I guarantee no expertise or even basic knowledge of romance, why we love, weaponry, makeup, school dances, dance etiquette, dance politics, dancing, detention, malls, or perfume. Probably some other stuff too.

However, I am trying to be as sensitive as possible about depression, abandonment, and suicidal thoughts. I do not mean to offend.

- OOO -

Ruby had to grow up young. That's what happens when your mom dies when when you're five.

At first she didn't believe Summer was really, truly, forever gone - certainly not forever, and certainly without even saying goodbye- and then Ruby could do nothing but cry and plead the heavens, and after that she started hating Summer and she stopped talking to everyone and took to dressing almost exclusively in red, the color of death and mourning in Remnant. Sometimes people remarked on the walking funerary procession that was young Ruby.

By the time Ruby was seven, with the help of her sister and her uncle and the family dog and a new-found gift for weaponsmithing, she improved to the point where she was merely depressed, slightly antisocial, and -only a little bit she swore- latently suicidal. She kept the red cloak, though, to wear always. Maybe it was just shock. Maybe she thought she'd follow her mother to wherever she went away to, to ask her why she abandoned her without even a goodbye, or maybe just to scream her loss and anger at her mother. Maybe she saw all the other kids with their moms and how they got to hug and cuddle, how they got to be swaddled in a cradle of warmth and love and Ruby wondered why she couldn't have that, why her mom had to deny her a normal life, why her mom had to fucking abandon her? Had Ruby done something wrong? Was it her fault somehow?

But then Yang and uncle Qrow talked her out of those sorts of thoughts, mostly, and Ruby could smile again and be happy with her life and she tried to make up for her past life by being cheery all the time, by trying to make other people smile, and she was less depressed, no longer antisocial, and she didn't want to die anymore. Not usually, but, maybe, in a moment of weakness, occasionally.

Maybe that time on the roof of the dust store was one of those times; a reckless decision spurred by a suicidal depression she hadn't quite shed, and after a quick brawl and a brief chase and a dual with a orange-haired man with a tophat and a cane and a penchant for showmanship, Ruby ended up staring down a fiery magical death and she thought, heh, maybe she'd get to see mom again. She had closed her eyes and dreamed of a life after oblivion and only briefly regretted not being able to say goodbye to Yang and Qrow and Zwei and – and everyone else in her life-

And when she opened her eyes; she wasn't dead. It smelled like ozone and there were muted noises of a helibird and magic duels and in front of her was a huntress. Older, elegant, imperious, with blonde hair, adjusting her glasses idly as she shot missiles at the enemy aircraft. She was absolutely badass. Ruby was never more in awe in her life, and she thanked Dust someone was there to save her life.

So of course she didn't know what to say, so she asked for an autograph, and–

And it tuned out this particular huntress did not appreciate Ruby recklessly endangering her life. She made sure to point out all the foolish decisions and the reckless endangerment and, she begrudgingly admitted, Ruby's admirable bravery.

It was all true, the good and the bad, and while it felt good that someone validated her actions as heroic, the admonishment was embarrassing, and it made her feel like a child and feel like someone was looking out for her, and it was everything Ruby didn't have, everything Ruby wished she had, as she was growing up without a mom.

Ruby had to grow up young. Everyone else seemed to accept that, for a certain definition of 'accept'. So when she messed up, or when she did something stupid, or when she acted out because she couldn't deal with her anger or sadness or feelings of hopeless inability, Yang and Qrow and all these strange adults who made oblique references to Summer Rose when they spoke, they all accepted Ruby's mistakes with the assumption that Ruby did as well, they all forgave Ruby's indiscretions because nobody expected her to be perfect, and they all expected that Ruby would apologize and work to better herself, just like all the other adults did when they couldn't deal with their anger or sadness or hopeless inability. And it wasn't her fault, they always said, that she didn't have a mother, or that she had to grow up so young. Everyone accepted that, it seemed, except Ruby herself.

Ruby hated that. She didn't know anything; did nobody care enough to teach her? She was acting out; was she really so insignificant that nobody seemed to be upset with her when she inconvenienced them? Was she so meaningless that when she almost died they didn't try their hardest to stop her? All this- a dead mom and an absent father and a responsibility too big for her and with no ability to cope- all this was all something she was supposed to figure out by herself but she couldn't, she just couldn't, and nobody even wanted to try to show her how.

And it's not like she just kept this inside. She confronted Yang and Qrow about it, several times, and she'd only got a tearful hug from Yang, because her half-sister was just as clueless as her. She got an even bigger hug (And a little bit of alcohol on her cloak) from her uncle Qrow, who had turned to the bottle so that he didn't have to deal with what Ruby was dealing with. Sometimes Zwei cheered her up, but sometimes his playful yappings only made Ruby more certain that nobody could understand what she was going through. On the occasions she saw her father he had the same questions. Why did this have to happen? How was he supposed to move on? Nobody had any answers, only coping mechanisms. Ruby's was combat training, she decided, but she could only distract herself with that for so long.

If this was what being treated like an adult was like- then it was lonely, and cruel, and nobody understood each other in a meaningful way, and nobody expected anything of her because they couldn't expect anything from themselves. Adulthood was walking blindfolded on a tightrope over an abyss of uncertainty and nobody even had a balance pole and your mom could just up and leave one day and get herself killed- so Ruby wished she never had to grow up. Other kids didn't have to until they were teenagers at least, even Yang had eight years of innocence, so why was she the exception? Why didn't Ruby get to have a real childhood?

Maybe if she had known other kids who'd lost a parent, she might have learned a better coping mechanism. At least she might not have felt so alone. So maybe other people would have hated being lectured by a complete stranger after they had to save their life, but for Ruby, seeing someone so confident try to help her was refreshing. Feeling like there was someone who had their life together who actually wanted to extend a hand to help a floundering little girl who'd been lost for what seemed like forever, that was an amazing feeling.

And as a direct result of endangering her life, Ruby achieved her dream of attending Beacon academy. She also met the woman she would fall in love with, so maybe the lesson here was that, Ruby would joke melancholically, that she'd get everything she'd want if she did whatever she wanted. She met her teammates; Yang, of course, she'd never get anywhere with her big sis protecting her. Or, she might rephrase, her sister would never let her go. There was also Weiss, the snooty heiress, and Blake, the quiet, brooding loner. She got along with Blake but Ruby felt like they never really connected, and Weiss was always looking down on everything. And sometimes Yang just drove her up the wall. And then there was Jaune and his team; they were nice, but they weren't exactly close. Ruby still felt alone, but since she had so many more people in her life she felt worse about it.

The school facilities were nice, though; the classrooms were great, the teachers were super cool, and the weapon facilities were amazing; she made sure to treat Crescent Rose to a full tune-up as soon as she had some free time. But soon the novelty faded and the sensation that she'd achieved her dream had been replaced by the realization that she was far, far from becoming a full blown huntress and had a mountain of ordeals to climb, and maybe it was all just too much for her. Maybe all the change and loneliness loomed too large ahead of her sometimes, and Ruby as a result sunk back into her dark pit of despair and doubt. It was like an old cloak, it seemed, though one that was less warm, one that strangled instead of embraced.

One day, two weeks into the school, nobody seemed to understand her and classes had gotten hard and life just seemed a little pointless and Ruby wondered why she even got into Beacon in the first place. She'd skipped two years; that was two years of teaching she'd never gotten, two years of material she didn't know, two years of training she didn't have, two years of life she'd never experienced. Maybe granting Ruby her wish wasn't as much a kindness as Ozpin believed.

And- what if couldn't do it? Like, what if she literally wasn't capable of being a huntress?

And what if Ruby didn't even deserve to make it this far? What if this was all a mistake, and Ruby just got by on dumb luck and the fact that other people couldn't see how incompetent she really was...

Maybe it was all a fluke. Maybe she should call it quits while she was ahead.

One or more of those thoughts was probably to blame for that missed assignment for Aura manifestation.

