Weiss sighed as she sunk into the strange, low sitting furniture that filled every room of the home that Ruby and what remained of team JNPR had been staying in. The chairs left her feeling as if she was too close to the ground. According to Nora, it was an Anima thing. Weiss had known that a different continent would also come with different cultures, but it hadn't occurred to Weiss that it would include the furniture.

Weiss closed her eyes and tried to rest. Her several days of captivity had left her feeling drained. She'd been lucky that Yang had shown up when she did. After seeing Raven and her tribe at arms, Weiss was far from confident that she could have escaped on her own. Thank the gods that Raven had been in the mood to chat.

Weiss opened her eyes just a fraction as she heard the door to the room she was in creak open. A familiar shock of red that she recognized as Ruby's cloak began to slip through the door, followed by the rest of Ruby herself. The younger girl noticed Weiss and took extra care to be quiet, creeping into the room and over to where a small pack was laid on one of the two beds in the room. Her travel bag, Weiss presumed.

Ruby froze as her scythe, which was still strapped to her waist, collided with the edge of the bed as she bent across to open her pack. It was a soft knock, really, but to Ruby, who was trying her best not to disturb Weiss, it was deafening.

Weiss fully opened one eye and raised an eyebrow at Ruby, who was looking directly at her and cringing.

"Sorry," Ruby whispered.

Weiss sighed. "It's okay. I wasn't really asleep. Just… resting." Weiss scooted to the side, trying to make as much room on the low sitting chair as she could. Ruby smiled, removing her cloak and her scythe before sitting herself.

How long had it been since Weiss had seen that smile? The photo on her scroll, one of the few she had of her team, didn't compare to the real thing. Here she was, after the better part of a year. Back with that smile. Weiss relaxed into Ruby's side as she squeezed into the chair next to her, placing her head on the younger girl's shoulder.

"I missed you," Ruby said. She slipped her hand into Weiss's and squeezed. Weiss squeezed back.

"I did too. Atlas sucks."

Ruby giggled at the decidedly un-Weiss-like declaration. "I bet. Way too cold, right?"

Weiss shook her head. "I don't mind the cold. It just didn't have you."

Ruby blushed, her face as red as her cloak. "Anima wasn't great either. It doesn't have you."

Weiss raised her eyebrow again as Ruby tried to return her poetic flattery. Ruby quickly caught on.

"Oh, well, it uh, didn't have you. At least until today," Ruby explained.

Weiss closed her eyes and once again relaxed into Ruby's side. "Nice recovery." Ruby giggled and wrapped her arms around Weiss, pulling her in tighter. Weiss could have stayed like that forever. Prior to Beacon, her life had been cold and, for the most part, emotionless. After Winter had left, things like hugs and loving embraces were foreign concepts in the Schnee household. Not that they'd been a staple before. Winter loved her, but she wasn't the most affectionate.

Ruby, however, was the definition of affectionate. Ruby had a hands-on approach to showing her love, and she wasn't afraid of giving hugs to near strangers. She accosted Weiss at every chance, with hugs and shakes and high fives and every other manner of physical affection. It'd taken quite a bit of time for Weiss to get used to how touchy-feely her partner was, even before they had started dating.

That was another thing, Weiss realized. Were they still dating? They'd been split up so abruptly, and despite Weiss's best efforts Beacon's CCT tower being down made her attempts to contact Ruby fruitless. She had no clue if Ruby had any interest in dating her, still. Given everything that had happened at the fall of Beacon, and whatever had occurred during Ruby and JNPR's months of trekking through Anima, Weiss would hardly be surprised if somehow Ruby's feelings had changed. Weiss felt her muscles began to tense as a familiar sense of dread and doubt course through her veins. She was suddenly aware that she had made a very presumptuous move in offering Ruby a seat next to her.

"Soooo," Ruby began. Weiss tensed further. Every nerve ending in her body was on edge, years of misplaced overconfidence flooding back to her. She braced herself for what was to come.

"Are we gonna tell everyone we're dating now? I know it's probably not the best time, but we never got the chance back at school…" Ruby continued, seemingly oblivious to Weiss's near panicked state.

Weiss's nerves vanished all at once as relief flooded into her, flushing out the panic and fear and doubt. She was stupid. Ruby was not her family. There was no reason for doubt, or for panic, or even fear. Not with Ruby. She needed to shake this stupid mental block her father had placed on her. She'd started to be rid of it back at Beacon, but her months holed up in Schnee manor had clearly rebuilt the metaphorical wall.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," Weiss breathed. Ruby looked over at Weiss, finally noticing her state of distress, even if she was far calmer than she had been moments before.

"No, it's fine if you want to keep it a secret, still…" Ruby said trailing off.

"That's not it. You can tell everyone if you'd like."

Ruby frowned, the confusion evident on her face. "Weiss, what's wrong?"

Weiss sank deeper into Ruby's arms, wrapping her own arms around her partner. "Nothing at all. Not anymore. I'm just glad to be away from my family. Glad to be back with you." Weiss reached a hand up to Ruby's cheek and guided her partner's face down to meet hers, placing a light kiss on Ruby's lips. It was their first kiss since Beacon, Weiss realized. She'd almost wished she'd made a bigger spectacle of it.

"Alright, if you say so," Ruby said, trusting Weiss's words. "You have to be there when I tell Yang, though." Ruby giggled at the thought.

Weiss rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure that Yang wasn't totally in the dark when it came to her and Ruby. The blonde was quite observant, particularly when it came to Ruby. She pulled Ruby into another kiss, putting an end to her giggling.

"Let's worry about that tomorrow," Weiss said as she broke away from Ruby's lips. "For now, let's just… relax."