Ruby and Yang sat at the base of a tree in the garden after being caught by Weiss and Ash, patiently waiting for Weiss to sift through their scrolls. Though in reality, the two sisters had no choice as they were once again paralyzed by Ash when they were caught. Weiss promptly deleted any and all photos, recordings, and anything else that she could find involving any 'interactions' she's had with Ash.
"So Ash," Ruby called, attracting the boy's attention. He smiled, and walked up to her from where Weiss was. "If you could just paralyze anyone with just a pinch on the shoulder, why didn't you just use that when you were fighting Cardin? Sorry, I've just been wondering for a while now."
"It's not a problem Miss Rose," Ash responded happily, looking down at the cloaked leader. "I simply don't want to use such an underhanded tactic to win my battles. It's dishonorable to my opponent who had trained for years to hone his or her skills in combat, and dishonorable to the combat styles that I've incorporated in to my own."
"I guess that makes sense," Ruby contemplated his answer, pretending to be in the shoes of Ash's opponent. "Yeah, it'd suck going down that way."
"I think so as well Miss Rose," the butler responded, glad that he was able to have Ruby see it the way he did. "Also, as I mentioned earlier when I was explaining to Miss Xiao Long, I insert my own Aura in to the person's nerve instead of a needle. The only thing is, the amount of Aura required is a substantial amount. I can only paralyze a maximum of four people before my Aura is completely depleted."
"Why?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion. "How come you need so much to paralyze just one person?"
"I unfortunately don't know enough to find a more efficient way. Though I do believe that Mister Fox Alistair of Team CFVY is able to help me in the matter should I decide to pursue it."
"Umm, let's not give him any ideas," Yang retaliated. She glared at Ash with glowing red eyes and her hair glowing a fiery gold. "I would hate to live in a world where Ash can paralyze me ANY! TIME! OF! THE! DAY!"
"I truly am sorry Miss Xiao Long," Ash apologized giving her a sympathetic smile, though the brawler seemed to completely ignore the gesture. "I was left with no choice."
"Ash please, let me hit you just once," Yang compromised, trying to sound sweet and innocent through her current despise towards Ash. "Please, for the sake of our friendship. I feel like I'll be able to move on after that."
"If that's what you would like Miss Xiao Long," Ash agreed, knowing that no matter what he does, it won't end well for him. "I'll gladly receive your retribution."
Weiss continued to maneuver through Ruby's and Yang's scrolls only able to find the picture of her and Ash in his room embracing with his lips on her forehead. She blushed at the memory, but sent the image to her scroll before deleting it and any trace of it being sent to her scroll. After she thoroughly searched the scrolls, she found nothing else.
"Where is the picture?" she found herself asking out loud.
"I told you," Ruby tried to reason with her once more. "We didn't take a picture. You and Ash must've heard something else and mistook it as a camera."
Weiss thought back before the chase, the memory coming up as images. Ash's story, Ash's wings, Ash's laughing, and then their 'moment.' Weiss reddened even more at the recent memory, but found the event a mistake against a regretful heart.
"That may have been the case if only one of us heard it Miss Rose," Ash reasoned back, thinking back in his own memory. "However for the two of us to hear it at the same time and at the same direction, is too much of a coincidence, wouldn't you agree?"
"We're not getting out of this, are we?" Ruby asked in defeat. Ash gave her a comforting smile, as if trying to convince her that Armageddon has yet to come. Ruby tried to move her arms once more, but found them heavier to lift than a mountain.
"Still," Yang commented, her anger continuously dissipating from when Ash agreed to her vengeful condition. "To think that you and Weiss were about to—"
"Yes, about that," Weiss interjected before the blonde could say any more. "Let's all just forget about that, shall we? It was just an honest mistake, simply something that didn't and will never have meaning."
A moment of silence passed by, Ruby's eyes panning to Ash to see the boy with a conflicted expression.
"If that is what you wish Miss Schnee," Ash replied, bowing to her slightly even though she couldn't see it.
"Ash…" Ruby called quietly, but stopped, not knowing what to say.
"You know Ice Queen," Yang started to get annoyed once more at the heiress. "There are just some things that you don't do. One of those things is to deny yourself of what you feel, especially if it forces someone else to deny theirs too."
"Miss Xiao Long please don't misunder—" Ash tried to stop her, but she wouldn't hear any of it.
"Ash obviously loves you, and you obviously love him too. So why in Remnant would you deny all of that? There was only one mistake made in that garden, and that's me and Ruby interrupting the two of you. Why can't you just admit—"
"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about Xiao Long," Weiss interrupted, making her way over the paralyzed sisters and Ash. Weiss tossed the girls their scrolls back having finished her goal with them. "I've told you before, the relationship between Ash and I are that of professionals, nothing more."
"Why don't we ask him then?" Yang countered, looking at Ash who dreaded their argument would come to this. "We were in the middle of asking him in Professor Port's class anyway. Ash, do you love Weiss in a romantic way?"
Ash looked at the ground, avoiding their eyes that demanded an answer, each yearning for different answers. Ruby pitied Ash, his inner conflict obviously tearing the butler in two.
"I love Miss Schnee as a friend and as a servant," Ash admitted, his voice restrained. "I love her in the way that I should."
"And there you have it," Weiss said proudly. Yang looked at Ash in disapproval, unsatisfied by his reply. "Ash, stay here with them until they recover. I'm going to take another shower."
"As you wish Miss Schnee," Weiss made her way back to the Team RWBY dorm room, leaving her butler with her paralyzed teammates. When she was no longer in sight, Ash turned to Ruby and Yang. "I think I may be able to reverse the paralysis, would you like me to try? It should be relatively safe."
