An idea that was better in my head, but I hope it came out alright in writing, too ;~; It's nothing spectacular or original, though. Just another Henceforward fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. Henceforward AU belongs to the lovely kumafromtaiwan!
Shattered Glass
When the morning sunlight filtered in through the beige curtains, the golden rays dyed the walls and carpets a light brown, like milky tea.
It was a comforting color, one that spoke of tranquility and serenity, gentle and not irritating to one's sleep-laden eyes.
Weiss knew she should have woken feeling peaceful and relaxed. But this morning, she lifted her eyelids to find wetness clinging at the corners of her lashes, her breath coming a little faster than it should have been.
The images of her nightmare were still vivid in her mind.
Red.
Everything was red.
It was a color that conflicted Weiss on a daily basis.
It brought her comfort with the thoughts of roses - soft, velvety petals like the kisses from her lips.
And it terrified her, reminded her of the blood she had seen spilled over the past few years, most of it belonging to those she cared for most in the world.
And her dream last night had been of the latter kind of red, the cruel, painful crimson that made her eyes sting, and her heart stop.
It was always one of her closest friends that laid in the pool of it in her nightmares, and Weiss sometimes wished it would be herself instead.
She had seen Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, and the depictions were always awful.
But there was one person whose image she simply could not bear to see in that nightmare, and yet that always served to be the one that trapped Weiss' mind the longest. It was a fight with her own conscious to more or less force herself awake, and it always proved to be a draining challenge.
And she always ended up like this, sweating, panting, feeling so helpless-
"Mm..."
A small sound reached her ears, and before Weiss could turn over to locate its source, a pair of arms slipped around her stomach, pulling her close.
When she felt Ruby's presence, Weiss finally started to calm down, not having realized until now that small Dust crystals had formed on her upper arms and shoulders.
Weiss did her best to swallow, wiping the sleeve of her nightgown over her forehead as she savored Ruby's warmth on her back.
That's right... she recalled. She stayed with me again last night. She's been here beside me all the while. She's here now. She's okay.
It was chanting thoughts like these as a reminder that made her accept reality for what it was, pushing the nightmares to the back of her mind.
Slowly, her hands slid down to cover Ruby's where they had curled around the older girl's stomach. Weiss traced circles over the backs of her partner's smooth hands and squeezed gently, earning another small, yawning sound from the girl behind her.
Ruby tensed briefly as she stretched out her legs and arms before bringing Weiss even closer to her, mumbling sleepy phrases and sounds against the back of her girlfriend's neck. "Mm, Weiss..." she moaned. "C'mere..."
She burrowed her face into soft, silken tresses of white, breathing in her scent. She kissed the top of Weiss' shoulder that her nightgown so graciously exposed. "Weeeiss... turn 'round. I wanna kiss... kiss you..." she mumbled.
With a slight pull, she urged her girlfriend to turn onto her other side, and Weiss slowly complied; she knew she would feel better after everything if she got to see Ruby's face.
It helped a great deal, that was for sure.
Weiss lifted her arms, curling them around the younger girl's shoulders, combing fingers through Ruby's loose hair that was just as long as her own now.
To have those nightmares and wake up cold and alone was like a fate worse than death to her, so whenever she had Ruby there next to her, the girl was like her savior, her guardian angel.
An adorable angel with no semblance of grace or ability to form literate words so early in the morning, one who drooled a little bit and made sounds that were anything but ladylike in the back of her throat and in her nose as she roused herself.
Weiss hoped the girl would keep her eyes closed for another minute, just long enough for her to get the Dust back under control.
But she was rarely ever that lucky, and today was no different.
Ruby was still clearly pining for kisses and slowly blinked her eyes open, a pout on her cheeks when she still had not received any. "Weissy~" she hummed, pulling away just a bit so she could gaze upon her familiar face.
But the instant Ruby saw the sweat and tears on her face, the crystals on her arms, and the distress in her tired blue eyes, she was awake instantly. "Weiss?" Her voice rose a pitch with inquiry and worry. "H-Hey, what's wrong? Did you... did you have the nightmare again?" She hardly needed the confirmation from Weiss to know that was exactly the case.
But nonetheless, Weiss gave a small, helpless nod.
Ruby felt a twang in her chest as she lifted her hands to the girl's face, stroking the pads of her thumbs over the soft, damp skin. "Weiss..." she murmured, voice pleading, begging her not to cry anymore.
But when Ruby got that look on her face, it only served to make Weiss even more frustrated, because she knew she was unable to prevent it now. She closed her eyes, embarrassed as she felt more hot tears swelling and stinging behind her eyes.
