Please just Go. Away! Blake growled at the cracks of dawn streaming into her dreary eyes. Why even is the sun? It means I have to get up and do things, and it's so bright, and it… smells nice? Her eyes shot fully open as her brain caught up with where she was. The morning sun was being filtered through the tousled mop of blonde hair flowing over the pillow next to her, making it glow gold. Blake smiled, inhaling deeply the scent of wildflower honey as she pressed herself into the form next to her.
My beautiful, fierce girlfriend's hair! Yang, who I'm snuggling in bed with right now. Like I get to do every day. Her little spoon was like a human space heater, and Blake sighed contentedly at how all that warmth filled the blankets over them so that only the tips of her ears experienced the morning chill. The larger woman's belly rose and fell under Blake's arm with each deep-sleeping breath she took, and the lithe faunus closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to Yang's shoulder to listen to her heart beat.
That, of course, was the cue for Yang to snort an ear-wrenching snore. Blake buried her face in their pillow to try and suppress her giggling as her girlfriend rolled in her arms.
"No Ruby… you can't have… all the pancakes!" the big blonde groused in her sleep. Blake smiled and shook her head. Yang could sleep through absolutely anything and was always a late riser, and as much as she wanted to stay entwined under the covers with her forever, Team RWBY had big plans for today. Giving her a peck on the forehead, Blake slid out from under the blankets. Her bare skin prickled as the cold air immediately assaulted her, and she hugged her shivering torso as she looked around the girls' room for wherever they had tossed their nightshirts the previous evening. Finding Yang's first, she quickly shimmied into the garment. It was oversized on her and bore the logo of a sports team she'd never heard of, but the scent of her girlfriend on it made it cozy. Sliding her feet into her fuzzy bunny slippers, Blake smiled again at Yang's sleeping form and slipped out their bedroom door into the house that RWBY all shared.
Catlike sneakiness on high to avoid waking anyone up, Blake padded across the kitchen floor and began shuffling around the remains of last night's pizza dinner so she could get to the coffee machine. The sound of stale leftover pizza sliding around in its box made her wince; Ruby had ensured they'd never had leftover pizza, or leftover anything really, back before everything happened. Back before the fall of Atlas and the desperate struggle for Remnant's survival that had followed, one that team RWBY had played the central role in. Sure, they'd all suffered scars, but their leader had been hit the hardest by far. Blake glanced across the lounge to the room that Ruby & Weiss shared. The door was cracked and the pale glow of a night light was shining out.
Weiss must be up with Ruby again.
She sighed and fished one of the Schnee woman's china coffee cups, eggshell blue with a delicate silver inlay, out of the cupboard and set it besides her own favorite mug, a novelty one with "Talk to the Paws" scrawled on it. Yang had given it to her, and while she'd groaned at the cat joke, she treasured the gift. It was quite the contrast to what Weiss had said was "probably one of the last pieces of the Schnee family china to survive Atlas".
There was a time I'd have smashed this on principle, Blake thought as she ran a finger over the floral patterns on Weiss's cup. It had a few chips in it and some of the inlay was falling out, but she thought it looked more beautiful for all the regular use it'd seen as part of the girls' memories than it could possibly have preserved in a cabinet somewhere. Even if that cabinet hadn't been smashed to bits when Atlas dropped to the earth. Who'd have every guessed that a former White Fang terrorist would be making coffee for her best friend, a Schnee family heiress? The smell of the dark roast warmed her nostrils as she poured two cups; black for her, and a dollop of cream & drop of lavender for Weiss. Taking the steaming cups, Blake walked across the living room and peaked through the door into Ruby & Weiss's bedroom.
Weiss looked up from where Ruby's distraught face lay in her lap to see Blake entering the room. The visibility of two coffee cups brought a strained smile to her face as her teammate came up to where they were sitting on the top bunk, and Weiss gratefully accepted the proffered beverage. Blake took over gently stroking Ruby's hair, whispering soft, comforting noises as the girl trembled and groaned in her fitful sleep.
"Another nightmare?" she mouthed quietly.
Weiss's loose hair tumbled in a white cascade over her shoulders as she nodded. "Second one tonight". She took a deep sip of coffee, the warm liquid soothing the exhaustion in her body from spending most of the night awake trying to comfort Ruby. I can't remember the last time I got a full night's sleep. I'm so tired. But the thought of *not* doing everything she could to comfort her best friend didn't even cross her mind.
Blake sighed as her ears dropped sadly. "Here, let me take her for a bit. Let you try and get a little rest before the day starts."
The Schnee girl slipped carefully out from under Ruby's head and dropped to the floor. "I think I'm awake for good now, but maybe you can ease her out of her nightmare? You're really good at that."
Blake smiled ruefully and set her coffee down on the nightstand. "Kitty powers activate" she jested as she slipped up onto the top bed next to Ruby, tucking her blanket snuggly around the restless young woman before enveloping her in a hug. Weiss could hear the deep rumble of Blake starting to purr even as she softly padded out of the bedroom.
A Schnee, jealous of a faunus! She laughed to herself. My father would be furious. Good. At least some things are changing for the better.
