AN: A bit of spoilers from Volume 4. From Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. Nothing major, just a bit about the talk Yang and Tai have.

Also, I just remembered that I was supposed to post every other Saturday. Hopefully I can get back on track.

XxXxX

Why

"How've you been since we left Patch?" Jace asked Yang as they sat on the porch the following morning with Alyss, Alex, Ruby, and Blake, who kept her ears free of her bow and with Ruby lightly holding her hand.

"I thought over what you both said for a few more days. Then, I started getting up and out more, helpin' dad around the house a lot more than what I did before the relapse," Yang looked at her right arm as if she were still in awe, "It took a bit, but I started training harder. Like actually sparring with dad. I got back in shape and got used to fighting again with dad's help. That… He helped me out so much with how I fight."

"How so?" Alyss asked.

"He told me about my balance. Like my mindset of fighting," Yang explained, "In the tournament, I relied way too much on my semblance. And before that…" She shook her head and let out a laugh, "I always wanted to just punch my problems right in the face, y'know? When I lost my arm, that was a real eye opener. I felt vulnerable for the first time since a was a kid when I almost got me and Ruby killed. I can't rely on my semblance all the time, I know that now."

"It was strange when we were fighting a few White Fang soldiers making our way out of Vale," Blake said, "Seeing her actually dodging more instead of blocking full attacks, just all of the motions she made were new."

"Dad said I just needed to find the right temperature," Yang continued, "Being too aggressive took my arm and just put me down. I'm gonna stay careful and try to keep a cool head. I'm gonna try to use my semblance when I need to instead of when I want to. If I can help it, I'm not gonna lose anything again."

"Wow… So I guess losing your arm was kind of a good thing? Is that alright to say?" Alex said in confusion.

"Oh yeah, you're good to say that," Yang assured him, "I'm not gonna lie, I think it really was," She admitted with a small grin, "Dad was already tryin' to get me a prosthetic so I would've learned that later, but Alyss just made it quicker and a hell of a lot better."

Alyss gave a warm smile. "I'm glad things worked out for the best."

"Same here, definitely." Yang said.

"That kinda reminds me of how I trained with Gen for a year," Jace said and gave a grin, "I always had a problem with dodging when I first started training to be a Hunter. I always tried to just take a few hits to give one huge hit. Gen noticed that and he explained it to me."

"Did it help?" Yang asked.

"Hell no," Jace laughed, "At random times throughout a day he'd just yell DODGE and punched me in the face. That yell always caught me off guard and surprised me and I couldn't do anything."

"What did your dad do?" Alex asked him with a look of humor in his eyes.

"Nothing. He encouraged it to hopefully get me out of not dodging when I needed to. It didn't matter when either. It could've been when we were playing a video game or eating dinner or watching a show on the vid-caster. It took a few months for me to actually be able to react to it and do something. Then after a year I was dodging a lot more when we trained. I really miss those days." Jace finished with a wistful smile.

"Would it help if we yelled dodge and tried to punch you in the face?" Alyss asked with a smile.

"Please don't." Jace laughed and gave her a kiss.

Alex turned to Yang to bring the conversation back to where it was. "What happened after you finished training?"

"After I got back on my feet, I set out to find Blake. For Ruby." She smiled toward her sister and partner.

"Thanks, Yang. I won't forget that you saved my life." Blake said back to her.

"And your semblance let you actually heal a forearm and hand back fully?" Alex asked Alyss.

"Yeah, it does. And like I said, it put me to sleep for a month." Alyss replied.

"That's one hell of a semblance." Alex said in amazement.

"It's what everyone says." Jace said and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. Alyss smiled and purred a small bit.

"And what you two and Auron did to that Paladin was fucking awesome!" Alex continued, directing the praise at Yang and Blake, "I never thought three people could stand up to a Paladin like that."

Yang grinned at him. "You should've seen our full team take one down. I got punched straight through a highway pillar."

"Ohhhh you'll have to tell me sometime." Alex said to her.

"I think you just made a fast friend." Jace remarked to Yang.

"Awesome. The more the merrier!" Alex replied.

Alyss smiled at the bonding the two brothers were doing, "What about you two?" She asked both Ruby and Blake, "How did you two find out you loved each other?"

"Well," Blake started as a light blush came across her face, "When I met her, she was really like no one I've ever met before. She's just so sweet, energetic, and caring. I always wanted to keep to myself, but I was just drawn to want to spend more time with her. When she asked if she could borrow a book to read, she suggested we could read them together and I just went with it. Saying yes to that was the best decision I've ever made. That's what I really loved about our time in Beacon."