Yang punched her shoulder and told her it was ok, these thing's happened. Weiss harrumphed and said she hoped Ruby was smart enough to pass the test with that attitude, and Blake just nodded; some things were more important, Blake said. Nobody blamed her. Nobody told her to study more, or try harder, or be a better person.

Ruby didn't buy any of it; she knew she should have done her homework, a better person would have. Studying was the whole point of school; she should be taking things more seriously.

So she went to class and just sat with her hands in her lap and her face tilted down and her cheeks burning hot from failure that threatened to crawl into her eyes and bleed out into tears and nothing happened to her; she'd failed and there were no consequences. This was like every time before, every understanding person in her life who didn't' care enough to listen to her cries for help.

And then Ms. Goodwitch asked her to stay after class. And Ruby looked up and nodded solemnly. She didn't pay attention to the lecture.

And at the end of class, right as the bell rang, Ms. Goodwitch dismissed the class and started writing at her desk. Grading homework, probably, the homework Ruby didn't turn in.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Ms. Rose," she said, without looking up from her desk.

Ruby squeaked and stepped back into the classroom. Once it had emptied, Ruby got the nerve to speak.

"This is about the homework, right?" asked Ruby.

"That is correct," Glynda said from her desk. She graded three pages before she answered. "Homework is expected to be done. That's how you learn, you know."

Ruby muttered a nervous "Yeah."

And Glynda looked up, adjusting her glasses. "So when I assign homework, I truly think it's for the best that you do it, you understand? And I know you have it in you to do well in this course."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

Glynda took her hand off her glasses and looked back down at her papers. "Now don't let it happen again."

"Of course, ma'am," Ruby said. She walked away, smiling at the ground and tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear. She resolved to do better.

That lasted exactly two days.

Three missing assignments later, Ruby had her first detention, and the first realization of how attractive her Aura Manifestation teacher was.

Her first detention, for two hours at the end of the day, Ruby returned to her Aura manifestation classroom, a little rushed, a lot embarrassed, and vaguely excited for a reason she couldn't explain.

Ms. Goodwitch was there before her. She was dressed up like she was during the day, in these amazing high-wasted pencil skirts and button down shirts that she liked to keep a couple buttons on undone, and a fancy cape that looked like tendrils of purple fog. They complimented the braid of her hair and the gold cats-eye glasses the teacher would occasionally push up the bridge of her nose. Ruby smiled involuntarily when she arrived.

"Ms Rose," Ms. Goodwitch said, imperiously, dismissively, tapping her crop against the table, "I hope you're not going to be a problem in my class?"

"N-no ma'am," lied Ruby.

Ms. Goodwitch seemed to buy that answer, though. She walked around a desk where a packet of papers lay, in perfect alignment. "Do you know why you're here?"

Ruby poked her fingers together. "Because I've been a bad girl?" she teased.

Ms. Goodwitch turned to the wall and cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses with her free hand. "Y-you've not learned the material from the last two weeks. By the end of the night, you will have."

Ms. Goodwitch beckoned to the packet of paper, a make-up assignment Ruby was to complete. Ruby sat down at the desk and her teacher would pace around the room as Ruby wrote, heels clacking on the floor. Occasionally, and Ruby secretly treasured these moments, Ms. Goodwitch would walk right besides her and place an arm on her desk to lean on as she scrutinized Ruby's work.

Not that watching her imperiously was all she did. Whenever Ruby had a question, Ms. Goodwitch was all to happy to answer it, And when Ruby hesitated too long on a problem, Ms. Goodwitch would, without even being prompted, ask if Ruby needed some help, and offer some tips. She was an amazing teacher.

"Of course I am," Ms. Goodwitch would say, beaming at the wall, "I've worked hard to be a good teacher, and it's something I pride myself on." Her smile was infectious, and every time it appeared on her teacher's face, Ruby would take the time to admire not just the smile, but every detail, every contour of her face, the way a few strands of her curly blond hair would drift across her nose and bring out her deep emerald eyes-

And sometimes Ms. Goodwitch would catch Ruby staring, and she'd clear her throat and tell her to get back to work.

Yang was annoyingly observant, sometimes. And nosy, and pushy, and loud, and maybe none of that would have mattered if she also weren't judgmental. Like, if she didn't try to help Ruby with her dumb advice and stupid ideas for a 'healthy life outlook', Ruby wouldn't even care. But no, her sister had to try to be her fucking mom sometimes, and not in the good way, not like Ms. Goodwitch seemed, but in the worst way, in the way that made Ruby feel powerless and alone and angry.

One day, when Ruby walked into their dorm room to do some homework, Yang grabbed her sister from behind and squeezed as she lifted Ruby off the floor.

"Oh, my little baby's in love!" she said, rubbing her face on Ruby's shoulder.

"Yang put me down!" Ruby squeaked. "And no I'm not!"

"That blush says otherwise~" Yang freed an arm to bump Ruby's cheek. She barely shifted her balance to hold her sister with one arm.

"Yang!" Ruby protested. She flailed her arms.

Yang released her sister, who started pouting and brushing herself off.

"So, you don't have to tell me who it is," Yang lied, a mischievous grin growing on her face, "But if its one of our teammates-"

"It's not Weiss or Blake," said Ruby. She poured her textbooks and notebooks and writing utensils onto her bed and started to sort them.

"Ooo," coo-ed Yang. Didn't she have anything better to do? "So is it Pyrrha? She's on your favorite cereal, you know."

Ruby rolled her eyes. Of course she knew that. "No. And I think she's taken with Jaune."

"So who is it then?" Yang put her fists on her hips and smiled.

"No way I'm telling you." Ruby tried to get to her desk.

"C'mon," Yang whined, "Teeellll meeeee!"

"No!"

"Whyyyyyy noooooooooot?" Yang flopped on the floor in front of her sister.

"You never like my crushes," mumbled Ruby as she tried to walk around her sister. Why didn't Yang remember this? It'd save a lot of headaches.

Yang's expression froze. Then it went to discontentment. "Wait," she said, picking herself off the ground, "Is she a teacher again?"

Ruby tried to keep her face passive.

"Rubaby," Yang said, fake concern on her face, reaching an arm out to Ruby's shoulder. "You know teacher's can't date students-"

"Oh my Dust Yang can't you mind your own business?!" Ruby pushed her sister away from the hug she was trying to give her, tucking her hands in her armpits.

"I'm just trying to save you the heartbreak-"

"Nobody asked you!" Ruby screamed. She left the room, slamming the door behind her. Maybe the library'd be a quieter place to study, with less stupid nosy sisters.

One day, in detention, as Ruby was enjoying the company and attention Ms. Goodwitch was giving her, Ruby realized something terrible; the assignment was too easy. She'd finish in ten minutes at the rate she was going. This was unacceptable.

So she deliberately did some of the problems wrong. Ms. Goodwitch frowned in concern.

And on Ruby's second failed attempt, Ms. Goodwitch came over and leaned over her and pointed out her problem, and Ruby was feeling particularly naughty so she glanced back and upwards and breathed in Glynda's scent, of chalk and peppermint and old parchment-

[SMACK]

"Ow!" Ruby grabbed at the new red mark on her left wrist. Her pencil clattered on the table.

"Are you paying attention, Ms. Rose?"

"I- I am now, ma'am," Ruby said. The teacher's frown softened slightly but she was still right there, standing over her as Ruby started the next problem.

Ruby knew the correct answer, but there were only like five problems left so she had to do it wrong so she could stay with Ms. Goodwitch longer.

There was another loud smack and Ruby clutched her other hand.

"That is incorrect, Ms. Rose!" Ms. Goodwitch's face reddened and she put her hands on her hips. "What is the problem? You just performed the steps correctly on the previous problem!"

And Ruby tried to hide her inappropriate giddiness in her apologies.

Ruby managed to stay in detention for a whole hour before she couldn't do anything more wrong, and Ms. Goodwitch was getting exasperated because she couldn't understand why it wasn't sinking in. Ruby skipped back to her dorm, the marks on her arms already starting to fade.