That "some things" still hung heavy on her heart though, and Weiss quickly threw herself into tidying up the kitchen in order to keep Ruby's state at the edge of her mind. She was so violently stuffing pizza boxes into the trash that she didn't notice Blake had joined her until a hand came to rest softly on her shoulder.
"You don't have to do that right now, you know" the faunus spoke gently behind her.
Weiss sighed and rested her head against the wall. "It's something I can fix, at least."
Blake's hand on her shoulder turned into a hug, and Weiss allowed herself to lean back into her friend's warmth and strength. Clasping Blake's hands to her chest, she visualized forcing her pain into a little bundle, away from where it was threatening to explode as tears and sobs, and swallowed it.
She carried us for so long. You can keep being strong for her, Weiss.
Turning out of Blake's embrace, she leaned up against the wall. "Ruby go back to sleep?"
Blake nodded. "I figure we can give her a little more time to rest before she has to get up. Unless you want to call the whole day off?"
Weiss's white hair shook about her head. "No way. We've been planning this trip for too long. And I think we all need to get out of the house as a team. It'll be good for her, too."
The catgirl's eyes appraised her sharply. "You're exhausted though."
She brushed her hair back from her face and smiled through the weight under her tired eyes. "I'll manage. We've certainly held it together through worse, right?"
"That," Blake chuckled, "is definitely true."
Silence hung over the two women as they both thought back on all the hardships they'd faced to get here. Things had seemed bad enough just when Beacon Academy fell, and they learned about Salem's mad crusade to drown the world in her Grimm hordes. And then they'd had their own separate, arduous journeys before being able to reunite as team RWBY, seemingly stronger than ever. But fate hadn't been done with the girls yet. They'd been tested by the fall of Atlas, and then Ruby had broken in the Ever After… and had never really gotten better.
"I just wish she could tell us what had happened in her fight with Salem. How can I help her heal from something she can't even describe? It's like she doesn't even remember, even as she's drowning in it." A sob fought its way out as a hitch in Weiss's voice. "Her silver eyes, they're gone. Some days, I look into her, and it's like I can't see anything there anymore."
"You just keep loving her, Weiss. I think that's all you can do."
Back in their bedroom, Yang chose that moment to escalate her snoring to a clamorous level. Blake & Weiss stared at each other for a moment before cracking into giggles.
"I suppose someone needs to keep track of those two girls, after all." Weiss quipped.
"Gods yes. Who knows what kind of mess they'd create without us level-headed ones around."
Weiss swirled the remnants of the coffee in the bottom of her cup. "At least you landed the one who wears her heart on her sleeve for you."
Blake snorted coffee out her nose and almost dropped her mug as a hacking cough racked her body. When she finally recovered, she started at Weiss incredulously. "Are you kidding me? It took the cosmos launching us into a pocket dimension and literally shoving us together for Yang to sort her feelings out! And even then, I had to hold her hand through it." Blake's cheeks warmed as she recollected what, Weiss gathered, had been a powerful, intimate moment when she and Yang had finally confessed the love that everyone but them had been seeing for ages.
The faunus woman's face softened again. "I'm sure Ruby loves you too, Weiss. And not just in the way she cares about all of us. Our Ruby… your Ruby… just had to go to some really, really dark places in order to beat Salem, and she hasn't found her way out yet. Her silver light might have gone out, but as long as you keep holding on to your light for her, she can find her way."
"Thanks, Blake" Weiss murmured. "I… I think she does, somewhere. And I will." At least, I really hope she does. That's the only thing holding me together.
"This is SO COOL!" Yang exclaimed as she spun in a circle as she tried to take in the acres of aquatic life staring back at her from behind panes of cool blue glass.
"I never knew there were this many kinds of fish!" concurred Blake, awe-struck enough by the riot of shapes and colors that her attention was off how Yang looked in her sundress for the first time today.
"I can't believe none of you have ever been to an aquarium before!" Weiss chuckled.
"Hey, not all of us grew up heiresses who had entire buildings full of fake oceans next door, you know!" Yang stopped spinning long enough to chide back, and immediately stumbled from dizziness. Blake's arm was quickly around her waist to steady her, and the two smiled and leaned into each other as the girls strode through the aquarium atrium.
Yang looked over at her sister and was happy to see the faintest sparkle in her eyes as she gazed up at the giant tanks of fish that lined the entrance. It's been so long since I've seen that life in her eyes. "How about you, Ruby?" she prodded, and Weiss squeezed the younger woman's hand encouragingly.
"Yeah, it's… really neat!" Ruby said with a faint smile. It wasn't much, but even the effort she was making gave Yang a bit of hope that the outing was doing its job. She hadn't started the day with much hope when Ruby had once again eschewed her colorful wardrobe and walked out of the bedroom dressed in worn-out cargo pants and a plain t-shirt, the bare minimum of 'I guess I need to wear something other than pajamas today'. Blake gave her girlfriend a reassuring squeeze.
Please, Ruby, can you just… try to be happy today? I have way too much on my mind, I don't want to be constantly worrying about you too. Yang immediately felt guilty for her selfish thoughts, but she couldn't completely disavow them either. "So, what shall team RWBY do first?" she asked as she dropped an arm around Blake's shoulder.
