Weiss smiled as she walked through the halls of the academy. Perhaps it was a tiny bit cliche for her to enjoy the upcoming colder time of the year, with her being from Atlas and all that, but she couldn't help it. It did remind her of the place where she spent most of her life. She didn't really want to think that it reminded her of home, as that wasn't exactly the best place to be at. But her homeland, while harsh and unfriendly, was still the place that had some good memories attached to it, even if with plenty of bad ones as well.
She shook her head as such dark clouds started to gather over her head. This was neither place nor time for such. She did have a task to accomplish. At the thought of that, she looked down at the small gift box she had. It was neatly wrapped in a baby blue colored paper, with some darker imprints of snowflakes, all tied up with a white ribbon and a small tag saying that it was from Weiss and for Yang.
It took her a few hours to perfectly wrap her little gift, and she was quite proud of it. She always tried her best to accomplish things at the highest note possible. Even if it was just gifting her friends. Now Blake and Ruby were easy. The first getting a book that she got before the official release just for the cat faunus. It was the next book in the series she so enjoys. Weiss didn't really look too much into it, ninjas were never her thing.
Ruby was even easier, some expensive high quality parts for her weapons. And how easy was it to trick her into talking with her about things and making her basically confess what she wanted, but couldn't have due to the price tag. Hopefully that poor girl isn't always so easy to trick, otherwise Weiss should consider having a talk with her best friend.
And then when it came to Yang, Weiss wasn't sure what to get for the girl. She could assume something of course and just go with that, but she also knew that her assumptions could potentially lead towards her gift being insulting. Yang wasn't exactly as simple as she liked to show, and to decipher the girl was the real challenge.
In the end she simply opted for something symbolic, and while Yang might not have much use of it, that wasn't important as long as she kept it around. At that Weiss let out a soft sigh and stopped. She wasn't satisfied with something like this, but there was no other thing she could think of. And just reminding herself of all the brainstorming she did and all the stores she visited made both her head and legs hurt at just the memory of that.
She took a deep breath, in the end she could always blame Ruby. Why her? She was the one who got all these christmasy ideas into her head. Yes, blaming Ruby was a great idea. With that thought she resumed her walk. She asked around if anyone saw Yang, and a few students pointed in a similar direction, to which she hoped to find the girl rather sooner than later.
There might have been another reason for the gift she picked, and that she made especially sure that Yang liked it, and to leave Yang as the last person in her shopping list. The fact that she was alone somewhere only added to the blessing for Weiss. Because this entire gift was not only that, a gift, but also a question and a thank you to the big brute.
She blinked, wondering if she went the right way as she approached the least visited area of the academy. While she considered going back and asking again, a sound caught her attention. It was coming from the direction that people pointed her in. The sound was... Rough, as if someone bashed something against a wall.
That wasn't normal, even for this place, and that set all sort of alarms inside her head, and with addition of the fact that Yang was supposedly in that direction as well? That just added more fuel to the fire.
The Schnee began to run towards the sound, one of her hand reaching towards her scroll, ready to summon her weapon if she needed it. And you never know when you might, especially with sounds like these.
As she turned around a corner, she noticed Yang hitting… Something, was she hitting a wall? The white haired girl assessed the situation. There was nobody else around, no bodies laying around, no hurt people, no animals or grimm. It was just the Blonde hitting the wall. While unusual, at least it didn't mean that she was in harms way.
Weiss put both her arms behind herself as she slowly approached the other girl, mostly to hide the gift behind her back. She cleared her throat."Whatever that wall did, I hope it deserves all that punishment." She smiled at her own little joke. She expected some funny comeback, some teasing, anything from the blonde. But all she received was for the girl to pause her hits.
She didn't even turn around to face her, and that just renewed the worry inside the Schnee's head. "Yang? Are you alright?" She asked as she moved half a step towards the blonde.
"Yeah, I am." Finally the girl did turn around, which at first filled Weiss with relief, only for more waves of worries to wash over her heart. Was Yang crying? Her eyes were red, and while not yet puffy, there were tear streaks clearly visible for the white haired girl.
"Yang what's… What's wrong?" This was not the best situation for the Schnee. While she worried about her friend, she also had to take into account that this was supposed to be a more happy moment for both of them… In the more optimistic scenarios at least. While Weiss did consider all possibilities, she never thought that something like this to happen.
"Nothing is wrong, I guess Blake made up her mind on who she likes." The blonde sighed as she moved to the nearby bench and sat down, her head hanging low as she seemed to be exhausted by whatever was troubling her and potentially all the wall beating.
Weiss mulled over what Yang just told her. So it was because of Blake? And… Like someone?
"Oh…" Came the Schnee's verbal response as it clicked inside her head. Did Yang… Was she trying to ask her out and got rejected? But… That means she wouldn't...
