It was a beautiful Friday. The sun had yet to peek from the horizon, but its gentle light was just starting to turn the dark sky blue. The morning was perfectly still. Ruby took a deep breath of the crisp, chilly air, then slowly closed the window.

She had awoken at an even ungodlier hour than she was used to, but this time she had a good reason: retaking her exam. She even planned to skip checking Crescent Rose out of its locker so she could spend as much time as possible studying before the test. She hurriedly threw on her uniform, pulled on her gloves, brushed her teeth, and rushed out with her little backpack of study materials. She hadn't even bothered to brush her hair.

She sprinted through the halls to get her blood pumping, heavy boots clomping down the echoing halls before bursting into the library. The librarian shushed her, her tiny, thickly spectacled eyes fully behind a book in a language Ruby didn't recognize. She slowed her pace, finding a single table in a secluded corner before dumping the contents of her pack. A small box containing her notecards, a textbook, and a bag of writing supplies all thumped on the table, earning another shush from across the library. Ruby cringed and sank into her seat, sheepishly giving apologetic looks to her few early-rising peers.

She looked out at her materials and cracked her knuckles, then her neck, then her back. Right. Ready to go. Oh! She reached back down and unclipped the water bottle from the side of her bag, then gently set it on the table. Okay. Perfect. Everything was…

Ruby looked over her shoulder. Something was wrong.

There was an odd energy in the air. Anxiety bloomed in her chest. Not for her test, but… something. She looked out over the library, scanning her fellow patrons. Velvet was reclined in a beanbag and buried in a book, her partner Coco conked out and stretched backwards over a neighboring beanbag, her signature sunglasses so crooked they were on the verge of falling off her face. Ruby winced, imagining the back pain sure to come her way.

A few more students sat around a small round table, each taking notes while one spoke over a small book. A ginger student sat against a bookcase, reading alone, and another couple of students, with green and silver hair respectively, were having what seemed to be a pretty heated conversation. Ruby couldn't hear their voices, but it seemed pretty intense judging by the green one's deep scowl and the silver guy's wild gesticulations.

All in all, nothing unusual. Ruby patted herself down. Scroll, check, backup pen, check, cloak, check. All accounted for, save for the lack of weight at her hip with Crescent Rose left in her locker. That must be it, surely. What good Huntress wouldn't feel complete without her weapon? Ruby chuckled, less because the thought was humorous and more to ground her.

Ruby sighed, trying to convince herself that she was just anxious about her test and not having her weapon was throwing her off. She pulled out her notecards. Weird feelings or not, she had to study.

Weiss flinched as Ruby's head made an audible thump against the wooden desk. Thankfully, Port was so lost in his own story that he didn't seem to notice.

Weiss tried not to look over at her partner as she took an impromptu nap, but she couldn't keep her eyes from drifting Ruby's way. She must've gotten up extremely early, probably before classes even started. But why? She did seem a little downtrodden lately, especially since they'd gotten their grades back from Oobleck's exam. Did she have to retake it? Why hadn't she told her?

Weiss cringed, realizing the answer to her own question. She'd been giving her own partner the cold shoulder for more than a week, now. No wonder she hadn't told her.

She sighed, chest twisting as she thought of her. They hadn't talked since what happened during her calibration session, which she was both grateful for and anguished over. She hated to keep Ruby at a distance, but she was more scared of having another attack and driving her away forever. She could barely even look at her without thinking about it. At least now she was asleep, Weiss couldn't see the glinting silver, bla— Weiss shook herself, forcing her eyes away from Ruby. She needed to figure out what was wrong with her. She pined for her partner, torn between fearing her and yearning to be near her like they used to be, and having a connection to her very soul only made it worse. Dust, she sounded like one of Blake's novels.

Ruby stirred, getting Weiss' attention again. Her eyes scrunched up and her lips pulled tight. Anxiety skittered across the bond. Weiss' own chest tightened. Why was she anxious?

