Revised on: April 29, 2018
Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
Long ago, the four nations coexisted in harmony. Together, they stood against the forces of Grimm, creatures of nightmare hailing from another world.
Only the Avatar could master all four elements. Only he could banish the Grimm. But when the world needed him most… he vanished.
Remnant learned to truly fear the Grimm. And just as it seemed like things couldn't get any worse… The Fire Nation attacked.
Fifteen years have passed since chaos descended upon Remnant, but now a new Avatar awakens: my daughter, a young airbender named Ruby. And although her airbending skills are great, she still has a lot to learn before she's able to save anyone.
But I believe that Ruby can save the world.
Book One: Water
Chapter Fourteen: The Flower Festival
"Ah, the smell of the sea," Ruby took in a deep breath, then sighed happily. "How I've missed you…"
"You never showed such enthusiasm when we were on my ship," Weiss pointed out, her eyes burning holes on the back of the redhead's neck.
"I d-didn't?" Ruby stammered. "Uh, I loved that ship! Yep! Best method of transportation! Very, very efficient!"
Weiss rolled her eyes, but decided to let the matter go. It wasn't important. Besides, she couldn't deny she too was enjoying being so close to shore again.
After parting ways with Qrow, they had resumed their journey, taking a turn for the northeast of the Earth Kingdom. It would be much easier to find Haven if they traced the coastline, instead of bumbling through the countryside like a trio of lost circus monkey-bats.
That line of action brought some risks, though. By staying close to the sea, they risked being spotted by Fire Nation ships. For all they knew, General Torchwick might have abandoned his fortress and gone chasing after them. Yang Xiao-Long was probably on their trail too. Because of that, they agreed on some precautions, like not making too much noise or separating for longer than was necessary.
Of course, Weiss had devised all the precautions. Ruby and Jaune just accepted them, neither very eager to bring forth her wrath.
"Ruby, could you stop jumping for at least one minute?" Weiss groaned. "I swear, an old man with decaying vision would be able to spot you moving like that."
"Sorry." Ruby immediately planted her feet on the ground and set her eyes on her feet. She proceeded to walk forward rigidly, occasionally stealing nervous glances at the princess.
Weiss' eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Jaune," she whispered. "Come over here."
Jaune had been lagging behind a little, appreciating the view of the vast ocean to their right. As soon as he heard Weiss calling, he rushed forward, almost knocking her down in the process. Weiss glared at him, and for a second he believed the moment of his demise had finally come.
"Jaune," her voice got even lower. "Do you think Ruby is acting… weirdly?"
Jaune looked at her blankly, then set his eyes on Ruby. The almighty Avatar had abandoned her awkward march, and was now more preoccupied with trying to balance the weight of her staff on her pinky fingers. "Well. She is Ruby."
"No! I mean," Weiss sighed in frustration. "Weirder than usual. She gets quieter when I talk to her, like she's actually listening. She's putting extra work on her waterbending. And she hasn't complained even once about the food rationing!"
"The rationing does suck," Jaune muttered, only to receive another deadly glare. "I don't know. I haven't noticed anything out of the usual. Maybe you're just paranoid after she got captured and all that."
"Hmm. Perhaps you're right, for once," Weiss crossed her arms. "Probably not, though."
Jaune was about to thank her for that spirit-lifting vote of confidence, when Ruby let out a shrill scream and jumped high up the air. Weiss and Jaune gasped and ran to catch up with her.
"What?!" Weiss yelled. "Is it firebenders? Grimm?"
"It's a village!" Ruby screamed happily, landing back on her feet. "It's been so long since I've seen a village! Can we stop there?"
Weiss stepped past the redhead, searching for the village she was talking about. After a few seconds, she saw it, a moderately-sized gathering of houses, with towers and walls built around it. It wasn't too far down the road, and was relatively close to the shoreline.
"That's not Haven, right?" Jaune questioned curiously.
"No, that's much farther north," Weiss frowned. "I don't remember this village from the map Qrow gave us. Then again, there are a lot of nameless villages along the road to Haven."
"It's more of a town, isn't it?" Jaune noted. "It has walls and everything. Maybe the Fire Nation took it?"
"No, I would think they would show it if that were the case," Weiss said. "Regardless, it's best we don't take unnecessary risks."
Ruby crossed her arms and stared fixedly at Weiss. The princess ignored her and began to walk again, only to notice a few seconds later that Ruby hadn't moved from her position.
"I see what you're doing," Weiss said coldly. "Don't think you can change my mind by making a pouty face."
Ruby stomped the ground with one foot, then pursed her lips.
"No," Weiss stated, but her gaze softened a little.
Sensing her weakness, Ruby crept closer, her hands joining in front of her in a begging gesture.
Weiss closed her eyes and turned away grudgingly. "Fine! You win."
Ruby yelled with glee and jumped on top of her, almost dragging her down to the ground. "Bestest princess ever!"
Weiss just sighed and went on ahead, trying her best to balance the girl on top of her, while at the same attempting to appear unaffected by her cheeriness.
The first thing that Ruby took notice of when they arrived at the town was how many people were there. She had visited many such settlings already, including some bigger towns like Patch and the sprawling city of Atlas, but somehow, this quaint little place forgotten in the coastline seemed to be home to as many people as those other ones.
As they ventured deeper into the town, Ruby began to understand why she was having that impression. It's not that it had a large population, it was that everyone seemed to be out and about. She had yet to spot a single closed door or window. It made her giddy, seeing people enjoying their lives outside their homes. This was the world she wanted to protect.