"Yeah, me first," Ruby said, half enthusiastically, and half conflicted.
Ash knelt down in front of her and placed his right palm against her shoulder. He closed his eyes and redirected some of his Aura in to her in a much broader area. Immediately, Ruby's arms began to twitch and soon she was able to move her arms freely.
"What did you do?" Yang asked, bewildered.
"I released the excess Aura I used when I paralyzed her by using my remaining Aura to drag it out," Ash answered, his tone a bit dejected. "The only reason why it lasts so long is because my Aura is trapped within the nerve, this simply releases it."
Ash knelt down by Yang and applied the same treatment as he did on Ruby. With that, his Aura was very nearly depleted. Yang tested out her mobility by doing a few stretches, and when she was satisfied with it, she turned to Ash and threw a hard hook to his cheek.
Ash's body flew through the air, smashing against a tree, nearly breaking it.
"Yang!" Ruby complained, rushing to Ash to aid him.
"It's all right Miss Rose," Ash assured her, his voice, grave. "I gave your sister permission to, remember? Besides, it doesn't hurt."
Despite his words, blood started to drip from a cut at the corner of his mouth. Ruby quickly wiped it away, noting that Ash's body felt colder than it should have.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Yang asked, feeling a little guilty for her actions, though a part of her resented Ash for a different reason than before. It resented him for the reply he gave to her question.
"I will be fine," Ash replied, looking up, giving the two of them a strained smile. "You two should head back to your dorm room as well. I will go back to mine once I've recovered slightly."
"If you say so," Ruby found herself saying, though still worried about the butler. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"
"Miss Xiao Long didn't hit me that hard Miss Rose," he told her, his strained smile, and pained expression never disappearing. "It doesn't hurt."
"All right, if you're sure you're fine," Yang said slowly, unsure of what to do. "Come on Ruby."
The sisters made their way back to their dorm room as well, leaving Ash sitting there against a near broken tree. His head slumped down, as he raised his hand and clutched his chest.
"This one hurts," he muttered out loud, knowing there was none to hear him. "It hurts a lot."
"Yang, do you think Ash is all right?" Ruby asked after walking for minutes of silence.
"I didn't hold back if that's what you're asking," Yang pretended to be oblivious to what her sister meant, frustrated at the two people she currently deems as 'idiots.'
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Ruby countered, glaring at her sister, who let out a sigh.
"Maybe we just assumed that they were going to, but weren't," Yang tried to reason, hardly believing it herself. "I mean you heard them deny it. There's absolutely nothing going on between, it's just completely 'professional.'"
"You don't really believe that do you?"
"There's nothing else to believe. They'll probably die before they admit, so we just have to accept that."
Ruby didn't bother to respond, knowing that there was no talking to Yang about it. They continued to walk in silence once more entering the halls of Beacon, but a passing Professor Ozpin caught Ruby's attention, and ignited her curiosity in the matter once more.
"You go on ahead Yang," she called out, stopping in her tracks, causing her older sister to stop and turn to her. "I want to see if Professor Ozpin can give us something we don't already know."
"I'm sure he can Ruby," Yang stated, looking over to the professor. "But he probably won't."
"Still gotta try," Ruby replied before running to the professor, leaving Yang to walk back to their dorm room alone.
"Professor!" Ruby called out, her shrill voice echoing in the nigh empty hall. The headmaster stopped in his tracks, and turned to the sound of her voice. Ruby came to a screeching halt in front of the man, and took a breath.
"Ruby, good morning," the professor greeted, drinking from the mug he always carries.
"Professor, can I ask you something?" she asked with enthusiasm.
"You just did Ruby," he answered, deciding to play around with her.
"Oh, then can I ask you something else?" Ruby asked, oblivious to the professor's quip.
"You just did Ruby," the professor repeated. Ruby thought for how she could word her next sentence, but the professor ended his little joke. "What did you want to ask?"
"How can you tell if someone loves someone else?" she asked, much to the older man's shock.
"Now why would you need to know that?" Ozpin asked back, even though he could guess that it had something to do with what Glynda was complaining about earlier. "You are young Ruby, you'll find your special someone soon enough, you'll see."
"What?" Ruby slowly pieced together what the professor had misinterpreted, growing flustered soon after. "No. No. Not me. I was asking for Weiss and Ash."
"Oh if only Glynda was here now," Ozpin muttered silently, escaping Ruby's ears. "Then I believe you're asking the wrong question Ruby. What you want to know is the sense of the word 'love.'"
"I do know what it means," Ruby countered, feeling slightly offended that he thought she didn't know the word. Truth be told, she had just read the word's definition as the 'Word of the Day' on a dictionary website. "It's 'an intense feeling of deep affection.'"
"And that means what exactly?" Ozpin asked the teen, his lips moving to a smile. "You are not wrong Ruby, but the definition of the word has a slightly different meaning for each man, woman, and child. Try asking your friends first, including Weiss and Ash. Come find me after if you're still unsure."
The headmaster bid her farewell before walking away to wherever his destination was, leaving Ruby to contemplate what he meant by different meanings.
Ruby entered her team's dorm room, unsure of who she should ask first, or if it's even worth it to ask them. Blake was at her bed lying down, simply reading her 'romance novel' as she had described it to her. Yang was nowhere to be seen even though she was headed towards the room. The shower was on, meaning that Weiss was in the shower as she had declared.
"Hey, where's Yang?" Ruby asked her female Faunus teammate. Blake looked up from her book, focusing her amber eyes on the young leader.
