Yang gazed around in confusion, somewhat perplexed as she recognized the familiar walls of her Beacon dorm room. The haphazardly strewn together bunk beds were eerily vacant, and while it was pretty normal for the blonde to see Weiss's totally made, the other 3 being pristine looking and fully put together definitely threw the girl off. As her confused lilac gaze slowly scanned around the room she felt her spine go rigid as she laid eyes on a familiar dark haired faunus, facing away from her in the doorway.

"Blake…?" She whispered her friend's name almost like a question, absolutely shocked to see her here of all places. As far as she was aware Yang had thought she was never going to see her partner again, she felt an array of emotions well up from deep inside her, threatening to spill out like a fountain as they all conflicted with each other like an internal war of roaring currents.

"Blake I... why did you leave?" The words choked out of the blonde desperately, threatening to unleash far more feelings than she wanted to express right here. The only response she received was those striking amber eyes slowly turning to mix with her lilac ones, Yang immediately being captivated by her stare as she always was, there was almost nothing she could do to avoid it. Yang was about to say more, only for Blake to wordlessly dash out into the hallway away from the stunned brawler.

"Wait! NO Blake please!" Yang took off like a rocket, her heart pounding in her ears as she sprinted after the girl, determined not to be left behind again. The faster Yang ran the farther it seemed like Blake would move from her as she chased down the impossibly long hallway of Beacon, having stretched far longer than she knew could be possible. Yet she didn't care, her mind was solely focused on the girl that was slowly gaining distance on her. Yang's breathing was growing heavy, the muscles in her legs feeling as though they had caught fire from sheer friction alone, and she felt her heart drop that much harder as Blake turned around a corner and vanished from the brawler's sight.

The blonde pushed her head down, forcing her body to work even harder as she shot down the corridor like a bullet, rounding that same corner with almost too much speed to properly turn. Yang felt the hot blood that had been pumping through veins her run ice cold as she stumbled, her legs going weak at the sight before her. Blake lay face down, a crimson pool slowly forming and darkening the carpet beneath the crumbled girl's body. Yang's eyes were wide and terrified as she blinked to try and wipe away the sight before her. The masked man flicked blood from his blade as he smirked at the blonde, stepping over Blake's motionless body towards her.

"Blake! Blake please... get up... don't leave me again…"

Yang's voice was shaky and broken as she desperately called to her partner, dread and grief welling up within her chest, only to have those emotions replaced with raw fear with each loud step the man took towards her, echoing like a hollow tolling bell down the hall. The man's red blade seemed to glow along with the scarlet markings that lined his dark jacket, the tip pointed directly at Yang. She internally screamed at her body, her vision darkening at the edges as the only thing she could focus on was the man slowly stepping towards her. Her legs and body burned as she fought desperately with some invisible force, desperately trying to run, fight, even scream. Her mouth felt dry, her muscles cold and unresponsive, the breathing within her chest feeling uneven and painful as her panic spread. Shivers ran up her spine and shook her body violently as he stepped close, that blade beginning its deadly arc at her head. It hummed with a dull groan, time seeming to slow as she could watch the air in front of the blade getting sliced in two, her eyes glanced down to find her arm missing, eyes wide with terror as once again that bright red flash seemed to blind her in that moment.

Yang awoke with a loud sob, her body rocketing to a sitting position, a strained and terrified "NO!" ripping from her sore and strained throat painfully. The ragged sound of her breathing was the only thing that reached her ears, her chest expanding and contracting in disarray as she tried to inhale as much air as she could, a cold sweat broke all across the blonde's shaking body. Her lilac eyes slowly trailed down to her jittering hand, unable to even force it into a fist with how weak her muscles felt at this moment. Her mind uncontrollably raced back through the scenes she had experienced, unable to stop herself from shuddering violently and verbally sobbing despite the burning in her throat.

A sound finally caught the blonde's attention, piercing her concentration just enough for her terrified eyes to look up into the darkness of her room, only to be met with two icy blue eyes from across the room. She was overwhelmed with confusion for a few moments until they came closer, Weiss slowly walking over to her with concern splayed across her face. The brawler realized she had completely forgotten this would be Weiss's first night in her room, a small pit of guilt for waking the girl with her own problems welling up next to her still lingering panic. She hunched over to bury her face in her hand until she felt the cushion tighten next to her, she looked back up to see Weiss sitting next to her, feeling one gentle hand come to rest on the small of her shaking back.