Ruby all but whined, hugging her shoulders tightly as she brought the girl's face down to her chest. "No, no, hey! Shhh, Weiss... it's okay," she soothed. "I know it's scary. But you always do the same for me whenever I have bad dreams and I wanna do the same for you."
She pulled Weiss close and nuzzled into her hair, placed a cool palm to her chest over her unsteady heartbeat, peppered light kisses over her cheeks and hushed her. "Weiss, Weiss, gosh-" She nuzzled her and combed through her hair in every effort to comfort her. "It wasn't real, you know that."
She lowered her voice and peeked down at her partner, brushing her bangs aside. "Who... who was it this time? Was it me again? I bet it was me. Oh Weiss, I'm so sorry. I wish I could- ugh, I wish I could fight away the bad dreams... Come here..." All she could do was hug her and kiss her again, rubbing her palms over Weiss' back and pulling the covers up over her a little and tucking her into the soft fabrics.
They still had a bit of time before they needed to get up, and Ruby would love nothing more than to simply stay there with Weiss for as long as she needed it.
Their positions had been reversed just as many times, as Ruby was not new to the frightful experiences of night terrors. Weiss' nightmares were rarer though, so whenever Ruby could be there for her to ease the pain, she did her best.
She had been sleeping in Weiss' bed almost every night for the past several weeks, and since then, the restless nights had dwindled a bit for them both, but every now and then, a particularly bad thought would break its way through and manifest in their sleep; waking up to find someone they loved beside them was proving to be one of the best remedies.
And Weiss always took care of her, so Ruby knew she needed to reciprocate whenever her girlfriend needed it.
Presently, she hummed in Weiss' ear, a soothing, familiar tune the older girl would sing to Ruby on nights when the thunderstorms were particularly scary. She was relieved to find it had a similar quelling affect on Weiss' condition now, because her tense shoulders loosened, and her heartbeat gradually slowed.
When the tears had stopped and the shivering had died down, Ruby leaned in and held a long, soulful kiss to her lips, melting into it, glad when she felt Weiss kissing back, her hands running up and down the white-haired girl's sides slowly.
At last, Ruby pulled away, bumping her nose to Weiss' one last time, her voice soft as their eyes met.
"Are you okay?" she whimpered.
Weiss let out a long sigh, meeting Ruby's concerned, silver gaze. Her lips curved up into a small smile, her fingers trailing up to cup Ruby's cheek, pushing stray locks of hair out of her face. Weiss was unable to bear seeing that hurt in the girl's eyes, the fear that Weiss was in pain. The older girl leaned in and kissed her partner's cheek, letting it linger.
"Yes. Thank you, Ruby."
Ruby's lips broke out into a smile and she squeezed Weiss to her chest, kissing her one more time.
"Okay," she murmured. "Okay, okay! Good, that's good!" She sat up and helped Weiss up with her. "Then let's get ready, okay?"
"Right."
They crawled out of bed and helped make it neat again before crossing the room to the dresser, selecting their clothes.
Weiss always took the liberty upon herself to have Ruby's washed for her, and the younger girl was delighted now as she held them to her face and breathed in the refreshing scent of the fabrics. Wearing her wide trademark grin, she scampered off out of the room to change in one of the bathrooms elsewhere as Weiss went to her own personal one.
They met up again in the dining hall once they had both finished changing and freshening up. As Ruby gobbled up her food from across the table, Weiss cut into hers with a bit more poise and patience, chewing slowly.
"So what are your plans for today?" she asked cautiously. She prayed Ruby had no intentions to get herself into troublesome business again, be it with matters involving Blake or Yang, or other matters.
In fact, Ruby had initially intended to do just that – to go out and gather as much information about their old teammates as she could and get back before evening - and before Weiss could start to fret and needed to send out an official search team for her. That had happened once before, and when Ruby had finally been "caught", the scolding she had received for "being so late" and "not telling Weiss where she was" and "not ensuring she was okay" had been a long and furious one.
Ruby hated to make Weiss worry so much; the older girl had enough on her hands already with a company to run and renegades to hunt down and friends to look after and visit at the hospital. Ruby wished she would take a day off.
But she knew what the answer would be if she ever suggested such a thing, that there was "far too much work to do" and that Weiss could not afford time to herself other than what the evenings allowed her for sleep. Ruby feared she would fall ill soon if she did not start taking better care of herself-
"Ruby!"
"Huh, whaa?"
"Are you listening to me?"
"S-Sorry, what did you want?"
