Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Edited by ToxicExotic

Chapter 79 - Animosity

Leaning her head against the cool window of the car, Weiss let out a small sigh of agitation. Though she had only been serving as Jacques' assistant for two days so far, they had been the worst two days in the history of her employment at the company. Accounting had been boring, but at least there her work was important to making sure everyone was informed on what the company could afford and what it couldn't. Unfortunately, being an assistant offered no such thing. Instead she spent her days taunted by important calls from business partners and acquaintances, slowly getting more and more annoyed at knowing all she was able to do was schedule them in for lunch.

She knew that was the man's intention though. To try and show her exactly how it would feel to be ostracized from the company. To try and drive a wedge between her and Yang by building up a sense of resentment for her current situation. But it wouldn't work. She knew exactly whose fault it was that she was stuck in banality. Thankfully though, all hope wasn't lost. Seemingly having followed up with Ironwood on what she had revealed, Jacques had changed his mind on removing her from the nerve chip and giving the project to Doctor Watts. She was now required to report to him though.

One good thing had come from the whole situation though, and that was that Jacques seemed to be in agreement that the only way the chip was going to work was to keep Doctor Polendina as the lead researcher. As such, he was required to keep the project in Vale and that meant they were free to pursue the additional funding from the RMRF. So that was where she was headed, to officially introduce the project to the foundation so that they were able to consider it in all future grants. However, though she wasn't particularly nervous about the meeting, she did wish she could at least talk to her girlfriend before it.

Due to the woman having to get rid of her number, their conversations had been rather limited over the last few days. Though they still talked for a while at night using the apartments landline, Weiss once missed opening her Scroll to see random messages from the blonde that would frequently make her smile. It was a small thing, but one that had always made her happy. Fortunately though she already obtained the secure number and would be giving it to her when they met up for lunch. Yet another thing she was excited about after having to break a promise to be at the apartment last night.

"Got another truck following us." She heard Hazel say, his deep voice pulling her from her thoughts and bringing her back to the present. "Want me to lose them?"

Turning around to look out of the back window, Weiss let out a small groan. The press had been so much more persistent ever since finding out about Yang's past, digging up whatever they could about Yang's family and friends, and spreading all kinds of rumors and speculations; and Weiss hated it. Mostly because it was more invasive than usual, but also because they had taken a special liking to theorising about Yang's involvement in the attack on Schnee Tower. It was never nice to have the most traumatic moments of her life thrown in her face, but for them to be trying to insinuate Yang was involved in any way was aggravating; especially when she was already dealing with that at work and at home.

"No." She breathed, turning back around. "Just ignore them for now."

"Alr… alright." He replied with a cough.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, having heard him cough a few times during the drive already.

"Mhm. Just a sore throat."

"You can take the day off if you are feeling under the weather."

"I'm fine, Miss Schnee." He said firmly.

"Okay then." She hummed, not wanting to pry.

Fortunately, as she leaned back into the seat and let the man focus on driving, she felt a buzzing in her pocket and pulled out her Scroll. Seeing a message from Reese, she quickly opened it and shook her head.

'All packaged and on its way. Might take a bit due to postal strike though so try not to rip it off her when it gets there'

Smiling slightly, she wrote a quick thank you, she felt her Scroll vibrate again as a second message came in.

'also thank blondie for me. i got a hot (like omg really hot) date tonight.'

Chuckling slighting as she knew exactly how most of Reese's first dates ended, she added a good luck to the end of her reply and pocketed her device. She was happy for her friend. Though Reese was incredibly smart and talented, she lacked the focus and drive to really put them to use; but from everything Yang had said, Arslan certainly seemed the kind of person who could help in that regard.

"Looks like somethings happening up ahead." Hazel said, pulling her out of her head again as they approached Viridian Court.

Looking out of the window showed that Hazel was indeed right. Gathered around the steps that led up to the large buildings were a group of at least a hundred people holding signs and Menagerie flags. From the amount of tails and ears she could see, she guessed that most of, if not all of them, were faunus.

