Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Edited by ToxicExotic

Chapter 89 - Freedom

It felt good to be back on Patch again. As much as Yang had grown to love Vale, there was still something about the city that felt cold. It didn't matter how sunny the sky was; or how bustling the streets were; or how comfortable some places within it could be; that lifeless chill was always there. But on Patch… Everything felt alive and warm.

Every street, every house, every garden, every stretch of woodland and all the rolling green hills; there was not a single place she could go on the island where she didn't feel the urge to pull out a notebook and draw the landscape. She could still remember the last time she'd done it, just how much fun it had been to spend the entire day sitting atop the island's highest hill to draw the town. It had probably been her favourite piece that she'd worked on, and the people had loved it so much that they'd hung it in the town hall.

Thankfully, the island hadn't changed since the day she left. The bird songs, the rustling trees, the sound of rushing water, the smell of more flowers than even Weiss could possibly name; everything about it was still perfect. Even the large boulder against her back somehow felt softer than the couch back at the apartment, though Yang knew that was likely because she had spent the last two hours walking.

"I miss being out here." She breathed, groaning in relief as she lowered her feet into the warm river.

"So do I." She heard her dad say, the dry grass crunching beneath his feet as he approached. "I wish I could come out here more."

The man sat down beside her and shrugged off his large backpack. He looked better than he had over the last few months. He'd finally shaved his beard, the long scraggly hairs trimmed back down to his usual soul patch and jawline stubble. His hair had also been pulled back into a ponytail, causing the man to look much younger than he was. He almost looked like he was going to pull out his old skateboard and start doing tricks, though she knew if he did, then she would most likely have to take him to the hospital… again.

"What're you chuckling at?" He grinned, the small action only making him look younger.

"Just remembering something." She shook her head, the smile remaining on her face. "You wanna hand me that?"

She snapped her fingers towards the backpack.

"Here." He lifted it over and she began to pull out the portable fire pit and pans. "So how's the job hunt going?"

"Haven't really had much time to look. You know, with everything going on and all. Thanks for pushing this back by the way."

"It's fine." Tai said with a shake of his head. "It sounds like you've had a rough few weeks."

It had been two weeks since Willow had come out against Jacques, and in those two weeks the apartment had become rather full. Not only had Willow and Whitley moved in, but so had Weiss' butler, Klein. And while she definitely liked the man, he was everywhere. Almost everywhere she went, the man would randomly pop up and ask her if she needed anything; and though she knew he was just doing his job and practically part of Weiss' family, it was definitely taking some getting used to.

Unfortunately, Weiss had also become very scarce, having thrown herself headfirst into the business with Fletch, and Yang herself had become so inundated with coursework as the end of year exams finally started to loom on her. Adding onto that, Jacques had also begun court proceedings to get Whitley back, which had only caused the boy to retreat more away from his family. Thankfully though, Willow was remaining true to her word and was doing everything she could to make her son feel safe. And Yang was more than happy to help with that.

The only good thing that had come from everything was that Jacques seemed to be doing as Weiss asked and was leaving them alone. Though she wouldn't be surprised if that was only because he was still the primary focus of the paparazzi.

"Bit of an understatement, but yeah." She breathed.

"Well I heard of a new authentic Mistralian place opening in the Quarter." He offered. "You could always try there."

That actually did sound good. Better than all the Vale restaurants she'd been applying to since Mistralian food was her specialty.

"I'll give it a shot." Finally getting the fire started, Yang reached forward and washed her hands in the river before reaching in her own bag and pulling out some food. "What about you? How's work?"

"It's… certainly not dull." The man chuckled. "Had the most revolving smelling package the other day. Somebody tried to shove ten cans of dog food into a small tube."

"Was that somebody Ruby?" Both of them let out a small chuckle.

"I wouldn't put it past her." Tai grinned. "She'd be cleaning it up though. I cannot tell you how bad that mess stunk. Never had Zwei give me so much attention before."

"I'll keep that in mind when I buy your birthday deodorant." She teased. "Eau de dog food."

