A/N: A short chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it.

X

Yang's walk home was uneventful save for the torrent of emotions she was feeling. Caught between telling her two friends the secret identity of the other and remaining silent, she quickly realized that this was a situation she needed advice for. Hopping over the short wire fence their family had for Zwei, she opened up the front door of her home and let a warm sight soothe her heart.

Ruby had fallen asleep on the couch the night before while watching some movies with their dad. Taiyang had evidently woken up and gone off somewhere, because Summer Rose had brought Ruby's head onto her lap and was absentmindly rubbing it and humming a nameless tune. Zwei, the world's most adorable corgi and resident attention hog, was snoozing as he lay on Ruby's chest. The entire scene was nothing out of the ordinary, but it never failed to make her heart flutter a bit.

Strictly speaking, Summer was only Ruby's biological mother. Her own mother, Raven, had split right around the time she was born, leaving Summer to pick up the pieces of Taiyang's broken heart. For the longest time Yang had a burning desire to scour the world over in search of Raven, to demand to know why she abandoned her family. Why she had abandoned her.

Now, though? At seventeen years old, Yang had managed to come to her own conclusion for her life: Summer was her real mom. She had a mother, and Raven could go to hell for all she cared.

Summer spotted her as she walked into the living room and held up a finger to her lips. Gingerly, she lifted Ruby's head just enough to let her slip off of the couch and replaced the missing lap with a couch cushion. Both of them went into the kitchen, where Yang poured herself a glass of water. "Basking in her adorableness, Mom?"

"Can you blame me? The two of you won't be teenagers for much longer, so I need to get my fix while I can." Summer chuckled as she opened the fridge and retrieved the milk. A moment later, she was sipping on it with a reverent expression. "All these years, and I still don't know how Taiyang manages to drink coffee instead of this."

Yang just rolled her eyes. "You must be the only detective in the entire Vale police department not to rely on coffee to get by."

"Now we both know that's not true," she replied with a 'tut.' "Qrow relies on his scotch to focus. The real mystery is how he hasn't managed to get fired over that."

"It probably has to do with his amazing track record. That, and the fact that he's buddy-buddy with the commissioner."

"True." They shared a laugh over that before the conversation fell silent. Yang shuffled a bit, unsure of how to ask what she really wanted to. Summer caught it, naturally, and adopted a serious expression. "What's on your mind, Yang? It isn't like you to hesitate about something."

"It really isn't, huh?" She took another swig of her water before continuing. "I need some advice about some friends of mine."

That seemed to amuse her mom. "Is this actually about your friends, or is this one of those 'project my problems onto somebody else' moments?"

"The first one, thank goodness, but I'm also involved a bit. You see, two of my friends have some bad history with each other. Typical rejected love stuff, nothing violent or dark. What they don't know is that they've been talking to each other online under usernames. They both agreed to meet at a restaurant next weekend, and... I'm scared about what's gonna happen when the two of them find out who their anonymous friend really is."

Summer pondered the scenario for a few moments before responding. "Do you know for a fact that it's these two who are going to meet?"

She sighed. "Not a hundred percent, but enough of the dots are connecting to form the picture. What I'm really asking is should I tell one or both of them what I know, or just let this whole thing happen and deal with it then?"

"...I'm going to be honest, honey: the way I see it, there isn't an answer that's altogether 'right.'" Summer reached over and rubbed Yang's shoulder to make her feel better. "If I were in your shoes, I guess I'd choose to stay silent on the off-chance that things go better than expected. The most important thing is to be the best friend that you can to both of them and to remember what I've always said about lies."

Yang smiled as she parroted the line. "'I'd rather you hurt me with the truth than kill me with a lie.' Gods, how many times did we hear that growing up?"

"Take it from the detective, it always bares repeating; especially to fully grown adults who insist on turning small problems into big ones." She brought Yang into a hug. "In matters between friends, it'll all work out if you put your heart into every choice you make. I promise."

"Thanks, Mom." They stayed like that for a moment before breaking the embrace. "I seem to recall you promising Ruby some snickerdoodles."

