Chapter Text
Yang has been quiet, and it is more than just her voice. She has been subdued since rising from the vault under Haven Academy six days ago. Blake is confused and concerned by the behavior of her partner. As Weiss, Ruby, and Oscar recovered from their injuries and exertions in the days after the Defense of Haven, Blake mulled over whether she should confront Yang, or talk to someone else. Unsure about how to broach the subject with Yang, Blake decided to reach out to Weiss. They had clashed in the past, but she knew that Weiss wouldn't hold anything back to spare Blake's feelings. Blake didn't want something important to be left out when it came to reconnecting with Yang.
Blake meandered through the house that their mismatched group shared, finding Weiss in one of the common areas. Blake brought a pair of mugs, filled with coffee for Weiss and tea for herself, to break the ice. She sat down next to Weiss and turned to face her. Weiss seemed surprised by neither the company nor the coffee.
“Weiss, do you know what's going on with Yang? She's been so quiet, and I think she's following me around. Whenever I leave the room, she usually appears wherever I go within a half an hour. It feels strange; Yang's never quiet around me. Would... Would it have been better if I had left with the Menagerie Militia?”
Weiss took a sip of coffee before responding, “No. I believe you made the right choice in staying, but Yang isn't the same as she was before the Fall of Beacon. The world is darker to her. Yang used to believe that things would eventually turn out alright, that the world is a bright place and can be made brighter. Ruby's optimism is still there, but... I'm getting off topic here. The humiliation of Emerald's semblance being used to vilify her in the fight against Mercury, followed by her losing an arm to a monster more vile than most Grimm, and then waking up from being maimed without her partner, without you. Yang thought you were dead until Sun told her that you fled.” Weiss paused to take another sip of coffee while Blake seemed to shrink in on herself.
Weiss continued, “Blake, Yang... Yang isn't sure what to think. She didn't believe you'd ever come back to her, to us. It was beyond her comprehension that you would leave her behind. I don't know whether the losing of her partner or of her arm hurt her more. Yang seemed nearly resigned to the sundering of your partnership when we spoke a week ago. Her heart is happy to have you back, but... I think, in her head, she's afraid that you'll leave again. She's not stupid. Yang has been left behind by almost everyone in her life, in various ways. She's afraid that the pattern of her life will continue, especially after her mother betrayed her and left again just six days ago. I think she's been following you around because as long as she can see you, she knows you aren't running away again. She tracked down her mother, where she found me, and forced her to use her semblance to quickly reach Ruby. It seems that no one comes back for her, she has to find her way back into their lives. She wants to believe that you came back, that someone finally did, but... She's not Ruby. Her optimism has limits.”
Blake's ears lowered. She had harbored a feeling that their reunion in the entrance chamber to Haven Academy went too smoothly. Of course Yang had set aside her doubts to appease Ruby. She was selfless to a fault, never putting herself before her sister or her team. “I should have known,” she said to Weiss.
Weiss nodded and pressed on. “When Yang rescued me from her mom and forced Raven to send us to Ruby, she was so strong, so forceful. A bandit clan and the Spring Maiden were simply obstacles to overcome for Yang, but she broke down later when Ruby mentioned you. Yang didn't believe you cared, or that you even wanted to see her again. She thought... thinks the world of you, and the idea that you'd leave without saying anything, telling her where to follow, or what your plan was, is anathema to her. Ruby wrote letters back to her. They didn't all make it in time, but she at least kept Yang aware that she was still alive and well. I don't think letters would have made it from Atlas, not with my family trying to cage me, but I wish I'd done something.”
Weiss paused, seemingly expecting Blake to say something.
Blake was speechless. “I... I was trying to protect you guys. He, Adam, said he would destroy everything I... starting with Yang. I couldn't,” She broke off before continuing further down the tracks on her train of thoughts, “The White Fang came after my family in Menagerie only after I came home.”
Weiss sighed, “I thought it might have been something like that. I couldn't understand why you left after the way you two were at Beacon and the way you held her hand and cried for her that night.”
Blake leaned forward, confused, “What do you mean the way we were at Beacon?”
Weiss looked annoyed, “Come on Blake. You two were closer than any partners I could name, except maybe Ren and Nora. By the way, you sort of won that betting pool.” Weiss paused and, after consulting with something on her scroll, handed over almost 300 lien. “They got together after fighting a Nucklavee with Ruby and Jaune. I'd count that as 'after a hunt against a particularly nasty Grimm.'” Looking at Blake's flabbergasted face, Weiss saw that the lien wasn't the source of Blake's confusion and continued. “Really, you two weren't together? I wasn't sure, but I thought you two might have been hiding it to avoid attention.” Weiss started speaking quickly, as she ran through a list she seemed to have in her head. “You two were in sync from the start. I was a bit nervous and kept an eye on you for a while after you revealed your faunus nature. You and Yang say more to each other without using words than most people do with them. The only time you two detached from each other was when you ran off with Sun. The only difference between her following you around then and now is that she's quiet now. I don't remember Yang ever volunteering to separate from you. She 'loves it when you're feisty.' She is,” Weiss paused, trying to find the right word, “vulnerable and more open when you're around. It was you doubting her that brought tears after the Mercury fight. She was certain she could get you to go to the dance when even Sun gave up, and then she only danced with you...”
