"Winter, I cannot thank you enough for doing this."

"Don't make a habit of it. I can't rescue you every time something horrible happens."

"We won't. Thank you again."

Winter hung up without saying goodbye. Ruby sighed, putting down her Scroll. The plan was set into motion. Now, all they had to do was wait. If there was anyone who could peel the truth about Penny from Ironwood's grasp, it would be her. If only she could be there to watch…

Without Winter's complaining, the dorm had gone quiet. Blake was reading a book, and Yang had gone out to deal with a certain problem. That left only Ruby to pace the space between their beds, her girlfriend watching her with unsteady eyes.

"Are you all right?" Weiss asked gently.

"Yeah. Just… worried about how it will play out," Ruby admitted.

"Winter's the best."

"I know."

"And I'm sure wherever Penny is, she will be okay."

"I hope so," Ruby sighed. "It's just… what if this is our fault?"

Blake glanced over the pages of her novel. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ruby crossed her arms, frustrated. Her footfalls became heavier. "If we hadn't gotten involved—"

"Didn't we explicitly say we wouldn't use this reasoning?" Blake pointed out with a lack of enthusiasm. "If Ironwood did something shitty, it's purely on him. We're not going to get guilted by fascists."

"I know that," Ruby explained, "but what if… I don't know… what if Penny did this to herself?"

"We aren't responsible for her either," Weiss reminded her.

"But we are responsible for our influence," Ruby sighed. "Penny was trying to emulate us. She wanted to use us as a way to discover herself. We could have handled that responsibility better, couldn't we? Isn't that literally what our job is now?"

Blake and Weiss did not answer. They both thought Ruby was paranoid. Stressed. It was the burden of such an analytical mind, taking upon responsibility to better plan a future, and experiencing guilt when it didn't pan out. However, she did stumble upon a grain of truth. For all of the cultural power they wielded, for all of the good causes they advocated for, they were, at their very core, Team RWBY. Anything they ever did would eventually be, no matter how hard they tried to avoid it, tainted with their rotted essence. Anyone who idolized them too closely would see the stuff leaking out and absorb it, turning them sour. Doing what Team RWBY said would make the world a healthier, more just place. Doing what Team RWBY did would get one killed.

Weiss approached Ruby, wrapping an arm around her and escorting her to the bed. They sat on its edge and Weiss cradled her.

"You tried to set the best boundaries with Penny that you could," she comforted her. "Penny's way of interpreting the world is strange. Trust me, Atlasian brainwashing takes a long time to undo. If this was somehow your doing, you can't think this isn't the byproduct of how Ironwood controlled her."

"Also, she's a literal robot," Blake said bluntly. "You could tell her not to kill, and she'd probably find some way to misinterpret that. She doesn't get people too well."

"Also, this is almost certainly Ironwood's doing," Weiss said even blunter. "I don't think we should rush to any assumptions until we have gathered all of the evidence. Once we learn that it's her fault, then we can think about what we could have done better. Okay?"

Ruby nodded. Perhaps she was rushing into things. She had to save her emotions. She was likely going to need all of her rage. "You're right. Sorry."

"Of course, I'm right," Weiss said confidently.

"Hey, I'm here, too," Blake grunted.

"Ah, yes." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Your contributions were riveting."

"What? They were actually good."

"They were less terrible than usual."

Ruby mentally checked out. Here they went again…

"You know, I miss when your sister was on the phone. Her bitchiness made you look so much better in comparison."

"Oh, well if you want to talk contributions, you saying absolutely nothing to her was very helpful."

"You and Ruby had it covered," Blake smirked. "And I've learned to not get in the way of you ladies when you're doing your thing. I have the negotiation skills of a dead trout."

"At least you have self-awareness," Weiss joked. "It's probably your best feature."

"Well, I gotta have something!" Blake shrugged. "We can't all be magical."

"I'm not magical."

"It's sorta magical. As much magical as I am willing to tolerate. I will say, in all seriousness, it does suck sometimes being the only one without anything crazy going on. You absorbed the power of an ancient deity, Ruby has a separate ancient deity that's hanging around in her brain or whatever… even Yang got to have a split personality that gave her ludicrous super strength! I got, like, a gun and a ribbon. I gotta find something interesting to do or I'm going to get left behind."

"Blake, believe me… being interesting is not your problem," Weiss said, shaking her head.

