Blisteringly cold air bit sharply at Yang's neck as she attempted to shut the door, Solitas' harsh winter winds doing their very best to keep it open in an attempt to invade the mansion. Ever since they had arrived, the winds of Solitas had been unrelenting and had only grown stronger in the three weeks since they had been there. Yang remembered when she had stepped out of the stolen airship down onto the tarmac they had landed on and despite being naturally warm blooded, even she knew that none of the jackets she had brought with her would be enough to keep her from shivering. Thankfully, Weiss had quickly noticed them all shaking and after a thorough telling off from the former heiress' older sister about them stealing said airship, the snowy-haired girl had taken them all shopping to get some new, much warmer, clothing.

Fucking wind, Yang thought angrily as she shoved her shoulder against the wooden door and finally succeeded in slamming it shut, the gale force winds immediately stopping as even they couldn't compare to the sturdiness of Schnee Manor; though whether it was the architecture of the building or the fact that even nature feared the spine chilling aura of the thing that dwelled within, she didn't know. The stay at Schnee Manor had not been particularly pleasant, what with Weiss' insufferable little brother and the frequent tendency to stumble into a drunk Willow Schnee, but what had made her stomach churn about the mansion the most was the man who owned it.

Jacques Schnee.

Yang had met many scumbags in her life, even hung out with them as they usually offered some kind of thrill, but she could say with certainty that none had ever compared to Weiss' father. Even Adam, the man who had took her arm, crushed her spirit for a time and still caused many sleepless nights for her could not compare because she at least knew why he was they way he was. While his actions were deplorable and she doubted she could ever forgive the man, she understood how being abandoned and losing everything you hold dear could drive you to the brink of insanity; but with Jacques, there was none of that. There was no understandable anger, nothing that had been done to him that caused his blatant hate towards others; just pure, unadulterated malice. Like he truly believed every single other person on Remnant was below him.

And the way he looked at Blake, the sneer that would paint itself across his stupid face, as if she was dirt, or even less. Nothing had ever made her feel so angry. Countless times she had seen it in passing and every time she had wanted to pick up and throw the heaviest thing she could find at the man. Though the man certainly was not alone. Ever since their arrival in Atlas, Yang had begun to notice just how ass-backwards the city was. While there had definitely been rare racial incidents in Vale, it seem to be the norm in Atlas. At first it had been the stares, the whispered words as they passed that Yang knew her partner could hear due to the look that would cross her face; but then she had noticed other things like how very few Faunus were actually in the city itself, how people shunned and refused them service simply because Blake was with them. Every time it had happened Yang had held her tongue, choosing instead to move slightly closer to her partner and cross her arms pointedly to show exactly what would happen if they dared to utter a word. There had however been one occasion where her temper had gotten the better of her, where she had been unable to stop herself from leaping at a man who had dared to ask where Blake's pickaxe was and had Weiss not summoned her giant knight to stop her, Yang would have certainly wiped that shit-eating grin off of his face.

How could one city be so full of hate? She knew that Atlas had been the primary target of the White Fang for nearly five years but even so, how could everyone there think that that all Faunus were monsters yet praise ancestors who had started the war that had killed tens of thousands of people. And how could they hate Blake? They didn't even know her. They didn't know everything she had done, that she had fought for her school, risked her life when so many others, even their other supposed friends, had ran. She had even been the driving force that had dismantled the White Fang, the very group that had been attacking the city so frequently. What gave them any right to judge her for how she was born?

Nothing, Yang thought venomously to herself as she made her way slowly to the room their team had been sharing. They have no right.

Everything Blake had overcome, everything they were currently doing to fight Salem, all of it did nothing but benefit their city yet they still had the nerve to shun her. And worst still, Yang could see that it hurt her partner. How every stare made the girl's ears droop, how every time Yang stepped in front of her she would try to hide behind her just that little bit more; and she hated it. She hated that her partner had to feel such a way and there there seemed to be nothing Yang could do to stop it. She had tried to find time for them to talk but with everything that was happening with Watts and with General Ironwood refusing to give up the Winter maiden as he deemed it too unsafe, they had been rather busy. However, despite it all causing her to not have time to talk to the girl, Yang had been grateful in a way.

Ever since Blake's return, or maybe even before, she had been struggling with a certain feeling that had scared her a little. She knew what it was of course as Blake wasn't the first person she had developed such an interest in, but it was definitely stronger than she had ever felt before. The problem with those feelings was that she had no idea if Blake felt the same, or if she was even ready for another relationship if she did as her last hadn't exactly ended well. There was also the issue that Yang knew who Blake was since the girl had even said it herself. She was the girl who runs; and Yang was the girl who was scared of being left. Even if everything did go her way, could a relationship even work between them? Could they both move past their natural fears and reactions and be happy or would it end in disaster; with both their hearts broken and irreparable? She didn't know… she couldn't know. Not even Jinn could tell her what the outcome of such a relationship would be but Yang knew she definitely felt something for her.