"You wouldn't find me complaining." The man laughed and snatched a piece of cucumber that she'd just cut. "The house has been so empty lately that it was good to have someone happy to see me."

Glancing sideways, Yang saw that, despite the smile on his face, there was a sadness in his eyes. Yang could definitely relate to that. The first few weeks after moving into Weiss' apartment had been tough. The emptiness had felt almost suffocating, the silence had pounded at her ears and the feeling of unrest had been almost unbearable. As such, most of her time had been spent going out to see her friends or calling them to come over.

However, knowing that they weren't supposed to talk about the past and the issues that had led her feeling like they needed space, Yang indeed began to sort out the chicken and continued the conversation.

"I suppose Ruby actually has a reason to go out now." She smiled.

"A new friend and a girlfriend." Tai hummed, a little pride in his voice, though Yang wasn't sure if Ruby and Ilia were actually at the girlfriend stage yet. "A lot's changed for her this year."

"Mmm, a lot's changed for all of us. Just look at me. Last year I had no idea what I was doing with my life, now I'm applying for business courses next year and dating one of the most amazing people in the world."

"One of?"

"Well there's Ruby, and Blake, and Mom…" She paused and prodded the coals and wood before looking at her dad. "And you."

His eyes widened slightly, and he turned to give her a weak smile. "Now you're just being nice."

"I'm not" She shook her head. "I know we have our issues, and that there's still a lot we have to work through, but I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't important to me."

Catching his eye, she watched the smile fade as a serious look came over his face. For a few seconds, it looked like he wanted to say something, no doubt something that they weren't supposed to talk about, but he seemed to think better of it and reached out an arm to pull her into a sidelong hug. Despite all their troubles, she still leaned into it like a little girl and found her father's scent comforting.

"It's important to me too, Fireball."

Giving a small nod into his shoulder and reaching out, she grabbed the chicken and placed it on the grill, the delicious smell of cooking meat rising into her nose and making her stomach grumble.

"So…" The man said cautiously. "I uhh… I've got a few stories about this place if you wanna hear them. Some even include Raven."

Recognising it as an olive branch and an attempt to be more open, Yang lifted her head from his shoulder and gave him an appreciative smile.

"I'd like that."

She moved away and settled back against the rock while putting other food on the grill, ready to hear a few stories that she had never heard before.

Yang couldn't help but feel a little disappointment as she pulled off her helmet. The second the soundproofing left her ears, the tumultuous roar of Vale's streets invaded them and caused her to wish she was still back on the island with her dad. The three hours she'd spent together eating food and talking by the river had actually been nice. Sadly, that peace, that serenity… Vale had none of it. Thankfully though, the disappointment didn't last long.

Shaking her hair free of the helmet's imprint, she looked over towards the window of Blake's store and saw a small group of her friends all sitting around the larger table next to the bookcase. With them working there, Blake and Ilia occupied the large couch, the former reading what Yang could only imagine was another law book and the latter gently holding Ruby's hand as the younger girl talked excitedly about something. Sat to the side, looking at everyone curiously with wide green eyes was Ruby's newest friend, Penny.

The biggest surprise however was the woman sitting opposite then, her white hair shining as the sun reflected off of it. Yang had thought that the woman would be busy all day, but there she was. A soft smile pulled at her lips and she switched off her engine, letting the low rumble die down before stepping aside and attaching her helmet to the lock. As she did, she heard a van pull up down the road and glanced at her mirror to see a man step out with a camera. It wasn't a big surprise, since not a single day had gone by without at least a couple of run-ins with the press, so she merely locked up her bike and walked over to the door of the coffee shop. Slipping inside, she turned around to watch the man approach and tapped the glass where the NO PRESS note was taped.

Seeing a frustrated look on his face, she grinned happily to herself and walked over to where her friends were gathered. A murmured greeting rang out from the group and she sat down next to her girlfriend.

"Hey, guys." She leaned down to press a kiss against Weiss' lips. "I thought you were busy today?"

"I am never too busy to be there for you after these kinds of things." Weiss smiled. "So how did it go?"

"Pretty good." Yang replied honestly.

"You and dad didn't argue, did you?"

