1.1 - Dragon in the Dark

Yang woke up to the Mistral sunrise peeking in through the curtains, shedding just a small amount of light upon her drab decor. She had chosen to retreat to her private space immediately after the battle the night before, claiming exhaustion as an excuse to get some time to process all the emotion and thoughts coursing through her mind. As it so happened to be, she found her statement to not be entirely untrue as she nearly immediately fell into the deepest sleep she had found since Beacon.

Casually she stretched, habitually going to rub the sleep from her violet eyes with her right arm before remembering why that wouldn't work. She let out a small gasp of frustration; despite the time, and how much she had grown used to having only one arm, this sort of thing happened all too often as a painful reminder of what used to be.

Yang proceeded to swing her feet over the side of the bed and sit up, scratching her matted blonde hair as her surroundings came more clearly into focus. Her prosthetic rested on the nightstand next to her, still shiny and new despite already seeing its fair share of combat.

"They really did do great work on this thing," the young woman thought to herself as she got to her feet. She would have to thank Ironwood when she saw him next - which, if they were to head into Atlas with Ozpin and Qrow, she surely would. Yang contemplated putting it on for a moment, but decided she wouldn't need it just to get some breakfast and check on Ruby, Weiss, and…

Blake.

The faunus' return was so unexpected and unlikely that Yang had nearly forgotten all about it. Yang was frozen in place for a moment as the memories of the night before came rushing back. She still hadn't had time to process how she felt, even after the helpful heart to heart with Weiss just a week or so earlier. Her partner returning was the last thing Yang had expected to happen, pushing away the possibility from her mind as a defense mechanism not long after Blake had left in the first place.

Suddenly, Yang snapped into action without even thinking. She ran from her room in her pajamas, nearly breaking the door down as she ran to the hallway towards the one spare room in the house. She had to see Blake with her own eyes again just to confirm she hadn't been dreaming, or under the influence of one of Emerald's frustrating illusions. Without stopping to knock, Yang swung the door to what would be Blake's room wide open to find…

Nothing.

The room was empty, the bed still perfectly made. Yang knew for a fact that Blake was terrible at keeping her bedsheets neat in the morning, considering how much Weiss complained about having to make the others' beds every day when they were still at Beacon. Yang nearly collapsed to her knees before considering the possibility that she had just slept in and someone else had remade the bed. She must be at breakfast, or in the courtyard…

Room by room Yang frantically searched the house for her partner, but each was empty. Too empty, actually - after reaching the courtyard she found that it seemed no one had been here at all. She froze again, her good arm trembling… this couldn't be happening again…

"You should have come with me, Yang," came a hauntingly familiar voice from behind her. Yang was too stunned to have even noticed the telltale sound of Raven's portal opening. She clenched her fist and slowly turned to face her mother, gritting her teeth in an attempt to hold back her anger.

"I thought I made my opinion of you clear, mom," she said with contempt in her words as she turned to face Raven. She looked at the dark haired, red eyed reflection of herself with disdain as she waited to hear what the woman had to say for herself this time.

"They've all abandoned you now, have they? Can't say I'm surprised. For all your strong talk, you're too weak to even tell her how you feel." Raven's words were even colder than usual; something began to seem very wrong with this situation.

"Don't you dare talk about…" Yang's eyes flared red, despite her attempts to control it, before the oddity of Raven's statement sunk in. "What do you know about how I feel!?"

Raven began to circle around Yang with that annoyingly prideful saunter she liked to have when speaking down to others.

"That's what you do to the people you love, Yang. You make us run away from you. Myself, Summer…" Raven paused to stare Yang down menacingly, eagerly awaiting a reaction from her stunned daughter, "Blake."

Yang couldn't hold back anymore. Flames burst from her long golden hair as she rushed at Raven, prepared to repay her for so many years of torment. As she raised her first, Raven's face became twisted and distorted, gradually transforming into the haunting porcelain gaze of Salem.

Yang shot up from her bed, panting heavily and covered in sweat. Uninhibited, tears rolled from her eyes as she clenched the blankets to her face. Another nightmare. Solemnly, she dried her face and looked to the bland wooden ceiling of her room as she collected herself. She pinched herself to make sure she was out of it, and was relieved to hear some vague commotion (and what sounded like Nora shouting excitedly about something) coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"Sounds like Ren made pancakes again," she thought to herself as she once again swung her feet off the bed to stand up. What should have been the wooden floor felt strangely soft, almost like flesh. The shock of the feeling caused Yang to hastily retract her feet, moving to her knees on the bed to examine the irregularity.

There, on the hard floor with nothing but a pillow and blanket for comfort, was Blake. She was fast asleep, even snoring a tiny bit in a way that Yang didn't even realize she missed. Seeing her like that left no room for anger in Yang's mind as she cautiously got out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping cat. Gently and easily Yang lifted Blake up and set her down softly on the bed; a blush came to her face as she realized how close she was to her at the moment. Swiftly she retreated, as Blake instinctively rolled herself up in the remaining blanket and rolled over.

