Don't worry. Despite what the email said, this isn't 30,000 words long. Well, it is, technically, with author's notes attached, but the chapter itself is much more reasonable. It's only 29,000 words long, so no big deal, right? You'll have the chance to use your effigies later, I promise.

Additionally—and I apologize for this, too—there are no line breaks at any point in this chapter. With the way the plot was designed and how it was meant to be paced, there were no appropriate places to put them. Not at any point in this instalment were there breaks in time or shifts in perspective that would require these lines, and although this did make them inappropriate for this particular circumstance, I should still apologize. I understand how helpful they can be in dividing the chapters into digestible parts, and if you are a reader who uses these line breaks as mid-chapter bookmarks, then I am sorry.

And, for my last order of business, I know that this took a while to come out. Between the amount of fun I was having with this chapter and the amount of fun life was having with me, this past month has proven exhaustive. Though, I shouldn't insinuate anything big has kept me from writing. Actually, the main reason why this took a month to come out is simply because it's a long chapter—it takes time to write these 20,000+ word instalments, and I'd rather take my time making something good than to have it rush to market. That being said, I'm more than happy with how it turned out.

Hopefully you'll enjoy it all the same. This is the ending, and I am proud of what this story became. I know I should wait until the ending author's note for this, but thank you for reading. It's been an amazing ride writing this for you, and I would gladly do it all again.

For those who have read Valence, this chapter takes place between the events of chapters seventeen and eighteen.

So, with that out of the way, this is it. The final chapter of Edelweiss.

Chapter 5: Loyalty

The sound of her giggle was musical, the pull of her fingers was compelling, and the mere existence of her effervescent character was and always would be astounding. Ruby was a cherished treat of contradictory design, a fleeting sprite whose youthful optimism had touched a frigid heart. Weiss followed after this cheery girl, eagerly swept from her laurels and led through the blossoming labyrinth of their own decision.

Through one door they went and another soon after, pulling the wrought iron gates creakily open and crashingly closed as they went about their newest adventure. Yes, it was an adventure! Not simply an outing or date, an adventure! It was spontaneously planned, daringly public, and altogether new for the now singular party involved, and as they ran through the brambly hedges of their decided path, neither scratches nor mud could slow their excited stride. They ran through the passages and took turns in exclaiming directions. Weiss, with her wonts of achievement and assisting progress, chose the logical routes when it came her turn and always offered her thoughts with an unbridled smile. Ruby, however, undermined these efforts with a constant, knowing giggle, pulling her partner further into the maze at every given opportunity and trapping them in a blissful limbo of contradiction. But neither truly cared. No, this was an adventure, and the point of their adventure was simply to enjoy themselves. In this regard, they were succeeding wonderfully.

With the couple's haste, a quiet breeze had stirred, cooling their humid surroundings and whispering tales of songbirds and joy. It came as a lazy stream and danced across the heiress' skin, through her upheld hair, and down her arms, bare without their usual jacket. The extra warmth the coat provided was wholly unnecessary here and her family crest would only draw undue attention. As she held the hand of her lively guide, Weiss found peace at last.

Sunlight streamed down from the surrounding canopy, its glittering speckles swaying with the wind and casting a hearty glow in the young girl's eyes. This combination of foreign warmth, gracious cold, and incomparable jubilation broke the heiress of her well-established demeanor—she now smiled at Ruby every time the girl turned back and fought to keep up with her purposefully slowed pace. It was summer and they were excited—the matters of politics and preservation and even relationships meant little to the girls. Truly, their happiness derived from each other and the expressions they displayed. If Weiss were to smile, then Ruby would run faster; if the girl in red were to grin, then the girl in white would push to keep up; and if either had found any problem with becoming purposefully lost in this labyrinth, then they had not yet spoken their minds, nor would they at the expense of the other's satisfaction.

Weiss, in a summer dress, and Ruby, in her regular attire, all but frolicked through this maze—at least, they frolicked to a degree that Weiss could allow. Of course their adventure was fun and absolutely the day was merry, but the heiress could never relinquish her emotionless calm. Although Ruby could freely express her excitement through gait and grin, her partner would remain beside her, countering enthusiasm with considered thought and practiced grace. Nevertheless, their current action was whimsically enjoyable and Weiss would smile for it, her expected aloofness foregone to reveal underlying happiness.

Their grip soon tightened, squeezing the heiress' fingers together and promising a command from the younger. Ruby would abruptly shout, "Right!" and giggled as she did so, pulling her partner suddenly in the given direction. Because this rapid spontaneity had become an everyday occurrence within the young girl's company, Weiss did not much mind anymore, but it would be wrong to say that she was not caught off guard. Regardless, her smile only widened as Ruby pulled her along.

The thought of another leading this heiress—a Schnee!—had once been preposterous, and now it was again, if in a more joking way. Although the young girl had every right to take responsibility for their team's actions and consequences, this summer saw them without much need for a leader. Truthfully, a domineering role would only hinder their progress since all four moved autonomously and with their respective couplings. The situation was not quite strange any longer, and therefore Weiss could not dub it such, but it was certainly remarkable. She felt relaxed to have no specified course and thrilled to gallivant around the city as she had once desired. Of course, Ruby would reassume her leadership position and take that domineering role after these final two weeks of summer, but until then, this sort of casual anarchy was surprisingly enjoyable.

The corridor they ran would soon come to an end, finding this closure by way of another iron gate. Upon the ornamental bars sprawled a pattern of grapevines, weaving around each other and allowing the girls to peer just past the divide. Unlike the sunflowers and rosebushes of before, this door stood out to the heiress. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the area beyond had simply gone unexplored in their adventure, but it was the distinctness of this design which acted as a kind of omen. Though, it is not to say that Weiss Schnee was the superstitious sort—in this regard, she followed after her father—but something about the use of vines instead of flowers told her of an eventual and admittedly fortunate end to their wanderings. Heedlessly, they pushed through.

Ruby had been the one to open the gate, pushing it away with a loud creak, and Weiss had been the one to close it in as delicate a manner as their pace allowed. The labyrinth yet remained, as relatively small as it was, and this did exasperate the heiress to some small degree, but upon seeing the junction ahead and her upcoming choice, her smile brightened considerably.

Weiss squeezed her partner's hand as they neared the fork, reveling in the thankfully reactive pressure she received back. In the evenest tone her breathless voice could permit, the heiress called, "Left," and was quickly pulled that way. To her delight, another gate appeared before them. Not since entering this maze had she seen two gates in such proximity to one another; because of this oddity, she was sure they had found their exit.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though the young girl had come to a similar conclusion. Ruby had always been a fast runner, and though Weiss could usually keep up with her in cases not involving semblances, this present moment saw small, delicate rose petals begin to materialize in the invisible shimmer surrounding her. Weiss grimaced. There were perhaps twenty yards between them and their supposed exit, and although this distance was small, the combination of well-established fatigue and the growing size of Ruby's petals made the heiress wince at this final stretch.

Without much consideration, Ruby bolted forwards. Weiss did her best to maintain a smile as she kept up, trying to prove that this jubilant rush was what she wanted, but as the distance shrank and their speed increased, her legs began to ache. Her breath became ragged as the number of petals increased and her stride began to struggle while Ruby giggled easily. Nevertheless, she pushed herself to whatever limits she had for this giggling girl. Ruby was worth it, and as she barreled through the final gate, Weiss followed gladly. Just as the heiress found her limit and could run no more, they were freed.

She was met with a bright light of hedgeless openness and slowed to an eventual halt. "Yay!" cheered Ruby. "All right, Weiss! We got out of the maze!" She pulled away from her partner, releasing the girl in white and moving to rejoice at their accomplishment.

However, Weiss could not laugh. Besides her usual composure, her lungs burned like she was out of shape, but she remained calm regardless, suppressing her body's urge to cough and wheeze. Submitting to this pain would only discourage Ruby from acting like her usual self, and if there was one thing Weiss did not want to do, it would be robbing Ruby of her defining whimsicality—her childhood. As such, she chose to act as nonchalant as she could, measuring her breaths with ragged exhales and standing with arms comfortably akimbo. She smiled at Ruby's mirth, feeling happy for the young girl's happiness and, admittedly, proud of herself at being able to keep up for the thirty minutes they ran.

At some point, the heiress' eyes had closed to further her restorative efforts, and, with this meager indulgence, all thoughts of poise fell away to a tired sigh. Sounds of rustling branches and twittering birds had become her sole focuses for the quiet few moments she was allowed. She could practically hear the solitude this park purveyed and took in the southern sunlight which warmed her attitude. But upon realizing that the scene had indeed become quiet, silencing the expected laughs and exclamations, she reopened her eyes.

Ruby stood before her now, frowning inquisitively. "Weiss?" she asked. "You all right? Do you need to sit down or something?"

The heiress shook her head. The situation was not nearly pressing enough to admit such weakness. "No," she sighed, gasping quietly for the breath that escaped her. "I'll be all right. I simply need a moment to catch my breath." She closed her eyes again, suppressing the stinging in her lungs and cursing this summer's ability to distract her from routine. However, when she looked to her partner again, she found that the young girl continued to frown. To some degree, this care did make Weiss' suppressive efforts easier to manage; however, Ruby was worried and this simply would not do. A wry smirk was all the heiress could offer for a mirthful expression, allowing her words to suffice instead. "I suppose this is what I get for not keeping up with my exercise regimen. At this rate, our first week back will certainly be an interesting one."

Despite the joke, Ruby did not laugh. It had taken no time at all for her to fall into this concerned state after being so jubilant before, and this, itself, was concerning. She did still care, and Weiss could tell from the young girl's attempt at a smile, but she was also being precautious. Blake and Yang were having a difficult time with their relationship right now, and Weiss knew that Ruby was scared of something similar happening to her own—she was impressionable and seeing Yang's struggle likely affected her more than she cared to admit . Once again, this fearless leader was scared of the future and what consequences her actions might bring.

"Weiss, if you want, we can find some place to sit down. It really wouldn't be a problem. Really, it's okay!" She approached, trying her absolute best to smile. "If you're not feeling good, let's just take a break and figure something out. We don't need to rush or anything."

"Ruby, I'm fine."

"Yeah, I know." The girl's smile fell away. "But still, I'm sorry. I got carried away back there and—"

A low, tired chuckle interrupted the young girl's apology. Honestly, it was unnecessary—there was nothing to be sorry about. Yes, she had gotten carried away, but she was acting as though this were some kind of mistake. Partly, Weiss' laugh was intended to ease her girlfriend's consternation, but a notable part of her expression was also founded in good humor. "When haven't you gotten carried away?" This received a confused, blinking look. Weiss corrected her posture as her breath was finally caught. "Ruby," she explained, "I'm fine—more than that, you're fine. You did nothing wrong and, frankly, I should have expected you to do something like that. Since the moment I met you, you've lacked subtlety. But I've come to enjoy that about you." She smiled, proudly from her own perspective. "Therefore, all of this—all this exhaustion and whatnot—is my fault. I couldn't keep up; simple as that."

This brought a genuine, delicate smile to the younger girl's lips. "So, we're all right?"

"Now, what brought you to that conclusion?" Suddenly, Ruby's smile disappeared once more. "I only said that I'm fine. You, on the other hand, seemed to find sick pleasure in turning a ten-minute walk into a thirty-minute run." Though the heiress' expression had evened to a façade of icy disappointment, she had wanted to smirk. Her partner's momentary fear and eventual realization were humorous in their own right, but above her own mirth, Weiss prioritized Ruby's. "You meant to torture me, didn't you?"

Fortunately, this joke seemed to work. "Maaaybe," the girl coyly drawled, countering the heiress' act with laudable confidence. Her smile had been reforged and now shined brighter than ever, curving upwards with teasing intent and making her partner's composure increasingly difficult to maintain. In fact, Weiss' composure had become so incredibly demanding that failure had become an accepted inevitability. However, failure in any form was unbefitting for a Schnee, and, as such, the heiress would not give in.

With a false huff, Weiss turned away and stormed off towards the park's central path. She crossed her arms and turned her nose upwards, barely containing a self-satisfied smirk as she left her girlfriend to wonder. But it soon became apparent that this young girl held similar thoughts towards failure. She bounded after, giggling again as she moved to Weiss' side. She did not say anything at first, instead sending a knowing smile, which, in turn, caused Weiss' nose to point further upwards—which, in turn, caused Ruby's giggle to intensify. And it was at this point that Weiss' composure was finally broken. She smiled reluctantly, truthfully exasperated at herself that this youthful energy could affect her so. But, of course, this was Ruby, and if the heiress could admit one lone flaw in her character, one significant weakness that was entirely unavoidable, it would be the flustering beeline this naïve huntress had somehow paved to a cold, black heart. And like any memorized path, Ruby ran it with ease.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "Got you! Knew you weren't mad at me!"

"Oh? What gave it away?"

"Pffft! What didn't? You've got 'Not Mad' written all over you."

"I'm sure."

"So, seriously, you're not mad at me, right? We're okay?"

"Ruby, I haven't been mad at you since the town square."

"Great!" she chirped. She had positioned herself to walk in front of Weiss, initially moving backwards to smile at her, but she soon stopped and caused her partner to do the same. "I just don't want today to turn out…Well, I don't want it to turn out bad. We don't have too many days left 'til we go back to school, so I kinda want to make 'em all count. So, that means no making you mad, no getting into arguments, and making every day special." Suddenly, a glint appeared in her eye, and, just as quickly, this glint became a grin. "But you already do that. Well, at least for me."

All the heiress could do was shake her head in mild disbelief. "Unbelievable."

Ruby shrugged. "I'm sorry about running back there, Weiss. You could've told me to slow down or something, you know? I wouldn't've minded." The heiress had motioned to speak, opening her mouth in apparent argument, but Ruby shook her head. "Yeah, I know you're fine, but still. We'll take it easy today. We don't have to rush anything—let's just take our time. I didn't come here to visit the flowers or anything like that; I came here to be with you. So, we're just gonna have fun and make today special."

Her grin had lessened in effect, still curling upwards to showcase her unyielding spirit but faltering to prove her question. Her plan and assumption had been put forth as a command, yet now she looked to Weiss for approval. This was not an order nor was it meant to be; it was simply a suggestion and thus it was innocuous. Weiss smiled back.

"We'll take it easy today," she quoted, letting the words manifest themselves as something of a question. "'Easy.' Since when have we done anything easy? Aside from your gifted talents and my family's inheritance, I don't think anything's been easy for us—especially now that we're dating. You have to deal with me and I have to deal with you. And neither of us seems to know what in the world we're doing." The heiress sighed, taking in the situation and the novelty of it all. Above them, the trees' branches rattled in the wind and above those were the wispy, scattered clouds of a promising day ahead. Her sigh would become a contented inhale as she regarded her partner once again. "I accept, " she said. "I suppose it would be a nice change of pace to not deal with anything too demanding. After all, your last suggestion for a date was enjoyable."

Were it another time, an earlier month, or perhaps a year ago, Weiss would have expected this younger girl to bashfully recoil at such praise—perhaps scratch her neck or avert her gaze—but Ruby had since acclimated. She twittered her gratitude and assured another movie night, and all too quickly this matter was dropped for the matter at hand. "Now," Weiss began again, "do you have any ideas on where you'd like to go first? Any preferences?"

"Nope! Not really. You know this place better than I do, so it wouldn't be right for me to pick. I'd just get us lost again!"

"Oh, you knew what you were doing back there. You got us lost on purpose. Don't try to deny it."

"Nuh-uh! You know I'm bad at directions."

"Suspiciously so." Ruby tried to send what appeared to be a challenging glare, something to ward off Weiss' correct assessments, but all that came of this was an entirely harmless expression. Whereas the girl's regular countenance showed a whimsical appreciation of everything around her, this look she now sent gave shallow threats of the most childish variety, akin to embargoes on hugs, imprisonment by the same, and, most dreadful of all, Ruby sticking her tongue out. Amusing though the expression was, Weiss quickly sent it away with a recomposing sigh. "So, no preferences then. That's fair enough, I suppose. But I don't want you to think that I know this place any better than you do. At the very least, I bothered to look at the map on our way in, but besides that, we're both at a loss."

Ruby simply hummed at this, returning to her regular level of cheer. "When has that stopped us before?"

"Well, there was that time in the town square."

"Yeah, but we've changed. I sorta got better with the whole awkwardness thing and you got a lot better with people." This was returned with a legitimate, if momentary, unamused frown. However, Ruby did not see this and, as such, carried on. "It's not like we're gonna get into another fight or anything. I mean, there isn't anything left to argue about, is there? We've already gone over me being clumsy, a dolt, annoying, and, well, me being me, but I don't think any of that matters anymore. Like, the only things we can still argue about are the little stuff. But it's not like that's going to happen. We've gotten a lot better about dealing with the little stuff." She paused and laughed. "And I get to hold your hand now. Well, at least sometimes."

Despite her enthusiasm, Ruby was being precautious. Though she had supposedly recovered from this summer's defining diatribe, she understood why it had happened and was therefore scared of a possible second. It was this underlying fear and uncertainty which bade Weiss to accept. With a welcoming smirk, "Improvisation it is. I'll do my best to keep from fighting as long as you do your best at being you."

"Okie-doke!" The heiress' smirk widened considerably. "So, which way do you wanna go?"

