I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all who have stuck with me these past 8 weeks. As you may know, multi-chapter fics aren't typically my forte so I really, really hope this finale chapter can satisfy.

Trigger warning for subtle self-harm implications for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Chapter 8.

With the touch of a hand, I will turn your life to...

After years of sleepless nights plagued by nightmares, Yang felt strangely refreshed when she awoke that morning.

The bedroom was wide and empty just like always, save for Ember who was curled up at her hip. Yang was not sure she could recall the last time she had slept so soundly.

But considering the things Blake had told her last night, she got a bad feeling about something.

Yang rolled herself out of bed to check her phone, but there were no messages.

Am I just being paranoid? she wondered.

With a prickling in her gut, she headed to the bathroom to change, still fully intent on going to work.

The morning seemed quieter than usual. The hissing water of her shower sounded subdued somehow, as did the sounds of the coffee maker in the kitchen. Even as she walked to the cafe, the passing cars and sounds of nature seemed so distant.

She kept her phone on the loudest setting, hellbent on receiving Blake's message of whenever she was visiting. Yang assumed it would be around the time the cafe closed, but she had precautioned her fellow workers to be prepared for her sudden absence just in case.

Yang was tense all day, very nearly spilling coffee here and there, so much so that her co-workers knew something was going on. Every motion she made felt like the vibrations of her cell phone, but every time she checked, there was nothing for her.

That day, more than any other, her mind was filled with thoughts of Blake, of what Yang was going to say to her this evening, of what Blake was going to say to her, something Yang would not easily forgive her for...

Maybe... there's really someone else? She thinks I won't forgive her for falling in love with someone from her college. But then what happens to them now when Blake leaves-

No. That was not going to happen. Everything Yang had planned for today was to ensure Blake did not go through with her plans to leave the country, no matter what. Even if there was someone else in her life, Yang would still confess her feelings and make Blake stay.

It's not an option...

She knew deep down that Blake did not want to be a businesswoman. Just because her parents had given her the opportunity to attend this faraway college, Blake was merely sticking to her guns but...

...But it was about time she started living her own life, doing what she wanted to, not what she felt obliged to do. Weiss' local college had amazing and well-priced writing courses, and Yang still knew Blake wanted to be an author more than any other profession.

As Yang's mind continued to wander, even during her lunch break, she needed to shake her head and remind herself what to focus on. The things she needed to tell Blake today...

She mulled things over in the break room at the back of the cafe, absentmindedly chewing on a sandwich and remembering to occasionally swallow.

It was almost time to return to her shift when the countdown began.

Yang looked up when a co-worker addressed her. "Ah, there's someone here asking for you," the girl reported.

Quirking an eyebrow, Yang stood and left the break room. She arrived at the side of the counter at the cafe and looked about until she found a familiar face. "Ruby?"

Her younger sister was panting and out of breath, silver eyes widening in dismay as she saw Yang.

"Damn it... I knew it, I knew it!" Ruby cursed.

"Woah there, lil' sis. What's going on?" Yang's tone immediately turned serious and her eyes narrowed. "Did something happen? Do you need help?"

"No, that's not it!" Ruby cried, drawing a few stares from onlookers. Yang quickly slipped out from behind the counter and led her outside the cafe. The summer sunlight did not feel as good as she thought it would anymore.

"What is it?" she pressed, her heart already pounding harder as her mind started to wander.

"It's Blake!"

Yang's heart stopped.

Her hands started to shake and she shoved them into the pockets of her shorts to keep herself steady.

"W... What about her?" she stammered.

"I knew it!" Ruby stomped her foot in a rare display of frustration. When she next looked up to Yang, there were tears spilling from her eyes. "I knew she didn't tell you...!"

"Ruby, calm down!" Yang was not one to be talking; she was shaking, too. She removed her hands from her pockets and placed them on her sister's shoulders. "What happened?"

"Blake's leaving!" Ruby blurted.

"I know!" Yang felt something twist within her stomach. "Her flight's tomorrow and she-"

"No! Not tomorrow! Now, Yang! She's leaving right now!"

Yang's blood ran cold. Her expression must have changed drastically, because the hurt in Ruby's eyes increased when she saw her face.

"She... she what?"

"You heard me!" Ruby cried. "She's leaving right now as we speak! Right now she's leaving to go to another country and we're not gonna see her again for a really, really long time, Yang!"

But Yang was still too confused - too hurt – to believe it.

"No! She's supposed to come over to my place tonight, and I was gonna tell her-"

"Don't you get it, Yang? She lied! She lied so she could leave without having to see you! She's not coming over tonight, she's not-! She's not... coming over anymore...!" Ruby broke down before her and started to sob. "I'm sorry, I-I should've called you as soon as I found out s-so you would have more time to try and find her b-but I wasn't thinking and I just ran..."

As Ruby whimpered, Yang finally connected all the pieces to the puzzle; why Blake had gone to see her last night, why she had been apologizing so much all the while, something she was going to do that Yang would not forgive her for...

