A week had passed since Pyrrha shared her troubles with Ruby, and despite her friend's advice, things hadn't improved. In fact, Pyrrha grew more stressed as time went by. She certainly tried to do as Ruby had suggested, going out to Vale for meals after studying and even embarking on some of Nora's adventures when Jaune was inevitably swept along, and while she loved every minute of her time with him, she felt no closer to making her feelings known. She also witnessed a few more of Jaune's failed attempts to find a partner, including two crushing rejections from Weiss. He even tried to woo one of the visiting students from Haven, a young woman by the name of Cinder Fall. Seeing him so easily rejected made her almost as annoyed as seeing him flirt with other girls, and she found herself vexed by her lack of understanding of her own feelings. She had no idea why she was getting more dejected as she spent more time with Jaune, and it was becoming such an issue that she found herself distracted from her studies and training.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss snapped angrily, and the redhead just barely rose her shield in time to deflect a lightning fast blow from Myrtenaster. The smaller combatant quickly recovered from the recoil of the impact in an impressive display of strength and aimed a slash at Pyrrha's legs, forcing her to jump. She had been mulling over Jaune once again, and it was affecting her combat. She was distracted and sluggish, trying to think about the fight but finding her mind drawn to her clueless blonde teammate. A powerful sweep of her sword forced Weiss to duck, but the white-haired Huntress lunged just as quickly as she withdrew, giving Pyrrha no time to rest. She blocked a thrust and twisted her blade so that the tip of Weiss' rapier was pointed away, leaving her open. A quick shield bash sent her opponent rolling. Weiss kept her breathing steady, steeling her chest for the blow. She had done a lot of strength training, as she was a more frail combatant than most. It was her greatest weakness, but Weiss was a hard worker with incredible determination. She had made great progress. Pyrrha, not wanting to give the heiress time to make use of her speed and close the gap between them, turned her sword into a rifle and fired. Weiss deflected the bullets and sent a quick ice beam at Pyrrha, who shot it. It exploded into ice shards that the redhead had to deflect, giving Weiss time to dash forward with a glyph and knock her on her back with a powerful thrust. Pyrrha went to get up, but her hands and feet were quickly frozen to the ground and Myrtenaster was, shortly after, pointed at her neck.

"Well done, Weiss," the redhead said proudly. Her friend had greatly improved. Lately, she'd been very adamant about practicing one-on-one combat, wanting to prepare for the Vytal tournament. It had paid off; Weiss had always been very skilled and she was only growing more so.

"Don't 'well done' me, Pyrrha. You know just as well as I do that I should have lost that fight. As skilled as I may be, I'm not on your level. Yet," the heiress scolded as she waved her hand. Four glyphs appeared to shatter the ice around Pyrrha, who got up and sheathed her weapons, massaging her wrists for warmth.

"I wasn't holding back any. You earned your victory."

"You may not have been holding back, but you weren't paying attention, either. You were completely lost in your own thoughts, and I won't tolerate that. I chose to spar with you because you're the most skilled Huntress I know. I expect your performance to support that reputation." Pyrrha sighed at Weiss' sharpness. There wasn't much you could put past her, but the redhead had no interest in saying what was on her mind. She cared deeply for Weiss, but knew that she wouldn't have much to offer in terms of comfort or advice. The heiress didn't have a talent for keeping secrets, either.

"I suppose I was distracted, but you shouldn't let that take anything away from your victory today," she replied, smiling. Weiss simply narrowed her eyes.

"Do you want to spar again tomorrow?" Pyrrha asked after a second of being glared at.

"I want to know what's wrong. This problem that you have is affecting our training, and that is absolutely unacceptable. Besides, you're not just my sparring partner, but my friend. I may not be the most...approachable, yes, but that doesn't mean you can just treat me like a mere acquaintance!" Was the indignant reply. Pyrrha immediately felt bad. Weiss cared about her just as much as anyone else, and she didn't want her to feel as if she was scared to confide in her.

"...I'm sorry. You are my friend and I didn't mean to act is if you're anything less, but this isn't an issue I think you can help me with. This isn't about you at all; it's about me," Pyrrha said quickly, trying to assure Weiss that she didn't think of her differently from any of her other friends. The heiress sighed.

