The next morning was very hard on Weiss. Not only had she woken up early the previous day, she had been up late, reading the book Blake lent her.

Blake approached the sleeping girl's bed and whispered, knowing how Weiss reacted when she was woken up too brutally. "Weiss, you should get up, it will be too late to get a breakfast." The only response she got was an unladylike grunt, after which Blake decided to go eat alone.

Unlike the heiress, Blake was in a good mood this morning. Zwei was away —she remembered that she had to wash her sheets to get the dog smell out—, the sisters were away —as much as she liked them, Weiss was right to say that they were an enemy of peace and quiet— and Weiss seemed to have enjoyed 'Ninjas of Love'. It was enough to make her smile on the way to the cafeteria.

As she arrived, she got an idea. Given how Weiss seemed to have a hard time getting up, maybe she'd like to have her breakfast in her bed. She went to see one of the person in charge of the food, an old ocelot Faunus that Blake had become friend with over their mutual love of fish. "Hello Sienna."

"Hi Blake." The old woman smiled at Blake, happy to see one of her favorite student. "Don't you think it's a little early for fish?"

Blake's cheeks turned pink. "Fish is delicious and I'm sure there is a way to include it in breakfast." Sienna shook her head in amusement, which Blake decided to ignore. "Actually, I wanted to ask you if you had bed trays."

"Oh oh, is it for the manly monkey?" Sienna never referred to any student by name, Blake being one of the very few exceptions, only using nicknames when not in front of them. When Blake asked her why she didn't use names, she told the young girl that it was to try to make it less painful when they didn't come back. Her sad smile dissuaded Blake to ask her if it worked.

"No, someone from my team. She's having a hard time this morning."

"Such a good teammate. The busty blonde or little Summer?" Summer Rose had been Sienna's favorite student during her time at Beacon, and Ruby reminded her of her mother so much she almost thought she saw a ghost the first time Ruby came to her for extra strawberries.

"Neither. It's Weiss. She's not a morning person."

"I see, the prissy princess. Wait here, I'll go get one."

Blake went to get some coffee for Weiss while waiting for Sienna. She knew she liked it and would probably need it.

Sienna came back with a white bed tray that had snowflakes cutouts on the edges. "I think it will be quite appropriate for your princess." Blake took it and quickly assembled a breakfast she knew Weiss would enjoy and added a few things for herself.

"Thank you Sienna."

"Don't worry about it dear. Now go make her happy. It might not be her first breakfast in bed, but I'm sure it will be her favorite." Sienna looked at Blake as she leaved with a smile. Huntsmen were here to protect the happiness of others, and even if she was not active anymore, she always did her best to help the students that asked for it.

Weiss had been struggling to wake up since Blake talked to her earlier. She wanted to get up and start her day, not waste her time in her bed, but the soft pillow and warm sheets beckoned her to stay in bed for just a little longer. And a little longer. And a little longer. Until she smelled the aroma of fresh coffee floating in the air. She shouldn't be able to smell it in her room. There should not be coffee in the room. She slowly opened her eyes to solve this mystery and saw Blake next to her bed, holding something from which wafted the wonderful fragrance of the black beverage.

"Good thing you're waking up, I brought breakfast." Blake smiled at the waking girl, hoping she would be in a good enough mood to not get angry at her for waking her up.

Weiss, with some difficulties, managed to get herself in position to eat in her bed, half-lying down, half-sitting against her pillow. She still wasn't sure what was happening, but there was coffee and breakfast.

Blake put down the tray on Weiss' bed, put a pillow on the floor and kneeled next to the bed to eat with her friend.

Weiss, not completely awake, looked at the tray, then at Blake, and leaned to kiss her on the cheek.

Blake jumped a little, surprised by the sudden physical contact and looked at Weiss wide-eyed. She did hope that Weiss would appreciate her bringing breakfast, but that was a lot more than she was expecting.

Weiss' face was getting redder and redder as she realized what she had done. "I-I'm sorry. I was at the breakfast scene when I got to sleep and I guess I was a little too much into it…" Weiss' voice went decrescendo and ended in something that was barely a whisper.

Blake couldn't stop herself from smiling. "You know, I'm not against roleplaying scenes from my favorite book, but we should eat for now." Weiss nodded and her hands went for the coffee. "So, what did you think of 'Ninjas of Love'?" Blake knew it would be better to wait a little, but she really wanted to hear Weiss' thoughts on it.

