Author notes: Damn snipergirl, back at it again with the angst! Yep it's back and once again in flashbacks but hopefully I can progress this plot forward more now that the past is out the way. By the way, Yang calling Blake Mizuki in the last chapter is not just some random name. Apparently it can mean (mi) beautiful and (zuki) moon in Japanese but don't quote me on that! I sincerely apologise if it does not mean this, I just thought that if it did mean that, it would be cute as hell and appropriate for Yang to call Blake her beautiful moon. Anyhow as per usual likes and comments are much appreciated and yeah I guess, enjoy?
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, all creditability and ownership of the following scenarios and characters goes to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.
Blake wasn't exactly sure why she had finally decided to return back to her old dormitory. Maybe it was because she wanted to sleep on a proper bed for a change, instead of the cobbled alleyways of uptown Vale. Maybe it was some underlying psychological need to return to somewhere she used to call home? Or perhaps it was something more obvious… She had given up.
There hadn't been a single trace of Adam. She had searched every likely location that she had thought her ex-mentor might be hiding at, but all she had found were dust and echoes. Then there was the fact that Yang was gone. Her boisterous partner had passed on from this life before she had found an opportunity to talk to the girl about her feelings. Now she would never have the chance.
Wiping away the tears that had fallen in a steady stream down her cheeks during her time sat at the roofs edge mourning, Blake stood up slowly and turned back to the stairwell that she had used to get up to the top level. With nothing else to do and both more mentally and psychically tired than she had ever been before, she started heading down the stairs which led to her old living quarters.
As she walked down the corridor and turned to face the entrance to RWBY's old dorm she felt anxiety creep into her stomach. Was she ready for this? Taking a deep breath of courage before opening the bedroom door, she stepped inside. Nothing had changed much and everything was just how Blake had last remembered it to be, aside for one exception: Dust, and not the energy kind-of dust that a majority of the ex-student's weapons used. No, now the majority of the room was covered in a haze of grey grime from the amount of time that had passed since someone had been here, creating a dull atmosphere in the once lively room. Blake shivered as she closed the door gently behind her, careful not to disturb or awaken any of the ghosts of days long past.
Stepping further inside, Blake ignored the screaming in her head as she let her heart lead her to where it wanted to go. Upon reaching her and Yang's old bunks she leaned up and ungracefully tugged herself onto the mattress until she sat cross-legged atop of Yang's old bed. The pressure in her skull reaching a tipping point as she pulled her partner's old duvet up to her face and breathed in Yang's scent which still lingered to the sheets: an oddly delightful combination of gunpowder and cinnamon.
Although it was such a simple action, it was enough sensory overload for all the repressed memories to come flooding back. Blake gripped the covers tightly and wrapped them around herself as the tears and pain once again threatened to consume her. She remembered when Yang had first pulled Ruby over to her, how she had foolishly presumed that she was just another dumb blonde and that the girl wouldn't make it through initiation. She recalled how much she had been wrong the next day at seeing Yang soar through the air, shotgun shells blazing behind her like a merciless angel of death before she had landed into the emerald forest with the force of a typhoon. It was unlike anything Blake had ever seen. She didn't even hesitate to turn around from the direction that she had originally been headed in to try and find the girl. Blake fully collapsed into a ball, tangled deep within the quilt as the pain increased to unbearable levels upon realising that the brightest memories of Yang were the one's when Blake had been at her darkest.
So much had happened since they first met, but none of it was as heart-breaking as the night of the ball. Yang had been the one to save her from herself that day. She recalled how Yang had literally dragged her to an empty classroom, sat her down and made her listen. Blake sobbed harder into the sheets as she re-saw Yang share her deepest secrets and shame. Yang had trusted her with information that perhaps not even Ruby knew. It opened up Blake's eyes in that moment: She saw that she was too focused on Torchwick and most importantly she began to realise that she harboured more than the usual feelings for Yang.
She remembered how soft Yang's skin felt as she held her when they danced. She felt hollow pains within her heart as Yang's glow was softly muted in the distance as Sun approached her. Hands were held, moves were made but they weren't from Yang. Sun was good, but he just wasn't her.
Then there was the time between Mountain Glenn and the tournament, The Yvtal festival. Blake started screaming and shaking as she knew what was too come, for it was the beginning of the end. Her heart yearned to approach Yang with her feelings as they celebrated winning the team round, it was something in Yang's triumphant smile and fist pump after delivering the final blow. She always thought that there was something satisfying in the way that she would hold onto Gambol Shroud and Yang as her partner's new momentum combined with her devastating attack guaranteed them victory.
Blake continued screaming a feral wail as she recollected that painful knife of betrayal as she was lost in the memory of Yang break Mercury's leg in front of her own eyes. Numbing shock had reverberated through her until disappointment and anger took its place as Yang sat opposite her with her alibi. It sickened her remembering how that at first, she couldn't think anything but the fact that Yang was lying. She was just like Adam. That was until she looked up at her partner, hearing the break in the other girl's voice proceeded by thick tears in her violet eyes. All the doubts about Yang's innocence washed away like footprints in sand being swept away by soothing tides. Yang was innocent. How hadn't she believed her sooner?
The screams were then followed by the sounds of Blake hyperventilating, the noise of her panic filling the room as she knew what she was going to see next. She couldn't see that again. NO… PLEASE! STOP! Please make it stop. She mumbled as her voice broke from her previously high pitch yells but to no avail. The past dragged her back down, forcing her to reflect on her mistakes.She was lying on her back, unable to retaliate against Adam as he turned away briefly upon hearing Yang. She was calling your name. She was going to get hurt trying to find you. You had raised your arm weakly in an attempt to make her see that she needed to run, but to no avail "No…." Then you heard the sound of wilt being unsheathed before feeling the agonising throb of pain as it pierced through your aura and skin. You had tried to not make a sound in case you alerted Yang, but you had failed, releasing a cry into the cold air.
You looked up in time to see Yang turn and respond to your pained sound; you saw her mouth move, but no words came out. You felt completely numb as the image of Yang on fire permantley burned into your skull as she activated her semblance then leaped into the air with incredible speeds towards Adam. It was then that reality pushed you back into its unforgiving embrace just as you saw her light be put out as her body crashed and ricocheted onto the rough floors.
Blake immediately darted up into a sitting position and engulfed a large amount of air into her oxygen starved lungs. She grabbed at the sides of her head as she then rocked slowly back and forth. It wasn't real… but it was. Everything that she had just seen had actually happened in the past. Yang had dived in to save her… and ultimately ended up paying the price instead of Blake. It should have been her, not Yang.
Wiping her sleeve against her cheeks to remove the excessive moisture that had built-up there, Blake struggled to take even breaths and collect herself fully; she doubted she could ever fully get over Yang. However she knew that she didn't want to think too much anymore, it felt as if she was just hit with a sledgehammer right between her eyes. She just wanted to sleep. Leaning over to the top section of the bed, Blake grabbed at a pillow and pulled it towards her before realising that there was something hidden inside the pillow's cover. Picking up the object, Blake realised it was a photo. At first she didn't recognise who the woman in the picture was until she took a closer look at her appearance. Red eyes and that hair... It all made sense…Was this Yang's birth mother? Startled, Blake turned the photo around, revealing an address and a name scribbled in messy handwriting on the back: Junior Xiong.