Author's Note: Well, life has gotten complicated here. I started my new job, and my daughter was born. That hasn't left much time for writing, alas. However, I have worked out a compromise on time so I can get some things posted again.
Chapter Four: Can I Get a Hand?
After the time-displaced speedster lost consciousness, the assembled group gently aided her into her bed. Intent on sitting by her side, as a partner naturally should, Weiss begins to drag over a chair, only to find herself restrained by the insurmountable might of a grinning Yang. "Soooo… Looks like we need to have a little chat, Weissy-Ice." She grins at the others assembled, "Pardon us for a moment."
Turning towards the door, the blonde brawler drags the snow-haired heiress from the room under heavy protest. Blake, her mind still boggled by the revelation, just smiles and waves before looking at her team leader. "And so… what? Is she from another dimension? Where is our Ruby?" She looks in askance at the Headmaster.
Taking a sip from his coffee, he replies, "You are looking at her. The thread she ran down is to this point. As every moment is a point of divergence, every Ruby that could have run back did run back to their own point of origin for that decision set. I am afraid the time between the culinary battle you engaged in and her journey back was lived by that Ruby and would have been lived by her. She just stepped back along that path to a previous moment. There IS no other Ruby. The good news is, she is, by that same token, the same Ruby. Everything you remember doing with her, every action, reaction, and behavior, is the same. She just has a little extra time on the rest of us."
Nodding in comprehension, Blake drags the chair Weiss had procured the rest of the way and sits at her friend's side. "I will wait here with her." She looks at the barely together Glynda. "I think your own partner needs you, sir."
With a sigh of relief, Ozpin turns away. "You have the room, Miss Belladonna. Let us know if anything changes. Come on, Glynda. I am sure we have a lot to discuss." The two then depart wordlessly, his arm gently pressing against the small of her back to guide her.
ooOOoo
In the hallway, Yang lightly slings her captive to the wall and pins her there with a hand. "Well then. Care to explain your relationship with my little sister, Ice Queen?"
Shaking her head to clear the dizziness, Weiss regains her composure. "There is no relationship beyond our existing partnership. Is that all?"
Narrowing her eyes, Yang leans in closer. "Uh huh… but judging from your reaction, you'd like there to be."
Blushing faintly, Weiss begins to stammer, "W..Well, no. I won't deny that when she is not being annoying and far too chipper to be real, she can be adora.. er.. pleasant to be around. However, as a Schnee, such a relationship would be unwise. Besides, she is only fifteen."
Grinning, the blonde brawler pats Weiss on the head. "Yeah, she can be adorable, but from the looks of it, she's not fifteen anymore." She grimaces slightly, "In fact, she's now the oldest of all of us."
Seizing on an opportunity to escape the awkwardness of the conversation, Weiss interjects, "And see? This isn't even the same Ruby. I don't know this girl. I didn't experience the things she did."
"So you're saying you'd like to get to know her a bit better." Yang winks, "Didn't know you were such a smooth operator, Weiss. I'm impressed."
Blushing furiously, Weiss stamps her tiny foot. "Yang. Xiao. Long! That is enough. If you will excuse me, I am going to make sure my PURELY PLATONIC partner is doing well. The specialists should arrive tomorrow evening to discuss prosthetic options." Her progress is halted by a tight grip on her shoulder.
"Well, whatever you do, don't hurt her. She may be older, but she's still my baby sister to me. You break her heart, I break you." Her eyes flicker red as she releases her hold on the dust mage.
With a sigh and a whisper, Weiss reenters the room, "That's the last thing I want to do…"
Blake meets her crystalline-blue eyes and offers a slight smile. "If you need to talk, I'm here for you, Weiss. For now, though I will get Yang out of your hair. I am sure you have a lot to think about."
With a brittle smile, the heiress nods and takes the seat beside Ruby's slumbering form. "Thank you." She turns her attention to her comatose leader as Blake departs, closing the door behind her and leaving them in solitude.
