At long last, the final chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Dedicated to the wonderful Ami!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Chapter 3. Talk About...

What is happening?

Ruby sat on her bed in her pajamas, her ears picking up on the sounds of running water.

What is going on?

If she listened closely enough, she could just barely make out the angelic sounds of Weiss's soft humming.

What does this mean?

But she was too flustered to enjoy the beautiful sound right now.

Ruby had just gotten out of the shower herself, and her clammy hands had stopped padding the towel through her sopping hair when Weiss had spoken to her:

"There's still one thing left we've got to do, right? We can do that once I've showered."

The heiress had then disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Ruby frozen in the same position she sat in now for the past ten minutes. Her emotions had gone on enough of a spastic roller coaster throughout the course of their partnership, but today had felt like a tornado in addition to all of that. Her chest felt as though it was filled with stuffing, suffocatingly warm, yet somehow soft at the same time.

Ruby recalled word for word what Weiss had so sarcastically said to her upon their second meeting there at Beacon, her voice dripping with mock excitement: "Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys..."

In the eagerness of the moment, in wanting to get to know Weiss more, Ruby had quickly agreed, hopeful and enthralled, only to be shot down a second later.

At the time, she had considered herself foolish for thinking she could ever be worthy of taking position as such a beautifully refined person's companion. But somehow, the fates had allowed them to be brought together, closer and closer by the day until finally they had reached this point.

It brought a smile to Ruby's lips every day just thinking about how lucky she was for getting to stand beside the heiress, to sleep in the same room as her, to study with her, to eat her meals with her...

But as the distance between them lessened, the pain only worsened as Ruby constantly reminded herself that friends was all they could ever be.

Several times, she had been tempted to ask Weiss about any potential boyfriends she may have had in the past, or whether she had her eye on anyone at the moment. Unfortunately, her nerves had gotten the better of her every time and she had refrained at the last second on each account.

No matter how happy it made Ruby to get to be with Weiss every day, it was certainly cruel for there to be one border she could never cross.

The sounds of running water brought her back into reality as Ruby heaved a long sigh, half-heartedly continuing to dry her hair. A few moments later, the water stopped, then the hair dryer was turned on, and Ruby knew she only had a short time left to think about what she should say. I'll just tell her I've got a crush on some guy. She decided.

Meanwhile, just a few feet away on the other side of the bathroom door, Weiss stood drying her hip-length, alabaster hair in her blue nightgown. This is a problem. She frowned at herself in the mirror before looking away. I knew how to go about the nail-painting and clothes shopping, but I haven't a clue how to hold a conversation about... boys.

It was even more difficult when she considered she had hardly met a decent one in all her life. Her family was full of conceited men with powerful fists and bellowing voices. When they were not shouting orders or cursing the White Fang, they were cunning businessmen who would put their loved one's lives on the line just for a cent more.

And save a few, most of the boys she had met at Beacon were the same, deceitful cheaters and habitual liars who cared for nothing but reputation and pleasure. To be quite honest, most males frightened her to some extent. How was she supposed to talk to Ruby about a topic on which she held no beneficial knowledge whatsoever?

Weiss winced as she felt an intense heat on her right shoulder and realized she had been daydreaming in her thoughts, neglecting the hair dryer long enough to leave a small scorch mark there. Flicking the appliance off in annoyance, Weiss ran her cold hand under even colder water and pressed her palm to the minor burn until the throbbing died away.

Well, I have no idea what to talk about... Perhaps Ruby would just go off rambling all on her own like she did with any other conversation. Weiss could handle that; she secretly liked to listen to Ruby talk.

But a small twinge ran through her chest when Weiss thought about Ruby eagerly talking about someone else, an admirable sparkle in her eyes as she went off on a lovestruck discourse about some wretched boy.

It was then Weiss decided she would personally put an end to any boy that may try to harm Ruby. If her partner ever got a boyfriend, Weiss would watch him like a falcon, waiting for the slightest slip-up so she had an excuse to strike and chase him off.

