Hey, guys, sorry I'm late again! New York is getting a buncha rain these past few days, and since I have satellite, wifi doesn't work quite as well during the rain, so my internet wasn't working well enough to get a chapter up! Luckily, the rain should stop by Thursday and my wifi should reset by then, so yay! But, I digress. Here's a new chapter o'Thorns, ye rascals!

P.S. Sorry to those of you that like Sun. I may have painted him as something of a dick or a douchebag, so I apologize for making him seem like that. I don't know how to write his character so well. Enjoy anyway!

"Announcing Blake Belladonna!"

Blake swore under her breath when she got flashed in the face with a spotlight. It wasn't that it hurt—her eyes adjusted faster than anyone else's—it just caught her off-guard.

"Are you okay, Brake?" Peridot asked beside Blake.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just surprised." Blake flashed her a smile, and they proceeded into the ballroom.

The sheer amount of people was enough to heat up the room significantly, and Blake was glad she had chosen something light for herself and Peridot. Ruby had asked that she take care of Peridot's dress, and she did exactly that. Peridot now wore a small white skirt with a black "bodice"—Blake wasn't entirely sure if it counted as a bodice, as Peridot had yet to even reach the point where she had breasts, let alone need to contain them—and a little magenta-violet strip of cloth over her waist with four small bows, two on each side of her waist. She wore long white socks and little black slippers, and her jet black hair was styled and curled and supernaturally full, considering the age of its owner. Her knife-like ears, as always, were plenty visible, and though Blake wanted to put some makeup on them, Peridot had insisted that she didn't, that her ears were fine. Peridot had next to no makeup on, anyway; her face was without a single blemish, and her tattoos were makeup enough.

Searching for Ruby, Blake's eyes skimmed over the crowd, and she picked Peridot up to help her look for her girlfriend. As they searched, however, they completely missed the muscular monkey man approaching behind them.

"Hey, Blakey," Blake heard the voice behind her, "Did you miss me?"

Blake whipped around, careful not to drop Peridot, and looked at Sun in total surprise. "Sun?"

"Yep, that's me," Sun said, giving a bow, "So, are we gonna dance, or what?"

"...no." Blake answered simply.

"Aaaaaaawwwwwww, why not?"

"Because I have someone else to dance with tonight."

"And that person is me, right?"

"No! Sun, I am not dancing with you!"

"Don't make me hug you! I know how much you like to be hugged! I know how much you'll want to—"

Sun didn't finish his sentence as he was jerked back, an arm pinning his own, and a metal arm wrapped around his neck, a protruding blade pressed against his throat.

Minutes Earlier...

Ruby wandered almost aimlessly around, feeling a little lost despite how she was fully aware of where she was, still keeping a careful eye on the group of suspects. They had yet to make any serious moves, but she had seen the strange-skinned Faunus girl with the small thimble-blades taking glances at the door that would allow her entrance to the rest of the palace. That had been suspicious enough.

As she wandered, she also noticed a blond man with a monkey's tail wandering about, and what had earned him her suspicion was the fact that he was alone. Deciding that she was going to follow him, she failed the monkey man through the crowd of dancing people, gracefully maneuvering in a fluid motion that might as well be dancing on its own, while he was rudely barging between people, not seeming to care for anyone else, just himself.

Weaving between another couple, she watched him reach the outer part of the crowd and she positioned herself behind him a few feet away. She saw just past him that he was heading for...Blake.

The niggling struck her out of the blue, unexpected, and she entered her flashback instantaneously.

Ruby watched Blake as she spoke to Yang across the lunch table, hypnotized by the Faunus's ever-graceful movements and goddess-like beauty. She loved to watch Blake's hands open her books, her fingers flipping the pages, her eyes scanning the words, her lips tugging themselves into tight, subtle smiles whenever a character did something amusing. Ruby loved to see that occasional twitch beneath Blake's bow when she heard an interesting sound, loved to watch her cautious, watchful eyes glance in the direction of the source of said sound, loved to watch the way she reacted to those sounds.

How did I end up so in love with her, Ruby thought to herself, or do I even need a reason?

Blake stood up suddenly, picking up her tray and walking over to the kitchen, and Ruby watched her walk. She loved to watch Blake move, as well, for it was unique and so very feline in appearance, the way she crossed her legs as she walked, swayed her hips quite a bit, walked with her head held high despite how much she hated to be seen. Ruby absolutely adored it. Adored her. Adored every single little thing about her from the way she spoke all the way down to how her nimble fingers flipped the pages of the books she read.

I suppose there is no reason to love her. Maybe that's why I do.

Blake returned, and when Yang cracked a joke that Blake liked, she smiled and giggled, a beautiful sight and a wonderful melody that made Ruby feel like laughing and joining in. So she did.

"Hey, Blakey, how is it going?"

