With the posting of this chapter we have officially passed the half-way mark for this story. Again, i must express my appreciation for the positive reviews on this work, I thank all of you for taking the time to write your reviews. I also thank those of who who like this work enough to favorite and follow it. To see so many people enjoy this work has been a major motivation for me to post this work far ahead of schedule.
Usual Disclaimer: I am not attempting to lay claim to any of these characters, they are owned by Rooster Teeth.
Nothing else to report, thus ... enjoy.
Take it Back – Chapter 6
A mistake that continues to haunt the young team leader of Team RWBY is the misconception she let fester between the members of her team. Weiss and Yang were both under the impression that Ruby had suffered months of heartache in the wake of Blake's rejection, when in reality she only really cried over it for the first few weeks. Due to Weiss and Yang's misunderstanding the dynamic of the entire team was very quickly turning ugly. Weiss was acting extremely violently against Blake, which often resulted in the drawing of blood. In one instance, Blake had accidentally bumped into Ruby during combat practice, Weiss retaliated by choosing to not contain the explosive blast of a dust fueled attack which resulting in Blake being caught up in the explosive radius. The 'accidental' friendly fire caused Blake to suffer numerous cuts and scratches from flying debris as well as receive a minor burn on her forearm. Yang who had promised to be a best friend to Blake would always seem to be just out of reach to help the cat-faunus and would let Weiss' violent 'accidental' attacks occur. In the case of the dust explosion, Yang, who was standing next to Blake leading up to the explosion, had seemingly backup for no reason. This unannounced retreat placed her just outside of Weiss' unrestricted blast radius, while she said nothing to warn Blake of the incoming explosion. Ruby nearly snapped when she saw a steady stream of blood flow down the raven-haired girl's immobile arm, but her vision was quickly obstructed when Weiss stepped between her and Blake, as if shielding the younger girl with her body in case Blake tried to get revenge. The look of pure sorrow, defeat, and crushing guilt that swirled just bellow the surface of Blake's shimmering pools of dull yellow caused Ruby's heart to nearly stop. The younger girl wanted nothing more than to rush out to the bruised and bloody girl and wrap her in a hug while pouring forth apologies. In fact she nearly did, but Yang's firm, and immovable grip held her in place against her will. Blake limped back to the infirmary, alone, to tend for her wounds while Weiss, Yang and Ruby walked back to the locker room.
Ruby was very quickly becoming nauseated by the behavior of both Weiss and Yang. She knew that they did not like Blake very much, but following this incident Ruby took extra precautions to ensure that Blake did not accidentally bump into her or do anything to her that Weiss and Yang could use as an excuse to inflict bodily harm on the cat-faunus. Ruby was also extremely saddened by the realization that Blake was doing nothing to change her situation, that she was willingly taking these beatings and injuries without so much as a protest.
Ruby still liked Blake, incredibly so, and thus could hardly stand to see the pain that Blake was suffering at the hands of her teammates. Blake had assumed that this harsh treatment she was receiving was karma or retribution for what she had done to Ruby. But the young team leader could hardly take any more of this. It broke her heart to see the object of her affection getting violently harrassed nearly every day, after all she had been on the receiving end of very similar treatment and it nearly drove her back to Signal. So she thought up a plan of attack, one that would halt Weiss' active aggression and Yang's passive aggression towards Blake. This plan also served the dual purpose of getting her and Blake's relationship back on the tracks to recovery and eventual friendship.
After the first few weeks of the semester the students were all ecstatic that they reached their first big break from school, even if this so called 'big break' was really just a three-day weekend. Ruby had made special arrangements, even calling in a favor from Weiss to make her plans an absolute success. Weiss had agreed to provide a little bit of financial backing to Ruby's plans, but Ruby had begged the heiress to not inquire about what Ruby was using the money for. The heiress, who had come to be able to trust Ruby with anything, agreed with little resistance. Thus, Team RWBY's Sunday was booked with a surprise event for all of the members of the team except Ruby, who was the coordinator.