A twinkle entered her mother's silver eyes. "I know that I said no such thing, but I'll let it slide this time. Will you preheat the oven for me?"

"Of course!" Happy to comply, Yang began scrambling to get everything her mom needed together. Her worry was still present, but she would put her faith in her mom's advice and do the best she could moving forward.

-Weiss-

It was lunchtime on Monday, and while Weiss knew that it was rude to her friends to be messaging Crescent instead of involving herself in the discussion, there was an absolutely vital exchange of information taking place.

Crescent: Just to make sure, I'm supposed to be holding onto a white rose so that you know that it's me, right?

Crystal: Correct. If I may ask: I know we agreed on casual-nice, but what will you actually be wearing?

Crescent: Probably slacks and a button-down shirt with no tie. No clue what color yet. I'd ask you the same question, but I'm pretty sure that you won't tell me :P

Crystal: Indeed, because it's quite the rude question to ask a lady.

Well, that and she honestly hadn't figured it out yet herself. She was used to dressing either elegantly for formal events, or business-like for company related matters. As loathe as she was to admit it, she might need help picking out a proper wardrobe for meeting with a complete stranger... that was more or less or best friend. But who to ask?

To her left sat Blake, book mysteriously absent for once as she picked at the cafeteria food. She was taller than Weiss was and almost always wore some assortment of black and purple clothes. While the color black coupled well with anything in the fashion world, Weiss felt that she wanted to wear something a little... brighter. Next on the list was Ruby, who seemed to be in a near-perpetual state of wearing grime-covered clothes due to her auto shop class. Even when she wasn't covered in some layer of filth, it was a rare day indeed to see her void of her red hoodie and combat boots.

No. That simply would not do.

That left the one and only Yang Xiao Long. Her blonde friend was, in her opinion, actually rather stylish. Her favorite colors to wear were beige and yellow to accent her luxurious hair, but she occasionally mixed it up with any type of color she felt like wearing that day; yet, somehow, Yang never looked out of place in any environment. Not quite Coco Adel levels of fashionista, but her skill would more than suffice for what she needed. The only catch was that Yang was likely to tease and torment her to high heaven... which she might just have to grin and deal with if she's the one asking for help.

Weiss waited to broach the subject until after Yang finished telling a(nother) terrible pun. "Yang, are you busy this afternoon? I need to borrow some of your time, if you don't mind."

"The only thing I had planned today was leg day at the gym, otherwise I'm free." Yang gave her a skeptical look. "If you're taking me on a date, just realize that I do expect dinner first."

Weiss did her best to ignore Ruby choking on her food. "I'm trying to coordinate an outfit for this Saturday, and would appreciate having a second opinion. Will you help me?"

Yang shook her head in disbelief. "Wait, hold on. You, Weiss Schnee, are asking me, the great Yang Xiao Long, for fashion advice?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but Yang preempted her by holding up a finger and bringing her phone into view, narrating herself as she typed into it. "Dear diary, a miracle occurred today. I might buy a lottery ticket on the way home..."

Weiss could've sworn a vein popped in her head. "If you aren't going to take me seriously just say so!"

"Easy there, easy! I was just teasing, Weiss. I would love to help you plan for your date." Even as she apologized, the grin never dropped from Yang's face. "Are we going shopping or headed to your house to do this?"

She gave a quiet 'hmph' at her friend's antics. "I should have everything we need at my home, so we'll only go shopping if absolutely necessary. Meet me at the front of the school when the bell dismisses us."

"Can do. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone, Rubes."

"Please, this'll give me time to do whatever I want at home. Weiss, my sis is yours for the evening."

Come the afternoon the two girls were on the way to the Schnee home, with Yang a bit disappointed that there wasn't any alcohol like one would find in a party limousine. Klein, bless his heart, played along with the thought and suggested that he might take her home in the mile-long stretch limo the family owned, making Yang guffaw.

When they walked inside, Yang gave a low whistle. "I'm impressed, but I feel like this place could use a little color besides, you know, white. Can I be an interior decorator for the day, too?"

