A/N: Hello everyone! Wow, I'm honestly so honored with the positive reviews, follows, and favorites. Thank you so very much. Although this chapter is a little on the short side (in my opinion), there's lots more to come. Each chapter is one month of the school year, so this month is October, for all of you wondering about the timing of the AU. Anyway. On to the actual story... Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Dancing with the Dragon

"Blake… Blake, that's my sister…"

Mr. Ozpin's office was just behind the wooden door. Ruby's sister sat silently two seats away from Blake, Ruby separating the two, and for the better. Since the incident, she had hardly calmed down, even after Ruby helped her clean off some of the waste. Blake couldn't blame her for feeling so upset about the situation. After all, it was extremely embarrassing. But to be that furious? She had never seen someone so livid.

Ozpin stood tall, his gray hair combed back, his emerald eyes expectant and patient. He was young in appearance as well, although Blake knew he must have been as old as Mr. James Ironwood back in Atlas. She had heard much about the headmaster of Beacon Academy and knew he was important. However, she did not expect him to look like this. He was almost attractive, but Blake pushed that idea away as soon as he asked for her to come into his office. Walking into the room, she noticed his extensive library as bookshelves hugged every wall. Somehow, it almost reminded her of her father's study back home. She took a seat in one of the black leather chairs and faced the man.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Miss Belladonna," he started, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

That came as a surprise, rendering her speechless. "I…"

He smirked. "I knew both of your parents. They were former students here at Beacon and graduated two years after me."

"What a small world," Blake commented, unsure of what else to say. As fond as she was of them, right now was not the time to think about her parents with an angry student sitting a few feet away.

"Indeed," he nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "I am very sorry to hear of your loss. But, I am glad that you're here."

"Sir?"

"As you know, Beacon Academy is world-renowned for our impressive academic and athletic programs, and, of course, our other extracurricular activities. It's because we have people like you who are passionate about learning, whether that be inside or outside the classroom." He paused and leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk and staring at her intently. "Your parents were two impressive students."

"I've heard," she smiled. "Thank you."

"There is a reason that you're here at Beacon and not in Atlas. I'm sure your parents saw it, otherwise you'd still be there." Confusion made its way onto her face, he could tell. "But that reason you know little to nothing about. You'll discover it in time. Alright, what are we dealing with now?" he asked himself, taking another drink from his mug. "Right. You've ran into two of the most… special students at my school. Quite literally."

She bowed her head, apologetic. "I'm sorry. It was an accident."

"I'm aware. Ruby Rose, as you know, is only a sophomore. And yet, she's in some of your classes, correct? Yang Xiao Long is particularly interesting in her own right, and I suppose it's up to you to figure out why."

Blake wasn't sure what bearing this had on her situation.

"Had it been any other student, I might've gotten slightly irritated, but since it's the three of you, I'll dismiss the matter."

"Really?" she blurted out. In Atlas, Ironwood would have struck her with an iron rod, or maybe a wood rod, something. She imagined the students of such a prestigious academy to stick to stricter rules to ensure the best sort of behavior.

"I have bigger issues to deal with besides my brightest students bumping into one another, no matter how hard the collision. Apologize and move forward, Miss Belladonna. Mrs. Goodwitch sent you to me so I can meet you formally, not because there is a punishment awaiting you." He hinted at a grin.

Blake stood and bowed. "I appreciate that, Mr. Ozpin."

He hummed. "Send in Miss Xiao Long and her sister, will you?"

As she walked out, she met the blonde's eyes again and noticed that they had changed in color. Was that possible, or was she hallucinating when she thought her eyes were a glowing red? Now, they were a light lilac, and they blinked back at her. "He wants to speak with the both of you."

Ruby stood and gave a small frown. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."

A week later, Yang Xiao Long stopped Blake in the hallway in the middle of class.

The raven-haired girl had gone to use the restroom and encountered her as she walked back to Mr. Port's class. Nervously, Blake took a step back when she met those bright eyes again, immediately feeling some sort of anxiety creep in. But she hadn't done more than give a straight face. This time, she wasn't covered with trash and appeared as attractive as Blake had noticed before. The girl gave a long sigh before she opened her mouth.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened last week," she mumbled.

