In a way, it was kind of funny. There weren't even any ceiling tiles to count, just one smooth, white expanse of ceiling occasionally interrupted by a light fixture. Instead, Weiss just kept track of how many times Ruby mumbled in her sleep. Six, now, but nothing discernable, just half-words and little noises. She was resting her head on her arms, which were on the edge of Weiss' bed, occasionally fidgeting and scrunching her eyes up. Weiss wanted to do something— stroke her hair, preferably— to calm her down, but Ruby was on her right side. The side where her arm— what was left of it— was most certainly unable to reach her partner.

She'd probably been watching Ruby sleep for at least an hour, now, just wishing that she could get a little closer. Alas, she was stuck in a surprisingly comfortable hospital bed in Beacon Academy's Medical Wing, tied down by the various tubes inserted into her left arm.

Weiss held up her right arm, observing it carefully for the umpteenth time. Just one or two inches below her elbow remained a scarred stump. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt that much. There was a bit of a persistent itch, but not very much pain. What did hurt, though, was where her arm used to be. It would come occasionally in bursts— dull, throbbing pain and the distinct feeling that her arm was still there. It wasn't that painful per se, at least it wasn't as painful as when she'd lost the arm. That was what she assumed, at least, the memories were… fuzzy. Silver eyes, flecked with red, widened in fear and regret, Crescent Rose coming down, Rosenwache breaking, blood, so much blood. The memories flashed in her mind like images from a projector, as if she was watching them from a perspective outside of her own.

"Muh… ommm— doh...waa… youuu…" Ruby mumbled between breaths. Seven.

Weiss could tell that one hurt. Ruby's face was twisted in pain, and her lip was trembling. "Ruby," Weiss whispered. "It's okay, we're okay." She wanted so badly to reach out and take Ruby's hand, but… Dust, she had even tried it, her arm fruitlessly lifting and falling.

Ruby's expression softened, only by a little.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Weiss whispered to her sleeping partner. "This is all my fault. I… I don't know why I said what I said, Ruby, it wasn't me. It was just someone I used to be, and they hurt you." She leaned as far forward as she could without tugging on the tubes in her arm. "I won't hurt you again, Ruby. I'll tell you how I really feel when you wake up, okay?"

Weiss watched as Ruby inhaled, exhaled, her expression softening with every breath.

She didn't know when she'd ended up in the Medical Wing, Ruby hadn't been at her bedside when Weiss had first awoken in a bleary haze, but Weiss had heard the heartbeat monitor in the room next to her on the other side of the grey sheet walls. At some point she'd fallen asleep again, and when she woke up Ruby was sleeping at her bedside. Weiss had just been watching her ever since.

Looking at Ruby made her chest ache. Weiss could see dozens of thin, interconnected scars in various weblike patterns on her arms and at the back of her neck. They were strangely... serene— in a sort of eerie sense. Weiss couldn't begin to imagine how she'd gotten them. All that she remembered was losing her arm, then waking up in the hospital bed. Come to think of it, there was a strange… bump in her memories. There were no images, but she could remember a torrent of emotions at some point, just nothing to associate them to. It felt strange, too, familiar but certainly not her own. Someone else's emotions. Weiss shook her head, thinking about it gave her a headache.

Quiet, well-spaced footsteps pierced the near-complete silence. Weiss instinctively tensed.

The grey sheet around her flew open, revealing a tall Faunus woman in forest-green scrubs. She looked up from the clipboard in her hands, and the feline ears atop her head perked up. She rushed forward and set her clipboard at the foot of the bed while pressing a button on the bed frame. "Miss Schnee!" Her voice was surprisingly low-pitched as her eyes darted between Weiss and the vitals monitor next to the bed. "Are you feeling okay? Is there anything you need?"

Weiss glanced over at Ruby, who began to stir. "Please keep it down, I don't want to wake up my partner." She said, her voice a little rough. "I would like some water, though."

The Faunus— Martha, her silver name tag read— nodded and quickly left to fulfill her request. It didn't take long for her to return, but she had two people accompanying her when she did, one of which Weiss was acutely familiar with.