Sighing faintly, Weiss takes Ruby's hand. "You dunce… What am I supposed to say to all of that? You sacrificed yourself for me. You tore apart the fabric of creation for me… What did I do? I got caught, causing you pain. I abandoned you for a year because I did not defy my father when you needed me most. How can I be everything to you?" She wipes a tear from her face. "I don't know you. I know the sweet dolt that loves cookies with almost the same unhealthy fixation she has on her weapon. I know the earnest leader who made herself almost sick studying because she didn't want to let me down. The girl who became my first real friend." She hangs her head. "You are not her. How can you be her? What… Dust.. What am I supposed to do with this?"
Her tears halt as the hand squeezes gently, "Just be yourself." Weiss' head snaps up as she meets the half-lidded gaze of the silver-eyed huntress. "It's all I ever needed from you. Just be Weiss Schnee." She sighs and settles into the bed. "Though some cookies would be nice… It's been years…" Her soft snoring begins to fill the room.
Blushing, Weiss looks upon Ruby, a look of uncertainty on her face. She begins to disentangle her hand from her partner's, causing her to begin whimpering piteously in her sleep. With a fond sigh, Weiss brushes back Ruby's hair and allows her hand to be reclaimed. "Just this once… dolt." The icy heiress settles back into the chair where the emotional turmoil of the day drags her into her own sweet oblivion.
Blake and Yang poke their heads in the door to say their goodbyes, only to see the sweet tableau of Ruby half-cuddling Weiss' arm, and Weiss' head resting against the bed near her partner's. Yang, unable to resist, pulls out her scroll and takes a snapshot. "Boom. New wallpaper acquired." The two then made a stealthy retreat towards their own rest.
ooOOoo
The next day, team RWBY finds themselves excused from classes and at a loss for things to occupy their time. Ruby is resting under heavy sedation while her Aura finishes healing the stump of her arm; Weiss is buried in her scroll, refusing to answer any questions or statements directed at her; Blake has her own hands full trying to keep up with any assignments or tasks that will need to be made up at some point, juggling an energetic Yang, and maintaining a level of order in the room; and Yang keeps trying to rock Weiss' calm with innuendo and insinuations regarding her relationship with Ruby.
Suddenly, there is a knock on their window. If the universe had a soundtrack, the needle would scratch at the cognitive dissonance caused by a visitor to their third story window. A curious Yang slides open the window to reveal the broad grin of Sun Wukong. "Yo. Mind if we come in?"
The blonde brawler cocks her head to the side and pokes her head out of the window. "We?" Her eyes meet those of Neptune, who stands precariously on the ledge. "Sup. Can we come in? It's really really high." Rolling her eyes, Yang drags the two into the dorm. Sun lands with an agile roll, while Neptune flops face first on the floor before popping up and sliding over to Weiss. "Hey there, Snow Angel."
Blushing faintly, she edges away from the blue-haired playboy. "Hi."
Arching an eyebrow at the proceedings, Blake interjects, "Yes, nice to see you all, but why are you two here? It's not exactly a good time for a visit."
At the word time, Weiss glances at the clock before paling. An impressive feat for one of her complexion to be sure. "Right. I have to go. I have some things to take care of before the specialists arrive." Without a backwards glance, she dashes from the room leaving everyone confused.
"So that was a thing," Yang jokes, leaning against the window frame. She looks back at the amused monkey faunus and the petulant pout of Neptune. "Answer the pretty kitty, boys. Why are you here?"
Swatting Yang with the back of her hand, Blake stands to regard the duo. "Indeed."
Sun waves off the question with a smile, "Just visiting friends. Neptune wanted to meet the legendary team RWBY I kept talking about. We tried to at the cafeteria but then the weirdness happened. Do we know what happened with all that?" He looks at Blake, trying to charm the information out of her.
