We can officially begin our love triangle now.
Huehue.
Pa-treon: The Tanker, FB Page: IBurn 'Tank' RWBY Fanfic Author
I do not own RWBY.
#
Chapter 23: Destiny and Challenge
"It's good to see you too." Weiss swallowed, trying really, really hard to not break down. The woman in front of her was so different from the Yang Xiao Long nine years ago; but at the same time they were so alike that Weiss could tell the identity without even needing to look.
"You've grown up too." Yang smiled.
Weiss' hair was still tied in a sideway ponytail; she also grew a lot taller, but still a few inches shorter than Yang.
And there was a faint scar on her left eye.
"The scar…it's from the White Fang operation…isn't it?" Yang whispered, refraining herself from touching the heiress.
"How did you…"
The media reported about the attack on the train to Vacuo, but they did not mention anything about Weiss getting hurt – so unless if the blonde was there, she couldn't have possibly known about it.
"I was there."
Yang shifted her position a bit, letting the heiress see her robotic limbs. They shone in white and gold; Ember Celica was forged together with her right arm and both limbs were perfectly capable of generating aura as they were a part of Yang now.
Weiss gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. She could say nothing – she didn't even remember seeing Yang on the train that day.
"Hey. It's fine." The blonde smiled.
"You…get hurt because of me again…" Weiss sniffed.
"Weiss." Yang held out her right hand and Weiss took it out of reflex. Even though it's summer at the moment, it was metal cold.
"Yang, I-"
Suddenly they heard subtle movements behind the bushes as a figure appeared from shadows.
"Blake?" Both exclaimed, Yang having a louder voice.
"Where have you been?! Why didn't you contact us, Blake? I thought you were-" The blonde dashed to her, but paused before grabbing her shoulders.
Blake had two lines of tears on her face but she was smiling; she looked at Yang who was in front of her, then turned to Weiss who stood a little further from them.
"It's good to see you two…" She mumbled, "I came here…hoping to bump into you…and I really did…"
Yang relaxed upon hearing that, but Weiss couldn't stop shaking.
Nine years…it had been nine years ever since they saw each other.
"Welcome back to our home, kitten." Yang smiled faintly.
"Do you still remember what you told me, Yang?"
Yang nodded and the both of them turned to their crush.
"Weiss…I want us to be a team again." The blonde whispered but was audible to the both of them, "I want us to be together just like the old days."
"A lot has changed but…I think we're all mature enough to face it…and accept it." Blake continued, "Let's sit down and have a talk, Weiss. Us, together, with Ruby…We should be honest with each other and spill out all our feelings."
"Destiny brought us here together." Yang turned to the heiress and held out her right arm, "Secret Base reunited us. Come, Weiss. Let's sit down and talk. We have been stubborn for nine years…let's go back to what we once were."
Blake mimicked Yang's actions as she smiled; she already made up her mind ever since she fell from the train – to bring back the memories, to stop running and to go for what she really wanted.
She wanted Team RWBY.
She wanted her friends to be back together just like the old days – the happiest moments in her life.
She would tell them everything that she had gone through, how she felt and the reasons of all her past actions.
She would apologize to them and hug them and smile together with them.
"Let's go Weiss. Let's go see Ruby." Blake encouraged.
Weiss couldn't quite catch on to them, but she obliged.
She had a lot of questions and feelings to tell her friends.
#
The door to Ruby's room opened.
As Weiss, Blake and Yang walked in the room, the sky began to lighten up, providing the room with a mixture of red, orange, yellow, pink and purple.
"Hello Rubes." Yang greeted.
"Hi, Ruby. It's been a while." Blake smiled.
"Ruby, Blake and Yang are here to see you."
The heiress then motioned her head, telling the bumblebees to get a chair respectively from the corner near the entrance. And so they did as they sat down in a straight line beside Ruby's bed.
"Okay, talk." Weiss crossed her arms.
"Uh…" Yang squirmed, didn't know where to start. She had been away for so long; she didn't know what to tell all of a sudden.
"I'll go first then." Blake noticed Yang's dilemma. The blonde nodded as Blake cleared her throat.
