Chapter written by Dixie
"Mrs. Schnee?"
"That's not her name." Ruby muttered, lying comfortably across the bench with her head in Weiss' lap and her eyes closed. Honestly, they'd been married for nearly a decade now, why did people still address Weiss by her maiden name?
"Ruby, shush." Weiss scolded and Ruby lifted her head from her wife's lap as the older angel nudged her off to approach the General. Confusion overcame the young brunette, why was he here? He never visited the lower ranking angels, he sent his second in command to deliver messages.
Despite being rarely seen, he was still much better than their previous General, James Ironwood. He'd been sent back to Earth and would never be allowed back into the realm due to multiple reasons; the main ones being: Greed, Envy, Wrath, and Lust.
"Officer Berin has retired from his duty as Commander after the last battle with the Demons," the man informed the two of them, never sparing Ruby a single look, "and you have been training to become a warrior angel, so I've been told."
Oh he couldn't be. . . No, she wasn't finished with her training yet.
"I have." Weiss confirmed, "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"
The General smiled, tucking his hands behind his back. "Berin's Platoon is in need of a new leader, and he has taught you everything you know," he began, striking fear into Ruby's heart, "I believe you would be the most suitable option."
What?
Ruby swung herself off the bench to approach the two of them. "Sir, she hasn't even completed her training! She doesn't know-" Seemingly lifeless white eyes narrowed in the angel's direction and Weiss moved in front of her, abruptly cutting Ruby off.
"It would be an honor, General Alba." Weiss said, tucking her wings behind her back and giving a small bow of respect.
"What?" Ruby asked incredulously, eyes wide with disbelief. "Weiss you're not ready! You could get seriously hurt!" She fixed her eyes on the man, "Sir, you can't do this."
The man turned away from them, not bothering to acknowledge Ruby. "Excellent. I'll send Nadira out to fetch you later, Mrs. Schnee. Have a good day, ladies." Within a flash, the General was gone and the two of them were left alone.
"Weiss, you can't." Ruby whispered as she turned to her wife, "What if you get hurt? You don't know how to absorb the Demon's attack yet."
Weiss didn't meet her eyes, instead turning and approaching their house. "I'll be fine, it's my responsibility as an angel, and soon it will be yours."
"But I don't want to lose you. . ."
[Present]
Weiss was thirteen years old. . . She couldn't be thirteen, time was flying by far too quickly for Ruby's liking. One moment she'd been helping 1-year old Weiss learn to speak, and the next she's talking about romance. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be showing a genuine interest in it like most of the girls her age were starting to.
Ruby didn't know if she could handle watching her fall in love with someone else. . . Then again, Ruby was an angel, she was dead . She'd practically raised Weiss, but she was still in love with her, there were many times she'd locked herself up inside of her house to breakdown.
Her Weiss was gone. . . She was never coming back. As much as she loved her, she had to admit that being Weiss' guardian angel was sometimes pure torture for her.
"She will be fourteen soon." Blake whispered as she approached the angel, who was staring into her glass with a sorrowful expression. "Are you ready for her to be reassigned?"
Ruby didn't turn to face her, instead watching the white-haired child through the mirror. "No." She replied plainly, "She needs me. . . I can't leave her all alone, I told her I'd be there for her."
"Don't let the others know that," Blake sighed, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, "but you knew when you became her guardian that she would receive a new one once she turns fourteen. You can't change this, it's for her own good, she isn't a child anymore."
"What would you do if it were Yang?" Ruby asked pitifully, "Would you have agreed to be her Guardian so you could see her again? Or would you have just sucked it up and got over it?" She bowed her head, tears in her eyes, "You don't understand what this feels like."
Blake glanced away, "Yeah, maybe I don't. . . I hate to say this, but Ruby? I think you need to let her-"
Ruby cut her off immediately, "I can't let her go." She said, narrowing her brows at the dark-winged angel, "I love her. . ."
"If you love her, you'll let her go."
She couldn't do that. . . Weiss needed her, desperately.
[two weeks later]
"And then she goes to talking about her new boyfriend, and I'm like, what? When did you get a boyfriend? She says that she got one yesterday, and goes on about 'how cute he was', and I just. . . I looked at him, and you know what I saw?"
"What'd you see?"
"I saw a freak! His 'Adam's Apple' was protruding from his throat, he had buck teeth and that ridiculous rich boy haircut all the boys are getting now, and let me just say this, his smile was creepy!" Weiss threw her hands up, groaning and stalking away from the angel, "All of them are disturbing, and all of my friends are so charmed by their advances that it's starting to make me sick!"
A few days before, Ruby had caught sight of a wealthy upperclassman making his way over to Weiss. At first, she was going to alert her, but when she noticed the greedy look in his eyes, she decided to take things into her own hands.
She knew that look all too well. When they'd been alive, she and Weiss would be out on a date when a strange man came up to them, acting all charming and sweet. They knew of Weiss' name, her ranking, her bloodline, and they knew just how much money she'd inherit. That's all those boys wanted, and if they could woo her and start their manipulation from a young age, they would.
All she needed to do was to throw them off course, not hurt them. Of course, the whole school saw it the first time, but how it happened would remain a mystery. The dent in the locker would probably stay just as long, too.
"Oh! And that boy, Henry? Skylar is trying to set me up with him, she says that he's 'really sweet' and 'genuinely likes me', and I'm just over here thinking 'are you really that blind?' I think she's blind."
Ruby let a small, amused smile come to her lips. "That's good, though." She said softly as Weiss returned to her, rage still evident in her eyes, "You can be there for them when they get their hearts broken. Let me tell you this, the best part of that is saying 'I told you so'."