"She said she was going to train," Blake answered, returning her attention back to her book. "She'll come back later to take a shower. Figured she was already sweaty enough anyway."
She and Blake were technically alone in the room. Sure Weiss was just a single thin wall, but the shower was loud enough for their voices to be drowned out, unless they yell.
"So Blake," Ruby called, slowly walking towards the Faunus and stopping just a foot away from her. Blake looked up from her book once more. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure what is it?" Blake responded, turning her attention back to her book once more.
"What is 'love?'" she blurted out. Blake's cheeks reddened at the question, but kept most of her composure. "I mean… just… how do you define it? Not the dictionary one."
"Umm… why do you suddenly ask?" she asked, confused. She closed her book and set it down making sure that she could protect it should Ruby get the funny idea of snatching it to learn more.
"It's just something I want to know," Ruby replied. "I'll be asking everyone else, so don't worry, I won't say anything."
"It's not that Ruby," Blake sat up from the bed, and faced her. "It's just that it's not something that I'd expect you to ask."
"Yeah, it's kinda weird for me too," Ruby admitted, a bit embarrassed. "So?"
"Let me think," Blake thought for a second, gently tapping her bed as she tried to transform her thoughts in to words. "Love… is the feeling you get when you want to be with someone for the rest of your life and past it."
"Ok, I can see it," Ruby turned around and started to prepare for her second shower of the day. "Thanks Blake."
Blake returned to her book, feeling slightly guilty that she quoted a passage from the book. Though that feeling quickly dissipated as she realized that it was honestly how she wanted to define the word.
Ruby laid out her Slayer outfit on top of her bed and waited for Weiss to finish her shower. In ten minutes, Weiss exited the bathroom in her SnowPea outfit, completely refreshed.
"Hey Weiss," Ruby greeted, to which Weiss mostly ignored. "Can one of you call Yang? I'll probably be done when she gets back."
"Yeah, I'll tell her," Blake assured her. With a nod and a smile, Ruby stepped in to the bathroom with her new set of clothes, wondering when an opportunity would arise for her to question Weiss.
Soon, Ruby came out of the door in her Slayer outfit; feeling refreshed just like Weiss was when it was she. Blake was still reading her book, but on the bunk above her, Ruby could see a familiar head of golden hair.
"Yang, it's your turn," Ruby called out, headed towards the door. "I'm visiting Team JNPR for a bit, we'll head out soon."
"Got it sis," Yang called out, waving to her sister while faced away, distracted by something.
Ruby exited the room, gently shutting the door close behind her. She found it lucky to have Team JNPR just across the hall from them. She walked over and knocked three times. In a few seconds, the door opened slightly, revealing Nora's smiling bright expression.
"Ruby!" Nora exclaimed excitedly opening the door wide. Behind Nora, Ren was sitting on his bed, meditating. Jaune and Pyrrha were gathered close to the bathroom door, watching Ash work on their door. "Ash is fixing the door."
"I am replacing the door tumbler Miss Valkyrie," Ash corrected her, his eyes never moving from what he was working on. He placed the screwdriver in his hand on the floor and entered the bathroom door, shutting it behind him and tested out the new lock.
The doorknob jiggled a little before Ash unlocked the door, and exited.
"That should be it," Ash announced, picking up the screwdriver and a plastic bag containing the old tumbler.
"Thank you Ash," Pyrrha thanked him as he walked towards the door.
"The one you should thank is Professor Ozpin Miss Nikos," Ash said, turning to her. "He was the one who gave me the means."
"You still took the time to do it," Jaune offered. Ash bowed to them before moving towards the door, but stopped as Ruby blocked his way.
"Miss Rose," Ash greeted, bowing to her lightly.
"Hey Ash, we're gonna leave soon," Ruby informed him. "That is if you're still coming with us."
"I'll still accompany the four of you Miss Rose," Ash replied. He held up his loose collar, slightly stained with dirt and grass from their 'run' earlier. His lip still scarred from Yang's attack, meaning his Aura has still yet to recover. "I just need to clean myself up a little."
"Ok, we'll see you soon."
Ash moved out of the way, letting Ruby enter the room, before exiting.
"What's up Ruby?" Jaune asked his fellow leader, when Ash completely disappeared from sight. "Is there something you want?"
"I just have a question for all of you," she admitted. The four members looked at each other, then back to the fifteen year old. "But I have to do it one at a time."
"Ruby what's this about?" Jaune asked, confused.
"It's just something Professor Ozpin asked me to do," Ruby answered, hoping it would be enough to lower the team's suspicion.
"Me first!" Nora yelled excitedly. "How about we hold our meeting in our new office?"
Nora opened the door to the bathroom, and entered, motioning Ruby to follow her. Ruby was hesitant about the location, but entered anyway. She closed the door and locked it, just in case.
"So what's up?" Nora asked in her usual loud voice, echoing around the room. "Did the professor give you a super secret mission? Is it about my secret trips to the kitchen?"
"No Nora," Ruby assured her, though found herself wondering about her trips. "Before I ask, I'm gonna need you to talk just a little quieter."
Nora gave her an enthusiastic nod. Ruby took a breath, feeling a little weird, breathing in the air of the inside of Team JNPR's bathroom.
"How do you define 'love?'"
"Do you like the professor?" Nora asked, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Is that why he asked you to ask us? It's ok Ruby, you'll find someone else. There's more than one pancakes in the kitchen."
"What? No!" Ruby countered in a shrill voice. "There's a reason for this Nora, but I just don't know how—"
"Weiss and Ash?" Nora asked, seriously. The interruption stunned Ruby. How Nora was able to deduce the truth was beyond her. Ruby nodded, defeated. "'Love,' huh? It's something you feel when you just can't live without that special person."
