Blake led the other two girls back out of the dorm once it was clear that Violet wanted to be left alone. It was obvious that their purple haired leader was exhausted, both physically and mentally, from whatever power she had utilized. The look that had been in her eyes moments after the explosion was what worried Blake the most though. She had seen that look in her own eyes many times, even after leaving the White Fang.

It was shame.

The cat faunus didn't know what their leader had to be ashamed about. They had all been saved thanks to her! Even still, there had been a deep seated regret in those beautiful amethyst eyes. Blake's heart had gone out to her in that moment, wanting more than anything else to give her what comfort she could offer, as Violet had done for her over the last month. Blake didn't have her leader's powers of insight, though. She couldn't tell what bothered her.

As the group found their way back outside into the cool night air atop the Beacon plateau, they sat down together on a bench, one of many that lined the walkway between buildings. They stayed silent for a small time, each collecting their own thoughts on the events that had so recently transpired.

Blake was the first to speak, her mind still incapable of coming to any real conclusion on her own. If she couldn't think of an answer, then perhaps collectively they could, "Did anyone else notice how Violet seemed… ashamed of herself?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby quipped back as she was pulled from her own thoughts, leaning forward on the far right side of the bench to peer past Yang towards Blake.

The blond sat with her arms folded, and nodded slightly at Blake's mention of the fact, still staring forward ahead of herself, "I don't know why… but she's always been evasive. She didn't even open up about being able to set things on fire until after she almost died to the King Taijitu."

Ruby's face screwed up in confusion, while Yang and Blake merely appeared thoughtful. Blake hunched forward and place her head against her hand, staying turned to her right to keep an eye on both of her teammates, "Do you think she did something with them that she isn't proud of? What if she… hurt people in the past?"

Yang shook her head, "On accident, maybe. Violet is too nice to have an evil backstory…" The blond paused, frowning suddenly as her eyes went vacant, "She does have a hate boner for Cardin, though."

"Had," Ruby corrected, "She's been helping him train in class recently, remember?"

The other two could only nod in agreement. Violet had been making efforts to help Cardin along. 'I certainly would never have given him a second chance…' Blake thought to herself, mind going back to the way Cardin had acted in the first weeks of school. Her mind flickered to Weiss as well, though. That one had been a surprise. Blake could at least tolerate the heiress these days. Weiss didn't act racist, but she was still a pompous brat at the best of times.

Yang shrugged, "Just another reason I can't see her hurting someone unless it was on accident."

"I think we should just ask her," Ruby said, eyeing the two older girls, "I know you don't like secrets, Yang, but remember what happened last time?"

Yang stiffened slightly, glancing in Ruby's direction, then sighed, "I was being selfish. The last time I wanted to know was for me. This is different. She just saved our lives! We aren't good friends if we don't at least try to help her."

"Ruby is right, though. We should ask her," Blake accepted slowly, "We don't want to sit here and come up with a bunch of ridiculous theories that might be worse than what's actually bothering her."

That sat in silence for a while, pondering their next possible avenue. Collectively, they sighed. The prospect was daunting. Blake had always thought the girl was an enigma; someone that by all rights shouldn't exist given her background and what Blake knew of Atlas's uppercrust.

"Good job with that ice dust, Rubes," Yang said finally, sitting back and rubbing a hand across the younger girl's head as she changed the subject.

Ruby balked, smacking Yang's hand away and scooting further away, "It wasn't anything special."

"Are you kidding?" Yang's face broke out in a small smile, "You whipped on that bullhead so fast. Spruce Willis would be proud."

"Do you still think our lives are nothing compared to the movie star's?" Blake asked with a smirk, going back to what the girl had said the lunch before they left to see the movie.

Yang laughed, "Sure, we survived one explosion. Spruce survives like, a hundred more of those in every movie he's in," the blond eyed Blake with a smirk, "Though you weren't really paying attention in the movie theater now, were you?"

