HEALING
Weiss
Going through Raven's portal was extremely disorienting. I have no idea how she can even stomach going on in out of that thing, but I guess it is her semblance. Her being used to it isn't really all that out of the ordinary, but despite all my complaints and regrets, the risk that I took leaving Atlas, despite it going sideways... all of it did pay off in the end.
Raven's semblance led me and Yang straight to her uncle Qrow, and right back to Ruby. It led me back to my true family. Mission accomplished. All that's left now is to eat the insane amount of food Jaune and the rest prepared.
"Oh... I can't believe we ate it all."
Jaune groaned as he cleaned up the last bowl.
"Oh I think I'm gonna be sick."
He complained while he dragged everything back to the kitchen.
"Easy there vomit boy. I believe in you."
Yang jokingly teased him, to which Jaune laughed sarcastically while he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, we're doing throwback nicknames now, how wonderful."
I wouldn't be long till Nora pointed the way back machine my way.
"I mean, the ice queen seems to like it!"
Ruby bursts into laughter, which I wasn't too fond of, but the happiness in my heart after seeing my friends was too much for me to hold back and pretend to be annoyed.
"I so did not miss you people."
Nora gasped after she watched me roll of my eyes.
"Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?"
Wait, what is she implying there?
"Hey! You make it sound like I used to be terrible."
Yang lifted her cup of tea and promptly took a sip, before looking back at me all smug.
"Nah. Just a lot to deal with it once."
"Hmph!"
Yang playfully stuck her tongue out in response. Just then, Ren decided to speak and reminisce.
"It's been a long time. We've all grown in our own ways."
Ruby stepped in, her voice lower than her usual bombastic tone, but in a lot of ways sounded sincere.
"You really think so?"
She asks, as Ren looks back with a smile.
"Well, think back to when we were all at Beacon, would you say you ever did anything foolish or embarrassing? Or did you think you were perfect?"
Beacon, huh? Of course I remember... the time I had servants pushed my stuff around, the time I questioned Ozpin's decision to put Ruby in charge, the time I criticized Blake. Oh that audacity I had to even call myself a victim of faunus hate! And who can forget the time I challenged Ezra to a duel in front of the whole class. Oh how absurdly spoiled I was back then, the thought of which was too embarrassing for me to bear.
"Oh gosh!"
I bury my face in my hands, as Yang and Ruby courageously confess their foolishness in front of everyone.
"I may have been a little too gung-ho from time to time."
Yang admits.
"Heh, you? I tried to 1v1 a Nevermore on the second day of school."
The thought of which is utterly ridiculous looking back. I can't believe I was privy to that, and even worse, completely encouraged it.
"Yeah, well... don't even get me started."
Jaune stepped in with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Well that embarrassment-" Ren spoke with his chest puffed out, as if he was proud of what he was about to say. "That desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid - that just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, you're kinder, you're stronger, and you're not done growing yet. None of us are."
Silence engulfed the room, as the things Ren said began to sink in. It's true, we've grown and have become stronger. That fact is undeniable, but I think the silence we're all in right now isn't for that realization, but for the nostalgia we all have for our time in Beacon. A lot has happened since and the fact that we managed to find each other again after all that is nothing short of a miracle.
"I just wished everybody was here..."
It took me a couple seconds to realize that I said out loud the things that were meant to be for my mind alone. I gasped and looked up, only to see everyone looking at me with pain clearly painted in their faces.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sour the mood."
Ruby chuckled and raised her hand.
"It's okay, I think everyone was thinking the same thing anyways."
I swiveled my head back and forth, only to see that Ruby was right. Everyone had the same melancholic look I had, except for Yang who was pouting and trying her best to avoid eye contact. As much I regret making the room as tense as it is, seeing everyone else share the same thought as me gave me the courage to say what's been on my mind since our reunion.
"I- Father took me away as soon as he caught wind of what happened in Beacon. I didn't get to see any of you, or had the chance to apologize, so I'm sorry."
Everyone smiled and patted me on the back, which was really heartwarming, but one question still remains in the back of my mind. I brace myself to ask the question, fully aware that bringing it up might cause an uproar.
"Has anyone ever heard anything about Blake?"
The room fell silent once more and looked down on the ground, while Yang bit her lip. It wasn't until Jaune spoke moments later that the awkward silence was finally broken.
"Blake made sure everyone was alright, up until the very end. Once the we got some sort of control over Vale, Blake left... no one's heard from her since."
So what I've heard about her was right, I didn't want to believe it, but it was true that she did just up and leave. Honestly, who can blame her? But I was really hoping she would have had the courage to stand with us now.
"What about Ezra?"
It's a weird and sensitive question I know, especially considering Yang's here, but I did let him go... I have to know what happened to him.
"Actually..."
