A few moments earlier

Ruby was standing in front of a simple wooden door. It looked identical to the one she had seen for months, except that the room behind this one was that of a second-year team. Even as bad as she felt, Ruby wasn't sure Coco wouldn't be angry for being disturbed but she didn't know who else she could go see. Her hand was shaking lightly as she knocked on the door.

The door opened a few seconds later, revealing the gigantic figure of Yatsuhashi. Even without his sword and his armor, the man was still very imposing but Ruby found it more reassuring than intimidating. He reminded her of Yang when she was angry, scary for the people who didn't know her but doing so to protect her friends. Or because someone touched her hair, but Ruby was almost certain Yatsuhashi didn't care about his hair as much as Yang.

Thinking about her sister reminded the young girl of her… of what she had done. Ruby didn't want to think of it as a betrayal, she was sure her big sister had her reasons, but it still hurt a lot that she got her hopes up and didn't tell her about Weiss liking Blake.

Seeing the red eyes and the tears pooling in their corners, as well as the lack of her usual enthusiasm, Yatsuhashi understood that there was something wrong with the small girl in front of him. "Come in." After seeing her in that state, not inviting her in was unthinkable. Thankfully, Coco and Velvet were here tonight. Yatsuhashi was good when it came to physical threats and intimidating bullies, but comforting a fifteen years old girl he barely knew was not really something he was comfortable with.

Ruby did her best to hold back her tears and sniffles as she entered the room, followed closely by Zwei who had hidden behind her until now, not wanting to look like a crybaby in the eyes of the older students. She had to show she wasn't a child that cried for nothing and shouldn't be at Beacon.

When she saw Ruby enter the room, Coco immediately noticed something was wrong for the same reasons Yatsuhashi had. She grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulder and they both sat down on a bed, Coco putting her arm around Ruby's shoulder. She looked at Zwei and sighed. She would deal with that problem later. The rest of team CFVY went back to what they were doing while keeping an eye on the scene. "What's wrong?"

"It's… W—Weiss and Blake… They… They're dating… and I… I love Weiss… but…" Tears were streaming down Ruby's face as she did her best to not break down completely. Her breath was hitching and she had to stop talking for a second to calm down a little. "I'm jealous of Blake and I hate it because she's my friend and very nice, but when I saw her kissing Weiss it was… it was awful and I ran and I'm sure they're annoyed that I feel like that and Yang knew but she didn't say anything and I don't know why and… and…" Ruby grabbed her hood and put it on, her fingers pulling on the cloth to try and hide her face. She knew she shouldn't feel like that, that Weiss could date whoever she wanted, but it still hurt. "I'm so stupid."

Velvet, Fox and Yatsuhashi waited in silence to see how Coco would respond. Their leader had always been good at listening to them and giving them advice, but she usually had more trouble with younger people. Except that coco didn't see Ruby as a child. She had seen her fight, seen her train and talked with her at length about weapons and she knew she didn't get into Beacon by mistake. Maybe she wasn't very mature when it came to love, but she didn't feel the uneasiness that came with talking to someone younger than her. "You're not stupid." She pulled the younger girl into a hug. "Anyone would feel sad in your place. I… I know I did in a similar situation." She hoped talking about her own experience would give Ruby a new perspective on the situation, or at least keep her mind on something other than her friends.

Her teammates looked at Coco, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Things were better now, but she had been miserable at one point and they hoped she wasn't going to reopen some old wounds.

Ruby looked at Coco, surprised. "You did? But you're so cool, who wouldn't want to date you?" She wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes were still red.

Coco smiled at the compliment and started telling her story, after Velvet and Fox silently confirmed they were okay with it. "It was last year, during our first year at Beacon. I was… something happened, Velvet took care of me and I started to see her differently, probably something similar to how you felt when you got to know Weiss better." She decided to pass quickly on the events that led her to being bedridden. Being seen as the cool older student was rather flattering, and that story was anything but.

