Yang Xiao Long sat in silence for a long time. The only sound was the metronomic ticking of a nearby clock.
There was a lot to process, and not a lot of answers forthcoming.
So… her ex-girlfriend's eyes started spewing flames, and Ruby knew something about them.
Something about them that seemed really, really bad.
Something about them she wasn't even willing to share with her wife before acting on.
Something that would take a good amount of time to manage, apparently.
And now, she was left alone, truly alone, with Blake for the first time in nearly seven and half years.
For the first time since she'd broken up with her.
No children or sisters or teammates to redirect the conversation towards.
But Yang was trying to fix things, right? She was going to work her way back up from rock bottom and rebuild her life. That meant she'd need to find a way to finally move forward with Blake. A way to finally move on.
Still, she spent a very, very long time trying to come up with ways to break the silence, wishing that Blake found the courage first.
She didn't.
"What do you think that was about?" Yang eventually managed.
"Ruby has… secrets." Blake said quietly. "Things she hides even from me. Things she does for Ozpin."
Yang scrunched her face in confusion.
"Does for Ozpin?" Yang asked. "But he died at the end of our first year, at the Battle of Beacon."
"That stupid little child Ruby listens to is Ozpin." Blake spat.
"Woah, hey, I just made that up." Yang said.
"But I think you touched on the truth." Blake said. "It took me a long time to figure it out, but I've picked up hints. The way he acts. The things Ruby says or does around him. All the secret meetings and missions she goes on for him. The way his Aura felt when I attacked him for making Ruby cry…"
"You're… sure about this." Yang said. There was no question.
"Positive." Blake confirmed. "Ruby doesn't know I know, but it's the only thing that makes sense. They keep it all in their secret club. She, Jaune, Pyrrha, Goodwitch… apparently Weiss is getting an invitation before I do."
Blake was starting to cry. Yang instinctively got up and rushed to her side to offer her a hug, but Blake pushed her away.
"I can't do this." Blake said, her voice cracking.
"Do what?" Yang asked, hurt that she'd be rebuffed from something so simple as providing comfort. "Blake, it'll be okay."
"I can't do any of this. Anything! Everything! Not with you here." The words flooded out of Blake.
"Blake?" Yang choked, feeling the wet sting of a tear on her own cheek.
"I thought I could just keep pretending." Blake said. "I thought I could just stay the course. I wanted to run away so bad, but you convinced me to stay all those years ago. And after nine years, I still couldn't break that promise, even if this was breaking me."
"What?" Yang asked, increasingly confused.
"I was doing fine, Yang." Blake continued. "I had a life I could handle. Sometimes, I was even happy, I thought if I kept it up, I could finally get over myself. That I could finally fall in love again. But then you had to come back."
"Blake, what are you trying to say?"
"Ruby was terrifying." Blake continued as if she hadn't heard Yang. "But I was worse. I was going to let her kill you, just so I'd never have to worry it again. Even though I still… and I knew it wasn't okay! Had it been anyone else, I would have just trusted Ruby. I would have taken Violet far away and just let it happen. Instead, I went to the fight. I wanted to watch that part of me die right along with you, so I could keep pretending."
Yang covered her mouth with her left hand. The dam had broke, and Blake's confession was flowing freely. Yang couldn't have stopped it if she'd tried, and she had no idea how to even try.
"I did want you at my wedding." Blake continued. "I wanted you to run down the aisle, screaming that you objected. I wanted you to leave your sister standing alone at the altar as you whisked me off. I wanted you to come back, and save me from the happiness Ruby was trying to provide me. And she tried so, so hard. And how could I say no to her? I care about her so much! She loved me, Yang. She's still in love with me. How was I supposed to… how was I supposed to tell her that I couldn't love her back. How could I tell her I was still in love with someone else, who had kicked me to the curb. Even if she knew she was my second choice, she still tried so hard to win me over. I couldn't hurt her like that."
"Blake I…" Yang took a hard sniffle. "I was bad for you Blake. I would have made you miserable. You deserved better!"
"You never let me make that decision." Blake sobbed, leaning in and pounding on Yang's chest. "You were the only one who thought that! You just decided for me! And then, you ran. After all those nights in Patch, after clinging to me with one godsdamned arm, begging me not to go, you ran. And while you were out of my life, I could make it work, but then you came back, and so did all those feelings I tried so hard to keep locked away."
Yang placed her hand, the robot hand, the right hand, on Blake's shoulder, and pushed her back to arm's length.
"Blake…"
"I can't do this, Yang." Blake said, looking down. "I can't run away. I can't stay here. I can't hold my wife without feeling guilty and thinking about you. I can't get close to you, either, so I can't have you around. I tried, Yang, I tried to make this work. But I'm not Blake Belladonna anymore. I'm not Blake Xiao Long, either. I'm Blake Rose. I've been married over five years to a wonderful woman who loves and cares for me. I have a daughter that's turning five in three weeks. I have this romantic life, it's full of charm, a fairytale! And just as fake as one. You should have come back five years ago, or sooner! Instead, I'm trapped, and I just, can't. I can't. I can't. I can't."
"Blake, I know it's hard." Yang said. "But when you hit rock bottom you-"
Yangs words were stopped by a pair of warm lips clamping over hers.
Blake had grabbed her by the collar and kissed her.
Yang knew this was wrong. She knew she'd be hurting her sister, and her sister's wife, and herself if she allowed this to happen.
But it felt so wonderful.
Like being broken, then made whole again.
And Yang was powerless to stop it.
"I shouldn't have done that." Blake said, smacking her forehead into Yang's chest. "That was the stupidest thing I could possibly have done. Now, I can't stop myself."
Blake kissed Yang again, and the world around them disappeared.