Another thing I thought of and felt like writing! WHO NEEDS REASONS ANYWAY?

I feel like I should warn you… but I'm not gonna.

She woke up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. They were red and puffy, which had become normal the past few weeks. With few words spoken, the team got ready and headed out for classes.

The team walked together initially, but she fell behind when she saw the door to his room. She stopped and listened. She couldn't hear him moving around in there. 'That dork, he overslept again.' She thought, reaching to knock on the door.

She froze as she realized the cruel and horrible trick her mind had played on her. Just for a moment she was convinced he was still just on the other side of that door, and all she had to do was open it and she could see him again.

She fell to her knees in tears, and she couldn't stop herself from crying out loud again. She felt her partner's hand on her shoulder.

"Come on." Yang said sadly. "We… we need to get to class." She lifted Blake to her feet and held her as they walked on to their classes. Her crying made them tear up as well, but Team RWBY forced themselves to hold back anymore tears before they walked into class once again.

Her grades tanked, and it took all her friends, even the ones in Team JNPR, helping her to keep her grades up. She wasn't blind though, she saw their grades suffered because they took the time to help her. She tried to tell them to stop helping her, as it was hurting them, but they wouldn't listen to her. She was no longer as good a fighter, she lost nearly every sparring match she participated in.

Eventually Glynda brought this up to Ozpin, and found that Port and Oobleck had noticed her grades dropping as well, and had noticed that her friends were doing nearly all her work. They decided it would be best if she gave up on being a Huntress. When confronted about it, Blake insisted to Ozpin that she would get over her loss, that she would improve once again.

Ozpin gave her three weeks, with limited help from anyone else, to show that she can improve. If she cannot do this on her own, she will resign from Beacon.

Blake walked into the elevator with a falsely confident look.

"Ozpin, you know she won't suddenly get over his death in three weeks, right?" Glynda asked once Blake left.

"No one her age should ever have to go through what she is going through right now." Ozpin started. "She is exhausted in every way and just about everyone can see it. She foolishly thinks she can continue, but she simply cannot. This test is simply to guarantee that she is removed from this line of work forever. She needs a simpler job, one that won't produce so much stress. But, even that might be pushing it for her."

"Why didn't you ignore her stubbornness and remove her now?" Glynda asked.

"I hate to cause her anymore stress and pain, but I'm hoping that with this test, she will truly see that it's over for her, that she will never be a Huntress." Ozpin answered. Honestly he was hoping that Blake would give up before the three weeks were up. It would mean less pain for her.

She sat down in front of her work. She stared at it for a few seconds before growling in frustration. She looked around for a couple seconds, twirling the pencil in her hand, before looking back at the blank piece of paper. She tried in vain to focus on what she needed to write for the essay. Eventually she leaned back in her chair and nearly tore her hair out, tears threatening to fall down her face as a feeling of hopelessness set in.

She couldn't even write an essay, she couldn't fight, how was she supposed to become a Huntress? She didn't want to think about it, she tried to push the thoughts out of her head. She couldn't not become a Huntress! What would she do if she failed? What other job would she get? What could she possibly even do by herself?

"I don't know what to do…" She said out loud. "I don't… I don't know what to do without you… I'm so lost… I can't do anything right…" She rested her head on the desk in their dorm. "What… am I going to do?"

"Hey, Blake."

Blake felt herself being shaken awake. "Huh? What?" She looked up and saw Yang looking at her with concern. "Yang?... When did I fall asleep?"

"I came to check on you and found you asleep here." Yang said. "Are you trying to do your work on your own?"

Blake thought of a response, one that would be a good enough lie, as usual. Then her emotions got the better of her and she stopped lying. "Yang… they're going to kick me out of Beacon."

"What?" Yang asked, shocked.

"If… If I can't get my grades up on my own, they're going to make me drop out. They think I can't do this… and I'm not really sure I can either anymore! Yang, I don't know what to do!" Blake said fearfully.

Yang embraced her partner as she started crying again. She wanted to say something soothing, but she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she stayed silent until her partner calmed down. "Blake… you're not gonna like my answer… I… I think… Blake, you can't keep doing this. You're all torn up and all this effort is only tearing you up more."

"What are you saying?" Blake asked fearfully. "That I should slow down more?"

"Blake… I'm not telling you to slow down anymore… I-I'm telling you to stop!" Yang hesitatingly answered. "None of us are hurt as badly as you are. You have cried yourself to exhaustion, and not only that, but you've been trying to fight, and answer questions in class, and take notes… You can't keep going anymore. You need to drop out for your own sanity!"

Blake teared up again. "Yang… I'm so useless and weak! I can't do anything without him! What the hell am I supposed to do if I'm not a Huntress!? In my condition, what job could I even take!? I can't do anything by myself anymore!" Yang hugged her partner again and ran her hand along Blake's hair to try and comfort her.

