As soon as Yang stepped out into the courtyard, she was forced to admit to herself that she had no idea where to start looking. If I was a Faunus, not a cat, she corrected herself as the words formed themselves in her head. Where would I be? Her search blurred together into a mix of dimly light faces passing her by, no she was passing them by, and none of them were Blake. Some were talking, some were starwatching, some were engaged in very questionable activities under blankets. Weiss would have told them off, and Yang admitted that the thought crossed her mind more than once. She contented herself with saying "horndogs" in a dismissive manner as she passed them by. "Not like you've got dorms of your own to go to!" she muttered. "Although they might not have the benefit of supportive teammates like I do. I shouldn't judge." She caught a glimpse of black hair and quickened her step. She wasn't really expecting it to be Blake, so she was somewhat surprised when it was.
"Hey." Yang said softly.
Blake turned her head. "Hey." she said in return, following Yang with her eyes as she sat down beside her on the grass and leaned back on her arms to look at the sky like Blake was doing. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked.
"I didn't. Weiss did. That girl sees everything." Yang said, widening her eyes for emphasis.
"Oh." Blake said. "Well, hopefully not everything." Yang's heart skipped a beat, but Blake didn't say anything else.
"Soooo..." Yang said. "You said we should talk later. Does this count as later?"
Blake shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess. I meant like tomorrow, or..." Then she sighed. "No offense, but I came out here to be alone."
Yang's shoulders slumped. "Oh. That's okay. I should've known you'd need some quiet time after everything that's happened."
She sat up, but Blake said, "You didn't let me finish." Yang looked over at her, puzzled. "I came out here to be alone, but when you got here, I realized that it's colder tonight than I thought it'd be." Blake finally met Yang's eyes with her own. "It'd be a shame if you went inside by yourself. We could keep each other warm."
"You mean like the other kids out here?" Yang joked.
Blake flushed. "No. I meant like this." She took Yang's hand in hers. Yang thought she would die. She pulled Yang down beside her on the grass and together they lay, watching the stars.
Play it cool Yang, she thought to herself. Pretty girl's holding your hand. It's fine. Friends hold hands all the time. She has really nice hands though. Really soft. Does she moisturize?
Blake laughed all of a sudden. Yang knew she was in trouble. "I don't moisturize. I use my tongue." She waggled her eyebrows, and Yang buried her face in her scarf. "I'm glad you think I'm pretty though." Blake added.
"Did I really say that out loud?" Yang mumbled. Blake nodded, smiling. "This is so not my day."
"Maybe this'll make it better." Blake said. She pulled the scarf down and pressed her mouth to Yang's, causing something like a bolt of electricity to shoot through both of them. Yang pulled Blake closer by the front of her vest and kissed her back hard. Blake in turn tangled her fingers in Yang's hair before she realized what she was doing and tried to withdraw.
Yang broke the kiss and grabbed Blake by the wrist. "Don't." she breathed. "It feels good."
Trying not to show how badly that first word had frightened her, Blake hesitatingly twirled a lock of her brilliant blonde hair around a finger. Yang hummed with satisfaction, making Blake's ears tingle. "You like that huh?" Blake chuckled.
"Yeah." Yang said. "I think it's like you and your ears."
"One way to find out." Blake pushed her head into Yang's hand. She wiggled her ears to clue her partner in.
It was Yang's turn to chuckle. "That may be the cutest thing I've ever seen." she said, and rubbed Blake's ears gently. Blake's eyes closed almost immediately.
"Just so you know, I'm trying really hard not to purr." she muttered.
Yang laughed out loud at that. "You don't have to." she said. "It's just us, right?" Her gaze drifted to the star-spattered sky and she repeated the words, "It's just us."
"I had a dream last night." Yang said after a while, surprising both of them. "It was about my mother." Blake looked up at her. She knew what a big deal Yang's mother was for her. "I haven't told anyone else this, but...I think I saw her yesterday. I think she saved me from that pink-haired hellspawn."
"What? How?" Blake asked.
"I don't know." Yang said. "I was lying on my back, I was...ready to die-" Blake reached for Yang's hand and squeezed it hard. "-but then I heard some noises, and the next thing I knew the little girl was gone, and I saw someone red and black disappearing into a portal. It's been years, but I remember what she looked like. It was definitely Raven."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Blake whispered.
Yang shrugged. "We all had our jobs to do. I was just worried about Ruby, and you and Weiss and Zwei too, but mostly Ruby. I don't know how she'd be able to cope if I..."
Blake waited. She could tell it was more important to listen than to be heard right now. Eventually Yang spoke again. "In the dream she looked proud of me. Said we had a lot to talk about. I don't remember if anything else happened, but when I woke up, somehow I knew it wasn't real. I don't think the real her is capable of being proud of me. Especially not after that 'fight' in the train car." Tears were welling in Yang's eyes now. Blake was fighting back tears of her own. "That's twice she's left, w-without a w-word..." Yang tried to say something else but her voice was choked off by a sudden sob. Blake hugged her as hard as she could with her free arm as she started crying in earnest. "What did I do?" she asked over and over. "Why doesn't she want me?"
"It's not your fault." Blake said. "I just don't think she was a good person."
"But I'm her daughter!"
Blake couldn't think of anything to say to that. She just held Yang as close as she could and hoped it would be enough. Yang cried in her arms for a good five minutes before she stopped, taking deep shuddering breaths to try and calm herself. "I'm okay." she managed to say.
"Are you sure?" Blake asked.
"Yeah. Not like okay okay, but okay for now."
"What does that mean?"
"It doesn't matter." Yang said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's late. Weiss and Ruby are probably wondering what's taking us so long."
"Yang..." Yang looked at her. "I'm here for you."
"Thanks Blake." Yang gave her a hug. "You're the best." She let go sooner than Blake thought she would. "One more kiss before we go? I mean, if that's a thing we're going to be doing..." She scuffed her shoe on the ground the way Blake had in the library. Blake could hardly stand seeing her looking bashful.
She stood up and folded her arms. "What do you think?" she asked playfully.
"I don't know... Yes, maybe?" Yang said. Blake just looked at her. "Is that a yes?"
Blake sighed. She put a hand on the other girl's waist and drew her close. "Of course it is." she murmured before pushing her lips against Yang's.
"You know," Yang said after the kiss had ended. "The fact that you're a Faunus gives petting a whole new meaning."
Blake flushed scarlet. "You have a filthy mind." she scolded her.
Yang just laughed.