A/N: Hey guys! Blue, coming at ya with a new chapter. Sorry for the late chapter, life has been a bit busy lately.

Now I have to warn you guys, this chapter is very heavy. VERY heavy. Normally I leave most things a mystery for you guys, but I would be remiss if I didn't include this trigger warning. This chapter is dealing with attempts of suicide.

Warnings aside, thank you for your continued support of this fic! I truly appreciate all the feedback, so thank you. We are almost at our halfway point either this fic (I think?)!

Anyways, I hope y'all like this chapter, lemme know what you think. Enjoy the Roses!

Chapter 7: From Great Heights

"I am very disappointed in you two." The headmaster said, circling the two girls in their chairs. Ruby shifted in her seat. It was all her fault. She felt horrible. It was her idea that got them in this situation. Gosh, she was so bad at her job.

This is the second time she only caused Weiss more pain than anything. First with Blake, now this. But it wasn't like she was doing this on purpose! She had honest, good intentions! They just sort of... blew up in her face.

Apparently, some kid saw them leaving the school during lunch time. That kid told another kid, and that other kid told yet another kid. Soon, the whole cafeteria was gossiping and they weren't exactly discreet about it. A teacher caught wind of it and reported to the headmaster right away.

When he heard it was Weiss Schnee, he decided to find the two girls himself. The man wanted to see it with his own eyes before doling out punishment.

Well, he certainly did see it.

She should have known that skipping class would end up in a mess. It never ended up well for Yang or Ruby when they did. Then again, it was a different time, in a run-down school. They got away with it a little more often. It was ironic that her new headmaster was the son of Jimmy. Ruby was glad to see that the man encouraged his son to reach high and rise above his station.

Not that that would help them now. What would she say? 'Oh hey! Me and my sister knew your dad, Jimmy. Yes, I'm a lot older than I look, I died in 1938. So mind letting this one slide just this once? Pretty please with a cherry on top?'

No, that would not go over well.

"And you, Miss Schnee." He said, stopping in front of Weiss. "You are top of your class, you're supposed to be setting the example, not giving into temptation."

"I am so sorry, sir." Weiss nearly whispered. She looked so scared. It was as if this was her greatest fear come to life. She was holding herself closely, but she had luckily stopped shaking by the time they were called into the headmaster's office.

When they were outside of the office, Ruby apologized profusely. Weiss would mutter quiet 'it's ok's, but it did nothing to deter the angel's guilt.

Ironwood rambled on about the importance of following the rules, but Ruby wasn't listening. She was focused on Weiss. She looked over, hoping to catch her eye. She wanted those ice blue eyes to flit over to her so she could shoot her a supportive and reassuring smile.

Before she could capture her attention, Ironwood caught it first. He finished his speech and sat back down in his chair and sighed. This was familiar. Ruby been in principal offices more times than she cared to admit, but at least she didn't mouth off like Yang did.

That would not help Weiss at all.

"Listen, ladies... You both have never caused any issues, you've never done anything like this before. So I'm going to let you off with a strong warning. But, not heeding my rules again will not bode well. Is this understood?"

"Yes, sir." Weiss answered. Ruby could tell she was relieved.

"Yes." Ruby mumbled.

"What was that?" He said, with a little more force.

"Yes, sir!" Ruby repeated.

"Good." He said, satisfied. "Now by the time you returned to school, we were in last session. Class is over and you may leave. I have called both your parents and notified them of what transpired today. Miss Rose, I was only able to reach your parent's answering machine, so I trust you to tell them what you did if they don't receive it. Is this clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Y-you..." Weiss muttered, choking on the words. She looked as if the words were lodged in her throat and refused to come out. She grew a few shades paler (if that was possible) and the shaking from before resumed. "You called my father?"

Weiss' voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. She was terrified, her delicate hands had gripped her skirt, bunching it up. Ruby wanted to take her out of here, take her away. She wished she could just wrap her up in a big hug and never let her go.

But she couldn't do that now. That would have to wait until after this meeting. This very pointless and detrimental meeting. It was honestly only making Weiss feel worse, even if she wasn't being punished. Ruby had no family to scold her (Ok, She did have Yang, but they were both angels so she had a feeling she wouldn't be yelled at today).

