Seeing her from behind, broad shoulders and swear rolling down her back, Blake realized just how insanely sexy Yang Xiao Long really was. Sure, they'd been training together almost every day for the last two weeks since Yang was given the okay for light work, but every day Blake felt like she'd won some kind of lottery.

Training with Yang was an experience, to say the least. Sure they'd done their fair share at Beacon, but back then Yang was more about fun and playing around during her workout routine. Not to mention that Yang's workouts back then were far more than Blake ever did. She would be finished while Yang was just starting to get into her weight training.

Now, Yang was a step behind her—trying to gain back the skills she'd lost after five years of being away. It was an entirely new experience. Yang relied her Blake to set the tone and had to fight through each rep.

She worried that Yang might be working herself a little too hard. Not only did they have these sessions, but Yang was with the physical therapist every single day trying to acclimate herself to this new arm. She was getting better and better each day—learning how to maintain control and adapt to all the nuances of having a limb that could burst through walls like they were made of wet paper towels.

Still, telling Yang to slow down at this point was as pointless as screaming at the sun to stop rising.

"You want to call it a day?" It didn't hurt to try.

Yang looked over her shoulder at her with that smirk Blake hated (loved). "We've only done two sets." She said before taking a deep breath and lying back down on the bench.

Blake picked up the hefty dumbell and settled it into Yang's waiting left arm. She watched Yang drop the weight to her side before pressing it towards the ceiling. Each time she did, Yang's incredibly defined abs would tighten and flex. Blake forced herself to focus on Yang's movements—she might drop the weight or need help holding it up.

Plus, Blake was pretty sure if she leaned over and licked Yang's stomach she'd probably drop the weight and hurt herself.

As her next set finished, Yang sat up and panted to catch her breath. The mirror of the in front of them was where their eyes met again and Yang pursed her lips. "I wish…I was going with you tomorrow."

"I know," Blake grinned. "You've said that about thirty times."

"It just sucks, you're my workout buddy and its shit being cooped up in this base."

Blake couldn't argue with that. Even though the threat of Pyrrha, who they had all been told about by now, was contained—she had warned them all that Ruby was still a target and that there were forces coming together to attack. They had no timetable on when those attacks would be, or where, but they were an inevitability if Pyrrha was to be believed.

This had, of course, forced Winter to call General Ironwood and he took immediate action—putting Atlas on high alert and the military presence through the kingdom was stronger than ever.

The rest of Remnant was stepping up as well, not nearly as much as Atlas, but Ironwood had seen the fall of Beacon firsthand, he wasn't about to be caught off guard again.

So regardless of restlessness, this base was still the safest place for them all. Only with Winter's approval and a small strike team in tow, could she make the trek to Vale to finish off the White Fang.

"It's not so bad," Blake watched Yang lay back down and put the weight in her hand again. "You won't find a better gym than this anywhere in the world, and you don't have a pay a lien to use it."

"That's…true!" Yang grunted out with each repetition. When she finished, the weight fell to the floor with an audible thump and she again sat up—sweat trickling down her neck and chest. "Still," she wiped at her forehead with a nearby towel. "I'm gonna miss you."

"It's only a ten-day mission." Blake nudged her with her hip. "I'll be back before you know it."

Yang smiled, but it seemed forced. "I know, it's just been pretty gloomy around here and with Weiss and Qrow handling Ruby and my dad going back to Patch soon I'm gonna be stuck with Jaune."

"I don't think he'll be much company," Blake sat down on the bench next to Yang. "This whole Pyrrha thing is really getting to him."

"Him?" Yang scoffed. "It's getting to all of us—have you gone down to see her?"

Blake nodded. "A few times, she doesn't say much though. Jaune says he reads to her but I tried to talk to her and she just kind of stared into the distance and ignored me."

"Yeah," Yang sighed and took a long drink of her water. "I mean, I know it's Pyrrha in there—she remembers all of us and all that happened to her, but then it's like…there's something inside of her, you know? She's constantly fighting the monster."

