Chapter 24

The Yang-over


"Wake-y, wake-y, Weiss-y! We've got green eggs and Blake-y!"

Weiss let out a miserable groan as consciousness reared its ugly head to a symphony of jackhammers. Her eyelids flickered open revealing bloodshot eyes but she quickly retreated underneath the covers when she was blinded by sunlight. She whimpered as her entire body ached as though she had just sparred with Pyrrha the day before, and missing the sweet bliss of unconsciousness she rolled over pleading for both her migraine and tormentor to go away.

"Time to get up, princess. Anymore beauty sleep and you'll pass me. And we can't have that now can we?"

She rolled back over and peeked out from underneath the covers at the silhouette of a tall blonde towering over her. A halo of sunlight was pulsing around the shadowy figure and narrowing her eyes Weiss saw the monster that haunted every decent girl's nightmares.

"I hate you," she growled, her voice weak and rough like sandpaper.

The other girl grinned causing the room to be engulfed in sunlight and for Weiss to shield her eyes once more. When the threat of going permanently blind finally subsided she opened her eyes and found her vision obscured by crimson, and after wondering if a head injury was the cause of the jackhammers and dried blood she reached up and threw the wig at her tormentor, which landed on the bed beside her and fell unceremoniously to the floor.

Yang watched it fall amused but unimpressed. "And here I was worried our precious snow angel would never be the same again after last night." Her smile widened as Weiss lowered the covers revealing a white toothbrush mustache made with permanent marker.

Weiss muttered several nonsensical curses to herself and sank back into her bed savoring how warm and soft her thousand count Vacuon cotton sheets were. Every inch of her aching body felt as though it was wrapped in a cloud, and in all her time at Beacon Academy she had never felt as comfortable as she did now.

Since the beginning of the school year she had worn modest nightgowns to bed every night, and even thin shirts and shorts underneath for the first couple months. Progressively the nightgowns had gotten shorter and eventually the pajamas underneath disappeared, and each time the girl with ice cold skin changed her sleeping attire it was accompanied by noticeably more restful sleep.

As she squirmed pleasurably in between the sheets her heart suddenly skipped a beat as she realized something was very wrong despite feeling very right. Her bloodshot eyes shot open and with scarlet cheeks she turned to Yang whose grin engulfed her entire face.

"Comfortable?" she asked in a tone that was anything but innocent.

Weiss hugged the covers tightly and raised them so that only her wide eyes were poking out. "What did you do!?"

"I didn't do anything. You on the other hand got out of your cocktail dress and into your birthday suit to sleep in."

"I-I did not! I mean- No I'm not!"

Yang grabbed ahold of the covers as if threatening to rip them away. "If you don't wanna do the honors I'll be more than happy to."

Weiss' breath caught and she began twisting herself into a cocoon. "I-I don't have to prove anything to you! A-and I'm much more comfortable lying here!"

"I bet you are, but why don't you come out and give your favorite acquaintance a hug!"

The heiress screamed as she and sheets were lifted off the bed, spinning in the air as the cocoon unraveled. When she landed back onto the bed she was upright and playing tug of war with Yang over the covers and losing.

"Would both of you just shut up!" cried a raspy voice across the room.

Both Yang and Weiss momentarily called a ceasefire and glanced at the girl in the opposite bed hiding in the shadows. She was sitting with her bare legs to the side in a dark, floral patterned yukata nursing a steaming cup of tea, occasionally wincing at even the slightest noise. Despite the darkness Weiss could see that her cat ears were almost completely folded back, and saw that whiskers had been drawn on her cheeks. If she hadn't been fighting an aneurysm Weiss might've actually found it mildly humorous.

"I told you to keep flaring your aura," Yang admonished, letting go of the sheets which caused Weiss to fall backward with her legs narrowly missing the top bunk above. She quickly wrapped herself in between multiple layers to full cocoon herself, and even pinched the soft fabric with her toes just to make sure they didn't get away from her again. "Here, this will help too."

Weiss' nose twitched and she removed her makeshift hood to find a cup of coffee being waved in front of her, as well as her usual morning and afternoon aspirin, and with her hands and wrists completely covered she accepted Team RWBY's ultimate peace offering.

"You didn't put five sugars in it did you?" she asked, staring at the dark liquid suspiciously.

Yang shook her head. "Even I'm not that cruel. It's just how you like it, and I even added a little extra vanilla creamer like you do when you think nobody's looking. Now drink up and start flaring your aura."

