Disclaimer: All character's belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored with ToxicExotic

Yes... we changed the title

Reunion

Blake was having a hard time taking it all in. Had someone told her twenty-four hours ago that she would be sat around a campfire wrapped in a tight hug by her mom while her dad helped rebuild the tents that had been trampled, she would have scoffed and told them to leave her alone. The hug alone had been something she had never expected to experience again, something she still barely thought she deserved.

She was still unsure how to feel about it though. While a part of her was happy at the fact that she was once again experiencing the warm comfort of her mom's arms, the familiar smell of blackberries filling her senses and reminding her of the days spent in the woman's company, there was another that was telling her to pull away. A nagging thought in the back of her mind telling her to stand and run before the woman could come to her senses and scream at her. And while they were the most prominent emotions, they were by no means the only ones.

Thankfully though, her parents had not even attempted to ask her any questions. Instead, her mom seemed more than content with simply maintaining contact, and her dad was making himself busy overseeing the reconstruction of the camp with Ilia, who was yet another source of mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy to see her best friend, but she was also nervous for what she knew would come. Though the girl's skin was still slowly switching between colors, Blake knew the faunus was angry with her, for good reason, and that the fallout would inevitably come.

"Hey, Mrs Belladonna." Ruby said, appearing from the treeline with an awkward smile. After the battle was over and the Grimm had been repelled, Ruby, Yang, and Weiss had all gone to take care of any stragglers. "The area's secure for now."

"Thank you, Dear." The woman replied kindly. "But call me Kali. Please."

An odd rush of relief ran through Blake as she saw Ruby's eyes fill with nerves. It was a small thing, but at least something about the day was consistent with what she had thought it would be.

"Oh… O-Okay… Kali." The girl stammered, her fingers tapping together. "Well I'm going to talk to Mr Bell… uhh… Ghira." Her eyes glanced to Blake for a second before darting back to the woman. "Bye."

With her head lowered slightly, the girl took off towards the middle of the clearing muttering to herself in such a low voice that even Blake couldn't make it out.

"She seems nice." Kali said slowly, a hint of humor in her voice. "I'm glad you had good friends to take care of you."

Despite having already spent almost five minutes crying in her dad's arms while her friends fought around her, Blake immediately felt tears sting her eyes again. Turning her head to the side and burying her face in the woman's shoulder, she let the tears flow and allowed herself to at least enjoy a little of the kindness that was being shown.

"Why didn't you call us? Why didn't you come home?"

"I didn't… I didn't th-think you'd want me." Blake replied, her throat sore from having cried so much.

"Oh my silly little girl." Kali breathed, shaking her head and raising her hand to scratch soothingly at the bottom of Blake's ears. "What could ever make you think such a thing?"

Plenty of things, she thought to herself.

"The things I've done." She mumbled. "The things I said. I called you so many horrible things. How can you just forgive that?"

"Dear…" The woman pulled away for the first time they had sat down and gently cupped Blake's jaw with her hand. "We never took those words to heart. You were angry, we understood that and let you have your space."

"But I let you both down and threw away everything you tried to build…."

"You have never let us down. You were swayed by naive words and foul displays designed to sway young minds. It was not your fault."

"But I believed them, Mom." Blake countered with a shake of her head. "The things I've done. I've hurt people. I've k-killed people. I became what you and dad hate so how can you still look at me like that?"

"Because you are our daughter." Kali replied firmly, the amber eyes that were so like Blake's own boring deep into her. "We know what you have done, and we will talk about it another day when you have calmed down, but we still forgive you." The woman's hand raised and wiped away the line of tears that streaked Blake's face. "We will always forgive you."

While she still struggled to believe it could really be that easy, the longer she looked into her mom's eyes the more she wanted it to be. Even with all her doubt, all her fears of them not accepting her, she hadn't realised just how much she missed them both until she'd seen them again. The moment her dad had swept her up in that hug the safety she had felt as a child had all come rushing back and everything around her had faded away. Despite monsters swarming them and people fighting for their lives, the only thing she had been able to do was hold on to his jacket, just to feel that familiar sense of safety for a little longer.

The same was true for her mom, except instead of safety it was love. Throughout her childhood, the woman had always been a constant source of love, and wanting to feel that again, wanting to believe her mom's words were true and that they did still love them, she leaned back in and wrapped her arms around the older woman. Without a single second of hesitation, she felt the faunus' arms wrap back around her too, pulling her deeper into the embrace as they both enjoyed the silent comfort.

Eventually though, it was broken as both of them picked up the same voice from across the lake bed.

"Kali, dear. We're meeting in the tent if you want to join us."