"Probably protesting for Rāma no Tanjō," She theorized, removing her seatbelt while Hazel parked in a free space.

"Mmm." He hummed. "You want me to escort you inside?"

"No, thank you." Weiss replied with a smile. "I'll be fine. I will be a few hours though, so I'll call you when I need to be picked up."

Seeing the man give a nod and relax into his seat, she pushed open her door and stepped out into the warm street. Almost instantly the sounds of yelling and chanting greeted her ears. Now closer, she was able to see that she had been right about the cause of the protest as the boards had numerous things written across their faces regarding the holiday. Unfortunately, a few of them also held the old White Fang logo, and though it was missing the scratches of its more extremist counterpart, Weiss still felt her body seize up a little. Quickly shrugging it off however, she let her eyes scan over the crowd and made her towards the building.

Before she could even make it to the top of the steps though, she spotted some familiar faces. Sat on the top step with a pair of signs in their hands were Blake and Ilia, both of them smiling and looking more at home than she had ever seen them. Where the cat faunus usually had a more reserved, almost detached air to her, Weiss noticed that she looked much more confident. Her back was straight, her ears were perked up proudly, and there was a glint in her amber eyes that Weiss hoped to see more often. Ilia was much the same too, but Weiss could see how the outspoken girl was more comfortable amid a protest.

It seemed the two of them had spotted her as well, as both gave her a warm smile as she approached them.

"Hey, Weiss." Blake smiled one of the most genuine smiles Weiss had seen from her friend.

"Hello." She returned the smile. "You certainly seem to be settling into your new lifestyle well."

"Thanks." Blake said, the light in her eyes shining even brighter at the compliment. "It feels good to be out here doing something again."

"Told you." Ilia grinned smugly.

"Well I'm happy for you." She looked around at all the signs. "I hope you succeed in your goal here. It's about time Rāma no Tanjō was acknowledged."

"Not everyone feels the same unfortunately." Blake sighed, though quickly perked back up. "We do have a petition though, if you want to sign it. A name as famous as yours would really help give it some weight."

"Hmm…" Weiss replied with a little uncertainty. "I can certainly give it a read, but I make no promises."

While Weiss wanted to sign whatever it was that Blake needed her to sign, she had been taught her whole life not to sign anything she didn't agree with, and that under no circumstances should she ever sign something without reading it first. It was far too easy to fall victim to scams or have your name associated with something seedy. And though she knew Blake and Ilia were not the kind of people to do such a thing, it was still better to always be safe than sorry. Thankfully the girl gave an understanding nod.

"I'll go get our sheet from Luna." Ilia said, standing up from the stairs and walking off into the crowd.

"She won't be long." Blake smiled once the girl was gone. "I take it you've got a meeting here?"

"Mhm." Weiss nodded, taking a look around to see the reporters that had followed her had arrived and begun to take pictures. "Just regarding my project. Father finally gave us the go ahead."

"Ahh." Blake hummed and leaned back. "Speaking of your dad… well I can't say for sure it was him, but Sun was fired last night."

"What!" Weiss scowled, knowing the time was far too convenient for it to be a coincidence. "Did they say what for?"

"Apparently the manager foresaw his relationship with a known White Fang member to be disruptive to operations." Blake shrugged. "Sun isn't really bothered since he never really wanted to work there anyway, but I figured you'd want to know."

That still doesn't make it right, Weiss thought to herself with a sigh. Not only did Sun and Blake not deserve to be punished for her defiance of Jacques, firing someone for such a reason gave way for the potential of an unfair dismissal lawsuit. Yet again, the man was using the company for his own means and risking even more of its reputation.

"Thank you." She breathed and shook her head. "I will look into it. If Sun needs anything, then tell him not to hesitate to ask."

"I will." The girl nodded, her ear twisting to the side and her eyes flicking to the crowd. "Here they come."

