A/N: About a little over 1,000 words, not including Author's Notes.


The moment Weiss stepped through the threshold, she breathed in the familiar scent of her living quarters. She kicked the door shut behind her, since her hands were full. Carrying an umbrella, groceries, and a baby wasn't the easiest thing to do, not to mention that she had to run back to the store for some baby supplies. Honestly, who keeps a fresh supply of baby food and diapers at their disposal? Certainly not Weiss.

Her apartment was large, taking up all of the very top floor of the complex. It had a single bedroom with a queen-sized bed, two bathrooms - one connected from the bedroom - a living room with a barely touched flatscreen television, a dinning room, and a kitchen that was connected to the living and dinning room.

Even if most of the furniture stayed untouched, she made sure that the maids never left a speck of dust when they cleaned. It wasn't as if they tried stealing from an heiress of a powerful company, and even if they did the object was replaced within a twenty-hour hour period - whether it was from guilt forcing the person to return the item or the same thing was put in its place.

No family photos; no small mementos; no objects that held sentimental value.

The baby had remained silent ever since it Weiss picked it up, staring up at her with curious, silver eyes, even cocking its head to the side and blinking owlishly.

"What," Weiss muttered, slightly unsettled at the quiet child. It was crying like a banshee when it was alone in the rain, so why was it so quiet now? Sighing, she placed the bags and basket on the table.

As she put everything away, making sure to keep the child supplies out, the guest kept staring at her every time she passed the basket.

"What do you want," Weiss growled, as if she was expecting the child to say something back. Instead, it just kept its head tilted and put its hand in its mouth.

Weiss tsked, "Don't do that," as she gently removed the child's hand from its mouth. It giggled, revealing small teeth on the bottom gums. Weiss didn't realize she was smiling too as she pet the baby's head. Baby hair was always strangely soft.

Weiss looked around, even if she knew no one was here, and sniffed the baby's hair. Young children always had a certain smell to them, or at least that what's she overheard. And it was true, the child smelling surprisingly good.

When she finished fooling around, she muttered, "I guess you must be hungry." She read the step-by-step instructions on the back of the formula package and sat down on a chair near the counter by the child. She let her head rest on her arms and didn't notice her eyes closing, drifting to sleep.


Weiss snapped awake, falling to the floor in a small state of panic as the sound of crying buzzed her ears. She shot up hastily, knocking over the chair she occupied before, asking herself, "What's going on? - where am I? - what am I doing in the kitch-." She stopped, then face-palmed when she realized that she was in no danger.

Picking up the chair she bumped into, she went over to the crying child, cooing to it quietly in foreign tongue. She remembered she was simply preparing formula for the baby and must have fallen asleep when she sat down by the table.

Making sure the now-warmed recipe hadn't overheated during her nap, she put the contents in a bottle, picked up the child, sat down on the same chair she fell asleep on, and feed the child the formula, soothingly rubbing its back.

"Greedy child," she muttered, though she held no malice in her words, proof of that from the small smile on her lips. She continued to speak gentle words to the child, though she knew that the child could not understand the old language of Atlesian, nor English.


When the child finally fell asleep after its feeding, a bath, and a few diaper changes, Weiss felt exhausted. The child seemed like an unlimited source of energy, always clapping its hands and splashing water in Weiss's face and tugging on her ponytail.

She should be used to having to do tiring tasks, but come on. A baby? She was only eighteen for crying out loud, heiress to the most influential company on this side of the earth, not some common babysitter!

With a huff as she gently laid the baby down on the bed on its back, she decided she was going to bring it to a nearby orphanage first thing tomorrow. She simply didn't have the time to raise a child and her parents would be barking questions at her like rapid fire. It was just out of the question.

But when Weiss was changing into her nightgown, she would jump at every sound and her head would snap towards the child to see if she was still asleep. Weiss didn't realize until after she brushed her teeth and combed her hair that she found herself watching the child, making sure it was okay - protected and safe. She even tip-toed around to her side of the bed. This is ridiculous, Weiss thought. I should be able to sleep anywhere I want, not having a specific side of my bed.

However, she still couldn't bring herself to move the child, nor did she want to. She cringed when the mattress shifted under her, lying down and moving a little closer to the child.

She slept on her side, gingerly draping her arm over the child since her Aura was too cold to warm anybody up. And although she hesitated at first, Weiss placed a soft kiss on the child's forehead.

"Goodnight, Ruby," Weiss whispered as she once again drifted to sleep.


A/N: "Atlesian" is the native language of Atlas for this story.

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