Co-Author: ToxicExotic

Disclaimer: All character belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Letting out a soft groan as she got to her feet, Ruby raised her hand and pressed against her head. While her aura had protected her from the fall, hitting her head on a hard tile floor was never a nice thing; though admittedly, it had been her own fault. Ever since Ruby had fallen asleep while reading the book with Blake, something she had not intended to do at all; but had found the situation far too comfortable to keep her eyes open, things had been a little weird with Blake. Whereas they were usually friendly and exchanged small talk throughout the day, Ruby couldn't help but feel the faunus girl had begun to avoid her a little, and she was beginning to fear she had let something slip while sleeping; Yang had told her she talked in her sleep after all.

Due to that worry, she had been unfocused for the entirety of their training and had messed up more than usual. Every time she and Blake tried their team move on the metal training dummy that was shaped like a manticore grimm, Ruby would either trip and fall, or miss her mark entirely; she had even managed to get her scythe stuck in the dummy at one point. The worst thing was that even though she was spending the entire afternoon with Blake, she couldn't help becoming increasingly annoyed. She was making a fool of herself, something that admittedly tended to be a common occurrence; but never when she was training, never when she had her precious Crescent Rose in hand.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked carefully from the other side of the dummy, her sword hanging at her side.

"Yeah," she sighed in return and brushed the dust off of her skirt. "Just… hate that I can't get this down. I had it last week."

"We're expanding on a move, Ruby," Blake said, the tone of her voice gentle in a clear attempt to trying to console her. "It's going to take some time to set it into muscle memory."

"I know," she replied and leant down to pick up her scythe and preparing to launch herself at the dummy once again. "Lets just keep going."

Though Blake paused for a moment, she quickly gave a short nod and lowered her stance to attack. Holding for a couple of seconds, Ruby refused to look Blake in the eye and instead settled for watching her at the edge of her periphery and once she knew the girl was ready, she signaled for them to start.

Pressing the trigger on her scythe for the necessary burst of speed, she rushed forward and slashed the blade of her scythe across the legs of the dummy, the sharp edge easily sheering it off as Blake did the same in the opposite direction. Not wasting any time as the real thing wouldn't let them, they made three more passes, each one taking a small chunk of metal with them and after the fourth, they leapt into the air. That first part was easy, having settled on it long ago, but it was the next part that she kept messing up on. Both of them fell down and slashed out with there weapons, taking a horn each and landing in a roll to break their fall.

Here we go, Ruby thought to herself as she activated her semblance the moment she began to rise to her feet and spun in a circle on the spot. As she spun, she saw Blake rise from her roll and perform a twisting jump so that she faced the metal beast; however with everything in her vision a blur, a brilliant streak of amber followed Blake from where she had jumped and for the tiniest of moments, her attention shifted. Though the moment had been negligible, it had been enough, so as she pushed her scythe out and Blake landed gracefully on the blade, Ruby knew her aim was off. But it was too late, the momentum was already carrying her and before she could slow herself, she had launched Blake so far to the left of the target that the girl crashed into the bleachers that spectators would usually watch from.

"BLAKE!"

The crash had looked pretty hard from where she was standing, but as she took a couple of steps forward to run and check on her teammates, the girl simply stood up and dusted off her black overcoat. While Ruby should have felt happy that Blake was okay, the only thing she felt was angry. Angry at herself for being so easily distracted, angry that she was letting her friend down when she was supposed to be the leader, angry that she was trying her best yet she was still behind everyone on her team. Unable to stop the anger from taking hold for a moment, Ruby held up her scythe and span to face the figure that Blake should have cut through.

"ARGH!"

Pushing her anger into the single rage-fueled scream, she threw her scythe as hard as she could at the metal manticore and the blade sunk cleanly into the beasts head. She should have felt fine after that, she had screamed as she usually did when she was upset; but she didn't. If anything, she felt more annoyed at herself for losing control and throwing her darling. Heat prickled over her skin and she felt her cheeks flush bright red, as she struggled to calm herself.

"Ruby," she heard Blake say from right behind her and felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "We should take a break."

Any other time, Ruby would have appreciated the words, would have even loved that Blake had finally stopped being so distant and had touched her; but that time was not then, and in her anger she pulled away and span around to face the raven-haired faunus.

"I don't need a break!" She half-shouted at her and took a step back. "I need to get this down! I need to stop getting distracted and focus!"

"You will get it down," the girl said, completely unfazed by the shouting as she took a step forward, only for Ruby to take another back. "But forcing yourself won't help make it go faster."

"But I need to!" She cried angrily as her back hit the metal of the manticore. "I'm supposed to be the leader but I'm so far behind! I can't keep holding the team back because I lack experience. If I screw up a move on the field then you, Weiss, Yang; any of you could get hurt!"