"I see." Weiss said, trying to mask her own emotional turmoil, she tossed her gift to the nearby bush. It was pointless to offer it to the girl, as it simply could make everything more complicated for both of them. She would get her something more mundane and boring once she had a free moment.
While Weiss's first instinct was to simply walk away and leave Yang alone, a single glance at the defeated blonde made her heart almost stop. While she wasn't openly rejected, Weiss could understand what Yang was feeling at the moment. Seeing how she reacted, she didn't really take that too well.
Weiss sighed, her chocolate filled sorrow could wait, she had a friend to cheer up. "Have you attempted to court Blake?" Came Weiss's question in a meek voice.
Just mentioning that made Yang light up like a match, as she stood up and peered at Weiss with angry red eyes. "Why do you care, Weiss? Can't you just leave me alone, did I ask you to stay and talk? No? Then go away." The blonde wasn't yelling, but her sharp tone made the Schnee girl wince slightly.
"Yang I… I don't think leaving you alone is what you need right now." Weiss offered once more in a quiet tone of voice.
"And how do you know what I need?!" Yang gritted her teeth as she raised her fist, ready to hit the white haired girl.
Weiss simply closed her eyes, a grimace as if she already felt the pain from the hit appeared on her face. But seconds passed and there was no impact against her face, nor other part of her body.
As she opened one eye, she saw Yang frozen in spot. Her angry expression still present, but she looked like a statue. "Y-Yang?" Weiss asked, not sure if she was expecting to be hit, or to get an explanation why she wasn't hit or… Anything really.
"Khh…" The blonde grunted as she moved towards her. But instead of hitting her, she grabbed the girl by the collar "Why aren't you defending yourself? Why aren't you summoning your fancy circles. ' . ." This time it happened, the screaming.
Weiss hated when people screamed in anger, it was perhaps one of her only social flaws, something that affected her. Perhaps it was something her father had planted inside her head while she was smaller to better control her or at least have some kind of tool against her. Whatever the reason was, it worked.
Still she remained strong, as she gulped down her own fear and with a deep breath she answered Yang's question. "I thought that if you wished to hit me, that could potentially improve your mood."
Her answer made the blonde deflate off all her anger. Her hair no more ablaze, and her eyes going back to their original color, as she settled the girl on the ground once more. "No, hitting a friend wouldn't solve anything." As the taller girl let go of her, she moved to sit back on her bench. "I'm sorry Weiss." She said as she once more hang her head, perhaps this time not only due to exhaustion, but also due to the shame she felt.
Weiss fixed her dress, she perhaps did gamble on Yang's reaction, for the girl to not hit her. A gamble she was lucky to win, since being hit by her could potentially feel like being hit by a truck. "That's alright Yang. So while hitting a friend won't help you, how about talking to a friend? I'm sure that it won't hurt you to try." Weiss smiled as she approached her, sitting next to her and placing a hand on the girl's back.
And then she noticed it, the blonde's hands. "Y-Yang, what happened to your hands?!" Weiss's eyes went wide as she saw them. They were bruised, almost bloody. She was surprised they weren't swollen. She reached with her own hands to take Yang's and move them closer, as she carefully inspected them.
The firecracker wasn't in the mood to object, as she allowed for the girl to do as she pleased. "I don't know, I might have forgot to use my aura." She shrugged.
"Yang, how do you forget that? Look at your hands! You could have hurt yourself badly." Weiss stopped and took a deep breath. This wasn't time to scold her, even if Yang's self harm did made her own blood boil.
"Your hands are cold, it feels nice." The blonde offered in a calm voice.
Weiss rolled her eyes at that. "Yang, contrary to popular belief, I am not in fact any sort of ice, snow or frozen monarchy. And my body temperature is normal, otherwise I'd be dead or have difficulties staying alive." She said as she moved her fingers across Yang's knuckles. She didn't harm herself, nothing that took long to heal at least.
"Besides, you feel my hands being colder, because your own are all bruised." Weiss finished with a nod.
"You can take any ounce of romantic meaning in anything and just stomp it with your logic, don't you, Weiss?" The blonde chuckled as a small smile appeared on her lips. And just that sound alone made the Schnee girl offer a little smile of her own. "Besides, I like to think that you aren't plain like us warmbloods over at Vale."
"Yang did you just call me a reptile?" Weiss squinted as she looked at the other girl, attempting at one of her icy cold stares.
"Well, no… Maybe? That depends how you spin it in your head." Yang offered with a sheepish smile.
The Schnee didn't keep her stare for long, as she smiled back at her. The silence lingered, as they simply looked at each other. As much as Weiss liked this situation and how it turned out, she had to ruin the moment. "Yang? So… What happened?"
That did what Weiss thought it would. The blonde's smile disappeared at an instant, as she looked to the side. "You were right, I did ask her out."