Blake blushed slightly, mind going back to the way she had been curled up against Violet in the dark theater, enjoying the girl's company more than she had the obnoxiously loud movie that had been playing, "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on Blakey," Yang chastised with a shake of her head, "We've all noticed your little glances."

For her part, Ruby seemed confused by the entire exchange and had tilted her head slightly while she listened in, silver eyes darting back and forth between the two, "What are you guys talking about?"

Yang kept her smile focused on Blake as she replied to Ruby, "Kitty's got a crush."

"I do not," Blake replied vehemently, turning her head away from the other two, hair swishing in its wake to block their view of the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Oooh…", Blake could feel the grin spreading across the younger girl's face as she continued, "Blake and Violet, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-"

Blake stood up and stormed off, keeping her face averted from the other two. Her efforts proved fruitless though, as the pair simply rose up from their places on the bench and followed along behind.

Yang laughed as Ruby cut off, "That was a little too juvenile, Rubes."

"You said the same thing to Mary Gold when she had a crush on that boy from school in Signal!" Ruby shot back defensively.

The blond tossed her hair, "That was two years ago, Rubes."

"Yeah, and I'm two years younger than you," the girl replied victoriously with a firm nod, arms crossed.

Yang shook her head, "Just because I did something when I was a kid doesn't make it any less childish when you say the same thing about Blake and Violet."

Blake cut in before Ruby could reply, stopping the girl mid breath as she spun, eyes narrowing at the pair, "Would you two be quiet?" The cat faunus breathed out heavily, calming herself, "Look… Let's say I do have an… appreciation for our leader. I hardly want the whole school to find out about it!"

"Why not, Blakey?" Yang replied innocently, the smile returning to her face, "Afraid our dear leader will shoot you down?"

Blake shook her head, eyes downcast as she turned away slightly, hands drawing up in a subconscious display of defense, "My last relationship wasn't exactly the best… and unlike that one, I can't run away if it doesn't work out since we'll be on the same team for the next four years."

"That's ridiculous," Yang replied with some trepidation, hand going out to Blake's shoulder, "Even if it didn't work out, can you really see Violet turning you down in any way other than the nicest way possible?"

Blake stewed for a few seconds as she pondered what she could say next. How much should she admit about her past? Violet had taken the knowledge of Blake being in the White Fang surprisingly well, especially for an upper class girl from Atlas, and had even helped to ease the others into accepting it. Now that Blake thought about it, though… 'How did she know? She knew my father started the White Fang, but…' Blake had been so overwhelmed by seeing her parents again that she had hardly noticed the quick exchange between her mother and Violet. Either the girl had an insane skill for deductive reasoning and insight, or she had already known somehow. 'As if Violet would somehow be mixed up with the White Fang.'

Blake decided that the two girls had proven themselves more than trust-worthy, and that keeping all of her secrets past this point would only serve to worsen the impact later on. She drew a deep breath, and faced the other two with her shoulders squared. Yang retreated slightly at her expression, hand withdrawing and falling back down to her side while she and Ruby waited patiently.

"I don't think I'm worth it…"

When Yang and Ruby both opened their mouths to protest, Blake held up her hand, "Let me finish…" she breathed out once more, drawing her resolve back, "When I was a member of the White Fang, we did terrible things. Inexcusable acts."

Ruby and Yang stood in shock, neither pulling away, but neither having any words to offer at the moment either. Blake decided it was in her best interests to cut off any particularly negative lines of thinking and continued, "I left because they were getting too violent. That doesn't change the fact that I helped them rob dust shipments and… burn down shops that refused to serve faunus customers…"

Yang rubbed a hand across the back of her neck, "Wow, Blake… That's…"

"But you left for good, right?" Ruby piped up from behind her sister, eyes wide as she looked at Blake, hoping for confirmation from the older girl.

Blake nodded, ashamed of herself in a way neither of the two could likely understand, "I thought that we were making a difference, and in some ways… we were. Shops stopped rejecting faunus customers, people weren't as blatantly racist to us in the streets… My… mentor, kept pushing for us to go further though. When he finally wanted me to help him kill innocents… I left."

