It should have been obvious to them all that walking from that room wouldn't have ended the matter completely, but Blake and Weiss didn't think about it, knowing that Yang didn't want to discuss the matter further. Still, it had almost been foolish of them to not expect anything more to happen – which resulted in both Blake and Weiss being taken off guard late that night, when moon had already both risen and fallen.

Blake woke to a room bathed in darkness, and one that was awash in intense heat. Instantly she was kicking off her covers – partially to move and get herself out of the bed, and partially because they suddenly felt suffocating – and moving to look at the heiress' bed, ready to shake Weiss awake. All of them had nightmares from time to time – fighting monsters of literal darkness didn't help, and neither did their pasts – but Yang, out of them all, had them the least. To make up for that fact, however, Yang's were, arguably, also the worst.

Her semblance engaged, sudden waves of heat waking the room – the team had found out the hard way that attempting to wake her up only resulted in her panicking, eyes crimson and wide. After Ruby had been accidentally thrown off of the bed, they'd decided just to let the brawler sleep through the nightmares, rather than face possible injury. Weiss used dust to bring the room back to a normal temperature, and they all slept on.

That night, however, Blake woke to find Weiss already missing from her bed. Addled from her recent awakening, the Faunus took a moment to process the information, before she heard panicked whispering from above her. Blake stuck her head out to peer up at the bunk above her – her suspicions were confirmed when she saw two pale feet on the side of the bunk, a white nightgown kneeling on the side of the bed.

"Weiss?"

Blake saw the heiress startle as she pulled herself up beside her on the bunk, but her concerns for her teammate were immediately overtake by her worry for Yang. This close, the air was stifling, the heat heavy and hard to breathe. The blonde had kicked her blankets every which way, sweat beading on a furrowed brow, breaths shallow. Her fingers clenched the bedding around her, and Blake knew that if they were to wake her, Yang's eyes would be a deep, vibrant red.

"Why aren't you using the dust?" Blake asked Weiss, worried and confused.

"I am!" the heiress shot back, panic slipping into her rebuke, "It's not working!"

The Faunus brought her attention back to her partner – she knew, as well as Weiss did, that there was only one option remaining if the dust wasn't having any effect. They'd have to wake Yang up.

"Weiss," Blake began, pulling the heiress' attention back to her, "I'm going to wake her up."

Weiss opened her mouth, predictably to protest, but Blake shot her a look that kept the words in her throat. Weiss didn't look happy, but she nodded anyways, and Blake returned the gesture.

They changed positions, Blake carefully taking her spot beside Yang's left shoulder, while Weiss stayed by her right. The pair maintained eye contact, as Blake held up a hand, three fingers raised. Weiss nodded, and Blake slowly pulled her fingers down, a silent countdown.

When all three fingers had fallen, Blake turned to her partner, pulled back her hand, and slapped Yang across the face as hard as she could.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Yang shot upwards, the crack of the blow echoing through the room. Immediately Blake and Weiss dodged the wild, disoriented punch thrown their way – after Ruby's unexpected acquaintance with the north wall, they knew to avoid the violent reflex. As the blonde lunged forwards, the monochrome pair grabbed her shoulders, holding tight to the fabric as to not burn their hands on her skin.

Slowly, and carefully, they pushed her back down; Yang's resistance receding as she slowly woke up.

"It's alright," Blake whispered softly, watching eyes that flashed from crimson to lilac and back again, "It's okay."

She continued to whisper it to the blonde, a quiet mantra as slowly the tension eased from the brawler's muscles, and the air began to return to normal. Weiss and Blake continued to wait, letting Yang chase the last of her night demons from her mind. After a minute or so had passed, the blonde pulled her hands up to cover her eyes, sighing heavily as she did so. The pair beside her pulled away their own hands, letting the girl sit up.

They sat in silence for a moment, no one really wanting to break it.

"Sorry."

Yang's apology echoed in the quiet room – Blake shot a guilty glance towards Ruby's bed, before remembering that the redhead had gone off with Nora and Ren on a short mission in the city that night. In the panic and confusion, she'd completely forgotten about their fourth member.

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss's voice pulled the Faunus out of her wandering thoughts, "We all get nightmares. It's nothing you can control."

Judging by the way Yang's hands clenched at this comment, it appeared that the blonde didn't think the same way. But when she didn't say anything more, Blake felt her thoughts drift to find the answer as to why herself.

It was obvious that the day's earlier events had caused the nightmare – though, why it had been so pressuring to Yang, she had no idea. She knew as well as anyone else that everyone had their own fears, but this almost seemed… different. Blake let her mind wander, jumping back to events that had happened in the time she'd known her partner, anything that could bring on such a fear.

