Dearest Yang,

People call me "Ice Queen" with good reason. There are many things I cannot and will not tolerate from people- most of all willful stupidity, recklessness, and… flirting. Of course, there are exceptions to those rules as well, and I hate the fact that those exceptions exist. The biggest exception to all three of those things is… well…

You.

When we first met, you were honestly just another face in the crowd. You may have been louder, but Ruby's consistent and cloying personality largely masked your signal on my radar of frustrating individuals. Over time, however, I began to notice that you crept more and more into not only my attention, but straight past my defenses and into my heart. I hate that the sight of you causes my breath to hitch, and I hate myself for finding you attractive. I hate that my father would tell me to stay away from you… and that's the very reason that I think it's time to make a decision and major change. It's the reason I'm writing you this letter, as I would never say any of this face to face.

It's not that I'm scared, or that I'd be unable to find the nerve- I'm not, and I've accomplished more daunting tasks before. It's that I know you, Yang, and I know that you would somehow sneak a pun or witticism into my scripted confession of romantic attraction, derail the entire thing, and maybe literally sweep me off my feet. I will have my say before you have yours, and I want the terms of what I am and am not willing to indulge in spelled out plainly before… whatever may happen as a result of this manuscript.

Yang, I'd like to begin by saying that I strongly dislike being unsure of things. I'm unsure when or how I started to find you funny, but I sincerely wish you would stop doing… whatever it is you do to make me start to smile in the middle of serious conversations. It's incredibly embarrassing, it sidelines whatever points I may try to make, and it causes knowing looks between Ruby and Blake that I'm extremely uncomfortable with. I know for a fact that "I told you so" will get thrown around regardless of the result of this letter, but I'd like to keep the shaming to a minimum if at all possible. If you're not interested in taking things further than friendship, then I would ask that you please take the above point to heart and discard this letter immediately, out of respect for said friendship.

If, however, you are somehow interested in me in the same way I'm interested in you… there are some other things I'd like you to know that I would never admit out loud, because I am too cowardly to do so. This all stays between us, and if I find out that it hasn't, I'll show you exactly how much of an ice queen I can be.

I've heard many people say that love hits them like a train. Honestly, that makes no sense to me, because I'd assume most people would be at least intelligent enough to see and hear a train coming, and they mean to say that it hit them unexpectedly. This… irritating attraction to you is something that, in contrast, I didn't see coming at all, and I believe that part of the reason is due to the fact that it was a slow build. I used to find you mildly annoying, and there were times when I would've liked nothing more than to shut you up and shut you down with a carefully-selected biting criticism that would cut to your core. I'll admit, though, that even when I just thought of you as nothing more than another teammate, I don't think I could have done it, and I certainly can't do it anymore. I've been busy thinking up other words for you.

Honestly, I think I may have started to notice you more and gravitate toward you a bit more in team encounters because you're unlike anyone else I've ever met. You're strong, not just physically, but in willpower, as well. You're loud and enthusiastic, yes, but I think those are base observations that everyone sees, and to say such things is missing your most attractive quality- your passion.

I've never met anyone else who feels things quite like you do. Every smile, every ugly, frustrated noise, and every way-too-loud laugh that escapes you comes out with your entire soul behind it, and it's honestly… beautiful. That's the only word I can think of to describe it, and by extension, you. I've been taught my entire life to bottle my feelings, show no emotion, and pretend to be impartial to better serve the dust company in the future. I've been taught not to fall for someone like you, but those restrictions and demands from my father are only pushing me toward you even more.

I'm not sure what to say, past all of this. I'm not sure what I'm feeling, besides what I could call a full-body blush at the thought of you. It's not just your passion, your drive, your willingness to be vulnerable- in truth, Yang, it's everything. There's an energy in you that I would love to have more of in my life, and I'd like to do what I can to help make sure your passionate moments are all of the "fun" variety rather than the frustrating one.

That came out entirely wrong, and I'm begging you, do not refer to the line in conversation. Were this not so close to the end of my thoughts, I'd discard this entire letter and start anew because of it.

I've just reread everything I've written, and the temptation to discard this is incredibly strong. It's all a mess, scattered, repetitive, and unfocused, which is so unlike me that it feels as though this letter was written by a part of me I don't recognize. That being said, it's a part of me I'd like to get to know more, and a part of me that makes me feel things I never thought I would. It's a part of me that only exists because of you, Yang. Your smile, your curves, your overwhelming emotions; they're all things I want to live with, and experience for myself, firsthand. I'm going to force myself to seal and send this before I lose my nerve.

Please respond via letter or in person at your earliest convenience, if you made it this far.

Cordially Yours,

Weiss

P.S. Ruby, if you take this out of Yang's mailbox and read this, I will literally skin you.

Author's Note:

I've decided to make this into a long-running series of little first person one-shots about couples. I'll update it whenever I'm feeling in the mood to write some fluff, and keep it going indefinitely. This chapter goes out to Ket, who made the Freezerburn request. See you all next time!

-RD