"Ugh." Weiss groaned and put a hand to her forehead. "I asked you what you plan to do today. And it better not involve using your semblance to dash around town sticking your nose into places where it doesn't belong." She gave the girl a hard, stern look, but there was also a bit of helplessness there, the knowledge that she could not stop Ruby if the girl truly set her mind to something.
Ruby was weak to that look, and in addition to the nightmares and rough morning Weiss had suffered today... perhaps it would be best to take things slow for a change, just for one day.
"Ah... hmm..." Ruby brought her napkin to her lips as she pondered. "I haven't really spent much time with Crescent Rose lately. I think I'll just do some hunting today in the forests. I was hearing about some wolves getting too close to the rural areas the last few days."
She noticed Weiss visibly relax at that.
They both knew that even with her old injuries, hunting was one of the simplest tasks in the world for Ruby; she had been doing it for years since Beacon, and now was a professional and trained huntress. Weiss was more than comfortable with letting her tend to the Grimm; it was certain people coming into contact with Ruby that concerned her the most.
However, the older girl did wish she could accompany Ruby on a hunt one of these days; it had felt like centuries since her workload had last allowed her that much.
"Good." She gave a sharp nod of approval. "That should keep you out of worser troubles, at least."
They stood when they had finished eating and Ruby skirted the table to rush to Weiss and jump up into a soft hug.
"Okay?" she murmured into her ear. "So you don't have to worry about me so much, Weiss. I'll be fine." Her lips left a small kiss on her girlfriend's cheek, right over her scar.
"Dunce..." Weiss grumbled. "I'll always worry about you, even if you're right at my side holding my hand." She slipped her arms around the girl's waist and pulled her up so their lips could come together with ease. "So please," she mumbled. "Just send me a message every so often so I know you're alright?"
"I will, I will! Promise!" Ruby kept one arm around Weiss' shoulders and let the other find her palm, interlocking their fingers together as she strained up to hold another needy kiss to her lips.
When they parted, she then nestled into Weiss' shoulder like a child, reminding Weiss that she still was one and always would be one – at least in her eyes. Someone Weiss needed to protect.
Ruby squeezed her arms around the white-haired girl's back tightly, reassuringly.
"Don't work yourself too hard, okay?"
"I won't," she declared matter-of-factly.
Ruby bit her lip and nodded against her as she let her go; if Weiss' greatest fear was that Ruby would be hurt in battle, Ruby's was that Weiss would collapse from straining herself with her work. But she would not allow her mind to be plagued by such horrible thoughts.
"Okay!" With a new brightness in her voice, she gave Weiss one last quick kiss and stepped away. "I'll see you in the evening, then!" With a spin, she made for the parlor and exit of the mansion.
"Don't forget to call!" Weiss shouted after her. The response was a wave. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "So carefree, that girl..."
She went over the schedule for today in her mind; she had papers that needed to be signed by noon and sent out by one, a program to oversee at two, a speech to give at three-
"Oh!" She jumped as her scroll suddenly went off, and she fished it out quickly. Perhaps her day was about to get a bit more hectic than she had anticipated. She opened the device and-
"Hi, Weiss!"
"Ruby?"
"Yeah!" The familiar smile beamed back at her.
"What is it? Why are you calling? Did something happen? It hasn't even been two minutes yet-"
"No, no, nothing like that!" she chirped. "I was just calling to let you know I made it outside okay! I'm heading to the forest now~" she sang playfully.
Weiss knew what she was doing and rolled her eyes.
"Don't be smart," she grunted. "You know I didn't mean for you to call me every few minutes. Just check in once an hour or so."
Ruby stuck her tongue out good-naturedly.
"Okaaaay, I know," she hummed. "See you later, Weiss!" And with a wave, her image disappeared.
Although she sighed, Weiss could not stop the small smirk from crossing her lips; Ruby's antics just now had served to make her feel better, and she knew that had been intentional on her girlfriend's part.
With a renewed sense of purpose to tend to her tasks, Weiss straightened her shoulders and headed off to work.
Weiss Schnee was known to the public for many things.
These included her level-headedness, her stern demeanor, her professional poise, her vernacular prowess, her cunningness in battle, her skill in her glyph craft, and perhaps most prominently, her success with the fusion of Dust into her body.
Every day, she displayed several of these skills in some way, shape, or form to remind the world of her influence.
Her battles were of all types: physical, emotional, political, or whatever else was thrown her way.
When an important document could not be found that morning, everyone around her in the office started to panic, making frantic calls and barking orders until one voice rose above the panic.
