Archive of Our Own

Blake landed with a solid thud against the cold concrete floor, the impact driving the breath from her lungs and the rough surface scraped her already abused skin. Her sensitive ears picked up the cruel laughter of the guards before the too-loud bang of the door closing and locking behind her.

Blake lay still, the only sound her own heavy breathing.

Trying to control the rising panic.

Stupid stupid.

She might have just blown her team’s chances of being released by the council.

Blake banged a closed fist on the ground in frustration, ignoring the lance of pain that shot up her forearm. Great job Belladonna, hissed a voice in the back of her mind that sounded way too much like his. You’ve only been here a few days and you’ve already screwed everything up. Why couldn’t you have just kept you head down and stayed quiet like a good girl… An awful familiar feeling churned in her gut. A few tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes, still squeezed tightly shut.

Okay, focus Blake. What do we do next? Blake forced herself to remember back to her combat training. Try to slow your breathing before you have another panic attack. Blake managed to drag in a few shaky breaths before she finally felt her frantic heart rate slowing and the haze over her mind beginning to lift.

Okay what’s next? Assess the situation. Blake lifted her head and glanced around the room she found herself in, instinctively looking for escape routes or potential improvised weapons.  Nothing but gray concrete greeted her, bare of any furnishings save for a dented bucket in the corner. A single naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling provided the only light source with no visible way to turn it on and off. Suspicious stains on the walls and an unidentifiable unpleasant smell that burned her nose only added to the rooms charm.

Blake let out a deep sigh. She’s probably not getting out of here anytime soon. She dragged her sore and stiff body over to the wall, propping herself up against it and began to assess her injuries. A myriad of colorful bruises decorate her arms, ranging in age from a few days old to fresh. Normally she knew her aura would have healed those in an instant, but she suspected that the uncomfortable metal collars they all wore suppressed or neutralized aura in some way in addition to delivering a painful shock as a way of punishing prisoners. Blake had already felt that delightful feature many times since arriving at this gods-awful place. All the guards seemed to find sadistic pleasure in using small remotes in their pockets to deliver a painful shock for even the slightest infractions. Some of the guards were more trigger happy than others and took great delight in watching the Faunus prisoners thrash around on the ground.

The knuckles on her right hand were still bloody. Blake couldn’t help but smirk when she remembered the blood wasn’t hers. She could still feel the satisfying crunch of the guard’s nose under her fist when she leapt at him, the image of that poor girl crumpled at his feet burned into Blake’s retinas. She didn’t even think. She just charged in, fists already flying.

That girl couldn’t have been older than fifteen.

She was just glad she landed a solid hit before the pain of the shock collar registered and she dropped like a stone. Yang would have been proud.

Yang. Oh gods. Yang.

The little balloon of pride in her chest deflated like someone had poked it with a needle.

Yang. I’m so sorry. I’m such a fucking screw-up... Blake buried her face in her hands and suppressed a sob.

She thought of Yang. Yang’s sweet smile, her warm dependable presence. The beautiful lilac of her eyes. The sound of her boisterous laughter. Yang’s laugh is her best feature, Blake suddenly decided. The way it fills the room, the way it’s so contagious. The way she snorts when she’s laughing extra hard.  Blake let out a weak chuckle of her own at the thought.

I might never hear her laugh again… That thought instantly sobered Blake. She might never see Yang again. Might never see her smile. Might never hug her again. Might never hear another stupid pun. Might never see those beautiful eyes soften with affection.

I might never get a chance to tell her how I feel… Blake’s sobs finally broke free and echoed back at her like mocking laughter around her bare concrete cell.

5 days.

5 godsdamned days of nothing.

Yang paced back and forth in her cell, feeling more and more like a caged Ursa being poked with a stick. There was an anxious bubbling in her gut that was only getting worse with each passing day. They had all been unloaded from the transport truck and frog marched down a sterile hallway in some random building in Mantle, probably a holding facility or small jail of some kind. The guards - a mix of both organic and mechanical - refused to answer any of their questions or even speak to them, despite Weiss’s indignant shrieks at being manhandled and loud demands to speak to her sister. They had each been shoved into separate cells and locked in, and Yang hadn’t seen any of her teammates or friends since. 

The walls of her cell were bare metal. A hard-as-a-rock cot stood in the corner along with a small toilet and sink on the other side. The harsh bright lights clicked on and off by themselves at certain times, so Yang assumed that was night and day - there was no other way to tell. Something in the cells was apparently suppressing her aura too, as Yang had found out after almost breaking her hand punching the wall in a fit of frustration. Twice a day a tray of nearly inedible “food” was shoved through a slot in her door, and whoever it was never said a word. Yang gave up asking questions after the second day and only ever muttered a polite “thank you” after taking the tray. The good manners drilled into her by Summer were still strong, apparently.

The guards had confiscated everything on them. They’d even taken her prosthetic arm, and Yang felt strangely unbalanced without it. She knew they had taken the relic too, and somewhere in the back of her mind she realized she should be more concerned about its whereabouts, but her thoughts were all but consumed with something far more important.

Or rather, someone.

Blake.

The last time Yang had seen Blake was just before she had been shoved into her cell. She had caught Blake’s gaze and seen the fear in her eyes. Yang had tried to be strong and reassure her, but she was just as scared. The thought of being separated from Blake after all they had been through was terrifying.

As the guard hauled Blake around the corner and out of sight, Yang felt a strange tugging in her chest, like her very soul was protesting the separation.

That was the last time she had seen her partner and Yang was losing her mind. Her sleep was fitful, plagued with nightmares of Blake being ripped from her arms by unseen hands, or of running through a pitch black hallway hearing Blake's cry of her name echoing around her.

Yang’s instincts were screaming at her that Blake was in danger and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. She raked her hand aggressively through her hair and continued pacing back and forth in her cell.

It was on the sixth day that something finally changed. Yang was in the middle of a one-armed push-up contest with herself in an ineffective attempt at burning off excess energy (and maybe as a distraction from her own increasingly anxious thoughts) in the middle of her cell. On her fiftieth rep her cell door suddenly unlocked and swung open, forcing Yang to leap to her feet. Framed in the doorway stood Winter Schnee, wearing her trademark scowl and arms crossed behind her back. She arched an eyebrow.

“Yang Xiao Long?” 

“Y-yeah?” Yang replied, her voice raspy from lack of use. Winter simply inclined her head in a ‘follow me’ gesture and turned smartly on her heel leaving Yang to scramble after her.

Ruby rushed Yang immediately, wrapping her in a hug and squeezing tight. Everyone looked a little tired and could probably use a shower, but Yang was pleased to see none of them looked worse for wear. Her eyes raked around the room, and her stomach dropped. Where was Blake?

“Now,” snapped Winter. “I have orders from General Ironwood that I am to escort you all -"

“Wait” said Yang. “Where’s Blake?”

The room went silent.  Winter raised an eyebrow, then turned her glare to a small man in a military uniform standing beside her who Yang hadn’t noticed at first.

“You said this was everyone.” Winter’s voice was low and intimidating. The man went pale and looked down to leaf through a stack of paperwork in his arms.

“T-this is everyone at this facility, ma’am. The, uh, the Faunus was transferred to a Faunus holding facility on the other side of the city.” 

