This is a really good chapter. Among my best.
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(Rosé PoV)
Cloud looked good in a suit again. He made the boys around the hall look immature and scraggly. It gave me problems in my thighs and knees to look at him in those slacks. He had a simple jacket and that same light blue collared shirt with no tie. It showed off his chest just a little with that top button undone. He looked cut. Fuck me sideways but he looked even taller and more handsome than he did in his hunter get up. He'd dropped that dangerous edge and just looked dashing all out. His hair was still spikey and messy. It flared all over the place and I bet running my fingers through it would be so satisfying, like yellow silk and warm as sunshine. He had his diamond studs that gave him that metrosexual appeal.
I looked cute and adorable in my dress. It was a pink little skirt that made my hair flair brightly in my ponytail. I had a diamond tiara and necklace that made my eyes glow. I was at my best and I had more than a touch of make-up to my face to accent my cheek bones and make my face rosy. Some mascara was applied to draw out my eyes.
Unfortunately Weiss Schnee looked beautiful. She was wearing a blue dress slit at the thigh all the way up to her waist and it showed off her right leg extravagantly. It teased the imagination with a swish of crystal blue. Her long waist length hair was down and flowing over her shoulders and down her back. It looked smooth and velvety. Her breasts looked full and I was fairly confident that she was only wearing a little eyeliner and that bullshit was just natural. Her beauty was otherworldly with that pale skin and blue eyes. She was good looking even for a huntress. She stood out even in a room full of huntresses looking their best.
She made me look like a kid that was trying too hard. I hated that. It looked effortless too. She was boxing me with the kid gloves on and I was losing and hurting. She walked around in heels like she was made for them. Her curves just flowed and she made the boys stare. They couldn't help but double take at her. I hated them for that. I hated her.
I didn't think I could hate her more but then Cloud walked over to her and gently guided her by the hand out onto the dance floor like he once did for me. She smirked at him with that scar accenting her face and whispered something that only he could hear. He laughed at her words. His laugh was smooth and rich and full of sex.
They danced together elegantly like two rivers meeting. She swayed with her hips close to his pelvis. Not so close that they were grinding but close enough that it would turn most men on. They stepped in unison and I was sure they could taste each other's aura. I knew Cloud's flavor was delicious and dangerous but I had no idea what Schnee's consisted of. Cloud took her hand and spun her in a circle. Her tight dress didn't flare out like mine would have. Instead the slit in her dress flashed over her hip bone and smooth thigh. Just to hint at everything beneath the tight gown.
Cloud grabbed her by the waist and easily tossed her into the air. Weiss Schnee couldn't have weighed more than one hundred twenty pounds and Cloud could bench press a truck. He must have thrown her gently ten feet in the air but rather than squeal in surprise as I did when he tossed me at the festival gala she handled it with grace. She knew he would catch her. She shut her eyes and let out a laugh and twirled in the air like she was made for it. She landed in both of his arms in a bridal position.
"Just dropping in?" He asked.
It must have been some private joke.
"Did you really just…?" she laughed and hit his chest with the back of her hand. I bet she got a good feel for him when she did that. A nice shot of his aura straight to her's and a touch of his muscles. He had broad shoulders with thick chest muscles that led to a narrow, dangerous waist. "You remember that?"
"Of course…" He whispered but I caught the words by the way he moved his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung off of him while he held her. She pulled in on him and he moved his head low and kissed her. There was no tongue but it was full with meaning and deep. They were both smiling where their lips met.
I looked away.
"Yikes," Peach mumbled in her tight bodycon gown. It showed off her curves but Schnee and Strife had chemistry.
"I know, I know. I'm looking at the same thing you are," I agreed.
"It's quite the spectacle. Who would have thought he could dance too?" Pine asked in her own black and gold dress. "Ready to pack this in, girls? Maybe get some punch?"
"Oh, I'm thirsty alright," Peach disagreed.
Cloud set Schnee down. Schnee leaned in close and whispered something directly into his ear. Cloud sighed but nodded. Schnee turned on her heels and walked out of the hall. He watched her go with so much force I thought it might shock her. He shook his head a little then made his way over to the punch.
"Now's our shot," Peach said.
"Don't try it," Pine warned resignedly.
