Missing You

"W-What?"

Ruby expected to be tackled onto cold white snow, punished for the innocent sake of just wanting to know the whole truth.

What she didn't expect was the absence of it.

The absence of everything.

"Weiss?"

She looks back, expecting to see the very person who's always got her back.

Only to see whiteness.

Not white clothes. Not white hair. Not White, the translation of the name she keeps on calling.

Just whiteness.

She wonders if this was what Weiss felt like back in the whiteness of Atlas.

She certainly hoped not.

So much whiteness. So much emptiness.

So much loneliness.

"Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower that sheltered a lonely girl..."

A lonely girl named Weiss was locked away by her cruel father.

Weiss was a girl who desired but one thing—

Freedom.

But nothing in life was ever free, least of all her. That didn't stop her. Just because it wasn't free didn't mean it wasn't attainable too. If she wanted her freedom then she would need to work for it. And work for it she did.

She may be trapped in this cage of a mansion but she was the one who had locked herself in her room. He may have taken away her inheritance, her childhood, her friends— her freedom— but if there's one thing that he has not yet taken away from her, even if only by prideful negligence, it's that he hasn't taken away her spirit.

Or at this point, it might as well have been spite. Indomitable spirit turned into vengeful spite.

It fuelled her in her training. Denying her freedom was a mistake, a mistake that she would have him regret. Without any distractions, she strove for one goal with frightening focus. Breakout. To achieve that, she needed to be better. And if she couldn't do it alone then she would learn how to summon others to aid her.

It was in this isolation that she honed her skills further.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

She didn't need to ask to know who it was behind the door. After all, who else could it be? Neither her present family could be bothered to personally visit her, a sentiment that she returned in spades. However, the same could not be said about her current visitor.

So when she opened the door, she smiled to greet the familiar friend.

"Perhaps a break is in schedule. Might I suggest a hot cup of coffee? It can get awfully chilly in here." Klein offered a steaming cup with caring light brown eyes.

"Thank you, Klein. You have impeccable timing as always," Weiss complimented him, gingerly taking the cup as well as a slow sip. She hummed in appreciation. "And excellent tastes as well."

"It's my pride and joy to hear your praise." Instead of cheeks flushing, it's his eyes that turn pink and bashful. "How goes the training, Miss?"

Her smile faltered ever so slightly. "Slow if I must admit. It's difficult enough to train by myself but to do so within the confines of the mansion is a bit… stifling for growth." But her determination has yet to be shaken. "Nevertheless, I am improving. It's slower than I would have liked but that just means I'll have to work myself harder."

"That's the spirit! I'm sure that by the end of the week, you'll be so strong that you just might be able to squeeze the goodness out of him—" He cajoled with mischievous red eyes. Then in an almost conspiring manner, he leaned in and whispered, "If there is any goodness in him. If not then at least you had fun!"

"Klein!" She didn't argue with him though. Instead she just laughed alongside him. "I didn't think you had it in you to condone violence."

"It doesn't count as long as I turn the other cheek?" He weaseled his way out with that poor excuse and dopey mint green eyes.

They share another round of laughter. It's always a good laugh when it's at the expense of her father. The coffee has gotten colder in those few precious seconds but Weiss couldn't find it in herself to care.

After all, she's already warmer in ways that matter.

"If you would entertain this old butler, there are matters I wish you to indulge me with." Klein started, his eyes were now back to warm light brown. "Perhaps you need something more than coffee to keep you warm."

"What would you suggest?" She asked, more than willing to listen to the only man who truly wanted what was best for her.

"I'm glad you asked!" His eyes flashed yellow with joy. "I was cleaning one of the less visited rooms when I stumbled upon this..." With great flourish, he pulled out the last thing she'd expected to see.

Red, a red scarf.

"I don't suppose you might want to put it to good use," He insisted, gingerly taking her hands and placing the garment in her grasp.

For a moment that seemed to stretch into a lifetime, Weiss was silent.

"Klein… Where did you get this?" She asked half in disbelief and half in awe. The red scarf lay loose in her hands almost as if she was afraid that grasping it would unravel the threads. Or perhaps a part of her was afraid that she herself would unravel rather than the scarf.

Not just any red scarf but her grandfather's red scarf.

"Oh, just in a room. I found this poor neglected soul in one of the drawers," He nonchalantly explained as if the room was somewhat ordinary.

And in a way it was but in another way it wasn't.