“What.” The air around Yang shimmered with heat and her irises tinged crimson. She took an aggressive step towards the man, who in Yang’s eyes was rapidly becoming more and more infuriating with each passing moment. Ruby, sensing her sister’s growing rage, reached out a hand and snatched her by the wrist. Ruby gently tugged so Yang turned to look at her. Her sister’s pleading look and wide silver gaze did what nothing else could, and Yang took a deep breath. The heat cooled and her eyes returned to their normal color. She turned back to glare at the man, but stayed where she was.

“Well of course we’re going to go get her, aren’t we?” Weiss said matter-of-factly.

To Yang’s surprise, Winter didn’t argue. “Yes, yes, of course. You.” She turned to the man beside her. “Get me all the information you have on where Blake Belladonna was transferred. Now.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The man sharply saluted then hurried away, and looked relieved to be doing so.

Yang was breathing too fast. Blake. Blake wasn’t here.

“Hey.” The hand on her wrist moved to her shoulder and squeezed in an attempt at reassurance. Yang turned to look at her sister, blinking away the burning in her eyes threatening to spill over.

“We’re going to get her. She’ll be okay.” The conviction in Ruby’s eyes gave Yang a tiny flicker of hope.

Hold on Blake. I’m coming to get you.

Blake wasn’t sure what to expect when the door of her solitary confinement opened. She had thought over it and every answer she came up with was worst than the once that preceded it. She’d heard plenty of stories of what happened to Faunus in Mantle, many of the White Fang members used to be one of those unlucky Faunus. 

She heard stories of being arrested for non-violent or even fabricated crimes and being forced to be free labor in the Dust Mines to serve out their sentence, always being pinned with some other imaginary crime to keep them there indefinitely. 

She heard stories of being kept in solitary inside the filthy prisons until you’d willingly come along to work because you’d take anything over being inside that tiny room for one more instant. The humans claimed it was ‘rehabilitating’ Faunus to do honest work after leaving prison.

Blake had heard these horror stories over and over again. When she was young, she didn’t believe them. But she did now. After all, she was in one.

Blake was pulled from her thoughts by the sight of the guard she’d broken the nose of standing there, looking disgusted. 

“Come on.” He growled, gesturing for her to follow. Normally Blake would’ve used this as a chance to run, but that’d just be fruitless. You can only get so far in an escape plan without knowing where the escape even is…

As they walked, Blake could easily see just how many Faunus were locked up here. Some of them were adults but most of them were either little kids or looked to be around her age…

“You know, if I had my way all you filthy animals would rot in here.” The guard started to rant, sounding irritated, disgusted, and flat out annoyed. Blake didn’t respond to that, she knew that whatever punishment she was being led to would get a lot uglier if she talked back. 

“But I guess it’s your lucky day. ‘Don’t know which Schnee you had to screw to get this kind of favor but WHO CARES!” The guard threw his hands up in exasperation, speaking through gritted teeth.

Blake blinked in confusion. If this racist jerk was mad about whatever this ‘favor’ was, it probably was a good one. And he said he wished Faunus were never allowed to leave… Does… Does that mean…?

They reached the door out of the long corridor, the guard swinging the door open hard enough it slammed against the wall with a loud clang, causing Blake to physically recoil at the thunderous sound. She was seriously starting to think they did that sort of thing on purpose…

Blake almost fell over at what she saw on the other side of that door.

Standing before her was Winter Schnee.

Or at least, a projection of her. 

“You sure this is the one you want? Th’ bitch broke my nose!” The guard practically shouted, pointing to his still-bandaged nose.

“Are you questioning me?” Winter asked tersely, her tone challenging. The guard let out a long, loud sigh before he turned to unlock the collar. However, this wasn’t before leaving a parting bit of advice for the Faunus. “You tell anyone what goes on in here we’ll drag you right back two seconds flat, capishe?”

He tried to quietly utter the threat to her. However it didn’t matter.

“Excuse. You.” If looks could kill the man would be dead where he stood. Turns out the audio receivers were significantly better than the man gave her credit for.

“I- Uh-” 

“You’re talking to Blake Belladonna, survivor of The Fall Of Beacon, child of Ghira Belladonna, AND friend of my little sister. I’ll be sure to notify your superiors of your unemployment and question her all about how you’ve been treating your prisoners. Now. Let. Her. Go.” Winter’s tone of voice was bordering on terrifying at this point. The man looked terrified, fumbling with his keys to unlock the collar and backing off into the corridor so quickly one had to wonder if it were his semblance. 

“…Winter, what-” Blake started but was quickly shushed by the Schnee.

“I apologize for this egregious oversight. I’ll see to it that those who wrongfully put you here are rightfully punished. Please proceed outside, your transport awaits you.” Winter explained as an Atlesian soldier that had been waiting near the door motioned for Blake to follow. The transmission went dark and Blake hesitantly obeyed the command…

 
It wasn’t long after boarding the small airship that Blake found herself face to face with Winter herself. 

“We can discuss your mistreatment later. I believe there’s someone rather eager to see you.” Winter gestured towards the room behind her. Blake didn’t even need to get close to realize she recognized the voices she was hearing.

“-Was THAT the airship?” Ruby’s voice reached her ears rather easily. It sounded like she’d been asking that same question over and over considering the groan that followed it.

“Ruby for the last time Winter will let us know when Blake gets here!” Weiss huffed, rather exasperated. She then added on “And PLEASE stop pacing Yang, you’re going to burn a hole in the floor!”

Blake didn’t wait to see what the blonde’s response was.

The second Blake stepped through the door a collective gasp swept the room. Some of relief, some of horror at her current state, all of them laced with concern.

It was approximately one millisecond after her appearance that Blake was almost thrown off her feet by Ruby launching herself at the Faunus in a hug attack. 

“BLAKEWEWERESOWORRIEDABOUTYOUAREYOUOKAYWHATHAPPENED-” Ruby frantically attempted to ask but she was talking so fast that all her words were blurring together into an amalgamation of vowels and syllables that didn’t even vaguely resemble English.

“Gods… What happened?” Weiss walked over, eyeing her bruises with concern. 

“It’s a long story.” Blake chuckled weakly, hugging Ruby back as she continued to worriedly ramble. Eventually Ruby let go but only for Jaune to heal said bruises. Lilac light covered her body as the bruises slowly faded away, leaving nothing but the smallest of aches. 

“Thank you.” Blake gave a grateful smile before turning to the rest of the room, eyes darting about to find who she was looking for. 

Lilac met gold. Blake started to walk over calmly but failed. She broke out into a run, throwing her arms around Yang. It took but a second for Yang to wrap her arms around the Faunus. 

Blake nuzzled further into the girl, her radiating warmth causing her to shiver. It was a welcome change after being kept in a freezing cell for five days.

“I told you, I’m not gonna break my promise…” Blake whispered.

Yang lifted Blake’s chin so she could look her right in the eyes.

“I know you won’t.”

The ride up to Atlas was quiet.

Winter explained in low tones that they had secure lodging set aside for them up in the city. It wouldn’t be anything luxurious but they would have access to soft beds, warm showers, and a hot meal. 

Yang was only half listening. She was far more interested in gently running her hand through Blake’s silky hair as she slept with her head pillowed in Yang’s lap. Closely watching her face for the smallest sign of pain or discomfort.