"We got along fine, Ruby." She reassured the redhead, hearing a little worry in her little sister's tone. "It was actually kinda nice."

It really was. For the first time ever, she really felt like her dad had been fully open with her. During the two hours they'd sat there eating food and playing catch, the man had told her numerous stories about his school days. And though a lot of them had included Summer, Raven, and Qrow; he had focused a little more around his relationship with Raven. She was grateful for that, as she knew it was something she was probably never going to hear the woman talk about herself.

"So what're you guys talking about?"

"Daddy Dickhole." Despite the venomous tone of her voice, the girl seemed rather content cuddled up next to Ruby.

"Yeah, Weiss was just telling us about how he's trying to say Willow's unfit to look after Whitley?" Blake clarified.

"Oh yeah, that shitshow." Yang groaned, reaching out to snatch half of Blake's sandwich.

Unfortunately that had been Jacques first move. Capitalising on both Weiss and Willow's confessions that the older Schnee had been a heavy drinker, Jacques had immediately gone for the jugular and used it as proof that the boy should be with him while the courts heard everyone out. Thankfully, despite all of his power, the court didn't seem to agree with that.

"It's very unlikely to work," Weiss said, taking a sip of her drink. "But even if it does, what we've come out and said about him means that he won't get Whitley either."

"So what'll happen to him?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Well, Weiss is family and of legal age, so she could take custody of him until it's over." Blake answered, Weiss nodding to her. "Either way, Jacques won't be getting anywhere near him."

"You could adopt your brother?" Penny asked with an excited tone. "That would be so much fun!"

As usual, the girl had completely misread the tone of the conversation. It was quite a frequent occurrence with the redhead, but nobody ever really minded. In fact, both Weiss and Ilia let out a small chuckle.

"If it made him feel comfortable, then sure." Weiss grinned.

"I am sure that it would." The perky redhead smiled at her reassuringly. "Adopting someone is a super amazing way to show someone that you love them."

"Is that so?" A mischievous grin pulled at Yang's lips and she leaned into her girlfriend. "Maybe I should adopt you."

"I'm going to choose to ignore that one." Weiss rolled her eyes with amusement.

"I'm going to choose to forget that one." Blake added, Yang sticking her tongue out at her. "Aren't you adopted, Penny?"

"Yes I am." The excitable girl said with a very happy nod. "My father says that when he saw me, he knew that he could give me a life nobody else could."

Lifting up her prosthetic hand, she gave her fingers a wiggle. Though Yang didn't know a lot about Penny's dad, he certainly seemed like a very good man. From everything Weiss had said about how he conducted himself and how passionate about his work he was, she could certainly imagine the man being more than happy to use that excitement to give a girl a life she probably would never have otherwise.

"Well your father is certainly a good man." Weiss smiled at the earnest redhead. "And from what I heard from Edward, he's going to be given full support for his newest project so he can help even more people."

"Oh yes. He is very excited about that. He has begun talking to himself again."

"So has Blake." Ilia chuckled. "I think all those law books are getting to your head."

"My head is fine, thank you."

"Yeah, what is with that anyway?" Yang asked. "You just got in a whole bunch of books that I know you haven't read, and you're still reading those things instead."

"They're fun." Blake shrugged dismissively. "And I'm thinking about attending law school, so they're helpful."

"You are?" Both Ilia and Yang replied at the same time.

That was not something Yang had been aware of. Though she certainly hadn't missed that her best friend had taken to reading law books over everything else, she had merely thought it was another one of the woman's passing obsessions. She definitely hadn't suspected that there was something more behind it.

"I suppose." Blake admitted, a little hesitation in her voice. "I'm really enjoying the work I'm doing at the meetings, but they keep reminding me how much further we have to go. So I'm thinking I want to study civil law like my dad to really help the people."

"Oh… That's…"

Yang was unsure. That career path certainly seemed right for the girl, and was definitely something that she knew the woman could exceed at, but it was also Blake getting deeper into the White Fang. A part of her was still cautious and worried for her friend; however as Blake's amber eyes met hers, she remembered the promise she'd made.