"Ooo, this jellyfish exhibit looks really cool!" Weiss said, holding up her scroll to show a picture of a dark room surrounded by gently-glowing, otherworldly creatures. Yang gulped down sudden panic.
"I saw that, that does look neat, but I kind of want to save that for last…" she replied awkwardly. Both Weiss and Blake were immediately looking at her quizzically. "...what?"
"Since when did you develop any sense of patience, Yang?" Weiss's eyes narrowed.
C'mon they can't figure out that something's up this quickly! Be normal Yang, Yang! Fun, carefree Yang… Ruby, help me! Normally she'd count on her sister's sibling-sense to sweep to her rescue, but Ruby was still off in her own little world.
Blake smiled. "I guess some of me is rubbing off on her?"
"Yeah you are!" Ruby snorted, then clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes aghast as Blake & Yang's cheeks both ignited with a fiery red blush and everyone stared at her.
"RUBY!" Yang screeched as she buried her face in Blake's hair, suddenly wishing it was long and voluminous enough to completely hide in. "YOU'RE MY SISTER!"
Weiss started cackling and hugged Ruby around her shoulders. "To be fair, they totally earned that."
"WEISS!" Blake squawked this time, her face somehow getting even more crimson. "Both of you are terrible!"
Well that wasn't what I had in mind, but it worked… and it was a good sign for her. Yang mused as the girls descended into laughter.
"This 'Reefs of the Menagerie Coast' looks pretty interesting" Ruby mused as she swiped through her own scroll. "Even the pictures are so full of variety, and it's not far from here. Can we start there?"
"Absolutely!" Yang pounced on the opportunity. "And then maybe we can get some food?"
"You just had breakfast, dear!" Blake elbowed her in the belly, eliciting a squeak from her partner.
"Well, yeah… but I think I smelled savory crepes?"
"How can you smell anything but fish here? It's kind of overwhelming, honestly" Blake retorted, scratching her nose and flicking her ears. Team RWBY's banter continued, all of them feeling a bit brighter, as they steered along the marked floor paths towards the exhibit Ruby had picked out.
They're all pulling so hard for me to be happy, Ruby thought. Knowing how much her friends cared made the dark pall still wrapped around her mind even worse. It's not like I want to feel this way. I miss the old me too.
But whatever awful things had happened in the darkness where she'd faced Salem alone had done something irrevocable to the old Ruby, and whenever she tried to break free of it, it was like tendrils of night wrapped around her and pulled her back in.
I can't believe I'm doing this to them. Especially Weiss.
She'd woken up so many nights in a cold sweat, heart racing with panic from a nightmare she couldn't remember, to Weiss trying to comfort her. Sometimes, her friend had fallen back asleep herself, Ruby's terrors had lasted so long. One time she'd slouched down onto Ruby's pillow alongside her, letting a cascade of soft white hair envelope them both like a cloud. Ruby had woken up peacefully then. Listening to her friend's steady breathing, the way she squeaked a little when she exhaled air scented with the slightest touch of wintergreen across Ruby's face, was the happiest she'd felt in a long time.
Maybe if I keep pretending, I'll actually get there.
Or at least get them to think I did.
Blake's face was plastered to the side of the aquarium tank, eyes huge as she tried to take in all the fish at once. So many shapes! So many colors! So much motion! I had no idea that all of this was just off the beach my entire life! Like many feline faunas, Blake had always harbored an aversion to water. In fact, she'd never even gone to a hot springs bath until Yang took her. Her focus on the sea life before her broke momentarily as she smiled at the memory. That was a good time, wasn't it? She didn't think she'd care for it nearly as much without her snuggly blonde dragon with her though.
There it is again! You! An orange-and-white fish with what she could only describe as dopey eyes and a smarmy grin swam up and floated in front of her. Its fins swished slowly as it opened and closed its mouth. It was like it was making faces at her, and in that moment, every fiber of Blake's being irrationally hated this fish in particular.
She didn't even realize that her hips were wiggling until she felt a familiar hand slide up her back. "Whoah there kitty cat, there's only so much of that I can see before things are going to get publicly indecent!" Yang laughed as she came to stand beside her.
Blake didn't even look up. "It's taunting me, Yang! Look at it!"
"The, um, clown fish?"
"All smug and superior like that, blowing bubbles at me! It's mocking me. They're all mocking me, honey!"
Yang struggled to suppress a giggle. "Yes baby, all the fish are making fun of you." She ran her hand up into Blake's hair and began scratching behind her ears. Blake felt her hyper-focus melt away as her nerves turned to fuzzy pleasure at her girlfriend's touch. Involuntarily, her chest rumbled as she pressed her head into Yang's hand.
"Hey, that's playing dirty!" she murmured.
"Pfft, don't try to complain at me when I can hear you purring."
