Author's Note: Hey Guys! I've been reading RWBY fanfictions for some time and I thought it was about time to try my hand with writing one. So here it is, in the spirit of the Christmas season. Please comment so I have some feedback on how to improve. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it! :)
The slam of the door stirred Weiss from her restless slumber. Judging by the magnitude of which the door was shut she could only guess that it was Yang leaving the room, despite Weiss specifying not to make a racket due to her ear splitting headache. Closing her eyes and hacking out another pitiful cough, she sought solace by enclosing her feverish body in her blanket.
Her mind once again drifted back to her time before Beacon.
Weiss would always dread Christmas as it would invariably serve as a chilly reminder to what she never had; a family. The scant chances she was allowed to watch TV would always show families getting together and celebrating this time of year. During her time in Sanctum, she would often catch snippets of schoolmates conversing on what their families were doing and going.
Not her family though.
They were never in. Always out attending formal dinner parties with board members.
During her Christmas break she would often retreat to her room and immerse herself in studying in the hopes of letting the Christmas festivities pass by over her head. Yet she would always torture herself with a brief glance at her watch to check the time, the date, how much closer it would be until she would reach the day which every child in Vale was gleefully waiting with baited breath.
Not her though.
She never received any presents. She never needed any since whatever she asked for she was granted whenever and wherever without second thought. She tried to reason with herself. She never needed family and friends, she was an heiress and she had everything that everyone every dreamed of. Yet how it pained her whenever she would wake on Christmas day knowing that her parents weren't in and that every other child's were celebrating with their family.
However after 16 cold and hollow Christmases she made it to Beacon. Finally when she had a chance of celebrating Christmas for the first time with her newfound friends at the Beacon Christmas Party, she was sick.
Typical.
She tried to bring her blankets closer to her body however the comfort it brought was superficial. Her familiar companions self-pity and envy once again visited her and plagued her with visions of what others were doing. Her friends would be partying it up and playing stupid games that she would pretend to be unwilling to play. Musical chairs? She played that once when she was younger. Hell, even hearing Yang caroling would be a welcome sound after all her coughing.
She couldn't help it. Her tears found familiar tracks as they slid down her face.
The door opened.
It was Ruby.
That's strange Weiss thought to herself. It's only 5 in the afternoon. The festivities should be going until way late into the night. Her team leader had a light sprinkling of confetti on her cloak and her hair was frizzled. There was a huge grin plastered on her face. But then again when isn't there one? In her joviality she pushed the door with too much force force, slamming it shut. A good natured wince crossed her face.
"Oops sorry Weiss, I'm such a spaz!"
Weiss just rolled her eyes.
"So, how are ya feeling?" the leader asked in an ever enthusiastic and bubbly tone.
Weiss let her cough answer the question.
"Still a bit down in the dumps huh?"
Still no answer.
"Well you'll be glad to know that the party was awesome!" Ruby exclaimed with a fist pump for emphasis.
Of course Ruby couldn't have known but the comment added salt to the wound for Weiss. Sensing a change in the mood Ruby quickly added
"Well I mean it would be so much more fun if you would have come!"
She was growing tired of Ruby's attempts at conversation which are trying at the best of times. Weiss was so not in the mood for this.
"If it was so fun, why are you back here so early?" Weiss snapped back.
"Because I want to spend the rest of the evening with my team members." Ruby responded looking a bit hurt.
With that she bounded over to the rapier wielder.
"You should leave, less you catch anything" Weiss said. Trying to find a way of getting Ruby to leave without hurting her feelings.
"No way, I drink milk" She said proudly
Feeling the futility of this conversation she decided the next course of action was to remain quiet. The discomfort begun to creep in as the silence settled in the room like a heavy, thick layer of awkwardness.
Weiss could visibly see Ruby beginning to fidget. However Ruby was never one to be so easily deterred.
"So uh… what did you usually do with your family on Christmas?"
Immediately Weiss begun to feel the icy daggers of her past threatening to pierce her heart again.
"Nothing"
"Nothing?" Ruby repeated with incredulity.
