Chapter 3: Truth by Night and Truth by Day

The snow was still coming down by the time night fell over Patch Island, and the wind had picked up in intensity. Blake found herself alone in Yang's room, getting dressed for bed. She really wished that Yang was there with her, but Taiyang had kept a sharp eye on his oldest daughter until he was certain that she was safely tucked away on the cot in Ruby's room.

Blake slipped on her yukata and fastened the belt loosely around her waist. She reached up to take off her bow, but then she hesitated. She'd worn her bow almost nonstop for so long now that she felt naked without it. Even back at Beacon, surrounded by friends she trusted completely, she'd only recently started taking it off for bed.

Blake knew that the odds of Taiyang walking in on her were practically nonexistent, but she decided to play it safe and keep her ears covered tonight. She didn't want to take the risk of Yang's father finding out that she'd been lying to him.

Blake walked over to the switch on the wall and turned off the lights. The room was plunged into darkness, but thanks to Blake's faunus eyesight, she still saw everything clearly. It was strange for her to be alone in such a personal space. It felt like she was intruding, but she knew that Yang wouldn't mind.

Blake couldn't help but take a look around Yang's room. It was almost exactly what she'd been expecting. Posters for Bands that Blake knew Yang liked covered the walls at haphazard angles. A disorganized set of free weights sat on a stand in one of the corners of the room. Blake suspected that if Yang had still been living here instead of attending Beacon, her stuff would've been scattered about everywhere. Yang was always leaving her things lying around Team RWBY's dorm room, but somehow, she managed to never lose track of anything.

Blake's eyes fell on the dresser. Four framed photographs sitting on top of it caught her attention. Three of them were upright, but the fourth was lying face down.

Curious, Blake padded over to the dresser. One of the photos was of Ruby. It looked like it'd been taken years ago. The second was of Taiyang. The third depicted a silver-eyed woman who bore a striking resemblance to Ruby. Blake presumed her to be Yang and Ruby's mother.

Blake reached out for the fourth photo frame and ran her fingers along its back, leaving a trail in the fine layer of dust that covered it. The photo had obviously been sitting like this for a while. If someone had accidentally knocked it over, they hadn't bothered to set it back upright. Blake's fingers lingered. She really wanted to know who the photo was of, but something about it struck her as intensely private.

Blake withdrew her hand. She knew Yang would tell her about it someday. She could be patient until then.

A strong gust of wind blew outside and rattled the windows. Blake shivered as a chill went down her spine. It was a lot colder in this room than in the rest of the house. There must have been a draft somewhere. Yang probably hadn't even noticed. Blake walked over to the bed and crawled in. She pulled the covers tightly around herself, trying to ward off the chilly night air.

Blake lay there wide awake for a long time, staring up at the ceiling. She'd always had a hard time getting to sleep in an unfamiliar place. She'd had the same problem when she'd started at Beacon. It'd been especially bad that first night she'd spent in her newly-assigned dorm room. Yang was a loud person by nature, and that was true even when she was sleeping. Her snoring had been like a buzz saw running next to Blake's ear.

However, a month into the semester a strange thing had happened. Yang's snoring had become familiar, comforting even. It had gone from an annoyance to a white noise that Blake could use to tune out the troubles of the world.

Blake rolled over onto her side. The pillow smelled like Yang. Blake breathed in deeply and let the scent fill her. It was a small comfort, but a welcome one.

Blake was just beginning to fall asleep when her cat ears twitched underneath her bow. Out in the hallway, she heard the sound of tiptoeing feet. A moment later, the door to the room quietly opened and closed. Blake wasn't alarmed by the sudden intruder. Even from the slight sound of the footfalls, she knew exactly who it was.

Blake heard a soft rustling sound. Then the covers lifted and something wonderfully warm crawled into bed with her, banishing the chill of the winter's night. Blake sighed as a comforting arm wrapped around her, and said, "It took you long enough."

"Sorry," Yang said. "I was waiting for Ruby to fall asleep."