"I'm going for it," I decided.
I left my friends.
I walked up to Cloud.
"Miss Gainsborough?" Ouch. A stab there.
"Rosé," I corrected.
"I'm technically chaperoning as a teacher. Here for the punch?" No, you fucking idiot.
"I actually wanted to ask you for a dance."
"I see…" something scared lurked there in his tone. What could frighten him? He swallowed some punch without meeting my eye. "Of course. I'd be happy to dance with you again."
Really?
"It won't bother your girlfriend, will it?"
"She's my fiancé now." He had a quiet smile and he was watching my face. There was trepidation in his gaze. "A recent development. And we have both yet to ask Ruby. Weiss is confident she'll say 'yes.'"
Oh shit. They were putting a ring on him.
"Still… I wouldn't want to step on any toes by accident." I would love to stomp on Schnee's feet very hard given half the chance.
"No… it should be alright. It's just a dance."
"Just a dance," I echoed.
"In fact she rather warned me something like this might happen. Told me to be ready. Shall we?"
What the fuck?
He tugged me out onto the floor by the hand much like he did with Schnee. He led well in the dance. One hand by my side above my hips rather than on them and the other hand clasping mine. His aura went down smooth at this proximity. Ozone and crystal burnt sugar. He hummed with power even though he held me at just under arm's length away. He twirled me and I couldn't help but smile.
I was never able to get very close to him and let him feel my body. And compared to Schnee's body I wasn't sure I wanted to try. Maybe it would be for the best if I held my cards close to my chest and didn't try and compete with Schnee like that directly. Despite all that, he spun me easily into his chest and I felt more like a princess than I had in all my life. His hands were on my waist and in my own as he led the way. He smiled at me gently but there was something fearful and resigned as I looked back up at him. I couldn't quite place it. Was he afraid of his fiancé? What was happening?
I was holding my breath. We were so close. I could feel him through my skin. He had me spun around so my back was close to him and my arms were crossed and holding his hands. We swayed together so close that it was intense. The heat of it was torching me. He was closer than he had ever been beyond training and melee but still it lacked that intimacy that I wanted. He still held my butt away from his pelvis. I wanted to be even closer to him but he kept me distant. I felt like I was going to be struck by lightning or set on fire or something else disastrous was about to happen. I was just waiting for the spark and then, soaked in gasoline, I would light up.
The song ended and so did our dance. He bowed to me a little and shuffled uncomfortably. I felt on edge. I needed some air. At that moment I knew that he knew.
"Thank you…" I murmured.
"Of course," he acknowledged quietly, just a whisper like he was afraid his voice would shatter me like glass. Peach was waiting in the wings by the punch to get a dance of her own.
He knew. How did he know?
I strode away. Out of the hall and to a balcony. The doors closed behind me and only then did I manage to breath.
I made my way to the edge and leaned over it and drank in the cool night air. I hadn't realized how hot I was and that I had worked up a light sweat dancing. But that wasn't what left me breathless. He did. It had been everything I wanted. So what was missing? A certain je ne sais quoi. It made me feel scared.
He knew.
I heard the doors to the balcony open behind me. The click of heels followed.
"He's a good dancer, isn't he? He was always a good dancer," I heard the woman's voice that I wanted to hear less than any other in the entire world.
I didn't try and pretend like she didn't know. She would be able to see through me if I tried to lie. I said nothing but she continued.
"That was true even before he was Cloud Strife. And he became Cloud quite a bit earlier than he knows, I think. But he was always a good dancer. One of the things that his father taught him."
"His father?" I turned to gaze out at Weiss Schnee from where I leaned on the balcony. "What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"He used to be Jaune Arc. Then Beacon fell and he became Cloud Strife. He changed in his entirety. He was one person then another. Jaune Arc died."
"I knew his name used to be Jaune Arc,"
"Did you? He told you then?"
"He did," I agreed.
"He asked me out incessantly before midterms. I always turned him down. It was bothersome. I didn't need him annoying me all the time. I couldn't see it then."
"You turned him down? Why? He asked you out and you shut him down? But now you're engaged to him? How did that pan out?" I couldn't imagine turning Cloud down if he ever asked me. It was shocking to hear that Schnee had. And they ended up together anyways.
