A Quiet Moment for Roses

It was a beautiful day out, classes had finished early and the students of Beacon were all walking back to their dorms or off to go into the city for a bite to eat. Teachers gave their students a great deal of freedom regrading were they went or how they spent their money they earned during missions, this was due to the fact that they wanted their students to feel like adults.

This same train of thought also led to the giving of a small plot of land near every two rooms. This plot of land was to be shared and used for whatever reason. Some people used it for lounging, some studying, others grew their own vegetables, while some never used it at all. It was here that one small girl sat on a bench, lovingly caressing the petals of a large, beautiful rose.

This small plot of land was very special to the girl. Here in this plot of land, she could hide from the world and just be out of sight and mind. Ruby smiled as she gazed around her garden, she had asked JNPR if they wanted their share when she had started planting her roses and was shocked when they had said no. Jumping on the opportunity, she had asked them if she may expand her small garden and nearly shouted for joy when they said she could.

Now, with a little help from her aura and some nature dust, she was surrounded by many different species and colors of roses, all big and beautiful. She lifted the bloom up to her nose, the thorns softly scrapping her fingers, and inhaled its light scent. There was a sense of peace here, in this garden full of blooms, and she welcomed all who ventured into it; if anyone were to come looking that is. It surprised the girl that no one, except for JNPR, knew of this place but that just made it feel al the more mythical to her.

Ruby Rose wasn't always a green thumb, though. When she was younger, still living under her mother's roof in her home village, she found the art of growing things quite dull and boring. She wanted to go on hunting trips with her mother, even if it was just a way for her to not be left behind again, or help the men of the village hunt and skin their kills. Her mother would have none of this and asked the small child to tend to the family garden and to pay special mind to their roses.

Ruby smiled at the memory, smiled as she remembered all the secrets she whispered to the growing buds and all the times she imagined herself in a world of color instead of white. Those silly flowers were very close to her, kept her from being so lonely, but in the end, she was so very lonely.

Shaking the thoughts away, Ruby placed her hands in her lap and thought of other things; like how much free time she had thanks to everyone helping her with her grades. It seemed to be helping them as well, explaining it to someone else seemingly a good way to study oneself. She had more time to draw, to work on Crescent Rose, to train, and to play in her garden.

Yes, this small plot of land was indeed very special to the small rose.

Weiss smiled happily as she laid back against the tub wall, the scent of the rose water Ruby had given her as a 'thank you' for tutoring her wafting up to her nose. It was light and almost whimsical, the smell of it, but she loved it never the less. She had to ask the girl where she had bought the small vial and get her some more, maybe look for other scents, too.

The gesture was not only received by her, Blake had gotten catnip (which was a treat for all of them since Blake was quite amusing while high) while Yang was given fresh herbs to cook with. She knew that their friends had also received gifts, but she could not recall what they were, however, if they were like her scented water she had no doubt that they were equally as good.

Weiss sank lower into the water, her white hair shining like liquid silver, and closed her eyes. She needed this, a treat to unwind from the stresses of the day, and was so happy that she almost thought about sharing.

* Knock knock*

Almost. "What is it? I'm taking a bath." Weiss growled. She had told everyone she would be in here and not to disturb her.

"It's Nora! Can I come in?"

"Wha-?! NO! No you may not!" Weiss stuttered at the request. Did this girl not have any shame?!

"Oh, well, I guess I'll have to ask you through the door then." Nora hummed before continuing. "Me and Ren-"

"Ren and I."

"Us, were wondering if Ruby had anymore of that special hair oil! Ren loves it when I brush his hair and I was wondering if she had anymore." Nora chirped.

Weiss sighed as she rubbed her temples, all she wanted was a nice hot bath and to forget she was here, just for a little while. "No, I don't know if she has anymore. Why not ask her?"

"Cuz' I don't know where she is. Oh! She could be in her garden! I'll check there!" Nora giggled.

"W-wait!" Weiss rose from the water in her attempt to catch the bouncy teen before she left. She sighed when she heard her give out a small 'hmm' in question. "Ruby has a garden?"

