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After Team RWBY and Jaune returned, a lot happened. The team were quickly taken in and checked out for any injuries, Ren tried his best to keep Nora away from them until they had the moment to settle down. Everyone was curious to see what happened and where they went.
Ruby tried to be more positive especially after the tree experience, but there was plenty of questions swarming her mind. How could she make this better? How can she take down Salem once and for all. She tried to make sure that the rest of her team didn’t ask her questions, to seem happier than she was in the everafter.
But Jaune’s words got to her a lot more than she wanted to let on. Has it been all about her? Has she only cared about herself? It felt stupid to ask such questions in her mind but she couldn’t help it at all.
The rest of the remaining team decided to cook some food and make sure the lost five felt welcomed back and fed properly. Qrow got the word that his nieces were back safely, and he couldn’t help but drop everything and rush back to make sure they were actually okay.
Winter did the same thing, the moment she laid her eyes on Weiss, she couldn’t help but take her in her arms and make sure she was real. She dreamt every night about how everything was gone, that she made a mistake. That she should’ve fell instead of her little sister.
Weiss felt safe for a moment, in her sisters arms as the older woman sobbed happy tears. They both shared a moment until they both pulled away at a faint cough in the background. Seeing Whittle with a half smile that his sister was okay and seeing their arms extend to him for a hug.
It was a nice sight to the rest of team RWBY, family reuniting which was something they all knew Weiss wanted from a long time. Jaune was surrounded by his team, whilst Ruby, Yang and Blake stood together.
The two girls had each other, holding hands whilst Ruby’s eyes scanned for Penny and the realisation hit her faster than how her semblance worked. She was gone and there was no charged hug awaiting red.
She sighed deeply and simply walked off, she just wanted a moment to herself. Yang noticed and immediately wanted to go after her but she felt a hand on her shoulder, her eyes followed it to Jaune’s eyes.
She knew he needed to talk to her more than anyone, she nodded and he left her with a small smile to somehow comfort her. She did witness her sister choose to died optionally whilst she stared into her eyes.
This place had a little balcony that she managed to get into and look out to the never ending desert. How fantastic, she thought to herself. But being alone didn’t last long, Jaune walked in and silently leaned on the balcony railing.
“Are you here to shout at me some more?” Ruby asked, her tone was low and slightly angry.
“Okay, I deserve that but no. I am not here to shout but apologise for how I was acting.” His head turned towards her, trying his best to make sure his tone was sincere.
She didn’t say anything this time and that felt like it was his cue to talk. “Ruby, I am sorry for exploding on you like that. What you feel is valid-“
Just as he was about to give his best apology he could master up, the alarms sounded and flashed. Speakers blasting loudly about the approaching Grimm, a groan escaped Ruby’s throat. “So much for a moment alone.”
Jaune sighed, knowing that he probably should’ve left Ruby to be for a moment. But just like his sigh left his mouth, she used her semblance to speed off towards the threat of the Grimm that was running straight towards Vacuo.
Clearly Ruby wasn’t all in the right headspace as much as others would hope she would be. She was angry and close to having a breakdown again. Her thoughts were exhausting her even more, just like this never ending fight.
She knew her aura was low, they have been killing Grimm left and right and more just keep appearing. Almost like they were testing their skills, luckily for everyone, there was many huntsmen and huntresses to help out with the odd amount of Grimm that was attacking from every direction.
It was a miracle they managed to kill all of them, giving Ruby the break she desperately needed. She knew that she would get a scolding from Yang. Just as they walked into the place they were settling in.
Yang’s voice echoed behind her. “Ruby..” She stopped in her tracks and turned to face her. “I can’t believe you would charge towards that Death Stalker like that!”
“What is the difference between now and before, Yang? We defended it once and I could do it again.” Ruby spoke up, it was something Ruby was good at, defeating Grimm and she did it many times on her own.
“Exactly Rubs, we did defeat it once, but never alone. There was 8 of us working towards to put it down.” She had a point in that but getting angry was something that was only pushing Ruby away from her own sister.
“I think we all need to rest before anything is said that shouldn’t be.” Ren jumped in, wanting to stop them from fighting and finally have everyone rest up.
Ruby rolled her eyes and walked away from this. She wasn’t trying to show off or anything, she just wanted to be alone. And she did successfully managed to get the death stalker away from everything, so no one would get hurt.
