A/N: Here is the next chapter for all you awesome readers out there! Thank you for taking the time to read this story, I hope that it will please you. I am on a roll today, my muse is back with a vengeance! Hopefully, it will translate to a satisfying read for you all.

This story is akin to Blake's point of view on things, but it is still in the second person (it is second person, right?).

Haruka

Weiss Schnee had something against mirrors, anyone who watched her long enough, carefully enough, would be able to tell. Weiss Schnee had secrets to hide, maybe more than one of them; Blake Belladonna could ascertain all that with absolute confidence; she had been watching the heiress like a hawk since the day they met, after all.

Whenever the white haired beauty walked into the room, Blake's eyes were always trained on her immediately; it mattered not where they were or who they were around. The dark warrior had started out wanting to find something about Weiss, the heiress of the company that subjugated her people and made their lives living hell, to hate. Sure, she had enough to hate the ice princess based on their first encounter outside Beacon, where Weiss had behaved like quite the arrogant spoiled child; if only Blake were not so talented at reading people that she knew it was an obvious false front. It was unacceptable, hating a person for something they were so obviously not; she had to find something else, something true, to hate about Weiss Schnee, Blake felt that she could not live with herself otherwise.

Due to that disturbing compulsion, the dark warrior guessed that she knew more about the heiress than anyone else here. No one else had watched Weiss as closely as she did, no one else could see through the bitchy and haughty act that Weiss had put up, no one else saw the way Weiss flinched ever so slightly whenever she caught sight of her own reflection in a mirror, the way she did everything she could to avoid crossing the path of one, the way she let her guard down mere moments before sleep and her eyes filled with such emptiness and pain… Only Blake noticed all these things, everyone else generally tried to stay out of the ice princess' way, especially those who lacked the social standing to speak to her. The other rich aristocrats interacted with her fine, but it was obvious that they were simply tolerating one another for the sake of their families.

Weiss had grown into an obsession with time, the more Blake watched and garnered information, the less she wanted to hate the white haired heiress. In fact, she wanted to befriend her, maybe even be more than just friends with her. Something drew Blake to her like a moth to a flame, it was definitely more than her breathtaking beauty (she had to admit, Weiss was good-looking); maybe it was due to the hidden aura of frustrated sorrow the heiress radiated that Blake similarly carried within herself. Birds of a feather flocked together; after all, that was how the saying went.

In the dark warrior's eyes, Weiss Schnee was no longer the hated heiress of that accursed Schnee Dust Company, but instead a fellow human being who too was suffering. Her view of the girl had changed and her hate had died; she realized that the words that one of her fellows back home told her were extremely valuable. "Never hate someone you have not yet had the chance to know," she had been told, no better piece of advice has ever been given.

Blake had always, naïvely and foolishly, assumed that the heiress lived in absolute luxury with complete freedom, allowed to do as she pleased, but soon found it to be untrue. Weiss had the eyes, the aura, of a caged bird, lonely, pained and agonizingly hollow. She had the eyes of a girl who knew what pain was like, who knew oppression and repression like the back of her hand. Blake never imagined that a Schnee, of all people, would have those eyes; who would believe that the rich would cage their own children?

Over the weeks of training, Blake had also learned much through watching her teammate's fighting style. It was obvious that Weiss had only fought in controlled environments, most likely for her own protection; she was rather inexperienced and lacked the ability to hold back and show mercy. She was not lithe, quick, instinctive and adaptable enough, it was clear that she was used to fighting cumbersome and not-too-intelligent opponents. Weiss had almost killed Ruby Rose when she had the opening (she ended up burning the training arena), though Yang Xiao Long was far too experienced for her and ended up toying with her. It seemed possible that Weiss had insisted upon the battle training, and her parents' compromise was to have her fight where she was completely safe. It could also be that the white haired heiress was forced into fighting… but she would not be in Beacon if she was, would she? She could always stay at home, ignorant to the suffering of the world, and learn the ropes to run that accursed company.

