And just like that, we've broken 7k on the views, and we're up there on nearly 70 followers! If I was gobsmacked before, now I'm just... I don't even know what to say! Thank you all so much for continuing your support! Man, if I went back three weeks and told myself that this story would be what it was today, my response would have been "Bro, you crazy." Seriously. Thank you all.

Just gotta warn you guys, I won't be posting for a bit of time, just because I'm going to go back through the chapters of this book and sort out any errors in there, shift things around a little, but plot-wise nothing will change. It may well be a few days before I update again, but those of you following me will likely be the first to know when I next post. Don't worry guys, I'm not going to be waiting around for long.

That's all from me. Now, on with the chapter!

*Update* Going to start posting again at the first day of April, just taking a little break before we continue!

Vade sat at his computer, the screen the only thing lighting up the dark, purple room. Even the morning sunlight did not enter through the curtains he had drawn. With shadows under the pure red eyes, Vade moved his mouse around the black laptop's screen, stopping occasionally to type something. He had a bored expression on his face, looking seemingly tired for one who'd just slept. One of the black books stood open, next to him, and he glanced at it occasionally before moving his eyes back to the screen.

"Screw you too, buddy. I got something you don't have. Don't be jelly." he muttered to himself. He flicked the scroll wheel of his mouse a couple of times, and his eyes darted left and right for a split second, before he let go of the mouse, gave the screen the finger, before grabbing the mouse again, and pressing resolutely onward with a sigh.

"And... yup, another one." Vade said, this one out loud. "Honestly, what a set of assholes. No wonder-"

The gold band on his wrist started flashing red and vibrating on his arm, interrupting what he'd been about to say. Vade checked its surface, and discovered that the one, thin light upon it was shining red. He stared into it, for a moment transfixed, before his neutral expression turned suddenly angry, his eyes reflecting sudden shock before conforming to their owner's anger.

"Oh, fuck." Vade exclaimed as he slapped a palm to his forehead. "Can't believe I forgot. Goddamn it!" He stood up immediately, kicking the abused chair back under the desk with a creak before striding around it and towards the door.

Once he reached it, he turned around and winked with his left eye, vanishing from the spot.

"Yang, stay calm."

"I'm just going to ask, okay Blake? I swear..."

"Yang, don't. Let them wake up, first."

"I want answers, alright? Just look at them!"

Weiss felt herself slowly stirring from her sleep. She opened her eyes in time to see someone in yellow standing above them. She rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the sleep, and looked again. Yang was staring at them, her eyes flashing between lilac and crimson. A breeze passed over her body, and she shivered. Yang did not look happy.

"Have a nice night, Weiss?" Yang asked, her eyes slipping into a full crimson while she asked, before fluctuating again.

"Yes, actually." Weiss indignantly retorted, then glanced over at Ruby.

Her heart felt like it leaped into her throat as she put two and two together.

The duvet was completely flat. Nothing was covering them. And one of her arms was under Ruby's shirt, currently cradling her back, while the other felt almost... sticky. There was a small pain in her groin. Their legs were entwined, and as Ruby slumbered, Weiss gulped audibly as the full reality of her bleak situation hit her. She'd just been caught in about the worst possible position for explaining their new relationship to Ruby's older sister.

Weiss immediately disentangled herself from Ruby and stood up, unconcerned about her current attire at the moment. She stood, and backed up even as Yang took a step closer towards her. This was definitely not good.

"So, got something to tell me?" the blonde growled, her voice low and tinged with fury. Heart pounding, Weiss tried her best to compose herself.

"I... I" she hesitated, trying to think of what to say. Then, two arms wrapped around her chest from behind, holding her in place. Blake peeked her head out from behind Yang just as she started to struggle, Weiss watching incredulously as the faunus grappled with their strongest team member.

"What are you doing?" Blake yelled at her. "Run!"

Weiss didn't need telling twice. She ran.

"Blake, NOT THE TIME!" Yang yelled.

With the sounds of a struggle behind her, Weiss flew out of the dorm.

Weiss did not stop until she stood outside the clock tower's courtyard, which was a fair distance from the dorms. She'd been so frightened by Yang, she'd even forgotten to take Myrtenaster with her, her scroll, anything at all.

She steadied her breathing as she thought. That was what father had said.

Think first, then act.

Yang was angry for a very reasonable reason. Ruby was still underage, and she was, from what Weiss had seen, the protective pseudo-mother of Ruby for a long time.

So when she found them there, like that...

It was never the best of positions.

And it left them open to every assumption under the moon.

"Found you." came a growl from behind her.

Weiss turned, heart leaping into her throat.

Sure enough, Yang stood there, gauntlets deployed, combat stance ready, flickering flames in her hair. If she was peeved before, now she was truly angry.

