Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.

This is my promise to write to you
So for you my every word
Is the sinking feeling here in my chest
I am so far from home but the further away we are the closer I am

The closer I feel, the further you get
My hands hold on tight to your every word
I won't let go, but I feel my eyes advert from who I used to be

We know the storms will come
The winds they will sweep us all away
Wrap me in your silver lining

Torn between the roots of earth and the sky
I left my heart behind, and I'm so far from home
The weight is pulling me down, in your circles I am spinning
In your circles I'll wait forever

Lost control, my hands grip the wheel
But I can't see where the road is leading
Please hold on dear I know you're worried
Counting down the days do you remember?

Torn between the earth and the sky, I left my heart behind

Der Turm Weiße was just as impressive the second time around.

But this time, impressive wasn't the only word Ruby would use to describe it.

Dismal, gloomy, sinister, ominous, those were the words that came to mind when she looked at it this time, through the frosted windows of the car. The imposing battlements and towers made it look like a fortress preparing for war, not a home.

Although as she turned the word 'impressive' around in her mind, she couldn't help but think that maybe even that wasn't the right word.

Intimidating.

"There we go, that one fits," she thought to herself. "Intimidating."

Slowly, Weiss drove the sleek car across the massive, monolithic bridge separating White Castle from the rest of the mountain. Ruby could almost feel the tension in the still air of the car, like a tangible thing, like an oppressive fog encroaching on the edge of her vision.

"Are you even sure they're home yet?" the brunette whispered.

Weiss pointed up, to the top of the massive white tower that rose out of the structure like a spear stuck into a corpse. "See that blue light up there?"

There was indeed a light, or what looked to be a large beacon of some sort, set in the top of the tower. It would have been vaguely reminiscent of a lighthouse, if lighthouses were thousands of feet tall, burned bright blue, and were on the peaks of mountains. It shone strong and balefully, like a town burning in the distance. It lit up the black space of the stratosphere around it, and it was almost like the tower was watching them with a single burning eye of cobalt.

"That light is on whenever my father is home. It's like his... signal."

"Yeesh," Ruby muttered. "That's a little..."

"Vainglorious? Conceited? Arrogant?" Weiss growled.

"Uh... yeah, that. For real, are you gonna be okay Weiss?"

The heiress declined to respond, instead taking a deep breath and tightening her grip on both the wheel and Ruby's hand. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, but when they opened again, they shone with strength and determination.

"Yes. I'll be fine Ruby. I have to be."

They used the front entrance this time.

Although it was more a side entrance than a front entrance, since the front of White Castle was mostly battlements, ramparts, and well-disguised armor plating.

They pulled up in a large cul-de-sac just like the ones Ruby had always seen mansions to have. Although truth be told, the ones she had seen in the movies weren't ringed by trees carved out of solid ice. There was a fountain in the middle as well, but even the water in that was frozen, suspended in mid-air. It was like time had ceased to flow up here at the top of the world.

A balding man in a white suit – presumably a butler – was waiting for them, and took the keys from Weiss once they had stepped out into the cold. The air this high up felt like a blast from a raging blizzard, and Ruby immediately felt herself start to shiver. The air itself was a problem as well: it was too thin and made every breath a labor.

The butler bowed to Weiss. "Your parents are waiting for you in the dining room Mistress Schnee."

"Dining room?" The heiress looked confused. "But it's not time for a meal."

"They aren't eating Mistress. Simply waiting for you."

"Great," she heard Weiss mutter under her breath. They turned away and began walking towards the entrance.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. It means they want a talk. And almost definitely a long one."

Ruby nodded. "Right. Are you going to be okay?"

The heiress turned to her with a bemused expression on her face. "You keep asking that, and I'll keep saying I'm fine. If I'm not fine, I'll tell you. Or at least I'll try to."

"That's what I mean," Ruby replied. "I know you have trouble telling me when you're nervous. So just be honest. Are you?"

"Nervous?" Weiss asked. She turned and looked out at the pristine white slopes, at the barren rocks of the mountainside, at White Castle and at the endless ocean of clouds that stretched out past the horizon. They coiled and drifted in the atmosphere, forming all kinds of strange and peculiar shapes. Thunderheads bulldozed through the more peaceful looking clouds, doubtlessly on their way to bring down the fury of the heavens on the world below.

