Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.


The ride back from Vale with Weiss and Yang was not exactly the end to the evening that Jaune had been hoping for. He had thought they would be able to ride back in relative peace, as night pressed in on them he was sure Ruby would feel tired from the day's stress and their walk about the city. He had taken roughly double the recommended dose of anti-motion sickness medicine which he had brought with him exactly for this occasion. His hope was that the medication would allow him to weather the ride back to Beacon without incident and that perhaps his sleepy new girlfriend may rest her head on his shoulder during their ride back to school. He could gently wake her once they had arrived and get a sleepy smile. If he was particularly lucky she might grip his arm and lean on him for support during the short walk back to the dorms. Jaune longed for that sort of companionship from her, just the warm feel of her cheek pressed against his arms while they walked, her tiny calloused fingers entwined with his large firm ones, the soft tickle of her hair against his chin as she rested on the airship. These simple things were what Jaune was hoping for, but that night he got none of them.

Weiss and Yang were both fully aware of Ruby's feelings for Jaune and were mostly certain they understood how Jaune felt as well, he was not the most subtle of adorers. They were also fairly confident that Jaune was a respectable human being and would never in any way harm Ruby or do anything she wasn't comfortable with. But, when they did not return by the time they had mentioned they might be back, or a few hours later, or by lights out at the Academy, Weiss and Yang became worried. They would probably have stayed in the room and worried themselves to sleep had it been either of them alone, but together their sisterly fears on Yang's side and general distrust of men on Weiss's side seemed to build on one another and grow to unbearable proportions. They had stormed out of the room, leaving a rather befuddled Blake behind to wonder how they had so little trust for the other team leader and so little faith in their own.

Once they had made up their minds though, there was no point in even trying to stop the fiery blonde or the stubborn heiress and they had made up their minds to be upset with the two. Jaune and Ruby were dangerously unprepared for the onslaught they faced on the airship. Yang and Weiss together were armed with every possible terrible thing which could have happened, a million eventualities both plausible and ridiculous which had kept them up worrying and pacing the dorm. They began to unload on the pair until Yang's eyes had drifted down to see the hands, tightly gripping each other out of fear.

"Wait!" Yang's outburst cut Weiss off in the middle of an explanation of how they had no way of knowing that Jaune and Ruby had not been ambushed by White Fang or some of Torchwick's gang while they were in town unarmed. Weiss turned to Yang, surprised that she had cut her off, this one had been her idea after all. Weiss followed the blonde's gaze to her partner's hand, firmly wrapped around Jaune's.

"Ruby! Oh my Oum!" she squealed in a very un-Weiss-like fashion and brought her wrists together beneath her chin, hands clenched trying to contain her excitement. The new couple saw their friends had caught on and both turned away in embarrassment but kept their hands firmly grasped. They moved to sit down, with the airship well underway at this point, Ruby knew that Jaune would most likely be having trouble. They found a bench along the wall and Jaune leaned against a bulkhead, letting Ruby sit on the open part of the bench which Weiss and Yang immediately filled. Jaune leaned into the side of the ship partly to steady himself and partly hoping that Ruby would in turn lean on him. In the presence of her sister however, she sat up straight still holding his hand but with her back to him as she addressed her teammates.

"Yes you two. Do you get why we're late now? We've been walking and talking and uhh… holding hands all night. It has been.." she trailed off and turned to Jaune, a slight heat coloring her cheeks, "It's been really nice." she smiled and squeezed his hand a little. Jaune's face was again covered in a stupid grin accompanied now by a slight flush of embarrassment as he sat up. How could he have wanted more physical contact from her on their first night as a couple? And in front of her teammate and sister no less. He cleared his throat as he sat up and tried his best to look like a man without losing that foolish grin.

"I thought it would be better to ask her out simply like this. Away from everyone on both of our teams so it was just us." Jaune looked at the two girls he knew would be even harder to win over than Ruby and probably more important to his relationship with the little brunette.

"Oh wow Jaune. So you are capable of sense." Weiss mockingly turned her head away, chin held high in disdain. Yang gave her a playful elbow in the ribs, laughing merrily.

