[ Every Little Part Of You ]

by: NaughtyButWeiss (based on a prompt from PenpalPenny)
ship: Enabler (Ruby/Yang), hints of other ships but nothing solid
universe: modern AU (college age)
WARNINGS: Implied incest

Author Note: This was supposed to be a birthday present for PenpalPenny but it got super out of hand lmao. It's actually going to be pretty long! Had a lot of fun writing it and it's time to throw it out there.

And this will also be our last thing posted to this account. If you haven't read our profile, here's a quick summary: SWTD was removed, we find it to be an unfair reason (considering how inconsistent this site's moderation is, and our feelings about the restrictive rules as they stand anyway) but we don't feel like arguing with Certain Unreasonable People or the moderators. So consider this kind of a "Prologue" to the full story, which will be posted to Archiveofourown .org and to Tumblr (it's the same username across all sites, RWBYRemnants). For those of you who won't be joining us over there, we hope you enjoy this as a one-shot ficlet!

To be clear: no, we won't be updating the fic on here anymore. Just added this one chapter because it complies with FFnet's rules. The rest is ONLY going to be posted to the other two sites.

Thanks again to everyone who's read or reviewed one of our other stories and who reviews this one once it's posted. We appreciated every comment, even the ones demanding we update or complaining about this chapter or that chapter... at least you were reading the fics and thought it was worth commenting on. All of you, thanks so much, and we wish you well.

-NaughtyButWeiss and the RWBYRemnants crew

=Chapter One

Yang Branwen couldn't handle it. She just couldn't.

Of course she had seen the pictures of her step-sister, or half-sister or whatever she was; her mother showed her. She was pretty sure the only reason they had pictures was because Yang insisted. She wanted to know her father, what his family was like, what she had missed out on because they ran into those "irreconcilable differences". Summer Rose was beautiful, and the few times they had met, sweet and kind; she couldn't blame her father for his choice to remarry.

Especially with how much of an asshole her mother could be. Nobody liked Raven Branwen very much, not her coworkers, not her "friends" - a term she used loosely. Her personality was just too harsh. She and her mother fought a lot, but at the end of the day they both knew she would die for her child. It was one of the only things that bound them.

Her visits with Taiyang Xiao Long, the dad she wished had stayed, had been brief and few; he had visitation rights, of course, but they lived on opposite coasts. New Hampshire and California. That made it hard to get together more than once or twice a year. He was always punctual with child support, and sometimes more generous than was legally necessary if he was doing well enough that month; there was nothing to complain about in that area. She just wanted to know him better.

And then there was Ruby Rose-Xiao Long.

Yang could only remember actually trying to hang out with her once, back when they had been little. Ruby was still playing in the dirt all the time then, rolling around outside and wanting to pet every dog. They didn't talk; Yang still resented her a little then, the truest evidence that her family had been split up. A daughter with her dad and the "new woman". Yang wasn't mean, exactly… but she kind of ignored her, and the girl had given up. When that happened a few visits in a row, she gave up trying to come see her at all. Who could blame her after the way she acted?

But it was too late to worry about the past. They were both very different people in those days compared to now - some ways more obvious than others. At least, that was what she hoped. They hadn't seen each other in over fifteen years, and now Yang was going to stay with them for a full three weeks - and change - over the summer.

The whole thing had been a little conniving on Raven's part. Their modest apartment was being renovated, and Raven was crashing with a coworker and pocketing the money the landlord had given them to rent a hotel room. And her coworker only had room for one extra person. That wouldn't have been a problem if it happened while Yang was away at university, but the landlord's timing sucked. She told Yang that she could do the hotel room thing if she really wanted to, but had made it pretty clear she would not be too happy about that and would much rather she either stay with a friend, or take the opportunity to reconnect with the other side of her family. Maybe even get a tan on the beaches.

Her friend and roomie, Blake Belladona, had invited her along on their family vacation to Italy, but they couldn't foot the bill for the flight - which was way more than the one to California. One last escape route, gone. Looked like she was going to have to put up with the dirty little step-brat, after all.

What she hadn't counted on was meeting Ruby as a high school senior instead of the brat she resented. Sure, she had known that in her brain, but seeing a picture or two on her mom's laptop screen was way different from meeting her in person. Because then she couldn't ignore one simple fact…

"You… turned into a girl."

Ruby was still blinking rapidly as the sentence slipped out of Yang's mouth unbidden. She was standing there, awkwardly shifting in her denim short-shorts and her white babydoll tee with a little red outline of a cat head on the bust. The bust that was a lot larger than Yang could have predicted.

"W-what?" Snorting and trying to recover, Ruby's silvery eyes shifted to one side as she nipped her dyed-red forelock back with the rest of her brown hair.

"Sorry," Yang muttered, though it felt like not nearly enough. Ruby seemed to agree, because she smirked in an annoyingly bemused way.

