After the Storm

by Terkontar

The storm had passed and team RWBY left the grim clouds behind them, finally being able to take a breath, tend to their wounds and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. And no matter what comes next, they'll brave this new dawn – together / Takes place after Salem's defeat, two years after the fall of Beacon. Mostly slowly burning Whiterose with some Bumblebee on the side.

21. Our Nightshade

Chapter XVII: Our Nightshade

The store's door closed behind Blake with a soft chime of a bell as she followed Yang out onto the busy street of downtown Vale. Weaving her way between some random passersby, Yang approached a tree sprouting from a small patch of green amidst the sidewalk and leaned against the trunk, stopping in a place where she'd stand in nobody's way before pulling up her Scroll.

"What time is it?" Blake asked, walking up to her.

Yang folded the device and looked at Blake over her shoulder. "Almost half past. They should be here any moment now."

Blake looked around, scanning their surroundings. Her and Yang were on one of the main streets of Vale, just by the building her parents were currently staying at, courtesy of the City Council. Various cars were passing them by, driving down the three lane road lined with tall buildings. The sidewalk was busy, filled with a current of people enjoying the first day of the weekend; some were just passing by, going on about their day, while others would linger around the glass fronts of the great many shops located along the boulevard, indulging in some window shopping.

Normally it would've been somewhat tricky to spot a specific face in that crowd, but Blake hoped that Weiss' unusual, snow white hair would help her in the task. And indeed, after a minute or two, Blake caught a glimpse of ivory tresses not that far away down the street, shining brightly in the light of the autumn sun. Before she could confirm the visual, the person had disappeared from her view, with her line of sight obstructed by a group of people about to cross the road; training her gaze on that spot, she waited for the passersby to move, and — sure enough — once the crowd spilled onto the crosswalk, they revealed none other than Weiss Schnee, accompanied by Ruby Rose.

Weiss' outfit was slightly different from what Blake had grew accustomed to; she had the familiar white coat and black skirt, but the gray turtleneck she wore underneath her outer layer was certainly new, and kind of unexpected. It did fit her quite well, however, going just fine with the rest of her clothing.

Surprisingly enough, Weiss was not the only one wearing white — Ruby was dressed in a hoodie the color of fresh snow, with a crimson underside and her emblem embroidered onto the rim of the hood with a bright red strand. Her cloak was rolled up and tied neatly around her waist like a belt — or perhaps a fancy sash — and a black tee peeked outside from underneath the partially unzipped sweatshirt. On her back she had a duffel bag, its strap resting across her chest.

Marching on with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, Ruby said something to her partner with a playful smirk. Weiss huffed in amusement, a soft, relaxed smile on her lips, but otherwise didn't reply, prompting the other girl to bump her lightly with her hip. Weiss laughed, letting herself be pushed away by that gentle shove, before bouncing back and returning to her spot by Ruby's side.

Blake felt a smile tugging softly at the corners of her mouth as she watched the two. There was a sense of warmth to them in that moment, of trust, care and security. It hid in the little things — in the gentle upturn of Weiss' mouth, the warm gleam of Ruby's eyes, and in the way they seemed somehow removed from their surroundings, as if locked away in their own little world.

Blake nudged Yang with her elbow, grabbing her attention. "Found them," she said, pointing with her chin towards their teammates. From the look of it, the girls hadn't spotted them yet, but the wide grin that bloomed on Yang's face was telling Blake that it was about to change promptly.

Yang pushed herself off the tree and began marching in the other pair's direction, with Blake following in tow. Bringing both of her hands to her mouth, she hollered, caring not for the funny looks the action would earn her, "Yo! Ruby, Weiss!" She waved at them with both of her arms above her head, hoping to get their attention.

Alerted by the noise, Ruby stood on her tiptoes to look over the surrounding people, then, having spotted Blake and Yang, beamed at them and waved back. Yang's gait picked up some speed — not quite a jog, but close enough — while Blake let herself trail behind her, and watched with a relaxed smile how Yang crashed into her sister and Weiss, wrapping her arms around their necks in a bear hug that was edging dangerously close to a stranglehold.

"Hey, cut it out, you big oaf!"

Yang just grinned. "Missed ya too, Princess."

"I told you not to call me that!"

"No, Yang, seriously, we gotta breathe," Ruby wheezed, struggling for air. Between her and Weiss, Ruby got the worst of it, her neck being crushed between Yang's rather pronounced bicep and the muscles of her organic forearm.

Thankfully for Ruby and Weiss, Yang just chuckled softly and complied, loosening her hold by a notch or two. After a brief while, she pulled away a bit, but not so far as to completely let go of the girls, taking a moment to look at the two of them; her grin never left her face, only growing wider when she was met with Weiss' pointed glare.

Once she was finally let go of, Ruby's eyes homed in on Blake and she gave her a bright, toothy smile. "There's our birthday girl," Ruby said. She walked up to her, arms open wide in an invitation that Blake gladly accepted. "Hi, Blake."

In moments like that one, Blake really understood why Weiss liked Ruby's hugs so much.

As soon as Blake pulled away from Ruby, Weiss — who had been waiting patiently for her turn — closed in to give her a hug of her own.

"Hi, you two," Blake said, squeezing her friend tightly before slowly letting go. "Missed you."

"Nice outfits," Yang noted as she walked over. "You two gone shopping, I'm guessing?"

Weiss nodded. "Yeah. Ruby dragged me along, claiming that my wardrobe is sorely lacking in the 'casual' department."

Yang let out an amused huff. "And she was right, you know?"

Weiss shot her a pointed look, staring at Yang for a second or two, until a soft tug at her clothes prompted her to glance down. When she did, she noticed that Blake was pulling at the material of her sweater, examining it carefully between her fingers before looking up at Weiss.

"I like it. It's a... new look for you, but not a bad one. And you don't have to use Aura projection to keep yourself warm." Taking a small step back, Blake gave her a once-over and nodded approvingly. "Good pick."

"Thanks, but the credit is all Ruby's," Weiss said, briefly glancing to her side, where the girl in question was positively brimming with satisfaction. "'Casual' isn't exactly my area of expertise."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Yang deadpanned, then let out a quiet snort when Blake threw a half-hearted elbow jab at her ribs.

"Well, at least you've had some fun. Right?" Blake said with slightly more optimism than she felt was warranted.

The left corner of Weiss' mouth stretched upwards and her blue eyes narrowed slightly, lending her expression a somewhat smug quality. "Oh, I did. It isn't every day that I get to pick a ball gown for someone."

'You what.'

Weiss's smirk swelled with satisfaction as she watched both Blake and Yang blink repeatedly. The two looked at Weiss blankly, then at Ruby, then at one another, and finally back at Weiss. "When do we get to see it?" Blake asked with interest.

"Sometime around the ball, I'd imagine. Why spoil the surprise?" Weiss crushed her friends with casual nonchalance.

For a moment, Yang just stared at the cruel woman in disbelief, her mouth slightly agape. Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing, throwing a playful shove at Weiss' right shoulder. "Weiss, you absolute scoundrel!" Yang cackled. "Not only did you rob me of my privilege as the big sister to help Ruby pick her dress, but you're also telling me that I need to wait over two months to see it?! Outrageous!" She was bummed by the news alright, but the sheer cheek of that announcement appeared to have alleviated most of her disappointment.

Blake didn't mind waiting that much, personally; after all, Weiss had a point — the timing mattered. Still, nothing was stopping her from playing along.

Trying her best to keep her face steady, Blake planted a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder and pursed her lips, looking at Weiss with faux disapproval. "Not cool, Weiss. Not cool," she spoke, shaking her head with the air of a disappointed mother. Once she was no longer capable of keeping up her facade, her expression eased into a smile and she turned her attention towards Ruby. "So, where are we going?"

Ruby perked up at the question, seemingly somewhat relieved by that change of subject. "There's that one café about a block away, on the other side of the park," she said, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder, down the street.

"Well, lead the way then."

They didn't need to tell her twice, as Ruby spun on her heel and began marching away, leaving them to follow. Soon enough, the typical chatter broke out and, seeing that the girls hadn't seen one another in a while, it was perhaps a tad more lively than usual — after all, they had some catching up to do.

"So, what have you two been up to while we've been away?" Blake questioned, genuinely curious.

"Didn't do anything I wouldn't have done, I hope?" Yang added, wiggling her eyebrows as she nudged Weiss with her elbow

Weiss, in turn, met her grin with an unamused stare. "To answer the latter question, no; and while we're at it, we didn't do many other questionable things that you would have done, either."

"Tch. You just don't know how to have fun, Weiss-y," Yang complained, shaking her head hopelessly before shooting Weiss a questioning look. "So, what did you do?"

Weiss pondered on that question for a while, trying to think of something worthy of being mentioned. Before she could reply, Ruby stepped in to aid her. "Well, we've done some gaming?"

Judging solely by Yang's expression, one could be forgiven for thinking that she had just taken a heavy blow with a frying pan to the back of her head. "You've done what?!"

"Gaming? You know, the thing we've got a console for?"

Yang just shook her head energetically, with the look of wide-eyed disbelief painted all over her face as she stared blankly at nothing in particular, seemingly unable to process what she'd just learned. "No, no, I heard you alright," she said. Then, in a sudden fit of denial, she stepped in front of Weiss and looked the girl dead in the eye suspiciously; neither of them stopped walking, with Yang marching backwards a few feet ahead of Weiss. "Who are you and what did you do to our Weiss?" she questioned, her pointer finger aimed accusingly at Weiss' chest.

Weiss' white brow arched up ever so slightly, her eyes gleaming with a hint of mild annoyance. "Why, can't I try a new thing every once in a while? I don't see what's the big deal." One could just tell she was trying really hard to hold back the urge to roll her eyes.

"Sure, but we've tried, and you refused to pick a pad since!"

Weiss just looked at Yang pityingly, as if in disbelief that the poor creature in front of her could be so clueless, even when the answer was so simple. "Because all you were playing was fighting games?"

Yang opened her mouth and lifted a single finger of her right hand, as if she was about to make some sort of a counterargument, but then seemed to have changed her mind. "Okay, you might have a point there," she ceded, but then became animated again, throwing her arms up in the air. "Still, Weiss, playing video games!" she exclaimed, then turned her filled with bewilderment gaze towards Ruby. "What sorcery is this?"

Ruby, who had been smirking the whole time, just shrugged innocently, offering Yang no answers that could possibly put her mind at rest. Yang returned to Blake's side, searching for comfort while the remains of her now-shattered perception of reality continued to crash all around her. Letting out an amused hum, Blake wrapped her arm around Yang's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Other than that, did anything interesting happen this past week?" Blake asked.

Surprisingly enough, Ruby's smile wavered a bit at that question; she and Weiss exchanged a quick glance, short enough that Blake could've missed it had she blinked. Whatever had been the reason behind that glance, Ruby recovered so quickly that Blake almost believed she was just seeing things.

"Well, I suppose? I've met an old friend from Signal," Ruby said, smiling.

Yang perked up at that, her earlier trauma all but forgotten. "Who?" she questioned with interest.

"Autumn. We sorta bumped into one another when..."

As Ruby went on to describe her encounter to her sister, Blake sort of tuned out of the conversation. Rather than listen in, she directed her attention towards the white-haired girl marching by Ruby's side and gave Weiss a long, inquisitive look, scanning her face thoroughly.

Perhaps sensing the gaze that was trained on her, Weiss glanced towards Blake and their eyes met for the briefest of moments, her brow furrowing slightly before she promptly broke the contact.

Blake huffed a soft sigh. The uncertainty she'd seen lurking in Weiss eyes was not something that would be warranted by merely not having anything interesting to share. To the contrary — something had happened. While she wasn't sure what exactly wasn't being said, she had her educated guesses; if Blake's bad habit was to run away from her problems, Ruby's was to hide the fact that they are there at all.

"So... what do you think, Blake?"

As Ruby suddenly called her name, Blake was brought back from her dark musings with a bit of a start. "Huh?" she mumbled dumbly, blinking a couple of times in a quick succession as her head snapped towards Ruby. An amused smirk was present on Ruby's lips, likely sparked by the look of confusion Blake had given her. Feeling her ears flatten against her scalp, Blake mustered an apologetic smile, her hand wandering unwittingly upwards and burrowing itself in her black hair. "Sorry, can you repeat that? I spaced out for a moment."

Ruby let out a quiet snort of laughter and shook her head, but complied nonetheless; she didn't seem to mind. "TL;DR, an old friend of mine wants to get the old gang together, and she's also suggested that I bring the whole team along. They'd like to met you all; one of the girls is apparently somewhat of a fangirl of ours, even." As she said that, Ruby had a rather peculiar sort of a smile on her face — genuine, if embarrassed, one that went well together with the awkward chuckle that escaped her throat soon after. She paused for a spell, her gaze flicking briefly towards the pavement before she looked back up at Blake. "So, would you like to tag along?"

That... wasn't something Blake had expected to hear. The offer honored her, but she still had to consciously stop herself from biting the inside of her cheek; she wasn't sure where exactly did that sudden bout of shyness come from, but she felt somewhat uneasy at the thought of accompanying Ruby to the reunion.