Ruby rushed forward suddenly, wrapping Blake in a tight hug, "You're okay in my book, Blake!"

Yang took a second longer, but nodded to the faunus over the top of her sister, "I won't pretend like I know what you've been through, but we've all done things we regret…"

Blake doubted that Yang could have done anything remotely close to the hundreds of thousands of lien worth of property damage the ex-terrorist had caused, but accepted it nonetheless, "Thank you…" Tears brimmed in her eyes. Her team really was more than she ever could have hoped for.

Yang patted her on the back and steered the group back towards the dorms, "Don't be so hard on yourself, kitty cat. I'm sure Violet won't care, either."

The faunus let out a small bubbly chuckle, "Violet already knows."

The blond rolled her eyes after a quick glance at Blake, "Of course she does. Honestly, sometimes I get the feeling that girl knows more about us that we do about ourselves."

Blake knew the feeling well. Violet always had a tiny smirk and a glint in her eyes whenever you tried to lie to her, like she could see right through you. It could be disconcerting at times, "Maybe that's another one of her powers," Blake joked out loud.

Ruby held a hand up counting out each of the powers Violet had displayed, "Fire, ice, mind reading... Think she has anything else up her sleeve?"

Yang laughed, "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. Next thing you know, she'll turn out to be stronger than Oum himself."

"Don't be ridiculous, Yang," Ruby replied. They all quieted down as the younger girl pulled out her scroll and used it to unlock their dorm room. It opened with a click, swinging wide to reveal Violet exactly where they had left her.

Blake could still hear the girl's shallow breaths, 'She isn't really asleep yet', but didn't mention it when the other girl refused to turn their way at the sound of the door opening.

The trio silently changed into their various pajamas and crawled into bed. Yang helped Ruby get up into her bunk, if only to avoid disturbing the purple haired girl resting beneath her. Blake vaulted up into her own bed with cat-like grace and only the tiniest sound. There was a murmured chorus of 'good night' from the three girls before both Ruby and Yang turned over, quickly falling asleep.

'It was a long day.'

Still, Blake couldn't help but fight off the brimming desire for rest, and instead focused on Violet. The girl was still awake, that much was apparent. The faunus pulled up her scroll and sent a quick message, knowing their leader always kept hers on vibrate.

"Do you want to talk?"

After a minute, Violet's hand slowly crept over to her scroll, and she popped it open to look at the message Blake had sent her. There were a few tense seconds, with the faunus wondering if her offer had been rejected, before Violet turned around and gave Blake a silent nod.

Her leader quietly withdrew from beneath her covers and, still in her pajamas, walked to the door. Blake dropped to the carpet on the floor in front of the bookshelf and followed, glad her offer had not gone ignored.

The two stepped out into the hallway then continued a bit further away, retreating from the close proximity of both team Vibrant's and team Siren's dorms. Violet finally stopped and sat down on a bench in one of the small windowed alcoves that lined the hallway. Moonlight streamed down through the glass, illuminating the pair of them as they sat next to each other.

Violet seemed content to sit there in silence, one leg kicking idly back and forth while the other had been drawn up against her chest, foot resting on the bench while her arms hugged herself tightly against it. Blake could still see the remnants of regret in the girl's eyes from earlier.

"What's wrong?" Blake finally decided to just go straight to the heart of the matter, her curiosity and desire to help her leader getting the better of her.

Violet didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to rest her chin against her knee and eye Blake sideways. The other girl finally sighed, though, leaning back against the cold window behind her, "I'm just… regretting a lot of the things I've done in my life…"

Blake fought down her initial reaction, which was to scoff at her leader. 'How much could a girl from Atlas possibly regret?' The sadness in Violet's eyes kept her mouth shut, though. Instead, she simply waited for the other girl to elaborate. If she didn't… Blake wouldn't press her for it. There were certain things in the faunus's past that she would never want to admit to under any circumstances.

