Grateful to be Together

(Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Roosterteeth own everything in RWBY that is on here. I only own the plot involving such elements.)

A/N: Shortly takes place after the last episode for Volume 1. I know it's early, but it's nice to have a story like this for the holiday.

"Blaaaake. Blake, where are you?"

Yang walked around the halls of Beacon Academy in her casual wear while looking for her mysterious friend. Well, she's not so mysterious ever since she revealed that she was a Faunus. The cute cat ears were proof enough.

Still, getting to know her better didn't help Yang find her ever-elusive friend. Yang started to jog fast when she realized how much time has passed since she started her task.

While she and the rest of the gang were waiting in the dining hall for the Thanksgiving feast to be brought out, they saw that Blake wasn't anywhere to be found. Volunteering to go find her, Yang ran off and has been looking for the past couple of minutes.

"Great, right before we eat, Blake goes off and disappears. This is our first Thanksgiving together and she just decides that she doesn't want to be there?! If I can't find her soon, then she might as well-."

Yang's thought never finished when she passed by a window and saw Blake standing on a nearby roof. With her target in sight, Yang ran to the rooftop's entrance and tackled through the closed door.

Blake turned around, startled, as she got out of her daze from looking at the starry sky above. While Yang was panting with hands on her knees, Blake asked, "Did you just run through a door when you could have opened it like a normal person?"

Ignoring the silly question, Yang got up and said, "What are you doing here, Blake? Team RWBY is going to have their first ever Thanksgiving together! And when I say team, I mean all of us, including you. C'mon, let's go before Ruby starves to death and I miss getting a piece of that juicy roast beef."

Yang turned around and started to march back to the dining hall while congratulating herself for her successful mission.

"I'm not going. You guys can eat without me."

Turning around in surprise, Yang saw that Blake looked back up at the sky with her back turned to her. Unwilling to go back without her objective, Yang crossed her arms and asked, "And why is that? I'm sure they're serving something fish-related tonight. You should definitely have the stomach for that."

With back still turned to Yang, Blake said, "No, I'm just not hungry; I'll be fine. And I already heard that the Bullhead delivering the seafood supplies was stolen, so fish shouldn't be on the menu tonight."

Yang slightly flinched as she lost one way to bring Blake back with her. Deciding to go with a more direct approach, she asked, "Is everything alright? I know the food can't be the only thing stopping you from eating with us. Heck, we've been eating together ever since we became a team."

After several seconds of silence, Blake slowly turned to face Yang. As Yang got a view of Blake's face, she saw that she had on the same sad expression that she had right during her argument with Weiss and right before she went missing for a weekend.

"Look, I said I'm fine. I just…want to be alone for today. When you go back, please tell Ruby, Weiss, and everybody else that I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I hope you understand."

With this said, Blake tried to walk right past Yang to head to the door. Right as she passed Yang, she felt a hand grab her arm and stop her from walking any further.

While Blake tried to pull free from the strong grip, Yang said, "No, I don't understand. Blake, I thought we were done with this. Keeping us in the dark will only make it as bad as the last time."

Blake stopped as she heard this with her arm going limp as Yang finished with, "Talk to me, let me know what's keeping you from having a nice meal and feeling thankful with us."

When Yang felt that Blake stopped trying to walk away from her hold, she released it. As Blake regained her composure, she lightly adjusted the bow that she kept on the top of her head.

"Thankful? I'm not too sure about that. In fact, I can't even remember when I've ever been thankful for anything on this day."

Yang realized that after hearing some bitterness in Blake's voice, she had to tread lightly in this conversation.

"Um, okay. Care to explain what you mean by that?"

As Blake tried to find the words to express her thoughts, she turned her head and gazed in the direction of where the school's statue was at.

"Do you remember when I talked about my childhood? How I had to deal with the Faunus discrimination? That experience didn't stop during most of the holidays. In fact, guess which day was the worst out of all of them?"

Yang's eyes slowly widened in surprise from hearing this and grew much wider as Blake continued.

"Thanksgiving was considered the worst kind of holiday for my kind. It was a day when people thought it would be fun to hunt Faunus like they were wild animals. When captured, they would be shoved into cages and sacks before being released back where they were found at. The most terrifying parts were when some didn't return. Even I-."

Blake stopped right before she revealed any more than she intended to say. Deciding that she said enough about that part of her story, she thought back on the Thanksgivings in her later years.

