Chapter 9

Sunshine in a World of Black and White

From atop his unkempt bunk, a napping corgi's ears perked up as the door handle slowly turned and a girl wearing all black peered inside through the crack. Her bow twitched and her sharp eyes surveyed the dim empty room, and his tiny stump began to wag back and forth as she opened the door wider motioning for two other girls to follow.

The shorter was dressed head to toe as his fellow pup and wore her long red blanket that he adored cuddling together with, and his body shivered as the girl with the cool face to lick had the very best fingernails for scratching. Towering over her was the mighty pack leader, the formerly little girl with pigtails who had pulled the two pups in a little red wagon down the hill every day and whose laughter caused the one riding with him infinite joy. She didn't look very happy now, but he knew that would change once her little pup returned safely, it always did.

They made a good team he and the alpha, who was even generous enough to let the beta play as their pack leader on occasion. But while she comforted his fellow pup to the very best of her abilities, only he properly cleaned her face when water leaked from her eyes and correctly treated her knees when she fell. It was his duty after all, and she was the sole reason why the slurring man had brought him home in the first place, and he was always very generous with belly rubs when he was around, and often sent the girl into hysterics even before the alpha jumped in to help.

"It's a dog's life..." muttered the one that always vaguely smelled like cat. "Coast is clear, Ruby must still be downstairs."

His humans were home, but his fellow pup was still missing...

"Told ya."

"Hey watch it, Yang!" cried a sharp voice.

Holding onto the wall for support, the blonde stumbled forward not paying any mind to the small figure she nearly trampled over on her path to the bathroom, unzipping and shrugging off her jacket as she went. Behind her, the figure lowered her hood and watched as the bloodstained garment was unceremoniously tossed across the room onto a sparkly tile floor. The larger girl leaned against the mini-fridge catching her breath, but after realizing where she was retrieved a bottle hidden in the back that had been labeled 'Yang's extra special strawberry juice' which she opened with her teeth, and was emptied and her ruined shirt nearly over her head by the time she took the few agonizing steps into the bathroom where the door was slammed shut and locked behind her.

Neither girl could hardly breathe as their eyes fixated on the wooden door, or more precisely on the disturbing scene before it had closed. Yang tan shoulders and biceps had been completely covered in bandages, but those on her left had been stained crimson like her jacket and appeared as though they'd been through a fire, and those tightly wrapped around her torso looked as though they might have been holding the sides of her body together. And what little skin on her back they'd seen had been bright pink with blotchy discolored patches indicating where her fire had burned its way out.

"At least she's going in there before getting undressed," the pretend caped-girl choked out. "Y-you think she might make a habit of it?"

"What do you think?" Blake replied softly, her bow pinning back as she heard stifled groans and what may have been a weak sob from the other side of the door.

The girl in black reached out with an unsteady hand across the room but it fell by her side hanging uselessly. "Yang..."

The monochrome pair caught each other's eyes where deep shadows resided underneath, and wordlessly dragged themselves to their respective bottom bunks to sit. Zwei, now fully alert after his nap hopped down beside the faunus who was far too tired to be startled, and waited in front of the girl still wearing his favorite blanket to scoop him up. Bringing her frilly boots onto the pristine bed and now safely in her lap, he curled up into a furry ball as his ears were played with by the older pup whose bark was much worse than her bite, and who also had a hidden talent for belly rubs.

Although his favorite perch was from atop the perpetually messy bunk with pictures taped to the wall, he'd grown accustomed of the bottom bed back home as his fellow pup had only climbed to the top when the alpha was away or after a particularly bad dream. In those instances she rarely had to climb up herself though as more often than not a large hand would effortlessly pull her up into a tight embrace and he got to be pleasantly crushed in between his two favorite people.

However, the master of belly rubs' bottom bunk had by far the softest, most comfortable sheets and pillows he had ever sampled, and even had tasty treats hidden under the mattress which made for excellent bribes for when she needed someone to clean her eyes late at night.

"What're we gonna do, puppy-tart?" she asked as if speaking to a small child.

He had no answer besides the occasional whimper while he drooled on her borrowed combat skirt.

*psssshhhh*

The sound of running water came from the other room as the shower kicked on, which for Yang was usually scalding hot and it wasn't uncommon for steam to escape from the unseen gaps of the door frame, as well as the fragrance of her many soaps, shampoos, and conditioners that were only rivaled in strength by Weiss' bubble baths and her own potent cleansers.

Being four girls sharing a small room together, staying clean was simply the convention rather than the rule, especially given the almost daily training exercises that pushed every muscle to its limit and often left combatants soaked in sweat, and bruised if not also bloodied. Of course there were convenient showers in the girls locker room downstairs, but those were rarely used as most female students preferred returning to the place they called home for long soaks in the tub before showering off the day's grunge, even if it meant patiently taking turns or when that wasn't an option, fighting over who got the shower and who got the bathtub with possible rotations while the other two waited their turns.

Their leader was the only one who could seemingly function properly with perspiration drenching her clothes, dirt grated on her skin, and even blood matted in her hair. And because of this, as well as her sense of duty which no one dared argue with, she was usually left with whatever lukewarm water remained after her roommates' lengthy cleansing rituals. Her patience may have had something to do with Crescent Rose's proper maintenance calling for cooler water, but she claimed the bubbles and rubber duck attachment were strictly for aesthetic purposes only and not because she, the duck, and sometimes the dog pretended to hunt aquatic Grimm like her sister and friends suspected she did.

*THUD*

Both girls flinched as something sounding vaguely like a fist being driven into the wall echoed from the bathroom, and was followed by a low moan. Unlike Weiss' angelic voice or even those who couldn't help but try to emulate or sing duets in the bathroom with her, the wonderful acoustics did nothing to help the forlorn voice from sounding any less haunting.

Zwei appeared not to have noticed the disturbance as his eyes had glazed over not long before closing, but the hand rubbing his belly began to shake as she remembered the bloody knuckles and injured arms cradled against the girl's chest, as well as the unforgettable image of a broken body lying in a crater filling with blood and black tar while a small girl sobbed because her heart had been ripped out. A feeling that was shared between her friends.

Absently, Weiss massaged her bandaged arm mimicking the methodical movements on the corgi, and glanced up at the clock on the far wall surprised by how late it was and that the fourth member of the team still hadn't returned. She hardly cared if she was caught impersonating her partner now. She just wished for everyone to be where they belonged.