Weiss looked around the room. Port was gesticulating wildly as he orated some kind of long-winded encounter with a Grimm, his booming voice filling the room but completely bouncing off of every student's ears. Jaune sat with Pyrrha in the row in front of and slightly below them, giving Weiss a perfect view of the latter's hand slowly crossing under the desk and wrapping her pinky around Jaune's, who jumped at the contact. Weiss' eyebrows shot to her forehead, and she could see Blake smiling at the exchange in her peripheral.

Nora snored boldly next to them, her head propped up against Ren's shoulder, eyes drawn over her eyelids in black marker.

Across the center aisle, CRDL were chatting under their breath. Another student, a transfer, judging by the uniform and unfamiliar silver hair, slept with his hand curled under his chin.

Nothing unusual. Why was Ruby so anxious? She looked over at her partner again, but jumped when she saw her eyes were open. Her silver eyes, open just enough to pierce through Weiss' soul.

Weiss set her jaw and looked forward before she could get lost in Ruby's eyes, and not in a good way.

She heard scrawling next to her, then a little slip of paper slid her direction.

'You feel it too?' It read in her partner's subpar handwriting.

Weiss looked down at Port, who was still locked in his story, before nodding and writing 'What's wrong?' on the slip. She slid it back to Ruby, who read it and just shrugged. Weiss went back to pretending to listen to their professor.

After a long time, she heard more pencil scratching before a new, slightly longer piece of paper slid her way.

'I'm sorry for what happened. I don't know if there's anything I can do for you, but I care for you and I want you to know I'm here.'

Weiss frowned as she read the note. Of course she knew Ruby was there for her. She'd known that for a long time. That wasn't the problem. She closed her eyes and sighed, but didn't take the note.

Ruby took it back and wrote something else. Port made a loud exclamation, some kind of onomatopoeia, making both of them jump before Ruby passed it over again.

'You're pretty.'

Weiss rolled her eyes, but had to turn away when she felt her face heat up.

Another paper slid across. Weiss blindly snatched it, unwilling to let her partner see her red face. She could feel emotions waltzing across their connection. Determination, joy, relief, tinged blue with regret and shame. She felt skittering anxiety, too, nestled somewhere almost out of sight.

'I really like you, Weiss, and not in a friendly way. I know you like me too. So it's okay if you take your time, I'll wait as long as you need. You're worth the wait.'

Weiss felt her blush double as she thrust the paper back to Ruby. Much as she tried to hide it, she knew her partner could tell. Adoration leapt over their bond like a familiar corgi.

The rest of class went as usual, at least Weiss would assume. She paid no attention to Port, even after he stopped pontificating, her thoughts fully consumed by her partner. Her mere presence weighed on her Aura. Weiss wanted to look. She needed to look at her partner, but she rigidly kept her eyes away. She knew what would happen. Their eyes would meet, she would see that silver gleam, and she would have a complete traumatic breakdown in the middle of class. She couldn't. Not now.

She kept her eyes away. Her eyes couldn't move. She wouldn't look. She needed to. She had to physically turn her body away.

This wasn't working. It had barely been more than a week since she tried distancing herself from her partner, and it was absolutely killing her. It felt like a part of her was missing, something that hurt much worse than her arm, and it gnawed at her mind every minute of every day. And for all of it, she wasn't getting any better. Her grades were slipping, perfect A+s turning to high As and a B. She could scarcely sleep, every dream turning into a nightmare of blood red and gleaming silver, and her concealer could only do so much for the darkening bags under her eyes. She'd even excused herself from her last combat class, the mere idea of seeing Crescent Rose making her stomach twist. She'd claimed phantom limb pain that day. Qrow did not look convinced.

Something had to change.

When the bell finally dismissed class, she grabbed Ruby's sleeve, stopping her. Ruby looked her way, then sat back down. Weiss pulled out her Scroll and typed a message as quick as she could with one hand, 'Meet me in the library after class.'

Ruby nodded as she read the text on her Scroll, then gave Weiss a smile before leaving for her next period. Weiss didn't meet her gaze, and hurried to leave when she was sure Ruby was far enough down the hallway.

