Interlude 1 Chapter 8: A Crushing Confession

AN: I know a bunch of you are getting a bit frustrated with how slow my slow-burn is, well, burning. All I have to say on the subject is I don't exactly have a plethora of real-world experience to draw from so I'm trying my best. That being said, I do have this rather meticulously planned out, so hopefully here in the next couple chapters it'll all come together for you guys and we can finally get to the mushy and gushy stuff.

Well, Kassidy's sick, for the first time in twelve years. Ruby enlists Yang to help take care of her, but suspicions are raised at just how much care is being shown to her sister's partner, and Yang is confronted during breakfast. Yeah, you asked for it, and I promised it, so here you go.


(Perspective: Ruby)

Ruby sighed as she sat up, eyes blinking blearily. Ugh, why did I have to get up so early? Isn't summer break supposed to be for sleeping in? She rolled over and plucked her Scroll from the bedside table, groaning as she saw that it was still only six thirty in the morning. Burying her face in her pillow and curling under the covers tighter, she tried to will herself back to sleep. But as the minutes passed, her body refused to comply with her demands. Something just seemed wrong, and she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

It's probably just more worries about Kassidy and Yang. Those two got home late last night, and definitely bore the looks of people who had been stuck out in a rainstorm. Sure, Yang appeared just fine, but there was no guarantee that her sister wouldn't get sick again, especially so soon after having the flu. Kassidy, on the other hand, looked ill enough for the both of them. Still, she had insisted that she was okay, and it had been late enough that everyone agreed to go their separate ways for the night.

Ruby turned over with a huff. That foreign feeling in the back of her mind, that feeling that told her something wasn't right, wasn't going away. Something felt intrinsically wrong. Focusing herself on her hearing, she could just barely make out the faint sound of someone moaning. Uh oh, is Yang not doing well? Or Kassidy, for that matter? I should probably check on them. I'm already awake anyway, and Kass is always telling me to trust my gut.

Finally tossing the sheets to the side of the bed, Ruby slid her feet into a pair of slippers, rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes, and opened her bedroom door. The hallway before her was still dark, a testament to the fact that the sun hadn't risen for the day yet. A little bit of light crept out from under the closed bathroom door, and the sound of moaning was more pronounced. She stopped in front of Yang's door and decided to check on her sister first; even if the room wasn't empty, then the culprit was obviously Kassidy. Slowly, to make sure she didn't wake Yang up in case her sister was still sleeping, Ruby placed her hand on the knob…

Only for the door to open before she could act, revealing a curtain of blonde. A pair of arms reached out and parted it, and a creature bearing a vague physical resemblance to her older sister managed to see Ruby and stop before crashing into her. "Oh… hey Rubes. You get woken up too?"

Ruby yawned lightly and scratched her arm. "Yeah. I heard some moaning and decided to come take a look and make sure everyone was okay. So if it wasn't you… Kass!" The exclamation got Yang to wake up far more quickly as she rubbed her eyes and took a look down the hall. Ruby was already on the move, however, and came to a stop in front of the bathroom. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the door to Kassidy's room was wide open. Yang came up behind her, and with a quick nod Ruby knocked softly on the door to the bathroom. "Kass, you okay?" The sound of heaving was the only reply she got, and it only took another look between the sisters before they decided to open the door.

They found Kassidy hunched over the toilet, pale as a sheet, red eyed, and quivering violently. Their noses scrunched instantly and subconsciously as a heavy odor of vomit assaulted them, and they started coughing. The noise was enough to get Kassidy to look over at them, and she cringed hard. "Err… sorry about your toilet. Well, your bathroom. Well… ugh, shit." Yang quickly made her way across the small room as Kassidy emptied her stomach yet again, but Kassidy tried to wave her off. Wiping her mouth with her arm, she choked out, "I'm fine, really. Just need to get this over with."

Ruby and Yang's gazes met yet again. In synch, they turned to Kassidy and asked, "Really?"

