A/N: I'M NOT DEAD!

Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it? sorry for leaving for such a long time. I had a lot of stuff happening in my life. With my birthday, planning next year at college and the passing of my dog, I haven't had much time to write. But I've got his finished now so better late than never I guess.

Hope you enjoy!

The Rose/Xiao Long household was wide awake as the residents of the building were preparing for a very special day. Yang had to admit, she had never seen her family so excited yet frantic all at once. She had only witnessed this phenomenon once, back when Ruby was has bumped up two grades when she was just five and that was pretty tame compared to this, but there was a good reason for all the hysteria.

Today was the day that Yang would be graduating from Signal High, and it wasn't just her. Ruby, Blake, Weiss and all of her friends would be joining her on stage to receive their high school diplomas. It felt a bit weird to think that her little sister would be joining her on the journey to the real world, but she couldn't be any more proud of her. She couldn't wait to see her sister graduate, she just has to survive the preparations first.

"Okay sweetie, show me that smile," Taiyang asked, positioning the camera to get Yang into the frame. The older sibling smiled although it looked strained like she had been smiling for quite a while. A flash came from the camera as Tai took the photo and looked at the final result. "Oh wait, my thumb was in the frame."

"Dad, come on! You've been at this for hours." Yang exaggerated, her posture slumping slightly. "I'm not even dressed in my robes yet, can't you wait until then to flash that camera in my face?"

"And not have a chance to take one last picture of my baby girl before she becomes an adult? nuh uh." The blonde haired man shook his head. "I want to remember this moment for years to come."

Yang sighed, crossing her arms in annoyance. In truth, her father had been attempting to take her picture for only fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours to her. In the corner of her eye, she spotted her mother walking into the room, fixing her hair into her usual style.

"Mom, can please stop Dad from wasting all the memory on the card before we arrive at the school?" She asked her mother desperately.

"You're taking pictures already?" Summer asked sounding surprised. Tai only nodded which made her squeal. She moved to her husband side and leaned a hand against his shoulder. "Show me, I want to see how they turned out."

"Mom! You're not helping!" Yang moaned, her face turning beet red.

Her mother chuckled lightly. "Cut your father some slack Yang, this is a very emotional day we've been expecting for years. It's not every day that our two daughters graduate together."

"Yeah, but it's embarrassing. I hope you don't act like this when we get there, because I'd rather not have everyone look at us like we're wanted criminals."

"I'm can't help it, it's just… I can't believe that my daughters are finally graduating." Tai rubbed one of his eyes, wiping the tears of joy from them. "It brings your old man to tears."

His dramatic expressions made Yang roll her eyes. "Don't cry a river dad. We all know this day would come eventually."

"That doesn't mean I wasn't prepared for it. It only felt like yesterday when I first held you in my arms." Tai's reminiscence made Summer chuckle and Yang groan. Noticing her step daughter's mood, Summer made her way to her side.

"No need to worry, honey. She may be all grown up, but she will still be our sunny little dragon." She said, smiling as she hugged her eldest daughter.

Yang returned a smile of her own and embraced her mother. "And you'll still be my parents."

Calling Summer her mother was nothing strange for Yang, she knows that she isn't her real mom and that she and Ruby are only half-sisters, but that didn't matter. Summer was more than mother than hers even was and Ruby was the best thing that could ever happen to her. She loved her family, more than anything, even if they can be embarrassing and overly emotional.

She was so wrapped up in her hug with Summer that she failed to notice Tai walking over and lifting them up in his own hug, although a bit more bone crushing than it should be. Yang would try to wriggle free, but she decides to enjoy it this time.

Eventually, Taiyang released his grip on the two woman, allowing them to breathe again. "Hey, can you go tell your sister to come downstairs? It's almost time to leave."

Yang was already on her way to the stairs at the mention of her sister. "Roger that, old man." She mocked a salute, making her father roll his eyes, and climbed the stairs to the upper level of the house. When she reached the top, she strutted over to the door marked with the words 'Ruby's Room' and prepare to knock.

Before she could knock, the sound of a voice - obviously Ruby's - came from beyond the wooden barrier, but it was too muffled to understand what she was saying. Yang knew that only her family were in the house at the moment, so who was Ruby talking to? Letting her curiosity control her, she presses her ear against the door and listens closely.

"Hey there… babe. Are you a library book? cause I want to check you out… No, that's too suggestive." Ruby's voice sounded confident at first but turned irritated in a second. "Um, hey! I should call the cops, cause you stole my heart… ugh, no! that's too extreme!"

Hearing that was enough to make Yang smirk. Her sister was practising pick up lines and by the sounds of it, failing badly. Normally, this is the part where she would knock on the door again and call out to the romanticizing redhead like a good big sister, but there was no way she was passing up on this opportunity for potential teasing material.

She opened the door slowly to not make her presence know. Across the room, she could see her little sister, staring at her own reflection in the mirror, taking deep breaths like she was calming herself. 'That solves the mystery of who's she talking to.' Yang concluded.

