The spring storms had come to Beacon; wave upon wave of squalls rolled in from the coast for weeks on end. Streams of ragged, turbulent clouds dropped constant rain, broken only by glimpses of perfect blue sky beyond that disappeared in seconds.

Weiss' life had been taken over by routine this deep into the semester - projects, midterms, and the constant grind of training all left little time for anything else in life, or even going outside. Her world was classes, hallways, and the dorms.

Only Ruby's chaos could shake her routine, which is how they found themselves cutting across a grassy quad between wings of the school late one afternoon, umbrellas raised against a spitting rain, swirling breezes snatching at their skirts.

"Weiss, I'm sorry!" Ruby whined, hurrying behind, her short legs struggling to catch up to the rapid, steady cadence of Weiss' heels across the ground. "I... I didn't mean to knock over the equipment rack! But I picked everything up and you didn't have to do anything, even if you did have to wait for me, and we won't even be late to our next class going this way and..."

Weiss whirled on Ruby, the shorter girl nearly running in to her, leaning back as Weiss leaned forward. "It is not just the equipment rack, Ruby!"

"I..."

"It's the equipment rack, and the detentions for talking to me in class, and the mess you leave our room in, and..."

Her rant would have probably gone on in the usual way - a good yell at Ruby, Ruby apologizing profusely, Weiss forgiving her until the next incident - when the storm suddenly rose in intensity. Within moments the girls' umbrellas were turned inside out, and a particularly intense blast of rain hit them like a bucket of water, instantly soaking their faces and hair.

Weiss looked up into the sky to see a particularly dark storm cell approaching, the bottom shaded a gray so dark it was nearly purple, suddenly pushing gusts of wind that were ten or twenty degrees colder than the surrounding air.

She had a moment to shiver in recognition, something about the intensity of the oncoming storm resonating not with her mind, but deeper in her body, her nervous system turned into a radio antenna picking up signals of power and change.

Then Ruby grabbed her hand and was pulling them towards the school, yelling at her to follow but barely audible over the increasing winds and rain.

Weiss wasn't even sure where they'd ended up until they were there; she only knew the rain was being blocked by something above and the winds weren't as bad. Looking around and up, she saw that they were at a Y-shaped join where two different wings of Beacon ran into the core of the building. It was a utility area with giant swells and creases of masonry rising from the ground, breaking the symmetry of the walls and towers, concealing water and electrical lines inside. There were locked metal access hatches dotting the area, but no doors; they were effectively still outside, with no easy way to get in, but the placement of various barriers and supports blocked nearly all of the rain and the wind.

Ruby was talking, but Weiss didn't hear her - something about the roar of the storm, the rain cascading down the walls in sheets, a sudden awareness of how giant Beacon truly was and how small they were beside it captivated her. Something closer to a shock than a shiver down her spine.

"...I think we could try to break one of these locks, if you really want, but at least we're dry for the moment and again I'm sorry I took a wrong turn..."

"Ruby."

Ruby quieted immediately once Weiss spoke.

"It's... it's ok. We're ok. Just give me a moment."

Ruby nodded and kept gazing at Weiss attentively, her huge silver eyes mirrors to the storm above, skin pale, lips blush with her signature color. Like Weiss, she was soaked through, the white blouse of her uniform becoming more transparent, showing her bra underneath. She shivered, once, from the cold and wet, but kept staring at Weiss.

Something broke through in Weiss, some combination of the rain and Ruby's beauty melting hardened walls of reserve into their opposite. Instead of a constant awareness of all the things that she could never, must never do, a single stream of focus emerged, a forbidden possibility changing from "never" to "absolutely right now."

She reached out and cupped Ruby's cheek for a moment, paused, and leaned in to kiss the girl's perfect red lips.

Weiss had been kissed before, by boys in dark hallways at the endless social events she suffered through as part of the Schnee dynasty. It was something she'd always had high hopes for, a burning love that would transform a lonely and stressful life into a grand adventure.

Instead the kisses were always awkward, short-lived things that the boys seems to regret as much as her. She continued to want more, continued to look at cute guys like Neptune as possible boyfriend material, but even at the young age of 17 she'd become a little jaded.

Kissing Ruby, though... if the other kisses were like early days in the training ring, never quite hitting fast enough, her movements made dull by the training armor, this kiss was the fine art her fighting had become, a single perfect strike that pierced the heart and left nothing behind but smoke and flame.

It lasted only a few seconds, broken by a moment to take a breath, and then she returned for a second, even better. Ruby tasted of salt and rain and sugar, wet and cold and warm all at once. Ruby had closed her eyes as they kissed, but opened them as Weiss withdrew, holding her fingers up to her mouth, with an expression Weiss couldn't quite read - surprise? Intrigue?

"I... I want..." Weiss started, and stepped towards her again, but then held for a moment. Ruby had turned 16 at Halloween, and Weiss herself wouldn't be 18 until the summer. Sometimes the age gap barely seemed to matter when they were headed into battle together, Ruby's combat direction and skill with the scythe giving her an air of unquestioned authority.

But at other times, her haplessness and immaturity made Weiss think of the civilians they'd signed up to protect. In another life Ruby's entire world would be malls and clothes and games and friends, and there were times Weiss thought of her as a burden as much as anything. To go from that, the annoyance she'd felt just a few minutes ago, to what she was feeling now, perhaps she'd been moving too fast...?

Then it was Ruby's turn to step forward, taking Weiss' hand and placing it against her breast. Underneath, her heart was beating hard enough for Weiss to feel through the blouse; it took Weiss a moment to realize her own heart was beating just as fast.

"Weiss, please... I want more."

...

Afterwards, Weiss found herself trembling from the intensity of what they'd done, unable to look Ruby in the eyes. She turned away and straightened her skirt and stockings, then ran her hands down her ponytail, straining a surprisingly large amount of water out of it.

"I... still like boys, you know." She spoke softly but firmly, still not looking at Ruby.

"Okay."

Ruby's tone was perfectly open and accepting, as if Weiss had just said she wanted sushi instead of noodles for dinner.

Now Weiss turned to her, surprised both at Ruby's response and by the fact that she felt ever so slightly hurt to hear Ruby speak so casually about what they'd done.

But Ruby merely finished buttoning her blouse up and pulled her own skirt straight, then smiled at Weiss. "I don't know what brought that on, but I definitely enjoyed it, and..." She looked down, then up again, smiling and shrugging. "I love you, Weiss. As a friend, as a partner, as whatever you need from me. I'm just... happy to get you however I can, whatever you'll give to me."

Weiss smiled slightly, and felt tension she hadn't even realized she was carrying drop from her shoulders. "Well, I must be somewhat fond of you to put up with you this long..." She reached out to straighten Ruby's jacket.

"Thank you, Weiss," Ruby said, stepping forward to suddenly kiss her. Weiss had just enough time to register a faint warmth on her lips before Ruby had turned away again, reaching down to retrieve and straighten their umbrellas, handing one back to her.

"Should we go back now?"

Weiss smiled again, gave the slightest nod of her head, and started back towards the rest of the school, Ruby trailing behind in her wake through the fading rain and the falling evening.