Ruby looked up from Blake—as painful as it was to do—and saw Sun appear and sit down with Blake. Neptune wasn't far behind, and he was flirting with Yang already. Unsuccessfully, of course, given Yang just was not interested in him, but still made an attempt.

"Hey, Sun."

"You're looking pretty today, Blake."

The sentence switched Ruby's mood from a happy, elated one to an angry, jealous one.

"I do?"

"Yes, you do. Was it because you wanted to, or did you do it just for me?"

Unknown rage boiled up beneath Ruby's chest. Nobody seemed to notice.

"Sun, I realize this is flirting. I also realize that I am not interested in dating you. Look, Sun, you're a nice guy and all, but I really just want you and I to be friends, okay? Please, stop flirting with me."

"Are you sure? I'm sure I've got some tuna around here somewhere..."

Blake scowled at him. "You're going to try and bribe me into being your girlfriend."

"Hey, it was worth a shot."

"No, it wasn't."

Sun and Blake both whipped their heads around to see Ruby, teeth gritting, her clenched fists on the table.

"Did I ask you, Ruby?" Sun sassed.

"If you have to say "It was worth a shot," it was not worth a shot. You think that just because Blake is a Faunus that likes tuna means that giving some to her is going to make her love you. No. It isn't. It's just like bribing you with a banana or saying that you throw feces at people. Stop stereotyping Blake and come back when you respect her instead of seeing her as something you can just pay to have."

Ruby stood up, grabbed her tray, and walked over to dump it out into the trash, then left the cafeteria altogether, seething the entire time.

Ruby growled when her vision ended, and before she could stop herself, she was closing in on Sun.

Pinning his arms down with one arm mid-sentence and silencing him using her hidden blade, she snarled in his ear, "Get. Away. From. My girlfriend."

"Who...what is going on here?" Sun wondered aloud, sounding a little worried about the blade at his trachea. "Blake?"

"Sun," Blake said, setting Peridot down and holding her hand, "This is my girlfriend."

"Could you get her to, I don't know, let me go? I don't really like sharp objects touching my neck."

"Let him go, Ruby."

Ruby grunted in protest, but did as Blake asked and let Sun go. He rubbed his throat with one hand and turned to see her. His jaw almost dropped.

"You?"

"Yes, me, monkey." Ruby snarled at him, her rage at him from her vision still out in full force, "Did you miss me, jerk?"

"I...I thought you were..."

"Yes, I know, but so did everybody else. But guess what? I'm not! So stop flirting with my girlfriend and find someone else to pester."

"Ruby, what has gotten into you?" Blake asked.

"His non-stop shenanigans and constant advances! He needs to learn to respect women and not treat them like they're his playthings!"

"You remember him?" Blake wondered as Sun retreated behind her.

"Yes, I remember him! I've already scolded him once, but nooooooo, no, he doesn't change, he just keeps to his roguish antics and childish games, like everything is a Dust-damned joke to him!"

"Hey, if you have a problem with me, say it to my face!" Sun barked, suddenly popping out from behind Blake again.

"I would, but you're too busy hiding behind my girlfriend to come and face the consequences."

"Ruby, calm down," Blake stepped between them, barring them both with her hands and glancing back and forth between the two, "Sun, I think you need to go and find someone else to dance with. Please."

Sun and Ruby glared for just a little while longer, then the former huffed and turned on his heel, stalking away angrily.

"Ruby, what is wrong with you tonight?" Blake asked the assassin.

"Him. He infuriates me to no end. He doesn't respect you, he just treats you like an object, not a person, and it is about time someone put him in his place."

Blake looked surprised, though it wasn't clear whether it was from the outburst or something else. "You...you remember, don't you?"

"What?"

"You remember that one day at lunch. When you defended me from Sun's advances. When Sun said he had to go back to Haven because of...something he didn't bother telling me. He wasn't leaving because he had something to do. He left because he knew you wanted me, too."

Ruby's rage cooled, the heat radiating from her due to her pyrokinetic Semblance cooling to a more manageable temperature, and took a deep breath, counted to four, exhaled, and counted to four again, dissipating her anger.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I think I should go apologize to him. That was way out of line. I just...I want him to respect you, to treat you like a human being and not like he is hunting an achievement."

Blake smiled at her deflated lover, a hand tipping her chin up, and said softly, "Everyone shows their feelings a little differently, petal, and I think his is just a little less serious than yours, but no less caring."

"Are you mad at me?"

"I understand your frustration, so I won't be mad at you. But I think I wanna try dancing with Sun, make him feel better. You've got an assassin to watch for, right?"

"Yeah. I should...I should get back to that."

"Okay. Good luck, and I love you."

"Thanks. Love you, too."

The two girls traded a kiss, to which the temporarily forgotten Peridot said, "Aaaawwww!" Fitting in a few more greedy kisses for good measure, the two girls separated and went their separate ways to last through the rest of the night.