"Excuse all of you!" Weiss snapped. "You call yourselves office workers of the Schnee Dust company? Who trained you to behave in such a manner? To react to this type of situation with unscrupulous chaos?" When all eyes were upon her and all persons were under command of her disapproving tone, Weiss took charge. "Now, instead of making haphazard calls to people who have never even seen the page for themselves, let's track it down from its source, shall we?"
She gave the orders to arrange said call, sent out a few hands to trace the document's whereabouts. It was located within a matter of no more than fifteen minutes, and she sent out the speediest runners to go and retrieve it.
All in all, a matter that would have likely taken hours was settled in a timely manner because of the head of the company, and all papers were signed and sent out with time to spare.
Shortly afterward, she was to attend a presentation that had been put together by the children of Vale for a school program.
Weiss made it a point to attend such events, especially when they dealt with matters such as Faunus-human relations and Dust practices, and especially when her presence there was a confidence boost to those children. She saw so much potential for change and a better future in their eyes, but it would take long, gradual strides of effort to start achieving such things.
But if her being there would motivate them, she would put aside her other duties for such a cause.
There were a few slip-ups here and there; either a child forgot their words or dropped their papers. They would always look to Weiss with apprehension and fear if that happened, but she never once returned their gazes with pressure. She would simply smile or nod encouragement to go on, display her interest in what they had to say until they could finish their part.
When it was over, she was flooded with lines of children – human and Faunus – who wanted to talk to her, give her humble gifts for all of her troubles, or simply hug her waist.
She skipped lunch to make sure she saw to every last child, waving pleasantly as the last set of Faunus children scampered off.
Now then, there was one more child she needed to tend to.
She had reached into her pocket to retrieve her scroll, noticing the way her fingers fumbled slightly.
And she knew why.
Ever since she had woken from her nightmare that morning, the gruesome scenes of it had never entirely left her mind. She hardly wanted to remember such images, fearing they would become reality if she gave them too much attention and they somehow escaped her mind.
She shook her head in an effort to clear such things away as she finally got a grip on her scroll.
But just before she could hit the call button, she felt it vibrate as her screen displayed an incoming call. She answered promptly, relieved to see Ruby's florid cheeks curled upward by a wide grin.
"Hiya, Weiss! How's everything going?"
The older girl's shoulders relaxed, just a bit.
"Admittedly better now that you've actually called."
"Sorry, sorry!"
"How's the hunt coming along?"
"Great! I took out an entire pack! Good thing too, cause they were getting a little too close to Vale for comfort." She wore a proud expression as Weiss gave an approving nod. But even with the pixilated green glare of the screen, Ruby could tell Weiss seemed a bit frazzled. So she asked cautiously, as not to offend her. "How's your work been going? Did you eat lunch?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Weiss retorted, putting a hand to her hip.
"I did!" Ruby quickly rummaged around for something before holding it up to her screen to show Weiss. "I bought two sandwiches on the way here and I already ate one! A nice little old lady also gave me a branch of strawberries for free cause she had extras!" she exclaimed, swooning with delight for a minute until her expression regained its more serious features. "So what about you?"
Weiss was not about to lie to her girlfriend; even if it would make Ruby feel better, she would rather worry her with the truth than ease her mind with falsehoods.
"I'll eat after my speech. Which I've actually got to head off to in a moment," she informed the girl as one of her assistants ushered her toward the car that had arrived to transport her.
Ruby's response was a pout.
"Weeeiss! That means you haven't eaten since breakfast, which was like, eight hours ago! And in between you've been doing all this wooork!"
"I'm fine, Ruby. The speech shouldn't be any longer than two hours."
Ruby whimpered. "Weiss-"
"Don't worry so much."
"No fair! You can't tell me not to worry and then do all the worrying yourself! You're always worrying about me, so why can't I do that for you?"
"Sorry, Red, you're breaking up."
"WE'RE BREAKING UP?!"
"NOT US! The signal! Ugh, you dunce." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Okaaaayy," Ruby drawled. "I'll be quick and be home to catch the end of your speech!"
"You do that."
With one last wave and a toothy grin, Ruby's image disappeared, and Weiss closed her scroll.
"Now then..." She muttered under her breath as she turned to the awaiting car.
Despite how busy she had been all day, the passing hours seemed to be particularly sluggish, and it sent an uncomfortable feeling twisting in her stomach.
During the car ride, her thoughts naturally wandered with no immediate business to attend to, and her thoughts strayed back to her nightmare. Ruby, drenched in a pool of scarlet, torn apart and mangled by enemies Weiss could never find. But the worst part was, Ruby was still alive – just barely – and Weiss could never reach her.
And Ruby could see her, and she was screaming her name, begging for help Weiss was unable to give.