"Yang, it's not what it looked like." Weiss tried to explain. "We were already-"

Yang closed the gap swiftly, Weiss defenseless to her advance as she was roughly grabbed by the wrists and pinned against the wall. Rough stone grazed her bare skin as she stared into the glowering eyes of Yang, feeling pure fountains of icy fear running down her back, the face that gave smiles now playing host to a terrifying snarl. Burning heat was radiating off the brawler, searing her skin.

One of her wrists was released, and Weiss felt the smallest sliver of relief clash with her terror, though it was swiftly crushed when Yang drew back a fist, ready to strike her right in the face.

Behind the statue opposite the clock tower, Vade stood, crouched behind it, unseen by the pair.

"Son of a bitch." he cursed, before raising an arm, one of his black books appearing and spinning parallel to his arm, his eyes locked on the fist about to punch Weiss. Behind him, the other book fluttered low to the ground, just under the palm of his other hand.

That punch would not make contact.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

"YANG JUST PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN!" Weiss cried out, her eyes wide with fear of such purity that Vade could have made a precious pearl of it.

The fist swung, and in the same moment, Vade cursed and lowered the book, preparing to spring at Ruby's sister himself, knowing the moment that fist hit, she'd be blown away by him. He prepared to wink, eyes already focused on his destination.

Right next to Yang, and his tome would take the hit directed at Weiss.

She might take a little, but nowhere near what the book would.

A loud crash of stone and rock answered, and he hesitated.

That fist hadn't impacted Weiss' face, as he'd previously thought it would.

Instead, he saw it against the wall, barely inches away from the heiress' visage.

Dumbstruck, Vade watched as the blonde pulled her fist back.

Weiss felt her heart pound as Yang lowered her arm. Her face hadn't changed, though her scream probably did more than she'd hoped for.

"Talk." Yang demanded, releasing her arm and turning away, allowing Weiss to rub her sore wrists and release a breath she never knew she was holding. There was a moment of silence while Weiss gathered her wits.

She would have to choose her words carefully here.

"Listen, Yang, I'm in love with your sister." Weiss confessed, breathing hard even now. "We've been together for just a day. We were going to tell you when you got back, but we didn't expect you to come back so... early."

Nothing.

Dead silence.

Yang didn't even turn around.

"We... we're comfortable with... sleeping together." Weiss pressed on, trying her best to keep her voice steady, a blush appearing on her face as the topic grew slightly more personal. "Ruby really enjoys hugging me, and we can both... move in our sleep." She neglected to mention her sleepwalking. "So that was most likely why you found us like that. But I promise you, I never do anything that she doesn't like."

"How many times have you gone further with her?" Yang asked, her voice calm, though Weiss' fear didn't dim. That kind of voice could mean many things.

"Once." Weiss answered. It really should have been twice, but that would have meant telling Yang about what happened two nights ago.

That would have been a bad idea.

"Are you really in love with her? If I went back right now and asked Ruby that, would she say yes?" Yang queried, turning around. Her expression was mixed, it still showed anger, but her eyes were fluctuating between purple and red. For the first time since being put in this situation, Weiss felt... hope?

"Yes, Yang, you would." Weiss replied, staring back with her strongest gaze. "I am in love with Ruby Rose, and I know she loves me as well. We confessed yesterday, and I would never break her heart. I can't."

There was a long silence. Yang was staring right into Weiss' own, eyes flickering minutely, as if checking for any lie in her eyes. Weiss held firm, crossing her arms and her legs, trying her best to look serious even though she was still in her Atlesian nightie.

Then, Yang broke her stare, and turned her head to the side, before she spoke.

"Then... I'm sorry."

Vade closed his mouth, which had been hanging open, unnoticed by him until just now. He sat against the statue and covered his weary, crimson eyes with a pale hand, still hidden from the two teammates.

Wow.

What he had just witnessed could only have been...

Wait, no.

That wasn't possible.

Was it?

He peeked out from behind the statue in time to see Weiss smirk before swiftly covering her mouth, something completely at odds with what he'd watched prior.

Goddamn.

Laying back, he ran his hands through his hair, thinking hard.

That outcome.

It was not the one he'd expected.

He checked his golden band. The light was now blue, flickering occasionally on and off.

"I'm not needed here." he said to himself. "Back to wack... work!"

Ah, he needed sleep.

Vade took one last look at the retreating figures of Weiss and Yang as they headed back to the dorm room, and then, with a wink, vanished.

Weiss and Yang stepped back through the door to team RWBY's dorm. The heiress was immediately ambushed by Ruby, who came flying from where she was on Weiss' bed, crashing into her and taking them both down with a shriek of surprise from Weiss, leaving her splayed on the floor of the corridor between dorm rooms.

