Haha oops I took far, far too long. Exams are not pretty, and they are almost finished, and I am a ruined man with far too little time, far too much to study, and far too many video games to distract me. Nevertheless, I present this as my parting gift, from me to you, before I kill myself in an exam hall because I am trash like that.

Kidding. I still have one or two more chapter to give you. And many, many more stories after that. I can't die yet! On a serious note, I do apologize for this taking as long as it did. But I hope you still enjoy it for what it's worth.

"Hi," Sun said, leaning down slightly to give Blake a peck on the cheek. Blake smiled, allowing herself to be wrapped in his quick embrace. "How is she?" Sun asked as he settled himself back behind the counter. Blake didn't meet his eyes for a while, biting her bottom lip and shrugging slightly.

"She's fine. Getting better, actually. Doctors said she's going to start physiotherapy soon," she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, cleared her throat slightly before crossing her arms. "They said it might be helpful for us to be around for that."

A short silence reigned over the bookshop for a moment. A quick minute, maybe. Or maybe it was an eternity. Or maybe it was a normal amount of silence, and Blake's mind was just running, running altogether too loud and too fast. Sun's gaze never left hers, and Blake couldn't help but feel something like pity. Something like sympathy. For the blonde standing across her. Blake was aware, dimly, that she was being a very bad girlfriend, in the worst possible sense of that term.

Her presence in the past few weeks had been scarce. She'd mostly filled her hours at the hospital. Maybe she'd seen less of her boyfriend than she had meant to. Blake had justified it with the fact that Yang- Yang was alive and in the hospital. It was nothing short of a miracle, something Blake was immensely, absolutely grateful for. Her days had brightened considerably, getting back to the place she had come to recognize as normal, the place where she had long admitted was her home. More than any other place had felt before. And so she had all but abandoned Sun the moment she had found home.

Sun was acutely aware of this.

Sun was acutely aware of Blake, and he had a feeling he understood her better than she understood herself.

Truthfully, Sun knew. Sun knew somewhere inside, about the all encompassing truth that was Blake and Yang's love for each other. It had taken him a little while, but to his eternal credit, he had still gotten it faster than either of them had. Ever since that night, during the party. He had had his sneaking little suspicions (Sun was more perceptive than people ever gave him credit for) here and there. He would catch secret glances, unknowing touches, knowing touches. He'd never mentioned it, never even thought about it much.

Then the bottle had landed on Yang, and had Pyrrha had given her the dare she had asked for, and two wires connected in his mind, and electricity raced all around, all inside him. If he wanted to, he could have stopped it. It would have been well in his rights to do so. They were, after all, dating. And it wasn't like he would have cared if anybody had called him a prude or anything had he been uncomfortable with his girlfriend kissing somebody else. He could have stopped it.

But he didn't because he wanted to see where it went. Sun Wukong rolled the dice, and he had hoped it would have landed in his favour. Life hadn't been particularly kind to him before, but maybe this one time...

But it wasn't like him to let something get him down for long. Orphanages and foster homes and streets and everybody, every person he'd met, and here Sun was still, and he prided himself on his happiness, on his normalcy despite everything. Blake was an added bonus, something he'd never thought he would ever get the chance to wish for, let alone meet. And he was right, the first time, when she had rejected him. He'd taken it in stride because some small part of him thought that he was being greedy, asking for more. More than being just friends with Blake. More than what life had allowed him.

Back on up, Sun Wukong went. Now he was back to where he began, and he looked on at Blake and he could only imagine how much she loved Yang. He didn't know if he could. But there was a feeling, in the back of his mind, a little shard embedded in his heart, a small voice, that told him: theirs was a love he couldn't ever compare with. What he saw only served to back that up.

So Sun knew what he had to do. And he had made his mind up without a second thought, without a shadow of a doubt.

"Blake," Sun stood up straight, then after a moment's reconsideration, swung himself over the counter, so that the both of them were face to face. "I get it."

Blake's expression shifted, from one of mild curiosity to concern. Sun could only imagine what she was thinking. "What do you mean, Sun?"

Sun bit his lip. "Maybe that came out bad," he leaned against the counter, a thoughtful expression on his face. Blake was utterly confused, with the first hints of guilt beginning to seep into her gut.