"Or the memories of what the monster did." Blake could relate just a little too much to that—it was extremely unsettling. "There's a lot of blood on her hands." Blake said quietly before shaking her head and standing up. "Come on, we need to get through the rest of your workout because I refuse to spend my last day at the base in this place. I promised your sister I'd hang out with her and you've got a checkup in an hour."

"Okay well…it's my cool down so…you know what that means." Yang had a devilish smirk on her face as she rose to her feet and grabbed a mat from the wall.

"Oh no, really?"

"Yep," Yang threw the mat on the ground and laid on it. Blake had a sudden flash to a book of hers set up very much like this. Mat on the floor of the gym, sweaty girl on her back and—

Keep it together, Belladonna.

"How many today?" Blake asked as she knelt down and put her hands on Yang's feet.

A moment later, Yang sat up to face her. "I'll go for five hundred and see what I've got left after that." She winked before lying back down and continuing the pattern.

"I think you'll like this one," Blake gently tossed over a small, hardcover book that Ruby caught with both hands before turning it over and examining it. "It's about dragon hunters."

She enjoyed the small smile on Ruby's lips. "Dragons are neat." She said as she read the description on the back.

After giving up her weapon and taking time off from fighting at all, Ruby had become pretty docile and relaxed—at least on her good days. Blake knew there were still bad days, some of them very bad, but once Ruby had finally admitted that she was dealing with a strong depression, it was easier to help her.

Despite the fact that Blake wanted to spend time with her, this was still kind of her shift to watch over Ruby while the others had things to do. Ruby knew it though and she also knew that Blake was okay being here, so it wasn't hard for either of them.

Plus, Blake had rounded up an entire new stack of books. "There's no dirty stuff in that one either so you can show it to Weiss."

"Good," Ruby shook her head guiltily. "I thought she was going to kill both of us when she found out I had Ninja's in Love."

"To be honest, I didn't think you'd be into that sort of thing."

Ruby scoffed dramatically. "Of course! I'm a sucker for romance and well written…sexy stuff." She barely muttered the offending word and Blake rolled her eyes.

"Smut, Ruby. It's shameless and filthy smut."

"Well," Ruby shrugged. "It's still well written." Blake couldn't argue that. "Besides, I thought Weiss might see it and understand that I'm not an innocent flower and we can…" her face suddenly went red. "So how's your day been?"

"Hold on," Blake cut her off. "Are you…do you want to—" Blake growled, upset that she couldn't come right out and say it. Even for her it was hard to talk about this stuff with Ruby. She wasn't just Yang's little sister, Blake felt that same kind of affection towards her. "You are twenty, Ruby."

"I know!" She shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm twenty years old and I know what my body wants and I know about all that kind of…sexy stuff."

"You can barely say the word." Blake teased and chuckled when Ruby went red again. "You want to sleep with Weiss?"

Her silver eyes went wide and she looked away bashfully. "I—uh—I mean…I've considered it. It's been a dream," she coughed loudly. "I had a dream! I mean…I've thought about it." She sighed with defeat and shook her head. "Is it bad?"

"Not at all," Blake reassured her and stood up to sit on the bed beside her. "I mean, I can't say that when we were back at Beacon and you two would argue well into the night about who didn't put the soap back in it's proper spot I imagined we'd be having this conversation, but there's nothing wrong with you wanting to do that sort of thing with your girlfriend."

"You say that, but Weiss keeps stopping us."

Blake smiled at Ruby's pout. "Maybe she's not ready."

"Maybe but…she's always the one who starts it. We—"Ruby looked away again, clearly embarrassed. "We do this thing where we start kissing and it's great, really great. Then sometimes our shirts come off, poof and they're gone, you know?"

"I'm familiar with the concept." Blake grimaced. "I don't need play by play."