"First of all, I'm really glad I chose to be at Secret Base tonight." The Faunus smiled, "And I'm even happier that we all are here now."
"Okay." Weiss said.
"I was lost. I met Yang around two years ago and she told me…that we were all actually huge idiots."
Yang chuckled and Weiss scowled.
"When she told me that we all assumed each other's thoughts without actually trying to communicate…everything became so clear."
Weiss' eyes widened at that statement; they knew how the heiress felt at the moment – they both went through the same realization process.
"My friends told me that." Yang shrugged, "They said we lack communication and that's when I realized…they were right. And that we were idiots."
"So, I'm gonna tell you everything and you must promised me not to blame yourself or get angry, okay?"
Weiss shakily nodded.
"Can't promise, kitten." Yang grinned.
Blake smiled; it felt like they were talking to each other before all these nasty things happened.
"Okay. So first of all…" She turned to Ruby, "I apologize for running away and not coming here to see you, Ruby."
"Me too." Yang mumbled.
"Second of all…Yang."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for pushing you away when you tried to help."
"Okay." Yang smirked.
"Lastly…Weiss."
The heiress gulped.
"I'm sorry to dump everything onto you." Blake apologized sincerely.
"I'm the one that's at fault, Blake. I even abandoned you." Weiss shook her head.
"Sssh princess. Remember what we just promised? No blaming ourselves."
"Right…"
"So, care to tell us what happened after…I left?" Yang took a deep breath trying to not break that promise.
"After you…disappeared."
Yang nodded.
"Weiss and I studied in Signal. At first we were good…then I kept on blaming myself for being jealous because Weiss paid full attention on you who were missing instead of me who stayed by her side all the time." Blake's face turned red slightly.
"I had no idea…" Weiss' eyes were teary.
"Sorry, Weiss. That was very selfish of me. Then, she told me…about what happened between you both."
Weiss' mouth opened as she turned to Yang, but Yang put an index finger at her own lips and shook her head.
"Let Blake finish first."
The heiress nodded lightly and turned her attention back to the Faunus.
"That's when Ruby was moved here. We went to Secret Base at night after we visited her before she was moved…and I…told Weiss about my feelings for her.
"I was really confused. I saw a guy hitting on Weiss and my heart hurt…but I told myself it was fine. I genuinely wanted you to be happy, Weiss. And then you left. I was heartbroken. What left the real impact on me was…the death of my parents."
"Dust…" Weiss' face expression horrified, "I didn't know…I'm so sorry, Blake. I…how?"
"Avalanche. It's okay Weiss. It was hard but I've lived through it. My parents were resting in peace now, so I guess I shouldn't dwell in the past too much."
Yang smiled; she was proud that all of them had grown up. The way Blake was talking was as if she was telling someone else's story. She was so calm, but at the same time the feelings that she poured out was very real and touching.
If they were the same as nine years ago, they would've been blaming themselves, kicking the chairs or running away.
But they were different now.
They could do this – they had to do this.
"As long as we want to be together, we'll always be, even if we're in different places."
"Distance doesn't separate friendship, Yang. Only the will to not stay as friends does."
What Weiss told her that night was so correct. It was because they still wanted to be together even after experiencing so much things that they could sit down and talk and face their fear.
"After that, I did something really terrible." Blake shook her head, "I pushed Team JNPR out of the way when they tried to comfort me."
"Juniper?" Yang asked.
"It's our friends in Signal. They lived at the opposite dorm of us." Weiss answered, "I felt guilty for leaving them behind too…"
"I avoided their good intentions and went to the street alone…and that's when I met Adam."
The mention of the name caused the room temperature to rise, but it quickly went back down after Blake shot Yang a look. The blonde wanted to ask about what happened to that abusive piece of shit, but she waited patiently; she knew if Blake continued to talk about her experience, it would eventually come to that.
"At first he was nice and I tried to be together with him just to…get rid of my feelings for Weiss. I thought that if Adam could help me to…stop loving Weiss…that would benefit both parties…Weiss didn't have to feel guilty and I didn't have to…"
She didn't finish that specific word, but both Weiss and Yang understood.
