RWBY Listens to The Soundtrack

Vol. 5 End, All That Matters

"'All That Matters is from the perspective of Yang Xiao Long to Blake Belladonna specifically at the end of the Volume and let me tell you, the chorus is NOT representative of the entire song.'" The note...complained? "'We thought it was all nice and stuff, but then the full thing came out and I found out. We ALL did. ...Speaking of; Blake, Yang?'" The partners focused. "'Try to forgive yourselves, okay?'"

Everyone looked at the potentially more than partners with concern. Lots of that going around, thankfully.

"...just hit it." Yang could tell she might regret that, but...better to get it over with. Whatever "it" was, and she hated that she might have an idea. Ruby frowned and did so.

[Song Start]

[*Calm Buildup*]

"So, uh, what do we think is going to...aw no, I can't say it." Nora gave up.

"It's...well, the end of the Volume. When, going by the intro, we're reunited. Finally." Blake almost whispered.

"I..." Yang couldn't say it. She KNEW what was about to happen. If it WASN'T "all nice and stuff", then...

[Never thought that
You would stay forever]

"Well, I mean, teams come and go, right?" Yang quickly deflected. "We never...y'know, knew each other."

"So...maybe it won't be completely terrible?" Ruby had to try to look ahead, but...

"Given the circumstances, I wouldn't be sure." Blake admitted. But then, it was easy for her to hate herself.

[Never asked you
To commit your life]

"So, uh, you already know that it's about?" Jaune asked.

"If...the note hadn't gone on that tangent, I think there would be more room for doubt, but given what we know..." Pyrrha looked at the Bumblebee pair.

"We may be jumping ahead," Blake said with little conviction, "but..."

[But I can tell you
In my heart I never]

"...no, I think it's obvious what it's about." Blake curled in on herself. She was used to that.

"...Blake, no, I..." Yang began before trailing off. She SHOULD have said more, but...

"Oh Gods this is going to be miserable." Nora quietly lamented.

[Thought you'd up and leave me
Without a trace to lead me]

"I'm sorry." Blake was already tearing up. "I'm so sorry..."

"Blake, it's...it's..." Yang couldn't say the last word. ...WHY? What was WRONG with her? At the very least, she could convey it non-verbally.

For what little good that did them both.

[And now you're standing here
With that look in your eyes]

"It's...it's a good look, probably." Yang tried to assure. Blake didn't quite believe it.

"But that implies..." Pyrrha actually wasn't certain, but still.

"Well we'll...probably see after the AMVs?" Jaune half-heartedly proposed before slapping himself.

[The look that makes me hope
I'll just believe your lies]

"It's not-she's not lying!" Yang shouted at her future self. "How can you...?"

"But I can see why you think I might be." Blake mumbled. "Especially if this is after you meet Raven and...whatever happened then."

"I..." Yang wanted to deny it. She really did. And yet... "...no, I..."

"It's fine..." Blake muttered.

"No it isn't, I-" Yang continued.

"...Children, do you need-" Ozpin was cut off as both shook their heads. Better now than later

[You're lost
You're found
You're hard to pin down]

"Heh. Not a bad way to describe it." Yang weakly chuckled.

"Isn't that kinda...?" Ruby asked.

"...Not overtly." Blake granted, though that may be because of her focus.

[I never know if
You'll come through]

"...never?" Blake weakly asked.

"No, no, I...you never left." Yang almost pleaded. With herself? Maybe. "You didn't..."

"SHE never left, no." Ren added. "But that was only because of this."

"Not helping, Ren." Nora gritted through her teeth. Although maybe...

[Then you appear
Together we're here]

"I just...I don't know how I'd handle that. Most people don't come back." Yang explained.

"Well...I wouldn't have thought I did." Blake admitted. "I...

[And that's All That Matters
Somehow...]

"...And the fans thought this was HAPPY before they heard the full version?" Weiss questioned.

"One verse aside, it is rather vague in that regard." Ozpin countered.

"It's rather dependent on the context, it seems. Interesting trick." Glynda noted. "Had the song actually BEEN happier, then..."

"Well, it isn't." Yang grumbled. "And now we're just gonna have to hear me..."

"...not like I don't deserve it." Blake stated.

[*Small Interlude*]

"Oh FUCK no." Yang shouted. "You don't get to say that about my partner."

"But after Raven...how could I have thought it helped?" Blake questioned. "You SHOULD hate me for that. Or, well, our original selves. And it looks like you do. She does. Whatever."

"I could never." Yang stated. "Maybe...maybe I'm angry a little, but..."