Perhaps it was only because the shadows under her eyes, but the cozy room seemed much darker than she remembered, and far chillier than the city they had left behind. The trek back to the dorm had been long and tiring with the larger girl resting on their shoulders most of the way. Once they reached the campus however, the proud girl somehow managed to walk on her own leading them and giving the few students still roaming the halls good reason to have nightmares for the next week. Not only because of the crimson glare she gave to any eyes that lingered on her figure too long, something already very uncharacteristic of her, but also because whoever tore Yang Xiao Long's jacket and caused her to bleed wasn't likely to be conscious anytime soon, and wouldn't be very thankful if they ever woke again.

Not a word had been said to them as the huntsmen in-training had far too much common sense and self-preservation to needlessly risk their lives, and with the Schnee heiress noticeably absent it made them nervous that the constant death threats she made to the fiery blonde's younger sister might've finally pushed her over the edge, not that too many would've blamed her.

Even their small, happy-go-lucky leader gave them adequate reason to keep their distance and voices low. The faceless figure beneath the cloak was neither happy-go-lucky nor did she skip down the halls with sweet smelling rose petals following her. Instead, she had marched behind her sister in a no-nonsense yet dignified manner with deceptively loud stomps for such a petite girl that mirrored her cold demeanor, and caused the already frightened students to wonder whether the stories of her grisly injuries were simply rumor or if perhaps she was even tougher than the wild tales of her killing hundreds of adult Grimm with already torn muscles and tattered feet made her out to be.

A terrifying thought to be sure, but all too believable for those who knew her older sister...

The girl in black hadn't been given a second glance but that wasn't too unusual considering who her partner was, and self-admittedly she preferred keeping to the shadows of her friends and rather enjoyed watching the unlucky students scattering from the school's most dangerous sisters, and hearing what others had to say about the knockout and her hyperactive sister behind their backs was always amusing.

They'd been grateful that Jaune had been revived at some point so they didn't have to step over him being as exhausted as they were, but Blake was especially glad as he was likely telling stories of how the once sweet and innocent Ruby Rose had turned into a shrieking cold blooded monster before his very eyes.

"Do you think Ruby's alright?" Weiss asked, breaking the silence as well as the other girl's scattered train of thought.

Blake seemed to ponder her words for a moment but finally nodded. "I'll go check on her in a little while, but Yang was probably right earlier about her being asleep. And I don't think either of us could stop her from carrying Ruby back up here."

"That's not what I meant," she breathed, knowing she hadn't been misunderstood. "I'm talking about the papers she was wanting. Did you get a good look at them?"

She shook her head. "Better than you, but I didn't understand half that stuff. To be honest I've never actually even seen a copy of my aura charts. I just thought the spike in her aura looked strange and was going off both of your reactions."

"What about that hospital record?" Weiss barely choked out. "Did you see anything else, other than the part about B-Beowolves?" She kept an unsteady hand tickling the corgi's belly, but with the other she brushed red tipped hair out of her eyes then began twirling one of the cross pendants fastened to the cape as if it were already a nervous habit.

"No," Blake lowered her head. "All I saw was what looked like a report about a Beowolf victim, and given the circumstances that's something I'd rather not read. And seeing how quickly Yang set it on fire, I know she didn't want us reading it either..."

A hush fell upon the room and both girls' eyes slowly drifted toward the cloak. "Do you think it was about her mom?" Weiss whispered, her hand tracing patterns on the soft fabric. "Ruby's mom, I mean."

Blake bit her lip as the smaller girl's hand drifted toward her belt where beneath the cloak Myrtenaster had been hiding from prying eyes, and when she finally found the ability to speak again the room's temperature plummeted and every scathing word she uttered was visible in the air.

"If I'd thought for one second that miserable fiend was going to give Ruby a copy of her mother's death certificate. and had been wanting to see her reaction when she read it, I'd have-"

"Me too..." Blake met the cold eyes with her own and played with the dark hair over her shoulder revealing the hilt of a katana.

Weiss seeing the sincerity in her plumed words nodded, and a moment later the room temperature returned to normal but both could still feel a bitter chill.

"I just realized we never got to talk about this morning," she said between labored breaths. "Did you see the look on Yang's face when Professor Ozpin gave Ruby that huntsman emblem?"

For a moment Blake's face was one of confusion, but slowly it turned to surprise that it had only been earlier that day they'd been called to Goodwitch's office thinking her partner had gotten them all in trouble again, possibly due to the frequent delivery boys passed out in front of their door, only to receive the headmaster's praise and their leader a reward.

"Yeah, I saw it. Ruby said their uncle has one just like it, but I'm guessing Yang doesn't see that as a good thing. And I'd wager a guess that's who Yang was messaging before she caught up with us."

Weiss nodded but furrowed her brow. "Have you ever heard of 'The Guardian's Token' before?"

The girl in black shrugged. "Of course, but nothing Ozpin didn't say or you wouldn't already know. The huntsmen of old carried them to show which kingdom they'd sworn to protect, even if it'd gone through half a dozen name changes since the time they were born. They stopped being carried some time after the academies were built, which was around when the monarchies fell..."

She glanced up looking expectantly but the affluent girl with a bed imported all the way from Atlas didn't seem to notice.

"If this wasn't all happening at once I would've just assumed the two of them were being petty about their uncle again and fighting over who's his favorite."

Despite her exhaustion and deep rooted worry, Blake couldn't help but smile fondly at the sisterly rivalry that could become rather violent at the drop of a hat but forgotten just as suddenly. She'd lost count how many times she'd witnessed the elder get punched in the face only for her to laugh it off and sit on the younger's chest, tickling her long after she had begged for mercy.

"They make such compelling arguments," she remarked dryly.

Her smile turned infectious and Weiss' head rocked back in laughter with Blake soon joining her. While neither found the remark particularly humorous, they felt lightheaded from the last drops adrenaline wearing off and to say the sisters were a little over the top would've been a serious understatement, but to speak anything less of them would almost feel disrespectful for how much they had come to mean to the both of them.

"How did we wind up with the craziest pair of partners?" Weiss asked between indignant snorts, covering her bright face.

Blake somewhat regained her composure and gave a sheepish grin that was mirrored across from her almost instantly.

"Because they make us better people, and we keep them from killing themselves."

