A month passed since Ruby had the talk with Weiss, and she made sure that she was taking it easier than she was before. As luck would have it, Weiss did less work, just as she asked her to, but the CEO still insisted on her Faunus visits to make sure that they were alright.
Ruby allowed the visits as long as she could go with Weiss. Weiss agreed to this as long as Ruby contained her anger. She didn't want a repeat of what happened last time, after all.
"Thanks for trusting me, Weiss." Ruby smiled nervously as she stayed behind her girlfriend.
"I understand why you were angry. I only hope that you are able to contain your anger this time." Weiss sighed as she shook her head.
"I'll be on my scroll talking to Yang then." Ruby pouted. "And I'll keep my distance. But the second that you're in trouble…" She motioned towards Crescent Rose.
Weiss moved towards Ruby and caressed her cheek, kissing her on the lips to calm her down. "Ruby, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. Thank you for the offer though." She smiled at the younger woman and fixed her clothes. "Let's get going. The sooner I can finish these visits and my job, the sooner we can go home and relax."
"Alright, lemme see this mess- WOW!" Ruby squealed and jumped into a surprised Weiss' arms. "Ren and Nora are getting married! And they said that they're having it here in Atlas!"
"R-Really?" Weiss blinked in surprise and looked at the scroll to see the message.
Nora [08:12] Hey Ruby! I'm guessin' that you're up now 'cause of Weiss and off to work with her or something. But anyways! Guess what! Ren and I are getting married in a few days! I know it's late notice, but I wanted to invite you and your team to our wedding!
Nora [08:13] It'll be in Atlas. Before Weiss asks, no we're not holding it there 'cause we don't want you all to come back to Vale or Mistral. Ren and I have been planning on having our wedding in Atlas for a long while now.
Nora: [08:14] I'll send you the deets once we settle down and everything! TTYL!
"So Ren and Nora are getting married…" Weiss stared at the message.
"Yeah! And we're invited!" Ruby smiled as she texted Nora back, congratulating her and hoping to hear from her soon about the details. She glanced at Weiss, then asked Nora to let them know if they needed any help setting up the wedding or anything.
"Did something happen?" Weiss tilted her head, noticing that Ruby looked at her before looking at the scroll again.
Ruby shook her head. "Nope! Just letting Nora know that if she needed help, she can call us." She moved towards Weiss' side and held her hand. "Knowing you, you'd offer to pay for something like their wedding or honeymoon since you haven't kept in contact for so long."
"I would do no such thing!" Weiss lied and looked away. She made the mistake of glancing at Ruby, seeing that pout, and sighed. "...Maybe some flowers would be enough?"
"There you go." Ruby grinned. "Flowers would be nice. Maybe some homemade food. Oh! Maybe some baby clothes and items too!"
Weiss chuckled. "And you say that I'm the one that goes overboard? Wait, baby clothes and items? Is Nora pregnant?"
"Planning for the future, Weiss." Ruby giggled. "You're the one that's always telling me to prepare things in advance." She started to count with her fingers. "Having an extra charger for our scrolls when we're out on missions in case we forgot to charge our scrolls the night before, having some extra clothes and blankets in our bags, having some spare cookies…"
"Alright, I understand. We can buy some flowers, but…" Weiss looked at Ruby. "We should talk to them about the baby clothes and items. We don't need to give them unwanted items."
Ruby frowned at that. She quickly shook her head. This was about Ren and Nora! Weiss had a point, she had to think about what they could use now. Maybe within the next month at most.
"You're right. We can buy them some flowers and send them over when she tells me more details."
Weiss smiled and pulled Ruby close, giving her a quick kiss. "Can I leave that to you?"
"Of course! Just worry about the SDC. I'll let you know what Nora texts me later!" Ruby grinned as she hugged Weiss, nuzzling against her shoulder.
A few hours later, Nora texted Ruby just as she was about to go to lunch with Weiss.
Nora: [12:03] Hey Rubes! Me and Ren will be having our wedding this Sat at 6 PM sharp! Hope to see you and the rest of your team!
"Saturday, huh?" Weiss glanced over Ruby's shoulder to see the message and frowned.
"Didn't you have a meeting that day?" Ruby frowned as well. "One that you can't skip out on?"
"I'll try to finish it as soon as I can. I promise that I'll be there." Weiss thought about how to end the meeting as quickly as possible, then saw the pout on her girlfriend's face. "Don't wait for me on Saturday. Go have fun. In the meantime, we can think of what we can give them. How does that sound?"
Ruby gave her a small smile. "Alright." I wonder what Weiss really thinks of us though...
Saturday came and Ruby sighed when Weiss told her to go on ahead. They knew that this would happen, but that didn't change the fact that they were still disappointed.
Weiss was up late arranging the flowers of yellow acacias and daffodils, forget-me-nots, and white clovers. Ruby told her to do it the next morning, but of course Weiss was stubborn and wrote a note apologizing that she'll be late and congratulating them on their wedding.
Ruby made sure not to mess with the flower arrangements and gave Weiss a kiss on the lips for good luck before they went their separate ways.
