Cinder POV
Four years. Four fucking years. That's how long I've been stuck in this hellhole, unable to summon so much as a toothpick. Not that I'd need one, considering how little they feed me in here. I would have thought Emerald and Mercury would have gotten me out by now, but no, they've left me to rot. If I ever get out of here, I'll have my revenge on Yellow. I will kill everyone she's ever cared about, slowly, right in front of her. I will destroy her precious school, then I will flay her alive.
As these thoughts go through my mind, the slat at the bottom of the door opens and my usual tray of bread and water is pushed through. This time, though, there's also a note. Get back. I press myself against the wall furthest from the door as it gets blown off its hinges, revealing my cohorts and the four students they hired all those years ago.
"We won't have much time," Emerald tells me as alarms sound. The glyph that has been inhibiting my abilities for so long suddenly vanishes and I feel the lethargy leaving me. I exit my cell and see several armed guards at the end of the hallway.
"Stop!" one of them yells. "Get back in your cell! We're authorised to kill!" Mercury gets ready to attack them, but I hold an arm out and stop him.
"And I don't require authorisation to kill," I tell the guards as I summon a fireball. I throw it at one of them, and the heat causes his armour to melt and his skin to blister. As he screams in agony, I summon two daggers and throw them at two other guards, piercing their jugular veins. They clutch their necks as they fall, dead before they hit the floor.
"P-p-please…don't kill me," the last guard begs. "I'll do anything!"
"War is not without casualties," I tell him, walking towards him. "And a war is coming." As I reach him, I grab his head and twist, snapping his neck. I step over his lifeless body, followed by my compatriots. We're met with more resistance as we exit the prison, but the guards are no match for us. By the time we're outside, not a soul is left alive in the building.
"What now?" the leader of Team CRDL asks.
"I take revenge on the yellow bitch. Then we finish what we started," I reply.
"You want revenge?" Mercury asks. "I happen to know something very interesting concerning the yellow one." As he shares his knowledge, my eyes widen.
Yang POV
Today's the day. Today, Blake and I are getting married. Since the attack four years ago, she and I have been practically inseparable. Along with Ruby and Weiss, we graduated from Beacon with high honours and it wasn't long before we were being offered some of the most prestigious missions in the kingdom. It was with my payment for one of those missions that I bought the ring I proposed to Blake with. I remember the event clearly.
We're sitting in Blake's favourite seafood restaurant, and I'm very aware of the small box on the inside of my jacket. She has no idea why I took her out to dinner tonight. A bottle of champagne sits on the table between us, almost empty. Truthfully, I drank most of it to calm my nerves. The beautiful Faunus opposite me seems to be enjoying herself; she's been smiling jovially all night.
"Anything else, ladies?" the waiter asks as he removes our cleared plates.
"Baked Alaska," I request. He nods and leaves. When he return with our dessert a few minutes later, neither Blake nor I have said anything but we're holding hands across the table. The waiter frowns as he sets the dish between us but says nothing.
"Enjoy," he tells us as he leaves again. Blake and I finish the Baked Alaska fairly quickly and share a short kiss, oblivious to the stares from the other patrons of the restaurant. I pay the bill soon after and exit the establishment with Blake, holding her hand the whole way. A short walk later, we're in a park which is empty aside from us. I put my hand on the back of Blake's head and kiss her softly. Due to the solitude, this kiss lasts much longer. After four years, I know every contour of the girl's lips, but I still love every second I spend kissing them.
She presses her lips to mine slightly harder and gently nibbles on my lower lip before we separate. Trying to slow my now racing heartbeat, I reach inside my jacket and pull out the box as I drop to one knee. I hold it out as Blake gasps.
"Blake Belladonna, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I want to be with you as long as I live. Will you marry me?" I ask, opening the box. Her eyes fall upon the twenty-four karat diamond ring presented to her and her hands shoot to her mouth. A solitary tear falls from her eye as she answers, "of course I will." I push the ring onto her finger before standing up and kissing her again, much more passionately this time. She responds in kind, slipping her tongue into my mouth and fighting for dominance. I let her win, immensely happy that she accepted.
"Yang? We have to go," Ruby's voice draws me out of the flashback. After some persuasion, she agreed to wear a dress and be my maid of honour. The sight of her reminds me of that night at the dance, oh so long ago, when she couldn't walk in high heels. The memory makes me smile as I follow her to the limo that will take us to the venue. When I enter, Coco and Nora are waiting, a bottle of champagne already open.
"I need that," I tell them, taking the bottle and drinking straight from it. They don't protest.
"Nervous?" Coco asks.
"Fuck yes," I reply. "Give me a Deathstalker any day; it's nothing compared to a wedding."
"You'll be fine," Nora tells me. "If anyone tries anything, I'll break their legs for you!"
"You won't need to do that, Nora," Ruby chimes in. "Yang, we just need to make one more stop."
"Why?" I ask, confused. "I only have two bridesmaids. Who else are we picking up?"
"You'll see," she answers. A few minutes later, the limo is idling outside Jaune Arc's apartment building. I'm about to ask what's going on when the Boy Wonder himself exits the building in a white dress. Luckily for him, there's no one around to gawk as he enters the limo.
