Chapter Ten: Across the Sea

You never forget the moment you fell in love.

For Ren, it was when Blake allowed him to remove her bow, when she finally shed away her exterior and allowed her true self to emerge. She'd kissed him before that moment, opened up to him before that moment, done things that endeared her to him before that moment. He may well have been on the path long before then, but it was that moment, when he saw her as she was, that he knew his heart belonged to her.

For Blake, it was a little more complex. She fought at every turn to acknowledge it, trying to convince herself that what she had with Ren was just a fun distraction, a secret that bound them together in a way that may have been intimate but was decidedly not love. Blake had already told one man she loved him, and those words tasted bitter in her mouth when she recalled doing so. But if there was any moment she recalled, it was when she first took Ren's hand in her own, after she finished her book and after brushing fingers with Ren by accident, decided to try taking his hand for real, and holding fast.

Holding hands with someone signified that they were important to you; that you cared about them. It wasn't an admission of love per se… just a sign of affection, and the first act of doing so sealed a bond between two people. Blake cared for her teammates, and on varying levels cared for her friends outside the team like Sun and Team JNPR, but since arriving at Beacon, she'd only held the hand of two others: Ren and Yang.

When she held Yang's hand in the courtyard, Blake had realized how important her partner was to her, how much this other life mattered. She had no idea it'd become a curse. Blake had no idea she'd never hold that hand again.

Now Blake clutched tightly to Yang's left hand as they lay on the ground, waiting for the rest of their friends to return and regroup with them. Yang was the only person she was concentrated on, whispering the same words over and over: "I'm sorry…"

What Adam had taken Blake could never hope to replace. What he had so easily destroyed had taken months to be built up, and now Blake would never know where it all could've led, because the hand she clung to now was not the hand Blake held that day in the courtyard. Because of Adam, what should've been a happy memory would be forever tainted, and the moment that strengthened Blake's bond with her partner now seemed distant... and less real than the bloody stump she had now.

Blake was only faintly aware of Ruby's return. She should've been happy to see her friend was alive, but all she could think of was Yang. All she could think of was what Adam had taken from her- from both of them. Blake clutched to her wound, where Adam had stabbed her… the pain there was nothing compared to what she felt now, looking at Yang, and Blake buried her head in the pavement. "I'm so sorry."

"She's gonna be okay," Sun assured Ruby. "The soldiers have a ship waiting to take you guys to Vale."

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" Nora protested from somewhere behind Blake.

"Look guys, that giant Grimm keeps circling the school," Sun pointed skyward. "Even the White Fang are pulling out. We all have to go- now!"

"We're not leaving…" she heard another voice protest, followed by an audible groan. Blake knew the voice. She didn't want to think on the name. She didn't want to think about what wounds he suffered, what might've been inflicted by her old comrades in the White Fang.

Ruby resolved to find them, and Weiss, exhausted though she was, moved to follow her partner back into the fray. She asked Ren, Nora and Sun to look after their teammates, and they were off.

Weiss was right to try and assign a guardian. Yang was still in danger –all her friends were still in danger- because Adam had made his intentions clear and demonstrated his ability to carry out his threats. His scent still lingered, so much it seemed omnipresent. Blake tried to convince herself her senses were out of whack, that she was so wracked by guilt she was no longer able to perceive the world properly.

But she could see all too clearly, the moment when Adam maimed Yang. She could hear his taunts and his proclamations, and feel the pain when he'd stabbed her, promising it was only the beginning of the torture she'd intended.

Slowly, deliberately, Blake rose to her feet. Sun was helping Port and Oobleck to guide citizens to the ships. Nora and Ren were still recovering, but their attention wasn't on her; they were looking back at the tower, waiting for some sign of their teammates' return.

Blake was exhausted, but she still had Aura left in her. She knew what she had to do.

And it was hard, letting go of that hand, even if it hadn't been the one she'd held before. Blake didn't want to leave Yang, but if she remained… if Adam continued to follow through on his promises…

Blake concentrated, slowly stepping up and backing away as she left her Aura prone on the ground. She made certain her steps were silent, and held her breath. Ren and Nora didn't see her depart.

Sun did, glancing back from the line of citizens he shepherded. Their eyes met.

He said nothing. Perhaps he understood, perhaps he didn't. Either way, he let her go, and turned his attention back to the people who couldn't look after themselves.

Ren had missed her departure, but when he cast his eyes back at where she'd lay, he noticed the difference at once. He'd never forgotten the look of her shadow clone, and knew not to be deceived by it after she'd left him mid-conversation. He saw how the eye remained steady and unblinking, how the chest never rose and fell.

Ren's midsection was bandaged too. He was nearly out of Aura. He'd exhausted himself from fighting for hours and had never been as conditioned as some of his peers at Beacon. But Blake was gone once again, and thus she wasn't safe. Ren forced himself to his feet, even though it pained him.