Ruby felt somehow detached, seeing things from up here. It was like they were above the world, out of reach of the worldly problems and cares of the mortals down below.

Instead of rain, they would soon deal with a man who owned nearly half the world. The closest thing to a god that Remnant had, at least as far as Ruby knew.

Yes, they were far above the concerns of mortals now.

And then Weiss finally answered her.

"I am..." the heiress whispered, to Ruby and Ruby only. "I am. I am nervous."

Ruby simply took her hand and squeezed.

As they stood in front of the white-wood, silver-engraved doors of the dining room, Ruby could feel Weiss' anxiety through her aura. It was like a tangible thing, a fog of uncertainty, hesitation, and fear that swirled around the heiress and made Ruby's heart ache for her.

She hated to see Weiss like this; it was one of the reasons she had befriended her in the first place. She only ever wanted Weiss to be happy, to feel good. And right now, she certainly wasn't.

But Ruby steeled herself, because this needed to happen. This had to be done. For Weiss to ever truly break free from the shackles of her family and the legacy of her namesake, this had to happen.

"Hey," Ruby whispered. Her voice seemed to fill the hallway they stood in, which was just as dark and empty as before. "I'm right here. No matter what happens, I'll be with you. I'll be right by your side the whole way. Okay?"

The heiress stared at the door, her ice-blue eyes filled with trepidation. She nodded once, gave Ruby's hand a final squeeze, and then let it drop.

And then she put one hand on each of the doors, and pushed.

"Ah! There she is, my dear daughter!"

A man at the far end of the dining table stood and began to make his way over to them. His face was witheringly handsome, his hair jet-black, and his suit of onyx and silver pristine and creased to perfection.

"Hello father." Weiss curtsied, which was possible because she had changed into a simple white dress upon their return from Glaseiren.

"Hello to you too my dear. And who is your friend? Ah, wait, don't tell me."

The man stopped short in front of them, held his chin in his hand, and frowned. It fit his face much better than the half-hearted smile he had been wearing earlier. The same one that Weiss used to wear, back at Beacon.

"You must be Ruby Rose, huntress-in-training, and my daughter's partner. Correct?"

"Yes sir," Ruby replied. She didn't curtsy, but she settled for a short bow.

"Ah, none of that now," the man said, that fake smile now back on his face. "You are a guest of my daughter, and of this house."

He held out his hand, presumably for Ruby to shake. So she brought up her own hand, but instead of shaking it, the man brought it to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss to her fingertips. At the same time, she felt Weiss' aura flare with a surge of anger and protectiveness.

"I am Verrückt Schnee. Welcome to my house."

Ruby was struck dumb. She nodded, her eyes wide, and did her best to look as dignified and collected as she could. She stepped back to stand next to Weiss, as her father launched into a history of the Schnee family and Der Turm Weiße.

But she wasn't listening, because she was struggling to make sense of him. He was all wrong. Judging from how Weiss talked about him, he should have been large, ugly, with a mean personality and an even meaner expression.

But this man wasn't like that at all. This man was calm, and refined, and handsome. He had been nothing but polite so far, and he treated her like a guest of his household, not like the nuisance she had expected to be treated like. There was a strange warmth, a type of fire in his eyes.

But as she stared into them, she realized that it wasn't the kind of fire that warmed and comforted in the dead of night. It was the fire that burned; the flame that devoured households and left you scarred inside. The same type of fire that had consumed the opera house.

In a way, he felt wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why. And that was disturbing. Because she was already warming to him, and that wasn't supposed to happen.

"Ah, but I digress," Verrückt said, pulling her out of her thoughts. He stood and gazed out of the dining room windows with a wry smirk on his face. "Weiss, we'll be having dinner soon. Viktoria will be joining us, and someone else too. Someone I want you to meet. So please, take your friend up and why don't you both change into something nice?"

Weiss clasped her hands in front of herself and bowed. "Yes Father. Will dinner be held at-"

"Six in the evening. Like always." He turned, and directed that somehow not-quite-right smirk at Weiss. "Don't be late. And try to look your best. The heir apparent of the Utiandor family, your future husband, doesn't like to be disappointed. And from what I've heard, he's also got quite the temper."

