And we are back with the ninth chapter! Thank you guys for bearing with me while I sorted some things out on my end. You guys broke seventy followers, fifty favorites, and are nearly breaking nine thousand on the view count! Damn. I... I don't even have any words now, except "Thank you guys, so much."

We're moving onward from here, and things are starting to move once again.

Let's get to it!

Aya pulled back gently, breaking her embrace. Vade met her eyes and gave her a warm smile. She returned with a smile of her own, her navy eyes wavering as they stared into his own two pits of crimson. It was like looking at a guardian spirit, with himself as the mortal it was bound to.

"Father... when we change... it, will we be... safe?" Aya asked, her voice betraying her nervousness.

"The Master will look after us." Vade responded, keeping a soothing voice he knew most would assume impossible from someone like him. "You and I, we're a team. And you know what I always say?"

"The ink of fate... dances across... our pages... writing our wins... spelling our success... and dictating our... demise. I remember... Father." Aya replied. "Will you... tell me what... it means when... we win?"

"Yes, I will." Vade reassured. "I promise."

Suddenly, Aya fell backwards, jolting as her left eye started glowing blue. Vade lunged instantly, catching the frail child and holding her steady as her head lolled back. He could feel heat start to pour out of her, her sweaty skin strangely cold as her mouth hung open, head hanging limply until Vade lifted it up with his other hand. He propped her on his arm, keeping her steady with the other, letting her legs dangle over the other side.

"What are you seeing?" Vade asked quietly, watching as Aya's expression grew steadily more pained. His heart raced, but he forced his parental instincts down. The Master's gift would never harm her. He knew that more than anyone.

"The master... he's... he's got something... for you." Aya whispered, seemingly up at something above them, though Vade knew she was talking to him. "I feel it... but it's for... just you this... time."

A vision? For him?

This had happened once before. Master had had something just for him, in the form of a vision. What he'd seen... was not something for Aya's eyes. No seven year old should ever be subjected to that kind of thing. It was harrowing enough for himself as it was.

"He's waiting..." the navy-eyed girl said, pointedly. Vade smiled at her, and she gave a tiny smile of her own in reply.

He felt the familiar sense of air rushing around him, though it was still in reality. A touch, not on the back of his head, but rather touching his very skull. He laid back, letting Aya fall against his chest as his consciousness slipped, slowly yet dreamily into the arms of his Master. Weightlessness took his body, lifting his mental self up and into the void.

Then, light flashed before his eyes, and dimmed, revealing a nighttime setting.

Ruby relaxed into Weiss' sleeping form, letting her cuddling arms slowly soothe her into sleep.

Her eyes were shut, and her breathing was steady. She could feel the steady rush of air on the arm that Weiss' head was on now, the other around the heiress' waist, their legs intertwined. The floor itself would have been uncomfortable, but with Weiss' fluffy duvet between them and the hard carpet, Ruby found comfort in the makeshift bed.

How funny.

Ruby stifled a soft laugh, which gave way to a yawn.

Two nights ago, probably somewhere close to now, Weiss and her had just been friends. Now, Ruby reckoned that they were much more than that. Definitely much more. But the biggest surprise had definitely been how Weiss was now. Before, when they'd talked, she'd been way different to how she was now. And it was a shocker just how... gentle she could be.

Like mom.

Ruby tightened the embrace as she continued to think.

To her, Weiss was someone just as precious now.

What was it that Yang called it? Idea... no, I... I...

Oh! Ironic! That was it!

It was so ironic. When they'd first met, Ruby would have probably clubbed the person who said they'd be lovers around the head with her beloved Rose. Weiss had definitely been mean back then, aaannnd when she sneezed and exploded, yeah, maybe she might have deserved it. But... well... now it was different.

Weiss shifted in her sleep, moving her head off Ruby's arm and onto the pillow beside it. Her own arms, which were around her own chest, shifted ever so slightly, Ruby feeling her every motion, the cool touch of her skin as she fidgeted in her sleep.

It felt so right, it was unbelievable.

It was almost weird.

Almost.

"Ruby..." came a whisper. The softness of the voice sent a shiver down Ruby's back as she opened her eyes, turning to see Weiss in precisely the same position as she'd been in before. She propped herself up on an arm, letting go of the heiress as she peered at her lover's face.

