(Author's Note: This chapter and the one after it are set in volume 2.)

It was the last day of summer. Students were mostly settled into their rooms. Classes would be starting the next morning. The students of Beacon had decided that their summer was deserving of a notable sendoff. Some of the more popular students had done the planning and the word had spread across campus more quickly than the professors would have liked. With reluctance, Ozpin had permitted them to start a small bonfire in celebration of their last day of freedom. Like any good headmaster, he insisted there be chaperones but this didn't keep the students from sneaking in ales of all kinds, mostly invented by the students themselves.

Yang had heard that there was going to be a bonfire and knew she had to be there. Revelery inspire her. Someone handed her a mysterious cup of bitter contents. She knew better, but she smiled, tipped her head back, and chugged. She cringed, gritting her teeth as the burning liquid made it's way down her throat, warming her stomach. Wiping her face, a howl erupted from her chest and mixed with a cheer of a fellow partier. She smashed the cup beneath her strong fingers and felt powerful as she chunked it into the fire. The shouting voices of the gathered students did nothing to mute the loud snapping and crackling of the huge fire. A cool, evening breeze brought the smell of moonflowers to her nose. Yang smiled as she watched tendrils of smoke waft into a starry sky. A spark floated on the draft and popped when it collided with the darkness. Suddenly, a streak of light caught her eye. A star fell into the horizon and Yang followed the path of its shining tail. She didn't realize shooting stars could last so long. They usually burned out within seconds. But this one endured until it had made it's way to the far off horizon and dipped below a line of spruce trees far away from the bonfire. Yang's eyes settled on them. A quiet movement in that direction made her question how much she had drunk. It looked like a girl. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. The figure was still there. And now she was recognizable-a quiet, graceful figure, black hair barely visible in the moonlight.

Blake? Yang was slightly confused. She watched as Blake crept through the courtyard until she happened upon a stone staircase leading down to a lower level of campus. Blake looked back towards the party once, but seemed not to notice that she had an audience. She quickly lighted the stairs, her bow disappearing from sight. Yang was struck by this because there was nothing of any apparent interest down those stairs-only a large green area that served as a multi-purpose rec-field on good days and a dismal, lonely park on bad ones.

Yang didn't want to leave the warmth of the bonfire or the pleasant company of her drunken friends, but she couldn't help but be pulled towards her partner's odd behavior. Blake did tend to behave oddly, but no more than most people that Yang had happened upon in her 17 years, but her motions and patterns fascinated Yang more than any of the others had. She didn't like to admit it, because she didn't quite understand it.

She found herself moving further away from the loud celebration and closer to the quiet staircase. When she got to it, Blake was no longer in sight. Yang trotted down the stairs, stopping slightly when one of her boots caused her to stumble. That drink must have been really strong. Thankfully, she could feel it's effects fading. She made her way towards the bottom of the staircase and for a long moment stood at the edge of the green, roving the darkness, looking for any sign of Blake.

A motion caught her peripheral vision. A slight glimmer in the moonlight. She heard a grunt and the sound of air as it was being sliced over and over again. Yang raised an eyebrow and began slowly making her way over that way. Her boots clumped through the dewy grass, but Blake seemed to be too focused to notice Yang's approach.

Yang watched for a moment before getting too close, marveling at Blake's intensity. Her weapon was slicing through the air furiously. She moved swiftly, leaping into the air to best attack the invisible enemy. She once did a complete flip with feet pointed towards the stars. Her light skin glowed brilliantly in the moonlight. Yang smiled. Blake was incredibly skilled and her tactics were fluid and graceful. It was like watching a an acrobat at a circus. Yang could sit and watch Blake's movements all evening, but she was never one for standing on the sidelines.

In one swift motion, so as to best surprise Blake, Yang engaged her gauntlet and dove into the fight. She lifted her gauntlet above her head and blocked the incoming blade. The resounding clash of metal against metal made Blake gasp.

"Watcha' doin'?" Yang smiled cheerfully at her partner.