Ruby felt her blood freeze in her veins. And through their shared aura, she felt Weiss' do the same.

Verrückt Schnee smiled at his daughter, and this time it chilled her to the core. "So do your best not to upset him, hmm?"

Ruby moved as carefully as she could, running the soft bristles of the brush she was holding through Weiss' snow-white hair in slow, repetitive motions. It was one of her favorite things to do, but right now, she'd rather be doing almost anything else. She'd rather be doing anything other than dressing Weiss up for the man she was set to be betrothed to.

Weiss had explained that much. Clar Utiandor, heir of the Utiandor family of Mistral – which, coincidentally, had been their ruling family back in the days of the Kingdoms – was the man that her parents had decided she would be betrothed to. In theory it was quite advantageous, for both parties. Weiss had met him before, and the man was smart, strong, and good-looking like only nobility could be. And he had already proven that he knew how to run a business. He had been running most of Mistral's mining corporations for the past few years, and once Verrückt took him under his wing, it was almost guaranteed that the man would become the latest and greatest in the long line of Schnees.

In theory, it was quite advantageous for everyone. Everyone except for Weiss.

And to Ruby, that was the only person that really mattered.

She had already helped the heiress change into a flowing navy-blue gown, one that accented her eyes and fit perfectly around her petite figure.

She fingered one of the earrings Weiss was wearing, a simple hoop of real silver, as the heiress let out a long breath. She was sitting on the bench in front of her dresser, and she opened her eyes and stared at herself in the mirror.

"What should I do Ruby?" she asked in a gentle whisper.

"What should you do? You should go tell them to screw off, that's what you should do," she muttered.

"That won't work and you know it. They'll never give up, he'll never give up. The fate of the company, and the entire Schnee dynasty depends on it."

"Well what do you want me to say then? Go ahead and leave me? Go marry that guy and forget I ever existed?"

"No, no Ruby that's not what I meant..." The heiress shut her eyes and let out a shuddering breath.

Ruby forced as much seriousness and weight into her next question as she could. "Then what did you mean?"

"I meant..."

"You told me that you always wanted to be with me, remember? You said you didn't want to live in a world without me in it. If you choose his way, that's the world you'll be forced to live in. I don't belong..." Ruby gestured around the room. "...Here. This isn't my world."

Weiss didn't say anything.

"You had all this conviction and all this... this drive when we were coming up here. To finally stand up to your father and give him the big 'screw you, this is my life!' What happened to that?"

"I just... You don't know what it's like to try and stand up to him Ruby. He just crushes you."

Ruby frowned, gazing at herself in the mirror. "I don't know, he didn't even seem half-bad back there."

"That's not the real Verrückt Schnee," Weiss muttered. "That's how he acts when he wants something. When he's playing nice. Trust me, you'll see him for what he truly is soon enough."

"Alright but still, all that aside, what about us? What about what we were going to be?"

"Us?" Weiss stared at Ruby in the mirror, a blank expression on her face.

"Yes, us! All that talk about being together, all that stuff about stained glass windows and crap, about being able to show me how grateful you are through actions, and not just words!"

She felt a strange weight in the pit of her stomach, and as she looked at Weiss' tenebrous face, it grew and her heart sank into it. The fact that her girlfriend actually seemed to be considering just giving in... it gave the lie to everything Weiss had said in the past few months.

But she wasn't going to give up yet. Deep down Ruby was a fighter, underneath all the bubbliness and awkwardness. It was why she liked weapons so much; it was why she became a Huntress. She had fought for Weiss for the past three years: every step in their relationship had been an uphill battle. She had to fight to be her partner, she had to fight to be her friend, and she had to fight to be her girlfriend. So she was not going to stop fighting now. Not when it truly mattered.

So even though hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, she moved to kneel in front of the heiress, placing both hands on her shoulders. Weiss stared at her in shock and confusion, although it looked like there the beginnings of tears in her eyes as well.

"Weiss. Listen to me. This is it. This is where you have to choose. Me, or them. Your family is rich and powerful, sure. But they can't give you happiness like I can. I know I can make you happy, and I've proved it since we've been together, truly together. I know you want to uphold your legacy and your family's traditions, but is it worth it at the cost of your own happiness? At the cost for your own life? Are you willing to give up your entire future for them?"