Weiss grimaced as she struggled activating her aura which normally would've already been passively active, but just as her brain began threatening to explode she felt a sudden surge of relief as though her agony was being progressively washed away every few seconds with each fresh wave of releasing aura. Her partner had once compared activating your aura to an elephant being released from a shoe-box, with your soul being the elephant and the shoe-box your body, and never before had her peculiar analogy felt so accurate.

With her aura humming and causing her coffee to cool she she took an experimental sip to test whether or not it was poisoned. Disappointed to still be alive but satisfied by the taste she took the aspirin and closed her eyes continuing to flare her aura whenever the previous wave of relief subsided. As the discomfort inside her body dispersed outside she began to imagine herself crawling out of her cocoon and taking flight, but stopped herself before she could try.

After a particularly satisfying sip she turned toward the bed opposite. "I'm wearing undergarments I swear."

Blake glanced down at a pile of clothes beside Weiss' bed and nodded slowly. "Sure you are..."

Pleased by their recovery and feeling more than a little triumphant, Yang practically skipped over to the bathroom door where she banged her fist against it with such force that both Weiss and Blake bounced into the air along with their beds.

"You alright, Rubes!?"

A dying animal moaned from the other side of the door causing Yang's slight concern to turn into pure amusement. "I know something that may help. Try imagining a greasy omelet served in a dirty ashtray." The sounds resumed and Yang bounced on the balls of her feet chuckling to herself. "You're welcome!"

Several nonsensical and unpleasant-sounding curses echoed from the other side of the door but were almost impossible to decipher except for a few key words.

"Love you too!"

Once the green tint faded from Weiss' face she glared at Yang practically baring her teeth. "What? Getting your fifteen-year-old sister drunk and listening to her vomit in a toilet makes you proud?"

There was a threatening edge to her voice but Yang couldn't tell whether it was because she was feeling particularly protective of her partner that morning, or if she was simply feeling even worse than she looked. Since she was in a good mood Yang decided to go ahead and give her the benefit of the doubt.

"A little actually, but I told you last night that Rubes just had enough to drink to help her sleep. She woke up with a mild headache and upset stomach at best, but despite my warnings she still decided to devour what was left of my birthday cake along with her usual morning cookies and wash it all down with a gallon of milk anyway."

Both girls shuddered and covered their mouths. "She's an idiot," Weiss gagged, fighting the bile rising in the back of her throat just like the girl across from her.

"Yeah, but she's our idiot."

"Speak for yourself..."

The toilet flushed and a few moments later the door creaked open and Ruby walked out cleaning her mouth and holding her stomach. She furrowed her unibrow looking surprised to see the other girl's awake, and scooted past her sister toward her and Weiss' bunk bed.

"Feeling any better, Sis?"

Ruby nodded weakly and stepped over shopping bags and piles of clothes, frowning disapprovingly at the pile beside Weiss' bed, particularly at the wig, and sat down at the foot of her partner's bed.

"Don't sit there!" she cried, kicking her off the bed onto the floor. Ruby grimaced and rubbed her backside disappointed but not surprised by her reaction.

Blake snickered at the idea that for no matter how brief, Weiss Schnee had been naked or at least partially naked in bed with another girl, and Yang must've found it humorous as well because she couldn't help laughing as she helped her sister up.

"If anybody's hungry I can go down the hall and cook some breakfast."

Everybody shook their heads and waited for the nausea to pass unsure whether it was specifically the idea of food or Yang's cooking that made them want to vomit.

"How can you even possibly think of eating after last night?" Weiss blanched. "Especially when you probably had more to drink than all three of us combined?"

Yang shrugged. "Practice makes perfect, and make that double. They say it takes ten thousand hours to become a master at anything, which means I must be like a super-expert-master at partying."

"I refuse to believe that you could be a master at anything, even depravity."

"Well I for one think you're a master of many things, Weiss," she said sounding sincere.

"Really?" She smiled and her face brightened.

"Yeah, really?" Ruby and Blake blinked, wondering if perhaps the lack of a hangover was because Yang was actually still drunk.

"Uh-huh. Seeing how much our innocent little princess likes to argue she must have at least ten thousand hours of debating, which would make her a master debater." Yang grinned obviously proud of herself, and while Blake rolled her eyes Ruby giggled childishly like her sister.

"Y-you-" Weiss seethed, unable to come up with a satisfactory insult, and for the first time had the terrible thought that there might not actually be one offensive or disparaging enough to accurately describe Yang Xiao Long.

Yang grinned at her as if to say 'Took you long enough', and with a devilish smirk walked over to the window. "Let there be light!"