"You are not useless, Blake, and you are the opposite of weak. You have been through so much pain and yet you're still here! You are the strongest girl I have ever met, you just need to stop for awhile. Someday, when your mind, body, and soul have recovered, you can come back and become a Huntress. I know you can do it, but it's going to take a very long time." Yang said comfortingly. "Just please drop out already, you need to accept that you cannot do this in your condition."

As much as she tried to deny it, Blake knew that Yang was right. She wasn't going to suddenly be able to do this, she wasn't suddenly going to be able to do things on her own. Try as she might, she was not fit to continue. She was going to have to rest and recover for a long time.

Ozpin looked up from his papers as he heard someone walk out of the elevator, and there he saw Blake walk towards him. She approached his desk and sat down in the chair, her head hanging down and her hair blocking her face. He could tell she was on the verge of tears again. He got up and walked around his desk so he could wrap her in a gentle hug.

"You cannot blame yourself for his death." Ozpin said.

"Y-Yes I can." She managed to say.

"There was nothing you or anyone else could have done." Ozpin countered softly before releasing her. "What you can do now, is get some rest. You'll be given an apartment and all the money you'll need for the essentials until you have recovered. Do not come back here until you are certain beyond any doubt that you can succeed here and become a Huntress."

And so, she packed up, said goodbye to her friends, and left.

For a time, the solitude was nearly unbearable. She missed all the noise her team used to cause, she missed the antics that she got caught up in. She missed just having someone, anyone else around. Walking around Vale gave her some peace, but it was only a small comfort.

For a time, she thought about what she would do with her life. Randomly breaking down kept her from having even the simplest jobs. Standing on the balcony of her apartment and looking out at the city, she knew that she would simply have to recover.

It was easier said than done. It wasn't going to happen by sitting around every day. She needed something to do, but she was incapable of doing anything. She needed to change her thought process in order to recover. She needed to stop breaking down all the time. Cleaning the apartment was another small comfort.

She just kept trying to distract herself, if only for moments. It was the only thing that kept her stable.

Then, six months after she had left, there was a knock at the door. She opened the door and froze as she saw Ruby, Yang, and Weiss standing there, smiling at her. She broke down in tears again and Ruby and Yang were quick to embrace her until she calmed down.

Apparently, they were supposed to give her closer to a year to cope, but Ruby was determined and eventually Ozpin caved and led them visit earlier. Blake was so very glad to see them, though at first it was quite an awkward reunion. It took awhile, another couple of weeks, but Blake eventually got used to how they are now, and they got used to how Blake is now.

Whenever the RWY of RWBY had a chance, they would all visit Blake, and Team RWBY would hang out together, and talk, and play, and laugh.

Blake was tempted to let this be her life, tempted to just live here, live a simple life. But at the same time, the presence of her old team reminded her what she has been doing for a year here. She was still working on doing the simplest of things by herself, but she was slowly making progress.

Her team was filling a void in her, just a bit. She was feeling less empty, less alone, less helpless and useless. They couldn't fill that void completely, nothing could. She would never be whole again without him, but she would keep trying anyway.

Yang kept telling her that she was strong, and that she could do this, and that she needed to just take her time, one foot in front of the other.

The emptiness still made it difficult, but over the next year, she really made progress, and she managed to actually keep a simple job in the library. The only time she broke down now was when she was completely alone, when her team wasn't around, when she had cleaned everything, when she lied down and tried to sleep.

She still hadn't recovered yet. She still wasn't fine mentally, she still had nightmares, watching him die in her arms. They happened so much less often than they used to, but that almost made it worse when they did happen, they came out of nowhere then.

She read lots of books, trying to find the new thought process that she needed. Meditation books and the like weren't helping like she hoped they would.

It was after the second year ended that she finally got what she needed. Her mind finally shifted in a way that would help her. The nightmares stopped, the breakdowns ceased, and she started smiling a lot.

The progress she had been making increased rapidly, and just as RWY was beginning its third year, she was certain that she was ready to go back to Beacon and become a Huntress. Some of her 'progress' had been training herself how to fight again, she was a bit rusty, but it would do. It was muscle memory, as soon as she started sparring with other students, she would regain her skills quickly.

And she did. Her newfound determination and confidence seemed to make her a better fighter than ever before. Sure, she graduated two years behind Ruby and Jaune's teams, but what mattered was that she had done it!

"So, you believe you are ready to come back to my school?" Ozpin asked.

"I do." Blake answered with a nod and a smile.

"You are certain that you are prepared, mentally and physically, to continue at Beacon Academy?" Ozpin asked.

"I am." Blake answered.

"What changed? One day your teammates came back and told me that you had been smiling a lot lately. Months later, here you are." Ozpin noted.

"My mind finally… shifted in a way that I needed it to." Blake answered after some thought, the light smile not leaving her face. "It wasn't the way I expected it to, but I finally had the mental change that I needed. Now I can be calm, I can focus… I can really smile again."

"What happened? In what way did your mind shift?" Ozpin asked.

"Does it matter?" Blake asked in response.