"Then I began to look at her more, see how pretty she was and wondering how I missed that, wanting to spend more time with her…" It wasn't all that had happened, but she wanted to connect with Ruby and it seemed it would be more familiar to the younger girl than her attempts to flirt with Velvet or get her to drink with her, thinking alcohol would help her talk about her feelings. Not that it had worked, and Velvet telling her later that she had had a good idea of why she was doing it had stung Coco's pride, even if she had been as nice about it as possible.

"That… does sounds familiar." A small smile had begun returning to Ruby's face as she listened to Coco. If her and Velvet were still friends, then there was a chance Weiss would still be hers after all of this.

"Sometime after that, Velvet and Fox told Yatsu and I they were dating. I… didn't react well. I left the room without saying anything, didn't show up or call for several days and it took Velvet finding me and Yatsu dragging me here for me to come back." Coco looked at the somber expression on her girlfriend's face. She had been incredibly worried when she still hadn't had any news of her friend after a few days and Coco still felt guilty for putting her through that. "I'm not saying needing some space is a bad thing, but your teammates care about you and they will worry if you don't let them know you're safe." After seeing Ruby nod, she continued. "After that, I started dating… someone who I'm not going to bother naming, to stop thinking about Vel."

Velvet was pleasantly surprised to hear the nickname coming from Coco. She had tried to get her to use it a few times, but Coco had always said she really liked her name and only used 'Vel' rarely. Usually when she wanted to cuddle she had noticed, but it was different this time, maybe an apology? Velvet didn't approve of the way Coco had acted at the time, but she knew that her girlfriend regretted it and given the way the relationship had turned… No apologies were required.

Ruby was listening to the story with interest, noting the similarities with her situation. If other people reacted like that… maybe she wasn't so childish after all.

"Fast forward a few weeks, Velvet and Fox's relationship ended amicably and mine ended… not that way. What I'm trying to tell you is that relationships are complicated, even when you're older. I guess your age is something that's bothering you?" Coco sneezed and frowned as she rubbed her nose. Her allergies were starting to act up.

Ruby didn't really want to talk about that in front of the whole team CFVY, but not only were they letting her in their room, she also had heard something she didn't think they told everyone. Fox, Yatsuhashi and Velvet were at least pretending to do something else, even if she could see the occasional glance thrown at her. She nodded lightly. "Blake is older than me and she's sexier and smarter and I know I can't compete with her in Weiss' eyes." Words escaped her mouth on their own when she started talking and she said more than she intended. "I'm jealous of Blake… I know it's not her fault and I don't hate her because she's my friend but…"

"But it still hurts when you see them together." At Ruby's nod of agreement, Coco felt sorry for the younger girl. She knew how much her situation sucked and that she could only help her so much. "You don't have to compete with anyone. If—When someone falls in love with you, it will be for you, not because you're better than some other girl. For Weiss… I'd like to say she will come around and fall in love with you but… well, I don't really know her but she seemed to get along with Blake really well." Seeing Ruby's face as she said that almost made Coco regret saying it, but she had to realize that getting with Weiss was probably not going to happen and start moving in. The sooner she accepted that, the better it would be.

Ruby had to hold back the tears she felt coming at her friend's words. "It hurts, b—but it has to be done, right? It's hard."

"It is. It will take time, and there will times when you will see them together and it will be even harder, but with time it will get better and you'll be able to spend time with your friends and have fun without feeling so bad." Or things could go badly and their friendship could be irreparably broken. But Ruby needed support right now and Coco doubted that talking about that possibility would help.

Ruby stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how to approach things with her team as Zwei was laying against her feet. Coco left her to her thoughts, sneezing once more as her nose and her eyes were getting itchier by the minute. Yatsu had been pushing for a full cleaning of the room before classes started again and, while initially reluctant, Coco was going to have to agree with him if she wanted to be able to sleep in her room again.

