A/N Man I am so sorry for not updating this in months. More so for giving you such a small chapter. My schedule has been tight, but I really wanted to let all of you know I'm still doing this. Updates for this will be random, but hopefully weekly. They'll be shorter as well, again I apologize :/

From here on out I'm removing the apostrophes so, instead of 'Cinder' and 'Ruby' you'll just see Cinder and Ruby. Just remember: Cinder is Ruby and Ruby is Cinder. Much easier this way.

Part 3. Hands On

"Go. Again." Ruby seethed. The body-swapped duo now found themselves in the library. It being later at night meant less prying eyes trying to figure out why a young girl was teaching a grown woman how to walk properly.

Cinder, now in her Haven school uniform, stood straight and rigid. "Like this?" She questioned. The ebony-haired woman sashayed up the non-fiction section with an extreme exaggeration in hip-sway.

"How was that?" Cinder asked.

"You make me look like a fool." Ruby spat. She dropped her head down onto the desk, making a decent 'thud' in the process. They'd been doing this for countless hours now. With basically no progress at all.

One step forward, two steps back was the best way to sum it up.

Ruby would show Cinder how to do something, Cinder would fail miserably at it, and so on. As much as Ruby hated her situation, she was sure she could handle this... body much better than her former. It was aggravating no less. There was no way in hell she'd let that girl leave here in her body acting like a bumbling fool. Reputation was everything, especially when you've got a less than desirable organization to operate.

So Ruby continued to watch, well, herself prance up and down the section. "For the eleventh time..." The crimsonette sighed, "I don't walk like that. Just watch me-" Ruby stood up, straightened her posture and glided down the Isle. One smooth footstep after the other. "See, you're over-complicating it."

"W-Well it's harder than it looks!" Cinder huffed. "I mean w-with your long legs a-and your shoes, and don't even get me started on your... y-your..." she trailed off, thoughts wandering off to what she had found in Cinder's dorm room dresser a few minutes ago.

"My what?" Ruby tutted.

"Uh... long story s-short, I'm r-really uncomfortable in what I'm wearing right now..." Cinder muttered. "P-Plus it's not fair! You've been lecturing me for hours now. When is it my turn?"

Ruby winced a hearing such a whiny tone, "Turn? Oh Red." She laughed. "What is there to learn?"

Cinder put a finger to her chin and went off in deep thought, "Hmm... oh! How about this: a... hot plate of cookies just falls in your lap; show me your reaction."

"Yay... what a delight." Ruby droned.

"Ha! See you can't be me either!" Cinder said triumphantly.

"Keep it down." Ruby hissed. Stormy eyes darted around the empty library. "The last thing we need is for someone to find us."

"Fine but I think -mm-pf." Cinder's tone had remained the same, so Ruby had reached up and placed her palm over Cinder's mouth. "It's... obvious you're going to need more work than me." Ruby withdrew her hand and stood back. "We shall remain here until I see you're competent enough to leave. Now-" she swayed over to a nearby worktable, pulled out a chair and sat down. "Where were we?"

Cinder let out a throaty and annoyed sigh. She sauntered to the end of the section in a slump and attempted "The walk" for the umpteenth time.

For one reason or another, Cinder had a feeling of pride wash over her. Internally patting herself on the back for being able to retain her same attitude while still getting the point across, all while in a tiny, adorable girls body. Not to mention how precarious the situation had been.

She watched... Ruby (herself?) as she continued to go up and down the literary section. She winced when she couldn't count on her fingers how many times the walk failed. However as the night tore on, she was slowly but surely getting better.

'It only took four hours...'

Even then, the walk still hadn't been perfected. But there was bigger fish to fry, as far as Ruby was concerned; tonight was going to be a long night.

"Alright. Enough... walking. Let's try talking." Ruby stood up and addressed Cinder.

"O-kay, I'm pretty sure I know how to talk."

"Is that so? Well then here's a scenario: pretend I'm Emerald and I've just woken up. How do you address me?" Ruby laid out the pretend scenario. Cinder took a small breath and began, "Uhh, morning Emerald! How'd you sleep?" The ebony-haired woman's voice was one too many octaves higher than Ruby deemed acceptable.

"Ugh, no no. Not how you or... me... or... whatever would do it."

"W-What?" Cinder questioned. Perplexed by Ruby's poor explanation.

