Weiss stepped out of the bathroom in a white, silken bathrobe as she toweled her hair dry. She donned a pair of slippers to keep her feet off of the chilly hardwood floor and approached the room's king sized bed, which was smothered in what Weiss thought was an excessively generous number of fluffy white pillows and a mountain of the softest and warmest blankets that money could buy. The number of different colored blankets gave off the appearance that someone had place collapsed circus tent on her bed, which made the heiress chuckle. Weiss walked over to the bed as she wrapped the towel around her hair and head and began pulling the piles of blankets and pillows off and playfully called for the occupant. "Ruby, I told you to wake up an hour ago. Come on, Sleepy."

Weiss could hear a groaning protest from under a few more layers of blankets and some pillows off to her right, so she redirected her efforts at clearing the bed to that location. When she finally finished peeling away all the blankets, Weiss was rewarded with the sight a nearly nude Ruby Rose, clothed only in a thin cashmere blanket she had wrapped around herself. Ruby squinted at the sudden light as she curled up and blindly groped for another blanket, once again groaning her discontent with the bright morning sun and the accompanying morning chill. "Weiss," Ruby complained, her long hair fanned out above her head. "Can't we sleep in a bit?" Ruby gave up on her search for another blanket and settled for cocooning herself in the one cashmere blanket she had retained.

"We went to bed almost twelve hours ago, Ruby." Weiss said as she started the process of unwrapping Ruby from her blanket cocoon. "We've had enough rest for one night."

Ruby spilled out onto the bed, revealing her bare body to both Weiss and the chilly air as Weiss finally succeeded in removing the blanket from Ruby. Without the blankets or clothes to cover up Ruby's body, Weiss could see the terrible scars Ruby had accrued since her disappearance. There was a set of deep claw marks just under her ribs on the left side, which Ruby had said happened soon after she had run away from the camp years ago, and had nearly killed her. There was a deep puncture mark on the right side of her chest just under her collar bone, and a small depression in her leg where something had taken a bite out of her, not to mention the numerous other, less severe scars.

And yet despite these deformities to her skin and her sleepiness, Ruby still managed to look up at Weiss with a look that made her heart skip a beat. "Except we didn't exactly sleep very much." Ruby said with a wolfish grin.

Weiss' face flushed red as Ruby looked up at her with the look of a satisfied predator. "A-anyways. You still have to wake up." Weiss tried to look away to cover her embarrassment at Ruby's unsubtle reference to the previous night. "We have to go shopping for dresses and a gift for Jaune and Pyrrha's wedding." Weiss leaned over the bed to lift Ruby up and drag her to the shower if necessary, but Ruby had other plans.

While Weiss was leaned over her, Ruby reached up and wrapped one arm around the back of Weiss' neck while she snaked the other and Weiss' arm and across her back. Before Weiss could react and pull away, Ruby rolled away from Weiss, pulling the heiress with her onto the bed and rolling again so that Ruby was straddling Weiss in the center of the large bed. Ruby leaned in close, her long hair cascading around them. "Can't we wait until later?"

Weiss gulped audibly as she fought off the urge to give in to Ruby's suggestion. Looking into to Ruby's silver eyes and the red flecks scattered throughout them, the normally composed heiress was having a hard time maintaining said composure. Weiss gasped as Ruby placed a finger on the center of Weiss' neck and slowly began dragging her finger down Weiss' midline. Ruby's finger didn't slow down as it caught on the loosely closed bathrobe, teasingly opening it so she could access the woman underneath. It was at this point Weiss managed to summon the willpower to swipe away the arm Ruby was using to support her upper body, causing Ruby to lose her balance. Weiss took the opportunity to grab Ruby and roll on top of her, then jumping off the bed before Ruby could retaliate.

Weiss straightened her bathrobe as she looked back down at Ruby, who had resigned herself to just lying on her back and grinning at Weiss. "I won't let you change our plans again." Weiss huffed. "We need to go grab these things before the wedding this weekend."

