Kira: I always wanted to make a story about Weiss. She's my second favorite character. And actually, I still haven't made a story about Yang either. But I'll work on that later. I hope you like this story. I enjoyed making it. :)
His voice was booming, loud, and clear. Prof. Port essentially shouted across the classroom his heroic tales of adventure, once again breaking the learning cycle. His words were as clear as the wind was sharp.
To Weiss, however, his words were as scrabbled as her brain. Her eyes slightly dipped, and she could feel her head nodding down at her desk. She yawned slightly, attempting to hold back her instincts.
The person next to her noticed the slumped figure of the princess, and tapped her shoulder.
"Weiss?" The voice whispered softly. It rolled through Weiss' ears like Port's; nothing but a muffled noise. The person frowned, and in response jabbed her arm harder.
Weiss felt the slight sting and flinched. Noticing how dazed she was, the white haired girl fixed her posture and attempted to once again focus on the further digressing teacher, but soon found her focus torn once again. She turned to the person who kept poking her, and stared at her with slight annoyance.
"What is it Ruby?" Weiss whispered sharply. Ruby recoiled back faintly at the stab, and shifted her body back towards the professor.
The white haired girl continued to stare at Ruby's face through her hair, only receiving a lost stare as she continued to listen to Port's adventures. Weiss was about to speak, when the bell rang loudly, cycling through Weiss' ears like fingers on a chalkboard. She stood up sharply and slapped a hand on her forehead in a futile to calm her raging head.
She stepped backwards, almost tripping over her chair, and stood firmly, struggling to keep her balance and calm her new migraine by breathing softly and deeply. Ruby gazed back at Weiss worriedly and contemplated staying with the heiress, but went against it after the previous encounter. She gathered her school supplies and shuffled quickly out the door, following her sister and Blake.
As the bell disappeared and silence reigned again, Weiss could feel her head slowly return to a serene state. With one final deep breath, the heiress unclenched her knees and set her arms down. She knelt and snatched her bag from the ground, set her school supplies safely in, and exited the room.
Only after she entered the hallway did she realize something was missing. A very distinct noise that bugged her on a regular basis was missing.
Weiss glanced around, her eyes only meeting the faces of unfamiliar students. The girl's striking red hoodie/cape was nowhere to be seen. She frowned when realization hit her; she must've frightened Ruby with her tone earlier.
It wasn't my fault. Weiss tried to reason with herself, I was pretty-
Her train of thought was interrupted when someone shuffled up behind her, tapping her shoulder. Weiss shifted her head and her eyes landed on Prof. Port.
"Excuse me, Ms. Schnee," He started. His rough voice went through Weiss' ears clearly now, "May I see you back in my class?"
The girl in question furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity, and shrugged, "Sure." She answered simply, glancing around one last time before following the teacher back into his classroom. After reaching the front desk, Weiss pulled a chair up and sat down, while Port sat behind his desk.
"Now, do you know why I wanted to talk to you?" Port inquired like he was having a casual conversation.
Weiss shook her head, "No, sir," She answered firmly and politely. She noticed a small glint in his eye when she said that, but it disappeared just as quickly.
Port nodded, "Well, allow me to make your curiosity vanish," He shifted his seat so he was facing Weiss, "You looked ready to take an early nap Ms. Schnee. Are you ok?" He asked upfront. The heiress was taken aback, almost looking somewhat appalled by such a question.
Still, she kept her posture, "I assure you I'm fine, Prof. Port," She couldn't keep the complacent tone from her voice.
Port grinned from under his moustache, almost breaking out into laughter at the girl's stubbornness.
"If you insist Ms. Schnee," He mumbled, glancing at the clock, "Now, I'm sure you don't want to be late for your next class, so I'll let you go," He stood from his chair and went over to a nearby filing cabinet.
Weiss had to strain her ears to catch Port's first sentence, and became flustered at being ridiculed, and swiftly exited the room while she had a semblance of pride.
Port heard the stomping of Weiss's heels as she exited the room, and chuckled.
That girl… He shook his head, She needs to relax…
Lunch…
Weiss strode down the hallway, her steps quick and precise. It felt like a rhythm pattern to her, the way her feet moved. Her mind wandered a few years back, when she took up vocal lessons at her mother's request.
