Chapter Text
- 3 Years Later -
Yang carefully carded her fingers through dark curly locks, biting her lip in careful concentration. A twist here, a tuck there, pale frilly bow in place…
Her canvas squirmed and tall fox ears twitched, the mechanical fingers of her right hand snagged on a loose curl.
“Careful Peanut, remember our game?”
The girl in front of her wiggled again, but dutifully kept her head forward. “My feet wanna wiggle.”
“I’m almost done, sweetie. You are doing great. Now can you name as many shapes as you can think off.” Yang gently freed the hair from her finger joint without pulling.
“Uhh, square, circle, trigle...”
“Triangle.”
“Triiii-ang-gull.”
“Good.” Yang chuckled, tightening the bow in place. “Any others?”
“Ummmm… I don’t ‘member.”
“That’s fine, you’re all done.”
Summer turned and beamed at Yang. “Pretty like Mama?”
Yang pretended to think, screwing up her face in an exaggerated expression while Summer giggled behind her hands. “Hmm. I dunno, Mama is really pretty… but I think you just might have her beat.” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“Don’t tell me what?”
“Mama!” Summer threw her hands up and hopped off the chair. Blake scooped her up before she could trip over the edge of the rug.
Summer leaned in close to Blake and said in a loud whisper, “Mommy thinks I’m prettier than you.”
Yang gasped. “You little traitor!”
“Oh does she?” Blake raised an eyebrow at Yang, smirking. Yang took the opportunity to take her in – the deep amethyst dress hugging her curves and falling loose around her knees, leaving her arms bare. Her hair, cut to just past her chin, left the graceful lines of her neck and shoulders exposed. Blake caught her eyes, her smile softening in recognition. “I don’t know, Mommy looks really nice too.”
Yang stood, fixing the sleeves of her dress shirt over her metal wrist. She stepped close, cupping Blake’s chin and giving her a soft kiss. “Why don’t we agree that we all look great?”
Yang lingered in Blake’s close presence for a beat longer before a small body squeezed in between them.
“Mama, Mommy! We gonna be late!” Summer pouted, her amber eyes wide with worry and her ears cocked down in a pout. “No more cake!”
“I’m sure they’ll have plenty of cake, honey. Are we ready to go?”
“Yeah, just gotta grab the bags. You’ve got your scroll?”
“Charging in the car.”
“Gift?”
“Trunk.”
“Your purse?”
“Backseat.”
Yang smiled. “Then it’s go time.”
Summer threw her hands up, narrowly missing Blake’s chin. “GO TIME!”
Blake clicked her seat belt in, glancing into the backseat where Yang wrestled with Summer’s car seat.
“No, Mommy. It goes this way then that way.”
Yang made a noise of triumph when everything clicked into place. Summer reached out to pat Yang on the head. “Good job, Mommy.”
Yang blew a raspberry, making Summer laugh before she closed the door and slid into the passenger seat. She sat still for a moment, touching each of her metal fingers to her thumb one at a time.
Blake frowned. “Everything okay?”
Yang continued to touch her fingertips together. “Yeah, this new software update is taking some time to get used to.”
Blake hummed as she pulled away from the curb. “Something to bring up with Dr Ozpin?”
“It’s not anything he doesn’t already know, but I’ll talk to him anyway.”
The drive passed quickly, and they were pulling up to the venue with twenty minutes to spare.
Pyrrha had chosen well. A renovated theater hall in the heart of downtown Vale, nearly a century old. The parking lot was already full.
“There’s Weiss.” Yang said without thinking.
“WEES!!”
Blake threw a look at Yang who grinned sheepishly back. She parked the car while Summer chanted Weiss’s name louder and louder. Blake brushed her fingers on Yang’s shoulder. “I’ll get the rocket, you get the rest of the stuff.”
“On it.”
Blake opened the passenger door swiftly, in case her small missile of a daughter had already unbuckled herself as soon as they had parked. Her instinct proved correct as Summer launched herself out of the car like she’d been on a springboard and Blake caught her around the waist. “Whoa, there, little tiger.”