"H-hey, I could say the same thing about you!"

Swallowing hard, Yang looked down at her own body. Sure, she was dressed in black track pants with a yellow stripe and a yellow tank with her grey hoodie over the top, but she did still look pretty feminine. But there was an implication behind the words that had her tone turning a little frostier.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You said it first!" Ruby accused with a pout - an adorable pout that Yang couldn't be seeing - scuffing her flip-flop against the grass. "Dumb joke; I didn't mean it to be, y'know, offensive or whatever. You're really beautiful, though. I just… well, Dad told me, but I guess seeing you in person is way different than just hearing about it or looking at a picture."

Nodding, Yang tried to drop her shields. It wasn't easy; she was used to the teasing, especially in junior high when it had been the worst. Right after she changed. Or really, after she figured out who she already was; the only thing that changed was that she stopped hiding that away. But by now, she had really grown into herself and was looking more like she wanted to look. The waist-length blond hair sure didn't hurt.

"Yeah, I guess." But Ruby had complimented her; it was rude not to at least acknowledge that. "Thanks. You look good, too. I mean, damn you grew up."

A pleased little giggle floated out and Yang tried not to melt. This was her half-sister. Having a "meet cute" with her was not on the family bonding itinerary!

"So that's what you meant. Yeah, Dad keeps yelling at me for it. Says I was supposed to stay his little girl forever. He's said the same thing about you, too."

That helped Yang shake her weird, unwelcome thoughts. "Really? I didn't think Dad ever talked about me. Especially not with like, the 'girl' part."

"Of course, Yang! All the time!" Then she paused and whispered, "It's still 'Yang', right? I can call you whatever you want, or just 'Big Sis' or something; just let me know."

"Nah, it's still Yang," she sighed with a smile. So she had won her over; that sure as hell didn't take long. "Alright, help me get these bags in before Dad yells at us."

As they went in, she tried not to watch Ruby's cute ass sway back and forth as she walked, the creamy skin of her thighs. It wasn't easy. Even worse when she led her upstairs, and it was all she could look at except her little feet popping up and down in her sandals. Somehow, that wasn't much better.

'Sister,' she tried to remind herself. 'Don't be gross.'

When they got upstairs, Ruby turned into one of the rooms on the right. It looked to be a weight room; everything else in the room was sets of weights and exercise equipment. The bed was a last-minute addition, but it was at least an actual bed.

"So… I know," Ruby said when she noticed Yang looking around the room, dipping her head slightly. "It's not very good. But I didn't think you'd want to cram in there with me. My room's not very big, either, and like, it'd be the same story, shoving a bunch of stuff out of the way to fit it in there. Plus you'd have to put up with my snoring, and… and this way, you can have privacy and down-time a lot easier! Dad can just skip exercising until you go back East, right?"

The way Ruby was rambling made her pay closer attention after the first couple of sentences. At first, she had wondered why she cared about making sure she didn't mind the room. Then she focused on something else: the way Ruby was working so hard on not letting Yang be disappointed.

Of course: because Yang had always been disappointed in her. In the past, anyway. A pang of regret shot through her thinking about that, but it was too late to change their history.

"Ruby," she said with a half-laugh. "It's gonna be fine. And hey, maybe I can keep training on all this stuff while I'm in here. Makes it kinda hard to skip leg day if I'm literally living with the equipment."

Looking relieved, she sighed and said, "Y-yeah, I guess. Sorry. There just isn't anywhere else in the house to put it, or we'd have given you some more space."

"Nah, I don't really need much space, anyway." Then they precariously balanced the bags on a bench and an exercise bike, before she sighed and shrugged off her hoodie. "Man… I'm tired. What a long ass flight."

"Oh? Oh, you probably want me to get out of your way," she tittered, backing up and keeping her hands in the small of her back. "You got it! Sorry!"

"Huh? Ruby-"

But the door was already shutting. This was going to be harder than she thought, and she had no one to blame but her past ignorant self.

Dinner that night was a strained affair, but it showed signs of loosening. Yang didn't have much to say and mostly listened; she couldn't help but feel like the outsider. Summer, Ruby's mom, didn't try to talk to her at all, but responded positively any time Yang spoke first. That seemed to be a strategy she was trying on purpose, and Yang understood; she was the stepmom, in a way. It was better than her being too friendly and trying to fill the role of surrogate mother, especially when that was a role Yang didn't want her to fill.

Besides, Taiyang and Ruby were trying hard enough for all four of them. Her dad was being a dad, for sure, but it was Ruby's back-and-forth between trying not to talk too much and babbling incessantly that was so intense it was almost comical. She could tell the shorter girl was still a little afraid of "bothering" her, but also wanted to try her best to be friendly and welcoming. She was bad at saying that she appreciated it, so she just tried to respond to her as much as her grumpy, sullen ass could muster.

