AN: Hey everybody, how's it going? I know what you're thinking, "An author's note? Here? Of all places?" I made a clerical error last week in the AN at the end of the chapter. This chapter was supposed to be when the Fang set their plans in motion but after some light debating with my co-author, we decided to save that chapter for later (cause it works out better timing/timeline-wise). Anywho, that's all I had. Enjoy!

"You seem really nervous," Summer told Raven as she tried brushing her hair in the mirror that sat atop her desk, stopping only for a moment to give her teammate a heated glare before returning to the task at hand.

"I'm not," Raven protested in a huff, trying desperately to finish in time.

"I don't know, your body language says otherwise," Summer chuckled as she bounced back onto her bed and kicked her legs. "I'm so jealous! Tai is such a looker and the two of you are going to make such a cute couple!"

"Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself?" Raven asked ignoring her as she set down the pick and checked her hair over.

"You can't fool me, Rae," Summer laughed. "I know that you're excited! I've never seen you glow like this before, you definitely have an interest in him."

"More like he kept bugging the shit out of me and I only told him that I'd go on a date to get him to shut up," Raven blushed in rebuttal as she stood and made sure that her bust was properly accentuated, adjusting her bra accordingly.

"Would it really kill you, Rae?" Summer asked as she stood and helped Raven out, causing the taller girl to blush harder. "You can have fun for once, you know? You and Qrow are always there trying your hardest to be better than everyone else, eventually, the two of you are going to get burned out." Raven scoffed.

"You think that's Qrow trying his hardest?" Raven questioned. "Ridiculous. Qrow hasn't tried his hardest since he first stepped foot on campus."

"You want to test that theory?" Qrow asked as he appeared in the doorway.

"I can take you right now, even in this dress!" Raven shouted at him. He smirked and made his way over to her.

"Bring it," he taunted. She took a step towards him and he leapt back with a knowing grin, the doorknob greeting his back as he did so and he writhed away in pain.

"Dumbass," Raven spat. Summer moved to stand in between the two of them before things went further.

"He can't help it his semblance is bad luck," Summer defended as she checked on him. "Are you okay?" He nodded and sighed as he glanced up at Raven.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Qrow shrugged off. "Thanks, Summer."

"What are the two of you going to do tonight anyway?" Raven inquired. Summer leapt up and down excitedly as Qrow smiled.

"Qrow is going to take me out to hunt some Ursas!" Summer exclaimed.

"So like a date?" Raven noted deadpan. Qrow rubbed his neck and turned away as Summer tilted her head.

"What? No," Summer stated. "We're going hunting silly! You really need to get out more, right Qrow?" Qrow nodded.

"Yeah… sure…" He stammered.

"Raven!" Tai called from the hallway. Summer shifted past Qrow and slammed the door, pressing her small body against it.

"You can't see her yet!" Summer shouted. "She's not quite ready!"

"How much longer is it going to be?" Tai groaned.

"As long as I need!" Raven barked.

"Right! Yeah! Of course! Sorry!" Tai yelled back as he sat in the hallway with his back to the wall next to the door.

"Don't kiss him!" Summer quietly told Raven. Raven blushed again.

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked her.

"Don't kiss him on the first date, make him earn it, you know?" Summer explained. "And do it somewhere romantic!" She clasped her hands together and looked out the window with wide, magical eyes. "In the moonlight on the cliff! Maybe out at the fountain as the sakura petals drift by and swirl around the two of you in a torrent of mysticism and passion!"

"We don't have any cherry trees here, Summer," Qrow noted.

"No, wait! There's a perfect spot in Forever Fall and when the sunsets, they say that you can hear the trees whispering a sweet love song as the summer breeze brushes the branches and leaves back!" Summer exclaimed.

"Seeing as it's winter, they might have to wait a while then," Qrow pointed out. Summer threw her head back.

"Stop ruining my fantasy!" Summer cried out. Raven laid her hands on Summer's shoulders, giving her pause as she looked back at her friend. "Eh?"

"I can handle myself, Summer," Raven assured her. "I'll be fine. Besides, it's just Tai we're talking about."

"How can you say that?" Summer gasped. "He's amazing, take it back!"

"Goodbye, Summer," Raven told her as she left the room.

"Have fun!" Summer piped up.

"Do anything to my sister and I'll kill you," Qrow added.

"Shut up, Qrow!" Raven scolded.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay? It's really late notice," Tai noted as he stepped out the door and turned back to Violet who had Shadow under her arm.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Violet laughed as she rubbed the top of Shadow's head and mussed up her hair. "I used to watch Neela and Eliana all of the time, Shadow seems like she'll be so much easier to handle than those two ever were."

