He was gone.
This realization came upon her only when she heard the sound of Adam's body colliding into the water below. If the stab wounds hadn't been enough, then the height from which he fell would have definitely been enough to finish the job. Even if he had miraculously survived such injuries, she doubted he would have the strength to even swim up to the surface.
Almost as if to reassure herself, the black-haired faunus hesitantly walked near the edge to glance downwards, revealing nothing but the strong current that would have carried his body away. Far, far away.
She turned her head to glance at her partner who, like her, was still gripping onto the bloodied remains of Gambol Shroud. The blonde's expression was rather difficult to read; it was perhaps a mixture of relief and uncertainty from their battle finally being over.
Blake directed towards Yang a smile, tainted by the pain that was coursing throughout her body and from the realization that she had just killed someone. Of course, it was not only her that dealt the final blow, but she currently felt like she alone was to blame for this outcome.
The shard of her weapon then fell from her hands as the girl collapsed onto the ground. Was it from exhaustion? Or was it the result of the immense sadness she felt from having to murder someone she had used to love? Whatever the reason, Blake couldn't stop the tears streaming down her cheeks.
This… all felt so unreal to her. Several years ago she would have never imagined that she would be forced to defend herself against the man she had once looked up to. She had always respected his strength and confidence that he could give the faunus the justice they had all deserved. Along with the other members of the White Fang he would stop the cruel treatment of the faunus, or so she believed.
Violence was not the method the girl prefered… but due to the White Fang's influence she began to view it as something that was sometimes necessary. Peaceful protest just wasn't enough, evident from their many failed attempts in the past. Why did bloodshed have to be more effective than words? Why did the world work this way?
Why did it have to pit her against her past mentor? The man that she found herself falling for and who vowed to protect her?
...Why had she promised to stay?
The sound of approaching feet made Blake's ears perk upright as she slightly lifted her head to gaze up at her teammate. She lacked the time to even open her mouth to speak before Yang had kneeled over and wrapped her arms around Blake wordlessly, her mechanical arm resting gently on top of her head.
...Why? Why was Yang doing this? This wasn't what she deserved. It was her own actions that had resulted in Adam supposedly stalking her across the kingdom. It was that promise; her cowardice that had doomed the both of them to their fates. Because of her own foolishness her closest friend had lost a part of herself in an attempt to save her from Adam, and Blake was terrified on more than one occasion during the fight that she would lose her for good.
The girl knew not to underestimate Yang. Even if she hadn't been placed on the same team the blonde's strength was impossible to overlook. Her weapons and raw power along with the aid of her semblance made her a force to be reckoned with. The loss of an arm wouldn't decrease the girl's experience and skill, but she also knew of the strength of her former lover. She was practically forced to acknowledge it; he was renowned throughout the White Fang for his ruthlessness and swordsmanship on the battlefield.
She remembered how she once saw him as this invincible being. It was one of the few things she couldn't blame herself for thinking, especially since it was quite evident that her allies believed the same. The thought of him actually being defeated had rarely even crossed her mind due to her not really seeing it as a possibility. And Adam's pure confidence made it seem like he didn't either. He had never expected her to leave; he never even thought of the idea of Blake abandoning her. And that certainty worked in her favor. It allowed her to flee from what she believed to be both a toxic relationship and environment. The White Fang had no longer felt like her family. Adam didn't feel like someone she could rely on. She just didn't feel safe.
At the time she had believed that she didn't have a choice; that what she did was right. But now, after all that occurred she couldn't help but to wonder if the outcome would have been more favorable if she had never left; if she had stayed with Adam and the rest of the group and continued aiding their desire to kill innocent people. It was painful… and Blake didn't know if she would have survived the guilt if she had remained there. The cries of the children as they lost both their homes and parents, the families that watched helplessly as their closest friends were murdered violently right in front of their eyes… to this day it all still occasionally haunted her in her nightmares. Their actions sickened her. But what disgusted her most of all was that she used to be a part of it, and that she was convinced that it was an important step toward equality.
It took far longer than it should have for Blake to realize that this wasn't how to achieve what she wanted. This was inciting nothing but fear, and only encouraging the hatred for their species. How could they live their daily lives with the normalcy of the humans with such a reputation? How would this affect the lives of their future generations? Would their current methods really be seen as a positive influence several years from now?
