Chapter 32: An Endless Sea of Mended Hearts
Ruby had only been free for as long as it had taken to drive from Atlas Academy back to Weiss's penthouse, but now she was trapped all over again. The moment she'd stepped through the penthouse's front door, Yang had pounced on her and scooped her up into a crushing bear hug. Ruby's feet were dangling helplessly in the air as Yang swung her back and forth, and her cheek was being squished against Yang's shoulder.
Yang had been babbling nonsense from the moment she'd picked Ruby up, and she continued to prattle out an endless string of words. "I'm never going to let go of you again! Did you punch him? You should have punched him! I'm going to teach you how to punch! You'd better be okay! Are you okay? He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"Yang..." Ruby wheezed. "Please stop…."
Ruby felt Yang's arms start to loosen a little, but then she heard a new voice exclaim, "Miss Rose?! You're alright!"
Ruby managed to swivel her head just enough to see that Rosalie was standing in the penthouse's open front door which Ruby hadn't had a chance to shut yet. Rosalie was looking relieved and overjoyed. She ran over to Ruby and threw her arms around her as well. Now pressed between two bodies, Ruby gave up any hope of ever escaping her new prison. She craned her neck, trying to find Weiss in the hope that she might be able to rescue her from her sister and Rosalie as readily as she'd rescued her from Jaune. Ruby did spot Weiss, but unfortunately, she was distracted talking to someone on her scroll.
Rosalie eventually let go of Ruby which prompted Yang to do the same. Ruby's feet finally touched the floor again.
Rosalie said, "I'm sorry if that wasn't appropriate of me, Miss Rose, but I was just so worried when I heard about what had happened to you that I…."
Ruby wasn't sure why Rosalie had suddenly trailed off, but when she glanced over at her she saw that Rosalie was looking at Yang with trepidation in her eyes.
Rosalie said, "I'm sorry…Yang? Was it? I didn't see you there."
Ruby said to Rosalie, "Oh! Have you met Yang already?"
"In a manner of speaking," Rosalie said. "Although we haven't been properly introduced yet."
"Well this is Yang," Ruby said. "She's my sister."
"Your sister?!" Rosalie exclaimed.
Yang asked, "Is that a problem?"
"No!" Rosalie quickly said. "No, I'm just…surprised. My apologies, Ms. Rose."
Yang looked confused for a moment. She asked, "Are you talking to me?"
Rosalie sheepishly asked, "Is…'Rose' not your surname? Ruby said you were sisters."
"I'm Yang Branwen," Yang said.
"Then apologies, Ms. Branwen," Rosalie said.
Weiss finally walked up to the group. She was putting her scroll away. She said, "Now that introductions are out of the way. Rosalie, I have…a favor I need to ask of you."
"Of course!" Rosalie said. She took a few hasty steps away from Yang.
"Winter is currently trying to track down the Arc Knights," Weiss said. "She's promised to keep me in the loop, but I'd like you to go be my liaison to her. I'd go myself, but…."
"You don't need to explain," Rosalie said. Her eyes briefly flicked over to Ruby.
"I'd be more than happy to pay you for your time," Weiss said.
"Oh no. You're not going to trick me into accepting that job as your personal assistant so easily!" Rosalie said. "I'm still considering if I want to pursue it or not. This is just a favor to you, as you said."
"Thank you," Weiss said with a smile. She pulled out her scroll again. "I'll inform the general you're coming and message you the address."
"I promise to let you know the moment they discover anything important," Rosalie said. "I also promise to not bother you with anything unimportant."
"I can always count on you," Weiss said.
Rosalie walked back over to the front door. She said, "Miss Rose. Again, I'm so glad to see you're safe. And Ms. Branwen…um…nice to make your acquaintance."
Rosalie stepped through the front door and closed it behind her.
Ruby scratched her head. She said to Yang, "I think she's afraid of you."
"Yeah. Seems like it," Yang said.
"I've never seen her be afraid of anyone," Ruby said.
"Did she ever take a trip to Mistral?" Yang asked. "Maybe I robbed her once."
Weiss had her head down as she tapped at her scroll, but she said, "She was startled when you transformed in front of her."
"When did I do that?" Yang muttered to herself.
Ruby turned to Yang, but whatever she was about to say was lost when she suddenly exclaimed, "You got new clothes!"
"Sure did," Yang said. She flexed her arms and asked, "What do you think?"
Yang was wearing a tan garment that was about halfway in between a pair of overalls and coveralls. One of the legs was detached and held up by a strap. A pair of hefty boots and an aviator-style jacket completed the outfit along with her dad's old bandana which was tied around her neck.
"It looks great!" Ruby said.
"Weiss got it for me," Yang said. "She just loves me that much."
Weiss put her scroll away again. She said, "Please. Your old jacket had a hole in it, and I couldn't have you running around in your tube top. It would've been indecent."
"Jealous much?" Yang asked.
"Don't be such an imbecile," Weiss said.
It took a second for Ruby to realize that Yang was sounding much, much more like her old self. She was even bickering with Weiss again. It was heartening to see. If only Blake had been there. Then everything would've been perfect.
Yang must have noticed Ruby staring at her because she asked, "What?"
"Nothing," Ruby said with a wistful smile on her face.
"So…. Rubes…" Yang said. She shuffled uneasily. "How are you really doing? Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm not sure what there is to talk about," Ruby said. "Nothing bad happened. You know…. Besides what happened. Jaune just kept me in a cell the whole time."
Weiss asked, "But why? What did he actually want from you?"
"He seemed to think I was important because I have silver eyes," Ruby said.
