As she walked to class with her teammates, she spotted Ozpin going down an adjacent hall, and called out to him. But he only responded with a curt "Good morning," not even stopping on his way. At lunch the next day she tried again, but he said he was very busy, and didn't even look at her. In the afternoon she asked about him in the teacher's lounge, but they said he was out. She once tried to corner him in the library, but he only reminded her that you're not meant to talk in the library, and promptly left. She even went directly to his office one evening, but he never answered the knock on the door.

He's avoiding me like the plague. She pouted, stabbing at her spaghetti. It wasn't fair. He should at least give her a chance. Give us a chance. That was the conclusion she had come to, over the past couple of days. She didn't even know if anything would come of it, or if he was right that ignoring their tattoos was for the best. But if destiny thought they should be together, who were they to deny it? Other people might be able to do it, but it just seemed wrong to her. Following wherever life and chance took her seemed to work out pretty well so far, and she wasn't about to stop, especially over something as honest and eternal as love.

One night, she tossed and turned, head buzzing. She beat her pillow, and removed a stowaway pencil that had hidden itself in the sheets, but she just couldn't get comfortable. As the time on her clock ticked out 6:53, she sat up with a sigh. She rubbed at her tired, baggy eyes, and moved down to the ground. The others still slept as Ruby tip-toed around the room. With only a gray light from outside to see by, she dressed, and left her dorm.

She stepped out of the building into the pre-dawn chill, shivering when an arctic wind rushed to greet her, rustling the yellow and green leaves in the trees. She picked a random path within Beacon's expansive courtyard, and walked along it. All was silent, the occasional bird or squirrel peering out at her from the shrubbery. She studied the brick patterns of the walkways, all so orderly and precise as she went over them. The sky above was faint shades of pink and gray and purple, a deep orange just starting to peek beyond the horizon. There was only the dew on the grass to witness her passing, her image reflected in the droplets.

Eventually she looked up, and paused for a moment. Just ahead, she could see that she had reached one of the fountains on Beacon. And sitting on a bench in front of it, his back to her, watching the water, was Professor Ozpin. Clark Ozpin. She hesitated, then set her jaw, and continued forward. "Good morning, Ozpin," she stated.

He turned at her voice. "Oh, good morning, Miss Rose." Why did he have to call her that? "What are you doing up and about?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk." She approached, and saw his legs shift, feet bracing themselves. "Don't run away again." He'd just started to lean into the movement with his cane. "I want to talk with you."

He watched her for a moment, then settled back into his seat. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

She sat down next to him. "I don't like how our last talk ended. You didn't really let me say what I wanted. And I've had some time to think it all over." She twiddled her thumbs, and looked away to the fountain. "Even though it surprised me, to learn that we're soulmates... I don't really think that's a bad thing. I'm pretty open-minded about it, in fact, and I think we could have a good relationship, if we tried." She scuffed the toe of her boot into the ground. "It just doesn't make much sense to me, you know? To ignore our tattoos, a part of ourselves."

His eyes were trained on a pebble sitting near the edge of the fountain. His fingers drummed the back of his hand, both of which rested on the head of his cane. "Why can't we be just friends?"

"But you won't even be that to me!" She looked up, rounding on him. "You keep avoiding and ignoring me! Even now you won't look at me!" He glanced at her. "What kind of friends don't even talk to each other?" He didn't answer, and she took a breath. "Besides... I don't want to be 'just friends' with my soulmate." She touched his arm, and finally he was looking at her, really looking. "Please? Can't you give this – give me – a chance? All I'm asking for is one chance to see if we can make this work."

He held her gaze, dark brown pools fathomless, like murky lake water. Then, he leaned in. Her eyes widened, but she didn't move. His lips brushed against hers, gentle and tender. Her eyes fluttered shut, but his remained open, studying, watching. When they broke away, she opened her eyes again to see him staring intently at her. "Are you absolutely sure?" he asked.

She nodded, rolling her lips. "Yes, I'm sure." And then his expression changed in the strangest way. He suddenly looked annoyed, brows furrowing.

He turned his gaze away, and stood. "Very well." He wasn't looking at her again. "Since you insist, we can... give this a chance. Just remember, you are free to end this whenever you wish, for whatever reason, or for no reason at all, if you like."

"Um, okay?" She shifted in her seat.

He tapped the end of his cane against the ground. "I had made plans to see Technicolor at the cinema this evening. Would you care to accompany me?"

She furrowed her brows. "Technicolor? Isn't that, like, the musical that came out recently?"

"The same." He looked back at her over his shoulder. "But if you dislike musicals, we can watch something else."

"Oh no, I don't dislike them." She raised her hands defensively. "I guess I just didn't think you would be into them."

He looked away again. "The movie plays at 6:45 PM. I'll forward further details to your scroll."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

He nodded. "And one more thing, Miss Rose."

"Ruby, and yes?"

"I ask that you not mention this to any of your friends, or anybody else, for that matter. Not that we're soulmates, not that we're dating, nothing. This is to remain between you and me, strictly and completely."

She looked down. "Right. Of course."

"Till tonight, then." He walked off without so much as a backwards glance. She watched him go, and it wasn't until he was out of sight that she got to her feet, and made her way back to the dormitories. In her room, her team was awake and getting ready to go.

"Hey Ruby, where were you?" Yang asked, buttoning up her shirt.

"I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk," she told them, and went to the wardrobe to change into her uniform. It would be easy to miss, if you weren't paying attention. But as she got dressed, the corners of her mouth were ever so slightly turned up.

Ozpin reached the teacher's lounge, where some people had already gathered and were readying themselves for the day. Glynda sat at the table, bent over some documents, while Peter seemed to be enjoying a cheesy croissant for breakfast. Or second breakfast. Ozpin strode for the old machine on the counter, getting himself a mug of hot chocolate. "Good morning, Professor Ozpin," Glynda greeted, looking up. "Professor Ozpin!" She jumped to her feet, the chair falling to the ground behind her as he poured the contents of a small silver flask into his morning cocoa.

"I'm having a bad week," he explained.