I wrote this the day after I saw episode 15 and everyone was just dissing my precious heiress. This is a bit of a redemption fic for that episode about Weiss and Blake; basically an alternate ending to episode 15 if Sun hadn't shown up.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

The Human Heart

The night was still and quiet as Blake dashed through the open air in a flash of black and grey.

Her mind was like a rapier wasp's nest, swarming with confusion, loudness, but overall, anger.

How could she? How could she?! Blake screamed to herself. How could she be so insensitive? So discriminatory? So judgmental and misguided? She doesn't know anything about us!

Blake came to a halt in front of the great statue on campus, gazing up at the structure as she caught her trembling breath. Her mind was still a jumble of words and accusations, and as she gazed at the work before her, only a few words came to mind:

Hard as stone, and cold as ice. Just like a certain, spoiled, misinformed heiress who knows nothing.

But as the thought crossed her mind, Blake realized that was exactly the problem.

Weiss had grown up being told the White Fang were cruel, evil monsters who did nothing but kill and steal. Her entire family had been negatively affected by them, both in terms of business and well-being.

Blake recalled what the heiress had said about her family members and coworkers disappearing or being executed. Since she herself was a former member of the White Fang, Blake knew far too well the crushing grief and sadness that came along with a loved one's sudden disappearance or death.

Many times - far more than she cared to count - she would return to her base to find one less companion there, and more often than not, she would never see them again. She remembered how she would lie to herself every day, pretending they had simply left the group to pursue a different path, but within the confines of her heart, she knew their most likely fate.

Weiss' words continued to echo in Blake's mind, but three stood out overall:

"I'm a victim!"

Blake took one final step forward as she finally felt the suffocating anger begin to boil down. Slowly, she lifted her hand to her ribbon and pulled, brushing a tear from her cheek on the way down as the soft material uncurled. As her ears were finally allowed to breathe once again, her voice spoke on a broken breath.

"I'm a victim, too..."

There had been countless missions the White Fang had announced that had been against Blake's better judgement. She knew she could have saved dozens of lives had she simply spoken out against the orders she had been given, yet she had kept her lips pursed instead, and witnessed several deaths with her own eyes.

Her eyes flicked back up to the statue, her enhanced night vision clearly outlining every crack and fracture there.

Just like... a certain, spoiled heiress... she thought.

Blake took a deep breath, letting the cool night air fill her lungs as she let her eyelids fall shut. When she focused, she could hear every cricket that chirped around campus, every leaf as it rustled in the wind, even several distant conversations within the dorm rooms. But above all of those things, she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her.

No...

Blake's eyes flew open.

She wanted to run. She wanted to tear off over the cobblestone pathway and into the forest so she could hide in the shadows.

But those footsteps, despite how they terrified her, they somehow kept her in place, her feet rooted to the ground where there was no earth.

She was tired of hiding in the shadows.

As the footsteps neared, she could hear every click in the heels, every slight slip of the strut that was usually so prim and proper and poised.

Blake wished it was Yang; she could really use her teammate's awkwardness right about now, her total uncertainty of where to begin or what to say, but her true feelings always showed themselves clearly.

Perhaps that was why she could never stand Weiss very well.

As the footsteps grew closer, they became more hesitant, but the weight she put into each step never changed; it was clear she was resolved to do whatever she had come all the way out here to do, but Blake could tell she was at war with herself as well.

Blake glimpsed the cold, hard, fractured statue one last time before the footsteps finally came to a halt several meters away from her. There was a slight clearing of the throat, even though they both knew full-well Blake had heard her approach minutes ago.

Nonetheless, Weiss announced her presence.

"You..." Her voice was withdrawn, hesitant, but Blake recognized that uncertainty not as the fear of speaking to a Faunus, but as the fear of being rejected by whom she was speaking to. "You look... much better... without your bow..." she finished in a soft tone.

Blake almost whipped around in shock as she heard those words, probably the last phrase she would have expected to hear from the daughter of the company her companions had dedicated their lives to destroying.

No matter how sore seeing Weiss' face would make her heart right now, Blake could not keep her back turned any longer; she needed to see Weiss' expression as she spoke those words.

When she slowly turned around, Blake could see the heiress' clear, mist-blue eyes staring directly back into her own. Blake only managed to hold her gaze for an instant, but in just those few seconds, she saw so much she had never seen before.