Winter briskly walked to Weiss' side, forgoing any formalities, and hugged her. Her hold was tight, tight enough Weiss was suffocating. "Sister, please," Weiss choked out, her remaining hand patting Winter on the back. "I don't want to survive mutilation only to die of strangulation."

Winter didn't comply immediately, of course. She held her sister for a few moments longer before gently letting go and standing up once more, leaving Weiss surprised to find herself missing the contact. After a slight bow, Winter spoke. "My apologies, Weiss." She looked over her shoulder, addressing the duty doctor who had arrived with her. "You should speak first."

The doctor nodded. "Miss Schnee, I'd like to start by saying that yours and your partner's Aura infusions went perfectly, but there will be moderate complications caused by Miss Rose's own manual Aura infusion." He said with thinly-veiled annoyance. "Mind you, such complications are entirely situational, so there is no way for me to tell you what long and short-term effects will occur as a result."

"Sorry," Weiss' head tilted, her voice incredulous. "Did you say that Ruby gave me a manual Aura infusion?"

The doctor nodded gravely. "She risked her life to save you."

Weiss felt a weight drop into her gut, but she couldn't trust her voice to say anything. Instead, she just nodded.

The doctor looked down at his clipboard. "Like I said, neither of you should experience any permanent damage to your Aura's capacity, but there will most likely be side effects due to what Miss Rose did. Now, you should know that there are many one-armed Hunters who still perform well within or above the average for most Hunters, and there is no shame—"

Winter interrupted him. "Don't worry, Doctor Molonne, the Schnee Dust Company can handle her rehabilitation." She turned to her younger sister, her voice stony and professional. "Your replacement will be ready very soon."

The doctor whirled on her. "Excuse me?"

Winter turned to him, and Weiss could see the hidden smirk. "The Schnee Dust Company is one of the largest contributors to the bionics research and development industry. They will be tripping over each other for the chance to develop an arm for Weiss Schnee." She turned to her sister. "Do not worry, sister, you will only get the best. I will make sure of it."

Weiss really didn't know how to respond. She lost her arm, Ruby risked her life to save her, apparently something was going to happen as a side effect of that, she still needed to figure out how to tell Ruby her feelings, her sister was there, and she would be getting a new arm. Too many things, it was all too much. What was she going to tell Ruby? What was Ruby going to tell her? What were they going to tell Ozpin? Should she tell Winter how she felt about Ruby? Should she tell her that she was going to try to burn the SDC? Too much, too much! Something cold was gripping at her chest, she wanted nothing more than to be alone. Or did she want Ruby to stay? Ruby…

Ruby wasn't asleep anymore, Weiss realized. She'd been able to snap herself out of her thoughts when she noticed the familiar shift in Ruby's breathing, signifying that she was just pretending to be asleep, something she was prone to do when Weiss was on watch during missions so that she could listen to her sing. That wasn't all, though, she felt something telling her that Ruby was awake, that she was listening. She felt her worries slide away, just a little, as she focused on her partner.

The doctor and Winter were still looking at her expectantly, and she realized that she must have been silent for several seconds. "Yes," She intoned with a sigh. "A new arm would be acceptable. Please, though, allow me to pick the design."

Winter nodded, her gaze as understanding and comforting as it could be. "Of course, sister."

The doctor still seemed a little shocked, but he continued nonetheless. "In that case… Well, I'm sure that we can figure something out once you have your new arm. Until then, just be careful not to aggravate your scar tissue and watch very closely for anything happening with you and your partner's Auras." He looked back down at his clipboard again, giving it a final check before nodding. "That should be just about it. Nurse Martha is gonna look you over one more time, then you'll be free to go." He stayed there for a few more moments, just in case anyone had questions. When none were raised, he dipped his head politely and left, and the nurse moved towards the bed after he was gone.

Winter watched with a threatening glare as the nurse slowly approached the heiress and carefully prodded at various parts of her body.

"Are you in any pain?" Martha asked as she prodded Weiss' hip.

For some reason, she could feel it on her arm— where her arm used to be. A small pressure somewhere on her forearm, tingling like pins and needles. She looked down at the scarred nub. "No, but… I can feel something on my arm?"

