Oops! Its been a reeeally long time. Without further ado, here is the last part!
"Blaaaaaakeeeeeey!" A warm voice filled both sets of her ears, causing one her cat ears to twitch. "Wake up! You can't sleep all day!"
Groaning the cat faunus cracked her eyes open just enough to see a grinning face wreathed in blonde, with two of the most beautiful lilac eyes she had ever seen in her life. Pulling Yang down into a quick kiss, Blake rolled over and grabbed her scroll off the nightstand.
"Yang… It's only 6am." Blake set the scroll back down and glared up at her girlfriend of almost a year.
"I know, but I miss you getting up early with me!" Yang threw her a lopsided grin that quickly blew through any measure of resolve that she had. "Ever since you started taking classes, you haven't been able to get up and help me bake. I kind of miss it, ya know?"
"Yeah, but isn't it New Years Eve tonight? Shouldn't you be sleeping so you can stay up late?"
"Old habits die hard I guess? C'mon. Get dressed and join me for breakfast."
"Only if there's eggs benedict." Blake smirked slightly to herself. Despite Yang's prodigious skill in baking, the blonde was equally bad at cooking most things besides basic breakfast foods. Blake had even seen the baker burn noodles when she used a too small of a pot by accident. She figured eggs benedict probably didn't fall inside Yang's skill set and couldn't help but tease her girlfriend for waking her up to early.
"Already ready. If you don't hurry, it'll get cold!"
Blake sat up in surprise. "You made that h-"
Yang silenced her with another kiss. "And they have tuna~." The blonde sang out as she retreated back down to the kitchen.
Rolling slowly out of the bed, reluctant to relinquish the warmth of her blankets, she found her loose sweatpants and tank top she discarded the night before. Shivering slightly in the open air she followed after her girlfriend down the stairs. Entering into the familiar kitchen, the warmth generated from the stove top and oven washed over her, along with the smells of eggs, bacon, and most importantly, tuna.
With Yang still standing at the stove top, she helped herself to several of the eggs benedict with tuna. Savoring the delicious treats, she zoned out as the warmth combined with her drowsiness threatened to overtake her again. It was way too early to be up.
Not paying attention she didn't notice Yang sneaking up on her until it was too late. The blonde's warm fingers found their way under the hem of her shirt and raked across her sides causing the faunus to burst out in exuberant laughter.
"Y-Ya-Yang! Stop!" Blake squealed at her girlfriend as she squirmed and was finally able to slip away from Yang's probing fingers. Escaping to the other side of the table she glowered at her tormentor. "You'll make me drop this, and then you'll have to make more tuna."
Yang chuckled to herself before wolfing down one last piece of bacon. "I'm going to shower and get everything set up. I'll see you upstairs." Yang leaned over and gave Blake a quick kiss on the cheek before meandering out of the kitchen.
As she heard the heavy footfalls of Yang making her way up the stairs, Blake let out a sigh of contentment. Finishing the rest of the eggs benedict and tuna she followed quickly upstairs.
"Just like last year!" Yang gave her a little nudge causing her to fall onto the couch with a small squeak of surprised. "Before we go over to Weiss and Ruby's, we're watching the entire original trilogy again."
"And with none of that special edition crap." Blake finished for the blonde and earned herself a massive grin in response.
"Yup." Yang leaned in dangerously close to her. "And this time you better not fall asleep."
Blake gulped in mostly pretend fear as she got the couch situated for their New Year's tradition. While it was improbably that Yang would do anything to her if she actually did fall asleep, Blake resolved to try to stay awake the whole time this year. Her efforts seemed in vain though, because as soon as Yang cuddled up next to her the warmth and comfort of the blonde's proximity cause her to want nothing more than to close her eyes and snuggle into Yang's embrace.
At least she managed to make it almost to the end of the second one where the whiny hero's hand was unceremoniously chopped off by a man claiming to be his father. Next thing she knew she felt a soft hand slowly stroked her cheek.
"It's time to go, Blakey"
Her eyes flashed open in a moment to be greeted with a gentle smile. Rolling off the couch she started towards the stairs before reconsidering. She had something she had to do first.
"Actually, I need to use the bathroom real quick." She spun around Yang and walked the other direction making sure she didn't make eye contact. Yang had this mysterious power to always figure out what she was up to.
"Ok." Yang responded cheerfully. "I'll meet you downstairs. Don't forget your gloves."