"But like you said, I never hurt you like that. But I almost did." Blake reminded her. "That was my first instinct. Part of that is still there."

[Thought that I could pull
You From The Shadows]

"Heh, twice in a row, that's neat." Ruby tried to change the subject.

"I...that only works if I want it to. And after Adam, I...didn't think I deserved it." Blake admitted

"...I wouldn't be so sure." Weiss countered.

"I-" Yang began, They were saying "I" and just that a LOT, huh?

[Maybe help you find
Your wings and fly]

"I don't want to assume, I don't..." Yang hurried out. "Not after him."

"Wanting to help your friends isn't a bad thing, Yang." Pyrrha chided.

"We went over this literarily last song: You can't do everything alone." Nora agreed.

[But you're a path
The longer that I travel]

"Yeah, but that's not really the problem." Yang counter-countered. "It's...what she's saying, and-and..."

"...the fact that you completely understand WHY." Ren concluded. Yang just looked down.

"Gods this is a mess." Jaune undersold.

[The more I'm just defeated
My past mistakes repeated]

"And that's...that's what I am, right?" Blake noted with a hint of bitterness...to herself, really. "A mistake. Like Raven."

"No, GODS, I...why would I make you think that?" Yang demanded even though she knew EXACTLY why.

"It's not something she only started believing now." Ozpin interjected. They seemed to have an...understanding. How long will that last?

[I'll risk it once again to
Have you near my side]

"I...really mean THAT much to you?" Blake was honestly surprised. Yang slowly nodded. "After what..."

"There was an entire love song last soundtrack, if you recall." Glynda pointed out.

"But-I still hurt her, deeply, and-" Blake was cut off.

[Another chance to let you
Just destroy my pride]

"...yeah, there it is." Blake almost deadpanned. "Because that's what she did. What I would have. I'm...really not seeing how we could GET a love song after that. Because if...if it's that serious, why give me another chance?" Blake was honestly just rambling now.

"It's...you're not her, you're not going to just leave forever." Yang tried to assure, even if she didn't sound the most convinced. Blake picked up on that.

"Do you actually believe that, knowing what you do about me?" Blake pointedly asked.

"Yeah, of...of course I do. What would I be if-" And now Yang was cut off.

"Okay NO." Ruby declared. "After everything, we're not doing this again. Blake, you're worth it and we know you. Yang, it's okay to not be okay and we get it. YOU got it?"

"That's...all well and good," Weiss tentatively added, "but it doesn't mean much right now."

Indeed, Blake and Yang looked...miserable. Perhaps more than they ever were during all of this.

[You're lost
You're found
You're hard to pin down]

No one felt like singing along, of course. Not even to correct a possible accidental microaggression.

[I never know if
You'll come through]

Blake and Yang couldn't look each other. Whatever may have been building since BMBLB...

[Then you appear
Together we're here]

Well, they both KNEW, didn't they? They guessed that OG Blake ran, and OG Yang of course, given her issues, responded like she did.

[And that's All That Matters
Somehow...]

But parts of their minds-parts of everyone's minds-wanted to overlook that for the future. The rest knew they couldn't. This was something that needed addressing.

[I feel like I'm
Running out of energy]

"Yeah that's...not a bad way to describe this." Nora noted.

"Yuuuuuup..." Yang deadpanned. "I can't even insult me as much as I want to."

"...why DO you want to?" Weiss asked. "Putting aside what she's saying...it feels like you're upset that, as Ren suggested, you understand WHY. That you're upset at YOURSELF, this you, more than her."

"Oh what the hell would YOU know?" Yang demanded. Weiss flinched.

"Quite a lot, I think." Blake muttered. Yang looked at how both of them were quiet. She looked at herself. And her often trembling arm.

"I'm sorry." she said. "You're right, just-"

[While you just take
Everything in stride]

"-Are you even paying attention to what she's doing?" Yang demanded. That didn't sound like Blake to her. Not by a longshot.

"We don't KNOW what I'm doing." Blake countered. "I...we don't know how much both of us changed by that point."

"But that doesn't...you're still YOU, and I don't have the right to..." Yang trailed off.

"...to what?" Ren questioned.

[The way I feel
To you it's no big deal]

"It means everything..." Blake also practically begged.

"I know, I know, I..." Yang stopped for a moment. "I'm just being stupid. Nothing new, right?"

"You're not stupid. Either of you." Pyrrha told her friends. "Just...hurt." Before either could respond...

[It's sad but it's true
That the one thing
I can count on]

"No no, don't go there! Don't you DARE go there!" Yang shouted.

"Where...where do you think you're going?" Jaune asked.

