Weiss Schnee had always viewed herself as nearly perfect.

She had straight A's, her combat skills were excellent, and she was beautiful—based on the several unwanted advances from a dense blond blockhead who was far below her league. He wasn't the only one, of course, just the most upfront about it. Several anonymous love letters and flower bouquets in her locker told her it wasn't just JNPR's leader that was after her heart.

Yes, she was a model student.

But she wasn't perfect.

The most obvious imperfection was her scar, an ugly reminder of a battle from when she was fifteen and only just learning to use Myrtenaster. A single, long line under her left eye. She'd come to accept that imperfection about herself years ago—treating it as an eternal reminder of why she must be better. Each time her hand brushed over it she could feel the burning pain of the metal, taste the iron from the blood dripping past her lips.

The reason she strived for perfection had changed over the years, certainly. When she was young it was so her father would pay attention and care about her, the way he did for Whitely. Later in life, it was to prove herself to her father that she could go to Beacon. That she could do what Winter did—and do it better.

The problem? It wasn't that she wanted to be perfect.

She needed to be perfect.

Weiss had climbed the hill of perfection, slamming the flag of her identity into the soil and holding firm through every shake of the ground. It was a part of who she was—the very thing she staked her entire sense of self on. She was Weiss Schnee: A beautiful, by-the-book huntress that did everything perfectly. Her looks, her grades, her fighting—everything needed to be perfect.

After all, if she wasn't perfect, who was she?

…

Weiss sat at her desk, staring at the paper in front of her.

How is this possible?

What caused Weiss to stare holes into her paper and clench her hands into fists on her lap was the grade on the top right-hand corner. What she'd always known as an A or occasional B on her bad days was now replaced with the one letter she despised. The one that caused her heart to nearly stop and a drip of despair to fall into her gut.

F

She reached out, pulling the paper back toward her chest before her teammates—particularly Ruby—could see it. Her eyes flicked around the classroom, watching as several other students had distressed reactions similar to hers. A few simply shrugged, leaning back without a care in the world.

Yang was one of those students, casually setting the paper down and pulling out her scroll. The blonde brawler didn't even hide the 14% at the top of her paper. It was almost a point of pride for her! How could she be so utterly nonchalant about something as major as an F?

If Blake's eyes hadn't flicked to her paper, Weiss would've thought she didn't even notice it. She simply read her book, ignoring the F and 20% written right next to her rather beautifully penned name. Whereas Weiss had a signature, Yang had block letters, and Ruby had standard print, Blake's was practically calligraphy.

Ruby seemed the most disturbed of the three—but even then she seemed far too casual about it. She simply looked down, frowned at her paper, and looked back at the teacher. It was as though the 25% meant…

Wait, 25?

Weiss pulled her own paper from her chest, heart sinking as she saw the number:

24.

Not only had she failed, she didn't even have the satisfaction of having the highest score on her team.

Ruby did.

She barely heard the professor as she dismissed class, only snapping out of it when she saw Ruby's hand waving in front of her face. "Hello? Weiss? Remnant to Weiss, are you there? You okay?"

Weiss stood, stuffing her paper in her book bag before nodding. "Yes, I'm fine. Do we plan on combat training or heading straight to our dorm?"

Ruby frowned, staring at Weiss's book bag. Soft eyes flicked between it and her face, reaching forward and taking the older girl's wrist. "Are you sure you're okay? You're acting kind of…well…"

"Bossy."

Ruby gave a faint glare toward Yang. "I was trying to find a nice way to say it."

Weiss pulled her hand back from Ruby, face blank as she suppressed every emotion she had. Anything that could be used to figure out her problems was hidden beneath a well-practiced mask. "I'm fine. Now, are we training or heading back to our dorm?"

Ruby turned, giving Yang a look the older girl immediately understood. She reached down, right arm looped around Blake's stomach as she lifted the faunus girl almost two feet off her chair. "You two head back to our dorm. Blake and I gotta talk with the professor about something."

In response, Blake turned herself around, legs wrapping around Yang's torso and resting her book against Yang's head—her expression shifting less than Weiss's.

Ruby nodded, turning back to see Weiss walking to the door, scroll clutched tight in her hand as she shoved her way out.

Ruby dashed out, her semblance kicking in as she made her way to Weiss's side, staring ahead for a moment. "So…long day, huh?"

"Very."

Ruby nodded a few times, feeling beads of sweat slowly forming on her forehead. Talking to Weiss normally was intimidating enough, but when she clearly didn't want to talk? That was something Ruby'd rank somewhere near juggling flaming chainsaws on her 'Stupid Things She Never Wanted To Do' list.

But Ruby knew something was wrong with her partner.

And by dust, she would find a way to help her!

