A/N:
Sorry for taking so long. I rewrote this chapter at least a dozen times because I couldn't decide how much of the actual reception I wanted to put in here, or how much would actually happen there. So I feel that this is a sufficient conclusion to the wedding arc. Next chapter (promise I'll post REALLY SOON!) will be the honeymoon and basically the last part of this story to just tie things up. I'll be hopefully posting new chapters quickly now that this hurdle is behind me and work has once again given me a lull.
Hope you all enjoy! And let me know what you think!
Ruby stared blankly out into space. It wasn't that she was bored per se… this had been one of the most exciting days in her short life so far, except that the current lull in events made her itch to move or do anything that wasn't stand beside Weiss as her father introduced her to business partner after business partner who'd been invited to her wedding. Weiss had been pulled into a conversation with her father no sooner than the doors had opened, and now everyone was talking about some company and a guy who sounded sick, or at least that's what she gathered in her zoned-out state. Not that it didn't interest her, but after everything that had happened, it was dreadfully boring and slow. She wondered how long this was going to go on before she could do something fun again. Or take a nap. She was fairly tired from all the stress and the use of her aura earlier in the day. The only problem was that she knew Weiss wouldn't go for her idea.
She mused over those thoughts and other less fascinating ones as she waited patiently at Weiss's side, nodding her head whenever someone glanced at her to be polite, but otherwise remaining still and silent. She was enjoying the feel of holding her wife's hand and more specifically the warmth that it exuded when she felt a pair of lips brush hers and her mind snapped back to reality to find herself alone with Weiss while the party slowly rolled on around them.
"Are you done now?" Ruby asked hopefully while taking a quick glance around.
"Yes, and did you even listen to a word of the conversation after you said hi?" Weiss asked, wondering if Ruby had actually zoned out or had just appeared to.
"Um… I sort of stopped paying attention when your dad started saying something about some guy that couldn't come." Ruby admitted guiltily.
"Then you missed the part where they want to make a movie about us." Weiss told Ruby.
"What? That's so awesome!" Ruby squealed excitedly. "We're doing it right? What are we doing? Is it an action movie? I totally wanna meet Spruce Willis!"
"Hold on, Ruby." Weiss laughed at Ruby's excitement. "It's a documentary, I'm guessing they want to interview us about our lives, how we met, the problems we faced, and why we married so soon. Sort of like those shows you and Yang never want to watch with Blake and myself."
"Oh…" Ruby's face fell. "That still sounds sort of cool. I always wanted to be a main character in something."
Weiss giggled as she pulled Ruby around the edge of the room to start heading to the table that was already being filled with dishes for dinner. "I bet if we ask, they'll let you be your own stunt double."
"Ohmygod! Really?" Ruby jumped once again excited.
"I don't see why not, you already did it for real, why would it be hard to do it again for pretend?" Weiss smirked over at Ruby. "Plus, I'd much rather watch you on the big screen rather than someone trying to be you."
"Dawww, Weiss…" Ruby blushed but giggled a little at the heiress's honesty.
"Anyways, lets eat so we can get out of here faster." Weiss pulled out a chair and pulled Ruby in front of it before pushing it in.
"Aren't you taking your vow to heart!" A shout startled Weiss as she looked away from her blushing wife to find the rest of their joined family standing behind Yang.
"Why wouldn't she? It's so cute to watch." Winter supplied to nods from the others.
"Come on, don't tease them too much." Taiyang said stepping around Yang to scoop Weiss into a hug and simultaneously ruffle Ruby's hair. "I haven't had my turn yet."
"Dad, stop it!" Ruby pushed his hand off and pouted up at him as he released Weiss.
"I'll give you till after desert." He replied with a grin as he sat down beside Ruby. Yang and Winter took their seats as Qrow came up to the pair.
"Hey Uncle Qrow, what's up?" Ruby asked when he stopped face to face with Weiss. He was swaying slightly and ignored or didn't hear his niece.
"So, you're part of the family now, huh?" He spoke to Weiss as if it was an internal monologue. Weiss noticed Taiyang moving to be ready to jump up as if he expected trouble but Qrow didn't move, simply watching the heiress. With a quick glance to Ruby, Weiss answered as an idea popped into her head.
"I guess so… Uncle Qrow." She held back the nervous giggle that threatened to come forth as Qrow raised one eyebrow, in surprise or incredulity she couldn't tell. After a solid moment, a grin broke out on his face as he let out a bark of laughter.
"You know, I think I might like you after all. Your sis ain't too bad either." He patted her heavily on her shoulder as he made his way past to his chair at the end of the row, ruffling Ruby's hair to her protests as he passed. He stopped when Weiss's father walked in front of the table. "I still don't like you though."