Everyone screamed and recoiled like vampires, but Team RWBY's fearless leader bravely staggered toward the window and pulled the blinds down again, darkening the room and earning her the eternal gratitude of her teammates.

"You're enjoying this aren't you," Blake snarled, still covering her eyes due to the brightening halo around her partner.

"More than you'll ever know. Think of this as a right of passage, and as payback for never being nearly as considerate when I have a hangover."

"Considerate!?" Weiss screamed. "You threaten to kill us if we so much as breathe loudly! And most of the time those aren't even hangovers! That's just you waking up on the wrong side of the bed!"

Yang shrugged. "Same difference, and like you're one to talk. At least we've proven once and for all that you aren't a lightweight." She began to clap politely, and after puffing out her cheeks Weiss' shoulders slumped and she accepted the no doubt backhanded compliment.

"I suppose I did do fairly well for my first time clubbing, and I've felt worse. Getting my arm impaled by an Alpha King Taijitu was slightly more painful than this."

"You should've seen her, Rubes." Yang nudged her sister, grinning like a proud parent. "Nobody could take their eyes off of her, and she had guys lining out the door to buy her drinks."

Weiss' face reddened and she sheepishly played with the pattern in her sheets while Yang beamed and Ruby giggled.

"Don't worry, Sis. I'll tell you all the juicy details later, and even show you some of the less graphic pictures and videos too." She picked up her scroll off the top bunk and began pressing buttons. "Trust me, you'll never look at our mild mannered princess the same way ever again."

Ruby and Blake peeked around her to see what sort of blackmail had been added to Yang's already impressive collection when the roar of a dance floor filled the room only to be drowned out by the moans of pleasure.

"I-is that Misty?" Ruby asked. "Our waitress from the Cerulean Cafe?" Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. "Wait! That's me! Whoa..."

Slowly, everyone turned to the heiress whose high-pitched, sing-song voice could clearly be heard over the sounds of music, yelling, and ecstasy.

"T-that's not m-me," she stuttered, horrified and pleading with her partner to close her eyes and cover her ears.

"Sounds like you. Looks like you. Well, you dressed as me..."

"S-she made me do it, Ruby! I swear!"

"Only the first time. The second and third were entirely on your own volition. But don't worry, Rubes, Weiss did you proud. You're officially a legend on the fun side of town." Yang closed her scroll before the video could get too exciting, and winked at her stunned sister whose world might as well have been turned upside down after seeing her partner actually having fun and enjoying herself, which might've been the most shocking part of the video to her.

"I'll show you more later, or-" she said suggestively- "if you'd prefer you can snuggle up with your partner's aura and experience everything she did last night for yourself..."

Ruby stiffened and grinned nervously at Weiss who began burrowing underneath the sheets and dimmed her aura so that no stray thoughts or emotions could be shared between them.

"Well..." Yang drawled, tapping her foot impatiently and in disappointment. "If you three are gonna stay in bed all day or in close proximity to the toilet, I'm gonna get cleaned up and go out for round two. After-party here I come!"

She started toward the bathroom only to be engulfed in a cloud of rose petals. "As-leader-I-call-dibs-on-the-shower!" Ruby shouted, slamming the door shut behind her. A moment later the water could be heard running, and she began talking to who her roommates could only presume was Col. Cornelius E. Quackers, recent recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Coughing and gagging on stale rose petals Yang waved her hand through the dissipating cloud and marched over to the door muttering under her breath. Grabbing ahold of the handle and twisting it she broke the lock and walked right in.

"YANG!"

"It's nothing I haven't seen before, and as older sister I get first shower privileges and you get whatever hot water's left, if there is any. Hop in the tub if you're that desperate for a cold shower, or for old time's sake we could-"

Ruby flew out of the bathroom with her undershirt and blouse over her head and leggings around her knees and skirt at her ankles, and flopped helplessly on the ground like a fish as the door slammed shut behind her only to creak back open slightly.

Weiss sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. "When has calling dibs ever worked with your sister?"

Normally the everyday occurrence of Yang hurling someone out of the bathroom wouldn't have even registered enough with Blake to get her attention, but something about the younger girl's groans caught her attention, and despite the darkness she could plainly see her corset-like waist cincher laying beside her, presumably having come untied and fallen off. She glanced at Ruby as courteously as she could to see her pulling her leggings up, and just as she was about to respectfully turn away again she realized her leader wasn't in fact topless and instead had bandages tightly wrapped around her midsection and chest, and spied a few gruesome-looking scars around her hips and thighs before she pulled her leggings back up.

