A/N: This first chapter is just a repost of one of my prompts from Freezerburn week 2018. I decided there was more to the story, and wanted to extend it. How far does this go? I'm not sure just yet.

"Hey, Ruby, can I ask you something?"

Ruby looked up from her cereal to where Yang was sitting across the kitchen table from her. "Sure, Yang, what's up?"

"Listen, when you and Blake...when you and Blake clicked for that first time, what was it like?" Yang didn't even look up, staring down at the untouched cup of coffee in her hands.

Ruby let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding slowly. Hoo boy, this sounded serious. Blake was Ruby's soulmate, and they'd had what Yang had dubbed their 'magic moment' almost six months earlier, just before the end of Ruby's freshman year at Beacon High.. "W-well, it was kind of like hearing a musical note, one so perfect and pure that it just stays with you, echoing in your mind. I mean, we hadn't met before, she was touring the campus even though she wouldn't be enrolling until this year, no sense starting a week before the end of school, right? I saw her sitting on a bench under a tree in the courtyard, and wandered over to say 'Hi.' Our eyes met and, well, bam, and we've been inseparable since. Don't tell me you...?"

"Yeah, no, maybe, I don't know?" Yang finally looked up, and Ruby could see how torn her sister was. "I mean, I thought I heard it, but she just scowled at me and stomped off."

"Oh." An uneasy silence descended for a moment, then Ruby spoke. "Wait, she? Yang, you're not into girls."

"This I know, Rubes. But still..." Yang's lavender eyes turned toward the kitchen window, taking in the growing dawn. "I don't know what to do, I mean, I've known her for years, all through high school, and she hates me. What do I do?"

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. Who is it?" Ruby gave her big sis a lopsided grin. Truth be told, she was probably enjoying her sister's dilemma a bit more than she should. Yang had been giving Ruby romantic advice for years, and Ruby had found a soulmate before her sister. Now it was Ruby's turn for giving advice.

"Weiss Schnee."

Ruby's face fell. "Okay, it is that bad." Weiss was the most stuck-up, arrogant girl at school. She didn't do clubs, she didn't hang out with anyone, she just went around with her nose in the air like everyone and everything around her was beneath her. "How in the hell this happen?"

"I don't know. Yesterday I was standing in the hallway with Pyrrha, just chatting, when somebody bumped into me. I turned around and there's Weiss with all her books scattered on the floor. I bent over to help her pick them up, our eyes met, blammo, and she just grabs her books and stomps off. So was I imagining it? What do I do?"

Ruby sat there, chewing her lip in thought for a moment. "I dunno, talk to her? See if she heard it too? I mean, not everyone finds their soulmate you know. Maybe she just didn't realize it at the time.

"Maybe, I don't know." Yang sighed. "Yeah, I've got to talk to her today. Maybe it was just my imagination. But she's got the most gorgeous eyes, a beautiful pale blue..." A smile pulled up one side of Yang's face as she remembered the white-haired girl's face.

"Yang?"

"Huh?" The blonde brawler shook herself. "What?"

"You gonna drink that coffee, or just admire it? It's almost time for school. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Except maybe Blake. She's going to think this is awesome."

Yang caught up with Weiss as she was swapping out books at her locker. "Hey, Weiss, can we talk? It's kind of important."

"What do you want, you dumb brute? Come to knock me down again? Sorry, I've filled my quota for the week there." Weiss scowled up at Yang as she shouldered her backpack again.

"One, I'm not dumb, I have a three-point-nine GPA with four, count em, four AP Classes. And two, you ran into me, remember? Listen," Yang's voice dropped low as she leaned towards Weiss, "do you believe in soulmates? Because yesterday, when you ran into me, and our eyes met, that felt kinda like that moment when soulmates click or bond or whatever you want to call it. I, uh, I asked my sister what it feels like, because she and Blake are like that, and it really sounds like what I felt."

"I don't believe in soulmates. I have no time for fairytales." Weiss turned to walk past Yang, but the blonde stepped in her way, holding up a hand.

"Trust me, this is a hell of a surprise for me too. I, uh, I never was into girls before this, but now..." Yang shook her head. "Now I can't get you off my mind. I keep remembering your face, yesterday. You looked so beautiful, so pure..."

"I..." A furious blush rose on Weiss's cheeks. "No-one has called me beautiful, not in a long time." A shaky hand rose up her face, touching the bottom of her scar. "Father says my beauty is ruined, since this."

"I know the feeling." Yang raised her right arm, looking at her prosthetic. "Drunken asshole drives through the front window of a pizza place me and some friends are hanging out at, costs me an arm. Not a scratch on the asshole, though. Put an end to my athletic dreams, that's for sure."

"Someone pushed me out of a second-story plate-glass window. The other scars... they don't show. Father says-"

"Stop. I never want to hear those words from you again." Without really thinking about it, Yang pulled Weiss into her arms. "That's the second time in under a minute you've mentioned him, and I'm already sick of it. It's your life, you have to live it for yourself, not him."

"But...everything I have is because of him."

"Not anymore." Yang pulled back a bit, lifting Weiss's chin so their eyes met. "Now you've got me if you want. As a friend, if nothing else. More friends if you want, probably."

They stood there, one of those strange moments that seem to last forever, Weiss staring into Yang's eyes, trembling. Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. "Shit, time to go!" Yang yelped, grabbing Weiss by the arm and pulling her along.

"Where are we going?!"