It was strange. This girl had been dubbed a leader yet ceded her power to others in times of peace. But this was not delegation; no, this was a complete transference of decision-making power when ignorance was admitted. She did not know where to go and thus gave navigational duties to someone who did. But did this make her a good leader? Perhaps—or perhaps not if Weiss was inclined to press the matters of cessation and impulse—but regardless of this commandership quality, Ruby was fundamentally a good person. In truth, she was the first good person Weiss had met beyond the Atlas border. The heiress could smile around her, nod, and take command like she had long desired and she could grasp this command with a frivolous calm, knowing that it was both fleeting and absolute. This was trust at the most basic level, and it is universally trust shared between a leader and her subordinate that marks great leadership.

Yet trust was not the only factor at play here. Rather, admiration, fondness, and a general amicability settled over and between the two, encompassing their very reasons for existing at this point in time. It was indeed trust that caused Ruby to offer her responsibilities, but it was this air of contentment that allowed their fruition. Today was a warm day, a humid day, and a day after a night of storms. Raindrops trickled down from the drying leaves and splashed against the couple's hair, yet neither truly begrudged their day because the sky was a clear blue, the breeze was warm and welcoming, and the din was of songbirds and people who did not much matter. Truly, this day was meant for fun, and if Ruby intended to cede her leadership role for the moment, then Weiss would not abuse her defaulted power.

With leisurely hills to either side of this arterial path and with wide oaken trees placed at casually precise intervals, Weiss' choice of Vale's botanical gardens seemed perfect. Although it was not the most exciting of locales to suit Ruby's adventurous fancy and though it was an admitted cliché, Weiss did enjoy this place. Mostly, her reasons stemmed from her own preferences of warm, bordering on sweltering weather and the general serenity that solitude allowed, but she did suppose that a place so devoid of material distractions would allow for much-needed conversation. Ruby seemed happy enough and gazed wondrously at the beds of flowers to either side of this allée. It was enough to make her partner act similarly and admire their surroundings with occasional discussion. She had unfortunately not had the chance to do so before, because, when they first entered this park, Ruby had noticed a hedge maze on the entrance map and decided upon it as their first destination. Now that this was done, however, they could bask in their calm.

To one side—that is, to Ruby's side—rested a bed of tulips, both of reds and yellows and even the occasional fusion thereof, and to the other—to Weiss' side—were bushes of hydrangeas which filled the gaps between one tree and the next. Between them was a concrete trail, darkened by the yet evaporating rain and disappearing at the approaching bend. This path would take them throughout the park to see what sights it had to offer, but there was no explicit plan to this venture, no logic behind this decision. Rather, this was simply the only path that ran through the park's entirety and this left the couple's decision to be either forwards or back.

Eventually, they would find distraction from their quiet admirations. Another couple was approaching from the opposite direction, slow though they were. Ruby had been the first to pick up on their presence, leading to her greeting smile which, in turn, alerted the heiress to the nearing two. It was an older couple that approached, late in their years and supportive with their closeness, and although they seemed wistful with their gazes at the surrounding summer, they did return Ruby's smile. While the thought of this girl straying from her characteristic awkwardness was rewarding to Weiss' sense of accomplishment, the fact that that these passersby did not recognize her snowy-haired companion was an even greater relief. Perhaps this was due to her lack of crest-bearing jacket or perhaps it could simply be attributed to the casual atmosphere this walk held. But whatever the case, Weiss returned the knowing smile sent and watched as Ruby waved them goodbye as, wordlessly, the two couples passed.

However, Weiss would remain in this turned position, her gaze moving away from the greying duo to rest upon Ruby. Even to herself, the mere thought of Weiss Schnee settling for someone like Ruby was laughable. This was not a matter of class or cultures or even a matter of geography; the thought of Weiss being affectionate towards anyone, let alone a person given the title of "girlfriend," was simply unthinkable.

She had never been keen on the prospect of dating despite her wish to eventually marry for posterity's sake. The concept had simply not meant anything to her. She was always too busy with schoolwork, craft honing, and protection of her reputation to even think of bothering with another. Perhaps this was due to her lack of friends for seventeen out of her eighteen years of life or perhaps this disinterest was truthfully a fear which spawned from her unadmitted trust issues, but with her list of potential candidates—Jaune, Neptune, the various suitors who visited Glatteis Manor—dating had never seemed worthwhile.

To his credit, Jaune and his life goals were respectable at a basic level, but he was incompetent and tenacious—a combination that inherently breeds compounding annoyance. Neptune had been interesting, if for about a month, but upon conversing with him and hearing what little he had to say, Weiss came to the conclusion that his appeal was purely aesthetic. He was flashy and functional and even intelligent in some ways, but he fell out of vogue all too quickly. As for the Glatteis Manor suitors, there had never been any interest between either party; they were more smitten by her father than by Weiss, herself.

But then there was Ruby. By all means, Weiss should have hated the girl. She was young, naïve, blinded by her ideal dreams, and she superseded the heiress in rank. She was ignorant to the world beyond her scope, reckless when the situation required tact, and she was enthusiastic to the point of oversaturation. But Weiss had somehow found herself enamored by the girl. She surmised that her own attraction was linked to Ruby's natural honesty, but this would not necessitate attraction as much as it would admiration. There was a missing piece in her attraction to the girl—a specter of a hunch that served as her missing link. Weiss Schnee was not a person who could be smitten, yet here she was, shamelessly staring at her girlfriend. This begged the question why.

Ruby turned to her, at last noticing this absent stare and responding therefore with a smile. Her smile was neither knowing nor teasing; it simply had a greeting effect as though she had said hi and followed with a series of disarming questions. And rightfully was Weiss disarmed, for when this expression met her, she responded the same. "They looked happy, didn't they?" the young girl asked. "I mean, kinda like us, but…you know…married and old."

"They seemed to be at peace."

"Yeah, I guess that's a better way of putting it. Kinda morbid, though." The heiress raised an amused brow. "But we're ones to talk. They just looked like everything was all right to them. Like there weren't any Grimm in the world or like it didn't rain last night. They just looked like all they wanted to do was spend time with each other."

"And you noticed all of that from smiling at them?" A nod was Weiss' answer. "You do keep surprising me. Not long ago, you would have avoided them entirely and talked about how happy they looked. Now you're greeting them and telling me why."

"Yeah, and you're actually talking to me!" Unlike Yang, Ruby's teases never went beyond her initial comments. She giggled at her partner's sudden stoicism yet did not press this line of observation. "Sorry. Couldn't help it! You used to be, like, really serious about everything, but now you're really fun. I'm just happy I get to talk to you now!" She paused, quickly losing and regaining her bashful grin as she cast her gaze to the ground. "I really like talking to you, Weiss. You don't treat me like I'm a kid. You just…talk to me. Yang kinda lets me get away with a lot of stuff and I think Blake doesn't really care, but you always tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I mean, yeah, I didn't like it when you yelled at me, but you don't do that anymore. If I'm doing something wrong, I wanna know about it, and every time I ask you, you always point something out. And I like that about you. Well, it's just one of the things."

In an instant, Weiss' withheld offense was pacified, leaving her to sigh in mild disbelief. Truly, this girl was more diplomatic than she gave herself credit for. She certainly had a way with words when it came to her partner.

"Well, for what it's worth, I enjoy speaking with you, too." Though it had been a blatant compliment, Weiss was surprised to find that Ruby shrugged it off. Of course, she smiled and appeared grateful, but her gaze quickly returned to wistful contemplation. "Ruby," the heiress called, drawing a hesitant look. "Is there something wrong? You seem distracted."

The girl shook her head, easily denying what was already clear. Her reaction could have been as subtle as a blink, as invisible as a single hair, but under Weiss' heartfelt scrutiny, the girl seemed to quake at the question. "No, I'm fine. Just thinking."

She was evasive—scared, most likely—and lied against her honest character. It was not a pressing matter, Weiss understood, but something to look into nevertheless. She gave as soft an expression as she could, smiling gently and catching Ruby's eyes with her own. "Would you mind if I asked what about?"

The girl looked down for a moment, laughed a bit, and then found her partner's eyes again. "Honestly? You. Us, really." There was a glimmer in the young girl's eye. It was a youthful energy, a sincere emotion, but even more than either, it was a substantial rise in excitement most notable in her admission of "You." This was no lie and Weiss had expected an answer of the sort, but between Ruby's excessive enthusiasm over this word and her insistent stare, Weiss' expression was forced to retreat, cowering into blushing uncertainty. "You made my dreams come true, Weiss. And I used to not even think about them that much, but you still made them come true."

She moved to rub the back of her neck, looking away and down the path in order to avoid scrutiny. However, despite this hesitance, she wanted to talk. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just thinking too much about this, but I still can't get that night out of my head. When you woke me up, I was just about ready to do something—I thought something was wrong! But then you asked me out, and I was like, 'What?' I mean, yeah, I'm happy about it—like, really happy—but it just came out of nowhere. I think I said it was like Christmas came early or something, but it wasn't. It was more like Christmas ambushed me in the middle of summer and I went from no presents to the best present in the world.

"Sorry. I don't mean you're just a gift or something—I know you don't like compliments—but you mean a lot to me. Like, if you didn't ask me out, I don't think I'd really care about dating. Maybe eventually I would've found someone I liked, but before that night, I only liked Crescent Rose that way." Slowly, she was regaining her confidence. A quiet laugh marked her progression and a telling smile tugged at her lips. "To be honest, I still don't really like the whole flirting thing or having to test the waters all the time. Yang dealt with that stuff a lot when we were growing up, and it wasn't fun to watch. But you're different. With you, I don't have to worry about getting someone to like me. You already do! I can just be myself and you can be yourself and all we have to worry about is having fun. It's like having a friend, but better. And you're a whole lot better than just a friend.

"You're…well, mine. And I'm kinda yours. And it's just…great! I-I don't know how I'm supposed to say it, but I like waking up every morning and knowing you'll be there. I mean, it's you! You just kinda ignore everybody else, but when I come find you, you're really friendly about saying good morning. And I've never had something like that. It's like I never wanna go to sleep and I always wanna wake up as soon as I can just so I can just be around you more. It's not like we're doing anything, but we hang out and stuff, and that's really all I want. I do like talking to you, but even when we're quiet, I still like being around you. It makes me happy."

Ruby sighed, taking a needed breath as she composed herself. She still had more to say and seemed enthused to say it, and Weiss was entirely willing to listen. After all, these unbidden compliments were moving to say the very least and gave the heiress perspective she had only assumed before.

"And then you took me on my first date which was…wow! Fancy restaurant, fancy food, fancy clothes—it was like I was a princess or something. And you totally made me feel like one. There was the whole magical white carriage, the ball where I didn't know anyone but they probably hated me anyways, and then there was you. I don't know if you're Princess Charming or if I'm supposed to be her, but one of us was. Anyways, that was a lot of fun—more fun than last year's dance, to be honest. I didn't just feel included this time, I felt like I was the center of attention and all the attention was coming from you." She cast her smile downwards, laughing to herself. "And then we got back by midnight. I kinda wanted it to go on a little longer so I could spend more time with you, but we were getting tired—the spell was about to wear off. I'm glad you took me there, though. That's another night I just can't get out of my mind."

The heiress' blush was indomitable. She was touched to hear this. That she had escaped her self-set limitations of distance and cold to give Ruby a night to remember—nights to remember, as she had stated—gave an impression of importance. Yet this was not the importance one can achieve through prominence or eminence like Weiss had been accustomed to; rather, this was a more personal form and thus yielded greater emotional results. Somehow, be it through competence or sheer dumb luck, she had affected her partner in such a way that compliments and giddy retellings were readily given out in spite of her social reluctance. Ruby, having once chosen to hide any and all romantically affectionate remarks, now delighted in Weiss' company and felt overjoyed to reflect freely.

This gave the heiress pause to consider her partner's claims, and upon seeing Ruby's thoughtfully shy smile and averted gaze, she knew the young girl was telling the truth. Weiss' blush did not fade nor did she care if it did, but she did smile at these prideful notions of success. There were still boundaries left between them, secrets and reluctances, but these were immutable and part of their characters. A divide had been crossed between them, and now nothing stood in the way of Weiss taking her partner's hand.

"Yeah," she agreed, foregoing precise formality for the comfort Ruby supplied. "I know exactly what you mean." Her palm brushed against her partner's own, meeting the calluses of ballistic overzealousness with years of conditioned grace, and the young girl squeezed back, entwining their fingers and locking their hands together. "I never thought dating would be as enjoyable as it is. Frankly, I still don't, but you're the lone exception. My time should be spent elsewhere, accomplishing what I can and making a name for myself, but, given this summer break, I've found myself breaking routine fairly regularly. But to call this a broken routine would be a bit of an underestimation, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah," Ruby smirked. "Just a little bit."

"And I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I'm more than happy with how this summer is turning out. It feels…liberating."

"You don't have to tell me. I already know that!" The smirk she held turned to its cause. "Yang's not around to watch me, your dad's not around to watch you—we're just having fun like we're supposed to! And whenever you have fun, Weiss, you're pretty bad about hiding it."

"Oh?" To prove her point, Ruby simply squeezed the heiress' fingers in a mocking show of I-told-you-so. "Ah. That. How could I ever forget?"

As expected, this brought about the young girl's melodious giggle, allowing Weiss to relax from her false aloofness and simply revel in this amusement. It was still incredible to think that she could elicit a response like this. She had gone from stoic and quick-tempered to reluctant and begrudged to, for a time, woefully awkward (the earlier months of her second semester were never to be mentioned), but now she felt as though she had reached a personal zenith. Certainly, she was still composed and could lose said composure at a moment's notice, but now she could make Ruby smile and honestly at that! Her father made others frown and worry, her sister made them brainless and spineless, and her mother had always entertained her guests with genuine warmth. And if this shared ability of entertainment was not victory on the front of heredity, then Weiss was not a Schnee.

The couple soon moved from their allée, abandoning the rain which could not yet evaporate and exiting into a truly abundant place. Whereas the path before had been lined with the flowers a botanical garden naturally supposed, the opening ahead fulfilled their expectations tenfold. They were assaulted with vibrant hues of reds and blues and pinks and oranges atop a verdant sea of level grass. Patterns of violets and yellows were grouped by the hundreds and bushes of roses made the many beds. Myriad others were gathered in this flourishing scene, scattered about the acre's worth of arrangements, topiary sculptures, and other botanical oddities in a fantastical show of what could be rather than what should. Children chased through the spider-web pathways and tagged one another as their parents wistfully watched. Several other couples walked around with their heads tucked into each other's forms, but the youngest among them was content to stay linked at the hands.

Ruby squinted at her reacquaintance with sunlight after their time beneath the canopy, but she quickly adjusted and followed wherever Weiss led her, smiling all the while. They diverted from the central path and chose instead to arc around the attractions, wanting to take in as much as they could before continuing on elsewhere. This particular path allowed them to pass not all of what was offered but enough to gain an idea. Regardless, this trip had never been about the flowers. Truthfully, whenever Weiss could spend time with her partner, the moment never hinged on the setting they took but rather the company they held.

Soon enough, she would be pulled from these romanticizing thoughts by the sudden tug of the young girl's hand. However, when Weiss turned to see what was the matter, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Ruby was merely distracted. The subtle flexion had seemed a call for attention at first, but upon further review, it seemed like a simple, contented impulse. But as Weiss returned to her viewing of the flowers, Ruby squeezed again, this time gripping the heiress' thumb between her own and her forefinger. It was an experimental effort on the girl's part, circling the manicured nail, dusting across the unblemished knuckles, and studying each and every one of the heiress' minutiae far more carefully than even the most clandestine of government organizations.

"Is there something on your mind?" Weiss asked. For some reason, she had expected Ruby to sheepishly recoil from this new light shed on her curiosity, but the young girl did not so much as flinch.

"Not really." Her gaze was stuck somewhere between the colorful blooms and the bees thereupon, yet still she managed to focus the all of her attention on Weiss. "Your hands are just soft. You don't mind me touching them, do you?"

"Not at all. They're yours to hold."

Ruby simply smirked, looking out at the floral pattern work beside her, a glint of success warming her countenance. She squeezed tighter, taking the heiress' hand as her own and ensuring that it could never leave. With her opposite, she brushed the flowers by her side and made them dance against her push and sway back with the cooling breeze. Neither bees nor thorns slowed her cheer, for as she parted the sea of delicate tulips, she held to her partner resolutely.

She was a curious girl, connoting definitions both childish and unusual, and a mystery Weiss could only hope to solve. Like the heiress, she did not seem influenced by the thrills of romance, instead valuing the dangers of hunting and weaponry. She chose friendship over flirtation and happiness over hope, yet she clung to her partner's left hand and pulled it along without fear of typical castigation. She had always been something of an anomaly and it was likely she always would be this way, but the strangest part about the young girl—this young girl whose simplicity was paradoxically complex—was the effect she inspired within her partner. She neither flirted nor strayed from what was appropriate, but simply by being happy and friendly as she always was, Ruby had captivated Weiss utterly and completely.