She snuck a brief glance towards Weiss, searching her face for any indication of what the girl was thinking; by the looks of it, Blake was not the only one feeling conflicted about the situation.

"I... don't know, Ruby," she said after a while of careful deliberation. "I don't mind, but you and Yang haven't really seen them for a longer while, no?" Out of the corner of her eye, Blake caught Weiss relaxing a bit at those words.

"Well, yeah."

"Maybe some other time, then?" Blake suggested, giving Ruby a smile she hoped was reassuring, though she wouldn't be surprised if 'awkward' would've been a more apt of a description. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your reunion," she said honestly.

"I'm with Blake on this one. Sorry," Weiss spoke when Ruby's silver eyes looked in her direction.

"That's okay." While slightly bummed, Ruby didn't seem surprised. With a corner of her mouth arching upwards, she then glanced at her sister. "You in?"

Yang grinned and gave Ruby thumbs up. She seemed to be actually looking forward to that meet. "Sure, why not." Then, her gaze shifted to the duffel Ruby carried on her back and she narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "Whatcha got in there?"

Now that Yang had mentioned it, Blake started to wonder, too. She had noticed the bag before, of course, but hadn't thought much of it, her mind occupied with the far more pressing matter of her team's reunion. Now that she had the presence of mind to actually think about it, her curiosity did rear its head and she eyed the bag carefully, trying to make out the shape hiding beneath the fabric.

Ruby's eyes made a brief contact with Blake's, a rather smug smirk creeping onto her face. "You'll see soon enough."

With that promise, Ruby led their party of four away from the busy street and through the gate of a small park tucked between the buildings of downtown Vale. As they followed the gravel road, marching in the shade of dying leaves, Weiss asked what Blake and Yang had been up to that past week.

In truth, the two of them didn't have much to share; most of the time they had spent at the penthouse, with Blake's parents, every now and then going for an evening stroll around the block if they had felt like it. Really, the only notable news to share was that Kali and Yang got on like a house on fire; other than that, nothing significant had happened.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Blake and Yang had talked. A lot. They'd also finally gone on a date that was long since overdue, just that morning... but those were things Blake didn't feel she particularly needed — or wanted — to share at the moment. Tit for a tat, in a way — if Ruby and Weiss had their secrets, her and Yang were allowed to keep some private things to themselves, no?

Soon enough, the girls left the park and crossed the road, following Ruby inside a store located at the corner of the street. As they passed the doorstep, they found themselves in a rather quaint café, welcomed by the smell of cinnamon and roasted coffee beans that hung in the air.

The store, while not enormous, was far from tiny either, with the main area wrapping around the walls of the backroom into an L-shaped space, brightly-lit thanks to the large storefront windows. With the sounds of many a conversation surrounding them, it quickly became clear that they were far from the only customers; while the café wasn't exactly crowded, every table in sight had at least one client enjoying the sunny weekend with a cup of tea or coffee in their hand.

Having taken a look around, Blake glanced at Ruby. "I'm not sure we're going to find a table."

Ruby just gave her an easy smile. "No worries, booked us one already. It's a bit further in." Ruby's eyes sought out Weiss', asking her a silent question and getting a small nod in response.

Weiss' fingers brushed against Blake's arm. "Come," she said, gesturing with her head to follow her.

Weiss led them to an empty booth, separated from its neighbor by a wooden divider; lush vines were spilling down the partition's hazelnut-colored frame, giving that little nook a cozy, private feel. The booth itself was wide enough to easily fit about six people, with two cushy benches on the opposite sides of a table. There was a 'reserved' sign resting on the tabletop, one which Weiss promptly knocked onto its side with a flick of her finger.

Having placed her handbag onto the bench, Weiss began taking off her coat. Just when Blake was about to do the same, two hands fell gently onto her shoulders, stopping her in place; as she looked behind to see what was going on, she saw Yang smiling at her somewhat sheepishly, her lilac stare asking Blake wordlessly to let her help. Although she rolled her eyes, Blake humored her girlfriend, feeling the soft rumble of a giggle in the back of her throat as the garment slipped off her arms.

Freed from her coat, she turned on her heel and brought her hand to Yang's face, lightly caressing her cheek in a show of appreciation. Committing Yang's goofy smile to her memory, Blake slipped into the booth, taking the spot by the window; a moment later, Yang seated herself right next to her, handing Blake her coat back, which she then hung over the backrest.

As Blake looked up, she noticed Weiss staring at her quietly, her chin nestled atop her clasped together hands; while Weiss' face was collected, her gaze exuded relief and a tiny shadow hid in the corner of her mouth, making Blake wonder how much did Weiss and Ruby know of the inner turmoil that had been plaguing Blake's mind up until recently, and if the girls could tell that things were finally starting to look up. Knowing those two, probably yes.

An invisible force tugged at Blake's lips; she really was lucky to be surrounded with people like those two.

Not wanting to make things awkward, Blake broke the eye contact with Weiss and looked around, taking a moment to appreciate the café's tasteful interior. Eventually, her eyes returned to Weiss — her clothing, to be more specific.

Now that Weiss' white coat was discarded to the side, Blake could take a better look at the sweater Ruby had picked for her partner. She had to say, with the cuffs sliding past the wrists and well onto her hands, Weiss looked positively adorable, like a fun-sized ball of fluff to be hugged and kept warm, and Blake could barely keep a grin off of her face as she pondered whether or not that had been Ruby's exact intent.

Despite Blake's best efforts, something must have shown on her face, as Weiss' eyes narrowed suspiciously at her; before Weiss could say anything, however, something else had gotten her attention, causing her to look down the aisle.

A brief moment later, Ruby came into view from beyond the divider. A young waitress trailed not far behind; as the woman began writing up the girls' beverages of choice, Ruby slipped into the booth, taking her rightful place next to Weiss.

Having taken their orders — and the 'reserved' sign — the waitress bid her leave, encouraging them with a smile to familiarize themselves with the menu she'd left for them. Their drinks were served soon enough — sooner, in fact, than they'd settled on their desserts — and they were once again left to their own devices. After Yang and Ruby had made their picks, the conversation picked off where it'd stopped; for the time being, Blake left the talking to her girlfriend, listening halfheartedly while Yang was sharing her thoughts on Blake's parents.

"By the way, Kali's cooking is great; you've gotta try it someday, coz you've really been missing out this week," Yang said. "Good news is, she gave me some recipes, so I could give it a shot once we get back."

Ruby snorted, prompting Blake to look up at her from her menu. "Well that's adorable coming from you, after you've told me to try and not blow up the house while you're away. A pot calling the kettle black, much?" she asked with a lopsided smile and a quirked brow. Suddenly, the aforementioned smile dropped off her face and her expression changed drastically into an unamused, stern glower. She held out her hand demandingly, not taking her eyes off Yang's face. "Hand the recipes over, like hell am I letting you anywhere near the stove."

"Hey, I'm not that bad at cooking!" Yang protested.

"Yes you are," replied a choir of three voices.

Yang bristled and shot Blake a hurt look of betrayal, turning her whole upper body towards the brunette. "Et tu, Blake?!"

Blake smiled apologetically, trying really heard to hold back her laughter. "Sorry love, can't deny the facts. You have just the most uncanny tendency to set things on fire."

"And to really overdo it with seasoning," Weiss threw in her own two coins.

"I can slice and prep things just fine!"

At those words, Ruby's lips curled into a dangerous smirk that filled Blake with dread. "That doesn't cut it, sis," she said and for a short spell everything stopped, the table falling silent.

Then, the time renewed its flow. Blake groaned. Weiss rolled her eyes. As for Yang, her face cracked into a wide grin and the sisters shared a high-five, both of them proud of Ruby's performance.

Blake washed that pun down with a sip of her tea. In the meantime, Weiss took it upon herself to push the conversation forward, eager to move on. "Now that I think of it, how in the world did the two of you get by back when you were kids?"

Blake arched her brow from above her teacup. She had to give it to Weiss that it was a good question, but those were some murky waters she was steering the conversation onto, and both of them knew that much.

But Yang just chuckled, seemingly not upset by the inquiry at all. "Sometimes dad could actually be bothered and cooked something for us to reheat later. Other than that, lots of takeouts and eating out."

"And canned food," Ruby added, similarly not bothered.

"Yeah, that too," Yang agreed, laughter echoing in her voice. "Then Ruby started learning how to cook when she was about eight or nine, from that one neighbor lady that'd come every now and then to babysit us. I'd prep some sandwiches for lunch and whatnot, while Rubes would be taking care of the cooking proper." Having said that, Yang let out a quiet laugh and shook her head. "It wasn't exactly what you'd call smooth sailing at first, but we made do."

"I guess that explains where you've got your cooking skills," Blake concluded, looking at Ruby, then smiled softly at the girl. "It was pretty sweet of you, keeping your big sis from starving."

"Or poisoning herself," Weiss added seriously, causing Yang to stick out her tongue at her.

Ruby rubbed the side of her neck, bashfully averting her eyes. "Eh, I'm not that good. Ren's better."

Weiss shrugged. "Maybe so, but he had been helping in his orphanage's kitchen for even longer, no? Besides, you picked up a thing or two from him."

"Weiss is right, you know? You may be no world-class chef, but your cooking is good. Homey." Seeing that Ruby was hesitant to just take that praise, Blake let out a huff that was part-amused, part-exasperated, deciding to throw in a bit of constructive critique. "Yes, you can be kinda careless and burn something every now and then, and you probably could do with less eyeballing, but you're fine. And your cakes are to die for." Finishing on that positive note, she smiled. Soon, her mouth started to water at the distant memory of Ruby's baking. Suddenly remembering that it was her birthday, she asked hopefully, "Speaking of, do I get a cake?"

Ruby giggled. "I don't have any on me, if that's what you're asking. But we can fix it." Having said that, she leaned out of the booth and waved at somebody to grab their attention.

Realizing that Ruby had likely just called the waitress, Blake shot a panicked look at the menu still lying in front of her; she had completely forgotten about it amidst the banter and had never ended up actually making her choice, a mistake for which she was now hurriedly trying to make up for. However, noticing Blake's distress, Ruby leaned in close, covering her mouth as if she was about to share a secret. "They've got pretty mean chocolate cheesecakes here," she said with a wink, then retreated back onto her spot.

The waitress arrived moments later with a hard-cover notepad in her hand, ready to take their orders. Having been given little time to consider other options, Blake decided to trust the expertise of their team's resident sweet tooth. Ruby heeded her own advice, Yang went for a cream cake, while Weiss opted for a waffle with some powdered sugar and blueberries.

After a while of waiting, their desserts arrived. Blake managed to pry her hungry eyes off from the chocolaty goodness that had been placed before her and gave the waitress a grateful smile, watching her leave till the woman disappeared from her view. Once the four of them had been once again left alone, Blake picked up her fork, only for the platter with her cake to be cruelly whisked away right under her nose by a silver-eyed devil.

"Hey!" Blake exclaimed in surprise and indignation, but before she could carry on with her outrage, she noticed the two objects that Weiss had just placed in Ruby's open hand — two numbers made of wax, which Ruby promptly stuck into Blake's cheesecake next to one another. Whatever annoyance Blake had felt before melted away as she watched how Ruby lit the wicks of the purple '20' with a lighter the girl had procured from her hoodie. Before long, the cake was returned to its rightful owner, twin flames dancing atop the candles.

The moment Blake realized that an embarrassed, lopsided smile was slowly spreading over her face, she knew that resistance was futile, and so gave in to that distinctively Ruby brand of silliness. With her ears drooped sheepishly, she looked at the girl, who met her gaze with a wide grin, visibly pleased with her little stunt.

"...of course you brought the candles," Blake said, then turned her eyes towards Ruby's accomplice, still in disbelief that Weiss played a part in that mischief.

"Hers idea," Weiss said calmly in response to the incredulous look she was being given, gesturing with her head towards her grinning partner and placing all the blame — or credit — squarely on Ruby's shoulders. Despite her nonchalant tone, there was a playful twinkle in her eye, matching the soft curve of her lips that she tried to hide behind her cup. "Now quit dallying and make your wish, before the fire alarm goes off."

Blake blinked, her eyes flicking between the flames of the candles and Weiss' growing smirk. 'You wouldn't...' She glanced at Ruby in hopes of finding something that would let her call Weiss' bluff, but the disturbingly innocent look present on the girl's face only caused a stone to drop inside Blake's gut, reminding her that it was Ruby they were talking about. 'Oh who am I kidding, of course you would go ahead without asking the management!' Thankfully, she didn't have to think long nor hard on her wish, blowing out the candles to the sound of her friends' soft clapping. Thankfully, no alarm was set off and the four of them were free to enjoy their orders in peace.

The moment she bit into her cheesecake, Blake knew she had made the right call by putting her faith in Ruby to pick a damn fine dessert — it not only looked good, with shavings of dark chocolate sprinkled pleasingly on the top, but also had the taste to match its appearance. The tart was delicate and moist, spreading easily all over her tongue; it was sweet alright, but not overbearingly so, with a thin layer of cherry sauce just under the chocolate icing adding some interesting, fruity nuance to the whole thing.

