The light of the moon shimmered over Kuo Kuana that night. Blake stood on the balcony outside her father's office, leaned up against the railing as she stared at the door, turning over scenario after scenario in her anxious mind. She heard a tap on the wooden guard rail next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned to see her mother, her hands full with a tea tray and a warm smile on her face. "You know, you can always go in and say hi."
Blake looked over Kali's features. She seemed to have more makeup on than usual, and were those hair rollers in her mother's dark locks? When she realized she was staring, she looked away. "I don't wanna bother him."
"A father's never too busy for his daughter," Kali assured, handing her the tea tray. "Here."
"What? Where are you going?" Blake was a little bit stunned and taken aback.
"You've never been very talkative," Kali replied, "but Ilia's got some interesting stories about Team RWBY and Team RAIN that I would love to hear more of."
Ilia out the door on the other side of the balcony, made up just like Kali and her hair done up in buns. She waved at Blake with a tube of lipstick in her hand before going back inside.
Kali giggled. "And also a little bonding time."
"Kali? Is that you, dear?" Ghira called from inside his office. Kali winked at Blake and headed back inside, just in time for Ghira to open the door and find his daughter standing before him with a tea set in hand. "Blake!" he chuckled. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Come in, sit." He moved out of the way to let Blake in before closing the door behind her, taking a seat in the chair at one end of the coffee table. Blake set down the tea tray and was about to pour Ghira a cup when he shooed her hands away. "Don't worry, I've got it."
"I don't wanna keep you if you're-"
"Nonsense, I've been cooped up in here all day," Ghira reassured her while pouring her cup as Blake took a seat on the couch adjacent to him. "You still take sugar, right?" he asked as he dropped a cube into her cup. Thus began a short, awkward back-and-forth stammering between the two that resulted in Blake taking the cup and assuring Ghira it was fine.
"Old habits, I suppose," Ghira sighed as Blake sipped her tea, watching her wince as it burned her mouth slightly. "Might wanna let it cool."
Blake nodded and set down her cup as her father spoke.
"So... Adam... care to talk about him?"
"What's there to talk about?" Blake prickled.
"It's just that, you know, when your daughter comes home with a new partner who tells you that her previous partner was abusive, you're gonna want to know what happened," Ghira explained. "We haven't spoken in over five years. I thought I'd try to start with that."
"Where should I start?" Blake asked, passive-aggressively. "With the frequent beatings? With being held captive for days at a time without a thing to eat? With being constantly told that I'm worthless, or that I'm no good, or that I don't take the cause seriously enough? That I'm a coward like my parents if I choose to abandon it? Or do I tell you how he worked me to exhaustion, often on an empty stomach, because that's what the Schnees did to him? Or do I tell you how he would pressure me for sex until I caved, how he'd deprive me of food or sleep for it, or how he'd just straight up take it from me like he did with my first time and I was only fifteen?!" She was in tears now, nearly shouting. "Do I tell you how his treatment of me led me to become so depressed that I started cutting myself?! That when he found makeup in my tent and I told him what it was for, that I felt ugly with all the bruises and scars he left on me and the cuts I left on myself, he told me I was ugly?! Do I tell you that?!"
Ghira fell silent, though his mouth hung open. He knew Adam was prone to certain tendencies, but this was worse than he could've imagined. And to his daughter, no less? His daughter, whom Adam had made cry countless times, and now he was guilty of the same. He set his tea down, having lost the appetite for it. "Tell me... about Ilia," he tread carefully.
Blake curled up into a ball on the couch, wishing she had Ilia here now to comfort her. "Ilia... followed me into Beacon," she sniffled, "after I left the White Fang. For the first few months of school, I didn't even see her. She was keeping her distance from me, watching me from afar with her team. She wanted to protect me, but was afraid that if I knew she was there, I would run and be captured by the White Fang. She later assisted me in a fight against the White Fang. After we came to an understanding, we decided to rekindle our friendship." A small smile crossed her lips. "We even went to the Beacon Dance together."
"How did you two get together?" Ghira asked.
Blake clenched her fists tightly. "Not without some very bad things happening to me first."
"Adam?"
"Mm-hm."
"What did he do, Blake?" Ghira wondered.
Blake took a deep breath and sighed, needing to give herself a reset so not to go off on him like she did just moments before. "During one of my training missions, I was on a train and it crashed. I woke up in containment, but I had no idea where I was. All I knew was that Adam was holding me prisoner. He beat me, tortured me, cut me with Wilt, degraded me, raped me, let several other men rape me, and then finally attempted to kill me."
That last part moved Ghira to tears, knowing he could've lost his daughter to that monster. "Blake, I'm so sorry," he said softly. "I wish I'd have known sooner."
"Ilia and our teams went to save me, but by that point the damage was done," Blake continued. "I had learned to distrust males, and even developed a fear of them that required counseling to resolve. I still have this little voice in the back of my head telling me that men are a threat, but now I just ignore it. That's why I'm able to talk to you without having a panic attack, now. Before then I was so afraid of my teachers that my throat would close up when they tried to speak to me. I'm still cautious, though."
"I can't believe Adam had done that to you," Ghira lamented. "What happened after that?"
"I spent a couple weeks on bed rest while my body was healing," Blake said. "It wouldn't have taken so long if my Aura were at full capacity, but between my depression, PTSD, and nightmares, I couldn't eat or sleep, so I couldn't recharge. It was so bad that one night, while I thought everyone was sleeping, I went out to Beacon Cliff and tried to kill myself."
Ghira gasped, his eyes welling up with a new batch of tears. "Oh, Blake..."
"Ilia stopped me. She saved my life. She comforted me, protected me, confessed to me. Something inside me told me to give her a chance, so I did, and she chased away my nightmares and helped me back on my feet. I owe her my life."
Ghira sniffled. "No, you don't owe her anything," he told her. "She did all that for you because she loves you. And it's clear to see why. You're strong. You survived through the worst pits anyone could think to suffer. Most would've broken a long time ago, but you came back together, and you still have the heart to care for others. You have a guardian angel on your side, Blake, and her love is unconditional. Love her the same way she loves you."
Blake wiped the tears from her eyes, smiling up at him. "Thanks, dad."
"Can I hug you?" Ghira asked.
Blake nodded. "Yeah."
Ghira moved to sit by Blake on the couch, wrapping his daughter tight in his arms.
Kali and Ilia listened from outside, looking like two teenagers at a slumber party. They looked at each other with proud smiles and exchanged high-fives. "Mission accomplished."