Confused by the plural, Weiss turned to look where her friend's eyes had settled and saw Ilia emerging from the crowd with another woman by her side wearing a grey pantsuit. The woman was tall and lithe with silvery hair, out of which protruded two wolf ears, and gleaming green eyes. Eyes which were fixed on her.

"Weiss," Weiss definitely heard the nerves that had entered her friend's voice. "This is Luna Howls. She runs the meetings me and Ilia go to."

At the mention of the name, Weiss felt a chill run through her. Before her was a person that Yang didn't seem to trust, and she knew a part of that was because the woman's brother had taken part in the attack on Schnee Tower. To say that didn't put her a little on edge would be a lie, but not wanting to insult the woman, nor judge her unfairly as she knew what it was like to have a family member ruin your name, she held out her hand with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you."

The woman took her hand as Weiss struggled not to wince. Though the grip wasn't especially painful, there was definitely more force than necessary.

"You too." Luna said in a voice that sounded more like a growl than anything. "Ilia said you wanted to sign our petition?"

"I said I would like to read it." Weiss corrected her, their hands still joined. "I will sign if I agree with it."

"Scared we'll use your name to attack you?"

Luna's eyes turned into a suspicious glare, but Weiss met it with ease. While the woman before her seemed to carry many of the same qualities as Sienna, she didn't quite wield them with as much authority.

"Simply doing my due diligence." Weiss smiled back. "As anybody should do when attaching their name to something."

An amused hum rumbled from the woman's lips and she finally dropped the handshake to hold out the clipboard. "Fair enough."

Happy to see that more than half the pages had been signed, Weiss accepted it and scanned the top of the page. Just as she expected, there was nothing that she opposed, simply a call for the holiday to be officially registered as a cultural holiday so that employers couldn't force faunus to work on a day that was special to them. That itself was something Weiss definitely agreed with, so quickly taking the pen that was attached to the clipboard she scrawled her name and number in one of the boxes and handed it back to Luna.

"Looks good, I guess." The woman growled. "Thanks."

"No problem." She nodded.

Silence filled the space between them for a second, and Weiss saw the woman's green eyes narrow as they fell upon her scar.

"I suppose I should apologise for that too." She grunted reluctantly. "I'm sorry that Perry played any part in giving you it."

Reaching up to graze a finger against her scar for a moment, Weiss shook her head. "That's not your fault. His actions were his own."

"Very well," Luna replied with a small nod. "Well if that is all, I will be-"

"Actually…" Weiss interrupted her before she could walk off. "There is something I would like to ask?"

"Oh?" A dark silver eyebrow raised curiously. "And what is that?"

Weiss a second to try and find a way to ask what she wanted without coming off as entitled to it.

"Well…" She said cautiously. "One day soon I shall be in charge of a company, but I do not wish to make the same mistakes that others have made regarding their treatment of faunus. However, I fully admit to not having the greatest understanding of the issues your people face; but I would like to learn as much as I can so that I can make the best decision possible for as many people as possible. Which is why I would like to ask a favour that I completely understand may be too much."

"And that favour is?"

"I would like to sit in on one of your group sessions." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blake and Ilia exchange a surprised look. "I know that is a big ask and that some of your group might not be comfortable with it, but I think it would be very beneficial for me to hear people's experiences first hand so that I know what to avoid in the future."

For almost a minute Luna simply glared at her, though Weiss was quickly catching on to the fact that glaring seemed to be the woman's natural default. However, with what she knew was such a big ask, Weiss couldn't help but worry she had asked something extremely inappropriate. After all, the people that attended those meetings did so to have a place when they could safely express themselves without fear of judgement.

"That is not for me to decide." The woman said eventually, her vibrant green eyes not leaving Weiss'. "I would have to take it up with the group."

"I completely understand." She smiled, happy that there had been no offence taken from her words.

"Good. Is that all?" Weiss gave her a nod. "Alright then."

Without even bothering to say goodbye, Luna turned on her heel and walked back into the crowd. Once she disappeared, she turned back to her friends and gave them a sheepish smile.

"I didn't overstep, did I?"