"Nor I you." Weiss's father responded without turning his head.
"Well, you can't win them all." Yang laughed while she waved Blake over from where she was talking at JNPR's table.
Weiss sighed and took her seat next to Ruby. Just from the expression on her face she could tell Ruby was happy to have everyone there, but she'd really rather be anywhere else. Weiss kept her voice down to a whisper as she leaned over under the pretense of giving Ruby a small kiss. "Dinner, two dances, some visiting with JNPR, and a quick talk with Professor Ozpin. Then we can leave."
Ruby's relieved smile was all the answer she needed and she gave her the promised kiss before returning to her place. Mr. Schnee stood and started the speeches with the announcement that the first course would be served. Then he spoke his speech about the company as he'd planned, simply replacing the male pronouns and Bruce's name with his daughter's. There was very little about the actual couple in the speech, so even Weiss found herself zoning out when Ruby had discreetly started trying to distract her with small movements of her feet as she attempted to touch her leg.
The next few speeches seemed to have been organized last minute as they were rather short but Weiss actually couldn't believe that anyone had even thought to get people to talk about her and Ruby. Taiyang said a few words, mostly about Ruby and he got the crowd to laugh with a joke about Ruby's love for weaponry. Professor Port did a small speech as well, talking mostly about their team dynamic at Beacon and how far they'd come since he first met the two while they were in the middle of a fight. Of course, he couldn't stop his old tendencies and ended up with some story from his youth, but it was still mercifully short compared to his lectures, so Weiss counted that as a win. She felt her stomach start to growl and hoped the talking would end soon as everyone except Ruby and herself had started eating. Port left the podium and Weiss caught Ruby shove a small bite into her mouth and was about to do the same when Yang stood up.
She took the podium and Weiss replaced her fork on her plate as she turned her complete attention to Yang as she waved Blake over from her spot next to Winter. When Blake arrived at her side, Yang stepped forward and raised her voice for the crowd.
"So I know most of you are pretty much bored out of your minds with speeches at this point, so we put both of ours into one to save everyone a little heartache." Yang announced to a few shocked looks and claps from the audience and an 'atta girl' from one random person in a back table.
"For those who don't know, we're the teammates of the two short ones over there." Blake made a gesture to the table, making Weiss realize that both her and Ruby sat almost an entire head below everyone else at the head table. The crowd laughed a little as Weiss felt a blush come back slightly. She was starting to get worried about what else the two were going to say.
"Now normally, you would hear from the siblings of both the brides, but I was told I qualify as both now, so I'll have to try extra hard." Yang winked at Weiss who glanced at Winter as she chuckled at Yang's joke. "So I've known Ruby since she was only this tall. But I promise that was more than a month ago, scouts honor!"
Weiss sighed as Yang measured a height equal to her waist and took Ruby's hand to give it a squeeze to help cope with the constant jokes. Ruby squeezed her hand back and she let it all go, it was in Yang's nature after all, and Blake was no better once Yang got her going. Not to mention she could have sworn she'd seen Blake drinking something Yang had given her while she was meeting her future business partners.
"Her first love was a cookie and her second a scythe. Turns out she looked in the right direction when her third became something that actually had a pulse." Yang paused as the audience was finally catching on to the type of speech she was making, and was laughing along with them. "We spent a long time at Beacon trying to get along with each other, so naturally we have somehow managed not to kill each other even though the four of us sleep in the same room. Though I don't envy Ruby when Weiss starts one of her rants. But seriously, I didn't like Weiss for the first few months and I'd be lying if I said everything is fluffy pink unicorns between us now, but there's one big thing I've learned. That is that if someone wants to take one for the team and deal with the angry politician, it's to give them all the support you can… because otherwise you have to deal with them yourself."
Laughs echoed around the room and Yang waved and gave a short bow, obviously proud that her politician joke had gone over well. In Weiss's opinion, it was rather risky considering about three quarters of the crowd were politicians of one kind or another.
"So I'm not as special as the hair commercial over here, but I have had the privilege of witnessing the very beginning of the relationship between the brides and most moments thereafter." Blake spoke to the crowd. "I'll be honest in saying that even in my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have even pictured them as a couple because of how much they seemed to fight in the beginning. Though since we're in a combat school it is a little difficult to identify whether they were actually fighting, or whether they were just being studious. But lets be honest, sixteen hours of studying a day is just a little bit crazy."
The crowd laughed at the well placed joke and Blake continued. "But it turns out that's what they were, crazy for each other. And looking back it's almost comical how I hadn't seen this coming from their very first encounter when they detonated a cloud of dust and permanently scarred the stone near the landing pad at Beacon."