"The hunts were later outlawed because others eventually realized how cruel the sport was, especially for those who couldn't defend themselves. However, that didn't make Thanksgiving any better."

"As I got older and became more involved with the White Fang's activities, I always had to go out on this day with my brothers to do crowd and damage control just to keep our kin safe. The new leader only made things worse when violence became allowed."

Turning back to face Yang, Blake said, "So there you have it. There was no time or reason to give thanks, only struggle in those harsh days. Celebrating this day doesn't suit me, so I want to be alone, at least until tomorrow."

Blake let out a long soft sigh as she finished speaking. When she looked at Yang, she saw that the brawler was trying to say something, only to stop after opening and closing her mouth several times.

Seeing that she explained enough to excuse herself, Blake walked back to the rooftop entrance to retreat to another location.

Saddened to see her friend leave, Yang asked, "Blake, do you hate Thanksgiving?"

Before Blake turned around the corner of the entrance, she looked back at Yang and said, "Hate? No, I don't hate that it was a holiday made to express thanks for the good things you have. What I do hate is the irony of how people like me can't find a reason to do so."

As Blake disappeared around the corner, Yang looked sadly at where Blake was at before she started her own trek back to the dining room.

"Okay, okay. Now, use his fist to hit himself in the groin. That'll teach him to mess with people like that!"

Pyrrha giggled at Nora's suggestion as she slowly raised her glowing hand over the edge of the table top. Slightly moving her fingers up and down, Pyrrha used her magnetism to make a confused Cardin raise his armored arm into the air before swiftly slamming it into his groin.

Team Ruby and JNPR, sitting at a table, tried to stifle their laughter while everybody else laughed loudly at the sight. One person even yelled, "What's wrong Cardin? Does 'alone time' just not cut it out for you anymore?"

As Ruby let out her stifling laughter, she saw Yang come up and take a seat next to her. Seeing that Blake wasn't with her, Ruby worriedly asked, "Hey, didn't you say you were going to bring Blake back?"

Yang shook her head as she said, "I'll tell you later. But what's going on with Cardin? Is he just hitting himself because he's an idiot or a glutton for attention?"

While Pyrrha kept moving her fingers to make Cardin float up in the air before slamming his body down into a plate of food, Weiss kept laughing as she said, "No, he was just being a jerk as usual. He caused a commotion among the Faunus students when he carried a sack around and threatened to shove them into it."

Softly cheering at the sight of Cardin's body getting dragged into his sack, Weiss finished with, "We got sick of it, so Pyrrha is just being a dear and giving him the retribution he rightfully deserves."

Pyrrha lowered her hand after seeing that she has done enough damage. Looking at Yang, she said, "Well, I was kind of against it at first. But after we saw him make Velvet faint, I decided that he deserved it. It turned out more fun than expected. Right, Jaune?"

Jaune turned to Pyrrha with a worried look and said, "Please don't ask. I don't want to be reminded of what you can do with that power during practice. And yes, I'll be up early tomorrow to do some morning training. I haven't forgotten."

Pyrrha smiled from hearing this and was about to eat the food in front of her when she heard a voice say, "Miss Nikos, a moment please. You might need to explain how Mister Winchester displayed one of his acts of inappropriate behavior while floating in mid-air."

Pyrrha got up with a worried look as she saw Professor Goodwitch come up behind the sack Cardin was in. Jaune rose up with her and looked at Ren and Nora who were still eating the food from their plates.

"We should all go. She might not have known what he was doing, so it'll be better if we explain it as a team."

Pyrrha felt grateful from hearing Jaune's suggestion and seeing her teammates nod their heads in agreement multiplied the said feeling. After Nora and Ren stood up, they all started to walk towards Professor Goodwitch.

"Thanks guys; I appreciate the support."

As Team JNPR walked off, Weiss looked at Cardin in disgust as she said, "Can you believe it? I know that the man hates Faunus, but to bring the same object used for those dreaded Faunus hunts? Despicable."

Ruby looked at Weiss in confusion, confused at her remark about the sack.

"Equipment? Faunus hunts? I thought he had the sack because he wanted to gather enough food for later and build up some fat for his butt. We've been kicking it during simulation training for a while, and we're set-up to fight his team again tomorrow."

Weiss slightly smiled from Ruby's remark about the sack shortly before replacing it with a frown.

"No, you dunce. Those sacks were part of a cruel game that involved hunting Faunus on Thanksgiving. Whatever, Yang, can you explain it to her? I'm sure you can do a better job than I can."