She cleared her throat, prompting Weiss to look at her out of the corner of her eye. With the height difference and the slight tilt of Weiss's chin, she looked even more aristocratically high and mighty than usual.

Ruby tried to keep her gulp quiet. "So, hard test, huh? Rest of us flunked hard. How'd you do?"

It could've been her imagination, but Ruby swore she saw a tear in Weiss's eye as she looked up at the nearby wall clock. "Why are you asking?"

Ruby gave an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I know you always score super high, but I figured I'd at least ask. Figured if anything could break your A-streak it'd be this."

Ruby didn't notice Weiss's left-hand twitch.

Ruby looked ahead, taking a deep breath to calm herself before speaking once more. "Look, I'm not 100% sure what it is you see me as. Partners only, friends—whatever. I just…"

Ruby turned, Weiss refusing to turn her head. "I want you to know that if something's wrong, bothering you—whatever…that I'm here. You can talk to me—if you want! You don't have to do anything."

Weiss didn't turn. "Okay."

Ruby frowned, worry building in her as the two at last turned into their dorm's hallway. Is she mad at me? She usually at least looks at me when I'm talking. Did I do something wrong? Did I forget to change the toilet paper roll in the bathroom again? Did I accidentally knock something of hers over this morning? She's acting like she did the first week of school…

Similar thoughts filled Ruby's consciousness as Weiss opened the door, biting the inside of her cheek as she walked in. Keep it together. Keep it together. Nothing is wrong. This was one mistake. You can fix it. Keep it together.

Weiss tossed her book bag onto her bed, sitting at her desk and immediately grabbing her pencil. She internally chastised herself as she noticed her pencil shaking slightly, concentrating to ensure her hand was steady. She opened one of her nearby notebooks, working on an assignment that wasn't due for another month.

Ruby, meanwhile, slipped off her backpack and placed it on the hook on the back of the door. Her eyes flicked to Weiss, watching her writing with the blank expression on her face, her other hand resting on the edge of the paper. She wrote quickly, but it was through the motions of her pencil that Ruby at last got definitive proof something was wrong.

Normally, when Weiss wrote something, she flowed like water. Lines connecting one to another, only lifting to start a new word—sometimes not even then. Now her movements were more aggressive, jerking left to right with little regard for beauty or connectivity.

Ruby's eyes flicked to Weiss's bag, recalling the test she'd shoved within. Hold on, isn't she normally really careful about stuff like that? She usually takes like a minute to put everything in…was she mad about her grade or something? What, too low of an A?

Ruby made her way to her bed, stopping at Weiss's before jumping up. Her eyes flicked to the back of Weiss's head, slowly opening her bag with stealthiness that would've made Blake proud. Her eyes flicked to the bag, gently pulling the somewhat crumpled paper out.

They widened as she read the letter in the corner, her mouth working faster than her brain.

"You got an F?"

Weiss bolted upright, dashing to Ruby and ripping the paper from her hands before shoving it in her pocket. Her face was flushed as she started shouting. "What are you doing going through my stuff?"

"I was worried! You're acting more cold and distant than usual!"

"It's none of your business! Stay out of it!"

Weiss turned away, stomping back to her notebook and grabbing her pencil again, nearly slamming it against the paper. A loud crack moved through the room, the lead breaking off at the edge. Weiss didn't move, eyes flicking to the pencil. "It broke…"

Weiss grit her teeth, grabbing the pencil in a fist. "Of course, it broke—why wouldn't it break? Why wouldn't it? As if anything would go right today! Why wouldn't my pencil lead snap?"

SNAP!

The ends of the pencil fell from Weiss's hand, the rest still clutched in her shaking, white-knuckled fist.

Ruby slowly made her way over, hand held slightly in front of her as Weiss stared at her hand, teeth bared with an angry expression on her face. The girl looked like she was just waiting for something to move close enough to bite it. Something she could actually hit.

Despite her instincts shouting at her not to, Ruby approached anyway.

Weiss's head snapped to Ruby, eyes staring daggers into hers as Ruby froze in place. Then, she gently reached her hand forward, laying it over Weiss's clenched one. "It's okay—it's just a pencil. There are more by your other hand. And, hey, look!"

Ruby reached down, grabbing the ends of the pencil off the floor. "You can sharpen one end of each of these and have two pencils!"

Weiss glared at her before dropping the few shards of pencil left in her hand to the desk, grabbing the broken one from Ruby. "There's no point in making two pencils from this. The pencil had one job and it couldn't do that. It snapped under the pressure and now it's broken and useless. It shouldn't have shattered like that!"

Ruby frowned, hands clasped over Weiss's as she held the pencil between them. "Hey, it isn't the pencil's fault. It was put under more pressure than it was ever meant to be. If it didn't break a little, the whole thing would've splintered into pieces. Snapping a little is normal."