"But hey, at least they don't have to worry about leaving their mark anymore!" Yang piped up, drawing more laughs.
"But moving on to a more serious note, the way those two act as a team surprised me at first. It was like watching a team that had been working together for years even though they barely knew each other. And I'd just like to say that they honestly gave me my relationship goal for my lifetime." Blake stated with a smile over at the two newly weds.
"I like to call it 'Shut up and do what I tell you.'" Yang said to another chorus of laughs. "But seriously, Ruby, I never thought you'd get along with anyone as well as you get along with Weiss, and really, I can say the same for Weiss considering your attitude at the beginning of the year."
"Neither of you are perfect, but you don't have to be." Blake said, finishing Yang's thought. "You're perfect for each other and that's what really counts."
"So party tonight and go on your honeymoon, and we'll promise not to completely trash the dorm by the time you get back." Yang said with a hand in the air and one over her heart. "And when you get back we'd just like to request one thing."
"That is, please remember that we live there too and don't want to know how many excuses you two can come up with when we walk in to find you cleaning each other's weapons, so to speak." Blake said with an ever so slight grin to her voice.
"On that note, we'll offer some sage advice my Uncle Qrow told us to give in lieu of another speech: Ruby, no matter what, Weiss is always going to be right, and even if she's wrong, she'll still be right so don't make things difficult." Yang said. "And Weiss, there's nothing you can do. Accept it. Ruby is always going to be Ruby, so just go with the flow. If you don't like the direction she's going, just point her somewhere else. As long as you follow her to pick up the stuff she knocks over then everything will work out. And finally to both of you: you're going to fight. That much is a given, but even when you're mad at each other don't ever say anything you'd regret, because at the end of the day you know that you wouldn't ever mean it."
"Here's the part where we sit down, shut up, and let you eat." Blake concluded, pulling Yang to her chair and returning to her own.
"Here here!" Ruby raised her wine glass to the crowd who started laughing again as everyone raised their glasses in a toast. She took a generous gulp from her glass and put it down before whispering to Weiss under the noise of everyone starting their own conversations. "So, can we actually eat now? Or do I have to engrave this food into my brain for a second lifetime?"
"Oh, hush you." Weiss offered her fork to Ruby who happily took the offered piece of chicken. "Be happy that this is only going to be one course because I convinced Father that more would be a waste of time."
"But didn't you say no business earlier?" Ruby asked inquisitively.
"I'd rather spend my time dancing than eating, what about you?" Weiss asked with a slight blush.
"But you hate dancing." Ruby argued, remembering Weiss's confession from new year's eve when they'd first gotten together.
"Unless it's with you." Weiss replied with a grin before turning back to her food.
She was surprised when Ruby gave her a kiss on the cheek before returning to her own food. "It sound's like you're happy."
"Only because of you." Weiss replied, feeling her blush return to full force but even that couldn't sway the joy she felt as she thought about Ruby as her wife. "My beautiful wife."
"Come on, Weiss! That's not fair!" Ruby blushed hard at the compliment and Weiss giggled in response as she was ready to start concentrating on her food. After a moment, Ruby looked up at her and smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too. Now eat up, it looks like they'll be starting the music soon."
As it happened, Weiss had been right. She'd just gotten half way through her plate and Ruby had just finished hers when her father leaned over to instruct her to get ready. Weiss didn't waste time as the first dance was one of the very few things she actually wanted to do at this whole affair. It was really this dance that made Weiss feel that the entire day hadn't just been a product of her imagination.
She pulled Ruby from her chair with only a small amount of persuasion and led her to the dance floor with her arm linked comfortably around Ruby's. She stopped in the middle and turned to face Ruby who was looking nervously at the crowd as they started to take notice of the wedded couple about to start their dance.
"Ruby, calm down." Weiss whispered, making Ruby jump slightly and turn her eyes to Weiss's. "It's just like any other dance."
"But everyone's watching. What if I mess up?" Ruby asked, her eyes darting to Weiss's father who remained seated at the head table.
"Ruby…" Weiss gently cupped Ruby's cheek with her hand so she'd look back at her. "It's just you and me. If you mess up, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're here, standing with me."
"O-okay, but-"
"No buts, Ruby. That is everything that matters." Weiss closed the distance slightly as Ruby's eyes captivated her. She could almost physically feel the trust and love behind them simply by gazing into their depths. She broke out of her gaze as the music started and she took a deep breath to calm whatever nerves she might have had left to give Ruby the strength she knew she was lacking at the moment. "I love you Ruby. And I'd be honoured if I could have this dance."