Weiss tilted her head to look at her, bewilderment and the shadow of a smile tugging at her lips. "Aren't you an angel? You're supposed to be advising me to do good things."
The smile fell from her face as Weiss sat down beside her, grunting as she pulled her knees to her chest. "I am!" Ruby laughed, trying to cheer her up again, "I wouldn't suggest saying 'I told you so', because I wouldn't want to be told that, but. . . Trust me, it's best to have good friends around when someone you love leaves you."
Her mind returned to her friends and how they'd supported her when she lost Weiss.
Pyrrha had stepped up to take Weiss' place, not because she wanted to, but because Ruby insisted that Weiss would want her to. She offered her a shoulder to cry on when the day was rough and she had to face her grief.
Jaune did everything he could to keep her mind off of Weiss, he even took on some of Ruby's jobs when she started to slip into depression so that Ruby wouldn't be as stressed.
Nora reminded her of the happy memories she had with Weiss, but told her that it was okay to miss her as well,
Ren was supportive in his own way, listening to her whenever she needed a friend and told her that it was alright for her to still love her.
In the end. . . Her wife was gone.
"How would you know?!" Weiss snapped suddenly, reeling Ruby back to reality. She'd hit a sore spot, she could tell by the look in her eyes. Just a few years ago, her mother had begun to neglect her, leaving her and her siblings alone to fend for themselves. "Angels are loved and worshiped by everybody almost! How would you know how it feels to have someone suddenly abandon you?!"
Abandon. Neglect. They both could mean the same thing depending on the situation. . .
"Because I know how it feels." Ruby replied coolly.
"Ruby, I'll come back home, I promise."
A knife stabbed into Ruby's chest and she tilted her head down, avoiding Weiss' eyes as she images of her body laying lifeless in front of her flashed through her eyes. She grit her teeth and forced back a whine of distress.
"No! She can't be dead! She can't be gone! She promised me she'll come home! She can't leave me!"
"Ruby, Weiss is dead, she isn't coming back!"
Tears stinging at the corners of her eyes, Ruby straightened her posture and looked the thirteen-year old in the eyes. "She isn't coming back!" Her Weiss was gone.
She gathered all of her strength and regained her composure. Despite this, her words came out as a heartbroken whimper, "I know because I lost someone very dear to me."
Weiss fell quiet and she slowly shifted to face the angel, "What were they like? Are they still around?" She asked carefully.
Ruby swallowed her grief and hardened herself, refusing to allow her emotions get the best of her. "Well, I'll make it brief: She was and still is the sweetest, yet most stubborn and sarcastic person you'd ever meet."
Ruby smiled, remembering her beloved. "And yeah, she's still around," She whispered, "I see her everyday. . . You remind me a lot of her."
A smile crossed Weiss' face and she leaned forward, "Really? I do? Do I know her?"
Ruby giggled at the irony, "You do, actually," the angel placed a hand on the thirteen-year old's head, "you might know her better than you think you do."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly."
"WEISS!" The child's eyes widened and her attention snapped to the door, her breathing became visibly labored and she shakily stood to her feet. "Get out here right this instant!" Weiss turned to Ruby for an answer and the angel reluctantly nodded, it was best not to ignore him and make him angrier. They needed to see what he wanted.
Weiss opened the door and Ruby stayed behind her, focusing her attention on the tall, lean man towering above the child. "Y-yes, Father?" She asked, her voice breaking with fear.
"Did you know anything about your sister leaving to join the damned military?!"
Winter left?
"N-no." Weiss replied, "Winter left. . .?"
The man straightened his posture, "Of course she has, the Schnee family means absolutely nothing for her." Weiss shrunk down and Ruby came to her side, ready to protect her if she needed to. "What kind of person just abandons her family?"
"She said she wouldn't leave me. . ." Weiss whispered under her breath, hoping her father didn't hear her.
A smirk came to the man's face, "And look at that, she didn't even consider saying goodbye to her little sister. Shame. . . She's left her family to follow her own foolish dreams, leaving everything we've ever worked for behind. You won't just toss everything away for something so ridiculous, now would you, Weiss?"
"No, Father. . ."
He turned away to approach the door, "Perfect. Begin packing your things, we leave tomorrow to introduce you as the company's new heir."
Weiss frowned, "But, Father, tomorrow is my birthday. . . Mother said we could-"
"I'm sorry, I must've misheard. It sounded like you were talking back to me, surely you remember the consequences of disobeying your Father." The man glared back at them and Weiss stiffened, her body trembling as the door shut, not giving Weiss a chance to answer.
Weiss slowly sunk to the floor and Ruby knelt down beside her, "Winter. . . Winter left me, she abandoned me ."
"I'm sure she didn't intend for it to seem that way," Ruby whispered, reaching to pull Weiss into a hug, but the thirteen-year old leaned away, "Weiss?"
"She said she'd always be there for me!" Weiss snapped, forcing herself to stand to her feet and approach her closet. "She lied, just like Grandfather and Mother did. She fucking lied."
Ruby released a heavy sigh, guilt stinging at her heart when she remembered the inevitable. She didn't know what to do, Weiss turned fourteen tomorrow and she would be receiving a new guardian angel. She would think Ruby abandoned her, too. . .
And right now, she'd need her more than ever.
A/N: This is a small project that Dixie (Dreaming-Paradise) or DreamingParadise14 (on Ao3) and I are collabing together. I will state which chapters Dixie wrote and which I wrote (though if I forget, it's usually odd numbered chaps for me and even numbered chaps for Dixie). Updates will be on and off as we're working on our own fanfics, but hope that y'all enjoy!