AN: And we're back! I'm glad you guys have been liking Volume 2 so far!

So, onwards!

Chapter 36

Ruby knew she should probably help Weiss and Yang set up for the dance, but she was too busy worrying about Blake, which caused her to just sit down at one the tables and space out. Weiss snapped her out of it by slamming two pieces of cloth onto the table.

"I need you to pick a tablecloth," she said. Ruby looked closely, but they both just looked white.

"Aren't they both the same?" Ruby asked.

"I don't even know why I asked!" Weiss said. Yang placed a huge speaker down on the floor and walked up to them.

"So, have you picked out a dress yet?" Yang asked her sister. Ruby sighed.

"Cinder's supposed to help me with that tomorrow right before the dance," she said. "I'm just worried about Blake."

"We'll think of something," Yang said, looking over to Weiss, who was setting up on another table. "Weiss! I thought we agreed: No doilies!"

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!" Weiss said, pointing her finger angrily at Yang. The three girls looked when they heard the door opening. They saw Sun walking in with Neptune.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked.

"We were thinking about it…" Weiss said, stepping close to him. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"That's pretty cool."

"You ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun asked.

"Pfft," Ruby said. "Yeah, right."

"Laugh all you want," Yang said. "I'll be turning heads tomorrow night! Well, one head in particular."

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss asked the boys.

"Uh, this?" Sun said, gesturing to the open shirt he wore. Neptune shushed him, putting his hand in front of Sun's face.

"Ignore him," Neptune said. "For he knows not what he says."

"Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo," Sun said in his own defense. "It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

"Yeah, we noticed,' Yang said.

"Soooooo," Sun said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "What does Blake think of all this? She still being all, y'know…Blake-y?"

"Yup," Yang said.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind," Ruby said. Weiss looked like she was thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Yang, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm leaving the dance to you," Weiss said. "I'll take care of Blake." She walked towards the exit, leaving the others behind.

"Does this mean I can have my fog machines?" Yang called after her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Professor Branwen asked Weiss, while they were sitting down in her office.

"Well," Weiss said, "It's about Blake. I know you said that we needed to leave it alone, but she's been obsessing over Torchwick and the White Fang. She hasn't been sleeping, she's barely eaten anything in two weeks, and we're not sure how we can help her. She's on the brink of collapse. I don't want her to run herself ragged, and I want to help my partner. I just don't know what to do. I know that we really shouldn't be pursuing this, but I have to be honest, we all agree with Blake that something needs to be done. I just don't want her to kill herself."

"Honestly, I might have been a little too harsh on you girls last time," Professor Branwen said. "I know you all just wanted to help, but I was upset that you all put yourselves in danger like that. I've seen her, and she looks rough to say the least. I'd be happy to help."

"Oh, thank you," Weiss said. "I have an idea…"

It wasn't hard for Aqua to find Blake hunched over in front of a computer screen. Now that she got a good look at her, she could see what Weiss was talking about. She looked like she was about to face-plant onto the keyboard, and she could visibly see that the girl's eyes couldn't focus on what she was looking at.

It really was a wonder why she was even bothering to continue when she was in that state, but obsessions can do terrible things to people. Actually, she wasn't even really reading the page in front of her. At this point, she was pretty much just moving the mouse and staring blankly at the screen.

She walked up to the table Blake was sitting at, and took the seat next to her.

Blake didn't react.

Aqua cleared her throat.

It seemed like Blake didn't even hear her. This called for more drastic measures.

She pressed a button to turn off Blake's monitor, which finally seemed to get the girl's attention.

"What the-?" She asked, and looked next to her at Aqua. "Oh, Professor. I didn't see you there."

"I noticed," Aqua said. "Either you found a way to sleep sitting up with your eyes open, which I highly doubt with those bags under your eyes, or you were completely zoned out."

"Sorry," Blake said. "Did you need something? I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

"Well, that will just have to wait. We need to have a little chat."

Ren sighed happily as he stepped out of the bathroom, wearing only a pink towel around his waist. Jaune suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

"We need to talk!" Jaune said, pulling him towards their dorm and depositing him on one of the beds. Jaune sat down on the other end of that same bed.

"Ren…" he said, "I'm just gonna say it. You are one of my best friends. These past few months, I feel like we've really bonded, even though you don't say much. I mean, you're really quiet. To be honest, I don't know that much about you, personally, but darn it, I consider you to be the brother I never had!"

Ren couldn't help but be moved, despite Jaune not having given him the ability to get dressed yet. He didn't know his leader thought so highly of him.

"And I you," he said, glancing at his shirt hanging in the closet right next to the bed.

