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Chapter 2: It's you!

When they found each other nothing else existed but those silver eyes, her eyes.

Just a moment ago the white-haired girl was looking for the only family she had left in a place so big it was easy to get lost. Then, as if it was part of some sort of plan thought for her, she found someone she wasn't looking for, and the expression of disbelieve and the smile on her face would let it be clear: she was happy to see her. The red hood, that crazy hair, the grey emblem of a rose and those silver eyes; it was Ruby, there was no doubt in her heart. Her teammate, her friend, one of the few people in this world she missed more than anyone else was there, just standing like a dolt in the middle of the room. She let go of the breath she didn't notice was held until a second ago and stopped herself from shouting her name. It's been so long, it's happened so much, and she had missed her a lot.

She got there looking for her sister, but instead, she found a dear friend. Ruby didn't recognize her, it was easy to tell because of her conflicted expression, she was just waiting for Weiss to do something that would let her know it was really her. The white-haired knew that and simply smiled wider, Ruby looked down right at that moment, maybe she thought that smile wasn't something Weiss would do. That's when Weiss started walking toward her.

Ruby was still looking down, mentally beating herself up for letting her feelings of nostalgia trick her into seeing a person who isn't here. Now that she thought about it, the girl she just saw looks nothing like Weiss looked the last time she saw her, then why did she appear so familiar? Maybe it was just one of those moments when you think you're seeing someone you know but turns out to be a stranger. It could have been because she has thought about her recently… enough to dream about her. It could have been nice to actually find her teamma-

"… Ruby" an unmistakable voice called her. Ruby quickly turned around to find her and when she found those same blue eyes she couldn't believe it, the same girl from before was her: Weiss. She's definitely changed a lot, but that doesn't matter right now.

"Weiss!" she jumped right at her to embrace her without giving it any thought, she acted out of pure joy and for so she let herself tighter the hug. The rest of the world had disappeared in a blink of an eye because this time Ruby was sure of one thing: "it's really you" came out as a soft whisper. The warmth of hers, the softness of her skin and her familiar scent made it clear that this time it was not a dream.

"Of course it's me. Why are you standing here like a dolt?" asked with a bit of sweetness as she slowly allows herself to return the embrace, right at this moment Ruby had reminded her how it was to be around someone who genuinely cared for her, even after all this time. The once-heiress was glad to be mistaken about one thing: "I thought I'd never see you again" she said as she slowly pulled back to meet Ruby's eyes again.

"Me too. But luckily I'm here on a mission" just as she was saying that a lot of questions filled her mind: "but what are you doing here? Where is your scar? Who were you looking for? Is everything ok?" asked the red-hooded almost in a rush, she wanted to quickly catch up with whatever was going on. The chances of finding Weiss here were nonexistent and the fact that she's avoiding to be recognized made it all stranger. If Weiss was really in trouble then it must be something she can do to help her.

"Em… I ran away, used makeup, my sister, and not precisely" Weiss had a lot of questions too but Ruby wouldn't let her ask any, as the red-hooded hurried to ask:

"What?" Because now the brunette had more questions than before, she was not only concern but truly puzzled as well, "What are you running from? Oh! Are you on an undercover mission or are you in trouble? What's your sister doing here? Wait, that could be classified, do you need help?" Ruby asked while grabbing Weiss by the shoulders.

The white-haired did not expect such reaction, such concern; it's been almost a year but it felt like time has not affected their relationship, actually it was quite the contrary: because now she knew that things won't change even if time passes by, and that feeling of reassurance was something she have never found in anyone other than her sister. "… I'm fine, Ruby, I'll tell you about it elsewhere" the look of concern of those silver eyes relaxed a bit, as the girl realized this was not the place to discuss those subjects. Ruby was still Ruby, she could see that, even after all this time, maybe is true that some things never change. "You dolt," she said softly as the red-hooded released her from her grip to scratch the back of her head and giggle.

"Alright, you had your time, we need to get the team" Interrupted the old Qrow, there was some sense of urgency in his voice, and the serious look he gave only added to the impression that time was running short. He was being accompanied by…

"Winter! I've b-" there was pure joy in her voice, but Weiss got interrupted by the person she has been looking for all day.

