Friday afternoon team RWBY piled into an airship bound for Vale.

Ruby stared out the windows, looking out over the city. Shops all around the city below them were putting up decorations and stringing up lights, she could practically hear the holiday songs now.

"How long are you going to stand here humming 'jingle bells' to yourself?"

Ruby jumped, leaning away from the glass to look at Weiss who was now standing beside her.

"Oh, was I humming?" She chuckled, embarrassed.

"Loudly," Weiss confirmed. "I don't think anyone else noticed though." She said, turning to look out the window as Ruby had been.

"I'm just really excited about this Christmas." She smiled. "We get to spend it together."

Weiss's heart skipped a beat. Consciously she knew that Ruby was speaking of the whole team, but she couldn't help but think about just the two of them.

"Maybe next year too." She suggested.

"But what about after?" She heard her partner mumble.

"Hmm?"

"I've been thinking... we only have a year and a half left at Beacon, then what?" She turned to her partner with a frown. "I'll probably see Yang occasionally, but what about Blake? What about you? Will I ever even see you again after graduation?" She asked dully.

Weiss didn't know what to say, a year and a half was still some time, she hadn't yet given it much thought, but evidently Ruby had.

"I... don't know, Ruby. I hope so." She admitted.

"Me too…"

"That's still a long way off, let's just worry about this Christmas for now, okay?" She nudged her partner.

Dull grey's turned back to shining silver as her frown turned back into a smile.

"Right! I still have to go shopping for presents, I guess I can do that tomorrow, you want to come with me?" She asked.

"Won't you be getting mine as well?" Weiss wondered.

"No, I already got yours. I think I know what I want to get Blake and Yang too. So?"

"I suppose so. I need to get Blake something nice anyway..." She mumbled the last part to herself.

"Great!" She grinned.

"Hey girls." Yang called to them just as the airship began to land. "So how about Blake and I go get the tree and the stand and you two go get the decorations?"

"Sounds good to me." Ruby agreed. Weiss nodded.

"Great!" Yang clapped as she stood and they walked down the ramp onto the docks.

"We can't loiter around with a tree so we'll head straight back to school after we pick it up, you two take your time and get the decorations." Blake added with a subtle look to Weiss. Now the heiress needed to get her an even better present.

"Alright, we'll see you back at the dorm." Weiss nodded.

"See you guys later." Ruby called as she and Weiss started down the street to the shopping district.

"Don't go crazy, Ruby!" Yang called after them.

"Don't buy a twelve foot tree!" Ruby countered before turning to Weiss.

"So I was thinking we could do the tree decorations in the team colors, whatd'ya think, Weiss?"

"I'm sure we could manage something tasteful." Weiss nodded as she followed her practically skipping partner down the chilly streets of Vale. On every block a shop was hanging lights or signs advertising their holiday sales and wares. Somewhere in the distance Weiss could hear the familiar tunes of the season.

"Where are we going?" She asked after a few blocks.

"The biggest Christmas store in Vale." Ruby grinned. They turned a corner and Weiss could now see where they were heading.

"The North Pole?" Weiss read the sign.

"Yeah! This is the biggest Christmas store in the entire kingdom. Their only open about three months a year; they have everything we could possibly need. Come on!" She grabbed Weiss's hand and dragged her inside.

Weiss was too stunned to think to even complain at the younger woman for dragging her along like a sack of potatoes.

"Ta-da!" Ruby released her grip on Weiss to throw her hands out.

"It looks like Christmas threw up." Weiss noted, looking around the bright shop.

"Aw, come on, Weiss. Doesn't it feel like we're in the middle of Christmas?" She grinned, running down the nearest aisle.

"Yes, an ugly Christmas sweater." She mumbled to herself as she followed the trail of rose petals.

She found Ruby excitedly perusing an aisle of ornaments. She picked up a box of bright red ornaments.

"Let's get these and these for Blake." She said picking up another box or ornaments identical to hers except they had a gradient from violet at the top to black at the bottom. "Now what do we get for you and Yang?" She asked quietly to herself.

"Garland comes in yellow." The heiress suggested.

"Oh, good idea!" In a flurry of petals she was off. With a roll of her eyes Weiss trailed behind, looking at the hundreds of items packed onto the shelf. Full size trees were even packed into the store, fake, but trees nonetheless.

Ornaments of every size shape and color lined the bursting shelves, some were pretty and some were the most gaudy things Weiss had ever laid her eyes on; included under that category were the twelve feet tall inflatables.

Something glittered in the corner of her eye, turning to look she found herself standing in front of a section of tree toppers but one in particular drew her gaze.

A six pointed star made of glittering crystal. She gently picked it off the shelf, examining the bright and clear cut crystals. The overhead lights refracted through the facets casting small rainbows against her skin.

It was beautiful, and vaguely reminded her of the piece that went atop her family's tree. The one that sat in the Schnee mansions overly large foyer every year, lavishly decorated, but devoid of all the joy it should have had. Weiss clutched the decoration tightly.