"That's interesting," Weiss said. Apparently, she had come to the same conclusion as her. "It seems like they're holding some kind of celebration."
"Huh?" Ruby looked back at her. "Why do you say that?"
"Take a lengthier look," Weiss suggested. "Everyone's split into pairs, or more. They're exchanging gifts. And the houses are all decorated with bright colors…"
Ruby took her advice, this time paying better attention to her surroundings, instead of passing her eyes over everything in her excitement.
Six or so children were seated on the ground, forming a circle, laughing about one thing or another. They were all holding different objects which had no practical uses – a leaf of unusual coloring, a shiny rock, a hat made of paper… The kind of thing that only served as a sentimental gift.
In a nearby bench, a man and a woman sat side by side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders endearingly. She held a flower close to her nose, taking in its sweet fragrance. A warm smile graced both their faces.
"Oh, wow," Jaune said, slowing to a halt. "Look up."
A strange blue cloud floated in the sky just above the village. Over time, the cloud started to part and take different shades – green, red, yellow, mixing together to form a beautiful sight.
"Well, that's odd," Weiss said, not sounding very impressed.
"You mean awesome?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"No, I really meant odd," Weiss shook her head. "Are we meant to take that as art? But what is it even trying to say?"
Ruby shifted her weight between her feet and looked away, conflicted. She didn't care what Weiss thought of it, whatever was going on up in the sky, she found it mesmerizing. But the last thing she wanted to do was argue with her about something so inconsequential.
"Hello, strangers!" a voice boomed behind them. The trio turned around and saw a woman dressed in red from top to bottom – shoes, dress, hat, make-up… everything was red, and she had a smile so big even Ruby found it disturbing.
"Flower Festival?" Weiss repeated dubiously.
"Ah, you haven't heard!" the woman yelled joyfully. Weiss flinched and took a step back, fearing permanent damage to her ears. "Then let me, the Red Duchess, explain!"
Ruby cooed in approval of the title, but she had no opportunity to say anything about it, as the Red Duchess was more than prepared to share her story.
"Legends tell of times long past, when our town was plagued by Grimm day and night. You see, it wasn't so big as it is today, but we were a lot of people, especially for that age, and so the Grimm loved to haunt us!" she declared. "And once every month, when the moon was at its peak, their leader came forth to demand a sacrifice-"
"There is no such thing as a Grimm leader," Weiss interrupted. "And they certainly don't demand sacrifices."
"As I was saying!" The Red Duchess gave her such a stare that, for a moment, they all feared she had turned into some kind of demon. An instant later, she was back to her previous bubbly self. "That was a terrible, terrible burden upon our people, who were forced to give up their own so the rest could survive. Old, young, man, woman, it did not matter! Oh, how tragic…"
An awkward moment followed as the Red Duchess pretended to weep on her sleeves. Ruby and Jaune waited patiently, while Weiss looked about ready to walk away.
"The burden was so, so terrible, that one day, they all said – ENOUGH!" the Red Duchess bellowed so loudly, Jaune jumped in fright and somehow landed on Ruby's arms. The two shared a glance before she dropped him back on his feet, him dusting his outfit as if nothing had happened. "The people of the town refused to give up another of their own. When the Grimm leader came, he said-"
Weiss raised a hand. "Grimm don't have genders."
"Ahem! And he said-"
"And they certainly don't speak either."
"Ahem! And he said… you have until tomorrow to change your mind, or else I'll gobble you all up! But the people of the town held steadfast in their resolve. Over the next day, everyone exchanged gifts, declared loves they had long held secret, and awaited their awful fate together… But even so, they did not weep, for they knew they had each other, until the very end," the Red Duchess smiled. "When the Grimm came back, he screamed and howled and rolled in agony and pain, for their love was too strong for him to even get close to! And from then on, once every year, we have the Flower Festival, to celebrate our love and repel all evil!"
Ruby and Jaune looked at each other and smiled, both thinking that had actually had been a pretty good story, dramatic performances aside.
"You could have just said that from the beginning," Weiss pointed out, mortified. "The… legend… is not that relevant."
"Miss!" the Red Duchess glared at her. "With that attitude, you won't be receiving any flowers today."
"Oh, yeah," Weiss smirked. "You never explained why it's called the Flower Festival."
The Red Duchess stood frozen for a few seconds, sweat dripping down her forehead. Suddenly, she sprung back to life and ran away at a speed that might even rival Ruby's.
"Well, that was… interesting…" Weiss put her hands on her hips. "A celebration to ward off the Grimm. It's actually a very clever solution, no doubt better than employing untrained civilians to fight them off."
"And it's super sweet!" Ruby yelled. "Everyone's filled with love!"
"Yeah… That's just great," the princess looked at her critically.
Ruby pouted, her excitement fading away under Weiss' harshness.
"But…" Weiss smiled a little. "I suppose it's nice. Everyone seems to be having fun. I'm the only one bringing bad energy to this celebration."
Ruby perked up, her heart beating fast in her chest. "Y-yeah! It's s-super awesome!"
"Yeah!" Jaune crossed his arms, in a way Ruby could only assume was meant to appear gallant or something. "Now, ladies, if you will excuse me. I have love to celebrate in this town… to ward off the Grimm!"
He marched away determinedly, occasionally gesturing charmingly to any girls that passed by him. Weiss watched him go with a mixture of amusement and pity, the latter because she knew what fate the day had in store for him. Not the one he wished, to put it mildly.
"Well, then," Weiss turned to look at Ruby. "Seems like it's just the two of us, again. What do you want to do?"