Blake stood up and rested her head contentedly on Yang's shoulder as the tall woman continued to rub the exact right spots. She hadn't even known how intimate such a simple touch would be until the first time Yang had ever done it. Is it weird that this feels like the most trusting part of our relationship? We've saved each other's lives, and incidentally the world, multiple times over. I share her bed every night. And yet it's the ear scritchies that just… really get me. Dreamily, Blake kissed her girlfriend's clavicle and inhaled her scent of honey, cinnamon, and wildflowers. The purr in her chest grew deeper as she slid her arm around Yang's waist and pulled her tight.
"Well now this is at least partially your fault, then." she murmured huskily through the locks of golden hair brushing her face.
"Huh?" Yang asked, a bit bewildered. Then, as her brain caught up with the look Blake was giving her, her eyes went wide. "Blake! Are you serious? I mean, I enjoy a bit of weird, but are you getting turned on by all these fish? Is that why you've been weird since we got here?"
Blake snorted and punched her prosthetic arm lightly. "No, you big idiot! Eww, gross!" With a huff, she locked her eyes with Yang and felt yearning make her skin tingle. "But they are making my huntress instincts go crazy." She leaned in to whisper in Yang's ear. "Every nerve in my body has been lit up all morning, and then your sexy ass walked over here and started feeling up my ears". She nipped one of Yang's lobes for emphasis and was rewarded with a shiver going through her girlfriend's body.
"Ohhhh" Yang cracked that grin that had helped her win Blake's heart. "So… I'm not playing wing-girl to a clown fish?"
"If you keep joking about the damn fish instead of finding somewhere private to take me and screw me senseless, you just might be." She growled back.
"Well, I better see what I can do about that" Yang said as Blake ground a hip against her. She led her increasingly-feral faunus past where Ruby & Weiss were looking at another part of the artificial reef. "Hey ladies, we're, um, gonna go and…"
"...check out something else." Blake jumped in as Yang stumbled for a remotely-plausible excuse.
"...yeah, that! So we'll, like, catch up with you later, okay? Great bye!" Ruby waved meekly, and Weiss barely had time to arch a disapproving eyebrow before the two lovers disappeared down a 'Staff Only' hallway.
It's kind of hard to come up with conversation topics when half your group is missing because they're off having sex, and one of them is the remaining person's older sister. Weiss muttered to herself as she and Ruby stood in awkward silence in another room full of fish. Whether I give them shit about taking so long, or congratulate them for taking so long, it's kind of a lose-lose as far as Ruby goes.
It wasn't that Weiss begrudged Yang & Blake's relationship. Far from it! She cared about them both as two of her closest friends, and the amount of happiness they'd clearly found in each other was a light in her own life. Sometimes she caught herself watching the duo wistfully as they snuggled together, staring into each other's eyes and communicating entirely in little smiles and blushes. And Blake's ears, of course. She was so expressive with them around Yang! She sure has come a long way from when she felt she needed to hide them from us.
Kind of jealous of all the cuddling though. And the sex.
"These things are so weird!" Ruby intruded on her musings. Turning towards her friend's voice, Weiss saw the raven-haired woman standing in front of a smaller tank that occupied a corner of the room, with her head tilted to one side. She went over and bumped Ruby's shoulder as she joined her in checking out the exhibit.
"What are we looking at here?"
The tank held a small field of black-speckled white tubes sticking up out of the sand. As Weiss leaned in, some of them disappeared into tiny burrows in the blink of an eye, while others rose up in other places and fixed big, yellow eyes that took up most of their heads on her.
"It says they're spotted garden eels" Ruby responded. As a group of the eels in front of her tilted their heads in a different direction, she moved with them. "They just chill like this, burrowed in where it's nice and safe, letting food drift into their mouths." She turned and cracked a faint smile at Weiss. "Doesn't that sound nice? Just… zoning out and getting fed?"
"I could… definitely see some advantages to that!" Weiss mused. "It's like breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed, every day." She likes these things, I can do something with this! Standing back, Weiss cleared her throat, then stretched her arms up over her head and began waving back and forth as she moaned "Feeeeed meeee" with her mouth as wide open as she could manage.
Ruby stared, and started to reward her eel impression with a giggle. But just as Weiss's heart began to leap for joy that she'd brought a good laugh to Ruby, her friend's voice cracked into a wretched sob. Her hands flew to her face as she began to cry.
"Um, Ruby? What's… what's wrong?"
Ruby was all-out bawling as she dropped to her knees in the middle of the floor. Weiss's sweater fell back over her belly as she lowered her arms and crouched beside her friend. "C'mon, my eel impression couldn't have been that bad!"
Murmurs were sweeping around the room as other tourists started to stare at the two women, and Weiss's anger flared defensively. "Everyone. Out!" she barked with more Schnee ice than she'd used in a long time, and the room quickly emptied save for the two of them. Wrapping her arms around Ruby's heaving shoulders, she hugged her close. "Ruby, please, talk to me! What's wrong?"
Gradually, Ruby's sobs slowed to a sniffle, and she drew in a deep breath as she raised her tear-stained face to meet Weiss's bright blue, concerned, eyes. "I'm sorry, Weiss. It's… it's not your fault! It's me. Everyone… you especially… you're trying so hard to make me happy, but I just can't be." She snorted and rubbed her sleeve across her nose as she continued. "I mean, Weiss Schnee, doing eel impressions in an aquarium, just to try and get a laugh out of some messed up provincial girl? Who'd have ever imagined that happening?"