"What about Yang?" Ruby's voice interrupted Coco's train of thought, redirecting her attention on the girl next to her. "She knew I lo— how I felt about Weiss and she knew they were getting together but she didn't say anything."

Coco sighed and played with her hair to give herself some time. She wasn't sure why Yang hadn't said anything. "I think it would be best to ask her directly. I'm sure she had a good reason." She didn't know Yang or the situation enough to guess what had happened.

"Maybe…" Ruby would have to clear that up with her sister, but not today. "Can I… can I stay the night?" She didn't want to go back to her room and see Weiss and Blake right now.

"Sure, you can use my bed and I'll share with Velvet."

"Oh, then you can use mine so you won't be too cramped."

Coco was about to reply that that wouldn't be a problem when a strong sneeze reminded her of the dog's presence. She didn't have the heart to ask Ruby to send him back, and it wouldn't do much depending on how much hair he had left in the room anyway, so sleeping outside would probably be for the best. Not that imposing on the rest of team RWBY was something she wanted to do, but she would find someplace else. She gathered a few things, kissed Velvet, said good night to her team and left, relived to be away from the dog.

"So Ruby and Zwei are spending the night in your room and you didn't want her to send him back so you hid your allergies and left? But she's fine, right?"

Coco had told the rest of team RWBY what had happened with their leader, omitting some of the details that they didn't need to know, and Yang had been happy to hear some news about her sister.

"Yup. She says she's sorry but she needs some time." Coco looked at the time on her scroll and stood up. "I'm not going to bother you any longer." She started moving toward the door when she was interrupted by Weiss.

"Wait. Ruby said you could use her bed so you can spend the night here. You're not bothering us."

"The ice queen is ri— eep." Yang couldn't stop the sound that escaped her mouth as Blake struck her in the ribs. Weiss didn't like the nickname but would never show Yang how much it affected her. Blake knew and it didn't feel right to let her continue. "Weiss is right, you helped our leader, my sister, we're not kicking you out." She threw a questioning look at her friend, wondering why she had interrupted her.

Seeing Blake nodding in agreement with her friends, Coco felt relief wash over her. She hadn't been sure where she would have slept as most people still weren't back at Beacon and not having to get a hotel room would save her a lot of trouble. "Thank you." Her smile faltered as her eyes wandered in the room and she remembered which bed was Ruby's. She approached it and pushed it, making it swing lightly. "Is this really safe?"

It was Yang who answered her. "We're not sure, that's why we put Weiss under it."

"Hey." Weiss tried to smack Yang's head but the blond avoided it, expecting her reaction.

Blake rolled her eyes at her friends' antics, but the small smile indicated she enjoyed hearing their friendly squabble. "I can lend you my bed if you want. Yang doesn't move too much in her sleep and the books are holding up."

A mischievous smile stretched Coco's lips. "But then you'd have to sleep with one of your teammates, all bunched up in those small beds. I wouldn't want to impose that upon you."

Blake blushed slightly but her smile grew closer to that of a cat that had found a new toy. "It's no problem really, I'll be very comfortable."

Yang had finally been hit by Weiss and decided that teasing the couple a little would make some nice payback. "Just try not to be too loud when you have fun. It might be hard for Weiss but—"

"What?" Weiss, interrupted Yang, hoping she had misinterpreted her words. She knew she could be a little… vocal when she wasn't paying attention because her room had been very well isolated, but she had always been very careful when at Beacon…

Coco had a feeling it would be better if she wasn't there for the next part. She pointed at the bathroom and quickly went to lock herself in when Blake nodded. She knew well how team arguments went and that it would be better with no one else around.

"You just have a very lovely and powerful voice, that's all." Yang smile hadn't faltered.

"Oh… thanks." Of course, Yang didn't mean anything by—

"I also heard you masturbating in the shower." Her smile was now as bright as the sun, happy that Weiss hadn't seen it coming.