"It's-she's going to say something, something that I NEVER should and...."

"Yang, what are-" And now Ruby was cut off. Was this what it was like to be Ozpin?

[Is that I can't
Count on you]

Well. That burst open the dam, as it were. Blake and Yang looked at each other again finally, trembling. After a few moments Yang replied. "I don't...I don't want to be like him. I'm not..."

"I know, I know..." This time it was Blake' turn to repeat that,

"...Is that what you're concerned about?" Glynda asked.

"I mean, I-I'm shouting at her, making her hate herself, and-and I'm angry a lot, and if she heard any of this then..." Yang began to panic. "It's just like-"

"...Well, you DO have understandable issues regarding these things, so-" Ozpin tried to interject.

"And that doesn't make it okay!" Yang retorted. "How can I even THINK stuff like that? After the goddamn love song and..."

[*Longer Interlude*]

"...You're not talking about the original Yang, are you?" Ruby realized. "You're talking about THIS you."

"Everything that was said, you understand perfectly, since you have felt the same and know you WOULD feel the same." Ozpin summed up.

"Look, it's fine, I-" Blake began.

"No the hell it isn't." Weiss interjected. "You don't deserve that and you never had. Yang has reasons to be upset, and she didn't mean to remind you of him, but if she DID, then you should point it out."

"Besides, it's possible the original Yang doesn't know what exactly Adam did to her." Ren suggested.

"That...doesn't make it okay." Yang reiterated.

"Yeah, no, but...well, you ALSO have the right to be upset, though." Nora countered. "You BOTH do, it's not like...it's not like it doesn't matter."

"And we've kind of been over that for the past few Volumes." Jaune reminded them.

"....THIS is what the note meant." Pyrrha theorized. "Forgive yourselves for what you've said and done not just to each other but to yourselves. To move forward together. In...in the immediate aftermath of reuniting, tensions may be high and trust may be low, but I know you two. You CAN make it work. If-if your love song was included several Volumes EARLY, then...the note's right, and you CAN."

"Well put." Glynda complimented. They'd started to get used to that by now.

Ruby and Weiss nodded very enthusiastically. Blake and Yang looked at each other. Heh, kind of a daunting prospect, wasn't it?

[You're lost
You're found
You're hard to pin down]

There were truths to these words of course, even if they came from a re-opened wound, as it were. But that was who they were.

[I never know if
You'll come through]

And that's not to say that they wouldn't change. But trauma isn't something you simply overcome like a bad hangover. It stays forever.

[Then you appear
Together we're here]

And their individual traumas impacted the both of them. But maybe...they COULD help each other learn to work through it. Maybe this is what they needed.

[And that's All That Matters
Somehow...]

And with that, the song ended. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes. Another habit that was becoming quite regular, huh?

"...Hey, uh, Rubles?" Yang finally said. "I think we need a bit before Volume 6."

"Of course." Ruby assured. "Do you, uh, need to leave again, or...?

"...I'm personally fine." Blake surprised even herself. "I think...I think we've been over all of this already."

"...Yeah, I think I'm also good." Yang admitted. "We talked a lot last time. Still, I think we still...need a bit. See if Pyrr's right."

"Naturally." Weiss nodded. And, she knew she was going to regret this, but... "Ruby, do you have any other Scroll games you want to talk about?"

As everyone else (even Glynda, much to her annoyance) discussed that, Blake and Yang huddled closer to each other. They looked each other in the eyes...and found that despite everything that had just happened, and they did mean EVERYTHING...they still trusted each other, or at least were still willing to try. Maybe they'd already gone through these emotions due to previous songs, but regardless.

"I'm not going to leave like that. Not ever. I promise." Blake made her vow.

Yang didn't FULLY believe it...but enough of her did that she smiled at her Maybe-More-Than-A-Partner. "I know. And I'll listen."

"You already are." Blake pointed out, smiling back.

The two held hands. For now, that was enough.

~~~~~~~
29 "&"s

Well that's the end of Volume 5....

. . .

Fuuuuu- I'm gonna have to write Vol 6....
I didn't even watch Volume 6, let alone any of the Haven Arc.
and then I'll be forced to write the Atlas Arc...

Uuuughhh

Give me a week or two.
its now gonna be much, Much slower...
like 1 song at time, slower.

3/18/24: Boy it is SLOOOW work, like 300-600 words a day slow, and then I end up deleting it and rewriting, just those 600. I'm doing a Side thing at the moment too, so that's certainly not helping, but like I've mentioned before, its been a long time since I have actually written anything, so I'm doing smaller stuff as practice. and as I've mentioned, its Slow...