"Velvet wait, a word?" Weiss stepped forward slightly, trying to catch Velvet before she left. The White Fang had begun filing out the door immediately after their declaration of war. A tiny voice at the back of Weiss' mind told her that she should probably be trying to convince the White Fang of acting differently, but honestly, she needed to settle things with Velvet so Weiss could begin to actually think straight.

Velvet turned back slightly, "Of course," she smiled sombrely. When Adam frowned at the rabbit girl, Velvet just squeezed his arms slightly. "I'll be fine, you guys go on first."

Tukson and Adam left rather unwillingly, shooting back glances every step of the way.

Weiss turned to Pyrrha, making a gesture towards the council members, communicating silently with her red-haired partner. Handle them please? Pyrrha nodded slightly and smiled, her eyes sending Weiss off and wishing her the best of luck.

So Weiss grabbed Velvet's hand and lead her away from the meeting room to somewhere quiet.

"Long time no see," Velvet's gentle voice wrapped around Weiss. It was so familiar. So warm. Weiss wanted to cry.

The last time Weiss saw Velvet was when her dad had died. When Velvet had saved Weiss from being poisoned. And then, Weiss had been stolen by meetings and political affairs before Weiss could get the hug she needed from Velvet, before she could express any of her overwhelming emotions to Velvet. When Weiss had gotten back, Velvet had already left, without a word.

Not even a goodbye.

Who freaking doesn't say goodbye? Leave a note? Call. Do something when they are leaving for all of eternity.

Christ. Weiss was angry. It seemed as though she had just been perpetually angry that day. It was just one thing after another after another.

"Weiss?" Velvet soothed softly, reaching forward instinctively and coddling the younger girl. "What's wrong? It can't be all me, right?" Velvet asked, her tone mothering, as it had always been. Velvet was the mother that Weiss needed. The sister Yang tried to be but couldn't.

Until Velvet had left.

Weiss couldn't speak. The words were trapped in her throat, swelling, festering and breaking apart constantly to only get lodged even more firmly. What could she say? Why wasn't Weiss enough? Why wasn't Yang enough? Why didn't Velvet say goodbye at least?

The words that came out of Weiss' mouth were harsher than she had pictured. "Coco wasn't enough for you either?" Weiss bit out, hands clenched and body stiff within Velvet's embrace although she didn't push Velvet away. "You left her too?"

Velvet pulled away slightly, but held onto Weiss' arms. "So Yang did tell you," Velvet spoke sadly.

"Yang told me nothing," Weiss responded. Yang had run away without explaining as well. That seemed to be a common denominator between all the people in Weiss' life. Her biological father left her before she was born. Her step-father died before explaining why he would possibly shift his entire burden onto Weiss' seventeen-year-old shoulders. Cinder had never been there to start with. Yang. Velvet. Blake would probably be next. Christ. Weiss didn't want to think about that. "I did my own research. Found out where you went. Did some sleuthing. The pieces fell together eventually." Weiss explained, grabbing onto her anger to protect herself from grief.

"Oh, Weiss," Velvet cooed, a worried expression on her face. "I'm sorry for doing that to you. I was going to leave a note but then there wasn't any time."

Weiss scowled at Velvet incredulously. "There's something called phones you know! I just needed one phone call."

Velvet's expression widened. "I did phone. Many times. You never picked up."

"You never phoned!" Weiss shot back. Her knuckles white from clenching too hard and her nails were digging into her own flesh. Focus. She needed to focus. "Whatever, leaving because you fell in love is fine. But why the hell are you not with Coco and with a gang of murderers instead?!"

"Weiss," Velvet's expression hardened. "Take that back."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but obliged. "A gang of revolutionaries," she amended.

Velvet twinkled. "That's better. And you know we haven't killed anyone yet. All of us want this to be settle peacefully."

Weiss stared at Velvet incredulously. It couldn't be that Velvet didn't know, could it? "The White Fang killed Cardin. Tortured and beat him. That's why nobody in council wants to listen to you guys without a fight." Weiss informed cautiously.

Velvet sobered immediately. "That wasn't us. I haven't even heard about this."

"Are you kidding me?" Weiss said sharply. "That's how you guys secured a meeting with us. We got a note from the White Fang that was left with Cardin's body."

