Chapter 1
Why?
Why was this so difficult?
Weiss felt the throbbing of a headache beginning to form behind her creased brow. She rubbed a hand in a futile attempt to ease the pain, but she could already tell it was a losing battle. It had already been hours since she had started her impossible task back when the sun had still been shining through the curtains of Team RWBY's dorm, back when she still had some sense of naive optimism.
"Is this right?" Ruby asked, not for the first time. The young girl's usual chipper attitude and boundless enthusiasm had dwindled like the sun in the sky. Now, she sounded tired, practically defeated. She slumped in the chair as Weiss plucked the paper from her hands.
Wess looked over the assignment, as she had been doing all evening. Her clear blue eyes scanned the words, looking for mistakes or faults in the work. The dull ache pounded against her skull as she tossed the paper back onto the desk with a huff.
"This is still atrocious," Weiss sniped. "Do it again."
"What's wrong with it this time?" Ruby dropped her head onto the shared desk space with a loud thump, a small whine escaping her lips.
"Would you like me to list it by severity or alphabetically?" Weiss said. She ignored the hurt in Ruby's gaze. They had been at this for hours, and Weiss had already reached the edge of her patience. "Firstly, the Faunus revolution did not start until after the official peace treaty had been signed on the island of Vytal at the conclusion of the Great War. Something you clearly would have known had you completed the assigned reading. That is also true of numerous other flagrant historical inaccuracies in your work. And your citations are still not correct, even after I showed you how to source them properly. I swear, do you even listen to me at all?"
"I do!" Ruby protested. "But this isn't even due until next week. So why are you harping on it now?"
"Harping?" Weiss scoffed. "I am holding you accountable for your own work. You are the leader of this team, are you not? Should you not lead by example?"
"Well, yeah, I guess. But we've been going at this for hours. Can't we take a break?" Ruby pleaded.
"Are you already trying to shirk your responsibilities?"
"I'm not!" Ruby said. "I'm just saying a break wouldn't be all bad. I bet you're feeling pretty tired, too."
She was. Brothers, she was tired. Between the Grimm combat training with Professor Port, followed by actual combat class, Weiss had already been pushing her limits before she had started this endless revision cycle with Ruby for their history report in Oobleck's class. Her headache had finally taken over center stage, and Wiess wished for nothing more than to soak in a hot bath and let sleep claim her soon after. She couldnt indulge. Not yet; she had responsibilities and obligations to fulfill. Something she was growing increasingly frustrated with was that her so-called leader couldn't seem to understand.
"Not until you can produce something halfway decent," Weiss said. "All you've managed so faris rubbish. Start over from the beginning."
Weiss slid over her own textbook from the other side of the table. Colored tabs poked out from the edges. "I've marked the key points in my text. Do it properly this time."
"I don't need you to hover over me. I can do this myself." Ruby said.
"I highly doubt that, if your previous work is any indication."
"I'm not a child!" Ruby finally snapped. The usual energy returned to her petite frame as she stood up, her wooden chair scraping unpleasantly against the floor.
"That has remained to be seen. Even now, you're throwing a tantrum like one." Weiss countered. Why couldn't Ruby see that she was doing this for her own benefit? If their leader's grades dipped even slightly, it was a reflection on all the members of Team RWBY. That was simply a stain on their reputation that Wiess was unwilling to tolerate.
"I'm not!" Ruby protested. Weiss felt it was very much similar to whining.
"Yes, you are," Weiss said. Her frustration had been boiling for some time, and now she finally had an outlet for it. "You always do this. You drag your feet until the last possible moment and then frantically try to do everything at once. Whether it's waking you up in the morning, ensuring you appropriately dress yourself for the day, or even doing the most basic homework at night, it feels like I'm pulling teeth with you."
"What do you expect from me, Weiss?" Ruby threw her hands up in frustration. It was a truly childish display.
"I expect you to act appropriately for the station you have been granted. You are the leader of this team, so please try to act like it occasionally." Weiss ground out the word.
Leader.
Ruby was the leader. A naive, reckless, untrained, and immature dolt was the leader of their team. Weiss had already come to terms with it. Or at least she had been trying. Some days were better than others.
Some days, their teams' wild antics and headfirst approach to every problem made it easy to get swept up in the moment. At certain points, it was almost fun not to worry. It was almost enough to force herself to forget that she had been overlooked. It made it easier to swallow the affront to her pride.