"Ren, what is it?" Nora inquired, trying to reach after him, only to be stopped by her own wounds.

"Blake," Ren answered simply, gesturing his head towards the clone she'd left. It'd finish its decay shortly, and fade away into wisps of Aura. Nora turned her attention to it, watching Yang unconsciously try to squeeze the hand still holding her own, only for 'Blake's fingers to crumble to dust in her grip.

Nora quickly recovered from the sight and summoned what strength she had to take hold of Ren's pant leg. "No," she firmly told him, though she kept her voice down. "No, not this time. Not after what I found. Not after what I saw."

She was right to be concerned. Ren knew there was a beast within him, but he hadn't known himself capable of such savagery. He may have been easily able to vent such monstrous aggression on the Grimm, but on a man... he had never found such depths before. And Nora was afraid he might find a darkness even deeper within him.

"I won't let her go," Ren firmly replied.

"Please, Ren," Nora pleaded, "Don't chase her. Don't let her see this side of you."

Blake had made her feelings clear. She didn't want to see the beast emerge again. She didn't want him.

"I'm not bringing her back for me," Ren told her. "I'm bringing her back for Yang. And Ruby and Weiss. And Jaune and Pyrrha when they get back. And… and Sun."

It was another lie, but when he choked out Sun's name he thought it sounded genuine. Ren hoped that somewhere beneath his single-minded obsession, he really did have a noble goal in mind.

Nora was trying to stand, but her wounds held her down. She hadn't taken a sword to the stomach like Ren had, but she wasn't letting obsession fuel her to the point she could forget her pain. "That's not why you're going. And the reason you are -this thing that's driving you- she doesn't want it, Ren. She doesn't want you to save her."

Nora was right, of course. Blake hadn't run because she wanted someone to chase after her. But that didn't matter to Ren. All that mattered was she was no longer safe, and he had the power to do something about that. "I'm going to bring her back."

Nora looked at the floor. Once again, she released her grip on him, and let him go. Ren promised himself he'd thank her for putting up with this madness of his when he found her again, when all was said and done.

But Ren had barely staggered twenty feet when his old teacher Port rushed in his path, moving faster than Ren thought any man so bulbous possibly could. "Please, Mr. Ren… may I remind you this is a mandatory evacuation. I really must insist that you stay here and board your shuttle when you are able."

Ren was frustrated by the interruption, but managed to contain his anger and stay focused. "My friends are still fighting, Professor. I can help them. I will help them."

Port shook his head. "Young man, make no mistake: it pains me to know that my students are still trapped in this warzone. I am acutely aware of how dire their situation is, trapped with a Grimm as ancient as the one above our heads. But I am a huntsman, and there are people here I can help. It is our responsibility as huntsmen to save as many lives as we can, and the brave people running back to fight the Grimm are not the lives we should concentrate on."

He was right, of course. If Ren had the energy to assist anyone, he should've helped the citizens. That was what a huntsman did. That was what he wanted to do, and what he'd intended to do, for the rest of his life.

But not today. Today, the only life he wanted to save –more even than Pyrrha's and Jaune's, more even than his dearest friends- was the one that had found safety and then run from it. It didn't matter to him if she didn't want to be found, it didn't matter to him if she didn't feel what he felt: he just wanted to bring her back.

"But I'm not a huntsman, professor," Ren finally argued. "And it seems now… I never will be. And you're right, I could do more to help. But I can't just abandon the people here, even if they can fight without me. They're not just my friends; they're the people I love. They are all I have in this world now."

It was almost the truth.

Port's expression softened. "I suppose you're right, that it is unfair to impose such a burden before you've graduated… before you even finished a year. While I do not approve of this course of action, I won't stop you. I won't judge you for fighting for what's important to you."

Port had been very encouraging of Ren and Ren had been one of his best students. Ren knew he'd disappointed him, but that too was just a small thought easily smothered by the weight of his obsessive need to go back. "Thank you, Professor," he said, staggering past.

"Mr. Ren, whatever you think you can accomplish…" Port began, thinking on how to follow up, "…I trust you remember where the weak spots are." Ren nodded. "Then I wish you well, and expect you to find your way back to the Safe Zone with whomever you can retrieve."

Ren dashed ahead, ignoring his wounds. Port sighed to himself before resuming his help in the evacuation. Nora finally looked up from the ground, spotting Ren's retreating back as a green blip in the distance.

He'd never stopped. He'd still loved Blake, even after it had ended; even if Blake had never loved him back. And Ren was risking his life, risking his friendships, risking his very soul for her.

Nora tried not to think about it, but it was the only thing on her mind. Whatever happened at the end of the night, whoever emerged from the battle, she'd lost him, and never told him how she felt.

Nora drove her fist into the pavement, taking a moment to vent her anger against the dry rocks before dragging herself over to sit beside Yang, keeping watch over her. Someone had to honor Weiss's request and keep her safe -and of all people- Nora was the only one left to carry out her duty. She never expected there'd come a time Ren wasn't around to be the responsible one.

