I SURVIVED THE FALL SEMESTER! *curls up into fetal position and cries*

Long time no see everyone. I missed you guys! This past semester was crazy busy, and that's why you haven't heard from me in a while. I want to apologize to the people who messaged me and I told them it would only be a few more days until the next chapter, but it's been a week instead. I'm sorry! This chapter took forever. First off the original copy got deleted, then I changed things as I re-wrote it, then I didn't like the changes and changed them again, and then I didn't like the ending! I finally just decided that I would post what I have and I could edit anything later rather than keep you guys waiting any longer.

Thank you everyone who messaged me, and thank you guys for still being interested in the story. I hope you guys like the update- despite it only being 5,000 words long.


Weiss lightly ran a finger across the outer edge of the bandage on Ruby's head. The younger girl had fallen asleep not long after their conversation, and Weiss couldn't bring herself to wake the sleeping girl when she looked so peaceful. She frowned as she lightly traced the bruising on Ruby's face. She couldn't believe that the fifteen-year-old could just shrug off such an injury; one she claimed was caused by getting kicked by someone with metal attached their legs. What kind of person would even think to do something like that?

She didn't know how to deal with all the information Ruby had given her. Ruby and her sister have led a far more dangerous life than Weiss would have thought. She didn't blame the sisters for anything they had done- illegal or otherwise- if it meant surviving, but how much longer could they really live like that? Yang was already seventeen, and could be tried as an adult for any so called crimes she was caught committing. Technically being a fighter in an illegal gambling den wasn't illegal in and of itself, but if the authorities ever raided the place and she was caught Weiss doubted things would work out all that well.

Ruby's position was just as bad. Carrying large amounts of money every day made the chance of being caught even higher. The younger girl's speed made a lot more sense now. She probably had to run as fast as possible to help avoid being caught. Her fighting ability made a lot more sense now as well. The most troubling thought was that Ruby had learned all of her skills out of necessity.

Weiss pulled her hand away and gently sat up on the bed. She looked around the room; at all the stuff she had not because she earned it, but because she just happened to be born a Schnee. She never had to work for anything; not the basic things that everyone took for granted. Looking at the smaller girl asleep on her bed, with bruises on her face, and a sleepy smile- Weiss felt so incredibly lacking in comparison. Ruby Rose was by far the most incredible person she had ever known.

She silently got up and moved to her desk. She would let Ruby sleep for a while so she could try and do some more research into Ruby's family. If she could find out what really happened then maybe she could get Ruby and Yang out of this life. She had her own suspicions about Yang's family, and if she could prove them right then they were sisters in more ways than one.

She spent the next hour or so reading through all the same material she had found on Ruby's missing child case. She rubbed her temples as a headache threatened in frustration. Scouring the articles over and over again yielded nothing new, but the only other way she was going to get new information was from Ozpin who was still away.

A sudden ringing sound caused her to jump. Quickly shutting the laptop lid she turned just as Ruby groaned awake and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Yaaaang, what do you want?" The younger girl yawned and blinked blearily as she looked around the room. Weiss moved to sit beside her again on the bed as the brunette took her call.

"I fell asleep, and Weiss didn't wake me up." Ruby pouted at her, but Weiss refused to feel bad about letting the other girl rest.

"No Yang…seriously? Are you or are you not on a date with Blake?" Weiss blinked in surprise. Yang…and Blake? I know I only met the girl once, but Blake seems far too reserved to suit the loudmouth blonde. So if they are together…does that mean that Ruby is ok with…Not that I want to know for any particular reason! I'm just…curious…about her feelings. Feelings on the subject in general, not anything specific…

It was only until a hand began to wave in front of her face that Weiss realized that Ruby was trying to get her attention.

"Weiss! You ok in there?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sorry. What is it?" She cleared her throat as she heard the slight nervous cracking sound in her voice.

"Yang invited us to hang out with them for a bit. If you don't mind going out again."

"That sounds nice actually. If we're not intruding on their date, that is." Ruby shook her head at that.

"Nah, she already said it's cool." She put the phone back up to her ear. "Yeah we can meet you guys somewhere…How about Verde Park? It's not too far from either of us…Ok, see you then."

Weiss insisted on driving them there, still concerned about the smaller girl's concussion. Ruby needed as much rest as possible, and physical activity should be kept to a minimum.