"R—right," She nodded quickly. "Sorry…but it's just that sometimes her hand will slip really low, like super low. I think she's finally going to do it and then she'll just stop. Stop kissing, stop moving and she'll just…lock up, then say she's tired, flip me over and spoon me and it's done."

It was cute to see Ruby so flustered by this conversation but also nice to see the way she spoke of Weiss. Jealousy wasn't the right word for what Blake felt, she wasn't jealous of Weiss and Ruby's relationship just…frustrated that they'd reached this point first.

First? Who are you racing with, Belladonna?

She forced herself to shut those thoughts off. She needed to stop thinking about Yang like that, they were barely getting their partnership—their friendship—back together. Just because she had an unimaginable crush on her didn't mean she needed to risk what they had rebuilt.

"So you think she's babying you?" Blake asked and Ruby's sigh answered her almost immediately.

"I mean…I haven't been the most fun person to be around lately." The tears formed in Ruby's eyes, as they had a lot in the last few days, and she quickly wiped them away.

Ever since Ruby opened up about her depression it had been a common occurrence for her to have little breakdowns. Her whole life was changing and her illness was quickly narrowing her entire world. She'd given up her weapon, her ability to hunt and a lot of her alone time because of it and Blake knew she was struggling.

Reaching out, she touched Ruby's back and rubbed it up and down. "You can talk to me, Ruby. I won't judge you, you know that."

"I know," she nodded and rested the book she was holding in her lap. "I just worry that she might…be having second thoughts."

"Ruby, Weiss cares about you a lot. She would move mountains for you—and with her money, she probably could."

Ruby chuckled but it was clear she still had doubts. "I know and…I feel the same way." She chewed on her bottom lip. "I'm just scared that I'm not the person she thought she was getting; you know?" Her voice broke and Blake scooted a little closer. Every interaction like this she had with Ruby, as few and far between as they were, she tried to do everything she thought Yang would do.

"You're still you, Ruby. You're just a little bit—" she hunted for the right word.

Unfortunately, Ruby spoke up first. "Broken?"

"Sad," Blake corrected with a smile and Ruby lowered her head again. "Ruby you're not broken. You're dealing and I know how that goes. I've dealt with a lot of the same things you do and some days it feels like there's absolutely no point in even trying. The hill seems too big to climb and you'd rather lay down and give up but you haven't yet. You're here, you gave up your weapon and agreed to the therapy sessions. You're talking to me now, talking about wanting to move forward with Weiss. It might feel like you're lost but you're doing really well and you need to know how proud all of us are of you. You are still fighting, Ruby." Blake patted her back. "It's just a different battle than the ones you're used to."

With a sniffle, Ruby wiped her eyes and nodded before turning up to give Blake a watery smile. "Thanks."

"Any time," Blake felt Ruby's arms go around her neck and quickly returned the hug. "You still need to talk to your girlfriend though."

Ruby stilled against her. "Ugh," she groaned and drew back. "Can I just kiss her instead?"

"No, you need to tell her how you feel." As the words came out, Blake realized how silly it was for her to tell Ruby something and not practice it herself. "Life's too fragile to be afraid." Her grin turned into a devious smirk. "Plus I think Weiss' reaction will be priceless when you tell her you want to have sex with her."

If Weiss' reaction wasn't priceless, Ruby's was. She went all red again and clearly still had trouble hearing or saying that word. The thought of her trying to do the actual act was both terrifying and comical.

"You think I should ask her like Carter asked Abigail in Ninja's in Love?"

"I don't think you have the right…uh…equipment to ask Weiss the way Carter asked Abigail."

Ruby let out a hearty laugh and nodded. "Good point—the dialogue in those books can be so bad sometimes."

Blake quirked her eyebrow and went into character. "Come now, Ruby. You don't want to plunder Weiss' depths and see what treasure she's hidden for so long from the rest of the world, meant only for you and your glorious staff?"