Ruby rolled off the bed and landed on her feet before straightening up and stretching her arms above her head. "They don't even know you're back in Vale, and you didn't even RSVP. It's rude to crash a wedding, you know." Weiss' expression didn't change, so Ruby tried a different tactic. "I don't need to go dress shopping anyways, you know that." Ruby said. As she brought her hands down from above her, she ran them down the contours of her body. The air around Ruby seemed to darken, as if sunlight was having a harder time piercing the air near her. Then particles of darkness began forming in the air near Ruby, migrating to her body and spreading across her skin. The darkness spread and grew, covering more and more of Ruby's body. Within seconds, the darkness solidified into a beautiful black dress that hugged Ruby's body and would not have been out of place at any high class social function. "See? Dress made."

Even though Ruby had done this every day since they returned from Vacuo, it still unnerved Weiss that Ruby still had some remnants of the abilities she had as a Grimm. Making temporary clothes out of nothing was one of the abilities Weiss was beginning to grow accustomed to, but the others ones, such as Ruby's inhuman strength and ability to communicate with Grimm, were still ones that Weiss had not seen enough to grow used to. Weiss was both accustomed to and unimpressed with Ruby creating close though, and just raised an eyebrow. "You're not wearing a black dress made of darkness and shadows to the wedding of a huntsman and a huntress."

Ruby pouted and whined. "Awwww."

Weiss just pointed to the bathroom. "Go get cleaned up."

"Ugh, fine." Ruby let the dress disappear into nothing as she swaggered to the bathroom in the nude, and once again Weiss couldn't help but notice that the scars on Ruby's body did nothing to detract from her beauty. The scarred woman looked back over her shoulder at Weiss. "Care to join me?"

Weiss huffed and looked away. "I already cleaned up. You can shower by yourself today." Ruby just laughed and entered the bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as it would go.

The heiress just sighed as she removed the towel that was wrapped around her hair while she moved to look out the window into the snowy landscape below. As she watch the falling snow dance past the window and down the mountainside below them, she thought back to the day she had found Ruby in the forest, far inside Vacuo.

The Tyrant's ground shaking footsteps finally began to slow to a halt after a couple hours of it walking through the forest with Weiss and a sleeping Ruby on its head. Weiss could see the military humvee she had commandeered parked under some trees and hidden under some branches she had piled on top of it. She could also see from the height she was at that she didn't do as good a job hiding it as she thought she had, but fortunately it appeared that no one or thing had come to investigate it.

Weiss gently shook Ruby's shoulder and patted her cheek. "Hey, time to wake up now, we're here."

Ruby's eye's fluttered open to look up at Weiss. "Already?" Ruby yawned from her spot on Weiss' lap.

"Yes. You're little pet here takes pretty large steps." Weiss said as she helped lift Ruby up to a sitting position. The Tyrant stopped walking and stayed still so that they would have better footing for when they stood up.

"That's true." Ruby agreed with a grin.

"You're going to have to explain what happened to you." Weiss continued as she placed Ruby's arm around her shoulder and stood, bringing them both to their feet. "Why you didn't have an aura, why you looked like a Grimm, why it looked like you could order them around, why-"

"One question at a time, please." Ruby coughed. "My head's still a little fuzzy." Ruby glanced behind them. "Could you grab that for me?"

Weiss looked over her shoulder as the pair turned and saw that the Tyrant's tail was right behind them, curled around a dangling Crescent Rose. Weiss reached out and accepted the dangling weapon from the tail, taking the weapon in one hand and hooking it on to her belt beside Myrtenaster. "I had forgotten about that." Weiss admitted.

"I almost did, too." Ruby agreed. "The Tyrant grabbed it for me though." Ruby looked at the tail again. "Don't let go of me."

"What?" Was all managed to get out before the Tyrant's tail curled around both of the girls at once, squeezing them close together and lifting them into the air. "Hey! Some more warning would be nice!" Weiss complained as she instinctively pulled Ruby closer. The Tyrant wasn't squeezing them particularly tightly, but the surprise in addition to the amount of Ruby's body touching Weiss' was causing her to blush.

Ruby looked down at her shorter companion as the Tyrant lowered them to the ground, and saw the reaction on Weiss' face. This expression of bashful innocence, and the fact the Weiss actually jumped into Grimm infested territory alone to find her, convinced Ruby that Weiss' feeling for her were still present and strong after all this time. So Ruby did the first thing that came to mind and leaned her head over and planted a kiss on Weiss's lips while they were still squeezed together. Weiss was stunned into silence as Ruby pulled away.