Something tense and cold was starting to grip Weiss's heart. "Ruby…"
"No, let me say this! I have to!" Ruby let out a shuddering breath and steeled herself. "Weiss… you don't have to do this for me. The war's over. You, Blake… even Yang… you all have so much to live for and do now. I'm just this sad, dark anchor holding you all down, and seeing it makes me hate myself. It makes whatever is wrong with me even worse."
Ruby's words cut through Weiss like a sword. They sat in silence together as Weiss struggled to un-stun herself from what her dearest friend had just said to her. Finally, her words found her.
"Ruby… how dare you!"
Ruby's head jerked up again at the venom in Weiss's words.
"I know, you're depressed. Traumatized. Something… something awful happened to you. A bunch of things did, and I'm not going to lie and pretend that any of us can really understand it all right now. But even understanding all of that… how fucking dare you!"
Heat born of equal parts fury and pain raged through Weiss as she shot to her feet and glared down at Ruby's shocked form. "How dare you think this is only about you! I 'don't have to do this'? You think I'm giving you everything I have, every day, just because of some sense of obligation?"
Tears were burning down her cheeks now as she struggled to tame her shaking voice. "I'm doing everything I can to help you because I fucking love you, Ruby Rose. We all do, and we all are, but I really, really love you. There is nothing in the world I'd rather be doing than being by your side, every day, right now. Every time I stay up in the night holding you through your nightmares, everything I do to support you and try to help you find even the tiniest bit of happiness… it's a choice I actively make every time, and I make it without hesitation." Pain shot up Weiss's arms as her nails dug into her palms, but she didn't even register it. "And I'll keep making it, Ruby. For the rest of our lives, no matter what you say. Because that's what you would have done. The Ruby Rose I fell in love with carried all of Remnant through the Grimm War not because she had to, but because she cared enough about people, about her friends, that doing it was never even a question for her… and I hope the Ruby I still love can remember that someday."
Weiss's chest shook as she let out a deep breath, willing her pain and anger to flow out with it. "Okay. I'm sorry. I'll be back for you in a bit. But right now, I need some time." Spinning on her heel, Weiss fled the exhibit room, trying hard to bite back the tears that were trying to pour out of her eyes, leaving Ruby stunned and cold on the floor.
"Bwaaah?"
Ruby awoke with a start. Something cold and wet was on her cheek. As she blinked her bleary eyes, grossness bubbled in her as she realized it was her own drool. Which she'd also gotten all over her tactics textbook. So much for late-night cramming to be a better leader.
There was a giggle next to her.
Ruby turned to see Weiss grinning at her over the edge of her bunk bed.
"Weiss! Sorry, I must have dozed off…"
"Of course you did! You worked all day, and you've been studying all night. It's 2am Ruby!"
Ruby cracked a weary smile. "Well, you know, a team leader's job is never done. I know we can do better than we did today, and it's my job to help us get there!"
Weiss closed her eyes and sighed. "I figured you were going to say that, even though it'd probably be better for you if you slept." A little thrill went through Ruby as her teammate opened her big, sky-blue eyes and brushed her hand across her shoulder. It was like she was beaming confidence into her. "Here, cream and five sugars. That's how you like it, right?"
Ruby blinked as she accepted the steaming-hot cup, itself a delicate piece of china embellished with the Schnee family crest. Weiss must have brought it with her to Beacon. How did she know what Ruby drank? She must've just noticed the other morning and committed it to memory…
Her caffeine angel squeezed Ruby's arm reassuringly. "You're going to be a great leader, Ruby. I might have doubted you at first, but I see it now. And," she winked, "I'm going to do everything I can to help you by being the best, most supportive teammate ever!"
…
The Leviathan's throat reeked of decay and death, but that wasn't all. Waves of dark despair poured off of it, threatening to physically buffet Ruby into the sea. She tightened her grip on the shimmery light of Weiss's summoned lancer as the cage of mountainous teeth began to close around her.
"Focus on what matters. On what you love" the red-and-black huntress murmured as she dove into her heart, seeking her silver power. Images flashed before her eyes. Her mom and dad. Laughing and twirling with Pyrrah at the school dance. Whispering with Blake about the juicy bits of a romance novel as they both blushed fiercely. Getting ice cream crepes with her whole team after a tough fight, and feeling their warmth and camaraderie surround them.
Sinking into one of Yang's big sister hugs when they reunited after being torn apart by the things constantly threatening their lives.
Staring and trying to memorize the way the moonlight perfectly lit Weiss's face; that statuesque, beautiful face that somehow became even prettier when she laughed; as they lay in the cool grass gazing up at the stars and murmuring about their dreams, shivering each time their fingertips dared to brush each other's.
Ruby gasped as she felt something powerful and triumphant well inside of her, and her eyes burst open full of silver fire.
…
"Ruby! Ruby! Wake up, please!"