The Schnee girl's first instinct was to ask if she refused, but that was obvious, and just thinking about asking that made the girl feel silly. "I… Perhaps I'm not the most versed in such social games, but I never thought you had a crush for Blake."
"I don't know if I had or have. I like her, and it never really worked for me in the past. I thought that since we're teammates and partners and all that I could ask her out and see where it goes and if it didn't click? Well, just go back to being friends." Yang shrugged.
The smaller girl once more had to stop herself from asking the first question that came to her mind, in this sort of situation wasn't this exactly the "not clicking" ? but that simply dug into the wound that Yang had right now. Instead she decided to take the different route. "You never had luck with dates in the past?"
"Meh, let's just say I never really had anyone interested in me, for me." Yang shrugged, and Weiss had to stop herself from facepalming. Oh if you only knew, Yang. Perhaps being a dolt did run in their family as a sort of tradition.
"I'm sure you'll meet someone like that one day." The Schnee girl smiled. "Although I'm afraid logic won't solve your issue, I might know of a remedy to soften your emotional pain." She added and nodded at that, a smirk appearing on her lips.
"Really? You got me curious." Yang raised a brow as she peered at her.
"Indeed I have." Once more Weiss nodded, her previous smirk turning into a grin. "A trip to Vale! With a specific goal in mind, although said goal will remain a secret till we get there."
That turned the previous curiosity that was apparent on Yang's face into more grumpiness. "I don't know Weiss, I don't really feel like being among a big mass of cheerful people. I just don't want to ruin their christmas mood with my own." She ended with a sigh as her shoulder slumped down.
"Come on Yang, you can't just sit here and think about it. I promise you that if you'll truly continue to feel bad, we'll simply head back. But at least try, for me?" Perhaps Weiss wasn't as innocent as her partner, Ruby, but she could at least attempt to copy the younger girl's puppy eye technique.
Be it her acting skills, the fact that Yang was too tired to argue, or something else, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Fine, but I'll let you know if I'm not feeling too social anymore."
"Deal! Let's go, if we hurry we might get the next airbus in time!" Weiss wrapped her arm around Yang's one and pulled her off the bench, tugging her along.
"W-Whoa! Weiss wait, what gotten into you?" Yang had barely a moment to mentally catch up with what was going on, as she followed the eager girl.
As the two disappeared, after but a moment a third figure appeared at the scene. A certain young redhead. "Yang? Are you here? I've been looking all over for you!" Her silver eyes scouted the surrounding, and she blinked as something caught her attention.
"What's this? A present?" She reached towards it. It was a blue package with white ribbon. Ruby curiously looked at the the tag. "From Weiss to Yang." She read it out loud. Did Yang drop it, or threw it away? Or did Weiss lose it. She should ask Yang just to be sure. If she ever finds her sister. "Yang! Where are you!" Another frustrated yell echoed through the place. "Ugh…" She grunted as she moved onwards with her search, wondering to herself where the blonde might have gone to.
oooOOOooo
"Here we are" Weiss announced as she waved her arm at the entrance. While it wasn't normal for her to be this cheery, she decided that perhaps it was for the best to try and be a bit upbeat for the sake of the other girl's mood. She could try at least.
"No, I'm going back." Was the blonde's firm response as she turned around and wanted to walk away, only being stopped by a certain white haired girl clinging to her arm.
"Yang! Come on, you promised you'd at least try to have some fun." Weiss knew that if she wanted, the bigger girl could easily just tug her along and continue her walk. But the fact she stopped while the Schnee clinged to her arm made her think there was some chance to convince the brute.
"Weiss, I agreed to come with you to Vale. Not to… Do this. I can't, and I really am not in the mood to learn." The girl frowned as she looked over her shoulder at her friend.
"...Wait, you can't ice skate?" Weiss blinked in surprise.
"No Weiss, I can't. Hence us being at a skate rink is pointless, can we go somewhere else?" Yang let out a tired sigh. The Schnee bit her lower lip at that, this was another gamble she could make, it worked once, so perhaps lady luck was smiling her way for once… In a twisted kind of way apparently.
"It's easy, and learning will distract you. I promise it's not that hard, and I'll be with you the whole time. At least give it a try" Weiss begged as she tried to pull the other girl towards the entrance.
"Ugh, Weiss will you get off me if I agree?" Yang asked as she rolled her eyes and turned towards the building.
"Completely and fully, I will even leave you alone if that's what you'll wish for." The Schnee nodded at that.
"I never said anything about you leaving me alone, but just… No crazy ideas. After this I mean." Yang crossed her arms.
"That's not crazy, it's just ice skating." Weiss tilted her head at the blonde's words
"It's fighting for balance while trying to move forward. What's wrong with walking?" She raised her eyebrow as she looked at the smaller girl.
"But it's fun."
"So is watching a movie."
"But that's mundane."
"But it works."