"...Ruby," the heiress breathed. "I..."

"Just listen!" Ruby started, nearly shaking Weiss by her shoulders. "You have to decide! And I know this is selfish, but don't forget about me either! Don't you dare forget about me! I love you with all my heart, more than I've ever loved or cared about anything else in my entire life." Her voice started to crack; she started to lose her composure. "I've literally given you my heart. I told you I'd never leave you, and I'd never let you go. All I want is to make you happy Weiss; that's all I've ever wanted..."

She took a deep breath, then opened her eyes again and stared her partner dead in the face. "This is my promise. My promise to you. If you stay with me, I will do everything I possibly can to make you happy every second of every hour of every day. No matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do, that is my promise to you."

She felt a single tear spill from her left eye, and her voice broke again. So she spoke in a gentle whisper. "So don't you leave me. Don't you leave me Weiss, don't you dare leave me alone again."

A tear rolled forth from the heiress' cheek as well, and she brought a hand up and cupped Ruby's cheek with a look of utter sorrow on her pale, fragile face.

"So choose," Ruby breathed. "Them, or me."

For the second time that day, Ruby watched her girlfriend, best friend, and partner place her hands on the double doors to the dining room. The heiress stared at them, then down at the floor. Her expression was unreadable; her face impassive. It was like she was somehow detached from reality.

And then she spoke.

"Ruby, what is love?"

"W-What? What is love?" The question caught the brunette completely by surprise; she hadn't been expecting Weiss to say anything at all. The heiress had been dead silent since Ruby had posed her question up in Weiss' bedroom.

"Love is..." Ruby's voice dropped to a whisper. "Love is giving up everything for another person. It's putting another person before yourself; it's considering their needs and wants before your own. It's about wanting to make them happy and caring for them; when you don't really give a crap about anything besides how they feel. It's when you care for them with every bit of your energy and your soul. When you care for them so much that it hurts. That's... that's what love is to me."

"...And do you love me, Ruby?"

Ruby knew she had already said it a hundred times before. But she could tell by the sheer desperation and want in Weiss' voice, the driving need to be affirmed, that she needed to, and would, say it again.

So she did. "Weiss, I love you. With every bit of my heart and soul, until the end of time."

The heiress was motionless for a few seconds, and Ruby could almost hear the tortured thoughts that must have been running through her head. Then she nodded, as if to herself, and pushed the doors open.

Bright light flooded into the hallway, and Ruby had to squint her eyes to adjust to the sudden change.

The dining hall was taken up by a massive, ornate table set with an embroidered white cloth, and laden with all manner of foods. Roast duck, sausages, some type of sliced potatoes, vegetables and fruits of all colors and climes. Meats, breads beyond counting, and pitchers of various liquids that looked like they must have been made out of pure diamond. Ruby didn't doubt that they were.

Overhead was a crystal chandelier that looked outrageously expensive to her, yet somehow felt crushingly oppressive instead of awe-inspiring.

To the right of the table were thin, tall windows that offered a view of the mountainside – or would have if they weren't currently being bombarded by a cold gray sleet.

It was the setting for an end. But an end to what, she wasn't sure.

Weiss stepped inside with her hands folded in front of her: the picture of stately grace and elegance. As much as she wanted to keep her eyes on her girlfriend, Ruby scanned the table.

Only three seats were occupied. At the head of the table was Verrückt Schnee, lord and master of the household, looking every bit the part. That same wry smile was back on his face as he watched his daughter stride across the room, his eyes caught somewhere between concern and excitement. It made Ruby nervous – more so than she already was.

To his left was a tall, severe looking woman with long white hair that fell down to the floor behind her seat. Her eyes were the strangest shade: a dull crimson tinged with flecks of blood-red in the center. She wore a flowing white dress with a extremely low cut, and her bust was quite the eye-catcher. Her eyebrows were white as well, and seemed to be stuck in a perpetual expression that was couldn't choose between disdain and outright contempt. It was the same look Weiss used to wear back at Beacon. This must be her mother, Ruby realized. Apparently the heiress had gotten her mother's looks and her hair color, but not her chest size or her height. Strange.