Blake helped carry her supplies since they had the next class, Advanced Dust Theory, together. They walked mostly in silence, until Blake cleared her throat.

"Weiss?" Blake asked.

Weiss hummed in reply as she adjusted her shoulder cape, straightening out the bunches that had gathered under the strap of her book bag.

"What's up with you and Ruby?"

Weiss groaned internally. She'd really been hoping her teammates would continue to leave their relationship unquestioned. "What do you mean?"

Blake raised an eyebrow, challenging Weiss' feigned ignorance. "You guys haven't talked since your prosthetic thing, and you completely stormed out on us. It seemed pretty serious, at least the way Ruby put it, but you've been getting more distant from all of us."

Weiss looked over at her. "What did Ruby say?"

"Well, I remember she had gone to study for her test with Yang while I hung back to watch you. She was gone for a while, but then burst through the door, vomited, and asked what was wrong with you." Blake said nonchalantly, then added, "I didn't even see her run past me."

Weiss came to a full stop, shock on her face. "She was hurt? She vomited? What happened?"

Blake gave her a look, a look Weiss was familiar with. She readied herself for the verbal blow. "You haven't asked?"

Weiss tried not to recoil. She hadn't even given Ruby a good look before rushing off that day. How could she have missed the vomit all over the floor?

"You didn't even notice?" Blade read her like an open book. Weiss couldn't stop herself from flushing red.

"I… I couldn't look at her." She mumbled, ashamed. "I still can't."

Blake's look changed to sympathy. "Why not?"

Weiss opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. Her next words were careful. "There's something wrong with me. When I was visualizing… it was like everything that happened with my arm happened again."

"And what did happen with your arm?" Blake asked, with an almost accusatory undertone.

"Look, I just don't want you all to… worry. About me, or about…" she cut herself off before she could potentially implicate her partner, then tried to avoid the topic by continuing forward.

Blake held an arm out, stopping her in the middle of the hallway.

"Blake, what are you doing? Glynda will kill us if we're late."

Blake glared at her. "You lost your arm, Weiss. Yang and I both saw you in that forest. You never told us what happened, but we were happy to wait until you felt comfortable talking about it. But I'm done waiting. Something is wrong, and you're not letting anybody help you."

Weiss bit her lip, anxiety building up in her chest. "I… Ruby and I were on patrol that day. I pulled her into the forest to… talk about some things."

Blake squinted. "What things?"

Weiss grit her teeth. "That is between me and Ruby. But, we got to talking about…" Weiss looked around the corridor. The hallway was empty, meaning they were most likely late. Weiss pulled them to the edge of the hall anyways, tucking the both of them in a quiet stairwell. "Us. And she was… I said some things that I didn't mean to." Weiss looked down at her feet, ashamed. "I really hurt her feelings."

"I really hope you're not about to say she cut your arm off because you won't date her." Blake remarked, deadpan.

Weiss panicked and hushed her, wide eyes looking around the empty hallway. "Dust, Blake!" She hissed, "Don't say that!"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"No! No, she… something happened in her head. I don't know, it was like something in her broke, and when the Grimm attacked us…" she continued in a whisper, "she tore them apart. I've never seen her fight like it before— she was just throwing herself around like a lunatic! I tried to help, but…" Weiss winced as soreness flared where her arm used to be, "I got in the way."

"Gods, Weiss, she—"

Weiss held a hand up, "It's not her fault! She couldn't control herself… I think something is really wrong with her."

Blake gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"When she…" she let the unsaid words hang, "I saw her eyes. They were mostly normal, but I could see something else. They were turning red, like Yang's do."

Blake's eyebrows shot to her forehead. "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"I told her uncle and he freaked out. He said he would talk to their dad."

Blake seemed worried, but remained silent for a while, then started walking to their class once more. "Okay. Thank you for telling me, Weiss. I'm sorry I made you."

Weiss sighed. "No, it's… okay. I needed to talk about it. Thank you."

