By the time evening rolled around, Yang felt substantially better than when she'd woken up. Apparently, the combination of pain medicine, ice, and Ruby's incessant chattering worked wonders in nursing someone back to health. Plus, it was hard to dwell on the pain lingering behind her eye when she was so focused on what happened with Blake earlier that afternoon.

As soon as she thought about the moment, her heart burst into a flurry of butterflies. Good thing she wasn't hooked up to a heart rate monitor or something - otherwise, Ruby would freak out every other minute when the beeps suddenly went haywire.

But Blake kissed her. Kissed her. Twice, actually. Right on the lips.

Raising one hand, Yang gently touched her bottom lip before letting her arm fall back to her side and trying to stem the tide of desire in her chest. What would have happened if Ruby hadn't come home early? Blake had looked ready to steal another kiss - and god knows Yang was more than willing to surrender that and then some.

If it ever became possible to travel back in time, Yang would go back and thank her younger self for making an ill-advised decision that could have gotten her suspended. She hadn't even been suspended, which only made this even sweeter.

Blake was book girl. The super quiet girl who kept to herself and did nothing but read outside of class - that was Blake.

'People used to call me 'book girl' because I always had a book in my hand.'

Nearly groaning out loud at the memory, Yang shook her head and contemplated kicking herself for being so stupid. Blake already said that she was book girl. She came right out and gave the nickname, yet Yang still failed to connect the dots.

Clearly, she wasn't the most observant person in the world...

Letting out a sigh that escaped Ruby's attention, Yang scooted back on her bed and absentmindedly flipped through the channels on the TV. They'd already finished dinner, which she was actually able to eat tonight. Now, Ruby laid across the foot of the bed playing a game on her phone while Yang lamented her lackluster memory.

How had she missed all those clues?

That day was important to her too, but in a much different way. When she looked back on it, she remembered being ecstatic that she hadn't gotten in trouble. And her dad hadn't grounded her for picking another fight.

The moment was so long ago now, however, that she couldn't even remember what happened the next day. She vaguely recalled looking for Blake at school, but Blake was already gone. And then...that was it. Everything past that day was a blur of memories that had nothing to do with Blake. Winter break, summer break, back to school...years and years passed by.

With each day that fell behind, she forgot about that moment - it became nothing more than a vague event from long ago. She'd remembered the lesson but not the source of it. And she was so determined with her new goal that she easily found more kids who needed help just like Ruby. She immediately set out to make new friends, but...none of those people were Blake.

Blake disappeared without a trace.

...or had she?

Dropping the remote on the bed beside her, Yang suddenly realized that the statement wasn't entirely accurate. Blake had left a trace behind, but Yang hadn't remembered it. Pretty much par for the course then.

"Do you know where our boxes from grade school are?" she asked.

"Pretty sure they're in the attic," Ruby answered without looking up from her game. "Why?"

As soon as Ruby confirmed the location, Yang hopped out of bed and walked to the bedroom door.

"Lookin' for something," she replied on her way out. Making a noise of surprise, Ruby scrambled into the hallway after her.

"Dad said you're supposed to take it easy!"

"Going up into the attic isn't hard," Yang said over her shoulder while Ruby followed. "Unless you consider one set of stairs difficult?"

"'Course not! But I can see out of both eyes!"

"Then why don't you use your superior vision to help me?" Yang teased. Already standing under the entrance to the attic, she pulled down the folded-up ladder that led upstairs. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the handrail and clambered up, already knowing that Ruby would help.

Making it to the top of the steps, she sat down on the ledge and scooted across the wood floor of a small room that wasn't quite tall enough to comfortably stand in. After grasping above her head in the dark, she found a small chain that turned on a set of lights Dad installed after they moved in. One pull and the lights illuminated a dry, dusty space stacked with boxes.