"Achoo!" He sneezed, his eyes taking on light blue. His mustache comically twitched as he continued, "It was awfully dusty in there too."

Maybe Klein had said something in addition to that but Weiss didn't hear him anymore.

Instead she heard the laughter of a child frolicking inside a mansion similar to this one but from a different time, a much warmer mansion and a much happier time. She saw the awe of a child growing up to stories about her grandfather and about the true greatness that her family name began with. She recalled the dream of a child who wanted to become the perfect daughter so as to continue that family legacy.

She used to be that child but she had grown up too soon and yet not enough at the same time.

Now rather than continue the family legacy, she wanted to restore it to the righteous glory it once was.

It was with this resolution that she took upon the scarf— the responsibility.

There's something freeing in the way the scarf wraps around her neck. This was her grandfather's scarf. This was something distinctively Schnee. And yet rather than the strangling feeling around her throat whenever her father dangled the family name to spite her, it was a comforting feeling that rested across her shoulders.

Rather than heavy with burden, she felt lighter with blessing. Protected.

"Nothing like something comfortable to help me sleep at night." Klein's voice broke through her stupor, soft lavender eyes watched her knowingly.

It was as if color was brought back into her life.

Red.

Red like going back to her roots. Red like going back home— her true home. Red like roses.

Red like Ruby Rose.

"Thank you, Klein. I love it," She confessed softly as if still caught in a spell. Unbeknownst to her that a smile graced upon her lips as her fingers traced familiar memories of a certain someone who was attached to a different red garment. "I'll be sure to wear it when I'm able."

Because Father forbid that she wears anything that isn't white or blue.

It's a good thing that she doesn't take orders from her father anymore.

"I always did enjoy seeing you with a splash of color." His eyes glowed yellow with mirth. "Red especially brings out your smile, Little Snowflake."

"Red is a lovely color," Weiss admitted, her hands clutching the scarf just a bit tighter as if trying to hold onto something else— onto someone else.

Someone with a billowing cloak of a matching color.

And though she may be alone for now, the redness she wears makes her feel just a bit less lonely.

She almost forgot how lonely she used to be.

Almost.

Ruby tried not to dwell on it for long. She tried not to think about those months spent with the company of Team JNR— never alone yet it was precisely because she was never alone that she felt so utterly lonely.

It's not that she didn't want to be with Team JNR. She's grateful for them. She knew that without them then she would have been truly alone and not just lonely. But they could never take the place of her missing teammates.

She had missed them so much.

But that's all in the past, she thought. What's important was that Team RWBY was reunited now! So everything should be better!

Except some things still weren't okay.

And she hoped that not all things missing were lost forever.

For even though Team RWBY was finally back together, they were on the verge of falling apart all over again.

Ruby tried not to see the cracks. She tried not to measure the rift between Blake and Yang. She tried not to catch the cautious looks of Yang and Weiss whenever Ozpin talked. She tried not to stare too long in the mirror and see just how broken they're supposed leader truly was.

She knew she had to fix the cracks but for now, she took comfort in the fact that they were still together. Small victories.

She tried not to think that maybe small victories are all they're going to get.

"Remnant to Ruby." A voice from behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"Weiss!" She whirled around to greet her partner who had somehow snuck up on her. She must have been really out of it if the loudest heels could ambush her.

"Finally, I've been trying to get your attention." Weiss crossed her arms across her chest in what was supposed to be an impatient gesture except it only served to draw in the eyes to something else in particular, something that wasn't there before.

Red.

Red wrapped around the slender neck of her partner, flowing down past her chest.

Red like roses. Red like how her cheeks are now at the familiar vision of her partner.

Red, the color that warms.

"Combat scarf!" Ruby squealed at the sight and knew that she just had to get her hands on it. She may have also tugged the scarf harder in her excitement.

"Hey! Careful! I'm wearing that!" Weiss chastised with a scowl. Still, she didn't pull the scarf away from her partner, opting instead to adjust its wrap loose around her neck.

"Sorry!" Ruby sheepishly apologized. Her fingers dug into the scarf with delicate care as if she was tugging heartstrings rather than just thread. "It's just—" She started with a voice just as soft as her touch. However, where that sentence led, not even she knew.

Red looks good on Weiss? Of course it would, this was Weiss! Anything would look good on her. She's that pretty! But...

Why red?

Red didn't fit with Weiss' color theme. It was always blue and white with her. White because it's a family thing or maybe it was an Atlas thing? It's just that white was her thing. And Ruby knew that Weiss' favorite color was blue so that explained that.