And on the other side of Weiss' father, two seats down, was a tall, rakishly handsome young man with strawberry-blonde hair. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five. His lips seemed to be set in a perpetual sneer that somehow did nothing to offset his good looks, but his eyes were those of a hawk, and the way he watched Weiss with the eyes of an airborne predator set a deep uneasiness in her stomach. He was going to be a problem, she could already tell. She had a good eye for people, and right now her eye was conflicted: telling her to throw up and punch him at the same time. Maybe she could throw up on him while she punched him.

Ruby looked at all of them in turn, and decided that she didn't like a single one of them. And as it was stated before: she normally had a good eye for those types of things.

An expectant silence permeated the air as Weiss strode across the room to the head of the table, before curtsying to her father and taking a seat next to her mother. Her seat was directly across from the heir whose name she was struggling to remember.

Uncertain of where to sit and glad that all eyes were on Weiss, she coughed lightly and slipped into the seat next to her girlfriend. Or, as the rest of the room believed, simply her partner. She didn't expect the others at the table would be too receptive of that particular revelation.

Then finally someone spoke, breaking the silence like an icepick to an ice sculpture.

"Splendid," Verrückt Schnee said. His voice was clear and sharp, and rung through the hall and seemed to echo from the chandelier than hung over their heads. He stood and raised his glass of what appeared to be a dark beer. "Now that we're all here, a toast to my lovely daughter, and her continued success at Beacon Academy."

Everyone raised their glasses as well, and Ruby quickly followed suit.

Everyone said 'prost!' and although Ruby didn't know what it meant, she said it too, slightly behind everyone else. No one seemed to notice though, as they all took drinks from their glasses and then set them down almost in unison. Then they started eating, picking and choosing from the veritable cornucopia of food in front of them. But they did things... properly, was the only way she could think of it. Each setting had four forks, three knives, and two spoons. And she had absolutely no clue what each was for.

She glanced over at Weiss, and watched her pick up the leftmost fork and use it to start picking at a strange looking salad. Not knowing what else to do, she followed suit.

"Now then: time for introductions proper," Weiss' father said. "Clar Utiandor, heir apparent to the house of Utiandor, this is my daughter, Weiss Schnee. I am sure she will be as useful to you as she was to me, once you take her hand in marriage."

Weiss blanched slightly, and although Ruby wanted to immediately object, she kept her mouth shut in a firm, hard line. This wasn't her realm to interfere in; she had no experience in this world of politicking and maneuvering. Weiss knew how to handle this. And besides, it was time to put their relationship to the test. Time to see if Weiss truly wanted this as badly as she did. To see if Weiss truly loved her.

"Marriage?" Weiss pantomimed. "I don't remember being involved in any decision regarding my imminent marriage to a man I have hardly met."

As Ruby watched, Verrückt's eyes flashed with something – maybe anger – so quickly that she couldn't be sure if they had even changed at all. He smiled vaguely at Clar, who managed to look quite surprised despite himself.

"Excuse my daughter," he laughed, "she was recently part of a serious altercation involving the White Fang, and barely managed to escape with her life. I imagine she is still distraught, an not in full control of herself"

"An altercation?" Weiss questioned. "It was an assassination attempt, Father."

This time his eyes definitely flashed, and there was definitely anger in them. And despite herself, it scared her.

But he quickly regained his composure. "Well, be that as it may, the perpetrators were dealt with swiftly and severely. Disgusting creatures," he scoffed.

"Faunus always are," Clar added. "Nothing better than vermin, at least in my personal experience."

Weiss' parents agreed politely, but Ruby could only stare down at her food and struggle to contain the anger that was threatening to burst from her. All she could think of was Blake, of how these pathetic excuses for human beings were calling her disgusting, an animal, vermin.

Just as she was about to speak out, Weiss did it for her.

"Faunus are not animals," she muttered quietly. She picked up a small spoon with a slightly bent handle, and began taking light sips from her soup bowl. It was a wonder she could find the strength to eat; Ruby could only stare at her food in disgust.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Clar asked. "I must have heard you wrong. I thought you said that... faunus aren't animals?"

"That's exactly what I said," Weiss replied, her voice a dull monotone, startlingly reminiscent of Blake's.

