And here's chapter 2, lot's of bumbleby content in this one. You may notice Blake is a bit OOC, and there's a reason for that. FFVII fans will already know why, but those of you that haven't played it will find out much later on in the story. Once again, thanks to lava, nat, and WolfRain for their help.

"Ugh, it's past midnight. When will they be back?" Ruby Rose complained to her older sister Yang Xiao Long, who was currently tending the bar of 7th Heaven, the bar she owned that functioned as a base for AVALANCHE.

"You just want to gawk over Blake's sword, don't you," Yang said with a knowing smirk.

Yang Xiao Long was a 21 year old woman with bronze skin much like her father's, a long, wild mane of golden blonde hair, and lilac eyes. Like her dad, she had a prosthetic right arm, but unlike his, hers didn't transform into a gun. Yang wore a cropped white tank top, black suspenders attached to a black miniskirt, red and black elbow length gloves, red shoes, black socks, and a metal guard on her left elbow.

Ruby Rose was a 15 year-old lighter-skinned girl with silver eyes and short black hair that graduated to red at the tips. She wore a hooded red cloak over a pink dress.

"Uh, yeah! It's like the coolest sword ever!" Ruby squealed, "and it's so big too! I'm amazed Blake can even carry it, let alone fight with it! I'd love to see her in action…" She swooned.

"Oh come on, we both know dad and I wouldn't ever let you anywhere near a battlefield." Yang said, shaking her head while her lips formed a fond smile. "You and your weapon obsession…"

Yang had gotten to know her sister quite well in the four years they'd know each other, and the girl had quickly become one of the most important people in Yang's life. Yang could still vividly recall the day they'd met…

Yang was working the bar that day, having recently acquired a bartending job at 7th Heaven, long before she'd gained ownership of the establishment. A sandy-blond haired man with a prosthetic right arm and a preteen girl came inside, and the man had the girl sit at a table while he approached the bar.

"What can I do for ya?" Yang asked the man.

"Um, I'm looking to dine," the man said.

"What're you having?" Yang asked, pulling out a notebook to write the man's order.

He took a quick glance over at the menu. "I'll have today's special, some chicken nuggets, and some cookies."

"Cool, what's the name?" Yang asked.

"Tai. Taiyang Xiao Long."

Yang dropped the notebook in shock, stared at Tai wide-eyed and open-mouthed. "Dad?"

Tai got a shocked expression himself, before pulling Yang into a hug. "Yang, is that you? Do you even still go by that name?"

"I do. It's gender neutral, after all," Yang replied.

"Oh my God I haven't seen you since you were a baby," Tai wept, before pulling away from the hug. "Wait here, I need you to meet someone."

Tai went over and grabbed the girl he'd come in with, taking her over to meet Yang. "Ruby, this is your big sister Yang."

"Wait, I thought Yang was the name of my long lost older brother?" Ruby said.

"Well that's the thing, Ruby. She IS your long lost older brother, only it turns out she's actually a sister. She's… She's like you Ruby," Tai said, weeping tears of joy.

Ruby gave Yang a curious look, before smiling and holding out a fist. "Trans rights."

"Trans rights!" Yang said, eagerly fist bumping her sister, before pulling her into a hug. "Oh I'm so happy to have a baby sister!"

Meanwhile, back in the present, the train had just arrived at Sector 7 station. Tai, Blake, Jaune, Nora, and Ren stepped out, meeting at the bottom of the steps to the station.

"We did good work, gang. But don't get lazy. I need everyone to give their all tomorrow, because the next mission is going to be even bigger. Now let's meet up back at the hideout!" Tai said, before running off, everyone but Blake following just behind him.

Blake took a more leisurely pace through the slums, stopping to take a look at the pillar. The pillar was what kept the plate above from falling down and crushing the slums. If the pillar were to come down, everyone in the slums would be toast. Luckily, the only people doing bombings at the moment were AVALANCHE themselves, and they were bombing reactors, not pillars, so there was nothing to worry about.

Blake continued on to 7th Heaven, where she saw Tai standing outside.

"Ready to see your little girlfriend, Blake?" Tai teased.

"Excuse me?" Blake said.

"Oh come on, don't act like there's nothing going on between you two. I've seen the way you look at each other."

"Whatever," Blake said, heading into the bar.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaad!" Ruby said excitedly, running up and hugging Blake. "Oh wait, you're not dad. But you are that girl with the really cool sword!"

"Ruby, let go of Blake before you crush her to death," Yang said, walking over. Ruby pouted, but complied. "Sorry about that, she's a bit of a weapons fanatic. Anyway, I hear things went well? My dad didn't give you too hard of a time, did he?"