"Yeah! You didn't know? It's on the shared lot we have, but we didn't want our share so we gave it to Ruby so she can play in it!" Nora giggled to herself, "She has all these roses there and even some others I don't know of! She grows those spices Yang uses and the catnip Blake huffs. Hey! What did Ruby make you, Weiss? She made Ren that hair oil and Pyrrha got a lotion! Jaune got an oil for his sword and Ruby made me some sleeping powder for my grenades!"

Weiss sighed as she sank deeper into the water again, this rambling her and Ruby did was very draining on her. Before Weiss could speak, she heard Ren call for her and thanked him mentally as she huffed a goodbye to Nora.

Deciding that her bath was now over with, she stepped out and drained the water, watching it go down the drain before slipping into her silken bath robe and stepped out into her shared bedroom. She saw Yang lifting a small weight while on her bed and Blake was currently writing something down in a small handbook.

"Did you know Ruby has a garden?" She asked.

"Oh? Is that where she's been hiding out now?" Blake asked Yang, who only beamed at them.

"Yup! She's got quite the green thumb when it comes to plants! Can't cook worth a damn though and we all know how awkward she is around people!" Yang chuckled as she dropped the weight onto the floor, earning a grunt from both women.

"And you are a barbarian." Weiss sighed as she gathered a change of clothes and once again entered the bathroom to change. Once she emerged, she saw Yang and Blake waiting for her. "What?"

"Are you wanting to go see the garden? I thought I'd show Blake here and she said we should ask if you'd want to see it too." Yang then shrugged her shoulders. "Just to let you know, in advance, I'm going to be making out with Blake, so don't expect a tour or anything."

Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake brought her hand up to cover her blushing face. "Well, thank you for the warning I suppose." She then gestured for Yang to led the way, which she regretted almost immediately since the blonde took this as a cue to talk as well.

"So, guess you're all wondering how Ruby's got such a green thumb when she comes from a land of ice and snow, huh?"

"No."

"Yes, actually. The thought has crossed my mind." Blake answered, only to receive a groan from Weiss and a hissed 'traitor'.

"Well! From what she's told me, her mom had a garden that Ruby took care of when she was smaller. Though Ruby always laughed when she told me how much she hated to do it, now it seems she quite enjoys gardening. But that isn't the answer you were looking for is it?" Yang teased the curious cat fauna a bit more before chuckling and clearing her throat. "It so happens that there are kinds of flowers that grow up there, some of which only bloom in the frost! It's a beautiful sight...if you don't mind the freezing winds, melting snow beneath your feet, and the constant snowfall. Can you tell I don't like the cold?"

"Noooo. Not at all." Weiss mocked, her eyes twitching in annoyance. This garden had better be worth it.

"We'd lose sight of you up there, Snow Ball." Yang teased as she came to stop in front of a door. "So, here's a few rules before I open this here door to another dimension. What Ruby says goes, don't light anything on fire, don't pluck her flowers, and most importantly stay away from her roses. As in, don't even touch them."

"Those are some strict rules. Are you sure she wants us in there?" Blake asked, her eyes showing great concern.

"It's cool! She likes people in there really, you just have to respect her stuff though."

"Sounds like she made the rules up with you in mind." Weiss smirked, seeing the blonde give out a huff before playing with her hair.

"Yeah well...shit happens." Yang then opened the door and all fell silent.

It was indeed like Yang had said, she did seem to open a dimensional rift to another world, one full of colors and smells. Weiss had gardens, many beautiful ones, but they were nothing like this. Though it was small, the room was filled with big blooms, some hanging from baskets while others climbed with walls and homemade structures. There was even a water fountain and a small bird bath, though no birds at the moment. The girls walked further inside, trying their best to keep together while not bumping into any of the bushes.

"Rubes! Yo! Ruby! You in here?"

"Yang?" Came a small reply, off into the distance somewhere.

"Hey! Where my sister at?!" Yang called back, only barely biting back her laughter. "Marco!"

"Polo!"

"Are you serious?" Weiss dead panned as Blake giggled. "You two are truly a hazard to my health, as well as my mental stability."

"Can't lose something you never had, Weissy." Yang smirked as she led the girls further in.

"Pardon?! Are you calling me insane?!" Weiss gasped as Blake was in tears with laughter now. "This isn't funny! Your brutish girlfriend has finally lost her marbles!"

"Marco!"

"Polo!"

