One full day had passed since the devastating attack on Vale that had brought the city to its knees. Grimm had overrun large parts of the city while military and huntsman tried their best to secure the safe-zone they had established to rescue and depart as many civilians as they could.
Once again the broken moon shone down on Sun Wukong as the night moved on, a damaged atlesian cruiser hovering above him and the castle Osaka where they had been brought to for protection along with uncounted more civilians.
Not that they were in any form to fight any more.
Many of the students that had fought at Beacon were hurt or straight out incapacitated, he had even heard about some who were missing their friends but still had hope left that they had simply been brought to another safe zone.
He could be lucky to only know about one girl that they had most definitely lost. But then again none who had known Pyrrha Nikos seemed to be unaffected by the red haired girls demise.
Most things he knew about here had been form Blake, which in turn had never been close to her, but while she had tried to visit Jaune during the day she had realized more then seemed good for her.
She had talked with him about it, yes, but just like when she had told him about how she and Yang had taken on the leader of the White-Fang, she had been holding something back.
Blake had told him most things that had happened, but she had barely shared her own thoughts and Sun couldn't shake the feeling that she was holding something back.
Not that it was a good idea to press her about it now.
He opened the bag by his side and made sure the tuna-can he had "found" was still there while still waiting in front of the entrance to the barrack most of the other students had occupied.
Sparks flew from the cruiser above in the air as the crew did their best to repair their battered ship and small ships brought in new materials to make it battle ready again.
Only half a hour ago another ship had landed in the middle of the inner courtyard.
It was awfully elegant and he had been told it was one of the fastest ships of the schnee-dust company.
Hearing the name of the owner alone he knew that it would mean trouble.
True enough the ship had Weiss father onboard and according to the amount of security he had brought with him he had the clear intention to bring his daughter home.
If him appearing personally and his security was his way of actually caring about Weiss or a his way to enforce his own control Sun couldn't tell even if he hoped it was the first reason despite himself.
Still he had decided to keep away from Blake and her team as long as Weiss father was still around, if the rumours about his treatment of faunus was anything to go by he was probably not to keen on finding him anywhere near Weiss.
Hopefully Blakes bow-tie was fulfilling it's purpose.
Another group of transports landed in the courtyard and brought a few hundred more refugees as Sun waited.
He was thinking about how he could bring Blake to talk about whatever was bothering her or at last bring a small smile to her face as the door of the barracks opened and half a dozen of soldiers with the emblem of the schnee family stepped outside.
Sun quickly made a step backwards as the soldiers inspected the area and one of them even managed to give him a warning look trough the visor.
Seconds later Weiss and her father stepped outside, accompanied by two more soldiers.
Either way, Papa Schnee was certainly not playing around when it came to the safety of his daughter.
Weiss looked like she had tried her best to oppose her father to stay with her friends and team as long as she could, but the outcome had been decided the moment he had arrived in Vale.
She nodded towards Sun as a silent goodbye before the group began moving again.
Her father only looked at him once, calm, collected and in control, the blue eyes pricing him and scanning him like he was determining what he could be for his daughter before quickly dismissing the idea and moving on.
Focusing on much more important problems at hand.
Just as they had left and had brought some distance between them Sun could hear someone step out of the side alleys of the castle.
"That dude was her father right?" Neptune breathed heavily, at last he had tried to make it in time.
Sun only nodded quietly, he knew his friend well enough to know where this was going.
"looked kind of scary..." Neptune said jokingly, badly hiding the truth. "...and all the guards are only for her?"
Another nod and a heavy sigh as the schnee group distanced itself further with every passing moment.
"You heard what happened to Pyrrha... and Jaune?" Sun asked calmly.
Neptune bit his lip and shook his head when he remembered.
"That Cardin guy told me about it, even he seemed to be pretty disturbed about it all. And I was here when Weiss..."
"Point is, sometimes you never know when will be the last time you see someone right?" Sun interrupted his friend and looked him straight in the face.
Neptune certainly understood what Sun was trying to tell him but he was still looking doubtful after Weiss and her escort and back to his friend in a silent plea for assistance.
Sun only shrugged and walked towards the door of the barracks.
Some things were better done on your own.
