Previously on Because Why Not?…
With the White Fang defeated and the grimm decimated at White Castle, Ruby and Weiss can thank teams JNPR and CFVY that they didn't suffer the same fate as Weiss's father. At the funeral, Winter offers to assist Weiss in taking care of the company but with their relationship being destroyed after years of separation, Weiss isn't sure if she should trust her sister, but promises to consider the offer.
"Hey there, Weiss." Ruby greeted her as she joined the group.
"How are you holding up?" Blake asked softly, offering her a pat on the arm in condolence.
"I'm fine, thanks." Weiss replied with a slight smile.
"No, you're not." Yang asserted and scooped her teammate into a tight hug, forcing Weiss's head into her ample bosom as she often did with her little sister. "You don't need to be strong today. That's what we're for."
Weiss felt herself nodding as Yang stroked her head and felt tears bubble up. Ruby joined their hug and Blake was pulled in as Weiss felt herself break for the first time since her moment of weakness with Ruby.
It felt embarrassing, and humiliating to be crying into her teammate's chest, but she couldn't stop once she'd started. Ruby's lips on the back of her neck and her hand holding her steady, Yang's strong arms keeping her pressed into the warmth of her chest, and Blake's hand rubbing slow circles on her back all made her feel like the luckiest person alive, even in this moment of emotional anguish.
After several minutes, Weiss finally calmed down and stood back, her teammates releasing her at the slight touches she gave.
"Feeling a little better, Weiss?" Ruby asked, being the only one that hadn't let her go, keeping one arm wrapped around her waist.
"A little." Weiss nodded with a watery smile. "Thanks."
"It's what we're here for." Yang waved her off with a grin. "Let us know if there's anything you need us to help with."
Blake nodded her support to Yang's statement and Weiss nodded again as she returned Ruby's one armed hug, as much to support herself as to say her thanks to her partner.
"I'll take you up on that if there's anything." Weiss told Yang who gave her a salute before walking off with Blake to give the two embracing girls a bit of privacy.
"Weiss… I… wanted to talk to you." Ruby spoke quietly, drawing her attention. When Weiss nodded and looked down, Ruby felt a twinge of pain run though her chest. "Lets take a walk outside?"
"That sounds lovely, Ruby." Weiss spoke, though she didn't look up at Ruby anymore.
Ruby led Weiss out of the building and into the massive field of snow that was the Atlas Cemetery. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ice and the odd tree in the field with exception to the massive war memorial near the entrance and the four small mausoleums that housed the dead of some important family or another. Weiss had already said that her father would be interned at the mansion where her mother was, though due to the damage to the house, they couldn't hold the ceremony there.
The silence was tense between them now, not that it was new. During the two days since the battle at the mansion, the silences had been growing longer and more tense. And it seemed that now wasn't an exception.
Ruby knew what Weiss would try to tell her, and she knew how Weiss would respond to her reply. They were best friends, and they knew each other well enough that they were both afraid of the other, and so the silence remained. Slowly stretching as they walked out to the ice field that led to the wilds outside the bounds of the kingdom.
They'd walked until the building they'd come from was nothing but a small speck on the horizon, and Ruby finally pulled Weiss to a stop.
All that could be seen now was miles and miles of flat snow. In the distance, mountains rose from the ground, but they were far too distant to make out any detail other than their outlines.
"Weiss…" Ruby started as she braced herself for what she expected to hear. "Tomorrow I'll be travelling back to Beacon with Blake and Yang."
"I thought you would." Weiss answered. She lay her head on Ruby's shoulder as they continued to look out over the ice fields. When the silence became too much, Ruby took another deep breath.
"What will you do?"
That was the question Weiss had been asking herself for so long, she had given up on counting the days. It wasn't a question of what she wanted, it was a question of what path she'd take. She was free of her marriage now, as well as countless other obligations including all the family traditions she didn't find appealing. Effectively, her father's death had set her free of the chains binding her to the dust company and her family. But that freedom had also shown that she wanted her family, broken as it was, to at least attempt to put the pieces back together. She also wasn't ready to relinquish hold on the dust company because she had promised to set right the wrongs her father had committed. Though she didn't need to be the one to do it, she didn't fully trust her sister to do it. They might once have known each other, but that time had gone.
