AN: I—er, market research has determined that people want to read more about RWBY characters having problems with heeled shoes, so I wrote more RWBY characters having problems with heeled shoes.

In other words, here's the hotly-anticipated sequel, AKA "Heel to Pay 2: On the Other Foot."

It's almost the Beacon Dance, and Yang has to pick out a pair of new heels for Ruby. Will her sister embrace them, or will she dust them muttering about lady stilts?

A pair of shoes caught Yang's attention.

Her sister Ruby was with her when she saw a pair from a Célestin Langdon store's display. They had bought a dark red dress for Ruby from a tailor, so all that was left was a pair of heels to complete the look.

Indeed, a 300,000 Lien allowance from Weiss split between Ruby, Blake, and Yang granted them headroom in regards to choosing a dress, but the thing was, the most finely-made dresses were expensive. For example, Blake had to choose a cheaper, less-ornate dress that was less than 100,000 Lien. Yang had to give up a tailor-made dress so Ruby could get the exact one she wanted. That left enough for a pair of designer heels.

There was one question: who to give the heels to?

Blake was no stranger to heels, while Yang was a somewhat distant second.. Ruby, however, hadn't tried a pair yet, but Yang felt that her first time should be special.

The answer was clear.

"Hey Ruby," Yang asked, "you want these?"

"Want what?" Ruby was confused when she pointed her towards the pair of stilettos on display.

"Those shoes for your dance dress!"

Ruby looked and saw the fancy, shiny pair of stilettos that her sister laid eyes upon. It was a rather nice pair of court-style shoes made with shiny black leather, a beige lining, a stark red sole, and the distinctly thin heels that earned the shoes the name of "stilettos." At that moment, she imagined going to the dance all prettied up in that dress and doll-like makeup, strutting gracefully in those shoes, stunning people at the dance...

Only to sit down playing games on her Scroll.

"...Oh!" Ruby began to smile. "Weiss fights in these and looks good in them! Blake too!"

"So?"

"So if I wear them, they shouldn't be a problem!"

"Uh..." Yang side-eyed as she went up to Ruby's side. "You're not thinking of having Weiss or Blake train you?"

Ruby proudly stood. "Nope! I'm sure that if I put 'em on, I'll look good."

Considering Ruby hadn't even considered wearing heels until now, Yang still wasn't convinced, but she chose to believe her. "Alright, then we'll go in, take your size, try it, and check that out."

Ruby nodded, and so the two went inside and looked around. As soon as they found that exact same pair, Yang watched as her sister took off one of her combat boots, swiped a So Kaedes shoe from a podium, and tried them on. She looked down, wiggled her toes, and saw that the shoe fit right in.

Sorta.

It was too big. Suddenly, Ruby wasn't sure if she wanted to go at all.

Luckily for her, a representative happened to walk by, so Yang went to grab her attention.

"Excuse me!" Yang began. "Is there something half a size smaller for her?"

The representative stopped to listen to her, nodding along. "Gimme one second," she said, then went to procure a nearly identical pair. "Well?"

Ruby hesitated for a second, then took off the shoe—watched it fall to a soft, fur-like part of the floor—and took the other one. She put it on, and then wiggled her toes again. This time, the fit was snugger than before, and it didn't feel like she just jammed her foot into empty space. Instead, it felt a bit like putting on her boots.

In short, it felt neither too big nor small, but rather just right.

Ruby took off the other boot and put on the other shoe. Same result. "Yang, look!" Ruby showed Yang her now-heel-equipped feet. "They fit perfectly!"

"Sounds great," Yang smiled. "let's check 'em out."

Ruby nodded, then took the shoes off and put her boots back on as Yang grabbed a box of the So Kaedes. However, as Ruby put her boots on, she thought back to the shoes, this time realizing she'd felt some muscles stretch. Raising an eyebrow, she looked again at the shoes to see what was going on: the heels appeared taller than Weiss's wedges were. She blew it off, though. If the shoes that came with her uniform were moderately tall wedges she could walk fine in, she could handle more. After all, if Weiss fought in heels almost as tall, surely it couldn't be that bad...

Right?

. . .

Ding!

Ruby stepped out of the elevator, greeted by the sight of Atlesian soldiers and Valean police officers waiting to investigate the scene.

"Oh," Ruby began, "uh, sorry for making you wait!"

"All good, ma'am," the police officer said, himself walking inside the elevator. "Carry on with your night."

"Yeah! Y-You too!" Ruby made hurried baby steps out of the elevator as she adjusted the black lacing of her red dance dress.

