Author Note: I am a firm believer that Ruby suffers from nightmares because of the death of her mother. This story is born from the songs Red Like Roses II and Gold.
The addition of weight on the side edge of Weiss's bed woke her suddenly from her slumber. She never considered herself to be a light sleeper, having proven herself able to sleep through both flashing lights and loud conversations in the past. It was odd for her to wake up now. She ignored whatever it was on her bed and tried to go back to sleep. It was hard to do since the weight kept shifting.
Weiss snapped her eyes open as the weight vanished, giving up on falling back asleep. She barely caught sight of two bare feet being pulled up onto the top bunk. The ropes holding the bunk swayed overhead, and Weiss wondered if Ruby was just returning from a late night bathroom trip. But the younger girl never stood on the lower bed, instead preferring to jump the few feet needed to reach the top bunk.
Weiss stuck her head out over the side of the bed, letting her hair fall towards the ground. She looked up but couldn't see anything in the dark. Darkness couldn't stop the noises though.
The sound was quiet enough that Weiss couldn't hear it from directly under the bunk, but from the side she could clearly identify the sound of whimpering. It cut in and out every few seconds and was interspersed with a whispering voice.
"Ruby!" The voice whispered intently. "Ruby wake up!" It sounded kind of like Yang, but Weiss had trouble telling the tones of whispering apart. Weiss had one leg out to sit up on the side of her bed and scold whoever was up there for disturbing her sleep when Ruby's voice stopped her.
"Mom…" the younger teen whined in her sleep. "No… don't go… please…" Weiss froze as the higher bunk swayed back and forth, unable to settle on its ropes.
"Wake up Ruby. It's alright, it's not real." Yang's voice was identifiable now and carried mixtures of concern and worry.
Weiss tugged her leg and head back onto the bed, shame burning in her cheeks. She shouldn't have been listening to this. She wondered if that's what it's like to have siblings who cared, but that was a thought for a different day. Or maybe never.
"What? Yang? I…" Ruby started sobbing, though the sound was muffled. Presumably Yang engulfed her in a warm hug. Weiss wondered what she should do. Should she just pretend nothing was happening? Would that be the right thing to do?
"You're okay, I'm here. I've got you."
Weiss glanced towards the bunk beds on the other side of the room and nearly jumped out of her skin when another pair of eyes stared back. Blake appeared to be awake as well. The two's eyes met for a long moment, pretending like Ruby wasn't sobbing a few feet over Weiss's head, before Blake rolled over to face the other way. She probably wanted to go back to sleep.
Maybe that was the right thing to do, Weiss considered, to just roll over and pretend she wasn't listening in on a private moment. To pretend she wasn't eavesdropping on these sisters as they comforted each other from the horrors of their past.
'I'm sorry." Ruby's sobs had slowed and she hiccupped once. "It was Mom, and she was… and you were… I thought I'd outgrown this… I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize." The gentleness in Yang's voice threw Weiss for a loop. "These nightmares, all of them, aren't your fault. Never forget that." Brashness and anger, normally key parts of Yang's character, were missing.
"Thanks." The red themed teen gave one last sniffle. "Do you think you could stay here tonight?"
"Always."
The bed above Weiss's head swayed a little as the pair settled down, leaving Weiss to stare up at it in silence. Soon she could hear the siblings soft snores from above.
It took longer for Weiss to fall back asleep. She couldn't process what just happened. Ruby always seemed so happy; she never acted like someone who was haunted by nightmares. Also, Yang could sleep through an earthquake, and yet she was somehow the first one to wake up. By all means it didn't make any sense.
Perhaps it meant that Weiss didn't know her teammates as well as she thought she did. They had only met a few months ago, after all. But she promised to be the best teammate, so she had to do better. Weiss already started planning more get-to-know-you strategies as she tried to go back to sleep.
Her thoughts soon faded as she drifted back off to sleep, the vow to get to know her teammates better prominent in her mind.
End Note: I can't actually wrap my head around these characters. I just can't do it. Right when I think I understand them some new material will be released setting me back again.