"Oh my," Ruby didn't miss a beat, matching Blake's mimicking tone. "I wasn't prepared for it to be so big. I'll need a few moments to prepare myself for all that glorious co—"

A cough in the doorway stopped Ruby mid sentence and they both turned to see Weiss standing with her eyes wide in horror and face red as Ruby's cloak.

"R—Ru—Ruby your—" Weiss stammered, then cleared her throat to compose herself. "Your father wants to see you. I told him I'd find you."

Blake turned to Ruby who gave her a desperate look—but Blake only shrugged. If Weiss had heard enough, it might be the starting point for the conversation those two needed to have.

"Okay," Ruby stood up with her hands behind her back, clearly embarrassed of what Weiss might have heard. Still, she walked over and placed a soft kiss on Weiss' cheek which instantly made her partner flush. Weiss wiped away her reaction almost immediately and dragged Ruby out the door.

Just as she was about to leave, her scroll started to go off. Blake quickly retrieved it from her pocket and gasped when she saw face pop up on the screen.

"Sun?"

"She lives! Blake Belladonna you are really bad at this keeping in touch thing."

Blake couldn't help but smile, Sun knew her better than just about anyone. "I know, I'm sorry. Things have been really crazy here."

"In Patch? Isn't it like…pretty docile?"

"You mean boring?" She asked as she left the room and slowly sauntered down the hallway. "I'm not in Patch anymore. Actually, I'm in Atlas." She didn't see the need to hide anything from him. Blake didn't trust many people, but Sun was one of them. He'd earned it.

"What are you doing there? Is Yang with you?"

She found an empty guard bench and sat down on it. "The whole team actually. We came here because Ruby was attacked and Weiss was with her. Speaking of, they're a couple now."

"Wait…the frigid Schnee is dating Ruby?"

Blake chuckled at his tone of disbelief. "In love with her, as a matter of fact."

"Wow…I…wow. I didn't know she had it in her." Sun lingered in silence on the other end for a moment. "So…we?"

"What?"

"You said we came to Atlas."

"Oh…" Blake was ready for the impending prodding. "Yang and I, along with her father when we heard Ruby was here."

She swore she could hear him smirking across the line. "So you and Yang…you've…reconciled?"

Hearing the words from someone else felt good, they made her heart beat a little faster. "We have—we're good."

"Good," Sun said matter-of-factly and she heard him shout away from the speaker. "They made up! They're good!"

"Sun! Who are you—"

"Neptune says it's about time." He laughed and she rolled her eyes. "I'm happy for you, Blake. You've come a long way from sleeping on my couch."

His tone grew a bit more serious and every damn time he did that he made her eyes water. "I know…I'll never be able to repay you enough for giving me a place to stay."

"You don't have to, Blake. Come on, we're friends and Neptune likes you more than he likes me I think. You know we've always got your back."

Suddenly, her mind was racing. "How far does that offer go?" She asked and rose to her feet.

"What?"

"You know how you told me to call you if I ever had a fight and needed some backup?"

"Oh man, please tell me you have a fight. Blake I am bored out of my mind and could use a really good fight."

She winced. "Well, you might not be as excited if I tell you it's in Vale."

"I like Vale."

"And…against the White Fang."

"Again?!"

"Yes!" Blake shouted and then looked around to make sure no one heard her. "But it's different this time. I'm going with Weiss' sister and some military backup, we're going to take them down for good and…maybe try and salvage what's left."

She was met with silence. Blake tapped her fingers along the bench and waited for his response. Just as she was about to give up and say something else, he spoke.

"When do you leave?"

That was not the response she expected. "Tomorrow morning."

"Okay," She could hear him moving around on the other end. "Is Yang going with you?"

Blake sighed. "No, unfortunately her recovery isn't ready for her to go out on anything this risky. Plus, Ruby needs her here. She's upset she can't go but it's for the better.

"Okay," again he seemed to be in another world. "Okay, we can work with that."

"What?"

He laughed. "Come on, Blake. You're going into White Fang territory with the Atleasian military at your back. You need a friendly face to keep an eye out for you."