"Weiss! Are you okay? Hurt anywhere? It's all good now! Right?" Ruby babbled at lighting speed, hugging Weiss tight all the while, casting Yang a fearful look, before her eyes fell upon Weiss' wrists, which were grazed, red and sore. "Weiss' hurt!"

"It's all good, Ruby." Yang said with a sigh. "And they're only grazes."

"You still have something to answer for." Blake shot from somewhere out of sight.

"What? I apologized on the way back!" Yang retorted, then a pause. "Oh. Sorry, Blake."

"I'm fine, Ruby." Weiss comforted, patting Ruby on the back as she held her close. Then, an idea sprang to mind. "Let's just say things got a little... fired up?"

It was still a pretty lame pun, but it was an attempt. She heard Ruby snort a little as she rolled off the prone heiress.

"Lame!" Yang yelled from inside the dorm, apparently either reading Weiss' mind, or just being lucky on the comment. Clearly the latter.

But Weiss didn't care. Her main objective had been achieved, and the reward was a sweet little smile on Ruby's face as she stood up and extended a hand, pulling Weiss up to her feet.

"Can we talk? Um, after you've gotten dressed, I mean!" Ruby asked, a small little blush appearing on her face.

What did she want to talk about?

"Sure." Weiss replied, stepping past her and back into the dorm room.

Within the confines of his shop, Vade continued his work on his black laptop.

Multiple books surrounded him now, swirling around his head like an angel's halo even as he worked. He continued to watch the screen, eyes darting back and forth.

"You know, I actually like you." Vade muttered. "At least you understand his intent."

He felt a soft hand on his back, and turned his head slowly, letting the books fall into a neat stack on the side of his desk.

A child, no older than seven, stood before him. Her pale skin reflected the light of the screen even as her silvery hair sparkled in the half light. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and a matching knee-length black skirt, with no shoes on. She was quite short for someone her age, only reaching Vade's shoulder while he was seated in the chair, and her fully navy eyes flickered as she watched him.

"You came back." She spoke, her voice soft and portraying tremendous fragility. Vade reached out and picked her up by the waist, using his leg to pull out a spare chair from under the desk, before seating her on it. "Was the tragedy stopped?"

"It was." Vade replied. "But not by me."

"Not... by you?" she asked, slowly raising a hand and scratching just above her left eye. "What do you mean? Weren't you supposed to?"

"I didn't have to." Vade replied with a small smile. "I let it play out the way it was supposed to. For some reason, I didn't even have to do anything."

"That's good." the girl replied with a smile. "What about the other one you were after?"

"Taken care of. She's another 'x' now." Vade replied. "How is our master?"

He watched as the girl's left eye flashed an electric blue, before she fell against the chair.

"He slumbers still." the girl responded, her voice slow and delicate, as if any gust of wind would tear her to shreds. "But there's times where he fidgets."

"I see." Vade whispered, turning back to the screen. "We're getting further."

"Father." the girl called out. Vade turned his head in time to see her with an imploring expression on her face, her slender arms outstretched, clearly waiting. He turned towards her and reached over, holding her tenderly as he lifted her out of the chair she was sitting on and sat her on his lap. She then twisted around and embraced him, her arms barely able to link together around him, laying her face on his chest. Her grip was feeble, weak.

"Aya. I love you." Vade whispered, as he embraced her in return with only one hand, the other stroking her silver hair, which passed down to the small of her back.

"Father, I'm scared." Aya whispered back. "Is it getting closer?"

"It is." Vade replied. "But this time, it won't happen. Both Master and I will make sure. Don't worry."

Weiss was waiting.

They were back in the same study area in the library, the same place where she'd confessed her love to Ruby, and had been accepted in turn before receiving her own confession. The memory was truly sweet now.

Weiss sat opposite Ruby, and watched as the younger girl fidgeted, a blush on her face. What was wrong?

Finally, Ruby looked up.

"Weiss, we were in that position because..." she took a moment to compose herself, face reddening. "You were sleepwalking again last night. And this time... I..."

Weiss spotted them. There were tears in Ruby's eyes. She didn't hesitate.

Just like Ruby had done, she rounded the table, kneeling down next to Ruby in her chair.

She reached over and wiped off the stray tear that ran down her face.

"What happened, Ruby? Tell me. Please." Weiss implored. It couldn't have been good, if Ruby was crying.

"You... I didn't... Weiss, I'm sorry!" Ruby cried out, before turning away.

Weiss embraced Ruby from behind, stopping her from moving, letting the younger girl expend all of her tears. As she did so, a nagging pain suddenly emerged from her lower regions. She felt it, a sharp sting momentarily emerged before dying down.

She slowly turned Ruby to face her. Her eyes were a little bloodshot, little red zig-zags that showed her sadness in all its purity. Several streams of tears, their emotional origins still a mystery, ran down her little face.

"I hurt you. Down there." Ruby confessed, unable to meet Weiss' eyes.