Blake's amber eyes were wide and Yang was close enough to her now to see the light sheen of sweat on her brow. "Yang? I thought you were at the party."

"I was… but then I saw this strange girl sneaking around campus," Yang stood up, moving her raised arm down and away from Blake's still poised sword. Standing slowly, it looked as though Yang was going to back away. But instead she moved her right foot slightly forward and lifted her gauntlets until she had assumed a challenging stance. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think Ozpin would like an unsanctioned sparring match," Blake's tone was serious.

"Oh, don't be so straight-laced. Who's going to know? No one would come this way with all of the bonfire excitement over the opposite direction." Yang shrugged.

Blake eyed her friend for a moment before point out, "You're here," Blake's voice was level and unemotional.

"Yeah, but no one else knows you like I do and would start questioning your motives and stuff. That's my job." Yang pointed her thumbs at herself when she said this but then quickly brought them back to their defensive position near her chin.

Blake thought for a moment, but then pulled her sword back from where it still hung after it's strike. She raised it slightly above her head and also prepared for a playful spar.

"We don't often get to fight one on one like this," the dark haired girl noted.

Yang replied with a grin that could win the coldest heart. She stared hard at Blake for a long moment, bouncing lightly back and forth, each waiting for the other to strike first. Finally, with a wink, Yang stepped forward with a shot of fire blazing out of her left arm.

Blake easily dodged it. A barrage of shots came down on her, which she had to tuck into a somersault to avoid. When she stood, she lashed out at her competitor, which the other blocked. The metals again clashed loudly in the quiet night. Yang responded by aiming a boot towards the side of her face. She slid under it, reaching to divide her weapon so that she could dual wield it. She righted herself and pulled her swords behind her.

Yang was amused by Blake's predatory stance, noticing the very catlike nature of her eyes as they watched Yang's every motion. Yang lifted her gauntlets again. Suddenly, she seemed to switch into a faster gear and began firing off bullet after bullet towards Blake's poised figure. Blake fell into a series of flips to avoid the gunfire, slicing with her swords in an arcing motion as she landed. Yang spun out of the way of the blades and nearly collided with a tree on the furthest edge of the green that they had drifted over towards. She decided to use the landscape to her benefit and leapt towards the tree, digging her heels into the bark, and pushing off once she was in a horizontal position. Her legs flew off of the tree and arced through the air in a smooth flip, landing with a thud on the other side of Blake. She rolled her shoulders in a cocky motion, teasing Blake. The other frowned and flew towards her, swords slashing madly. Yang responded just as passionately and threw her weight into a series of punches and kicks that Blake met perfectly. They circled each other, hands and feet flying as they continually blocked each other's attacks. They were in a deadlock and both of them were grunting in effort. Yang marveled at the speed in which Blake moved, the deftness of her movements, and the strength of her attack. Yang was captivated by the way her dark mane caught the starlight. Had Blake's hair always been that shiny? And why had Yang never noticed just how much Blake's eyes looked like two pieces of amber? Yang's eyes roved over her face, noting the olive undertones of her complexion, the delicate pout of her lips, the way her neck curved elegantly into narrow, but defined shoulders.

Yang was usually very focused when fighting. She wasn't sure whether it was her thoughts traveling through her mind that distracted her or because she didn't really have any beef with Blake but was merely playing. For one reason or another, Yang's eyes followed Blake's body down to her chest where the shadows brought attention to her womanly features. In all things, Blake was subtle, but her beauty was not lost on Yang. That split second gave Blake an opening and she didn't let it slip by her notice. She put all her energy into a jump-kick, pressing one foot into Yang's undefended chest, sending her reeling.

Yang felt the pressure hit her chest, and it sparked the rise of her semblance. Her eyes began to change to a deep red and she felt fire blazing beneath her skin. She felt the air whizzing past her for only a second before her face hit the grass. In another strange phenomenon, the touch of dew and the shock of why she had just been thrown hit her like cold water and calmed the fire rising within her. Her eyes faded back to their normal lavender and she rolled into a heap and lay there quietly a moment, catching her breath. Her eyes caught sight of the stars overhead. Her view was shortly blocked by a black bow coming into sight above her head.