Summer paid no mind to the fact that she’d almost face planted on the concrete. She wiggled in Blake’s arms, reaching grabby hands to her favorite person. “WEES!”
“There’s my girl!” Weiss descended the stairs like a princess in her periwinkle blue dress and scooped Summer out of Blake’s arms. The girl immediately attached herself to Weiss’s torso like a starfish.
“You look very nice, Blake.” Weiss said through a mouthful of Summer’s curls.
“You too.” Blake took the time to adjust Summer’s hair bow, knocked loose from her launch into outer space. “How’s Pyrrha?”
“Nervous, but not as nervous as Jaune. Ren had to break out his ‘yoga teacher’ voice.” Weiss adjusted Summer in her arms as the little girl giggled. “Jaune is convinced he’ll drop all his cards and his hair will catch fire and his jacket will rip. All at once.”
Yang rounded the car, bags swung over her shoulder. “That bad huh? I’ll talk to him.”
“And we -” Weiss bounced Summer in her arms who laughed. “- need to go see the bride.”
Blake reached up to squeeze Yang’s shoulder. “I’ll see you at the altar?”
Yang kissed her on the cheek, smile blindingly bright. “I won’t be the one in white.”
Blake followed Weiss through the venue hall, maneuvering through the halls and lingering guests who hadn’t made it to their seats. She couldn’t help the low impressed whistle when they passed the main hall.
“I know. Pyrrha has been talking about this place for ages, I see why. Makes me kinda wish Ruby and I had sprung for an actual venue. Don’t tell her I said that.”
Blake chuckled as they turned into the hall. “Nah, you guys had the right idea. It was a hell of a party. Yang still talks about it.”
Weiss flipped Summer to one arm and politely knocked on the door in front of them, rolling her eyes with fond amusement. “Of course she does.”
The door flew open and there stood Nora, grin almost manic. “Heeey there’s the girl of the hour!”
“NORA!” Weiss instantly forgotten, Summer held out her arms to attach herself in her signature starfish style to Nora who carried her inside.
Weiss shook out her arms and flipped open a small compact mirror, pursing her lips as she inspected her makeup. She turned to Blake, worry furrowing her brow. “I didn’t smudge my eyes, right?”
“You look fine.”
“Darn right.” Weiss closed her mirror with a decisive click and continued inside.
Pyrrha looked absolutely stunning, her elegant off-the-shoulder white gown spilling to the floor like unbroken ocean waves and her red hair falling about her shoulders with just as much grace. Summer sat on her lap staring enraptured into the mirror.
“Pyrrha, wow.” Blake stepped up to her side with a comforting touch to her shoulder. “You look amazing.”
Pyrrha looked up at her with a shaky smile. “Thank you.” She turned back to the mirror, leaning slightly to see herself over Summer’s head. After a long moment she blew out a breath and her hands fell back to her lap, clearly unsure of what to do with them. “I didn’t think I’d be this nervous.”
“No one ever does.” Weiss stepped up on her other side to move a red curl back into place. “You’ve already done all the rehearsals, gone through all the steps. You’ll be fine.”
“I know.” Pyrrha made a move as if to rub her face but stopped herself just in time. “Oh, that’s taking some getting used to.”
“Just a few more hours, then you can smudge your make-up all you want.” Weiss turned to Summer, lightly tapping her on the head to get her attention. “And does our flower girl feel ready?”
Summer’s eyes grew wide as if she had just remembered and she clambered down from Pyrrha’s lap. She pushed her little heels together and saluted, ears perked tall. “I’m weddy to do my crunchy proud.”
Weiss raised an eyebrow at Blake, who shrugged. “She saw Yang do that and now won’t stop.”
From across the room, Nora snorted out an ungainly laugh. “That’s adorable.”
Blake resisted the urge to laugh as she knelt, Summer’s face still in a serious pout like she was going to war. “Okay, sweetie. Remember your training?”
“Yes, mama.”
“Ready to make your country proud?”
“YES MAMA.”
Blake grimaced at the full volume shout her daughter did barely a few inches from her face. “That’s great, peanut. Just – remember our human volume.”
