Author's Note: So, this is what happens when Zelindsay challenges me to write a soulmate story.

I hope you enjoy it!

Taking a deep breath, Yang leaned forward, resting her forearms against the ill-maintained back of one of the many benches that surrounded the public park she was currently visiting. The damaged wood flexed and creaked in protest as she put more of her weight on it. It wasn't that all of the benches were poorly maintained, it was that the ones that were in good repair were already filled by moms, dads, and nannies that were watching over their own kids as they played on the various structures or in the grass. She supposed there was one other available place, looking across the park to where a woman about her age was sitting alone.

The woman had pure white hair tied up into a bun, her piercing blue eyes carefully and continuously inspecting the playground and all of its occupants. Her chilly demeanor normally caused the other adults there to avoid her outright. If it wasn't that, then it was the attitude she displayed when people did try to converse with her that kept people from trying to talk to her again. Winter Schnee did not want to be here, and everyone knew it. But, she didn't have much of a choice. Her little sister wanted to be here and it seemed that she would do anything for her little sister; except make friends.

Yang dug her left hand into the pocket of her jeans, grabbing the necklace with the stone pendant she had stored there. Carefully pulling it out and inspecting it, a pang of sadness coursed through her. Like Winter, this pendant was the reason she was here too. While she felt happy for her little cousin, she couldn't help but to feel a little jealous. Clutching the necklace tightly, she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Yaaannnggg!"

She looked up just in time for a eight year old blur of red and black to jump up onto the dilapidated bench in front of her and throw a pair of tiny arms around her neck, clutching her in a frantic hug. Since her left hand still grasping the necklace, she had no choice but to scoop up her young cousin up with her prosthetic arm. With pressure alleviated from her neck now that Ruby was no longer hanging from it, Yang peered down at the bright silver eyes that were staring back at her expectantly.

"What's up, Rubes?" She inquired, as she stood up straight to allow herself to hold her cousin better. As she moved, the younger girl freed one of her own hands and held it in front of Yang with her palm up.

"I need my necklace!"

"Oh, why's that?"

Twisting around, Ruby used her free arm to point in the direction from which she had run. Following the pointed direction her finger was pointing to, Yang quickly was able to surmise the issue. Working very carefully and meticulously to build a perfect sand castle next to a heap of sand, which was most likely Ruby's attempt to build her own, was a girl with familiar white hair. More pleasant than her older sister, Weiss was about a year older than Ruby and was quite happy about the circumstances that occurred when the two had first met. Rolling the stone between her fingers, Yang looked at the two boys kneeling in the sand next to the white-haired girl. Both sporting blue mohawks, albeit of different lengths and shades, the two boys seemed keenly interested in trying to obtain Weiss' attention. While she seemed to be easily ignoring the boys' antics, it was understandable to why Ruby had a more negative reaction. She tended to wear her heart on her sleeve and didn't have many friends due to her shyer nature.

"Be-because!" Ruby's lower lip quivered as she faced her older cousin again, tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. "Those boys wo-won't leave Weissy alone! She-e told them to go away and they didn't. I even told them our stones match and they-ey didn't believe me!"

Pulling Ruby into a tighter hug, Yang let herself smile. Of course Ruby wasn't doing this out of jealousy, she was just trying to protect her friend.

"Alright." The blonde soothed the upset girl. Holding up her left hand in front of Ruby, she let the necklace dangle, allowing the girl to snatch it easily. "Just take care of it, ok?"

"Ok!" The once forlorn visage the girl was gone and, though the tears remained in the corners of her eyes, it was replaced by a giant smile. "I love you, Yang." She squeaked out as she kissed her cousin on the cheek.

"I love you too." Yang replied easily as she set the younger girl back on the ground, giving her a kiss on the top of the head before ruffling her hair. "Now go protect your girl!"

With that, Ruby took off, tearing across the playground back towards the sandbox. Yang watched carefully as the short kid weaved past the other park patrons. Her heart wrenched as she watched Ruby trip and faceplant into the grass, but the brunette quickly bounced back up onto her feet and continued to race towards her destination.

"That's always a terrible feeling, isn't it?" A cheery voice spoke up from behind the blonde.

Without turning, as her focus was still on her cousin, she nonetheless recognized the speaker. It was one of the only adults here who ever tried to talk to her. She didn't know if it was her young age, her prosthetic right arm, or the tattoos that ran the length of her left arm that tended to be off putting, but she gave up on trying to appease the other adults here a long time ago.