Pulling away and looking around, they saw the large man disappearing into a huge tent that had been erected by the river, quickly followed by Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Rodentia.

"We should head over." Kali said, her hand taking Blake's as she stood to her feet. "Your dad's been worried sick about getting us all out of here."

Giving little more than a nod as she stood to her feet, since her throat was still hurting a little, she allowed her mother to lead her by the hand towards the tent. As they walked through the camp though, a few of the guards gave her small smiles and polite bows, and Blake felt her ears flatten against her head. It had been years since she had last been treated in such a way, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it after seeing what it had done to Weiss. However, before she could think about it too much, her mom was ushering her into the warm tent.

Gathered around a table looking down a map that Blake recognised as Ruby's was her father and her teammates. Though Yang was still as bright as ever, Weiss was practically falling asleep with her chin resting on her hand and Ruby seemed to be somewhere between the two as she leaned against her sister. All three of them however flashed her a warm smile as she entered though, and she was happy to return it as her mom walked her over to stand between her and her dad.

"So you said you were heading to Securay?"

"Yes." Ghira replied to Saber's question, his deep voice booming through the tent. "We were travelling along this route when we were ambushed."

Ruby marked off the route he mentioned. "Damn." She hummed to herself.

"Something we should know?" Rodentia asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… that's kinda the fastest route." Ruby explained and pointed to the map. "And since there are too many people for us to go through the woods, the only other one is half a mile back and adds another day to the journey since it takes us around this hill."

"Well what if we head back towards Zelen and take the road near there. It's a straight path outside of the dead zone."

"And lead whatever we pick up along the way to Zelen?" Yang interrupted. "They aren't equipped to handle that, that's why we're going to Securay."

"Miss… Umm."

"Yang."

"Miss Yang is right, Saber." Ghira agreed. "We shouldn't be bringing danger to Zelen. But…" He let out a tired sigh that caused Blake to look up at him.

The pictures had certainly been kinder than the real thing. To say the man looked tired was an understatement. Dark bags laid beneath his wrinkled eyes and the usually straight back posture she had known as a kid was gone. She knew the man had just spent at least an hour fighting for his life, but he was still young enough that couldn't help but worry that something more was wrong with him.

"... with our trucks out of commission, we can't afford to take another day to get to the village. It's already going to take more than one to reach it, and once we leave this please, we won't find another secure place to bunker down since we'll have to leave all of our gear behind."

"I'm sure Yang could take a look at the trucks." Blake suggested, wanting to feel helpful. "She's good with cars and stuff."

"I can look over it tomorrow." Yang smiled over at her with a wink. "I'll get it purring again real quick."

Shaking her head at Yang's natural ability to make a pun, she felt her mother lean in a tiny amount and whisper in her ear.

"I like that one."

"Mom!" She hissed back, her ears flattening against her head and hiding a blush. At least one thing hadn't changed.

"I doubt you'll have much luck, but you're welcome to try." Ghira nodded and turned to Saber. "How is the guard?"

"Recovering." He replied. "They'll be ready to move after some rest."

"Something we all could use." Kali said firmly, reaching out to rest her hand on her husband's arm. "Everything else can wait until morning, Dear."

For a few seconds, the two of them met each other's gaze and Blake saw gratitude and acceptance enter her dad's eyes.

"You're right." He hummed. "Tired plans lead to mistakes. We'll go through this properly tomorrow after Miss Yang checks on the truck."

"Sounds good to me." Ruby smiled at them all, giving Weiss a small poke that jolted her awake. "Me and Yang can keep watch if the guards need to sleep."

"You barely look like you're able to stand." Saber answered with a shake of his head. "No, I'll keep guard with Khet and Bakan."

"Thank you, Saber." Kali said with a smile, her head bowing slightly to the man.

"My pleasure, Madams Belladonna." He said stopping in before the exit and giving a small bow to them both, and then turning to Ghira. "My Chief."

"Safe watch, Rodentia." Ghira said politely and sat down on a stool.

Once the man left the tent, Kali made her way over to put a hand on her free husband's shoulder. For the briefest of moments, the man looked up and Blake could see the weight of the world drain from his eyes. It made her happy to see that her parents were still so madly in love with each other that a mere touch could brighten their day; however, the moment was quickly broken when Weiss stifled a yawn and both of them turned back to face everyone in the room.

"You poor things." She said with a chuckle. "I have no doubt that Saber put you through your paces."

"He could learn a thing or two about slowing down from Professor Oobleck." Weiss mumbled as she wiped sleep from her eyes.

"He can be a little overzealous about protecting us." Ghira hummed and took his wife's hand. "But he's a good man and a good Huntsman. Menagerie would have been lost long ago without him."

