Shattered

Dizzy, the thought buzzed around in her head over and over as she tried to roll over. Something was holding her down, but her eyes wouldn't open. Their kids felt heavy, heavier than they ever had before. Her stomach churned with each breath, and everytime it did a sharp pain pierced the edges of her consciousness. Over and over the series played out in her mind for hours and hours. Sometimes she could feel the sun on her face, others she couldn't.

Thirsty, eventually the words in her mind changed or cycled back.

Hungry

Hurting

Empty

The heiress' eyes creaked open slowly, her hair matted to her skin and sweat shone on her skin. It was dark again, she hadn't been able to count the amount of times the sun had shone through the window but it hadn't been just a few.

She felt groggy, like she'd slept for a week and, judging by how hungry she was, she very well may have been.

"Don't roll over," she heard, the voice sounding far away and weak. The world around her was a wash of color, everything seemed to twist and warp unnaturally for quite a few blinks, before one of the colors seemed to solidify, a figure of red beside her.

"Ruuubyyy?" Weiss strained to ask.

"You're okay, just don't move too much, please."

Something was different, wrong even. Ruby's voice may have sounded weak and faraway, but kit so far away that she couldn't hear it warbling. She sounded like she was…crying?

As the minutes dragged on she could feel the pressure of hands holding her own, and the sound of Ruby's whimpers only grew more consistent and audible as Weiss' hearing slowly started to behave normally.

"Ruby…" she paused for a long and labored breath. "Where am I. What happened?"

"You're okay, we are back at the house," her partner answered as Weiss shut her eyes tight, trying to refocus her vision.

"The house?" Weiss asked, worry filling her mind quickly. "Why did you bring me…back…back too," Weiss' eyes shot open wide, her pupils narrowed and filled with fear as she shot upright in bed.

At least, her muscles certainly tensed as if that was their goal, to get her up and out of there as fast as humanly possible, but a weight pressed her back down into the mattress when she was only halfway up, and her lower abdomen lit up with pain.

She cried out from the sting of it, and Ruby came more into her view. "Don't do that! You're gonna tear your stitches!" Her partner's voice rang out, this time feeling much closer.

The shock of adrenaline began to shape the the rest of the world around her as Weiss' eyes frantically searched the room for signs of familiarity, only for her to find that she was back in the house they had been staying in while in Mistral, not the house she had feared.

"Oh," she breathed as the pain filled slightly. "I thought you meant…" she stopped as her eyes caught Ruby's gaze, her younger partner's face filled with tears and worry. "Oh," her heart stopped at the sight. "Ohhhhh," Weiss breathed. Stitches, pain, Ruby is crying. Cinder pierced me through with her spear, she slowly began to remember. "If I'm alive right now then…we won, right?" Weiss hoped.

"I wouldn't call it a win," Ruby croaked. "But we're alive."

"How long was I out?" Weiss asked as she tried to lift a hand to Ruby's cheek, finding that her partner still had both her hands locked in hers, and Weiss became acutely aware of the tears splashing onto the back of her palm.

"Haven was a week ago Weiss," her partner sobbed and Weiss watched her shoulders hitch as she cried.

"Ruby I…I'm sorry, I failed," Weiss admitted as the memories began to flow back to her, the events up until she had passed out slowly becoming clear. "It must have been awful trying to protect me and fight at the same ti-" Weiss started, but was cut off by her partner.

"I don't care about that!" Ruby yelled, tears falling from her cheek, and Weiss' lips zipped shut. "I thought I lost you!" Ruby's voice wavered as Weiss felt the grip on her hands tighten. "I thought I watched you die," she gasped.

Weiss was silent for a long while before she winced, the pressure of Ruby's hands on her own becoming too much. Ruby seemed to get the message, having seen Weiss' eyes twitch down to look at her hands. She loosened her grip and let go, "I'm sorry," she gasped again, but Weiss hands flinched up to hers and took hold of them instead.

"Don't apologize," Weiss managed to say, her own tears starting to flow.

"Then why do you get to apologize," Ruby wailed. "You did more than any of us on your own, you didn't fail, we all failed you. I'm your leader," Ruby sobbed. "I'm supposed to make sure that this doesn't happen!"