But then, she'd never expected he'd fall in love, or that love would be so powerful it would change him from the Ren she knew.

The White Fang had nearly completed their evacuation, but for one crucial detail: the man who coordinated their offensive was missing in action. The soldiers knew the Grimm were going to seize the entirety of the Beacon campus, with reinforcements constantly summoned from an elder wyvern circling Beacon tower. They had to retreat and withdraw, but their leader had yet to return.

Their course of action was clear: leave him behind, and if he died, dismiss him as too weak to have held the reins of command and move on. There would be a brief period of infighting and possibly open conflict, but eventually the strongest among them would rise to the top and claim the mantle of leadership, or they'd be absorbed by another chapter capitalizing on their instability and weakness.

But for whatever reason, they delayed, perhaps out of some sense of loyalty, or perhaps because they sought to avoid conflict amongst themselves. Either way, it proved to be a prudent choice.

Because their leader was not weak. He'd been wounded, maybe even beaten, but he was alive, and he still had his obsession to fuel him. The boy who'd bested him in combat had made the mistake of letting him live.

Even with half a Grimm mask pressed to his face and blood obscuring one eye, even with wounds that should've killed him, Adam Taurus staggered out of the ruins of Beacon, leaning on his sword like a crutch and dragging himself to a Bullhead, plopping down in the passenger bay beside his troops, keeping a brave, stoic face even as he bled all over his seat.

Blake was still alive and he had yet to break her. Adam couldn't die until that single mission was completed. Until he had his love once again, and she could never leave him again. So long as the beast within him howled for its opposite within her, he would survive, and let his hate keep him going.

And the boy in green… the boy who dared to touch what was his… well Adam would go through the trouble of finding him so he could present Blake with his head, to remind her no one loved her like he did.

As the Bullhead took off and headed out past the cliff's edge and over the lake, Adam glanced back at the tower, watching as it was engulfed in some sort of explosion composed of silver light…

Cinder had been badly wounded by… something. She tried to find her way to her feet, but could only move one arm to push herself up. There was something wrong with her vision, because her depth perception had changed, tightening her field of view. She felt warm blood on the left side of her face, and all of her joints ached. Whatever struck her had dealt damage like she'd never fought before.

Had it been the ancient wyvern? No, she recalled crying out in surprise… she recalled seeing a burst of light, an energy like none she'd ever seen a Grimm emit. Her memory was hazy. It all happened so fast…

There was someone else nearby, some small body lying prone on the tower a few feet away from her. Cinder recognized the form… she'd met the person before, but where?

It was so hard to think… she was in so much pain…

Cinder tried to stand but fell again. Her vision was growing hazier and her body was getting heavier…

That girl… that girl did this to her… that novice, that mere child…

Cinder should kill her while she was vulnerable. But Cinder could barely move. She kept fading in and out. She wasn't sure how much blood she'd lost –was still losing- only that the amount smearing the broken floor of what had once been Ozpin's office seemed to increase every time she faded out.

This couldn't be how it ended. She'd finally achieved her dream and claimed the power she'd been seeking… and now she was going to die because of some teenaged girl?

Not now. Not tonight. Not ever.

But she couldn't move. She could feel her Aura fading, she could feel the Maiden's powers growing more distant…

She felt strong hands take hold of her and hoist her up. She heard a familiar voice ask her how she was. She heard another familiar voice urge them to hurry and escape from this place.

Slowly they came into focus. Mercury was carrying her on his back. Emerald was directing him down the tower, clearing debris in the way.

They hadn't abandoned her. They'd come to save her, even when she'd been vulnerable. Emerald had been in on the plan: she could easily have ensured she was the last thing Cinder saw, then finished the job the silver-eyed girl started and stolen the Maiden's power for herself.

Cinder had no idea she'd been able to inspire loyalty. She'd never have expected a day would arrive when they would come to save her… or that she'd ever need to be saved. Yet here they were, escorting her out of the ruins and away from danger.

How strange that even among thieves and assassins, there was reason to forge a bond…

Blake had not intended to encounter anyone. She was looking for a place to keep herself concealed and away from the Grimm, working her way through the outskirts of the school campus, stopping only to retrieve her weapons from the ruins of the cafeteria. From there she took the long way around, following the cliff's edge along the lake. It had never occurred to her she might find anyone else while she skulked along. It hadn't crossed her mind that she might want to find someone else.

Blake hadn't seen her until the opening round of the tournament, but Ruby had given her a thorough description beforehand. Seeing Mercury carrying her –despite allegedly having long since left to return to Haven- and Emerald guiding them confirmed her suspicions. Wounded though she was, this was the woman who'd hijacked the broadcast and tried to turn the kingdoms against each other. Blake wasn't sure if she was the one who brought in the Grimm and the White Fang, but it seemed logical that they'd collaborated the assault, rather than independently decided to attack the kingdom at the exact same time.

