10

Chapter 10: Sister Talk

Ruby finally reached the airfield, much to the relief of her aching legs. She looked around, but didn't see Yang. Only an airship and a couple Bullheads, a few people checking them over as they prepared for the end of the day. Ruby frowned, then closed her eyes. After a few moments, she walked towards the nearest Bullhead. Walking around it, she saw a mane of blonde hair.

Yang sat alone on a small bench overlooking the city of Vale. Her head was down, pointed towards her limp hands as they rested on her knees. She was silent.

"Yang?" Ruby called to her.

Yang jolted at her name being called. With a shake of her head, she turned towards the speaker, eyes wide with panic. She calmed down once she saw who it was.

"Ruby! Oh, it's just… just you," she said as she took deep breaths, calming herself.

Feeling very concerned, Ruby sat down beside her on the bench. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Yang shook her head, eyes pointed towards the ground. "No, no, I just…" She trailed off with a sigh.

Ruby frowned. "Wanna talk about it?"

Yang barked out a humorless laugh. "About what, exactly? The part where Blake said she loves me, or the part where she wants to make a permanent four-way with you, me and Weiss?"

Ruby's cheeks tinted as she ignored Yang's crude bluntness. "Both, I guess?"

A long sigh passed Yang's lips. "What do you want me to say, Ruby?"

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno. What do you want to say?"

Yang glared at Ruby out of the corner of her eye. "Very funny," she muttered, annoyed.

They sat in silence, the evening air slowly filling with the distant sound of chirping crickets. Ruby just waited, her eyes never leaving her sister as Yang kept her head down, hair covering her eyes.

After a few minutes, Yang broke the silence. "So, what did you and Blake talk about?"

Ruby blinked in surprise. "How did you-?"

Yang cut her off with a soft chuckle. "I know you, Rubes. No way you took off and left Blake alone. Not after me and Weiss... " She took a breath, her voice shaking slightly. "...left."

Ruby shifted in her seat. "Not much," she answered. "She didn't give me a lot of details. She said she wanted to do that when we were all there."

Yang's only response was a small hum of acknowledgment.

It was quiet for a few seconds, before Ruby spoke. "She said she loved me."

Yang's head snapped up, her eyes wide as she stared at her little sister. "Really?" she asked in disbelief.

Ruby nodded, smiling brightly. "Yep! She meant it, too!"

At that, Yang's eyes went back to normal as she raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked again, much calmer and with an edge of sarcasm. "You're sure about that?"

Ruby frowned. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

Yang shook her head. "People sometimes just say things, Ruby."

Ruby shook her head violently. "Blake didn't. She really meant it. She showed me!"

Yang's eyes widened, before narrowing. "Showed you… how, exactly?"

Ruby fidgeted a bit under Yang's gaze, but held it with honest eyes. "She taught me how to feel her emotions."

Yang visibly flinched in surprise. "She… she did?" she asked quietly.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, she did. Trust me, Yang, she wasn't lying."

Yang swallowed slightly, her eyes dipping back down. Slowly, her hand moved unconsciously to the bite hidden under her jacket. She held it there, her eyes scrunched in concentration. "How… how did it feel?" she asked softly, meeting Ruby's eyes. "Blake's emotions?"

Ruby put a hand to her chin. "Well… it's hard to describe. It was like, what she was feeling was the same thing I was feeling, but… stronger, I guess? Like, she felt happy, so I felt happy, but at the same time I knew the happiness I felt was Blake's, not mine… that made no sense, didn't it?"

Yang shook her head, though a small smile was on her lips at her sister's fumbled explanation. "Not in the slightest."

Ruby let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Okay, um… Blake was feeling a lot of things at the same time, so it was kind of confusing… oh, I know! She… oh…"

"What? What's wrong, Rubes?" Yang asked, concerned.

Ruby bit her lip. "Well, I thought of a good example, but… I'm not sure if Blake would want me to talk about it."