When Violet seemed content to just sit there sadly, Blake attempted to lighten the mood. She bumped her shoulder against Violet's and quipped lightly, "I hope saving us wasn't one of your 'regrets'."

Violet smiled, but there was no real joy in it, "Of course not…" her eyes drifted away, looking down and away from Blake as she spoke again, "That's the complete opposite of what's bothering me…"

'Had Violet failed to save someone in the past?' The previous idea of Violet using her powers on accident were suddenly replaced with a much more grim possibility, one that made much more sense with her idea of who their leader was as a person.

"Who?" Blake replied simply, trying to help ease her friend into a confession, reminded of her earliest story about having a sister, 'If she can't confide in her team, then who else can she?'

To her surprise though, Violet just shook her head, "I never actually had a sister, Blake."

The faunus's eyebrows raised, both eyes going wide as her pupils dilated into slits, "Seriously, the way you read everyone so easily is kind of scary sometimes."

Violet did laugh a little at that and gave Blake a small grin, "It's part of my charm, Belladonna."

The reaction brightened the faunus's mood as well, glad that she had gotten the girl to smile, if only for a moment, "Well, your charm is certainly working." Blake went red, realizing what she had just said. It seemed like Violet hadn't noticed the accidental admission, though, as her face once again fell. The faunus wasn't sure whether or not she relished that fact. It would have been nice to get her feelings out in the open, but… 'Now isn't the time for it.'

"You all deserve so much more than me," Violet said after a few seconds, her eyes once again darting downward.

"Excuse me?" Blake's hackles raised slightly as she inched closer to her leader, "You have been nothing but perfect to us, to me, since I met you. What more could we want?"

"Someone that didn't lead you into a death trap, maybe?" Violet retorted quietly, refusing to meet Blake's eyes.

Blake sat back in confusion, "Is that why you're beating yourself up? None of us could have guessed what would happen!" The faunus shook her head in disbelief, "Even if you had known what would happen ahead of time, Torchwick and the White Fang still need to be stopped."

"We would have been successful if I had used my powers from the start," Violet argued, holding a hand up to look at it in the moonlight. There was a brief flicker of ice crystals that formed above her palm. They were instantly incinerated by a flash of purple flame.

Blake was a little breathless as she watched it happen, "You… know how to control it?"

"Not until now," Violet replied quickly, letting her hand fall as she looked back to the faunus, "But if I had back then, I could have saved the members of team Cardinal sooner. I could have stopped Torchwick and Neo when I confronted them at the van."

Blake shook her head in understanding, "You can't blame yourself for your past mistakes. If I had known sooner that I was going to eventually leave the White Fang, then I would have done so when my father left. It would have saved me from years worth of going down the wrong path."

"Never look back…" Violet muttered with a shake of her head.

"No…" Blake frowned, trying to find the exact wording that she would use, "You should never forget the past. You should learn from it. I'll never make the same mistakes, because I know better than I did back then."

Violet was silent for awhile, contemplating the words that Blake had spoken to her. They seemed to have a profound effect, judging by the expressions that continuously crossed her leader's face. The faunus was starting to get worried by the time the girl finally spoke again.

"You're right."

Her leader surprised the faunus by suddenly wrapping her in a tight hug. Blake returned it in kind, purring softly despite herself in the warm embrace.

"Thank you, Blake," Violet said in a low whisper, quiet enough that even the cat faunus had trouble catching the words she spoke, "I think… those are words I can live by."

Blake nuzzled into her neck and gripped tighter, refusing to be the first to pull away, "I'm happy I could help, Violet. Just... don't be so hard on yourself."

Violet sighed, finally sitting back, "Okay," she had a small smile on her face, this time without the sadness behind her eyes, "I'll be the best I can be for all of you." Her leader jumped up and held a hand out, pulling Blake up to her feet along with her.

The pair made their way back to the dorm room side by side, and eventually wished each other goodnight before turning in.

That night, Violet let herself dream.