Her eyes were shut.

Weiss was definitely asleep.

Had she imagined it?

Then, she saw it.

Weiss' lips moved.

"Ruby..." Weiss whispered, outstretching her arms and wrapping them around Ruby.

Was she sleep talking again?

"Weiss?" Ruby called quietly.

There was a moment of silence, and for a second after, Ruby seriously thought that she imagined that movement, the sound. Weiss did shift in her sleep naturally. This didn't have to be a sleeping epi-

Ruby's breath caught in her throat as Weiss turned her head upwards, her eyes still gently closed. But if her eyes were open, she would have been looking at Ruby for sure, no two ways about it. Again? Was Weiss sleepwalking again?

"You're... so warm..." Weiss mumbled, laying her head against the younger girl's chest. "I don't ever want to let you go."

Wow. What did you even say to that?

"Th-thank you, Weiss." Ruby quietly replied. "I won't ever leave you. We'll be together."

"Forever?" Weiss asked.

"Forever." Ruby responded, without thinking. They would be, right?

"That... makes me so happy." Weiss simpered. "I love you, Ruby."

Was it wrong that Ruby almost preferred this side of Weiss? This soft-spoken, cute, adorable Weiss, who looked and felt so much softer compared to the cool edge that Weiss had normally? That wasn't to say that Ruby disliked that part of her, but it was nice to see her inner self, without any of the defenses she normally put up around herself. It would be something only she would see.

Just for her.

"I can hear your heart beating." Weiss whispered, slowly slipping a hand underneath her head and Ruby's pyjama top, causing the crimsonette to shudder a little at the chill. "Is it me?" It was her. Ruby knew that her heart was racing right now.

Just by being this close to Weiss. It felt almost impossible to take it for granted.

Because it was so special.

Because it was so... just...

Ruby didn't even have the words.

She squeaked as the hand under her shirt moved to her breasts, and Weiss turned her attention to Ruby's hardening nipples, her other hand joining the first under the fabric that covered Ruby, forcing out a little whine from the younger girl.

Again? Was it going to happen again?

Weiss shifted, her head leaving Ruby's chest, moving until she was completely buried under the duvet, the only thing Ruby felt being the ministrations of the hands currently playing with her breasts, teasing her nipples, the occasional pinch accompanied by a sharp breath by Ruby.

Was she going to... let Weiss do it again?

"I can feel it." the sleeping heiress muttered from under the covers. "You're hot again, aren't you?"

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't. Ruby wasn't even sure what it was. She felt her need... down there, again. Whenever Weiss played with her... whenever she was just near Weiss... it would start up again. Again and again, this want for... it. It was so strong!

"I can smell it." Ruby heard from below, as the hands around her mounds left, migrating slowly down her body, until they met the waistline of her trouser bottoms. With no resistance, she felt her bottoms slide off her legs. "I can hear it." Ruby felt lips on her inner thigh, leaving a trail of kisses moving upward, towards her flower. Just before they reached her flower, Weiss ceased teasingly, and repeated it with Ruby's other leg, the heiress' hands caressing her muscles. "I can tell."

It felt good.

Then, Ruby felt a kiss right on the petals of her flower. She bucked a little, the motions completely unexpected.

"I can taste it." Weiss whispered.

Wait.

She was going to-

Ah!

Weiss had pressed her lips to Ruby's entrance. Her tongue darted out from her mouth, dancing across Ruby's walls like an ice skater on a rink, while her hands held Ruby's legs at bay when she tried to close them, the level of strength Weiss held in her sleep startling the younger girl as much as the sensation of being touched like this. It tickled, but at the same time, it felt good.

Small groans of pleasure were emanating from Ruby now, as she laid there, eyes unfocused, purely concentrating on her lover's tongue.

Weiss moaned into Ruby's slit, the vibrations causing the girl to shudder. She could hear it again, and looked down at Weiss, only seeing her slim behind and the top of her head. A hand was back there, and it didn't take much guesswork to realize what Weiss was doing. She threw her head back as Weiss found her sensitive spot, pressing herself into Weiss face, trying to convey through her moans as to how good it was feeling.