That was the funny thing. At Beacon U., she was so outgoing and bubbly, a real "party girl", but here? She wanted to shut down, withdraw into herself. It was a night-and-day difference. But she promised herself that if everyone else was willing to try, she would do her best. Even if that wasn't very good yet.

After dinner, Taiyang told her that she could relax and he and Summer would take care of the dishes, so Yang decided to explore the house. The last time she had been to California, they had been in a slightly smaller place, and she remembered having to sleep on the couch; one of the many reasons she hadn't been too thrilled about going back. This was all new, and a lot nicer and closer to the beach.

When she was standing in Ruby's room, looking around at all the posters of pop stars and movies, the spotless floor and the arrangement of makeup and nail polish and books on her dresser, she heard a noise behind her and whirled around guiltily.

"Sorry!" Ruby whispered, backing up a step.

"Why are you sorry?!" Yang burst out in surprise. "I'm the one all up in your room!"

"N-no, I- well, I didn't mean to startle you, or whatever!" They both laughed awkwardly, and Ruby took a step inside. "It's… not usually this clean. Dad made me clean it before you got here."

"Well, you did a great job," she laughed, pacing around in circles. "It's a great room. Really looks like yours, y'know?"

Nodding, Ruby followed a little closer. "And you could totally sleep in here and I'll take the weight room, if you want. Though that bed's not bad; I tried it out last night after we got it put together. Pretty comfy."

"You got me a brand new bed?" Yang was honestly a little touched; maybe her dad cared about her more than she thought. But then she realised something else. "Wait, you slept in my bed?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, not all night or anything," she laughed with a big grin. "Just like, laid there and messed around on my phone for an hour or whatever. To make sure it was really comfortable, and not just, like, 'comfortable for two seconds and then get up'."

For some reason, the thought of Ruby laying around in her bed didn't piss her off, which was what she thought she was feeling. It flustered her. She tried to joke about it. "Well, I guess that's okay, but don't let it happen again or I'll have to burn the sheets."

"O-oh?" Ruby's face fell, and her head seemed to sink down between her shoulders. "Oh… don't worry, I won't. I'm sorry."

"Wait…" She wanted to laugh at her, but the laugh stuck in her throat. "I'm kidding. Dude, it's alright, I'm just…" What should she say? "I mean, you're probably pretty clean." Not good enough.

"Y-yeah, I am, usually. But I can go change the sheets for you right now, if you want! It's no problem, watch!"

She was already almost halfway out the door when Yang had to dash forward and catch her by the arm, or else she probably really would have changed the bedsheets for such a stupid reason as that.

"A-ah!"

"No, it's okay! Um… I'm glad you tested out my bed for me. Thanks, I- I'm not mad or anything. Promise."

For a second, Ruby just blinked up at her, a little startled by being grabbed and what she perceived as a change in attitude. She had really thought Yang was upset. "Really? You sure?"

"Very sure. You can lay there anytime you want."

Then she smiled shyly and averted her eyes. "Might be kinda crowded if you're already in it."

"Even then. As far as I care, you were there first and I'm just the guest. You can shove me out and onto the floor if you really wanna."

That got her to laugh. "Nah, I'd much rather cuddle you than push you out."

Why did that simple phrase make Yang's heart thump wildly, her fingers grip tighter on Ruby's arm? They both noticed in the same moment, but Yang let go right away, rubbing her fingers together. The atmosphere had changed a little. Why?

"Y-yeah. So anyway, uh, sorry you didn't realise I was kidding; I don't think you're dirty or anything, I swear. Guess I got Mom's terrible sense of humour."

"N-nah, I can be a little anxious sometimes." Then she swung her arms back and forth a little. "So… you wanna go watch something? You're probably too tired to go out…"

Dipping her head, she said, "Sure, yeah. Sounds great." She thought about doing something, then stopped. It was dumb to try to force anything…

But Ruby noticed. Somehow, she noticed that tiny little hesitation. "What?"

"Nothing. I was just gonna… it's dumb."

"Do it. Whatever it was, do it; no time like the present!"

Yang had to smile; that was such a weirdly sweet thing for her to say. But in the end, she decided that Ruby really meant it. Therefore, she slung an arm around Ruby's neck, feeling her shoulder-length hair just barely brushing her skin as she did so.

"Let's go, sis. Show me what's on Netflix."

Ruby giggled, throwing her arms around Yang's middle and nestling in, and even though it was pretty innocent, Yang found that she had a hard time dealing with it. She knew it wasn't a feeling she should be having, but it shot through her stomach, anyway. That it was nice. That Ruby felt nice there in ways that she wasn't supposed to think about.

Still, she could mash it down deep and ignore it. Three weeks wasn't that long. Right?

To Be Continued... ONLY ON A03 AND TUMBLR