Yang didn't reply as she continued to pick at her food instead of eating it.

"Yang, what's wrong? Did something happen between you and Blake?"

Yang looked up to see Ruby's concerned face aimed straight at her. Before she could reply, she heard Weiss say, "Yeah, where is she? We're still waiting and I'm starving! Having this good food in front of us isn't helping either!"

Yang looked down at the plates of food in front of them and realized that Ruby and Weiss haven't touched them, evident that they were waiting for Blake to come join them. Knowing that it's time for an explanation, Yang sighed as she prepared to repeat everything Blake had told her.

"Well, okay. Here's the thing. See, Blake had a tough time with Thanksgiving when she was a kid and-."

Blake sat on the edge of a large window as she watched the lights of the dining hall shining in the middle of the night. Kind of wishing that she was there to hang out with her friends, Blake banished the notion when the memories of her past came back to haunt her again.

"Soo, is there a reason why you're still here? If I were you, I would be having some chow by now."

Blake turned and saw Sun, her new Faunus friend, lean against the doorway with a wide smile on his face. Although she was glad to see him, Blake didn't take comfort from one thing wrong with this picture.

"Sun? What are you doing here? You're not allowed to be on the campus unless you're a student."

Sun used his tail to grab the ledge above the door and hang upside as he took out a banana and peeeld it.

"Got curious when I heard some folks say that the Thanksgiving here isn't as bad as the ones we're used to. I thought I would check it out and maybe enjoy it with you guys. It must be pretty bad if you're not spending time with them."

Blake got up from her spot and sat down on a nearby chair while Sun lightly swung in and out of the doorway.

"No, it's actually pretty nice, even entirely different from what I'm used to back home. Faunus eating together with their fellow mankind? If you haven't seen it, then it might sound too good to be true."

As Sun dropped back down to the floor and onto his feet, he asked, "If it's good as you say it is, then why are you here alone and not over there with them?"

Looking at the dining hall that Sun was pointing at, Blake paused for a moment before looking back at Sun, who held his curious gaze at her.

"I just don't like Thanksgiving. Spending time with the White Fang didn't help with my bad experiences, and I didn't want to ruin their day with my attitude."

Sun got a confused look on his face while asking, "Well, why not make new memories to replace the old ones? You said it yourself; you're no longer involved with the White Fang. There's no need to worry about the past, is there?"

Blake sighed as she saw that she's going to have to explain her disposition again to another curious friend.

"It's not that easy, Sun. After spending many years dealing with issues on this holiday, I don't even know how to enjoy it. It's just…it's just hard to get into a good mood about it."

Closing her eyes and placing an arm across her forehead, Blake finished with, "When I think about the point of this holiday, I'm not even sure if there I'm ever going to feel gratitude aside from the fact that I lived through all of these bad experiences."

Blake didn't hear Sun say anything after she her last remark. After several seconds, Blake was about to say something when she heard Sun reply, "I can't believe that."

Opening her eyes, Blake saw Sun finish eating his banana and throw it into a nearby trash can. He turned around and looked at her with a smile.

"Well, it might not be easy, but there's got to be something that you can feel good about in your life. Take me for example; I just got a day's worth of seafood and bananas thanks to the ride that I hijacked on the way here. That's one good thing for me today."

Blake raised her eyebrow at this and found that Sun's statement seems to contradict with his point.

"Doing a crime is supposed to be something to feel good about doing? What would people think if they knew you did something like that?"

Sun laughed at this while he took out one of his weapons and started to spin it in the air.

"I'm free to do whatever I want and not give a monkey's butt about what other people think. But that's not the point I'm making that you're trying to avoid, right?"

Before Blake could answer, Sun looked at the top of Blake's head and asked, "By the way, you still have that bow on? Why would you want it there when people already know that you're a Faunus?"

Blake sadly wiggled her ears as the question brought up a reminder of its existence.

"They don't; only you, Penny and my team members who I am so far. I'm not sure if most people will tolerate it if they find out, so I don't want my friends to get hurt because of me. I'll find a way to ease it in, but…now isn't a good time."

Sun suddenly clapped his hands from hearing this as he said, "There we go; one reason to give thanks just got marked on the board."

Blake was confused at first before she became irritated and her eyebrows furrowed together from the emotion.

"Keeping my identity a secret is a good thing? How can that be something good when I'm…doing it….for my friends?"

Blake slowly understood what Sun was trying to say and became speechless as she realized that Thanksgiving did hold some meaning for her after all.

