Blake opened her eyes to see Yang and herself walking through the forest. She followed as they pushed forward until they reached the clearing to the mansion. She watched as Dream her pulled out her scroll to call Ruby. Instead of dialing the number, however, the entire world froze as Dream Blake turned and stared right at her.

"This was your first mistake. You find a massive unknown structure in the middle of the forest. You can feel how wrong it is in there. But, instead of calling Beacon, you decide to call your team. So very arrogant." The venom burning behind her eyes and the hatred dripping over every word drove her back a few steps. The scene suddenly unpaused and Dream her called Ruby. She waited for the rest of her team to arrive and followed them inside the house. Right after Dream her said they should split up, everything froze again.

"This was your second mistake. You really thought you were competent enough to watch Yang's back? You couldn't even protect yourself!" The scene unpaused, and Blake followed Dream her and Yang as they explored the first floor. The scene kept going until Yang was crouching to climb down the trapdoor.

"Your third mistake. You should have pushed Yang against the wall and taken her here. Screw finishing the mission, and just screwed her. Like you both wanted for years. You were simply too cowardly to admit it."

Dream her turned back around, and they descended into the basement. It didn't freeze again until the end of the video files.

"Your fourth mistake. You learned everything you needed to know, but that wasn't enough for you. You needed to learn everything, didn't you? How'd that work out?" Everything unfroze, and the dream continued. She watched as their aura was stripped from them and as they defeated the Beowolves. She saw the Death Stalker enter and destroy their only exit and watched as her and Yang began their desperate battle for survival, knowing the inevitable outcome but rooted in place.

"You know, seeing it from this angle makes it clear that I'm really, really hot. How did you restrain yourself from jumping on me for all these years?" Blake didn't even have to look to know Yang was standing beside her. She ignored her partner's comment.

"You shouldn't have to die. It isn't right." She said. Yang laughed.

"Everybody dies, Blakey. It's the least interesting thing about a person." As she talked, Blake watched herself mess everything up. Rushing in, focusing on the obvious threat of the claws instead of what she should have known was more dangerous. Stupid. She was so very stupid, and Yang paid everything for it.

"You shouldn't have died for me."

"I died for the woman I loved. Is there any death better than that?"

"I'm not worth it!" She screamed back.

Yang laughed merrily. The contrast between the darkness of the cavern and the joy in her voice was startling. "Of course you are, Blakey. You're worth everything to me." She looked like she was going to go on, but she stopped when a raven landed on her shoulder. Her face lit up with disgust. "Great, that's definitely what we needed right now."

"What?" Blake asked.

"An unfortunate distraction. Don't listen to her, okay? She doesn't have a clue what she's talking about."

"Who doesn't?" Instead of answering, Yang walked forward until she was right in front of Blake. She leaned over until her mouth was almost against Blake's ear.

"My mother." She whispered before shoving Blake backwards. As she fell, the scenery started melting before her eyes.

When Blake opened her eyes, she was struck with the sudden feeling she wasn't alone. She started to sit up, but before she rose more than a few inches she felt cold steel against her skin as a red sword appeared on her neck. She looked over to see Raven holding it steady against her throat. With Blake's reduced aura, she would be able to kill her right there with nothing more than a little pressure. She knew this deadly threat should terrify her, but frankly she was finding it hard to really muster up any feelings about it.

"Are you going to kill me?" Blake asked quietly.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't. You killed my daughter." Raven replied. Blake was surprised to hear the sheer anguish in her voice. Raven looked calm and focused on the outside, but it was clear that she was suffering from Yang's death as much as anyone else.

"I can't. You're right." Blake said. She closed her eyes and waited for Raven to end it all, but the sword didn't move an inch.

"I told Yang she would get herself killed." Raven said in a tone that made it clear she wasn't talking to Blake anymore. She opened her eyes to see Raven staring into an empty corner of the room. "The strong live, and the weak die. That's how the world should work. I told her trying to protect the weak would end badly, and I was right." Raven's eyes suddenly locked into Blake's, and she had to make an effort to avoid recoiling from those furious red orbs.