"Ruby?" the heiress called, pulling her partner's inquisitive gaze and losing herself to the natural wonderment of her moonlit eyes. Ruby begged the question of why—why she could exist, why she could remain so young—and Weiss had found herself comparably curious. "Why are you so…you? Nothing seems to burden you and I've never seen you get upset. Out of everyone else at Beacon, you seem to be the most unaffected by anything—the coursework, the student politics, even the Grimm. Why is that?"

The young girl's smirk fell to a look of quiet contemplation. Indeed it was a difficult charge to question the whys of one's own existence, but, to her credit, Ruby was trying. "Um, I guess it's because I'm me. I'm not really trying to be anyone else and I'm not trying to be anything I'm not. I'm just trying to be me as best I can."

"But you do have influences," Weiss said. "Yang, your mother, your father. Without them, would you still be the person you are?"

"Probably not? I don't really know. I mean, yeah, I wanna be a huntress because of them, and Yang did make it seem like a lot of fun, but now I just wanna do it because I wanna do it. Nobody deserves to live in fear, and if I can help, I will." She hesitated and added, "I mean, I'll do what I can. There's a lot of people that live in fear about a lot of things and I can't really do everything. Like, I can't beat every Grimm by myself and I can't stop wars and stuff. And I don't know what to do with the people outside the walls or how to help them out. And then Blake has all that Faunus stuff going on, and I wanna help with that, too, but I don't even know where to start."

She was not especially frustrated at the tasks set before her, but judging by how they were compounding in such a rambling fashion, she was definitely scared. As such, Weiss quieted her with a squeeze. "You're a very good fighter, Ruby—perhaps the most naturally gifted I've ever seen—and I know you'll figure something out for the Grimm. On your own, you might not end the war or save the world, but at an individual level, I don't think there's a battle you can lose.

"But you're right. We can't fight every battle. No, I had to figure that out the hard way." Now it was Ruby's turn to raise a brow. However, this was not a pressing matter in the least and thus did not warrant such careful consideration. Weiss shook her head, smirking at what she had once been. "We can do what we can in the areas directly around us, using what we know to prove ourselves competent, but whenever we overextend, we lose. I understand business and politics and history and fencing. Beyond that, however, I cannot gauge success. Were I to try my hand at therapy or listening to someone's pain, I'd only hurt both parties because I'm conceited. Now, if I were to spar against Yang using only my fists, how do you think I would fare?"

"I don't think anybody could win like that."

"Exactly. I've never fought without a sword, Ruby, so if I were to fight Yang, I'd be overextending—I'd lose."

"So, it's like not underestimating your opponent?"

"In a way," Weiss supposed. "But it deals more with not overestimating yourself. If you want to succeed, you have to know what you can succeed at. For that, however, you need to understand what you're good at and who you are."

"So, I have to watch out for my opponent, but I also have to watch out for myself? Like, make sure I'm not overconfident?"

The heiress shook her head. "Confidence is good, Ruby. Confidence is key. If you don't have confidence, then you won't know how good you are at something. Even more than that, you need confidence to get what you want. Sometimes an opportunity doesn't present itself, so you, yourself, must make the occasion." Ruby gave a considering hum as she committed this thought to memory.

"However," Weiss continued, "you're right in thinking that overconfidence is ruinous; there's no question about it. Although I tend to disagree with your sister, she was correct in teaching you not to underestimate your opponent. If you assume that your opponent is going left and you believe this will all your heart despite a glaring lack of evidence, then you are only setting yourself up to fall when they go right. Be confident in what you know and know who you are, but don't assume that someone else isn't just as competent." Ruefully, she smirked. "Though, I'm one to talk. I used to practice the exact opposite of what I'm preaching during our first semester. Do you remember that?"

It took her a moment, but Ruby eventually laughed, loudly enough to draw the attention of passersby who walked paths away. Yet even this drawn attention could not make Weiss upset—after all, Ruby was happy. "Yeah, I remember! How could I forget? One second, you were like, 'I'm not perfect…yet!' And the next thing you know, you burned down like half of the Emerald Forest!"

A month ago, the heiress would have reprimanded this joke, finding it needlessly cruel to a still sore subject. Now, however, she could allow herself a silent chuckle at Ruby's harmless tease. "Overconfidence in motion. Before I came to Beacon, I had only been trained to fight other people, but when I fought a Grimm for the first time, I assumed that everything carried over."

"And it didn't?"

"No. Not at all."

The two continued onwards with their snickers and chuckles, proving merrier in their slightness than those who walked entangled. They passed by the veritable rainbow of petals at a comfortably efficient speed, only glancing at the sea of chrysanthemums and daisies and leaving their glances at just that. Although the sight was a glowing reflection of the climate Weiss adored, her mind was loyally focused on the girl walking beside her. Ruby had her mountain flower and Weiss had her Rose.

Still, the conversation was relevant and the question posed had yet to be answered. Why was Ruby who she was? Moreover, how was she able to affect Weiss so? The answers to the latter question could, of course, be gleaned through introspection, but Weiss wanted to hear why this young girl, with all her differences and cheer, seemed so natural a fit to her own distant cold. Ruby, like everyone else at Beacon, was competent in her own niche way, but unlike everyone else at the school, Ruby was the only one that Weiss truly cared about. And as they came to a halt at the midpoint of this acre, they found themselves met with an arrangement that thanked them.

A large, circular bed was placed at the outer edge of this garden, indenting into the tree line and proudly displaying its floral sigil. Between golden laurels and beside white poppies rested two stone axes, crossed at their hafts and measuring at least ten yards across. It was for Beacon that this monument was made, not as a gratitude for a gifted sum but rather as a general thanks to those who kept the city safe. It did not apply to Weiss, for hers was with Atlas, but this would be for Ruby, if after her training. They simply watched the poppies dance and the insignia ripple quietly before them. However, with this calm came a chance to recompose, and as a tickling breeze forced Ruby to tuck her hair back, Weiss felt the need to speak.

"Ruby?" she called again, making the girl's flittering hair go untouched with her focus now on Weiss. "Who do you see yourself as? What are you good at?"

The girl's eyes looked upward, searching for something and eventually finding it. "I…don't know. I see myself as a huntress, but you already know that. Um, I'm good with weapons and making them and stuff and I know a lot about Grimm—or at least how to fight them." She paused a beat before her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm good at games! Like, not just video games, but puzzles and chess, too!"

"Chess?" Weiss was surprised.

"Eh, Yang taught me. She's actually really good at it—she won a few tournaments back in middle school and still has the trophies! But please don't tell her I told you. She doesn't really like mentioning it anymore, and she'd probably kill me if she heard I told you."

"Your secret's safe with me." Truly, it was not. This was ammunition that Weiss would gladly use.

"Thanks, Weiss!" That is, the information had eagerly been taken as fuel for an eventual fire until the heiress saw the smile this assurance caused. As brief as it was, it showed that Ruby trusted Weiss to keep her secret, and it was this trust that caused the heiress' wrath to subside. Yang was not the focus of this conversation; Ruby was. As such, the heiress decided that her secret would remain a secret.

"Hmm," Ruby continued, "I guess I like to have fun. I don't mean I like to go partying or anything—I don't really think that's fun; not that I've been invited—but I like what we're doing now! I could walk with you all day! And I think guns are cool, too, and hunting and games. Really, 'fun' for me is kinda whatever I'm good at, and I guess I'm good at fun stuff.

"But what I see myself as? Uh, it's probably not a huntress 'cause that's just what I wanna be. I want to help people and make them happy and I want to fight lots of Grimm and make all sorts of cool guns, but that's all part of being a huntress. But you're talking about something else, right? You're asking me who I really am, without Crescent Rose and Beacon, aren't you?" As the heiress nodded, the young girl looked back to the sigil, eyes trained not only on the axes but on the laurels. She took a minute, finding words that could define her utterly, and Weiss would remain patient throughout this process. After this minute, however, Ruby said at last, "I want to be a hero." Slowly, a self-assured smile crept across her features. "Yeah, that's it. I wanna be a hero."

Her eyes were practically shining in the gleeful rays of the sun. "I want to make a difference somewhere. I want to do something special and save someone. I want to save the world, Weiss, and even if I can't do it alone, I still want to try. There's a lot of Grimm out there and a lot of bad people, and if there's anything I can do to stop them, I'll try. I want to be like the heroes in the stories. I want to be strong and popular and still nice and brave. I want to go on adventures and see the world and I want to meet all the people and talk to them like I'm normal."

"So, you want to be Yang?" joked Weiss. This was met with a dismayed look.

"What? No! I mean, kinda, but no!" She sighed and shook her head. "Yang's like that, sure, but she's different. She just wants to have fun and do all sorts of stuff, but I don't think she cares if it's bad or not. She's a great sister—like, the best—but we're different. She read me the stories while I listened. She's not trying to be a hero; she's just trying to be Yang."

"And aren't you trying to be Ruby?"

The young girl shook her head. "Nah. Blake's trying to be Blake and Yang's trying to be Yang, but that's just them. I wanna be a hero, Weiss. Like, do you wanna be Weiss or do you wanna be a Schnee?"

"That's…" Oddly profound. She had meant to finish this sentence before it trailed off but never found the will to do so. Regardless, Ruby continued on and would have interrupted anyway.

"My mom was a hero. I can't be her because I never got to know her very well, but Yang talks about her a lot. I don't really know a lot of Roses, but I know we're born to be heroes. We do stuff for other people and risk our lives because we like it, and we'd do that every day if we could. I mean, it's not the easiest job ever and I probably won't live very long doing it, but seeing other people smile is so worth it. Sure, I'm always gonna be Ruby, but I want to be a Rose when I grow up. I want to be a hero and slay monsters and save the princess and be Princess Charming, and I also wanna be Ruby, too. But I think I always will be."

By all certain means, this young girl could easily become the hero she wanted to be if given proper training and time, but it was not this dream of distant grandeur that baffled the heiress so. Prompted to lend serious thought to the matter of introspection, Ruby only returned with idealism and had managed to seem sensible, reminding Weiss who the young girl truly was. She wanted to be a hero—an admittedly humorous mix between a superhero and a knight of old—in order to help others with little to no benefit to herself. She would rather cater to those she cared about than stand at the center of any attention and gain fame. Of course, she had enjoyed the idea of friendship and proved to be an admirable leader to her team of eclectic personalities, so it was doubtful she would ever renounce either, but coming from her, this idea of individuality somehow seemed natural. She was a free spirit and a caring friend, and if ever there could be a hero to rise from a simple soul, it would this gold-hearted flâneur.

But Weiss was worried. They were both at the ages where morals and preferences were yet being tested, and this was plainly evident from the heiress' newfound happiness. Unfortunately, a change of heart could occur in anyone, and if Weiss could change as she had, it could be reasoned that Ruby could change similarly—rather, contrarily.

"But you will continue to be yourself, won't you?" the heiress asked. Unwittingly, she surprised herself with the amount of concern that had snuck its way into her tone. She had sounded positively scared that Ruby would be replaced by a shadow of her former self. Truthfully, Weiss had one too many jingoistic ideologues in her life, and for Ruby to become another would simply be a travesty.

"Yup!" the girl chirped. "Why? You think I'm gonna change?"

"No. It's not that. I'm sure you won't because you never do, but," she sighed, "there's always the possibility."

"Sounds like you're worried. You all right?"

"Ruby...it's nothing. It's silly."

"So? Nothing's just as bad as something, and if you think it's silly, then that nothing's probably a really bad something." She squeezed her partner's hand, causing Weiss to sigh—an indication that the battle had already been lost. "Come on," she said. "You can tell me. Talking helps figure stuff out, remember? And even if you don't think it's anything, it'd still worth a shot, right?"

With a quiet groan, Weiss relented. "I'm just worried that you will change." Ruby trained her eyes on her partner's, a youthful enthusiasm to her attempts at understanding. It was endearing, this care, and was what Weiss worried about. Again, she sighed. "I know you said you won't and I believe you, but age will always get the better of us, one way or another. I like who you are now, Ruby, and I enjoy spending time with you, but if you were to change into someone, something else, I…I don't know. I just…" She shook her head.

"Frankly, I don't care if you become a hero or if you travel the world. If you manage to meet every type of person and help them accordingly, then that will be your victory to celebrate, not mine—and, mind you, I will celebrate, but that is not my goal. What I'm concerned with is who you will be and whether you will help people because you want to or take the path of fame. You're a very special girl, Ruby, and I'm not just saying that as your friend. You have an amazing ability to make others follow and you are an artist with your scythe—you're competent both in a team and by yourself—but I know people who would gladly exploit you and turn you into something monstrous. I can't even begin to imagine what they'd turn you into, and I'm legitimately scared to find out."

She turned to her partner, abandoning their sigil and holding the girl's hand tight. It was a hard look she gave Ruby, a reassuring confidence evident in her stability and an unmistakable fury in her prescient glare. There was to be no mistaking what she meant here. Ruby was her priority, not Beacon or Vale or the team they had comprised, and she would continue to be for the foreseeable years to come. "I'm worried that you'll change. And I know you will, but I'm worried that your change will be severe. I've told you far too many times to grow up, and now I'm beginning to regret it. I was trying to change you, and I hate that, but now I want you to stay the same forever—or at least…retain some part of who you are. Yes, I'm worried—I'm worried sick—and everything I say makes me feel like I'm leading you down the wrong path. I'm burdening you with ideas you shouldn't know and I'm correcting mistakes that that make you who you are. I'm trying too hard to turn you into me and I'm not letting you be you."

Ruby's smile fell away as she accepted her partner's pain. However, judging by her pause's brevity and the reciprocated worry her silver orbs displayed, it was readily apparent that she intended to help. She saw that her girlfriend was in pain, and, as such, smiled again. Her fingers slid free of the heiress' own and her arms opened widely in an unmistakable invitation. Ruby did not seem to care about fame or corruption; as was thankfully characteristic, she cared only for Weiss' wellbeing and stood with arms outstretched as a means of assistance.

Weiss was still worried and knew she was being irrational, but composure could not help her nor could their present distance. She accepted the offer quietly, closing the divide between them and immediately latching on to her partner's form. Arms wrapped carefully around the young girl's neck as she buried her face in her partner's cloak. In turn, Ruby completed the embrace, unashamedly pulling her girlfriend closer and moving her hands to the heiress' shivering back. It was safe here and fundamentally rational, and no matter how many dozens of possible enemies wandered these flourishing gardens, Weiss could take solace in her girlfriend's hug. It was encapsulating, warm, and whenever she tried to move closer, Ruby helped with a pull.

"It's all right," Ruby assured, her voice no more than a respectful whisper. "I promise I'm not gonna change. I mean, I'll probably learn some stuff and get better at hunting, but I'll always be the same ol' Ruby!" Weiss relaxed under her partner's touch, shuddering as a hand feathered across her jacketless shoulders but shrugging all the same. It was unnatural for her to worry this way and even more so to act openly towards another, but if she had not worried about unnaturalness a month ago, then for what reason could she start now? Rather than fighting, she simply hugged her partner in a reluctant plea for normalcy and was hugged back to promise the same. "I like hanging out with you, Weiss, and all the stuff you teach me really helps. I don't think it's messing me up at all; I actually think it's pretty cool. Like, if I can't do stuff well, how am I supposed to help people? How am I supposed to be a hero if I'm not good at anything?"

Weiss could not answer. That is, she did not want to answer, let alone speak. Between the comfort of her girlfriend's shoulder and the worry that now began to wane, speech did not seem too pressing. She simply closed her eyes and ran a hand up Ruby's back, travelling up the blanket-like cape and stopping where her hood began. Likewise, a hand travelled up Weiss' back and stopped at her neck. For a moment, the girl in red merely held her partner there, doing no more than keeping an uncertain conviction stable, but she would eventually try something else. Hesitantly, her fingers crawled upwards, stopping every inch; and when they found stillness and assumed allowance, they inched again. As Weiss breathed in the fabric scent of citrus and semblance rose, she became still. The fingers now brushed across her snowy hair, disturbing the order of her ponytail and tickling her sense of novelty—she found herself relaxing against Ruby's hand, releasing her tensions and sighing shamelessly against the younger girl's neck.

A single word of possessive meaning echoed through the heiress' thoughts, giving her a peace of mind in knowing that she was not alone. "You know," Ruby said, "you might be right and age will change me, but there's one thing that's never gonna change." The heiress hesitated, silently begging for closure to this statement. She wanted the reassurance that she would always have a friend, and thus she froze with bated breath. Ruby grinned. "I'll be your hero any day."

At first, Weiss did not respond. It took her a moment to differentiate between what was a joke and a promise, and, even then, this delineation was hard. Had it been a promise, Ruby would have likely pressed the matter, nuzzling against her partner or tightening the hug in some way, but all that was left was bated silence. The hug did tighten eventually, but this did not feel purposeful, and as Ruby shook the heiress from her assessments, Weiss sighed, "Dolt." It had been a joke, and Weiss was surprisingly disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Just trying to help." The embrace slackened and Ruby's voice withdrew into uncertainty, but this was not her fault.

The heiress pulled away, arms remaining wrapped behind her partner's neck as she moved to look at her. Ruby frowned, too, and tried not to make eye contact, but this would fail her once she saw the pleading blue gaze. "I know," Weiss said. "But it's still a point of anxiety for me. If I couldn't have my childhood, then I'm in no place to rob you of yours. Ruby, I want you to be happy with who you are for as long as you possibly can. There's no ulterior motive to this; I'm simply afraid."