"How is it?" Ruby asked, looking at Blake expectantly, eager to know her opinion.

"It's great. Can't say I'm surprised, though — you sure do know your sweets," Blake said, flashing Ruby a brief smile before helping herself to a second bite. Pleased with the response, Ruby beamed, then promptly went on to give her dessert her full, undivided attention.

"Lemme taste it?" Yang said, scooting in a bit.

Wary after Ruby's recent shenanigans, Blake grabbed her plate and protectively moved her dessert out of the blonde's reach. Her resolve to defend her treat began to waver, however, after she'd been met with Yang's dejected expression.

A particularly cheeky part of her being considered letting Yang 'taste' it by pulling the girl into a quick kiss, but that seemed a tad too mean — not to mention that there were two singles sitting just across the table, so an all-out making out session would've been highly inappropriate... even if those two could use a bit of push. Eventually, she relented, setting her platter back where it'd been; after a small nod of encouragement, Yang helped herself to a small piece, letting it melt on her tongue before turning towards Ruby and giving her thumbs up.

Without a warning, Blake gripped Yang's chin and turned her head towards herself, then leaned in and stole a quick peck — really, more of a lick than anything else — at the corner of her girlfriend's mouth.

Yang was rightly stunned, though not really embarrassed. As for the other two, a quick glance in their direction told Blake that Weiss didn't seem to care much, continuing to nosh on her waffle, while Ruby simply enjoyed the carnage and confusion. Pleased to learn that her little joke had turned out to be a net gain, Blake met Yang's clueless stare with a smirk.

"You've had some chocolate there," was all the explanation Yang was given. And she really had. Not that it had actually mattered.

Having had her fun, Blake went back to enjoying her treat — and enjoy it she did. That cheesecake could rival those made by Ruby, which would've been a high praise even without accounting for Blake's obvious bias — if that girl ever grew bored of saving people from monsters and their own selves, she could probably make a living as a pastry chef.

Blake poked at her mostly-eaten cheesecake wistfully, holding back a sigh; she really did miss Ruby's baking. Trying not to feel too bummed about that, she shoveled another forkful of the cake into her mouth and looked at Ruby, who, with a fork in her mouth and an empty platter, was doing something on her Scroll.

"So, how many cafés have you two checked out before settling on this one?" Blake asked.

Ruby turned her eyes towards the ceiling for a spell, pondering for a while. "Um... maybe like five?" she said after pulling the fork from her mouth.

That seemed... plausible enough, but Blake nonetheless turned to Weiss for verification.

"Eight."

"Close 'nuff."

Weiss gave her partner a pointed look. "Ruby, that's almost double."

"No it isn't!"

While Ruby had the math on her side when she'd said that 160% isn't quite double, Blake's heart stood with Weiss. "Still closer to ten than five," Blake stated, then reached over the table and took Weiss' free hand into both of her own. "Weiss, I'm so sorry." She had wanted for her words to come out as sincere, and while she managed to prevent her amusement from bleeding into her voice, keeping her face straight proved to be too difficult of a task.

Weiss nodded seriously, her gaze hollow, as if she was reflecting on some traumatic experience. "Yeah. I haven't consumed as much sugar over the past month as I've had yesterday."

Ruby rolled her eyes at their theatrics. "Oh puh-lease, you've barely had anything compared to me."

Not even looking at her partner, Weiss brought her cup to her lips and blew on her coffee. "And that's what terrifies me," she said in a deadpan voice, then calmly took a sip. Yang snorted at that, and even Blake let out a soft giggle at the sight of the adorable, grumpy pout that appeared on Ruby's face.

"I feel you, Weiss," Blake spoke, then shot Ruby a look that was curious and probably a fair bit envious. "Never mind the cavities, where do you even put all those calories?"

At first Ruby just shrugged, but then she noticed Yang's meaningful stare and her cheeks lit up.

"I think I have the general idea," Yang said solemnly.

Soon enough, three sets of eyes focused silently on Ruby's comely form, prompting the girl to cover herself up with her arms — as if her white hoodie wasn't plenty of cover already. For a while, Ruby just glared at them in indignation, then, realizing that it had next to no effect on her friends, she decided to change up her tactics. She moved her empty plate off to the side, then ducked under the table and began digging in the bag she'd brought along.

"Well whatever, it's presents time!"

It was blatantly obvious that she was trying to divert their attention to something else, but even though Blake could see that from a mile away, she still had to admit that it was working. Her curiosity only grew when Ruby finally resurfaced, placing two thin, black boxes in front of Blake, each of them landing on the table a small thud; beside the boxes, Ruby set down a black, fingerless glove and a flat, rectangular band.

"Happy birthday, Blake," Ruby said, smiling brightly, her cheeks still colored with a bit of healthy rosiness.

Blake examined the two boxes carefully. They appeared to be made out of some sort of metal, though they seemed fairly light when Blake nudged one of them in order to move it. Most of their surface was smooth and black, with occasional golden accents; each box had Blake's emblem emblazoned on its side, crafted out of some very shiny, silvery material. On the bottom side of each box there were adjustable straps, but there was no clear indication where they should go.

None of that brought Blake any closer to figuring out what the hell that was, though.

"Thanks, Ruby... but what am I looking at?"

Ruby let out a nervous laugh; something in the look on her face was telling Blake that she had been expecting that question. "Uh, it's a mag dispenser of a sort?" She watched Blake's face for a second or two, then, seeing that further explanations would be necessary, wasted no more time. "So, this thingy here," Ruby picked up the small, rectangular band and held it out between her thumb and her pointer finger for Blake to see, "goes onto the magwell of Gambol Shroud..."

The lecture went on for a couple of minutes, but by the end of it Blake felt she had a pretty good grasp of what Ruby's gift was supposed to do. In the most basic of terms, the accessories were infused with gravity Dust, and when they were brought near their respective dispensers, a fresh magazine would jump right out, either to the gloved hand or — in the case of the box with ordinary bullets — straight into the magwell of her weapon.

"The mag should pop right into your gun on its own," Ruby had said. "Or, well, that's the theory anyways, I'll have to mod your Gambol a bit to really make it fail-proof. Hope you don't mind."

Blake didn't; really, from her past experiences with Ruby, she was willing to bet that the girl understood the inner workings of her Shroud better than she herself ever had, and she had made the damned thing.

To think that she'd once used to believe her weapon to be fairly sophisticated... but then she'd seen Ruby disassemble Crescent Rose — in a record time to boot. 'Those were fun times.'

The glove had a small, metal band around the middle finger that one could rotate with their thumb; every segment on the ring had some tactile marking and was color-coded, corresponding to a specific compartment inside the Dust ammo dispenser. When Ruby brought her gloved hand to the side of the Dust box, a dummy mag sprung forth, flying straight into her gloved grip... and Blake could've sworn that she had seen the magazine change its trajectory mid-air, after Ruby had moved her hand a bit to the side.

The way in which Ruby had explained everything almost made the whole thing seem simple, but there were certain... clues telling Blake that in reality it was orders of magnitude more complex than it appeared. Little things, like how Ruby had said that she had designed the system around the silence of operation, and that to achieve that she resorted to gravity Dust and magnetic levitation. Needless to say, Blake was impressed.

Eventually, Ruby started running out of the things to say; after a pause that drew on for slightly longer than the ones that had come before it, she finally drew a blank. The geeky enthusiasm that had been carrying her through her explanation, making it difficult not to smile at the dork, had finally fizzled out a bit. Ruby glanced at Blake briefly, then cast her gaze down and began staring at her hands, her lips drawn tightly together into an awkward, self-conscious smile.

"Well, I hope you'll come to like it. I know I've over-engineered the hell out of it, and it won't even make your reloading that much faster, and will add some weight to your gear — though I tried my best to minimize that — but—" She stopped, cut off by Blake, who had leaned in over the table and pressed two digits to Ruby's mouth.

"Hey, Ruby, easy. I would've appreciated it for the thought alone. I can see that a lot of work has been put into this." Seeing that Ruby relaxed a bit, Blake sat back down. She brushed her fingers against the cold metal of her gift, admiring Ruby's handiwork. "It really does seem useful, though. In our line of work, any amount of time saved on reloading might make the difference. Besides, it sure seems more handy than carrying spare mags in a pouch or a backpack; especially so if the mags don't rattle inside as much."

In the meantime, Weiss took the glove that Ruby had left on the table after her demonstration and tried it on, taking a moment to admire it from different angles as it rested on her hand. Lines of soft, purple light seeped in through the fabric on the palm of her hand as she poured some of her Aura into the circuits Ruby had crafted, revealing a strangely captivating pattern. "I like the aesthetics." She looked up at Ruby. "Is there any reason you've gone for a glove?"

Ruby actually laughed at that, as if there was something funny about the question — or the answer, perhaps. She grinned, appearing all too happy to reply; instead of looking at Weiss, however, her eyes zeroed on Blake. There was something about the smile the girl had on her lips that had Blake instinctively brace for impact.

"Well, the first idea that came to my mind was just the band, but I don't think Yang would've appreciated it if I beat her to putting a ring on you." The wording alone would've been enough to make Blake blush, but the borderline seductive wink Ruby had accentuated her response with really threw her for a loop.

Hell, even Yang missed a beat before she could mount a comeback. "You bet your ass I wouldn't," she said in a jokingly threatening manner, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms across her chest. She was staring her sister down with a defiant smirk, but the faint hint of red coloring the tips of her ears suggested that the ring remark did get to her more than she'd like to admit... which made Blake's blush only more pronounced.

A pair of amber eyes looked at Ruby, who calmly held their gaze while wearing a smirk was positively infuriating. 'Sheesh. That girl is dangerous,' Blake thought, fighting back against the treacherous smile that was trying to worm its way onto her face.

'That girl' just shrugged innocently, as if to say 'oh well, whatever'. "Besides, a glove gave me a bit more surface to work with. Wiring and stuff. The gravity field should be more stable that way." With the last of her explanations out of the way, Ruby gave Weiss a gentle nudge with her elbow.

On that cue, Weiss grabbed her purse and pulled out a rectangular box covered neatly in wrapping paper; most likely a book, if Blake were to guess based off the object's size. Smiling, Weiss placed it on top of one of Ruby's dispensers, sliding it gently towards Blake. "Happy birthday. I hope you'll like it."

Much to Blake's surprise, when she reached to take the gift, Weiss didn't quite let go of it; their eyes met, and Weiss added, "Keep the wrap on for now. No point in littering the café; besides, books are best appreciated in private." Weiss' soft smile never left her lips as she spoke, looking at Blake unblinkingly in a manner that was both very telling and mildly unsettling. Once Weiss had said her piece, she released the book.

There was a brief moment of pause before Blake finally took her wary eyes off Weiss' smiling face. She glanced towards Yang, who, seemingly having realized that something was afoot, was watching them curiously.

"Thanks," Blake said to Weiss, reciprocating her smile so as to avoid looking too conspicuous.

There was a sense of trepidation as she took the gift in her hand and placed it on the backrest and under her coat, all the while feeling the weight of Weiss' amused gaze on her skin. Weiss wasn't someone that would have handed out a gift that the recipient wouldn't enjoy or otherwise have any use of, but... that somehow made Blake all the more nervous.

Well, at the very least, she could appreciate a fair warning. 'Now to just play it off like an inside joke Yang isn't on...'

But by the looks of it, Weiss wasn't quite done with Blake just yet. "Oh, don't thank me yet; there's more," she said, pulling up her Scroll. After a brief moment, something vibrated in Blake's pocket and the soft, muffled buzz of a Scroll on mute caused three pairs of eyes to focus on her expectantly. "The book was only a bonus," Weiss explained with a sly grin.

Wondering if it was another prank, Blake shot Weiss a suspicious look before reaching into her pocket. Still, even though she braced herself, what she saw once she opened Weiss' message still gave her a pause, going against any and all of her expectations.

"Audio file?" she asked, looking up at Weiss and quirking her brow at the girl. Weiss just nodded, her smile growing a bit; somehow, something in her eyes convinced Blake that there was no catch to that second gift, no embarrassing joke.

Blake patted her other pocket, then her ears drooped a bit when she realized that it was empty. She gave her Weiss an awkward, apologetic smile. "I don't have my..." Before she could finish her sentence, Weiss handed her a pair of white earbuds.

Blake exchanged a quick glance with Yang, then gingerly accepted the earphones, offering one of the buds to her girlfriend; after a moment of hesitation, Yang plucked it from Blake's open hand and put it on. After following her example, Blake quickly paired the earpods to her Scroll, shot the other two girls — both of them grinning — one last look and pressed play, praying that whatever it was, it wouldn't cause her to die of embarrassment.