"Yes I did. While I may be letting you off the hook this time, your actions still warranted a call home."

Weiss didn't say a word, she just stared at him in anguish and disbelief. Ruby rose from her seat and had to shake Weiss a bit to spur her into motion. It was as if she had been teleported to a frozen tundra; Frozen, shocked and shaking.

"Thank you, Sir! This won't happen again, Sir!" Ruby called back as she practically dragged Weiss out of the room.

"I trust it won't."

Once they were out of the door, Ruby began pouring apology after apology once again.

"Weiss! I am so sorry, Weiss. I didn't think we would get caught and I just wanted you to have some freedom for once and I-"

"Ruby." Weiss whispered. It was so soft, so vulnerable and nearly inaudible. But Ruby heard it and stopped talking immediately. The ivory-haired girl picked up her head and looked Ruby in the eyes. The storm in her eyes calmed, the blue sea tamed. And before she knew it, Weiss was pulling Ruby in for a tight hug, squeezing with all her might. If Ruby was still mortal, she could tell this would probably hurt. "Thank you for today, Ruby. It was lovely."

"Y-yeah, it was... Fun." Ruby hesitantly answered, returning her embrace. Gosh, it felt good to hold her now. Ruby wanted to just hold and comfort her, but she had a feeling that she wasn't really doing that right now.

Weiss let go and there were tears in her eyes.

"Weiss?"

"I have to go home now. Goodbye, Ruby." She said, her voice cracking a bit.

"I-I can walk home with you!" Ruby suggested. Something was wrong, Weiss was so calm and so sad at the same time. It was very disconcerting and made Ruby feel a bit off.

"No, I have a ride this time." Weiss said, already walking away. "Goodbye, Ruby."

"Weiss?"

"Goodbye."

Weiss left Ruby behind.

Oh Ruby didn't like this, she didn't like this at all.

XxXxX

It was another late day at the office for Jacques Schnee, apparently, the man was not home when Weiss arrived. The near catatonic heiress swiftly slipped off to her room, ignoring Klein when he asked how her day was.

Her day? It was wonderful, stupendous, fantastic. She spent a couple hours sitting and talking with Ruby in a dinky little burger place. But that was a mere spark in the deep darkness she had found herself in.

It was just how her life seemed to go. A mere flicker of happiness, of hope, only to see it yanked away and ripped to shreds.

And now she would be ripped to shreds.

The headmaster called her father. Her father knew she had broken the rules. Weiss pondered this, going over what she would say to him, pacing in her room.

Oh god, oh god he would be so upset with her. She could lie. She could say she was trying to stop a friend from skipping school, trying to get them back. Pin the blame on Ruby.

But then she would never be allowed to see Ruby again, and that thought did not sit well at all. It was quite painful in fact.

Who was she kidding though? Headmaster Ironwood no doubt told Jacques who else was involved, and if he didn't, it was coaxed out of him. Father knew that Ruby was the reason she skipped school. He would conclude that she was a bad influence. He would forbid her from seeing Ruby.

No, he would go a step further.

He would send her to one of those military schools, away from everything. Something solitary and sad.

It was over, it was all over. Weiss had gained back her friends just to lose them once more. The pinprick of joy was over, now only darkness awaited.

Back to isolation, to living day to day for the sake of living.

No joy.

No freedom.

No escape.

Escape.

Weiss wanted to escape then and there. She wanted out, she had had enough. As soon as that man walked in that door, her life was over. Done. Finished.

She was hyperventilating, tears streamed down her face. Her pacing sped up. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all. It was all futile.

And then she stopped.

Her crying, her heavy breathing, it ceased when her head snapped to the window of her room.

And then she knew what to do.

XxXxX

Like before, Ruby would make her wrongs right again. Thank god for invisible angel powers. She slipped into James Ironwood's office, prepared to do what she needed to to make sure Weiss would be alright. He may have let them off the hook, but she wasn't convinced that he would never bring this up again.

The man's receptionist (cause yeah, it was one of those fancy schools where the headmaster had a receptionist... Did he even have that many meetings that it would warrant one?) walked in and placed a stack of papers on his desk.

"Here you are, Sir." The young man informed him. "These need to be looked over and signed before you leave."

Ironwood sighed.

