"Very well then, so that would be one order of chicken masala and one berry parfait then?"

It seemed like it had been a long time since Mina had been on the job at the Summer Blossom café – and in fairness, it had been nearly three weeks. Fortunately though, Mina was good at her job, and saw to it with a smile, so it had not taken too much explaining to see that her sudden leap of absence was hand-waved by the manager – and it certainly didn't hurt that a fair few of 'Mina's' regulars might have taken their business elsewhere had he not. Of course it had also certainly been helpful that Clara was able to fabricate the excuse that Mina had fallen abruptly ill which, in addition to earning the establishment's unofficially dubbed 'most requested' waitress sympathy from the manager, it had also resulted in pleasantly heftier tips from well-wishing patrons who didn't have a chance, probably knew it, but tried anyway.

"I shall have to thank Clara later-," Mina thought aloud after completing her most recent order and stepping into the break room, only to be startled as a familiar pair of arms threw themselves around her from behind.

"Oh my God you're back! I didn't see you on my way in!"

"Hello Clara..." Mina responded with a slight smile after taking a moment to compose herself, "I see you're shift begins soon then?"

"Yeah…" Clara answered with an audible smile, "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you back – you have no idea how much harder I've had to work it to make up for you not being around…"

Mina chuckled, "Well I do apologize for any grief you may have suffered in compensating for my absence,"

"Ah, don't sweat it," Clara waved her off, walking around Mina and heading for her locker to change, "Now that you and the girls-," Clara gave Mina a meaningful poke to the sternum, a scant few inches above the neckline of her uniform's rather low-cut blouse, "-are back, it won't be a problem – and besides; overtime~"

"I am afraid that this is private property," Mina riposted in a mock display of offense, placing a hand over her chest.

For a long moment, there was a vaguely tense silence between them, but an instant later they both burst out laughing and shared another hug, "I'm just… so glad to see that you're okay…" Clara said, letting the veneer of small talk and humor lapse after a long moment of the embrace, "I mean, when I left you at Beacon… and…"

"I am well now Clara; thank you," Mina assured her, gently squeezing her just the faintest bit tighter before letting go, "Thank you for being patient enough to see me home under such circumstances…"

"You kidding?" Clara gave her a little shove, her own note of disingenuous offense coloring the question, "Like I would have done anything less!"

Mina smiled just so, "I suppose not…"

"Sooo…" Clara asked, stepping away and returning to the task of changing into her uniform, "Is it too soon, or can I ask what it was like to spend two weeks as a kid again?"

Mina chuckled, opening the break room refrigerator and selecting a can of tomato juice; the cans were taller and thinner than most, so she could identify them readily enough by touch, "It was… nice…. Now that it is behind me anyway…" She smiled nostalgically, "Though I fear I may have put out Blake and Weiss somewhat with the number of times I pestered them to read me the same book…"

"Aww… you sound positively adorable as a kid!" Clara enthused as she slipped into the white blouse and haphazardly stuffed her own shirt into the locker, "Although…"

"Hmmm?"

"Were you a cuddly kid?"

Mina mulled it over a moment, "A bit…"

"Hmmm… Must've been awkward for them…"

Mina let out a slightly exasperated sigh, "Yes… though we've… resolved those issues…"

"Oh? Well that's good," Clara replied as she fought with her dress's corset, "Hey… you mind giving me a hand with this?"

"Not at all," Mina smiled, "It is good to talk to you again after so long,"

"Well-," Clara cut herself off as she exhaled to make it as easy as possible to put the corset on, "I'll be here plenty for the near future… so no worries about making up for lost time…"

"Oh?" Mina raised an eyebrow, still trying to sort out the fastenings of Clara's Corset.

"Yeah..." Clara answered the implicit question sounding somewhat disappointed, "Robert finished that 'art song' or whatever he calls it that he'd been working on, so he took me to dinner and a movie, screwed my brains out afterwards – you know,"

Mina smirked, "Sounds like you had fun – why the frustration?"

"I did…" Clara admitted, "But right after that, he decided to compose a symphony with five movements for his term project…" She groaned, "So basically I can look forward to 'Goodnight Babe,' for the next couple of months…"

"A symphony in five movements?" Mina raised an eyebrow to this, before her expression transmuted into a devious smirk, "Then you should demand no less of him when he finishes it~"

Clara started to laugh at the joke, but was abruptly silences as she cringed instead and Mina finally had her corset properly fitted, "Y-yeah…"

"Clara… are you well…? I don't recall you ever-,"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence…" Mina imagined that Clara had turned about to cast her what Blake's books would call a 'dirty look,' but she hadn't bothered with her semblance, and was not entirely sure, though Clara couldn't stay angry, not even mildly so, "I… may have gained a few pounds…"

Mina blinked, "Are you… well… I'm told this sort of thing can happen when one becomes romantically… involved with a man-,"

"Oh my God! I can't believe you!" Clara gave her an annoyed shove, "I am not pregnant!" then she seemed to mellow though, much to Mina's relief, though a twinge of embarrassment persisted as Clara continued, voice losing steam and falling quieter with each passing word, "I uh… just might've… binged… a bit… while you were gone…"

"You… binged…?" Mina cocked her head in puzzlement, "What exactly do you mean…?"