Satisfied with this fantasy, Weiss left the bathroom at last, steamy air following her into the bedroom where her partner still sat atop her mattress.

"Ruby?" Weiss called up at the girl who seemed to be half asleep. "What are you doing? You hair is still sopping wet! Get down here this instant!" The heiress stomped her foot, jabbing her index finger to the floor.

Ruby snapped out of her tumult of thoughts as she looked up and realized Weiss had emerged, her cheeks still slightly pink from her warm shower. "Huh? Oh, um...right."

Ruby slid to the edge of her bed and hopped down, landing lightly. Weiss pulled out the chair from the desk near the bathroom and motioned for Ruby to take a seat as she fumbled with the wire to the hair dryer. Ruby sat down quietly as Weiss moved to stand behind her.

"You dunce," she scolded. "If you go to sleep with wet hair and don't dry it properly first, you'll catch a cold. What are we supposed to do if our leader gets sick?" Although I might not mind nursing you back to health, if need be.

"Oh, sorry..." Ruby was so stiff she could hardly reply.

"As long as you understand." Weiss chided gently.

She then turned on the hair dryer and began running her cool fingers through Ruby's damp tresses, which felt rather soothing in contrast to the hot air. Occasionally, her fingertips would stray onto the back of Ruby's neck, causing her to shiver.

"Honestly, Red," Weiss muttered. "Why are you so tense? Loosen up." She placed a hand on her shoulder and gave Ruby a small shake for emphasis. Ruby did her best to obey, leaning against the chair, the back of her head brushing slightly up against her partner's stomach.

Ruby struggled between trying to both breathe and hold her breath at the same time as Weiss continued to dry her hair. Meanwhile, the heiress was relieved her leader could not see her face right now, as she was certain it was slightly red.

"So..." Weiss cleared her throat meaningfully as she spoke over the sounds of the machine. "Now we've got to... talk about cute boys, right?" She did her best not to scoff distastefully.

Ruby mumbled her response under her breath. "Can we talk about cute girls instead? Because there's only one I really want to talk about..." Who happens to be driving me crazy right now...

"What was that?" Weiss turned off the hair dryer.

"Nothing!" Ruby hopped up from her seat, still facing forward. "Thanks for drying my hair." She mumbled before retreating to her bed.

"Wait..." Before she could climb up, Weiss's voice stopped her. Ruby turned her face sideways, praying her partner was too far away to notice the blush. "Do you think you could...?" But she trailed off, directing her gaze to the floor. "No, never mind."

"No, what is it?" Ruby made her way back to her partner. Weiss had no hopes of hiding her own flushed cheeks this time, so she just pretended it was not there as she looked up at her partner.

"Do you... think you could... braid my hair?" She requested.

"...If-If I could what?" Ruby parroted, dumbfounded.

"Only if you know how to. And only if it's not too much trouble." She grunted. "I... never learned how to do it myself and just... I figured that since we've done all these other... girly things today, that you might not be opposed to-"

"Here, sit down!" Ruby spun her partner around, pushed her over to her bed, and sat Weiss down on the edge. Ruby eagerly crawled up behind her, immediately beginning to separate her long hair into three sections.

"You-" Weiss felt slightly dizzy from the process. "You... know how to?"

"Of course I do!" Ruby stated proudly. "I used to braid Yang's hair whenever she was asleep because she wouldn't let me when she was awake. I haven't gotten to practice in a few years, but I know what I'm doing, trust me!"

"Alright, alright!" Weiss balled her hands into fists in her lap as she straightened her posture.

"You don't have to be so stiff."

"I'm not!" Weiss defended. "This is how I always sit."

"If you say so..." Ruby shrugged.

She then proceeded to smooth her partner's snowy hair out, taking extreme care not to tug or tear a single strand.

When she was younger, Weiss's hair would always be styled for her by her family's servants. They always worked with rushed, brutal hands that had not an ounce of sympathy for the pain they caused her as they yanked at her beloved tresses. Weiss remembered having to hold back tears multiple times, because a daughter of the Schnee family was not allowed to cry, especially not over something as trivial as that.

