"Don't let me leave..."
Weiss stared into the mirror, and her furious, tear-streaked face stared right back.
"Don't you let me leave..." she growled again. "Don't you dare."
She squeezed her eyes shut, gripped the hem of her skirt, and let out a deep, shuddering breath. When she opened her eyes again they were calm, startlingly blue and confident. There was no trace of the hurt or the desperation she was feeling, no trace of the longing or the pain.
No, in those eyes there was only Weiss Schnee, heiress of Schnee Dust Industries and newly graduated Huntress. Her class had graduated a day ago, and in a few short hours she would board an airship back to Atlas. There, she would take her rightful place by her father's side and truly begin to take the reins of the SDC.
She would leave behind Vale, Beacon, Blake, Yang, all of her friends and teammates. And she would leave behind her partner. She would leave Ruby.
The thought crushed her heart with a hammer-blow. And the pain shone through in her eyes, but only for an instant.
Now her eyes were normal again. There was no trace of what she was feeling.
"After all, that's what I'm best at, right?" she murmured to herself in the mirror. "Hiding my feelings. After all, I'm the loneliest of..."
She broke down again into choked sobs.
The sun was high and bright in the clear, achingly blue sky.
Birds sang and flitted around the trees that lined the white brick path down to the air station, and the scent of spring was in the air. A gentle breeze blew down the path, carrying a few stray leaves with it. It felt like it was trying to carry her too.
Weiss Schnee, in full SDC regalia – a white suit with brocaded golden epaulettes and silver auguilettes – strode down the path by herself. She didn't carry anything with her; her belongings were already on an airship back to Atlas.
You couldn't tell it by the way she held her head high and her shoulders back. You couldn't tell it by the way she stared dead ahead and frowned like she owned whatever she laid eyes upon. You couldn't tell it by the authority in her step or the way her alabaster hair was done up in a tight bun.
You couldn't tell it from any of that, but she was nearly drowning in despair. Her heart was breaking, and she left behind a tiny piece of it with every step she took. She knew full well what would happen if she left. She would go back to her cold, calculated self, the one she had been before Beacon, and she knew that this time she would stay that way. She wouldn't allow anyone to break the ice around her heart ever again.
She had to physically restrain herself from crying out in rage. This was why she had built that ice in the first place. It took a herculean effort to keep walking forward, to not turn around and run back to find the one person that was the cause of this emotional torture.
But that person apparently didn't even want to see her. Weiss Schnee was very intelligent. She was astute and deductive, and not very much slipped past her. And she knew that Ruby was avoiding her.
And she also knew why. She knew, without a slip of doubt that Ruby Rose was completely, horribly in love with her. Ruby had never told her or made any advances towards her, but she knew it to be true with a cold certainty.
And worse, she was in love with Ruby as well. And as much as she wanted to stay, as much as her heart cried out and her emotions beat themselves bloody trying to get her to just stop and find Ruby, she couldn't.
She could only walk onward, getting closer and closer to the airship that would take her away from Ruby forever.
She couldn't stop because she was Weiss Schnee, heiress of the SDC. She had the honor and the memory of hundreds of her revered ancestors to live up to. She had a destiny to fulfill, one that didn't have room for Ruby in it. Her beloved partner wasn't made for high courts, elitist parties, and all the backstabbing and intrigue of politics.
Ruby was a simpler woman, but that wasn't to say she was simple. It just meant she was far too honest for such a thing. And that was one of the reasons that Weiss loved her.
No, she couldn't stop by herself. She couldn't throw away everything she had because she desired Ruby as her own. That would be selfish, and Weiss Schnee was not a selfish person. She had never done anything in her life simply for herself. Everything had been for other people, either those she owed fealty to or those she cared about.
She couldn't give up her duties as an heiress simply because she wanted Ruby instead.
Now if Ruby came down here, if Ruby ran down the cobblestone path and screamed her name and stopped her... then that would be an entirely different matter.