With a flat stare, she replies, "No, only that Ruby is injured and is in the hospital. If you don't mind, please get out. We have things to take care of and they don't require your assistance."
Neptune raises his hands defensively, "Hey, easy there, gorgeous. We just wanted to say hi. Let's go, Sun. You can finish that tour. Then we can start tackling the list."
Waving at the bumblebee duo, they depart the RWBY dorm, leaving the girls confused and irritable. "Well. Lunch?" Yang turns to look at Blake who shrugs.
"Sure." Locking up, they make their way to the cafeteria.
ooOOoo
An hour later, the humbled figure of Weiss Schnee stands, flour covered, before the doors of Team JNPR's dorm. Raising her diminutive fist to knock, she is surprised to see the door swing open to reveal the perplexed visage of Pyrrha Nikos. Arching an eyebrow and stifling a giggle, the crimson haired Mistralian meets her shame-faced gaze. "Weiss! A pleasure to see you, as always. What can we do for you today? If your shower is broken, you are welcome to use ours. You will have to wait for Jaune to finish, however."
Sighing in defeat, Weiss gestures vaguely at herself. "Apparently, baking is not one of the things I excel at, and I was hoping for Ren's assistance in the kitchen preparing something for Ruby. Is he available?"
Glancing back in her room, she is met with a silent nod from the stoic martial artist. "He is indeed. How is Ruby?"
Weiss chews on her bottom lip as she considers what she should tell their partner team. "We can discuss that next time we are all together. There is quite a lot you should know."
Ren passes by his teammate and enters the hallway, "Sure. Maybe at dinner? I can make sure Nora behaves herself."
Weiss looks past Pyrrha into their dorm room, "Where is she anyway? I am surprised I didn't have to ask you to keep her here."
Ren chuckles softly, "She is asleep. She chased Team CRDL around all morning because her dreams told her they had it coming."
With a sharp inhalation of air, Weiss mutters, "She's not wrong…"
Ren arches an eyebrow but says nothing, gesturing for the heiress to lead the way to the kitchen.
ooOOoo
In a display of almost sensual appreciation, Weiss shivers upon exiting the shower. After a day of baking mishaps and slimy pickup artists, the sensation of being freshly clean feels almost sinful. Given the recent disorder in her universe, she takes the extra time to make sure her hair and clothing is just so. A last bastion of order in this trying time.
Blake and Yang sit in quiet discussion on Blake's bed, ending in Yang embracing the raven haired faunus tightly, allowing her tears to flow onto her shoulder. The blonde brawler whispers comforting words into her ears as she cradles her gently. Yang's lilac eyes meet Weiss's crystal blue, a wordless acknowledgment of shared pain and understanding.
Clearing her throat delicately, Weiss breaks the silence, "Team JNPR should be here shortly, and afterwards I need to meet with the specialists in charge of Ruby's surgery."
Yang nods, "Just let me know how much it is going to cost. It may take me a while, but I won't let my little sister lose her dream."
The icy heiress arches an eyebrow and lifts her chin haughtily, "Who do you think you are talking to? I am her partner, whatever the future may hold, and as such it is my responsibility to ensure she remains in top form. I will cover it personally."
Uncharacteristic tears fill Yang's eyes as she absorbs the information, she nods and clears her throat, "Sure thing, princess."
The somewhat tender yet awkward moment is broken by a knock at the door.
ooOOoo
Team JNPR sits in stunned silence at the recounting of Ruby's tale. Pyrrha, her eyes filled with worry, clutches tightly to Jaune's arm. Ren, silent as always, maintains a firm hug/body lock on the raging Valkyrie. Surprisingly, it is Jaune who handles the information the best. "I see." His mind whirls with tactical possibilities, "Well, knowing what is coming will give us a leg up. As will knowing the details of how we die. While it may be painful knowledge, it should give us insight into weaknesses we may not know we have… or did not realize we had until now." His eyes flick to Pyrrha before he blushes faintly.
