Complete Synopsis: Yang, despite years of becoming very good at ignoring her own dreams for the future, finds herself in a bind when she can't ignore her passion much longer. The real question becomes what's right for her to do: to go with her feelings, or to be happy for the love Blake and Sun seem to have found in each other? Of course, things aren't as simple for Blake and Sun as appearances may first appear, and only grow more complicated at the three begin to realize the true extent of their emotions

I have been planning on writing this fic for a while now, mostly because I have never really had a true OT3 before getting more into RWBY and falling in love with YangxBlakexSun, and really wanting to dig into that and figure out what makes it work so much for me. It's been a long time coming and the time between updates might be a while since I have a lot of projects going on, not to mention working in the labs now, but I'm really hoping a few of you out there enjoy this fic with me.

Dedicated to ephemeraltea for being my RWBY muse and always encouraging me to do more fics for the fandom

RWBY and related characters © Rooster Teeth
story © RenaRoo

Forever
Chapter One: Not So Secret

The chill at Beacon was supposed to be unnatural for their springtime. It was the sort of comment that had become the casual weather talk since they had arrived, and Yang was fairly sure that it would continue for the remainder of their stay.

It was the sort of weather they dressed for and as such it was the sort of preparation that would leave them not as nippy even if Ruby insisted on ice cream on their way back.

"You're the best, Yang," Ruby hummed around her spoon, eyes growing rounder and dreamier the more she consumed.

The opening was too clear for Yang to overlook and she gave her sister a nudge with her elbow. "Would you say I'm the breast around? Eh? Ehhh?" she goaded.

Ruby rolled her silver eyes and side stepped in order to bump into Yang as they continued on their walk back to the courtyards of their school. "Yaaaang," she groaned as she finally finished off her bowl.

"Finished already? I guess you could blame it on being an early sundae," Yang continued, at that point just seeing how far Ruby would let her get. Which wasn't far as the huntress prodigy was already swatting at her. "Okay okay! I've just had a lot of puns on reserve."

Snorting, Ruby paused her attack to give Yang a curious look. "Since when did you ever reserve puns?" she asked critically.

Yang shrugged, taking her sister's empty bowl with her own and walking toward the disposal bin. "I don't know. I just haven't gotten to spend a lot of one-on-one time with you since we got to Beacon, is all. I mean, I've missed hanging out with you but there's been so much going on."

"So I'm the only one who suffers with your puns?" Ruby joked. "Thanks, Sis."

"No, it's just when I get the opportunity, it feels like the only one around is Blake," Yang shrugged. "I don't think Blake likes them that much."

Humming with though, Ruby kept a hand on her chin and looked curiously at her sister. "But, Yaaang, no one likes puns. What makes Blake immune from suffering?"

Stopping in her tracks, Yang stood apart from Ruby, gave a slow blink in thought as she looked over her sister, and huffed with a small laugh, running a hand through her hair. What a question.

"She's my partner, Ruby," Yang acknowledged. "I mean... I'm looking at a long life of us spending time with each other. You will always be tied to your partner no matter what kind of Huntress you decide to become after school. I guess I just don't want mine to have a good reason for hating me later on."

Ruby tilted her head. "Yeah, but I'm your sister, don't you have a long life of me to look forward to?"

With a laugh, Yang waved her hand. "Yeah, but as my sister, you have to love me. It's the law - no matter how much you hate me, you have to love me. You'll say 'That Yang made the best worst jokes ever, but she bought me ice cream that one time it was colder than an iced winter in Atlas on a Saturday, so I guess she was alright.'"

Ruby giggled before pausing her stride and looking to Yang again. Her curiosity was getting the better of her that day.

"Yang," she called out as Yang held her hands behind her head and started her stride back toward Beacon.

"What is it, Li'l Sister?" Yang asked back in confident tone.

"Why are we hanging out on a Saturday?" Ruby wondered out loud. "You never had a Saturday free. Not the entire time you were at Signal! And this is the first Saturday you've hung out with just me since we got to Beacon!"

Yang paused again and looked at Ruby with a large, wondering blink. "So?"

"So... aren't you usually doing stuff with your Saturdays? Like fun stuff? With dances and parties and clubs?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms as she tilted her head once more.

"Well, I'll sacrifice my fun to spend with you since you won't ever skip classes," Yang joked.

