"Huh? Of course I am. And you said you believed me."

The last words that came from Ruby's lips hit Weiss like Yang hit the Ursa that had dared damage her hair. A little white lie, intended to soothe, had instead twisted the knife. But what was she supposed to think? Time travel was impossible. But Ruby really, truly believed she had. Was that good enough? Her leader's word? And if it wasn't, what about those blueprints?

Weiss swallowed. When she finally spoke, her voice was muted, like listening to a conversation happening in another room. "Ruby, I don't know if I can believe you. But you believe it. And these weapon blueprints didn't just pop into reality. So it's true. I don't believe it, but it's true. Just give me a while for me to go through enough mental gymnastics for that to click, okay?"

Ruby blinked, and cocked her head to the left. Why did she have to look like such a puppy? She stayed silent. Blinking. Weiss watched as her eyes would flicker off her left shoulder, and then meet hers again. When she checked, there was nothing there. But it kept happening, and she could see subtle emotions playing through Ruby's face. First, sadness. She probably deserved that. Then, confusion, but only for a moment. A flicker of a smile, and mirth in her eyes. Then, when her eyes flicked away, pain. The kind Weiss had so often seen her mother drown in wine. Silver flicked back, and relief passed over the reaper, quickly mirrored by the heiress.

Her partner's eyes flicked again, and she looked dumbstruck. Shocked. Weiss watched as a single bead of sweat dripped down the younger girl's forehead, joining a singular tear that had formed in her right eye. They flicked back, and looked relieved again. Another flick, anger. Back, relief. There, loss. Back, relief.

Weiss thought she should probably say something before Ruby exploded, into rose petals or not.

She got as far as "Ru-" before she found herself in a very tight grip. The world was red and black, and not entirely because of Ruby's choice of clothing. Vaguely, she felt Ruby's aura flare. She would have to talk to Yang about the appropriate strength to put into hugs at some point, assuming she survived this. She managed to cough out "...looser..." and soon found a much steadier supply of air.

Ruby buried her head in Weiss' shoulder, partially because snuggles were awesome, and partly to wipe the tears away. What Weiss didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

And that brings us to section three of 'The Rose-Xiao Long Guide to Flirting'; cry all over anyone who shows you attention.

Stuff it Kid.

Someone needs to do Yang's job.

I thought you hated her jokes.

And I thought you told them to be reminded of her.

I'm never eating another cookie when I'm in control.

Isn't that just as much a punishment for you as for me?

Stop using logic Kid, you're supposed to be one of the impulsive ones.

You know, you should probably say something before she freezes us solid.

What did I just say about logic.

"Heh. Sorry, Weiss. Bad memories." Ruby's words were muffled, distorted by sobs, and spoken through clenched teeth. If Weiss understood them at all, she gave no reaction to indicate it. Ruby let her younger self take over again. Crying could be done in the privacy of her own head.

Not really private.

I hate you.

Aw, you do care. And you even gave me control again, on your own! I'm proud of you.

I. Hate. You.

Ruby pulled away, leaving a hand on each of Weiss' upper arms. She gave a soft smile, and closed her eyes. "Thanks Weiss. Sorry for being a dolt." She opened her eyes again, and released the poor girl. Wiping her face with one sleeve, she turned and began to walk toward the room they had commandeered yesterday.

Weiss was... something. A very strange emotion, one she had never felt. It wasn't a good one, but it wasn't a bad one. It wasn't confused, it wasn't angry, it wasn't upset, it wasn't sad, it wasn't happy... She shook her head. She could quiz herself later. She had some ludicrously complicated dust infusions to perform.

When Professor Goodwitch was forced to repair damage Beacon had suffered at three in the morning, she was angry. Finding Ms. Rose there had increased the anger. Finding Ms. Schnee, covered in soot, and smiling? Pushed the anger so far over the edge she was speechless. It all just cancelled out. She didn't even have the energy to reprimand the two, simply cleaning up and leaving without a word. Ozpin would never hear the end of this of course, and she very much doubted he would let her hear the end of it either.

That weekend, Ruby had insisted Team RWBY do some sparring 'to prepare', though given that the only person still involved in the Vytal Festival was Yang, the reasoning failed to convince any of them. In fact, the only reason Blake and Yang agreed to participate was the fact that Ruby had suggested it while carrying a box larger than herself, and Weiss had supported her. No snark, no sarcasm, just 'I agree with Ruby.' accompanied by a shrug. It was bewildering.

So, they found themselves in in the practice rooms, plus one large box. Ruby had patted the box in question lovingly, and when Blake had raised an eyebrow just muttered 'spoilers'. When amber eyes shifted from silver to blue, the heiress just rolled her eyes. Even some not-so-gentle prodding from Yang got them nowhere.