"Damn it!" Yang shouted. "God damn it! I don't believe this!" She yelled like she was angry, but on the inside she just wanted to cry, to collapse to her knees and shake and wail like the child she was and always had been.

But she could do that after she had completely and undoubtedly missed Blake for good.

Yang grasped her sister's hands to get her attention. "Ruby, where is she? Where is she right now? I know you're upset but I need you to think for me, sis."

Ruby nodded her head vigorously and choked back another sob.

"I-I was going over to visit Weiss about half an hour ago and Blake was just leaving. She said she had an emergency back at her school and had to leave a day early b-but I know she was lying! The way she looked at me-!" Ruby shook her head, trying to focus on what she needed to explain. "B-But she said goodbye to me and she told me not to tell you until after she was gone but I just couldn't-!"

"Ruby..." Yang hugged her sister gently, petting through her hair. "I know it hurts but please. You've gotta tell me where she is. This is really my last... chance..."

The words sunk in, and she started to tremble.

Ruby felt her sister's shaking and inhaled a shaky breath.

"S-She said she was going to your place to... drop something off. I-I don't know how long it would have taken her, h-her dad took all her things to the airport in his car in advance s-so I think she went on foot..." Ruby pulled back and stared up into Yang's eyes. "Yang, you... you gotta stop her."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Yang let Ruby go and stepped back, legs tingling. "Thanks for telling me. I know you broke a promise to Blake, but-"

"Okay, okay just go!" Ruby shouted. "I swear to god if she's not with you the next time I see you, I'm gonna punch you so hard-!"

"I got it!"

Without another word, Yang took off. She trusted Ruby to tell her co-workers what had happened. Yang did not care about that anymore, she did not care about anything anymore-

Only one thing, one person...

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her and then some. Damn it, damn it, god damn it! She thinks she's so clever, sneaking away like this! Like hell I'd give you that satisfaction, you idiot!

The run seemed to take forever, like running from a monster in a nightmare and never advancing a step. But at last her house was in sight.

However, there was no familiar figure standing outside on her doorstep as she had hoped to see.

Yang came to a halt, scouring the area, but saw no signs of Blake.

"Damn it!" She turned to start running again, but before she could, something caught her eye.

Yang quickly went to her mailbox where the flag she had left down had been put up. Any mailman knew that was not how these things worked.

Yang opened the box and reached inside, tensing when she felt something beneath her fingertips.

There was a single letter, tied with a familiar black ribbon.

Yang's heart clenched as she gingerly removed the material and slipped it into her pocket. She then opened the letter, still trying to draw breath properly.

The handwriting was very familiar:

Dear Yang,

If you've found this letter any time before 2PM, that means Ruby told you about me. I can't blame her, though. After all, this is a terrible thing I'm doing to the both of you.

But if you have found this before 2PM, come to my house. I haven't gone to the airport just yet. I lied to Ruby. I went back home after delivering this letter, so if you've got anything to say to me, please come to my house to tell me. My flight is at 3, so I'll be at the airport by 2:30. I'm sorry again. I don't think I'll ever be able to say it enough.

Sincerely, Blake.

Without a second thought, Yang stuffed the letter back into the box and tore off down the streets, not even thinking rationally enough to consider her parents' old car. Her feet were faster anyway.

She checked her phone as she ran. It was 1:57. If Blake needed to be at the airport by 2:30, then Yang still had time. It only took ten minutes to get to the Schnee mansion from her house on foot if she ran quickly enough.

Yang raced down a path that was all-too familiar, the intricate lines in the concrete, a path where she knew every crack and pebble, where her footsteps seemed to naturally fall into place...

Past the roaring blood in her ears, she heard a plane pass by overhead and pushed herself harder.

You're not leaving me, Blake. Never again.

After Blake had suddenly revealed she would be leaving a day early, Weiss had been shocked enough to blurt out her disbelief on the spot.

But Blake insisted, and asked their father to take her things to the airport just to be ready; Blake said she had a few things to take care of, but would get there on foot with enough time to spare.

Weiss had hugged her tearfully after hearing all the things her sister had told her, and she was not sure if she would ever be able to stop crying.

But despite everything, Weiss had wished her well, kissed her cheeks lovingly, told her again and again that she loved her no matter what and wished her the best of luck and loved her some more.

To clear her head, she had walked down to Glynda's garden once Blake had finally gone.

Presently, she knelt in the grass before Shroud's grave, hands clasped together. She did not know where else to go, but she knew she needed to get out of the house, walk around and calm her mind, quell her heart. She had always liked to believe that Shroud was keeping an eye on her sister, a little guardian angel for Blake.

With a sigh, she let her hands fall back into her lap, blinking away a tear from each eye. The breeze was quiet and caressed her face, the distant chirping of birds meeting her ears.

Please watch over her...

Then, the silence was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps, fast-approaching and desperate. Weiss opened her eyes just in time to glimpse a flash of yellow, a familiar mane of messy tangles...

"Yang!" she shouted, getting to her feet instantly.

She saw the girl come screeching to a halt, and Weiss quickly followed the path out of the garden, meeting Yang on the sidewalk. The blonde was panting, sweat and tears running down her face as she went to Weiss.

