I was never someone who woke up super early, but today was killing me. I was still mostly asleep, and wrapped my arms tighter around Blake on instinct, wishing I didn't have to get up just yet. I was kinda sore, and my legs and shoulders were killing me. Probably from the finals match yesterday…

The finals match?

Yesterday?

I woke up and almost had a panic attack. I wasn't snuggling Blake! I wasn't even in my room! I had my arm around Miltia while Melanie was wrapped around me from behind. Miltia was wearing my jacket while Melanie was wearing my shorts, and I was only wearing my underwear. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and was greeted with the start of a major headache from the bright light of the sun streaming through the cheap curtains. I took a deep breath to steady my thoughts and did my best to remember last night. I'd started drinking, Junior told me it wasn't my fault, the twins took body shots off me, then they started making out and-

"Nothing happened last night, Cowgirl. Relax. You're giving me a headache," Melanie groaned, pushing her head even closer against my back and using my hair like a blanket to keep the sun out of her eyes.

"You said you might get like this when you woke up. We're wearing your clothes because you didn't want to snuggle if we were naked. You didn't cheat on Blake," Miltia explained softly, resting a hand on my hip.

Okay… I didn't cheat on Blake… That's good.

"I still think you should break up with her," Melanie mumbled with a sigh, reaching across me to hold Miltia's hand in her own.

"No… No, I love-"

"You love Blake," they both said in unison, Melanie a little more exasperated than Miltia. Apparently that wasn't the first time I'd said it.

"We get it, girl. You've got it bad for your Faunus girlfriend. You two still need to talk about this," Melanie said, handing me my Scroll. There were a few missed calls. The first was from Weiss.

"Yang, where are you? I went and got some perfectly good pizza to cheer you up and now you're not even here! It's getting cold! Answer back immediately or I'll start eating it myself."

The next was from Ruby.

"Hey, sis. I guess you went home to see dad after everything. I'm going to tell Weiss and Blake to give you some space, so if you wanted any of us to call you, blame me, because I told them not to, okay? Remember, none of us are mad at you. I love you."

Next was from dad.

"Hey, Yang. Ruby just called and asked if you were with me. I said I hadn't seen you. Give me a call back when you can, alright? I'm worried about you. Love you, kiddo."

The next was from Ruby again.

"Yaaaaang! Where are you! Call me back! At least just text me and tell me you're okay!"

Then Blake. I skipped that one. I couldn't bring myself to hear her voice just now. Weiss again.

"Yang? We're worried. Ruby says your dad hasn't seen you. Call us back immediately! This is hugely irresponsible, even for you!"

There were a couple more calls from dad, Qrow, Weiss and even a call from Pyrrha and Jaune before I stopped listening to my messages. I sent dad and Ruby a quick text- hopefully they weren't too mad.

"I'm fine. Camped out in East Vale. Didn't want to talk to anyone. Headed back to Beacon now."

Ruby responded first, almost immediately. A quick "glad you're okay. Come back soon!" Dad took a couple of minutes with his response. "Went looking for you with Qrow around midnight. Saw Bumblebee parked outside of Junior's. The place didn't look like a nuke had hit it so we knew you were alright. Didn't tell Ruby anything other than you were safe. Call me when you want to talk." I wanted to avoid that conversation for as long as possible. Dad wasn't the kind of father to get super angry or anything, but I knew I'd messed up not telling anyone where I'd gone and just disappearing overnight. Dad and I had the same kind of issues when it came to that kind of thing. I'd have to apologize the next time I saw him.

"I need to get back to Beacon," I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my head. I definitely should've had some more water last night.

"Bad idea going anywhere when you're hungover like this. Aren't you on a bike?" Miltia made sense but it wasn't what I wanted to hear right now. I needed to head out as soon as I could.

"I just… just need some water. Some tea or something. And toast. I'll be alright," I grumbled, screwing my eyes shut and opening them wide as I tried to get used to the light. This wasn't my first rodeo, but it definitely was my first time like this. I turned around in time to see the twins pouring the water and tea I'd asked for.