"Yeah." She agreed. "I hate seeing her get hurt."

"Remind me to nominate you for mother of the year." The speaker chuckled as she stepped into the blonde's peripheral vision.

Yang finally broke her watchful gaze on Ruby's antics as she turned towards her friend. The bright red hair of, not only the other woman, but also the two children who each clutched onto their mother's hands, was definitely eye catching. Both an awesome mother and a good friend, Pyrrha was the wife of an officer in Vale's military. Although she was almost a decade older, the two of them got along since the first time they met; when Yang had enrolled Ruby into 1st grade over a year ago. Both a certified physical therapist and taller than herself, Pyrrha had many things that Yang was striving for, but the taller woman never held it over her head.

"You already know I am not actually her mother, Pyrrha."

"As far as gossip here is concerned, they think you're the young, single mother of an adorable, and bubbly, brunette." Pyrrha's bright green eyes dazzled in the afternoon sunlight as she made eye contact and smiled at Yang. "As far as I am concerned, you are her sole caretaker. You get her up in the morning and tuck her in at night. You'll remember Summer, but how old was Ruby when she died? Only one or two years old? You're as much as her mother as Summer was to you."

Yang cast her gaze down as memories of the past that she usually tried to repress came bubbling to the surface. Her own father and mother abandoned her with her Uncle and completely disappeared off the face of Remnant. Her uncle, Qrow, and his new wife, Summer, eagerly welcomed her as part of their family, raising her as if she was their own kid. Despite the fact that it looked as though Qrow and her mother, Raven, looked like twins, Qrow was almost a decade younger than his sister. When Yang was 17, Summer became pregnant, and they were all elated to have their family grow. As Qrow was normally busy with business trips, Yang had made sure to attend a local college so she could assist her aunt during the later stages of her pregnancy. During Yang's first year at college, Summer gave birth to Ruby and Yang found herself at home more and more, willingingly taking time to help care for the newborn. Everything was going well until almost two years later. The four of them had been driving to dinner after Yang's finals when they were struck by a semi-truck that had run a red light. While Ruby, being the farthest away from the impact, was fine, Qrow and Summer were killed instantly. As for herself, the crash had twisted the door frame around her right arm and the resulting damage was severe enough that it required amputation.

She balled her metal hand into a fist, clenching it tightly. She was fortunate that her family's insurance was able to cover an independently functioning prosthetic, as the rest of the year after the accident was hell for her. Between physical therapy to get herself functioning again, the lawsuit to settle the damages of the car crash, and disputes over Qrow and Summer Branwen's will, any remains of a life she had evaporated. She found out that her uncle and aunt left her everything they had owned, a considerable sum of money, as well as a a place to live. However, there was a controversial part where they had also named Yang as Ruby's legal guardian. She had to participate in court hearing after court hearing to prove competency to raise a child. During that year, Ruby had been placed as a ward of the Kingdom of Vale. Thankfully, all of that was behind them now. Pyrrha was right, Ruby was nothing short of her own daughter.

"Alright, Selene, Luna. Have fun, but be careful!"

Pyrrha's voice broke her out out of her ruminations. Looking back towards the other woman, she watched as the redhead crouched down down and patted her twin daughters on their heads. They both beamed identical smiles back, excitement gleaming in their deep blue eyes, before they turned and sprinted towards the swings, screaming with joy.

Standing back up to full height, Pyrrha stretched her arms. "Aren't Ruby and Weiss so lucky?" She yawned out as she completed her stretch.

"Hmm?" Yang grunted back, her mind still cloudy from the lingering memories.

Pyrrha pointed across the playground to where Weiss was now leading Ruby by the hand away from the sand box, where the two boys now stood arguing with each other. Both of the girls had necklaces with stone pendants that looked like they were two parts of one broken stone.

"Weiss found her soulstone at an early age and Ruby found hers right after she met Weiss." Pyrrha elaborated. "I mean I thought I was lucky when I found Jaune my freshman year at college and we both already had our soulstones then."

Eying the fine gold chain that hung around Pyrrha's neck, the stone amulet hidden under the women's clothing, Yang absent mindedly rubbed her own bare neck.

"Yeah, the little silver-eyed snot was lucky." The blonde's voice bubbled with a mixture of happiness and glum. "She met Weiss on the first day of school, they had a combined recess for the second and third graders. She accidently ran into Weiss and, buried in the dirt where she landed, was her stone. She picked it up and I guess Weiss instantly recognized what it was. She put them together to confirm it. They've been best friends ever since."