That voice she knew so well called to her like a bell in the oppressive void that was trying to smother her. So much of her wanted to give up and sink, to stop hurting and let the darkness obliterate her… but she couldn't let go of the sound of Weiss's voice.
Ruby cracked her eyes. Everything hurt. She'd never felt so drained and empty in her life. Fear and sadness wracked her heart, and she couldn't even remember why. Something… she'd been alone, fighting Salem… and then there was night.
But she felt that her head was in Yang's lap, and both her sister and Blake were staring down at her with concerned eyes. And Weiss was there. Her long white hair, dirty and messy from a pitched battle, hung down past her face and brushed Ruby's cheek. As she drew in a shuddering breath, she saw glistening tears start to well out of Weiss's pale blue eyes and fall like raindrops on her face.
"Thank the gods! You're alive!" Weiss threw herself forward and wrapped Ruby in a tight embrace, dropping her face to kiss Ruby's forehead.
Something dark and terrible was lurking around the edges of her soul. Whatever battle she'd just fought, it wasn't truly over for her.
But her friends were here. And her Weiss was holding her.
Ruby would be okay.
In the middle of the empty aquarium exhibit, under the watchful eyes of the garden eels, Ruby Rose felt her head clear for the first time in a long time.
Yang could feel how relaxed Blake's body was as the faunus leaned back against her, a low hum in her chest as they watched the exotic shapes and colors of the jellyfish exhibit drift past them. It was dark, the only lights coming from the special lamps that made the jellies glow in neons and pastels. The soft colors shimmered against her girlfriend's short, dark hair as it brushed Yang's shoulders, scenting the air with her smell of blackberries and flowers on a cool spring evening.
At least, that's what I know I'd smell if my nose wasn't still full of musk from the fun we had in that janitor's closet. Yang giggled to herself as she squeezed Blake tighter against her. Good thing I like that smell of hers too!
Yang would usually be so blissed out after sex that she'd barely be awake, especially down in the quiet darkness of the jelly exhibit, but her heart was still racing. She hadn't been this nervous since the bridge in the Ever After, where the two teammates had first confessed their love.
There's nothing to be scared of, Yang! She scolded herself. This is… just another jump. It's a big one, sure, but you know she'll catch you.
"Babe, I can feel your heart pounding out of your chest" Blake murmured into the darkness. "Is something up?"
You have no idea, Blake. She wanted to yell, but it wasn't quite right yet. Yang forced herself to try and sound much calmer than she was. "Eh, just thinking about… stuff?"
"Hmmm? 'Stuff' you're pretty good at still got you excited?" Blake teased. She turned her head on Yang's shoulder and gazed up at her with those big, gorgeous golden eyes. "Kiss me" she purred softly, and Yang was only too happy to oblige. Blake's lips were cool, and soft, and tasted like happiness. The two women smiled as their mouths slowly parted.
"Something like that", Yang whispered, and Blake giggled in her arms.
"Do you ever think about what our future is going to be like, Yang?"
"...yeah…"
A pause hung in the air before Blake continued. "I mean, it can't be anything like what we've already lived through, right? Salem is gone. The Grimm are gone. The world doesn't really even need huntresses anymore. Everything we thought our lives were going to be about, done with already! We're not in life-or-death situations every day now. We might never be again. No more artifacts or Maidens or fairy tale dimensions."
Yang could feel Blake getting restless in her arms. Time to put on your big girl panties and get your courage going, Yang! "True. But we've got each other. And our friends…"
Blake sighed. "I know, and I'm happy for that. I love you so much, Yang! I just… I guess I just worry sometimes that the rest of our lives isn't going to be as exciting as the first bit was. I mean, will anything ever really compare to a dimensional storm throwing us onto a bridge together and then flowering into song around us when we finally sort our feelings out and kiss?"
Show time. "Well, I know there's one way to find out."
"Hmmm?" Blake asked as Yang pivoted around to stand in front of her. Her real hand trembled as she flipped open a tiny compartment on her prosthetic arm and pulled the thing that had been weighing on her mind for weeks now out of it. Her girlfriend's eyes glowed quizzically up at her as Yang squeezed her hand, only to fly wide open when she dropped to a knee in front of her.
"Blake Belladonna…"
"Yang!" she gasped, ears snapping forward. Yang could feel Blake's hand trembling in her own. It's okay, I'm trembling too.
"...I honestly have no idea what's going to happen with the rest of our lives. Probably stuff we can't even imagine!" Yang smirked. "Well, stuff I can't imagine. You could probably think some of it up, with your good brain and all." The joyous tears she could see glistening on Blake's cheeks were diverted as a smile split her face. "But what I do know is… every day will be exciting as long as I wake up with you in my arms, and every night will be magic so long as I get to kiss you goodnight."
"Yeah it will!" Blake cut in.
Yang fought down a cough as the words tumbling out of her mouth caught up with her. "Shhh! Give me a break, I'm trying to be romantic here!"
"Don't worry babe, you're killing it." Blake squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"So, umm… you're amazing, baby. I wish you could see yourself like I see you, and I want to try every day to make you as happy as you make me. For the rest of our lives. Blake, I want to marry you!"
