Ruby rose hated waking up early, hated Yang coming in and softly shaking her awake and telling her to be down at the docks in half an hour, hated her morning cereal, hated every little bit of morning.

Except for the days when Yang woke her up extra early, to go out when the tide was low and collect shells together. Their parents had died a few years back, leaving Yang responsible for her younger sister, And for a still growing 18 year old, Yang did a bang up job. She'd always loved Ruby more than anything, always protected her and held her after a nightmare. When their Parents past away Yang had even dropped out of high school to take over the shop. The shop being a boat repair garage that focused on high end racing boats. With help from Ruby on weekends they managed pretty nicely for two kids.

Once every month Yang would take Ruby down to the beach to collect shells together, to make sure they got to spend some quality time with each other that involved no responsibilities, no worries, just time together, where they could talk about anything they pleased. Those days were Ruby's favorite. Yang would tell her stories and Ruby got a chance to catch her sister up with her school life. And when they were all done collecting shells, sometimes they'd take them home and other times Yang would help her write wishes on them and they'd throw them back. Sometimes they'd wish for silly things like a puppy, but sometimes Ruby made more seriously wishes.

Yang was a great sister and her best friend, and Ruby had lots of friends at school, but the one thing she didn't have, that she so badly wanted, was love. She knew Yang loved her, she knew her friends loved her. But she wanted the kind of love between two special people. She wanted it from someone in particular.

Blake Belladonna. Blake was two years ahead of her in school, extremely quiet and shy, but also the second biggest sweetheart Ruby knew. (First was Yang, even if Yang would never admit to being a 'softie')

Ruby had started falling for her hard when a boy named Cardin (who was also in Blake's grade) had been picking on her. While his insults didn't hurt, mostly because they were dumb and not very well thought out, when he shoved Ruby to the ground and punted her bag up a tree, Ruby was crushed. Yang had worked extra hard to get Ruby that backpack. Now it was stuck in a tree. Ruby could swim out to the three mile buoy and back no problem, but climb a tree? Not a snowball's chance in hell. She pushed herself into a proper sitting position and looked despondently up at her bag. She sat there for five minutes before a soft voice called out behind her.

"uhm, I know Cardin can be a big jerk, uhm, is your bag stuck up there?" Ruby twisted her head to look at who was speaking and saw Blake standing a few feet behind her, hiding a book behind her and scuffing her shoes against the pavement. She was painfully shy and Ruby found it adorable.

"Uh yeah, he kicked it up there and there's no way I can get it down. Swimming six miles, easy, climbing a few feet up a tree? I'd rather have an ice bath." Blake winced visibly at that mental image.

"Would you like me to get it down?" She offered quietly. Ruby grinned and nodded, careful to keep her enthusiasm down. Yang had taught her quiet people sometimes got freaked out or anxious around energetic people. Ruby didn't want to make Blake anxious or anything so she toned herself down. Blake was a sweet girl and Ruby didn't want to freak her out. Blake smiled and quietly asked Ruby to hold her book. Not even thirty seconds later she halfway up the tree and nearing Ruby's bag.

Blake snagged it easily and was back down the tree and kneeling down and handing Ruby her bag in under two minutes. "Wow, Blake that was super cool!" Ruby couldn't contain herself and eagerly took her bag back and making sure it was undamaged for the most part. Blake look uncomfortable and rocked on her heels a bit.

"It's no big deal."

"It is to me. Thank you. Sincerely, thank you. I means a lot to me." Blake then blushed and stuck her face under her arms hiding. Ruby thought she was the cutest girl to ever exist. Ruby stood and offered her hand to help Blake up. Once she had mostly recovered, she took the offered hand and Ruby pulled her to her feet. She thanked Blake one more time and then upon realizing the time, apologized and ran off yelling behind her Yang would kill her if she was late again and she would talk to her again soon.

After that day Ruby slowly wormed her way into Blake's heart. She split her time between her regular friends and Blake. Blake usually spent her lunch hour alone reading in the library, but every other day Ruby would join her. It was a slow process but slowly Blake opened up to her, and slowly, Ruby fell more and more. Eventually, Ruby had Blake laughing along with her and sometimes Blake would read aloud to her from the book she was reading. Having Blake read to her was one of Ruby's new favorite things.

It was Blake's name that Ruby now wrote on the shells she and Yang collected.

~X~

It was early morning and Ruby had finally dragged herself out of the house and down to the beach. She kept her hood up as she walked along the wooden walkway to the shop. She kept her head down against the biting wind as she walked, only glancing up occasionally. She was half way to the shop when something caught her eye. Something large was laying on the, if it was high tide whatever it was would have been just at the water's edge. Curious, Ruby stopped and glanced down the wood walk way. If she ran, she could go see whatever it was and still make it to work on time. Without any further hesitation, she tore off across the beach.