Weiss was about to scream when she felt Blake's hand in hers. It made her pause and wonder why she was angry. Yang had heard her at a time she thought she was alone, but she hadn't interrupted and embarrassed her at the time, and she wasn't making fun of her for doing it, just teasing her for being a little loud. She hadn't brought it up in public or in front of people she didn't like, but between friends. Blake… had probably heard her last night now that she thought about it and they were dating anyway, she would learn a lot more about her than that. She was with her friends, not among those people that only cared about the prestige of 'defrosting' the ice queen and made fun of her in the hope she would take part in the festivities.

Not that she liked that Yang had done that and she wouldn't let her get away with it. "You could have a little more class than mentioning it like that." She didn't have to try hard to sound offended, even if she was probably overdoing it a little.

"Especially with Coco in the room." Blake felt like she was twisting the knife seeing the guilt on Yang's face, but she had to make her understand. She didn't want to be stuck between her girlfriend and her best friend if a fight broke out.

Yang was uncharacteristically downcast, her smile now completely absent. This evening hadn't been kind to her, first with Ruby, looking at her like she had kicked a puppy, and now Weiss and Blake were getting angry with her. Hopefully the next day would be better. She forced herself to smile. It was better like that. "You're right, I went a little far. It's just…" She took a breath. Coming clean to Weiss now was the best option. "Weiss, I like Blake a lot, she's my best friend, but I have no intention of trying to keep her for myself or steal her from you. It's just the way I am with my friends and I wanted to try and include you, but I'm not sure how to act with you."

Weiss looked at Yang like she had grown a second head. "Do you really think I see you like that? You have no tact, no respect for people's privacy and you are way too loud sometimes. But I never thought you were seriously flirting with my girlfriend. And honestly, you really think you stand a chance against me?"

The way Weiss was looking down on her while being shorter had always impressed Yang, and her wearing only her nightgown somehow didn't take away from the effect, but she wasn't going to let her do has she pleased. Her smile grew and turned cocky as she puffed out her chest "Please princess, there's no way you can beat these babies."

Weiss wanted to retort, but she could stop herself from laughing. "Seriously? You're going with that?"

Yang joined her and laughed as well. "You weren't any better, you sounded like a cartoon villain."

Blake was glad to see the two getting along. She would be lying if she said she had never thought things could get ugly between the two. Having to choose between Weiss or Yang would be awful.

"By the way, it was a complete accident I heard you, I didn't mean to." Yang was still a little red from laughing but she didn't want to leave that question unanswered.

Someone knocked on the door and Blake went to open it. She saw a blond man with a big smile that looked a lot like Yang's. "Hello, I'm Taiyang Xiao Long. Are Ruby and Yang here?"

"Yang, it's for you."

Yang came to the door to see who wanted to see her at this hour, Weiss following not far behind but trying to stay behind her teammates, not wanting to be seen in her pajamas by someone she didn't know.

Yang saw who was at the door and froze up. "I have never seen this man in my life."

"What? Come on Yang." The man was still smiling, but tiredness could be seen in his eyes.

"Pft, you can't even take a little joke? You're getting old." Yang moved out of the door and invited him to enter. "Girls, this is my father. Dad, meet Weiss and Blake, my teammates."

"Hi, I'm Taiyang. It's nice to meet you, my daughters told me a lot about you two."

The two girls nodded, unsure of how to answer otherwise. Neither of them had a lot of experience with their own father being so laid-back.

"Did you finish with Ozpin?" Yang wasn't happy that her time with her dad had been cut short by a mission from the headmaster, but she knew it was important.

"Yeah, I'm spending the night in Vale and heading out for the mission tomorrow. I knew you wanted to spend more time together, but—" Taiyang put a hand on Yang's shoulder. He didn't like having to put work before his family, but at least they were old enough to understand now.

"Don't worry, I understand." Yang held her father's hand for a few second before continuing with a playful smile. "You could spend the night here with us."

