Gonna be 100% transparent, this chapter exists mainly for my entertainment lol. I basically wrote all these chapters back to back, and I really needed to have fun after the last one.

Still plot relevant but definitely not serious or "organized" as everything else!

It's the (un)official intermission before shit hits the fan again x)

Weiss woke up to songbirds chirping happily outside her window. Maybe it was because of the long talk she had with Adam yesterday or maybe because she could barely notice her lingering cold symptoms, but Weiss felt like she was on top of the world.

Rolling out of bed, she cracked open the window and was met with a blast of cool air. The roses on the windowsill mixed their sweet scent with the morning breeze. It was only now that she noticed Sapphire's house was completely surrounded by trees and wildflowers, like something straight out of a fairytale. She could barely see the neighbour's house poking out from the sea of trees in the distance.

Weiss glanced over her shoulder when she heard her door squeak open. She was expecting to see Sapphire, but she was met with Adam instead. He'd taken to covering his scar with the black cloth again, though it did little to lessen the ice in her veins when she knew what laid just beneath it.

"Good morning." She greeted him sheepishly.

Even if the invisible wall separating them had crumbled, Weiss still found it incredibly awkward to speak with him.

They weren't enemies anymore, far from it, but they certainly weren't as close as they were as kids. It was a strange limbo that left her head spinning.

"You're going to catch another cold at this rate." He said, cutting straight to the point. If he felt equally as awkward he didn't show it.

"Oh relax. I'm tired of being stuck in bed all day." She turned her attention back to the scene outside, taking note of a small butterfly fluttering curiously near the roses.

"I didn't travel an entire day and night for you to neglect your health."

She jumped a little when he draped something over her shoulders. Looking down she noticed he'd given her his black jacket, leaving him with just a red button-down. He stood silently by her side, observing the little butterfly with her until it landed on a white rose.

"How are you?" She asked him gently. They didn't speak much after their intense talk. He chose to sleep as soon as he was finished with dinner and she happily followed his lead.

"I'm tired but fine." He glanced over at her for a second. "And you?"

"I'm having a really good morning actually." She answered honestly. "It's a beautiful day."

They watched the tiny butterfly crawl greedily to one of the red roses next.

"It is." He agreed.

They continued to watch the butterfly in silence. Once it was finished with the roses, it took off into the skies once more. Quickly disappearing into the distance.

"Once you feel better we should get moving. I'm worried Sienna will track us down if we stay too long." He eventually broke the silence.

Weiss almost wanted to ask him to forget about Sienna for just a moment to catch their breaths. It felt like forever since they had a roof over their heads.

"We can leave today if you want," Weiss suggested instead.

"No, you're still not in any shape to go wandering out in the wild."

"It's not that bad anymore. I'm sure if we take frequent breaks–"

"We're staying until you've recovered sufficiently, and I don't care if your friends leave Haven during that time. We'll find them when you're back to your full strength."

His concern brought a smile to her face, and the roses now smelled so much sweeter.

"Okay. Thanks for caring."

"I have to care when you think travelling with a high fever is a good idea. That was stupid by the way—fatally stupid."

Weiss laughed timidly, slipping her arms through the dark sleeves when a particularly strong breeze brushed past them. "You're right, I'm a mess without you."

"What are you doing out of bed, young lady?!" Sapphire's shouting made the both of them jump.

Before she had the chance to reply, the older lady yanked her away from the window and back to bed.

"I'm feeling better–"

"I'll be the judge of that!" Sapphire placed a hand on her forehead. "You don't have a fever at least."

"See? It wouldn't hurt to spend the day outside of bed."

"What part of rest do you not understand?! Did you forget that you passed out from your fever just two days before?!" Sapphire snapped. "If I find you wandering again I'm going to lock you in here for the rest of your life!"

Weiss huffed in annoyance, but she knew better than to try and fight the issue with her any further.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"You better be sorry! It wasn't easy for me or your friend here to help you!"

Adam flinched when Sapphire pats him on the back.

"I didn't do much." Adam shifted away from Sapphire, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It was your medicine that helped her. So…thank you."

"It's my job to heal people," Sapphire replied with less intensity. "Of course, if you're set on paying me back, my assistants could use some extra help restocking some supplies."

"Your assistants?" Weiss asked innocently when she noticed Adam tensing.

"Oh, they're great! They do all the hard labour while I take care of the less extraneous work!"

"And...they're human." Adam piped in hesitantly.