"Hi," he says. "Pyrrha, Ruby and Nora convinced me to be your surprise third bridesmaid." Coco and I crack up as the limo starts moving. To Jaune's credit, he rocks his outfit shamelessly. There isn't even the slightest hint of a blush on his face throughout the journey.
"You look good," Coco tells him when she can speak. She then immediately starts laughing again. It's not long before we arrive at the venue. Blake insisted on a low-key affair with only close friends and family. On the other hand, the reception has been planned entirely by yours truly. It's gonna be the party to end all parties, the kind where you wake up the next day and don't even know what happened. The champagne bottle is empty as we exit the limo and I'm feeling slightly giddy from the alcohol.
A short time later, I'm walking down the aisle, Taiyang by my side. Blake's standing at the altar, smiling wider than I've ever seen her smile. I see that she chose Velvet and Pyrrha to be her bridesmaids, while Weiss is her maid of honour. Blake really is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and I've looked in a mirror every day of my life. It's hard to believe that starting today, I'll be spending the rest of my life with this girl. She's gorgeous, witty and a total fucking badass. Despite my nerves, I've never been happier. I really can't imagine a better way to spend my time. Well, maybe one, but I'll probably get round to that later. You know what they say about the night of the wedding...
After an eternity, I reach the altar. My heart's apparently trying to break a speed record in my chest, based on how fast it's beating. Everyone sits as Blake and I prepare to make our vows. After taking a deep breath, I go first.
"Blake Belladonna, I vow to never leave your side. In times of war or peace, frustration or happiness, I'll be there for you all the way. No matter what life throws at us, I promise that we'll overcome it all together. You've shown me what true love really is, and for that I will always be grateful. I love you, Blake, I always have, and I vow that I always will." When I finish speaking, I hear a sniffle behind me. I don't turn to look, but I figure Ruby's probably crying.
"Yang Xiao Long, you were my beacon in a storm. My life was perpetual darkness, every second consumed by hate for society. Until I met you. You changed all that. You're like my own personal sun, eternally warming my soul, and I love you for that. I swear to never leave you, come hell or high water. You are everything to me, and I will always love you."
"Do you, Yang Xiao Long, take Blake Belladonna to be your lawful wedded wife?" the priest asks me.
"I do," I reply, sounding much more confident than I feel. I'm amazed that I could even form the words.
"And do you, Blake Belladonna, take Yang Xiao Long to be your lawful wedded wife?"
"I do," Blake replies, smiling wider than ever.
"Then I now pronounce you married. You may kiss the bride." As soon as he's done, Blake throws her arms round my neck and kisses me with raw emotion. Nora squeals behind me as everyone else in attendance stands and applauds. After the noise dies down and. Blake and I are no longer attached at the lips, Weiss steps forward.
"Congratu-" she starts to say, but gets cut off by a sudden explosion. My first thought is that Nora planned another surprise for me that went wrong, but then I hear a familiar voice that makes my blood boil.
"I hope we're not late to the ceremony," Cinder announces, stepping through the hole in the wall. I notice that she's followed by Team CRDL and her two partners in crime.
"Get. The fuck. Out of here," I tell her slowly, fighting to keep my voice level.
"What do you plan to do? You can't fight in that," her grey-haired partner tells me, gesturing at my dress.
"Yang! I'll break their legs!" Nora yells. Before she does anything, however, there's a small flash and a new figure is suddenly standing between Cinder and I. It's a woman with long black hair almost as long as mine. She's wearing a black dress with a red girdle-belt and what appear to be red gauntlets on her forearms. A furry bit that looks like a wolf's tail comes out of the side of the skirt of her dress. There's a sheath on her waist that looks like it also contains different types of Dust for whatever weapon's inside. I soon find out that said weapon is a katana, because the woman unsheathes it and faces Cinder, not saying a word. Cinder gets a fearful look and flees the scene, closely followed by her companions.
"Who-?" I start to ask, but the woman walks off, probably to verify that Cinder is actually gone. She returns a couple of minutes later, and I see that she's wearing a Grimm mask like the White Fang used to wear, only much more intricate, and resembling a Nevermore. "Who are you?" I ask again. The woman takes off her mask, revealing a face strikingly similar to my own. The major difference, aside from her hair and the fact that she's clearly older than me, is that her eyes are crimson, the colour mine go when I'm angry.
"Yang. You've grown so much. I have a lot of explaining to do," she answers, smiling.
A/N: Here it is, for everyone who read Crushed! The sequel! If you haven't read Crushed, the first arc of this probably won't make any sense, so you should probably go do that. To those who have, yeah. Four-year timeskip. Kinda cliché, but oh well. Cinder may have seemed a bit OOC, but that's understandable. She's spent four years in prison because Yang beat the ever-loving crap out of her in the last story, so she's pretty bitter, to say the least. Anyway. Wedding bit probably sucked. I've never been to a wedding, so cut me some slack. Also, I didn't write Yang's vows; my friend did. I wrote Blake's, though. I'm keeping this story M-rated, because it leaves options open if I want to write smut or whatever. If there is smut, it won't be plot-relevant and I'll warn you so you don't have to read if you don't want to. So, if you don't know who showed up at the very end, there's something wrong with you. My question to you is this: what is her relation to Yang? That'll be answered in the next chapter, so speculate if you want. Or don't, whatever. Anyway, thanks for reading, leave a review and follow/favourite if you want.