Kassidy chuckled grimly. "Heh, yeah, I couldn't say that with a straight face either. But seriously, don't worry about me. I'll deal with it."

Yang crossed her arms and glared at her partner. "Nope."

For her part, Kassidy managed to raise an eyebrow before needing to turn back to the toilet and croaking out, "Nope?"

"K, don't even try to tell me that you've forgotten what has happened the past SEVERAL times you've just 'dealt' with something. You're getting my help whether you want it or not." Kneeling down next to her, she placed a hand on her forehead before her eyes widened. "Dust, you're burning up! Ruby, can you get-"

"On it. I know exactly what she needs, be right back!" Ruby quickly left her sister hunched over Kassidy, muttering and rubbing circles along her back, and made her way for the stairs. Alright. Warm glass of whole milk, my favorite video game, motivational cat poster, and ice pack. Don't worry Kass, you'll be better before you know it! Reasoning that the kitchen would be the best place to start, she started warming a glass of milk and was digging around in the ice tray.

"Well, looks like someone's up early." Ruby yelped softly and whirled around to face her father entering the room. His face fell instantly and his eyes filled with concern. "Are you alright? Some stomping around woke me up. How come you're in the freezer?"

"Um, well, uh…" Ruby scratched the back of her head lightly and looked at her feet, starting to squeak as she went on. "It's just that I woke up early and Yang woke up early and Kassidy may or may not be throwing up in the bathroom right now and I may or may not be getting stuff for her…"

Her dad's face softened in comprehension. He closed his eyes, let out a breath, and nodded before opening his eyes again. "Alright. Thanks for letting me know. She likes early mornings, doesn't she?"

Ruby nodded quickly. "Uh-huh."

Taiyang moved into the kitchen and started digging through the cupboards. "Go take that ice pack to her and tell her to sleep in; she'll need rest. I guess I might as well start breakfast if everyone's up already anyway…"

Ruby watched him slide some bread into the toaster before grabbing up the milk and a towel, bundling some ice in it, and making her way back up the stairs. On the way, she noticed Zwei sitting at the top, and he barked lightly at her before whining and dipping his head. She only took a brief pause to reach down and scratch his ears before finishing her journey to the bathroom, a debate making itself heard before she even rounded the corner.

"Yang, honestly, I'm more than capable of walking. I don't need your help."

"Shaky legs, two failed attempts to stand up, and the fact that you've been here for the past fifteen minutes say otherwise. Dear Oum, you're actually more stubborn than I am. This isn't even a funny joke anymore."

"Ugh, you are so lucky that I don't have enough energy to argue with you about this right now."

"Hey guys," Ruby announced as she rounded the corner into the room, which was somehow smelling worse now than it was when she left. "How are we all doing?"

"I'm frustrated, and K's stubborn. C'mon, up with ya, partner." With a grunt of exertion, Yang managed to get Kassidy up and leaning on her shoulder. It was obvious that her sister was taking almost all of Kassidy's weight, which normally wouldn't be a problem but was made awkward by the cramped conditions the small room provided.

Kassidy waved her hand, as if by that one gesture she could make the whole situation better. "Your sister's treating me like an invalid and I've gotten sick for the first time in twelve years. I've been better."

"Maybe I wouldn't have to treat you like an invalid if you were capable of supporting even a fraction of your own weight. Seriously, what the hell did you get?"

"Thank the Colossus pricks," Kassidy sighed. "When I get sick, I get SICK. Hopefully this'll blow over somewhat quickly."

"And we're gonna help with that!" Ruby declared. "Yang, can you get her to her room? I still need to get a couple things." Turning on her heel, Ruby quickly made her way back to her room, fishing out a game cartridge that a Scroll could link up to and a rolled up poster in the corner of the room. She left as rapidly as she entered, wasting no time in crossing across the hallway again. Well, this morning couldn't possibly get any stranger.