Team JNPR were saddened that Weiss couldn't make it on time, but were happy that she sent and arranged some flowers for them. Ruby, Blake, and Yang congratulated Ren and Nora on the wedding as they walked towards them after their vows.
Of course they all took some pictures, but decided that it wouldn't be as fun without Weiss, so they asked their photographer if they could wait for the group photos until the CEO came by. Luckily for them, the photographer agreed and decided to take some pictures of Ren and Nora before moving on to take pictures of people that asked for it.
After everything was settled, Nora was practically drowning Ren with cake while Jaune and Pyrrha were trying to help the poor man.
About an hour and a half later, Weiss walked in and found a secluded corner to watch over her friends from afar with a glass of wine. She managed to finish all of her work for the day and was ready to relax with her girlfriend and friends.
Ruby noticed her girlfriend watching them from the corner and quickly ran towards Weiss's side, wrapping her arms around the older woman. "Weiss! You finally made it!" She smiled brightly, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before anyone saw.
"I-I did. I finished all my work for this weekend, so they shouldn't call me for the next few days unless it's an emergency." She then smiled at Ruby. "I'll be able to spend it with you and the others without interruptions."
"That's great!" Ruby leaned onto Weiss, then blinked when she heard people cheering.
The young leader turned just in time to see a bouquet of flowers being tossed at them.
"W-Wha…?" Ruby blinked as she caught the bouquet and looked at Nora who grinned.
"It's a congratulatory gift! Congrats on getting together! Like finally!"
Both Weiss and Ruby blushed at that while the other couples laughed, glad to see that Ruby and Weiss had finally found their own happiness with each other.
"So much for keeping it a secret…" Ruby mumbled.
"It's fine." Weiss took Ruby's hand. "They're our family. It's better that they find out first. Isn't that right?" She smiled at her girlfriend and gave her hand a gentle kiss.
Ruby blushed madly at Weiss' sign of affection. She thought that the CEO would want to keep their relationship a secret, at least for a while longer than this.
"Hey, Ice Queen. I don't mind you dating my sister and all, but don't you dare make her cry! I'll kill ya if you do!" Yang warned as she cheered for them.
Weiss merely smirked and wrapped an arm around Ruby, pulling her close. "I have no intention of making her cry. You have my word."
"W-Weiss…!" Ruby hid her red face onto her girlfriend's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her waist. "Jeez… you're such a flirt…"
"I have you to thank for that." Weiss placed her glass of wine down. "Would you like to dance with me?"
Ruby kissed Weiss' cheek before pulling away with a smile. "Of course. Sweep me off my feet, princess."
"Of course. Princess." Weiss smirked as Ruby blushed and followed her onto the dance floor.
After two hours of dancing and chatting, Ruby wanted to go home with Weiss. Not because she was tired, but because she was worried that Weiss was hiding how tired she was from everyone.
"Weiss, want to go home?" Ruby took her hand.
Weiss raised a brow when Ruby asked that and was about to deny, but then remembered a special present she had within her pocket. "Alright. Let's go home."
They smiled and went towards their friends to let them know that they would be leaving, and apologizing for leaving so early. Thankfully, they all understood and gave their hugs goodbye, wishing them a safe trip home.
On their way out, Ruby took Weiss' hand and leaned onto her arm.
"Tired?" Weiss kissed her forehead and walked out.
"A bit, but I'm with you so I don't really care." Ruby rested her head on Weiss' shoulder.
"Good, there's something… I want to talk to you about." Weiss tugged on Ruby's hand.
Ruby blinked and tilted her head, wondering what she was talking about. Weiss called for a ride home and was silent the entire time.
"Weiss…" Ruby leaned close to Weiss. "You can tell me if there's something important."
"It… is, but not here. I'll tell you in a bit." Weiss gave a nervous smile to Ruby, holding her hand tighter.
"Hmm…" Ruby nodded and held onto her hand for comfort, resting her head against Weiss' shoulder.
Half an hour later, they arrived home and Weiss led Ruby towards the hilltop she took her before.
"Weiss?" Ruby tilted her head.
"I just wanted to talk and relax before we go to sleep." Weiss smiled nervously as she sat down on the bench.
Ruby hummed as she sat on the bench with Weiss, looking over Atlas. This whole place, Weiss lived to protect it and make it a better place. As a Huntress, she couldn't stay here for too long. Ruby fiddled with the box in her pocket for a moment, glad that she brought it with her today and wondered if it would be a good gift for Weiss or not before she looked at her girlfriend, who was looking over Atlas as well.
"Weiss…" Ruby whispered as she took her hand. "I love you."
Weiss blinked and broke out of her mini trance as Ruby said that, and turned to look at her. She smiled back and squeezed her hand. "I love you too."
"I have a gift for you." Ruby smiled as she moved away and pulled out a small box from her pocket. Now seems like a good time. Hopefully she'll love this gift, and it'll give her some good luck.
Weiss's eyes widened as she eyed the box. Is she…?! But I wanted to propose! I suppose I should wait just in case…
"Weiss, as a Huntress, I might not be by your side as much so uh… I have something that I made." Ruby blushed as she opened the box as she revealed a blue oval pendant.