But red?

Red was her color.

And if Weiss was wearing her color then...

"Now we match!" Ruby all too happily declared, her own cloak swayed behind her as if it too approved. "Neck warmer partners!"

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Weiss said with a roll of her eyes. What she didn't say however was her objection to the shared title, if she objected at all.

Ruby hummed. "Oh, but I don't have anything else to match with your color theme."

She figured that it was only fair that she put in the effort too. So she scanned around for something to fix the color imbalance. Something white or something blue. Now that she was actually trying to look for them, she realized that it was a trickier task than she thought.

Then again, Ruby wasn't exactly in a wardrobe or a store and more like she's in a rented house in its living room. She returned her gaze to the walking blue and white person in a last ditch effort for inspiration.

Weiss made it look so easy to find clothes and accessories in those colors. Blue dress, blue heels, blue earrings. White sash, white frills, white hair... Oh. That's it!

Her hands finally let go of the scarf—

Only to hold Weiss' hand instead.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Weiss said in a carefully even voice.

"Holding your hand, duh." Ruby held their joined hands high just to prove her obvious point.

"And what prompted this, may I ask?"

"Well since you went and got red on you, I was thinking if I could get something blue or white on me."

"Oh. You weren't joking about the whole matching thing?" Weiss asked in disbelief and Ruby nodded all too eagerly which further raised her suspicions. "Again, how did you arrive to the conclusion of holding my hand?"

"That's easy! See you've got the whitest skin! Like wow! I know you have the softest skin but you also have skin as white as snow!" Ruby explained it so simply that her innocence made it hard to take the praise as flattery.

Not that it would prevent the coloring of Weiss cheeks.

"Now that I think about it, is that healthy? Do you need to get more sun, Weiss?" Oblivious as Ruby was, sometimes she also spoke too honestly and in a less flattering way.

"Excuse you I am the picture of perfect health!" Weiss protested with a huff. This time it was her who raised their hands higher.

Until Ruby had no other choice but to look at her own sleeve.

"Also, in case your eyes missed it, you already have white in your outfit."

Her own white sleeve from her own white blouse.

"Oh, yeah..." Ruby stared at her own white sleeve then back up to the white hand she was holding. Her gaze lingered on the latter and although she was seeing white, she couldn't help but think of red too.

Of red on white.

There was something reassuring in the way that Weiss carried red on herself.

Of white on red.

Reassuring in the same way that Ruby felt as she held her hand.

They fit each other so easily that it was just as easy to forget that there was a painfully long time wherein they couldn't even reach each other.

She missed this. She missed her.

Now reunited, she never wanted to let go.

"I'm keeping this anyways!" Ruby's declaration came with a squeeze of their hands. A wish just as much as it is a promise.

"I'd like to see you try." Weiss may have sounded smug but it was the tenderness in her eyes that gave her away. She squeezed back.

That's right. Her team was back together. She didn't have to do this alone.

And with her partner by her side, she would never be lonely again.

"Don't you worry, Weiss! Nothing's gonna separate us red and white!"

White.

Weiss doesn't remember blinking but when she comes to, all she sees is white.

White like the cold and emptiness of Atlas. White like the bleach of her family's legacy. White like everything else that's under the palm of her abusive father.

White like isolation.

"Ruby!"

She calls out, her voice cracking into panic when it echoes but no one answers back. She calls for the first person that comes to her mind. She calls for her partner, her leader, her best friend.

She calls for the only person who has never failed to bring color into her life.

"Ruby?"

But there is no familiar red tipped hair. No telltale crimson cloak. No shining silver eyes. No pink cheeks stretched with a smile.

No Ruby.

And for the first time in a long while, Weiss finds herself back at the beginning.

Alone.

A/N: Sorry about the chapter delay. I had a draft early on but I accidentally left it someplace that I couldn't get back to these past two days. So to make up for it, this is a bit longer. I promise to post the next one on schedule.

Okay so I know Ruby called for Yang too and I tried to keep it that way but it breaks momentum so I purposely left out that detail. Of course I am keeping the fact that Weiss calls for Ruby TWICE. I will never get over that.

So the new ep, right? Wowsers. That's a LOT to take in. Just gonna add that to the Ruby breakdown folder. Let's also not overlook the minor detail that Weiss' family legacy is built upon harvesting the remains of past magically abled people. (Kudos to those fics who got the "fossil fuel" theory correct.) So yeah, expect the next chapter here to be a doozy too!