"Breakfast can wait," she thought as she lay down to take Blake's previous spot on the floor. She had more important things to deal with.

1.2 - More than a Name

The light of the full moon dimly lit Weiss' bedroom, just hours after the hectic Battle for Haven. The white-haired Ice Queen had been quieter than usual on the way back to the house they had been staying at in Mistral; Weiss cited exhaustion as an excuse to stew in her own feelings.

Chnk.

The dent Myrtenaster made in the hardwood flooring grew again larger as the former heiress tenaciously repeated her summoning ritual in an attempt to bring her spectral allies to life more quickly. Her breathing grew rapid as Arma Gigas reached through the twirling glyph on the ground before her, gradually pulling itself through with an intimidating presence.

"Still too slow," she thought as she stood back up, allowing the form of her summon to drift away in a wave of snowflake-esque particles. Her brow furrowed in frustration as she prepared another attempt, pressing two fingers against her weapon's blade as she began the process anew.

Hours passed as Weiss relentlessly repeated the summoning process, unable to gain any satisfactory increase in efficiency. She could almost feel the force of Winter's hand across the back of her head as she was reminded of the time she spent helplessly trying to learn how to summon anything in the first place. In that moment she was so lost in thought and memory that she didn't even hear the door to her room creaking open, nor the knocks that preceded.

"Weiss, are you okay?" The innocently cautious voice of Ruby brought Weiss back to the present, nearly dropping her weapon in surprise. Her young friend stepped closer into the room, seemingly ready for a well-deserved rest in her signature black and red pajama top and rose-patterned bottoms. Weiss knew she had to give an answer soon so that Ruby wouldn't worry; the last thing she wanted was to pile her own struggles onto her closest friend.

"I'm fine, Ruby," she said with a forced smile - a gesture she was incredibly skilled at employing from years of practice.

"Oh, alright then," Ruby replied with the dejected tone of a puppy who wasn't picked from the litter. "I'm really happy you're okay, you know. I don't know what I'd do if something had happened to you." Ruby's tone shifted back towards the optimistic in that way that no one else could as she turned to leave the room.

Try as she might, Weiss couldn't help but take this moment to confide in her partner and leader. "...Something did happen to me, Ruby."

The young Rose stopped in her tracks and immediately turned around, swiftly moving to wrap her arms around the rarely vulnerable Weiss.

"But you're okay!" Ruby exclaimed; she knew something had to be really bothering Weiss for her to be opening up like this. "We all are… we actually did it this ti-"

"We didn't do anything," Weiss interrupted, doing her best to keep her guard up. "All of you were great. I was weak. I nearly died. I lost, Ruby. I would be dead right now if not for Jaune, of all people!" The tears in Weiss' eyes began to finally escape, causing Ruby to comfortably strengthen the grip of her hug.

"Weiss..." Ruby replied, at a rare loss for words. She had seen Weiss angry, happy, annoyed, frustrated, laughing… but this was the first time she could recall seeing Weiss cry like this. "Don't say that! If you hadn't summoned that Lancer, we wouldn't have stood a chance against Hazel and the others."

Weiss wanted to say more, but she knew that Ruby wouldn't be able to understand. The

Girl was optimistic to a fault, even with everything she had been through. She wanted to tell Ruby that she wouldn't have been alive at that point, let alone had the strength of aura to summon such a powerful creature, if it weren't for Jaune's help. Then there was the fact that the Lancer ended up dying to Hazel eventually anyway…

"You know, I was right back then," Weiss said, gently stepping back as she removed Ruby's arms from around her, "You really have become a good leader. Great, actually." She forced another smile, though it came a bit easier this time.

Ruby couldn't help but blush as she recalled the night Weiss first began to warm up to her, a wide smile sneaking onto her face before she replied. "That's not all you were right about. You're the best teammate - and friend - I could ever ask for." Satisfied with her handiwork, Ruby turned to head back to her own room to turn in for the night. "I'm excited to see where you grew up now! Hopefully we'll even get to see Winter," she said offhandedly as the door closed behind her, unaware of Weiss' current situation with Atlas and her former family.

Weiss was glad that Ruby didn't have the chance to see her reaction to that last statement, though she knew she would have to tell the others what had happened soon. Solemnly she returned Myrtenaster to its case and readied herself for bed, hoping to avoid any dreams for the night.

1.3 - Out of the Shadows

Blake tried her best to sleep in her empty room, but the combination of emotions running through her made the task incredibly difficult. She tossed and turned, helplessly trying to find a comfortable position. By all accounts, she should have been able to fall asleep quickly; she was back with her friends, and they all seemed to accept her return. Even Yang… Blake had expected her partner to be angry with her. Despite her intentions, she had abandoned her during a difficult time and she didn't have an excuse for not saying goodbye. Yang trusted her, let her in on her past and fears… yet Blake's fear of Adam at the time did too good of a job clouding her judgement. Yang had already lost so much for her. Blake couldn't let her get hurt any more than she had. And yet…

"So stop pushing us out! It hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us."