“Sorry, mama.” Summer dropped her voice to barely a whisper, and it was only Blake’s sharp ears that picked it up. She softened her smile and kissed Summer on her temple.
“Close enough.”
Yang stood beside Ruby, exchanging the occasional glance with her sister as they watched Jaune pace.
Jaune stopped abruptly, turning to them something panicked in his eyes. “But what if -”
“Already done. I checked the seat chart.” Ruby kept her voice flat, like this was the fifth time she’d answered. It probably was.
Jaune raked his hand down his face. “I’m sorry, guys. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my life.”
Ren spoke up from his place by the full length mirror. “We can do another breathing exercise, if you need.”
Jaune groaned and put his hands on his knees and hung his head. “Lay it on me.”
As Ren placed his hands on Jaune’s shoulders and led him through a meditation, Yang turned to Ruby. “Whew, he’s really losing it huh?”
Ruby smirked back. “This is why Weiss and I did the courthouse route.”
“How long until go time?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Okay so we just have to keep him from having a stroke for another fifteen minutes.”
Yang stepped up to place her and on Jaune’s shoulder alongside Ren’s. “Jaune. Buddy. Listen to me. Okay?”
Jaune’s attention snapped to her, cheeks blown out in a shaky attempt at a meditative breath.
“You love this woman, right?”
“Y-yes.”
“You wanna grow old with her?”
“Yes.”
“Have a bunch of little blonde and redhead kids that have her sass?”
Jaune’s cheeks grew bright red. “… yeah, I do.”
“Wake up every damn day being able to call her your wife?”
His shoulders straightened. “Yes.”
Yang smiled. “Then nothing else matters.”
Jaune blew out a breath like he’d been holding it for hours. “… you’re right.”
Yang pulled back her hand to slug him in the shoulder as Ren stepped away. “Of course I’m right. Now get out there and lock in.”
Jaune screwed his face up and squared his stance. “Lock in, right. Got it.”
Ren nodded with all his sage wisdom. “You’re ready, grasshopper.”
Jaune lightly shoved him as they both walked for the door. Yang watched them go for a moment, something sitting warm and weighty in her throat.
Someone softly cleared their throat from behind and she turned to see Ruby watching her with something mischievous in her smile. “You know, if you ever wanna go shopping for jewelry for a certain someone, all you have to do is text me.”
Yang shrugged, adjusting her sleeve over her metal wrist. “What makes you think I haven’t already?”
“Because you wouldn’t go ring shopping without your dear beloved sister.”
Yang only responded with a small smirk over her shoulder as she followed the boys out into the hall.
“Wait, have you? Yang, answer the question. Yang!”
The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, and Blake wasn’t biased at all when she said her daughter performed her role as flower girl flawlessly. Summer walked down the aisle with all the seriousness of a general leading a march, carefully placing white flower petals on the long silver carpet like she was placing the pieces of a mosaic. Blake gave up trying to be discrete as she snapped a few dozen pictures.
And Blake definitely didn’t make one of those pictures her scroll background as soon as she took it, a still image of Yang scooping Summer up in her arms as soon as she reached the altar. Yang took her place on Jaune’s side with Summer tucked under her chin, giving a small wave to Blake on Pyrrha’s side.
Pyrrha looked near ethereal in her gown, the wheels of her chair threaded with flowers with her teary-eyed mother pushing her down the aisle. Jaune looked absolutely dumbstruck, mouth open and all nerves forgotten.
Chuckles rippled across the audience when Pyrrha reached the end of the aisle and Jaune sank to his knees to be eye-level with her. He remained on his knees until the end, when the audience erupted into cheers and Jaune scooped Pyrrha up and out of her chair to carry her back down the aisle.
The reception hall positively glowed, warm lights strung across the dance floor casting everything in golden warmth. Blake watched Yang dance with their daughter, bent nearly in half so she could hold both of Summer’s hands. Summer seemed to be doing some kind of wiggle kick dance that Yang tried to replicate to the best of her ability. Jaune and Pyrrha swung together in the center, her arms locked around his shoulders as he twirled with her in his arms.
“You look happy.”
Blake turned back to her scroll to meet her mother’s soft gaze. “I am.”