Regret, guilt, and the fear of being hated, all conflicted with one another in eyes that trembled before they had to look away. She could not meet Blake's gaze right now, and Blake herself understood that feeling very well. She had lived most of her life feeling everything Weiss was feeling right now.

However, she had never wanted one of her own teammates to look at her that way, and in that moment, she was aware that whatever words were spoken here tonight would potentially jeopardize her relationship with the heiress.

But Blake did not feel worry bubble up inside of her, nor did she feel like a cornered animal who needed to seek out an escape route. She had not missed the final component of the emotions within Weiss' eyes before she had looked away; this was honesty.

Weiss had meant what she said about Blake's appearance without her bow, and it was then the Faunus girl pieced the puzzle together.

Weiss did not despise the Faunus race as a whole, she merely held an understandable grudge against the members of the White Fang. While her accusations that all Faunus were crooks and degenerates were misguided to say the least, Blake realized the heiress felt this way because she associated all Faunus with the White Fang, who had been at her family's throats for decades.

Blake had met many people who hated the Faunus simply because they were Faunus, and those minds could never hope to be swayed to comprehend the truth of it all.

But Weiss was different.

Yes, she was wrong about her accusations of the Faunus.

Yes, she was discriminatory and judgmental against them.

But it was all she had ever known.

She had probably grown up amidst a family that spouted curses and lies about Blake's people on a daily basis, which had inevitably carved fear into the heart of an innocent young girl. This fear had naturally led to a painful distrust in any of the Faunus kind, hence her negative attitude toward them.

While Weiss' actions were hardly justifiable, they were understandable, and Blake could appreciate that fact.

But above all, Weiss was unlike the others because her mind could be changed.

It would take time, and the correct words, but Blake knew that Weiss could eventually be swayed to see the Faunus for the oppressed people they really were, rather than all of them being linked with the group that was quite literally slowly destroying her life from beneath her nose.

Blake realized all of this now, and although she was unsure of whether or not she could change Weiss' mind about the Faunus, it was her duty to try; Weiss had been damaged, that much was for sure, but it was not beyond repair.

Blake let her gaze fall upon the bowed head of her teammate.

"Weiss-" she began.

"No!" Although she did not look up, Blake could tell her gaze must have been fiery with passion. "You can be as angry as you want with me! You don't ever have to speak to me again! You can feel however you want about me! Just... let me say this first."

Weiss took a step back as she raised her head again, meeting Blake's gaze for what may very well be the final time. Then, she folded her hands at her stomach and threw her head and shoulders forward, her long, alabaster hair being flung forward in the earnestness of her bow.

"I'm sorry!" she cried.

Blake could not stop her ears from twitching in surprise. This was certainly not something she had expected the prestigious Weiss Schnee to do, bowing her head before a Faunus, and one of the White Fang, no less.

It took Blake a second to gather her bearings until she found her voice.

"Weiss-"

"No!" the heiress snapped again. "Let me finish, please. You can say whatever you want afterward, I promise! Just please, let me..." Weiss cut off with a gasp as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Weiss..." Blake spoke calmly, firmly, almost soothingly. "It's okay."

"It..." Weiss refused to look up. "It's not okay, and you know it!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "My behavior toward you back there... my attitude toward the Faunus all this time... none of it is okay! Nothing..." Her voice went from almost a shout before it shattered into a whisper. "I was wrong... about everything... I'm so sorry..."

And it was in that moment Blake knew she would not even have to try and inform Weiss about her misinformation about the Faunus and the White Fang. Blake recalled having to give that speech several times before to other ignorant people, but Weiss - the last person she had expected to be able to accept it all - had been the first person to do so.

Blake felt her eyes swell with emotion as a small smile crossed her lips.

Using the hand she had placed on Weiss' shoulder, she tried to have her straighten her posture, but the heiress refused.

"Weiss..." Blake tried to say. "It's-"

"Don't try to tell me it's okay." Her voice was hollow now. "What I've said to you... What I've said about your people... it's unforgivable. All my life, I've been believing that the Faunus race and the members of the White Fang were interchangeable terms." Here, she paused to laugh bitterly. "Ironic. The student receiving the highest marks in class all along was actually just an idiot who didn't know anything that mattered."

