The Eye of the Beholder
Submitted by: aceman88

Weiss calmly stood in front of the bathroom mirror in the Team RWBY dorm, appraising her appearance with a critical eye. Her frost-white hair was pulled back into a ponytail precisely forty-five degrees off-center. Her azure eyes shone from her face, enhanced by the merest dusting of makeup. Her bolero jacket was held open just the right amount, accentuating her white blouse and combat skirt combo. Her heeled boots were laced to the top, the bows of their knots precisely even.

To anyone else, she would have appeared flawless, beautiful. To herself, she looked below average. One hand ghosted up to trace the scar that ran across her eye, the one imperfection on her face. She had long debated on whether or not to cover the scar with makeup, or just ask her father to foot the bill for cosmetic surgery. In the end she decided against both of those options, for as much as she disliked the scar, it gave her a convenient excuse to not think about her other major imperfection.

Almost as if the thought compelled her eyes to move, she felt them shift until she was staring at her chest in the mirror. Her flat, boyish chest. She knew that envy was not a becoming trait, but she was a girl, for Dust's sake! She didn't exactly desire Yang's monstrosities, but would it have killed anyone for her to be slightly more endowed, perhaps along the lines of Blake or Ruby? Ruby! She was fifteen, two years younger, and she still had a larger chest than her!

Weiss felt herself slump down against the wall, her biweekly examination of herself ending, as always, in tears. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, hiding her face in their convenient darkness as she slowly tried to rock herself back and forth. She knew that she was being petty, that to compare oneself to others would only ever result in sorrow and dissatisfaction. Yet, it was all she had ever known. Her family had always compared themselves to the great figures of their house, each generation striving to outdo the last. Weiss supposed that the feeling of inadequacy was intended to spur the Schnee on to greater heights, and while that may work for some people, it always left her as an emotional wreck.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the light-hearted humming until it was just outside the door, a door that Weiss only now realized that she had forgotten to lock. She scrambled to her feet, furiously wiping her eyes with her sleeve as the door was enthusiastically thrown open. A pajama-clad Ruby paused with one arm outstretched, realizing her mistake as she saw a red-eyed and irate Weiss quickly lowering her arm.

"Would it kill you to knock, dolt?" Weiss demanded, putting all the frigidity that she could muster into the insult. The attempt fell flat as her voice wavered, her breathing still affected by her crying.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked quietly, her body frozen as she took in the person in front of her.

"What?" Weiss snapped, much more viciously this time. Ruby flinched, but didn't back down.

"Were you...crying?" Ruby asked, almost faltering before finding new courage halfway through the question.

"No" Weiss adamantly denied, gritting her teeth. "A Schnee does not..."

"Huphuphup!" Ruby interjected, flashing up to Weiss and putting a finger against her lips. From this distance the signs of her teammate's distress were even more obvious, and she'd be damned if she let Weiss suffer in silence. "There you go again with 'A Schnee does this' and 'A Schnee doesn't do that.' We're your team, Weiss. You don't have to be a Schnee around us."

Weiss stood in shock, her leader's finger effectively silencing any and all retorts she could have made. Ruby was looking at her with those huge, soulful grey eyes of hers, and Weiss found herself falling into their open gaze. Without even realizing it, she had stepped forward and embraced Ruby, burying her head in the crimsonette's shoulder as she silently resumed crying. Ruby, after a moment of surprise, wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist, letting the older girl cry to her heart's content.

After a few minutes, Weiss had calmed down enough to raise her head from Ruby's shoulder, and the younger girl met her partner's reddened eyes calmly. She gently tugged at Weiss' arms, and the older girl followed her back out into the Team RWBY dorm. Ruby sat down on the edge of Weiss' bed, and Weiss followed her after a moment's hesitation, making sure that there was at least some space between them.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked quietly, respectfully.

Weiss took a deep breath, weighing her options. She could refuse, keep her woes in the dark and spare herself the agony of having someone tear her apart. Or she could accept, spill her guts to Ruby, and brace herself for the inevitable laughter and derision at her pettiness. She glanced over at her red-themed partner, who was sitting with perfect patience, waiting for her to decide where the conversation would go. Weiss sighed. This was Ruby Rose she was dealing with, if the girl decided she really wanted to know something, she'd stop at nothing until she knew.

"Yeah..." Weiss finally said, deciding to take the plunge and get the situation over with as quickly as possible. "Tell me, have you ever looked in a mirror and..." she glanced again at Ruby, not really knowing if the younger girl would understand.

"...and felt dissatisfied with what you saw? And I don't mean dissatisfied with your outfit, I mean dissatisfied with yourself."

"Usually after I flunk a test" Ruby replied after a moment's thought, frowning as if she wanted to say more, but didn't.

"Alright" Weiss nodded, she could use that as the basis of her comparison. "And you usually feel pretty down about that, right?" Ruby nodded. "Well, take that same feeling, multiply it by about a hundred times, and you'll have a vague idea of how I feel when I look in the mirror."

"And how do I make the idea clearer?" Ruby asked, flinching a little at Weiss' downtrodden tone.