"Yang and I would always wake our parents up at the crack of dawn and we would all gather around the Christmas tree and open our present and then we would go outside to build snowmen, my parents are really good at-"
"Ruby" Weiss interrupted in a strained voice, trying to keep her emotions in check. She had enough. Ruby as usual, due to her blurriness was doing more harm than good.
"I think you should go. I'm just really tired." The excuse fell flat as soon the words left her mouth.
They both knew this was a lie.
"Oh, okay. I just thought maybe you would want to have some company on Christmas. Sorry to bother you, you go rest now." Ruby finished with a forced smile. Weiss's heart sank and internally cursed herself.
She began to walk towards the door but halted.
"Oh, um…well I got you something small."
She produced a small present wrapped up in red wrapping paper and left it on Weiss's foot of the bed.
Weiss's heart stopped and at that moment her illness was largely ignored by the turn of events.
"Merry Christmas Weiss" Ruby said with a warm smile and left the room.
Seconds passed and Weiss finally snapped out of her stupor. She ripped open the wrapping to find a small box. She opened it. Inside was a small silk cloth carefully folded up. She picked it up and realized it was a cleaner for Myrtenaster. She then noticed words embodied in rough and scrappy stitching: Best teammate ever.
It was crude.
It was thoughtful.
It was so Ruby.
Snapping out of her stupor she ignored the protests from her ailing body and yanked open the dorm door. She sprinted as fast as she could down the corridor and upon rounding the next corner she was Ruby at the far end.
"Ruby!" Weiss yelled down the corridor.
Ruby turned. Her eyes widened. In a blink of an eye and a burst of petals, she was next to Weiss.
"You shouldn't be out of be-uumph!" The Raven haired girl was caught unprepared for fiercest hug the petite heiress has ever given.
"Thank you Ruby" Weiss mumbled into Ruby's shoulder.
"No worries Weiss, I'm glad you like it" Ruby said as she returned the hug.
"Weiss, are you crying?" Ruby asked as she began to notice a dampness on her shoulders.
"It's just that, I've never really had a pleasant experience with Christmas and-"
It was too much for Weiss and she chocked up.
Ruby, despite her superficial blurriness knew not to push the subject. A good friend knew when to treat a wound and when to let it heal by itself.
They stood like this for several moments before deciding to return to the room.
Weiss listened with refined eagerness as Ruby excited gushed out stories of what happened during the Christmas party and Christmas Eve. Most of it revolving around a certain red headed Spartan and a blond goofball but that's another story.
Suddenly there was cursing coming from outside the dorm. It sounded very much like a blonde that Weiss knows all too well.
The door burst open with what appeared to be a tree. It still had snow on its' branches. Yang was appeared next as she hugged the tree and struggled to bring it in. She then proceeded to throw the tree on the floor in the middle of the dorm.
Blake strolled in with her usual air of nonchalance about her.
"Sorry we're late, Yang tried to prove that it was possible cut down a tree with Ember Cecelia." She explained with in her ever casual tone.
"Which I did!" Yang protested.
"Without breaking into unusable pieces"
"Shut up."
Blake and Yang then proceeded to upright the tree and hold it in place by using weights to stabilize the trunk.
"Wait, isn't there already a Christmas tree in the hall?" Weiss asked
"Yeah but we want to open our presents in your royal presence princess" Yang answered in her ever playful tone.
"It does seem to be the correct etiquette to celebrate festivals with our team all together" Blake added.
"Come on guys! Let's open our presents!" Yang exclaimed with glee.
Blake and Ruby both smiled and nodded.
To Weiss's utter shock and further joy, she received a present from each Blake and Yang. She hastily promised to buy them something as soon as she got better.
However what she enjoyed the most was the sheer comfort and joy (despite her illness) she received by being in the presence of her friends and her new family. As they joked, laughed and told stories Weiss knew that this was something no amount of lien or prestige could achieve. For the first time in 17 lonely years, she felt as though she belonged.
And that was the best and only gift she ever hoped for.