Ruby's expression calmed. Her smile seemed as though a joke were on the tip of her tongue but, concurrently, she seemed serene for her partner's sake. Her hands moved down to the heiress' waist, simply hanging there as she promised, "I'm not gonna change, Weiss. I mean, I already have, kinda, but don't you think Beacon would've changed me more? I went from being a third-year Signal kid to team leader at Beacon, and not just that, we had to deal with a whole bunch of stuff last year. It was rough, Weiss, but I'm still the same.

"I mean, I still like storybooks and hate homework, but you're teaching me better manners and I'm starting to get comfortable around strangers. So, the bad stuff's getting fixed and everything Ruby about me isn't going anywhere." The heiress' expression shifted to a cross between contented and reluctant as her partner's hands traveled up her back, across her shoulders, and down her arms to bring their hands together. The young girl smiled as her calluses ghosted over the heiress' skin and gripped her shaking fingers.

"I'm not going anywhere, Weiss. You tried to get rid of me before, and you see how that turned out? I'm yours. And you're mine! And you're Weiss and I'm Ruby, and nothing's ever gonna change that. I like being me and I like you being you. You're always so cool and calm about everything, and it's just really cute, but if you're scared, I'll keep being me for you. I promise." The young girl's littlest fingers then curled around her partner's own as she punctuated with a winning grin, "Pinky swear."

Weiss' heart ached. However, this was a good ache, she supposed. There was an inherent difference between truth and loyalty, one being more admirable than the other by a considerable margin. Of course, truthfulness had been a defining factor in Weiss' affection, but truth by itself meant little when the intentions were defamatory. Loyalty, however, bred this truth and as well a positive motive. Ruby was not telling the truth to get in her partner's good graces but instead to prove her own point. She had promised support like Weiss had in the museum and now expressed this, proclaiming her motive with unspoken zeal and affirming this promise before any witness who passed them by. She was loyal to Weiss and her team, and Weiss was much the same. Her heart jumped at the blushing smile she was given and the dreamy silver she did adore.

She closed her eyes, composing herself and fighting the heat in her cheeks. "I never, ever, in a thousand million years, expected…" She wanted to fight this, to be the cold stalwart the world knew her to be. She wanted to play into her characterization just this once in order to avoid the pain of humility. She was a Schnee and proud of it, but this girl was trying on her sense of equanimity. With a grousing sigh, Weiss finished, "I never expected pinky-swear diplomacy would be this effective." But as Ruby's smile widened, Weiss opened her eyes to give her a warning glare. "You'd better keep your word."

"On my honor and stuff!"

Perceivably, this was the best Weiss could hope for. She sighed again.

A sudden pull tugged at her fingers, bringing this semi-amused, accusatory look to focus on Ruby's enthusiasm. "C'mon," the young girl insisted. "Let's go somewhere else. I think we're getting upset about nothing, and just staying here isn't helping." She began to back away, pulling Weiss with her as she repeated her cheers of "C'mon!" It was at this point that Weiss did not know whether to be exasperated or entertained, finding that as she followed her partner away from the sigil of poppies and stone, her expression caught in another thoughtful frown.

She was happy to be with Ruby and there was no question about it, but, again, Weiss' happiness meant little to what was considered just. She had been changed over the years of her conditioning, molded into an offset reflection of her mother and father, and never took heed of a conversation without a healthy filter of cynicism. Heartless was a good word to describe the young heiress, but not Ruby. No, the girl was heartful. She had no understanding of a global scope except what her schools had taught and, despite her aversion, she was credulous to the general populace. Was she more of a simple soul than she was a child? Perhaps not, for the girl was anything but simplistic and knew full well the dangers that faced her, but she was without a doubt idealistic and she did want to be a hero. And by all rights, she could become the hero she dreamed of—she had the charm and competence required of it.

But Weiss had neither. No matter how close the two would come to being an ideal couple, they were destined to diverge in their futures. Ruby would become a huntress, a hero, an affable wanderer whose life teetered on doom every moment her back was turned. Weiss, meanwhile, would be the villain. She did not want to be nor did she intend to act like one, but the world already knew her as such. She would sit in her room on Kaiser Island, toiling the days away until her sister's death, and all the while she would be slandered for being a bigoted monster. It was simply how the world was. Of course, Ruby knew she was far from a monster and Blake knew the heiress was not a bigot—or, at least, the heiress was attempting to become better about it—and even Yang, that brutish, flagrant, tabloid-reading blonde, agreed that her teammate was, at most, an elitist. Regardless, Weiss would be proud of her partner and cheer for her from the sidelines, but she did not want to pull Ruby towards her villainous path.

They passed the bushes of roses and bundles of violets and lines upon lines of oaken towers, yet Weiss could not look away from her partner. There were thoughts to be had, precautions to cement, and, given this most recent fear, she could only shy from the potential of corruption. But her hand had been steadied and her grip remained desperate as this girl in red rushed past these distractions. She was always rushing somewhere, Weiss thought. Even during her slowest, easiest moments, she rushed down the path set before her.

But was Weiss pointing her down the wrong direction? Was dating really a two-way street? She felt happy and Ruby certainly seemed to feel similarly, but was this wrong? If Ruby had been peaceful and chipper before this level of companionship, could it be possible that she would have stayed the same without? Certainly, she would have been affected by her sister's relationship and perhaps made jealous because of it, but this would only prove a more natural cause for dating than Weiss waking her up in the middle of the night. This relationship seemed objectifying in a way, as though Ruby's enjoyment was shallower than she was letting on. She had always been an appeasing sort of friend and did her best not to show weakness around her partner. However, both yet clung to each other's hands, delighting in the feeling of togetherness it created. Perhaps there was some validity to this.

Ruby seemed to notice this consternation but did not say anything to acknowledge it when Weiss looked. However, her smile and nod meant a world of difference.

The end of this acre was marked by a convergence of the three separate paths, forming a singular trail leading away from this verdant forest and into a sea of vermillion. Weiss tried to look back upon the smiling families and flowerbed colors, but the red leaves before her had caught her eye and began the gradual process of relaxation. Thoughts of inadequacy and unwitting corruption fell thankfully away at this sight, becoming merely plausible options rather than definite facts. She was still worried about what Ruby would become, but she figured that this was natural for their partnership. Regardless of their relationship, they cared for each other immensely and wanted to see their respective successes flourish. Though Weiss could not smile yet, Ruby could, and for this reason she squeezed the future hero's hand and followed after.

They left the brilliant field of and entered into the rustling quiet of the transplant forest. Greens turned to reds, brighter colors faded to a somber brown, and the blue sky above was concealed by the returning canopy. It was surprising how dark it became not ten feet from the entrance; the Forest of Forever Fall, from which these trees came, was comparatively spacious to this dark, red path. Between the interweaving branches above and the perennially falling leaves which showered from each and every tree here, light had become a commodity, traded infrequently hardly seeing the market at all. However, it was surprisingly peaceful.

Everything had a warm tint to it—the canopy, the foliage, the illusory pink mist far past the tree line—and the darkness was no more than a dimness, all things considered. It was surprisingly comfortable here, surprisingly intimate. Of course, the sheer number of trees and the requisite closeness their sanctuary provided was undeniably intimidating, but once Weiss got over this jarring lack of options, she found herself at ease with her chosen path. It was as though she did not need to worry about anything in her life, and although she was still worrying, the lazy darkness and the comforting presence beside her were sufficient distractions. Ruby would grow up, if eventually, and there was nothing Weiss could do about it. Such was the natural order of age—it would be more childish of Weiss to think that staying young forever would be beneficial to Ruby's line of work. As such, the heiress sighed and gripped her girlfriend's hand tighter.

The leaves shook quietly above, rattling on the returned breeze as Ruby hummed an unwritten tune and grinned despite their last discussion. She was happy and genuinely so, and no matter what might happen in the days and weeks to come, Weiss knew this grin would last. The young girl had fallen back to her partner's side, allowing them to follow the lone path together as she continued her silence-breaking song. Of course she would remain happy. It was simply who she was, and she led by example. Weiss sighed and allowed herself to relax.

Like Ruby had examined the heiress' hand before, the heiress decided on examining Ruby's in much the same way, indulging her curiosity and promising that her pain was now gone. It began with a simple squeeze. She took a moment to appreciate the warm smoothness of her partner's palm before exploring her thumb, admiring the soft but cracked knuckles and the rougher skin ahead, healed from her historical cuts. She then felt the digit's end, noting the uneven, rigid fingernail and calluses beneath—the young girl always did spend too much time on her weapon. She brushed her thumb again and squeezed once more, and when the heiress looked to its owner, she found that the young girl was looking back.

With a smile that could make even the blackest of hearts fawn, Ruby leaned over and gave a playful shove with her shoulder, causing the heiress to roll her eyes and sway. "So," she drawled, "you never said what you wanted to be when you grow up."

She was purposefully trying to distance this conversation from their last. It was difficult for the heiress to be enthusiastic at the moment, but Ruby was lending assistance and it would not go untaken. Weiss forced herself to smile and joked, "Grow up? By all means, I am grown. And besides, you never asked."

"Well, I'm asking now, if that's okay. What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

With a sigh, Weiss answered, "Head of the Schnee Dust Company and protector of Atlas' sovereignty." Ruby paused, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"…Okay, but what do you want to be?"

"I just told you."

"Yeah, but nobody says that!"

"I do."

"Weiss," Ruby explained, her smirk somehow audible in this lecturing tone, "you have to take this seriously. You can't just say something like that! You have to think of something fun, something you really want to be. You have to think of something adventurous and awesome and something you can spend your whole life trying to be—like a hero or a scientist or a racecar driver, not protector of some kind of tea! Like, nobody wants to live their life protecting tea, even Sovereign Tea or whatever it's called."

This raised a disbelieving brow. "Is that what you think sovereignty is?"

"Uh, am I off?"

Weiss could not suppress a quiet chuckle. "Incredibly. But it's cute."

The young girl gave a sheepish chuckle of her own as she rubbed the back of her neck, looking away in order to escape this awkwardness. She would prove unable to, after all, but Weiss held nothing against her. Eventually, she would look back, embarrassment clear in her features. "So, uh, you seriously wanna be CEO of your dad's company?"

"Do I look like the type who would drive racecars for a living? Or work in a lab?"

"Well, you do spend a lot of time sitting and working at a desk…" Weiss responded to this with an accusing, if not playful glare. "Not that that's a bad thing, though! I mean, you just spend a lot of time studying, so I thought you'd like all that research stuff."

With a sigh, the heiress shook her head. "No, I'm fine with research, but it doesn't interest me. I want to head my father's company so I can do something significant for the world. It's all I've been raised to do. So, when my time comes, I will be prepared and enthusiastic."

"Sounds kinda boring. No offense, but it just doesn't sound like something you'd like. I know you'll probably have lots of power and you'll be able to do whatever you want, but won't you miss hunting? Won't you miss running around and almost getting killed fighting huge, awesome, soulless death machines?"

"When you put it like that? No, not at all. But eventually? Sure, I imagine so. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what we do, but there will be a time when I'm needed elsewhere, and when that time comes, I will happily heed the call."

"So, you'll give up on being a huntress when your dad tells you to?"

Weiss slowed to an unintentional halt, pulling the young girl with her. The answer was an obvious yes, but could Ruby understand? Of course, she was loyal to Yang and would doubtlessly run to her older sister's side if anything tragic were to happen, but they were of the same profession and lived in the same kingdom. Weiss, on the other hand, would be required to cease all personal endeavors and return to Glatteis Manor should her father call. It would be permanent, it would be unwanted, but it would ultimately not be up to her. A Schnee's allegiance was to both Atlas and the posterity of their name, and if anything were to endanger either, then Weiss would uproot her life and return to Kaiser Island.

However, Ruby depended on her partner—or, rather, enjoyed having Weiss around. It would perhaps be more of a shock to her than to Weiss if the heiress were recalled, being that Weiss had understood this caveat long before Beacon and Ruby would only learn of it now. She was certainly a strong girl, a spirited warrior, but something like this would break her after the affection of this summer. If she could cry at the heiress' public derision, then what was to keep her from weeping at her girlfriend's private absence?

"Hello? Remnant to Weiss! You in there?"

The heiress blinked. A hand waved before her eyes and had managed to pull her from introspection. As soon as her present reality was restored, Weiss realized that some awkward amount of time had passed and that Ruby held a concerned frown. It was now apparent that her worries from before were not entirely gone and had instead manifested elsewhere. She sighed. "Yeah, I'm…sorry."

She shook her head and moved forward, letting her partner know that whatever had happened had passed and bringing it up would be unwise. And this expectation held as they continued down the leaf-leaden path, simply remaining quiet as they observed their present peace. That is, they had tried to observe this peace, but Weiss found it grating on her conscience. Ruby deserved an answer, and lying would only worsen the eventual pain.

"Ruby?" she tentatively began. The girl in question replied with a hum. "To answer your question…yes, I'll need to return if my father asks. It was part of our agreement before I came here, and I can't begin to imagine what he'd do if I disobeyed." She sighed. "It's unlikely, but if he tells me to return to Atlas, then I will continue my studies there."

"Well, if that happens, you'll still visit me, right?"

She seemed hopeful—she always did—but now it was time for idealism to buckle under its inherent flaw. "No," Weiss said. "It's impossible. I can only go where my father allows, and if I'm pulled from Vale, there's a very good chance I won't be allowed back."

"Oh."

A lump formed in the heiress' throat—a knot in her stomach and an ache in her heart. Ruby should not have been this crestfallen, but hearing this reality was surprisingly painful. Weiss wanted to say something, if only to hear that her partner was still happy, but the girl's hand had slackened and her pace had markedly slowed. Upon seeing this, the heiress chose to lie. "But," she began again, "it's unlikely I'll be called home. I'm not exactly on good terms with my father and he's not exactly on good terms with me. Without me in Atlas, we both work better, so this arrangement is as much to his benefit as it is to mine." She ran her thumb back up the young girl's knuckle, smiling weakly at her. "At the very least, I will be able to finish out our time at Beacon. So, there's no need to say goodbye just yet."

"Yeah," the girl breathed, veritably crying out for some consolation. However, she would sigh, too, and looked ahead with renewed purpose—this was the façade Weiss had forced upon her. "Yeah, okay," she said. "Three more years. That's enough time, right? And after that, maybe I can visit you instead! You could show me your dad's weapon collection like you told me about."

The heiress' smile grew stronger. "Yeah, that would be fun."

"And we could go on more dates and you could show me around Atlas and we could just, you know, hang out some more! Maybe for old time's sake, we could go out hunting, too! I bet Atlas has tons of different Grimm."

Bitterness disguised as optimism. It was sad. They would always be different people with different lives, and these four years were only miraculous happenstances in the grand scheme of things. Weiss wanted to accept these far-reaching plans, but, realistically, they would never happen, and it was likely Ruby knew it, too. After Beacon, Weiss would try to remain at her partner's side as a huntress, but she did not know how long that would last. Perhaps a month, perhaps a decade? She would be happy with either but preferred the latter, and though she did want her father's position, she was apprehensive of Winter's reign. She felt the same way as Ruby: hopeful yet understanding.

This was followed by a painfully awkward silence. They still held to each other as they continued down the path, but every attempt at conversation unfortunately foundered before it could be verbalized. Ruby frowned at the misty tree line, appearing to regret her curiosity, and Weiss was made all the more remorseful for it. The present mood was entirely her fault because she could not escape her own logic, and now Ruby was struggling. She was in pain and dared not admit it, and Weiss lacked the proper knowledge to combat this appropriately. However, the young girl's initial question—that of who Weiss wanted to be—was still yet unanswered and seemed a plausible enough topic to shift to. It was not a direct form of consolation by any means, but it was worth a shot, the heiress supposed.

She squeezed her partner's hand and drew her nervous gaze. With a frown, Weiss began, "Ruby, I don't know what I want to be. I do want to head my father's company and I have spent my entire life preparing for it, but this year has changed me. I don't know anymore. I could follow in his footsteps by simply titling myself a warrior as I spend my days on an island or I could actually be a warrior and protect the world instead of Atlas. I want to be a Schnee like you want to be a Rose, but I don't want to be my father. I don't want to be my grandfather or my great-grandfather or even the greatest names in my family tree; I just want to be me and create a legacy—a better legacy."

It took a moment, but Ruby surprisingly laughed. Of course, it was quiet and still yet affected, but she seemed to appreciate the change in topic. "That sounds just like you, Weiss. You can never settle for something like being a racecar driver, huh?" She laughed again, finding her voice and lightening the mood singlehandedly. "So, do you have any ideas about how you're gonna make that legacy?"

"None at all," Weiss admitted. "Really, it has a lot to do with public relations and coming across as more personable—something you've been more than helpful with. And then I imagine the public would want me to release every company held under my family's name and relinquish all my wealth to the state, but that's just absurd. There will certainly be cutbacks to how many companies are acquired and how much revenue we take from them, but the companies we've acquired already consented and now rely on the Schnee Dust Company to keep them afloat. Without us, those companies would return to stagnancy at both managerial and funding levels."

"Hm." Ruby did not understand a word of this.

"But I also need to do something outstanding. I need to do something that will put my name in the history books. Without that, there wouldn't be much use in chasing legacy instead of posterity."

