Chapter 24

Sun swung through the trees silently, before he finally arrived at the spot where he'd seen Blake going to.

And sure enough, the Cat Faunus herself was sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking the city of Vale, a quiet spot Sun had shown her when they'd first met. She was staring at the setting sun as it slowly sank to the horizon, her new black scarf waving lazily in the breeze.

He smiled as he climbed up an oak tree that hung above her before dropping down, hanging on by his tail next to her. "Heya, Blakey!"

"Leave me alone."

His smile fell on her snap, and he dropped down. "Is something wrong?"

"Just leave me alone." She replied none-too-friendly.

"Look…" Sun sighed as he sat down next to her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

He fell silent, letting his legs dangle over the edge and he leaned back, staring up at the sky that was starting to turn pink, before picking a small yellow flower and playing with it. They sat in silence for a very long time.

"Could you just LEAVE?!" Blake burst out, glaring at him.

He smiled in response. "Hey, remember the last time you wanted to be left alone? What did I do then?"

"You followed me across the entirety of Vale for two days straight until I decided to talk to you!"

"And I'll wait for two days for you to talk to me again." He shrugged. "You needed it then, and you need it now. You can tell me."

She didn't respond and just looked away, and they sat in silence for another long time.

"It's Weiss." she broke the silence eventually. "She lashed out at me."

"I'm all ears." Sun leaned forward and turned to her.

She did. She told him about how Yang had led them to Junior's club for information, how she decided to use him to find anything about the White Fang and Torchwick. And she told him all the information he'd given to them.

"But Weiss… She was angry." She hissed. "Because I used her money to get that information. I don't get it. This information will save lives, and all she thinks about is the damn money!"

Sun thought for a second before sighing. "Blake… Can I ask a question?"

"...Sure."

"Did you ask to use the money?"

"..." Blake didn't answer.

"That explains a lot." Sun sighed. "So you basically stole her money."

"Th-That doesn't have anything to do with this!" Blake snapped, glaring at him. "This is the White Fang we're talking about! Adam Taurus is making an army, and I now have the information to infiltrate them and find out their main base! Then we can stop them once and for all!"

"Blake."

"You don't understand!" Blake looked out at the city. "We have to stop them, we can't let any more people die! So what if we use some money, it-"

"Blake! Stop talking!"

She stared at Sun, who was now glaring at her.

"Do you know how much you hurt Weiss by doing what you did?" He whispered. "I saw her in the library. She was crying. Then I saw you running out and I put two and two together."

Weiss… crying. That seemed to shock Blake into silence.

"I can't claim to be a mind reader." Sun looked back at the city. "Or have a crystal ball to use. But I think it hit her a lot deeper than just the fact you took money. Maybe she feels that you used her, or hurt that you didn't even ask her for it.

"That's your problem, Blake. You keep on doing things without focusing on the people around you and the effects of your actions. Sure, you got information that could help us bag Torchwick and the White Fang, and overall you focus on the bigger picture, but that doesn't amount to much if you end up falling out with your team. You just sacrifice yourself so much, Blake. And you're doing that to your team as well."

Blake looked at the ground, mind racing.

Had she really been so… terrible to them? She'd taken Weiss's card because she was desperate for answers, but what good was that if she ended up pushing away her team?

Ruby, Yang, even Weiss… they were her friends. Arguably her first real friends, whom she could trust, who she followed almost out of habit because she knew she would be safe with them. Who she'd fought with, who she'd come to know so well…

Was she pushing them away by focusing on the larger goals? Was she so focused on saving others that she was ruining her own life and those closest to her? Was she just using them as pawns, or forcing them to sacrifice themselves for her goals?

With a jolt, she realized something.

Adam Taurus had done the exact same thing.

He used to be a nice man, a person who she looked up to in the days of joining the White Fang, but so focused he was on his goals that he failed to see what the change did to him. And those around him.

Even now, he had yet to realize it was for those reasons she left him.

"Oh my god…" She whispered. "I… What have I done?"

Sun sighed as he reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Blake, you need to understand. I know that this isn't the most obvious to you, but you can't expect Weiss to follow your exact train of thought. She does have a right to be angry - you took advantage of the fact that she had money, without asking her, and she feels that you used her."

Blake placed her head in her hands.

"You should go and apologize." Sun squeezed her shoulder. "After all, your comment was thrown out in an argument. And if I know Weiss, she'll forgive you. She's done so before, after all."

"You're right…" She fell back to stare at the sky. Sun saw that she had a tear in her eye. "I'm such an idiot…"

"Hey, we all make mistakes." Sun leaned back to lie down next to her.

"You… don't know." Blake placed her arm over her eyes. "It's Adam. Adam Taurus."

"The terrorist leader?" Sun raised an eyebrow. "What does he have to do with this other than the information?"

"It's… What just happened, it happened to him."

"How do you know? Were you… with him in the White Fang?"

"In a relationship, yes." She nodded. "It's… He wasn't always a bad person, but his goals… his plans took over him, and he ended up pushing those he loved away. Including me…"

"Is that why you ran?"

"Yes… yes, that's why."

Sun reached out and took her hand. "Blake… I'm sorry for what happened, but you realized that you needed to run before it was too late instead of staying with him. And now, you know what you've done wrong. The question now is… can you do what you have to do to make it right?"