Ruby owned exactly two shirts that exposed her bellybutton, the exact opposite of her sister, both of which she had outgrown and stubbornly demoted to pajama shirts but hadn't worn since returning from the mission. Being roommates and sharing a locker room together Blake had seen Ruby both fully and partially undressed on numerous occasions, but never had she ever seen these scars that looked much too old to have been recent, as well as far too grievous.

'Beowolves...' she recognized, having seen the very same patterns on herself and others too many times to count, particularly on corpses who'd been unlucky enough to die where they'd been pinned. And most recently had seen them on Weiss when they were all still recovering from the mission in the hospital.

She suddenly realized why most of Ruby's clothes had been baggier and even more multi-layered than usual, and why she had avoided trying on clothes the day before and refused to dress in front of anyone. While she pulled her shirts down and skirt back up Blake glanced at Weiss hoping she had seen the bandages and peculiar scars as well but either she was being polite or her eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the darkness or it was simply too dark for humans to see.

Or she was just too busy staring at her toothbrush mustache in a little hand mirror, which under normal circumstances Blake might've found as humorous as she did ironic. It had once infamously belonged to a shortly lived but particularly brutal Atlesian dictator who had tried to take power after the royal family lost theirs, a coincidence Weiss didn't seem to appreciate nearly as much as her faunus roommate.

Seeing her waist cincher on the ground Ruby gasped and nervously glanced around the room, seeing a still napping corgi wrapped in a red blanket in her bunk, a preoccupied heiress in her own, and a faunus looking anywhere but where she was sitting either out of respect or politeness. She assumed the cincher which covered her stomach and most of her back and chest must have fallen off after she had dived out of the bathroom otherwise she and her sister would be having a talk right about then.

Part of her was angry at herself for having come so far only to nearly be caught on something as thoughtless as thinking a locked door and the apparently not-so-sacred rule of dibs would stop her sister, but she also couldn't help being the least bit annoyed at her as well, and it had little to do with Yang obviously lying about going out to party again.

Having fallen asleep in the clothes she'd been wearing since yesterday morning they didn't feel particularly pleasant to still be wearing, and Ruby almost wanted to cry at the thought of having to wait at least another hour to get cleaned up and have time just to herself. She'd had strange dreams the night before, premonitions almost, both of warnings and reassurances that everything would be alright despite everything appearing the contrary. She'd had these sorts of dreams before, and just like every other time they'd had her Uncle Qrow's voice. Real or not she couldn't get the one sided conversation out of her head, nor the sickening feeling she felt. She'd woken up not feeling well, with her aura fluctuating more than usual, and her sister's suggestion of cake, cookies, and milk hadn't exactly helped matters, though perhaps the vomiting afterward had.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked suddenly, causing her to freeze before she could tie her waist cincher back on. "Could you open one of my dust cases for me? Please?"

Ruby turned to Blake who she briefly caught glancing at her from the corner of her eye, and with adrenaline pumping or perhaps just nervous energy, or simply amazed that her partner had actually said 'please' and sounded like she might've meant it, Ruby stood up and after smoothing out her grungy feeling clothes retrieved a heavy suitcase from under her partner's bed.

"The combination is-"

"-I got it," she interrupted, having seen Weiss open it multiple times in the past, and having taken an occasional look herself from time to time. Inside the protective case that not even Ruby's most violent sneezes could penetrate was a myriad of dust vials, jars, and crystals of all different colors, and Ruby couldn't help but swallow thinking how much the case itself must've cost, let alone the perfectly cut crystals inside. And had to remind herself that there were several more in the closet, stored away in the student garage, and in their dressing room downstairs.

"Good, now hand me a purple vial. Actually you better make that three just to be safe. The crystal vials, not the powdered."

Ruby blinked in surprise only able to think of a time or two her partner had ever used telekinetic glyphs, and taking her time admiring the collection she found it in full stock in between the white energy dust, sometimes referred to as spirit because of its ability to compliment and amplify aura, and cyan, which was incredibly expensive and used for creating practical hard-light constructs. Spirit was her partner's trump card only to be used as a last resort, but telekinesis exhausted her almost immediately and hard-light wasn't something she was particularly adapt at using or thought very practical, and preferred her much more durable and adaptable icy constructs.

Recalling every article she had ever read on the subject Ruby knew cyan dust was being studied extensively by the SDC for creating force fields and even artificial auras and aura shields, and thought of her mother and Velvet using summoning glyphs to create their own hard-light constructs with a combination of spirit dust and/or their own auras. She thought for sure it had to be much more powerful than whatever cyan dust or glyphs could do, but being relatively newly weaponized Ruby wasn't exactly sure what they could do.