"Okay." Ruby's voice cracked and her cheeks blushed hard as she gave the barest of nods to her wife.
"Then follow me." Weiss replied, taking Ruby's hands and placing them in the proper positions.
The two started slowly and it wasn't long before Ruby had the basic steps down and Weiss added the turn. Minutes passed as the song continued and Ruby's eyes never left Weiss's except to check her feet every now and again. Weiss couldn't help but feel a sense of calm and completion to the long fiasco that had plagued her life up until this day, and that was all thanks to the girl in her arms. The song ended and Weiss pulled Ruby to a gentle stop. Ruby pulled Weiss in and their lips met in a searing kiss that set Weiss's skin ablaze and her heart racing, even as Ruby pulled away, her eyes dilated and her cheeks flaming at the very public display they'd just made.
Cheers from the crowd didn't penetrate their bubble as they continued their wordless conversation with their eyes. But it didn't last long as Weiss felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, indicating her father was ready to continue with the dances. She slowly released Ruby who gave her a small smile as she too turned to her own father.
That dance was almost too slow in Weiss's opinion, but it wasn't all bad. Half way through she had switched partners with Ruby and danced with Taiyang. Ruby seemed slightly tense as she took Mr. Schnee's hand and started to dance, but there was nothing Weiss could do at this point. She just hoped that her father had been telling the truth about trying to come to terms with her marriage.
Ruby had been slightly surprised when she found herself switching dance partners with Weiss. She was suddenly nervous about making a good impression and tried her best to make all the steps correctly as Mr. Schnee led her around the dance floor.
"Is this your first time waltzing?" He asked quietly as they turned yet again so Ruby could see Weiss and her father across the dance floor.
"Yeah, sorry." Ruby replied. She knew it was obvious and now she felt bad about looking dumb to everyone else who almost obviously knew how to dance.
"You know, I told Weiss that I wanted to start making things right between us." He spoke quietly. Ruby didn't answer, there was nothing she could say about that. "And I'd like to start by giving you an explanation of my apology earlier."
"Oh, um… okay?" Ruby didn't know what had brought this on, but she figured it was nice to see Mr. Schnee making an effort to fix his wrongdoings. "You said something about your semblance, right?"
"Yes. During the duel, I'm sure you thought you heard Weiss tell you to give up." Mr. Schnee clarified. "I'm sure you know that every member of the Schnee family has control over glyphs. Some of us, like Weiss and myself, have complete control over their properties while others, like Winter, do not. I created a small glyph that vibrated to create sound very close to your head so you'd think Weiss was yelling, and nobody would hear except you. For that I apologize as I have been shown the error of my actions."
"Okay…" Ruby nodded, still not exactly satisfied with the words he'd spoken. "Can I ask one question?"
"You may." He responded simply.
"What do you think of this whole thing? I mean me marrying Weiss." Ruby asked. It was the one thing she couldn't really gage from the neutral expression on his face.
"I… do not know." He responded. Ruby could feel like there was something else he wanted to say, so she remained silent. After a long moment of turning as they danced, he sighed. "You must understand that I've been a part of a society where homosexuality is strongly looked down upon since my birth. I was taught beliefs that are being rejected in modern society. It is difficult for me to simply abandon what I've known to be true my whole life, but for the sake of my daughter, I'm willing to try. I would very much like it if we could develop a relationship, if only a civil one, for the time being."
Ruby nodded absently as she took the information in. It was definitely a step in the right direction, and she wasn't about to push Weiss's father out of their lives due to the way he was raised. She was old enough to know that early teachings had massive impacts on people as they aged. Even Weiss's view of the faunus had been an excellent example, and she'd decided to open her mind in order to repair relations with Blake. It wasn't really unrealistic to believe that if Weiss could accept Blake, Mr. Schnee could accept Ruby and Weiss as a married couple.
So she took a deep breath and said the words she knew Weiss would never say to him after everything he'd done, but needed to be said. "I think that would be good. Weiss needs a father, and even though my dad would be happy to step in, he's not a replacement for you. But you need to agree to work on the problems you have otherwise nothing will change. I can only support Weiss's decisions regarding her family, and I will. Regardless of what that means for you."
"Well spoken, Ruby. I understand completely." He smiled and they finished their dance in relatively comfortable silence. Ruby rejoined Weiss as she finished dancing with Taiyang, and gave her a large hug as she pulled her over to JNPR's table while other couples took to the dance floor as it was now open to everyone else. It seemed as though everything might just be okay in time. Something she hoped there'd be no short supply of now that she had more than she could have ever imagined.