Honeycomb Hearts

That Time of the Year

"You know, even though I'm blindfolded," Yang said, "I still know where you're taking me."

"That's impossible!" Ruby gave Yang a little shove, "You can't see!"

"But I've walked to the town square almost every day since we got here, you really think I can't get there in the dark?"

"Oh, be quiet. Maybe we're taking a turn on the way there." She kept her hands firmly on Yang's shoulders, trying not to step on her ankles, and directed her towards the town square. She turned Yang a bit to the left and the right, only succeeding in getting a mouthful of hair.

Even though she was blindfolded, Yang knew immediately when they stepped into the town square – the summer heat bore down on her again, having no protection from the trees she had just passed. She played along nonetheless – this was the first time Ruby had been so secretive about almost anything – even her first crush back in middle school. Yang judged the distance she was walking, counting her footsteps. With a bit of luck, she could guess exactly where she was... which would be... where? The cobblestone gave way to something smoother and cushiony.

"Okay, Yang, get ready!" She heard footsteps scratch their way around her. Was she walking on fabric? "In three... two... one..." Ruby pulled the blindfold off of Yang's head in a rush of golden locks.

Immediately she heard lots of cheering, and when her eyes had adjusted to the light, she saw all of her friends and their families under a giant banner, wishing her a happy birthday. She smiled – a very nice surprise, seeing just how many people showed up, but her smile would only grow bigger. She glanced over and saw a large number of tables holding a large number of objects – she saw banners, streamers, food, which Nora was already taking some of, and when she looked back at the townsfolk gathered to celebrate her birthday, she saw Blake, standing in the center of everyone.

"Happy birthday Yang!" Ruby squealed, "C'mon, let's go!" Ruby grabbed Yang's hand and led her towards the crowd of people. If Yang's feet touched the ground, she couldn't feel it – she was on cloud nine. She saw Nora lift something high above her head – a boom box twice as large as she was.

Yang was immediately embraced upon reaching the crowd, birthday wishes raining on her. Tears began to well in her eyes; she'd never had this big of a birthday celebration before. The past few years even had just been herself, Ruby, and Weiss going out to dinner. Seeing so many people here... she wished she could tell her younger self that she would eventually have the birthday party of her dreams. When the hugs ended, tears were streaming down her face.

"Aww, look," Coco said, "Guess the forecast was calling for rain after all." Coco gave Yang another strong hug and smiled.

"T-This is awesome..." Yang could barely speak; half of her words were stuck in her throat. "Thanks guys..."

The crowd began to disperse. Nora went to get her second helping of food, with Ren in tow, Coco, Velvet, and Penny moved off to the side to give Yang space, Weiss disappeared somewhere that Yang didn't see, and the Belladonnas stayed right in front of her.

"Happy birthday, Yang." Ghira said.

"Thanks... Do you guys always do this big of a celebration for everyone?" Yang gestured behind her. "I mean, this is awesome! I knew Ruby was up to something when she made me stay inside all of today, but this is... awesome!"

"Just wait until you try the cake," Kali said, "You'll be more at a loss for words than you are now."

Yang, Ruby, and the Belladonnas continued to chat, eventually moving over to grab some food and drinks – Yang desperately needed some water, having been surprised like this on such a hot day. The party continued to move forward, with many conversations, lots of cake, and some dancing that everybody wished that they were not being recorded, but also that they were recording. Eventually the sun was swept from above them and the day cooled down.

Yang sat behind the presents table, sipping a cup of water. She looked over everything she had been given today: a book on gardening from Penny, a new pair of aviator sunglasses and a sundress from Coco and Velvet, a box of cookies from Nora with a label warning Ruby not to eat them – a warning that would surely be ignored, and a set of bath towels from Kali and Ghira. She sighed, thinking about the party – as much fun as she had, she hadn't seen Blake as much as she wanted to. As if on cue, she heard a chair scrape next to her.

"Enjoying yourself?" Blake asked. She sat down and placed two glasses of iced tea on the table. One was obviously drowned in sugar, which Yang took graciously.

"Definitely." Yang took a sip of the iced tea – just how she liked it, though she could never enjoy it this way, as Ruby always took the sugar packets at restaurants. "Today was... something else. I don't think I've smiled so much in a single day in my entire life."

"I'm glad. Everyone here worked hard on it, so seeing you so happy makes it all worth it." Blake sipped her own tea. "Ruby helped a lot by keeping you on house arrest."

"Yeah, she forced me to watch an abridged version of her favorite anime. There's just... so much screaming involved in it. I don't understand how she hasn't gone deaf yet." The two shared a laugh, and silence fell between them. They looked out over the party, where Nora had apparently challenged Weiss to a dance battle, and was currently getting her butt handed to her. Clearly, Nora didn't know that Weiss used to take dance lessons in college.

"My dad put all this together, you know?" Blake said, "He really wanted it to be special. My mom and Ren helped make the decorations, Ruby did a lot of the planning and ideas, Weiss brought a cake, Nora dropped the cake, Weiss and Nora made a new cake, and Penny and Coco helped set up all of the chairs and tables."

"Everyone really wanted this to be an amazing day, huh..." Yang said. "What did you do?"

"Huh?" Blake turned towards Yang, somehow taking her eyes off of Nora's "breakdancing."

"Did you do anything specific for this? I want to know what part to especially enjoy." Yang said.

"Oh... not much. I kind of just went from group to group asking if anybody needed help, cut some fabric, carried a couple chairs. You know, just helping out."

"Ah, gotcha." Yang laid back in her chair. "So I should enjoy everything the most." She downed the last of her iced tea and set the glass back on the table, the ice cubes clinking against the glass. "But I do think I'll have a favorite part at the end of the night."

"Oh?" Blake asked.

"Talking to you." Yang put her hand over Blake's and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She didn't care if anyone saw, this was her day – she would enjoy it how she wanted. Blake turned red in the light of the sunset, and the two laughed.