"You're weak, Blake. Look at you. My daughter died for a woman who's spent her time since hiding in a bed from a few small injuries. You're pathetic. I can't imagine how my daughter ever cared for you."

"I don't know why. I didn't deserve it." Blake said. Raven suddenly moved her sword forward a little, and she felt a prick of pain as it broke her aura and a trickle of blood started falling from the small wound. She held the blade there, making it very clear she could end Blake's life with a small push.

"Did she love you?" Raven asked.

"Yes." Even after reading Yang's letter, this was the first time she had ever said it out loud. Like with most of her life now, it felt empty and pointless. What did her feelings matter now that she was gone? Raven's only response was to stare at her. Blake had no idea how long she stood there without doing anything, but eventually Raven's sword disappeared from her neck and returned to its sheath.

"She always was a fool." Raven said before turning and walking out the door. Blake sat alone in her now empty room, staring at the wall. She honestly couldn't decide if she was happy Raven had left her alone or sad she hadn't finished the job.

/

Blake was doing something she had promised herself that, under no circumstances, she would ever do. She was telling Ruby about her dreams. She hadn't meant to say anything, but she had needed to talk about it so badly she blurted it out the instant Ruby sat down next to her bed. As she spoke, she realized that, more than anything, she desperately needed a friend to tell her she wasn't crazy. "When I'm in there, it seems so real. Yang seems so real. I can talk to her and touch her, and it just feels so much like her that every time it happens, I can't stop myself from thinking that she's somehow still alive." Blake finished. Ruby's attention had been rapt for her entire explanation. Which wasn't much of a surprise; Ruby was taking Yang's death about as well as Blake. Although, considering it was entirely possible she was going insane, probably slightly better.

After she finished, Ruby only sat there staring at her. Blake tried to give her time to process everything, but she couldn't bear to wait for very long.

"You believe me, right?" She asked. There was a quiet desperation in her voice that she knew Ruby couldn't possibly miss. Ruby looked at her, and for the first time since returning Blake saw something other than grief in her eyes. Not that this was much better; they were filled with pity.

"I believe that's what you're seeing, Blake. I believe that's what you think is happening. But do I actually believe the sister I buried is somehow alive and reaching into your dreams to talk to you? No." Blake felt her eyes begin to water up. Ruby's words had been compassionate, but they had also been pretty clear. She didn't believe her. And, honestly, Blake didn't blame her. It sounded completely crazy. If it didn't feel so real to her, she wouldn't have believed it either.

"Listen, Blake, you're under a lot of stress. You feel guilty about what happened. You shouldn't. What happened was my fault. I'm the team leader; I decided to split us up, I decided you should go into the basement. You were alone down there because of choices I made." Blake saw Ruby begin to tear up and quickly pulled her down into a tight hug. She started stroking her hair and felt terrible about herself. Yang had practically raised Ruby; they had a bond that went beyond anything Blake had experienced before. Despite that, Blake was the one in the hospital bed feeling sorry for herself.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. I'm being selfish."

Ruby pulled away and looked at her. "No, you're not. We're all taking it hard. Even Weiss, though she's trying not to show it. We just need to be here for each other, all right? We'll get through this as long as we stay strong together."

Blake nodded. "Okay, I can do that." She hesitated for a second but decided she needed to hear Ruby say it clearly, one way or another. "But what about my dreams? Do you think I'm going crazy?"

"No, Blake. I think you're being driven by guilt, and I think whatever happened to you in that lab is driving your aura crazy. We can talk each other through the guilt, and Professor Ozpin has teams going over the mansion. They'll figure out what happened and fix your aura. Then we'll go on and become the best Huntresses on Remnant, like Yang would have wanted." Blake nodded. Ruby's optimism wasn't much, but it was enough for her to hold onto. For now, at least. "The doctors said you should be able to leave tomorrow. Weiss and I will come through first thing in the morning, and we can all go home. As a team."