It made her chest tighten, much worse than the nervous coil that used to tangle within her ribcage before giving a public speech.
She was thankful when the car finally came to a halt, and she had other things to distract her from her thoughts.
The process was the same as always. She got out of the car and was instantly swamped by eager faces and a jumbled assortment of questions, all of which she politely declined. Her assistants cleared a path for Weiss on her way to the podium, and the crowd quieted as she took her place.
It was always the same.
The support and surety of her voice as it carried over the microphone, echoing slightly, reverberating through her listeners' heads.
The respect and attention they gave her, the confident manner in which she held herself, her passion and decisiveness with every word, the way her eyes would spark with interest and the desire to persevere to see the things she spoke about become a reality.
She lived for those moments, for the sense of strength and unity that became palpable in the air when she reached her conclusion and the applause went up.
It was always the same.
But not today.
Weiss was always professional, always poised and composed and level-headed, especially in sight of the public. It was her reputation - it was her job.
But not today.
Not when she was waved frantically down from the stage far too early by one of her aides before the crowd could even question what was happening.
Not when Weiss demanded to know what the issue was and her glare quickly melted into a look of concern.
Not when her worst fears became reality.
There had been a hunting accident.
Ruby was hurt.
In her panicked, selective hearing, that was all she had made sense of.
And her nightmares were all she could think of.
Whatever image the people had of her was shattered in that moment as she shoved through to the edge of the crowd, lifted her hand, and summoned the powers of her semblance. Icy blue glyphs formed in midair as she leapt with unmatched speed and ferocity, raising herself up above the rooftops before casting a trail of circles.
The edge of the forest, just before the docks. That was where Ruby was.
And Weiss beelined for that destination.
Nothing else in the world mattered anymore, not her speech, not the confused mass of people behind her.
Only Ruby.
The wind whipped past her sharply enough to have the ends of her bangs cut small rips into the skin of her face, her speed perhaps even on par with that of whom she was bound for.
It was a furious flight, each leap longer and more desperate than the last as she tried to maintain some form of stable temperament. Her emotions were a whirl, and it was all she could do not to let the panic overtake completely, lest she lose her concentration and thus her ability to use her glyphs.
She tore through the skies faster than any air craft could fly, faster than any beast could jump or sprint. The adrenaline pumped through her blood, pounding in her veins, roaring in her ears with each exerting stride. She breathed hard through her mouth, viciously trying to fight away the images of what haunted her at night.
She could see the alarming red flare of the flashing lights from the ambulance ahead, dyeing the trees just beside town in crimson. She could see the bodies dressed in white medical attire.
Ruby was down there somewhere.
It had only taken Weiss a few minutes to get there, and yet she felt as though she had been running consistently for a month. But her exhaustion was hardly relevant – only getting to her partner was.
Weiss had not even noticed when the Dust crystals had started forming on her shoulders, arms, and back, the internal workings of her body teeming with too many emotions to contain.
When it was harmless embarrassment or joy, they did not hurt, but when it was such crushing terror, they were painful.
It was difficult to ignore the pain when it was bursting from her bloodstream, and Weiss dissolved her last glyph and leapt down the final dozen feet or so to the ground, mere meters away from the group of people dressed in white. They were huddled around a portable bed, and even from here, Weiss could smell the sharp tang of blood.
Her heart lurched when she caught sight of the familiar red cape dangling off the side-
"Out of the way!" she demanded, shouldering through the people gathered there, blatantly ignoring the cries of surprise and attempts to stop her. They insisted she stay back, that she let them by, but she refused. "No! Don't touch her!"
Her feet finally brought her to a stop, chest heaving for air as she looked down.
Blood smeared all down Ruby's right side, the white sheets of the small, portable bed stained with it. She lie there with her eyes partially-ajar, but the second she heard Weiss' voice and saw her burst through the crowd, she opened them entirely.
"W-Weiss-" Her voice was a soft squeak.
Weiss swayed on her feet, arms trembling, hands reaching out with shaking fingers as she tried to swallow, tried to look at Ruby's face and not the blood.
"Ruby..." she rasped.
"Weiss... I-"
Her voice cut off when a pair of arms locked around her torso, sitting her up and crushing her to Weiss' chest. Ruby instantly noticed the Dust crystals that had sprouted all along her partner's body, and she immediately knew Weiss was in pain; if the crystals were not indication enough, then the ferocity of her embrace certainly was.
"W-Weiss?" Ruby's voice rose a pitch as she noticed the Dust begin to form and spread around them, hearing Weiss' panicked voice repeat itself:
"Don't touch her, don't touch her, no one touch her...!"
