Significant Changes: A few added moments to scenes.

Revisited chapter length: 4,670

"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]

Chapter 35

As she suspected, no human would notice. Nora had her obvious suspicions when Blake picked Ace up from her willing babysitter, but the woman didn't say anything uncouth either.

Ace knew almost instantly, her tiny nose affixing itself to Ruby almost as soon as she hit the door. It was a strong, commanding, scent. One that demanded other Faunus to take notice of, because the first few couplings were very important. Ace knew the moment she smelled Ruby that she belonged to Blake, and the little Faunus began kneading upon Ruby's shoulder when her own scent had mysteriously gotten misplaced.

"Ace…" Ruby complained, holding the little girl at arm's length.

[Mine.] She mewed quite unhappily, little fingers reaching out to reclaim her keeper. She mewled again in protest when the human didn't seem to understand, pouting unhappily as she tried to squirm closer.

"What's gotten into you?" Ruby rolled her eyes, sighing as she put Ace on her hip, the young girl more than happy to continued clawing at Ruby's clothes in an attempt to replace what had been gone. a purr started up as Ace continued her mission. Blake's eyes glinted humorously, taking no small amusement in the sight before her. "Come on, Blake. It's not funny."

"It really is." Blake said earnestly, licking her lips to keep from smirking as Ace plucked curiously at the fabric.

"This isn't going to keep happening, is it?" Ruby wondered, setting Ace on the floor, even though the child had not yet completed her desired task. The girl chasing after her as Ruby padded into the kitchen.

"Well, maybe for today." Blake said following after, hiding another small giggle when she caught sight of Ace trying to climb up the woman to keep marking her clothing. She picked Ace up, holding the girl away. [Mine now.] Blake vocalized placidly with a small chirrup.

[No.] Ace growled quietly, purely discontented at that idea. Her eyes flicked over to Ruby. [Mine.]

Blake raised a brow. Of course Ace would put up that fight, but not for long. [You. Mine.] Blake told the girl with another small set of vocalizations. To keep the girl from marking after Ruby, Blake would need to lay a proper familial claim on the girl too. Something that would bind them together as more than an extended social group. Her fingers slid across the girl's neck, leaving behind Blake's signature calling card. Ace preened at the touch, her own happy purring starting up.

Their actions gathered more than one confused glance to the woman preparing a sippy cup.

"You can ask…" Blake said, dodging a flailing hand as Ace tried to mirror the action the way all toddlers exuberantly tried to mimic their older kinfolk.

"I'm afraid I don't want to know." Ruby told her, watching the two Faunus making odd noises at each other, quite unlike ones she had ever heard.

"We're marking each other." Blake said, grabbing a small hand that pawed at her face. "Well, I'm marking Ace, she's… trying to return the gesture…"

"Right…" Ruby said, placing the juice back in the refrigerator, Ace's cup in hand.

"You don't want her to try marking you all over, right?"

"Not really, no…"

"Then I need to change the way I normally choose to mark her." Blake said to Ruby. "We're closer now, you and me. We've taken a step that solidified our bond, but Ace isn't related by blood to either of us. The bond excludes her by scent. If she were related to one of us by blood, we wouldn't have this issue. You'd smell like each other no matter what. Now that I've claimed you though, Ace is worried that you're not hers anymore. She's trying to take you back, so I'm claiming her instead."

"I wish I had known that little detail…"

"It's not really an issue, Ruby. I didn't want you to make it into one." Blake looked down at the girl. "Little kids claim anything that moves, but I've never actually overridden her scent before, and she's too little to overpower mine and put it back." The little Faunus accidentally smacked Blake's chin again, and the older Faunus sighed. "And too inexperienced in marking to know how. She's just a little one, she doesn't understand that emotionally your bond won't change."

"Want a second…" Ruby said. "When you say you've claimed her, what do you mean by yours?"

"It's not a complicated concept to a Faunus. You're mine now, and she's mine now." Blake said. "You're not just kin anymore, you're mine. It's that simple."

Well, it was that simple, and that complicated, Blake soon found out.

When she marked Ace, it came with a certain insinuation to other adult Faunus. Marking kinfolk was one thing, but the scent she gave Ace was different now. A very particular scent, one that was passed down from caregiver to child to take them as their own. It was a smell that in no uncertain terms said 'this child is mine' and was inherent to female Faunus by nature.