"As long as you're sure, I'll take your word for it," Tai agreed as he glanced around the yard for Raven before checking the car. "Have you seen Raven?"

"Just as impatient as ever," Raven scoffed as she pushed past Shadow and Violet out the door. She turned back and crouched, placing herself at eye level with Shadow. "Be good, okay?" Shadow nodded and smiled.

"I will be!" Shadow shouted. "I'll keep a close eye on Ms. Violet!" Violet laughed and Raven chuckled.

"Good," Raven replied with a smile. She stood up and turned around, letting Tai see her and he tried not to let his jaw drop like it had so many years ago when they first went on a date together. She had somehow managed to fit herself into the same dress, or at least one that was extremely similar. She checked her elbow-length black gloves once more as she took his hand, the plunging v-neck revealed just as much as it had back in the day, and Tai felt a bit out of place in his three-piece suit, which seemed boring in comparison.

"Did you have any ideas about where we should go?" He finally managed after swallowing hard.

"Well, summer is no more than a few days away, and a friend once told me of a great spot out in Forever Fall," Raven explained to him as he opened the door to let her into the vehicle.

"Forever Fall it is," Tai agreed as he climbed in and they drove away. Shadow looked up at Violet for a long moment and smirked.

"They're gone," Shadow noted.

"Yep," Violet agreed. She looked down at the girl. "Want some cookies?"

"You read my mind!" Shadow exclaimed as she darted back into the house.

"Just don't tell your grandpa," Violet instructed. Shadow rolled her eyes.

"Do I look crazy to you?" Shadow questioned. Violet laughed.

"I was just making sure," Violet chuckled.

"Can I watch TV too?" Shadow pried.

"Let's start with the cookies," Violet noted.

"Well this is nice," Tai noted. Raven nodded as she walked through the woods, just slightly ahead of him as she kept her eyes open for Grimm. "Do you still remember our first date?"

"How can I forget?" Raven asked. "You turned into Qrow for a bit there, nothing was going right once we left the dorm."

"What can I say, I was nervous," he offered. "To think that you'd say yes."

"You realize that you really left me with no other choice, right?" Raven reminded him. "You asked me at least three times a day for almost a month straight, you were getting on my last damn nerve."

"Yet you still said yes," he pointed out. She sighed.

"I'd still like to note, that was the worst fish that I have ever had the misery of suffering through," Raven noted. Tai laughed sheepishly.

"It was the most expensive place I could still afford, and it required a reservation, how was I supposed to know that the food wasn't that great, they had only opened like a month beforehand!" Tai defended.

"Maybe you should have asked someone?!" Raven declared. She looked at him for a long moment before calming down.

"Why are we out here?" Tai asked her. She glanced around and shrugged.

"You said you wanted to go on a date," Raven shrugged.

"But why did you agree this time?" Tai inquired. "Still pitying me after all these years?" She frowned.

"You do realize that I loved you at one point, right?" Raven asked. She sighed. "You've always been dense, haven't you?"

"And you've always been ignorant to the emotions of the people around you as well as your own," Tai said. Raven stopped walking and thought over his words. It was the way she was raised. The way that she had to be when she was with the tribe. They weren't allowed to have emotions. They procreated out of necessity, not because of a personal or romantic connection. Tai… Her feelings were complicated for Tai. He wasn't anything particularly special, was he? Except that… he was the first person to love her despite her impossible demeanor and tough skin. She really never gave him enough credit for putting up with her.

"Why did you ask me out on another date?" Raven reversed the question. Tai smirked and stared off into the woods towards the sunset.

"You're right, you know," he admitted. "I'm a bit dense." He frowned. "It's foolish, right? I shouldn't have asked you to do this." Tai began walking away.

"Tai... " Raven tried to stop him. He turned to face her.

"I thought maybe I could get this back, get us back," Tai confessed. "Part of me still wants to love you, despite everything that you did to us. I'm more foolish than Yang and I'm far easier going. Ready to forgive you already."

"But that's what made you amazing," Raven muttered avoiding eye contact as she blushed. He stared hard at her, moving closer slowly.

"What?" He asked.

"I said that's why you were so amazing!" She shouted, looking up to find him inches from her. "You always knew exactly what to do next and when to do it, even if you were dense, so what?!" She inhaled deeply… was she on the verge of tears?! She gritted her teeth and shook her head. No! "I loved you because you saw through all the bullshit! Despite everything I did, somehow you can still find a way to forgive me! I don't deserve that, no matter how badly I want it! I treated you so coldly back at Beacon when we were younger and you saw through that facade somehow!"