Maybe, just maybe, she thought, she could turn those cold memories into bright, warm ones this year.

"Hey, Weiss! What do you think of this?" She looked up to find Ruby standing beside her with a long golden colored garland wrapped around her neck.

"It's perfect, Ruby." She nodded.

"Oh, what did you find?" She asked, looking at the star still clutched in Weiss's hand.

"A topper." She held it out to Ruby to examine. "I thought we could get this one for the tree."

"Oh, it's beautiful, let's get it." She agreed.

"What else did you pick up?" Weiss noticed two more boxes sitting atop the glass ornaments.

"Oh, well this one's tinsel." she held up a box of shiny silver strands. "And I thought maybe these could be could be your representation on the tree." She held up a box of white glitter covered snowflake ornaments.

Weiss couldn't help but giggle as she took the box, making Ruby smile.

"They're perfect."

"Great, now all we need is lights. Ooh, let's get the ones that twinkle." before she could take off again Weiss grabbed her hood, jerking her back.

"Relax, Ruby. We're not in a hurry." She lightly scolded.

"Ah, sorry." She grinned.

They picked out a string of lights before walking up to the front counter where Ruby dropped everything next to the register before digging through her pockets for her wallet, but Weiss was faster on the draw, handing the teenager behind the register a shiny black card.

'Weiss!" Ruby protested. "I was going to..."

"Ruby, what good is money if you don't spend it?" She reasoned.

"I guess but…" She started again only for Weiss to turn to her.

"I want to too." She said, leaving little room for argument.

"Fine." Ruby pouted as the cashier handed them the bags.

A bitter wind whipped around them when they stepped outside.

"It's getting colder." Weiss observed.

"No kidding!" Ruby pulled the neck of her hoodie up. "Let's get some coffee." She nodded across the street to a little cafe on the corner.

They hurried across the road and into the sanctuary of the shop. The inviting aroma of coffee filled the air, making Weiss sigh.

Ruby wasted no time ordering a large coffee with with cream and five sugars. Weiss followed at a more leisurely pace and ordered a large black coffee.

Before she could even blink Ruby slapped her wallet on the counter, staring hard at her as she slid the money to the woman on the register.

Her lips twitched but she said nothing, keeping her hands in the pockets of her coat.

Satisfied that Weiss wasn't going to whip out her credit card Ruby turned back to the counter, accepting her change and receipt with their order number on it.

They settled into a table in the back and when they called the number Weiss went to get their drinks, when she came back Ruby was already digging through the bags.

"Thanks." Ruby excepted her sugary concoction.

"Yang and Blake have probably already gotten back to the school by now." Weiss mused, sipping on the pitch black liquid.

"Probably, and I don't hear any sirens so the tree farm is probably still in one piece." Ruby said distractedly as she dug through the bags.

"What?" Weiss asked, confused. Ruby looked up at her, confused too before understanding flashed across her face.

"Oh, right. Well last year on Patch we went to pick out a tree and the worker who was helping us thought it would be a good idea to... pinch Yang when she walked by."

Weiss choked, sputtering on her coffee. Ruby grinned at her.

"Hmmm," Weiss cleared her throat. "Dare I ask what happened?"

"Well... let's just say when one pine tree goes up in flames, they all go up in flames." She mumbled around her coffee.

"Only Yang." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Hopefully our tree at least made it to the dorm."

"I'm sure it did. Blake is with her." She giggled to herself. Weiss shook her head, hiding a smile behind her cup.

Ruby's scroll jingled in her pocket. She pulled it out of her pocket to look at the new message.

"Oh, I spoke too soon." She sighed.

"What took you two so long?" Yang asked when they walked through the door an hour later.

"Just hanging out in town." Ruby answered, setting there bags on the floor. "I see you got our second tree up." She said, looking at a seven foot pine tree, sitting in it's base in the corner of the room.

Yang glared at her partner who simply quirked a brow in return.

"What exactly happened that made you burn down the first one?" Weiss turned to the blonde, a hand on her hip.

"Not important." Yang brushed off the question. "The point is, we have our tree, it's a little taller than we agreed but the six footer that... burned down was the last one, now, do we have decorations?"

"Yeah!" Ruby dropped to her knees and started pulling their purchases out of the bag. "These are mine," she set aside the red glass balls and pulled out Blakes. "These are Blakes…" She held the box out to the quietest member of the team who examined them. "...and this is for you." She tossed the long garland to her sister.

"Sweet." Yang tossed the golden strand over her shoulder. "Tinsel?"

"Yup." She threw the box to the blonde who set it on Blake's bed.

"Lights?"

"Covered." She passed it over as well.

"Great, let's get started!" She popped open the box and started pulling out the long strand of lights.

"Here, Weiss." She handed over the box of snowflakes before opening up her own.

Once the lights were in place they spread out and started hanging the ornaments.

Yang, only getting smacked once for teasing their faunus teammate with a few strands of tinsel.