"Couldn't just let me go home, huh Forest? Just had to give me more work to do." Ironwood told him in a exasperated, but still jovial manner.

"Sorry, Sir."

"Nah, it's fine. Someone's gotta do it." He said. He sounded much more relaxed when he wasn't addressing his students. Kind of like Weiss, he had to keep up his appearance.

"How did it go with the students who skipped?"

"Ah, it was fine. They're good kids, they just made a wrong decision."

"Pardon me for saying this, but don't you think that lax punishment breeds complacency and makes them more likely to rebel again?"

"In many situations, yes. Most of the time I do rule with an iron fist, Forest." Ironwood explained. "But this was a different case. They were already scared, there was no chance they would do it again. And Miss Schnee is a star pupil. She is a rule follower. I think she's allowed one 'get out of jail free' card, you know?"

"I guess I can understand that."

"But now I need to make some phone calls." He told him, rubbing his temples. "Not looking forward to having another conversation with Jacques Schnee. His smug superiority is palpable, even through the phone."

Hold up. He didn't call him yet?

"I thought you told them you called their parents?" Forest asked, as if he was reading Ruby's mind.

"I called Miss Rose's parents, got no answer there." He informed him. "I wasn't going to tell Miss Schnee's father, but if I made special excuses for the students I like better, many parents and students would accuse me of favoritism."

"But you do like Miss Schnee better than the rest."

"Yes, but they don't need to know that, Forest." Ironwood said, winking at the secretary.

"Understood, Sir."

"Alright, I gotta call. Can you please give me a moment alone? It might get ugly." The headmaster sighed.

"Yes, of course." Forest said, walking out of the office and closing the door.

Ironwood was just about to pick up the phone and dial the number on the page in front of him. Yet, before he could, Ruby got to him. Still invisible, she crept behind him and placed her hands on both sides of his head. She couldn't erase the memory of the event from his mind, that was too risky and she would probably get in trouble for that.

But maybe she could change it a bit.

"James Ironwood junior." Ruby called, her hands glowing around his head. "Can you hear me?"

As if in a trance, the man's back straightened up and his head faced forward. He looked much more like a robot now. Ruby hated doing this, messing with others minds. She hated meddling like this, but if it would help Weiss, she would do it.

She would do it a thousand times over.

"Yes." He answered.

"Good. Now what you thought you knew was not how the course of events occurred." Ruby recited. "Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Weiss came to you during her lunch period. She told you she was concerned for a friend, concerned that she was skipping. You had her lead her to where she was, a burger joint just outside of school bounds. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"There will be rumors that Weiss skipped class, some students and one of the teachers will swear this is what happened. They are wrong. Weiss did not skip school, only Ruby did. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"So Weiss should be around Ruby more." Ruby added, a little selfishly. "She is a good influence on her. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Now, who else knows about this little incident?"

"Just Forest, my secretary. I was going to inform the teachers of the classes they missed tomorrow."

"Good to know, thank you." Ruby said. "Now, I am going to release you and when I do, you will forget what Weiss has done. If you feel the need to call Jacques still, it will be to praise Weiss. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

With that, Ruby removed her hands. She made quick work of changing Forest's mind too.

Making wrongs right again. Then again, she wouldn't have to if she hadn't messed up in the first place.

Twice.

Ruby was beginning to think she just sucked at this field work thing.

Did Yang have to change memories?

Oh well, what's done is done. Her main focus was on Weiss now. Ruby sent her charge a text, an excuse to come over.

'Hey Weiss! I left my lucky pencil at your place. I'm on my way over to get it! :)' The text read. Ruby nodded, satisfied and sent it. A lucky pencil was a poor excuse, but she had a feeling Weiss wouldn't question her for it.

Her silver-tipped wings burst from her back and she flew to Weiss' house and straight into her room. She anticipated seeing Weiss in there, curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. But the ivory-haired girl wasn't in her room. Her phone was, but the girl was gone.

Maybe in the bathroom? Ruby thought. She reluctantly checked, but found it empty. She searched through the entire house, every single room.

Weiss wasn't there.

She might have gone somewhere else, but where? She couldn't really tell where Weiss was unless she was calling Ruby's name.