"I- uh, ah…" Ruby stammered, her cheeks coloring fast. "W-well, it's the F-flower Festival, so…" The next words got stuck inside her throat, which only made her more nervous as Weiss watched her in utter confusion. "Let's… look at some flowers…?"
"…Alright." Weiss shrugged, then walked away.
Ruby sighed in relief, then slapped herself in the cheek. "Get yourself together, Avatar!" She took a deep breath. "It's just a silly festival. That's all."
Just as she said that, a heart-shaped balloon floated near her, hovering in front of her for a moment, before leaving with a gush of wind.
"I-it doesn't have to m-mean anything!" she said, then followed after Weiss in a hurry.
As Weiss suspected, the Flower Festival turned out to be much more than a pure-hearted celebration of love and happiness and good feelings. She felt a twisted sense of pride in herself as she saw several merchant tents offering the most diverse thematic products, all offered at a very… competitive, price.
She had known it from the start. There was no way a festival like this would still be going on until this day and age if it didn't bring something extra to the town. The extra in this case was, of course, ludicrous amounts of money. And no one seemed to be the wiser to that – or maybe they just didn't care.
Should she care? With Ruby by her side, Weiss was beginning to feel guilty about how she was treating the event. It was a nice festival; it celebrated all the right things in life. So what if some people were getting a little richer off of it? It wasn't like they were ruining the fun for everyone else. On the contrary, they brought even more life to it.
"Ah, there we are," she broke from her thoughts as she finally spotted a flower merchant. "Turns out the Festival lives up to its name."
She walked to the tent, Ruby following in silence. It was a little weird how quiet Ruby was being, but Weiss chalked it up to her being too excited about the festival to even talk.
"Ladies!" The merchant opened his arms ceremoniously, giving them a big, welcoming smile. "Enjoying the festival?"
"It's nice," Weiss said politely. "As are your wares, it seems. May we have a closer look?"
"You must! Looking is free!"
Weiss examined the flowers in display. Growing up in the North and South Poles, she had little to no experience with the subject, but she recognized some species from the books she had read. Roses, violets, daisies, lilies… They had their charm, she had to admit.
"Searching for something special, for someone special?" the merchant inquired, putting some painfully insincere charm into his voice.
"Hah," Weiss smirked. "I'm afraid that's not the case. I'm just looking."
"That's a pity," he winked at them. "When it's young love, I charge only half the price! Are you sure? What about you, redhead? You look the romantic type!"
Ruby fidgeted awkwardly and raised her hand timidly. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Weiss laughed lightly at her companion's nervousness.
"I think we're in the same boat," Weiss said helpfully. "Anyway, I'm not really a fan of gifting flowers as a means of expressing love. It's a tired practice… but that's just my opinion, of course."
"Y-yeah!" Ruby exclaimed, all of a sudden finding her voice. "Who buys flowers anymore, right? Right?!"
The merchant stared at her emotionlessly. Slowly, he extended his hands and brought his flowers closer to himself, as if they were children that needed comforting. Weiss mouthed an apology and walked away, guiding Ruby along with her.
So far, Jaune was not having a productive festival. He had been walking for more than an hour, yet he still hadn't found a girl who wasn't accompanied by another boy or a salvo of girls. The former type was out of limits for obvious reason, while the latter, he didn't mess around with because of past experiences. Painful past experiences.
Still, it wasn't as if he wasn't enjoying himself. The Festival was great. It had a lot of fun activities and sights to see. Games of luck and skill; artists, musicians, actors… Only a very bitter person would not find something entertaining to occupy their time.
Sometime during the festivities, Jaune laid eyes on something perfect: a strength tester – a tower several meters tall, with a bell at its very top. There was a line of people waiting to play on it, all eager to see how high they could score. The hammer seemed very heavy, but Jaune wasn't discouraged.
A couple weeks ago, he would have dismissed the game in a heartbeat, thinking he would probably show the strength of a little girl and become the laughingstock of everyone nearby. But after his mission with Qrow, he was feeling much more confident… So confident, in fact, that he cut the line and grabbed the hammer before anyone else could.
"Hey!" the man behind him shouted. "Get on the line, pal!"
"Yeah!" another one joined him. "Wait your turn!"
"Guys, please," Jaune raised a hand smugly. "Let me show you how it's done. I promise you won't be disappointed."
The two men shared a glance, then in the spirit of the festival, shrugged and let him do as he wished. Nearby, a grouped of girls stopped to watch. Jaune winked at them, and they all blushed profusely and giggled in response.
"Alright…" Jaune raised the hammer. "Here… goes! Don't be jealous!"
He slammed the hammer down on the machine's lever with all his force. His whole body trembled with the aftershock. The puck rose to eye level… and promptly fell back down.
He stared at the machine, cold sweat running down the back of his neck. Behind him, he heard the two men in line slap their foreheads in disappointment. The girls made disgusted faces and walked away swiftly, whispering amongst themselves.
"There you go, folks," Jaune said awkwardly. "Have a nice festival!"
He marched away at full speed, remembering why he used to have such low self-esteem.
"Ah. This explains what we saw before." Weiss said, stopping before a peculiar tent. Inside it, a woman was trying to draw in costumers to use some kind of machine.
Ruby came to a halt and followed her friend's line of sight. The machine had a rectangular shape, and seemed to be made of some very heavy metal. Curiously, the top side of the machine had several little holes in it, as if something was meant to pass through it.
"Huh?" Ruby stopped to look too. "What's that?"
"I believe it's… a smoke machine of some sort?" Weiss frowned. "I don't know why anyone would want to use it, though."
