Hello! I have a few things to say to you. Yes, you.
1) This is the shortest chapter I have ever done for this story. I always try to hit at least 3000 words as a personal standard for myself. So please forgive me.
2) This chapter is also something of a filler, so that's really kind of sucky, huh? Lucky for you guys though,
3) The next chapter is coming out soon! I mean, soon. SOON. And it has plot. And stuff.

So that's all I have. Thank you guys for your enjoyment of this story, it's really really comforting that somewhere out there (mainly USA, according to the traffic graph), people actually read and enjoy the trash that I write. Honestly me writing this is as much for myself as it is for you guys. I'm going on too long- please enjoy the story.

"Jaune? Is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked, waving a hand in front of his face. The blonde snapped out of the trance he was in, immediately being brought back into the present. He hadn't realized he was so deep in thought. He looked up at Pyrrha, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Oh, sorry, I was-" he paused, considering just how stupid his next statement would be, but deciding to continue anyway. "I was thinking about you, actually." Pyrrha faltered, blushing bright red in a way that made Jaune's heart sing and made the smile on his face bigger than it already was. He was never, ever going to get tired of her, doing everything she did, especially when those things involved her being around him or him being around her or- Call him a lovestruck idiot, he probably wouldn't deny it, but at the same time, Jaune didn't care one bit. He had Pyrrha, and who cares about anything else when that was his reality?

"I'm right here, Jaune," Pyrrha said in between giggles. "You don't have to be thinking about me right now," she reached out to brush his veins with her fingers, making his heart race just a teensy bit faster than the breakneck pace it was already at. Jaune swallowed thickly, his adam's apple bobbing as he tried to regain his composure. Pyrrha sure knew how to get him going.

Unfortunately (probably fortunately for Jaune), the church frowned upon Pyrrha taking it a bit further. In fact, she had an inkling that most people would probably frown upon getting frisky during a wedding. Granted, it hadn't started...

No Pyrrha, the little voice inside her scolded. She frowned slightly at the judgey, vaguely mother-like voice inside her head. Jaune coughed awkwardly, regaining his composure. He started adjusting his tie, estimating it to the best of his ability to be straight. He'd seen adults do this a million times, and- oh god he was an adult now too? He almost shivered at the thought.

Pyrrha immediately took the opportunity, leaning in close to Jaune and grabbing his black silk tie. He froze, having just regained his composure, only to have Pyrrha knock it all down again like a badly constructed jenga tower. She was roughly the same height as him, and it let him view her up-close and see just how beautiful she was.

Eyes so green, not a blemish on her, save for the faint scar he could see, just under the dip of her chin, the small wisp of deep red hair that fell down, tickling the edge of her eyebrow, furrowed in deep concentration. Jaune was almost dumbstruck by her, especially up this close.

"Uh- is- is it on straight?" he asked her, clearing his throat a bit to distract himself from... her. Pyrrha smiled, tightening it a bit, making Jaune jerk slightly.
"It's perfect," she eyed him once, up and down. "You look good, Jaune."

"Oh, thanks," he said, giving himself an appraisal, fiddling his cufflink the way that he saw fancy people always do in movies, feeling a bit fancy himself. "You look," he smiled at her, trying to find the right word in his head, because she was always so impossible to describe in coherent words. "Gorgeous. No, beautiful. Uh- resplendent?" he stammered out, watching Pyrrha stuff down her giggles. "You look very good, Pyrrha," he said finally. Well, at least he meant it. All of it.

Pyrrha's dress was all elegant and smooth and was deep red to match the colour of her hair, and there were dips and slits and all sorts of feminine sorcery he could never comprehend that served to make Pyrrha the most attractive person on earth, even if she already occupied that position on a daily basis. It was like double jeopardy with the dress on. No contest. Not for him.

Pyrrha responded with a kiss to his cheek. Jaune almost melted, which was crazy, because he was probably supposed to be over this phase by now. It was almost February, they'd been dating for almost 2 months. But each and every day seemed better than the last.

"Come on, the ceremony's about to start," Pyrrha said, tugging on his sleeve slightly. Jaune didn't fight her as she led them towards the altar, how could he? Briefly he imagine what it would be like the next time he'd see her at an altar. He stuffed the thought down as the organs began playing and the priest took his position.
Given that Nora and Ren were together since they were 5, and together-together for about 4 years, it made total sense that they had their wedding only 3 weeks after the proposal. After all, they'd waited long enough. It was pretty much all anybody expected from the pair, Jaune included.

What Jaune didn't expect was for Ren to ask him to be his best man. Maybe in hindsight, he should have. Ren didn't have any family left, and come to think of it, Jaune never really saw him hang out with any other guys. Ren and Jaune were basically brothers already, if only by the process of elimination.

What Jaune really didn't expect was for Nora to ask Pyrrha to be her maid of honour. But apparently, Pyrrha had seen it coming from about a mile away. She took the request in stride- Nora had freaked out more about it then she had. Apparently in the 2 months since they got to know each other, the two of them had gotten very chummy. Go figure.

In any case, here they all were. Jaune on the other side of Pyrrha, with the organ playing and the priest in the middle. There were only a few people in the pews. The few people that mattered enough to be invited. All in all, it was set up to be a cozy little wedding. It was probably for the best, to minimize casualties from Nora's inevitable freak out. Jaune steeled himself as the church doors opened.

Ren and Nora were orphans. It wasn't any secret. They'd been raised in an orphanage, being sent to different foster homes from time to time, but always managing to find their way back to each other. They'd both gone to the same boarding school as soon as they were able, and they both had graduated and found their opportunities in life with each other. There was a very limited amount of people who could send them down the aisle. Truly, the both of them didn't have many options.

