yang! Blake!" he called with a wave as he approached them, setting his tray down on a random table as he passed by. When he was close enough, he bounded the last few feet and wrapped Blake in a big hug, much to their surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Yang asked as she watched the two of them separate, feeling a slight twinge of jealousy flicker within her towards the Faunus boy.

"I heard from Neptune, who heard from Jaune, who heard from Nora…that Blake had come back. I had to come check it out for myself!" he responded with a goofy smile. "And they were all right!"

"How did you know that I would be here tonight?" Blake asked curiously as she smiled widely at her old friend, clearly quite happy to see him.

"Well, that was easy," he replied with a grin. "This event is kind of well-known to the rest of Vale: a huge party that only the richest and most famous people are invited to…I knew Weiss had to be here, so Ruby would have to come, so Yang would as well…which meant that you would be here too!"

"Quite the detective…I take it from your attire that Weiss didn't actually invite you?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"Of course not!" he responded, pretty happily for someone who had been snubbed an invitation. "But I managed to swipe this outfit and sneak in through the back entrance. Pretty soft security they have around here. You'd think the Schnee family could afford some better muscle, right?"

Yang looked at Blake, finding her partner positively beaming at the boy. She didn't know why this made her feel knots twist in her stomach, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.

"So, may I please steal a dance with this fine lady whilst we catch up?" Sun asked in mock gentility, looking to Yang for her permission.

"That's her choice, not mine," Yang replied, a little more harshly than she had intended as agitation continued to gnaw at her. She turned back to the bar and motioned for the bartender to prepare her another drink, trying not to notice Sun pulling Blake towards the dance floor.

It seemed like this would be a good part of the evening to start getting hammered.

She glowered at the fresh drink as it was placed in front of her, picking it up and finally turning back towards the rest of the room. She immediately found the couple she was looking for; it wasn't entirely difficult since Sun clearly did not know how to formally dance and was bounding around like an idiot. Regardless, Blake seemed to be enjoying herself as the two chatted happily with each other.

Yang couldn't figure out what bothered her so much about the Faunus boy. Sun had always been quite nice to her, to all of them. He had helped them in battles when he didn't need to. He was funny, attractive, and kind. And yet…Yang still felt annoyed by his presence whenever Blake was around.

It probably had something to do with him being a Faunus and the first person who Blake had confided in about her own background. She had gone to him before her own partner or teammates. Plus, Blake could never argue that the two of them weren't perfect for each other…and Yang had always been envious of that. And jealous that the two of them had always shared a bond Yang felt she could never replicate, not without sprouting a tail or some ears that is. Since she would "never understand" what it was like to be a Faunus…

"Good evening, Miss Xiao Long."

She turned away from the dance floor in surprise, finding Professor Ozpin and Glynda standing beside her. Flushing, she realized that she had been staring rather intently at Blake and Sun and hoped that the two of them hadn't noticed.

"Good evening Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch," she responded politely with a nod and forced smile. "I didn't expect to see you two here tonight!"

Professor Ozpin chuckled as Glynda sighed at the exact same time.

"Miss Schnee convinced us to attend. She said that as 'leaders in the community,' it was vital for us to be 'present at the beginning.' The beginning of what, she would not tell us until tonight…"

The Professor smiled, recollecting the speech Weiss had given just hours earlier.

"And I am extremely grateful that we were here. It would have been a shame to have missed such a monumental part of Vale's history," he concluded. "Wouldn't you agree, Glynda?"

Yang was stunned to see some semblance of a smile break the normally stern look upon Glynda's face.

"Yes, you girls are certainly going to change Vale for the better. If we can be of any help…"

Glynda cut off her words as a disturbance was heard near the front door of the mansion. Turning towards the commotion, Yang's eyes widened as she saw a visibly shaken and disheveled heiress sprinting into the room.

"Yang!" the girl bellowed as soon as she was inside, eyes searching the room frantically.

Yang felt her blood run cold at the sight of the girl.

Something was very, very wrong.

"Weiss?" she called out, feeling fear seize her when manic blue eyes locked onto hers instantaneously. Weiss flew over to her, not heeding anyone else in her path.

The closer the heiress came, the more terrified Yang became. The girl's hair was no longer perfectly drawn up, as some strands had been knocked loose and were flowing freely down her back. Her dress was wrinkled and appeared to have been stained by grass on the bottom. She was panting from exertion, as if she had been running for hours. And her eyes were red from tears. The only way to sum it up was that the normally perfect girl was…a complete mess. There was nothing in this world more terrifying to Yang than seeing Weiss Schnee in disarray, because there was only _one_ thing she cared about enough to cause this type of reaction.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Yang demanded, trying to keep her voice steady as the girl stopped in front of her, breathless. Her eyes quickly flitted behind the girl, looking for the shadow that should have been right on Weiss' heels.

"Weiss…where's Ruby?"

The second the words left her mouth, her worst nightmare was confirmed. Tears instantly began streaming down the heiress' cheeks, and she made no attempt to hide them. She tried to speak, but was crying so heavily that her words were nearly unintelligible.

"We…Ruby…airship…k-kidnapped!"

Yang stared at her, feeling her heart pound as the girl's words sunk in. Ruby…gone...no, no, this couldn't be happening…

Yang had _promised_…she had promised that she would always look out for her little sister…that she would take care of her, keep her safe…it was the last thing their mother had asked of Yang before she disappeared…

'_Yang, watch over your sister, ok?'_

_'Ok, mom! I promise I'll take real good care of little Rubles!' Yang had said with a slight pat on the top of Ruby's head as they stood together on the front porch._

_'And I'll make sure she takes good care of me!' Ruby had called cheerfully as she latched herself onto Yang's left leg._

_'Good girls. I'll be back before you know it.'_

Days had turned into weeks, weeks to months, months to years…for the longest time, Yang had thought that maybe she wasn't doing a good enough job taking care of Ruby and that's why their mother hadn't come home. She felt a tremendous amount of guilt…that her own failures had cost Ruby her own mother. Yang's own had already abandoned her, for whatever reason, and now she had driven away Ruby's, as well.

Her little sister became her life…and even as Yang had grown older and realized that maybe it wasn't entirely her fault that Summer Rose had never returned, she had never completely absolved herself of that guilt. Deep down, she still held the hope that one day Summer would return for them…and when she did, Yang wanted to be able to bring Ruby up to her and say, "See how amazing she is? Look how incredible she turned out. I took care of her, just like I promised."

Yang felt tears burn at her eyes, blurring her newly red tinted vision as her pain called out her semblance in a meager attempt at self-defense.

And now Ruby was gone…now their mother was absolutely never going to return…Yang was a freaking _huntress_…and couldn't even keep her own sister safe.

Blake and Sun walked over at that moment, followed closely by Weiss' parents, all of them having noticed Weiss' uncharacteristic entrance and appearance.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Blake asked in concern as she saw the state the girl was in, rushing forward to comfort her.

"They took her!" Weiss' sorrow disappeared in an instant, replaced by pure, unaltered rage as she shouted into Blake's face. Yang winced as a blast of icy air passed through them, causing the Faunus girl to shrink away from the unadulterated fury pouring out of the heiress, confusion on her face.

"Who took her?" Blake asked, quietly, testing fate in an effort to get more information out of the enraged heiress.

Yang instinctually grabbed ahold of Weiss' arm to hold the girl back as she took several menacing steps towards Blake.

"_Don't_ pretend that you don't know _anything_ about this," she snarled as she jabbed a finger pointedly towards Blake. Yang pulled her backwards before she got too close to the bewildered Faunus, but immediately dropped the heiress' arm when Weiss turned around and gave her a withering glare.

"Weiss, come on, she doesn't…" Sun began to say in defense of his friend before Weiss turned her anger in his direction, instantly silencing him.

"Don't you find it just a _little_ suspicious that _she_ shows up and then Ruby is _kidnapped_?" Weiss spat out, venom seeping from her words.

Yang wiped her eyes at Weiss' words, looking at Blake to find her partner gazing at her with worry creasing her brow. How could Blake have had anything to do with this?

Blake's ears drooped as she looked at Yang, eyes pleading. Yang felt her heart go out to the girl. Blake would never hurt Ruby…Blake was Ruby's friend. Plus, Blake knew how much Ruby meant to her…she wouldn't try to take her little sister from her…would she?

Her heart screamed that Blake was innocent, but her brain was beginning to think differently. It _was_ awfully coincidental that Blake returned and then this happened, on the one night when they were most vulnerable. Yang would love to say that Blake would never hurt them, but past experiences had proven otherwise…

She turned away from Blake, trying not to see the hurt that flashed through her partner's eyes. That didn't matter right now. Ruby mattered. And Ruby needed her. Needed them.

"We can point fingers later," she stated flatly, capturing Weiss' attention. "Right now, all that matters is getting Ruby back. We have to go look for her _right now_."

Professor Ozpin finally stepped in, turning to speak directly to Weiss.

"Did they leave anything behind? Any sort of clue about where they were going or where they had been?"

Hardened eyes softened considerably as Weiss turned to her mentor, her icy shell shattering as she shakily replied, "N-no…at least…I don't think so…"

Professor Ozpin nodded, a plan already formulating in his eyes.

"Ok, we should look again, just to make completely sure."

Yang and Weiss nodded in unison, chomping at the bit to do something, _anything_, other than just stand here talking. Yang needed to see where they had taken her from. She needed to see that _nothing_ was there…

"I'll go with them," Glynda spoke up from beside them, receiving a nod of approval from Professor Ozpin before he began speaking again.

"I'll stay here with Blake and Sun. We'll make some calls and see if maybe we can get some satellite images from the area."

Blake nodded dejectedly, but said nothing. Yang could see the unshed tears in her partner's eyes, the sight ripping at her heart. But, if Blake did have something to do with this…Yang didn't even know what she would begin to do…but for now, she could focus on nothing but finding Ruby.

"We have a room you can use," Weiss' mother finally spoke up, nudging her husband as he stepped forward and gestured for Professor Ozpin to follow him. "I'll see the rest of the guests out."

The three huntresses in charge of searching headed quickly for the front door, as a troubled, tense Weiss led the way.

"Tell us exactly what happened," Glynda instructed calmly as they followed Weiss at a sprint towards the last place Ruby had been.

"We were sitting on the terrace…Ruby said she saw ripples in the air and chased it to a clearing…I never saw anything. She shoved me away as an airship appeared. They captured her in a cage and then disappeared."

Yang felt her blood begin to boil as she heard Weiss' recollection of what had happened. Her sister? In a _cage?_

First, she was going to find her sister; she would burn the entire city down if she had to. Then, she was going to put whoever was behind this through so much physical agony, they would never be able to _think_ Ruby's name again without being in pain.

Weiss slowed as they approached an opening in the trees up ahead. Yang could feel the girl's resolve beginning to waver as they entered the area, taking hers right along with it.

"H-here…" Weiss whispered, as if afraid of disturbing the last remaining essence of Ruby's presence in the air. "S-she was standing right here…" Weiss looked at the ground at her feet as tears began to fall once more.

"Let's look around and see if we can find any hint of the ship," Glynda ordered steadily.

Yang began scouring the area with Glynda, searching for any type of clue they could find. Broken branches, jet fuel, any hint of the bubbly girl or the direction the ship had headed in. She could feel herself becoming more and more desperate as they came up empty at each turn. The forest did not look like it had been disturbed in decades.

The entire time, Weiss just stood rooted in the clearing, staring at her hands.

"You don't think Blake had anything to do with this, do you?" Yang finally asked Glynda anxiously.

Glynda sighed as they rapidly climbed to the top of a nearby tree, searching the canopy for any sort of sign.

"Miss Belladonna has always had quite high moral standards."

"Yeah, but don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? She's back for a week and then Ruby is kidnapped?" Yang pressed as she looked around them carefully, finding nothing but perfect leaves and branches once again.

"If she did do something, she would have to believe that it was morally correct to do so."

Yang felt her heart sink at the lukewarm endorsement. She could think of one person who seemed to be able to convince Blake that _anything_ was the right thing to do…

"That being said, it was plain to see for everyone tonight how much she cares for you. I can't imagine she would do something that might hurt you in any way. And we all know how important Ruby is to you."

Yang looked away as the two returned to the ground. Glynda didn't know that this wouldn't have been the first time Blake had hurt her. She sighed, realizing how much distrust she still held in her partner. Weiss' accusation had completely shaken what little trust they had just begun to rebuild.

Finally giving up, Glynda and Yang returned to Weiss. Yang was extremely grateful to have Glynda's presence, as she wasn't sure what she and Weiss would do without the calm huntress by their side at this moment. She could feel despair settling over her. She wanted to wrap Weiss in a hug and cry together. Either that or burn down the entire forest located on the Schnee estate.

They returned to the mansion after their fruitless searching in the woods, becoming more and more distraught with every passing second. As much as Yang was trying to fight it, the heiress' fear was beginning to rub off onto her. She was trying to remain calm and strong for her friend, but she could feel panic seeping through every fiber in her body. It didn't help that the red hue that had fallen over the world was a constant reminder of just how stressed she was.

Her sister…her only family…was out there alone somewhere…with God-knows-who doing God-knows-what to her. And what had Yang been doing when her sister had needed her help? Sitting at a bar enjoying some cocktails with Blake.

As soon as they stepped through the door, Sun stepped out of a nearby room and motioned them his way. Following the boy, they found themselves in a side room that had a large monitor placed on one wall along with several tables and chairs. Clearly, some sort of office space.

Professor Ozpin took one look at their defeated faces and knew better than to ask how their search had gone.

"We just received the video we were able to pull from a nearby satellite," he explained instead as he hit some buttons on a remote to make the video begin playing.

Everyone watched in rapt attention as the screen came alive with a picture of the forest clearing they had just been standing in. It was empty for several seconds, until Ruby came rushing into view. They watched intently as Ruby looked around, clearly searching for something. Weiss walked onto the screen moments later.

The couple exchanged some words, but then Ruby looked up quickly in surprise. Yang felt her heart clench tightly as she watched Ruby suddenly shove Weiss out of the way, throwing the girl completely out of the picture. A ship was unexpectedly hovering over the clearing, blocking Ruby from view. The next instant, it disappeared, just as Weiss ran back into sight. There was no sign of Ruby anywhere to be seen.

Silence.

"Wait," Blake broke the quiet uncertainly, "rewind and pause it on the ship."

Professor Ozpin rewound the video and stopped it with the airship frozen on the screen. Blake tentatively stepped forward and wordlessly pointed to the screen.

A small symbol was painted on the wing of the ship, barely discernable in the darkness. But as Blake pointed towards it, it became clear as day to all present. The red wolf's head with claw marks running through it could mean only one thing. White Fang.

Yang gripped the table in front of her tightly as she stared at the symbol on the screen. As far as she was concerned, anyone in the White Fang now had a bounty upon their head. She would track down every last one of them if she had to in order to find where they were keeping Ruby.

A sudden hissing noise made Yang jump in surprise. Looking around in shock, she noticed steam rising from her hands, which had been gripping the table in front of her a bit too tightly. The scorch marks on the wood made it pretty clear that she had inadvertently allowed her fury to escape through her hands.

Glancing around in embarrassment, she nodded appreciatively at Sun, seeing the empty water vase still clutched in his hands. She focused on her breathing as she tried to calm the wildfire that was blazing inside of her, threatening to take control.

"White Fang…"

Mr. Schnee's growl drew the attention of everyone in the room. Yang had never seen the man so angry; he was practically steaming in rage. She suddenly felt very sympathetic for Weiss.

"I knew that we couldn't trust those atrocious _Faunus_," he said, spitting out the word as if it tasted sour in his mouth.

"Christophe…" Mrs. Schnee replied softly, directing her eyes towards Weiss, who was standing behind them with her eyes trained to her hands as she fiddled with a small ring around her finger.

He merely huffed in annoyance.

"Maybe now that they've hurt someone _she_ cares for, she'll realize what a hopeless crusade this is," he stated in a low voice before he stalked towards the exit. Pausing for a second in front of his daughter, he whispered a few words that Yang couldn't make out before storming from the room. Weiss' eyes followed her father out before turning back towards her hands, deep in thought.

Still shocked from Mr. Schnee's outburst, Yang turned and locked eyes with her partner for an instant. Try as she might, she couldn't see through the girl. Did Blake know anything? Something that she wasn't saying? What was she thinking right now? All Yang could see was that Blake was hurting…badly. If Yang's own heart hadn't already been aching for her sister, it would have been after seeing the look on her partner's face.

Her attention drifted from Blake when she realized that Professor Ozpin was speaking again.

"…keep looking for any signs via video. We'll contact you as soon as we have any leads. In the meantime, you girls should get some rest." He looked pointedly towards Weiss and Yang, suggesting that the words he spoke were an order, not a suggestion.

Yang nodded in resignation, seeing Weiss mirror her acceptance with a curt nod. Sensing that the conversation was over, Professor Ozpin and Glynda quickly bid their goodnights and headed off to continue their search.

As soon as the front door had shut behind their two mentors, Weiss spun to Yang, fire reemerging in her blue eyes.

"We aren't actually going to sit around and wait, are we?" she asked defiantly, looking pointedly at Yang.

"Hell no…" Yang replied in a low grumble, as Blake shook her head 'no' in unison.

Weiss nodded in agreement.

"Good. Because I know what we do next," she said as she turned to Blake menacingly, causing the Faunus girl to take a couple of steps backwards.

"We go talk to your _boyfriend_."

Yang felt her heart stop as Blake's eyes widened in surprise.

"Adam?"

Yang flinched at the sound of his name coming from Blake's lips.

"But why?" Blake asked incredulously.

"Because _he's_ a member of the White Fang, so _he_ will probably know where they took her," Weiss answered through gritted teeth.

Blake looked to her for help, but Yang couldn't even bare to look at her partner right now. She had thought that she would never have to see that man again. She had thought that he was gone, gone for good. That she had finally plied Blake away from him…permanently.

But Weiss had a point. He had once been a prominent member of the White Fang, if he wasn't still a member. It was possible that he knew something helpful.

"It's a good place to start," Yang agreed, voice barely above a whisper.

Blake's ears drooped in submission at Yang's words, realizing that she had already been outvoted.

"Ok," she whispered. "We can go tomorrow morning…"

"No," Weiss replied flatly, cutting the girl off. "We go right now."

"They have her; they have _Ruby_," she continued, voice breaking as emotions bubbled back up at the mention of her missing partner's name. "We can't stop looking until we've found her."

Yang reached out a hand in an attempt to comfort the girl, squeezing Weiss' shoulder softly, as she was in absolute agreement. Nodding, Blake looked resigned to what she needed to do next.

Turning to Sun, Yang asked, "Can you see if you have any contacts that would be helpful?"

The Faunus boy bobbed his head. Yang found herself slightly impressed with how serious he could be when the situation called for it.

"Of course, I'll let you know what I can find out," he replied as he nodded to each of them and bounced out of the room.

She didn't want to speak to the man who had stolen her partner away all those years ago. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to be near him. She didn't want _Blake_ to be anywhere near him.

But she would do anything to bring Ruby back. Anything.

On the plus side, if he did have anything to do with Ruby's disappearance, she would finally have a good excuse to break his jaw.


	24. Chapter 24

**Has it already been another week? Holy cow...so here's the next chapter, continuing on our trend of one per week. I think this has been working out pretty well, right?**

**Thank you to all of you who have been reading and reviewing! I love hearing what you guys have to say about the story :)**

**Enjoy and have a great weekend!**

* * *

After the decision had been made that they would go find Adam that night, Weiss had allowed the three of them to return to their home briefly beforehand, if only so that she could grab Myrtenaster. Blake had tried to explain to the heiress that they wouldn't need the weapons, but Weiss had insisted, stating that she would not go see Adam without her sword by her side. It seemed unnecessarily confrontational to Blake, but when she saw Yang pulling on Ember Cecilia, she acquiesced.

She really wasn't in the position to disagree, at this point. Not when Yang and Weiss had targeted her former partner and roommate as a potential source of information regarding their missing sister and girlfriend/fiancée.

They had quickly changed into their normal battle attire and headed right back outside, trotting along as they were currently. Blake was in front, leading the way back towards what she had once considered "home."

It was funny how rapidly one could change where they considered to be home. When she had been in the White Fang, home had been wherever Adam was, whether they were staying in abandoned apartment buildings or camped out in the woods somewhere. Adam had been her closest thing to family, serving as a surrogate older brother after her parents had died.

When she had realized that the schism between her and Adam's ideals had grown far too great, she had decided to become a huntress. Beacon had become her home, and the one that she still held the fondest memories of. She had found a new family with her teammates. They laughed together, cried together, fought with each other, but they shared the same underlying ideals and kind hearts that Blake had been yearning for.

All those years she had been away from her team, she had considered her and Adam's modest apartment to be home, but she always felt as if she didn't belong there, or that she was missing something. It wasn't until Yang had appeared that night in the grocery store did she realize that her heart wasn't with Adam anymore.

She had left her heart in Yang's hands, even though Yang's own heart she had left shattered on the ground at Beacon's front steps.

Even though Weiss' mansion still seemed very new and unfamiliar to her, she finally felt like her heart and home where back together again. But now she had to revisit the place where she had been heartless for so long. She couldn't imagine that it was going to bring up good memories for anyone. Least of all Yang, who had hardly spoken a word since they had left the house.

It still hurt that Yang could think that Blake had anything to do with Ruby's disappearance. Blake knew how important Ruby was to Yang…how she had been protecting her sister for basically her entire life. Yang had opened up to Blake about their mother's disappearance more so than to anyone else, probably even Ruby. Yang had never wanted Ruby to know how she felt responsible for their mother leaving, but she had been willing to share that insecurity with Blake. Could Yang think that Blake had forgotten everything that she had told her?

Blake was determined to prove that she had nothing to do with this. She would _never_ hurt Yang again, just like she had promised Weiss. If she had to speak with Adam in order to help keep her word, that's exactly what she would do.

She just wished that Yang's eyes would fade back to the lilac soon...

The streets they jogged through were dark, lit only by street lamps which became fewer and fewer as they left the more privileged section of Vale behind. Cobbled stone walkways gave way to solid expanses of concrete and asphalt. White picket fences turned to barbed wire. The stores and apartment buildings became more dilapidated, with bars covering windows and graffiti decorating the alleyways.

This area of Vale lent itself more towards those who wished to hide in the shadows, the more nefarious souls with wicked agendas. Blake felt comfortable in these surroundings. These were the streets she had grown up on, that she had even lived on, at one point. She had been a member of the shadows, holding clandestine meetings in hidden alleyways and doorsteps.

Weiss and Yang, however, stood out like roses in a bouquet of thistles. The two girls were too pretty, too clean, too _pure_ to be roaming these streets at this hour. The way they walked, the way they talked…it was clear that they had never gone through the hardships many of the residents had seen in their lifetimes. Blake couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that a spotlight was being cast upon them, targeting them for any ne'er-do-wells who might have any craving for some late night criminal activities.

She sped up her pace, not wanting to spend any more time out in the open than absolutely necessary. While she had no doubt that they could handle any criminal who was unfortunate enough to approach them, she wasn't sure if her teammates were in the frame of mind to hold back their power should any confrontation escalate to physical violence. And the last thing they needed right now was to seriously injure some poor street thug as a way to vent their anger.

Nearing her old apartment, Blake felt her pulse quickening as her nerves began to flare up.

She was worried. She was worried about Yang. More specifically, she was worried about what Adam might say to Yang and how her partner would react. She could already tell that Yang was in increasingly dampened spirits as the terrain around them became more familiar. And with those red eyes…there was no telling what Yang might do if provoked.

She was also worried about what Adam would have to say to _her_.

She hadn't exactly left in the best of ways…she had been in such a rush to see Yang again, she had just written him a note and left it on the kitchen counter for him to find when he came home. If she had a choice, she would definitely go back and redo that decision, but she hadn't felt like she could waste another second away from Yang.

It had been as if seeing her old partner had lit a flame within her, breaking her free of the bars that once held her captive in this place. Once freedom had been placed in front of her, she hadn't hesitated to chase after it.

Finally reaching their destination, a drab twenty-something story apartment building nestled in between two equally dull buildings, Blake stopped outside of the lobby doors.

"Here it is…" she began apprehensively. "Can we at least _try_ to be civilized at first? He could have nothing to do with this at all."

She didn't want to beg…but she really didn't want Weiss to barge in there throwing accusations either. Blake had learned through many years of experience that Adam certainly wouldn't respond well to that situation. If he _did_ know something, he would need to be bribed in order to get the information. He wouldn't hand it over for threats, sentiment, or reason.

Weiss growled in response to Blake's request.

"If I so much as _think_ that he knows anything about where Ruby might be, I'll beat the information out of him."

Blake sighed. Civility might be a little too much to expect from Weiss right now. Hopefully, they wouldn't end up tearing the whole building to the ground. She rather liked the old couple who owned it…

After walking through the empty lobby, the three girls piled into the lone elevator. As the doors closed, Blake shifted uneasily in the uncomfortable silence that settled over them. She could feel her left arm growing chillier as Weiss stood silently fuming, as her right arm was warmed by an unnervingly pensive Yang on her right.

Chancing a glance towards her partner, she found Yang concentrating steadily on the elevator door. She really wished that Yang hadn't come tonight. After everything that had happened between them the past few days, the last thing she wanted was for Yang to be reminded of the time Blake had spent away, or of the man who had pulled them apart.

The elevator finally creaked to an uneasy stop before the doors slid open, revealing outdated wallpaper covering the wall directly in front of them. Blake stepped out into the familiar hallway, leading the way towards the correct door. Once there, Blake tried not to sigh out loud as she raised her hand and hesitantly knocked several times.

She held her breath as she listened for sounds of movement from inside the room. She could sense the tensed muscles of the two girls beside her as they all waited apprehensively for the door to be opened.

After several moments passed with no answer, Blake knocked again, more forcefully this time.

"Adam? Are you there? I need to talk to you," she called out, remorse filling her as she noticed the small flinch Yang made at the sound of his name.

After waiting several more seconds, there was still no response. She couldn't hear any signs of life coming from the apartment either. All was completely silent.

Turning back to her teammates, she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"I guess he's not home..." she said, wondering where he could be when it was the middle of the night.

She didn't know whether or not she felt relieved that their meeting had been postponed, as she really did not want to face him at all. Hopefully, Professor Ozpin would find a clue and they could find Ruby without ever coming back to this place.

However, Weiss had other plans.

"Oh screw this," she huffed in irritation as she turned to Yang.

"Yang, open the door," she demanded, nodding towards the door as she backed out of the blonde's way.

"Wait, what?" Blake asked in surprise as Yang brushed past her with a smirk, eyes still stubbornly red as she put her hand on the doorknob. Seconds later, Blake smelled burning metal as her partner melted the doorknob right off of the door, tossing the molten mess onto the ground beside her with a loud thump. Once the knob had been removed, Yang shoved the door open easily and strode confidently inside.

Blake hesitantly followed Weiss and Yang into the apartment, listening curiously as their footsteps echoed loudly off the walls. As she entered her old home, she looked around in shock, her mind racing with confusion.

The place had been completely cleaned out.

Standing in the center of the room, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, frowning as she gazed around her. Yang went to check the two bedrooms, walking back out several seconds later shaking her head. Blake continued to look around in astonishment.

All of the furniture…the books she had left behind…everything had been cleaned up and taken away. There wasn't a single item, not even a scrap of paper, left in the apartment. But when? And why?

"Well," Weiss began, malice edging her words, "he doesn't look very innocent anymore, does he."

Blake looked around the empty apartment one last time, her confusion turning to concern as the truth of Weiss' statement sunk in.

_Adam, what have you done?_

* * *

The three huntresses had returned to their home empty handed, but Weiss and Yang seemed more determined than ever to carry on. Weiss had been ranting the entire way back with all the possible ways that Adam was connected to Ruby's kidnapping. They had gotten progressively worse, with the last one being that Adam had personally grabbed the girl and was holding her hostage for his own personal enjoyment.

Blake had tried to tune out the heiress as best she could, still struggling with her own thoughts and reasons for why Adam had so suddenly decided to move. She could only think of one explanation that seemed somewhat plausible, which made her feel more and more awful the longer she dwelled on it.

She had betrayed him yet again, and he wanted to make sure that she couldn't find him in order to try to make amends.

Once back at the mansion, Weiss had immediately gone to call Professor Ozpin to tell him what they had discovered.

While he might have been disappointed that the girls had not followed his direction and gotten some rest, he did a very good job of hiding it. He listened intently as Weiss explained to him what they had discovered at Blake's old apartment, or the lack of what they had found there.

"Hmm…we will do what we can to find Adam Taurus' whereabouts," he replied thoughtfully. "The fact that he has moved so shortly after Blake left seems to generate some amount of suspicion. And, I do have some new information for you already."

All three of them immediately perked up at that disclosure. Blake hoped beyond hope that they had an idea as to where Ruby had been taken. Coordinates, a picture, soil samples…anything.

"We've figured out how to 'see' the ships that have been dropping Grimm into Vale," Professor Ozpin began. "They are using a cloaking device unlike any we've ever seen before. It seems to work by accelerating some sort of unique particle at an extremely fast speed in a loop around the ship. We think that because Ruby spends so much time traveling at a much faster speed than most of the world, she's developed the ability to catch even the tiniest of details around her. She was able to see the 'ripples' of the particles moving through the air. Knowing this, we were able to calibrate our systems to search for that same minute level of detail. We're trying to track the ships back to their base, but our satellites aren't strong enough that far outside of Vale to detect such miniscule disturbances in the air."

"Can't we have the satellites moved?" Yang asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Professor Ozpin nodded his head as he answered.

"We are requesting the use of more satellites, but it could take a while to get the proper approvals and move them into place…"

Weiss frowned and Blake couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed, as well. This wasn't the type of news she had been hoping for. Diplomatic red tape always made things far more difficult than they needed to be. That was one of the only things she had liked about the White Fang; there had been no red tape to worry about. Of course, they were outlaws…but skirting the rules and regulations had helped them effect changes much more quickly than if they had waited for some politician to give them the go ahead.

"Can't my parents help speed along the approvals?" Weiss asked pointedly, causing Professor Ozpin to blink, the thought having never occurred to him to lean on the weight of the Schnee name.

"Well…yes, using the Schnee name would probably make the approvals much easier, but it would likely cost an exorbitant amount of under the table money…"

Weiss nodded without a second thought.

"Call my father and you'll have as much money as you need by the morning. We'll buy the entire government if we need to."

Blake nodded at Weiss' determined tone, already knowing that Weiss had the full support of her parents. With her better than average hearing, Blake had overheard what Weiss' father had said to her on his way out of the room earlier that night.

_'Do what you can to bring her back – no matter the cost.'_

"With the necessary approvals tomorrow, it will still take some time to reposition the satellites and then track the ships back to their base. We'd then need to come up with an assault plan. I hardly doubt that they would just open up the gates and let us walk in," Professor Ozpin said, reminding them that finding the base was the least of their problems.

Blake looked over at her teammates and felt her heart crack in sympathy. Weiss was trying to hold herself together, but Blake could see her lower lip trembling as she grasped the ring on her finger for dear life. Blake quickly looked away from the brokenhearted girl; she couldn't bear to see her friend and teammate in such anguish. And Yang…well Yang was looking steadily at the floor, hands balled tightly as fists, hardly moving a muscle as she listened to what Professor Ozpin said.

Waiting another couple of days was not an option for them.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. It was stupid. It was brash. But it might be their only hope of finding Ruby sooner rather than later.

"Wait, Professor Ozpin," she spoke out, gaining the attention of the Professor and her two teammates.

"If you're able to use the satellites to see the ships in this area, you'd be able to find one for us, right?"

"Well, yes…" Professor Ozpin began slowly, "but most of the ones we've seen have been over the Emerald Forest. We can only assume that's where they are collecting their Grimm from. They then either come into the city or fly out of our range."

Blake took in the information, the puzzle pieces falling in place for her now. This was just like one of the books she had read once…_Cloud 57._

"So, if we were to acquire one of their ships, we could fly it back to their base, right?"

Professor Ozpin looked at her sternly, finally understanding what she was getting at.

"Yes, I imagine if you were able to secure one of those ships, you would be able to use it to find their base."

Blake noticed Weiss and Yang exchange looks as they too realized what Blake was suggesting.

He frowned at them as he continued in a much more serious tone.

"It would be extremely dangerous to undertake such a mission. Taking control of the ship shouldn't be too difficult, but we have no way of knowing how expansive this danger is. Their technology is clearly more advanced than any threat we've faced in a long time and they could easily have far too great numbers for you to overcome. We have no idea what you would be walking into."

Blake looked to her side as she felt Yang and Weiss looking towards her. She nodded her head at them. There was no mission too dangerous when it came to rescuing one of their own. They would bring Ruby back, or die trying.

"We'll do it," Weiss answered for the three of them, steel reinforcing her words once more. "Just tell us when and where to find one."

Professor Ozpin sighed, but thankfully didn't attempt to talk them out of it. He knew them well enough to know that any of his efforts would be futile at this point.

"I'll notify you as soon as we see another ship, but it likely won't be until the morning hours since we haven't spotted any ships flying at night. For the time being, you should _actually_ get some rest. You girls will need it."

They nodded in unison as Professor Ozpin signed off.

As Blake turned, she found that both of her teammates were staring at her, gazes calm and calculating. After several seconds, Weiss gave her a slight nod of approval before silently heading out of the room.

Yang contemplated her for a little longer, a small smile playing at her lips.

"That's a great plan, Blake," she said quietly, nodding her head slightly.

Blake felt her heart lift for a few seconds, feeling that she might have at least lessened some of her teammates' suspicion towards her by helping formulate a plan of action.

"Thank you," she mumbled, looking away for a second when Yang's crimson stare became too intense for her.

She had never seen Yang's eyes stay red for such a long period of time before…it made her extremely worried for her partner's wellbeing. Yang must be in a lot of emotional pain and stress for her semblance to seep out in this way.

As Yang turned to leave the room, Blake reached out before she realized it and grabbed ahold of one of Yang's hands. Halting, Yang looked at Blake's hand around her own before turning to Blake in confusion.

"Y-Yang…" she began slowly, refusing to let go of Yang's hand even though those crimson eyes demanded it. She wasn't entirely sure what it was she wanted to say. She just knew that she couldn't let Yang walk away from her without clearing up some of the uncertainties between them.

"You know that I…I would never hurt Ruby…right?" she asked carefully, afraid to hear what her partner's answer would be.

Yang sighed as she glanced towards the ground, but made no effort to pull her hand away.

"That's what I want to believe, Blake…but I really don't know you anymore."

"Oh…"

It was all Blake could say as she felt the words sear through her. She couldn't be upset that Yang didn't trust her completely, but that didn't stop her partner's honesty from stinging.

"I want to…" Yang whispered, regret creeping into her voice. "I want to believe that…even if you wouldn't do anything for _me_, you would do anything for Ruby or Weiss. They stuck up for you just as much as I did when all of Beacon found out you were Faunus…"

Tears stung her eyes at her partner's words.

"Yang…" she began, pulling Yang's hand up and grasping it in both of her own, hoping that her partner would look back up at her. "I would do _anything_ for you...I would give my life for you…because I…I…"

The words dissolved on her tongue as Yang turned those crimson eyes upon her. Seeing the red reminded Blake that Yang wasn't herself right now; she was worried about her little sister's safety. How Blake felt didn't matter at the moment. For right now, the only thing that mattered was bringing Ruby home. Bringing her own emotions up at a time like this would be a terribly selfish thing to do.

"I would do anything for any of you…" she finished lamely, having lost her confidence completely as she glanced away. Yang's gaze was far too unraveling to her right now.

Yang slowly pulled her hand out of Blake's grasp, turning away as her eyes flashed with disappointment.

"I really hope that's true…" her partner voiced quietly as she slipped out of the room, leaving Blake standing there alone.

Blake hid her head in her hands as she waited for her heart to slow its beating.

At least now that they had a plan, she could try to win back their trust. And then, maybe once they had Ruby back, Blake could tell Yang how she truly felt about her…


	25. Chapter 25

**Slightly shorter chapter this week, but I'll be posting another short one in a couple of days. Hopefully that makes up for it! Just some feels in this chapter before more action next week :)**

* * *

Yang rolled over one more time in her bed, trying in vain to get comfortable enough so that her brain would shut down and let her even _attempt_ to sleep.

She was trying to get some rest, as Professor Ozpin had recommended before they go on their rescue mission tomorrow, but she found that she was far too wound up to fall asleep. No matter what she did, she could not slow her down her mind as a thousand different thoughts fought for her full attention. And each new thought seemed to be progressively worse than the previous one as her mind flitted to it for a half second.

So she lay in her bed, staring upwards and finding no comfort in the red hue her usually white ceiling was now shaded in. She could actually _feel_ her insides blazing with unreleased anger as she tried to glare holes into the roof above her head. She actually had to consciously calm herself down several times before she became too heated.

She couldn't stop thinking about Ruby. Who had her, what were they doing with her, was she ok? All of these questions kept swirling in her head as she struggled to come up with answers. Answers that no one seemed to have.

Yang could feel sparks buzzing around in her chest as she thought of her little sister. She was struggling to keep those sparks far enough away from her internal flame so that she wouldn't explode. But the more she thought, the closer they crept.

She hated waiting. The wait before a battle on the horizon had always been one of the hardest things to suffer through. Her muscles were already tense in anticipation of being called upon in the morning. A hundred different situations and battle strategies were zooming through her head along with all of her other thoughts. She was also spending a great amount of time imagining what she would do to whoever had been stupid enough to touch her sister.

What she hated about waiting, above all else, was this feeling of…helplessness. In this period of time, she could do absolutely nothing but sit here and try to get some rest. Ruby needed her _now_, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. She had to _rest_. Even though she knew that whoever had Ruby was probably not waiting to torture her, or beat her, or…

They just weren't waiting like Yang was forced to do.

At least Ruby was much stronger than most people gave her credit for. Ruby was her sister, after all, and Yang liked to believe that Ruby had inherited just a bit of her toughness. Even though the brunette appeared more fragile in stature, Yang had seen the girl take hits that would crush an average hunter or huntress, but Ruby just bounced right back up.

Plus, Ruby knew that she and Weiss would be coming for her. And that when they got there, they would show no mercy for those that had been stupid enough to take someone so precious from them. Hopefully, Ruby could find some comfort knowing that she and Weiss would search every inch of the globe if they had to.

Yang grinned as she thought about how satisfying it would be to burn the entire enemy operation to the ground.

With that thought, she felt a small spark slip through, flying into the flame and setting off a small wave of heat that made her covers feel slightly less comfortable.

And then…there was Blake.

Yang was somewhat relieved that her partner had not finished what she might have been about to say in the study. On top of everything else, Yang didn't know if she was strong enough to deal with those emotions right now.

Deep down, she knew that she craved to hear those words fall from Blake's mouth. But she just couldn't. Not right now. Not with Ruby's life in danger.

The reality of just how much danger Ruby was in increased her body temperature several more levels. It wasn't as if Ruby were out on a hunt with Crescent Rose. No…Crescent Rose was still carefully stashed in the closet downstairs. Ruby had no real means to defend herself. And whoever had her would have to know not to let Ruby loose or the girl would speed away…that meant that they would be keeping her strapped up as tightly as possible…

A few more sparks made it through her defenses, causing her to kick off the covers in discomfort. With a frustrated sigh, she finally rolled out of bed and exited her room. She hopped the railing to the first floor and strode through the kitchen, feeling her internal fire slowly beginning to leak out. The red tint of the world around her was a constant reminder of just how close she was to losing control.

As she ripped open the door of the simulation room, she could see the flames starting to flicker around her fingers as her vision took on an even deeper red hue. Even though she would have liked to summon the biggest, baddest Grimm possible to pound into oblivion, she didn't dare try to use the control panel in this state, knowing that she would only turn it into a pile of broken metal.

Walking to the very center of the room, she released all of the sparks she had been holding at bay. One by one, they flew into the flame as if drawn by a magnet.

Ruby missing.

The White Fang.

Adam.

An explosion of raw energy coursed through her system as she pushed through one mental image to the next. She saw the flames build around her as she unleashed all of her power in the form of a fireball that appeared to be consuming her.

She immediately felt some relief at the release of energy, but it wasn't enough. It was merely the pressure relief valve allowing a thin line of steam to whistle through, leaving her feeling pent up and unsatisfied. She needed to explode.

Someone had _kidnapped_ her _little sister._ Someone was trying to _hurt_ her _family_.

The valve finally broke off.

Rage couldn't escape from her quick enough as an inferno enveloped her. Every inch of her body was covered in fire as her frustration and anger were finally released.

She vaguely heard the sound of an alarm going off over the sound of flames roaring in her ears. She watched as sprinklers popped out of the ground and ceiling, unleashing streams of water of the room. She couldn't help but let out a cold laugh of amusement as she watched the water droplets sizzle and turn to steam before they even came near her.

Finally having found something to focus her energy towards, she channeled her wrath towards the jets of water that were threatening to douse her. She directed every bit of power she had towards pushing her flames outward, feeling satisfaction as the drops of water evaporated further and further away from her.

She was going to make whoever was behind this pay very dearly. And if something happened to her sister…if one strand of short, brunette hair was out of place, Yang would make it her personal mission to ensure that this person never felt a shred of happiness again for the rest of their life. There would be no end to the pain she would cause…

Finally beginning to feel weary from the outflow of energy and the emotions that were haunting her, she felt her aura begin to fade. The sound of sizzling water grew closer and closer as the sprinklers finally began to make headway in putting out the fire.

Several seconds later, only her internal flame remained steadily flickering, tucked safely inside her heart.

She stood there for several minutes, chest heaving from exertion and adrenaline as torrents of water pelted her from every direction. The cool liquid was providing relief to her still heated skin, drenching her clothing and hair in a matter of seconds. She stared down at her hands, watching as they slowly lost their orange glow and returned to their normal appearance. The crimson tinge to her vision finally cleared up, burning away like a light morning fog.

Once the system sensed that the fire had finally been put out, the sprinklers abruptly shut off and disappeared from sight. Yang stood there in the eerie silence, hearing nothing but the sound of water dripping from her drenched form.

Slowly turning around, she walked gingerly towards the exit, feeling charred and raw from allowing her aura take over. She hadn't given in to her semblance like that in a long, long time, but apparently she had had a lot of pent up feelings from the last few days. Ruby disappearing had been the tipping point that sent her over the edge.

Thankfully, she felt more in control now.