But Ruby's gentle touch now was so careful and soft it almost caused Weiss to tear up anyway. Her fingers brushed lightly against Weiss's back in a way that almost tickled, and the heiress had to restrain herself from smirking subconsciously.

Ruby wondered if they could just end the day like this and not have to worry about discussions of boys. But she knew the unavoidable issue would come up eventually, later if not sooner.

Truthfully, Ruby would prefer to get the heartbreak out of the way now rather than kid herself any longer with delusions of grandeur.

She slowly folded the sections of her partner's hair over one another until she had to speak up.

"So... about what you were saying before..." Ruby started.

"Oh... right." Weiss sniffed. "So... have you got your eye on anyone here at Beacon?"

"As a matter of fact I do."

"Really?" Weiss tried her best to sound interested, trying to fight away the hollow feeling spreading throughout her chest. "Do tell."

"Well..." Ruby mumbled. "It's a guy, of course." She lied.

"Oh..." The pain that shot through her heart was more poignant than Weiss expected it would be. "I see..."

"But, um, I don't know much about him." Ruby decided to stop her lies before she got too absorbed with them; saying anything else would only hurt more. "What about you?" She forced herself to ask.

"Ah..." Weiss realized the soft strokes of her partner's hands against her back had ceased, but still she refused to turn around. "Mmhm." She grunted in an attempt to regain her composure. "Well, of course there have been plenty who threw themselves at my feet, but I care for not a single one of them. No matter how many suitors swarm about, there's only one person I'll ever have eyes for."

Ruby swallowed. "And... who is that?"

"I am not at liberty to say." You wouldn't feel the same way.

"Oh. Okay."

A moment of silence dragged between them, both trying to sort out their emotions.

"Ruby." Weiss finally mustered the courage to turn around on her bed to face her partner. "This... heathen you've got your eyes on, if he ever harms you in any way, come to me immediately. I have countless means of making a person disappear." She growled. Ruby could tell she was half-serious, and for some reason let out a short laugh, delighted that Weiss would go so far as to be that protective of her.

"And the same goes for you." Ruby replied. "If this guy you've got your eye on ever does something you don't like, I'll never forgive him. I'll hunt him down and make him wish he'd never been born."

"I appreciate the potential acts of violence." Weiss chuckled jokingly. "You really are a great leader, you know."

"And you're the best teammate I ever could have asked for." Bashful, Ruby's eyes flickered downward for a minute, catching sight of her red nails. "Thanks for doing all of this with me today. It was really nice."

"Of course. It's only natural that the two best teammates in all of Beacon spend time together on their day off." Weiss agreed.

Another moment of silence passed between them as both girls did their best to extinguish the pain in their hearts, trying instead to focus on the happier things, like the fact that they were partners in the first place.

"Well," Ruby said at last. "It's still a bit early, Yang and Blake aren't even back yet. But I guess I'll head on up to hit the hay." She slid toward the side of the bed. "Goodnight, Weiss."

Weiss was still as she watched Ruby move away from her, but something inside her moved. She hated that scene, the scene of Ruby leaving her - detested it, loathed it; she had seen enough people leave in her lifetime, and she was not about to let Ruby be one of them.

"Ruby!" Weiss shot forward to grasp her wrist, pulling the younger girl back onto her bed.

"Y-Yeah? What is it?" Ruby was a bit uncomfortable with having Weiss touch her like that. She feared she would not be able to bear it any longer.

"I... That's not all I wanted to say..." Weiss murmured, lowering her gaze. "About the person I like, I mean."

"...Okay..." Ruby plastered a half-hearted smile, acting like she was willing to listen, but her thoughts were strained. Please don't. I can't bear to listen to you talk about someone else...

"Ruby..." The heiress felt twisting anxiety rise in her chest, her heart throbbing. "...It's you."

Everything froze for an instant, and Ruby stopped her subtle attempts at pulling away.

"You... What?" She coughed. "I-I'm sorry. I think I misheard you."

