A/N: Hey guys, here the next part. Happy reading!

"Ember, you have to do your homework." River flicked Ember on the head.

River, Ember, and Clara were in their dorm room. Kiara had gone to the infirmary to "Get an ice pack". The team had done their best to comfort her, but they thought it was best to leave her alone for a bit. They had finished their last class of the day and had headed to their room to do their homework in peace. Except for Ember. She was just staring down at her books.

"You'll have to face him at some point." River pointed out.

"Ugg, I still don't see what the big deal is. It wasn't even a real kiss." Clara mumbled.

Ember sighed and looked at her friends. "Maybe for you."

"What's that supposed to mean? River asked

"Well...I mean...W-we're Faunus." Ember fiddled with her pencil.

"Yeah?" River motioned with her hand for Ember to continue.

"A-and Faunus have a few...well...other ways to show their...um, affection and stuff."

"Oh. Well what did it mean?" Clara asked, confused.

"F-for a faunus...a kiss on the head has a bit more meaning then a normal one. I-it's like….a step up."

"What do you mean? How?"

Ember covered her face with her hands. "I mean it's kind of...territorial? I don't know how to explain it. It probably wouldn't make sense to you guys. Basically it kind of sends the message 'This is mine.'"

"Um...wow. So Finn did that? And it meant that?" River asked.

"Y-yeah. Like I said, it has a pretty deep meaning. That's why it's so shocking."

"Well...It's pretty obvious you guys like each other. And I can see how he could do that after getting so riled up." River said

"Ya, it's kind of annoying how you two are dodging around each other. Just get together already." Clara said, annoyed.

"So wait. Is that the only thing that's different for faunus or are there more?" River asked curiously.

"Oh there's a ton more." Ember said, grateful for the slight distraction. "But it kind of varys with the species. You know. Like cats and dogs. They have different ways of communicating."

"Okay, now I'm gonna look up the different communications of cats and foxes." River pulled out her scroll excitedly.

"What?! No!" Ember squealed she jumped to try and grab River's scroll but Clara blocked her.

"Nope. You've been keeping this from us too long. Now it's payback time!" Clara grinned evilly. It wasn't often that she participated in this kind of thing with her teammates but this opportunity was to big to miss.

Ember fell on her bed in defeat. "Stooop. You jerks." She groaned.

River was already looking up cat behaviors. "Wait a minute, can Finn purr? No it couldn't be. That's just too much." She glanced at Ember. She noticed the girl's bright red face.

"Oh. My. Gosh. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How could you keep that from us?! That is SO adorable!" River exclaimed. "Have you heard him purr?"

"Maybe?" The fox girl answered nervously.

"What?! When?!"

"Uuuh...W-when he was sleeping in my lap?"

"You made him purr?! WHY AREN'T YOU TOGETHER YET?!"

"I-I don't know...I've never dated anyone before…" Ember mumbled. "And how am I supposed to face him now?!" The defeated girl fell face first into her pillow.

"Just talk to him. It's not like there's a chance he'll reject you." Clara pointed. "But please, when you're together try to refrain from any major PDA around me."

"Stop talking!" Ember shouted. "Aaaaa!" She slammed the pillow into her face repeatedly.

"Wait, it says here that cats blink slowly at each other to display affection." River lifted her head from her scroll. "So if Finn blinks a lot at Ember then he really likes her."

"No! That's not how it works!" Ember protested. "It's things like rubbing cheeks, or head butts, and stuff like that. Blinking means NOTHING!"

"This is really fun." River grinned.

"Seriously though Ember. The longer you wait to talk to him, the worse it'll get." Clara warned

"Fine!" Ember jumped off of her bed. "Fine! Fine! Fine! Just stop talking!" She quickly exited the room.

Clara and River looked at each other. "Where is Kiara?" River frowned. "She's still not back."

"Don't know, maybe she was kept late at the infirmary?" Clara shrugged. But she was starting to get worried herself. "I'm sure she'll be fine. She's just had a rough day."

River sighed, "I hope you're right."

R…..E…..C….K

Ember walked through the dorm hallway. The sun had set a while ago, and now it was lit by only the dim light bulbs. She had checked team RYFL's room, but Finn hadn't been there. Right now, Ember wasn't even sure if she still had the guts to talk to him.