Blake could not take this any longer. Reaching out, she placed both hands on her teammate's shoulders now, and more or less forced Weiss to straighten her back.

"Weiss," she said earnestly. "It's okay. When the person you're apologizing to tells you you can stop, you can stop. I understand how you felt about the Faunus and the White Fang. I can't imagine the torment you've been through your entire life. But most importantly of all I forgive you."

After seeing Weiss' display of apology tonight, her pride thrown aside as her true, humbled nature was laid bare, Blake wanted nothing more than to pull Weiss into a simple embrace.

The last thing she ever wanted was for one of her teammates, at the school where she was supposed to be starting over on her path in life, to be torn away from her because of a matter as simple as not understanding something.

But Blake decided it best not to pull Weiss in.

Unlike Yang, Blake was not one to give out hugs left and right, or even at all. Yet right now, she truly believed that Weiss deserved her first.

But she held back, not because she believed the heiress did not want to come into contact with a lowly Faunus; Blake knew that being under such an assumption was cruel and unfair judgement against her teammate who was truly showing penance for her thoughts and actions.

Blake held back merely because she thought Weiss would not be ready for such a thing as being touched by the one she had misjudged so deeply and for so long; she probably felt unworthy of Blake's affections, and Blake could understand that.

At last, Blake took a step back as she removed her hands from Weiss' shoulders, all of her motions slow, as if not wanting to frighten an already startled animal. She let the small smile remain on her lips, seeking out Weiss' eyes, expecting to see the beginnings of understanding and happiness form in that mist-blue gaze.

But Blake's smile faded in and instant when she realized Weiss' eyes were dull and hollow. Blake had beheld some terrifying sights before, but this was a look that sent a chill up her spine.

"You... You forgive me?" Weiss repeated Blake's words in a voice that was laden with confusion. "You're... You're not angry?" She sounded like she was incapable of comprehending such a feat.

Blake had never been one to like getting angry; she found the negative feelings distasteful and non-beneficial to any and all parties. However, sometimes her frustration would cause her to explode all at once, and she realized she had acted this way not too long ago with the girl before her.

"I'm not angry," Blake began.

"Nonsense! You've got to be!" Weiss shouted. "When I've done something wrong, you're supposed to get angry at me! Yell at me! Strike me if you like! You've got to do something!"

Blake was taken aback at the words Weiss had spoken then. "Weiss, where is all of this coming from?"

But as she spoke the question, Blake discovered her own answer.

She recalled what Weiss had said about the White Fang chipping away at the Schnee Company on daily basis, which had led her father to become extremely temperamental. Evidently, Weiss came from a household where wrongdoings demanded that action be taken, even if that meant the punishment was not suffered by the offenders themselves.

Blake could visualize it perfectly:

A young Weiss who had been waiting in the parlor of a huge mansion to welcome her father home from a long day's work. But his company had been raided yet again, and they had lost both money and lives.

In a bout of anger, he would yell at his daughter, hammering the concepts of hatred and loathing into her mind, and fear into her heart.

But one day, the yelling would not be enough to satisfy his rage, and he would end up lifting a broken bottle above her head...

Blake had to take a step back, horrified at the images that pieced themselves together in her mind. But she could not keep her gaze away from Weiss' face now, and her eyes rested upon the pink scar that trailed over her left eye.

Weiss was still standing in a manner that begged for some form of punishment, her eyes screaming that she would never be able to forgive herself unless she was properly penalized for her actions.

Blake remained where she was as her thoughts settled. I... was all wrong about her, too, she realized. This person isn't just a spoiled little girl who would get away with anything with just a slap on the wrist. She wasn't born and raised with everything she ever wanted. She grew up in a family that was twisted with false affection and biased teachings. It's not her fault... Nothing's her fault...

Blake's eyes narrowed, now determined to set things straight with the heiress before her.

She took a step forward, and did not miss the instinctive flinch that Weiss gave; it was the flinch of a girl who longed to run away, but had been conditioned to stay put and take her beatings.

Blake stopped herself as she saw Weiss' expression, her teeth digging into her bottom lip until crimson began to flow as she prepared herself for something dreadful.

But it never came.