Semblance or no, Mina could tell by the silence that Clara was staring at her, flabbergasted, "What do you mean, 'what do I mean'? I binged! Ate too much! I was stressed out, okay!"

Mina blinked again, "I…" she thought of her can of tomato juice and the rather uniform single unit of blood that she drank each day, "I apologize… I've never thought of using food to relieve stress… I apologize if I have offended…"

Clara let out a sigh, anger deflating almost at once, "I was just worried about you – and since I don't have any of your other friends numbers, I couldn't exactly check on you – but you're okay now, so I can put my worries behind me – not to mention throw away all those economy-sized boxes of Pumpkin Pete's…"

Mina giggled, "Of all the things, breakfast cereal?"

"It's easy and they taste good…" Clara weakly defended, "Otherwise it wouldn't be a problem…"

Mina fell quiet for a moment as she considered this. Slightly irked though she may have presently been, Clara seemed to remain in good humor, yet the few weeks of Mina's absence had seen her… stress-eating? And to the point that she'd noticeably gained weight…

"Clara…"

"Huh?"

"I am… sorry… for causing you such trouble…"

Mina activated her Semblance to gauge quite possibly her only friend outside of Beacon's reaction, and was surprised to find Clara shooting her an askance look, "Sorry for what? It's not like you made me eat twenty three boxes of - and you know what, I'm just gonna stop talking now…"

Mina couldn't help a little chuckle, "That is a great deal of breakfast cereal…"

"Damn straight," Clara replied, less amused, but still in good cheer, "But now that I know you're okay, I can diet away the pounds!"

"I see…" Mina smiled, "If there is anything that I can do to help, do let me know,"

"I don't suppose you'd mind coming to my apartment to help me burn several dozen boxes of sugary cereal then…?"

Mina giggled, "Not at all – although you might also do to exercise more…"

"Hey!" Clara gave her a little shove, "We can't all go to Huntress school!"

Mina shrugged, "There are several forms of exercise~"

Clara just stared, blinking a few times, "Pfft… I wish… Robert is surprisingly unforthcoming when it comes to that sort of thing…"

Mina just shrugged, "You could simply ask him for exactly what you want…"

"…I suppose…" Clara's hand rose to stroke her chin, "Hmmm… Maybe if I put on Chopin's third when he gets home and dress in that really skimpy nightgown… Say, maybe it's not a perfect comparison, but Blake seems pretty... subdued… How do you get her all over you so much?"

"Hmm…" Mina considered the question for a moment, before admitting at some length, "Well… I confess that I can be… persistent…"

"Okay… so the really skimpy nightgown then…" Clara mused, "Might have to break out the piano maneuver again…"

"Always a good idea to play to his preferences~" Mina smirked, "Blake for one, likes it when I bite~"

Clara cringed, "Not sure Robert would be into that… and I don't think I have the teeth to make it sexy-,"

"Hey, Carfax," Both girls' attention was pulled from Clara's latest scheme to seduce her less-than –assertive boyfriend when one of their co-workers called in, "Are you almost done with your break? We've got somebody asking for you,"

Mina sighed, "Alas, duty calls…"

"Eh; knock em dead," Clara gave her a thumbs up, "We can always gossip later – oh, but we have so totally got to have a double-date sometime! Maybe Robert could learn a thing or two from Blake…"

Mina just smiled, "Perhaps… Blake could do to loosen up about our being… publically affectionate… She does embarrass fairly easily…"

"Noted~" Clara replied devilishly, "Now go skin em alive!"

"Sure thing,"

Heaving a sigh, Mina followed her other coworker out of the break room and into the dining area, "So Lizzie, which table is my esteemed guest seated at?"

"Seven," the other waitress responded distastefully, "That seems to be your lucky number…"

Mina pondered that remark for a moment, and found that it was indeed true – virtually every time she'd been requested for hostess duty, it had been for table seven, "Curious…"

"Oh, by the way, it's a chick – and yeah, I know you're into that – but I think I've seen her before, so heads up…"

"Oh?" Mina asked as they came up to table seven, "I wonder-,"

"Hello Mina…"

Mina's attention snapped away from her co-worker to the person seated in the booth at table seven, activating her Semblance to make certainty of her disbelief, "Blake?"

