The sounds of city night life and foreign, yet familiar bugs filled the slightly chilly pre-twilight air of Mistral. Ruby Rose had been walking the grounds of the safe house Qrow had secured for them that first day they had arrived. This was far from her first walk around the property. It had become a nightly ritual to her at this point. The young leader had a lot on her mind as of late, and found the patchy foliage to be a wonderful place to think. As usual, her mind skipped around the most recent distressing events.
The plan was to leave for Atlas in the morning. Despite that, Nora and Jaune had taken Ren to the city to celebrate their victory at Haven those few nights ago. Cinder hadn't resurfaced, and the group presumed she was dead. Jaune had mentioned doing something in Pyrrha's memory, and Ruby declined the offer to join them. As she listened to her footsteps lightly crunch the soil and grass, she slightly regretted that decision.
Ruby stopped her current lap when some vibrant colors got caught in the corner of her eye. Some flowers Oscar had attended to during their downtime. Oscar... No he was Ozpin when Ruby left the house, had taken Qrow into a meeting about their next plans, and to go over the events at Haven once again. Ruby tried to sit in with them, but was dismissed to rest and relax before this mission by the adults. His parting words still echoed in her head. "Miss Rose, you and your team have done enough for the time being. You've been apart for a long time. Enjoy the company, and let Qrow and I worry about tomorrow.". She sighed and resumed on her path around the house, and her brain went back on course.
Ozpin was right. She should be with her team, having fun and catching up. But that was not exactly the case anymore. It had started out like when Yang and Weiss arrived. Everyone was laughing, talking, goofing around... but her sister was different. Ruby blamed herself for not noticing the gradual shift in Yang's overall mood.
Just half an hour before Ruby had started her pacing, she had left for the room her sister claimed. Ruby could hear Yang's voice through the door when she arrived, and upon hearing Blake's name dropped, decided it would be best to leave. Stuck on the memory, Ruby unconsciously made a noise in the back of her throat. She had talked with them separately but made no progress in getting her teammates to make up.
She took a deep breath and focused on the ground directly in front of her feet. She was starting to wear a path in the earth. Maybe everyone else she talked to was right. Maybe there was nothing she could do and just had to wait it out until the two worked things out for themselves. It only made her feel useless. She hadn't felt quite this bad in a long time. It started with her inability to save Pyrrha, and continued as recently as her still weak hand-to-hand combat skills.
"Ruby? What are you doing out so late?"
Ruby yelped and jumped, her full panicked attention brought to the sound of the voice. Her body relaxed as she focused on Weiss, who was currently standing just outside the main doorway.
"O-oh, hey, umm, Weiss," Ruby stuttered.
Weiss raised an eyebrow at her partner. "So, are you going to tell me why you're out here at midnight, mumbling to yourself?"
Ruby tilted her head before looking up. She let out a small "Oh" of surprise. Last time she saw the sky, it was orange and pink. When did it get so late?
"I guess I just... lost track of time. Eheh..."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ruby, please. It's late and cold. And I can't go to bed if I'm out here worrying about..." she trailed off and cleared her throat.
Ruby stared at Weiss. Her partner and friend was up just as late as she was. Ruby was worrying her. Suddenly, Ruby felt a weight bigger than all the rest of her problems press on her heart. Her hand shook as she reached up to her chest, as if that would pull the new weight off. She couldn't fight it anymore. Her lower lip began trembling of it's own accord and her cheeks felt cold as small tears escaped her silver eyes.
She watched Weiss's face turn from mildly embarrassed to confused and surprised. Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but only crackling squeaks came out. That only made everything worse. Ruby swallowed hard. She had to be the leader. She had to be strong...
She couldn't be strong anymore.
She managed to get out a faint and whispery "Weiss..." before she completely fell apart. Ruby sunk to her knees. She cupped her face in her hands and barely registered Weiss's cry over her own sobbing.
It was far from the first time she cried in front of Weiss. Although, those times were short and only lasted a moment or two. This was in a category all its own.
Ruby felt light pressure on her shoulders and stopped sobbing just long enough to look up from her hands. She was greeted by Weiss close to her, her brow wrinkled with worry and her hands on Ruby's shoulders. Another wave of emotion washed over the younger girl and she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Weiss's torso and burying her face in her shoulder.
A few moments passed before Ruby could feel Weiss relax her muscles and slowly put her arms around her back, holding her like she was made of glass. It was enough to re-activate Ruby's year ducts. She tightened her grip on Weiss and allowed herself to continue crying on her partner.
Eventually, Ruby cried herself out but kept holding to Weiss. "Sorry..." she said quietly, her voice muffled slightly.
She gave a small gasp at the feeling of Weiss's hand on the back of her head, and made the tiniest of squeaks at the sensation of being petted. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Ruby holding onto Weiss, and Weiss softly stroking Ruby's hair. Finally, Ruby was the one to break the silence.
"I, uhh... I'm sorry. I made a mess of us, didn't I?" she asked sheepishly.
She felt Weiss shrug. "It's not that bad."
"Can we just... stay like this for a little?" Ruby asked, slightly tightening her grip around her partner.
"Only if you tell me why you were out here. And what made you break down," Weiss answered.
Ruby took a deep breath. She found herself spilling her guts into Weiss's shoulder. She talked all about Penny, about how she felt like she could have saved Pyrrha, her team breaking up, how she felt incompetent as a leader, their new quest to help Ozpin save the world, her sister and Blake. All the while Weiss listened, occasionally playing with Ruby's dual-color hair.
Finally, Ruby finished with a sniffle. "I didn't mean to make you worry and lose sleep. You almost died half a week ago. You don't need that extra stress..."
Weiss, who had stayed silent this whole time, loosened her grip around Ruby and pulled out of the embrace just enough to stay close and also look Ruby in the eyes. She reached up and gently used her thumb to wipe away a stray tear off her leaders face.
"You dolt," Weiss started softly, "I'm your partner, aren't I? It's never extra stress. Instead of pacing out here, find me."
Ruby's lower lip trembled and she rubbed at one eye to keep herself from crying once again. Just as she was about to say something, Weiss spoke up again.
"I know we're leaving for Atlas. And chances are my father will be looking for me. But I promise you, I won't let myself be taken away from you again. I'll..." she cleared her throat. "I'll always be at your side, Ruby."
Ruby wiped at her eye again. "Thanks, Weiss. Me too," she said with a smile.
Weiss returned the smile for a few moments before letting it drop. Just as Ruby was about to ask what was wrong, Weiss leaned forward and left a lingering kiss on her forehead.
Ruby froze at the contact. "Weiss...?"
Weiss stood up and brushed off her clothes before holding out a hand to Ruby, who was still frozen on the ground.
"Come on, let's go back and get some sleep," she said, motioning to the safe house with a nod off her head.
Ruby blinked a couple times as she processed everything. The weight that had been on her shoulders for so long had lightened significantly. Ruby smiled up at Weiss and took her hand, getting to her feet. She had begun walking to the door, but Weiss didn't immediately follow.
"Ruby, if you're still feeling down... My room is open to you," she said, slightly turning her head away from her partner.
Ruby smiled and squeezed Weiss's hand. "I'm not, but I'll take you up on that offer anyway," she smiled.
Weiss gave Ruby's hand the lightest of squeezes back and the two headed back into the safehouse. And for the first time since her days at Beacon, she truly felt like everything was going to be all right.