"You're gonna have to get the toast on your own. This isn't a bed and breakfast," Melanie said with an eye roll.

"I mean, it kinda is a bed and breakfast if we get eaten out- ow!" Miltia flicked her sister back and I could tell this was a thing between them. I tried not to think about what series of events must've led these two into this kind of relationship and just focused on the water Miltia was putting in my hand.

"Thanks."

"So you're gonna talk to Blake when you get back," Melanie asked me. I took the time to finish the water before answering.

"Yeah… gonna apologize for… this-"

"Not that you did anything wrong," Melanie scoffed.

"I still need to tell her. I mean, I've always been flirty and physically affectionate but… this is… I just have to tell her," I said. I didn't want to keep this a secret. The twins were right- I hadn't crossed any lines or anything. But this was still something that would look bad if I tried to pretend didn't happen. And if she were mad at me then… I'd deal with the consequences.

"And then you're going to talk to her about trust, right? You're going to tell her how she made you feel?" I cocked my head at Miltia as she poured me another cup of water. This was just… so weird. I'd kicked this girl in the head less than a year ago and now… here she was trying to be supportive of my relationship. Of me.

"Melanie's petty. She's gonna tell you to dump her-"

"Which you should!"

"But if you really love her… it's not fair to you to worry about her feelings so much but she probably doesn't even know you were here crying. You have to tell her, Yang. She needs to know she hurt you. And if she doesn't see anything wrong with that, then you need to do better for yourself." Miltia handed me the fresh cup of water and all I could do was nod before downing the cup.

"This is why I'm single," Melanie scoffed, taking a sip of the tea.

"Melanie, there're a dozen reasons why you're single. This is the least important," Miltia said, snatching the mug out of her sister's hand and handing it to me before taking the empty cup back.

The Malachite twins were weird. They weren't an average set of sisters and obviously had been through some stuff together to end up working as bouncers at an underground nightclub… but at the end of the day, I realized we were way more alike than not.

I felt terrible.

"Dad says Yang's not home," Ruby said worriedly, setting her Scroll down in her lap. She'd waited a few minutes before calling Yang again, hoping she'd answer. Still nothing.

I knew exactly why she'd run off. It was my fault after all.

"Why did I talk to her like that?" Curled up in my bunk, I ran the yellow bow through my fingers. I'd projected all of my anger and insecurity at Adam onto Yang… That wasn't fair. I'd practically explained to her that I thought she was a bad person, prone to unnecessary violence and harm. I was just so worried about what I'd watched her do to Mercury. It was so brutal- so shocking… It must have been out of character. I could never picture Yang doing something like that on purpose. I'd been replaying the conversation over and over again in my mind. I'd been so mean to her without even meaning to.

"Blake… Are you okay," Ruby asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. I hadn't even heard her wake up. I was just so caught up with my own thoughts.

"I'm okay, Ruby. Just… I didn't mean to wake you," I said softly, turning my Scroll off.

"It's okay… I couldn't really sleep anyway," she said with a small smile before crawling into my bunk with me.

"Dad said he and uncle Qrow were gonna go looking for her. They'll find her pretty soon if she's anywhere in Vale," Ruby explained, fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke. It was obvious she was worried too. She and Yang shared such a close relationship.

"Ruby… Ruby, I'm so sorry." I couldn't pretend anymore. I just felt so terrible. Yang had experienced something so traumatic and I'd failed to be supportive. All because of something that'd happened with an ex. How awful of a girlfriend was I.

"Blake… It's not your fault. What you saw… what we all saw… I know deep down Yang would never do something like that on purpose. Maybe General Ironwood is right and it was just stress?" Ruby looked like she was still wrestling with the explanation herself.

"I shouldn't have implied she'd hurt Mercury on purpose… It was wrong of me…" I bit back my tears. It wasn't even fair of me to cry in front of Ruby. If anyone deserved to be frustrated or upset over this, it was her.

"You think she's mad at you?" Ruby kept fidgeting with her hands, trying to piece together the conclusion I'd already come to.