"Eh, he was all right," Blake said, shrugging.

"Sorry if he's a bit overprotective. Me and Ruby mean the world to him."

"Don't worry, it's fine. By the way, I got you something," Blake said, pulling out the flower she bought.

"A flower? For me? Aww that's so thoughtful of you, Blake," Yang said, blushing and taking the flower, giving it a good sniff. "It smells wonderful. You almost never see flowers down here in the slums. Maybe we could fill the whole restaurant with flowers!"

"Hey Ruby, Pyrrha's on TV!" Jaune yelled. He was sitting and watching one of his girlfriend's chocobo races, while Ren and Nora cuddled each other nearby.

"Oh boy I love chocobo races!" Ruby yelled, running over to join Jaune. "I wanna ride a chocobo of my own someday!"

"You will, Ruby," Yang assured her. "I'll see to it myself if I have to."

Blake decided to watch the race herself and could see why Pyrrha was the best known chocobo racer on the planet. Her chocobo was so blazing fast that it blew away the competition. It wasn't long before she crossed the finish line of the final lap, getting first place.

"YES, Pyrrha won!" Jaune yelled, turning and high-fiving Ruby. The two of them seemed to get along quite well.

Just then, Tai finally decided to come in, immediately finding himself glomped by Ruby.

"Welcome home dad!" Ruby said.

"Hey there Little Red," Tai said, ruffling his daughter's hair before turning and nodding to his other daughter. "How are you my Sunny Little Dragon? I trust that you made sure your little sister was on her best behavior while we were gone?"

"Of course, dad." Yang said, smiling at him.

"Anyway," Tai said, breaking free of Ruby's vice-grip. "Ren, Nora, Jaune, we're heading downstairs for a meeting."

Tai, Ruby, and the JNR trio made their way to the secret pinball machine elevator that took them to the basement, where the AVALANCHE hideout was. There were no patrons in the bar at the time, so they were able to do this undetected.

Yang went over to the bar and motioned for Blake to sit at one of the barstools, which she did. "Want anything to drink, Blake?"

"Give me something hard," Blake said.

"You got it. You know, people really like my drink mixing skills," Yang said, winking at Blake. "You won't be disappointed, I promise."

Yang quickly mixed Blake a drink, handing it over to her. "Y'know, I'm really glad you made it back safely."

"Why so concerned? It wasn't even a tough job."

"I guess not. You were in SOLDIER, after all. Don't forget to make sure dad pays you."

"I won't. Once I get paid, I'm out of here," Blake assured her. That last bit wasn't very reassuring to her though, and in fact made her pout.

"Blake, are you okay?" Yang asked, concerned.

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Nothing... It's - I guess you just look a little tired. You should probably meet up with the others downstairs."

Blake stood up, downed her drink, and went to go do as Yang suggested. Downstairs, she found everyone sitting and watching TV where Jacques Schnee, president of the SMC, was giving a speech.

"Today the No. 1 Reactor was bombed. Terrorist group AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for the attack. They are expected to continue their reign of terror. But there is no need to fear, for I have mobilized SOLDIER to protect our citizenry from this senseless violence. Thank you and good night."

"Is it bad that if feel kind of bad for having made the bomb that blew up the reactor?" Nora said. "That was a really big blast, I heard innocent people even died. I never meant to kill innocent people, I must've made a miscalculation somewhere. All I did was make it like the computer told me."

"It's not your fault Nora, you didn't know," her boyfriend assured her.

"Yeah, and maybe next time, we can use a bomb that won't make such a big blast, minimize civilian casualties, y'know?" Jaune said. "But we can't quit now. The planet needs us."

"Hey Blake, I have a question for ya," Tai asked. "Did anyone from SOLDIER fight us today?"

Blake shook her head. "No. If there was you'd know it. They all wear the same uniform as me, with varying colors depending on class."

"All right, but don't forget you work for AVALANCHE now. You better not get any ideas about going back to the SMC."

"Going back to the SMC? Look, can we please just go upstairs already and discuss my payment?"

"Pfft, of course, you only wanna talk money," Tai said bitterly.

Blake made to leave, but Yang, who'd come down at some point, stopped her. "Blake, wait!"

"I don't know what you see in her Yang, she's acting like a big jerk right now," Ruby commented, having been watching the whole fiasco.

"Maybe she wants to go back to the SMC," Tai scoffed.

"Can everyone just shut up!" Blake screamed. "I don't care about the SMC, SOLDIER, AVALANCHE, OR the planet!"