"Nah." Blake chuckled. "That's just Luna. She can be a little intense, but she's a good person."

"Good." She breathed in relief and looked down at her watch. "But I should be going actually. My meeting starts soon. You're meeting me and Yang for lunch, right?"

"Yep. I'll be picking Ruby up after her shift too, so she'll probably end up joining us as well."

To her surprise, she saw Ilia look away as her hair turned a slight shade of blue at the mention of the redhead.

"Care to join us, Ilia?"

"N-No." The girl stuttered with uncertainty. "Think I'm just gonna work on my college application."

Though Weiss found it odd that Ilia would refuse to hang out with them despite Ruby being involved, someone the girl always seemed eager to hang out with, Weiss chose not to push it. Having gotten a similar reaction from the younger girl a few days prior at the mention of Ilia's name, and seeing the chameleon girl's freckles tint to a colour she knew meant sadness, she could only theorise that something had happened between the two. And unfortunately, Weiss knew that she and Ilia were not close enough for her to be prying into the girl's relationships.

"Alright then." She smiled, letting the matter go without further question. "Well I wish you luck with your signatures."

"Good luck to you too." Blake said in return as she sat back up and waved to a fellow faunus in the crowd.

Still unable to believe just how much more comfortable Blake looked, Weiss took a second to appreciate it. However, knowing she had to get to her meeting, she quickly broke her gaze and gave the girls a wave before continuing up the steps and towards the RMRF headquarters, her head immediately returning to going over all the notes she had prepared beforehand.

Weiss was quite thankful that the day was a nice one. After all, it was her first afternoon off in days and the fact that the sun had chosen that one to show its true brilliance was surely a good sign. However, as beautiful as it was to see the glowing yellow orb hanging proud in Vale's sky, it was nothing compared to how Yang's hair looked on those days. Even across the park from where the woman was sitting, Weiss could see the hair shining brighter than anything around it for miles, each strand such a brilliant yellow that the curls and waves made it look more akin to liquid gold than hair.

Feeling a blush creep to her cheeks as the blonde turned to face her and flashed a smile that was somehow even brighter than her hair, Weiss happily returned it and began to make her way over. Weaving her way through the small crowd of people that had shown up in the small park to enjoy the day, she quickly arrived at the spot her girlfriend was sitting. Glancing down at her, she perched her hand on her hip and grinned at the blonde while watching the lilac eyes roam freely up her bare legs.

"Alright, I'm convinced." The woman said with an appreciative hum.

"Of what?"

"That whoever came up with skirts was a genius and deserves a statue in their honor."

"Oh?" Weiss giggled. "And will you ogle that statue too?"

"Maybe." The girl hummed mischievously.

Chuckling to herself as the chef patted the ground between her legs, Weiss happily set her bag down and sat down between them. Leaning in, she pressed a kiss against her girlfriend's lips. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a news van pull up but ignored it. Their intrusion was getting tiresome, but she wasn't going to let them interrupt what little time she had with the woman she loved.

"Lemons?" She asked curiously, feeling the taste of them on her lips.

"Strawberry lemonade." The girl smirked and held up a see-through cup of yellow slush with red at the bottom. "Wanna try it?"

Giving a hesitant nod as Yang's taste in drink was very different to hers, she leaned forwards and took a sip of the cold liquid. Almost immediately her face cringed at just how sweet it was, so sweet in fact that she couldn't even taste the sourness that lemons were famous for.

"Wow!" She coughed. "I definitely see diabetes in your future."

"Small price to pay." The woman laughed and took a sip herself. "So how was your meeting?"

"It was more of a presentation than anything." Weiss hummed, relaxing back into the blonde as arms wrapped around her. "But it went well. They definitely seemed interested in the chip."

"They'd be stupid not to be." Yang hummed and pulled out her Scroll. "Speaking of chips?"

"Ahh, yes." Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out a tiny plastic card and passed it to the boxer. "Only numbers you register with the STC will be able to contact you now, so don't forget to call and log them. I already had them register mine."