"You didn't." Weiss assured her. "Although, you might want to believe you did... I know it must be strange to know how I really feel about you. In fact, it might bother you too much, so if it's for the better, I could leave the team-"

"Weiss. Weiss!" Ruby threw her hands up to stop her from talking. "Stop!"

"You're disgusted, aren't you?"

"No!" Quite the opposite, in fact!

"But it could never work between us!" Her voice was getting louder with desperation.

"Actually, I think it could because I like you, too!" Ruby shouted as she effectively cut off whatever depressing thing Weiss was about to say next. Instead, the heiress's jaw went slack as the words died on her tongue.

"You... You what?" Dumbfounded, she mumbled the same response Ruby had previously.

"Yes!" Ruby scooted up to her, but Weiss shied away.

"D-Don't lie just to be nice to me!" She snapped. "What about before when you said you had your eyes on some boy?"

"That was a lie!" Ruby exclaimed. "I was sure you didn't feel the same way about me so I lied about liking a boy. That was a lie, but Weiss, I swear on my life this is not!"

To prove the earnestness of what she said, Ruby mustered every ounce of courage she could find within herself and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her partner's shoulders. Her greatest fear right now was being shoved away, and part of her was waiting for just that to happen, but it never did.

Weiss sat still within Ruby's embrace, barely even breathing. Is... Is this real? She asked herself. The warm body pressed against hers did not suffice in telling her it was. What assured Weiss it was reality was the drop that trickled down her cheek; there was no way she could be crying if this was not real, she was certain of that much.

"Ruby..." Her voice was thin, pathetically so, wavering, broken. And airy with joy. "Ruby..." This time, her voice rose in a bit of a wail as she desperately threw her arms around her partner in turn. "I didn't think this could ever happen..."

"I didn't either." Ruby nestled her face into the side of the heiress's soft neck and sighed. The coil that had been present within her since she had first laid eyes on Weiss finally did what Ruby never thought it could; it uncurled and vanished.

Suddenly, she felt everything was going to be fine. She could feel Weiss's heartbeat, rapid with elation as it thrummed within her chest, and it was a beautiful rhythm that confirmed the moment.

Weiss pulled Ruby closer to her, and she never wanted to let go, breathing in the enticing scent of roses. Ruby was equally as hesitant to pull away, but her body seemed to move on its own as she gingerly pushed Weiss back. Silver eyes locked with mist-blue, and Ruby could see her own blossoming happiness in that gaze.

Silently, she asked permission, and although Weiss was a bit tentative about it at first, she soon complied, giving a slight nod but never once taking her eyes from those pools of shimmering silver.

Ruby slid her hands to the heiress's shoulders and took a deep breath. Weiss blinked quickly several times before she let her eyelids fall shut.

Ruby pressed her lips gently against Weiss's, finally tasting the sweetness she had only dreamed about before.

Weiss flinched at the contact but she did not pull away. Although Ruby's hands were holding her still, her grip still permitted the heiress to pull away if she so desired, but Weiss did not even give the action a second thought.

Instead, she reciprocated, kissing her leader back as best she could, albeit a bit clumsily. Ruby seemed so sure of what she was doing, therefore Weiss needed to kick up her game as to not be outdone.

She leaned into the kiss a bit more, feeling the thrill of the intoxication at their intimate proximity. They had covered a distance both had assumed would always be separating them; the triumph was clear in between their lips.

Before long, the pesky entity known as oxygen intruded on their actions and forced them apart, leaving both of them breathless and rose-tinged. Their gazes remained locked as they replenished their lungs with air, Ruby reaching forward to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Weiss's ear. The heiress regained her breath first, lifting her fingers to her lips for a second before she found her voice.

"Not bad." She declared.

Ruby merely smirked in reply.

"Weeeiss," She whispered knowingly. "Was that your first kiss?"

"Wha-?!" Clearly offended, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "Of course not! Don't be absurd."

"It totally was."

"W-Well, what did you expect?" Her voice cracked just a bit. "Did you assume I partake in such lewd activities on a daily basis?"