Maybe Sun was right. Maybe Blake had done more damage than good by keeping the others out of her problems. Ruby and Weiss probably understood, and surely Yang would try to but… after everything Blake knew she had been through? How could she have been so short sighted and insensitive?

With sudden resolve, Blake gracefully shot up out of bed and left her room. Wrapped in her blanket she moved through the silence towards Yang's room, but with each step she felt her resolve replacing itself with hesitation and fear. She came to a full stop outside of Yang's room, entirely unable to gather the courage to enter. Minutes passed before the door from the next room opened and closed as Ruby appeared, startling Blake so much she nearly jumped to the ceiling.

Ruby looked to her inquisitively, wondering what she was doing before she realized what door she was standing before. She smiled, already knowing full well what was on the faunus' mind.

"Yang can really be scary sometimes when she's angry, huh?" Ruby said lightheartedly as she approached Blake, stretching her arms above her head. "It's good to know she would never hurt the people she cares about."

Blake looked to the ground, trying to hide the shame on her face. For all her naivety, Ruby was definitely very good at being there for her friends. "I know that, it's just… how was she, really? She's strong, I know, I just... " Blake struggled to find the right things to say, the right questions to ask. She wasn't even sure that she really wanted the answer. "I'm scared that I hurt her too much to go back to the way things were before I left."

Ruby scratched the back of her head for a moment, trying to think of the best way to respond. As was her habit, she leaned towards an honest answer. "To tell the truth, I could tell she was really hurt at first. Angry, even. When I left home, I could tell she was still having trouble getting past everything." Blake's ears fell flat as she looked back to the ground, clutching her left arm nervously before Ruby continued. "And I wish I could say she felt better about it when the three of us met back up. I guess without having anyone to really talk about it with she had pushed away the thought of dealing with it. I do know that she seemed better after talking about things with Weiss, though!"

Ruby looked to Blake for a reaction, hoping for a positive response, but she said nothing. "I know my sister, Blake. She cares too much to stay angry at you, but I don't think anyone but you can get her over it." Ruby placed a gentle hand on Blake's back now as she passed. "Everything going to be okay. I know it."

Suddenly Ruby was gone and Blake was alone again in the hallway. She took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping into Yang's room with newfound resolve.

"...Yang?" She asked timidly as she entered, finding the beautiful blonde fast asleep. Her shining prosthetic lay next to her on the nightstand, and Blake found herself too curious to avoid examining it. It looked impressively well-made, and without thinking she glided her hand along the painted metal. It was cool to the touch, but not cold somehow. The sound of blankets ruffling as Yang rolled over in her sleep startled Blake, her attention turning to the bed. Seeing Yang like that, with nothing but a metal receiver where her arm now ended, brought Blake to her knees as a wave of regret and guilt washed over her.

She cried there silently for a while as she watched Yang toss and turn in her sleep, before exhaustion got the better of her. Before Blake knew it, she was fast asleep there at the side of Yang's bed, the comfort of her presence overpowering the pain and fear Blake was holding on to.

1.4 - Selfless

Ruby Rose finally returned to her bedroom after consoling two of her three teammates.

"Really does feel like the old days already," she mused, wasting no time climbing under her blankets. She clutched her pillows tightly together with a smile, ready to finally get a good night's sleep and start the next part of their adventure soon.

But sleep didn't come.

Just like the rest of her team, something was preventing her from relaxing enough to drift off. Yet she couldn't really put her finger on what was bothering her. After all, the team was together again, and they had actually won a battle against Salem's forces. The relic was safely under their protection, her friends were all safe, and they were headed to Atlas soon.

"Atlas!" she thought to herself with sudden glee, "Can't wait to see all the cool hi-tech weapons and stuff they have. Not to mention the Atlesian Knights and other mechs and…" Ruby froze at the next thought that came to her mind.

"You called me friend! Am I really your friend?"

In an instant, Ruby's eyes welled with the tears she had been holding back for so long. The girl had spent so much time helping her friends get through their troubles that she continuously pushed away her own, hiding them away under cliched optimistic statements made to seem like she possessed a greater mental fortitude than she really did. In that moment she finally wanted to scream, burying her tortured face in the pillows she was clutching.

"Hello again!"

Another friend ripped away for Salem. Ruby grimaced now, her sadness morphing into raw anger at the thought of how pointless their loss was.

"Stop it!" she shouted into her pillow to muffle the sound, desperate to escape the tormenting memory of those she had lost.

"I'll be back before you have the chance to miss me."

Ruby shot straight up in her bed, suddenly silent and drained of all emotion. She hadn't heard her mother's voice in so long she had nearly forgotten it, but suddenly bits of that day came flowing back. Summer's goodbye, followed by the fluttering of her white cloak as she walked away from their home to go on a last-minute mission with Qrow… Somehow, that memory was comforting. Even knowing that that was the last time she had ever seen her mother, just being able to remember her for a moment was enough to calm Ruby's emotions for the night. Finally, for now, she was able to push those emotions back down enough to get a good night's rest.