"Little inconvenient, but saves me waking up to hundreds of messages again." Weiss grimaced, knowing first hand how annoying that could be. "So why don't you have one of these anyway?"

"I get business calls all the time, so would be more of a hindrance." She shrugged. "Easier to simply change my number and then replace it on the site."

"That's fair." Yang nodded and slipped the card into the Scroll.

A small hint of happiness rushed through her as the device connected to the network. Before the woman could do anything though, the device let out a loud ping and the message Weiss had sent earlier showed up on screen. It was nothing much, merely a simple I love you, but she was proud of the fact it caused Yang to smile.

"Aww." She cooed. "I love you too."

As they pressed their lips together, Weiss heard a small groan to their side and opened her eyes to see Blake and Ruby approaching. In their hands were two large trays that she assumed was filled with food and drink. As their eyes met, Ruby gave Weiss an oddly happy smile and a wave, which she quickly returned.

"Why did I even pick up food if you're just gunna eat Weiss' face?"

"Pfft, you're one to talk." Yang countered as they parted, Weiss slipping out from between her legs to sit beside her girlfriend. "You never leave Sun alone when you're together."

"And yet we're still more behaved than you." Blake replied smugly, causing Ruby to chuckle as they sat down. "You owe me twenty lien though."

While Yang grumbled and searched through her pocket for the money, Weiss looked down at the two trays and saw that one of them was actually filled with a bunch of bowls that contained different meats and vegetables. On the side of the plate was a small stack of fresh rolls. On the other was some colourful slushies, a few tubs of ice cream, and two slabs of cake; one chocolate and the other a plain sponge. Having not even eaten breakfast that morning, just looking at it all made her stomach rumble.

"Help yourselves." Blake said and reached out to pull what looked to be tuna towards herself.

"Thanks." She replied and leaned forward to make herself some food. "So how was the rest of the protest?"

"Good." Blake nodded and tipped half of the tuna onto a roll. "We got more signatures than we thought we would, so that's a good sign I guess. Still a long way from what we need though."

"How many do you need?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Ten thousand to have it brought before a committee." Weiss answered since Blake's mouth was full. "One hundred thousand for it to be brought before the council themselves."

"The fact you even have to do it in the first place is stupid." Yang replied bitterly.

"I agree." Ruby added.

"Yeah well…" The faunus hummed and leaned back on the grass while pulling out a book from her bag. "Life's never exactly been fair for us."

Unable to deny that, Weiss took a bite from her roll and offered the girl an apologetic look, though it was quickly waved aside.

"We'll get what we need though." The girl said and opened the book.

"I would help, but it's probably for the best that I stay out of the media as much as I can right now." Weiss breathed. "Oum knows what my father would do if he's already targeted Sun."

"It's fine, Weiss. You signed the petition, that's enough for us."

Still, Weiss thought to herself and took a bite of her roll.

She really wished she could do more to help, maybe even send the petition around to people in the company she knew would be sympathetic to the cause, but the chance of Jacques finding out and using that as yet another weapon was simply too great. The last thing she wanted was for the man to do something to interfere with the faunus' goal to get some recognition.

Seemingly sensing her frustration at not being of any use, she felt Yang's hand tighten on her waist and a kiss was placed against her cheek.

"What are you reading a law book for anyway?" Yang asked, grabbing two rolls and stuffing them with a variety of fillings. "And should I be worried that this will be the next book you talk my ear off about?"

"My dad's law books were the only things left in the house I hadn't read. But it is kind of interesting." The girl shrugged. "Besides, pretty sure you have more important things to worry about than what I'll talk your ear off about later."

"Ugh." Weiss knew the groan was likely at the upcoming therapy session and the fact that Blake would definitely be talking her ear off about the law book. "Don't remind me."

Glancing sideways at her girlfriend, Weiss saw some nerves in the usually confident lilac eyes and immediately felt bad for not having been around as much as she had liked. She knew Yang was scared of the upcoming session, scared that something would go wrong and that things might be said; but Weiss also knew that therapy was what Yang and Tai needed. They clearly loved each other deeply and wanted to resolve the issues between them, they simply struggled with actually talking.