"Okay, how about… Are you a dictionary? cause you're adding meaning to my life." The silver eyed girl attempted to pull off a suave smile while pointing her fingers like guns at herself, but eventually, it turned into a frustrated growl. "Uggghhhh! Why is this so hard? It looked easier in the movies."

Seeing her sister struggle was adorable and all, but it was time for Yang to activate her big sister mode.

"Wow, and I thought Pyrrha was obsessive." She spoke up as she entered the room.

"Gah!" Ruby jumped out of her skin, nearly falling face first to the ground, but quickly recovered and shifted her gaze to her sister. "Yang! Don't you know you need to knock before you enter somebody's room?"

"Geez, could you sound any more like Weiss?" Yang promptly received a pillow to the face and an angry pout from her sister, although it looked more adorable than anything else. She laughed nervously as she eyed a sheet of paper taped to the mirror with the one-liners scribbled across it. "I would ask you what you are up to, but this just speaks for itself." She said pointing to the paper in question.

Ruby seemed to freeze on the spot, her expression softening as she stuffs her hands into her hoodie. Eventually, she sighed and relented. "Alright, I'm practising how I'm going to ask Weiss on a date. I want to pop the question to her after graduation."

"You're asking her out already?" Yang asked curiously. When all she got was a meek nod, she whistled. "Damn Sis, it's only been about a week and your already taking the big leap."

"So? You and Blake told me to confess to her directly, did you not?"

"I know we did, I just wasn't expecting you to do it so soon."

"I'll have to do it sooner or later. After the summer, all of us will be going off to college or university or some other kind of place to earn a living." Ruby explained. "While we may go to the same college, maybe even share a room together, Weiss will be by her sister's side learning the ins and outs of Schnee Tech. We won't be able to hang out as much afterwards, so seeing as this might be our last full summer together, I want to spend that time with Weiss as my girlfriend."

"So you're going to try and win her over by spouting out over the top, cheesy one-liners?" Another nod of the head was what she got. When Ruby did this more often, it was a sign that she was nervous about talking and it clearly shows. "Hate to break it to ya Rubes, but I'm afraid none of these will work on old Weissicle."

"What do mean it won't work? You do it to Blake all the time." Ruby questioned.

"She's actual tolerant enough to put up with my puns, some even get her to laugh. Weiss, on the other hand, hates them. I'm sure she would strangle me to death if she heard my jokes for a whole day nonstop and yours are… well... just garbage."

"My lines are not garbage."

"'Are you a dictionary? cause you're adding meaning to my life.'" Yang repeated what she had heard early and shot Ruby a look. "Seriously?"

Yang watched as her little sister's face flushed red, shuffling her feet against the carpet as she rubbed the back of her head. "... That one's a work in progress."

Seeing that this was getting them nowhere, Yang shook her head and sighed. "Look, It's good and all that you're putting all your heart and soul into this, it really shows your love for the old Ice Queen, but I think you're going a wee bit overboard on this one Sis."

"Says the girl who punches drunk men through windows when they touch your hair." Ruby retorted, crossing her arms and smiling smugly. Everyone knew Yang for many things, her passion and care for her own hair being one of her more infamous tidbits.

"Hey! You know how much time it takes to get this beauty the way I want every morning." Yang defended, taking a chunk of her golden mane and stroking it like a pet.

"Doesn't mean you get to kill someone who does so much as brush it."

"The only people I trust with my hair is you, Blake, Mom, Dad and myself," Yang elaborated. "Back on topic. Everyone has their own way of conveying love to their special someone. Take me for example, I tell my brilliant puns to Blake to show my undying love for the kitty kat, I even incorporate her love for books and fish into some of them. It's just my way of being me.

"But you are not me. You're Ruby Rose, you are an honest, sweet and friendly type of girl who always knows the right thing to do. Subtle isn't one of your strengths, you have a hard time keeping secrets from us, so flirting won't be your kind of thing either. You are very expressive when it comes to your emotions, which means you should get straight to the point with your confession."

Yang had hoped that she had given her little sister the courage she needed to come out. She could remember her admission from last week and the pep talk she gave her on love confessions and she saw how Ruby had built up some courage from it, but all of that was all but forgotten by the silver-eyed girl because of a need for perfection.

"But I… I want this to go right. Weiss and I have been best friends for years now and I don't want to ruin it because of a crush. It has to be perfect. It just has to be." The fear in her eyes was real. It was akin to when Yang had her doubts about confessing to Blake, only ten times worst. Luckily, She had overcome this obstacle before and so could her sister.

"If you want to tell Weiss how you feel today, fine by me, I'm not going to stop you." Yang lowered herself to her sister's level as she rested her hands on Ruby's shoulders, seeing some hope come back into her eyes. She was about to speak up but Yang continued. "But what I am going to do is tell you to be honest with her and tell her the truth. No pickup lines, no romantic schemes that involve some crazy amount of planning, nothing. Just be yourself and be honest with her."

The fleeting glances towards the ground that Ruby did was a sign that she had listened and was considering the new possibilities she was given. It wasn't much, but it was something that Yang would take. Any confidence was better than none at all.