"Ah ha, see? You didn't keep the bow there and cover up your identity for yourself. You're doing it to protect your friends. And going this far because of your concern shows how much you like them, right?"

Blake stared at Sun as she was slightly shocked by this revelation. Struggling with thoughts of how ridiculous this sounded, Blake eventually gave up and realized that Sun had a point there.

Sighing, Blake said, "Okay, I admit that one thing out of everything else can be considered something good to have. But it's only one thing."

Sun laughed at this and said, "And it's that one thing that you found on Thanksgiving, you know, the day you're supposed to reflect on the things you have and feel good about it?"

As she heard this, Blake found that she couldn't disagree with what he said. Suddenly, Sun's stomach started to growl, showing that the banana earlier wasn't enough for his hunger.

Heading back towards the doorway, Sun said, "That's my cue to leave for some chow. Are you sure you still don't want to go?"

Blake thought about it for a moment before she shook her head as she said, "No, it's already late, and I'm still not warm to the idea of celebrating this holiday. But thanks Sun; it's nice of you to go this far just to make today a special day for me as well."

As Sun heard this, he raised up two fingers and said, "That's two marks, Blake. Keep it up, and you'll find that it can top most people who didn't have it as hard as us."

"Well, I'm going to see if I can nab some of the food before everybody finishes up. But think about it; if you have some good friends, then they might even be waiting for you down there. Anyways, I'll see you later."

After Sun went out to head to the dining hall, Blake turned her attention back to the bright dining hall.

"Even if we're friends, they wouldn't wait this long for me…right?"

As the number of residents in the dining hall started to decrease, Ruby and Weiss stared at Yang with wide eyes in surprise as she finished explaining Blake's story to them.

"So she never had a Thanksgiving where she can eat and hang out with friends like this? Like,ever?" asked Ruby, who still had a hard time believing what she heard.

Nodding her head, Yang said, "Yeah, the treatment of Faunus was always bad, but I didn't know that Blake had to put up with the worst of it on this holiday."

Weiss crossed her arms from hearing this as her eyebrows were furrowed in anger.

"It's not bad, it's terrible! She should not have to experience such a disgusting ritual! Okay, my parents and theirs might have participated once or twice, but I still think it's terrible."

Right after Weiss said this, she, along with Weiss and Ruby, looked at each other, concerned for the friend who wasn't there to have a good time because it was a dreadful day for her.

"Well, glad to hear that all of you are really her friends, but I'm not too comfortable about your parents, princess. By the way, do you mind passing the pepper?"

Picking up the pepper shaker, Weiss turned to the person munching beside her and said, "Of course we're her friends. And here, take…Sun?! What are you doing here?!"

Ruby and Yang turned their heads to where Weiss was looking at and also became surprised when they saw Sun sitting there while eating the food from his plate.

As he slurped up some mashed potatoes, he said, "Thanks. And this stuff is good, why aren't you all having any of this?"

Looking back at where Professor Goodwitch was still talking to Team JNPR and Cardin, Ruby became concerned at what the Huntress would think if she saw Sun here.

"Sun, you're not supposed to be here, get out before Professor Goodwitch sees you!"

Sun continued to eat his food as he said, "Naw, I'll be fine. Besides, I might as well look like a student here; there's no need to be concerned at all."

Yang looked at Sun with a raised eyebrow as she said, "Uh, I don't know about that. Most of us don't have tails like you do. She also has a scroll with a list of students on it, so she can check on you if she gets suspicious enough."

Sun immediately stopped eating after hearing this. Looking at the food in horror, he started to shove most of the contents with his hands into his mouth, trying to finish before he gets noticed.

"Sowee, Ie leaf af soo oaf I dofe (Sorry, I'll leave as soon as I'm done.)"

"Eww, Sun! Stop talking; food is coming out of your mouth! Gross, use your utensils, not your hands!"

While the girls, mostly Weiss, were dealing with Sun's messy way of eating, Cardin broke off from his conversation with Professor Goodwitch and Team JNPR. His nostrils flared, angry from losing the argument against Team JNPR regarding his earlier actions.

"You know what, forget this! You can take the sack for all I care and stand up for those freaks! I'm heading back to my room."

As Cardin passed by Velvet who was bringing over a plate of vegetables back to her seat, Cardin suddenly thought of getting away with one more devious act before his departure.

"Hey, bunny girl! You got lucky today, but you better watch out! You might find yourself in a cage with your name on it when you wake up tomorrow!"