"That's great." She smiled at her best friend, choosing to trust her judgement instead of her worries.

"That is really great." Weiss added with a nod. "Have you thought about where you're studying yet? Beacon has a great law department."

"Yes!" Penny chirped up again with a fervent nod. "It is really quite amazing, and then you can attend school with Rub-"

"Penny!" Ruby interrupted her quickly, causing the girl's hands to jump to her mouth with a small apology.

As every head around the table turned to face the younger girl, Ruby shook her head and tapped her fingers together anxiously. Her silver eyes fell to her lap, and she began to gently nibble on her lip.

"Ruby?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

The girl remained quiet for a second, until Ilia reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You may as well tell them now."

The silver-eyed girl took a deep breath before giving Weiss a shy look. Knowing what that usually meant, Yang sat back and prepared for the rush of words that were about to be sent their way.

"Well I… I really wanted to go to Beacon and I was gunna tell you a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to accept your offer to pay but then everything happened with your parents and you lost the company and now you're starting your own and I know that will be a lot of money so I didn't know if you could still afford it…"

"Ruby…"

"... So I didn't wanna ask and…"

"Rubes!" Yang cut the rambling girl off firmly. "Maybe let Weiss talk before you pass out?"

The girl looked slightly embarrassed as she sank into the couch, but stayed quiet as Weiss cast her a friendly smile.

"Ruby, between my inheritance and the money I will make when selling my shares in the STC, I will not be struggling to fund the company; especially since I am not the only investor. If you want the money to go to Beacon, then all you have to do is ask for it."

"I…" The young girl tapped her fingers together again. "Can you really afford it?"

"Ten times over." Weiss replied easily.

"Then… I would like to go. If I'm accepted."

"Then I would be happy to pay." There was not a hint of hesitance in her voice. "And for you Bla-"

"No thank you." The faunus shook her head before the woman could finish. "That is Ruby's dream, not mine. One I'm happy she's finally going for."

The raven-haired girl flashed the younger one a warm smile, and Ruby immediately returned it.

"Please." Yang chuckled. "As if there was any chance she'd turn down Beacon."

It was a lie. Yang knew there had been a chance Ruby would turn the offer down, but she knew that voicing it would only cause her sister more doubt. So keeping her thoughts to herself, she merely smiled encouragingly to the younger girl. However, while everyone else was smiling, she caught a worried look on Penny's face out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry, Ruby." The girl said in an uncharacteristically low voice. "I should not have said that."

"It's okay." Ruby said soothingly and picked up a few of the cups from the table. "I know you didn't mean to."

"I know. I'm just not used to having friends. Or secrets."

"It is strange at first, but you will get used to it." Weiss offered.

"Mhm." Ruby nodded. "And there are plenty of perks, like Yang paying for cookies."

"What?" Yang scowled at her sister, only for the girl to put on an innocent face that she had definitely learned from Zwei. "Ugh, fine. Why can't you be hesitant to take my money like you are with Weiss'?"

The girl didn't answer, only stuck out her tongue as she accepted the money and motioned for Penny to go with her. With a little bit of a dour look on her face, the other redhead lifted from her chair and took off after her. Following them with her eyes, Yang saw her sister quickly engage the girl in a conversation that didn't take long at all to put a smile on her friend's face, and felt a small swell of pride at how Ruby was turning out.

"College, a new friend, a relationship." Yang sighed and slumped back into the chair, Weiss' hand coming out to take hers. "She's gunna be all grown up soon."

"Could at least try and sound a little happy for us." Ilia grumbled.

"Oh shush." Yang waved dismissively at the purple-eyed girl. "You know I am."

"How are you two anyway?" Weiss asked curiously. "You seem happy together."

"We're good." Ilia replied, the scowl quickly turning into a smile. "Still just taking things slow, you know. Whatever she's comfortable with is fine by me."

"I can't believe I completely misread that part of her."

When Ruby had finally come to her after her talk with Weiss, Yang had actually felt a little ashamed of herself. Never once in all the time raising her had she considered that Ruby might not feel the same way about relationships as other people, and she could only imagine how frustrating all the little jokes about her and Oscar's friendship must have been. Needless to say, the apologies had been issued quickly.