Yang asked, "What does that matter?"
"I don't know," Ruby said.
Weiss asked, "Are you sure that was it? You have silver eyes? Not because you're associated with me? Or because you're a huntress?"
"No! I mean, yes! It was just the eyes thing," Ruby said. She was starting to get frustrated. Jaune had made a lot of vague statements about wanting to kill someone dangerous, but he hadn't really told her anything about why, how, or who.
Weiss said, "Okay. Let's drop this. The important thing is that you're safe, Ruby."
"Yeah…" Yang said. She looked at Weiss. "Thank you, by the way. If you hadn't been there for Ruby…."
"Don't sell yourself short," Weiss said. "I would never have been able to find her if it hadn't been for you. But maybe next time don't push yourself to the point of complete exhaustion."
"No promises," Yang said.
Ruby felt herself blushing. It was incredibly touching how much effort everyone had put in to save her. It was also a little crazy seeing Weiss and Yang properly getting along. She said, "You guys…."
Yang leaned her elbow on top of Ruby's shoulder. She said, "But seriously. I'm going to teach you how to punch. I should've done that forever ago."
"Okay," Ruby said.
Yang removed her elbow and put up her fists. She said, "Come on. Let me see your stance!"
"Right now?" Ruby asked.
"No time like the present!" Yang said.
"Yang…" Weiss said. "Maybe we should give Ruby a chance to unwind first. She's had an even worse week than we have."
"Yeah, I guess that's fine," Yang said, lowering her fists.
"Ruby," Weiss said. "Now that we're home, what would you like to do?"
Ruby actually stopped to think about it. While her captivity had been harrowing, she'd never once given in to despair, and she'd never doubted that Weiss would rescue her. She was grateful that she'd been able to hold onto hope so firmly. She couldn't imagine how traumatizing the experience would've been otherwise. Still, there was no doubt that she'd been through a great ordeal, and the accommodations had been seriously lacking. The least Jaune could've done was given her a cot or something. Her body was still sore from the nights she'd spent sleeping on the floor.
"You know what?" Ruby said. "What I'd really like to do is take a nap."
About half an hour later, Ruby was lying under the covers in the penthouse's master bedroom. She had changed into just an oversize red t-shirt that she often used as pajamas. The lights were off, although some daylight was leaking in through the edges of the drawn curtains.
Ruby was finally letting go of all the fear and anxiety that had filled her for the past few days. She hadn't realized how much of it she'd had bottled up inside of her until now. But despite how tired she felt, she was having difficulty falling asleep. She rolled over onto her side, but her mind refused to be quiet. She hadn't been able to get the implications of the scraps of information that Jaune had given her out of her head. She wasn't the first silver-eyed person who Jaune had kidnapped. He'd admitted as much. But why? Why did having silver eyes mean anything at all? And who really was that person who Jaune thought was a bigger threat to the world than the grimm? He had only ever referred to the mysterious woman as "her" or "she", but there was something in the way he'd spoken about her that had made Ruby's blood run cold. She couldn't explain it, but she'd felt a sense of destiny. It was almost like Jaune had been on the right track if for all the wrong reasons, and Ruby was fated to confront whoever it was that he was trying to stop.
Ruby let out an exasperated sigh. She really hoped Winter would be able to track Jaune down. She had a lot of questions for him, and she felt he owed her some answers. Although she wasn't exactly eager to see him again. She still couldn't believe she'd found him attractive when they'd first met. Just thinking about it now made her gut roil with shame.
A creak suddenly came from behind Ruby as the door to the bedroom opened and then closed again. The tiny sound mercifully distracted Ruby from her unpleasant thoughts. Soft and familiar footsteps padded across the floor. Ruby didn't turn around. She knew without looking that it was Weiss who had walked in.
The sound of rustling cloth quietly filled the air. Then there were more footsteps before the mattress sagged as Weiss crawled into the bed.
A smile spread its way across Ruby's face.
"Ruby?" Weiss's hushed voice asked. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," Ruby answered.
"Do you want me to leave?" Weiss asked.
"No way," Ruby said.
The bed shifted again, and Ruby felt Weiss's hand touch her shoulder. Weiss scooted in closer, and soon she was spooning against Ruby from behind. Ruby felt herself start to relax.
"I'd thought I'd lost you," Weiss quietly said. "I never would've forgiven myself."
"I wasn't worried," Ruby said. "I knew you'd save me."
"But what if I hadn't?" Weiss asked.
"It doesn't matter," Ruby said. "You did."
A silence settled over the bedroom. Weiss squeezed in even tighter next to Ruby and pressed her head against Ruby's shoulder.
Ruby sighed contentedly. She let all her questions and worries slip away so she could really take in the moment. Being able to physically feel Weiss beside her again was a blessing above all else.
Weiss suddenly said, "I'm not ashamed anymore."
"What?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not ashamed anymore," Weiss repeated. "Of who I am. Of who I love. I want the world to know that I love you, Ruby."
Ruby felt her heart flutter. She'd never heard such beautiful words before. She smiled and said, "Who cares about the world. Right now it's just you and me."
There was a pause. Then Weiss asked, "Can I show you how much I love you?"
Ruby sucked in a breath. She said, "Always."
Author's Note: You probably knew it was coming, but Yang's in her Volume 7 outfit now too. Although this Yang has her hair in a braid and a red bandana. She's also collected a new, albeit incorrect, last name. Because I can't help myself.
This is another chapter which was originally a lot longer, but I split it off from what's now Chapter 33 to make them both more reasonable in length.
As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.