Soft piano music began pouring into her ear. The first thing that struck her was that the audio quality of the recording wasn't great; while certainly serviceable, she would've believed Weiss if she said that it had been recorded with a Scroll and then just cleaned up a bit. The melody wasn't too complicated at first, comprised mostly of singular key strokes. It flew calmly from one high note to another, peaceful and somewhat nostalgic, almost like a lullaby played by a music box. There was an air of mystery to that song, but before Blake could dwell on it for too long, the clear melody of Weiss' voice joined the piano notes.

In the dead of the night,

Skulking in the shade

Blooms a flower aloof and fair

The fruits of her life her biggest plight

for the lives she touched would wilt and fade

"Ouch," Blake laughed. Weiss just smiled softly at that but remained silent, letting the music do the talking.

Oh atropa belladonna,

Why do you cry alone?

How much longer are you gonna

Run with no sins left to atone?

Born to a world of unkindness

Heir to nothing but spite

Who's to blame you for a bout of blindness

When you'd never seen the light

The song went on for a longer while, and not all of it was serious; in fact, there was plenty of humor and Yang-grade puns, with verses that were calling her a 'cat burglar' who stole Yang's breath away, or a ying to Yang's, well, yang. Blake noticed a lot of references to her namesake, atropa belladonna, otherwise called deadly nightshade — a highly poisonous plant, whose extract had been once used by women to dilate their pupils in order to make them more attractive according to the standards of beauty at the time, thus giving the plant its name: 'bella donna', or 'a beautiful lady'. In her song, Weiss played a lot with the typical symptoms of atropine poisoning — such as shortness of breath — making fun of some while turning others into positives. Blake really enjoyed both the humor and the clever references, but what really got to her was the refrain.

Oh our deadly, deadly nightshade

See yourself the way we see

Meeting you was not a foul fate

This is where we want to be

That was the real meat, the real message of the song. Not the jokes, nor the witty references, but love and forgiveness and acceptance, and all those things she still didn't really feel she fully deserved... but that exactly was the point Weiss was trying to make, wasn't it. She was asking Blake to finally forgive herself and move on, just how they'd forgiven her; to accept herself and let them in, instead of deciding on her own what's best for them.

Off to her side, she could sense Yang watching her closely, ready to be there for her if the need arose... but for now she was fine. Just fine. Biting her lip and holding back her tears, she continued to listen... and when the refrain came around for one last time, Weiss modified the lyrics a little, changing the last line to 'This is where you're meant to be'.

Some time before the music had ended, Blake's wobbly hands found their way to her mouth, covering up the lower half of her face. She stayed like that until the audio player reached the end of the timeline; only a few seconds after everything had fallen silent did she make any sort of movement, drawing a long, shaky breath that made her shoulders tremble.

Touched didn't even begin to describe how she felt in that moment. A part of her being wanted to laugh hysterically at all the ungodly puns and cheesy lines dedicated to her and Yang. Another part wanted to just pull Weiss into a tight hug, regardless of the pesky table that stood in the way... and yet another part was cursing her own self for causing her loved ones so much grief.

Her instinctual response would be to say something, but she quickly reconsidered, realizing that she'd likely just end up choking on her words. Instead, she settled on the second best thing that came to her mind and simply smiled through her tears, hoping it would be sufficient to get her point across.

It wasn't the prettiest smile of her life, tight-lipped and red-faced, but it was the best one she could offer at that moment; she could only pray that what it lost in its appearance it made up for in sincerity. Yang pulled her into a loving — if a bit awkward — side hug, and when Blake looked at her friends, she saw it in their eyes that her flimsy smile was good enough for them. That she was good enough.

And that was the best birthday present she could've ever wished for.

---

While she managed not to crumble completely, it took Blake a couple of minutes — and another serving of the cheesecake — to pull herself together. In the meantime, Ruby's gift was put back into her bag; on Ruby's suggestion, it was agreed that she would hold onto it for now and take it back home, where it'd wait for Blake's return, sparing her the additional weight in her luggage.

The next half an hour came and went uneventfully, with the group enjoying some lazy banter about everything and nothing at all. Yang continued to gush over Kali's cooking — and Kali herself — Blake got to show off the earrings she'd received from Yang, while Ruby was more than eager to share some of the adventures she had with Weiss in that game of theirs. Weiss was uncharacteristically bashful in that new spotlight, but she didn't shy away from the conversation, adding in her own two Lien every now and then; as unbelievable as it seemed, she appeared to have genuinely enjoyed the time she had spent playing with Ruby.

Suddenly, a soft knock on the nearby window gave them all a start, interrupting Ruby in the middle of a sentence. No one other but Sun Wukong stood on the other side of the glass, flashing them a wide, friendly grin. Ruby rolled her eyes at the goof, then silently pointed at their table, to which Sun replied with a half-hearted salute before disappearing from their view.

He showed up again not long after, stopping by their table with a flat box in his hands. Wishing Blake all the best, he handed her the package; as she took a better look at it, she saw a large set of pencils, charcoals and erasers peeking at her through the cover of transparent plastic, complete with a nice spiral sketchbook in black hardcover.

"Figured you'd like to get back to drawing, now that you've got the time," he said. "I'm sure you'll find someone happy to pose for you." Looking beyond Blake, he winked at Yang sitting by the window.

Blake smiled, hugging the art supplies to her chest. It'd been a long time since shad had drawn something, and while she wasn't quite sure in that moment if she would ever actually get back to drawing, a long forgotten yet familiar itch stirred somewhere deep within her. "Thanks."

After that exchange, Ruby and Weiss scooted closer to the window, letting Sun into the booth, where he took a seat next to Ruby. He was his usual, overly talkative self, all too happy to catch up with the team.

From what he said, Neptune was doing alright with the rehab; he had wanted to come along for their little party, but, sadly, had been forced to go for a checkup. The guys had been staying with Neptune's aunt, who was reportedly 'hella cool' and not that much older than the two of them. According to Sun, that negligible age difference lent her relationship with Neptune the same dynamic one would've expected from bickering siblings, not an aunt and her nephew; needless to say, Sun enjoyed his stay quite a lot, and was happy to occasionally join in on the friendly ribbing.

As time passed, the conversation drifted further and further away from Sun and Neptune, shifting its focus to team RWBY and how they'd spent the last couple of days, and what their plans were for the near future. Sun lamented not being there to eat Kali's cooking, calling Yang 'lucky'; then, after Ruby and Weiss had mentioned their trip to Signal, he got interested in the gifts they'd made for Blake. The birthday girl was all too happy to brag a little, and even helped Sun with coaxing Ruby into showing him her handiwork. After a brief demonstration — and a short moment of amazement on Sun's part — he started chatting Ruby up about weaponsmithing, likely hoping to enlist her help in working on his staff. However, Yang helpfully stepped in before the conversation could get completely derailed, reminding Sun that Ruby could geek out about weapons for hours on end; if they wanted, they could always continue some other time.

Uncharacteristically enough, Sun kept his mouth shut while he was listening to Weiss' song, only snickering here and there. He didn't say much once he'd finished, either, but what he did say, combined with his smile, stuck with Blake.

"She's got a point, y'know."

In total, well over two hours had passed inside the café by the time the five of them left the establishment. Though Blake had been planning on paying her fair share of the bill, her friends had all rallied against the idea, insisting to let it be their treat until she had finally relented. After that, they hung out in the nearby park for one more hour or so, until the shadows of surrounding buildings flooded the area and the clock was slowly nearing the time when Sun was supposed to pick up Neptune from the hospital.

Having settled on seeing Blake and Yang off before parting ways for the day, the group strolled unhurriedly through the downtown as the fading daylight painted the world around them in various hues of orange. The sidewalks were mostly empty at that hour, save for a handful of stragglers enjoying their evening walk, enabling the gang to walk side-by-side; they took their time as they traversed the familiar streets, none of them particularly looking forward for the moment to end.

Just as all good things inadvertently come to pass, they eventually arrived at their destination. As they were about to say their goodbyes, they noticed a black-haired woman walking in their general direction with a paper grocery bag in her arms. A pair of cat ears twitched atop her head when she spotted the group, a warm smile lighting up her face as she altered her path to meet them.

"Hi, Mrs. B!" Sun called, giving the approaching woman an enthusiastic wave.

Before long, Kali joined the group. She nodded in response to Sun's greeting, looking at him with an amused smirk. "Hello there, Sun." After a brief moment, her eyes turned towards Ruby and Weiss. Her playful smile softened as she regarded the two. "It's nice to see you again, girls. It's been a while."

"Yeah, you too."

"Likewise."

There was a brief moment of slightly awkward silence between Kali and the other five. Then, Ruby placed a hand on Blake's back and gently shoved the surprised girl onward, a step towards her mother. "Well, here's your daughter — in one piece and back home before her bedtime, as promised." Turning to look at Blake, Ruby smiled and opened her arms invitingly. "Well... till tomorrow?"

Before Blake could say or do anything, Kali spoke up. "Why don't you stay for dinner? We would all be happy to have you over; besides, we didn't really get to chat back at Haven," she said, then shook the bag in her hands and added, "I even bought some fresh bread rolls."

The four members of team RWBY looked at one another. Ruby and Weiss were visibly unsure, but Blake's encouraging smile combined with Yang's wide grin and thumbs up eventually put their apprehension to rest — for the time being, at least.

"Sure, why not," Ruby said hesitantly, then added, "If it's not a problem."

"Not at all. Sun?"

Looking at his friends, Sun smiled wryly and sighed. "I totally jinxed myself back there, didn't I. Ah man, just my luck..." He ran his hand through his blond hair, then turned towards Kali and, clasping his hands together, gave her an apologetic bow. "Sorry, Mrs. B. I'd love to, but I've got somewhere to be."

"Next time, then."

The girls hugged Sun goodbye, then watched him for a while as he began walking away; one look at his tail was enough to tell that he was truly bummed. Shooting them one last glance over his shoulder, he gave the group a small wave and went on his merry way. With him gone, team RWBY let Kali lead them into the building.

"Out of curiosity, what was that about him jinxing himself?" Kali asked the girls as they walked into the lobby.

Blake let out a quiet chuckle. "He's said he missed your cooking."

"D'aww, I'm flattered," Kali cooed, amused and trying not to sound too pleased with herself; she sure took pride in her cooking.

The girls followed Blake's mom into a nearby elevator, which then took them all the way to the top floor. During their ride up, neither Ruby nor Weiss were particularly talkative, both of them watching the floor counter with some slight trepidation. Though they'd agreed on coming along, Blake could tell that they were getting more and more nervous the higher they got; Ruby even jumped a bit when the elevator finally stopped, spooked by the ring of a digital bell.

Kali stepped out of the elevator and into the small foyer, stopping by the front door to the apartment proper. Tucking her grocery bag under one arm, she fumbled for a spell with a satchel she wore by her sash; after a brief while, she managed to retrieve her key card and swiped it against the card reader. Pushing the door open with her shoulder, she walked inside, leaving the girls behind in the foyer.

"I'm back," Kali called from the doorstep. "And better yet, we have guests!"

"Is it too late to fall back?" Ruby mouthed quietly to Yang and Blake once Kali had disappeared within the flat. The two just snickered under their breath, and Yang pushed both Ruby and Weiss through the door.

As they entered, Ghira was standing up from his seat at the table, looking towards the entrance with a somewhat quizzical expression; his raised brow evened out when he recognized the visitors, and he even cracked a small smile. "Oh. Welcome."

"Uh, hi," Ruby said, awkwardly lifting her arm in greeting.

"Hello," Weiss greeted, less awkward than her partner, but far more tense.

Having set her haul down on the countertop, Kali spoke up, "I hoped we'd also bring Sun along, but it seems that he's had some prior arrangements."

Ghira grunted. His brow furrowed, but to Blake it looked to be more of an act than anything else. "What is that waste of space up to these days?"

Yang was in the middle of taking off her shoes; bent over and standing on a single leg while leaning against the wall, she spoke, "Helping a mate of his recover after a lung transplant."

Having shown Weiss where to hang her coat, Blake followed her mom into the kitchen annex and helped Kali unload groceries — mostly breadstuff and fruits — while watching amusedly how Ruby and Weiss were exchanging handshakes and other pleasantries with Ghira.

After a few moments of observation, she noticed something that caused her to knit her brows in concern: Weiss was acting somewhat stiff around Blake's father, as if walking on eggshells, or afraid of giving him the wrong impression. Blake could kind of see why — with the shadow of Schnee name looming over the heiress, a dinner with Ghira Belladonna must've felt almost like some sort of peace talks.

It wasn't that they'd never met before, but they'd never spoken at length, and it seemed that Weiss believed she still had to prove to him she was not like her father. It was all rather unnecessary, as Ghira knew that much by then... but perhaps not completely unfounded, seeing as Blake herself had initially judged Weiss by her name alone. 'Hang in there, Weiss,' Blake thought, nipping lightly at the inside of her cheek. 'Just be yourself.'

As she thought that to herself, something else grabbed her attention and she sniffed the air. There was a certain sweet scent lingering in the kitchen, and though she had smelled it back when she'd entered, only now did she manage to put a finger on it. Fighting back an embarrassed grin, she turned towards her mother. "Mom?" Kali looked at her with a smile that seemed innocent enough, but harmless mischief was showing in her eyes. "Did you bake?"