'Didn't Penny's aura have a cyan tint to it?'

Ruby's breath caught, and again she heard her uncle's warning from the dream that she was running out of time to get aboard one of the most secure places on Remnant. She felt her semblance activate trying to keep up with the rate at which her heart and brain were racing, but it began to slow when she heard a familiar high-pitched voice irritably call out her name. Shaking her head Ruby retrieved three purple vials with cylindrical-shaped crystals inside and handed them to her partner, who snuck an arm out from underneath the covers and took them as if afraid of the two of them touching.

"Thank you," she said almost politely. "Now the both of you hold still. I can't create three telekinetic glyphs in a row which means they'll need to be simultaneous."

"Huh?"

"Look for yourselves." She held up the hand mirror and Ruby saw that she had a unibrow, and after finally noticing her partner's mustache turned to the opposite bed and squinting found that Blake had whiskers. Neither seemed particularly surprised, Blake mostly just seemed annoyed while Ruby giggled at them.

"You have kitty whiskers and you have a HTLR mustache!"

"You have a unibrow..." Blake pointed out.

"Yeah but you have kitty whiskers," she squealed.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Just hold still. Otherwise I might accidentally take your faces off, which at the moment might actually be an improvement."

Both Ruby and Blake stiffened and held their breath as Weiss shaped her left hand like a gun using two fingers for the barrel, and without warning flicked her wrist causing three black glyphs to appear in front of their faces. Taking several deep breaths as she concentrated, Weiss' eyes and the vials in her hand began to glow, and new runes appeared around the now purple glyphs. They all winced at once as it felt like someone pinching their faces, and after a series of complaints and shrieks their mustache, whiskers, and unibrow peeled off and flew across the room and dropped into the trash can.

As the pair watched in awe the glyphs disappeared and Weiss lifelessly collapsed back onto the bed.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, falling to her knees to catch her partner and settle her head gently down on the pillow. "Why'd you do that? You said yourself the last time you used telekinesis you nearly killed yourself! We could've just waited for Yang to get out of the bathroom to wash our faces, or-"

"Not so loud," she grumbled tiredly. "This just proves I need the practice. I saw how Professor Goodwitch cleaned your face of chocolate when we were last in her office, and I've been wanting to try something similar to that for awhile now, though admittedly mine was much less elegant. At least I didn't even take your faces off."

"Speak for yourself," Blake groaned, rubbing her cheeks which stung as though they'd just been waxed.

Weiss gave up the little hand mirror and vials of now powdered dust, the dull colored residuals of once perfectly cut purple crystals, and with the Ruby's help cocooned herself once again and rolled over to face the wall feeling almost ashamed of how comfortable she was. Almost...

Within moments her breathing slowed and became rhythmic. "Will she be alright?" Blake whispered.

Ruby nodded but continued watching her partner with concern. "She'll feel even worse when she wakes up but she'll be alright. Summoning, time dilation, and telekinetic glyphs all take a lot out of her but she's getting better. She's amazing isn't she?" After adjusting Weiss' sheets and making sure she was comfortable Ruby placed two aspirin tablets beside the half-empty coffee cup on the bookshelf above her head for when she awoke, and cleaned and carefully refilled the empty vials with new purple crystals which when they began floating away caused her to remember why they were sometimes referred to as 'gravity dust' so that they'd be ready for use should her partner ever need them again, and also so that she wouldn't be upset about her collection being unsymmetrical.

Once she was sure Weiss was sleeping normally Blake's eyes fell to her leader who after completing her tasks finished tying her waist cincher over her long sleeve undershirt, which she then tucked into her skirt. Afterward she partially tucked her blouse into the cincher and despite looking disheveled which wasn't uncommon for Ruby she appeared ready to slay Grimm once again. Blake however couldn't help but see through the multiple layers of clothing and wonder what lay underneath her bandages, or wonder if they might've had something to do with how she had occasionally been holding her stomach in pain the last couple weeks.

"Ruby, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Ruby followed where Blake was pointing and swallowed. "Me? Oh, yeah! Fine. Great. Why do you ask?"

"I-I saw your bandages, and the way you were covering them from Yang."

"Oh that?" she waved her hand as if to say it was nothing and laughed awkwardly. "Just some bruised ribs is all. Nothing for a huntress in-training like me!" She shifted her weight and suddenly looked shy. "And just because she's my sister doesn't mean I want her to see me getting undressed. I mean yeah we've shared a bedroom for years now, and sometimes had to shower together in the girls locker room back at Signal, and sometimes help each other get dressed, and-"

"I saw your scars, Ruby," she interrupted, knowing by now what the sisters stalling for time or trying to change the subject sounded like. "They weren't there when you were laying in the hospital from what the Beowolf woman did to you, and I know for a fact you didn't get them on the mission. In the shape you were in, you'd be dead..."