"Me too, Blakey," Ruby said with a smile, "I really hated it whenever she got sad and down on herself. I always wanted to cheer her up when she got that way. I was really happy when we started to hang out more and read books together, it was really awesome and I started feeling things for her. When Beacon fell and she disappeared… I was scared I would never get to tell her how I felt," Ruby sighed and leaned into Blake's shoulder, much like Alyss did with Jace, "Thanks for finding her, Yang."

"No problem, Rubes," Yang said with a grin, "That was one reason I drove harder to find her too. I knew how much you two cared for each other."

"You're definitely something else, Yang." Blake said and matched the grin.

"Okay, I'm just gonna say this and shut up about it," Alex said and glanced at Ruby and Blake, "But you both honestly look freaking adorable together."

"Umm… thanks." Blake said and they both blushed.

"I gotta agree." Yang remarked.

"Same." Alyss and Jace said.

"We get it, guys… Thanks." Ruby smiled.

"And you got your other bracer back too. I'm sure that helped a lot with finding her." Jace said to Yang and smiled toward Ruby and Blake.

"How did you even know where to find her?" Ruby asked and looked at Yang curiously.

"I didn't, really," Yang said and grinned more, "I just went back to Vale and went to Junior's, and he told me that the White Fang were looking for a deserter in the city. Last seen at Beacon. A cat Faunus with jet-black hair and a scar on her stomach. Then I went and looked."

"Junior's? His place is still standing?" Jace asked in shock.

Yang laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that place was built up like a fortress when the invasion first started. His guards all had machine guns and were just on watch all the time."

"That actually might be a good thing for us." Jace said and thought on it.

"What? Like for drinks? Yeah, it would be." Yang replied.

"I could go for a drink." Alex remarked with a grin.

"Me too. I don't get drunk, y'know." Jace said.

Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Oh no, he really doesn't," Yang said, "He drank a whole bottle of vodka and wasn't even buzzed."

Alex went wide-eyed as he looked back at Jace. "Grimmshit."

"It's true," Alyss said, "A whole bottle. He was completely fine. Drove straight as a line on they way back to Beacon."

"I'll prove it to you sometime," Jace grinned, "Let's get back on track. I was thinking that maybe we could use Junior's as a base or something. We will take back Vale and Beacon, and we'll need some place to plan unless the Rangers and Hunters have a place already."

"That actually sounds like a good idea for that place." Blake agreed.

"I hear somethin' about Junior's?" Auron asked as he walked up on the porch.

"Yeah, it would be a good base for taking back Vale. Yang says it's fortified." Alyss answered him.

"Man, I'll need another drink after all this." Auron said and sat down.

"I think it's pretty cool what you did with your armor there." Yang remarked towards Auron.

"Thanks. It's somethin' I wanted to do for awhile after Beacon. But with watchin' Jace when he was in a coma, I never had the time before." Auron replied and brought the armguard up, extending the shield and showing the glowing emblem, and retracting it.

"Yang told me you were in a coma. That must've been hard." Blake remarked toward Jace.

"Yeah, it was," Jace agreed and Alyss pulled herself closer to him, "When I woke up, I didn't have my prosthetic. That confused me, but Alyss told me that Dr. Seabolte came by and got it for the enhancement. I waited until I could actually talk before I asked what all happened. It was just… too much to take in."

"Yeah, that's definitely understandable." Blake said and they grew silent for a few moments.

"Y'know, I told Preacher that they'd be no one stupid enough to go near that Dragon." Auron said to Blake and Yang.

"I didn't care… Like I said, I went there for something familiar." Blake replied.

"I still can't believe that there's a damn Dragon. A real fucking Dragon." Alex said.

"I don't think anyone can." Jace remarked.

"Jace, me an' you gotta get our weapons back." Auron said to his leader.

"Wait, where is your sword?" Blake asked Jace.

"Stuck to the ground at the base of the tower." Jace replied.

"He fell from the top." Ruby explained.

"You fell from the top of Beacon Tower!?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"And you survived? How did you get up there in the first place?" Blake asked Jace and he stood up.

Jace activated his semblance and let the wings sprout from his back. "This." He replied and quickly deactivated it.

"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed.

"Hey," Auron said to him in a hushed tone, "Keep it down with that shit. Mom hates cussin' an' she'll smack the hell outta you."