When she got into Vale High - and Ruby was already being heavily recruited - they decided it was time to leave their tiny house by the elementary school behind. Luckily, they found a place near their new school that was also closer to their dad's work. But moving meant that most of their little kid stuff was packed into boxes and stored away in the attic.

"What're you looking for?" Ruby asked while climbing into the attic and kneeling on the floor opposite of Yang.

"A book from elementary school."

"What's the title?"

"I don't remember," Yang answered, looking at the stack of boxes closest to her.

"That makes this more of a challenge!" Ruby remarked before scooting over to the boxes on her side. "No...no...no..." she muttered to herself while reading the labels on the side of each box.

Turning her attention to her own set of boxes, Yang tilted her head so she could read the handwritten labels. Since Dad had set them loose with black markers and very little instruction, some of the labels were written upside down, and none of them were in the same place.

"Oh, here's some!" Ruby called out before pulling two boxes off of a stack and setting them closer to the entrance of the attic. Peering over at them, Yang saw the horribly-scrawled handwriting on the sides - hers and Ruby's for sure.

"And some more," Ruby huffed while shoving two more boxes over. "Do you want me to help look over there?"

"I got it," Yang replied, systematically searching her way through the stacks of boxes.

Ruby could work faster because she had the benefit of two good eyes, not because she was faster at reading scribbles. At least, that's what Yang was going to tell herself.

"Aha," she remarked after locating another box from grade school. Taking two of Dad's boxes off the top of it, she set them to the side and pulled over the one she wanted.

Behind that stack was the holy grail - three more boxes with her sloppy handwriting covering the sides.

"Bingo."

After maneuvering around to make some room, she sat down in front of her find and began this search in earnest. As she pulled the tape off the first box, she heard Ruby do the same from across the attic.

"My monkey backpack!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling out a well-worn brown backpack and holding it up in the air. After examining the forgotten treasure, however, her face fell. "Is it still a monkey if it doesn't have a tail?"

When Ruby held the bag up for Yang to see, she chuckled.

"Do you remember how the tail tore off?" she asked while searching through another box. Turning the bag over in her hands, Ruby shook her head and looked at Yang curiously.

"No - what happened?"

"You wanted to play tug-of-war with it," Yang answered, smiling at the look of shock dawning on Ruby's face. "Remember? Monkey-of-war, you called it."

"What?!"

Laughing at Ruby's surprise and disbelief, Yang nodded.

"Yup. Turns out, monkeys aren't meant for war."

"That's why I lost Mr. Monkey?" Looking at the bag in her hands, Ruby seemed to be in disbelief that it was her idea that led to the item's demise.

"Yeah, but then you got Mr. Squidly - remember him?"

As expected, a goofy grin found its way onto Ruby's face as she gazed towards the roof in memory.

"Mr. Squidly...he was so cool. Wait, he should be up here too!" Setting the first backpack off to the side, Ruby practically dove into the box in search of her second-most-favorite bag. Laughing at Ruby's newfound determination, Yang returned her attention to the contents of the box in front of her.

Gently moving items around in search of any books, she found nothing but random odds and ends that a grade schooler would deem essential to living. Extra flat and smooth rocks, great for skipping across a lake or pond. Various sculptures made out of brightly-colored clay. Awards certificates from school - for perfect attendance, go figure. Basically, a lot of junk.

Hearing a joyful squeal, Yang looked over and found that Ruby had been successful in her side quest, and now held a gray squid backpack up in the air.

"You found him," Yang said while shoving the first box away and pulling over the next one.

"I did! And look - he's in great shape too!" Holding the bag over the entrance to the attic, Ruby waved it so the tentacles dangling from the bottom wiggled in every which direction.

"You should use that as your backpack now."

While Yang meant the suggestion as a tease, Ruby pursed her lips and furrowed her brow - the expression implying that she took it as serious advice.

"I could…" she mumbled while unzipping the bag and looking inside. "Oh my god. Yang, I left candy bars in here!"

When Ruby pulled out five regular-sized chocolate bars, Yang burst out laughing.