"Oh don't get all haughty Princess. You said 'no' to him plenty of times. Be happy for Ruby." Weiss turned back to them, the smallest hint of a smile playing at her usually perfectly composed lips.

"I am happy for you Ruby," she locked eyes with her partner, "I'm really glad it worked out this way." Yang burst the moment by kicking her feet up on the bench and leaning against the opposite bulkhead, placing Weiss and Ruby between their two blonde companions on the bench.

"Alright. So we've gotta sort something out first." Yang's infectious smile and lazy stance betrayed her overly serious tone, "Jaune." She regarded him warmly, "If I find you have laid a single wayward finger on my sister. Or if she ever comes to us in tears because of you. For any reason at all. I will end you. Do you understand?" Weiss and Ruby both flattened against the backrest so that Yang's violet eyes could close intently on Jaune's darting blue ones. Jaune squirmed under her stare, but felt a little boost of confidence when he caught Ruby's eyes watching him with concern. He ran his thumb in a little circle over the back of her hand and swallowed hard.

"Yang, I will do right by your sister. You can trust me." the knight in training steadied his eyes, facing down this terror with all the courage he could muster.

"Alright Arc. Just remember what I said." Yang sat up and clapped Weiss on the shoulder, "Come on Weiss, let's leave the two lovebirds to their business." Yang stood and pulled Weiss along with her to another part of the airbus so the two could have their privacy.

As soon as Yang and Weiss were far enough away Jaune breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Ruby stroked his arm with her free hand and loosened her grip slightly. Jaune looked up in surprise at her letting go of his hand. He loosened his grip as well, distinctly remembering Yang's warning from moments before. To his delight however, Ruby gave him a bright smile and as soon her hand was free, entwined her fingers with his and squeezed his hand comfortingly. She used her thumb to trace the outlines of his finger bones absentmindedly.

"I warned you about Yang you know." Ruby's voice was full of concern, "And it won't go away. But, you handled it really well Jaune." She smiled again and scooted closer to him, resting their hands in her lap. Jaune brightened at this, those kinds of little gestures were exactly the sorts of signs he had been looking for all night.

"I mean what I said Ruby." Jaune said and she looked up to meet his eyes, "I care about you, as a huntress, a friend and now as my girlfriend. I really want you to be happy." Ruby giggled excitedly and gripped his hand harder, her excitement putting an end to the nervous little circles her thumb had been running.

"Keep it up Jaune. Talk like that will get you everywhere." she smiled again and hugged his arm close to her. Then she just sat there, kicking her feet idly and looking out the window built into the roof of the skybus, watching the stars drift lazily by as the ship made its way towards their school. The moon was hanging low in the sky, most of the broken pieces and chunks had orbited around to the far side and the clean, unbroken face was turned toward them. Jaune smiled contentedly and relished in the small contact, her little expression of care and closeness. He turned his gaze up and looked out the skylight as well, content just to sit with her, together.


Jaune put himself between Ruby and the departing airship as it jets threw up a cloud of dirt and debris into the air around them. He knew she was fine, and that they all stood next to the things as they landed and took off, but if he could keep a little dirt off her cloak or out of her eyes by standing there, he would.

"Aww Jaune you really are a knight aren't you?" Yang had that mocking grin of hers on again, "She's a tough little rose you know, not scared of some dirt." Ruby smiled and grabbed Jaune's hand again, having let go of it as the descended the stairs from the air ship.

"I thought it was sweet. Thank you Jaune." She pulled him away by his hand, off towards the dorms. Jaune seemed content to let her lead the way, letting himself be drug along behind the feisty little brunette.

"You know it's gonna take more than that to get under their skin right?" Weiss asked of Yang as the new couple left earshot, "Ruby is immune to you after so many years and Jaune is far too dense for even your level of sarcasm." Yang grimaced playfully as she watched them retreat towards the rooms.

"I know, sheesh. I'm trying to be nice to my little sister though. It's her first real boyfriend." Yang crossed her arms and her grimace faded to a soft smile.

"Yang Xiao Long. Am I seeing your considerate, caring side?" Weiss turned on her teammate, laughter in her eyes and a smirk on her face.