"I could afford to be more interesting," Blake grumbled. "I mean, you dove into your sister's subconscious and rearranged her brain. That's pretty interesting."

"Is that a compliment?"

Blake considered her answer for a long moment.

"No."

The text came when Team RWBY least expected it.

Coco is about to get herself killed going after JJWL.

Can someone please stop her?

There probably should have been a longer discussion. Coco was a firecracker, and defusing her properly was important for their team. It was Yang that was stuck with the short straw. Ruby and Weiss were coordinating with Winter for their plan to confront Ironwood, and Blake…

Anyway, Yang was forced to be the problem solver today, and as she hurried through the halls of Atlas Academy, she told herself that she could handle the responsibility. She wasn't exactly sure what she was getting herself into, since Velvet didn't bother to send a more complex text before she raced out the door. She could only guess which of the many injustices of the world triggered the Team CFVY leader. Their brief encounter with Vivian the night before upset the both of them, though would Coco really retaliate for such a minor slight? Did it even matter? No. Yang was familiar with the dorm layout of Atlas, and she knew roughly where to intercept her furious teammate.

Yang was able to find Coco only a few feet before Team JJWL's door. It obviously belonged to them. Despite frustration from school officials, Nevan had decorated their door with a gigantic, flaming skull, which they personally thought was tacky but Vivian insisted upon. Coco was walking her way up to the skull, ready to pound so hard on the wood that she'd knock it clean off. Her shades were removed, and Yang saw a fire in her eyes she didn't recognize. She leaped into action, unconcerned with the stares of the few bystanders around her. Coco clenched her fist. However, as she swung back her wrists, Yang caught it, startling the older Huntress.

"Whoa! Wait a second!"

Coco spun around, expecting a fight, but was taken aback by Yang's presence. "What… Yang? What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from doing something really stupid, apparently," Yang explained.

"You…" Coco grimaced. "Did Velvet ask you to come?"

"Yeah. Not sure why, but yeah."

"This doesn't concern you." Coco turned back toward the door, but Yang stepped in front of her, cutting her off from her own bad decisions.

"Hey, I'm pretty much the expert on starting unwise fights," Yang said boldly. "But I can't let you hurt yourself when we are all working together. So actually, it does concern me."

"Unless you want to fight me too, get out of the way," Coco growled. Her muscles tensed like a loaded spring, and Yang was convinced she was going to keep her word. Despite how cool and collected she normally was, Yang had heard of her intensity in battle. She was known to let her emotions fly in a vicious hail of bullets, and though she didn't have her weapon on her now, Yang knew that she was equally as dangerous.

Well, dangerous to a normal person. Yang was anything but normal.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Coco's cries went unanswered. Honestly, it wasn't even hard.

"Get your hands off of me!"

To the bystanders, it looked more humorous than an assault. Yang scooped Coco into her arms with ease, carrying her bridal style down the hallway. Yang was stone-faced as Coco wriggled and strained against her, unable to challenge the far stronger Huntress as she was taken away from the dorm of Team JJWL. Those inside would never even discover she was there. Coco huffed at the humiliation. She was supposed to be a fearsome warrior, but in Yang's powerful arms, she was just a child being led away after throwing a temper tantrum. Even when Coco palmed at Yang's face, it had little reaction. Yang's multicolored gaze was fixed ahead, navigating the path away from danger.

Yang only took Coco far away enough to be inconvenient. She was able to find a windowsill next to a pair of knight statues and dumped Coco onto it with little care. She stood over her, standing guard between the two statues, as Coco furiously straightened herself out.

"Don't you ever do that again," she hissed. "Grabbing people like that without consent is fucked up."

"I had to do that," Yang said, crossing her arms like a bouncer.

"You didn't have to do anything, because this has nothing to do with your team. You know something? If I really wanted your help in all of this, I actually would have asked. I don't know why you think you can just grab me like that. Like… fuck, dude."

Yang's resolve softened slightly. "Look, I'm… I'm sorry. I'm just trying to look out for you. If you fought JJWL, that would only end badly."

"I didn't need to fight all of them. Just Vivian."

"Who's already kicked your ass twice."

"This time would be different."

"Sure, it would be." Yang sighed. "Listen, I'm not saying Vivian doesn't deserve to get her ass kicked for all sorts of reasons. I wanted to hit her a few hours ago. But can you at least tell me why you're suddenly doing this?"