Then there were days like these, which were only growing in number and with greater frequency. Days when the immature side of her so-called ladder shone through. Days like these, Ruby couldn't be bothered to at least try and hold herself to a higher standard, days where Weiss was forced to drag her protesting friend, kicking and screaming, through the most rudimentary of tasks.
Weiss wasn't asking for the world.
"Why are you so mean?" Ruby shouted. With a frustrated growl, the younger girl flung the pencil in her hand onto the table. She shot upright from her seat, skidding the chair back. "I mean, really. Why is it only me that you seem to take a special interest in? Yang and Blake haven't finished their work either. Both of them are out right now enjoying their Friday night, and I don't hear you complaining about it. So why is it only me?"
"Because I can trust them to do the work when it counts." Weiss snapped.
"You can't trust me?" Ruby asked. The hurt was unmistakable.
Weiss ground her teeth. She didn't understand why Ruby just couldnt grasp it. She was the one in charge—the designated point of responsibility for the four of them. If something went wrong or needed to happen, it fell to Ruby to take control and lead them. So, of course, Weiss had higher expectations for her. It was only natural. Weiss wasn't doing all this, the nagging, the constant reprimanding, to be mean. She was doing this for the sake of their team.
Weiss knew that she deserved at least a leader willing to focus and commit to fulfilling her duties to the best of their abilities.
Weiss refused to lower her standards simply because Ruby was unwilling to meet them. She wouldn't lower expectations simply because Ruby was younger.
That would be a disservice to the entire team and Ruby herself. So, to ensure that Team RWBY delivered on every front and was the best, she would ride Ruby harder than anyone else and hold her to a higher standard.
"Trust is earned," Weiss finally said. "And as a leader, you have a long way to go before I can even think of trusting you."
"Haven't we already been past this?" Ruby asked. The hurt was there, and the surprise and emotion in her voice gave Weiss pause. It wasn't as if Weiss wanted to hurt her feelings, but the truth needed to be said, consequences be damned. "I mean, after all that stuff during Initiation and with Blake, haven't we already worked this all out? So, where is this coming from?"
Had they?
It was a genuine question. Sure, Weiss had begrudgingly taken Professor Ports' words to heart, and sure, she had tried to be a little more tolerant, but had they worked through any of their initial problems? They had never spoken about their reservations or their feelings regarding each other.
"Hardly," Weiss said.
"So what is it then, Weiss? What is it about me that makes me so untrustworthy? Why can't I ever seem to be good enough as a leader in your eyes?"
Say all that you would of Ruby Rose. She could be any number of things, but no one could ever say she wasn't brave. She would not cower in the face of an enemy, a Grimm, or a friend. She would make it clear if she wanted something, regardless of who she had to stand up to.
"Don't put this all on me. If I recall, you didn't even want to be the leader of this team. So why am I suddenly the villain for trying to help you live up to your title?"
"I didn't. I just wanted to be a normal girl with totally normal knees. But then this all happened. And I met you guys, and I started to hope that maybe it wasn't a mistake, that I could maybe be good enough to be the leader of a group of super awesome friends, that maybe it wouldn't be so bad, and that I was just getting in my own way."
"Oh, please. If you need outside validation just to justify your worth, what good can you possibly be when confronted with real decisions and consequences?"
"Oh, because you're not the same?" Weiss realized she had never seen Ruby angry. Genuinely, truly upset. It was rather unsettling seeing the kindness in her eyes harden, her smile morph into a single line, and her brows furrow with barely kept emotion. "Little Miss Perfect. The one who flaunts her family name every chance she gets."
"How dare you?" She was right, Ruby had been correct, and that only made the anger all the more vitriolic in Weiss' chest. "Unlike you, some happy go lucky dolt with no sense of personal space or responsibility from some backwater corner of nowhere, I happen to have been trained for this. I happen to have the experience needed to be in charge."
"What? If you think leading a team of three other people is daunting, try being in charge of hundreds of thousands, with your every word worth its weight in gold. Do you have the slightest inkling of what kind of pressure that is? What's it like to wake up every day since you could walk and talk, training, preparing for a responsibility that elevates you above everyone else?"