"Yang, come on, where's your adventure spirit?" To that the blonde didn't have a retort. She eyed the white haired girl for a moment and just grunted under her breath.
"Fine, let's go. But don't you dare laugh at me, or tell anyone about anything stupid I do." The firecracker squinted her eyes as she looked at the other girl.
"Yes, yes, I'm here to cheer you up, not bait you into a prank. Now come on, I promise it'll be fun!" Weiss grinned as she wrapped her arms around Yang's and pulled her towards the entrance.
OooOOOooo
"I'm not sure Weiss, I feel like I'm already walking on very short stilts." The blonde said as she shakely followed her friend.
"You'll be fine, I told you the basics and it doesn't really get much harder if you just want to ice skate for a while in a circle." The Schnee wasn't sure if she was happy because she was on a sort of outing with her crush, or was it because she was about to ice skate, something she haven't done in such a long time. It was always her preferred way of spending time if physical exercise was to be involved. Ice skating required finesse and grace, something most activities offered to her didn't really focus on.
As they approached the actual ice part of this building, Weiss had to stop herself from just hoping on. She desperately wanted to remember how fun it could be. It was perhaps one of the few fond memories from back home. Yet she had to keep herself in line. Yang required her full attention, and she was about to offer just that.
"Alright Yang, it might be shaky at first, but you can do it." The Schnee smiled as she invited the other girl onto the ice through the small gap specifically made for that purpose. It was empty, which was strange, at least for Weiss. Even the person responsible for handling the skates was surprised to see them. Was it faux pas to ice skate at this time in Vale? Something the Schnee didn't really consider could be any kind of rule.
"You're... Way too cheerful Weiss, it's like you're planning something." Still the blonde did as requested and settled on the actual ice. Although her hands were firmly holding the short wooden wall that outlined the actual ice skating part.
"Believe it or not, I actually do have some sort of enjoyable pastime activities I don't mind doing from time to time." Weiss joined her friend on the ice, but unlike her, she allowed herself to freely move forward. A big grin on her lips. Perhaps this is how Ruby felt most of the time, if so, she could understand her always present optimism.
"The Ice princess enjoying something requiring ice, am I not surprised." Yang grinned, although her cocky demeanor was somewhat undermine due to her constant fight to remain as immobile and stable as possible.
"We do have a lot of snow and ice, so it's only natural for us to enjoy such activities Yang, so I'm afraid it's not just this ice princess that enjoys it." Weiss moved towards the blonde and stuck her tongue out at her. "Now come on, give me your hand, we'll do it together." She then smiled at the firecracker, her hand extended towards her invitingly.
"Ho'boy, well I agreed to this, no going back I guess." Yang stood straight up, while one of her hands still held the band, her other one slowly reached towards Weiss's.
Once she grasped it, Weiss couldn't help but feel how bigger it was from her own. Or perhaps it just seemed that way inside her mind. She moved her fingers to interlock them with Yang's, something the other girl followed, and just that gesture made the Schnee's heart increase the rate that it was beating at. Now to not enjoy this too much, after all, she was here to cheer her up.
"Alright, now let go of the fence, and just move like I showed you earlier. We'll do it together." Weiss spoke with a soft smile. She understood Yang's fears, in a way. Something like this seemed very difficult to anyone who never tried it before.
She saw the blonde girl take a deep breath as her fingers slowly let go of the short wall. Soon she slowly started moving towards her. "Alright, now just try moving like I explained earlier." Weiss said as she made sure to keep a small distance between them, so that Yang wouldn't accidentally bump into her.
The first two tries were... Awkward, to put it in the least harsh way. The firecracker had a different concept of what should happen once she started to move, as such she expected for something different to happen, and it took her a moment to adjust to that revelation. Weiss kept a careful eye on her friend, in case she tripped or started drifting away without any means to stop. These sort of things tended to make people panic.
But could she really stop her from falling? She was bulkier than herself, and while she herself could keep up with the ice skates no problem, even for her that was an additional difficulty to keep the other girl straight. But... Perhaps she could soften the landing with herself, Yang landing on top of her, while they stare into each other eyes...
...Still it would hurt. Collapsing by yourself was painful, but with addition of this big brute landing on top of her? Well, nobody ever said that love didn't hurt.
Weiss shook her head as she felt her cheeks grow warmer at the mention of the L word. She had to focus on reality, not her weird wishful thinking.
Soon as her mind came back to reality, she noticed that Yang did in fact improve on her... Well, moving forward technique. She understood what to expect now, and as such she renewed her attempts to put into action Weiss's previous teachings.
Weiss didn't want to come off as condescending or worse, mean to the blonde girl, and as such this part of the experience was silent. The only communicative thing was the Schnee's nods whenever she saw that Yang did something correctly.
A few long moments later and they were slowly moving around the skate rink. They never let go of each other hands, something Weiss didn't mind for obvious reasons, and that wasn't to make sure Yang didn't fall. That was just additional benefit of it.