Coco turned her head away in shame. She seemed pained, struggling to even get the words out. Yang remained patient, letting her collect her thoughts.

"Velvet…" Coco stammered. "Velvet's eye didn't heal. It might never heal."

Yang's frustrations vanished. She swooped down to Coco's side, resting beside her.

"Oh no. Coco, I'm sorry."

"Her Huntress career could be over," Coco said through gritted teeth. "And it's all because that bitch attacked us for no reason. She doesn't even know what she did, and if she found out, she'd probably laugh at her. I can't just let her get away with that."

Yang moved to wrap her arm around Coco's shoulder, but she stopped herself. This wasn't like comforting Blake. Hell, even if it was, she historically sucked at that. She wasn't sure what Coco needed from her, or what she could even provide. She settled on acknowledging her hardships, at least for the moment.

"I'm so sorry that happened. Is Velvet okay? Like, how is she feeling?"

Coco scoffed. "Like you would care."

"I do."

"Bullshit," Coco grunted. "You guys can't stand Velvet. You all probably think that she deserves this after what she's done."

"I don't think that."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, you should," Yang insisted. "That's not how I operate. I really am sorry that happened to her. I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

Coco wasn't sure why she believed Yang's words. She shouldn't have. She had seen Yang rush to Blake's defense after Velvet was sucker punched, and Team RWBY wasn't known for sympathy toward their enemies. Yet, something about Yang sounded sincere. Coco sniffled, her frustrations turning into something unsavory. She could really use sincerity right about now.

"I hate feeling helpless," Coco admitted. "I learned pretty early on in my life that the world wasn't a just place. I had to fight hard to overcome my upbringing, and even then, I know I only survived due to luck. That's all it comes down to: luck. Velvet did nothing wrong. Literally nothing to make her eye not heal, but it didn't anyway. Just because. That's such bullshit. She got attacked for bullshit reasons, and now she's not healing for bullshit reasons. And is Vivian gonna face any repercussions for this? No. She's going to go on to probably win Vytal, become massively rich and famous, and never think twice about all the people she hurt along the way. And I have to just sit here, being lectured about my morality, while someone evil gets away with it. You know that frustration, right? Of watching people get away with their crimes?"

Yang opened her mouth, but sensing the obvious objection, Coco immediately turned toward her and lectured her. "And no… Velvet is completely different."

The dragon's lips stretched back. She gestured broadly. "Okay, but… you do see the connection there, right?"

Coco grunted. "See? I fucking knew it."

"No, that's not what I mean," Yang promised. "I don't think this is karma, and I still don't think she deserved this, and I feel bad! But, you have to understand why my team is mad at her? I know there's a bunch of excuses we could probably make, and I know she didn't pull the trigger or anything, but you have to realize what she did was incredibly fucked up."

"I…" Coco collapsed, exhausted. Her face fell into her hands, and she had to fight fiercely to maintain her composure. "Of course, I know that. How could I not?"

"Which is why Blake is really upset about how much you are defending her. We all are," Yang said. She didn't want to sound judgmental, even if she was well within her right to be. She wanted to repair whatever was broken between her and Coco, even if she didn't know how. She still refrained from touching her, as badly as it seemed Coco needed a hug. "Weiss told us some of the excuses your team was making for her. It sounded really fucked up. I know you are trying to defend your friend, but it… I mean, it comes off horrible And Blake isn't someone who's understanding in the first place."

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Coco asked. "I mean that seriously. What am I supposed to do? What does Blake think I can do? Does she want me to attack Velvet too, because I can't do that. Does she want me to stop being her friend? I can't do that. Does she want me to go find the family of the Faunus she sold out and make Velvet apologize? Does she want her thrown in jail? I don't know how to fix that. It all happened so long ago, and it's out of my reach. If she wants me to acknowledge it was fucked up, well… fine. Yes. I acknowledge it. It was fucked up. But saying that doesn't make it better."

"I think Blake doesn't want you to make excuses."

"I'm not making excuses!" Coco said passionately. She sat up straight and pounded her fist against the windowsill. "I'm defending my friend. I know Blake thinks she has Velvet all figured out because she uncovered the one awful thing she did in the past, but she doesn't. None of you do. I have lived with Velvet for almost two years. I've actually seen her, every single day, caring, compassionate, and kind, trying to make things better. I've seen firsthand how much she cares about helping Faunus. It means everything to her. That's the person I'm defending, not whoever did those things in the past. I can't ever see this Velvet doing something like that—and I know she did, but I'm telling you, this isn't that person anymore. But Blake doesn't see that. She just gets to judge her while barely knowing her. And that's fucking frustrating."