Ruby always preferred older women. Well, it'd be more accurate to say she always had precocious crushes. In elementary school, she'd attached herself to their babysitter. Back at Signal Academy, she'd had a thing for one of the weapons instructors. Nothing came of any of these fleeting attractions, as they all thought she was too young to take seriously.

But now that she was an adult in an adult school for adults, surrounded by other adult adults who were adults, Ruby wasn't going to let Yang convince her she'd have to date 'people her own age'. Like, why was that even a thing in the first place? Not that it mattered, because they were all adults now, sort of.

On the other hand, Ruby'd be the first to admit that her feelings about growing up changed to whatever she thought was most convenient at the time. She'd prefer to have had a normal childhood- a time of her life she alone never seemed to experience- but if she was going to have the responsibilities of an adult, she might get some of the benefits of being one. She didn't mind feeling like a kid around Ms. Goodwitch, for example, but around Yang she resented being considered young.

See, when they were growing up, Yang'd always try to set Ruby up on dates with people her age. She'd take Ruby to her weird nightclubs for teenagers, and while Ruby would hang out in the corner enjoying the music, Yang'd pull some cute punk girl aside and introduce Ruby and they'd have a shallow conversation for an agonizing while before Yang'd pull Ruby aside and put an arm around her and whisper next to her face.

"Well, she's pretty cute, right?" Yang'd say. Sometime's she'd use a different adjective, but she'd always gently punch Ruby's shoulder and grin mischievously.

"Yeah, I guess," Ruby'd reply. Usually she'd have a drink or a cookie she could look into.

"She thinks you're cute too," Yang'd say, "And I can set you up. It'd be no problem. "

"I dunno," Ruby'd say. Truth was, she knew she wasn't interested, but Yang'd try to convince her no matter what she said.

"C'mon, I'll get you her number," Yang'd offer, "You could go home with her tonight~." Yang'd always have an insufferable smirk.

"Why don't go home with her then, if she's so cute?" Ruby'd snap.

And Yang'd say 'fine' and go talk to them and dance with them and maybe she'd come home late, or not come home until the next morning, or end up at some gay beat-up club and show up at 3 AM with a black eye and a split lip and some burn marks and she'd have to explain Risk Aware Consensual Kinks and Ruby'd secretly file that information away deep in the darkness of her soul. For when she was older, maybe.

And after Yang found out about her teacher crush (considering the total list of teachers Ruby had, it was pretty obvious it was Glynda), Yang tried to arrange a little mixer in the dorm rooms. Ruby might have appreciated the attempt if she weren't ALREADY IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE YANG, because even if she didn't intend to date anyone 'her own age', ugh, it was a good opportunity to make friends, and she was always down for that. At the very least, it'd be a great opportunity to set up playdates for Crescent Rose.

But this one was even more half-assed than everything else Yang ever did, because it was mostly just team JNPR and like one or two acquaintances who weren't even training to be hunters. Crescent had already been acquainted with Crocea Mors, Miló and Akoúo̱, Magnhild and Stormflower, and Ruby really, really didn't want to be around if Yang tried to play wingwoman for her at Nora or something.

So Ruby ducked out of the party early, saying she wanted to study in their adjacent dorm room. She thought about going over her Aura Manifestation homework again, but if Yang popped in she'd think it'd be suspicious she was doing homework for Ms. Goodwitch's class. Instead, Ruby decided to oil Crescent again.

There was a creak and a wooden knock and the door opened. Blake walked in.

"Hey, not much for parties either?" Ruby ventured.

"I think Yang spiked the punch," said Blake, "Because Weiss has been rather... uninhibited. I can't deal with her opinions when she's reserved, so," Blake trailed off. "...definitely couldn't' deal with her when she's free of inhibitions. "

"I'm pretty sure it'd be Nora who spiked the punch," Ruby joked. She was suddenly grateful she only grabbed a plate or three of cookies at the party.

"Oh?"

"Yeah..."

There was silence for a while. Ruby inspected Crescent's bearings and oiled any squeaky joints. Blake pulled out a book.

"Sorry my sis put on a party like this..." Ruby said, to break the silence.

"It's no trouble," Blake lied. "I wonder what the occasion is."

"Well," Ruby said. Blake seemed trustworthy, right? More than Weiss even, who was supposed to be her partner. And if Ruby couldn't trust her team, then what kind of leader was she? So she decided Blake was trustworthy. "Yang put this party to try to find me a girlfriend."

Blake looked up, a little in shock. "But she only invited us and team JNPR."

"Yeah, oversight on her part," laughed Ruby. "And the only reason she wants to hook me up is because she doesn't like who I'm crushing on now."

Blake looked concerned, like she was choosing her words carefully. "And what is it about your crush she doesn't like?"

Crap. Ruby wondered if she divulged too much, before Blake allayed her fears.

"And you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to. I understand the necessity of secrets," Blake added.

Ruby smiled in relief. Blake wasn't so bad, huh? "It's- it's because she's a bit older." That was technically true, right? Ruby looked into the distance grimly, "She wants me dating someone 'my own age'."

"Ah," said Blake. She relaxed slightly. She bit her lip for a moment. "Yang doesn't approve of you dating older women?"

And they talked a bit about relationships for a while. Blake was very understanding, and encouraging, and she was a great listener. It made Ruby feel better. Blake mentioned, a little bitterly, that she was once in a relationship with an older man, and that it ended badly, but not because he was older. Ruby never divulged who exactly her affection was targeted to, but Blake's advice was sound.

"I think you should follow your heart, Ruby," was what Blake ended the conversation with.

And Yang didn't help, though, with, what'd she call it, 'being strong for her sister'. Psh, yeah right. She was always doing that; ever since Summer died, pretending things didn't affect her, that she was just fine, so why couldn't Ruby just cheer up and move on too? It was like Yang was better than her because she didn't care. Ruby hated that. It was an argument they had all too often, and they had it again after Yang's excuse for a party.

"Why don't you care that mom's dead? You- You even had two moms, and they're both gone, you should feel twice as- as much as me!" Ruby would scream through a hoarse throat and wet eyes.

"Of course I care!" Yang screamed back. It was one of the few times she wasn't putting on a patronizing smile for her sister. "But I know they wouldn't want me wallowing in self-pity, and they wouldn't want you wasting your life-"

And Yang would try to hug Ruby. Sometimes Ruby'd let it happen, but today she was too mad.

"I don't want that for you either, Ruby," said Yang, trying not to let the rejected hug affect her mood, "So won't you just let it go?" Ruby was grateful, at least, that this time Yang didn't try to turn it into a cheesy song rendition.

But how could Ruby forget that kind of thing? How could she just go on like nothing was wrong?

Ruby stormed off. Was Ruby just supposed to accept that she'd never have a parental figure in her life? That wasn't fair. Fuck that.

And one day, Yang got fed up with Ruby being in detention all the time and walked in and just told her, she fucking told Glynda that Ruby had a crush on her.

Ruby spent the walk back to their dorm with her arms crossed, pointedly not looking at her half-sister. Yang tried to lecture her again, tried to convince Ruby that it wasn't a betrayal. And even though it may have improved the situation- Glynda seemed to be willing to start anew if Ruby got her schoolwork on track- Ruby wouldn't forgive her adopted sister, who wasn't even her real sister, so she could just go fuck off.

"I was just trying to get you over this whole crush thing," Yang protested as Ruby stormed ahead of her.

"I don't want to talk to you," Ruby stated, eyes closed and breathing forcibly steady.

"It was for your own good-"

"You don't know what's good for me!" Ruby's voice cracked. So much for being composed.

"I'm just looking out for you-" Yang said as she jumped to close the gap and grabbed Ruby's shoulder, turning the redhead around.

"Well don't!" Ruby swatted Yang's hand away. "Why do you even care who I like? You're not even my real sister!"

It was at best half-true, Ruby knew, but it was the phrase that hurt Yang the most, and at least it was the phrase that bought her enough time to activate her semblance to rush back to her dorm.

Behind her, Yang was frozen for a moment, before she slumped. She looked like she was about to cry. Good. Fucking sisters.

