Black flames~

In My Hand

"This is so good!" Ruby exclaimed as she reached for her second bowl. Upon taking note of a very stern and disappointed looking Nora, Ruby quickly clarified: "Er, Ren's food is really good too, I just think Mrs. Belladonna made it better is all!"

Ren placed a reassuring hand on Nora's shoulder. "I don't mind at all. I'm happy to learn how to improve upon the recipe." Though Nora seemed willing to defend his recipe further, she did mellow out… and then discreetly reached for seconds herself, now that she no longer felt obligated to fight on his behalf.

Kali chuckled to herself. "Lie's stew was very good for travel. We could add more to the stock and make it thicker now that he doesn't have to lug it around."

"Oh, Jaune was the one carrying our rations," Ren explained. "The trek over Anima was a long walk and he insisted on it."

"Of course he did," Weiss observed. "We had him carry all our things back to the dorms whenever we were done shopping in Vale."

"Sisters broke me in early," Jaune assured her. "You get used to it."

Kali patiently listened to Jaune's tales of siblings. It wasn't exactly something she could relate to, but not the first time she'd heard the tale, entertaining as often as she did on behalf of the High Leader and later the Chieftain. And Jaune never once noticed when her eye slid past him to see Yang and Blake emerge from Yang's room, and she listened intently for the opportunity to extricate herself from the conversation in the most polite manner she could. Fortunately, once Nora let her appetite run wild Kali was given her opportunity, suspecting they'd need some extra helpings.

Weiss and Ruby spotted their teammates too, looking right past Jaune as he continued his recounting. Blake took her mother's seat, smiling at her gathered friends, engaging the still fairly quiet Ilia in conversation. Weiss tried not to fixate her attention on Yang as the blonde stepped past them to the kitchen, but was much less practiced at making her actions discreet. Ruby took note of Weiss's distant look and elbowed her. Weiss glared at Ruby for a moment but quickly rejoined the others in the conversation, playing off Ruby's bit of roughhousing and listening to Sun talk about the fruitless search for a secret entrance and how he nearly knocked a stone column on Ilia's head.

In the kitchen, Kali moved slightly out of visual range from the dining room table. Yang followed suit and sat on the countertop beside her, Kali clanking bowls about to give the appearance of activity. "Did you… have a good talk?"

"Sort of," Yang replied. "We… I won't say we really fixed anything between us, but we were able to let out a lot of the things we kept bottled up. It's not something we'll be able to resolve overnight."

"No, I imagine not," Kali conceded. "But you two are… okay?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded. "Okay."

For a while they were quiet, Kali running out of excuses to draw out the conversation longer, only hoping the kids at the table wouldn't notice the silence hanging between Yang and herself.

Yang broke that silence, reaching her left hand to find Kali's wrist. Their eyes met. "I told her I'd stop… whatever it was I was doing with you. I wish I'd had the chance to tell you first before I agreed to it, but she needed to know."

Yang's gaze was steady and her hand firm on Kali's wrist. Kali's attention was all for those lilac eyes, though eventually she looked down at the hand upon her, slowly sliding up her arm and intertwining her fingers with Yang's own.

She wasn't sure what to say. A word of thanks? An apology? A reassurance that was the right thing to do?

Her rational mind told her that was the right thing to do. Her memories of her husband told her that this was a momentary slip-up; the need for something to soothe her loneliness. The sight of her daughter at a table surrounded by friends told her that no matter what, she was no longer alone in the world.