They were really, truly the same, Blake had come to realize, birds of a feather trapped in cages, only that Weiss' was gold while her own was a dusty, rotting reddish brown. Did the material and color of the bars matter? Not at all, Blake concluded, for either way, they were both still caged and could not fly; her own rotting bars just gave her more freedom and leeway than the solid, gleaming ones of Weiss' fancy prison.

The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company was in a state worse that her own… it was a terrible thing to think about. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside, Blake was hoping that the world, that reality would be as simple and childlike as "the rich are happy, the poor are not". It killed her to find out otherwise.

Even Adam would want to help Weiss, the dark haired warrior was sure of it; he was a man who fought for the happiness of those who were suffering. His heart would have gone out to the fragile white haired girl who was trying her hardest to hide herself from the world; there was no doubt about it. Weiss was not at all contemptible, not at all the sheltered brat who looked down on the world; it was simply a mask that her position, and maybe her parents, had required of her. Weiss was a pitiable girl, trapped in her own agony, unable to do anything for herself…

Blake had always had her suspicions that the white haired girl's life was not as peachy as it seemed, and they were confirmed the day Weiss had nearly broken down outside the shower room. She had snapped at Ruby and seemed her usual haughty self, but Blake could see the tears in the corners of her brilliant blue eyes, threatening to fall as Weiss fled to the dormitory. There, Blake had approached Weiss and asked if anything was wrong, but decided not to pry when Weiss was unwilling to speak the truth. She feared that if she pushed her too far, Weiss might leave Beacon, and she would no longer have the white haired beauty to watch nearly every moment.

Something shifted within the room, and Blake raised her head cautiously to identify what it was. Over the rows of sleeping girls, it was easy to see the white haired heiress on her feet, hurrying out the door with her weirdly named rapier, "Myrtenaster", in one hand. Grabbing Gambol Shroud in case Weiss was not too welcoming of her presence, the dark warrior followed after her like a predator stalking its unwitting prey. She had to be careful, that rapier was stocked with Dust, and considering Weiss' inability to hold back, if she startled her, Weiss might just set a section of Beacon alight, or maybe freeze it.

As she walked, Blake wondered what in the world she should do after stalking Weiss to her destination. How could she help the white haired girl feel better…? Hmm, maybe I should just talk to her... I annoy her fairly easily, and having an annoyed Weiss is better than having a depressed one…

Weiss' destination was the courtyard or garden or whatever it was called (Blake honestly could not care less); she was sitting on a stone bench by a row of brilliantly flowering shrubs, a shaft of moonlight turning her hair a hypnotizing, ethereal silver. She had buried her face in her hands, Myrtenaster resting in her lap, and her shoulders were shaking ever so slightly with her uneven, shaky breaths.

As Blake neared the girl, she realized that… Weiss was crying. Weiss Schnee, the ice princess, was crying. It hurt her to see the girl she admired in such pain, surrounded by such despair and sorrow; Blake longed to help her in any possible way, however small.

Weiss' sobs were slowly increasing in volume as her sorrow continued pouring from her; empathy swelled in Blake's own, wounded and scarred heart as she emerged from the shadows soundlessly, speaking gently, "Weiss, are you alright?"

Said girl immediately tensed, wiping her eyes quickly and glaring at the dark haired girl with as much haughtiness as she could muster. "What's it to you?" Her eyes were still wet, and there was too much pain within her to make that haughty exterior convincing to anyone but the socially retarded Ruby Rose right now. Heck, even Ruby should not be stupid enough to fall for Weiss' lie right now.

"I am not blind enough to be fooled by your masks, Weiss Schnee," Blake purred, her voice gentle and soothing; somehow, it felt like smooth, warm chocolate.

Weiss flinched visibly this time, tears starting to well in her crystal blue eyes. She fought them off, determined not to give in, "I have no idea what you mean."

A warm, velvety chuckle, pained yet amused, sounded in the icy night. Blake wrapped muscular, tanned arms around the pale skinned heiress, gently resting her head atop soft, sweet-smelling white hair. She whispered in a low, almost seductive purr, "That is not so, and you know it well, heiress."