But Blake slept soundly, her face relaxed. Judging by the bruise-like circles under her eyes it was desperately needed. The marks on her arms had healed, but there was still a red ring around her throat that would take longer to fade. When Winter had explained that it was from the aura suppressing collars the Faunus prisoners wore Yang almost demanded they turn the ship around so she could march right back into that jail and level it to the ground with her own fists.

Winter assured her that “the situation would be handled”. And judging by the way her lip had curled and her eyes had darkened, Yang knew that wasn’t an idle promise.

Winter informed them that they would be meeting with the council in the next few days to discuss their next steps, then she let them be.

Yang relaxed back into her seat and continued carding her hand through Blake’s hair. Watching her pointed dark ears twitch in her sleep.

Gods she loved this woman so much it ached.

It wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed her mind. Yang knew her feelings for her partner ran much deeper than mere friendship. They had for a long time, maybe even before the Fall of Beacon. Yang admired Blake’s passion and drive for what she believed in. Blake was brave and kind and strong… and beautiful. Yang would never admit she may have had an ulterior motive that night she dragged her sister over to the pretty girl reading all alone in the corner to “make friends”.

Yang was abruptly shaken from her thoughts when Blake shivered in her sleep and curled closer, rubbing her cheek on Yang’s thigh. Yang frowned and cast a critical eye over Blake’s clothing. The prison-issued gray shirt and pants looked far too thin to provide any kind of warmth or protection.

Across the room where she’d been in quiet conversation with Weiss, Ruby silently unclasped her cloak and moved closer, draping her beloved cape over Blake’s sleeping form.

Ruby met her sister’s gaze with a knowing look and a small smile. Yang felt her cheeks flush even as she gave her sister a sheepish grin back. Was she that obvious?

The airship around them slowed and shuddered as it approached the docking station. Blake stirred against Yang’s leg.  “Mmm… Yang?”

“Hey.”

“Mm, wha…?” Blake looked confused, still half asleep as she reached up to touch Ruby’s cloak around her shoulders.

“Shhh, go back to sleep. Everything’s fine.”

It was a testament to just how tired she was that Blake didn’t argue. She let out a jaw cracking yawn and snuggled deeper under Ruby’s cloak. The cloak was warm and soft despite its travel worn appearance, and felt like heaven after days of sleeping on cold concrete. Blake quickly fell back asleep.

As the ship docked, Yang carefully maneuvered out from under Blake and tucked one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees. Yang hoisted her up into her arms like a small child.

She noticed with a frown that Blake felt lighter than usual and stamped down another surge of anger at the people who did this to her. When was the last time she’d eaten anything?

The entire group exited onto the airfield, Blake still tightly cradled in Yang’s arms. She wouldn’t be letting go anytime soon that was for sure.

Weiss hurried over and fussed over Blake, tucking Ruby’s cloak tighter around her with an almost maternal concern. 

“Let’s get out of the cold before we all catch our deaths out here.” she huffed in her usual brisk tone.

But Yang could see right through her to the worried glances and the protective way she’d placed herself in between her vulnerable teammates and the rest of the world. As if to shield them from whatever the universe decided to throw at them next.

Blake hummed in her sleep and tucked her head under Yang’s chin. Yang couldn’t help herself and pressed a kiss into her dark hair, right in between her pointed cat ears. She could have sworn she heard a faint rumbling sound coming from deep in Blake’s throat in response.

Blake wasn’t sure what woke her up at first.

She was finally warm in a way she hadn’t been since arriving on Solitas. And more comfortable than she’d been in days. The surface she lay on was soft and cushy and felt much better that cold hard concrete. Her consciousness drifted in that hazy area in between sleep and awake, and she had just begun to sink back into dreamland when her ears picked up the low murmur of voices.

“-don’t know. Should we wake her up?”

“Maybe we should let her sleep. She has been through a lot…”

“She’s gotta eat something though. I’ll bet those bastards didn’t even feed her -”

At the mention of food Blake suddenly realized what it was that had woken her. An enticing smell drifted to her nose and Blake realized that she had had nothing to eat save for a few scraps of stale bread and water for nearly a week. She was ravenous.

Entirely without her permission, Blake’s empty stomach made itself known with a sound not unlike that of an enraged Beowulf.

The voices stopped.

“Ah, I think she’s awake.” Dry and amused. Weiss.

“Blake? You awake? There’s fooood…” Light and sing-song. Ruby.

A cool hand lay lightly on her shoulder and rubbed small soothing circles. “Blake?”

Warm and familiar with a tinge of concern. Yang.

Blake finally cracked her eyes open. Yang’s face filled her vision, perfectly eye-level with her chin propped on her forearm, as if she had been there a while waiting for Blake to wake up.

Blake croaked out a “Hey” and was rewarded with a dazzling grin that was like watching the sun appear from behind rain clouds.

“Hey.” Yang returned the greeting and her mechanical hand moved from Blake’s shoulder to tuck a stray strand of dark hair behind her human ear. Her smile faded a bit and her eyebrows knit together. “How are you feeling?”

Blake took a moment to assess her body’s condition. Aside from a few minor aches and pains and the still-raw skin she could feel around her throat, she felt more well-rested than she had in a long time. “I think I’m okay, but I am really hungry.”

“We can fix that!”

Ruby’s shrill voice piped up from somewhere behind Yang. Yang jumped, as if she’d forgotten they weren’t the only ones in the room.

Blake could sympathize. Yang shuffled aside, and the sight that greeted Blake almost made her jaw drop. 

Weiss and Ruby sat on the floor around a small table that was absolutely overflowing with a miniature mountain of take-out boxes. Weiss picked delicately through her box with a pair of chopsticks in an almost comedic contrast to Ruby, who went back to shoveling noodles in her mouth so fast her hand was practically a blur.

“Where.. did all this come from?” asked Blake in disbelief.

Ruby looked up from her food and spoke through her mouthful of noodles. “Somf guh dromf id uff.” 

“Ruby!” Weiss snapped. “Please finish chewing before you speak.”

Ruby appeared to struggle for a moment as it looked like she had literally bitten off more than she could chew, but she eventually swallowed in one big gulp in a way that frankly looked painful.

“Guh. Sorry Weiss.” Ruby grinned sheepishly.

Weiss rolled her eyes but returned a small smile herself. Ruby turned back to Blake. “Some guy dropped it off. Said it was courtesy of the general. And before you ask -” Ruby held up a hand to cut Blake off who had opened her mouth to interrupt “- we already checked with Winter. It’s legit.”

“It’s pretty good too.” piped up Yang from her place on the floor beside Blake while reaching for her own box she’d set aside. “Who knew you Atlesians could make good take-out.”

Weiss sniffed. “Contrary to popular belief we aren’t all stuffy parties and bland finger foods.”

“Coulda fooled me.” Yang winked and threw one of her trademark lopsided smiles at Weiss. Weiss rolled her eyes again but Blake felt her heartbeat stutter at the sight.

Oh gods, I’m in trouble.

Yang just knew something was wrong.

It wasn’t anything obvious. Blake sat on the floor, legs crossed neatly underneath her. She leaned back against the couch she’d been sleeping on to Yang’s right, working on her second helping of seafood stir-fry.

Yang was glad to see her partner eating, but something still felt… off.