"I'm not sure my father's heart would survive your work, and he's perfectly healthy." Weiss couldn't contain a chuckle at the thought of Jacques walking into a dining room painted sunflower yellow. "If I ever feel like being petty, then we'll talk."

"Thank you for the business!" Both lapsing into fits of laughter, they made it to Weiss's bedroom and got Yang got to work tearing through her walk-in closet. "Alright, fashion talk. Do you know what he's gonna wear?"

"Button-down with no tie. Unknown color."

"Damn. Alright, since we can't color coordinate to him we should probably have you wear white or blue since they bring out your eyes." The sound of rustling clothes took over for a moment until Yang popped out with several hangers drapped over her arm. "I've picked out some top and skirt combos, so try them on in the order I have them. There's only one undershirt in the stack 'cause it basically goes with all of 'em."

"Understood." Weiss got right to changing clothes, the conversation lulling as she did so. She had expected Yang to badger her with questions or make endless teasing remarks; instead Yang chose to remain silent, only speaking up to reject the first outfit because the skirt was shorter than she had anticipated. As Weiss put on the second outfit, a thin, sapphire blouse with a skirt of a lighter shade, she allowed herself to sigh. "Well, Yang? Aren't you going to pester me a little?"

"Hm?" Yang tilted her head questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"You know, ask me who the guy is, make some puns about the internet. Something."

"Oh, well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse? Let's see..." She began ticking off her fingers. "I could bug you for his username again, suggest putting on some lacy white lingerie- which I saw in there, by the way, I like your style- or I could make you swear to say a whole bunch of racy lines. But out of all my options, I think that I'll ask you a question."

As she buttoned up the blouse, Weiss mentally braced for her worst.

"Are you happy to be meeting up with him?"

"What?" Her head whipped around to look at her companion. "You want to know if I'm... happy?"

"Yeah. You're obviously nervous since you came to me for fashion advice of all things, but are you excited or dreading this?" Yang crossed her arms as she awaited Weiss's answer.

"I-" She cleared her throat. "I'm very happy; ecstatic, even. This is the boy who's talked me through some of the tough parts of my life in the past year. I just... really want this to go well."

"Okay then. As your friend, I want you to promise me something."

"And what's that?"

"That no matter who is waiting for you at that restaurant, you will remember that he's your friend. He's a mystery, but not a stranger." Yang came around to stand in front of her as she finished putting on the outfit. It was bizarre, because Weiss had never before seen her so... gentle. "Can you do yourself that favor, Weiss?"

"Of course I can." Weiss allowed herself to smile. "Thank you, Yang. I feel a bit better now."

"That's my job. Now go try on the next outfit, that one doesn't feel right to me." Weiss nodded and began to do so. As she was changing her phone began to ring and Yang took it upon herself to check the caller ID. "Says that Neptune's calling you. You gave him your phone number?"

She flushed a bit at that. "A little while back, though this is the first time he's actually called. Can you put it on speakerphone?"

"Yep." Yang pressed a button and held the phone up so Weiss's voice would be received better. "Hey, blue boy. Weiss has her hands full, so you're on speaker right now."

"Got it, voice-that-sounds-just-like-Yang. How are you doing, Weiss?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. And yourself?"

"Pretty good, pretty good. Hey, so I've managed to get two tickets to this play that's going down on Saturday. Is there any chance I could get the pleasure of your company?"

Weiss frowned. She liked Neptune, and couldn't deny that she found him attractive, but- "What time on Saturday?"

"The tickets say that it starts at six and runs for three or so hours. Maybe we could also grab an early dinner before then?"

"I'm sorry, Neptune, but I have a standing engagement around that time."

"Ah, I see.His voice sounded a bit deflated now. "Well, just know that the offer stands if your schedule clears up. I'll talk to you later, snow angel."

"Have a good evening, Neptune." The call ended, and Weiss couldn't help but notice the coy look on Yang's face. "What?"

"Nothing at all, I'm just proud of my friend and how she can pull in almost any guy she wants."

"Oh, shut up and help me with this zipper."