"No, of course not," Weiss continued. The pain in her head seemed distant as she vented, the words tumbling out like a man leaking water, the pressure building as the walls cracked further and further. "All you know how to do is run headfirst into every problem, throwing yourself into the most embarrassing scenarios and never knowing how to get out until you drag everyone down with you. You'd rather just laugh it off, never caring how your actions reflect on those around you. Your a bumbling dolt whose only pervasive qualities are a complete disrewagrd for your station and the people around coupled with a childlike sense of naivety."
Weiss sucked in a breath. The anger bubbling in her chest wasn't subsiding. Their homework had been all but abandoned. The stress of the night finally festering into open hostility. After a pause, Ruby finally spoke.
"When I came here, I was so nervous. I didn't know anyone. I had no friends besides Yang, and it was clear she didn't want to sit there and babysit me for her whole time at Beacon. I was scared and alone. Sure, I am the youngest student here. But I just wanted to be a regular girl. I wanted to do all the exciting high school things that you see in the movies. I wanted to meet new people, study with my new friends in the library, maybe get away with breaking curfew once or twice. And then I became the leader of this team. And then all those wants had a chance to become a reality. I met Jaune and Blake, and then I also met you.
"And I figured that maybe we could bury the hatchet. We could move past our first meeting and be friends. I really thought we had. It's nice to hear you laugh so freely when we're together. It's fun when you join in on our games. It's fun when you want to be around us. I really enjoy being with you, Weiss. Your snark and attitude can be grating sometimes, but then you also come around and make some of the kindest gestures. I really thought we were making progress."
"I never said we weren't friends…" Weiss started. The words felt heavy on her lips. A dangerous lump welled in her chest, crushing her previous anger outright. "I just…"
"Had higher expectations…" Ruby said. She straightened her red hood, reclasping her signature emblem. "Yeah, I get that. Sorry if I couldn't match them. I'm gonna get some air."
With that, Ruby left. She never raised her voice, never showed even a sign of hurt or frustration as she stepped out of the room. The door clicked softly behind her.
Weiss was left standing there in surprise. The sudden tidal waves of emotions that had coursed through her just moments before had vanished, leaving her empty and unsure. She had just voiced her thoughts and expressed her feelings, just as Ruby had wanted. So why did she suddenly feel so awful? Her heart was thumping in her chest, her skin tingling from the adrenaline of her outburst. Some would think she would chase after Ruby, a teary-eyed apology fresh on her lips. But really, what did she have to be sorry for?
Weiss knew she wasn't wrong. Ruby's habits and lack of care would get them into trouble.
But even if she was right, why did she feel so wrong?
"She thought we were friends," Weiss spoke softly. They were friends. Weiss would freely admit that. Friends should be able to speak plainly to each other. They should be honest. However, this wasn't quite what she had expected as a result. She enjoyed being around Ruby—their shared laughs, their moments of sensible vulnerability. She wasn't trying to change Ruby; she just wanted her to be better—to be more.
What was so wrong with that?
The silence in the dorm suddenly became suffocating. The dull throbbing in her head was growing to be too much, and the stale air only added to the pressure she was feeling. Weiss forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat, the tightness creating a gross feeling.
This hadn't been her intention. She had never sought to hurt Ruby. Not even for a moment. So why had she lashed out? Why had she gone to such an extreme over something so minor?
Why had she fixated so fervently on something that ultimately didn't matter?
She was sure she wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean she couldn't try to make things right.
Weiss strode for the door, pulling it open with more force than intended. She nearly yelped in surprise to see someone standing just in front, fist raised as if ready to knock.
For a moment, she thought it was Ruby, the hope sending a flood of relief.
Instead, it was easily the last person she had wanted to see in her conflicted state.
A scraggily, boorish figure who encapsulated every one of Ruby's poorer leadership qualities and then tripled them.
"What do you want?" Weiss barked.
"Uh, well, I heard the commotion across the hall." Jaune stumbled out. "I mean, we all did, and I kinda lost the rock-paper-scissors to come check out that everything was alright?"
"Everything is fine," Weiss said. "Nothing the likes of you could help with."
"Are you sure?" Juane asked, and he stepped back as Weiss pushed past him, the door shutting behind her. She peered down the long hallway, a part of her hoping to catch a flash of red. Instead the dolt behind her just kept going. "I know it's probably none of my business, but…"
"You're right. It's not your business. Since you understand that, please excuse yourself from trying to wedge your way into it." Weiss said. She took a single step before she felt the brute place a hand on her shoulder. It only took a single glare to get him to remove the offending limb and back away like a scared cat, his palms raised in surrender. "What are you hoping to gain here? A chance to swoop in and rescue the emotional damsels, wooing them in their moment of vulnerability?