"Why? Is it bad?"

Ruby shrugged. "Kinda? It's something she was feeling at the time, but I didn't really notice until now."

"Sis, I think we're past the point of keeping secrets. If Blake has a problem with it, she can take it up with me later for making you snitch. Now, spill it."

Ruby sighed. "...okay, but it was weird. It felt like… like she disliked something, I guess? But, like, stronger?"

Yang quirked her head. "Stronger?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, like, way stronger. Like, I felt like it was… crushing me?" she said uncertainly, before nodding again. "Yeah, that sounds right. It felt like something heavy was pressing down on me. But the weird part was, when I felt this… heavy dislike… it was like I felt it towards myself."

Yang's eyes widened, her brow furrowed. "What?"

Ruby just frowned. "Yeah, but, that's the thing. I felt that way towards myself, but at the same time, I knew it wasn't my feelings that I felt. It was Blake's. I guess it was like… for a second, I was Blake, and that's how she felt… that Blake didn't like Blake?" Ruby shook her head, scowling at the ground. "It didn't make sense."

As Ruby fell silent, Yang started mulling over her words. Yeah, no kidding. Blake not liking Blake? The heck does that even mean? And 'heavy dislike'? What is she-

Yang blinked. Wait. Dislike, but stronger… does she mean… hate?

Yang thought about it, nodding slowly. Yeah, that makes sense. Explains why it confused Ruby so much. She doesn't hate anything! Of course, she didn't know how to put it in words… wait…

Yang's brow smoothed out, shocked realization on her face. 'Blake didn't like Blake…' did she mean Blake… hated Blake?

Blake hates herself?

Yang stared off into the distance.

...the hell?

Yang's expression morphed into what could only be described as a determined scowl. Okay, as soon as all this Mates and love stuff is over, me and Blake are having a long talk.

... wait a sec. If Ruby really felt that from Blake… that means…

She looked at her sister, who was still frowning at the ground. Biting her lip, she asked awkwardly, "So… what did her… love feel like?"

After a blink of surprise, Ruby's face lit up, her usual thousand-watt smile back in place. "Yang, it was… I don't even know, just…" She let out a sigh that sounded suspiciously like contentment.

Yang raised an eyebrow at her sister. "That good, huh?"

Ruby giggled a bit. "I… the closest thing I can think of is… it was like what I feel for you." Yang's eyes bugged out, a sharp question on her lips (just where was her sister going here?), before Ruby continued. "You, dad, Uncle Qrow… Mom…"

Yang's mouth closed, the true implication setting in. It was rare that Ruby would mention her-their mother, so to mention her now…

"It was like what I feel for you guys, but so much… not stronger, but… deeper… I could just feel that… what Blake was feeling for me… it was never going to end."

Yang stared at Ruby, who had closed her eyes, lost in her own world at the memory. She seemed so… happy. A small smile formed on Yang's lips. "Good for you, Sis. Sounds like one heck of an experience."

Ruby opened her eyes, looking questioningly at Yang. "You could feel it too, y'know."

Yang jerked back, startled. "Oh, uh… I don't know, Ruby… It probably wouldn't work too well for me."

Ruby tilted her head. "Why not? It's actually pretty easy. It just takes a little while to get used to the feeling."

Yang grimaced. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "No, Rubes, I mean… I doubt I'd feel what you felt if I tried to sense Blake's emotions."

"Why?" She thought over what she'd felt from Yang earlier. Something clicked. "Yang, do… do you not think Blake loves you?"

Yang visibly flinched, but then tried to brush it off with a smile and a wave. "What, no! I know Blake loves me… in… some way. Just… not the way you're thinking."

Now Ruby was really confused. "Yang, you heard what she said."

Yang gave a sort of nervous chuckle. "I know what she said, but… I don't think she was really thinking straight. What with her heat last night and these weird bite marks… I don't think she really meant quite what you think."