"I dare you to eat those."

"They're like ten years old!"

Lifting the chocolate to her nose, Ruby took a delicate sniff and shrugged.

"Why the heck would you leave candy bars in there anyway?" Yang asked.

"Pretty sure I thought it'd be helpful in an emergency. Like if we ran out of food, don't worry because we still have chocolate!"

Chuckling at young Ruby's logic, Yang shook her head and tore open the second box to look inside.

"Always thinkin' ahead," she teased at the same time.

"You would've thanked me if it happened!" Grinning, Ruby set the chocolate and the backpack off to the side and kept digging around in one of the boxes. "Nope...no books in here!"

Staring into her new box, Yang reached inside and carefully pulled out a pair of old boxing gloves.

"Wow." Turning them over in her hands, she ran her fingers across the broken-in leather. "Ruby, look how small these are!"

When Yang held them up in the air, Ruby looked over and laughed.

"Did your hands ever fit in those?"

"Must have." Flipping them over, Yang tried to squeeze her hand inside, with little success. "I think this was my first pair. Dad must've kept them."

After taking another good look at the unexpected memento, Yang smiled and set them beside her. Searching through the remaining items and finding nothing of note, she shoved the box off to the side and pulled the third box over. This one was aptly labeled - 'Yangs - not Rubys.'

"Ever wonder why we keep this stuff?" she asked while using her fingers to pry the tape off.

"So we can remember what happened! Otherwise, we'd forget too much."

"You think so?" Yang asked distractedly, pulling a couple of stuffed rabbits out of the box and looking at them in confusion. "But I don't remember these at all."

"That's cuz those are mine!" Ruby cried out before snatching them from Yang's hands.

"Then what're they doing in my box?"

"You probably stole them to pack your…" Scooting over, Ruby craned her neck so she could look into the box. "Your coloring books? Really?"

Pulling out one of the books, Yang flipped it open and shook her head.

"This isn't mine either - I didn't color like this. A green and purple toucan? A red and silver leopard?" Grinning, she tossed the book to Ruby so she could take a look.

While Ruby flipped through the pages, Yang turned back to the box and pulled out the rest of the books. Nope, nope, nope - it was all coloring books. Except for -

Finding a book that wasn't the same size as the others, she quickly discarded everything else and found herself holding exactly what she was searching for. There, hidden amid Ruby's old coloring books, was the small paperback Blake gave Yang all those years ago.

"Jesus, Blake," Yang muttered when she recognized the title. "You were reading this stuff in fourth grade?"

Having the book in her hands, she remembered that she'd tried to read it, but it was too hard for her to understand at the time. Seeing as how she just read it a couple of years ago in her high school literature class, she could understand why.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Duck-walking across the attic, Ruby looked over Yang's shoulder to see what it was. "Oh hey! I just got that for my lit class! You could've just borrowed mine if you wanted."

Running her hand across the cover before flipping through the pages, Yang smiled down at the treasure she hadn't remembered saving.

"This one is special…"

"Is it easier to understand? Cuz then maybe I'd like to borrow it."

When Ruby jokingly tried to snatch the book out of her hands, Yang pulled it away and held it above her head so Ruby couldn't reach.

"Sorry, Ruby. You're gonna have to learn the hard way like I did."

Making a few more playful grabs above Yang's head, Ruby finally sighed and gave up with a pout.

"Awe...but that's no fun. It's so confusing!"

"You'll get through it," Yang teased, reaching over to ruffle Ruby's hair all over the place. "And if you need help, I'm sure Weiss would be more than willing to tutor you."

The suggestion made Ruby smile in a heartbeat, and Yang noticed the conspicuous lack of denial at the claim. So Weiss would tutor Ruby, huh? That was no longer surprising.

"Let's put this stuff back though," Yang added while gesturing to the mess they'd made. Setting the book by the attic stairs, she shoved everything back into their respective boxes and clamped down the lids while Ruby did the same. Since they'd torn off the tape, they couldn't actually seal the boxes again, but Yang would just come back up here and do that later.

