The front door was ajar and she could hear the sound of yelling from the bottom of the stairs. Blake stormed up the stairs as fast as she could. With Emerald trailing behind her, she tried very hard to hide the severity of her limp, not daring to give that woman any hint of weakness. Gambol Shroud was still clenched in her hand, in case that failed.

Adrenaline had carried her all the way from the docks to her front door. If she'd stopped to think for even a moment, she might not have made it at all. As it was, she hardly believed what Emerald had told her at the docks. Even after she'd crashed through her front door and saw the living proof of it, she was still in denial. Part of it was the shock of it all. Part of it was because of all the ways she'd imagined being reunited with Yang Xiao Long, none of them including Yang strangling her girlfriend.

"What did you do to my sister Weiss? Huh? Tell me!"

Yang had Weiss up against the wall, her fist clenched around her neck. Ruby was lying dead still on the bed, staring at Yang in pure shock. Her shirt and bra were still hiked up, telling Blake everything she needed to know about what was happening.

"Yang!" Blake yelled. "Let her go, Yang. Let's talk about this."

Yang whipped her head around to Blake, her eyes still blood red and glowing. The air rippled around from the heat pour of her. The red in her eyes flickered when saw Blake, but it didn't go out. As soon as the shock had faded, the anger returned to her.

"Stay out of this Blake," Yang growled. "She was doing something to Ruby. I saw it."

"I don't doubt it," Blake said. "But remember you've been gone awhile. If you just let Weiss down, I'm sure she can give you a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Ruby still hadn't moved, but while no one else could notice it yet, something was happening in her. Blake felt the high pitched whine of it hissing in her ears and thrum of it shaking her bones. Her stomach sank at the realization. She had to diffuse the situation and fast.

"Yang," Blake said. "I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me?"

"I know what I saw," Yang said.

"I don't doubt that," Blake said. "But don't take it out on Weiss. She's your friend. Look at her, Yang. You're hurting her."

Yang turned back to Weiss, who was trying to stay as still as she could despite being lifted up off her feet. A strained wheeze escaped her lips as she tried to force a smile of sorts onto her red face. Blake had to ask again before Yang finally released her grip on Weiss. Her eyes flickered back to purple as she looked around the room and started to come to terms with her fit of rage.

Blake rushed to Weiss' side and helped her up. Her throat was still red and hot to the touch. Still reeling from what happened, Weiss took just a little too long to remember to use her aura to keep it from bruising.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked.

"I'm alive if that's what you're asking," Weiss wheezed out.

Blake squeezed Weiss' hand and helped her up to her feet. Weiss continued to wheeze and cough a few times, but she was recovering already from the attack.

"I think somebody owes me an explanation," Yang spat out. Her eyes were still purples, but no less full of fury. "What were you doing to Ruby?"

"Fill me in real quick so I can help you," Blake whispered to Weiss. "What did she see?"

"Ruby and I were having an…intimate moment," Weiss said.

"Got it."

"Well?" Yang took a step back toward Weiss. "Are you going to say anything for not?"

Ruby grabbed her hand and held her back. The presence Blake had felt had calmed a little, but was still there in waiting. From the look on Yang's face when Ruby touched her, Blake could tell that she felt something too.

"Yang, I promise you that there is a perfectly good reason for whatever you walked in on," Blake said, loud enough to get Yang's attention again. "Tell her, Weiss."

"I- I know what it looked like, Yang," Weiss said slowly. "Now, this isn't how I'd hoped to eventually tell you this, but I am currently in a romantic relationship with your sister. So what you saw was-"

"You're what?" Yang immediately looked at Ruby. "Really?"

Ruby nodded.

Yang looked back at Weiss, then back at Ruby again. Then she repeated that several more times, each time looking more and more confused, until finally: "Oh."

There were many ways Ruby saw this reunion happening. This was not even close to any of them.

"So, uh," Yang said. "Sorry about kind of choking out Weiss. I sort of lost my cool."

A massive understatement.

"It's okay," Ruby lied. "I'm sure Weiss understands." She did not.

Blake was quick to take Weiss out of the room and give her a chance to recover and get some ice on her neck. Emerald awkwardly filed out after them, but neither Blake nor Weiss were particularly thrilled at her presence. That left Ruby and Yang to catch up, but that was hardly what was actually happening. Never before had Ruby felt so uncomfortable around Yang. She hated it.

"Ruby, I-" Yang faltered. Her eyes were lilac again, but wet with tears that she refused to let fall. "I'm sorry, Ruby. I am so so sorry that I left you. You don't have to forgive me, but I just want you to know that I have regretted it every second of every day since I abandoned you here."

"Abandon?" Ruby said. "I thought I abandoned you. I was the one that stayed when I should have gone with you. I was so afraid, I just- I wasn't strong enough to be there for you like you were always there for me."