Padding back up to her room, she sluggishly shed her wet clothing, tossing the items on the bathroom floor as she found a towel to dry herself off. Satisfied that her hair was dry enough for her aura to finish up the job in a few seconds, she pulled on her second pair of pajamas and collapsed back into her bed.

She finally felt like she might be able to fall asleep.

Suddenly hearing her bedroom door click open, she stiffened as light from the hallway fell inside. Worried that it might be Blake, Yang tried to see who it was while hardly moving a muscle. She was surprised to find Weiss' silhouette framed in her doorway.

"Yang…are you awake?" the heiress called out quietly.

"Weiss?" Yang responded as she sat up in her bed.

The heiress closed the door and crept closer to the side of Yang's bed.

"I…I couldn't…I just couldn't…" Weiss began, her voice wavering with emotion as she struggled not to cry.

Yang didn't bother letting her finish. She pulled down the covers on the other side of her bed, patting the space beside her. The heiress hesitated only for a second before she slipped into the bed beside Yang.

The first thing Yang noticed was that Weiss was unusually cold, chilling the covers on Yang's side of the bed. The heiress was shivering, as if her own semblance was failing to protect her from the cold it was releasing.

Yang bit her lip as she struggled to keep her own emotions at bay; it would be no use having both of them crying like babies right now.

Laying her head back down on her pillow, Yang faced Weiss as she heated up her semblance in an effort to still the poor girl's shudders.

Fire provided relief and calm to Yang, but she often forgot that other people did not have such an easy release. Weiss couldn't just explode into flames and then feel mildly more relaxed. Maybe she could turn into an ice cube, but Yang wasn't quite sure how much relief that would provide…

"Can't sleep without Ruby, huh?" she asked lightly, smirking at the surprise that registered on Weiss' face.

"How…how did you know?"

Yang scoffed in response to the question.

"Please. I'm her big sister. I know _everything,_" she stated, trying to sound intimidating, but likely failing with the little giggle she let escape from her mouth.

"Plus, Ruby's bed has been immaculately made every day for the past week. And since Ruby _never_ makes her bed, I figured that you had made it for her once and then she wasn't even disturbing it."

Weiss sighed, looking away from Yang momentarily.

"She can be quite a slob sometimes…" she replied quietly, adoration sneaking into her voice. She looked down at her hands, fiddling with that ring once again.

"Hey, where'd you get the ring?" Yang finally asked, having noticed the heiress playing with it intermittently all night.

"Ruby made it for me…" Weiss responded softly, holding up her hand for Yang to better see. Yang smiled as she looked at the craftsmanship – it had Ruby's handiwork written all over it. Even with subpar materials, Ruby had managed to create something quite exquisite.

"So…what's it do?" she asked curiously, causing Weiss to scoff at her.

"What is it with you two and needing the simplest of things to have alternate uses? Why can't a ring be just a ring?"

Another giggle escaped her lips at Weiss' exasperation.

"Because…we both know how much Ruby loves her gadgets," she replied, earning a small smile of agreement from Weiss.

"So…what did she _want _it to do?"

Weiss let out a small snort of laughter at Yang's persistence before answering.

"She wanted it to be a taser with poison darts and a tracking device…the tracking device might not be such a bad idea now…"

The heiress became somber once again, no doubt thinking about how easy their quest would be right now if she had only had the foresight to have a tracking device built into Ruby's ring.

"Hey," Yang said, breaking the girl out of her thoughts, "don't be hard on yourself. There's no way you could have known this would happen. Plus, under her own free will, Ruby would gladly glue herself to your side so that you'd never be apart."

Weiss smiled vaguely at Yang's words as silent tears began spilling from her eyes.

"I'm scared, Yang," she admitted, voice shaking. "If something happens to her, I d-don't know what I…"

Yang felt her own eyes begin watering as she looked at the girl. She had never seen the heiress look so…small and vulnerable. No matter how much trouble or danger they had found themselves in, Weiss was always the one who stood like a rock, unflinching in the face of the storm.

She reached out and pulled Weiss into her, hugging the girl tightly as she felt her own tears began to fall.

"We'll bring her back…so you don't need to worry about anything, soon-to-be sis…everything will be alright," she mumbled reassuringly, as much to herself as to the shaking girl clutched in her arms.

"B-but what i-if…it's not…" Yang heard the girl murmur into her chest.

Yang watched the room tinge crimson and closed her eyes briefly, trying not to let the thought consume her.

"Then we'll burn down the world together," she answered quietly as she opened her eyes, finding the red still there.

Weiss made a soft hum of approval as the exhausted heiress clutched the front of Yang's shirt securely in her cold hands. She rubbed Weiss' back softly as they both shed their tears over their missing teammate, until they eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.


	26. Chapter 26

**The bonus second chapter this week! How are everyone's feels doing? Still ok? Don't worry, we shall get through this together!**

**So please enjoy :)**

* * *

Ruby regained consciousness slowly, feeling an enormous amount of fog clouding her brain. Trying to clear it away, she shook her head slightly, but immediately stopped as an agonizing pain ripped across her forehead. She kept her eyes closed and waited for the pain to pass, concentrating on her breathing.

Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…

Once most of the agony had passed, she was left with a slight throbbing in her head as she opened her eyes slowly. She tried to move, but found that her arms and legs were being held in vice-like grips. Looking down, she saw that she had been strapped tightly to a chair, her arms and legs locked into large metal shackles.

After weakly struggling for several seconds, she gave up, realizing that there was no way she was getting out of that chair in her current state. She looked around the rest of the room, trying to make a mental note of her surroundings.

Aside from herself, the chair, and a light (which was currently switched off), there was nothing else in there with her. At least, nothing that she could see in the darkness. The only door she saw was situated directly in front of her and, try as she might, she couldn't even hear any noises coming from beyond it.

She searched her mind as she felt the fog begin to lift. Slowly, her memories began coming back to her in droves. The ripples in the air…the forest clearing…the ship…Weiss…_WEISS_.

She looked around frantically in search of her partner until her head began reeling from the sudden movements. Letting out a small groan, she finally found her voice.

"Weiss!" she called out into the darkness, hoping against hope that she would hear nothing in return.

Several seconds of silence passed, allowing Ruby to exhale in relief.

That's right…she had pushed Weiss out of the way when she had seen the ripples in the air crashing down towards them. She had tried to dash away, but the bars of the cage were already in place, with the floor neatly materializing underneath her feet.

She had tried to find a way out of the bars, but it had all happened too quickly…before she knew it, she was flying…soaring away from the ground as she watched Weiss run back towards her.

She remembered the air being extremely cold as the ship raced through it. She had tried to memorize the scenery flying by in order to figure out where she might be headed, but they quickly passed any section of Vale she had ever seen before. The city was soon not even visible upon the horizon; all she could see were the tops of green trees for as far as the eye could see.

After what had felt like an eternity, the ship had slowed down. Ruby had looked down in curiosity as a large section of trees shimmered below her in the same rippling motion as she had seen earlier.

The next second, the bars of the cage had expanded into solid walls, boxing her in completely on all sides. She remembered thinking that this wasn't good, at all. She had heard a hissing noise as a white vapor began seeping into the box around her, swirling around her feet as it began to fill the container.

After holding her breath for as long as she possibly could, she had finally needed to inhale if she wanted to keep living. That was the last thing she remembered until waking up several minutes ago.

She frowned as she tried to concentrate on her surroundings once more, looking for some point of weakness or anything that she could use to her advantage. But the throbbing in her head soon became unbearable and she was forced to close her eyes once more.

Whatever they had gassed her with had definitely fried her brain for the time being.

She couldn't be certain if she nodded off or not, since when she opened her eyes again the room had not changed a bit. How long had she been in here? A few hours? A few days? The growling in her stomach was really nothing new, so it didn't provide a clue as to how much time had passed.

Suddenly, the light in front of her switched on.

Pointed directly in her face, an excruciating pain tore across her forehead until she squeezed her eyes shut, head throbbing in loud protest. Not able to see, she listened intently as she heard the door in front of her open, followed by footsteps walking steadily towards her. They stopped when they had reached Ruby; she could feel someone's presence directly in front of her now.

She flinched as she felt a hand wrap gently around her chin, tilting her face upwards slightly. Ruby tried to open her eyes and see who was in front of her, but the second they opened a fraction of an inch, agony burned through her head as light invaded her pupils. She could sense the other person close to her, much too close for her liking. She could hear their breathing as they leaned towards her ear.

"It's good to see you again, Ruby Rose."

Ruby recognized the feminine voice, but couldn't quite place it. The more she tried to wrack her brain to pull up the face associated with that voice, the further the memory seemed to slip away.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked the voice, trying again in vain to open her eyes as the person finally backed slightly away from her, returning some of Ruby's personal space.

The laugh that cut through the air sent shivers down her spine.

"Let's just say…I'm an old friend."

"My teammates are going to come for me, you know," Ruby said confidently, knowing that what she said was not a lie. Yang and Weiss would not stop searching until they found her.

"How are they going to find you, when you're five stories below ground? Hidden in the vast wilderness? Shielded by a state-of-the-art cloaking system?"

Ruby felt her heart fall at those words, confidence wavering slightly. How would they find her if this place was as well hidden as just described? And she had seen for herself just how far outside of Vale they had traveled to get here.

"Even if they can find this place, they wouldn't be able to break you out. Although I'm sure their attempt would be most…entertaining." Another wicked laugh coursed through the room.

Ruby couldn't figure out who this person was, or how they knew her, but she could feel that they were pure evil. Being in the same room with them was beginning to make Ruby's skin crawl with unease.

"What do you want from me?" Ruby wearily asked, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit her from the events of the past day. The aftereffects of that vapor certainly weren't helping her energy level, either. She just wanted to go to sleep so that her head would stop pounding.

"Ah, of course," the voice began. "How rude of me to…_invite_…you here and not even give you a proper explanation."

"Very soon, a group of my _very_ loyal followers will be helping carry out my final plans. The endgame, if you will. And _you_, my precious little flower, will be very helpful in leading us to success. Can't you just imagine it now? How the people of Vale will feel when their very own prized huntress, Ruby Rose, turns against them? I can see the pandemonium when they realize that they can no longer trust the hunters and huntresses to protect them. It will be _glorious_."

"But I'll never do that!" Ruby yelled towards the voice as a gleeful laugh filled the room. She squinted her eyes as she tried to see through the light, feeling her head begin searing in pain once again. But she refused to close her eyes this time, no matter how much her mind screamed at her to turn away. Ruby could only see the shaded outline of the woman standing in front of her, still not recognizing who it might be.

"Ah, unfortunately, you won't really have a choice," the woman responded in fake remorse as she moved behind the light, turning it so that it was pointed more directly into Ruby's eyes. Ruby squinted until her eyes were barely open, but refused to close them entirely, no matter how much pain she was in.

"A new world order is on the horizon. You should be thankful that you'll have the opportunity to help overthrow that fool Ozpin and his collection of hopeless do-gooders. Not many of Beacon's 'elite' will survive to see the future I plan to create."

The figure took several steps towards the door, clearly finished speaking with Ruby.

"Oh," a pause as she turned back, "but I'll personally make sure that that prissy little heiress survives long enough for you to kill her with your very own hands."

Ruby felt her blood run cold as the figure finally opened the door, flooding the room with even more bright light.

"Congratulations on your engagement, by the way."

With another evil laugh ringing in Ruby's ears, the metal door clanged loudly shut as the light clicked off, plunging her back into darkness.

She felt the tears threatening to spill over in her eyes, but managed to hold them at bay. She refused to feel defeated because of that…horrible person. She had to stay strong, for Weiss, for Yang, and for Blake. She needed to stay strong so that she could make it out of here alive.

But…the person had seemed so…confident…that Ruby would fall right into their plans. She didn't know how they planned to make her cooperate, but she would never hurt Weiss…she would rather die first.

A small sob escaped from her throat as she thought about what she might have to do in order to protect her teammates…and to prevent herself from becoming whatever monster they were planning on creating.

"Weiss…Yang…" she pled softly to the empty air, "Please find me soon…"

She closed her eyes once more, feeling two big tears roll down her cheeks. Her lips twitched upwards as she thought about what Weiss would say if she had just heard Ruby's plea.

_'I'm _trying,_ you dolt. Do you think it's easy, finding a hidden base in the middle of the damn wilderness?'_

Ruby had no doubt that Weiss and Yang would find her, eventually. She just hoped that when that time came, it wasn't already too late…


	27. Chapter 27

**You guys might be happy to know that I've actually come up with the ending to this story! :o although it makes me alternatively happy and sad that it will be coming to an end (don't worry, I have something else in the works already, but more on that later).**

**Without further ado, let's move our little story forward, shall we?**

* * *

Yang woke up early, groggy and still exhausted. Feeling a soft body pressed firmly against her, she looked down in confusion. Her eyes widened at the sight of long white hair curled around her hands, which were wrapped around the girl's back.

_Uh oh_, she thought. Why was Weiss in bed with her? Ruby was going to…_Ruby_.

It came back to her in an instant, hitting her chest like a ton of bricks.

Ruby had been kidnapped. They were waiting for Professor Ozpin to tell them where they could find themselves a nice, shiny White Fang ship to pilot back to the enemy base. Where they would hopefully find Ruby and cause serious harm to whoever's brilliant idea it had been to steal Ruby Rose.

Yang carefully tried to untangle herself from the girl in her bed, very cognizant of how light of a sleeper the heiress could be. But the second Yang removed one of her arms from Weiss' back, the sleeping girl used her own arms to pull herself closer to Yang, snuggling against her.

"mmRuby…it's too early," the sleepy girl mumbled as she pressed her face closer to Yang's chest, causing Yang to blush significantly.

"Well…this is awkward," she spoke aloud.

Weiss jumped back at the sound of her voice, eyes wide as saucers. Yang grinned at the girl before Weiss shoved her hard in the chest, throwing Yang off the side of the bed with a yelp of surprise.

"Uh…ow…" she muttered as she picked herself off of the floor, rubbing the elbow she had just landed on. "That's the last time I let you sleep in my bed!"

Looking over, she found Weiss sitting up, holding her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry," the heiress said sincerely, before she sighed and pulled the covers off of her. "You just surprised me."

Yang let out a light laugh.

"So next time, should I just let you cuddle all over me?" She smirked as Weiss' expression quickly turned sour.

"O-of course not!" she shouted indignantly as she shot out of the bed. She lost her attitude in a hurry as she turned back to Yang, suddenly all business.

"I'll meet you downstairs in ten?"

Yang nodded in agreement as she walked over to pull some clothes out of her dresser.

"You're in charge of waking Blake up," Weiss finished, hurrying out the door before Yang had the chance to protest.

Yang sighed at her task. The last thing she wanted to do this morning was see her partner sleeping oh-so-cutely in her adorable pajamas, making those tiny ear twitches that were just too endearing to look at without squealing.

Thankfully, a brilliant idea popped into her head. Walking over to the bedroom wall she shared with her partner, she banged on it several times, loudly.

"Blake!" she yelled through the wall. "Meet us downstairs in ten minutes!"

She sniggered to herself as she headed into her bathroom to get ready. With Blake's sensitive ears, Yang knew the girl would not have enjoyed that wake up call.

Her scroll started going off eight minutes later, just as Yang was heading down the stairs. Seeing Professor Ozpin's name pop up on the screen, she jumped the last few steps and hurried into their living room, surprised to find that Weiss and Blake were already there.

"How did you both beat me?" she asked incredulously.

Weiss rolled her eyes as she focused her attention on turning on the screen to answer Professor Ozpin's call. Blake just glowered at her, eyes narrowed and ears flat in displeasure.

"Maybe because someone nearly scared me to death by banging on my wall this morning," Blake growled at her.

Yang smiled and ruffled Blake's ears, earning a surprised squeak from the Faunus.

"At least you didn't get groped by your sister's fiancée, like I did," she responded cheekily.

"I did NOT…" Weiss began heatedly.

"Good morning girls."

Professor Ozpin's face appeared on the screen, immediately halting Weiss' rebuttal. The man looked as if he hadn't slept a single minute, the bags under his eyes showing clearly. He brought a steaming cup of coffee to his lips, closing his eyes as he thoroughly enjoyed the long sip he took from it.

"Good morning, Professor," Weiss responded, unusually abruptly. "Has a ship been sighted?"

"Yes, over the forest, just as we had thought. I'll send the coordinates to your scrolls. We don't know how long they'll be there, so you'll want to be fast. When you have the ship and find the base, send Glynda the location so that we can send back up. And…good luck."

The three girls nodded as the Professor ended the call, knowing that time was now of the essence.

Just then, a thought sprang into Yang's head.

"Uh…how are we supposed to see it?"

Weiss and Blake looked at each other in unison, eyebrows furrowed as they realized that, without Ruby, none of them would even be able to sense the ship nearby.

After several seconds void of any suggestions, Weiss shook her head.

"We'll figure that out later. We just need to get to the location first."

"I hope you're not planning on leaving without us!"

Yang nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice. Spinning around, she was shocked to find all four members of Team JNPR standing behind them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Yang asked in surprise. "Wait, wasn't the front door locked?"

All but Nora looked rather sheepish, with Jaune scratching his head while averting his eyes.

"I picked the lock!" Nora proclaimed, holding up a bobby pin proudly.

"Sun told us what happened…and we wanted to knock," Pyrrha explained apologetically. "But then Nora said that her way was better…"

Weiss strode swiftly up to the bubbly girl, whose smile faded slightly as she waited for her scolding. But instead, Weiss wrapped her in a quick hug.

"Thank you," she said softly, releasing the girl and looking to the rest of the team. "All of you."

They all nodded in response. Ruby had helped each of them out on more than one occasion, never expecting anything in return. Of course they would come through when Ruby finally needed their help.

"Let's get going," Weiss ordered, grabbing her scroll off of the table and then running to the hallway closet. She pulled out Myrtenaster and clipped him to her side. She paused for a second as she stared into the closet, biting her lip before reaching back inside and pulling out Crescent Rose.

"We should bring this, for Ruby," she said, her eyes daring any of them to speak up against her idea.

"I'll carry it," Yang offered, reaching forward to take the weapon from the girl. Weiss immediately pulled back like a petulant child, grasping onto Crescent Rose as if it were her favorite toy. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Weiss, we all know how goddamn heavy that thing is. It will only slow you down. Would you rather _save_ Ruby or be the one to deliver her weapon?"

After spending (what Yang considered to be) a few seconds too long contemplating that question, Weiss sighed in defeat and shoved Crescent Rose into Yang's hands before heading out the front door at a run.

Yang shook her head as she slung Crescent Rose around her back and followed, the rest of the group behind her.

Yang caught up to Weiss as they led the way towards their destination.

"So…about being able to _see_ this ship…" she began curiously.

"I'll try to paint it with my glyphs," Weiss responded quickly. "If that doesn't work, we'll…improvise."

Yang grinned.

"That sounds right up my alley."

"Exactly," Weiss remarked as they sprinted across rooftops.

"Oh, and Yang."

Yang looked sideways at the heiress in curiosity.

"Remind me to buy a security system when we get home."

Yang chuckled as they raced towards the forest.

* * *

Weiss motioned for everyone to stop behind her when they were several hundred feet away from where the coordinates told them the ship had been located. They stayed hidden in the line of trees on the edge of a more sparsely filled clearing.

The airship could have moved in the time it had taken them to get here. It could be gone now, for all they knew. And then there was that little, tiny problem of not being able to see it…

"Ok, so…try to send some glyphs towards it?" Yang asked as she strained her eyes, searching for any sign of a disturbance in the air.

Weiss bit her lip nervously as she looked towards the sky.

"Yeah…the problem is…if I miss they could just fly away and we'll have missed our chance…"

They both turned around as they heard Nora whispering eagerly to Pyrrha behind them. When Nora had finished, she bounced up and down in excitement as she waited for Pyrrha's response.

"Uh…" Pyrrha began, looking at Nora hesitantly before turning back towards the members of Team RWBY. "Nora would like to know if I can throw her towards that thing floating in the air over there."

Yang felt her mouth drop open as she and Blake exchanged looks of equal surprise.

"Nora, you can see something?" Weiss asked in shock.

Nora bobbed her head up and down rapidly, pointing out over the trees slightly to the right of where they had been looking.

"How? How can you see it? Actually…just…never mind how. Where is it?" Weiss asked, eyes following the direction Nora was pointing.

"Right there!" Nora said. "A couple hundred feet above the treetops, it looks like." She tilted her hands sideways in an attempt to measure the exact distance from afar.

"So…how did you want to get up there?" Yang asked curiously as she looked at where she thought Weiss and Nora had been pointing, still seeing absolutely nothing.

"Pyrrha will toss me right up there!" Nora exclaimed, setting her hammer down on the ground with a heavy thud and pointing towards the end of it. "She just grabs on…_here_. And I hold on…_here_. And then she spins around and throws me through the air! It's really fun!"

"It's fun for both of them," Ren remarked with a smirk, causing Pyrrha to let out a small giggle before covering her mouth with one hand.

"I can throw her towards where she's pointing, and she can correct herself in the air if she needs to," Pyrrha explained helpfully.

Weiss nodded her head as she listened to their pseudo plan.

"It's better than nothing, I guess," she replied before turning to Nora.

"Now, Nora, we need the ship _completely intact_, do I make myself clear? You can't destroy it in _any_ way."

Nora nodded in acknowledgement as an uncharacteristically serious expression crossed her face.

"I got it, Weiss!"

"Wait a minute…" Yang broke in. "I want to go to!" She turned towards her partner.

"Blake? Think you can get me up there?"

Her partner grinned as she tossed Yang one end of Gambol Shroud.

"Better hold on tight."

Walking out of the woods so that they would have a more room, Yang wrapped the end of her partner's weapon firmly around one of her hands as she set off at a sprint, circling the girl in a tight loop. She felt Blake dig in her heels as she held on to the other end of Gambol Shroud, the ribbon tightening until Yang's feet were only hitting the ground once every complete circle.

"Ready, Yang?" Blake called to her as Yang was now almost completely flying in circles around her.

She laughed. This was much more fun than she had remembered it being.

"I'm ready!"

Yang tucked her feet as Blake swung around as fast as she could, centripetal force holding Yang completely off the ground.

"Now!" Blake yelled when Yang was lined up correctly.

The instant she heard the word, Yang released Gambol Shroud, flying upward as her momentum continued to carry her forward. She located Nora flying in front of her, firing off a few rounds to change her flight path moderately. Yang made sure to follow the girl as closely as possible, using Ember Cecilia to correct her direction whenever Nora made a move.

She had to admit that it was strange to be flying towards what she thought to be a ship, when she could see nothing but blue skies above her and trees below.

She couldn't help thinking of those cartoons she had seen as a child, where the characters would run smack dab into a wall they couldn't see, flattening their bodies like a pancake. She really hoped that wasn't going to be her in a few seconds…

Seeing Nora tuck her legs in preparation, Yang followed suit, preparing to slam into…something, hopefully. At the very last second, Nora fired a dummy shot from Magnhild. The inactive grenade bounced harmlessly off the hull, but the impact caused a ripple that briefly cast an outline of the entire ship. Nora fired another shot to line herself up perfectly with where they had just seen the wing. The girl hit the aircraft, sliding as her momentum continued to carry her forward. She grappled for a handhold for several milliseconds before finally finding something to sink her hand into.

Yang followed suit, landing beside Nora and tumbling forward. She could feel the slick metal slipping beneath her as she tried to find something to grab onto. Thankfully, Nora stretched out her hand and grabbed ahold of her, bringing her movement to a jarring halt.

Now steadied, Yang couldn't help feeling a tad nauseated as she looked down, seeing nothing beneath them but the trees a few hundred feet below. But she could feel the solid material beneath her.

"Think they heard that?" Nora asked as she crouched down, preparing for the ship to move in an effort to dislodge them.

"Let's not give them time to think it was more than just a bird," Yang replied. "Now, how do we find a door?"

"It's just to the left of the wing," Nora replied as she crept carefully along the ship, pushing her hands out in front of her to feel where there was metal and where there was thin air. Yang followed closely, hoping that they could get inside soon. She really did not like floating out here without being able to see what she was standing on.

Nora finally bumped up against the hull of the ship, motioning for Yang to stop. She watched as Nora found a good handhold and began running her free hand through the air looking for a door handle. Seconds later, Nora gave her a quick thumbs up as her hand grasped onto something.

"You go first," Nora whispered as she stood frozen in the air, one hand on the handle and one hand holding onto her perch on the edge of the wing. "I'll be right behind you."

Nora began counting down silently with the fingers on her left hand.

Yang felt the muscles tense in her legs as she prepared for Nora to rip open the door. She prayed that when the door _was_ open, she would actually be able to see something inside. Otherwise, she would be jumping towards absolutely nothing.

As soon as Nora lowered her last finger, the girl pulled the handle. Yang's muscles uncoiled as she leapt towards where the door had been. She was pleasantly surprised to find that she could see the inside of the ship now that the door was open.

She hit the metal floor outstretched and quickly tumbled up to her feet. Several White Fang members stared at her in shock for one frozen second before they all began scrambling for their weapons.

Feeling Nora's presence beside her now, she smirked as the men rushed towards them, batons drawn and crackling as electricity coursed through them.

She caught the first blow easily in one hand, using the man's forward momentum to guide him right past her and out through the open door. Spinning back around, she jumped backwards a step as another baton whizzed past her face. She waited for the thug to swing a second time. She dodged the second attempt deftly and leveled a right hook into his face, feeling quite satisfied by his squeal of pain as he went flying into the opposite wall.

The ship turned suddenly, throwing everyone to the ground at the abrupt change in direction.

Jumping back to their feet, Yang and Nora gave each other a knowing glance before rushing through the downed men towards the cockpit.

Getting there first, Nora grabbed the pilot by the back of his coat and ripped him out of the seat. Unfortunately, one of his flailing legs hit the control stick, sending the ship into a sharp tail spin. Yang flew into the left wall, with Nora and her captive crashing on top of her. Pushing them aside, she grabbed onto whatever she could find in order to pull herself towards the pilot seat.

Once there, she grabbed the control stick and moved it back to a neutral position, feeling the ship level out immediately. Nora and the pilot dropped to the floor with a large thud as Yang pulled herself into the pilot's seat.

She looked at the rows of buttons in front of her as she heard Nora fighting back the thugs who had regained their feet and were trying to fight their way into the cockpit.

"Uh…Nora! I have no idea how to fly this thing!" she yelled as her hands hovered over the rows and rows buttons and switches.

Why didn't any of them have labels?

Nora only giggled as she used Magnhild to slam one of the assailants in the chest, throwing him backward into his friends and bowling them all to the ground. She then grabbed two of them by the ankles and tossed them unceremoniously out the hatch.

Yang sighed and focused on the controls in front of her. She at least needed to figure out how to turn off the cloaking…

She found the safest looking button with a small circular symbol on it and hesitantly pressed it.

Nothing happened.

Well, nothing happening was certainly better than something _bad_ happening.

She found another button with three dots on it and pressed that, noticing that an indicator light with an equal symbol disappeared off of the window in front of her. Finally getting an idea, she looked for an indicator that was currently on that she thought might symbolize the cloaking.

Seconds later, she found one that looked promising: three wavy lines that looked a bit like waves. Those might be the particles zooming around the ship, right? Either that, or it stood for the air that was being used to keep them hovering above the ground…

Taking a deep breath, she pushed it, heaving a great sigh of relief when they didn't instantly begin plummeting from the sky. Of course, being inside the ship, she had no way of knowing if they were now visible to those _outside_ the ship.

She cursed as she stared at the control stick in front of her. They really should have sent someone who knew how to fly one of these things. There had been a class on airship piloting at Beacon, but she had decided to take advanced hand-to-hand combat instead.

Finally finished disposing of all of the ship's prior occupants, Nora came and sat down in the chair beside Yang, staring at all of the buttons.

"You don't happen to know how to fly this thing, do you?" Yang asked hopefully.

Nora shook her head, but smiled as she responded.

"Nope! But I could _try_ if you want me to!"

Yang grimaced. She really didn't want to die in a fiery crash today.

"Need some help, ladies?"

The two girls spun to find Ren standing in between them, looking smug and…slightly queasy.

"Ren!" Nora exclaimed, leaping up to hug her partner.

"How did you get up here?" Yang asked, gladly surrendering the pilot's seat to the boy.

"Same way you did," he replied as he slipped by her and into the seat. "Don't know how you did that without hurling though…" he mumbled as he quickly flipped some of the switches on the panel in front of him.

Yang chuckled.

"You get used to it."

"Yeah, that's something I'm fine not being used to," he commented as he took the control stick and gently turned the ship back towards where the rest of their teammates were waiting. "At least you were able to turn off the cloaking."

Nora gave Yang a hi-five at their success while Ren gently lowered the ship towards the ground. They hadn't even set down before they heard the sounds of their teammates jumping aboard. After they had all crammed into the cabin, Ren turned the cloaking back on. Nora slid into the copilot's seat and immediately began reaching for buttons, causing Ren to gently slap her hand away.

"Ok…so how do we return to their base?" Yang asked curiously.

"It's set in the computer coordinates," Ren replied as he pointed to a screen to his left. "We'll just tell it to take us there."

"Sounds good!" Yang replied happily. She suddenly felt nerves pop up, knowing that soon they would be at the enemy's base and fighting for their lives. Hopefully, finding Ruby wouldn't take long and they could get out of there unscathed, maybe leaving a fiery ruin behind.

She turned to Weiss and Blake, finding her teammates with equally grim expressions on their faces. They all understood that the 'easy' part was now over.

"We need to call Professor Ozpin and let him know where we're headed," Weiss recommended, receiving nods from everyone as she pulled out her scroll and dialed the number.

"Hello?" came the feminine answer on the other line. Glynda.

Yang's eyebrows shot up at the sound of Glynda's voice and she snatched the scroll from the heiress' hands, causing the girl to squeak in protest.

"Rooster, the hen is approaching the hen house…'bout to lay an egg."

She grinned at her teammates over her clever code usage. Blake rolled her eyes while Weiss frowned, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Have you checked the coup for foxes?" Glynda responded, deadpan.

Yang struggled to keep her laughter at a minimum as everyone stared at the scroll in disbelief. Weiss in particular looked like she had just seen some paranormal activity.

"Negative, Rooster, no foxes. Just some sexy hens," she winked in the direction of Blake and Pyrrha, causing both girls to blush furiously and look away. "Uh, Rooster, we were wondering if you're going to make it to the party."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, _Chicken_."

Blake snorted when she heard Glynda's codename for Yang.

"Send me the location. I hope you don't mind if I bring some friends."

"The more the merrier!" Yang exclaimed as she typed the coordinates from the screen into a message. "Be sure to send my regards to Farmer John."

"I will," Glynda responded before adding, "…be careful, all of you."

"Don't worry, we will be," Yang replied seriously, dropping her act.

Hanging up the call, she tossed the scroll back to Weiss.

"How long until we're there, Ren?" she asked the hunter sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Looks like it could be another 20 minutes. This place is far," he responded after consulting the map beside him.

"I guess we have some time to kill…" Pyrrha commented as she found a seat in the cabin and sat down. The rest of them followed suit, leaving Ren and Nora in the pilot's seats.

"When did you become close to Glynda?" Weiss asked as she responsibly strapped herself into the seat across from Yang.

"What?" Yang asked as she plopped herself into a seat and crossed her legs. She immediately uncrossed them when Blake sat down next to her, not wanting her leg to take up any of her partner's personal space.

"Oh, that, we're not really close. I just happen to know that she has sense of humor buried _deep_, deep down. I always try to see if she'll play along with me!" Yang grinned in satisfaction.

Apparently having your little sister kidnapped and having to fly into an unknown enemy base had made Glynda feel particularly gracious today.

They passed the next few minutes with idle chit-chat that eventually fizzled into silence as nerves got the better of them (except for Nora, who kept twittering like an excited bird to Ren in the front seat). Weiss was playing with the ring Ruby had made for her once again, lost in thought. Jaune and Pyrrha were both fiddling with their weapons. Daring to sneak a peek at her partner, Yang discovered that Blake was…

"Yang."

She jumped at the sound of her name as Blake noticed her glancing in her direction. Having been caught, Yang turned towards her partner fully, calling a smile onto her face in an attempt to hide her nervousness.

"Hey Blake," she whispered, not wanting to disturb the quiet in the ship.

"Yang…" Blake repeated, her voice low as she focused her yellow eyes upon Yang, ears slightly flattened. The sight made Yang's heart do a stutter step.

"What's wrong?" she asked, voice full of concern at her partner's appearance. This was not the usual Blake that was sitting here beside her…this was…something different.

Blake opened her mouth, but closed it seconds later with a slight shake of her head.

"Let's try not to burn the entire forest down," she finally said with a small smile.

Yang cracked a grin.

"No promises," was all she said before straightening in her seat, tearing her eyes away from her partner.

"Oooh cool!"

Everyone's eyes turned towards the front at the sound of Nora's voice. They quickly jumped up and crowded near the window.

"I think we're here…" Ren announced calmly.

They stared in awe as the forest floor below them began to shimmer as they descended towards it. It looked like they were going to crash into the treetops, but instead passed right through them. As soon as they had gone under the trees, they could see the large silver hanger door built into the ground, opening automatically to allow them to pass. Their ship descended deeper and deeper into the base, artificial lighting taking over as the hanger door closed above them. After several seconds looking at nothing but unfinished clay walls, they finally reached the bottom.

The main room was cavernous, flooded with artificial light as people and vehicles rushed to and fro.

"I think they might be expecting us…" Ren said as he pointed towards soldiers rushing towards where they were going to landing, lining up with their weapons pointed towards the ship. Four giant Paladins were also coming to life, aiming their gigantic guns directly towards them.

"We're going to need a distraction…" Pyrrha commented.

"We _are_ the distraction," Yang said, a plan beginning to form in her mind as their ship drifted closer and closer to the ground.

"Listen, if we cause enough noise here, all of the guards should come running from everywhere. Everywhere _except_…"

"Where they're guarding Ruby!" Weiss finished her thought out loud. Yang nodded, proud of her idea.

"Ok," Weiss began, taking charge. "I'll slip off and…"

The girl trailed off curiously when Yang shook her head.

"It can't be you, Weiss. They'll expect you to be looking for her; if you aren't with us, they'll know where you're headed. Plus, you aren't exactly stealthy."

Yang paused, considering what she was about to suggest before forcefully pushing the last of her worries from her mind.

"It has to be Blake."

Weiss turned and drilled holes into the Faunus girl, who stood her ground under the withering look and nodded towards Yang.

"I'll do it," Blake replied calmly.

"But what if there are too many guards? Shouldn't two go?" Weiss asked.

"Ren can go with her," Jaune offered helpfully.

Weiss pursed her lips, clearly not enjoying the plan, but not dumb enough to argue against its merits. Yang took the silence as acceptance.

"Ok, Ren and Blake, hang back in the ship when we head out. Wait until there's a lot of commotion and then slip out. Hopefully, they won't notice you," Yang ordered.

Their ship touched the ground with a rather harsh bump. Resigning herself to the new plan, Weiss looked at Blake, eyes full of fire.

"Please bring her back to me," she pled, voice hardly above a whisper.

Blake nodded before looking to Yang. Yang smiled and squeezed her partner's shoulder gently. Maybe she was an idiot, but she was going to put her faith in Blake once again. They really had no other choice. If Yang or Weiss weren't in the hanger, the soldiers would likely split up in an attempt to find them.

No, this way, all of the soldiers would be concentrated in this one location.

Blake and Ren slipped back into the shadows of the ship, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

Yang stood shoulder to shoulder with Weiss in front of the door.

"Ready to make some noise?" she asked. She jumped up and down several times as Weiss nodded beside her, drawing Myrtenaster from her side. She heard the sound of Pyrrha and Jaune drawing their own swords, plus an excited giggle from Nora behind them.

Taking a deep breath, she unleashed her aura, feeling a sense of liberation as power coursed through her veins and her hair turned to flames. She sprinted forward, drawing her fist back and throwing it into the door with all of her might. The hatch blew off its hinges as she raced out into the fray, immediately finding herself in the middle of a barrage of bullets.

Weiss joined her the next second, sending an ice glyph onto the floor just as Yang slammed her fist into the ground. Fog enveloped them as the rest of their teammates flew out of the ship, joining the fray as the hanger erupted into mayhem.

Several seconds later, Yang spotted Blake and Ren slipping down a hallway unnoticed by any of the guards in the room. She sent luck their way as her fist connected with another White Fang member, throwing him across the room and crashing into a cart holding various tools. The feeling of soft flesh against her knuckles was immensely satisfying after the pain and fear of the last twelve hours.

Her teammates and her continued to fight outwards from their ship, creating a semi-circle of destruction in their wake. Weiss hung back slightly and sent glyphs in all directions, helping out those in close combat when it was needed.

Yang grinned as she watched more guards pour into the room from all directions. Plenty of fodder for her to vent her anger and frustration on.

She allowed her aura to overtake her as she continued dodging and blocking blows, leveling her own with destructive force.

At the back of her mind, she wondered how long they would be able to keep up this pace before they were overcome. Her current enraged state yelled 'forever!', so she kept fighting with all she had, crashing through one enemy after another.

Hopefully, Blake and Ren would be able to bring Ruby back soon so they could all make it out of there in one piece.


	28. Chapter 28

**Here it is...the extra long continuation of our story! I just couldn't break this chapter into pieces...you'll see why later. I hope that everyone really likes this chapter, or at least appreciates it! Don't give up on me just yet. Please read, review, and enjoy your weekend!**

* * *

Hiding in the shadows of the airship, Blake watched as Yang punched the hatch door open and flew outside, unadulterated power emanating from the girl as her long blonde hair took on the attributes of fire. Blake could feel her own muscles quivering in anticipation fog roll through the door moments later, accompanied by the deafening sounds of battle. She wanted to be out there fighting beside her partner, but knew that she and Ren had a much more important mission right now: finding Ruby and bringing her back safely.

After waiting for several long seconds, she glanced towards Ren to see if he was ready to slip outside. He gave her a small nod of his head and they slunk off towards the door together. Poking her head outside the ship briefly, her eyes analyzed the battle in front of them.

Guards were flying in every direction as they attempted to fight the huntsmen before them. Paladins were clumsily trying to navigate around the guards beneath their feet as they launched missiles, explosions sending tremors through the hanger floor. She quickly found Yang, leveling punches and kicks in every direction as guards tried to swarm her.

Tearing her eyes away from her partner, she looked for the best way to escape the hanger unnoticed. A hallway that seemed to be void of any guards caught her attention. Even though it seemed to be headed away from where they would need to go, it was their best chance of slipping into the heart of the base without being sighted.

Nodding her head in that direction, Ren followed her as they stealthily slipped out of the ship and towards the edge of the battle, crouching and sliding behind any cover they could find. She didn't even risk glancing back as they reached the hallway, not wanting to see Yang fighting by herself for a second longer.

They sprinted through the empty hallway, the sounds of alarms still blaring in their ears even as the noise of battle began to fall behind them.

If their plan was working, the only guards not heading for the hanger bay should be those that had been specifically instructed to watch Ruby. They just needed to find a room that was still being heavily guarded…the only problem being that the base was massive and convoluted.

"Do you have any idea where we should be going?" Ren asked in a hushed whisper as he kept pace with her strides.

Coming to an intersection where they could either continue to the left or the right, she shook her head as the gravity of the situation began to settle upon her. They had no idea where they were going.

"No idea…" she answered honestly as she looked hastily in each direction, hoping for some sort of sign to point the right way. She closed her eyes and decided that right was the best way to go, setting off at a still determined pace.

Hearing footsteps pounding down the hallway towards them, Blake held up her hand to halt Ren, looking at him with concerned eyes before searching around desperately for a place to hide. The only option nearby was a door that led to who knows where.

Figuring that they had to risk it, Ren pulled open the door and they both rushed inside, pulling the door shut gently behind them.

Blake rapidly scanned the room they had entered, nerves on edge as she expected to find herself face to face with a room full of enemies. Instead, she allowed her muscles to uncoil as she realized that they had found their way into what appeared to be a supply closet.

Ren peered at her thoughtfully as the thud of boots neared their location.

"You know, Nora isn't very good at asking for directions, either," he whispered at her.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. What was he talking about?

As the sound of boots was passing right by their hideout, Ren closed his eyes in intense concentration. Swiftly, he ripped open the door, reached out and grabbed one of the passing guards by the back of his collar, using his other hand to muffle the yelp the guard tried to get out as he dragged the unsuspecting man inside.

Blake instantly leap into action, shutting the closet door as Ren dragged the guard further inside the storage room with them. Ren held the struggling man's arms firmly behind his back, kicking the back of his knees in order to make him fall to the ground in front of Blake. As soon as the man opened his mouth to begin shouting for help, Blake hit him hard across the face with the flat edge of Gambol Shroud's sheath. The man looked back to her in fear as she held the end of her blade up to his neck, silently threatening to do much worse if he didn't remain quiet.

He instantly complied, eyes wide as saucers as he started to quake in terror.

She smiled ruefully. This is what you got when you hired goons who were only in it for the paycheck; they folded like cards under the slightest amount of pain, real or otherwise. And she was willing to deliver _much_ more than just a little bit of pain right now.

"Good," she replied menacingly after the guard shut his mouth. "Now, you're going to tell us where to find Ruby Rose."

He began shaking his head, only narrowly avoiding cutting himself on the blade still resting against his throat in his terror.

"I-I can't do that! They'll kill me!" he sputtered out, panic growing in his voice as his eyes began frantically searching for any way out of this situation.

She pressed the blade a little closer to his neck in order to regain his complete attention.

"_We'll_ kill you if you don't tell us," she replied, hoping that her threat seemed real enough to him.

"So, which would it be, die _now_…or tell us what we want and die later?"

She watched as he seriously weighed his choices, hoping that he wouldn't make her follow up on her idle threats to get the information they needed. It was one thing to injure someone who was actively trying to harm you, but a completely different thing to hurt someone whom you had already rendered harmless.

"Ok," he finally replied, resigned to his fate. "They're holding her in a room in the very center of base."

"How do we get there from here?" Ren asked gruffly, pulling the man's arms together more tightly behind his back, eliciting a small grimace of pain.

"A map…my scroll has a map."

Blake raised an eyebrow as she reached forward and patted the man's pocket, pulling out his scroll several seconds later and turning it on. Sure enough, there was a map of the complex built into the device.

"Jesus…" she muttered softly as she took in the size and scale of the operation. It took her a few moments to find their own location on the map and where it looked like Ruby was being held. Taking a couple more seconds, she memorized the directions they would need to take.