After shoving everything away from the exit, she dusted off her hands and gave Ruby a nod of success before scooting over to the ladder. Grabbing her prize for coming up here, she made her way downstairs while keeping one hand on the railing.

"You're taking those with you?" she asked when she noticed Ruby carrying the candy bars in her hand. "You know I was kidding, right? Please don't eat those."

"But what if they're still good?"

"I'll buy you new ones! Just throw those out!"

Looking down at the chocolate bars, Ruby let out a remorseful sigh.

"Ok…" she reluctantly agreed. "But can you get the ones with the little crispy things in them?"

Smiling at the request, Yang jumped off the last step and onto the hallway floor.

"Sure. Whatever you want."

After Ruby scrambled down the steps - with her new/old squid backpack on her back - the two of them folded the ladder up and pushed it back into place. With their mission complete, Yang clapped one hand on Ruby's shoulder. and smiled

"Thanks for the help," she said, making Ruby beam in delight.

"No problem! I mean, I kinda got something out of it too." Turning around, Ruby wiggled so the tentacles on the backpack flew all over the place.

"You're not actually taking that to school, are you?"

"Sure! Why not?"

"Because it looks like a little kid's backpack!" Yang explained, reaching out and flipping a pair of tentacles in the air.

"No one else will have a backpack like this!" Ruby refuted before breaking out a wide grin. "Plus, I think it's cool!"

Chuckling at the typical Ruby response, Yang shook her head but let the topic go. If Ruby liked something, she would wear it/use it/watch it/whatever she wanted. It never crossed her mind that it might be weird or that other people might make fun of her for it. And that's exactly how Yang wanted her little sister to grow up - free to be whoever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do.

"Why don't we play some Squid-of-War?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows before taking a swipe towards the backpack. Jumping out of reach, Ruby held her hands in the air like she was going to karate chop Yang to keep her away.

"You stay away from Mr. Squidly!" Ruby cried out before waving her hands in defense. "Don't make me like...poke your eye!"

"Poke my eye? Is that the worst you can do?"

"You know it'll hurt pretty bad."

"Probably not." Testing her theory, Yang gently touched her bruised eye and immediately winced. "Ok, you're right."

When Yang raised both hands in defeat, Ruby relaxed and smiled.

"What're you going to do now?" she asked before waving towards the book Yang still clutched in one hand. "You gonna read that?"

Holding it up and looking at it, Yang briefly considered the idea before shrugging.

"I dunno. Maybe."

She hadn't put any thought into what she wanted to do with the book - she just wanted to see if she still had it. Now that she'd found it, she should figure out her next step.

"If you do read it, think you could write a three-page report at the same time? Or like...jot down some notes or something?"

When Yang shook her head, Ruby stuck out her bottom lip before quickly shrugging off the pout.

"Can't blame me for trying! Do you need help finding anything else?" When Yang shook her head again, Ruby grinned. "Then I'm gonna call Weiss! She said I could call after seven to talk."

Yang tried to hide her surprise at the response, but her eyes briefly widened before she forced a nonchalant expression.

Now they were talking on the phone at night? Every night, or was this a one-time thing? Either way, that was a bit more serious than hanging out at school and over breaks and…

Yeah, they hung out a lot too.

"Hey," Yang said, reaching out to stop Ruby before she ran off to her room. "About Weiss…"

While Yang trailed off, Ruby looked at her with those wide, innocent eyes - seemingly oblivious to any possible direction this conversation could take. Did Ruby understand what her feelings for Weiss meant? Did she suspect anything? Or was it one of those things that just...was?

"You two get along really well, don't you?" Yang asked instead, watching Ruby's eyes change - softening even further if that was possible.

"I really like her," Ruby answered honestly, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness that immediately dissolved with a wide smile. "She's my favorite person to hang out with besides you!"