While Yang got the basics and there was no more reason for Weiss to remain quiet, the silence between them lingered. It wasn't an awkward one, far from it. The Schnee often glanced at the other girl, offering her a smile and Yang smiled back. Although it was a different smile, it lacked the usual cockyness and wasn't as filled with confidence as her usual smiles. It looked so... Soft? Was that the correct word? Weiss wasn't sure how to put it in words.
While she wished that the reason behind such was due to the special moment they share, at least in the Schnee's head, she knew deep down that it was because of the circumstances of Yang doing something for the the first, something like this.
It was the blonde that broke the silence. "W-Weiss?" her voice was... Quiet, still audiable for the Schnee girl, but quieter than usual. And was Yang blushing?
"Y-Yes?" She couldn't help but gulp, as her throat grew tighter. Was the previous observation not just her wishful thinking?
"I...I kind of need to tell you something." The blonde continued, and the white haired girl could feel her heart start thumping against her chest.
"You can tell me anything, Yang." Now Weiss's cheeks also grew a slight pink hue, she could feel it, as they got warmer.
The firecracker bit her lower lip. "Weiss I..." She paused and looked away.
"Yes?" The other girl tried to encourage her with a smile that she had to control before it grew too big.
"I don't know how to stop." She finally said.
"W-What?" Yang's word made Weiss's brain lock up, as she expected something completly differnet.
"I...I don't know how to stop, you didn't tell me." Yang repeated.
"O-Oh, that's easy you just tilt your skates like this." As if her brain was working on auto pilot, she simply stopped. Sadly Yang wasn't that much of a fast learner, and while the Schnee stopped, the blonde continued to move, the physics taking its work, as she moved forward, their hands disconnecting as both girls had to let go to prevent from falling over.
There were two thuds after a few seconds. First once Yang hit the outer wall of the rink, and another as she collapsed onto the Ice. Weiss winced at that, as it looked quite painful. "Y-Yang! Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I forgot and then you just so suddenly blurted that out that it confused me and... I'm sorry, are you alright?" The Schnee said as she got closer to the laying girl.
"You were right Weiss, it was easy to stop. Wish you mentioned the painful part though." The blonde opened her eyes and grind, ensuring her that she had no bad feelings towards her.
The smaller girl smiled at that and offered her hand to help the other girl to get up. "How about we head back? It is getting late."
"That does sound like a good idea." Yang answered as she grasped the other girl's hand and got herself up.
oooOOOooo
The journey back to the academy was spent in silence, something Weiss worried over. While her rational side told her it was because Yang was most likely tired, not just physically but it does takes some energy to try and learn new things. It was her... Irrational side that kept her worried, especially considering how the entire ice skating ended, with Yang landing on ice because of her stupid mistake.
The Schnee wanted to just bump her head against her chair repeatedly when they were on the airbus, how stupid of her to assume all these things.
It was when they were walking through the halls of the academy that Weiss had enough of this anxious feeling, as she stopped and grabbed Yang's arm to stop her.
The blonde raised an eyebrow at that. "What's up, Weiss?"
"Did... Did you enjoy... I mean." She took a deep breath to calm herself. How should she ask about this. "Did you like the ice skating, Yang?"
The blonde frowned and crossed her arms. "I didn't."
At Yang's words Weiss could feel a cold sensation run down her entire body. So she did mess up, and not just on one front. She messed up on two fronts. She failed to provide entertainment for her troubled friend, and she failed to... Entertain her date. Even if the other side didn't know about the date part. It wasn't really a date, more like an appetizer for one, but still, she failed.
And there was nothing worse for a Schnee than failure.
Yang uncrossed her arms and grinned. "I loved it. But maybe because it was with you, I'd probably get bored alone."
Weiss could feel her face grow confused, then relieved, happy only to end up in anger. Was it some kind of pent up frustration? Combination of being toyed with and the fact it was her heart that was being played with?
Whatever it was, the next course of action was something that neither of the girls predicted would happen. As Weiss's small clenched fist hit Yang in the stomach. It wasn't a strong hit, even for Weiss who if she tried, she'd have difficulties to make anything close to a "strong hit". Still, the surprise factor took its toll, as Yang bent over a bit and covered her stomach, her eyes wide in surprise.
An expression that did stay after the second thing happened, as she felt her head being grabbed and pulled into a kiss. Not the most passionate display, as their lips connected, and it was a very one sided exchange, mostly due to the blonde being too shocked at what was happening.
Weiss broke the kiss after a moment, an angry frown on her face. "That was for toying with me and my worries! You heartless brute ... And the kiss was because we stood under a mistletoe." With that she shoved the confused girl to the side and continued her walk along the halls of the academy.