"Of course I have. It's your birthday, and it's been years since I've got to bake a birthday cake for you. Small joys in the life of a mother, you see."

Blake latched onto her mom from behind, pulling her into a tight hug. It was embarrassing, in a sense, being twenty and having your birthday cake baked by your mother... but, even though she was no longer a kid, it did make her happy — especially considering her somewhat complicated circumstances.

"Thanks."

Blake could feel Kali's soft laughter rumble in her own chest. "You're welcome, love."

Not long after letting go of her mom, Blake was shooed out of the kitchen and joined the rest of her team by the table, where they were talking with Ghira. She hoped to act as Weiss' moral support, but, much to her relief, Weiss seemed to be gradually relaxing as the conversation continued, to a point where, after some twenty minutes, Blake felt pretty comfortable leaving the girls for a spell while she went to check up on her mom.

In the kitchen, the work was going ahead at full steam. Blake had smelled what it was that Kali was preparing all the way from the table, and, now that she could actually see it, she could barely contain her enthusiasm — rows upon rows of neatly cut fish fillets were spread across the counter, most of them all set for frying. By the looks of it, Kali must've done most of the prep work beforehand, as usually it would've taken her much more time to get that far along. While Kali was dealing with the last few pieces of fish, coating them in flour, oil was heating up in the nearby pan.

Blake would've lied if she denied being pretty excited — fish had been her favorite comfort food since forever, and, to make matters even better, Kali had achieved absolute mastery in preparing it. Nonetheless, even if Blake was very much looking forward to the dinner — and to seeing her teammates' reaction to her mom's cooking wizardry — she still had the presence of mind to notice that something was slightly odd: there was a lot of fish on the counter. One would never hear Blake complaining about there being plenty of fish for dinner, of course... but it was almost as if Kali had been expecting to have guests, and had prepared accordingly.

Blake narrowed her eyes and gave her mom a suspicious look, then leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms. "That would've been quite a lot of food for four people," she pointed out, trying to make it sound like an off-handed remark.

Kali shot her a brief glance, then held her hand out just above the frying pan, checking whether the temperature was right. "You know me, dear; I always cook more than necessary," she said innocently.

That much was true; because of that habit of hers, there was always enough food if someone felt particularly peckish on a given day, and if no one did, then the leftovers would make for a nice breakfast — or perhaps a midnight snack, if Blake's dad ended up working until late. Still, even though it was true, it didn't change the fact that Kali was obviously just beating around the bush. Rather shamelessly at that.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Very well, let me rephrase that: it's even more food than you usually cook for four people."

"Well, I admit I was hoping your friends would stay for dinner."

A knowing smirk spread across Blake's face. "Meeting us by the entrance wasn't a happy accident, huh?"

Before Blake and Yang had left that morning for their date, Kali had asked her to send her a text about half an hour before they would be getting back, so she could start working on dinner. Now, in the light of current events, Blake began to doubt the purity of Kali's intentions behind that request.

Her mom just chuckled. "Would you help me with frying?" she asked, leaving Blake's question unanswered.

Blake let out a small huff through her nose and shook her head in amused disbelief, but complied with the request nonetheless, grabbing a second pan and moving in to take over the frying duty. "Sure, mom."

---

If anyone were to ask Blake, she'd proudly say that the dinner had been a resounding success. The girls — including Yang, who had not yet had the opportunity to taste Kali's fish — were completely blown away; even Weiss had admitted that it was on par with the best fish fillet she had ever been served, a praise which pleased Kali greatly.

In time, both Weiss and Ruby had managed to rid themselves completely of their initial nervousness and had been back to being positively adorable, finishing each other's sentences and such. After that, the dinner had gone by in a cozy, pleasant atmosphere of what a perfect family gathering should be like, replete with friendly conversations and embarrassing stories from the past. Despite all of the jokes cracked at her expense, Blake smiled fondly as that thought crossed her mind, glad that her honorary family managed to find their place at her parents' table.

Eventually, Kali excused herself for a moment and headed to the kitchen, asking Yang to follow. The two returned after maybe a minute; Yang, with a wide grin plastered on her face, was carrying a stack of dessert plates, whereas Kali held in her hands a respectably sized, round birthday cake. It was elegant but not too showy, with icing of white and light purple. Here and there, the cake's surface was adorned with patterns made of some kind of syrup, and in the middle of the cake, gathered around a single candle, sat a couple of bell-shaped, marzipan flowers — deadly nightshade, to be exact.

While Yang was dispensing the plates, Kali set the cake on the table and lit the candle.

"So, does she, like, get a second wish?" Yang joked, handing the last platter to Ruby and sitting down.

Blake huffed. "I don't think it works that way, Yang." Prying her eyes away from the cake, she took a sweeping glance at the people gathered by the table; they all were looking at expectantly, all with smiles that caused her eyes to sting and her ears to droop from that confusing mixture of happiness and embarrassment. She heaved a sigh and cracked a smile of her own, then rose from her seat and leaned in over the table, blowing the candle to the enthusiastic ovation from her family.

Having offered the first slice to Blake, Kali began serving the rest of the table. When Weiss' turn was up, the girl raised her hand and gestured for Kali to stop, giving her an apologetic look.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I've had way too much sugar this past couple of days," she said, trying to be as polite as possible; Kali did not insist, moving to the next person after giving Weiss a nod of understanding.

Ruby didn't share her partner's reservations, and Blake stifled a giggle when she caught her directing a very telling look at the ceiling. As soon as everyone had a piece, Ruby dug into hers, her face lighting up the moment she tasted the cake. "Itsh good!" she hummed in delight, her mouth still full. She swallowed properly and immediately shoveled another bite onto her spoon, but instead of eating it, she turned to Weiss and held it out for her. "Come on, Weiss, you've gotta try it at least."

For a moment, Weiss just stared at the spoon silently, then shot Ruby a look that said 'are you serious?', hoping against hope that the girl wasn't. Ruby's enthusiastic, unwavering grin was all the response she needed; knowing full well that the girl wouldn't drop the matter easily, Weiss let out a defeated sigh and humored her — though not before making a big show of rolling her eyes at Ruby. She leaned in and took a quick nibble at the treat offered, then retreated back, taking on a thoughtful expression as she let the cake melt on her tongue.

Blake raised her brow, then let out a tiny amused huff. 'Dorks.' She looked at the others gathered by the table, curious to see how they had reacted to the usually cool and proper heiress to the SDC allowing — if begrudgingly — her friend to spoonfeed her.

Yang appeared as if she wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or be impressed with how little the girls seemed to care; for a hot second Blake had actually thought that Yang would speak up and tease the two, but it seemed that she decided to resist the temptation and keep her mouth shut... at least for now. Kali was... intrigued, while Ghira had the 'oh, I see' kind of expression painted on his face, leading Blake to believe that her dad might have jumped to some rather premature conclusions — not that she could blame him.

Having finally swallowed, Weiss fixed Ruby with a half-hearted glare. "There. Satisfied?" she asked in a deadpan voice, at which Ruby playfully stuck out her tongue. Choosing not to acknowledge that fact in any way, Weiss looked at Kali and cracked a smile, giving her a small bow of appreciation. "I have to admit, it is quite good."

Kali let out a satisfied hum. "I'm glad to hear that. I'll pack the cake for Blake and Yang to take back home, so you'll have the chance to have some more, should you fancy a slice tomorrow."

At some point, Ruby asked Blake's mom what she'd used for the cake, and Kali, all too eager to discuss the subject, obliged her; the situation escalated rather quickly from there and the whole conversation shifted towards baking. While everyone managed to contribute in one way or another, sharing their favorite pastries and such, to no-one's surprise, Kali and Ruby did most of the talking. At times, it all sounded a bit like witchcraft, or alchemy perhaps, but no one seemed to mind, as all were eager to see what that budding cooperation would bring; besides, it was quite wonderful, simply listening to them discuss the matter excitedly, exchanging baking tips and recipes.

While not exactly bored, Blake found herself drifting in and out of the conversation, wrapped up in her thoughts. That little interaction between Ruby and Weiss from before seemed to be all but forgotten by others — especially so by the pair in question — but Blake couldn't help but feel a bit... dissatisfied with how it had played out.

Her heart always grew at those off-handed displays of trust and care, but recently it was often followed by the slight aftertaste of frustration, borne of the awareness that nothing was ever coming out of it. Neither Ruby nor Weiss thought anything of it. At the end of the day it was none of her business, she knew... but she couldn't help but wish those two hooked up already.

Suddenly, Ghira's Scroll went off. He grumbled something under his breath as he reached into his pocket, only to raise his brow in surprise once he identified the caller. He looked up at the rest of the gathering. "Excuse me, I'm afraid I need to take this one," he said and stood up, then went into his and Kali's bedroom and closed the door.

Blake had watched him closely till the moment he was gone, wondering whether there was some trouble abound. Thankfully, as far as she could tell, her father didn't seem concerned, just... slightly bewildered, as if he really hadn't been expecting that call. Kali didn't seem particularly tense, either, though she was admittedly somewhat distracted when the girls tried to get the conversation back on track.

When the door clicked open, Kali turned around in her chair and looked curiously at her husband emerging from the room. "Who was it?"

Ghira scratched his head. "Some chap from SDC; seems they haven't heard of free Saturdays," he said with a short laugh, placing his hand on Kali's shoulder before lowering himself back onto his seat. "He called to schedule a meeting regarding that draft we've sent them last week. Funny how much can be done when the person in charge isn't a ruthless despot who's sold his soul to the devil," he said with a wry smile, then paused suddenly and tensed up, looking at Weiss apologetically, as if just then remembering the present company. "No offense."

But Weiss just breathed a soft laugh, shaking her head. "None taken. Besides, it was a rather apt description, if I say so myself."

"Especially the devil part," Blake thought, and if the glances exchanged between the remaining members of team RWBY were anything to go by, a similar notion crossed all of their minds.

Ghira raised his brow at the heiress, intrigued. It did not escape Weiss' attention; having buried her smirk inside a cup, she took a sip of her coffee, then regarded the man in front of her calmly. "Really, I would not be surprised if your opinion of my father was still more favorable than mine. He measured one's worth in the amount of ways he could exploit them, and saw other people as nothing more than tools he himself knew best how to make use of. Yours truly included," she said, her eyes cold and smile bitter.

She continued. "He tried to seduce us into compliance with money, or by dangling in front of us the promise of parental approval, should we do as he asked. Except that nothing we'd ever done was good enough, and nothing we ever wanted mattered. He made that much clear. At the end of the day, Klein — my butler — was more of a father to me than my biological father ever was. To Jaques, my siblings and I were a tool to preserve and expand his 'empire', first and foremost. And if he ever happened to be there for us when we needed a parent, it was because that was when we were the most vulnerable, and the easiest to control. Those were never grand displays of parental love, mind you — mostly reminders that he was the only one there for us." She sighed. "Whitley got the worst of it, especially after Winter and I were gone from the manor."

It had been a long time since Blake last heard Weiss mention her brother; probably since they'd left Atlas. Blake wasn't sure what had happened between the two of them after Jacques' funeral, but where the apparent dislike for the boy had used to be, now there was sorrow and pity... and maybe even remorse. Still, Blake felt she was in no position to pry; instead, encouraged by Weiss' being so forward about her father, she went for a certain question that had been on her mind for years now.

"Why did he even let you attend Beacon? Why loosen the leash?" she asked. "He must've realized that it'd weaken his hold over you, especially after Winter had involved herself with Ironwood."

Weiss actually laughed at that. "Oh, yes, he was livid when she joined the army." She looked at Blake, giving her a lopsided smile. "Well, he certainly didn't make it easy," she said, pointing at the scar across her left eye, "but you're right. And I admit, I did wonder about that. There's no doubt in my mind that it was an investment of some sort, I'm just not exactly sure what he hoped to gain from it. Maybe he allowed it to silence me? To placate me by giving me some illusion of freedom? Or maybe he figured that having a Huntress on hand could come in handy? I don't know. But I don't doubt he'd try to stop me if I were to follow in Winter's footsteps."

With her head resting in the palm of her hand, Ruby quietly listened to Weiss, staring thoughtfully into empty air. "Maybe he was willing to take the risk because he hoped that it'd have further distanced you from your brother. Best case scenario, he'd have had a full-fledged Huntress wrapped around his finger, and if that didn't pan out, he'd still have had Whitley, whom you would not be able to turn against him in either case, and whom he would be able to use against you," she suggested. Her voice was somber, matching the uncharacteristically dark expression she wore on her face. "It would've been a win-win for him either way."

Weiss' eyes went wide; by the looks of it, what Ruby had just said was not something she had considered before, but now that it had been brought to her attention, she certainly seemed to be giving it some serious thought.

Kali stared at the two girls and shifted on her chair uncomfortably, visibly unsettled. "It's downright disturbing if that was really his plan," she said quietly.