"But I wasn't there for you," Yang said. "I wasn't there. I could've stayed, but I didn't. I was so caught up in being the hero-"

"No. Yang, that's not-" When did it get so hard just to talk to her own sister? "You did the right thing. And I- I guess I accidentally did the right thing too. Maybe it's good that it turned out this way."

"What do you mean?"

Ruby froze there. That was a far bigger question than she was ready for when she mentioned it. It hurt her to think it, but she considered that maybe lying to Yang about what happened to her would be the best course of action. How could she possibly explain to Yang that her sister died while she was gone and replaced by something else?

"Ruby, what is it?" Yang pressed, seeing right through Ruby's deflections before she could even say them. "Did something happen?"

"You haven't talked to Cordovin yet, have you?"

"Cordovin? You mean-" Yang held out her hand, low to the ground in a surprisingly accurate estimation of Cordovin's height. "Why would I talk to her? Didn't she try to kill us with a giant robot?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Ruby said. She chuckled at how absurd that all seemed to her now. "I guess she did do that, didn't she? She's kind of, uh, mellowed out since then. I think that's the word for it."

"I'll just take your word for it," Yang said. "Why'd you bring her up?"

"Well, it's kind of a funny story." It wasn't. "She's kind of like- I guess you could say she's my boss now?"

Yang raised an eyebrow at that.

"It's, like, way more complicated than that," Ruby said. "I mean, technically I'm wanted by the military and supposed to be locked up, but she lets me stay with Weiss and B-"

Oh, Blake. Yet another thing she had to explain to Yang.

"Back up a second," Yang said. "Are you working for Cordovin or are you imprisoned by Cordovin?"

"Technically the second, but it feels more like the first," Ruby said. "Weiss understands it better than me. It's mostly a boring paperwork thing."

Yang had to pause and take that in, but she seemed just as confused by it as Ruby was when it was first explained to her. She did conveniently leave out the part where she's technically a weapon owned by the military now, but she figured that could be a conversation for another day. Or a conversation for no day. She knew better than to hope it would never come up. At the very least she could try and hold it off for as long as she could.

"I'm starting to think we've both had a pretty hectic time," Yang said. "Honestly, I really don't want to talk about this right now. Let's talk about something else: Weiss."

Ruby winced at Yang's directness. "Oh, uh…Well Weiss is my- She's my, like, girlfriend now. I guess"

"Well duh," Yang said. "I kinda gathered as much when I saw you and her-"

"Don't bring that up again," Ruby groaned. "That was embarrassing enough as it is."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, little sis," Yang said. She pulled Ruby into a hug and tousled her hair like a child. "I'm so proud of you, bringing home a smoke show like Weiss."

"Please don't call her that…"

"I mean it!" Yang said. "I didn't know you had it in you. But I guess you learned from the best huh?"

"Ugh, gross Yang," Ruby tried and failed to push out of Yang's grasp. "Can you not talk about Weiss that way? I know you slept with her, it's awkward enough already."

"Ah," Yang said. "Shit. She told you?"

"It came up, yeah," Ruby said. "She wanted to be open and honest about it. I kinda wish she didn't, though."

"Yeah me too," Yang said. She let go of Ruby finally, but stayed close to her. "Sorry about that."

"Just don't do it again?"

"Roger that."

They fell into that dreadful awkward silence again. In the lull, Yang shifted next to Ruby. Ruby jumped when Yang pressed her hand to the back of her neck. Suddenly their closeness was no longer comfortable for Ruby.

"Do you have a fever?" Yang asked. "You're burning up."

"It's a long story," Ruby admitted. "A long story for another day. When I'm ready."

"Okay…" Yang said, her desire to ask more evident in her voice. "Are you alright though?"

"Yeah," Ruby said. "I'm okay enough, at least. ."

"Good. Cause I promise you, Ruby. I'm never going to let anything happen to you. And I promise I'm never going to leave you again."

"Good. Cause I won't let you."

Night had begun to fall, choking out the last of the evening light. Yang left Ruby to rest, but she asked Weiss if they could go somewhere and talk. Weiss' terrible habit of stress eating had been gnawing at her since she first laid eyes on Yang that day, but at a point she didn't care anymore. She took Yang out to her favorite little dive nearby the house and ordered the biggest plate of oysters she could.

"Damn Weiss," Yang said. "I didn't know you could eat like that."

"I try not to," Weiss said. "But I'd say this is as appropriate an occasion as any to indulge a little, wouldn't you?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess you're right," Yang said. "Sorry about the thing earlier. How's your neck?"

"It's fine and I'm fine," Weiss said. "I can't say I don't blame you. If I'd seen someone doing something like that with my brother and without context, I may have reacted similarly."