"Glad I could be of service." She said rather cheerfully while patting her sister's shoulders. "Now get your hopeless butt out of this room. Mom and Dad are waiting for us downstairs." With that, she leapt up from the floor and left the room, leaving the door open.

Left to her lonesome, Ruby began pondering on a new plan of attack. Honesty was something she always felt rather comfortable with growing up. Very rarely was she caught lying to others, but there was no selfless intent behind them, only to keep a surprise or to joke around. Being honest with love was a different story, especially with Weiss in her crosshairs. She had come to grips with the Heiress' beauty she discovered, but that doesn't mean her words get caught in her throat and turn her into a bumbling mess. She was sure that any strategy she came up with would end in her embarrassing herself.

She knew one thing for certain: She will talk to Weiss at some point in the night and tell her how she feels about their friendship. She could do this… probably… maybe…

…

She was going to crash and burn.

The Ceremony had happened fast and brought some fond memories.

Weiss never felt any more pleased with herself when she walked on stage and accepted her diploma, her hard work and persistence finally paid off. While it was just a roll of paper with, it was a milestone of her progress from the day she first arrived in Vale. Nothing could make this any better, although she did wish that Winter was here to witness this moment, but that what happens when your sister is the head of the single biggest tech provider in the world.

Secretly, she was jealous towards her friends, for they had families who came to watch, cheer and support them, but also thankful at the same time. She could envision her parents sitting amongst the crowd wearing emotionless masks, clapping not because they were proud of their daughter, but because they had an image to uphold.

There were some families that she was glad that she didn't have thought. Blake's parents were just as embarrassing as they have ever been with a few tears here and there. Needless to say that Blake wanted to buried in the earth for the rest of the day.

Her highlight of the day, however, was witnessing Ruby receiving her diploma and the bright, infectious smile she wore for the rest of event. Knowing that Ruby was happy made Weiss happy, even more so because of her recently discovered crush for her, seeing her smile made her heart flutter inside her chest.

Even now, her eyes were glued to the red themed girl from the booth she was seated. To celebrate their recent graduation, Weiss had invited everyone for an evening out for dinner; her treat. At the moment, half of the group had gone to the bar to place their orders and get their drinks, leaving just her, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora sitting in the booth. It wasn't busy nor was it quiet and somewhat reeked of alcohol, but that didn't deter her from lovestruck view.

"It was quite nice of you to treat us to dinner Weiss." Pyrrha's compliment almost went over Weiss' head, but she was able to pick it up at the last second.

"Yeah! You must be in like a really good mood if you did this all for us!" Nora leaned in, a bit too close for comfort, but Ren was on standby to pull the living battery back to her seat.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, no problem." Weiss responded hastily, too focused on the girl of her dreams chat away with her sister as they waited for their drinks. God even in that same red hoodie she still looks good.

Pyrrha followed her line of sight and gave off a sly smile. "I see you've still got googly eyes for little Ruby."

Weiss let out a love-filled sigh. "I know, just look at her. She's just so… adorable. Her bright eyes, her sweet personality, and that laugh; oh that laugh. It's like a chorus of angels every time I hear it." She didn't know why, but after discovering her feelings for the brunette, all of her qualities - include her less desirable ones - were amplified to the max. Never in her life would she think that Ruby's clumsiness would be so appealing.

"You've really fallen for her." Pyrrha said, not bother to phrase it as a question.

"Yeah…"

"Have you made a move yet?"

She sighed again, only it was more resentful than her previous one. "Unfortunately not."

"Oh come on! You're dragging this out like one of those comical romance movies that Pyrrha watches." Nora's complaint was enough to make the amazon blush while Weiss was finale broken from her trance on Ruby and shot back a glare. "What, do you happen to have plans to stage an argument with her over conflicting opinions near the end which will separate you but eventually helps you two's bond grow stronger and then you confess?"

"I do have a plan, thank you very much." The Heiress grew a small smirk. Her friends should know by now that she always has a plan. "I have an idea of how to start this off, although it will take some time to put it into motion, I can wait. Patience is a virtue."

Before they could ask anything about what she had planned, the rest of their friends returned with their drinks in hand. "We're back bitches!" Yang made her presence known by shouting at the top of her lungs. "And we have the drinks, so dig in!"

Yang and Blake took their seats at one end of the booth, handed Ren and Nora their drinks while Weiss and Pyrrha got up to allow Jaune to slide in with his and Pyrrha's drinks. That left Ruby to sit down and hand Weiss hers.

"Here you go, Weiss. Water, just like you asked." She smiled sheepishly, missing the slight trembles she was having as she outstretched her arm.

'Cute.' Weiss thought. A small smile was on her face as she took the glass from her friend. "Thanks, Ruby. At least some of you have some decency." She shifted her gaze to the blonde at the opposite end of the table who shivered from her icy stare.

"What? Can't a girl just be happy about finally leaving the most boring place on Remnant?"

"Yes, but not everyone celebrates by swearing at the top of their lungs." Blake proclaims.

"Pyrrha did once." Jaune blurted out, an action that caused the redhead in question to almost spilt out mid-drink. Everyone stared at the couple (mostly at Pyrrha) with wide eyes, they know her as a respectable winner in her sports, so they have never heard her curse after a win.