"Thank you," she replied honestly as she gave the man a small smile of appreciation for having been so compliant. She nodded to Ren, who wrapped the guard up in a tight sleeper hold. She watched as the man struggled for several seconds, until his eyes rolled back in his head as unconsciousness enveloped him. Finding some rolls of duct tape stacked on the closet shelves, she and Ren worked together to tape the man up. Even after he regained consciousness, he wasn't getting out of this closet anytime soon.

Nodding in satisfaction, Blake turned her ear to the door, listening for the sound of anyone nearby. Hearing nothing, she opened the door slowly and eased her head out. Once she was sure it was all clear, she set off at a sprint, this time knowing exactly which way to go.

She repeated the directions to herself as the two of them flew through the deserted hallways.

_Second left, third right, left at the T, second right…_

They were getting close. The sound of the alarms had disappeared from the hallways, leaving only flashing lights signifying that any alarms had been triggered at all. She slowed down, actively listening for the sounds of anyone still in the hallways, grateful that her hearing abilities seemed to have fully returned to her.

If the guard had been truthful, Ruby would be around the next turn…a dead-end hallway leading to a room with only one entrance.

Holding her hand up, Ren obediently stopped behind her as they neared the corner. She could hear them now: boots shuffling against the floor, quiet conversations in hushed voices, fingers tapping nervously on metal.

Turning to Ren, she gestured silently to the hallway, signaling that they had finally found it. Holding up Gambol Shroud, she used the polished blade as a makeshift mirror, allowing them to see around the corner and into the hallway.

She counted twenty guards packed into the corridor. Although it was wider than a traditional hallway, the men left very little space unoccupied.

One thing was for sure, there would be no sneaking by this group. They would have to fight their way through, and quickly, before one of them called for backup. She could only imagine what would happen if it was discovered that they were this close to breaking Ruby out.

She pulled Ren away from the corner so that they could speak to each other.

"We need a distraction," she whispered, racking her brain for any idea of how to throw the guards off balance. All they needed was a few seconds of confusion so that she and Ren could take down a large chunk of the guards before they realized what was happening…and they couldn't risk just storming into the hallway.

Ren looked around, his face thoughtful.

"I have an idea," he began quietly, "but you're probably not going to enjoy this."

Blake followed the direction he pointed in, eyes falling upon the emergency sprinkle placed on the ceiling a few paces behind them. She just barely stopped a groan from escaping her lips. Fighting while drenched in cold water certainly wasn't her idea of a good time.

But, it would at least buy them the few seconds they needed. And she wasn't about to let a little water prevent her from saving her teammate.

She nodded to Ren, who strode over and positioned himself directly underneath the sprinkler head, prepared to leap upwards and knock it off. Blake positioned herself right at the corner of the corridor, clutching Gambol Shroud in her hands as she readied herself for the impending battle.

The second she heard the metal clink of the sprinkler being detached from the ceiling, she flew around the corner, sensing Ren's presence right behind her. The remaining sprinkler heads in the hallway extended, spraying geysers of water from above them. Thankfully, it had the intended effect of forcing all of the guards' attention downwards as they shielded their faces from the sudden onslaught of water.

They had knocked out the first eight guards before the others had even realized that they were under attack. Hardly able to see through the rush of droplets raining from the ceiling, the remaining guards began firing blindly down the hallway.

Blake blocked the shots with her blade as she continued knocking guards out of her way. Jumping sideways, she ran briefly along the wall before launching herself off of it, landing with a small skid on the wet ground behind the few remaining enemies.

Several of them tried to turn around to face her, while the others kept their attention on Ren, who was still swiftly approaching from the front. But she was much too quick for any of them, dashing forward and knocking two of them to the ground with her sheath, while a kick to the sternum sent the last sailing into the wall with a loud thud.

Turning back to the hallway, she found guards strewn all around the floor. Satisfied that no one was getting back up soon, she turned her attention to the large door. She tried the handle, but it didn't budge.

She closed her eyes in concentration, attempting to cut out the sound of rushing water and the feel of water pelting into her skin and clothing. After several seconds of focus, she was able to conjure one of her clones on the _opposite_ side of the door. Her brow creased with effort as she directed it towards the deadbolt, turning the lock with an audible click as the door released.

Casting her clone back into oblivion, she tugged the handle downwards and ripped the door open as she walked into the room.

She could still make out the sound of rushing water coming from outside, but this room was unnervingly still and dry. It took several seconds for her eyes to adjust to the low light, but once they had she was able to make out Ruby's form strapped to a chair in the center of the room.

"Ruby!" she called out, her voice coming out much more strangled that she thought it would have as relief flooded through her.

She rushed over to the girl, instantly taking in the physical appearance of her teammate, searching for any sign of injury while also examining the restraints strapping the girl to the chair. She tugged at the shackles, hoping that there would be enough slack in them for her to slip a blade underneath, but they were flesh against Ruby's skin. She wouldn't be able to cut them off without also injuring Ruby.

"We need to get you out of here, somehow…"

"B-Blake?" Ruby asked hesitantly, eyes opening only partially, as if afraid of what she might see. Once Ruby saw that it was, in fact, Blake, her eyes flew open entirely.

"Blake!" she exclaimed in terror. "S-stay away from me! They did something to me!"

"What are you talking about?" Blake was concerned now as she redoubled her assessment of her teammate, looking for anything to explain Ruby's fear.

"I-I don't know," Ruby replied, voice quavering. "They injected me with something…"

"Injected…" Blake looked at the crook of the girl's arm, spotting a barely visible red dot where a needle had been inserted. A sedative, maybe?

"Ruby, listen to me," Blake said as she knelt down in front of Ruby, looking the younger girl directly in the eyes. "Do you feel ok? Normal?"

Ruby bit her lip in deliberation before slowly shaking her head yes.

"Do you think you can walk?"

Ruby nodded again, with less hesitation this time.

"Ok, see? You're just fine. We have to get you out of here now. There's a certain bossy heiress waiting for you, and I doubt she'll very much appreciate us dawdling."

Ruby perked up immeasurably at the mention of Weiss and nodded her head again, this time with excitement.

"Good. Ren!" Blake called back to the hunter standing watch by the door. "Do any of the guards have keys on them?" Ren began checking pockets in the hallway as Blake turned her attention back to Ruby.

"I can think of two girls who are going to be _very_ excited to see you," she said, drawing an enormous smile onto Ruby's face.

Just then, a heavy ring of keys hit the floor beside her. Quickly scooping them into her hands, she began trying each one in the lock around one of the girl's wrists.

"Is Weiss mad at me?" Ruby asked nervously as Blake feverishly searched for the right key.

She couldn't help but laugh at Ruby's worried tone.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked as she swung past another useless key. "She's mad at everyone _but_ you."

Finally, one of the keys slid easily into the lock. Holding her breath, she gave it a slight turn, exclaiming happily as she heard a soft click. Freeing one wrist, she quickly moved to the remaining locks, unbinding each one in turn.

Once free, Ruby bounced out of the chair, gently rubbing the marks on her wrists where the restraints had just been cutting into her skin.

"Lead the way!" the brunette exclaimed as her boundless energy returned in droves. Blake grinned as she raced out of the room with Ruby and Ren in tow, reversing her directions from earlier as they flew back to the hanger at record speed. Of course, record speed for she and Ren was nowhere close to how fast Ruby wanted to go, but the brunette stuck close to them in order not to get lost.

Nearing the last turn back into the hanger, the sounds of the still raging battle reached their ears. No longer willing to wait for them, Ruby flashed ahead, leaving a long trail of swirling red petals in her wake.

Blake and Ren pushed themselves as fast as they could, sprinting into the hanger seconds later. They discovered massive amounts of bodies strewn about, with their teammates still fighting relentlessly. One of the Paladins lay in a heap of metal on the ground, still smoldering from what looked to be a fist-sized hole that had been drilled through its chest.

Blake watched in mild amusement as she saw Ruby wrapped around Weiss, before the speedster pulled back and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss right in the middle of battle. Weiss was so happy, she couldn't even attempt to scold the girl as she continued firing glyphs towards the guards and Paladins in front of them without even looking. Ruby then raced over to Yang, receiving a quick high-five from her sister before she effortlessly pulled Crescent Rose off of Yang's back.

Blake and Ren rushed forward just as Crescent Rose began snapping into place. She could feel the morale in the room lifting now that their leader was back in their midst.

Their mission had been successful. Now, it was just for the slight matter of getting out of here alive…

Taking the ship back would be impossible because it looked like it had taken one too many missiles in the last several minutes. They would need to find another ride out of here.

But with both teams now at full power, they were charged and ready to rip through the crowds in front of them.

However, the guards began falling back at that moment, backing up towards the walls while giving the huntsmen a wide berth around the hanger floor. Her teammates looked around in surprise, not pursuing any further as the guards continued to stand down with the giant robots following suit.

An eerie silence fell over the hanger, broken only by their labored breathing and the occasional sound of a piece of equipment falling to the ground.

Blake felt one of her ears flick as the hairs on her arm stood on end when a familiar feeling passed over her. She began frantically scanning the room, foreboding filling her mind.

The guards directly in front of them suddenly parted, letting someone pass through.

And then they saw them…

Cinder Fall, clad in a familiar flaming dress, her hips swinging alluringly with that smug smirk still frozen on her lips. She hadn't changed at all since they had last seen her, still oozing confidence and malicious intent.

But beside the fiery demon strode a tall Faunus man, familiar to Blake in every way, shape, and form.

Adam Taurus.

Her heart broke as her eyes took in his appearance – traditional black trench coat billowing behind him, Grimm mask firmly in place, with a leer playing upon his lips.

She hadn't wanted to believe that he could have anything to do with this, but there he was. She had truly believed that he had changed when he had come to her at Beacon, that he was no longer the ruthless mercenary he once had been. She was so terribly, terribly naïve…

Blake felt a warm presence by her side, realizing that Yang was now standing shoulder to shoulder with her as they stared towards the enemies they had been fighting for quite some time now. She could feel fire threatening to explode out of her partner as daggers were aimed towards the Faunus man. Of course, Adam only smirked at the sight.

"Mmm…we're truly honored to have some of Beacon's finest visit us today," Cinder began with a nod of her head in fake respect.

"And I see you've even managed to free your captive leader…" Cinder looked towards Ruby and sent the brunette a playful wink, smirk growing wider when she saw Weiss wrap a protective arm around Ruby's shoulder and pull her backwards a step.

Cinder's eyes scanned over the rest of them quickly, sizing them each up in turn until her eyes came to a rest upon Blake.

"Ah…Miss Belladonna…it is good to see you've made it as well. You were supposed to be the first one here, of course, but _someone_ managed to mess that up…"

Adam let out a low growl as Blake looked at Cinder in confusion.

"What do you mean I was supposed to be the first one here?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, even though she knew not to engage in wordplay with the talented criminal.

The question made the fiery woman light up in excitement as she clapped her hands together in front of her chest, sending several sparks flying off in all directions.

"Oh! I think I'll let Adam explain that part to you. That will be much more entertaining," she cooed gleefully as she took a step back and motioned for Adam to continue. "Go ahead, tell her the truth. It's not like any of them will be making it out of here, anyway."

As Adam took one step forward, Blake felt Yang's muscles twitching beside her. She could tell that her partner was on the verge of rushing forward to attack the Faunus man. Sticking out her hand slightly, Blake briefly touched Yang's hand to get her attention. Looking into the crimson eyes for a single second, she smiled at her partner.

There was nothing for her to worry about. No matter what Adam said, she would stay by Yang's side.

"Hello, Blake," Adam said, voice low and gruff. The familiarity of it made goose bumps rise along her arms.

She glared at him, not willing to dignify him with a response, only wanting answers.

"I see that someone's a little frosty today," he commented with a smirk before continuing.

"We've developed a lovely new product. Through some _miracle_ of science, it grants you control of another person. Lowers their inhibitions to doing what you direct, something like that." Adam waved his hand as if it were much too boring to explain in any more detail.

"When the first trial was ready for a test run, Cinder was kind enough to allow me to pick the first target. And…I asked myself…who better than my old _partner_…Blake Belladonna?"

She felt shivers run down her spine as Adam sneered her name, understanding for the first time the true extent of his loathing for her.

"We tried it as an aerial spray first. So…I showed up at Beacon with the scent on me. And…it was amazing, Blake. I think you would really appreciate the magnificence of it. You were like putty. In my complete control. It was too easy to convince you to abandon your team and leave with me."

He started laughing, clearly fond of the memory as Blake felt her heart ripping into pieces when she realized what a lie she had been living for three years.

"Even when _she_," he tilted his head towards Yang, "came running out after you, trying to convince you to stay, spewing all of those pitiful emotions everywhere. You still left! It was one of the most cold-hearted things _I've_ ever seen, and all curtesy of this simple drug…"

He had drugged her. He had tricked her into leaving her team…Beacon…Yang…that had never been her decision, after all. Her free will…he had taken it from her.

And she hated him for that.

He had been her family when she had none…he had been like a brother to her, teaching her how to survive in a world that could be unbelievably cruel to just a small child. She had saved _his_ life just as many times as he had saved hers. And even after she had left him standing there on the Schnee Dust Company's train, she had _missed_ him. She had _worried_ about his safety.

"Why didn't you keep me on it then? How did I leave?" she spit at him, feeling her anger surging just as much as she felt the temperature increasing from the person standing beside her.

Adam merely chuckled and looked back at Cinder apologetically.

"Well, one of the side effects was that sometimes you became…uncontrollably aggressive and unpredictable. We went to a warehouse to pick up some information one time, and you nearly leveled it after someone accidentally stepped on your foot. It also seemed to dull some of your more fine-tuned senses, which was really unfortunate. So, we decided to keep you on a low dose, set up a fake living situation, and keep you docile until we had the real stuff ready."

"We tried several more versions on you, but they all had the same effect. It just figures that right when we were _almost_ done, your pesky partner shows up again. I came back here and suggested that we bring you in right away, but as I was getting permission, you were leaving."

He sighed heavily. That was clearly the part of the story he liked least.

"Cinder decided that we should pick up another huntress to test the final product on, and since she has always had an…affinity…for Ruby Rose, we kidnapped her from your big event. Of course, now we have _eight_ test subjects, so it all worked out perfectly in the end."

"Like hell you're testing anything on us," Yang growled as uncontrolled flames burst out of her fingertips. The next instant, she shot forward, leveling a punch at Adam's sneering face.

"Yang!" Blake called out, but it was already too late to stop the girl.

Yang nearly landed her first punch, but Adam blocked the blow at the very last second. He blocked the second and third attacks more easily, until she managed to feint and land her forth attack, a short kick, right into his knee.

As he grunted in pain, Cinder finally stepped forward and threw a giant ball of fire in Yang's direction. The brawler was forced to turn her attention towards Cinder in order to dodge the attack, allowing Adam to grab ahold of her arms and pull her roughly into a stranglehold. Yang gave out a small yelp before she was silenced by one of Adam's arms pulling up against her throat, while the other arm was wrapped firmly around the girl's stomach, pinning her arms inflexibly to her sides.

Blake had started to move forward to help her partner, but seeing the precarious situation Yang was now in, she halted her steps. Adam could easily snap Yang's neck before she got close enough to free the girl.

"Feisty, aren't we?" he huffed out as Yang continued to struggle in his grasp.

"Why don't you give them a little demonstration?" Cinder spoke up from beside him, disdainfully observing Yang's futile battle.

Adam nodded towards one of the soldiers, who disappeared from view for several seconds before reappearing, syringe in hand. He rushed forward and jabbed the needle roughly into Yang's shoulder, emptying its contents into her bloodstream.

The room stilled as everyone's attention was now focused on the blonde, who was still struggling within Adam's hold.

"Stop fighting me," he ordered the girl.

Blake felt her heart roar into overdrive as she watched her partner fighting Adam less and less. Yang's eyes were flashing from crimson to lilac and back again as she fought against the drug that had been forced into her system. But slowly, the brawler's muscles relaxed.

When Yang looked back up at Blake, her eyes were a steady lilac.

Adam released a now compliant Yang, who softly rubbed her neck before turning and giving Adam a small smile of gratitude.

"There you go…" Adam said appreciatively as Yang lost all of her fight. "You're going to fight for me now, aren't you, Yang?"

"Of course," the blonde responded matter-of-factly, as if that were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Even against your old partner?" Adam questioned.

Yang turned and regarded Blake momentarily, eyes devoid of all of their usual character.

"Who, Blake?" the blonde inquired before giving him a small shrug in response. "Sure, if you want me to."

Her heart fell as Adam began laughing, which only caused Yang to smile at him in pride for having caused him happiness.

"I really can't blame you for falling in love with her, Blake. She truly is beautiful," he continued with a chuckle as Yang turned and sauntered up to him with a sultry grin.

"You're not bad looking yourself, handsome," she replied flirtatiously as she leaned in closer to the man.

Adam shot Blake a wink over the blonde's head.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Blake swallowed, finding her throat to be exceptionally dry. She certainly didn't know if she would describe it as 'amazing,' but it definitely seemed to be working.

Her blood began to boil as she watched Yang reach up and run a hand through Adam's spiky hair before letting it fall to a rest on the back of his neck. He looked at Blake once again with a triumphant smile as Yang wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled her face closer to his.

She was sure there wasn't a single piece of her heart left which had not been crushed into dust at that moment.

He had won.

He had already proven that he could ruin Blake's life, destroying her relationship with her team and the person she cared for most in the world. And then, when she had finally broken free of him, he was proving that he could take Yang away from her, in front of her very eyes.

"Yang, snap out of it!" Ruby yelled towards her sister, but it only caused Yang's eyes to flash red as she spun her head towards them in annoyance.

Ruby immediately shrank back to Weiss' side. After regarding her sister hostilely for several more seconds, Yang turned back to Adam, still simmering as she stood on her tip toes to whisper in his ear.

"You know…I think you made a mistake, choosing Blake first…"

Blake took the words like a knife to the chest, already wishing that she could clear them from her memory.

Adam arched an eyebrow at the blonde curiously. With their faces now merely inches apart, they were practically breathing in the same air.

"And why is that?" he asked softly as he leaned in a centimeter closer.

"Because she has a very protective partner!"

Yang lit up like a fireball as she shouted the words directly into his face.

Adam had no time to react as Yang used her grip on the back of his neck to yank his head down, just as she brought her knee forcefully up. Her kneecap connected squarely on his jaw with a sickening crack, sending him crashing backwards onto the floor. He howled in pain as he grasped his jaw, writhing on the ground as he attempted to regain his feet.

Yang was already rushing towards him, threatening to land even more blows while he was still down. Seeing this, Cinder stepped in, throwing up a wall of flames separating the two and forcing Yang to halt her advance.

Unafraid, Ruby rushed forward and grabbed Yang's arm to drag her away from danger, as Yang was oblivious to everything as she shouted at the Faunus on the ground, jabbing a finger harshly towards him.

"I will hunt you down. And I will make you pay for this! NO ONE messes with Blake like that!"

Dragging himself up to his feet, Adam and Cinder backed away. He had recovered some of his composure as he glanced towards Blake, still looking quite satisfied with himself even as he touched one hand gingerly to his jaw.

"Well, that was quite fun, wasn't it?" Cinder said as she allowed her flames to dissipate. "But now, why don't we get to the part where you all surrender?"

She nodded towards the soldiers and the message was clear: the battle was back on.

However, there was a surprise in store for all of them this time as a large explosion rocked the base. Everyone in the hanger looked up in time to see the hanger door being ripped upwards and flown out of the way. Several airships were already descending down the tunnel towards them.

Help had finally arrived.

Cinder scowled at the sight, eyes narrowed as she calculated the best plan of action now that the tables had been turned. She let out a noise in irritation before turning her attention back to the huntsmen standing before her.

"Ruby…why don't you be a _dear_ and make sure no one follows us out?" she purred as she began stepping away from them.

Weiss snarled, sending a block of ice Cinder's way that was easily dispatched with a wall of flames.

With one final smirk, Cinder turned and began walking away with Adam trailing behind her.

"Hell no," Yang growled as she began stalking forward. But she was forced to stop when Ruby stepped in front of her, slamming the tip of Crescent Rose into the floor as she blocked Yang's path.

Silver eyes glared at them menacingly as they all stared at Ruby in shock.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Yang demanded angrily.

"Following orders," the girl replied, voice cold and lifeless as her eyes dared them to try to pass.

Blake watched Adam disappear down a hallway over Ruby's head, feeling her insides smoldering in rage.

All those years he had stolen from her. All that time taken away from her team, the feelings she had hurt, trust lost, hearts broken…all for this? She had been their experiment, their test subject?

She couldn't let him just get away.

"Ruby…" Weiss said calmly, as if speaking to an excitable child. She took one step closer to her girlfriend as the soldiers around them tensed themselves for battle.

"We can't just let them get away. We have to stop them."

Weiss took another ginger step and reached out a hand towards Ruby. The brunette watched her hand suspiciously, allowing it to creep closer and closer to her shoulder.

In a flash, Ruby yanked Crescent Rose from the ground and swung it in Weiss' direction, narrowly missing the heiress as she jumped backwards just in the nick of time.

"Stay back!" Ruby yelled at them, holding her scythe at the ready behind her back.

"We have to fight her," Yang whispered. "We have to subdue her…or she could disappear after them."

Blake realized that Yang was right. Fight Ruby and somehow pin her down…then they could get this drug out of her. But if they didn't engage the brunette…she could fly out of here after Cinder and Adam.

"Ok, Ruby Rose," Weiss shouted as the commotion in the hanger became deafening from the shouts of soldiers and the airships dropping in from above. "I'm not losing you again!"

Ruby merely smirked at the impending challenge.

"Follow my lead," Weiss yelled to the rest of them as they began fighting soldiers and dodging missiles once more. "I know all her moves. You guys look for an opportunity to trip her up. And DON'T HURT HER."

Weiss rushed at Ruby and the two were instantly engaged in a ferocious battle. Yang and Team JNPR joined in as they attempted to somehow lock Ruby up.

Blake saw her opportunity, hesitating for just a second before she decided to take it. She slipped away from the group while Ruby was distracted, summoning her clones to confuse the soldiers as she catapulted over them and raced down the hallway she had just seen Adam disappear down.

She sprinted through the hallway. She could smell him…she could follow his scent still lingering in the air. At the end of the hallway, she opened the door he had just passed through, finding a staircase. She bounded up the short flight of steps and yanked open the door, finding herself in a second hanger room. This one was just big enough for the single airship presently whirring to life, undoubtedly Cinder's personal getaway vehicle.

"Adam!" she screamed at his back when she spotted him and Cinder walking towards the vessel. He paused and turned around, an amused expression on his face when he saw her standing there, panting slightly in exhaustion.

She drew Gambol Shroud, holding her weapon out in front of her in a clear sign of challenge.

"You're just going to run away like a _coward_?" she sneered towards him, knowing that he had far too much pride to let her get away with calling him a coward in front of Cinder.

Adam glanced backwards towards the brunette, silently seeking her permission.

Cinder merely shrugged her shoulders in disinterest and replied, "Kill her, but make it quick."

With Cinder's permission, he drew his sword and began stalking back towards Blake, murder in his eyes.

"You should have let us go, Blake," he hissed as he approached her.

Her muscles stiffened in anticipation as he drew closer to her. She steadily observed his composure, waiting for the twitch in his right shoulder that would signify an impending attack.

Focusing all of her attention forward, she finally saw it: a slight tremor in his shoulder as his hand grasped his weapon a little more tightly. Adam dashed towards her, slashing upward with his weapon as he flew by her. She spun out of the way just in time, now remembering just how quick of a swordsman he was.

He smirked as he turned back around, tossing his sword quickly between his hands before sprinting towards her once again.

She blocked his first attack as he cut down towards her head, the second came towards her side, then towards her neck. She blocked each with Gambol Shroud, feeling the reverberations of metal clanging together ripple through her arms. He was strong, much stronger than she was. Blocking his blows like this would wear her down quickly.

Sensing an opening in between his attacks, she kicked forward with one leg, trying to catch him in the kneecap. As he jumped backwards, she managed to lasso one of his hands with the end of Gambol, yanking the man forcefully forward. Unprepared, he lost his footing, tumbling towards her. She leapt over him, slicing down as one of her shadow clones did the same. He managed to block the attacks, but just barely as he lept back to his feet.

Now on the offensive, she sprinted back towards him with increasing speed, raising her weapon to attack. Reaching him, she slashed at him vigorously, gaining speed with every successive swing as her shadow clones leapt back and forth around him. He deflected each attempted blow, taking a step backwards with each one as he was attempting to keep up with all of the weapons flying towards him.

She could feel herself beginning to wear down, but she couldn't stop now. The anger boiling inside of her was pushing her on.

Seeing another opening, she jumped quickly to the right and sliced towards his arm. He blocked it a second too late and her weapon grazed his skin, leaving a sizeable gash in his clothing as Gambol cut across his left shoulder.

He looked down at the wound in surprise, growling as his blood began to flow through the material. Now that he was angry, she knew that she needed to go back on the defensive. She summoned more clones as she spun away from him, trying to cause some confusion before he counterattacked.

He cut through her clones easily, causing them to disappear as his sword passed through them. Blake created a new one as soon as one had been destroyed, hoping to keep Adam confused as he tried to pin her location down. He could hardly see her through the blur of shadows being created by her clones. At the same time, she flew over him, jumped in front of him, tumbled around him, over and over again.

He growled in frustration before he spun in a complete circle, cutting through four of her clones in one swoop. As soon as the tip of his sword had reached the last of her clones, she threw out Gambol Shroud, catching ahold of his hand once more.

Confusion flooded her when he grinned, evilly, maniacally…as he caught Gambol's ribbon as if he had been expecting it all along.

She realized her mistake too late as he yanked her towards him by the end of her own weapon. She released Gambol in an effort to keep herself from being pulled completely towards him, seeing her weapon go sliding off behind Adam as she fell into a tumble and prepared her legs to drive herself up over Adam's head, summoning more clones to distract him.

But as she uncoiled her legs, muscles releasing their stored energy as she attempted to push herself out of harm's way, she felt Adam's hand roughly grab onto her left shoulder.

The next second, an agonizing pain shot through her body. Looking down, she found Adam's sword plunged through her chest.

With his left hand still gripping her shoulder, he pulled her roughly forward until his sword had passed through her all the way to the hilt. She cried out in pain as she felt the blade tearing through her body, clutching at his coat futilely in an effort to keep herself standing as her legs buckled.

Her head was nearly resting upon his shoulder as she fought to breathe, being held on her feet only by his sword and her hands weakly clutching the collar of his coat.

A familiar smell…_his _smell…invaded her nose, reminding her of days spent in the forest, learning how to fight, learning how to survive.

She felt him lean close as he whispered in her ear:

"This time, I get to leave you for dead…"

He removed his sword and turned to follow an expressionless Cinder to the airship, never bothering to look back.

Blake immediately crumpled to the ground, falling onto her back as she heard the airship fly out of the hanger. She tentatively touched the wound with one shaking hand, pulling her fingers away to find them covered in blood. She could feel her life spilling from the hole in her chest, hear the blood hissing through her veins quickly…far more quickly than it should ever be doing. Her chest was on fire as her body reeled from the internal damage, but her limbs had already begun to go numb as less and less blood circulated within her.

Drawing a labored breath, she could feel the warm liquid beginning to pool in her lungs. Each successive breath became more and more challenging to draw. Her heart was beating rapidly as it tried to force more blood to her brain so that she could continue functioning, but most of it was lost along the way.

She had been injured in battle many times before, and sometimes very seriously. But she knew that this was bad. This was very, very bad.

"Blake!"

She heard Yang's voice calling to her, but she couldn't summon the energy to tilt her head to see her partner, forced to stare up at the dull unfinished ceiling of the hanger bay. But then she was there, standing above her.

Yang kneeled down by her side, pressing both of her palms down firmly on Blake's chest in an attempt to stem the bleeding. Blake groaned as the effort only increased her pain.

"Y-yan…"

She fought to utter her partner's name, not knowing if it came out as more than a strangled gasp for air.

The pressure on her chest suddenly disappeared as Yang vanished from Blake's field of vision. Blake felt terror consume her when she could no longer see her partner. She begged for Yang to come back, for the blonde not to leave her side.

Seconds later, Yang's face came back into view, lilac eyes brimming with tears as she stared down at Blake.

Her heart was growing exceptionally cold as the rest of her senses began to leave her. The pain was being replaced by a comforting cold…her vision was beginning to fade to darkness. She could see Yang's lips moving, but could no longer hear her voice over the loud buzzing that had taken over her ears.

She understood what Yang was trying to say though…that everything would be alright, that Blake would be just fine, she would be good as new in no time…

But Blake already knew the truth.

She was dying.

Panic and regret gripped her when she finally realized that these were the last few seconds she would spend with Yang…that she had never have the chance tell her partner how she really felt.

Her diminishing eyesight began wavering as her eyes filled with tears.

Hopefully, Yang knew…hopefully, she already knew…

Drawing another ragged breath, a blink cleared the tears away so that she could see Yang's lilac eyes staring down at her, filled with her own tears and anguish. But in those eyes, Blake found a sense of relief from her sorrow.

Yang did know. And she felt the same.

'It's ok,' Blake wanted to tell her partner, if only she had been able to force the words from her flooded lungs. 'Everything will be ok…I'll always be watching over you.'

But she couldn't make a sound…and she wouldn't be there for much longer. The cold was already reaching up to her mind, beckoning her to join it in rest.

She struggled as hard as she could to keep the chilling tendrils at bay, wanting to stay there, looking up into those lilac eyes, for as long as possible. She focused every last ounce of her remaining energy on those beautiful orbs staring down at her, finding her own personal peace hidden there as her vision began to fade away.

And then there was nothing.


	29. Chapter 29

**The much anticipated (and highly contested) continuation! Please read and review :)**

* * *

Sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the hospital waiting room, Yang stared down at her hands resting in her lap. They were still covered in Blake's blood; she hadn't even bothered to go wash them yet. The sight of dark red dried and cracking on her palms kept her rooted in the memory of her partner, lying in an ever growing pool of blood, as they tried desperately to save her.

And she hadn't been able to do anything.

Even though Ruby was fast, she hadn't really stood much chance against the six of them. Especially not when Weiss and Yang were so intimately familiar with all of her moves and attacks. Team JNPR mostly helped with keeping all of the White Fang soldiers and Paladin rockets away from their battle, while occasionally trying to take a swipe at Ruby when she was distracted.

Yang had been the one to garner most of Ruby's attention, while Weiss provoked the brunette with a myriad of glyphs meant to slow down or immobilize her. The heiress was at the unfortunate disadvantage of having to dodge all of Ruby's swings with Crescent Rose, rather than blocking them. At full strength, a blow from Ruby's weapon would likely be powerful enough to cause a great deal of damage to Myrtenaster.

As Crescent Rose would swing towards her, Yang would either dodge or deflect the blow with her gauntlets, feeling the reverberations vibrate through her arms at the collision. Weiss would then try to snare Ruby in a glyph before the brunette would speed away.

After several unsuccessful attempts, and Weiss nearly losing her head when she nearly didn't duck quickly enough, a well-timed hit in the back from Pyrrha's shield knocked Ruby temporarily off balance, allowing Yang to jump towards the brunette and punch the end of Crescent Rose, burying the tip of it several inches into the concrete floor. As Ruby took an extra second to attempt to free her weapon, Weiss furiously threw glyphs Ruby's way, locking in her legs, then her arms and weapon, in a case of ice. Ruby had snarled at them in frustration as her movement had become completely restricted.

That was when Yang had noticed Blake was gone. Her heart had sunk, instantly knowing where her partner had gone. She had rushed to the hallway she had seen Adam and Cinder exit through moments before. Trying to calm her pounding heart, she had listened for any sound that would give her a clue as to where they had gone. The only open door at the end of the hallway drew her attention, and she was tearing off in its direction as fast as her feet would take her.

But she was too late.

She had crashed through the door and watched as Adam plunged his sword through Blake's chest. Watched as her partner had clawed at his shoulder, desperately trying to keep herself upright. Watched as Adam had ripped his sword out and walked away, never looking back as Blake crumpled to the ground.

Yang was at Blake's side in an instant. She had tried to stem the blood loss by pressing down on the wound, but the thick fluid just kept gushing out over her fingers. She could feel Blake's heart pounding rapidly in shock through the palms of her hands, working against whatever pressure she was able to apply.

She had never felt so pathetically helpless in her life, being forced to watch the girl she loved bleed out at her feet.

It had only been through Weiss' genius that they had managed to get Blake to a hospital, at all.

Weiss had chased Yang to the second hanger after she had been sure that Ruby wasn't going to get away. When it became clear that the wound was far too serious for mere compression to help slow the blood loss, the heiress had ordered Yang to remove her hands.

Initially, Yang had adamantly refused, shouting that they could still save her. She hadn't been willing to give up, not until the very end.

Weiss had agreed and explained her idea in a rush.

If Weiss froze Blake's heart slightly, it would slow down and stop trying to circulate so much blood. Maybe that would buy them enough time to get Blake to a hospital. It had never been tried before and she had no idea if it would work or not, but it was at least a shot.

So, Weiss had pointed the tip of Myrtenaster down towards Blake's heart as she closed her eyes in concentration. Yang watched for several seconds as ice began seeping out of the end of Myrtenaster and onto Blake's chest. A tiny, circular patch of frost appeared, growing larger and larger by the second. It seemed to be working, as the blood flow looked like it was ebbing away. Either that, or Blake didn't have that much blood left to force out anyway.

Yang couldn't bear to watch any longer and had moved back above Blake's head, grabbing ahold of one of her partner's hands, only to find it cold and limp.

"Blake, Weiss is going to slow down your heart so we can get you to a hospital, ok? Everything's going to be ok. It might be a little cold for a bit, but hang in there for me, ok?" she had said as she looked down into Blake's amber eyes, hoping that she could still understand what Yang was saying.

When Blake's eyes had watered up, Yang felt her own tears start falling, many of them landing onto her partner's cheeks. She refused to look away though, staring down into Blake's eyes for as long as possible. She wasn't going to miss a second, not a single second. Not if this was the last time she would see those eyes staring back up at her…

One last ragged breath and Blake's eyes had finally closed. Yang had been pretty sure that her own heart had been ripped out at that moment, looking down at Blake's lifeless form: pale, cold, and covered in blood.

Yang had reached down and scooped Blake into her arms, clutching her tightly to her chest as she struggled to breathe through her tears and anguish. Only then had the sound of another airship caught her attention. Initially, she had thought that it was Adam and Cinder, coming back to try to finish them off, but instead found it was Ren piloting the craft, coming to save the day.

They had carefully loaded Blake on board before hopping in themselves. The rest of Team JNPR were still cleaning up the mess that was happening downstairs, but it seemed like that battle would soon be under control.

Yang had looked towards Ruby, who was very effectively strapped into one of the seats. Either the drug was wearing off, or Ruby's success at keeping them from following Cinder had calmed the girl down. She sat in the seat without struggling, looking at them with emotionless eyes as they huddled around Blake and flew back to Vale as fast as the vehicle was capable of going.

Yang had wanted to hold Blake the entire way to the hospital, but Weiss had insisted that she set her partner's body down. She didn't want Yang's aura to undo the work she had just done before they made it back. So, she had settled on holding Blake's lifeless hand the entire way, sobbing uncontrollably, not daring to look into the uncaring eyes her little sister was directing their way.

And now they were sitting here, covered in blood and bruises.

_'Please, wait here.'_

That's what the head of surgery had told them hours ago. And they hadn't heard anything from him since.

Thankfully, the other doctors were now steering clear of her, even going as far as to walk on the opposite side of the hallway, hugging the wall as much as possible. News must have spread fast to leave her the hell alone after the first idiot who made the mistake to approach her had ended up with a broken nose.

She didn't know what he had been thinking anyway. How does someone see a girl, obviously upset and covered in someone else's blood, and think 'let's try to ask her out on a date?'

Yang had head-butted him, sending him crumpling to the floor.

He had gotten up and run off, crying like a baby. Yang should probably have gotten into some trouble, but Weiss had calmly stalked off after him, no doubt dropping her family's name several times in an obviously successful attempt to convince him not to file a complaint. It probably helped that "Schnee" was already written in huge letters on the outside of the building.

Why would she ever go out with a guy like that anyway? He couldn't even take a little broken nose without bursting into tears. Wimp.

Ruby stirred beside her, drawing Yang's attention away from her bloodied hands. Her younger sister had fallen asleep with her head leaning against Weiss' shoulder just a little while ago.

After they had brought Blake inside, Weiss and Ren had dragged Ruby in, feet and arms still bound tightly together. Weiss had ordered the nurses to take a blood sample and begin a complete blood transfusion immediately. She didn't want a single drop of that drug in Ruby's system for a second longer than necessary.

A nurse had approached Weiss some time later and took the heiress to see Ruby, leaving Yang to wait in her chair alone.

Ruby had appeared a few minutes later, looking beyond exhausted and leaning on Weiss for support as she walked. The girl was crying, and the second she saw Yang she burst into even more sobs as she stumbled forward and crushed Yang in a hug.

Yang had hugged her back, feeling her own tears begin to fall again as Ruby apologized again and again for what had happened. The brunette was distraught and nearly inconsolable, blaming herself for what had happened to Blake. Yang had immediately fallen back into the role of protector, murmuring that it wasn't her fault, that everything would be ok, even though in her heart she didn't know if she truly believed those words.

After a few more minutes of crying, Ruby had detached herself from Yang as Weiss sat down, launching into another round of apologies before Weiss had cut her off. Ruby had settled for crying softly into her girlfriend's shoulder, where she had eventually fallen asleep until now.

Yang and Weiss both turned towards the brunette, who smiled at them sleepily.

"Sorry I fell asleep," she apologized with downcast eyes, although the apology seemed to extend to more than just her slumber.

"Don't be sorry," Weiss replied before placing a chaste kiss on Ruby's forehead. "We know you're probably exhausted…"

Just then, Ruby's stomach let out an outrageously loud grumble, causing even Yang to break out a small smile.

"And hungry…" Weiss concluded with a shake of her head as Ruby looked embarrassed.

"Yeah…I think I'll go to the cafeteria and get something to eat…" Ruby stated as she unsteadily stood up from her chair.

"Wait!" Weiss nearly yelled, panic lacing her tone as she reached out and grabbed one of Ruby's arms.

"I-I'll come with you," the heiress finished softy. "If that's ok with you, Yang?"

Yang smiled and nodded as icy blue eyes met her own, pleading for her to be ok with it. She understood Weiss' desire to stay near someone she had nearly lost twice in the matter of a day. Ruby was going to be extremely lucky if she could spend more than a minute out of Weiss' vision in the next year or so. Even when they confirmed that there was no trace of the drug within Ruby's body, Weiss would probably still follow the girl everywhere.

At least there was one good thing that came out of this…Ruby was safe.

As soon as the two girls had strode off, with Weiss insisting that she hold Ruby's hand, Yang buried her head in her own hands.

She didn't know what she would do if Blake didn't make it through this. With all her worries over Ruby's safety, she had never once paused to think that they could also be in danger. That it was possible one of them could be hurt while trying to get Ruby back.

There were so many things she had never said…but the worst part were the things she _did_ say. The lie she had made up in an effort to protect herself from any more emotional pain.

Could it be possible that Blake could die, and Yang had told her that she was moving on, that she didn't love her anymore?

The thought sat like a rock in the pit of her stomach.

She prayed for Blake to make it through this. Yang wasn't sure if she could live with the regret if Blake didn't…

For the first time in her life, Yang couldn't feel the fire within her chest. Her pain wasn't calling forth her semblance; she felt no pent up pain or anger; her vision was crystal clear, with no tint of red.

It was as if her own flame had been snuffed out.

Ruby and Weiss returned from the cafeteria several minutes later loaded with an assortment of food. Apparently, being kidnapped and drugged had granted Ruby permission to eat as many cookies as she wanted, since Weiss was carrying an entire bag full of individually wrapped cookie packages in one hand. They offered some food to Yang, but she declined. Even though her body probably needed the nutrition, she doubted she would be able to force anything down.

Fortunately, Ruby was blessed with the ability to eat under any circumstance, so she quickly scarfed down all of the food she had carried with her and set in on the cookies in Weiss' bag. Weiss picked at her own food, managing to get a small amount down, but mostly just stared at Ruby while the younger girl demolished everything set in front of her.

Once all of the cookies had been consumed, the three of them relapsed into silence as they continued their wait. Weiss was still holding onto one of Ruby's hands, refusing to let go.

After what must have been half of a literal eternity, Yang saw the surgeon from earlier push through the double doors in front of her. She shot to her feet immediately, feeling her heart begin pounding as she saw the blood stains on the front of his scrubs.

"How is she?" Yang asked as soon as he was close enough to hear.

"We closed all of the wounds and were able to stabilize her vitals," he began, looking at Yang closely, never breaking eye contact. "But…"

Her heart plummeted at the word.

"The internal injuries were extensive, and the blood loss was nearly catastrophic to her system. She's stable but…she hasn't woken up yet. And…we don't know when she will…or if she will."

Feeling her legs turn to jelly, Yang stumbled backwards and sat back down in her chair, clutching at her own heart. Blake…might never wake back up?

She could hear Weiss speaking to the doctor now, getting some more details and finally thanking him for his efforts. How was Weiss always able to stay so collected in times like these? It was like she always knew exactly what to do, exactly what to say…

"Yang?"

Ruby's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, finding that her sister was now kneeling down in front of her, holding one of her hands.

"He said that we can go see her now…if you want to…"

The only thing she could do was nod dumbly. Yes, she wanted to see Blake. She _needed_ to see her.

Ruby kept ahold of her hand as Yang stood up on unsteady legs and followed her down the hallway to Blake's room.

Opening the door, the smell of antiseptic invaded her nose. The room was very large, which would be expected since she was being treated as a VIP patient. It had its own bathroom off in one corner, but most of the room was empty space; white, clean, sterile empty space. So unnaturally clean. A soft, steady beeping noise could be heard coming from a machine by the bed.

And there was Blake…lying in the hospital bed that seemed far too small in the giant room. With her eyes closed, it looked like she was peacefully sleeping. Looking closely, Yang could see the slow rise and fall of Blake's chest with each slow breath.

Yang felt relieved by the sight of her partner. At least Blake was breathing. At least she was _alive_.

The three of them walked over to stand by the bed. Yang went over to the far side and pulled a chair up to sit down right by Blake's side, picking up one of the sleeping girl's hands. She didn't know when she had started crying, but realized that there were now streams of tears falling down her cheeks. Weiss and Ruby stood on the other side, with Ruby also in tears as she grasped Blake's other hand.