If Ruby told her what she knew in her heart of hearts to be true - that she loved her - then she would gladly drop everything to be with her. If she was doing this for Ruby instead of herself, she could give up everything and simply be with her. If she was going to give up the mantle of heiress to one of the largest, most powerful, most storied companies in the world to one of her younger sisters, it had to be selfless. An undertaking as monumental and powerful as that had to be for someone else. She was simply too selfless to do it for herself. She couldn't do it for herself.
But she could do it for Ruby.
She fought down hot tears as she continued to walk. The last few hours had been devoid of anyone but herself. She had simply sat in Team RWBY's room, waiting for Ruby to come by and save her from what she desperately didn't want to do.
She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave Ruby. She knew she would miss her horribly, perhaps until the day she died. She would miss her warmth, her smile, the warm tone of her voice, the way her grey eyes sparkled when she was happy.
She would miss the way Ruby was always there for her, the way that the brunette could somehow make her feel like the only person in the world in the midst of a crowd of people. She would miss her honest wit and her bumbling social skills, she would miss her pretty face and her aggravating taste for stawberries. She would even miss the way she fawned over Crescent Rose, even when it made her uncomfortably jealous.
She would miss every single thing about Ruby, the good and the bad, the endearing and the aggravating. And so she had sat there, in their room, waiting for Ruby.
But Ruby never came. Ruby was avoiding her.
And Weiss knew it was because Ruby loved her, and she knew that it was because Ruby didn't want to see her leave as badly as she herself wanted to stay.
She knew that Ruby couldn't bear the sight of her leaving. She knew the younger girl would probably break down in tears. But she didn't care. Because that's all it would take for Weiss to run to her and force her – at bladepoint if need be – to admit her feelings.
And here was the problem.
Weiss needed Ruby to come and stop her, but Ruby couldn't come because she didn't think Weiss could be stopped.
"We're really just the world's two biggest fools, aren't we?" Weiss whispered to herself as she walked. "Hopelessly in love and unable to do anything about it."
Her heeled boots clicked and clacked as the cobblestone path gave way to the marble of the airship pad, a large open space ringed by several small buildings and various sized landing pads for various sized airships.
There was only one airship on the pads right now; most of the students had already left the day before. She had only stayed an extra day to see if Ruby would come to her.
The airship she began walking towards was sparkling white, inordinately expensive, bedecked with silver trim and gold inlay, and proudly displayed the SDC crest on the sides. It was fully automated; all she needed to do was confirm her identity and it would take her back to Atlas with all the speed that a dust combustion engine could manage. Which was quite a lot.
She stopped in front of the small building that managed this particular air-pad, and there was silence. She turned and took one last look behind her, out over the cobblestone path she had walked here on. Despite her best efforts to stop it her heart leapt up into her throat, and she hoped against hope that she would see Ruby running down the path with her stupid cloak flailing out behind her.
But there was nothing. Nobody walked that path today but her. She bit down a sob of despair, hardened her face, and turned the corner of the building.
And stopped dead in her tracks.
Because the figure standing before her, completely covered in a bright crimson cloak could be none other than Ruby.
Weiss was so startled that she actually dropped Myrtenaster. It clattered to the marble then lay there, momentarily forgotten.
"R-Ruby..." Weiss whispered.
"Hey Weiss," was her sombre reply. The younger girl was standing in the shadow cast by the small building, and her body and face were completely concealed by her cloak. The only thing Weiss could see was her mouth.
"Sorry about the cloak and everything," Ruby continued. Her voice would have sounded normal to anyone. Anyone except someone who had been her partner for the last four years. Weiss could hear the hurt and anguish in it as clearly as if Ruby had been screaming.
"I'm like, really sick right now," Ruby muttered. "It kind of hurts being in bright sunlight, so I wore the cloak. But I still came to see you! I didn't want to leave without saying... saying goodbye."
Weiss felt her heart break at the way Ruby said that last word. But she also knew Ruby was lying. Her partner had never been able to lie to her.
