Chapter 2: Late-Night Resolve

After she stopped crying, Weiss remained in her position, facing the wall on her side of the room. She figured stifling the emotion was no good; it would end up coming out some other way, probably one that would make her even more upset. She had to let it out some way, but she couldn't do it here. She waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity (it was actually about twenty minutes) before making her move.

Slowly, she rose out of bed, wiping the tear stains off her face with the sleeve of her nightgown. She checked the clock for the time. 12:37 AM. 'Fair enough, plenty of time before the morning.' She looked around to make sure everyone was asleep. Blake, the first in her view, looked sound asleep. The faint snore from above Blake told Weiss that Yang was out cold. Last, Weiss looked up at Ruby.

Inside the little blanket and rope fortress, Weiss saw Ruby in her black top and rose-covered sweats, curled up and breathing softly, wearing a faint smile. 'She looks so peaceful', Weiss said to herself. She almost wanted to watch over her, make sure she had a good night's rest, but the notion quickly disappeared. There was another pressing matter on Weiss' mind: she wasn't sure whether or not she was going to let Ruby and the others know where she was going. She really didn't know what she was going to be doing or where she was going, but she had to leave. Weiss wasn't used to 'winging it', but she had no choice.

'Well, I probably won't be out for that long, but I'll dress for it just in case.'

She quietly changed from her nightgown to her standard combat gear, complete with Myrtenaster, again as a precaution. As she approached the door, she looked back at the beds and all of her sleeping teammates, completely unaware of the storm brewing in Weiss' head. Weiss smiled. There lied her best friends, a few of the only friends she had. They meant everything to her, regardless of how annoying they were at times. This was about as close of a family as Weiss had, and her face contorted slightly into a pained expression thinking about how much of a jerk she was to all of them. She never meant it that way, she was just not used to being around other people, so everyone's differences made little sense to her initially. But that can't change how she acted and how she was and probably always will be perceived as: a stuck-up, ice-cold rich girl.

It was the truth, and it hurt. It hurt like hell.

Weiss finally turned away and opened the door, holding back a tear. She whispered a faint "I'm sorry" and closed the door behind her quietly. Nobody heard her as she walked down the hall to who knows where, the heels of her boots making the only sounds in the night. She had to try to fix herself. She was going to fix herself. For her teammates, her friends, and for her own sake.

12:53 AM. Ruby had rolled a little bit to her right in her sleep, which left one of her arms dangling off the side. Ruby still slept peacefully, thinking happy dreams, happy times, happy places…happy things. In her excitement, she rolled again.

THUD!

"Ugh…ow, what the heck?" Ruby rubbed the back of her head, slightly dazed from the impact and annoyed by the interruption of her awesome dreams. The noise from said impact startled Blake and she nearly launched out of bed, arms in defensive martial arts positions, and scanning the room rapidly. Ruby stared with almost childlike wonder and confusion, but Blake calmed down quickly. The Faunus girl saw the disheveled Ruby and gave a sigh, as she realized what the noise was from. "Ruby are you okay? What happened?"

"Guess I fell off the bed", Ruby said with a tired laugh. "Sorry about that." "Don't worry about it, go back to…"

Blake's voice trailed off when she looked up from the floor to Ruby and Weiss' bunk, which was missing a certain white-haired teammate.

"Blake, what's wrong?" Ruby asked, her face puzzled. "Where'd she go?" Blake said, a hint of concern clearly audible as she pointed to Weiss' bunk. Ruby stood up and turned around. She finally noticed Weiss' empty bed, the covers pulled back and somewhat wrinkled. Ruby turned back to Blake, a reassuring smile on her face. "She's probably studying late again, she kinda does that every now and then. She could use more sleep, but it's probably nothing to worry about." Blake still showed concern as she got out of bed. "I don't think she's studying, or if she did, she didn't plan to. Her bed's a wreck if I'm referring to her standards of upkeep." Ruby absorbed Blake's words and developed some concern, not for the mention on the condition of Weiss' beds, but for the lack of planning. 'There's no way Weiss wouldn't plan or think something out…what's going on?' Ruby's short train of thought was broken by Blake making another observation. "Myrtenaster is gone." That sealed it for Ruby. Something was definitely wrong, and as leader, it was her duty to figure out what was eating at Weiss.

Ruby rushed for the door, forgetting she was still in her pajamas. "I'm going to go find her. If I don't come back in two hours, get Yang and look for both of us." Before Blake could protest, Ruby had darted out.

Weiss took a deep breath and walked towards the open balcony. Her late-night meandering through the school had led her here. Here was where she would finally end the war in her mind on who she was and who she had to be and what she could be. With the moon as broken as she is as her witness, she would fix herself, right here and right now.

A/N: Next chapter's up! Ugh, I've been meaning to write it sooner, but I had finals last week, and now I'm home...and I'm recovering from finals...and been in sort of a mental slump. I pulled this off in about 2 hours of solid work, so hopefully you all enjoyed it. Again, all feedback (comments, favorites, etc.) is appreciated and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in the next few days. Happy Holidays everyone!