A commission for MuldoonX9, who asked for Yang trying to get Neo to come to the good side. I thought this was a really neat idea and I enjoyed writing it, though I'll tell you right now I've changed Neo's character a bit for the sake of this particular fic/idea.

A/N: The events of this fic would take place probably somewhere in volume 2, after episode 4.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

With Moonlight Between Us

She'd seen it in her eyes.

In those mis-matched, heterochromatic eyes.

Eyes that were chocolate brown and strawberry pink.

Eyes that were sweet in color, but not in content.

No. The content was never sweetness, nor was it malice or excitement.

It was fear.

And Yang had seen it.

She knew fear like a next-door neighbor who came to visit at all the worst of times.

She saw it often.

It saw her more often.

It watched her with raptor-like vision, always waiting for the perfect time to swoop in and sink its talons deep into her heart.

It came whenever Ruby was pit against a Grimm in battle, whenever Weiss tossed in bed with silent screams, whenever Blake spoke of her old companions and how they were likely still keeping tabs on her.

Yes, Yang got visits quite often from Fear.

But whenever she engaged in combat with or around Neo, she got the inkling that this girl lived with it.

Or rather, Fear lived with her.

It lurked around every corner, waited to pounce in every shadow, crept beneath the very floorboards she walked on. It teemed behind those eyes, festering like some polluted wound, constantly burning, forcing the curve of the smile onto her lips, forcing the blade in her hand.

It wasn't conviction that drove Neo, nor was it a sense of convoluted justice.

It was Fear.

Yang knew all too well.

She'd first been close enough to catch a glimpse of it on the train, when she'd stood alone with her, brown and pink blinking innocently up, lavender glaring angrily down.

At that time, the fury and need for revenge had fueled Yang, causing her to lash out and strike, though going into a blind rage rarely produced the intended results. Either she'd obliterate the obstacles entirely, or lose sight of her true goal, let the anger consume her until she wasn't thinking.

It had been the latter on the train, and she'd swung left and right in hopes of landing a blow, of wiping that annoying smirk off her smug little face.

She hadn't noticed right away that the smile was plastered on.

But in the whirl and twirl of their vicious, deadly dance of a fight, she'd taken a second to breathe once or twice, and that was when she'd seen it.

The smile would fade – just for a split second – so quickly, Yang had to wonder if its absence had merely been another illusion.

But she witnessed it enough times to convince herself it wasn't.

And more than once, she'd hesitated in the presence of that frown, brief as it had been, but frequent enough to convince Yang that it was accidental.

Somewhere along those lines she'd realized it was Fear that drove the girl.

Yang guessed that was why she probably always kept her mouth shut, because if she let out her voice, who knew what she might let out with it?

But no matter how skillfully she tried to conceal it, mask it with her sensory illusions and tricks of the eyes, she couldn't trick every sense at once. If she wasn't saying it, there would be short-lived times when she would show it.

And Yang noticed.

She didn't know how Neo's story had begun, but she knew where it was now.

And she didn't want to know how it would end.

She didn't want to know what would happen to her if she displeased whomever she was working with, whomever was powerful, influential, and frightening enough to get Roman Torchwick under their wing. One misstep from Neo, and Yang knew it wouldn't be a happy ending for her.

But Yang knew she wanted to try and change that ending.

Maybe Ruby's heroic mindset had rubbed off on her over the years, but Yang felt she wanted to help as many people as she could. Even if it was someone who had once tried to kill her and her teammates.

The thought was set at the back of her mind, not up front enough to be called upon every day, but also not far back enough to lose.

The carefree days of classes and training lessons went by. Yang spent each day learning new things, teasing her friends, having fun. And she spent every night getting goodnight hugs and kisses from her teammates, the curling up warmly into bed.

And she couldn't help but wonder how different Neo's days might've been from hers.

She probably slept in some cold bunker in an uninsulated shed somewhere, like some prisoner.

It was thoughts like those that motivated Yang to get her away from her captors before her fate could be sealed.

If Yang had learned anything from all the stories she'd heard and told herself, it was that it was never too late for a person to change.

Even the most saintly of innocents could snap and fly into a bloody rage if pushed the wrong way. And even the most disgusting of criminals could clasp their hands in prayer and ask for forgiveness if prompted correctly.

She hoped that might be the case with the girl whose eyes were always so full of fear.

Yang was determined to try.

Weeks passed until her team set out on their next unsupervised mission into downtown Vale.