Weiss followed Ruby's directions to an old park that was on the edge of becoming forgotten. Younger children played on an old jungle gym that was starting to show more rust through the bright colored paint, and there was the squeak of rusty hinges sounding from the swing set. The surrounding grounds were only slightly overgrown and dotted with aging picnic benches. Weiss thought back and couldn't recall what any parks she had visited as a child had been like, but knowing her father she doubted they had been like this. She certainly didn't remember ever having to play in faded brown mulch.

"They're all barefoot," she couldn't but comment as she looked around. "Don't they worry about getting splinters?"

Ruby turned questioning silver eyes to her. "You never played in the mulch barefoot?" She shook her head.

"Oh, well any splinters you might get from mulch are usually big enough to get out yourself. Plus, most of these kids probably only have one pair of shoes, so they don't want to wear them down too fast by wearing them all the time. I remember I didn't have shoes for almost a whole month once before Yang found a pair someone had donated to a shelter that were about my size."

Weiss didn't know how to respond to that, and thankfully it didn't appear that Ruby expected one. The brunette spotted her sister a second later and rushed over to a tree where the blonde and Blake were sitting. She followed behind slowly. Why does everything she tell me break my heart in some way or another?

Coming up upon the trio she found Ruby grinning at her sister, who was pouting as Blake laughed silently into her hand.

"What did I miss?" Ruby turned to her with a chuckle.

"I asked Blake how she liked the food at Bumble Bees."

Weiss was confused why that statement would cause the reactions she had seen, and Blake took up the explanation for Ruby.

"She didn't know where we were going, but apparently Yang is so predictable that Ruby accurately guessed almost our entire date. Even down to how Yang tried to tell me the place was really 'buzzing' or that the food was the 'bees knees'." Blake rolled her eyes a little as Ruby chuckled.

"It's funny!" Yang glared slightly at the two girls. "Those were fantastic jokes, but I guess it takes only true genius to appreciate them."

Weiss smiled as they proceeded to all poke fun at each other. She didn't join in much, not used to such interactions, but she was content to just sit and listen. If she didn't know about the sisters past she never would have guessed that they lived the lives they did. She could only guess at Blake's story, but was sure it was no less complicated than the sister's. She glanced around at the children running around and wondered just how many of them were living a life in a similar situation. If she had never met Ruby, never gotten to know her, she wasn't sure she would have ever given a second thought to kids in the 'lower' sections of Vale.

That's what her father always said. Phrases like 'lower classes' and 'baseborn' peppered her childhood. Looking back she now realized that her whole upbringing was based on getting her to believe that she was somehow inherently 'better' than others. She was 'upper class' and 'highborn'. She was Weiss Schnee; before she met Ruby that had meant something. At least she had thought it did.

Now that she knew a little bit more about her father, understood more of his mindset, she just wanted a way to not be a Schnee.


Qrow Branwen lifted his small, metal flask to his mouth; groaning a second later when he found it empty. He set it down with a dull thud on his aged desk and leaned back in his chair. Sighing in disappointment he turned his gaze back to the piece of paper that had a name and phone number written down on it. Weiss Schnee.

Normally he wouldn't think he was the kind of person to judge someone before ever meeting them, but most people weren't Schnees.

Somehow the Schnee girl was connected to Ruby Rose, the girl he had been trying to find for what felt like a lifetime. He had given up hope of ever finding her, had only really kept up the search because Taiyang and Summer needed him to. To hear that she was alive and well in Vale was like a miracle, and he had always been wary of miracles. Very few times in his life had things gone his way, but if Ozpin was so sure that this girl was really Ruby then he needed to see for himself.

If only he didn't have to deal with a Schnee to do it. The father was the very definition of corrupt, the eldest daughter a tightwad daddy's girl, and as far he was concerned the youngest children couldn't be any better. He had dealt with Winter Schnee a few times, and sometimes he thought there might be hope for her; except she always ran to Papa Schnee if he called. He really didn't want to deal with another Schnee kid.

He stood up from his desk to pace around the tiny office. Running his fingers through his dark, unkempt hair he tried to focus on the most important part of all this. Ruby Rose was alive, and she as close. Maybe if he just picked up the damn phone and called the number he would get to see her again; get to make good on that promise he made to his best friends years ago to bring her back to them.

But what if it wasn't her?