FLASHBACK… 10 years ago…
Weiss sat on her bed, a large textbook open. It roughly seemed around 500 pages, a substantial amount. Her tiny blue eyes rocketed across the page, the pupils zipping left, right, and down with rapid injection of each word on the page.
A knock reverberated through her ears, and she blinked as her immersion was broken by the intruding noise. Weiss brought her head up and blinked, before regaining her senses.
"Come in." She squeaked politely, a small blush crawling over her face in embarrassment. The door opened and Richard poked his head through.
A small smile creased his face at the sight he was witnessing, "What are you learning in school now, my darling?" Richard inquired. Weiss flashed her eyes over the page before her own grin found its way onto her face.
"Oh, we're learning about Grimm heritage, and we're working on a project on possibilities of their origins." Weiss spoke excitedly, bouncing on her bed in a similar fashion. Richard couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's obvious enthusiasm.
A question, however, pricked at Richard's brain, its own origins coming from the conversation downstairs.
"Is this a group project, or does your teacher want you to work individually?" He questioned casually. Weiss popped an eyebrow in confusion, not expecting such a random question.
She answered nonetheless, "Ms. Pracket said we could work with a partner if we wanted. But I didn't want to," Weiss shook her head, "I thought that I could get more done if I worked alone, since I didn't have anyone to hold me back." Her answer was simple and complicated. To Richard though, her answer was saddening.
Weiss frowned, "What's wrong dad?" Her worry shot through the father's ears, and he blinked in surprise. Feeling a noticeable crease on his face, Richard shook his head and faced his worried daughter again.
"I'm fine Weiss, just lost in thought." His stomach sunk, "Anyway, your mother almost has dinner ready, so let's go downstairs."
Weiss nodded, a small smile reappearing on her face, "Ok, I'll be down in a moment." Richard nodded and shut-
"WEISS!" A loud clap echoed at her face a moment later. Weiss blinked furiously and snapped away, almost falling out of her seat. Flailing her arms, the heiress attempted to grab at anything within her range. Fortunately, her fingers latched onto something.
Unfortunately, however, "AGH!" She managed to grab someone else. Weiss, after bouncing her lower head roughly on the wooden seat behind her, slammed onto the linoleum with a solid smack, following a stream of pain to shoot up her spine a moment later, before another weight crashed onto her stomach a second later, killing the wind inside the heiress' body.
I hate trains… She unconsciously thought, her head light. Her ears were muffled by a consistent shriek, informing her that she may have received a concussion.
"Aw… They're so cute~" A familiar voice cooed, followed by a reverberating giggle that pushed at her ear drums. Weiss only just managed to acquire one hand on her raging forehead before she felt a warm presence still on her body.
Weiss shakingly brought herself up on her elbows, squinting her eyes open. All she saw was bright red. Her head throbbed again at the bright color and she groaned quietly, almost slipping onto the cold floor again.
"A-are you okay?" A petite voice echoed, its soft tone swimming through the heiress' ears. Weiss blinked, slowly descending her hand that was previously clutched to her forehead. Her body felt weightless, her limbs were shivering.
As Weiss attempted to move her arm, she found she could not move it, it felt numb… She collapsed back onto the ground, the ringing in her ears becoming a violent storm.
"Weiss!?" The same petite voice hesitantly shouted, her tone filled with fear. Weiss could barely hear her though, her voice barely able to penetrate through the vibrant and furious storm in her ears too great.
A few seconds later, Weiss felt the light disappear from her eyes, and her vision became black.
…
The voice slowed and quieted. The last whisper of it calmed, and the girl stared at the woman before her, befuddled, shocked, and awestruck.
The adult woman stepped forward, holding her hands over her mouth.
"That…" She started in a muffled voice, before clasping her hands down at her waist, "That was beautiful Weiss." She sounded like she was about to cry.
Weiss almost felt her face split, and started jumping in excitement. Applause started reaching her ears, which made Weiss only feel even more accomplished. She ran up and jumped to the older woman, clasping her arms around her.
"Thank you mommy!" Weiss cried with bliss. The mother gave a heartfelt laugh of joy that echoed around the room. Weiss joined in soon after, and laughter permeated the room, bouncing and resonating madly.
A few minutes later the mother set Weiss down, and with adorable blue eyes she stared with a great smile up at who mother, who reciprocated it with fervor.
The adult thought of something, staring at her daughter's excited expression, "You know Weiss, if you want, I could take you to see Williams at her concert next month?" She tapped her chin, casually glancing at Weiss' reaction.