"H-hey there, partner," Yang whispered, voice wavering with emotion. "Weiss and Ruby are here too," she nodded towards the two as if Blake could see her. "W-we all…m-made it…"

She stopped talking, clearing her throat in an effort to rid herself of the large lump that had just settled there. She opened her mouth to try to speak again, but abruptly closed it with a shake of her head. There was no use speaking if it was going to come out as blubbering nonsense.

So they stayed there for some time, exchanging no words at all as they cried for their teammate lying in front of them.

Weiss was finally the one to break the silence, voice wavering with unshed tears.

"I-I think I'll order a real bed to be moved in here, something to make her more comfortable. A-and Ruby and I can go get some things to make the room more cheery."

Yang swallowed and nodded her head, still staring down at her partner.

After several more motionless moments, Weiss finally broke the mood again when she tried to stifle a yawn. Ruby slid her hand out of Weiss', earning a small noise of distress from the heiress. Ruby held up a finger to signal that she would be right back and slipped out of the room. Seconds later, the brunette returned carrying one end of one of the lobby sofas while a hospital attendant helped with the other.

They carefully maneuvered the piece of furniture into the room and sat it down in between Blake's bed and the hallway wall. Ruby thanked the attendant and carefully closed the door behind him.

Turning around, Ruby gestured for Weiss to join her as she curled herself up on one corner of the little sofa, drawing her feet up with her and pulling off the heels she had been wearing to the party. Weiss hesitated for only a second before she joined her girlfriend. The two of them resituated until they were comfortably snuggled into each other, then they looked over at Yang. Weiss patted the cushion beside her, indicating that there was still plenty of room for one more.

Yang shook her head though. She wanted to stay here and hold Blake's hand a little longer. She couldn't let go just yet.

Thankfully, her teammates understood her thoughts and didn't press the issue any further. Within a few minutes, both girls had fallen asleep, leaving Yang along with her agony.

With Blake's hand clasped in one of her own, she stroked the back of the girl's hand softly with her thumb.

She cursed herself for being such a colossal idiot. She should have just kissed Blake the first time she had seen her in the supermarket. Even then, Yang could see how unhappy the girl was. And after Adam's explanation, now everything made so much more sense.

Blake hadn't left of her own free will…she hadn't decided to abandon her teammates…she hadn't chosen Adam over her…

She had lost so much time with Blake already, but had let her hurt feelings get in the way of moving forward. She hadn't wanted to believe that they could just pick back up where they had left off. She thought that she needed to move on…that they should just be friends…so that neither of them would risk hurting the other again.

And now? She might never get the chance to make this right.

"H-hey, Blake," she whispered, voice hardly audible even in the silent room. She focused intently on Blake's face, searching desperately for any sign of comprehension from the sleeping girl. Seeing nothing, she felt tears well up in her eyes once more. Or maybe they had never even left to begin with…

"I-I…I'm r-really, _really_ s-sorry." She muffled a sob as the tears began to fall. She could feel all of her hopelessness and regret bubbling over within her.

"T-this is all m-my f-fault! If I…If I h-hadn't been s-so d-damn stubborn…y-you p-probably wouldn't have…wouldn't have chased him…"

"I..s-shouldn't have lied to you!" she wailed quietly, trying not to wake Ruby or Weiss in her distress. "I-I should have…t-told y-you…h-how much you mean to me."

She took a long, shaky breath, looking up towards the ceiling as she blinked away tears only to find that they were instantly replaced by fresh ones.

"Blake, I l-lo…l-like you…so much…"

She stared at her hands, self-loathing rising in her throat.

Even with her partner in a _coma_, Yang couldn't find the courage to tell Blake how she truly felt.

"P-please…w-wake up…so that we c-can…try again…"

She laid her head down on the bed beside Blake's shoulder, letting her tears soak the sheets as her shoulders quaked with chest wrenching sobs.

Every breath she took brought another dreaded beat of her heart. Every heartbeat brought another pang of agony that ripped through her chest like a lightning bolt.

But she could stop neither.

* * *

The next morning, Yang woke with a start when the door clicked softly open. She immediately jerked her head up, nerves still on edge from the battle that had occurred yesterday. Finding it to be merely a nurse doing her morning rounds, Yang settled back into her chair.

Her neck and back were completely stiff from sleeping bent forward in her chair with her head laying on the hospital bed. She rubbed the back of her neck tenderly as the nurse stepped up to the side of the bed and checked Blake's pulse before copying down some numbers from the machine onto her clipboard.

"Any improvement?" Yang asked the nurse hopefully when she seemed to be done with her routine.

The young lady smiled at her sadly as she responded with a gentle shake of her head.

"Same as yesterday, I'm afraid…"

Yang felt her hopes deflate as if the nurse had just taken a needle to them.

"But, there's no setbacks either, which is a good thing," the nurse suggested with a kind smile.

Yang managed a weak smile in return as the nurse excused herself from the room and Yang settled back into her chair, staring at Blake's sleeping form. A few minutes later, Ruby began to waken, as well. When the brunette moved an inch, Weiss' hands grasped onto her arm tightly. Even while unconscious, the heiress was refusing to let Ruby move away from her for an instant.

Ruby's movements eventually woke Weiss, as well, and all three girls looked towards Blake's still unmoving form for several minutes before Weiss finally stood, stretching her arms high above her head.

"We should probably at least go home and get cleaned up…" she suggested, looking carefully towards Yang to gauge her reaction.

Yang shook her head immediately. She wasn't going to leave this room. Not right now.

Eventually, they were able to agree that Yang would stay there (like there was going to be any other option), while Ruby and Weiss went home and collected some things.

Even after the pair had left, Yang remained in her seat, holding Blake's hand in both of her own.

"I won't let you go, Blake. I'll never let you go again…so please…just come back to me…" she whispered.

When Ruby and Weiss did return, they had some fresh clothes for Yang as well as breakfast. While she refused to leave the room, Yang wasn't that much of a slob to refuse a shower and clean pair of clothes when she was still wearing the bloody, sweaty clothing from yesterday. After a quick shower in the attached bathroom, she was back in her seat within ten minutes. She needn't have rushed though, as nothing changed in the time she was away.

The three of them made idle chitchat while they ate their breakfast. Yang picked at hers, managing to get some food down, but not much at all. Her appetite was completely destroyed by the image of her partner lying motionless beside her.

It was only when their scrolls started going off did Yang realize that life was still continuing on without them outside these walls. There were still people in danger from whatever crazy plan Adam and Cinder had hatched. As huntresses, they were still needed to help protect those people who were in harm's way.

But…she would be useless. She had already proven that she couldn't protect her own partner from harm. How was she supposed to go out and save the citizens of Vale? And, she could no longer even feel her own aura; she would be completely hopeless in a fight.

They decided that Weiss and Ruby needed to go meet with Professor Ozpin. They wanted to give him all of the information they had gathered from yesterday so that they could create a strategy for what to do next. While they did this, Yang would stay with Blake, making sure that someone would be here if…_when_…the girl woke up.

Over the next few days, Weiss and Ruby came back many times when they weren't running around gathering information for Professor Ozpin. They brought all kinds of things with them each time. Pictures for the walls, vases with beautiful flowers in them, Blake's normal pajamas…Weiss even brought in a stack of books from the library in their house (Yang hadn't even known they _had_ a library). Apparently, these were some of the books Blake had picked out that she wanted to read and ones that Weiss knew were her personal favorites.

And, last but not least, a new bed was delivered, as Weiss had promised. Yang had picked Blake up and held her partner in her arms as the hospital attendants removed the hospital bed from the room and began setting up the new one.

Holding Blake close to her chest, Yang realized just how fragile her partner felt. She didn't want to set her back down on the bed, wanting to hold her and keep her safe forever.

Once everything had been set up, the hospital room looked very much like a regular bedroom, save for the beeping machines placed near the bed.

Weiss had nodded in satisfaction as Ruby sat down on one side of the bed and picked up one of Blake's hands.

"How are things going with…you know…" Yang finally dared to ask. The attacks in Vale had only increased in severity after they had rescued Ruby, but Adam and Cinder had yet to show their faces. Yang knew that her teammates had been running around looking for any information that might lead them to the evil duo, while also fighting around the clock.

Weiss shook her head.

"We haven't been able to find any sign of them. It's like they've completely disappeared."

Yang narrowed her eyes. Somehow, she had thought as much.

"But Ruby was right, _we're_ the targets now…they're trying to turn us against each other…until there are only hunters and huntresses left who are under their control. Then, no one will be able to stop them from taking over the city."

Yang shivered at the thought of having that drug injected into her again. Of having to turn against everyone she loved.

It had been like having ice injected directly into her veins. She felt cold everywhere. And then…that cold had wrapped itself around her brain, attempting to rip control from her grasp. She had felt the desire…so strongly within her…to follow whatever words Adam uttered, no matter how crazy.

It was like being under a spell.

They had thrown out several possible explanations for why the drug hadn't worked on her, but only one really seemed to make sense.

Her aura had saved her. Her blood simply ran so hot that it burned up the drug as it ran through her veins.

She still felt like hurling whenever she thought about how close Adam's face had been to her own. And the feeling of his crunchy, way-too-much hair product spikes on her palms. Looking back, she wished that she had wiped that arrogant smirk off of his face with a few good blasts from Ember Cecilia. Then he would never have been able to hurt Blake the way he had.

But she couldn't go back and redo her decision. She would have to live with the choices she had made and make better ones in the future. She was positive that she would not let Adam get away with his life the next time she laid eyes on him.

"Did you want to come home for a few days, Yang?" Weiss asked cautiously. "Ruby or I could…"

"No," Yang cut the girl off with a shake of her head. "She's my partner…I'm staying here with her."

Yang could tell that Weiss wanted to say something else, but the heiress simply sighed and nodded her head in resignation.

Weiss and Ruby eventually left, leaving Yang and Blake alone once more.

Plopping herself down on the edge of the new bed, Yang lightly brushed a single strand of hair behind Blake's ear before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the girl's forehead.

"So, what did you want to do today, Blakey? Some more reading, maybe?"

* * *

"Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day…" Yang let her voice trail off as she closed the book in her hands and quickly rubbed the back of her hand across her watery eyes.

"Jeez, Blake. How do you read such sad books? That ending was really depressing."

Not getting a response, as usual, she sighed as she placed the book on the stack next to her and picked up Blake's hand once more. Nothing had changed in the past week; Blake's condition was still officially listed as serious, but stable. The doctors and nurses had been trying to hint, ever so slightly, that it could be this way for a very, very long time, if not forever. But Yang refused to listen to them.

Deep down, Yang knew that she wouldn't be able to stay here forever though. Eventually, she would have to leave Blake's side. Eventually, she would have to return to…real life.

Her sister needed her. Weiss needed her. The two of them would be getting married, at some point. They would be moving forward with their lives.

And Yang knew that Blake wouldn't want her to let life pass her by. Blake would want her to keep living…to live for her, as well.

She scanned the spines of the pile of books sitting on the table next to her before finally pulling one out, running her fingers fondly over the familiar cover.

"This is one of the first books I ever saw you reading, Blake," she commented lightly as she turned to the first page. "Let's see what it's all about, shall we?"

Yes, one day she would have to leave this room. But…today was not that day.

"I became a ninja for the reason any young girl might decide to pursue such a hazardous lifestyle…love."


	30. Chapter 30

**I stayed up way to late in order to finish this tonight...(I guess for a lot of you, it's already tomorrow...) but here it is! Read and review - and this is still not the end!**

* * *

Blake wandered across the deserted parking lot, looking wearily towards the decrepit building looming in front of her.

She didn't know how she had gotten to this place. The last thing she remembered was fighting Adam in the hanger…then staring up at Yang…then being here in this parking lot, staring at this unknown building. Seeing as how she no longer had a sword in her chest, she could only come up with one plausible conclusion.

She was dead.

She sighed as she looked around her. The parking lot seemed to have been abandoned long ago, as weeds now grew through large cracks in the concrete. There was a foggy wooded area behind her, although the trees appeared to be too dense to be real. Blake wondered if she would even be able to pass through them if she tried, they were placed so closely together. It seemed almost like they were forming a wall, preventing her from venturing away from the parking lot and the massive, foreboding building.

After making one slow, complete circle around the building and finding that she was hemmed in by trees on all sides, she decided that she might as well check and see if there was anything useful inside. It was clearly the only place she was allowed to go.

The double doors in the front entrance were open, with one side hanging completely off its hinges. She stepped delicately through the doorframe, hearing her footsteps echo loudly off the tile floor inside.

The front entryway was grand and large, with high ceilings and a reception desk placed right in front of her. She could make out several elevators placed off to her left, with hallways branching off to each side.

It may have once been a large office building, or a courthouse maybe, but it had definitely seen much better days. Windows had been broken, with glass shards laying on the tile floor inside. What little furniture there was in the lobby was covered in cobwebs and a thick layer of dust.

The stillness in the room was unnerving.

She took another step forward, wincing as her foot came down on a shard of glass and an outrageously loud shattering noise rung out in the lobby. She held her breath for several seconds as she wondered if the noise had alerted anyone to her presence, if there was anyone else there at all. After the noise disappeared and the quiet had returned, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Blake!"

She spun to her right as she heard the familiar voice call her name.

"Yang?"

The voice's owner had hardly registered in her brain before she sprinted off in the direction of the sound, no longer caring if anyone heard her running across broken glass. She blew down the hallway, passing door after door as she searched for her partner.

"Blake!"

She heard her name again, closer now.

"Yang!" she shouted out, no longer heeding where she was going as she raced towards Yang's voice. She could feel relief flooding her mind. She wasn't alone - Yang was here with her.

Rounding the corner at the end of the hallway and bursting into a large conference room, she abruptly put on the brakes.

"Blake."

There Adam stood, a smirk on his face.

"Adam?" she asked incredulously, looking around the room for Yang.

"Don't waste your time looking for her," he replied coldly. "She's not here."

Blake felt her heart fall at his words. But she had heard Yang…she knew that it had been her partner's voice…

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

"I'm not really here," he stated calmly. "I'm merely a manifestation of your subconscious."

She scoffed at his comment, but carefully took in his unarmed figure before turning away. He seemingly didn't mean her any harm right now and she was still determined to find Yang. She had heard Yang's voice…if Adam was there, Yang could be somewhere, too.

Adam fell in step beside her as she walked from the room. She left the door open as an indication to herself that she had already been in that room.

"You won't find what you're looking for."

"She's here. I know it," Blake replied without looking at him.

"Blake!" She heard it again, this time far away, from…outside. "Yang!" she called out as she rushed in the direction she had come, quickly leaving Adam behind as she sprinted back out the front doors in a matter of seconds.

Once outside, she could actually _see_ Yang in the distance, walking around the edge of the parking lot.

"Yang!"

When Yang didn't respond to her call, Blake sprinted towards the girl, feeling immensely relieved as she grew closer and closer.

"Yang!" she yelled out again, but the blonde still didn't seem to be able to hear her. Blake pushed her legs harder, trying to get there as quickly as possible.

The next second, Blake cried out in pain as she suddenly ran into a very solid object, knocking her onto her back as she crashed into it at full speed. Slowly getting back to her feet, she held her hand to her head in pain.

Yang was several feet from her now, but walking away from her, still shouting Blake's name.

Blake, very carefully, held her arms out in front of her. She frowned as she felt her hands bump into an invisible barrier separating herself from her partner. Running her hands along its smooth surface, it seemed to extend in all directions, reaching up into the sky higher than she could even reach.

"Yang!" she yelled as she jogged to where Yang was, making sure to slide her hands along the barrier the entire time.

"Blake!" Yang shouted again, seemingly unable to hear Blake call to her.

But Blake was walking directly in front of Yang now, separated by mere inches of whatever force was keeping them apart.

"Yang!" she tried shouting one more time as she slammed her fist into the barrier in frustration, feeling the bones in her hand nearly break from the resistance.

Yang stopped walking as she began to cry, holding her head in her hands as she continued to softly call out Blake's name.

Blake felt her own tears begin to fall down her face as she touched the barrier right in front of Yang's face, wanting to reach out and console the girl.

"Blake…please don't leave me…" Yang whimpered into her hands as she sunk to her knees, shoulders shaking as she began to sob.

Blake felt her heart break as she pushed both of her hands onto the barrier, struggling to be as close to Yang as possible.

"I won't! Yang, I won't…" Blake said, feeling tears spring into her own eyes when she realized that Yang couldn't hear a word she was saying.

A strong breeze suddenly began gusting across the parking lot, blowing Blake's hair forward into her eyes. As she brushed her hair back out of her face, she stared in horror as Yang began to fade away. The wind was eroding the blonde to nothing, blowing her away as if moving sand in the desert.

Blake's tears spilled over as she watched Yang disappear in front of her eyes. Long after there was nothing of her partner remaining, she continued to stare at the ground where Yang had just been standing.

Why was this happening?

"So sad."

She snapped her neck around to find that Adam was there, standing behind her with that same infuriating smirk on his face.

Then she realized.

Not only was she dead…but she had gone to her own personal version of purgatory.

She closed her eyes and hung her head as she let the realization sink in. There was no other way to explain it. Why else would Adam be following her every move while Yang was being dangled in front of her like bait, only to be ripped away at the last second.

She shook her head. She wasn't willing to give up. She _couldn't _give up. Even if this cruel game continued forever…Blake would keep trying to reach her.

Brushing past the tall Faunus, she trudged back towards the building, already knowing that there was nothing else to be seen outside. Once back inside, she walked through the corridors idly for several minutes, trying to ignore Adam's presence beside her as she looked and listened for any sign of Yang. She kept pushing open doors, revealing empty, undisturbed offices or conference rooms behind them.

She turned another corner and stopped dead in her tracks.

There was Yang, standing in front of another version of Adam.

Blake opened her mouth to call out her partner's name, until she realized that there was something strangely familiar about the image in front of her. She then realized that she had seen this scene before, and just recently.

Her heart began pounding as she watched Yang walk up to the boy, curling her fingers through his short hair as she stood on her tiptoes to draw her face close to his. Adam wore a grin as he gazed down into Yang's eyes.

The two of them froze in that position, with Yang's lips agonizingly close to Adam's.

Blake looked away in pain, wishing that the memory would continue playing, but the two figures remained fixed there, a half inch away from kissing. A personal nightmare for Blake's eyes only.

The non-frozen Adam laughed as he walked up to the frozen pair.

"Oh, I really did enjoy this moment…" he remarked fondly as he sauntered slowly around the two. "She really is a very attractive women, you know. Well…for a human."

"I know," Blake growled at him before spinning on her heel and stalking back out of the room, trying to leave the image of Yang and Adam far behind.

The last unopened door in the hallway revealed a staircase, leading Blake up to the next floor. She found that there was a beautiful stained glass window placed right outside of the exit for the staircase.

Her first thought was that this was a very odd place to have such an ornate window. The colored glass was arranged in the picture of a single white lily with a long green stem. Even though several pieces of glass had been knocked out of place, it was still gorgeous.

Blake paused for a few seconds to admire it. Besides her few glimpses of Yang, it was the only thing with any true beauty she had discovered in the building so far.

"Blake!"

She spun to her right and spotted Yang at the opposite end of a long corridor, waving her arm as she beckoned Blake her way. Blake immediately sprinted down the hallway towards the girl as Yang disappeared through one of the open doors. She skidded into the room at full speed, nearly slamming into the doorframe in her haste.

Of course, when she looked into the small office, she found that it was empty except for a desk, bookcase, and several cabinets. Yang had already vanished.

Blake sighed as she turned to trudge back out into the hallway, but paused as something caught her eye just as she was about to leave.

While everything else in the room was covered in the customary layer of dust, one small cabinet seemed to be much cleaner than the others. In fact, it didn't look like a single speck of dust had touched it yet.

She turned towards it curiously and pulled open the doors. Her brows furrowed in confusion at the contents inside.

Lilies, just like the one in the stained glass window, were neatly lined up inside the small cabinet. The flowers were still fresh and vibrant, as if they had just been cut yesterday. Each one was perfect, with not a single flaw in its appearance.

Blake leaned forward and peered closely at one of the flowers, wondering what something so alive was doing in a building that hadn't been touched in what seemed to be decades. They must be important somehow…but how…

She jumped as Adam suddenly appeared by her side.

"Wonder what those are for?" he asked curiously, causing Blake to slam the cabinet door shut in irritation. "Or who, maybe?"

She ignored him and looked around the rest of the room, but found nothing else that appeared to have been disturbed recently.

Before she left, she reopened the cabinet and gently pulled out a single flower, holding it up to her nose for a smell before placing it carefully back in its place. She stepped out of the room and continued her routine of checking the rest of the rooms, finding nothing. She made a mental note of where the flowers were before heading up to the next level.

"So…are you going to ignore me forever?" Adam asked as he followed her up the staircase.

"Yup," she responded curtly.

"Forever is a very long time not to have anyone to talk to," Adam commented, mostly to himself, as they continued their fruitless search.

As soon as they reached the next level, Blake's ears picked up the sound of someone sobbing. Gut wrenching, soul crushing sobs of pain were coming from the large corridor lined by a wall of glass windows which looked out over the degraded parking lot below.

Blake's heart broke when her eyes landed upon the source of the tears.

Yang was kneeling on the ground not thirty yards away from them, head in her hands as she wept uncontrollably. Blake rushed towards the girl, wanting, no _needing_, to comfort her. She had to do something to put an end to Yang's pain.

But she slowed down as she was five feet away, noticing phantom-like visions of Weiss and Ruby appearing behind Yang. Ruby knelt down by her sister's side, placing an arm around Yang's shaking shoulders as the brunette also cried. Weiss remained standing by her teammates' sides and stared forward, eyes filled with anger and hurt.

Blake's breath caught in her chest when she realized that the three of them were wearing their school uniforms.

This was Beacon.

This…this was when Blake had left.

Tears were streaming down her face as she listened to Yang's sobs. She had always done everything possible to avoid thinking about what it had been like in the seconds and minutes after she had left her team. But now, seeing it play out in front of her very own eyes, hearing how distraught Yang was…

This was too much.

This was torture.

Blake forced her feet to carry her the last few paces to Yang's side. She could have sworn that Weiss' image glared daggers into her as she approached, but she reminded herself that none of them could actually see her. She fell to her knees right in front of Yang, feeling her own distress swelling within her heart as she watched her partner suffer through unbearable amounts of pain. Pain that Blake herself had caused.

"I'm so sorry…" Blake whispered through her tears, wishing that Yang could hear her apology. "I'm s-so, so sorry…"

Reaching out one hand, Blake moved to rest it on Yang's shoulder, only to watch her palm pass through the girl's image and fall limply back to her side. The images of the three girls instantly vanished, leaving only the sound of Blake's own sobs to fill the empty hallway.

"When will you give up?" Adam asked dispassionately from beside her. "You're obviously never going to be able to reach her."

Blake shot to her feet as her sorrow turned to rage.

"I will NEVER give up," she shouted in Adam's face, causing him to take a step backwards in surprise. "I don't care if I'm _DEAD, _or alive, or whatever the hell this is. I will keep trying to reach her as long as there is a single breath of air left in my chest. Even if I am cursed to relive these moments over and over again, I will _never_ stop running to her!"

Adam held his hands up as he shook his head slowly in defeat.

"Why?" she asked as her anger began to dissipate. "Why did you do this, Adam?"

She wished that her voice hadn't come out so pleadingly, but she needed to know. He had been the closest thing she had ever had to family before she had joined Beacon…she may have abandoned him, but she had never intentionally tried to hurt him.

"There are always casualties in war, Blake," he answered simply. "You and I are not precluded from that."

She sighed in exasperation at his nonsense answer, throwing her hands in the air as she turned away from him.

_Blake._

Blake heard her name again, but this time it wasn't a voice cutting through the air. No, it was somehow coming from within herself, signaling her for attention without making a sound.

_Blake._

She felt it again, this time looking around her as she searched for whatever was trying to get her attention.

At the end of the hall, she heard a door open and glanced over just in time to see a mane of golden hair disappear through it. She raced towards the door, noticing that this time Adam remained standing in the hallway behind her, watching her go.

Ripping open the door, she found herself back at the staircase. Pausing briefly, she heard the sound of feet pounding on the stairs above her. She took the staircase in two bounds before pulling open a door to the next floor, surprised to find herself nearly falling outside onto the rooftop of the building. The wind was blowing furiously up at this height, throwing the door completely open as soon as Blake had pushed it open.

But there she was, standing on the other edge of the roof, her back towards Blake as she looked out towards the forest, blonde hair blowing sharply to the left as the wind ran through it.

"Yang!" Blake called out when she saw the girl.

And this time, something miraculous happened. Something Blake wouldn't have even dared to wish for minutes earlier.

As soon as she shouted Yang's name, the girl turned around towards her. Blake's breath caught as lilac eyes locked onto her own and a smile crept onto Yang's face.

"Yang," Blake repeated in a whisper as relief flooded through her. Yang could see her this time; Yang could hear her.

She began jogging towards her partner, only to be pulled abruptly to a stop by a forceful grip on her wrist. Glancing back in confusion, she found Adam holding tightly onto her arm.

"Adam, let go," she said, trying in vain to pull her wrist out of his grasp.

Instead of responding, he yanked her roughly backwards several steps. As she staggered to regain her balance, she finally managed to rip her arm free of his grasp, surprised to find that he released her voluntarily.

"Goodbye, Blake," he said softly.

She didn't have a chance to react before he threw his right foot out, the heel of his boot connecting squarely in her chest and throwing her backwards off the side of the building. There was no time for a single thought to cross her mind before she was plunged back into darkness.

* * *

Blake regained consciousness sometime later, feeling pain resonating through every inch of her incredibly stiff body. It felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to her chest several times in a row, which would make sense for just having fallen several stories off a building to the concrete ground. The effect of which made breathing feel like she were sucking in shards of glass, not oxygen.

She kept her eyes closed as she tried to pass back into unconsciousness, wishing the pain away. She definitely did not want to see Adam's smirking face when she was in this much pain.

Unfortunately, the opposite seemed to be occurring as more of her senses returned to her. Her hearing finally came back online, revealing a soft, rhythmic beeping and a soothing droning coming from nearby. She cracked her eyes open, not having heard any sounds like these anywhere in the building she had just been searching through.

Her eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of her.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, with her back turned slightly towards Blake, was Yang. Wearing what appeared to be pajamas, the girl's blonde hair was cascading down her back, looking slightly more unkempt than was usual. Her partner was staring deeply into the book she held slightly above her lap.

Blake had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

But, was this just another mirage? Another trick designed to get her hopes up, only to have them dashed into oblivion?

She listened intently, focusing on Yang's soothing voice as the blonde continued to read softly out loud. The strength behind each word was pacifying…the melody intoxicating. If this was just another fleeting moment, doomed to vanish like the rest, Blake was going to savor it for as long as possible.

After quietly listening for several pages, Blake began picking up on the familiar character names and plotlines. She suddenly realized that she knew exactly which book Yang was reading.

Just then, Yang closed the book as she huffed in dissatisfaction.

"Seriously, why is she trying to do all of this by herself when Clyde would help her?" the blonde lamented to no one in particular before picking the book back up to resume reading.

"Because…" Blake managed to speak out, surprised to find that her throat was incredibly dry and voice raspy, "she…loves him…"

Yang flew off the bed in surprise, book flying to the floor as she dropped it from her hands.

"B-Blake?" the blonde asked, voice trembling as her lilac eyes instantly filled with tears.

Yang let out a laugh when she saw Blake looking back at her.

"Blake!" she cried out as she jumped back onto the bed and wrapped Blake in a hug more tender than anything Blake would believed Yang to be capable of. The movement was still painful for Blake, but she wouldn't complain as Yang's warmth radiated against her skin.

Tears filled Blake's eyes when she realized that Yang had actually touched her, and hadn't disappeared into thin air.

This was real.

"G-god, I was s-so scared, Blake. They kept telling me that you m-might n-never wake up…but I knew that you would!" Yang blubbered in her ear like a baby as she continued crying tears of happiness.

"Y-Yang," Blake said softly, her voice still protesting at the sudden use it was receiving.

Yang instantly moved backwards and looked at her, smile gone as she looked over Blake like a worried mother.

"I-I'm sorry, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have hugged you like that," Yang sputtered out the words rapidly as she wrung her hands in concern.

"Yang…I l-love you."

Yang froze, mouth hanging open as she processed the words. For a few seconds, Blake worried that maybe Yang didn't feel the same way about her anymore. That is, until Yang's smile reappeared, even brighter than before.

"I love you too!" she cried out as she pulled Blake into another hug, releasing her seconds later when she realized that she had put Blake through another somewhat painful experience.

But Yang didn't release her entirely, holding Blake up with one hand behind her back as she gently pressed her lips to Blake's in a kiss.

Blake closed her eyes as she was overcome by the sensation of Yang's soft, warm lips moving against her undoubtedly chapped and rough ones. Though Yang didn't seem to mind as Blake could feel her still smiling through her tears.

This kiss was nothing like their first one. There was no pain or suffering between them anymore. There was only love and affection…and the desire to make up for lost time.

Blake had to break away after not too long, finding that her lung capacity was excruciatingly too short. She leaned her forehead against Yang's, breathing heavily as Yang gently brushed a strand of hair behind one of Blake's ears.

After she had caught her breath, Blake leaned backwards slightly in order to gaze into Yang's eyes, finding the lilac orbs sparkling, more full of life than she had seen in a very long time.

"Sorry…" Blake mumbled in embarrassment for having to halt their kiss due to her lack of endurance.

Yang smiled in response, mischief twinkling in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. We'll just have to work on your stamina," she replied with a wink before she leaned back in and gave Blake a single peck on the lips.

"No…" Blake continued, turning away when more emotions began brewing in her chest. "I'm sorry that it took me so long…to realize…"

A warm finger came to rest against her lips, halting her apology in its tracks. Glancing up, she found Yang looking at her with an affectionate smile.

"Let's apologize later...or never. You're back, and that's all that matters right now."

Blake smiled and nodded her head in agreement. They were going to start brand new – a clean slate from here on out.

At that moment, Blake swallowed thickly, realizing that her mouth was still drier than a desert. Yang noticed and hopped off the bed (much to Blake's distress) and went to fill a glass of water from the pitcher sitting by the windowsill. That was when Blake noticed the many different cards, stuffed animals, and flowers sitting on the ledge underneath the window.

Yang followed Blake's eyes as she came back and carefully handed Blake the glass of water, helping Blake resituate so that she was propped up against her pillows and able to drink properly.

"Those are from all of your admirers," Yang began, teasing her slightly. "Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Jaune, Sun, Velvet, Professor Ozpin and Glynda…Ruby, Weiss…pretty much everyone you know. You might want to be careful when you open Nora's though. I'm prettyyyy sure it's a snake."

Blake's eyes widened as she stared towards the brown box with a few air holes poked in the sides, before she noticed something familiar sitting at the end of the line of gifts.

"And that one?" Blake asked, pointing towards it.

A single, long-stemmed white lily stood out from leaves of green, planted in a small clay pot.

"Ah…" Yang began, looking slightly embarrassed. "I found that outside the other day, growing up between the cracks in the sidewalk. Can you believe that? A flower growing underneath a piece of concrete? I had to bring it back here for you…so I dug it up and replanted it here."

Blake smiled as she looked at the flower, just as beautiful as the ones she had seen in her dream.

"You do know…lilies are poisonous to cats," she joked, grinning as she watched Yang's eyes open wide in horror.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Yang asked in dismay.

Blake chuckled and shook her head no.

"I'm so sorry! I'll get rid of it right now!" the blonde exclaimed, moving to get off of the bed and remove the flower immediately from the room (likely by throwing it out the window in her haste).

Blake gingerly laid a hand upon Yang's arm, freezing the girl in her tracks before she had managed to stand up.

"And you do know that I'm not really a cat, right?" she asked teasingly as she gazed fondly at her partner.

"U-uh…yeah…I…totally knew that…" Yang replied sheepishly as her body relaxed in relief.

"Oh! I need to message everyone and tell them know that you're awake!" Yang suddenly realized as she jumped up and raced across the room to found her scroll. Blake sighed and took a sip of water as Yang excitedly typed out a message to everyone, then threw the device down on a chair and climbed back onto the bed next to Blake.

Yang sat cross-legged again, this time facing Blake, smile never leaving her face.

Something caught Blake's attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked down to the floor, noticing the book Yang had been reading haphazardly laying open on the ground. She resisted the urge to wince at the painful way the front cover had bent backwards from the fall.

"Ninjas of Love, huh?" Blake asked curiously as she saw the cover, causing Yang to blush.

"Well…yeah…I figured that it might be one of your favorites…" Yang replied as she reached down and pulled the book off of the ground. She focused her attention intently upon straightening out the bent pages as Blake laughed at her.

"Could you keep reading?" Blake asked, feeling a wave of exhaustion roll over her.

"Absolutely," Yang replied happily. "But first…"

The blonde leaned quickly backwards and kissed Blake on the lips, causing Blake's eyes to widen in surprise. Yang giggled as she turned back to her book, flipping through the pages in search of where she had just left off.

Blake smiled and shook her head in an attempt to lessen some of the blush rising on her cheeks. Yang began reading as if nothing had happened, voice rising and falling as she made her way through the text.

She closed her eyes as she listened to Yang's voice, feeling a calming energy join her exhaustion. After not too long, she felt Yang slip a warm hand over one of her own. She couldn't have stopped the smile from creeping onto her lips even if she had tried.

Yes, this was most definitely real.


	31. Chapter 31

**Whew...so to use a running reference here, we just sprinted the last few chapters. But this one is going to be a nice jog. Something to allow you to catch your breath before the final leg of the race. I hope that everyone enjoys :) Thank you to everyone for the follows, favorites, and reviews. It means a lot to me! And, even though this one may be coming to an end, I have another story in the works that the bumblebee fans should really enjoy! **

**Happy reading AND happy Halloween!**

* * *

The next day and a half after waking from her coma passed by in a complete blur for Blake.

Ruby and Weiss had made it to the hospital in record time after Yang had sent them the message that Blake had woken up. There were more tears as Ruby had jumped onto the bed, giving Blake a big (and still painful) hug while apologizing for getting Blake injured. For her part, Blake cried too as she tried to assure Ruby that it wasn't the younger girl's fault in any way, shape, or form. It was all Blake's fault - for being foolish enough to chase after Adam by herself.

Even Weiss had joined in on the tears, eyes watering as she patiently awaited her turn to give Blake a much softer hug. The heiress had whispered that she was glad to have Blake back. The sincerity behind her words caused Blake's tears to renew, streaming down her face in happiness.

Ruby and Weiss had stayed for a while until Blake couldn't stop yawning and felt her eyes fighting to close themselves once more. With nothing more than a quick glance to one another, the two girls had stood up in unison, bidding their goodbyes and promising to come back first thing in the morning.

As soon as the other two were gone, Yang had quietly shut the door and crawled back into the bed beside Blake. Laying down on her side, Yang had smiled at her while Blake tried to stave off unconsciousness. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle though, as her eyelids constantly fluttered in an effort to stay open.

Yang had remained by Blake's side, smiling as her hand still firmly grasped one of Blake's own.

Blake didn't know when it had become so natural to feel Yang's fingers intertwined with her own, but she now found that she was addicted to the sensation. The feeling of Yang's surprisingly soft fingers gently brushing against her own seemed to have become ingrained in her. When the touch was gone, even for just a few minutes, Blake found herself yearning for the contact.

It was almost as if the feeling of Yang's hand was the only thing that convinced Blake that this was all real, that she was really here. When it was gone, she felt like she could easily be back in her dream world, chasing Yang and never being able to catch her. Thankfully, she hadn't even needed to explain this to Yang…since her partner didn't seem willing to voluntarily release Blake's hand anytime soon.

As Blake had passed back into unconsciousness, she found herself grateful for the warm hand in her own. She knew that when she woke up, Yang would still be right there beside her.

The next day had been even more eventful, as the members of Team JNPR had come to visit her in pairs. Blake had finally opened Nora's present while Nora and Ren were both in the room to witness (i.e. supervise) the great reveal. Thankfully Yang had forewarned her about the potential gift, otherwise she might have screamed when she found that there was not one, but _two_ large snakes living together in the cardboard box.

She had quickly closed the box and thanked Nora for being so thoughtful. Luckily, Ren had made the brilliant suggestion that since Blake was in no condition to take care of the creatures right now, maybe Nora should keep them safe until Blake _was_ ready. Nora and Blake had both hastily agreed to the proposition. As the pair had left the hospital, Ren had stayed back a few seconds to assure Yang and Blake that once Nora became attached to the creatures, there was no way Blake was ever going to get them back.

On his part, Ren did not seem at all concerned that Nora would now have two (likely venomous) snakes living in their home. Blake could only imagine that the boy had become quite immune to Nora's antics, by now.

Professor Ozpin and Glynda had even managed to stop by, although they hadn't been able to stay for more than a few minutes. From what Blake could tell from their brief interaction, the pair were beyond exhausted.

In fact, all of her teammates and friends had seemed to be very fatigued. Blake was sure that things had been going on in Vale that no one was telling her about yet. Whenever she tried to broach the topic with Yang, the blonde had either changed the subject or dodged a direct answer. Blake had given up for the time being, figuring that they would clue her in when the time came.

Besides the constant stream of visitors sandwiched in between cat naps, there was lots of poking and prodding being done by the staff of the hospital. They were checking and double checking all of her vitals, clearly amazed at how quickly her system was healing itself. However, the internal damage and general exhaustion from the amount of trauma her body had experienced would take more time to heal completely.

But after much deliberation, her doctors had decided that they could release her from the hospital, provided that Blake promised to take it easy for a couple of days before trying anything too physically exhausting. Ruby had even convinced the doctors that she was knowledgeable enough to monitor Blake's condition from their home, and that they were adequately prepared to take care of her in the event that anything went wrong.

Which brought Blake to this moment, where she waited patiently in her wheelchair as the nurses prepared her exit paperwork. Yang was standing behind her, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet in a clear sign of impatience. She could understand how the blonde felt; being cooped up inside the hospital for a second longer than necessary seemed like torture by this point. They were both beyond excited to be leaving, especially Yang, who Blake knew had been cooped up inside for longer than the blonde cared to admit.

Weiss and Ruby had gone home ahead of them, having packed up all of the gifts Blake had received to take with them. Blake had made sure that they took special care of the lily Yang had discovered, which was still surprisingly alive and thriving in the pot Yang had transplanted it into.

While they were waiting for the nurse to finish up, Blake caught sight of a young doctor who seemed to be staring intently at them as he hugged the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. The man was tall, decently attractive, but with a bright blue splint taped across what must have been a recently broken nose. He almost looked like he wanted to turn around and walk the other way, but he must have needed to get past them badly enough to risk it.

She tilted her head, confused by his behavior.

"Hey Yang…" she said softly, causing the blonde to lean down close to Blake's head so that she could hear her better. "What do you think is wrong with that doctor?"

Yang glanced in the direction Blake nodded towards before straightening up with a laugh when she saw who Blake was referring to.

"Oh!" Yang yelled happily. She bounced across the space separating them from the doctor. When the young man noticed her coming, he froze like a deer in the headlights before turning in an effort to hightail it back the way he had come. Unfortunately for him, Yang grabbed ahold of his arm before he could get away and dragged him across the hallway to where Blake was now waiting in shock.

"Blake, this is Dr. Brennan. Dr. Brennan, this is Blake."

The doctor nervously stuck his hand out to shake Blake's timidly before trying to step away, only to find that Yang was still firmly attached to his left arm.

"Nice to meet you," Blake said politely after Yang had finished her introductions. It still didn't explain how Yang knew the man or why he seemed so frightened.

"Dr. Brennan tried to ask me out on a date while you were in surgery," Yang added helpfully.

"Oh," Blake responded lightly, still moderately confused. "Ohhhh…"

Blake smiled at Dr. Brennan as she finally solved the mystery of the broken nose.

"I must apologize for my partner's…heavy handedness," Blake remarked sincerely.

"It was my head, actually," Yang responded with a laugh, finally releasing his arm. The blonde clearly did not hold any grudges against him for trying to approach her in a time of need, but the young man didn't seem to recognize that. He leaned far away from her as if she would re-break his nose at any instant.

"I'm…glad to see that you're doing well," the man responded to Blake, giving her a slight bow of the head. "Now if you'll please excuse me…"

Without waiting for a response, Dr. Brennan raced down the hallway away from them.

Yang stared after him for a couple of seconds before shrugging her shoulders, completely unperturbed by his reaction.

Seconds later, the nurse gave them both a nod and a smile, signifying that everything was in order. Yang came around to Blake's side, looking down at her with a radiant smile.

"Ready to go home?"

_Home_.

How long had it been since Blake felt like she had a home to return to? Where she was not only loved, but accepted for who she truly was? Where she wanted to be as much as other people wanted her to be there?

She nodded her head slowly, smiling as she tried to keep her tears in check.

Yes, she was finally ready to go home.

Yang wasted no time in steering Blake towards the exit, receiving several high fives from nurses and doctors who must have become friends with the blonde during her stay. Once in front of the exit to the building, Yang pulled the chair to a stop. Blake placed her hands down on the armrests, preparing to push herself to her feet in order to walk out, when a certain blonde huntress appeared in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yang asked, arms across her chest as she peered down at Blake.

"Uh…standing up?" Blake replied, perplexed by her partner's question.

"Oh, no, no," Yang began. "You aren't allowed to walk out of here."

Blake's eyebrows knit in confusion until Yang stepped forward, slipping one arm underneath Blake's knees as the other slipped carefully across her back. Blake let out a small squeak of astonishment as Yang plucked her out of the wheelchair in one effortless motion, holding Blake in her arms as if she weighed nothing at all.

"I've always wanted to carry you like this," Yang whispered, grinning like an idiot as she pushed the wheelchair against the wall with her foot and walked out the front doors. Blake hid her face in Yang's shoulder, wanting to shield herself from the countless shocked looks they were attracting from the other people waiting in the hospital lobby.

She knew better than to try to argue with Yang right there though. The blonde would have only made a bigger scene and _still_ wouldn't have set her down.

Plus, if she were forced to admit it, she kind of enjoyed being carried this way.

Even though it was evening and the sun wasn't particularly bright, she blinked when they stepped outside. Thought she had only been awake for two days, the seven she had spent sleeping had certainly made her eyes adjust to minimal lighting. There was a soft, chilled breeze blowing across the parking lot. It felt great brushing against her skin, before the cold was instantly diffused by the heat emanating from the strong arms holding her.