Kali closed her eyes and nodded. “Good. You deserve it, you and Yang both.”
Blake propped her chin on her and, and turned the scroll’s camera to the dance floor so her mother could see Yang and Summer in the act. Yang had pulled Summer into her arms and was now twirling in earnest, Summer’s high giggles carrying all the way across the dance floor. Kali gasped. “Oooh, get a video of that so I can show your father later!”
Blake turned the camera back to herself. “I will mom.”
“Did you get the tickets?”
“Yeah, we got them. It’ll be Summer’s first time on a boat that big, she is very excited. She keeps asking if it’s time to go visit Gramma and Grandpa yet.”
Kali cooed. “Well, your father as been telling absolutely everyone he can about you coming. She’s not the only one.”
“That must be where she gets her impatience, then.”
Kali laughed. “I don’t know, you couldn’t wait for anything either.”
Blake smirked. “Must be a Belladonna thing.”
She said a quick goodbye to her mother when bridesmaid duties called, the rest of the night passing in a blur until she found herself out on the balcony in a rare moment of solitude. She took in the sounds of the city around her and the muffled music of the party behind her, letting the cool evening air stir her hair and brush her bare arms.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Blake turned to see Yang, propped against the door frame with her hands in her pockets. As soon as their eyes met Yang popped her hip out and leaned in her elbow in an exaggerated fashion, grin widening. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing out here all by her lonesome?”
Blake turned so she was leaning on the balcony rail facing Yang. “Oh I don’t know, maybe I’m waiting for someone.”
“Someone?”
Blake nodded, crooking a finger in Yang’s direction. She obeyed like she was on strings, moving until they were pressed together chest to chest. They fit together perfectly like a pair of puzzle pieces and Blake sighed, letting the energy of the day drain from her body like she’d sunk into a warm bath.
“That bad huh?”
Blake hummed. “Just tired. Long day.”
Yang nuzzled her air. “Peanut’s with Ruby, by the way.”
Blake laughed, the sound a little muffled into Yang’s soft dress shirt. “Uh oh, somebody notify the fire department.”
“Weiss is supervising, she won’t let them get up to too much mischief.”
They stood in comfortable silence for a while until Yang softly cleared her throat. “Blake?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you wanna get married?”
Blake pulled back, eyebrows raised. A soft smile slowly spread across her face. “Isn’t it a bit of a faux pas to propose at someone else’s wedding?”
“Technically...” Yang tapped her nose with a metal finger. “Not a proposal. That comes later. Just asking your opinion, like a lady should.”
Blake’s smile widened. “Going to finally make an honest woman out of me, Yang Xiao Long?”
Yang tightened her arms around Blake’s waist, swaying them back and forth in time with the slow song playing through the balcony doors. “Everyone’s taking bets.”
“Are they?”
“Yup.”
Blake leaned her head on Yang’s shoulder, humming. “Well then, hop to it then, Xiao Long. Or is that ring in your pocket just because you’re happy to see me?”
She felt Yang stiffen, then softly curse under her breath. “Damn, I should know better than to get anything past you.”
Blake rolled her eyes in fondness. “I’m a mom to a three year old. I see all.”
“Wasn’t planning to do this here.”
“Then don’t. Surprise me.”
Yang lifted an eyebrow. Then her smile slowly turned into a smirk. “That sounds like a challenge.”
“Oh, it definitely is.”
Yang’s smirk widened. “Challenge accepted, Belladonna.”
Any further conversation was made impossible by the balcony doors all but slamming open and a small body colliding with their legs.
“MOMMY! MAMA! CAKE!”
“Sorry guys, I distracted her as long as I could.” Ruby and Weiss appeared in the doorway, the former grinning sheepishly.
Blake leaned down to pull her daughter into her arms and prop her on her hip. “You’re fine, Rubes. Nothing is more important than cake.”
“CAAAAKE!!” Summer threw her little hands in the air in a double fist pump.
Yang joined her, pumping her hands in the air alongside her daughter. “Cake cake cake!”
They moved back inside and Blake closed the doors behind her, golden light spilling out through the ornate windows to illuminate the night in a soft glow.