The scent of a young matriarch claiming her family line. A scent that could not be overridden, because to do that would be taboo. Only chosen mates could take the scent of a matriarch or patriarch off of the neck of any Faunus. To remove that scent without invitation was the worst offense. The heads of families marked everyone over their care with this unifying smell. That of a generational family, continuing the lines.

Blake had known it needed to happen to keep harmony in the house, but she didn't think Ace would connect the dots so quickly. It only took a single day for the Ace apply that scent to Faunus speech, finding the vocalization almost instinctually.

[Mom.]

Blake stood at the sink, washcloth plopping down with a wet slap against the dinner plates. She looked down to the little girl between her legs, clawing at her jeans. She had to be hearing things. It was just a noise that sounded like a word, that's what it had to be, nothing more, nothing less. Digging through the suds, she went back to dealing with the dishes.

[Mom.]

It wasn't an accident. She looked down again. "No."

[Kin. Mom.] Ace flattened her ears back, growling. [Mine.]

Blake sighed, ears pressed flat against her head in kind, a deep growl issuing from her throat. She didn't quite know how to make Ace understand. "I'm not, Ace. No." She watched as those deep red eyes gazed at her, head cocking to the side in confusion before a frown worked its way onto her features.

[…Mom...]

[No.] Blake growled softly. The elder Faunus could only sigh as the little girl looked up at her curiously. Letting loose a string of sounds that were entirely inhuman. She hoped Ace might better understand, but at the end of it all, she was met with a purring little Faunus still continued to think of her as a parent.

[Mom.]

The entire issue was something she expected, but it was every bit as dreaded as a flock of Grimm. Blake walked over to the attic door, yanking it down and disappearing for a few moments before coming back with a box. She opened it, pulling out the sword and sheath, setting it down on the coffee table. It still smelled like Raven, the hints of her existence lingering faintly among the metal and dust on the inside. It smelled strongest at the hilt, the fabric there seemingly handled often by the human woman.

Ace was a curious little girl, and took to the new object on the table with a mix of interest and trepidation.

"This is your mom, Ace." Blake said softly, knowing the familiarity among shared blood was a strong thing.

[Kin?] The girl mewled at the object, more than a little confused.

[Mom.] Blake mewed softly, her body language indicating the sword on the table. [Yours.]

Raven, Qrow, Yang, and ultimately Ace, shared the scent of family. A low whine worked up from the little girl, and with flattened back ears, she scrambled behind Blake. Shushing her wasn't an easy thing, as she introduced the small child to the smell of the human woman who birthed her.

In truth, Blake had no clue if Ace could really comprehend the magnitude of that scent. If it was something that had been locked away deeply in the memories of a newborn, or if the scent had been forgotten entirely. Overridden by experiences and other kinds of memories. Scent was a strong thing, after all. So deeply considered and often at the expense of so much.

Blake couldn't help but sniff the air herself, searching for the bond between parent and child.

So little of it was left now, and, what remained might be nothing more than am faded relic of lost time. Ace was correct in her confusion. There was a smell of a woman who would never be there, distinct, and so impossibly distant. So much like Yang's own, and yet, completely unlike it too. So much like Ace, too, that the girl had to notice that at least faintly.

She wondered if Ace could fathom that. If, by instinct, she could truly recognize it.

Then again, it was pointless either way. The woman was gone now.

[Mom.] Ace cried out as she clawed at Blake's shirt distressed.

Blake could only pick her up, cradling the unhappy little girl as a rather dark thought crossed her mind. A mother… Her mother… In a way, Blake knew she might as well have been. To her young mind, inexperienced as she was, Ace had already made her decision. Rejecting both the scent and the object.

Blake was probably the only mother that she would ever know.

Life inside of the RWBY household was as tense as ever, but this time, it wasn't Yang simmering on a low boil. It was Blake, usually the most unperturbed of the bunch.

Yang didn't want to believe that her father was spending all of his spare time drinking himself into oblivion, but she knew her uncle wouldn't lie about something like that. Blake certainly would not have passed along the information unless she herself had verified that it was true. She had checked in on him, and she hadn't liked what she found.

It was obvious by Blake's ranting that she was less than impressed. Yang understood Blake's annoyance, but she also knew that getting upset wouldn't help. She knew this song and dance, having experienced it too many times in her childhood to be moved by it now. Blake had never truly needed to face down alcoholism, or the many problems that came along with.