"She did what now?" Ruby asked what everyone had on their mind.

"When I said yes when she asked me out, she left the room and screamed with a sailor's mouth." Jaune explained, not noticing his girlfriend's face which read 'please don't do this'." She said some words that I didn't know even exist, and some even weirder words like-Oof!"

Jaune winched in pain as he was stopped abruptly by an elbow to the ribs from Pyrrha who was sweating bullets.

"Anyway, Let's not dwell on the past too much now and celebrate our victory, shall we!" She laughed nervously, wiping her brow from all the sweating

"Y'know, it's not really a celebration until we bring out the big guns." Nora points out as swirled her glass in her hand.

Yang nodded and slammed her hand onto the table, shaking most of the other drinks. "Yeah, after we're done with the main course we are going to drink like It's the end of the world!"

"Absolutely not." Weiss immediately halted Yang's idea, resulting in the blonde bombshell pouting. "We are not getting drunk on a night like this."

"But it's a night out on the town. You have to have at least one drink." Yang pleaded, holding out a single lone yellow finger.

"Need I remind you that one of us is only fifteen and thus can not consume alcohol at all." The Heiress chided, not budging from her point. "Plus, when you and Nora get drunk, you two seem to somehow get caught up in the weirdest of situations."

Yang waved off her accusation and averted her gaze. "I haven't got a clue of what you are talking about."

"Remember that party we had at one of our teacher's house when they were out of town?" Ren exclaimed.

"Uhhh…"

"The same party where Nora snapped a pool table in half and you took a shit on his computer?" Blake jumped in with her own account of the night.

Yang remained silent. Being backed into a corner by your friends was never a good experience for anyone, especially when They're right. "...In my defence, I did have a lot to drink that night."

Her poorly constructed excuse made Weiss smirk. "I rest my case then. We are not drinking any alcohol and that's final."

Bumped out and mood somewhat ruined, Yang slumped down in her seat and crossed her arms, her stare on Weiss. "Spoilsport."

"Blonde brute." Weiss fired back with a stare of her own.

The girls would have probably killed each if this continued, but thankful, Jaune stepped in to break it up. "Hey now, let's not start bickering to one another. We should be celebrating our victory together."

Ren nodded in agreement and put in his own two cents. "Jaune's right, this is the biggest night of our lives. We're moving on to a bigger world than ever before, and with that comes new challenges. We have faced many problems over the years; whether it was personal or physical."

"Yeah! and we were able to power through it all!" Ruby shot in with her enthusiasm at max settings, lifting the mood significantly. "Sure we had our rough spots here and there, and thought we couldn't make through but here we are now, growing out of our childhood years and into adulthood. We all have bright futures ahead of ourselves and none of us would have those futures if we didn't have each other. So let's have a toast."

She picked up her drink from the table and raised it high above her head. "To ten years of friendship, to all the challenges we've overcome and to our futures and whatever they may hold. Cheers!"

She heard some small giggles and saw smiles ranging from subtle curves to wide grins appear on her friends as they grabbed their own drinks and followed Ruby's actions, the familiar sound of glasses clinking together emanated around them.

"Cheers!"

The night continued on without a hitch. The newly graduated teens talked to one another until the waiters arrived with their food. The meal was 'to die for' depending on who you're were asking, but it was apparent that everyone enjoyed their meal. There weren't any more scuffles between Weiss and Yang for the rest of the night except for the occasional plead from the blonde followed by the immediate shutdown from the Ice Queen. All in all, tonight's celebration was going swimmingly.

After their empty plates were taken away and they had ordered another set of drinks for the table, Weiss had excused herself from the booth to use the facilities. As soon as she was through those doors, Ruby got up from her seat, ready to follow after her. Now was the time to get the hardest part of the night out of the way. A bathroom isn't particularly an ideal spot for confessions of love, but if it gave her the chance to be alone with Weiss she was going to take it.

She didn't get very far as her sister noticed her leaving and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her back to her level. "Where're you going?" She asked in a whisper.

"Now's my chance to ask you know who about you know what," Ruby answered, nodding her head in the direction of the restrooms.

It took a moment for Yang to put the pieces together, but when she did, she released her grip and smiled. "Then what are you waiting for? Go get her tiger."

With that, Ruby left the table and made her path across the restaurant floor, weaving her way pass by other patrons and employees, being careful not bump into them; don't want to end up drenched in smelly fish or stinky when confessing to Weiss, now don't we?

She didn't enter the restroom immediately, instead, taking the time to psyche herself up. 'It's not that hard. Just be you and everything will go fine. You can do this. You can do this.' She repeats this mantra several times in her head, taking slow breaths to calm her mind. Once she felt that she was ready, she moved forward and push through the door that leads to her goal.

Entering the restroom, the first thing she saw was Weiss staring into the mirror above the sink with unfocused eyes, like she was deep in her own thoughts. Ruby took note of the unlocked stalls to her right; all empty, leaving just her and Weiss. thank god for that.

"You ok?" She asked as she took a few steps closer.