Blake scratched the back of her head, "Yeah…"

"So she's your girlfriend?" Lizzie commented dismissively, "I'll just leave you to it then…"

Mina gave her co-worker a perfunctory nod before moving to sit down across from Blake, but Blake spoke up first, "Would you mind sitting next to me…? Or is that not allowed…?"

Mina smiled, moving to accommodate, "It is not not allowed…"

As Mina took her seat beside Blake now, Blake's smiled at first, but then soured somewhat, "So what's her problem?" She bristled at Lizzie's dismissive attitude, "Kinda got an attitude problem huh?"

Mina just shrugged, "That is just… how Lizzie is – in fact she's very vocal about claiming that she'd work somewhere else if it paid as well, and that she intends to quit as soon as she finishes college..." Mina paused for thought before adding, "Although she seems surprisingly mellow today…"

"You'd think she'd scare customers away with that judgmental attitude…" Blake mused.

"Mmmm… It is somewhat surprising just how many customers are fond of her – something about her being… Tsun… something or other…" She offered, then cracked a wry smile, "Getting defense are Dearest?"

"What? No! I'm only here to see you!" Blake instead.

"To see me and enjoy the tuna, I think…" Mina teased, poking Blake's unfinished plate, before she thought better of it and picked up Blake's fork and used it to take a small piece of the fish, "Now open up~"

Blake hesitated, but ultimately gave in, letting Mina feed her the piece of fish, "Mina... you're embarrassing me…"

"Oh come now Dearest, do you really care what any of the other patrons at a place like this think of you?" Mina teased, presenting Blake with another forkful, "Surely you knew what you were in for when you came~"

"I just wanted to see you on your first day back at work… and make sure that you were okay…" Blake admitted, before accepting the second mouthful with a slightly pouty look, "even if you were going to make fun of me…"

Mina set down the fork and gently cupped Blake's cheek, leaning in for q quick, chaste little kiss, "Well then, I am touched …" She winked, tugging ever so slightly at her already low neckline, "It is comforting to know that your desire to see me in a maid outfit outweighs your anxiety concerning what strangers think of you~"

Mina could not see the way Blake's face reddened, but her embarrassment came across clearly enough in her voice – not that Blake looked away… "M-Mina! Not in public!"

"Oh, I know..." Mina sighed, readjusting her blouse, "And in all seriousness, I do appreciate your concern Dearest, only…"

"Hmmm?" Blake queried as she took Mina's hand down on the bench.

"You needn't have done something so… expensive to show that you cared…"

Blake was briefly dumbfounded by the response, "Wait, so overnight stays at the Vale Grand Hotel and a hot springs resort were 'nothing' but when I come in to buy lunch, that's expensive?" Blake asked in sheer disbelief, "I mean sure, the prices here aren't exactly reasonable, but still…"

"Expensive is relative Dearest; however… distasteful this job may or may not be, I earn considerably more here than you do as a campus library aid…" Mina pointed out, "Do not mistake me – I appreciate you visiting, but you can have whatever you want of me without spending a hundred lien…"

"Except visit you on your first day back at work," Blake countered, stealing another kiss, "And it's worth every cent,"

"Honestly Blake…" Weiss fumed to herself as she set about the task of writing that essay for Professor Port that was due the next day, having put it off until now on account of all that had happened, "There was no need to be so stubborn about it…"

She'd tried to convince her other teammates that maybe instead of going off to play that silly card game in the library again, it might behoove them to finally start all the assignments that they'd let pile up, but as usual, everyone else, it seemed, had 'better' things to do. Weiss supposed that she really shouldn't stress quite so much about it – after all, not everyone had made it their personal mission to be valedictorian upon graduation, and thus it probably wasn't strictly speaking necessary for her teammates to complete their final drafts by the time the rough draft was due, but still… Of RWBY's R, B, and Y, Weiss was willing to be most lenient in her judgment of Blake's chosen reason for procrastination – she had even been willing to support Blake's decision. Some things were more important than academics after all… Not many, but still…

"I mean really…" Weiss continued ranting to herself even as she finished penning a paragraph concerning the pack dynamics of lesser Beowolves, "When someone offers to pay for your lunch, where's the harm in accepting? It's not like I can't afford to be generous once in a while…"

Blake had declined to accept the offer, stating that 'it wasn't Weiss's responsibility' to financially support her and Mina's relationship, and while true, Weiss couldn't help but be frustrated to no end by the rebuff – the single greatest charge anyone ever brought against the Schnee family was greed, and ye there she had been, trying to do something nice, and she got turned down, "I've got half a mind to steal your wallet just to shove the money in there anyway-,"

Weiss's quiet ranting and slightly insulted dignity fell silent though when she heard a few knocks on the door to the dorm. For an instant, the Heiress puzzled, wondering why Ruby or Yang would bother to knock – Blake was presumably still out in Vale – but then ruled them out. It could have conceivably been a member of Team JNPR, but Weiss didn't think that terribly likely, and was about to begrudgingly get up to see who it actually was, when the person spoke, and Weiss froze.