Parked out front was an expensive black town car, the driver already standing outside the passenger door as he waited for them. As they approached, he dutifully opened the door, allowing Yang to set her gently down on one of the seats. The blonde then jogged around to the other side of the car, popping open the door herself and sliding in beside Blake.

"Take us home, Jeffrey!" Yang said while her hand once again sought out Blake's on the seat beside her.

It didn't take long to return to Schnee Manor, and they passed the time in peaceful silence. Blake raptly watched the scenery outside the car window sliding past, feeling nostalgia when she saw buildings she recognized. Before she knew it, the car glided to a stop in front of their home.

Yang jumped out of the car like a shot out of a cannon and raced around to Blake's door, making sure to beat Jeffrey there. The older gentleman chuckled lightly at Yang's behavior before he returned to the driver's seat.

Pushing open Blake's door, Yang reached inside and scooped Blake up once again. The fiery blonde slowly backed her way out of the car, making absolutely sure not to hit Blake's head on the door as they exited. But as Yang turned to begin striding up the front walkway, Blake softly pinched her partner's cheek in order to gain her attention.

"Can I _please_ walk myself back into the house, at least?" Blake asked imploringly, making sure to give Yang the best pleading look she could muster.

She didn't want to have to be carried as if she were still the same isolated girl who had just returned weeks prior. She wanted to walk back into her home proudly, happy and unbroken.

Plus, she really didn't want Weiss and Ruby to see Yang carrying her around like a toy. While Blake knew that the two wouldn't make fun of her immediately, she was sure that the jokes would definitely make an appearance at some point in the future for Yang transporting her around bridal style.

Her appeal seemed to have worked, as Yang bit her lip for a second before hesitantly lowering Blake's feet to the ground. Only when Yang was positive that Blake had her balance did the blonde release the arm around her back, although Yang still held one arm out as if Blake could topple over at any second like a baby deer.

She wished that Yang's concerns were completely off base, but, unfortunately, they were not. Blake's legs felt like jello as she moved in small steps towards the front door. She tried to play off the movements as naturally as possible, but the small wobble she made when taking the one step up to the front door was enough to bring Yang's arm instantly back around her waist.

She didn't bother asking Yang to remove her arm, finding that it provided a nice support for her to lean against.

Yang pressed her thumb to a brand new fingerprint scanner that had been installed on the front door. After a small beep sounded, the blonde then typed in a code before finally pulling the door handle to open the door.

The two of them slowly walked into the foyer, with Blake looking around fondly. A blast of rose petals later, Ruby stood in front of them, grinning from ear to ear.

"Welcome home!" she cried out happily, moving forward to give Blake an affectionate hug. Weiss appeared moments later, looking slightly grumpy. Blake could only imagine that Ruby had sped off as soon as she heard the front door open, leaving the heiress behind.

"Welcome back," Weiss said with a tired smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling ok," Blake began answering automatically, before she realized that she was actually feeling quite drained, just from the ride from the hospital and the walk up to the front door.

"You must be exhausted," Weiss responded, seeing right through Blake's attempt at a lie.

Ruby nodded her head up and down in agreement.

"Yang, you should probably take her upstairs and let her get some more rest," their leader suggested.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Yang said, sending a wink towards Blake as she tightened her grip around her waist.

"And then…we need to talk to you," Ruby continued, looking quite unhappy that she even had to say the words, but Weiss was looking at her quite compellingly at that moment.

Blake felt Yang deflate measurably at the comment, sighing in resignation.

"Yeah…I'll come back down after I get Blake settled in," the blonde responded.

The two girls nodded, smiling again at Blake before heading back into the living room together.

Blake looked at Yang in worry, wondering what it could be that the other two girls needed to speak to Yang about, but her partner didn't appear to want to discuss that right now.

"Shall we?" Yang asked chivalrously, bowing slightly as she raised one arm in the direction of the staircase.

Blake looked at the flight of steps and felt the rest of her energy leave her at the thought of climbing them right then.

"Yang," she whispered softly. "Could you…um…"

"What is it?" Yang asked, voice full of concern as she looked closely at Blake.

"I…don't think that I can make it up the stairs…" she finally said, voice coming out quickly as she looked down at the ground in shame.

"Oh…" Yang responded in surprise, before a smirk crept onto her lips.

"So you want me to carry you to your bed then?" she asked, loudly.

Blake slammed one hand over Yang's mouth, her face burning in embarrassment as Yang giggled in amusement. But when Blake released Yang's mouth, the blonde made no move to help her upstairs, instead just staring at her, eyes twinkling playfully.

"Yes," Blake responded quietly, keeping her voice down so as not to be heard from their teammates in the other room.

"Yes….what?" Yang responded teasingly.

She flushed deeper when she realized that Yang was going to actually make her say the words.

"Yes, I _need_ you to carry me upstairs," Blake finally admitted, loudly enough for Yang to clearly hear.

Yang gave a small laugh before reaching down and collecting Blake into her arms once again.

"I could really get used to hearing you say that you need me," Yang commented offhandedly as she plodded up the stairs to Blake's bedroom.

_It's true,_ Blake thought to herself, wishing that she could find the courage to say the words out loud. She knew that it was true though, by the way her thoughts always drifted back to the blonde. By the way her body yearned for the girl's touch and warmth. And by the way Yang's presence made Blake feel safe in a way she had never felt before.

Yang used her hip to bump open the door to Blake's room before angling herself sideways to scoot through, trying to avoid hitting Blake's legs or head against the doorframe. Once inside, Blake found that not much had changed in her absence; the only difference was the clutter of gifts now sitting atop her desk and dresser. The lily, much to her pleasure, had been placed on the end table directly beside her bed.

Yang set her on her feet carefully by the side of her bed, holding one arm out towards Blake as she leaned forward to quickly yank the covers back. Once that was done, Blake was going to get into bed herself, but Yang had already scooped her up again to move her the last few inches.

When Yang laid her down on the soft sheets, she leaned forward and gave Blake a kiss on the forehead before slipping her arms out from underneath her and straightening back up. Blake felt goose bumps raise all along her arms from the way Yang was looking down at her right now, expression filled with love and affection.

That is, until a veil of anxiousness fell across Yang's face.

"You'll be alright here tonight?" Yang asked nervously as she shifted her weight between her feet, hands clasping and unclasping together in front of her as if she didn't know what to do with them now that Blake no longer needed her support.

"I think so," Blake replied, letting out a large yawn at the end which emphasized her exhaustion.

"Ok…I'm going to go talk with Ruby and Weiss for a bit, but then I'll be right next door if you need me," Yang responded, setting Blake's scroll down on the end table near the lily and tapping the screen to signify that she would only be a message away.

She turned towards the door, but hesitated, biting her lip as she glanced back towards Blake. After pausing for a few seconds, Yang finally made her decision about something. She stepped back towards the bed and leaned down, capturing Blake's lips in a quick kiss before drawing away with a smile.

"Good night, Blake," Yang said softly as she walked out of the room, pulling the door quietly shut behind her.

Blake stared at the door for some time after her partner had disappeared through it, heart still fluttering rapidly in her chest from the unexpected kiss. Only after a few moments had passed did she begin feeling the surprising cold seeping into her bones even under the layers of covers. She shivered slightly as she pulled the covers more tightly around her.

Yang had been providing such a constant level of warmth to her over the past few days, Blake had never realized just how cold she actually was. It was a deep seeded cold that seemed to be spreading from within her.

Thankfully, the covers eventually began providing a small amount of comfort as they absorbed some of her body heat. Plus, by this point she was already so exhausted that it really didn't take much before she drifted into sleep.

Unfortunately, her sleep turned out to be quite restless, as she woke up several times over the course of the next few hours. It didn't help that she was trying to sleep on her side, which felt very unnatural to her. But that position put the least amount of pressure on her back, where the wound from Adam's sword was still a little tender to touch. It certainly didn't help that the chill in the air kept her from feeling as comfortable as she had been the past couple of nights. She forlornly came to the conclusion that she was simply missing the presence of her personal sun sleeping beside her.

She couldn't help that she liked to be warm when she slept – it was one of those feline characteristics she had been hesitant to admit around her teammates at first. When she had had the (extremely) good fortune to have the warmest girl on campus selected as her partner, she had found it increasingly difficult to ignore how much she desired to sleep near the girl. Of course, she had fought that temptation as much as possible, only giving in when she was sick or when it was deep in winter.

But now, when she was still healing from her injuries, feeling weak and cold, she was missing her partner dearly. She just didn't know if she had the nerve to call the blonde to her room and explain the problem to her.

She glanced at the scroll resting on the table beside her, trying to decide whether or not it would be worth it to call. She knew that her partner would likely think that Blake was in some sort of physical pain or danger if she did send a message. She didn't know if she wanted to alarm her partner just because she was feeling a little chilly.

Giving up, she stared towards the ceiling while letting out a loud sigh. She would just have to get used to being cold tonight and hope that she could get some sleep regardless.

Seconds later, a blue tinged glow lit up the room while a soft buzz reverberated against the table.

Blake looked over to her scroll, finding it had illuminated as a new message had been received. She smiled as she reached over and grabbed the device off of the table. Looking at the screen, she saw the short message from Yang sitting there waiting for her.

_'You awake?'_

_'Yes,'_ Blake quickly typed, wondering how her partner would respond to the knowledge.

She stared at the screen intently while she waited for Yang's reply, feeling more and more disappointed as the seconds ticked by.

Maybe Yang had already fallen back asleep? She definitely wouldn't put it past the girl to fall asleep in an instant; she had certainly seen it happen more than a few times before.

The sound of her door quietly opening instantly drew her attention away from the device still clutched in her hands. She turned to find Yang slipping into her room, pressing the door gently shut behind her.

The blonde strode over to the opposite side of Blake's bed and slithered underneath the covers, pulling them tightly around herself. Only when she had made herself comfortable, laying on her side looking towards Blake, did Yang smile at her.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Yang whispered.

Blake shook her head as she exhaled happily, feeling the covers heat up around her as Yang's aura began to work its magic. The chill within her was already beginning to dissipate as Yang's warmth worked its way into Blake's muscles.

Sensing Blake's relief, Yang's brow creased in concern.

"Are you cold?" she asked, her lilac eyes giving away how worried she actually was.

"Just a little bit," Blake replied, trying to downplay it as much as possible. "I just can't shake this cold feeling in my chest…"

Yang thought for a split second before a grin lit up her face.

"I think I've got just the thing for you," she said.

The blonde scooted across the bed and gingerly slid one arm under Blake's side. Her other arm wrapped around her waist, being careful to avoid contact with the injuries on her chest and back. Blake initially stiffened at the contact, but found herself powerless to resist Yang's affections when the brawler pulled Blake into a tender hug.

Maybe she should have felt embarrassed or uncomfortable as Yang held onto her, but her partner was just _so warm_. Blake instantly melted into the girl, nuzzling against her neck as warmth broke through any remaining slivers of cold in her body. One of Yang's hands rubbed comfortingly up and down her back, carefully avoiding the bandage still covering up Blake's stitches.

To say that Blake was absolutely content would have been the understatement of the year. She was finally warm, inside and out, while a thick layer of warmth surrounded the bed like a thick blanket. She also felt incredibly safe inside Yang's strong arms. It was as if nothing in the world could touch her in this moment…

That's when she felt a foreign urge bubbling up from deep within her. Something she hadn't felt the desire to do in a long, long time. She struggled against it, striving to push the feeling down, to make it disappear. But with each breath, it became more and more difficult to fight against the desire brewing in her chest.

With the next breath she let out, she heard it escape from her, loud and crystal clear in the silent room.

A purr.

Blake held her breath as Yang's hand froze in place on her back.

Blake had never told her teammates _all_ of her cat-like qualities. She knew that they accepted her as a Faunus and loved her regardless of her heritage, but she had always felt somewhat…ashamed…of her more feline traits. It was one thing to have the ears; it was another to purr...

Plus, she had always rationalized that she didn't need to tell her teammates she could purr because they weren't likely to ever hear it happen. She fought viciously against letting the sound slip out. Besides, she could only do it when she felt happy and secure, feelings which she hadn't exactly experienced very often in her life.

Not being able to hold her breath any longer, Blake finally sucked in a long gasp of air, hearing another purr escape as the air filtered through her lungs.

For _years_ she had hidden this from her teammates, and yet here she was, purring like an idiot in front of her partner.

Yang let out a small giggle as her hand resumed tracing its course up and down Blake's back.

"Happy now?" Yang asked joyfully.

Blake felt her ears flick in confusion.

She couldn't really say what she had been expecting…but it had certainly been more of a reaction than that.

"Aren't you…?"

"Surprised that you purr?" Yang finished the question for her before moving her shoulders in a tiny shrug. "I already knew. You would do it at school when we would share a bed."

Blake felt her face flush at Yang's revelation. She had never had any idea that she was purring while she was asleep!

"So you knew all along?"

The question was muffled as Blake snuggled closer to her partner, wishing to disappear into Yang's long mane of hair from embarrassment.

"I did…" Yang replied quietly, resting her cheek against the top of Blake's head. "And it's adorable…"

Yang could probably feel the smile appear on Blake's face from that comment. If she couldn't, the continued renewed purrs would certainly have given it away. For the first time since she was a child, Blake did nothing to attempt to quiet her instincts. She allowed the purrs to rumble through her chest, each subsequent one louder than the one before it as her body struggled to express just how happy she was.

Yang laughed happily as the noise continued to roll from Blake like waves, each ebbing and flowing along with her breath. Hearing the cheerful sound from her partner, Blake heard her purrs grow even louder.

And…for the first time ever, she felt completely…free.

Free to express how she was truly feeling. Free to be…herself.

Her purrs began to soften to a comfortable level as her eyes slipped shut and a deep sleep began to call to her.

Only then did she realize that she should have asked Yang what Weiss and Ruby had wanted to speak to her about earlier, but…she just couldn't find the energy to broach that conversation right now. Plus, she was far too content to worry about any of the world's problems in this moment.

Whatever evils were left in the world to be faced, they would just have to wait until the morning.


	32. Chapter 32

**I'm out of town with no internet...but I still managed to get this up for everyone! Because you guys mean so much to me! Ok, no joke though, I've been sitting in the most uncomfortable Barnes and Noble chair for hours now...drinking crappy hot chocolate...**

**But, here it is! The end game is near! As always, read, review, and enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning as Blake woke up, she found that she had hardly moved an inch during the night. She was still snuggled up against her partner, whose hand had finally come to a rest laying against her back. With her face tucked into Yang's neck, she could hear Yang's steady breathing accompanied by the rise and fall of her chest - the blonde was still fast asleep.

Blake remained as motionless as possible so as not to wake Yang, who had apparently been even more exhausted than Blake had been. She closed her eyes, trying to absorb as much of this moment as possible. The pleasant warmth enveloping her, the gentle thumping of Yang's pulse beating through her neck, the rise and fall of the girl's chest as air moved in and out of her lungs.

This was a moment that Blake could enjoy for a very long time.

Unfortunately, a bird singing outside in the early morning sun seemed to have other ideas today. The noise caused Yang to stir, ending Blake's moment only to replace it with another.

Once Yang had semi regained consciousness, she pulled away slightly and glanced down towards her. Blake craned her neck up to find those lilac eyes she adored so much.

"Oh thank god you're not Weiss," Yang mumbled nearly incoherently as she opened her mouth to let out a large yawn.

"How did you sleep? And, more importantly, how do you feel?" the blonde asked, suddenly more alert when she remembered Blake's condition.

"I slept great, and feel better. Still pretty drained and sore though," Blake answered honestly, hand absentmindedly rubbing the bandage on her chest.

"You'll be good as new in no time," Yang replied confidently with a smile, but Blake couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be a little more strained than usual.

"Yang," she began slowly in her best 'you'd better tell me the truth' tone. "What's wrong?"

She received a long sigh in response before Yang finally began speaking.

"I have to leave you today, Blake," the girl answered remorsefully.

Panic and pain surged through her system as the words started to sink in.

"Just for today!" Yang added hastily when she noticed Blake's crestfallen expression.

"Aww…you thought that I was actually going to _leave_ leave you?" the brawler said as she pulled Blake forward into a hug.

"No way I'm leaving you, ever," Yang whispered into Blake's ear before placing a kiss on her temple. The panic that had held Blake's heart in a vice grip slowly loosened once she realized that she had misunderstood what Yang had been saying.

Yang drew back from her once more, looking down into her eyes to make sure that Blake's fears had been alleviated. Blake managed a smile to assure her partner that they had been and Yang could continue.

Yang closed her eyes as she began to explain, as if retelling the story was an exceptionally difficult thing for her to do.

"Adam and Cinder haven't just disappeared…they've only increased the amount of Grimm attacks on the city, but this time with White Fang members joining in the destruction. All available huntsmen have been fighting around the clock to try to keep the city safe, but _we're_ the targets now. They're using the attacks to draw us out, then trying to capture us using that drug. They're trying to create an army of Vale's own huntsmen, Blake."

She felt her heartbeat speed up during Yang's explanation. That explained why everyone had looked so exhausted when they had visited her in the hospital. They had been fighting daily for the citizens of Vale, as well as for their own lives.

"I've been out of the fighting up to this point..." Yang continued, seeming almost embarrassed by the admission. "Because I didn't want to leave your side and…I just couldn't use my semblance. I _don't_ want to leave your side. But now that you're awake and going to get better…they need my help. Ruby and Weiss explained to me last night just how bad things have gotten. I'm sure they've had a lot of close calls that they haven't even told me about…I know they would never ask, but I can _feel_ that they need my help. I need to make sure that they're safe now, too…"

Blake reached one hand up and gently touched Yang's cheek, causing the girl's eyes to open in surprise.

"I understand, Yang," she said remorsefully. "I only wish that I could go with you…"

She pressed her face back against Yang's chest, feeling powerless to help her teammates when they needed her the most.

A warm hand began running up and down her back once more, working acceptance into her body with each passing second.

"You'll be safe here in the house during the day," Yang continued softly. "Especially with all of the new security systems Weiss had installed. Plus, I've been told that there is an _entire_ library somewhere in this building at your disposal…assuming, of course, you're actually able to get downstairs to find it?"

Blake pushed out of Yang's grasp and playfully swatted the girl's shoulder at the comment.

"I can make it down there just fine, thank you," she replied emphatically. "It might just take me a long time…"

Yang laughed at her honesty as she propped herself up and swung her feet out of the bed.

"I'll go get ready and then come see you before I leave, ok?" the blonde said as she stood, stretching her hands high above her head, her back cracking several times.

"Ok…" Blake responded as she slowly lifted herself into a sitting position, feeling some pain run through her chest from the movement. With the covers halfway off of her, the chilled morning air nipped at the sections of skin not covered by clothing, raising goose bumps along her arms.

"Put on some warm clothing," Yang ordered, pressing her hands down on Blake's arms, sending a wave of heat through Blake's body from her aura. The blonde nearly skipped out of the room the next instant, pausing in the doorway to look back and send Blake a wink.

Even after her partner had left her side, Blake could feel the warmth Yang had just provided resonating through her system. The effect was wearing off quickly though, so she decided to take Yang's suggestion and put on some warmer clothing as fast as possible.

One sweatshirt and heavy pair of pants later, Blake found herself sitting back down on the edge of her bed. She wasn't _exhausted_, per se, but she certainly didn't possess her usual allotment of energy. She had decided to just wait here until Yang came to see her again, rather than to attempt making it downstairs at that moment and risk receiving some more ridicule from her partner.

This plan worked out rather well when Yang came bursting back into her room several minutes later. Dressed in her normal combat attire, the brawler wasted no time in rushing across the room to Blake. Before Blake even had the opportunity to make a cheeky comment about 'where's the fire?' Yang had planted her knees on either side of Blake's legs, pushing Blake down onto the bed.

Her back met the mattress just as Yang's lips collided with her own. There was no time for her to think as she merely reacted to the sensation, instantly fueled by Yang's own fire. She felt her hands grasping at feathery locks of blonde hair while Yang nipped lightly at her bottom lip, reminding her to be careful with how hard she pulled. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest as she fought to keep up with Yang's fervent lips.

Yang kissed her passionately, feverishly, greedily…

She kissed her as if this were going to be their last.

The blonde finally drew away when they were both breathless and panting for air. Leaning down, she gave Blake one last peck on the lips before she hopped off of the bed and extended a hand to pull Blake back into a seated position.

Blake could feel her cheeks burning as Yang grinned, her own face flushed.

"I'll see you soon, ok?" she said quietly, giving Blake's hand a squeeze before lightly setting it down on Blake's knee.

"Ok…be safe."

"Aren't I always?" Yang responded with a wink.

Blake smiled, shaking her head as Yang pranced cheerfully out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind the girl, her smile faded.

She was worried and afraid…terrified that something would happen to Yang. Yang was her rock, her harbor, her shelter from the storm. She didn't know what she would do without her partner now that they had finally come together…

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited a minute for her breath to return to normal and her heartbeat to resume a slower pace before she heaved a heavy sigh. If she was going to have to wait here all day for her teammates to come home, she might as well try to find something to fill her time so she didn't spend all day worrying about them.

Slowly rising to her feet, she took delicate steps towards the door, testing how far her recovery had progressed overnight. Her balance seemed to have made great strides in returning to her, and her legs felt much more solid than they had yesterday. She was at least able to cross the few steps outside and to the staircase without so much as a wobble.

Going down the stairs was a little bit rougher, but she managed to succeed just fine if she held onto the banister for dear life. Still, her pace was much slower than she would like to admit.

Several plates arranged neatly on the kitchen table instantly caught her attention. One plate was filled with an assortment of fresh fruit, another held two pieces of toast. The third was covered in foil, so Blake couldn't immediately tell what its contents were. A still perspiring glass of cold juice rounded out the collection of items. In front of the meal was a small slip of paper, which she walked over and picked up to read.

_Blake,_

_Thought you might be a little hungry._

_-Y_

She smiled down at the paper in her hands, feeling moisture building in her eyes as she looked back up at the breakfast Yang had prepared for her. Right on cue, her stomach let out a loud grumble.

Deciding that breakfast was first on her list of tasks to accomplish today, she pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the feast. She lifted the foil off of the mystery plate, feeling her eyes go wide when she discovered what had been hidden there.

A bagel…topped with a very, _very_ generous helping of lox, her absolute favorite breakfast food.

She briefly wondered what she had done right in this world to deserve such a magnificent person, before she happily bit into the delectable treat.

She certainly was not able to finish all of the food Yang had put out for her, feeling stuffed to the brim after only eating the bagel. The rest she would save for later in the day.

Now that she was no longer hungry, she set off for the situation room. She knew that she would need to do some serious rehabilitation in order to regain her stamina, and figured that today was as good a day as any to begin. While she still hadn't been officially cleared for physical activity, she decided that since walking around the house hadn't been made off limits to her, she would walk until she felt she had pushed herself to her physical limit for the morning.

She walked up to the control panel in the room and scrolled through her options. No Grimm were necessary this time, just some nice scenery for her to walk amongst. She picked one of the park options and watched as trees, grass, benches, and walkways began materializing before her eyes.

She didn't think that she would ever get used to how amazing this technology was, no matter how many times she saw it in motion.

Once the simulation was finished, complete with the sounds of birds chirping in the trees and a light breeze rustling through the leaves, Blake started walking along the concrete pathway through the park.

She walked slowly, ambling along as she hummed softly to herself. Since the park was somewhat small, she mapped out the best circuit that would allow her to continuously loop around the area without interruption. Once she had settled into her course, she spent a good part of the next hour walking through the calming atmosphere, sitting down on a park bench every so often when she felt like she needed a small breather.

The process was relaxing, rejuvenating, but also wore down at her endurance after some time. Blake could feel her lungs stinging slightly as they worked harder than usual. The muscles in her legs also regained some of their more wobbly characteristics the longer and farther she pressed them to go.

Finally, she decided that she had done enough for right now. Once she stopped walking, she could hear herself wheezing gently as she sat down on a bench to catch her breath.

She looked around at the tranquil scene in front of her. It was so peaceful and calm…unlike anything that was likely to be found out in Vale at this moment. Her heart clenched tightly when she realized that Yang could also be in a beautiful setting like this right now, only fighting for her life and the lives of others – not sitting around admiring the scenery.

Once she had recouped some strength, she stood up, this time heading for the exit on weak legs.

Now seemed like an appropriate time to lose herself in a nice book until her teammates made it home…

* * *

Blake had always been able to spend hours reading without so much as a second thought. Getting lost in the world written on those pages helped her escape from the harsh realities of the world surrounding her.

Today, she was trying to avoid thinking about the perils her teammates were facing without her.

She had selected a happy romance novel, hoping that its light contents would adequately distract her from her more serious thoughts. Thankfully, the strategy seemed to be working moderately well, as the hours began flying by (interrupted by short cat naps taken in the comfortable library chair).

It wasn't until evening emerged and the light began to fade that Blake grew worried.

Shouldn't they be back by now? They wouldn't be gone into the night, would they?

Her book no longer served as a distraction, even as she attempted to continue reading. Her mind refused to focus on the words now that her internal alarms had begun ringing and her ears focused on any noise that might signify the girls returning home. How long should she wait before she started calling people to see if they knew what was going on?

Thankfully, the sound of voices drifted into the library before Blake did anything too crazy. Moments later, the library door cracked open, allowing a smiling blonde to poke her head inside.

"I knew I would find you in here!" Yang said cheerily, swinging the door all the way open and stepping inside.

Blake smiled when she saw the girl, all of her worries washing away as if they had never existed at all.

Yang walked over to where Blake was sitting and scooped Blake out of the chair before she could even react. She squeaked lightly in surprise as Yang spun around and plopped herself down in the chair, now holding Blake gently in her lap.

Blake thought that she had been comfortable all day, but feeling Yang's warmth only made her realize how cold it actually was without her fiery partner nearby. The snow around her heart melted instantly.

"Good evening, beautiful," Yang whispered, happy as could be. It was as if the blonde had already forgotten that she had just spent all day fighting against enemies determined to capture and brainwash her.

"Good evening," Blake murmured in response. "I'm glad you made it back ok."

"Of course!" Yang responded with a laugh. "We taught a _lot_ of folks a thing or two about messing with Team RWBY, that's for sure."

Blake smiled as Yang's lilac eyes latched onto her own.

"Of course, I would rather have been here with you."

Yang leaned in and gave Blake a short kiss. Soft, gentle, and loving, it only made Blake yearn for more when her partner pulled away. But she sighed happily and snuggled more comfortably into Yang's arms, breathing in the familiar scent of gunpowder, campfires, and a tiny bit of citrus from the girl's shampoo.

"So, what'd you do today?" Yang asked, one of her fingers continuously creating loops in a lock of Blake's hair.

They spent the next few minutes discussing what Blake had done that day, how she was feeling, what the book she was reading was about…everything but what Yang had done out in the city. Even though Blake really wanted to know what was going on in the rest of Vale, she didn't want to pry, and Yang didn't offer the information.

They stayed there until Ruby came to tell them that dinner was ready. The brunette was shocked to see that Yang still hadn't showered or changed, and laughed as she dutifully informed Yang that Weiss was going to kill her.

Dinner passed quickly and mostly in silence as the three huntresses who had spent the day fighting devoured their food. Blake picked at her own plate slowly, carefully analyzing the moods of the girls sitting at the table with her.

Weiss seemed more resigned than usual, and beyond tired. However, the heiress still had the energy to scold Ruby when she knocked the salt shaker over on the table. But Weiss also smiled at all of Ruby's jokes, and snuck loving peeks at the brunette when she thought that no one else was watching.

Ruby was her usual happy-go-lucky self, but her jokes appeared to be flowing much less naturally this evening. The brunette subconsciously scooted closer to Weiss as the meal progressed, appearing to need to be within the heiress' personal space.

And Yang…well Blake caught Yang staring at her more than a few times as they ate. Each time Blake flushed, quickly turning away from the lilac gaze. Her partner joked with her little sister, as usual, but, as with the rest of the team, the interactions were more strained than usual.

Whatever was going on, they were deathly worried about it.

When their meal had ended, everyone was ready to turn in to bed, including Blake. Even though she had taken several naps throughout the day, she still felt tired enough to fall asleep for the night.

They all helped clear away the dishes, with Blake and Yang in charge of putting the clean, dry ones back into their respective cabinets. When Weiss and Ruby had finished their part of the process, the two girls trudged out of the room towards the stairs, murmuring their goodnights as they left.

"Sooo…" Yang said as she wiped off her hands on a clean towel. "Think you can make it up the stairs today?"

From the slightly eager expression on Yang's face, Blake couldn't tell if the blonde wanted her to answer 'yes' or 'no' to that question.

"Actually…I am kind of tired…" she replied with a small smirk, deciding to throw her partner a bone. "But…"

She didn't have the opportunity to finish her thought as Yang had already lifted her off the ground and was carrying her towards her bedroom. Blake sighed happily and wrapped her arms lazily around Yang's neck. Seconds later, Yang was setting her down on her feet in front of her bed.

"My lady…" Yang said courteously with a deep bow. Blake giggled at the sight while Yang straightened up with a smile and began backing back towards the door.

"Sleep well, ok?" her partner ended seriously.

For reasons Blake couldn't fully comprehend at this time, she started to panic when she watched Yang moving further away from her, recalling the cold she had suffered through last night.

"Y-Yang?"

The blonde immediately halted her movement with one foot still hovering an inch off the ground behind her. She tilted her head quizzically to the side, waiting for Blake to continue.

"Could you…stay with me again tonight?"

A smile…more radiant than any Blake had seen over dinner, emerged on Yang's face.

"Of course," the girl replied, nodding her head vigorously. "Let me change and I'll be right back."

With that, the blonde ducked quickly out of her room, just as Blake heard a long sigh of relief escape her own lips.

* * *

The next several days passed in much the same manner as the first. Every day, Blake would wake up warm and secure in Yang's arms. The blonde would then have to set out for her day of fighting against who knew what, but only after drawing Blake into a long passionate kiss that would take her breath away.

Blake would eat breakfast before continuing her rehab, which was progressing very rapidly thanks to her body's exceptional recovery skills. She had already graduated from walking to running fast paced laps around the park. She was even able to throw in some light weights and fight some 'very easy' Beowolves with Gambol Shroud.

Afterwards she would be tired, but not overexerted. She would then head for the library, where she was blowing through books at an incredible pace.

The stories and training helped keep her mind off of the fact that her teammates were risking their lives while all she could do was sit around the house and do moderate amounts of training. It was frustrating, to say the least.

More and more, she found herself counting down the minutes until her teammates would come home, although the exact time tended to be nearly impossible to calculate. As soon as the clock passed into early afternoon, she became increasingly fearful for her teammates' lives.

When Yang did make it home though, she would race to the library straightaway. Blake would always set down her book when she saw the blonde coming through the door, no matter how good of a part she was at. Yang would scoop her up and drop down into the chair herself as she gave Blake a tender kiss, as if they were kissing for the very first time.

Now that Blake had more energy, she would go through some more exercises after they had another subdued team dinner. No matter how exhausted her partner must have been, Yang always partook in the exercises with her. And, in a very un-Yang-like manner, the blonde never showed off or did what would actually constitute a workout for the brawler. She did the exact same exercises that Blake would do, and at the same speed.

The message to Blake rang clear: Yang only wanted to spend time with her, and Blake was eternally grateful for her company.

But, every night, Yang still made Blake ask her to stay with her. Blake couldn't figure out if her partner was just being respectful by not making the assumption that Blake _always_ wanted Yang to be with her, or if the blonde just really, _really_ liked hearing Blake ask. Either way, Blake always found the courage to ask just as Yang was preparing to leave.

She still didn't really know what was going on outside of the house, other than a few snippets of information she had gathered from Ruby. But on this day, when she had woken up feeling more energized than any of the days prior, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

After breakfast and her morning workout, she went to the living room instead of the library, powering on the computer located there. She knew that the media outlets would never have complete information, but they would at least have several of the most important facts by this point, if they were reporting it at all.

Diving into the information for several minutes, she quickly realized why her teammates were so downcast and somber.

If what the articles she was reading were to be believed, the huntsmen fighting under Professor Ozpin's direction were losing.

Entire sections of Vale had been devastated in battles. Countless innocent lives lost. Several prominent huntsmen had defected to Cinder's side. Others were missing in action – presumed dead or captured.

She saw familiar names on several websites, either of defectors or missing huntsmen. Now she understood why her teammates refused to speak of these matters when they finally came home. They were fighting a losing battle, and morale must be sinking incredibly low.

Powering off the device, Blake felt sick to her stomach, wishing she had never had the courage to look at all. What was the saying, after all?

Ignorance is bliss.

She sighed as she got up and headed to the library to finish her day of waiting, even more determined to support her teammates as best as she could. Plus, at the pace she was recovering, she should be able to join them in battle sooner rather than later. Of course, that was assuming that the war hadn't already been lost.

Sitting in her usual chair, she found it extremely difficult to focus on anything other than the news articles she had just read. She slowly flipped through the pages, many times having to read and reread sentences before she could move on.

Several hours later, she was surprised when she heard the sounds of her teammates returning home, earlier than usual.

Her heart began to beat faster, waiting for Yang to come find her.

Seconds later, the door burst open as the blonde strode in with a big smile.

"You're home early," Blake commented as her partner plucked her up out of the chair and plopped back down in her place. Blake could already feel warmth invading her body as Yang's fire enveloped her.

"Yeah well…I just missed you a little too much today," Yang replied with a grin.

Blake returned the grin with a smile, relieved that she didn't have to worry about Yang's safety any longer today, realizing incredibly how fortunate she was for Yang to be returning at all.

"Oh, I forgot. Hello, gorgeous," Yang cooed at her. Blake felt her eyes flutter shut as Yang leaned towards her for a kiss.

"Hey, Blake? Oh, god, sorry!"

Blake turned bright red at the sound of Ruby's voice, turning away from Yang to find the brunette now hiding politely behind the library door. She heard Yang let out a subtle growl of frustration at the interruption.

"Y-yeah Ruby?" Blake called out before clearing her throat. She tried to wiggle out of Yang's arms in order to sit up properly, but the brawler had already been snubbed out of a kiss and refused to give another inch. She gave up with a sigh, sending a pleading look towards Yang, who merely replied with a shrug and a smile.

"What do you need?" she asked, settling back into Yang's arms since the girl refused to let her go.

"Oh, uh…I just wanted to see if we could check and see if the last of your stitches can come out," Ruby answered hastily, still not peering into the room.

"Oh yeah that's a good idea," Blake replied, shooting Yang a look that instantly granted her release from the vice grip arms.

She pulled herself to her feet as Yang popped up behind her.

"I'll come too!" Yang commented, both joining Ruby and heading to the med room through the kitchen.

As soon as they entered the sterile room, Blake watched in amazement as Ruby morphed into a completely different person. The brunette walked around the room with a purpose and confidence that Blake was completely unfamiliar with. Ruby gathered two small instruments and handed them to Yang for the blonde to hold, while Blake jumped up and seated herself on the table with her legs swinging off the edge above the ground.

"Ok, let's see how you've been healing up," Ruby said dutifully, motioning to Blake's chest.

Blake immediately complied with the girl's unspoken request and began tugging at the bottom of her shirt to remove the garment.

She paused at the sound of metal tools clattering onto a nearby table.

"Uh…I just forgot that I have to…to do something," Yang said hastily before rushing out of the room, face bright red.

Blake still had her shirt lifted partially off as she and Ruby both stared after the girl in shock.

After several seconds of stunned silence, Ruby turned to her, eyes wide.

"Was my sister just _embarrassed?_"

Blake nodded her head slowly as Ruby started laughing.

"I have never, _ever_ seen Yang embarrassed before!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully. "Oh, I can't wait to tell Weiss…"

Blake finally finished pulling off her shirt, saying, "I don't know why she would be embarrassed…we've seen each other change thousands of times before."

But the more Blake thought about it, she realized that Yang had never _actually_ watched Blake change, at least not that she had noticed. Her partner had always very noticeably averted her eyes. It had been something Blake had found rather curious at first, but she had then decided that Yang was just being respectful of her privacy. Not that Blake would have had a problem with Yang looking. It actually would have made her feel a little better since she had stared at the blonde changing (not overtly, of course) more than a few times.

"You've healed really well," Ruby commented, prodding lightly at the jagged red line prominently placed on Blake's chest. "The stitches can come out now, at least."

The brunette retrieved the dropped tools from the table and began calmly snipping out the thin pieces of thread one by one.

"How have you been feeling, otherwise?" Ruby asked as she continued her work.

"I feel tons better every day," Blake responded honestly. "My strength is steadily getting back to where it once was, and I don't feel as tired all the time anymore."

Ruby nodded her head as she listened to Blake's self-assessment, removing the last stitch and setting down the tools in approval.

"I don't think there will be a problem with you doing a little more physical rehabilitation now that your stitches aren't needed. Make sure not to push yourself harder than you should though; it will only make things more difficult in the future. You might be progressing quickly, but you still have a long way to go."

Internally, Blake sighed at the prognosis as she hopped off of the table, even though she knew that Ruby was correct. She shouldn't push herself in order to force herself back into action, but it was becoming extremely difficult to sit on the sidelines while her teammates were out risking their lives.

"Don't worry, Blake…" Ruby said as they walked towards the door. "We all just want you to get better." The brunette ended her comment with a sincere smile that melted some of Blake's frustration away.

"Thank you, Ruby," she replied, giving her team leader a brief hug before they stepped out into the kitchen.

There they found Yang calmly sitting at the table, eating an apple while she nonchalantly flipped through the pages of some magazine. Seeing them exit the med room, she jumped up with a big smile, acting as if nothing had happened.

"So, what's the verdict?" she asked eagerly.

Ruby merely snickered at her sister and walked away, no doubt to find Weiss as quickly as possible.

"I don't have stitches anymore, if that's what you're wondering about," Blake answered in Ruby's place.

"No, I mean…" Yang leaned closer to her as if about to tell her a secret. "Are you cleared for some physical activity?"

Blake felt her cheeks burn at the question.

"I think that depends on…what type…of activity…" she answered carefully.

"Come on," Yang said as she grabbed ahold of Blake's hand and began dragging her out of the room.

Blake protested at first, until she realized that Yang was pulling her towards the situation room. Yang directed her to the center of the room before she released Blake's hand and strode several paces away from her.

She raised an eyebrow when she realized what it was that Yang wanted to do.

"Yang…I really don't think that…"

"I'll go easy on you, I promise!" Yang cut her off, removing Ember Cecilia from her wrists and tossing her beloved weapon off to the side to prove her point.

"Come on, just a little spar, pleaseee?"

She sighed in defeat, causing Yang to beam in excitement as she raised her fists in front of her face and bounced lightly back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Come and get me!" the blonde encouraged her, waving Blake forward with the fingers on her right hand.

Blake analyzed Yang carefully as she began stalking in a circle around the girl, looking for the best opening through which to attack. On a good day, the window of opportunity would be very small, but it did look like Yang was focused more on having fun than trying hard.

After completing several laps around the blonde, Blake shot forward unexpectantly, attempting to catch her partner off guard. Yang's right hand lowered a fraction of an inch to deflect the kick Blake had feinted towards her, before Blake threw her intended attack: a vicious right hook aimed straight for Yang's nose.

At the last millisecond, Yang's left hand came up and caught Blake's attack. Before her brain could even comprehend what was happening, Blake was sailing through the air over Yang's back as the blonde swung her over by her own momentum.

But instead of hitting the ground with the jarring crash she had been expecting, her torso came to an abrupt halt inches from the ground before gently falling the rest of the way with a soft thud.

Yang had pulled up on her arm at the last second in order to protect Blake from landing too harshly on her back.

She felt Yang's weight press down on her rib cage as her arms were firmly pinned to the ground right above her head. Looking up, Blake found herself gazing into lilac eyes accompanied by a huge grin. A veil of blonde hair hung around her on both sides as Yang's mane of gold locks cascaded over the girl's shoulders.

"One move, Belladonna?" Yang teased. "I thought it would take more than just one move to get you on the floor."

The wink Yang added at the end caused Blake to blush.

"Congratulations on beating the cripple," Blake muttered in slight annoyance.

"Thank you!" Yang responded proudly, not affected in the least by Blake's comment. "So…what's my prize?"

Blake stiffened for a half second at the question before feeling her blush deepen.

"I think…a kiss…might be appropriate…"

Yang looked at her in dismay before her eyes became eager and excited as she leaned down closer to Blake.

"Yan-! Oh, sorry!"

"God dammit Ruby. I'm going to disown you," Yang cursed under her breath as she lifted her face to look at the girl.

"I'm sorry," Ruby repeated, this time more sternly than was normal for the younger girl. "But you both need to come see this, now."

Yang looked down at Blake, the two sharing the same perplexed look at Ruby's demeanor. Yang released Blake's arms and pulled her to her feet as they followed at a run behind a briskly walking Ruby.

They stumbled into the living room clouded in confusion, hearing the projector blaring a television program as multiple voices spoke over top of each other. Weiss was already standing there, staring at the images in front of her with a mix of anger and dismay written all over her face.

"What's…" Blake began asking, only for Weiss to point forcefully towards the screen.

She turned, finding the screen was turned to Vale News, with the current image seeming to be filmed from a news airship. A massive, regal building was the focal point of the shot, standing as if on an island, with the nearest buildings several blocks away. Billowing columns of silver smoke were emitting from heaps of rubble nearest to the building in focus. An army of Paladins and Knights were setting up posts on every corner of the building, daring anyone to try to approach.

"Is that…?" Yang whispered from beside her.

"The Capitol? Yup…" Weiss responded distantly as she reached out and gently took one of Ruby's hands in her own.

"How did they get so many Atlesians…?" Blake asked to no one in particular.

The headline running across the bottom of the screen in huge block letters caught Blake's eye.

_Breaking News…Terrorists Overtake Capitol._

None of those present in the room needed to guess who those 'terrorists' might be.

"Isn't the Capitol building downtown?" Blake asked, realizing that the building on the screen appeared to be far removed from any other structures.

"It was…" Weiss responded, voice hardly above a whisper.

Blake raised a hand to cover her mouth as the implication of Weiss' words hit her, horror and anguish spreading through her system like wildfire.

Entire city blocks of downtown Vale…leveled.

But why?

As they watched, the news airships continued to circle around the Capitol building while also purveying the destruction of what had once been downtown. After watching for several minutes in stunned silence, the news feed suddenly began flickering. A few more flickers, and Cinder's smirking face appeared on the screen.

Blake felt Yang's temperature spike as Cinder hijacked the newsfeed and began speaking.

