"I like him"

That was how it started, a cute declaration. People say that all the time, parents spout stuff to embarrass their children or just to pull a laugh. Blake didn't think it was so funny though.

"MOM" she pleaded her parent to stop.

Blake Belladonna had always been easy to mess with, and her mother always got a certain form of joy from putting her in embarrassing situations And boy oh boy was this a doozy; needless to say was loving every second of torturing her daugher.

Oh, gosh not now mom. Blake thought to herself. Sun stop digging, you're just making it worse.

Blake could tell her mother was enjoying the show, the jerk. Why do you this to me?

Sun, the typically oblivious fool, finally realized his grave error and was trying to play it off.

"this tea is amazing" he said with a faux smile, his cheeks bright red.

Mrs. Belladonna looked at that smile from across the table, thinking to herself.

…cutie.

At that point Blake's dad, a mountain of a man with the temperament of a turtle, interrupted the conversation with a sigh.

He excused himself from the room, leaving his wife to explain why.

Blake spoke up first, "What was all that about?"

Her mother met her eyes with a smile, "Oh, nothing dear, it's just been difficult dealing with them lately."

"Dealing with who?" Blake responds.

"Oh, the White Fang"

"What?" Sun and Blake jumped to their feet, their here too, Blake thought fear and anger coursing through her veins. Sun stood ready, he followed Blake after her father.

. . .

"Well, those guys were creepy!" He said angling his thumb at the closed front door, if Sun Wukong was anything, he was silly. Unfortunately, Ghira, Blake's father, wasn't amused by his antics.

"I really don't like you" Ghira said flatly.

Sun flinched at the words, though he didn't know Blake's parents that well it is always awkward to be told you are not welcome.

But Sun atleast knew Blake's father's name, though he was still unclear of his mother's, he hadn't really needed to ask.

Sun looked at Mr. Belladonna, Ghira who was walking away, and timidly wrung his hands together.

"Hey Mr. Belladonna, I'm sorry for what I said in there," Sun said quietly.

Ghira stopped and turned back towards the young man. His face showed surprise, Sun thought, MAYBE HE DOESN'T THINK I WOULD DARE SAY ANYTHING TO HIM, well if that were the case Sun figured he would be able to prove Mr. Belladonna wrong; he would try atleast. Ghira squared his shoulders and crossed his arms, "continue." He said with the voice of an aged leader.

Sun shrunk back even more, and looked down, shuffling his feet. He mumbled, "I'm sorry…I never…did…with blak—your daughter…or anyone." He eventually just kind of faded into a whisper.

Ghira spoke up again, this time louder, "Speak up son."

Sun met his eyes and pushing his hands to his side, lifting his chin he steeled himself for whatever the giant man would say.

"I have never tried anything with your daughter sir, I've never ha—ha—had"…sex.

He couldn't say it in front of Blake's parents. So he went for a less embarrassing term, "I've never committed … coitus … with Blake." Oh good job Sun, perfect choice you moron, just shut up, he thought to himself.

"Or with anyone else for that matter" Sun continued. AHHHH, shutup shutup shutup … me.

"Not that I haven't want—I mean not that that would ever come up … sir." Sun was stone faced but on the inside felt like he was on the verge of tears under Ghira's intense stare for the second time in about an hour.

Please don't kill me.

The house went silent: Sun stopped talking, Ghira simply stared at the boy. The seconds ticked by, feeling like years.

Ghira was planning on letting Sun fret for a minute or so before breaking the tension, he saw no danger in the young man and from what he observed his daughter felt comfortable with him, which was rare for her. Blake joked with her mother about Sun, something his daughter would never do about someone who she felt no kinship with. So for right now, the boy was OK, but why not have some fun with his timidity. At least until he finds out that he's in the clear.

Unfortunately, as always, his wonderful wife messed up his fun.

A soft snickering broke the tense silence, both Sun and Ghira stared at Blake's mom. She met her husband's and Sun's gaze before dropping her eyes. She held her gut and mouth to stop her soft laughter

"Kali…?" Ghira asked with barely hidden humor in his voice, his wife's antics breaking his tough facade.

"This is … important" Ghira snickered before dropping his act. He guffawed, and slapped his hand against Sun's back. The parents laughed and laughed before petering out. They wiped tears of laughter from their eyes.

All the while Sun stood frozen and confused.

