Burning the Candle.
A glum Ruby is resting her head on her hand and staring into the distance before she is startled by someone slamming their palms on the table she is at.
"I need you to pick a tablecloth" Weiss said as she slides two squares over to Ruby, both seeming to be similar shades of white.
Ruby looked confused "Aren't they both the same?".
Weiss sighs in frustration "I don't even know why I asked!".
Weiss walks away as Yang comes in carrying a massive sound speaker on her shoulder, which bounces her sister and the table she's moping on again to jump in the air when she drops it on the ground.
Yang brushes her hands as she approaches Ruby "So, have you picked out a dress yet?".
"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, don't worry; she's going" Yang said before she looks away exasperated "Weiss! I thought we agreed: No doilies!".
Weiss walks up to Yang, pointing in her face "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!".
The girls are interrupted by the sound of doors opening as Neptune walks in with Sun. And Lucina along with Bernadetta
"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked.
"Only if we can have doilies" Weiss declared, sharing a small glare with Yang.
"That's pretty cool" Neptune said.
"Yeah. Adds some atmosphere" Lucina agreed.
"Doilies does sound beautiful, I like flowers" Bernadetta added.
"See? Bernadetta gets it" Weiss said.
"You ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun asked.
"Pfft... Yeah, right!" Ruby said.
"Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night! And I hope to earn the attention of a much cuter flower" Yang said, giving Bernadetta a wink.
Weiss addressed Sun and Neptune "What are you two wearing?".
"Uuhhh... this?" Sun said as he gestures to his current shirtless outfit.
Neptune steps up and holds a hand in front of his friend's face "Ignore him for he knows not what he says".
Sun knocks Neptune's hand away "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place".
The girls gave a look of being told something extremely obvious, with Yang being the one to speak "Yeah, we noticed" She the looks at Lucina and Bernadetta "What about you two?".
"I haven't worn a dress in a long time. It will be an interesting experience" Lucina said before putting a hand on Bernadetta "And Brenie insisted on wearing the most plain dress around, so she can avoid to much attention".
Bernadetta blushed "I didn't even want to go to this dance. But the others wouldn't let me say no".
"Because we don't want you to miss out" Lucina said.
Sun rubs the back of his head, preparing to ask something "Soooo... what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, y'know... Blake-y?".
"Obviously" Weiss said as she turns and crosses her arms in disapproval.
"I still can't think of a way to change her mind" Ruby said in a sad tone.
"Guys" Everyone looks at Yang as she starts walking out "Trust me; Blake will be at the dance tomorrow".
"If that is the case, I will make sure Severa shows up too" Lucina said.
"You sure you can handle that?" Yang asked.
Lucina smiles "I am her leader. She won't have a choice".
"I like your style. Well then I'll leave Severa to you" Yang said as she walks away.
"By the way, where is Lyre?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, she is still working on making herself look as pretty as possible. Saying she was aiming to look good for a certain someone. Must be really special for her, since she's putting so much work in to it" Lucina answered.
Weiss knew right away why Lyre was working so hard... she really was serious about wanting to go to the dance with her...
Blake is sitting at one of the library tables with a holographic screen in front of her. She is obviously more sleep-deprived than ever, barely focusing on what she's seeing... until a small, bright red light appears on the screen. Moving up and down, Blake's eyes follow it down to her hand, then disappears entirely. She looks behind herself, obviously irritated, but no one walking among the tables is her culprit.
Turning back to the computer, she starts typing on the beeping keyboard before the laser dot appears on her hand briefly, prompting her to look around again and still find no one. The red point shows up on the screen, moving around in circles until Blake scowls and pounds her fists on the table. She stands up from her chair and finds the light on the floor, following it blindly through shelves of books until both the dot and its pursuer turn the corner, only for Blake to bump, shocked and shaken out of her more "animal" instincts, into...
Yang waves with her left hand as her right holds the laser pointer, in a sing-song voice "He-lloooo!".
Blake looked confused "What are you...?".
Yang grabs Blake's arm "We need to talk".
And with that, amid Blake's single cry of surprise, Yang whisks her partner away. Soon they were in a empty classroom, with Blake looking annoyed.
"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath" She said.
Yang was sitting cross-legged on the central desk "I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down".
Blake continues to pace with arms crossed, still irritated "I don't have the luxury to slow down".
"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity" Yang said.
"The necessity is stopping Torchwick" Blake argued.
"And we're going to. But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say" Yang pats the part of the desk across from her.
Blake looks away for a moment until she relents and drapes her legs over the desk's edge "Fine".
"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like... Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then... one day she left for a mission and never came back" Yang looks down as she says this, and Blake looks sorry for her "It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of... shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost; she was the second. The first... was my mom. He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow, and that she'd left me with him right after I was born. No one had seen her since".