"Yang?" Blake asked, slightly worried and confused. "I didn't hit you that hard. What happened?"

Blake extended her head and Yang grabbed it and hopped back onto her feet. She looked up at the sky so she wouldn't have to look Blake in the eye. She hoped to avoid the question entirely. She stared up at black velvet curtain encrusted with diamonds and tried to deny that there was anything to explain. She had simply messed up. But she knew Blake would challenge that. That sort of sloppy mistake wasn't like Yang. She tried to hide her thoughts from Blake, but she couldn't hide the heat rising in her cheeks.

"Yang," Blake asked more sharply. "What's the matter? You look…sick."

Yang chuckled at Blake's bluntness. She sort of was. Although her sickness was new and confusing and not one any doctor could help her cure. Blake seemed irritated by the laughter and lack of explanation. "Well…" Blake barked slightly in annoyance. "What happened? It's not like you to make such obvious mistakes."

Yang realized that there was no getting out of this now. She adjusted her gaze and, in two steps, bridged the gap between her and Blake. She was within inches of touching Blake. She stared intently into Blake's questioning eyes and…bowed, lifting an open hand to her partner, whose face gave away her growing worry.

"What… what are you doing? Why are you… bowing? Is this about the fight?"

"Will you dance with me?" Yang said softly, face still fixed on her own scuffed boots.

"Dance? There's no music," Blake stated.

Yang was amused by Blake's realistic view of life. She stood up to her full height and in Blake's hesitation, reached out and took her hand. "Of course there is. We have our own chorus of crickets, a whispering breeze, a soft rustling of leaves, the far off ambiance of laughter, and even the heavens seem to be singing over us-we have an entire orchestra right here if we listen hard enough."

Blake shook her and smiled slightly at Yang's annoyingly persistent optimism. She still looked perplexed but caved in the dawn of Yang's smile and relaxed as Yang slipped her left arm around Blake's waist, pulling her into the waltz. Yang rocked Blake in graceful circling movements, spinning them through the music she had created. She peered at Blake, smiling as Blake obliged her in this silliness. Blake seemed to notice her steady gaze and warm embrace and Yang didn't miss the flush that filled her cheeks and the shy way her eyes fell. Yang breathed in deeply in a last attempt to gain courage. Her heart was racing and she was sure she was feverish. She felt shaky and struggled to not allow Blake to know her fear.

Blake watched Yang's face for any sign that she was going to reveal her strange behavior. Yang didn't give any such indication. "What's going on, Yang?" Blake asked impatiently. "Are you upset about something? I know this isn't just about making a mistake when we were sparring. Why won't you talk to me?" Blake stopped moving, but Yang urged her to continue, hands pressing her to move. Yang's eyes fell in shame and she swallowed so hard that Blake seemed regretful of her tone. Her brow softened and she urged, "You know you can talk to me about…anything."

Yang was still looking down but she stopped dancing. Her hands dropped to her sides. "You're right. This isn't just about making mistake. It's about getting distracted."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Blake hurried to encourage her disheartened partner. "You wouldn't be so distracted in a serious match. We were just having fun."

"It's more than that," Yang said. She lifted a palm to her forehead. Surely, she had a fever. She had to be at least 109. Catching Blake's steady gaze, she swallowed again. "It wasn't that I got distracted, but more about what it was that distracted me."

"What was it?" Blake asked after a few second went by with no further explanation from Yang. The silence continued. Yang's head was still downcast and Blake could hear her grinding her teeth the way she did sometimes at night. "Yang, please, just spit it out. You're making me nervous. I don't know why it's so hard to-"

"It was you!" Yang interrupted Blake's scolding with an anguished shout. When she saw Blake's dazed look, she took a deep breath and more slowly and quietly, said, "It was…you…Blake. That distracted me."

Blake's brows furrowed in confusion. "Me? What did I do?"