"I hope that wasn't a bad thing to do." Ruby said with a grin, nervously wondering in the back of her mind if maybe she shouldn't have done that. She had been gone for a long time after all, and there was always the chance that Weiss might have someone else in her life.

"… It wasn't." Weiss stretched her neck up to return Ruby's kiss with a kiss of her own, but found she was too short to reach Ruby's lips without Ruby leaning over or being able to stand on the tips of her toes. "Dammit." Weiss grumbled as the Tyrant set them on the ground. "This is what happens when you get too tall." Weiss complained.

"Sorry." Ruby chuckled as she leaned heavily against Weiss. "I need to sit down."

Weiss helped Ruby over to the back seat of the humvee so Ruby could lie down in the back seat. "You just slept for three hours, how are you still tired?" Weiss said as she eased Ruby down onto the seat.

"I feel really weak." Ruby explained. "I haven't had anything to eat or drink in over a year."

Weiss thought that bit of news was unexpected, but not surprising after she gave it a bit of thought. "I have supplies in the trunk, I'll bring you some food."

"Bring all of the food, please." Ruby smiled.

"Got it." Weiss said as she turned away from Ruby, rolling her eyes. "Ah!" Weiss yelled, startled. The Tyrant had lowered its head to look into the humvee at Ruby, and its head was positioned only a few feet behind Weiss. "You're terrifying." Weiss said as she glowered at the Tyrant. "Back up." The Tyrant just blinked at her. "Ruby, a little help?"

Ruby leaned out of the humvee to look at the Tyrant. "Thanks for your help. I'll be fine here. Go keep an eye on the others." Ruby's voice darkened a little. "Make sure none of them leave this place, okay?" The Grimm growled, but it didn't sound menacing to Weiss this time. It sounded more like a contented purr, if that was even possible. Then it stood up to its full height, turned away from them, and lumbered back into the forest.

Weiss watched it leave for a few moments before she turned back to Ruby, still having trouble comprehending how Ruby was doing such a thing such as talking to and controlling the Grimm. "What did you mean when you told it make sure none of 'them' left?"

"I remember while I was a Grimm I was so focused on Vacuo." Ruby said softly. "I meant to only attack their army, I really did." Ruby looked downtrodden. "I wasn't in control most of the time, though. I made the big decisions most of the time, but a different part of me was in control. I ended up attacking the whole kingdom. The least I can do is make sure none of them ever leave Vacuo and attack the rest of the world." Ruby finished, saddened.

"If it's any consolation, our army managed to evacuate almost all of the people." Weiss assured as she brought the large bags of food to Ruby's spot in the back seat. "How did you become a Grimm anyways?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. I remember getting badly hurt and then thinking to myself that I needed to be stronger, and how Grimm were really strong. Then I thought: 'If a Grim was a soulless creature, would it be possible to remove a soul?'" Ruby said, gesturing in the air before her. "I don't remember what happened next, but after that I only got glimpses of what I was doing until today. Like I was watching someone else who only had a general idea of what I wanted to do carry out my wishes."

"Well, don't think about too much." Weiss said. "I still don't really understand, but what's done is done and I'm sure we can find more answers another time, after you get better and regain some of your strength." Weiss set the last of the bottles of water in the back seat.

Ruby tore open a bag of potato chips and began wolfing them down. She nearly finished the bag before she looked again and saw Weiss looking down at Ruby with brows furrowed in thought. "Sumfing wrong?" Ruby asked around a mouthful of chips, somehow managing to give off the appearance of a young girl again despite her womanly body.

"I don't think you can go meet everyone again. Not so soon, anyways." Weiss said.

Ruby swallowed the chips before responding. "Why not? Should I write an apology or something?"

"That's not it." Weiss said. "Well, not all of it. Your… circumstances… won't be understood, and so you'll be captured and tested at best, or imprisoned or executed at worst. And I'm not going to let that happen." Weiss explained. "And there's still the chance that you may be arrested for killing team CRDL if people find out who you are. " Weiss tapped her chin in thought. "Actually, I think official records state that you're dead. Can you charge a dead person with a crime?"

"I didn't kill them." Ruby said as she dug into a bag of jerky. "I only kidnapped them and left them in a not-so-safe place. Grimm killed them. Ask Nora, she helped me."