Yang required a minute, perhaps five, to let her brain properly reboot. Did Weiss just hit her? And then kissed her? Or did she just imagine it all. Also was the Schnee mad at her?
Yang shook her head, today was confusing enough. With that final thought she continued her walk towards her dorm room.
oooOOOooo
Yang entered the room only to be greeted by her sister, who also didn't seem too pleased. "Yang! There you are, I looked for you the entire day!"
"Uh huh, so what's up Rubes? Something bad happened?"
"No, but I forgot what I wanted from you." Ruby crossed her arms, to which Yang could only raise a brow. "What? I got focused on finding you, it slipped my mind."
The blonde chuckled at that as she reached to pat her sister's head. "Means it wasn't anything important, and most likely nothing bad."
"Also..." Ruby started as she hopped onto her bed, reaching for something. "Here!" She said as she threw the small gift box at Yang, who'd catch it.
"Aw you got me a gift this early? That's so unlike you." Yang smiled at her sister.
"No, I found it lying around. I thought you dropped it or threw it away. Look at the card." Ruby pointed at the package.
Yang did so, as she looked at the card. It was from Weiss. That explains the colors, Ruby would get her something wrapped in red and black or red and red.
Did Weiss drop it by accident? Yang blinked as a thought emerged inside her brain. "Ruby? Where... Did you find it?"
"Huh? Oh behind the academy. You know, that area where not many folks wander. The one with lots of shrubbery." Ruby pointed in some random direction as if to indicate where she did get it from.
But the blonde didn't care about her sister's hand gestures. Her mind was occupied by this new piece of information. Had Weiss dropped it when she found her? But she should have remembered about it. Did she drop it because of her being angry when she found her?
"Well?" Ruby's voice broke her line of thoughts.
"Well what?" Yang looked up from the box and at her sister.
"Will you open it? I know it's not christmas eve, but I don't think it matter since we'll be spending that time away from Weiss and Blake."
The blonde blinked at that, as if confused by Ruby's statement. Her mind requiring a moment before she understood that it was a gift, and it had some content Weiss wanted to offer to her inside the box. What a complicated concept it was when you think about it too hard.
"Right." Was her only verbal answer, as she started to open the box. For some reason she didn't just tear it open as she usually would. It was so nicely packaged that she thought it was such a waste to simply tear into it.
Soon the ribbon was off, and so was the paper wrapping the box. Yang took a deep breath as she raised the lid of the box, not sure what to expect.
She blinked once she saw the content. Inside was a pair of leather, fingerless gloves, very similar to the ones she had. But not worn out. As Yang reached towards them she could tell that it wasn't some kind of fake, synthesized leather. This was the real deal.
She heard Ruby giggle, which broke her focus. She looked up at her sister. "She wasn't sure what to get you, so I told her to get you something practical." The redhead grinned.
Yang smiled at that, as she took off her old gloves, and replaced it with the new pair. It felt a bit stiff, but that was normal for something new like that. The gloves weren't as dark as her previous ones. They were more visibly brown. As she looked them over, it finally got her attention. The engraving on outer side of them.
Sewn in with thick yellow and white thread was a yellow burning heart, and a white snowflake, with half of them intertwined together. Yang didn't know that such detailed work, when mashed together, could look so clear. In her mind, if anyone told her about such graphical concept, it would make an image of a chaotic mishmash. But whoever created this, made sure to make the engraving as clearly visible and readable as possible.
"Did Weiss come here?" Yang raised her head as she looked at her sister.
"Huh? Oh yeah, she did. She dropped her scroll and said she needs some fresh air, think she went onto that big balcony. Why do you ask?" The redhead tilted her head curiously.
Yang had to keep herself from smiling. "I want to thank her for the gift, it's all. If we miss each other and she comes back, tell her I'm looking for her, alright?" Yang waved to her sister as she exited the room, it took her long enough to hear confirmation from Ruby.
oooOOOooo
Yang was feeling bad, but different kind of bad than before. Weiss went out of her way to provide her with distraction earlier, a sweet gesture on it's own. Meanwhile Yang upset the girl with her little joke from earlier. Was the Schnee really mad? She did punch her, even if in hindsight it wasn't really a hard punch... Was she even capable of punching hard? She never seemed like that sort of person to Yang.
Then there was the gift and it's origins, or at least place where Ruby found it. And then the kiss.
Yang blinked at that. The kiss. She stopped and looked up and along the ceiling of the hallway. There wasn't any decoration up. Didn't Weiss say that there was supposed to be a mistletoe above them? Hence the kiss.
Was Yang a numb brain this whole time?
oooOOOooo
Weiss sighed deeply as she leaned over the balustrade. It was already dark, and the first twinkling stars appeared on the sky. It had nothing on the Atlas night sky, but still it was an enjoyable sight for the girl.