At least Yang was still in first place...for now.

"I just wish you guys got along better…" Ruby added as her brow knit together.

"Hey." Yang lightly tapped on Ruby's head to make the concerned expression fade away. "I like Weiss, you know."

After blinking in uncertainty, Ruby looked at Yang with narrowed eyes.

"You do?"

"Yeah!" Yang made sure to smile and answer genuinely, so it didn't come across as a joke. "I mean, I like giving her a hard time, and I like that she teases me right back. But most of all, I like that she makes you happy."

When Yang tapped Ruby's shoulder while saying the words, Ruby broke into a huge smile.

"She does!"

"Then you don't ever have to worry about her and me," Yang concluded with a smile of her own. "We get along just fine."

Not losing an ounce of that big smile, Ruby nodded enthusiastically before adding a "Thanks, Yang!" and bouncing towards her room - those ridiculous tentacles swinging like crazy as she went.

When Ruby's door closed, leaving Yang alone in the hall, she closed her eyes and sighed. That felt like she'd just given away her little sister. At the very least, she'd given Ruby the green light to do...whatever she wanted to do with Weiss.

Ok, maybe not whatever she wanted to do. But if she wanted to be more than friends with Weiss, Yang didn't want to stand in the way of that - definitely not because Ruby was worried about how the two of them got along. They got along fine! For the most part…

Yang could make more effort to tolerate Weiss though...and she would. She'd start that immediately, for Ruby's sake.

Tapping her fingers against the spine of the book in her hand, she tried to decide what she wanted to do next. Since Ruby was busy with Weiss and there was nothing good on TV, she headed downstairs instead of going back to her room. Walking across the entryway and into the kitchen, she fell into one of the dining room chairs and set the book on the table in front of her.

That's when she spotted a single, red rose sitting in a small vase in the center of the table. Grinning at the familiar flower, she pulled it over to look at.

If there was any benefit to this newfound spring of emotions, it was that it made Weiss predictable. Predictable Weiss meant that Yang would have even more opportunities to tease the girl than usual. Although...while the rose was exactly as she remembered it, she didn't remember having such a pretty vase to put it in.

It was small - built to hold one flower - but beautiful, with tiny snowflakes etched into the glass. Neptune had only gifted the flower, which meant Weiss had taken Yang's advice and went a step further by finding and buying an actual vase. As Ruby's older sister, she appreciated the extra effort.

After pushing the rose back to the center of the table, she stared at the cover of the book for several long moments of silence. Eventually picking it up, she flipped it over in her hands, read the description on the back, then glanced at the title once more. Then she turned it over and read the description again, while the names of the main characters sparked another memory to life.

This was the same book Blake showed her in the library.

Searching through the chapters, Yang discovered that the page with Blake's favorite quote had already been dog-eared. It was the same quote Yang read aloud only a few days ago.

Blake had certainly given her plenty of chances to uncover the truth...

Suffering through even more disbelief that she never figured this out, Yang opened the front cover and found Blake's handwritten message scrawled inside.

'To Yang - Thank you for standing up for me.'

As she stared at words written years ago, the enormity of that moment sank in.

Blake was book girl. That was something Yang already knew, but now she remembered. Book girl. The little girl who was always reading and being teased by classmates for being a 'nerd.' The little girl that Yang stuck up for because...she didn't even know why she'd done it. She just had.

It was that day that Yang swore she'd never let another classmate go friendless because they were 'weird.' She would be their friend. She would be everyone's friend. Because no one deserved to be treated that way.

That was her mission ever since that day - befriend everyone. She found a purpose in going out of her way for those who were less popular. That's how she and Ruby became friends with Penny - the sweetest girl Yang had ever met. And Nora - the loose cannon who Yang convinced to get into boxing and was now one of her closest friends. And then Ruby went and befriended Weiss - the know-it-all rich girl who didn't have any true friends.