As the sound of footsteps heading down the stairs confirmed that Yang had left, Blake crawled under the bed and pulled out a box she had hidden under there. Inside were her textbooks from her previous semester, and amongst them, about the same size and thickness, was a carefully wrapped present for Yang. Something to show the other woman how much she meant to her.
Realizing the blonde would, playfully, chastise her if she actually forgot them, she grabbed her gloves and returned down the stairs. Walking into the bakery proper, she noticed Yang was facing away, gazing out the front windows into the gently falling snow outside. With Yang distracted, she quietly closed the distance between the two of them, surprising her girlfriend with a one armed hug from behind.
"Before we go, I have something for you." Blake held out the gift as she released Yang and the taller woman spun around to face her. "It's not much, but I remembered how much you said you liked astronomy when you were younger. I hope you like it."
Smiling at the confused look that the blonde gave her, she waiting patiently for Yang to unwrap her gift. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for long as the exuberant woman almost instantly shredded the gift wrapping, scattering the tattered paper across the bakery floor.
"Pretty!" Yang exclaimed, though small amounts of confusion swirled around her visage. "What does this timestamp and these coordinates mean? Wait, is this-?"
"It's the picture of the stars right above your bakery, on the night and at the time I first stumbled inside cold, hungry, and broken. The moment my life turned around."
The faunus stumbled backwards as Yang almost tackled her in enthusiastic hug. Clutching the blonde to her in return, she felt a small dampness on her cheek.
"Yang, are you crying?"
"No…" Yang's voice was the softest it had ever been. The baker released her and took a step back, drawing a hand across her eyes. "It's just… My life turned around that night too. Leaving my door unlocked that morning was the best mistake I've ever made."
Yang took one last look at the frame before setting it down on one of the bakery tables. When the blonde turned her eyes back her, Blake saw an unusual look in her eyes. Yang was always a woman of resolve, but now she seemed to be particularly determined.
"It's beautiful, you're beautiful. Tonight will be perfect."
For the second New Year's Eve in a row, Blake found herself at Weiss' house. Though this year she was prepared. As soon as the door closed behind them, she heard the thundering of feet and a familiar squeal.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnggggg!"
Blake shoved Yang in front of her, using the taller woman as a shield as a black and red streak tore down the hallway and bowled the blonde over in a tackle hug.
Stepping past the mass the was Yang and Ruby, she greeted the next person who treaded softly down the stone hallway.
"Welcome again, Blake." Weiss smiled at her warmly before gesturing for her to follow. "Let's leave these two to be reacquainted."
"It's nice to see you too, Weiss." Blake followed the short, white-haired woman into the kitchen. Though the house was smaller than what she would expect of a member of the richest family in Remnant, it was still very grandiose.
Weiss sighed softly. "Sometimes I swear that all that girl needs is a pair of dog ears to match her personality. She could see her sister every day and treat every meeting like they've been separated for years."
Hearing Weiss' comment, Blake and stopped walking, staring impassively at the shorter woman. Sensing her change of pace, Weiss stopped and turned about. When their eyes locked, Weiss' already pale complexion blanched at Blake's faux demeanor.
"Blake, I didn't mean it like that." She threw up her hands.
"It must be nice, every time you come home she is as excited to see you as the day before. Yang is alway tired from waking up too early in the morning." Blake, still held her face emotionless."
"I really didn't mean it!.. Wait, are you making a joke at me?"
Blake's emotionless visage finally cracked. Pranking Weiss was so much fun sometimes. Maybe she had been hanging out with Yang a little too much.
Weiss dropped her hands. "So… you're not upset?"
"Nope." Blake replied, mimicking Yang's traditional way of emphasising the word. Finally allowing herself to chuckle, she stepped forward, looping her arm through Weiss' and guided her back into the kitchen. "Suffice to say, I've banned laser pointers from the bakery."
As they entered the somewhat crowded room. She was happy to see the same people she met a year ago at this exact party. Releasing Weiss she grabbed the ladle out of the nearest bowl and poured the two of them generous glasses of sangria, something to sip on while they waited for their energetic girlfriends to catch up to them.
As the night continued on she made her rounds, talking with many of the people she had become friends with over the last year. Even though she had met up with most of them multiple times throughout the year, it was nice to see everyone in the same place at the same time.