"It's okay, now that you're here," Blake said. She leaned back into Yang and soaked up the soothing heat radiating off of her. Blake's muscle relaxed as they released tension that Blake hadn't realized she'd been holding in.

Yang's leg slipped over Blake's, and she snuggled in close. Blake could tell that Yang was completely naked. That rustling sound she'd heard must have been Yang getting undressed. There was no question about Yang's intentions tonight, and Blake wouldn't have had it any other way.

Yang's hands reached up and grasped the ends of Blake's bow. She pulled out the knot, and the ribbon fell away. Gentle fingers tenderly stroked the velvety fur of Blake's ears. Yang was the only person who Blake let touch her ears. The loving caresses were in such sharp contrast to the cruel tugs of her past tormenters that it took Blake's breath away.

Yang slid Blake's collar down and lavished kisses on Blake's neck. The silent promises of Yang's lips made Blake shiver with anticipation. She still couldn't believe that before Yang, she'd never considered the possibility that she could be attracted to another woman.

From the moment they'd become partners, Yang had never failed to be friendly with Blake. But one day, not long into the semester, Yang's friendliness had transformed into out-and-out flirting. Blake had found herself at a loss as to what to make of it. At first, she'd feigned cluelessness in the hopes that Yang would lose interest. However, Yang hadn't stopped, and Blake soon realized that she didn't want her to. Blake had been at even more of a loss as to what to make of that.

Eventually, Blake had decided not to worry about her confusing new feelings. She'd assumed that they would turn out to be just a passing thing.

Oh how wrong Blake had been. She'd acknowledged, intellectually at least, that Yang was a beautiful woman, and it was undeniable that Yang was a good friend. But neither of those facts had prepared Blake for the moment she'd realized that she yearned for Yang's company and acceptance more than anyone else's, or for when she'd looked at Yang and recognized the desire filling her for what it really was.

When Yang had finally asked Blake out on an actual date, Blake couldn't have said yes fast enough.

Blake hadn't intended her relationship with Yang to become physical quite as quickly as it had, and she was fairly certain that Yang hadn't either. Things had just kind of happened, and Blake was glad that they had. She was certainly no virgin, but all of her past encounters paled in comparison to what Yang made her feel. She wasn't sure if it was just the genuine friendship and respect she and Yang shared that made the difference, or if she wasn't actually attracted to men. She supposed it didn't really matter either way; she never wanted to be with anyone other than Yang ever again.

Yang's hand slipped into Blake's yukata and gently pulled it open. Blake shuddered as Yang lovingly explored her body, touching her, teasing her, and setting her skin alight with desire.

"Yang…" Blake whispered, her breath catching.

"I'm here for you," Yang said.

Blake let Yang's arm pull her into an embrace as the two of them lay next to each other. There was a dazed and dreamy look on Yang's face, and Blake couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride knowing that she'd put it there. She rested her head on Yang's shoulder and snuggled in close. Moments like this were so magical that she kept expecting herself to wake up and discover that it had all been a dream.

Blake's eyes drifted closed as she and Yang enjoyed the stillness around them. The warmth radiating from Yang was slowly lulling her to sleep.

"Blake?" Yang said, softly dispelling the silence. "You know I love you, right?"

The smallness in Yang's voice made Blake's eyes open. She glanced up at Yang and was shocked to see worry etched on Yang's face.

"Of course I know," Blake reassured Yang.

"No," Yang said, looking into Blake's eyes. "I mean, really love you. Like want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you love you."

Blake's heart skipped a beat. "Yang…" she said.

"I'm sorry I have such a hard time saying it. It's just…no one's ever made me feel this way before, and I don't know how to deal with it sometimes," Yang said.

"No one?" Blake asked. "But…"

"No one," Yang said. "Just please tell me you'll never leave me."

Blake felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She'd never seen Yang so emotionally vulnerable before, and it touched her deeply. "I'll never leave you," she said. "I promise."

"Thanks, Blake," Yang said. Her arms tightened around Blake like she never wanted to let go.

"Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you the same way."