There was a newfound tension in her shoulders that seemed to worsen as time passed, and her pointed cat ears - a surefire way of telling her mood - seemed to twitch and swivel towards any unexpected sound more than usual.

When she wasn’t speaking or being directly spoken too, Blake’s gaze grew distant and she seemed to almost subconsciously shrink into herself. She’d snap quickly out of it and respond was someone addressed her, but then that unfocused look would return and she’d go back to staring down into her food like she wasn’t really seeing it.

It wasn’t like her and Yang was worried.

After nearly an hour of this she finally couldn’t take it anymore. Yang reached over and gently lay her hand on Blake’s forearm to get her attention. “Blake?” she asked in a low tone as their teammates bickered in the background.

“Huh?” Blake jerked as if Yang had yelled in her ear at the top of her voice, and the gnawing pit of worry in Yang’s stomach grew bigger. “Are you sure you’re okay? You just seem a little tense.”

Blake pulled her arm away and Yang tried to ignore the small lance of hurt in her chest at the movement. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine to me.”

“I’m fine, Yang.”

“Blake -”

“Just drop it, okay?”

Blake raised her voice a little too loud at that, and Yang realized that the conversation around them had died. They both looked up to meet the eyes of Ruby and Weiss now staring at them with concern from across the coffee table.

Blake sighed. “Guys really. I’m okay. This isn’t the first time I’d been in jail, believe it or not. I’m just lucky somebody higher up didn’t bother to look up my name in their records. I’m sure I’ve got a rap sheet as long as I am tall.” She tried to put on a reassuring smile.

It wasn’t very convincing.

Ruby put down what was probably her fourth box of noodles and swiveled in her spot to face Blake fully. A sure sign she was serious.

“You know, you can talk to us. About anything.” she said in a gentle voice. “That’s what teammates are for. So we don’t have to face the things that scare us alone.”

Blake shrugged and stared down at her own knees, avoiding their eyes. Yang reached out and gently cupped Blake’s warm cheek. She didn’t immediately pull away, which was a good sign.

“Hey now, don’t do that. Don’t shut us out. Don’t shut me out. Please.” Yang used her thumb to wipe away a small tear under Blake’s eye, her touch light and soft as a feather. Blake met her eyes. She pulled in a shaky breath and nodded once.

“Okay.” Ruby clapped her hands together decisively. Her face had morphed into a determined expression, the same expression that convinced a group of teenage girls who barely knew each other to slingshot her over a canyon straight at a giant thrashing Nevermore. “This calls for drastic measures.”

Ruby got to her feet and planted both hands on her hips. “I think we are long overdue for a team bonding session. You all know what that means.”

“What… what does it mean?” Weiss looked a little scared.

“Uh oh..” Yang muttered under her breath.

“That’s right, dear sister. It’s pillow fort time.”

As it turned out, Ruby took building pillow forts just as seriously as she did planning for battle.

“Weiss!” She ordered. “Go get all the chairs from the kitchen. I’m going to run next door and ask Jaune if we can borrow some of their chairs too.”

“Um, Ruby…” Weiss sounded unsure.

“Yang!” Ruby turned sharply on her heel to face her sister. “I need you to grab all the pillows and blankets you can find and bring them out here. We’re going to need you to help move the couches.”

“Yes Ma’am!” Yang snapped into a smart salute.

“And Blake!” 

Blake looked up from her knees with mild alarm at Ruby’s tone. Something softened in her team leader’s face. “Go take a shower and get some pajamas on. Your bag is behind the couch.”

“Wait I can stay and help!” Blake scrambled to her feet, hating the feeling of uselessness that swelled in her chest. She hadn’t built a pillow fort in years, but she had hazy memories of playing “princesses and castles” with her dad as a young girl on Menagerie. She could contribute something to her team at least and built a damn pillow fort.

Ruby put both hands on her thin shoulders so Blake couldn’t avoid her silver gaze. “Blake. You’re exhausted. You need a shower and you’re still wearing those gross prison clothes. Go get comfortable. When you’re ready, you can come out and join us. Team Leader’s orders.”

Instinctively Blake glanced over at Yang, who had already begun to tug the cushions off the couch. Feeling her eyes on her Yang looked up giving a bright reassuring smile. “Go on. We’ve got this. If Ruby doesn’t work us to death first…”

Ruby threw a glare at her sister before turning back to Blake. She swiveled Blake around towards the hallway and gave her a playful push. “Go. Bathroom is the first door on the right.”

Blake relented. A change of clothes and a hot shower did sound too tempting to pass up. Blake grabbed her bag and headed down the hall, turning to look back at her friends. She just caught Ruby’s exclamation of “Weiss!! What do you mean you’ve never built a pillow fort before?!” before the bathroom door closed behind her.

Blake found herself in a small but tidy washroom, with a full shower, toilet, countertop and sink with a medicine cabinet and mirror above it. She spotted signs that her teammates had already been there. Weiss’s favorite hairbrush on the counter, Ruby’s toothbrush by the sink, even a few familiar long strands of golden hair on the floor. 

Blake was suddenly struck with a memory of a time before ageless wizards, wicked immortal sorceresses, and petty gods. A time when she was just a girl who wanted to forget her past sharing a dorm room with 3 other girls who somehow managed to break down her walls like they were nothing. 

Yang could never remember to pick up her hair after brushing then either. She and Weiss had argued almost constantly about it, before finally finding a middle ground with Yang agreeing to at least clean the shower drain after use.

“You’re one to talk ice queen! How long is that ponytail of yours?”

“Well at least keep the drain clear! We’re going to get in trouble with Goodwitch if the pipes get blocked again!”

“Okay fine. Only if you find some place to store your hair products other than the shower caddy. You know we’re supposed to share that.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Weiss did have an absurd amount of hair care products back then. Lost in a melancholy nostalgia, Blake set her bag on the small counter to dig for her toiletries, glancing up at the mirror as she did.

And did a double take.

No wonder her teammates were so worried. She looked scary.

Blake’s usual pale complexion had taken on an unhealthy grayish undertone, like a corpse. Her skin looked thin and papery. Despite the long nap she’d taken there were still dark bruise-like circles under her eyes, making them look sunken into her skull. She’d lost weight, making her cheeks look gaunt and thin and her cheekbones stand out a little too sharply. Her hair hung limp and dull around her face. Clearly spending nearly a week in prison had taken its toll.

Blake sighed and hung her head. She hadn’t been lying to her teammates earlier. This wasn’t the first time she’d spent time in a Faunus prison - some with conditions much worse than this one. During her years with the White Fang she’d run many missions, including those that required infiltration into labor camps, prisons, and jails. She’d spent a few days in a cell herself before her fellow agents could bust her out. She was no stranger to the inside of a cage.

So why was she still so unsettled?

Blake gave an unconscious shake of her head and peeled off the scratchy gray shirt and pants, tossing them carelessly to the floor. She resolved with vicious pleasure to burn them the first chance she got.

The hot steam of the shower soothed the last of the soreness in her muscles and helped clear her muddled thoughts. Blake scrubbed her favorite jasmine scented shampoo in her hair and watched several weeks worth of sweat and battle grime circle down the drain.

She knew her friends would want her to get whatever was still bothering her off her chest, and logically she knew that opening up would help her move past it. The only problem was, she had no idea what “it” was.