"Hey Mina…

On the other side of the door, Nadia took a deep breath and glanced quickly to either side so as to make certain that there was no one else around. Her fingers curled into fists, but then fell slack; she wasn't here to fight, and she felt like her anger had all bled out, "Hey Mina… I'm sorry if this is a bad time…" She's probably not even there, she told herself, but this is for you anyway… you can say it to her face later… "I just…" She raised a hand as though to reach for the doorknob, then shook her head and placed her hand on the door frame instead, as though to brace herself, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry…"

It didn't feel like enough though, of course not… "I'm sorry for everything… I'm sorry for being so angry and I'm sorry for being selfish… I… really hadn't been thinking of you, had I?" Still there was silence. It made sense really; even if Mina – or anybody for that matter – was in there to listen, why would they want to talk to her? Much less forgive… every last member of Team RWBY had every right and reason to hate her after all, "I'm sorry that I tried to hurt you, and I'm sorry for blaming you for my problems… I just… I spent years of my life looking up to you and trying to fit you into my own stupid little fantasy and…" She took another long, deep breath and let it all out again, "and I convinced myself that it was true… that you were just like me – but better – like if I weren't so weak and helpless… like me if I were worth loving but… God, just look at me!" she rested her forehead up against the door, "I wanted you to love me so much – maybe then I could've loved myself a little – but when reality wasn't like my fantasy, I chose the stupid fantasy, and look where it's gotten me: I tried to kill you instead of coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't have my way, and I tried to take away the person you care about the most and…" She slid down to her knees, and couldn't keep back tears anymore, "And I let myself become the kind of monster that took your mother from you…"

Still more silence, and Nadia shuddered as she let out another choked sob, "I guess it's not really fair for me to ask you to forgive me, huh?"

Weiss was speechless. For a precious few days things had been well, and she'd allowed herself to forget about Undine, but now she had freedom to move about the halls? The Headmaster must be-! But Weiss caught herself before she could finish rushing to judgment; murderous lunatics didn't apologize or beg forgiveness…

"Maybe nobody's there…" Nadia Undine's voice continued, shakily getting the words out past audible sobbing, "but I want to tell Belladonna and the Schnee girl I'm sorry too… They didn't deserve any of this either…"

Weiss wasn't entirely sure when or how, but at some point during Nadia's confession she had found herself standing at the door, separated from Nadia by only a mere few inches of wood. Her hand was hesitating just over the doorknob; she didn't know what to do. All she could hear now on the other side of the door were Undine's wracking sobs, but was opening the door really the right thing to do? And what the Hell would you say if you did? Sympathy was one thing – this girl had been through a lot, and coming to realize and confront one's flaws and failures was certainly a familiar trial to the Heiress, but could you really open that door and say 'I forgive you'? And is that even your place…?

Weiss wouldn't have the chance to decide then and there though, because at that moment, Undine's tears fell quiet and Weiss could just barely hear a familiar voice panicking as its owner hurried down the hall, "Crap! Crap! Crap! Come on Jaune! How do you forget to bring your sword to a training session!?"

Weiss couldn't help shaking her head with a quiet little sigh, Such a dork… It's a good thing he's nice… But then her eyes widened as she remembered Undine, and it seemed that Jaune had noticed her as well, because his pace slowed, and his voice drew closer to Team RWBY's door, "Hey… are you alright…? Have we met?"

Don't tell me… The Heiress rolled her eyes.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing crying in the hall?"

Weiss facepalmed, Yep… But to the Heiress's surprise, Nadia barely acknowledged it.

Undine's coat could be heard rustling though the door as she stood, "Nothing… I was just leaving…"

Author's Note: Hello all, now before we close I just want to make a brief point of clarity; starting with Weiss's scene, any text just in italics is someone's internal thought, and any time it is italicized and in quotes is being heard through the door. I just wanted to be clear. At any rate, I do hope that you enjoyed that, as I'm trying to work Nadia around to being more sympathetic… hopefully it's working… At any rate, feedback is always appreciated, and have a good one!