"Oh, those..." Ruby held her stomach perhaps self-consciously, and Blake continued watching her every movement, every facial twitch, looking for anything that might give her away.

Ruby glanced up and swallowed, having trouble reading the faunus' face at the best of times but having particular trouble due to her blending in with the shadows. She knew if she continued being evasive Blake would only continue pursuing answers like a game of cat and mouse, and also knew that the team's official lie detector would hear anything that didn't ring true.

"P-please don't tell Yang," she whispered, looking at her with pleading eyes. "They'll just make her worried..."

"Ruby, I'm worried, and Weiss will be too when she sees them."

"Which is why I've been trying to hide them from all of you." She put more force into her words as her teary eyes became more intense, and she began mulling over her words carefully. "Less than three weeks. That's how much time I have left to get ready for the tournament. I've seen how everyone looks at me, and hovers around me whenever I'm on my feet. You're all worried enough as it is, Yang especially." She took a deep breath knowing this wasn't going to be easy, and that this was the little mouse's best chance of not getting cornered by the cat.

"You've seen the way Yang blames herself whenever something bad happens to the team, and my dad and uncle look and act the same way. They don't go a day without blaming themselves for what happened to our moms or us having to grow up without them, and I don't want my sister to be like them. I know she blames herself for what happened to me at the CCT and when I was captured by the White Fang, and when I nearly killed myself filling the breach in the residential district. And I know she also blames herself for not being there for me when my mom died..."

Blake's eyes began to sting and her ears folded back suddenly ashamed. "I-I'm sorry..."

"I've seen what guilt did to my dad and uncle. It nearly broke them, and it's only been the past year or two our Dad's been able to start moving on. You've already seen how it affects Yang. Actually, you've probably even felt it. She drinks more, her aura isn't as bright, and she finds little ways of punishing herself. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

She nodded stiffly. "Yes..."

"That's why I haven't told my sister, and I don't want you to tell her either." Ruby let out a deep breath satisfied with her answer. She hadn't lied, not exactly, and it appeared she'd said just enough of the truth not to send off any warning bells.

Blake in contrast felt sick to her stomach, and it had nothing to do with it still doing back flips because of the previous night. Both Ruby and Yang had trusted her when no one else had, not even herself. One girl was her best friend, her partner and her literal soul mate. The other was her leader who she had followed into countless battles and had saved her life more than anybody, even Yang. It felt wrong to have to choose loyalties, and Ruby seemed to sense it.

"I'm fine, really." She twirled, stood up straight and even patted her stomach. "See?"

Blake continued frowning. "Ruby, I-I don't know how else to tell you this, but there's something wrong with your aura."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out for myself..." she said dryly, her tone reminding Blake of her sister. "

"It doesn't smell right. Your rose petals, they smell-"

"-like they're wilting," Ruby finished, waving her hand and creating a small flurry of them. "Like they're dying, or they're already dead..."

Blake nodded, having held her breath until the last petal dissipated as they brought back too many terrible memories. "Ruby, w-where did you get those scars?"

She remained silent for several moments, and just as Blake began to think Ruby was done talking she gave her a hard look. "I think you know where."

"B-but why now? I'd understand if you already had them and your aura just wasn't strong enough to completely heal them at the time, but just a few weeks ago they weren't there. A-and I'm sorry. I didn't know you had actually been caught up in the battle..."

Ruby swallowed. 'Neither did I...'

"It wasn't a 'battle'," she said firmly, raising her voice while fighting back tears. "It's called 'The Patchwork Massacre' for a reason you know."

Blake shook her head wishing she hadn't seen or said anything. "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean-"

"Listen-" Ruby reached out for the faunus to take her hand, and reluctantly she did. "I don't know why a few of my old scars started to come back but they're just scars, and I'm sure Yang knows all about how I got them. I don't wanna know. I don't wanna remember and I don't wanna even think about them or anything else about that day. And if Yang knew I was hiding this from her she would've already gone out drinking and looking for a fight, preferably one she couldn't win. Please, Blake, I know my sister, and I know trust doesn't come easy to you, but trust me now. I'll be fine, and Yang's better off not knowing."