The young girl's eyes bugged, "You mean Casey Williams!?" Weiss screeched in joy, resuming her jumping from earlier.
"Only!" The mother tried to get her daughter's attention, but found it unsuccessful due to her rampant joy. She tried again, this time gripping the little girl's shoulder to keep her still.
"Only…" She started again, "Only if you let me help you master your singing."
Weiss tilted her head in confusion, "But, didn't you say it was beautiful mommy? Why do I need to practice more?"
Her mother giggled at her daughter's naivety, "Because, Weiss, not everyone is perfect. There is no epitome. People need to keep refining, even if the project is at its best." The mother paused.
Weiss nodded, "Because if people don't keep working on something perfect, there would be no perfection?"
The mother nodded, "Exactly Weiss. Yes, I did say you were beautiful; I keep my promise on that. But, if you keep thinking of yourself as perfect…"
"I would be imperfect." Weiss finished again, her tone mirroring as if she had repeated this several times before.
Her mother saw the downtrodden look in Weiss's eyes, "Plus, I'm sure if we keep practicing, one day you'll be on the stage like Williams herself, and everyone will love your performance." Weiss's smile was instantly revived, a beaming look replacing her saddened one in a heartbeat.
"You promise?" Her voice was full of hope.
Her mother smiled brightly, "I promise." Weiss jumped into her mother's arms, and their laughter and singing resumed.
One Week Later…
"Mommy…?" Weiss felt tears drizzle from her eyes as she stared at the pale complexion of her mother, only beaten by the shallow wind of her breath. Her only response was a loud, repeating beep of the machine beside her.
"Is she going to live?" Richard whispered quietly, glancing between the doctor and his daughter.
The doctor heaved a sigh, "We're trying our best, but…" His eyes grazed Weiss's hunching figure, "Her chances are slim to none. Unless a miraculous recovery was to occur, we expect her death in three weeks at the latest." He choked on the end. Richard felt like hitting something, his fist was clenching and unclenching.
"Do you know the cause?" Richard turned to face Weiss, her hair was gleaming off the sun shining through the window. It was shorter; her mother had given Weiss a haircut a few days ago in preparation for the concert. Weiss cried that she wanted to look her best when meeting her "idol," she called Casey.
The doctor looked over his clipboard, "To put it simply; Pulmonary hypertension.(1)"
"How long?" Richard couldn't help but utter.
"Give or take, maybe a year at most…" The doctor bit his lip, before sighing, "My wife died during childbirth…" He spoke, his voice barely reaching a whisper, but you could still hear a broken tone.
Richard almost spoke, but the doctor beat him to it, "My daughter's turning 14 this year, so that means she was about 27 when-" A beep went off in the man's pocket. His fingers were shaking, Richard could tell, when he reached for whatever was in his pocket.
After glancing closely, the doctor grumbled, "Excuse me, I'm needed over in the ER." He stepped quickly towards the door. Reaching for the doorknob, the doctor glanced back at Weiss, to Richard, and with one last soft nod, exited the room.
Richard gave a nod towards where the man was, and slowly shuffled to Weiss, whose facial expression was confused and scared. He paused as he extended his arm, and retracted it.
"I'll be right outside if you need me Weiss." Richard wasn't even sure if Weiss heard him, but he didn't care for repeating it if that was the case.
Weiss had barely heard the door closed, her thoughts were swimming curious, scared, frightened, any other emotion other than security. Her mother's chest was lifting and falling, her breath was light. Her skin was pale, as bright as the gleaming sun.
"Mommy…" Weiss muttered quietly, her voice barely raising a whisper, "When you wake up, we're going to see Casey, right? We're going to her concert, and we're going to have fun, right?" She kept repeating those questions as if her mother were somehow listening, that she would wake up, and said she just took a long nap.
A small cough went through Weiss, and her eyes bulged like dinner plates. Her petite blue eyes went from the sun to her mother again, and she saw her eye lids crease.
Vibrant blue orbs poked out from the lids, and Weiss almost panicked from excitement.
"M-mommy!" Weiss shouted with anxiety, shooting her arms out, wrapping them forcefully around her mother's arm.
"Hngh…" The adult groaned out, feeling a sudden pressure against her arm. A few moments went by in pure silence, as Weiss' mother attempted to sit up, her head light from the bright sun, being unconscious for so long, and her own daughter applying pressure.