Ruby could only stare in shock and confusion. What was Yang talking about? It didn't help matters that Yang could barely meet her eyes, her own lavender orbs flicking all over the place, like she didn't know what to focus on.

In a last-ditch attempt to make sense of what the heck was wrong with her sister, Ruby closed her eyes and focused. In just a few seconds, Ruby could see the compact cloud of yellow aura right next to her.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, confused why her sister seemed to be concentrating so hard. "What are you-" Yang gasped. Just then, very briefly, she felt… something. Just a quick flash, but it seemed familiar. It seemed… red.

Ruby's eyes snapped open a second later, looking shocked.

Yang quickly put the seemingly impossible pieces together. "Ruby, did you just-?"

"Yang?" Ruby asked quietly, uncertainly. "Are you… scared?"

Yang's eyes widened. "You… you really did…"

Ruby nodded slowly. "Y-yeah, I did. Sorry, I just… I wanted to know why… Yang, are you scared?"

Yang just stared at Ruby dumbly for a few seconds, before breaking her gaze, staring back down at the ground.

Ruby took her silence as a yes, much to her growing shock. "But… you're Yang! You're not afraid of anything!"

"Ruby…" Yang said softly, not knowing what to say. "It's nothing."

Ruby gave the closest thing she had to a scoff. "It's something! Yang, come on."

"It's nothing, Ruby," Yang said loudly and more forcefully. "It's just something stupid I gotta deal with. It's not your problem."

Yang glared pointedly at the ground. She was determined to just ignore Ruby until she either changed the subject or decided to give up and lea-

"Please, Yang."

Yang felt her heart skip a beat. That tone… Ruby hadn't sounded that… broken for a long time.

With a small turn of her head, she met Ruby's eyes. Her grey, teary, sadness-filled eyes.

"Please don't lie to me," she begged, her lip quivering.

Yang looked away quickly. Despite everything, a spark of regular annoyance managed to bubble into her mind. Low blow, Sis. Sad thing is, you probably don't even know what you're doing.

Yang stayed quiet. Ruby looked at her sadly. Maybe Blake was right. Maybe Yang did just need some time to herself…

"It was different."

Ruby perked up as Yang turned slightly towards her. "What was?"

Yang gave her a long look before letting out a long sigh. "Sis, you know how I've had girlfriends before?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well…" The blonde cleared her throat awkwardly. "Let's just say last night wasn't my first night…"

"Oh, I know that."

Yang's eyes snapped up, mouth gaping. "Wha…?"

Ruby blushed a little, her eyes drifting to the side. "Our bedroom walls aren't that thick, Yang."

Yang felt her stomach drop. "Wait, you heard… oh, Ruby, I'm so sorry!"

Ruby just waved her off. "It's fine, Yang. It wasn't that bad. Though... " Her cheeks reddened. "I did start keeping earplugs next to my bed."

Yang buried her face in her hands, completely mortified. "I'm just going to move on and pretend that didn't just happen." Meeting her little sister's eyes again and ignoring her own much deeper blush, Yang continued. "Yeah, I've... had some fun with girls before, but… that's all it was… fun."

Ruby tilted her head, not quite getting it. Yang tried to explain.

"It was just... Something we did, once we were comfortable with each other. Relieve some stress, have a little fun, just… enjoy being with someone."

Ruby nodded, kind of understanding. "Okay, is there something wrong with that?"

Yang shook her head. "Not really, just that while it was fun, that was it. That's as far as things went. I didn't really feel anything… special afterward. But…"

Yang dipped her head down, unconsciously wrapping her arms around herself.

"Last night…"

Ruby blinked in realization. "Did you feel something?" she asked excitedly, scooting closer to Yang. "Something special?"

To her surprise, Yang hugged herself tighter. "I.. I don't know. I felt… something. When I held Weiss in my arms… when I felt Blake curl up next to me… My chest felt… heavy, yet light at the same time. My whole body just felt warm all over. I… I couldn't stop smiling."