"He came on with this fake personality. Over confident. I'm sure you know the type, what with your being a princess. You've met the occasional boy like that at galas and balls. Boisterous with nothing to back it up. They think they can pull off the 'lady's man' and win the girl. It's so transparent. And Jaune Arc wasn't even good at pretending at it or playing the role required. It was pathetic to be completely honest." Cloud? Pathetic? It was alien to my ears like she was speaking another language. "Surprised?" She asked.
"A little. It's hard to ever see him as pathetic. Maybe a little dense but never pathetic."
I did know the type of boy she was talking about. They were the least genuine people in the world. They lied to everyone including themselves. I'd danced with some before at balls and concerts. I guess the Schnee had too. We had that in common. We had more than that in common if I really thought about it.
She laughed and it was a noise that would have made even Pine's bell-like laugh sound empty. "Yes, he is maybe still a little more than a little dense. It turns out it was because he himself had no idea who he was that made him act that way but then who could blame me? I do bear some fault but some of it was happenstance. He was the weakest person at Beacon bar none. He had no talent. He was clever but not wise so he came across as dull."
To hear that he'd been the weakest student at Beacon was a shock. He was so powerful now that you could feel it if you stood close to him. Your aura gave you a dull throbbing warning that something hazardous to your health was nearby. I'd grown to like it a little. He was so dangerous it was sexy.
"But all that changed," I interpreted. "He isn't like that any more."
"His partner died. He gave up the act. He worked hard. That's what his semblance actually does. I'm sure you've seen it. You're the one he trained before he taught here. He wrote about you often. Maybe you have heard the name: Limit Break?"
"I didn't know that was it's name."
"A semblance is the manifestation of yourself. And his manifested as the ability to push himself past his limits and go beyond. What does that say about him?" Schnee pressed.
"He trains hard."
"But he works that hard at everything that he does. When I next saw him after Beacon fell he had given up that false facade. He let the mask go and he was alarmingly competent. He had real experience behind him. He didn't hit on me again but he did look after me in a sort of odd distant fashion. He crushed people's skulls for me. He dropped the act and became himself. He didn't really care about trying to impress me but he did anyway. Instead of being the weakest of us he was among the strongest and only growing in power. At Beacon I never saw that in him. That spark. I regret that. His partner saw it. My partner saw it. I couldn't see it. I usually pride myself regarding my ability to see through people but I missed it in him."
"What do you want?" I demanded. Had she come just to rub it in my face?
"To explain why I let you dance with him." My stomach dropped a little and I felt wary of Pine's warnings. It had been a trap after all. Schnee had set me up. I should have been even more afraid that I got the dance than if I didn't. She'd seen me coming and others like me. She had been ready. Walking out had been a trick all along. She'd given Yuma, Peach, and I the opportunity but only so that she could pin us down. "Or are you not interested in knowing?" She asked. She raised a delicate eyebrow over her scar and I wanted to punch her in her nearly perfect face. That one scar-flaw seemed to only highlight her beauty rather than detract from it.
"Let's hear it."
"He has poor self esteem. He hates himself. I think that's a part of what pushes him to be better. That's my fault in part. I rejected him… cruelly... at times. Slammed the door in his face literally and metaphorically. It influenced him during the formative period of his life. He doesn't believe that he's attractive. I told him that there would be plenty of girls who would ask him to dance tonight given the opportunity."
"You used me."
"You used me," she shot back. "How long did I leave the hall for before you were on my fiancé and drinking in his aura like a live wire? I let you dance with him. You ought to be grateful to me because I allowed it. I granted you permission to touch him and I'm a jealous, possessive woman."
"You share him," I pointed out.
"With Ruby, yes. I share everything with Ruby. She is my sister and she will be my wife. All my secrets and flaws belong to her. And what's sharing a man we both love in light of that? I love her as well. She also belongs to me. That's hardly the same as letting some foreign, alien, stranger paw away at what is mine. And he is mine. I didn't see his potential before but I was given a second chance. I'm not about to let that go now. And if you served the purpose of reducing his self hatred and improving his image of himself just a little, then it was worth it."
I fell into furious silence. I glared at the woman before me.
Inside a song stopped and a new one started before I spoke again.
