Here's chapter 41, everyone.
"Talk about what?" Weiss' ears flattened against her head, a bit nervous about Blake's words.
Blake sighed. "I told your mother everything, so you don't have to hide what we talked about." She said, watching Weiss' ears perk up a bit. "Honestly, I want to start by saying I'm sorry, Weiss."
"Y-You're sorry?" Weiss was more asking out of shock.
"Yes. Just assuming you and your mother were as bad as your father, only because of your name, was wrong." Blake admitted. "I still hate what your family's company does, but I won't hold it against you and your mom."
"And my sister and brother…" Weiss added.
Blake nodded. "Them too. And… I really am sorry for slapping you that day."
"It was an accident, so," Weiss sighed. "I forgive you for that, and if I'm being honest too, Blake. I don't want this." Her words slightly confused Blake. "I mean I don't want us to have to explain anything to each other."
"Some things aren't as easy to understand though." Blake sadly remarked, while rubbing her arm. "But I do get it. I'd like to try a bit more."
"You don't have to force yourself to." Weiss walked towards Blake, the cat Faunus unsure of how to feel as the white wolf who was now up to her shoulders smiled at her. "I would though, enjoy us trying not to avoid each other anymore."
Blake felt bad for that one, but seeing the white wolf smile, it brought a similar effect that Yang had on her. "Yeah… I'd like that too." She let out her own smile.
Even with how they were, Weiss did something on purely instinct and leaned her head close to Blake, nuzzling her a bit. The cat Faunus was taken aback, almost backing away, but she felt Yang hold her shoulder from behind as she whispered. "She trusts you."
As a Faunus, she still wasn't fond of the idea of people treating her race like they were animals, but what was happening now wasn't that. It was how much she trusted them that allowed them to rub her fur, or her nuzzling them. "Weiss."
The white wolf kept nuzzling Blake, not wanting to answer her, so the cat Faunus smiled and slowly wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you, Blake."
It wasn't a thank you for the hug, but one for setting aside past differences to finally get to know her for who she was. "You don't have to thank me, Weiss. Not one bit."
Weiss' tail swayed a few times, and Yang was relieved the two were going to be okay. "There's a lot we still need to talk about," Weiss said, enjoying the embrace as she spoke. "Is there anything you'd like to ask me?"
"No, at least not now." Blake rubbed Weiss' fur a bit, happy that she was able to break out of the shell she had set up for herself, and she knew she would have to thank Yang for that.
Willow was able to take a seat on Weiss' bed, her daughter was finally back to feeling happy. "She has a team that will be there for her while I'm away… At least now I can go back to Atlas without being too worried."
Yang chuckled a bit and stretched. "Glad you're feeling a bit better now, ice wolf."
Blake pulled away from the embrace. "I still want to change back." Weiss sighed, but she wasn't trying to bring the mood down. "I guess I'll just have to be patient."
"Hey, it'll be okay. A good rest will do ya good." Yang encouraged with a grin.
Weiss nodded, walking over to the middle of the dorm to lay down, but before she could, the door opened and Ruby walked right in. "Weiss." The white wolf froze, hearing Ruby's voice was a trigger for her, since she still didn't want to get near her.
The white wolf slowly turned around, seeing her partner standing six feet in front of her. "R-Ruby? What are you doing here? I told you not to-."
Since she was bigger now, Ruby didn't need to kneel down to hug the wolf. "Don't push me away at a time like this… Don't push me away at all, Weiss." She spoke softly, the others in the room looking back and forth at each other.
Willow was the first to make a move, motioning for Yang and Blake to let them have their privacy. "We'll be outside." She walked with the two out of the dorm, Weiss silently wishing they hadn't.
"Ruby, please…" Weiss whimpered.
"You shouldn't have to be alone for this, and I spoke with my mom about what happened." Ruby rubbed her fur a bit. "She told me lots of people have trouble controlling their semblance sometimes."