They'd only intended to survey the area, perhaps find out a bit of information if they could, but they didn't want to get into any fights if they could avoid it.

But of course, things rarely ever went as planned.

Although, part of Yang had to admit she was a bit relieved to see Roman Torchwick and his partner that evening.

It would've been easy to have fended them off with her three other teammates beside her, but the addition of the dozen or so White Fang members complicated things a bit.

It wasn't long before the back alleyways were swarming with armed persons, blasting barrels and piles of bricks and whatever else they could aim at. Shouts and gunfire shattered the air, but it would be a while yet before anyone in town would get wind of this and send for the police.

Yang knew she had a bit of time.

As Ruby and Weiss grappled with the masked Faunus, Blake struggled to reach Roman himself.

Yang killed two birds with one stone in charging for Neo – one, so she could unguard Roman a bit for Blake to get at him, and two, so she could have the girl to herself.

As soon as Yang neared her, shouting out a battle cry, Neo whipped around to face her. The smirk was ready on her lips, teeth bared like a badger eager to fight.

But when she saw who her opponent was, that smile wavered – just barely, just for a split second.

Neo knew that Yang was onto her, and despite the alley's darkness, she could see that now.

Yang wasn't going to let her run away. Not yet.

She threw a punch, knowing she'd miss, but it was a move that would dictate that she'd chosen Neo as her opponent for this skirmish.

The girl had no other choice but to oblige, opening the lacy umbrella at her side and blocking the blazing hits Yang threw at her.

Blake had already taken Roman's attention, which allowed Yang to enact her plan. She kept her eyes trained on Neo's, narrowing into those discolored pools that switched back and forth every few seconds.

But as she engaged further, Yang realized Neo never made direct eye contact with her if she could avoid it. She knew that Yang had knowledge of the situation, and Neo was guilty to admit that fact.

Which only proved to Yang that she was right about it all.

She kept throwing her punches, occasionally tossing in a kick or two if she could manage it. She'd fought her before, so she had a bit of a better understanding of what would work and what wouldn't.

The same was true for Neo, who blocked each hit with a controlled smoothness that seemed almost forced. The canopy of the umbrella always seemed to shield her expression at the most convenient of times, so much so that Yang had to suspect it was intentional.

She fired a few rounds from her gauntlets here and there, staging the fight to make it seem more genuine than she truly wanted it to be. She put on the act for her teammates, as not to arouse suspicion.

After a minute or two of combat, she backed herself away gradually, not to retreat but to lure.

One step forward, two steps back.

But all the while, she continued to fight as not to draw unwanted attention their way. She coaxed Neo back, away from the rest of the fighting.

The girl didn't even realize how far they'd come until there was no one else in sight but the blonde girl, who seemed to know more than she should.

Yang was the one who smirked now, exactly when Neo lost hers.

The smaller girl instantly stopped advancing, feeling as though she were being led into a trap of sorts.

But before she could turn tail and run back towards Roman, Yang called out to her.

"Wait!"

That had clearly been the last thing Neo had been expecting to happen, because in her confusion, she actually did as Yang had asked.

The umbrella was still spread out before her chest to act as a shield, as though she expected some kind of ambush or trickery. One of the curves of the canopy conveniently blocked her mouth from view, but Yang could still read her eyes.

Inhaling deeply, Yang did one of the stupidest things she'd ever done in her life thus far.

She lowered her weapons right in the middle of a fight, a fight against an opponent who had proven herself time and again to be nothing short of ruthless, and even violent.

And unlike Neo, Yang didn't have a shield.

She was defenseless now, a sitting duck.

But it was necessary if she was going to accomplish what she'd set out to do.

She kept her eyes fixated on Neo's, both to assess whether or not the girl intended to take advantage of her stance now and attack her, and to read her emotions.

The bafflement was most prominent at first, and then it was the suspicion, all things Yang had expected to see.

But ultimately, Neo's eyes came to settle on the most familiar emotion – fear.

Yang felt the girl had experienced enough of that already, so she did her best to dissuade it. She spoke with her tone low, almost gentle, less like she was speaking to a rapid badger and more like she was trying to coax a startled fox.

"Hey... uh... I know it's... kinda awkward, but... could you just... just for a second-"

Yang's gaze flashed desperately down at the umbrella, with the sharp tip pointed at the center of her chest, and then back up again.

"I know it's hardly a good time. But it's the only chance I've got for this. I need to say something to you, and we both know you need to hear it, even if you don't necessarily want to."

She waited, knowing there was little time to waste before someone else got worried – or worse, wise.