Thankfully Dr Darq was perfect for that. Though she had only seen him a handful of times during her stay in the hospital, she couldn't deny that his emphasis on listening and offering advice more than solutions had been greatly beneficial to her recovery. He never treated therapy like a magical cure that could solve all the problems one had, but as a way to slowly understand the issue that someone was facing and learn to accept them. And though she still wasn't exactly fond of it or the memories it brought, it was thanks to his sessions that she had eventually stopped hiding her scar.

"You'll be fine." Weiss smiled softly at the blonde.

"So everyone says." The girl mumbled with her mouth full. "Still don't like the idea of a therapist getting in my head though."

"You say that like there's anything in there." Blake replied from behind her book, causing Ruby to chuckle. "But Weiss is right. You're just psyching yourself out."

"I like therapy." Ruby added with a comforting smile to her sister. "Dr Rhodes is awesome, and Luna's group is really nice."

"Yeah, well if Darq is anything like Luna then I'm cancelling immediately."

At that comment, Blake sent her friend a scowl.

"He's not." Weiss reached out and put a hand on her girlfriend's arm. "If you ever feel uncomfortable or need a minute to collect your thoughts, he'll understand. I promise."

"Who knows," Blake smirked at them. "Maybe after that, he can take a look at your habit of punching people."

"Haha." said mockingly and leaned back. "Keep Luna away from me and there'll be no punching."

"Not this again." Blake groaned and closed her book. "Luna isn't to blame for what happened."

"You keep saying that, but I seem to remember it differently." Yang glowered back.

With a deep sigh, Blake put the book aside as glared at the blonde with annoyance. Before they could begin though, Weiss gave a short cough.

"I think I'm going to get an iced coffee." She said, keen to avoid whatever argument the pair were about to have.

"I'll join." Ruby said eagerly, already standing up.

Walking away just as Blake told Yang she was being stupid, Weiss shook her head. She thought after having made up upon returning to Vale that the two would be back to how she had always seen them, but apparently not. She hoped that it was merely growing pains from them both travelling different paths for the first time and learning to accept what the other had chosen, but she also hoped it passed soon. After all, the last thing either of them needed when they were finally doing something they love was to fall out with their best friend again.

"I hate when they fight." Ruby sighed as they weaved their way towards a cafe that sat on the edge of the park.

"They will be fine." Weiss consoled the girl. "They are simply adjusting to their new lives."

"I know." The redhead breathed and shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. "I just don't want them to fight like they did last time."

Feeling bad for the girl as she knew exactly what it was like to see two people she loved argue, Weiss reached out and slipped her arm through Ruby's. "Neither of us are going to let that happen." She replied with a smile.

Watching the younger girl look up with her and nod, she made a mental note to talk to Yang about how Ruby was feeling later. However, since they were both alone and in need of taking their mind off the argument that was likely happening behind them, Weiss figured it would be a good time to bring up what had been discussed a few days ago.

"So…" She said casually, not wanting to sound like she was pressuring her for an answer. "Have you given any thought to my offer?"

"Huh?" Though confusion entered her eyes for a few seconds, it quickly cleared. "Oh! Umm… A little?"

"A little?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, thinking the offer to go to her dream school would be at the front of her mind.

"Sorry." The girl mumbled and looked down. "I am thinking about it, I promise. It's just… that's a lot of money."

"It is." Weiss hummed. "But it will be going to a good cause."

"But what if I don't do well? Or I don't fit in? Or I drop out?"

"Well I can say right now I have no concerns about your first and third worries." She smiled across at the girl. "Beacon is your dream college and you have worked tirelessly to get into it. As for fitting in? I don't think that will be too much of an issue considered how… unique… Beacon students tend to be."

"Unique in what way?" The girl asked curiously.