Yang flipped open the little box she'd been holding, and the light that refracted through the gemstones on the ring she uncovered lit up the room. Delicate whorls of silver filigree held together a purple amethyst and a brilliant golden citrine.
Blake stared down at her with tears streaming freely down her face. The silence felt like it was stretching into eternity.
"Um, Blake?"
"Yang, you big, beautiful idiot! You have to actually ask me!"
Yang's jaw hung slack as she replayed her words in her head. "My gods, I'm so stupid. Blake Belladonna, will you mar-"
"YES!" Blake screamed joyously, dropping to her knees as well and throwing her arms around Yang. The two women buried their faces in each other's hair and began to freely happy-cry. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, Yang!"
Yang's heart felt completely disconnected from everything else, it was flying so high. Everything except for Blake's arms around her, and that silky black hair against her cheek, and the feel of her happy gasped breaths across her face as her trembling hands took the proffered ring and slipped it on. Blake held it up between them and stared at it in admiration.
"It's so beautiful, Yang! It's like our eyes, and our auras!"
"Together forever, honey."
The kiss that ensued might never have ended if the two of them hadn't become conscious of the number of bystanders clapping for them. At last they pulled apart. Blake blushed fiercely as she stared at her ring, while Yang's grin lit up the room. She pulled her fiance up with her as she stood and hugged her tight.
"I thought that the first time you told me you loved me was going to be the best moment of my life, Yang, but… no, it's this!" Blake cried as the light from the ring played off her eyes. Yang could only smile and squeeze her tighter. Suddenly, Blake went tense in her arms. "Oh my gods, we're surrounded by strangers! Yang, we need to find Ruby and Weiss and tell them!"
I wonder if this is what flying feels like? Blake mused as she stared at her ring. Up in the aquarium atrium overlooking the oceanic sunset, its colors were even more vibrant than they'd been under the jelly room lights. Every little twist of her fingers made it sparkle in new ways. In fact, she'd barely taken her eyes off the ring since Yang had slipped it on to her. She'd been so enraptured walking up here that her girlfriend- no, fiance- had had to steer her to keep her from bumping into people and bouncing off door frames.
"We're engaged! We're getting married!" she exclaimed, yet again.
Yang grinned her big, lovey grin and squeezed Blake tighter. "You know, I'm just going to finally get used to saying 'fiance', and it's going to be time to start calling you my 'wife'!"
"Wife…" Blake murmured. "I like the sound of it. Maybe we should start practicing now?"
Yang chuckled and kissed the top of her head, her cheek brushing past Blake's ear and making it flick with a tickle. The faunus giggled and leaned into her golden dragon.
"Hey guys, got your text? What's up?" Weiss's snowy white hair rounded a corner and entered the atrium, and Blake's heart burst with joy all over again. With a leap, she was across the floor and embracing her teammate.
"Umm, hi Blake? Missed you too, but it's only been like an hour?" Weiss hesitantly patted her back. "Wow your eyes are huge! What are you all…" her voice trailed off as Blake shoved her hand up in front of her face, smiling crazily. Weiss grabbed it and gasped. "Oh my gods, is that what I think it is?!"
"Yup!" Yang announced proudly as she jogged up to the two of them, sliding an arm around Blake's shoulders. "Decided it was time I get this hot kitty cat in the bag!" She chortled as Blake lightly elbowed her in the belly with her free hand.
"We're going to be divorced before we even tie the knot if you try to turn everything about it into a cat pun, dear."
"Pffft, you love my cheesy puns and you know it babe."
Blake's ears flopped playfully as she sighed. "It's true, I can't help myself. I survived the Grimm War and all I got is this ridiculous blonde pun-writing space heater."
"It's gorgeous!" Weiss murmured as she gently turned Blake's hand to marvel at the ring. "And the colors! They match your eyes, and your auras!" She beamed with pride at her friends. "Good job, Yang!"
"Hey, I occasionally make good decisions! I did fall in love with Blake, after all!" A questioning look came across Yang's face as she looked around the girls. "Say, Weiss? Wasn't Ruby with you?"
A cold knot formed in Blake's belly as she noticed Weiss's throat hitch at the question. Oh gods, something happened, and we've been so wrapped up in each other AGAIN that we didn't notice it! Weiss looked like she was summoning the courage to say something that she knew was going to bring the mood down painfully, when a call from across the atrium caught all of their attention.
"Hey ladies! Sorry if I'm late, that was a long walk!" Ruby jogged towards them, and Blake immediately noticed life in her step that she hadn't seen in a long, long time. She started to unwind herself from Weiss's embrace to go greet their last teammate, but Yang was already off in a bolt of flying golden hair.
"RUBY!" her fiance practically screamed as she scooped her little sister up in her arms and buried her in a hug. "Sis, we have the most amazing news! I did a thing!"
By then, Yang had returned a very startled Ruby to the group, and Blake beamed as she held up her hand. The dark cloud she was so used to seeing hanging over her friend's face seemed to burn away as Ruby took in the ring, and a sparkle seemed to return to her eyes as the meaning of it dawned on her. "Yang! Blake! You… you really finally did it? Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!"