"Slightly different, just like the professor said," Ruby muttered. "Ok, thanks Nora."
"No problem Ruby," Nora unlocked the door and exited the bathroom. Her teammates turned to her. "Weiss and Ash."
"Got it," the rest of Team JNPR said simultaneously.
Pyrrha entered the bathroom next and locked the door behind her.
"Ok, I'm just gonna ask ok?" Ruby asked for confirmation, to which Pyrrha nodded with a smile. "How do you define 'love?'"
"This involves Weiss and Ash?" Pyrrha asked, remembering the series of questions Yang was asking Ash in Professor Port's class. "This'll be interesting to say the least."
"It more complicated than you think," Ruby told her with a laugh.
"Let's see, I guess 'love' is that feeling you get when the only thing you care about is the well being of that special someone."
A smile formed on Pyrrha, her thoughts flowed to her obvious infatuation towards her clumsy leader: the things she has done and wished she had done – or what she had yet to do. Ruby stared at the smile, knowing of the warrior's not so hidden feelings for her leader.
"I'll tell Jaune to come in next," Pyrrha said before exiting. She placed a hand on Jaune and pushed him to the door. "Try not to use anything your father said to you. Just be yourself."
"Ok?" Jaune said confused, but stepped forward anyway. He entered the bathroom with the young girl waiting inside, and took a breath. "What's the question?"
"How do you define 'love?'"
"Weiss and Ash?" Jaune asked in a bewildered tone of voice. "So are they finally 'showing signs?'"
"It's complicated," Ruby told him, letting out an exhausted sigh. "There's a whole complicated to it, that can take whole year to explain. And it starts after Ash left his room earlier!"
"How can so much happen in that little time?" Jaune asked, unable to comprehend the girl's story. "You guys were gone for an hour or two!"
"Like I said, complicated."
"Let me see," Jaune thought for a second, trying to think about his answer to her question. He thought about his sisters, his mother, his father, and his friends, combining all of his experiences with them. "I guess, I have to define it as the feeling you get when you are willing to sacrifice your life for them."
"Then you really must love everyone Jaune," Ruby stated, taking her fellow leader's words a little too seriously.
"You'll get it soon enough Ruby," Jaune simply replied with a sigh. "I'll go ahead and send Ren in."
"Ren, last one up," Jaune called when he exited the current 'meeting room.' Ren pushed himself off the bed and headed for Ruby. He shut the door behind him and looked at her.
"Nora told me what you needed," the green clad boy admitted. "I pretty much understand the situation. But what I don't understand is why is it that you have to dig in to the matter."
Ruby thought about Ren's words for a minute, a part of her agreeing with him. But in the end, the other part of her won.
"We all know that Ash likes Weiss," Ruby explained. "And even though Ash said that he only loved Weiss as a friend and servant, he has to be lying."
"And what if he's not Ruby?" Ren countered immediately, staring in to the girl as if trying to find her weakness. Ruby, on the other hand, did not falter, but instead made her position stronger.
"Then he shouldn't have had that expression on him," she replied with confidence. "I know that look Ren. I used to always have that look when I thought Yang was going to leave me behind at Signal."
"Then how would you define it?" Ren asked solemnly, still looking at the girl critically. "I'd define it as the thing that makes you get up in the morning, the feeling of being satisfied with just seeing them. Something that makes you willing."
"Willing to do what?" Ruby asked the boy, as if he spoke in a cryptic language. He stared at her silver eyes, as if burrowing in to her, leaving her open.
"Anything," Ren replied, before retracting his piercing stare. Ruby inhaled, forgetting to breath for a second. "So what about you Ruby? How do you define it?"
"The warm feeling you get when you know that your someone is still with you," Ruby answered, unknown thoughts immediately formed in to words and escaped her lip without her realizing before it was too late.
Ren left the room, leaving a stunned Ruby to stay for a second, as she processed what she had just said. Once the words she spoke were branded in to her mind, she left the room in a daze, giving her thanks to the team and saying her goodbyes.
When she got to the hall, Ren followed her and tapped her on her shoulder. Ruby turned around and found the boy smiling.
"The answer won't come if you think about it Ruby," he said to her, slightly confusing the girl. "It's pointless if you think you love someone."
Ren left her in the hall alone, once more trying to decipher what the boy had meant. Ruby walked in to the Team RWBY dorm room, still puzzled by Ren's words. Blake was, like ever, reading on her bed, completely engulfed in whatever book she had at the time. The shower was on, indicating that Yang was currently in the shower. Weiss was busy brushing her off center ponytail on her bed.
"Got your answers?" Blake asked out loud, not bothering to look at Ruby.
"Most of them, and then some," Ruby admitted, earning Blake's attention for a second before she returned to her book. Ruby turned to Weiss, and gathered her courage. "Weiss? Do you have a second?"
"What is it?" Weiss asked, continuing to brush her hair.
"Actually can we do it outside?" Ruby requested, unsure if her partner would agree to the sudden and strange request. Weiss stopped her brushing and looked at the leader, trying to guess her game.
"Sure, let's make this quick," Weiss said with a sigh. An elated Ruby exited through the door, waiting for Weiss. The heiress put down the brush and followed Ruby out the door.
Ruby stood there with a gigantic grin, making Weiss shiver a little at what the younger girl had planned.
"All right," Weiss checked around the hall to see if anyone else was present, paying especially close attention to the direction of Ash's room. "Now what is so secret that you couldn't ask me in the room with just Blake?"