Blake felt her throat tighten, unsure why. "It's…"

"That wasn't… What I wanted anyone to see." She looked away, lips pressed into a line. "I'm not really like that all the time. I was having a pretty bad day and that was the last thing I needed."

"I should be the one apologizing," the other girl replied. "I was the one who knocked you into the trash can. If I had been paying attention to where I was going, then the whole situation could have been avoided."

"Yeah," Yang agreed. She scratched her head and ran her fingers through her thick, golden hair. "It's fine now. I should've gone up to you earlier."

"It's okay," Blake smiled a little, trying to be optimistic. "We should be okay now."

"Yeah. I'll see you around." For the first time, Yang smiled at her. It caught Blake off guard and she failed to return the gesture. Then the other girl went around her and back to her class, now that a few minutes had passed. Blake watched her back as she walked away, looking at the way her locks swayed back and forth, the swing of her hips. She might've been seriously hurt by Yang, but she was seriously beautiful. That may have been the last time we interact, Blake thought to herself. She hoped it wasn't.

The rest of September died away soon enough. More people came to see Blake as a regular student. She had gotten accustomed to the rigor of Beacon, and Ruby was right. In the rankings, Beacon beat Atlas in most areas, especially in academics. She always thought they were of the same caliber, but when she actually started classes, she understood the vast difference. Here, it was much more problem-based, as though they were teaching students to swim by pushing them in the water first. It was harder. Still, she was doing her best and ranked top in most of her classes. Things seemed to be well for her. She adjusted to living alone and found comfort, even. She hadn't drawn that much attention to herself at school, thankfully, and she only spoke to Ruby. Occasionally, she'd see Weiss, but they stayed away from one another.

When October rolled by, she didn't notice a difference in seasons like she would in Boston. But she did see the ice queen herself pull up in her Bentley next to her as she made her way home.

"You walk home?" Weiss piped, a quizzical brow raised. This was the first time they had spoken to one another in weeks.

"Is it uncommon to walk home?" Blake questioned, stopping.

She turned off the radio to hear her better. "You're on the West Coast. We drive out here." The other girl had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something sour. "How far away do you live?"

"About half a mile."

"Huh." Blake was about to continue walking before Weiss cut in, saying, "Do you want to get coffee with me?"

That question caught her off guard completely. "I'm sorry?"

"I think there are some things we should talk about," she tossed her bangs to the side, a bit of a frown lingering on her lips. She wasn't sure if she wanted to climb into her car or not. "It's not like Ruby's here to chase me away. You may as well get in. Or don't."

Blake debated and decided to take the risk. It was just Weiss; how bad could it be? She opened the door and sat down in the expensive car. "You really are rich."

"I'm a Schnee. What do you expect?"

The air was pregnant with something—awkwardness, silence, and maybe some tension as well. Weiss paid attention to the road and Blake noticed how cautious of a driver she was. She was surprised she didn't have a chauffeur to drive her, really. Staring out the window, she watched as the heiress ignored the turn down to the houses near the water and looked at the buildings forming downtown Oxnard. In recent years, the quiet coastal city had grown to house more people and support more businesses. There were lots of different cafes now, but not nearly as many as there were in Boston, she reckoned. Weiss pulled into a parking space right in front of a smaller cafe wedged between a bakery and a sewing shop.

After they had ordered their drinks, Weiss sat them down at a seat nearest the window. Blake took a sip of her English breakfast tea, thankful for how invigorating it was. Her day had been all but relaxing with three tests all in the morning. The snow princess—at least that's what Ruby called her—enjoyed a mocha with extra shots to wake her up. Blake wasn't exactly sure why she was sitting in front of the girl that had caused her to have the most embarrassing moment of her life. If Weiss hadn't pestered her and Ruby, she would've been able to make it to class on time. She wouldn't have pushed Yang into the trash. Her golden eyes took in everything but Weiss: the street, the light posts, the chatty adults in the corner, the noise of the blender.