Part of her was touched by this obvious act that Ruby was putting on for her sake. But the rest of her just wanted to know what Ruby was really feeling. It needed to know.
She closed the distance between them with two swift steps, grasped the edge of Ruby's hood, and pulled it up and off.
And her suspicions were confirmed. Ruby's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red and puffy from what had to be hours of crying. Her hair looked like a mess and there were dark circles under her eyes. Apparently no longer able to hold up the facade, Ruby's bottom lip quivered and she dropped her head.
The brunette managed to speak in between hissing sobs. "W-Weiss... I..."
But Weiss was fed up. "Don't!" she screamed. "Don't you dare!" She pressed Ruby up against the wall and pounded her fist against the younger girl's shoulder. Ruby didn't flinch away at all. She didn't make any move to get away. She just stood there and took it, as Weiss beat her fist against her again and again.
"Don't what?" Ruby whispered.
"Don't let me leave! Don't let me go!" Weiss yelled, breaking out in tears of her own. "I k-know what this is doing to you! The thought of me leaving! S-So don't let me!
Ruby looked taken aback. "B-But you have to go... You have to go back to Atlas and take over Schnee Dust."
"Not if you just say it!"
Ruby looked more confused than ever, even with the tears on her face. "S-Say what? I don't know what you want Weiss!"
Weiss pounded her fist into Ruby's shoulder again. Her voice was hoarse from a combination of yelling and trying to manage crying and speaking coherently at the same time. "Just say it! Everything! How you really feel about me!"
"W-What?"
Even in her distraught state, Weiss knew this wasn't working. She knew she had to be direct. So she brought her face inches away from Ruby's, and stared deep and hard into her eyes. Normally they were bright and silver, but today they were storm-cloud grey. They didn't sparkle.
"I'm not stupid," Weiss nearly screamed. "I know how you feel about me! I can see it on your face every time you look at me! I can hear it in your voice when we're alone, when you're not talking to anyone but me!"
Ruby was a faster learner than people gave her credit for. Weiss could tell by the shift in her eyes that she understood.
"But it can't ever work," Ruby whispered. "I'm just Ruby, and you're, you know, you. You have to go back and lead your company. It can't work."
Weiss fought down her anger and focused on remaining calm. "It can, you dolt. It can! All you have to do is tell me to stay! Do you understand now?! I can't do it on my own, I can't force myself to stay here!"
She grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and fought the urge to shake her back and forth. "But if you tell me to stay, if you give me a reason to stay, I can! I'll drop everything, I'll tell my father that Winter can take over! I don't care about them, all I care about is you!"
Ruby stared at her, dumbstruck as Weiss dropped her voice to a whisper. "All I care about is you."
With that, Ruby broke out into fresh sobs. She grabbed Weiss and pulled her into a crushing hug, squeezing her so tight that Weiss thought she might break. She didn't care. It felt good.
"S-Stay then," Ruby muttered into her ear. "Stay with me. Stay."
Weiss fought down fresh tears of her own. "I'll stay. That's all I needed to hear. I'll stay."
"Stay," Ruby whispered over and over again. "Stay. Stay. Stay."
Several hours later an airship proudly bearing the SDC's logo flew back to Atlas.
But Weiss wasn't in it. She was with Ruby, lying side by side with her on her bed. The brunette's arms were warm and strong from years of wielding Crescent Rose. Weiss felt safe and loved, more-so than she ever had before.
There was this annoying grin on her face that she hadn't been able to get rid of for the past few hours. And as much as she didn't like to smile too often or for too long, she couldn't bring herself to care all that much.
Because she was staying. She was staying with Ruby.
Ruby pulled the blanket a little further up their shoulders, then buried her face in the crook of Weiss' neck with a muffled giggle.
"You know I'm never going to be able to leave you after this, right?" Weiss whispered.
Ruby's answer tickled her with the movement of her mouth. "I don't see a problem with that," the brunette mumbled. "I'm totally fine with you staying forever."