"Ok, but don't jump to conclusions ok?" Ruby said cautiously, fearing a probable freak out from the white haired girl. "How do you define 'love?'"
"I thought I told you that it was all an honest mistake," Weiss immediately defended, not wanting to bring up that event ever again. "Besides didn't Ash already clear up that misunderstanding?"
"I'm just asking because Professor Ozpin wants me to ask different people," Ruby admitted, preparing a lie she prepared a minute earlier playing with her fingers, as she spoke. "He said it was part of some social experiment. Something about the meaning of the word is different for each person."
"Now why would the professor ask you specifically to do that?" Weiss asked, finding her story unbelievable.
"I don't know," Ruby tried to continue her lie, feeling herself grow more flustered. "Maybe it's because I'm younger and less experienced in it?"
"I can hardly believe the professor to be a sociologist studying this certain topic," Weiss admitted, but soon relaxed, causing the leader to let out a sigh of relief, her hands returning to her side. "A feeling someone gets that makes his or her heart beat fast just by the thought of their significant other. Is that sufficient enough for you?"
Ruby nodded slowly. Weiss turned around and entered the dorm room once more. Ruby stayed in the hall, with Ren's words echoing in her head.
The answer won't come to you if you think about it Ruby.
Weiss didn't need time to think, that she understood, but a nagging little voice in her head told her that Weiss's answer wasn't genuine. Rather, it seemed fake, seemed like it was practiced. Despite whatever it is that voice said, she got an answer from Weiss. She had completed that objective, despite the regret she felt.
Ruby soon entered the dorm room as well, and jumped up on to her bed, thinking about how she could ask Ash. Yang was no problem, the worst that could happen with her is endless teasing accompanied by horrible puns.
In the next few minutes Yang came out of the bathroom fully dressed in her Hunter outfit. Now all of Team RWBY was ready, all they needed to wait for is Ash.
"We waiting for Ash?" Yang asked, as she stretching her spine and arms. A hum of confirmation resonated throughout the room from the remaining members. "Well, I'm gonna check if he's ready or not."
"What if he's not Yang?" Blake asked, still engrossed in her reading.
"Exactly," Yang said deviously, a grin growing on her. She took out her scroll, wiped clean of anything she could've used on Ash. "Sweet, sweet revenge Blake."
"Wait Yang!" Ruby called out, stopping her sister dead on her tracks. "I'm coming with you."
Ruby hopped off her bed and made her way to her sister, noticing the sly smile on her.
"Someone has to keep you in check," Ruby told her. "Ash is probably going to paralyze you again."
"Nope!" Yang said excitedly. "Remember what he said? He can only paralyze up to four people before he has to let his Aura recover. His Aura probably still hasn't recovered enough yet."
Yang exited the room quickly and made her way to Ash's room, still open due the door's current nonexistent state. She looked around, finding the room empty, and the sound of the shower almost silently echoing in the room.
"Yang!" Ruby whispered behind her. "You really shouldn't do this."
"Dear sister, it's fine," Yang reassured her, readying her scroll. "Weiss didn't even try to stop me."
Ruby and Yang were alone in the room. Yang was currently contemplating whether she should barge in to the bathroom and catch Ash by surprise or wait for him to come out. And considering the broken door, Ash more than likely won't be in anything worth for blackmail.
She put her hand on the door handle, but Ruby immediately held her back.
"Yang, before you do anything, there's something I'd like to ask you," Ruby said frantically, finding the situation appropriate to ask her question to protect Ash. Yang gave up on blackmailing Ash for now and listened to her sister. "How do you define 'love?'"
"Where'd that question come from?" Yang questioned her sister, trying to figure whomever it was Ruby held a crush for.
"It's just a question," Ruby insisted, but the look of protective caution on Yang told her that the blonde may have misunderstood.
"It's not something you have to worry about right now," Yang said defensively. Ruby let out a frustrated sigh.
"Yang, seriously."
"Why do you want to know?" Yang's hidden wisdom as a big sister kicked in and tried to force Ruby to confess.
"Ok, so I'm kinda bothered by Weiss and Ash's situation."
"That's all you had to say," Yang said understandingly. "You don't have to lie to me. It's complicated Ruby. It's a feeling that makes everything we're doing as Huntresses worthwhile. It's a warm feeling in your heart that screams at you to protect your other with everything you have."
"You and Jaune are the same in that way," Ruby admitted.
"You asked Jaune what 'love' is?" Yang beamed, interested in the other blonde's answer and reaction. "What'd he say? Or actually first, how'd he react?"
"He was actually ok with it, since he found out that it involved Weiss and Ash," Ruby gave her sister a white lie, mentally apologizing to her. "He said that it's a feeling you get when you know that you're willing to sacrifice your life for them."
"I never thought Jaune would be a person who'd say that," Yang admitted. "I mean, I guess I can see it, but he's not really the best person to say that, if you know what I mean."
"He'll get better Yang," Ruby told her. "He just needs some time."
"I'd have to agree," the muffled voice Ash called out from the closed bathroom door. The sisters stared in shock at the close door, failing to notice that the shower was turned off a while ago. "Mister Arc has been improving well under Miss Nikos' teachings."
"Oh man," Yang complained, putting her scroll away, knowing her mission failed. "How'd you know we were here?"
"These walls aren't as thick as you think they are Miss Xiao Long," he called out, his voice still muffled. Ash came out of the bathroom in a simple gray long sleeved button up shirt, dark jeans, and black rubber shoes. His usual black gloves around his hands. "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but why are the two of you here?"
"Ruby's got a question for you," Yang immediately replied, feeling slightly ashamed that she had used her own sister as a get away.