But on the other side of the scale, opposing the company was Ruby and Beacon. She'd made her first true friends at Beacon. And though she was in her last year, soon to graduate, the friendships she'd made there would last a lifetime, proof being team CFVY's willingness to drop their own mission and assist at a moment's notice. Ruby was not only the best of her friends, but also the first friend she'd ever had at the school. They'd studied, eaten, and slept together in the same room for almost three years. Ruby on the top bunk, and her on the bottom. They were partners designated to go on missions alone. Ruby had loved her romantically for almost the entire time they'd been together. And Weiss had been stupid enough to fall in love with her as well. She'd promised Ruby that they'd be together, so Weiss felt she was trapped between two promises. Promises where keeping one meant the breaking of the other.
It wasn't fair. Not to Ruby, and not to her either. And if she chose the alternate path, it wouldn't be fair to millions of faunus who suffered every day under her father's regime. It was the happiness of two versus the happiness of millions. Weiss couldn't make that decision lightly, and yet, as a huntress, she knew what the right decision was. It just hurt too much.
"I know what you're going to say." Ruby whispered quietly.
Weiss turned to look over at Ruby, who glanced at her briefly before turning her attention back to the wide expanse of snow and ice.
"It's been written on your face since that day." Ruby replied to the unspoken question. "I just wish you didn't have to. I wish there was something else we could do."
"Ruby, you knew it would be like this from the beginning." Weiss replied with a smile so sad it even hurt her to show it. "I love you, and possibly always will. But right now, it's just not going to work. Millions of lives are in my hands now, and I can't let them suffer for my own happiness."
The couple stood in silence for a minute before Weiss felt her tears start to overflow again. It hurt so badly to think about her life without Ruby, but what hurt more was the pain she was sure Ruby was feeling with her words. It was something worse than getting hit by a giant cannonball, because a doctor wouldn't be able to fix this wound. She felt her tears start to drip from her chin and she decided that she had to do one last thing before she could leave.
"Ruby…" Ruby turned to Weiss's choked voice, her own face streaked with her tears. Weiss rubbed them away as she gently pressed her lips to Ruby's. A farewell between lovers that Weiss would never forget, and hoped that Ruby would remember as well. She kept kissing Ruby through the soul crushing pain and regret that weighed on her, as the moment the kiss ended, they'd go their separate ways.
Weiss knew she wouldn't likely see Ruby again for a long while, if ever, so she memorized all she could of her soon to be ex-girlfriend. From the way she wrapped her arms around her to the way her lips pressed so desperately to her own, to the way her tongue slowly danced with her own, to the way her tears kept flowing no matter how many times Weiss removed them.
It was only as she was walking back to the chapel alone, that she realized Ruby hadn't been the only one crying continuously.
Grey.
That's the colour Weiss saw as she left the chapel with her sister. Everything was grey. The snow was grey. The car was grey. Her gloves, her coat, her sister, Klein. Grey, grey, grey, grey. She looked at the well wishers that had stayed to the end, including her teammates, but there too, all she saw was grey.
Ruby had put up a good front when she'd come back from their walk a full half hour after Weiss had returned. She'd made jokes with her sister and talked about books with Blake as was usual, but she didn't once look at Weiss. Not that Weiss minded, she didn't think she could handle looking Ruby in the eyes after what she'd said and done. She didn't deserve what Weiss had done, and Weiss felt she hadn't punished her nearly enough for her stupidity.
But even so, it was a decision that had needed to be made. A decision that was possibly the worst Weiss had ever made, but at least it was her own decision, not her father's. The thought sent another stab of guilt through her as she remembered her father bleeding to death as he fought to tell her something.
The car started driving before Weiss could take one last look at Ruby, and all she could see now were the massive stone structures that stood between the chapel and the gate as they left.
