Author's Notes

This story is based off of a recent personal experience when I decided to stay at the airport instead of accepting a hotel room when my flight was cancelled.

Also dedicated to Xekstrin for convincing me to write this.

Please leave a review; anything and everything helps. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

"What do you mean the flight was cancelled?" Ruby cried out as she readjusted the strap of her bag that was hurting her shoulder.

The ticket associate frowned as he tapped away at his keyboard, images of the computer reflecting off of his glasses. "I'm sorry miss," he said with a sigh, "the flight was ordered to be grounded. There was a mechanical failure of some sorts in the engine. It wouldn't be safe to allow it to fly until completely fixed."

"Oh no! That's terrible!" Penny said with a gasp as she pushed up her oversized sunglasses revealing a goofy looking tan that outlined the borders of the glasses. She leaned uncomfortably close to the associate and looked him straight in the eyes. "Will the airplane be okay?"

The man leaned back and pulled at his collar. "O-of course. I'm sure the mechanics will be able to fix it."

"Sensa-mmph!" Ruby put a hand over Penny's mouth just in time to muffle her trademark cheer.

"When is the next flight?" the Huntress asked as she quickly scanned the overhead electronic board with incoming and departure flights. "We need to get back to Vale by tomorrow at 9:00 AM." 9:00 was the absolute latest. The class that they were both in started at 9:30.

"Let me see," the man said as he began to search through the database for an alternative flight.

Ruby let out a quiet groan and rested her chin on Penny's shoulder as they waited. Should she really even be complaining? The two of them had just spent their spring break at a upscale beach resort, a trip that was paid in full by the Schnee family. As Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss was required to fly out frequently to attend her father's business conferences. This led to her accumulating an ungodly amount of bonus miles, enough to pay for everyone's plane tickets. Whatever costs that were left over was graciously taken care of by Weiss's father who had eventually warmed up to his daughter's teammates over the course of their first year at Beacon Academy. Weiss and Blake decided to spend their spring break at the former's winter home in the mountains, while Pyrrha wanted to show Yang her hometown back in Mistral.

While it was no secret that Yang and Pyrrha were dating, the nature of Weiss and Blake's relationship was somewhat of a mystery. Although they both claimed they were going on a trip together because both of their teammates were occupied with their own vacations, the decision to spend the week at Weiss's secluded winter home alone was quite...questionable.

This of course begged the question as to what her own relationship was with Penny, seeing how they too, spent their spring break together. With her chin still resting gently on the latter's shoulder, Ruby looked up at her. The pink sunglasses Penny had bought at a souvenir shop now sat atop her sun-kissed orange hair. Along with the warm feeling that her green eyes and slight tan gave off, Ruby thought back on the beach they were leaving behind.

But when Penny began to slightly sway to the cheerful tune she hummed, an inevitable smile soon found its way back onto Ruby's face; it was only then she had realized that she was saddened by the fact that they were leaving. But she shouldn't have been upset. After all, she had a week long, all expenses paid-for trip with one of her best friends. As she breathed in the faint aroma of vanilla from Penny's clothes gave off, sleepiness pulled at Ruby's eyelids. One half of her wanted to collapse into a long slumber. The other half didn't want to let go.

"Ruby?"

"Ah!" Ruby yelped as she opened her eyes and took a step back to see Penny looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"Are you okay?" Penny said as she pointed at her chest.

Ruby's hands flew to her own and felt her cheeks redden as she felt the pounding beat of her heart. "Uhm-"

"Ahem," the associate interrupted by clearing his throat.

Ruby gave a sheepish smile and mouthed I'm fine to Penny who smiled in return before both turning their attentions back to the associate.

"The next flight I can arrange for you two will be early tomorrow morning. Departure time will be 7:12 AM and arrival time will be 8: 19 AM. Will this do?"

"Is this the absolute earliest flight you have to Vale?" Ruby asked as she checked her watch. It was just now 10:11 PM.

"I'm afraid so. Since the flight isn't until morning, I can try arrange for you to stay at the airport's hotel for the night, but space is limited."

Ruby looked back to see the tired faces of the other passengers who were also in line to sort out the troubles that the cancelled flight caused them. She leaned towards Penny and whispered to her. "Do we need a hotel tonight? We could just sleep here in the airport and let the people behind us have the rooms."

Penny's blinking did the shrugging for her. "I'll go with whatever decision you make Ruby," she said with an energetic smile and nod.

Feeling as if the redness of her cheeks was showing, Ruby put a hand over the one facing Penny and shook her head towards the associate. "Thank you for the offer, but we'll just stay at the terminal until our flight."

In between printing out their new flight tickets and stickers for their suitcases the associate scratched his head. "Are you two sure? There is a hotel-"

"Yes!" Penny interjected with beaming eyes. "We will spend the night here instead!"

The man pushed up his glasses and chuckled. "Okay, but if you happen to change your mind, please come back and I'll see what I can do for you two." He then tied the new stickers onto their suitcases and put it onto the conveyor belt. "Here are your tickets."

"Thank you!" Penny said excitedly as she took both tickets and began to look over them. "May I hold onto them Ruby?"

Ruby playfully pushed Penny's sunglasses down over her eyes and smiled. "Of course you can."

Together they headed back to security, hand in hand. One of them excited as anything to spend the night in a beautifully lit airport, the other one glad that the wonderful sights and smells along with the tint of the sunglasses took attention away from her own reddening cheeks.