The last thing either of them needed was for someone to come stumbling over to find them chatting casually. It would mean a world of trouble for the both of them, but likely with one person risking more severe punishment than the other.

But Yang needed to try.

She waited for her to react, the umbrella still in its expanded form with the tip aimed at her heart. Neo could have driven her through seconds ago and put a stop to all of this.

But she hadn't.

And she still wasn't.

She was hesitating, which meant she was truly considering Yang's words.

Yang noticed Neo's eyes were searching hers, and the suspicion had taken over again.

And why shouldn't it? They both knew Neo had tried to kill her back on the train. So why should Yang be wanting to talk things out now?

She knew it was far-fetched, but she needed to at least give this non-violent technique a shot.

Neo blinked, and her eyes switched colors again. She took a step forward, more cautious than anything, as if to provoke Yang and see if she'd react.

But Yang remained still, and even spread her arms a little, indicating she wouldn't move unless she truly had no other choice available.

Then, as though all of this hadn't been a stupid enough act to pull, Yang did something even more foolish.

She closed her eyes.

It was the ultimate display of defenselessness, but more than that, it was a display of trust.

Neo could slash her throat if she really wanted to.

But the fact that she didn't proved to the both of them that she didn't really want to.

Yang kept her eyes closed for nearly ten full seconds, knowing that each and every beat of her heart could be the last. It was the ultimate gamble, and the highest act of stupidity.

But when she finally reopened them, she found Neo hadn't moved so much as an inch.

The umbrella was still expanded, but the tip no longer pointed at Yang's chest. Instead, it had been lowered to the ground in disbelief, and the same emotion had painted Neo's expression.

She didn't need to say anything for Yang to be able to know exactly what she was thinking. It was all in her eyes – the sheer perplexity, the borderline outrage.

What the hell is this? What are you trying to do?

Yang could understand what Neo was feeling; Yang was asking herself the same questions internally. The least she could do was clear things up as best she could.

"I just... I wanted to-"

But the pause of their antebellum was soon interrupted by more shouting, more gunfire, closer than before. A familiar man's voice called out suddenly.

"Neo! Time to hit the road!"

At Roman's call, the girl closed her umbrella and turned her back, bracing herself to tear off.

But Yang had come this far already. She wasn't going to simply let it all end here.

"Wait!"

And again, Neo surprised them both by doing just that. She was crouched and about to run, but she stayed – just for a second, just for Yang. She peered back over her shoulder, this time with her emotions nearly unreadable.

Yang raked her mind for information, uttering to her in a hushed voice.

"That old warehouse where the White Fang used to rally. I'll be there tonight at midnight. Alone."

She didn't stutter, blink, or waver as proof of her honesty. She didn't intend to tell anyone where she was going or bring anyone along with her.

Only Neo knew.

Another idiotic act of trusting one's enemy with her life, but she was desperate.

Desperate for Neo's sake.

The other girl looked Yang up and down, from head to toe, trying to detect any ounce of deceit in her. Yang knew she wouldn't find any.

Neo's gaze returned to hers, and another blink had her eyes changing color once more. Her lips parted, and it was for more than just an intake of breath. She'd wanted to say something-

But another call of her name from Roman destroyed that possibility.

Without a word or another glance, Neo vanished, causing Yang to wonder if she'd ever truly been there at all.

Once they'd arrived back at Beacon, Yang was relieved to find that her teammates were too exhausted from the fight to do anything other than shower and collapse into bed.

Yang made sure to let them all go first, and by the time it was her turn in the bathroom, Ruby and Weiss had already fallen fast asleep.

Of course, the biggest challenge wouldn't be to sneak out past campus security cameras and catch a ship to Vale and back before she could be missed. Rather, the most difficult part would be slipping out without letting Blake's keen ears notice.

Yang deliberately took a long time in the shower, going over the directions to the warehouse Blake had given her a few weeks prior, just in case she'd ever need to know the address.

Twenty minutes later, Yang dressed herself into her pajamas as not to raise suspicion and re-entered the dorm room.

Blake had just put her book down and curled herself up for bed. Yang acted as she always did and wished her goodnight before climbing up to her bunk to lay down. Blake flicked the lamp off, and from there it was a waiting game.

Unlike the rest of her team, Yang wasn't tired at all, not with what she had in mind.

It wasn't long before Blake's breathing slowed and joined pace with Ruby's and Weiss'.

Yang waited a bit longer just to be safe, then stole a glance at the clock.

One hour.