"He could do with losing the attitude though." Yang scowled, taking a seat in an empty chair.

"Yang!" Ruby hissed.

"It's fine." Ghira grinned as held up his free hand. "Even Saber would not deny that particular fault." He paused for a second and looked around at each of Blake's teammates. "So… you are friends of my daughter, I take it?"

Silence ran around the room for a second until Blake finally noticed her dad looking at her out of the corner of his eye. It felt odd that her first real words to the man after years of being estranged would be introducing him to her friends, but she supposed she had to start somewhere.

"Oh, umm…" Blake took a step towards her partner and swallowed a lump in her throat. "Mom, Dad. This is Yang Xiao Long, my partner."

"Nice to meet you." Yang said with a thumbs up.

"Weiss Schnee."

Weiss gave a respectful bow of her head as Blake pointed to her. "It is an honour to meet you both."

"Likewise." Ghira replied.

"And my…" Blake paused for a second, deciding just how awkward she wanted the introduction to be "Our team leader, Ruby Rose."

"H-Hi." The girl replied, her nerves clearly returning since the official meeting was over.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." The large faunus said with a smile, though quickly saw the look in his wife's eyes. "However, as much as I would love to hear all the stories you have of my daughter at Beacon, I should let you all get some sleep."

"Sleep would be perfect right now." Weiss mumbled, her head dropping onto Ruby's shoulder.

"Then it's settled." He nodded and looked up at his wife. "Would you mind having a tent pitched for them, Dear? I want to look over this map for a little more and then I will join you."

"Of course, Dear." Kali replied, and leaned down to kiss her husband's hand. "Don't take too long."

"I won't." The man agreed as Kali made her way to the entrance to the tent, Blake forced to follow as she was being led by the hand. "Blake… Can I have a word?"

Stopping just short of the entrance and feeling her mom's hand reluctantly leave hers, she turned to see her dad had stood up from the stool. It was amazing just how jarring his height was after five years of not seeing him, and she quickly found herself shrinking a little before him. Despite that however, she gave a small nod and motioned for her teams to go on ahead of her. Thankfully, as they did, she felt Ruby's fingers link lightly with hers; and though it was only for a split second, it was still long enough to give her a small boost of confidence. As soon as the finger's left hers though, she was left with an empty feeling and couldn't do anything but look at her feet.

Outside of the introductions, she hadn't actually said anything to her dad since they had arrived. As when they had been huddled on the floor while the battle raged around them, the only thing she had done was cried. It was the only thing she could do. So now, to find herself in front of him and believing she was unable to produce more tears, all she could do was nervously wait for the man to talk as she felt his heavy footstep draw closer.

"My beautiful girl." He whispered gently, his hand resting on her cheek and lifting her head upwards so that her gaze could meet his. "Welcome home."

"I…"

Looking into his smiling face that looked so much older than when she had last seen it, her words failed here and tears she didn't think possible began to slide down her cheek. Deciding against them altogether, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the giant man, feeling the familiar warmth and scent of his purple coat surround her. It felt safe there, even before his large arm wrapped around her shoulder, and with that safety, she found herself more able to collect her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry." She muttered into his chest. "I'm s-sorry for everything."

"It's okay." The man said softly, his hand stroking her back gently. "We don't blame you."

Tightening the hug a little at the reassurance, Blake shook her head a little; however, if her father felt it he didn't say anything.

"You sh-should."

"Nonsense." Ghira replied, his voice soft and calm as he continued to stroke her back. "Mistakes don't define us, how we learn from them does. And I am so proud that you learned to move away from the darkness. That is more than most can say."

"But the things I did…"

"You will have to live with that for the rest of your life." Ghira said in a said voice as he pulled away and looked down at her. "Maybe one day, you will be able to find the people you have wronged and make amends. It will not be easy, but the fact you are able to face them shows that you are a good person. "

"But you should go and get some rest." Though she still felt like she should have been shouted at, she looked up and found herself reassured by the sincerity in his eyes. "We'll talk more in the morning. I want to know everything. And then… we shall face your demons together."

Giving the man a small nod and a weak smile, which was effortlessly returned, she turned back to the entrance and pulled the tarp aside. Before she left though, she looked back and saw her dad returning to the table and leaning over the map on top of it. Once again, his shoulders were slumped and there was a general tired aura around him, and Blake once again couldn't help but worry that there was something more going on with him.

Reminding herself to ask her mom about it at some point, she turned away and left the tent and quickly found Ruby and Yang standing next to a pair of smaller tents talking amongst themselves.

"Where's Weiss." She asked.

"Already asleep." Yang said, pointing to the left tent. "We're figuring out who's getting which tent."