Weiss thought about it while eating her pain au chocolat. "I wasn't that into it at first, the beginning is pretty standard, but I started liking it a lot more as we learned about the characters. They're very well written." Weiss stopped for a second before sighing. "And to be completely honest, the story of the princess running from her home because her father want to control her life is something I can relate to, maybe a little too much."

"Is she your favorite character?"

"I… think she might be. Some part of her remind me of myself." Weiss' embarrassment could be heard in her voice, she didn't like talking about her personality. "But the others are good too. And I liked the twist after her first lesson."

"I remember it. I had to go on a sabotage mission just as I finished reading that, it horrible to… have to… wait…" Blake voice disappeared as she realized that she just admitted to attacking a Schnee facility in front of Weiss. Of course Weiss knew about it, but saying it out loud in front of her made Blake feel very awkward.

Weiss felt the uneasiness of her friend and took her hand. "Blake, I know that you destroyed my family's properties and attacked our employees. I don't like it, but we can't change it. I understand why you did it, but the past is the past. I'm not saying you can boast about how many train you blew up, but just saying you had a mission won't make me angry at you." While what she said was mostly true, she had exaggerated a little about the fact that she didn't mind. For Weiss, White Fang's missions meant family members and friends disappearing and resurfacing a few weeks later in a canal, house staff getting injured because they were easier to target than her or her sister and her father working more and spending even less time with his family.

"As you wish princess." With a smile, she took the hand Weiss used to touch her and gave it a light kiss making both of them giggle. "But don't hesitate to stop me. I don't want you to hide you don't like it for my sake."

Weiss smiled reassuringly. "I won't."

"Good." With how much Weiss told Blake to talk about her problems instead of hiding them, the Faunus would not let her do the same. "And what did you think about the sex scenes?"

Weiss blushed and took several seconds to think before answering. "They were surprisingly well written compared to the average," Blake raised an eyebrow but refrained from commenting on Weiss knowledge on the average quality of this type of scenes, "but I was not a big fan of them."

"That's actually a big debate among fans, whether they should be removed or not. Not everyone likes them."

"It's not really the type of scenes," Weiss blushed and turned her head, trying to hide her face, "but more because they were all between a man and a woman."

"In that case, maybe you'll like the…" Blake frowned, trying to remember exactly when the moment she had in mind happened. "I think it's the second book where the princess realize a few things about herself and her friend at the village." Blake thought that she should re-read the volume, as she was going through something similar to the princess. Maybe it would help her seeing things more clearly.

"Do you have it?"

"I have the second and third volume, but not the fourth and fifth."

"You don't enjoy the series anymore?"

Blake shook her head. "It's better than ever, but…" Blake hung her head and finished her sentence in a whisper. "I don't have the money."

"I—I'm sorry." It was two times in as many days that Weiss had forced Blake to say that she had no money and she chided herself for that. She decided to change the subject. "Would you like to go to Vale today? There is a few places I'd like to go." In reality, she only wanted to spend more time with Blake, but saying it like that was a little too much for her.

"That sounds nice. When do you want to go?" Blake mood improved at the proposal. She would only be able to afford something really cheap, but it didn't hurt to look.

"I was thinking after lunch. There is a book I'd like to finish this morning." Weiss had a small smile, showing the book Blake lent her with her hand.

They finished eating breakfast while talking some more about 'Ninjas of Love' and Blake brought back the tray while Weiss dressed up and went right back to reading, copied by Blake when she came back.

The morning was spent in silence, only broken by the sound of pages turning as one of the two girls went further into the book she was reading. Some people might find it boring, but they were both used to spending their time alone and in silence, a rare commodity in Beacon, and enjoyed it a lot.

After eating lunch, Weiss came to speak to Blake before she could go back to her book. "Should we go now?"

"Let's." As Weiss turned around to leave, Blake interrupted her. "There is a place I'd like to go if it's okay with you. An old bookstore."

Weiss heard the hesitation in Blake's voice and turned toward her. "Of course. Is there a problem with the place?"

"There is a lot of Faunus in this part of the city so…" Blake couldn't finish her sentence. She hated having to ask that of her friend, but she really wanted to go to the bookstore.

"You'd like me to wear something a little less… Schnee." Blake nodded, unable to look at Weiss directly. "I can try. How recognizable am I?"

"You don't mind?"

"You really want to go, don't you? Then I will try to not make us targets for a stoning."

Blake was very thankful to Weiss. If a Schnee were to be caught in this part of the city, it could only end badly. "I'd say the most telling is your family crest on your jacket, then your hair, then your scar and your weapon."