"You add in a touch of depression at the knowledge that what you're feeling down about can't be changed" Weiss replied, slouching over to rest her forehead on her hands. "And a healthy dose of an irrepressible urge to compare yourself to others."

"Okay..." Ruby said slowly, mentally processing everything Weiss just told her. "So, correct me if I'm wrong, you're insecure about your own appearance, want to look more like everyone else, and get depressed over the fact that you can't?"

"That about sums it up, yes" Weiss replied, internally tensing up as she waited for Ruby to ask the inevitable question.

"What for?" Ruby asked, and Weiss couldn't decide if she sounded more concerned or disappointed.

"I'm not very...feminine..." Weiss stated quietly, starting to regret her decision to talk to Ruby.

"Feminine?" Ruby muttered, obviously confused.

"My assets aren't really there" Weiss clarified, hoping the younger girl would catch on.

"Assets?" Ruby repeated, and Weiss cursed the girl's innocence.

"I'm flat-chested!" Weiss finally exploded, lifting her head to glare at Ruby. "My breasts are practically nonexistent! If I cut my hair and wore a different outfit, I'd easily be mistaken for a boy! And you don't have any idea how annoying this is to me, because even you, fifteen-year-old Ruby Rose, has bigger breasts than me!" Ruby stared at Weiss in amazement for several seconds, her face frozen in shock. Then her brain clicked back into gear, and she immediately glomped her partner with a massive hug.

"Oh Weiss..." Ruby mumbled into her partner's ear. "Please tell me you don't see yourself that way...please..."

"R-Ruby?!" Weiss exclaimed as Ruby's deceptively strong arms pulled her down onto the mattress, drawing her in close.

"So what if your chest isn't what you want it to be?" Ruby asked rhetorically, sounding like she was having difficulty controlling her voice. "That's only one aspect of your appearance, and even if it was a problem, which it isn't, by the way, it's more than compensated for by everything else that's beautiful about you."

"But I'm not..." Weiss began, giving up on trying to break free of Ruby's grip.

"Yes you are!" Ruby interrupted, giving Weiss a reassuring squeeze around the waist before ghosting one hand up to stroke her hair.

"Your hair is really long and impossibly silky, and you always have it perfectly styled in that off-center ponytail of yours." She looked into Weiss' eyes, only a few inches away from her own grey gaze.

"Your eyes are the purest blue I've ever seen, looking into them is like staring into the infinite sky." She noticed Weiss about to retort, and she quickly cut her partner off.

"And before you mention it, your scar only accentuates them. It gives your gaze both an intimidating intensity and a rugged kindness." She gently intertwined her legs with Weiss', who surprisingly offered no resistance.

"And your legs..." Ruby blushed slightly, but forced herself to continue. "They're long and slender for someone of your stature, and beautifully pale. I kinda wish that you'd wear shorter boots, just so I could see more of them...they're much prettier than mine..." By now her face matched her signature cloak, and the momentary burst of courage that came when she saw Weiss crying finally faded away, leaving her speechless.

Weiss was equally unable to talk, her mind slowly processing everything Ruby had just said. She had never considered what other people had thought of her appearance, only her own in comparison to everyone else. Fitting Ruby's lens over her own gaze changed everything. She was no longer Weiss Schnee, the heiress who absolutely had to be perfect at everything. She was just Weiss, a girl just like any other, whose 'imperfections' melded with her 'better' traits to create someone whose beauty was unique to them. She blinked away a few tears, a smile struggling its way across her face.

She met Ruby's gaze, silently letting her know that everything was alright. She felt her partner relax, showing no signs of wanting to move. Weiss briefly debated suggesting that they get up, to avoid Yang's teasing if nothing else, when the second part of Ruby's last sentence derailed her thoughts.

'They're much prettier than mine,' she said... Weiss thought to herself, glancing at Ruby. Does she have some insecurities as well? Knowing that the only way to learn was to ask, she tentatively slipped her arms around Ruby's waist in preparation for the question. If Ruby was going to bolt, Weiss wanted to have as a great a chance as possible at stopping her. Ruby mumbled something contentedly at the contact, snuggling a little closer to Weiss. Vigorously ignoring how cozy their position was, and how cute Ruby looked when her eyes were closed, Weiss popped the question.

"What was that about me having prettier legs?" Ruby instantly stiffened, and Weiss tightened her grip just in case.

"..." Ruby muttered something, her face going completely red again.

"What was that?" Weiss asked, unable to hear despite being only a few inches away.

"...I was hoping you hadn't heard that..." Ruby repeated, squirming a little to get comfortable in Weiss' stronger grip.

"I'm sorry, but I did" Weiss stated gently but firmly. "And I really want to know what you meant."

"Well, it's true..." Ruby weakly protested, trying and failing to make that once sentence seem logical. "Your legs are smooth, toned, perfectly proportioned, flawless..." she trailed off, burying her head in Weiss' shoulder so her face couldn't be seen.