Before Ruby could so much as speak another word, she heard the cracking of the Dust crystals. Within seconds, a barrier had formed around them, invincible, keeping all others out, keeping only the two of them safe inside.
"Whoa..." Ruby had to take a few seconds to admire the sheer power and beauty of the colorful Dust that surrounded them. But she could feel Weiss was about to collapse against her; her partner's voice was whimpering, and her heart was pounding hard enough to scare Ruby.
"H-Hey, Weiss? Weiss, can you hear me?" She hugged her girlfriend's back, nudging the side of her neck to gain her attention.
But Weiss only continued to sob into her shoulder.
"No... n-no, Ruby don't die, don't leave me, you can't..."
It was then Ruby knew what was happening, knew that Weiss was living her nightmares, even though the reality was nothing like that.
But to Weiss it was.
Ruby refused to let that fear overtake her partner.
"Weiss, heeey! Look at me!" she begged. "I'm okay, I promise! Look!" She rocked the white-haired girl back and forth gently, easing her away just enough for Weiss to see for herself.
The blood that coated Ruby's side originated from a three-clawed mark on her shoulder, the materials of her dress there torn. But the wounds were shallow, her aura already having healed much of the damaged tissue.
"I didn't get hurt bad! It was just a scratch – honest! But on my way home, an old man saw the blood and he called an ambulance before I could tell him it was fine. And he made me wait until these guys got here and they're just making a big dumb fuss about it! It's already almost done healing, see?" She lifted her arm for Weiss to observe clearly.
The older girl finally seemed to start catching her breath when she looked down at the wound, then to Ruby's silver pools.
There was a smile on the girl's lips that had remained childish even after all this time. It curled up her round cheeks and reached her eyes, but there was a great deal of concern and nervousness there now as well.
"I'm okay, Weiss! I promise!" Her pinky finger found one of Weiss' and wrapped around it, squeezing lightly. "But I think you might need the ambulance." She reached up and brushed Weiss' bangs out of her face, noticing the sweat clinging to her skin, her breathing shallow and ragged. The crystals on her body still protruded, and Ruby could only imagine how much they hurt when she was so scared like this.
It took a few seconds, but when Weiss finally realized that Ruby was alright - that she was alive and returning her embrace in her arms - she staggered from the relief and slumped forward.
"Whoa, whoa!" Ruby quickly caught her, helping her sit up on the edge of the small bed. "There. Calm down, okay?" She rubbed Weiss' arm slowly by means of comfort.
The older girl finally found her voice again, and she looked Ruby over wearily.
"Ruby..." She was panting, any shred of sophistication absent as she tried to force herself to accept the truth that was in front of her. She looked down at her hands, the creases of her left etched with Ruby's blood. Weiss gave a shudder and looked away.
"Weeeiss!" Ruby reached out, wrapped her arms around Weiss' shoulders and pulled her forward, tucking her partner's head beneath her chin. "I'm okay. All those mean, scary nightmares are just bad dreams, and I won't let them come true." She combed her fingers through Weiss' frazzled hair to smooth it, pressing soft kisses to her head. She disliked feeling Weiss shivering like this, uncontrollably, feeling so weak in her embrace.
But when her girlfriend's arms curled around her waist slowly, Ruby started to feel better.
Weiss was the very definition of disheveled right now as she broke down in her partner's arms, and Ruby could feel the growls in her stomach, recalling that Weiss had not eaten since that morning.
"Weiss..." She sighed into the shell of her ear. "Let's go home. I think we could both do with some supper and some sleep."
Weiss pulled away, inhaling deeply one last time as she finally refilled her lungs.
"You dunce," she growled, though the intended effect was less scolding than it was supposed to be when Ruby reached up to wipe the sweat from Weiss' forehead. "You're still hurt. You should go to the hospital."
"Weiss, I told you it's nothing! Look, it's already healed!" She lifted her arm again to show the wound, and the skin had indeed closed up, the bleeding having long-since stopped. Weiss inspected it thoroughly before she was willing to admit Ruby was right.
"Alright. But still, you should-"
"Weiss, come on," Ruby whimpered. "Are you really gonna make me go to that big, intimidating hospital again? I just wanna come home with you."
And she knew Weiss wanted her there, too. It showed in Weiss' mist-blue eyes when the sternness wavered, and she bit her lip and closed her mouth.