That's what he was truly afraid of. Ozpin made a good argument that there couldn't be many kids running around looking exactly like Summer with the name Ruby, but what if it truly wasn't her? After so long he had convinced himself that Ruby was gone for good, maybe even dead. Every police officer knew that in the case of missing children if the child wasn't found within the first forty-eight hours then the chances of finding that child alive and well dropped dramatically. Having her show up after ten years would be too good to be true.

After a few more minutes of his internal struggle he walked over and picked up his phone. If he could do anything for his friends then he would like to be able to return one of their children to them.


Ruby let her mind drift as she lay on the grass in the park with the sun on her face. It felt good to relax, not having to worry about being somewhere or doing something. She smiled as she heard Weis laugh at something Blake had just said; probably something at Yang's expense if the grumbling she heard from her sister was any indication.

She almost felt normal like this. Like she, Yang, and Blake were all just regular kids hanging out with a friend on a nice afternoon. Right now they weren't street kids, and Weiss wasn't filthy rich. She knew the feeling wouldn't last so she was determined to enjoy every second of it.

Suddenly there was a tap on her shoulder. Blinking in the bright sunlight she sat up with a groan.

"Hmm?"

"I think your bandage needs changed. It looks like some blood is starting to seep through." It was Blake, whose Amber eyes were looking at her with concern. Yang and Weiss now looked worried, blue and purple eyes reflecting worry back at her.

"She's right lil' sis. That gauze is starting to look a little pink."

"Should that even still be bleeding? Perhaps we should take her to a doctor."

She held up her hands. "Weiss, I'm fine. Head wounds bleed a lot, so a little blood is nothing to be concerned about. Besides I'm more concerned with how Blake's stitches are doing. I didn't get a chance to look at them today."

She saw Weiss look Blake over, but the bandages were hidden under the faunus's long sleeved shirt.

"Stitches?"

Blake grimaced slightly. "They're fine, Ruby. I checked them before we left the apartment. I still think we should go back and get some more gauze for that."

She sighed as Weiss' attention returned to her bandaging. She had been hoping to steer the conversation away from herself, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"But it's so nice here," she whined. "We'd have to leave to either go home, or buy some from a store. It's not that big anyway so it should be fine for a little while."

She saw Weiss' eyes narrow slightly before they turned to look at Yang and Blake. "Why do I get the feeling that 'not that big' is an understatement of her injury? I mean she says she got it from som-." "WEISS!" Ruby interrupted quickly. She hadn't told Weiss that Yang didn't know the real reason she hurt her head!

The other girls flinched at her slight shriek, especially Blake. "It's really not that bad, so you shouldn't really concern yourself with it. I mean you should see Blake's cut, it goes all the way own her forearm. Yang has some serious bruising on her sides that you should see. They're all purple and black and painful looking."

She scratched the back of her head as the other three girls looked at her like she had gone nuts. She frantically searched for something else to say, but just before it looked like Weiss was about to say something her phone rang in her pocket. Ruby sighed in relief at the unexpected save.

Weiss looked down at her phone and frowned for a second before suddenly her eyes widened in shocked recognition. The older girl stood up quickly and excused herself to take her call. Ruby watched her walk a few feet away before she felt a small shiver go down her back. Apprehensively she turned to look at her sister, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest and was glaring slightly.

"Want to tell me what that was all about, little sis?"

Ruby almost whimpered. Yang's voice was far too calm, which meant she was really angry. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you freaked out the second Weiss started to talk! I heard what she said before you interrupted her. You told her how you got that cut on your head, but didn't want her to say anything around me; which tells me you must have been doing something you know I won't approve of!" Her sister was visibly gritting her teeth in anger.

Blake placed her hand on Yang's shoulder. "We're just concerned about you getting hurt. If you keep getting hurt because you're stuck in a bad situation then maybe Yang just wants to help. Right, Yang?"

Lavender eyes turned to look into concerned yet stern amber. The blonde took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Yeah, yeah. I just want to help, Rubes. Why can you tell Weiss and not me?"

Ruby didn't know how to respond. She had never seen her sister calm down so fast and right now he didn't know how to handle a calm Yang. She also realized that by telling Weiss and not her she had inadvertently hurt Yang's feelings. Now she felt doubly guilty.

"I just…I'm fine." She clasped her hands together tightly. She knew her sister would pursue this, she just didn't know what to say anymore.