The pair fell silent as the truth rang clear for them both. They could still remember what life had been like before sharing a room with such quirky sisters, and neither was particularly proud of who they'd once been. Deep down they liked to believe who they were now had simply been waiting for Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long to pull them out of the cold and the darkness, but who their former selves had been was still too fresh in their minds. They had smiled and laughed more in the passing months than they had their entire lives, and although they gave the sisters the bulk of the credit for their transformations, much was also quietly given to each other despite neither particularly believing their own pardons were deserved.

Weiss politely stifled a yawn as the long night along with sore muscles and aura exhaustion began catching up with her smaller frame, and listening to the hypnotic sounds of running water she tried rubbing the sleep out of her eyes but inevitably gravity won a hard fought battle. Leaning against the leg of the top bunk with a sleeping corgi still in her lap, she hummed a soft tune reminiscent of a lullaby while Blake's eyes lingered where her makeup had smeared.

She swallowed as something tightened in her chest as well as her throat. "I'm sorry for what happened, with the faunus I mean..." Her words had been spoken so softly she half expected not to have been heard by the dozing girl, and almost wished she hadn't.

"I told you not to worry about it," Weiss admonished lazily. "I was the bait and had the both of you watching my back, and they weren't the first faunus to try and kill me."

A sharp knife twisted in Blake's chest heating up the longer she watched the impassive face with its only flaw no longer concealed.

"Listen, Weiss." Her heart quickened and her mouth became increasingly dry. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you..."

Finally, at the urgency of her friend's distraught voice, Weiss' eyes fluttered open and stared back into the faunus' whose were remorseful and entirely focused on the left side of her face.

"I-It's about-"

"I don't wanna hear it," she snapped, causing the dark haired girl to wince as something cold stirred out of hibernation.

Weiss brushed the red tips away this time deliberately smearing her makeup. After the damage was done, she awkwardly reached under her bunk and a moment later retrieved a blue cloth of fine material that was contrary to her cool skin. With gentle strokes the warm cloth began removing the many layers of makeup from her face, and all the while Blake watched feeling almost self-conscious of a task normally kept private and not too unlike accidentally seeing her indecent.

Rarely had the heiress' roommates ever seen her without even a light layer of makeup as she normally waited until the lights were out for bedtime before removing it, and occasionally even slept in a special brand. Rising every morning, she would drag herself past the steaming hot coffee poured and expertly doctored by her partner just the way she like it in order to reapply a heavy, albeit graceful face over her own in the privacy of the other room.

Due to Yang's earlier assistance, the task was made longer than usual but once her practiced hand was finished, Weiss set the cloth aside and her pale face stared across the room as if there was nothing strange about the unprecedented moment, and that Blake wasn't clearly unsettled by it.

"Now, if you have anything else you'd like to discuss-"

"Please," her hoarse voice cracked sounding almost painful. "I need to get this off my chest or else-"

"And I told you I don't want to hear it."

With her sharp tone conveying she being perfectly content with silence, Blake's gaze fell to the floor in order to hide the slowly accumulating mist in her eyes. Bringing her boots onto the bed, she pressed her knees against her chest and hung her head in between.

"If I told you any of the things I'd done or been a part of with the White Fang, would that change anything between us?"

When her morose question didn't receive an immediate answer, she contemplated crawling beneath the covers still dressed and await sleep that wasn't likely to come that night, but with willpower she didn't know she possessed, Blake glanced up just as the other girl turned away toward the makeup mirror sitting on the desk, scowling at the imperfect face glaring back at her.

"Blake, in case you haven't realized by now but I'm very good at holding grudges, and I've held them since I was a little girl." There was sadness and just as much bitterness in her small voice, but she spoke plainly almost sounding comfortable with a tone that was all too familiar to her lips, and Blake's sharp eyes couldn't help but notice her hand balled into a fist and her dull nails leaving red marks in her flesh.

"I will never be able to shake hands with a faunus without thinking of the time my uncle did seconds before fell over dead with a hole where his shriveled black heart used to be. For the rest of my life I will remember the Christmas where over a dozen board members were executed while their families watched, and when I made the unfortunate mistake of asking Father when the guests were to arrive..."

Her lip curled and her features tightened as a gust of wintry flurries blew through the room. "We might not have the cleanest hands, but the only reason Schnee deaths aren't as common anymore is because we're running out of family members to bury..."

Blake felt numbness and malaise throughout her body as her shadow began to shrink, but before it could disappear completely the girl opposite from her cleared her throat and spoke with a warmth not too unlike the sisters, particularly the elder.

"However, you should also know by now that the answer to your question is no, Blake," she said emphatically, her curled lip twitching. "We have been friends far too long and been through far too much for it to suddenly change now, but..." Weiss played with the silky wig in her eyes fighting the stinging sensation she felt. "But it would really, really hurt to hear you say what I can already guess, and I can't promise I wouldn't say or do something stupid that I would immediately regret again."

Blake's heart having skipped a few beats, wasn't sure if she'd misheard or simply imagined her words, and honestly wasn't exactly sure what she'd been wanting to hear.

Weiss let out a deep breath blowing the red tips from her face just as she'd seen countless times. "The night you ran away I regretted everything I'd said almost immediately, not because what I said isn't how I honestly feel about the faunus, but because it hurt you. I wasn't angry or stopped trusting you because you're a faunus, because truthfully, before I met the three of you I liked about as many faunus as I did regular humans, and that included family."

Her lip twitched again as they both knew what she said was the truth, and that the girl across from her wasn't too dissimilar.

"It was that you didn't trust us when we-" She swallowed what felt like razor blades "When I trusted you. And yes, I suppose finding out you were once a member of a terrorist organization sworn to kill every Schnee may not have helped matters, but I still went out looking for you the next day with both Ruby and Yang, which I deserve a medal for."

A friendly smile crept on Blake's face and when she looked up saw another looking back at her twice as wide.

"So please, Blake, whatever it is please bury it, at least for now. What I don't know won't hurt me, and it'll keep me from doing something stupid like hurting the four of us again."

Blake sniffled wiping her eyes and nodded. "I will, and thank you..." Her grin widened as a sweet scent caused her nose to twitch. "You know, what you said kinda reminds me of someone..."

The caped-girl followed her eyes down at the cloak then at the somewhat restrictive corset and shrugged.