"Well you are an idiot sometimes." Yang saw the tiniest of smirks from underneath her best friend's book. "It's to be expected."

"Wow! And I thought you were my fur-end." Yang chuckled as the pun earned a low groan from the others, and a shake of Blake's head.

"Unfortunately I am."

Yang couldn't lie. It felt good to be trading insults again. She'd missed it over the last few weeks. Missed the feeling of being able to casually take a jab at her friend and not risk having it turn into an argument. Thankfully, that seemed to have begun to pass and as they waited for Ruby to return with more drinks and food, Yang happily sank back into the couch and engaged her friend in conversations.

For two hours, they all simply talked. About upcoming exams, their future courses they wished to take, Weiss' business; about anything and everything. It was fun, and the more they talked, the more Yang found herself looking at her girlfriend. There was a smile on her face, a smile that she hadn't seen for a while.

Weiss was happy. Despite having lost the company and having to start again from scratch… She was happy. And just seeing that smile was enough for Yang to know that they had made the right decision. Because no matter what happened, Yang knew that she would more than happily spend the rest of her days making sure the woman kept smiling in such a way.

Eventually though, the meeting had to come to an end. And as Penny left and Ruby stood up to start her shift, as did Blake and Ilia.

"Alright." Ilia smiled and pressed a kiss into Ruby's cheek, causing the girl to blush as she took off towards the counter with a smile. "We should head out too. Still need to set up for tonight's meeting."

"We should head home too." Yawning slightly, Weiss sat up from Yang's lap, where she had been sitting for the past thirty minutes. "I finally have a free afternoon, and I have yet to actually make good on my promise to help Yang study."

"Good luck with that." Blake smirked. "Getting her to study is something I gave up on a long time again."

"Not my fault you were boring." Yang shrugged.

"Well… I am sure I can think of a way to keep you interested." Weiss said quietly and wrapped her arms around her waist. Over the woman's shoulder, Yang saw Blake shake her head.

"Mmm, I bet you could."

"Alright." Ilia sighed with a fake gag. "We're leaving before we have to witness anymore of… this. Later."

"Your loss." Yang chuckled, pulling Weiss in closer and pressing a kiss against the top of her head. "See you tomorrow."

Muttering a goodbye, Blake and Ilia walked away and left the shop, leaving them standing alone.

"Wanna call Hazel? Or wanna take my bike?"

"Hmm…" Weiss hummed, pulling backwards and looking up at her thoughtfully. "As much as I will likely regret it, your bike."

"Mmm, feeling adventurous." Yang grinned. "Let's go then."

Before moving, Weiss leaned up and pressed a kiss against her lips, sending a rush of heat through her body. Instinctively, she leaned into it and let out a small hum, reaching her hand down to take her beautiful girlfriend's hand. Breaking the kiss with great difficulty, she flashed her a mischievous grin and pulled her towards the door so that they could head home.

"Now that… was definitely... needed."

That would probably be the biggest understatement Weiss ever made. Though Yang had definitely never failed to satisfy her, after almost two months of being too busy for sex, Weiss was in heaven. Her chest was heavy, her breaths coming in little more than hurried pants. Her body tingled from pure pleasure, but also a little pain where her fingers and toes had squeezed so tightly that she had no doubt there was going to be a few holes in the sheets. And her mind…

For the first time in weeks, her mind was clear; the sheer scale of her orgasm having removed anything that wasn't to do with her, Yang, and the bed they were laying in.

"I could tell." Yang grinned, massaging her jaw slightly and holding out her arm.

Weiss immediately closed the gap and rested her head on Yang's chest, draping one of her still shaking legs over her girlfriend's. Glancing past the girl, she saw a mess of clothes and study books. Neither had lasted long when the study session had started; and though Weiss was definitely going to keep it in her back pocket for the future, she was definitely not going to try it again as a way to help her girlfriend learn better.

"Remind me why we went so long without it again?" She asked, her heart still pounding against her chest.

"I have no idea." Yang chuckled, her hand coming up to glide lazily across her sweaty back. "Definitely not happening again though."

