Blake had never been to a funeral before. She hadn't even been entirely sure what happened at one; they were unheard of for most of her life. Faunus apparently approached death in a fundamentally different way than humans. When a Faunus died, they were buried as soon as possible. There was no ceremony, no hiding the wounds, no fancy clothes. Not out of a lack of respect, but out of simple necessity. Humans could hide death for a time under perfume and preservatives, but with their enhanced senses Faunus didn't have that luxury. The rot of death could be smelled almost immediately, and there was no way to disguise it.

Humans had time to prepare. They had time to take her back home, to gather all her friends and family, to set up a ceremony on a peaceful hillside, to make her look beautiful. Standing above Yang in her casket, she seemed perfect. Her beloved hair was straightened, her neck was fixed, her eyes were closed peacefully, her dress was gorgeous, and her head was lying comfortably on Ruby's cloak. She looked like she was sleeping, like at any moment she could get up and walk away. Blake knew she was the only one here who could smell the lie beneath it. She wasn't sure if that made it better, worse, or changed nothing. All she knew was that there was a cloud of grief and guilt hanging around her mind. The light in her life was gone, and nothing would ever bring it back.

She leaned down and laid a kiss on Yang's forehead before returning to her seat among the rows of chairs on the hillside. Each of the dozens there were filled with people, most of whom Blake had never met before. She was sitting in the front row next to Weiss, Ruby, and her family. As she sat down next to Weiss, Ruby walked up to the hilltop, which in itself told her how bad Ruby was doing. Blake had seen her friend bound, skip, bounce, run, and speed around to places. She had never before seen Ruby simply walk somewhere. She stopped in front of Yang, but she seemed to be spending as much time looking at her as she did staring at her mother's grave. Blake didn't have to talk to her to know exactly what was going through her mind. First her mother was taken from her, then her sister. Ruby was standing up there wondering who was next. Would it be her father, her uncle, her partner, or her friends? Who would be ripped out of her life next time? The hope and optimism that had animated Ruby since Blake met her was completely gone, and Blake wasn't sure it would ever be back. She stood up there for a few minutes before shuffling back and collapsing into her seat next to Weiss. She sat there looking like the most devastated woman in the world.

Not that Blake herself looked much better. She was barely sleeping or eating, and it showed. Her lingering injuries only added to the look. Her head had stopped constantly pounding, but there was a dull ache that refused to ever leave her. The rest of her wasn't in much better shape. Her arm was still in a sling from the Death Stalker's tail breaking it, and she still had several cracked ribs from smashing into the wall. Her arms and legs were still covered in cuts and bruises that were stubbornly refusing to heal. The doctors said that she had taken so much damage that her aura was struggling to repair it all, but she knew they were lying. That was certainly a part of it, but the main reason was something they were trying to keep from her until they figured how to fix it. Fortunately for her, with the bow still fixed on her head the doctors didn't know that she was a Faunus. If they knew, they probably wouldn't be having secret conversations right outside her room.

They were trying to hide that her aura was flickering. She couldn't tell the difference; ever since she woke up in the hospital, her ability to manifest aura had returned. It felt the same to her as always, but the instruments they used to measure aura were very precise. They could tell, even if she couldn't, that most of the time it was so weak that a single hit would be enough to shatter it. Occasionally, though, her aura would manifest itself to more than twice her usual limit. The changes were completely random, and the doctors didn't have a clue what was causing them.

What they did know was that they were causing her to heal in very short bursts followed by long periods of nothing. It was why things that should have healed in hours were still problems a week later. Even a Huntsman with life threatening injuries only stayed in a hospital for a few days, but there was no telling how long she would be sleeping there.

Not that it mattered. She didn't want to get out of the hospital anyway. She suspected that even if she was released tomorrow, she would spend all her time in a bed. All she felt like doing was resting. The thought of doing anything else, of fighting or talking or even reading terrified her. This was the longest she had been out of the hospital bed since returning, and as soon as this was finished she would be right back in her room.

Yang's dad walked up to the top of the hill and began to give a eulogy. His voice came out strong and steady, despite the clear anguish that was written all over his face. Blake had no doubt his eulogy was touching and heartfelt and probably made everyone feel better about today, but she couldn't hear anything past the first few sentences. The entire time all she did was stare at Yang's body. Despite the fact that she knew Yang was dead, Blake couldn't shake the irrational hope that she would simply wake up and walk over to her with a laugh. She would come over to her team and explain how all of this was a terrible mistake. They would go home and leave these horrific memories behind them. Her focus remained on Yang throughout the entire eulogy, throughout them lifting her up, and only moved once they lowered her into the ground.

As the dirt was slowly piled back into the grave, Blake couldn't shake the horrible wrongness that hung around the whole funeral. It felt like the world shouldn't be like this. Yang shouldn't be gone while she was still here. Her grief overtook her again, and she started crying. She felt it when Ruby wrapped her arms around her and felt it again when Weiss' arms joined them. But despite the contact with her team, despite their shared grief, Blake had never felt so alone.

/

She was standing in an open field, and for the first time ever the world was dark. Even her night vision couldn't do anything to pierce this thick dark cloud. She wondered if this was what the night always looked like to humans.

"Enjoying the view?" Blake heard someone ask from behind her. She turned and saw Yang walking up to her. She was lit up like a beacon against the dark, and everywhere she walked remained visible even after she left. Blake stared at her until she was only a few feet away. But this time, Blake closed down her heart. She was determined not to let it happen again.

"You're not really here. You're only a dream." The words echoed around the field long after she said them. Each time they came around, they sounded more and more wrong. Yang seemed to consider that for a few seconds before walking up until she was only inches away from Blake.

Then she raised her hand and punched Blake's arm. The force from the blow drove Blake to her knees, and pins and needles of pain stabbed their way upwards from her arm. "Ow!" She screamed, the pain temporarily blocking out all her other feelings. "What was that?!"

Yang's expression morphed into a guilty look, and she reached down and pulled Blake up from the ground. Yang pulled Blake close and held her tight. "You hear me." She said, pointing to her ears. "You see me." She pointed at her eyes. "You feel me." Yang clasped both of Blake's hands in her own, and Blake couldn't deny the familiar heat she felt radiating off her. "And I can move you." Yang poked her in the shoulder. "What about that suggests to you that I'm dead?"

Blake thought about it, but it didn't make any sense. She knew Yang was dead and buried, and that meant this woman could only be a dream. But the dead can't talk to people, and dreams can't hurt. The two opposite thoughts conflicted in her mind, but she couldn't decide which one was real. All she knew was that she desperately didn't want her partner to be gone from her life.

"Nothing." She said, hoping that her words would somehow make it real. Upon hearing that, Yang's face lit up in a brilliant smile.

"I knew you would get it! You're a very smart woman, after all."

"Then what are you, Yang, since you're not dead? We buried your body this morning." Yang's smile dropped, and a contemplative look took its place.

"I have no idea what's happening, Blake. All I know is that I'm here, by your side, and I won't let anything keep us apart." That's all Blake ever wanted to hear. She stepped forward and squeezed her partner in a tight hug.

"Good. I couldn't bear to be alone." She whispered. Yang laughed.

"You'll never be alone, silly. You'll always have Ruby and Weiss."

In her happiness, Blake had completely forgotten her other teammates. "I have to let them know you're alive!" She said. "But how can I convince them?"

"Don't worry Blakey, it's easy." Yang pulled back and smiled at her. "All you have to do is wake up."

"No!" Blake yelled as she bolted up in her hospital bed. She looked around, but it was empty. No Yang, no anybody. Just her, alone.