She brought this destruction to the home Blake had tried to establish. She'd turned Grimm loose on innocent people. She'd allowed Adam to…

Blake had intended only to run. But now she had a slightly different goal in mind. Now she thought it might be only fitting to return the favor and strike while the enemy was vulnerable.

Blake unsheathed her blade and emerged from the shadows, driving it into the woman's back, through some sort of tattoo just below her shoulders and uncovered by her tattered red dress. She screamed in pain and surprise as blood and wisps of Aura rose from the new wound.

Mercury jumped ahead, pulling the girl on his back along with him and out of range of Blake's attack. Emerald drew her kusarigama and moved to intercept Blake, replacing Mercury's position with astonishing speed. Mercury turned around to face Blake, Cinder's bloodied head resting on his shoulder as she glared at her assailant.

Cinder's mind was still foggy, but she recognized her at once. Cinder had very deliberately positioned this Faunus girl for Ozpin to select, even if the plan had fallen through. And now this Faunus had wounded her.

Cinder tried to order Mercury to kill her, but her voice was only a low, scratchy murmur. Mercury quietly whispered: "Try not to talk."

It was kind of him to offer his aid, but Cinder had no patience for the gesture now. Not while another girl who drew her blood continued to breathe. Fortunately, Emerald seemed to understand her mistress's intentions and moved to attack, only for Blake to clash her blade against both of her opponent's.

Blake couldn't hope to defeat both Emerald and Mercury, but she certainly could deal with their boss. It was a cruel task, but this woman had earned it. What she did to Yang merited Blake's sword.

Blake left a shadow clone for Emerald to fight, and then she dashed ahead to slash at Cinder and Mercury again. She expected Mercury to dodge to his left, and adjusted her strike accordingly, only to see Mercury had not changed position at all, and her blade passed through his left arm without striking Aura or drawing blood.

An illusion?

Mercury and Cinder disappeared from view as Emerald capitalized on Blake's confusion and kicked her in the back, knocking her to the crumbling stone floor. "You're not the only one with tricks, kitten."

Blake cursed herself for going in unprepared. Her desire to attain some measure of vengeance for Yang had led her to fall into a trap, and now she couldn't find where Cinder had retreated to. She tried to compose herself, but knowing she'd been outmaneuvered infuriated Blake.

She clashed her blades with Emerald again, trying to multitask and measure her Aura, and how much she could invest and utilize her Semblance. Unfortunately, Blake was already wounded and exhausted, and Emerald at least seemed to be fresher… assuming that wasn't just an illusion, and the real girl had disappeared after her mistress. Blake tried to listen intently, tried to sniff at the air, to find some clue as to where her enemy lay, if she couldn't trust her eyes. The bow on her head was stifling her extra ears. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and dust from the devastation. Blake couldn't perceive anything more than her eyes had already conveyed.

And her anger… Blake was trying to gain some measure of revenge for Yang, but she couldn't focus on the task. Emerald was not her target; she was inconsequential. If Blake wanted to strike back against her enemy today, she needed Cinder. She needed to cut the head off the snake.

Blake had made her bleed. That meant Blake could kill her.

Blake didn't kill Torchwick when the opportunity presented itself. Blake had tried not to kill living people since she'd left the White Fang, but that didn't mean she'd lost the ability to do so. And some people… some people merited it.

The Grimm sensed the emotions. Most had been drawn by the presence of the old one in the absence of Aura to hunt, but a new source was drawing them, summoning them with its call. Perceiving through the dark and ruins, the Grimm approached it: negative energy concentrated together, as sorrow and anger mingled together.

Beowolves and Ursa began to surround the source, as a Faunus fought against empty air, striking with her blade and bullets at the void. Slowly, they drew around her, each waiting for their opportunity to move in, while the young and undisciplined among them approached the girl, driven by their own anger and hate to strike out at any source of Aura before them.

The Faunus girl turned her attention to them, fending off the younger specimens with relative ease. But the elders were encircling her, cutting off her escape route, preparing a simple but effective tactic to ensure her demise. When she realized she'd been surrounded, she kept glancing in every direction, searching for any weak spot, any hope for escape. She realized she'd been deceived and was slowly recognizing she was trapped.

There was no hope within the Grimm, only the same despair that was slowly growing within her. Only the same anger and frustration that had beckoned them forth. Only the same darkness that would inevitably consume them all.

The Grimm prepared to destroy their prey… when an even deeper darkness took a step towards them. They turned their heads, each responding to the negative energy, a force so potent it overwhelmed their senses and masked the Aura of the Faunus they'd deliberately ensnared.

The Grimm saw only two points of light in the darkness, brilliant pink eyes that seemed to burn in the deep and formless dark. They were the last lights any of those Grimm bore witness to, as one by one they were cut down or shot to pieces. They could not even retreat from their own demise, they were so paralyzed by fear.

