Author's Note: Warning: This story contains major spoilers for Volume 9. Go watch Volume 9 first if you intend to read this. Actually, watch Volume 9 even if you don't intend to read this. It's good.
So funny story. Even before Volume 9 started airing, I was planning on writing a "Yang and Blake confess to each other" story. And then…. Well you know what happened. So yeah. This is not the story I originally planned on writing. That story was obliterated by canon, and I couldn't be happier.
As is probably obvious, this story was written shortly after Volume 9 finished airing.
Blake was sitting alone on a hill overlooking the Paper Acre. The light of the giant lantern that stood in for the sun in this strange land was fading fast, creating a surreal approximation of sunset. The dimming light and pastel colors of the surroundings painted Blake's placid expression in magenta hues. It was all very serene and peaceful, a welcome change compared to the rest of the Ever After that Blake had experienced so far.
Team RWBY had arrived in the Paper Acre about an hour ago, and not long after they'd gotten settled in at Jaune's cabin, Blake had decided she needed a bit of time alone. Solitude had always been something she'd valued, especially since it had often been in short supply in her life. But right now it wasn't so much solitude she craved, but the chance to collect herself and her thoughts.
Out of all the monumental things Blake had experienced during her short time in the Ever After, nothing came close to what had happened to her and Yang on that windswept platform that had been conjured into existence by a magical storm. Blake wanted, she needed, a moment of stillness to reaffirm to herself that she and Yang had really said the things they'd said.
Butterflies fluttered in Blake's stomach as she thought about Yang, and words she'd never believed she'd hear echoed in her head.
I think I love you!
I love you too!
Blake abruptly rose to her feet. She'd had her fill of being alone. She started briskly walking toward the village of the Paper Pleasers. She felt like she was being beckoned by some irresistible force, and in a way, she was. Yang was in that village, and Blake needed to find her.
It didn't take long before Blake reentered the village. She marched past rows of paper houses, oblivious to everything except her goal. But then up ahead a Paper Pleaser stepped out onto the same path Blake was walking down and vigorously waved at Blake with their arm.
Blake reluctantly came to a stop in front of the Paper Pleaser who continued to wave.
"Uh…. Hello?" Blake asked.
"Hello!" the yellow-colored Paper Pleaser said in a cheery voice. "Everything has been prepared for you! Please, come this way."
"Prepared?" Blake asked, confused. She hadn't requested anything from the Pleasers.
The Pleaser spun in place on one of their legs. Then they started waddling down the village path in a different direction than Blake had been going. But they didn't get too far before they must have realized Blake wasn't following them. They spun back around and said, "Please hurry! You mustn't keep her waiting!"
"'Her'?" Blake asked. "Who's 'her'?"
The Pleaser didn't answer. They were already waddling away again.
Blake jogged after the Pleaser and quickly caught up. She continued to follow them at their languid pace, again asking, "Who is 'her'?"
The Pleaser brought their arms up to the top point of their body and let out a tittering giggle. They sounded like a child who was doing everything they could to keep a secret. They said, "You will see!"
Blake was torn. On one hand, she didn't want to be rude to the Pleaser. On the other hand, she was absolutely aching to find Yang. But she ended up following the Pleaser, if for no other reason than to sate her curiosity. Although she hadn't noticed how slowly the Paper Pleasers moved until now. It was agonizing.
Eventually, the Pleaser led Blake to a paper building. Blake could see a steady glow coming from the windows. The Pleaser hopped up the steps one at a time in a frustratingly cute manner. Once they were on the top step, they spun excitedly in a complete circle, saying, "Inside!"
Blake started walking up the steps, but she was reaching the limit of her patience. She said, "I don't want to be inconsiderate, but I need to find my friend—"
Blake passed through the doorway and into the building. The interior was lit by many colorful paper lanterns that were artfully hung from the ceiling. A table was in the center of the space with seating for two, and there was an impressively intricate arrangement of paper flowers sitting on it.
Just then, from an open doorway on the opposite side of the room, Yang stumbled in. She was being politely but insistently pushed by a trio of purple-colored Paper Pleasers. She said to them, "I'm sure whatever you want to show me is great and all, but I'm looking for—"
"Blake!" Yang exclaimed when she noticed who was in the room with her. A blush immediately colored her cheeks, and she ran her hand nervously through her hair.
"Yang," Blake said with a smile, finally finishing her sentence.
One of the Pleasers chirped, "Please have a seat! We have prepared everything for you."
Blake and Yang both glanced at the table and then at each other. It was Blake who acted first. She walked over to the table and sat down. Yang followed her lead.
More Pleasers appeared seemingly from nowhere and placed platters of hors d'oeuvres and other elegant finger foods on the table.