Ruby left the house, to search else where. Maybe she never left the school? But no, her phone was here. A walk perhaps? Went out for a leisurely-

Ruby.

A voice appeared in her head. But it wasn't the other angels. It was Weiss. She uttered her name, and it was filled with utter pain and resignation. It sent a chill down her spine.

And then she knew where she was.

Ruby looked up.

She looked up and saw Weiss.

On the roof of the Schnee Estate.

XxXxX

Weiss watched the sunset on the horizon. She was standing on the flat part of the roof, just like she did when she was a kid. She found that most windows allowed you to climb out and onto the roof. When she wanted to escape, she used to come here and watch the sky change.

But if she told herself that was the only reason she came out that night, that would be a lie.

It was a beautiful sunset, bursting with oranges and yellows. It faded into a pink and amethyst sky, the deep blue creeping behind her. She felt the chill of the nighttime start to creep in, attempting to claim her. It would have her soon, she was sure of it. She just wanted to see the sun set though, to take it in.

She personally preferred sunrises, finding something so morose in the setting of the sun. But this time it would be a welcome melancholy.

Fitting, even.

God the sky was so pretty from that view. She could see the whole town, silhouetted by the sun's brilliance. The bursts of golden streams felt like heaven on her face. They beckoned her to follow it in it's setting, laying to rest for the night.

Only Weiss would not be rising that morning.

She would fall.

The heiress wished that she could wait until the sun was fully set, but her father would be home by that time, she needed to complete her goal before then. She found it a bit ironic that now she was above the great Jacques Schnee Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Weiss took a step forward.

Then another.

A tear rolled down her face, just one. She didn't think she had any tears left to cry, but one somehow escaped.

She took a step.

They would all be fine without her around. It wasn't like her father really cared, it wasn't like her mother really noticed, it wasn't like her brother really saw her, and it wasn't like her sister was even there. They would move on, show grief to keep up appearances and be done with it. It's how all Schnee's handled loss, why would hers be any different.

She took another step.

Now Klein, Klein would miss her. He was always more like a father to her. Could the same be said for her? Was he like his daughter? Weiss wasn't sure, and that uncertainty added to the coldness in her heart.

Step.

As she neared the edge, she thought about Blake.

Oh.

Blake would miss her.

She would miss Weiss a lot. She didn't see the girl cry often, but she imagined this would break her down. Maybe she would understand though. She knew Weiss' situation, she knew there was no escaping it. She would probably understand.

Weiss started crying more, thinking about how much she would miss Blake, but she would see her again. Blake didn't want her to hurt, so Weiss would do what would stop that pain.

Another step.

Besides, Blake had Ruby and-

All thoughts stopped when she remembered Ruby.

Ruby.

Ruby.

That bubbly, babbling redhead that squeezed her way into Weiss' heart. The one that proved to her that the organ wasn't as frozen off as she had thought.

"Ruby." She said. She wished she could apologize to Ruby too. That she could give her another hug. She had a feeling that recent one would be her last, but she was afraid to admit it to herself.

Now she was sure.

"Weiss." She heard a soft voice call, a little scared. She smiled, thinking that she imagined it.

"Ruby." She said back, smiling.

"What are you doing up here?" The voice asked again. This time, Weiss was sure it hadn't come from her head. Turning around, there was Ruby, on the roof with her.

"Ruby?" She asked, startled by her presence. "What do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing? How did you get up here? When did you get here?"

"I came to get a pencil back? But that doesn't matter, Weiss." Ruby said cautiously. She took a slow step forward. "What are you doing?"

"I-I... I..." Weiss stammered, trying to find a good excuse. "I was watching the sunset."

"Weiss." Ruby said, cutting through her lies. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm... Um..." Weiss started again. She searched once more for an excuse, but found she couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't lie to Ruby. "It's... So hard, Ruby."

"I know, I know it is."

"No you DON'T!" Snapped Weiss. "You don't get it, Ruby! There's no escape for me."

"Yes there is! There's always another way!" She argued, taking another step closer. In response, Weiss took a step back. She hoped it would be the last step, but she wasn't close enough to the edge yet. When Ruby saw that, she put her hands up and took a pace back. "Weiss, please."

"Ruby." Weiss said, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, but this is the only way. I don't blame you, just so you know. I don't want you living with guilt your whole life."