He spoke up after he saw that Ghira, and … Kali … that was her name right, quieted down slightly. "So do I get to live to see tomorrow," he asked tenaciously.

Ghira chuckled a few more times and responded, "yes boy, we're just messing with you."

Sun let loose a breath he didn't know he was holding. Ughh, old person humor sucks.

Kali stepped around her husband, still snickering behind her hand and took Sun's arm in hers, "Mr. Wukong, I think both me and my husband can agree that your company is good for our daughter."

Ghira nodded and continued for his wife, "my daughter hasn't changed much since she was a child, even if it doesn't look like she's glad to have company on such a long trip, trust me, she is."

Sun looked between Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, searching for any hint of them joking. But they seemed to be completely serious.

"Really?" Sun asked.

Kali and Ghira both nodded. Kali pulled her arm from the crook of Sun's, she faced him. "I told her that I liked you, that wasn't a lie, I am so happy to have her back, and to see that she has friends who care enough to stick with her, well that is just the cherry on top."

Kali flicked her eyes between Sun's, she placed her hands on either side of Sun's face. Stopping him from looking anywhere but down at her.

"Thank you for helping my daughter, truly, you're a hero" she said in a more serious tone.

Um, please let go. He wordlessly begged, her rapid tonal shift took him off guard.

Sun's eyes widened, "Your welcome but really it wasn't me—." Um, please let go.

He would have continued to explain how Blake's team were the real heroes. Her friends like Yang, Ruby, heck even Weiss were the ones who befriended Blake and helped her feel warm and welcome. He just kind of got pushed into her life, and chose to stay there because they hit it off and seemingly worked well together.

Totally no other reason why he consistently met up with Blake, no reason at all, he thought to himself.

He would have given a whole presentation about how he really wasn't the reason for her daughter's happiness over the last year, even if he kind of wished he was.

Sun was always one of the more social people in a room, he was quick to familiarize himself with everyone, and at least in his own mind, looked super cool while doing it. And he could tell that Blake really enjoyed talking to a fellow faunus, but he wasn't stupid. So he tried to keep his crush hidden, not only would it hurt his super cool laid back image, but from what Blake had said, she didn't need a boy crushing on her, she wanted a friend.

But Kali didn't give him the chance to explain himself, she stood to her tiptoes and gave Sun a quick peck on the cheek, effectively muting him. Sun froze, unsure what to make of it. He stopped thinking and met Blake's mother's eyes.

She looked up at him and patted his cheeks before she dropped down from her tiptoes. She turned back around to face her husband moving behind Sun, the boy wasn't sure because his mind was still frizzed out, but he thought he saw Kali give him a wink while she moved.

He was aware that quick pecks on the cheek is a type of thank you, he always connected it with grandmotherly types. Women you just want to hug because they're so sweet and loveable, but are still an elder who deserves respect.

This felt different, but he tried to force it out of his mind. He was here to make sure Blake got where she wanted to go, and along the way maybe get the chance to talk more to her. He liked talking to Blake. Mrs. Bellad-Kali was probably still reeling from seeing her daughter, he figured, and most likely was just acting strange because she's so happy.

That is if her action even were odd, maybe she's always like this, maybe I'm just overthinking it! Sun followed behind Mr. And Mrs. Belladonna. He stared over them, happy just to see that they were happy.

They all walked further into the large palace Blake had called home for who knows how long, that fact still made Sun reel. And I thought Blake was opening up, He thought dejectedly.

I hope Blake has at least told Xiao Long about her past, and maybe even the rest of her team, Sun thought as he leaned against one of the giant doorframes which dotted the Belladonna residence.

While he knew he wasn't the best of friends with Blake, it still stung a little to see how little he really knew about her. It was frustrating partly because he knew how much time he had spent away from his friends and team to help Blake was far more than Blake would ever spend to help him.

Maybe that's why the Belladonnas are grateful, they know how rare it is for their daughter to give anyone else the care of thought, he speculated. His painful reminiscence was interruped by Kali, who was addressing her and her husband but also seemed to keep sending looks his way, Sun took this to mean he was also invited into the conversation.

It seemed a little odd to him, but he took the offer and sat down with Blake as she and her family talked. They spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company, playing games, and just having a good time all around. What tomorrow would bring didn't seem to affect the Belladonnas, and for the first time since she go on the boat, Sun saw Blake laughing. It was a good day!