As much as the words made Ruby want to jump for joy, the sad, almost broken tone Yang said them in put a cold feeling in Ruby's gut. "Yang… that sounds great! Why do you seem so sad about that?"

Yang shook her head, blinking rapidly. "I… I've never felt like this before, Ruby!" Ruby flinched back at Yang's loud, desperate words. "And this morning, when I woke up and felt Weiss on top of me and Blake next to me, I felt it again! I… I just ignored it and did my usual thing and figured I'd just forget about it or try and figure it out later, but then… Blake shows up with these freaking bites and…" Yang's speech devolved into quick, rapid breaths. To Ruby's horror, tears started to trail down Yang's cheeks.

Ruby did the only thing she could. She threw her arms around her big sister and squeezed as hard as she could.

Yang's breath caught when she felt arms wrap around her. Looking down, she saw her little sister, the little leader's head buried into her chest, giving her the closest thing she could to a bear hug.

Yang stared unblinking for several seconds. When she started breathing again, it was with long, shaky breaths. Yang closed her eyes, resting her chin on top of Ruby's head. Her arms slowly unwrapped themselves from around herself and found their way around Ruby's waist.

The sisters sat in the light of the dying sunset, one simply waiting while the other slowly brought her flow of tears to a stop.

"I'm, scared, Ruby," Yang muttered quietly.

"Why, though?" Ruby asked, voice slightly muffled due to pressing herself into Yang's chest. "Is loving Blake and Weiss that bad?"

Yang stiffened, unsure how to answer. "It… Ruby, I just… I don't want them to leave."

Ruby jerked back, her eyes wide with shock. "Wha…? Yang, what do you mean?"

It took everything Yang had to not break her gaze with Ruby. "I don't… I don't want to love them that way, either of them."

"Why?" Ruby pleaded, desperate for an answer and for Yang to just start making sense.

Yang glanced toward the city, staring out over the blinking lights of Vale's nightlife. "What if I let them get close and… they leave?"

Grey eyes widened. "You really think they'd just leave?"

Yang swallowed uncomfortably. "Well… I don't think they'd want to, but… Blake was all set to run last month… and Weiss has that big-ass company of hers… things could happen, and…"

Ruby shook her head in denial. "Yang, they wouldn't just leave!"

"But they could."

"They wouldn't!"

"But they could!"

"Why would they?!"

"Because-!" Yang's voice caught in her throat, her eyes tearing up. Her head lowered as she said quietly, "Because it's happened before."

Ruby's eyes narrowed in confusion, before…

"Oh…" she said softly in realization.

"Yeah," Yang mumbled. "Oh."

Ruby scooted aside on the bench, turning away from Yang as she rested her arms in her lap. Yang did the same, placing her elbows on her knees as she buried her head in her hands.

After a few moments, Ruby tried to apologize. "Yang… I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No… no, it's… it's okay, Ruby," Yang said as she lifted her head, resting her chin on her palms. "Look, it's… it's not just that I'm afraid of either of them leaving. I don't…" She trailed off, the words hard to say.

"What?" Ruby prodded.

Yang sighed. "...what if I leave them?"

Ruby gaped at Yang's question, before outright smacking Yang on the arm. "That's stupid."

Yang chuckled mirthlessly. "Is it? Raven left dad, and… I'm her daughter. Who knows? Maybe it's genetic."

Ruby frowned at Yang for a few seconds, before crossing her arms. "Yang, show me the picture."

Yang blinked, turning to look at Ruby with a questioning gaze. Then the realization hit her, and she narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Ruby…" Yang droned warningly.

"Yang…" Ruby said in the exact same tone.

The two glared at each other, Yang with a look of warning while Ruby gave what she hoped was a determined glare, but to Yang looked more like an angry pout.