"Like how guilty you'll feel if you do this?" Ruby said, her voice becoming a bit more stern. "How you'll hurt the people around you?"

"They'll get over it!"

"No they won't!" Ruby shouted. "They won't, Weiss. And you know why?"

"Why?"

"Cause you're important."

"Because I'm a Schnee? Well there's always my brot-"

"It's not because you're a Schnee, Dammit!" Ruby cut her off. "It's because you're YOU! Weiss. People love you, Weiss. You are important to Klein, to Blake. To me!"

Weiss stared at Ruby, who was now crying too. The girl took another step and Weiss let her.

"B-but... My father. I told you, I can't escape him!" Weiss protested.

"Now. You can't escape now." Ruby said. "And I am truly sorry for that. I'm sorry that you feel so stuck, but it won't always be that way, Weiss."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're sixteen!" Ruby said. "You've got a whole life of wonderful possibilities ahead of you."

"But how do you know?"

"I don't, not for sure. But I do know you." She explained with a smile. "I know how smart, strong and resilient you are."

"I... I don't know."

"Weiss, come to me for a second." Ruby asked, lowering her voice for the request.

"Ruby."

"Please? Meet me in the middle."

Complying to Ruby's wishes, Weiss moved further away from the ledge. When the two met in the center, Weiss almost expected Ruby to grab her and refuse to let go until she promised to not do what she was about to do.

But this is not what Ruby did. Ruby squeezed her hand lightly and turned Weiss around to face the sunset once again.

"Weiss, there is so much waiting for you beyond this household, beyond your family." Ruby began, almost whispering in her ear. She placed her hands on both of her shoulders to steady her. "Just beyond the horizon, there is change. There's good things, new friends, the love of your life could be just beyond that horizon."

She felt one of Ruby's hands leave her shoulder and gesture to the distance.

"There is a lot of bad in the world, I'm not gonna lie to you. But I think the good far outweighs the bad!" Ruby softly spoke. "There is so much good in this world, and it's just waiting for you, Weiss."

"What if I am the bad, Ruby?"

"Nope." She simply answered.

"No?"

"Nope."

"But I could be."

"Hmmm." Ruby said, as if she was thinking. It sounded more facetious than anything, though. "Nope."

"You say it with so much certainty." Weiss sighed. "Obnoxious, irritating certainty."

"That's because I know you, Weiss." Ruby said, giggling a little. "I know there's a lot of good in you. And good attracts good. Laws of attraction, right?"

"Good god, what did they teach you in Vale? Opposites attract, Ruby."

"Pssh, I knew that." Ruby said. This caused both girls to become lost in laughter. When that died down, Weiss stared at the horizon, wondering if Ruby was right. If more good waited for her, just out of her reach.

Or maybe there was good where she was, but she was frightened to discover if she was wrong about it or not.

But Ruby.

Ruby was definitely good.

"The sun is setting, Ruby." Weiss whispered. More tears silently rolled down her face.

"It will come up again." Ruby said, snaking her hands around Weiss' waist and hugging her from behind. "It always does, and always will. And you'll get to see it, Weiss. I'll stay up all night if you need me to. I'll stay up all night and watch that sunrise with you."

At that, Weiss started sobbing. She dropped to her knees, all intention to move closer to the edge left her. In an instant, Ruby let go of Weiss and walked around her to hold her in front. Weiss wept openly into Ruby's arms, clutching feebly to her red hoodie. She didn't think she would be able to hug Ruby, (she was curled up in a ball, crying) but clutching her jacket was the best she could do.

"I'm sorry, I'm suh-so so sorry." Weiss cried out, shaking in Ruby's stable arms.

"Sssshhh, it's alright. It's ok. You're gonna be ok now, alright? Everything will be ok." Ruby soothed. The hand on Weiss' back lifted off and ran down her long hair. Ruby pulled out her pony-tail and ran her fingers through her long ivory tresses, taking care to not pull too hard.

It felt amazing, and for once she relished in the fact that she was here. She was still here. She was here to feel the sensation of someone who cared about her making sure she was alright. Rubbing her back, her shoulder, petting her hair.

Good wasn't just on the horizon like Ruby said.

It was right in front of her too, running fingers through her hair.