"I- I understand, Blake," Sun carefully metered out. "Jeez, how do I say it?"

Sun looked at Blake, and saw the mess of emotions that threatened to spill out of that thin veneer of something like stoicism. He could only imagine what she was thinking. He could only imagine how she would react. But it was the truth, it was something that needed to happen, and Sun knew there was no getting out of that. It was for the best. Really it was. And he meant that not in the way that people did when they realized that the relationship that they were in diminished them, because of course any other alternative to that would be for the best.

He meant that Yang and Blake were a force of nature, an eventuality, an inescapable truth, and he knew more than anything that of course, of course they were meant to be together. And he wouldn't deny that. And he wouldn't deny them that.

"You love her," Sun nodded once. "I mean, obviously, right?" he scoffed. "And I'm sure- I'm really really sure she loves you too."

Blake stood rooted to the spot, completely silent. Sun took that as his cue to continue. He cleared his throat a little bit. His only mercy would be to get this over as quickly as possible. Like a band-aid, they always said. Sun sighed mentally.

"I really hope you know what I mean when I say you guys love each other. What am I talking about? 'Course you do. You're all smart and stuff, Blake. Smart and pretty and funny- you're the complete package!" Sun laughed a little bit, like it was a small joke he made to himself. "Which is why I really want you guys to be with each other. Which means that you can't be with me. Which means that we have to break up. Which means that we are. Breaking up," Sun smoothed down his hair, biting his lip again.

Blake hadn't said anything and her face was as imperceptible as ever. Sun supposed he took that as a good sign. It wasn't absolute, vehement rejection of the idea. It was Blake's careful consideration of what Sun had said.

"I'm sorry," was what Blake finally said, and Sun knew she meant it. How could she not?

Sun nodded with a sage little smile on his face. He extended his arms, and brought Blake in to rest against his chest. "'sokay," Sun sighed, rubbing her back. "We're- we can still be friends right?"

Blake pulled away to look at him, something like a perplexed expression on her face. Sun almost shook his head. Maybe she couldn't understand that yes, Sun did in fact understand. Maybe she was just really, really grateful and this was her funny little way of showing it. She opened and closed her mouth several times.

"Is that a yes...?"

Blake opened and closed her mouth several times again.

God, she hadn't expected him to make this so easy on her.

Blake really didn't know how to feel. So she started laughing. A small giggle that bubbled out of her, that started turning into deep, throaty laughs. And then she started crying. And hugging Sun tightly.

"I get it," Sun shrugged as she rocked against him in laughter.

Yang munched on the apple slice. The sun was up, and her blankets were comfortably adjusted just so. Her legs weren't yet fully functioning, but the doctor had seen fit to discharge Yang from the hospital. She just needed to keep up with her physical therapy 3 times a week. All things considered, it wasn't a horrible deal. It could have been worse. Yang pondered for a moment. She didn't have any actual idea how much worse her injuries could have been. Maybe it was okay, maybe she had gotten the short end of the stick. She chewed slowly as she gingerly tried to piece together any sort of valuable information from her memories.

Gunpowder. Gunshots. Pain. Flashes of light. Uncle Qrow.

Uncle Qrow.

As in, Uncle Qrow was in the room. Right in front of her.

Oh.

"Hey, kid," he said in that casual tone of voice he had, hands in his pockets and back hunched and all. His hair was a bit more disheveled than usual, strands hanging down loose over his forehead, and his clothes were a bit more unkempt than usual. But he looked no worse for wear. "How are you doing?"

Yang swallowed her apple slice. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. He smiled in a way that didn't really meet his eyes. Mourning, or rueful if anything. Qrow sauntered over beside Yang's bed, sliding out a chair and taking a seat beside her.

"I'll bet," he sighed, taking in her appearance. His eyes traveled over the bandages around her head and limbs, grimacing slightly as he eyed each one. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

Yang shook her head. "Not a thing," she met his eyes. Cold violet against dull red.

"And you know why."

"I know why?"

Yang cast her eyes downwards, racking her mind again. How could she know why? She couldn't remember anything after she had met Qrow at his apartment-

Oh.

She met his eyes again.

"I know why."