Sighing to herself at having let such a thing happen, Yang placed her hand on the handle of their room's door and pushed it open. Almost immediately, the sound of smashing glass met her ears and Yang instinctively triggered the gun inside her prosthetic arm to emerge. However as the door opened fully, the only thing that greeted her was Blake standing stock still and staring directly at her with her ears slightly flattened against her head. Looking around for what had caused the sounds she had heard, Yang saw that small sparkles were emanating from the broken shards of a glass vase that was littered around the girl's feet; its flowers left scattered across the floor and their petals gently dripping water into the thin stream that covered it all.

"What happened?" Yang asked the girl who had relaxed a little in the few seconds she had been inspecting the mess.

"I umm… I was... sorting the flowers and you made me jump," the girl replied, tripping over her word slightly as her voice shook a little.

"Okay," Yang chuckled lightly and retracted the gun back into her arm as she took a small step forward. "Well are you just gunna stand in that or should we maybe get it cleaned up?"

"Oh, R-Right," Blake asked and quickly hopped out of the small pool that had surrounded her, the wet soles of her boots only spreading the water further.

Shaking her head at her partner and walking over to the broken glass, Yang activated her aura and quickly used her hand to sweep the broken glass into a pile. However, even though Yang had already begun, Blake had barely moved a muscle and the only time she had moved had been to turn slightly as Yang shifted along the floor so that they continued to face one another. Suspecting something as wrong, Yang took another look at the girl and without the distraction of the broken glass to draw her eye, she noticed that one of Blake's hands was behind her back. Looking further up, Yang also noticed that Blake's ears were once again flattened and her normally shining amber eye seemed a little more dull than usual. She had learned what all of those things had meant ages ago back at Beacon and immediately realised that the girl was hiding something.

Wanting to test her theory, Yang continued to stare into the girl's eyes and shifted slightly towards the girls side, where the hidden hand would be visible. Just as Yang predicted, she moved once again, this time taking astep to the side and trying to play it off as getting out of her way; but Yang wasn't buying it so with an inward groan, she wiped her hand on her jeans and stood up to look at her partner properly.

"Blake," She said gently, not wanting the girl to leave and take whatever secret was worrying her so much with her. "What are you holding?"

"I-It's nothing," The girl stuttered and took a step back, but Yang followed with a step of her own. "J-Just cut myself a little is all."

"So why is there no blood?" She replied quickly, not believing her partner for a second.

"I uhh… I..."

"Blake?" Yang interrupted firmly and took another step forward, her real hand reaching out to rest on the upper arm of the hand Blake was using to hide something from her. "We swore no more secrets."

"I'm no..."

"Show me," Yang replied softly, her hand gently sliding down Blake's arm until she hit her elbow and applied a little pressure to coax the girl hand into the open. "Please?"

Letting her hand rest on the raven-haired girl's elbow for a few seconds, she watch as something flickered across those beautiful amber eyes and recognised it instantly. She had seen it before so often growing up and even in her mirror last winter while she had sat at home wallowing. It was shame, and not shame at another's actions, but shame at her own. However, as the girl's eyes slowly drifted downwards so that they were no longer making contact with Yang's own, she felt her elbow lose its tension and let her hand continue, wrapping her finger over her partner's as the Faunus' hand came into view. Once it was finally visible, Yang carefully pulled Blake's finger apart and gazed upon the unsuspected thing that laid with.

Resting in the centre of Blake's hand was one of the girl's old black bows.

As she watched a single end of the thin fabric slide and slip of the girl's hand, Yang couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness rush through her. Is this how bad she's feeling? She thought to herself as she ran a thumb over the silk. I should have tried more, she chastised herself, feeling a little sick at the knowledge that a part of her had been happy at not having the time so that she could continue to suppress her feelings.

"I thought you threw these away?" Yang asked quietly and continued to run her hand over the wretched thing.

"I did," The girl whispered, the shame in her voice clear as day. "This one was a reminder."

"Of what?"

"Of what I am fighting to stop," Blake sighed and Yang felt her arm slacken a little more but found herself continuing to to hold it up. "But being here, I just… I…"

"You hate it?" Yang finished for her and received a small nod in return.

"I tried to ignore it, to tell myself that they don't matter," Blake continued, her voice shaky as if she were holding back tears. "But I can't help but feel everything would be easier if I just put this back on. We wouldn't be turned away from shops, or held up by bigots, or anything else that me being a Faunus has caused."