"I ought to apologize," Weiss sighed, her sapphire orbs meeting Blake. Her voice surprised Blake, causing her to jump a little in her seat. "I don't think I've been exactly kind to you."

"I didn't expect you to be." She wondered if that had been offensive. "I'm sorry. You don't really come off as a very kind person, exactly."

"I'm really not," she acknowledged, weighing her next set of words carefully. "I don't care much how others see me. But I must say, I do care about what others see you as. You perplex me. I know near nothing about you."

Suddenly, the focus of the conversation came back to her. Blake smoothed her hair out, knowing how nervous she felt. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything will suffice. I know that you were a former student at Atlas Academy. My father was going to send me there, but they decided Beacon would be better for obvious reasons." She sipped at her tea and continued. "So why are you here at Beacon if your parents were around Atlas?"

"It's a family matter," Blake said to dodge the question.

"Did they pass away, your parents?"

She frowned, but it did not do to lie. "Yes. They died in July."

Weiss gave her a sympathetic look, and Blake knew it was genuine. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

They let some time pass to kill the damp mood. It was October, and it had been four months, but her parents' death had upset her greatly. Then, in a few minutes, Weiss smirked, finishing the rest of her coffee. "I heard about your run-in with Yang Xiao Long."

She felt the corners of her lips droop down. "I think everyone at Beacon knows about that."

"You don't know very much about her, do you?" she asked. Blake looked up at her. "That girl is something."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she's the queen of our school."

"And you're not?"

"Me? You dolt, of course not." She laughed heartily. "But I'm flattered that you would think so." She gave a haughty smirk. "I'm a Schnee. We're certainly quite popular, but it's mostly because we have white hair and more money than we can count. But Yang Xiao Long? She's popular because everyone likes her. Even I like her. People don't like Schnees, and we couldn't care less."

At least you know what you're like, Weiss. "What makes Yang so likable?"

"Well, have you seen her?" Weiss' eyes seemed to gleam with admiration. "The girl is gorgeous, first of all, so that already gives her the upper hand. Boys practically drool just to get her attention. And she's not entirely stupid, either. Actually, she appears to be fairly intelligent. I hear she's top of her classes and it makes me wonder if she's third or fourth in our graduating class."

"Who's first?"

Weiss grinned. "Who do you think?"

"Oh."

"That's why it's so remarkable that you had a literal run-in with the star of our school. She's wicked attractive and popular, and here you are, paying little to no mind."

Blake finished her tea, even though it had gone cold. "She didn't seem so friendly."

"Maybe because you knocked her into the trash? Anyway."

Yang's face came to Blake's mind. The few times that she had seen her, she was always doing something, anything that made it hard for her to notice Blake—running in P.E., chatting with friends at lunch, walking to her classes. Their eyes hardly met. If they did, the moment was too brief. She felt like a tiny fly compared to Yang, who was so easy to spot in a crowd. "She's a mystery to me," she confessed.

"She does seem to be a bit more closed off, even to her friends. I haven't spent time with her since last summer, since she broke up with…" Weiss trailed off, unsure if she was at liberty to discuss any more of it.

Blake sighed. "It's hard to think someone would break her heart."

Weiss hummed. "Well, Yang is a tough one. She gets what she wants. Which reminds me. What are you going to do about Homecoming?"

The conversation changed completely. While Blake was still thinking about the lovable blonde, Weiss brought up something she hadn't given a single thought towards. "What about Homecoming?"

"Well, aren't you going?" Weiss leaned in. "It's Homecoming!"

"I haven't attended one since my freshman year," the girl admitted.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding. This is your senior year, Blake!" she furrowed her brows. "You're going, aren't you?"

She frowned. "I don't have anyone to go with."

"We can fix that easily." Weiss smiled. "Why don't we talk about it tomorrow at lunch?"

She thought about Ruby. What is she going to say? "Weiss, really, I don't need a date for Homecoming if I'm not going."

"You're going," she hissed, "you dolt."

"You're eating lunch with Weiss?" Ruby pouted, seeming hurt to some degree.