"Oh! That rainbow cloud before was actually smoke, then," Ruby noted. "That's neat."
Weiss walked towards the tent, Ruby following closely. The woman in charge of the machine smiled widely at them.
"Hello, miss," Weiss greeted. "Tell me, is this a smoke machine?"
"You're correct," the woman nodded. "My cousin used it in his band's concerts, but he retired as a musician recently and gave it to me. He obviously though it was useless and just wanted to be rid of it. Luckily, I am very ingenious and have found another use for it!"
"And what's that?" Ruby asked.
"Were you looking at the sky before? Well, that's what it is. Pretty colors to cheer people up…" the woman sighed. "Well, it was supposed to be more personal, actually. I wanted people to deliver messages using the smoke, but I couldn't get that to work."
Ruby frowned at the saddened tone in her voice. She threw Weiss a cautious look, then raised her hand. "You know, I could help you with that," she said. "I'm an airbender! I can fly up there and write the messages by manipulating the smoke. It wouldn't be too fancy, but I could try."
As proof, she retrieved her staff and spun it in her hands, throwing a mild rush of air at the woman, whose eyes widened, first in surprise, then joy. "Yes! Yes, I would love that! But… If you do that… I don't know how I'll repay you."
"Nevermind that! It's the Flower Festival!" Ruby shrugged. "Come on, let's test it out! Do your thing, and I'll fly up there!"
Ruby walked away from the tent, using the opportunity to gauge how Weiss felt about the arrangement. The princess didn't seem too upset, but Ruby knew how much she worried about revealing their identities. Well, at least she hadn't said she was the Avatar, this time! Although, any knowledgeable person would figure that out…
The redhead then took off in a run, being careful to not crash into anyone as she built up speed. Once she felt she was going quickly enough, she jumped and swung her staff vertically, summoning an updraft that sent her soaring skyward. She rose higher and higher, until finally she stabilized just below the clouds.
Now came the hard part. No airbender had ever mastered the art of flight. That was something that only happened in legends and fairytales, her mother had told her. But what Ruby was able to do was hover for a brief period of time by manipulating the air around her, particularly below her feet. It was a lot like swimming, except with a lot more limitations and much more prone to accidents.
Ruby did just that, and when she was sure she wouldn't fall, she looked down. The sight was fascinating, and kind of funny, actually. Everyone in the town looked like ants now. She couldn't even tell where Weiss was anymore.
A couple minutes after, colored smoke started to make its way upward. Ruby moved aside, not particularly fond of the idea of inhaling the strange gas – it could be toxic!, she heard Weiss say inside her head. Once the smoke was properly dispersed, she turned slowly in the air so she could look upwards, laying a hand ponderously on her chin.
"What to do, what to do…" she muttered. "Ooh! Got it!"
She swung with her staff numerous times, imagining it was a gigantic brush. The smoke parted at her command, creating white lines in the multicolored spectrum. It took her a while, but once she was finished, there was a drawing in the sky – with very squiggly lines and weird proportions, sure, but it was cute nonetheless!
Ruby nodded and propelled herself downward, floating back to the town carefully. She straightened her eyes, searching for Weiss, and once she found her, landed right in front of her. There were many gasps from the crowd around them, but luckily, no one started to yell about airbenders or the Avatar.
"Ta-ta!" she exclaimed proudly. "What do you think?"
"Hmm…" Weiss inspected the sky as if it was a piece of art. "What is that supposed to be?"
"What?!" Ruby shrieked. "Come on, can't you see it? I was so careful with the details!" She waited a moment, but Weiss still looked clueless. "It's us!"
"Us? Oh, that's your scythe? And that banana is my… ponytail…?" Weiss raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Alright. But where's Jaune?"
"Jaune… Uh… I didn't…" Ruby bit her lip. Half of her wanted to smack Weiss in the head with her staff; the other half wanted to scream in frustration. She did neither of these things, though. Instead, she mustered a cheerful expression to hide her true feelings behind. "I forgot to draw him. Oops!"
"Really?" Weiss smiled slightly. "A little odd for you, but I guess that's just his usual luck. Are you going to check with the lady from the tent now?"
"…Sure," Ruby shrugged. "See ya later, Weiss."
Ruby turned and marched towards the smoke machine's tent, all the while grumbling under her breath about how dense some princesses could be.
Jaune's enjoyment of the Flower Festival became much more tiring than it should have been after his unfortunate incident with the strength tester, as he attempted all he could to avoid pretty much everyone who had been around him during it.
It was futile, of course. There was no way for him to remember every single face that had been watching him during that moment. Because of that, he had to act on hunches. That tactic, in turn, lead him to avoid half the people who were attending the festival.
Maybe he was being paranoid; or maybe he was being stupid. But he preferred that to hearing those girls' ridiculing giggles once again. Oh, no, no, no. That sound would haunt him for weeks to come.
A few hours after midday, Jaune grew tired of avoiding the same people over and over again, so he crossed the town's boundaries to take a breath of fresh air. He was very surprised to find that to the west, the very opposite direction from the beach, there was a green field filled with flowers and fruitful bushes and trees.
"Huh," he put his hands on his hips in wonder. "Maybe this is the reason they have the Flower Festival. Or they just thought the name sounded nice," he shrugged. "Probably the second option."
He wandered through the field for a while, examining the flora with mild interest. Flowers were cool, but they reminded him of girls, and girls currently reminded him of the giggles. Maybe in the future, once he surpassed this day's trauma, he would be more appreciative of them.
