Rian sat in the corner of the ballroom, enjoying the brief moment of isolation. Normally, he'd tag along with his friends at social events like this dance, but even then he found himself retreating to the sidelines to simply... exist. He didn't really have any other way to describe the feeling he got from watching other people live their lives, of being a part of something without actually having to interact. It was a feeling of normalcy, something he hadn't really felt since he'd wound up on Remnant—certainly not in the last few weeks.

Even after coming back from Atlas, Aurora's note had left him equal parts optimistic and worried. While the promise of a future meeting hinted at more answers and possibly a way home, the tone of the message had been a little too civil. Then there was the matter of Team RWBY and their... Well, "shenanigans" seemed too innocent a word for what they'd been up to. Even though he and his team hadn't been part of either incident, the massive food fight that had practically destroyed the dining hall and the battle with the White Fang mech in the middle of the city—because apparently that had been a thing—had only served to remind him that, while he may have gotten used to Remnant, it wasn't home.

A familiar face caught Rian's attention, and he smiled. At least it wasn't all bad. "Hey!" Stella said as she walked over.

Rian forced his brain to click into gear. "Hey! You, uh…" He trailed off as he lost his nerve. What he'd wanted to tell her was that she looked good or nice… or beautiful. He hadn't been interested enough—or in Stella's case, had pretended not to be interested enough—to ask what the rest of his team would be wearing to the dance, so this was the first time he'd seen his teammate. She wore a bright yellow dress with an illusion neckline that showed off her darker skin beneath, while the lines of beads decorating the outfit served to—he observed somewhat discofrtably—accentuate her curves. The only thing that threw off the image was that she still wore her usual leather jacket and gloves. "Hey." He winced internally as he realized he'd just repeated himself and probably looked like a complete idiot.

The girl let out a small chuckle as she took the seat next to the sniper. The way she smoothed out the back of her dress before sitting caught his attention. It was unremarkable in its own right, but it was the kind of thing he'd never expected to see her doing. "So," she started, bringing Rian out of his thoughts, "you doing the whole 'introvert sitting in the corner avoiding everyone' thing?"

Rian caught the levity in her voice and went along with it, grinning as he looked out at the mass of students. "Yeah, I thought I'd give it a try and take a break from all the talking and socializing I normally do."

The joke earned an actual laugh from Stella, causing Rian to forget his slip-up just moments ago. "And after you went through all the trouble of standing out?" she asked, pointing at his outfit. "I don't believe you."

Rian looked down at his chest. The girl did have a point; he had specifically chosen his clothes in order to differentiate himself from all the other guys there. Instead of a white shirt, he had opted for black, layering it with a yellow vest and a purple-trimmed black jacket. He had also avoided wearing a tie, keeping his collar unbuttoned instead. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice now and again. Guys don't exactly get as many options as girls do," he noted, tilting his head toward Stella's dress. Reaching up, he tugged at his vest. "Color was a total coincidence, by the way." Truthfully, he might have been a bit biased and perhaps a bit hopeful.

The girl smiled and gave a not-quite-knowing hum. The two lapsed into silence for a few moments, watching the other students mill about and socialize. A twitch caught Rian's eye, and he looked over to see Stella nervously pulling at one of her sleeves. "So, Rian, I was wondering if—"

"Rian! There you are!" The boy jerked his head toward the voice to see Weiss walking toward them—rather, him, by the sound of it. "I need your help with some—" She stopped, apparently just seeing Stella sitting next to him, looking a little uncomfortable. To her credit, Weiss actually apologized. "I'm sorry! Am I interrupting?"

Rian opened his mouth to answer, but Stella shook her head. "No, no, it's… It's fine."

The sniper looked at his teammate uncertainly. "Are you sure?" he asked, though he felt he already knew what her answer would be and what it actually was. Sure enough, the girl nodded, biting her lip and looking away. Rian knew full well what he should have done in the situation, but panic began to set in and he made a snap decision. "Alright," he said standing up. Shit! What the hell am I doing?! He sighed internally as he followed Weiss, afraid to look back. Too late now. "So, what did you need my help with?" he asked, trying to alleviate his guilt.

The heiress fidgeted as she led him around the edges to the other side of the room. "I… Well, the thing is… See, I would have done it myself, but…" As she stopped, Rian immediately saw why she had sought him out and felt slightly less inclined to help. Weiss abashedly finished her explanation as she gestured toward the streamer hanging from the ceiling, "…I'm not tall enough to put it back up."

Restraining the urge to sigh again, Rian took the pink ribbon in his hand and climbed up onto the step stool next to the wall. "How did you get it up in the first place?

"Yang did it, and she had a taller ladder."