Yet even that sight didn't help ease her mind. She did the biggest mistake any kind of lady could do. She allowed for her emotions to break through and take control of her actions. Perhaps it wouldn't be that big of a deal, if not for the fact what she did. Not only did she punch the other girl, she then kissed her. Even she herself was stunned at what she did, and why. She shook her head.
"Enjoying the night sky?" Weiss's body grew stiff as she heard a voice. Her voice. Yang.
She took a deep breath to try and relax. "Yes, and a bit of peace and quiet as well."
"Are you still mad at me for earlier?" At Yang's question, Weiss couldn't help but wince slightly. Did her words come of as cold? She didn't mean to sound off putting
"No, no, of course not. If anyone has the right to apologize, that would be me. I... Didn't mean to hit you." The smaller girl hang her head in shame, as she looked down the balustrade.
She could feel Yang's footsteps getting closer. "Eh, You tried to make me feel better, and then that crash at the ice rink... I shouldn't make that joke, so it was deserved." She finally stood besides her, and with the corner of her eye the Schnee could see the other girl offering her a warm smile.
That filled the girl with relief, as she released a breath she didn't know she held up till Yang finished her sentence. Yet the relief didn't last for long. "Besides, you did kiss it to make it feel better." The blonde chuckled at her own words.
Weiss bit her lower lip, waiting a moment to calm herself before responding. "Yes well, you might see it as such, but I explained why I did that." The Schnee nodded, but still couldn't help and blush slightly.
"There was no mistletoe, Weiss." At Yang's words the Schnee girl felt her entire body heat up, yet at the same time that familiar cold feeling went down her spine, as if someone just poured two buckets of water at her, one with boiling hot water, and the other with ice cold water.
"N-No? Well I had to... I had to mistake something else for that. That's most likely what happened. In that case I apologize once more, Yang." She looked away to hide her embarrassment as much as she could. Such a pitiful excuse.
"Mistake, right..." Yang said and the Schnee could feel her move a step closer towards her. "Thanks for the gift."
"Gift?" Weiss raised a brow as she finally looked at Yang. It took her a moment before she glanced at her hands and saw the familiar gloves, her face immediately heating up." O-Oh, t-that, right. Well I'm glad you like them, I wasn't sure what to get you." The Schnee rubbed the back of her neck as she smiled sheepishly.
"I-I mean, I didn't know, so I thought of something symbolic. But Ruby told me that I should get you something practical, so I thought about it and decided to try and join those two ideas and, well... This is what I came up with." Weiss babbled, and she knew that. But the longer she talked, the more time she had before Yang would finally say... Something about all this. She knew that the blonde was just playing around the obvious.
"I'm glad you didn't drop that symbolic part. I like 'em." Yang smiled at the other girl, and both of them just looked up at the night sky, as heavy silence hung between the two. At least it felt heavy for the Schnee girl.
"Weiss..."
"I know!" The Schnee couldn't help as she bursted out, something that surprised the blonde girl, but she couldn't stop, she had to go with the punch. "I know, Yang. You figured it out and hence why you came here." She sighed.
"I didn't want to bother you with this. I mean I did, but after you told me about... About what happened earlier today, I decided that it was not proper to... Tell you this kind of thing or ask you anything or... Just, not do it." Weiss looked to the side.
"It just wouldn't be appropriate for me to say these things, since you were in a vulnerable state. I didn't want to manipulate you into anything. Later I just thought it's pointless anyway, since you had your eyes on a different prize. S-So there's that, now if you excuse me." Weiss said and tried to quickly dash towards the halway.
Sadly for her, Yang's finger wrapped around her arm, forcing her to stop. Weiss couldn't keep the mask anymore, and she hang her head down, letting her hair cover her face as she felt tears move down her cheeks.
"What things?" Came a simple question, yet as simple as it was, it only made it that much harder for the Schnee girl to keep herself from openly sobbing.
Once more her ladylike behaviour crumbled as emotions seeped through the cracks and took control of her actions. Her head spun back to look at Yang, she felt her hair covering her face, some of it sticking to the tear stains that already went down her face.
"That I love you! That I wanted to ask you out. That I thought to myself that you wouldn't mind an uptight girl like me. A girl with issues. A cold hearted Atlas noble girl." It was at that moment when all control crumbled down. She felt the first sob escape her lips. "I just... I just thought that maybe for the first time I could have something for myself that makes me happy."
Weiss's heart poisoned by sorrow had clouded her mind. Where she thought the other girl hated her, it surprised her when Yang simply smiled. She smiled and pulled her into a hug. For once in her life she didn't want to question anything. She hugged the taller girl back, and buried her face into her chest. She wasn't sure what to expect after she was done with her crying, but for now? For now this proved to be comforting for her and she didn't want to be in any other place but the blonde girl's embrace.
Yang held her tightly, her hand gently brushing along her hair, while her other arm was wrapped around the girl's waist. Weiss continued to cry, letting all the pent up frustration from various sources out of her system.
