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The three sat in silence for a long time--Qrow, had already taken Yang and Ruby--Weiss was gone after her father dragged her away, Blake had ran--and of course, Sun had chased after her… It was only the remainder of Team JNPR that sat on the cold rubble, waiting for the next airship to get them out of there.
It was shaky, it was quiet, but it was
something
when Jaune spoke up to break the silence. “Hey, you… You guys have somewhere to go, right?”
Ren and Nora raised their heads--once rested carefully on each other--to look at each other with parted lips and furrowed brows--before Ren slowly turned his gaze to address Jaune. “No. We don’t.”
Nora looked away--she and Ren had told Jaune tidbits of their past, but not enough for him to know that they never had a solid home. The last few times she had brought it up, it had earned her and Ren looks of pity--and she hated that pity more than almost anything.
“We don’t have a home, Jaune.” She was bitter--not at Jaune, not at Ren, not about the fact that she didn’t have a home--she was bitter that every home she had ever known had just been taken from her. Easily so, too. Something always came around and stripped her and Ren from almost everything they loved--just not each other. “You and Pyrrha,
here
at Beacon?
That
was our home.”
“Oh. Oh…” Jaune looked down, his eyes welling with tears again--at the thought of his friends having nowhere to go, at the thought of Qrow, carrying an unconscious Ruby down from the top of the tower.
Just a few hours ago, Qrow Branwen, with Ruby carefully hoisted over his shoulder (well, as carefully as he could hoist her), had approached Jaune, Ren, and Nora to deliver the news. To hand Jaune Pyrrha Nikos’s headpiece.
And gods, he already knew. He already knew it when she shoved him into the locker--he knew that she was aware that she had no chance. He knew that this was her desperate, last-ditch effort--and now? She was gone.
“Well,” Jaune spoke up again, forcing a smile through tears as he slowly opened his arms--waiting for the two to notice. “You guys can always come home with me.”
Ren hesitated--tears welled in his eyes, and he leaned forward, almost ready to embrace the hug offered by the other, but he waited, he waited and tried to force the words “
thank you
” out of his mouth.
Nora, however, lacked that restraint--she flung herself into Jaune’s arms, burying her face in his left shoulder and sobbing--wailing--about everything that had happened. She lost her home and several of her friends (be it by death, or by them being taken away) in one night--relief washed over her when she was assured that she and Ren still had Jaune.
“You guys don’t have to worry about it, alright? You’ve always got a home with me--and as soon as we get settled in, we can try to go see Ruby? She’ll be awake soon, I know it.” He clutched the back of Nora’s top tightly, burying his face in her hair--he kept his other arm extended to Ren, still waiting, still promising that he had a place with him. “Okay?”
It took Ren an extra minute--an extra minute paired with a deep, trembling breath and a nod--but he slowly moved himself into Jaune’s arm, putting his own arms around Nora and Jaune.
“What are friends for, after all?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was crowded--more crowded than Yang could have ever even imagined. She knew that Menagerie was a place that the faunus had eventually claimed as their own, making peaceful and seemingly happy lives there… But she couldn’t help but feel cramped, even from the distance that the dock she stood on provided.
The houses were close together, the street was dirt, there were vendors in the water--though, they were aquatic-based faunus, so perhaps they just chose to station themselves there--regardless, the entire place felt like it was tight, and it was definitely easy to get lost in the crowd.
“You never properly met my parents, right?” Blake said, stepping off of the ship and landing next to Yang. She slowly took her hand, and allowed Yang to instinctively, like clockwork, interlock their fingers together.
“I mean, I saw them at Haven, if that counts?” Yang raised an eyebrow, softly bumping her shoulder into Blake’s. She saw Blake’s own brows raise curiously, and shrugged her shoulders. “Alright, so, it doesn’t count. We didn’t really have time to talk to them, y'know.”
“I know, I’m not upset by it, but I do think you should
actually
meet them. Or else, they'll be disappointed.”
Yang snorted. “I mean, I was gonna meet ‘em eventually. But hey, I’m glad that we had a second to travel, just the two of us.” She flashed Blake her signature grin, earning an affectionate eye roll from her. “It’s been awhile since it’s been just us, and no real responsibilities, y’know?”
“Oh, this? This is going to be a
chore
.” Blake’s grin grew just a bit as she softly bumped her hip into Yang’s. “My mom is never going to leave you alone.”
“You think that’s gonna bother me? I can’t wait to hear about all of the stupid shit you did as a kid.”