Velvet let go of Weiss, her expression thoughtful. "Adam," Velvet groaned. "He told us he got a meeting with you. I thought he asked you guys in the conventional method. Not by murdering someone!" Velvet was genuinely concerned. That Weiss could tell.

"What?"

"Weiss, you have to trust me on this. The White Fang wants to settle things peacefully. All the leaders agree. It's just Adam — he's a good fighter and he's passionate — but I think maybe his morals need some work. I'll tell our leader, she'll definitely punish him." Velvet explained, thinking as she went.

"Who's your leader?"

Velvet smirked softly. "Someone amazing."

"It's not Coco, is it?" Weiss asked, though she dismissed the thought as soon as it left her mouth.

"No, it's not Coco," Velvet replied somewhat dejectedly. After a pause, she continued. "But I'm still with her. She understands that this cause is important to me."

"Right." Velvet's statement made Weiss feel better somewhat.

"You know you and Yang are still really important to me right?" Velvet continued.

"It's kind of a moot point once we are on opposite sides of a war," Weiss commented wily.

Velvet smiled sagely. "You know better than anyone that we are actually on the same side, just in different positions. And make sure you tell the council that declaration of war thing is just Adam spouting nonsense, and that he's being kicked out of the leadership position. Let's meet up again soon once everyone has calmed down."

Weiss blinked. "Do you have the authority to say that?"

Velvet laughed. "Weiss, I know our leader isn't going to wage war unless it's absolutely necessary. At this point it isn't. We'll revisit our demands and then we'll come talk it out again." Velvet paused. "But we are going to keep breaking slaves out of their prisons."

Weiss chuckled as well, in spite of herself. "Okay, I won't tell anyone. How do you guys get the collars off anyways?"

Velvet laughed. "There are ways. If you find someone with an aura that similar enough to the original master's, you can force it off. Or if it's dust enchanted instead of aura-locked, anyone who knows how to maneuver dust well enough can take it off."

"Ah," Weiss nodded. That made sense. Dust-enchanted collars were effective only because Faunus weren't allowed wielding weapons or learning how to fight — with or without dust. Of course, members of the White Fang obviously did know how to fight. Someone must be teaching them. "Is that how you got yours off?"

Velvet raised an eyebrow at Weiss. "Coco never collared me after Yang released me."

"Oh," Weiss blinked.

"I'm her girlfriend, Weiss, not her slave. She didn't see any reason to. I had a prop one for when we went out sometimes but yeah, otherwise, I never had to wear it. And I could take it off whenever I felt like it." Velvet smiled to herself, "And apparently, it would clash with my outfit so she really didn't want me to wear it."

"Oh," Weiss repeated.

"Anyways," Velvet cut off, shifting her weight. "Are we okay? Because this took longer than I expected and I don't want Adam causing a mini riot outside your house." Velvet smiled, her familiarity cracking at Weiss' shields.

"Yeah, that probably would be bad." Weiss smiled slightly.

Velvet leaned in to give Weiss a hug. She enveloped Weiss in a smooth motion and inhaled over Weiss' shoulder. "Relax, Weiss. We used to hug all the time," she soothed, squeezing even more tightly. "You are still one of the most important people in my life and someone who I respect a great deal."

"So important that you left without saying goodbye," Weiss couldn't bite back her response.

"There were circumstances behind that," Velvet continued. "But I'm sorry for my part in it. I'm sorry for the pain I caused you. And I want you to know I'll be forever grateful for what you have done for me and if you ever need me for anything, big or small, I'll always be here."

Velvet tried pulling away after that but Weiss held on tightly. Tears had started to flow down Weiss' cheeks. Weiss couldn't let Velvet see her cry. No, Weiss had been perfectly fine when Velvet left. She could handle herself.

"Weiss," Velvet whined, laughing. "You need to let me go, I kind of want to see Yang as well before I go."

"Right," Weiss said, though she still didn't release Velvet for another moment. When she did, it was in one swift motion and she turned her back to Velvet quickly. "She's probably in the living room."

"Okay," Velvet replied knowingly, starting to step away. "You go find your kitty cat."

Weiss turned around at that. "How did you k—?"

But Velvet, being the light-footed speedy Faunus she was, had already sped away.