"Oh, okay," Yang said.

Weiss knew that something bad was coming. She downed oyster after oyster, soaking them in hot sauce and trying to get as many in her before the bomb dropped. Yang wouldn't look her in the eyes at all, at least whenever she wasn't choking Weiss out. It was a lucky thing she'd had plenty of aura at the time to keep her neck from turning all shades of black and blue.

"Hey, I'm sorry about leaving," Yang said. "I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it," Weiss said. She downed another oyster and said, "You had your reasons to leave. I had mine to stay. Neither of us is free of blame in this. There's no use in lingering on it now."

"So you're not mad?" Yang asked.

"Oh, I was," Weiss said. "'Angry' doesn't even come close to describing my feelings at first. I stewed in it, constantly relieving the memory of watching you fly off and leave me here. But even when I was still furious, I wasn't being fair. Not at all. I can't hold it against you, but I won't blame you if you hold it against me. I let fear control me and hold me here. You were far braver than me. You didn't abandon your duty like I did. For that, I am truly sorry. But in the end it worked out, perhaps for the better."

"I don't hold it against you either," Yang siad. "But I do feel guilty."

"Don't," Weiss said. "What's done is done. Guilt is reserved for the present, not for the past."

"I don't just feel guilty about leaving," Yang said. "There's something else I have to tell you."

There it was. The bomb that Weiss was waiting for. She had little clue as to what Yang would say, but the shift in her mood told her before her words could. Yang had never looked so meek as she did then.

"Weiss," she said. "It's about your dad."

Weiss froze.

"Your dad is dead, Weiss," Yang said. "I killed him."

"What about my family?" Weiss immediately asked. "My mother? Winter and Whitley?"

"They're safe. They're safe," Yang said quickly. "They're with Uncle Qrow and Clover. They're gonna be okay."

"Good, good," Weiss said, still chewing on what Yang had just dropped on her. "Who is Clover?"

"He's a good guy," Yang assured her. "He's saved our lives more times than I can count. Qrow trusts him and so do I."

"Good," Weiss said again. After a long pause, she asked: "Did he deserve it?"

"Absolutely."

"Then it is what it is," Weiss said. "I have no tears to shed for that man. I hope this isn't too stressful of a question for you, but how did it happen?"

"Uhm," Yang thought for a moment. "It all just happened so fast. He got in our way and he said some terrible things about you. That and we were moving some explosives at the time, so… one thing led to another."

"I see," Weiss said. "Thank you for telling me. I know that couldn't have been easy for you."

They fell into silence after that, but a more comfortable one than before. Yang seemed like a great weight had been lifted off of her. For a while, they just enjoyed each other's presence and polished off the last of the oysters together. SIlence turned to small talk and small talk eventually became girl talk.

"So, I gotta know," Yang said. "Who asked who out?"

Weiss thought about it for a moment. That was more complex a question than she thought it would be.

"Officially?" Weiss started. "I believe Ruby asked Blake first. Then I think Blake asked me? Then Ruby and I sort of happened without a question needed."

"What?"

"It's a rather difficult question to answer-"

"No no no," Yang stopped her. "What's this about Blake?"

"Ah."

It seemed that nobody had given Yang the full picture just yet. Weiss had so quickly grown accustomed to it, it didn't concur to her that it was still a little confusing for some other people. The gears were turning in Yang's head at the revelation. Every emotion imaginable flashed on Yang's face as she tried to comprehend it. Weiss let this go on so long, too long even, before she finally stepped back in.

"I'm to understand that it's not too different a situation than your parents once had?" Weiss offered.

"What?" Yang looked at Weiss like she just remembered she was even there. "No, I get that part. But… Blake? And Ruby? And YOU?"

"Not that it's important," Weiss said, already feeling regret as it spilled out her mouth. "Blake and I had been sleeping together for some time before then. Oh, but not before we stayed in Argus. I meant more recently. There was nothing before when you two were- Do I call it flirting? Pining?"

"This is a lot to take in," Yang said. "I'm gonna need a damn minute."

"Take your time-"

"Did Blake talk about me?" Yang said.

"Wow. Very short minute," Weiss said. "Yes, we both did. Blake did indeed love you very much, as did I. And we still do, just differently. I would say more, but I think that it's a conversation you'll need to have with her."

"Yeah…" Yang paused for a moment, before letting out a long sigh. "Is it bad that I'm a little relieved?"

"How so?"

"Well I- I guess, yeah, I had a crush on Blake." Weiss raised an eyebrow at that. "Or I was kinda madly in love. And I thought for a while that she was too. That me and her were a sure thing. When she stayed, I was so mad at her that I- I don't know. I sort of tried to make myself stop loving her."

"I imagine that was a wasted effort," Weiss said.