"What?" He asked in confusion. He had either ignored her comment, or it went straight over his unusually tall head. "No, nothing like that, I was worried about my friends."
"Are we friends?" Weiss asked skeptically. "I recall the last time we had a one-on-one chat, when you tried to serenade me with an atrociously off-pitch song. In the cafeteria, no less. I have never been more mortified."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Jaune said with a laugh, a hand running through his hair in embarrassment. "Not my finest hour. If it's any consolation, my guitar ended up getting in the way between Nora and breakfast one morning. Don't think you'll need to worry about me making a repeat performance anytime soon."
'Never again would be preferable,' Weiss sighed to herself. It wasn't as if Jaune was completely insufferable. She could see he had a decent heart, despite a severe lack of basic common sense. He was far from malicious, but Weiss couldn't stand his overtly public appeals to woo her heart. It was simply all in poor taste, with no regard for time, place, or her feelings. "Give my sincerest gratitude to Nora. I might even offer to pay for a meal for her."
"I wouldn't recommend that." Jaune grimaced. "I don't doubt the Schnees have money, but you've never seen Nora eat."
"Perhaps," Weiss mumbled, already bored by the conversation. She glanced back down the hall, unsure of what she expected or hoped to see. "If that is all, I'll be going."
"Hey, wait a sec," Jaune said. A short glare from Weiss stopped him short of repeating his earlier mistake. "I just want to make sure everything's ok. I've never heard Ruby shout like that before."
"Ah, so it's Ruby you're worried about." That was his game. Never mind how Weiss herself might feel. Brothers forbid that someone upset her fearless leader.
"Well, yeah," Jaune said. Of course. That should have been expected. Why worry about Weiss? Why bother? She could handle herself. She could manage herself just fine without anyone's help or input. That should be obvious. It should be a badge of maturity and a symbol of respect.
So why was it so hollowing to hear? Why did it make her feel worse than she already did? "I mean, of course I'm worried about you too, but you're, well, you."
"And what exactly does that mean?" Her voice was level. A distinct warning that he had better tread carefully.
"Well, you're Weiss. Strong, pretty, always on top of the class, always on point. Easily the most put-together of any of us. You don't seem to need to rely on anyone. It's hard to tell what you're thinking sometimes, but you're always there when it matters." Jaune said. He scratched his cheek nervously, eyes refusing to meet hers. She could see the faint dusting of a blush on his pale skin. It was slightly flattering that she had such an effect. "I know Rubys been a little worried lately, so…"
"Worried?" Weiss interrupted again. "Worried about what?"
"Well, you," Jaune said. Weiss bit back a scoff. That was absurd. Her leader had plenty of other things to worry about: her grades, lack of basic etiquette, and inability to be punctual. Her concern for Weiss should be at the absolute bottom of her list.
"What about me?" Weiss asked.
"She was worried you've been getting homesick. She said you've been more on edge lately and was trying to give you space. Something about you constantly getting her case and stuff like that." Jaune said. Weiss prided herself on her ability to read others' expressions. A skill honed during formal functions and political glas back on Atlas. She need not have bothered investing so heavily in her skills when it came to Jaune. The boy's clear eyes gave no hint of deception. He was an open book. "She also worried that you were pushing yourself too hard."
"Nonsense," Weiss said. Sure, she had been getting less sleep. Pushing Ruby to do her work had forced Wiess to make up the assignments later in the evening. The stress of ensuring her team was on time had been eating away at her downtime between lessons, and perhaps she had been focusing too much on ensuring everything fit into her team's schedule. Still, those were necessary sacrifices in the long term. She was simply surprised Ruby had noticed. "I'm perfectly fine."
"I'm sure," Jaune said, he had never been sarcastic in their interactions before. Wiess wasn't sure if she liked the sudden change. "It's just Ruby's been getting pretty worried. She said she would try to bring it up with you this weekend. Looks like the cats are finally out of the bag."
'Honestly, that girl should worry more about herself. She's hardly in a position to try to give me advice." Weiss said. However, something in her chest swelled. It was like the turmoil from before had eased ever so slightly. Was she happy? Whatever for?
"Can I ask you a kind of personal question?" Jaune asked.