"Let's not be too hasty now, but I suppose being Ruby's partner it was inevitable some of her less doltish traits would begin to rub off. And I suppose being either completely clueless or being able to turn the other cheek even when your sister comes home reeking of decadence aren't the worst qualities to have..." Weiss paused looking as though she were having difficulty sounding out her next words. "And I suppose neither is being able to forgive and have sympathy for a hundred wretched men on a train who weren't the least bit deserving of kindness, and losing sleep because of them even though there was nothing you could've done to save them right after they just tried to murder you, your sister, your friends, and everyone in your city..."

She slowly twirled the cross pendant closest to her heart and shook her head incredulously.

"Maybe one day I'll be more like her, but right now we're all better off if I'm kept in the dark about what you did in the past, and that for instance I don't know the specifics of how a Schnee train was stolen by the White Fang." She gave an ever so slight crooked smirk. "Blake, whatever you want forgiveness for, it's yours. I don't have much to give right now and it might very be all I ever have, but it's more than you'll ever need from me, and I'd be very appreciative if you could say the same thing to about a sometimes difficult and fussy Schnee that you share a room with."

Blake chuckled and opened her mouth to speak but to her surprise nothing came out. Across from her, Weiss didn't say a word nor did her friendly expression change, but being together for so long the dark haired girl knew where to look to find evidence that the Ice Queen did in fact have emotions and feelings, and without all the layers of makeup it was plain to see the hurt beginning to creep into her all too understanding eyes.

Being born a faunus in the unforgiving land of Menagerie, hating the northern kingdom of Atlas was almost like a birthright for her kind, but words weren't strong enough to describe how those in the White Fang felt for a particular family that went from ruling kingdoms on thrones to bankrupting them from lofty skyscrapers because of an old dust mine once thought to be empty.

The girl sitting across from her wasn't the only one who remembered that particular Christmas several years ago, or the day one of the faunus' most vocal adversaries was assassinated by a never to be forgotten martyr. She remembered those tragic days well because they had been ones of great celebration for her brothers and sisters, and especially for him...

"You're not your family," Blake said at last, having a slight bitter taste to her mouth. "And being a Schnee isn't a crime, but it might be awhile until my doltish partner completely rubs off on me too. If there's anything you believe you need forgiveness for which you shouldn't, it's yours, Weiss."

The heiress stared and this time even the faunus had difficulty reading her expression. "Then I believe they've got their work cut out for them, but seeing how much damage they've done in four months I'm sure Ruby and Yang will have us straightened out by four years time."

Both girls snorted and naturally their gazes fell to the cloak, combat skirt, boots, wig, and of course corset. Their eyes met with Weiss' not so subtly drifting towards the unkempt bunk above the other girl's head before adjusting the top of her corset with an innocent grin that was anything but.

Blake glanced down at herself with speckles of scarlet on her cheeks. "Granted I have far less to show off than her, but I'm not wearing a crop top and short shorts with an ammo belt for a mini-skirt, all of which barely cover her-"

*click*

Startled faces turned just as steam rushed out the open door and a tall shapely figure came into view posing against the door frame with a heavy belt across her shoulder and a wet towel laying on the floor. Long locks fell below her waist having a golden sheen despite being damp, and she wore a low cut orange tank top that would've exposed her midriff if not for her fresh yellow bandages, as well as black shorts that gave a substantial view of her long legs except for her right thigh and knee which were also covered.

Staring back at the surprised girls, she glanced down at herself lingering for awhile with a sultry smile that looked as though it might slip off the side of her face.

"I believe the word you're looking for is assets..."

She chuckled lightly while the pair blinked wondering how long ago the shower had turned off, and immediately became suspicious whether the flippant blonde's hard of hearing had more to do with her tuning everything out rather than what they'd believed was the direct result of the years of shooting guns and playing loud music which the sisters were both so very fond of.

What left them speechless however was seeing their roommate in something other than long sleeves and pants which she had worn everyday since the mission, going so far as to volunteer for laundry duty just to make sure her limited supply didn't run out every other day. Even her pajamas had been uncharacteristically consisting of sweatpants and baggy shirts which would've been unflattering on anyone except her, which along with having impossibly perfect hair, her friends couldn't help being the least bit annoyed and envious of.

That was the Yang they had come to expect as of late which while unsettling neither girl was going to complain about her newfound modesty, but perhaps as a sign of trust and/or humility, she had dug around the bathroom's cupboard where along with spare towels they each kept a few extra pair of pajamas, and in the heiress' case conservative nightgowns, as well as a change of comfortable clothes for convenience.

And luckily for the boisterous blonde, Weiss' frequent comments about her 'scraps of cloth' being able to fit in tiny zip-lock bags wasn't completely unfounded, meaning she could store twice as much in less than half the room, which came in handy considering the four girls' closet, dressers, bathroom cupboard, and many other imaginative storage spaces were overflowing with huntress attire, casual wear, uniforms, pajamas, dresses, and an assortment of other clothes half of which had never been worn, along with what may have been the most varied yet colorful shoe collection in all of Remnant.

Barefoot and freshly showered with pruned pink skin, the pair sitting on their bunks noted that her facial bruising had almost completely healed but dozens were still lingering about her body which seemed to be held together by bright yellow bandages that also covered her chest and shoulders as well as biceps. The girls shook their heads not only amazed that she could still stand on her feet, but also that her wrappings resembled athletic tape and didn't look at all unseemly tightly wrapped around her form.

It was no secret that Yang Xiao Long was proud of her body, and that if she went to the trouble of covering it she had good reason and would still somehow manage to look as though she belonged on the cover of a beauty magazine. Normally the only proof she carried on her body that she was a huntress in-training at all were the callouses on her hands, but even those came and went as she pleased due to her aura, and seemingly only stuck around because of a little girl who found comfort in the rougher hands of her fierce protector.

"So, what do ya think?" She motioned down at herself. "We getting free food tonight?" With half lidded eyes and a crooked grin, she watched the monochrome pair waiting for any sort of reaction, but when nothing satisfactory to her standards was found she detached herself from the doorway with a grimace and a slight limp. Although the terrible injuries she'd sustained weeks prior were on near full display for the first time since their time in the hospital together, more than anything she looked exhausted with the shadows under her eyes darker than their own.

