Here's chapter 115, everyone.
Looking up at the moon, Raven could only breathe out a sigh, with her blade sheathed and her body unmoving. She had a lot on her mind, and she wasn't allowing herself a second without being on guard.
Where else would she go was the question in her mind, even with her team able to easily handle themselves, she didn't have to keep watch in the end.
Excuses.
It was the word she came up with, trying her best to keep her body from moving away from the warehouse. "No one is awake at this point."
The moon continued to shine down on her, as she thought about what the next day would be like for her, mostly due to the night she had with Willow. In truth, Raven hated everything about the choices she'd made in the recent months, but not because she regretted them.
Imagining Lazuria, in the cabin she had taken Willow to. The day her brother had her there, she wished there wasn't a mission to handle, or a secret to hold. It was starting to get tiresome, as she herself felt wrong lying to Willow.
"Can't say I helped with that. We all made our choices, and I only enforced the idea of her not knowing."
It was the only regret she had in her mind, as it only just began to eat at her, the pain of lying to someone she cared about. Again. With a flash of yellow, she thought of her own daughter, and the kind of drama and stress she caused for her at a young age.
Willow was another person she was running the risk of hurting. More so in the case of someone else's family being hurt because she was too stubborn. Raven grit her teeth, but then reminded herself of the dangers that could befall the Schnee woman.
"She's not ready. I can't take that risk, even if it means she'd hate-."
Raven gasped and raised her hand up to her chest, not wanting to continue the thought. It pissed her off. She wasn't the kind of person to let her emotions run wild in such a way. Even her own brother always remarked on her rather harsh actions, but they always hid the woman underneath it all.
There was no fragile woman underneath, there was no weeping victim, there was always the same Raven, but with emotion to back it up. And for some reason, she didn't feel it was necessary to show her emotions like the rest of her team easily did.
Qrow himself had more moments of weakness than his older sister, and while she hated to admit it, she cursed herself with how she didn't want to show weakness.
That was one of the few things she believed in, the strong surviving, and the weak thriving. But even the strongest person in the whole world needed a moment of weakness, and to Raven, that was her moment, taking in the fact that she could risk someone she cared about ending up leaving her.
Again.
Willow tossed and turned in her sleep, not wanting to think of her husband, but even with all the blocking she was doing, it was impossible to not. She clearly didn't choose to sleep in her own room, avoiding Jacques at all cost, but sleeping wasn't much of an option.
Rolling out of bed, Willow planted her feet down and sighed in her nightgown, choosing to get up and put her slippers on. Once she stepped foot out of the guest room she was staying in, she noticed the night sky with the moonlight casting down.
"One of the few solaces of being unable to sleep I suppose."
She wished Klein was there with her, but he had requested time off so there was no relying on him for support that night. Willow simply chose to walk down the halls of the manor, finding hope in distracting her mind of the confrontation she had with Jacques.
While she was somewhat able to do that, another thought came to mind, how she had confirmed Weiss' heritage to her eldest daughter. Stopping that moment, Willow turned to face one of the window, placing her hands down on the window sill as she took a heavy breath, wishing that her life could slow down.
It wasn't a burden to her, as she only blamed herself for taking so long on dealing with both Jacques and telling the truth. "Why couldn't I have a backbone years ago."
Raven came to mind when she said that to herself. Understanding her more helped Willow grow as a person, and while she doesn't share the same views on everything as Raven, she did have things in common with the huntress, like having a drive.
"Ma'am?" Willow was startled by the sudden voice, seeing that it was one of the guards that would patrol the halls, seeing as Jacques was all about covering his own life over the ones who worked his mines. "It's dangerous to walk the halls this la-."
"Please excuse me, I was simply in the mood for a walk." Willow was just trying to put on an act. "You do not need to worry, or inform my husband. Waking him up at this dreadful hour would be quite dreadful to both him and yourself after all."
The guard was actually thinking of informing Jacques of his wife wandering the halls, but the thought of his boss waking up in an angry tirade made him gulp. "R-Right, well I can escort you back if you'd like, Ma'am. You never know of the dangers-."
"I humbly request for you to continue your patrols. I have no need for any protection in my own home." Willow stated, and the guard remained a bit hesitant, so she sighed and held her hand out, projecting a glyph and earning a gasp from the guard. "As you can see, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. Now, as I requested." She didn't need to repeat herself, as the guard bowed to her and went back to his duties.
Willow sighed and took a breath, since casting glyphs still took a bit out of her. Once she let her semblance go, she began to walk remembering what she'd have to face. In her mind, it was her consequences. Major ones she knew was going to bite her back in the end, and as she made her way into the kitchen, she thought about the last time she made a dinner for her family without the help of Klein.
It was a day where the Butler was feeling under the weather, and she remembered how worried Weiss and Winter were for him. To help them feel better, she made them, and Whitley their favorites dishes, and it felt like a real family dinner.
Even Jacques was there that day.
She couldn't stop the tear from falling, as it slid down her right cheek, falling gently on the counter beneath her. Instead of wiping her face, she held her palm against her heart, feeling the most pain there.
It wasn't fair to blame others, or herself. Things just happened, but to lose the feeling of love for someone was what heartbreak was named after. Willow wasn't dumb, Jacques did have a form of love for her in the past, one she wished he still had, but the image and feeling of kissing him that night returned and she had to take a seat, pulling out a chair from the table to sit down.