"Aren't you usually with Blake on Saturdays?" Ruby continued.

"Aw, c'mon, Ruby, can't I just enjoy a Saturday with my sister?" Yang moaned, dropping her hands to her side.

Ruby was already too far gone, her eyes bulging with conspiracy and thought as she leaned back on her heels and hummed to herself. "Yang! You've not gone on any dates since we came to Beacon!" she cried out, as if shocked by her own revelation.

"So?" Yang huffed.

"That's... so not like you!" Ruby continued, running up to Yang in the blink of an eye and beginning to hang off her arm. "What's the matter? C'mon, Yang! Not dating so isn't like you!"

"It's not dating, it's dates, and I've just not felt like it, Ruby," Yang pointed out. "It happens."

"Not to Yang Xiao Long," Ruby countered. "You could date anyone you wanted to."

Immediately, Yang felt her chest clench. It simply wasn't true. It wasn't. "Ruby, maybe I just don't want to," she offered before flicking her baby sister's nose and eliciting a whine. "You never want to."

"Yeah, but I'm me," Ruby argued, holding her hands over her nose and puffing out her lip in a pout. "I'm happy with my friends. I'm happy with Dad and Uncle Qrow. I'm happy with Team RWBY and Team JNPR and my teachers. I don't ever think about anything else because they make me so happy the way I am."

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Yang reminded her.

"And there's nothing wrong with liking to date when it makes you happy," Ruby said, a gleam in her eye as she pointed at Yang. "And that's what makes you happy! Right? So why not still go out and have fun? As your team's leader, I give you permission."

That actually made Yang laugh and she lightly punched Ruby's shoulder. "Permission? Ruby, I don't need permission to date. I never got it to begin with."

"Then what are you waiting on?" Ruby asked, eyes glittering with intrigue now that she was fully down the rabbit hole.

"I never said I was waiting," Yang said. "I just found something else that made me happy instead, alright? You wanna drop it, oh gracious leader?"

"Drop it like it's hot?"

"Nope, don't steal my thing! Come over here!" Yang barked before tackling Ruby and pulling her into a headlock for a classic Xiao Long noogie.

Ruby was already kicking and squealing to Yang's delight when she overheard a familiar throat clearing nearby, drawing both of the sisters' gazes up.

Weiss stood, arms crossed and brows high while Blake tilted her head as if trying to figure out some riddle in their behavior. Her eyes flickered from Ruby to Yang, catching Yang's eyes and holding them in place with just a stare.

"Just what are you two doing?" Weiss demanded, hand on her hip.

Flailing her arms, Ruby squealed, "Weiss! Blake! Great news - as your leader, I now give you permission to date at your leisure! Have fun going to the clubs! Take Yang before she becomes a sad old lady."

Their teammates looked at each other in confusion then back.

Yang tugged her sister one last time before dropping her flat on the ground and shrugging. "Heh, she's joking. You know that Ruby. Jokes," she laughed, keeping locked with Blake for a beat too long. She could feel the heat flushing to her face and immediately averted, trying to ignore in the periphery how Blake looked just as confused.

"Ugh, whatever," Weiss sighed before bending over to help pick Ruby off the floor. "We've been looking for you two."

Blake gave a small, nervous smile, looking from Ruby to Yang and shrugging, always looking like she fears intruding. "It's not really that big of a deal. You guys should keep having fun with whatever you're doing," Blake offered.

"No, it's not, Ruby and I are supposed to help Yang study for the midterms this weekend, but now I see we're busy wasting time," Weiss grunted as she set Ruby upright.

Ruby shook her head emphatically. "On the quest for love, no time is wasted!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed.

Yang rubbed her neck and looked to Blake. "You're not really interrupting anything, we were on our way back anyway," Yang said. She turned a hopeful gaze back to Blake. "Besides, you and I still have a Saturday training session to get to, don't we?"

"Uh, not without studying," Weiss argued immediately.

"Yeah, Yang," Blake said softly. "I don't want to take up your study time. It's always fun to spar, but this is important."

"Oh, right," Yang laughed. "We'll just study together then-"

"Actually, if it's alright... I'm supposed to meet with Sun pretty soon," Blake said sheepishly, a small blush appearing across her cheeks.