Blake nodded and let a few moments pass before piping up again. "What happened with the visualization?"

"I'm not sure, I think the memories had been repressed, and I accidentally released them when I was visualizing."

Blake hummed. "That's why you're avoiding her."

"Well I don't want to—" she shut her mouth preemptively as they arrived at their class. Blake pushed the door open, Weiss following sheepishly behind her.

Glynda looked up from her desk, her eyes sharp. "Ah, you've finally decided to show up. And why would you find it appropriate to show up to my class this late?"

Weiss was ready to grovel before the professor for forgiveness, but Blake cut in with stoic confidence. "She needed help in the restroom."

Weiss sputtered and went bright red, but Goodwitch huffed in response. "Fine," she acquiesced, "I can't begrudge your accommodations. Take a seat."

Blake nodded in thanks and pulled Weiss along to their seats. Glynda began the lesson immediately, her pace quick to make up for lost time. Weiss struggled to take notes. At least it was her last class of the day.

Ruby chewed the end of her pen, her leg bouncing vigorously. She had been dismissed from her last period, Advanced Mechanism Engineering, after finishing her project early. She'd done it in a blur, the pieces coming together so quickly she had been shocked that they actually worked. Even the professor, an older lady with dark skin and a wispy poof ash-colored hair, had gone slack-jawed when she turned it in.

The crushing silence of the library had been tormenting her for almost half an hour. She nervously checked her Scroll, knowing perfectly well that Weiss was not the kind of person to send an OMW text.

Nothing. Of course not. Why would she? She said she was coming. So why wasn't she here yet? Ruby checked her Scroll again. 4:33 PM. How long does it take to walk from Weiss' class to the library? Ruby's fingers incessantly drummed on the table. Maybe she should try probing the bond? No. No, no, not again. Not until they got things figured out. It wouldn't be right, and she wasn't even sure how well she could do it from her end. But maybe just a peek…

"Ru—" a voice, pitch higher than usual before clearing their throat, "Ruby."

Ruby whirled around, a wave of relief washing over her. Weiss stood a few feet from Ruby, half-cape draped over the empty sleeve of her school blazer, Myrtenaster snug in the frog at her hip, white hair draping just past her shoulders, as resplendent as she had ever seen. Ruby gulped, her earlier confidence now absent.

"Hi, Weiss." She could feel heat rising in her cheeks. Why was she blushing? She'd been so cool just a second ago! They were just gonna talk!

Weiss walked around the table and sat across from her partner. Her eyes were cast low, but the bond was too fuzzy from her end to gauge her emotions without delving in.

Ruby leaned as far over the table as she could without getting out of her chair. "So…" Ruby probed, watching as Weiss' hands started to shake. The heiress bit her lip. Dust, how badly she wanted to hug her.

Weiss looked everywhere but Ruby. The words she had so carefully been lining up in her head suddenly crashed against a wall of apprehension. "Ruby… something happened," she managed to force out.

Ruby nodded.

"When you… with my… arm…" she lifted her shorn limb, the action mostly hidden under her half-cape. "I think… it might have… affected me more than I have been letting on."

Ruby nodded slowly, but kept her mouth shut. Weiss could feel her shame floating over their bond like tepid sea foam, but Ruby kept her expression from souring.

"When I was visualizing my Aura, there was this… pit. I had to push myself to get there, it was like my subconscious was trying to keep me from seeing it, but when I did…" her voice went quiet, and Ruby couldn't hear what she said.

"What?" Ruby urged, leaning forward.

Weiss looked around nervously. Anxiety was building in her chest, she got her words out quickly before she could lock up. "I started bleeding. And I heard screaming, but it was my screaming, from when you—" she started breathing too fast, so she stopped and took a few moments to collect herself before continuing. "When you cut my arm off."

Ruby winced, her cheeks blooming red with shame as she averted her gaze.

"I heard it, and I saw the pit was filling with blood. So much blood." She shivered. "After a while it started to run over the pit, then it started to chase me."

"The blood was chasing you?"