"So which one of us wakes up Weiss when we go in?"

"Yup." Ruby smiled and took her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm." Blake nodded, unsure if it was a lie or not. "I just want to sleep honestly."

Giving her a gentle look, Ruby turned back to her sister and stuck out her bottom lip causing Yang to roll her eyes and shake her head.

"Fiiiiine." Yang groaned. "I'll take the dangerous tent. But you two owe me."

"Thank yoooou." Ruby grinned as the girl waved her away and unzipped the tent.

Almost immediately, Blake picked up a small, annoyed sigh before the zip was pulled back. Knowing just how dangerous it was to wake Weiss up, especially when she was very tired, Blake certainly didn't envy what would be the next ten minutes of Yang's life. However, feeling Ruby gently tug on her hand and lead her into the second tent, she quickly found her sympathy for Yang fading. Pulling out her sleeping bag, she got ready to throw it out when Ruby held out her hand.

"Thanks." Ruby smiled as she handed it over. "Sooo… you uhhh… you want to talk?"

"Not really." Blake replied uncomfortably as she watched her girlfriend zip the two sleeping bags together. Realising how rude that might have sounded, she quickly corrected herself. "Sorry… I just kinda want to think about things alone first."

"I get it." Ruby said with a nod and spread the sleeping bag out. "But at least you know that you were wrong about them not wanting to see you."

"Yeah." Blake replied, still unsure what to think about that. "That's a good thing… I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't know." Blake shrugged and sat down. "I know they've always been caring and kind, but the way they won't even shout at me for everything I've done kind of reminds me of why I left in the first place. They're so… passive."

"I think that's just you." Ruby said, causing Blake to look up at her. Shaking her head, Ruby sat down beside her and entwined their fingers again. "You're trying to find a fault so that you can be right and keep punishing yourself for what you did. Have you considered that they're just as scared as you right now?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, certainly not having gotten that vibe from her parents.

"I mean… you left them once. They're probably scared that they might do something to drive you away again. You realise that your mom didn't let go of your hand all night, right?"

"I…"

She hadn't; or at least she hadn't noted it as anything out of the ordinary. Kali had always been a woman that was very open with her affection, she had always been the kind to show how much she loved someone through small touches and physical gestures so everything about the night felt normal at the time. However, looking back, Ruby was right. From the second her mom had stepped out of the cave and embraced her, she couldn't remember a single moment where the woman hadn't been touching some part of her.

"Maybe." She hummed. "I just… I don't know what to think. I wi-" She cut herself off and hung her head. "I wish they'd just shouted at me. Scolded me. Just anything."

Despite not seeing it, she could sense Ruby shaking her head before placing it on her shoulder and cuddling up. "I know you don't believe it sometimes, but you deserve to be loved, Blake."

Looking down into Ruby's shining silver eyes, she felt a warmth pooling in her stomach again. For months the girl had been at her side, always pushing away her doubts and subduing her fears when she couldn't do it herself, and this time was no different. Blake had no idea where such optimism could come from, how someone could hold so much hope in things turning out for the best, but she did know that she was becoming increasingly partial to believing it. Or at least, believing Ruby.

"Thanks." She breathed, leaning down to press a momentary kiss against the girl's forehead.

"You're welcome." Ruby smiled up at her. "But we really should get some sleep."

With a nod, Blake finally wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's back and pulled them both backwards onto the sleeping bag. Without bothering to remove her clothes, since it was chilly anyway and she was too tired to do so, she pulled the cover over them and felt Ruby cuddle into her chest. As they both laid there though, the smell of strawberries drifting up into her nose, Blake felt another uncertainty enter her thoughts; though not one to do with her parents.

No, this uncertainty was one she had felt earlier in the tower, one that didn't feel her with dread, but instead happiness. But she wasn't sure if it was real yet, not that she would be opposed to it being so, however the last few days had been such a rollercoaster of emotions that she wasn't sure if the feeling was simply a byproduct of that. And sure was what she wanted to be before she ever brought it up, so tightening her hug on the girl and closing her eyes, she let the question enter her mind and provide a very much needed distraction from everything that was happening with her parents.

Do I love her?

Raalm's Notes

Hello everyone :) We hope you enjoyed that chapter. We know it's probably not the discussion you hoped for, but we wanted it to serve more as an introduction to Kali and Ghira before we get into the real stuff. We also wanted to show how conflicted Blake is now that she is really met with her past failures, so I really hope that came across well.

Anyway, that's it from me. I know I say this a lot, but ya'll comments and feedback, even just you reading this, means so much to me :)

Chapter 55 will be uploaded on the 25th :)