It all started with Blake - the one Yang hadn't helped.

'Thank you for standing up for me.'

That day was important to Blake, but it played a huge role in Yang's life as well. She just hadn't remembered it the same way Blake had.

Hearing footsteps approaching the kitchen, Yang tore her eyes away from Blake's handwriting as her dad walked into the room.

"What've you got there?" he asked curiously.

"An old book," Yang answered, willingly handing it over when he gestured for it.

"Ah. I remember this one," he said, flipping open the cover before setting it in front of her and tapping the top. "This was you versus four boys."

"You remember that?" she asked, looking at him in surprise when he nodded and sighed.

"Of course. I remember every one of them - I was called into the aftermath, you know."

"Sorry I got you called into the principal's office so much," she teased. Shaking his head, he reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

"It's nothing to apologize for. I raised you to speak up when you saw something wrong. You chose a different way of speaking up, but you did all the same."

Curling one of her hands into a fist on top of the table, she looked at her clenched fingers closely. Was fighting really a way of speaking out? She'd never thought of it that way. It was just...a way to get the bullies to stop.

"So, if you think about it, this is all your fault," she joked, making him chuckle.

"I also taught you to take responsibility for your actions. Or did I forget that one? Maybe I only taught Ruby…"

When he playfully tapped his chin, Yang smiled and gestured towards the book on the table.

"Do you wish I hadn't though?" she asked.

"Absolutely not. You made an impact on those kids' lives, you know."

"Do you really think that?"

Smiling proudly, he leaned down and kissed her on the temple.

"Just look at your sister."

When he straightened and headed out of the room, Yang watched him walk past a bookshelf stuffed with trophies rather than books. Most of them were Ruby's from track - all-city, all-district, all-state, and the lame 'all-world' trophy Yang stuck together that Ruby refused to get rid of.

Who would've thought that the tiny kid with the monkey backpack and two left feet would grow up to be a star athlete at one of the most prestigious schools in Vale? Who would've thought that the little girl who was always an easy target for bullies would still be smiling - with no bullies in sight?

Ruby had grown up like Blake, in a way. She knew that she was 'weird' but accepted every bit of her weirdness. She'd actually taken the weird bits about herself and turned them into success. She wouldn't cry if a bully picked on her - she wouldn't even flinch. She would just keep smiling.

She was going to wear a squid backpack to school, for crying out loud. And would she get teased about it? Probably not. It was more likely that everyone would start wearing cute animal backpacks instead.

Ruby Rose...from shrimp to trendsetter.

Hearing a stampede of elephants tumble down the staircase, Yang watched Ruby race into the kitchen seconds later - heading to the cupboard to pull down a glass for water.

"Hey, weren't you going to call Weiss?" Yang asked while Ruby filled up her glass.

"Already did! She only had a couple minutes. She's studying for some crazy test coming up."

"Ah…"

After draining half the glass in one continuous gulp, Ruby let out a contented sigh before grinning at Yang.

"Wanna watch a movie with us? You can pick!"

"Sure." Yang nodded and was about to stand up, but then she thought of something. "But I have a question for you."

Setting both hands on the back of a dining room chair, Ruby looked at her curiously. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering...what do you think would've happened if I hadn't stood up for you at school?"

As soon as the question was out in the open, Yang watched Ruby's brow furrow.

"Which time?"

"Any of them."

Ruby's brow furrowed even further.

"That would've sucked!" she answered succinctly, but the expression lasted only a second before she gave Yang a big smile. "But you wouldn't have done that because that's not who you are. We stand up for what's right, remember?"

Smiling at the answer - the motto the two of them had lived by since grade school - Yang nodded once.

"That's right. We do."

There weren't many things Yang was super proud of, but the person Ruby had grown up to be was one of them. After everything they'd been through, just look at her - self-assured, confident, and a wonderful person.

Sensing the mood, Ruby walked around the table and gave Yang a sideways hug.