Ever since getting out of that place she’d been unable to shake a feeling of uneasiness that seemed to have followed her out. It was almost like she was still in that little concrete room with nothing but her increasingly dark thoughts for company. If she hadn’t been released Blake was certain she would have gone mad.

The relentless light, the cold hard floor and her spiraling mental state kept her from any kind of restful sleep. On the second day (or maybe third? There was no indication of the passage of time at all) Blake started hearing voices and seeing shadows move out of the corners of her eyes. At one point she’d caught a flash of scarlet red on the edges of her vision and panicked, thinking for a split second that Adam had come back for vengeance. But there was nothing there.

She then remembered how she’d driven the shattered end of her own broken sword through his heart, and that he wasn’t coming back. The thought did little to quell the nightmares. When she did manage to catch a little rest her dreams were full of screams, blood, and cruel laughter. She dreamed of the fight ending differently. Of Adam’s sword driven through her own chest, of Yang being struck down before her eyes, of defeating Adam but Yang being mortally wounded and gasping her last breath in Blake’s arms…

Yang.

Blake closed her eyes and leaned against the shower wall, letting the hot water beat onto her back. She wasn’t a fool. She knew exactly what was growing between her and her teammate. She’d felt it for a while, nurtured with soft looks, gentle touches, glances that said a thousand words. Full conversations without speaking a single word out loud. She’d never felt this way about anyone before. She also had a strong feeling that Yang felt the same way too. Yang cared about her.

The question is… Blake thought to herself. Do I really deserve it?

Blake wasn’t sure how long she stood under the hot water but eventually it started to run cold and she shut it off. She carefully stepped out, wrapping a fluffy towel around her body and tucking in under her arms.

Blake stared back at her own reflection in the mirror above the sink, her mind still running a million miles a minute. The hot water had brought back a little color to her cheeks but she still looked tired.

She pulled all her hair over one shoulder and began to run her fingers through it, working out a few tangles that still remained. It was getting kind of long…

I should get it trimmed at least, she thought frowning at the mirror.

Three quick knocks at the door were her only warning before it suddenly swung open.

“Hey Blake, you okay in here? Ruby’s getting im…patient….”

Yang’s voice trailed off as her eyes grew wide and her jaw went slack as Blake turned to meet her gaze.

They both stared at each other in silence. Blake’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. Standing in this small bathroom wearing only a towel and her own skin she felt vulnerable and exposed, but to her surprise it wasn’t an entirely unpleasant feeling. Feeling Yang’s gaze on her, seeing the blatant want in her violet eyes…

Adam had almost constantly belittled her appearance, especially after they had become physically involved. She was too skinny, too awkward, she had too many freckles, too much of this, too little of that… After years of this eventually when she looked in a mirror all she could see of herself were her flaws. But when Yang looked at her like that? Yang, her partner, teammate, best friend and secret crush? Gods she felt desired. Wanted. Sexy.

Just as Blake couldn’t take the tension anymore and hauled Yang in the room by her shirt collar - common sense and awkwardness be damned - the spell broke. Yang flushed bright red and clapped a hand over her eyes, stammering.

“Gods Blake I’m so sorry! Ruby asked me to check on you and I wasn’t even thinking and - ”

“Yang.”

“ - it’s an old habit and I’m sososorryandIlljustgonow - ”

“Yang.” Blake had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over Yang’s embarrassed blabbering. Yang stopped and gulped, hand still over her eyes.

“Yang, it’s okay. Really. Tell Ruby I’ll be right out.” Blake said in a soft tone, trying to smooth over the awkwardness.

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll just.. tell her that. Yeah.” Yang backed out of the bathroom still covering her eyes. She fumbled for the door handle and pulled it shut behind her, accidentally knocking her elbow on the door frame. Blake turned back to the mirror, not even bothering to fight a smile.

Yang collapsed back against the wall letting out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She rubbed her sore elbow and squeezed her eyes shut.

It was no use however as the image was still burned into her corneas.

Blake standing there looking at her with those hooded golden eyes. Water droplets still glistening on her bare shoulders, like sunlight on snow. Hair pulled to one side, highlighting the graceful shape of where her neck met her shoulder. Feminine curves hinted at underneath that damn towel, long legs lean but muscular.

Blake hadn’t gasped or yelled at her to get out. She’d met Yang’s gaze evenly, showing no sign of shyness or embarrassment.

There was something that burned in those amber eyes, a burning that Yang swore she could feel. A burning that stole the breath from her lungs and made parts of her body tingle pleasantly…

Yang shook her head abruptly, as if to physically dislodge her thoughts.

What the hell are you doing?! She thought. Now is not the time for this! She just got out of prison for gods sake! The last thing she needs is you being a creep!

“Yaaang! Is Blake ready yet? We need some help out here!” Ruby’s slightly muffled voice caused her to straighten up against the wall and take a few deep breathes in an attempt to compose herself and slow her pounding heart.

“Y-yeah! She said she’ll be right out!” She pushed off the wall and walked out to the living room, intent on finding a distraction from the image she could still see whenever she so much as blinked. “What do you need?”

When Blake emerged from the bathroom she was greeted with chaos.

The living room had been turned upside down. Tables and chairs pushed up against walls and rearranged around a massive pile of what looked like several apartments worth of blankets and pillows and cushions.

“A little more to the left..” Ruby stood perched atop an ottoman like a ring master directing a circus.

“Like this?” Yang grunted as she lifted and pivoted one end of the couch to her left. She’d tied her hair up at some point, and Blake felt her mouth go dry at the sight of Yang’s back muscles rippling under her tank top.

“No, no my left.. and right there!”

Yang set the heavy furniture down in place and groaned stretching her arms over her head. The action caused her tank top to ride up, exposing a sliver of skin on her lower back. Blake felt a jolt of electricity go down her spine at the sight. She wondered if that skin would be as soft as it looked if she brushed her fingers over it….

She could have stood there for hours admiring the view if Ruby hadn’t noticed her just then. “Blake! Good you’re here! Just in time!”

She hopped off the ottoman and shoved a stack of thick heavy books into Blake’s arms. “Use these to go weigh down some corners! Weiss will show ya which ones!”

At the sound of her name Weiss’s white blonde head popped out from behind Mount Pillow, one finely sculpted eyebrow arched in a dubious look. “I will?”

“Yes Weiss, you remember where I showed you?”

Weiss opened her mouth as if to make a snarky retort, then seemed to think better of it and closed it, scowling as she retreated back behind the pillows.

Blake picked her way across the cluttered floor over the Weiss’s position, catching Yang’s eyes as she did. Yang blushed and glanced away, avoiding her gaze. Blake tried to ignore the small pang of hurt in her chest as she settled on her knees beside Weiss, who seemed to be concentrating on trying to arrange a large quilt over a set of armchairs.

“You remember where Ruby said to put these right?” She asked setting the books down with a huff. Weiss exhaled through her nose in frustration as the quilt slipped off the armchair for the third time.

 “No, but we’ve dealt with way harder tasks before right? We can figure this out.”

“Yeah.” Blake sighed. She glanced over across the room to Yang, who was nodding along to whatever new instructions Ruby was giving her - still pointedly avoiding eye contact.

“We can figure this out.”