"...you're not gonna give up on this, are you?" Yang deadpanned after five minutes.

"Nope," Ruby said, popping the 'p' sound as she smirked.

Yang stared at her for another minute, before rolling her eyes, defeated. Reaching into her jacket, she felt for the hidden pocket on her left side. From it, she pulled out a wrinkled, folded photograph. She stared at it for a moment.

"Open it," Ruby ordered.

With a long-suffering sigh, Yang did so, though her eyes moved away before she could look at it.

"Yang…" Ruby said, her voice changing from commanding back to soft and caring. "Look at it."

Yang glanced at Ruby, looking into soft grey eyes, before finally focusing on the photo.

In truth, it was nothing special. Every kid probably had a picture just like it, buried in old photo albums on the family bookshelf. But for Yang… it was one of a kind.

In the photo stood a young woman, fresh into her twenties. In what might be the only recorded instance of her outside battle clothes, she wore a simple black skirt and a red t-shirt with a black floral pattern along the waist. She had long, waist-length black hair, and piercing red eyes. She was smiling brightly.

And in her arms, cradled with utmost care, was a four-month-old baby girl. She had a small tuft of blonde hair on her head, her tiny eyes a sparkling shade of lavender. She had a toothless smile on her face, giggling at something just out of camera range.

Yang stared down at the photo. Despite everything, she couldn't stop the slight curve of her lips as she took it in. She shook her head, closing her eyes. "You're still on this, huh?"

Ruby nodded sharply. "Yep. Sorry, Yang, but… I just can't see someone that happy about being a mom just up and leaving. Not without a very good reason, at least."

Yang just chuckled. This conversation used to piss her off to no end, usually ending with hurt feelings and broken furniture. But after all these years, Yang was resigned. Ruby truly believed something, and she would keep on believing it until the truth was blatantly shoved in her face.

Still, Yang had to try.

"You realize you're basing this off of one picture, right? This is your only 'proof' that Raven didn't just take off?"

Ruby nodded again. "Yep."

"Then what do you think happened?"

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno. Like you said, things can happen. Maybe she had to leave. Maybe… for some kind of mission?"

Yang raised an eyebrow at her. "A seventeen-year long mission?"

Ruby pouted at her. "Well, it was just an idea."

Yang grinned at her sister's childishness, a genuine laugh breaking through her lips. "Ruby Rose, you are more stubborn than a Boarbatusk."

Ruby just stuck her nose in the air, in a near perfect imitation of Weiss.

Yang shook her head at her. She gave the photo another once-over, before folding it back up and placing it back in her jacket. "Okay, you made your point. But…" She ran a hand through her hair as the original topic came back to mind. "Ruby, how the hell would we make this work? Are you even okay with the whole 'mates' thing?"

"Yeah."

Yang blinked. "That was fast."

Ruby shrugged. "Well, I'd like to try, anyway. And after feeling what Blake felt… I kinda want to be part of that."

Yang gave her a long look. "You really want to juggle a relationship with Blake and Weiss? How.. I can't even wrap my head around that! Do you even love either of them?"

"Um…" Ruby hesitated, thinking hard. "I… really don't know. Though…" Her cheeks tinted a bit, glancing shyly at Yang. "I think I might be starting to… What about you?"

Yang let out a long breath. "I don't know, Ruby," she droned out tiredly. "I mean… I guess I could see myself with Blake. Yeah, she's mellow and quiet, but that's what I like about her. And… she's not too bad on the eyes, either," she finished with a half-smile.

Ruby nodded, her cheeks tinting as she smiled. "Yeah… what about Weiss?" When Yang gave her a questioning look, she clarified. "You said you felt something for her, too, right?"

Yang frowned in thought, humming under her breath. "Well… yeah… that's kind of new, though." Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Y'know how Weiss hid in the bathroom last night and I brought her out later on? Well, long story short, we… talked a bit."

"What about?"