Ruby got back to her dorm and jumped on her bed, hugging her pillow to her face. She pulled Crescent Rose onto her bed from where it was propped against her dresser, and she hugged the mass of steel and composite. Crescent was the only family she needed right now. Crescent never judged her, or tried to change her, or failed her.

Well, unless you count the time a screw came loose during a sparring match back at Signal and she had to fight the rest of the fight halfway between scythe and sniper mode.

Ruby wiped away her tears and sat up on her bed and unfolded her weapon in her lap. She started going over every individual piece and joint, noting any points where it looked like wear might be setting in and, after procuring a tube of machine lubricant from her dresser, oiling any of the squeaky connections. Soon she wasn't crying anymore, dispassionately involved with weapon maintenance.

She was vaguely aware that Blake and Weiss were also in the room, attempting to do homework. But neither of them said anything, probably out of awkwardness.

And she was so engrossed in her work that she hardly even notice when Yang sulked in much later, and she didn't hear Yang when the blonde tried to talk with her.

And later that night, Yang bid her goodnight forlornly and Ruby didn't respond and their other two teammates seemed to know better than to ask about it; Weiss went back to counting money and Blake to reading a book, even as Yang hugged her pillow and sobbed into it, thinking nobody could hear.

And the next day Yang wished her good morning and opened her arms wide and smiled expectantly and Ruby just ignored her. It was so satisfying to see Yang's whole demeanor droop and her stupid smile vanish, to see her finally drop that facade of confidence she put up for Ruby that Ruby never asked for and didn't want her to do.

But Ruby knew she couldn't keep that up forever. She couldn't keep closing her eyes and tilting her head whenever Yang tried to talk to her, or walking the opposite way around the cafeteria whenever Yang tried to sit with her at lunch.

"So are we allowed to ask about what happened?" said Weiss, one day, her usual dissatisfied frown marring her face.

"Weiss," hissed Yang, "Don't aggravate the situation-"

"You've been fighting for weeks!" Weiss whined, "You used to be so close! Is whatever you're fighting about more important than each other?"

"I hate to agree with Weiss," said Blake. Weiss rolled her eyes, and Blake tried to keep her face passive. "But I'm sure we'd all be willing to help if we knew what was going on. And I at least wouldn't judge."

"Hey, I wouldn't judge either!" pouted Weiss.

"It's 'neither', you illiterate buffoon," intoned Blake.

Ruby cogitated. One one hand, people might think she was weird, and if they told anyone, it might hurt Ms. Goodwitch's reputation.

But on the other hand, it was hard to keep her feelings inside of herself all the time.

"I uh," Ruby began. She rubbed the back of her head. "I Have a crush on Ms. Goodwitch."

Weiss and Blake looked stunned for a moment. Then Weiss looked knowing and Blake smiled bemusedly.

"The teacher? Isn't she a bit old?" said Weiss.

"She's mature," corrected Ruby. she folded her arms.

"I actually think it's really cute," said Blake.

"I never said it wasn't cute," retorted Weiss with a huff. "It's not uncommon for age difference that drastic amid high society marriages."

"Wait, what?" said Yang, "You support this?"

Ruby made a face at her sister. Figures the only one who didn't want her to succeed was her own family.

"Well, is she single?" said Blake.

Ruby pushed her hands into her lap. "Yes," she said with a bit of a blush.

"Is she into women?" asked Weiss.

"I...think so?" said Ruby.

"Then I don't see the problem with pursuing her," said Blake. "Whether or not she says yes is a different matter."

"And you can always harbor a secret crush forever, if she's not interested." said Weiss.

"Except Yang just went up and told her," said Ruby through gritted teeth.

Blake and Weiss shot Yang dirty looks.

"What?" said Yang, "I was trying to protect her."

Weiss seemed to be on Yang's side, unfortunately, but Blake was on Ruby's, so it kind of worked out. Weiss even had the nerve to insist there weren't any sides.

When the argument subsided and the topic came back to Ruby's crush, though, Blake and Weiss offered their hands in support.

"I consider myself a bit of a love expert, actually," said Blake. "If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."

'Hey, I am familiar with all the courtship rituals of Atlas," said Weiss, "My advice would be much more useful," Weiss crossed her arms.

Ruby almost teared up. "Thanks you guys."

One day, just when Ruby thought she might be having a good day, Weiss confronted her when they were alone in the dorm room. Well, maybe that was a little harsh; Weiss was only unpleasant to be around most of the time.

"Ruby," she said. She pouted, like she was trying to figure out how to talk.

"Hey Weiss," replied Ruby, smiling. She could Weiss the benefit of the doubt today. Their friendship had a rocky start, but that just meant Weiss needed Ruby to believe in her, even if that belief didn't always pay off. "Hows it going?"

"I- good. Very good." Weiss said. She nodded her head. "Uh, thanks for asking." She fidgeted. "So are you and Yang better now?"

Ruby shrugged. "I guess. " Yang was still nosy and overbearing, but they were talking again. She explained that to the heiress.

"She obviously cares about you." Weiss said, "Otherwise she wouldn't try to involve herself in your life."

"Well, maybe I prefer she didn't." Ruby mumbled.

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss harrumphed, "Yang is your sister, and she loves you. You can't just take her love for granted."

"If she really loved me she'd listen to me," mumbled Ruby.

Weiss bit her lip. "I mean obviously she's not completely in the right. If you promise to forgive her, I'll talk to her for your sake. Try to get her to be less, ah, 'nosy'."

"Oh?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. She was surprised. "Why would you do that?"

Weiss fidgeted a little more, and her face reddened, like she didn't really want talk about her reasons. "I don't think sisters should fight, is all," was what she ended up saying.

Ruby was about to inquire further but Weiss interrupted her.

"So what's your plan?" Weiss said.

"My, uh, plan?" said Ruby.

Weiss put her hands on her hips. "Your Plan!" she said angrily. "To win over Mz. Goodwitch? You don't think she's just going to fall in love with you out of nowhere, did you?"

Ruby looked at the floor and kicked her foot and didn't say anything. Hehe, that was such a joke, wasn't it? What could she possibly offer someone as amazing as Glynda?

Weiss softened and looked at the wall. "Did Blake tell you to do anything?"

"No," said Ruby offhandly. "Not really."

"So what about you is desirable?" said Weiss. Wow, harsh. Ruby thought that way all the time, but it was different coming from someone else.

"E-excuse me?" Ruby stepped back.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I mean for someone like Mz. Goodwitch. She's an established teacher, huntress, and master-class wizard. What would she see in you?"

"Uh, well," Ruby poked her pointer fingers together, "I'm cute?"

"Lots of people are cute."

"I'm young?" Ruby waved the air. "Ok, same problem. Uhhh." Ruby looked at the ceiling. "I'm almost a good student?"

"That's something you can leverage." Weiss said. She nodded as she cogitated. "You'll be her star pupil, and when you're spending all those late nights together, working, you can-"

"I know how that fantasy goes, Weiss!" squeaked Ruby, "I have it every night," she whispered.

That may have been a bit of an exageration, but Ruby did, frequently, dream about spending time with her crush, studying, late into the night, and Ruby'd confess her heart, and Ms. Goodwitch admit that she felt the same way, secretly, and then they'd- they'd smooch, like, on the mouth-

Weiss blushed and coughed into her fist. "Right." She crossed her arms. "So sounds like a plan, then? We'll get your grades up, the four of us."

Ruby smiled and nodded.

Weiss smiled in her usual way; looking like she was still trying to figure out how to move her face muscles in the correct positions. "So a side effect will be that our collective grades should improve, aha."

So Ruby became a model student. She started doing her homework, on time. She spent less time in detention, but Glynda smiled at her when she turned in her homework and praised her for her improving grades. And studying with Blake and Weiss was fun, and Yang was almost bearable when they talked about homework.