"Yang's the same way you know," Tai clarified. "She saw through Blake's shadows. She knew that Blake wasn't going to leave again. She may not ever forgive you, but at this point, I think she's more afraid that you will stay and she'll never find a way to forgive you." Raven staggered her breathing. Weak. She was so weak. Was there any point in hiding it? He saw through everything, even if there was no explanation for it.

"I still… I want us to…" Raven tried to tell him. He lifted her chin and kissed her deeply. The breeze drifted softly through the trees, and Raven swore for a moment that she could hear Summer speaking to her. He released her, watching the tears form in her eyes.

"We can try it again if you'd like," Tai offered. Raven nodded.

"Aren't you afraid that I'm just using you?" Raven questioned, her mind doubting the potential happiness that was within her reach.

"You said it before," Tai chuckled. "I've always seen the true you." Raven bit her lip.

"Asshole," she exhaled. He nodded.

"There's the Rae I know and love."

Summer was on the verge of presenting itself to the kingdom of Vale, spring had come and gone and the warmest season of them all sat on the threshold, warming the central region as it hit early and bided its time until that magical date that dictated its beginning. School still had a couple of weeks left to go, and the flowers were only nearing the end of their bloom, but for all other intents and purposes, this was summer. People were already flooding the vacant areas around Team IVRY's beach house, every evening and on the weekends there was something to do, or mischief to get into as the weather was getting warmer and people were wearing less. It wasn't as humid as Mistral, arid as Vacuo, or cool as Atlas. It was almost a perfect experience for the members of NITE and CBLT that were experiencing it for the first time.

Studies hit the back burner as students were preoccupied with making memories in the sand, or sneaking out late to attend the parties of the seniors that would be leaving in about a month, young men and women, human and Faunus alike that would leave and go out into the world, working for either the academy or the council to keep the things that meant the most to them safe. The presence of the White Fang slowly dissipated within the city, they had reached their peak roughly a week after the fight between RWBY and JNPR, but once it looked like nothing was going to change as quickly as the Fang had promised, the numbers dwindled quickly. The only things that remained of their presence were posters and pamphlets, it was as if they'd all vanished to go back about their lives, or they were planning something.

Eliana had successfully kept her best friend occupied for the entirety of the debacle, filling every moment with something that would keep Neela's mind off of the chaos, but it only proved to make Neela more anxious even if her best friend was unaware of the fact. Neela was madly in love with the girl, what else could be said? With every passing moment, the Faunus's resolve crumbled further and further, she'd gone from a stoic warrior at the beginning of the year who had determined that she could just be friends with Eliana and that she didn't need more, but by the start of the final quarter, she was praying, begging for any kind of sign from the busty teammate beside her that her feelings were reciprocated. She'd have to say something soon and even though she had the support of everyone around her, she was the one who would have to be okay with accepting either scenario.

Ilia was spending more time with Vincent, it wasn't uncommon to find the two of them walking the beach, their bodies close as they talked about the future and aspirations, with a jealous and vigilante Ivory nearby to ensure that he didn't try anything funny with her or break her heart. Rowan tagged along for the scantily clad women, which sometimes attracted the company of Cobalt. It was the closest that she'd grown to anyone in a long time, and for the first time, despite the fact that he had called her months ago, she felt free from Strakh's grip. She felt safe to live her life as she wanted, and because of that, she worked on fixing Titus.

Titus was having none of it. After going through several renaissances internally over the course of the year, it was easy to say that he was more tolerable and was on the right track for being a better teammate, but he still had trouble letting loose, remembering all of the hard work that had gotten him here in the first place. Neela, Eliana, and Ilia enjoyed the nightlife of summer as he slaved away back at the room, wanting neither to accompany them nor trouble any of them with staying behind and keeping him company. It gave him time to reflect, and study for that matter, though on occasion he left the room and took a walk when memories of Natalia would creep back in and try to remind him how much of an ass he was before he left Atlas.

"Another beautiful night out tonight!" Eliana declared as she walked along the path that was now wearing down from her and Neela's repeated and frequent trips to Eliana's "cave of magic", or so the girl had taken to calling it. "Soon it'll be the end of the first year and we'll be second years! Can you imagine, Neela? It feels like it was just yesterday that we made that long and fateful walk across Patch to Signal before catching our ride over here to the school! It's going by so fast!" Eliana flopped into the grass off of the trail and laid on her back looking up at the stars as she waited for Neela to join her.

"It almost feels like it's going by too fast," Neela noted as she sighed, lying beside Eliana and enjoying the view, the moon giving her just enough light to make out Eliana, the shooting stars dancing off of the girl's wide, awestruck eyes. Her smile vanished for a moment, concerning Neela as her voice lowered.