Neptune only cursed under his breath but soon started running after Weiss escort.
Sun stopped were he stood and watched as Neptune first managed to catch up on them and then even remained calm when the last two soldiers aimed their guns at him and approached them slowly and with raised hands.
Only moments later Weiss walked out of the group despite the apparent displeasure of her father.
Whatever the two talked, it would obviously not be long or anything, but at last she hadn't left without a goodbye. If one could even call it that.
Sun sighed and opened the door to the inside of the the barracks.
He didn't need long to see the first familiar faces that had fought with him at Beacon.
The big guy that had fought and lost against that Mercury dude in the two verses two rounds was getting his bandages carefully replaced by a small faunus girl while the girl that had fought by his side him argued with the guy who had fought with a trumpet in his fight.
The fourth member of their team was just lying on his bed and listening to music from his scroll while looking at the ceiling.
Somewhere in the distance he could even see the four girls he and his team had fought against in their round, just as battered up as anyone else.
He looked out and found the door to the enclosed quarters Rubys uncle had ordered for her and her team as all three of the remaining ones where in several different states of injury.
Ruby hadn't woken up jet and Yang had been give medication that was putting her to sleep.
It was only a short walk for him to get over and open the door to get to Blake, but for some reason he hesitated.
And as he saw Scarlet and Sage in the crowd he decided to check on them first.
"Hey Sun, finally found Neptune?" Scarlet asked as Sun sat down and looked at Sages bandaged arm hanging in a sling.
"Yea, had to get a sling and stuff, apparently my arm wasn't sprained but broken. Doctor called me an idiot for not coming sooner but who gives a..."
"You saw that Schnee girls escort?" Scarlet asked and interrupted his friends lamentation.
"Her dad had like what?... Eight men with him only for her. Either he thought she was going to be kidnapped for ransom or she took his third wallet whit her as she left for Vale."
The redhead joked while Sun only rolled his eyes at Scarlets exaggeration.
"And here I was thinking maybe I should check on my pals. Turns out you guys are doing rather well without me." Sun noticed and looked towards the door of team RWBYs room.
"Since you are talking about us. Where did Neptune go, did he miss that Schnee girl or what?" Sage asked with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look.
"He just got to them in time with a bit of a push. Don't ask me if they shot him, I didn't stick around to find out. But yes, he talked to Weiss." Sun told them, which was answered by Sage sighing in relieve while Scarlet wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
"I didn't call back a girl I liked once, it was not..." Sage stared a story they all knew while Sun looked over to team RWBYs room once again.
"You know, Blake is still in there." Scarlet interrupted Sage once again who just looked at his friend with tiered eyes before he simply gave up.
Sun blinked and turned around, but Scarlet pushed on.
"You looked over there like three or five times now, if you even noticed yourself. We didn't see any of the girls leave since we came here, expect Weiss of course. If you want to go over to Blake, talk something over or whatever, we won't stop you.
Scarlet said with a exaggerated grin while waving at him like he was leaving at any moment.
"And you did say Neptune might need a little push to go for a simple talk. Seems like he isn't the only one. And Neptune had to get past a little army, this over there is just a door man." Sage added on his own winsome.
Sun looked from Sage to Scarlet and back, Sage was obviously waiting for him to act while Scarlet was still waving like an idiot.
Sun threw his arms up in the air and stood up.
"Screw you guys, how do I even put up with you idiots?" he asked exhausted at his friends shenanigans.
Scarlet put a hand around Sage and pulled him closer whit a big goofy grin, all while continuing to wave like he was greeting his aunt.
"We are to handsome to dislike. And we have free cookies." he explained while Sage joined in the stupid waving while looking somewhat concerned at his friends goofiness.
But not more then usual.
Sun accepted the unavoidable and walked over to team RWBYs room, passing trough several dozen of students and refuges as he went.
When he finally arrived at the door he hesitated for a moment and considered turning around.
Maybe she was already sleeping, maybe she would just not talk to him... but it had taken her a while to open up to him the first time they had met and if he turned around he knew that here would be two guys waiting for another chance to wave at him like idiots.
He sighed and opened the door.
While he had expected not to like what he was seeing, as in a depressed and brooding Blake,he hadn't expected this.
