"When an individual makes an attempt to see his shadow, he becomes aware of (and often ashamed of) those qualities and impulses he denies in himself but can plainly see in other people-such things as egotism, mental laziness, and sloppiness; unreal fantasies, schemes, ad plots; carelessness and cowardice; inordinate love of money and possessions-in short, all the little sins about which he might previously have told himself: 'That doesn't matter; nobody will notice it, and in any case other people do it too.'" (Von Franz)

Yang tossed and turned in her bed, she couldn't seem to get Ruby out of her mind. So many emotions were swirling around in her head, regret, fear, anticipation, denial, and wanting. She was thinking about how to talk to Ruby. She replayed the events of the night.

-Switch to first person-

And after Robin showed us around we met Auburn, I wanna talk to him again. I need to ask him about his last name, is he like her cousin or something, or maybe he's her King. I flipped onto my left side, now I was facing the wall. I still can't believe how much Ruby changed, she's so beautiful, but that scar, how did se get it? Oh yeah Auburn said that Ruby was always willing to talk if you went to her room in the palace, maybe I should go there. I sat up in bed, I had made my decision, I was going to see Ruby. I got up and got dressed, I was trying my best to be stealthy about my movements, but I was never much good, The floor just happened to be really creaky near the door. I froze as I heard the sound. Turning my head slowly I saw that no one else had moved so I continued on, closing the door softly behind me.

-And then bam! third person-

Blake was sleepless as well, she just happened to be much better at hiding it. She sat motionless in her bed, staring at Yang's back, filled with many of the same emotions, but more powerful, she hadn't spoken to Ruby yet, Yang at least had that courage. She was a coward, a real scaredy cat, and that was what had caused this whole mess in the first place, she hadn't been able to break up with Ruby even when she was seeing Yang. Somewhere in the far depths of her mind she knew that she needed Ruby,she needed that protective and adorable girl that she loved back. Suddenly Yang sat up in bed, Blake's entire body stiffened as she saw this. Then she relaxed as she saw her get up and head towards the door. Then the floor creaked and Yang visibly tensed up, as if she was really trying to be stealthy. Blake always liked it when Yang did stuff like that. Yang opened and closed the door as softly as possible, which wasn't very soft or Yang. The courtyard was light by lamp posts that followed the trails around. She walked to the doors of the palace, it was indeed a massive structure. The door was not as heavy as Yang had expected. It easily slid open, she looked around, the dim lighting didn't grant much visibility but none the less she could make out outlines of armour that lined the wall, to her let was a staircase. Five flights of stairs and thirty two rooms later she found what she assumed was Ruby's room, it was the only room on the sixth floor and had rather massive doors. She quietly crept up to the door and placed her ear up against it. She could hear tossing and turning, but not of the sleepless kind, then she heard words being spoken breathily. She couldn't make them out but they pointed to the strong possibility that Ruby was having a nightmare. Realizing this she cracked the door open only to see Ruby sit up in bed. Yang moved her foot forward, as if in preparation to take a step, but then she noticed that there was someone lying next to Ruby. She froze up, like a statue she stood there.

The fire burned brightly in front of her. Ruby stood in front of it, she was still somewhere in the forest but she didn't know how to get there. She looked around, she was going through the ritual of the second bestowal. Russet had told her about it before. The fire was shifting in color, representing the different powers. She couldn't stop herself as she reached into the fire. She was in agony but couldn't do anything about it as her right arm was entirely consumed in fire. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were like saucers as she averted her gaze from the fire. Tears of pain flowed from her eyes, it hurt so bad, she could feel the flames as they licked at her neck. Then her hand wrapped around the ring that was inside the fire. Suddenly there was a wave of intense heat followed by a cool chill. She saw Russet on the other side of the fire. He was dancing, a waltz, his cane in his hand and his top hat on, his gold and silver eyes shining in the firelight.

"You've done it little rose, congratulations."

Ruby sat up, she was in her bed in her palace. It was the same nightmare se had been having since she scarred her arm for the trial. She breathed deeply, and looked around the room.

"Same nightmare Ruby?" Asked Robin from next to her. Robin was on her right side facing Ruby.

Ruby layed back down on her left side and looked into Robin's red eyes.

"Yeah, same one. But this time Russet was there." she said, her brow knitted in frustration.

"When are you gonna do the third trial then?" Robin asked, concern evident in her tone.

"I don't know, but soon. I need to do it soon."