"Sun, I can't—you can't! It's dangerous!"

"It's always dangerous! This is what we signed up for, isn't it?"

She groaned, all of her friends were far too eager to throw themselves into danger. "Sun, it's not like before. It's not us and our friends jumping into fights blindly. This is a military operation. With Winter Schnee, who I am guessing is not a fan of surprises."

"So then tell her I'm meeting you guys there!"

Blake could only hope he sensed the glare she was sending him. "You're putting that on me?!"

"You're the one worrying about it."

"Sun," she growled and rose from the bench to pace furiously back and forth. "I'll be fine."

"I bet Yang would feel better if I was there." He said and she knew he was trying to antagonize her.

It was working. "Sun…"

She tried but he stopped her. "Look Blake, I am bored out of my mind up here and honestly it seems like this could be dangerous given your ties to the White Fang. Just…let me tag along. I can be there tomorrow afternoon and meet you when your ship arrives."

As much as she wanted to tell him she could handle this on her own, and she could, it would be nice to see him again. "Fine—but how are you even going to get there?"

She could hear the smirk in his voice. "I'm sure I'll find some place to stow away."

That was the moment Blake realized that all of her friends were insufferable.

The sound of an opening door woke Blake up. She laid still for a moment, basking in the comfort and smell of the bed and not wanting the day to come. She thought for a moment that the door might have been one of the others in the barracks, which would mean she could fall back asleep.

Just as she was about to pull the blankets over her just a little bit more, a voice called out.

"Oh," that was when Blake realized what bed she was in.

Sitting up, she took in the sight of Yang standing in the doorway, hair a mess and wearing a white tank top, black shorts and her boots. She looked a little worse for the wear but was smiling at the sight in front of her.

"Hey," she said as she scratched her neck. "Uh…did I walk into the wrong room?"

Blake wiped the sleep from her eyes and shook her head. "Mmmm no," she purred, literally, and Yang's smile widened. "Not cat jokes," she threatened weakly. "It's early and I can't help it."

"No jokes," Yang raised her hands submissively. Blake marveled at how well she could control her new arm already. "I think it's adorable."

"Uh huh," she let out a yawn and stretched her arms, eliciting a small squeak as her back popped. "You're not in the wrong room, I must have fallen asleep waiting for you last night."

"Oh," Yang moved around the bed and sat down on the small couch. "Yeah sorry about that, I had a few drinks with my uncle—well, he had a few drinks and I hung around. Therapy on a hangover doesn't sound like much fun. Then we got into it with a few guards. By that I mean, he got into it with a few guards, I had to drag him back to his room. It was late and his couch was comfortable so I just fell asleep." She tilted her head at Blake. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

Their eyes met and Blake felt a pool of nervousness build in her stomach. "It's okay, your bed is nice."

"That's because I made them give me a hard mattress. I don't know how Weiss sleeps on those soft ones."

Blake couldn't help herself. "Well I don't know how much sleeping she's been doing lately," she winked and Yang's lip curled.

"Dude, foul play. That's my baby sister." Yang shook her head and covered her eyes.

"She's not a baby anymore, Yang." Blake turned slightly to face her partner on the couch. She waited until Yang looked at her again. "She was asking about some stuff yesterday. Personal stuff…bedroom stuff."

Yang's eyes went wide and Blake swore they were about to go red. She stood up from the couch in a flurry. "I'm going to kill Weiss!"

Quickly, Blake grabbed Yang's arm and stopped her. "No you're not," she laughed at the overreaction. "Your sister is twenty years old and in love. I think it's cute."

"But I—"

"If it makes you feel any better, she's the one pushing for it. Weiss is holding back."

Yang's expression turned from rage to confusion. "What? Why?"

Blake shrugged. "Ruby thinks Weiss is having second thoughts; I think Weiss is just scared."

"Scared of what?" Yang asked with a much softer voice.