And I stand corrected. Yang had all but tucked Kassidy in and was currently busy fussing over her hair, much to Kassidy's complaint. Or, it was much to Kassidy's complaint until Zwei trotted up to the bed, leapt onto the covers, and laid himself down right in her lap. Humorously (and adorably), Kassidy forgot everything to pet the corgi sitting on her, and the dog in question simply lapped up the attention. Ruby nearly cooed at the sight, before remembering that she still had to get Kassidy the things she desperately needed to get better.

"Alright, I've got everything you need!" she announced. "A warm glass of whole milk!" Said item was placed on the nightstand next to her. "My favorite video game: Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle 2!"

Kassidy raised an eyebrow at the game cartridge that was placed next to the glass. "Uh…"

Ruby deflated a bit. "Yeah, you're right, the first one was way better." Perking back up, she handed the towel and ice bundle to the girl. "An ice pack to deal with that fever of yours! And, finally, a motivational cat poster!" The sheet of paper unrolled to reveal a particular cat Faunus that Kassidy could've sworn she'd seen somewhere before, but at this point was too ill to care. "Me-ow."

Kassidy finally managed to raise herself to a sitting position while being careful not to disturb the dog in her lap. "Look, not that I don't appreciate this or anything, but lying around in bed isn't going to do me any favors. I need calories and fluids so my body can actually do something. And having an off day doesn't excuse me from getting a workout in."

Yang, evidently not liking that answer, snorted before flicking her partner in the forehead and pushing her back down. "First off, you got your workout just getting to and from the bathroom. Second off, you're doing yourself a favor by lying around in bed, your energy levels are practically nil at this point."

"And I've got food taken care of." Taiyang rounded the corner before stopping and going wide eyed at the sight before him, nearly dropping the plate of toast in the process. After all, it wasn't every day that you see your eldest daughter sitting on the edge of someone else's bed and all but tucking her in and fussing over her hair. Shaking his head and getting back to the here and now, he cleared his throat and tried again. "Yang's right, you're not in much shape to do much of anything right now. Sit tight, get some rest, and relax."

Kassidy seemed like she was about to answer, but broke into a bad fit of coughing instead. Both Taiyang and Ruby raised their eyebrows at how Yang was instantly at Kassidy's side and bracing an arm against her back. Wow, Yang's really working to take care of her. If I didn't know any better, I'd think… wait. Is Yang actually crushing on Kass? Yeah, I definitely need to ask her later.

Her scheming was interrupted, however, when Kassidy finally got her coughing under control, but it seemed as though her voice didn't escape unscathed as she tried, and failed, to speak up. Though after a few attempts, she finally managed to croak out, "Why?"

Taiyang cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, why?"

"I do believe the question she is trying to interpose," Bob replied, "is why are you helping her like you are?" A quick nod from Kassidy confirmed the explanation.

The three members looked among each other, then Taiyang shrugged. "Why not? You're a guest in my house, you're a good friend of my two daughters, and you look like you're in need of help. I'd be a pretty scummy person not to help." Suddenly throwing his arms up into a shrug, he barked out a laugh and added, "I mean, you flew halfway across a continent to help us based on a news report that may or may not have been up to date. Are you really that surprised when we give you a hand when we can?"

"Uh, maybe we should give her some space, guys?" While her dad was busy giving an explanation, Ruby noticed that Kassidy seemed to have started trembling more forcefully. It was obvious the poor girl's body was beyond exhausted, no matter what she stubbornly insisted. Ruby strode over and pulled Yang up from the side of the bed, then shook her finger at Kassidy. "You stay right there and get some rest. Team leader's orders."

Kassidy glared at her for but a few moments, before flopping back onto the pillows and groaning, shutting her eyes and evidently giving up the fight. Yang chuckled, and the three left her to her rest, though Zwei decided to stay where he was.

"Well, I was wondering what had everyone in cahoots." Uncle Qrow was waiting for them at the dining room table downstairs. Her dad ushered her and Yang to sit at the table, then disappeared into the kitchen. The sounds of breakfast preparations were heard shortly afterward.