Robin reached out and petted Ruby's hair, it was like touching velvet. "I love you."

"I Know." Ruby said with her signature smile.

Ruby shifted in the bed, she was now on top of Robin who was on her back. "This is all just a little to much."

"Yeah, all these people sure make things difficult. I can't say I like them all. They seem remorseful at least"

"...They're not going to pass the test. Could you… Train them once they fail?

Robin giggled at his. "You still care a lot about them don't you?"

"Shut up." Said Ruby, she was blushing heavily.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed about something, I guess that never changed about you." Robin smiled up at Ruby.

Ruby laid down on Robin so that her head was resting just under her chin. Robin hummed in a low tone, vibrating her chest. Ruby nestled into the vibrating form of her lover, enjoying the sensation and the sound of her heartbeat. She hated that she wasn't allowed to show affection while people were watching, not only was it frowned upon by society but it was also bad for the Queen's reputation, something that was very important to maintain at this point in her rule.

Yang stood at the door in total shock of what she had just seen. She walked away from the door and down towards the courtyard. She was crying, but she didn't know why, it was partly because Ruby still cared about her, part because Ruby was having sex and wasn't the same girl anymore. She found herself standing in front of the hot springs. She flipped the sign so that a woman's outline could be seen on the plaque of wood.

It was surprisingly nice inside. The floor was cobble stone near the spring and transitioned to wood as you drew near the wash station. The walls resembled the rest of the complex. The hot spring itself was massive, easily fifty people could fit inside with plenty of room to spare. The entrance wash under the roof of the compound but most of the spring was outside the compound. She stripped down and stepped forward into the spring. The water was warm and comforting to the touch, the perfect thing for damaged nerves. She leaned against the border, she was visibly relaxing.

Blake sat up in bed, she had heard Yang pass by and go into what she could only assume was the hot spring. She stood and stretched, touching her toes and all together looking rather cat-like. She decided that she was going to wake up the other girls so that they could get bathing over with before the guys woke up. First she poked Weiss gently on the bridge of her nose. Weiss' eye's shot open, Blake had discovered that that was weiss' on switch. Blake placed a finger over her lips, signaling or Weiss to be quiet, she whispered "Yang's up and bathing, let's all join her before the day begins."

Weiss nodded and swung herself onto the floor. Blake moved to Pyrrha next. She brushed her thick red hair out of her face, and shook her gently. Pyrrha had a confused look in her eyes when Blake repeated what she had told Weiss. Pyrrha responded by saying that she would wake up Nora. Blake turned around and listened. She heard footsteps in the adjoining room and assumed that Weiss had gone over to wake the other girls up. Blake gathered up her clothes and walked out the door and towards the hot springs. She opened the door and saw Yang sitting in the spring with tears rolling down her face. She had heard Blake come in but didn't care at all. She needed to cry, badly. And she was crying , hard, sobbing as if the world had been flipped on its head. Blake crept up behind her and sat down, She wrapped her legs and arms around Yang's waist. Yang cried even harder than before but only for a few seconds before she stopped altogether. "Thanks" she said.

"No problem" Blake responded.

Then Weiss, Pyrrha, and Nora entered the hot spring, Nora was still quiet and half asleep. Followed shortly by Coco, Velvet, Cinder, Neo and Emerald. They all stepped into the sprig and began to chat about the events of the previous day.

"She's so different' said Cinder.

"Yeah, I really didn't expect it" Responded Yang.

"I mean she's like an entirely different person from before" Said Coco.

Neo sat in silence contemplating the prospect of Ruby Rose.

"I mean I knew she would change, but she not only looks but also acts so different than before." Said Weiss.

"She's… She's so much… More, I guess." Said Velvet.

Just then the door slid open and Robin and Glnda stepped inside.

"M-miss Goodwitch!" exclaimed Velvet, surprised to see the older woman naked and bathing with her students.

"Is something the matter miss Scarlatina?" asked Glynda, confused as to the sudden calling of her name.

"It's just that-that I didn't expect you to join us."

"It's convenient to have everyone of the same gender use the bath at once." She said curtly.

The door opened one more time, and Ruby stepped into the spring.

A/N: This is a little later than I had intended to put this chapter out but hey, it's done and sealed. I've been drawing inspiration from a few sources, namely the story Smoldering Rose by Snowiebearsnarl, go read it, it's really good. But I digress. anyways I have to do some chapters of other things. I'll probably have the next chapter up later this week or early next.

Youtube was my music again

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