With painstaking slowness, she dropped back down from her bed and gathered up her clothes again. They'd yet to be washed since earlier, but she couldn't risk rummaging around in her drawers for something clean to wear.

She dressed herself, grabbed her scroll, and wrote a quick note on a piece of paper to leave on her bed. It told a lie that would hopefully satisfy any of her teammates if they were to waken and find her missing, saying she'd merely gone out for a midnight walk.

With everything in order, Yang left the room.

Not until she'd made her way off campus and gotten on board the late night Air Ship did she really begin to think all this over.

She'd be going to this place alone as she'd said, but that didn't necessarily mean Neo would do the same.

Of course, there was no guarantee that she'd even show up at all. What reason did she have to trust Yang beyond the fact that Yang had trusted her? She very well could use this covert rendezvous against Yang and plan an ambush to kill her.

These were the thoughts that kept Yang's steps quiet and her ears alert after she exited the ship. The city was so much more still at night, with fewer cars rolling by, fewer people speaking, fewer lights in shop windows.

It almost seemed as though she were the only soul stirring here tonight.

She set a brisk pace for the abandoned warehouse, listening well for sounds of anything unusual. But she heard nothing at all other than the clicking of her own shoes over the concert.

Keeping herself vigilant, she advanced until the warehouse was in sight. There, she paused.

The only known entranceway had long since been boarded up and chained with locks to prevent further acts of vandalism. Blake had said the White Fang had infiltrated via somewhat underground passageways, and recent news reports told Yang that those, too, had all been closed off and sealed.

The only way in now was a glaring hole in the side of the building, which had been blown out by Roman Torchwick himself when using the military robot to pursue Blake and Sun.

It had been weeks since then, and there had been police officers stationed around this area for a while afterward until they were certain the White Fang wouldn't return.

Now, the place stood in shambles, and cautionary tape signified it was soon to be demolished.

Yang checked the perimeter as best she could before discerning there was no one else around outside. Of course, inside might've been a totally different story.

And she couldn't explain it, but she had the feeling that there wouldn't be an ambush waiting for her.

So she slipped beneath the coils of tape and climbed over piles of debris and smashed grey bricks. She made quick work of maneuvering through the dilapidated hole in the wall, but paused again before entering fully.

It was all darkness inside, save from a single shaft of moonlight that penetrated through another hole in the rafters.

Naturally, Yang headed for the light source, skirting around old boxes and empty barrels. She shuddered to think that this was the place where the criminals and terrorists had gathered just a few weeks ago, the very same people she'd heard countless horror stories about from Blake.

But if anyone else had been here now, Yang knew she would've been gunned down already.

So she proceeded with a bit more confidence – after all, she'd been the one to set this meeting up.

She came to a halt right beside the silver moonlight, thinking it better to keep out of the light entirely. She checked her scroll: 11:56PM.

Only now that she was actually here and had stopped moving did her heart begin to pound.

She must've been insane. She couldn't believe she was doing this. If she was wrong about Neo, she'd die here tonight and never see her friends or sister again.

She wished she'd kissed Ruby before she'd left tonight...

But as the minutes went on, so did the silence.

And eventually, midnight came and went.

Yang was both relieved and disappointed.

But on a hunch, she waited a bit longer, leaning back against a old dusty crate.

And as she'd done earlier today with the tip of Neo's weapon pointed at her chest, she closed her eyes.

There was a rustle, like a dance of leaves over the wind.

When she next lifted her eyelids, she wasn't alone anymore.

Neo stood before her on the other side of the moonlight looking angry, appalled, disbelieving, and uncertain all at the same time.

Something told Yang the girl couldn't believe either of them had actually been stupid enough to show up here.

The umbrella was in her hand, collapsed for the moment, but her fingers were positioned to snap it up and through the underside of Yang's chin if she put so much as an eyelash out of place. Brown and pink glared up at her almost vehemently, but Yang didn't miss the more nervous glance Neo put behind herself. She must have snuck out as well, and things wouldn't be pretty if she was found out.

Yang might've been risking a week-long detention from Beacon and an hour-long lecture from Weiss if she were caught. But she knew the stakes for Neo's potential discovery were much higher.

The urgency in the girl's eyes had Yang shaking off the shock and getting her lips moving.

"Wow... I can't believe you really came."

She kept her voice low, but Neo reacted as though Yang had just shouted at the top of her lungs. She flinched and recoiled a step, almost as though she were about to vanish all over again. Her eyes silently shouted of anger derived from that familiar fear again.