Her bed was empty, and in the only window of the room sat Blake, readying her bag and about to jump into the side-alley.
She looked at him, obviously just as surprised as he was and in a quick moment he scanned the room.
Yang and Ruby were still sleeping and a single letter was lying on Blakes bed, obviously a small sign of goodbye.
Sun could feel his stomach twist at he thought that she was just about to run away with only leaving a simple letter behind.
Maybe he shouldn't have jumped forward in the hopes of catching her, maybe he should have stood still and tried to talk to her then and there or walked up slowly.
But it was a instinct reaction and by the time he realized his mistake Blake already jumped onto the other side of the window like a startled cat.
He jumped trough the window in a single bound, made a roll when he noticed how much speed he had before jumping up and running after the now fleeing faunus girl.
"Wait!" was everything he got out of his mouth before he saw her escape into another side street of the barracks.
He was right on her trail when she shot her weapon into the air and used it like a grappling hook to propel herself up and towards one of the few two storey buildings of the castle.
Sun cursed himself and jumped after her, she might be good at running, but so was he.
In a few moments he reached the top of the building and arrived just in time to see that Blake was about to jump of and get away again.
"Wait!" he called out again, even thought he doubted she would listen.
To his surprise he didn't hear her jump away. And when he looked up she was still standing there on the edge of the roof.
"I am sorry, I actually wanted to avoid this." she admitted while slowly turning around.
He nodded, it was not like he hadn't figured that out already.
"And you thought that only leaving a small letter behind was enough?" he asked trying make it sound like a joke so it wouldn't sound like he blamed her.
He saw the conflict in her eyes as she looked him in the eye, unable to form a satisfying response.
"I mean, you sure that running away will solve your problems? Running away from them didn't help you much even the first time we met, remember?" he smiled at her and tried to move a step closer, doing everything so she wouldn't feel cornered, or accused, or anything that would give her an excuse to run again.
She looked away once again before she answered.
"Maybe it won't solve my problems, but at last it means there won't be more, even bigger ones in the long run." she said cryptically, once again responding without telling him anything of value.
"I don't understand Blake. Ever since we made it out of Bacon you went basically silent, yes we talked, but you could have just as well told me the weather-forcast. All info, but no... you."
Of course it all made sense now, she probably had thought about running away back then and the more she would talk the higher the danger that he found out what she was up to.
"I can't tell you, I just... I have to do this myself." she tried to explain unsuccessfully while Sun shook his head.
"And they tell me I am the macho. Strange." he joked half-heartedly.
"It is my fault that Yang lost her arm, I don't want anyone to get hurt any more. I have seen enough of that! I she hadn't..."Blake talked herself into a fury, which Sun interrupted before it could go anywhere.
"We have been over this Blake, you couldn't have anticipated to run into the leader of the white-fang. Yang may have overestimated herself, but it was you who got her out of there, that is what matters."
She shook her head and averted her eyes like she was trying not to hear what he had to say.
"We are save here Blake, this place is a small fortress now. There is nothing you need to run away from. Not now." he once again tried to talk her out of it.
"I thought I had left my past behind me, that Bacon was a safe place to stay." Blake admitted tiredly. "But I was wrong, it is always going to be on my heel. And as long as I can't shake my past I am a danger to anyone close to me."
Sun couldn't help but scoff in disbelieve, all this made no sense to him.
"Only because the white-fang were part of the attack doesn't mean that you..."
"He said he would destroy everything I love and he doesn't make empty treats." Sun only looked at her and tried to understand what she wanted to tell him. Who was this he?
"And I told you I tried to see Jaune today... I don't want any of us ending up... like he did."
Of course Sun remembered that, it had been one of the few times in which she had shown some of her own thoughts and feelings instead of trying to force them to stay inside.
She returned from seeing Jaune and had talked first with Rean and then with Nora about Jaunes state and Pyrrhas death with a pained face, even then it had taken her a while to actually talk about it.
"I have always seen him upbeat and full of life... seeing someone like that so dead inside, even from afar..."
He sighed as he remembered and tried to take another step closer towards her.
"I am sorry Sun, you are a good friend, but I need to..." she began with averted eyes and was about to turn around when Sun reached into the bag by his side.