"Whenever people thought I was weird, it didn't matter because I knew you had my back no matter what," Ruby whispered. "And I'll always have yours, ok?"

Feeling an abundance of appreciation spring into her chest, Yang smiled and stood up to give Ruby a real hug.

"Thanks, Ruby," she said before pulling away and nodding towards the table. "Where'd you get the rose, by the way?"

"Weiss gave it to me! Isn't it nice?" Reaching over, Ruby touched one of the petals with a dopey grin on her lips.

"Very nice," Yang replied, taking a second to enjoy Ruby's pure bliss before raising her voice so she could be heard from the living room. "And I hope you and Dad are ready to cower in your seats because boy do I have a movie for you!"

Ruby immediately groaned while Dad shouted, "No horror! Ruby, you have to say no horror!"

Turning to Yang, Ruby grinned and said, "Sorry, Dad! I forgot!"

With Ruby running ahead, Yang spared one last glance at the book laying on the table before following her sister at a much slower pace. When she made it to the living room, she watched Ruby jump onto the sofa next to their dad while she picked out her spot on his other side.

After she sat down with a soft sigh, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head. From his other side, Ruby already had the remote in hand and turned on the TV. It flickered to life on a deafeningly-loud car commercial - the shouting voices making Yang cringe as the volume shot straight through her still-tender head.

"Turn it down, honey," Dad whispered to Ruby, who obediently turned down the volume until it wasn't hitting Yang's brain like a mallet.

"Thanks," Yang said quietly, and her dad squeezed her shoulder while Ruby scrolled through the menu of movies.

"What's it called?"

Grinning when Ruby and Dad turned towards her, Yang waited a few seconds to build the suspense before answering the question.

"Super Zombie Slayers 6," she answered, her grin growing when the title made her dad groan.

"That sounds like lovely family viewing..."

"It's the sixth one, Dad," Ruby pointed out. "That means it was good enough to get six movies!"

"Or horrible enough..." he muttered to himself. "You know, it's a shame that Yang gets to see this theatrical masterpiece out of only one eye."

"I can see just fine!" she whined while Ruby giggled. "The swelling's gone down. Kinda…"

Laughing when she pouted, he gently ruffled her hair.

The swelling had gone down enough that she could see fairly well out of both eyes, but apparently they were going to tease her about it for much longer than that.

"Oh! Yang, can I be you for Halloween?" Ruby suddenly asked, turning to Yang with excited eyes as the movie began to play.

"How are you going to 'be me?'" she asked suspiciously.

"Black eye and boxing gloves! It'll be awesome. Come on, pleaseeeee?"

Impressed with the idea, Yang smiled and nodded.

"That actually sounds pretty cool. How about I'll dress up as you too?"

Pumping her fist in excitement, Ruby jumped onto the sofa and leaned back into the cushions.

"Fake black eye, I hope," their dad added, wrapping his arms around both of them while they settled in to watch some super zombies get slayed. Within the first fifteen seconds, he flinched when a zombie jump-scared the living daylights out of them before being disintegrated by a rocket launcher.

"Awesome," Ruby muttered from the other side of the sofa. Chuckling at the subtle endorsement of her selection, Yang leaned into her dad's warm shoulder to watch the rest of the movie. Her mind couldn't focus too much on the story on the screen, however, as it drifted to their conversation in the kitchen instead.

It was hard to believe that she changed Ruby's life because she'd always known how amazing Ruby was. It was other people who'd needed convincing - sometimes pretty forceful convincing.

Would Ruby be a different person if Yang hadn't been there all the time? Would Blake be a different person if Yang hadn't stood up for her that day? How could one moment define a person's life like that?

Well...that one moment had been a turning point in Yang's life too. It shaped the person she would become both in school and at home. It gave her the determination to excel in her boxing lessons because she wanted to be that much better at sticking up for those who might need her.

Maybe Yang changed Blake's life without realizing it, but Blake had done the same thing in return.