The cold chill of Beacon finally got to Yang and she felt herself shiver back, her face slowly dropping. Shutting her mouth firmly Yang looked to her feet, hands on her hips and took a heralding breath before shaking herself free of the visible disappointment and smiling at Blake instead.

"Oh, that's great! You two should have fun," Yang laughed as joyously as she could. "Any boy who gets your nose out of a book is a god in my eyes."

Blake looked at Yang, as if not sure what to say before smiling and nodding. "Yeah, he's pretty great. But we're just hanging out, so I'll be back to study with everyone later."

Keeping a smile on the best she could, Yang concentrated on looking past Blake, past the soft smile and nervous tics, past the freshened up wardrobe and the slight hints of Schnee perfume.

She tried to look past it, and tried very hard.

"That's fine, Blake," Weiss said with a toss of her hair. "We're not worried about you for midterms. You're well read and a favorite of Professor Port's. Some of us have to study more though!"

Yang tried to ignore Blake's goodbye, even as she smiled and nodded back. But in doing so she wasn't able to ignore Ruby's looks and the realization dawning on her sister's face.

Once again, Yang felt her face drop, but this time it was because the jig was up.

Watching Ruby and Yang was always a treat to Blake.

Having a family, in any form, was still so fresh and new to her that every peering into it still felt grand. She loved watching the sisters goofing off, caring for each other. She really, truly did. It was like seeing a whole other side to them.

Still, there were many new and exciting parts of life to Blake since she came to Beacon, since she decided to become a huntress. And a lot of that also had to do with Sun.

Not wanting to be late, she waved to her teammates and friends, watching as Weiss confidently nodded her off, Ruby whipped herself back and forth between emphatically waving and looking worriedly to Yang, and as Yang... Well, Yang gave a small wave, uncharacteristic of her bombastic and supportive personality. It was just from the wrist, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Blake couldn't help but pause on it, really take in Yang's expression, before awkwardly walking away from them all and heading to her rendezvous with Sun.

It felt strange to leave, but she had to. She had to because she had been looking forward to meeting Sun all day. Even if her more immediate concern for Yang was making the butterflies in her stomach take new form.

Fortunately, it all seemed to go away the moment she walked past the trees of the courtyard and paused at the rustling of their leaves.

A suspicious smile grew on her lips as she stopped and stepped back, looking up toward the branches. Her head tilted and she raised her brows at the trees.

"I wonder what that ruckus could be," she hummed to herself out loud just before the leaves gave way and Sun lowered from the tree upside down.

"Surprised?" he asked with a wide grin.

"That you're monkeying around?" Blake joked. "Not even slightly."

Sun laughed before dropping from the tree and managing to land on his feet. "You're quite the comedian today," he joked right back, standing by her with a tilt to his head. "I wouldn't be responsible for that good mood, now would I?"

"Nope," Blake lied before turning on her heels and heading toward the campus exit. "Not in the slightest."

"Well," Sun responded, smoothly brushing up beside her and hooking his elbow with hers, "let's see if I can at least add to it!"

Blake couldn't take the small smile from her face no matter what she tried.

Dates with Sun, if they were even really called that, were just about the fun of being around someone else. It wasn't like anything else she had ever known before him, before Beacon even. There wasn't an agenda or a plan or training involved with any of it.

It was fun. And it was good.

A day spent walking the streets of town was not a waste, and a park was not a useless crawl awaiting the next event. It was just time spent with each other. It was time, with Blake, that wasn't treated as a distraction from a cause.

And because of that, they could walk and talk, sit and drink coffee on a patio, stick their heads into any store that seemed unique or interesting.

It was just them as they stepped into a funny haberdashery at Sun's urgings and began to try on hats of all sorts.

"Oh, this looks your style!" he said emphatically, grabbing the largest, pinkest sunhat Blake had ever seen and throwing it over her head.

Blake blinked and looked into the mirror before them. She couldn't help the snort that escaped her as she saw the image.

"My style?" she questioned.

"Yeah! Just like this one," Sun continued before throwing a fruit covered hat over his own head and crossing his arms proudly, "definitely mine."

Blake's mouth opened before she couldn't help but snort. She covered her mouth and laughed. Sun joined her, going for a bonnet next before the man at the front of the store yelled.

"Hey! What are you two kids tearing up over there?" he grouchily demanded.