After nearly an hour of work (mostly filled with dragging furniture around, a few stubbed toes, and an incident where they had to dig Weiss out of a pillow avalanche) Ruby finally declared their fort worthy and proudly dubbed it Fort RWBY.

Their fort sprawled across nearly the entire living room. It was a little lopsided, but sturdily constructed out of chairs with the blanket ceiling secured with various objects, including several heavy books on military strategy, a few table lamps, and even a potted plant (that turned out to be fake) - tented in the middle with a tall floor lamp that Ruby had “borrowed” from JNR’s apartment next door.

The inside was spacious enough to fit all of them comfortably. The floor covered with enough pillows and cushions to provide a soft place to sit or lay down. During their exploration of the apartment Yang found the kitchen to be well stocked with various teas, even some packs of instant hot coco. She now carefully balanced four mugs and handed them out to her teammates inside the fort one by one.

Ruby sipped hers and made a face.

“I know I know it’s the instant kind. Not quite as good as the made-from-scratch kind.” Yang said, shrugging.

Ruby stared down into her mug, thinking. Suddenly her face lit up. Blake pictured a lightbulb going off above her head.

“Ooh, ooh, I know what this needs. I’ll be right back.” She set her mug down on the only flat surface she could find and crawled out of the fort.

Blake sipped her own, mildly surprised to find jasmine tea instead of hot chocolate.

She looked at Yang, who shrugged. “I know you like tea more, and when I saw they had your favorite kind I thought… ya know, maybe it would help.”

Blake’s heart stuttered a bit out of rhythm and she stared, speechless.

“What?” Yang asked.

“Nothing, I just… didn’t think you’d remember.”

Yang’s cheeks flushed and her hand went up to rub the back of her neck, a nervous tick. “I – well – uhh...”

Yang was spared having to string a sentence together however when Ruby appeared at the fort entrance, grinning.

“I got ‘em!” she declared, waving a clear plastic bag in her hand. Ruby crawled back inside the tent and exclaimed “I got something that completes any cup of hot chocolate!” Holding up her prize like a trophy. Which Blake could now see was an absolutely enormous bag of ...mini-marshmallows?

“Where did you get those?!” Weiss said, shocked.

“Saphron and Terra’s place. Saphron said she didn’t want Aiden eating so much sugar so I could just take the whole bag.” Ruby happily set the bag down in the middle and reached in for a handful.

“You mean to tell me you’ve been holding out this whole time?!” Yang gasped, dramatically clapping a hand over her heart. “And you didn’t share with your dear old sister?!”

Yang leaned over and playfully made a grab for the coveted marshmallows. Ruby snatched the bag away and held it out of reach.

“Nuh-uh! As Keeper of the Marshmallows, I declare that you must earn them by ...um... asking nicely!”

Yang stuck her lip out in a pout. “Fine. Oh Grand Keeper of the Sugary Goodness, may I please have some marshmallows to put in my hot chocolate?”

“Hmm..” Ruby’s face twisted in an impish smirk. “No!”

“Why you -” Yang lunged across the small space, tackling her sister around the middle while making a grab for the bag. Ruby squealed and hugged it to her chest.

Blake made eye contact with Weiss over their two scuffling teammates. Weiss rolled her eyes in a long-suffering way and lifted her mug of coco in the air to avoid a stray kick.

“Aha!” Yang held the bag aloft triumphantly, firmly sitting on her sister’s back effectively pinning her.

Ruby kicked and flailed her arms but couldn’t manage to wiggle away. “Aaargh!! Yaaang! No fair! Get off meee!!”

“Well you shouldn’t have been so stingy then! Now you’ve lost your Keeper privileges!” Yang got off Ruby and moved to her original seat, gleefully popping a marshmallow into her mouth. They were a little squished from being in Ruby’s bag through an air battle, but otherwise good.

Yang hesitated a brief moment, then held the bag out to Blake almost shyly. “Here ya go.”

“Oh! Uh...thanks.” Blake reached into the bag to grab a small handful.

“You know, if you wanted to use my marshmallows to flirt you could have just asked.”

Nearly as fast as her sister’s semblance Yang pulled a small throw pillow out from somewhere and beaned Ruby in the face with it. She let out a squawk and fell backwards onto the floor, flailing. Blake tossed her handful of marshmallows in her mouth, hoping it would hide her blush.

They sat in their homemade pillow fort talking about everything and nothing for nearly two hours.

Yang proved to be a better “Keeper of the Marshmallows” and willingly passed the bag around the circle. Ruby packed so many into her mug she had to use a spoon, and after the third pass Weiss finally gave in to Ruby’s insisting and plopped exactly 3 marshmallows into her own mug.

Surrounded by love and warmth, shielded from the cold cruel world outside by the blanket walls, Blake almost felt the knot of anxiety in her chest begin to loosen.

Almost.

Yang was the first one to pick up on it, of course. In the middle of watching Weiss and Ruby argue about the merits of marshmallows (“They’re just blobs of processed sugar!” “Duh! That’s what makes them so good!”) Blake felt her shift in her seat. Yang nudged her shoulder with her own and said in a low voice, “How are you doing?”

Blake breathed slowly, letting the familiar scent of jasmine and Yang’s shampoo fill her lungs. “Better.”

“Good.” Yang nodded. She looked down at her lap for a moment, then back up, making firm eye contact. “I’m sorry about walking in on you earlier. I wasn’t considerate of your space. It wasn’t right.”

“Yang it’s okay. Really. You didn’t mean to.”

“Still. It was disrespectful and rude. Can you accept my apology?”

Blake looked at Yang. She was more serious than Blake had seen her in a while. She swallowed.

“Yes. I accept your apology.”

Yang’s shoulders relaxed, and her stoic expression melted into her trademarked bright smile. “Okay. Thank you.”

Something in that smile seemed to warm Blake down to her bones, and she took a deep breath. “Ruby?”

Ruby looked up from Weiss closely scrutinizing the nutrition facts section on the back of the marshmallow bag. “Yes?”

“I think I’m ready to talk.”

Ruby’s face brightened. “Really?! Oh um, ahem. Yes, Blake. We’re listening.” She snatched the bag out of Weiss’s hands and stuffed it behind her out of sight. “Aren’t we Weiss?”

Weiss sent a small glare to Ruby at having her reading interrupted, but she turned to Blake and dipped her chin. “Yes, we are. Go ahead.”

Blake inhaled and exhaled through her nose, breathing in the soothing scent of her jasmine tea. Trying to organize her thoughts. Yang hesitantly lay a hand on Blake’s back, as if she wasn’t sure it would be welcome. She started rubbing small circles again when Blake didn’t shrug it off. “Take your time.”

Blake sighed. “I wasn’t lying,” she began. “You know, when I said I’d been through worse. When you run with the White Fang as long as I did you see some messed up shit.” She swirled the tea leaves in the bottom of her mug. “Even before I joined. Before the Fang was really a thing.”

She looked up and made eye contact with each of her teammates. Her family. “I was about five years old when my parents started bringing me along to protests and rallies off the island. The White Fang was still in its infancy. More of an idea than a real organization. We only had about 20 members. And thus, our ‘rallies’ weren’t all that impressive.” She took a sip of her tea.