"Well of course they're human! I can't hire a bunch of herd dogs to hunt for me!"

The two of them exchanged glances. She smiled, silently assuring him he wasn't under any pressure to accept her offer. He'd already done so much for her, she wasn't expecting him to drop everything to help a couple of strangers with Sapphire's demands.

"I get it if you want to spend some time with Weiss," Sapphire added, mistaking their lack of response as a sign they wanted to spend the day together. "You can stay here if you'd like. Maybe you can help keep her from wandering around when she's not supposed to."

Adam looked like he was about to accept the offer when something crossed his mind that made him pause. He glanced at Weiss with an unreadable expression before addressing Sapphire.

"Your assistants...are they okay with...people like me?" He asked.

"We collaborate with travellers all the time. It's not a big deal."

"That's not what I meant." He took to studying the vase of roses once more. "Are they okay working with a Faunus?"

His question lingered in the deafening silence.

"City folks," Sapphire murmured under her breath, exasperated. "Out here we don't care if you have a tail or not! What matters is if you can get the job done! Being picky isn't an option!"

Her response eased the tightness in his shoulders just a bit, but he still looked far from relaxed.

"So are you staying here or what?" Sapphire pressed on.

"...I can help you with your errands." He looked bashfully down at his feet. "It's the least I can do…after what you did for her."

Weiss thought she was dreaming at first, but when she subtly pinched her leg to confirm where she was the true weight of his decision came crashing down on her. The morning light seemed to shine that much brighter.

"Oh, goodie! My liver supply has been running low so we could put that fancy sword of yours to good use!" Sapphire replied without missing a beat. "I'll have breakfast ready in a bit! Come down whenever you're ready."

To Weiss, she added," and I expect you to be waiting in bed for your food or else!" She left the final threat shrouded in suspense.

"Y-yes, ma'am." Weiss held her hands up in surrender.

It wasn't until Sapphire left that Weiss dared to leap out of bed to give him a quick hug.

It was impulsive, she should've held back considering they'd just mended the massive hole between them, but she couldn't help herself. Her joy was bursting like fireworks.

"You really have a death wish today, don't you?" He said, returning the embrace.

"I'm just happy to hear you're willing to help her." She gave him one last tight squeeze before letting go. "You didn't have to."

"I-I don't like being indebted to others. Don't overthink it." He tried to answer nonchalantly. "You should probably get back to bed before she returns. She might lock both of us in here if she sees you up again."

"You're right, I'm in too good of a mood to sit through a lecture from her." She shrugged off his jacket and held it out to him.

"Keep it," he looked away from her. "You need it more than me right now."

"O-oh. Thank you." She slipped the jacket on once more. Though it hung loosely off of her smaller frame, it left her feeling warm nonetheless. "Umm...stay safe out there."

"Thanks. And uh...rest easy today. I'll see you later."

"See you."

For the first time, in a very long time, she felt like they were going to be okay.

They fell into their new routine relatively quickly. Every morning he would check in with her before going out to help Sapphire and her assistants. In the evening, he'd return to her bedside and stay until it was time to sleep.

Sapphire left them alone for the most part, only ever making a scene when she complained to them about people getting hurt from fights.

Weiss found it a bit odd she never made a fuss when she found Adam in her room early in the morning and late at night. Weiss was sure Sapphire would freak out when she put so much emphasis on Weiss getting uninterrupted rest.

"Maybe she isn't as insane as we think." Adam speculated when she brought it up.

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say." She chided lightly.

"I'm just saying what we're both thinking."

"Doesn't mean you should say it out loud."

When Weiss was finally well enough to spend the day outside of bed, she used most of her time leafing through one of the dozen herbology books Sapphire had laying around. She'd stopped trying to help around the house after getting an earful from Sapphire for pushing 'her fragile health'.

Sometimes she'd catch Adam at work outside through the windows with the other two human assistants. He mainly kept to himself, only speaking when spoken to, but it warmed Weiss to see him interacting with someone other than herself.

She was never shy when observing them at work, often greeting them with a wave whenever they spotted her.

He never spoke about them to her, even when he was aware she'd seen them working together. Whenever she did ask about them, he'd simply tell her they were tolerable at best and a bit annoying at worst.

"They talk too much." He'd ranted to her one night. "How can farmers have so much to complain about?"

"I don't know, Adam, you seem pretty entertained by their stories." She chimed, recalling the rare smiles she'd seen when one of the assistants ranted loudly about shovelling animal dung.