They looked to each other, Blake slowly reaching to remove the hat Sun put on her.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Sun promised before stepping over to the cashier, smooth grin on his face and hands thrown up slightly in a shrug. "Sorry, Sir. I'm just trying to find the perfect hat for my lovely date over there-"

The man sputtered in response before pointing a shaking hand at Sun. "I don't need your kind as customers here."

Immediately, all the good will the night had generated left Blake's body. She felt her heart seize in her chest. Her jaw clenched angrily.

Sun's own mouth hung open for a moment before he looked to Blake then back to the cashier. He scowled slightly. "Just because we're teenagers doesn't mean we don't have money, sir," he tried desperately to give the man an out.

Blake watched the man's head shake in response as she angrily slammed the sunhat back on the top of the shelves Sun got it from.

"Not teenagers. You. Faunus," the old man snapped. "Your White Fang buddies have ruined more of my shipments than I care to count. Now get out."

Not knowing when to back down, Sun shook his head and stepped closer to the counter. "Now listen here, I am not a member of the White Fang. I'm just a kid-"

"Get out!" the man ordered.

Blake grabbed Sun's arm and pulled him toward the door. "He doesn't want us, Sun. Let it go."

She has almost pulled Sun away when she notices the shift of the man behind the counter again. He was still shaking his head in that way that was very tempting for Blake to just knock it off.

"You're fine, ma'am" he clarified. "I just don't want the Faunus in here."

Again, Blake felt every fiber of her being lock up. It was a shock to her system, nearly knocked the breath out of her. She looked at the man in slight horror as his words caught up to her, as the look Sun was giving her grew harder and harder to read.

Years - a lifetime - of pride for herself, for her birthright and people, melted away. Her chest clenched painfully.

She had never more wanted to reach up and tear the stupid bow from her head more since arriving at Beacon - to definitively declare herself more than human at a casual glance, but her hand never moved.

The only thing her body seemed capable of doing was letting her mouth grow drier.

She couldn't reveal herself, even to stand by Sun. And she had never felt more unworthy of the happiness and joy he had brought her in response.

"C'mon," Sun said softly, intwining his fingers with hers. "We'll just leave-"

Blake moved without thinking, turning to Sun, grabbing his head, and pulling him into a kiss without hesitation right in front of the shopkeeper.

He was stiff in response, surprised, and more than a little confused, but to Blake it said enough.

A kiss wasn't standing by him as a fellow Faunus.

She stepped back from him, eyes brimming with tears, and searched his face for a proper response. Sun just looked at her, eyes wide.

Then it dawned on her - it was their first kiss.

"Get out of my store!" the man roared, but Blake was already racing for the exit.

It wasn't enough.

"Blake!" Sun yelled, chasing after, but Blake knew he didn't know the city like she did, knew he wasn't going to be nearly as fast as she was.

She ran for Beacon and didn't look back, too busy wiping away her shaming tears even if she had wanted to.

Sun was caught off guard.

There were at least a dozen ways he had anticipated for the date to go wrong, but Blake's departure had not been one of them. Nor had he expected Blake to be so much faster than himself.

"Blake! Blake, wait!" he yelled as they chased across beacon through the courtyard. "That old guy - he was an idiot! Don't think anything about him! Blake! C'mon!"

For the third time he caught up to her, but he had wised up beyond reaching for her again. Instead he ran through her shadow copy and kept his focus on the distant Blake ahead.

He ached because as much as he loved her, he was growing to hate how good she was at running.

Booking it across the campus, Sun watched from a closing distance as Blake hesitated just by her friends' grouping at the dormitory's doorthen disappeared within its walls despite the confused callings of the rest of team RWBY.

Slowing his own stride, Sun approached the confused girls just in time to see Weiss' sharp hell turn toward him. Somewhat irrationally, he thought how it was the quickest he had ever seen someone's righteous fury turned on him.

"What happened to Blake?" Yang asked more broadly, her face wrought with concern as she frowned at the door. She seemed frozen yet prompted to move, completely torn between the two.

Ruby shared her sister's concerned expression but her wide eyes were concentrated on Sun. "Sun, what's wrong wth her? Is... is everything going to be alright? Did something happen while you guys were out?"

Sun opened his mouth to try to explain but nothing came out. He wasn't entirely sure himself what had effected Blake so much at the shop. While unsavory, it certainly wasn't new behavior for either of them, and it hadn't been toward her at all.