Questioning Adam failed to relieve her many fears. He had only confronted her on the matter and was extremely dismissive to all of her counter-arguments, and when he realized that he wasn't convincing her to regain the faith of the White Fang and their goals, he resorted to relying on the subject of her father to win her over.
Why had it always worked? Why did she always allow herself to give into his desires and demands?
"Do you want to be like your father? Is that what you want?"
Those words always succeeded in any of their arguments and conversations about the group's morality ending shortly afterwards, and Adam got in the habit of using it to his advantage. He had complete control over his lover and every time that he used it the girl could just feel his satisfaction. There was no denying it. He was no longer who she believed him to be. He was a monster, and perhaps he always had been and she was too blinded by admiration to see it. But when she had finally accepted the reality of the situation she was in, Blake couldn't stand not taking action.
But was running the right choice? Had there been some other alternative to escape the daily hell she endured? It was a question she regularly asked herself during her stay at Beacon, and she never managed to think of an answer. This only succeeded in further frustrating the faunus, as it encouraged her habit of running from her problems.
If she were only able to form a solution to her issues while still being allied with the White Fang, then maybe… none of this would have happened. Not in the sense of them never aiding the fall of Beacon, but it could have at least prevented the intense jealousy and rage from Adam that had resulted in her partner's life being ruined.
She couldn't even process the idea of never attending the academy and meeting up with who she would eventually consider to be her closest friends, and just the mere thought of potentially being forced to fight against them if their paths had been different made Blake finally return her teammate's embrace.
What if she had to fight Yang?
Blake immediately tried to dismiss this possibility, as the concept of directly being the cause of any injuries against her partner was beyond heartbreaking. The most saddening aspect of it was that her current self wouldn't be around to explain that her opponent in another life had been her closest ally. Blake was aware that if she had completely given into the ways of the White Fang that she would have showed no mercy against the blonde, and she figured that the latter wouldn't either if it meant protecting her teammates.
It seemed that no matter her choice, Blake would always end up hurting Yang…
The black-haired girl gently pulled herself away and glanced into Yang's eyes. Her throat was sore from her intense sobbing and though she honestly didn't feel like speaking, she felt as if these next words were necessary. Not only to relieve some small portion of her guilt, but to remind Yang that she regretted doing what she did.
"Yang… I'm sorry."
"...For what?" Both her voice and expression made the blonde's confusion quite evident.
"For running… for hurting you… I... "
The look she received from her friend made her immediately stop talking before she could finish her sentence. Blake admittedly couldn't tell if it was anger, disappointment or some other emotion that seemed to radiate from the other girl, but it was enough to get the point across that she had said something she shouldn't have.
"Blake… none of this is your fault."
These were the words that Blake had always needed to hear, but them actually being spoken had taken her aback. It took a moment for the girl to recover and open her mouth to respond.
"...Are you sure?"
"...Blake…" At first, the faunus flinched after what she believed to be slight frustration in the blonde's tone, but her eyes widened upon the sensation of Yang's hand against her cheek.
"I don't blame you for what Adam did… you had no control over that."
"But I ran-"
"And you came back."
Blake stared at the woman in front of her in shocked silence.
"That's all that matters to me."
At these words, Blake once again gave in to her emotions and allowed the tears to fall as she buried herself in Yang's shoulder. The latter responded by softly stroking the faunus' cheek, which only added onto the many conflicting thoughts and feelings swarming around in the troubled girl's head.
She didn't deserve this… she really didn't. But it was what she had needed and wanted ever since she had accepted the toxicity of her relationship with Adam. She had truly expected her partner to hold a grudge against her for leaving without even saying goodbye. Truth be told, Blake had wanted to say those words so badly, but she knew her partner well enough to know that Yang would have never allowed her to leave. As such, she did what she believed she had to do. She thought that she didn't have a choice.
But she did.
Despite her brief doubts, Yang wasn't like Adam. Despite her short temper the girl's heart had always been in the right place, and she was fiercely loyal to her friends and would do whatever it took to protect them. The false arm resting against her back was all the proof Blake needed of this, though she was already sure of it beforehand.
"Yang, I… I won't ever leave again… I promise."
The look in her partner's eyes and her confident reply was all that she had ever wanted.
"I know."