Qrow was never a constant presence after they grew into teenagers, and as adults his visits had lessened even more. Blake had never truly connected with that man, and never needed a reason to. When it came to Taiyang, Blake had only heard the stories. She had never seen it first hand, and confronting the matter only made everything harder for the Faunus to swallow.

"So, what the hell's his problem then?" Yang asked somewhat annoyed that the newest addition in the family was being pointedly avoided. "It's not like I asked him to raise her."

"No, Yang, you didn't." Blake felt conflicted. "He put all of his eggs in one basket, and it blew up in his face. Instead of realizing that nothing's really changed, he's just wallowing in his booze."

"There's got to be a way to help him." Yang said thoughtfully.

Blake wanted the best for everyone, but Tai was just a satellite concern of hers. It might have been a terrible way to think. She didn't defend the cold stance on the subject, but, she didn't change her outlook to sympathize, either.

"He's a worthless fool, that's what he is..."

"He's my dad, Blake."

"Yours? Yeah…" Blake said then. "But he's not Ace's, and frankly, I think I have a right to be a little pissed off that he won't even pull himself together for your sake. What about Ruby? You know she's going to take it personally if this keeps up. She'll blame herself, and right now, I don't think she can handle that very well."

"Dad's never been perfect. Always toed the line. Ruby doesn't talk about it, but she knows he has a hard time with it. Thing is, if what you say is true, there's no one to really blame. He fell apart, and that happens sometimes." Yang said. "That's what drunks do when they fall off the wagon. They drink. Sobering up again isn't the easiest thing in the world. You can't just flip a switch."

"He was more or less clean for years, Yang. He waited for Raven for years…all for nothing." Blake slammed her glass on the table with a little more force than she had been expecting, sending her hot tea sloshing over her fingers. "Don't you understand? He spent years of his life waiting for her, and for no good reason. Now, instead of choosing a different path, he's still just sitting there, and he's still just waiting. God only knows what in the hell he's waiting for this time."

"Anyone's guess." Yang looked down at the steaming liquid. Blake was used to intense heat, being burned in and of itself something she had gotten used to because Yang could become a literal walking ball of fire. Still, the reddening flesh should be tended to, and Yang grabbed Blake's hand and dabbed it with a dry napkin. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't know what he's thinking, either."

"He better think about pulling his head out of his ass…"

"Blake, listen, I'm happy that you're so fired up for Ruby's sake. It means you don't like my dad being selfish any more than I do." Yang began, her thumb trailing over the burns that were already almost healed. Aura was a powerful thing. "You really care about her, and you care about Ace. That makes me happy, it really does."

"This goes deeper than that." Blake shot back. "What man emotionally abandons his children?"

"We're not kids."

"It doesn't matter the age!" Blake shouted at her. "You never do that! Never! He raised you."

"Okay, but, being angry doesn't help anyone. It really only ends up tormenting yourself." Yang murmured, shaking her head sadly. "Ruby and I learned that a long time ago. You can be angry at an addict all you want, but that won't solve the actual problem. If what you say is true, he's basically self-medicating, and he's hurting. Getting mad at him would only make it worse."

"You're his daughter…" Blake said leaning forward, hunched over in her seat, her eyes watching the roaring fire keeping the home warm. "Don't you think you should say something to him?"

"The urge to drink, I get it from both ends." Yang said. "If I can put it down, so can he."

"But he hasn't…"

"And he might not for a while…" Yang told her. "That's how it is."

"For you too?" Blake asked eyes narrowing.

"Well, not like him, but… I guess." Yang sighed then. "I used to get drunk because it was fun to do. I'm not going to lie to you, though. There are a lot of things that keep me up at night. It's easier to toss back a few to get that warm feeling in your gut. It does quiet the doubts. Well, for a short while anyway, they always come back. So you end up drinking, more. It's a spiral, Blake, and just because I know when to put the junk down doesn't mean that everyone can…"

"Then he shouldn't be picking it up in the first place." Blake retorted hotly.

"You're right about that." Yang told her. "It's never the right answer, but, when you don't have any answers at all… Well, I don't know… I guess in some assbackwards way, drinking makes sense. I may have better control over it than they do, but that's just because I know the shit that happens when you don't. That's why when Ace came, I majorly cut back. I don't want her seeing me that way, and that's what keeps one beer from turning into two or three."