"Good afternoon, citizens of Vale…" Cinder began politely, with a smile that oozed self-confidence.

"By now, you may have noticed that your Capitol has been captured, along with all of the people who were inside."

"I will tell you our demands, which are really quite simple. We want the last remaining huntsmen of Vale to turn themselves in. If they refuse…well…then I would suggest sending some coffins, instead."

Cinder smirked, seeming to prefer either result equally.

"Oh…and I feel like I'm forgetting something…wasn't there some important event being held here today?"

The brunette gave an evil chuckle at the question.

"You have until noon tomorrow."

Cinder's image flickered and disappeared, returning the screen to the image of the lonely building streaming from the airships.

The four girls stood in silence as Weiss muted the sound of the newscasters speaking over each other in hysteria.

"What was being held at the Capitol today, Weiss?" Blake asked hesitantly, not really wanting to know the answer.

The heiress stood frozen in her place, eyes still fixed determinedly to the screen.

"A meeting of some of Remnant's most powerful leaders - all called here to discuss the attacks that had been happening…"

They fell back into silence as the understanding of what this meant dawned on all of them. The most powerful leaders in all of Remnant…sent here from Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas…only to be held hostage by Cinder and her followers. If they didn't give themselves up, Cinder would not hesitate to execute these people…what would Remnant dissolve into then?

Ruby was the first one with the courage to speak.

"Did we just…lose?"

Weiss instantly scoffed at her fiancée's comment.

"Of course not, Ruby, we didn't lose. We'll figure out some way to stop her."

But Weiss' words fell unusually flat, the heiress clearly not holding much faith in what she was saying.

Blake felt a warm hand wrap around her own, looking down to find Yang's fingers now intertwined in hers. She looked up to find Yang giving her a small smile, eyes still lilac.

"Don't worry, we will figure something out," Yang stated calmly.

Whether her partner was speaking just to her or to the whole team, Blake didn't know. But she couldn't help a little smile forming in return.

As long as they were together…anything was possible.


	33. Chapter 33

**I'm sorry this is late! But I actually came down with a cold and couldn't really do anything the past few days... :( But I'm feeling mostly better, so edited this today. Enjoy and happy Sunday!**

* * *

Minutes after Cinder's announcement, they were summoned to Beacon by Professor Ozpin and Glynda. In the interest of saving energy (and to prevent Blake from having to run all the way there), they caught the next airship to the campus.

The vessel was surprisingly vacant – allowing the four girls to lapse into complete silence as they watched the city of Vale slip by beneath them. Yang could make out the signs of turmoil on the streets as looters had already begun their nefarious activities. Her mind burned at the thought of criminals taking advantage of this time for their own personal gain, but there was nothing she could do to stop them at the moment. All she could do was squeeze Blake's hand a little tighter, knowing that her virtuous partner would be just as upset by the scene as she was.

As soon as the airship touched down on the landing pad at Beacon, they flew down the ramp and across the main avenue leading towards Beacon's auditorium. In the distance, several other figures were visible entering the front entrance, undoubtedly other huntsmen answering Ozpin's call. Yang felt their pace quicken ever so slightly as the building grew increasingly closer to them.

Their pace instantly slowed to a brisk walk the second their heels hit the tile front entrance, still conditioned after four years of schooling and numerous reprimands to not run in the hallways. Entering the amphitheater moments later, they found that there was already a small crowd of huntsmen gathered near the front of the room.

The group wasn't nearly as lively or boisterous as one would have expected, exhaustion and gloom seeming to be the predominant moods. While she didn't know some of the older huntsmen very well, Yang could tell that they were all broken, in one way or the other, from the events of the past few weeks. Most had likely lost close friends or teammates to the other side, or been betrayed by someone they thought they had known, or were now sporting scars from close encounters with death.

In particular, it killed her to see Nora standing quietly with Pyrrha and Jaune – not a smile on her face or bounce in her step. Just standing there, morose as the rest of them. Nora was always the one person that could be counted on to be bubbly under any circumstance, but today she was mellow and reserved.

Yang had had the…misfortune, she would say, of being there when Ren had been captured. Team RWBY (minus Blake) had been called to help Team JNPR handle a rather large horde of Grimm that had been released inside a shopping center. The combat had been frantic in such close quarters, with maneuverability nearly nonexistent. The level of destruction had been incredible; the entire inside of the building had been laid to waste in a matter of minutes.

She could still remember it – the slight feeling of relief she had felt when the battle had turned in their favor. When they had managed to thin the Grimm down to a level they could manage while also sparing time to get any civilians to safety.

That's when Team CRDL had appeared.

Her mind seared at the memory. No one had seen it coming. One second, they were clearing out waves of Grimm. The next second, Cardin Winchester and his team of…of _traitors_…had appeared out of nowhere.

They had targeted Nora, since the huntress had been furthest removed from the rest of them. She was too far away for anyone to come to her aid quickly enough. Except for Ren…he had been the closest to her and had somehow made it to her, shoving her out of the way just in time to take a firm beating from the four boys.

Team CRDL hadn't given them any time to respond, picking up the now-unconscious Ren and disappearing with him seconds later.

Nora had chased them…but that was the last time Yang had seen the girl until now. Weiss, Ruby, and she had ended up battling the rest of the Grimm by themselves – allowing Pyrrha and Jaune to try to track down the girl and prevent her from becoming the next victim.

Yang could still remember coming back to the house that night, feeling completely sick to her stomach over what had just happened – defeated in a way only losing a close friend can make you feel. Thankfully, Blake was usually enough of a distraction to keep her mind off of things. Still, she knew how it felt to lose a partner…and it wasn't something she would wish on anyone else in the world – and certainly not on one of her close friends.

Yang tugged Blake closer to her as Professor Ozpin and Glynda moved onto the stage in front of the room. She couldn't help feeling…guilty…that her partner and teammates were still safe and here with her. As if the other huntsmen here tonight might judge her for not having the misfortune of losing a teammate hanging over her head.

What little noise there had been in the room quieted as everyone stilled in preparation for what Professor Ozpin had to say. The man had likely had a hand in training all of the people in this room besides Glynda, allowing him to remain the unquestioned leader through everything. They respected him, admired him, but…they needed him to come up with a solution.

"Good evening to all of you…" he began cordially, bowing his head slightly towards them. "I imagine by now you all know why we asked you to come here tonight."

Somber nods encircled the room.

"How did they get so many Atlesians?" a huntress with red hair and even redder eyes demanded to know.

Professor Ozpin sighed as he turned towards the questioner, having clearly expected that question to pop up sooner or later.

"They built them," he answered plainly before expanding upon his words when confused murmurs broke out amongst them.

"We made a mistake…" he admitted gravely. "While we were focusing on the Grimm attacks - keeping the citizens of Vale safe and locating the perpetrators, we failed to notice or even be alerted to the fact that shipments of parts used to make the machines used to build Atlesians were going missing from the docks or the factories."

"They started with small pieces, but increased their takes as they increased the intensity of the attacks. It didn't raise any red flags when a handful of calibrators or a few conveyors went missing…not when there were Beowolves running the streets."

Yang scowled. So it had all just been a complicated slight of hand trick? Focus on the obvious threat over here, while completely missing the real threat taking place in the background…and they had completely fallen for it. Of course, it would have been up to the companies to report the incidents to the police, who would have needed to inform the huntsmen of the occurrences. And Professor Ozpin was right – there had simply been bigger issues to worry about than what would have looked like petty theft.

"But, we cannot do anything about that now," Professor Ozpin continued. "You all understand what Cinder's demand is?"

More nods around the room.

"Good. Then you realize we cannot allow the…assassination…of Remnant's top government leaders to happen. Any ideas for how we can prevent this from happening will be listened to."

"What about the huntsmen from the other kingdoms?" a younger huntress with vibrant blue hair spoke up.

Professor Ozpin nodded his head.

"A message has already been sent to the other huntsmen, who are on their way as we speak. But they will make it here tomorrow night, at best – far too late for the deadline we have been given."

"But if we turn ourselves in, there will be even more huntsmen to fight them when they arrive! Isn't that even worse?" a hulking hunter who Yang did not recognize cut in. The man was likely over seven feet tall and built like a tree. She couldn't help being thankful that he was still on their side, as the menacingly gigantic sword strapped to his back made Crescent Rose look like a small child's toy.

Professor Ozpin nodded his head again thoughtfully, index fingers held up to his chin.

"Yes…there could be more of us to fight when they do arrive, but it will at least give them the _chance_ to succeed."

As mumbles of discontent spread throughout the room, Professor Ozpin cleared his throat and continued in a loud, clear voice.

"Surely all of you remember that the huntsman's creed is to protect the great kingdom of Vale and ALL its inhabitants. Preventing the deaths of not only _our_ government officials, but also those from our neighboring kingdoms, insures that there is a chance for life and order to continue after all of this. Cinder means to cause chaos – anarchy – so that Vale will tear itself apart from the inside out. We cannot allow her to bring our government to its knees."

More murmurs began spreading around the room at Professor Ozpin's words.

Yang didn't like the idea either. She would rather be able to continue fighting than to keep some useless government officials alive…but Professor Ozpin had never led them astray in the past. His words had a certain weight of truth to them that she couldn't dismiss. She respected him too much.

"What about an antidote? Have you been able to develop one?" Weiss spoke up from Yang's right.

Whispers reappeared as a tiny bit of hope sparked amongst the crowd, only to be dashed when Professor Ozpin sighed.

"We're still weeks away, at best," he answered sadly. "We've only been able to test how quickly it dissipates in the bloodstream, which is about 3-4 days. Other than that…we've simply run out of time."

Silence.

As Yang stood there, looking at the doomed faces of those surrounding her, she suddenly realized something.

Her aura wouldn't allow her to be controlled by the drug for more than a few minutes, let alone a few _days_. Adam and Cinder had certainly already figured that out, or they would piece it together pretty quick. If Yang couldn't be controlled with the drug…well then…

Whatever happened, she was going to die.

She felt a familiar spark in her chest. The one that always came to life when she was injured – on the edge of falling. It was the fire that kept her going, that made her stronger, that allowed her to stand back up and fight back.

"Why don't _we_ fight then?" she spoke up, drawing everyone's eyes in her direction.

"We're huntsmen, after all," she continued, feeling her heart burn hotter and hotter as the thought continued to grow in her mind.

"Cinder's not going to care if we show up and surrender, or show up for a battle. All they want is for us to be removed as an immediate threat. And they have more than enough weapons and huntsmen to overpower us, so she would be assured they would win. But I'd much rather go down fighting than to ever give myself up to them."

The huntsmen around her began nodding their heads in agreement at her words. A few even managed to crack small smiles at the thought.

A spark…sometimes, that's all people needed.

Professor Ozpin also seemed to be thinking carefully on the thought, and slowly nodded his head as well.

"Yang."

Yang turned towards her partner's whisper, finding Blake's ears lying almost completely flat against her head.

"That's suicide…"

She smiled sadly at Blake before responding.

"Blake…either way for me…it's suicide."

Her partner's head tilted slightly in confusion at the comment.

"The drug only works for a short amount of time on me…" Yang began softly, trying to explain this as gently as possible. "If Adam or Cinder can't control me…I'll be…expendable…"

Blake's eyes opened widely when she realized what Yang was saying.

She couldn't believe herself what things had come to – after all this time, she and Blake had finally managed to get their feelings for each other out in the open. Their team had been reunited. And now…Cinder and Adam were going to rip them back apart. Permanently this time.

But suddenly, Blake's eyes narrowed slightly, an idea seeming to pop into the girl's mind.

"Blake, what…"

She didn't get a chance to finish the question before Blake had stepped away from her and stood in front of all of the huntsmen who were now preparing for all-out war.

"Wait!" the Faunus shouted, regaining everyone's attention at the front of the room.

"Just wait a second…" Blake continued in a softer voice as everyone stared at her. "There has to be some sort controlling drug, or _something_. Not an antidote…but something that only gives _certain_ people control of those injected with the drug."

Blake clenched her fists in frustration when the crowd regarded her skeptically. She turned back towards her teammates and spoke directly to them, willing them to understand her.

"Yang, when Adam injected you with the drug, Ruby yelled at you to stop. She _ordered_ you to stop, but you didn't; you disobeyed her. So, what would make you obey Adam and not Ruby?"

Suddenly, what Blake was trying to get at began to make sense.

Yang nodded her head as Blake then turned to everyone else, who were also looking at the Faunus girl with much more interest.

"There's _something_ or some _way_ that Adam was different. Something put him in charge and no one else."

Yang couldn't help smiling as Blake stumbled onto something very, _very_ important.

She watched happily while Blake continued explaining her theory, quickly winning over even the most dubious of believers within the crowd. Yang felt her heart swell with pride that the Faunus girl in front of them was her partner, her best friend, her…girlfriend.

She refocused when Professor Ozpin began speaking again.

"If Miss Belladonna's theory is correct…then there could be another drug out there. Somehow, the two combined create a pair – a bond between master and servant."

"So…if we could find the second drug, we could potentially gain control over the other huntsmen?" Weiss asked.

Yang noticed a fleeting smile pass by Nora's lips, collectively realizing what that could potentially mean.

They could turn the tide against Cinder and Adam if all of the huntsmen were on their side. Cinder might have an entire army of Atlesians, but the huntsmen were what truly made her followers deadly. The Paladins and Knights wouldn't stand a chance if all of the huntsmen were united against them.

"It would have to be somewhere in the Capitol," Pyrrha suggested. "I don't think they would travel very far without it, if it's that powerful."

"We could do what we did at the base!" Yang spoke up excitedly. "Send in a scout while the rest of us serve as a distraction out front. It will draw all of the guards and huntsmen outside while we search the building."

"Hmm…yes, make them _think_ we want a battle, when what we actually want is more time," Professor Ozpin finally agreed after listening to them talk for several minutes.

"Volunteers?" Glynda finally spoke up from beside their mentor.

"I'll do it," Yang immediately said, while Nora's hand shot up into the air at the exact same time. Several other people raised their hands as well.

But Blake shook her head.

"No…none of you can go…" she said firmly, causing everyone to look at her in confusion.

"Cinder is expecting _all_ of you to surrender, remember?" Blake explained as she looked around the room, amber eyes ablaze. "She'll know which huntsmen are remaining, and she'll notice when someone is missing."

_Well, there goes that plan_, Yang thought to herself as the room deflated.

"Then who can do it?" Ruby asked to no one in particular.

"I can do it," Blake finished.

_NO_, Yang internally screamed at the idea, feeling panic surge through her veins.

But Weiss and Ruby looked at each other for a split second, before Weiss began slowly working her way through the rationale of Blake's idea.

"You know…that could work…because they don't know that Blake is still alive. In fact, if Adam had checked into it at all, he would actually have found records that Blake died."

Yang and Blake turned to Weiss in surprise.

"What?" They both shouted at the same time.

Weiss looked almost sheepish as she explained.

"Well, we didn't want Adam or Cinder to find out that Blake was still alive and try to come finish her off in the hospital. So…we created her death records. We even had a funeral for her…"

Yang continued to look at the heiress in complete dismay.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" she demanded.

"Because you would have flipped out if we had tried to tell you!" Weiss shot right back at her.

She instantly backed down, holding up her hands in defeat. She couldn't argue that Weiss was wrong about that. She wouldn't have been able to handle even the _fictional _idea of Blake's death when her partner had been trapped in a coma.

"Ok…" Blake continued after shaking her head slightly. "Well, even more reason I should be the one to do it. They think I'm dead, so they won't know that I'm missing from the plan. They won't go searching for me if they don't see me in front of them. I can slip in through the roof and try to find whatever they're using while they think all of the remaining huntsman are on the Capitol's lawn."

Yang shook her head furiously.

"No. No way. Absolutely not."

"Yang…" Weiss began slowly. "It actually sounds like…it could work."

"No," she said again, still shaking her head, even though Blake now was looking towards her with pleading eyes.

"And Blake would have the greatest opportunity for success if Cinder doesn't have any suspicion that anything is going on inside the building while the fight is outside," Velvet added, instantly drawing Yang's wrath her way.

"NO!" she shouted forcefully, slamming a fire-engulfed fist down on the surface nearest to her. She turned and stormed out of the room, fizzling in barely controlled fury.

How dare they try to make Blake do this? She had _just_ gotten out of the hospital a few days ago. She could _barely_ fight to save her life. No, she _couldn't _fight to save her life. Just because Blake could walk around normally did not mean she was in the type of shape to take on Atlesian warriors or another huntsmen. She was _not_ ready. And, as far as Yang was concerned, Blake probably never would be. Not for this type of mission.

"Yang."

Yang turned to look at her partner, who had chased her out of the room, eyes full of fear and concern.

"Yang…" Blake began again, but Yang cut her off.

"You can't do this, Blake. You're not even 100% healed yet! What if you run into one of the huntsmen under Cinder's control? Or you run into Cinder? Or…"

Blake would know who the last person was, the one that Yang was actually most afraid Blake might run into. He had failed in his task the first time…she was positive he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

"Yang…" Blake began again more firmly this time, slipping her hands into Yang's as she peered into her eyes.

But she wasn't ready to listen to Blake just yet, as a thought occurred to her.

"Run away with me," she said, gripping Blake's hands tightly in her own.

Blake laughed at the suggestion, but Yang wasn't finished.

"No, I'm serious, Blake," she continued. "Run away with me. You, me, Ruby, Weiss…we can all run away from this, right now. We can make it to Vacuo or Atlas…or we could survive in the forest, I don't care! But we can leave, Blake. We don't have to be a part of this."

Realizing that Yang was being serious, Blake regarded her with intent eyes, squeezing her hands slightly to gain her full attention.

"Yang, this could be the best shot we have to end this, once and for all. To defeat Adam and Cinder. Vale needs us."

"I don't care what Vale needs!" Yang shouted back at her, before instantly diffusing as the harsh sound of her voice caused Blake's ears to twitch slightly.

"What about what I need?" she added softly.

"I can't lose you again…I need you, Blake…" she trailed off, anger already dispersed as her voice shrank to hardly more than a whisper. She could feel defeat already beginning to set in.

"I won't ever leave you again, Yang," Blake replied confidently. "I'll always be here with you. I promise." She leaned forward on her tiptoes and gave Yang a tender kiss on the forehead to emphasize her words.

Yang looked down at the floor, deflated and resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to convince Blake not to go through with this. And she understood why. She really did. Running would be the cowardly thing to do. They would be abandoning their city, their friends, their family…but at least they would have more of a chance at survival…

She pulled Blake into a firm hug, nestling her head in Blake's neck in a briefly uncharacteristic show of vulnerability before she pulled away and forced a small smile.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise."

The two of them walked back into the ampitheater hand in hand. Yang found everyone else busy strategizing how best to approach the battle with the huntsmen and Atlesian warriors, how to stay alive as long as possible without being overrun. The feeling in the room was completely different from several minutes earlier. The somberness had been replaced by…hope.

They finally had a plan that might work. A way to bring their friends and teammates back to them. The thought alone was enough to turn these subdued huntsmen back into focused fighting machines.

Weiss and Ruby looked towards her with small smiles, already knowing that Yang had caved to Blake's plan.

They spent the next few minutes with Professor Ozpin, developing the best way for Blake to get to the roof of the building without being detected. They finally decided that they should use the cloaked ship that they had stolen from Cinder's first base.

Even though Blake didn't really know how to fly the ship, the coordinates could be programmed in and autopilot enabled to get her to the correct location. She could then jump out and navigate her landing on the top of the building as the remaining huntsmen gathered in front of the Capitol, hopefully drawing all of the captured and volunteer huntsmen outside to fight.

Once inside the building, Blake would search for whatever drug was being used to control the huntsmen. When she found it, she would take it, join the battle, and take control over Cinder's huntsmen. Hopefully, Cinder and Adam wouldn't be able to override her orders, but even if they could, it would theoretically cause enough confusion to turn the tide in their favor.

When all of the planning had been concluded, the huntsmen began to head home to get whatever sleep they could in the next few hours. They would definitely be needing it.

As they sat on the airship headed home, Yang clutched Blake's hand in her lap as if the Faunus girl held the only key to keeping Yang's heart beating. And for the first time in a very long time, Yang wished that the sun would never rise.


	34. Chapter 34

**Here it is! The beginning of the end! I'll be putting up another chapter right after this one :)**

**I apologize for the delay - was suffering through a lack of confidence there. BUT I'm ready to close this story out and move on to some other exciting ones!**

**THANK YOU so much to Mr. Blender, who is consistently my sounding board and reads the plethora of random stories I send his way. (If you haven't checked out his stories, you really should!)**

* * *

Blake sat anxiously in the airship as it flew her towards her destination. It was more than a little unnerving for her to be sitting in a moving vessel with no pilot, but she had been assured many times that the autopilot would take her safely to the destination, where she could then jump out onto the rooftop.

They had decided to have the ship fly some thousand feet above the building, solely to minimize any possibility of detection. It wasn't that big of an issue to her; it just made the fall a few seconds longer.

As air rushed by the open cargo door, she found that she wasn't the least bit worried about the descent to the building. She knew that she could make the landing easily, even from this height. No matter what the distance, she was confident in her ability to land on her feet.

Right now, she was more concerned about Yang.

She couldn't really be sure how much sleep her partner had managed to get last night. Blake had fallen asleep in Yang's arms with the blonde calmly rubbing one hand up and down Blake's back. The motion was soothing in a way Blake couldn't even begin to describe, and had lulled her into a content sleep after only a few minutes. But when she had awoken this morning that warm hand was still steadily running its course, as if it hadn't paused for a second through the night.

Their morning had been somber, with hardly more than a few sentences spoken between them. Blake could feel that Yang wanted to try to convince her out of going one last time – she could even see it in the way the blonde looked at her and feel it in the words left unsaid. Honestly, she was grateful that Yang had never brought it up, because she wasn't entirely certain she would still go through with it if given another chance to back out.

But everyone was counting on them now…_everything _hinged upon her succeeding in her part of the mission. Blake wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let these people down.

So, they had made their way to the airship Blake would be using that day – finding Professor Ozpin already waiting there for them. Yang had appeared nearly inconsolable as she wished Blake good luck. But after a hasty hug and a loving kiss, the blonde had somehow managed to let Blake get onto the airship without her.

Blake didn't enjoy doing anything without her partner by her side, but she _really_ didn't like the idea of Yang fighting today without her there to watch the brawler's back. While she had faith that Weiss and Ruby would look out for the blonde as best they could, in a battle where the odds were stacked heavily against them there was no guarantee that the pair would even be able to keep themselves out of danger long enough to aid Yang.

Plus, she knew exactly who Yang was going to go after…

And Adam shouldn't be considered an easy opponent for even the most skilled of huntsmen.

She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind of these worries. The single best way she could help her friends and teammates right now was by finding the controlling drug as quickly as possible. The entire outcome of their plan hinged upon her success – and the lives of those dearest to her depended upon how quickly she could accomplish her goal.

Moments later, the sound in the cabin changed drastically as the airship switched over to hover mode. Peering out the door, she could see the Capitol building directly below, separated from her by a thousand feet of wispy clouds and clear air.

Standing in the doorway, she could see the destruction of downtown spanning in front of her – massive piles of rubble which used to be towering buildings still smoking from the damage inflicted upon them. And the Capitol below her, eerily preserved amongst the ruins.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and slowly let herself fall forward out of the ship.

Cold wind pushed up against her as she plummeted towards the ground, arms and legs spread out to create as much wind resistance as possible.

She opened her eyes and looked around, eyes watering from the wind blowing into them. She was able to spot the small crowd of huntsmen assembling outside the Capitol lawn amongst the ruins of downtown Vale. Yang was in that group…somewhere. Preparing for a fight to the death that would not end in their favor if Blake didn't search quickly enough.

In front of this group was an even larger army amassing outside the Capitol's front entrance. From this distance, Blake could only make out the Atlesian Paladin's clunking frames moving forward into place. To anyone looking at the matchup, it would be very easy to declare Cinder's army the hands down winner.

Tearing her attention away from the two armies, she focused back upon the roof, which was rapidly approaching her. She had to wait until she was even closer…closer than any normal person would want to be if they falling from the sky towards a solid object.

A hundred feet away from smashing into the building, she summoned one of her shadow clones beneath her feet. She shoved her legs down against the clone, propelling herself back up into the air and slowly her descent by a fraction. She summoned another, repeating the process again and again. Several clones later, she landed in a crouch on the pebbles littering the empty rooftop.

She decided against trying the door to the roof, assuming that it would lead to a narrow staircase that would be difficult to avoid detection in. Instead, she raced over to a tall fan that fed into one of the building's air conditioning ducts. Using the edge of Gambol Shroud, she quickly pried back the cover and dropped down inside, pressing her arms and legs firmly against the sides to lower herself noiselessly into the heart of the building.

Many people didn't like to use the ventilation system to infiltrate a building, but to Blake they had always been the obvious choice for entering stealthily. Plus, they fed into almost every room and there were always exits placed in strategic locations. But maybe people just didn't like the claustrophobic feeling or all the dust…

Her feet finally found the bottom edge of a shaft spanning horizontally across the building. Dropping herself gently, her feet made no sound when they touched the bottom of the metal vent. Crouching back down, she could now walk slowly through the vent as she searched for the best exit.

She could feel her heart racing as she slowly progressed through the air ducts, being careful to make as little noise as possible. She could hear movement in the hallways below her – feet rushing about and frantic voices calling out. But all of the noises seemed to be headed away from her, and were eventually replaced with silence.

If she would have had to guess, she would say that their plan of drawing everyone outdoors to fight was working. Unfortunately, that meant that her time to find what she was looking for was already beginning to waste away. And she hadn't even really set foot in the building yet.

Finally, she found a room off of the main hallway on the top floor that was unoccupied and seemed to be as good a spot as any to begin her search. Carefully, she removed the vent cover, pulling it in towards her when it popped off. She then slithered out of the rather small opening and dropped to floor with a soft thud.

Moving to the door, she leaned her ear against it to listen for any movement in the hallway. Hearing nothing, she cracked it open and quickly glanced in both directions to find the hallway clear. This particular hallway was lined completely in glass on the outer wall with what usually would have been a spectacular view of downtown Vale. Today, however, it offered the perfect vantage point to see the battle brewing below.

She moved closer to the glass to take a closer look at the two forces staring each other down. From this distance, she could just barely make out Yang – though her partner simply looked like a ball of fire standing on the lawn.

The battle hadn't yet begun…she still had time to end this early.

Unfortunately, the building was massive, designed to house all of the members of government in one convenient location. It was not intended to make a break in quick and easy. Finding the right room would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Undeterred, she stalked through the halls, making sure to keep her ears peeled for any sign of trouble. One by one, she opened the doors along the hallway, poking her head inside just long enough to see if she could spot anything that seemed to be out of place. So far, she was only finding empty rooms and regular office furnishings.

After she had checked the rooms on the top level, she reached the staircase to descend down one floor. Taking the stairs two at a time, she paused for a second to listen again before opening the door to the next level – just because the top floor was empty, didn't mean that this one would be as well.

But as several precious seconds of silence passed, Blake decided that it was clear enough for her to risk it. Shoving the door open, she found the hallway was also devoid of life, much to her relief.

She resumed her method of rapidly scanning through the rooms, opening and closing the doors as swiftly as possible.

Suddenly, she was thrown from her feet as a huge blast slammed into the side of the building, completely obliterating one of the outer offices she had just been in.

After pulling herself upright and dusting off her clothing, she waited another few seconds for the cloud of debris to clear, revealing a gaping hole in the side of the building – bricks and glass breaking apart and falling to the ground below. Her heart rate increased tenfold as her ears began to pick up the sounds of explosions and gunfire drifting in through the new 'window' in the building.

The battle had begun.

She flew through the rest of the rooms on the level, no longer proceeding with as much caution as before. If there was anyone still inside, they would surely be moving to safety now that the building itself was becoming the victim to stray missiles.

Once satisfied that this level was clear, she ripped open the door to the staircase and jumped down the flight of steps to the next floor. Without even pausing to listen this time, she pulled open the door to the next hallway.

She instantly froze when she found herself staring at the stained glass window directly in front of her - depicting a single white lily. A tremendous feeling of déjà vu came over her as she gazed at the flower, struggling to figure out where she had seen it before.

It looked exactly like the one currently sitting on her nightstand. The one Yang had given her in the…hospital…

Her eyes widened when she figured it out.

_She had been here before_.

The building had been much more neglected then, but she still remembered the inexplicably placed stained glass window. And she remembered the cabinet full of lilies she had found to be so strange, as Adam had stared over her shoulder.

The one thing that had been completely out of place in the desolated wasteland.

She sprinted down the hallway towards the last door on the right, knowing she was finally on the right path. Yang had shown her the route before…Blake had just needed a reminder.

Sliding to a stop, Blake found herself in front of what looked like a standard office door. But after twisting the handle, she found that this door was actually locked – unlike all the rest in the building she had tried so far.

Jamming Gambol Shroud in between the edge of the door and the wall, she had the door unlocked in no time.

Stepping quickly inside, she found that the room was much larger than it had been in her dream and all of the office furniture had been replaced by laboratory equipment. But in the same place she had found the lilies before, she now saw a tall cabinet filled with different vials, lined up neatly with names preprinted for each of the captured huntsmen.

After scanning the vials, she only managed to find Adam's – pulling one out of the cabinet and holding it delicately in the palm of her hand.

But the one for Cinder must be in a different location. She scanned the stacks of vials a second time, finding that Cinder's was, in fact, not there.

Another round of explosions rocked the building, setting her nerves on edge while she glanced quickly about her.

If it wasn't here in this cabinet, where would it be?

Her eyes lighted upon another case on the opposite side of the room – this one with a biometric lock placed on the outside. Nothing said 'important' more than a heavy duty lock like that.

Approaching the container, she pressed her own thumb to the scanner on the front, immediately greeted with a flash of red and a single beep. Frowning, she carefully looked over every visible inch of the cabinet, trying to find the best way to get inside. She tried summoning one of her shadows, but the space inside was too small, resulting in her clone being partially in and partially out of the safe at one time – disappearing instants later.

Trying again, she summoned a clone to the right of the cabinet. She only needed to get a hand inside for a second in order to reset the lock…

She managed to place her clone perfectly, but it disappeared before she had a chance to do more than touch the lock's internal mechanism. She tried a third, fourth, and fifth time, growling in frustration every time her clone disappeared before she was expecting it to. Finally, on the sixth attempt, she was able to pull the lock, hearing the satisfyingly friendly beep as the lock asked for her to enter the fingerprints it should accept.

After placing her thumb down again and pressing accept, the screen lit up in green light with the agreeable pop of the door opening reaching her ears. Pushing the door open fully, she looked closely inside and immediately furrowed her brow in confusion.

Before her lay a row of slightly different colored vials, labeled simply with a "C" and "A" on small white stickers.

"C" _and_ "A?"

But she already held Adam's in her hand…

Grabbing one of each, she lay the three vials down on a countertop while she rapidly pulled open drawers looking for a syringe. Finding one, she stared down at the three vials, unsure about which one to use.

Taking a deep breath, she calmly injected herself with only the vial marked by a "C." Waiting for several seconds, she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary besides the slight throbbing in her arm where the needle had just pricked her. Taking that to be a good sign, she stuffed the remaining two vials into a pocket - just to be on the safe side.

She rushed back to the door, mind still reeling with unanswered questions. But she needed to get outside and end the battle first, then she would have time to figure out everything else.


	35. Chapter 35

**For those of you who might be sad (like I am), there will be another chapter after this filled with some well deserved fluff - look forward to it!**

* * *

The weather outside was actually quite nice – a few wispy clouds in the sky, sun shining brightly, gentle breeze blowing. Yang would have described it as beautiful if not for the smoke rising from the smoldering wreckage of what had once been several blocks of downtown Vale. The light wind was blowing small particles of debris and ash across the large green lawn lying between them and the front steps of the Capitol.

They weren't standing out there to enjoy the weather, anyway.

Yang could feel the tension laying thickly in the air around their group – they all knew that the coming battle would be highly stacked against their favor. Their only hope was that a single, _still somewhat injured_, huntress…Blake…would be able to find a _hopefully existent_ drug quickly enough to help them survive.

The odds didn't seem that great, but Yang was still prepared to fight with every breath left in her body. And if she was going to go down, she could think of one person that she was most certainly going to take with her.

Adam.

She had already locked onto the object of her fuming hatred – standing not even one hundred paces in front of her beside the smirking Cinder Fall. Rows upon rows of Atlesian warriors were lining up behind the two leaders, weapons humming as they warmed up in preparation for battle. The captured and traitorous huntsmen lined up in front of the Atlesians – nearly equal in number to the number standing beside Yang.

"Adam's mine," she hissed to her teammates standing beside her.

"Yang…" Weiss began to say, before Ruby rested one hand on Weiss' elbow with a shake of her head.

They couldn't stop her from going after him, and Ruby knew that. Nothing was going to stand in her way this time.

Blake had gotten injured because she had fought against him while controlled by her rage. Fighting in such a state was the best way to get injured – anger impaired clear, rational thinking and decision making.

At least, that's how it worked for most huntsmen. But in Yang's case, that was far from the truth.

She thrived on anger. It fueled her better than the best airship fuel on the planet. When fury coursed through her veins, her body channeled that energy into focus…strength…pure, unadulterated power.

If there was anyone that was going to fight Adam in a blind rage and be all the better for it, it was going to be Yang Xiao Long.

"So…the great Ozpin has convinced his merry band of foolish followers to save themselves after all…how charming…" Cinder called out from in front of them, looking positively tickled with her success. Her eyes scanned the people in front of her keenly, mentally checking off the name of each huntsman in front of her, just as Blake had thought she would.

"Actually…" Professor Ozpin replied slowly, causing Cinder's eyebrow to arch in intrigue.

"We've decided we will not be accepting your offer. We would rather die first."

Cinder's smile immediately turned to a deadly smirk.

"That can be arranged, as well."

Yang felt every muscle in her body tense as an eerie silence fell across the area.

"Kill them all."

The quiet was instantly shattered by the sounds of war. The Paladins forming a line in back fired their first volley of rockets towards the group, causing everyone to scatter as the ground erupted where they had just been standing. Before the dust had settled, the Knights and huntsmen were already upon them.

For his part, Adam was no fool. He knew that Yang was going to seek him out. And, like the _coward_ he was, he was standing with a group of twenty or so Knights surrounding him.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to kill not one, but _two_ members of the famed Team RWBY…" he drawled lazily, confidence oozing from every inch of his posture.

That was, until a red blur sped by, cutting down half of the Knights in a single run. The surviving half found themselves standing upon a very large glyph, which catapulted them hundreds of feet into the sky not one second later.

Yang grinned at the befuddled Adam, seeing Weiss and Ruby speed off to engage Cardin and Dove on the other side of the lawn.

Now it was just the two of them – just as it was meant to be.

Regaining his composure, Adam drew his sword, holding it low in front of him while sneering towards her. Seeing the glinting steel of the weapon, which she had last seen dripping in Blake's blood, Yang's eyes flashed red faster than they ever had before. Her heart exploded into flames as the fire within her burned like a supernova. Heat blazed from her skin, threatening to set even the air around her up in flame.

Adam remained still, waiting for her to make the first move.

She was more than happy to oblige.

Shooting forward like a shot out of a cannon, she easily leveled a fist through a stray Knight that had stumbled into her path. As the metal parts broke apart around her, her vision of Adam was temporarily blocked. When it cleared an instant later, she dove to the ground to avoid the sword hurtling towards her neck.

Tumbling back to her feet, she spun around to face the direction Adam would be approaching her from, just in time to raise her fists to block another attack. Sparks showered through the air – the loud clang of metal on metal rang out as Wilt met Ember Cecilia for the very first time.

Yang didn't think the two were going to get along very well.

She fired two quick shots towards Adam, one from each arm. The Faunus backed off only marginally in order to deflect the bullets and get away from the heat emitting from Yang. He patted a small patch of his coat that had already caught flame from a spark.

She used the opportunity to retake the offensive, charging towards him. She threw several furious blows, each parried at the last second by his sword. She aimed a kick towards his knee, but this time he was prepared for the attack and jumped easily out of the way.

He gave her a quick sneer before diving towards her, sword slashing upwards. Falling for his feint, she moved her right arm down to block to blow, realizing her mistake at the last second when he altered the weapon's trajectory to swing right across her midsection.

The sound of shotgun pellets pinging against flat metal rang out, the blast throwing his attack off by just a fraction of an inch. It was just enough for Yang to leap away with nothing more than a scratch.

A snarl made its way past her lips when she saw the thin red line drawn across her stomach. Hardly more than two inches long, the sting was still enough to set her nerves on fire as her body finally realized the very real dangers of the battle it was waging.

If she had been angry before, well…now she was pissed.

She leapt to the right when the sound of rockets met her ears, watching as the ground she had just been standing upon was obliterated in an explosion of debris and dust. The very next second, the ground in front of her erupted as a gigantic line of icicles ripped through the earth, forming a fifty foot temporary wall dividing the entire battlefield into two halves. With her and Adam now momentarily separated by ice, her eyes locked onto the offending Paladin.

She had time for _one_ pesky little Paladin, right?

Shooting one glance back towards the icicles, she heard the sounds of another round of rockets loading into the machine's weapon.

Yeah, she had time for this one.

Sprinting away from Adam, she was on top of the poor machine before the pilot even had a chance to react. Leaping through the air, she landed on the Paladin's left arm and grabbed onto the first handholds she could find.

Trying to buck her off, the pilot spun the machine wildly in circles, firing in all directions. Yang cringed when she heard several rockets slam into the Capitol building, but grasping another handhold, she was able to swing herself around onto the robot's back. Hastily counting down three plates of metal, she found the exact spot she was looking for.

Thrusting her hand forward while firing Ember Cecilia at the perfect moment, her fist cut inside the machine. After blindly moving her hand around for a moment, she found the giant tangle of wires she was looking for. Tightening her grip around them, she yanked towards her as hard as she could. Her hand came away clutching a handful of wires while the Paladin lost all power, effectively trapping the pilot inside.

Grinning at her handiwork, a glint in the metal plating of the Paladin brought her focus instantly back to the bigger battle at hand. Kicking her right foot against the machine, she spun to the side just as Adam's sword plunged through the steel where her head had just been. Releasing her handhold, she fell the ten feet to the ground, crashing down hard onto her back.

She got to her feet and turned around just in time to see Adam land lightly on the ground, swinging his sword around in his hands as he stalked towards her.

Adam's trench coat was covered in scorch marks, but otherwise he was none the worse for wear. For her part, she could feel the air rushing quickly in and out of her lungs, as she tried to regain the breath that had just left her in her fall.

"I should have just killed you in that hanger," he spit out at her before he came at her again, sword flashing in all directions.

She was forced to focus all of her attention on deflecting the blows, a shower of sparks spraying through the air with each successful block. Holding her ground, she refused to step backwards to move away from the Faunus.

A small opening presented itself to her then and she took it without hesitation. Instead of merely deflecting the incoming slash, she dodged around it and punched the sword hard towards the ground. While Adam was thrown slightly off balance, she allowed her momentum from the punch to carry the rest of her body around, connecting both of her feet squarely on his jaw in succession.

The blows threw him to the ground several paces from her. She began racing towards him, knowing that her window of opportunity was small.

Halfway to the downed huntsman, someone bumped roughly into her side, causing her to stumble to the side while she tried to maintain her balance.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with…Ren.

But not the _good_ Ren she liked…the _bad_ Ren that she was going to have to fight against.

As expected, Ren frowned before aiming StormFlower directly at her head. She rolled to the side as the sounds of bullets rapidly pelting the ground behind her filled her ears. When her feet found their footing, she propelled herself forward towards an unsuspecting Knight fighting nearby. Grabbing the machine around the ankle, she grunted in effort as she swung the robot through the air towards Ren.

The huntsman ducked at the last second under the flying hunk of metal, which crashed into the ground a few yards behind him.

"Don't hurt him!"

Right on cue, Nora jump onto Ren's back, wrapping her arms and legs around his body like a koala.

A loud clanging noise suddenly rang out by her ear, accompanied with a sharp stinging sensation. Instinctually raising her hand up as she jumped away from the perceived danger, she found her ear was bleeding profusely – partially severed near the top - with Adam looking considerably annoyed right behind her.

"You'll be joining Blake soon," he remarked confidently as he prepared to attack again.

But, as it turned out, Adam was telling the truth – Yang noticed Blake racing out the front door of the building at just that moment. Catching a flash of black, Adam glanced over too, eyes widening as if he had seen…well…a ghost.

The split second pause was just enough time for Yang. She shot forward, landing a charged right hook directly on his temple, leveling him to the ground. The force of the blow seemed to knock him temporarily unconscious, leaving his body in a motionless lump on the ground. He didn't appear to be getting back up anytime soon.

"Everyone stop!" Blake bellowed as soon as she was within shouting distance of them.

The battle came to an unnerving halt as nearly half of the fights all stopped their actions. Yang noticed several of her fellow huntsmen wasting no time in tackling their foes to the ground, locking up their arms and legs in the military issue handcuffs Professor Ozpin had had the foresight in providing to them.

"What are you doing? Keep fighting!" Cinder practically screamed, still locked in a vicious battle with Glynda and Professor Ozpin. The earth around the trio was torn to shreds, with what looked like lava eating away at one large section of grass.

The huntsmen became aggressive almost immediately, although appearing to be slightly confused by the conflicting orders they were being given.

"Stop!" Blake shouted again, this time from much closer as she ran into the middle of the battle. "Don't listen to her!"

Yang rushed towards her partner, feeling panic grip her when she realized that the girl was now standing in what was effectively a warzone. She gently grabbed onto Blake's elbow, more for her own support than to help her partner. Checking Blake over thoroughly, thankfully she seemed to be uninjured, just winded.

The last order seemed to have done it though, as auras across the front lawn began to shut down. The good guys continued to bind the huntsmen up as quickly as possible, fearing that they could revert to fighting at any second.

The Paladin pilots powered down their machines, while the Atlesian Knights continued trying to fight. But they were swiftly being cut down by a red blur whipping back and forth across the lawn, leaving a trail of rose petals in its wake.

More huntsmen, Weiss included, began to converge on Cinder, who was the last real threat remaining.

The mastermind took in the situation around her, calculating what options she might have in order to escape. Eventually, she smirked.

"Ok, I give up," she said calmly. "You've won. Very nice plan, indeed…"

"But may I ask that Ruby Rose be the one to apply my restraints?"

She held her hands out in front of her, wrists touching together as if waiting for them to be bound.