Getting closer Ruby could see it was a person, now panicking slightly she pushed herself to run faster. , maybe they were just asleep, maybe they were laying there for a reason. Maybe…. Ruby's whole world stopped as she realized who was laying unmoving on the beach.

Blake.

"BLAKE!" Ruby screamed, at her side in a flash. She dropped to her knees next to the unmoving girl. Blake's eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. There was some thick rope around her neck, it looked like it'd gotten tangled, not tied. Tears rushed to Ruby's eye but she wiped them away determinedly. With shaking hands she carefully unwound the rope from around her neck. Her neck was black and purple, the harsh colors of the bruises contrasting violently with pale skin. Tears splashed against the still unmoving girl as Ruby cried out her name, desperate for her to wake up. Her breathing had slowly improved and Ruby held both her hands in her own, at a loss for what to do.

Her head thumped against Blake's shoulder as she cried. She sobbed bitterly, still clinging to the hope that Blake would wake up. She didn't hear or see Yang until her sister was next to her, moving with calculated skill, checking her pulse and other things.

"Ruby, what happened?"

"I..I don't kn…know!" she whimpered. "I was w-was walking to work and I s-saw a thing on the beach and t-then I realized it was B-Blake and I got so scared. Yang what if she dies! She can't die!"

"Yang put a reassuring hand on her back. "She's breathing, okay? I want you to take off your hoodie and put her in it okay? Im going to make sure nothing is broken then we'll carry her home okay? One last thing… Ruby, why is she naked?" Ruby blinked and look at Blake again. Yang was right, she was naked. She blushed a furious red and hid her face in her hands. She was so scared for Blake's life, and so focused on getting the rope off her neck, she hadn't even noticed.

Yang got a dark look in her eyes and Ruby gulped. "Ruby, put her in the hoodie and wrap your cloak around her, we need to keep her warm. Do it now." Ruby snapped into action and yanked her hoodie off, carefully pulling it over Blake's head and pulling her arms through the sleeves. Next she took her cloak off and laid it out. Yang lifted the unconscious girl and put her on it and then wrapped her up securely. Lifting the now covered Blake Yang grunted.

"Let's get her home."

~X~

Consciousness returned to Blake slowly. She could feel something soft against her skin and hear muted voices. Her mind was still hazy and she opted to ignore everything in favor of burrowing into the soft pillow her head rested on. She was floating back into the darkness when her eyes jerked open. Pillow? The last thing she remembered was that rope, snaring her and choking her, the harsh tide…. Blake bolted up in bed. A bed that wasn't hers. She internally started to panic before the door opened. Ruby stood in the doorway looking back at someone. "You're sure?"

"Almost certain, if she was, there'd have to have been more bruising on her thighs. There wasn't any so until she wakes up, I'm assuming the best."

"Thanks Yang"

Ruby turned and shut the door behind her and hung her head, letting out a sigh. When she looked up, she saw Blake, sitting upright in her bed and staring at her with wide scared eyes. Ruby jolted upon realizing that her friend was awake.

"Hey." She said softly, trying her hardest not to startle the other girl. "How are you feeling?" Blake continued to stare at her, with terrified golden eyes, her hands clutching the sheets pooled around her waist.

"Where am I?"

"My house, this is my room."

"How did I get here?"

"Blake, I found you unconscious on the beach. You had rope wrapped around your neck…" Ruby's voice cracked and she had to look away from Blake. "Yu were…. You were really hurt and you weren't really breathing and…. Youwerenaked" She rushed out the last part and twitched about anxiously. "Please tell me you're okay." Blake was taken aback at the vulnerability in Ruby's voice, and how much she sounded… Just like a kid. Blake reminded herself Ruby was two years younger than her and that she'd seen her fair share of pain and loss. Blake guessed she been silent too long as big fat tears had started making their way down her face. She sniffled and pressed her hands to her face, as if to hide her tears from Blake.

"Ruby." Her voice sounded horrible even to her own ears and Blake winced, rough, raw and throaty. Ruby didn't respond and mustering as much will power as she could, Blake repeated herself. "Ruby." This time a little louder. The other girl didn't stop crying only peeked one silver eye out at her. And when Blake slowly opened her arms, Ruby couldn't help but sob as she launched into open waiting arms.

She clung to Blake tightly as she cried, words Blake couldn't make out around cries and whimpers muttered desperately over and over. Blake held her as tightly as she could, her body still weak and recovering. Ruby was getting heavy and Blake couldn't sit straight for much longer.

She let herself fall.

Ruby crashed to the bed with her, refusing to let go.

It took almost half an hour for Ruby to calm down. Only once Ruby had calmed did Blake speak again. "What were you talking about with your sister? Ruby's grip tightened and she pressed her wet face to the crook of her neck.