Ruby knew she was winning. She moved closer to her partner, holding tighter to Weiss' waist as she held her gaze. "You need to stop worrying so much, Weiss," she mumbled. "You scared me a lot just now." It was Ruby's turn to bury her face in Weiss' collar, nuzzling into her neck. "It's scary to see you like that, when you almost collapsed, and your Dust is hurting you. And your heart's still beating really fast." She nosed Weiss' shirt collar and ascot away and pressed a kiss to the center of her chest, over her speeding pulse. "Everything's okay, Weiss. Let's just go home now, okay? But first..."
Ruby pulled away, and her eyes traveled over the multi-colored crystals still protruding from Weiss' shoulders and arms. Weiss knew what she was getting at and took a deep breath to steady herself.
Slowly, the crystals began to recede, the massive barrier around them shrinking bit by bit. Ruby knew there was a more efficient way to calm her partner down, so she motioned Weiss forward and reached up to cup her face.
She held a long, warm kiss to her lips, felt the tension leave her partner's body as Weiss relaxed into it. She had not realized how badly she had needed Ruby's lips on hers until now, and returned the contact with fervor.
By the time they parted, most of her Dust had dissipated, but Ruby could still see that Weiss was troubled by something. "What is it, Weiss?" she murmured.
Weiss lifted her head and looked at the vanishing barrier of Dust around them, the shocked faces of the crowd that had gathered there seeming to bore into her with unmasked criticism.
"I acted so rashly..." she mumbled. "And now..."
When Ruby looked up at the surrounding faces, she knew what Weiss meant.
As head of the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss was supposed to be a respectable young woman who thought first and acted second, someone who was composed and well-mannered.
So surely, for her to have run off from one of her speeches so recklessly, travel by means of glyphs, and shoot out a barrier of Dust was anything but how she was supposed to have reacted to the situation.
Ruby knew Weiss was troubled now because she thought her reputation was at stake.
And yet, when she finally got the chance to look around at the people gathered, there was not a single ounce of disapproval on any expression. Concern yes, but most of all relief and understanding.
Ruby chuckled slightly, squeezing her girlfriend tighter.
"Weiss, it's okay. Look." She encouraged Weiss to lift her head and see for herself.
Weiss was always so nervous of being judged that sometimes she imposed her fears onto others. But in reality, it was clear no one was blaming her for the way she had acted today. When the people saw the two girls were alright, the murmurs and sighs of relief went up as they began to disperse.
"See?" Ruby nudged her girlfriend. "No one's gonna be mad at you, Weiss. I think everyone can agree they'd react the same way if they found out someone they cared about was hurt. So stop worryiiiing!" She kissed the scar on Weiss' cheek, slipping her legs off the small bed as she finished. "Now come on."
Ruby stood and took Weiss' hand, pulling her to her feet as well. The older girl went willingly, but not before she apologized to the medical team gathered there, insisting upon it despite the fact that they all agreed it was unnecessary. She vowed to make a formal apology tomorrow to the public for her behavior today, and Ruby quite literally had to drag her away.
"Weiss, Weiss! Come on, it's fine! Just let me take you home!"
Weiss grunted and glared down at her.
"Excuse me? And how did you get it into your head that you'd be the one taking us home? You're hurt."
"Not anymoooore!"
"Hush and get on," Weiss snapped, casting a glyph beneath her feet and more or less dragging Ruby on top next to her.
"Fiiiine," Ruby sighed. "But only halfway! I can take us the rest of the way."
"I'll take you as far as I please."
With that, Weiss cast a trail of glyphs to make a path home for them, keeping Ruby's hand in hers as she leapt.
They moved together in perfect sync, in ways that demonstrated their years of partnership, soaring over the buildings and treetops, the fading sunlight bathing everything in golds and oranges.
The din of the town died away beneath them, until only the fresh wind could reach their ears. Their flowing hair snapped out behind them, rippling like waves of milk and liquid chocolate.
When they were about halfway back to the mansion, Ruby nudged Weiss' side.
"Heeey, lemme get us back now. You're tired."
"I am not," Weiss grunted, sending them over another glyph.
Ruby sighed – Weiss was so stubborn.
But the idea that popped into her head at that moment was so mischievously childish, there was no way she could ignore it.
"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby tugged her wrist, preventing her girlfriend from making the next jump.
"What is it? If you think you can- eep-!"
The shriek that sounded when Ruby poked her side was to die for.
Directly after she had tickled Weiss and broken her concentration accordingly, Ruby jumped off the glyph and enjoyed the free-fall to the ground for as long as it lasted, spreading her arms to the sides like wings and giggling until she made a clean landing. She knew she had caused Weiss to lose her glyph and that the white-haired girl would shortly follow behind her in the descent.