Weiss slightly but didn't look back, instead opting to use the mirror to see her companion. Her eyes wandered to the girl in red's reflection and her posture relaxed. "I'm fine, just… thinking about things."

"What things?"

There was a sigh from the Heiress before she explained. "About what you said back at the booth, about how much has changed over the past few years and how different I am from when I first arrived here."

"Yeah, I remember how harsh and reclusive you were back then. You wouldn't even talk to me and ignore me." That got the Heiress to smile and let out a suppressed laugh.

"To be fair, I did find you rather annoying at the time." She pointed out.

"I was five years old, what did you expect from me?" The crimsonette defended.

"I certainly wasn't expecting a red-headed girl to walk up, sit next to me and started talking like we've been friends for years."

"Yeah, we didn't start off on best of terms." The young girl absentmindedly kicked the ground, watching Weiss' face briefly turn to a grimace through the mirror. "But look at us now, ten years later and we turn out to be the best of friends. I guess you could say that it was fate that brought us together."

"Mmhmm."

Silence filled the restroom, leaving an awkward pause lingering in the air. Ruby didn't know how to continue from that, any thought of words just die in her throat before they left her mouth. She couldn't just say 'Hey, I think I have a really big crush on you. Do you want to start dating?', not only is that random and unexpecting, it wasn't very memorable for a confession.

"Ruby, I want to thank you." The ivory haired girl spoke first, turning away from the mirror to the girl in question.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What for?"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she pushed off from the sink, mover closer to her friend. "Everything. All the times you were there for me when I need it, the times you made me feel like I was worth something, the times you dragged me along on one of your crazy and absurd adventures. Your friendship is something I treasure more than anything. I don't know how many times I have thanked you but… Thank you."

Hearing a complaint from Weiss was rare, but to hear one like that is one in a million, and yet it's still enough to make Ruby chuckle nervously. "It was nothing Weiss. In all honesty, I should be thanking you too. You helped me with the majority of my school work in the later years, with me skipping some years of my education, it was quite a leap in difficulty, so you're assistance was welcomed. When I was one who felt small and helpless, you came to my aid. When I did something stupid or screwed something up, you were there to correct it. You were there for me as much as I was for you."

"Well, I guess we both needed each other without really knowing it."

"Yeah."

The two stood there in silence once again, their eyes locked on to one another like life depended on it. It was at this point that both girls noticed how close to each other they were, just mere inches away from rubbing against one another, but neither side cared, as they were too busy lost in each other's eyes.

'This is your chance, Ruby.' Ruby's inner conscience said to her brain. 'She's standing right in front of you and you two just shared a touching moment together. Now's the perfect time to ask her out. Go on, just say it. Say it!'

She swallowed her hesitation as she opened her mouth and...

A ringing noise echoed through the room, halting Ruby and confusing both girls. The source of the was soon discovered as Weiss fished through her handbag and pulled out her scroll, sighing once she took a glimpse at the screen. "Excuse me for one moment Ruby. I need to take this call." She said apologetically.

Ruby visibly frowned as she took more of an interest to the floor. "Oh, um that's okay." She said timidly.

She couldn't see the concerned expression on Weiss' face, but that was soon replaced with a mask of indifference. as she returned her attention to her now annoying ringing scroll. While she was answering the call, the silver-eyed girl lost her focus when the voice in her head spoke up.

'You chicken. You had one job Ruby, one job and you screwed it up. How could manage to mess up something so simple? Weiss is right, you really are a dolt; a stupid, naive, childish dolt who can't even talk to her best friend without blushing like an idiot. You're just a… just a-'

"The building is what!?" Weiss' outburst broke Ruby from her thoughts, making her jump. The heiress face was a mixture of shock, anger and fear."Where is it?"

It was hard to tell what the voice on the other end was saying, as it was nothing but inaudible squeaking to Ruby's ears. Whatever was said, however, was enough for Weiss' mask to shattered and become a harsh and infuriated scowl.

"I'll be right there." Weiss immediately hung up after that and buried the scroll back into her handbag, fixing the strap across her shoulder. "I'm sorry Ruby, but I must be leaving now. See you later, have a wonderful night." She said with a suddenly calm tone as walked past the brunette towards the door.

"But I-" But she couldn't get another word out as Weiss was already out the door.

In some strange sense, Ruby couldn't help but feel like this was somehow her fault, that universe just really enjoyed seeing her suffer and made a problem that would most likely link back to her one way or another. But she did nothing wrong, the fault lied within that phone call a minute ago. Most likely, Weiss is heading to its origin which the red theme girl could assume it's related to her family company, making this a personal matter. Because of that, maybe she shouldn't intrude in on Weiss' business and let her handle it.

No. She did not come this far to give up now. Yang wouldn't, Mom wouldn't, so why should she? She was going to help Weiss and be her knight in shining armour.

She left the restrooms and returned to her table to see that her friends were still there, but Weiss was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Ruby, what's up with Weiss? She came back, slammed some lien on the table and walked out without uttering a word to us." Jaune looked just as confused as everyone else when their eyes were all on Ruby.