The heiress was getting more and more flabbergasted, as Blake continued to talk. She never knew about her friend's feelings all this time – she felt like she wasn't considerate enough to notice all of that.
"After that, I ran with him…" Blake bit her lips, "And I joined the White Fang."
Weiss' eyes widened as she stood up, startling everyone.
"What?!"
"Chill, Weiss, let her finish. It's gonna be fine, just listen her out." Yang wanted to touch her, but stopped before making skin contact.
There was still that little hint of fear inside her that Weiss would once again reject her.
The heiress took a deep breath before sitting down.
"It was a peaceful organization at first, but when Adam took the place…" Blake paused and both her friends nodded.
They had seen and experienced it themselves.
"I left him on a train one day and since then he'd been hunting me…and he found me a week after. I was…" The Faunus shivered a bit before continuing, "Terribly beaten…and I ran to Secret Base after he was satisfied with it. And then I met Yang there."
The blonde smiled gently.
"I told her everything. I told her that I was overjoyed when she left…and stuff like that…" Blake looked at the blonde with apologetic eyes.
She smirked back playfully.
Blake understood that smirk – they had been best friends for years.
It meant 'It's okay, little kitten".
"I didn't want Yang to have anything to do with Adam. I've seen what he's capable of…and I knew she'd want to beat him up for hurting me. So…I ran…again.
"I was confused…and I was really sad. The only ones I could go to either died…or became a monster. But when I was in the midst of despair…I remembered them…Ren and Nora."
"Oh, they were a part of Team JNPR." Yang clicked her finger.
The robotic one.
So instead of a click, it turned out to be metal clashing noises.
She scratched her head, then turned to Blake pleading her to go on so that it wouldn't get any more awkward.
"So…I kind of was in touch with them. I lived near the border between Vale and Atlas, occasionally doing missions for liens. Until one day, Yang located me again, telling me about the White Fang's plan on killing you." The Faunus turned to Weiss.
"You were involved too?!" The heiress squeaked.
"Kind of." Blake answered, "Yang and I were in that operation."
Weiss' mouth kept opening and closing; her brain was looking for a suitable response, but clearly she couldn't.
"Never mind. Just…go on first." She pinched the bridge of her nose.
Compared to her rather peaceful life (except for the attacks of White Fang) her friends' were rather intense…and complicated.
Weiss' was more of a confused and emotional one.
Like thinking if she liked Blake and Yang romantically for countless days.
And nights.
"We were disguised as Atlas soldiers, and were on standby on top of the train carts."
"Atlas soldiers…"
"Then…Adam came. Qrow, Yang and I were fighting him, until the lieutenant was involved. Qrow went to fight him and Adam was overpowering us. I saw…" Blake's face expression was twisting as she turned to the blonde, "I saw…Yang's limbs…getting cut off…"
Yang couldn't stop herself from trembling – although two years had passed since that incident, she could never forget that excruciating pain of her own limbs getting detached.
It was a miracle she didn't suffer from severe PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
"She lied there unconscious, no one was around to help; everyone was fighting their own battle. And then, I made a decision." She paused a while, "I ambushed Adam and we fell down from the train together."
Weiss used all of her willpower to stop herself from breaking down.
The sight of Yang's limbs getting cut off and Blake falling deep into the mountain couldn't be shaken off from her vivid imagination.
She could faintly remember that she was blasted through the roof by the lieutenant – and the chainsaw left a shallow cut on her left eye. Just right before she passed out, she saw flaming red hair and two women in Atlas military uniform along with a huge scythe.
But it never occurred to her that those two were the people she wanted to see the most, but was afraid to.
Dust, that was them…
"I…saw you…before I fainted…" Weiss whispered.
Blake smiled as she continued.
"The mountain was pretty deep. I thought I was dead when I fell but…as luck would have it, I landed on some soft sand that cushioned the impact."
"Where's Adam?" Yang asked with a tone of seriousness.