Blake nodded. "It's just… I need to plan what I say to her…"

Sun smiled as he placed his other arm behind his head. "I know you do. Take your time. After all, you live in the same room with her."

He kept a hold on her hand as he stared at the pink sky. After a few minutes passed, Blake pushed herself up to his knees, still holding his hand, before turning to him and giving him a soft smile. "Thank you, Sun. I really needed that."

"No probs!" He shrugged with a bright grin. "But don't expect me to turn serious like that on a whim. I really don't think it's my style."

"Not at all." She giggled as she stood up, her hand slipping from his. "I have to talk to Weiss now. Thank you, Sun."

He watched her leave, passing through the bushes and out of sight.

"Anything for you, Blake." He whispered, before looking back at the sun as it started to sink below the walls of Vale. He then chuckled to himself as he pressed a hand to a warm cheek, staring at the small yellow flower in his hand. "Anything for you…"

Weiss sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom, pushing a loose strand of hair over her ear.

"Weiss… We need to talk."

She looked up to see Blake standing in the room. Yang and Ruby looked at each other and smiled before sneaking past out the door.

"I'm… sorry." She looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry for taking advantage of you. And I'm sorry I… compared you to your father. I crossed the line, and I know I have. I'll do my best to pay you back, and-"

"Forget it."

She looked up as Weiss held up her hand.

"It's not the money I was upset about… mostly." She sighed. "It was that… you took my card from me without asking. Blake, I know how much this means to you, taking down the White Fang. You're not the only one who's suffered because of them. I've had family killed by them, people who I've known as I grew up. My own mother…"

"Weiss…" Blake swallowed. "I'm sorry…"

"It's wasn't you." Weiss smiled as she wiped her eyes. "But you just had to tell me you needed the money. I would have done it. I would have paid my entire company's stock if it meant helping you. Because you're my friend, and I trust you."

"I took advantage." Blake looked down at her hands. "I put my goals in front of our friendship. I shouldn't have."

"You shouldn't have." Weiss nodded as stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But we've learned our lessons, am I right? I'm your friend, Blake. I'll trust you with my life. I DO trust you with my life."

"And I trust you with mine." Blake smiled as she took a deep breath. "This will never happen again. I… I know you're my friend. I trust you all, and I'll never do anything to jeopardize our friendship again."

Weiss nodded and they embraced. "Thank you, Blake. This means a lot."

"Of course." She nodded as she stepped back.

"But you'll have to help me come up with a good reason as to why I lost so much money to my family." She pointed at her. "I'm not asking for you to take the blame, but help me come up with a suitable alibi."

"Well…" She smiled. "Who's to say that someone got a hold of your account details? Maybe your credit card went missing, only to be mysteriously returned by a random stranger for no charge."

"That… is something only you could come up with." Weiss smiled and punched her shoulder lightly. "You're a good friend, Belladonna. You better be sure that I will not be jeopardizing our friendship."

"Me too, Schnee." She nodded, with no malice in the name. "Shall we go to dinner?"

"Yes. Let's go. Ruby and Yang will be happy."

"Of course they will." Blake chuckled as they headed out.

Jaune looked up and smiled as team RWBY walked in. "I guess they're cool now."

Pyrrha smiled as she saw Weiss and Blake talking, only for them to be interrupted as Yang threw her arms around them and Ruby jumped on her back. Weiss and Blake sighed but they then all laughed. "I guess they are."

Neptune and Sun were sitting across from each other and scooted to the side as they sat down. Weiss sat down next to Neptune and Blake next to Sun, and teams RWBY and JNPR started talking with each other excitedly.

"So, Snow Angel." Neptune grinned as she nudged Weiss. "Are you and Blake on speaking terms now?"

"I'd say more than that." She smiled at Blake, who nodded. "I want to thank you again, Neptune, for helping me."

"Same to you, Sun." Blake smiled at him. "You two really are good friends."

"It's no problem." Sun laughed as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Anything for you guys." Neptune smiled.

Weiss looked down nervously before looking up at him. She then pushed herself up and kissed him on his cheek.

"Just to show my appreciation." She whispered, blushing brightly as she quickly sat down again.

"S-Sure." Neptune laughed nervously as he looked away, his own cheeks red.

"Sooo… Where's Sun's?"

They all jumped as Michael stood behind them, grinning from ear to ear. The AH Crew were sitting at the next table over, and Geoff was standing behind Michael with a glass of alcohol in his hand.

"Y-You shut up!" Blake snapped at him, shoving him back. Michael laughed out loud in response.

"We're gonna be having a stream tomorrow, hoping some of you could join in!" Michael turned to them and shrugged. "I mean, if you want to."

"Sure, sounds like a plan." Yang grinned.

"You better not miss it." Michael waved as he sauntered away. "Cause it's gonna be to over four thousand people!"

The others followed to know more, but Blake grabbed Geoff and whispered to him. "Have you found anything?"

"Nothing concrete." He replied, taking a sip from his cup. Blake recoiled a bit from the strength of the fumes. "But they're onto something. But seriously, let us take care of this, and we'll let you know if we need you to take part in something."

"This is my fight." She replied. "The next time you go in, you let me know."

"Sure, but it's our fight as well, now." Geoff strolled to the table. Blake sighed but followed to join her team, allowing herself to just forget about all her problems and focus on the here and now for arguably the first time since…

Well, she couldn't remember.