On the day of the secret event, Ruby woke up bright and early, despite it being a Sunday morning. Blake, who had always been a light sleeper, was jolted awake when she heard the soft pitter-patter of feet walking across the dorm room floor. The sudden and unexpected noise caused the raven-haired girl to sit up very quickly, essentially throwing her blankets from her body. The resulting movement and noise startled the young team leader, causing her to release a surprised squeak, which miraculously did not wake anyone up. After a few minutes of scanning the room, Blake's eyes landed on a younger girl with a face flushed to a shade that was eerily similar to her namesake. Ruby was frozen like a dear in headlights at the sight of Blake, completely disheveled from sleep and in her skimpy sleep wear that the older girl had donned to cope with the hot nights. Ruby had intended to confront her introverted teammate sometime today to request her presence at tonight's surprise arrangements, and now seemed to be as good a time as any. So, Ruby shook herself of her nervousness and strode over to Blake. Frankly, the cat-faunus was frightened beyond all belief. Ruby had not even talked to her in what felt like forever. Blake could hardly remember what Ruby's voice sounded like from up close, but she hardly needed to imagine as Ruby began to speak to her, much her to surprise.
"Hi, Blake! Good morning!" Ruby fell back on old habits. In her past endeavors to try and get Blake to notice her she had developed the habit of always greeting the older girl with a chipper attitude and with an award-winning smile. Thus, in this impromptu interaction Ruby gave the older girl the same greeting she always had in the past, along with her a full grin that radiated happiness. In the wake of such a familiar greeting, Blake found herself smiling as well. That was until she realized that Ruby was the one talking to her and that this was the perfect opportunity to fix her mistakes. Ruby was patiently waiting for Blake's return greeting and hence provided the cat-faunus ample time to determine how she was going to apologize for rejecting her feelings, but she hesitated.
What if she is greeting me here and now, like she did in the past, so that we can start over? Or revert to how we were before her confession and my heartless rejection?
The thought of returning to being just friends pulled Blake's heart up in elation, but down in depression, causing confusing emotions to swirl in her head. She was happy that Ruby might be offering her the chance to build up their relationship again and become friends again, but at the same time the thought of being just friends caused the raven-haired girl to get choked up as tiny tears of disappointment prickled behind her eyes. Blake was fully expecting her own positive reaction to such a proposal, but the depressing one caught her off guard completely.
Why would being friends not be a good thing? Why do I feel a sickening weight in my stomach at the thought of being friends with Ruby?
Blake realized that Ruby was still waiting, and decided to shuffled through these new emotions later and that Ruby was the number one priority right now.
Ruby on the other hand was feeling incredibly unsure of herself in the wake of Blake's silence. It was a silence much like this one that followed Ruby's confession, thus resurfacing memories flooded the younger girl's mind, each of them stung like a fresh wound and threatened to destroy her already crumbling courage. Just before she was about to turn around and sprint from the room, Blake broke the silence.
"Morning … Ruby …" Hearing the older girls voice, regardless of how quiet it was, caused the young girl to break out in a blinding smile once more. And like before the raven-haired faunus was smiling right back. Ruby got lost in the older girl's smile and forgot what that they were holding a conversation, that was until Blake's face grew slightly flushed and she averted her gaze. Ruby quickly recovered and spoke quickly to her teammate.
"So Blake, are you doing anything tonight?" Blake had been planning on spending the entire weekend in the library, trying to reignite the passion of her old time hobby, but much like everything else, it has quickly devolved into a tedious and annoying task. Reading had always been fun to Blake, but following her falling out with Ruby, she found the act extremely boring. The only reason she read now was out of habit. So Blake wasn't really lying when she responded.
"No … I don't have anything important going on … why?" Ruby's expression lit up at the mention of Blake's lack of plans. Ruby was dreading the possibility that Blake had plans that would ultimately render her entire plan useless.
"Oh, well I … we … Yang, Weiss, and I were all planning on going to the opera tonight. It's an informal event that one of the town theaters is putting on for the general public. I had to ask Weiss to buy tickets for it because they were kinda' expensive. Its sorta' a surprise but I wanted to make sure that you could go before-" Ruby slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from nearly spilling her entire plan to the older girl. Blake raised a single eyebrow at Ruby's odd behavior, a gesture that made Ruby's knees go weak for a brief instance. Ruby collected both her nerves and knee strength once more before continuing. "I mean … Yang and Weiss already know about it and I was really, really, really hoping that you would come. It'll be a nice night out for us all to hang out and have fun together …" Ruby's face blushed when she realized that she revealed how much she wanted Blake to come. She hoped she didn't weird the older girl out by seeming too excited in her attendance.