Blake nodded at this, her voice gentle as she asked her next question. "What do you have doubts about?"

"Oh, a lot of things." Yang shrugged. "It's always been that way. I just end up figuring that I should just live the life I have. You'll always have an unanswered question or two. So, I try not to fixate on at, and go about my day. "

"Right…"

"Listen, I'd be lying if I said none of those questions could be aimed at you. I mean, you're a pretty big part of my life, Blake, and I value that. It's just that I've been on the other side of the coin, too. I know commitment isn't your strongest suit." Yang leaned back in her chair then, wincing as it creaked in protest. "But, Ruby's my sister. That's all she's ever been, so it's not like I'm going to sit you down and give you the shotgun talk like some lunatic. It's not my place."

"Yet, you do have questions…" Blake finished.

"I won't ask them, though." Yang told her. "As long as you're good to her, that's all that matters. Eventually, all good things come to an end. I think life's going to get a lot harder before it gets easier. It's when the bad stuff comes around that I worry, and that's where most of my questions come from. A lot of 'what if', a lot of fear, past things I don't want repeated in her life, or mine…and then, there's Ace to think about. The more she sticks around, the more I think that we have way more on our hands than we realize."

"We knew this wouldn't be easy." Blake had thought the worst when she had first seen Ace. Looking back, it was hard not to imagine the little girl around, but that didn't ease Blake's analytical mind any less. "I have to believe that raising her won't be too hard as time goes on, either...everything will be fine, mostly because it has to be."

"But, you don't really believe that, do you?"

Blake shook her head. "No, not always. Sometimes, I don't."

She told Ruby that there was no way they could raise a child. In some ways, Blake still doubted they could. The cynical part of her mind promised her that somehow, they were going to screw this up. Blake had never said it, but, it was what she thought of in the back of her mind. Blake was sure, on some level, Yang could see those doubts clearly. Blake bet Yang even shared some of them.

"So, what are you going to do about your dad?" Blake asked then. "Or, rather, I guess the question is, what do you want to do?"

"I want to kick him in the head and knock some damn sense into him." Yang bit out. "Since that's not going to work, I'll settle for sitting here and waiting for him to realize life's going on ahead of him whether he likes it or not."

"He might not ever pull himself out of it." Blake warned. "Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Honestly? Ace is my family." Yang shook her head. "I'd be really pissed if he never came around, never took the time to be part of her life. It's his right if he doesn't want anything to do with her…can't say it wouldn't hurt though, raise more questions, things like that."

"What kind of questions?"

Yang only shrugged. "The shitty kind that you really don't want to hear, and I really don't want to say."

Weiss cursed to herself.

On her budget, she didn't keep the kind of clothing that she used to. Everything came from the outlet mall, and that meant that she had to try twice as hard to look immaculate. Impossibly priced dressed were no longer part of her spending. She couldn't even buy something nice from the high end dress shops around Vale that mass produced finer articles of clothing. Weiss had learned to love rummaging around in sale bins for a new shirt or two. The occasional skirt off the rack was acceptable, provided it was on sale. However her days of mindless purchasing were over.

She couldn't justify the expenses, but neither could she accept looking so plain for an outing with someone she might be interested in.

And Pyrrha had well and truly wanted to spend time together outside of their homes. She even called it a date, which did nothing more than scare Weiss, but with every ounce of hesitance possible, she accepted. Weiss had no idea what commoner's date consisted of, but she knew Pyrrha would keep it simple. The redheaded woman learned to hate extravagance, and Weiss perfectly understood the sentiment.

Still, a night on the town demanded more than her current wardrobe offered. It demanded more confidence than she had.

"You know, you can pick anything. It'll probably just end up on the floor anyway." The blonde woman teased.

"Yang! Of all the conclusions to jump to. Pyrrha's not like that, she would never encourage something so…so…vile!"

"Love making is vile now? Never got the memo, so good to know." Yang grumbled as she played with her little sister, stacking blocks one on top of the other. "Honestly though, would it really be so bad to share something like that with her? Or even just admit you'd want something like that down the line? It's not like I don't already know you've got a thing going on with her."

"For your information, we do not have a thing." Weiss replied haughtily. "We're merely very good friends."

"You sure Pyrrha knows that?" Yang shot back effortlessly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Weiss, cut the bullshit." Yang sighed at length. "If you hadn't taken the same combat classes I did, I would honestly think you've never once seen a dick in your entire life."