Jaune slowed his pace when he spotted someone else wandering the fields, all alone, crouching to inspect some flowers on the ground. It took him a moment for him to realize it was a girl. She was small, cute, had red hair, and most importantly, he definitely did not remember her from the incident. Finally, luck was on his side.
He mustered his most charming smile and strut towards her, swinging his arms by his sides in a way he imagined was very suave – truthfully, it just looked very dumb, and had a real risk of dislocating his shoulders. In his mind, he went through all the ways he could greet the girl, and how to act according to how she responded. Qrow had taught him to think of the big picture, after all, and what was the big picture if not all aspects of life, including romance?
Finally, he stopped at her side and opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly, she rose and turned towards him.
"Hey, Jaune," Ruby said casually.
"AH!" he yelled in surprise and jumped back, almost falling in the process. "Ruby! I thought you were a girl!"
"Uhm…" she frowned. "You know, if I wasn't your friend, I would probably be very offended."
"Sorry," Jaune sighed. "I mean, I thought you were a girl I didn't know. Oops! Heh, that was a close one, right?"
He elbowed her playfully. Ruby stared at him silently for a moment, before diverting her eyes to the side.
"Why do you never hit on me, Jaune?" she asked slowly, then blushed and covered her mouth. "Wait – that came out wrong! I don't want you to hit on me! And I don't want to hit on you! I'm just asking a question!"
"Jeez, Ruby, settle down! I got it," Jaune said. He was a little weirded out by the question, but he also found the way she asked it kind of funny. Yet as he thought about it, he began to realize he didn't have a real answer. "Uh… I don't know. I never felt like doing it. You're more of a friend than a girl."
"Oh, so I'm not a girl?!" Ruby crossed her arms, actually upset this time.
"Ruby, that's not what I meant!" he exclaimed in distress. "You know I'm not good with words. What I'm trying to say is… you're more important to me than just a girl I wanna hit on, or be with, or anything like that, okay? You're my best friend," he paused. "You're the first friend I ever had, actually. The first person to not treat me like a useless dork."
Ruby's mouth hung agape, and she felt her eyes stung as tears threatened to come pouring out all of a sudden. Without even thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around Jaune and pressed herself against him, as if her very life depended on it. "You're also my first friend ever, Jaune. I'm glad you were the one who found me in that iceberg."
"Yeah, well, I had very heavy tools at hand to break the ice," Jaune said awkwardly. "Of course you're glad it was me."
Ruby rolled her eyes at him, then sat down on the ground, now looking a lot more cheerful than before. Quietly, she plucked a flower from the earth and spun it between her fingers, admiring its subtle beauty. Jaune sat down beside her, and for a while, they stayed that way, enjoying each other's presence in silence – which was not very common for either of them, and that made the occasion all the more special.
"So, what are you doing here?" Ruby asked.
"Escaping from public shame," Jaune shrugged. "You?"
"Uh… escaping from Weiss," she answered half-heartedly.
Jaune was relieved that she didn't press for more information about his motive, but the tone of her voice worried him a little. "What do you mean? Was she being a jerk or something?"
"Nah. I think she's having fun, actually. She was good company," Ruby said. "But…" she trailed off, her cheeks coloring a bit.
"But?" Jaune leaned towards her, peering at her as if he were a detective of some kind.
"Can you keep a secret?" She turned to look at him seriously. "You can never tell Weiss! If you do, I'll unleash all my Avatar powers on you!"
Jaune highly doubted she would follow up on that threat, but the mere fact that she had said something like that demonstrated how serious she was. He nodded and hung back a bit farther, not wanting to make her uncomfortable during whatever confession she had to make.
"Alright. I, uh… I kinda like Weiss. Like a lot? Not like a friend – I mean, I like her as a friend too, but also as more than a friend," as Ruby spoke, her cheeks got redder and redder, to the point that it was making it very difficult for Jaune to distinguish her hair from her face. "Do you understand what I'm saying, or am I being too silly?"
"No, I think I got it. You've got a crush on Weiss, basically," Jaune looked up as he recalled some very strange occurrences during the last weeks of their journey. With this new piece of information, Ruby's recent behavior made much more sense. "Huh. Man, I should have realized that sooner. I'm dense, aren't I?"
"And she's even denser!" Ruby exclaimed in frustration. "I've been sending messages her way all day, but she doesn't get them! I drew us holding hands in the sky, for Pete's sake!"
"Oh, yeah. I thought maybe that was you with the scythe," Jaune nodded thoughtfully. "But I don't understand why Weiss had a banana attached to her head?"
"It was her ponytail!" Ruby buried her face in her hands. "Gaah! I'm a failure. I should just handed myself over to the Fire Nation. The world will have to go on without an Avatar."
Jaune shook his head in amusement, but made an effort to not let Ruby realize how funny the conversation was to him. It was like seeing the world from the very opposite view that he was used to, so he understood exactly how Ruby was feeling. He patted her back in a gesture of companionship while coming up with a way to cheer her up again.
"Ruby, have you considered the possibility that Weiss has noticed how you feel about her, but she just doesn't feel the same way?" Jaune fought the urge to punch himself in the face. What a way to cheer someone up! "Maybe she's not interested in girls."
"What? Why the heck would someone not be interested in girls?" Ruby asked incredulously.
"Ah, I forgot. Sheltered upbringing," Jaune gulped. Well, this was one conversation he never thought he would have, especially with the Avatar, of all people. "Didn't your mother explain? Most girls like boys only; and boys generally like only girls. But, uh, some people like everyone. Or no one at all? It gets kinda complicated real fast, actually."