When he saw the desired look of fear from her, Cardin shouldered through Velvet as he passed her, making her fall to the ground.

Sun saw this, got out of his seat, and whipped out his hand to catch her before she hit the ground. The feeling of warm hands around her body instead of the cold ground made Velvet reopen her eyes, only to stare into Sun's blue ones as they looked down at her.

"Whoa, you okay?"

Velvet looked up as she shakily said, "Um, yeah. Thanks for your help."

As Sun helped her back up, Cardin, who watched the whole scene, said, "Hah, a freak helping another freak. It always does take more than one of you to do anything useful."

Sun glared at Cardin who turned around and left. Before Cardin could walk any further, Sun sneaked his tail around both of Cardin's feet and pulled it right as Cardin was about to take another step.

"Wh-what? Hey!"

Cardin tripped as his feet became tied up and landed his head on top of a plate of coleslaw. The force of the blow made Cardin unconscious, his body unmoving as his face was in a pile of white mayonnaise and pieces of lettuce.

Sun smiled at the result while Team RWBY watched in slight amusement by the whole scene.

"Excuse me, but violence is not allowed in the dining hall. And are you a student here?! I don't remember seeing you on the list!"

Everybody looked at the source of the angry voice and saw Professor Goodwitch approach them with Team JNPR tagging along behind her. Sun just remembered that he wasn't supposed to be there, so he turned around to make his exit.

"Whoops, got to run! I'll smell y'all later!"

With that, Sun dashed off, leaving everybody but Team RWBY baffled by the unfamiliar sight of the young Faunus.

Sighing, Professor Goodwitch took out her scroll and typed some of the buttons on it. When the scroll brought up a screen, Professor Goodwitch said, "Please send one of the medical personnel to pick up Mister Winchester…again. You'll need a stretcher and a bag of ice; he's unconscious on one of the tables in the dining hall."

Professor Goodwitch walked off after turning off her scroll while Velvet, who was watching Sun, went back to her seat. Team JNPR sat back in their original spots alongside Team RWBY while watching the medical staff come by to pick up Cardin's body.

"So, who was monkey boy? He seemed kind of funny," said Nora as she took her seat next to Ren again.

"Oh, he's just someone we know. The same guy who helped out with the whole White Fang fiasco."

While Weiss talked to Team JNPR, Ruby turned to Yang and asked, "So don't you want to do something about Blake? It's not really much of a holiday without our friend."

Yang flung her hair to side as she thought about it before saying, "I'd like to, but she doesn't want to hang out because she's uncomfortable with Thanksgiving. And even if she does change her mind, the place is going to be cleaned up soon; there's going to be nothing left for her to come."

Ruby pondered about this dilemma. After several seconds of brainstorming, she excitedly looked at Yang with fiery determination in her eyes.

"Yang, go find Sun and ask him to meet up at the lobby! I'll see you there with everyone else; I've got a plan."

Before Yang could ask what she had in mind, Ruby immediately turned around to talk to Weiss and Team JNPR. After several minutes of talking with some words of disagreement from Weiss, Yang saw that everybody's heads nodded before they got up and went in different directions.

Yang grabbed Ruby by the shoulder and said, "Sis, I know what you're up to, and I need to ask if you know what you're doing. Do you even know how you're going to deal with Blake?"

Ruby gave a confident smile as she said, "I don't really know if she wants to celebrate with us, but she's going to be hungry sooner or later. The least we can do is to provide her something to eat as her friends."

Yang let out a smile as Ruby ran off, proud to see that her kind sister would go this far for a friend. Deciding to just go with the flow, Yang got up and prepared to go catch up with the troublemaking Faunus.

Blake let out a groan as her stomach growled for the fifth time tonight. Sitting up on her bed, Blake laid a hand on her stomach as it continued to protest her unwillingness to eat until later.

"Not now. Can't you wait until tomorrow morning?"

Her stomach replied by letting out a growl so loud that it filled up the whole room with its noise. Thankfully, her teammates weren't here to hear this disturbing noise, even if it was already past ten.

"Wasn't the feast supposed to be over a couple of hours ago? Where else would they be at this hour?"

Blake got her answer when Yang popped her head into the room. Holding the door open with one hand, Yang waved at Blake with a smile as she said, "Hey grumpy. You ready to eat?"

Blake got confused from the statement as she asked, "Eat? Isn't all of the food gone by now? And I told you already, I'm not in the mood to eat today."