Blake’s hair bristled a bit, she shot Yang a slightly offended scowl, and then stepped forward, towards the landing of the actual island. “Oh, god, she’s never going to stop talking.” Blake bemoaned softly. “Yang, we’ll never leave here if you ask about something like that.”
“Oh, come on, you’re saying you wouldn’t ask my dad about anything stupid I did as a kid?”
“Fair point.”
Yang paused, surveying her surroundings--the occasional stare from a faunus didn’t bother her, but the fact that… She struggled to see past some of the hustle-and-bustle did. “So, uh--”
“Feeling lost? Don’t worry about it--just follow me, I know the area.” Blake shot her a sly smile, moving forward--almost leaving her behind as she weaved her way past people. “I know it like the back of my hand. It’s just the busiest time of the day, and kind of the week--when I was younger, we would get imports in once a week, and the day after, the place would always be complete chaos.”
“
Yeah
, you can really tell.”
“If you want, when things settle down a bit, I can show you around? It’s really nice here, actually--and when Sun and I were here, a new restaurant opened up. We can make the whole day a date.”
Yang beamed at the thought--a date with her girlfriend? With no interruptions from anyone? The sound of that was beyond amazing. No fighting, no weird ambush attacks, no one distracting them… Sure, she missed her friends, but she and Blake really hadn’t gotten a chance to just… Be
alone
with each other. Experience peace together. Go on an
actual
date--something they both
craved
.
She followed Blake, her hand gently clinging to her girlfriend’s, quietly admiring how she expertly made her way past any cluster of people--Yang silently, occasionally chided said people for standing in the middle of the walkway, when there was a space for them if they would just look a few feet to their left and step that way, but of course, she never said a word.
“So, I wasn’t able to tell them that we were coming--”
“Meaning you wanted to surprise them?”
Blake paused, caught off-guard by Yang directly calling her out. “Yeah, actually--I figured it would be nice to just… Show up. Mom loves surprises like that.”
“Considering you hate it when people spontaneously show up at our door, I gotta admit… I’m a little surprised.”
“Oh, yeah, by the way, my mom’s going to love you.” Blake dodged what Yang had said, carrying on and knocking on the heavy door.
“I’m not worried, but good to know.”
It didn’t take long for Kali to open the door, poking her head out from around it. She studied Yang first--bold, radiant in the bright light of the outside world, and someone who almost always unintentionally pulls the spotlight towards her--and then she saw her daughter.
Naturally, she lit up, pulling the door more open and clapping her hands together as a large, loving smile formed on her lips. “Oh, Blake,” She said happily, pulling the other into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much--we’ve heard about everything--oh, but not your hair.” She pulled back a bit, moving and speaking too quickly for Blake to even get a word in. She gently ran a hand over the edge of Blake’s hair, feeling the tips where she had it cut. “It’s a good look on you! You look so darling with your hair cut.”
“Thanks, mom.” Blake said--she couldn’t hide the blush that painted her cheeks. If anyone asked, however, she could absolutely blame it on the heat of the world. “Yang and Ruby helped me cut it.”
“I noticed that you brought Yang with you. Your dad is going to be so excited--I’ll go and get him? He can make us some tea, and we can spend some time talking over that?” She stopped addressing Blake and turned to Yang, a bright smile still present. “We have so much to talk about.”
“Oh,
hell
yeah, we do.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Ruby had started to sleep lightly since the fall of Beacon--any little noise would wake her up, and if she wasn’t able to pinpoint it and reassure herself that it wasn’t anything dangerous, it wasn’t a grimm, or Cinder, or literally anything else in this world that wished to do her and her friends harm, she would have to investigate, or, at the least, take a small walk to clear her head.
So, when she heard Oscar yell in the dead of night, it was only natural that she jolted up, and immediately bolted to his room--the only things that she worried about was that she didn’t know if she accidentally slammed the door to her team’s room, and if Oscar was safe.
She swung his door open, not caring to knock and not even bothering to hesitate, and found him sitting upright in bed, holding his head in his hands and rocking slightly.
He’s safe.
She reassured herself; her shoulders slackened a bit, though her feet felt cemented into place. “Oscar?” She spoke up, her shaking voice still soft. “Hey…”
He looked up, his eyes meeting hers--
he’s about to cry.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby finally made her legs, as wobbly as they were, carry her forward--she slowly sat on the foot of his bed, watching him as he pulled his knees to his chest.
“Just… It’s nothing.”
“If you wanna talk about it,” Though the room was dimly lit by the city outside of the window, Ruby’s gentle and genuinely caring smile broke through. “I’ll listen? I’m here for you, I promise.”