Hobbling over to the desk, she dropped her stylish ammo belt with its skirt-like satchels beside the mirror nearly knocking it over in the process, and gritting her teeth she gingerly lifted a bare leg over the chair sitting backwards with her arms folded over the back to rest her head. As the smaller girls tended to be the only ones who sat at the desk, the seat or 'kiddie chair' as she called it, sat lower to the ground causing the much larger girl to slouch uncomfortably with her long legs outstretched and her lifeless body practically hanging over the back support.

Her eyes had been closed during the painful process but when they reopened, cloudy lilac found the heiress where they quickly softened.

"You look better without makeup, Weiss," she said matter-of-factly. "You really do."

Blake's breath caught as she slowly turned unsure what sort of reaction might erupt, but the pale girl's face simply remained impassive before averting her gaze.

The partners' eyes caught but if Yang heard any of the conversation from the other room while stealthily drying and bandaging herself she wasn't letting on. Instead, she continued brandishing that sideways smirk of her's that always left them guessing whether she already knew the secrets of the universe or only somewhat reliably knew her way to class and regularly misplaced things.

"Listen," Yang breathed, the pinkness of her face slowly departing. "I know we can't just pretend that tonight never happened, and that the two of you deserve some answers after everything you've been through." She clapped her hands excitedly and rubbed them together. "So if you have any questions you better ask now before the pizza gets here or else somebody is going to puke watching me talk with my mouth full."

All eyes including the stirring corgi's turned to the caped-girl who seemed to be fighting nausea just from thinking about it.

"First of all," she stated, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms over her chest. "Your sleep attire barely constitutes as half-decent undergarments, which I'm sure by now are all in the dirty clothes bin awaiting decontamination..."

Yang again glanced down looking mildly pleased with herself and batted her eyelashes. What she was wearing now wasn't much different from what she usually wore in public.

"You shouldn't knock comfort til you've tried it, princess," she said eyeing the corset. "But I guess it's a good thing that I'm doing laundry the day after tomorrow then. And speaking of comfort, would you like to see what I wear to bed back at home? Or when I'm vacationing in someone else's bed? Or when I don't have prudes for roommates?"

Weiss' face turned various shades of red as the girl played with the hem of her top as well as her shorts, and Blake jokingly turned her head chuckling and knowing full well that despite the beach girl's comfortableness in her own skin and brash attitude to go along with her sense of humor, her pajamas were hardly indecent by most standards but especially due to her bandages. Blake also knew she had lived with her father at her former school and shared a bedroom with her younger sister then as well, and granted what she was wearing likely wouldn't ever be worn by her more bashful roommates, this was also the same peevish heiress who for months hadn't even let her kneecaps and elbows show in front of three girls who she happened to share a room with.

"Have you no shame?" Weiss often accused her of shamelessly flaunting which Yang never bothered denying, but as her other roommates pointed out, it wasn't as though she had to try particularly hard to get attention, if at all. Even in her dark jeans which admittedly were a little snug, and her jacket which admittedly had not been purchased with the intent of ever hiding her eye-catchy low-hanging gold necklaces, she couldn't help but garner attention and enjoy it everywhere she went.

Yang shrugged raising her arms over her head. "Not really, but that doesn't mean a whole lot coming from someone who showers in a one piece bathing suit and has probably never seen herself naked."

Blake covered her mouth to keep from crying out which resulted in a series of loud snorts, and after a moment of watching the outrageous scene even Weiss had to look away hiding a tiny grin. Both silently applauded the blonde's ability to lighten the mood, and a small rush of adrenaline went through their tired bodies even after everything they'd been through together.

A pleased look crossed Yang's face seeing her friends laugh, and let out a breath she might've been holding since arriving back at the dorm.

"So before dinner gets here, what would you like to talk about?"

"Before that," Weiss said once the lack of color in her face returned. "Yang, at this rate Ruby will be be ready for the Vytal Festival before you, and you're going to be back in the hospital growling at anyone who tries to help you."

Yang scratched the back of her neck looking unconcerned. While they all knowingly lied to each other about their injuries looking more severe than they felt on an almost daily basis, during their extended hospital stay she had gone so far as to set her injury report on fire in front of the doctor and her friends without even a second glance. As huntresses in-training, pain and soreness was something they had all grown accustomed to and intimately familiar with, but to them Yang almost seemed to relish in it, especially since returning from the mission.

"I'm doing everything I can, but even my aura can't work miracles."

"Bull," the caped-girl said frankly. "We know exactly how strong you are and we've seen how fast you can heal when you put your mind to it." She made a circle around her face. "But every time your aura recharges just a little you waste it all and set yourself back days if not weeks, maybe even months at the rate you're going."

Weiss set Zwei atop the corgi-shaped pillow she was currently borrowing from her partner, and like Blake stared intently at the yellow bandages that were covering a chest that seemed to have difficulty in rising regularly, and recalled all the times Yang held her sides while laughing at her own jokes, as well as the muttered curses whenever she sneezed or moved too suddenly.

"Alright fine," Yang snapped, raising her voice as well as her posture. "Maybe I'd rather be the one who keeps us from entering the tournament rather than seeing Rubes keep blaming herself for something that isn't her fault! Let's be honest here, at this rate she's not gonna have close to the minimal aura reserves to enter, and even if she stocks up on aura by ignoring the mess her body's in she won't be in any shape to actually fight."

She stared daggers into the smaller girl who quickly bowed up not willing to back down.

"Sounds sweet, and if we're being honest here maybe you just like showing off to the world that not even broken bones, cracked ribs, torn muscles, second degree burns, and a massively bruised ego can slow the great Yang Xiao Long down from getting guys fawning all over her." Her eyes narrowed and her voice darkened. "Or maybe Blake and I were right about this being some sort of sick punishment or atonement for your sister getting hurt."

Across the room, raw knuckles cracked as they were tightened into a fist. "Maybe you should keep your mouth shut before-"

"Before what?" Weiss cried. "You stumble over here and fall on me? I'm surprised we didn't have to send in a search party while you were in the shower."

A wicked grin crossed the girl's face as her eyes dully flickered. "I would've had volunteers lining out the door more than willing to administer CPR, and I'm still more than capable of shutting up a tiny princess with a big mouth."

"Are you sure about either-"

"Stop it both of you," Blake said firmly yet at the same time in a lazy fashion. She knew from the way her partner's jaw was set that something had cut deep, but also that Weiss could also become a little cranky late at night the same way Yang did when she was hungry.

Both girl's shoulders relaxed but while the heiress' face softened, the blonde's seemed to almost crumble staring back.