"Sorry." Alex said.

"How did that happen?" Blake asked in shock.

Jace merely shrugged and sat back down. "Either my semblance evolving or it reacted to the Faunus DNA in me. I'm pretty sure it's my semblance, though."

"And how did you survive the fall?" Blake asked.

"See my right eye?" Jace asked and leaned forward.

Blake leaned forward as well and looked at his eye. "Green? And your other one is still blue?"

"This is actually the first time I've noticed it too." Yang said and tilted her head.

"How did that happen?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Standoff stabbed into my side and some of Gen's aura went to me. It made Standoff completely stick to the ground too," Jace explained and unconsciously held his side, "My eye changes to blue too, just like his did."

"Oh Gods… that sounds horrible." Blake said silently.

"Damn, you're as resilient as a Goliath." Alex remarked.

"Have you decided on a name for your sword yet?" Alyss asked him and drew the conversation from that horrible moment.

"Yeah I have," Jace said and picked it up from where it leaned against the railing, easily hefting it with one hand, "I decided on Legacy."

"Legacy?" Blake asked.

"Yeah. Because like I keep saying, I'm the living legacy of my family," Jace held the sword in his hands and ran his fingers along the length of it.

"It always bothered me how I never made a weapon for myself before," He leaned Legacy back against the railing, "Now I did, and it bothers me even more that I don't have Standoff."

"Just gotta take it one step at a time." Auron said and sighed.

"Soooo… What made you both decide to pierce your ears?" Yang asked Jace and Alyss.

"The curse of Mistral." Auron remarked with a laugh.

"No, there was no curse involved," Alyss assured them and grinned, "I've wanted to do it for a long time but I was so nervous and scared it would be really painful for my ear."

"I decided to do it to make her more comfortable about it. It stung me," Jace said, "She got the easy way."

"How was it easier for her? Our ears are more sensitive." Blake said in confusion.

"The woman that did it had some liquid that numbed it for me. Only for Faunus. It felt weird but it really didn't hurt." Alyss said. She reached her hand up and touched the small pendant on the ring and smiled.

"We picked each others' out. I let her pick mine to get her into it a bit more and she let me pick hers to be fair." Jace said and reached up to scritch between her ears for a few seconds.

Alyss purred and leaned deeper into his shoulder. "I chose emerald for him since that was Genesis' aura color."

"And I chose the ruby and sapphire for our aura color. And the cat pendant because she's an adorable kitty cat." Jace added.

"Your adorable kitty cat." Alyss corrected happily.

"Right." Jace smiled.

"It looks good on you guys. It fits too." Yang said.

"Thanks." They both replied.

"Hey Blake," Ruby said and got her new girlfriend's attention, "Umm, sometime, if it's okay with you, can I… rub your ears?" She asked and Blake looked at her quickly, "Only if it's okay with you! I know how you feel about anyone touching them but it's just that they're so cute and they look really soft and I just really want to-"

"Ruby." Blake interrupted.

"Y-yeah?"

"Take a breath," She said and the the scythe-wielder complied, "It's something I never wanted anyone to do because I just felt that people would see me as an animal rather than a person."

"B-but Alyss lets-"

"We have different natures," Alyss interrupted this time, "I've always had more of a playful nature since I was a kid. It's how we were raised. And since Blake was in the Fang…"

"I never really had the chance to let it out," Blake continued, "It's just been locked up for me and Alyss' could always display it in the open when she wanted."

"Oh… Thanks for explaining it to me." Ruby said to them.

"But… after seeing Alyss being open about it and you guys being supportive of me… I might try to let it out a little bit at a time."

"Really?" Ruby asked excitedly.

Blake nodded and grabbed her hand. She moved it up to the top of her head nervously and took a deep breath. "I might as well start now…" She said and laid Ruby's hand in between her ears, "Just be gentle with them, please."

"A-are you sure?" Ruby asked in surprise.

Blake nodded her head as a blush spread across her face. Ruby gulped as she started to gently rub around Blake's ears. The raven-haired girl's breath hitched at the feeling and she closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. "This is alright… right?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded silently as she let out a deep breath.

After a minute of that, Blake had Ruby stop. "That's… That felt amazing." She admitted with a blush.

"Good. I hope you can let everything out soon." Ruby smiled as she held and rubbed Blake's hand.

"I'll try to. It just gonna be hard tear down every wall I built up to block it out."