"Ppft. Lewd?" Ruby burst into chuckles as tears clung to her eyes.

"Stop laughing this instant!" Weiss demanded, her face as red as Ruby's nails.

"Haha, sorry, sorry!" Ruby wiped her eyes.

Weiss glared at her until her giggling ceased, by which time her own blush had faded a bit as well. Ruby had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing again as she watched Weiss puff out her cheeks in a pout.

The heiress then directed her upturned gaze back to Ruby. "S-So..." She mumbled. "Do you mean to imply that that... wasn't your first kiss?"

This time it was Ruby's turn to blush. "Of course it was!" She stated.

"And yet you were so skilled..."

"Are you jealous that I'm better at kissing than you are?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Weiss snorted. "I'll silence those insolent lips and surpass you this instant!" Sliding in again, Weiss initiated the second kiss, pushing her lips against Ruby's rougher ones in an attempt to assert herself. She felt Ruby smile in amusement, which only served to fuel the heiress's chagrin, so she kissed her harder in an effort to stifle any potential comments. Ruby kept her chuckles to herself as she kissed Weiss in return, unable to get enough of the ticklish sensation.

A minute later, they broke apart again, chests heaving.

"Well...?" Weiss huffed expectantly.

Certainly the heiress had given Ruby a run for her money, but Ruby still believed she had the advantage in the kissing department.

"Not bad." She panted teasingly. "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. That is, if you think you can handle it."

"Ruby Rose, is that a challenge?"

"Why don't you find out?"

Their natural tendency to bicker and ruffle one another's feathers came into play as they channeled their competitiveness into their colliding lips.

They kissed several more times, their embrace tightening more with each passing second. But in the end, the fire between them died down into a steady flicker.

Their last kiss was not unlike the first - chaste, gentle, and loving - but much more confident.

At last they pulled apart, caught their breaths, locked their gazes again.

"So..." Ruby mumbled. "Is this... okay? With your family, I mean."

"You dunce." Weiss heaved a sigh. "That's hardly relevant now, considering how far we've fallen into this."

"But is it-"

"Stop fretting about it, would you?" Weiss rolled her eyes. "It'll be fine. I could care less if I get disowned. If being with you pits the entire world against me, I won't hesitate to freeze it over." She declared, looking her partner sternly in the eyes. "You're mine now, Ruby Rose."

Ruby felt a rush, a bubbling sensation rising up within her stomach.

"Right!" She beamed. "And you're mine, Weiss!" She threw her arms around the heiress and kissed her cheek.

"Please. I belong to no one." Weiss muttered. "...Is what I would have said if it wasn't you..." She returned the peck on the cheek almost begrudgingly, but smiled nonetheless. "By the way, you're going to have to explain everything to the others."

"Oh god." Ruby groaned. "Yang's never going to shut up about it."

"I know. Hence why you're going to have to deal with her."

"Ugh..."

The two girls continued to sit side-by-side on the bed, Weiss affectionately ruffling Ruby's hair.

Next, they ended up speaking simultaneously:

"Well, at least now I have a good excuse to give you that outfit."

"Wait, you bought that?"

"You are such a dork."

They chuckled a little, lightly resting their foreheads together. Ruby stole another quick kiss from her new girlfriend and Weiss flicked her nose.

"I hope you're ready to take responsibility for claiming my first kiss." Weiss cautioned. "I'll have you know it has been a childhood dream of mine to have the first person I kiss to also be the last, but most importantly, to be the only one I will ever kiss."

The purity of her words touched Ruby, and she smiled again.

"How could I ever want to kiss anyone else?" Ruby stole another peck on the lips.

"I couldn't possibly imagine you would." Weiss murmured smugly, stealing a kiss of her own.

Their lips came together one final time for the evening, both contentedly aware of the fact that many more would follow.

At long last, they had overcome the trials of distance that had kept them apart until now, and neither was willing to let anything come between them ever again.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks again to Ami for just being herself~

Next week's story is a different ballpark. Fair warning.

Please review!