Weiss lowered her head in Ruby's embrace. "It was more than being unable to control my semblance, I… I almost bit your neck, Ruby. I could've… I could've-."
"Stop." Ruby cut her off. "Don't finish that sentence." She pulled away, looking directly into the azure eyes of her friend. "What happened wasn't your fault, and you were able to stop yourself, Weiss. That shows you're strong!"
The white wolf blushed a bit from the praise, but she shook her head. "It was only because my mother called out to me to stop."
"Weiss, if you just think that, then you're the dolt here." The rose girl gave her partner a smile, and the white wolf looked surprised.
"E-Excuse me?" Weiss responded, earning a giggle from her partner, who decided to do something that she saw Willow do.
Ruby leaned in and pressed her forehead against Weiss', making the white wolf gasp as she never had anyone besides her mother do that for her. The whisper of Ruby's voice began. "You're not losing control, Weiss. Even then, you were still you, and you'll never be anyone else."
The white wolf began to whimper again, Ruby's words getting to her much easier. "Ruby… What if… What if it happens again?"
"Then you'll snap right out of it like last time." Ruby reminded, still lightly whispering. "But, if you're scared, then let me say this," Weiss waited for her partner to continue. "I'm going to be there, by your side, every moment, and no matter what happens, you can count on me to bring you back. Always."
Weiss' eyes widened, the silver in Ruby's eyes showing her determination and loyalty to her words. "I'm… Still scared." She said honestly, but she didn't avoid Ruby, she moved closer to her, whimpering as she nuzzled her partner with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you… Any of you."
"You won't." Ruby assured, hugging her partner as she smiled at the nuzzling. "And you just heard why, because I'll be there to bring you back, and so will Blake and Yang."
The team, not just Ruby. It was what Weiss needed to hear, so she closed her eyes and chose that she shouldn't be trying to deny that. "You're a dork sometimes, you know that, right?" She smiled, continuing to nuzzle her partner.
"Yeah, but we're both dorks, so we're perfect for each other." Ruby closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek on Weiss.
Weiss didn't blush that time, or even moved away. All she did was accept the way Ruby was comforting her. "I still need to rest so my aura can recharge."
"Right!" Ruby pulled away and sat on the floor, watching as Weiss laid on her belly again. "I don't think you'll have to wait too long, since remember during initiation you had to rest up and it was like, what, not even an hour?"
"I can't remember, but… That does help to think about, Ruby. Thank you." Her tail swayed a bit and she rested her head on the ground. "Is, Is your mom… Um, is she-."
"She's waiting out in the hall. And if you meant to ask if she's upset about what happened, no, she isn't." Ruby assured. "Well, not upset with you. Just upset that you were in pain." She frowned, leaning over to gently rest her head on Weiss. "I-Is this okay?"
Weiss couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "It is, though shouldn't you let your mother know that she can come in now?"
"Oh, right." Ruby sat up and got her scroll out.
"Ruby, you can just go out into the hall to get her." Weiss said, finding it odd that the girl would even consider texting someone who isn't that far away.
"Ugh, but I'm lazy!" Ruby whined, sending the message anyway, and leaning back on her partner to rest against her.
Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "Such a dolt." She looked over once Summer opened the door, only she entered though, since the others figured that she'd want a moment to talk with the girls.
"Hey, snowflake." Summer gave her a smile as she sat next to both her daughter and Weiss. "How ya feeling?" Her soft voice was as motherly as Willow's would be.
"Better." Weiss sighed fidgeted around a bit. "I-I'm sorry for how I reacted, Mrs. Rose."
Summer shook her head. "Don't apologize, snowflake, and I swear, I'll get you to call me Summer one day." That got another playful eye roll from the white wolf. "Still, I'm glad you're feeling better."
Seeing her daughter resting up against the white wolf was took cute of a sight, but Summer knew if she got her scroll out to try and take a picture of them, she'd have both her daughter and the white wolf jumping at her to not take it.