Yang couldn't stop herself from continuing to silently choke out sobs, her body still violently racking with each one as she slumped into the smaller girl's side, terrorized by visions. As Yang tried to steady her breathing, she felt the hand on her back slowly and gently rub small comforting circles. The only word Yang even heard outside of her own ragged breaths was when Weiss softly whispered her name in concern, a shaky tone from the white haired girl was all she could pick up between her own choked sounds. She had no idea how long it had been as her breathing evened slightly, wordlessly hunched over and leaned into the heiress's side.

As the blonde's body stopped shaking her eyes finally trailed up to meet her friends, regretting the look of pity she was sure she would receive, just like everyone else had looked at her in the past days. Only to be shocked as the only emotion she could take from Weiss's look was kindness and understanding. The blonde held her friend's gaze for as long as she could, soft purple mixing with deep pale blue. Finally Yang began to sit fully upright, shooting the girl an appreciative look. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but she felt her voice wavering and caught in her throat, making a half audible sound as she struggled to say or explain anything to the girl.

"It's okay Yang, you don't need to say anything.'"

Yang looked at her dumbfoundedly, mouth still agape from her previous attempt at talking, and now from surprise. Weiss simply replied with a kind smile, icy eyes meeting lilac once more.

"Really, it's okay. You don't owe me any sort of explanation or apology, especially not before you're ready to."

The blonde stopped to compose herself for a few breaths, the feelings of potential disdain flowing out with ease. She looks up at Weiss with nothing but appreciation in her heart as she croaks out a pained, but thankful.
"Thanks… Weiss. I'm sorry."

"Listen here you brute, don't you dare apologize to me for this, Yang Xiao Long you are my teammate and friend, this is hardly a problem for me to do."

Yang picked up a hint of the heiress's usual sass tinging the reprimand, the blonde could swear she heard the silent huff that came with the words, a small smile coming to her lips at the familiarity.

Yang continued to shudder, focusing on the feeling of the heiress's comforting fingers running across her back, still she almost felt herself chuckle at Weiss's unnatural ability to be both extremely comforting and kind, while also keeping her veneer of haughtiness. Eventually the blonde could breathe a sigh of relief, still quite tense but having been mostly snapped out of her trance thanks to a certain heiress. The two exchanged another look, Yang trying to express just how much she appreciated the heiress through her wordless expression, and Weiss simply replying in turn with a kind smile and nod before leaving the blonde to lay back in her own bed with a simple.

"Good night Yang, try and get some sleep okay?"

Though Yang did eventually feel her body release some of its built up tension, she quickly found that she would fail to honor Weiss's request as getting any more rest that night seemed like an impossible mountain to climb. Her thoughts continued to drift back to that nightmare, and the only thing she could focus on to push the thoughts away was Weiss's comforting words. She shuddered slightly as she thought of all the people that had already looked at her in pure pity, something she hated, but she had never seen that from her friend. Weiss always seemed to have a look of kindness and patience, something the blonde thought was quite funny in comparison to how the princess was the first time they met. She wondered if Weiss had truly grown that much over such a short period of time, or if all that kindness was buried somewhere beneath her icy shell the entire time.

"WEEEIIIIISSSS!"

The shrill screech rang out across the room as the small redhead became a blur of crimson rose petals, Yang watching in amusement as the ice princess was now pinned to the floor in an instant from Ruby's intense hug, her having only woken up an hour or so ago. She and Weiss agreed to wait a little while before seeing her, hoping the adults would break some of the worst news of the fall to the girl. Which did seem to affect her for quite awhile, but Ruby had obviously bounced back quickly at the news of her partner now being a temporary roommate in her own home.

"Ack- Get OFF me you dolt, you shouldn't be running around like that already!"

Though Weiss seemed to be indignant, there was a tinge of genuine concern in her voice. Though that quickly seemed to be replaced with relief as she couldn't seem to prevent a small smile from playing at her lips, tentatively hugging the girl back.