"He's dead." Blake answered immediately, "We were surrounded by Grimm when we got to the ground and he sacrificed himself to save me. I was unable to fight, but I managed to survive as he carried me and ran all the way to the nearest village. Just right before we reached the safe area, he threw me inside and was gobbled up by a Nevermore immediately."
Adam was abusive, but he did love her.
"Then why did you disappear for two years?" The blonde asked.
Knowing that Adam was no longer alive had made them feel relieved – totally.
"I was severely injured." Blake said, "My insides were pretty messed up and it took me months to be able to even talk. I'm sorry I didn't contact you, my scroll was busted."
Yang shook her head.
"The village was a temporary one. It seemed to be that tribe's tradition to keep migrating. I think they were called nomads? They took care of me until I was able to properly walk, and that took a few months too.
"It was a rather traditional group of people; they didn't have any advanced communication device. But they were good at fighting Grimm. They used traditional weapons, and it worked just fine. I tagged along with their route all the way until they reached the city. I'm sorry Yang, I couldn't run off on my own because the desert was…dangerous."
"Yeah, I get it."
"It was around two days ago when I reached the city. I immediately contacted the Huntsmen Union branch there but they didn't recognize me. They took a whole day to run identification and got all the necessary documents processed before granting me access to get back to Atlas."
"But you didn't."
"Yes." Blake took a deep breath, "I…sort of want to try and see if I will bump into you in Secret Base…so I didn't contact you and instead just came here straight."
"And you were lucky to bump into us. The both of us." Yang turned to Weiss who was still processing all these things.
"There was a girl in that tribe who took care of me…she asked me one day that if I believe in destiny. At first I didn't understand her but…now I do."
Team RWBY was destined to meet each other twelve years ago.
They were destined to become friends, to love each other unconditionally and to spend time together.
Until Ruby was involved in that horrible accident.
"I don't." Weiss said as both of them turned to her.
"Weiss?" Blake tilted her head.
"Ruby Rose was the one that brought us together. She formed Team RWBY, she brought us happiness. And with her being in a coma, we were separated. It wasn't destiny; it was her, this precious little gem. It is fine if we have different opinions, but…" Weiss took a deep breath, "I somehow, think that destiny relies on our decisions. If Ruby didn't announce us being friends, we wouldn't be together. If Blake didn't make a decision to come here instead, we wouldn't have been here. It wasn't destiny; it was the crossing outcomes of our decision."
Blake just sighed while smiling and Yang was scratching her head.
"Too deep…"
"Well, forget that." Weiss blushed.
"So, do you have anything else to say, kitten?"
"Yes."
"Spit it."
Blake stood up, cleared her throat and looked at the freezerburn pair.
"I have decided I will fight for what I want. Now that I've got us – Team RWBY back…" She turned to Yang, "The other thing that I really want would be Weiss."
"I beg your pardon?!"
Yang just smirked and raised her eyebrow.
"So, Yang Xiao Long, I, Blake Belladonna, challenge you for a battle to gain Weiss' affection."
Weiss' mouth was ajar; she couldn't quite catch on to them.
What on Remnant were they saying?!
"Challenge accepted, kitten." Yang grinned.
Blake smirked back to her friend.
If only they could do this instead of assuming things nine years ago, they wouldn't have become this injured today.
But their decisions back then brought them here now, and no matter if they regret it or not, it was the past and no one could change it.
Blake smiled; she was glad to be honest with her friends. It felt so light, unlike how she was bottling up everything those years back then. Not only did she hurt herself, but also the people she loved.
She had grown to understand this, and she was sure that Yang was the same.
"Excuse me?!" Weiss squealed.
#
Okay, this took me so long to finish.
First of all, I couldn't quite focus on stuff these few days. I ran into a door, went out of my house forgetting to wear shoes, or opened the fridge when I actually wanted to open the rice cooker beside it.
I have no idea what on Remnant was wrong with me.
But I finished it anyway.
It's back to fluff time. The angst and drama were over now!
Anyway that's it this time. Weiss and Yang's thoughts will be shown in the next few chapters.
I do not own RWBY.