As the Grimm disappeared in wisps of black smoke, the source of darkness placed a hand to its chest and counted its heartbeats, slowly returning to its default state, to a human with a source of Aura…

Ren turned his attention to Blake. She looked at each of the destroyed Grimm rather than meet her former lover's eye.

"We need to talk," Ren gently informed her.

Emerald had regrouped with them before her battle with Blake could reach a second gear. Cinder would've encouraged Emerald to return to the fight and kill the annoying Faunus, but she could barely speak. Any words she did manage were little more than a strangled gasp.

Blake Belladonna had wounded her, and Cinder was still leaking blood and Aura. She swore to repay that loss tenfold once she was healed, once she could bring the full weight of her power to bear, and the little criminal could die at the hands of a Maiden.

It was the last thought Cinder had before she nodded off on Mercury's shoulder, her loyal acolytes shepherding her safely from the ruins of Beacon.

"We've never needed many words," Blake replied firmly. "I don't think I owe you any explanation anyway."

Ren tried to calm the part of himself reacting to her presence. He'd willingly released the beast twice now, and it would be only too easy to act in accordance with his other side, to join with it in pursuit of Blake. But he was able to concentrate on the situation, and the necessity of leaving. "I'm not asking you to explain yourself. Now… or ever. I just want you to come back. I just want you to be safe."

"Where is safe, Ren?" Blake asked, her tone becoming harsh. "We thought Beacon was safe and look where that got us."

"Safe is with…" Ren concentrated very hard to say the right thing, rather than what he wanted to tell her. "…with your friends. Your teammates will keep you safe and you'll keep them safe-"

"I can't protect them," Blake interjected. "I can't keep anyone safe. No one will be safe when I'm with them, don't you understand?"

Ren understood Blake had been afraid of Adam, and fled from him. Ren understood why someone might lose faith in themselves after Beacon fell. But that rational part of his mind was being droned out by the howls of a beast, who wished only to have its opposite at its side again. Still, he tried to appeal to Blake's sense of duty or camaraderie and not his own whims. "Your friends wouldn't want you to run. They'd rather be in danger than not have you in their lives."

"My friends would rather be safe," Blake shot back. "They have families –they have homes- they can go back to. If they'd never met me, they'd never…" Again she refused to meet his eye. "…they'd never have been hurt."

No wound had ever cut as deep as Blake. But Ren refused to let that thought deter him. "Not all your friends have somewhere to return to."

He glanced back towards the docks, wondering if there would still be a ship waiting. Blake briefly considered running, but thought on his words… she'd been half-dazed after eating an enormous meal, but she faintly remembered Nora mentioning something before Team JNPR's match.

"Beacon was my home, and I have nowhere to go," Ren explained. "But that won't matter to me if my friends are safe. I'm sure your team feels the same way. We don't need a school or a dorm room or… or a library to feel at home. We just need our friends. Your friends need you. I…"

I need you. I want you safe. I don't care what it costs me.

I love you.

Ren ignored the monster raging beneath his skin. "…I just want you to go back to them. I just want you to stay with the people who care about you. I just want you to be safe."

Blake was silent for several seconds. She watched him intently, holding her gaze on him far longer than she had before.

Slowly, deliberately, Blake unclasped her bow, revealing her second set of ears; revealed her other side, revealed her true self. "Is that all you want?"

Ren could hear her heart beating. He heard –however faintly- her other side calling to his, heard her second voice resonate within him.

Ren tried to hold her gaze and not stare at her ears. "No, it's not," he answered honestly. "But I know that I'm not the one you want. I know you… I know this isn't what's meant to be."

"And what do you want?" Blake pressed.

Ren just wanted to say the words. He just wanted to meet her eye and see her as she was, and for her to embrace him, to know his other side. He just wanted things to be as they were.

The beast within him knew the course of action. It howled, ringing in his ears to pursue her, to claim her and be made whole. Blake's other side wished for him to take a similar course. Even now, even after all she'd said, when they were alone together, she still felt it.

"I want to finish what I began," Ren answered. He steeled himself, remembering how his failure before had devastated him. He would not stay his hand now. "And say what I need to say.

"I love you, Blake," Ren firmly told her. "And you're right, that hasn't changed just because I know things are over. I know how heavy those words are, I know how weighty is the burden. And no matter what you do, no matter if you stay or if you go, that won't ever stop being true."

Blake's eyes widened. Her mouth hung agape. Ren held her gaze, refusing to look away now. He wanted her to see the strength of his conviction. He wanted her to know that he had not allowed his fear and doubt to decide his course.

And Blake looked away. "You… why… how can anyone… why would-"

Ren stepped towards her. He had to make her face him, had to lock her eyes with his. If she could be strong, he could bring her back. If he could just reach her now, maybe he could save her.