"Oh, so you need to do something big, then? Like end the Grimm War?"

"Ruby, I doubt that will be possible within our lifetime. Trust me, my father has spent his entire career trying to solve the Grimm problem and hasn't gotten anywhere near the level of success we need."

"Yeah, but you and me, we could probably do it."

Weiss smirked, happy that the mood was finally lifting. "I'm sure we can, Ruby. But I need to do something big. I need to do something that will improve the world and change the general opinion on my family. I need to make people love me, not hate me. If I can't do that, then it will only be a matter of time until my family is overthrown." The young heiress had been so consumed by this preparation for greatness that she did not notice her partner's slight fidget. However, Ruby was able to conceal this emotion and Weiss was able to continue on, uninterrupted. "I have to do something that people will applaud me for and something that will benefit my business. Did you know that my ancestors developed Dust ammunition? Not only that, but they funded the walls around the kingdoms, developed the parliamentary system of government, and created the language we all speak today. I have to do something like that, but I'm no linguist or engineer. I have to do something within my own means, something that reflects who I am and what the world needs."

"But you haven't figured it out yet."

"Precisely."

Ruby's eyes had been locked on the trees beside them, glancing upwards at the swaying reds above and contorting her expression into a look of confusion. She was thinking of something, likely trying to solve Weiss' dilemma for her, and it was endearing how much she cared. Inspiration seemed to strike her as her eyes bolted wide. She turned to Weiss and said, "Maybe you should think about what you're good at. You told me to do it, so why don't you give it a try? Those guys who built the walls must've been good at building stuff and the guy who made the language probably had to be good at spelling."

"What I'm good at?"

"Yeah! Hard to choose, right?"

It was not so much difficult to choose as much as it was difficult to find something. The heiress hummed. "I suppose I'm good at swordplay, but the only logical end to that would be exterminating the Grimm which is, as we've decided, impossible at the moment. I do enjoy history. I don't particularly know why I enjoy it as much as I do, but I'd like to think myself fairly knowledgeable."

"You're also good at talking and figuring stuff out. Like, I always have to let Blake proofread your essays 'cause I can't ever find anything wrong."

"Yes, but that comes with practice. There are better writers and logicians out there. Even then, there are better historians out there, too."

"But none of them are you. You're pretty much the smartest person I know and you're able to get stuff done nobody else can. You're good at history and thinking stuff through and you're a really, really, really good swordfighter…umm…" Another burst of inspiration seemed to find her. "Oh, and you're pretty! And you argue really good. And you can dance and dress up and sing really great, too!"

Suddenly, the heiress' brows furrowed in suspicion. "How do you know I sing?"

"Uh, because I hear you in the shower all the time? Sorry if that's weird. It's not like I'm spying on you or anything; I just heard you one time back at Beacon and I liked listening to it. And you do kinda sing loudly sometimes, so it's not like I canignore it—not that I would, though. Like, if you wanted, you could totally go down in history as 'World's Best Singer.'"

"You…like it?"

Silver eyes widened in surprise. "Uh, yeah! I mean, that's not weird is it? It's not like I stop what I'm doing whenever you shower, but if you sing, I like listening. Yang used to sing to me a lot when I was a kid and she was pretty good, but you're, like, awesome."

Conversational unimportance aside, Weiss was touched. She had always been told she was a good singer, but the people who had told her this were the types who wanted her father's affection. Of course, her voice coach had always said she "lacked life," but he was a perfectionist and nothing was ever good enough for him. However, coming from Ruby, a soul of kindhearted honesty, this made every year of training somehow seem worthwhile. "Thank you," Weiss said, voice no more than a whisper.

"No problem!" her partner chirped in return, finding her conversational footing again and proving confident for it. "You really are a great singer, though. Maybe one day you'll sing for me!"

Although the mood had not been lifted entirely, Weiss found herself smiling wistfully. "Maybe."

Ruby smirked. "So, you're good at singing, history, writing, talking, and thinking. You ever think about becoming a politician—like, a good one?"

Definitely not. No, that avenue was already ruined. The heiress shook her head. "That would require me to be a likeable orator. Now, I may speak well and get my point across, but I already have a bad reputation, not only as a Schnee but as a speaker in general."

"Ooh! Sounds like a story! Story time!"

Perhaps it was her partner's infectious enthusiasm or perhaps it was Weiss' own enjoyment of her present station, but the heiress found herself opening her mouth to speak before closing it and realizing what she had almost said. Although the mood was recovering, the story Ruby wanted could have easily returned them to darkness. Neither wanted this, Weiss assumed, and, therefore, she excused herself. "I've said too much. It really isn't anything worth wondering about."

"Aw! Please?"

"Ruby."

"Please?"

"Ruby, no." Her tone was final and her look doubly so. The young girl blinked at this sudden halt in their conversation and found herself appropriately silenced. "This isn't a story to tell now. It's a mood-killer and will only burden you with information you don't need to know."

"Well, if you're sad about it—"

"I'm not sad." It was a lie.

"Okay, but if you're mad—"

"I'm not mad!" Another lie.

"Okay, okay! Well, if you ever want to talk about it," Ruby paused, likely expecting another interruption, "I'll be here. I don't care if it's a rough story or if it's a mood-killer. No matter what, I wanna listen to what you have to say. And if it's not an easy story to tell, well, you don't have to tell it. But if you do wanna tell it, I'm kinda interested to hear. I mean, I know a lot about you, but, at the same time, I don't. But whatever you wanna do is fine by me."

She was tenacious. Weiss closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine. Whatever," she ceded, much to the young girl's surprise. If Ruby had been able to divulge her secrets and family pain, then Weiss could divulge hers, too. Ruby was not a political enemy nor did she have the capacity to become one. She was a friend and an ally and Weiss' girlfriend, and, as such, she could know. "I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"Well, you could just tell me the end if it's that big of a deal."

"No. Everyone knows the end. You need to hear the whole story—my point of view—to get the full picture. The tabloids that Yang read and the videos and the articles about me are all false. They do tell the truth, but they only focus on the end result. None of them ever cared to mention the beginning."

"Well, I care."

"I know you do, Ruby. You're the only one that does."

Weiss let go of her partner's hand, not out of resignation or disappointment as was initially perceived but instead out of necessity. She brought her hands to the clasp behind her neck and released it, allowing the silver chain around her neck to slacken and hang from her fingers. The small, lonely apple spun before her eyes, reflecting the reds and blues of the sky and ground. The heiress sighed as she turned to Ruby, offering her the necklace and placing it in her reactively cupped hands. "W-Weiss…This is your—"

"I know. I'm not giving it to you, so don't get any ideas." She sighed again, trying to rid herself of this unneeded hostility. "It was a gift from my mother." Suddenly, the necklace seemed as though it were made of fragile lead as Ruby recoiled and gripped the silver carefully. She looked incredulous as she offered the jewelry back, but Weiss shook her head. "No. Hold on to it. It's important to the story, and I'd rather you didn't stare at my chest the entire time."

Ruby blushed.

However, Weiss did not see this reaction and likely would not have cared. It was a decidedly perverse thought to be sure, but Ruby was not the type to ogle and Weiss knew there was nothing there worth staring at. Still, she wanted Ruby distracted for the inexorable emotions to come. "I received that on my eighth birthday," she began, looking out at the falling leaves ahead. "You can imagine that my birthdays saw a great many gifts given to me, but I've never received anything quite as important as what you hold. It was my first piece of jewelry and it was expressly mine. Before, I'd borrowed hand-me-downs from my mother and wore them when the occasion required it—occasions such as balls and galas whatever other events I was required to attend. However, this was my first necklace and it's still the most meaningful thing I claim ownership to. My sword, my wealth, my name; all of it is insignificant compared to that little apple."

She smiled at the memory. "I was the apple of my mother's eye—or, at least, that was what she called me. She and I were…I don't know. We went everywhere together, did everything together, and she was the one to introduce me to the world. If I were more like my father, I'd never think of attending Beacon because all my time would be better spent elsewhere, readying myself for his company and acquiring assets of my own. But I like to believe I took after my mother. She was the only friend I had, the only reason why I know what a friend is.

"She was always kind to me while the rest of the world hated us. She taught me etiquette, allowed me to go on trips with her to Mistral and Vale, and she was the first teacher I ever had. I can't say that she was the direct cause of my affinity for fencing or history—those were my own doing—but I can give her credit for who I am as a person. Unfortunately, I can't imagine I would meet her standards anymore, but I've tried to hang on to what made people love her. Life was never about us; though, we'd often forget over cups of coffee in the middle of the night. She said that life is about those we care about and making sure they are cared for. For me, it's Atlas and my family—and you now, I suppose—but I took her advice for granted at the time. After all, I was only eight.

"I always hated the names she gave me, but out of all of them, she liked 'apple of my eye' best. I don't know why she called me that nor do I question it. It simply is, and looking back, I wish I'd responded positively more often. I used to be so different back then—like you, somewhat, but…" She shook her head. "No, I was just like you back then. I took her compliments in stride and became indignant whenever she teased me, but then she gave me that necklace and, suddenly, I felt important.

"She gave me that on my eighth birthday. She was the only one in attendance of my party—my father was present, but his mind was always somewhere else. I'd been sent presents from his associates ranging from dresses I was too young for to literature that was not my taste and even a skateboard from a senator who mistook me for a boy. The most care my father showed that day was deciding to have that senator lose the next election and find himself caught in an irrecoverable scandal. My mother, on the other hand, gave me that necklace, and it was…unprecedented. I hugged her and thanked her and showed it off to every assistant that came by—I was proud. Finally, I had something that was mine alone and signified me for who I was. And she was happy, too. It was a meaningless in-joke turned into something silver, and, at the time, I didn't know if it would be better worn around my neck or on my sleeve."

"Hmm," Ruby hummed. "It's kinda like my cloak. I mean, my mom didn't get to give it to me, but it was one of hers and I've kept it safe ever since I found it. There are some others in the house—other kinds of reds and whites and stuff—but, I don't know. I like this one because it's mine." She pulled the pendant out of her hand, slowly bringing it closer to her eye and squinting. "This was made pretty well. It wasn't made in Atlas, was it?"

The heiress shook her head, smiling despite the darkness to come. Ruby was always surprising when it came to her weapon knowledge—even more so when it came to her eye for metallurgy. "Mistral?" the girl guessed and Weiss nodded.

"All the embellishments and silverwork on Myrtenaster were done by the same crafters."

"Yeah, I kinda figured. Don't get me wrong; you guys up north make really awesome steel and, like, the best swords, but it's not very pretty."

A bend was fast approaching, Weiss' unintentionally anxious stride rushing the couple through this autumnal trail. The previous worries of truncation and prematurity could not compare to the nagging push of her story's conclusion. Ahead, the forest opened to a bleary pink light that Weiss, in her current state of conflict, could not see beyond.

The heiress sighed with another nod. "Anyways," she began again, "that necklace is important to me. It's both the first gift that was entirely mine and the last gift my mother gave me." In an instant, Ruby was rendered silent, clutching at the pendant carefully and watching Weiss even more so.

"My parents rarely argued. Honestly, they hardly talked at all. My father loved my mother and my mother loved him back, but that's all hearsay to me. I know my mother loved him—I know it for a fact—but I never saw them spend time together. And whenever they did find time to talk, it was as though my father had somewhere else to be. My mother was a very talkative sort and enjoyed gossiping about the most harmless details no one else would ever consider, but because she couldn't speak to my father, she'd often speak to me instead. This was why she gave me coffee so early; this was why she would wake me in the middle of the night. As she was my only friend, I was hers.

"However, there were days when my father's absence left her silent. On my birthday, he left the party early to attend to something and locked himself in his study for the rest of the day. I didn't think much of it—even back then, I knew my father was a poor excuse for a human being—but my mother couldn't handle it. She had arranged the entire party herself—cake, musicians, and all—but had been the only attendee despite the numerous invitations she sent; moreover, she believed I was taking it personally and that my birthday had been ruined. She did cry, and it was regrettably often that she did, but this could not stop her from taking care of me. She wiped away her tears, took my hand, and we ate cake together in the kitchen."

Weiss glanced down at the concrete below. It was surprisingly dry compared to the weeping leaves—it was oddly appropriate, considering the tale. Ruby seemed to notice this and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

With a sigh, Weiss continued. "They argued that night. Although my room is a sizable distance from my father's study, I could still hear their fight through my door. That is, I could hear my mother. She was so passionate about taking care of her family, so sad that her plans had gone wrong, but my father never gave her the satisfaction of losing his composure. I only heard one voice that night, one voice choked by screaming sobs as my mother tried her hardest to bring our family back together. But she didn't succeed. She slammed the door on him and ran.

"I couldn't sleep. It was too loud and, even after they were done, I couldn't stop thinking. I hated my father then; I didn't know what they were arguing about, but he made my mother cry and I couldn't stand that. But all I could do was assume what happened and rationalize the intentions behind it, yet neither seemed to work. I was restless and needed to clear my mind. I don't know what came over me then—it was early in the morning and my sweet tooth was acting up—but I decided to leave my room and distract myself with a piece of cake. But when I…" Weiss shook her head, fighting the anger welling inside her. "When I entered the kitchen, I found my mother passed out on the floor." She sighed. "She wasn't breathing, she had no pulse, and when I moved closer to investigate, she smelled of alcohol. It wasn't easy to accept at the time, but…after the argument, she must have gone to the liquor cabinet and drank herself to death."

The murky forest of reds and pinks paused for a sunlit opening. Weiss squinted as she passed into the light again and saw the scene before her. The forest did continue and the leaves around them were still red, but a stream had broken the tedium and a bridge had crossed the stream. Weiss looked out to either side of the wooden platform and saw the misty, red banks stretch to either horizon and as well the opposing tree lines which towered above; however, she could not appreciate the setting now. No, between the memories her story inflicted and the pull of her girlfriend's sudden halt, the heiress could not appreciate much of anything right now. It was all too much.

The young girl stared slack-jawed at this newest revelation, pulling her partner's gaze to her and bringing them both to a startled stop. "What?" Ruby eeped. She seemed distraught, confused, wholly afraid that what her partner was saying was true. She looked at the necklace then back to Weiss and asked, "Why? Why'd she do something like that?"

Instinctively, the heiress brought her hand up to her chest, grasping for the necklace that was no longer there. It was in Ruby's hands, and the young girl was scared. Undoubtedly, Weiss felt terrible about the memory, but this moment questioned whether her own remorse was more important than Ruby's fear. The young girl did not quake or shiver—her world had not been destroyed and her ideas had not been shattered—but she was thoroughly shocked and faltered upon this subject of depression. Comparatively, however, Weiss was calm. She had had her chance to grieve, and that chance had long passed. Of course, she did still feel pain, but the loss had since been internalized and would only be used as fuel for the impending fires of her father's ablution. The only logical conclusion was that Ruby's wellbeing was to be prioritized higher, but logic was not the chief motivator in this instance. Ruby was sad, shocked, and Weiss felt her pain.

With a sigh, Weiss pulled her partner towards the bridge and released her to lean against the railing. It was not a particularly large bridge or a particularly large stream which ran beneath it, but it was a distraction and would hopefully keep them from falling too far into the pit of melancholy. Truth be told, this pain—this shadow of sadness—should be nothing. A decade of absence had been accepted, rationalized, and eventually calcified into a burred shell of protecting narcissism. But this was only the second time Weiss had spoken of it, and it was surprising how much these words stung.

The young girl held the pendant over the edge, sadly watching it spin. Her partner, meanwhile, could not look at it, not out of fear for her mother's gift falling—Ruby had the ability to be clumsy but never was when the situation required reverence—but out of suppression. She did not want to see her mother in the pendant right now; the water below that rushed and babbled over the shallow rocks seemed a much more interesting concept. But Ruby was concerned, and if there was anything that could keep the girl in red from her infrequent worries, it had not been invented yet. "Weiss?" she asked, voice tentative. "She didn't mean to…you know…do that, right?"

Weiss sighed, "I don't know." She glanced at the silver and thought so, but Schnees were warriors, and her mother was no exception. "I'd like to think not. To tell you the truth, I'd like to think she died because emotions got the better of her. I want to think everything that happened was simply an accident, but I unfortunately know that's not the case. She always used alcohol to keep herself company, drinking herself into insensibility whenever loneliness got to her, but she was also aware of her limits. The problem is that those limits just kept changing as her tolerance grew, and it eventually got to the point where she required too much to wash her emptiness away.

"She died by alcohol poisoning, a bottle in her hand, two more on the kitchen counter, and me standing in the doorway. My mother was there for my birthday and gone by the night, and right then—right at that moment I found her—the Schnee name began tearing itself apart."

"Weiss…" Duty served to limit Ruby's fears of dropping the necklace, giving her the strength to hold onto it, but her voice quavered weakly and her hand gripped her partner's own. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I didn't die and I didn't lash out, so my part in this means little."

"Don't say that, Weiss. She was your mom. It's normal to feel sad about that kind of thing—I know I was when my mom died, and so was Yang."

"But I'm not like you. I have to be strong because my family depends on it. I did cry and I was sad, but the moment I let my emotion show, I destroyed the rest of my life."