Weiss froze in the process of closing the door, and looked at the ground. "Nora didn't make it." Weiss said softly. "She died last week, just before the war ended."

Ruby's hand froze just in front of her mouth, a piece of jerky hovering just in front of her lips. "I didn't think anything could actually kill Nora." Ruby sighed.

"She sacrificed herself so the rest of us could escape." Weiss elaborated. "And… Blake died too. At about the same time."

Ruby's hand fell back into her lap. "So we're all that's left?" Ruby looked quite downtrodden, but her reaction was far more muted than Weiss feared it could've been.

Weiss shook her head. She closed the door of the humvee and got into the driver's seat, elaborating as she began driving away and back towards Vale. "No. There's still Jaune and Pyrrha, and Velvet. A few other students from Beacon too. Oh, your father teaches at Beacon now."

"Can I at least see my dad?" Ruby asked, looking up into the rear view mirror at Weiss hopefully.

"I don't think so." Weiss answered and the humvee bounced along over the grass. "I don't think he would be able to hide his feelings about finding you alive again, and people may suspect."

"What about you?" Ruby said as she placed a small piece of jerky in her mouth, nearly swallowing it whole. "Won't people start looking for you if you don't come back?"

"I left orders that no one was to bother searching for me." Weiss said. "So that shouldn't be a problem."

"Orders?"

"I was the Lord General of our army."

"Whoa." Ruby exclaimed. "Okay, you've got to tell me what I missed."

Weiss just smiled. "Of course." So Weiss told Ruby about everything that had happened. She told Ruby about going to the fortress for training and the hunters that trained them, as well as their training. She talked about how they joined the war, and the people Weiss met and the battles they fought. Ruby listened with rapt attention, curious to learn about the human world that she hadn't seen in so long. Weiss answered all the questions Ruby had, and Ruby asked questions while she proceeded to eat and drink nearly her half her weight in foodstuffs. And all the while, Weiss was making plans on how to keep Ruby out of the public eye until she could figure out a way to reintroduce her without risking losing her again. She knew a place that no one would look for them, and figured she could start there.

It had been a month since that day when Weiss and Ruby had arrived at this secluded, isolated, and large mountain condo that Weiss owned. There were only a few people in the world that knew Weiss and Ruby were here, not including the girls themselves. The first was the private doctor that was had hired to look after the weakened Ruby the first week, whom Weiss had paid well to ask no questions and to keep his silence. The only others that knew of Weiss and Ruby's presence here were the live in maid and butler, who served Weiss and would tell no one anyway.

Weiss was confident that no one would ever come looking for her here because the only people that had ever visited this place were Weiss and her mother, before her mother left. And once her mother left, Weiss inherited the place and no one except the cleaning staff had ever returned to it. She had chosen to hide away here rather than return to those who had known her in Vale because she feared that they would take Ruby away, out of either justifiable fear or scientific curiosity. Ruby was, as far as Weiss could tell from her research, a unique being.

The tests that the doctor had performed to judge Ruby's health while she was recovering had shown them that it was entirely likely that Ruby wasn't completely human anymore. She healed at an incredible rate without the use of aura, her muscle density was off the charts of what a human should be capable of, her senses were far more sensitive than a human's, and her eyes glowed red when she got too excited. In a way, the eyes reminded Weiss of Yang's red eyes, though Ruby's glowed red rather than just changing color.

Finished with her reminiscing, Weiss turned away from the window and the falling snow and turned on the television to listen to while she got dressed. She pulled open the wardrobe, which filled almost entirely with Weiss' clothes since Ruby preferred to create her own clothes out of nothing for convenience. Weiss dropped her bathrobe to the ground as she selected her undergarments and a simply designed white, flowing sundress, which she completed with a straw colored sun hat to minimize the chances that anyone would recognize her. The outfit looked out of place in their snowy surroundings, but her butler would be driving them down the mountain road and back to Vale, where it was warmer, for their shopping. Weiss heard the footsteps of Ruby exiting the bathroom as pulled on a pair of silver, open toed, ankle strapped sandals.

Weiss glanced over to see Ruby rubbing her long hair dry with a towel as she exited the bathroom without a bathrobe or towel around her, grumbling about how long it took to dry her hair. "Are you thinking about cutting your hair?" Weiss asked, remembering Ruby's short hair from before and mentally comparing it to the hair she had now, which came down to just above her waist, except for the bangs that Weiss maintained herself so Ruby's hair wouldn't get in her face.