The young girl tentatively unclasped her arms from her mother's skin, already frightened at the absence of her touch.
With one hand on her head, the other keeping her up, Weiss' mother shifted her vision around the room, absorbing the bright scenery. She gently closed her eyes again, breathed slowly, and opened them again, the bright light lighting her face like a trophy. The mother, still holding the numbing feeling in her arm by the extreme amount of pleasure, glanced over and saw the tear stricken face of Weiss, her daughter.
The mother gave a small, sad smile, "I'm sorry for sleeping for so long, my dear," A small frown override the pleasured look on her face, "Why are you crying?" She moved her free hand up slowly, resting it against the wet, soft skin. The mother slid her finger horizontally, water gripping to her skin as she pulled some of the tear lines off of Weiss' face.
Feeling the soft touch Weiss had yearned for, she lurched forward and captured her mother in a hug, crying into the hospital gown her mother was forced to wear.
"I *hic* I-I thought..." Weiss spurted out, launching spit out of her wet mouth, "I t-thought you *hic* w-w-were *hic*..." Weiss couldn't finish her statement, the upcoming word forbidden in her language, a poison to her bloodstream.
"Why would you ever think that Weiss?" Weiss' mother questioned defiantly, a small grin contorting her face once again, "I would never leave you Weiss. Not now, not ever." She whispered quietly, running a hand through her daughter's fresh, soft hair.
Weiss, pulled her head up, most of the tear stains now on the adult woman's gown, "Really?" Her voice was full of hope, so much that it sounded like an angel's promise.
The mother laughed, bending down to peck her daughter's forehead. Weiss felt more tears sting her eyes, feeling her mother's soft lips push against the skin of her forehead, sending a jolt of pleasure through her.
"I promise Weiss. Now, can you let mommy get some rest? She's still a little bit tired." The adult asked softly, her voice shifted as though she were talking to a baby. Weiss fought to keep ahold of her mother, fighting every bone, every muscle of her body to keep her arms wrapped securely around her mother. Reluctantly though, she retracted her arms, already feeling the loss of warmth hit her beating heart, a small shiver of loss hitting her spine. The adult gave a thank you smile and laid back down slowly, her piercing sky blue eyes disappearing behind her closing lids.
Weiss felt tears prick her eyes, and her throat clamped shut, as if pliers crushed her windpipe, "I-I love you mommy. Pleasure wake up again soon." She cried slowly.
Her mother smiled, "I love you too Weiss... I promise I will." Even Weiss could tell it was an empty promise, as all her ears were filled with was wind...
Her mother's voice was absent...
Weiss shot up violently, hair clutching her forehead and her breath ragged. A long bead of sweat was flung from her head and landed on her hand, pulling the heiress into reality.
Her eyes shot around the room rapidly, injecting each individual item into her vision and memory.
She was in a hospital room, if the heart monitor wasn't any indication. Weiss glanced down at it and saw she wasn't connected to it, the cords were hanging close to the ground. The white haired girl lifted her arm and saw no entry or exit wounds where the cords would be connected to. In fact, it looked like she was still in her Beacon uniform.
Weiss frowned, something wasn't right. With one more careful glance around the room, the heiress slowly removed herself from her bed. Once her feet pressed onto the tiled floor, a cold spike went up through her feet and up her spine, causing her to shiver.
Attempting to ignore her freezing soles, the white haired girl stepped quietly around the room, struggling to discern anything odd about the room… or at least find her shoes. Her eyes grazed over the knob of the door, and Weiss soon found her hand slowly etching closer to it, her fingers outstretched.
Once her hand had clasped the latch, Weiss turned it and slowly opened the door, the lurid creaking scratching her ears like nails on a chalkboard.
Before the door could be fully opened, it was burst open by someone else, causing Weiss freeze.
"Mommy! Mommy!" A familiar voice screamed as the pounding of feet shot by the white haired girl's ears. A few other pairs of feet rolled down the hallway, bringing Weiss into existence again.
"Mommy!" The petite voice screeched again, this time her voice shooting through Weiss' ears.
T-that voice… A small tear escaped Weiss' eyes as she slowly craned her neck back to the bed. When her pupils took in the scene before her, it took all of the white haired girl's strength not to stare.
Her younger self was perched on a chair, clasping her mother's cold hand. Tears were falling, and voice was broken by her agony.