"Jaune," Ruby laid a hand on his shoulder. "You are blowing my mind right now," she took a few moments to process those enlightening revelations before speaking again. "Alright. But what if she does like girls?"
"I don't know if she does, but she's never done or said anything to prove otherwise." With the way this conversation was going, Jaune was becoming more and more tempted to dig his way underground until he ended up at the other side of the world. "Look, Ruby. You're a very straightforward kind of gal. It's not in your nature to be secretive, and I think that's part of the reason I never noticed you like Weiss. The same probably applies to her. So, if you want her to know, you're gonna have to tell her word by word. Okay?"
Ruby stared at him in horror. Jaune couldn't help but sympathize with her. After all, he had tried to gain the princess' affection many years ago, and his pride was never the same after that day – not to mention his back, which he suspected still hadn't healed fully.
After a while, however, Ruby seemed to gain a sudden surge of confidence, as she rose to her feet and put her hands on her hips. "You know what?! You're right, Jaune! Love is a thing too beautiful to be avoided because you're afraid! If we, as human beings, as proud inhabitants of Remnant, are to be happy, we must never falter! We must never be hesitant!" She took a deep breath. "I, Ruby, like Weiss, and if Weiss doesn't like Ruby, I'm just gonna have to deal with it!"
She marched away with purpose, while Jaune just stared in disbelief. To say he was surprised by her impromptu speech would be an understatement. Before he could recover from it, however, Ruby turned around and marched right back to him.
"But first," she raised a finger patiently. "I should probably get her a flower or something."
Ruby walked through the streets of the town once again. The sun was setting over the horizon, painting the sky in a beautiful shade of orange. She didn't pay much attention to that, though. She was far too nervous to appreciate the marvels of the world.
Her shoulders were raised stiffly as she held her newest acquisition close to her chest, as if to protect it from the very wind. Jaune and her had spent a long time searching for the perfect gift, and Ruby thought this one was as good as it could get. A rose identical to all the others except in its color. By some freak incident of nature, its petals were as white as snow, when they should have been red.
She was still nervous. Weiss had said it herself – she wasn't a fan of exchanging flowers as an expression of love. But what else could Ruby do? And, anyway, it's the intent that counts. She only hoped Weiss would agree with that thought.
The last obstacle now was finding the princess, of course. People were starting to go back to their homes and the artists and merchants were packing up for the day, but that didn't make it any easier to spot Weiss. Part of Ruby was glad for the delay, but she knew the more time she spent looking, the more nervous she would become, and she was already shaking in her boots.
"Breathe in. Breathe out," she muttered to herself. "Fuuuh… At least Jaune's not here to make fun of me… I would never live this down…"
She slowed her steps as she arrived at the center of the town, where all the main attractions had been set up beforehand. Half of them were gone already. A few people were still strolling about. Weiss was nowhere to be seen.
Ruby breathed out again and sat down on a bench. If she didn't take a break, she feared she would burst from how nervous she was. She watched the people that passed by, putting her current objective aside to relax for a while.
Now that she had it in mind, it was very clear to her that Jaune was right. Most of the couples she was seeing were composed of a man and a woman. Weird that she had never noticed that before. Maybe her people just didn't care that much about that – the Air Nomads were free spirits, after all, not as attached to matters of the body as the other peoples of the world. Yeah, that sounded about right.
Then why hadn't her mother told her anything about that? Perhaps she had thought she was too young for the topic. It didn't sound like a very sensible thing to do, however, and her mother had always been on point with what she taught Ruby… Had… hadn't she said something…?
And one day, sweetheart, you'll have your own children, and I'll be a grandmother. I can picture it… The Air Nomads, rebuilt in all their glory, because of you. Doesn't that sound neat?
"Oh."
She remembered now. Such a hopeful message, yet she had been so young; its meaning had escaped her. How could she have forgotten?
Ruby looked down at her flower, her white rose, and a multitude of emotions struck her in unrelenting waves. First confusion, then sadness, despair, frustration, and finally, anger.
Her knuckles turned white as she closed her fingers around the rose's stem. It snapped, and the top half of the flower fell severed on her lap. Soundlessly, Ruby got up, not sparing a glance to the rose as it dropped to the floor, and walked away with heavy steps.
Sunset had come and gone, and Ruby was nowhere to be found. Weiss searched around the town, assuming she was enjoying the last moments of the festival, but it was in vain. The redheaded dolt was nowhere to be found.
Disappearing without explanation wasn't uncommon behavior for Ruby, of course, but considering how they had spent their day, Weiss was beginning to suspect this time was different. It had been a fun festival, but Weiss had been a little too critical of it at times, and maybe that had upset Ruby.
"Heavens above," Weiss sighed tiredly, looking up at the sky. "If only I had known what this journey would entail…"
Dealing with Ruby should not be so complicated. Ignoring the fact that she was the Avatar and the last alive member of her people, she was pretty simple. But perhaps believing that was Weiss' fundamental mistake, and she did not understand Ruby as well as she thought.
Ruby wasn't the Avatar one moment and a clueless, cheerful young girl the next. There was no distinction between the two. Ruby was Ruby – likely more complicated than Weiss herself was.
"She must hate me," Weiss muttered. She had never felt so foolish before in her life.
She was torn away from her thoughts as she heard a loud noise coming from somewhere outside the town – it was strange, similar to an explosion, but severely muffled. A screech followed, so horrible that Weiss immediately covered her ears with her hands.
People ran past her, heading deeper into the village. Weiss hesitated for a moment, constructing dozens of possible explanations in her mind, before following her instinct and sprinting in the very opposite direction.