She pulled it out of the box and handed it to Weiss. Weiss blinked as she took the pendant, noticing that it was slightly larger and heavier than the usual pendants she had. This one fit into the palm of her hand.
"Is this? Lapis Lazuli?" Weiss asked as she was observing the pendant.
On the stone, it had both their emblems merged together, then she turned it around to see that it said "raison d'être" on the back. She felt small hinges on the side, only to realize that it was really a locket. She glanced at Ruby as if asking permission to open it, then carefully opened it once Ruby nodded with a smile.
Inside on the left was a picture of them, Ruby hugging Weiss back during their first year at Beacon, while the right was where Ruby kissed Weiss's cheek a few weeks ago and Yang sneakily caught them.
"Ruby…" Weiss smiled as she closed the locket and looked at her girlfriend.
"Like I said, as a Huntress, I won't always be here. Even though I'd like nothing more than to say by your side. I just hope that this gives you good luck and helps heal your heart when I'm out on a job." Ruby kissed Weiss on the lips for a few moments before pulling away. "But this is just a reminder that I'm always here for you. That you're my "reason de tree" or however you say it." She blushed when she realized she never asked Penny what "raison d'être" meant.
Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "It's 'raison d'être,' first of all. And it means 'the most important reason or purpose for someone or something's existence.' Something… we both thought of." She mumbled the last part.
"Ooooh." Ruby blushed. Jeez, that Penny. I didn't know that she had me carve something that embarrassing but heartwarming. Wait, did Weiss say something? "Hmm? Did you say something?" Ruby tilted her head.
Weiss stared at the handmade locket that Ruby made for her. Ruby was always so sweet and caring, and her mind fell back for a moment to how she felt back at Beacon. When she was questioning whether it was right for her to monopolize Ruby's love like this. She looked up and saw Ruby smiling at her, causing Weiss to smile back. Take this chance, Weiss Schnee. Don't make this a repeat of last time.
Weiss wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at her girlfriend lovingly. "Thank you, Ruby. And… I do have a gift for you as well." She hesitated for a moment. She made sure that the box was in her pocket before turning her attention back towards Ruby. "I only hope that you'll love it as much as I love your gift."
"Oh? What is it?" Ruby tilted her head. She was curious to know what Weiss got her, then blinked when Weiss got down on one knee and held onto her hands. Wait, does this mean…?!
"Ruby Rose, when we first met, I know that I wasn't the greatest partner to you at first. I wanted nothing more than to be away from you. It took me a long while to actually enjoy your antics." Weiss shook as she kissed her girlfriend's hands.
This was a big step for them. Were they ready? She didn't know. What she did know was that no matter what happened to them, they would always face it together.
"I'm sorry that it took me five… no, eight years for me to tell you this." Weiss averted her gaze, recalling why she didn't confess sooner. She convinced herself that she wasn't the one for Ruby and didn't take the chance of fighting for Ruby's affection back when they were younger. Now? This was different. She wasn't going to let her go this time. "I love you Ruby Rose. You mean the world to me." She blushed as she looked at Ruby's expression. She was glad to see that she wasn't being rejected… yet.
"Weiss, I—" Ruby started when she saw the wavering look in Weiss's eyes, but was interrupted.
"I'm not done yet." Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself down and continued to speak. "You're always so kind and gentle, like a light that helped guide my way through the darkest times. Countless times you've saved me from Grimm and myself." She continued to look into Ruby's eyes, thankful that she still hadn't been rejected yet. "I… I hope that I can make you the happiest woman alive." The CEO pulled out a box from her jacket.
Inside contained a silver ring with Ruby's emblem as a ruby on top. When Ruby looked closely, she saw that on the inside of the ring, it also said "raison d'être".
"Ruby Rose… will you do me the honor of marrying me?"
"Oh my…. Weiss!" Ruby cried tears of joy as she threw her arms around Weiss's neck. "Yes! Yes! A million times, yes! I'll marry you!" More tears of happiness fell from Ruby's eyes as Weiss pulled away to place the ring onto the finger. There she could see a small engraving of 'Her Rose' written onto it.
"Weiss… I love you so much." Ruby sniffed as she observed the ring, remembering every little detail onto it.
"I love you too, Ruby." Weiss smiled, kissing Ruby's head, trailing it down to her lips and held her close.
Ruby smiled as she kissed Weiss back and rested her head onto her shoulder, keeping her fiancee close. She looked at the ring with a small blush on her face and nuzzled against the crook of Weiss's neck. "Weiss…~ I promise… no matter what happens… I'll always come back to you. You don't have to be alone anymore. I love you."
Weiss smiled and nuzzled back to her head. "Dolt… I love you too."
A/N: Ok, this took longer than I thought 'cause fluff and struggled with that proposal. Still sounds bad to me but editor and some friends kept reassuring me it's fine. Anyways! Kinda lied. It was a last second decision, but the extra chapters I was planning will be pushed back into another project. Hope that y'all understand.
Thanks LostNeko120 and luvnanofate for the reviews. See y'all next time!