Only then did Blake realize she was still holding Yang's wrist. "There's a lot going on—we've all been…hurt and lost things. Falling in love in a time of war is pretty scary."

Suddenly, Yang's arm moved and their hands met. She felt Yang's fingers curl into her own and squeeze. "I wish I could go with you."

Blake smiled and pulled Yang towards her. Yang easily sat down on the bed and cast her head down.

"Me too," she put her other hand on top of Yang's. "I hate to leave, but this is something that I really need to do."

"I know," Yang shook her head and put on her best smile. "I understand and I think it's a good thing. It's just—" her sentence ended with a sigh and Blake frowned.

"Just what?" She pressed, hating to see Yang upset in any way. It didn't feel right. It didn't fit. Yang Xiao Long was meant to smile.

"I just got you back."

Blake thought the wideness of her grin might split her face in half.

Everything about right now was too perfect, too picturesque. The way the soft light danced across Yang's face and how the quiet of the morning made every word they spoke seem more impactful.

This, right here, was her safe place and the only person in the whole world who had ever made her feel truly loved was right in front of her.

Falling in love in a time of war was scary—but it was absolutely worth it.

"Yang," she reached up and touched right under her partner's chin, turning those lilac eyes to find her. Before she could make her own move, Yang leaned into her and their lips met. It surprised her, even if she was about to do the exact same thing. She made a noise of delight that she could never duplicate when they made contact and very quickly settled into the kiss.

Yang's lips were much softer than she'd ever expected and when she felt a hand reach up and touch her cheek, she noted the cool, metal against her cheek and it surprised her.

Unfortunately, her surprise was taken far too out of context and Yang recoiled and pulled away. "Sorry, I—I'm sorry. The arm, I forgot and I shouldn't have just…"

"Yang," Blake stopped her and made a point to grab the prosthetic arm. "This doesn't bother me. The kiss certainly didn't bother me. You just beat me to it."

Yang shook her head, blonde hair swaying from side to side. "It just doesn't look right. Your so beautiful and to touch you with this."

"Don't talk like that, Yang." Blake's voice raised a bit in anger. "This arm has made you so happy in the last few weeks. I've watched you get back into the gym, start training to fight again and work your butt off to gain control of it. Watching your confidence come back and watching you put so much energy into this. It's amazing—this arm is amazing because of how it makes you feel. Seeing you happy again…Yang it's all I care about." To prove her point, she pulled Yang's metal arm up and placed the palm against her cheek. "It's a part of you, and for that reason alone it must be beautiful."

Even with unshed tears in her eyes, Yang smirked. "You're so cheesy."

Blake glowered at her and fought off her own smile. "I'm giving you must best stuff here."

"Romance novel quality?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Yang laughed as a tear slipped by. Blake felt a soft thumb stroke her face. "Can I kiss you again?"

"You better," and she did, this one much quicker and more passionate. Blake tried to match Yang's pace, their lips meeting and tangling was very reminiscent to when they sparred. Yang would attack in a fury and Blake would wait out the assault, strike when she could and constantly be ready to counter.

When they pulled away again, Blake was panting for air and Yang's lips were red. "Kissing you is the best detox ever," Yang said breathlessly. "Who needs liquor when I can get drunk on you."

As Yang went in for another kiss, Blake pulled back and stared at her derisively. "Really? And I'm the cheesy one?"

"Hey I'm just trying to keep up with you."

"Drunk on you," Blake snorted. "That sounds like something Jaune would sing to Weiss."

"Please," a kiss. "Don't," another kiss. "Bring up my sister's girlfriend," this time Yang kissed her jaw. "While I'm making out with you."

Blake felt herself being gently pushed onto her back. When she found purchase on the matters, she looked up at Yang hovering over her. "Oh? Is that what we're doing? Making out?"

Yang had both hands on either side of her, she was stuck, completely unable to run away.

"I have to give you some incentive to come back, don't I?"

It was the best feeling in the world.