In the worst timing possible, Blake's stomach decided to let out a loud growl, making both Blake's and Yang's eyes grow wide from the loud noise. Yang decided that the noise was proof enough and walked over to grab Blake's arm.

"C'mon, we've been waiting for you. And if Ruby and Weiss heard that noise, there's no way they'll let you wait until tomorrow morning."

Even if this was true, Blake didn't see it as a reason to leave. Before she could protest, she suddenly remembered what Sun to her.

"If you have some good friends, they might even be waiting for you."

That thought alone made Blake realize that maybe that's what's been happening. Maybe they've been waiting for her and Yang was sent so they can finally eat.

It's because of this possibility why Blake decided to let Yang drag her out of bed and lead her down the hall. Since her friends should be starving by now, she should at least show up and make sure that everything is okay.

"And maybe get a quick bit to eat just to stop my stomach from growling like this."

Yang smiled when she turned and looked at Blake's face. She then started to laugh and say, "Oh, wipe that frown off your face. You're in for a surprise, so might as well have the smile for it."

When they made it to the dining hall, Blake looked around the dimly lit room. All of the tables looked empty, save for two surrounded by people, most she recognized to be her teammates and Team JNPR.

Blake wasn't too surprised because of what Yang told her, even as she saw Ruby come over while hiding something behind her back.

"Uh, hey Blake. Surprise… kind of. It might not be close enough to what we had, but we wanted to wait for you so we can eat together."

When Blake looked over Ruby's shoulder, she looked closer and saw that one was arranged in a buffet style while the other one was empty, probably used for where everybody was going to eat on. The most surprising thing about the sight was that all of the food were still steaming, clearly baked fresh out of the oven.

"Wait a minute, the kitchen was for only the staff. How could you have prepared all of this without getting into trouble?"

Ruby used one finger from her raised hand while smiling and said, "Well, we asked Professor Goodwitch, then we asked the kitchen staff. One thing led to another before we all got this ready for you. Things just worked out in the end."

Blake felt astonished from hearing that everybody got all of this ready for her, fresh out of the oven. However, Blake felt guilty as she realized that they all had to go through this trouble just to wait for her in the end. With this guilt in mind, Blake unconsciously raised one hand to grab her other arm to release some tension from her mind.

"Is it alright for you to say that all of this is for me? I didn't even bother coming when I was invited; all of you have the right to have this for yourselves."

"You're right. We might as well have eaten together and leave you alone somewhere to starve to death. I wouldn't have cared if you had gone through harsh times before; do you know how many people are starving out there today?!"

Weiss came up to the group and placed her hands on her hips as she finished speaking her mind. Blake was about to say an apology when Weiss picked up one of Blake's hands with both of her own.

"But we're your teammates; we're the people who have some kind of relationship with you, despite however bad or good it is. And even the details don't matter because we care about everything that happened to you yesterday and today."

Yang nodded happily at this and swung her arm around Blake's shoulders and gave it a small squeeze.

"Yep, you're stuck with us, and whatever we do together will always involve you. That's why we're going to eat together, just as we planned it for this entire day."

Blake looked at Yang and Weiss as she felt mixed feelings about what her friends have just told her. After several seconds, she saw that Ruby reached into her pocket and took out a small circular can. Handing it to Blake, Ruby said, "I asked the kitchen staff if they had something you would like, and I got this."

Blake took the can and saw that it was a can of tuna. This left Blake speechless, which left her only looking up and down at both the can and Ruby.

"Blake, I know that today hasn't been the best days for you, but you don't have to always make this day a bad day. That's why you have friends who can help you make it better."

"Every day should be filled with the things you cherish or look forward to be a part of. At least, that's how I want to spend today with you and everybody else. Not just as a team, but as friends, okay?"

Right as she finished, Ruby let out a gentle smile and Blake saw that Ruby meant it from the bottom of her heart. Trying not to get teary-eyed from everything that her friends have given her, Blake also smiled and said, "Sure, thank you all for this, and happy Thanksgiving. Let's finish it by eating together."

Ruby and Yang's smiles have gotten wider while Weiss seemed to have let out a breath of relief. As Weiss and Ruby walked off to go to the tables to eat, Blake tried to follow when she felt Yang yank her ribbon off her head.

"Yoink, can't have this on when we know who you are now. Just relax and be yourself around us."

Blake turned and tried to grab her ribbon back from Yang, who was holding the accessory high above her head.