Weiss nodded, ignoring how ridiculous it sounded aloud. "Yes. I ran, but it was so fast. It caught up to me, but I managed to find somewhere safe."

"And that's when you woke up?"

"Let me finish." Weiss bit out, harsher than she meant. She mumbled an apology when she saw Ruby wince, then continued. "I think… I think it was your part of my Aura that I found. It was a rose bush, very distinct from the rest of my Aura."

"So what happened?"

Weiss took another moment to compose herself before continuing. "I had crawled in the rose bush—"

"Ouch."

"Ruby." The interrupting girl clamped her mouth shut. "It did hurt, but at least it was safe from the blood… thing. It wrapped me up like a cocoon, keeping me safe until…" Weiss felt herself panicking, the image of a viscous, blood-red Ruby still shockingly clear in her mind. "It turned into you, with your scythe."

"The blood turned into me?"

Weiss nodded. "And it tried to kill me."

Ruby's eyes went wide, and she sputtered like a hundred things tried to escape her mouth at once, none of them being coherent.

Weiss slumped in her chair, mentally exhausted as she recounted the events.

"So… how did you beat it?" Ruby asked after a charged stretch of silence.

Weiss frowned. "I didn't. That's when I woke up."

Guilt and shame trudged over their bond in tandem. Ruby fell back into her chair, her eyes cast to the ground. "Oh," was all she managed.

Silence hung over them like a sword on a string.

"I…" Ruby's voice wasn't more than a whisper, "I tried to help you. I tried to do… something with our thing but… I got shut out."

Weiss' eyebrows rose, the awful feeling in her chest suddenly overcome by curiosity. Shut out? "You tried to help?"

"Well, yeah!" Ruby said, a little louder than what was appropriate for the library, "Of course I did, I could feel you panicking and it was like you were clinging onto my Aura." Ruby rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "But, uh, I guess you were."

Weiss frowned, suddenly feeling guilty. "Are you okay?" She asked, still not matching Ruby's eyes.

Ruby grew suddenly nervous and began tugging at the wrists of her gloves. "Yeah, uh, of course I am. I'm not the one who got hurt, don't worry about me."

Weiss frowned when she noticed the gloves. A question for later. "I heard about what happened in the examination room, when did you hurt yourself?" Weiss asked, tone slightly accusatory.

Ruby dismissed the question with waving hands and a scoff. "I get hurt all the time, Weiss, better me than someone else. Plus, I had to get to you! I could feel that you were in danger."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, finally looking over at her partner for the first time. She just wanted to give her a quick look, something to show her doubt, but she couldn't help herself from looking Ruby straight in the eyes. Weiss' breath hitched, anticipating an attack, but… nothing came. Perhaps it was the warm, slightly dimmed lighting of the library, but her eyes were less of a gleaming silver and more of a gunmetal grey. She stared for a long moment, the feeling of matching gazes with her partner so refreshing that she didn't even notice the red flag Ruby had hoisted with that earlier statement.

Weiss composed herself, but didn't break eye contact with her partner. "Ruby," the girl in question sank at her demanding, inquisitive tone "What happened."

Ruby bit her lip. "Well, I was studying with Yang…"

Weiss gave her a withering look. "Studying?"

Ruby's gloved hands shot up. "We were! For a bit…"

The heiress frowned, interrogative stare urging her partner on.

"Then we decided to… uh… take a break and… have a spar." Ruby shrank into herself with each word.

Weiss' frown deepened. She grit her teeth, hot anger rising in her chest. What kind of sister would hurt—

"No, it wasn't like that!" Ruby rushed, leaning back over the table and splaying her hands out defensively. She must've seen Weiss' expression souring.

"Then how did you get hurt?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised but fury temporarily abated.