Ruby lept up in her sister's arms again, wrapping her in a tight squeeze before dropping and embracing Blake as well. "Welcome to the family, officially, sis!" she whispered into Blake's ear. Somehow, Blake's heart felt even meltier than it had been as she hugged the smaller huntress back. She was sure now that it wasn't just her happiness overflowing; something was different with Ruby too. Brighter. She's… starting to shine a bit brighter, like she used to.
Blake wanted to ask her immediately what was going on, but Yang cut in. "Hey, let's get out of fish town and go get something to eat! Say, aren't Ren & Nora in town? Call them up! We can make it a celebration!"
"That's a great idea!" confirmed Weiss as she pulled out her scroll, but suddenly Ruby's hand shot out and grabbed hers.
"Absolutely! But hey, go find something. We'll catch up in a minute. I need Weiss for something." And with energy that was entirely uncharacteristic of her as of late, Ruby tugged a very confused Weiss towards the doors out on to the oceanic balcony.
Yang & Blake blinked as their teammates left, then turned and looked at each other, both registering more bemusement than concern. "So, we're staying and watching, right?" Blake asked her towering blonde.
"Oh, absolutely!" Yang confirmed. "I get the feeling something good is about to happen."
Weiss was not at all sure something good was about to happen. In fact, she feared the opposite. Her joy at Yang & Blake's news had been immediately doused when she'd seen Ruby approach by all the pain from their hurtful words earlier flooding back into her mind. She knew the young huntress like the back of her own hand; Ruby had a fire in her right now. Weiss had been trying to mend her feelings since she'd stormed away in tears.
"Ruby, wait… we don't have to do this now. I don't want to ruin Blake & Yang's big day." And I don't know if my heart can take you breaking it twice like this.
Ruby stopped and turned to her, grabbing her other hand as well. The salty ocean wind swept her faded bangs that she hadn't touched up in months across her determined eyes. Something caught in Weiss's throat. That spark in them… I haven't seen that since before Atlas fell. "Ruby…"
"Weiss, shhh!" Ruby barked, with an energy that slapped Weiss's jaw shut in surprise. "I'm sorry, I know I've said a lot today, most of it… really shitty. But I need to say just a couple things more, okay?"
Weiss's whole body knotted with tension as she watched her dearest friend draw in a deep breath, hold it, and give it a slow release before raising her face to gaze into her eyes. "I'm not okay, Weiss. I don't honestly know if I'll ever really be okay again. I still don't know what happened to me when I fought Salem. Something… something terrible, obviously. There's this fear, and sadness, and self-loathing, that's still tugging at me from every side, and there are so many days when I wish it would just tear me apart so I could stop feeling it."
Ruby squeezed Weiss's hands, and pulled her a step closer. "But… what you said today? About choosing to help? You're right. I've spent so much, choosing to try and help everyone. The people I care about. Complete strangers. The… the people I love." Ruby's eyes fluttered, and Weiss's heart felt like it had stopped in her chest.
A gust of wind caught Weiss's long ponytail and whipped it, and all the stray strands of hair that had fought their way loose, around her face like a corona. She could see that Ruby was fighting tears as she stared into her eyes. "Gods you're so beautiful, Weiss! The way the light paints your hair with every color of the rainbow. Probably even some new ones. It's not fair to us who have to bleach it just to add the slightest bit of color!"
The two girls giggled as the waves crashed on the rocky shore below them. "Ruby, I…"
"Nope, not done!" Ruby cleared her throat. "So yeah, choices. I realized that I needed to make a choice for myself. That I wasn't going to get better, to feel any happier, unless I chose to try. And that I needed to try, especially with so many good friends trying to help me. Because… there's something… someone… I want, more than anything in the world. Someone who once promised that they'd be the best they could for me. And they deserve me being the best I can for them. I don't know how best that'll actually be, but… they make me choose to try."
The world had completely stopped around Weiss. The sound of the waves, the cries of seabirds, the wild color dance of oranges, and reds, and pinks as the sun was slowly dipping into the ocean, was all just fuzz to her. There were only the words coming out of Ruby's lips.
And then, Ruby's one hand pulled her closer while the other rose to cup the back of her head. And Ruby's lips approaching hers as those beautiful dark eyes fluttered closed. And then those lips were pressed against hers, and all that fuzziness fell away to nothing as Weiss felt herself melt into Ruby's mouth, and into her touch. Her arms were trembling as they wrapped themselves around her friend's- no, her love's- shoulders, to feel that she was trembling too.
Weiss closed her eyes, and kissed Ruby back with all of her heart, and in that moment they were the only thing in the world, and it was perfect.
The first thing she heard again was the sound of Yang cheering. Ruby giggled against her mouth, and the two girls pulled apart the few inches they could bear to put between them. They rested their foreheads together and smiled.
"I love you, Weiss Schnee."
"I love you too, Ruby Rose. And I'll keep loving you through whatever our lives bring us."
The tension they'd both been carrying evaporated as their bodies deflated against each other. Ruby nestled her head against Weiss's chest and sighed with the most contentment she could remember ever feeling as her girlfriend kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair.
"As long as we have that, I know… we'll be okay."