"But you wouldn't be you," Yang replied and carefully took her partner's hand again. "You hated wearing these at Beacon and I know that everyday you had to struggle to keep your ears still. I can't let you go back to that."

"But I'm…"

"You are not doing anything," Yang replied firmly and squeezed here partner's hand to show that she meant what she had said. "And you are certainly not holding us up. The only thing we need is for Ironwood to get his head out of his ass but that has nothing to do with you being a Faunus."

"You don't under…"

"Blake," she interrupted again, the little annoyance that had seeped into her voice quickly quashed. "I know its not exactly the same but do you really think I don't get those looks too? You think I haven't noticed people staring at my arm like it's something I should be ashamed of? Because I have and I get how much it sucks to be judged for something you can't help, but hiding it won't make things better."

"But you still wear it," the girl replied stubbornly and finally looked back up, her amber eyes filled with uncertainty.

"Because I need it to fight," Yang countered truthfully and gave her partner a pointed look. "With Watts and Tyrian doing… Whatever it is they're doing… My arm helps me fight them, but your bow does nothing but hurt you, Blake."

"I just…" She said and shook her head gently as she took a deep breath. "I don't want to be a hindrance."

"You're not," Yang smiled at her and let go of the girl's hand, gently pulling the ribbon away as she did to hold it up slightly. "This might help stop the stares, and the words but it will only hurt you more knowing that you can't be yourself."

Gently throwing the ribbon onto the bed, Yang took a deep breath and reached her now free arm over to her prosthetic. Only pausing for the briefest of seconds, she easily found the release and pressed it, the metal arm falling away from its fixtures with a slight hiss. Not dropping her eyes from Blake's, she tossed that aside as well so that it laid on top on the discarded bow. Now completely free of anything that hid parts of them, Yang reached out and cupped her partner's face with her real hand, her thumb stretching up to gently stroke the edge of one of her cat ears causing the Blake's eyes to flutter a little as her head to nuzzle into it slightly.

"This is us, Blake," she said softly, a small wave of happiness shooting through her at the girl's reaction to her affections. "And while I know it can be tempting to take the easy way out and hide it from the world, we should never hide who were are. No matter what."

To content looking into Blake's eyes just to make sure the girl understood her, she had barely noticed the girl moving until she felt a hand wrap over hers.

"You're right," she sighed, though the sound was a happy one. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Yang smiled gently, her hand tenderly stroking the girl's ear completely on its own. "I wish you had come to me with this though. You know I would always make time for you if you asked, right?"

"I know," Blake smiled back and Yang felt Blake thumb move gently against the back of her hand. "We've just been so busy."

"That doesn't matter," Yang shrugged and shook her head. "Whenever we have a moment and you need to talk, just tell me and I will be all yours."

"I promise," Blake breathed softly, her lips stretching into a happy smile.

"Good."

As if it was even possible, the smile on Blake's face made the girl's eyes shine a little brighter and as she looked into them, Yang felt her breathing deeping and her stomach do a little flip. She had never felt an urge so strong, an urge to just throw caution to the wind and close what little distance there was between them, and as much as she tried her best to hold back, her legs acted on their own and took a tiny step forward. Amber eye filled Yang's vision and though she felt the thumb stroking the back of her hand stop, Blake didn't retreat. In fact the girl looked up, her short breaths warm on Yang's face and unable to hold back her feeling any longer, Yang cautiously began to lean in, her eyes closing as the distance between their lips became shorter and shorter.

Unfortunately, the gods had apparently decided that their time was up and that the fact that they had been sharing the room with others was forced upon them as the door swung open and they both immediately put as much distance between them as they could. Breathing heavily, Yang looked at the door to see who had dared interrupt them and saw her sister and Weiss talking to each other, both apparently unaware of what they had just stopped.

"Oh, there you two are," Ruby said happily as she turned and saw them. "What're you guys doing?"

"W-We were… Umm… Just talking," Blake replied, her own breathing sounding heavy and causing Yang to smile inwardly.

"About my broken vase?" Weiss asked, her gaze on the small pile of glass and the pool of water that had been left forgotten.

"Yep," Yang nodded and quickly and sent a furtive glance and her partner who looked away to hide what had clearly been a smile. "We didn't know where the spare towels were."

With a single sigh, Weiss pointed to a cabinet on the other side of the room and after a last glance at Blake, Yang gave the snowy-haired girl a small nod and went to retrieve one. As she did, her thoughts turning back to what had just been interrupt and a smile was forced onto her face at the fact that she now knew that Blake was, at the very least, interested too.