With a huff and slight upturn of her nose, the ice princess conceded slightly.

"I am glad to see you're okay though, Ruby."

Ruby looked up, her sparkling silver eyes filled with excitement.

"You're staying here with us?!" She gasped, continuing long before anyone could respond, Yang feeling almost as exasperated as Weiss looked from the floor, Qrow and Tai watching with equal amusement.

"There's so many things I should show you! Patch is awesome, you'll love it I promise. Yang, we should show her around together!"

Yang felt herself deflate as her sister looked over to her with such hope and positivity, the younger girl's excited and exceedingly fast barrage of suggestions causing her shoulders to physically slump as she turned to avert that gaze.

"I um, I'll leave that to you Rubes."

The blonde's tone had come out a lot colder than she wanted, she couldn't help but cringe slightly as she saw her sister also deflate for a moment. Ruby finally relinquished her partner, flipping her smile back on easily and turning toward her sister. The redhead bounced over and threw her arms around Yang, causing the girl to go rigid for a moment at Ruby's gentle hug while the redhead whispered.

"I'm glad you're okay Yang, I love you."

The brawler could feel her voice catch in her throat, she knew 'okay' probably wasn't the best word to describe herself right now, but she couldn't keep herself from softly wrapping an arm around her own sister, holding her closer and letting her fingers idly play with her messy dark hair. Raggedly whispering back to her.

"I love you too, Ruby."

The two held that hug for quite some time, many words exchanged between the sisters just from the contact, Yang feeling herself smile slightly as the relief of her sister's condition washed over her. It was a brief but welcome stroke of contentment that brought a small amount of peace to the blonde's mind, though the longer her mind wandered, the quicker those darker thoughts flooded back to her. She slowly let go of her sister, the tired look in those lilac eyes unmistakeable

Ruby happily looked between her two teammates, tapping her chin in thought.

"Now if only Blake were here we could have all of team RWBY! Where is she anyways?"

Yang barely registered the look Weiss gave her, the heiress having physically flinched from the posed question, meanwhile the blonde's own stomach felt like it opened a gnawing void inside her. An icy coldness spreads out from her abdomen and up through her now rigid body. Her voice came out shaken and ragged.

"Blake's… gone Ruby."

The red head frowned in confusion, first looking at Weiss and then her own sister when she spoke, a tinge of worry creeping into her silvery eyes.

"She ran away, Ruby. Shortly after everyone was safe."

The heiress cut in, clearly trying to prevent the blonde from having to elaborate further to her sister, Yang appreciated it but was quickly dismayed to see Ruby looking between the two in even more confusion, a disappointed sadness seeming to take over the girl. The red head uttered a broken sounding.

"But… why… maybe she had a reason-?"

The blonde couldn't stop her fist from clenching as she coldly cut in.

"We don't know Ruby! There probably was no reason, even if there was what could possibly make her-" Yang took a sharp inhale of air, the outburst having slowly grown angrier, she could feel that her temperature had risen and felt the familiar flickers and sparks in her hair as she tried to calm herself, letting out a ragged exhale, releasing some tension from her shoulders and solemnly letting out a quiet. "Sometimes bad things just happen Ruby…"

The room grew silent for far too long, a couple of watery tears started to sting the redhead's previously happy face as she sniffled and wiped with her sleeve, Yang still keeping her hardened stare directed at the floor, Weiss looking between the two with a mixture of her own grief and concern for the sisters.

Yang broke the silence, mumbling in a tired and dead voice.

"I don't want to deal with this right now..."

As the blonde left, Ruby sat herself back down on her bed, staring down at her hands and sniffling slightly as she held back the tears that threatened to fall. Tai's eyes seemed to follow his daughter out of the room, a look of recognition coming across his face as he mumbled to himself. "That explains a lot…" before turning to look at his younger daughter.

Weiss watched Qrow and Tai sit down on either side of the red head, and briefly contemplated if she should leave the family to their own devices.

Qrow's raspy voice was quiet as he spoke to his niece, one hand placed on her shoulder as the smaller girl seemingly on instinct leaned against his arm, Tai having placed his hand on her back as well in concern.

"Hey kiddo, you remember what we talked about earlier? With your friend Pyrrha, right?"