Only once Yang felt the girl calming down, did she dare to speak. "Feeling better?" There was no verbal reply, just a small nod. She moved her hand and gently placed a few fingers on the other girl's chin, making her look up.
Instead of saying anything, Yang tilted her head to the side and leaned down. Something that confused the Schnee girl, up till she felt the other girl's lips press against her own. She didn't know what this means, or what this could potentially lead to. She already felt that she would get a migraine if she started thinking about it right now.
So instead she focused on the kiss. Unlike her own attempt, this time she felt the other girl's lips pressure against her own. Not only that, soon she felt Yang's tongue brush against her lips. That made her freeze up. Admittedly she understood the basic concept of kissing, normal kissing. Not that this kind of kissing wasn't normal, but... But it was different normal, that was the best explanation Weiss could deliver in her current state of mind.
Yet even though she paused, Yang wasn't going to stop, and Weiss had to break under the relentless pressure of the blonde. Soon she felt her tongue brush after her own, something that shoot jolts of electricity down her spine. It was her best bet to avoid thinking right now, simply focusing on the sensation.
She knew her own actions were awkward at best, but Yang was being slow and considerate. At least that's what Weiss liked to think, and not that this was how any of these different normal kisses went. She couldn't help but whimper, she felt so helpless right now. Not physically, of course, but emotionally. She felt like a slave to her own heart, and that frustration was once more showing, this time sweetened by the lovely sensation of the kiss.
It felt like... It felt like unspecified amount of time that was way too short whatever the number was, at least for Weiss. Soon their kiss was broken, and the Schnee looked up at the other girl. She felt like crying again, using all her willpower to stop herself from doing so. It felt stupid to feel this vulnerable. Yet it's how she felt right now, and she was too tired to even care to hide that.
"Now we're even." Yang winked at her, and Weiss felt her cheeks growing even redder than they already were. "Is that good enough answer to your things that you never dared asking?"
Weiss looked to the side. "You don't have to do this."
Yang raised a brow at that. "What... Do you mean?"
"You like Blake, even... Even if it won't work out. You don't need to force yourself for me." Weiss took a deep breath and smiled gently, as she once more looked at the other girl. "I'll be alright."
"I'm not trying to pity date you, Weiss." Yang frowned and gave her a stern look, her expression growing softer before she continued. "I told you that my love life was... uneventful, disappointing even. So when I came to beacon I thought I could try again. I won't date my own sister, and I never thought you'd accept if I ever asked you out. I thought, why not try with Blake. Not initially, but after some time? I didn't mind the idea."
Yang sighed. "You know the rest, how it ended. Otherwise we wouldn't be here." She let out a dry chuckle. "Weiss, how about this, how about we remain friends for now, and after the christmas break is over, we decide what then. It'll give both of us time to reflect on everything." She smiled at the smaller girl.
"I... Alright Yang." Weiss offered a weak smile.
"Good, now let's take you to the bathroom, you most definitely don't want to show yourself to Ruby and Blake looking like this.
Weiss giggled shortly at that. "I think you're correct. Yang?"
"Mmm?"
"Thank you, for... For this. The more I learn about you the less... I mean, the more I understand why I find you so alluring." She smiled up at the taller girl.
"Did you almost said that you regret it less that you fallen for me?" Yang raised a brow as she smiled amused at the other girl's slip up.
"I...No...Maybe... Yes" The Schnee hung her head.
"Well seems I just found motivation to make good impressions on you huh?" Yang offered with a grin, and Weiss couldn't help but to giggle at the blonde's response.
"Keep in mind, Yang, that with each good impression the bar is set higher." Weiss retorted, infected by the playfulness of the other girl.
"Challenge accepted" It only made the blonde's grin grow that much bigger and brighter.
The positive energy and fire that Yang emanated with kept Weiss's heart warm, and that helped her keep her own smile. Even if the upcoming christmas would feel like the longest one yet.
Author's Note:
My Freezerburn christmas story. Or rather story made because of the christmas holiday. Considering v5 this is perhaps my new favorite ship.
I tried to bite into both Weiss and Yang from... Different angle, maybe. It was new for me at least. Yang is a seeker and is very proactive about her life. And that's what I tried to portray here.
Meanwhile Weiss always seemed like a frustrated person, she had all the rights to be that. Perhaps the cold attitude was to freeze all that inside a block of ice inside her heart. So once that warmed up, and got triggered, there would be no stopping it.
Also except for one moment, I wanted to write a Freezerburn where it wasn't about a very... conflicting relationship. Where it was some kind of tsundere Weiss and playful Yang. But i'm rambling at this point
I wanted to wish all of you a happy holiday, merry christmas and a happy new year! It doesn't matter if you celebrate christmas or not, I simply wish you a splendid time now, and the next year.