Author's Note:

Also, I forgot to mention the parallels between Blake and Weiss and how Weiss comes to accept that her father isn't her father and how it's the exact opposite with Blake… like, wow.

Strangers: Become Lovers

Act III

BL4K3

FRIDAY

23:00

If Blake were a human, she'd compare the last few hours of her life to a fever dream. Or would she compare it to a nightmare instead? What even were the differences between those two things?

Her fever nightmare only gotten worse when she saw the SCHN33.

It made sense too much.

Yang was never the real target, it had always been her. It was a threat to show that Jacques would do whatever it took to gain what he wanted, and no one could stop a man as powerful as him.

And what provoked him was because…

SCHN33 had turned deviant.

Jacques' most prized work; the newest, most expensive model, "guaranteed to never disobey" according to its tagline had in fact turned deviant.

It was a literal spit to his face.

And Blake loved it.

If she were to make a list of the reasons why everyone should hate him, she would have deduced part way through creating it that it would have been easier and less time consuming to list every reason not to hate him, then simply score off the reasons as they were proven false. She and her father - it felt odd calling him that, but in a good way - shared their hatred toward the man who dared call himself an artist.

At the same time… she was afraid.

To say Jacques was a powerful man would be to say Albert Einstein was a smart man.

He controlled everything there was to control and more, and he made sure everyone knew.

He'd hurt Yang as a warning, as a threat, to show how much he knew about SCHN33's life, how much he could find out about everyone's life.

And she… didn't like that.

In fact, she was scared of that.

Which was why she found herself knocking on her father's door at night.

She waited until he invited her in before coming in.

Ghira looked surprised to see her awake at this time. Yet he didn't comment anything, merely looking at her with hardly-concealed sadness.

There was once a study about how humans tend to be more honest at night.

It was never officially proven to be correct, but she'd like to think that it was.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

She knew what they were going to do. She'd heard the conversation between her father and Yang's supposed uncle.

One of Qrow's contacts would be waiting for them at two, and they'd take them straight to the boat that would leave for Beacon, wherever that was.

They were hesitant, at first, but Qrow had assured them that his contact was trustworthy and that they'd helped he and his nieces to find a home for them all those years ago.

That didn't make her feel better, even when it should.

"Blake… We both know there's only one place for you to go."

Yes. They both knew.

Beacon was the only place that would accept her right now…

How ironic was that?

[ASK]

[LEAVE]

She already knew what the answer was, but there was still this part of her that hoped she'd get the answer she wanted to hear.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

She grabbed her arm, feeling a little stupid for asking such a question but knowing that her father wouldn't judge her. "You'll… What if they'll try to hurt you next?"

He blinked before smiling warmly, looking touched and happy that she'd asked such a question. "As far as they're concerned, I have nothing to do with the incident, which is the truth. I told them I'll contact them if I spot you again." His answer didn't alleviate her worry. And he noticed, because he walked to her and rested his hand on her head, his touch gentle. "I'll be fine here, Blake. But you won't be."

He was right.

She knew he was right.

But it didn't make her happy, knowing that she was going to leave him, the first person to ever love her, the man who she considered her- no, the man who was her father.

His hand slowly trailed down until it was cupping her cheek, gently prying her to look into his gentle eyes.

"Do you know why I named you Blake?" She must've made quite a face because the human shook as he chuckled. "Believe it or not, we've picked the name Blake long before I first saw you."

She blinked. "We…?"

"Kali and I." His smile was as gentle as ever. It didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry…" She didn't know why she was sorry. She just knew that she was. Was this how humans always felt…?

He chuckled again, pinching her cheek, though not too hard for her to feel uncomfortable. "For what? It's not your fault." He looked at her with so much love… it almost overwhelmed her. "She would've loved you, Blake."

And it only hit her now:

This might be the last time she saw him again.

This might be the last time she heard his kind voice, felt his soothing touch, hear his wise words and just… be with him.

He must be having the same thoughts because as soon as she shed her first tear, he enveloped her in a hug.

"Dad…" she hiccuped. "I… I don't want to go…"

He shushed her and ran his fingers through her head up and down. "Beacon is a great place for you, a chance for you to feel safe. It's a new life. A fresh start. A chance for you to meet new people, explore new things."

Her grip on him tightened, her sobs only grew more and more uncontrollable.

She didn't care about having a fresh start.

All she cared about was that she'd leave him.

Why couldn't he see that?

Why did he think that she was okay with simply up and leaving him alone like this?

She heard him sigh. "I've talked to Qrow. He will take care of you and make sure you get the best treatment. And Yang will keep you happy… she cares about you, more than you'll ever know."

She knew how much Yang cared about her. She knew the human would never let anything or anyone hurt her.

And that was the only good thing to come out of this; the fact that Yang would still be with her.

"We can still call each other," he tried.

She shook her head, burying her face in his chest. "It… it wouldn't be the same." She gritted her teeth, cursing everyone and everything for letting things come to this. "Please come with me, Dad..." she sobbed. "Don't leave me all alone…"

"You won't be alone, Blake."

She hated that that was the truth.

"I love you, sweetie."

"I… I know… I love you too, Dad."

It was so, so relieving to say that. It felt right and wonderful and wrong at the same time.

She was glad she'd said that.

Because… in case something happened to her…

At least her father knew how much she loved him.

Author's Note:

Wow…

0_0

Poor Blake…

I think this is the first time I've ever written a scene like this.

I've got to say…

It makes me want to come and see my own dad and tell him how much I love him.