"Do you think I should?" Ruby asked as she picked at her hair. "Long hair is kind of a hassle now that I have to actually take care of it."

Weiss shuffled her feet as she looked at Ruby's hair. "… I kinda like your hair long." Weiss mumbled, twirling her own hair.

Ruby laughed at Weiss' embarrassed act. "I guess I'll keep it long then." Ruby looked down at Weiss' outfit. "Very pretty." She complimented, eliciting a smile and a light blush from Weiss. Ruby lifted her arms out to her side as more particles of darkness formed around her again, growing to form a dress that mirrored Weiss' in design. While Weiss' dress was white and came down to her knees, Ruby's was black and ended at her calves. Ruby had also formed a black sun hat as well, making her look fairly sophisticated. "How do I look?" She asked as she twirled in front of Weiss, some of her childish playfulness sneaking out.

"Like you forgot footwear." Weiss chuckled.

Ruby looked down at her bare feet. "Oh." She lifted each foot individually to add on sandals that matched the one's Weiss had on. "Better?"

"Better." Weiss said with a smile and nod. Weiss pulled out her scroll and called her butler, telling him to bring a car around to take them to a shopping district in Vale. "Are you sure you're okay with seeing other people again?" Weiss asked Ruby with some concern.

"I think I should be fine." Ruby said, just a little nervous. Except for Weiss, the doctor, the butler, and the maid, Ruby had not had any contact with humans for a very long time and wasn't sure how she might react in a crowd of them. The two girls hadn't even left Weiss' mountain condo most days, and when they did it was usually only for a walk on the mountain the condo resided on, far away from other people. "As long as we don't get separated."

Weiss entwined her fingers in Ruby's as she led her out of the room to the front door, where their butler would be waiting with the car. "No need to worry about that." Weiss assured Ruby. "I don't think I'll let us get separated ever again." Ruby smiled as she pulled Weiss into a hug and kissed her. Weiss allowed the kiss to go on for a few seconds before pulling away. "Your clothes may never get wrinkled, but mine do." Weiss scolded jokingly, smoothing out her dress and straitening her hat. "So no funny business."

"I'll just wait until you undress tonight then." Ruby answered nonchalantly.

Weiss stumbled in surprise at Ruby's frankness before straightening and glaring at Ruby. "You better not talk like that out in public." Weiss growled.

Ruby just grinned. "So, you never told me why you aren't reserving a spot at the wedding for us, rather than just showing up. They went through the trouble of sending an invitation to your scroll, even though they don't know where you are or if we're even alive." She asked as they exited the house.

"Same reason I didn't want you to meet your father." Weiss said. "I didn't think they would be able to keep it quiet."

"Okay, but is their wedding really the best spot to bring me back from the dead? I don't want to take away from their moment, you know?" Ruby asked again as they stepped into the black car the butler had brought around.

"I'm not going to announce you to the world." Weiss answered as she slid on to the seat next to Ruby. "We'll keep out of the way and hidden, then speak to them afterwards."

"And then I can go visit my father? And pay my respects to our friends' graves?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah." Weiss said, removing her hat and laying her head on Ruby's shoulder. "Sorry for keeping you away for so long."

"I can't really complain, since you didn't all to keep me safe." Ruby smiled.

"Yeah." Weiss agreed, closing her eyes with a contented smile as their butler began driving them down the mountain. "Let's finish shopping quickly so we can go home."

"I really like Pyrrha's dress." Ruby whispered to from the back of the ceremony hall. Weiss and Ruby were keeping out of sight and to themselves at the wedding, a week after they had gone shopping for their dresses and a gift. Weiss had purchased a sky blue gown that had sapphire colored swirls stitched in on the trim at Ruby's recommendation, while Ruby had let Weiss pick out a dress for her- a rose red dress with faint brown stitching that looked like abstractly designed branches, which Ruby thought made her look like some sort of weird plant. But Weiss had insisted it looked great, so she went with it.