"It makes sense."

"Yang wouldn't do that." My ears perked up and I looked over to Weiss' bunk. She'd rolled over and was watching the two of us with an exasperated look in her eyes.

"Yang's not the kind of person to punish you- or any of us- like this out of spite. Her Scroll's probably dead. Maybe you did upset her, but she'd talk to you about it. Not give you the cold shoulder." Weiss pushed some of her hair back behind her ear. It was obvious she hadn't been able to sleep either.

"Weiss is right… Yang really loves you, Blake. I've never seen her so in love like this before. I'm positive she just made a mistake," Ruby said comfortingly.

"You can apologize to Yang tomorrow when we see her. Let her know that you feel bad about what happened. I'm sure she'd understand. You two have been almost inseparable for months. If this is your first fight I'm sure you two will be fine by next week," Weiss reasoned, waving her hand as if this were the most simple explanation in the world.

"Maybe you should try and call her? Then you can leave her a super cute message that'll make her run home once she sees it?" Ruby was ever the optimist. Sometimes it was just infectious.

I nodded, wiping the tears that'd gathered in my eyes away. After grabbing my Scroll I went into the bathroom. This message would have to be personal, and as much as I didn't mind Ruby or Weiss knowing the full extent of my feelings for Yang, this had to be private.

"Blake, can we talk?" I hadn't even had the chance to listen to the messages she'd sent me. I just walked in, realized no one else was in the dorm, and sent her the message. She must've been at the Festival, and I couldn't go meet her because I was grounded. I'd have to wait until she came back.

That already felt like a lifetime ago.

I'd watched Penny get sliced into pieces on my Scroll. I felt so sick to my stomach. How could Pyrrha… no, no this wasn't right! Pyrrha would never do something like that!

I started running, Zwei right behind me. I tried calling Ruby but her Scroll was dead. Wouldn't be the first time she'd forgotten to charge it but- Blake!

"Yang are you okay?" I could hear how worried she sounded. She'd probably been up all night waiting for me, worried about me and now-

"I'm fine. Is Ruby with you? She's not answering her Scroll." I couldn't think about that now, I just had to make sure they were safe. If we were all together we'd be fine!

"No, she isn't." I felt my heart sink like a sack of bricks. This wasn't right. Ruby…

I didn't even have enough time to worry. I'd spotted some White Fang guys… and Grimm…

"Gotta go! Be careful!" The Boarbatusk charged at me before I'd even gotten the chance to finish talking. I'd meant to say I love you. I'd meant to…

I'll tell her later.

Weiss and I had been together throughout most of the night. We'd faced about a hundred Grimm, Atlesian Knights and White Fang grunts in what must've only been an hour. We were finally forced to part ways when the ship crashed. I knew she could take care of herself, so I wasn't worried- at least, maybe not as much as I should've been. So many people had been hurt or worse already, but I had faith that my teammate would be able to handle herself, same as Ruby. Same as Yang.

I ran down the courtyard and toward the dining hall just in time to watch a ghost pull his weapon from the chest of some poor student. I froze. It'd been so long since the last time I'd seen this man, I could feel my heart hammering in my chest all over again.

"Hello, my darling."

I really wish I wasn't alone.

There were so many fucking Grimm. They were everywhere! Deathstalkers and Nevermore and Creeps and what must've been a Geist only half assembled. I took out as many as I could on the way to the courtyard. I had to meet up with my team. I finally made it there, and… everyone was here? Nora and Ren and SSSN and CFVY and-

"Weiss! You're okay!" She looked tired, but still on one piece.

"Have you heard from Ruby?" I needed to make sure she was okay. Apparently no one had seen her since this had started, and I hadn't heard from her myself. She shook her head, panting to catch her breath. At least she and Blake were… Wait…

"What about Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha… And some members of the White Fang."