"And hey, if anybody has an issue with it, then we'll also deal with that together. Didn't Ruby's sappy speech just teach you that?"

Blake was able to snatch her ribbon from Yang's hands. Before Yang tried to take it back, she stopped after she saw Blake place it in her pocket.

"I'll leave that up for later decision. I'm not really ready to part from this ribbon yet. But…I know now that I can count on all of you, so believe me when I say this, okay?"

Happy to hear this, Yang nodded and ran over to get a place in line with everybody else over there. Blake followed and was able to get a place in the line between Ruby and Nora.

Everybody started to line up at the tables to get the food. As Nora got behind Blake, she touched her ears as she exclaimed, "Wow, so cute! I never knew you would look so much better with kitty ears!"

Blake tried to get away from Nora's touch as she said, "W-wait! Quit it; that really tickles!"

Ruby turned around and also raised her hands up to touch the ears. Blake squeaked from the contact and jumped away as Ruby let out a sigh of satisfaction from the soft feeling on her fingers.

"Aww, that feels so nice. Your fur is really soft, did you know that?"

While Nora and Ruby tried to keep touching the ears despite Blake's protests, Yang decided that it was time to move on. Moving out of her place in line, she went over to pull the two hyperactive characters away from Blake.

"Okay, settle down you two. I'm sure Blake is as hungry as the rest of us, so we should let her eat."

As Ruby was released from her sister's grasp, she looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Sun? He was here before you brought Blake, wasn't he?"

On cue, a large crash was heard outside. When everybody turned to look at where the noise came from, they saw the outside entrance doors open to reveal Sun carrying a large box in both of his hands.

"Hey guys, I thought we could have a little more something to eat, so I brought my share for today. Help yourself, cause even I can't eat all of this in one day."

Sun placed the box on the ground and opened the lid. When the lid came off, everybody saw that there were bunches of bananas on one side of the box. Separated by a wall, there were small decorated containers full of…

"Fiiiiiiish!"

Sun took one of the containers out and threw the object straight at Blake. After catching the box, Blake took a look inside and saw that it was too delicious to be just any kind of fish.

"Delicious enough to be something that everybody should have eaten today. Oh Sun, did you really bring everything you have just to share something with us?"

As Sun set the last box down, he looked at everybody and said, "Well, I did my part. I might as well get out of here before that scary lady comes back. I'll see you guys around and maybe leave a small plate for me to get later.

Right as Sun turned to leave, Ruby loudly said, "Wait, aren't you going to stay? We didn't ask you to bring all of the food you had. We wanted you to join us because you're Blake's friend, aren't you?"

Sun's tail rose in the air from hearing this surprising statement and slowly turned his head to look at Ruby.

"Really? But, I'm not a student and I'm the guy who stole your stuff in the first place. Is it really okay to have a dirty Faunus like me here?"

Blake threw the container back at Sun. When Sun caught and looked at it before looking up, he saw that Blake was smiling at him.

"I don't see a problem. We're all friends here, so stay and at least eat enough where you won't have to steal again for a while."

Sun's baffled look changed into one of happiness. After opening the container in his hand, he walked over to Blake as he took out and ate the piece of sushi in his fingers.

Looking at Ruby and Blake, he said, "Well, alright then. And thanks to the both of you; it is nice to have something good with you weirdos."

After Sun looked away, Ruby didn't know how to exactly think about him calling her a 'weirdo.' Blake, however, smiled at this as she understood that it was Sun's way of differentiating every non-Faunus here from the people who would treat them in a worse manner.

When everybody was sitting on the empty table and eating their food, Blake happily munched on her salmon, happy to finally rid her stomach of its hunger.

"Um, hello. Is there anybody sitting next to you?"

Blake turned and saw Velvet standing behind her with a plate of food in her hands. Surprised to see her there, Blake nodded and scooted over to give Velvet some space for sitting.

Yang, who was sitting across from Blake, saw the confused expression and said, "Eh, we decided to invite her cause Cardin gave her a hard time today. It's great when you can spread the joy with everyone else, don't you think?"

Blake nodded, agreeing that having another person, especially a fellow Faunus, joining them isn't bad. As Velvet settled into her seat, she looked at Blake and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hello, and ha…ha…, oh um, happy Thanksgiving. Um, it's really nice of all of you to invite me; I never really thought that we can be like this together with everyone else. It's much nicer than being shoved into a sack for the remainder of the day."