Weiss stood not far from the rest of the team and she knew she had to act. She watched as everyone walked towards their own rooms or other places to rest up and be prepared for another day of fighting and trying to survive.
Just as some time had passed and Ruby managed to shower and get herself in her bed, she couldn’t fall asleep at all. She did hear a faint knock on her door of her room and curiously she got up and walked towards it.
Opening it to reveal Weiss standing on the other side. “Weiss? What are you doing here?”
There was a smile on her lips as she extended her hand towards Ruby as an indication for her to take it. “Come with me”
She knew that Ruby wouldn’t sleep, she knew Ruby wasn’t doing well at all and she knew that having Ruby all alone with her thoughts after what has happened in the Everafter wasn’t such a good idea. Even though Ruby eyed her in a questioning and curious look, she still took her hand, where she was dragged to a roof top.
Weiss prepared a little blanket and pillows for both of them to spend some time together. She knew Red needed a moment to see the beauty in the world and why they are all still fighting for it to exist. She pulled her arm towards the little set up and they both sat down with their feet dangling off the edge of the roof.
“Weiss, why did you take me here?” Ruby asked, not being able to take her eyes off the beauty of the city that was in front of her. The lights being on in various places, showing the liveness of this place.
“Isn’t it beautiful here?” She asked, already knowing the answer as she noticed that Ruby couldn’t take her eyes off the view.
Weiss realised something whilst being in Atlas, she understood what she felt towards Ruby. She realised how much she adored this hopeful girl that came into her life. She adored her confidence and her naiveness to certain things. But mostly she loved that Ruby never gave up on trying to make sure the world was a better place for people.
After what happened in the everafter, she pieced everything together. She noticed how Ruby was slowly getting worse but she also was too focused on how nervous that girl was making her feel. She never showed it properly but deep down, the little touches and making sure the Ice queen was okay was something that would often make her panic.
But the more Ruby lost her spark, the more she worried. Ruby’s eyes dropped to her hands, she somehow grabbed a cookie that she didn’t even register properly. “It is beautiful...”
Those couple words pulled Weiss out of her thoughts, she watched as Ruby just eyed the cookie. “Ruby… I’m sorry I didn’t check up on you..”
“That’s okay Weiss..” She voiced her words as quickly as possible, trying her best to keep in her tears.
Weiss shook her head. “No, it isn’t okay. I wasn’t a good teammate to you. I was focus on what was going on in the Everafter and how to get out and make sure our friends were okay, I forgot to make sure those closes to me were okay too.”
Ruby needed to hear that, the tears started to form and threatening to spill as they sat snug on the edge of her eyelids. “I am okay.”
Ice Queen moved her hand slowly towards Ruby’s, gently grabbing it and giving it a little squeeze. “We all were okay before we learnt the hard truth of this whole nightmare. I know you are not okay Ruby. You always are here for everyone else, so let me be here for you..”
Those words were enough to open the dam that was being held shut tightly, the sobs came spilling out and Weiss acted quickly. Pulling the girl beside her into a hug, there was nothing more that she wanted than to make sure Ruby had felt safe to let it all out.
“I don’t know what to do anymore..” The words spilled out in between her sobs and Weiss held her even more tighter with each word that did.
“It’s going to be okay Ruby, not yet but someday everything we are doing now will pay off int he end. I promise.” Weiss gently spoke and tried to ease Ruby’s crying. She never seen the most hopeful and most happiness girl to be this upset.
Ruby’s crying with time calmed but their hold on each other didn’t loose up at all. Ruby held onto Weiss like her life depended on it and maybe in this moment, it did. Maybe everything in this moment mattered the most to Red.
It mattered that someone was here, someone noticed and someone was willing to let her cry about it without having others complain that she was having a meltdown. Finally after some time, as they both pulled away and stared into each others eyes.
Weiss felt like she could tell Ruby everything, like everything was worth risking to just let her know she was loved. “Jaune was wrong you know..”
Ruby’s brows creased in confusion as she stared into those icey blue eyes. But Weiss continued. “It has never been about you, It has been about everything else. Pyrrha, Penny, Qrow, Yang, Blake, me, Jaune, Atlas, Ironwood, Ozpin and Salem but no one paid attention to you, except Maria when she thought you how to use your eyes.. that I adore to look into so much.”
The dumbfounded look on Red’s face was humours to say the least but Weiss still kept going. “I failed to pay attention to you too which I know I need to improve on a lot. I wish it was all different Ruby, I wish you had the dream fairytale that you read in books. You, out of all the people, deserve to be happy after having such a tragic experience.”