Breathing heavily and feeling a little weak in the knee's, Ruby slowly slid down the last remaining leg of the manticore into a sitting position and pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes. She hated feeling that way, she hated feeling angry, but more than anything at that moment, she hated that she had just shouted at Blake. It wasn't her fault at all and she had even tried to be calm, yet Ruby had taken her frustration out on the girl nonetheless. Therefore, she wasn't surprised when she heard Blake's footsteps pass her and make their way to the exit. Or at least that was where she assumed Blake was headed.

The sudden sound of rending metal filled her ears and made her cringe slightly, it didn't last long however as the sound stopped and was followed by a loud, metallic thud. Opening her eyes as her ears picked up the distant sound of her precious scythe being collapsed into it more compact form. After a couple of seconds of silence, she felt something press against her upper arm and looked to see that Blake had rested the shining red sniper scythe against her. Letting out a short sniffle as Blake sat down beside her, she lifted her arm slightly to allow the weapon to fall into her lap and quickly pulled it into her chest for comfort.

"Feeling better?"

"No," She pouted, knowing that she sounded like a child but not caring in the slightest. "I just feel like I'm failing as your leader. Yang and Weiss really didn't bother to show up today, I wasted our entire training session messing up the move; and no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to beat any of you in sparring class."

"You are doing fine, Ruby," Blake said solemnly and Ruby looked at her just in time to see the girl laying her sheathed katana on the ground. "You were pushed ahead two years for a reason."

"Maybe Professor Ozpin was wrong," she groaned and looked down at her darling to she if any damage had been had from her being thrown. "Even he said he doesn't know if I will be a good leader. Maybe I'm too inexperienced for Beacon."

"Ruby," Blake sighed, pulling her own knees up and crossing her arms over them. "Someone should never want experience, not in what we have chosen to do. The experience I have was born from horrors no-one should have to face, some were even of my own doing; but you don't need those things to be a good leader."

"You don't lead through experience or combat prowess, though you are much more skilled than many in our year. You're a good leader because you know what it's like to be happy, and you want that happiness for everyone. That's what makes us follow you."

"But what if I lead you all wrong?" Ruby replied quietly, trying her best to suppress a small sniffle.

"Then you will learn from your mistake," Blake said carefully and fiddled with the laces on her shoes. "Do you remember our first week? When Weiss was annoyed at you for not paying attention in class? You stayed up until four in the morning for a whole week to catch up and get the work done."

"I got told off by Yang about staying up that late though."

"I mean, you didn't exactly go about it in the healthiest way, Ruby, " the faunus chuckled lightly. "But you took steps to improve yourself and now you're getting better grades than your sister."

"Studying is hardly the same as combat," Ruby pouted and wiped a small smudge off her scythe. "If I mess up in the field, there are no redos, someone might get hurt, maybe even die, that's not something that can be fixed after it happens."

"True," Blake said with a nod. "But I had many leaders in the White Fang who refused to even try to fix anything, even if it was something as simple as leaky camp stoves, tarps, or guns jamming too often, much less how they ran things, unless it was their hides on the line. And even then, some still preferred to carry on without a care."

Taken aback by the fact that Blake had voluntarily talked about her time in the White Fang, Ruby finally raised her head from her knees and turned to look into the amber eyes of her teammate. It was very rare for Blake to even mention the criminal organisation she had once worked for; however, Ruby was always a little curious, so seeing a chance to learn a little more, she cautiously pressed forward a little more.

"What… What were they like?" she asked carefully, keeping her voice soft to not seem to eager. "Th-The leaders, I mean."

"Some were alright, I guess," Blake sighed and leaned her head back against the manticore. "Most just wanting a better life for the faunus. But others were some of the most sadistic people, even more so than the very people we were fighting to get rights from. They would train us every day until we collapsed from exhaustion, then would send us out on missions not caring if we were still recovering; missions that were dangerous, and very rarely had everyone return. No matter how much dust or Lien we stole, no matter how many people we lost, they would just keep cracking the whip, most often breaking the spirits of the very people they were fighting for."

"I'm sorry," Ruby shivered at the idea of watching people you considered friends die, and even more so at the idea that Blake could have easily been one of those people. "That sounds horrible."

"It was," Blake admitted, the pain of the memories still clear in her voice. "That's why you're the best leader I've ever had. Because I know that even if something happens to me in the field, you would have tried everything you could to prevent it; and if you couldn't, you'd learn from it and make sure that it doesn't happen to anyone else."