Yang watched the Pleasers work with a bewildered expression. Then she turned to Blake and asked, "Was all this your idea?"
"No," Blake said. "I thought it might have been yours."
"I wish," Yang said.
One of the Paper Pleasers spoke up, "This seemed to be what you needed. Please tell us if we've done something wrong."
Blake said, "No, no. This is…"
At the same time, Yang said, "No way. This is…"
"…perfect," they both finished in unison.
"How wonderful!" the Pleaser said. "It is not often we have the opportunity to serve those who are in love. This is a special occasion for us!"
Blake and Yang locked eyes. They both looked a little astounded at first. But then Blake saw a giddy smile cross Yang's face. Yang blushed furiously, and she bashfully covered her cheeks with her hands. Blake had never seen Yang like this, but she supposed she was no better off. From the moment she'd realized she was technically on a date with Yang she'd been literally trembling with excitement.
"Please tell us if anything is not to your liking," a Pleaser said, bowing politely. Then they and their companions left the room as quickly as they'd entered it.
Yang absently ran her finger against the table. She asked Blake, "S-so, you come here often?"
"No. I made a special trip just for you," Blake said.
"W-well, uh, good!" Yang said, tripping over her words.
Blake couldn't believe it, but it was obvious how nervous Yang was. She recalled Yang mentioning how she liked that Blake wasn't intimidated by her. Blake had never stopped to consider the possibility that the reverse could be true, that Yang could be intimidated by her.
Blake reached out across the table, offering her hand to Yang. She said, "I meant every word I said on that platform. I love you."
Yang smiled warmly, apparently calmed by Blake's words. She took Blake's hand and said, "I never doubted it. I love you too, Blake."
Blake felt her heart flutter all over again. Somehow hearing Yang's declaration of love a second time was even better than the first.
A Paper Pleaser waddled into the room. They were black and white in color in a pattern that vaguely resembled a tuxedo. They were carrying a tray with two glasses on it. Each glass was filled with a red liquid. Without a word the Pleaser set the tray on the table in between Blake and Yang and waddled off.
Yang let go of Blake's hand and picked up the glass closest to her. She brought it to her nose and sniffed it. She said, "Yup. That's wine. What do you think it's made from?"
"Magic and fairy dust?" Blake offered.
Yang looked like she was trying to figure out if Blake was being serious or not.
"That was a joke," Blake clarified. "But maybe it's better if we don't know."
Yang held her glass up. She asked, "Sooo, how about a toast?"
Blake rolled her eyes, although she had a smile on her face. Leave it to Yang to make something sound cheesy and romantic at the same time. Blake picked up the other glass and held it up as well. She said, "A toast."
"To us!" Yang said.
"To new beginnings," Blake quietly said.
The glasses clinked together. Blake and Yang each took a sip. The drink certainly tasted like wine to Blake, although she didn't consider herself qualified to judge how good it was. Weiss, however, undoubtedly would have had an opinion had she been there.
Yang set her glass down and let out a little chuckle.
"What?" Blake asked, setting her glass down as well.
"I was just thinking about, you know, the platform," Yang said. "We were both really holding all that in, huh?"
"I'd thought about telling you before," Blake said. "But I was…afraid."
"I know what you mean," Yang said. "We're partners. And friends. And…basically family."
Blake sucked in an astonished breath at that last part. Yang and Ruby and Weiss were like a family to her, she realized. She wondered when that had happened.
Yang continued, "I didn't want to…ruin all that."
"And I didn't want to hurt you," Blake said. She silently added, again.
"Hey!" Yang said, perking up. "Does this mean I can call you my girlfriend?"
Blake blushed. She said, "I'd like that."
Yang smiled. It seemed her confidence was reasserting itself. Blake was glad. Yang's confidence was one of the first things she'd admired about her when they'd first met. Even if it had been inconvenient at the time.
Yang leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. She asked, "So when did you realize you loved me?"
"I'm not sure when," Blake admitted. A warmth filled her as she reminisced about her favorite Yang memories. "There wasn't some big ah-ha moment for me. Just one day I realized I had fallen in love with you without really noticing."
Yang gave Blake the happiest smile, and her lilac eyes shimmered.
"What about you?" Blake asked.
The shimmer in Yang's eyes suddenly faded. She was still smiling, but now it was bittersweet.
"Yang?" Blake asked, concerned.
"When I woke up in the hospital after…Beacon," Yang said quietly. "And you weren't there."
"Yang…" Blake said.
Yang sat up straight and shook her head. She said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
"No," Blake said resolutely. She stood, walked over to Yang, and put her hands on Yang's shoulders. "I'm done running. I'm done hiding. And I'm done pretending my past didn't happen. If we can't ever talk about it then we'll never move past it. We'll never learn from it."