"Shut it Princess. Don't tell a soul." Yang gave her a playful shove on the shoulder and started towards the dorms. Weiss laughed as she regained her balance and followed after her.

"Hey! Wait up you brute."


Thanks to their significant head start and Yang's purposefully slow pace Ruby and Jaune reached their opposite dorm room doors well ahead of the other pair. They stood between the doors and faced each other, backs to their own rooms. Jaune brought his hand down and grabbed Ruby's other hand so he was holding both her hands gently in front of himself. They smiled at each other in silence for a moment, looking into each other's eyes.

"Jaune, I had a really nice time with you tonight. And I'm really happy with what happened." Ruby blushed slightly and averted her eyes. Jaune pulled on one of her hands lightly to draw her eyes back up to his.

"I did too Ruby. I'm glad I finally asked." He let go of her hands and moved his own hands to just above her hips to pull her in. Ruby wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled all the way into a hug. Jaune easily let his arms slide around her slim torso, feeling the strings of her corset taught under his fingers. He held her close, but not tight and after a long moment she pulled away. They left their hands on each other's midsections, staring into each other's eyes again for a moment.

Jaune looked down at her and saw in the moonlight what he had seen a million times before in her, beauty. The red tips of her hair hung loosely around her face, framing her blushed cheeks and silver eyes against the dull background of the dorm walls. Her eyes shown bright in the mix of gentle moonlight and soft yellow lighting that drifted through the halls late at night. But the light reflected there was different, usually they were radiant with excitement and energy, shining like two bright candles. Now, they were warm and calm, glowing with happiness and contentment. His gaze drifted ever so slightly down to her lips, moist and full despite the late hour. Was it the right time? They had just had a first date of sorts and she seemed as happy as he was with the outcome. But what if Yang and Weiss came in, what if she wasn't ready, what if he was bad at it?

"We should go to bed." Ruby pulled one hand free and stifled a yawn with the back of her hand, "We still have classes tomorrow." Ruby pulled forward again into another hug, squeezing Jaune slightly tighter than before before releasing and turning to her door, scroll in hand, "I'll see you in the morning." she said with a sleepy grin and her head cocked off to the side so all her hair hung down one way.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Ruby." Jaune returned her smile and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see her leave. He heard the door open and close before he finally opened his eyes again, alone in the hallway. He hit himself repeatedly in the forehead with the base of his palm.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid Jaune. Why didn't you kiss her? Why didn't you even try? Stupid Jaune." he screamed at himself in his head. With a sigh he turned and opened his own door, resigning to be more of a man tomorrow. To get a good night's sleep and face his first day as half of a pair. What would Nora say?


Ruby slipped into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She sighed and rested her forehead against the door. Tonight had been great, she couldn't have imagined it going any better. The evening had started out with her nerves on end, worried about every eventuality and what might happen, mostly worried that nothing might happen. Ruby knew that if they had gone out tonight just as friends, that would have been the end of it. She would have locked her feelings for Jaune away and been the best friend she possibly could, but now, now she didn't have to do that and it made her so unbelievably happy. Jaune had asked her out. Without antics or overblown theatrics, no guitars or fireworks, just a simple question posed with a stammer in his voice and a blush on his cheeks.

Ruby stifled a small squeal and clenched her fists in excitement. Now she and Jaune were dating and they were gonna be so happy together. Ruby still felt bad for Pyrrha, she knew how strongly the other girl felt about Jaune, but she also knew that that didn't matter if Jaune didn't feel the same way about her. Still, she would do her absolute utmost to not gloat this in front of Pyrrha. She would limit any and all public displays of affection with Jaune and try to continue as normal around the Invincible Girl. She was her friend too and she didn't want to hurt her. With a resolution to make tomorrow great and try and her to best to not hurt any of her friend's feelings Ruby turned from the door to go to bed. She was immediately met by the glowing yellow eyes of her sister's partner, sitting up in bed with a small book clutched in her hands. She had stopped reading though and was waiting for Ruby to notice her.

"Welcome back Ruby." Blake smiled at her leader, "Did you have a good night?" Ruby lit up with excitement again, happy to share her joy with someone who seemed actually pleased at what had happened and wasn't upset with her like the other two. Ruby waved her hands about in the air and ran over to Blake's bed, plopping down just below the girl's feet, being careful to keep her boots off of the covers.