"Yeah it was," Yang said. "I never stopped loving her, not even now. But I guess knowing now she's with you, that's a relief. For a while I felt like I was cheating on someone I wasn't even really with."

"Oh?" This piqued Weiss' interest. She leaned in close to Yang, startling her with her sudden eagerness. "Go on."

"Do I have to?"

"Well of course you do," Weiss said. "We're family now."

"I don't think it works that way," Yang said.

Weiss leaned even closer, planting her chin neatly in both while making a show of batting her eyes at Yang. The red had pretty well taken hold of Yang's face, making the normally boastful woman seem almost bashful instead.

"Then let's call it payback for your strangling me," Weiss said.

"Okay, okay. Fine," Yang said. "It's not really that interesting to be honest, I just met someone else that I really like. But she doesn't even know I like her and I doubt she likes me, so it's not really even a thing anyway."

"Tell me about this mystery crush of yours, Yang."

"Do you promise to keep it between us?" Yang asked.

"Of course," Weiss said. "But just know that if I disapprove of them, I will give them absolute hell."

It was a lot to take in all at once. What Yang and Emerald told them made their time in Argus feel so insignificant in comparison. The Colony Grimm was nasty, but it was no giant flying whale.

Yang told them about how they were arrested on sight in Atlas by the military, before then being immediately recruited into it. She told of the AceOps and how they fought side by side as full-fledged Huntsmen and Huntress. And Penny, once struck dead before their very eyes, was alive and well and now called the Protector of Atlas. And how the winter maiden passed peacefully and turned her power over to Winter, which Yang only just managed to say without giggling at it.

Then Ironwood and Salem came up. The whale arrived with Salem at its helm, which caused Ironwood to lose it. Her crew was stirring chaos everywhere they went. Stirring unrest. Ironwood saw himself as the only one strong enough to make the awful choices to save Atlas. Not Mantle, but Atlas. Some merry Huntresses brought Yang into their midst and made her a part of their plans to depose Ironwood. Together they stormed Atlas, subdued the AceOps and Robyn of the merry Huntresses put down Ironwood for good before he could kill all of Mantle.

Then things got…even messier somehow. A schism of some kind occurred in Salem's inner circle. Hazel and Emerald bested Tyrian, but Hazel too fell in the fight. Emerald left and sought out Yang for a second chance. The details on it were largely unknown, but somehow and for some reason Neo killed Cinder at some point and took the fall maiden powers for herself. Jaques Schnee tried to sell out Mantle and his own family for a place by Salem's side. Though Yang refused to go into detail, he said some things about her friends and Weiss in particular that made her lose it and lash out at him. In the turmoil that followed, Raven of all people showed up after she sensed something had happened to Yang. One thing led to another and Raven ended up trying to take the Staff of Creation for herself. Qrow and Yang fought her and won. As she lay there before them, beaten and broken, she made Qrow kill her so she could give the spring maiden powers to Yang.

With two artifacts and three maidens (kind of) accounted for, everyone decided it was time to scatter. The Staff was used to ferry everyone from Mantle to safety in Vacuo. The AceOps took the staff there and set out to find the summer maiden. Qrow, Clover, and Winter took the lamp elsewhere, but would not say where exactly. Robyn and the merry huntresses went with Penny, Jaune, Nora, Oscar, and Ren to chase after Neo. Yang and Emerald set out on their own to regroup with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake in Argus, ending their very rough summary of their time in Atlas.

Blake and Weiss stood side by side and as far from Emerald as they could be in the tiny room. Throughout all of Yang and Em's recounting, neither took their eyes off the mint haired woman for even a second. It was only about halfway through the story that Em even noticed, but once she did she couldn't sit still or look their way.

"So, yeah," Yang said. "You guys should get your stuff in order quickly, cause I really don't want to sit still for too long."

"Sorry, what?" Weiss finally took her eyes off Em and looked at Yang in shock. "When was this decision made and why wasn't I a part of that decision?"

"I mean," Em said quietly. "To be fair, it doesn't look like you've got much going on here right now."

Blake and Weiss both glared at Em with a fury that would make even Yang at her angriest seem tame. Em threw up her hands and backed off.

"You're not the only ones that have been having a hard time," Weiss said. "Things have been rather rough here too, I'll have you know. In case you missed the relative carnage in the city."

"Is that not what Argus just looks like normally?" Em asked, earning yet another glare. "Sorry."

The conversation was going somewhere Ruby really didn't want it to. She began to shift in her seat next to Yang. While Emerald may have been less than interested in Argus, Yang looked down at Ruby and Ruby had never felt so small as she did then.

"Not to ruin your plans," Blake said. "But I have to agree with Weiss. I think it may be best that we stay here for the time being."

"Why?"

