Yang sighed and put her head in her hands, caressing her temples gently as she sank farther back into the lumpy excuse that she called a bed. She slowly placed her hands down on top of the sheep-skinned cover and began to rub her hands over the fleecy texture, the way she often did when she felt anxious.

She was exhausted. It had been yet another unsuccessful day in scrounging for work, the third day in a row since she'd been fired from her last job. It was a tiresome and demotivational business. Job hunting without proper education—there was nothing else in the world that made her feel so worthless. So valueless in society. So… stupid. And she absolutely refused to resort to selling her body in order to make money.

Yang clenched her fist. Why did Dad leave them behind? This was his fault. His fault that she and Ruby were subjected to live such a miserable life. His fault that sometimes, the two were forced to skip entire meals for days on end just to pay off the rent for the wretched little room that they shared. His fault that she felt like such a failure when it came to being a good sister towards Ruby. Both of their lifestyles were simply products of his failures.

Even though Ruby refused to believe that their dad had left them by his own accord, Yang knew better. She was old enough to understand that not everything had a happy ending. That the world, through all of its deceptive beauty, was a cruel place to actually call home.

She took a deep breath, slowly unclenching her hands and letting her gaze fall to the dirty floor under her feet. Ruby was so young. So naïve. She loved her sister to death, but sometimes it boggled her mind that despite all of the evil that her sister had already experienced in her lifetime alone, she still continued to hold such a positive regard for the world around her. She had this unique way of spotting the good in people despite what they looked like or what they were doing, something that made Ruby such a special person. However, it was also the thing that Yang worried would one day get her killed. Yang knew. The world they lived in—it was a cruel place. There were certain incidents that had occurred in her life that she would never have the heart to share with Ruby.

Yang shook her head sadly as she continued to think about the bleak present that she and her sister had been forced into.

Suddenly, the door to their home burst open and a streak of red flew into the room. Yang sat up quickly at attention. It took her a moment to realize that it was Ruby, due to the state of her ruined, once-black cloak.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!" Ruby cried, tackling Yang downwards onto the bed. Yang felt the air leave her lungs as her little sister squeezed her chest tightly with both of her arms.

"Yang, guess WHAT!" Ruby cried, jumping off of the bed eagerly. Yang opened her mouth to speak, but Ruby gave her no time to respond.

"I got a JOB!" Ruby cried happily, jumping up and down on the floor.

What? It took a few seconds for Yang to realize what her sister had just said. Confused, Yang opened her mouth to speak again. Once more, Ruby beat her to words.

"And even better," she said, starting to pace back and forth around the room. "The one who hired me?—it was the girl that saved me yesterday! Remember that person I was telling you about that threw the paint all over the guards and me? Yeah, it was her! I mean I was having a pretty bad day and all and I was just like wandering around the town hungry and looking for places not run by dirty old men when I ran into this guy who was robbing this girl and the girl was like—…"

"Dear God, why must she always have so much energy?" Yang asked herself in the same defeated way she had many times in the past. She futilely attempted to focus on the words that were speeding out of her sister's mouth, but she struggled to follow along in her worn-out state. She took a deep breath. If only her sister would slow down sometimes—it would make her life a lot easier.

Suddenly, Yang became aware of the ugly bruise that marked the side of Ruby's face.

"Oh my God, Ruby," Yang said, standing up and grabbing her sister's wrist while she was in the middle of her sentence. "What happened to your face?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Weren't you just listening? I just told you, it was from the guy who hit me in the face when I was saving Weiss's ring!" Ruby said. Agitation lined the corners of her voice, the way that it did whenever Ruby had something she was dying to share but was forced to wait before she could let it explode out of her system.

Man? Ring? Weiss? Just how much had her sister been able to say in the time that Yang had asked herself one question? "Okay, Ruby," Yang said, breathlessly. "Start over. And sloooooooooooooow down. You're hurting my ability to think, sis."

Ruby rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, I will if you would just give me a chance and listen!"

Yang sighed again but smiled inwardly. She knew that Ruby would end up talking whether or not she was given the chance to. Slowly, she let go of her sister's wrist and sat back down on the bed, mentally preparing herself to catch every word that her sister was about to say.

"And that's not even the best part!" Ruby exclaimed to Yang, waving her hands in the air excitedly while she continued to pace back and forth on the floor of the room. "Then she offered me a job—at the flower shop she took me to! You know, the one that I told you about yesterday? I mean, isn't that great? I got a job, Yang!"

"Woah, settle down Rubes," Yang said, placing both of her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "You're saying that she was just… conveniently looking for somebody to hire when you… ran into her?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Ruby replied, not picking up on the doubt plainly laid out in Yang's tone of voice. "I mean, how lucky is that? It's one thing to go looking for a job, but it's another thing to actually find somebody who's walking down the same street as you who's looking to hire! I mean ignoring the fact that she was being robbed and I that got hit in the face really hard… but, hey, still! Isn't that great?"

Yang gave another uncertain glance at her sister. She didn't seem to notice. "Now come on," Ruby said, dragging Yang to the small, wooden table they ate at and starting to push her down onto a chair. "You seriously need to try some of this pie. Your taste buds will explode."

Hesitantly, Yang allowed Ruby to push her down into the seat. It was great to see Ruby so happy that she found work under somebody that she thought was so friendly but… Yang wasn't sure if she could trust the credibility of the employer that Ruby was describing.

A girl her own age that had bought an expensive pie for Ruby. Then… she offered her a job just as Ruby told her that she was looking for work? It seemed a little bit too convenient. There had to be some sort of secondary motive. People like that didn't exist in the world. At least not their world. Yang watched her sister humming joyfully as she brought the large box to the table.

