Injuries & Partnerships (Part I):

Characters: Weiss, Ruby

Pairings: Whiterose (hints)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings, these belong to Rooserteeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.

Summary:

Ruby is injured during the final fight with Salem, injured protecting Weiss… something which doesn't sit well with the heiress apparent.

Vale Hospital, Ruby's Room

"Miss Rose are you listening to me?" the Doctor questions as he looks at the girl lying on the bed. The seventeen year old brunette just nods, her eyes drifting to the only person they couldn't remove from the room. "Your injuries are extensive, burns from the Grimm Dragon's fire burned you on your arm and on your face, you most likely won't ever see with your right eye again, and we've done our best to reconstruct your right arm, but there is significant scarring and nerve damage. Sadly your face isn't much better, now this isn't including the broken ribs and bruised organs. You'll be in for a rough couple of weeks Miss Rose, but if it's any consolation… I'm sorry for what happened to you, especially after everything that you did for us… and Remnant."

The Doctor, paid for by none other than the white haired beauty in the chair at the corner, walks out his head hung low, and thankfully sincere about it. Ruby groans as she starts to move herself to the bed's edge, the pained sounds drawing Weiss out of the task Ruby can't focus on and bringing her close.

"Hey… relax Ruby, you need your rest, didn't you hear the doctor? You're badly injured and we all need you to take it easy right now, why don't you rest?" Weiss insists having scooted the chair closer so she could keep her legs beneath, weak from the crying and stress she's been in since the fight.

"I don't want to sleep Weiss… every time I try all I see is that dragon bearing down on you, that dragon with its maw wide open and Dust fire funneling up its throat… the large white teeth…" Ruby begins to shake her voice trailing off, but Weiss recognizes the reaper's need for comfort. So Weiss does the only thing she can, she sings.

"Hush now… don't worry…. Your fears are gone, your light is safe…. And you are home now….

Hush now…. Don't cry…. Hush now…. Gone is danger…. I'm here now, and always will be….

Hush now… Sleep now… I'm here… now…" Weiss finishes, choking back tears as she rubs patterns into Ruby's undamaged hand. You put her in danger, if it weren't for you she'd be fine, you should never have been on that field. Weiss looks up with her eyes, red rimmed from the previous crying sessions, to see Ruby smiling at her. The reaper's hand pulls out of Weiss' and brushes away the tears on the older girl's face. That single sparkling eye shines as bright as a star to the heiress.

"Come on Weiss… I'll be fine, as long as you're here…" Ruby says, her face becoming serene as she drifts away on a cloud to sleep. Weiss smiles and runs the back of her hand along Ruby's left cheek before brushing a couple loose strands of hair out of her face.

I don't know if I deserve her, but either way she deserves my absolute best… and I'll never give her anything but. Weiss looks down at the black and red cloth in her hands, Ruby's red rose symbol taking shape on the half mask the girl would wear to cover up the burns she'd received protecting Weiss. I hope she likes it. Weiss questions only for a hand to reach down and pull the soft fabric from her hands, the girl she'd thought asleep not as much so as it had seemed.

"It's nice… I can't wait to try it on Weiss… thank you…" Ruby whispers, falling back into her slumber as the mask falls back into Weiss' hands. One more tear falls past Weiss' face and onto the mask, but this one was one of joy, she was taking a step in the right direction…

2 Weeks Later...

Island of Patch, Xiao Long-Rose Household

Ruby Rose was many things, a Huntress in training, a saviour of the world, and of course the unequivocal leader of team RWBY, but there was only one thing that truly terrified her. Ruby had fought Grimm, waged war across the kingdoms, and taken down the Grimm Sister herself before she could awaken her siblings or parents, yet right now she was afraid. You see our brave young rose, slayer of a Grimm Dragon and a warriour with silver eyes, was in one the most crucial moments of her life. She had to decide if she could continue on with the line of work she'd chosen… if with one eye she could see what she hadn't been able to with two.

"Come on Ruby!" Weiss shouts from the living room of Ruby's childhood home. Ruby had asked that she be allowed to dress herself, ready herself, and walk into the living room, all of this with one eye and one fully functioning hand. The reaper had succeeded, albeit with some difficulty to put on her clothes, though she realized she'd have to abandon her corsets for now, along with anything that had a lot of actual buttons and buckles. So that meant the uniform she'd been wearing up until her fight with the Grimm Sister, Salem, was out.

Here she stood, Ruby Rose, a medium length cape like skirt strapped around medium length shorts. A short sleeve shirt pulled on over her head, with a snap button up over that. A long black and red glove, sewn by Weiss herself, was adorning her right arm, while a simple leather fingerless glove was on her left hand. Sliding Crescent Rose onto her holster which was affixed to the belt, and grabbing her jacket, Ruby began the painful walk to the living room.

Ruby whimpered like a wounded animal as she crossed the threshold into the room where Weiss sprang into action, nearly toppling over the girl she was trying to help. The two girls were just under twenty, Ruby being nearly eighteen and Weiss being nineteen, and were about to start there Junior year, the only thing they have to do being the knowledge courses given their help in stopping Salem. Weiss bore most of Ruby's weight as they made it outside to where the rest of the team, as well as Tiayang, Qrow, and Winter were waiting for them.

"Thank you Weiss… for the mask… for the glove… for not letting everyone else see me like this… just thank you," Ruby whispers to her partner. Weiss smiles as she struggles to help keep the younger girl up.

"We're partners Ruby, just like you were there for me when I needed you, I'll always be there for you, no matter what," Weiss answers, doing her best to keep the guilt out of her voice as she once more thinks about the charging Grimm Dragon and Ruby's valiant save in taking the blow. Never again… whether she ever becomes mine or not, I'll never let her be this injured ever again. Weiss looks up with a new steel in her eyes as she sets about getting them to the limo Winter had ordered to help them get to Patch Island's airship port.

Author's Note:

This is set in the same AU as A Very Yang Solution, and quite a few of my one shot/shorter chapter stories that I've written will also be in this AU. I understand that Volume 4 will rewrite my continuum/AU and I'm completely okay with that, I'll continue to post these one shot-short chapter stories. Also this AU's timeline assumes they beat Salem within at least 2 Volumes but don't worry they'll have other challenges than regular life… possibly.