Of Kittens, Rosebuds, And A Snowflake Chapter 6: Fire And Ice, a rwby fanfic

Ch 6: Fire And Ice

The second day Weiss was in the hospital, Ruby grew ever annoyed that Winter was still around and Weiss was still being… well Weiss-y. Or at least, Weiss acting in a way the woman hadn't in years. Weiss had remained angry with the younger woman and while Ruby understood why and tried to be accommodating, she was getting mad herself by being constantly punished for it.

Sitting in the hallway, she growled a bit under her breath as she waited for Winter to leave so she could be the one to sit with her wife. Her arms were folded and she was slumped in her chair, knees pulled up with her feet on the edge of her seat, her face twisted into the most annoyed and irritated expression. She wished she hadn't destroyed her scroll, at least then she'd have something to preoccupy her mind other than her frustrations.

When Winter walked out and saw Ruby, she sighed, "Ruby I…"

Ruby looked away from her and stood up, heading for the door, "Don't you have a child to raise or something? Your own family to mess with? Must you ruin mine?"

Winter frowned at her but didn't say anything as Ruby entered Weiss's room. Weiss was awake and propped up. She glanced over at Ruby and frowned but let out a sigh. She patted the spot next to her on the bed with her eyes diverted away. Ruby calmed herself to hopefully not expose her negative feelings. She was just glad Weiss was giving her an opening to be close again.

As she sat next to Weiss, she took in how exhausted she still seemed. It softened her face with concern. Weiss rubbed her face, still looking a bit angry as she leaned over into Ruby's side. When the younger woman wrapped an arm around her, and Weiss sighed again, "Ruby… I'm still mad at you but…"

Ruby felt tears falling onto her body and gently held the woman tighter to herself, burying her face into Weiss's mess of unkempt hair, "Weiss… I love you, it's ok. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but can we just let that go and move on? It's really killing me not to be with you right now. I need to be here for you."

Weiss pressed her face into Ruby harder and her hands tangled into Ruby's cloak, "I can't deal with this anymore either. I don't want to do this without you Ruby and I'm in pain and my heart aches and I don't know what to do without you here with me."

As Weiss cried, Ruby held her close, placing loving lazy kisses upon her hair and forehead every so often as her stress melted away. She was so glad Weiss was letting her back in, rubbing her wife's trembling back and just letting Weiss cry as she needed to. When Weiss seemed to be all out of tears and slumping weakly, Ruby leaned her back and wiped her face with her thumbs as she held her pale cheeks in her own hands, "Better?"

The white haired woman stared at those silver eyes and leaned her face into Ruby's loving touch, "IF you're here… always…"

She settled into Ruby's arms and they talked about how she would be discharged in the next day or so as long as she continued good recovery. Ruby resisted being annoyed by not being told sooner, wanting to avoid any further arguments. Ruby played with a lock of her red tipped hair as her gears turned in her head. It did not go unnoticed, "Ruby… what is it?"

She looked away. She didn't want to rile things up again. A finger poked into her cheek and she glanced over at Weiss's glare, "Ruby Rose what is on your mind? Out with it."

Ruby sighed deeply and frowned, "Fine but remember you insisted and don't get mad at me! When we get home I'd really like it if Winter wasn't there for a while…I just… I should be the one taking care of you. And with everything right now she just makes me feel… replaced? I don't know, I'm sorry it's stupid…"

Weiss turned Ruby's face to hers fully. Her eyes were narrowed into her powerful glare but her mouth stayed neutral, "Ruby. She's my sister and I need her too but she could never replace you. If it would help your insecurity on the matter then I can do that for you for a bit but eventually I am going to want her around too. My sister means as much to me as Yang does to you. I didn't lose a parent like you two did but my parents didn't raise me either. I was a pawn for my father and my mother disappeared into herself. Klein did his best but Winter was the only blood that gave me love and looked out for me. I know the situation is rough for you and you hate how you feel like you are betraying your uncle with her around but can you please put that aside for right now while I'm not well? For me?"

Ruby gave a reluctant smile, speaking in her slightly cheery voice, "How could I ever say no to you Princess?"

The older woman rolled her eyes before booping Ruby on the nose and leaning back into her weakly. That evening Weiss had been released on light duty and bed rest while she healed. Weiss was wheeled out the building but when she didn't see anything around to bring them home she gave Ruby a glare, "Ruby… Don't you dare…"

Ruby chuckled, scooping Weiss into her arms and nuzzling her face, "Oh Weiss… don't act like you don't find it adorable."