"Just think how I would say it. Try again." Ruby forgave Cinder and allowed her to have another go at it.

"A-hem. Well heey theree Emeraald. Sleep okayy?" Cinder's tone had dropped to an almost manly state, dragging out almost all of the vowels in each word.

"Oh, come, on. This isn't fair." Cinder whined, "Can't I teach you at least one thing?" The woman put on a pouty face. It was effective, but not as effective as it could've been if they were in their proper bodies.

"I'm not some pet you just teach. But fine. This shouldn't take long anyway." Ruby slyly replied.

"Kay, since we're on the morning topic, you enter the cafeteria and... well get breakfast. What would i, or you, get?" The woman explained.

"I don't eat breakfast." Ruby stated plainly.

"What?!" Cinder backpedaled, stunned by what was just said. "How could you not eat breakfast?"

"In my line of work there's... simply a lack of time for such events."

"Time, shmime. You're just gonna have to get used to it. Plus you're a student aren't you? What'd you mean by 'Line of work?'"

Ruby scrounged for an answer, obviously not wanting the truth come out. "Nevermind. We need to wrap this up soon."

"Yeah, Yang and Weiss are probably looking for you." Cinder couldn't help but smile. Glad she didn't have to deal with people constant shadowing over her. Not in this body.

"Children..." Ruby sighed. "Look, we meet up here tomorrow evening. Just make sure no one finds out in the meantime."

"Right." Cinder nodded.

Ruby rolled her eyes at the happy look plastered on Cinder's face before taking off in the opposite direction. For the first time in a long time, she felt worry wash over her. There was just too much to chance in the situation. If that girl messed anything up regarding her plans here at Beacon, the repercussions were possibly detrimental.

Cinder held far differing thoughts about their situation. It was slightly frightening to be in such an older position, but on the flip-side; it was a challenge. One she really wanted to overcome. Cinder tried to make most of what she was given, so why not make it a little fun?

So long as they both kept it among themselves, Cinder and Ruby could work together to overcome such an odd scenario.

But their secrecy may have already been lost.

10 minutes earlier...

If there was one thing Weiss Schnee hated more than poor grades, it was being late. No matter the context the heiress would always go out of her way to be early -or at the very least- on time. She held a pretty good track record as well, never late for a single thing in her entire lifetime.

What was an intense late-night study session, quickly morphed into one of those "out of her way" situations. She had borrowed a book from the library a few days earlier and tomorrow was the deadline to return it. And seeing as her study time had finished roughly fifteen minutes before midnight, Weiss had all but stormed out of the room and down to Beacon's extravagant library. Hellbent on returning the book on time.

The heiress rushed down the final corridor that led to the library. She didn't have a clue as to why it remained open so late, but that was a factor currently playing into her hand. So she decided not to question it further.

The white-haired girl made the final turn and stalked into the eerily quiet library. Her wedged heels making a soft pitter-patter on the shorn carpet. She came up to a small chute next to the main reception desk, opened it, and deposited the book inside it.

With a content smile and a small yawn, Weiss commenced her trip back to the dorm room. Just as she got passed the reception desk, a familiar and faint voice caught her attention.

"Look, we meet up here tomorrow evening. Just make sure no one finds out in the meantime."

"Right."

Weiss froze. She immediately identified the first voice as Ruby's. And the second was that Cinder.

"What're they doing here?" Weiss whispered to herself. She and Yang had been looking for her since earlier that evening. The blonde hadn't ceased in her search, and was currently out looking for her crimsonette of a sister.

Before Weiss could think any further, she heard a chair creak and footfalls heading in her direction. The library was dimly lit, but still bright enough to be seen. Thinking on her feet, she quickly surmounted the reception desk and hid behind it. Once the footfalls had passed, she peeked over the counter to see Cinder turn the corner by the exit. The sound of a door opening in the background signaled Ruby had gone out the back way.

Weiss let out her held breath and quickly resumed her thoughts.

What were they doing?

Why so late?

Why did no one need to find out?

Those were some of the questions floating around in Weiss' mind. But she did have one thing already made up;

"I need to tell Yang."

A/N Was that confusing? Idk, let me know if I should keep the apostrophes, or if you guys like it better this way. Thanks for reading, next chapter will be out sooner than later.