Yang plopped into her seat with a thud, then sighed heavily. "Yeah, K caught the flu real bad. I hope she's doing alright."

"She'll be fine, Yang," Ruby reassured. Suddenly puffing up her chest and making her voice deeper, Ruby pulled off her best Kassidy impression. "It'll take more than an ill-tempered disease to put her down." She and Yang instantly dissolved into a fit of giggles, with even Uncle Qrow joining in for a little bit.

"Oh come on, she's not that bad, is she?" Taiyang appeared from around the corner, expertly balancing four bowls of cereal and four glasses of milk all at once.

"She's worse," Yang lamented. Ruby tore into her breakfast with reckless abandon, and Qrow and Taiyang both got to work as well, but she watched as Yang just listlessly stirred her meal around without making any effort to consume it. "She has got to be the most stubborn person I've ever met. It's like she refuses to take 'no' for an answer or something." Ruby tried to cover her snickers with her hand, but the men at the table held no such notion, something which made Yang shoot a quick glare at them. "Yeah, real rich coming from me, I know, but… I dunno. Sometimes it just seems like she forgets that force of will isn't the only force being swung around, nor is it the most dangerous one."

The way Yang's voice dropped with the last statement made Ruby perk up, worry flashing across her face. She turned in time to see her dad and uncle share a look before nodding, then her father turning back to Yang. "Alright, Yang, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," was her sister's hurried reply.

"I think we all know that something's wrong. What is it?" After a couple seconds of not getting an answer, Taiyang prodded deeper. "Are you worried about your partner?" Yang nodded slowly, and Taiyang took a breath. "She'll be fine. It's just a flu, here in a few days you'll never know she was sick."

"You don't know that!" she blurted. Slumping back into her chair, Yang added, "Bob said that she's going to get really sick. Really, really sick. And her computer knows a lot about how her body works; Dust, half the reason he exists is to keep an eye on how her body's doing and telling her how to fix things up."

"But that's not what's really bothering you, is it?" Ruby looked over to see Qrow slumped in his seat, arms crossed and searching her sister with a raised eyebrow. "Your worries about her run a little deeper than that, don't they? Can't really say I blame you, what with her lack of Aura and all."

"You're worried she's going to get hurt?" Taiyang supplied.

Yang shook her head before shoving her hands into her pockets and staring at the table. "I don't know how much you guys know about Kassidy, but she's… different. She might not have an Aura, but she heals stupidly quickly. Like, less than twenty four hours for most anything, from broken bones to… Dust, I remember one time her neck got snapped. She just snapped it back in place then went on like nothing ever happened.

"And she's like that with a lot of stuff, too. Her arm gets broken? She just switches her gun to her other hand. Her ribs get pulverized? She only needs to work a little harder on managing her breathing. You remember that attempted Dust robbery we broke up last month? She got shot in the EYE, and she treated it as more of an inconvenience than anything. And, to be honest, it kind of is, she always heals it back up and she always has healed those kinds of things up from what I know.

"But she keeps acting like that's ALWAYS going to happen. She doesn't just tempt fate, she flips it off and spits in its face. Ignore her paranoia, and dangerous situations are such a non-issue for her I can't even comprehend it. There's having confidence in yourself, and then there's paying so little regard to danger that you're literally more worried about tomorrow's homework assignment than you are the spar with Pyrrha freakin' Nikos. I can't tell if she actually believes she's invincible or whatever, or if she just doesn't care.

"I'm not worried that she's just going to get hurt, for Oum's sake she gets hurt on nearly a daily basis. But one of these days she's going to get hurt and it's not going to heal… and I won't be able to do a damn thing about it and I didn't stop it…"

Ruby frowned at what was left of her cereal bowl at the end of Yang's tirade. Wow, this is really messing with her. I mean, yeah, I kinda want Kass to be a bit more careful too… but this is eating Yang up something fierce. And why did she say that like she would've blamed herself if Kass got hurt?