"I think this is very cute." Blake smiled as she tried to gain control over her breathing. "Even you must admit that."

"No such thing will ever come spilling out of my mouth." Weiss crossed her arms in defiance, though the color on her cheeks said otherwise.

"Mar- CO! I found you!" Yang suddenly yelled, spinning on her heels to grab the wrists of her two team mates and rushed off to a solitary stone bench were a small girl, cloaked in red, sat.

When they reached the girl, both Weiss and Blake rubbing their sore wrists and whining, they were amazed to see the large, red rose bush in front of her. "Hello! Welcome to my garden!" Ruby greeted as she swung her hand to the side as if to show them where they were. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's very lovely, Ruby." Blake offered with a smile as she gazed around again. "You seemed to have worked hard on this."

"Not really, just a hobby of mine." Ruby blushed before turning away to gaze back into her rose bush. "The roses are the hardest to care for, but you get more out of them in return."

"Well! This was fun, but if you excuse me and Blakey here, I'mma steal her and start kissing her over there now!" Yang laughed as she ruffled Ruby's hair before hauling the sighing fauna over her shoulder and walked off into the flowers.

Weiss slowly sat down next to the girl, her eyes looking anywhere but the smaller sibling who was trying to fix her locks. Though she was impressed with the amount of work the younger had done here, she did not understand the pleasure that the other gained from all of this work. Maybe it was due to her not having to do the work in her own family's garden, though she never really spent any time in them due to her busy schedule.

She then noticed the silence that filled the room, no talking, no humming, no back and forth banter, or even the munching of cookies. This worried her, enough so that she turned her head to gaze at the other, more hyperactive girl, and froze.

Ruby was just sitting there, her eyes staring into the depths of that single rose that seemed to be reaching out for her in return. Weiss took in the sterling silver eyes that seemed so out of focus, the pale cheeks dusted with a hint of pink, the small smile that tugged at the girl's pink lips. What she noticed most of all though, was the frantic beating of her own heart. She noticed how to pounded against the cage of muscle and bone, though if it were trying to gain freedom or just push away the tightness she did not know.

Weiss had to say something, anything, to save her from this silence, these feelings. That desperation for noise was a foreign feeling all by itself, for she had always been content in silence, even wished for it when her father stormed through their castle halls. Now, she abhorred it, wanted it to be gone and take the fluttering in her stomach with it.

"Ruby?"

The girl dressed in red perked up, her head giving a small jerk upwards and then to her partner. She gave a small chuckle, full of nerves and awkwardness, before lightly scratching her cheek. "Opps. Sorry, Weiss. Guess I kinda spaced out."

The heiress began to relax at the voice of the other. That was the Ruby she was used to, not the silent one that appeared to have the ability to peer into the depths and fear not what she saw there. "Yang told us to stay away from your roses. I was wondering why."

"Oh. Well, as I said before, roses can be hard to handle." Ruby smiled as she lightly touched the petal of a rose. "They're hardy plants when healthy, but once sick or injured, they can easily die before I can tend to them."

"Ah." What was she to say to that? That she understood? She didn't, really. Did one flower die or all of it? Couldn't she just plant more seeds then?

"Your gears are burning."

"Huh?"

"Your gears...they're burning." Ruby smiled as she gave Weiss' forehead a gentle poke. "You're thinking too hard, Princess. Is there something the matter?"

Weiss blushed, then glared at the younger. "No. I'm fine. I was just wondering why you wouldn't be able to replant the seeds if your rose was to die."

"Ahh, I see." Ruby smiled as she stood up from the bench and pointed to the ground. "Roses grow from bulbs, not seeds and if one rose gets sick, the whole bush and even the surrounding flowers, can quickly follow suit." She then lifted her extended hand to Weiss, an invite to take the appendage. "Do you wish to see the roses I used for your water? They are quite the sight really."

Weiss sighed, how could she say no to that face?! To those shining eyes that shone brighter then any knight's polished armor and those beautiful features that would make any woman or man swoon? "Alright." She gently took the offered hand, feeling the rough skin graze against her softer fingertips before intertwining her fingers with the other girl's. Though she had no intention of ever telling the other how she felt, for fear of rejection among many other things, she would truly have been insane to not take these small gifts when given to her.