"That's what Rubes is here for, now," Yang said with a grin, "She'll stick with you and help you."

"Exactly. I'm here to help." Ruby agreed and kissed Blake on the cheek.

"And just be sure to take it at your own pace," Alyss said, "It took a little bit before I told my team about my nature."

"You still ain't tried to pounce on us all since you told us." Auron grinned.

"That's because I'd rather do that when we're home." Alyss replied.

"Umm… What do you mean by pounce?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Because of my nature and when I felt at home, I always liked to pounce on people I felt comfortable with," Alyss answered with a sad smile, "Right now… I don't really feel at home with having to fight almost constantly. I just… I want to take back Beacon so I can finally, completely, be myself around the ones I love…"

Jace pulled her closer and hugged her tightly with one arm. Auron put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. "Hey, maybe when things calm down an' the Grimm stop attackin' then hopefully you can think o' this place as another home. I know mom would be happy for it." He said with a smile.

"Yeah… Maybe when it calms down," Jace kissed her on the side of the head, "I want you to let it all out and be comfortable."

"Right… thanks guys," Alyss said to her teammates and turned back to Blake, "Yeah… Anyway, if it makes you happy then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

At that moment, Kathy stepped outside. "Oh, did Auron tell you what I always told him?" She asked.

"He did," Alyss answered with a smile, "Good words to live by."

Kathy nodded and smiled. "It's probably the second best thing I've taught him."

"What's the best?" Alex asked.

Auron and his mother shared a grin. "Cooking." They both said at the same time and laughed.

"Speaking of that, I'm about to start on dinner." Kathy continued.

"Hey, is everyone rested up?" Sun asked as he stepped hurriedly onto the porch.

"Yeah, why?" Yang replied.

"We need to get back to the city. We have the biggest lead you're gonna get."

"Never mind then." Kathy said and leaned against the door frame.

"What is it?" Ruby asked Sun and stood up.

Sun hesitated as he looked between Jace and Yang.

"Emerald."

"You found her!?" Jace asked and stood up quickly, grabbing Legacy and gripping it tightly.

Sun hesitated even more at seeing his attitude and seeing Yang's eyes turn crimson. "It's more like… she found the Rangers."

"Where is she?" Ruby asked.

"They took her to our hangout last night. Then we all came straight here.

"What? Did she just give herself up?" Yang asked and clenched her right fist.

Sun nodded nervously. "Apparently she didn't like what happened in Vale."

"Then let's go. Let's just be glad that Emowyn an' Erron brought a bigger truck for everyone else." Auron said and stood up.

Jace looked back to Kathy. "Do you have any ramen noodles?" He asked and she shook her head, "We'll pick some up on the way back. I can actually fix something with that. Can you get vegetables and stuff ready later?"

"I can. It'll be nice to rest for a day." She grinned and went back into the house.

Jace put his hand on Alex's shoulder and stopped him. "Hey, can you stay here and keep watch? Just in case something happens while we're gone." Jace requested.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I can. I don't even know who the hell Emerald is, so yeah."

Yang and Sun were the last ones off the porch as the others walked toward the vehicles. "So, how do you feel about Ruby and Blake?" Yang asked him. She knew that he had feelings for his fellow Faunus and was curious to know how he took it.

"I'm happy for them," Sun said as he looked at their clasped hands, "I missed my chance to ask Blake. I can only blame myself."

"So you're not mad or anything?"

"No. Oum no. I'm glad they're happy with each other."

Yang patted him on the shoulder. "You'll find someone. Don't give up."


"Why?" Ruby asked Emerald.

She was sitting in the chair with her red eyes downcast, with her legs crossed at the knees, with her hands unbound and her fingers interlocked in her lap.

"I… I did what I thought was best for me to survive." Emerald answered quietly.

"And you helped cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people?" Emowyn asked.

Emerald simply nodded.

"Why did you even come here? You knew the risk of coming to us." Erron stated.

"I… it was just too much… just seeing everything happen right in front of me. All those defenseless people just being slaughtered… I couldn't take it anymore."

"But why come to us?" Ren asked her.

"Because I want… I want to try to make up for it."

"You want to make up for all the lives you ruined and the families you tore apart?" Jace asked in disbelief and stepped forward, "Why should I trust you when most of my family is gone because of you!?" He yelled the last part out.

She didn't meet his gaze and kept staring at the ground. "I can tell you where Cinder, Hawk, Adam, or anyone is."