He had not come to claim her. He had not come to force her hand. He just wanted her to go back.

When Ren reached for Blake's chin, he stopped his hand from forcing her gaze upwards. Instead he gently placed his hand on her cheek.

The beast screamed at him to complete the task, to make her his own. Ren suspected if he didn't complete the motion, his confession would be lost, like every other set of brief words before a fierce wind. All he had to do was turn her head, and she would…

She would do what he wanted her to do.

Ren had successfully fought against impulse for most of the conversation. If he surrendered now, perhaps he could sway Blake to return with him, but he'd do so having appealed to her own beast, rather than the woman… the one he'd confessed his feelings to.

Slowly, Ren retracted his hand from her cheek. Sliding his fingers from her flesh felt akin to chopping off his hand.

"Where will you go?" Ren asked after a long silence.

"I… I don't know," Blake admitted. "Somewhere else. Some other continent. Somewhere across the sea. I don't know."

"I'm sure you have your reasons," Ren told her. "But your friends would never abandon you. Why would you do this to them?"

"You don't know Adam like I do," Blake told him. "You don't know what he's capable of. If I'm with them, they'll never be safe."

Ren wanted to tell her how he'd dealt with Adam. He wanted to assure her he could protect her from this man from her past. He just wanted her to stay.

Ren grimly nodded. "Then I wish you well. I hope you can find your way back, when the time is right."

It hurt him just to remove his hand from her. Turning his back was excruciating, as the beast howled to its opposite, betraying the truth to Blake.

He'd told her the truth. He knew she felt the same. If he'd just managed to look her in the eye a second time, she'd take his hand in her own and return with him to safety. But she was convinced that her friends would be safer with her further from them.

And whatever he could've convinced her, she did not love him. Her other side may have, but the one she showed the world did not. Once she put that bow back on, she'd remember who she was and what she wanted.

"Ren," she called to his back. "Did you mean it?"

It would've been so much easier to walk away before she asked. "I never say what I don't mean."

His other side called out to hers'. He faintly heard her take a step towards him…

Then she ran in the opposite direction, disappearing into the shadows. Ren's other side howled into the empty dark, while the boy in love raised a hand to rub the tears from his eyes.

Blake wasn't the only one who'd been lost in the ruins of Beacon. And while Blake may have been lost to him, she at least had a direction she intended to go. She may not have been safe, she may not have been with him, but she was going where she wished to. And Ren hadn't forced her to be someone she didn't wish to be.

Ren pressed his hand to his chest, counting his heartbeats. The beast within him refused to rise to the surface, having lost any reason to emerge. Though drowning in sorrow, Ren focused himself on his task. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss were still out there and he had to bring them back.

He'd told her the truth. It was a terrible burden to love her, knowing she couldn't return the words. But it was less of a burden to count beats from a broken heart than to be weighed down by having never told her.

Slowly, Ren found it… the balance he'd needed. It wasn't a happy thought, to know he'd lost the woman he loved a second time, but at least he wasn't alone with the thought any longer.

Ren concealed his Aura in an obscuring gray cloak and set out to find his friends.

"We're not leaving," Nora insisted.

"Miss Valkyrie, this is the only transport still docked," Port argued. "It may not be at capacity, but the Grimm could reach this position at any time. We simply do not have the luxury of waiting."

"It is our duty as huntsmen to steward the welfare of the civilians in times of crisis," Oobleck agreed. "And we cannot afford to gamble with those lives."

"My teammates… and Yang's…" Nora tried to find the words. For the moment, it seemed she and Yang were the only ones left. Were the others…?

Was Ren…?

"Miss Valkyrie, I understand how you feel," Oobleck tried to appeal to her. "But we have an obligation to help who we can. We cannot let our feelings interfere with our duty. We cannot afford to be sentimental, even for our students." He took a rare pause for breath. "Or our friends."

Nora couldn't argue the point. But if she and Yang were alone, if all their friends were gone… if Ruby and Weiss and Blake were gone… if Jaune and Pyrrha were gone… if Ren was gone…

Yang had a home to return to. Where would Nora go? What would she have? She'd be alone, for the first time since…

She saw something in the distance and pointed past her professors. "Look."

Port and Oobleck turned, obscuring her vision. All Nora had seen was a moving shadow. She staggered to her feet, reaching to raise her hammer.

"Well, well," Port mused. "It seems you were right, Mr. Ren."

Ren?

Port and Oobleck moved to help him. When they approached him at either side, Nora saw them help alleviate a heavy burden, helping to carry Jaune and Weiss, whom Ren had apparently carried back to the landing platform with him.

He helped carry Jaune into the ship, then returned for Nora, offering her a shoulder to lean on. Nora was only too quick to accept, leaning on him as he accompanied her to the ship.

"Any others?" Oobleck asked. Ren shook his head and Oobleck tapped twice against the hull of the ship, calling up to the pilot: "Get us out of here!"