"Weiss... Weiss, I've gotta-!"

"Hold on just a minute!" Weiss' eyes were wide in shock. "What are you doing? What gives you the right to look so distraught right now?" A bit of anger seeped into her tone.

Yang caught her breath a bit, eyes narrowing when she heard Weiss' challenging words.

"What gives me the right...?" she repeated. "What the hell does that mean? Don't you know what's going on right now?"

"I know plenty!" Weiss growled. "I know that you're a colossal moron and these results are all due to your own indecisiveness! I thought you were going to tell her, Yang!" she snapped, furious tears swelling up behind her eyelids.

Yang was dumbfounded.

"What are you talking about?" She hardly had time for this, but there was something off about what Weiss was saying to her with such a look on her face.

Weiss eyed her cautiously as she answered.

"Blake told me everything. She told me how she went your house and confessed her feelings and how you rejected her. No wonder she's going back a day earlier than expected! You broke her heart, Yang! After ten godforsaken years of both of you being alone, she confessed to you andyou rejected her!" she shouted.

Yang took a step back, jaw dropped as far as it could go.

"What the hell? That never happened! Where are you getting this from?! Yeah, Blake came to see me last night but she never confessedanything! All she did was cry and apologize over and over again-"

"Oh, come off it!" Weiss snapped. "You've always been a coward whenever it came to this, and now you've crossed the line and chased her off for good!"

"I'm telling you that's not what happened!" Yang screamed. She was so confused, so exasperated and out of breath and she did not have much time... "Weiss, listen to me! Blake never said anything like that to me last night! Whatever she told you was a lie! Didn't Ruby tell you before when she came to your house?"

"Ruby?" Weiss' stern glare softened just a little, exchanging some of the anger for confusion. "She didn't come to my house. Not to my knowledge."

"What-" Yang cut herself off as everything suddenly shifted into place.

That morning, a few hours after Yang had gone to work, Blake had set her intricate plan in motion.

She had gone outside, probably just for a short walk around the block, a guise for what she would tell Weiss upon her return a short while later. She had told Weiss she had gone to visit Yang, that she had confessed her love and Yang had rejected her. That crushing rejection had supposedly been what drove Blake to pack her things and decide to take the next flight out of town.

Weiss believed her sister was so distraught she could not stay in this place another minute longer. As Weiss was enveloped in her sadness for Blake, she directed her anger toward Yang.

In the meantime, Blake knew that Ruby would be coming over to fetch Weiss for their usual weekend date. She had waited for the brunette to show up at their door, asking her parents to take her luggage to the airport.

During this time, she wrote her letter to Yang and said her final goodbyes to Weiss at home. When she saw Ruby had arrived, she slipped away from her sister and told Ruby the truth, that she was leaving now, a day early.

But Yang suspected these had been Blake's plans all along.

This was not a day early; this was the day she had planned to depart since day one.

Blake asked Ruby not to inform Yang, but knew that she would anyway, hence her letter. She had said goodbye to Ruby and left, letting Ruby assume she was headed toward the airport. She knew Ruby would run off to find Yang right away, and therefore would not run into Weiss to have their stories clash.

In the meantime, Blake put the letter in Yang's mailbox along with her ribbon. She had timed everything perfectly, planned it all out...

And now...

As things came together in her mind, Yang spilled the truth about Blake's actions to Weiss.

The white-haired girl was incredulous, disbelieving at first until everything had been explained in full. Once Yang had finished telling her what had happened, it all made sense.

"No..." Weiss murmured. "Wait, wait, so she didn't go to see you? She didn't confess to you? She lied to me about all of that?" The tears were already streaming down her face in rivulets. "Yang, I'm sorry, I-I thought such horrible things about you when she told me you-"

"That doesn't matter!" Yang panted breathlessly. "Blake did all of this, she lied about everything to everyone and pit us against each other just so she could get out of here without having to face me! She's running away in every sense of the word, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna let her!"

Yang spun on her heel and dashed off several strides, continuing toward the Schnee mansion.

But a yank on her wrist stopped her.

"Wait!" Weiss cried. "Where are you going?"

The blonde whipped around to face her, one hand digging for her cell phone to check the time.

"Your house!" she barked. "In her letter, Blake said she'd be back at your guys' house until 2:30! Her flight's at 3, so I've only got so much time! She must have waited for you to leave or something and then gone back inside to wait and see if I'd come by then or not."

"What?!" Weiss shrieked. "Her letter... she said her flight was at 3? That'd she'd be home until..." She shook her head, too many thoughts jumbled in her mind all at once. Her heart was thumping rapidly as she tried to configure all the information Yang had just told her.

"No, Yang-! Yang, that was a lie, too! Blake must've told you that you could go back to our house to see her, but that was a lie! She's trying to waste your time! Her flight isn't at 3; it's at 2:40! She told me herself! She's got to be on board by 2:10! She lied and she's trying to waste your time so she'll be gone by the time you find out the truth!" she shouted breathlessly. "Don't go to our house; that's part of her hoax! She's not there, so get to the airport now!" She shoved Yang in the other direction with every ounce of strength in her body.