Weiss scoffed, scrunching up her nose. "It would not have been the most manipulative or heartless thing he has ever done; our family's infamy has not exactly come from nowhere, and his is all the credit." She fell silent for a spell, staring off into indescribable distance with a wistful look in her eyes. Then, drawing in a deep breath, she continued. "Schnee name used to mean something other than cheap labor, Faunus abuse and terrible working conditions. Once upon a time, it meant affordability. Trust. But Jacques Gelè has ruined that. We might have money and a monopoly on the market, but now all this name attracts is hate, prying eyes and power-hungry hyenas. He cost this company its soul, and now pretty much everyone would like to see it being torn down." She once again brought her cup to her lips, taking a sip.

"Well, your mother seems to be taking steps to undo that damage," Kali noted. Turning to look at her husband, she touched his arm. "She has personally reached out to Ghira, asking for his counsel regarding the Faunus, and for him to mediate between SDC and the Faunus Rights Movement."

Weiss' blue eyes flicked towards Blake's father, looking at him with interest. "Oh?"

Ghira let out a low, affirmative hum. "Mmm. She's been very cooperative so far," he said diplomatically, but the slight crease of his brow gave away to an observant eye that something had been left unsaid.

"You are wary," Weiss pointed out matter-of-factually.

He nodded, appearing somewhat conflicted. "Yes. I don't mean to be ungrateful, but after years of falling on deaf ears, I can't help but feel... suspicious, now that SDC seems to finally be listening."

"I really cannot blame you," Weiss replied somberly, hanging her head.

A moment of heavy silence followed; Ghira seemed deep in thought, as if he was debating himself on how to proceed with the conversation, or whether he should broach some specific subject or not. After a couple of seconds, he seemed to have made up his mind and spoke up. "I might be overstepping my boundaries, miss Schnee—"

"Weiss," she corrected firmly, looking him in the eye.

Ghira was taken aback for a spell, but recovered quickly. "Weiss, then," he said, his head bobbing slightly in a small, respectful nod. "As I've said, I'm probably overstepping my boundaries, but may I ask you what kind of woman is your mother? You're likely the only person I can ask."

He seemed hopeful when he asked that question, but when he noticed Blake glaring daggers at him, he realized he must've unknowingly done a gaffe. He glanced at Weiss, who, unsure how she should even respond to that inquiry, just stared at the table in front of her with her mouth slightly open. After a brief moment, she collected herself and looked up at Ghira with a weak, polite smile that was just painful to look at. "I will be sure to let you know once I figure that out."

Understanding of his mistake brought a sympathetic frown to Ghira's face. "I'm sorry."

But Weiss just shook her head. "That's quite alright. You are not the one who is responsible for the current state of my family affairs, nor should they be your concern," she said calmly, then released a soft sigh. "As for my mother, all I can say is that, from what she has shared with me recently, she is aiming to re-introduce many of the policies from the times when my grandfather was still running the company. And if the recent purge in SDC's board of directors is anything to go by, she is quite serious about making a change. I cannot vouch for her motives, however; it is entirely possible she simply wants to distance herself from my father's shady dealings before they can be used to tear the company down."

Ghira just nodded, scratching his chin in thought.

"Seems like we have no choice but to take her up on her offer and get to know the woman in person," Kali concluded, looking at Ghira, who just groaned in displeasure.

Blake's ears twitched with interest. "What offer?"

A tiny smirk bloomed on Kali's face. "Miss Schnee has graciously invited us to the New Year's Ball, 'to celebrate this new partnership, and the future in which man- and Faunus-kind can live side by side as equals'," she said with a hint of theatrical exaggeration, her amused eyes never leaving Ghira until she finished speaking and looked at Blake. "Your dad's just being grumpy because he's never been a fan of black tie dresscode."

"It's stifling," Ghira grumbled.

Kali let out a quiet giggle and turned towards her husband, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest. "But it does look good on you, dear husband," she said, laughter coloring her voice.

"Well, seems that we'll get to see at least two friendly faces," Ruby joked, playfully nudging Weiss with her elbow.

Kali's ears perked up and she straightened her back, turning her head towards the girls. "Oh, does that mean you're planning to come? All four of you?" she asked, enthusiastic gleam present in her eyes.

Weiss, not quite sharing Kali's eagerness, smiled wryly and nodded. She let her gaze fall down and stared distractedly at the table, as if not quite believing that she had actually let herself be talked into doing it. "Seems like it," she breathed out, shooting Ruby a brief, meaningful look.

Kali, however, seemed rather thrilled for some reason. She gave Ghira a short glance, then, having received a small half-nod half-shrug from him in response, turned to face her guests again. "Say, girls, do you have any plans for December?"

The four members of team RWBY looked at one another in confusion, wondering what that sudden change in direction was all about.

"Not really, why?" Ruby responded carefully.

Kali grinned at that, clasping her hands together and leaning in eagerly. "Well then, if that's the case, what would you say to going for a vacation to Menagerie?" she suggested. "Kuo Kuana is very pleasant at that time of year. We have some beautiful beaches and crystal-clear water, and you girls certainly deserve to spend some time just lying under the sun without a care in the world. Then, at the end of December, we could all travel to Atlas together."

Taken aback by that sudden offer, Ruby turned to her team for opinion, but the girls were just as stunned as she herself was; even Blake hadn't quite expected her mom to just go ahead and invite the whole team to Menagerie — for a whole month at that. "I— I mean, we wouldn't want to impose..." Ruby said with a short, nervous laugh. Her eyes darted from one teammate to another, looking desperately for someone who would back her up.

Much to Blake's surprise, it was Ghira who took it upon himself to assure them it would be no problem whatsoever. "Nonsense. You're like family to Blake, and after all the love you've shown our daughter, it's the least we can do."

Kali nodded in agreement. "Besides, I think it's safe to say that we both would love to hear more about your exploits. Blake's been pretty tight-lipped about your adventures, and though Sun was kind enough to shed some light onto the matter, I'm certain there are many more stories left to tell, both old and new."

Kali's question seemed innocent enough, but Blake still narrowed her eyes suspiciously, wondering whether her mother's words had a second layer to them. On the third day of Blake and Yang's stay with Belladonnas, Kali and Ghira had discreetly tried to pry into the details of team RWBY's latest mission; they had dropped the matter once Blake had told them she couldn't speak of it yet, and though they had never brought it up again over the week, she didn't doubt they hadn't given up entirely on getting the answer. Team RWBY spending the whole December in Menagerie would conveniently give them plenty of time to try.

In the meantime, Kali carried on without a pause, oblivious to her daughter's thoughts. "It'd be lovely to get to know you better."

The four girls stared at each other in silence for a moment, holding a wordless council. None of them was particularly against the idea, but Weiss seemed somewhat apprehensive.

"Won't the locals have any problems with three humans staying in Menagerie?" she asked, a small frown giving away her concern.

"Some might, but should it come to that, I think our family is respected enough to prevent any problems from arising," Ghira replied reassuringly. "That said, I'd like to think no one would have any qualms about you three staying with us; Menagerie might have been given to the Faunus to live in peace, but if we're supposed to ever be as equals, self-segregation is just as bad as humans putting us in ghettos."

"And you're no ordinary humans, either; you girls have made quite a name for yourselves," Kali said, then looked at Ruby with a healthy dose of respect in her eyes. "Especially you, Ruby."

Ruby groaned at that and laid down on the table, hiding her head in her arms, as if wishing for nothing more than to disappear. "Please don't remind me."

What Kali and the girl were both referring to was Ruby's impromptu speech during the Second Negotiations of Vytal — the very same one she had made in front of all of Remnant right after Sun had quite literally stolen the mic from the previous speaker, who had been spouting some proper nonsense about the Fall of Beacon and the Academies; needless to say, they had caused a bit of a scene.

Thankfully, it had gone over well with the general public, who had been quite taken with the tale Ruby had to tell. It had been a story of loss, and fear, and suffering — one that pretty much anyone could relate to in those uncertain times, when Remnant had seemed a hair's breadth away from a total war. But it was also a story of hope, of people — both men and women, Faunus and human, Huntsmen and ordinary folk — who banded together to protect others, even at times when they had been shown nothing but spite and distrust. Her message was one of unity, of peace, one that pleaded the four Kingdoms to stop blindly pointing fingers at one another, lest there be no Remnant left to save after the next Great War. She had taken a gamble and appealed to their humanity, and, in the end, she had been listened to.

If anyone were to ask Weiss, Blake and Yang, they would probably all agree that it had been one of the proudest moments in the history of their team, but Ruby still shuddered at the memory — while she had managed to keep it together in the moment, as soon as she'd left the spotlight, she'd crumpled into a shaking ball of stress and fried nerves. Suffice to say, she didn't like it being brought up, nor the recognition that had come with it.

Kali giggled. "As you wish," she said, bowing her head. Then, with a smile still lingering on her lips, she went on and addressed the team as a whole. "My point is, people in Menagerie have heard of the good work you girls have done for us, humans and Faunus alike."

Her head still resting on the tabletop, Ruby moved the arm covering up her face and turned to look at her friends to see what they thought.

To Blake, getting to spend a whole month with her parents and her team seemed absolutely perfect, not to mention that she genuinely believed that the girls could really use that trip; besides, she missed her home, even if it was not free of its faults. Of course, accepting the invitation would give her parents an ample opportunity to pester her about her latest mission… but while that much was true, she was done running from her problems; that way, she would at the very least have a fixed date by which she'd have to decide whether to get them involved or not.

Yang simply gave Ruby her thumbs up; whether it was Blake's enthusiasm that had somehow rubbed off on her, or was she simply sold on the prospect of spending the winter on a sunny beach, Blake couldn't tell.

Weiss, however, was still hesitant and had averted her eyes the moment hers and Ruby's met. Ruby just watched her patiently for a spell; then, when Weiss seemed no closer to the answer, just more anxious, Ruby reached out to her and gently nudged Weiss' hand with her own, getting Weiss to look up at her. It was a small, seemingly insignificant gesture — nothing more than two fingers brushing gently against the other's skin — but somehow it made Blake feel as if she was intruding on something very intimate.

Although Ruby's face remained largely passive and calm, with that little touch she seemed to have managed to assure Weiss that it was fine to say 'no', and that no matter what Weiss would decide, she'd have her back. Weiss exhaled, then, with the slightest upward curve to her lips, took a leap of faith and gave Ruby a small nod.

With that, Ruby straightened her back and looked up at her hosts, mustering a tiny smile. "Very well."

'Hopeless, both of you.'

---

Moon shone amidst the clouds in the sky by the time Ruby and Weiss started preparing themselves to head home. There was a lengthy goodbye and, after thanking their hosts for the hospitality, the girls took their leave, followed closely by Blake and Yang, who'd decided they'd see their two teammates off to the nearest airship station.

In the foyer, Ruby trotted on ahead to summon the elevator, which arrived before long; the four of them then entered inside and Ruby punched in the floor, starting their ride back to the lobby.

Not long after the door to the elevator closed behind them, Ruby suddenly patted her sister on the back. "Good job," she said.

Yang grinned at that, eagerly accepting the praise. "Thanks," she said as if she knew exactly what Ruby was going on about... only that it quite quickly became clear that she did not. She let out an awkward chuckle and scratched her cheek, looking off to the side. "What did I do again?"

Ruby gave her goof of a sister a sideways look, letting out an amused huff. "Blake's parents seem to like you."

"True," Blake agreed. "I was somewhat afraid that dad was going to give you a hard time now that we're going out, but I was pleasantly surprised."

"Why would he?" Weiss asked, quirking her brow.

"Let's just say he didn't like Sun much back when we've visited Menagerie, and we weren't even dating."

Ruby made an 'ooooh' sound, as if something had finally clicked in her mind. "So that's what that 'waste of space' was about."

Blake chuckled. "Yes. I think he's warmed up to him, though."

For the next couple of seconds, they continued their ride down in silence, hearing no sound other than the soft hum of the elevator; then, suddenly, Weiss spoke up. "I mean, I can kind of see where he's been coming from," she deadpanned.

Scandalized, Ruby swatted her across the shoulder. "Weiss!" she laughed.

Weiss gave Ruby a quizzical look, as if she didn't see at all what the girl found so funny or outrageous about her statement. "What?" she asked innocently. In that moment, the elevator stopped and Weiss, not waiting for a reply, stepped out into the lobby through the newly opened door; as Weiss had been turning away from her teammates, Blake caught a glimpse of an amused, playful glint in her blue eyes.

They left the building and headed down the road. The nearest bullhead stop of the Vale-Patch line was not that far — maybe two blocks away — so they were in no rush, expecting to have at least ten minutes to spare before the last ship would take off.

The city's sleepy atmosphere, with its orange lights and the low hum of passing cars, lent itself to their interactions along the way; they chatted quietly among themselves, albeit not much, with their conversation falling into an occasional, comfortable lull every now and then. Whenever they talked, they talked about nothing in particular, hopping from one subject to another — Kali's cooking, the past week, their future plans and so forth... Yang also tried pestering Weiss about Ruby's dress again, but to no avail, as the proud heiress remained steadfast in her resolve.