The heiress' eyes burned, but tears never came. She had cried until the funeral but was derided by her father and outshined by her sister. But this had always been the case. "A reporter came to me on the day of the funeral. I was the closest person to my mother and I was her daughter, but all the reporter saw in me was a story. She asked me how I was, how it felt to have lost my only friend in the world, and in that moment, the answer was livid. They'd just put my mother in the ground and the reporter was keeping me from paying my respects. She asked me again, and I screamed at her—I disrupted the entire service for my own selfish anger just to tell her that I wanted my mother back. That's all I said, and I know I sounded like a spoiled brat, but I kept repeating 'I want my mom back' because I was eight and she was the only thing right in my life.

"That report, that footage she recorded, made its way onto every celebrity gossip site and every news channel across the four kingdoms. Yang's seen it, Blake's seen it, my father saw it, and the immediate reaction the world had was 'Weiss Schnee doesn't know how the world works.' But they're wrong. No one knows how the world works like I do." Her temper was rising and a tirade was coming, but she felt no reason to stop any of it. Thoughts of Ruby's maturity, her reputation's security, and even their date's integrity could only enable this lifelong fury. No, this was the answer to Ruby's question. This was who Weiss was.

"The world is founded on hearsay and uninformed opinions. A person can do impossible things to the benefit of every worm on this Godforsaken planet, but the moment someone—anyone—hears about this hero's failing, all their accomplishments go up in smoke. No matter what you do, your reputation will always amount to what third parties are saying behind your back. Yang never met me before the academy, but she saw the video. She knows I whine when things don't go my way, but you know I don't. Blake knows this, too, but she came from an organization obsessed with the shortcomings of my family. Whenever someone sees my family's crest, they don't think about the millennia of work we've put into the defense and sustainability of our species. They don't think about the language they speak or the money they use. They just think about a corporatist pig crying over her dead mother—they see me as weak because I was eight years old and sad.

"But I'd imagine anyone would react that way. The hypocrisy comes when they find that my mother died from alcoholism. They saw her as weak, too, and thought she had overindulged in luxury. They never knew the loneliness she was put through and they never knew how much she gave up. She was a world-renowned model, adored by many and known the world over. She had friends in every city who truly loved her and she had the freedom to set an example for the world. But she chose to be with my father because she loved him—not for his money, but because of the way he benefited the world. She never saw his flaws because she loved him that much, but he left her to be lonely and with me as her only friend. But she was blind to it all. She drank away her thoughts and cared for me when she couldn't care for him. She went from fans to friendless, freedom to an island, and all the world thought of her was how she was weak.

"None of what I do is about me. It's about her and making sure her investment doesn't go to waste. I hate my father and what he's done to the Schnee name—I hate his father and his grandfather and every isolationist forefather before him. When a person thinks of 'Schnee,' all they think of is money. The way it used to be, 'Schnee' meant power, but my family made mistakes. Now it's my job to change the public's opinion. I can't be a politician or a singer or a huntress because none of those comes nearly close enough to what I must do. I have to be written into the histories on a positive note, I have to make Atlas look to me for leadership, and I have to convince the world that Schnees are not weak. And that will take a lot of work and will depend upon my flawlessness. If I have to be perfect, then I will be."

Weiss gasped for breath and shook away her frustration. It was unbefitting for her to lose her composure and the fact that she had enjoyed it was disconcerting. Her temper had always been her greatest flaw, and now Ruby had seen it—twice, unfortunately. However, the young girl did not recoil or shy, she did not cower or loathe; she squeezed her partner's hand and sighed alongside her. "Weiss, I…I…I, uh…"

She was searching for sentences, some response to this rhetoric, and thus became considerately quiet. She could neither analyze nor counter Weiss' arguments because she lacked the experience to do so, but she had at one point proven herself competent in the ways of appeasement. Now, however, demanded consolation, a much different form of empathy, but she seemed more than ready for the challenge—she was spirited and zealous, and when it came to her partner's pain, Ruby would do anything to fix it. Releasing her pity with a shake of her head, Ruby smiled sadly, trying to bring the young heiress back from her cloud of fury.

"Weiss," she began again, "if you ever need help, I'm your girl." The heiress looked to her with confusion clear in expression. "I know you probably don't need me to swing a scythe around for what you have planned and you know how I get when I talk in front of crowds, but if there's anything I can do to help you build your legacy, I wanna do it. I know I'm a…a flaw, and I know flaws aren't the best thing for perfection, but you don't have to save the world by yourself. Maybe you won't want Yang or Blake to help, but if you want me there, I'd give up anything to be with you."

She then cocked her head to the side, resting it on her partner's shoulder. At first, Weiss did not want this, thinking that such an action could only discredit the pain of memory, thereby making her story trite and meaningless, but she soon came to realize that ignorance was not Ruby's motive. Rather, the young girl did this as a service of consolation. She trusted her partner enough to rest against her during this ongoing fury and she understood that Weiss' pain was real, despite the media's libel. She had listened, this much was evident, and did not seem to think positively of the reporter's findings. Moreover, with each passing second of reassuring contact, her presence seemed more and more natural.

With a reluctant sigh, Weiss allowed this closeness. Remorse gradually turned to acceptance, fury turned to composure, and every hateful thought she held for her father turned to gratitude, intended for this girl who now leaned against her. Ruby was warm and her hair was soft, and, considering the discomfort of these previous thoughts, Weiss was ready for a distraction. Between the contented little sounds the young girl made, a strange sort of peace was recognized amid this pain. The heiress' mind yet wanted to race with thoughts of improvement and regret, but a thankful warmth diffused this pain and gave her a path to follow, leading her away from the darkness and into their present.

She felt calmer than usual without the accompanying cold; her father could not reach her here, she realized, and her mother now had two friends instead of one. Regardless of what had happened all those years ago, Ruby cared dearly. She was here for Weiss, not for the daughter of Otto, and made an effort to spare the girl in white from her critical flaw. For this reason of fidelity, Weiss was eventually able to relax and lean her head against Ruby's own.

Regrettably, the younger palm strayed from Weiss', and as the heiress searched for the cause of this disruption, she found the silver apple lowering into the rift between them. Ruby closed their hands around it, returning the necklace to its rightful owner and nuzzling into her partner's neck.

"You know," the young girl mused, "your mom sounds nice. I guess I said it before, but she really does. And I'm sorry she had to be lonely like that. I…I can't imagine what she must've been through and I don't really wanna try, come to think of it." She smiled ruefully. "One day, we're gonna have that coffee you talked about—all three of us. She sounds just as awesome as you are, and when all of this is over, I'd love to hear what she has to say. I bet she's proud of you." It would be unwise for the heiress to speak to this conviction she did not hold, but she did smile at Ruby's optimism. If she was right, then it would indeed be a coffee to remember.

"Anyways, it kinda makes me wanna tell Yang to stop drinking. I mean, she doesn't do it that much and she does seem to like it, but I don't want her to hurt herself." She sighed. "At least she's got Blake to help her now. They'll take care of each other, right?"

The heiress nodded.

"And I know you probably don't need me to, but I'll take care of you, too."

"Ruby, I've sworn off alcohol. You don't have to worry about—"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry. I meant I'm gonna keep you from being lonely. I'd like to keep dating and stuff, but whatever happens between us, I'll always be your friend. I know you, Weiss, and I know you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. But you're also a bit of a grump and just as bad as me at making friends."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. We're just two sides of the same awkward coin, and a coin's gotta stick together, right?" It took a moment, but she laughed again and shook her head. "Sorry. Bad joke."

"You say that like it's unwanted."

"Isn't it?"

"No," Weiss assured, closing her eyes and taking comfort in her partner's given headrest. "I could use a bad joke to get my mind off things." The silver was warm against her skin, the curves of her apple defined by memory and cold. It was a keepsake that brought her strength, luck, and it had succeeded despite its owner's disillusionment to superstition. Weiss needed to look no further than the other side of her pendant to know that luck had been found and strength had been brought into her life. She rested against Ruby, eyes fluttering open and closed to occasionally watch the misty riverbanks and the perennially falling leaves which covered them. "Thank you for listening," she whispered. "Thank you for understanding."

"Thanks for telling me. I know it must have been hard, but…I'm proud of you." She pulled her head away, turning to meet a mildly disappointed heiress with a grin. Behind her moonlit eyes were echoes of giggles—childish notions of freedom and idealness, postulated and proven by her natural calm. It was apparent that Weiss was not changing the girl, corrupting her from a destined path. No, this young girl, naïve and troublesome, was actually changing Weiss in a way only Alexia could. But whereas the mother Schnee preached fairness and equality, Ruby just wanted to have fun and taught this by example. Those giggles behind her eyes, the compliments on her lips, and the silver bond she shared with the heiress proved caring in an unimaginable way. "You're not a monster and you're not a robot and—well, I don't really know your dad, but I'm pretty sure you're not like him. You're you, Weiss, and I don't think I've ever met anybody like you. I'm glad I did, though! You're, like, awesome in every single way, and I'm just really, really happy you're my partner."

With a short laugh, she pulled her hand away, leaving the necklace coiled in her partner's hand. However, her warmth yet lingered and Weiss could only watch in unwitting confusion as her fingertips and silver were bared, all alone. She looked back up, silently asking why Ruby had not remained where she was and finding the young girl's answer in a proud smile. Though, it is not to say that Ruby was in any way prideful of herself—of this, the heiress had come to assume impossibility—but instead that she was proud of her partner as stated before. She had faith in Weiss' efforts and celebrated who the heiress was. More than Alexia, Ruby was supportive simply by smiling, and it was from this support that Weiss understood her leader's rationale.

The heiress shook her head, smiling back as best she could. Of course, she could never hope to match Ruby's enthusiasm, but the girl had mentioned how much she liked seeing this smile, so Weiss would oblige her. "No," she insisted, allowing happiness to speak in logic's stead. "Thank you. I've put you through so much. I ignored you, I lambasted you, I undermined your attempts at being the leader you are. I yelled at you, I argued with you, I abused you in no way a friend should. And I regret it now—I regret it all. Really, I was…wrong.

"You've been nothing but a friend to me, Ruby. Every second I spent hating you is festering now and coming to bite me, but I can't tell you I'm sorry. No, I have to be sorry to myself for even going down that hateful path. To you, I must be thankful, because without you, I would have never been pulled from my hate. Without you, all I'd see in the students at Beacon would be liars and traitors waiting to kill me and claim some interested party's reward. But you made a difference. You've changed me, Ruby, for the better. I'm happier now, excited about life. I want to fight against my father, not just because it's needed, but because I know that I can succeed. And even then, I don't want to do that yet. For once in my life, I want to stand still and enjoy this moment; I want to take in the joy you've given me and thank you for all you've done."

The heiress beamed now, eschewing her prior angst and barely suppressing a chuckle at her partner's flushing bashfulness. Though Ruby tried to look away, Weiss held her spellbound with eyes as blue as the sunny sky above. "I've never wanted friends, only to not be alone, but you changed my mind singlehandedly. You aren't a flaw by any means, no matter what I said—I was angry then and couldn't see what you were trying to be. You're the best friend I could have hoped for and you're more supportive than I frankly deserve. So, thank you, Ruby. I'm really happy that you're my partner, too."

Without another word, this girl of the north, scion of apathy and efficiency, stepped forward and wrapped her partner in an effusive hug. Her arms coiled carefully around the young girl's wiry shoulders and the blanket-like cape which made her the hero she truly was. She rested her cheek against her girlfriend's own, marveling at the flushing softness while holding her necklace against Ruby's back. Surprisingly, the girl in red was startled by this sudden affection. She had stiffened, choked, and failed to reciprocate at first, but the embrace held nevertheless.

She was warm. It felt nice to have a shoulder to lean on after being alone for so long. Yang and Blake could cling to each other out of obsessive affection, but Weiss was not them. This was simply gratitude in its most familiar form, and although the heiress did take some personal satisfaction from holding her partner close, this was certainly not clinging. In one hand, she held proof that she had been the apple of her mother's eye and, in the other, she held the only person to mean anything more than a business venture or self-serving ally. Fortunately, Ruby would soon find her footing again, bringing with her that tingling energy which Weiss had been initially ensnared by. A happy sensation ran up the heiress' arms as Ruby returned the hug; goosebumps hardly amounted to this hair-raising excitement. It was a choking sensation that she could only smile at, a nagging flutter in her heart that altogether stole her breath, and a foolhardy strength that convinced her she could carry the world if she so chose. And as Ruby smiled her beautiful smile and her arms proved their hospitable strength, Weiss simply let this choking, suffocating, mind-boggling energy consume her.

They would remain this way for a comfortable while, cheek to cheek, heart to frigid heart, and unashamedly smiling as they enjoyed each other's warmth. Ruby remained silent out of what was assumed to be reverence for her partner's emotion while the heiress simply let her woes be carried away on the breeze. Sadness was unnecessary now; she had had time to mourn yet hardly ever allowed herself to enjoy life. Ruby aspired to be fun, and although this levity was a jarring contradiction to the pain of before, Weiss did not mind humoring her. She was happy to run her hand across the young girl's back and press her head against the sturdy shoulder, letting the story from before simply disappear and be replaced with peace.

Soon enough, a shudder would break the young girl's composure and a sigh would follow after. "Weiss," she whispered, a tone of hesitance going unheeded by her partner's once-in-a-lifetime show of affectionate bliss.

"Ruby," Weiss responded, her word a playful hiss on the wind.

The hug became tighter in what Weiss could only assume was similar happiness, but a look of blushing fear crept across the young girl's face as she foolishly buried herself in the heiress' shoulder. "Um, you know…uh, I, heh…Weiss?" she tried.

"Mm-hmm?"

The young girl inhaled deeply and released a veritable torrent of uncertainty. "Uh…quick question? It's probably nothing 'cause I know what you'll probably say and it's not really that big of a deal to start with 'cause it's just me being dumb and not knowing how to stop being awkward, and, yeah, I guess this is probably an awkward question, but—"

"Ruby," the heiress interrupted. She smiled at the young girl's nervousness; however, Ruby was not exclusively nervous from what Weiss could hear. Because she pushed onwards, there was undeniable confidence guiding her actions, but it was strained by uncertainty that Weiss wished to remedy. "You're rambling. Just ask me. I promise I won't bite."

Ruby audibly gulped. "Well, I guess there's no way to say this normally, but here goes." She took a deep breath, hugged her girlfriend tighter for a moment, and then pulled away to meet her gaze. "Weiss," she began, blushing furiously at her partner's confusion, "would it be okay if I…you know…kissed you?" Immediately, she recoiled, taking cover for the impending explosion she had expected.

As expected, Weiss' smile fell away.

A kiss? Surely she did not mean on the cheek. She had meant a kiss on the lips, and there was no way to dispute this. Weiss' grip faltered and the fluttering in her chest hastened to a sweltering speed. A kiss? One month ago, she had struggled with the simple concept of holding hands, but a kiss? Inexperience aside, this was impossible and at the same time inevitable. This was what couples did, right? They hugged and held hands and kissed and were generally merry without fear. It was true that Ruby was her girlfriend, but this had historically meant little more than a title. Privileges and expectancies beyond dates and embraces were never brought up, much less acted upon, and even then these could be considered acts of friendship, albeit close friendship. But a kiss? Certainly, it was expected and unavoidable for one's entire life, but the idea was…frightening. Honestly, Weiss was not opposed, simply scared.

"Ruby, I…"

"I'm sorry!" the girl squeaked. She pulled away, releasing Weiss from the desired embrace and stepping a few cautious feet away. "Just ignore me, okay? Really, it's not that big of a deal." She had begun tucking her hair behind her ear repeatedly and avoiding Weiss' gaze as though judgment were being cast. "I-I just…I don't know! It felt right when I asked it, but now it doesn't, and I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do. Just…it's…I'm sorry!"

A kiss? Was it so bad? At one point in time, Weiss had considered a relationship in much the same light, but whereas dating required titles, a kiss required a promise. It was a promise of loyalty and devotion, and in every book she had read on the subject, it signified unity. They were already partners, friends, and girlfriends, but were they compatible beyond a mere summer break? Ruby wanted it—asked for it in confidence—and it had been Weiss' word to keep her happy, but this went beyond simple appeasement. This was a promise of loyalty, an assurance of partnership until Ruby might dissolve their bond. By no means was this absolute, but a Schnee's pride must never be underestimated and their adherence to honor would be their greatest fault.

Weiss sighed. All or nothing, she decided—she could either reprimand the girl like she had in the town square or be the girlfriend Ruby had wanted. Yet even this was a lie, for Weiss wanted it, too. She wanted to be Ruby's and she wanted Ruby to be hers, and, for this reason, she sighed. "Ruby, it's okay. I'm…I'm willing—a-at least to try, that is."

"Wait. What? Really?" In three words, her hope had returned. She grinned toothily and blushed a nervous blush as she retook those lost steps and returned to her girlfriend's presence. "You mean you're okay with it? Like, we're actually going to—"

"Please, don't remind me." Ruby raised an uncertain brow. "I like you, Ruby; I really do. But what you're asking is…well, it's…"

"You're nervous, right?" Hesitantly, the heiress nodded. "Me too. I've kinda wanted to do this for a while, but I just didn't know how to ask—I didn't know if I needed to ask or if it was something that just came natural. I mean, they show it a lot in movies and books and stuff, but they never really talk about what to do. Like, do I kiss you or do you kiss me or do we kiss each other?" She sighed, expression turning downward. "Sorry. I'm killing the mood, huh?"