The nurse hummed and nodded. "That is phantom limb pain. You will most likely be experiencing it until you get your new arm, and you may experience it after. This is completely normal and can be managed. If it's particularly severe, there is also medication available for treatment."

Weiss rolled her right shoulder, the lesser weight feeling very strange. It didn't do much to make the pins and needles go away, but it seemed to be fading on its own. "What do I need to do?"

The nurse stopped prodding at her and began gently removing the tubes still in Weiss' left arm. "You can find management tips and therapists online, but you'll need to consult your physician if you need medication."

Weiss nodded. It could certainly be worse. With Weiss' left arm free of any encumbrances, the nurse gave the heiress a final once-over before leaving. Only the trio of Weiss, Ruby, and Winter remained in the small space, enclosed on all sides by a thick gray curtain.

The moment she left, Winter's shoulders sagged. She looked wearily at her sister, her voice much warmer than it had been when there were others in the room. "Weiss, what happened?"

Weiss could barely hear Ruby's breathing hitch. Still awake. "Please, Winter," She pleaded. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Winter sighed. "Must you be so reticent?"

"I just… I made a series of mistakes, and I jumped in the way of danger like a fool." Weiss murmured, her gaze firmly set on her lap.

"Surely there's more to it than that."

"Winter, please, just… later."

Winter let silence hang in the room for a few painstaking moments. "I'm sorry, Weiss."

"Don't be," Weiss insisted. "It's my own fault, mostly."

"Please be more careful, then. I nearly had a fit when I heard that you'd been injured. I care about you, sister."

She still couldn't say it. Weiss couldn't blame her, father had been much less lenient when it came to hammering the L-word out of Winter's vocabulary. He was spiteful like that. "I love you too, Winter."

Winter gave her a small smile— the most she could give anyone, really. "I'm sure there will be at least a dozen designs ready in a couple of days, I'll send you the ten that I think will best serve your needs. Is that acceptable?"

Weiss nodded. "That is perfectly fine, Winter. Thank you."

Winter leaned down and gave her sister a final hug before leaving her alone with Ruby. Weiss listened to the staccato clacks of her heels fade as she left the Medical Wing.

Weiss sighed, taking a couple moments to gather herself before speaking to her partner. She wouldn't mess it up this time. She couldn't. "I know you're awake, Ruby."

Ruby tensed up, not bothering to keep up the facade as she sat up. She straightened her back, her face scrunching up in discomfort as her spine popped a few times. Weiss didn't exactly expect Ruby to smile at her, but what she got was even worse. Ruby didn't even meet her eyes, she just stood up and… walked away. Not a word.

"Ruby, wait!" Weiss called.

Ruby halted just as she was about to leave. She turned in Weiss' direction, her eyes glued firmly to the foot of Weiss' bed. "Do you need anything?"

Dust, Weiss wanted to vomit. Ruby wasn't supposed to sound like that, ever. "I need to talk to you."

Ruby finally met her eyes, the once-gleaming silver now a dull gunmetal grey. Weiss shivered. She could feel something within her, something foreign, writhing with despair. "What's there to say, Weiss?" Ruby's defeated tone was sickening. "I… I hurt you, and it was all my fault."

The words struck Weiss like a lance to the heart, causing her to choke back her response.

Ruby's eyes flashed with… something— some strange cocktail of fatigue, regret, pain, and a hundred other feelings that Weiss couldn't decipher, but could feel somewhere within herself, like something inside of her mirroring her partner's emotions. She turned her back to Weiss again, an action which caused the foreign feeling within Weiss to twist in pain. "I'll get Blake, she'll help you back to the dorm. I'm sure you're better off without my help, you know what that'll get you."

As Ruby moved to step out of the room, Weiss lurched out of her bed. She stumbled, her legs wobbling and almost giving out the moment her feet touched the floor, but she still strained her muscles to get her to her partner as quickly as possible. "Ruby, please! Please listen to me!" She cried, grasping her partner's cloak.

Ruby didn't turn, but she did stop. A crushing, cold silence dominated the small room for a few moments before Weiss spoke.

"Ruby, I hurt you." Weiss whispered.