"I'm just appalled at the stupidity of their complaints." He defended a bit too hastily.

"Says the guy who laughed at their complaints."

"I didn't laugh."

"Unless you smile while coughing then you definitely laughed with them."

"I find it rich that you accuse me of stalking when you watch me like a creep from the windows."

Weiss was about to defend herself when she noticed the playful grin on his face. It was the first time he'd jokingly made fun of her.

"Well, it's either that or I recite the names of Sapphire's plants." She shot back with a laugh. "Personally, I think watching a bunch of guys work is more fun than talking to houseplants."

"She doesn't seriously have them all named, right? There's at least a hundred of those things around the place."

Weiss spent most of that night telling him the name of each and every plant in the house. He never brought up the houseplants ever again.

Amid late-night conversations and peaceful afternoons reading, Weiss managed to fully recover from her nasty cold. Before she knew it, she'd regained enough strength to resume travelling again.

On their last night at Sapphire's place, the older woman handed Weiss a hand-made backpack filled with a brand new first aid kit and bags of dried herbs for illnesses, injury, and an unusually large amount of medicine for nausea.

"Remember to keep a close eye on your medical supplies! I won't always be available to help you if you get sick again." The old lady lectured her sternly.

"We will, thank you so much for everything." Weiss eagerly accepted the gift.

"Just be careful out there. You may be young, but you're not invincible."

"I'll make sure this doesn't happen again," Adam promised.

"That means you too, young man! Young guys like you are always the most reckless, learn to take some caution once in a while! You can't protect your lady by being dead!" Sapphire snapped heatedly.

By now they were used to her intense reactions, but her outburst still shut them both up. Neither of them dared to try and correct her nickname for Weiss.

In a much more serious tone, she added," and if you ever run into Faunus who has been burned as badly as you, send them my way. Depending on how fresh the injury is, I can help lessen the scarring and deal with whatever complications that may come with it."

Whatever annoyance she felt about the older lady faded almost immediately with her offer. Weiss looked over at Adam, though his expression remained impassive she had no doubt his mind was running on overdrive.

"You mean it?" He asked after what felt like hours dragged by.

"My oath didn't distinguish between human and Faunus, and neither should I." She answered simply. "I may not be well-travelled, but I'm not completely ignorant to how those city folks treat people like you."

To Weiss' utter surprise, Adam held out a hand to Sapphire.

"Thank you." It was the first time he spoke to her without completely avoiding her eyes.

"I'm just doing my job as a doctor. There's no need to be so dramatic." Sapphire accepted his handshake with a smile. "I snuck my contact information in Weiss' bag. For your sake, I hope you two youngins' won't need it anytime soon."

"I think we'll be okay," Weiss said confidently. If they could survive with a mountain of baggage between them, she was sure they would do fine without it there.

"Good! Because next time I see you two youngins' I expect to be greeted with a cute little baby!"

Adam quickly excused himself while Weiss felt her face heat up like a stove. She glared at him when he disappeared into his own room, leaving her to deal with Sapphire all alone.

'That explains the nausea medicine.' She thought for a mortified second.

"What? Aren't you two youngins' together?" Sapphire interrogated, completely unfazed by the tension in the room.

"W-we're just friends!" They'd just barely recovered the friendship at that. "Please tell me you're just joking!"

"I don't joke around, young lady. Why do you think I let him into your room in ungodly hours?"

"Because we're just talking as friends?"

"Hmm." Sapphire wrinkled her nose in disapproval. "Well, do something to change that! With his strength and your face, you'll make good children. It'll be useful for gathering medical supplies!"

Not knowing how to respond, she returned to her room for the night without another word.

They both left Sapphire's house as fast as they could the next morning. Weiss didn't relax until she found herself completely surrounded by the forest again.

"We're never speaking of what she said last night." He finally said when they were far away from Sapphire's property.

"Agreed." She blushed. "She's insane."

"I thought calling her names was rude."

"I-it's not rude when it's true!"

Their next couple of weeks were blissfully uneventful—so uneventful she managed to feel bored at one point. It was a miracle.

They spent most of their travelling time in comfortable silence, only ever delving into deep conversations around the fire late at night—that was her favourite time of day.

Under the veil of a dozen stars, they talked about anything and everything that came to mind. There was no worry about traversing through unknown terrain and constantly checking their positions to ensure they were on the right path. It was just them and a cosy campfire to ward off the chill.