Qrow nodded, satisfied but solemn. "Okay," his fingers twitched a little as he fidgeted them in his lap. Yang quirked a brow at him. "I'm sorry," he finally said after a pregnant pause. "I'm sorry this happened to you. It shouldn't have. I'm your uncle, I'm supposed to take care of you."

"You did," Yang said, and Qrow looked at her quizzically. "Remember?"

Qrow froze, before a smile cracked on his face. "I guess I did."

"I'm fine, Uncle Qrow. I'll be fine. I've got Ruby and everybody looking after me."

"Yeah, well. It'd probably take that many people to make sure you're not going to go off and try take on any more mob bosses, get yourself killed next time," Qrow stood up, a grin on his face matching the one on Yang's. He leaned forward and wrapped his niece in a brief, tender hug. "I gotta go. See you around, kid."

"See you around, Uncle Qrow."

He disappeared out of the room, and Yang took another bite of her apple slice, now a little more content and thoughtful than she was before. The sun was up, and her blankets were adjusted comfortably so. Her legs weren't yet fully functioning, but it could have been a lot worse. She neatly folded and compartmentalized those thoughts away, to revisit for another time. Blake was coming by soon. She smiled, finishing off her apple slice. Memory was a funny thing.

Weiss drummed her fingers on the steering wheel once, and made a little sound in the back of her throat that betrayed her impatience. It had been a while, they had to be out any minute now...

She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel again, biting the inside of her cheek. She counted the seconds in her head, waiting to see the flash of yellow and black from the glass pane exit out the automatic doors.

Weiss was a busy woman. She was the owner of her own company after all. Consequently this meant that she had seen Yang the least amount of times over the past weeks she had been in the hospital. Even less so the past week, what with the new spring themed calendar around the corner, amongst other things. She was just grateful that her job hadn't required her to travel internationally, as she recalled her father and sister having done so much in her youth, leaving her lonely and forlorn. She couldn't imagine leaving her friends for more than a few days, though she would never easily admit it, she would miss them too much.

Case in point, her increased drumming against the steering wheel as she waited, antsy, for Blake and Yang to come out.

"Impatient, much?" Ruby asked from the passenger seat, wrapping her own hand around Weiss'. A simple gesture that could still make her heart hammer in her chest. She worried her bottom lip as she looked over to the younger girl, who was grinning wildly. Weiss blew out a breath, shutting her eyes and calming her racing mind. Ruby brushed her hand against her forehead, tracing her hand down to her shoulder, squeezing slightly in an attempt to soothe her. "They'll be out soon."

Weiss nodded, a little more than adorably, and it took a huge chunk of Ruby's willpower to not lean over and kiss her right then and there. She was sure Weiss didn't want to look all disheveled in front of Blake and Yang. Especially Yang. Though now, thinking about it, Ruby wouldn't exactly mind Weiss like that. She was sure Weiss could put up with the teasing from Yang for a little while. Besides, they were just killing time, right?

Wait no, stop. Bad Ruby, she mentally scolded herself. She cleared her throat slightly and looked at a point above Weiss' head, trying to keep her thoughts strictly PG.

Well, PG-13 was still PG...

Weiss snapped her fingers, pulling Ruby out of her reverie. Well it didn't exactly help, because Weiss looking at Ruby with an inquisitive, almost incredulous expression like that was actually working for her.

"Seriously, Ruby?" Weiss quirked a brow at her, like she could read her mind. Which, she probably could at this point. Anyway, it didn't take a genius to connect Ruby's daydream face with the way she was glazing over her form with her eyes. Weiss knew where her mind tended to wander. She pushed down a blush threatening to creep up on her, instead fixing a glare on Ruby, who cleared her throat once more, and looked out her window guiltily.

"Just... thinking about what we're doing later!" Ruby replied breezily, innocently. Weiss rolled her eyes. Ruby smiled then, looking at her, biting her bottom lip, and speaking in a lower voice, in her best impression of a sultry voice, "Your room or mine?"

It was a pretty damn good impression, Weiss thought, swallowing hard. Ruby mentally cheered for herself. Blush City, Population: Adorable Weiss.