Instead, Blake's quiet voice sounded on the wind:

"Weiss..." She spoke in such a manner that caused the heiress to lift her head, her eyes tentatively meeting with Blake's. "Did..." the Faunus stuttered a bit as she forced herself to ask. "Did your father...?"

The question finished itself as she turned her face away, unable to bear witness to Weiss' scar any longer. If Blake's actions within the White Fang had helped add to the anger of Weiss' father, then she was partially responsible for ruining Weiss' childhood, and altering her life for the worse.

In response to Blake's unfinished question, Weiss allowed herself to let out a shuddering breath, which was the only answer Blake needed.

"I..." Weiss finally tried to speak again, but her voice hitched and she had to start over. "I'd always wondered... if it was possible... for a heart to be turned to stone..." she whispered. "I... I started viewing the Faunus as objects, totally sealing myself off from the knowledge that they were people just like my family... just like me. And before I knew it... I had become the true monster..." Weiss bowed her head wretchedly. "I'm sorry, Blake..." she choked.

Blake could hardly find the words to continue speaking to the broken form of the girl before her.

"...I told you, there's nothing you need to apologize for," she began. "And, Weiss. You are many, many things; you're a girl who's been stripped of the chances of enjoying a proper childhood because of what my people did. You're an heiress who's burdened with the task of redeeming generations' worth of her entire family's company. You're a phenomenal huntress with the top grades in our class here at Beacon, and you're a hardworking, dedicated teammate..." Blake finally stepped forward again, taking both of Weiss' hands in hers before the heiress could step away as Blake looked directly into her eyes. "But you're not a monster," she declared firmly.

Weiss' irises quivered as she turned her head to the side, letting out a strangled sob. She buried her face into her sleeve as she struggled for breath while the tears fell, but all the while Blake refused to let go of those softly trembling hands.

Blake felt a teardrop slip down her own cheek as she watched the heiress cry for what was perhaps the very first time in front of another. She knew that neither of them had anything left to hide, and so she continued speaking, knowing that Weiss was listening.

"You're not a monster, you're not as cold as ice, and your heart hasn't turned to stone. Just the fact that you could come after me tonight and apologize... that you could admit your faults and seek forgiveness... that's the most human thing you could have ever done. So thank you."

Blake squeezed Weiss' hands as the heiress cried even harder.

Such pure tears could never come from a heart that was anything other than human.

Blake listened to the sounds of the teardrops splashing onto the stone underfoot as Weiss' attempts to muffle her cries failed again and again; it was almost as though she could hear that burdened heart finally begin to heal.

The moon had shifted slightly overhead by the time Weiss had finally run out of tears to shed, and Blake let go of her hands at last, knowing she would no longer attempt to run away.

"Are you..." Weiss tried to compose herself as she spoke up again. "Are you sure I... deserve your forgiveness?"

"Of course. I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life," Blake replied. "So don't apologize anymore, okay?"

"...Okay..."

"And thank you," Blake continued.

"Huh?" Weiss' eyes widened in shock. "Why would you think you'd have to thank-"

"Because," Blake cut her off meaningfully. "Because... you are the most... human person I've ever met." She could not think of a better word than that. "Even after everything you've been through, you still came out here to ask my forgiveness. You're still willing to see the Faunus for who we are, and you're still willing to change your opinion of us. It's people like you who are going to bring about change, Weiss. And eventually, even the end of all of this discrimination. So thank you."

Weiss had no words to respond with, so she simply bowed her head.

"Alright, then." Blake wiped her own eyes dry. "Enough with the apologies. We're... we're okay now, aren't we?" She felt a flutter of uncertainty within her chest as she spoke the feelings she hoped to be mutual.

Thankfully, Weiss seemed to be in agreement. "Yes..."

But there was still something more she wanted to say, that much was clear.

"What is it?" Blake prompted; there was no time more appropriate than right now to speak whatever was on their minds.

"I wasn't the only victim..." Weiss continued. "My family wasn't the only one that suffered from all of this..."

Blake inhaled sharply, and this time she was the one who stepped back, fearing the heiress would display her rage for the damages she had suffered after all.

"I..." Blake swallowed hard. "I know that... that the White Fang must have tainted many other lives as well..." she stammered, her eyes darting nervously about as she instinctively sought out an escape path.

But before Blake had the chance to move even so much as another centimeter away, Weiss' hands flashed out to grab hers this time.