Weiss didn't stop glaring, her breathing growing heavier as she stared at the pencil between them. "Why would I use it anymore? What's the point of it? What's the point of a pencil that can't even be a pencil properly? It was a good pencil from a good store made by a good company—it should've been perfect! It should've been fine!"

Ruby shook her head, meeting Weiss's eyes. "It doesn't have to be perfect. Not every pencil's perfect. They have chips in the wood, sometimes they don't sharpen the right way—and that's fine." Ruby reached over to her own desk, grabbing her pencil and holding it up to Weiss.

"Look at this one. It's not even close to perfect: Its got a lot of wood on one side so you have to write at an angle, its got teeth marks on the side of it, and it has to have this eraser on the back of it because its original eraser broke off months ago."

Weiss stared at the pencil before her eyes flicked back to Ruby. Her breathing was just as heavy, but some of the anger seemed to be gone. "Why? Why would you keep it? You've got so many more in your bag, why keep using one like this? One that's so…flawed?"

Ruby smiled. "That's why I keep it. Sure it isn't perfect. Sure it's shorter than the other pencils, doesn't write the best, and it gets put through a lot—but it's unique. It's been through so much and it still writes just as good as it always has. Its flaws are why I recognize it, and what makes me pick it out of the box every time. Its flaws make it beautiful."

Weiss stared at her for a moment before looking away, her anger dissipating as she sat the broken pencil back on the desk. "I…that's…"

She pursed her lips, not trusting herself to speak.

Ruby sat her pencil back on her desk, wrapping her arms around Weiss's shoulders. "Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it's worthless, Weiss."

Weiss didn't move, staring ahead before taking a deep breath. "What…what are you doing?"

Ruby smiled, laying her head in the crook of Weiss's shoulder. "Well, I heard that if you hug somebody for thirty seconds, they feel better! It's something about dopal-mine or…endor-fines or—something like that."

Weiss managed a slight smile. "Dopamine and endorphins, you mean?"

Ruby shrugged, giving a sly smirk Weiss couldn't see. "Probably."

Weiss didn't move at all, stationary as Ruby hugged her. Her heart slowed and her breathing began to even out, but she couldn't bring herself to reciprocate the hug. A part of her refused to admit something was wrong. Demanded everything be pushed into the depths of her mind and locked away with countless other memories.

It seemed like an instant when Ruby leaned back, smiling at Weiss. "Feel better?"

Weiss stared at her, hand twitching for a moment as the word yes danced on the tip of her tongue. All she had to say was yes, politely thank her, and then everything would be fine. Everything would go back to normal.

Just one word and she could pretend it never happened.

Her body moved on its own, standing up and wrapping her arms around Ruby, burying her head in the crook of her neck. She felt her warmth and demanded more, demanding the pressure of Ruby's arms around her again.

The words that came from her mouth barely felt like hers. "I need another thirty seconds."

Ruby happily complied, wrapping her arms around Weiss and laying her head against her shoulder. She closed her eyes, speaking softly. "Take as many seconds as you need."

It was after a few seconds that Ruby heard Weiss sniffing. She leaned back slightly, only for Weiss to press her hand against the back of Ruby's head—a wet sense on her shoulder. "Don't…don't."

Ruby nodded, muttering an 'Okay' into Weiss's shoulder as she squeezed tighter, hearing the girl sniffling and feeling her crying as she slowly maneuvered them over to Weiss's bed. From there she reached for the nightstand, not looking as she handed Weiss a tissue.

She heard Weiss blow her nose. "Thank you."

"No problem."

It was definitely longer than thirty seconds when Weiss at last stepped back, sitting back on her bed. Her eyes were puffy and red, her blue irises illuminated by the few unspilled tears still there. Her hands were gripped tight to her skirt, her breaths hitching as she clearly tried desperately to control them.

Ruby sat down next to her, gently laying her left hand over her right. She turned to look at her, Weiss meeting her eyes. "It's okay for something to be flawed. Those flaws are what make it special. If we just replaced every flawed thing with something perfect, we'd lose out on what makes them amazing."

"Like your pencil…"

"And yours, too."

Weiss looked away, staring at her left hand as her right flipped around, nestling into Ruby's comforting embrace. "My pencil isn't like that. My pencil's always been perfect—it always had to be. Being perfect is everything to it. If it isn't perfect, what is it?"

Ruby smiled, taking Weiss's other hand and pulling both between them. "Amazing."

Weiss's eyes widened, staring into Ruby's calm, genuine gaze. She felt the heat behind her eyes before her vision blurred, jerking her head down as her face flushed red. Stop crying! No one should see you like this! You should only cry when you're alone!