Hearing me bring Ezra up, Ruby raised her voice and finally decided to speak.
"I know I said I'll wait, and I never really truly entertained the idea of being... reunited with all my friends, but now that Yang and Weiss are here, it doesn't seem that far of a stretch to think that it's possible. So, I kind of want to know too."
The way Ruby phrased her sentence made it seem like they know where Ezra is, and Yang caught on to that too, as she now is staring at Ruby with a child like curiosity, who in turn was looking at Jaune.
"Jaune, you know where Ezra is?"
I asked, to which Jaune cringed. He looked away, debating on whether or not he should say anything, but between me, Yang, and Ruby's anticipation, he eventually relents.
"I, uh, yes. I know where he is."
Me and Ruby gasped, while Yang looked away and pretended to not care, though it was pretty obvious in her eyes that she does.
"He met us on the day we flew to Patch."
Nora regrettably whispered.
"Is he okay?"
Ren nodded at my question, then elaborated further.
"Ezra said he wanted to stop the White Fang since he had ties to them during the Fall of Beacon. He took a ship to an island where the former leader of the Fang lived, you know, before the White Fang became terrorist. He sailed to Menagerie."
A part of me is overjoyed to hear that he's doing right by his friends. To be perfectly honest, I don't know how I would have handled it if I heard that he was doing something heinous after I let him go. Of course, I wasn't the only one happy to hear this. Ruby too, was overjoyed.
"Well, can we contact him?"
Ruby asks, to which Nora eagerly responded.
"Y-yeah! Maybe! Cinder took down the Vale CCTS which weakened the communications between Kingdoms, but the tower in Haven is still up! Menagerie is also in Anima. I mean! It's off the coast a little bit over there, but it should be possible!"
The mood in the room started to brighten as the thought of possibly reuniting with more of our friends slowly turned to reality, but unfortunately, Yang wasn't too keen on the idea.
"If he even made it there."
The smiles in everyone's face began to sour once more, as we all shift our gazes at Yang. The contempt in her voice was obvious. She didn't say it out right, but she didn't have to. We all knew what she meant. Concerned for her sister, Ruby leaned closer to console her.
"Yang? You don't mean that, right?"
But Yang did. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, as her eyes began to turn red. She puffed her chest like she was about to yell, but just then, Qrow came in with Oscar in his side.
"How can six kids possibly make so much noise eating dinner?"
Qrow and Ozpin's arrival calmed Yang down before her anger escalated further, but it was clear to see in everyone's faces what we were all thinking: that not everyone here agrees with the idea of seeing everybody back, especially Ezra.
Meanwhile, in Menagerie...
A million thoughts ran into my head, like a rollercoaster, I didn't know how to make of it, but if there's one thing I'm absolutely positive of is that the pressure on my lips right now is so not helping. Blake pushed her lips harder against mine, as she wrapped her hands around my neck and caressed the back of my head.
It was like time had stopped, and we were both trapped in the same moment of pleasure for an eternity, but all good things eventually come to an end. The two of us pull away but kept our foreheads close enough to touch and feel each other's breath. Blake and I smiled for a second before she slowly closed her eyes and leaned in for another kiss, but at that moment, an image began to pop in my head that started to haunt me.
First, it was her fiery blonde hair, then it was her beautiful lilac eyes, and then finally, it was the traumatizing image of Yang's severed hand that caused me to swerve away from Blake's kiss.
"Ezra?"
She placed her hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look at her.
"Something wrong?"
I took a deep breath and sighed, uncertain of what to say next.
"I-uh, nothing's wrong. It's just- nevermind."
It was lie, obviously. I quickly looked at Pyrrha's shield and felt regret, though I don't really know why. Me and Yang are not together anymore, after all... but seeing my reflection now on her shield... I just have this sinking feeling that I shouldn't. Or it could possibly be just an excuse for myself. Either way, I've turned the situation awkward, and there's no saving it now. All I could do is walk away.
"Sorry, Blake, I remember I still needed to do something for your Mom."
I abruptly stood up and grabbed Pyrrha's shield, strapping it behind my back. I glance back at Blake who was still kneeling down with a soft and apologetic smile on her face.
"No, no. It's okay, don't feel bad about it... I understand."
Seeing her there sitting on the rubble made me want to drop down on my knees and hug her... even kiss her again, but the memory of Yang is stopping me from doing so. So I held back and forced myself to look away.
That night had to be one of the hardest nights I've ever had to endure since the Fall of Beacon. That night, I didn't get any sleep, I didn't even realize that morning had already came if it wasn't for Ghira's message that seemingly came out of nowhere.
[From Ghira Belladonna: Come to the house, we have some news. Don't worry about getting mobbed, we've cleared that up with the Menagerie Police and media as soon as we got word you escaped safely.]