"My thoughts exactly." Weiss hummed in full agreement. "Though I'm not sure when I will next have a free afternoon."

"I don't mind." Weiss could tell that Yang was telling the truth. "I know how much this company means to you. Though… I'm not sure on the name. SANTA?"

Schnee and Aweburn's Neoteric Technological Advancements. It was definitely a mouthful, and was very likely to be revised in the future, but Weiss was actually rather fond of the acronym. Her grandfather had loved christmas, and a year had yet to pass without someone commenting on the irony that Nicholas Schnee not only shared the associated saint's name, but also that his general appearance was not too far off either.

"I want to give the world a gift." She reasoned with a smile up at the blonde. "Just like my grandfather did. SANTA seems like an appropriate name… Though I do agree it's a little on the nose."

"Just a little?"

"Oh shush." Weiss replied, rolling over a little so that she was practically laying on top of her girlfriend. "Says the one who wants to call her restaurant Goldicooks."

"And I will hire only blondes who make killer porridge." Yang said with a smirk.

Shaking her head and letting out a short burst of laughter, Weiss shuffled up a little and pressed a kiss against the woman's luscious lips. Enjoying the warmth that pulsed through her body, she hummed and ran a hand through the mess of blonde hair. After a few seconds of indulging her desires though, she pulled away and stared down into the beautiful pair or lilac orbs.

"But if you keep distracting me from my studie-"

"Me?" Weiss replied with false indignation. "You are the one who started this."

"Not my fault you took your top off."

"I took my jacket off…"

"Still a top."

"... and you took everything else off."

"Well they were all gunna come off eventually, I just saved us some time." Weiss shook her head amusedly at the grin on her girlfriend's face. "And thank Oum I did. Getting the apartment to ourselves is almost impossible now. Not that I'm complaining."

"You are not wrong." Weiss admitted.

Though Weiss was definitely happy to have her family living with her, and the apartment definitely had enough rooms, even she couldn't deny that it was hard to get a moment alone. Though Whitley rarely stepped foot downstairs and preferred to use the upstairs living room, her mother had taken to aimlessly wandering the apartment in search of something to do and could appear randomly at any moment. Klein had also moved in until he could find a place of his own, and while the man was excellent at his job, there was no denying that having such a competent butler meant his tendency to pop up whenever something happened became a little much at times.

"Five is a lot of people. Even for this such a large apartment."

"It is." Yang bit her lip anxiously. "So uhh… What if it became four?"

"Huh?" Weiss tilted her head in confusion.

"Well…"

Yang let out a small sigh and shifted to sit up. Following suit, Weiss moved from her position on top of the woman and sat cross-legged beside her.

"I'm thinking that maybe it's time I went back to my dad's."

"Oh…" Weiss felt her face drop, but Yang quickly continued.

"It's not that I haven't enjoyed living here with you or that I want to stop, because I don't, I just… You need to focus on your family and work right now, and I need to fix things with my dad and spend time with Ruby before she goes to college."

Weiss couldn't say she wasn't disappointed. After all, she had really enjoyed living with Yang. Having someone to come back to everyday had been much more satisfying than she could ever have imagined, and she didn't want to give that up. However, she could definitely see Yang's point. So long as the woman was away from home, it was so much easier for her to avoid her father instead of fixing things. Something she had been doing ever since moving in.

"I'm sorry." Yang grimaced. "I know things have finally started to work out in our fav-"

"It's fine, Yang." Weiss cut her off with a shake of her head, reaching out to cup her amazing girlfriend's cheek. "Your relationship with your dad comes first."

"You're not disappointed?"

"A little." Weiss admitted with a weak smile. "But you have to do what is right for you, and I would rather we live together because you want to, not because you are running from something."

Yang's hand came up and clutched hers, squeezing reassuringly. "I've loved every second of the last six months living with you; and I'll definitely be back once everything is sorted. Besides, I'll be staying over regularly, and you can stay over whenever too, so we'll still see each other plenty."