"AP Physics with Mister Port, room 403! We've been in the same class all semester, didn't you notice me!" The pair barreled down the hallway, coming to a crowded stairwell. "On the handrail, princess!" Yang yelled, sliding down the railing and taking the corner at speed. Against her better judgment, Weiss did likewise.

"Ah, there is Miss Weiss and Miss Xiao Long. You are a full three minutes late. I have some preparatory work that needs to be done for our next lab. Thank you for volunteering to help me after school today," Port said with a guffaw as the pair stood in the front of the classroom, panting and out of breath, the other students laughing."

"No, it's my fault, Weiss shouldn't have to do it," Yang panted, Weiss glancing at her in surprise.

"Nonsense. The two of you arrived together, so you should serve detention together. Now please, take your seats. I see two open places right next to each other in the front row."

That afternoon, the pair worked, assembling the lab packets. Or rather, Yang put the packets together while Weiss watched, at Yang's insistence. "It's not fair, the only reason you're late is me. If I hadn't cornered you..."

"It's fine." Weiss snatched the stapler away from Yang, taking the packet the blonde was working on and stapling it with a finality. "Father was furious I got a detention. When he asked how I got the detention, I said I was late to class. And when he asked why I was late, I...refused to tell him." Weiss squared her shoulders and looked shyly up at Yang. "It's the first time I've really defied him in a long time."

"You little rebel, you." Yang gave Weiss a gentle jab to the shoulder. "So what do you want to do after this? I know a couple of places we can hang out."

"Father will expect me to come home. I was told to call for a car to pick me up when I am done."

"That's what Weiss's dad wants." Yang set down the papers in her hand, leaning across the table at Weiss and giving her a mischievous grin. "What does Weiss want to do?"

Weiss froze. Her every waking moment had been dictated by her father for so long, the idea of deciding for herself what to do was...terrifying and exhilarating. "I want...a cheeseburger. And somewhere quiet to eat it. With you, if you don't mind."

"I know just the place."

After they were done, Yang led Weiss to where her motorcycle was parked in the school parking lot. "Hop on, princess," Yang said, holding out the spare helmet she kept for when Ruby rode with her.

"One, stop calling me princess, and two, you can't seriously be expecting me to ride on that deathtrap."

"Hey, it's really safe, trust me. I ride with my baby sis on here, I'm not going to endanger you. Just relax." Yang grinned as Weiss fastened her helmet. "Today is about going off the rails into Weiss-land, remember?"

Weiss had never ridden on a motorcycle before. At first, she felt really awkward and stiff, but after a few minutes she relaxed and leaned into Yang, following the blonde's motions. With a brief stop for cheeseburgers and fries, Yang drove them a short way out of town, stopping by the edge of a lake. "I come here, sometimes, when I need to recharge, be away from things for a while, you know? Just me and the water. And now you, if you want."

Weiss chewed her burger in thought. "You keep saying that, 'if you want." Why is that?"

"Because I don't want you to ever feel like I'm forcing anything on you. You've been under so much pressure for so long, it's killing you. What I want is to help you relax and find Weiss again, not whatever it is your dad's trying to turn you into."

The pair sat in silence for a while, looking across the still waters of the lake. Yang glanced at Weiss out of the corner of her eye, watching her. Weiss was eating her burger slowly, chewing each bite as if it was a religious experience. Catching Yang watching her, Weiss swallowed, saying, "It's been a long time since I had a good cheeseburger."

"Can't promise you these every day, but we can do this sometimes."

"I'd like that, I think." Weiss leaned into Yang, enjoying the nearness of her. Hesitantly, Yang reached out her arm and wrapped it around Weiss, pulling her close to make her feel safe while trying not to make Weiss feel trapped. "Yang?"

"Hmm?"

"I..." Weiss's voice trailed off, and she picked it up, hesitantly. "I did hear it, I think. But...I'm so afraid of my father, of disappointing him, making him angry, I told myself that love wasn't possible for me. So I tried to ignore it. Can you forgive me?"

"Sure. I was kinda scared myself. You have a bit of a reputation around school, you know."

"I do?" Weiss blinked in surprise, starting to sit up, but Yang pulled her back down.

"Yeah. For being stuck-up and arrogant. But that's not really you, is it? I mean, you're driven to succeed, that's for sure, but there's a softer side to you too, isn't there? Maybe you need to show Nice Weiss off more." Yang smiled, a happy, goofy kind of grin.

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, her phone rang. "Yes? She answered. "No, it will be some time before I am home. I'm hanging out with my girlfriend." She hung up and, with a determined air, turned her phone off completely. "There," Weiss said, leaning back into Yang.

"Girlfriend', am I? And aren't you going to catch all sorts of hell for hanging up on him like that?"

"Oh, I will be in trouble, both for hanging up on him and for having a girlfriend. Father doesn't approve of me dating, and he has...opinions on same-sex relationships. But right now, I don't care. I'm laying claim to you, you're mine. Unless you don't want to be?" Weiss added, looking up at Yang hesitantly.

"Nah, no problem. I, uh, I was thinking about asking you to be my girlfriend, honestly." This time it was Yang's phone that buzzed, and she glanced at the message, punching in a reply with a chuckle. "What?" Weiss asked?"

"Ruby asking if I'm going to be home for dinner. I told her I was 'taking it Schneezy for a while.'"

"Oaf!" Weiss snorted, shoving at Yang. "I detest puns!"