Her father let out a barking laugh that shook the table, and made Ruby cringe. There was no real humor or warmth behind it, just derision and condemnation. It was more a jeer than a laugh.

"It seems Beacon Academy has changed you for the worse, my dear daughter." He paused, wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, then reclined in his chair and locked eyes with Weiss. "It's just as well though, now that I have finally found a suitable... suitor, I suppose, there's no need for you to continue attending that paltry excuse for a school."

He smirked at the shocked expression that flashed across the heiress' face. Clar grinned too, and Ruby wanted nothing more than to put the fork that was trembling in her fist through his eye. Weiss' mother simply sat there, impassive as ever.

"But... Father, you promised me that I would be able to complete my education there!"

"I promised you absolutely nothing Weiss. I simply agreed to let you attend, contingent on your steady, and verifiable success. I consider your warped views on a lesser race verification enough, that you aren't gaining anything from your... education there.

Weiss set her spoon down on the table. "You can't do this to me! This is my decision to make; you can't just decide that without me!"

Verrückt didn't even look angry at that. He looked surprised though, taken aback. "Have you forgotten your place? I am your father. I am the head of this household. I can do whatever I want." He made it sound like they were the most obvious facts in the world, and to him, perhaps they were.

"But I can't leave now! Not when I'm so close to graduating!" the heiress continued. She glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye as she spoke, as her nervous gaze flickered around the room as she looked for some sort of support. The brunette kept her gaze as resolute as possible. The heiress had to find the help she needed within herself.

"Weiss," her father monotoned, "what part of 'you are my daughter, and you answer to me' don't you understand?"

"The part where I don't have any say in the matter!"

"Your daughter has quite the mouth on her," Clar snickered. Ruby grit her teeth. Letting Weiss do this on her own was getting harder by the second.

"It would appear she does," Verrückt agreed, resting his chin in his palm and gazing at his daughter.. He sighed, and then sat straight up, drawing himself to his full, imposing height. "Daughter dearest, let me make this as cut and dry as I possibly can."

He leaned forward and grinned, showing a mouthful of sparkling, perfect teeth. "You are not going back to Beacon Academy. You will stay here, and in a few short months, you will be engaged to Clar Utiandor. You will marry him, he will take over in my stead, and you will further the Schnee dynasty. Do you understand?"

Weiss bowed her head, and closed her eyes. And through her aura, Ruby felt a strange sort of calm radiating from the heiress. It filled her with hope, and anticipation. Was this it? Was Weiss finally about to defy her father?"

A simple whisper, one word, filled the entire room.

"No."

Clar dropped his fork and coughed, choking on something in his throat. Viktoria Schnee looked aghast, stuck somewhere between disbelief and horror. At this point, Ruby wondered if she was mute.

But Verrückt only smiled wider.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"I said... no," Weiss breathed. "No, I will not. I finish my training at Beacon, and only then will I return here, to decide if I want to take your suggestions about my life into consideration. And above all, I will not marry that snickering hyena across the table from me."

Clar looked enraged. He glared at the heiress in utter fury, and Ruby couldn't help but notice that only a few feet separated them across the table. Weiss didn't appear to care though: she glared right back at him with equal fury.

Verrückt cleared his throat, drawing her gaze, and the rest of the room's, to him. His eyes were glittering for some reason, and he looked relaxed as he leaned back into his chair. "Clar, that was an personal insult, if I am not mistaken. A direct affront to your honor."

The heir apparent looked confused for a second, but nodded all the same.

"And what happens in Mistral when someone insults your honor? When a woman insults your honor? You don't duel her, do you? If I remember correctly, only men are allowed to duel. No, a woman must be put in her place. Clar, as this is my household, I give you permission to do exactly that."

He turned his hand over and inspected his nails, apparently dismissing the conversation. And Clar pushed back his chair, and stood up.

Tension hung in the air like smoke. Every single eye in the room, except for Verrückt's, were on him, as he walked around the table and headed directly towards Weiss with a malicious grin on his too-handsome face.

Ruby couldn't believe what was happening. Surely this was all some joke, Weiss' father wouldn't let anything happen to his daughter in his own house.

Wouldn't he?

Clar walked right up to Weiss, who stared at him in disbelief. And then he smacked her across the face with the back of his hand. So hard it knocked the glass of champagne she was holding across the table.