The blonde's lavender eyes were hollow and laden with pain as she stumbled forward. Weiss' throat constricted, but she kept shouting at her. "Go, Yang! Don't let her leave! Go, damn it!" She rushed forward and shoved her again, and it snapped Yang out of her trance.

Without looking back, Yang tore off, pelting back down the familiar sidewalk the way she had come.

Behind her, Weiss fell to her knees and watched her go, burying her face in the crook of her elbow. "Go bring back... my idiot of a sister..." she wept.

Weiss had not wanted to let Blake go either - none of them had - and they all knew it within the confines of their hearts.

Blake...

"If there's something – anything – you need, you let me know, and I'll get it to you. Somehow."

She had sent Yang to her now.

Weiss could only pray she had made good on her old promise to her sister.

Yang's entire body ached, every inch, every corner, from the inside out.

If what Weiss had said just now was true, Blake's flight was at 2:40, and she needed to be on board half an hour before that.

She checked her cell phone as she ran and let out a helpless sob.

2:08

Yang shoved her phone back into her pocket, feeling the soft fabrics of the black ribbon as she did so. Her heart was pounding faster than her feet were touching the ground, and Yang continued to run for dear life. Her vision was blurred with tears and her legs were shaking.

She tripped. A cry of pain ripped from her throat as she collided with the concrete sidewalk, and she felt trails of blood oozing from her knees and palms. "Damn it...!" she screamed, scrambling back up.

She staggered, trying to remember which direction to run in, how to move her legs, how to breathe-

She fished for her phone again, cursing as another minute passed. She flipped it open and tried to call Blake. God knew her calls and messages had been ignored for the past several years, but she clung to some false sense of hope that Blake might answer now if she could. Yang had a feeling Weiss and Ruby were probably calling her as well, but if her phone was on and Blake was seeing these calls, surely she knew she had been found out and was ignoring them purposefully.

"Damn it Blake, you're an even bigger coward than I am!"

Yang called as many times as she could and still received no reply. She even went so far as to try and call Blake's parents, to beg them to stop Blake if they could. But she got only dial tones from them as well.

"God damn it..." She cursed again.

2:16.

Yang knew that if Blake was already on board that plane, there was no way she could get to her past all the security...

The airport terminal was in sight, and Yang ran - god she ran impossibly fast - she herself could hardly believe it. She had no idea where to look, where to start-

She needed a miracle, she needed an angel to grant her a wish because she was too damn scared she would not be able to do this on her own.

Her eyes scoured the billboards, seeking out which flight was set to depart at 2:40. The second she found it, she tore off, weaving through the crowds. Her mind was gnarled with dizzying thoughts.

I can't miss her.

I've got to tell her.

It's not an option...

Yang parted her lips and screamed her name.

After nearly having boarded the wrong plane, Blake was currently assisting her mother and father in moving her luggage to the proper location.

She still had just enough time to make the switch, and moved quickly. She had told her parents to go on ahead of her as Blake herself went back to retrieve one final bag.

Once it was back in her possession, she headed toward her proper plane. This was the bag that contained the things most precious to her. Those photographs of the four of them and Shroud, the scenes they had once lived so long ago that were now only distant memories...

Her phone kept vibrating in her pocket, and she remembered she would need to turn it off soon. She paused for a moment as she retrieved it.

All three of them. All three of them had called and messaged her multiple times, and Blake felt as though a tangle of thorns had snared around her heart. It tightened more with every beat.

They had found her out.

But it was too late.

She blinked silent tears off her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry..."

She turned off her phone and headed for her flight.

She was ready.

She was ready to face her new future and leave everything – everyone – behind.

She was ready to move on at last, leaving only turmoil and broken hearts in her shadow.

She was horrible, and she just wanted them all to be free of her...

...

So why?

Why was she hearing the cry of her name echoing loudly above the boisterous din of the terminal?

Impossible.

There was no way, there was just no way she had-

"BLAAAAAKE!"

The shout was right behind her and it was furious and-

"Ah!" Blake gasped as an impact collided with her, bowling her back several steps, knocking against a wall and pinning her there, trapping her, refusing to let her go no matter how much she might struggle.

"Y... Y-Yang-"

Her voice.

Her heart.

Her resolve.

They broke all at once.

Yang crushed her against the wall. She was shaking all over, pulse hammering and reverberating through Blake's chest, but her grip was locked, refusing to budge.

Yang was sobbing into her collar, blubbering and weeping and wailing. Between her open-mouthed gasps, she panted a string of clipped phrases: "Thank god... you idiot... I made it... I f-found you... oh, thank god..."

Blake forgot how to breathe and she pushed her hands against Yang's shoulders, trying to shove her away.

"No... N-No, no, no, no! You can't do this, y-you can't! I was so ready-! I'm ready to leave, Yang! I'm leaving and you can't stop me so just let me go-"

"Like hell, Blake!" Yang shouted, shoving her harder back into the wall, pinning her there with every shred of strength in her body. "Like hellI'm gonna let you go after all that! You... You think you can just... you think you can l-lie to all of us... lie to Ruby and to Weiss and to me like that and then just take off all on your own?" she panted desperately. "You think you can set up some cliché wild goose chase like this for us and then just run away? Do you really think that's okay?!"

