Weiss Schnee sighed as she looked out over the campus of Beacon Academy. The roof gave her a lovely view from four stories up.
Her ice-blue eyes pierced the sunset, the twilight hours quickly approaching without warning or hesitation. This was where she preferred to be when she had to think hard about things, though she would never admit it to her teammates.
A clang sounded behind her, causing her to jump and whip around. She was greeted by the sprawled out form of Ruby Rose, who had apparently tripped on her way out the door that connected the hallways below to the plateau of concrete.
"Dolt." She smiled, helping the younger girl up. Ruby flashed her a goofy grin of thanks and sat next to the heiress on the ledge.
"I came up to offer you a drink." Ruby smiled. Weiss was about to politely decline, but her throat shot a spasm of pain throughout her neck, and she realized just how parched she really was. She responded with a short nod.
"Sure. A cold soda would be quite-"
She was interrupted as Ruby pushed a cold, shiny can into Weiss' hand. Weiss squinted to read the light-reflecting label.
"Ruby, this is alcohol!" She exclaimed. Ruby grinned, opening her can… only to have the drink smacked out of her hand by the heiress. She scrambled over to the edge, only to see the can hit the ground with a faint "Clink!"
"Weiss, I was going to drink that!" She shouted at her partner.
"No, Ruby. You're underage, and just… no." The ice princess retorted as she dumped her can out off the edge. "Where did you even get alcohol?"
"Yang has a stash! And why shouldn't I drink it? She does!"
"If Yang jumped off a bridge, would you?" Weiss threw the common phrase at her team leader.
"Yes."
Weiss froze, turning to face Ruby. Gone was the previous angry expression on her face. It was replaced with something quieter. Calmer. Something that beckoned for the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company to sit down next to the fifteen-year-old and listen. She did so, looking expectantly at the crimsonette.
"What did you say?"
"I said, well…" Ruby looked down, embarrassed. "Yes. Yes, if she did, I would too. The same goes for Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora… you…" She almost whispered the last part. Curious, Weiss pressed further.
"Go on."
"It's a philosophy of mine." The leader of Team RWBY continued hesitantly. "My entire life is based on my friends, and the relationships I have with them. Yang's my sister, Blake's a good friend, and… well, you're special." Weiss blushed at Ruby's mention of their relationship. The young girl smiled and kept talking.
"I lost my mom when I was little. A group of Grim attacked our home, and she died protecting Yang and I. Dad really shut down after that, and I know Yang blamed herself for not being able to do anything. She was like that for a while, anyways. I think it was at her funeral that I decided that I'd never go through with losing someone ever again."
"But that's preposterous!" Weiss exclaimed without realizing it at first. When Ruby looked at her with curiosity, she decided to go through with it.
"I mean say it was just one person who jumped. Would you still do it?" Ruby nodded, and the heiress sighed in exasperation… and a twinge of pity.
"But imagine all the people you'd be leaving behind! How would they feel if you were suddenly dead and gone." Ruby looked down, pondering that.
"I suppose I never thought about it like that…" She conceded. Unfortunately for her, Weiss was still going strong.
"Furthermore, imagine how the person who jumped would feel. Most depressed people think that killing themselves will make life better for those around them. If you jumped after them, then they would feel as if they had completely wasted their life."
"They did!" Ruby protested, only to have a cold finger pressed against her lips.
"That's not the point." Weiss said, her icy eyes becoming fiery as she grew angrier. "The point is that it would be better for someone to die feeling they accomplished something than to feel that they had done nothing with their actions."
"But with that logic, who's to say that they'll even know if I jumped or not? I mean, they're dead!" Ruby shouted.
Weiss froze for a second, trying to think about that. She sighed.
"That's a discussion for another night." She grabbed the crimsonette by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.
"Ruby, say Team JNPR all died in a mission. If you died, we wouldn't be able to take it. Yang would blame herself more than she did with your mother's death; Hell, she'd feel like she'd failed twice as much. Blake wouldn't say much, but you know her. She'd probably be dying on the inside, both because of you being dead, and because she would have to watch Yang beat herself up day after week after month. And I…" She paused, the shock of what they were discussing finally hitting her with full force. She started to cry as she imagined life without that ball of energy to greet her in the mornings, and to wish her sweet dreams at night.
"I'd… I'd probably just follow you." She admitted, her whole body shaking. She tried - and failed - to keep her tears in, but was suddenly surprised by a warm embrace from her partner. Ruby rubbed her back, soothing the normally composed heiress.
"It's okay. I understand now." She gave Weiss a quick peck on the lips before helping her up.
"I learned my lesson. No more alcohol for me."
"Yeah," Weiss smiled, wiping tears from her eyes. "That's probably best. Dolt."
From a distance, two older girls watched the couple as they started to laugh, the emotional tension now gone.
"Who could've known Rubes could have held a discussion like that with the Ice Princess herself." Yang Xiao Long smirked, putting her arm around her faunus girlfriend's shoulders. Blake Belladonna gently pushed it off.
"Come on, Yang, let's go. It's cold out here."
"Sure, sure… hey, Blake."
"Yeah?"
"What would you do if I jumped off a bridge?"
It was difficult for Yang to explain the bruise she had on her arm when the two got back to the dorm room.