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Weiss normally found Ruby's antics amusing, but instead she was nervously shifting in place as she watched her girlfriend run around and around in circles, trailing glimmering red faerie dust behind her. Finally with a huff she reached out and snatched the hood of her cloak, momentum making her feet leave the ground for a moment with yelp.
“Ack! Weiss…”
Weiss sighed and let go, shaking her head. “Calm down, you dolt! This is serious.”
“But Weiss…” Ruby whined pitifully, still carefully adjusting her hood.
Weiss rolled her eyes and gave Ruby a kiss, cheering her up again. She took Weiss' hand and squeezed it, pulling her along, although at least she wasn't running around like before. After just a bit longer they reached their destination, and Ruby started to let go of her hand to knock on the door, except Weiss wouldn't release her.
“Weiss?” Ruby asked. “What's wrong?”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she mumbled, looking away.
“Of course it is!” Ruby said. “Don't you want to meet my family?”
The answer was honestly 'no', but Weiss didn't say that, not wanting to hurt her girlfriend's feelings. “What if… what if they don't like me?”
“How could they not like you,” Ruby said, her silver eyes glimmering cheerfully. “You're smart, and nice when you get to know you, and really capable, and an awesome sorceress, and a great singer, and most of all… I love you, and you love me. That's all dad really wants.”
Weiss relaxed a little. “Still… you know what my family's like. What if yours reacts the same way?”
“There's no way,” Ruby said, shaking her head so fast some faerie dust fell out. “First of all, your family were jerks. I don't think your dad likes anybody, and your mom, well…”
“She thought I was Winter,” Weiss said sadly. “She still said those things about me being with you, even if she thought I was my sister.”
“Okay, that… that was bad,” Ruby mumbled. “And Whitley was… not good. But Winter was fine with me… eventually… after she was sure I loved you. Okay… so that sucked. But my family's different!”
“But-”
“Nope,” Ruby interrupted. “No buts. Just you and me, and my family who will love you. But if you really don't want to meet them…”
“No,” Weiss said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment. “I do. I want to meet them.”
“Then let's meet them,” Ruby said. “I'll be with you every step of the way, okay?”
Weiss took one more deep breath and then nodded. “Okay.”
With that Ruby knocked, and a few moments later the door opened, revealing a middle aged, blonde haired man. “Ruby!” he shouted, sweeping her up into his arms.
“Dad!” she shouted back.
Weiss blinked in surprise, not having expected Ruby's father to be the person in front of her. He was, after all, human, while Ruby was a quickling, a faerie whose magic granted her inhuman speed. Suddenly Ruby's willingness to date her, a human sorcerer, seemed a lot less surprising.
“And who's this?” he asked, turning his attention to Weiss.
“Dad, this my girlfriend, Weiss,” Ruby said.
He set her down and smiled at Weiss. Hello! I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, but please, call me Tai.”
“Hello, sir,” Weiss said, curtseying. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Okay, that's enough of that 'sir' stuff. I'm just a simple woodcutter and hunter, not some noble who puts on airs. Just call me Tai.”
“A-alright, um, Tai,” Weiss said reluctantly.
He grinned. “That's the spirit. Now come on in! I haven't seen my little girl in forever, and this one's never brought a girl home before. I didn't even know you liked girls!”
Ruby blushed. “I didn't either, but then I met Weiss, and well… I guess it was just a plate.”
Tai wrinkled his brow in confusion. “Don't you mean 'it was fate'?”
“Huh?” Ruby asked, while Weiss smacked her own forehead. “But I bumped into her and she broke her plate. She was pretty mad, but then we got to know each other, and, well… it didn't matter to her anymore.”
“Right,” he said shaking his head. “Anyway, your sister's home, too. And she also brought that girlfriend of hers.”
“Alright!” Ruby cheered. “I can't wait for you to meet them!”
Weiss just gave her a nervous smile, until she ran off, trailing faerie dust as she looked around for her sister. Tai just shook his head and then grinned at her. “Don't be so nervous. Yang's a bit… protective, but even in just a minute I can see how happy you've made her. Yang'll see the same thing.”
“Thank you,” Weiss said quietly. “She makes me very happy as well.”
“How do you take your coffee?” he asked, heading for the kitchen.