But the study sessions weren't enough. Nothing ever seemed to be enough. Even with her teammates helping her, even with her newfound motivation, sometimes Ruby just wallowed in despondency and put her pencil down and stared at her assignment. And later, Weiss would ask her if she did her homework, and Ruby'd lie and say she did, and Weiss would nod and grin and tell her good job and Ruby'd feel even worse because it wasn't a good job, she didn't deserve it, and the next night when they were supposed to do the followup assignment Ruby'd just pretend to work and fall even more behind and she really shouldn't be, all her friends were trying to hard to help her and she was just letting them down, just throwing away their kindness.

One day Ruby hesitantly knocked on the door to Ms. Goodwitch's office with her textbook and a heavy chest and teary eyes and admit that she didn't understand what was going on, that she wasn't smart enough, that maybe she just deserved to fail-

Glynda barely looked up from her work. "Stop that," she said.

"S-stop what?"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself." She commanded. She flipped a piece of paper into her outbox and started grading the one under it. "You can complete the assignments. You can learn the material. So just do so."

"O-Ok." Ruby wiped her eyes on her tears. "I'll work on them tonight." That excuse worked on Weiss.

It didn't work on Glynda.

Glynda tapped her pencil in front of Ruby. "Work on them now." She was familiar with procrastinators, it turned out.

So Ruby opened her textbook in her lap, and Glynda moved stuff around on her desk so that Ruby had room to work there, not three feet away from her.

And when, after a couple fleeting, wonderful moments of productivity, Ruby lost her momentum and just stared at her page, sinking into despair, she'd feel a smack against her wrist, and Glynda was back to doing her work when Ruby looked up. She didn't deny doing so when Ruby asked; Glynda just had other work to do, but she didn't mind helping a student, she said.

And when Ruby hesitantly asked if she was being too much trouble, if Glynda was just wasting her time on her, if maybe it'd be better for everyone else if they just let her fall behind, Ruby got another smack, harder this time, that took a day to fade (so she'd remember, Glynda said).

Glynda looked up, above her glasses. "I will not let you fail, you understand?" she stated- or perhaps it was a command.

And Ruby's heart pounded against her chest and her throat burned into dryness and her cheeks went hot. She didn't respond, which Glynda must have interpreted as disbelief or refusal or something, because she continued.

Glynda smiled in the corner of her mouth. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and inhaled. "Ms Rose," she said. She looked Ruby in the eye and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby," -and the younger girl felt her cheeks grow hot- "I know you have doubts. A lot of people do. It's normal. But I believe you can overcome them, and I'm happy to be here, to help you do so."

And after an awkward, breathless moment, lost in the implications of her teacher's words, Ruby regained a normal sense of time and nodded, wide-eyed and earnestly, and Glynda smiled, a job well done.

And Glynda went back to work, and Ruby did the same. Glynda didn't dwell on the=is moment- or any of the similar moments she had with Ruby over the next few weeks; to her she was just helping a student. This was just Glynda's job. But Ruby didn't take the idea that she wasn't special any wrong way. It was just that Glynda was so kind.. So, so kind, and maybe Ruby thought for a moment that perhaps this kindness felt wonderful, and maybe she even deserved it.

Maybe Glynda didn't realize how much an impact she had on Ruby then, but that was the moment Ruby knew for sure that she was in love.

Another thing about older women (well, older people in general), was that they were so much more interesting. Like, what did teenagers even talk about? Bands? Cartoons? Food? How much they had to drink the previous night? Psh. And even the people who had future plans, who had ideas for how their lives would be, hearing them was way less sexy than hearing someone talk about everything they've achieved, all the dreams they've fulfilled.

And Glynda was one of the latter; she never ran out of stories about past battles or previous students or experiments with magic. She'd done a lot of research in magic, it turned out; if Ruby decided to take Advanced Dust Manipulation, the textbook would have a section about plasma shape coils that Glynda personally discovered, Glynda mentioned offhandedly, and Ruby wondered if she could install a spell cylinder on Crescent by the time she had to pick her upper division electives.

Ruby made working in Glynda's office a regular thing, and she was always enthralled when, after Ruby finished her work but still wanted to stay, the older huntress leaned back in her chair and adjusted her glasses as she gazed into the wall and regaled her student of so many previous lives, glamorous and heroic, dangerous, valliant and amazing. Ruby'd rest her chin on her palms and let herself be carried off by Glynda's words. It was these kinds of stories why Ruby wanted to become a Huntress in the first place.

And, you know, there was also this whole 'mom' thing. That was... well, potentially it could be considered weird, possibly, Ruby might have admitted.

Ruby didn't think of Glynda like a replacement for Summer, right? 'cause the part of her brain that was most overactive after puberty would make that really weird.

Ruby didn't think she was in love with her dead mother, just resentful and hurt and angry and sad and bitter. None of those things she felt about Glynda.

Ruby dreamed about that flaxen-haired mage-goddess in ways that she'd never even dream of dreaming about a blood relation. (Though she had to keep those to herself.)

Glynda was gorgeous, all of her, and she was confident and super-smart and very kind. It made loving her all the easier. Or maybe Ruby thought she was so beautiful because she was in love with her.

And she was so beautiful. The Ruby of even a month ago didn't even know, couldn't possibly comprehend just how brilliant Glynda shone when she imparted knowledge, when she dueled, when she fixed her hair at the end of class when she thought everyone was preoccupied with leaving. Every day Glynda was becoming more and more of a fixation for Ruby.

She'd get lost in Glynda's eyes, her commanding, viridescent, burning eyes, framed by those purple cat's-eye glasses. Ruby memorized every contour of her savior's eyes, gently giving way to the beginnings of some distinguished crows feet, and she'd follow the curve of Glynda's nose, and then be mesmerized by how her lips looked so soft even when they were curled in an imperious frown and be elated when that frown would briefly turn into a smile for her, just for her, her star pupil. And when Glynda said she was proud of her, Ruby felt like she could fly, like her heart was buoyant enough to lift her whole body and she'd soar though the school in ways not even her semblance could approximate.

And the fact that Glynda liked her- not in the same way Ruby like her back- the fact that Glynda lavished her attention on a special pupil, that felt amazing. Even if Ruby wasn't abstractly special, even if any other student who did the same thing would have gotten the same attention, Ruby was content that, for now, she was that student, that in Glynda's eyes she was special, for this semester, for this moment.

And maybe sometimes Ruby'd allow herself to believe that, in the way Glynda's glances would linger a little longer on her than anyone else, in the small grins Glynda'd flash her when she met Ruby's gaze, in the shoulder touches and the "I'm proud of you"'s and the occasional teasings in class, maybe Glynda felt something a little more- that Ruby wasn't just this semester's star pupil, just another overachiever- just another statistical inevitability. Ruby'd allowed herself to believe that, maybe, she had a place in Glynda's heart the same way Glynda did in her's.

And once reality came back to her, but not all the way, Ruby'd allowed herself to believe that maybe if Glynda didn't feel the same, well, Ruby could work to make it so. She'd become someone who Glynda'd fall in love with, wholly and desperately and absolutely, the same way Ruby fell in love with Glynda.

So maybe Ruby wanted someone like that- confident, supportive, wonderful- as a fixture in her own pitiful, lonely life. And maybe, for other people, that person was their mom. But Ruby didn't have a mom. Summer was gone. Summer had abandoned Ruby. Fuck her. Ruby had someone else now, someone better, someone who made her feel happy and confident and smart, and she was beautiful on top of all that. Glynda was so much better than a mom. Ruby was so sure of it.

Then from out of nowhere came the cultural festival. Technically, they'd known about it for a month, but the week before hand when the staff mentioned it over the intercom team RWBY collectively went 'oh, yeah,' having forgotten about the entire thing. Team RWBY couldn't think of anything more creative, and besides, it was too late to reserve the Arena like team JNPR did. So when Ruby suggested a cafe, everyone went along with it.

So the plan was to hope that between the four of them they could almost cook something edible and then charge people a couple bucks for it and call it good. There'd be costumes involved, because dressing up was fun.

As it turned out, Weiss was completely useless at cooking, muttering something about the reason she had servants. Yang could make bachelor food, stuff you'd put in a blender and fry, and exactly one entree in case she needed to promise dinner to secure a date. Ruby could make cookies. Blake saved the plan, though, when it turned out that she knew how to cook from scratch. Mostly subsistence food, but technically food nonetheless.