"Well you've already met Penny." Weiss smirked, having met the girl a few times herself in Dr Polendina's office. "She is far from alone in her eccentricities. The engineering students even made large study balls with heating and rotating walls because they hated being inside. Trust me, Ruby, you are more likely to find people who will accept you than exclude you."

The girl fell silent. Not wanting to interrupt, Weiss simply steered them clear of some reporters that were waiting ahead. She knew it was daunting to finally be faced with the chance to live a dream, but she didn't want Ruby to miss out due to fear. Not when she believed the girl could accomplish so much. All she needed was an opportunity, and Weiss was more than happy to give her that. But she also knew that someone else paying for that opportunity only added to that pressure.

"Can I wait until I hear back from Beacon?" She asked after a minute.

"Of course." Weiss nodded, more than happy to wait for her reply. "Take your time."

"Thanks." The girl said with a breath of relief.

Letting go of Ruby's arm as they reached the cafe, she gave the girl a smile and pushed open the door to be greeted by the delicious smell of coffee. Almost immediately, Ruby's eyes widened at the sight of freshly baked cookies on the counter and she rushed forward to inspect them. Feeling an odd warmth at seeing the girl once again being so happy, Weiss chuckled lightly and moved over to join her.

"I see someone's cookie addiction is back." She remarked.

"Mhm." Ruby hummed in return as she looked over the cookies. "Sorry I was moody last time."

She shook her head and signalled for the waitress to grab whatever the girl picked out. "It's fine. As I said, I know how it can feel to have people try and take advantage of you."

"It…" The young rose deflated a little as she pointed to a triple chocolate cookie. "It… wasn't that." Weiss raised her eyebrow again. "I mean it was a little… but…"

The girl cut herself off, and Weiss looked aside to see conflict in the girl's eyes. "If something is bothering you, you can talk to me." She said.

Pointing to the iced coffee on the menu, she sat down on a nearby stool and gave Ruby an encouraging look. Though Ruby had already confided in her a few times, she didn't quite know if those were simply because she was nearby at the time or if the girl trusted her. Wanting it to be the latter however, she waited patiently for the redhead to make her decision.

It wasn't until they left the store again with a coffee and a whole bag of cookies in hand that Ruby finally talked though, but the revelation finally made everything make sense.

"Ilia asked me out." The girl said nervously, taking a bite of her cookie.

A quick glance to the side showed that Ruby was once again looking at her feet with a worried crease on her forehead. Though Yang had talked about Ruby quite often, there had never really been any mention to the girl's romantic interests. In fact, all Weiss knew was that despite Oscar having an extremely obvious crush on her, nothing had ever happened. Whether that was because the girl only saw him as a friend, or because of something else, she didn't know; but she also suspected Yang didn't either.

"Oh." She said, trying not to sound too interested since it was clearly something Ruby was unsure about. "When... did that happen?"

"After your party."

"And I take it that you said no?" Weiss deduced, though was quickly surprised by the shake of the girl's head.

"I ran away."

"O-"

"And now things are weird and she won't talk to me and she keeps swapping shifts and Kali says she isn't in when I know she is and when I went to the shop yesterday she turned blue when she saw me and I really didn't like it but I know it's my fault but I don't know how to fix it."

Not knowing how to deal with Ruby's ramblings, Weiss simply placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and steered her towards a nearby bench. Sitting her down just as the girl deflated even more and raised the cookie to slowly suckle on in, she quickly took the seat beside her.

"I'm sure she is just taking some time to think." Weiss reasoned from experience and gently rubbed Ruby's arm. "But do you mind if I ask why you ran?"

"I don't know." The girl sulked. "I was just surprised."

"That's understandable." Weiss sympathised. "But how do you feel about it now?"

"I…" Ruby let out a low breath that was filled with sadness. "I don't know. I mean, I like her, and I really like hanging out with her and it feels different to when I hang out with Penny and Oscar and Yang says that's how you know; but…"

"But?"