"Oh Blake it was fantastic! He took me out for coffee and acted like everything was normal and we were just talking about stuff. Then he stopped and got really serious and nervous and asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I was really really nervous about it. I didn't say anything at first because I was kinda scared. Then he started to take it back so I jumped and said yes because I didn't want him to take it back." Ruby rolled into a stream of words, letting Blake know every detail of what had happened in a matter of seconds, "Then we walked and walked and walked and walked around town and talked about all kinds of things. He got really nervous again near the end and asked if he could hold my hand. That made me nervous too because I've never held hands with a boy like that but I just grabbed his hand and it was really nice. I didn't think just holding hands with someone could be that big of a deal, but it's like…" she stopped mid sentence trying to find the best word to describe the feeling of holding hands with a boy, with someone she cared about, "It's really special. It made me feel really warm inside."

"I'm glad Ruby. It sounds wonderful. A real life romance novel." Blake shifted under the blankets, curling her legs closer to herself and sitting up a little straighter. She reached a hand out to gingerly touch Ruby's shoulder, "I'm so happy it worked for you Ruby."

Ruby's eyes glistened and she reached her hand up to cover Blake's for a moment before leaning in and hugging the other girl hard. Blake was startled at first, by the suddenness of Ruby's movement but quickly softened into the hug, petting the back of Ruby's head as she nuzzled into Blake's shoulder.

"Blake! Thank you so much for your advice. You're the best!" Blake let out a muted laugh and let Ruby pull out of the hug.

"It wasn't that much. I just want you to be happy." Blake said softly. Ruby smiled and jumped up from the bed.

"Okay, we should sleep. Classes tomorrow and stuff. I'm gonna take a quick shower." Ruby gave Blake a huge smile and skipped off to the other side of the dorm where the bathroom was. Blake watched her go smiling until she closed the bathroom door behind her. As the door closed and Blake was once again alone in the quiet dark of the room, she curled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs tight against herself.


As seemed to always be the case at Beacon and for Team RWBY especially, morning came much earlier than anyone would have liked. The alarms on everyone's scrolls began blaring as the sun pierced it's way through their large windows. Blake was already up, quietly brushing out her hair when Yang and Weiss rolled out of bed. Weiss yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"Hurry up Ruby, I need the shower." the heiress held a fist to her mouth to stifle the sound of her yawn and wiped the sleep from her eyes, there was no response from her team leader. She got up from bed and checked the bunk above her. Ruby was sprawled out on her mattress, covers in absolute disarray, one leg of her pajamas bunched up around her knee, arms and legs at awkward angles, snoring quietly and completely oblivious to her blaring scroll alarm. Weiss smirked and immediately headed for the bathroom, happy to take this opportunity at the first shower.

Yang saw her little sister and chuckled a little, "She had a long night," the blonde turned to her partner, "Were you up to talk to her last night?"

"Yes. She was rather excited by the whole evening." Blake finished her stroke and set down the brush, turning to Yang, "Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah like I said, Jaune seems alright and I know Nora and Pyrrha will be almost as mad as me if he does anything stupid and he has to live with them." Yang laughed, knowing the other two girls would not tolerate any nonsense from Jaune, they adored Ruby too much and held him to too high a standard as their leader.

They both heard the water start up in the bathroom with a hiss and steam started to roll lightly from under the door.

"Well, I'm going to head to the library before class. I want to pick up the sequel to this novel I finished last night." Blake rose from her seat by their mirror and grabbed her things for the day.

"Okay, see you in Goodwitch's class. Maybe we'll get to spar today." Blake shook her head with amusement and gave a small wave of farewell over her shoulder as she left.

Yang crept over to Ruby's bed and rested her hand gently on the sleeping girl's shoulder. She shook her slightly, mostly just rocking her shoulder back and forth, trying to ease her out of sleep.

"Hey c'mon Rubes. You gotta wake up. Time for class." Ruby slowly stirred from her sleep, her eyes fluttering open and immediately shutting against the harsh sunlight slanting through the window.

"Agghh. Turn the sun off," she mumbled through the covers she had thrown over her head.