Yang's voice rocked through Ruby like a tremor. It rattled her through and through, banging her bones together until the sound of it drowned out everything else. Voices whispered in the back of her mind, asking the questions she dreaded most. What would Yang think? Would she still look at Ruby the same way? Would she think her a monster instead of a sister? Would she still love her? The voices grew louder and louder until it was painful. A hand on her shoulder muffled their incessant query. Ruby looked up, in tears, at Blake. Her girlfriend gave her one nod and squeezed her shoulder tighter.

"Ruby?" Yang spoke up again. "What's going on?"

It was her time to tell a story now. A story she hated telling almost as much as she hated living it. Through it all, Yang listened without a word and without looking away. She nodded and listened, quiet the whole time as she took it in. It was fine for the most part, until Ruby finished and Yang still stayed silent.

"So…" Yang said finally. "What you're saying is you're also a gun now?"

"Yang!" Blake said before falling into a laughing fit behind Ruby. "That's exactly what I said."

Ruby tried to smile along with them both, but she still failed to find the humor in it. Though Yang laughed along with Blake and pulled Ruby into a hug, she had yet to say anything to assure Ruby of anything. The irony was clear, but it was growing tired for Ruby. She loved weapons, sure, but she didn't want to be one. And she especially didn't want to be seen as one.

She ventured a glance at Weiss, who for the first time, had stopped glaring at Emerald. Her face was contorted and she appeared to be deep in thought. Emerald too seemed to be letting the gears turn in her head, same as Weiss. Sandwiched between two laughing loves, Ruby watched Weiss and Em slowly come to the same conclusion. Simultaneously, they both stopped and looked each other in the eyes and smiled. Not a glare or a frown, but a genuine grin.

"Hey, Blondie," Em said. "I agree with the Schnee now. We should leave them here."

Yang's laughing faded as she processed Em's words. "What do you mean we should leave them? I'm not leaving here without my sister."

Sister. A word used so often and so unceremoniously for Ruby's whole life. And yet, this instance felt like the greatest of weight taken off her.

"Please hear us out," Weiss said. "There is still some amount of the Shadow that lives in Ruby now. That is no small thing. I believe that for all intents and purposes, we should treat Ruby as the fifth maiden."

"Eh, don't know about that one," Em said.

"I thought you agreed with me?" Weiss snapped.

"No, no, I do," Em assured her. "But the fifth maiden? What does that even mean? Fifth season? There's only four seasons, genius."

"For all intents and purposes," Weiss growled. "Ruby is the fifth maiden. That said, we will go along with your current plan, just not in the way you originally thought. I say we go on avoiding putting all our eggs in one basket, so to say."

"Exactly," Em said. "Say your girl here can figure out how to use that thing, then she's gonna be one hell of an ally. I mean, like she said, that thing was made to kill Salem right? If anything, that makes her even more important than all of the maidens combined."

"No," Yang said. "No, that's- Who's to say she even can? The shadow thing was made to kill Salem, sure, but Salem is still alive unless you all missed that somehow. Who's to say this thing can even do it?"

The Pale Woman's final tether shines in Ruby's mind. It quivers in the tension, begging to break. The Hunger sits in waiting for it to break. It knows that it will break.

Ruby tugged on Yang's sleeve. Her sister looked down at her, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It can do it," Ruby said. "I can do it. I know I can."

"No," Yang sobbed. "You don't know what you're talking about. You can't, Ruby. I won't let you."

"Yang, please," Ruby said. "I need you to trust me."

"But I don't want to leave you again. I can't."

"I don't want you to go," Ruby said, fighting back her own tears. "But you have to."

"Ruby-"

"I'll be okay," Ruby said. "I know I'll be okay this time. And-"

She looked back at Blake and over to Weiss. Yang followed her gaze to both, but the tears didn't stop. Her fears may not have been unfounded, but her concern was misplaced and she knew it. The same fire that burned inside her burned inside her teammates, her friends, her family.

"It's going to be okay," Ruby said.

"Promise?" Yang asked.

"I promise."

The heat of the day finally faded and left the docks cold and quiet. In the distance, the sounds of a few bars and vendors drifted over and joined that gentle lapping of waves and knocking of boats to docks. All was calm and pleasant for a moment in time, free of the chaos and destruction that had its grip on the city and the world. For a moment in time, two partners were reunited and sitting in silence.

"You know I'm in love with you, right?" Yang broke the silence first, ripping off the bandaid before Blake could get the chance.

"Yeah, I know," Blake said. "The feeling is mutual."

Neither said anything for a while. Yang absentmindedly ate the noodles she'd bought and Blake just sat by her side and watched the dark waves roll in the moonlight. It was weird, that this thing that both had sat on in yearning for so long was put out there to both with such a lack of decor. That love made her ache once, but now it was just a thing that was said and was known.