"Of course I don't!" Blake screamed, struggling with all her might. "Of course I don't think it's okay! I know I hurt you, I hurt all of you! Weiss was crying so hard, and Ruby looked so lost, and you-!" Her voice hitched thickly in her throat, and she tried again in vain to push Yang off of her. "Yang, let me go. Please! This is the last thing I'm asking of you, I'm begging you, okay?! This is the last time I'll bother you, the last time I'll hurt you. So just please, let me go!"

"SHUT UP!" Yang bellowed. There was a damp spot on Blake's shoulder that continued to grow. Yang could feel her struggles, but she refused to let her go. Never again.

"Shut up, Blake, just shut up! I'm sorry, but I'm not listening to you anymore, you goddamn liar!"

It hurt to say - everything hurt to say right now. But if hurting Blake by calling her that would shatter her resolve, if it would keep her there in Yang's arms just a second longer, she was going to call her every horrible word she could think of.

"You liar! You idiot, you goddamn moron! What gives you the right-?! What makes you think you can just run off like this?! After all of that?! I don't care anymore, Blake! I don't care what you want anymore! This is what I want! I'm going to be selfish for once because this is what I want!"

I'm sorry. Yang thought with every word she shouted. I don't mean it. I just want you to stay. I'm sorry...

She grit her teeth when she felt nails dig into her back.

Blake was desperately trying to pull her off. Yang was stronger, she had always known that.

But suddenly, Yang remembered last night when she had embraced Blake so carefully, how fragile the girl's shoulders had felt...

Panicked whimpers shuddered past Blake's lips now, panting just above Yang's head. Her heart lurched, but still Yang refused to give an inch until-

"It hurts!" Blake shouted. "You're hurting me, Yang!"

Yang's breath caught.

Only now was she aware of Blake's needy gasps, her ribs pressing hard against Yang's forearms as she fought for breath.

I-I'm sorry...!

Slowly, Yang loosened her grip, feeling Blake shudder against her as she inhaled deeply.

But Blake did not try to run anymore. Her nails still clung to Yang's shoulders, but it was not for the purpose of pushing her away now; it was to keep herself grounded and on her feet.

Yang finally started to get her own breath back, chest heaving, though she still refused to lift her face from Blake's shoulder. She heard and felt the other girl hiccuping, her body jolting sharply; she didn't want to see it, too

Yang murmured in a voice just loud enough for Blake to hear:

"I'm sorry..."

"Damn it, Yang..." Blake grabbed two fist-fulls of her blonde hair, frazzled and dirty from what Blake knew had been a frightening, enervating, and furious dash around town. She pulled lightly at those blonde tresses, but not away from herself – toward herself.

She pulled Yang closer to her, returning her firm embrace as best she could manage. "Why..." Blake wailed. "Why...? Why can't you just let me go, Yang? Even... back then on that rainy afternoon... even then, when I asked you to, I begged you to, you didn't let me go! And now-! ...Now, too..." Her voice broke hopelessly. "Why can't you just let me go...?"

Finally, Yang raised her head. Her gaze stayed downcast for a moment as they each breathed heavily, clinging to one another in every sense of the word.

"Because..." she growled. "Because, Blake. I'm not letting you go because I know this isn't what you want. It's never been what you want, has it? I know it never was. Your family knew too, but you just never explained to them, so you let them believe it. You're a really great liar, you know that? That's what you think, anyway."

Still, Yang did not look up. She went on:

"So tell me, Blake. Tell me how the past five years of your life have been the "best ever" while you've been away at college. Tell me... why you're so goddamn thin..."

This time, it was Blake who slumped forward to bury her face in Yang's shoulder. Her nails dug a little deeper, but Yang did not mind; Blake needed this.

"It's hard, Yang. It's so hard... I hate that place..." she wailed. "I hate it so much! I'm so stressed all the time and there's so much work a-and I never get to sleep anymore-! There's so much work and I hate all of it! This isn't what I want to do with my life! It never was and it never will be! So many times I've... I've been so stressed... I've almost done some really stupid things..."

Yang sucked a sharp breath in through her teeth. She did not want to imagine what Blake could have meant. She was shaking in Yang's arms, worse than that night in the rain several years ago. Worse than ever before.

Her voice was... hard to listen to. She sounded like she was in unspeakable pain.

"I hate it, Yang... I hate it... I don't want to go... don't-... don't let me go..."

Yang swallowed again, trying not to think about what Blake might have suffered alone all those years.

"Hmph... Sounds like you're finally being honest... idiot..." She tightened her embrace, just a little bit. "That's good... Because I wasn't plannin' on letting you go, anyway. You know that." She sighed, rubbing her bruised palms slowly up and down Blake's quivering back. "It's about time you started being selfish. And me, too. I'm gonna be selfish now. And for the rest of both our lives, we're gonna keep being selfish."