"Yeah, you," Yang confirmed with a sharp nod. "It wasn't that you did anything… it was just the…" Yang trailed off, her eyes growing wider in dismay as she tried to form words and they refused to accommodate her efforts.

"Just… just what?"

"Just you!" Yang said raggedly, throwing her arms in the air in a shrug. "You looked… good and I got… distracted. That's it." Yang stood quietly, watching as realization slowly came over Blake, her eyes growing wider as it did. This panicked Yang and she went into a quick ramble, "I just followed you down here to make sure you were ok. The sparring just looked like fun. I didn't realize that the moonlight and the goddamn fake alcohol would get in my head and screw me up."

"I… looked good?" Blake asked slowly, as if she were trying to learn an entirely different language.

"Beautiful, actually," Yang corrected before catching herself. When she realized that this didn't help anything, she pulled her lips together, wishing they would stop. Why couldn't she stop babbling? She could have said anything else. 'I'm drunk, Blake' or 'It's a party, Blake' or 'Why so serious, Blake'-any of those would have worked fine. But instead she decided to go with… 'You looked good.' Bravo, Yang chided herself.

After a moment of silence to allow Blake to process her confusing yammering, she looked up to see Blake smiling gently, if not with a slight awkwardness, at her. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Well, sure, who wouldn't?" Yang shrugged, and then painfully realized that this trivialized her feelings. She caught the slightly wounded look on Blake's face and wish she could rephrase… or even better, could just stop living right about now. "What I mean is…of course everyone would think you were beautiful tonight, in the moonlight and your adorable independent training. Who wouldn't, y'know? But, I've seen lots of beautiful women. Hell, I've fought lots of beautiful women. And I never got distracted by them the way I just did. I-I've never been so… captivated."

Blake blushed even more warmly and cast her eyes to the ground. She brushed black hair over her shoulder and swallowed in embarrassment.

Yang saw the sweet smile on Blake's lips and the shadow of her eyelash on her temple as she cast her eyes away. Yang felt a slight bit of courage beginning to seep into her bones. "Blake, I followed you here because I was worried about you. I didn't know why you'd be out here at this time of night, all alone-suspiciously sneaking away into the night."

"Do you not trust me, Yang?" Blake seemed slightly saddened by this possibility.

"Oh of course," Yang hurried to reassure her. "I trust you. Truly. There is no one, besides Ruby, that I'd rather have by my side in a fight…or just in life really." Blake's blush grew stronger and Yang tried to squeeze her hands into fists to keep the trembling in control. "And that's really the heart of the issue…I like having you as a partner. I like being able to trust the person who's got my 6." Yang moved in closer. "But even more, I like the way you care for everyone, casting far less judgement than you've endured in your life. I like the way you've always got your nose buried in your books." When she said this, she grazed a finger across Blake's nose which made Blake flinch in embarrassment. But she didn't move to leave. Yang took this as positive sign and continued. "I like the way your calm keeps me sane. I like that you put up with my antics. I like your sarcastic wit and how you make me laugh." Yang could actually hear the sound of her knees knocking together. She had no idea what possessed her in the next moment, but she grew bold. She brought her hands up and cupped Blake's chin. "I…like you, Blake, in everything you are. My life wouldn't be the same without you and I hope…I hope I don't have to ever see what that's like." Yang saw Blake's eyes sparkling and she could hear her shallow breathing. She felt Blake shivering beneath her fingers and she couldn't tell if it was from the cool air or from Yang's terrifying behavior. But Yang hoped she could handle a little bit more… because there was one thing left. "I hope you don't hate me for this… but I've been dying to try…" Yang leaned in close and placed a soft peck on Blake's waiting lips. For a moment, neither one of them moved. They scarcely breathed. Yang pulled her face back to look in Blake's eyes, begging the fates to not have to face Blake's rage. Her prayer was answered, because Blake's eyes shined with shock, rimmed with excitement. She didn't move. She didn't say anything. Yang looked at her for only one moment before they both leaned in and fell into a loving embrace, their lips joined in a tender kiss.