Weiss's cheeks flushed but before she could say anything, Ruby took off with her semblance, petals left in her wake. When they got home Weiss's eyes were wide and she frowned, weakly punching Ruby's arm, "Ruby Rose you dolt! I'm supposed to be taking it easy not being jerked around!"

Ruby flinched and winched at Weiss's shrill fussing but walked her inside regardless and set her down on the couch, arms going up defensively as Weiss continued to fuss, "Weiss calm downnn I just really wanted to get you home quickly!"

She sighed with annoyance before taking a deep breath and pushing hair out of her face, folding her arms and staring at Ruby, "Don't lie to me… you just wanted to try to charm me didn't you? Wouldn't be the first time you have done that in order to try to make me swoon."

Ruby giggled and tucked her hands behind her back, leaning cutely towards Weiss, grinning brightly and watching Weiss blush and look away shyly, "Annnddd it works every time doesn't it?"

Weiss scoffed and huffed and changed the subject quickly, her cheeks burning red, "C-could you just make some dinner for us already? I'm eating for two you know."

Ruby giggled and reached out, her hands resting on the back of the couch on either side of Weiss's shoulders to support herself as she leaned in and kissed Weiss sweetly and simply on the lips. The kiss was warm and made Weiss's heart swell, bringing her blush even deeper before Ruby stood up and walked off to go make them dinner, "Yes yes Princess. I got it."

Weiss nervously played with her messy hair before realizing quickly just how much of a mess her entire appearance had become. She groaned and rubbed her tired eyes. She knew this experience was going to be rough but she really hated how unfair it all felt so far. Losing a baby, strain on her body and injury, not to mention having to balance her relationship with her wife and her sister and make that all stressfully work.

It didn't make her worries go away for the remaining baby but she knew she couldn't keep these thoughts to herself anymore. Really, she wasn't looking forward to that conversation with Ruby and was a t least glad her wife hadn't brought it up yet. Leaving Ruby out of her concerns didn't help anything and it was only going to make things worse not better. And her doctor made it clear to her before she left the hospital that the stress would make things worse.

When Ruby returned to sit by her wife with a simple stew meal, she noticed her wife lost in her thoughts. It just reminded her of how much Weiss tended to keep to herself. She bit her lip, but had to finally talk about it with the woman, "Hey Weiss, I know you don't want to talk about it but… can you please stop being so secretive about what goes on in your head? I know you think you are protecting me or something but… how can I support you if I don't even know you are dealing with something?"

Weiss poked at her stew some but then sighed and closed her eyes to keep from the crying that her body was swinging her mood to, "Ruby I… I'm so, so sorry. I just didn't want you to worry or freak out and I was already so worried and I knew if you got as worried as I was it would only make me more scared. I… I wanted to keep you from my fears but I also was trying to convince myself it was ok and if no one else panicked then I could easily do that."

She didn't look up but she did feel her tears slip free, raising her palm up to rub her face and then she felt her wife's hand on hers at her face before Ruby's body slid against Weiss's side, "Weiss, we are in this together and all I want is to take care of you and be here for you. It was so much more terrifying to be surprised like I was by you in that situation than to be prepared for potential problems because you were open with me. Of course I'm going to be scared too Weiss but at least then you wouldn't have to suffer alone. We could be there for each other."

Weiss nodded, leaning into Ruby's body and getting her food into her body. When she was done, she tilted her face into Ruby's neck and took a deep inhale of how Ruby smelled, having always found Ruby's natural scent wonderful, "I promise I'll be more open Ruby. I'm sorry, really."

Ruby responded by wrapping Weiss in a loving embrace after setting the empty dish to the coffee table. Weiss relaxed into Ruby's hold and felt herself slip into sleep, still so tired from everything. The younger woman brushed hair from Weiss's face with a weary smile, worry filled in her eyes. She really had never seen Weiss so frail looking in her life. Even when they weren't sure if they would survive when they defeated Salem and were in some sort of magical explosion, Weiss had looked so calm and strong and sure. Seeing Weiss now, she wanted so badly to make it better.

She kissed Weiss's forehead gently, whispering as she picked her up to bring her to bed, "I'm gonna help the best I can Weiss and we will get through this together, I promise I won't let you down. I'm gonna be the best partner ever this time."