"It's not like telling a friend can do any harm, can it?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then why are you so reluctant?" Pyrrha began to reconsider her vow of silence. She knew how much Weiss cared for her friends and how driven she was. There would be no escape from her questions. Perhaps just telling someone else would be helpful, and if Weiss seemed like she was going to expose her secret just as she had told team JNPR about Blake's identity as a faunus, Pyrrha could get persuasive.

"It's about Jaune," the redhead finally said after a few seconds of quiet. The green grass rustled beneath them as the courtyard they were in suddenly seemed larger and more foreboding. Pyrrha brushed a strand of hair from her eyes, waiting patiently but nervously for her friend to respond. When she did, her words weren't surprising.

"Of course." Pyrrha almost laughed. Although she hadn't seen it coming, there was no shock in realizing that Weiss knew about the her feelings. However, her next words were more startling.

"It's the dance, right?"

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha asked, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Of course it is. This whole Jaune drama hasn't been crippling to your skills in the least, but recently, you've been more distracted. It has to be the dance. Ever since it was announced, your buffoon of a leader has been redoubling his efforts at flirtation, and I'm sure that it annoys you just as much as it annoys me." Pyrrha didn't even get angry at Weiss' insulting term to describe Jaune; she was too surprised at how much sense she made. It all seemed so obvious now, and she wondered how she missed it. It was a testament as to how blinded she was by her own depression.

"The dance...it makes sense. I suppose I was just...distracted, like you said," Pyrrha smiled apologetically.

"Well, there's really not much else to be said. You're wasting your time," Weiss said calmly. Pyrrha's smile faded.

"What?" Weiss continued on, not deterred by her friend's sudden change of mood.

"At least, I think so. You could do so much better. If he's too foolish to see what's right in front of his face, I fail to see why you should give him a chance. Even if he wasn't completely oblivious, I can't see why you'd pursue him!"

"And I can't see why your opinion matters," Pyrrha said, in a rare moment of anger. Usually calm, kind, and forgiving, all bets were off when it came to Jaune. It was even more important to refrain from insulting him in Pyrrha's presence than it was in his own. Weiss, for all of her confidence and aggressiveness, knew this well and understood that it wasn't wise to say anything more. She'd gone too far and didn't want to risk the wrath of Pyrrha.

"Okay, I may have gone overboard, but my point still stands. We can't see eye to eye on this, so perhaps we should just let the issue drop," Weiss replied quickly, wanting to calm the redhead down as fast as possible. Pyrrha kept glaring at her, and Weiss held her gaze with difficulty. After a few seconds, however, their tense staring contest broke and the heiress breathed heavily, glad to know that she wouldn't face a fate like that of team CRDL. Pyrrha, in a passive-aggressive retaliation of their teasing of Jaune, offered to spar with all of them. Needless to say, they didn't walk out of that training session happy.

"I may have gotten a little heated as well. I appreciate you listening to me, Weiss. I know that we think differently when it comes to Jaune, but just knowing that I can talk to you is comforting," she said, smiling again. Weiss returned it.

"Thank you! It's good to know that someone appreciates talking about issues, unlike a certain bookworm we know," Weiss said half jokingly. Pyrrha smiled wider, knowing that it wasn't every day that Weiss made a joke.

"And, since you have confided in me, I suppose I should offer some advice: Dance with him. Ask him to teach you. Maybe putting yourself in that kind of scenario would give you some confidence and you could tell him what's on your mind. And, although I find it unlikely, he might actually understand his blindness and see what's really going on. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to attend to." The heiress smiled and walked away with her signature confidence and flair, her skirt swaying with her hips. Pyrrha, however, wasn't done.

"Weiss, before you leave, I need to tell you something." Weiss turned around, confused.

"What?"

"You've clearly known about how I feel for some time, and I'm grateful that you've kept it to yourself," she said.

"Well, I may have told Ruby...and Blake...and Yang...but that's it, I swear. Besides, I'm sure that Blake and Yang already knew," was the reply. Pyrrha chuckled.

"I know. Ruby and I had a conversation about it a week ago. She offered some good advice." Weiss' eyes widened, knowing how much her teammate hated any kind of relationship talk. She vaguely remembered an incident where some hapless student had made a pass at Ruby, and in her nervousness, she sped off with her Semblance and knocked him down a flight of stairs. She was so startled that she didn't even apologize until the next day.