"And you think that would just make us forgive and forget?" Jace felt his anger rising with each second of being near her.

"No… Gods no… I know I've done a lot, but it was so I could survive."

"And where are they?" Jaune asked before Jace or Yang or even the dangerously-silent Nora did something.

"Hawk is in some old base from the Great War here in Anima."

"The one south o' the city?" Auron asked.

She nodded her head and Auron sighed loudly. "Damn it. So close to us an' we didn't know it."

"How would we know any of this is even true? Your semblance is basically just lies." Yang remarked. Her eyes stayed red since she arrived and saw Emerald.

"Because I wouldn't be here otherwise." Emerald responded and looked up at them.

"And where is Adam." Blake stepped forward with the question.

"The industrial district of Vale. He's planning on spreading the White Fang everywhere in Vale to completely take it over." Emerald answered and Blake recoiled in shock.

"He wants control of a whole city!?" She asked in disbelief and Emerald nodded.

"What about Cinder?" Qrow asked.

"She should be maybe halfway to Vale now… She's going to try to unfreeze the Dragon."

"She's what!?" Qrow asked in a yell.

"How long would it take?" Emowyn asked her.

"Before I got away from her, she said it would take maybe three months, that was a few days ago before she left. I don't know how, but it has something to do with what her boss gave her. It's supposed to react to the blood-moon somehow, and it's supposed to show for a few months."

"We need to do something soon." Ruby said and frowned in frustration.

"Listen," Jace said and got everyones' attention, "All of you need to go to Atlas and get Weiss."

"No," Blake protested, "I'm going to Vale. I need to stop Adam before he gains a whole city for the Fang."

"And I'm headin' there with her," Yang said and put a hand on her shoulder as her eyes turned back to lilac, "I went through all the trouble to find her. I'm not letting her go it alone."

"We'll head to Atlas to get Weiss," Ruby said and looked through her temporary team, then smiled to Yang, "I'll pay you back for finding Blake."

Yang smiled and nodded. "Tell her I love her."

"The hell did I miss?" Qrow asked them.

"Long story. I'll tell you sometime." Yang answered with a grin.

Ruby smiled and turned to JKDW. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"Emowyn, how many Rangers are in Anima right now?" Raine asked her sister.

"Around five active members. That's me, Erron, Jax, Lyra, and April." Emowyn replied.

"I think we're gonna go after Hawk." Jace said and clenched his prosthetic fist.

"It'll keep him from coming after all of us in Vale." Alyss added.

"An' we got a whole lot o' shit to get off our chests with 'im." Auron said lowly

"Alright. We'll all get ready then. I'm gonna head to Vale too, see if I can find Glynda." Qrow said and walked from the building.

He was followed by everyone but Yang and Jace.

"I got half a mind to put your head through a wall." Yang said to Emerald. She nodded and held her head down, and Yang walked from the room.

"Why?" Jace said to Emerald.

"Why did you help Grigori?"

"Cinder said to go retrieve lien for her plans. I worked with Grigori for a while, tricking people and just letting it happen."

"And you did it without a second thought? Ruined all those families?"

"If I didn't… Cinder probably would've killed me."

"So it was just survival? You or them?" Emerald nodded, "Did you enjoy it?"

Emerald stayed silent and Jace could hear a sniffle come from her.

She looked up and had tears in her red eyes. "I had to learn to suppress my emotions when I worked for her. I-I felt nothing since she found me… All the things I did for her, I kept myself from feeling anything. I mean… there were a few times where I was happy to see her, but that was only because she saved me. I don't want to feel nothing anymore. I don't want to hurt any more people like that…"

"Why exactly did you go with her? Besides just survival?"

"She found me a few months before the first semester started for the academies. She caught me stealing a ring and she took me in. Then we found Mercury, and then… after we made a deal with Adam… I had to do so much for her. I was glad for it at first… she got me off the streets. But then she had me do those things, killing people, doing that work for Grigori…"

"Off the streets…?" Jace echoed quietly.

Emerald nodded. "I lived on the streets my whole life. I had to steal and claw and scrape by with what little I took. No guarantee if I'll even eat one day, or even for a few days or a week. It was hell… I was glad to be taken in. But now…"

"I just want to be free from her."

Jace felt his voice catch in his throat at the words. Freedom, having to live on the streets, trying to survive. He knew the pain.

"You just wanted to be free?" Jace asked after a moment.

She nodded and looked up at him again.

