"So the reason I have to get up at awful-o-clock on Saturday, is because we're flying to Vale…"

"Yes, Ruby."

"Annnndddd, we're doing this because you're finally ready to settle down and have a family…"

"Yes, Ruby."

"I'm going to be an aunt?"

By this time, Weiss hardly hold back her smile. "Yes, Ruby, in spirit and intent at least…even if not by blood."

"Who are going to be the god parents?" Ruby asked, nearly bouncing where she stood.

At this, Weiss lifted her eyes from her work, and very gently set down her pen. Of course Ruby would think to ask that. Why wouldn't she, given her own losses, after all. It stood to reason. Blake and Weiss had also thought long and hard about. "Parent…only one."

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Really? Not two?"

"It was a hard choice, actually." Weiss replied, fingers running along a bit of paperwork before she closed it. "Blake and I weren't sure at first. Since the children are going to be Faunus, the obligatory answer was Coco, Velvet, and Fox. They have the money, the influence, and everything our children would ever need."

"Then, what's stopping you?"

"Intuition." Weiss murmured. "In the end, we both agreed, there was just something about that choice that seemed wrong somehow. We needed someone who we could trust without question to know what was best…to be able to do that without batting an eye."

"Soooo?"

"We asked Yang."

"You're kidding." Ruby murmured, amazed by that.

"She was the first to know we were even considering this." Weiss replied. "In the event something happens to Blake and I, Yang will be their guardian…in the event she is unable, then, the next in line are Coco, Velvet, and Fox, who are in charge of my estate."

"Yang's probably been gnawing at the bit about this whole aunt thing." Ruby considered then, though in truth, she was pretty excited herself. "I'm surprised she hasn't pushed you on the next flight out…" Ruby paced over to the large window, overlooking over one of the smaller courtyards.

"Are you okay, Ruby? You seem out of it."

The younger woman sighed, shoulders slumping in her signature little way. At least she wasn't poking her fingers together, but something was actually bothering her. "Oh, I'm just trying to figure out how to break the news to Yang…Sun, he gave me this the other night, and well…" She rolled up her shirtsleeve. Tied around her bicep was a woven band of brightly colored silks.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. It was fine craftsmanship. It was also similar to garment she'd worn once before. "He's getting serious…"

"Yeah, we are." Ruby admitted, her fingers ran over the silk, before she pulled her sleeve down. "We decided, we're going to give being together a real shot."

It was a gift that signified that a Faunus had taken an interest in a potential suitor. It was their version of a promise ring, and it wasn't something to be taken lightly. Weiss still had hers, safely kept in a small wooden box by her bedside. It was a scent marker, but more than that, it was a gift lovingly handmade, and always fussed over. Seeing Ruby wearing one brought back fond memories.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had the urge to scold Sun for not warning anyone. Outwardly she relented. "Okay…I'm going to help you out, Ruby, just this once." Unbeknownst to her friend, Weiss pushed a small buzzer under her desk. It sent a call directly to Yang's scroll. "Excuse the fact it'll have to be a little unorthodox."

The blonde entered the room in a short order. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Weiss!" Ruby finally caught on. "You did not just do that!"

"Yes, I just did." Weiss stood from her desk. "The two of you are going to talk, I'm going to go find my wife."

"Left her in the library." Yang reported.

"Then, I'll be there." Weiss nodded to the small wet bar in the corner. "Have a few drinks, clear the air. Yang, if you need to blow off steam after this, let me know. I'll be more than willing to step into the ring for a good match."

"What did she mean by that?" Yang asked, but Ruby wasn't quick to answer.

Instead, the girl paced back and forth as she waited for Weiss to leave. This was a talk they should have had years ago. Ruby just didn't have the words for it back then. "She means that…well, there's something that we need to talk about…I'm just…worried…and it's stupid really, but I need you to just listen. I need to get this out, and I don't know if I'll be able too."

Yang, affixed herself in a rather relaxed stance. Arms gently crossed, as her eyes narrowed gently in concern. "I'll always listen if you need to talk. You know that."

The younger sister nodded, but, she took a few more steps back and forth. "I'd like to think so..."

"Then why aren't you talking?" Yang stepped forward, her arms raised and poised for one of her crushing bear hugs, but Ruby took a few more steps back. "Sis?"

"I like being a huntress." Ruby started, her words slow, but shaky. "I like living off the land, watching the stars…being on my own…I don't like being completely reliant on others...and, so when it happened…when Scarlet happened...I was put into that position of feeling like I was weak."

The elder sister lunged, pulling Ruby into a tight hug. "You were never weak Ruby, you ju-"

"Yang please…" Ruby pled, silencing her sister, arms fighting the hold. She didn't want it to be this way.

Now, even more worried, Yang let go. Seeing the distress in silver eyes, she choked back what was going to be a retort.