"I am not available this weekend or any other for any kind of date, " Weiss preemptively struck. Honestly, the boy was incredibly persistent. He was harmless, but Weiss didn't even want to entertain the idea that he would have a chance. It wasn't out of spite—far from it—she would rather squash any potentially irritating possibilities quickly and decisively.
"Talk about tough," Jaune groaned. "Getting rejected even without a confession really stings, you know? But no, I wanted to know. What is Ruby to you?"
"What kind of question is that?" Weiss said. What a ridiculous question, both inane and pointless.
"If you're having trouble answering it, I'd call it a pretty good one." He snapped back. For the first time, Weiss was at a loss for words.
"She's my friend." That was the truth. Despite everything that had been said, despite any reservations, that was an absolute.
"It didn't really sound like that from what I heard." He said.
"Well, whatever you think you heard was entirely out of context. Not to mention private. So kindly remove yourself from what is clearly a situation between only Ruby and I," Weiss said. "Honestly, for all your faults, I at least thought you capable of respecting he privacy of others."
"It stopped being private when I could hear it from my room." He said with an awkward smile. "I don't really want to know what you guys fought about, that's none of my business. But I can't just walk away when my friends are in trouble."
"How chivalrous of you," Weiss said.
"Do you want to be Team Leader?" He suddenly asked. Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"It sounds like someone listened more closely than he's letting on." She said. "No, I do not. It has been made perfectly clear that I am not suited, nor desired enough, to be the leader."
"You're better suited than me. That's for sure." He said. Of that they could both agree. Ruby had the promise to be great, but if Weiss had been passed over in favor of Jaune, she wasn't sure what she would have done. "I can't tell you how many times I have to get bailed out on a daily basis by my teammates. If it wasn't for them, I have no doubt I wouldn't have made it this far at Beacon."
"Not to undermine your heart-to-heart here, but is there a point to any of this?" Her headache pounded, and the tiredness behind her eyes only worsened the longer this pointless conversation went on. Jaune was pleasant enough when he could actually act like a proper student, but he wasn't Weiss's first, second, or third choice for a conversation partner.
"My point," Jaune started. "Is that even though I know I'm not as strong, capable, or prepared as my team, they are willing to support me. They push me to be better, and in turn, I'm learning what it means to be a leader, to be a Huntsman."
"If you're implying I am not supporting Ruby, I might have to take offense. There is no one supporting her more than I. All day, every day, I am pushing her along. I spend all of my time trying to help her develop into the perfect leader for our time. Why does no one seem to understand I'm trying to help her?"
"What exactly is your definition of a perfect leader?" he asked. His tall frame leaned against the door to her dorm. His back was flat against the wall, arms crossed as he talked. It was a far more casual conversation than any they had before, and it was also longer than any of the other times they had conversed.
His question gave her pause. What made someone the ideal leader? What qualified as desirable traits? Weiss bit her lower lip, trying to find the words.
"A leader must be punctual, well-coordinated, organized, prepared, undaunted by the role they are expected to fulfill…."
"Ah, so someone more like you?" Jaune asked. It didn't sound like an accusation.
"What utter nonsense. Sure, I value myself enough to think I could be in charge if offered the chance, but I'm not trying to make Ruby into a carbon copy of me."
"So, then what do you want from her?"
Ruby was Ruby. That was all. With a bit more focus and a little more experience, she could prove to be someone quite adequate. That was all. She didn't want Ruby to change per se, nothing of the sort. She just wanted…
What did she want?
When she pictured the ideal figure, the epitome of what a leader should be, contrary to what everyone else might believe, she didn't see herself. No, she saw someone far beyond, someone so outside the realm and scope of who Wiess could ever hope to emulate.
The straightlaced figure of her sister, a prideful presence, came to mind: the perfect soldier, the composed, diligent, and ever-perfect Winter Schnee. If Ruby could even match up to half of Winter's ability, she would be just fine. If Weiss could match up to even a fraction of Winter, then maybe, in her heart, she could be good enough, just for once.
Winter, after all, was the true heiress to the Schnee name. Winter was smart, capable, and unintimidated by anything that came her way. Weiss was just second pickings, the one who just happened to be next in line: a fraud, a failure.
Beacon could change that; Weiss herself could change.
"I just want Ruby…" Weiss didn't know what she wanted. The words faltered as she spoke.
Jaune shifted uncomfortably. His mind seemed to be running in circles, unsure of what to say or do next. Honestly, in Weiss's mind, it was a miracle he had lasted this long before shoving his foot in his mouth.