Rian nodded to himself as he began wrapping the streamer around the fixture. "So, why me? I'll have you know I don't particularly enjoy being the tall friend who does the tall things."

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Weiss answered. Maybe she'd had someone else in mind? "Like I said, I would have done it myself, if I could have. Besides, I thought this would be a good way to start repaying the favors you owe me."

"RIAN!" The boy froze in the middle of his knot; there was only one reason Yang ever called him by his real name. Slowly, he pivoted to look at the approaching blonde. "What the hell did you say to Stella?"

Rian's fear quickly turned to confusion and concern as he looked down at Yang. "I barely said anything! We talked for less than a minute before Weiss came over asking for my help." The blonde turned her glare on her teammate. "Why? Did something happen?"

Yang looked back to the sniper. "She's leaving."

A massive cavity opened up in Rian's chest at the words. This is all my fault. She was there with me and I just walked away. Finishing the knot, he dropped off the stepladder and looked at Weiss. "No more favors. We're even."

"But what about—"

"Weiss," Yang interrupted coldly, "you're even."

Rian had already walked away before he could hear Weiss's response. Brushing past the other students, he made a beeline for the door. He was not going to let Stella leave over something he'd done. Stepping out into cool night air, he saw her reaching the bottom of the steps. "Stel!" he called out, causing her to stop. "Where are you going?"

Stella looked up at him as he slowly made his way down the stairs. "Back to the room." Amber eyes flicked away. "I think I'm done for the night."

Rian hesitated. "The dance hasn't even been going that long," he floundered, trying to figure out the words that would make her stay. "Is this… Does this have to do with me leaving to help Weiss?" The girl lifted one of her hands to rub her forehead, but didn't offer any form of verbal response. He stepped down to the level she was on. "What's wrong?"

"…it's complicated," Stella said, turning her back to him as she tried to avoid having to answer.

Rian stepped down and moved so he could see the girl's face. "Then explain it to me so I can understand."

Stella regarded him with a sort of sad pain before looking down at her hands. "All my life…" She shook her head, slowly clenching her fists. "My… My parents never wanted to have children. It just wasn't in their plan. Then I… happened and Dad changed his mind and somehow convinced his wife—my mom to keep me. When I was born, though, I didn't have either of my arms, and that… My mom was barely prepared to raise a normal baby, much less me." Despite the increasing tightness in her grip, Stella's voice was quiet, her features only emoting sadness. It hurt Rian to have forced her to dig up what must have been painful memories, but he stood silently and let her continue. "She would… yell at me for the littlest things. To her, I was useless; a drain on the family. That's part of why I wanted to be a Huntress in the first place: To prove her wrong."

Stella had visibly shrunk as she spoke, clutching her arms to herself. Rian instinctively reached a hand out to reassure her, but she turned away, lips pursed. The boy's chest hurt. "What does… What happened tonight, then?" he asked.

The girl let out a breathy chuckle followed by a sad smile. "I thought… I guess I thought that if I was here at the dance with you, then I could… that I wouldn't have to wear this jacket. That I could just be me."

The admission tripped Rian up, causing him to stare blankly at her, mouth agape. She… She's not in love with me, is she? It was odd; foolish as it was, that line of thinking was usually the first thing he thought when any girl was nice to him, but he'd never thought that about her. It would explain quite a lot, but he could never be sure if he didn't ask. "Why me?"

Stella rolled her head as if she couldn't believe she had to explain, but her face still held the pain and sadness from before. "All my life, people have either looked at me as either someone without arms to be pitied or shunned, or as a normal person who just happens to have prosthetic arms." Her eyes flicked back and forth, looking for the words she wanted. "I thought I was happy being treated that way—the way Yang treats me—but then…" She looked directly at him, truly meeting his gaze for the first time that evening. "…I met you. Maybe I'm just reading into thoughts that were never there, but when I showed you and the others my arms, you looked at them as if they were a part of me. Like, to you, I was a complete person, regardless of whether my arms were real or not."

Rian found himself at a loss for words as he stared into her eyes, the amber-colored orbs shining in the nighttime light. "Stel, I…"

"Don't," she said, her voice cracking. "It's probably better in my head."

The sniper persisted, reaching up to place his hands on her arms, just beneath her shoulders. "You are the best friend I have ever had and I will never be able to tell you how much you mean to me. Of course that's how I look at you." There was a brief moment where Rian almost criticized himself for his choice of words before Stella put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.

The sudden contact of her lips against his caught Rian off-guard and he momentarily froze, smelling sweet vanilla in her hair and black cherries in her kiss, before closing his eyes and relenting to the moment of passion. This was what he wanted, what made him happy, and he didn't want to let it go.