"Well, Yang and I were sparring and it was getting super intense, but I could feel you over the bond, kinda like you were touching it or grabbing it, but it's really hard for me to feel it from my end and Yang was going all out so I just kept fighting—" she took a gulp of air, "And totally got whooped, that's when I felt you again. You were clinging to my aura, you were terrified, and you were in danger. I couldn't just lay down and wait for you to be okay, I had to get to you." Ruby leaned forward, hands gripped and expression intense as she spoke. "So I rushed out of the pit— I had to be fast to reach you since I was, like, halfway across the school— but sparring with Yang really drained my Aura, but I had to use it to dodge stuff with my Semblance, and then Nora came out of nowhere and I tried to dodge her but my Semblance kinda pooped out right in the middle of it and I fell really hard, I think I even got a concussion. At least, that's what Jaune said."

Weiss let Ruby catch her breath after that ramble before inquiring, "Jaune?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah! Jaune was there and he fixed me right up!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you had a concussion."

"Pfft," Ruby sprayed, waving her hands defensively, "It's fine, I'm fine! Jaune gave me an Aura boost and I was right outta there!"

Weiss blinked, dumbfounded. "And he just let you go?"

"Well, no, they tried to hold me down, but I got out easily! Their holds were nothin' compared to Yang's!" She said, chest out with pride.

Weiss couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you trying to get brain damage?"

Ruby looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"After breaking away from them, I assume you sprinted across the school?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Using up what little Aura you had left after Jaune boosted you to be as fast as possible instead of healing?"

"Of course, I had to get to you." Ruby insisted, folding her arms in front of herself.

"And then you vomited everywhere." Weiss stated matter-of-factly.

Ruby cringed. "W-well, I—"

Weiss got up from her side of the table, interrupting Ruby. She stepped slowly around the table, then sat in the chair next to Ruby.

Weiss didn't say anything, but she got very close to her partner. She looked around her face, her head, and closely inspected her eyes. After casting a glance over her shoulder, she slowly raised her left hand and placed it on Ruby's head.

Ruby's eyes were like saucers, her face was as red as Weiss had ever seen it, but she didn't seem opposed, so Weiss felt around her head, gently patting down the soft hair. She reasoned it was to check for any bumps, bruises, or pain after her partner's head injury, but she knew well enough that her Aura would've healed her by now. Even concussions could heal within a few days.

Really, it was just an excuse to touch her without being tormented by her own memories, and it was blissful.

Weiss slipped her fingers into the soft, messy hair, but Ruby gently grabbed her wrist. "Weiss," the heiress looked down at her partner. Dust, she looked like she was about to have a coronary. "Weiss, we're in public." She whispered, looking at Weiss like she had lost her mind.

Weiss sighed. She was right. She let her hand drop, Ruby's fingers still around her wrist.

"I…" Weiss started, her voice unsteady, "I do also… like… you."

Ruby nodded slowly, trying her best to suppress an outburst of joy. She knew that a 'but' was coming.

"But I'm terrified of you." Weiss finished.

A cold weight dropped in Ruby's stomach. She knew it would be bad. "O-okay," she mumbled, barely holding back tears.

Weiss looked down at her hands. Ruby's fingers slowly unwrapped from her wrist, her arms wrapping around her own waist. "Please, Ruby, believe me, I want to be with you but…"

"But you're scared." Ruby finished, voice cracking on the last word.

Weiss nodded. "How are we even supposed to fight together? I can't even look you in the eyes!"

Ruby looked away, but Weiss could feel something rising in their bond. She lifted her head high after a deep inhale, her voice suddenly sure. "I can accommodate you. However you need. I can try, Weiss." She leaned forward, a spark behind her eyes. "Please let me try."

"I-I don't—" she stammered, taken aback by her partner's newfound determination, "I don't even know what I need."

Ruby bit her lip. "You can find out. We can find out." She looked around, glad to see nobody was staring at them. "I mean, there's a counselor for a reason."

Weiss recoiled, instinctively repulsed by the idea. She opened her mouth to oppose it, but Ruby interrupted her.

"You're not about to tell me you don't need therapy, are you? Because that's exactly the kind of thing people who need therapy the most say." Ruby attested with a firm gaze. "You want this to happen. I want this to happen. I'm willing to try. You need to try, too."