Ruby sniffled in response to Qrow's attempt at shifting the conversation, her eyes growing slightly more confused, the sadness in them intensifying as she looked up at her Uncle, her body shuddering as she remembered.

"Y-yeah… I watched it happen Uncle Qrow… it was the last thing I remember, it was awful."

Weiss let out a slight gasp at the revelation, "Pyrrha was gone too?". As the thought raced through her head it brought a newer swell of emotions bubbling up and spreading through her body, suddenly regretting her previous time with the taller redhead being wasted on trying to befriend her for, at the time, frankly childish means. She suddenly wished they had talked more, she considered Pyrrha a friend, but one that she never really got to know well enough for her comfort.

The dark haired man sighed, continuing as he ruffled the redhead's hair slightly.

"That must've been rough kiddo. I'm sorry, even as a Huntsmen it's never easy the first time, and it doesn't really get easier as time goes. You just get more… used to it."

Qrow reached behind his back, drawing out a shiny golden headpiece, placing it in Ruby's lap.

"The only thing I found up there other than you, I didn't know her so, I figure you or someone you know might be able to get it to the right people?"

Ruby choked back a sob as the redhead looked down at the crown, observing her own reflection in the metal. Memories of the green eyed huntress and their time at Beacon flying through her mind like fading dreams. She closed her eyes for a few moments taking another ragged breath before seeming to nod to herself, and opening her eyes with a look of confidence.

"Thanks Uncle Qrow, I think I know who'd appreciate this..."

Weiss watched in amazement at how well the redhead seemed to be handling that information, once again surprised by their leader's maturity despite her age. To her she felt quite torn up about the entire situation, and seeing Pyrrha's headpiece only brought the fact that Ruby could've died up that tower firmly into her perspective. As she gave the three family members another glance, she decided this was the time for her to leave, silently slipping out of the room and closing the door behind her with a quiet click.

She felt her mind wander to Yang, her eyes almost instinctively moving to the blonde's door, she was hardly one to try and help without thinking up some sort of game plan, and yet the next thing she knew she had already wrapped her knuckles gently against the door. She slowly cracked it open and poked her head inside, taking in the scene with a sad and silent gasp.

Yang was upright in her bed, a slight slump to her back with tension built in her shoulders. Her hand was shaking as it was firmly tightened in a knuckle whiting grip, lilac eyes diverted to the window. Low pale yellow sunlight streamed through the glass, caressing the blonde's face like a gentle hand and illuminating her messy golden mane. Yang was almost stunningly beautiful as her features were held by this light, which brought the heiress a strange and returning feeling that she still couldn't place. Though it contrasted darkly with the grim void of emotions splayed across the girl's face, which only caused the heiress more grief.

For some reason the sight of Yang had slowly started to bring her more joy over their time at Beacon together. She remembered how effortless it was to talk to the brute, Yang had always strived to keep everyone on the team happy, she was always there for her and everyone else on the team no matter what burdens she was already facing. It almost reminded her of her own sister in a way, yet Yang did it out of pure kindness and care, instead of out of relation other than Ruby. It was a trait Weiss had definitely grown to admire, that and Yang's previous unwavering confidence in anything she did. The brawler had an almost infectious flame of confidence in herself that the heiress wished she could possess. These thoughts created an odd warmth in her stomach that slowly spread to her cheeks as a slight tinge of pink came to them, her mind wandering to try and understand these feelings for the second time they had come up.

Weiss felt the previous warmth in her stomach run cold and tighten into a painful pit at the contrast of Yang's face, which was painted with a conflicted and pained expression. The heiress felt a strange pull at her heart, she knew Yang had always been one to shine as bright as that same radiant sun that caused her hair to glow, and yet here she was in a bottomless pit of darkness. For some reason she just could not shake the desperate want to return some of that light to the brawler, though she had no idea how.

Weiss's mind was working to slowly unravel the strange web of emotions that felt like strings wrapping and tangling through her chest and mind. She felt confused when thinking of Yang, the only thing the heiress knew is that she wanted to help.

The thoughts were quickly cut short by the blonde's ragged sigh, Weiss electing to shove those feelings and thoughts far away, more so determined to help her friend than worry about having to parse through complicated emotions by herself. Yang didn't even turn to acknowledge the heiress as she let out a slightly agitated.