"I should have had a shot. He never told me about you. Either of you. I had no idea he was taken. So yeah, I fell for him. It's on you that you didn't when you first met him. That's your fault. It should have been your loss. And if you rejected him harshly and he's still dealing with that then that's on you too. Then you used me for leverage. That's not fair."
"You deserved a shot? His partner deserved a shot. That's what's not fair. She's the real heroine here. She saw it from the start. She kept him alive. Thank the merciful gods she kept him alive and taught him what he needed to know. He would have died alongside her given the choice. He resents his survival but I don't. She opened the door to his potential. And the lucky survivors gain the spoils. Pyrrha Nikos deserved it more than anyone. He's not over her death and I don't think he ever will be. I struggle to hold that against him. She was his second friend after Ruby and the first person in his entire life to ever really believe in him. I think he loved her. He might still. She played such a huge role in the beginning of his life. And I'm sorry he didn't tell you about us. He is reserved. He's that way about his family and relationships. He's always been that way. And the trauma he has experienced hasn't helped. But you're right about one thing. I should have been out. Luckily Ruby wanted me and him both. She begged him not to make her choose. Luckily she was willing to share him with me and he's willing to share her with me. I could have been out. Just like that." She snapped her fingers. "I got lucky. I got a second chance. And you want to talk to me about fairness? After making moves on what's clearly mine? I used you and you used me. That's about as fair as it gets in this world. That's business, princess."
"You told him I was in love with him. That was for me to share if ever I wanted to. He was afraid of me the entire time we danced."
"Afraid of you or afraid for you? He never would have realized if I hadn't told him. And all I told him was that he should be ready for girls to swarm him at the dance tonight. Then I informed him that a girl wouldn't ask him unless she liked him. That's just how we function. You played yourself. You walked into it and revealed your hand. That's not my fault. And you got your dance with another woman's man. That's more than you ever would have received otherwise. And let's not act like if you knew he had a distant girlfriend that would have stopped you from falling in love. It didn't stop me from falling in love with Ruby and Cloud when they were together. That happens to people irregardless. And your love is fake pressure. You don't know anything about him. It's infatuation not love that you feel but you are young and the difference is subtle."
"So what happens now?"
"You move on. You've had your fun but he deserves to sleep and to not be worrying about every other girl's heart. I'm going to ask Ruby to marry me. Cloud's going to ask her to marry him. She's going to say 'yes' to both of us. It was her idea, this trio. She wants it. I'm going to get Cloud to stop abusing propsychotics. That blank stare scares me more than his frown. And he will give it up if I ask him to. He'll get professional help to deal with his trauma and manage his psychosis. Then we're going to get married. And after that we'll have our family."
"In the time you have left."
"Before…?" she wondered, leading me along.
"Before he goes after Merlot. And his mother," I clarified.
"He told you?"
"He told me it would probably kill him."
"He must have thought you two were good friends. Ruby and I still hold out hope for him but we intend to make the most of what time we have."
"Are we not still friends?" I wondered.
"I'm willing to bet that's up to you. Cloud will be uncomfortable with the notion he held your heart in his hands. He is so… naive when it comes to the hearts of women. But he can move past it if you give him the chance. And then you'll be friends for keeps. And he's a good friend when it comes down to it. A valuable, reliable friend."
"I deserved my shot."
"You deserve to know why you don't deserve a shot. You're a kid. With energy. Cloud needs rest. After everything he has been through he needs time to heal. You get to know why. And I've explained to you why you don't get an opportunity. You never had a chance. You loved the idea of Cloud but you don't know him well enough to love the real him. That's why you're out. You're a foolish girl playing a woman's game. But that's life. I got two chances, Ruby seized her's, and you and Pyrrha never had any. It happens. We live in a cruel world. It hurts. It's bullshit but it's a fact of life. It kills us. It's the worst. But it does have it's bright moments if you can find them. Cloud can still be your friend. You can have that, yet. But he will be my husband. That's happening for certain. How you deal with that is on you. Enjoy your evening."
Then she turned and left me out on the balcony to probably go crush more hearts after she had flattened mine.
I turned back out over the vista. I gazed over the walled and lit gardens of Beacon and the deep fountains that lined the courtyards. And I cried nearly silent tears.
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-WG