"Ruby…" Weiss had been saying her partner's name frequently as of late, sometimes out of reference, recently out of admiration, but now she called the young girl's name to ask why. "Nervous doesn't begin to cover what I'm feeling. Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you want me? I've been horrible to you and—"

"Yeah, but you've been nice, too. You helped Yang out last night with the whole bandage thing and getting her to come back and you talked to Blake and settled her down when she was scared. You're awesome, Weiss, and I don't care about all those things you said to me. Like you said, it's not about what you do wrong but what you do right. And you've done a whole lot of things right!" She gave an apologetic smile. "Weiss, I-I wanna kiss you, if that's okay, because…well, because I really like you. And I trust you and I…I wanna thank you."

The heiress stared at her for a moment, coming to terms with the situation and bolstering her courage. She was a warrior and a diplomat and carried a strength that could not be emulated, but the heiress of the Schnee throne would readily admit that her capacity for tenderness was lacking. However, Ruby was just as nervous as she was, and this was their adventure. "You'd be my first," she warned. "I hope you know that."

"Yeah. You'd be mine, too."

"And, just to be clear, you don't know how to go about this?"

"Nope, not really. You?"

"No. The thought's always been a ghost to avoid."

"So, uh, how do you wanna do this?"

Weiss sighed. "Carefully."

"Same. D-Do you wanna go first or should I do it or what?"

"Well, it was your idea."

"Me? I…Okay. I just…Okay, give me a second."

Ruby squared her shoulders with her partner's, lining their feet up and looking into frightened blue eyes. She gulped, as did the heiress, albeit in a quieter manner and with an irksome bead of sweat betraying her composure. Both girls glanced at their respective opposite sides of the bridge, ensuring that no one would interrupt, before looking to each other breathlessly.

Silver eyes begged a question of consent to which the heiress hurried along. Ruby was the first to move, jerking her head forward inch by inch and pulling back anxiously at every raised brow. The situation became increasingly uncomfortable for the heiress as she resigned to waiting, watching her partner move back and forth in uncertain, flustered movements. But she could not claim herself stoic. No, Ruby was going to kiss her and this meant change. She was looking forward to it but feared her own incompetence. Even more than this, however, she could not wait. And as the young girl's natural heat sizzled against Weiss' cheeks, the heiress blinked in surprise. This was happening and there was nothing she could do about it—there was nothing she wanted to do about it—and in this single moment of calm before the storm hit, an inner peace was found—Weiss' racing thoughts slowed and disappeared and her world simply became Ruby.

With Weiss standing still and Ruby leaning dangerously forward, their lips met.

That is, their lips did meet for a blissful half second, but, in Ruby's haste, so did their teeth. She had been so slow in her lead-up and so thankfully patient, but the last few inches came rushed and forceful. Just as quickly as they met, both recoiled.

Instantly, the girls turned away and brought hands to their respective lips. Though Weiss could not speak for her partner, a large stake in her reason for doing so was not to shield her teeth from the stinging pain but instead to reminisce on that brief moment of contact. It had felt…Well, it had not felt disagreeable, but it certainly had not lasted long enough to form a positive opinion. Surprisingly, she found that despite her pain's rapid disappearance and her mind's will to move, her hand would not budge because a tingle was on her lips and that tingle was Ruby.

As for the girl in red, apologies came in droves while the heiress remained turned. Between her fingers, she squeaked an octave higher than she had any right squeaking and she all but prostrated herself before the expected wrath. But whereas hatred had been anticipated, Weiss simply laughed.

Loud, unafraid, unscathed, and jubilant, Weiss laughed. Admittedly, the sound was unpracticed and blatantly amateurish since she did often restrain herself, but she was unexpectedly happy that the kiss had happened and could not get over the irony of their mishap. Of course, she was upset that the kiss had been awkward, but between her care of the kiss' quality and Ruby's characteristic reaction, laughing was the only natural response she could have. Now Weiss was laughing—Weiss was laughing—and the silver sound was quite obviously not directed at the young girl. Upon seeing her partner's uncharacteristic mirth, Ruby eventually joined in, forgetting her pain for the infectious giggle she so wanted to share.

They would remain this way, laughing at their inexperience and smiling at what they had done, until oxygen finally got the better of them; and when it did, Weiss looked to her partner in a new, warm light. Their first kiss had gone wrong, and Ruby deserved better. Moreover, Weiss yearned for a proper embrace, and thus took it upon herself to lead.

She stepped forward, enthralling these silver orbs with her renewed purpose and holding Ruby's attention utterly. The young girl froze and melted and lost her breath in her partner's presence, stiffening at her approach and slacking at her smirk. Weiss' happiness was a statistical anomaly and both girls seemed to know it, leaving Ruby immobile and her partner empowered. The heiress, once cold and distant to a willful degree, brought a hand to her leader's smile, making a show of almost caressing her cheek but instead tucking a stray bang behind her ear—how she had longed to do that! However, she was not content to stop here.

In one fluid motion, she brushed back Ruby's hair, raking a hand softly from her temple to the back of her neck, and held her firmly and triumphantly. Weiss did not know what spurred her on in that moment of ardor, but an echoed word drifted through her mind, a claim of personal possession and childish absolution. She did not give much in the way of warning besides a flashing smirk before leaning forward and pulling Ruby towards her much the same. Patiently, slowly, surely, Weiss kissed her partner.

The first thing she noticed was that her opinion on the matter was indeed positive. Her eyes drooped closed as contact was established while Ruby's own remained wide open, surprised and excited. Unlike before, where their attempt had been that of two people more or less mashing their faces together, this kiss came easier, presenting an unexpected softness that was earnestly noted and as well a general chap to the younger's lips which would later be scolded. In the meantime, however, Weiss would enjoy her first kiss—her first real kiss.

Everything felt right in the world: her position, her companion, her title achieved during a late-night impulse. It all felt safe. Neither the falling leaves to every side of them nor the autumnal breeze could pull her from this centricity, this wholeness of being focused on one cheery point. As Ruby relaxed and began to push her lips back, Weiss found herself smiling. The moment meant more to her than the future, the past, and the present which existed anywhere else. She did not think of her father or her expectations or the generations of emotionless stalwarts before her; she was indeed a Schnee and heiress to Atlas' defense, but all that mattered at this moment was that she was Ruby's and Ruby was hers. The kiss was relaxing with its easy subtlety and assuring with the closeness it forced. For every bubblegum sigh that this chipper girl let escape, a replying chuckle diffused the tensions. Ruby was young, Weiss was inexperienced, yet they were here now, succeeding.

As if on instinct, Weiss' hand brushed upwards, obscuring itself in the soft thicket of black hair. The sensation was surreal, as though she had control over her own happiness and could make it sing with an invisible movement. She felt powerful, competent, and wholly uncharacteristic, yet this made the act all the more fun. So, she rejoiced in this embrace and memorized her partner's lips as best she could.

However, when Ruby moved her own hands to cradle her girlfriend's head, Weiss knew it was about time to stop. Any further and Yang would find justification for becoming protectively violent. With a final sigh, the heiress pulled away, finding that Ruby followed after to extend the act just one second longer, but even she would realize the given cue and eventually relinquish the kiss with a quiet pop.

Weiss had expected to be out of breath, gasping as though her lungs were sacrificed for a greater warmth, but as she savored the kiss and all the sensations of freedom it provided, she realized that she had never felt more alive. And when she opened her eyes to gaze upon her hero, her smile did not subside. The silver pools of light shimmering above a bay of pink drifted lazily and focused on a nothingness far, far away.

"Holy cow," Ruby absently gasped. Evidently, she was much less fortunate in terms of lung capacity, having held her breath for the entirety of their half minute. She had never thought to breathe or inhale, but she had sighed and giggled, and this left her breathless in a much different way than Weiss. "That was…I mean…Can we do that again?"

The heiress shook her head, not intending to deny her partner the chance by any means. "One would hope."

She was trying to be cool, trying to suppress the blush which still remained and the happy laugh she wished to unleash. And, for the most part, she was successful in this endeavor, but there was one factor which would always betray her calm. The hands that had become tangled in the heiress' snowy hair fell to her shoulders, one of which not stopping there. Ruby did not seem to think much of it, for as she moved her right hand down to Weiss' chest, she did not blush—at least, her blush did not intensify. "Weiss," she marveled, "your heart, it's beating so fast. A-Are you okay?"

"No," the heiress said, smirking at the momentary worry that crossed her partner's features. "No, I'm not okay at all. But I have you to thank for that, don't I?"

The young girl pulled her hands away, frightened within the heiress' arms. "Me? What did I do? Weiss, if I did anything to make you mad—"

"Ruby, I'm complimenting you." The girl blinked a few too many times before coming to the same conclusion with a sheepish "Oh." Weiss smiled at her, releasing the girl from her worries and as well from the embrace. Externally, Ruby seemed happy to have just kissed her partner, but she was yet concerned about their future since Weiss was leaving her. This would not do. As the heiress moved to don her necklace once again, she explained, "Honestly, I did enjoy it—very much so, actually. In fact, I'd be willing to make this a somewhat common occurrence if you wouldn't mind, but we simply cannot do this every second of the day."

"Aw, but why not? It was fun!"

"I'm not disputing that," replied the girl in white, clicking the clasp of her chain into place. "My point is that we have other things we could be doing. And if we were to spend our entire day doing that—not that we ever would, mind you—then we would need significant practice since we both seem woefully inexperienced."

"Yeah, but how are we gonna learn if we don't kiss more?"

She had a point, but Weiss was adamant in her flustered state. "Think on it, read something. I don't know. We have other things we should be doing right now."

"Like what?" Ruby was teasing her, trying to earn another kiss. But it would not work.

Weiss smirked back. "Ice cream. It's been a long day, and I think we've spent more than enough time here. And you've certainly earned it."

As had been expected, Ruby's expression brightened considerably. Her eyes screamed yes, but her troublesome mind had to ask, "But what about the rest of the gardens? I thought you wanted to see everything?"

She had. Perhaps she had not seen every garden or sanctuary, but Weiss had certainly seen everything she came here for. Ruby was happy, she, herself, was happy, and their relationship was strong. The sun was bright today and the humid air was a nice contrast to what they would return to in only a couple weeks, but even then, Weiss had her limits. "Ruby, there's nothing left here. Not for me, at any rate. However, if there's anything you'd like to see before we go, I'd be more than happy to keep going. This isn't just about me anymore. As long as you're happy, I'll be content."

"Are you sure?"

Weiss nodded. "Absolutely. All of our dates and all of the outings before them were never for me. To be honest, I would have enjoyed staying at your home all summer and only occasionally venturing out into the sunlight, but I'm glad I followed you. Of course, I did want to see the art exhibit and it was required of us to become adjusted to our summer's setting, but anything beyond those was simply for you. When you asked me to spend the summer here, I had expected to stay locked in my room so I could work and I would have been fine with doing so. However, you gave me a reason to step outside my normal limits.

"I never thought about dating before this, about friendship. Honestly, it all seemed antithetical to what we were trying to achieve with our team dynamic. I can see how that was wrong now, but it was what I believed. I also believed that you and I would never amount to anything. I thought I'd be stuck with you for the rest of our time at Beacon, but I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I do. Imagine what else there is beyond our routines. Imagine what it would be like to cast off our expectations of ourselves and see what could be rather than what should be. That's what I saw in you, Ruby. You should have been nothing to me, but I saw that you could mean more. You were distressed, afraid; I had hurt you when you only wanted friendship. And when I befriended you, I saw what could be, and that could-be became a should-be.

"But now I can't see the line between possibility and expectation. It's a statistical delusion, but anything seems possible now. My eyes are open because of you, Ruby, and I can't thank you enough." She smiled, stepping away and making sure to emphasize the fact that she was ready to go. "Hopefully ice cream will suffice."

"Weiss, I…" Judging by the cadence at which this was tried, a full sentence had already been formed—practiced and believed. Unfortunately, whatever Ruby had meant to say trailed off with a shake of her head. She returned the emotion gratefully and stepped to follow. "Yeah, okay. Sounds like fun."

With a nod, the two disembarked, leaving the bridge and continuing down the path they originally set for themselves.

Weiss was not lying at any point during her compliment. She was happy with Ruby and her eyes were open now to what life could be. Of course, life for her was bound to work and ethic, making romance a mere distraction in the grand scheme of things, but it was certainly fun. She had enjoyed the kiss and would likely find herself dreaming about some projected form of it tonight. Ruby was kind, Ruby was fun, Ruby was childish, but there no longer seemed to be anything wrong with this. Moreover, she deserved the same support she loaned, and if Yang could not supply this in full, then Weiss would take the lead. After all, it had been her mother who spoke of fairness from a Schnee. This meant that Ruby was partly a trial run for the eventual world leader, but, at the same time, she had become much, much more.

It would not be wrong to claim that Weiss felt strongly about her partner. Not only did she have a personal stake in the girl's wellbeing, she adored Ruby for who she was. She was a friend where there were naught, a girlfriend who should have been impossible, and she defied every resentful expectation to become a charming, playful confidante who could put any dignitary to shame. She was impressive and infectious—two key traits the world's greatest leaders must have. Weiss could learn from her and she from Weiss, but, at the end of the day, it was never about learning. Weiss was happy to see Ruby smile and Ruby was happy to see Weiss smile, and if this friendly reciprocity could exist between them, then could it not extend further?

The flushing forest soon settled to a familiar verdancy. Fell foliage became lush fields and the canopy above opened to let in the sun. Birds twittered excitedly from both the branches above and on the grass beside the trail. They seemed unafraid of the two, occasionally hopping onto the concrete and standing in couple's way. Scurries of squirrels skittered around them and chased each other up, down, and around the thinning trees, but as the sights of red and white moved along the path, together yet unattached, they gave their attention. Even the cooling wind, whose whim was of its own, served their happiness incidentally. But it would be wrong to place importance on their plural happiness, for Weiss was as much a servant to the daydreaming girl as all the world was.

"Weiss?" Ruby hummed, catching her partner's attention. "Thanks for doing that. I know it was kinda awkward, but…um…You have really soft lips. I liked it." Her eyes remained closed, perhaps reminiscing upon the moment. However, it was not Weiss' place to control the young girl's thoughts. If she did enjoy it, then it was her memory to keep—Weiss would be hypocritical to deny her this. "I don't know. It kinda makes me feel grown up, like I'm actually doing something right. But you always make me feel that way. It's kinda great."

"I make you feel successful?" Weiss had intended this to be something of a joke, but Ruby nodded.

"Yup! That's a good way of putting it. You're my success!" she giggled. "I never thought you'd be the type to let go of a grudge and like a dolt like me. But, hey, I'm not complaining! I got to kiss a pretty girl and I get to be with her for the next three years!"

Weiss could not tell if this was simple flattery or just her partner's thoughts. Regardless, she would not argue, but some part of her did want to believe this was a legitimate compliment and that she did mean something to Ruby—that she was pretty and wanted and not a complete slave to her own temper. But she would not say anything more, choosing to let the conversation slip into silence as they followed the path to their exit.

By all intents and purposes, a relationship should have been a detriment to their team dynamic, yet Ruby and Weiss had never been closer. Of course, they had yet to test their new bond in the trials which combat does provide and it would be foolish not to note the growing tensions between Blake and Yang and all it was doing for their partnership. Happiness did not guarantee success nor did synchronicity guarantee safety. But it felt good. This was the draw of dating from Weiss' perspective, this goodness. She did want to succeed and make the world a better place, but not much could be done from her current station outside of embracing the moment and counting the smaller successes as they came. Ruby was one such success. Her own softening personality had been another. This summer and their dates and the kiss she had just shared were all blatant successes and ones she would always think fondly of. However, she did still believe there were problems, but like the harassment in the town square, these could be easily remedied.

Following the events of the art exhibit, whereupon the partnerships changed for a consoling hour and Weiss was left with Blake, the heiress had given her teammate some needed advice. "Don't lose your edge," she had said, referring to the Faunus' descent into affection from her staunch paranoia. Blake had once been willing to fight against anything morally questionable, going so far as to defend a definitive terrorist organization when they were labeled criminals. Although she was misguided in what was objectively, logically right in many instances, her zeal was to be commended. Unfortunately, or so it seemed, this zeal waned when she found distraction in Yang.

Distraction! That was what Weiss had called it. No, Blake found comfort in the blonde and a source of stability where her life had had none. Weiss assumed that this comfort was mere luxury and that any distraction would reduce their team's rate of success. If one of them were to be distracted in a time of conflict by something as personal as a girlfriend, then they could all find themselves killed. Weiss saw Blake as a weak link at that time and had meant to warn her against becoming weaker. But this was not right. Among Team RWBY, Weiss could see how she, herself, was the weakest. Ruby was supportive no matter the conflict and was a great leader when the moment called for it. Yang was a role model in terms of resilience and spirit while Blake was patient, quiet, and set the standard for their team as good students. Unfortunately, Weiss was rigid to a fragile degree. She nagged, she argued, and she berated when one of her teammates stepped beyond the line of characteristic. Such was her reason for the advice.