“It was my first protest. I was so excited and proud. I could finally do some real good for our people, like my parents did. It was at a small Schnee Dust Company factory.” She saw Weiss shift awkwardly in her seat and glance away out of the corner of her eye.

Blake continued. “I don’t exactly remember the specifics of why we were protesting there. My parents handed me a sign and told me what to chant. We were only there for a half hour before the police showed up.” Blake felt herself sink into the memory. She closed her eyes and her voice flattened into a monotone. “They brought clubs, tear gas, attack dogs. It was chaos. At some point I was separated from my parents. I remember being terrified. Next thing I know, I’m being dragged down the street by my ankle by a loose police dog. I remember screaming and begging the officers for help. And do you know what they did?”

No one responded.

“They laughed.” Blake hissed through her teeth. “They laughed at me. I was five godsdamned years old.” She slammed her mug down on the floor. “And that’s when it really hit me. I wasn’t a scared little girl to them. I was no more than an animal.” She let out a shaky breath. “Then, my dad was there. He pulled the dog off me, threw me over his shoulder and got me out of there. My parents didn’t take me to another protest off the island until I was about 10, when they finally got tired of my begging.”

She opened her eyes and tilted her chin up. “To this day the sound of dogs barking just...” she shuddered.

Ruby gasped, the only sound in the silence. “So that’s why you didn’t like Zwei! Oh Blake, you should have said something….”

Blake shrugged. “It wasn’t important. Just a silly girl with silly fears...”

“Hey.” She felt Yang’s hand come up and gently turn her chin. Blake didn’t resist. “Your fears aren’t silly. You’re not silly.” Yang held her gaze, and Blake couldn’t look away. “Your feelings are real and valid. Don’t ever feel like you can’t share them with us. With me.” Yang pulled her in, and Blake tucked her head under Yang’s chin. Nuzzling against her skin. Yang smelled like soap and tea and chocolate.

Blake sniffled. “But you know what the worst part is?” she spit out. Yang hummed, and Blake felt the vibration against her cheek. “No matter what I do, no matter how hard or long I fight, there will always be people like that. Those prison guards looked at me just like those officers did. Like I was just a dumb animal.” Blake’s ears pinned back against her head. “Like I wasn’t a person, who thinks and feels and speaks just like them. What makes us so different? Extra ears? Tails? Horns? I just can’t -”

Blake’s voice cut off as all the anger and grief and pain she’d been holding back finally spilled out, and she sobbed against Yang’s shoulder. Yang shushed her and rocked back and forth, rubbing her back a little harder.

Yang felt her heart crack in her chest as Blake cried, gripping Yang’s tank top with white knuckles like she was terrified she would disappear.

She cast a desperate glance over Blake’s head at Weiss and Ruby. Ruby’s lip quivered, tear tracks carved down her cheeks. Weiss had covered her mouth in shock, blue eyes shining with her own tears. They all looked at each other, at a loss of what they could do to comfort their distressed teammate.

In the end it was Weiss who moved first. She carefully shuffled over to Blake’s other side and leaned her head on Blake’s shoulder, her hand coming up to rub her teammate’s upper arm. She shakily hummed an unfamiliar melody. Ruby took the more direct approach and spread her arms as wide as they could go to wrap them all in a hug.

None of them were sure how long they stayed that way. Blake’s cries eventually slowed to hiccups and sniffles. Her hand slid over and grasped Weiss’s tightly.

“Thank you.” She said, her voice raspy from strain. Weiss shushed her, and pulled a fine silk handkerchief out of her pocket and offered it.

“Blow.” She ordered. Blake leaned forward and blew her nose noisily. Weiss tucked it back into her pocket.

Ruby let out a wet giggle. “You keep a handkerchief in your pjs?”

“Well I was prepared, wasn’t I?” Weiss sniffed. She turned back to Blake, squeezing her hand. “Blake? Will you look at me please?” Blake turned her puffy bloodshot eyes towards Weiss.

Weiss frowned, and looked down at their entwined hands. “Blake, I want you to know that I think you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. And I am proud to have you as a teammate. And the thing is… you’re right. There will always be people who look down on others. People who look the other way because it doesn’t affect them. Or people who even benefit from it.” At this Weiss’s eyes darkened. “There will always be people like that. Always.”

Weiss sighed and looked back up. “But that doesn’t mean that any effort we make to try and change things for the better is pointless. I mean, look at me!” Weiss deflated a little, shame on her face. “I used to think just like that. When we first met, I said some… terrible things. And I don’t think I ever really apologized to you for that.” Blake blinked and opened her mouth, but Weiss wasn’t done. “And then I really got to know you and you know what? You were actually really cool! And I started to think that maybe my stupid father was wrong about the Faunus. That…I was wrong.”

Weiss threw up her hands. “So there, see? You managed to convince me – a Schnee! - just by being you! I really admire you Blake. There are times I wish I could be half as strong as you are.” Blake sniffled a little and blinked rapidly against the welling tears.

“Weiss, I, I don’t know what to say...”

Weiss shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything. Just know that I’ve got your back. We all do.”

“Hell yeah!” Ruby pumped her fist. “You mess with one member of Team RWBY and you mess with all of us!”

She playfully shadow boxed with an imaginary enemy and Blake finally cracked a teary smile. Yang felt Blake’s chuckle against her chest and felt her own smile stretch across her face. She hugged her partner tighter, marveling at how perfectly their bodies fit together.

She leaned down and spoke low right in Blake’s pointed black ear. “She’s right you know. We’re here for you. All of us.”

Blake shivered against her and Yang frowned. “Are you cold? You’re trembling.”

“No, no that’s… that’s not it. It’s just, that tickles a little...”

“Oh! Do you want me to -” Yang started to pull away.

“No!” Blake tightened her grip. “No. This is perfect.” Blake wriggled tighter against Yang, and Yang felt her cheeks grow warm.

Blake’s body felt nice against her like this. Really nice.

Her traitorous brain suddenly thrust the image of Blake in a towel to the front of her mind. Yang gave her head a little shake to get rid of it. Stop it. She doesn’t need you being a perv right now.

Despite the thoughts racing through her mind right now, Yang couldn’t help but tighten her grip around Blake’s waist and pull them closer still. Blake sighed through her nose, breath still a little unsteady and closed her eyes. Yang felt it the instant she finally relaxed and melted in her arms.

She rubbed Blake’s upper back, and that familiar rumble in Blake’s chest started up again like a stuttering engine. Yang chuckled. “Blake?”

Blake stirred from her doze. “Hmm?”

“Are you…purring?”

Yang regretted asking instantly as the rumbling stopped and Blake stiffened. “No.”

“Hey.” Yang leaned back and tried to meet Blake’s gaze. Blake’s cheeks had flushed bright red. “Don’t be embarrassed. Really. I think it’s cute.”

Blake bit her lip and looked down at her hands nervously twisting together. “I just… I haven’t done that since I was a child. It was just before I ran away from home. I had just had this huge fight with dad and mom came into my room to comfort me. It was the last time I really felt safe. And...” here she hesitated, shyly glancing up at Yang through her eyelashes. “And...loved.”

Yang sucked in a sharp breath.

Blake stared at her. Yang stared back. She could feel Blake’s warm breath on her own lips. When did they get so close?