"Sorry..." she mumbled. "If it makes you feel better, both of you deserve way more volunteers than I do. But out of curiosity, right now would either of you have been in that line to help me?"

She tried to laugh but it came out more like a wheeze, and she was unable to cover what sounded to the pair like uncertainty and perhaps a cry for help.

"Yang," her partner soothed, looking up from her yellow bandages to her misty eyes with her own. "No more using your aura to lift motorcycles over your head and getting guys to pass out from heatstroke. Like it or not you're the only reason we would actually stand a chance in the tournament next month, and because of you we wins fights that we have no business being a part of. If you keep this up, you really are going to wind up in the hospital again, or worse..."

Her tired voice had cracked on every other word and with each time caused Yang's eyes to well up.

"That also means no more flaring your aura just to make us feel better," Weiss added kindly. "Thank you for doing it really, but we'd rather you save it for yourself right now."

"We can't stand seeing you like this, Yang," her partner nearly whimpered. "We honestly can't and neither can your sister. 'When one heart's grieved so are the other three'. That's not just some motto that the academies teach so we feel closer together, it's the truth. We share our literal souls with each other much less our lives, and more than anyone you're the heart of this team, and whenever you suffer it feels like it's being violently ripped out of us. When you thought Ruby was dead and it felt like your entire life was over, but you weren't the only one who who felt that gaping hole in their chest, and that's exactly how we felt seeing your lifeless body in that crater with your skin charred and blood pouring out when you saved us..."

Yang's eyes fell to the ground unable to stand it any longer. To say she hadn't been feeling well as of late would've been an extreme understatement, but she had hoped that her control and mastery over her aura would be enough to at least disguise that painful fact. Having your aura unlocked came at the cost of wearing your soul on your sleeve for everyone else to see, but for teammates and especially partners it meant sharing a friendship that went deeper than intimacy or anything else that could be put into words. A physical pain was shared when the other parts of their soul were separated too long, as well as a sense of longing for them to be back together. In effect, all selfishness had to be stripped away along with all thoughts of 'self' so as to combat an unrelenting darkness that was the very definition of fear and terror.

Already, Weiss was perhaps as close to her little sister in just four months as she herself was after all their heartbreaking wonderful years together, and her own partner wasn't far behind. It had been unsettling at first as it had felt as though she was sharing something invaluable and easily broken with complete strangers, and more than once in the beginning it had brought out an overprotective streak for a little girl who until recently had crawled into bed with her at least twice a week not even bothering to hide tears, and couldn't help having felt a twinge of jealousy sharing something beyond priceless even if it was overshadowed by a sense of peace that she hadn't felt in a very long time.

They each tried to respect what little privacy was left and give each other space as so much of themselves was shared already, but Yang's body was practically the embodiment of her radiant soul which was best described as having been 'kissed by the sun'. When she was happy it was like feeling an irresistible force of infectious joy from simply being around her, but when in the rare cases she was gloomy it felt as though the sun was hiding behind the clouds and would never come out again. Those times luckily however were as infrequent as her losing her short temper which was often mistaken for her reminding her sister and friends who the 'pack leader' was. And despite her many quirks, just hearing her warm laugh caused one's heart to join her no matter how hideously awful the joke or wordplay.

But due to her physical semblance being tied directly to her emotions, her arguably greatest asset was also a double edge sword that caused more than just her aura and its healing factor to feel her suffering. While normally well hidden from her best friends, now without shame she did nothing to conceal how it felt as though her body, soul, and mind were being pulled apart due to their powerful connection.

"Yeah, okay..." she said at last, cradling her arms against her chest as a slight shiver ran through her. Normally her warm aura had a soothing effect like morning sunshine that washed over three other girls who usually needed the sun much more than herself, but right now all she felt was a chill that she was desperately wanted to attribute to the window being open and her lack of clothing.

"We know how you feel," Weiss comforted. "We really do, but Ruby's getting around better and-"

"Better in that she's actually able to walk a little in padded boots without immediately falling to the ground in tears," Yang corrected, staring down at her bare feet and imagining taking scissors to them.

The other girl swallowed and slowly nodded. "Yes, I suppose you could say it that way, and you're probably right that we'll miss the tournament and that she'll blame herself just like you're doing right now. But when that time comes you're not the only who'll be there for her."

"We'll be there, just like we're here for you." The partners' eyes met again but Yang turned away kicking at the carpet.

"Ruby getting hurt isn't your fault and you can't keep going on like this," Blake said kindly, attempting to express all her feelings into words. "How do you expect to protect your sister and us if you can't even protect yourself?"

Yang glanced down at herself this time actually taking in the sorry state her body which despite being on display in front of her friends without any self-consciousness, alone in private with her bloodstained clothes and bandages covering the bathroom floor, she had tearfully gazed at an unfamiliar body in the mirror more self-conscious of herself than she'd ever been at the beaches back home, and she bit her lip as old words came back to haunt her and probe at fresh wounds.

"Okay, okay," she said at last, rubbing her temples. "I'm not promising I won't still use my aura when I feel like it, but I'll try to be less stupid about it..."

"And blaming yourself for Ruby getting hurt?" Weiss inquired.

Yang looked up with something rekindling in her eyes. "When it comes to my baby sister or my family getting hurt, I can hold grudges very easily."

The heiress held her gaze which quickly became as cold as her voice. "I suppose that makes two of us then."

"Three," Blake added quietly. "And the less said about those men in the city the better..."

The girls were silent as the aura around Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud shimmered as if responding to their owner's thoughts and desires, giving them as well as the team's older sister a sense of unity that didn't disturb them in the slightest.

"Speaking of which," Weiss cleared her throat. "Let's talk about what that wretch gathered for Ruby."

Yang slowly nodded. "Alright, where do you wanna start?"

"Let's start with your mom," Blake said, her eyes twinkling. "Yang, why would you burn a picture of your own mother?"

Her partner's eyes shined like her's own before closing. After a moment of hesitation, she reached back into the satchels of her ammo belt and without even looking, retrieved a photo that was effortlessly flung across the room landing on the faunus' bed where she was still hugging her knees to her chest.

"Because ever since I can remember, I've stared at that picture imagining what she was like, and that copy didn't do her justice."