"Not now Ruby, I'm not in the mood."

Weiss clicked the door audibly closed behind her as she walked over to the blonde, choosing to ignore her misplaced remark. At the sound Yang grimaced, the girl turned with annoyance on her face, only to stop as the blonde spotted Weiss, a confused and guarded expression overtaking the previous one.

"Oh, Weiss. Sorry, what's up?"

Weiss watched her expression physically shift and lock up, Yang's question was posed in the most monotone and broken sounding way the heiress had ever heard from her blonde companion. She knew the brute was clearly trying to mask her true emotions, something Weiss could easily read. The brawler's attempt at a far too neutral expression was something she was all too familiar with, Weiss was probably one of the most experienced people on Remnant when it came to putting on a fake visage to make others believe contrary to her true feelings.

The heiress decided to wordlessly sit next to her friend, in much the same place she had comforted the blonde the night before. Those dull lilac eyes looked over her for a few moments before the taller girl turned slightly away, those same eyes suddenly finding something very distant to pretend to observe out the window, a slow sigh escaping her lips.

"What I said was true Weiss, I don't wanna talk about it."

Weiss, expecting this, reaches out and places her small delicate hand over Yang's rough clenched fist, feeling a small sense of relief as Yang's hand stops shaking in response. The muscles loosen slightly, and the heiress begins running a soft thumb across the brawler's calloused knuckles.

"I know Yang, like I said before you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. I just wanted you to know that I am here for you, and more than willing to listen, if you'd let me."

Weiss watched the blonde's emotions morph through many conflicted looks, her body seemingly fighting her from within to stop her from trying to say what she wants to. Her lips parted to speak for a moment before she flinched and stopped, those saddened lilac eyes coming to meet the heiress's for a beat before returning to the window. Weiss briefly thought to tell her friend not to say anything, deciding that even though she wasn't pushing, maybe Yang felt like she was since she was here, but before the heiress could speak the brawler shakily opened her mouth.

"I've… only shared this with Blake before, you know."

The heiress felt her eyebrow raise on instinct, curiosity taking its hold on her, but refusing to intrude while Yang spoke, the blonde letting out a ragged sigh.

"My 'Mom', if you can even call her that, Raven. She left shortly after I was born, I never met her. I've hardly been told anything about her even, I only found out what she looked like by pure accident."

The heiress suppressed a shocked gasp, she did find it odd that there was no Rose or Xiao Long mother around to accompany Tai, but never particularly questioned it herself, as she didn't want to intrude on obviously personal matters.

"Though it was okay, because we had Summer Rose. Ruby's Mom, but who I'd say is my Mom too. She was… amazing. The best Mom you could ever ask for, we were all happy for a few years."

Yang's lips formed a brief but happy smile, thinking back to the mother, only to slump back down, a deep frown furrowing her brow and tightening her features as she continued.

"But, she left. Took a mission one day and just never came back, I lost two mothers. Dad wasn't okay either, he lost so much as well. He was so busy with school and combined with the loss he just… wasn't the same for a while, I lost him too for a long time. I had to basically raise Ruby myself as a child. I was abandoned, left behind, I was alone."

The heiress's heart was heavy with a familiar hurt as Weiss's hand inadvertently tightened on the brawler's in response. She wanted to convey that she wouldn't leave if she had the choice, Yang's hand in turn seemed to hold the heiress's back as the tension from her hand left in response. That feeling of loneliness was no new emotion for Weiss, she knew how being alone felt far too well.

Yang let out a long drawn out breath, her voice still wavering as she turned to meet the heiress's gaze once more.

"When Blake ran the first time, it hurt, but we got her back. We all talked, and we all agreed no more running. That we'd talk everything out as a team."

Weiss shuddered as Yang's voice started to break, the blonde's calloused hand tightening under the heiress's.

"Yet… here we are. She's gone, again. She's left us… left me, again… just like everyone else always does."

Weiss leaned in closer, an arm draping over the blonde's hunched shoulders, she could feel Yang's ragged and heavy breaths through her back as the heiress desperately tried to comfort her ailing friend. Weiss found her thoughts trailing to the faunus, slight anger and confusion flashing through her head as she tried to make sense of things.