He went on about the 'facts' winning over baseless accusations after the Belladonna's were able to prove that the spy was Ilia thanks to her scroll that I've stolen- excuse me, retrieved. Of course a part of me was worried, but despite what had happened yesterday in regards to the announcement, we've still made tremendous strides into exposing the Fang. At least now we know that Haven really is the target.
"At least that's what I'm forcing myself to think."
I get up from my spot as slow as I possibly could, delaying the inevitable fact that I'd eventually had to confront Blake. At some point we're going to talk about... the kiss. In a way, it's a lot more difficult of a situation to approach than when she was still angry at me. Still, I'm legitimately curious as to what made her approach me the way that she did. I understand her experience with Mrs. Clementine's brother changed her perspective, but for her to just come on to me like that...
I guess there's only really one way to find out.
It didn't take me very long to find my way back to the Belladonna estate. At this point, I knew Menagerie like the back of my hand, and surprisingly, Ghira was right. The townsfolk were weary of me, a few disgusted and angry looks my way, but none really even attempted to rush me. If the people here are loyal enough to the Belladonna's that they're capable of stopping a riot instantly, then they have it in them to start one at Haven.
That or the people here are peaceful to a fault. That even asking them to fight was a mistake.
"Ah, Ezra!"
Kali greeted me, along with Ghira, with a huge smile on her face as I walked in. She quickly latched on to my arm and guided me further into their house.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. They didn't hurt you too much did they?"
I shook my head, as she continued to apologize.
"The people here just want to live a good and quiet life, you know. Anything that can disrupt their peace is... a huge cause for concern."
Understandable.
"You're saying that because situation here have been tense before am I right?"
She nodded at my question.
"Then it would seem the people are not so blind about the Vale faction of the White Fang after all. Otherwise, Amitola's speech wouldn't have stirred them up that much. That's not..."
"Right."
Blake all of a sudden, appeared out of nowhere. She gracefully walked down the stairs with a determined look on her face, completely brushing off what happened last night it would seem like.
"Just cause they want to live a peaceful life, doesn't mean it doesn't affect them. The White Fang are a faunus organization that they once supported. The group's actions now would forever affect what they do in the future. The people here need to wake up and see that."
If she wants to play it like nothing happened, then I'm okay with it. I just hope she knows she's eventually going to have to talk about it with me... even though I'm not really looking forward to that myself. Ignoring all that, I look towards Mrs. Belladonna and asked why I was summoned.
"So? Any plans moving forward?"
I ask, to which she could do nothing but frown and sigh.
"Unfortunately, the best we can do is convince people to join us. The next full moon is not until two months from now so we have a bit of time, but that's barely anything when we're talking about the scale of what we want to do."
What Kali speaks is the truth, gathering people now is more imperative than the ever, and I'm assuming I'm being called here because they have a plan.
"So you have a plan then? A concrete one?"
But the couple could do nothing but look at each other.
"W-we do. It's just that it involves directly asking people and sign a petition... which means."
Risking another riot if I joined in. The validity of my integrity hinges on the reputation of the Belladonnas. If I go out there, walking the streets of Menagerie, I won't have their support and people can change their minds quick. Quite the dilemma, I thought, but just then, Blake intervened.
"You know, you don't have to do it. We just wanted to you to know."
I opened my eyes, curious as to what she meant by letting me know.
"Ezra. When you first arrived in Menagerie, we were all scared, nervous, and panicked knowing that the criminal that heralded Beacon's fall was in our shores, but you advocated for the right thing and fought for it fiercely despite resistance from everyone."
Blake spoke as genuinely as she could. The three of them looked at me like they were proud, and Ghira made sure I knew it.
"The White Fang not only represent the dreams each and every single faunus has, but it also represents my life's work... my legacy. To see it defiled in Vale was heart-wrenching and devastating. So when a human like you is trying his best to fix it, despite all the resistance is admirable. Your actions validated the dream I had when I first joined the Fang. If we're ever successful of stopping the Fang from destroying Haven, then you would have become a hero."
A hero, huh?
"I appreciate the kind words, Ghira, but I don't do it for heroism-"
I tried to explain to him how glory and praise were the last thing I wanted out of this, but Kali cut me off.
"We know. We know what you're after: vindication, or rather redemption."
Blake placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled.
"and forgiveness. Which makes everything you're doing even more amazing."
I smile back and placed my hand on top of hers. We both stare at each other with a smile, unaware of what's going on around us till Ghira coughed and shook us back to reality.
"Anyways! That's our plan for now... signatures for a petition to help Haven. Blake and my guards will ask for the signatures, as for you-"
I abruptly cut him off.
"I'll do it. It's no issue. I can do it."
Kali leaned closer with concern written on her face.
"Are you sure?"