So, save for Nora's obscenely awkward suggestion of getting Weiss, their boss, to send them down the aisle, the both of them had opted to do the more sensible thing: send each other down the aisle.

Really, Jaune found himself less surprised than he should have been.

Nora appeared hand in hand with Ren as they walked down the aisle, a bit faster than normal- consequence of Nora's usual hyperactive self being enhanced by the excitement of a wedding, and even more so her wedding. Ren was almost dragged along to the altar by the end, truly representative of their relationship, from start to end.

Perhaps it was a bit awkward to invite your boss, the CEO of the company you work at no less, to your small wedding. But seeing as Nora and Ren kept their social circle small surprisingly, and that truthfully, they were friends, Weiss supposed it could have been worse. They could have asked her to walk them down the aisle. That would have been terrible.

The few in the pews stood up as the both of them walked down the aisle.

Certainly one of the less traditional weddings Weiss had ever attended, but funny enough, it was one of the happier ones. It was certainly better than keeping up appearances and being polite to stuffy men in stuffier suits looking to exploit her name, using her to get to her father, or just plain using her.
Instead Weiss was at a wedding surrounded by friends, alongside the people she loved-

Goodness, alongside the people she loved.

Maybe it was just something about 'Here Comes The Bride' (though it should technically be 'Bride and also Groom'), but Weiss was suddenly hit with a surge of unexpected emotion for those around her. It was certainly a strange thing for her- her of all people- to feel. Was this what normal people, people without the inability to articulate emotions properly, felt like?

It was almost a perfect day, except...

Except the yellow, tall, muscular spectre she felt and saw out of the corner of her eye. The one person that was missing. Her absence loomed larger, hit harder than her presence.

Briefly, Weiss' eyes flickered towards Blake, standing beside the other blonde. She seemed to be hanging around Sun a lot nowadays.

Weiss had managed to squeeze out what had happened from her, but only barely, and she felt like it wasn't the entire truth. Now there was just a giant yellow elephant in the room every time the three of them were together. Consequently, they were rarely ever together.

3 weeks had never felt like a longer time.

She knew Ruby shared her sentiment, and not for the first time, Weiss felt a deep appreciation for the younger girl's existence in her life. Not that she would willingly admit it to her, but Weiss would be very much at a loss at what to do were it not for her. Ironic considering her age and her general... Ruby-ness. But Weiss had learned that she was far more mature than she let on. To be fair, a thumb tack probably had a bit more emotional maturity than Weiss did.
The bride and groom took their place in front of the altar, and the ceremony began.

It was a beautiful wedding, even if Ruby had to stand in stupid lady shoes with their impractical heels seemingly designed to deform her feet. She could bear it for a little while.

She imagined that Yang would laugh at her, ruffling her hair and telling her it wasn't so bad. If she were here.

The priest said 'You may now kiss the bride' and Nora flung herself onto Ren, who was completely prepared for it, and held her up perfectly fine.

That's cute, Yang would say.

It's so cute, Ruby would exclaim, hand on her cheeks, and her eye would dart towards Weiss for the briefest of moments, and Weiss would be thinking the exact same thing as her.

Yang would catch her little look and try to stifle her laughter. Way, way too fast little sister, she would tell her, a elbow jabbing into her side. Ruby would slap her arm and blush a little more than she meant to.

Ruby wasn't aware they had brought in flower cannons, but with an explosive pop, a shower of pink petals rained down inside the church. A cold January day felt like an autumn in japan, even for a little bit, even inside a small church.

Ruby's gaze, as it always seemed to do, eventually fell on Weiss. She couldn't help but think about how beautiful she looked with that smile on her face being genuine.

I take it back, Yang would say. Both of you should just go get married. I wouldn't mind having my sister-in-law being a CEO.

Ruby would blush even harder, and would whisper shout Yaaaaaaannnnnggggg, in the same tone of voice a child used when their parent embarrassed them. Yang would respond in the same way a parent would, by laughing.

would decide to get back at her by then. What about you and Blake huh, she would ask, and Yang's gaze would fall onto the Faunus a little ways away from them, and her eyes would glaze over and she'd be looking somewhere else, somewhere a million miles away. Ruby always thought she looked like that when she was really, really looking at something. Appreciating it. Comprehending it.

She knew, because it was how she looked at Weiss.

I think Dad would really approve of somebody who can reign you in, Ruby would say in that knowing way she did when she thought she had the upper hand. And I would love to have her as my sister-in-law, Ruby would add.

Well it wouldn't work out Rubes, Yang would tell her. Because she doesn't love me the same. And I can't live my life like that, so I would leave. Things will never, ever be the same. And nothing will change that, Ruby.

Of course, Yang wasn't here.

But Ruby's heart was still heavy.

Weiss pressed a gentle kiss onto Ruby's forehead, careful not to wake her up. Her day always started way too early, and she knew Ruby would be cranky without sleep. She exited the room, already showered and with her work clothes on. She grabbed her purse, and her car keys from the bowl. Dawn was barely beginning to break, and the world was only just beginning to wake up. Weiss walked over to the door, opening it up.

Yang Xiao Long fell face first into Weiss, who barely managed to catch her.

Yang Xiao Long, back at the loft after 3 weeks, with her face covered in bruises and blood over the front of her shirt.

"Hey, Ice Queen," she wheezed out, her breath coming in laboured and ragged. "I'm back."