Taiyang attracted everyone's attention to himself when he stood up, scooted his chair to sit right next to Yang, then sat backwards in it, arms resting on the back. "Yang, be honest with me. How do you feel about Kassidy?"

Her sister suddenly found a random spot on the wall to be very interesting. "What do you mean?"

Taiyang's head decided to introduce itself to his forearms, and after a quick bout of muttering to himself he met his other daughter's eyes. "Is it safe to assume these two hang out a lot?"

Ruby nodded, "All the time."

"Of course we do, we're partners." Yang rolled her eyes as she defended herself. "The whole team spends a lot of time together. Well, except for Weiss, but that's just because she's a real stickler about her alone time. But yeah, she helps me with studying, I help her with her workouts, we spar a lot…"

"Mhm. And what did you two study together?"

Yang fidgeted a bit in her seat. "A little bit of everything. Mostly algebra."

Her dad nodded along. "You two must've been in the library a lot then."

"Hah. Yeah, no." Yang snorted, before waving the notion away. "Library was more of Weiss' domain. K and I usually did our work back in the dorms. Was empty often enough we could get some real work done."

"Hmm…" Taiyang rubbed his chin. "Did you guys spar often?"

"At least once a day, usually a couple times a day – whenever I could peel her away from her computer and we had some free moments."

"Several times a day, after all your classes, with a combat training course?" Qrow chuckled a little bit. "Even you don't hit the gym that much, Firecracker."

Yang shrugged, but put decidedly more effort into avoiding everyone's gazes. Ruby could notice that her nails were digging into her palms. "I've always hit the gym for a bit of stress relief. And K's a great sparring partner."

Ruby took this opportunity to make her contribution to the interrogation. "Was she THAT good a sparring partner that you would almost never ask anyone else, or use the punching bags for that matter?"

Yang's eyes bugged out hilariously, and muttered 'traitor' under her breath. Ruby only giggled at her sister's antics. "Well… K said that hitting live targets are more fun than something that can't fight back."

Qrow cradled his arms behind his head, wearing a none too smug smirk as he reinserted himself into the conversation. "So, let me get this right: you just used your partner's excuse for spending as much time with your partner as you could get away with, after having a couple hours a day all alone together to study, and also after having shared classes and Oum knows what else all day?" Shaking his head, he appended, "And you're seriously-"

"Alright, fine!" Yang slammed her hand on the table and tensed up, before sighing in defeat and letting her arms go limp. As if to make sure Kassidy couldn't hear it, she softly spoke, "I'm crushing on my partner, you happy now?"

Her uncle's smirk grew to shit-eating proportions. "Oh, definitely."

"Qrow..." Taiyang sighed.

"How did this even happen?" Yang wondered aloud. "I mean, I'm not even gay. You know how all the boys were back at Signal, and I didn't exactly chase them off."

"You could be bi," Ruby offered weakly. Then, more energetically, she added, "Oh, this is great! Now you just need to ask her out, and-"

Yang was quick to cut her off. "I don't think asking her out would work, Rubes. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even like me in that way."

Qrow scoffed. "Yang, have you seen the way she keeps sneaking glances at you? She's good, but she's not as good as she thinks she is. She's into you."

Yang huffed. "If it were anyone else, I'd be agreeing with you. But K… she doesn't really know this kind of stuff. Dust, the closest thing she got to The Talk when she was a kid was, and I quote, 'Don't do stupid shit'. I doubt she even knows what she's doing, or how people would take that to mean. She's certainly like that with a bunch of other things."

"Firecracker, let me tell ya something. After watching your dad and Sum dance around their feelings for each other for a bunch of years, not to mention a whole bunch of, ahem, worldly experiences, I've gotten pretty good at telling when someone's into someone. And she's definitely into you."