She squeezed Blake's hand and leaned in for an embrace. Their auras briefly overlapped and Blake's nostrils were filled with wilting rose petals, but while she searched for answers Blake wasn't nearly as familiar with Ruby's aura as she was to Yang's to be able to read her thoughts, and eventually had to give up.

"Okay," she said. "I'll keep this to myself for now, but if Yang senses I'm hiding something from her and asks I'm not gonna to lie to her."

Ruby nodded. "She's your partner. I wouldn't ask you to. And, Blake-"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks." She tightened the embrace and Blake awkwardly reciprocated the affectionate gesture that she was still having to get used to.

While they waited for Yang to finish showering both girls sat in silence with Ruby by the widow looking through the blinds out toward the cliffs as if waiting for Atlas' grand airship to suddenly take off while Blake pretended to read and watched Ruby out the corner of her eye. Weiss of course still laid comatose in her bed, as did Zwei in the bunk above.

Eventually the water turned off and a few moments later Yang opened the door wearing a too small white SDC bathrobe that appeared to belong to her sister, and wasn't even the least bit damp due to her aura. "It's all yours, Rubes." She made her way to the large communal dresser they shared together and began picking through clothes indecisively.

Ruby lingered outside for a few minutes letting the water warm back up and perhaps making sure her sister didn't have an excuse to barge in again. Once it was clear that Yang would be debating on what socks, shorts, and underwear to wear for at least the next half hour Ruby went into the bathroom giving Blake one last pleading look before barricading herself inside.

While she showered Yang stood in front of the mirror trying on outfits both new and old, occasionally asking Blake her opinion but rightfully didn't seem to put much stock into it. From her attire she didn't appear to be trying to look sexy, though being Yang she didn't exactly have to try, and seeing how she was trying to match them up with her tan ammo belt she might've been wanting to look more like a huntress today rather than the party girl of last night to catch more eyes at certain clubs.

After she was dressed and seemingly ready she walked around the room with the kind of nervous energy Blake usually only saw around her before a big fight, but whenever she inquire about it Yang would just laugh and come up with an excuse. She seemed particularly excited to go out and party again, and Blake thought perhaps she might've been planning to go to some of the city's rougher clubs now that she didn't have to keep an eye out on Weiss and herself.

It was difficult for her to make eye contact in their short conversations however, which might've been why she didn't press for answers. Ruby's words had cut deep and weighed heavily, but she still wasn't sure if it wasn't something Yang should know about or not. She'd been right of course. Yang despite her easy going, laid back attitude did worry too much and guilt did bring out the worst in her, and Blake didn't exactly trust her own judgement at the best of times, but certainly not now when the room was spinning.

"So'd you tell her about our misadventures last night?"

"Huh? Oh. No, I'll leave that to you and Weiss. It's all still a blur to me, and my head hurts just trying to remember what I had for lunch yesterday."

Yang snorted and glanced over her shoulder with a knowing smile that Blake shared for only a moment before averting her gaze again.

"So would you say that you have any regrets from last night?" she asked airily. "Any unfinished business by chance?"

Blake swallowed and glanced back at her partner. "Like I said, I-I don't remember much."

"Do you remember kissing me?" she asked calmly.

"What!?" she cried, nearly jumping out of her seat. "Oh, you mean the one on the cheek? Weiss kissed you too."

"Not that one." She walked away from the mirror toward the headboard and lean forward. "The other one."

"Oh that. Uh, well I may have had a little too much to drink, and you compelling me earlier probably didn't help, or the setting, but I-I just wanted to wish you happy birthday and thank you for an amazing night! M-maybe I went too far..."

Yang shook her head. "A little kiss between friends never hurt anybody, and both our minds might've been a little clouded but I could still read yours. It can be hard for partners not to develop feelings for each other after a while, especially when your auras are unlocked and every emotion is stronger than it normally would be. You love and understand each other like nobody else ever will, a-and it breaks my heart a little but it won't be long before Rubes and I feel closer to our partners than we do each other. My mom and dad might've been husband and wife, but being huntsmen partners always came first. There's nothing more intimate than sharing your soul and mind with somebody. Not even what Weiss and Misty did in that video."

"C-can we not get into this right now?" Blake squeaked, her face turning scarlet.

Again Yang's head shook side to side. "No better time than the present." She walked around the bed so that Blake could no longer look away. "Like I said, between two bodies we share a soul and mind. We both know exactly how the other one feels about us, and I know that special feeling isn't there for me like it is for Sun, or other guys for that matter." Yang motioned down at herself and gave a playful wink. "And if I wasn't the same way you'd know by now, but if you ever wanna give us a try someday, or just wanna have some harmless fun together, I'm willing to give that a try too. Hell, if you wanna try but don't to move past first base I'm fine with that too, or vice versa. Like I told you yesterday, I'm not going to die with regrets or 'What ifs', and just because I'm gonna try to live every day like it's my last doesn't mean you and me would be any less meaningful."