Weiss thought for a few moments before going to her dresser. She took some clothes she thought would be appropriate, removed her jacket and was about to remove her dress when she looked at Blake. "Could you turn around please?" There was no animosity in her voice and Blake immediately complied.

Weiss finished dressing up quickly. "You can look."

Blake turned back to see what Weiss had chosen. She was wearing a light gray hoodie left open over a white shirt with a light blue skirt that stopped in the middle of her thighs.

"What do you think? I can use the hood to hide my hair when we get there."

"It looks very nice." Blake was happy that she managed to compliment Weiss on her looks without completely ridiculing herself this time. "You almost don't look like a spoiled brat."

Weiss stuck her tongue out at Blake who laughed at the childish display. "Will you take Gambol Shroud?" Blake nodded. "Then I'll leave Myrtenaster here. You'll be my knight in black armor if something happens."

Hearing those words, Blake put a knee on the ground. "Yes, your highness."

"Finally, I am treated the way I deserve." Both girls laughed as Blake stood up. "I hope the hood will be enough for my scar. You have no idea how hard it is to find foundation that match my skin tone."

Blake pulled up one of Weiss' sleeve and put her arm next to the heiress'. "I'm not that darker than you."

"You're right. You know, I can almost hear Yang make a comment about it, something like I'm dead inside so I'm like a ghost."

Blake frowned. "You know she is not like that. And I would also get a comment, not just you."

Weiss looked at the floor, embarrassed. "You're right, I shouldn't have said that about her. I didn't mean to insult your partner."

Blake was surprised by the way Weiss phrased it. "You don't consider her your friend?"

"I do but…" Weiss stopped herself. She had never said that to anyone, did she want to trust Blake and say it to her? She then remembered that Blake had trusted her enough to talk about her relationship with Adam, something she could tell had not be easy for her. She took a deep breath and spoke. "While I do consider some people my friends, you, Ruby and Yang being the closest to me, I have a very hard time telling if people consider me their friends. Intellectually, I know that Ruby consider me a friend, but sometimes I can't help but think that maybe it's not true, maybe she is just… pretending to be my friend because it's convenient, because I'm in her team." Her voice was shaking, but she managed to keep talking "And the worst is that I know she wouldn't do that, but I can't stop myself from doubting." Weiss hugged herself and closed her eyes to fight back the tears she felt were coming.

Blake looked at her friend, trying to find a way to make her feel better. She was never really good at that, but she wanted to try to do her best for Weiss. After thinking more about it, she finally got an idea. She got closer to Weiss and took her hands in hers. "Don't open your eyes and trust me." She slowly led her next to the bed.

Weiss felt confused by Blake's actions, but decided to trust her and see what would happen.

Blake slowly sat down on the bed, enjoying the feeling of holding Weiss' hand. Their coldness didn't make her think of sickness anymore, she was now finding it reassuring, associating it with her dear friend. Her right hand left Weiss' for an instant so that she could remove her bow. She took the hand back and brought both of them near her head. "Please be careful, they're pretty sensitive."

Hearing that, Weiss tried to stop herself from blushing and her imagination from going wild, not helped by the book she was reading not an hour before. She felt Blake's hands trembling slightly as she guided her and tried to guess what she was trying to do.

Blake took a deep breath and delicately put Weiss' hands on her cat ears.

Weiss felt the soft and warm fur under her fingers and opened her eyes in surprise. "Blake?"

"I'm pretty sure that, no matter what I say, you will still doubt me. To be honest, it hurts a little, but I believe you when you say it's not on purpose. So I decided to not only tell you but also show you." Blake looked straight into Weiss' eyes. "Weiss, I consider you one of my best friend and I trust you enough to let you touch my ears."

Blake's approach lacked subtlety, she was aware of that, but she was doing it on purpose, so that Weiss could not interpret it as her pretending to be her friend for personal gain. She felt Weiss' hands shake on her head, and heard her breath grow quicker and deeper. Blake reached around the small girl waist and pulled her.

Weiss didn't resist and found herself seated on Blake's knees. She looked at the amber eyes watching her with care, purple eye shadow peeking at their corners. She looked at the thin lips forming a soft smile, trying to soothe her. She looked at Blake Belladonna, and understood she was in love.

She leaned near Blake's ear and tried to convey her feelings, only to be stopped by the last rational part of her brain. It wasn't the time or the place, she would have to work on creating better circumstances for her confession. Instead, she buried her face in Blake's shoulder and muttered a small "Thank you".

Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited or reviewed this story. I hope you liked this new chapter and will keep enjoying the story.

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Have a nice day and until next time.