Blake stared at the photo that landed in front of her instantly recognizing it as the one her partner had burned, the only difference being that the colors were sharper meaning the young woman was somehow even more stunning, something she didn't think possible. Carefully, she picked up the image by its sides already condemning the other as a poor imitator, and could tell that great care had been taken in preserving it over the years. She briefly noted the young woman sitting in a position that needlessly drew attention to her half buttoned white dress shirt and her red skirt that was in need of a few inches, but because of its better quality Blake was able to make out the finer details she had previously missed, such as the black feathers in her dark hair possibly being extensions, and what she'd presumed was a photo error appeared to be a white mask angled off to the side of her face.

Something cold pressed against her chest the closer she examined, but she was only able to make out the obscured object from the side, and her gaze just like countless others was naturally drawn to her crimson eyes with their faint pupils and her genuinely warm smile that was somewhat offset by the amorous expression she was giving the camera that was possibly even more suggestive than her clothing which radiated confidence just like someone else she knew.

Once again she held it up to her partners profile and shook her head while letting out an awed breath. The likeness between mother and daughter was incredible, so much so that Blake couldn't help being unnerved as it felt as though she had known the teenage girl in the photo for several years to the point her aura was as familiar as her own, and knowing what became of her caused a hollowness in the faunus' chest, especially when looking at her just as stunning daughter and knowing that her partner and future broken husband had been the one holding the camera.

"Your mom was really beautiful, Yang. And you look just like her."

She smiled and nodded in thanks. "Rubes must've made a copy when I wasn't looking. All she had to do was ask and I could've given her an extra, I've got more than plenty, but you've probably noticed by now that we don't exactly talk about my mom very much. She probably thought I'd be suspicious, and she would've been right..."

A sense of awkwardness filled the room as Yang mindlessly played with her hair, leaving the other girls to fidget and stare at the photo uncomfortably. The older girl's mother wasn't something off limits to talk about when the younger was in the room, but unlike her sister it did make her noticeably uncomfortable, like they were now. Their leader's admiration and sadness for her was always apparent when she was brought up, but so was her self-consciousness of a breathtaking woman who could've never been replaced as either a wife or a mother, even if that mother had been her own.

"I know Rubes chose that photo because she knows it's my favorite. Say what you will about my mom and that particular photo, but she was the most powerful huntress in the world, and when I look at that picture I see the world's most beautiful woman who was loved by everyone almost as much as she loved them, and who wasn't ashamed of being who she was, and died with only one regret..."

Yang swallowed as something painful crossed her face. Stories and her imagination had taken the place of any vague memories she might've had of the woman, but those painted a beautiful picture that not even her photos could compare with. "To me she will always be the absolute best ever, but I know it has to hurt Rubes when she sees pictures like this."

Neither girl knowing what to say glanced back down at the photo in Blake's hand and having stared long enough, she stretched from her bed across the middle of the room and carefully handed it to Weiss whose eyes widened finally able to see the young woman without squinting.

"The two of you could be sisters," she complimented, trying to hide scarlet cheeks. "You even dress like her..."

Yang nodded again but her smile was forced as she was unwilling to let on how much the comment stung. Just one person saying she and her mother looked like sisters was more than had ever said she and her half-sister looked even remotely related. It wasn't uncommon for strangers to think that calling each other 'sis' so frequently was simply a formality between close friends as was the custom in Mistral, of which the elder had a slight accent from their father, and even some of their own classmates believed they were stepsisters or perhaps cousins with the younger girl having been raised by the elder's family.

Weiss and Blake's own first impressions of the strikingly different sisters was something neither would admit aloud in fear of hurting either of their best friends, and the faunus kept to herself that she heard the same almost daily behind their backs.

Yang was tall, blonde, muscular yet curvy, and was a knockout by all accounts who both looked and acted the part of having lived on the beach surrounded by captivated and jealous onlookers her entire life, and also wouldn't have looked out of place on the cover of a swimsuit magazine. Her younger sister on the other hand despite being descriptively strong was petite at just above five feet, and had much fairer skin along with dark hair with red highlights that until recently fell in her eyes. And while described as being 'cute', to Ruby it always sounded like the way adults talk about children as if they're not in the room listening, which was further evident whenever her sister smiled like a pleased parent.

It didn't help matters that her classmates regardless of her remarkable skill still viewed her as a child, which was one of her sister's greatest regrets about taking her away from the boys her own age who hardly even shaved yet and weren't quickly becoming men. Perhaps because of this, she endlessly comforted and teased her little sister that she'd be a knockout herself in a couple of years with guys hanging off each arm once she grew into her curves, but Ruby didn't seem to be in a particular hurry or too terribly bothered as she usually kept any and all curves concealed beneath a red cloak and long clothing. All to the elder's chagrin of course who simply didn't want her baby sister to feel like the outsider she truthfully was.

"Thanks..." Yang said filling the awkward silence of her partner staring at her and Weiss' glancing up and down between the photo and herself.

"I'm still a little confused," Blake said, hugging her knees to her chest again. "Why would Ruby take a picture of your mom to an info broker?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, she probably just thought she was doing me a favor. There are things my dad and uncle don't talk about, and I sometimes go looking for answers myself about what happened to her."

"And what exactly did happen to her?" Weiss flinched as the words escaped without them meaning to, causing Yang's face to sour. Just as she began to apologize, the taller girl gave her partner a shameful look.

"Remember awhile back when I told you I'd been looking for answers about what happened to my mom?" Blake nodded. "Well, I wasn't exactly telling the whole truth..." Yang took a deep breath mentally cursing herself, but at the same time knew this should've been done ages ago, and reminded herself of all the times she'd wanted to talk to someone but never could.

She was quiet for some time gathering her thoughts as her friends attentively gazed at her, and when she spoke again it was in a small voice unlike her own.

"I know I shouldn't get used to it, but it's been really nice these past couple weeks not having red eyes." She spoke in such a casual manner that they couldn't help wondering if this wasn't another expert attempt at changing the subject. "Believe me, I don't enjoy walking around mad at the world and I hate the way it makes me act sometimes. And I understand exactly how grating my semblance and all the baggage that comes along with it can be after a while, and thank you for putting up with it."

"Your powers just make life more...interesting," Weiss said, coming up short after searching through her expansive vocabulary for the word to best describe the blonde's awesome yet terrifying powers.

"And it's not like you can really help it," Blake assured despite her unease. "We know that isn't the real you talking even if what you say is usually the truth, and considering who your teammates are I think it's a miracle you haven't killed us yet."