Weiss gulped. Ruby knew her too well. "But if my fa—"

Ruby's eyes suddenly sharpened, a surge of frustration boiling over the bond. "Who cares! Your dad is a loser!" She whispered as loud as she could without getting kicked out of the library, "He doesn't give a crap! If he cared so much about you, you probably wouldn't be here! If he really had eyes everywhere, he would've known about the accident and had you shipped back to Atlas before you knew it!" She hissed, her arms stretched out for emphasis.

Weiss' eyes went wide as she stared slack-jawed at her partner. She felt an odd feeling in her chest and throat, and tears pricked at her eyes. Ruby saw her expression and shrank back into her chair.

They stayed in uncomfortable silence for a while, guilt slowly building and pulling down the bond from Ruby's end. She wrapped her arms around herself again. "I'm sorry." Ruby mumbled, eyes cast down. "I'm just… fed up. I'm mad that we don't talk like we used to, that we don't…" her hands came up as she fumbled for words, "spend time together… like we used to. Even just as friends. It's so complicated now."

Weiss stared at her feet, ashamed that she ruined their friendship. "I'm sorry."

Ruby shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"It is, though," Weiss insisted, "I'm the one that… started everything. I ruined our friendship when I went too far." They both blushed, the memory of Weiss kissing Ruby's scars had been dormant for a while, especially with everything happening since.

"You didn't ruin our friendship," Ruby mumbled, but she barely sounded convinced of herself.

"I did, Ruby. And I almost fixed it, but I made a stupid, stupid mistake." She crossed her arm over herself, holding the stump of the other arm as a wave of dull pain briefly surged. "I was scared. I am scared. I don't want to go back to Atlas. I don't want to be an outcast in my own home. I don't want to make my father take me from here. This is where I'm happy." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "happier, at least."

Ruby bit her lip, then leaned forward, scooting her chair up a bit so she could lay a gloved hand on Weiss' knee. Weiss looked up at her partner, eyes watering. "I won't let them take you."

Weiss scoffed, a smile threatening her lips. "You think you could stop them?"

Ruby leaned back and crossed her arms, her eyes hard again. "I know they can't stop me. Especially when you're on the line."

Weiss' eyebrows shot to her forehead, taken aback by Ruby's newfound confidence. She probed their bon—

"Please don't do that right now," Ruby asked, her voice still hard, "I'm trying really hard not to cry."

Weiss blinked. Ruby held her gaze, her expression as hard as iron.

After a moment, a snort ripped out of her nose, completely unbidden, and before she knew it, she was hiding her face behind her hand, laughing. She couldn't stop herself as she doubled over with laughter, her hand doing very little to suppress the noise in the otherwise silent library.

Ruby relaxed, and a smile cracked across her face. She, too, laughed. They ignored the multitude of shushes from around the library as their cackles split the silence, unable to stop themselves as tears started streaming out of both their eyes. After a long while, their mirth finally petered out, leaving them both gasping for breath.

They finally matched each other's gazes, a maelstrom of emotions swirling across their bond as a question rose in both their heads.

What if it all went well?

They held the silence as it grew between them, this time bringing comfort rather than—

Ruby's eyebrows suddenly furrowed. Anxiety shot across the bond. A couple of students across the library, green and silver hair, respectively, got up and hastily made their way to the exit.

The air conditioning kicked to life, heralded by a shuddering, humming noise.

An odd smell filled the room. The air sparkled.

Weiss' Scroll buzzed. Ruby's Scroll buzzed. An awful, grating alarm sound came from every Scroll in the library, followed by the library's own alarm bells blazing to life.

A voice, Headmaster Ozpin's voice, crackled out of the intercom.

"Attention students!" He shouted, the volume of the intercom making everyone wince. "Evacuate now! This is not a drill! Drop everything and evacuate Beacon Academy! Do not—"

Weiss felt a surge of heat, her world slowing to a crawl as light bloomed behind her.

Red enveloped her vision completely.