"W-what do you know?" Weiss struggled, knowing that she would never be able to beat the eloquent, observant girl in any argument but too stubborn to give in. Within her, bitterness began to well forth, resulting in a harsh edge to her tone that was never really there at other times. It worried Blake immensely to hear it, but the dark warrior was controlled enough not to let it show.

"More than you give me credit for," Blake replied, her voice still rich, velvety and completely calm. Keeping her wits about her, the well-read girl remembered all the conversations she had read, all the ways arguments could be won, determined not to let Weiss get away with a weak lie this time.

Her words galled Weiss to the core, how could the dark warrior say things like that so darn emotionlessly, as if it were nothing? She wanted to hiss, to release the pent-up despair within her chest, but she refrained to the best of her abilities and tried to remain silent. Give her the cold shoulder, Weiss instructed herself, stiffening her body to minimize the contact between it and Blake's.

It was useless; Blake could always turn the situation to give herself the upper hand with ease and what would always seem like minimal effort. She nearly always looked like she was simply amusing herself by aggravating others, which was true at certain times. Now was definitely not one of them, but Blake was not going to let that show just yet. A teasing tone slightly edged her voice as she asked, "Speechless now, are we?"

Weiss had nothing to say against that, how could she respond without giving away the truth? "Leave me alone," she chose to say, it was weak, but at least it prevented her from divulging any information about her fragile emotional state. She hoped that it would shut Blake up, what good comebacks were there to something as simple and direct as 'leave me alone'?

"Why should I, when you obviously need someone?" Blake's tone was serious now, yet kind and gentle at the same time. It aggravated Weiss immensely, how sure of herself the dark warrior sounded; was she really that transparent, that easy to read? No, it could not be, only Blake had seen through her act so far…

"Don't make baseless assumptions," Weiss shot back, glad that it sounded fairly intelligent and came out of her mouth without a hitch. She pulled away from Blake, putting a little more space between them, annoyed and frustrated that her body missed the dark warrior's warmth almost instantly.

"Who says they're baseless?" Blake replied smoothly; she was still perfectly calm, like the surface of a lake. Weiss sputtered, trying to find something to say in return, "I-I do!" It was not the best of all comebacks, but at least it was something.

"You're lying, to both me and yourself," confidently, the dark warrior purred her response without missing a beat; it was obvious that the faltering Weiss would not win this. Still, she stubbornly stood her ground, determined not to let Blake get the better of her that easily. Change the subject, she decided, if she follows, you can get her off your case.

"Do not accuse someone of a higher standing of lying so lightly, we all have a sense of-" as expected, she was cut off by a low, amused chuckle and the words, "You know I do not care for social standings, heiress."

Her irritation and anger grew as she growled, relieved that she seemed to be succeeding, "Well, you should. It is the b-"Again, the dark warrior interrupted her, purring smoothly, "Do not try to change the subject." How was she caught…? Darn, Blake was much more observant and intelligent than she thought… What should she, could she, say now?

She froze when she felt Blake's arms wrap around her again, one hand stroking her gently, rubbing little circles into her back as if she were an upset child needing to be soothed. Blake purred into her ear, "It is okay to cry, heiress, it is part of being who we are." Tears sprang to the white haired girl's eyes as her body betrayed her mind and sank gratefully into the warm embrace; it was something she had desired for a very long time, though she liked not to admit it. Weiss wanted to resist, to push Blake away, to keep up the façade, but with such warm arms wrapped around her, she lacked the strength to do so. Blake could practically feel the girl's emotional barriers giving way as she turned to burrow her face in the dark warrior's shoulder, Myrtenaster rolling aside and resting gently in the dew-coated grass, sobbing out the knot that had bound itself in her heart. Blake allowed her to cry, stroking the back of her head with her other hand and marveling at the texture of her silky white hair, wishing with all her heart that she could help the white haired girl feel better.

Softly, gently, Blake's alluring voice called, "Weiss, look at me." Hesitantly, the white haired girl obeyed, raising her tear-streaked face to meet they eyes of one of the victims of the Schnee Dust Company's suspicious business dealings. The exploited masses are not the only ones suffering due to that accursed company; Blake thought to herself, even their heiress has been forcibly oppressed, wounded by their aspirations.