"How are you holding up?" Blake asked.

"Honestly, I'm kind of not," Yang said. "I'm terrified that if I stop moving at any point I'll just drop dead."

"So keep moving," Blake said. "We'll be here whenever you're ready to slow down."

"That's good to know," Yang said. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

"Absolutely."

"Is it bad that I'm barely upset about losing Raven?" Yang asked. "Like, I know she was a terrible person and an awful mother, but…she was still my mom. If anything, I'm more upset about Weiss' dad than my own mom. Is that weird? Is something wrong with me, Blake? Am I broken?"

Blake sat up and pressed her hand Yang's chest, stopping her before she could keep going on. Yang's heart beat against her palm so hard, it may as well have been out of her chest and in her hand, hammering away.

"Okay, first thing's first," Blake said. "Take a deep breath for me. Okay? Deep breath, then hold it in."

The beating went on against her hand, but Yang followed her instructions and she felt the pace begin to slow.

"Good, that's good," Blake said. "Now: you're not broken. You've been through so much and you're still processing it. Trust me, I know a thing or two about traumatic experiences. You are not broken and there is nothing wrong with you."

"That's nice to know," Yang said.

"I'm being serious, Yang," Blake said. "I can't promise that you won't always feel this way, but that's okay. Everything that happens to us, good or bad, is a part of us whether we like or not. All you can do is decide what these feelings mean to you, and process them in time. Maybe you'll figure it out in a week. Maybe you'll never figure it out in a lifetime."

"That's less nice to know," Yang said.

"I know it seems awful," Blake said. "But just remember: you're not alone. So don't go acting like you are, got it?"

"Aye aye, captain," Yang said. "Thanks, Blake."

They fell into a more comfortable silence after that. Yang finished her food and Blake leaned on her shoulder, letting her partner's warmth and the sounds of the sea nearly lull her to sleep.

"Hey, uh," Yang said. "About you and Ruby."

"Yes?"

"How'd that happen?" Yang asked.

"Hmm, that's a good question," Blake said. "I'm afraid I don't have a very good answer. We just fell in love. I can't tell you when it happened, but I know that it did. And that's good enough for me."

"What about Weiss?"

"Oh now that one I can recall more clearly," Blake said. "As I recall, she came onto me first. Who was I to say no to such an opportunity?"

"That's it?" Yang asked. "Weiss just asked you out and you said yes?"

"Oh no, definitely," Blake said. "It's a little embarrassing really just how many times we slept together before either dared to admit we had any inkling of feelings for each other. Honestly, it was more annoying than anything. I was the one in bed with her, but all she could ever talk about was 'Ruby this' and 'Ruby that.' She's lucky I didn't give up on her sooner."

"What made you not give up?"

"Love or no," Blake said. "She offered plenty of reasons to join her in the bedroom. It was very difficult to say no to that."

"Ah, yeah," Yang said. "I'd have a hard time saying no to that too."

"Oh that's right," Blake said. "I forgot Weiss told me you two slept together. You know, I have to admit I'm a little jealous."

"Of who?" Yang asked.

"Of Weiss, you doofus," Blake said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little curious."

"Uh, maybe someday?" Yang said, before quickly adding: "If it's any consolation, Weiss was far better than I was. Like, WAY better. Freakishly good."

"Believe me, I know," Blake said dreamily. "Oh, how I know."

"Not to make it weird," Yang said. "But you know that thing she does? With the-"

"Yep."

"And the…?" Yang's face flared red at the memory of it.

"OH, do I," Blake said. "Didn't know she had it in her."

"It's always the ones you least expect, I guess," Yang said. In the silence after she said, the grin on her face slowly shifted to a frown. "What a minute, does she-"

"Don't," Blake stopped her before she could utter it. "Don't, Yang. Trust me."

"Yeah, you're right." Yang nodded and motioned to zip her lips.

Ocean winds washed cold air over the docks. Blake shivered and wrapped arm tighter around the woman by her side. It was such an instinctive thing, she didn't even realize it when she did it. For about a minute, Yang said nothing of it either. It was just one minute of something they'd both desired for so long. Once the minute was up, they'd go back to the lives they made instead. Blake to her girlfriends and Yang to the mystery subject of desires.

As the minute neared its end, Blake looked up to Yang. Already, Yang was looking down at her. There was no need for words as they closed the gap between them and finally got the kiss they'd both dreamed about for so many nights. It wasn't any longer or shorter than it needed to be and when it was over they both returned to watching the waves.

After some time, Yang spoke up, "I don't think I have to say it, but I'm gonna anyway cause it feels like the sisterly thing to do."

"Oh?"

"You better treat my sister right," Yang said. "If you don't, I won't hesitate to kick your ass."