I was so… so tired. I had to make a choice. Ruby could handle herself- she was our leader and an amazing fighter, plus her Semblance would keep her out of the way of any Grimm. No way she'd go down just yet. But Blake… facing the White Fang… she was in danger. I knew how she got when the White Fang were involved. She didn't think straight. She got… sloppy. Too angry and one-track minded. I needed to make sure she didn't get herself hurt!

"You look for Ruby. I'll meet up with Blake." I ran in the direction Weiss was pointing.

I ran towards my girlfriend.

"I never wanted this! I wanted equality! I wanted peace!" I didn't understand. Adam had lied and hurt and betrayed me, but this wasn't the kind of person he was! At least, I didn't want to believe it. We'd been together for so long… I'd trusted him with my life! To think this was the same person...

"What you want is impossible!" The words hurt almost as much as the smack. He was wrong- he had to be! It wasn't impossible! Peace could work! I knew it could! I'd made friends here at Beacon who knew my secret and cared about me anyway! Ruby and even Weiss! And Yang...

"But I understand. Because all I want… is you, Blake." I could hardly even raise Gambol against him. There was a time- so long ago- when I had felt the same way about him. He was compassionate and strong and charismatic. He'd cared about our cause just as much as I had. He believed in it. But now, looking at this twisted monster Adam had become…

"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love." He was so close I could see through the slits in his mask. I knew he meant every word. I felt my blood run cold just as I heard the familiar voice call my name.

"Blaaaake!" I sent some stupid White Fang guard flying. These guys were all the same. Barely trained, weak, and were only a threat when they could use panic to scare people into dropping their guard. But it was a tactic I was scared Blake might fall for. She was too close to this…

"Blake! Where are you!" I had to find her! The Alpha was one thing, but if she bumped into someone from the White Fang who knew her… someone who wanted to hurt her…

"Starting with her."

I didn't move. I didn't even breathe. I let him sink his blade into me, hoping against hope that he'd become too distracted hurting me to move on Yang. I had to give her a chance to escape. The blade pierced my skin and was inches into my gut before I couldn't hold in my agony any longer. I screamed.

I heard the scream. I didn't see her at first. Just some guy standing there looking weird. He had a White Fang mask, but he didn't look like a regular grunt. I could see his horns poking through his red hair. Then I looked down and… there she was. Bleeding. Suddenly I was seeing red. I was angrier than I'd ever been in my life. Fire hot enough to melt metal and crack concrete shot out of me.

"Get AWAY FROM HER!"

I charged towards the bastard that hurt Blake.

"Why must you hurt me, Blake?"

He hadn't realized I'd already dashed away. He was focused on my Shadow. I waited until he struck before running away as fast as I could, looking back just long enough to make sure we were safe.

I ran.

I ran harder and faster than I'd ever run before.

I ran for Yang. For my girlfriend- no. No, I don't even deserve to call her that anymore. There was so much blood. It was all I could smell- I could practically taste it.

I ran and ran and ran.

I'd never been so relieved to see Weiss Schnee in my life.

Once we were within reach my legs gave out. I couldn't run anymore. Not from Adam. Not from myself. Not from the reality of what'd just happened. I doubled over and threw up, tuna and bile mixing with my blood. That didn't look good.

"Blake, sit still, I have to stop the bleeding!" Weiss tried to work on me first but I pushed her away with the last ounce of strength I had.

"Yang… Yang first."

Weiss nodded as Sun came a moment later. He looked so worried, so distraught…

"Oh, fuck. Oh, Blake what… what happened?" He fussed over me for a moment before doing his best at first aid. I didn't have any energy left to push him away like I did Weiss. All I could do was sob. I didn't take my eyes off Yang the whole time. She woke up to groan in pain as Weiss wrapped a tunicate around her… around what was left of her arm. Then she passed out again, sweating and clammy. Her breath came in short, sharp, ragged gasps. I waited until Weiss and Sun were done before crawling towards her, taking her hand in mine.

I'd never seen Yang… I'd never known her to lose a fight. And now here she was… broken… mutilated and dismembered… because of me.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry Yang."

I knew she couldn't hear me. I knew I didn't deserve her forgiveness. I cried anyway.