If she could look past the reason why they were sleeping in the wilderness, it truly felt like she was just camping with her childhood friend.

The addition of Scrolls only made their lives just that much better, at least now they could figure out where exactly they were.

Weiss felt bitter disappointment sink into her gut when she finally saw that they were less than a week's walk from the town she needed to be in. It wouldn't be much longer before she reunited with her friends, but that also meant her time with Adam was also drawing to a close.

"We're almost there." She announced on a particularly warm night. The fire between them was a tiny spot of amber, but she didn't feel the slightest bit cold.

"That soon, huh?" He sighed. Though he sat beside her, she could barely make out his face in the shadows.

Their journey together has been so wild it was almost unthinkable it could ever come to an end.

"What are your plans after we get to Mistral City?" She asked.

Would he continue wandering along in the wilderness, evading Sienna, or would he try to hunt down Cinder himself to avenge the Faunus she used?

"I might try to follow your team for a while." His reply comforted her a bit. "I'm worried Sienna is going to try something. It's been far too quiet lately."

"I'm not the one who left her group in such a dramatic fashion." She frowned. "Why don't you lay low in Mistral City? I can keep in touch with you until it's safe to come out again."

"I can handle her just fine. I've worked with her long enough to know all her tricks." He assured her. "But if she manages to catch your group it could mean trouble. No offence, but your team might not be able to handle whatever she throws at you."

'Says the guy wanting to deal with her alone.' She thought, remembering how his last one-on-one fight with her went.

"You could always join us. It'd be safer in numbers."

"I don't think that's a good idea." He said without a second of hesitation. "I'm not ready to work with humans in that way yet, and I doubt your blonde friend would appreciate having me."

Weiss tried to think of a way to safely introduce Adam to the rest of her friends, but all her scenarios ended in yelling and physical fights.

"I can take care of myself." He assured her after a moment of silence. "Just worry about your own head."

"Promise me you'll stay in regular contact then? If I don't hear anything from you for at least three days I reserve all rights to go looking for you."

She lost him once already, she'd be damned if something happened to him again.

"Fine, but the same goes for you if I suspect your life is in danger."

"It's a promise then."

Still, even with a promise to continue looking after each other's backs, she couldn't shake the melancholy of an impending goodbye. It wasn't a finite separation, but travelling wouldn't be the same without him by her side.

"Since we're going to be working together from now on, why don't we come up with a signature attack?" She suggested after a long pause.

"Is this a Huntsman term I'm unaware of?"

"Sort of." Weiss proceeded to explain the team attacks Ruby designed during school. He burst out laughing when she told him the equally cute names attached to each attack.

"Those things can't possibly be useful, right?" He questioned once she was finished listing out all their team combos.

"They are, and don't dismiss the names! They're a quick and easy way for us to coordinate our next move." She explained proudly. "That's why I think we should come up with our own! It could be useful for an emergency situation."

"I'm not coming up with a dumb name for an attack."

"Oh come on, what do you have to lose? It would leave our enemies confused if we just shouted something random at them!"

"Or we make a complete fool of ourselves." He rebutted.

"So do you want to come up with a cool attack or what?"

"I think you should sleep. You're talking nonsense."

"Is there any way I can convince you to agree?"

"No. I don't like making a fool of myself in battle."

"Don't be so dramatic." She fluffed her backpack before laying her head on it. "I think it'd be cool to have our own signature attack. It'd be sort of poetic when we've only been fighting against each other this whole time."

"Are you always this sentimental?"

"Only at night." She closed her eyes, quickly feeling the pull of a deep slumber.

"You're impossible," he breathed. "I'll think about it."

"You're the best." She muttered sleepily.

In the end, he caved to her idea and they spent every evening during that last week perfecting their combined attack. Weiss ended up coming up with a name that would make Ruby proud, but Adam was insistent on never shouting the name in combat.

"You'll see it pay off one day." She promised him when he brushed off their official attack name.

"In your dreams." He scoffed. "The only thing we get out of this is valuable training time."

I forgot to ask in the last chapter, but what would you guys do if you were Weiss in this situation (specifically referring to the previous chapter)? Would you be willing to give Adam a second chance? Or would you rather cut ties with him?

There's no right or wrong answer. It's a messy situation and everyone has the right to respond accordingly.

Personally, I have no idea what I'd do. I got trust issues for days, but I also have a super soft spot for old friends. All I know for sure is that my version of Weiss is a lot more forgiving than I am.