"I know what it feels like to be homeless like that… never knowing what'll happen the next day or wondering if I could even make it. I was adopted, dad found me on the street when I was eight years old. My parents just abandoned me."

"You were left alone like that too?"

"Yeah. Don't even know their names anymore. Do you?"

"No… I left those thoughts behind me."

"Same here… My brother's trying to do that too."

"If I would've known that… maybe I wouldn't have taken that job. I wouldn't have wanted to do that to a 'street rat' like me…" She said the word lightly.

"Definitely makes things different… doesn't it?" Jace asked and took a deep breath, "Y'know, I should be taking out every bit of my anger on you for what you did and what you caused. I guess with what you said, I just can't," He looked at his left arm and sighed, "If you're telling the truth, then it's just like what's on my brother's headstone. 'Never chained, but never free.'"

"I've heard that before. That's a good song." Emerald said quietly.

"It is," Jace agreed with her on that, "I don't know what'll happen to you, but I just want you to know that I'll probably never be able to forgive you fully," Jace turned and walked toward the exit.

"And just remember… the price of freedom is steep."

And with that, Jace left her alone.


Jace sat on the porch of Auron's house for a long while that night after they ate the food he fixed. He sat and thought to himself while everyone else prepared to leave. Everyone stayed around, prepared to defend against the Grimm even more but none came.

Jace was still surprised with himself at how he handled being in the same room as Emerald. Every time her name was mentioned before, he always said he would get revenge and make her pay for what she caused. But after hearing what she said, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Hey sweetie."

He turned at the soft voice and saw Alyss come from the house.

"Hey kitten." He answered back.

"The noodles were really good. I think you surprised everyone. Even Ren." She said and sat next to him.

"Thanks. I told you I could do something with them if I had them."

"Yeah. I remember that. The fish and chicken Kathy fixed for it really helped too."

"At least doing that little bit for it wasn't hard on her."

"You alright?" She asked softly.

He sighed and shook his head. "Why didn't I do anything? Emerald caused us all so much pain, but I didn't do what I said I would." He said and rested his chin in his hand.

"What did you two talk about when you were alone?"

"She told me that she had to keep her emotions suppressed when she did things for Cinder. Like when she helped with the kidnappings." Jace answered and sighed again.

"Was there anything else?" Alyss asked in her soothing voice that always calmed Jace from his thoughts.

"She said that she was homeless and she just wants to be free from Cinder. I guess that's what made me stop and think."

"I guess people have different types of imprisonment. Yours was being kidnapped and hers was working with Cinder."

"She was homeless before Cinder found her. She talked about having to just scrape by, stealing from people. She doesn't remember her parents' names either."

"So, she has that in common with you?"

"I guess so."

There was a few moments of silence as they watched the fireflies flashing in the night's darkness. Each of them flying around in different directions, but three oddly seemed to follow one around.

"I don't know what to think about it all." Jace said after a while.

"I'm proud of you for not wanting to hurt her. I think that would've done more to you than to her." Alyss said and leaned against him.

"I know it wouldn't bring Gen or dad back… It'd just be something else plaguing my mind… If she's telling the truth and actually wants to help, if Hawk's actually at that base… I'll give her a chance." Jace said and leaned his head on hers.

"At least you're trying to understand."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can forgive her."

Alyss gave a smile and rubbed her head against his shoulder. "We still need to get some alone time, remember?"

Jace let out a short laugh. "As much as I don't wanna say it, maybe we should wait until things are calmed down."

"Yeah… that would probably be smart," Alyss agreed reluctantly, "At least we can still snuggle and you can give me scritches."

"We should be careful," Jace said with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around her, "Or Kathy might throw us in the workshop anyway."

Alyss moved her head up to kiss him on the cheek. "That wouldn't be so bad."

XxXxX

AN: Once again, a talkative chapter. Some light-hearted, some serious.

Ladybug! After everything with Beacon and Blake running away, they finally sail the seas! We got to see what brought them together. And now Blake is trying to break down those walls so she can be herself for once. And now we have to wait for Yang and Weiss to be reunited, which will be all feel-good for them both.

And Emerald is changing sides. After she said she kinda felt sorry for all the people in Vale, I feel that she's that kind of person to feel horrible about something bad and she'd try to make it better. She turned herself in to the Rangers, that's why she wasn't tied up and thrown in a jail cell. And she has a past more similar to Jace's than they both realize.

See you next chapter, and have a nice day!