"Blake seriously left, without even a goodbye, after Yang had already told her all of this…?" The thought was just so confusing to her. It made her so upset to know that their friend had intentionally hurt Yang so much, she clearly hadn't thought her actions through regardless of her reasons.

"I think… I think I had only just started to figure out how I really felt about her Weiss..."

As Yang trailed off with a choked sob at the end of her voice, Weiss feeling a realization hit her. The way the two always were together, the little looks Yang always seemed to give the dark haired faunus, or her insistence on getting her to the dance. It was a shock the heiress hadn't noticed the brawler's feelings for her partner sooner. Weiss felt herself grimace for a moment, an uncomfortable knot having coiled its way from her chest down into her stomach. For some reason this information didn't sit well with her, and she squirmed as she tried to analyze this. Only to have her attention snapped away as the blonde's head slowly moved to the heiress's shoulder.

"I'm so tired of being left to pick up the pieces… alone."

Yang's despair was palpable with each word that droned out of her, like a dark fog shrouding any happy thoughts she could ever have. Weiss felt further pangs of guilt and worry claw through her chest, she never even began to dream that the blonde could be going through something like this, and have hidden it so well for so long. Yang, and Ruby for that matter, had both seemed to be such positive and happy people, and it was ridiculous to think they both held such a dark burden. The blonde had always been a beacon of warmth from the heiress's perspective. Weiss mused over this as she felt the warmth through Yang's rough fingers, her own thumb softly running across the brawler's rough palm. The heiress only felt more admiration build up within herself for Yang, being able to shoulder such a burden and still continue to be a solid pillar for her friends and family to lean on. It was true strength, not just the physical kind, but the kind that makes a person so great to be around, especially to Weiss.

Weiss felt the tremors that ran through Yang's hand slowly soften as she held it, the brawler's hunched shoulders loosening under the heiress's other hand as lilac eyes came up to meet her own ice blue once more. Weiss felt a warm emotion well up inside her, she felt the words that came from her mouth almost weren't her own, like an instinct inside her spoke instead.

"Yang, I want to be… No, I will be here for you, for as long as you'll let me be."

The heiress spoke with confidence in her voice, holding the blonde's gaze to reaffirm her unwavering certainty. Hoping to express that she meant it, with her whole heart through her words and actions.

Weiss smiled as Yang held her gaze, happy to see that a smile had played its way to the blonde's lips. Only to grow concerned at the conflicted emotions that splayed across Yang's face just after, the brawler slowly slid her hand from the heiress's palm, lilac eyes looking down to her own splayed fingers.

"Thanks Weiss, but that's not the first time that's been said to me… and then left anyways..."

Weiss felt a pang of guilt strike through her chest, saddened deeply by the fact that anyone would make such a promise being fully truthful to her friend. She felt her resolve harden as she gently clasped her hand around Yang's once more, finding her delicate fingers locking with the brawler's.

"That will not happen. I promise, on my honor as a Schnee."

Yang couldn't help but let a smile play to her lips, letting out a small but appreciative chuckle.

"Wow a royal vow from the ice queen herself, I should count myself lucky."

The heiress's cheeks grew flush as warmth spread to them, causing her to turn away from the blonde with a huff and a pout, her hand pulling away to cross her arms.

"I am trying to help!"

Yang only grinned, leaning into her side and letting her arm wrap around the smaller girl's mid section to pull her into a hug, Weiss letting out a small squeak as she's pulled in by the stronger brawler.

"You're helping plenty, Weiss."

The heiress continued her veneer, responding with a simple huff, but unable to stop a very small smile from pressing the corners of her lips upwards. She let out a small sigh of satisfaction, seeming to have accomplished her goal of lifting her friend's spirits. Her thoughts wandered through everything the blonde had divulged to her, grateful she had earned such trust with Yang. Weiss also felt immense guilt warp through her body like thorns, she hated that any of those events had ever happened to her teammate, wishing she could somehow go back and fix everything. Though she knew that couldn't happen, and that all she could do as Yang's friend is to be there for her, and Weiss would be there for Yang. She wanted to be.