The silver-eyed girl could only shrug for an answer. "I haven't gotta clue. I was talking to her about the summer when she got a call from somebody. Next thing I know, she's saying goodbye and walking out the door."

"Should we follow her?" Blake asked no one in particular. Everyone sitting at the table was unsure of what to do next. No one knew what exactly was wrong with the Ice Queen as there were no hints in her posture or her emotions. The only thing they could get from her was that something had ticked her off and she needed to handle it herself. Other than that, they were left in the dark.

They went to ask Ruby for more details, but that was made impossible as she was no longer with them. Instead, she was running out of the restaurant and turning down the street after her white-haired friend. Everyone just looked back at each other.

"I'll take that as a yes." Yang gave the answer before she proceeds to pay for her and Ruby's meals and quickly got up after her sister. It wasn't long before everyone else paid their share and followed the blonde out the door, after their friends.

Ruby ran like she never ran before, pushing her legs to keep going until they died of exhaustion. She was thankful that the city streets were awfully baron tonight, meaning no scuffles or collisions that would waste her time. She was vaguely aware that her friends were right behind her chasing after her, but she was solely focused on finding Weiss, hoping that she didn't cause any problems back at the restaurant.

Eventually, she caught a glimpse of white as it turned a corner and she quickly increased her speed to catch up.

"Weiss, wait up!" She called out to the heiress. She looked back behind her briefly to see that the rest of her friends were not far behind. When she got within talking distance, she asked, "What's going on? Why did you leave in such a hurry? Was it something I said? Did I upset you?"

"None of this is your fault, Ruby," Weiss assured, not bothering to turn and face her friend. "It's just some unexpected family matters that I need to take care of."

"Family Matters?" It wasn't explained any further when the two rounded another corner and stopped in the middle of the street, finding their answer.

In front of them was a Schnee Tech Storage and Testing facility, built for the creation and protection of Schnee branded inventions. Ruby remembered passing by it on the way to the restaurant, but she didn't remember black smoke spewing out of the entrance, windows and roof of the building with the occasional flickers of orange. By the colour of the smoke, she could tell that the fire had been burning for several minutes now. There were a few staff members already out, but most of them were either rest on the ground, coughing heavily from inhaling the smoke or both.

Both girls were so transfixed by the burning building that they completely forgot that their friends were right behind them, something they only remember when they caught up.

"Ruby, Maybe you could slow down next- Holy crap!" Yang cried out as she and the rest of the group joined the red and white duo in their horror.

"I'll call the fire department." Jaune pulled out his scroll and immediately dialled the emergency service number, leaving the rest to watch the disaster unfold before them.

"It's worse than I thought." Weiss murmured in disbelief as she watched her family legacy burning away. Her gaze landed on an employee who was resting against a street lamp. The panic expression she wore turned into a deep scowl as she approached him. "You there!"

The man in question jumped a little as he looked up to meet the girl's icy stare. "Ah, M-m-miss Schnee! S-so glad you c-could make it!" He stuttered, all of his nerves being thrown out the window.

"Spare me with the pleasantries. What happened here?" The Heiress stood over him with dominance, her tone stern and commanding.

"A fi-fire broke out in the f-facility and is raging out of control."

"I can see that you imbecile!" She gestured to the building with her name on it, making the sacred employee shrink in on himself. "How did it caught fire in the first place?!"

"We don't know. We were all working our hardest on the projects and inventions when we heard the sounds of explosions coming from the lower levels." The man explained, pausing briefly to catch his breath. "We couldn't tell if it were from bombs or an error in the lab. We got out as fast we could, but there are still people trapped in there. We tried to help rescue some of them, but none of us are in any condition to venture back in there."

Weiss was going to question him some more, but he suddenly broke out into a coughing fit, his hand clutching his chest most likely because of the pain. Each heaving cough became worse than the last, giving everyone a vague estimate on how large had become. Pyrrha quickly went to the man's aid, helping him

"Everything's going to be okay. Just sit down and rest, you deserve it." She said

As she was finishing up, Jaune got off the call from the emergency services."Firefighters are on their way. They'll be here in about 10 minutes."

"What if they don't make it in time?" Nora asked, unsure if she would get a clear answer.

"They have to. Lives are on the line here." Jaune made an effort to make a positive response, but it was obvious that he had his doubts.

"Unfortunately, even if they are quick on the response, It'll already be too late. There's highly volatile Dust and equipment in that building. The whole building will be blown up by the time they arrive." Weiss' explanation caused the hope in her friend's faces to drop.

"What should we do then? We can't just stand here and do nothing." Yang said, still believing there was something they could do, but Weiss could only deject her pleads.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do." She stated somberly. She wished she could do more to help, but their options were limited. "We stay here and help any survivors who escaped in time. They'll need some medical attention until emergency services arrive. That's all we can do for now. The fire is out of control at this point, going in there is practically suicide-"

"Hey kid, where are you going!?" One of the workers shouted out, getting the attention of everyone in the area including Weiss. She saw that the employee appear to be trying to stop someone from entering the building so she turned to the entrance to see who was stupid enough to run headfirst into a burning building without thinking.

