Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
Yang wandered about the school grounds, not wanting to return to her room because of the risk of running into Nora. She wasn't as nervous or afraid as she had been, the idea of running into the redhead no longer made her quiver. But, she wasn't ready to face her yet. She didn't have answers of her own and knew that a conversation with Nora right now would be very hard to have without those answers. Yang kicked a pebble off the path in front of her, it went flying forward, clipped the fountain in front of her, taking a small chip with it and went skittering to the ground a hundred or so yards further down the path. Yang winced as she realized she must be incredibly tense and had kicked with far more force than she had intended. She silently hoped that Goodwitch of all people hadn't seen her and forced herself to sit on a bench, trying to relax. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply, she could feel it working, the tension slowly easing out of her body with every exhale.
"Hey sis'," Yang's eyes shot open in surprise and all she could see was Ruby's face. Her little sister was extremely close and Yang knew full well that Ruby had wanted to startle her. She wouldn't let her have the satisfaction and so tried to play it off as much as possible.
"Oh hey Rubes. What's up?" Yang threw her hands behind her head and leaned back in the bench.
"Oh nuthin'. I was just headed back to the room. It's gettin' kinda late." Ruby glanced up at the sky and Yang followed her eyes. She hadn't noticed but it was already getting dark. The sun had begun to dip below the horizon and was throwing long orange rays across the campus. The light pole's and fountain's shadows had grown long and Yang let out a yawn, "So what's up with you? Just sittin'?" Yang stood up and put an arm around her little sister in a short hug and they started towards the dorms.
"Yeah, I've had a lot on my mind lately and I needed to think." Yang tucked her hands in her pockets and watched the ground pass under her feet.
"You wanna talk about it? I promise I'll listen and I will try my hardest not to interrupt in the middle." Ruby's eyes were huge and shining, like the unrisen moon. Yang decided that if anybody deserved to know what was troubling her and might be able to help her get a hold of herself it would be her sister, there was no one in the world she cherished or trusted more.
"Okay, you gotta promise though." Yang gave Ruby a hard glance and the little girl made an exaggerated sign of sealing her lips like a zipper, Yang smiled and dove into her explanation. She told Ruby all about what had happened at the club, the guys hitting on them and what Nora had done to try and stop them. Ruby stifled a laugh when Yang told her about Nora bashing one with a bottle but managed to not say a word. Then Yang told her about her talk with Blake and then lunch with Nora. Ruby started to realize the gravity of what Yang was talking about and her silly grin faded to a contemplative, almost stern face as Yang finished explaining the talk she and Nora had had. They reached the quad area outside their dorm building and Yang stopped to look up at the window that she knew was Team JNPR's room. Ruby grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her over to the fountain in the center of the quad. They sat down on the edge of the fountain, Ruby grabbed both of Yang's hand and stared deep into her eyes. For a moment they sat there and Ruby didn't say anything. Yang finally spoke up, "You can talk now Ruby, I'm done." Ruby breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Oh thank you. I wasn't sure and I promised not to interrupt and this isn't like 'Oh no, I think I might do bad on tomorrow's test' this is like actually really important stuff." Ruby stopped and squeezed Yang's hands. She shut her eyes and thought for a moment and then opened them slowly, "Yang, you said you think Nora's cute right?"
Yang nodded her head.
"And you had a lot of fun with her the other night?"
Yang nodded again, "Yeah"
"Okay, well what has it been like before when you've liked a boy? How do you know when you like someone like that?" she put emphasis on the 'you'.
Yang paused, she hadn't tried to think of it that way. She thought and thought about boys she had dated in the past. There were a few during her time at Signal. Nothing was ever very serious, they were so young and the pressures on them to become capable huntresses and get into places like Beacon were so high. As Yang thought about it she couldn't come up with an answer because even the boys she had dated she couldn't particularly say she had liked in the romantic sense. They were all just cute boys who were fun to hang out with and met her standards of being strong, capable and polite to her, her family and friends. Past that nothing had ever really developed so she looked back to her sister.
"I don't know Ruby."
"Well. Is it like a crush? Like you can't stop thinking about her all the time, you dream about her, you stare at her in class?" Ruby clasped her hands together under her chin and swayed back and forth slightly, Yang blushed slightly and crossed her arms in indignation.
"No it's not like that. C'mon Rubes I'm not swooning over her." Yang turned her chin up with a huff, "It's more like. When I'm with her I'm able to really relax and let go of a lot of the stuff that always bothering me like school and training and all that. And there's this… I don't know how to explain it." Yang paused and turned back, meeting Ruby's gaze again. Her sister's eyes had regained their seriousness and it was strange for Yang to see such focus there. She turned away and regarded her own reflection in the water of the fountain. "It's like a warm feeling, not just around her, but when she does certain things. When she's goofy or silly, when she plays out the scenes in her head or gets way too excited about simple things. When she gets aggressive and wants to fight, when she gets happy and wants to dance around in the middle of the classroom, I just get this warm feeling I guess, it's like the way I felt when I found out you were coming to school with me, or when we get to go home and see Dad in Patch after a long time away." She slowly raised her head back and found her sister, had vibrating with barely contained excitement. Ruby dove forward and tackled her sister in a hug. They fell off to the side of the fountain, both laughing.
"Oh Yang you really really like her." Her sister was beaming, a huge smile across her face.
"Yeah but Ruby, she's a girl." Yang eased herself up and Ruby slid off of her.
"And?" Ruby threw her hands up in frustration, "You said she likes girls right? And you like her. Isn't that all that matters?" She gave Yang a playful shove and laughed again.