"Weiss, you picked out the star, why don't you put it on..." Ruby suggested.

"Alright." She picked up the crystal decoration and reached up but quickly came to the realization that she was too short. She made the vain effort of stretching on her tip toes but was still out of reach.

"Maybe I should…" Yang started.

"I can do it." She insisted, but after another few second of stretching to no avail she knew she couldn't, just as she dropped back onto her heels in defeat she felt a pair of arms wrap around her thighs and then her feet were off the ground.

"Agh!" She squealed, twisting enough to find Ruby holding her aloft.

"Put it on." Her partner grinned.

All the blood in her body must have rushed to Weiss's face as she stared down at Ruby, with her cheek pressed flush against Weiss's lower back and her warm arms wrapped around her thighs, fingers pressing into her bare calves.

"I'm so proud of how strong she is." Yang wiped an imaginary tear from her eye.

"Crescent Rose isn't exactly lightweight." Blake added.

Flustered beyond words Weiss placed the star on the tree's top before Ruby lowered her back to the floor, face still steaming, but Ruby chalked it up to embarrassment of a different kind.

"It looks pretty good." Blake cocked her head, looking over the tree.

"Yup, just one more thing to do." She bent down and plugged the lights in, making the twinkling lights flicker on and off, casting their light on the all the glass decorations and shining tinsel.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered.

"I wasn't very sure about the colors coming together, but I have to say, it works." Blake turned to Ruby and Weiss with an approving nod and a smile.

"It's awesome." Yang agreed. "Now we just need some presents to go under it."

"Oh, I got one." Ruby said, trotting over to the closet and pulled out her duffle bag.

"You're stinky gym clothes are NOT a present, sis." Yang smirked as Ruby stuck her tongue out.

"Good, because there aren't any gym clothes in this." She said pulling a moderately long rectangular box wrapped in icy blue wrapping paper and a white bow stuck on top.

"Who's it for?" Yang couldn't help but wonder.

"This is Weiss's present from me." She informed, sliding the box under the tree.

"You got Weiss's gift before mine?" Her sister clutched a hand to her chest in mock hurt. Standing behind the sisters Blake couldn't help but smirk, making Weiss scowl, turning away to hide the flush on her face.

"Yes." She again stuck her tongue out at the blonde.

"I am just so hurt." Yang moaned.

"You are such a ham." Blake said as she sat back down on her bunk.

"I just haven't gotten yours yet." Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Still!" The blonde whined.

Weiss sighed to herself, looking down at the sticky fruit mess laid out in front of her. The online video made this look so much easier than it was.

It was five in the morning in the kitchen on their floor of the dorms. She hadn't been at this for very long, but it wasn't working out for her anyway.

She cleared away her mess and swiped her finger across her scroll starting the video over again.

"Weiss?"

Weiss yelped, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of the voice.

She spun around to find Blake, still in her sleeping yukata and barefoot.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, though there were pretty far from any occupied dorms.

"I could ask you the same thing." Blake challenged. "She glanced over the items on the counter briefly. "You're making something for Ruby?" She asked.

"Trying," Weiss stressed. "It's not going the way it's supposed too."

"Let me see." Blake walked around the counter to look at the video playing quietly on Weiss's scroll.

After a minute Blake picked up Weiss's discard knife and went to work.

"Blake, you don't have to..." Weiss started.

"Don't worry about it, I'm up and you need some help." Blake shrugged away her friends protest.

"Why are you awake?" Weiss had to ask.

"I'm usually awake first; I saw you weren't in bed so I came looking." She explained.

"I'm twenty years old, I'm quite capable of taking care of myself." Weiss huffed, making Blake smile.

"I'm aware." Was all she said, making Weiss glare.

They worked in comfortable silence till it was finished and foil wrapped carefully around it. Picking up a pen that had been sitting on the counter Weiss painstakingly wrote Ruby's names in a blocky script completely different from her usual flowing cursive.

"No note this time?" Blake asked. Weiss glanced at her.

"I don't know what to write for this one." She admitted, picking it up. Blake hit the switch to the kitchen lights as they walked back to their room. Weiss carefully set it on the floor next to the door before they snuck quietly back inside and slipped into bed.

"Blake," Weiss whispered across the room.

"Hmm?" was the equally quiet reply.

"Thank you."

"Whoever this guy is seems to know a lot about you, Rubes." Yang frowned.

"Anyone who's ever seen Ruby eat lunch in the cafeteria knows she loves strawberries,Yang." Blake reasoned.

Ruby just hummed happily as she ate the strawberries, cut and arranged to look like flowers.

From her place in front of the dresser Weiss just smiled to herself, enjoying the sounds of satisfaction as her partner happily devoured her gift.

"I guess... though I don't know why she can't share!" Yang whined.

TGIF

enjoy

~Malthazar LOS

[Ruby is Weiss cold for not sharing, I'm with Yang. Flower bouquets I can only imagine are the stickiest mess you can make when dealing with fruit.]-ODST110