"Rubes, we've been over this. You're not fine. I didn't say anything last night, but you almost used a knife on somebody last night. You never condone weapons in fights. You're changing Ruby, you act like you're not but you are. I don't like it, and I still don't understand what you told Weiss that you can't tell me."

She just shook her head. She didn't say anything because she knew her sister was true to a degree. Cinder had mentioned it too, she was becoming angrier. More like she was becoming more tired with her life, and she was becoming too tired to deal with her emotions better.

"Do you still think about getting away from Oakmont and the Warehouse? About getting a nicer apartment and a real job?" Yang's eyes widened at her questions. Blake raised an eyebrow, never having heard about this before.

Ruby knew the answer though. Yang had stopped thinking about getting out of their life, no longer thought it was possible. She had never confronted her about it, but that was how she had formed the idea to become a fighter for Cinder. She wouldn't give up on it, and she didn't want Yang to be a fighter any more than Yang wanted her to be one.

"Ruby…I know we always used to talk about it, but how is that even possible for us? We always said we'd get real jobs, but how? We have no marketable skills, no education; if we try to leave we'll have no address to put down on a resume. I just think that we have to look at this realistically. At least with Oakmont we have a way to make a living, and a roof over our heads."

Ruby felt a spark of anger, and she decided to not tamp it down. "Some life! Make a living? For what? We don't have anything! You think I'm stuck in a bad situation? We're already stuck in a bad situation!" She gestured to include Blake in that statement. "I'm tired, Yang. I'm just tired."

With that she laid down on the ground and rolled so her back was to them.


Weiss frowned at her caller I.D, not recognizing the number but thinking there was something familiar about it. Suddenly she remembered that she had dialed this number before.

"I have to take this, I'll be right back."

Leaving the three girls where they were she moved walked so she was out of earshot before answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Weiss Schnee?" She remembered that raspy voice quite clearly, especially how it had hung up on her.

"It is, Mr. Branwen. How can I help you?" She let a bit of the irritation she felt seep into her voice, and took some satisfaction that there was a startled pause on the other end of the line.

"How did-""I've contacted you before Mr. Branwen. You hung up on me, and all I was doing was asking questions about Ruby Rose's family."

The silence stretched longer this time until finally a heavy sigh sounded through the phone. "Well shit," he said softly. She blinked in surprise. "Look, I'm sorry about that Ms. Schnee. Is it ok if we talk about Ruby now?"

Weiss felt her heart rate pick up a bit. Was she finally going to get some answers about Ruby's past?

"Yes, that would be fine. I have a few questions I would like answered myself."

"Of course. First can I just ask that you do actually know Ruby Rose? Ozpin said that you did, but until now I didn't really believe him."

"Yes, I do. In fact, I am spending some time with her right now. She is only about fifteen feet away."

"What does she look like?" She raised an eyebrow at the question, but decided it was a valid one to determining Ruby's identity.

"She is very petite, about 5'2 with short, dark hair with red tips. Her eyes are silver."

"She sounds just like Summer." She thought his voice sounded a little thick with emotion, but she didn't comment on it.

"I've looked into this myself, and from what I can see she looks almost exactly like Summer did in high school."

"Where has she been? Is she in trouble, and she can't contact anyone?"

She frowned. A small part of her had dreaded that her family hadn't looked as hard as they said they did, but he sounded so concerned she couldn't think that was the case.

"She thinks her family abandoned her." "WHAT?!"

She winced and pulled the phone away from her ear at his shout.

"Why does she think that?! We've looked for her for years!"

"Maybe because her father left her sitting behind a dumpster for three days and never came back!" She snapped into the phone. She may not know the whole story, but she was working off of Ruby's memories and she was not happy about what she knew.

"She doesn't know she was looked for, all she knows is that she was afraid and alone in a dirty alley for three days when she was five years old!"

"We have to talk to her, explain what really happened. Do you think I could get to see her? To try and convince her to see her family?"

"I don't think she'll be too receptive of that considering how she literally ran away from Ozpin. She wants nothing to do with anyone who knows her from before."

She heard him curse softly under his breath.

"Look, Mr. Branwen I am very interested in hearing what really happened for myself before I try and convince Ruby of anything. I should get back to her since she is waiting, but is there a time that we could talk again?"

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, if you want you can come down to my office anytime. I've cleared my schedule since Oz called so I'm free basically all day."