Weiss nods and dusts her skirts off as she stands. "Quite. Now I have to meet with the doctors to discuss with Ruby the options she has available to her. Blake should be able to answer any questions you have, as I doubt the brute has a firm handle on what is going on." Her teasing wink removing the sting from her words, a refreshing breath of normalcy between the girls.
Yang waves off, "Yeah yeah, Princess. Go see your Knight in Crimson Armor." She grins wickedly, watching the heiress' face flush darker than her leader's cloak.
Weiss, taking the high road, snatches up a batch of the prepared cookies, and stomps from the room, not dignifying the statement with a response.
Team JNPR collectively eyes Yang. Even Nora pauses in mid-rage at the implications of what the brawler said. Jaune breaks the silence, "So. Ruby and Weiss? Didn't see that coming." He thinks back to the various failed flirtation attempts. "Though it does explain a few things…"
Yang laughs before she hops up and pats the blond swordsman on the head. "Just keep telling yourself that, Jauney-boy. Alright, who's hungry?"
ooOOoo
Weiss reaches the hospital room with seconds to spare, as she had barely cleared the threshold when she heard a voice behind her. "Miss Schnee?"
Whirling around, cookies still clutched in her hand, the snowy haired woman blinks, "Yes?" She scans the man's appearance. "Given the time, you must be Doctor Kuro. A pleasure." She looks at Ruby's sleeping form. "She should be coming out of sedation shortly, then we can get started with our discussion."
Sure enough, the commotion in the room rouses the red reaper from her sleep. "Mmmhuzzwha?" Silver eyes blink open and take in the scene. A heartwarming smiles spreads across her face as she catches sight of Weiss. Spotting the specialist standing in the doorway, hat and briefcase in hand, her eyes narrow. "Who are you?"
Stepping aside, allowing the man in the room, Weiss introduces him, "Ruby, this is Doctor August Kuro. One of the premiere prosthetic surgeons in Atlas. He specializes in hunters and military personnel."
The man gives a kindly smile, crinkling around the corners of his eyes, "A pleasure, Miss Rose. I am here to discuss your options regarding your replacement arm."
Life sparkles in Ruby's silver eyes at the man's words. Relief flooding her body as she replies, "Oh thank Dust… I was worried about that."
Nodding at the expected emotional response, Kuro smiles, "Well, worry not." He settles the briefcase on the desk and pulls out an oversized scroll. He places it on the surface of the table and activates an application. A three dimensional hologram projects above the surface displaying a prosthetic socket. "At the basic level, you will be fitted with a nervous system integration socket designed to link sensory input from the replacement limb to your body. While certain sensations like temperature are filtered out, it was deemed advantageous to the bearer to do so, pressure is transmitted as a rudimentary sense of touch. If pressure reaches a threshold that the system reads as painful, sensory information is halted to prevent shock. As for the prosthetic itself, there are a few things that are necessary, such as the sensory processing core and motors, the materials and design is pretty flexible." He glances at Ruby, her eyes flicking over the projected image. "Do you have any questions or have you already made some decisions?"
Blinking, Ruby taps her chin, "There are a few features I will want to have integrated. I want to build my scroll into the limb so I can't be separated from it." She leans closer to the scroll on the desk. "And a projector like this one. I have use as a team leader for one."
Doctor Kuro enters the information quickly into his notes. "Easily done. Any other specifications you can think of? Materials perhaps?"
Nodding slowly, Ruby confirms, "Dust infused carbon fiber. I would prefer to have as little metal in the limb as possible. Carbon fiber fortified by earth dust will increase the strength while not sacrificing weight."
"That is doable. Our team of dust specialists can-" the Doctor begins, cut off by a determined Ruby.
"No. I would prefer Weiss do the infusion." She looks at the stunned Weiss, the unspoken question in her eyes.