Blake on the other hand was caught with a very tough decision. If she went then she would be subject to more abuse by the hands of Weiss, but if she didn't she would obviously crush Ruby's hope and dreams of reliving the good old days where they all did stuff together.
Why am I even debating this, Ruby really wants everyone to be there, I know she doesn't want me there. She just wants all the members of Team RWBY together. Besides, if I go then at least she knows that I care about the team and that I'm not some self-centered bitch who is only interested in my own well-being …
"Sure Ruby, I would love to go … What time is the show? And what sort of dress code are we going with?"
Ruby hopped up and down in excitement, the innocent action causing a warm smile to break out across Blake's face. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh! I'm so excited now! Oh, its not until later tonight, we are all leaving here together an hour before the show, so just be ready by 5:30, and as for dress code it's informal so everyone is just going to be wearing normal street clothes. Okay? Then I'll see you later tonight when we will be getting ready to leave." Ruby then skipped over to the door, opening it and stepping outside, but not before enthusiastically spinning around to the still stunned cat-faunus and waving with such excitement that is looked as if her hand would fall off from her wrist.
Blake was confused, excited, anxious, and extremely happy all at the same time. She was confused by why Ruby was all of a sudden talking to her, excited about spending some time out in the town, anxious about having to spend time with Weiss, and extremely happy about being able to spend some time with Ruby. Though the degree of her own happiness caught her off guard and caused further confusion.
Has it been so long since I've last interacted with her that I have become super sensitive to her chipper and perpetually happy personality? Or am I really this happy to be talking to her again?
Blake was at a loss of what to do with these seemingly exaggerated feelings and chose to push them to the back of her mind for further exploration later. For now she had to find a dress to wear to this 'informal' event. Blake had half a mind to consider that Weiss was plotting to embarrass her in front of Ruby by making Ruby drag her to an incredibly classy and upscale event while she was underdressed in her combat uniform.
Absolutely not, I will be prepared.
Weiss and Yang woke up to find that both Ruby and Blake were gone from the room. Convinced that Blake was off avoiding them all and that Ruby had gone down for breakfast they decided to get dressed and join their young team leader for a late lunch if she was still down there. On their way to the cafeteria Weiss informed Yang of what was to going on later today.
"Ruby is taking us somewhere tonight …"
"Oh? She is? Do you know where?" A sparkle of interest of lit up in the blonde's eye.
"She tried to hide it from me, but she's taking us to the opera house. Apparently its some sort of public opening that the theater is hosting, the profits are being donated to charity. The tickets were quite expensive, so she asked me to buy them for her." Weiss' expression turned sour at mention of the tickets, Yang had yet to glance at the heiress and thus had failed to notice the other girl's abrupt change in attitude.
"Really? I've never been to an opera-" Yang finally looked at Weiss and was cut off by the look of pure disgust that Weiss harbored in her features. "What's wrong?"
"Ruby had me buy the tickets-" Yang interrupted Weiss when she repeated herself.
"Yeah? So? If you think Ruby trying to use you for your money you're wrong, Ruby would nev-" The now fuming heiress cut off the blonde when she realized that Yang didn't understand why she was upset.
"She had me buy four tickets!" Yang's light mood very quickly darkened, heat began radiating off her hair, distorting the air around it ever so slightly.
"Why the fuck did she buy four?"
"To invite Blake-"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Yang was furious; her mounting distaste for her partner had only been festering over the past few weeks. Despite her promise to remain as a friend to Blake, she very quickly realized that she could not stomach being friendly with her partner. But she made a promise with her precious baby sister and thus she could not take any direct action against Blake, but doing nothing to help Blake proved to be quite therapeutic for Yang. "Why did she buy a ticket for her?"
"She's probably just trying to be nice, she's too nice for her own good. If I were her I would 'forget' to invite Blake then say that she skipped out on our plans for her own selfish needs. That filthy stray won't even put up a fight!"