While Ruby made herself comfortable, Weiss was struck with a sudden realization. Not once had Ruby shown her legs to anyone on the team. Her combat attire covered them with a pair of tights, and her pajamas included sweatpants. She even changed in the bathroom, while the rest of them were comfortable enough to change in each other's presence (with backs politely turned, of course). Now very curious as to why Ruby was so shy about her legs, Weiss relaxed her hold somewhat, setting one of her hands to work gently rubbing small circles on Ruby's back.

"Smoothness isn't that hard" Weiss said, feeling Ruby slowly relax in her arms. "It's all in the proper care. I can lend you some of my razors and moisturizer until we can take a trip into Vale to get some of your own. As for being toned, that just comes with exercise. I'm certain that yours are far more in shape than mine what with all the running you do. As for flawless... I guess that's just in the eye of the beholder, right?" Ruby slowly shook her head in Weiss' shoulder, mumbling something about being disgusting.

"Look at the person you're speaking to, Ruby" Weiss reminded her. Ruby pulled her head back and looked at Weiss, and the heiress was surprised to discover tears standing out in Ruby's eyes.

"My legs" she stated quite calmly and steadily, though with trepidation in her eyes. "Are disgusting."

"Don't make me throw your own advice back at you" Weiss threatened, unwilling to let Ruby see herself as ugly.

"I guess you need to see them, then..." Ruby muttered, slowly extricating herself from Weiss' embrace. She slipped her sweatpants off with ease and stood in front of Weiss, slowly turning around for emphasis.

Weiss held in a gasp, Ruby's legs were covered in scars. They were long and arranged in sets of three parallel lines each. Some had healed better than others, and puffy pink lines were interspersed with smooth white ones.

"What happened?" Weiss demanded, sitting up on the bed.

"I was five" Ruby replied, all emotion draining out of her voice. "Beowolves decided to crash my birthday party. Dad killed them all, but not before one nearly clawed me in half." She shrugged. "They're hideous, no need to deny it."

"No" Weiss was surprised at the amount of force she had put behind that one word, but forged ahead without regret. "No, they're not. They're part of you, just like your crimson highlights and muscular arms and your hair that sways every time you swing your weapon." Weiss had stood up and gripped Ruby by the arms, staring into her partner's disbelieving face.

"They're part of you like the rose petals that appear from your semblance and your optimism and your beautiful, wide, soulful grey eyes..." as Weiss trailed off, they both realized that Weiss had back Ruby up against a wall while she was ranting, and they blushed in sync at the intimacy of their position. Still, Weiss had started her rant, and she was going to finish it, embarrassment be damned.

"You just taught me that we're more than the sum of our parts" Weiss continued, her azure eyes locked with Ruby's grey ones. "So don't ever say that any part of you is hideous or disgusting. Your legs are part of you, they're part of your story. And that could never be hideous." The two girls continued to stare at each other for a minute, Weiss waiting for Ruby's reply, and Ruby trying to get her brain to formulate something, anything to say.

Finally giving up on words, Ruby threw her arms around Weiss shoulders and held her close, breathing deeply as she fought back the tears that her emotions threatened to spill. She had never heard words that had comforted her on that level before, not even from Yang. She had spent years building up a wall around her heart with regards to her scars, never wanting to experience the pain of that day again. It was why she had been so willing to help Weiss, to prevent the 'Ice Queen' from getting any colder, to share with Weiss advice that she was too afraid to take herself. Even as Weiss had thrown that same advice back in her face after accepting her own imperfections, she had thought that she could remain strong on her own, that the bastion she had built around her feelings would endure. She could now feel the last remnants of that lonely fortress crumbling away as Weiss reciprocated her embrace, warmth flooding through her being as the heiress reassured her through simple touch that she was there, that everything would be alright.

Weiss had wrapped her arms protectively around Ruby the merest of instants after Ruby had embraced her, trying to convey a sense of warmth and belonging. She could understand the depths of Ruby's feelings, she had been living with similar ones all her life, and she refused to let her happy-go-lucky leader suffer in silence like she had. Weiss knew that she had little to no experience playing the role of the comforting sister, but if it was for Ruby, she was more than willing to try. If she was honest with herself, she had admired Ruby almost since she had met her at Beacon for maintaining her cheerful attitude despite everything they faced. Ruby had been the one that helped her forget the horribly formal and restrictive world she had come from. For that alone, Weiss would have been willing to stand here, comforting her partner as she let out years of pent-up emotion. But now, especially now that Ruby had helped fix her own issues, she was willing to do whatever it took to get Ruby to see herself as she saw her: a fearless young leader, possessed of a simple courage and trust that the world would become a better place, if only she were to reach out and grasp it.

You're not alone... each thought about the other, snuggling into each other as they stood in a close embrace. And you never will be again...

Author's Note:
Hey guys! I sincerely hope that this came across as sweet towards the end, otherwise I'll take it back for some revamping. Also, to the Guest who reviewed ch5, your request for RoseArc will be coming up in the next chapter, I promise:) As always, if you have a story prompt or idea that you'd like to see, just drop me a review or PM. I always respond and I have the utmost respect for everyone's ideas. Have a great week guys:)