Of course, most people would be going to the same place as them since the mansion was no longer an option. But Weiss suspected that Ruby wouldn't make her presence known. If it was up to Ruby, Weiss was sure she'd be out of Atlas tonight even. She was always the type to be on the move, and Weiss felt that even if she did return, she wouldn't find Ruby anywhere.
That thought scared Weiss as she realized the next time she'd see Ruby would be at another funeral. With any luck, Weiss silently hoped that it wouldn't be Ruby or herself in the casket.
"Weiss?" Weiss snapped out of her thoughts and looked to where Klein was holding open the door. Winter was waiting just outside with her hand stretched out for Weiss to take.
She shook her head and took her sister's hand, standing and following her sister into the office building. A pair of lawyers were waiting for them when they entered the board room and Winter started going over contracts that were to be nulled. An hour passed, then two before she finished. She noticed as she looked up that her sister hadn't once moved from her spot at the lone window in the room, simply staring out without moving a muscle.
Winter silently approached her, looking out the window to find that the shutters on the outside of the building had been closed. It took her a moment to process what her sister was looking at before she turned to the two lawyers and suggested that they leave for a ten minute break.
"Weiss? What's wrong?" Winter asked tenderly as the door to the room clicked shut. "I don't like seeing you like this."
"I ended it." Weiss responded as tears started to pool at the corner of her eyes. It was something Winter had only seen when they were children and immediately scooped her sister into a hug. "And now I'm crying like an idiot and-"
"Shh…" Winter shushed as she ran her fingers through Weiss's hair. "I don't know what you're talking about, so why don't we start from the beginning?"
"You… really want to hear?" Weiss asked skeptically, but Winter nodded and directed her into a seat before taking the one next to it.
"Not just about this, I want to hear everything I've missed over the years. But for tonight, I want to know everything about you and Ruby. And especially why you're crying." Winter told her sister as she took her hands in her own. Winter knew she had no right to ask, but she realized she'd need to act like the big sister she wanted to be if she ever expected Weiss to treat her like one.
Weiss thought for a moment and then started telling her sister everything, from the drinking contest to Ruby messing her hair up on the elevator, to the mission where she'd almost died, and the house where she'd almost died again. She left out only the parts about Ruby's mother and her own father as she felt that those were more personal than anything else and she wasn't comfortable with exposing her and Ruby's secrets in that way.
During her talk, the lawyers had come back twice, each time being waved away by Winter as Weiss continued on about something else. It was only as she was drawing to the end that Weiss started crying and talking slower as she choked on words and sobbed as what she'd done to their relationship hit her once again.
"Shh… it'll all be okay." Winter said after Weiss stopped speaking and instead just cried into her hands. "Tell you what, let's get you cleaned up and then we'll draw up a quick contract and we can go get you back to Ruby. Sound good?"
"W-why would I g-go back t-to R-R-Ruby?" Weiss asked as she tried so desperately to stop the tears that just kept flowing.
"Because…" Winter said as she waited for her sister to give her full attention. "Because if you don't, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. And by the sounds of it, you need her just as much as she needs you. The company can only continue on if the one leading it isn't spending the whole day in tears, so even if you just do it to keep that promise, go get Ruby back before it's too late."
"B-but…" Weiss stuttered as Winter pulled her to her feet.
"Listen to me now, Weiss. I don't know much about how you feel for Ruby, seeing as I've never had anyone like that myself, but as a member of Atlas's Special Forces, I do know a thing or two about hard choices." Winter said as she looked deep into her sisters eyes. "Sometimes your orders say to pull the trigger, but at the end of your scope you find a defenceless child. What would you do? Would you question the order? Disobey it? Or follow it?"
Weiss was silent as she took in her sister's words. Winter didn't give her a chance to answer and continued explaining her small portion of advice.