"Why did she leave you?" Blake asked.
Yang sighs, then turns to the chalkboard "That question... Why?"
she gets off the desk and walks to the chalkboard, picking up a piece of chalk "I didn't know an answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her. Then, one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mother. I waited for Dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out. I must've walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, I was totally exhausted, but I wasn't gonna let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand, but I didn't care; I had made it. And then I saw them. Those burning red eyes... There we were: A toddler sleeping in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter. But, as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time. My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night".
Blake looks down for a moment "Yang... I'm sorry that happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different. I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers! I can't just-".
"I told you: I'm not telling you to stop! I haven't! To this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?" Yang asked
"You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!" Blake argued.
"No, you don't understand!" Yang said as she turns around sharply to reveal red eyes and the sound of flames "If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?".
"I'd fight him!" Blake answered quickly.
"You'd lose!" Yang said as she pushes Blake away)
"I can stop him!" Blake said as she tiredly tries to do the same to Yang, but she doesn't even budge.
"You can't even stop me!" Yang pushes Blake again, knocking her to land on the desk. Yang, still angry-eyed, walks toward Blake as she gets up, but then does the unexpected and embraces her in a hug, her eyes going back to their normal purple "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest. Not just for you, but for the people you care about".
Yang began to walk away, leaving Blake to think about what she said. However, Yang stops as she remembers something.
"You know there is only one other person I've told this to. It was Severa. She is going to be to the dance, and it would mean the world to her if you showed up. After all, I'm sure you would prefer to be the one to dance with your girlfriend" Yang said with a wink before she leaves.
Blake gasped "Severa...".
She finally realized everything. She had been working so hard to stop Torchwick that she had neglected all her friends... and she even snapped at Severa. Blake could still remember the hurt look on Severa's face... the girl Blake revealed her secret to... who accepted her despite what she was, and the horrible people she used to be a part of... Severa had done so much for her, and Blake pushed her away.
She needs to make this right.
It was getting dark outside, and Lyre had gone out for some air. But despite that, she was still doing her best to look pretty by checking herself out in the fountain. She looks at her reflection in the water for several minutes before she sighs.
"Who am I kidding? I will never look beautiful enough for someone like her" She said in a sad tone.
"Don't sell yourself short" Lyre jumped as she looked behind her.
"Weiss?" She asked in surprise.
"I've been looking for you. I have an answer to your question" Weiss said.
Lyre gulps, feeling nervous "Ok...".
"The answer is yes" Weiss said.
Lyre looked surprised, not sure if heard correctly "What?".
"I will go to the dance with you. Wear your best clothing and don't be late" Weiss ordered.
Lyre blinked several times before she smiled widely and gave Weiss a strong hug "Thank you Weiss!".
Weiss blushed but sighed as she smiled and pet's Lyre's back.
The night of the dance had finally arrived, and many students had already arrived. Severa was heading towards the building, looking really nice. Her hair was hanging freely down her back as she didn't tie it up in to her normal twintails. She was wearing black pants which were rather tight, but not enough to restrict her movements. She was also wearing a black sleeveless shirt, with some red markings on it. And she was wearing a nice pair of shoes.
Yeah, no way she was wearing a dress. And she hated wearing heels, they just made it harder for her to walk.
"Damn that Lucina. Ordering me to go to this stupid dance like that" Severa grumbled.
"Not surprised you aren't wearing a dress. You are to much of a tomboy" Came a voice behind her.
Severa turned around and blushed "Blake?".
Blake was wearing a short, purple, asymmetrical, halter neck dress that is split up the right side and has a black collar. Translucent black mesh covers her shoulders, decolletage and back, and decorative black swirls cover the left side of the dress and continue up the left strap. The outfit is completed with black pumps, and she wears a teal bow on her head as opposed to her usual black one. She had also wearing violet eyeshadow.
"You look nice, Severa. Kind of glad you decided to go for your own style" Blake said, blushing a little since she really believed Severa looked beautiful.
"I don't understand... you said..." Severa trailed of.
Blake walks up to her and takes her hands "I'm sorry, Severa... for everything. You were just trying to help, and I pushed you away. I... I love you, Severa. And I never wanted to hurt you like that... can you forgive me?".
Severa was silent for a moment before she shook her head "Don't be daft. Of course I forgive you. I mean what kind of a girl friend would I be if I couldn't forgive something like that".
Blake smiled warmly before kissing Severa on the lips, making the red head's face match her hair, and she almost felt like she was going to pass out before Blake slowly broke the kiss and grabbed her shoulder "Please do not faint, I still want a dance".
"R-right, let's go" Severa said, a little flustered, much to Blake's amusement.
With that, they headed for the dance... together.
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Tell me what you think.