Weiss frowned immensely. "I can learn how to cook," she insisted.

"Oh," Blake raised an eyebrow, "You haven't resigned yourself to being completely useless?"

And they started fighting again, and Yang broke the two apart, and it was agreed that Blake and Weiss would be the chief chefs while Yang and Ruby would be primarily waitresses. The room they were assigned had enough tables and chairs to make a decent cafe, and it only took a couple curtains to decorate.

And Ruby spent an afternoon making a special invitation for Ms. Goodwitch. She was too happy about it, it was childish and silly but, well, since she'd gotten on her teacher's good side the older woman had been more indulgent of such behavior. Ruby idly wondered if this was what normal kids got to do for their moms.

And Glynda had said yes! Ruby tried to keep her composure, only managing to do it long enough to leave Ms. Goodwitch's office.

Ruby jumped back into their dorm, giggling, hopping the tips of her feet and shaking her hands in excitement. "She's going to be there!" she said, repeatedly, excitedly.

Weiss crossed her arms. "Well obviously. She's a school administrator, so she has to attend."

"Ruby meant that she'll visit our booth," stated Blake. She was, as usual, nose-deep in a book.

Weiss pursed her lips and reddened a little. "I knew that. I just wanted Ruby to know that even if she said no, we could still go ahead with the plan."

Yang forced a grin and muttered a congratulations before turning back to her own preparations.

When their costumes arrived, they all took an afternoon to try them on. Yang considered adding a pair of glasses to her outfit before she realized Glynda wore glasses and decided it might be a little weird.

Blake had procured a pair of dog ears for her costume. Ruby and Yang agreed on something, for the first time in what seemed like forever; Blake looked absolutely adorable in them. Their stoic teammate had seemed a little nervous when she walked in front of them with the headband, and she seemed... relieved?- when Ruby and Yang liked it.

But Weiss didn't agree. "I don't see the appeal of being part-animal," she said condescendingly, "I mean, you're basically tempting bestiality."

And whatever relief Blake wore on her face vanished, and whatever goodwill she and Weiss had built up evaporated. They had argued before, but not like this- there was yelling, and personal attacks and eventually physical attacks, until Ruby found herself putting Weiss in an amateur judo hold while Yang had to physically carry out of the room Blake, a flurry of cartoonish flailing limbs. Ruby felt awkward telling two girls, both two years her senior, the terms of their time-outs, but maybe it was as sign of her improving confidence that she felt proud to be able to do so, even if she felt sad that she had to.

And the day before the day of the cultural festival, Yang confronted Ruby. She'd waited in their dorm for Ruby to walk in, and Yang was sitting on the bed, looking kind of pathetic.

"Hey," Yang said, her normal exuberance gone from her voice, "So the kids still aren't talking to each other."

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah. They're still cooking together, though. In abject silence."

Yang laughed a little harder. "Sounds efficient."

"I really thought they were getting along, too," Ruby lamented.

"Yeah..." Yang said.

And then Yang suddenly started tearing up, and she stood up and put her arms out, asking for a hug. "I just want you to know, Rubaby," Her voice cracked, "No matter how hard we fight, I still love you. And-" Ruby leaned into the hug, and Yang squeezed her as tight as she could, "I support you, and I'll support you in your love too."

It was the first time in a while they hugged. Ruby missed these moments, though she wouldn't admit it to Yang.

"Thanks sis," Ruby said.

And the plan went off without a hitch; Glynda showed up at their booth and ate the special noodle luncheon Ruby'd prepared (with Blake and Weiss's help, of course) and Glynda waved down Ruby to sit with her and Ruby confessed her love. It was good to get it off her chest, not that she did a good job of concealing it before.

And Glynda didn't really say no. She said she couldn't say yes, that it wasn't possible because she was a teacher. Not that she didn't want to. Glynda never said she didn't like Ruby. And she promised to still be her teacher.

But it still didn't feel good to be rejected, so Ruby asked Blake to handle Glynda's cleanup. Ms. Goodwitch seemed a little dazed and didn't see Ruby wave her goodbye, but she was good on her promise to still be the best teacher she could be for Ruby.

There were a few weeks of class, in which Glynda tried her best to act normally around Ruby. Ruby thought it was adorable, how Glynda would clear her throat and blush a little whenever she held eye contact with the younger girl, how she'd flash a little grin whenever she caught Ruby staring at her. And their little personal meetups were largely unchanged, except Glynda was sometimes a little less composed. Ruby was a little worried that this might break her image of the teacher, but she found she enjoyed the little moments when Glynda seemed a little less infallible, a little more like someone who could be in love, with all the clumsy uncertainty love entailed.

The next thing coming up was the homecoming dance. It wasn't as big or as fancy or as important as the Fall Formal was going to be, but it was a dance nonetheless, and that meant it was a time to have fun and a time to be fancy and a time for crushes to be revealed, if they'd come up in the past three months.

"So," said Yang tentatively, "You're not going to ask Mz. Goodwitch, are you? I mean, she said 'no', and you should respect that. And there's plenty of girls your own age."

"Not as a date, no," said Ruby, "but I think a little dance sometime during isn't out of the question?"

"Sounds like a solid plan," said Weiss, "Besides, friends dance with each other all the time, so you have plausible deniability about your intentions." She turned to the black-haired member of the group. "C'mon Blake, let's dance right now."

"We're not friends, Weiss." Blake didn't even look up from her book.

Weiss ran a hand through her hair and harrumphed in dismissal. "Yang?"

"Let's go!"

And they danced. Ruby was not amused.

"So," said Weiss after the impromptu embarrassment. She was panting a little bit. " how're we going to help you out? Dresses? Makeup?"

"Don't you guys have your own preparations to make?" said Ruby, a little apprehensive. "Like, with your own dates?"

"There's nobody I like," intoned Blake.

"M-me neither," said Weiss.

Blake looked up from her book, a little dismissively, and opened her mouth to begin an objection. Then she deflated. "No wait that was right. Good job, Weiss," she intoned to her book.

Weiss smiled before she caught herself and turned it into a frown.

Yang shrugged.

"Well, ok then," said Ruby, letting the excitement rise in her chest.

Weiss took them all into town one day to hang out at the mall and buy dresses and other accessories. A little overdoing it, Ruby thought, it wasn't a huge dance after all, but Weiss insisted and even offered to pay. Least she could do, she said, and that, at the very least, it'd be practice for when they did this for real at the formal.

It took some time to convince Blake to go with them. Yang tried to say that it'd be fun to go into town as a team, and Ruby mentioned a couple book sales.

"I don't want you to buy me a dress," Blake said to Weiss. It was one of her conditions.

"It's really no bother," Weiss said to the wall. She ran a hand threw through her hair.

"I don't need your charity," said Blake through gritted teeth.

"With how you normally dress I wouldn't' be so sure," Weiss retorted.

And they fought again. Ruby had more experience in breaking them up, and after only about a minute they were in opposite corners of the room. It was a bit awkward to talk to them like this, but she was happy she was learning conflict resolution.

"I think it's really nice of you to offer, Weiss," said Yang. Weiss turned her head back and smiled awkwardly.

"As long as I can bring a book," Blake said eventually, "I'll accompany you. Maybe it'll be fun."

Dress shopping went relatively quickly. Apparently, Weiss had booked an appointment in advance or something, and there was a tailor waiting for them when they arrived. Blake sat in the corner, reading aggressively. Or passive-aggressively.

"So its assumed the first person you dance with is someone you're screwing unless you make it apparent otherwise," said Weiss as they waited in line to pay, "So your first dance should be with Yang. Keep it carefree, and don't hesitate to accept dance offers from anyone else."

"You'll want to make it seem like you're there to dance, so make sure you dance during the first three songs. Keep picking platonic partners; Team JNPR would be a good choice, though Jaune's kind of obnoxious and Pyrrha's too good for you. Ren and Nora would make good choices."