Blake gave an apologetic smile as they walked out of Calculus together. "Yes. There's something we need to talk about."

"It's not me, is it?" she frowned.

"No." Thinking back to yesterday, she saw the Schnee girl's long, silky white hair, her delicate fingers, those sapphire eyes. As warm as she was yesterday, she always appeared cold. But even then she was so beautiful. Like snow. Blake hadn't noticed that she bore a scar that ran down her left eye until yesterday. She wondered about that the whole evening. "Why do you hate Weiss so much?"

The smaller brunette struggled to find words. "It's not that we hate each other. She's just mean."

Blake didn't tell Ruby that she had met with her yesterday afternoon. "I think she's just putting up a front. She isn't so bad."

"If you say so…" They stopped at the courtyard. Today a few clouds here and there scattered and diffused the sunlight, making for a grayer day. Weiss sat on one of the benches alone, waiting for her. "What are you going to be doing for lunch?"

"I'll chat with other friends," Ruby smiled. "I'll probably eat in Oobleck's classroom."

She didn't bother to ask why. "Okay. I'll see you later."

Walking over to Weiss, Blake noticed that her hair was up, off to the side like usual, but that the pins she had in today…sparkled. The girl noticed her golden eyes observing such a small matter and ordered, "Sit. Homecoming."

Blake took her seat next to her. "What about it?"

"I've set you up," she cooed playfully.

She stood up again. "What?!"

"I've set you up, kitten!" The smile on her lips might've been triumphant, but it made Blake tremble.

"I'm not even going to Homecoming!"

"Oh hush! Goodness, if you'd just listen to me." She scowled. "You're going to Homecoming with Yang."

Blake thought she'd lose her breakfast right then and there. "What?!"

"Okay, not with her with her, but with her. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Hopelessly, she answered, "No."

"Don't be so clueless! You're going in her Homecoming group. I've set you up with Sun Wukong."

Monkey boy? That's what everyone called him at school. She had him in a few of her classes, so she knew he wasn't that bad, but she didn't really know who he was. "Weiss, I've never even met Sun."

"He knows who you are," she grinned. "And he thinks you're cute."

The golden-eyed girl felt heat rush into her cheeks and she cursed herself for blushing. "That still doesn't fix my issue…"

"Well, you'll get to know him at Homecoming I guess. Oh, here he comes!" She lowered her voice down to a whisper. "He's going to ask you right now. Make sure to say yes!"

"Weiss, no—"

"Miss Belladonna?" a voice called out from behind her. Reluctantly, Blake turned her body to be greeted by the boy with tousled, blonde hair. Eagerly, he smiled down at her and presented a bouquet of roses from behind his back. Okay, maybe he was cute. "Will you go to Homecoming with me?"

You have got to be kidding me! What other option did she have? She couldn't say no to him like this. Suddenly, a group that had followed him cheered and the whole courtyard noticed the ordeal. Now she really couldn't say no. Among the many, many eyes were lilac orbs, and Blake found them easily. Yang had a puzzled look on her face, and it seemed even she didn't know about this. What did she think about the whole thing? Then she noticed a turn of her lips and saw that she was smiling. And God, her smile made her look even more beautiful, if that was possible. Blake tried to smile back, but Weiss, proudly filming the whole thing right behind them, squealed in excitement, reminding her of the situation.

"Hello? Earth to Blake," Sun was mumbling all while she was looking at Yang, having a hard time tearing her eyes away from her. Why? She snapped her head back to him.

"… Yes," came her small reply.

Blake's knees threatened to give out under her. It was then that she understood Weiss; she had asked Sun last night to do this, giving Blake no choice but to say yes, unless she wanted to crush his heart and appear like the bad girl to the rest of the public. She couldn't be sure if Weiss was clever or incredibly stupid, but whatever it was, it worked.