"Which is why I wanted to get your advice on…girls."

"Girls?" Ren asked, slowly reaching for his shirt.

"I just…don't know…how to…girls," Jaune stuttered. "Um, I-I guess what I'm asking is…well, how did you and Nora…y'know."

Him and Nora? Oh, dear. Ren didn't really know how to explain it. The girl herself cleared her throat to get her attention. She was sitting on her bed, wearing a tight black t-shirt with "BOOP" written on it and short pink shorts. She also had headphones resting on her shoulders.

She looked so good. No! Must resist!

"We're actually not together -together…" she said.

"NORA I SAID HEADPHONES ON!" Jaune said quickly. She put the headphones over her ears and went back to reading her book silently.

"Jaune, what is this all about?" Ren asked. Jaune sighed deeply.

"It's Weiss," he said. "I'm completely head-over-heels for her, and she won't even give me a chance. She's cold, but she's also incredible. She's smart, and graceful, and talented. I mean, have you heard her sing? I-I just wish she'd take me seriously, y'know?" Ren knew he liked Weiss, but he didn't know that Jaune had it this bad. "I wish I could tell her how I feel without messing it up."

"Then do it," they heard Pyrrha say from the doorway.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Tell her exactly what you just said," Pyrrha said. "No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just…be honest.

"But what if I—" Jaune said.

"Jaune," she said, interrupting him with a smile. "You can't get it wrong if it's the truth."

"You're right," he said, standing up. "Thanks Pyrrha! Good talk, Ren!" He bolted out of the room, and Pyrrha's smile fell. She slumped down at her desk forlornly. Nora looked at her sadly, shaking her head.

"Practice what you preach, Pyrrha."

"Why are we going to the classroom?" Blake asked Aqua as they walked towards the classroom to Advanced Combat.

"You'll see," Aqua answered, opening the door, allowing the two of them to step inside. In the middle of the arena stood Weiss.

"…I'm leaving," Blake said angrily, but Aqua closed the door and stood in front of it.

"We need to talk about the White Fang," Aqua said.

"You know?" Blake asked.

"I asked the professor to help me help you," Weiss said.

"If you're going to ask me to stop, you may as well save your breath," Blake said.

"We're not asking you to stop," Weiss said. "All we're asking is that you slow down."

"I don't have the luxury to slow down," Blake argued.

"It's a necessity, not a luxury," Weiss said.

"The luxury is stopping Torchwick!" Blake said.

"How do you think you're going to accomplish that?" Weiss asked. "You can barely stand."

"It doesn't matter!" Blake yelled. "I'm the only one that can do this, and I'm going to do it!"

"It does matter!" Weiss yelled back. "You're about to collapse from exhaustion! When was the last time you slept?!" Blake didn't answer. "What would you do if you saw Torchwick right now in your condition?"

"I'd fight him!" Blake insisted. Weiss yelled, drew her weapon, and charged at Blake. Blake did her best to block with her own, but it was easily knocked away. Weiss dropped her weapon and wrapped her arms around Blake.

"Blake, I'm so scared," Weiss said, her voice trembling. "You're my best friend, and I'm so scared that you're going to kill yourself over this."

"What?" Blake asked.

"I know stopping Torchwick is important," Weiss said. "I know stopping the White Fang is important. But damn it, you're important too!" Weiss's shoulder started to shake as tears began flowing down her cheeks. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"Weiss…" Blake said, beginning to tear up herself.

"We don't want you to stop, but please, just get some rest. I'm begging you." Blake was silent for a few seconds, before wrapping her arms around Weiss to return the embrace.

"I…"she said. "I'm so sorry."

Weiss and Professor Branwen practically carried Blake back to the dorm, depositing her on her bunk.

The Faunus was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

"Thanks," Weiss whispered to her teacher so she wouldn't wake her partner.

"No problem," the Professor said. "You girls are starting to feel like family." Weiss's eyes widened. "If you ever need my help again, feel free to ask."

Weiss nodded, smiling happily.

"So, what's next?"

"Next, I have a certain someone I need to ask a question to."

Jaune held out a white rose happily while he walked through the halls of the academy looking for Weiss. He was finally gonna do it. He was finally gonna just say how he feels. He turned a corner and saw her, only she was approaching Neptune. She called out his name while Jaune hid behind the corner.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Neptune asked her.

"I know this is a little unorthodox," Weiss said. "But, I wanted to ask you something." She shyly put her hands behind her back, and Jaune's heart fell once he realized what she was about to say. "Would you…like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?" At seeing Neptune smiling at her, Jaune dropped the rose and walked away, his head hung low.