"It looks expensive." Weiss agreed in a whisper. "I think those are diamonds on the neckline." Though Weiss and Ruby were whispering, they did so only out of respect for anyone who might be close enough to hear them, because there were so many people at this wedding that Ruby and Weiss were sure that they could talk at a normal volume from their spot at the back and no one in the front half of the ceremony hall would hear that they were talking. Weiss was also pleasantly surprised to see Velvet acting as Pyrrha's maid of honor, and glad that Velvet appeared to have come out of the depression she had fallen into with Blake's death. Weiss also took notice of Ozpin, who she made sure to steer clear of. They could also see the reformed thief Sun Wukong in the crowd, which worried Weiss because she feared that might mean Tamamo and her hunters may be here. And if they were, Vimentis might sense them, and might even identify Ruby as something not human. There had been no incident so far though, so Weiss kept up hopes it would remain that way.

"Do you think Jaune got to pick out his own tuxedo, or Pyrrha picked it for him?" Ruby asked. Both girls looked at each other, and Weiss just had a 'really?' look on her face. "Yeah, you're right." Ruby said. "She definitely picked it out for Jaune. Looks to good for him to have picked it himself."

Weiss just grinned as they went back to watching the wedding in silence. They were too far back to hear what was being said at the front, but they cheered along with everyone else nonetheless when the newly married couple kissed and began walking down the aisle. Ruby and Weiss stood and quietly clapped as Jaune and Pyrrha walked down the very long aisle, getting ever closer them. As they approached the halfway mark, Jaune reached down and swept Pyrrha into his arms, lifting her up into a bridal carry as he continued down the aisle. Pyrrha was looking into Jaune's eyes lovingly as he did the same, lost in their own little world.

Ruby leaned over to speak into Weiss' ear so she could be heard over the cheering. "Should we leave or step away before they get to us?" Weiss pondered the question only for a moment before shaking her head. Weiss was confident that the couple wouldn't stop and make a scene if they saw them, and Ruby trusted Weiss' judgment.

Only a few seconds later, Jaune and Pyrrha neared the pair of girls, still lost in each others' eyes. Weiss and Ruby thought for a second that the pair would stroll right on by without noticing them, but by chance Pyrrha looked away from Jaune just for a second to look at the owners of the unfamiliar dresses she had seen out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened as they noticed Weiss standing there, a friend whom Pyrrha had not seen or heard from in over a month. Pyrrha was about to call out from her spot in Jaune arms, but Weiss placed a finger in front of her mouth in the universal 'shhh' gesture. Pyrrha understood and didn't say anything or make a scene, but then glanced behind Weiss and saw a vaguely familiar woman who she immediately recognized as Ruby Rose smiling back at her. Pyrrha was once again shushed by Weiss as Jaune continued past the two girls obliviously.

As Jaune continued down the steps to his and Pyrrha's waiting honeymoon limousine, Pyrrha stretched her head to peer over Jaune's shoulder at the two girls, still astonished and stunned to see them alive and well. Weiss and Ruby waved at Pyrrha as Jaune set her in the car and closed the door before he hopped with her. Just before their driver could take them away though, Pyrrha must have said something to Jaune about Weiss and Ruby because he whipped around in his seat to look out the window at them, the expression on his face even more shocked and surprised than Pyrrha's was. And then before they could exit the car or do anything about their newly revived friends, their limousine drove them away.

"That went well." Ruby said.

"I'm sure we'll have a lot of explaining to do when they get back, but at least they know we're alive now." Weiss agreed. "Shall we go and see your father now?"

"Yeah." Ruby looked back into the ceremony hall and all the people shuffling around inside it. "Why don't we reintroduce me to some of our old friends first?"

"You sure?" Weiss asked, linking her arm with Ruby's.

"Yeah." Ruby smiled at her lover. "It wouldn't be fair to them to only let Jaune and Pyrrha know."

Weiss couldn't help but smile at Ruby's logic. "All right. Let's go bring you back from the dead then."

Now that this story is over, I plan on expanding on this little AU I've created based on some requests I've gotten. I want to start another story that will be more of a collection of short stories, mostly one-shots, that kind of look at different people at different times in the world I took my story in. Pre-war, during-war, post-war, etc. I say this to let you know that I will be taking requests to write about certain characters or times if you wish and I feel I will be able to write it. The story will be updated only sporadically at best, though.

Once again, thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoyed my first story!