She felt ice building up in her stomach when saw a figure running into the smoking building, one who was dressed in a red hoodie and black skirt.

She also noticed that there was somebody missing from the group, which meant...

"Ruby Rose, what are you doing!?" Weiss shouted as loud as she can, her ears practically pouring out more smoke than the fire. "Get back here this instant you dolt!"

But it was no use. Ruby was too far in to hear any cries from the outside, and she was probably too distracted to answer her scroll, so any attempt in pulling her back was futile.

She groaned as she grasped her head in frustration. "Is she crazy!? She's going to get herself killed!" Weiss was now considering how to make the crimsonette suffer when she got her hands on her. Perhaps she should ban her from her cookies for a month, or maybe she should make her write an essay on the dangers of risking your life to be a hero. Yeah it was beginning of summer and she had no authority to force such action upon someone, but god damn it, she will be sure that Ruby will not hear the end of this.

After getting her bearings together, she looked to her friends to see that they shared her frustrations and concern for the 15-year-old. But then she looked over at Yang and any anger she felt towards Ruby had been forgotten.

Yang was staring directly at the entrance where Ruby was last seen, her eyes had a sense of deja vu to them along with terror. A quick glance down at her hand revealed that it was twitching erratically, an all too familiar quirk that everyone knew the meaning behind.

"Yang?" Blake knew that look in her girlfriend's eye, it something she had seen for the past two years.

"No. Not again. Please not again." Yang shook her head in denial, her breathing became loud and raspy. Scared was not enough to describe her at the moment, it almost looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Without warning, The blonde's eyebrows furrowed as she took a powerful first step towards the burning building. Blake immediately took action and lunged at her around underneath and around her shoulders. "Yang, no! It's too dangerous!" She shouted, using all of her strength to hold her back.

"Let me go, Blake! I have to go in after her!" Yang demanded as she thrashed about in her girlfriend's grip.

"You heard what Weiss said. The fire is too intense, it could burn you to a crisp!" She tried to reason with her but Yang responded by pulling even more. Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora all chipped in to hold the blonde back, but even then, she was still tough to pin down.

"I don't care what happens to me! All that matters is Ruby's safety, not mines!"

"Deep breathes Yang. Control your anger." Ren said as he attempts to sooth Yang by making rubbing motions on her shoulder, but the blonde beast just pulled away as best as she could.

"Don't tell me what to do! It's my anger and I can do whatever the hell I want with it!" Yang snapped, snarled like a wild animal.

"Yang, you thick headed oaf! Are you even listening to us!?" Weiss scowled right in the blonde's face, never faltering while staring "If you run in there head first, you will most certainly kill yourself. None of us can do anything to fix this."

"So I'm supposed to stand here and let my sister die!?"

Everyone seemed to stop and look at Yang - who had stopped resisting - surprised and dumbfounded. The question came out harsh and blunt, but she didn't care. Nothing was going to separate her from her sister. Nothing. "Ruby is your friend; our friend! She has done so much for us, you in particular! The only reason your stupid life is as meaningful as it is today is because of her! She has been there for you and you are going to just stand and watch her disappear! Is that what you want!? Is that what best friends do!? Is this what you want!?"

Weiss pulled away from Yang's face but continued to stare into the lilac eyes with no evidence of the discipline and confidence from before. She thought about what Yang said, it hurts to hear and hard to reflect back at her. She wants to retort Yang accusations, prove to her that they couldn't do anything to help, that Ruby was just as trapped as the others down there and they can't go in to drag her back out.

And yet no answer came from her, which made Yang narrow her eyes at the alabaster haired girl.

"Thought so." She spat out, not as vigorously from before but still seething with venom. With everyone caught off guard, she made one last pull and broke free from everyone's arms, ploughing a path into the building. No one tried to stop her this time, all of them knew there was no stopping Yang when she was set in motion.

Weiss, on the other hand, was lost in thought. Yang's words had stung at her heart and the fact that it was all true made it worse. No friend would stand still and let another die; Ruby wouldn't do it, so why should she? It was her company, her inheritance, and therefore her responsibility for those under its name, including her friends and best friend.

No, not her best friend. The love of her life. She can't lose her, not now, she has some much to live for and the Heiress has some much to tell. She can't let it end like this.

A quick look into Blake's pleading amber eyes made up her mind.

She looked back towards the source of the trouble and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm so going to kill Ruby if we survive this."

The Heiress took off running with Blake by her side, ignoring the pleads of the employees to move away as she entered her own building. That just left Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren standing outside.

"I guess we wait here until the firefighters arrive." Jaune nonchalantly said.

Suddenly, Pyrrha sprint ahead of the group towards the smoking building, causing the blonde to reach out for her. "Pyrrha, wait! what are you doing?" Panicking, he called out to her.

The redhead turned back to her panicking boyfriend. "Yang is right Jaune. Ruby is our friend, we have to help her, even if it puts us in danger." She didn't wait any longer and went in after their friends.

"Here we come, Ruby!" Nora cheered with unusual excitement as she followed Pyrrha into the building.