And for Ruby, time stopped. She could see everything, every drop of every liquid, every particle and every atom completely frozen in time.

She could see Viktoria Schnee with a self-satisfied smirk. She could see Verrückt Schnee tucking into his roasted potatoes, too busy eating to watch his own daughter being smacked in the face by a man he hardly knew. She could see Clar Utiandor with his hand still outstretched, with the look of a laughing hyena frozen on his face.

And she could see Weiss, her head knocked to the side from the blow, her mouth open with shock. Her cheek a bright red, her eyes a bright blue, and the champagne in her glass a bright gold as it hung, suspended, in the air over the table.

And then the world was the same angry red as Weiss' cheek, her vision a rage-tinted crimson as she vaulted over the table, grabbed Clar, and slammed him into the wall over and over again by his neck and his forearm.

His eyes went wide with terror and it felt like a demon awoke inside of her, something that warped and twisted her aura as she felt the overpowering need to kill him, to watch his ruby blood spill out and cover the floor, to mutilate his body and listen to his screams.

But just as quickly as it came over her it disappeared, like magma hitting the ocean, leaving a terrible calm that burned the back of her eyes.

With every bit of the strength she had gained by wielding Crescent Rose for years, she held him up against the wall by his throat, staring into his panic-filled eyes as he writhed and struggled to escape.

She let go, and he fell to the floor and lay there, gasping for breath and struggling to rise.

The only sound then was the scraping of a chair on the marble floor, and she looked over to see Verrückt on his feet, glaring at her with the same somehow-calm rage that she felt inside.

"You are lucky, Ruby Rose, that I do not have you killed, right here, right now. But I am with guests, you were a guest, and I was in a good mood..."

She stared right back, clenching her fists and breathing heavily.

"So instead you will leave. You are no longer a guest of my household. You will leave my house immediately, and you will never come back. I will go to Beacon Academy myself, and I will personally ensure that you never come near my daughter again. I see now where her errant behavior stems from."

"Like hell," Ruby snarled. "You're lucky I don't-"

"No."

All eyes turned to Weiss, drawn by her words that burned with all the fury and cold of a raging blizzard, of a glacier that could crush ancient stone and carve canyons in the fabric of the world itself.

"No, she is not leaving. We're leaving. Together."

The heiress stood, drawing her shoulders back and standing as tall as she could. "And Father," she said, almost spitting the word, "I fully intend to never return. I hereby renounce my family name, and I disown the Schnee line and all the rights, inheritances, and titles associated with it. This I swear today. Let all who are present take note."

"Y-You can't-" her father sputtered.

"I can. And I am."

With that, the heiress spun on her heel, grabbed Ruby's hand, and strode from the room.

Ruby had no qualms leaving: her chest was filled with pride and vindication. And an overwhelming joy, because Weiss had finally stood up for herself and claimed her life as her own.

Verrückt said nothing, choosing to simply glare at them as they walked from the room, hand in hand.

Just as she cleared the threshold of the doors they had entered through, Weiss paused. Not bothering to face them, she said: "And Ruby isn't just my partner. She's my girlfriend, and the love of my life."

Then she walked out of the room and down the hall, her heels clacking on the smooth floor and filling the silence that had fallen in the wake of conflict.

"Weiss, I'm super proud of you and all," Ruby whispered as they walked, "but how are we gonna get back? I doubt your father will let use a limo after that."

"You remember the car we took to Glasieren, the Wasenschiest UTX?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"My father had the title for it signed in my name. It's technically mine, and he can't do anything about that now."

"Oh. Well, uh, good. I'm super proud of you by the way."

The heiress smirked. "You already said that. But I'm proud of myself too."

They drove down the mountain again, Weiss clutching the wheel with one hand and Ruby's with the other, as the snow and evergreen trees whipped by them.

They had stopped for only one thing before they left: the stuffed wolf plush in the heiress' room. She had left behind almost all of her worldly possessions, her clothes, her jewelry, her books, everything. The only other thing she had taken was the money she had stashed away. It was her father's money, and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him anymore, but they would need it to get back. The car was also a necessity, but everything else was left in Der Turm Weiße, in that cold bastion of emptiness and endings.