"In the military, even those of us in the special forces have to follow orders. Sometimes they make sense, other times, they don't. What we have to trust is that the person giving them is looking at a larger picture than we can see." Winter explained. "So I'm not saying I have all the answers, Weiss. I'm just telling you that you'll be better off if you stick with Ruby. That much I can tell you, but the rest you need to see yourself. You will see what I do later on. And if you think back on this moment, you'll either be thankful you followed my advice or regretful that you didn't. There isn't any other outcome."
"O-okay." Weiss nodded with a teary smile. She ducked her head and wiped her tears away and then went very still. "The agreement."
"Sorry?" Winter asked, confused.
"You made a contract with Ruby when she wanted to find a way out of my wedding contract. Why?" Weiss asked cautiously. "What are you after?"
Winter thought for a moment before it clicked as to what exactly her sister was thinking of. She would have laughed if it hadn't been because of the serious look on her sisters face.
"Weiss, that was a test." Winter tried her best not to laugh, but she didn't succeed in hiding her smile. "I wanted to know how badly she wanted the files. How much she was willing to give for you."
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, still suspicious.
"I made the contract vague and attached read receipts to the files. I knew when she opened each one, and could tell how much time she was looking at each. There's no way a best friend spends that much time in a week going over stuff like that. Only when there's another reason would that even enter into the realm of possibility." Winter explained. "Not only did she show her dedication by agreeing to my uncertain terms, but she also showed her commitment by spending more time than most people are awake per day going over your ridiculously long marriage contract."
"So…" Weiss thought as Winters explanation started to make sense. "So you were testing her? Why?"
"Weiss, you might not have realized it, but last summer, you'd get a message on your scroll and your face would light up like I'd told you Christmas was coming the next day." Winter laughed. "I figured you were talking to that special someone, but when asked you'd only ever say it was 'just Ruby.'"
"B-but… we weren't dating yet!" Weiss said, more out of shock than anything. "How'd you-"
"How'd I know?" Winter asked with raised eyebrows. "I didn't, I just took a lucky guess. And it paid off."
"So… will you let her out of the contract?" Weiss asked again.
"Well, it's basically useless now, but there is one thing that you might need. So I'll transfer my portion of it to you." Just then the lawyers walked up to the door and Winter waved them in. "Perfect timing boys."
"Ozpin, what are you doing?"
"At the moment, I'm sipping my coffee." The headmaster replied.
"Not now, I meant with the girls!"
"Patience, Qrow. They'll be back soon." Ozpin said before he took a sip from his cup. "I don't think any issues will arise between now and then. But just in case, I've sent team JNPR to provide security."
"What about James? Still got that stick up his-"
"No, he hasn't responded. He's only said that he's gathering intel at the moment." Ozpin said. "Lionheart, likewise doesn't see the necessity of launching a full scale investigation."
"The board at Shade won't be much help, they've never been concerned with anything outside their Kingdom." Qrow growled in frustration. "So basically, we're all alone on this one."
"That appears to be the case." Ozpin spoke calmly. "And for now that will be all that is needed, though if the academies aren't preparing, I fear for what could happen if they're caught off guard."
There was a brief silence before Ozpin sighed and sipped at his coffee.
"I've alerted Spring and Winter to the predicament. Fall has been out of touch for too long, so I haven't been able to contact her yet." Ozpin informed Qrow. "According to Winter, Summer is still sealed where she fell."
"Speaking of, how's the kid?" Qrow asked.
"She'll be coming back from Atlas shortly." Ozpin supplied before finishing his cup of coffee and setting it down.
"And? Have you told her?" Qrow prodded questioningly.
"No, I have not." Ozpin sighed. "I will need to do so soon, though. Did you hear about Jacques?"
"Had a drink for him last night." Qrow responded solemnly. "Hope his middle kid is going to be alright. For the sake of my niece, at least."
"On that point, I need to let you go." Ozpin cut in. "There are a few things I need to take care of before they return."
"Keep me posted."
The click of the call disconnecting sounded sharply in the silence of the room. Ozpin looked down at his coffee and sighed at the sight of the stained white bottom staring back.