She arrived at the edge of the town and stood at the tip of her toes, quickly identifying the source of the commotion. In the beach not too far from the town, a gigantic eel-like Grimm rose from the water, its open mouth displaying rows upon rows of sharp teeth as it kept screeching. Just in front of it, a figure floated upwards, showered in white light.
"Oh, no."
Weiss ran as fast as she could, her feet barely touching the ground. She arrived at the beach and skidded to a halt, drawing her rapier. A hasty glance upwards confirmed her suspicions. Ruby was hovering in front of the beast, her silver eyes shining as they stared at each other. A shiver ran down Weiss' back as she took in that usually compassionate face twisted by pure hatred.
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted. "Get down! You're going to get yourself-"
Ruby swung with both arms, and the winds converged on the Grimm, forcing it down as it protested in agony. Then, she made another gesture, and a blade of water jumped from the sea, freezing solid in the blink of an eye, and cut off the creature's head.
There was no time for Weiss to be relieved, as more Grimm started to emerge, every one of them headed towards Ruby. She was a literal beacon for them, and there was nothing Weiss could do but watch and pray for nothing bad to happen.
Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs, but it wasn't her voice only – the entire line of Avatars screamed along with her, voices old and young, male and female, from every nation of the world. The air and the ocean delivered brutal destruction on the Grimm, responding to Ruby's command as if they were hers, and only hers to control.
Weiss took a step back, slowly sheathing her rapier. She couldn't find the courage to call to Ruby anymore. What if she did, and that hateful stare fell on her? Would Ruby know to differentiate enemy from ally?
"Holy crap."
Weiss looked back and saw Jaune standing behind her. He looked as scared as she felt. After a while, his eyes left Ruby and turned to Weiss.
"Why is…?" he asked shakily. "What did you say to her…?"
"What?!" Weiss exclaimed, both surprised and offended by his question. "I didn't say anything! She went missing for hours, and when I found her, she was already like this…"
"A-alright. Lucky you," Jaune gulped. "Seriously. The Festival is supposed to drive Grimm away, but Ruby is so angry she's drawing a whole horde by herself!"
"Maybe… maybe it's because she's the Avatar?" Weiss said, but something was telling her that wasn't the case at all.
Minutes passed without Ruby letting up, destroying every Grimm that appeared before her. In her fury, she neglected all she had learned about properly fighting the creatures, and they kept reforming incredibly fast, fueled by her own emotions. It was looking to be a never-ending battle.
But slowly, her rage began to fade. Her bending became more controlled, the brutality in it giving way to precise efficiency. The Grimm turned to smoke, and they stopped coming back. Finally, the sea was empty once again.
Ruby floated down, landing gracefully on the beach. Her eyes turned back to normal, and her arms hung weakly by her sides. Weiss and Jaune raced towards her, both fearing she would collapse.
"Ruby!" Jaune yelled. "Are you okay?!"
"What was that all about?" Weiss asked.
The redhead bit her lip and looked away. "I'm fine now," she said throatily. "It was nothing."
"No, it clearly wasn't!" Weiss frowned. "Ruby, you don't get to do something like that and brush it off as if it didn't mean anything."
"I don't wanna talk about it," Ruby insisted, her face riddled with guilt. "Please just leave me alone."
"Ruby, you're going to tell me, or else I'll-"
"Just leave me ALONE!"
Weiss flinched, Ruby's words striking harder than any bending she could have done. The princess faltered, shoulders slumped in defeat, then turned to walk away. If that was what Ruby wanted, then-
By the corner of her vision, she saw Ruby reach out and grab Jaune by his wrist.
"Oh, I see how it is!" Weiss spun around, fists clenched at her sides. Her whole body was trembling with rage. "He doesn't need to go, of course! Why, he's perfect, I'm the one who's an awful person! I mean, it's not like I've traveled halfway across the globe just to take you to the North Pole! It's not like I've swallowed my pride again and again to teach you waterbending when I could have very well refused! I-it's not like I left my ship's crew behind as a distraction just so you could be safer!"
"Weiss," Jaune muttered. "Calm down." Ruby was practically glued to him, her eyes brimming with tears.
"No, I am not going to calm down! If you want to treat her like a child, then that's your choice," Weiss spat. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I am not going to endure this anymore! I get that you live a very difficult life, Ruby, much more difficult than most people's, but that doesn't mean you can dismiss everyone else's hardships. I'm risking a lot on this journey, but I've never used that against you – in fact, I've put my feelings aside more times than I can count so I could support you," she paused. "I guess expecting you to do the same was just too much to ask."
She stopped talking and waited for a response. When Ruby stayed silent, she scoffed and turned around.
"I'll find us an inn to stay overnight," she said. "Have your little talk. I don't care."
Without another word, she walked away as composedly as she could, but the farther she got, the harder it became to stay calm. Her eyes stung. She felt like dropping to her knees and curling into a ball.
But she just kept walking and never looked back.
It took almost a whole hour for Ruby to speak again. Jaune sat with her at the beach and waited patiently, though. He could see the impact of Weiss' words had on Ruby, and considering she had been upset enough before, he could only imagine how she felt now. Yet she didn't cry, which he found admirable. He would be bawling his eyes out if he were in her shoes.
"I shouldn't have told her to go away," Ruby muttered. "She hates me now."
"No. Weiss was just so worried, she snapped. It'll pass," Jaune said. It sounded naïve, but he truly believed things would be okay in the end. "I didn't know she had so much anger bottled up, though. Sounds like there's a lot of stuff we don't know about her."