Before Ruby could give a response, Blake closed her eyes in concentration and after a couple of seconds, a fuzzy clone of herself began to manifest in a fashion that Ruby had yet to see. Very slowly, the fuzzy shadow pulled away from Blake's true form and before she could comment on the new use of the girl's semblance, the shadow clone wrapped the curled up girl into a hug and comforted her before gradually fading away into nothingness leaving Blake panting slightly. Once she recovered, a small grin worked its way onto Blake's face, with sweat beading down her forehead, she picked up her weapon and rose to her feet before turning to face her.

"So cheer up, okay? One of us has to be optimistic most of the time," She said in a much more gentle tone than Ruby had heard from the girl before. "There are always new things to be learnt. I thought I knew everything my semblance was capable of, but watching Sun showed me there's still more I might be able to do. In time, you'll learn what else you can do too."

Still speechless after what she had just seen, and feeling a little warm around her shoulders where the shadow had touched her, Ruby watched as Blake turned and make her way to the locker room to get cleaned up, leaving her to contemplate what she had said.

I am such an idiot, Blake thought, breathing out deeply as she turned off the shower and grabbed her towel. Placing her head against the cold tile, the memory of what she had just done came back to her. She had never seen Ruby like that, she certainly had her occasional quiet days, but never before had the girl seemed so lost and unsure; and not knowing what to do to comfort her, Blake had simply done what she knew Yang would have done and given the girl a hug.

And you just had to show off while you were at it, didn't you, Blake?

Why couldn't she have just settled for giving the girl some words of advice? She was supposed to be distancing herself so that she could get over her stupid crush, not doing more things that would do nothing but succeed in angering Yang further. The blond had already been glaring daggers at her ever since the altercation, choosing to sit on the other side of the table instead of next to her like she usually did; and if she was honest, it hurt her more than she suspected it would.

So why am I risking that? She thought to herself as she wrapped the towel around herself and made her way back to her locker to grab her clothes. Why am I risking the best friend I've ever had on a stupid crush that will go nowhere?

Shaking her head as she input the code and opened the door, she was quite surprised to find that every piece of clothing she had put in there was missing. Confused as to where they had gone to, she immediately looked around her and felt stupid as realisation dawned on her. She knew she had put them in her locker as clothes didn't walk away on their own, which meant someone had taken them. Closing her eyes and sighing, she slammed the door to the locker shut and began to walk towards the door in search of the culprit when a familiar voice from the next row over caught her attention.

"Two socks, two shoes, a pair of underwear, a skirt, and a t-shirt," the voice said playfully and Blake felt a chill run through her. She had been expecting her partner to corner her in the dorm room or something, not in the locker room while she was half-naked. "What a coincidence. There are seven pieces of clothing here and I have seven questions."

"Yang, plea…"

"No!" Yang's voice echoed around the room and the light, playful tone it possessed seconds ago was nowhere to be found; instead it was hard and unyielding. "We are going to play a game. For each question of mine that you answer honestly, and in a way that I like, you'll get one piece of your clothing back."

Watching as Yang emerged from behind the lockers, Blake saw that the blonde had her clothes gripped tightly in one of her hands. From the stark white skin that stretched over her partner's knuckles, she knew the grip was tight enough that she would never get her clothes back without Yang's permission; so swallowing heavily, she gave Yang a slight nod and prepared herself for the worst.

"Good," the brawler replied, her tone dropping some of its force but remained firm nonetheless. "First question, let's see if your memory is any good. What did I see?"

While Blake knew the answer, the question was tricky. She didn't want to upset the blonde even more, but the idea of putting her feelings into words was tough. She wasn't even entirely sure what they were herself.

"I don't kn…"

"No!" Yang interrupted again, though this time her voice was little more than a growl. "I know when you are lying, Blake. You are my best friend and I love you, but this is my sister. So lie to me again and I will leave."

Seeing Yang's eyes flash red for the briefest of moments was all she needed to know the girl was serious; so feeling her heart race a little faster, she lowered her head and answered honestly.

"You saw me giving in."

Lilac eyes locked onto hers and Blake held her breath as Yang stared her down. Finally though, after a couple of seconds, the sound of rubber hitting tile echoed around the room as Yang extended the finger that was holding one of her shoes and let it drop to the floor.

"Second question. Why did you say I'd kill you?"

"Because I see how protective you are of Ruby," Blake sighed, her arms dropping to her side as she made her way over to the bench and sat down. "You almost ripped the head off the last guy to talk to her."

"That's because we both know exactly what he wanted," Yang replied, another finger extending and dropping the other shoe to the floor. "Do you want what he did?"

"No!" For the first time since Yang had begun to speak, the answer leaped from her before she had time to think.