"So... now that the four of us are getting back together, you'll probably want us to go and pay a visit to that doctor we've been recommended, huh?" Yang said to Ruby at some point, getting a small nod from the girl. Yang turned her head towards the dark, starless sky and pondered, letting out a thoughtful hum. "Doctor Glas, was it? Wonder what she's like."

A moment of silence followed, and Blake couldn't shake off the feeling that the mood had shifted slightly at the mention of Doctor Glas. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Weiss shooting Ruby a concerned glance but saying nothing, as if waiting for the other girl to speak.

"Yeah..." Ruby aired quietly, streetlight shining in her eyes as she looked on ahead.

And there it was again — the intense gut feeling telling Blake that something wasn't being said. Yang didn't seem to have picked up on it, not yet anyways, but Blake was fairly sure at that point. She even had an inkling as to what that 'something' really was.

While it could be reasoned that the prospect of visiting a therapist could make one rather uneasy — Blake herself was very much one such case — she was still inclined to believe it was not the reason behind Ruby and Weiss' slightly off behavior. Something had happened, and if her gut was right, that something convinced the two to pay Doctor Glas an early visit, or at the very least seriously consider doing so. And based on all those concerned, hesitant glances Weiss was sending in Ruby's direction, it was about the younger of the two.

It hurt a bit, the fact that Ruby would still hide from them that something was wrong. But even then, Blake didn't hold it against her; she understood that it had never been a matter of trust, and that Ruby, in her own way, was just looking out for them; knowing that girl, she probably just didn't want to spoil Blake's birthday, as inconsequential as that was. Blake was tempted to say something right then and there, but ultimately decided against it; it wasn't her secret to tell, and she respected Ruby's wish to keep quiet, for now. It sucked, but at the very least Blake could take comfort in knowing that Ruby wasn't dealing with it alone, and that, hopefully, she was finally getting some professional help.

She still did wonder, however, what it was exactly that had happened. Had Ruby's nightmares gotten worse? Insomnia, perhaps? She did look just fine at the moment, but... Blake worried.

For a single heartbeat, Blake's and Ruby's eyes met, before the latter averted hers; a shadow of something akin to shame crossed the girl's face when she did so, bringing a frown to Blake's brow. 'Hang on in there, Ruby.'

In time, Blake hoped, Ruby would find it in herself to come clean; she knew it wasn't easy.

---

Blake was pretty silent on their way back.

'Excuse me, have you ever met Blake?' one might be tempted to say. Sure, on the surface that might've sounded like Blake alright, but while that girl had always been the quiet type, she at the very least listened. That wasn't really the case as Yang and Blake walked back to Blake folks', and even if one just ignored her being distracted, she was still being quieter than her usual self. Something was on Blake's mind, but when Yang had asked, all she'd got was it'snothings; left with no other choice but to speculate, she racked her brain trying to figure it out on her own.

It all had started around the time Ruby and Weiss had left... or perhaps a bit earlier, during their walk to the airship station. Yang retraced the conversation they had had on the way there — what she remembered of it, anyways — and the only obvious suspect that came to her mind was the subject of visiting the therapist.

She winced. She'd really put a damper on everyone's moods back there, that was for sure. While it was a serious matter and as such should be discussed at some point, she probably could've waited a day or two before bringing it up — better yet, leave it to Ruby to bring it up. Honestly, she hadn't even meant to mention it, it'd just... kind of, well, slipped.

Truth was that she, too, was nervous; perhaps the most nervous of the whole team. The thought of visiting that doctor had constantly been skulking in the back of her head for the better part of the week, and meeting with Ruby and Weiss had somehow made it seem more real, more... imminent, as Blake would say. If that was what Blake had weighing on her mind, Yang really couldn't blame her for not wanting to speak about it; there was a time and place for such heavy conversations, and the evening of Blake's birthday — or the last night of their stay with Belladonnas — probably ain't that.

But while Blake didn't want to talk about the therapy, she seemed to be still thinking about it. And luckily, nothing was stopping Yang from providing a distraction. "So, you gonna get back to drawing?"

"Hm?" Blake turned to face Yang, her ears perking up attentively — or maybe in surprise. Then, she shook her head slightly, looking away as her hand went on to rub the side of her neck. "Oh. I'm not sure yet. I probably have gotten rusty; it's been a long time."

It was probably one of those moments when Yang was supposed to disagree and compliment her girlfriend, but she figured that teasing Blake a little would be better suited for her purposes. "Probably," she said, her effort at keeping a straight face rewarded with a playful punch to her shoulder. "There's only one way to scour that rust away, you know?"

Yang had never been good at arts, but genuinely appreciated the hell out of people that were. She thought it was cool how they were able to express their feelings and ideas, to share tiny little pieces of themselves with others and through those affect them somehow — bring out a tear, or a laugh. As luck would have it, she was in a team of artistically gifted people: Blake had her drawings, Weiss was actually a fairly known singer, while Ruby had been a damn fine storyteller ever since they'd been kids — though that particular talent of hers didn't really get to shine through in a long time. Yang? All she had going for her was tinkering with her bike and some occasional carpentry, but that hardly counted as art in her layman opinion. But that was fine; she had her own things, and never felt any envy towards her teammates — if anything, she'd be sad if all that talent got wasted.

"Well... maybe I could be convinced," Blake said eventually. The street lights brought out the shadows that hid in the corners of her mouth, highlighting the beginnings of a smile.

Yang played along. "How?"

"I wonder," Blake mused, taking on a theatrically thoughtful expression. She shot Yang a sideways look, then asked: "Would you pose for me?"

Yang felt a sly smirk spread across her face. "In the nude?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

That earned her yet another half-hearted blow — this time around, a light smack to her arm. "Yang!" Blake cried, whipping her head around to see if there was anyone who could've heard it; thankfully for her, there wasn't. No one but her and Yang, who very much enjoyed her front row view of Blake's somewhat flushed expression.

Chuckling under her breath, Yang threw her arm over her girlfriend's shoulder and lightly bumped Blake's head with her own. "For you, anything."

"Goof."

---

While it took some poking and prodding on Yang's part, they managed to keep the conversation alive until they reached the penthouse. Kali greeted them as soon as they went through the door, then, after they'd undressed, she seated the two by the table and poured them both some tea. Ghira wasn't in the kitchen, likely having gone to the balcony while Yang and Blake had been away; he seemed rather fond of watching Vale at night, Yang had noticed.

She glanced down at her drink; even though her hands never really got cold, the cup was still pleasantly warm to the touch after spending some time exposed to the autumn chill.

"So, what do you make of them? Ruby and Weiss, I mean," she said to Kali, who'd just set down the teapot on the kitchen counter and was making her way back to the table with a cup of her own in her hand.

"They're both quite delightful," Blake's mom replied eagerly, taking seat opposite of her daughter and Yang. She seemed to ponder on something for a spell, as if in a last-ditch effort to figure it out by herself. Unsuccessful, she looked to the girls. "Though I feel I have to ask you about one thing. It's been on my mind the whole time they've been here, and it might be a silly question, but... are those two a couple?"

As it turned out, Yang had taken a sip of her tea at the most inopportune of times, as a violent, involuntary outburst of laughter caused her to gag on her drink. 'Wrong pipe!' Her body was shaking with both coughs and laughter as she pounded a fist against her chest to get the tea out of where it did not belong; Blake also helped, providing support in the form of some hearty whacks to Yang's back. Despite all the ruckus, and her struggle to breathe, Yang could still hear Blake snicker.

"Not to our knowledge, no, but I can't blame you for thinking that way," Yang managed to choke out before another coughing fit started.

Blake continued to pound her hand across Yang's back until the worst of the crisis seemed to have passed. "That said," she spoke, "they really should just hook up already."

Yang let out the last couple of hacks and wiped her mouth and nose with the back of her hand. She felt damn nasty; her throat burned and so did her nostrils after some of the tea ended up there. She took a swipe at the tears that welled up in her now-bloodshot eyes and drew in deeply of air to steady herself, then looked up at Blake and shrugged.

"Eh, I dunno. Whatever works for them, right?"

Blake rolled her eyes at those words. "Come on, you know they'd be good for each other."

"Aren't they good for one another the way they are, though?"

"I mean, I guess, but wouldn't they be happier together?"

Yang leaned in, putting a finger in Blake's face and looking her dead in the eye; even if it was her girlfriend, Yang was still determined to defend her little sister's best interest. "We don't know that. Hell, we don't even know whether Ruby swings that way. And even if she does, and even if they are mutually attracted to each other, that doesn't mean they have to hook up."

Kali looked at Yang in surprise. "You don't know Ruby's orientation?"

Yang shook her head. "Not really, no. She's never had any crushes that I know of, and would get uncomfortable whenever the subject was brought up. There were a couple of people that crushed on her, both guys and girls, but I don't think she ever realized; let's just say that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it came down to social cues."

She let out a short laugh, which then dissolved into another, smaller coughing fit; Blake had already readied her hand to whack her, but Yang gestured at her to hold on, signaling that she'd got it. Once it'd come to pass, Yang cleared her throat and continued. "I assumed it was just that her puberty didn't quite kick in just yet, and that it'd get her eventually; then the first year of Beacon came and went by, and at some point I started wondering whether or not Ruby's an ace. But she was only fifteen, so I figured she'd have plenty of time to find someone that'd catch her eye — or so I thought."

"Sometimes I forget that she's two years younger than the rest of you," Kali let out thoughtfully.

Blake nodded. "More like a year and a half in Weiss' case, but yes; she can be very mature for her age — more than either of us."

"Or a total kid," Yang chimed in, smirking.

Blake giggled, doing her best to balance her cup in her hands as her frame shook with laughter. "Or a total kid," she agreed, taking a sip.

Yang carried on. "Yeah, well, in any case, after that came the Fall of Beacon, so I'm not really surprised that relationships and teenage crushes weren't high on her list of priorities, what's with the world falling apart all around her and whatnot. Doesn't really get you into the right mood, y'see."

A smirk crept onto Kali's face. "Didn't stop the two of you."

Yang grinned, bringing her arm around Blake's neck and pulled her closer, quite nearly making her spill her tea. "Well, see, we're special."

Giving Yang a half-hearted glare, Blake pressed her hand against Yang's cheek and lightly pushed her protesting girlfriend off herself. "In all seriousness though, we really can't compare; being the team leader, she's had a much bigger responsibility on her shoulders, and she's of the sort that'd always put us before ever thinking of herself," Blake said.

Yang nodded distractedly, looking at some unspecified point in space with distant eyes. "It was really hard on her, though she did her best not to show it. We all tried to help whenever and however we could — especially Weiss. The two of them were pretty close at Beacon — well, by the end of the year anyways — but after our team got back together she... really took it up on herself to help Ruby cope. And didn't take a 'no' for an answer." she let out a quiet huff, beginnings of a weak, fond smile briefly gracing her face.

Kali seemed slightly confused as to what Ruby would say 'no' to; having noticed that her mom was at a loss, Blake went on to explain. "Ruby didn't... doesn't want people to see her as weak," she said softly, her cat ears pressing against her scalp. "She wants to be someone you can always fall back on when things get dire, whom you can trust, who will always try her best to settle arguments or to cheer you up. And really, she's pretty great at it... problem is, she does that at a personal cost."

"Right..." Yang breathed out with a weary, pained sigh. As she continued to speak, she did so in a small voice, staring at her own reflection that was looking back at her from inside her cup. "She doesn't show it to us when she is hurting. She never has, even when she was little and the two of us lost our mom. She doesn't ask for help. Pretends that everything is fine, even at times when she's probably screaming inside. By now she's so well-practiced that most of the time you forget it's all a ruse, and actually believe her." A wry, bitter smile found its way onto Yang's face; she looked away as if in guilt or shame, letting out a dry, mirthless chuckle. "And then you remember that she hasn't slept for more than six hours straight this past year. If not since the Fall."

Blake nodded, putting her hand on Yang's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "I think most of us were guilty of buying a bit too much into that pretense. It was easier that way, relying on Ruby as our backbone." She sighed, her eyes downcast. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I do think Ruby might've had a point in hiding her problems from us."

From the quizzical look present on Kali's face it was quite clear that they'd lost her. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused. While she directed the question at her daughter, it was Yang who took it upon herself to answer.

"We wanted to help her, sure. But we might not have been prepared to actually help her," she said darkly, then shook her head. "Sure, we were always there to back her up, both in combat and out of it. But as to actually hear her out... I'm really not sure if we could've handled it if she broke the illusion. She has always been our ray of sunshine. Admitting that it was getting too much for her… chances are it would've just killed the morale, and then everything would have gone down the drain."

Blake tensed up, realizing that they were edging dangerously close to the subject she would rather not touch upon just yet. Seeing that Yang had said her piece for now, Blake took that opportunity to carefully veer the conversation far away from Salem and other grim aspects of reality that up until recently had been threatening to break their spirits. "Of course, it doesn't make our complacency any better... but I think it's part of the reason why we were so quick to leave her be when she insisted she's fine — we were afraid we'd just make things harder for her."