With only two more days left until the fateful Saturday, Blake and Ruby went shopping to find the right dress. After two hours, the girls found it: a lovely, short dress, styled with silver jewels near her waist and down her chest. They had settled on a beautiful shade of plum and a low neckline to accent her collarbones. The whole time while they were shopping, Ruby was in disbelief that all of it could have been orchestrated so carefully and quickly. And by one person! You really don't have to go, Ruby had mentioned to her. If I were you, I'd probably just stay home. She wished so badly that she would go with her. She'd have a much better time anyway. As Blake laid in her bed, comfortable underneath a warm blanket, she eyed the dress hanging outside her closet and sighed.

Weiss had gone over the plan several times, but Blake still couldn't wrap her head around the whole matter. Sun was going to pick her up to take pictures and eat dinner, then they'd go to the dance. It was already a stretch to go out and dance. At least Sun was nice. He was cute, somewhat, and he treated her nicely, which was more than Blake could ask, given that she still considered him a stranger.

Yang was going to be in her Homecoming group. She realized then that she hadn't spoken to her very much and she, too, was a stranger. But unlike the rest of the group that included people like Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Neptune, Weiss, and more, Blake actually wanted to get to know Yang. Everyone seemed straightforward: Pyrrha was the school's best athlete, Neptune was incredibly gorgeous, Weiss unusually rich… But Yang seemed to be the most normal out of the whole group, like she was popular just because she was nice and pretty. Of course, there must've been more to it than that.

On Saturday, Blake invited Ruby over to help her dress.

"Your hair is so pretty," the brunette complimented her as she finished curling the jet-black locks. "I love it."

"Thanks," the girl smiled, looking at her reflection. Ruby had been nice enough to offer to do her hair.

"Yang and I used to do each other's hair all the time. But I've always had shorter hair so I like to do stuff with Yang's. It's so much easier with yours. It's not as thick."

Blake hadn't pestered Ruby with questions about her sister, mostly because she didn't want to come off as obsessed or anything remotely close. She thought of Beacon's most popular student and wondered how beautiful she would look tonight. If she could have boys at her feet on a daily basis in a school uniform, she could have anyone tonight. "That's really sweet. I wish you were going."

"I don't," she laughed. "I don't like dances and dressing up like that."

"You would look pretty," Blake commented. Ruby shook her head with a smile.

"Eh, sure. You're done now, though! And now you're going to have a lot of fun."

Taking one last look, she stood and turned to her friend, satisfied with her appearance. "Thank you. I feel like a princess."

Shuffling her feet together, Ruby peered up at Blake. Her friend stood nearly half a foot taller than she did. "Blake… You are going to have fun, right? I mean, I know Weiss sort of pushed you to be with Sun just so you can go to Homecoming. You don't have to go if you don't want to."

"At this point, it would be disrespectful if I didn't. But I do appreciate your concern. I'll do my best to enjoy the evening."

That's why, at dinner, Blake tried as hard as she could to be a conversationalist. Sun sat across from her and had offered to pay for her dinner, so she ordered herself a seafood plate and enjoyed the delicious meal. He was nice the entire time, complimenting her on her outfit, pouring her drink, paying attention to her when she spoke. Pictures had gone well. They were just pictures, she reminded herself, so she flashed her nicest smile for the camera. Blake was trying, and that in itself should've earned her something.

Weiss had turned to her sometime and whispered that this group included the "stars of the school." The group was much bigger than she initially thought it would be. In total, there were nine couples, all of whom regarded Blake nicely. But the true star of the night sat five seats down, munching away happily at her food. She looked absolutely stunning, adorned by a halter-top, navy dress, ending just above her knee. Part of the fabric had been cut away, exposing her midriff and her shoulders. Blake could never pull something like that off. Her hair cascaded down her back in large, loose curls, crowning her elegantly. Yang hadn't said much to her throughout pictures and dinner, mostly because they hadn't stood or sat near one another. But each time their eyes met, she always gave Blake a smile, and that was enough to suffice. She shook her head to herself. You're obsessed.

"Something wrong?" Sun asked, noticing her.

"No," she answered a bit too quickly.

He didn't ask.