"Yang thought… Yang thought be-because you were naked… some-someone might've…" A whimper stilted her speech but Blake understood.

"No." She said firmly, yet gently as she finally found the courage to caress Ruby's hair. "No one did anything to me."

This calmed Ruby a significant amount and slowly her tears dried. As she pulled away she winced and glanced away. Blake was instantly set on edge, her insecurities flaring through her mind.

"What… What is it?" Blake's slightly panicky tone caught Ruby's attention and she shook her head rapidly.

"No no no, it's okay, you're fine, it's just…" Ruby couldn't bring herself to tell Blake her neck and throat were bruised beyond belief and she looked like she'd tried… tried to hang herself. The mental image was burned into Ruby's brain forever. "Yang... Yang say's you might scar a little, just a little but…" Ruby couldn't force the words from her mouth so instead she pulled her phone out and opened the camera app, switching the camera to front view she slowly gave the phone to Blake.

Blake took it and as she looked at herself on the screen of Ruby's phone, looking at the damage done to her neck she teared up. Ruby immediately yanked the phone from her and hugged her again. A few tears leaked from her eyes and Ruby couldn't help the words that slipped past her lips.

"It's okay Blake, you're still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. The bruises will fade and even if you do scar it'll be so small no one will ever see it. And even if it was big and huge you'd still be the prettiest girl in the world to me." The sincerity in Rubys words slowed Blake's tears. A blush matched her name reached the tips of her ears and from the looks of things was extending all the way down her neck. "Uh, I really like you Blake…. Like, like-like you" The admission was so soft and so unlike Ruby's usual exuberant nature It gave Blake pause.

"You can't like me." The words were out before she could stop them. Ruby looked at her and the hurt on her face nearly broke Blake.

"Why…" She whispered.

"I'm a mermaid." Again, words before she could stop them. Ruby blinked. "Its how I got stuck in the rope and why I was naked. I was out in the ocean last night and some fisherman dropped it. I got stuck and the tides changed and I tried to get it off and back to shore to change back but it…" Blake surprised herself with her own honesty. Never in her whole life did she think she'd be telling anyone her deepest secret. But with Ruby, It just felt right.

Ruby blinked slowly, processing what Blake had just told her, then she shrugged and with a fierce fire in her eyes looked back up to meet startled gold. "I don't care."

"You..."

"I" Ruby leaned in close trapping Blake on the bed. "Don't" she was so close Blake could smell roses and lavender, their noses almost touching. "Care." Her forehead came to rest against her own and Blake breathed an internal sigh of relief. "You're still you, you're still Blake, you're still my best friend who reads to me and puts up with my antics and lets me fall asleep on her during study hall. You're you and I don't care if you only half human or not Human at all." Ruby had pulled away slightly, her gaze focused on her lips. "And I'd really really like to kiss you right now."

Blake was stunned, her brain no longer functioning and her heart was running the show. If she was being honest, she'd started falling for Ruby too. Words rose unbidden to her lips.

"You can kiss me if you want to." Moron, she knew Ruby wanted to kiss her, she'd said so no less than a minute ago.

"Are you sure." Reason number one why Blake had started developing feelings for the younger girl, she had always seemed to know about Blake's anxiety and physical problems. She'd always asked Blake if it was okay to hug her or take her hand (for the first few months anyways, after that it was just second nature and honestly, Blake didn't mind that Ruby no longer hesitated to hold her or take her hand to show her something.)

"Yes." She breathed. "I'd really like for you to kiss me now."

When Ruby leant forward and ever so slowly, so slowly for a still few seconds, Blake could feel the other girls' nervous stuttering breath against her lips, her heart thundering in her chest. Then soft lips were on hers in the sweetest most gentle kiss Blake ever had the pure pleasure of receiving. Ruby moved her lips slowly, tentatively, always offering Blake a way out.

The last thing Blake ever wanted again was a way out.

She kissed her back with all the strength she had. She moved her lips slowly with Ruby's tasting Honey and something else sweet on her lips. The kiss ended slowly, both girls drawing away, just barely so their breaths intermingled.

"I want to kiss you again."

"Me too."

They lost themselves in each other, Ruby Pressing kisses to Blake's mouth and many softer, more soothing kisses pressed to a bruised throat and neck. They lay, there, tangled in each other, touches soft and wondering, until Yang gently called to Ruby.

Ruby Slowly Led Blake out to the living room where Yang was sitting. Holding tightly to the youngers hand Ruby Introduced Yang who Rose slowly and in the same fashion as Ruby all those months ago gently asked to hug her.

When Blake accepted the embrace from the strong muscular woman she was surprised at the gentleness. "Welcome to the family" was whispered in her ear. And when Yang pulled back and she saw both grinning faces, she finally felt like she'd found peace, freedom, and Home.