"Isn't there supposed to be more?" Ruby asked, genuine sincerity in her voice. "You and Yang are always holding hands and kissing and stuff, and so are Blake and Sun, and Jaune and Pyrrha. Aren't I supposed to want that too if I like someone?"

"Not necessarily." Weiss answered, realisation starting to click. "Ruby, have you ever actually felt those things before? Wanting to kiss someone or be physically intimate in any way?"

Ruby shook her head with barely a second of hesitation. "No. Does that make me weird?"

It was Weiss' turn to shake her head.

"Not at all. Everyone experiences attraction differently. Some are very physically oriented, while others are more attracted to how a person makes them feel emotionally. Neither are wrong or right, they simply are."

"But what if Ilia want's those things?"

"Then that is something you two should talk about; if you are interested in accepting her proposal that is." Weiss said and let her hand rest on the doubtful girl's shoulder. "But just remember. While you might not feel the urge to engage in those kinds of things, that doesn't mean you won't enjoy them if they do happen. And if you don't, then you are completely within your right to stop."

Wrapping her arm around Ruby's shoulder, she pulled the girl into a gentle hug in an attempt to reassure her. While she was used to doing such an action with Yang, it still felt weird to be doing it with someone else. Even if it was the right thing to do, showing sisterly affection was still a little new to her. Nevertheless, she was happy that the girl seemed to appreciate it so put her own discomfort aside.

Eventually though, the girl began to pull away and Weiss retracted her arm. Offering her a confident smile which was quickly returned, albeit a little more nervous than confident, she took a sip of the delicious coffee and stood up. Holding her hand out, Ruby quickly took it and pulled herself up. To Weiss' surprise however, a pair of arms were quickly wrapped around her waist as the girl closed the space and pulled her into a proper hug.

"Thank you." The girl said.

"I…" Weiss stumbled, caught off guard by the renewed affection, though quickly regaining her composure and smiling as she returned it. "You're welcome, but we should really get back to those two before they realise we're missing."

"Right." Ruby replied, pulling away and digging into her bag to pull out a cookie. "Here, I got a sugar free one for you."

Accepting the cookie with a grateful smile, she turned around and began to walk back towards where they had left Blake and Yang. Though she wasn't exactly sure how much help she had been, she was glad she could at least provide an ear for the girl to vent her worries to. She was even more thrilled though that Ruby seemed to trust her enough to want to confide in her. So once again slipping her arm through her friend's, so took a bit of her cookie and found it to be rather enjoyable.

"It looks like they made up." Ruby said as Yang and Blake came into view, both laughing with each other as they looked at Blake's book.

Making sure to hide her own relief, she gave the girl a nod and took another sip of her delicious drink.

"I told you they would."

A/N

Hello everyone :D

Oooo, so we got a few things this chapter :P I finally got to introduce Luna. She won't really play a big part as that area is more focused around Blake, but you can probably tell that I modeled her around Sienna quite a lot since the woman sees her as a role model in the story. It was nice to also touch upon Blake getting more involved in them, and how that affects Weiss.

The other major thing I wanted to touch upon was what was happening with Ruby. I know a bunch of you have been speculating for a while now, but it was cool to finally reveal what has been in the works for a while. While I have gone back and forth with how far along the scale she is, Ruby has always been asexual in one way or another, so I hope you all liked that scene.

I also wanted to show that, while they have made up, Yang and Blake still have things they vehemently disagree on. While they are best friends and are over a lot of what happened before Mistral, there are still a few sore spot that might cause some friction. Luna being one of them.

Anyway, that's it from me :) I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Chapter 80 - Therapy will be up on the 18th.

Oh... you will also be happy to know that I have finally nailed down what I believe to be the final chapter length for this fic. According to the plan which I finally sat down and wrote out, 91 is the final chapter amount for this fic :) Which means only 12 more to go.

Reviews

jm4reader and Zoro50, thank you so much for your kind words and criticism. I will definitely take that to heart and work on expanding a scene little more in the future where necessary :)

And Guest, thank you so much. You commented the day of the upload, so I hope you see this soon too :)