"I guess, I mean maybe. I don't know. Isn't that weird though?" Yang took the shove playfully but was still troubled.
"No, it's not weird Yang. Like you said, she's super cute and fun and awesome, who cares if you're both girls?" Ruby jumped to her feet and extended a hand to help Yang stand. Yang took it happily
"You're right Ruby. Who cares." Yang leaned for ward and picked her little sister up in a bone crushing hug, "I love you sis'" she put her down. Ruby blushed and waved it away, looking off to the side.
"Oh I love you too Yang." she grabbed Yang's hand and pulled her off towards the dorms, "C'mon, let's get to our room."
The two girls came trotting up the hallway, smiles still stretched across their faces. They reached their and Team JNPR's doors and stopped in the hallway.
"Alright Rubes, I'm gonna talk to her right now." Yang leaned forward and gave her sister another tight hug, "Thank you"
"Good Luck Yang" Ruby turned and entered their room, stopping with the door half shut, "Go get her sis'." They smiled to each other and Ruby closed the door. Yang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, there was no turning back after this. Once that door opened she would be facing all new parts of herself that she had never explored before. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, clenching both fists, come on Xiao Long. Yang opened her eyes, fierce determination burning behind them. She knocked on the door. There was a pause and she could hear nothing behind the door. Another moment and she started to feel doubt, maybe they weren't in. Then the door opened slowly to reveal Ren.
"Yang, good evening." the young man was standing there quite calmly, his demeanor revealing nothing about himself.
"Oh hey Ren. Is Nora in? I kinda wanted to talk to her." Yang stood on her toes, trying to look around Ren or over his shoulder to see into the room, searching for Nora.
"She is not. I had her run to the library for me to pick up some books we need. Would you come in?" the boy stepped to the side and swept his arm inward, beckoning Yang into the room. Yang hesitated and he caught her eyes, "I wish to speak with you about Nora." Yang stiffened in surprise, what could Ren want? She walked uneasily into the room, Ren motioned to one of the beds and she sat, he sat across from her.
Team JNPR's room was set-up in much the same way Yang figured most of the student's must be, all four beds alongside each other with a thin path between each, their desks pushed against the opposite side of the room and dressers tucked into the corners. Yang was glad Ruby had the bunk bed idea, they really had a lot more space in their dorm. She eased down onto the bed and waited for Ren to say something. He sat quite still and silent for a long moment before speaking.
"Nora talked with me about your conversation earlier. So you know how close she and I are." Yang nodded her head and went to speak but something about Ren's attitude stopped her, the boy never spoke much and now that he was, she wanted to hear what he had to say. "She and I have been through much. When we were younger she was the strong one, defending me, protecting me while we grew. Now that we are older, I find myself having to defend her. She is so kind, and generous with her friendship. She is also rather naive and jumps headlong into situations." Yang nodded her head, she understood where he was coming from. She felt the constant need to defend Ruby for mostly the same reasons. But Nora was better than Ruby right? She was two years older after all.
"Okay Ren, but she's not in any danger. I'm not going to hurt her." Ren nodded and smiled pleasantly.
"I don't believe you would, not intentionally. But you are not sure about your feelings, correct?" Ren paused and waited for Yang to nod her head, "Nora is very sure of hers. She is not interested in men at all and understands that many people look down on those with her," he paused, searching for the right word, "preferences. So she is rather guarded with them and doesn't often pursue those she is attracted to out of fear. I want to ensure that she does not put herself out in the open without good reason." Yang tried to take in what he was saying. She had been so wrapped up in trying to figure out how she felt about all of this that she hadn't even stopped to consider Nora's side of things.
It was true, Team's RWBY and JNPR were really very close and had been getting closer throughout the school year, but no one on RWBY knew about Nora and from their earlier conversation it would seem that Pyrrha didn't either, that or she was very good at keeping her teammate's leaned back on her hands and thought for a moment, Ren sat quietly, back perfectly straight with his hands folded in his lap, patiently waiting.
"Ren. I don't want to hurt Nora. But, you're right, I don't know exactly how I feel about this. I'm closer now than I was earlier, but, I need to talk to her about it." Ren nodded his head in understanding.
"And you deserve that. I wanted to ensure that you knew everything going in." He gave her another pleasant smile.
"Thank you Ren. I will really do my best to do right by her." Yang stood and Ren did as well. She extended a hand and he grabbed it in a polite handshake.
"If you want to find her, she is most likely still searching the library. The books I sent her for do not actually exist." Yang smiled as she made her way to the door, there was far more to Ren than what he let on.
"I'm gonna run over then. Thanks." Yang turned out the door and shut it gently behind her. She bolted down the hallway, not wanting to waste any time or risk missing her.
Now that she had talked to Ren she felt like she had some sort of blessing going forward. She knew that Nora didn't have any family and that she didn't need anyone's permission to pursue her but it felt good to know that the person closest to her was okay with this. She leapt down the stairs and through the double doors, it felt like she was always chasing after this girl.
A/N Hey, definitely a shorter chapter this time but it was just a weird place to break it. Writing episodically like this is still a little strange to me, but I'll get the hang of it.
I'm glad you all are still enjoying this so much and thanks for all the comments and reviews, it's great to hear from you thanks to 'dongyrn', 'story-de're', 'noone297', 'TheIr0nFORGE', 'CathedralofFiction', and 'Trewill91' without whom this story would have stopped long ago. Your support and love for this one keeps it going.
Thanks so much for all the support and reviews, please let me know what you like and don't. Thanks for reading.
-Zach