"On a relationship issue? Ruby? I find that hard to believe," Weiss said.

"I was surprised as well, but she did."

"Well then. Is that all?" Pyrrha's smile then grew sly and she got out her sword, twirling it challengingly.

"No. I just wanted to let you know that I owe you another match. This time, I promise to be...on my game, so to speak." Weiss returned the sly smile, and grabbed Myrtenaster.

"Very well then. I look forward to it. How does tomorrow sound?"

"Perfect. And again...thank you so much. Also, this is just an afterthought, but the next time Jaune tries to ask you out, please be a little less harsh in your rejection. He really is trying, you know, to seem...suave. Maybe you could make him think that he's making progress."

"I'm not encouraging his behavior," Weiss sighed, continuing her exit.

Nora and Ren had both left; Ren going to read at the library and Nora was running off to find him. Ren was being worn thin by his friend's craziness, and asked Jaune to cover for him as he enjoyed some peace and quiet. As such, Nora was off to the cafeteria, where Jaune had told her Ren would be. It was a smart move; the cafeteria was on the opposite side of the school from the library. That left the team leader alone with nothing to do. Jaune sat on his bed, trying to work up the will to study. He knew he had work to do, but the sun shining through the windows of the room and the soft sheets of the bed made him feel so tired. He just wanted to take a nap. Yawning, he got up, walking over to the desk his books were placed on. Sitting down, he opened the book on top and yawned again. He closed his eyes for a second, but they quickly shot open.

"Okay Jaune, focus. You can do this. It's just a few pages," he said, slapping his face with both hands. He began to read and got a paragraph in when Pyrrha walked into the room.

"Oh, Pyrrha. Hey. How was training with Weiss?" Jaune asked, turned away from his book.

"It was splendid. She's doing very well," Pyrrha replied, walking towards Jaune. He looked up.

"Do you want to talk about something?" He asked.

"Actually, yes. The dance is coming up, and since I've never danced before and you're quite good, I was wondering if you could give me a few pointers. Or are you busy right now?" Pyrrha now stood right next to the team leader, her head slanted down and her hands behind her back. She was nervous about asking, but her nerves were quickly put at ease by Jaune's informal manner. He grinned, stood up, and closed the book he was reading.

"Pyrrha, you have come to the right man! I won't let you down! Let's get started," he said happily, moving to the middle of the room.

"Do we really have enough space here?" Pyrrha asked, looking around the small room they shared with their team.

"We'll be fine. Besides, there's gonna be crowds of people at the dance; you should learn to work with small spaces. Now...shall we dance?" Jaune bowed and offered his hand to Pyrrha in a flashy display, and she chuckled before offering her hand to him. He gently held it and pulled her towards him.

"I'd love to," Pyrrha replied, smiling. Her smile faltered, however, when she found herself pressed against Jaune. Her face grew red and she began to feel hot. She hoped he wouldn't notice as he began to talk about the position they were in. He seemed quite calm and graceful, a far cry from his usual clumsy self.

"This is the closed position, and it's the most common position for ballroom dancing. First, our right sides have to touch," he said.

"L-like this?" Pyrrha asked, her voice coming out more high-pitched than she had intended.

"Pretty much, yeah. You know, you seem kind of off. Are you okay?" He asked her, noticing her pitch change and redness.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Anyway, as you were saying?" Pyrrah replied quickly, and he smiled. She was just glad that he didn't notice how unsure she sounded.

"Now, put out your right hand, and I'll put out my left. Our palms should touch and our fingers should clasp." He grabbed Pyrrha's outstretched hand and pressed his palm against hers. Then, their fingers clasped and Jaune grimaced.

"Wow. You have really tough hands. And a strong grip," he said. Pyrrha gasped and loosened her grip.

"I'm sorry! I don't really know my own strength sometimes. I'm still learning," she said sheepishly.

"Oh, it's fine. I'm used to tough hands; I did farm work back at home. Besides, as my mom always says, 'the stronger the grip, the stronger the person.' Anyway, now that we've got that sorted out, let's move on. The guy's hand goes on the lady's back like so-" Jaune was cut off by a squeak from Pyrrha, and he pulled his hand away.