"Understood," Blake said. "I hadn't planned on it anyway. Though I don't know about Weiss. You may have to offer her the same warning."

"I'm putting you in charge of keeping her in line," Yang said. "Can you do that?"

"With pleasure."

From her spot in the bathroom doorway, Weiss watched Ruby continue to fidget in the bed. Resoluteness fought her exhaustion for control, but sleep was slowly winning that fight. Every so often, Weiss couldn't help but smile when Ruby's eyes would fall shut and her head would drop, only for her to jolt awake again with wide eyes. She tried to enjoy the scene for what it was, not wanting to go on thinking about what was keeping her girlfriend awake.

The tiny studio that Cordovin put Ruby, Weiss, and Blake into was only just big enough for the three of them. Even though they could layed out some blankets for Yang and Emerald to crash on, both Weiss and Blake insisted that they get a room at a nearby hostel. Ruby tried to insist she stay with Yang, but Blake was adamant that she stay with them instead. Weiss had no argument there, though she suspected that she probably had a different reason than Blake to keep Ruby from staying the night in a room with Emerald.

Behind her, she could hear Blake spitting in the sink. She turned to her other girlfriend and watched her continue to scrub furiously at her teeth.

"Are you brushing your teeth again?" Weiss asked.

Blake turned and nodded. She mumbled some kind of response, but all that resulted in was letting toothpaste fall from her mouth and onto her shirt.

"Why?" Weiss asked.

"Mmph," Blake mumbled. She held up a finger and turned to rinse out her mouth, before looking back at Weiss. She whispered: "I kissed Yang."

"You-!" Weiss nearly yelled, before clearing her throat. "You did what? Why?"

"We just needed to be sure," Blake said.

"Well?" Weiss said. "Are you?"

Blake shut off the bathroom light and joined Weiss in the doorway. From her spot where she leaned against the frame, Weiss felt much shorter than Blake than she usually did. Her girlfriend loomed over her in the dark, her amber eyes practically glowing in the dark as they stared down at her. She trembled. Blake ran a finger up her neck to her chin, and Weiss leaned into the touch the whole way. When Blake started to pull her finger away, Weiss followed until she was pressed up against Blake.

"Very sure," Blake practically growled.

Just two words, but they shook Weiss through and through. Her knees felt weak under her weight, like if Blake hadn't been holding her then, she thought she might have just dropped to the floor. But if she'd done that, then she would have missed out on the wonderful sensation of Blake's firm hand on the back of her head and the kiss that followed.

There was never any uncertainty in Blake's kisses before, but they did always come with that lurking suspicion in the back of Weiss' mind. Every time they kissed, held each other, or had sex, Weiss could never just let herself enjoy it for what it was. Not fully. The fear that she was just a substitute for Yang kept her from the full commitment that Blake deserved from her. She dreaded the day she would find out her suspicion was not unfounded. And yet, while Blake had gone and kissed Yang that very night, she still came home to Weiss and Ruby.

The moan that slipped out of her the moment Blake pushed her tongue past her lips was dreadfully humiliating. Someone so refined as her shouldn't have melted into a kiss that easily, but she did. She was like putty in Blake's more than eager hands. Blake kept her hand firm on the back of Weiss' head, but at no point would Weiss even consider trying to pull away.

Blake kissed her with such hunger, it felt like she was eating away at all of Weiss' doubts. Her desire was there and it was clearer to Weiss then than anything had ever been. She'd always been wanted by others, and it was nice to be wanted. Some part of her loved the attention even when she knew it was superficial if anything. But being wanted the way Blake wanted her-

"Mmph, no-" Weiss moaned again into Blake's lips just as her girlfriend pulled away. "Why are you stopping?"

"Because it's late," Blake said. "And because our girlfriend is watching."

Weiss flushed red and turned to where Ruby had been nearly falling asleep sometime before. No longer was she actively nodding off, but staring intently at Weiss and Blake in the bathroom doorway with a light blush on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the mood," Ruby said. "I was just watching, that's all."

"No, it's fine," Blake said. "We really need to be getting to sleep anyway. Especially you, Ruby."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Blake, but quickly the gesture turned to yawn. She layed back down onto the bed and crawled to the middle of the mattress. As soon as her head hit the pillow, her movements became sluggish and her whole body relaxed.

"After you," Blake said.

Weiss went and sat at the edge of the bed. While she tied up her hair for the night, she watched Blake crawl into bed after her.

Always perfectly elegant in everything she did, Blake barely made the bed shift at all as she settled in next to Ruby. Ruby lifted her head just enough to turn and face Blake next to her. The sleepy smile on her face persisted even when Blake kissed her. Blake tried to keep true to her word and end the kiss before it became an obstacle to sleep, but Ruby just chased when she tried to break away. At that point neither was interested in sleeping. With Ruby's arms wrapped around her, Blake gave in and climbed on top of Ruby. Soon enough they'd turned into a pile of kisses and giggles.