She felt Weiss curl into her and nuzzle close, whimpering softly with a slight grin, "You dolt… I love you…"

Ruby chuckled lightly and got Weiss into bed, crawling in next to her and felt Weiss weakly wrap herself up around Ruby's body and limbs, "I love you too."

—-

Several days had passed. Ruby finally got another scroll. While Weiss had not minded sharing her own for now if it meant Ruby didn't leave her at home, Ruby was not able to resist her irritation anytime Winter's contact popped up whenever the younger woman was borrowing the device. To compromise, she had ordered a new one and it arrived within a day.

Today, Ruby was on her monthly chat with Nora who currently resided in Haven with Ren and their small child. The baby was already walking everywhere with slight wobbles and Ren was constantly following her in case she fell or got into something again. It always amused Ruby, though didn't surprise anyone, that Ren was more the worrying parent while Nora was more energetic about letting the kid forge forward into whatever mess she wanted to, believing children needed to learn the world around them themselves and if she got truly hurt they were right there.

Their general call was already wrapping up. Ruby had given Nora all the updates and vice versa. When Ren fell over chasing the reckless baby with pink hair and pink eyes, caughting Nora's attention from the call, Ruby watched the baby sitting on his back patting his hair and laughing along with Nora. She had Nora's smile and laugh. Nora turned back to the call, "I gotta go Ruby! Someone needs a break from our little lord of mischief!"

Ruby said her goodbyes with a giggle and hung up the call. When the silence took the room, Ruby's ears caught the sound of keys clicking muffled by a door and she sighed with a frown. Getting up from the couch she made her way to the study and opened the door slowly, leaning on the frame with her arms folded as she peered at Weiss's back. The woman didn't notice Ruby's intrusion, an oddity really. To Weiss's credit, she had such keen awareness of her surroundings at this point in their adulthood that normally Ruby was lucky if she could sneak around the kitchen rooms away without getting caught.

This only proved how off and distracted Weiss truly was right now. A brow raised on the younger's face. She considered her first instinct to fuss and complain but decided better of it. If this was what Weiss wanted to do with her time or if it felt this important to the woman, then Ruby's usual reaction would only strike the fires of a scolding from the older woman.

'Yeaaaa no thanks,' Ruby thought, not wanting to ruin a day that had started well so far. Instead, she opted to clear her throat, watching Weiss suddenly tense and flinch in surprise, turning to the door, "R..Ruby! W…What are you doing here?"

The younger woman grew a frown to accompany her quirked brow, arms folding tighter, "I could ask you the same thing. Weiss the doctor said you have to rest. Why on earth are you here working? You should be propping up your feet and relaxing."

Weiss met Ruby's confronting gaze with narrowed eyes and a frown, "I can't sit around doing nothing anymore Ruby. Besides, I don't consider this to be rigorous work. I'm literally sitting in a chair with my feet up on an ottoman for god sakes!"

"Weiss," Ruby gave a warning whine of her wife's name as she moved into the room, stooping low next to Weiss's chair and gently looking up into the woman's face as she placed her hands over the pale hand of her wife's that was rested on the chair arm. She watched as Weiss's expression quickly shifted through stages, from annoyed to angry to flushed and finally landing on what looked like the same sadness that had been swallowing Weiss for days.

"Talk to me Weiss, what are you really doing in here? I know for a fact your brother hasn't sent you any work while you are on leave, I called myself and personally talked to him about it. We both want you to rest. So what's this really about Princess," Ruby asked with that sweet gentle voice the woman carried that held so much tenderness that Weiss couldn't ignore her requests.

The older woman sighed, sad eyes gazing off away from her wife as she turned her hand and let it be captured up in both of Ruby's, her wife feeling the light tremble in those slender pale fingers as they anchored into Ruby's strong ones, as if a looser grasp would cause her to come untethered from safety. Ruby's concerned eyes softened further as she leaned to try to lock them with Weiss's averted beautiful blues, "Weiss… you promised… please. I'm here for you, please talk to me."