Ozpin paused for just a moment. 'Why is she smiling so much? It's as if she never lost him.' "It does matter. If you don't tell me what changed, I won't know for certain that you really are ready to come back here."

For the first time since she walked in, Blake actually frowned. "I see your point. Fair enough." But she soon smiled again at the thought. "It used to be that I avoided thinking about him at all costs. I could only be sad at the thought that I would never see him again, never have him hold me, never get to hold and comfort him… It is still a sad thought, and I know that. I will never get to kiss him again…" She looked down sadly for a moment before smiling again.

"What happened to mind was… I stopped being sad when I thought about him. Instead, I always thought about how nice he was. I think about how it feels to be held by him if I'm ever sad. I started imagining he was in the room with me whenever I was alone, and then I didn't feel alone. Sometimes I would imagine him saying nice things to me, and sometimes I would talk back. I stopped thinking about the good times and wishing I could have them again, and instead just imagined those times were here with me.

Sometimes when I'm talking with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, I would imagine that he's there with us. The whole team is back together, all smiling and laughing. He would make funny comments on things the others would say and I would have to hold back my laughter. I can just imagine him here with us, trying to convince you to let me back in to the school. Heh. Or maybe he would be trying to keep me from going back here, trying to get me to stay in the apartment that we live in together.

I know what it sounds like, but I'm not stupid or anything. I know he isn't really there, but just picturing him there, smiling at me, makes me feel all warm inside, like when he was really there and really did smile at me. If I try hard to remember, I can feel him hugging me and cuddling and sleeping together, it helps me sleep without nightmares. Sometimes we both stand on the balcony and look out at the city together. I'm not telling my team about him though, I don't want them to think I'm crazy. Because I know I sound like I'm crazy, but I imagine him there on purpose, I'm not seeing things, I know he isn't really there.

I figured I would move on in some other way, but instead, now I just imagine he's with me, and it turns out that that's all I really need. I'm happy now. I'm finally mentally stable! *Chuckle* But really, I'm ok now. I'm ready. I can fight, I can study, I can do things on my own again."

"It sounds like having an imaginary friend." Ozpin noted.

Blake frowned at that. "I don't like how it sounds when you put it that way."

"I apologize. I did not mean to upset you."

Blake sighed reluctantly. "It's alright. You aren't really wrong."

"Well, you truly think you are ready, so it would be wrong to turn you down. Welcome back to Beacon, Blake Belladonna." Ozpin said before shaking her hand firmly.

Blake went back down the elevator with a big smile on her face. Ozpin paused for a few moments longer before speaking. "You have been awfully quiet. You haven't expressed your dislike with my decision."

Glynda hesitated. "It… it sounds more like a coping mechanism than real recovery."

"You don't believe her coping is a permanent solution?" Ozpin asked.

"I do not."

"Well… I have faith in her. I believe that this 'coping' is just what she needed. It is a safe solution to her mental state. As long as it holds, she will succeed." Ozpin said before leaning back in his chair and drinking his coffee.

At first, Team RWBY went on missions together. But, soon they went on solo missions, and from then on they never went on missions together ever again. Any time one of them was done with a mission, the others were still on missions, there was no time to wait for them though, because they needed to head back out as soon as possible.

They still met up from time to time. They never stopped being friends, they never stopped being teammates. Sometimes one of them would change and fall a bit out of touch, but the team worked hard to make sure they never fell completely out of touch.

…

One day Blake went on a mission and never came back…

It was a fear they live with every moment, but that didn't make the pain any duller. There was so much wrong with her death. Why her? After all the work she put into making it as a Huntress? After all the pain she went through? In a way, her pain was over now, but that didn't make it right. She shouldn't have been the first one to be lost.

There was one thing though. One thing that they could take solace in.

She thought they didn't know, but they could tell. Sure, she had started smiling a lot more all of the sudden, but that wasn't all. There were times, rare times, times that lasted just a moment, where she would have a different smile, and a different look in her eyes.

That look…

That smile…

They had nearly forgotten what those looked like on her, but they still knew it all too well. That smile was reserved for him, and him alone.

It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on with her.

And that was what they could take solace in.

She went on a mission alone.

But she didn't die alone, and in pain.

She died with him by her side. They knew that he would have appeared before her like an angel and held her and comforted her as she passed away.

She died in peace, that was what they could take solace in.

Truly, her pain was over. She was with him again.

And maybe, just maybe, she wasn't just imagining him on purpose. Maybe he really was there, comforting her. But no one will ever know.

(It's okay it's not canon OH GOD STOP CRYING I'M SORRY)

Wow, I actually had to hold back tears a bit at the end there…

So… I was tempted to give you a feels warning… but I felt like that would just spoil what was coming. If the feels were really going to hit, you would need to not see it coming, right?

I have no idea why this idea came up, but for some reason, when it did, I decided I needed to write it. The feels were too strong not to write.

Well that's all I got to say. I hope you all have/had a great day!

Hey, that rhymes! :D