Jaune was left baffled. He wasn't the bravest of his friends, so he wouldn't think of running into danger. But now most of his friends, including his own girlfriend, left him behind to recuse innocent lives. He wasn't selfish, just surprised by their actions. He got an even bigger surprise when he saw Ren prepare to do the exact same thing, so he grabbed his shoulder to get his attention

"You're just going to go along with this?" He asked his silent friend, who just gave him a shrug.

"It's better to take action than to do nothing." Ren simply said as he followed after the rest, leaving Jaune alone.

The boy looked back between other employees and the entrance, unsure of what decision to make.

"Aw, what the hell, I got nothing to lose." He groaned as he shook off his cowardice and finally headed for the entrance, making him the last of the teens to enter the damaged building.

The flames of the fire flicked in Ruby's eyes as she ran through the ruined building, determination coursing through her and sweat pouring down her face. She had made her way through most of the ground floor and was able to find some employees that were still alive and was able to show them to the exit, she wishes she could escort them out herself, but there could be more trapped in the lower levels and time was running out, so continued to descend the stairway in to save more lives.

Unfortunately, the further she went, the higher the body count raised. It sickened her to see the many lives wasted away like nothing, the people were taken away too soon by the travesty that lies around her and she knows that she could be one of those people.

She knew the dangers of running into a burning building, the concept of death clearly a focal point in her mind. If she got out of this, she was going to be a whole lot of trouble with everyone. Weiss would never let her hear the end of this, Yang would be sticking with her at all times and her parents, oh boy won't they'll be mad when they hear this.

Running around a corner she swears that she had passed a few minutes ago, Ruby stands where she is and cupped her hands to her mouth. "Hello! is anyone trapped in here!? Can you hear me!?" She shouted, moving her body around to let others hear her from different directions.

No response came, only the sounds of fire burning and metal creaking were heard. Ruby's hope that there were still people alive down here was dwindling fast.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could see a door that was left open slightly, letting out a brighter light at the end of the hall. Seeing a potential life on the line, Ruby ran straight to the open door…

… And immediately stopped in her tracks.

"Wh-what in the world is that?"

Ruby couldn't describe what she was looking at. Resting before her was a small cylindrical chamber that was connected to several pipes and wires to the back wall of the room, most likely bolted to it. She could make out some colours on it side ranging from red, blue, green, yellow and purple, it reminded her of the chamber that Penny emerged from, only this time, she didn't think it was built to house a robot this time.

But like Penny, it peaked her interest.

She walked over to the console, marvelling at the machine in fear and wonder. From her point of view, the room was empty so there was no one in danger… well except for her obviously. Approaching the console, she could make out a screen that was a bit damaged but she was able to read the text.

NAME: Dust Energy Core Prototype. STATUS: Damaged.

She looked at the words with confusion, scratching her head. 'Dust Energy Core? What have they been working on down here?' Weiss and Winter had never mentioned anything about this before to her, meaning that this was some sort of top secret project; one that she wasn't supposed to see. 'Oh god, I'm going to be arrested by my best friend! But… she wouldn't do that to me, would she? I mean, yes I've just discovered something highly confidential, but she will forgive me, right? After all-'

"Ruby!" A loud voice broke Ruby from her thoughts. She turned around to see her friends running towards her, with all of them looking relieved that they found. All except Yang, who looked absolutely furious.

"Don't move a single muscle! You're in so much trouble young lady!" She ordered. Seeing her sister this angry was terrifying, the look in her eyes was like she had murderous intentions.

A strange beeping was added to the collection of noises along with a bright red flashing light, spooking the silver eyed girl briefly. She returned her attention to the console behind her and her fear reached an all-time high when she saw a new set of words on the screen:

WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLOAD

She lifted her gaze up to the chamber and saw the colours changing sporadically. It looked like it was gonna… 'Oh no.'

Eyes widening, Ruby spun right back to her friends and raised a hand at them.

"Stay back! It's gonna-"

BOOM!

It was too late. By the time she gave her warning, Ruby felt her body being lifted off the ground and into the air, the intense heat from the explosion riding up her back. She had noticed that the same had happened to her friends, but they weren't sent flying like her. Her vision was a blur and there was a continuous ringing in her ears as she hit the concrete floor hard, feeling the bones in her arms break on impact.

She now lied on the floor of the destroyed room, blood running down her face, giving her confirmation that she also hit her head when she landed. She tried to move, but her legs weren't responding, an unexplainable weight was pinning them down to the ground. All she could feel from them was excruciating pain, it was so painful that she could hardly bear with it. She tried to stay conscious, but the pain was too much.

The last thing she heard was the sound of someone calling her name before she blacked out.

A/N: Oh No! Things aren't looking good for our heroes. Will they make it through?

...

Of course, they will, we haven't even reached the superhero parts yet.

So yeah, a lot went down in this chapter. Some people may be disappointed that I didn't show the graduation ceremony, but I wanted to skip past it as I felt it wasn't super important to the overall plot. That and this chapter is already long enough as it is.

That's all for now. If I know me, the next chapter should be out in 2021.

See ya!