It took Oscar a few minutes, letting the two of them sit in silence--which Ruby didn’t mind at all--to speak up. “It was just. Another bad dream.” He moved his palms over his eyes, pressing slightly--an attempt at warding off his own exhaustion and tears. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”
Ruby furrowed her brow, trying to process what he had said, leading the two into another bout of silence.
Don’t worry about it? How can I not?
She thought, just
trying
to grasp why he wouldn’t want her to. “Are you… Worried about bothering me?”
Oscar didn’t respond, he didn’t even shake his head, he simply kept his palms pressed against his eyes.
“Oscar…” Ruby sighed softly--she considered reaching out, putting a hand on his shoulder, offering a hug, anything--but she stopped herself. “Hey, can you stay by yourself for a few minutes? I’ll be right back.”
Oscar barely nodded--she thanked the gods that he did--and he slowly curled back up on his side, letting Ruby slip out of the room.
When she came back, it was with two mugs, both of them steaming slightly. She sat back down where she was, and gently nudged the other with her foot. “Hey, c’mon, I brought you some hot chocolate? It’ll make you feel better.” She said softly.
As he sat upright again, he took the mug--rather than holding it by the handle, he held it between his hands, letting the gentle, kind warmth radiate through his skin. He murmured a
thanks
, but never met her gaze.
“No problem.” Ruby responded, flashing a worried smile at him before focusing back on her own cup. “If you do wanna talk about it, or anything else on your mind, though… I’ll listen. Like I said before.”
He was more alert now--though, he felt guilty about making her worry, making her rush out of bed to check on him, making her--though he never asked--get hot chocolate for them. “Can you just… Stay here for awhile? Can you stay? Please.” His voice cracked and wavered as he pleaded.
“Of course?” Ruby smiled again--a softer smile more reassuring--than before. “As long as you need someone, I’ll be right here. Okay?”
Oscar nodded, scooting a bit closer to Ruby. “Thanks.” He drew the cup closer to his lips, and, rather than drinking, just let it linger while they sat in silence again.
“The others don’t hate me, do they?” He spoke quietly, anxiously, hesitantly, after a few minutes of drinking their hot cocoa in the quiet. “I feel like… Sometimes, even after, y’know, we all kinda talked, I feel like they just might--”
“Nope.” Ruby stopped him, her voice steady and calm. “Everyone’s still kinda a little miffed at Ozpin, but… They love you.”
Oscar nodded, taking a final sip of his drink.
“I promise, none of us hate you. We all just… Hate that you’re in this situation.” She shrugged her shoulders a bit. “We all signed up for fighting grimm, we didn’t sign up for fighting Salem. You didn’t even sign up for fighting in the first place. You’re a year younger than I was when I started going to Beacon, Oscar.” She reached over, giving his back a comforting pat. “You’re so young, and you’ve got all of this responsibility on you, and then the whole Ozpin being in your head thing--”
“It’s
terrifying
.”
“Exactly. I’m scared, too, but I can’t imagine how scared
you
are.” She moved her hand to his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We’re all scared, but… Nobody hates you. I’m sorry that the others take it out on you sometimes, you don’t deserve it. If I see it happening again, I’ll step in, okay? I should have stepped in more before.”
“You don’t have--”
“No, I do.” Ruby slowly put her own empty mug aside and pulled him into a hug. “We have to be there for each other. We can’t let ourselves fall apart, y’know?”
Oscar slowly started to relax in the other’s embrace, her genuine care and love breaking the cold offered by the Atlas air; he buried his face in her shoulder and shut his eyes, finally calmed again.
“You’re right.” He muttered.
“Yep! I am.” Ruby hummed, gently petting him. She stayed like that for a few minutes, stroking his hair and humming--the action reminded her of what little she could remember of her mom.
She spoke again once she felt Oscar had truly, entirely relaxed. “What we need is to all be here for each other, and we’re all gonna do just that. So, if you have a nightmare, always feel free to come and get me… Okay?”
She wasn’t able to get an answer; he had fallen asleep in her arms.
“I’ll just remind you when you’re awake…” Ruby murmured aloud to herself; she slowly moved him back onto the bed and tucked him in. “Hope you sleep better this time.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Weiss hid herself from the cold, nestling her chin and the lower half of her face into her scarf. Despite her scarf and heavy layers, the only warmth breaking through the cold air around her was the drink cup that she clutched tightly between her hands--and, well, the arm that had found its way around her neck.
“Hey, babe?” Yang grinned, softly bumping the side of her head against Weiss’s. “Since it’s supposed to snow tonight, should I just start calling you ‘Snow Angel’.”