"Wait!" he exclaimed and she hesitated long enough for him to take the tuna-can out and throw it into her arms.
She looked at it perplexed and then at him.
"Tuna? How did you... where did you get this from?"
This time he averted her gaze and acted like there were a hundred different things to talk about.
"It fell of the back of a truck?" he finally suggested while scratching the back of his head in played embarrassment.
She shook her head at his petty crime and actually smiled for the smallest of moments to hide the tears that were running form her face as she finally stepped closer and put her arms around him
He leaned into her hug and for a moment he thought she would change her mind, that she wouldn't run away in the end.
"Thanks Sun, I am happy you stuck around even despite of all that happened."
"Hey, what kind of friend would I be if I would make a run for it at the first sign of danger huh?" he asked jokingly while stroking her head.
For a moment they stood under the light of the broken moon of Remnant with the atlesian cruiser hovering behind them and sparks from the repairs flowing in the air.
"Take care of yourself, okay?" she asked of him as she put her hand firmly on his back.
The moment ended when Blake slipped from his grasp and left a earth clone of herself behind.
While he struggled to get free she stepped back and waved at him. "Goodbye." she said with a sad smile, blinking her tears away before jumping of the building.
Sun only needed a few more seconds to free himself from the sudden trap but it was enough for her to gain an advantage.
And as he jumped down he could see several versions of Blake in three different directions.
He cursed at himself again and followed one of them according to the feeling of his gut.
She, or a shadow clone of herself, ran far a head but Sun was good at running himself.
They ran past a few barracks and took some side-alleys, probably to avoid the more populated places.
"Wait!" he called out once again and to his surprise she actually slowed down.
"Are you really going to leave your team like this?" he asked her out.
"Weiss might be gone, but Yang and Ruby are still waiting back there. They are just as shaken as you are. Yang won't be happy to see that you only left a small latter to say goodbye.
Don't they deserve more? Aren't you guys a team?"
She stopped by the corner of a building and turned around slowly with her face downcast while Sun slowed down and walked towards her, noticing that his words must have stung.
"I saw you guys fight Blake, there is nothing you can't take on if you stay together and work on becoming better. And there is absolutely nothing you can achieve without some to fall back on..."
He sighed as she just stood there as if she tried to hid behind the corner of the building.
"They will always be there for you, you know that right? No matter if you run away now or not. If you need help, we will always be there for you Blake... And yes, that includes me as well."
"Obviously." he murmured as he took the last steps and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, only for it to vanish trough shadow.
Of course, he had expected as much.
He looked up and saw her standing on the building from which she had controlled her clone.
"We will always be there for you Blake, just don't forget that okay?" he called after her but she only stepped back, averted her face to hide the tears that he couldn't even see against the shining moon and leaped of to the next building.
Sun knew that it was futile, and that this had been as close to saying to goodbye as it could, even as he climbed the building she had stood upon only moments ago.
He ran and tried to hunt her down for at last ten more minutes, checking corners and crowds as he went.
Only when he heard the engines of the transports in the courtyard howl to live did he realize where she was headed, and that she was already out of his reach.
Minutes later the transports flew high over his head as he stood on-top of the walls of the castle and looked after them departing towards Vale-city to bring in another group of civilians.
Blake was certainly onboard of one of them, however she had managed it.
Sun only sighed and hoped that she was going to be okay.
As he turned around and walked back towards their barrack he realized that it now fell to him to tell Yang and Ruby about another of their teammates disappearing from their sight.
When he got back inside trough the window to avoid the questions his friends would certainly ask he opened the small letter Blake had left behind.
"I am sorry, but I need to go. Goodbye."
He sighed again and sat down on her bed while he waited for Yang to open her eyes.
This was going to suck once she woke up.
Note:
Got the idea for this fic when I heard Yang say that Sun "saw Blake go" and thought there might have been a bit more to his then Yang knew.
Obviously made some assumptions with this, like Blake telling no one about Adam straight up (I figured Sun would have mentioned to Yang if he had known or vica versa) or Neptune meeting Weiss before she left ect.
I actually thought there would be more fics about a scene like this, but it seems not.
Anyway, hope you like it.