Ruby was only seventeen. She was still young. Yang didn't want to see her little sister be deceived because she was so… innocent. Her expression had darkened as she thought about her own personal experiences when it came to others using her in the past for their own selfish gains. She wanted to protect Ruby… but at the same time she didn't want to cross the line into simply being overprotective. She sighed as Ruby placed the pie in front of her.

"Maybe I should just trust Ruby on this one," she thought to herself. "She did seem to be describing somebody that seemed… caring enough."

"Come ooonnnnnn Yang," Ruby exclaimed, pulling on Yang's arm. "Try it!"

Yang sighed again and picked up the wooden spoon that Ruby had set in front of her.

"Okay, sis." She resigned, dipping the spoon slowly into the rich contents of the meat pie. She would have to wait until later to talk to Ruby more. She was starving, after all. She took a bite.

Though it was slightly cold, Ruby was right.

It was delicious.

Ruby couldn't sleep. For the first time in a very long time, she had something to look forward to. She rolled over on her pile of hay as she pondered what was in store for her future. Would things change from this point? Was she finally going to get a chance to help her sister save up the money to move into a proper house? Ruby's thoughts began running ahead of herself, and she had to mentally instruct herself to slow down and think about one thing at a time.

"I wonder what I'll be doing tomorrow?" she asked herself, imagining the various jobs that Weiss might ask her to complete. "Let's see… I'll probably have to do stuff relating to flowers. And she did say cleaning. And something about running errands? I like running. I'm good at running." Ruby smiled. Maybe she could use her speed for something good for once.

"But what if I'm not fast enough? Or what if I don't clean well enough?" She thought suddenly. "What if she realizes that she made a mistake in hiring somebody like me?" Doubt began to riddle her mind. Maybe she had made a mistake in accepting the job offer from Weiss. She didn't want to lose the only friendship that she had gained in… she didn't know. A very long time.

Next to her, Ruby heard Yang shift in her bed. Her thoughts drifted to her older sister.

"Stop it, Ruby," she imagined her sister telling her in her gently stern voice that she often used when Ruby was stressing over something. "If Weiss is really as nice as you described her to be, I'm sure she'll realize just how good of a kid you are."

"But Yang," Ruby imagined herself replying back exasperatedly. "I've never even held a job for longer than a week. How am I supposed to know that I'll be able to do it this time?"

"If you really care about this job, you can do it Ruby," she pictured Yang saying. "You can do anything that you set your heart on… remember, that's what mom told us after all."

Ruby allowed herself to smile. Yang was probably right. Wait—that wasn't Yang though, that was herself thinking as Yang. She shook her head. She was probably right. There was no sense in worrying about making mistakes. She would prove to Weiss that she was good enough to be called a worker under… the flower shop. Did the flower shop have a name? Ruby had forgotten to look, or even ask for that matter. In the million times she had run past that little white store, she didn't recall ever seeing a store name written anywhere on it. She shrugged. She would find out tomorrow.

Ruby turned over, a little more at peace than she had been a few moments ago.

"Sleep, Ruby," she commanded herself in Yang's voice.

"But I can't," she argued back to herself in her own voice. Then she realized how silly she sounded, arguing to herself in her own head. "Fine Yang—I mean me," she concluded. "I'll try harder to sleep. Why am I still arguing to myself?"

Ruby sighed and turned over. Then she smiled again. She had a big day ahead of her.

Hours after Ruby had fallen asleep, Yang lay soundly awake, thinking. About her life. About their lives. About everything that had happened in the past ten or so years that had led Ruby and her to the spot they were right then. She turned over from her side onto her back to stare at the mossy stone ceiling above the spot she slept.

"Am I really doing the right thing here?" She wondered to herself doubtfully. "Have I really done the best that I could have to raise Ruby right?"

There were so many aspects of herself that she wished she could change for her sister's sake. Like making better decisions. Or learning to trust Ruby better. Or being able to just hold a stupid job longer so Ruby could have something better to eat than the stale bread that she shamefully had to offer every morning. At least, when that was even an option. She grit her teeth in frustration as she thought about how much of a failure she felt like towards Ruby.

"Aw, don't say that Yang," she imagined Ruby's voice telling her in a cheerful voice. "You've done plenty to help us since Dad had to go." Yang shut her eyes tightly. "Just think of how far we've gotten because of all that you've done, Yang!"

"But it's because of what I haven't done that's put us in this position, Ruby!" Yang shot back, her eyes flying open. She realized that her hands were clenched. She slowly let them open again, regaining control over her body. "I'm sorry, Ruby, it isn't your fault," she thought to Ruby… to herself.

She realized how silly she sounded, arguing to herself in her own head. Yang breathed in deeply through her nose. "If only you understood Ruby…" she thought to herself. "If only you could understand me. I'm sorry, Rubes. I really am."

Yang wiped away a tear. "Don't cry, Yang," she heard Ruby's voice in her head again. She imagined Ruby starting to tear up herself. "It's not your fault Yang," Ruby's voice rang again in her thoughts. "I love you. I love you." Yang choked on her tears. She was weak.

"I love you too, Ruby," she said out loud. She wiped at her face and sniffled. She needed to sleep. She was exhausted. She needed her energy to find a job tomorrow. For the last time that day, Yang sighed. She had a big day ahead of her.

A/N: Hey guys, DataGrowth here. First of all, Merry Christmas!

This chapter was on the shorter end of what I typically like to post, but it's a start to what I'm hoping for a more consistent chapter-posting schedule. Follow/Favorite for more updates and be sure to leave a review if you have any questions!

-DataGrowth