"Oh look, it's Blake and Yang," Weiss cleared her throat this time, pointedly focusing on the pair exiting the double doors of the hospital, with Blake happily wheeling Yang in a wheelchair.

"Oh look, it's Blake and Yang," Ruby repeated innocently, a wild smile on her face as she watched Weiss squirm, Ruby having invaded her thoughts. She'd always found it a treat to tease Weiss, but she never could have imagined the amount of fun it would be once they were dating; especially when Weiss was so easy to make blush. Oh, Weiss was plenty fun for Ruby in more ways than one.

"Ruby," Weiss said in a warning, high-pitched tone, as she tried to compose herself with the dirty, horrible thoughts running through her head.

"Hey you guys!" Yang called out from outside the car, waving. Weiss shot a dirty look at Ruby before exiting the vehicle, leaning down (much more naturally this time!) into Yang's outstretched arms. "It's been a while, Ice Queen," Yang smiled toothily, her eyes darting from Weiss to Ruby. The royalty in question hadn't noticed this yet.

She huffed, smiling a little. "Well, some of us have jobs to do instead of lazing around in bed all day."

"Ouch," Yang placed a hand on her chest, mock affronted. "Is that what you think I do all day? Well, maybe I should ask Ruby about how much time you spend in bed?"

Yang waggled her eyebrows as every blood vessel in Weiss' brain broke and her face went as crimson as it would go. She stood still for a little while, before her brain sputtered back into gear. Weiss snatched the duffel bag on Yang's lap, walking briskly to the back of the car, opening up the trunk to stuff it inside as she fumed silently. The Rose-Xiao Long family would be the death of her- this she swore. Weiss shut the trunk with a louder thud than was justified, but Weiss couldn't exactly take her frustrations out on the wheelchair-bound girl. Her sister, however, would get what she deserved in due time.

"Ack! Watch the arm!" Yang yelped. Weiss quirked an eyebrow as she witnessed the complicated procedure that was attempting to get Yang Xiao Long into a car seat. Currently, both of her legs were held up by Ruby inside the car, while Blake had her arms hooked under Yang's arms, and they were slowly attempting to shimmy the blonde into a prone position in the back seat. Ruby's strained efforts were heard clearly, while clear beads of sweat dotted Blake's forehead as they tried their best to hold the heavier girl up.

"Yang- why- are- you- so... heavy?!" Ruby grunted as she tugged at the limp girl's leg, much to her distress.

"Ow, ow, ow, careful with the le- What do you mean I'm heavy?!" Yang flailed her uninjured arm about to get a good smack in on her younger sister, but all it served to do was throw Blake off balance, which was a precarious position to be in when you were holding up what was essentially one hundred pounds of stacked muscle, give or take. It felt closer to 200, but honestly what was the difference. All Blake knew was that her shoulders were going to pop right out of their sockets and she absolutely could not drop Yang she was already injured. Then Yang started flailing and Blake's life flashed before her eyes. They were going to die. All of them. Right then and there. Oh dear god.

"I mean you are like a sack of bricks oh my god did you not lose any muscle in the hospital?" Ruby tugged harder, careful to be a bit gentler in her grip with the more injured leg.

"Guys- could we please- oh my god is half of your weight just your boobs?" Blake said in-between gritted teeth.

"Blake, now is not the time to be thinking about my boobs!" Yang pointed a finger right into her cheek. She turned to look at Ruby. "Ruby, put your back into it! Don't be a wimp!"

"I am not a wimp, you're just unreasonably heavy!"

Weiss sighed, finally taking pity on the trio. She placed both hands under Yang's back, and heaved. She coasted through the initial momentum, putting Yang into a sitting position in one fluid motion.

"There," Weiss said simply, nodding in satisfaction as the rest of them, Yang included, looked on in bewilderment. "All of you are... wimps."

Ruby was the first one to break, her giggles coming in and building up like the waves of a high tide. Yang and Blake followed suit, and soon the whole lot of them were laughing like maniacs in the parking lot of a hospital.

Everything felt good again. None of them could have been happier in that moment.

The drive home was animated and filled with conversation. All of them fell back into their easy patterns. All of them fell back into what they knew as normalcy. What they knew was contentment. What they knew was home. For the first time in a while, it truly felt like they were all home.