"All right then?" Ash said confused as to what question the leader developed in the short time that they weren't around each other, and making his way to the windows. "What is your question Miss Rose? I'll answer it if I can."
"You can!" Ruby replied, figuring that now was the best time to ask. "It's not even that hard. How do you define 'love?'"
"Well that depends Miss Rose," Ash replied, leaning against the small lip of the window closest to him. "What exactly do you mean? 'Love' as in the feeling, or 'love' as in the idea?"
"There's a difference?" Ruby asked, turning to her sister, who merely shrugged her shoulders.
"A mile wide, but paper thin difference Miss Rose," Ash replied, pushing away from the lip, and turning around to open the curtains. Sunlight poured in to the room, almost blindingly.
"Then give both," Yang offered.
"Then the feeling first. It's willing to help shoulder the burdens of your significant other. The positives and negatives in life, happiness and despair, joy and melancholy, peace of mind and sorrow, everything, and acting accordingly to it. Whether it's as simple as being happy for them, or as complex as taking on the role of the bad guy for their happiness."
"I think I get it," Ruby said slowly, looking at her sister once more, who was stunned by the thought out answer. "Then what about the idea?"
"It's simply the mutual feeling of love from both parties," Ash told her, a longing smile forming on him as he stared at the sky. "There's no need for something as concrete rings for marriage. For if love truly exists between two people, then there's no need for a ring."
"It seems like you've about this a lot," Yang admitted, a bit impressed. Ash chuckled a bit, shaking his head.
"I didn't Miss Xiao Long," he told her. "There was no need to think about an answer. The only way to answer such a question is to think about it as little as possible. The answer should just come to you without you even needing to stop and think."
"'The answer won't come to you if you think,'" Ruby quoted out loud. "So you're saying that marriage is pointless?"
"Absolutely not Miss Rose," Ash turned to her, wondering how she assumed such a thing. "Marriage is a promise, solidified as rings. It holds priceless sentimental value to the people involved. I'm simply saying that if one needs a ring to remind him or her about the love between their partner and them, then that love is merely false. Are you satisfied with that answer Miss Rose?"
"Yeah, thanks Ash," Ruby replied. She breathed in while gathering her courage, and asked Ash one more question. "Then does that mean that you actually love Weiss? Like truly, love her?"
"'An honest mistake,'" Ash quoted his mistress, turning his back to the sisters. "It's exactly as my mistress had called it. Nothing but a mistake."
"You can't honestly believe that," Yang said, getting annoyed at how passive the boy was.
"I do Miss Xiao Long," Ash turned to them once more, with a determined expression. "It was something I shouldn't have dared in the first place. A mistake on my part."
"But your just another person Ash," Ruby countered, earning herself a cold gaze from Ash.
"I am not just another person Miss Rose," Ash told her. "I am Miss Schnee's butler. I should know my place."
"Are you a coward?" Yang said angrily, walking up to him to grab his collar to force him to face her. "What makes you different from the rest huh Ash?"
"Believe what you want Miss Xiao Long," Ash returned the same feeling of anger towards her. Ruby tried to step in to stop the two, but Yang's hair flaring a fiery gold, and what she imagined to be a thin red smoke that seemed to engulf Ash's form, stopped her in her tracks. "But in the end, I'm her butler before I'm anyone else, just as you would be a Huntress first before the thrill seeking Yang Xiao Long. That is what makes me different from the rest."
"That's your excuse!?" Yang yelled, her eyes turning red as she glared at Ash. "You're job comes first!?"
"That is the truth Miss Xiao Long!" Ash yelled back, yanking his collar from her grasp. "I don't understand why you're trying to convince me otherwise, but please accept the truth and move on from this. Miss Schnee did ask us to forget that event ever happened."
Yang threw a right straight at Ash ignoring the fact the boy still had no Aura reserves. Her fist connected, crashing against Ash's nose. The boy would have flown like he did before, but with some hidden strength, he planted forced his feet to the floor and corrected himself, glaring at the girl who had just attacked him.
"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, her sister's actions taking her by surprise. She rushed in between the two, separating them despite an unknown fear within her. "Stop! Both of you stop!"
Yang and Ash glared at each other, ignoring the frantic girl in between them. From the door, Weiss and Blake appeared, strolling in after hearing yelling. The two saw the tense air between the brawler and butler.
"What in the world is going on here?" Weiss demanded, staying back with Blake to see how the situation will play itself out.
"I don't expect you to understand Miss Xiao Long," Ash told her in a relatively calm tone, ignoring Weiss' demand. "I simply ask of you to not include me in any of your baseless assumptions."
Ash moved past Ruby, and walked towards the broken door, past Weiss and Blake, whom have yet to have their question answered.
"Running away Ash?" Yang provoked, Ash stopped in his tracks, simply allowing the girl to continue her provocations, not wanting to strain their friendship past its limit. "I thought you're not chicken."
"I'm simply being the adult in the situation Miss Xiao Long," Ash said in a calmer demeanor. "One of us has to be."
He acknowledged Weiss and Blake and continued to head towards the door. Ruby and Weiss couldn't help but notice the butler's hands curled in tight fists. Ash stopped once more, with his right hand on the door's frame.
"Not once did I deny being a coward," Ash admitted, his grip tightening on the frame, before letting it go, desperately trying to calm down. "I'll secure us transportation."
With that, Ash left the four girls in his room. Yang's hair lost its fiery light, and her eyes returned back to their usual lilac color. Weiss stepped forward glaring at Yang, her hands turning even paler as they curled in to fists.
"What did you do?" Weiss demanded, replacing Ash in glaring down the taller girl. Her mind wandered to Ruby's question earlier and directed her glare at the leader. "Does this have something to do with your question?"