"Oof!" Someone slammed into her, and she fell to the ground.

"S-sorry! Oh….Ember!" Finn stood there awkwardly. He offered her his hand. Ember gratefully took it, and he pulled her off the ground.

"This is kind of like how we met." Finn chuckled nervously.

"Yeah." Ember looked at her feet. They stood there in awkward silence for a minute.

"S-so, Finn." Ember began. "I-I wanted to talk to you...about earlier today.."

Finn turned red. "Look, Ember. I'm super sorry! I didn't mean to- I wasn't...I didn't mean it like- It was just-"

"I didn't mind it." Ember interrupted him.

"Y-you...didn't mind..." Finn repeated.

Ember blushed and took his hands in hers. "N-no. Finn?" She looked up at him.

"Yeah..." Finn got lost in her bright green eyes. He shook his head a little to regain composure. "Ember, I've been meaning to tell you. I… Well, what I mean is… I like you a lot, and I... " He looked at the ground and took one hand away from Ember to rub the back of his neck.

"Oh, I know." Ember replied.

Finn looked back up at her in shock. "What?"

"Well, yeah. It was kind of obvious." She smirked a little.

"Oh, well. Do you, maybe, wanna… Go somewhere together? I mean, only if you want to."

Ember giggled a little. "Of course, Finn."

"Really?" Finn lit up.

"Yes, you dummy." Ember couldn't handle his adorableness any longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her cheek in his chest.

Finn froze with shock. Then he slowly melted into her as well. He put his cheek on top of her head and breathed in her scent. A deep rumble rose up his chest.

"You're cute when you purr." Ember sighed and smiled a mile wide.

"Mmm." Finn rubbed his cheek on her hair. Her ears flicked, tickling his face.

"Finn, we should get some sleep." Ember said. But she made no move to leave.

"Okay. But tomorrow is Saturday. Do you wanna go somewhere then, Kit?" The tiger boy reluctantly released her.

"I'll have to see." Ember immediately missed his warmth. "But I would like that." She smiled at him. "Goodnight, Finn." She stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed his cheek, before swiftly running back down the hallway and to her dorm room.

Finn slowly raised a hand to his cheek. He could still feel the warmth of Ember's lips.

R…..E…..C….K

The heat was so sweltering that it made Kiara's eyes water. She looked around her. She was inside a building, and there were flames everywhere.

"D-dad!?" She yelled. She tripped and fell onto the ashy ground. "I have to find my dad," she choked.

"I know where your dad is." River appeared suddenly, standing in the flames. "I have him."

"River? Why? Where is he?"

"You won't find him. You're not strong enough."

Suddenly they weren't inside the house anymore. They were surrounded by other burnt down buildings.

Clara appeared next to River. "He's coming! Kiara, help!" She exclaimed.

"Clara! Who's coming?" Kiara asked.

"She can't help you. She's too weak," River said to Clara.

"No, I can help! Just tell me what you need." Kiara cried.

"But you said it yourself, Kiara." A third figure appeared.

"Ember, what's going on? Help."

"See what I mean? You say you'll help, but then you go and ask for help yourself. You can't take a hit. You can't even take care of yourself." Ember threw her fist at Kiara's face. Kiara was knocked to the ground.

"Th-that's not true." Kiara's eyes teared up. "We have to work together. We're a team, right?"

"Kiara, a team helps each other. You can't help us. You're just worthless dirt." Clara kicked the ash that covered the ground, spewing it in Kiara's face.

"I-I'm trying! I'm trying to help!"

"Well stop trying. You're too late." Ember told her.

"What do you mean? Where's my dad?"

"He's there." River pointed to a skull lying in the ash.

"N-no. No, It can't be true!" She turned to her team. "You're lying! Please, tell me you're lying!" Tears blurred her vision. She sank to the ground.

River turned to walk away. "Sorry, Kiara. You weren't strong enough."

The three girls dissipated, and Kiara was left sitting in the ashes, alone.

"No…" She whispered. "NO!"

R…..E…..C….K

Ember's fox ears twitched. What was that sound? She pushed her hair out of her face and sat up in bed. Was someone… crying?

She rubbed her eyes. She could see almost perfectly in the dark with her faunus nightvision. Her ears flicked toward the noise.