But, given Weiss' expression, he should have thought of something to give them and had done it quicker.

"Don't ask him," Weiss snapped. "I can tell with one look - either he knows because he's responsible or he's an idiot and has no idea."

Ruby looked somewhat aghast at Weiss. "We don't know that," she attempted to argue.

"Really" Weiss countered just as Yang ripped her gaze from the doors long enough to join the others in staring at Sun. "Then tell us what it is, Sun."

Still caught off guard, Sun shifted his feet and rubbed at his neck awkwardly. Reluctantly he said, "Well... there was this guy at the hat shop we went in and... stuff got bad for a second. But it didn't have to do with Blake. Not really, it was all me. So... I guess... I... don't know. Really."

The rest of team RWBY stared at him guardedly.

Weiss crossed her arms and shook her head. "Typical. Typical brainless boy."

Narrowing his eyes, Sun couldn't resist pouting. "Hey!" he began only to feel a familiar presence pop up beside him.

"Somebody rang?" Neptune asked cheekily. He paused as Sun gave him a wary look and did a double take of the scene around him. "Um... what happened?"

"I don't know," Sun repeated, feeling more exasperated by the minute when Yang stepped up.

It honestly wasn't that often that Sun had seen less than a smile his way from Yang. She seemed to share in his cheer and humor most days, take enthusiastic measures in making him feel at home among them, especially with Blake around.

But in that moment he stood face to face with a very different Yang. There was no smile, but a fire was lit behind her eyes all the same. She looked at him like he was a bug to be squashed.

"Nothing you did hurt Blake?" she pressed darkly. "You're sure?"

"I... don't know," Sun said, feeling his stomach churn as he went over the evening over and over again in his mind. "I don't think so."

"Hey, if my main man says he doesn't think so, I think we're golden," Neptune replied quickly, moving to put his hands on Sun's shoulders.

Weiss cocked her head to the side. "You're willing to stand up to Yang for him?"

Neptune linked once and dropped his hands back to his side. "No one here said that exactly," he amended.

Sun gave Neptune a look and waved to the girls. "Gee, thanks."

The blue haired boy shrugged back. "What are best friends for?"

When he looked back, Sun could see that Yang remained unmoved, her eyes narrowed at him.

"As much as I like jokes, I don't think right now's the time to be funny or to chase Blake," she warned.

"I agree," Weiss said firmly.

Ruby stepped between them all, releasing a string of awkward laughs. "Ooookay," she said. "I think we're all going to need to calm down."

Not in any position to argue, Sun stepped back. Ruby nodded agreeably then pushed Yang back some to make her point to her own teammates as well.

"Okay, so the most important thing to do right now is to take care of Blake after... well, whatever happened," her eyes shot back and forth between the groups. "Which we don't know was anyone's fault."

"Fine," Weiss huffed defensively.

"Fine," Neptune replied.

Somewhat more miserably, Sun simply nodded. "Okay."

When Yang didn't budge again, Ruby elbowed her harshly. Yang twitched at it before gingerly rubbing her side and locking eyes with Sun. Her anger faded again to concern. "Okay," she agreed quietly.

"Oookay then," Ruby cheered. "Let's check on Blake!" She paused and looked sympathetically to Sun and Neptune. "It's getting close to non-visiting hours and..."

"We don't need me accidentally making things worse," Sun said. "I know."

Weiss sniffed and turned curtly toward the door. "Look at that. He knows something after all."

Ruby forced a small smile and followed Weiss through the door.

Yang lingered for a moment, uncharacteristically unsure of herself before carrying through.

And though every bit of common sense still in his brain warned him against it, Sun reached out and grabbed her shoulder. He didn't even flinch as she shrugged his hand off immediately. "Wait... Yang..."

She turned and looked expectantly at him.

"Just... You're Blake's best friend. Please tell her... Tell Blake she doesn't have to hide from me," he said, feeling his chest clench. "I don't care if she hides from everyone in the world, but... she doesn't have to. And definitely not fro me."

Yang's eyes searched his features before nodding and continuing on into the dorm.

Sun watched as the door closed and ran a hand through his hair.

Neptune looked back and forth before throwing up his hands. "What happened?"

Repeating himself for what felt like the millionth time, Sun said, "I don't know."