He laughed. "A grown man spending the night in the same room as three pretty young girls? Are you trying to get me arrested?"

Coco choose that moment to get out of the shower. She was wearing a brown tank top adorned with a stylized stitched heart and a pair of dark brown shorts, similar to Yang's own pajamas except for the colors. The top was one of Velvet's and was a little small for her, showing an impressive bite scar on her stomach. Surprisingly, she still had her sunglasses on.

Blake and Yang looked at the scar for a second before looking elsewhere, not wanting to be rude, but Weiss couldn't stop staring. Taiyang, having seen a lot of injured huntsmen, didn't even stop to look at it. "You… are not my daughter. Is Ruby not here?"

His question wasn't directed at any one in particular, but Coco was the one that answered. "I'm Coco Adel, leader of team CFVY. We're swapping leaders as a team building exercise. Ruby gets to see how a second-year team operate and I see how her team works to give her some advices on how to be a better leader."

A team building exercise in the middle of vacations while Ruby and Yang only learned they were coming back the day before? These kids were really underestimating him. Not that team STRQ hadn't done worse back in the days, so he wouldn't say anything. He trusted Yang wouldn't have stayed silent had Ruby been in danger. "Well, I'll leave you girls to your 'team building exercise'. Say hi to Ruby for me." He gave a quick kiss to Yang and waved the other girls before leaving the room.

Blake saw that Weiss was still looking at Coco's scar. "Weiss, you're staring."

"What?" A blush crept to her cheeks at having been caught doing something like that. "I was just thinking about what Velvet told us, not…"

"Not about how ugly it is?" Coco grinned seeing Weiss blushing. "If there's someone I don't mind looking, it's you. You probably didn't have it easy either." She pointed her finger at her left eye, at the place Weiss' scar was.

The heiress brought a hand to her face to caress the mark that was there since her fight against the Arma Gigas. "I didn't have a problem with it, but I got some pretty… mean comments."

Coco remembered what the magazines had said when the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company had appeared in public with a scar for the first time and felt a lot of sympathy for the younger girl. "I guess I'm lucky it's easy to hide, most people don't know."

"How…?"

"How did I get it?" Coco didn't like telling the story, but maybe it would help them avoid making the same mistake. "A mission isn't over until you're all safe back home. Don't forget that, because I did." She caressed the wounded flesh of her belly, the marks now familiar. "We had just finished a pretty hard mission and were moving toward the rendezvous point when a Grimm sneaked up on us. We were all exhausted after the mission and too happy to be going home to bother keeping our Auras up. The Grimm… It was weird, one moment I'm joking with Fox and the next I'm being dragged away from my team as I felt the fangs sink into…" Her fist clenched hard as she remembered the pain that came with the injury. Even now, she wasn't completely free of the feeling of the fangs piercing her skin, the strong jaws grabbing and shaking her like a doll. "Well, you get the idea. My team obliterated the Grimm and managed to keep me alive until we reached Beacon." The only thing Coco remembered from the return trip was Vel, her eyes red and tears streaming down her face, telling her again and again that it would be alright, that she would get help, that she wasn't leaving and that she better fucking survives or she wouldn't forgive her. "Good thing the staff at Beacon is really good and that I had my Aura, a civilian wouldn't have recovered as quickly and completely as I did. Moral of the story, don't drop your guard until you're back home."

There was a silence as the three younger girls absorbed what they just heard. They knew that being huntresses was dangerous, but hearing stories and seeing the consequences were two different things.

Yang was the one that broke the silence. "I'm… going to take a shower." She grabbed her pajamas and locked the door to the bathroom behind her. Coco's words had reminded her of the time she and Ruby got attacked by Grimm and had to be saved by Qrow. She couldn't afford to be careless, and the story had confirmed that even more. A hot shower would help her clear her mind, she didn't want to keep thinking about that the entire evening.