"Weiss!" A gruff voice shouted in fear as he was reaching closer to the room.
This is… The older Weiss couldn't bear finishing that thought, her throat closing up as more tears fell. The feet were as loud as an earthquake now, and not long later they stepped into the room, and a shocking silence reigned over.
The older Weiss turned to the newcomer, and saw the distressed face of her father as he gazed helplessly at the younger Weiss furiously clutching the pale, cold, mother's hand and arm.
Younger Weiss turned to her father, and a small glimmer of hope illuminated her features, "Daddy! P-please, help me wake mommy! S-she won't listen to me!" She cried in frustration.
The older Weiss frowned, wanting to turn away, but finding herself somehow able to. Her vision was slightly blurry, everything below the frame of the bed like a pool of water.
Richard started cautiously stepping towards the younger Weiss, brushing past the older woman like a ghost. The doctor finally found his way to the room and almost shouted in annoyance, if it weren't for him glancing at the painful picture before him.
"Weiss, we need to go, mommy needs more rest." Richard cooed, about three feet from her daughter.
Young Weiss shook her head, "Mommy has rested more than enough!" She turned back towards the mother, her pale pink lips slightly parted.
"Mommy! Y-you said you would help me with my singing! R-remember, you said it was beautiful." Young Weiss started stuttering, "You said we could sing together, that everyone would love it…" Her jaw was shaking, "You said I would be the best… You promised…" Her arms fell.
"Mommy…"The young and older Weiss whispered. The older Weiss clasped her hands over her mouth, her eyes leaking tears like a waterfall. Her knees buckled together and she collapsed, a cold spike shooting into her knees and up her body. The dam was shattered with that spike, and her clear tears mixed with the linoleum tiles, refracting the ground.
"Weiss! We need to go!" Richard hissed under his breath, clasping a hand roughly against young Weiss' shoulder. The older Weiss heard the angry tone from her father blast through her ear drums, shattering them. She reluctantly glanced up, the image implanted in her mind, having experienced and revisited this nightmare repeatedly. Her teeth clenched violently as she saw her younger self turning around and slapping the hand off of her shoulder, before the father retaliated and backhanded the young Weiss, sending her onto the floor with a mind shattering smack. The older Weiss heaved herself from the floor and lurched forward.
"You bastard!" She shouted, hoping to wring her father's neck, instead shooting straight through the man, landing on her hands and knees with a similar smack, tears flooding onto the ground below. Richard stared at what he had just done, horrified at the broken picture of his daughter before him. He fell to his knees and reached his hand out shakingly, the tips of his fingers trembling madly. Upon touching Weiss, he felt the once, soft pearly skin tremble and harden below his touch, and tears fell from his own hardened eyes.
"Why...?" Both Weiss' questioned simultaneously, both feeling their father's cold touch against their skin. Richard didn't answer, he only leaned forward and pulled the young girl up, heaving her in a hug. As the man swung his feet around, facing the door in shame, the young Weiss caught a glimpse of her mother once again, her hand falling to the side of her bed, and wailed once again.
"Mommy!" She cried loudly, reaching her hand over her father's shoulder, outstretching her fingertips in hopes to feel her mother's hand once more. She didn't care if it was cold and lifeless, she just wanted to be close to her!
The older Weiss smashed her fist against the floor, "Why can't I be closer to her!?" She screeched, her voice rocketing across the room, only shooting back into her own hearing range. She already knew the scene... Her father was slowly walking out of the room, the wailing, crying, kicking, screaming, agonizing form of her younger self just shouting in disbelief and despair.
Silence... The door shut, and all Weiss could hear was her own sniveling despair, nothing else. She opened her eyes and stared at her reflection below her. She felt sickened, glancing down at her broken picture... Imperfection, that was all she could see. Still caught in the midst of the nightmare, Weiss attempted to talk with her mother as she normally did. It all ended the same though.
As Weiss attempted to stand, the reoccurring scenario appeared in her head again, I will cry... I will shout... She stood on her wobbling feet, I will scream in despair... She pulled her hand up, I will collapse, clawing to feel my mother's touch, but just passing through...
As she pressed her hand against her mother's, a warm feeling ran through her body. Weiss' eyes widened, the familiar, yet unfamiliar warmth shooting through her body like a potion curing the disease.
"Mom..." Weiss' lips trembled as she echoed the three letters, clutching the oddly soft, warm hand rather than passing through the cold, rough, dead one as before.