Though she was slightly concerned when Yang seemed to disappear only a few minutes before midnight. Looking for her blonde girlfriend, she ended up cornered by Ruby.
"Heya, Blakey." The short girl smiled cheerfully at her her words slightly slurring. "Ready for a new year?"
"Hey, Rubes." Blake greeted her, using Yang's customary nickname for her younger sister. "I'm not sure. This one was pretty great."
Ruby continued to smile pleasantly at her. "You and Yang have had that effect on each other, ya know? I've never seen her so happy."
She smiled happily to herself at Ruby's comment. "Speaking of Yang, do you know where she is?"
"Nope." Ruby. "Why? What's up?"
"Well, it's almost midnight, and there was something important I wanted to ask her."
"Like, uh." The short girl slurred a little again, the night's alcohol continuing to affect her speech. "Like how important?" Ruby's eyes widened. "You're not going to ask her to marry you, are you?"
"No, I'm not proposing to her." Blake shot Ruby an inquisitive look as she responded with an awkward chuckle.
"Yeah, that would be sooo weird. Right?" The bubbly girl, glanced around awkwardly.
Before she had a chance to probe Ruby's antics Weiss appeared next to the red-clad girl and tugged on her arm.
"Come on, Dolt. It's almost midnight." Weiss then looked up at Blake and gestured towards the living room area. "Yang is waiting for you down there."
"Good luck, Blake." Ruby gave her a small cheer as she allowed Weiss to drag her away.
"Here we go." Blake whispered to herself.
Grabbing a knife from the table, she made her way down into the living room where everyone was and tapped it lightly against the glass she was holding. Slowly the chattering of the grouped people died down as everyone turned their attention to her.
Despite having everyone's eyes on her, she only sought to hold contact with one other's. Those brilliant lilac orbs. With the confidence she found in those eyes she began to speak.
"I've never done something like this, but I really needed to say this tonight. And I can't think of a better place to express this than in front of people I can call friends and family.
"When I was little, I was removed from my parents and made a ward of Vale. And since then I have been lonely. Even during the years I was in foster care before the White Fang took me in. Even after the White Fang took me in, I wasn't alone, but I was lonely."
Blake closed her eyes and took a long breath in before slowly releasing it, trying to calm her nerves. Finding Yang's eyes again, she found strength in that deep lilac.
"I was with the White Fang for four years. Four years of pain, squalor, hopelessness, and the worst, loneliness. I had no friends, no allies, no mentors. Even at school I was constantly bullied for being poor, for being behind in my studies, and for… for being faunus."
Even as she held Yang's eyes, she found herself beginning to tear up though not tears of sadness, but of happiness. Of thankfulness for what she had been saved from.
"I escaped from them when I was 16. And I thought I could make something new of myself. But I couldn't go to school because I needed to find work. But no one would hire me. And I couldn't get government aid without returning to the White Fang. I was lost, helpless, and homeless. But then I found Yang.
"She took me in, fed me, and clothed me. She found a place in her home and her heart for me. A lost, lonely faunus. And she introduced me to all of you the first friends I've had since I was little. I got to meet Ruby who is now like a sister to me, and Weiss, the best friend anyone can ask for who gave me the ability to go back to school and make something of myself."
Her tears now streamed freely as she continued to speak.
"And now I am warm and will never have to be cold and lonely again." She refocused on Yang. "You've done so much for me Yang. Is there anything I could possibly do for you?"
Silence overtook the room as Blake finished, only the small background noise of the TV persisted. Glancing around she could see genuinely happy looks on everyone's faces and even the traditionally stoic Weiss seemed to be wiping tears from her eyes. But the thing she noticed most was everyone seemed to be looking towards Yang. Following their looks, she glanced back up to Yang.
"Heh." Yang chuckled to herself, also wiping her eyes. "I spent months preparing for this, and the entire night psyching myself up, but in the end, you're the one that ends up making the speech. But yeah, there is only one thing I can ask of you."
Time seemed to almost stop for Blake as Yang's hand slipped into a pocket and she bent down onto one knee.
"Only one thing." The blonde smiled up at her, ignited a fire within. One that promised to always keep her warm, no matter how cold or difficult things became. "I will always be your warmth if you'll promise to be my heart forever. Will you marry me?"
Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year!
It feels good to final finish this. With the direction that Volume 6 is heading, there will likely be more BumblebY on the horizon.