Ruby didn't respond, only looked away trying to avoid the light blue orbs of the heiress. Yang ignored the girl, trying to calm herself further. As frustrated she was towards Ash, the boy's words continued to echo in her mind, steadily convincing her that she was at fault.
"It started out with my question," Ruby answered her, unable to formulate a lie like she had done before. "It just started to grow from there."
"I thought you said it was for the professor?" Weiss asked critically, pondering whether or not she should just leave and go after Ash. "How in the world could it have led to this?"
"It's my fault," Yang owned up, blocking her sister from the glare of the heiress. She wore a conflicted and guilty expression, Ash's words and her own thoughts locked in a never-ending game of tug of war, trying to convince her of what was right. "I guess I was trying to force what I thought on Ash. We just kinda started to rip each other's throats after that. I'll go say sorry."
"Maybe you shouldn't," Weiss told her, calmer than she was a minute ago. Yang looked at her confused. "Get your thoughts together first, then talk to him. Ash will need time too."
"So what're you saying?" Yang asked, afraid that she already knew what she meant.
"It's better if Ash stays here for now," Weiss recapped, crossing her arms across her chest. "We can all conduct our research separately. You can go to that Junior fellow, and get whatever you can from him in place of Ash."
Ruby, Blake, and Yang stared at heiress, trying to view the situation in her perspective. While the tension between Yang and Ash is tense at the moment, there was no need to separate the entire team. If the team breaks apart now, then it would be no different to when Blake had struck out by herself in the not too distant past.
If Ash were to be left out of the personal team mission, then the only course of action for him would be to do whatever he could to improve his ability in combat. He might not have permission from Weiss to train in the Emerald Forest, but they knew that the boy would find some other reckless way.
"It'll be fine Weiss," Blake entered the conversation, walking up to her teammates. "If Yang is able to move past this, then surely Ash can too. Besides, he'll probably just go to Emerald Forest if he stays."
"Don't you think I know that?" Weiss countered, snapping her head to the Faunus, offended by her words. "As of right now, he and Yang have been belligerent towards each other several times. It's only been a week, far more frequent than the two of us prior to the incident at the docks."
Blake opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was died out somewhere in her throat. A knock on the door was enough to attract all their attention, as well as breaking any tension in the air, even if for only a second.
"There's an airship going to the city within the hour," Ash reported, his attention directed towards Weiss. "It just dropped off the remaining students from the other kingdoms. Unfortunately, there won't be enough time to properly… 'investigate' the competition."
"You've been gone for a minute," Blake said, stunned and confused. "How'd you get all of that?"
"I met with Miss Goodwitch on my way to the loading docks," Ash answered, turning to the cat Faunus. "She simply relayed the information to me when I asked."
"And she didn't find it strange?" Yang asked, her previous anger towards the butler, seemingly disappeared.
"After all these years, she still has yet to find my tell," Ash responded with a devious smirk, forgetting his previous bout with the blonde brawler. "One has to wonder how it's possible."
"Your 'tell' doesn't exist," Weiss muttered, just escaping the butler's ears, but not her teammates.
"I have something I have to do," Ash told the team. "I'll meet you all at the loading docks. I shouldn't be long."
Ash bowed to Weiss before turning around, headed to a destination only he knew out of the five of them. Yang took a step forward, unsure of her decision.
"Ash wait," she called out, halting the boy in his tracks. Ash turned around, staring curiously at the blonde. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ash beat her to it.
"There's no need for you to apologize Miss Xiao Long," Ash said, smiling at the girl, already forgiving her before he came back to the room. "You merely spoke your thoughts. There's no fault in that. I'm sorry for my behavior however. I shouldn't have raised my voice."
Team RWBY stood there stunned, especially Yang, who still had her mouth slightly ajar as if she still had something to say.
"What? That's it?" Yang managed to finally ask, going towards the nearby bed, placing her hand on the headboard to steady her. "No-no-no revenge? No arguing? Nothing?"
Ash stood there in thought for a moment, while Team RWBY anxiously awaited his answer.
"No Miss Xiao Long," Ash replied, with a very miniscule amount of venom in his voice, but apparent nonetheless. "Not 'nothing.' I'll be taking a page from Miss Valkyrie's book. I want a duel."
"You want what?" Yang asked, unable to comprehend what the boy could possibly have in mind.
"A duel Miss Xiao Long," Ash repeated. "Seeing as we have to kill time either way, I can't see a better opportunity for it."
"Ash you haven't recovered your Aura," Ruby reminded him, causing Weiss and Blake to go in to a state of bewilderment. "It's the worst time for one!"
"A first strike duel Miss Rose," Ash told her, as if she was supposed to know. Weiss looked to the leader, still slightly confused, but explained to her anyway.
"It's simple and quick duel," Weiss told her. "Whoever lands a clean hit first wins. That way, even if he loses, there wouldn't be any immutable damage. That's it, right Ash?"
"That is correct Miss Schnee," Ash smiled at her, before returning his attention back to Yang for her reply. "Why not bury any remaining hostilities between us with this?"
"All right Ash," Yang said, any confusion within her was replaced an unusual thrill. "Let's do this. Miss Goodwitch would've probably pit us against each other soon anyway."
"Might as well train for it, right Miss Xiao Long?" Ash said with an amused grin, one that Yang was more than happy to return.
The remaining members of Team RWBY looked at the two as if they were insane. A butler who had no way of mitigating any form of damage, and a brawler who had absolutely no problem with dueling him.
"You're just going to let them?" Blake asked Weiss, worried about the butler.