She felt Ruby's head press against hers, and looked up to see strands of red mixing with her white. "I get it if your pencil isn't ready yet. Or if you don't think it's okay to show me…but I won't judge it for them. Even if it's on the verge of breaking, it's okay. It's still just as beautiful."

Weiss stared at their entwined hands, tears dropping between the two as two voices screamed at her in her head. One telling her to keep looking down, another telling her to look up. To show Ruby. To show her the flaws and horrible cracks that had formed over the years.

Slowly, very slowly, she looked up.

Ruby did as well, smiling as she saw streams of tears falling down Weiss's face, her makeup running as she bit back sobs, moving her hand to cover her mouth. She reached forward, gently pulling her hand from her mouth. "It's okay to cry, Weiss. You can let it out—it doesn't make you any less amazing."

It was one genuine compliment that finally broke Weiss.

She lunged forward, burying her face in Ruby's shoulder as she sobbed. Her body shook with the force of them, Ruby wrapping her arms around her partner as the older girl let years of bottled-up pain at last fly from her throat.

It bordered on wailing as Ruby held her, feeling the fear, loneliness, and desperation flying from Weiss in waves. She'd opened the floodgates, and neither girl was entirely sure when she'd run herself dry. Though, unlike Weiss, Ruby was determined to stay with her. Determined to ensure Weiss was comforted through every sob, every wail, every tear.

Neither knew how long it'd been when Weiss finally pulled back, tears still coming as she stared up at Ruby. Her makeup was running, her face was bright red, and she wouldn't have been surprised if her prized voice had been rendered hoarse by her wails.

Ruby didn't say a word as she handed Weiss a few tissues. The older girl took them without question, wiping at her eyes and blowing her nose before tossing them in the trash.

She stared at her hands, frowning as she laid her face into them. "I'm such a mess…"

She could pretend all she wanted, but she was glad when Ruby moved behind her. Glad when she wrapped her arms around her neck, laying flush against her back. Glad for the warmth, glad for the weight, glad for everything Ruby did.

After a few seconds, she sat up, slowly leaning back as Ruby did the same. She felt Ruby wrap her legs around her waist, leaning against the wall and allowing Weiss to rest her head on her stomach—staring up at her. Ruby only smiled, cradling her head in her hands. "Do you feel better?"

Weiss stared at her for a moment.

"Better."

Ruby smiled. "Good."

Weiss met Ruby's eyes, staring into the brilliant pools of silver. Within she saw no malice, no annoyance, no disdain, no anything that she'd expected to see. The things she'd always seen when she cried in front of her parents, her sister—even her teachers. Now, she saw compassion, and a sort of tenderness she'd never seen in…well, anyone come to think of it.

"I'm sorry."

Ruby shook her head, helping Weiss to sit up as she spoke. "You don't have to apologize. I said I'd be here for you, and I intend to be. If you ever need to cry again, just tell me. I'll be there."

Weiss shook her head, gripping her hands into fists as she stared at Ruby. "No, not for that. I'm sorry for everything. Ever since we got to Beacon I've been awful to you! I belittled you, I made fun of you, I questioned your orders during training—"

"Hey, sometimes that was justified."

Weiss glared at her. "Don't make it less than it was! I did everything I could to make you miserable and…I called you a horrible leader and I meant it! And you…" she grabbed her arm, biting back a fresh wave of tears. "You still helped me. You still tried to be friends with me. I don't understand: What did you see in me?"

Ruby reached forward, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Until I talked with professor Ozpin, I saw a spoiled princess who I'd never in a million years get along with."

She smiled. "After I talked with him and started taking my role as a leader more seriously, I saw you as my partner. You were someone I had to count on in the heat of battle—and I wanted to work hard and make sure you could count on me too."

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Weiss in a hug once more. "Today? I saw someone who needed help. I saw a scared girl who was bottling up her emotions to try and pretend it wasn't a problem when it definitely was." she smiled wider. "I'm really glad you could open up to me, Weiss."

Weiss looked down, wrapping her arms around Ruby. "I thought you were so immature…but you're more mature than me."

"Thanks."

Ruby sat back against the wall, Weiss leaning back as well. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither sure what to say. Both were smiling, their hearts lightened: Weiss from carrying the burden of her failure, Ruby from worrying about Weiss.

Weiss cleared her throat after a minute. "Thanks…for everything."

Ruby smiled, crawling out of bed and holding out her hand to Weiss. "Hey, how about we head to Vale? Just you and me?"

Weiss's brow furrowed.

"Come on, let's forget about that dumb test and go have some fun for a change!"

Weiss looked at Ruby's hand for a second before reaching out, slipping hers in.

For the first time that day, Weiss smiled. "Okay…let's go."