"But what if she shows up tonight?" Yang was at a loss for what to do. Ruby was incredibly nice and innocent, she may invite Blake out of the goodness of her heart, regardless of whether the cat-faunus deserved it or not.
"Then we make sure Blake doesn't ruin our night … or Ruby's."
Yang nodded at Weiss' plan and donned her mask of friendliness before entering the cafeteria.
So far the night out had gone relatively uneventful. Blake had called Ruby on her scroll, much to the dismay of Yang and Weiss, and told the younger girl that she would meet them at the theater. Ruby was worried about her plan falling apart, but decided to go for it anyway. Ruby was planning on having the four of them sit separately; she had planned to give Weiss and Yang seats in the very center of one of the rows, while she and Blake sat on the end of a row in the back. So she very carefully inspected the tickets for the correct pairings and gave them to Weiss and Yang, trying to not draw their attention to the tickets. They were waiting in front of the theater for their fourth and final teammate to arrive. The show was due to start in about 10 minutes and Yang and Weiss were overreacting to Blake's tardiness.
"Where the hell is she? I say we just go in and sit down now! Obviously she isn't coming and didn't think we were important enough to let us know that she couldn't fit us into her busy schedule!" Weiss was fuming, but this entire outing was meant to stop exactly what Weiss was doing now, dragging and belittling Blake. Ruby was very quickly reaching her wits end and was getting fed up with Blake's mistreatment.
"Weiss! Relax! We still have 10 minutes before the show starts! Blake told me she would be here and I will gladly choose to believe her rather than make baseless accusation when I know nothing about the situation! So either shut up, or go wait inside!" Weiss was taken aback by the younger girl's outburst. Ruby had never talked to her like that. She almost yelled back at her, but a warning glance from Yang silenced her and she retreated to inside the theater. Yang made to approach her younger sister but was stopped when Ruby spoke up. "And you! Blake is your partner how about you stand up for her! For once!" Yang lowered her head in shame and followed the heiress into the theater. Leaving the younger girl outside waiting for her last teammate.
It was nearly show time; Yang and Weiss had entered the theater to sit down, leaving Ruby outside to wait for Blake. After her outburst Ruby's confidence quickly evaporated and self-doubt began to settle in.
What if Blake decided that she really didn't want to come? What if she thinks that I'm trying to use this theater as an excuse to force my crush on her? I know she rejected me … so I tried to approach her as a friend and have us all come to this together. What am I doing? I just yelled at Weiss for doing this exact same thing. If I really mean to restart my friendship with her then I need to learn to trust her again …
Before Ruby could continue her train of thought the clacking of high heels caught her attention. Spinning around to identify the noise Ruby came face-to-face with a sight that stole her breath. There, bent over at the waist was the most beautiful creature Ruby had ever seen. Blake was wearing a tasteful black dress that reached down to just above her knees. On her feet were a pair of moderately raised black high-heels. Her hair glistened in the light of the setting sun, as it cascaded around her face. Her make-up consisted of a very heavy-dark purple hue, which made her already striking golden eyes snatch the younger girl's breathe away. Clutching in her hand was a small black purse, which looked only big enough to fit a scroll. As always, Blake's fanus ears were covered in a bow, only this one was iridescent purple. Ruby was left speechless, and embarrassed. Here she was nearly questioning her raven-haired teammate not ten seconds ago, and now she was practically drooling over her. Blake had obviously sprinted to the theater, as she was now resting her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breathe. Ruby quickly shook off her astonishment and approached her stunning teammate.
"Blake! I'm so glad you made it!" Once she started speaking, Ruby realized just how happy she was that Blake showed up. "And oh my goodness, you look amazing!" The cat-faunus flashed the younger girl a smile in thanks; the total look plus the smile made Ruby's knees go weak.
"Thanks, Ruby. I'm sorry I was almost late. How much time do we have before the show starts?" Ruby pulled out her scroll, it read 6:29 PM. In a panic Ruby lunged forward, grabbing Blake's arm and moving to activate her semblance to get them inside the theater. Just before she could step towards the theater doors, an usher slammed them closed. Locking them out, they had missed the show.