Ruby nodded along. She examined the evening gown in her hand.

"So if you go through all that," Weiss concluded, "Nobody will bat an eye when you ask to dance with Mz. Goodwitch."

Ruby nodded, memorizing every word. "That works?"

"Yeah, it's how it goes down at all the corporate balls."

Blake rolled her eyes. "This isn't politics, Weiss," she turned to Ruby, "Just ask her to dance."

"What? No!" said Ruby. This was serious. The most serious thing in her entire life, maybe. There was no way it could be so simple.

"And what happens if she says no?" said Weiss, to Blake, "There's much less chance of that happening if Ruby plans it out."

"But you can't build a relationship based on emotional manipulation," said Blake.

"It's not 'manipulating' exactly," huffed Weiss, "We all try to be the best versions of ourselves for the people we like."

Blake rolled her eyes.

"So what advice do you have, Blake?" said Weiss haughtily, accusingly.

Blake shrugged. "Keep your hands warm. You make a better impression when you touch hands then. Cold hands tell someone you're cold and uncaring."

And Weiss turned red and pulled her hands into her sleeves. "W-what? That's not real."

"It's psychology," shrugged Blake, smirking ever so slightly.

"What happened to not being able to build relationships on manipulation?"

"I'm just telling you how to make the best impressions," said Blake.

And Ruby filed that tidbit away, ignoring that Weiss started shooting glares at Blake.

Afterwards, Weiss led them to a perfume shop. There were bottles arrayed on glass shelves. She could hear the dull hum of a fan in the background, to keep the air clean if you wanted to try out a fragrance, Weiss said.

"Is this really necessary?" said Blake. "You should smell like yourself."

"But you could smell like the best version of yourself," said Weiss. "Don't think your crush deserves the best you?"

Ruby nodded. Of course Glynda deserved- well, she deserved so much more than her, but Ruby'd try to live up to that expectation.

Ruby looked through the bottles. There were fancy Altesian names, written if flowery cursive. Ugh. She wanted to smell nice, but she didn't even know what half these fragrances were.

But then she picked up a bottle and it said-

Cake Batter!

"I need this one!" she squeaked, jumping on her heels and waving the bottle around. She popped it open and took a wiff. Ahh, it did smell like birthday cooking mistakes-

She looked to the right, and immediately put the cake batter bottle down, because this one was fresh brownies-

And then pumpkin pie, and cotton candy, and it turned out there was an entire line of sweets themed perfumes Ruby thought she'd actually like to try -

And she stopped picking them up until she read all of them, picking up only the best one once she was finished.

"Ok, here's the one I want," said Ruby, to Weiss. She held out a small glass bottle that read 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough'.

"But your lips already taste like cookie dough," said Blake, around her book.

Weiss and Ruby and especially Yang stopped what they were doing to look at the bookworm. Weiss almost got a word in before Yang said, menace in her voice, "Why do you know what Ruby's lips taste like?"

"I read the label on her chap-stick?" said Blake.

Yang relaxed a bit. Weiss also looked relieved.

Blake turned to Ruby, "Hey, at least it's better than wilted lilacs, spearmint and zinc." She tilted her head towards Weiss.

"Zinc?" said Ruby.

"Weiss likes to bathe in her money sometimes."

Yang burst into laughter. Weiss's face went crimson. "H-how did you know about that?"

Yang patted Weiss's head. "So what do I smell like, Blake?"

Blake's nose twitched, probably just for theatrical effect. "Mostly? Charcoal, gunpowder, and sex."

Yang laughed heartily. "Yeah, sounds about right."

Eventually, Ruby walked out of there with a bottle of the cookie dough one and some fancy perfume Weiss picked out for her, because it 'complimented her aesthetic'.

Weiss bought them lunch afterwards. Sandwiches, at one of the mall food stores. Yang grabbed a cheese-steak and Ruby opted for a plate of cookies instead.

"I don't want you to buy me anything," said Blake.

"It's really no trouble," said Weiss with her signature tsundere hair flourish. "I'm trying to be nice, so just tell me your favorite sandwich and I'll get it for you."

"I don't want you to be nice to me."

"Fine, then I'll buy you your least favorite sandwich."

"Why are you so insistent on spending money on me?" Blake snapped.

"Maybe I'm trying to atone." Weiss put a hand on her hip.

"You could start by apologizing."

"Fine!" Weiss threw up her hands. "I'm sorry you're a dumb Faunus-loving nerd who hates sandwiches!"

Blake's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to yell before Weiss stopped her.

"I'm sorry," Weiss put a hand to her face. "It's just- you're my first friends, you know? I hate messing up." She bit her tongue.

"That's not good enough," said Blake, but her expression softened. "But I guess I can wait a little longer until you figure out how to apologize, considering your circumstances."

Weiss smiled anxiously.

Blake coughed and turned back to her book. "And my favorite's the tuna melt, if you need to know."

Weiss pulled Ruby away from lunch early and dragged the younger girl in front of the last store. Blake had vanished a while back but now appeared besides them, nose in her book as always. Yang was nowhere to be seen.

"W-what?" mumbled Ruby, nervously.

It was a lingerie store.

"It's a lingerie store?" asked Ruby, meekly.

"It's sexy underwear," offhandly mentioned Blake.

"I- I know what Lingerie is!" Ruby squeaked. She felt her face grow hot. "I just want to know why you think I need some? I'm not going to take my dress off for Glynda, right?"

"It's not so much how they look but how they make you feel," said Weiss.

"It's a confidence booster," said Blake. "If you think you're more sexy, you'll act more sexy, and therefore be more sexy."

Blake and Weiss tried to pull Ruby into the store, not noticing that there was a rumbling in the background, like a stampede of angry bulls.

Then Yang came into view, sprinting intensely and trailing a cloud of dust behind her. She jumped in between Weiss and Blake and picked both of them up by their faces.

"You are 3.734 gazillion years too early to take my sweet baby sister shopping for lewd undergarments!" she screamed.

Ruby chuckled. It was one of the rare times she was relieved her sister was so overprotective.

With the dance a few days away, Ruby had another preparation to make. She was in their dorm room, double checking that the blinds were closed and the door was locked.

"So, thanks for helping me out here," Ruby said, nervously, "I just want to brush up on my dance moves, and I know you won't make fun of me."

Crescent Rose did nothing, leaned against the dresser.

Ruby smiled in relief. "Thanks so much," she said. She put a hand on the scythe's shaft, and another on the top of the blade, which was wrapped in the bed sheets so she wouldn't cut herself, of course.

Three step cadences, lead with the right foot, tilt on alternate phrases, Ruby thought to herself as she waltzed with her weapon. Yeah, she had this down.

And Yang did her hair, a couple hours before the dance. They didn't talk much, but it was less an awkward silence and more a contented one, Ruby hoped. A couple curls and some feathering, and something that made it poof out a little more. Nothing that made her look like she was trying as hard as her heart was beating when she imagined seeing Glynda there later that night.

And Blake helped Ruby put on her make up, right before the dance. For all her lamentations about having to grow up so soon, Ruby never actually experienced some of the stuff about adulthood she thought might be fun. Like looking pretty for someone you like. She had no idea how to do any sort of makeup, but luckily Blake seemed to.

"So do you want to look like a teenager, an adult, a teenager trying to look like an adult, or an adult trying to look like a teenager?" Blake said, sorting her makeup containers.

"You know, I am quite familiar with the application of cosmetics," Weiss interjected. She lurked in the background through the whole ordeal.

Blake rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, maybe just a teenager?" Ruby said. She didn't want to give an incorrect impression of herself, even though maybe Glynda'd like her to look a certain way? "What's the difference?"

"It determines how much glitter make-up she'll put on you," said Weiss.

The two convinced Ruby to go with a little glitter on the cheeks and lips, on top of some rose blush and slight eyeshadow, and some peach lipstick that didn't taste like cookie dough. Duller, autumn colors that didn't stand out so much.

"I thought you were all about looking like 'real' yourself for your love interests," harumphed Weiss.

