Blake was having regrets.

She was regretting having kept her second secret for so long, for not telling her team what she had been. I should have come clean with them as soon as the team had formed. That would have been the prudent thing to do. But no, Blake had let her fears about rejection overwhelm her and in the end only told half of her secret after much prodding.

Most of all, she was regretting not stopping when Ruby had called out to her. I want to come back, but… I just can't now.

Blake felt lonely.

That wasn't technically true; Blake wasn't completely alone, she had made a newfound friend in Sun Wukong after all, even sharing a afternoon tea with him. A new friend, however, did not replace her old friends. Her partner. Her team. The team leader.

Being truthful to herself, Blake missed even Weiss. It went without being said that she missed Yang and especially Ruby far more right now. As special as Yang was to Blake, she was her partner after all, Blake had grown far more attached to her partner's little sister, Ruby. While it was true that she had a crush on the girl, it was far more than just simple infatuation.

It has to be, else why would I be thinking like this?

Since Blake had left Beacon Academy she'd been worrying about Ruby. Specifically what Ruby would be feeling. She knew the girl had worries about being a good team leader to such a degree that there had been more than once that Blake had to help her fall back asleep after a nightmare of failing everyone. Not that she minded helping Ruby out.

So the fact that Blake was worried more about how her… departure was effecting Ruby then her current state led her to believe that perhaps it was more than a simple high school crush.

None of this matters now, I ran away. I ran away from some of the only decent people I've known. The idea of leaving the White Fang to make a fresh start, to have a purpose in life that wasn't about harming others… The hopeful optimist that Ruby represented, what Blake had used to be like before the White Fang had gone violent… that was what Blake had left behind when she fled.

I need to stop running at some point.

Blake could agree with that as much as she wanted, yet she found herself still not returning to her team. Instead she was staking out a White Fang location at the docks with Sun.

An activity notable for not being trying to talk things out with her team.

Okay Blake Belladonna, how are you going to fix this?

Truth be told, she didn't exactly know how. The most obvious choice was to return to her team and try and be honest about herself this time. Not that there is much more for them to find out…

The problem with the most obvious was that it'd be a great plan to do… if Blake hadn't already ran away. That didn't stop her from returning and trying to talk it out but it did make it more… difficult. The momentum to hide from them had already started to build since the beginning of the semester. It'd be easier to just keep on running from them…

Except I'd lose my friends… I'd lose Weiss and Yang and Ruby. I'd lose my teammate, my partner and Ruby. I'd lose Ruby. The person who's first reaction to me lying was to call my ears cute and to pledge to help me. The person who hasn't turned their back on me once.

That made the decision far easier to reach under that criteria.

I don't want to lose Ruby.

So running was out of the available choices. That just left the most obvious. I guess I'll need to return after this… after we figure out what's going on here. I just hope the team…that Ruby will listen to me…

AU: As much as I said I wouldn't write another Dilation chapter after this before the month's end, I'm pretty sure I'll write one on Tuesday and post then.



Blake is being a sad kitty kat. This won't go on for long though! I need some fluff ladybug in my life!

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Forgive me for I have sinned; I've been writing some Ladybug outside of Dilation for Dani of booksandweapons fame. I'm not willing to post a new story for that but if you guys don't mind I will post it as separate chapters every so often in Dilation... the chapters are of comparable length. I plan on only doing about five chapters of it... or about 3,000 to 4,000 word story. The basic premise is that Ruby has her first day at University and texts Yang for advice on social stuff/friends. She texts the wrong number. If you don't want me to, tell me. If you want me to, tell me as well lol. If more of you leaves reviews saying that this is a bad idea, I'll just keep it or figure out a way to incorporate it into a future fluff collection at some point.