As Weiss followed Ruby, she noticed how the other girl slipped back into silence. Was she thinking of something, was she enjoying the warmth in her hand or the feeling of another's touch, of her touch?

"My favorite rose is called Winter Sunset. Normally they bloom an orange or a burning yellow but if you treat them right, they can bloom to the deepest red I've ever seen." Ruby smiled as she turned her head a little in Weiss' direction. "They have a light, fruity scent and are very strong against the cold. They were always blooming wild back home."

"They sound beautiful. Are they the roses you used?" Weiss asked, glad to have the girl talking again.

"No, I use them to breed my black roses. Only the red of course, the yellow wouldn't allow me to get the richness of hues I would need for black." Ruby hummed matter of factly to the heiress. She was very proud of her little garden, of all the breeds she had here with her. "The kind of roses I used for your water is called Silver Moon. Normally they come in a soft yellow, but sometimes because of the light, or really lack of it, they can come in a stark white." Ruby then stopped in front of a bush full of white flowers. "Here they are."

Weiss gazed upon the flower bush, they didn't appear to be roses, not like the kind she was used to anyway. The were not of a spiraling bud, instead they opened like a star and appeared to have a second set of petals underneath the first. They had a vibrant yellow center and the smell that came off of them were light but commanding. Though, she then noticed that, not many of them were open. "Why are they closed?"

"Oh? You don't know?" Ruby slowly eased her hand from Weiss' grip (she had forgotten all about that) and cupped an open bud. "They are suppose to open at night, under the light of the moon. It's a wonderful sight to see and they let off even more of a smell then too." She then giggled to herself. "I guess these little guys were just eager to see us."

Before Weiss could say anything, Yang came toward them with Blake slung across her shoulder. "What?"

"She found the damn catnip." Yang grumbled as she readjusted the squirming girl in her grasp. "Now she thinks we're in one of her books."

"I'm the Cheshire Cat! Alice, my dear girl, did you find the red queen and the white rabbit?" Blake asked with an aristocratic accent. "We must tell them of your arrival~!"

"For the love of dust! How much did she have?!" Weiss groaned as Ruby all but giggled, stepping into Blake's range of vision.

"Cat! I see you have brought me a new plaything! What be her name?" Ruby asked, playing up Blake's hazed vision, recalling the tale easily.

"Ah! My lovely queen! I have brought a lovely thing named Alice! Or...rather, she brought me." Blake giggled as she then slapped Yang's ass, causing the girl to squeak. "Quite the looker, if I say so myself~."

"Ruby! Don't confuse her more! We need to get her back to the room and get her nose cleared before she does something stupid again!" Weiss scolded.

"Ah! The white rabbit! Aren't you late for something?" Blake asked with a purr.

"Aaaand we're done!" Yang cleared her throat before she began to make her way to the exit. "See ya!"

"I'll take gooood care of Alice, My Queen!" Blake called out, followed by another squeak by Yang.

Ruby just shrugged her shoulders as Weiss blushed deeply from the underlined innuendo, but was thankful that the younger did not catch it.

"Guess we should get out of here too. Don't want to wake the night time bloomers before they're ready." Ruby smiled as she began to lead Weiss to the door, but not before she stopped by another rose bush, gently worked a flower from the rest of them, de-thorned the stem, and then gently placed the flower behind the ivory haired girl's ear. "My favorite rose. You wanted to see it, right?"

Weiss's fingers gently reached up to caress the soft petals of the rose before giving a bashful smile. "Yes, I did." She whispered, which caused the other to smile. Weiss didn't know if the smile was caused by her reply, or how she whispered it, but the smile was for her all the same.

A/N: So, to let my readers know, the roses and facts about them are all real (except for the reasons the flowers changed colors, I made that up) So, if anyone wants a visual of the flowers, you can look them up and see for yourself! They are very beautiful flowers and I figured it be a treat for you all! Also, I don't own Alice In Wonderland and furthermore, I know I have made Weiss' feelings for Ruby very evident, however, the relationship will only blossom once she is confronted by Yang. This will take place during my sister's series, S.A.Y. so worry not, it is in the cards! So, if you haven't read my sis' stories, then you're only getting half the story! Go look for it and have fun!