Weiss moved one hand up to Ruby's cheek and tried her best to smile, wiping her thumb over Ruby's tears. "I'm sorry for making you worry Ruby," she winced. "I'm sorry for making you cry again." Ruby's breath hitched in her throat at that, and Weiss couldn't stop the word vomit from coming up. "All I ever do is make you cry," her smile turned downward and her throat tightened. "All you ever wanted was a friend and you picked the worst target you could have," Weiss' tears returned as she struggled to speak.

"Weiss thats not-" Ruby started but Weiss cut her off.

"It is true," Weiss forced the hot words out as if they burned her. "When you fell into my luggage I scolded you, When they made you team leader I acted like a spoiled child, when we were arguing over nonsense we agreed to a date to prove we could act like adults around each other," Weiss blubbered. "When Mydnight asked you to hang out I was jealous and tried to control

You." Weiss grit her teeth and she saw Ruby struggle to find words. "And when you gave me the best day of my life I threw it all away a month later because I was too afraid to stay."

Ruby tried her best to wipe her eyes into her sleeve, though Weiss could hardly see through her own tears and was far more occupied trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. "The best day of your life?" Ruby finally asked, muffled behind her sleeve.

Weiss tried to find the breath to say what she needed to, her voice hitching over and over. "Skating," she managed quickly and sharply. "When you took me skating," she clarified through pained breaths.

"That," Ruby said breathlessly, "that was the best day of your life?" She asked in shock.

All Weiss could do was nod. She was shaking, she knew it, crying and shaking and barely able to fight back against whatever it was inside her that was forcing these words out of her mouth. She hated every second of it, but she knew that she couldn't hang on to them anymore. Whatever small part of her that was fighting against opening up to her partner was losing, and this was the time. The time for the words to escape. The part where she started talking with no hope of ever stopping again.

"I-love you," Weiss whined through tears and a hitching breath, Ruby's eyes widening ever further. "There's-so much that I want to-say to you," the heiress' breath was frantic. "So much i couldn't-tell you."

"Weiss just-just breath," Ruby pleaded as she placed her hands on Weiss' forehead and cheek. "Deep breaths, you're gonna make yourself pass out."

Weiss didn't slow down though, she didn't even try. "I love-your goofy smile, I love-" she hitched and grabbed for Ruby's hands. "Your kind eyes, I love that you're not afraid of-your feelings, your passions-you-" Weiss' breath was becoming far too fast, and Ruby let Weiss hold her hands tight, white knuckled. "You," she repeated, her ice blue eyes trying frantically to communicate what her mouth was struggling to say. "That you were never afraid of me."

Ruby leaned down at that, her hands leaving her partners and going around the back of her head, threading into Weiss matted and messed hair as she pulled her partner into a hug, Weiss face buried into Ruby's shoulder. "It's okay," Ruby insisted, her fingers rubbing against Weiss' head and back.

Weiss began to cry far loudly at that, "it's not okay!" She demanded. "Nothing I've done has been okay," her arms went under Ruby's and around her partner's back, holding her so tight that Ruby could hardly breathe.

"Yes it is," Ruby tried to remain calm. "Take deep breaths Weiss," she pleaded, trying herself to steady a long breath to get Weiss to sync up with the tempo. "You don't give yourself enough credit. I know there's more you want to say, I know you're ready to tell me whatever it is you hold in everyday," Ruby soothed as best she could. "But you don't have to right this second Weiss. Just breathe. I'm still gonna be here when you calm down."

Weiss' flood gates truly broke at that, at the smell of the rose and her kind words, her fingers in her hair and on her back. It was time. Time to drop the walls once and for all. She knew that it was, but she just needed one more little push, and she had no idea that it was about to given to her.

"I love you too," Ruby said so softly that for a moment, Weiss thought she had imagined it. "I tried to move on," Ruby began again and Weiss finally realized the words had been real. "I tried to forget about my feelings but after seeing you get hurt I…" she paused and Weiss felt Ruby twitch. "It made me realize that I don't want to be without you. Half a year was already too much."

"Ruby," Weiss gasped as she pulled back from her younger partner's shoulder. Her flooded eyes locked with Ruby's silver orbs and Weiss found her partner's eyes wet, but her lips tipped up into the softer smile she'd ever seen.

Weiss had never felt so raw in all her life. This was her. This was the girl that Weiss kept locked up in her heart every single day. Unkempt, unwashed, ratty, crying, sniveling, afraid, happy, sad, out of breath and full of tears.

Imperfect.