"I know what you're going to tell me…but that doesn't change how I felt." Ruby pressed, standing there shaking like a leaf. These were not emotions she spoke about freely, never to Yang. Never to her older sister, who blamed herself for every little thing. "Like I was weak, like I just didn't matter…I know that's dumb, I know it's not true…and some part of me knew it then too."

"…Okay?" Yang didn't know what this was about, but she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Okay, so, after I recovered, I needed to be on my own more and more. You know…to prove to myself that I could be...right?"

"That was what you told us…" Yang's words grew thick. "Did that…somehow change?"

"I…that's…hard to say…" Ruby trailed off, walking towards the large desk, speaking more to the air in general, than to Yang directly. "I needed to know that I could stand on my own. That I wasn't weak, or worthless. I think, I've proven that…" Then, Ruby bit her lip, her two pointer fingers joining together as she paced again. "Now, the thing is, I'm at this…point I guess…in my life, where I don't want to be alone anymore."

"Ruby…you're scaring me…"

"I don't want to scare you Yang, that's the problem." Ruby rolled her eyes, one hand running through her messy unkempt hark hair, tipped red. "I know that no matter what I say, you're going to be scared. You almost lost me once, and I know…I know…you do not deal with fear well. Ever since Scarlet. Since then, you've changed. You have this militant edge to you now…this…well, whatever the heck that is…" Ruby gestured her hand up and down.

Yang took a measured breath, feeling as if she had missed a step someplace. "What does my uniform have to do with anything?"

"You didn't decide to become a bodyguard for the fat paychecks and job security." Ruby told her. "We both know this isn't what you wanted out of life."

"I don't think we're here to discuss my job title…"

"Except, that we are." Ruby sighed, frustrated, her voice cracking. "I'm not saying you regret it. I'm just saying, that you wanted to be out there under the stars, just like me. Maybe for different reasons, but you never wanted to be tied down to one place. Not ever…but then…since Scarlet, things changed…if things aren't within your control, it freaks you out."

"Are you finished bitching at me?"

"I don't want to bitch at you."

"Then what do you want out of me?"

"To believe me when I tell you, I'm okay."

"Ruby…I…" Yang bit her lip. "You gotta understand…to me, you'll always be that little baby girl that dad told me to protect…that I almost lost because I do stupid things…like take you into the woods, or let some jackass treat you like shit. I'm not going to screw up again."

"Stop blaming yourself…" Ruby bit out, and sense of worthlessness creeping back up again. Shadowboxing Yang's old demons wasn't easy. Ruby knew she just couldn't do it on her own. What was worse, the blond haired woman refused to even face them anymore. "Yang, you didn't hurt me. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I didn't do anything right, either." Yang's fists balled tightly, leather crinkling under the force.

"And I can't change the way you think." Ruby told her. "I have a hard enough time changing the way I think...I don't want to spend my life afraid of every little thing."

"Then what do you want, Ruby?"

Ruby shrugged then, lost for more words. Lost for better ones. "I may be a gear-head, and I may love my job…it's just, I want to wake up in somebody else's arms too…"

"Uh, Ruby…I really, really don't think I want to hear this…and I don't think you're ready to be hooking up with some guy."

"Well then get with the program, Yang." Ruby shot back. "I'm an adult, I have urges…and Xiao Long genes be damned, I like sex."

"Now I know I don't want to hear this." Yang's eyes turned red. "Who in the hell have you been sleeping with?!"

"Cool it, or I'm not saying…"

"Ruby Rose! I will not-"

"That's right, Yang Xiao Long. You won't!" Her sister wanted a shouting match? She'd give her a shouting match. Better yet, she'd pin her to the wall. "Get that aggressive look out of your eyes…I don't like it." Ruby demanded, silvered eyes hardened in their own wave of shimmering fury. "Cool down, Yang, or we're done talking about this…"

Yang blinked, several times, dumbfounded. Ruby rarely yelled at her, and never quite like that. It was off-putting, and more than a little intimidating.

Ruby saw Yang's eye flash back to lilac. "Are you done thinking about going ballistic?"

"That remains to be seen." Yang said dangerously.

Ruby only sighed, letting go of her sister, but feeling the weight of the situation on her. "I've found someone I can have meaningful experiences with, and I don't want to have to hide it from you. It's just, I don't want him to feel like he's walking on broken glass every time he's around you either. Yang, you have to swear to me that you're not going to start a fight…"

"I make no promises."

"Yang, I mean it."

"Fine, but if this dude lays one finger on you the wrong way…and I mean it, just one finger…"

"Sun…"

Yang derailed her whole oncoming rant. "Excuse me?"

"Sun…" Ruby said louder, more clearly. "I'm in a relationship with Sun…"

Yang was pissed…but only at herself.