She pushed Blake back gently and looked down into her golden eyes.

"I'm gonna be selfish because I... I want you to be with me, Blake. I don't want anyone or anything else. Only you. It's only... ever been you."

Blake blinked up at her, and in that one moment, everything was revealed in Yang's eyes.

The years of pain and grief and worry. And all the affections she had kept to herself for so, so long.

Finally.

Finally -

Yang could say those three words:

"I love you."

It was a whisper, but one that spoke loudly. "Blake, I love you... so much... I don't know what I'd do... what I would have done all this time without you... it's all so messed up – we're so messed up... But I love you and that's the truth and it-it's always been the truth every second of my life, and it always will be till the day I die. An-And when I do die one day, I want you to be there beside me holding my hand and promising me you'll see me on the other side and god, Blake I-I just... I love you, and I want-"

"Idiot." Blake gave a light shove against her chest. "Would you shut up for three seconds? How am I supposed to... to say anything back if you keep talking like that? Can't you let me-? God, how am I supposed to make a comeback to that...? What the hell can I say..."

Yang reached up and brushed the backs of her fingers over Blake's cheeks in turn, catching her tears, despite how drenched both of their faces already were.

"Dummy. You can say what you've... always wanted to say... You can say it, Blake. Please? Because I-I wanna hear you say it, too..."

Blake maintained eye contact, blinking more tears free only to be caressed by Yang's gentle touch.

"C'mon, Blakey. Be honest for once, huh?"

An announcement was made over the loudspeakers; Blake's flight was leaving.

Without her.

"No more..." Blake murmured. "I'm not running away anymore. I've been running for too long, and I've been hurting people – hurting you – for too long. I'm done. I'm staying right here, Yang. I'm staying right here because I-"

She brought her hands up to cup the sides of the blonde's face, pulling Yang down closer to her.

"I love you, Yang."

Yang never thought she would hear those words.

"Thank you..." She sobbed, trying to smile, her lip quivering uncontrollably. Why had that been so hard to say before? She might never understand.

She tried to open her eyes, blinking away more tears every time as she looked down at Blake, at the girl she had loved for over ten years.

The girl she could finally have.

Yang leaned forward, and Blake met her halfway, pressing their lips together in a kiss that was a lifetime overdue.

It was everything.

That kiss said everything, conveyed every emotion, every scrap of love that had been hidden away in their hearts. The rush of their affections was unrelenting, and it overcame the pain and the uncertainties.

It was clumsy, enough to prove neither of them had ever kissed another before, not like this, not with such abandon and meaning.

It was passionate – needy.

And yet it was warm and gentle and caring, everything they had been missing until now.

It was what completed them.

It was difficult to pull away, but it became less so when they realized they could do it again whenever they wished from now on.

So slowly, they pulled apart, just enough to breathe.

Blake sniffed again.

"I love you so much, Yang. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to-"

She was silenced by another kiss. Yang made her feelings clear with the contact: Don't apologize. I forgive you. I love you.

Blake returned the kiss gratefully, sighing against her lips in relief and elation.

They parted again.

"I love you, Blake," Yang said again. It felt so good, so right to say, and she wanted to keep saying it.

And she could. So she did.

"I love you, I love you so much Blake, and damn it I don't have the ring on me right now but just another month or so of work and it's all yours."

Blake's eyes widened.

"W-Wait, ring-?"

"Blakey," Yang said firmly. Her lavender eyes were serious, more than Blake had ever seen them before. "I don't have the ring right now but god..."

She got down on one knee.

Blake was shaking as she stared down at her, her hands in both of Yang's.

"Blake, I love you with all my heart and for all my life and I wanna – no – I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you. So even though I don't have the ring, I'm asking you anyway, right here, right freaking now-"

Blake's heart stopped.

Yang asked it:

"Will you marry me?"

Blake fell to her knees, threw her arms around Yang's neck, and wailed.

"Yes!" she cried. "Did you even h-have to ask- Of course, I-I-!"

Yang started to cry again as she returned the embrace tenfold.

"Okay..." She felt like she could melt at any second, if she was not already doing so. "Okay!" Nodding her head, she giggled and buried her face into Blake's shoulder again, tears fresh. "Good thing your parents approved like... three years ago!" She laughed. "Haha, Ruby and Weiss are gonna pout. They've been dating how many years now and my dumb sister still hasn't figured out how she's gonna ask yet and now look at us!"

Blake continued to sob in her arms for a long while. They lost track of time, but it hardly mattered anymore.

At long last, Blake pulled away, just enough to look into Yang's eyes as she kept her arms around her neck.

"Oh, please..." She rolled her watery eyes playfully. "Weiss is the one running a jewelry company. She's definitely gonna be the one to propose."

Yang chuckled and brushed Blake's bangs out of her face.

"I dunno. I wouldn't doubt my lil' sister."

Then, the one knee that had been supporting her all this time finally gave, and Blake slumped to the floor with her.

Had that... really just happened?

Had she really just confessed to Blake - proposed to her - and she had said yes?