"B..but I haven't done that before. I know the theory, sure, but an infusion? Shouldn't you leave this to a specialist?" Weiss stammers, suddenly on the spot.
Smiling, Ruby takes her partner's hand. "I have faith in you, Weiss. There is nobody I would trust more than you with dust."
Blushing faintly, the heiress averts her eyes. "I'll try."
Coughing lightly, the doctor interjects, "Very well. Anything else?"
Ruby's eyes flicker irritably, the tender moment broken. "Yeah. My team will handle the assembly once we have the parts, and all records, blueprints, or other technical data regarding my arm will be surrendered to me upon completion. I don't want anyone I don't know to have a chance at accessing it."
"Of course, Miss Rose. Your request isn't as unusual as you may think. Well, I will get started on gathering the materials as soon as I depart following your initial surgery. However, before we get started, could you extend your right arm over the scanner so I can get the proper dimensions?"
Sighing, Ruby follows his instructions as a blue light scans over her undamaged limb. "Alright, applying mirroring…" The scan inverts, forming a left arm image. "Now if you could extend your other arm over the scanner?"
Grumbling, the red reaper holds out her stump and watches as the holographic image lines up and forms a digital recreation of her missing limb. "Wonderful." A few keystrokes later, the outer 'skin' of the image vanishes revealing a cybernetic structure showing wiring and sensors. "This is the core around which your new arm will be built. A few tweaks will be needed to integrate your scroll, but nothing we can't handle. We should have this ready for you within the week. Do you have any questions before we get started on your port?"
Glancing at her partner, Ruby nods, "Can I have the room? I will meet you in the hallway when I am ready to get started."
Doctor Kuro packs up his scroll and grabs his briefcase. "In your own time, Miss Rose. I will be ready when you are." He nods to Weiss. "Miss Schnee." Departing briskly, he can be heard telling the orderlies to get the operating room prepped.
The silence between the partners begins to grow awkward as both try to think of what to say. A light cough causes the dust mage to jump slightly. "Well. I know you have reservations about me, Weiss. You don't have the years of friendship and more on which to base our current relationship. Just as I know you aren't yet the same Weiss who went through hell with me with a smile." Ruby touches her shoulder lightly. "But I'm still me, where it counts." She takes a deep breath. "Would you like to get dinner after my surgery? You can ask me anything. I don't have any secrets from you. Well, not anymore. Given the time I came back to, I'd say the one I was holding is pretty much blown." She grins that brilliant, goofy smile, causing a warm flutter in the Ice Queen's heart.
Drawing herself to her full height, Weiss nods regally, "That would be acceptable." Her composure falters briefly before she surrenders to impulse, giving the injured reaper a tight hug. "Good luck in there. I will be here to help you after…"
Ruby stiffens at the strange yet all too familiar embrace, tears falling gently from her eyes, "You were always the one person I could always count on." Her voice falters into a whisper, "Thank you, Weiss."
The two time-crossed partners maintain their embrace in silence, the world falling away for one glorious moment before they separate once more. Taking a deep breath, Ruby nods. "Could you gather my personal effects from Ozpin? I will need them when I get out of surgery." Grimacing, she looks at the heiress plaintively. "I know I said no secrets, but please don't look through them. I would like to go over them with you and explain them."
Only responding with a brisk nod, Weiss pulls out her scroll and calls the headmaster, walking towards his office as she does. Stopping momentarily, she glances back at her partner. "You mentioned it had been a while." She glances at the small package on the side table. "I made you something to help any nerves you might have. Have them call me when you are out of surgery."
Her mind afire with curiosity, the one armed huntress watches her partner leave for an impressive three seconds before dashing to the container. Cracking the seal proved troublesome, but the heavenly aroma wafting from within confirmed her hopes. Nestled amongst napkins are three cookies. Resisting the urge to devour them in seconds, she takes a bite, tears streaming down her face. "My favorite…"