Once Ren found Nora a seat he collapsed beside her, leaning against the wall of the transport as its cargo doors sealed up. Nora glanced around them, at Jaune, Weiss, Yang, Sun, and the teachers…

"Did you find Pyrrha? Or Ruby?" Nora asked. "Or Blake?"

Ren only shook his head. His eyes were glazed over and unfocused.

Nora nodded. "Okay. It's okay. You did what you could."

He'd brought Jaune back. That was something. He'd brought Weiss back. At least Yang wasn't alone with her wound.

And Nora… Nora worried for Pyrrha, wondered if she was still out there, but so long as she had Ren, she could finally rest again.

She saw through the illusion when a gust of wind disrupted it. She reared herself back and prepared for the fight.

Two assailants struck. One had legs made of metal that did nothing to conceal his presence on a narrow dirt road. The other seemed much like the girl she'd used as a decoy to play on her sympathies, only older and far crueler.

A third joined them, fighting with weapons made of glass. She was overwhelmed, but only temporarily. These would-be usurpers may have coveted her power, but they could not hope to stand against it. She could command the wind, she could alter the temperature of every molecule of air. She could fend off these vagabonds.

But somehow they got the better of her, and their leader, a woman with long black hair and piercing amber eyes, slid on a long white glove and held it over her face.

"Please, don't," she heard herself beg.

She saw a monstrous, spindly black leg emerge from that glove, as a creature of Grimm began to claw its way out and reach towards her…

And Blake woke with a start, trying to catch her breath. She glanced around her for any signs of Grimm, but they hadn't found her hiding spot. Not yet.

She tried to calm herself down. It wasn't a memory… when she tried to attack Cinder they'd still been in Beacon, and not a dirt road. She'd had no powers to bring to bear against Cinder and her minions.

Maybe it hadn't mattered. She'd never have become a Maiden anyway. She'd never been worthy.

But now that she was conscious, she could recall other events of the night, namely when Ren found her, and held her cheek, and said…

Blake tried not to think on it. Her sadness would call the Grimm to her, and she wanted to rest a while longer in this hiding place before she fled. She couldn't let herself think on the moment, or the words he'd said.

She tried to think on a better time, in the library, in their sanctuary… when she'd cast her bow aside and let him see her…

Blake unconsciously reached up to feel the top of her head, poking her left high ear. Blake then frantically searched around her for her bow, eventually finding it a few feet away, trying to tie it back in place, fumbling her hands over the fabric.

She couldn't quite get it on… she kept missing the right spot to tie the string. Blake stopped trying for a moment, and took notice of how her hands were shaking.

He loved her. He loved her as she was.

He loved her and she did nothing.

The sadness was overpowering now. She couldn't dwell on it, she couldn't broadcast her location to the Grimm, but she couldn't escape it now.

Blake forced her bow in place, no matter how tightly it pressed down on her ear. She needed to think of something –anything- else but who she was when she was with Ren.

He didn't know what loving her meant. He didn't understand how much it would hurt.

She was running for him too. If Adam knew she loved someone –really loved someone- then he'd never stop until Ren was dead.

She thought when she'd broken away from him she'd be able to move on. She thought when she'd broken up with him she could just stop feeling this way, and for a time it seemed to work.

Now… now, if he'd just… never said it…

When he held her cheek, all he needed to do was turn her head. All he needed to do was look Blake in the eye and she'd have followed him back.

But she couldn't go back. She couldn't let her friends get hurt. She couldn't let Ren be hurt. Not anymore.

It was a lonely road ahead for her, but if her friends were spared Adam's wrath, the pain would be worth it.

As she rested a while longer, she thought back to that day in the library, when Ren had been prepared to tell her how he felt.

And she thought on the words she wished she'd said at that moment: I love you too.

Ren awoke nearly half a day later in one of the Atlas barracks set up in the Safe Zone. Nora and Jaune were sitting in a cot across from him, and Nora reached over to help him sit up. "Easy," she instructed. "You were out for a while."

"You had us worried there," Jaune confirmed.

Ren knew which name he wanted to ask after, but put his own wish aside. He glanced between them, then around the room, and knew whom he had to inquire about. "Where's Pyrrha?"

Jaune's expression darkened. Nora's grip tightened on him, before she broke down and pulled him into a tight hug. Looking past Nora's orange head, Ren tried to meet Jaune's eye, and all he could manage was: "She's gone."

Ren had never thought it possible. But there were others unaccounted for. "Ruby?"

"She's okay," Jaune assured him. "Her uncle found her and got her out. She and Yang are on their way home."

That was encouraging news at least. "Anyone else?"

"Did you find Blake? She just… disappeared from the docks," Jaune asked.

Ren thought carefully on his answer. He'd never told Jaune about her. He'd never told Pyrrha either… and now it seemed he wouldn't get the chance to. He merely shook his head. "No."