Few things came to mind – rough combat practices, brawls in nightclubs, a wink of merciless pink and silver.

Blake's eyes widened.

"Yang," she began, watching as the blonde glanced in her direction, "You were dreaming about Neo, weren't you?"

The way the brawler tensed at the name answered the question for her. Weiss tensed as well, but for different reasons – the same, sudden realization Blake had had.

In retrospect, Blake could have kicked herself for being so stupid. It was obvious how needles could be related back to the themed villain – the woman's weapon, a thin silver blade drawn from within the innocent parasol, was just a larger version of a needle. Whether or not Yang had been afraid of the objects before they didn't know, but Neo's maniacal habits would be enough to foster a fear.

Weiss, who had yet to say anything, gently reached out and tapped the blonde's forehead, drawing her attention back to them.

"Dunce," she said softly, "You should have told us."

Yang cast her eyes down, before speaking softly.

"I've never liked needles," she said, the words once again understating the truth.

"Even before Neo?"

At the villain's name, Yang's fingers tightened again, but not to the same extent as before.

"Yeah," she answered, her voice rough, "Ever since I was a kid."

Blake and Weiss said nothing, knowing the brawler had more to say. Yang sighed, before looking up at them and continuing.

"They were the one thing that seemed scary. Punches and kicks, bats, even swords didn't scare me. Those could bruise, or scratch, or even slice, but… needles just… went through. To think that something could pass through skin, even aura so easily, I just…"

She let her sentence trail off, shrugging in lieu of words.

"And Neo didn't help that any," Blake added, watching Yang nod in reply afer a moment.

"Why didn't you tell us any of this?" Weiss asked, trying and failing to keep a stern, worry washing over her words.

Yang shrugged again.

"I'm not sure," she said, "I just… I just didn't…"

"You didn't want to seem weak."

Blake's words startled Yang and Weiss both; their reactions to the words, however, were different. Weiss looked surprised, then upset; Yang dropped her gaze, letting her bangs hide her expression.

Silence hung around them, and then Blake moved forwards, reaching out and pulling Yang into a tight hug. She felt the blonde tense in surprise – the Faunus was rarely the one to initiate contact – but a moment later felt tentative fingers grasping at the back of her nightclothes, trying to find purchase in the thin fabric.

"You aren't weak."

Yang's grip tightened at Blake's words.

"You are not weak," the Faunus reiterated, pulling slightly away to look into the brawler's eyes, "Not for being afraid, not for having nightmares, not for any of this."

Yang opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by Weiss before she could speak.

"You went up against a psychopath who used a weapon that played off of your childhood fear," the heiress said, her tone blunt but comforting, "It's only natural that something would come out of that."

"We're all afraid of something," Blake reassured, "and that's okay."

She reached out to take hold of Yang's hand, guiding it slowly to her ears, no longer wrapped beneath her bow. She winced slightly at the gentle contact, memories of touches far less gentle, of tugs and tears from years before.

"I'm afraid of dogs, remember?" Blake asked softly, seeing the nod sent her way, "People always assume it's because I'm a cat, because that'd make more sense, because it's funnier."

She swallowed around the lump in her throat, forcing memories back down.

"They used dogs at the Faunus rallies."

Yang's hand slowly pulled back from her ears, and out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw Weiss tense up. The Faunus took a moment to recover herself, before smirking and tilting her head towards Weiss.

"And we both know what Weiss is afraid of," she said, grinning with Yang at Weiss' noise of incense.

"So, see?" Blake continued, "We're all afraid of something. And that's okay."

Lilac eyes focused on her, and a tentative smile slowly came onto Yang's face, her freckled cheeks rising and her eyes crinkling slightly. The three sat in silence for a moment, before Weiss broke into a yawn, mouth widening before she could cover it. Blake and Yang both laughed at the sight, before the Faunus spoke.

"Well, that's our cue to head back to bed," she said with a grin, her tone turning serious as she addressed her partner, "You going to be okay?"

Yang nodded, wearing a grin of her own.

Blake chuckled, giving Weiss a slight push towards the edge of the bed, she herself moving to follow.

"Good," she said, watching the heiress drop down towards the floor, "Because we both know how Weiss gets when she hasn't had her beauty sleep."

Ignoring the angry splutters aimed towards her, Blake dropped down to her own bunk, crawling back under the covers, which were mercifully still warm. The three exchanged soft "good nights," voices already heavy with sleep.

Just as Blake felt herself drifting off, a soft voice from above her spoke out, nearly so quiet that she missed it.

"Thank you."

The Faunus didn't reply, but instead smiled as she pulled the blankets closer around herself, before falling asleep.

Above her, Yang's fingers traced over the soft white bandage that covered her stitches, back and forth, until she too fell asleep.