"I-I don't even know what to say, Yang," she said truthfully, both embarrassed and strangely grateful. "Thank you?"

She gave her a hug and smiled at her. "You still haven't answered my question," she teased. "Do you have any regrets from last night?"

Blake opened her mouth but took a moment honestly wanting to think it over carefully. "None," she said finally, smiling sheepishly and blushing.

"Good, cause neither do I."

Their auras flared and while vivid memories came trickling back to Blake she giggled and wanted nothing more than to hide her face from the blonde smiling proudly at her.

"So does this mean you'll stop teasing me about, well, you know? Stuff?"

Yang laughed and messed up her already unkempt hair. "Nah. It's just gonna get even worse now. And if you ever wanna heat things up with Sun just say the word. Happens all the time between partners who wanna to do it together but not together, together."

Blake grabbed her pillow and with all her might tried taking her partner's head off, but ended up just making her laugh and caused Yang to tackle her onto the bed. Once Yang was declared the official undefeated pillow fight champion and their auras became inseparable she continued getting ready with Blake's shadow occasionally stretching across the room to playfully tease her. She still didn't trust herself to get up and do it herself as having an extra pair of ears ringing was more than a little disorienting, and faunus in general due to their heightened senses had them distorted more easily. That and sometimes she swore her shadow had a mind of it's own, and it was easier to blame it for any uncharacteristic actions. Plus and possibly more importantly, it gave Yang another target...

When Ruby finally came out of the bathroom wearing baggy pajamas she was out of breath and paler than when she had gone in, and sluggishly dragged her feet over to her bunk before trying unsuccessfully to climb up to the top. Seeing the attempt as futile Yang smiled devilishly at Blake then sweetly to her sister. "Hey, Rubes. Weiss isn't looking so hot. Why don't you crawl in bed with her and share some of your aura with her to help fight the hangover and aura exhaustion. I'm sure she'd be really grateful..."

"Really?" Ruby looked optimistic but glancing down at her sleeping partner she seemed worried.

"It's not like she can hate you anymore than she already does."

Ruby opened her mouth to argue but promptly closed it. "That's a good point actually. Thanks!"

"My pleasure..." She winked at Blake who was already digging for her scroll as Ruby carefully crawled into Weiss' bed one leg at a time and snuggled up close. "Don't wait up, and give them privacy if you need to."

Blake waved at her disinterested to the world outside of her camera, and Yang quietly exited the room closing the door behind her after a savoring look at her teammates.

When the door shut her smile faded, and with an unsteady hand she reached into her jacket and pulled out a yellow envelope with the words 'Happy Birthday Firecracker' scribbled on it in barely legible handwriting. She read the letter one last time before a spark traveled from her mane to the paper which set it ablaze in her hands. On her way to the elevator she brushed her hands and dumbed the ashes in a trash can and began playing with the black feather her uncle had left for her.

"Next stop the Emerald Tower. I'll see you soon, Amber..."


(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I want to say here and now that I am not building toward Yang/Blake (AKA Bumblebee), but if the girls were going to celebrate Yang's birthday like it could be her last and their last night on Remnant together a simple kiss just fit both of their personalities and the situation in my opinion. If something more could ever blossom between them is entirely up to the reader. For me personally, I don't think Yang would see a big deal in a kiss, or even the possibility of something more, but while she might view it as harmless it wouldn't be any less meaningful to her. I always enjoy scenes that explore that sort of bond between partners. Sharing your soul is so much more intimate than sharing your body with someone, and for partners there's an intimacy there that trumps any other. And something like people sharing their pleasure with someone using aura, or partners often sharing someone or someones was just something that fit this peculiar world to me that I wanted to touch on, but I don't believe I'm going to delve into in this story.

As for everything else, I must admit I quite enjoyed giving Weiss a Hitler mustache, and was actually quite proud of the name and lore I gave it. It seemed obvious but also very fitting, and we also got another of a peek at Ruby's scars and more of an explanation why she hasn't told her teammates. She said herself she's not telling the entire truth, but I promise all shall be revealed VERY soon. Next chapter is where things get serious again, but I promise we'll still have plenty of Team RWBY hijinks. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for all of your love and support. You don't know how much it means to me.

All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with all of you and made this story possible. God bless)