So, they started as usual. Stretching first, some light cardio, a small bit of 'aura stretching', a specific series of meditations and breathing exercises they'd be introduced to in their second combat class. Distantly, Yang and Blake noted that Ruby seemed much, much more composed during the aura sections than she usually did. When the team progressed to warm up hand to hand with each other, Ruby opted to forgo her usual spar with Yang, picking Weiss. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary, it had happened before. What was out of the ordinary, was her trip to the box, returning with two pairs of gloves. She handed one set to Weiss, and put the other on herself. Just more ammo to tease them with, Yang supposed. She squared off against Blake, going straight for quick jabs, not expecting any of them to land due to Blake's semblance. Her concentration was broken, and Blake landed a back-handed hit, when a loud boom engulfed the room.

Ruby and Weiss were both flat on their backs. Ruby was laughing, and there seemed to be rose petals floating around her outlines. As for Weiss, she was muttering something about 'misdirection' and 'inefficient channeling'.

"I told you it'd have one hell of a kick, Weissicle. Did you believe me? Nooooooo." Ruby spoke, but made no motion to raise from the ground. She blew a few petals out of her face, still shaking with laughter. Weiss just groaned. Ruby's grin grew, and her head turned far enough to stare directly at her sister. "Psst, Yang, less staring, more hitting on Blake."

"Hitting on?" Blake's words had the lilt of a question to them, but the tone was stuck between amused and annoyed. "Don't you mean hitting?"

"I know what I said, Blake." Ruby winked.

While Blake and Yang both sputtered, Weiss spoke up, struggling to suppress a smirk. "My, my. How the tables have turned. It seems the Rose has thorns."

Ruby froze, laughter gone in an instant. Her head slowly turned toward the heiress, face blank, eyes looking straight through everything. "Weiss." Voice quiet, halting. As if she were speaking after having the wind knocked out of her. "Don't say that, please." She took in a shaky breath. She swallowed, once, twice. "Bad memories." She shook her head several times and stood, eyes pinched shut. She walked over to the box containing her prototypes, and deposited the gauntlets within. "I'm gonna get some speed tests in with my sweetheart. Be back in five." She drew Crescent Rose, and blurred out of the area, reappearing near the firing range.

"Well damn Ice Queen, what'd you do? I know she's socially awkward, but even that has its' limits." Yang placed her hands on her hips, with her trademark smirk. She'd have looked like she'd just told a joke if it weren't for her red eyes.

Weiss lifted herself to her elbows, and turned her head toward Yang to reply, but averted her gaze after only a moment when she saw the color of her teammate's irises. "...I wish I knew. That's been happening a little too often."

"You've been upsetting my sister often? Schnee, you have ten seconds to come up with one hell of an excuse before I beat one out of you." Yang's hands both twisted slightly back, activating Ember Cecilia. Her arms rose from her hips to her basic fighting stance. Weiss gaped. She began a mental count. Had to keep to her word after all.

Ten.

Nine.

She heard Blake start toward her, but she knew without Gambol Shroud she couldn't exactly do much. Maybe it was unfair that she had worn Ember Cecilia while they were warming up, but she wasn't gonna apologize. What ere supplemental skills for her teammates were some of her main fighting techniques.

Eight.

Seven.

She brought her right shoulder back, lining up for a cross directly only Weiss' still sitting form.

Six.

Five.

She felt a hand on her shoulder but shrugged it off. Again, Blake couldn't stop her.

Four.

Three.

Two.

Weiss appeared to have only just comprehended what was going on, and drew both arms in front of her face in an instinctive defense. Too bad it wasn't a particularly good one.

One.

Yang began to throw a punch. She felt her fist connect with something hard, and the sound of more than one gunshot reached her ears. The solid thing didn't have much give to it, much to her surprise. Was Weiss doing that good a job at building aura? She doubted it, she never did have much endurance. Also, Weiss' aura was white, not grey. Huh. She could also see cracks, and rose petals? She glanced up, noticing that she'd been hunched over nearly horizontal. Ruby had the butt of Crescent Rose held to the cycling mechanism of Ember Cecilia, preventing it from loading another shell.

"I leave for less than thirty seconds and you're already trying to kill my partner? Yaaaaaang, that's not very sisterly." Her little sister was smiling, but those silver orbs more closely resembled steel than porcelain.

Off to the side, Blake exchanged confused glances with Weiss. Ruby was fast, but she'd never had the power to knock Yang off course, let alone mid punch. Blake quirked an eyebrow. Weiss shrugged, but again refused to meet her eyes. So the heiress had at least some idea what was going on, but refused to share. A tad hypocritical, but everyone had their faults. She'd quiz her teammate later. Mind made up, she set about extracting her partner's hand from the floor.