Yang smiled sweetly at Blake. A tear was hanging from the corner of her eye. She said, "When Herb…did whatever he did to us, I saw a reflection of myself."
"We all did," Blake said.
"Do you want to know what mine offered me?" Yang said. She lifted her prosthetic arm. "To make me whole again."
"Where you…tempted?" Blake asked.
"I mean, sure I've thought about somehow getting my arm back," Yang said. "But suddenly when it was actually possible…. When it was staring me in the face, like literally, I finally understood how much what happened had taught me. How much stronger it's made me. And how it made me realize how I feel about you. That stupid reflection didn't know what she was talking about. I am whole. Because I have you."
Tears were rolling down Blake's cheeks now. She felt like she loved Yang even more, if that was possible. She leaned in close and kissed Yang's lips. Her eyes closed as Yang kissed her back. She felt Yang's arms reach up and wrap around her, and suddenly, Blake was lost in a blissful haze. Being in Yang's arms and kissing her was more fantastical than anything the Ever After could conjure up. And it wasn't a dream. It was real. It was so very real.
Eventually, Blake reluctantly pulled back. Her eyes opened. She and Yang were still in each other's arms, but Yang had apparently stood while they'd been kissing as Blake found herself looking up into Yang's eyes. Blake had been too absorbed in the kiss to notice.
It was at that moment that a realization hit Blake like a bolt out of the blue. She could kiss Yang whenever she wanted to. She could cuddle next to Yang without shame or fear. The small gestures of affection they frequently shared, a touch here, a nuzzle there, didn't have to be scrutinized or second-guessed anymore. She could finally indulge in all the idle, innocent fantasies that had plagued her since almost the moment she'd met Yang. Yang was her girlfriend. It was unbelievable.
Yang was apparently going through the same revelation that Blake was judging by her wide-eyed look of wonderment. Their eyes met again, and a certain understanding silently passed between them. Then, without a word, Blake's and Yang's lips crashed together. Blake's fingers dug into Yang's shoulders, and she pressed in even closer to her girlfriend as they exchanged fiery kiss after fiery kiss. Blake's need to be physically closer to Yang bordered on desperation. She had never felt this way about anyone or anything before.
Blake and Yang staggered erratically about as they both tried to simultaneously stay upright and somehow become even more intertwined. But suddenly, they bumped into a Paper Pleaser who had wandered into the room. The Pleaser let out a surprised, "Oh!"
Blake and Yang's furious kisses abruptly stopped. They both glanced at the Pleaser. Blake turned bright red when she realized that her and Yang's make out session had not been as private as she would've hoped. She knew the Pleaser wouldn't care, but somehow that made it even more embarrassing.
"Do not mind me," the Pleaser said with innocent cheer. "Do you require anything? Perhaps some mood music?"
Blake was about ready to shrivel up and die from sheer embarrassment. It was a good thing she was still clinging to Yang and could pretend to hide in her embrace.
Yang curtly said, "We're good. Thanks."
"Very well," the Pleaser said, almost sounding disappointed. They turned and waddled out of the room.
Blake and Yang looked at each other. They held each other's gaze for a long minute. Then they both burst into a fit of laughter. Slowly, they extracted themselves from each other's arms, laughing all the while.
Eventually, the laughter died down. Blake glanced over at the table. Neither of them had touched a morsel of the food the Paper Pleasers had laid out for them. It seemed like a waste, but Blake suspected that wasn't how things worked in the Ever After.
Yang crossed her arms, clearly trying to play it cool. She said, "Well that happened. Now what?"
An impish smile crossed Blake's lips as an idea spontaneously came to her. She leaned in close to Yang.
"How about you…" Blake said. She gave Yang a quick peck on the cheek. "Try to catch me if you can!"
Without any further warning, Blake took off running. She sprinted out of the open doorway and onto the pathway outside. She glanced back and saw Yang zoom through the same doorway a second later with a determined grin.
Blake poured on the speed, thrilled to feel the wind on her face. She had no idea where this playfulness was coming from. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd felt so carefree. Had she ever?
Yang's footfalls were getting louder. Blake knew her girlfriend was catching up. But just when she sensed that Yang was directly behind her, she jumped up and kicked off the side of one of the paper houses to propel herself onto the roof of its neighbor. The height of the roof was right at the limit of what she could reach, but she felt so light and free right now that she would've believed she could fly.
Blake's feet touched the roof, and she dashed over to the other side. There she stopped and turned around. A moment later she heard Yang's weapons fire. Then Yang popped up over the lip of the roof, assisted by the blast from her gauntlets, and landed on the side across from Blake. She smirked at Blake and said, "I love it when a girl plays hard to get."