"Well," Blake said. She cogitated for a moment. "I can understand wanting to cover aspects of yourself you don't want people to see. Not every part of you is for everybody. Perhaps I was a little unfair to you earlier Weiss. I apologize."

Weiss looked like she didn't know how to react to the apology.

"'I forgive you, Blake,'" said Blake helpfully.

Weiss reddened and pouted and put her fists on her hips. "I know how to accept an apology, you dunce!"

"Feel free to show me sometime." Blake smiled slightly.

Ruby laughed a bit and hoped the two girls were friends again.

The dance was nice. A little low-key; not all the students showed up, and in some of the decorations and food it was obvious that significant expense was spared. Ruby felt a bit weird in her dress and make-up (her lipstick wasn't even cookie-dough flavored, like what was up with that?). Yang managed to find a date, and Blake and Weiss hung out at the punch bowl as Ruby tore up the dance floor. Team JNPR all went stag but they danced together a lot, and some people made a big deal about how apparently Velvet and Yatsuhashi were a couple now.

And halfway through the night, after Ruby warmed her hands on a flame conjured by Yang, Ruby approached a corner where several teachers stood and chatted. Headmaster Ozpin was there, looking inscrutable as always, sipping a cup of tea as always, and Professors Port and Oobleck were arguing animatedly a little ways away.

And Ruby noticed it earlier but now she had the chance to take it all in; Glynda was in an elegant evening dress, white with hints of purple and an off-shoulder strap leaving Ruby wondering how it didn't fall completely down her chest, not that she'd like to see that or anything-

"Hello Ms. Goodwitch," Ruby smiled. She bowed. "You look beautiful tonight."

Weiss told her to stick with 'beautiful' for deniability reasons, even though Ruby would have preferred to use something like 'absolutely resplendent', or 'perfect in every way'.

'Beautiful', though, was enough to put a tint on Glynda's cheeks. Ruby felt her breath catch in her chest, but she regained composure easily enough.

"May I have a dance," Ruby said, extending her left hand, "With my favorite teacher?"

Glynda looked sideways and chuckled nervously. Maybe a bead of sweat formed on her forehead, Ruby couldn't see clearly; her field of vision narrowed and her heart beat in her ears. A giddiness sprung up in her stomach and threatened to make her limbs twitch.

Then professor Ozpin stepped up. "If I may interject," he said, briefly glancing to Glynda, "I've been meaning to congratulate you on your academic performance. May I steal you for a moment? We don't have to dance if you don't want to, and if you'd like to raid the buffet table I'd certainly accompany you." He patted his stomach for emphasis. Glynda visibly sighed. Ruby hoped she didn't make this too awkward.

Ruby shrugged and smiled. "We can dance, yeah."

To give deniability, she meant. Glynda wouldn't doubt her intentions were pure if Ruby was willing to dance with the Headmaster, probably the most esteemed teacher here.

And Ozpin was cool. A little distracted, a lot cryptic. Nobody batted an eye as they danced stiffly and formally amid a smattering of dancing groups. They crossed paths with Ren and Juane briefly, and when they bumped into Velvet and Yatsuhashi he took a moment to tell a parable about a monk and a river or something.

Ozpin was a gentleman, and he took the two minutes they spent dancing to wax about the nature of fate and the universe and stuff. Ruby tried to follow what the man was saying, but she couldn't, but maybe he didn't want to be completely understood anyway.

But towards the end he said something that Ruby thought she knew what meant. "They say fate can be read in the stars," Headmaster Ozpin said, "If you know how to look."

"Oh?" replied Ruby. Honestly, her mind was a little preoccupied with her fallback plan.

"I'm not sure how true that is," he disclaimed, "but Glynda is a decent astronomer, and it's a prefect night out for stargazing. She has a key to the astronomy balcony."

Ruby processed that information.

As the song ended, Ozpin gave his final bow, "Why don't you ask her about it?" he said, as he took his leave.

And that was how Ruby and Glynda ended up on the observatory balcony, away from the crowd and the dance and the noise, away from everybody else.

On the walk there Ruby got the chance to tell Glynda what she thought of the older huntress's dress, how good she looked in it, and how nice her hair was and how graceful she was when she moved. Glynda smiled and blushed and thanked Ruby for the compliment.

The din of the dancehall fading, they went onto a balcony, high above the forest and the courtyard and so, so very far away from all of Ruby's doubts and reservations and fears.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Ruby extended her left hand again, this time with a little more flourish, a lot more confidence. She bowed a little, leaning forward invitingly, a coy smile on her face.

And Glynda looked a little stunned, and she blushed a little and she took a short breath that formed a small cloud in the cold air when she released it but, after what seemed like an eternity, took Ruby's hand and pulled her forward. She put a hand on Ruby's waist, a little closer and more tightly than fitted a strictly platonic relationship, and a hand tenderly on Ruby's bare shoulder.

Ruby relished the caresses as they danced a little waltz to no music but the occasional flutter of winds through the trees and the caw of a crow in the forest below. Glynda twirled Ruby around and she ended up facing the same way, her arms crossed with Glynda's over her's. Ruby leaned her head back into the hug, to feel the warmth. And they spun out again, and Glynda dipped Ruby.

Ruby leaned her head back and savored the feeling of being held, wishing the moment would last forever. And then she opened her eyes and looked towards the older woman.

Glynda's lips twitched, and she held Ruby's desperate gaze.

She looked at the floor as she pulled Ruby back up into the default waltz position, and Ruby 'accidentally' stumbled into Glynda's arms, not enough to trip, but ending up with her hands gently resting on the older woman's chest as Glynda touched Ruby's shoulders to steady the young huntress.

Ruby stared up at the her teacher and chuckled softly twice. Glynda's breath caught and a blush grew across her face.

And Ruby put her hands on Glynda's shoulders and leaned on her tiptoes, her eyes lidded and her breathing heavy and even her legs wobbling a bit, and Ruby pursed her lips and let her eyes lose control until the tears of joy in the corners of her eyes obscured everything but the absolutely resplendent woman in front of her.

At the last second Glynda turned her head. "Ruby," she breathed, " you know I can't-"

Ruby planted her kiss on Glynda's cheek. It was hot and a little wet and it was absolutely amazing. The older woman shuddered under her arms, and Ruby held her lips there for forever in a moment.

The soft pop of a kiss released marked the end of the dance but Glynda held Ruby for a few more seconds. Then, hands still around the younger girl's waist and shoulder, Glynda stepped back a single step and locked eyes with the younger huntress, smiling solemnly. Ruby returned the smile and the longing gaze.

Glynda coughed and released Ruby and turned to the balcony. She leaned on the edge and gestured towards the stars.

"I don't think fate is read in the stars," she said, "But meteorology has many practical applications."

Ruby smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Glynda was so smart.

"Take that star, for instance," Glynda said, "That's the brightest star in the Doomed Hunters. You can tell what direction is north by where their weapon's point."

Ruby smiled. "That's cool, yeah, but I already knew that," she said weakly.

"But did you know you can determine the date by how far they are above the horizon?" Ms. Goodwitch said, smiling slightly.

"But you could just use a clock, right? Or a calendar?"

Glynda nodded. Then she smiled. "Not if you're stranded in Grimm territory."

And Glynda recounted the time she and Ozpin and their old team missed an extraction and had to subsist around and under a horde of Grimm for three weeks. Ruby was awed.

And sometime during the story, Ruby's hand brushed Glynda's briefly, lightly, and Glynda paused her lesson. She eyed Ruby from the corner of her eye, and as she turned back to the sky and started speaking again she grasped Ruby's hand in her own.

They returned to the dance, eventually, separately, after an awkward goodbye handshake. It started out formal but then Ruby clasped her other hand around Glynda's and Glynda's face heated enough to fog up her glasses in the cold night air.

Professor Ozpin interrupted Glynda as she was walking back into the dancehall, shaking her glasses in attempt to eliminate the condensation.

"Uh, Glynda," said Professor Ozpin. He pulled a handkerchief out from his coat pocket and conjured a mirror and held out both towards the woman. "You might want to check your cheek."