"Eh… Weiss was just kinda nervous, mostly about the whole 'girl-on-girl' thing. I just lent an ear for her. But…" She trailed off, her head dipping down again.

"What is it, Yang?" Ruby asked.

The blonde was quiet, before letting out a chuckle. "Y'know, it's funny." She lifted her head, looking out over the neon-lit city. "I've been sitting here, thinking over what I said to her last night. Then I thought about that feeling I had this morning, with Weiss and Blake. Now I'm going over the last few months, all we've done together, everything I've said to each of them… And I keep thinking, 'Is this new? Or… has this been building for a while?'" She put her head back down, shaking it slightly. "I just don't know, Sis."

Through it all, Ruby listened silently. As Yang finished, she mulled over what she'd heard, thinking about different options. A few things came to mind, but… one idea stood out over the others.

"Yang?" she asked quietly. Yang turned to her, and Ruby said, "Could we try something?"

"What, Rubes?"

"Could we… do you want to try reading my emotions?"

Yang's eyes widened as she jerked back. "Uh, what?"

"Do you want to try reading my emotions?" Ruby repeated. "Just to see what it's like?"

Yang stared dumbly at her, before scratching the back of her head nervously. "Uh, would that even work, Sis?"

Ruby shrugged. "I think so. I was able to feel you. That's how I found you out here. If I can do it, you should be able to too, right?"

Yang hesitated, then held in a groan when she saw the slight twinkle in Ruby's eyes, signaling that the younger girl was just a few moments away from unleashing the dreaded Puppy Eyes Pout. She sighed, fixing Ruby with a look and a slight grin. "This ends badly, I'm blaming you." Ruby just smiled brightly in response, causing Yang to shake her head, exasperated. "So how do we do this? Hold hands or something?"

"No…" Ruby started, contemplating. "Blake said we have to… push our aura outwards, and… look through it, I guess? That's what it seemed like when I did it?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Look through my aura, huh? That's… kinda vague."

Ruby's shoulders slumped helplessly. "It's hard to describe. Just, push out your aura and… you just kind of figure it out as it happens. Does that make any sense?"

Yang smirked at Ruby's attempts. "I think I get the gist of it."

"Oh!" Ruby suddenly perked up. "And close your eyes. That makes it a little easier… at least, it did for me."

"Gotcha," Yang said, closing her eyes.

Might as well give it a shot, if only to make Ruby happy. Okay, so push out my aura… I guess… like this?

Yang focused on her aura and pushed, imagining a glow of yellow seeping out from her body as she did. And after a few seconds…

"Whoa… Ruby, is that ball of red… you?"

She heard Ruby giggle. "Does it look kinda cloudy and wispy?"

"Yeah?"

Right before her closed eyes, the mass of red aura seemed to glow, brightening a shade lighter. "Yep, that's me!" Ruby said cheerfully.

Yang chuckled a bit. "Wow, uh… this is different. Okay, I can… 'see' you now… so how do I feel your emotions?"

"Um…" Yang could just picture the look of concentration on Ruby's face. "Try to… try to reach out with your aura and touch mine. Like this."

Yang flinched a little when a wispy tendril of red started to stretch away from the main mass of Ruby's aura. It edged closer to her, but stopped about halfway between her and Ruby.

"Uh… okay. Gotta say, Sis, we're hittin' about an eight-point-five on the weirdness scale here. I'll, uh… I'll give it a shot."

Yang tried to visualize it: a mass of wispy aura, a small trail of yellow slowly pulling away from it. To her great surprise, she could actually 'see' it; she could 'see' her own aura reaching out towards her sister's, almost like the two masses of aura were going to shake hands or something.

Before she knew it, Yang had closed the distance. Their auras touched, red and yellow mixing.

They both gasped.

Betaed by Covert Weapon

Old A/n: Yes, it's a cliffhanger. I am so sorry. Next chapter, a check-in with our favorite heiress.