As Weiss continued, Blake froze and tuned her out as the realization hit her. Blake had seen her on the upper level smiling down at Blake and Sun. She shook at the realization that she had only seen Yang alone after their dance. Why didn't she dance with anyone else?
“And then there was the way she was so desperate to find you after you outed yourself as a faunus. She didn't care at all about your membership in--”
“She didn't dance with anyone else?” Blake interrupted Weiss's list. “She said she'd be turning heads that night. Yang was radiant.” She paused, remembering Yang promising to save her a dance. She had thought that Yang wanted to save space in a busy night for Blake. “Why wouldn't she dance with anyone else?”
Weiss sighed again, this time in disbelief, as her pale blue eyes met Blake's, “Blake... I think there was only one person's head she really wanted to turn towards her that night.”
Blake collapsed back into her chair as the memories assailed her. “I love it when you're feisty,” was followed by “If you feel like coming out tomorrow, I'll save you a dance,” and a barrage of smaller moments. Ilia was one thing. Blake felt terrible about that, now that her eyes had been opened and she could see the signs in her interactions with Ilia years ago. Yang was something else. Why hadn't she seen it? “She... I... I thought I was ready to talk to her about everything, now I'm not so sure. I...”
“I don't think you have a choice,” Weiss interjected before Blake could go on. “Yang and Ruby told us almost everything about their lives, shared everything with us. I held back some things about my family, but there wasn't much to tell given how much my family is in the public eye. You turned up with a family, as the heir to the Chieftain of Menagerie, and you were apparently in a similar position in the White Fang before your father stepped down. You're more of a princess than I am, now, and we had no idea about any of it. We thought you were an orphan who was taken in by the White Fang until six days ago. From those few faunus who were comfortable enough to speak to me, I learned that you also have a connection to the fiend who cut off Yang's arm.” Blake winced at that.
Weiss seemed to realize something as her eyes saw something. “We grew up on opposite sides of the conflict, but you and I were born into a life where we were surrounded by every knife society could muster. Outside of Schnee Manor or school, there was always a danger that something could happen. The possibility of violence was always in the air. I had to find ways to shield myself from the worst our society can throw at me, and it's clear you had to do the same. I don't think our partners had to do that. They don't know that world, and I hope it stays that way.” Weiss shivered as she refocused on Blake.
“I think the pain in Yang's life has been personal. Raven leaving twice, betraying her in person before fleeing the second time, Ruby's mother passing when they were children, her father burying himself in his work out of grief, and you leaving her without a word after that...” Weiss seemed to swallow a particularly nasty epithet, “after your previous partner crippled her. Many of these things could be, or perhaps once could have been, ameliorated by her parents, but only you can help her through what happened at the fall of Beacon. She doesn't know if she can trust in you. She wanted to be there for you, for you.”
Weiss's words hammered Blake, “How can she... Of course I trust her. More than anyone. I told the three of you everything I could bring myself to say. You, Weiss, accepted me even though I was a faunus formerly of the White Fang. I'm not sure Ruby or Yang even cared about either of those, they only cared about me. I had spent years in the belief that humans could not accept me, not like that. I was on the brink of despair, and you three dragged me back. I was something approaching whole after we fought at the Breach. Then... Beacon fell, and I felt more broken than ever.” The words came out in a rush as she tried to explain.
Weiss replied with a sad smile on her face, “I understand that completely. I think we were all broken by the Fall. You seem to have put yourself back together.”
“Finally returning to my parents helped. I hadn't seen them in years. I thought they would shut the door against me for scorning them for leaving the White Fang, but they hugged me and welcomed me back. It was more than I deserved. I guess Sun helped too, even if I didn't want him to follow me.”
“I'm glad you've recovered, but Yang is still recovering and finding a new normal. The question now is whether you're going to be part of that normal.”
“But I don't know how I feel about her. How can I help her when I don't know what to think?”
Weiss rolled her eyes, “That's where she'll be helping you, Blake, but I don't think you have much to worry about. What did you say earlier? Yang is radiant, and you owe her the truth, whatever it turns out to be.” Blake stewed on this as Weiss seemed to weigh whether or not to add something to the conversation.
“I will say that the pool on you and Yang was a bit different than Ren and Nora's.” Weiss's smile was happier at this. She continued, “No one was betting on 'how' you'd get together. 'When' was the question, but... Pyrrha was the only one to bet that it'd take this long for you two to get together. We should do something with it, no matter what happens. We can use it to celebrate or remember her. Ren was the bookkeeper for you two, so he has the funds.”
Blake smiled, “I'd like that. I'll add my winnings to whatever we decide to do for Pyrrha. She was unfailingly kind and humble. We can't build her a monument just yet, but it would make her happy to know that we are.”
“It would. Now, don't make her mistake. Go and talk to Yang. And.” She paused. “Remember that this is real, not like your books. There's no magic word, no perfect phrase to resolve this. This is just the first step. I think Yang will need you there for many of them.” With that said, Weiss gave Blake a brief hug. Weiss took their mugs and moved toward the shared kitchen after glancing at her scroll. “I'll take care of these. Yang is probably training with Ozpin and Qrow on the balcony at this time in the afternoon.”
“Weiss, thank you.” Blake was floored by the show of kindness from Weiss, but didn't entirely forget her own manners. She made her way toward the balcony and thought to herself, “What is Yang going to call her if she's not the Ice Queen anymore?”