Weiss stalked forward, snapped the handcuffs roughly in place, and then promptly punched Cinder in the nose, knocking the brunette squarely off her feet.

"No, you may not!" Weiss yelled shrilly down at her before storming off to find her fiancée, who was still blissfully dismantling Knights with Crescent Rose.

A groan caught Yang's attention at that instant. Glancing to her right, she saw Adam slowly getting back to his feet, holding his head warily. The sight sent anger coursing through her veins, setting her on fire.

She was back on him in an instant, knocking him back out with a vicious kick in the chest. Grabbing him by the collar, she held his head off the ground while she aimed Ember Cecilia directly towards his head.

Even if he was unconscious, she was ready to end his pathetic excuse for a life, once and for all.

"Yang, stop!"

Blake's voice instantly froze each and every one of her muscles. She glanced towards her partner, finding concern written on the girl's face.

A dark, heavy feeling settled upon her heart as she watched Blake rush towards her…

Betrayal.

How could Blake still be protecting him? After everything he had done; after everything that had happened? He had stolen three years of their lives together. He had tried to _kill_ her, and nearly succeeded.

She just…wanted to make sure that he could never hurt either one of them again.

"Blake…" she began, hurt seeping into her tone as she felt her partner lay a hand on her shoulder.

"He lied before," Blake said softly.

Yang looked back at the man, confused about what he could have lied about.

"I wasn't the first test subject…" Blake continued carefully. "He was."

Blake dropped one hand into Yang's field of vision, opening it to display two small vials resting in her palm. The vials were full of a clear liquid - one tinged in a blue hue, while the other was slightly greener in color. Printed in tiny letters on one label was a single four letter word - 'Adam,' while the other one was simply marked with the letter 'A.'

"I found this with matching ones for all of the other captured huntsmen," Blake explained further. "Apparently…he was both controlling some of the huntsmen and being controlled…"

Confusion flooded through Yang at the revelation.

"But…he still…he still nearly killed you!" she finally shouted, not willing to absolve him of any guilt, even due to this change of events.

"I know he did…" Blake began slowly, "I know this doesn't make him innocent. He could have volunteered, for all I know. But I do believe it's at least worth giving him the benefit of the doubt…"

Yang looked back down at the unconscious Faunus held in her grasp. Dropping his collar in disgust, she finally hopped off him, motioning for someone to come over and handcuff him like the rest. She turned away as they carried Adam's still limp body away, repulsed with herself for not being able to finish what she'd sworn she would do.

Feeling a warm hand wrap around hers, she glanced over to find Blake smiling at her, seeming to sense the internal turmoil Yang was dealing with.

"We don't need revenge, Yang," Blake said warmly. "We have each other now – and that's what matters."

"For better or worse," Weiss cut in as she and Ruby walked up to them, with Weiss sporting a slight limp in her gait.

Ruby darted forward to give Yang and Blake a hug, before returning to Weiss' side for support. Yang smiled at her teammates, already feeling some of her anger leave her when she realized that they were all ok.

Blake was right. They had each other now. Adam could go and sit in prison for the rest of his life, and that would just have to be good enough for her.

"How did everything go out here?" Blake asked anxiously, scanning the area around them, eyes taking in the torn up ground and dismembered machines.

"Only a few major injuries," Weiss reported, somehow always having more information than the rest of them. "Velvet nearly lost an ear, but she'll be ok."

Yang looked around them, taking in the full scale of the destruction that had just occurred. Since she had been so absorbed in her own battle with Adam, she had hardly noticed what else had been going on beside her.

Even though the battle hadn't lasted very long at all, the once green and perfectly manicured lawn of the Capitol had been completely destroyed – with hardly a single square inch of grass remaining untouched. Huge craters pockmarked the earth where rockets and other explosives had shattered the ground, with smoke still rising eerily from the heavily scorched areas. Various metal parts from Atlesians were strewn far and wide - now worthless lumps of metal that would need to be collected eventually.

The huntsmen she had been fighting alongside were roaming about, escorting the now compliant enemies towards the far edge of the lawn where they would soon be picked up. Many of them were hobbling or, in one way or the other, displaying signs of fatigue from the battle they had just fought and thankfully survived.

Was this it?

They had been victorious…they had captured Cinder…Adam…they had freed their friends…and yet…she had expected to feel much more jubilant when it was over. But she felt just like how many of the people surrounding her currently looked.

Exhausted. Drained.

Just glad to be alive.

"Oh! Yang, you're bleeding!" Blake suddenly exclaimed, clamping one hand down upon the wound on Yang's ear. She flinched at the sudden pressure, but managed to not jerk away.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," she replied. "Got clipped somehow…"

"Blake!"

All four girls turned when they heard someone shouting Blake's name, finding the _only_ positively ecstatic huntress, Nora, running towards them while practically dragging a handcuffed Ren behind her. Jaune and Pyrrha were hastily chasing the girl, no doubt trying to convince her out of whatever she was about to say or do.

"Blake!" Nora called out again, stumbling to a stop in front of them.

"Nora?" Blake asked curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Everything's great now that I've got my Rennie back!" Nora punched Ren 'lightly' in the shoulder, causing the huntsman to scowl down at her.

"I was just…you know…wonderingggg…since you currently have control over them and all…maybe before they go to the hospital to get fixed up, you could…ask Ren to tell you where he hid my trumpet?"

Pyrrha and Jaune waved their arms rapidly behind their teammate's back, motioning for Blake not to do what Nora had just requested.

"Uh…I don't know, Nora…" Blake responded diplomatically. "I don't think it's really fair to get that information out of him while he's drugged…maybe we can ask him for something we know he would regularly do?"

Not disappointed by the denial in the slightest, Nora tapped a finger on her chin, deep in thought.

"Hmmm…then ask him to say I'm the best huntress ever!" she responded happily.

Yang laughed while Weiss rolled her eyes. It was such a typical Nora response.

"Ok…Ren, please tell Nora that she's the best huntress ever," Blake directed towards the boy.

Ren obediently turned towards Nora, who was already bubbling over in anticipation.

"Nora, you are the best huntress ever," he said casually, with hardly any feeling at all behind the words. Of course, Nora could care less. She squealed in happiness, enveloping her partner in a huge hug.

"Thank you, Ren! And _you're_ the best huntsman ever!" she replied joyfully before tugging him back towards the rest of the captured huntsmen. "Now come on, let's get you all fixed up."

"So they're all going to the hospital?" Yang asked curiously while watching the two members of JNPR walk away.

"They're going to get blood transfusions, just like we did with Ruby," Weiss responded.

"Good, so we can go get your ear fixed, too," Blake remarked, releasing Yang's ear in favor of grabbing Yang's hand and pulling her after Nora.

"Oh…yeah, sorry about that," Pyrrha remarked apologetically, running one hand down her ponytail in embarrassment. "I saw that Faunus about to attack you, so I threw my shield at him. It was a little close and clipped you though…"

Yang laughed, the culprit behind her mysterious injury finally caught.

"Pyrrha, why are you apologizing? I should be thanking you for saving my life!" she remarked incredulously. "And so what if I lose my ear – battle wounds are really sexy; right, Blake?"

The blush that lit up her partner's face was definitely worth any of the pain.

"Let's just go," Blake muttered, pulling on Yang's hand again.

While they walked away from their friends and teammates, Yang squeezed Blake's hand a little more firmly. Picking their way carefully through the dirt and rubble towards where a vehicle would take them off to the hospital, she could feel an immeasurable weight lifting from her shoulders with each step put between her and the scene of the battle.

It was really over. They had survived.

They would live to see tomorrow…together.

"I'm really glad you're ok, Blake," she whispered softly, smiling when Blake turned to face her. "I was…worried…about you."

"I'm glad you're ok, too," the Faunus girl replied with a smile of her own, which quickly turned into a small smirk. "And you even managed to pick up an _incredibly_ attractive battle scar while you were out there."

Yang grinned, reaching one hand up to gingerly touch the wound with her fingers.

After all the years of trials, anguish, loneliness, heartbreak…they had ended up with a pair of scars and each other.

And she would do it all again, in a heartbeat.


	36. Chapter 36

**Ok, couple things. One, this chapter is the longest I've ever posted. Seriously, I could have split it into 3 chapters comfortably. But that leads me to - two, this is such an adorable chapter and I love it and I hope that you all love it too! **

**THANK YOU to all of the people who have followed/favorited/reviewed/etc. If you wonder how a story becomes 140,000 words...well, you certainly help!**

**And, don't fret yet, there will be an official epilogue next week (which is also pretty cute!) :) **

* * *

Cracking her eyes open to find the first rays of sunshine filtering in through the bedroom window, Blake let a long yawn. She would have stretched her arms up above her head as well, but she was still being held firmly within the sleeping Yang's grasp. A comfortable sigh escaped her lips as she enjoyed the all-encompassing warmth she was currently cocooned within.

She was warm – so amazingly, wonderfully warm. But she was always warm these days, ever since the battles had ended. Yang had become such a constant presence by her side that she had nearly forgotten what it had ever felt like to be cold.

A now familiar rumble began reverberating in her chest as a purr started up once again, breaking the silence in the room. She tried to quiet the sound, afraid it would wake Yang up – she wasn't ready for this peaceful moment to end just yet – but found that the more she thought about not waking Yang up, the louder the sound became. After a few more fruitless seconds, she gave up completely and freely allowed the loud vibrations to roll out of her in waves.

It was past time for them to get up, anyway.

As she had suspected, Yang began stirring in her sleep, unconsciously tugging Blake closer to her. Blake felt herself growing even warmer due to her new proximity to her partner – the increased heat creating a thick blanket that lay over her like a comfortable fog. Her eyes began drooping as sleep threatened to claim her once again.

She let out a tiny shriek when she found herself suddenly lying flat on her back, staring up into vibrant lilac eyes as a veil of blonde hair cascaded around her.

"Nuh uh uh. You can't go back to sleep now that you've woken me up with all that adorable purring!" Yang teased. The blonde smirked down at her, already wide awake.

Blake sighed in fake exasperation, trying to slow her rapidly fluttering heart without cluing Yang in to how flustered she already was.

"You were the one who seemed adamant on missing your own sister's wedding," she remarked playfully, eyes never leaving Yang's face while waiting for a pout to appear.

"Aww…you know I would never be late on a day like today!" Yang whined pitifully, just as Blake had expected.

She grinned, satisfied with having successfully predicted Yang's reaction. Digging her elbows back into the covers, she raised herself high enough to meet Yang's lips with her own – kissing the sulk away.

Falling gently back to the bed, she giggled at the stunned expression on Yang's face. Glancing quickly to her side, she read the time from the clock sitting on the nightstand beside the still flourishing lily.

"We should probably get up now…" she commented softly, giving Yang a regretful look. She felt her heart speed up when she recognized the hungry look in Yang's eyes, realizing that the blonde effectively had her trapped in this position.

"Why?" Yang whispered quietly, lowering her lips to ghost lightly against Blake's ear when she continued speaking, "Why can't we stay right here?"

Blake swallowed, suddenly drawing a complete blank on the reason _why_ they had to get up this morning while Yang peppered her neck with light kisses.

Something about…some sort of event…maybe…like a party or…

"T-the wedding!" she finally sputtered – eliciting a loud groan from Yang, who halted her actions to raise her head and look back down at a now very flustered Blake.

"I disowned Ruby a week ago, so can't we skip the wedding?" she asked, expression somewhat serious.

"You can't disown your sister; you love her," Blake chastised lightly, pushing Yang gently in the shoulder. When Yang collapsed sideways on the bed with another groan, Blake quickly scrambled to her feet and went to get a change of clothes.

"You'd better get up. Weiss has every single minute of this day planned - and we're already 3 minutes late."

She left the disappointed blonde on the bed in favor of getting herself ready as quickly as possible. She had no doubt that Yang would already be dressed as soon as she returned to the room though – the blonde seemed to have inherited just a small fraction of Ruby's speed, after all.

When she returned to the room, Yang was already waiting patiently by the door for her, ready to go.

"Ready?" Blake asked, moving to push open the door only to be stopped when Yang held up one arm to block her path.

"If you want to leave the room, you're gonna have to pay the toll!" the blonde remarked with a huge grin.

Blake rolled her eyes, but decided against trying to argue with the girl. They were already going to be late – and she couldn't exactly say that she _didn't_ want to do what it was Yang wanted.

Leaning forward, she stood slightly on her tiptoes in order to prop herself up to Yang's height before crashing their lips together.

Yang let out a muffled noise in surprise at the intensity of the kiss while Blake forcefully pushed the blonde backwards until her back was pressed against the door she had just been guarding. She involuntarily shivered when she felt Yang's hands running down her sides while their lips clashed together in a struggle for dominance. All the while, Blake was stretching out her own hand behind Yang, feeling her away along the wood of the door as she searched for the doorknob behind the girl's back.

Finally finding the handle, she grinned against Yang's lips as she turned it and shoved Yang backwards at the same time – sending the blonde stumbling out into the hall with a loud yelp of surprise.

Rushing into the hallway after the girl, Blake cringed when she saw Weiss already waiting at the bottom of the staircase for them, arms crossed over her chest and foot tapping the ground impatiently.

"Nice of you two to _finally_ get up," Weiss said by way of greeting them good morning. "I hope you had a lovely morning."

"Could have been a little longer," Yang replied with small jab into Blake's side that made her flush even deeper in embarrassment.

Weiss glowered at both of them, clearly noticing the flushed expressions and shortness of breath both of them were currently experiencing.

"Come on, Weiss, lighten up! Today is supposed to be a happy day. You're getting married, remember? To a certain team leader who just so happens to have an astonishingly beautiful older sister?" Yang chuckled at her own joke, which had very little effect on improving Weiss' mood.

"I would 'lighten up' if you two would just _follow the schedule_ so that I knew you would actually _make_ it to the wedding on time," Weiss replied crossly.

"Ok, Weiss," Blake responded quickly, cutting Yang off before the blonde could reply and make things worse. "We're up and ready to help – what do you need us to do this morning?"

A heavy sigh escaped the heiress' lips, as she looked both relieved and absolutely exhausted.

"I just need you to go pick up your dresses, then meet me at the house so we can make sure everything is set up correctly."

"Jeez, we had to get up early for that?" Yang whined before Blake landed a sharp elbow in the blonde's side.

"Dresses, got it," she responded to Weiss as she began pulling Yang towards the front door.

"Oh, and Yang?" Weiss said, causing both of them to pause their movement to turn back to the now smirking heiress. "This time, I actually _will_ be the one paying for your dresses."

Blake felt one of her ears flick in confusion, turning to look at Yang quizzically.

"What…" she began to ask, but Yang had already grabbed ahold of her hand and practically dragged her through the front door.

"Got it, Weiss!" the blonde yelled back to Weiss with a wave over her head as she powered forward towards the street.

"So, how about we take Bumblebee?" Yang asked hastily, not giving Blake a moment to respond before tossing a helmet to her and hopping onto the motorcycle parked in front of their home. Blake narrowed her eyes at her partner's obvious avoidance of the question, but decided it wasn't worth pursuing right now. Pulling her own helmet onto her head, which Yang had so sweetly had emblazoned with Blake's name on the back, she got onto the vehicle behind her partner.

Wrapping her arms tightly around Yang's waist, she tucked her chin across Yang's shoulder while the blonde fired up the motorcycle and tore away from the house, leaving fresh tire treads in their wake.

"I hope Weiss can actually relax and enjoy herself today," Blake yelled over the roar of the wind rushing past them.

She felt Yang shake her head in response.

"She won't be able to relax without Ruby around!" the blonde shouted back to her as they slid quickly around a street corner, legs nearly scrapping the ground from the severity of the angle. "This is all because they listened to Nora and Jaune and agreed to stay apart the night before – you saw how tired she looked; she can't sleep without Ruby anymore."

"What do we do?" Blake asked, feeling horrible that Weiss might be miserable for the better portion of the day until she could finally see Ruby again. It certainly didn't seem like a very fitting way to spend what should be one of the best days of her life.

"We pick up our dresses…then we commence Operation Free Ruby," Yang replied confidently, pushing Bumblebee to even higher speeds as they raced towards their first destination.

They arrived several minutes later at the store - which Blake recognized as soon as she saw the front door. It was the same shop they had gone shopping at all that time ago when Blake had needed a dress for Weiss' event – in what now seemed to be an entirely different lifetime. It's where Yang had gotten her to try on so many different gowns and where…

"Oh! Good morning!"

They both turned towards the voice greeting them as soon as they had entered the store. Blake internally groaned when she recognized the attractive redhead standing there staring at them – well, staring at Yang - in hardly concealed delight.

"U-uh…good morning," Yang replied, sending a small, sheepish smile in Blake's direction. "We're here to pick up some dresses?"

"Of course! For the wedding!" Taryn remarked gleefully, practically skipping behind the counter to pull two bagged gowns from a rack. Blake frowned while they followed her over to the counter, wondering if the girl had just been waiting for Yang to show up.

"I really hope it's not your wedding," the girl teased while she checked the tags on the two gowns to make sure she had grabbed the right ones.

Blake felt a spike of protectiveness flair up while Yang laughed uncomfortably at the comment.

"O-oh, no, it's actually my little sister's," the blonde replied, the fingers on her right hand tapping out a nervous tune against the countertop while they waited for Taryn to finish meticulously folding their dresses and placing them in a bag.

"Oh good!" Taryn replied happily, looking up at Yang with a broad smile.

Blake felt a small sneer curl her lip when she saw the look the redhead was giving _her girlfriend_. Before she realized what she was doing, she slammed her left hand down on top of Yang's tapping fingers, silencing the noise while clasping Yang's hand tightly within her own. She forced a smile onto her face, ignoring the stunned expression Yang was now giving her as she faced down the store clerk.

"Yes, it really is great," Blake commented, her voice dripping in a sickening amount of sweet behind her unwavering smile. "Now if you could just get us our dresses. We really don't want to be late."

The clerk's mouth hung slightly ajar in shock, her eyes rapidly flitting back and forth between Blake, Yang, and their joined hands.

Finally coming out of her own stunned stupor, Yang pulled her hand away. Blake looked at the blonde, hurt that she had just done such a thing. But Yang just smiled back at her before throwing her arm around Blake's shoulders and pulling her close, pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

"My _amazing_ girlfriend couldn't be more correct – we don't want to be late. Are these the right dresses? Are they ready to go?"

Blake tried to fight it, but she couldn't help a triumphant grin from growing now that Taryn's jaw was hanging completely open. The dazed girl managed to nod her head slightly while pushing the bag across the counter to them.

"Perfect," Yang replied, reaching forward to pick up the bag while never releasing her grip on Blake's shoulders.

"It was great to see you again, Taryn," she called out happily as she steered Blake out of the store, bag in hand.

Once outside, Yang tugged Blake close and placed another kiss on her cheek.

"I could really get used to jealous Blake," the blonde whispered in her ear, causing Blake to scoff and push herself out of Yang's grasp when they reached Bumblebee.

"You wish I was jealous," she replied proudly, stopping stubbornly in front of the bike with her arms crossed over her chest. "I was just trying to save you from another collecting another fan girl, is all."

Yang laughed at her obvious lie, holding the bag out for Blake to hold while she drove.

But instead of getting onto the bike, Yang bite her lip thoughtfully, picking up Blake's helmet and holding up one finger for Blake to wait a second. She watched curiously as the girl fished her keys out of her pocket and then took the tip of one to the back of the helmet, digging the metal into the pristine paint.

Seconds later, Yang spun the item around in her hands and held it up for Blake to see.

Where the helmet had once read 'Blake' on the back, Yang had scratched an 's into the paint.

It now read: "Blake's."

Beaming at her speechlessness, Yang casually flipped the helmet back around and tugged it on. After jumping onto Bumblebee, Yang politely handed Blake her old helmet before coaxing the vehicle to life.

Blake put the helmet on and climbed behind Yang without uttering a word, completely floored by the seemingly simple gesture Yang had just made. Wrapping her arms around Yang's waist, she gripped the girl tightly – this time hugging her far more than simply steadying herself.

Every few seconds, she leaned back slightly to reread the letters now adorning the back of Yang's helmet.

Blake's.

She was really glad Yang couldn't see the stupid smile that refused to leave her face the entire drive to Team JNPR's house.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Yang pulled Bumblebee over to the curb on a quiet neighborhood street in front of a large, friendly-looking two story home. Blake could only assume that this was where Team JNPR had been staying for the past few years, but she had never been there before today. Although the building wasn't massive on the scale of Schnee Manor, it was still a very expensive home for a team of huntsmen to be living in. Of course, Pyrrha Nikos wasn't exactly _poor_, so Blake was fairly certain that the redhead had played some role in supplying the accommodations for her team.

Disembarking the motorcycle, Blake set the bag she had been holding down on the sidewalk by Bumblebee's side. They were seriously going to have to steam those dresses before the wedding – the wrinkles would probably be unbearable by now.

"Do you have Gambol Shroud with you?" Yang asked, balancing her new helmet on one of the handlebars before quickly fixing her hair.

"What?" Blake asked, confused about why Yang would even ask such a question. "Of course not. Why would I need Gambol Shroud?"

"Because they aren't just going to release Ruby that easily," Yang responded seriously, making Blake laugh at the ridiculousness of the comment.

"Why wouldn't they let her go? We just have to tell them that we've come to get her because Weiss needs to see her – they aren't going to hold her hostage."

Raising an eyebrow, Yang gave her a doubtful look.

"Ok…we'll try it your way first," she conceded as if allowing Blake to win some huge argument, before they turned and walked up the pathway to the front door.

Blake gave the door three quick raps with her knuckles and then backed up to stand beside Yang.

"I wonder who they left behind to guard Ruby…" Yang mused to herself while they waited for the door to open. "I really hope it wasn't…"

"Hey guys!" Nora greeted them enthusiastically as she yanked the door open. Yang let out a small groan before shooting Nora a big smile.

"Hi Nora," she responded politely before turning towards Blake, nodding her head in Nora's direction as a signal for her to take the lead on the conversation.

"Good morning, Nora," Blake replied only after rolling her eyes at Yang's unwillingness to ask for her own sister.

"What are you two doing here? Aren't we supposed to be meeting at Weiss' place in a couple hours?" Nora asked curiously.

"Yeah, that was the plan…but actually, we came to get Ruby early," she replied, immediately noticing how Nora's pupils dilated and her muscles tensed at the disclosure. "Weiss is just really stressed and needs to see Ruby, otherwise her entire day might be awful."

"Sorry, Blake – can't help ya!" Nora responded curtly, even going so far as to step through the door and pull it shut behind her, as if they were going to try to sneak past her.

Blake stared at her, looked at Yang, then back again to Nora – completely flabbergasted.

"W-what? Why not?" she asked in complete disbelief.

"Because I took an oath to keep those two lovebirds separated until they're ready to say 'I do,'" Nora responded proudly, positively beaming at the huge responsibility she had been given.

"But Nora, who cares if they're separated if they're miserable? This is supposed to be their special day – their day to be happy!" Blake argued, only succeeding in making Nora cross her arms over her chest; Blake could feel her own indignation beginning to mount at Nora's thick-headedness.

"Nora, you can't possibly think –"

"Oook, thank you, Nora!" Yang cut in suddenly, grabbing Blake's arm, spinning her around and pulling her away from the house.

"Yang, what are you doing? We need to get Ruby!" Blake hissed through gritted teeth at the blonde as her helmet and the bag with the dresses were forced back into her hands.

"I know," Yang responded quietly while pulling on her own helmet. "But we'll never get anywhere if we try to reason with her."

"So we're just going to leave?" Blake asked incredulously, but obediently climbed back onto Bumblebee behind Yang, who turned and gave a friendly wave to the huntress still standing guard by the front door.

With a loud roar of the engine, they tore off down the block. Yang made what seemed like several random turns before she pulled to a stop in front of another house.

"Where are we?" Blake asked as she got back off the vehicle, now thoroughly confused as to what they were doing.

"We're just parking here – we had to drive away so Nora would think we left," Yang explained to her. "Now, it's time for Plan B."

"And what exactly might that be?" Blake crossed her own arms while regarding her partner dubiously.

"We break Ruby out, of course," Yang responded with a goofy grin.

Blake shook her head, but smiled anyway.

It had seemed like such an easy task – drive to Team JNPR's house, ask for Ruby, take Ruby to Weiss. Why things had come to this, she would not know. But she was positive they weren't leaving until they had successfully freed their team leader.

Yang motioned for Blake to fall in step behind her, leading the way through a trail of small pathways cutting in between the houses in the neighborhood. Blake sincerely hoped that none of the other homeowners were currently looking out their windows, because they likely wouldn't take too kindly to two strangers traipsing through their yards. But Yang held up her hand for Blake to stop seconds later.

Peering out from behind the blonde, she found that they were now at the edge of the large, green backyard of Team JNPR's home. Yang pointed towards a window accompanied by a balcony on the second story, towards the left of the house.

"Think you can get up there?" she whispered, even though there was hardly any chance Nora could hear them from out here.

"Of course," Blake responded, slightly offended that Yang would even ask whether she was capable of sneaking into a _second story_ window. She could sneak into a window on the twentieth story if she needed to! The second story was child's play.

They quickly raced across the lawn and jumped easily up to the small balcony. Blake moved to unlock the window with a small pin she always kept on her for such instances, but rolled her eyes when she discovered that it was already unlocked.

Pushing it carefully open, she dropped noiselessly inside, every sense on high alert as she scanned the…abandoned storage room…they had just broken into. A random assortment of odd and ends seemed to have collected in the location, with little rhyme nor reason to their storage.

As Yang jumped into the room behind her, Blake moved to the hallway door. Pressing her ear against it, she could make out voices, but not directly outside. Slowly twisting the handle and pulling the door open, she couldn't help but let out a disappointed sigh when she saw that plush carpet lining the hallway in front of her.

This would surely go down as the easiest break-in in the entire history of break-ins…

Creeping into the carpeted hallway with Yang right on her heels, they made no sound at all while they moved towards the partially open door at the end of the hall, tracking the voices to their source.

Making it to the end of the hall, Blake peeked into the room, which she immediately pegged as Nora's bedroom from all of the pink and clutter. Both Nora and Ruby were sitting atop Nora's bright pink and white bed, happily playing a game of cards.

She turned around to Yang, who was crouched behind her and assessing the new situation they had found themselves in.

"What do we do now?" Blake mouthed to her partner. She had expected to break in and get Ruby stealthily, which would now be impossible with the two girls in the same room together.

"Plan C," Yang mouthed back to her.

The blonde didn't even give Blake an opportunity to respond before she burst through the bedroom door, launching herself directly at Nora and tackling the girl right off the bed – crashing into the opposite wall as playing cards flew everywhere.

Blake rushed into the room behind the girl, figuring that Plan C was…well…this. Whatever this was. She stared at the two huntresses wrestling on the ground in shock.

"Yang?" Ruby shouted as she bolted off the bed. "What are you doing?!"

"Ruby!" Yang managed to yell out as she temporarily pinned Nora to the ground underneath her – before one of Nora's hands grabbed a fistful of blonde hair in an attempt to make Yang to release her. Yang let out a growl that transformed into a loud grunt when Nora managed to break free, smashing Yang harshly into the bedroom wall.

"She can't leave!" Nora panted out before the two were locked in another round of fighting.

"Blake! Find something to tie her up – handcuffs, anything!" Yang yelled before Nora slammed her into the wall a second time.

"Handcuffs? Why would I find handcuffs?" Blake asked incredulously, ducking as Nora tossed Yang unceremoniously across the room and into the opposite wall.

"I don't know; it's Nora!" the blonde got out before Nora barreled across the room towards her.

Blake ran to the desk and dressers lining the other side of the room, trying to keep one eye on Yang and Nora while the other was searching for something to use to restrain the huntress. Finding a large coil of rope laying on top of a chest of drawers, she reached out and grabbed it, prepared to rush over to her partner's aid.

That was, until she felt the rope begin moving within her grasp – wriggling as if it were…

Her scream instantly froze Yang and Nora in their tracks as she flung the object across the room and jumped as far away from it as possible.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A SNAKE IN HERE?!" she shrieked – heart caught in her throat in fright.

Nora's eyes widened before she ran towards where Blake had just thrown the creature.

"Oh no, not Stan! Come here, Stan!" the girl called out, voice filled with worry as she got down on her hands and knees in search of the animal. Breathing a sigh of relief a few seconds later, she stretched underneath her desk and pulled out not one, but _two_ snakes.

Blake took another step backwards, finding her back now pressed into the bedroom wall in her attempt to put as much distance between her and Nora as possible.

"Why aren't they in a cage?" Yang asked in a high pitched voice as she also took a couple steps away from Nora.

"Oh no, now you sound just like Jaune…" Nora muttered before cooing towards her pets, "He wants to put you in a cage all the time, doesn't he? Oh yes he does."

"Uh, guys?"

The three of them looked over, suddenly remembering that Ruby was still there with them.

"Anyone want to explain what's going on?" the brunette asked.

"Yes!" Blake shouted, before Nora sent a glare her way, advancing on her menacingly with snakes still in hand.

"_No_ \- you were just stopping by to say hello, weren't you?" Nora replied forcefully.

Blake looked at Yang, then back to Nora. With the expression on Yang's face right now, there was no way the blonde was going anywhere near Nora as long as the snakes were still in play. But there had to be some way to convince Nora to let Ruby go…

Suddenly, Blake remembered something.

"Hey, Nora…" she began slowly, "aren't those the snakes you gave to me when I was in the hospital?"

Nora froze, eyes growing wide at the realization.

"Uh…no I don't think so…" she answered cagily, now backing away from Blake while clutching the creatures closer to her chest. When Blake leveled her with a disbelieving stare, Nora bit her lip in thought.

"Actually…I think that maybe…just _one_ of them was..."

Blake recoiled when Nora thrust one of the snakes towards her. She crossed her arms firmly over her chest in order to avoid accepting the offer.

"No…I distinctly remember _two_ snakes in that box," Blake replied with a sly grin, forcing herself to take a baby step closer to Nora once the girl had withdrawn her offering. "You were going to look out for them until I got better, remember? Well, I think that I'd be able to take care of them now if…"

Nora looked up at her, eyes already growing misty at the thought of being separated from the creatures in her arms. Blake managed to hold back the chuckle she felt bubbling up in her chest – Ren had been completely right about the girl's willingness to give them up.

"Stan _and_ Sue?" the girl whined, lower lip sticking out in a pout.

"I guess…that maybe you could keep them a little while longer…" Blake replied slowly, grinning at the huge smile that lit up Nora's face. "In exchange for letting us leave with Ruby, of course."

Nora bit her lip, glancing between Ruby and the snakes several times before finally nodding her head in agreement.

"Deal!" she answered excitedly, switching both snakes to one arm and extending the other hand to shake Blake's.

"Guys, seriously!"

The three of them winced before turning their attention back to Ruby, finding the girl standing with her hands on her hips in a very Schnee-like display of annoyance.

"Is anyone _ever_ going to tell me what's going on?"

Yang chuckled, running one hand through her hair.

"Sorry, Ruby!" she apologized sincerely. "Weiss needs to see you – she's super stressed and not having a good day at all."

"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?" Ruby squealed before racing out of the room and down the stairs, leaving the three of them in a flurry of rose petals.

"Wait!" Yang yelled as they chased Ruby out of the room. "Ruby, you can't run there! Weiss will be furious if you're all sweaty when you arrive!"

When they finally made it downstairs, they found Ruby bouncing up and down impatiently by the door.

"Well then hurry up!"

"Wait, Yang – we brought Bumblebee. How are three of us going to fit on Bumblebee?" Blake asked, realizing the logistical failure in their immediate future.

"I can drive you guys," Nora suggested, grabbing her keys off of the hook by the front door. "I'll just head over early."

They shrugged their shoulders in silent agreement and followed Nora to Team JNPR's garage, where Nora's massive pink and white monster truck was currently parked.

"You have to take us by Bumblebee to get our dresses first though," Yang instructed the girl while pulling herself up into the front seat.

"Got it!"

Nora revved the engine loudly before tearing out of the garage and onto the street, taking out Team JNPR's mailbox in the process. As splinters of wood scattered across the road, Blake suddenly wondered if riding with Nora had been the best of ideas.

After stopping by the house a few blocks away to pick up their dresses _and_ Bumblebee, Nora sped them towards the Schnee mansion that would be hosting the wedding.

When they arrived several minutes later, Blake pushed open the door and fell to the ground, dropping to her knees as she internally praised the solid ground beneath her feet. She heard Yang and Ruby drop down beside her moments later.

"Ugh…I think I'm going to hurl…" Yang moaned pitifully, holding one hand over her mouth.

"That was so _not_ better than running here," Ruby added miserably.

Blake would have added something, but was too afraid of opening her mouth at that moment.

"Come on guys - it's party time!" Nora quipped cheerfully, striding forward on the long marble walkway after tossing her keys to the valet standing, jaw dropped, on the edge of the circular drive.

When the world had finally stopped spinning, Blake was able to peel herself back off the ground, grab the bag with their (now immeasurably wrinkled) dresses still in it, and follow Yang and Ruby towards the front door on slightly wobbly legs. Only then was she able to take in the beautiful sight of the house – transformed and decorated in celebration of the two huntress' wedding.

The entire walkway was lined by hundreds, maybe thousands, of white roses. Blake had heard Weiss and Ruby discussing their choices of flowers just a few days ago and already knew why they had decided upon white roses. White since it was Weiss' favorite color, and a rose because that was Ruby's symbol (as well as her name). It had apparently been an excellent choice, since the walkway looked absolutely breathtaking with the way the flowers had been arranged.

After being bowed through the front entrance by two nearly identical butlers, Blake found that the ballroom from the previous event had been redone to house the wedding's reception later this evening. Sterling place settings were being meticulously arranged on each of the round tables dotting the edge of the room. More white roses were everywhere, covering the entire room with their slightly intoxicating, but not too overpowering aroma. Wait staff were rushing back and forth in every direction as they tried to finish their assigned tasks in time.

And, standing right inside the front door, currently barking at a poor waiter that the wine glasses were not clean enough, stood the organizer herself.

"Hey, Weiss!" Yang called out cheerfully while they approached the girl.

"You're late," came the snappy reply – without even so much as a glance behind her to see them.

"I know, butttt…we brought you something extra special," Yang replied, sending a wink towards Ruby.

Weiss huffed loudly, but turned around regardless. The scowl set on her face said that she was prepared to let them have it for showing up horribly late, but the expression instantly lifted when she saw Ruby standing there beside them.

"Ruby?" she asked in astonishment, prompting the brunette to fly forward and wrap Weiss in a big hug.

"W-what are you doing here?" Weiss asked after Ruby stepped backward to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "You're supposed to be with Nora…we're not supposed to see each other until the ceremony!"

"Aww…you're not happy to see me?" Ruby pouted playfully, instantly causing Weiss to sputter.

"N-no! Of course I'm happy to see you!" she responded hastily. "I'm just…surprised. When Pyrrha told me that they had left Nora in charge of watching you, I knew there was no way I would see you any earlier than we had planned. How did you…?"

"Psh…I know how to handle Nora," Yang proclaimed boastfully when Weiss looked towards them with questioning eyes.

Blake raised an eyebrow and turned towards the blonde.

"Really. _You_ handled Nora?" she asked teasingly, causing Yang to give her a sheepish smile in return.

"Ok, ok, Blake was the one who convinced Nora to let Ruby go," she clarified for the still speechless heiress.

"You shouldn't be all stressed and alone today, Weiss. It's our wedding day!" Ruby cut in, tugging on Weiss' hands in order to regain the girl's attention.

The heiress regarded the brunette adoringly for several seconds, her smile growing brighter and brighter while Ruby shifted side to side in barely tempered excitement. Blake could visibly see the tension begin to lift off of Weiss' shoulders as the girl finally felt able to relax.

"You're right, you're right. Of course you're right!" Weiss replied, glancing over to give Blake and Yang a genuine smile of gratitude.

"Not that you had anything to be stressed about, Weiss. This place looks _amazing_," Yang commented honestly. "Seriously, I don't know how you organized all of this on such short notice."

"Because she's a Schnee, of course," a woman's voice responded from behind them.

Blake turned in surprise to see Weiss' mother glide past her and Yang and over to her daughter, placing one hand lightly upon Weiss' shoulder in congratulations.

"And a Schnee could move a mountain in a day if they needed to," Isabella Schnee concluded with a glowing smile. "Or maybe…a satellite even."

Weiss blushed slightly at her mother's boast, but turned towards Ruby once more with a big smile. The heiress seemed unwilling to release Ruby's hand now that the brunette was back by her side.

"Everything does look splendid though," Weiss' mother remarked sincerely. "But why don't you four girls go get some rest and then start getting dressed? It looks like you could use it."

When Weiss opened her mouth to protest, her mother silenced her with a raised hand.

"I will oversee the rest of the setup down here," she replied calmly. "I believe I'm more than capable of orchestrating my own daughter's wedding. And I'll take care of _those_."

Blake obligingly handed over the bag holding their dresses when Mrs. Schnee reached out for them, thankful that someone else would take care of getting them back into pristine condition.

Weiss shut her mouth and gave her mom a small smile and nod, her exhaustion from not sleeping the night before seeming to have destroyed her will to argue.

"Yes, thank you…" she replied before gesturing for the three of them to follow her up the left side of the double staircase and into another large room where Weiss was supposed to change into her dress later. There were several comfortable chairs and a small sofa placed around the large gathering area, allowing Weiss and Ruby to curl up together on the sofa while Yang and Blake each took one of the chairs.

Within only a few minutes, Weiss had fallen blissfully asleep in Ruby's arms, with the brunette soon to follow. Blake watched intently as Yang gazed happily towards the two girls, a small smile frozen on her face. It was easy to see that the blissfulness of the two girls in front of her made her happy, as well.

When the blonde turned towards Blake with a big smile, Blake blushed and looked quickly away – embarrassed that she had just been caught staring.

A soft whistle called her attention back to Yang, who waved Blake over to her.

She decided to indulge the girl, walking over to Yang's chair and positioning herself comfortably in Yang's lap, just how they always sat when Blake was reading in the library. Yang's warm arms wrapped around her, quickly making Blake feel just as drowsy as the girls sleeping across from them. A familiar rumble began to pour from her chest as she settled into Yang's grasp.

"They're pretty cute together, huh," Yang whispered as one hand began playing with the ends of Blake's hair.

"Mhmm…" she responded sleepily, thoroughly enjoying the small twists and curls Yang was running through her hair while purrs continued to rattle through her chest in appreciation.

"Not as cute as us though, right?" Yang asked quietly. Blake didn't have to look up to know there was a huge grin on the blonde's face right now.

"Of course not," she responded, looking up towards that grin and the lilac eyes twinkling with mischief. "Ruby may be cute, but she's no you."

Yang laughed before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to Blake's lips.

"And now I know that you think my sister's cute," the blonde replied teasingly. "I knew it – I just knew it. If I weren't around, you would totally have the hots for Ruby."

"I would not!" she instantly refuted – a tad too loudly, earning a small shushing gesture from Yang and a meaningful point towards the sleeping couple. She felt her face light up in embarrassment, not even knowing what else to say in order to try to save herself.

Instead, she decided to hide her face in Yang's shoulder as she tried to escape the blonde's judgment.

"If you weren't around, I would be out there looking for you…" she whispered into Yang's shirt.

Yang squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before pressing another kiss right between Blake's ears.

She couldn't have stopped her purring even if she had tried while she and Yang sat there in comfortable silence. No words needed to be said – they were just content to be there with each other for the time being.

Yang was the only one she had ever felt this relaxed around – so at ease and peace, even when they were doing nothing at all. With anyone else, the silence would have been unnerving; it would have made her restless. But she was happy to just sit here with her partner, on the very edge of sleep, while they recouped their energy in preparation for the rest of the day.

It must have been twenty minutes later that Blake noticed Weiss stirring within Ruby's arms. The moment the heiress' eyes cracked open, she shot to her feet in a panic – the movement startling Ruby back to consciousness at the same time.

"What time is it?" she demanded of Blake and Yang before pulling out her scroll to find out the answer herself. She sighed loudly in relief, but then turned to frown at Blake and Yang.

"Were you just going to let us sleep forever?" she asked tersely. "We could have been late to our own wedding!"

"Uh…" Yang stalled, looking down quizzically at Blake, still in shock that their peaceful moment had been shattered so swiftly and they were now the culprits in some crime they hadn't known they were committing.

"Weiss, we can't be late for our own wedding," Ruby remarked cheerfully as she stood and reassuringly touched the heiress' shoulder. "If we didn't show up on time, they would just have to wait for us!"

"But the guests…" Weiss began, only to be silenced by a single thin finger being placed to her lips.

"As long as the minister is here, we can get married. I don't care if anyone else witnesses it," Ruby replied with a loving smile.

"Hey!" Yang yelled in offense at the comment.

"Not even Yang," Ruby added playfully, turning and sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"Well there goes her gift…" Yang muttered so only Blake could hear. She giggled and swatted Yang's knee lightly in disapproval of the retribution.

"We should still get ready now – we don't have very long until we're supposed to be upstairs," Weiss insisted.

The three of them knew better than to try to argue with the girl today. Yang and Blake obediently got to their feet while Ruby gave Weiss a quick kiss on the cheek before preparing to leave the room with Yang.

As per another wedding tradition, Weiss and Ruby were going to change in their own separate rooms so that neither of them would see each other's wedding dresses until the ceremony had begun.

"See you in a bit!" the brunette said cheerfully before disappearing from the doorway in a cloud of rose petals. Yang winked at Blake before following her sister out at a normal pace.

Blake turned towards Weiss, who was gazing fondly at the rose petals as they slowly drifted towards the ground, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Uh…Should we get dressed now?" Blake finally asked in an attempt to pull Weiss out of her revere, pointing towards the large white bags hanging on a hook on the back of the bathroom door. Her own dress had been dropped off by one of the staff while Weiss and Ruby had been sleeping – newly steamed and completely wrinkle free.

Weiss gave a small start and refused to look directly at Blake when she realized that she had been caught staring for a little too long. Blake didn't fail to notice the small blush lighting up Weiss' cheeks as the heiress merely nodded in response, prompting the two of them to pull down the bags and step into the changing area.

Ruby and Weiss had both decided to wear white dresses, while Yang and Blake would be wearing scarlet red. The actual ceremony was going to be quite small, so only Blake and Yang were going to be bridesmaids for their respective brides.

Blake's own dress was quite simple – a pure red floor length gown that clung to every inch of skin it covered. There were no frills, lace, or ribbons - just smooth, satiny material that felt every bit as expensive as it looked. And, thankfully, it was nowhere near as revealing as some of the dresses Yang had tried to get Ruby to agree to.