"Young love." Pyrrha responded softly as she placed a hand over her heart. "Do they fully understand the meaning?"

"Yeah." Yang bragged back a little. "Ruby certainly does. Just look at those doe eyes she gets every time she lookes at Weiss. She asked me this morning how to give Weiss a kiss. I told her to start with the cheek."

"Adorable." Pyrrha whispered as both women stood side by side for a while, watching their respective charges with warm smiles on their face. "What about you, Yang?"

Glancing furtively at her friend, Yang sighed heavily. "Nothing so far."

"Not even a dream?" The older woman probed.

"Nope." Yang admitted.

The dreams. No one had figured out what triggered them, but sometimes people who hadn't found their soulstones yet would have dreams of soulstones. Most people who had those dreams, dreamed of their own soulstone, and it had been proven over and over again, that people with those dreams did not have to find their own soulstones as they were capable of carving one themselves.

More rare, however, were those who dreamt of their partner's soulstone after having seen it. It is an image, not nearly as clear as when a person dreams of their own stone's blueprint. It's been said that people who have these dreams are aware they have personally seen this stone before, though may not remember the person it belonged to. Normally, when matching soulstones touch, both parties immediately know the match is true from the stone's unique fit and it is impossible to fake. But, when a lover dreams of their partner's stone, it is near impossible for the dreamer to prove themselves since they do not have a stone and are also unable to carve their own.

Pyrrha placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok." Yang scoffed. "It gives me more time to focus on Ruby and to try to finish my degree. You don't know how long these things take when you only have class once a week."

"Point taken, you don't want to talk about it." The taller woman racked her brain for a different subject to distract her younger companion. "When is your PT conference scheduled?"

"Tonight." Yang sighed again. "I don't think Ruby really likes Miss Amitola."

"Selene and Luna didn't like her very much last year either, but kids from her class tend to outperform the kids in the other 2nd grade classes in reading and writing. So it isn't all bad." Pyrrha hummed almost inaudibly before speaking again. "Though I heard that she is getting an assistant for the rest of this year. Someone to come in and help out a few times a week with some of the more energetic children."

Before Yang could open her mouth to respond she noticed noticed two familiar children toddle up to her.

"Yang!" Ruby whimpered as she clutched Weiss' hand with one of hers and grabbed the blonde's leg with the other. "Her sister says it's time to go, but I don't wanna stop playing. Can she stay the night?"

"Sorry, kiddo." Yang crouched down next to her charge. "You have your conference tonight with your teacher and we need to get up early for a meeting with the grumpy CPS guy."

"Oh…" Ruby's face fell.

"Don't worry, Ruby." Weiss tugged on her friend's shirt, getting the younger girl to face her. "I'll see you on Monday!"

A small twinkle returned to Ruby's eyes as she heard that. Yang watched as the girl's body tensed up and her brow wrinkled. It was cute watching her young cousin try to build up the courage to follow through with the plans she had made that morning. Before she could try to step in and help Ruby with her plight, Weiss started to move. Taking advantage of the brunette's hesitation, Weiss leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. The blushes both girls wore were obvious, as were the smiles both of them wore.

"Bye!" Weiss squeaked shrilly as she turned and ran back to where her sister was waiting next to a short and portly older man with a large brown moustache.

"Score!" Yang whispered to Ruby, causing her blush to deepen and mutter something under her breath. "Ready to go? We need to get to our conference."

"Yeah…"

"See ya, Pyrrha!" Yang shouted over her shoulder as she picked Ruby up, preventing the speedy girl from escaping, and started to carry her back to the car.

"Take care, Yang!"

The trip home didn't take long, nor did it take long for the both of them to get prepared for the conference. Ruby of course needed to bathe, since she had been playing in the sandbox. Preparing the bath quickly, and picking out clothes for her to wear, she was surprised that she didn't have to argue with Ruby about needing a bath today, as the young girl got in immediately. Once Ruby was out of the bath and dried off, Yang took a moment to quickly check herself in the mirror. Opting to put on gray jacket over the tank top she had been wearing, covering most of her prosthetic and tattoos, she let her hair down out of the ponytail it had been confined in all day and brushed it for a few moments. After she was done with that task, she went to the kitchen to make a small sandwich, cutting it in half so she could share it. As she got up to track Ruby down to get her to eat, her scroll dinged, alerting her to the fact that they need to leave for their PT conference.

"Hey, Squirt! Let's go!" She called from the kitchen.

"I'm coming." An annoyed voice squeaked out as Ruby entered the kitchen, trying to wrestle her shirt on over her head.