"Later," said her older sister before turning to Ruby "we have something to discuss with your team" then she turned back to her little sister: "I'm also happy to see you" and she smiled at her in return. It's been around a year since the last time they had the chance to meet and talk, but that would have to wait, because now she has to lead them to the cafeteria and then send the whole team and her little sister to a mission like something they couldn't handle before, the odds were great, but the White Fang waits for no one. For now, all she could really do is to hope they have improved their skills and become more efficient as a team.

Everyone followed the older sister as she guided them to the assumed location of the rest of the team.

Something had changed, Ruby could tell, it was not only her appearance, Weiss would never let her hug her like she just did, and even if this weren't exactly normal circumstances she couldn't help but get the feeling that something had happened to the girl who was now walking by her side. She seemed a bit less cold even when she was insulting her, which should not come as a surprise if she thought of all of the things that could happen during all these months. Everyone has changed, including herself. But, she could say without any hesitation: the ice queen was not so cold anymore. Ruby looked to her side and found out that Weiss was looking at her, she couldn't help but smile while those blue eyes tried to avoid eye contact. For some reason this gave her a familiar feeling, and it reminded her of their first days at Beacon and how Weiss was always keeping an eye on her, so if Ruby made a mistake she would be the first one to correct her, and she'll be the first one to recognize if the red-hooded did something right, they have both challenged each other for be better, although the proud heiress would never admit it.

To finally have her back was even better than she had imagined because there was a lot of persuasion in every scenario that she played in her head, but instead, it turned out to be this way: with Weiss willingly being part of her team again. So does this mean their friendship is genuine? Originally Ruby thought the heiress would only try to be nicer because she had no alternative but… right at this moment, it's obvious how their bond is stronger than she thought. How long has it been this way? When did they become such good friends as to jump right into a mission none of them knew anything about? And this being just a moment after they met as if they have both waited for the chance to have things the way they were before as if they have both dreamed of the best days ever: when the gang was all together fighting and winning regardless of the odds… and getting to know each other's pasts and motives while simply having a good time.

Now that she thought about it, the white-haired girl was always by her side, whether it was during a fight or not, this brought the questions: "why is Weiss mostly by my side? Couldn't she get along with anyone else?" Followed by the very first answer she could think of: "we must really be BFF!" And then she realized a little something: "But… she said we're not…" she shakes her head, suddenly nothing made sense to her and this puzzle let her notice how many things she still doesn't know about Weiss. One question erased everything else from her mind: "… What am I to you?"

The girl of blue eyes had one question only: "Why is Ruby so distracted?" It was obvious how thoughtful the brunette was, this made her think about the mission and what they could encounter. She hasn't had a mission nor a fight since Beacon, and although she is confident in her abilities she couldn't help but be nervous about the first enemy she could be facing. At least she knows Ruby is also part of this, but she could only hope not to disappoint her.

Winter stopped at what seemed like some random intersection and looked at her little sister, "you shall go that way" she was pointing at her right, "then turn left two times, right and left, you'll find the classroom #193, wait for us there", nobody knew why she should go apart but Weiss didn't question her sister and both Ruby and Qrow just assumed the sisters knew what they were doing.

"Right, left, left, right, left, 193." She repeated like it was nothing and simply left.

If there was something Ruby could envy, that would be Weiss's concentration and listening skills.

…

"I'm telling you, my arm can stop your hammer any time" Yang was confident in her words, but Nora was also confident in the strength of her weapon. The eyes of both girls were shining as they stared at each other with a smirk that clearly said: oh, I would love to see you try. Both Ren and Jaune were eating in silence, quietly trying to guess who would win that match: the girl who can deal a lot of damage or the girl who can take and return that damage? No one wanted to bet, giving how Yang could take and stop a hit from a giant robot with her bare hands nobody could tell what she could do now that she got stronger. The odds were against Nora but if someone says so they'll be doomed.

"Oh, it's on" challenged Nora as if her pride was at stake.

"Guys, guys, I think maybe we should save it for later, we almost got in a lot of trouble the last time we fought at a cafeteria and Ozpin is not around to help us" Intervened Jaune, almost begging for them to stop. Ren simply looked at Nora, it was his way of persuading her into desisting.

"Alright, we'll take it outside," said the blondie, accepting Nora's duel.