Weiss nodded but their words seemed to have little effect, only drawing a polite tug on the girl's lips.

"I'm not like you guys. You can all turn your auras and semblances off completely when you want, but mine's like a faucet that's always dripping. I can't describe to you how amazing it feels when I'm firing on all cylinders because there is nothing that I can compare it to. It's like there's wildfire beneath my skin, and I can feel the air around me crackling while the ground beneath my feet crumbles because of how much power is burning its way out of my body." She shivered as just the thought gave her goosebumps. "I always have something burning behind my eyes because I can't really shut my semblance off. Even right now I can feel it, and I'm just lucky my aura recharges faster than it leaks because that hasn't always been the case for everyone in my family..."

Her eyes flickered momentarily and she snapped her fingers causing a spark to travel from her mane into her hand where it was engulfed in flame.

"I get more than just my blonde hair and obsession with sunbathing from my dad. His aura gives me more control over my semblance than my mom could've ever dreamed of having, and I know why she fell in love with him. It's like he was made specifically for her."

She smiled but it quickly fell as she noticed their puzzled expressions. "Do you remember what happened to me after fighting the Paladin, or the Alphas?"

"How could we forget?" Weiss nearly cried, anxiously watching the flame.

Blake nodded equally as nervous and entranced. "If we'd taken half of that beating we wouldn't be here right now. Yang, you do things that we can only dream of."

The blonde watched the pair, her eyes changing red every few seconds. "And what would've happened if I hadn't been able to burn off all of my semblance?" she asked as if to herself. "Sometimes if feels like I'm on autopilot just acting on my training and instincts when I get pushed that far to the edge, and let me tell you, that feeling's incredible. I'm pretty sure I was punch drunk and that the Paladin knocked me out when it sent me through through half a dozen concrete pillars, because I remember all of a sudden wondering why it's arm was missing and why it felt like I was punching cardboard. But to be honest, I was too busy savoring every last second of wildfire coursing through my body to really care. And both of you remember how I had to burn it all off after the fight, otherwise I would've done the same thing I did to the King Taijitu to my baby sister and my two best friends, and I wouldn't have really cared then either..."

Yang's pupils disappeared as her flame began to dwindle.

"My semblance is fueled by hate, anger, bitterness, and taking the kind of punishment that would kill anyone else. When my powers first activated it wasn't pretty and I'm lucky I didn't seriously hurt anybody, and that I had both my uncle and my dad to help me through it and teach me to harness it for something good." She shook her head trying not to recall the first miserable days of having red eyes. "Even though I've got about as much aura as my mom and uncle did when they were my age, if not more, I thankfully inherited my dad's aura and a lot of his powers. It means I've got more control but also that my semblance can't even compare to the sheer strength my uncle's has, so I can't imagine how bad it was for my mom. She wasn't even Ruby's age when one day she activated her semblance and her eyes stayed red. The same thing happened to my uncle but he was older and already had plenty experience helping his sister through it, and his powers aren't as closely linked to his emotions like ours, or have all of the nasty side effects the Branwen semblance gave me and my mom. It's given him plenty though..."

Both girls hung to every grim word intently but only Weiss caught the subtle resentment she seemed to have as she knew it all too well herself. Inherited semblances while incredibly rare weren't completely unheard of, but while her family took pride in being classical practitioners of glyphs as well as cold blooded duelists using their skills exactly as their ancestors had centuries ago, no two souls were exactly alike and neither were semblances and auras. No matter what her father might say. Yang had inherited many wonderful and terrible gifts from her parents just as Weiss had been cursed with her's, but only one of them felt truly unique to the world and the other had their own concerns about what their powers might become someday as a large claymore loomed in the frigid recesses of Weiss' mind.

"You're worried the same thing could happen to you..." the pair whispered, the lights flickering like the other girl's eyes.

Yang didn't seem to be listening but reluctantly nodded after a moment. "Instead of having to wait hours to cool down like she did sometimes, I can pretty much snuff out the brunt of my semblance whenever I want." She squeezed her hand around the fire extinguishing it as proof. "Yeah, it's put me in the hospital a couple of times when I burned too hot or too fast, or didn't have any aura left to burn so I used myself as fuel, but not even the sun will burn forever and hopefully it means neither will I..."

Blake's face paled hearing something grim in her otherwise level voice. "Yang, what are you saying?"

She glanced up, her eyes having turned completely crimson illuminated the now darkened room. "I'm saying that the Branwen semblance doesn't always stop raging when we die violent deaths, sometimes it just ticks us off and then there's hell to pay. What I'm trying to say is that after my mom died, her body got back up..."

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I'm terribly sorry for how long it took to get this chapter out and I hope you'll forgive me. I've had many set backs while writing this chapter that was beginning to near 30,000 words which is why I've decided to split it up. "Chapter 10" should hopefully be posted sometime next week.

As for this chapter, I had a lot of fun with the scenes between Blake and Weiss, and I hope you don't mind the changes I've made to their character motivations. Forgiveness isn't something that comes easily to either of them and I thought it fit Weiss' character to simply wish to be kept in the dark about her friend's past, and that nothing will ever split this team up. I also had a blast with Yang's character as she got to be highlighted in this chapter and the next. I wanted to emphasize that Yang might be a good looking young woman but her beauty comes from having such a beautiful soul and being such an incredibly warm person, and her soul being on display has its drawbacks when she's suffering physically or emotionally. As always I hope I didn't take her jokes or her friends' descriptions of her too far, and I want to remind everyone that I have no interest or plans in ever shipping team RWBY together in this narrative or any other. They're as close as sisters which means Yang being who she is and being the big sis (and momma bear) of the group who isn't afraid of being affectionate towards the people she loves. We'll be seeing much more of their sisterly relationship and many more jokes next chapter, as well as finding out the truth about her mother and a certain training partner she had at Signal.

Thank you all for the amazing support these past months and for being so incredibly patient with me. I'm so, so very sorry this story took so long to update and that it's not even a "full" chapter. I've had many sets back along the way of writing this, but this chapter is proof that in my weakness the Lord's strength is made perfect. Thank you so very much for all of the kindness you've shown me, I love writing for you and you make me so very happy. Thank you.

Once again, thank you for being so incredibly supportive and patient with myself and this story. Thank you for all of the followers, favorites, reviews, shout outs, and humble readers. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has blessed me with this story and all of you wonderful readers. God bless)