Once she had changed, she walked carefully back out into the main room and waited for Weiss to appear. Honestly, she had been shocked when Weiss had requested that Blake be her maid of honor. She had thought for sure that there would have been a battle between Weiss and Ruby for Yang, but apparently the heiress had finally forgiven her for everything that had happened.

Or, as Weiss had put it – "Without you, there wouldn't even be a wedding – so stop complaining and agree to be my maid of honor!"

The sound of a door opening drew her attention out of her thoughts and to the beautiful girl now standing in front of her.

"Wow…Weiss, you look…wow," Blake stammered when she saw the girl.

"Do you think?" Weiss asked unsurely, spinning around in a circle as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror.

The dress was pure white and strapless. It clung to Weiss' more petite frame perfectly before falling into a long train flowing out behind her. There were three small bustles running around the middle of the gown, with the bodice covered in intricate crystals delicately placed to look like snowflakes. Several more snowflake patterns ran down the side of the dress and onto the train.

"It's just…perfect on you," Blake assured her honestly, genuinely taken aback by how amazing the heiress looked. "Ruby is going to flip when she sees you in that."

"Thank you," Weiss responded with a smile before carefully taking a seat in front of the mirror and pulling out a brush to run through her long white tresses. "I can't wait to see the dress she picked out either…"

Blake walked over and sat down on the edge of one of the chairs beside Weiss, watching the heiress gently brush her hair. She could tell Weiss was nervous by the way the girl's hand shook ever so slightly in between strokes of the brush. That and Weiss' hair already looked perfect – it didn't need to be brushed anymore.

"I'm sure you'll love it," she replied confidently, hoping to alleviate some of Weiss' nerves. "As Yang told me, it will 'knock your million lien panties right off.'"

Weiss scoffed at the comment and rolled her eyes.

"Eloquent, as always," she replied, making Blake laugh. "And that's not even the right phrase!"

"Well…she got the point across, at least," Blake commented, strangely fond of her partner's sometimes more brusque manner of speaking.

Weiss set the brush back down on the counter and turned fully towards Blake.

"How do I look?" she asked, standing up and adding a slow twirl so that Blake could take in her full appearance.

"Absolutely stunning," Blake replied positively, standing as well. "So…are you ready to get married?"

Weiss bit her lip lightly while her fingers tapped quickly against her palm. She was still a little nervous, Blake could tell, but after one deep breath, Weiss looked at her with clear eyes and a true smile before she answered.

"Yes."

* * *

The ceremony was taking place on the rooftop of the mansion, with only their closest friends and family members being invited to the main event. Weiss and Ruby had only wanted those dearest to them to be present for this part of the wedding.

Blake stood patiently in another waiting area near the doorway that would exit onto the roof, actively listening for the cue of music which would tell her that it was her time to walk down the aisle. She really hoped that Yang and Ruby would show up soon – since it would probably be pretty bad for Ruby to be late when Weiss was already…

"Sorry, sorry we're late!"

Blake turned towards Yang's voice, finding the blonde panting a bit as she came to a halt in front of her. Ruby was right on her heels, holding up the long train of her dress so as not to scuff it too much against the floor while she ran behind her sister.

"What took you two so long?" Blake asked curiously, sparing a few moments to thoroughly check out her partner in her own matching red dress.

In a competition of 'who wore it better,' Yang would win, hands down. It looked as if the dress had been designed with her specifically in mind, making the blonde's curves look incredibly tempting in the fabric. Blake found it becoming more and more difficult to tear her eyes away from the girl the longer she stared.

Of course, when Yang cleared her throat loudly, she immediately looked away with a blush, trying and failing to avoid seeing the satisfied smirk Yang was now wearing.

"We found all the food! There's so much good food…we had to try some of it," Ruby explained happily, eyes glazing over while she ruminated upon the small feast she had just had - completely oblivious to the looks Yang and Blake were giving each other.

Finally tearing her eyes away from Yang, Blake finally had the opportunity to see the dress Yang had been raving about for the past two days.

Ruby's dress was also strapless, but was lacking in any crystals or decorations on the front. Instead, a wide, red band wrapped around the very top of the gown, which connected to a long red strip that ran down the back length of the dress. The train was a beautiful layering of pure white on top of red, giving the gown a spectacularly vibrant appearance without the use of lace or sequins.

"Ruby, you look so…" she began, mouth hanging open as she took in the girl's magnificent dress.

"Cute?" Ruby asked with a wink, instantly setting Blake's cheeks on fire with a furious blush. She punched Yang 'lightly' in the shoulder - the blonde now nearly rolling on the ground in laughter.

A few familiar notes of music drifted through the doorway at that moment, signaling that it was now Blake's time to make her appearance. Straightening out her dress and giving Yang one last glare, she turned and faced the doorway in preparation. Seconds later, she heard her cue.

Pushing open the door, she found herself on the rooftop in the afternoon sun. They could not have wished for a more perfect day. Not too warm, but not too cold - the air was crystal clear as the sun made its descent towards the horizon. A gentle breeze blew the smell of roses across the roof, laying a comfortable fragrance over the area.

Blake had never been up to the rooftop before, but she now knew why Weiss and Ruby had decided to have their small wedding here. The view was absolutely breathtaking – with the expansive forest to the left extending as far as the eye could see. On the right, some of Vale's most prominent buildings could be seen in the distance, Schnee Tower amongst them.

A narrow white satin walkway was laid on the ground before her, leading directly to where Weiss was standing patiently with Professor Ozpin under a white trellis covered in vibrant green ivy.

When the sound of the door opening reached the guests, everyone turned in their chairs to look in her direction. She was pleased to find she knew all of the guests – Weiss' parents, Yang and Ruby's father and uncle, Glynda, Team JNPR, Team CFVY, Sun, Neptune, and, of course, little Zwei – wearing an adorable little tuxedo while he sat at the front by Weiss' feet.

She began her slow walk down the aisle, knowing that Yang would be following closely behind her. Making it to Weiss, she stood by the girl's side after giving her a warm smile of encouragement. When she turned around, she found that Yang was nearly to her own designated space – on the other side of the aisle from her and Weiss.

And as soon as Yang was standing across from them, the string quartet began the wedding march - prompting everyone to stand from their seats and look back to see Ruby finally appear on the rooftop. Blake heard Weiss audibly suck in her breath when she saw the girl. Glancing over to Yang, Blake received a wink from the blonde, who mouthed the words 'told ya so' to her before directing her attention back towards her sister.

When Ruby had finally reached the front, she turned towards Weiss, who immediately took both of the brunette's hands in her own. Blake noticed Yang try to discreetly wipe a tear away from one eye and made a quick mental note to tease the girl about it afterward.

As the guests retook their seats, Professor Ozpin began speaking.

"Dear friends and family…We are gathered here today to join these two fine huntresses in matrimony. Ms. Schnee – do you have any words for Ms. Rose?"

Weiss took a deep breath before she began speaking, holding onto Ruby's hands tightly.

"Ruby…first, you look absolutely gorgeous," Weiss began, causing Ruby to blush at the unexpected compliment before Weiss continued.

"I know that I haven't always been the easiest person to be partners with – I'm sure I gave you far more grief than you ever deserved. But even with all of the effort I put into trying _not_ to become close to you, you always managed to wiggle your way closer to my heart. You're so unflinchingly positive and cheerful, you bring out the best in everyone who meets you…including me. And, if you'll let me, I'll try to be the very best wife you could ever ask for. I'll love you more than anyone else in the world – even when you're stealing cookies from my secret stash, leaving rose petals _everywhere_, or telling your sister my most embarrassing secrets."

Everyone laughed lightly when Weiss finished her vows. Ruby waited until Professor Ozpin gave her a slight nod before she began to speak.

"Weiss, you are the most beautiful, intelligent, poised, kindhearted person I have ever met. And every day I wake up, I can't believe that I can actually call you my girlfriend – and soon, my wife! I'll be the happiest person in the entire world if you agree to marry me. And I'll spend every day for the rest of my life trying my hardest to make you happy!"

As everyone 'aww'd' at Ruby's heartfelt speech, Blake glanced towards Yang, spotting more tears threatening to spill from the girl's eyes. She could feel tears stinging at her own eyes as she watched Weiss and Ruby gaze so lovingly at each other. It was clear to everyone how much the two adored each other…and after everything they had been through, it was nice that they finally got their happy ending.

Professor Ozpin smiled proudly down at the two girls before continuing his role.

"Ms. Schnee," he began, even though Weiss and Ruby refused to look away from each other for a single second as he spoke. "Do you take Ms. Rose to be your wife – to love her, honor her, comfort her, in sickness and in health – so long as you both may live?"

"I do," Weiss replied after hardly a millisecond of a pause.

"And do you, Ms. Rose, take Ms. Schnee to be your wife – to love, honor, and comfort, in sickness and in health – so long as you both may live?"

"I do!" Ruby exclaimed with a huge smile.

Professor Ozpin chuckled at Ruby's jubilation.

"Now the rings," he called, making Blake to fumble in her pocket for the ring Weiss had entrusted her with earlier that day. Handing the small band to Weiss, the heiress turned and slid the ring delicately onto Ruby's ring finger. She then lifted Ruby's hand up to her lips and kissed the newly placed band softly before releasing the brunette's hand, earning herself a small giggle for the gesture.

Ruby then turned excitedly back to Yang, who dutifully handed over the ring she had been holding for her sister. After the stunning silver band had been placed on Weiss' finger, the heiress drew her hand up to eye level in order to examine the craftsmanship more closely.

"Ohh don't touch that button!" Ruby suddenly shouted, instantly freezing Weiss' right hand as it was reaching over to touch the ring on her left. "That will…uh…release a small amount of tear gas designed to incapacitate anyone within a ten foot radius – of course, not you because you now know to close your eyes and hold your breath while you get away."

Blake stared at the ring with wide eyes as Weiss dropped her hand to her side and held her hand out in front of her as if it were a bomb.

"Anything else I should know?" Weiss asked calmly as everyone else continued to gaze at the ring in alarm.

"Uh…don't say the phrases 'Rubik's cube' or 'duck dollar' unless you want to use the Taser or poison darts," Ruby continued, much to everyone's surprise. "And! Don't get really nervous because it will pick up your increased pulse and temperature and…and…w-why don't I just take that back for now and give it to you later?"

Weiss laughed while pulling the ring off of her finger and handing it back to the brunette, who in turn gave it back to Yang. Yang handled the item much more carefully - delicately placing it back within its box.

Once the ring had been safely removed, Weiss pulled Ruby in for a big hug, still laughing in amusement from the ring her very own (soon to be) wife had made just for her. Mid-hug, only Blake could hear Weiss whisper into Ruby's ear, "And there's a tracking device in yours, so don't ever take it off..."

Blake chuckled while Ruby grinned and nodded at Weiss.

"Then…I now pronounce you wife and wife," Professor Ozpin finished happily.

Weiss didn't even bother to wait for the man to finish his speech as she pulled Ruby in for a long kiss. All those present, Blake and Yang included, applauded loudly when the two newlyweds finally separated and Weiss pulled Ruby back down the aisle towards the door they had just used to enter.

Blake felt a comforting wave of heat wash over her as Yang sidled over to her side, flashing her a bright smile while she casually tossed the small ring box up in the air.

"Ready for the after party?" she asked cheerfully.

"That depends…" Blake responded with a smile of her own. "Think you can hold it together without bursting into tears again?"

"I was not -! I wasn't crying," Yang denied - until she saw the look of disbelief Blake was giving her.

"Ok, ok, maybe I was crying a _little_, but come on, my little sister just got married!"

She laughed while taking one of Yang's hands in her own.

"Come on, let's go have some of that great food you and Ruby already helped yourselves to."

* * *

By the time they had made it downstairs to the main room of the mansion, they were shocked to find a huge party already underway. In the time they had been on the rooftop, a multitude of guests had apparently shown up for the reception.

"Uh, Weiss? Who are all these people?" Yang asked curiously, staring around at the strange faces in bemusement.

Weiss sighed at the question.

"They're 'friends' and acquaintances of my parents…" she explained forlornly. "The deal was that I could have the ceremony with only who _I_ wanted, but the reception would be whoever _they_ wanted."

"Ah, I see…" Yang commented slowly, glancing quickly around one more time at all of the expensively dressed guests surrounding them.

"I think it's great!" Ruby piped up from Weiss' side, drawing all attention towards her. "I mean, because everyone got what they wanted! We wanted to have a small wedding – and your parents wanted to have a huge party celebrating your marriage. And the more people to celebrate, the better!"

Weiss smiled at Ruby – until her eyes lighted upon someone standing behind the brunette.

"What are you two doing?" she asked in bewilderment. "We _invited_ you this time – why are you still wearing the waiters' uniforms?"

Blake followed Weiss' gaze to find Sun and Neptune frozen in their tracks – dressed head to toe in the same outfits the waiters were wearing. The two boys grinned at them guiltily before Sun spoke up.

"We wanted to try to sneak into the kitchen…" he admitted. "We were told that you can ask the chef to make you anything in the world and he'll do it."

"Ohh…did you make it? Is it true?" Ruby asked eagerly, eyes growing wide at the first mention of food.

Weiss rolled her eyes and cut in before Sun or Neptune could answer.

"Come on you three – follow me," she ordered before striding purposefully in the direction of the kitchen doors. Ruby hastily followed Weiss – with Sun and Neptune not far behind, sharing a high five with each other as they walked away.

"I'm pretty sure Ruby was looking forward to the food today above anything else," Yang observed with a chuckle. "Oh! There's Pyrrha – I'll be right back. I have to go show her my scar!"

Yang pointed towards her ear, where the nearly-healed wound was already beginning to disappear. The brawler would be lucky if any scar at all was left behind once her aura had finished its job.

"Make sure you tell her how it's increased your hotness by a factor of ten," she called after the blonde teasingly, receiving a wink and 'oh I will' in response.

Now alone, she scanned the room more carefully, taking in all of the well-dressed guests who had shown up. Just like the Schnee fundraiser they had gone to before, wealth and affluence seemed to be the general theme. Thankfully though, the atmosphere seemed to be much more jovial and less business-like than the fundraiser had been.

In Ruby's words, this was a celebration, after all.

Searching amongst the crowd, her eyes suddenly lighted upon a familiar little girl wearing a royal purple dress with a wide white belt wrapping around her stomach and tied in a beautiful bow at her back. Her blonde hair was no longer in pigtails, instead flowing in expertly pressed waves down her back.

But it was unmistakably the same little girl.

Violet looked directly at Blake not two seconds later. And while Blake had expected that the little girl would not recognize her, the huge smile lighting up Violet's face immediately proved otherwise. The next moment, Violet was running across the ballroom floor, pushing past other guests before skidding to a stop directly in front of her.

She looked down at the young girl with a smile, feeling her uncovered ears flick faintly in anticipation of what the little girl had to say to her.

Without a word, Violet gestured for Blake to come closer, as if she had something to whisper in Blake's ear. She compliantly knelt down to the ground, leaning forward as she waited for Violet to tell her what she wanted to say.

The next second, her back stiffened when she felt a small hand unexpectedly petting her ears. She looked at Violet with wide eyes, finding the little girl focused intently upon Blake's ears while she moved her hand back and forth. After the initial shock of the sensation had worn off, Blake was able to relax her muscles and actually enjoy the feeling of Violet's tiny fingers poking at her ears.

She was shocked when a tiny rumble suddenly made it out of her chest, causing Violet to giggle gleefully – having the time of her life.

After several more seconds, Violet pulled her hand away and grinned up at her.

"You're my new favorite huntress!" the little girl whispered excitedly, cupping one hand on the side of her mouth as if telling Blake an enormous secret.

"Violet!"

Before Blake could even respond, Violet turned and ran back to her mom, bouncing in delight the entire way. Blake stood up, feeling a content smile on her face while she watched the girl run away.

"How do you know Violet Carlyle?"

Turning around in surprise, she found that Weiss had come up behind her – undoubtedly witnessing the entire interaction.

"Oh…I met her when I went dress shopping with Yang that one day," she replied casually. "Why is she here though? And how do you know her?"

"Her father owns Carlyle Transportation; Schnee Dust uses them exclusively for all of our overseas shipping. Surely you've heard of them - they're the largest shipping conglomerate in Remnant…" Weiss explained, giving Blake a strange look before continuing, "She's going to be a very, very powerful person one day."

Blake stared at Weiss in surprise before turning back towards the little girl – only to find that Yang had just stumbled into her, as well. Violet actually raced into Yang's arms and let the blonde pick her up and swing her in the air – both girls laughing as they twirled around in a circle.

Yang's words came storming back to her while she fondly watched the interaction.

Sometimes, it's the smallest of things…that can make a difference.

Once Yang had returned Violet to the ground and gave her one last hug, the blonde strode towards them with a huge smile on her face.

"I just heard that someone got to pet Blake Belladonna's ears, and it wasn't me," she said as soon as she within speaking distance. "I'm more than a little jealous."

"Oh please," Blake immediately replied with a laugh, but cut it short when she noticed the somber expression Yang was giving her.

"I'm serious," Yang replied in a grave tone, before leaning forward to whisper in Blake's ear, "So, do I get to pet your ears later to make up for it?"

Blushing, she shoved Yang's shoulder in order to move the blonde away from her – glancing quickly in Weiss' direction just in time to catch a patented Schnee Eye Roll ™.

The question might have seemed innocent, but the husky tone it had been asked in while Yang's lips lightly brushed against her ear suggested something else entirely.

"Only if you're lucky," she mumbled quietly, too embarrassed to say anything else while Weiss was standing right there.

"Oh, this reminds me…" Weiss finally spoke up, just as Ruby reappeared grasping a plate carrying what looked like a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. "I have a present for you two."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked in surprise. "I don't think you get how weddings work, Weiss. _We're_ supposed to be the ones giving _you_ presents – not the other way around."

"Yes, but if you accept this present, I would consider it a gift," Weiss continued, lifting up the small box she had been holding in one of her hands and extending it towards Yang, who looked at it curiously before taking it.

Pulling off the lid, the blonde looked even more confused when she held up a single key for everyone to see.

"Uh…thank you?" she replied, clearly unsure of what else she was expected to say.

"That's the key to your own home – well, yours and Blake's," Weiss explained, nodding in Blake's direction.

After a few seconds of confusion, Blake felt the light bulbs click on in her own mind when she realized what Weiss was trying to say. Unfortunately, Yang didn't seem to have gotten it as quickly.

"You're kicking us out?" she asked in dismay.

"Well…no…" Weiss replied calmly, a small flush growing on her cheeks. "It's just…now that Ruby and I are married, it would be nice to have our own home and a little more…privacy."

Yang just looked at her, jaw fully unhinged in shock.

"It's really close too, Yang!" Ruby offered once her food had been entirely demolished. "Only like five minutes – we can still see each other every day!"

"It's very nice – I think you'll both love it," Weiss added with a smile.

Blake nodded at Weiss in understanding, before laughing at the still flabbergasted Yang. She reached over and gently tapped the bottom of Yang's jaw until the blonde snapped it shut and placed the key carefully back in its box.

"Uh…well thank you, Weiss," Yang replied thoughtfully. "Although, I can't imagine what you and Ruby might need _privacy_ for, since you two wouldn't be doing anything like _that._"

Blake couldn't help but giggle while Weiss and Ruby both avoided eye contact, cheeks flushed profusely red. Yang glared at Weiss, fully prepared to play the part of protective big sister right now.

"We can move while you two are on your honeymoon," Blake commented, deciding to try to help the two flustered newlyweds out of their current predicament.

"Oh, you don't have to move by any particular date," Weiss replied with a wave of her hand. "Plus, you two are already going to be super busy while we're away."

"Uh…what do you mean?" Yang asked, looking just as confused as Blake currently felt.

"You'll be getting the Human Faunus Relationship Council off the ground, of course," Weiss stated, narrowing her eyes at the mirrored images of surprise in front of her. "The one you two will be running? That we happened to have just raised an enormous sum of money for?"

"I…I thought you were just joking about me being in charge of that!" Yang sputtered in surprise, causing Weiss and Ruby to both laugh.

"Nope, it was your idea – you're in charge," Weiss replied with a smirk. "Maybe next time you should think about things before you do them in an effort to attract Blake's attention."

"That's not the _only_ reason I suggested it…" the blonde mumbled quietly, a small blush dusting her cheeks.

Blake grinned at her partner, reaching out to squeeze one of Yang's hands reassuringly. She knew that Yang wouldn't have suggested something like that solely to get her attention. Yang actually did care about the livelihoods of the Faunus – probably just as much as Blake, herself, did.

"Weiss!"

The four of them turned to find Pyrrha waving Weiss towards her.

"Your mother says it's time for you to throw the bouquet!" the redhead called towards them, pointing towards the double staircase towering above the ballroom.

With a sigh, Weiss dutifully followed Pyrrha, but paused when Yang suddenly raced after them and pulled Weiss to a stop. The blonde leaned close and whispered something into the heiress' ear – speaking so quietly even Blake couldn't pick up the words from this distance.

However, Weiss seemed to have understood what Yang said, giving the brawler a short nod before continuing her ascension of the staircase. Yang ran back to Blake with a smile and dragged her over to the ballroom floor where Weiss would presumably be throwing the bouquet towards.

"Come on, let's try to catch this bad boy!" Yang remarked eagerly, planting Blake below the staircase landing and standing by her side.

If Blake didn't know any better, she would almost have guessed that Yang was standing guard over her…

The rest of the guests swiftly became aware of what was about to happen when they witnessed Weiss standing at the top of the landing – still clad in her white dress with a small bouquet of white and red roses held in her hands. Several more ladies joined them on the floor, chattering happily as they excitedly waited for Weiss to throw the bouquet.

Blake felt Yang heat up beside her, causing her to look at the blonde in concern.

"I just really want to catch it," Yang whispered by means of answering Blake's unasked question.

Weiss then turned away from them and Blake could practically _hear_ all of Yang's muscles tense in anticipation. The heiress turned to look over her shoulder one more time before turning forward and tossing the bouquet over her head.

Watching the flowers arc through the air, Blake was shocked to find that they were headed precisely in her direction. She didn't even have to move as they fell into her hands just a moment later.

The guests around her all politely applauded her apparent 'victory' while she blushed at the attention she was currently gathering.

Turning towards Yang, she found the blonde grinning at her. Behind Yang, a very upset looking Nora Valkyrie was being forcefully dragged away by Ren.

"Looks like you're gonna be the next one getting married!" the blonde commented cheekily.

Blake looked down at the flowers held in her hands, marveling at how pristine the roses looked from this distance.

"If only I had someone suitable to be with," she responded playfully, tugging softly at one of the rose petals in mock distress.

"I might know a few people!" Yang instantly replied, not hurt in the least by the comment. "Let's see…there's Neptune…"

Blake followed Yang's nod towards the trident wielder, just in time to watch him spit what looked like an oyster out into his hand. The boy looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching, before inconspicuously putting the discarded oyster back in its shell, setting it on the table, and walking hastily away.

She crinkled her nose in disgust and shook her head at Yang's first suggestion.

"Ok, not a fan of the disgusting eater…got it…well then there's Sun, of course," Yang suggested as they turned their attention towards the Faunus boy who was chatting animatedly with Ren and an already reanimated Nora.

Blake was about to comment that Sun at least had _some _manners, until they both watched Sun laugh at something funny Nora had just said, shooting water out his nose as he did so. Nora tried to help by patting Sun 'lightly' on the back while he coughed, succeeding instead in throwing the boy flat on his face on the ballroom floor.

Both of them burst out laughing while they watched Sun scramble back to his feet in embarrassment.

"No, I don't think he's the one for me!" Blake responded with another chuckle at her friend.

"Ok, well I know _Ruby_ would have been your first choice, but she's kinda taken…oh! Fortunately for you, there's still another, high quality option," Yang continued, drawing Blake's eyes her way. "M-maybe…me?"

Blake found that the blonde was suddenly uncharacteristically nervous and maybe even a little…bashful? She felt her own heart begin pounding at the question, knowing that all jokes were now being placed aside – she needed to answer this right.

Sucking in one deep breath, she smiled when she realized how adorable nervous, timid Yang was.

"You don't even have to ask me, Yang, because my answer will be yes. I will marry you, whenever you're ready," she replied in one breath, feeling her heart soar with the words, knowing that they were coming straight from her heart.

Blake couldn't really say what reaction she thought she would receive, but it certainly wasn't Yang blushing like a fire hydrant.

"W-well I should still ask, anyway…polite, you know…" Yang mumbled quietly, running one hand nervously through her hair while glancing anywhere but at Blake in embarrassment.

A giggle escaped her lips, finally drawing Yang's gorgeous lilac eyes back to her.

"Did you really use your 'once every five years' favor with Weiss just to have her throw me the bouquet?" she asked, holding the flowers up in front of her as evidence.

Yang's sheepish grin was all the answer Blake needed. She reached out and forcibly tugged Yang to her in order to give the blonde a loving kiss – trying to express just how much she loved the girl in that one, single action.

When they pulled apart, Yang gave her a radiant smile – now completely back to her normal self.

"Yes I did – and it was totally worth it."


	37. Epilogue

**Thank you again to everyone who has been following this story! It's been quite a long trek, hasn't it? I'm sad to say that this will be the final chapter...but I'm excited for a lot of other rwby stories I have planned (and partially written!).**

**I really hope this ending can do justice to the story I tried to create - and that it leaves everyone feeling glad that they took time out of their lives to read it.**

**I won't rule out a sequel, but I do have other stories I would like to write first - so keep an eye out for those! (Especially Bumblebee fans!)**

* * *

Months had passed since Vale's threats had been defeated – time filled with new beginnings and renewal for people far and wide.

The city had thrown itself with gusto towards healing from its wounds. Construction of new buildings was already underway downtown to replace the ones devastated in the attacks. People were no longer fearful to leave their homes. The government was no longer on edge.

Cinder and Adam had been moved to the highest security prison in Vale – for the rest of their lives. The government leaders had thanked all of the huntsmen profusely for their bravery in saving the city from the attack, holding a grand ceremony celebrating the so-called 'heroes of Remnant.' Blake had even received her own special medal for her personal role in bringing the masterminds to justice.

They had never found out if Adam had volunteered for Cinder's plan, or was being used against his will – and Blake never bothered to ask. Right now, that question seemed insignificant to her. She was finally happy without him in her life, and she no longer felt a single shred of guilt for having abandoned him all those years ago.

As far as she was concerned, they were finally even.

And even though there were no longer Grimm to fight or terrorist plots to foil, the members of Team RWBY managed to stay extraordinarily busy.

Blake had eventually managed to convince Yang that moving into their own place might not be the worst of ideas now that Weiss and Ruby were married. And while Yang still wasn't particularly _fond_ of the idea of Weiss doing anything "inappropriate" with her little sister, the blonde was equally afraid of Ruby catching her doing something "inappropriate" with Blake. So, while the two huntresses were away on their well-deserved honeymoon, Blake and Yang had packed up what few items they had and moved to the house Weiss had so generously provided for them.

And, true to Weiss' words, the new place was absolutely wonderful.

While nowhere near as large as Schnee Manor, Blake actually found it to be more comfortable in its modest size. Two stories with several decently sized bedrooms, Yang and Blake had quickly decided that they would really love living here. Weiss might be used to the abundance of empty bedrooms and massive gathering areas, but Blake had grown up with…well, less than that.

By far her favorite part of their new home was found by ascending a narrow staircase on the top floor that led to a flat door in the roof, where a small deck-like area could be easily reached. She and Yang loved to go up there at night and talk while looking up at the stars – laying flat on the oversized pillows they had dragged up there solely for that purpose.

And, it was literally only a fifteen minute walk away from Schnee Manor. Of course, it took Ruby only thirty seconds to cover the distance (they had timed it one day).

Blake and Yang had managed to get the Human Faunus Relationship Council off the ground, although there was still much, much more work to be done. Thankfully, Ruby had been right when she had said that Weiss would be helping them in any way she could. With all the moving parts that needed to be coordinated, Blake didn't know if they would ever have been able to succeed without Weiss' organization and input.

It was hard and demanding work, as Vale was still shrouded in deep rooted Faunus discrimination. Blake quickly found out just how ingrained the discrimination was and how difficult it would be to tear it all down. Fortunately, they had already gotten a few commitments from companies to establish equal standards for human and Faunus employees, while also establishing a program to rehabilitate ex-White Fang members to help reestablish them as contributing members of the community. But, as with all changes of this manner, progress was exceedingly slow.

But whenever she began to feel discouraged, she found herself to be extremely fortunate to have her own, personal sun constantly by her side. If Yang ever felt disheartened, she never showed it – always pointing out the positive to Blake and picking her up when she felt down.

Weiss had asked her once if she ever got tired of being with Yang 24/7, since the two of them both lived and worked together, but she never felt that way at all. After the three years they had spent apart, she still felt like they didn't get to spend _enough_ time with each other. And she didn't think that that feeling would ever go away.

The same went for Weiss and Ruby, as well – Blake never got tired of being around her teammates. And while she didn't get to spend nearly as much time with them as she did with Yang, they had decided to schedule a weekly team dinner at Schnee Manor in order to make sure they didn't lose touch with each other.

The other half of Team RWBY was just as busy as she and Yang were, if not more so.

Weiss was busy rapidly preparing to take over a senior leadership role at her family's company. Her parents had begun to step out of the limelight as soon as Weiss had told them that she was ready, almost as if it had been a day they had anxiously been waiting for. Once the pressure had subsided, Weiss' relationship with her father had grown less tense. It likely helped that Weiss now felt grateful to him for his complete support when Ruby had been kidnapped.

Even though running the massive company was incredibly stressful, Weiss found that she was actually very well suited to the task, no doubt thanks to her upbringing. And on those days when she did feel more strained than others, she would just call Ruby. The brunette would almost instantly appear at her office door with a smile, a kiss, and occasionally a handful of cookies.

With a wife like that, it was nearly impossible to stay upset for long.

Ruby was the only one who had decided to pursue a career as a huntress. Due to her exceptional skills, she had very quickly climbed the ranks of the huntsmen. Now, she would run personal missions for Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood – the strictly confidential kind that she was not allowed to talk about (although Weiss would always get the information from the brunette in one way or another).

Ruby would sometimes be gone for days at a time, but managed to hardly ever miss their team dinners. Sometimes she would even speed home in the middle of a hunt just to make it in time. Weiss would scold the brunette for being irresponsible, but it was always easy to tell that she didn't mean it in the least.

Blake knew that Weiss worried about Ruby's safety often, but the heiress had learned to trust in Ruby's skills as a huntress. Plus, she had had that tracking device installed in Ruby's ring, after all. That, and a distress beacon. No matter where Ruby was, Weiss would only be a touch of a button away.

It was on one of these team dinner nights that Blake and Yang were currently walking along the peaceful neighborhood streets, calmly making their way to Weiss and Ruby's home. Blake was carrying their contribution to the meal – an appetizer of tiny ahi tuna tacos.

"Are you sure they're going to be ok with this?" she asked Yang for what must have been the tenth time this evening.

Weiss had complained after Blake and Yang had made tuna dishes for several weeks in a row. So, a new rule had been mandated that tuna could only be a part of the menu once every month, much to Blake's consternation.

Yang laughed off her concern, reaching one hand up only to have it swatted away when she tried to steal one of the tacos off of the platter for a second time.

"They'll just have to deal with it!" Yang replied happily as the towering Schnee Manor came into view. "Even though we made tuna tartar last week, it was technically last month too!"

Blake understood Yang's logic – it was the same rationale that had convinced her to make the tacos in the first place a couple of hours earlier. Well, that and Yang had already brought home the fresh tuna…which had smelled way too good not to eat tonight.

Walking up to the front door, she let out a small sigh.

She knew that Weiss wasn't going to like this…

Fortunately, it was Ruby who yanked the door open not even a full second after Yang had knocked, a flurry of rose petals blowing out of the door from behind her.

"Yang!" the brunette squealed happily, rushing forward and jumping into her sister's arms just as she likely had when she was a small child.

Yang caught her sister and wrapped her up in a tight, loving hug – closing her eyes briefly while her shoulders noticeably relaxed. Blake knew that Yang would probably never say anything, but Weiss wasn't the only one who worried about Ruby when the younger girl was away….

Once their hug was finished, Ruby turned and gave Blake a one armed hug, being careful not to disrupt the dish in Blake's hands.

"Ohh…what'd you br - tuna? Guys, really?"

"'Guys, really' what?"

Ruby held one hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she turned towards Weiss – who had just come gliding out of the kitchen to greet the guests at the door.

"Uh…" Yang replied, suddenly not at all confident in her argument when Weiss stepped closer and peered at the food Blake was holding.

Weiss rolled her eyes, but initially said nothing. Instead, she opted to give Blake a hug before turning and pointing an accusatory finger in Yang's direction.

"I know this was all your idea," the heiress stated calmly. Turning on her heel, she gestured for them to follow her into the kitchen for their meal.

Walking into the kitchen, Blake found that the rest of their meal had already been neatly laid out upon the dining table. Setting the plate of contraband ahi tacos down in the open space Weiss had immaculately left open just for that purpose, she stood back to appreciate the rest of the meal their teammates had prepared for them.

For having never cooked before she got to Beacon, Weiss had become a great chef (and an even more excellent baker – although she hardly baked anything besides chocolate chip cookies).

Tonight, the heiress had prepared a gorgeous looking meal of roasted duck, scalloped potatoes, and some sort of appealing vegetable dish that Blake doubted Ruby or Yang would even touch.

She took her usual seat – beside Yang and directly across from Weiss, who sat down moments later.

"Did Weiss let you help with anything this time, Ruby? Or were you in charge of 'not dropping the plates' again?" Yang teased, diving right into the potatoes and helping herself to an enormous scoop.

"She always helps," Weiss scolded the blonde, "And maybe you should be in charge of 'not bringing the tuna' from now on."

Blake giggled while scooping several of the tuna tacos off onto her own plate.

"But didn't she break all of your best china plates last time, Weiss?" Blake asked, noticing the soft shade of red Ruby was turning while Weiss huffed in indignation.

"Not _all_ of them!" Ruby finally piped up, cheeks still darkening from her blush. "Two of them managed to make it…"

Blake and Yang laughed, while Weiss patted the top of Ruby's hand tenderly. Clearly, the heiress had already completely forgiven her somewhat-clumsy wife for her most recent mishap.

"You should have checked the weather that day," Yang began, her grin announcing the witty remark before it even came out of her mouth. "Then you would have been warned Hurricane Ruby was going to make landfall!"

Ruby giggled, but the joke only managed to make Weiss roll her eyes.

"Would it have also told me that there would be a flood of tuna _again_ for dinner?" the heiress asked wryly.

"You're lucky you have four years left until my next wish, Weiss...otherwise I'd be making you eat tuna _every single day_," Yang teased.

"Oh, no, Yang, everyday would be too much," Blake cut in, pretending to come to Weiss' aid before smirking at the heiress. "But every other day might be just perfect."

Yang let out a loud laugh at Weiss' expense, while Ruby pouted at her own plate of food.

"It's not fair. I _married_ Weiss and I don't even get wishes!" the brunette lamented, earning a look of shock from the heiress.

"I would _think_ that _marrying _me would have been one of your wishes!" she remarked, somewhat shrilly.

"O-of course!" Ruby hastily replied. "I just meant...like…uh well, you know…"

Yang chuckled at her younger sister's unsuccessful backtrack out of her comment.

"I think maybe it's time for you to start granting some wishes for your wife, Weiss," Blake commented with an amused smile – earning herself a glare from her teammate.

"Not all of us need to be as…accommodative…as you are with Yang," Weiss retorted, causing Blake to snap her mouth shut and blush furiously at the implication.

"Mmm…this food is great, Weiss!" Yang said loudly, attempting to draw the topic away from anything she didn't want Ruby to hear (although Blake knew for a fact that Yang's younger sister was not as innocent as she appeared).

Weiss let the subject drop with a small smirk – successful in having won that little argument.

When dinner was over and they had cleaned up the kitchen, the four of them headed towards the simulation room. It had become something of a routine for them to practice each week after dinner together. It kept them feeling close and cohesive as a unit – something that could only be achieved when battling alongside close friends.

Plus, none of them wanted to be rusty if Vale ever needed to call upon them again.

"What would you like to fight today?" Weiss asked while she played with the control panel – an open, green field of lush grass appearing under their feet seconds later.

Jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, Yang threw two quick jabs in the air in anticipation.

"I think it's Blake's turn to decide," the brawler responded.

After thinking for a few seconds, Blake had her answer.

"How about some Paladins?"

Ruby nodded excitedly at the suggestion while Yang grinned at her in approval.

"Ok," Weiss responded with a few more taps on the panel. "Insane difficulty?

"Is there even another option?" Yang asked before she and Ruby shared a laugh.

Weiss sighed at the sisters' typical response.

"Yes, there are options for _sane_ people."

"Well who would want to use those?" Yang replied, seeming to be genuinely curious.

"The people who _don't_ like being slammed into walls by giant mechanized robots, that's who," Weiss responded curtly.

"Oh come on, like you don't have someone to nurse you back to health afterward," Yang replied teasingly. "I know for a fact that Ruby spoils you with attention whenever you get a paper cut."

Blake laughed as Weiss and Ruby both turned red in embarrassment.

"Don't worry, Weiss. Yang's really the one who wants to get injured so that I'll take care of her," Blake said, causing Yang to smirk as she muttered, "well that's not untrue" under her breath.

"Ok!" Ruby finally piped up. "Are we ready to go or what?"

They all managed to laugh before Yang answered for the group.

"Hell yeah."

Yang turned up her aura, eyes turning crimson as her hair became living flames. Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud, holding her trusty weapon out in front of her at attention, feeling her shadow clones on the periphery of her mind. Ruby swung Crescent Rose off of her back, the weapon snapping into place as it unfolded fluidly into a giant, deadly scythe. Weiss punched the last few keys on the control panel before pulling Myrtenaster from her side and spinning the dust dial to red.

They watched the far end of the room as four giant robots begin materializing in front of them - each one armed with enough cannons to level an entire city block.

"Care to make it interesting?" Weiss shouted to Yang when the machines were nearing the completion of their materialization. Yang raised her eyebrows in interest.

"I'm listening."

"If Ruby and I destroy our two first, there can be _no_ tuna _at all_ for the next six months."

Blake sucked in her breath before Yang turned and waved a hand at her in pacification.

"Ok…_but,_ if Blake and I win, we _only_ eat tuna for six months."

Blake grinned when she heard the counter offer - that was definitely something she could get behind.

Weiss nodded her head and properly shook Yang's hand before they turned their complete attention back to the machines that were rapidly whirring to life before their eyes.

"Yang…" Blake whispered when her partner returned to her side. "If we win this…there will be an extra reward for you when we get home."

The words turned the tips of Yang's ears red, but the blonde managed to play it off with a confident smile.

"Don't worry, Blake. We got this."

The brawler charged forward when the Paladins began spewing missiles towards her. Blake watched in admiration as the blonde lithely dodged the explosions to land a solid punch on one of the machine's legs, leaving a dent as if her fist were a sledgehammer.

Blake grinned as she raced to join her partner in the battle.

* * *

"Ugh…I totally thought we had that…" Yang lamented a couple hours later, holding her hands straight up above her head in distress. "Ruby totally cheated though."

Blake laughed at the allegation, not bothering to turn towards her partner as she opted instead to continue staring up at the stars above them.

"How did Ruby cheat?" she asked curiously, wondering what possible evidence Yang could have when Weiss and Ruby had clearly beaten them fair and square. Of course, it probably helped that Ruby was a fulltime huntress and used her skills every day, while the rest of them stayed in combat form only through the battles they ran in the simulation room together.

"I don't know! I just know that she did…" Yang replied in exasperation before letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry we lost all of your tuna rights though…and I'm _extra_ sorry that I missed out on earning that reward."

"Oh yes…that is very tragic…" Blake remarked, voice taking on a serious tone just to make fun of Yang for actually believing she wouldn't get any sort of reward tonight. "But it's ok that we can't have tuna with Weiss and Ruby for a while. I just hope we can still have it here?"

It was Yang's turn to laugh.

"Of course! Anything you want, anytime," she answered easily. "All you have to do is ask."

They fell into a content silence while they continued gazing up into the night sky. It was crystal clear tonight – providing a spectacular view of an expansive blanket of stars strewn alongside Remnant's shattered moon. Blake observed at the stars closely – watching as they twinkled before her eyes. It might have been a little chilly up on the rooftop if not for Yang's aura; having the blonde lying beside her blocked the cold before it could ever come near Blake.

A satisfied sigh slipped out while she felt Yang's warm fingers tapping gently on the back of her hand – the blonde's shoulder pressed against her own.

There was no place in the world she would rather be than right here, right now.

"Did you ever think we'd make it here?" Yang suddenly asked, voice no more than a murmur as she seemed to have read Blake's mind.

"I would never have even dared to dream for this," Blake whispered honestly, hand tightening around Yang's when she felt her love for the girl begin to surge through her body.

"D-did you…maybe ever…dream for this?"

She heard a gasp escape her lips and felt her eyes widen when the ring came into view above her, followed by Yang's nervously smiling face once the blonde had propped herself up onto her knees – still holding the ring delicately out in her shaking hand.

Blake shot up to a seated position, eyes darting back and forth between the ring and Yang several times before finally settling upon Yang's lilac eyes. She could hear her heart thumping loudly, pounding against her ribcage, as Yang gathered the courage to speak.

"B-Blake…will you…will you marry me?"

She was grinning like a fool before Yang had even finished asking the question. Reaching out, she grabbed Yang and pulled the blonde into a firm hug – feeling her happiness begin to spill out of her as silent tears.

"Yes – yes, of course I'll marry you."

Yang pulled slightly away in order to gaze into Blake's eyes, her own lilac ones beginning to fill with tears to accompany her huge grin.

"You will?" she asked, eagerly this time.

Blake nodded her head, running her hand across her eyes to wipe away tears only to find them instantly replaced with fresh ones.

"Yes, I will," she repeated, only to be immediately swept up into Yang's arms as the girl kissed her for all she was worth.

When they finally broke away, both laughing out of sheer elation, Yang managed to slip the ring onto Blake's finger with still shaking hands before pulling her forward for another kiss – the one that told Blake just how much the girl loved her.

And Blake loved her back - with every fiber…every cell…of her being.

After everything the two of them had been through, they had finally found exactly where they were supposed to be.

Together.


End file.