Just spit it out! I don't have all night! I shouldn't even be here, and neither should you!

Yang understood every word she never said. She kept her eyes locked on the switching pools of color, but stayed put.

"That's exactly what I'm here about," she murmured. "I knew you didn't want it to be this way."

Again, Neo's confusion was clear.

What are you talking about?

Yang sighed.

"You know what I mean. I can see it in your eyes. That you... don't wanna be with them. With Torchwick and whoever else you're working for."

Neo remained silent, but Yang could just about read her thoughts in this quiet.

I don't have a choice.

The blonde girl nodded.

"I know you don't want to fight us. But you have to."

Neo's lip curled up into a snarl, and it was her turn to be defensive.

What's it to you? Why should you care? Mind your own business!

Yang smiled sadly.

"You don't mean that. Or else you wouldn't have come to meet me here tonight."

Neo let out a small growl, but had no comeback.

Yang was careful with her next choice of words.

"Neo..."

The name was foreign on her tongue, but it sounded nice.

The girl actually jolted at the sound of it, and a look of discomfort seeped into her eyes. But nonetheless, she met Yang's gaze.

"Neo," she said again. "I know I don't know anything... about you... or about whoever you're working with, or working for... But I know you have to be there, and I know that you don't want to be doing these things. And that's all I need to know."

Neo snorted curtly.

How is it your concern?

Yang swallowed to ensure her voice would be clear when she made her next outlandish request.

"Neo... you should... come with me. With us. To Beacon."

She'd half expected her to laugh or to run away, or even to lash out at her.

But to Yang's surprise, Neo did none of those things.

Instead, she did nothing.

She stayed put and listened.

Yang went on.

"I know it'll be difficult at first... but you could change sides. Help us stop Torchwick and the others. You could train with us, make friends-"

A sudden whirl of motion had her cutting off with a gasp.

Neo had kicked out her leg and toppled a nearby barrel, which crashed and splintered with a furious sound. The message was clear:

Shut up!

She was shaking her head vigorously, as though something invisible were clawing at her head and she was trying to dislodge it.

Yang caught a glimpse of her eyes.

Neo was torn.

This was what she'd always wanted.

An offer for help.

A chance to start over and take the path she'd always wanted to take – the path she'd been yanked off of by the hair before she could ever hope to cut it off.

She wanted to take Yang's offer.

But she couldn't.

It's just not possible... her eyes said. Not now. Not after everything I've done...

But Yang was determined.

"It's never too late. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get out. So just... just do it! Come with me. Please."

Yang stepped forward, into the shaft of silver light. She extended her arm and reached out her hand.

Neo hissed like a cornered animal, but her eyes were trained on that hand.

She wanted to take it.

She wanted-

"Come back with me," Yang whispered. "I'll... I'll help you. I promise."

She really meant it, too. Yang could feel the warm tears rising up behind her eyes, proof of her honesty.

Neo must have seen that, or at least heard it in her voice.

Because she moved her own hand out towards Yang's.

Yang didn't move, didn't falter.

Those tiny gloved fingertips hovered just an inch away from her own, one hand in light, the other in darkness. Yang coaxed her forward, smiling as the first tear fell.

"Please, Neo. Please... It's okay... Promise..."

The girl looked distraught, every emotion she was feeling in her heart conflicting with everything in her mind. Even her body was doing its best to reject the offer it had longed for so many years to receive.

Yang tensed as Neo's fingers breached the moonlight at last.

Again, Yang closed her eyes.

There was a slight contact, almost unnoticeable.

It created an iota of a spark, just enough to prove to Yang that Neo had truly touched her at all.

But those fingers never slipped into hers as she'd hoped they might.

Instead, with an unexpected tenderness, Neo curled Yang's fingers up into a loose fist, away from herself, so she couldn't accept that hand.

And a small, helpless sound reached Yang's ears.

"No one can help me now."

There was another whirl of the wind.

And when Yang next opened her eyes, she was alone again.

She sobbed softly, casting her eyes down to the ground.

And there, on the concrete in the center of the moonlight, was the stain of a teardrop that was not her own.

A/N: I think it was a fun challenge to write Neo as if she were an innocent character being kept almost prisoner by Roman and Cinder. I know that's likely not the case in canon, but it was an interesting concept to explore in writing.

And to let her first ever known/spoken words be said to/for Yang... I really liked putting that tidbit in. I hope you enjoyed it!

If you like my work, you can support me on as Kiria Alice!

Please review!