"Kiara?" She asked softly. When had the girl come back to the dorm room?

"Ember?!" Kiara jumped a little. She quickly wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were awake."

Ember frowned and walked over to her partner's bed. "Why are you sorry?"

"For… I don't know. For disturbing you."

Ember sat on Kiara's bed and wrapped her arms around her. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Now, what's wrong."

"I-It's nothing." Kiara tried to pull away.

"It's not nothing." Ember let Kiara pull away and looked at her. "C'mon. We're teammates. We're supposed to look out for each other."

"But what if I can't look out for you?" Kiara asked.

Ember looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Kiara hiccuped. "It's nothing."

When Ember gave Kiara a look, Kiara sniffed and began to talk. "I-I've just been having some bad nightmares recently, that's all"

"I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Ember asked gently

Kiara shook her head, "It's fine. I've had them my whole life since my dad died." A tear fell down her cheek. "I should be used to them by now!" She slammed her fist onto the desk beside her bed.

"Kiara, that's awful. No one should have to go through that every night. We can't control the way we think in dream. And we certainly can't control what we dream."

"But what happens in my dreams are true!" she said angrily. "I've never been strong enough for the important things in life. I've never been there for the people I care about. My father is gone, and I was never there for him. It's as good as my fault he's dead."

Kiara how old were you when he died?" Ember asked.

"What does that matter? He's gone and he's never coming back."

"Just, how old were you?"

"I don't know. Six or seven."

Ember's brows furrowed, "Exactly. You were six years old. There was nothing you could have done. He loved you and you loved him, and there's nothing more he could've wanted."

"But I never got to love him. I never got to care for him, I never got to grow up with him there beside me. I barely remember him anymore," Kiara sobbed.

"Then it's not your fault. What's done is done and there's absolutely nothing you could have done about it."

Kiara wiped her face with the back of her hand. "But it's more than that. After my dad died… I've just always felt so weak and useless. Because no matter how hard I train now… He's never coming back. And these nightmares have happened so often that they're mixing with my real thoughts and memories, to the point where I can't tell what's real and what isn't. And that's what scares me the most. If I can't handle a nightmare, then what good will I be when it comes to the real thing? If I can't even win the fight in my mind then, how will I win the fight for real? I don't think I belong here. I may have passed a stupid test, but when it comes to a real fight, what will keep me from running then?"

"Kiara, you belong here! You are here to learn how to fight. To learn how to get stronger. And right now, you're holding yourself back. You've convinced yourself that you'll never make it before you've even tried. The world isn't perfect, and we'll never truly be safe, but isn't that why we train so hard? It's okay to be scared. Everyone is. But if you've already put a label on how how much you think you're capable of, then how are supposed to get any better?"

Kiara looked at the ground. "I-I don't know."

"I'm really sorry about your past, Kiara." Ember said sincerely. "But you can't live in the past. You have to face what's in front of you now, right here. And you have to face it with your head up and shoulders back. Don't let anyone think they can change who you are." Ember said confidently.

When Kiara didn't say anything Ember said, "Can I at least hear you say that you'll try?"

Another hot tear rolled down Kiara's face. "I'll try."

Ember smiled. "Good. And if these dreams keep bothering you just tell me, okay? I will always be here for you."

Kiara gave a small smile. "Thanks Ember. You're a good partner."

"No, problem. I guess we should get back to bed, it's pretty late." Ember yawned.

"Yeah." Kiara sighed. She sleepily leaned into Ember's shoulder.

Ember gently slid the smaller girl off of her and laid her down, pulling the covers over her. Kiara leaned toward Ember, not wanting to lose her warmth.

Ember smiled fondly at her partner. She reminded her of a little kid sometimes from how adorable she could be. And being the eldest girl of her family, her caring and motherly instincts kicked in. She laid on Kiara's bed, propping herself up with her forearm, and ran her fingers through Kiara's soft blonde hair.

"Go to sleep now, Ki. No nightmares will get you now that I'm here."

"'Night." Kiara mumbled. She drowsily thought about their conversation. Maybe I can do this. Ember's right. No more living in the past. No more being afraid. I won't let my mind get the best of me.That was the last thing she thought before falling asleep. A peaceful, dreamless sleep.