"I'm so sorry Ruby! It all my fault we missed the show!" Ruby's head was hung in what Blake assumed was sadness for having missed a show she was obviously looking forward to. Blake's own cat ears fell flat against her head.
You can't do one thing right Belladonna! You knew she was looking forward to this show, and yet you dragged your feet, causing both of you to miss the show! Why couldn't she just wait for you inside- … Why was she waiting for me outside?
Blake's thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like giggling from the younger girl. It quickly grew into a full out laugh, continuing until there were tears in her eyes. Ruby lifted her head to look at Blake, the biggest grin plastered across her face. The younger girl raised her free hand, the one that was not clasped around Blake's wrist, to form a thumbs-up sign.
"Mission Accomplished!" Blake half expected Weiss and Yang to pop out of hiding to hit her for causing Ruby to cry, but after a moment she realized she was crying tears of relief. But that didn't explain what she was relieved about.
"What are you talking about Ruby? You should be furious with me! I caused everyone to miss the show!"
"Relax, Blake. This whole thing was my plan. Weiss and Yang are now stuck in the theater, being forced to watch a three-hour opera. While we get to spend the next three hours together!" Before Blake could even protest, she was dragged off by Ruby's semblance enhanced strength and speed.
Blake didn't even realize what was going on, but before she knew it she and Ruby were in a café not too far from the opera house. Ruby seated them down in one of the booths in the very back to offer them the most privacy. Blake was panicking on the inside.
Privacy means she wants to discuss something important, what if she asks me to resign from Team RWBY and from Beacon? No, this is Ruby we are talking about, she wouldn't ask that of me … would she?
Ruby's voice cut through the silence that had settled over their table following them get comfortable. "So … Blake! I want to talk about what happened … on the roof … back then-" Blake saw her chance and lunged for it. "-But I need to say everything I need to say, then you can talk." But she was cut off, again. Blake knew she had wronged Ruby and thus was in no position to deny her this, so she nodded.
"I … I guess I want to start off with saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry for trying to confess to you, it was naïve of me to assume you would feel the same. I took what you said on that roof to heart, and I'm trying my best to get to a point where I don't accidentally mix my fantasies with reality, again. I'm sorry for causing Weiss and Yang to hate you. Even though I did not directly cause that animosity, I am responsible for my inaction. Also, I completely understand and respect what you said on that roof. I appreciate that you were honest with me-" even if it breaks my heart "-and that you didn't lead me along, hoping for something that was impossible." Blake winced at the pure despair that, was carried by that word. She wanted to reach out to Ruby and tell her that she was wrong, that the only one who made the mistake was her. That she regrets rejecting Ruby, that if she could do it over again she would never have said any of those things. But she liked Ruby too much to go against her wishes, so she remained silent, as Ruby continued.
"I am learning to let go of my fantasies-" no I'm not "-to let go of those wild and crazy adventures that I had projected into reality-" another lie "-to let go of those feelings that I had in my fantasies-" lie "-to let go of my feelings for you. So you don't have to worry about me confessing to you again, 'cuz I won't. I'm letting go of those feelings in the hopes that we could go back to being friends, 'cuz in the end I realized that I only ever really wanted you as my friend, nothing more nothing less-" liar "-So I'm sorry that I confess to you, I now know that it was a mistake; a mistake that I will never make, ever again. So I was hoping that we could start over! Become friends again! And never talk about what happened on that rooftop ever again. Maybe, somewhere down the road, we could look back on our memories of that roof and laugh? But for now I would rather we just forget about it altogether." Ruby let out a sigh of relief, she had said everything she wanted to say, and didn't end up in tears from breaking her own heart. Sure, half of what she said was a lie, but she needed to say what she did if she ever want Blake back as her friend. So, now the ball was in Blake's court and Ruby silently waited her judgment.