She confirmed his address and hung up. She breathed in deeply before turning around to rejoin the three girls still under the tree. She came up to them but found them all silent, and Ruby had her back turned to the other two.

"Is everything ok?"

Ruby sat back up to meet her eyes. "Yeah I'm just really tired. I think I'm gonna head home to get some rest."

She couldn't help but feel a small pang of disappointment, but if Ruby wasn't feeling well she would prefer she get some rest anyway.

"Ok, do you need a ride home?"

"Nice try Weiss. I'll walk."

"Text me when you get home then to let me know that you're ok."

The younger girl nodded before turning and walking down the street. She watched until the younger girl was out f sight before turning to the other two who had still yet to say a word.

"I'm surprised you two let her go off alone. What happened while I was on the phone?"

The blonde seemed to collect herself quickly and leaned back on her arms. "Nothing happened, snowflake. Ruby and I don't have to do everything together."

Weiss and Blake shared an unimpressed stare at the blonde's words.

"Yang and Ruby are having a small fight. They should get over it by tonight." Blake ignored the blonde's glare.

"She's keeping something from me Blake. We don't keep secrets from each other, and she won't let me help her when she is obviously doing something that is hurting her. If she doesn't want my help, then fine!"

"Is this about you guys working at a secret fight club thing for Oakmont?"

The two girls turned startled eyes to her and she fidgeted nervously.

"Ruby told me a bit about what you guys do, like you two are fighters and she delivers winnings from bets."

Yang frowned heavily and huffed. "Well she seems to have no problem telling Weiss everything. Guess it's just me."

"Yang you know it isn't like that. I get the feeling that whatever Ruby is doing is really important to her, and I bet she's afraid that you won't approve of it. For right now we just have to wait for Ruby to come to us."

Weiss nodded as Blake finished. "There are still plenty of things that Ruby hasn't told me. I don't know what you think she told me and not you, but she still keeps a lot to herself."

Yang got a thoughtful look on her face before slowly nodding. "One question. What did Ruby tell you about that cut on her forehead?"

"Well, she said she was kicked by someone who had metal plates attached to his shins. The force split the skin on her forehead…and…" She trailed off as Yang got an absolutely murderous look on her face. The blonde jumped to her feet.

"Who was it?!" Yang seethed. "I'll kill'em, whoever they are. They don't know what they just got themselves into."

Blake grabbed ahold of Yang's arm and tried to calm the enraged girl down. Weiss realized that Yang hadn't known what happened, and that was why Ruby had freaked out when she almost mentioned it before.

"Yang, she didn't give a name or anything. You now know as much information about it as I do."

Yang stood there breathing heavily, obviously trying to reign in her temper. Finally calming down somewhat she sat back down and put her head in her hands.

"I just don't know why she won't talk to me. It sounds like she's into something worse than she has led me to believe, and I don't know why."

Weiss didn't know how to comfort the other girl, honestly would feel uncomfortable even trying to. She would leave that for Blake to do.

After Yang had calmed down a bit more they all decided to go home. Some awkward good-byes ensued, and they went their separate ways. Weiss drove back to her house in a thoughtful haze. She had a lot think about how she was going to mention Yang to Qrow when she met up with him. She knew that Ruby would never agree to meet her family if Yang wasn't somehow involved, and Weiss was still about 80% sure that Yang and Ruby were actually related. Xiao Long was not a common last name, and given that Ruby's father's name was Taiyang it would be a really big coincidence it they weren't related.

Arriving back at home she immediately moved to her bedroom. She heard the ding of a text on her phone, and saw that it was Ruby making good on her promise to contact her when she got home. She sent a quick text back to say thank you, and to invite Ruby over to her house again. Ruby responded quickly that she would love to come over again, and Weiss felt a small rush of relief that she would get to see the younger girl again so soon.

Weiss was finally getting to a point where she could admit to herself that Ruby might mean more to her than just a friend. She had feelings for the younger girl she had never felt with anyone else, and she didn't know what to do about it. Sometimes she thought that Ruby might feel the same way about her, but then she would tell herself that she was wrong. She was so conflicted. Maybe once all of the mysteries about Ruby's past were cleared up, if the younger girl reunited with her family, and if she could gather up her courage enough she would approach Ruby with her feelings. Until then she was determined to just enjoy all the moments that they had together.