When the sun came rudely streaming in through the window the next morning, Blake ignored it. When Yang stirred next to her, she ignored that too. Unfortunately, she couldn't ignore it when Yang loudly said, "Gooooood morning Blakey!"

"Mngh," Blake mumbled. It was as articulate as she could be first thing in the morning.

"Time to get up!" Yang said. "We have to get to the kitchen before Dad tries to make breakfast!"

"Mmmph," Blake said.

Suddenly, the covers were thrown back and two strong hands pulled Blake out of bed. Blake's legs reluctantly held her up, but her eyes didn't really open.

"Whoops. Better put this on," Yang said. Blake felt her yukata being thrown around her shoulders. Yang's hands guided her arms into the sleeves and then fastened the belt.

"Come on!" Yang said. She took Blake's hand.

Blake followed automatically behind Yang. Once they were out in the hallway, she heard Taiyang say, "Good morning you two!"

If Blake's eyes had been open, she would have rolled them. It was already bad enough how lively Yang was right after waking up. Now she had two morning people to deal with.

"Morning Dad!" Yang said. "Sounds like Ruby's already in the kitchen."

Blake found herself being led down the hallway. She smelled bacon cooking.

"Morning, Rubes," Yang said once they'd reached the kitchen.

"Morning," Ruby said. "Coffee's on. I boiled some water for Blake's tea."

"Great! Thanks," Yang said.

Blake was finally starting to wake up a little when Yang pressed a hot cup of tea into her hands.

Taiyang asked, "Is there something wrong with Blake?"

"Naw, she's fine," Yang said. "Just don't try talking to her until she's had her third cup."

"Hmm," Blake said as she took a sip.

"Oh, okay," Taiyang said.

There was a moment of silence, but then Taiyang suddenly exclaimed, "Wait just a minute! Something's not right here!"

Blake's ears twitched from the noise. Her groggy brain tried to figure out what Taiyang was talking about. Then she realized that she wasn't wearing her bow.

Blake's head snapped up and she saw that Taiyang was looking right at her. Panic woke her up like a slap to the face.

Yang must have figured it out too, because she said, "Oh! Yeah, uh, we were going to tell you that Blake's a faunus. Honest."

"What?" Taiyang said. His eyes drifted up to Blake's ears. "Oh. She is. That's not important! Don't try to distract me! You both came out of the same bedroom this morning. I hope you have a good explanation, young lady!"

"Uh…" Yang said dumbly.

"Don't worry, Dad," Ruby said. "Yang slept on the cot last night. She just went into her room this morning to wake Blake up."

"Oh! Yeah! That's right," Yang said. "Right, Blake?"

Blake glanced at Ruby who gave her a sly thumbs up. "Yes. That's right," she said.

"Well…good," Taiyang said. "Just so long as there's no teenager nonsense going on. Now, let's eat breakfast! I'm starving!"

Ruby scooped up all the bacon she'd been cooking with a spatula and deposited it onto a waiting plate. "Breakfast is ready! To the dining room!"

"Yeah!" Yang agreed.

Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang all started heading to the dining room, but Blake remained in place. Yang glanced back at her. "You coming?"

Blake wasn't sure if she was truly awake enough to process what had just happened, but she was almost certain that it'd been amazing. "He really doesn't care that I'm a faunus," she said.

"I told you he wouldn't. We can talk about it later if you want, but if we don't go eat right now, Dad and Ruby will take it all. So…breakfast?" Yang offered Blake her hand.

"Yeah," Blake said, taking Yang's hand. "Breakfast would be good."

Author's Note: Happy holidays everyone! I hope that no matter your situation, this December leaves you a little happier than it found you. In case I don't see you guys before then, have a great start to 2017!

I'm still live blogging Volume 4 over on my tumblr (electronicyarn). If for some reason you're not preoccupied with family or whatnot, come join me and see what all the fuss is about!

Constructive criticism is always welcome, so please feel free to review or comment. If you want to be notified of updates or send me a message, you can find me on tumblr under the name electronicyarn.