Now that Yang wasn't there, Weiss could ask the question that had been on her mind since she had seen Coco's scar. "I remember Velvet telling us what she thought about scars, how they were a show of strength, that you survived and were stronger for it…"

Coco laughed at the familiar words. "Yeah, I got the same speech at the time. She was there for me when I healed and helped me learn to live with the scar. She has a way of making a girl feel beautiful, especially with her pictures." Her gazed wandered over to Weiss' face and stopped on the line over her left eye. "You know, I think you might be stronger than me. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to wear a bikini again, yet you don't even try to hide the scar when it's in plain view." She had to admit to herself that she was a little jealous of the confidence of the heiress. The first time she had shown the healed wound to someone, she had almost broken down in tears imagining the expression disgust she was sure was coming. Thankfully, Velvet had been there for her, again, and Fox and Yatsu had been supportive as well, making it easier for Coco, who had always loved being pretty, to accept that she would have to live with the reminder of her mistake for the rest of her life.

Weiss appreciated the compliment, but her expression stayed a little melancholic. "If I pay too much attention to what people think about me… I probably wouldn't be able to leave my room." She felt Blake's arms wrap around her. Having someone to rely on when she didn't feel good was nice. "Let's not get all depressed now, we have snacks." She took the bags she had brought back after training and gave them to Coco, grabbing a chocolate bar for herself. She knew what would happen if she thought too much about that, and she didn't want to have one of those days, not so quickly after she and Blake got together. "How are things going between you and Velvet?"

The older girl took a few things from the bag and passed it to Blake. "It's… it's going fine. What we talked about the last time... It's not easy, and that's something that'll come back in the future, but it was necessary." Velvet had understood Coco's feelings and promised to stop sleeping with other people for now, on the condition that they talked about it again later. As much as she loved Coco, she couldn't just ignore that part of her. For her part, Coco knew that keeping Velvet only to herself was impossible and that a compromise would have to be reached later, but she was enjoying being able to spend more time with her girlfriend while she could. Speaking of making Velvet happy, Coco just had an idea she was sure she would like. "We should go on a double date sometime. I'm sure the four of us would be quite the sight."

Weiss and Blake both nodded. They wanted to have their first date be just the two of them, but a night out with Coco and Velvet sounded nice.

"By the way, I hope Velvet hasn't been too pushy with you two? I know she can get a little… overenthusiastic when she has a chance to play matchmaker." Coco's worry was mostly hidden by her sunglasses, but since Velvet had a tendency to see more attraction between people than there was, some of the couples she had played matchmaker for had crashed and burned pretty quickly.

"I don't think so. She's been helpful but nothing too overwhelming." Blake thought about all the times Velvet had tried to get her in front of the camera and couldn't think of anything that came close to it when it came to her and Weiss.

The heiress thought for a little longer and something came to her mind. "Do you remember the time you accidentally kissed me? Wasn't Velvet just behind you?"

Coco sighed. "That does sound like her. At least she didn't lock you two in a closet." She saw the look of surprise the other girls threw at her but wasn't in the mood to explain. "Well, all's well that ends well, you two go well together."

Weiss and Blake blushed a little and got closer to each other. No matter what they said, people disapproving of them had been on their minds and knowing that their friends didn't was always nice. Blake was suddenly a lot more aware that Weiss wasn't wearing anything more than her nightgown, making her want to change in her own pajamas. She had originally planned to take her shower the next morning, having already taken one after training, but since she was sleeping in the same bed as Weiss, she had changed her mind. She was a little worried about how she smelled, the meeting with Winter had been a little stressful and while she didn't think she smelled like sweat, she didn't want to take a chance. She then remembered how long it took Yang to take care of her hair, and the heated arguments about her occupying the bathroom for too long that they all had in the first weeks. Blake hoped she would get to shower before morning came.

Thanks to Imouto for helping me correct this chapter.

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