Weiss struggled not to laugh from the way Ruby's lips were tickling her neck. She gently pushed the brunette away, eliciting another giggle from her. Weiss smirked, and they both lay their heads down on a pillow and stared at eachother.
"Ooh, how romantic," Ruby chuckled. "Hey uh, I got something for you though." She reached under her tank top and pulled out a necklace with a locket attached to it. She fingered it nervously. "I uh, I was gonna give this to you, so you'd have something to remember me by. It seems pretty lame now though..."
Weiss gently took it, savoring the coolness of the metal on her skin, which was quite warm from Ruby's embrace. She opened the locket, and inside was a picture of the two of them together. And they were both actually smiling. Her heart suddenly felt like it was going to burst.
She looked up at Ruby and saw that the younger girl wouldn't quite meet her gaze. "Ruby, thank you so much for this. It means more than you think it does."
Ruby smiled, but it seemed halfway forced. "Yeah, I know."
Her placating words aside, Weiss could see that Ruby's eyes were still slightly puffy, and she hesitantly reached up and rested her hand on the brunette's cheek. "No more crying over me, okay?" she whispered. "We're together now. You don't need to be sad anymore."
Ruby let out a long, shuddering breath, then reached out in turn and brushed a finger over Weiss' scar. The almost too intimate action had her close her eyes and draw in a sharp breath. She opened them again to find Ruby staring at her with evident and touching concern. She was glad, more than ever, that someone truly cared about her.
"Sorry," Ruby whispered. "It doesn't hurt, does it?"
"N-No," Weiss replied. "It's fine. I'm just still not used to being this close to another person, even if it's you."
Ruby's expression turned jealous, but Weiss could still see a glimmer of humor in her eyes. "It had better be me. Do you know how much it hurt to watch Neptune hit on you all those times and not be able to say anything?"
Weiss took one of Ruby's hands, brought it up in front of her face, and kissed it on the palm. "Well don't worry. I'm all yours now. I'll tell my father that Winter will take control in my stead, and we'll do whatever it is newly graduated Huntresses do."
Ruby grinned. "Kill Grimm, save people and eat cookies and strawberries?"
Weiss laughed, which was something she hadn't done in a long time. It felt good, like little butterflies were escaping from her stomach. "Maybe just the first two you dunce."
"Aww, no fun," Ruby pouted. "But if it's cookies or you, I guess I'm gonna hafta go with you."
Weiss raised a white eyebrow. "Really? I mean that much to you?"
Ruby looked hesitant for a second. But then she took a deep breath, leaned forward, and pressed her lips to Weiss'. Her blue eyes went wide with shock and for a second she didn't move. But she quickly got over the initial fear and hesitation and cupped Ruby's face with her hands, pulling her in and deepening the kiss. Ruby moaned into it, and the sound of it seemed to fill the room.
After what seemed like forever - but must have only been a few seconds - they broke it off, and Weiss opened her eyes again to find Ruby staring at her with the biggest smile she had ever seen. The sparkle was back in her eyes too.
"First kiss?" Ruby whispered.
Weiss pressed her face to the younger girl's chest so that she wouldn't see the giant blush on her face. "Of course it was you dunce," she whispered back.
Ruby giggled, wrapped her arms around Weiss, and pulled her closer. The embrace was warm and strong, and Weiss reveled in the feeling of closeness and intimacy with her partner and best friend.
"Good, cuz it was mine too," Ruby muttered.
They were silent for a while, and Weiss simply held Ruby close, listening to her gentle breathing and steady heartbeat. Weiss was a concert singer, and was very picky when it came to music. But the twin sounds of Ruby's breathing and heartbeat combined was, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.
"You're going to be here when I wake up, right Ruby?" she whispered.
Ruby kissed her on the cheek, then the nose, then the lips. "Of course. I'm not going anywhere."
Weiss smiled and kissed her back.
She drew back and gazed at Ruby's face, at the gentle curve of her lips, at the sparkle in her silver eyes, and the way her mouth moved as she said: "And neither are you."
Please review, and I hope you enjoyed it.