Yang was still in shock, but god she felt so happy. Happier than she had ever felt before in her life, enough that she believed the ten years' worth of confusion and uncertainty had been worth it all for this moment.

She nuzzled into Blake's collar, and Blake ran her fingers through Yang's hair and down her back. Apparently the feeling of disbelief was mutual, because after a few more minutes of tearful laughter, Blake's voice came out in a murmur:

"Is this really happening?" she sighed, stroking gently over Yang's shoulders where she had dug her nails in not so long ago.

"I think so?" Yang chuckled, pressing a kiss to her throat. She then lifted her head. "Do you want more proof?"

Blake smiled, and for the first time in a long time, it reached her eyes.

She leaned forward and kissed Yang again, making sure to engrave it into her very soul, just like the previous two. This kiss, and every kiss to come, she would remember.

They lost track of time, only parting from one another when the tears had stopped, though the smiles never did.

They helped one another up, leaning and tugging until they were both on their feet again.

Blake looked to the side at the sound of her name, finding that her parents had retrieved all her things, not placing them on the plane when they realized Blake was not on it. When they saw their daughter wrapped in Yang's arms, they could guess what had happened.

And Blake's smile was more than worth it.

Yang supported her, grinning all the while as Blake asked them if she could stay, if she could withdraw from her present college and attend Weiss' more local school instead, if she could study writing like she had always wanted. She asked to live with Yang, and explained what had just happened.

Their only response was to embrace them both, and murmur all the words of acceptance they could muster.

As her parents took Blake's things back to their car, two more familiar figures stumbled into sight.

Ruby and Weiss had met one another shortly after Yang had taken off for the airport, and after sorting the story out amongst themselves, they had hurried on foot as fast as they could, praying they would not be met with a tragic scene.

That was why, when they saw Blake and Yang together, the younger sisters burst into tears, running to them and tackling them into vicious hugs.

Yang gave Ruby a spin as she laughed. "Hey, hey, why're ya cryin' lil' sis? Everything's okay now, it's fine! It's all good, see? Blakey's still here! She's... she's not goin' anywhere anymore." She let Ruby back down onto her feet, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"I-I know...!" Ruby bawled and blubbered. "I know, sh-she's here and she's gonna stay and Y-Yaaang!" She burrowed into her sister's chest. "I'm so happy! I'm so relieved! I'm so glad! Our t-team... team RWBY's back together-!"

Yang laughed again and held her tightly.

"You too, Weiss," Blake said, rubbing her sister's back gently. "I'm not leaving anymore. I'm staying here. I'm going go to school with you, and live with Yang. I'm going to see you every day for the rest of my life. I'm not going to leave you alone to worry yourself sick anymore."

"Blake... Blake..." Weiss sobbed, clinging to her for support. "I never wanted you to leave, I... I never should have let you go... I'm so glad Yang got to you in time..."

Blake smoothed her sister's hair out over her cheeks. "And I'll bet it was you who got her to me, right? Just like you promised you would."

Keeping one arm around Weiss, Blake opened the other up to Ruby, and the younger girl immediately went to her, wrapping one arm around Weiss and one around Blake.

The onyx-haired girl heaved a sigh. "I need to apologize for what I did you two. I lied – horrible lies – and I made you both worry and cry a lot. I know I did. And I'm so sorry..."

Yang smiled as she took in the heartwarming sight before opening her arms wide and engulfing them all.

"I don't think you gotta worry about that, Blakey," she murmured, kissing the top of her head. "Like me, I'm pretty sure they've already forgiven you, see?"

Weiss and Ruby could not exactly speak properly, so they just nodded instead. Yang chuckled again, feeling a few stray tears drip down her cheeks, keeping the girls close.

She had not felt this feeling in a long, long time.

It was a few more minutes before Yang finally gave pats to all of their backs. "Alright, alright! Enough crying about all that!" She put her hands on Ruby's shoulders and carefully pried her off Blake. "We'll have plenty more to cry about in the future as sister-in-laws, I'm sure."

The following gasps were to die for.

Weiss' jaw dropped and her eyes went wide and round.

"W-What-"

"What?!" Ruby shrieked over her girlfriend. "Wa-wait, wait who-? What?!"

Yang laughed again. "Well, lil' sis, unless one of you two ended up proposing without our knowing it," she hummed, poking Ruby and Weiss' noses. "You can probably guess who did."

Ruby could only gape and squeak their names.

"Y-Yang! Blake! Oh my god! Wait, really?! Oh my god!" She threw her arms around Yang all over again. Weiss' reaction was similar, only it involved much more talking. She let out a high-pitched wail of joy as she embraced her sister, her shaking voice spilling congratulatory words alongside already starting to plan out the events and invitations and entrees.

After that revelation, it took a lot longer for them to part from one another and stop crying. Yang had seen passerby taking pictures of her proposal to Blake, and they did so even now as all four girls continued to hug and shriek and cry, but she just kept smiling all the while.

When the atmosphere finally started to calm down, Yang noogied her sister playfully.

"Alright, Ruby. Now I've gotten ahead of ya, so you'd better start thinkin' about when you're gonna ask the big question!"