Yang was right, Blake knew exactly what the boy who had been flirting with Ruby had wanted, and she had wanted to rip his head off herself; but her feelings weren't like that. Though she was still unsure how deeply she felt for the girl, she knew she wanted more than that, far more.

"I… I don't know what I want with Ruby."

"Hmm," Yang hummed contemplatively and dropped a sock on top of the pair of shoes. "Fourth question. Do you like my sister? And don't give me that of course I like your sister bullshit because you know what I mean."

Though Blake tried to think about the question for a second, there was only one answer that pushed its way into her mind; and while she had tried to push it aside as a simple crush, when asked, the answer was obvious.

"I do," Blake said quietly as she slowly nodded and let her gaze drop to her knees. "I'm sorry, Yang. I tried not to, I just…"

Cutting herself off due to having no idea what she was saying, Blake continued to look at her knees as she waited for Yang to rip her to pieces. However, to her surprise, the blonde let out a long sigh as she pushed herself off the locker she was leaning on and sat down on the bench beside her.

"Final question," She said, her softer tone catching her off guard just as much as she skipped questions hard. "Are you gonna tell her?"

"What's the point?" Blake replied with a sigh as Yang handed her the rest of her clothes. "She already likes someone else, probably Jaune or Sun. She was asking about them last night after all."

"Blake," Yang said, the girl's tone weird enough to cause her to look up and see the lilac eyes look at her with a furrowed brow. "Ruby's gay."

"What?"

"You think I would have bothered with all this if you didn't stand a chance?" The blonde chuckled and leaned forward to grab the clothing she had dropped on the floor earlier. Dusting them off before setting them into Blake's lap, and sitting back down beside the raven haired girl.

"I… I guess not," Blake replied slowly as she reeled from the news. "I'm still not even sure if she likes me, or if I even deserve someone like her after everything I've done."

"Well," Yang groaned and stretched her arms above her head, her joints cracking loudly. "I can't speak for Ruby liking you, because I don't even know what she's thinking half the time, but I can definitely say that she doesn't care about what you've done. You're here now and you want to help people, if that's enough to make you worthy in her eyes, then you are."

Not knowing how to reply to the blonde's words, Blake chose to give her a small smile instead to show that they were appreciated. Fortunately, it seemed to be enough as Yang quickly gave her a light punch to the leg and stood up before turning around to face her.

"However, Ruby is my baby sister and comes before anyone else in my life," she said, her eyes suddenly turning from a soft lilac to a deep scarlet. "So if she does return your feelings, you had better treat her right. I understand relationships don't always work out; but if you ever hurt her, then you will be answering to me. Understood?"

Knowing that Yang's threat was sincere, Blake gave the brawler a very terse nod. "Understood."

"Good," She replied, her eyes flicking back to their soft lilac. "Then I will leave you to get dressed. Oh, and tell Sun that next time him and Neptune let Weiss get that drunk, I'm gonna crack some skulls. I really don't like being vomited on."

"Sure thing," Blake replied, a small smile pulling at her lips at the irony of Yang doing the same to herself multiple times since they had started Beacon.

Watching Yang turn and walk away with a wave, Blake let out a sigh at how much better that conversation had gone than she expected it to. However, now she had other problems. She had always assumed Ruby wouldn't be interested because she didn't feel that way about women, but learning that she did had made her question everything. Most importantly, what she should do next and whether or not she should confess to the pretty young reaper. Unfortunately, even if she were to confess, she had no idea how to go about it; so letting out a deep sigh, she stood up and began to get dressed, thinking the whole time on what she should do next.

A/N

Alrighty, Raalm here again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This story has actually landed more attention than we thought it would, so thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read it. Ladybug had woefully few fanfics compared to other ships, so hopefully those of you who have been waiting for a new one are happy with this so far.

In this chapter we really wanted to show the struggles of these characters, Ruby feeling the burden of being a leader at such a young age, and Blake struggling with her past; and these will be running themes throughout the series. Though we plan this series to be short (cant say how many chapters but at least 10) we really do want to explore these characters a little deeper, as such we are pulling from material outside of RWBY itself, such as the Manga Anthology for each character in hopes to round them out a little better.

There is also one part I want to point out in this chapter and that is how Blake used her semblance to comfort Ruby, as some of you may have read it and thought "Whaaat?". In Volume 4 and onward, Blake does begin to get more interactive with her clones, even using one to spin herself when fighting the sea serpent, this is just my interpretation of how she gets to that point.

But yeah that is it for me, I hope you enjoyed. We received a comment on the last one about Ruby always being portrayed as childish and Yang always being portray as over-protective, so hopefully this shows that we really are not going that direction. While those elements are still occasionally going to be there, we want the characters to feel real and we are most certainly not forgetting the other relationships in this story, such as Yang and Blake's.