Ruby heard the defeated shaky sigh and watched Weiss raise her free hand to hold her face, hiding her eyes from Ruby, her shoulders trembling, "Do…do you know the statistics on if our son will make it or not at this rate? I… can't stop worrying that I'm going to lose him too, Ruby. I just couldn't take it anymore and really wanted to find something solid and proven to give me some solace that everything will be fine. But everything just keeps saying that his weak heartbeat is a really bad sign… I… I just was trying not to panic Ruby but now I just feel even less sure. I'm so scared I can't take it. I keep having nightmares… and I know the stress is bad for him but I… I can't… Ruby I can't…"

She was cut off by strong but gentle arms wrapping her in the most grounding and anchored embrace, soft voice trying to soothe her as a hand rubbed down her hair in loving strokes. Weiss couldn't take it and the tense feeling inside herself snapped, body going limp in Ruby's embrace except for the hands gripping into Ruby's clothing as her emotions fell apart and she could do nothing but cry the deepest wails and sobs. Her face buried deep into the younger's embrace and her whole body shook madly. While Ruby was glad Weiss caved and let her in, her heart was breaking watching how much this was affecting the woman she loved and at the fact of knowing these feelings were keeping Weiss way too worked up for their son's or Weiss's safety.

She scooped Weiss from the chair and sat on the floor, leaning her back into the desk as she held Weiss close to herself, setting the woman in her lap and just holding her, kissing at her hair desperate to help her get through this pain that Weiss needed to get out, "I'm here Weiss, I have you just let it out. I'm sorry if you felt like you had to bottle this up. Just let it out, I got you. I'm never letting go, I promise no matter what happens. I'll do everything I can to make sure you both are safe and healthy, so just cry if you need to, don't hold it in."

She felt Weiss's grip move around her neck and her face pressed tighter into Ruby's chest as her shoulders shuddered violently. After what felt like forever, Weiss's body started to go slack in her arms, hands sliding down Ruby's torso to rest weakly against the younger woman and her face turning slightly to tuck into Ruby. Ruby glanced down at the woman in her arms and watched as she relaxed, all cried out, her body calming and her breathing returning to normal as she sniffled. The younger placed gentle kisses against the sweaty forehead before resting her cheek upon the top of Weiss's head.

"It's normal to be scared right now, you know? Everything you're feeling is normal Weiss. I'd be more concerned if you weren't scared. I'm not taking any missions until you are 100% in the clear so if you need to share the burdens it's ok, that's part of why I'm staying home right now. So, next time you have a nightmare or you feel scared or need to cry, just wake me up or come find me before it makes you so restless ok? Let me be strong for you and our son ok?"

Weiss nodded, nuzzling into Ruby's chest, breathing in deep the scent of a fruity floral smell that Ruby often used in her hygiene routines that always made Weiss feel so calm and safe, "Ruby… I just have a terrible feeling about things. Am I being too paranoid?"

The soft chuckle caused Weiss to open her eyes and lean away from Ruby a bit to stare at her, her wife raising a hand to her cheek to caress the skin that had still not replenished any sort of healthy glow, "Sorry I wasn't laughing at you I swear. I don't think you're being too paranoid though. They say mothers can just sense things even while they are pregnant. We have a visit with the doctor in two days but he promised if you felt like you needed to be seen sooner to just call and he will make time. So if you think we need to go sooner, even if it turns out to be nothing, I don't mind. I'll take you everyday if it gives you peace of mind and reassures us he is doing ok."

Weiss couldn't help the slight smile on her lips. Ruby always had a way of eventually melting her into this subtle grin. She leaned her forehead to Ruby's and nodded, "Thank you. I'll let you know. For now I think I can wait for the appointment. I don't feel like anything else is worse, I'm just…scared something will happen."

Ruby just nodded and moved her hands tenderly along Weiss to try to help her relax even further. The two sat there like that for hours, Ruby and Weiss just sharing their worries and fears and reassuring each other, all their words in soft whispers as if saying them too loudly would speak them into existence.

It wasn't until Ruby squinted and flinched a bit when she shifted some and realized there had been a drawer handle digging into her this whole time. This caused Weiss to stand up and urge Ruby to do the same, fussing at her lovingly for not saying something sooner. The younger woman stretched and rubbed the sore spot, laughing nervously as she was playfully scolded, knowing easily how to tell the difference between Weiss actually mad and when Weiss was embarrassed by something.

With very little fight, Ruby got Weiss to rest on the couch and made her promise before giving over the woman's scroll that she would not use it to do any more research that could upset her. So instead, Weiss messaged Winter. Ruby had agreed to be civil if she needed her sister and honestly she really wanted to talk to Winter. Sure Ruby was being an amazing support but Winter had been pregnant before and Weiss just felt she needed advice from someone who could relate, someone who knew what it was like to grow another person inside you who could help her relax.

"Ruby, can you make enough for an extra person at dinner?" She called out to her wife who had gone to prepare some food for the meal, biting her lip.

She heard Ruby pause for a moment before she got a response, "Why?"