Looking up in to those beautiful amber eyes, Weiss saw herself reflected in them clearly, and she could not help but flinch almost imperceptibly at what she saw. Blake felt it, of course she did; her gaze morphed into one of concern, warmth and gentleness, melting the ice princess in her arms completely.

"I'll be here for you," Blake promised, honesty raw in her low, alluring voice, "You do not ever have to be alone again." She wanted to do whatever she could to protect the girl in her arms; maybe one bird could not break free from the cage, but how about two? Teamwork could move mountains, was that not what she had been taught since youth?

To Weiss, those amazing amber eyes were like twin mirrors, but not only did they reflect her weakness and scars back at herself, they also assured her that she was not alone, that she could seek salvation. Within those amber depths, she could see everything that Blake was prepared to give her freely; it was more than what she could have ever dreamed to receive.

Maybe, she thought, mirrors were not so bad after all… Especially mirrors like Blake's of liquid gold…

"B-Blake…" Weiss had tried her best to hate the dark warrior, she was an enemy of the company after all, but all that forced animosity had drained out of her body along with her façade. Within Blake's arms, Weiss no longer felt lonely, no longer felt like a marionette for the Schnee family, a broken puppet. Instead, she felt like an actual human being, a normal girl… she had never believed that she would, could, ever feel this way.

Holding Weiss in her arms, the dark warrior felt as if her world had finally fallen into place. Light had returned to the dark and torturous realm of her existence, it was as if she had found her purpose just by hugging Weiss, stroking her back gently as she cried… Life seemed perfect, she could not want for anything else in the world.

Sure, the golden cage that held the white dove was much stronger than the rusted and rotting one that restrained the black raven, but did that mean it was inescapable? No, it simply meant that Weiss needed some help to break free, even just a little bit, from the iron grip of her family, and Blake was more than willing to offer her help. The dark warrior was willing to do anything for the sake of the heiress she was supposed to hate.

"Thank you…" Weiss breathed, finally getting the words out of her frozen throat. Her body was tingling with the delightful sensation of Blake's warm body at such close proximity; she hoped that she was not blushing too darkly at the moment.

Embarrassed now, the dark warrior could not find any words to say to the snow white beauty in her arms. She was not exactly the most experienced person in this department, she found humans rather trying to understand; she had honestly expected a cold, haughty answer from the ice princess and was readily equipped with comebacks to reduce Weiss to an annoyed, sputtering mess. Flailing, she managed to find something intelligent-sounding to choke out, though she regretted it almost instantly. "Could you tell me… what is it that made you cry?"

Before Blake could slap herself for making such a request, Weiss nodded and took a deep breath, gathering her strength and trying to steady herself. Still, her voice was shaky as she explained what it was like being a puppet on strings controlled by her family, the sole reason for her tears of sorrow, of anger, of frustration and despair.

"I know all the lines to say, the part I am expected to play, the girl I am supposed to be," Weiss whispered softly, "I know that I am nothing but a tool. But knowing and accepting are two very different things." Continuing, she told of her experiences, forced to learn painful lessons like betrayal and loss for the sake of shaping up into the perfect, haughty heiress for the family company. No one ever cared about her feelings, her wellbeing… she was just a doll, to be used as they pleased, a child whose voice was never heard. She was never allowed to just be Weiss, she had to act as the girl that they wanted at all times. It frustrated her and angered her; it also tore her apart and filled her with loneliness and despair. She hated it, she wanted to just be Weiss, but that was impossible, and it galled her to no end. She loathed being helpless, but what could she do against her family, her parents?

"You don't have to be anyone but yourself when you're with me," Blake replied; she could already see why this girl had a loathing for mirrors. Weiss most probably did not want to see herself, her real self, covered in wounds and scars and pretty masks as she was. Blake's heart went out to her, at the very least, the dark warrior could still be herself and live with herself, but the girl in her arms could not.

Weiss had learned that she could hide from anyone but herself, she had tried her hardest to do so, but it was absolutely impossible. She could not hide from an outsider like Blake, who had shared similar experiences, so how could she possibly hide from the bitter, wounded girl she was inside when that girl knew everything?