Weiss turned her head--just enough to side-eye Yang and shoot her a disgusted, disgruntled look. “You know,” she started, poking her mouth out from behind her scarf--just so Yang could clearly see the frown tugging at her lips. “You’re the only one that could get away with even insinuating that you would call me that.”
Yang snorted, pulling back a bit--taking her warmth away from Weiss--and continued to grin. “Okay, okay, sorry. I know that you would
probably
pour your drink on say, Jaune, if he tried that.”
“Oh, now, I wouldn’t go that far.” Weiss couldn’t help but smile a bit at the other’s gentle jab. “Plus, why would I ever go out with him for coffee.”
“Boredom, maybe I’m busy?”
“As if.” Weiss rolled her eyes, slowly leaning herself against the other.
“Ouch, that kinda stings.”
“Does it really?”
“Nope.” Yang placed her arm back over Weiss’s shoulder, letting her sink back into the warmth. “Hey, so, remind me… You get cold easy.”
“Yes?” Weiss nodded.
“And it’s cold outside.” Weiss nodded again. “So, why are we sitting out here on this
metal
bench?”
“Do you
want
to go back into the crowded coffee shop that has nowhere to sit down? It’s finals week, Yang.”
“Fair point.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Morning light filtered in through the gap in the curtains behind them, warming the quilts that lay over them, warming them--it wasn’t as though the pair needed it, though--everyone compared Yang to a “living heater”, and Blake had to admit: they were
entirely
right.
Yang had a warmth that nothing compared to: no fleecy, heated blanket could match it, no campfire, not even the sun itself shining on an open field could radiate with as much soft care and warmth as Yang did.
Blake moved closer--somehow they had rolled apart in the bed--laying her head against Yang’s arm, and slowly moving her face against her shoulder. Yang was a heavy sleeper, usually--at least, nowadays she was.
One of Yang’s eyes opened, and a small, tired grin curled at her lips. “Isn’t it a bit early for the sun to be up?” She said through a groggy yawn.
“Unfortunately, no.” Blake said--her voice a bit hoarse from first waking up. “Did I wake you up? Sorry.”
“Nah, you didn’t.” Yang shifted herself up a bit, resting her chin against the top of Blake’s head; she resisted the urge to blow a small stream of air against one of Blake’s cat ears--the same impulsive thought that one would have about an actual, sleeping cat.
“ If you’re thinking about teasing me, I’m going to throw the blanket over your head.” Blake said, a smile very clearly present in her voice. She rolled her eyes, nuzzling her face further into Yang’s shoulder.
“Psh, c’mon, me? Tease you?” Yang threw a leg over her. “As if--
you’re
always the one teasing
me
.”
“Oh, I’m
so
sure.” Blake said dryly.
The two laid in a relaxed silence for a moment--a long, still moment. The world seemed to phase out--the birds chirping outside, Taiyang bustling in the kitchen downstairs--everything else just seemed to have disappeared, and the only thing that remained was them.
“Yang?” Blake broke the silence, her voice soft. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Yang replied, planting a tender kiss on Blake’s forehead. She gave Blake a second, letting her raise herself up, before giving her a loving kiss.
She could feel Blake’s lips curl into a smile in the kiss--something they did before bed every night, and shortly after they both woke up every morning--but every day, her heart grew fonder, she fell a little bit more in love.
Blake was the first to pull away, only to plant several kisses across Yang’s face--five or six different little ‘I love yous’.
Now Yang sat entirely upright, letting the blanket fall off of her as she leaned forward--slowly, as to not slam their heads together--and press her forehead to Blake’s.
“I love you more than anything,” Yang reminded, an almost mischievous grin curling at her lips as she started to continue. “But you have some
deadly
morning breath.”
Blake tried to hide her laugh as she pulled back--she twisted her neck, looking away from Yang and holding a hand over her mouth. “Oh, shut up.”
“Hey! Figured I’d be honest.”
“We go through this every morning!” Blake rolled her eyes--the very distinct and playful rise in her voice was a dead giveaway that she was laughing--unfortunately for her.
“We sure do!” Yang nudged her a bit before moving to press their foreheads together again. “C’mon, let’s just go get some breakfast?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
in the next few days, i'm gonna be working on moving these fics to single-chapter fics and putting them under series.
once completed, ill be deleting the original fics from this list.this isn't starting tonight (when this "chapter" is posted), but sometime soon.i heard that it was frustrating to readers to flip through the different chapters to find A Specific Fic, and i also heard it was a nightmare on tag wranglers.sorry for the inconvenience!!!!