"I'm not missing this," said a red-hooded out of nowhere.

"Ruby!" shouted Yang and all of them simultaneously stared at her as she immediately got up to crush her sister's ribs with a hug. "I'm so happy to find you!"

Breathless, Ruby managed to say: "I'm happy to see you're back in action, I knew you would come eventually… let me live" Yang released her and step back to see two serious faces.

"Greetings, I know all of you reunited just now, but time is short, so please come with us," asked Winter to all of them, although everybody knew that not following her was not an option. JNPR stared at Yang, Ruby, and Qrow silently asking: "Do you know her?"

…

The faunus duo made it to the coast, home of a village full of life and healthy business. They had no idea that certain blondie was there several hours earlier.

"So…" started a monkey faunus as he stretched, "We finally made it to the coast" then he followed his cat friend apart from the crowd, He still had a lot of questions but waited to ask till they were away from most people around, although, by that time the peaceful environment made him forget most of those questions "what's next? Mistral? Lunch?" The good news was that he could finally relax a little thanks to the atmosphere.

"Actually, here is where we part ways. See if you can get into one of those trucks without being detected and once you're in Mistral look for all possible allies"

"Just anyone or people we know?" when he asked this Blake gave him an: "Are you kidding me?" Look.

"People we can trust, your team is in Heaven, so I recommend starting with them, and you must have some other friends like other teams you met"

"And what are you going to do?" He was uncomfortable with the idea of going separate ways, and this time he didn't have the option to follow her. In consequence, he was feeling uneasy about this plan again, if anything goes wrong he wouldn't be able to help Blake.

"I just need to get some information and it'll be less suspicious if I go along, besides, I figure that you could use that extra time to convince the others to join us. I'll contact you when it's necessary"

Sun looked at Blake for a moment and all he could see was a warrior being deadly serious about this decision. He sighed. "Are you sure about this?" He wished the answer was different from the one he'll obviously receive.

"What do you mean? I told you before this is the only way, just trust me, I know what I'm doing" So far she had tolerated him, but it was always annoying how he's incapable of taking things as serious as he should, that kind of attitude is one of a person without any mission, purpose or direction in their lives and she couldn't sympathize with someone like that, she could try, but there wasn't much she could offer besides her tolerance.

"Right, sorry, I just needed to hear that, just be careful" his voice was missing his usual bright tone, making it clear that he wasn't happy with this.

Blake sighed, if he was trying to make her feel pity for him when he was just wasting time, such technique won't work on her "Good luck"

…

The group of capable warriors had made it to the classroom #193. Winter was the first one to step in and the others followed. The very first thing in everyone's mind was "Who is the girl with white hair and blue eyes?"

"You look familiar" Said Yang, she couldn't be sure because the girl was missing the characteristic scar, but leaving her stile aside, that expression of hers looked Weiss like, strengthened the feeling that there was something familiar about her, maybe because of the way her eyes seem to say "you dolts" Yang could very easily be mistaken, but then she opted for asking rather than guessing, "Weiss?"

"Am I that easy to recognize?" As soon as she asked that the rest of the team shouted her name out of disbelieving, that's when Weiss could see why she had to come to this room first: that kind of greeting would have exposed her identity if it were to happen in the cafeteria. It was indescribably good to be received by all of her friends and to know they missed her at least a little bit, "Is good to see you all again" she said as they surrounded her and Yang hugged her out of nowhere.

Part of Weiss was truly disappointed because it didn't take much for Yang to know it was her, although nobody else seemed to have it figured out until Yang realized it first. She just hoped it'd be impossible for a stranger to identify her because the thought of being brought back to Atlas was almost insufferable.

While everyone was focused on Weiss, Winter left her scroll on the table and some holograms popped up. It was time to discuss the plan.

…

Author's note: I forgot to mention before that I'll be ignoring Oscar's existence because his role in the story is too ambiguous and might not be relevant until later on, I believe he'll be crucial at the end of volume 5, but because I don't have many clues to figure out his purpose I'll just erase him from history (sorry). I know I don't have to try hard to be accurate since this is a fanfiction, but I want the characters and the plot to be as close to what could probably be as possible, simply because I'd love to provide some sense of realism to the story. For so, if I made the decision of changing something that will definitely change the story I want you to know why I'm doing it.