A low cough shattered the tension like glass. Yang whipped her head around and met Weiss’s icy blue eyes, one eyebrow arched knowingly. Yang blushed.

Weiss turned to the girl beside her. “Hey Ruby?”

Ruby was using her spoon to scrape marshmallow remnants out of her mug, intent on her task. A little too intent, keeping her eyes firmly downward with red-tinged cheeks. “Yeah?”

“Why don’t you and I go into the kitchen and make more drinks for everyone? I think I might have seen some ice cream in the freezer too.”

Ruby lit up at the mention of ice cream. “Yes! Ice cream and drinks! Let’s go!” She awkwardly crawled out of the tent while cradling her empty mug under one arm like a teddy bear. Weiss rolled her eyes but smiled fondly as she grabbed the other mugs too.

She shuffled out on her knees, but just before exiting she looked back and met Yang’s gaze. In a decidedly un-Weiss-like move she smirked and winked.

Yang felt her cheeks get even hotter.

Weiss closed the entrance flap behind her and they were alone.

“How much time do you think they’ll give us?” Blake’s voice was oddly husky, probably from crying.

“A little, if Weiss can keep Ruby occu- mmph!”

Yang arms were suddenly full of Blake as she pounced, throwing her arms around Yang’s neck and kissing her like she was drowning and Yang’s lips were air.

Blake was kissing her. Blake was kissing her!

Yang would be lying through her teeth if she said she hadn’t imagined this moment many times in the past. Lying awake in the early hours of the morning in the dorm back at Beacon, daydreaming during class, alone in the shower… Multiple scenarios, various states of undress, etc. Maybe over a candlelit dinner and a bottle of wine… She never in a million years would have guessed their first kiss would take place in a shitty apartment in a shitty kingdom, sitting in a homemade pillow fort like giggling little kids, the taste of tea and marshmallows on Blake’s lips. But hey, she certainly wasn’t complaining.

Blake’s mouth was warm and soft, and Yang couldn’t get enough of her taste. Blake swung a leg over her lap and straddled Yang, her hands sliding into Yang’s hair and tugging on the golden locks. Yang grunted and slid her hands down Blake’s sides to grip her hips. She pulled Blake down firmly into her lap and she moaned in response, subconsciously grinding in small circles. Blake’s shirt rode up, and Yang trailed her fingertips on the sensitive skin revealed. Feeling the impossibly soft baby hairs on the small of Blake’s back.

Eventually Yang’s lungs started screaming for air and she broke away from Blake’s sweet mouth with a herculean effort. She pulled in lungfuls of air in great gasps, but Blake wasn’t done. She trailed her lips down Yang’s neck planting warm wet kisses under her ear, the corner of her jaw, at her pulse point. The noise that left her throat was downright inappropriate. Yang felt Blake’s grin against her skin.

She forgot all about the fact that the only thing separating them from their other two teammates was a thin blanket wall. She forgot all about the fact that she was trying to make an effort to respect her partner’s space. She forgot all about the fact that they haven’t even talked about this thing between them yet. Yang’s entire world narrowed down to the woman in her lap. The way Blake’s curves fit against her own like she was made by the God of Light to be there. Her smell, her taste, her softness that disguised the planes of hard muscle underneath. Yang’s real hand slid higher and higher up the back of Blake’s shirt, feeling mounting frustration at the barrier of clothing between them…

“Ahem.”

An over-emphasized cough finally broke the spell that they had found themselves entwined in, and they both whipped around to see Weiss staring at them with raised eyebrows. Ruby stood slightly behind her, pointedly looking at the ceiling with her cheeks ablaze.

Weiss smirked. “Did you two get yourselves sorted out?”

Yang (still in a Blake-induced haze) struggled to get her mouth to form words. “Um...”

“Finally.” Weiss crawled in on her knees, her hands holding several freshly steaming mugs. She barely even blinked at the fact that Blake was still firmly seated in Yang’s lap, arms and legs wrapped around her like a koala bear.

“Weiss...” said Blake, her voice low. “We were kind of in the middle of something...”

“Oh were you?” Weiss remarked dryly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Blake turned to meet Yang’s eyes, her own cheeks stained red. “Um, maybe I should...”

Yang was entirely too distracted by the sight of Blake’s kiss-swollen lips and flushed face to even attempt to string a sentence together. “I… yeah… uh...”

Blake shifted off her lap and sat cross-legged in her original seat. Every inch she drew further away was agony to Yang, so she slung her arm over her partner’s shoulders and pulled her close. Blake let out a little sigh and pressed against her side. Clearly she didn’t want to be apart any more than Yang did.

“Is it safe to come in yet?” Ruby’s voice rang from just outside the fort entrance.

Weiss rolled her eyes again. “Yes, it’s safe.”

“You know, your eyes are going to pop out of your head if you keep doing that.” Blake remarked dryly.

Weiss narrowed her gaze. “Quiet you.”

Ruby pulled the tent flap aside and peered in cautiously. Seeing that Blake and her sister were no longer wrapped around each other she let out a relieved breath and crawled in. She plopped down in her spot and pulled out the marshmallow bag again. “Look I’m happy for you guys, really. I just don’t want to see my big sister and one of my best friends sucking each other’s faces.”

Yang felt her cheeks heat up again (it wouldn’t surprise her if her face was permanently red at this point). “Ruby!”

“What?” She shrugged. “You wouldn’t wanna watch me sticking my tongue down Weiss’s throat would you?”

Weiss choked on her drink mid-sip.

Yang couldn’t help it. She threw her head back and laughed uproariously, slapping her leg with her free hand. Weiss coughed, her pale skin failing spectacularly to hide her own spreading blush. A blush that immediately got worse when Ruby began to pat her on the back.

“Weiss? You okay?” Ruby said, concerned. Weiss nodded and waved her off, hunching over and hiding her red face. “Yes, yes I – *cough* – I’m okay.”

Ruby turned to Blake and Yang with a confused look. “What did I say?”

Yang snickered. “I’ll tell ya when you’re older, Rubes.”

Ruby pouted. Weiss peered up through her pale hair and glared daggers at Yang. She smirked and winked back.

Blake woke up groggy what must have been hours later.

They had continued talking well into the night, decimating the bag of marshmallows until everyone had sore stomachs (except for Weiss, who refused to eat any more of those “disgusting blobs of processed sugar” despite Ruby’s wheedling) until they all had nodded off at around three in the morning.

The tight knot in Blake’s chest had finally disappeared, and she felt lighter than she had in months. She lay tucked against Yang’s side, head pillowed on her shoulder - Yang’s familiar rumbling snore more soothing than a sweet lullaby. A cool presence pressed against her back confirmed Weiss’s position and a weight across her legs combined with a light whistling snore (almost in sync with her sister’s) told her where Ruby had settled. Blake lay her head back down, tightening her arms around Yang’s waist. Yang mumbled something in her sleep and her head lolled to the side, settling her cheek against Blake’s hair.

Blake sighed. She knew they needed to talk about… whatever they were. Eventually. But right here, right now...surrounded by her teammates – her family – hearing Yang’s strong steady heartbeat against her ear… this was enough.

Blake didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. Whether they would be ripped apart by forces they couldn’t control, whether the world would end or not. But she did know with absolute certainty that here in this moment - as she settled back down against Yang’s warmth and closed her eyes - she was finally home.