Perhaps she could apply it to herself, but this would not do much good, for what edge was there to dull? Beyond her wit, physique, and sword, the world was much more fluid than she had initially expected. Just because Blake was happy did not mean she could not fight well—if last night were any indication, her instincts were just as sharp as ever. She was still reading, still anticipating next year's courses, and her sense of morality had only matured with Yang's protective tendencies. She was a friend, an ally, and a joy to speak to on the occasions they allowed, but this did not correlate to any physical atrophy. If anything, she found greater incentive to fight because Yang was her girlfriend and Ruby was her girlfriend's sister. Weiss knew the concept of loyalty well, and what Blake had proved was that her loyalty to Yang was as much a hindrance on her fighting ability as Weiss' loyalty to Atlas was.

So, was Weiss losing her edge? The maze had proven she was still above average in terms of physical fitness, but she was certainly not at peak condition. She was also beginning to feel the decline of her mental aptitude without any coursework to keep her occupied—summer assignments had only lasted her a couple weeks. And, perhaps most importantly, she had made use of the sisters' training area only three times over the course of these months and had decided against any further attempts since the area was no more than a field. The rest of her team had gone on runs together—runs which she declined—and often used the area as a makeshift firing range. Needless to say, Weiss did not feel confident in her swordplay at the moment.

However, she did feel markedly stronger. She felt more patient than she used to be, more adaptable like her partner was. Although she had not swung a sword in weeks and although she was trading time spent studying for time spent frolicking, her convictions did not falter. She was happy to be with Ruby and would rather spend time with her than prepare for a purposefully capricious task set by the faculty. Every night, she dreamed of the young girl, her musical giggle, and the silver moons which smiled at her, and every morning, Weiss woke to the thought of togetherness. Ruby had infected her mind and it was not at all disagreeable.

While Atlas built strength and an unerring edge, Vale encouraged intricacy without sacrificing practicality, and it was with this allegory in mind that Weiss understood Ruby was not dulling her strength but instead honing a more personable side.

As such, she smiled and silently thanked the young girl beside her. She could still feel Ruby's lips against her own, and there was no one else she would have wanted to have her first kiss. Perhaps dating was not so bad, after all.

The path ended and opened into a courtyard before the gardens' welcome center. A modest crowd moved about this open air, partaking of the beverage stands and entering the other forest trails. Mostly, however, the people chose to loiter, sitting on the edge of either entryway fountain or clustering in groups around the few stands by the exit. They moved to and fro, laughed and talked, and stood amused at the welcoming bushes of red and yellow roses. There were other couples here of similar ages to our focal duo, but Weiss did make a point to sneer at them from afar. They came here to only linger by the entryway and by no means did they seem as happy as she and Ruby were—not that they could be, of course. But they were happy nevertheless and so was the partnership, and as Weiss looked to the crowd afore, she knew that her decision of Ruby and dating her had been correct.

"Hey!" the girl in red called, pulling Weiss' attention back into the realms of civility. "You see that guy over there? The guy with the camera?" It took a moment, but the heiress found the man in question standing beneath a wide oaken tree beside another entrance to the park. "Do you think we can get a picture before we go? I mean, we don't have to, but—"

"Sure." The young girl beamed at this. "As long as he's not another caricaturist, I'm willing. Last time you dragged us into having a portrait made, it didn't end well for me. Personally, I'm fine with one criticizing cartoon of my image travelling the world, but two would more than likely be…Ruby?"

In her admittedly conversational stupor, Weiss had failed to notice her leader's absent stare. Ruby did still beam and was quite obviously excited, but something tore at her beneath the surface if her subdued energy meant anything. She watched the man with the camera but did not seem interested in him. Something else was on her mind. "Ruby? Are you all right?"

She blinked. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, no, I'm okay. Just, uh…Just thinking is all." Weiss raised a speculative brow, but Ruby shrugged it off. "You ready?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." However, the girl seemed unfazed and hurried along, moving quickly to the man across the way as her partner followed.

Weiss frowned. There was nothing to criticize in the young girl's behavior, but she was quite obviously keeping something to herself. This did not seem like a problem since Ruby was excited enough to suppress her awkward tendencies and grab the man's attention, but something was off. Weiss did not know what it was or what could have caused it, but she knew for a fact that something was wrong.

By the time she reached the opposite end of the courtyard and the tree she was to stand beneath, her partner had already spoken to the man. Whatever was happening in the young girl's mind was still yet suspect, but for the sake of friendliness, Weiss allowed herself a small, concealing smile. The man pointed them to where they would take the picture, and, in an instant, Ruby's confidence was regained.

"Come on!" she implored, extending a hand her partner's way. After a furtive glance around, Weiss understood that their position was safe and that no matter who stood in the courtyard, Ruby was her priority. She took the young girl's hand and smiled a genuine smile.

Quickly, Ruby pulled her over to the spot beneath the tree and turned so they faced the photographer. Her shoulder was pressed against Weiss' own, her smile focused on the heiress' eyes, and her silent admiration shined through her glowing silver. With golden freckles of the sun's design and an unabashed humor at her girlfriend's change in demeanor, Ruby smiled and tucked a hair back. That is, she tried to before the girl in white interrupted, usurping the nervous hand and fixing Ruby's hair for her. It felt natural to do, and Weiss did enjoy it, and as her partner pressed against the assisting hand, Weiss decided that this was where she wanted to be.

"Thanks, Weiss." She spoke quietly, her tone holding nothing but the sincerity Weiss had come to admire as the heiress pulled her hand away. "I know you probably don't care about this whole picture thing, but today's been just awesome and I wanna keep this memory. I know I could probably just remember it, and I probably will, but I wanna make sure I don't forget.

"This summer's been awesome and I liked spending it with you. All the dates, all the movies, all the hugs; it's just been awesome. And I know we're probably gonna go further and stuff, but so will life, you know? After Beacon, we're gonna have a lot on our plates and remembering stuff like this might get hard, so I wanna make sure this memory lasts forever. I think I'm gonna get this picture framed just like the drawing and that flower you gave me. This is important to me. Every memory I have of you is important because I've learned so much. You and me don't really have a lot of pictures together, and summer's almost over, so I want to get one taken of us now so I can look back on it when life gets rough. I wanna make this memory permanent, even if it doesn't last, and I wanna make sure I never forget you, Weiss.

"You…you're like my best friend, but better." She gave a short laugh. "To be honest, I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think I've figured it out. Weiss, you're not just a friend—you're not just my best friend. You mean a lot more to me than any of that. I—"

Unfortunately, the man behind the camera told them to smile. And they did. Ruby's head came to rest on her partner's shoulder in a previously impossible show of affectionate possession while Weiss' own acted similarly atop the ombré girl she adored. They grinned, Ruby wider and more enthusiastically than Weiss could ever hope to be and the heiress showed gratitude and as much warmth as her melting heart could muster. A squeeze came to her hand and the shutter fell.

The two breathed a collective sigh.

"You were saying?" Weiss asked, lifting her head from her partner's.

As the man returned to his table, Ruby looked at her. There was something to her smirk, something knowing and vaguely apologetic, but she shook her head. However, before Weiss was given the chance to investigate, the young girl leaned over and pecked her cheek, immediately silencing whatever concerns the heiress previously had. And as the fleeting warmth fluttered away from her skin, Ruby simply giggled and rested against her partner again. "It's nothing," she assured. "I'll tell you about it later. But about that ice cream you promised…"

Weiss sighed and let the mystery go. "Sure," she accepted, smiling her newfound smile. "Sounds like fun."

Fun. Perceivably, that had always been Ruby's goal. From the moment Weiss met her on that fateful autumn day, the young girl had always erred on the side of flippancy when around her partner. She had never spoken down to anyone, not even her enemies, and despite the abuse Weiss had inflicted upon her, she smiled widely and genuinely. From her unintentionally sweet compliments to her zealous attachment during a time of derision, Ruby had proven herself stronger than anyone else Weiss knew—not in any sense physical, emotional, or mental, but instead spiritual, somehow.

She had crashed into a cart of Dust, gotten herself kidnapped by a terrorist group, and bashed her teeth into Weiss' own during their awkward first kiss, and yet she kept pushing forward and fought against the idea of failure. Of course, she made mistakes in ways and quantities Weiss could hardly imagine, but every time she fell down, she picked herself right back up and tried again, using what she learned from her first attempt and succeeding during her second. She was a quick learner, Weiss would admit, and this was how she had been so adaptable. Did she understand the level of coursework Beacon gave her? Did she know how to lead a team of girls who despised each other? Did she understand the expected etiquette a relationship did entail? To these, the answer is initially not; however, the young girl learned from her experiences and flourished in these respective roles.

She was not physically tough, she was not morally literate, and she was by no means the smartest girl in her class, but it was apparent that this did not matter to her. However, to consider Ruby average in any respect would be to grossly underestimate her spirited abilities—many of her sparring opponents had made this exact mistake to painful consequences, Weiss being one among them. Although the young girl's tolerance for pain was surprisingly low, she never once complained when a situation became dire or her stamina ran low. At the same time, she might not have understood the societal differences of Remnant's varied cultures and it was doubtful she could defend her stance in a heavily grey area, but she did know good from evil and treated everyone kindly. And while she was not competent at memorizing names, dates, and places, she was resourceful and could make any conversation enjoyable. Moreover, Weiss had fallen for her, and all the young girl's scruples and flaws meant little when compared to what the heiress saw.

In the aftermath of a Dust explosion, all Weiss understood was hate and fear, but now the girl in red positively glowed with this summer's new favor. From her vivid smile that cast an auric tingle to her darling silver orbs which shined in the heiress' dreams to her natural honesty that set her above the rest and even to her smallest calluses on her littlest promising finger, there was nothing about her that Weiss did not enjoy. She was beautiful, and although she did not believe it, herself, Weiss would always know.

Like Wilhelm before her and old King Atlas, there was a bond of friendship shared between two fledgling warriors. Weiss, of a lineage of world leaders, business tycoons, and Lord Protectors, found herself enamored by this girl of heroic descent. She was gallant, honorable, plucky, and Weiss'—"Mine," she repeated in her mind—and for this, a solemn vow was made. Promises meant nothing in comparison—promises had a finite end—and what Weiss knew now and what she felt for her partner demanded this assurance of loyalty. She would defend Ruby for all her life, going out of her way to appease the young girl as they grew old while promoting her image and saving her reputation. Although they were not guaranteed to be together should Otto call, Weiss wanted to be there for her friend, and if she could not be with her in person, then she would act as a shield for Ruby's sword. It was a vow of protection, a vow of affection, and by the right of her eroded noble title, Weiss knew her life was for Ruby as Ruby's was for her.

Whereas the young huntress' goal was fun, the young heiress' was loyalty. If Ruby could be there for Weiss when loneliness set in or whenever she needed a friend, then Weiss would offer the same and more. Ruby was a cherished treat of contradictory design and, by her hand, a frozen, black heart had been soothed into normalcy, saving its owner from predestined isolation.

The summer would pass just as quickly as it came. The humid air and the tickling breeze would be supplanted by stuffy halls and hours indoors. Starry nights would find themselves curtailed by curfews and friendly adventures would become library study sessions. Black-tie dates and riverside outings would remain mere goals for the anticipated three-day weekends while open affection would be limited to their dorm. But they had memories of what had been done. A tingle on Weiss' lips, a hand in Ruby's own, a secret history neither would ever tell made the wait for next time all the more exciting. However, this summer had been a special one and both girls agreed, for beside their beds were three promises graced in silver and rose. A drawing of a furious princess and a naïve child was placed across from a photo of unimaginable happiness, a testament to what accepted fun could do, and between them both was framed the edelweiss, an unconditional vow of everlasting loyalty.

And so they lived happily ever after. Well, maybe not, but that's a story for another time.

I must admit that the ending here was initially a point of contention for me. At first, I wanted to do something big and shocking and turn all your happy expectations sour, but I decided this happily ever after approach would work better than any shock. At the end of the day, I know that Edelweiss doesn't have the most complicated plot in the world and it's certainly not a super emotional story. There were a few points of satire, heavy metafictional focuses throughout, and it did get pretty fluffy at some points, but, ultimately, Edelweiss is a fairly simple, straightforward story that serves to bring Ruby and Weiss together. Considering what was contained in the previous chapters and how few giant twists there were, I think a happily ever after works better than a final curveball. After all, this is a companion to Valence, and I can't allow one to ruin the continuity of the other.

That being said, I had tremendous fun with this story. Valence moves a bit slower and takes its time to flesh out angst and characterizations, but Edelweiss was a challenge I absolutely loved. Although the chapters were long, the story moved quickly, making each instalment serve as a standalone act with all the requisite content therein. In five chapters, I wanted to make Weiss go from resenting her partner's happiness to positively craving it, and I think I did a fairly good job. I got to jump ahead in time between each chapter by intervals previously unknown to my writing and I got place Ruby and Weiss in increasingly ornate settings to see them grow from their first-chapter selves.

And the fluff! By no means do I think myself an expert on writing it, but I enjoyed every second. There was a sort of sadism, I suppose, in concocting the fluffiest, mushiest interactions I could. The intent was not only to make Ruby and Weiss blush but to make you react, as well. Turning such mundane phrases as "the hero" (in reference to Ruby) into "her hero" and machinating all the ultra-candid monologues with the intent of baring the girls' souls felt like a blitz of positive emotion during the story's composition. Writing scenes like the kiss in this chapter and the hug in chapter three turned out to be exercises in stoicism, seeing how fluffy I could make an action before needing to stand up and take a walk. And as the chapters went on, I think I became re-sensitized, somehow. Not that I'm complaining.

In a way, this was somewhat therapeutic. Considering the rising tensions in Valence, writing something this carefree was a great way to break the tedium. The point was to make this novel as happy as possible to offset the angst in the other story, keeping the mood hopefully light while keeping me from going off the deep end in regards to conflict. Mostly, that was why Edelweiss was as simple as it was. Of course, there was some depth to it that will be used elsewhere and there are notable benefits to successive read-throughs, but, for the most part, I wanted to write something fluffy and fun.

And fluffy and fun turned out to be White Rose, loathe as I was to admit at first. Honestly, I was a bit apprehensive about the pairing before this story, not because of any prejudice, but because I had no clue how to write Ruby. Weiss was a learning process indeed, but Ruby was something else altogether. From the way she's characterized, both here and in the series, I had very few means to relate with her. I simply couldn't find her voice; writing dialogue for her was a nightmare in Valence and as well in the test pieces for this novel, but once I got over that and realized the girl was born to monologue, White Rose became an absolute joy to write. Ruby and Weiss are completely different people and yet, despite Weiss' supposed poise, they're both children, and the growth of their young love was consistently enjoyable to write. I can see why people like the ship so much.

To that end, I must applaud the White Rose advocates among you who have shown this story support. This may not be a popular novel in the grand scheme of things, but from the reviews I've read and the private messages you've sent, it's readily apparent that you guys love what you read. Seriously, the enthusiasm you've shown is incredible.

That's why I'm not done with White Rose just yet. Of course, this particular story has come to a close, but it's not the end for this iteration of Ruby and Weiss. While the ending to this story is final and serves to make the novel stand on its own, there has been more in the waiting for a long, long time.

During the planning stages of Valence, I had an idea for another novel—a sequel. I won't get into the specifics of its plot here, but I can tell you that I decided the sequel will be written because Edelweiss did so well. Not only was Edelweiss a companion novel to Valence, it was also a 130,000-word prequel to something much larger, introducing ideas and places that will later be used. Following the end of Valence (which only has three chapters left at the time of this conclusion's posting), the first chapter of this second novel will be released. It will be equally as much White Rose as it will be Bumblebee and I can assure that it has a much grander plot than either novel thus far. If you're interested, I'd advise you to follow me on Fanfiction until the novel is released or occasionally check my Tumblr for updates (a link can be found on my profile). Otherwise, expect the sequel by mid-July at the latest.

Now, with all that said, thank you.

Edelweiss was a blast to write. However, I don't know if it was the White Rose aspect that made it fun or interacting with you all. Seeing the support you've shown through reviews and private messages made writing this worthwhile. Being able to read what worked, what didn't, and what you thought of the story inspired me to work harder, finding ways to expand upon the fluff and focus on what you thought was good. The words you've said, the consideration you've shown, and the insight you've shared has affected me greatly. Even in my most self-destructive moments, your support for this story has been reason enough to pull myself together and write. Just knowing that you'll read this and perhaps review is why I write with as much enthusiasm as I do—knowing that someone, somewhere is smiling at a joke Ruby made or a kiss Weiss gave is gratifying to my sense of accomplishment. It's been a long road writing this—a longer road than it probably needed to be with delays and distractions—but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, if only for you.

I'm not done with White Rose by any means. If you have an interest in reading it, I'll have an interest in writing it. That's why I'm making the sequel, that's why I spent so much time delaying, and that's why Edelweiss was written in the first place. Initially, it was meant to be a collection of five White Rose short stories that linked together in some indeterminate way, but seeing the eagerness for Ruby and Weiss' romance made expanding upon this idea entirely worth it. This story was written for you and was improved along the way because of your assistance. No matter who you are—if you reviewed, followed, or watched from the shadows—you are deserving of my sincerest gratitude. I owe you so much.

For the last time in this fluffy story, stay safe and stay tuned for the sequel.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed Edelweiss.