Pictures and dinner required her to sit. But the dance, well… that required her to dance, and she didn't feel the beat of the music in her heart. Or anywhere, really. While the rest of the group went off to bump and grind near the center of the dance floor, Blake stood awkwardly with Sun. He encouraged her to dance, but she felt too strange letting his hands roam around her waist like that. Weiss scorned her for not getting her grind on. Blake simply dismissed her, asking if Sun wanted to sit down and chat for the evening. She knew he didn't, but she appreciated the fact that he did. His usually unruly hair had been combed over to the side for the evening, and it was then that she noticed that he had gray eyes, dark like stones. Despite this, he was soft the entire night, always calling Blake beautiful, always minding her whenever they'd walk or sit around one another. At 10:30, with about thirty minutes of dance time left, he went up to enjoy his evening, albeit reluctant to leave Blake. She pushed him to do so, wanting to breathe and sit by herself for a little while.

Of course, her break wouldn't last very long.

Two minutes had passed before Yang waltzed over to her, catching her eye as soon as she walked out of the gym. She gave a tired grin and pulled out the chair opposite her where Sun had been sitting just a few minutes before. Blake tensed and sat straight in her chair. Was she really going to sit down and chat with Yang? She couldn't even bother her for—

"Hey, Blake," she said gracefully, as if the two had been friends for years. She rested her head on her arm, no doubt exhausted from the hours of dancing and talking. "What are you doing out here?"

"Huh?" Suddenly Blake's tongue seemed to be the hardest muscle to control. "Umm. I didn't feel like dancing."

"Really? No wonder I didn't see you out on the floor…" she mumbled to herself. "Have you been out here the whole time?"

"No, Sun has been sitting with me. He just got up to go back in there."

"Huh." She put her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. "So… You've been sitting out here."

"Yes."

"You should've told me or something, I would've gotten you to bust some moves." Yang grinned. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm…" She was at a loss of words. "I'm feeling really good."

"I'm glad you could see me like this, way different from whenever the thing happened, right?"

"Yes… Although, I harbor no bad feelings." She was different. Yes, certainly, absolutely. This Yang was actually talking to her and listening and present. She was no longer a figment of her imagination, but an actual person, speaking to her.

Blake wanted to say something besides giving answers to her questions, but even the most courteous phrases like, How are you? or Are you enjoying yourself? failed to pop in her brain. The best she could do was give Yang her full attention. The girl crossed her legs and relaxed in the chair. Blake noticed a few beads of sweat that weren't present earlier, and that some of her hair had started to straighten as well. "You look like you've been having a great time, Yang," Blake commented.

"Probably smell like it too," the other girl laughed. "Say, Blake, why don't you go in and dance?"

She was dumbfounded. "What?"

"You should go dance! I bet Sun's wanting to get his groove on with you in there," she winked playfully.

Blake felt her face flush, her cheeks burning hot. "Umm… He's probably dancing with someone already, don't you think?"

"I'll dance with you!" she stood quickly. "Think of it as my way of apologizing and starting a new friendship."

And before she knew it, Blake felt her whole body being dragged into the dark gym. Neon colors flashed on and off, and the lights made the room spin. The DJ ended a hip-hop song and transitioned into something more perky, something more likely to get Blake to dance. She couldn't see Yang very well with how dark the room was, but she felt her radiate joy as she watched her silhouette jump up and down. Everything felt like a dream. The girl that had, just a week earlier, threatened to hurt her was now holding her hands and jubilantly celebrating a high school tradition with her. Blake couldn't help but move along with her, even though they were horribly out of time.

"You should be having fun!" she heard Yang yell over the bass of the music.

"I am!" And it wasn't a lie. For the first time since her parents had passed away, Blake felt genuinely ecstatic, being so close to this person that fascinated her so much. Though the night was coming to a close for the other students, her evening was just beginning as she held Yang's hands tighter in hers. She couldn't understand how anyone could be like Yang and be so real. She didn't even know Blake! Weiss was right when she explained why everyone liked Yang so much, because Blake liked her for that same reason.

She was kind, and Blake wondered if it was because someone had been unkind to her in the past.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Trust me, there's way more Bumblebee to come in the next chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 are full of character development... so sorry if it seems kind of slow. It'll get fluffier. Thanks for reading, see you soon!