Ruby shook her head. “But Weiss, I wasn’t the only one with bad life experience. You and everyone else you named went through different traumas that brought us here together.”
Weiss nodded with a genuinely love smile across her lips. “This is why everyone loves you Ruby, you never give yourself credit for how hard everything has been. Especially on you. I love every courage you could master up to keep everyone up when no one was there for you.”
Ruby never had the slightest clue that Weiss noticed everything, but one question circled her mind. “Weiss? If you noticed everything.. Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
She sighed as her eyes looked away for a brief moment. “I was afraid that you would notice how I feel..”
Red’s gears slowly started to spin as the more she listened to Weiss and the more she paid attention to Weiss’s body language. “And how do you feel..?”
It was a question that Weiss never thought she would hear, her breathing caught in her throat for a moment and she hopes to the gods that this was the right moment. “.. I feel… like you mean the world to me and seeing you getting swallowed up by the ground and be turned into wood, even if we couldn’t die. I couldn’t help but worry that you wasn’t going to be the Ruby we all know.”
Weiss paused as her hand moved to Ruby’s cheek, wiping the tear trails. “I was scared that I lost someone that my heart couldn’t stop beating for.”
Now Ruby’s breathing hitched in the throat, it all clicked in her brain. Weiss was known to be the one running away from opening up and trying her best to perfect hiding her emotions from everyone. She never noticed certain things but now that those words left Weiss’s mouth she couldn’t stop seeing the ways Weiss done to be near and with Ruby.
“Weiss.. I..” Ruby’s brain was still processing the whole confession, which made the ice queen slightly disappointed as this wasn’t something she imagined.
Maybe she fantasied too much about this type of moment, where she would confess her feeling and Ruby would do the same. “It’s okay Ruby, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not sure how long everything is going to be calm for, but I wanted to confess as soon as I could before everything becomes chaotic.”
Her hand dropped from Ruby’s cheek and she looked back at Vacuo. But that view didn’t last long, as Ruby’s hand somehow found its way under Weiss’s chin, turning her head back where it was before. “I always had a crush on you. The most smartest huntress in Beacon, Atlas and the world. From the day you saved me.. and scolded me, was the moment I knew I felt something towards you.”
Her eyes widen in shock that Ruby’s confession. But Red continued. “I never knew if that was the correct feeling, I never had friends that were interested in anything other than Grimm and weapons. But when I met you, you came from a different background and you knew more than I did. I learned from you in some fights and always wanted to be your best teammate..”
Weiss smiled and felt a faint blush appear across her pale cheeks. “It was your kindness and courage and strength that made me realise how much I adored you.”
That made both of the girls blush, and the look in their eyes changed as they both knew what was coming. Ruby leaned in slowly and Weiss met her half way. Finally feeling her best friend’s lips against hers. The moment she imagined so many times could never compare to real life.
Ruby pulled away first, leaning her forehead against Weiss’s and taking in the moment that was happening, She never thought she would be here with Weiss, after kissing the ice queen that has changed so much over the time since Beacon.
“I don’t want to go back to my room..” Ruby whispered and that was enough to have Weiss smiling like crazy.
“I know, I brought extra blankets and pillows in case you did want to say here and stare at the stars before we fell asleep.” Weiss whispered back, before pulling away and pointing at the second basket that held everything they both needed.
“Ah nice Weiss strikes again.” Ruby softly chuckled out before she earned a playful look from Weiss. But before the girls laid down and had a relaxing moment. “For what’s worth, Weiss. I adore you and I am grateful to have you here. As my partner and as my teammate. Thank you..”
Weiss patted the pillow and they both laid down, hands intertwined as their eyes were still staring into each others. “I promise I will be here until the end..”
Ruby knew that Weiss would always know when something was wrong and she knew that Weiss was someone she could trust with everything that bothered her. No matter the issues, the ice queen would make sure and do everything for Red. She was her partner after all…
“As long as you’re here, I promise I will be here until the end too..” Ruby spoke up before moving closer and lying in Weiss’s arms, feeling Snowflake play with her hair as they both stared at the clear sky to keep the good moment going between them.
“We will deal with everything tomorrow Ruby, don’t worry. You have me now.” Weiss whispered as she placed a soft kiss on Red’s head, knowing that her partner was slowly falling asleep. But this time it was with a smile that lit back that hope she needed.