Weiss knew she should tell them to knock it off and get some sleep, but wasn't about to make herself a hypocrite. She was just as entranced in watching them as they were in each other. The joy she felt from seeing them like that was impossible to contain. It was good that they were so distracted by each other, because they didn't notice her silly smiles and happy tears trailing down her cheek. Eventually, she'd have to get used to being embarrassed by the things her feelings do to her. If she was going to spend the rest of her life with those two, they were going to notice all the silly things she does when she's in love. It was inevitable.

"Okay, okay," Blake's voice came muffled. She placed a hand on Ruby's chest to hold her down against the bed when she broke their kiss. "I'm serious this time, we need to sleep. There will be plenty more opportunities to not sleep some other time."

"But-" Ruby tried to protest, but was stopped by Weiss placing a finger on her lips.

"No buts," Weiss said. "And don't try to tell me you aren't tired. Before Blake climbed on top of you, I saw you falling asleep already."

"But I don't want to sleep," Ruby said. "Can't we just stay up a little longer?"

Something was there in Ruby's eyes, hiding from Weiss when she tried to get a look at it. The way Ruby refused to look at her directly, always angling her gaze just away from Weiss', it felt like she was hiding something. Morbid fascination drove Weiss to try harder just to see it. Was it something she just hadn't noticed before or was it something that wasn't there?

"I know what you're trying to do, Ruby," Blake said.

Weiss was so stuck on trying to see what she thought she saw in Ruby's eyes, she jumped when Ruby turned and looked at Blake instead. She watched Blake's face as she spoke to Ruby, waiting for any indication that she could see it too.

"I'm not doing anything," Ruby said.

"Staying awake won't keep them away," Blake said quietly while running a hand through Ruby's hair. "Either you sleep and face them, or they'll haunt you."

Ruby seemed like she might protest again, but she just nodded instead. When Blake's hand moved to caress her face, she just leaned into it and kept looking at Blake. Her eyes were trained on Blake's and Blake met the gaze. From where she still lay, Weiss couldn't see the look Ruby was giving Blake. All she could see was how Blake reacted. The softest of flinches, little more than just a twitch of her eye, like she'd been startled by something she knew was going to come. Then she smiled and stared deeper. Weiss saw it then, what she saw before. The reflection of it dimmed Blake's eyes and took the amber from them. A reflection alone was enough to make Weiss avert her gaze, but Blake stared head on at it and just kept smiling.

She hadn't noticed it before, but a deep chill had settled over the room. Shivers ran through her and Blake, but Ruby was still through it all. A growing heat radiated from her in uneven waves that washed over Weiss like water. The coldness in the air persisted despite the heat. Its bitter touch replaced the warmth that echoed out from Ruby almost as immediately as it left her.

"I love you," Blake said, sounding almost out of breath. "No matter what."

"I love you too."

Blake finally looked away from Ruby and looked to Weiss instead. She could see the color returning to Blake's eyes with each teary blink. Her curiosity had not been abated, but it certainly faltered. When Ruby turned her head to look at Weiss, she tried so very hard to match Blake's bravado. Instead of flinching, she just frowned when she saw Ruby's eyes clenched shut.

"Ruby?"

The heat grew stronger. Weiss felt herself start to sweat. Her proximity to Ruby was almost uncomfortable and growing worse by the second. Her girlfriend was shaking in front of her. Not from the same chill that shook Blake and Weiss. Weiss glanced up at Blake for a moment. There were dark, heavy bags under her eyes as she stared down at Ruby and kept running her fingers over Ruby's cheek.

It was all so unusual and unknown to Weiss, she did the only thing she could think of. She quickly pressed forward into the heat and kissed Ruby. She kissed her once and felt Ruby shake beneath the touch. Then she kissed her again and felt the heat subside. On the third kiss, she felt Ruby lean into it and return the gesture. Once the last kiss had broken, Weiss closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to Ruby's.

"I love you," she said. "I love you so much."

Soon enough the temperature returned to something more normal and the light sound of Ruby's snoring filled the space. The gentle vibration of her breathing rumbled against Weiss' shoulder as she lay awake still. Blake had saddled up behind Ruby and draped an arm over her. The fingers twitched in the dark tracing shapes on Ruby's shoulder.

"Are you going to tell her about Yang?" Weiss asked.

Blake's finger stilled against Ruby. "Eventually," she whispered. "Just not right now."

"Okay," Weiss said. She was quiet for a few minutes, before asking: "Are we going to be okay?"

Blake stayed silent so long after the question, Weiss assumed she'd fallen asleep. But eventually, she answered: "I don't know, but I hope so."