Disclaimer: Not a bit of the characters (aside from one of the OCs) is mine. I merely borrowed all the rest and left a dust cloud. I do that from time to time.

Just One Date

Volume 3

By: athrunzala

Chapter 16: One Last Date, Part 2

Volume 3 Finale

Ruby was slightly unnerved when Weiss started getting a slew of emails from Pyrrha and Nora. She wasn't sure what was up, and she couldn't sneak into the heiress' scroll to find out either, as Weiss had smartly put a passcode in place to lock it.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, was more confused by the sheer number of emails she was sending as opposed to communicating in person. She had finally been assigned the job of distracting the scythe-wielder on Saturday, when the party would be taking place. She was actually surprised when Ozpin approved the use of the ballroom for their impromptu event.

Yang was kept out of the loop, and with good reason. She would be one of the first to tell Ruby, especially after the incident with Weiss a couple years ago. Yang wouldn't want to risk her sister's wrath again, so it was up to Pyrrha to keep the secret from everybody.

Nora and Ren were busy preparing for other things, which meant that the orange-haired woman had completely forgotten the conversation with Weiss.

"Nora, just don't forget about the other thing going on this weekend. We are seeing the movie on Sunday."

"I know. You'll make sure we get to places in time. Love ya!"

Ren simply shook his head and smiled. Her unbridled enthusiasm for everything is what made him love her in the first place. With a perfectly timed reach of his arm, his finger shot out and he poked his girlfriend in the nose, with an utterance of "Boop".

Jaune was busy studying with Blake, as his last class was Oobleck's Advanced History class, which he had signed up for thinking that he was going to ace it. He had been dead wrong as to what he knew and didn't know.

As the week dragged on, Ruby shrugged off the fact that Weiss was sort of ignoring inquiries as to her activities. In fact, she was talking to Pyrrha more and more as the days went past, which she didn't mind. She was learning things about the rest of Remnant she had never known, and she liked it. It was during one of their conversations that it turned to weapons and what made them choose their various components.

"Well, Milo and Akuo were made to complement each other."

"I don't see how a shield complements a gun or a spear."

"True, when I am using Milo as a gun, I don't use Akuo. However, when I have thrown my weapon, I need a good way to defend myself while retrieving it, and that is where Akuo comes into play."

As the realization dawned over the younger woman's face, she lit up with glee.

"Kind of like how I use the recoil and my semblance to get away quickly!"

The red-haired fighter smiled.

"Very similar, yes."

They continued walking along on the campus, Pyrrha taking great care to not lead Ruby to the ballroom.

Inside that very ballroom, Weiss was busy directing Sun and Neptune as to the locations of some things. Blake was carefully maneuvering between the two, ensuring that there was easy access to everything as well.

"Weiss, I don't think that you need to worry so much. Whatever you do, she'll love it."

"I know that, but I want it to be perfect."

"Just don't worry yourself sick, alright?"

"Fair enough. Have you seen Yang and Jaune?"

"They should be in town picking it up right about now."

Yang had been asked to help out as well, so the blonde brawler was headed into town with Jaune to pick up the cake. This meant that she couldn't use her motorcycle, but they would have to take an airship for safest transport.

"I don't know why you guys didn't tell me sooner!"

"You would have been forced to tell Ruby what was going on at scythe-point."

"Oh. Good point."

They rounded the corner to see their target: the bakery. They entered and handed over the slip of paper that Blake had given them.

"I see! Alright! I was just about to ship it to Beacon myself. I have a back entrance. You can ride along."

"Sweet deal. When do we leave?"

The baker looked over at Yang and popped on a pair of aviator sunglasses.

"Right now."

Back on campus, Ruby was noticing that nobody she knew was out and about, so she and Pyrrha stopped by the dining hall to get something to eat. It was over their food that they had the conversation that had been bugging the scythe-wielder all week.

"Is Weiss mad at me?"

Pyrrha choked momentarily. She hadn't expected that question to come out of the blue, and was completely unprepared as a result.

"No, Ruby. She's not. She's just busy with a few things. You'll see."

"Yeah, I know she's been busy. But she hasn't spoken to me much in the last week."

"Ruby," the athlete said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "She has her reasons. And I know you'll forgive her for this. You just have to trust me."

She then felt her scroll buzzing. Looking down, she noticed that there was a new message.

"Please, excuse me for a moment."

She stood and turned around to read the text on the screen.

[=Package is here. Bring in Red Riding Hood.=]

Knowing that only Weiss would have sent that message, as it contained the hidden meaning of the cake having successfully arrived, Pyrrha returned to Ruby.

"Come with me."

"Why?"

"We're going to see Weiss."

In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby was up and standing by the door. She was then led out the door, around the campus, and to the doors of the ballroom.

"Now, before we go in, I want you to not be mad if she doesn't want to talk, alright?"

Ruby nodded and Pyrrha opened the door. Everybody she knew was in the room, standing and smiling at her.

"Uh… What is going on?"

Weiss walked up to her.

"Ruby, I know I've been distant this past week."

"No kidding."

"But I was busy planning this. I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. If you don't like…"

Weiss was cut off when her fiancé jumped forward and kissed her.

"Weiss, I love it. Well, not as much as I love you, but that is for another time and…"

She caught herself starting to ramble.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome. Now, come on. It's your party."

Ruby then fully entered the room and they proceeded to enjoy themselves. Weiss had correctly guessed that jumping out and saying surprise would have startled the younger woman, so she had instructed them to not do it.

As Ren had been put in charge of cooking, Ruby and Nora ended up in a pancake eating contest. 16 plates in, and neither one was showing signs of stopping. Until, that is, they ran out of syrup. At which point Ruby won by default, as Nora refused to down a single bite without it.

The party lasted late into the night, with even the staff showing up. Ozpin, of course had a message for them from Qrow, who was away on a mission to dig out their father, who had managed to get snowed in on a glacier. As the hours passed, Blake and Sun went to Team RWBY's dorm, as they wanted to be nowhere near the "Screaming Tsunami" that was Yang and Neptune in bed.

Ruby would not forget this night for a long time. As the last of their friends left, Ruby and Weiss were left alone. They decided to exit the room after some minor cleanup (Jaune and Ren had done most of it earlier) and go to bed.

"Happy birthday, Ruby."

END

A.n./- Ha! I did it. I wrapped up Volume 3 on a good note. More implied sex between Yang and Neptune, but who really cares. I'm not going back to this volume for an "extended edition" like I did with Volumes 1 and 2. This is it. The end. Finito. Buh-bye. No more from this story line.

I know. I'm a terrible liar. As promised, here is the title for the sequel: Save the Date. It isn't meant to be a long story. Just a short one. It will be set 5 years after this, so I have to develop the characters' futures more. Still, I have to write and plan out some things. Your guesses as to what are your own.

Now, for the thanks for this.

To my pre-reader: Thank you for being so amazingly tolerant of me and my strange writing style during this. I do appreciate it. I know I've been a pain and you have seen other weirdness come out of me. And for that, I do apologize. Once again, thank you for proofing all 33 chapters for me.

Please be my pre-reader for Save the Date as well. *begs* please!

To those who have read this:

Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing this story. I know I've been a pain in the butt and have not kept to a steady release schedule. But I had decided where this story was going from the get-go, and I had to get it there in the best way possible.