"Alright, you're awake now, come on." Yang stepped back from the bed and started arranging her books and folders for their day of class. A few minutes passed and the shower in the bathroom stopped. Yang was digging through her drawers to find clothes for the day and heard Ruby behind her slide out of bed and land heavily on the floor. Yang turned just in time to see Ruby grabbing the doorknob of the bathroom, "Wait Ruby-"

Steam billowed out as the door opened, venting into the dorm to reveal a very naked heiress, toweling her hair off above her head, humming contentedly and bobbing her hips to the rhythm of some little song only she could hear. As the steam raced out of the bathroom she turned with a start, quickly dropping her towel over her naked form to cover herself and screaming.

"RUBY! Shut the door!" Ruby shut the door and spun, turning her back to the bathroom and shielding her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Oh my gosh, Weiss I'm so sorry." Ruby opened her eyes slowly, and stepped away from the door. She sat on the edge of Weiss's bunk and patiently waited for the other girl to finish her business and emerge from the bathroom on her own time. After a few moments Weiss came out mostly dressed, hair still damp and in loose tangles down her shoulders. Ruby stood to meet her, "I'm sorry Weiss, I'm used to being first. I should have knocked."

"Just go," Weiss pointed a finger towards the bathroom and Ruby glumly followed, head down and closed the door behind herself.

"You really should have locked the door." Yang regarded Weiss, who was currently trying to brush the tangles out of her hair.

"Ruby should have knocked. Your sister is just unbelievable Yang. How could she walk in on me like that? What if Blake had been in here? What if someone else saw?" Weiss was now angrily trying to get a stubborn knot out of her hair with the brush.

"Well she wasn't the only one who saw." Yang smirked at the flustered girl, loving the little blush she had managed to create. Weiss steamed in frustration and threw the brush at Yang who ducked it easily, laughing the whole time, "What?" Yang flashed her a huge grin, "You looked good doing your little happy dance." Yang ducked as a makeup brush was hurtled from the dressing table at her, "Come on Weiss. I just saw you shaking what the Schnee's gave you."

"Yang! Ahh You savage!" Weiss stamped her foot in anger but had a now massive blush across her face. The toilet flushed and Ruby emerged from the bathroom, drying her hands on a small towel. Yang raced past her into the bathroom to escape Weiss's fury.

"Weiss what's wrong?" Ruby asked seeing her blush, "I didn't see anything, I promise. There was steam and I closed my eyes and I promise." Weiss's embarrassment faded into scornful anger.

"You have to pay more attention Ruby." Weiss turned and began running the brush through her hair again. Ruby's head fell and she turned to get out her clothes for the day.

"Sorry Weiss."

About an hour later the three girls were all dressed and ready, most of the time having been devoted to Weiss and Yang's long hair and all of the care that had to go into taking care of it and brushing it on a daily basis. They emerged from the room ready to face the day. Jaune was standing in the hallway leaning against the wall next to his door and browsing his scroll. He looked up as the three girls emerged and smiled to see Ruby.

"Good Morning!" He pushed off the wall and went straight to Ruby, wrapping her up in a hug which she eagerly returned.

"Morning Jaune." Yang said cheerfully.

"Good Morning Jaune," Ruby snuggled her head into the crook of his shoulder before pulling away. Ruby stepped off to the side of Jaune so that they were in a small circle in the hallway.

"What was all that screaming this morning? Nora almost kicked down both of our doors to see what was going on." Jaune looked to all three of them with honest curiosity.

"Oh Jaune, it was terrifying. You'll never believe-" Weiss punched Yang in the shoulder before she could really get going, but the big blonde just laughed it off.

"That was Ruby needing to learn manners." Weiss retorted with derision. Ruby's head fell again and she sighed.

"No way. Not Ruby. She's definitely the sweetest girl here." Jaune reached an arm over and around Ruby's shoulder, pulling her into a weak side hug. She giggled and cheered up, but still pulled out of the hug so they were just standing by each other again.

"As team leader, I think we should completely forget this morning happened." Ruby chirped happily.

"Oh wow that bad huh?" Jaune turned to his girlfriend.