Weiss knew that was definitely true. Even living apart, there was no doubt that most of their nights would still be spent together. So, perking up a little at the fact she knew she would still be waking up beside the blonde, she gave the woman a genuine smile and collapsed back onto her side, pulling Yang with her.

"I think that's a deal I can live with." She grinned as Yang hovered on top of her, her lilac eyes slowly swapping from doubt to lust. "Though I would not be opposed to a little more convincing."

"I bet you wou-"

Yang's words turned into a small groan as a loud knock on the door rang throughout the room.

"Sister?"

"Can we just pretend we're not in?" Yang whispered, Weiss quickly tapping her on the face with a smile before pushing her aside.

She, too, was a little frustrated at being interrupted, but she hopped off the bed and wrapped the sheet around herself before running over to the door and pulling it open. Stood in the hallway dressed in the vest she had bought him a few weeks earlier and dress pants was Whitley.

"I didn't know you were back." She smiled at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but Willow just received a call from her lawyer. He would like to see us as well."

"Oh, right!" She breathed, looking behind her to see that it was just over an hour before her mother's appointment. "Alright, I will shower and meet you downstairs."

The boy stared at her for a second before rolling his eyes and walking off while muttering something under his breath that sounded a lot like adults. Closing the door after him, she turned back to her girlfriend, who was laid naked on the bed with no cover to hide herself and her hands behind her head, and let out a low groan. Oh how she wished she could join her again.

"I'm sorry." She breathed.

"It's fine." The blonde laughed, pushing herself up onto her knees and moving to the edge of the bed, Weiss walking to meet her and wrapping her arms around her neck. "Life calls."

"Mhm." She grumbled, leaning down to press a brief peck onto her girlfriend's lips. "You'll just have to convince me some more another time."

"I can't wait." Yang laughed. "Now go and get in the shower."

Despite giving the woman a nod, Weiss leaned down and pressed their lips together once more. Feeling Yang's hands slip down her waist and take a hold of her butt, she let out a hungry groan. Just as always, things with Yang felt perfect. Kissing her, touching her, even just being near her; it was so easy to forget everything else happening in her life and just enjoy the moment. Unfortunately, all she had was a moment, and once it passed she was forced herself to pull away. She didn't pull away too far though, and let her forehead rest against the other woman's as she looked longingly into her eyes.

"I love you." She breathed. "I could say it a million times, and I still doubt I could ever truly express just how much I mean those words."

"Don't worry." The blonde chuckled, her hand's leaving her ass and returning to her waist. "I already know. And I feel the same."

Feeling butterflies in her stomach, Weiss gave the woman a small nod and finally pulled away. A smile was exchanged, and she reached out to run a hand lovingly across her girlfriend's cheek. It had taken so much time, and cost her so much to achieve, but she finally had everything she ever wanted sitting right in front of her. That alone was more than enough to let her know that everything had been worth it. She was finally free to live life as she wanted, and to experience the only future she had ever truly been excited for.

So, with one last kiss, she took a contented breath and made her way to the shower, ready to face whatever it was that awaited her next.

A/N

Well well well. So here we are. As you can probably tell, this is in fact that final chapter of the actual story, so technically the story is finished now. WAIT... Don't go anywhere ;-; There is still one more short chapter left to go.

With this chapter though, I really wanted to just round things out nicely(hopefully.) Finally add the finishing touches to the few plot lines that needed their final bow on top, like Yang and Tai who will be working on themselves going forward and Ruby's Beacon decision, but also leave a few of the minor ones open. Of course, I have the answers :P But I do like the idea of allowing the reader to imagine where certain things ended up themselves. And of course, we ended the chapter on fluff :D

I really, REALLY, hope that you enjoyed the ending, and the story as a whole, and that you will stick around for the epilogue, but with that is all from me for now. I will talk a little more after at the end of the epilogue, but I just want to say that I am really grateful to every single one of you that joined me on this three year long journey :D

Chapter 90 - Three Years Later (Epilogue) will be up on the 5th of August.

Reviews

Oerba-yun-Vex, Zoro50, jm4reader, Tankser99. Thank you all so much for all your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, and hopefully this one will be satisfying enough for you :)