Ruby whirled around on Weiss, a hundred objections on her lips, but Weiss spoke before she could let them out.

"I lied, Ruby! I lied to you." Weiss shuffled a little closer to her partner, stumbling as her wobbly legs momentarily gave out. Ruby, on instinct, caught her under her arms. "I didn't mean what I said, I just… I hadn't gotten my own feelings in order and I did what came first."

Ruby looked down at her partner, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Lying… comes first to you?"

Weiss felt a pang of shame. "For matters of…" Weiss' mouth went dry. "Courtship, yes."

Ruby remained silent, but Weiss could see the torrent of emotions behind her eyes, and something within her was thrashing.

"I didn't mean what I said, Ruby, I just… I don't know what I should say." Weiss murmured, a combination of fear and unease rolling in her chest. "Please, Ruby, just give me time." She begged, her hand trembling.

For a long time, Ruby was silent, but she had finally met Weiss' eyes. Weiss could almost see emotional warzone in her mind, and she could certainly feel that presence within her boiling. Ruby's voice shook like a leaf. "I took your arm, Weiss."

Weiss glanced down at her own halved arm. "It's just an arm, Ruby."

Ruby looked at Weiss as if she'd just snatched a fly into her mouth. "It's an arm! You can only do half the stuff! Isn't it going to mess with your reputation or something?"

"Ruby, the Schnees are subject to enough attacks to not stigmatize prosthetics anymore. It's just the reality of our situation. Half of my father's ribs are artificial, his left leg is bionic, and he uses state-of-the-art hearing aids to eliminate his tinnitus." Weiss said, her voice soft but straightforward.

"But..." Ruby trailed off, realizing that there was no point arguing with Weiss about something she knew so little about. One thing did keep her talking, though. "Your dad has tinnitus?"

The tone of curiosity slowly returning to Ruby's voice felt like a moment of relief amidst a maelstrom. Weiss sighed, relaxed with her partner's question. "A bomb detonated under his desk, we still have no idea who could've gotten it there. It took part of his leg and damaged his hearing, but the weight and build of the desk kept him from being shredded outright."

"Jeez…" Ruby murmured.

Weiss felt it, the foreign presence within her was much more relaxed now. "Ruby, would you help me back to the dorm?"

Ruby seemed to briefly consider it, and Weiss could feel her weigh the options in her mind. It didn't take long, though, before Ruby nodded her head. "I'm sorry for…" She trailed off as she draped Weiss' left arm across her shoulders for support.

Weiss tried to wave her concerns off, momentarily forgetting that she only had one hand. "It's fine, Ruby."

Ruby slowly walked her partner out of the room and into the halls of the Medical Wing. "It's really not, Weiss. I lost control, really badly. When you said those things, I just… I kinda freaked out! It was like I wasn't even in control of myself."

Weiss could hear and feel her partner's fear. She could remember it, too. Silver eyes flecked with red. Weiss shuddered.

Ruby's expression darkened with shame as she felt her partner's reaction. "Yeah," She whispered. "I'll talk with Qrow about it."

The mere mention of that drunken rapscallion made Weiss sneer as the two walked in a rather awkward silence, Weiss' proximity to her partner making it difficult for her to ignore her feelings. She wouldn't dare speak about it, though, not yet. She didn't have her words in order, she'd surely fail if she let them out now. Even now, with the underlying tension between them, Weiss still felt that warmth from Ruby, the coziness of being with her partner. The feeling was reflected by that foreign sensation inside of her, and she was beginning to suspect what it was. "Ruby?"

Ruby looked down at her partner. "Yeah?"

"What happened to your arms?"

Ruby stopped suddenly in the middle of the hall, causing Weiss to almost fall over.

Weiss sensed the intense unease from her partner being reflected by the presence inside her. "We can talk about it later, if you prefer." She conceded.

Ruby just nodded and kept walking, the feeling of intense discomfort hardly eased.

They arrived at the dorm to see… something. It had only been for a split second, but Weiss could see that Yang had been sitting patiently at the foot of Blake's bed, and Blake was reading. Aloud. Of course, Yang jumped off the bed the moment Ruby and Weiss crossed the threshold, but both of them could tell that something was going on.