She wasn't happy about Ruby's relationship. For a great number of reasons that kept her up late into the night, she just hated the idea. She leaned over the sprawling kitchen counter, looking at a sealed liquor bottle. She studied it closely, wondering where she had gone wrong in her life. She didn't regret becoming a bodyguard. She was happy with the life she had, more or less.

Undeniably, Ruby had been right about one thing. It was a choice Yang made out of fear.

Fear of losing Ruby, fear of losing her team…fear of becoming exactly like her mother, and losing herself. Her uncle was a raging alcoholic, her father a man devoted completely to his work. They both ran from the idea of loss. It scared both of those men, so much, that they resorted to avoidance. Yang knew, when she boiled down everything to the heart of the matter, she wasn't any different.

She'd stood on the precipice of danger one too many times. Bore witness as an observer, wishing on more than one occasion the roles had been switched. That she could be put in Ruby's place. The she could take the brunt of whatever went wrong. She remembered Blake complaining once, long ago, about her semblance reflecting her nature...Yang had always bushed that off as convoluted thinking.

"But then," Yang thought to herself at that exact moment, "What does that say about my semblance, or 'bout me?"

It wasn't a comforting thought.

"Are you going to stare at that all night, or do you actually want to drink some?"

Yang lifted her gaze to Weiss, dressed in her pajamas, a thick robe over her shoulders. She pushed the bottle to the shorter woman. "Nah, I don't want that stuff, not like this." She put her face back onto the cold counter. "Sun's up in her room right now. God, I wish he wasn't."

"So, you finally talked about the elephant in the room?"

"Monkey."

"It was a figure of speech."

"No shit."

"So, what happened?" Weiss asked slowly, as she poured two late night glasses of whiskey. She wasn't a particular fan of it like Blake was, but pretty soon, Blake would be cutting alcohol completely from her diet. A late night a drink together over a Blake's newest book purchase might be in order.

Yang didn't bother to answer, grunting in aggravation instead.

"Eloquent..." Seeing Yang so despondent halted any plans Weiss had. "You didn't throttle him, and if he's in Ruby's bedroom, that means she called him over. It would seem to me that's a good thing."

"I can even look him in the face." Yang sighed. "Here I was, ready to beat in some pervert's face in. I figured, I was going to kick some bastard creeper from one of those shady bars she goes into all the time." Yang hadn't expected it to be one of her friends. "Then I find out she's been with Sun…and it's like, what can I do?"

"What do you want to do?" Weiss asked.

"Don't know." Yang sighed. "I can't tell her not to see him. I can't threaten him." Her fist pounded the counter top. "Well, I mean, I could but that would be pointless."

"Hmm." Weiss considered those words, and the depressed attitude that came with it. "But, you're still tempted." Weiss preferred the angry side of Yang. They all did. It was easier to subvert rage, than it was to comfort her sadness. "See, it would be easier if he was a complete stranger. Then you'd be allowed to hate him. Since he's your friend, you can't do that."

Yang lifted her head again, blowing a long strand of blond hair out of her face. "Why didn't she just tell me? Something like; hey, I'm banging Sun. If you don't want a show, stay outta my bedroom. That's really all it would have taken."

"Somehow, I doubt that…"

"Okay, fine." Yang relented, rolling her eyes. "But you're right. It's not like I hate the guy."

Sitting down across from Yang, Weiss left the booze forgotten. "So, you're okay with Ruby being in a relationship with Sun?"

"Right now? Hell no…" Yang sighed then. "But…I will be."

"So?" Weiss said, popping the glass top off of a container of pretzels that rested in the corner. She plucked one for herself. "What's the real issue here?" Biting into hers, as she gestured for Yang to take one too.

"I just hate the fact that Ruby doesn't trust me." Yang pushed it back. "We used to tell each other everything…we didn't hide anything." Yang let loose a bitter laugh. "We never needed to. Somewhere along the line, that changed. I know, some part of that is my own god-damn fault, but still...it sucks, and it hurts."

"Sisters fight sometimes. It happens." Weiss said, perching her chin in her palm. "If it makes you feel any better, I almost had a few choice words with Sun myself."

"Because Ruby would just love that…"

Weiss tilted her head to the side, agreeing. She kept her mouth shut for a reason, even if she wanted to scold Sun to great length. "I know Sun isn't from what one might consider a well-to-do family. It's the only reason I haven't given him a firm lecture on the subject. He should have asked you first…or even better, he should have asked your father."

Yang let a ghost of a smile reach her lips. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

"Blake's hardly a fitting example." Weiss said softly. "But, for the sake of your argument...yes. I would have addressed her family properly if I could have."

"What am I going to do?" Yang murmured.

"You'll figure it out." Weiss said then. "You always do."