She stumbled once again. This time, the resulting stumble brought her to her knees. She let out a quiet gasp, releasing her Scroll from her grasp for a brief moment before just barely catching it with her left hand. She looked down to see that one of her shoes had come off due to a misstep down the stairs. She let out an exasperated sigh and sat down on the steps of the stairs in front of her. The elevator had long since closed on her.

'Why did I wear these..!' was among one of her thoughts as she took off her other heel. Of course, it had to be those 4.5-inch stilettos that Yang wanted her to wear, and which she used Weiss's money to buy. She was accustomed to the 2-inch wedges that her Beacon uniform came with—enough to win a whole food fight in them, in fact—but apparently not enough that she could easily wear those stilettos to the dance, much less a fight with that woman back at the top of the tower.

She'd even fallen on her ass fighting her for crying out loud. And that was with Crescent Rose as an anchor.

Ruby sighed, then promptly threw them onto the stair steps, watching them tumble afterward. 'Ooh, I'm Weiss, I have so much money,' she thought, mocking her, 'I'm sure someone like Ruby losing a fancy-pancy pair of death traps in a place like this won't be a big deal for mee!'

Ruby had figured by then, 'If I can't even walk in those stupid lady stilts at all, then this is already better than... whatever was that.' Thus, she stood up and wiggled her toes, then easily walked down the stairs. 'For a moment, I almost forgot what it's like to walk comfortably,' she remarked to herself with a smile.

As she did so, she received a call from Yang, her sister. Naturally, she answered.

"Hello!" Ruby spoke up. "Don't worry, I'm okay! Just had to... check up on something..." As she talked on with her sister and chuckled at an apparent joke, she exited the building, leaving behind the So Kaedes laying dormant on the stairs.

. . .

The moment Yang saw Ruby again, she'd already been wondering where she went until she showed back up at the front door. She was about to ask where Ruby went until she saw her younger sister standing there, having gone barefoot.

She gasped. "Ruby, where were you?" she asked. "You've been gone for 30-something minutes. What happened?"

"And where are your shoes?" A familiar feminine voice called out.

Ruby looked to see Weiss standing there, foot tapping against the floor. Some of her makeup had been ruined; understandable, really, considering what she thought her teammate must've felt here in the ballroom.

"Oh, hi Weiss." Ruby meekly waved. "Uhhhh... I... might've left my lady stilts up for donation?" She awkwardly chuckled.

"I—" Weiss groaned. "All that time outside just to give away something so expensive. Figures, I know."

"Give 'er a break, Weiss," Yang reassured, patting her on the shoulder. "She's just being herself, that's all."

"I will," she responded sheepishly, eyes looking at Ruby.

"Well, now that I've defeated those lady stilts..!" Ruby put her hands on her hips. "Time to head home!"

"That soon?" Yang scratched her head. "But the party's still..." Yang noticed that the Beacon Dance was starting to die down; not as many were dancing like before, all the events had already been held, and people were starting to leave, often with someone else. She blinked, looking back at Ruby. "...going?"

"Well it's too bad I don't care anymore..."

"Ahem." Weiss crossed her arms, tapping her heeled foot against the floor. "Don't you want to get your shoes first? You know your sister Yang bought those for—"

"No."

Weiss was taken aback; Ruby, her team leader, daring to let her sister's gift go to waste? Preposterous! Even worse, her sister was taking all of that with a wide smile on her face, almost as though she were trying not to laugh.

"I am not wearing those stupid lady stilts again," she elaborated. "Do you have any idea how much they hurt?"

"I–"

As predicted, Yang snorted. "Weiss, just let it go. 'Sides, I'm sure they're not totally lost, so all that was lost was time and her will to wear those things." She looked at Ruby. "Right, sis?"

"I guess..."

"See?"

Weiss sighed. "Okay, but you and Ruby are going to pick it up—"

"Not interested!" Ruby blurted.

"Okay, then Yang, get the shoes."

"Ehh, I'm pooped." Yang laughed, wearily. "Lotta dancing and a lotta hosting, and that's just what I did tonight."

Weiss facepalmed, then started heading out the double doors. "Not like it's a looong way from here," she muttered, "not like nooobody here is okay helping someone find a friend's shoes..."

The two watched as their fellow teammate and friend left the premises. Ruby sighed, then sat down. Her head facing the ceiling, she whined. "Can we please start going home?"

Even when she would start whining, some of the time Yang would still think she was cute. This was one of those cases. Further helping matters were the still-pristine makeup and dress, which she was still proud she'd chosen for her sister.

"Alright, alright..." Yang sighed, then stood up, but not before she got an idea. She leaned against the wall to take off her shoes before turning around to a speechless Ruby.

"...What?"