A lost little girl afraid to be who she wanted to be. She had hidden this girl not just from the world, but from herself somewhere along the way. Every time she had gotten up on stage to sing, this was the girl she was singing to. Not the audience, not her family and certainly not her father who had egged her onto the stage in the first place.

The girl who stared back from inside the mirror.

Whether or not Weiss was ready for her, her glass prison was shattered, and she was out, and Weiss didn't think she'd be able to stuff her back inside no matter how hard she tried. "Ruby I," she tried to clear her throat. "I don't even know who I really am underneath all of this," she admitted, her tears still flowing. Weiss gestured to her weapon, Myrtenaster, laying on a table near the bed, to her icicle shaped hair clip on the bed stand, and to her combat dress which she was still dressed in. The dress's fresh hole and scorch marks caught her eye for a moment, along with her newest scar beneath them. "I've locked it all up for so long I-I don't even know who Weiss Schnee used to be," she sobbed. "How could you love me when I don't even know who me is?"

Weiss was surprised when Ruby's smile broadened, even if it was only a little bit, as she watched little red exhale. "I'm ready to find out if you are," her partner breathed softly, and Weiss' entire body lurched. She was here, on the edge of the cliff, ready to jump, and truly, finally ready to let someone catch her on the way down.

And so she did.

Weiss' hands flew from Ruby's sides to her cheeks and she pulled her teammate to her, her tear stained lips locking with her partner's. It felt like it had been a lifetime since she'd kissed her, since she'd had her close enough to feel her breathing and taste her and simply have her.

For the first time in her entire life Weiss didn't care how unclean or uncouth she was, she let her hands do what they wanted, let her lips go where they wanted, and stopped caring about everything else in all the world around her.

And so, her walls melted. They crumbled around her like a waterfall as she melted into her partner's embrace, the kiss short but deep. She let Ruby hold her as the pair fell silent and Weiss enjoyed the warmth that she'd been searching for for as long as she could remember. The warmth of someone giving her the one thing she thought she'd never have. A chance to be herself, to be childish without judgment, to enjoy life and all it had to give.

The chance to let someone be her hero.

"You deserve the world Ruby Rose."

Ruby shut the door as quietly as she could, sighing a long and heavy breath as she leaned up against the wall for a moment. Weiss had finally fallen back asleep after a prolonged crying session, and Ruby had resolved to fetch her something to eat and drink.

This wouldn't be as easy as it had been for the last month, now that Ambur and Olivier had left with Mydnight. Ruby's heart sank slightly as she tried to convince herself that they would be together again soon though. Their older counterparts had left two days ago, and had checked in with them using their scrolls when they'd arrived at their destination.

Ruby had wanted to join them, but she knew that she couldn't. She would not only be in the way, but she needed to stay with Weiss, couldn't hardly let her out of her sight really. Not too mention that if a Weiss was healthy, the trio wouldn't have had the slight amount of time to take a little break anyway.

Ruby paced to the livingroom and found just who she needed too, Ren, on one of the couches watching Nora playing video games with Oscar.

"Ren?" Ruby asked, grabbing his attention. "Do we have any leftovers in the fridge?"

"For Weiss?" He asked, hopefulness in his voice, and Oscar and Nora paused their game and turned their attention to Ruby.

"She's awake?" Nora Beamed.

Ruby nodded and an easy smile passed over all their faces. "I thought I might've heard something but I couldn't tell over their game," Ren said as he stood from the couch. "We should have a few things left, I'll warm it up."

"Thanks," Ruby sighed happily. They passed each other as Ren went into the kitchen and Ruby flopped onto the couch. She felt so light, on a sort of high really, her mind distracted from all the mess for the first time in nearly a year. For once, she felt full and happy again, almost as carefree as she had been back at Beacon. Ruby hadn't quite understood just how heavily she'd been suppressing her feelings for her partner up until half an hour ago, and the weight lifted from her shoulders was immense.

She had wanted to be mad at Weiss and apparently had never really achieved that goal, only fooled herself into thinking that it really was over between them. There had been a moment when her brother was trying to explain how complicated this all could be where that manufactured anger had slipped, but Ruby had buried it back down inside her as fast as she could.

She knew that Weiss was being too hard on herself too. Far too hard. She was nowhere near as mean as she seemed to think she was, not near the end of their time at Beacon anyway. She wasn't perfect, but nobody else was either. She had her moments of defiance or the occasional mean comment, but not even a blind man could miss that Weiss was nowhere near the person she was at the start of their time at the Academy. In just one short year at school she had nearly completely transformed, and somehow Ruby thought that Weiss really hadn't noticed how much she'd grown already.