Weiss followed, taking a seat at the table when he gestured to it. The table was very high, with the tallest wooden chairs Weiss had ever seen around all but one side. Her brow furrowed in confusion, but she carefully climbed up into one of the seats all the same. “Just a little cream.”
“Sure thing,” he said. He hummed cheerfully to himself while preparing her coffee, until finally he set it down in front of her. “Here you go.”
“Thank you si- er… Tai,” Weiss said, wincing as he glared at her until she corrected herself.
“So, what do you do Weiss?” he asked.
“Well, I'm a sorceress,” Weiss said. “My specialty is ice magic, but I'm a fairly skilled summoner as well.”
“I don't know much about magic,” he said. “Is there much money to be made as a sorceress?”
Weiss nodded. “Yes, quite a bit, actually. I've heard that Vale is looking for more court wizards, and I have enough skill to apply. I would be able to take good care of both of us financially.”
“Oh?” he hummed, raising an eyebrow while sipping his coffee. “Thinking ahead? Or is your relationship further along than I would've thought.”
“We've been together for almost half a year now,” Weiss said, looking into her coffee. “I know that isn't that long, but I know she's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“I see,” he said.
Weiss bit her lip, and then took a deep breath. “Mr. Xiao Long… Tai… I want to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
Tai blinked. “You are very formal, aren't you. You don't need my permission to marry her; Ruby is her own woman.”
“I know, but… I'm from Atlas,” Weiss said. “Before I met Ruby I expected to marry some heir my father arranged for me to be with. In my nation it would be frowned upon for me to not seek your blessing before I proposed to her.”
“Well, I haven't known you very long,” Tai said slowly, making Weiss slump a little. “But… I can tell how serious you are about this, and how much you care about her. If she agrees, then you have my blessing. And if she says yes, well… you can call me dad.”
Weiss blinked back tears. Her father had always been spoken of formally, and her mother was equally distant. She'd never had a 'dad' or a 'mom', and Tai was a virtual stranger willing to be called that. She didn't know how to feel, other than warm from the whole conversation.
Then Ruby came running back in. “Weiss! My sister's here! Wait, where is she?”
Weiss heard the clatter of horse hooves, and a moment later a centaur trotted into the kitchen. She had golden hair, large breasts, and muscular arms, as well as having a massive lower horse body. “Ruby, you run too fast!”
“Sorry, sis,” Ruby said sheepishly. “Yang, this is Weiss! She's the best!”
“So, this is the woman who stole my little sister's heart,” Yang said, giving her a probing look.
“Hello,” Weiss said quietly, still not sure what to make of Yang.
“Go on and wash up, I'll have dinner ready in a little bit,” Tai said.
“Come on, it's this way,” Ruby said, dragging her off of the high chair and pulling her on a whirlwind tour of the house. At least she knew why the table was so high, although she still didn't know why Yang was a centaur.
Once they were in private Weiss decided to just ask. “So… your sister doesn't look much like you.”
Ruby nodded. “Her mom was the chief of some tribe of centaur raiders. Her and dad had a fling, and then she left Yang with him and never came back. Dad met my mom not long after that and they had me. Mom died when I was little, but Yang helped take care of me. She really means a lot to me.”
Weiss hugged Ruby from behind, the quickling having pausing in washing her face to tell the story. “I'm sorry.”
Ruby shrugged a little. “I miss mom, but… I love my family. They mean a lot to me.”
“I guess I see why you weren't worried about bringing a human home to meet the family,” Weiss said.
Ruby chuckled. “Yeah, dad's really open minded, and Yang's been dating this werecat she met for forever. There's no way they'd say anything bad about us being together.”
They were silent for a while as they both washed up, and then Weiss paused to kiss Ruby gently. “I love you.”
Ruby grinned at her. “I love you, too. Now, you ready to really spend some time with my family?”
Weiss closed her eyes, and to her surprise she wasn't frightened anymore. She was still nervous, wanting to make a good impression, but the fear was gone. “I am. Let's go get to know them.”
“I love you,” Ruby said, giving her one last kiss.
“I love you, too,” Weiss said.
“Last one there's a rotten egg!” Ruby shouted, blurring away.
Weiss just smirked and teleported, already eager to hear Ruby whine about cheating, as if her super speed was fair. It was only that night, curled around her girlfriend, that she realized how quickly she'd relaxed and started to enjoy herself. In one short evening she'd found something she'd been missing her entire life.
Family.