Ruby opened her arms and angled herself just beneath her girlfriend who was screaming angry threats of her name all the way down until she landed with an "oomph!" in Ruby's hands. More crystals had popped up on her from the unexpected fall and mortification of it all.
Weiss glared up at her partner furiously.
"Ruby Rose-"
"Now, now, Weiss. You gave me no choice! I'm sorry it had to be this way."
"I NEARLY HAD A HEART-ATTACK, YOU DUNCE!" she yelped. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to jabbed so rudely and then suddenly be falling two hundred feet through the air and- mmph!"
Ruby cut her lecture off with a kiss.
Weiss grunted again.
Damn this girl, damn her and her carefree nature and inability to listen and her knack for making Weiss forget why she was angry in the first place. To display her displeasure, Weiss put some force into the kiss and nipped Ruby's bottom lip.
"Owwie!" Ruby stuck her tongue out as she pulled away.
"Maybe that'll teach you not to jump off you girlfriend's glyphs and then watch her nearly plummet to her death!"
"Hey! I caught you, didn't I?"
"Just shut up and take me home!"
"Eheehee~ yes, ma'am!"
Ruby secured Weiss in a bridal style carry and naturally, the older girl crossed her arms and pouted. At least they were out of sight of prying eyes.
Ruby always found it amazing how weightless Weiss felt in her arms; after years of carrying Crescent Rose, there was no strain on her muscles at all.
She only paused once, causing Weiss to look up at her curiously, only to be given a quick kiss that made her face red all over again.
When they finally were near enough to the mansion, Ruby let her down onto her feet once more, Weiss grumbling all the while about how much of a dunce she was and that she was lucky she was cute. Weiss dusted herself off, the last of her crystals demonstrating her embarrassment finally sinking back down.
"Honestly. One of these days..." she muttered under her breath. Ruby simply giggled. Weiss spun on her heel and headed for the mansion. "Come on, then."
But Ruby had one more thing she wanted to say first. She reached out to grasp Weiss' sleeve.
"Just a sec," she said.
Weiss heaved another sigh and turned back, giving Ruby her full attention. Her hard expression softened when she saw Ruby fidgeting, clearly a bit stumped for words. Weiss waited for her silently until the girl had found what she wanted to say.
"Weiss, just so you know..." She kicked the tip of her boot in the grass, making a bashful circle. "It... It made me really happy... to see you so worried over me," she confessed. "B-But that doesn't mean I like it when you get scared for my sake or start thinking the worst-case scenarios or start shaking like that! That's not what I mean! I don't want you to get so worried you hurt yourself, I-I just-"
"Quiet." Weiss grasped Ruby's collar and tugged her forward into an embrace. "I know what you mean... It's nice to have someone worry about you, isn't it?"
Ruby squeezed the small of her back and nodded.
"Yeah! It really is! And I worry a lot about you too, ya know!"
"I know."
Weiss stroked her fingers trough Ruby's long, soft hair, all down her back. She took a step back to scan her eyes over the girl's shoulder where the fabrics of her dress and sleeve had been torn. Weiss leaned down and kissed the exposed skin, the only evidence of the wound now being a few fading pink lines.
Ruby took the opportunity to hold a kiss to Weiss' scarred eye, light and gentle.
Before long, their lips found one another's.
Ruby was more than a little happy that Weiss would throw away everything she had worked for in terms of her public image for her sake, that she would drop everything in a heartbeat and rush to her side to make sure she was alright.
Weiss came from a family where appearances were everything, where she needed to craft a perfect image of herself into the reflection of a mirror.
So for her to give that up in favor of Ruby's wellbeing, for Weiss to shatter that glass without a second thought for her sake...
The younger girl giggled against Weiss' lips, causing her to pull back.
"What's so funny, you dolt?"
"Awww, nothin'. Just still thinking about how I used to be taller than you and now I'm the one who has to pull you down."
"How the tables have turned," Weiss smirked smugly.
"Well yeah, but it's only cause you cheated and used the Dust fusion to make yourself taller!"
"I did no such thing."
Ruby stuck her tongue out again playfully.
"Well it's only a matter of time before I'm taller than you again anyway~" she sang.
"As if!" Weiss bit her lip. "Whatever. Let's just go get some dinner..."
Ruby scampered over and took her hand.
"Yeah, let's goooo!"
She pointed her free hand ahead as she led Weiss to the mansion, marching all the way.
Weiss rolled her eyes but followed closely nonetheless, knowing she would rest easy tonight with Ruby at her side.
A/N: Not sure if the message I wanted to get across with this was made clear. I hope it was.
Please review!