"Yes, my daughter?" Weiss' eyes trembled, her heart rate spiked, and her crying amplified. She bit her lip, and dared glance down.
She saw the beaming face of her mother.
Weiss felt her entire body go light. She felt like collapsing, jumping, having a heart attack, anything except the elation in her beating heart bring her trembling to a stop. Weiss' mother brought a hand up to her daughter's cheek, the soft feeling in her fingertips bring a sense of pleasure in Weiss' face, a small smile starting to etch on the heiress' face.
"Why are you crying?" The adult asked in the same tone Weiss heard softly push through her ears a long time ago.
"I... I thought..." It was the picture perfect image in Weiss' head. It was playing out exactly like back then.
Weiss' mother frowned, "Why would you ever think that?" She paused, drying the tears staining her daughter's perfect face, "I would never leave you Weiss. Not now..."
"Not ever." Weiss finished, moving her hand up to clutch the warm hand pressed against her cheek.
The adult chuckled, sending a soft tune through the younger's ears, "That's my daughter. Now, I want you to know that I will always be by your side..." The mother clicked her tongue, "Whether you like it or not."
Weiss laughed, "I know you will." She strained her voice, the tears starting to return again.
Weiss' mother frowned again, "Why are you crying now, my dear?"
Weiss gave a watery smile, "I'm crying... I'm crying because I can hear your voice again, because I can hold you again, because I can see you smile again." Weiss coughed out a laugh, falling to her knees as she kept crying, letting loose laughter and sadness equally.
Her mother just chuckled, "I'm happy that you feel that way, but if you had been listening this entire time, I was always talking to you. I never stopped."
Weiss furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, staring into her mother's piercing, beaming sky blue eyes, "What do you mean?" The mother clasped her other hand over Weiss' other hand.
"I never left you my daughter. Since the day I parted, I never left your side. You just didn't believe it." While her words were simple, the effect was complex; fear, anxiety, happiness, and elation shooting through every nerve in Weiss' body.
"What do you mean? I-I never saw you."
Weiss' mother shook her head, "You didn't allow your heart to see me Weiss. You always wanted to work alone, correct? You didn't want anyone near you, right?" Weiss nodded, the pieces in her brain started to form the picture.
"You closed up your heart Weiss. You didn't allow anyone near you, so you pushed me away as well Weiss." With each piece fitted correctly, a tear fell from Weiss' eyes.
"Those nightmares you kept having, this same scenario that's been destroying your heart every time? It wasn't destroying your heart, it was destroying the cage surrounding it. Your nightmares were trying to get you to believe I was there for you." Tears echoed the Schnee family's faces, the two girls leaking the clear drops to echo their sadness, realization, and elation.
"And now..." Weiss' mother moved the hand on her daughter's cheek to the girl's heart. Weiss followed suit, moving her now free hand over her heart, holding her mother's hand over it, feeling the now methodical beat below her skin.
"Now it's free, and I can see you..." Weiss murmured, finishing her mother's sentence. The adult nodded, and locked eyes with her daughter.
"Can you make me a promise Weiss?"
Weiss nodded automatically, "Yes mother."
Her mother's face beamed, "Can you promise me to keep your heart wide and proud, and practice to be more genial and accepting... So you can be perfect?" Her voice was soft, as if she was talking to a baby.
Tears rushed out of Weiss' eyes, and she snapped her eyes shut, nodding furiously, "Y-yes mother, I promise." She clenched her hand over her mother's, the one hovering over her heart.
"I'm glad. Now, can you let mommy get some rest? She's still a bit tired." Weiss' mother asked softly, a small smile covering her already perfect face. Weiss nodded and stepped away from her mother.
"I-I love you mom... Please wake up again soon." Weiss uttered unconsciously, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
The adult nodded, "I love you too Weiss... I promise I will." She spoke before falling back onto the bed, closing her eyes slowly as she did so. Weiss backed away, smiling.
The wind wasn't blowing through her ears... Her mother's voice was.
...
Weiss' eyes slowly opened, her vision swiftly permeated by the blinding white light. She groaned in annoyance and flung her arms lazily over her eyes, hoping to block every speck of light from her vision. While she was successful, her ears weren't covered, and a familiar, nagging voice ran through her ears.