He wasn't sure how long they kissed—possibly no more than a few seconds, even—before Rian returned to his senses. Tilting his head forward to break contact, he gently pushed her away. He kept his eyes closed, unable to bring himself to look at his teammate, his… whatever she was. "I'm sorry. I... I can't," he whispered.

Stella's hair brushed against his as she nodded. "I know," she replied, her voice just as soft, but clearly on the brink of tears. Rian felt her pull away, taking any warmth he'd felt with her. "I'm… I'm going back to the room now." Then she walked around him and was gone, leaving him alone and broken on the steps.

"What the hell was that?!"

Rian flinched at Rain's intrusion, wishing he could just be miserable in peace. "I can't," he repeated.

"Yeah, you said that. Why the hell not?"

Truthfully, Rian wasn't sure. He'd spent the last month coming up with so many excuses, just trying to convince himself, that he wasn't sure which ones were valid. Somehow, he still managed to put together a semblance of an argument. "I don't… For all we know, I could be gone tomorrow and I would never see any of you again—I would never see her again. I don't know what you plan on doing once I'm gone, but if you stay here, she's going to spend the next three years looking at you and seeing me. I don't want to make it any harder on her than it has to be."

"Are you seriously that stupid?!"

Rian had not been expecting such a severe reaction; he and Rain were usually so close in thinking that they'd agree on everything. "I—"

"Shut up. You're worried because you don't know how long you have? Well, guess what? No one does. You of all people should know it's no better to be safe than sorry when it comes to being in love, that you have to make your time count. God knows I wish I had figured that out sooner. And using me as an excuse? Fuck. Off. I am not going to let you use me to keep yourself from being happy. At this point, I don't care what you have to do, but do not let her walk away."

Cursing under his breath, Rian ran both hands through his hair. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that, despite how much time had passed, Stella wasn't that far away—probably within earshot. What am I supposed… Shaking his head, he took a breath and did the first thing that came to mind: He sang.

~Never knew I could feel like this

He wasn't in the right key, and he was quieter than he wanted, but he kept going.

~Like I've never seen the sky before

Taking another breath, he projected his voice a bit louder.

~Want to vanish inside your kiss

There was a slight hitch in Stella's gait, but she didn't stop.

~Every day I love you more and more

Stella came to a halt, and Rian began walking toward her.

~Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing? Telling me to give you everything

Rian saw her lift her hands to her face and hesitated for a brief moment.

~Seasons may change, winter to spring

Stella's arms dropped down and away from her sides, hands balled into fists.

~But I love you until the end of time

Slowly, she began turning back around.

~Come what may

The expression on her face was complicated, a mix of pained sadness and and happy disbelief.

~Come what may

Rian stopped in front of the girl, trying to keep his nerves from breaking before he could finish.

~I will love you until my dying day

The two teens looked at each other, neither certain about where to take the situation. Ultimately, it was Stella who spoke first. "I... didn't know you could sing."

Rian coughed lightly, running one hand through his hair. "I don't really like to." There was another uncomfortable pause as the two looked away from each other. What the hell am I doing?

"Did you mean it?" Stella eventually asked, tugging at one sleeve. "The whole 'come what may' thing, I mean."

The sniper's breath caught in his throat. Despite how far he'd come, he could still turn back. He could walk away and break this connection before it could get any worse, and he hated himself for even considering it. "Yes." He let out his breath as Stella smiled. "I think this is one of those 'better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' sort of things."

He could hear the girl chuckle quietly as she grabbed the front of his jacket and leaned into him, head resting against his shoulder. "Shakespeare?"

Rian shook his head as he wrapped his arms around her. "Tenn—uh, actually, that one's mine."

Stella's laughter was a beautiful sound. "Liar." Behind the pair, soft music began filtering out. Pulling away from him, the girl hesitated for a brief moment before taking a deep breath and removing her gloves. Her jacket followed soon after, the articles tossed onto a nearby bench, fully exposing her twin prosthetics. She stood there nervously, hands on her elbows and biting her lip, before looking up at Rian again: It was absolutely the most stunning thing the sniper had ever seen. "Do you want to dance?" she asked quietly.

Rian stepped forward, taking one hand in his and wrapping the other around her waist. "Absolutely." The two began to move, slowly swaying with the distant music as they simply focused on one another. Rian's hand drifted up Stella's back, brushing over the scarred flesh where the prosthetic connected with her shoulder. He held his hand there and rubbed his thumb against the warm metal as Stella sighed contentedly. At the moment, there was no place Rian would rather have been.

The moment was shattered by a wolf-whistle from behind him, followed by a cheer. Rian winced. "Oh, God. That was Yang, wasn't it?"