"I know what you mean," Eliana told her, her voice wavering. "I don't think that I ever want this to end, Neela, but someday it has to, doesn't it?" Neela nodded as Eliana's gaze met her eyes and she looked back up the night sky that was entertaining them with a show like no other.

"We'll have the memories forever, Elli," Neela chuckled. "You've always been the one to tell me that!" Eliana laughed and rolled over, closing the gap between them. Neela rolled as well, startled at the sudden movement and the two were now mere inches from each other.

"But are memories good enough?" Eliana asked Neela. "I love spending time with you my Little Hawk, but the recollection of moments passed will never be able to compete with being with you physically. Don't you agree?" Neela could reach over and kiss her. She could simply pull her in and feel her warmth and confess her feelings, and hold Eliana there in her embrace for the rest of eternity. But she didn't. She couldn't. She nodded her head. She simply settled for agreeing.

"Eliana…" Neela choked. Eliana reached out and caressed Neela's face as she normally did, restricting Neela's chest even further. "Yes, I agree." Eliana smiled.

"Good," Eliana said, her fingers moving gently and painfully slowly as they reached Neela's lips. She used her pointer to tease the lower. "Do you ever wonder… what kissing is like?"

"What?" Neela asked, her face bright red.

"You know," Eliana repeated with a chuckle in her voice. "Kissing."

"Like, each other?!" Neela blurted. Eliana nodded as she moved in close, her lips a mere inches away as Neela stared intensely into Eliana's eyes. Was this it!? Was this how it was going to happen?!

"Just anybody really," Eliana said before rolling over onto her back abruptly. Neela's chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her body aching and numb. "You should have seen your face just now, you really thought I was going to kiss you!" Eliana burst out into laughter and shook her head. "It's so fun to tease you now that I know you like girls!"

"Very funny!" Neela shouted at her leaping to her feet.

"I was just having some fun, Neela," Eliana told her finding her own feet swiftly before grabbing Neela's arm. "If you want me to kiss you, I can."

"It's not that," Neela informed her looking away.

"You don't need to be shy, I can teach you," Eliana explained. Neela shot her a look.

"Teach me?" Neela inquired. Eliana folded her arms and nodded with a smirk.

"I've got tons of experience!" Eliana told her.

"With who?" Neela asked her.

"My dad!" Eliana declared. Neela's shoulders dropped as she sighed.

Parents don't count!

"I'm hoping that your dad never used tongue," Neela offered offhandedly as she continued for the cave.

"Why would he?!" Eliana squealed.

"I thought you've read those Ninjas of Love books!" Neela yelled.

"You want me to kiss you like that?!" Eliana asked excitedly.

"Don't put words in my mouth!" Neela shouted.

"How about my tongue then?!" Eliana yelled back.

"Elli!" Neela replied loudly.

"You're giving me mixed signals, darling!" Eliana teased again.

"You are insufferable," Neela groaned as they climbed into the hideout. Eliana squeezed past her, sitting on the floor and patting the ground beside her.

"Saved you a seat," Eliana proclaimed. Neela shook her head and smiled.

"Where else would I sit," Neela asked.

"My lap?" Eliana suggested.

"You're doing it again," Neela scolded. Eliana frowned.

"Sorry," Eliana apologized. Neela sat beside her and looked up at the Dust crystals, Eliana contently humming as she enjoying the view of her surroundings. "If someone else ever found out about this place, you know we'd have to destroy it."

"Why's that?" Neela asked her.

"It wouldn't be as special anymore," Eliana explained. "We're the only two people who have ever sat in this spot and witnessed this very beauty."

"Someone in a class before ours might have known about this," Neela told her. Eliana groaned.

"You just had to ruin it," Eliana whined as she stood and unsheathed Neela's blade. "Time to get swinging!" Neela stopped her on the backswing and Eliana grunted against her leader. "You can't stop the inevitable!"

"Stop being so dramatic!" Neela pleaded. "I love this place as much as you do."

"Why's that?" Eliana asked as she stopped instantly. Neela smiled warmly filling Eliana with happiness.

"You and I can be truly alone together here," Neela told her. "It's the only place where we can tell each other exactly how we're feeling and nothing leaves."

"I guess that's a good enough reason," Eliana sighed sitting with a laugh.

"Good," Neela replied.

"So tell me, Little Hawk," Eliana instructed her. "What are you feeling?"

We all know what Neela is feeling, but does Elli?! Next week, Chapter 112 - The Gauntlet!

A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!