Blake on the other hand was experiencing a maelstrom of emotions; there were traces of relief and appreciation that Ruby didn't ask her to leave Team RWBY. At the same time there were traces of understanding and forgiveness, Blake never blamed Ruby for what happened but could understand that the younger girl blamed herself. The emotions that predominated Blake's mind was a combination of unending joy and soul-crushing despair. Blake knew that she was happy that Ruby still wanted to be friends, unbelievably so; but at the same time Blake found herself incredibly sad at Ruby's admission that she was letting go of her feelings for her. The exact reason for her despair always eluded her as she delved into her own mind to sort out these emotions.
Maybe I'm just a self-centered bitch who enjoyed all the attention Ruby was giving me when she was trying to win my heart? I guess I'm just disappointed that I won't be receiving the same level of affection from her as I was in the past? I should be counting my stars and considering myself blessed that she still wants to be my friend! Not wallowing in despair that Ruby won't be trying to court me anymore! In fact, I never deserved her love anyway! She would be much better off with someone who actually cared about her! She said she never wants to talk about it ever again, if I'm going to be the best friend I want to be for her, then I will respect her wishes!
"I understand, Ruby. I want to be friends again too. We shall never speak of what happened on the roof ever again."
Ruby nodded in both acceptance and understanding, before dragging Blake out of the café and to the nearest library, where she demanded that she and Blake read together.
Three hours later, a fuming Weiss and Yang tracked down Ruby via scroll GPS, only to find both their team leader and Blake curled up in each other's arms on a chair in a local library, both were asleep. Weiss wanted to rip the cat-faunus apart, but Yang stopped her. She and Weiss had a long talk about their recent actions and over-reactions, both coming to the conclusion that they were being extremely hard on Blake. Yang reasoned that if Ruby trusted Blake enough to fall asleep with her, then they could trust Blake enough not to harm Ruby, again. Weiss, while resistant to the idea of forgiving Blake, eventually saw reason when Yang reiterated Ruby's words from a few weeks back.
"No one deserves to be alone and everyone deserves a second chance. Both of us have gone too far, forcing Ruby to act. If you truly do love my sister, then you will swallow your anger and pray she knows what she is doing and support her through this. If she wants the make up with Blake, then we will too." Yang was starring daggers into Weiss, the heiress crumbling under the sheer love and devotion Yang was displaying towards Ruby.
A lot of damage has been done, but the fact that Ruby was still the same inspirational, fun-loving innocent team leader that they all loved and cherished was proof that time can mend any wound. Weiss bent down to a sleeping Blake and Ruby, kissing Ruby on the top of the head and making a silent promise to fix her behavior, for Ruby's sake. With the arrival of a new breathing body so near, Blake awoke with a start, Ruby remaining asleep next to her. The look of sheer terror etched on her face made both Yang and Weiss stare on in pity and shame. They had caused such pain and suffering to this girl that she shook in fear. Yang did not miss the slight shift in position that Blake made, placing herself between Weiss and Ruby, as if trying to shield the younger girl form the heiress' fury. Before Weiss of Blake could speak, or act, Yang's hushed voice cut through the silence.
"Relax Blake, we aren't going to hurt you-" She shot a look at Weiss, " … right?" Weiss nodded reluctantly, before standing up and joining Yang a little bit farther away.
"This wasn't my idea … Ruby planned this whole thing … believe me … please." Blake's ears fell flat against her head in panic. This time Weiss spoke up.
"Believe me, we know you could never come up with something this clever. We know Ruby orchestrated this whole thing …" Weiss released a sigh, dropping the tension in her shoulders and trying to let go of her innate hate for Blake. "Yang and I talked, we went too far … you didn't deserve what we did to you. We forced Ruby's hand into action, which is something that must have been hard on her. The last thing either of us wanted to do was to put Ruby in a tough positon, but I guess we got so caught up in the past and what you did to her and us that we couldn't see that Ruby simply wanted to move on. Ruby obviously trusts you enough to sleep next to you, so we will trust you too ..." Weiss, lowered her voice to just above a harsh whisper, "but if you ever do anything to make her cry again, I swear to god I will gut you like a pig and dump your body beyond the city limits for the grim to feed on your corpse."
Blake shivered at the threat, but saw Weiss' underlying protective intentions behind the threat. She loved Ruby dearly and would do nothing to ensure that she was happy. Blake sat up from her position next to Ruby, looking Weiss in the eye.
"I promise."
Chapter End.