Yang nodded, trying to understand, though never losing her footing. "But I mean… that's kind of the point, isn't it? We think we know someone, but we don't. Your perception of Velvet is tinted. If you saw who she was back then, you might think differently about defending her."

Coco scowled. "And if you saw what Blake did, would you still be defending her?"

Yang hesitated. "That's not what this is about."

"Well, I guess it is!" Coco stated. She was no longer sure what she was frustrated at, speaking not to Yang but to the statues as her audience. She doubted her point was even coherent, but she was compelled to make it. "You know what? It's frustrating for us too, seeing you all constantly make excuses… sorry, defenses for Blake. I'd argue what she did was just as horrible as Velvet, if not worse. By sheer body count, it's definitely worse. But you all love standing by her, acting like she is some paragon these days. Well, guess what? I don't see that either. I haven't seen one good deed in her entire life. In fact, the only thing I see is a really hateful bitch who talks down to everyone and attacks others when she doesn't get her way." A deep sigh escaped her. "And like… maybe she has changed. That's what you all say, and I should probably believe you. But you have to understand our perspective on this, and how deeply uncomfortable she makes us feel whenever she's around us. You see your friend. I see this terrorist who got to escape all consequences and get praised as a civil rights icon. And I can't help but wonder… that if you had seen her when she was younger, before Beacon… if you wouldn't be so quick to forgive her also."

Yang let Coco's words linger in silence. Coco slowly calmed down, though her bitterness hadn't fully faded. She rested her chin on her knuckles, hunched over, hair drooping over her face. Yang pushed her back against the windowsill. Her hands fell limply into her lap.

"It was hard, accepting Blake," Yang confessed. "I probably know Blake better than anyone in the world, and sometimes, it still feels like I barely know her at all. Even though I know what she did, there's always that possibility she's hiding something from me. I don't know all of the people she hurt, or how. And yeah, maybe I'd be lying if I said there was nothing that could change my mind about her. There could be something out there that she did I don't fully understand, some part of her I haven't fully realized yet that would shake everything I know. But I… I still love her regardless. I don't know if I could ever stop even if I wanted to." Yang shook her head. "I wasn't always the person I wanted to be. For the longest time, I had to hide the darkest parts of myself. I was so afraid of expressing these parts of me that I let them manifest into something terrible. And we hurt people, too. We lashed out in horrible ways and almost did so many terrible things. Even though we're not that person anymore, even though we're supposed to be fixed, sometimes, it's hard not to wonder if we're living off borrowed time. Like we don't deserve to be here. It's hard accepting that as who we are."

Coco only slightly picked her head up. Yang hadn't even realized the slip-up until it was too late. "We?"

Yang closed her eyes. "We… I had… um…"

"You don't have to tell me."

"No, it's fine," Yang sighed. "My team covered it up pretty well. I had a split personality disorder up until a few months ago."

Coco sat up in surprise. "Wait, that's a real thing?"

"Yep."

"Damn. What was that like?"

"Terrifying. For both of us," Yang confessed. "My main personality was scared of being overpowered. She felt like she was on the precipice of slipping away forever, every day. My alter felt trapped, crammed into this body that she had no control of. It's hard watching someone ruin your life from the passenger seat. It makes you feel—"

"Helpless. Yeah."

Yang sighed. "Then, a few months ago—for extremely complicated reasons—my personalities merged. Not, like, perfectly. Okay, I used this analogy for Blake, but she said it didn't make any sense. It feels like I used to see the world out of only one eye, but now I see it out of both. It's not two separate pictures meeting in the middle, but the same image widened to get a new perspective. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"No, that makes sense," Coco said plainly. "Like, when you close one eye at a time, the objects in your line of sight move to a slightly different position."

"Yes!" Yang said excitedly. "See, I knew that was a good analogy!"

"I mean, I still don't get it," Coco said quickly. "But at least I know what you are talking about."