"It was worse than that." Weiss was obviously still upset.

"Ha no way Ruby. I couldn't forget it if I tried." Yang received another punch from her sister's partner and the white haired girl stormed off down the hallway. Yang laughed her usual boisterous laugh, "Well I'll leave you two alone. Don't be late to class now." Yang winked at them and walked casually down the hall after her other teammate. Ruby crossed her arms in a playful pout.

"You see what happens when I try to be a leader?" She turned to Jaune with her cheeks puffed out in mock anger.

"What did you do to Weiss? Did Zwei like lick her face or something?" Jaune reached forward and grabbed one of her hands, uncrossing her arms and interlocking his fingers with her own. She looked up and down the hallway quickly and relaxed her arms, sliding her fingers into his.

"She likes that though. She could never be mad at Zwei. No I might have… kind of… walked in on her in the shower." Ruby blushed again, remembering what had happened in all too vivid detail.

"Is that really that big of a deal? Ren and I share the bathroom all the time to change and shower and stuff. I figured since you were all girls you just never bothered except when you were like, you know, using the restroom." Jaune looked honestly confused.

"What? No, eww Jaune that's gross. I mean Yang and me do sometimes but we're sisters." Ruby recoiled at the thought of sharing a bathroom that openly with her teammates.

"Oh well, I guess it's just a guy thing maybe." Jaune turned and they walked hand in hand down the hallway.

Mornings at Beacon were refreshing and full of energy. Most students had an early class focused on physical development, whether this was training, sparring, or exercise depended on their schedules and what their team leaders thought they needed the most work on. After that there was a short lecture course and a break which most everyone used to get breakfast and then it was into the more academic classes for the day. Battle Theory, Strategy, Grimm Biology, History, even political courses so that the young warriors in training could understand the impact that Huntsmen and Huntresses had had on the world in the past and what impact they might have in the future. Confident in their physical conditioning, both Teams RWBY and JNPR had opted for their teams to enroll in Goodwitch's sparring class for their mornings. Ruby and Jaune got to the classroom just before class started, the rest of their two teams were already seated and chatting amongst themselves. In the middle of the group they had all left two seats side by side. This made it so that Jaune and Ruby could sit with each other and still with their teams as was required. The new couple made their way down the rows and Ruby deftly slipped her hand out of Jaune's so she could squeeze down the aisle.

Jaune followed behind her, trying to wiggle past Weiss, Yang and Blake without rubbing against them or jostling their notes as best he could. Ruby had a much better time of it, she was all of what, two inches thick? Jaune's waist and legs had a little more girth to them and he nearly knocked Blake's textbooks forward into the row in front of them. He got past the last one and realized he should have gone first, because now he had to push past Ruby as well. She remained standing and he took the opportunity to try and hold her for one last second before class. He came in front of her and went to reach down to her waist and hold her for a moment but Ruby stepped to the side letting him pass.

"Sorry Jaune, there you go." He had wanted to be smooth and with that ruined he resigned to taking his seat by her side. After he finished sidling into place she took her seat and sat down with a huff, "I'm so tired. I hope Goodwitch doesn't call on me to spar."

"Well maybe someone shouldn't be staying out so…" Weiss's chaste comment faded into a muffled yawn and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand, "Oh, excuse me." she shook her head a little to shake off the yawn, "that is your fault Ruby." Ruby hung her head.

The rest of class continued as usual, with several sparring rounds and short lectures from Professor Goodwitch on the strong and weak qualities of every bout. Luckily Ruby was not chosen to spar, unfortunately, Weiss was. The heiress shot Ruby a a withering glare as she made her way to the combat floor. She had been chosen to fight Russel Thrush, a dagger wielding boy with a mohawk from team CRDL. Weiss won the battle but definitely not as gloriously as she would have liked. Several missteps and a botched glyph meant that the boy was able to score several hits before she took out what should have been a worthless opponent. She returned to their tables and gave Ruby and Jaune a condescending glance but said nothing.

After class was released and they were in the hallway, Weiss's anger was unleashed.

"I swear you two. You have been dating for what? A full twelve hours? And you've already managed to ruin my morning and have me perform terribly in class." Weiss was steaming mad, cornering the new couple in the hallway until Pyrrha came to their rescue.