"Weiss!" Ruby's voice echoed, before the heiress heard the swift clap of shoes reaching closer to her, before she was forcibly yanked into a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Ruby whined, her voice breaking slightly. Weiss muffled in despair, flailing her arms around in a sign of help. Two more laughs ran through her ears, both on the same familiarity level as Ruby's.
"Ruby, I think you're suffocating the poor girl." The calmer of the two new voices spoke, a tinge of humor running off her tongue. Ruby gave a quick 'eep' and quickly separated herself from the white haired girl. Weiss, now being able to see multiple colors besides black and red, glanced around the room and saw the smirking black haired girl, the grinning and chuckling blonde, and the embarrassed Ruby.
"I-I'm sorry Weiss, I-I didn't-" Ruby shuffled her words, her hand movements experiencing similar results. She gave up a moment later and sighed, settling on tapping her fingertips together with a blush of embarrassment hovering over her face. Weiss was left stunned, still trying to drag everything in and piece whatever the hell just happened together.
A moment later, however, Weiss released her own little giggle, stretching her arm out to pat Ruby's shoulder.
"You did no harm Ruby. Besides, I should be sorry about me snapping at you. I had no right to." Weiss spoke in a light tone, turning her head away in a small sense of shame. Blake's eyes widened, Yang's jaw dropped, and Ruby's eyes widened.
"Is the princess actually apologizing about something?" Yang broke the silence first, her tone filled to the brim of disbelief.
Weiss grinned, looking over at the blonde with a smug look, "Yes. And at the very least I don't push everyone by without so much as a wave when rushing to not be late for a class because I slept in." The heiress mocked, placing a hand on her chest, feigning disbelief.
Before Yang could retaliate, her black haired partner spoke up, "You know, she has a very distinct point." Yang just stared slack jawed, her eyes full of betrayal.
Ruby giggled as well, "Weiss is right. You do push everyone. I feel bad for Jaune every time you oversleep." Weiss and Blake joined Ruby's laughter circle when the image was implanted in their heads.
Yang flailed her arms around, "I thought you were supposed to be on my side Rubes!" Yang cried in surprise.
"Sorry sis!" Ruby laughed, scratching the back of her head with a huge grin on her face. Yang just whined as Blake patted the poor blonde's back. Weiss couldn't help but let loose her vocals at the scene, laughing loudly and beautifully at Ruby's sister's predicament. A small laugh caught her ears though, and she scanned the room. Her eyes widened as they landed on a figure behind Yang, the face of her mother, laughing with her daughter.
They locked eyes a moment later, and the mother smiled, holding a hand over her heart as she slowly faded into white dust.
A small tear dripped from Weiss' eye, and she let loose a small hic, her heart skipping a beat. Ruby snapped her attention over to Weiss and panicked as she saw the clear drop of liquid fall off the heiress' face.
"ACK! Weiss, why are you crying!?" Ruby screamed, flailing her arms in a similar fashion to Yang. The other two girls quickly looked over at Weiss, suddenly worried about the white haired girls sudden personality shift again.
Weiss waved a hand in front of her, "It's nothing, really." She wiped her face, cleaning the stain left by the rogue tear, "It's just, I haven't laughed like that in a while is all." She admitted offhandedly. The three girls each held similar looks of confusion, Yang raising an eyebrow.
"When you hit your head earlier, did you switch off your bitchy mode or something?" Yang asked abruptly. Ruby snapped her attention over to Yang, her jaw dropped.
"Yang! Language!" She scolded her sister, pointing at her with a cute glare. Yang held up her hands as if she was being arrested and laughed apologetically. Weiss giggled again as Blake just sighed, giving up on figuring out whatever just transpired within the past few minutes.
A small speck of white dust fell into Weiss' vision, and a large smile captured her face. She set her hand over her heart like her mother had done.
I promise mother... I will no longer keep my heart shut... She silently promised, as the speck of dust exploded into a small glittering show before her, the light reflecting off of the bits like fireworks.
"Thank you my daughter." Her voice went through Weiss like a soft tune, circling her heart and slowly hugging it, letting loose a sense of pleasure through Weiss' nerves.
For once, she could smile and laugh as happily as before her mother died. Because now, she knew her mother had ever died, as she was always next to her.
(1) Pulmonary hypertension affects arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart. Shortness of breath, dizziness, and chest pressure are symptoms. The condition worsens over time. But treatments such as medications, surgery, or transplant can help lessen symptoms and improve quality of life.