"All right guys, can we please all take a chill pill?" Yang suggested, trying to calm the tensions.

"Blake, stop being such a doodoohead!" Nora yelled.

"Yeah," Jaune said. "You say you don't care, but you've willingly talked to me. You just want friends, don't you?"

"Buzz off!" Blake yelled at him.

"All right, but I'm just saying, you seem kind of lonely to me. Just know that I'm here if you ever wanna talk."

Blake hmphed, made her way upstairs, and stormed for the door. Yang ran after her, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Blake, please! I'm begging you, please join us."

"Sorry Yang, but I can't…" Blake said, turning to face her.

"The planet is DYING, Blake! Someone has to do something about it, and the Blake I know wouldn't just sit idly by for something like this."

"So you, your dad and friends can do something about it. It's got nothing to do with me."

"So you're just gonna leave us behind then? Leave me, your childhood friend?!" Yang said, on the verge of tears, with a pleading look on her face.

"What? How can you even say that?!"

"Let me guess, you forgot our promise, too, didn't you?" Yang pouted.

"Our promise?"

"So you DID forget. Figures. Well let's see if I can't jog your memory. It was seven years ago, at the well. Remember yet?"

"Yeah… I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold..."

At the well, 14 year old Yang, both arms intact, came to join Blake, the two of them sitting at the edge of the platform.

"Sorry I'm late. You said you wanted to talk about something?" Yang said.

"I'm leaving for Midgar this spring," Blake explained.

"Oh… A lot of people seem to be leaving our town."

"Yeah, but unlike them, I'm not gonna get just any old job," Blake explained. She got up, went around, and climbed up to the top of the well. "I'll become a member of SOLDIER, just like Adam!"

"Like Adam, huh? I've heard great things about him. But isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?"

"Yeah. I probably won't be able to come back here for a while."

"I see…" Yang said, unable to stop a sob from escaping. Blake immediately hopped down to comfort her.

"Hey, what is it?"

"If you do well, I'll hear about you, right?"

"Hopefully."

"Um, why don't we make a promise, then. If you become really famous and I'm ever in a bind, you'll come save me, all right?"

"What?" Blake laughed, finding it a bit silly.

"I want to know I can count on you. Now come on, promise me!"

"All right fine. Yang Xiao Long, if you're ever in a bind, I promise I'll be there," Blake said, taking Yang's hand in hers. "And I'll protect you."

As she said this, a shooting star flashed across the sky.

"You remember it now, right? Our promise?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, but Yang, I'm no hero and I'm sure as hell not famous. I can't keep the promise."

"You made it into SOLDIER, didn't you? Come on, you've gotta keep the promise."

"You can fight, can't you? What do you even need me to protect you for? You can protect yourself."

"Maybe I want us to protect each other."

"Um, not to interrupt, but…" Tai said, having just come up. "Here's your money Blake."

"What?! Only 1500…" Blake scoffed. "This is laughable. Next mission, you're paying me 3000."

"Excuse me?!" Tai said, before getting nudged by Yang.

"We could really use her help…" Yang said through gritted teeth.

Tai sighed. "Make it 2000 and you have a deal."

"Fine," Blake acquiesced.

"Thanks Blake," Yang said, pulling her into a hug. "Now let's get to bed, all right?"

The next morning Blake found herself alone in the basement when she woke up, so she headed upstairs.

"Good morning, Blake. Did you sleep well?"

Blake decided to flirt with her a bit. "Next to you, who wouldn't?"

Yang's face flushed beet red and she looked away. "Okay, um… Wow. Did not expect you to say that."

"All right you lovebirds listen up," Tai said, deciding to tease them a bit. "Today's target is the Sector 5 Reactor. Head to the station and I'll fill you in on the train."

"I'll be going this time. I've made sure we have a decent stock of Materia for the mission," Yang explained. Materia was crystalized Mako used to do things such as cast magic in battle. "Anyway, let's get going. Ruby, you keep an eye on the place while we're gone, okay?"

"Roger!" Ruby said with a salute.

Tai ran on ahead, while Yang and Blake decided to walk to the train station together.

"So you're in charge of the Materia, huh?" Blake said.

"Yeah, I'm something of an expert on the stuff, I learned a lot about it back when I was working as a Mt. Nibel tour guide," Yang explained. "And I know all the optimal setups, too. I'll make sure we have our Materia slotted efficiently."

"I'll keep that in mind," Blake said. Before long, they had reached the train station, where the conductor was waiting expectantly.

"ALL ABOARD! The train is about to depart!"