"Weiss. You did not perform terribly. You defeated your opponent while at a distinct disadvantage. That is a victory." Pyrrha stood calmly and regarded the heiress with her large emerald eyes, the authority of a champion pouring out of her.

"But I could have been better if I wasn't so tired. And Pyrrha you don't even want to know what Ruby did this morning." Weiss turned her fury on the taller girl, unwilling to be quenched so easily. Ruby blushed at the reminder of that morning and began to fidget with her cloak, worried that Weiss may be about to spill the beans on what had happened to possibly their most reserved friend. Pyrrha saw Ruby's change and turned back to Weiss.

"I will trust that whatever happened this morning was purely an accident. But Weiss, that sparring match was more helpful than you know. When we are huntresses out in the wild, fighting Grimm for our life, we will have to fight under all sorts of conditions, tired, sick, rain and snow. If every practice you are well rested, well fed and fighting in optimum conditions then you will never be truly prepared." Pyrrha put both hands on her hips in an authoritative manner.

"Well.. that's true but…" Weiss rapidly searched her brain for a comeback.

"And would Russel have been a challenge in any other setting?" Pyrrha knew that by appealing to Weiss's pride she would have the battle won.

"No. No, you're right. The battle would have been a waste of time if I was properly prepared." Weiss turned to Ruby and Jaune, "You two still aren't getting off though. I need my sleep and so do you." With that the heiress tromped away down the hall, shoes clacking against the hard tile floor.

"Oh Pyrrha thankyouthankyouthankyou." Ruby dove forward and gave the other girl a quick hug around the waist, "That was awesome, I've never seen anyone shut Weiss down like that."

"Yes well. It wasn't a bother really. It just wasn't fair her berating you two like that." Pyrrha's shoulders and stance relaxed into a more friendly posture and she gripped her left forearm with her right hand.

"You should have seen her last night, unloading on us on the way back from our date." Jaune rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes as he laughed. At the mention of Ruby and Jaune on a date Pyrrha stiffened slightly, gripping her arm a little tighter. Ruby didn't even have to see her react to know she would at that comment and piped up.

"Oh no. I forgot my book for Oobleck's class in my room. I'll be right back." Ruby went to dash away but stopped at Jaune's voice.

"You can share with me Ruby. So you don't have to run all the way back." He smiled, hoping for the opportunity to lean over the same book with her.

"That's okay, I'll be back in a flash. Ruby Rose is never late!" and she was gone in a flurry of rose petals. Jaune laughed as the red blur that was his girlfriend vanished around a corner.

"She just never stops." he turned to his teammate, "Well we might as well head to class then. She'll meet us there." Jaune turned and walked off towards their next course. Pyrrha squeezed herself and sighed quietly under her breath, waiting a moment and watching as Jaune walked away. He rounded the corner without looking back and her shoulders drooped. There was gust of wind and a flurry of rose petals fell on Pyrrha's shoulders, accompanied by a small brunette girl standing in front of her. Ruby hugged Pyrrha, gripping her tight and not letting go. Pyrrha was shocked at first but then relaxed into the hug and returned it. After a moment Ruby spoke up.

"He's a really great guy Pyrrha."

"Yes he is. I'm very happy for you two Ruby. I wish you the best." Pyrrha looked up at the ceiling, trying to prevent any tears from welling up in her eyes.

"Thank you Pyrrha. You're one of the best friends I could ever ask for." Ruby squeezed her again and let go, "Now come on, let's get to class." She grabbed Pyrrha gently by the hand and pulled her off down the hallway.


A/N - A lot of the chapters for this story will be around this length. There is a lot to get through in any one chapter and I never want to leave a set of characters for too long. What are your thoughts on the piece so far? Do you like the different things going on? Are you a Lancaster hater like so many? Please let me know what you think, I love talking to people as they read.

Sadly this is the last update for this story until July 7 when I return from LA. I tried to time it so there was a long chapter with lots to think about before the break to try and hold you over. I may also try and write some little one-shot pieces between now and then but I wouldn't count on it, the shows get really busy.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and keeping up with the story. I hope you're enjoying it.

-Zach