He hated to lie. But all Jaune would do would be try to help… and Ren wouldn't let him chase her. She didn't wish to be chased. The beast within him gave another howl, but Ren didn't betray this surge of emotion to Jaune.

Ren pulled Nora closer to him. She needed his support now, and holding her in his arms, the beast's wails didn't seem so loud.

"Pyrrha," he heard Nora whisper.

"I know," Ren agreed. He'd thought letting Blake go would be the worst pain he'd feel. He'd never expected to lose two women he loved, in whatever way he'd loved them. "It's okay. I'm here."

Nora squeezed him tight, and Jaune reached over to put a hand on each of their shoulders.

The three had lost something, and had nowhere to go now. Jaune had a home to return to, but he couldn't truly come back from Beacon without his partner. Ren and Nora had only each other to call home now.

And Jaune, whom they pulled in to join them, to share in their grief.

Six Months Later, Kuroyuri

Holding hands with someone signified that they were important to you; that you cared about them. It wasn't an admission of love… just a sign of affection, and the first act of doing so sealed a bond between two people.

Nora had held his hand many times before. She'd taken that step, and always been the one to initiate contact. Ren hadn't been the one to take the lead since they'd huddled together in the ruins of Kuroyuri, and even then she'd pressed further along by embracing him.

It hadn't been in him to initiate the act. He'd never known how she'd respond, or what she'd think. But now, after she'd saved his life against a monster from their past, after she'd brought him back to the ground when his emotions ran out of whack…

For a brief moment, he'd allowed the monster in his soul out, and lost focus, and the even more monstrous Nuckelavee had nearly killed him. If it hadn't been for Nora bringing him back, he'd have died and perhaps his friends would've died too.

He didn't know what it meant. He didn't know if it would change anything between them, but he was ready to take that step. He took her hand in his own.

Nora was briefly taken aback, before she turned to look at him, then down at his hand, as she squeezed it. She smiled at him, looking so happy, even with her eyes turning watery. She leaned over to him, resting her head on his shoulder and holding him close.

There was another side of him, and Nora had seen it now. Before today, he'd only ever shown it to the woman he loved.

He wondered if that had changed.

Blake was still out there somewhere, and perhaps he still felt the same as he did when Beacon fell. But he felt, if nothing else, Nora could also see him as he was. If nothing else, he could trust her with knowing the real him.

She'd supported him when he'd been with Blake. She'd held him when his heart was broken. She'd pulled him back when the beast had controlled him.

He didn't know if he could say the words, but if he did, he may well mean them.

He wouldn't say them. Not yet.

But if today had taught him anything, it was that he could move on from the past.

The Boat to Menagerie

Blake took hold of her bow, unclasping it from her head and exposing her ears. She held the tiny piece of fabric for a long moment over the boat railing, staring down at the thin black line in her hand.

For so long it had been her way of disguising herself, but more than that, of containing the animal within and without. She had no more reason to hide who she was, now that she'd be returning home, to the one place in all the world Faunus would be accepted without question.

Still, she hesitated to complete the step. She thought, however briefly, how much she'd enjoyed when he removed it, when he marked the difference between who she was and who she pretended to be. How much she'd enjoyed showing her true self only to someone she loved.

She no longer had the need... or the luxury. "Won't be needing this."

She cast it into the sea, and stepped back along the deck. Blake hoped that she could simply let her past sink beneath the waves, and she could move on from it...

But even now, months later, she still heard him say the words. She still felt his hand pull the bow from her head, and still saw him smile at the sight of her ears, and her true self.

It'd fade in time. Everything did.

The First Semester

Blake glanced over from her book towards Ren. He was holding a textbook in one hand, his right clumsily outlining some notes on a piece of paper. Though he was normally quite precise, somewhere in his haste he accidentally punched a hole through the thin sheet, and in trying to correct his error, accidentally dropped the pencil to the floor.

Both Blake and Ren reached for it. Their fingers briefly brushed against one another. Both retracted their hands and shyly averted their gaze before returning to their respective works.

But as the day wore on, Blake glanced back at Ren's hand, now resting against the couch, idle. She looked him over, up and down, before returning her attention to his fingers and palm.

It was a dangerous thing to feel what she knew she was feeling. She'd been here before, and seen how it ended.

But that didn't matter. She wanted to know. She wanted to see where it might lead.

She took Ren's hand in her own. He was surprised at first, looking over at her, as she cast him a shy smile.

He squeezed her hand and returned that smile. It was so rare to see him do that, she thought even the small display of emotion was an incredible bounty.

Blake's smile grew wider as she leaned in closer, resting against him, interlocking fingers…

Who knew where it might've led?

She didn't, and for once, she was okay with that. She wanted nothing more than to be there, with him. How she wished the moment could last.

For now, she'd just make it last as long as possible… and see what happened next.