Taiyang fixed his mightiest glare on Qrow at the mention of his worldly experiences, and Ruby shook her head to clear the implications from her thoughts, but Yang took the comment in stride. "Alright, so let's say I buy that she's into me like I'm into her. There's still the fact that she doesn't know what she's doing. I don't know what kind of expectations she has, or what she hopes, or what she's even looking for. Dust, I don't think she knows any of that either."

"And is there anything keeping a particular niece of mine and her partner from finding that out?"

"She's been hurt enough…" Yang's head dipped with her voice. "She's had to deal with enough heartbreak. She said that if she broke again, she wasn't sure if she could put herself back together. I don't know what'd happen if we tried to make it work and it didn't work, but… I don't want to be the one that makes her break, to hurt her. She's been hurt enough." Finally, she made excruciating eye contact with her dad, lilac pupils shining with tears even as her fist slammed into the table. "I don't want to be like Raven. I refuse to hurt my partner like that just to chase something that might not even work, that she might not even want."

Both Taiyang and Qrow sucked in sharp breaths at Yang's mention of her birth mother. Running his hand over his face, Taiyang sighed heavily. "I'd like to think I knew Raven pretty well. And I definitely know you pretty well. You are Yang Xiao Long, my sunny little dragon. You're… a lot like Raven. But not like that. You are nothing like that."

"Take it from me, kid." Qrow leaned forward and bore his gaze into her. "I've been talking to a couple people about her. I like knowing who all's on my nieces' team. And I can tell that she values your friendship a lot. She wouldn't let something like a failed relationship get between that, even if it comes to that. And while we're at it, take it from me that you're going to regret it if you don't act on it."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Abruptly, Yang stood up from the table. Her cereal still hadn't been touched. "I'm not feeling hungry right now. Think I might go check up on K." She managed to get to the open doorway to the stairwell before she stopped and turned back around. "Hey Dad? Thanks for the talk. But if you could…"

"She won't hear about it." Taiyang smiled softly and he explained, "I've been in your spot before. Don't want to make her feel forced into making a decision. Now go on, make sure your partner doesn't need anything."


AN 2: Well, this is a bit of a conundrum I've got myself in. This was the last chapter I've had in storage. It's about fifteen minutes to when I publish this, I still need to write the Reviewer Responses, and Monday's chapter still needs about 2600 words of writing, on top of proofreading etc. And all of that has to fit in between two quizzes, a report, and a coding assignment. This weekend's sure gonna be fun.

Also, calling it now, RIP Ren and Nora.

Coming up next: Shopping trip pt. 2

Right after these Reviewer Responses

Captain marvel 36: Yeah, figured that'd be a nice shout-out to throw in there. Glad to hear you liked it.

James: Well, I definitely have Kassidy's reaction planned out. It will be… interesting. Also, Bob will be involved. Beware of Bob. He wants revenge for not getting enough screen time.

AgentDraakis: Unfortunately, I'm leaving most of the actual care out of the fic. Let your imagination run wild, I'm sure you could probably fill in a better story there than I could. Had your tickets since back then, eh? Been here for a while, hopefully you'll get your gratification soon. Thanks for the earplugs, they'll doubtlessly come in handy. I'm sure Qrow will have something to do with stuff… but that's still undecided unfortunately.

Chilltexan: Sorry for the wait, trying my best here. Hopefully in the next couple chapters the revealed plan is worth the wait. Glad to hear you're enjoying the fic so much otherwise, thanks for the compliments.

AndJrew76: Well, shit, I know that feeling with schoolwork, got a bit of that going on this weekend myself. Hope everything went well for you, and enjoy your weekend.

Baconlord53: Do not worry my friend, there will be plenty more bonding time between these two.

Tykene: None can stand before the power of the Yang Pout. Hopefully this chapter lives up to the hype, I've put a lot of work into it and I'm quite proud of it if I do say so myself. Glad you've been enjoying this fic so much.

Matt Cyr: Consider it noted and a home for it actively searched for.