"Ruby please, you know why. You said you would play nice for me and I need this. Please?" she responded, thankful for the walls between them making this easier to discuss without it becoming a fight.

It was quiet again for a while and then Weiss heard Ruby return to cabinets and the fridge. She knew this meant Ruby was grabbing extra ingredients and she already heard her grab some before. Ruby long ago had stopped not grabbing everything she needed at the start when Weiss got annoyed with how often she would open and close things just to grab more stuff.

The lack of any verbal response was a bit frustrating but Weiss would take it if it meant Ruby was at least agreeing in some way. She pulled a blanket over herself, snuggling into the fluffy fleece and inhaling, the blanket smelling like Ruby as it was a blanket she kept wrapped in most the time since Weiss preferred the house a bit cooler then Ruby did. She let her eyes flutter closed and her body relax in the blanket feeling like Ruby was wrapping her in warmth.

Ruby was grumpy in the kitchen but she couldn't ask Weiss to try to meet her requests if she wasn't going to do the same. The best she could do was not say anything as she complied, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep her voice from exposing her irritation. As she got things pulled out, it made her realize how much she still needed Yang herself. Now that she had a scroll again, she sent a message to the blonde, hoping it would reach her.

As she was finishing up chopping vegetables and the chicken, her scroll displayed a message from Yang. Wiping her hands first, she reached for the notification and opened it.

'We just broke land in the area. I'm so sorry I couldn't get here faster. We are coming over right away.'

Ruby let her know they were back at home and turned, grabbing more ingredients to make a larger meal for her sister and Blake as well. When sure turned back to the counter, Weiss was weakly standing in the archway looking at her confused, "Are we… expecting anyone else?"

Ruby didn't look up, cutting up the rest to add to the pan, "Yes."

After getting the pan in the oven to bake everything, she stood up wiping her hands on a towel and looking at Weiss's tilted, waiting face, knowing she wanted more information than that. Ruby sighed, "I need my sister too and her and Blake are back."

Weiss' wide eyes that quickly shifted into a glare made Ruby almost weaken her resolve, almost, "Ruby… you know that's a terrible idea! Yang and Winter can't be in the same room!"

Ruby shrugged, not willing to be that forgiving on the subject, "As long as she doesn't bring Dove with her you know Blake can make her behave."

Weiss folded her arms, "Ruby Rose… I swear if this turns into a fight I will not forgive you."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and then Winter entered, leaned a bit to hold Dove's hand as the little one walked in with her, the baby pulling from her to quickly stumble her way awkwardly to Weiss who knelt down and hugged her niece sweetly, eyes sneaking a menacing glare at Ruby. Winter looked at her sister-in-law with apologetic eyes, "I hope it's alright, I couldn't find anyone to watch her this evening."

Weiss was first to respond, Lifting Dove in her arms despite Ruby's warning looks, a bit of venom in Weiss's words as she shot them directly at her wife, "It's perfectly fine Winter. There's plenty of room here and no reason you should have to unload Dove on anyone. She is welcome here after all."

Ruby stealthily rolled her eyes but she did flinch at Weiss's lethal tone. Before she could say anything for everyself, the sound of Yang's bike screeched to a stop aggressively in their driveway, obviously she had sped over beyond any legal speed limits. Ok, Ruby suddenly did feel bad as Weiss glared at her, seeing a bit of hurt in her wife's eyes. She had been a bit of a jerk inviting Yang at the exact same time as Winter. She couldn't pretend she didn't do it a bit spitefully.

She could've waited. Weiss was the one who lost a growing person in her own body and was healing from a severe situation after all. She felt a bit guilty at the childish action. She did need Yang but a call would have sufficed until Winter's visit was over. She knew Winter had a very high chance of having to bring Dove with her and even if she didn't have to, Weiss loved her niece and it was cruel to expect Winter not to bring over the child that would easily put a smile back on Weiss's face through all this gloom.

'Oh I am so dead when everyone leaves… Weiss is going to kill me' she thought as Yang quickly came through the door.

Yang's eyes turned red at the sight of Dove and Winter, Blake tried to grab her arm to get her to chill but the arm yanked sharply away from the faunus, finger raising to point at Winter and her teeth gritted, words hissing through them. Rationally it was a no-brainer that Winter would be there for Weiss just as Yang would for Ruby but the woman had so much animosity for this woman keeping her uncle's daughter a secret from him that she never thought rationally in the presence of the two, "What the hell are you doing here with that?!"