"No, not really. The people here took your word, not mine. That could easily change the moment I'm standing right in front of them. It's dangerous, I know, but what I said during the press conference will never mean anything if I don't stand by it. It's just as important for the people to see me doing the right thing just as much as them hearing my story."
The couple were hesitant at first. They looked at each other several times, before they eventually convinced each one another that it was okay. Finally, Ghira nodded and handed me a clipboard, to which I gladly accepted. With all that in mind, me and Blake headed to downtown Menagerie, where most of the people lived, but unfortunately, the townsfolk don't exactly share the same enthusiasm and forward thinking of the Belladonnas.
As expected. At least the people didn't mob me.
Half a day passed us by just like that without a single name in our clipboards. Exhausted from all the walking and talking, and sometimes running, me and Blake decided to stop by a smoothie shop right of the coast of the town.
"Iced coffee with a crap ton of sugar!"
Blake enthusiastically hopped right next to me with a cup in hand, and handed it to me with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you, what'd did you get?"
I ask as I take a sip out of my candy cane-colored straw.
"Strawberry. Nowhere near as sugary and caffeine induced as yours. Seriously, how do you even sleep with that much sugar and caffeine?"
"Who says I do."
We giggled at each other blissfully till the realization that our clipboards were still empty came into our minds.
"I guess asking people to put the world that denied them in front of them is too tough of an ask huh?"
I ask Blake while I marveled at the beautiful waves of the sea, gently crashing against the wooden platform in front of us.
"I mean yeah, the people that are here, the ones that moved did so to escape the fighting. People are here for peace, I could've sworn I told you that several times during the boat ride here."
She chuckled immediately after while I stare at her surprised. I didn't think we could talk about her old feelings again.
"What?"
She asks.
"Nothing, I'm just not used to you being open like this."
Blake blushed and looked away while she tucked her hair behind her ear.
"What changed? Clementine's the obvious answer, but you literally went from hating me with every inch of your body to... well, last night."
Hearing me mention what happened last night immediately turned her whole face red.
"OH YEAH! About that, sorry..."
This is embarrassing for me too, but I legitimately want to know. Besides, it's not like that night went perfectly for her either. I'm sure she has questions too.
"No, no, don't apologize. It should be me who should be apologizing. I'm sure you're confused about why I... left, but I can't give you a straight answer without hearing why you did all of it in the first place. The... kiss in particular
Blake looked at me once, then quickly pulled away before peaking right back out. This time, with a determined look on her face.
"When I talked to Mrs. Clementine, I realized how similar we were, that I was angry at you because you committed the mistakes that I ran away from... yet have the courage to face it. I was jealous. Once I realized that, I saw you in a new light, of how wonderful of a person you really are."
Blake blushed once more and looked down, before looking back at me with a smile on her face.
"Last night, I don't know why I kissed you. Something in me made me feel compelled to do so, and honestly, I don't regret it."
Blake looked at me nervously, eagerly anticipating what I was about to say. It's a weird feeling to be where I'm at right now, as I have no idea what to tell her. Hell, I'm not even sure what I feel right now. I guess all I can do is tell her the truth.
"Thank you, Blake. I- last night, I was happy that you did what you did, but in that moment when we kissed, I saw-"
With a half-hearted smile, Blake cut me off.
"Yang..."
I nod hesitantly.
"Me and her have broken up, and it's just unrealistic to think that I can ever bring back what me and Yang had back in Beacon. Don't get me wrong, I wanna see her still to apologize, wishing that maybe she'd forgive just enough for RWBY to unite once more."
I look down on the ground, unwilling to face the facts, but Blake deserves better.
"We're not together anymore, and I'm now starting to come to terms with it. I'm truly happy that you feel the way that you do towards me, but I can't return your feelings while I'm in this process. I can't accept your feelings halfheartedly... it wouldn't be fair to you.""
Blake smiled at me and reached out her hand, to which I enthusiastically held on to.
"I understand. I've been in love before, and trust me I know how break ups are. Just know that whenever you're ready to move on, my feelings for you will stay the same and I'll be here. From now on, I'll do what I can to support you in whatever it is you need to fix all the mistakes you've made."
I blush and look away. Oh how quickly she turned the tables on me.
"Now how am I supposed to respond to that?"
Blake laughed so heartily that I couldn't help but laugh with her, till all of a sudden, it came to an abrupt halt.
"Blake? What's wrong?"
She held in her hand the receipt for the drinks she just bought. Blake looked at it with a pale expression on her face. It took her a couple seconds and me squeezing her hand before she was able to bring herself back to reality.
"W-what? Oh... uh, this receipt. We were just laughing then the wind flipped it over then..."
She lifted her receipt up and flipped it on its back. In it was a message.
"B
Things going too far.
Not sure what to do.
Find a quiet spot,
I'll find you.
Come alone. Please.
-I"
It would seem Ilia wants to talk.