"Uh, what was that? Are my fingers cold or something?" He asked.

"Y-Yes, that's it. Your fingers were a little cold. I'm fine now," Pyrrah replied, taking a deep breath. Jaune then continued to show her the position, placing his hand on her back and telling her to put her hand on his upper arm. Things were getting very uncomfortable for her now. She had been close to Jaune before, during combat training. However, this felt different. This wasn't some combat exercise or a stance test. This felt much more personal, more intimate. Pyrrha hadn't lied when she said that she'd never danced before, and she had no idea that it could make people feel so close. She wanted to be happy about, but she couldn't bring herself to be. Instead, she felt alone. Jaune had no idea how odd she felt, and he clearly didn't feel the same way. The way he moved so freely told her that she was the only one affected by their closeness, and it made her a little sad.

"Alright! Now we've got the position down, how about we start dancing?" Pyrrha sighed and let go of Jaune, who looked confused and a little disappointed.

"What's wrong? Am I not a good enough teacher?" He asked, hoping that wasn't it. He thought he was doing a good job, but if anyone would know, it would be Pyrrha.

"No, of course not! You're doing a great job, Jaune! I just remembered that I was supposed to meet Ruby; she wanted some extra help with her homework. But I'd love for us to continue this. I really do want to learn how to dance," was the reply. Jaune grinned, glad that he was doing alright.

"Well then. I guess we'll continue tomorrow!" Pyrrha beamed before running off. She wasn't scheduled to meet Ruby, and had every intention of doing so. She needed to talk to someone now more than ever. She was flustered, more than she could have ever anticipated, at being so close to Jaune. She was both happy and sad, happy because they were so close and sad because Jaune didn't seem to feel odd about it, as is what often happens to people in love. In the back of her mind, Pyrrha chastised herself for being so irrational. She wasn't an irrational person; she had a good head on her shoulders and knew how to use it. But under the influence of love, all of her mental faculties seemed to shut off. She no longer knew how to think calmly and coolly about the situation. Love was crazy that way. It could take someone like Pyrrha and turn them into a mess. It could also blind a person, and in more ways that one. Pyrrha knocked into a familiar face and rolled on the ground, her battle instincts keeping her from sprawling on the floor. With cat-like reflexes, the person she'd run into did the same. Pyrrha looked up, apologetic.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going. Did I make you lose your place?" Blake smiled, her finger caught in her book.

"Not quite."

Ta-dah! Another chapter finished! This time, Weiss dishes out some advice in her typical Weiss fashion. Then other stuff happens. Honestly, this is becoming a lot more Arkos-centric than I thought. I thought that I'd mostly have scenes with Pyrrha and team RWBY, but it's hard to think of scenarios where the characters can meet and talk naturally and so Arkos happens as filler. I don't want Pyrrha spilling her secret crush to seem forced, but I want her to do so all the same. I'm especially challenged by Blake, who I can't see as really caring about Pyrrha's man troubles. It's not that she doesn't care about Pyrrha; I just don't think she'd be too curious. But she will be, and hopefully it'll be entertaining to read about what sage advice she'll give.

The relationship between Weiss and Pyrrha is the easiest for me to understand out of all the members of team RWBY, based on what we know about Pyrrha and Weiss, plus the encounter they had in volume 1. We already know that Weiss admires and respects Pyrrha. She's the four-time Mistral tournament champion ("a new record!" as Weiss states), and she's generally an epic badass. I suspect that Weiss would try to train with her in order to fight with a highly skilled Huntress. Pyrrha, for her part, seems like she'd respect Weiss as well. Being a highly forgiving person, she'd most likely tolerate her less likeable traits and focus on her positive ones. Weiss is a determined, intelligent, and hardworking person, qualities that Pyrrha has and as a powerful Huntress, most likely values. Pyrrha is the wise mentor character of RWBY, and Weiss is a very good student. It only stands to reason that the two would like each other. Also, because Weiss was raised in a harsh family environment where she most likely wasn't exposed to a lot of encouragement and support, I can see her really liking Pyrrha for her kind, encouraging, and forgiving personality.