"I want to be the one who is always there for you, Weiss," Blake had no idea why she said that; the words had just come out before she could process them. Though it embarrassed her to have said what she did, the dark warrior managed to keep the blush away from her cheeks. The look in her eyes was serious, honest; it told Weiss that she was not lying in any way. She had meant every word, and Weiss could safely trust her. No games this time, her eyes were saying, I am being honest.

Blushing, Weiss looked away; she was a beautiful little snowdrop emerging later than the rest, standing out amongst the Spring flowers, a brilliant snow white. Pure, innocent, a mere child wounded by the cruelty of the adult's world around her. She did not deserve to feel any pain, she should be a naïve and spoiled brat the way all heirs and heiresses were portrayed as in storybooks, why did reality have to be so harsh? They were all children, Weiss, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake herself, what were they doing in an academy for Hunters? What were they doing, training for life and death combat? Why were Weiss and herself already marked with indelible scars at their age?

"T-thank you…" Weiss managed to choke out, her alabaster cheeks stained scarlet; it broke Blake out of the darkness that was her negative thoughts. It was amusing to see the normally arrogant and cold heiress so vulnerable, like a little child; Blake adored it. "I… I'm sorry… for being such a bitch…"

"You don't have to be," as much as Blake enjoyed their constant arguments and galling the heiress to her core, she realized that she would rather they talk without barbs in every word and swords in every sentence. Weiss looked up at her with huge, tear-filled blue eyes, looking very much like a puppy that had been kicked too many times.

An unbearable impulse to claim the lips of the fragile princess in her arms overtook her, and before Blake could even think about the consequences suddenly kissing Weiss might entail, she had already gone ahead and done it. Weiss' lips were petal soft and very warm, wet and salty with her tears…

To Blake's surprise, the white haired heiress in her arms began to respond to her, melting completely like a little puppy into her embrace. Slender arms wrapped around her neck as Weiss deepened the kiss; Blake's own arms descended to the girl's waist and pulled her as close as possible, eliminating the space between them. She had not expected Weiss to respond; she had been prepared to ready Gambol Shroud for a dance with Myrtenaster, prepared to hear the heiress lash at her with cold, cruel, judgmental words. What were the chances of some upright and uptight family's heiress liking girls, after all?

Some part of Weiss' mind told her that if her parents could see her right now, they would explode so violently they would make Ruby's accident on the first day look like a child's Fourth-of-July sparkler. She reveled in the thought, relieved that she was finally doing what she longed to do and glad that it would frustrate her parents to no end; it was killing two birds with one stone.

I am not just the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

I am not just a beast of vengeance emerging from the shadows.

They break the kiss to catch their breath, cheeks flushed and eyes starting to glaze over. The dark haired warrior purred into her princess' ear, "Will you be mine?" She sounded so sexy, so confident, unlike the wreck of nerves that she really was on the inside, worrying over Weiss' reaction. Had she pushed her luck too far…?

From now on…

From now on…

"Yes," Weiss breathed, unable to believe her ears; at last, the girl whom she had admired for so long, whose gaze she had felt burning into her every single day, was asking her this question. How she longed to belong to Blake, to fill the void in her chest with every delicious inch of the alluring dark haired girl… She ran her hands through long black hair, feeling the silken strands wash over her fingers smoothly.

I, Weiss Schnee, am also the lover of Blake Belladonna, a girl with a grudge against my family.

I, Blake Belladonna, am also the lover of Weiss Schnee, the girl whom I once thought of as an enemy.

Their lips met again, false hatred and animosity all thrown out the window, finally allowing themselves to just be who they really were. Damn stereotypes, damn their families and purposes, damn the world, damn everything, nothing would ever stop them from savoring the angel they had finally found.

Watery, silver moonlight shone over the strange pair entangled in the courtyard, black and white, beast and princess, the morbid fairytale of two caged birds finally takes a turn for the better tonight. All the suffering they have endured until this amazing, perfect night… was worth it.

Together, these caged birds will someday take flight, freed from their prisons at long last...

THE END

A/N: Please leave me a review if you have any comments! Thank you very much!

Haruka