"Jacques…" She wasn't pleading for him. It was almost like she mourned him, the person she thought she could spend her life with, only for all that hope and love had crashed down.
"What kind of love did we have? How long did it truly last for?"
Before she could ask herself more questions, she looked down at her scroll, seeing it light up from someone calling her. She saw the name and her expression lifted, so she answered it. "Calling this late isn't something I expected from you, Raven." She kept her voice low to not have anyone that may be around patrolling to overhear her.
"Don't get used to it, though you answered pretty quick, so I can only guess you weren't able to sleep." Raven said over the scroll.
"Next time I'll let it go for a few seconds," She tried joking, but sighed to herself. "There's a lot on my mind, so sleeping wasn't exactly possible tonight."
Raven took a few moments to reply, worrying Willow of what she'd say. "I'm gonna also assume it was the moron who caused you some grief?"
"Yes and no," Willow answered, and Raven waited for an explanation. "He had an issue with me being out late. I had no reason to lie, and told him I was out training and went to have dinner with you. No he doesn't have thoughts of that, but apparently I shouldn't waste my time with training was his rebuttal."
"Not surprised at the weak response he tries giving. The man may be powerful in business, but he's a spineless worm when it comes to physical confrontation." Raven seethed, wishing Willow didn't have to come home to that.
Willow let out a light chuckle at that. "Yes, I believe that's a good way to phrase it… But it's not just him. It's speaking to Winter tonight. I can't say it was a conversation I'll be looking forward to."
Raven felt bad for the woman, so she needed to try to at least assure her that things won't have to be difficult. "Just talk with the girl. Seeing as Ironwood trained her, I don't see her crying about whatever you have to say."
"I can't just talk to her." Willow reiterated. "There's more, too much to explain tonight. Look, there's just so much I'm trying to handle, but… Ugh, damn it. Am I selfish? For how I am… For being upset with the amount of stress I am going through?"
"No one likes stress, idiot." Raven badgered. "Every day has some bit of stress, and with how much you've kept bottled up, it was a matter of time before it exploded. So no, I don't think you're selfish. You're just overdo for a break from the madness."
Willow shook her head, refusing to even entertain the idea of giving herself a break. "There's no more time for breaks, Raven. I've delayed so much, just so my family won't be hurt, but I didn't realize I was doing the opposite of keeping them safe… I need to make things right."
"Idiot, you're only going to burn yourself out, and what good would you be to your family then? Huh? No, don't answer that." Willow felt her heart jump at Raven's words. "Make sure I'm not on speaker." After a few moments, Raven continued, knowing Willow was keeping her scroll up to her ear. "You and I know what happened tonight… I'm not going to deny or look back in regret, so let me make it clear, I'm going to help you with Jacques. You aren't alone."
Willow placed her hand back on her heart again, feeling that same spark she felt with Jacques years ago. "There's… Only so much you could do." She whispered somberly.
"Don't underestimate me, Willow Schnee. Just be prepared to shove his suitcase against his chest the moment you kick him out." Raven encouraged, and Willow bit her lip.
"Raven…" She slid her hand up to her lips, pressing two fingers on them as she thought back to her kiss with Jacques. "I kissed him…"
"You kissed him?" Raven suddenly felt the fear of Willow regretting their kiss.
Willow sniffled a bit, since the pain of losing her love for Jacques persisted. "I told him to kiss me during an argument, and he… He was confused by it. I chose to just kiss him and felt… Nothing. I felt nothing, Raven."
Hearing that made Raven feel guilty for assuming Willow was looking back at their kiss like it was a mistake. "Hmm, well… I don't want to say it's not a surprised, but-."
"I know, it isn't a surprise, but the fact that it meant… Nothing," Willow felt another stray tear drip down. "Goodness, I spent so much of my life with him," She felt more tears. "I loved him, Raven…"
The black haired huntress could hear the pain coming from the woman she was holding feelings for, and it angered her to know that it was the Schnee CEO who did such a thing to cause her that pain. "Willow, you're allowed to feel hurt by this-."
"I wish you were here…" Willow admitted, interrupting her.
"Willow…" Raven took a deep breath. "Okay,"
The call suddenly ended and Willow gasped, looking down at her scroll when she placed it on the table. "She… She hung up…" It was like the only other person she wanted to be with in her life just gave up on her.
It was painful, but that pain would soon fade when a red flash caused Willow to quickly stand up and turn, seeing a black and red oval shaped swirl appear in her room. Her heart was beating faster in fear, but not a moment later, Raven walked through it. "You said you wanted me here… So I'm here."
I know I missed a week, but I just wasn't feeling it, and also it was Thanksgiving week, so adding onto the fact that I just wasn't in the writing mood, I just couldn't finish up this chapter.
Anyways, to me, this chapter is very important to growing these two. No it's not just about their relationship itself. It's to show who they were and who they may be in the future.
To JJ- Yang is definitely a very mature and understanding character in my eyes, with her own demons that pushes the thought of a realistic approach to life, while also preserving the joy and fun loving personality she has over it all. So yeah, writing her down that way in the last chapter was something I was happy to do. Also with Weiss, acceptance is hard, but it's something she realizes after learning she wasn't born a Schnee will come sooner or later.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 115. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 116.