Why the hell did he have to hesitate? Why did he have to take so long to try it the right way?

Aqua stood behind the podium at the entrance to the ballroom, greeting students as they entered. Ordinarily, Yang or Weiss would be the one doing this, since they planned the dance in the first place, but Weiss wanted to be able to observe the dance, and Yang had a date, so Aqua volunteered to do this for them.

Speaking of Yang and her date, she watched her oldest daughter walk in with Mercury on her arm.

She was wearing a short white dress with black heels, and Mercury was wearing a black tuxedo.

"There you two are," she said happily. "You look great!"

"I know!" Yang said. "Merc cleans up pretty well, too." Aqua looked at the boy in question.

"You'd better be a perfect gentleman, mister," she said sternly.

"Don't worry," he said. "I know how to treat a lady." Aqua narrowed her eyes at him. "…I mean yes ma'am."

The group heard the door open again, and they saw Ruby walking in with Cinder.

Yang and Aqua gasped.

Cinder was wearing an elegant black dress, the material almost shimmering in the light. It was sleeveless and backless, reached the floor, and had a long slit revealing her legs. Completing the ensemble was a pair of elbow-length opera gloves and black heels.

But as good as Cinder looked, it was Ruby that took their breath away.

She wore a deep red sleeveless qipao dress, with black rose vines climbing along the dress. There were long flaps in the front and back, leaving the sides of her legs exposed. There was a cutout in the dress, leaving a window open to display her cleavage, something they never thought they would ever see on Ruby. Like Cinder, Ruby wore black elbow-length opera gloves. Completing the look was an elegant hairpin in her hair with a rose attached to it, and a pair of black pumps.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" Yang and Aqua squealed, engulfing her in a hug.

"I feel ridiculous," Ruby said, her face as red as her dress.

"But you look incredible," Cinder said. Ruby sighed, and tried to step forward, only to stumble. She grumbled.

"Can we have a serious conversation about how Weiss fights in these?" She asked, displeased with her heels.

"I'll just have to show you," Cinder said.

Sun stood outside the ballroom, wearing a black dress shirt that he actually closed, fighting with his tie.

"Stupid…dumb…neck-trap!" Sun complained.

"I knew you'd look better in a tie," Blake commented from behind him. He turned to look at her, and his jaw practically hit the floor.

She wore a dark purple dress with a slit in the side. She looked beautiful. Well, more beautiful than usual.

She walked towards him and took him by the arm.

"So, does this mean we're going…together?" Sun asked. Blake rolled her eyes, but still smiled.

"Yes, you dork," she said. "We're going together."

The group watched as Blake danced with Sun, happy that she was finally letting herself have fun and relax.

"Good job," Yang said to Weiss, who was wearing a short white dress with cutouts on her hips.

"Honestly, I had your mother's help," Weiss said.

"Huh, is that right?"

"Why are we letting them have all the fun?" Mercury asked, dragging Yang towards the dance floor.

"He's right," Cinder said, taking Ruby by the hand. "Let's go." Ruby protested being dragged, but despite her embarrassment…

She couldn't help but smile.

AN: And that's a wrap! So, I decided to have Weiss be the one to snap Blake out of her funk, since Weiss is her partner here.

I got the design for Ruby's dress from a drawing by Mojojoj, called Ruby in a Qipao. If you haven't seen any of his art, Mojojoj does a lot of really good and cute RWBY artwork.

I kind of came to a realization about why I like the Black Sun pairing better than Bumblebee, at least for Blake, and it was when I had Blake call him a dork for the first time. It's the fact that Sun is kind of a dork that I feel makes him work so well for Blake. As someone who had a bad relationship with someone like Adam, who is overly-serious at the very least, she needs someone like him. Plus, with how taciturn and "moody" Blake typically is, someone goofy and fun-loving like Sun would ordinarily be a great foil for her, and could help her break out of her shell and recover from the most likely traumatic relationship she had with Adam.

Or at least it would, if the show was better-written. I also noticed that Blake is probably the most inconsistent character in this show. It's told to us that Blake's personality can be described as distant, antisocial, and moody, in Weiss's words, but we still see her partaking in the rest of her team's antics enthusiastically. Like, she was acting as silly as Ruby and Yang were during their first day as a team. Not to mention the food fight. And to be honest, the only time she has a clear character arc is Volume 4. The way I see it, if they were consistent with writing Blake as moody loner with a sarcastic sense of humor, then Sun would be the perfect match for her.

Also, that whole thing with Jaune seeing Ren as a brother hits differently after seeing Ren snap at him later.

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time!