Before either could comment, the two jolted and Yang jumped from the bed. "Weiss!" She said, her voice a little too loud to not have been up to something. "Are you okay?"

Weiss decided to shelve it for now. "Yes, I'm quite alright. It's Ruby who you should be worried about, she gave me a manual Aura infusion."

Yang looked at Ruby with incredulity. "You what?"

Ruby groaned. "It's not that big a deal!"

Blake decided to pipe up. "You could have died, Ruby."

Weiss felt that presence in her recoil. "Well, I did it to save Weiss!" Ruby cried, attempting to deflect the severity of the situation. "You would've done the same!"

Yang scoffed. "To save Weiss?"

Blake shot her a glare and smacked her arm. Weiss felt like she should be offended but, really, it was nice to be around them again. Yang's humor was just what she needed. "I'm fine." Weiss insisted. "I'll be getting a replacement very soon."

Yang's eyes bulged. "Like a robot arm?" She stage-whispered.

Weiss sighed. "Yes, Yang, a bionic arm."

Yang's eyes widened in awe. "That is so cool! I wish I could have a robot arm!"

Blake smacked her again. "Yang, quit it."

Weiss looked over at her partner, and she could see the horrified look in her eyes. She could feel it, too. That once-foreign presence within her was roiling with despair, and Weiss could quite clearly tell what it was. Doubtless, when Ruby forced her Aura into Weiss', there must've been some lasting exchange, some Ruby-shaped imprint on Weiss' Aura that reflected Ruby's. It didn't hurt, at least.

Ruby tugged Weiss along before her sister could make her feel worse, dragging the heiress towards the bathroom. "Here, Weiss," That dull tone had returned to her voice. "Take a shower, then we'll go talk to Ozpin. I'll wait out here if you need me, okay?'

Ruby opened the door to the restroom and ferried Weiss in before she could actually consent. As soon as they got to the foot of the tub, Ruby sighed. "I'm going to let you go, now," She said, gently removing the heiress' arm from her shoulders. "Will you be able to do it yourself?"

Weiss nodded. Truthfully, she didn't know, but she really didn't want to be in a shower-situation with Ruby again. Her heart fluttered just thinking about it.

Ruby gave her a strange look before stepping away from her. "Alright, I'll be right outside."

Weiss nodded, comforted by her partner's care. "I can do it." She insisted, more to herself than to Ruby.

Ruby nodded and turned, leaving Weiss alone in the bathroom. She tugged the gown's tie loose, shrugging it to the floor and leaving her naked in the cold bathroom. She briefly looked in the mirror, only to be entranced by the odd sight. In almost every aspect, she looked much better than she had in her first year. She'd gained a few pounds, so her ribs were no longer as disturbingly visible. She'd clearly firmed up, too, a few lines of definition showing off her improvements.

The arm was incredibly strange, though. There was no getting around it. Every time she tried to look somewhere else, her eyes just ended up drifting to the scarred stump on her right side. She shivered, something which she could've sworn she felt in her right arm.

Weiss made sure to keep the water relatively tepid, so as not to shock the scar tissue. As she allowed herself to be soaked, she closed her eyes and focused on the presence within her— Ruby's presence. It hadn't faded with their slightly increased distance, and Weiss just knew that Ruby was, in fact, standing right outside that bathroom door, tensed and ready in case she needed her. Her Aura was… afraid? Weiss could feel her partner's fear, but she couldn't tell what she was afraid of. With a sigh, she focused her Aura into prodding Ruby's mark within her.

As soon as the two touched, there was a bump against the wall of the bathroom. Ruby had jolted in surprise, Weiss knew. "Weiss?" Ruby called, her voice muffled through the door. "Are, uh, are you okay?"

Weiss pulled back, satisfied with the results of her little experiment. When she opened her eyes, she gasped. A single rose petal had appeared, resting gently on the showerhead before fading. The faint, faint smell of roses hung in the air. "Y-yeah, Ruby, I'm okay!" She responded, her voice feeling distant as she stared at where the petal had been.

"Okay… I just thought I felt…" Ruby's already-low voice trailed off into a whisper. Dust, how could Weiss hear her across the threshold? "You."