"Gotcha. Anyway," Yang said returning to her point. "Ever since then, my alt has sort of… slid into the background. It's not the same as before, where I was repressing her. I can feel her here, in my head. I can see her perspectives clearly. When I think back on the memories of my life, her experiences are right there beside my main's, just as strong. It can be a little disorienting at times because you can't separate them even though they don't really fit together. She's here, just… muted, most of the time. Which is fine. She usually was the more intense one, anyway."

"Did she have a name?"

"Yin."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Coco held back a laugh. "Wait… Yin? Like… Yin and Yang?"

"Yep."

"Oh my god, that's so cheesy."

"That's what she picked."

"That's a little funny. Come on."

"I guess it is," Yang shrugged. "When we fused, Yang—my main—took most of the reigns. She was always the dominant personality, ironically enough. Ever since then, I've mostly expressed myself through her. I use her name. I make her jokes. I live her life. But the truth is… no matter how much I try to be her, no matter how much everyone tells me that I am her… I don't think I've ever felt like Yang. All these new perspectives, they're like… it's closer to her, but it isn't. When I look back at her memories, just her memories, I can't recognize the person in there. And that scares me a little. Everyone seems to know who I am except myself."

"Is that why you use we pronouns?" Coco asked, curious.

"When we think of ourselves as Yin and Yang, our life makes sense," Yang confessed. "Without the whole picture, there's too many dark spaces. Too much noise, I guess. And we know there isn't really a we anymore. This fusion of Yin and Yang, this… me… needs to find out who she is. But we don't know how. And it's more comfortable navigating this life by being what we were instead of what we are. Calling ourselves this gives us context for how to see this person that we've become. But… how are we supposed to explain that to anyone? How could we tell Ruby that when she thinks she is talking to her sister, she's talking to a stranger? We can't do that to her. So, we have to just navigate this by ourselves. And it really sucks." Yang sighed. "Sorry… we never told that to anyone before. Not even our therapist."

Coco hadn't been aware of the gravity of Yang's confession. Hell, until a few minutes ago, she was under the impression Yang's eye had just gotten jacked up in a fight, causing it to change color. She wasn't prepared to have all of this dumped on her, entrusted to her despite not even being on the same team. For all of their talk about secrets and judgments, Yang opening up to her was such a grand gesture that it almost wiped away all of the bad blood between them in a few minutes. She placed a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder, not hesitating even slightly.

"I guess we all gotta struggle to figure ourselves out," Coco mused. "But, for what it's worth, I'm sure you'll get there. In my opinion, you're actually the most normal member of your team."

Yang wasn't sure how to process that. "Me? Normal?"

"I think so. I mean, this obviously makes you less normal. No offense."

"No, I'd agree. It's not normal."

"But I still think you're the most reasonable Team RWBY member. I've always thought that, and this doesn't really change it. I mean, you aren't dealing with godly powers and didn't try murdering the headmaster. Plus, you were willing to talk to me about this and not play games like your sister."

"Hmm?"

"Sorry, misspoke. Anyway, from everything I've seen from you this semester, you're a pretty chill person. I liked spending time with you over the vacation. I know you're having problems with your identity, but you'll make it work in time. I appreciate you telling me this."

"You're welcome," Yang said sheepishly. "Honestly, I feel like I was supposed to connect this back to Blake and Velvet somehow, but I kinda lost my train of thought."

"Oh, I think I got the idea," Coco explained. "We should all be more understanding of people as they try to learn who they are while still holding them accountable, pasts are messy, we don't always see the full picture and it's hard to make judgments because of that, blah, blah, blah."

"Uh… sure. Let's go with that."

"Cool," Coco smirked, though it lasted for only a moment before she remembered the root cause of her problems. "Only… understanding Velvet doesn't fix her eye."

"No," Yang said, "but we do have a guy for that."

"What?" Coco asked. Suddenly, the memory came back to her. "Wait, you mean the guy who made Blake—"

Yang quickly put a finger to her lips. "Yeah, not out in the open. I'll text you the details."

Coco nodded, trying to hide her excitement. She had completely forgotten about that. Was this procedure safe? Could she really trust a friend of Blake to repair Velvet's vision? She wasn't sure she had a choice. A renewed sense of hope and vigor came over her, one that quelled her need for revenge. At least temporarily. For all of her anger at Team RWBY, and for all of their distrust of Velvet, they would come through to support her in her time of need. Once again, she was genuinely glad to be on the same team as them.

At least, she was glad to have Yang as a friend.