"K-keep doing that, Weiss, I- ah!" Ruby moaned, feeling Weiss speed up her tongue's dance upon her entrance. She was rocking now, almost like she was impaled on Weiss tongue, riding it like she would a dick. Weiss' pleasure sounds were now coursing through her body, and at each peak, Ruby would feel... it coming.

Not far now.

"Weiss... I-I'm close!" Ruby stumbled over her words in her pleasure addled state. She looked down at her lover just in time to see her own hand speed up in response, the ferocity of her assault on Ruby's sex increasing all the while. All the wetness in Ruby's body felt like it was rushing towards a single spot, closer, closer, until-

She came, her nectar spraying right into Weiss' mouth, Ruby pushing as much out of her as she could, determined to show Weiss how good it was. Again and again she spasmed, jetting it right into Weiss' throat, until at last, she stopped, and Weiss pulled away, coughing lightly, though she was licking her lips.

"So sweet... Just like you." Weiss murmured, before letting out a gasp. Ruby slowly turned herself around, in time to see that she was still working her own petals with her hand, the act now visible to her as Weiss was kneeling. Ruby slowly got to her knees, a plan in mind.

She pushed Weiss over, the heiress gasping in surprise as Ruby pulled her hand away, and then inserted her own finger.

She would finish her lover off.

Ruby pumped her hand in and out, just as aggressively as Weiss had been licking her. The cute little 'ah!' from Weiss as she hit that spot, her groans of pleasure, all of it was music to Ruby's ears. She was pistoning so hard, she was hitting a wall inside of the heiress, but the slicked tunnel did nothing to stop her advances, rather it felt like Weiss' body was trying to drive her deeper.

Then Weiss came, the sticky stuff she shot out covering Ruby's hand. The crimsonette pushed her hand into the deepest part, letting Weiss ride out her orgasm, before curling her finger and quickly pulling it out.

There was a tugging feeling.

Then Weiss hissed in-between moans as Ruby withdrew her hand.

What was that hiss that Weiss just did? Was it good?

She looked down at the finger Weiss had covered with her sticky juices.

There was spatters of red here and there, but it was...

It was...

Blood.

As the vision faded, Vade felt his consciousness slowly slip back into his body. His daughter's eyes lit up when she noticed him start to move, and watched as he shook himself a little, getting the blood pumping once more through his body. The light of his eye that he could see reflected in Aya's gradually died down, until it no longer lit her face. She sat, cross-legged, on his lap, awaiting his awakening.

Wow.

Just... wow.

"Father?" Aya called out. "Are you... okay?"

"I'm fine." Vade replied, patting her on the head. She smiled and closed her eyes, bowing her head forward, wanting more. Instead, Vade pulled her into another hug, which she happily snuggled into. Her silver haired head rested on his chest as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, tender as only his own daughter would have been in her love. She wiggled a little to get in a better position, the motions shifting...

"Please don't wiggle like that." Vade requested softly.

"Why?" Aya asked, ceasing her motions.

"It's dangerous." Vade simply replied. Aya, trusting his word, did not do it again, but rather remained there, simply enjoying his love.

"What... now?" Aya asked.

Vade thought about it. Clearly, Master was unhappy about the current state of events, though whether or not that particular occurrence was due to his own meddling, that of his master, or simply a natural course of events following Ruby and Weiss' pairing, remained to be seen. Though, he'd already put strain on that last by his appearance, though that had been necessary.

What now, though?

"We wait." Vade replied. "We keep an eye out. We play with things only if things get really bad, or if they come to us. That's what we'll do. Which means..." he watched his daughter look up and tilt her head in confusion, just like he did sometimes, "we get to have some fun time." Her expression lit up, giving him the wide smile of happiness he knew any parent sought. She let go of him. "So, what do you want to do? We need to stay here for a couple of hours, but after that, we can go outside if you want."

"I have... an idea..." Aya responded. "Why don't... you and I... visit the park... again?"

"That could work." Vade agreed.

"It's a beautiful day outside." Aya said, tilting her head, and Vade knew what she wanted to hear.

"Birds are singing, flowers are blooming."

"On days like this..."

"People like us..."

"Should be having fun." Vade and Aya recited together, giving each other a light-hearted smile.