Stella quickly glanced past him. "Yep," she confirmed burying her forehead into his shoulder in exasperation.

Rian immediately began running through the worst-case scenarios in his head. "You don't think she heard me singing, do you."

The girl laughed. "She better not have." One of her arms shifted as she made a gesture toward her friend—probably flipping her off—before returning to his shoulder. "Hey," she said, noting his discomfort. "I'm not going to let her ruin this, so you better not either."

Rian laughed gently in response. "Trust me, I won't." Stella grinned, and with her free hand she reached up and pulled him into a kiss. This time, the boy gave in and pulled her in even tighter.

Dare he say it, Rian Jennings was happy.

(-)

Brie looked on as her two teammates embraced, having already rebuked Yang's overzealous celebration. A part of her felt guilty for watching—she was encroaching on what should have been a private moment—but, at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to go back inside. There was a sort of pain in her chest that she wasn't quite able to diagnose, one she somehow knew would only worsen if she walked away.

She had been in love with Rain, yes, but that was long past. Hell, she'd even been able to distinguish Rian as a separate person despite the shared body and she'd never felt anything for him. Still, looking at her two teammates with their arms wrapped around each other, Brie couldn't help but feel a sense of longing, of jealousy. It wasn't as if she wanted to break them apart or anything like that; she was genuinely happy for them and for what they had with each other.

Maybe that was it, then. Maybe she wanted what they had, to be in love. Moving past what she'd felt for Rain hadn't been more difficult than she had expected, but she had happy memories all the same. Was that something she wanted to relive? To love at the risk of losing everything? Wasn't that what Rian and Stella were doing?

A pair of footsteps approached on her right, and Brie glanced over to see Citri step up next to her. She had a curious look on her face as she looked out at their partners. "Huh. I didn't see dat comin'."

Brie furrowed her brow in confusion as she quickly confirmed that they were looking at the same thing. "Seriously?"

The blonde looked at her, eyes widened somewhat. "Should I have?" With a small laugh, Brie shook her head. This was Citri, after all.

Just as she was about to turn around and head inside, Brie felt something warm brush against the inside of her hand. She immediately jerked it up and away from the contact and, out of the corner of her eye, saw Citri glance down in embarrassment. Realizing what had happened, the brunette relaxed and lowered her arm back to her side with a sigh. Maybe she was ready, maybe she wasn't. She could always figure it out later.

(-)

Rian woke up feeling less refreshed than he would have expected. The night before had been… Well, it had been one of the best nights he could remember in quite a while. He was actually a little surprised at how sore he was. He began opening his eyes, but a sharp pain in his head told him that would be a bad idea. As he lay there in bed, he became aware of a strange weight spread over his left arm and stomach.

"C'mon, Rian. Wake up."

Ignoring any pain he was feeling, Rian shot up into a sitting position, simultaneously throwing himself back against the head of his bed. The girl that had been laying on him recoiled in alarm, her amber eyes looking at him in a mix of surprise and relief. Rian quickly looked around the room, finding it unfamiliar. There were three other beds besides the one he was on, all lined up in a row along the wall he was backed up against. In addition to the dark-skinned girl by his bed, there were two others in the room. A blonde-haired girl in some kind of robe sat on the next bunk over with a worn paperback in her hands and a bandage wrapped around one of her ankles, while a disheveled-looking brunette in a gray jacket and black pants stood near the middle of the room. All three of them were looking at him with varying degrees of concern and relief. "Rian!" the dark-skinned girl exclaimed excitedly, starting to move toward him.

The boy put his hands up defensively, and she froze in confusion. Getting his breathing under control, he glanced around once more. "Where am I?" he asked, trying to stay calm. "And who the hell are you?"

You didn't think it was going to be that that easy, did you?

I know I say this a lot, but I have been looking forward to this one for a long time. I had probably rehearsed the conversation between Stella and Rian a half dozen times before I even finished the last chapter, which made it surprising how much trouble I had actually writing this one. Besides struggling to maintain my interest long enough to finish, there was also a lot of bouncing back and forth about different things, from what song to use (it was "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge!, by the way) to whether or not to include the scene with Brie and Citri. Even the title went through a couple of strong possibilities, though I settled on "Take On Me" because of how well that song fits this chapter.

The ending was also something I was uncertain about for a long time. It was a struggle to justify it to myself and to approach it in a way that wasn't just cruel irony stripping away two characters' happiness for the sake of plot (or worse: for no reason at all). One of these days I'll write something that doesn't have memory loss as a plot point, though I do plan on doing something with this one and, ultimately, I think you'll enjoy it.

That's all for this week. Leave your thoughts if you like, follow if you want, and I'll catch you all later. Au revoir!