"That's not what I meant!" Weiss shook her head vigorously. "You were a victim as well, Blake! I understand that circumstances weren't always in your favor. You've probably lost just as many loved ones as I have, if not more. And there were probably times when you could have done something to change things, but you weren't allowed to."

When she saw Blake flinch, Weiss knew her assumptions were correct. She softened her voice.

"Your people were also victims, not just mine. Both sides have done things we wish we could have handled differently. We're not proud of ourselves either. There are people on both sides who want nothing more than a peaceful resolution without bloodshed. It doesn't matter which side made the first attack and allowed the first drop of blood to fall, though. Both sides are at fault for letting it get this bad..."

Regret was beginning to seep into her voice again, but Weiss did not allow herself to be sidetracked from what she wanted to say. "You were a victim too, Blake. I just hope you aren't anymore."

Now it was Blake's turn to have the warm tears swell up in her eyes, causing her nose to sting. Her furry, triangular ears were flattened slightly with confusion and emotion.

Weiss gave the tiniest smile as she released Blake's hands.

Part of Blake wanted to run merely because of how jumbled her emotions were right now, but the thought was shattered within the next second.

She felt two slender arms wrap around her shoulders.

Weiss moved closer to her, gently resting the side of her head against Blake's as she securely embraced her teammate.

"Weiss?" Blake was taken aback beyond explanation, baffled that Weiss had chosen to give the hug Blake had been so hesitant about.

But rather than question her teammate's actions, Blake took a deep breath before slowly returning the soft embrace.

Suddenly, she felt everything was going to be alright, and that was the only thing she could feel.

Silence and relief drifted around them for a moment, as both relished the feelings of forgiving and being forgiven.

Then, Blake's ears twitched again as she picked up on Weiss' thin voice.

"Remember what I said... about having an entire train cart's worth of Dust stolen by the White Fang?" she asked. She felt Blake stiffen, but Weiss only hugged her tighter. "One cart carried the Dust, and the other... the crew members... some of them were my family. I don't know what happened that day during that robbery, but we lost all of that Dust..."

She paused, and Blake had to strain her ears to listen further.

"But when they investigated the train afterward, I was with them. I've seen how you fight, Blake. I know what a cut from your Gambol Shroud looks like. And I know you were there that day, and that you spared those people's lives. I... I think I've known it all along in the bottom of my heart. But until now I just couldn't..."

She sighed, realizing she was straying from her intended point, so she tried again.

"What I mean to say is, there was evidence that if that cart hadn't been separated from the one carrying the Dust, everyone on board that train would have been killed."

She squeezed Blake tighter. "I've heard all of the horrible things people say about you, that you're all just animals. I've probably said it all myself, at some point or another, and I just need you to know how deeply sorry I am for that."

Blake's tense shoulders loosened as she listened to Weiss' words now.

"Separating those carts was the most human thing anyone could have done in that situation. So above all else... I need to thank you, Blake. Thank you for severing those carts. Thank you for... saving what little family I had left... And thank you for... for being my teammate..."

Weiss broke down into tears again as her voice died away.

Blake could do nothing more than embrace her tighter, and Weiss did the same.

For a time, the two of them continued to pass back words of thanks and words of apology, neither willing to forgive themselves for the damages they had caused in one another's lives, nor willing to believe that the other could bring herself to forgive.

However, somewhere along the lines, they established what they had already realized quite some time ago; that neither of them was truly at fault, and that circumstances had forced them both to take less-than-desired actions at some point or another.

Eventually, the tears dried, and grief, shame, and sorrow were replaced with understanding, hope, and acceptance.

Finally, the two girls broke apart, able to confidently look one another in the eye once more.

They both smiled - genuinely - before they left behind the stone-cold statue and began walking back toward the dorm building where their teammates were eagerly awaiting their return.

Many things had transpired between Weiss and Blake that night, both spoken and silent, blatant and concealed.

But more than anything, they were both able to understand what truly allowed a heart to heal, and what it meant to be human.

A/N: I just hope you can understand my interpretation of what I thought should have happened between these two. (And, of course, nothing is proven about how Weiss got her scar at this point. This scenario just worked in this situation).

The sequel story is called Trials And Truths, if you're interested!

Please review!