"I trust Ash to know what he's doing," the heiress replied. "Besides, I'll be there to monitor it all."
"Thank you Miss Schnee," Ash said, turning around to leave the four once more. "There's still something I have to do, I'll meet you all at the training room."
The four members of Team JNPR peered in the room, seeing the worried expression of Ruby and Blake, the stoic expression of Weiss, and the eager expression of Yang and Ash. Knowing Team RWBY, that couldn't be anything but trouble. Ash greeted them before exiting the room and headed to wherever his destination was.
"Yang vs. Ash," Ruby told them simply. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren nodded confirming their trouble theory. Nora on the other hand, bounced around in glee. "This isn't really the time to get excited about this. Ash doesn't have any Aura left, and Yang doesn't know how to hold back."
"It'll be fine Ruby," Yang assured her, though in vain as the worried expression on her sister stayed. "Besides, I don't think Ash would like it if I held back."
"It's a first strike duel," Weiss reminded her leader. "It'll probably end before anything either one of them get hurt."
"Maybe you're right," Ruby admitted, pretending to not see the worried look on Weiss.
The two of them, at the very least, realize that even if it's a first strike duel, it will only end after one clean hit. Any blocked blows can steal damage anyone, especially someone with no way of mitigating it.
The eight students exited the room and made their way to the training room, waiting patiently for Ash. Yang stood at the circular arena, making sure that Ember Celica was fully loaded; friend or not, she was going to fight with everything she has. The remaining seven simply sat at the sidelines, casually talking amongst themselves, and trying to ignore Nora who went on and on about how she wanted to duel Ash next; her only argument being it was she who gave Ash the idea.
After ten minutes or so, Ash entered the room. Strapped across his back and on his left arm was the sheathed sword and simple white bracer he used once against Cardin Winchester. Along with those, he had the two metal gloves in place of his usual ones.
He stepped in to the arena with Yang, while the eight students stared at the new gear on him. Some remembering the things he did to Cardin when he first wielded them.
"Ash," Weiss called out, standing up and making her way down to the arena. "I thought you sent those back."
"I tried Miss Schnee," he admitted, turning to her cautiously, not wanting to bring up any memory of the last time. "I asked Miss Winter to send it back, though she was still rather angry at me. Turns out that she had Miss Goodwitch hold on to it, just in case I changed my 'idiotic mind.' I'm sorry Miss Schnee, but it looks like I'll be continuing to wield these."
Ash knelt down on one knee to apologize to Weiss. She drew the sword from his back to examine, quickly grabbing it with both hands as to not accidently drop the blade due to its sheer weight.
"It's heavy," she commented randomly, evoking the curiosity of Ruby, Yang, and Jaune. The three made their way over, to inspect the weapon as well.
"The metal used is heavier than normal steel, but it shouldn't be that much heavier than any other sword of the same size," Ash explained as he stood up, his hand still helping support the weapon. "It's just a preference. The added weight feels better, more… normal."
The weapon was passed around between the four students interested in the weapon, Jaune drawing his own sword to compare the two. He held the blade of Crocea Mors in his right hand, and Ash's blade in the other. He struggled keeping the blade in his left hand balanced, the blade tipping down a slight.
"Ash I've been meaning to ask," Jaune started, sheathing his blade, and passing Ash's sword to Ruby, who analyzed its hilt and fuller with her sister's supervision. "Usually, someone would use a shield or maybe even another sword if they're going to partner a sword with something; but you, instead, use with a metal bracer. Why?"
"A bracer is the answer that I came up with when I made this practice," Ash answered. Jaune looked at him confused. "I studied different types of fighting styles and integrated them all to create my own style. It makes my attacks more unpredictable."
"Just like your hand to hand?" Jaune asked, wanting to confirm his thoughts. Ash nodded, with a smile.
"A metal bracer is enough to block and parry almost any blow I may receive," Ash added, adjusting the bracer on his arm, loosening and tightening the straps, moving the bracer to a more comfortable position.
He looked over to Ruby who was sluggishly swinging the sword around on her own. One has to wonder how she was able to swing Crescent Rose at super sonic speeds, but a sword far smaller than her own weapon was giving her trouble.
"You can do that with a shield too, you know," Yang told him. Ash turned to her and shook his head.
"While that is true Miss Xiao Long," Ash admitted, returning his attention back to Ruby, who now has Weiss trying to take the blade away from her before she got hurt. "A shield will also heavily limit you should you decide to wield the sword with both hands. You never know when you'll need that extra little force."
Ruby handed the blade back to Ash, who put the blade back in to its sheath. Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune stepped out of the arena while Yang and Ash made their way to opposite ends of the arena.
"The three of us will judge the match," Weiss announced to the two, referring to her, Ruby, and Jaune. "Land a clean hit or force the other out of the ring. Good luck you two."
Yang activated Ember Celica, as Ash drew the blade from his back with both hands, pointing the tip loosely at the floor. Any smile between the two disappeared, as, for right now, they are enemies.
"Any time you're ready Miss Xiao Long," Ash apprised.
"Let's make this more interesting Ash," she offered, looking to Weiss. "If I win, then you have to kiss your mistress."
Weiss took a step forward to complain, but stopped as Ash's laughter echoed throughout the room.
"All right," Ash accepted, making Weiss blush a little. "However if I win, then you mustn't bring it up ever again."
"I can live with that," Yang accepted, shrugging her shoulder. "Better put on that special lip gloss Ice Queen, it'll make it more enjoyable for the both of you."
Yang and Ash turned their attention to each other, both taking a breath. The two charged at each other as their duel began.