"Thank you." Weiss smiled, her tail swaying showing that she was telling the truth about feeling better. "Ruby… Ruby told me about how other people out in the world have similar problems with their semblances. Is that true?"
"Absolutely. Semblances are very complex, even to this day, snowflake." Summer stated. "Not everyone in the world will have the same reaction to their semblance's ever growing power."
"D-Does that mean this was just a simple reaction?" Weiss hoped.
Summer couldn't give the girl false hope, since if it did in fact happen again, she'd feel terrible about it. "Honestly, it feels like it leans heavily towards that, yeah. I can't say your semblance will stop growing though…"
Weiss' ears dropped a bit. "So… It may happen again."
"Hey, don't get too worried about that, snowflake. You snapped out of it in like, five seconds when it happened." Summer reminded.
"I-I know. Ruby and I spoke about what we can do about it if it happens again, but…" She sighed a bit. "For it to happen again, is terrifying." Summer frowned and reached out to the wolf, but pulled away as she didn't feel like she earned that right. Weiss picked up on that and let out a small smile. "Mrs. Rose, I'll say it outright, I hate being compared to a dog, but with the people I trust, I don't mind the rubs."
The blacksmith found that to be cute and gave her back a short rub. "I bet everyone says your fur is soft, snowflake."
Weiss nodded a bit, smiling as she had another person in her life she could trust that much. "Honestly, some people might think it's weird, and I don't blame them, but when you… Ruby, Yang, mom, Winter, Klein, and even Blake now… When you all rub my fur, I don't think of it as treating me like I'm some kind of animal."
Ruby snuggled up on her partner, listening to her words as she smiled. "And none of us will ever do that to you."
"I know, you dolt. It's why I trust you all so much in the first place." Weiss explained, but before the Roses could speak, she continued. "Can you let the others back in? I don't want them feeling like they have to be outside."
Summer nodded and got up. "Got it, snowflake."
She went to get the others, while Ruby sat up and blushed a bit, confusing Weiss. "What's with the face, Ruby?"
"I-I was just… Wondering… If maybe you and I could have a partner day?" Ruby squeaked, looking away from Weiss, as she was way too nervous.
"A partner day?" The thought made her tail wag faster.
"Y-Yeah, just the two of us." Ruby slowly turned back to face her, noticing her tail. "W-Wait, you like the idea?"
Weiss nodded, sitting up with Ruby. "It sounds like something we could both use. A day without anyone else." She smiled and leaned over, nuzzling Ruby. "What day would you like that to be?"
"O-Oh." Ruby blushed and rubbed her fur a bit. "Maybe… Uh, when our moms leave on monday? Does that sound okay?"
The white wolf found her partner's nervous tone cute, so she nodded again. "Yes, but Ruby, you don't have to sound so nervous about it. We're just having a partner day as you said."
Ruby was actually using that as a cover to spend a day with Weiss, more as a date, but she'd didn't want to admit that to her partner. "Right, um, so monday it is."
"Sounds like a plan." Weiss turned her attention to the door when Summer, Willow, Blake and Yang walked back in, so she walked over to her mother. "Mom."
Willow was so happy to see her daughter like that again. "Snowflake, I was speaking with your team and Yang here suggested we go outside for some rest. Would you like to?"
The white wolf's tail swayed happily, so she nodded. "I would like that very much, yes. Being cramped in here isn't all that's cracked up to be."
Ruby got to her feet, glad that her embarrassment of asking Weiss out on a not date, but date to her was over. "Back to our favorite spot?"
"Of course." Weiss replied, her tail swaying the entire way there.
There you go, Blake. Now she and Weiss can finally trust each other. It only took… 41 chapters. Huh. I like slow burn.
To JJ- It took time, but yeah, Blake gets it now. And she's going to continue to grow as a person to really bond with her team. For now, I'm just glad to finally resolve her and Weiss' issues.
To GoldElite245- Thanks for the feedback. With how things go, I try slow burn more than anything, so what parts did you feel were a little rushed? If you don't mind me asking.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 41. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 42.