She felt the others eyes on her, and looked out of the corner of her and found Nora smiling at her knowingly. "What?" Ruby asked.

"You look awfully happy," Nora snickered and turned back around to face the game.

"Yeah well," Ruby's smile grew, "I am, okay?"

"Hey," Jaune appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Ren said Weiss is awake?"

Ruby sat up and nodded. "Are you feeling alright to try and boost her aura for a little while?"

Jaune smiled and nodded, "absolutely, I can do that while she eats and then we can finally talk about what our next move is."

Ruby's heart sank at that, "yeah," she sighed.

Then it was Qrow's turn to appear from the stairwell to the basement, his voice gruff and grim.

"She's not gonna like what she hears."

"You really have no idea how much that meant to me," Blake hummed. She couldn't remember the last time that life looked so bright. Seeing her family here in Mistral, having time to speak to them out in public in another kingdom far from home was a novelty she thought she could never enjoy.

"You've said that already," Ghira laughed heartily.

"I know," Blake said quickly, "I just can't believe it. I can't believe it all worked out so well for us. For our people. It was perfect," she marveled. Sun and Ilia were there with them, out at a long round table at a restaurant.

Out in the open.

The former leader of the White Fang, his daughter and friend who were both wanted criminals before, and of course Sun, could actually be out in public and have a sit down meal and not feel like complete outcasts in this city. The city that Ghira and the loyal followers of the old White Fang had helped to defend against the attack on Haven Academy. They were all household names here now, being served like any other patron would be.

"How did your team meeting go?" Sun asked. "You seemed pretty antsy to talk about it."

Blake's ears slumped forward at that, hating the words she was about to say. "We," she paused and sighed. "We're leaving for Argus tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sun shot upright in his chair. "I thought Weiss was still in pretty bad shape?"

"She's not one hundred percent, that's for sure," Blake huffed. "I don't like the idea of rushing her out of recovery, but she woke up this morning. Jaune dumped all his aura into getting her up and out of bed and moving around but, I still don't like it. The simple truth is that we can't wait any longer. In a world where Weiss wasn't injured so seriously we would probably already be halfway to Atlas by now."

"And what about you?" Ghira spoke up. "How do you feel about going to Atlas?"

Blake was silent for a while, genuinely pondering the question. "I don't feel great about it, for sure," she answered. "Hopefully we report straight to general Ironwood, he's never given us any issues really, never acted any type of differently against our people." Ghira gave her a knowing look and she continued. "Of course I've spent a grand total of ten minutes in the same space as him, so that could all be wishful thinking. Still, I have to go. I may not like it, we all may not like it, she admitted. "But it is the right play. It's the safest place for the lamp on Remnant," she shrugged.

"Be wary," her father warned her. "I realize all too well that you know what you are doing, that you now where you must be and why. This new movement of ours may be off to an unimaginably good start, but I doubt that means anything to the people of Solitas. Be safe Blake," her father urged, though it must be said, he did so with a proud smile.

Blake's own lips turned up into a shy smile, "I will."

"And what about you two?" Ghira turned to Ilia and Sun. "What will you do now?"

Ilia spoke first. "As much as I hate to let you go to Atlas without protection," Ilia said softly, hating the spotlight. "I think I'd be far more useful to the new movement," she said disappointedly. "There's already so many of you going, I don't want to get in your way."

"You wouldn't be in the way Ilia," Blake smiled. "Though it is true that the White Fanf are going to need you. They'll need as much information on Adam's splinter group as they can get, and someone to help weed out the bad eggs."

Ilia nodded and Blake turned her attention to her, she supposed, boyfriend, dreading hearing what she thought he had to say.

"I," Sun started, uncharacteristically quiet. "I want to go with you but," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been away from my team for almost an entire semester. Shade Academy is pretty relaxed and encourages independence but, even they have their limits. If I don't get back soon I'm going to be expelled for sure."

Some part of Blake's heart sank, but all the same she mustered up the words she knew she had to say. They hurt, they burned her throat, but she knew they were true. "You should go back," she admitted, the truth of her words stinging in both their ears. "I hate saying that out loud but it's true. You at least need to consider it. Not all of us get the chance to graduate. I'm sure your team misses you Sun."

"I'll think about it, much as I don't like to admit to it, you're probably right."