It had an air of finality to it. It was that that feeling you got when you left a place and knew, deep down inside, that you would never return.

But it only made Ruby glad: the certainty of leaving. She didn't regret their departure in the slightest. The only thing she wanted now was to be home, back in their room at Beacon with Yang and Blake and all her friends, with Weiss and the knowledge that she had the heiress forever now.

Half a year's worth of anxiety was fleeing her bones as they drove, each mile farther away leaving her more relieved and satisfied than the rest.

Because Weiss was finally, truly hers. The last barrier between them had been smashed down; the last layer of ice had been cracked. Nothing could stand between them now.

They weren't speaking. They didn't need to. They drove on in silence, comforting eachother with their auras where words could only complicate and confuse things. Weiss' icy aura flowed into and around hers, calming and reassuring her far more than spoken language ever could.

And she could tell by the glimmer in the heiress' eyes and the smile on her face that hers was doing the same.

They were on an airship back to Vale, gliding across the ocean when they finally spoke.

It was empty except for them; nobody took a midnight flight from Atlas to Vale in the dead of summer, when all people wanted to do was enjoy their vacations and ignore the real world.

But instead of talking about what had just happened, or the consequences and all the potential things her father might do, they talked of simpler things instead.

"You sure showed him," Weiss said.

"Uh, who?" Ruby asked. "Your father?"

"No, that heir. When you grabbed him and threw him up against the wall. For lack of a better word, it was awesome."

Ruby giggled. "Geez, you're sounding more like me already."

"It's a one-time thing Ruby, don't get used to it."

The heiress stood up, moved to her right, and then sat right back down, having apparently decided that Ruby's lap was a far more comfortable seat than the suede seats of the airship.

She hummed and wrapped her arms around the heiress' midsection, smiling as the older girl planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for being there with me, you dolt. I don't know if I could have done that otherwise."

"Oh, I'm sure you could have."

Weiss gazed into her eyes. "No, I'm serious. Nothing I've done these past few months, these past few years, would have been possible without you. You've changed me Ruby, in the best possible way. And nowhere was it more evident than in that room. You gave me the strength I needed to free myself."

"I guess," Ruby muttered. "I think you already had that strength, you just needed someone to give you a reason to use it."

"Maybe. I feel almost like a bird right now, one that's had its wings clipped and then somehow healed, and is just now learning to fly. I feel free."

"Well don't go flying off on me," Ruby laughed. "I want you here now silly. That's the whole reason we did this, remember?"

"I know. I'll never leave you Ruby, not after this." The heiress drew back slightly and stared into Ruby's eyes. They were filled with a gentle warmth, the affectionate care that only a lover can gaze at you with.

"Thank you, Ruby Rose, for everything." She cupped Ruby's face with her hands and leaned forward slowly. Ruby met her halfway.

They kissed then, softly, powerfully, passionately.

She breathed in sharply through her nose, grasping the back of Weiss' head with her hand and clutching her soft, feather-like hair.

The kisses continued for a few minutes, until Weiss trailed off, leaned back, and smiled at her.

A warm smile; a true smile. It made her look beautiful, more so than she normally was. Her eyes twinkled in the dim glow given off by the airship's interior lighting, and they were the brightest things in the room to Ruby.

The heiress had lost almost everything. She had no money, no clothes, no inheritance to fall back on, and no blood family anymore.

And she looked happier than Ruby had seen her in years.

"Ruby, I love you," she whispered.

The brunette couldn't hold back a happy laugh, as all the tension and pressure she had felt in Atlas bled off and evaporated into the air.

"Why are you laughing?" Weiss questioned.

But Ruby didn't stop laughing. At first the heiress frowned, but then she let out a cute giggle, and before she long she was laughing too.

They held eachother, rocking back and forth in the seat as they struggled to breathe through the laughter. They were nearly in tears when they finished, and Weiss let out a long, satisfied sigh as she rested her head on Ruby's shoulder.

She let out a sigh of her own, and the last iota of tension left with it. "I love you too Weiss."

Song lyrics at the beginning are from "Promises Kept" by After the Burial. Really good melodic death, check it out.

I don't really have anything to say; I think this chapter speaks for itself.

Leave a review if you feel so inclined. I love reading them.