"Language! Your little sister is sitting right there, for goodness sake. If you keep spouting that kind of filth, one day she'll start parroting you." Weiss protested, praying she could push aside the entire conversation. "If you must be crass, say bull-dung and penis like the rest of the world."

"One, who the hell says 'bull dung'. Two, I don't care what you call it, they repulse the crap out of you." Yang said with a roll of her eyes. "Three, I'm not going to soften my speech just because I have a baby sister. Besides, that's not the point, and you can't derail me from this. I know you're a lesbian, I think everyone else does too. It's not that hard to figure out, but, even assuming that it was, Pyrrha cares about you."

"I care about her too." Weiss said. "She's a very dear friend."

Yang groaned, smacking her own face in annoyance. "And people say I'm the airhead…" She blew out a hot breath as Ace charged into the stack of blocks, sending them scattering across the room. Then she ran behind the dresser, waiting for Yang to build it back up again. Reaching out to grab a few of the blocks again, Yang cast her friend a meaningful glance. "Weiss, do you really mean it? That you care about her, I mean?"

"Of course I do." The white haired woman said. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Then own up to that." Yang murmured. "If you mean it, show her how you feel. It took Pyrrha a long time to come to terms with everything. I know you're used to taking your dear sweet time with everything you do, but the longer you wait, the more you stand to really hurt her."

"I have no intention of hurting her."

"Doesn't mean you won't."

"It also not a guarantee that I will."

"It's going to get you hurt too." Yang reminded her. "I don't want to see that happen."

"Why not?" Weiss asked darkly. "I deserve it, don't it?"

"God, I hate when you make me do this." Yang shoved herself up from the floor, making her way across the room as she used her strength to turn Weiss to face her, demanding to be seen. "I'm waiting…you know what I want to hear."

"You'll be waiting for a long time then." Weiss said, looking down at the floor, finding it all the more interesting.

"Don't push me out. You know I won't let you, so let's not go there." Yang said, slowly backing her friend into the wall, the soft thump, indicating the gentle impact. "I've got you, okay? You're safe. Just say it."

"But-"

"Nope. You're fine, Weiss." Yang interrupted. "You're good. We've got your back. Always have, always will. You'll be okay."

Weiss tried to look away, but Yang wouldn't let her, getting right in the shorter woman's face. There was a wetness in blue eyes. Weiss began to shake.

"Hey…hey…Weiss, chill." She coaxed, but Weiss had none of it, so Yang gently slapped at her jaw, the rough handing getting the attention she wanted. "Chill. That bad place in your past? Don't go there." Yang said again softly, finally able to meet icy blue eyes without the woman recoiling. "Don't fight me. You can do this…"

"No…I can't."

"You've got to." Yang said. Weiss looked away again, earning another soft smack. "Nu-un. No, you're not allowed to do that. Eyes on me. You keep them on me. You stay in the here and now. You know what I want to hear…so just say it."

She knew what Yang wanted to hear…and frankly what she needed to just come to terms with. For Weiss, it was impossible to do without shattering like glass. Yang knew that, it was what she was expecting, but Weiss didn't want to break anymore. She was tired of breaking down her walls. There was only so much she could do on her own. If that made her a coward, then it only proved her point.

She didn't deserve to be happy, not after everything she turned her back on.

She looked away again as if seeing some terrible monster waving at her from the void. Once again, Yang gently smacked her for it. Blue eyes met lilac again. "Yang...I can't."

"You can. You just have to get used to saying it, Weiss." Yang told her, adjusting the woman's face yet again, trying her best to keep Weiss grounded in the moment. "You just have to say it once without having a breakdown, and then…the other times…I swear, it'll get easier."

Yet, have a breakdown she did as tears finally fell from her eyes. "I'm irredeemably gay! Are you happy now?!" Weiss sobbed, hating herself all the more as Yang rolled her eyes.

Sighing, Yang defaulted to pulling Weiss tightly against her. Letting the shorter woman silence her sobs in the fabric of her shirt. "Without the breakdown would have been nice." Yang told her dryly, wrapping her arms around Weiss all the same. "You're still good. The world didn't end. It's not going to."

Weiss shook her head wordlessly as if to argue, but Yang held her more securely.

"Yeah, you are. You're fine." Yang told her firmly, not taking any denials for an answer. "I just wish you'd start believing that..."