"Only because you think you'll be able to catch her," Blake teased.
"Oh, I'm going to catch you," Yang said.
"We'll see," Blake playfully taunted.
Yang suddenly surged forward, firing a backward blast to propel herself even faster. She flew at Blake and almost caught her off guard, much to Blake's surprise. But at the last second, Blake managed to dash to the side and used her semblance to leave a shadowy decoy in her place. She watched as Yang passed through the image she'd left behind.
"Whoa!" Yang yelped as she tumbled off the roof. However, she recovered in an instant. She fired a blast straight down, facilitating a mid-air handspring, and just barely landed halfway off the edge of the next roof over. Her arms flailed about as she fought to keep her balance, but she quickly found her footing. The maneuver impressed Blake, and she nodded appreciatively.
Now that Yang was steady on her feet again, she turned to face Blake. She pointed and said, "Nice move! But I don't give up so easily!"
"I'm counting on it," Blake said. Then she turned on her heels and took off running again.
Blake jumped from rooftop to rooftop as she sped toward the edge of the village. She knew without a backward look that Yang was in hot pursuit.
Blake rapidly reached the end of the last roof and leaped off of it. She hit the ground running, but then she heard another blast from Yang's gauntlets. She glanced up and saw Yang go somersaulting through the air over her head. Blake skidded to a halt as Yang landed directly ahead of her with a big enough impact to make the ground tremble.
Yang had a giddy look on her face. She lifted her hands, ready to pounce. Then she lunged forward, but Blake flitted out of the way, assisted by her semblance. Yang tried again, and the game continued as both of them giggled uncontrollably. Blake briefly wondered if this was what it would have been like to have an actual childhood.
Sensing the game had about run its course, Blake finally stopped using her semblance. Yang tackled her, and they both tumbled to the ground. Yang ended up on top of Blake, grinning like she'd just won some sort of grand prize.
"Oh no. You caught me," Blake said dryly. "What ever am I going to do?"
"How about this?" Yang asked. She leaned in and kissed Blake again.
The kiss didn't last long. Both Yang and Blake were short of breath from their little game. But that didn't make it any less wonderful. Yang rolled off of Blake and they both lay there side by side. Yang took Blake's hand. It wouldn't be until much later that Blake would realize it had been Yang's artificial hand she had been holding. The fact that she hadn't noticed would surprise her.
"Huh," Yang said.
"What?" Blake asked.
"The stars are paper too," Yang said, pointing at the sky with her free hand.
Blake looked up. Sure enough, the stars were made of paper and hung in the sky as if they were dangling on invisible threads. They had a five-point shape very similar to the Paper Pleasers themselves. Blake mused, "If the Pleasers made those, do they count as self-portraits?"
Yang snickered. Then she laughed. She rolled onto her side toward Blake and said, "I love you so much."
Blake turned her head and beamed at Yang. "Say it again."
"I love you, Blake," Yang said.
"Again."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The next morning Blake's eyes fluttered open as light from the giant lantern grew brighter in the window. She was lying on the floor of Jaune's cabin on a paper sleeping mat. The first thing she saw was Yang sprawled out next to her on a mat of her own.
Yang was lying flat on her back and snoring loudly. She wasn't exactly the picture of elegance, but Blake found it endearing all the same. The Yang Blake saw was genuinely Yang, and that was all she could ever want.
Blake's hand started wandering toward Yang when a huge explosion suddenly rocked the village. Before Blake could react, Jaune popped up in his bed and shouted, "I'm late!"
Blake sat up as well, just in time to see Jaune go running out of the room, shouting, "I'm late! I'm late!"
It seemed it was back to business as usual, Blake realized. Or at least it was back to what passed for usual at the moment. Blake knew she and her friends still needed to escape the Ever After and somehow save Remnant from Salem. But all of those problems seemed so much smaller to Blake than they had the day before. She had Yang, and Yang had her. And that was all that mattered somehow.
Author's Note: I've got to be honest, I still feel like a dog who caught the car when it comes to canon Bumbleby. I'm still not sure what to do with it. Other than watch a certain scene endlessly on repeat of course.
I've decided it's my official headcanon that the Paper Pleasers are agendered. I've decided this for two reasons. One, it makes sense to me. Two, I wanted to practice using singular they/them pronouns. It's weird. I completely accept nonbinary and other people who prefer they/them, and I've never had a problem using they/them as a singular pronoun to refer to an individual of unknown gender. But the second I try to use they/them as a singular pronoun for an identified individual, my stupid brain always screams, "No! Incorrect grammar!" I guess I'll just have to keep making an effort until it becomes more natural.
I've got a pretty big project coming up next, so watch this space. It's something I think a lot of you are going to be very excited about. I know I am.
As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.