Chuckling, Yang helped Ruby get her skirt fastened and set her on the countertop, letting her eat while Yang found Ruby's shoes and directed her to put them on. To her surprise, Ruby had already scarfed the food down by the time she was done tying the second shoe and they made their way to the garage, where her small car was parked. Taking extra time to make sure that Ruby was safely and properly situated in her booster seat, being the relatively small child she was, in the back seat, she slid into the driver's seat and they left to go meet with Ruby's teacher.

Her heavy footfalls caused by boots intemingled with the pattering of Ruby's sneakers as they walked down the hallway of the school. Yang tried to hurry as they were already late to meet with the teacher. They would have been on time, but Ruby had been insistent on pointing out every place she liked to go in the school before dragging her to the other side of the building to show her the art project Weiss had made. Finally on track, they arrived to Ruby's classroom to find the door open. Walking right in, Yang managed to catch what the occupants of the room were saying.

"Look what I found, Ilia." The speaker was a pretty, raven-haired woman dressed in a suit. She was leaning towards the other woman, holding up the pendent on the necklace she was wearing.

Yang recognized the other woman, a brunette with an abundance of freckles littered her face, as Ilia Amitola, Ruby's teacher.

"That's amazing, Blake." Ilia smiled at the other occupant.

"Hi, Miss Amitola!" Ruby sang out. "Hi, Miss Belladonna!"

Both women startled and turned towards the newcomers. It was clear that neither of them had heard Yang and Ruby enter the classroom. Yang's eyes lingered on the necklace that Blake had been holding up for Ilia to see. It was obvious that it was a soulstone and that Blake didn't want anyone else to see, as she quickly placed it back under her shirt.

"Please sit." The teacher beckoned them to the chairs that were arranged in front of her desk. "Miss Belladonna will be sitting in on this conference as she will be assisting my class for a few days a week for the rest of the year, and I want her to become acquainted with all of my students parents."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Belladonna." Yang muttered as her eyes drifted across the assistant's distractingly beautiful physical features.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Blake replied easily, unperturbed by the blonde's unrelenting focus on her. "I look forward to working with your daughter."

"She's n-." Yang opened her mouth to refute the claim, but her recent conversation Pyrrha stopped her. "Thank you, I am sure she is as well."

"Now." Ilia started. "There are a few things I need to notify you about Ruby's behavior…"

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. Yang found out that Ruby, while she gets most of her work done, tended to get distracted during class and start rocking in her chair or drum on her desk in a manner that could disrupt other students. Beyond that, she was doing well with her school work. As the meeting continued, details started to become lost on Yang as she found her gaze constantly making its way back towards Blake. While she tried to catch glimpses while the other woman was focused on Ilia or Ruby, every time she held the stare for more than a few seconds, those sharp amber eyes would flick towards her and make contact until she looked away.

As the meeting wrapped up, Yang managed to string together a few coherent questions about how she can help Ruby stay more focused in class and perform better. She tried to linger a little longer, and make small talk with the black-haired woman, but a knock on the door interrupted them. A polite goodbye was all she managed before the next parent and their kid entered for their own meeting.

Departing from the school, they made their way back home. After having a quick dinner, she got Ruby ready for bed before cuddling up on the couch together to watch one of Ruby's favorite shows. After about an hour, she felt Ruby start to nod off next to her. Gently, picking her up, Yang carried her to her bedroom and started to tuck her in.

"Goodnight, Squirt." Yang whispered as she kissed Ruby sweetly on the forehead.

As she pulled away, she felt tiny hands clutch her jacket.

"Yang." Ruby muttered back sleepily. "I really liked that Miss Belladonna thought you were my mother."

"You know what?" Yang replied softly as she gently pried Ruby's fingers off her clothes so the girl could settle into bed. "I did too."

As soon as she left Ruby's room she reached up to dry the wet lines that her tears had traced down her cheeks. Making her way to her room, she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Flopping down on her bed, her mind raced processing the exchange she just had with her cousin. It made her happy to know what Ruby thought of her. But, as she drifted off to sleep her dreams became claimed by one burning image. That night, she dreamt of the shape of the soulstone that the student teacher had been wearing around her neck.

Aw, man. Ruby is just adorable isn't she? And what is Yang in for?

Let me know if you liked it by leaving me some feedback!

Anyways, I am off to go thank Zelindsay and XenonRaumzeit for putting considerable amount of time into editing my incomprehensible first draft.
See ya'll later!