"Yeah," Ruby nodded meekly. "She was right, I don't care about her enough. And here I was with that stupid crush…"
Jaune shook his head sadly. There wasn't anything he could say that would get through to Ruby as she was now, so he chose to stay silently instead.
"I can't be with her anyway," Ruby hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees. "I need to rebuild the Air Nomads."
"Huh?" Jaune blinked, caught off-guard by the remark.
"Yeah. I just realized this today," she closed her eyes. "Turns out there's even more stuff destiny chose for me. Sounds fair, right?"
Jaune was speechless. He felt like he was sinking as he processed what he had just heard. He didn't even know what emotion he was supposed to feel – anger, despair, helplessness?
Suddenly, Ruby's fit of rage made all the sense in the world. He almost dared to think it hadn't been enough of a reaction. If he was this struck by the harsh reality, she must be feeling much worse.
"I'm sorry," he said, and leaned to the side to hug her. Ruby hugged him back and pressed her face against his shoulder. They stayed this way for many more hours, neither speaking a single word.
For what felt like the thousandth time since she had left the South Pole, Weiss ripped a half-written letter apart and tossed it in the trash. This night was particularly rough; her hands were almost completely covered in ink, dried or not, and they wouldn't stop shaking, no matter how much she tried to make it stop.
Dad, I'm sorry-
I'm coming home, I know I shou-
Winter-
Please don't be mad, I just-
She had to resist the temptation to trash the room, the only thing stopping her was the fact that it was rented. She was more than ready to unleash every pent-up emotion inside her, she only needed a target.
Why couldn't she write a single letter. Just a few words, that was all she needed. It would be better than coming home unannounced. Why, why, why…
Weiss dropped to the floor and sat against the end of her bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling anything anymore. She was just… empty, and tired.
Someone knocked on her door, but she refused to get up to answer. A few seconds later, it opened, revealing Ruby. Weiss looked at her briefly before turning her eyes back to where they had been before.
There was a heavy moment of silence, then Ruby went and sat beside her. "I'm sorry."
"…Me too," Weiss muttered. "I didn't mean to say those things. I was way out of line."
"You were right, though," Ruby noted. "I never worry about you like you worry about me. I'm selfish."
"I think you have a right to be selfish. Besides… you can't just invent worries out of thin air," Weiss said. "You don't know a lot about me, and it's not your fault. I don't share enough with you. I never told you why I lived in the South Pole; or how my relationship with my family is; or the true reason I didn't want to teach you waterbending…"
Ruby shook her head fervently. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she raised her chin determinedly. "I'll just worry about you for no reason at all, if that's what it takes!"
That brought a smile out of Weiss. "Alright, then. You don't have to tell me why you were upset, too. We all have stuff we want to keep private, for one reason or another. Doesn't mean we hate each other."
Ruby smiled and leaned against Weiss. She closed her eyes and mumbled something.
"What was that?" the princess asked softly.
"Love you," Ruby repeated in the same tone, then promptly started to snore.
"Oh, sure. Sleep on me, I don't mind," Weiss pretended to be annoyed, but she couldn't keep that up for long. After a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching, she patted Ruby on the head and closed her eyes too. "I love you too, you dork."
A Water Tribe ship has been spotted on Haven. Rumors that its waiting to take someone to the North Pole. Jackpot, boss?
General Torchwick smiled victoriously and crumpled the letter between his hands. Jackpot, indeed. The Avatar might as well paint a target on her back and hold up a sign saying 'capture me, please'.
He got up from his chair in his office to tell the captain of his ship to make way to Haven, when his door opened and two people came in. One was Neo, wearing her typical mischievous grin. The other was a burly man wearing a Fire Nation officer uniform, who he didn't recognize.
"And who might you be, now?" Roman raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"…Junior," the officer closed his eyes in anticipation.
"Hah! Junior! That's great," Roman chuckled. "Alright. What are you doing here with sweet little Neo?"
Junior looked at Neo to check if she was going to mimic an explanation, but she only shrugged and gestured for him to go ahead.
"We met up on the road. She told me you're looking for the Grimm Lady, right?" Junior crossed his arms. "Well, I've got a lead, and I'm willing to share it for free, as long as I get to teach her a lesson myself."
"Oh, sure! I'm famed for my generosity!" Roman boasted. "So, what's the lead?"
"It's a little farfetched, I'll admit," Junior said seriously. "Have you ever met the Fire Lord's daughter?"
Roman stared at him incredulously for a moment, then cracked a wide smile.
Jackpot, indeed.
Pheeewww. That was a long one, and quite the emotional roller-coaster too.
Okay. So, when I was planning the story, I already had White Rose in mind. Not only because of the Aang-Katara parallels, but also because it felt very natural. And sometime during that planning stage, it just struck me that if it happened, Ruby would not have children. Goodbye, Air Nomads and all your culture!
So I was hesitant to follow up with it, but I decided to keep it. I just think it's a very interesting thing to have in the story. It's something that definitely would never show up in AtLA, so I was careful with how I handled it - and it's kinda heavy too, so that's one more thing to keep in mind. I'd love some feedback on it, more than I already appreciate general feedback!
But rest assured, this isn't how White Rose will be treated every chapter. That would be way too dramatic and tiresome. Expect stuff more along the lines of how it was before (and if you didn't notice it was a thing before, uh... well, I guess now you know?).
Also, Jaune is MVP. Seriously, what a swell dude. Doesn't even matter he can't swing a hammer properly if his life depended on it!
-Zeroan