Blake saw that her fellow Faunus was also under the influence of the bad tidings that plagued them in the previous Thanksgivings. There is no way that she was going to let that keep going.

"When you're around good people, you never have to go through that again. And this won't be the last time, so enjoy the rest of today and expect next year to be better, okay?"

Velvet smiled from hearing this and nodded before she continued to eat her carrot bits.

"Hmm, that sounds awfully familiar. I wonder what smart guy would come up with those wise words like that."

Sun slammed his plate next to Yang's and jumped onto his spot, which was also across from Velvet's. After landing, Sun was about to dig in when he saw Velvet staring at him.

"Oh, sorry about that loud noise; I just can't wait to eat this awesome looking food. But before I do that, the name's Sun Wukong. What's yours?"

"Ve-Velvet Scarletina. Th-thank you for helping me earlier."

Sun gave Velvet an amusing look as he said, "Oh, the girl who fell earlier, right? Well, always glad to help another Faunus. I just couldn't stand guys like that, how about you?"

"We-well…"

While Sun kept talking to a shy Velvet, Blake looked the two Faunus and the other people talking on the other side of the table.

"So, what's your thoughts on Thanksgiving now? Still have the same opinion about it?"

Blake turned to look at Yang, who looked as if she was anticipating a positive response. Blake inwardly smiled as she thought of the perfect answer to give to her friend/teammate.

"Well, it's still not one of my favorite holidays; who ever heard of a time when friends had to starve with a meal right in front of them?"

Yang groaned, thinking that she and everybody else may not have made much progress with their Faunus friend.

"But all of you did that because you're my friends…so thank you for making me change my mind about today. Making me see that there are things that I can be thankful for today."

Yang's frown shifted to a smile as she heard this. Ready to eat, Yang picked up her fork to take the first bite of roast beef that she has been craving the entire day.

"So that's where our supplies went. I hope you realize that allowing someone like him on our campus is going to cause many problems in the future."

Standing behind the doors to the dining hall, Ozpin and Goodwitch supervised the scene from afar to make sure that everything is okay.

While keeping an eye on Ruby and Blake, Professor Ozpin said, "Having him along may benefit them in future events since we can't always keep an eye on them. I'm more surprised to see that you allowed the students to have their way in this manner."

Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses with one hand while using the other to hold onto the sack that she confiscated from Cardin in the earlier confrontation.

"Well, it is Thanksgiving. I thought it would be…nice if Miss Belladonna could enjoy this day rather than suffer from her past experiences. And seeing as how other Faunus, like Miss Scarletina, is invited makes it even better for everybody's well-being."

Ozpin smiled from hearing this as he watched his continue to eat and laugh together, a sight that truly represents the nature of fellowship found on Thanksgiving. Satisfied to see his students will continue on without trouble, Ozpin turned and started to head back towards his office.

"Although it's ironic how the team leader would say such kind words. If anyone's pain is to be misunderstood, it would be hers as it outweighs what any of her age had and should ever experience."

Confused by this statement, Goodwitch turned to ask Professor Ozpin about it, but she saw that he was already walking away.

Professor Goodwitch decided not to think too much about it and followed Professor Ozpin. As she walked away, laughter filled the air behind her as the students continued to enjoy their Thanksgiving feast together.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

A/N:

Wow, that turned out much longer than I expected. The planned 4000 words somehow went past the 6000 mark. It's my fault for wanting to tell a story that needed this many words. *Sigh*

Hopefully, this can help some of you get into the mood to be thankful for what you have, even in the small things. And I'm sorry for the lack of creativity and major corniness, but I just wanted to get the point across for the holiday.

By the way, has Sun x Velvet ever been a consideration? You know, dashing young rogue coming to the rescue of a fellow Faunus in distress? Cliché, yes, but it can fit, right? (Lol, Scarlet Sun pairing.)

The last part of this story involving Professor Ozpin's speech is just my guess at what Ozpin might know about Ruby and interpretation of the newest version of 'Red Like Roses: Part II.' You should listen to it on Youtube; it's pretty good concerning quality and relation to character.

Reference:

-Fiiiiish: One of the common phrases in Roosterteeth's Achievement Hunter staff. Michael is on the team, so guess why it had to be Sun who had to say it?

- Decorated box: I wanted to say bento, but I was kind of worried that most people wouldn't know what they are. They're basically decorated lunch boxes used in Japan.

Review and/ or PM. Hope to know what people think about my first, non-action fic.

Please review and/or PM. Until next time, Happy early Thanksgiving everybody.