A low, slightly amused hum formed in the back of Blake's throat. She shook her head. "But Weiss is stubborn, and wasn't afraid of playing 'I'm your partner' card until Ruby finally relented and let her in. She's become Ruby's confidant, her go-to whenever she had her doubts, or worries, or simply needed a friendly ear to talk to. Fairly often you could wake up in the middle of the night and see the two of them talking quietly outside the room. And as reluctant as Ruby was to open up to Weiss, you could tell that she was relieved to have someone to talk to." She fell silent for a moment. "I'm glad Weiss was, and is there for her. Ruby's got a big heart, but even hers is nowhere big enough to bear the woes of everyone around her alone."

"Yeah..." Yang let out quietly. "gotta say, at times I'm jealous of Weiss — by now, she probably understands Ruby better than I ever have. It kinda makes me feel like a sorry excuse of a big sister, and wish Ruby had come to me instead... but man, am I glad that someone has finally gotten through to her."

"Sometimes it's easier to open up to someone you don't have a long history with rather than to your family," Kali spoke softly, tiny wrinkles appearing around her eyes as she looked at Yang sympathetically. "Don't beat yourself too hard over it, dear."

Yang nodded, mustering a tight-lipped smile but making no promises. After that, Blake carried on. "Well, long story short, they've gotten really close; hell, at times it almost feels like they've got us beaten," she said, pointing at Yang and her own self, then let out a mildly exasperated sigh. "Still, nothing explicit has ever happened between them, nor has Ruby ever openly expressed any romantic interest in anyone else."

"There's been some awkwardness between her and Oscar, but nah, turns out it's just two awkward dorks being awkward," Yang added.

Blake bobbed her head. "As I've said, no romantic interest. I can't really blame her, considering the circumstances, but that brings us back to your earlier question — we don't really have any clear-cut proof of Ruby's orientation."

Kali gave them a long, speculative look, her left brow rising ever-so-slightly. "Not a clue?"

The two shared a brief glance.

"Well..." Blake started, but even she was inclined to agree that she didn't have that strong of a case. "Ruby does flirt with people on occasion, irrespective of gender."

"But?"

Yang breathed out a short laugh. "It's just her way to tease her friends, I think. A very effective one at that, might I add — most people totally don't know how to react when she throws them a curveball like that. Take Blake, for example — wh... ow!" She was cut off short by a quick kick to the shin. Noticing Blake's sharp glare, Yang laughed nervously before turning her attention back to Kali and continuing. "Point is, I think Sun is one of the few people that can take Ruby's flirting without his brain shorting out on the spot."

That whole flirting deal was innocent enough; really, the sole reason why people reacted that way was because it was Ruby who was doing it. There was that one time when Sun and Neptune had been practicing hand-to-hand combat and Ruby had hung around to watch; when Sun had asked her if she needed something, all she'd said was 'nah, just enjoying the view'. The blondie had just grinned at that, taking it in his stride, but Vasilias had been left absolutely stupefied, getting so distracted that when their spar had resumed, Sun had handed his ass to him in a matter of seconds.

In short, Ruby was doing the same thing she always did in combat — using her opponents' expectations against them. Except here she did so for laughs, not to whoop their butts.

"Weiss isn't too bothered by it, either," Blake felt necessary to point out.

"Yeah, well, you too would've built up some tolerance if Ruby was teasing you as much as she does Weiss," Yang retorted, before turning to look at Kali. She smirked. "The first time Ruby pulled that on Weiss, I thought that our little Weiss Queen got a heat stroke. Stuttered something and stormed riiiight off. Wouldn't look Ruby in the eye for the rest of the day. And I'll have you know that Weiss never stutters." She let out a short, breezy chortle.

Blake squared her shoulders and smirked smugly. "See? Seeing how frequent it is, maybe there is something more to that flirting when it's between the two of them."

Yang, however, was left largely unimpressed. "What, like the two of them being comfortable with one another?" she said, making her sarcasm blatantly obvious. "Even if it is something more than friendly flirting on Ruby's part, what of it? The two of them seem happy with the relationship they've got now."

"Because they're too hung up on the idea of 'best friends' to even consider becoming something more."

Yang just shrugged at that. "Maybe you're right. Or maybe they just don't want to risk what they've got. Maybe they're just too exhausted to even think of romance, and need a moment to kick back and relax after the past two years — not like they need any more drama in their lives at the moment. And maybe they do find each other attractive... but even that doesn't mean that they necessarily see the other as a viable partn... errr, girlfriend." Seeing that Blake remained unconvinced, Yang paused for a moment. "I mean, look, as much as thinking about it weirds me out, I think I probably wouldn't bat an eye if the two of them agreed on some friends-with-benefits deal..."

Blake burst out laughing. She was lucky that she'd just set down her tea, for otherwise she'd have ended up just like Yang had, or sputtered all over herself and the other two. "No they wouldn't! And you so would bat an eye!" she exclaimed, grinning as she leaned in and put an accusatory finger in Yang's face.

Yang herself laughed at that, if a bit awkwardly. Looking sheepishly to the side, she scratched the side of her nose. "I mean, yeah to both, but it's because that's just not them. What I meant was that I think they trust each other enough to maybe go for it if they wanted to; I simply can't imagine the two of them risking making things awkward just so they could scratch that one itch, or satisfy their curiosity or whatnot. So, the only way I can see them going out would be if they came to the conclusion that they could make it work long-term."

"Sure they could," Blake fired right back, without a single moment of hesitation.

Yang was adamant. "Probably, but it's still theirs conclusion to make. You and I shouldn't meddle."

"Ruby did meddle into our relationship," Blake pointed out. "And don't get me wrong, I'm actually grateful for that!"

Yang just rolled her eyes at that. "'Course she did; at one point the tension between the two of us got so awkward that our team's performance dipped, and the moment that happened, we pretty much forced her hand. So hey, you can't really blame her for throwing us into the same room and locking the door till we've got it sorted out." She smirked, pointing over her shoulder at the main entrance to the apartment. "The two of them, though? Ruby just spoonfed Weiss — in front of your parents no less, with whom they aren't that familiar — and neither of them even blinked. I think they're good," Yang said, confidently crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair.

"I... guess." Blake had to admit, their unapologetic lack of any self-consciousness around one another was strangely impressive, if infuriating at times. Physical contact lasting longer than it needed to? So what. Indirect kisses? Couldn't care less. Being practically inseparable? So what exactly was new? It was almost as if those two had all of the chemistry in the world but none of the tension — a bloody married couple. "I just think that they'd make a cute couple, and want to see them happy. So it kind of frustrates me whenever I see them acting practically like they're together and then nothing ever comes out of it."

Yang just shrugged. "I've never seen either of them complaining. Or looking even mildly disappointed by the fact."

"Let me have my ships, okay?" Blake laughed, then began to stare at Yang. With a smirk on her lips, she drew nearer to her girlfriend, almost like a predator closing in on its prey. "A real question here, though: wouldn't you want them to get together?"

Yang barely raised her brow. "Does it matter?" she asked listlessly, then rolled her eyes at the unamused look she was being given. Realizing that Blake wasn't willing to let it go, Yang let out a sigh and humored her. "It'd be cool if they did, but it's also cool if they don't. Not like it changes much for me personally; Weiss is family either way, and nothing is stopping us from teasing them, or fawning over them, whenever they're being adorable dorks. Sure they are in that weird space between friends and lovers, but they actually make that work out for them; as long as neither is getting hurt, and as long as they are both happy with the way things are, I don't really see why we should intervene. And who knows, maybe they will get together in the end. But let them get there at their own pace."

Blake let out a sigh of defeat, allowing her head to fall onto the table with a soft thud. "I give up. You win," she moaned pitifully, her cheek pressed to the tabletop.

Kali giggled. "Ruby's lucky to have you as her sister."

"Maybe," Yang spoke with a tiny smile, "but it goes both ways."

"That said," Blake's mom went on, "I can't help but notice that at no point was Weiss' attraction to Ruby brought into question."

"Oh, she's bi," both Yang and Blake piped up.

"Or something," the former added. "In any case, her having the hots for Ruby is a known fact."

Blake straightened her back and nodded. "She might seem hard to read, and she can be hard to read at times if she so wishes, but it's fairly obvious whether she finds someone attractive — hilariously so, even; I think that only a string of drool could make it any more visible. It's been that way when Neptune caught her eye, and nowadays she's checking Ruby out on a fairly regular basis. Even Ruby knows that, and she really isn't the type to just assume that others find her attractive." She turned to face Yang. "Actually, I think it might've been the reason why she started teasing Weiss so much."

Yang leaned back on her chair. "Well, in Weiss' defense, Ruby is pretty eye-catching these days." Her lilac eyes flicked towards Blake, who didn't like at all the way an impish smirk began to worm its way onto her face; Blake knew that smile well, and it always spelled trouble for the object of Yang's attention. "You would know, wouldn't you, Blakey?"

Blake went stiff at those words, feeling the heat rise to her face and ears. "I... I just still can't really believe how much your sister has matured, is all."

Yang hummed, giving her a long, knowing look. "Suuuure. Matured." She chuckled. "Though I suppose it is true that she's filled out rather nicely."

Out of the corner of her eye, Yang noticed that Kali was watching her curiously.

"It doesn't bother you?" Kali asked.

Yang arched her brow. "Should it? I mean, I get why you might think it would, but I trust them."

She meant it — while her and Blake had their issues, just as about any other couple, Ruby had never felt like a threat to their relationship. Sure, the girl would tease Blake every now and then, but she had never given any indication it was anything more than jokes. To Ruby, her team and friends always came first; it was a double-edged sword, but she'd never do something that'd end up dividing them — even at a personal cost. As for Blake... well, all one had to do was to hear her talk about Ruby and Weiss to realize where her true allegiances lied. Besides, Blake truly cared for Yang, and Yang knew that.

She shrugged. "Ruby's a fine lass, so if she turns heads then hey, good for her, big sis is proud. Besides, I think we've got different appeals going for us, so there's not much in the way of competition, y'know."

Blake nodded sagely. "True." She was about to add something more, but stopped, one of her cat ears swiveling towards the window.

Three heads turned as one towards the balcony entrance when the glass door slid open and the massive figure of Ghira stepped out from the darkness of the night. "Welcome back," he greeted Blake and Yang. "Did I miss something?"

"Just some girls talk, dear," Kali said. She narrowed her eyes playfully, her mouth curling into a smirk. "Why, would you be interested in discussing whether Ruby and Weiss should end up together?"

Ghira paused for a moment, as if something he'd just heard didn't quite add up. "You mean they aren't a couple?"

---

Author's Note:

Here's something more lighthearted and fluffy for these trying times. Apologies for the long wait; really wish I got this chapter out like seven weeks ago, but it simply wasn't possible with my workload. And, well, it did turn out rather chonky. Sorry for that, too; hope you didn't mind it too much.

You know, I feel I have even less free time on my hands now than I've had before the pandemic, even though I'm technically saving five hours a week on the commute alone. Somehow, uni just keeps finding new ways to make me completely, utterly miserable, and we've long since passed the point of 'it can't possibly get worse, can it?'. I swear the graduation can't come soon enough; mentally speaking, I'm running on fumes here. Thankfully it's just one more week of classes.

Now that the chapter is out, I'm gonna shift my focus to my BA thesis, just to get it out of my hair; hopefully I'll be done with it by the end of June. The second part of Wishes should be on the shorter side (well, "shorter"; compared to this one, anyways), so I hope you'll hear from me again sometime in July. After that I'll be able to dedicate more of my time and energy to AtS, so hopefully future updates will be more frequent.

Whirlpoolartist: I'm not exactly sure if anything I'm doing here is in any way innovative, but I'm glad you've liked it so far!

GrnDrgnzrd: Patience, huh? Yeah, that's the running theme here, isn't it. I bet Blake was a Big Mood to many of my readers in that last scene. Sometimes I fear I'm asking you all for too much patience with this story; I mean, by now it's probably fair to say that AtS is the slowburn as far as RWBY fanfiction is concerned. I know I've lost some of you to that slowburn, and will likely lose more still. I can't really blame those who have decided to drop out; I know many of my readers signed up for some WhiteRose, and I can see them being disappointed with the pace Roses' relationship has been progressing so far.

Back when I started working on AtS, I wanted to tell a story about four girls and their difficult ever-after; of how they were coping with the things they've experienced, of how they were facing their demons, how they were sorting out their feelings... and, perhaps above everything else, a story of the camaraderie they shared. The characters and this bond I've seen between them has always been the main draw of RWBY for me, and it's also the reason I'm so fond of WhiteRose. I guess it's why I have been focusing more on team RWBY as people rather than on the romance aspect of the respective ships, and I understand it might not be what some people came here for.

I'm still gonna stick to my guns on this one, however; I feel that rushing things now would only hurt the story I've been building up for over three years now. I can only hope you'll find this fic worthwhile enough to stick around till the end of the ride. If it's any consolation, the romance aspect of AtS should be picking up the pace after the next update. And if any of you is worried that Roses will remain platonic forever, fear not; they most certainly won't.

Thanks for reading — it means a lot to me. Stay safe, folks, and I hope I'll see you next chapter.