"Ahahaa..." Ruby chuckled, blushing nervously.

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she wiped her tears.

"What's this? You think Ruby's going to be the one to propose?"

Blake sent Yang a smug look that teased "I told you so."

"W-What?!" Ruby squeaked at her girlfriend. "Weiss, of course I'm gonna be the one proposing!"

"That's what you think, you dolt."

The two went into a light banter of bickering, just like always.

Even when Weiss and Blake's parents came to finally lead them back to the car, Ruby and Weiss refuted each other in their statements to be the one to propose.

Yang grinned all the while as they followed them out of the airport, her right hand tightly entwined with Blake's left.

"Ain't that sweet?"

"A sight for sore eyes," Blake agreed.

"Not as much as you are~" Yang smirked. Blake rolled her eyes and sighed.

It was then Yang remembered something important.

"Oh, hold up." She had Blake pause for a moment as Yang reached into her pocket. She pulled out a certain black ribbon and reached behind the girl's head to tie it back into place. "There."

"Thank you." Blake leaned forward again and pecked her lips quickly. "For everything, Yang. Thank you... for loving me."

The blonde stepped in for a kiss of her own. Blake felt a giggle against her lips and gave Yang a curious look.

"So..." Yang gave a small bounce of excitement. "So does this mean you're my-"

"Fiancée?"

"Eeek, oh my gosh!" Yang jumped up and clapped her hands briefly before she hugged Blake for the umpteenth time within the past hour. "Fiancée, my fiancée!" she repeated.

"Yes!" Blake squeezed her back with just as much passion.

After all this time, after all that had happened... here they were.

She could remember their first meeting, when Yang had spotted her petting Shroud when they were younger, and saved her from the accident.

She could remember every morning they spent together, walking down that path to Glynda's garden as they grew older.

She remembered Ruby's confession to Weiss and the ensuing relationship that blossomed between them.

She remembered the hardships that followed, Shroud's death, Weiss' sudden illness, Yang's avoidance of her and Blake's similar treatment of the blonde.

She remembered the hope when Weiss got better, when they found out about Ember.

She remembered the pain of coming to the decision of leaving home.

She remembered every night she spent alone crying in her dorm room, imagining Yang had been in much the same condition each night.

She remembered the crushing fear and stress of her schoolwork, being so, so alone and so overwhelmed she had neglected her health, and very nearly her sanity.

She remembered the years that had passed and how she had come home to visit, how she and Yang had grown apart, trying to distance themselves from one another deliberately.

She remembered all the birthday gifts Yang had sent to her, and all the times she had failed to reciprocate those kind actions.

She remembered planning out what she had done today, meticulous lies and painstaking timing as she deceived those she loved most.

But it was clear they loved Blake so much more.

Because here she was, no longer afraid, no longer alone.

She was warm, she was smiling, she was loved, she was engaged.

"I love you so much, Yang." She embraced her, kissing her again.

Yang indulged herself contentedly, heart light, feeling Blake's was the same.

"I love you, too," she murmured back. "I love you, Blake and I'm never gonna let you forget it. I'll remind you every day, as many times as you need to hear it, and probably sometimes you don't even wanna hear it, but I'm gonna remind you anyway."

Blake nodded.

"Thank you. And I'll be doing the same." She pressed against Yang, sighing one more time, feeling her heartbeat to confirm everything. "I've never had the guts to admit it, but I've wanted this for so long... all along."

"So have I," Yang confessed. "Like I said, we were both idiots. For a long, long time." She ruffled Blake's hair. "But now we've got the rest of our lives to make up for it." She rubbed up and down Blake's back, eager to get some homemade food in her as soon as possible. "I'm gonna make you happy, Blake. I'm gonna make you the happiest person in the world. You can count on it."

Blake nodded again.

"Me, too. I'm gonna make you happy, Yang. I'm gonna make you even happier than you're gonna make me."

"You already have," Yang purred.

Blake chuckled. She pulled away once more, and closed her eyes as Yang kissed her again.

Each kiss was sacred, even though they both knew there would be many more to follow.

The merry calls of their sisters met their ears as they ended the kiss. Their hands found one another's again, fingers entwining.

"Come on." Yang smiled.

"Right." Blake reflected her expression.

They headed over to where their sisters were waiting for them, and Yang kept stealing glances to her side.

She could not wait to kiss Blake again.

So once they reached the car, she did, and Blake kissed back with all her heart.

Yang pulled back and looked deeply into those eyes, those gorgeous eyes that had drawn her to Blake on that very first day over ten years ago...

Gold.

A/N: Again, thank you all so much for reading until the end! I realize this may not have been the ideal ending everyone wanted, but I hope you can accept it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all who have reviewed or sent me encouraging messages and drawn artwork for this story and made it one of the most-reviewed in the category at this time!

You can find artwork by my very talented friends for this story at my blog hanasaku-shijin,tumblr,com/tagged/gold

In addition, if you like my writing, you can support me on under the name Kiria Alice!

Again, thank you very much for all of the support! Thank you for reading!

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