The door across the hall creaked open, and a flash of crimson stepped out. Weiss again felt the surge of relief that it might have been Ruby, coming to her senses, a chance to rectify what had been said.
Pyrrha Nikos, under normal circumstances, would have been a welcome intrusion. But at the moment, Weiss could only feel a slight sting of disappointment.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. But you were both out here for so long that I got worried." Pyrrha apologized. The shooting star of Mistral, the Invincible Girl, was in Weiss's eyes the closest person to her ideal. Perfectly poised and accomplished, Weiss remembered how desperately she had wanted Pyrrha as her partner. Now that the dust had settled, Weiss could admit she was satisfied with how the dice had landed. Though part of her did wonder what the partnership between the two of them could have been like.
"If I could interject, though," Pyrrha continued. She placed a hand on Jaunes' shoulder, letting the flustered boy take a moment to catch his breath. It was always like that, Pyrrha coming in to clean up for her team leaders' foolishness. Weiss could relate. "I do have a question, do you remember when we met?"
"Of course," Weiss said. Who could forget meeting one of Remnant's most prominent stars?
"Back then," Pyrrha chewed her lip in hesitation. "Please don't think poorly of me, but back during Initiation, I was worried that we would end up being partners."
"What?" Weiss asked. It was more of a surprise than an offense. Why wouldn't Pyrrha Nikos, the reigning Combat Sports champion, want to be on a team with her, Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Fortune, the only other person whose prestige could live up to Pyrrha's? "Whyever not?"
"Please bear in mind this was before we truly knew each other. But what I wanted when I came here was a fresh start. I wanted to make a clean break from my previous self. And so I didn't want to be paired with someone who would treat me differently because of who I had been. And I honestly couldnt be happier with how it all turned out."
Weiss nodded. A part of her understood where Pyrrha was coming from, and try as she might, Weiss was struggling not to take the admission personally.
'A fresh start,' Why did that sound so familiar?
"I wanted to make real relationships, real friends. And I was worried that if we ended up together, it would be artificial, with both of us falling back into our established roles and personas. Never being genuine, never becoming partners." Pyrrha said.
"Partners…" Weiss repeated. What did partnership have to do with anything? Of course, they would be partners, assigned together, living together. Contractually, they would be together the entire time they attended the academy.
"Take Jaune, for example," Pyrrha pressed on, placing her hand back on the blonde buffoons shoulder. "He's the leader, the one we turn to when it's time to take action. And he may be a little goofy, and a little clumsy, not always sure of what he's doing or where he's going…"
"Hey!" Jaune protested.
"But his heart is always in the right place. And more than that, I know he has my back, not just as a friend but as a partner. We both push against each other and grow. I'm better because of him, and I only hope in turn he's better because of me."
"That is nothing but codependency." Weiss countered. "That is simply exposing your weaknesses in hopes that someone else will cover for them."
A leader had to be able to stand on their own. They must. Winter never asked for help. She never passed on the responsibilities she had undertaken to someone else. She was strong, independent, the epitome of perfection. Weiss would never be so weak as to expose her limitations. Never cowardly enough to allow someone else to try and interject their way into her struggles. She was content, she was strong. Composed. Isolated.
Lonely.
"It's more than that." Pyrrha shook her head. "The bond we forged is stronger than that. Being partners, true partners, means allowing yourself to show the softer sides of each other without fear of being rejected. It means letting someone in and growing together."
Why take the risk? Why even allow yourself to falter? Others couldn't be trusted. To let someone else try and take charge of your limitations, even to expose those limitations, was a fool's errand. It was counter to everything she had ever learned, ever experienced.
"You've been trying to help Ruby," Pyrrha said. "Whether or not it's been successful isn't the question. But you've only been pushing for what you want from her, right?"
Had she? Weiss just wanted Ruby to be more leader-like. Why was that so wrong?
"What about what Ruby wants?" Pyrrha asked.
What Ruby wanted. What did she want? Honestly, what did she want? To be a normal girl with her friends. That was what she said. But was there more?
With a frightening realization, Weiss came to understand that she had never bothered to ask. She had just taken Ruby as she was, never bothering to go beyond what she had already known. Only pushing for what Weiss herself had expected from her.
But the opposite was true. Ruby had never asked about her. She had never made the motion to go beyond Weiss's outward persona. What did Weiss know about Ruby? And what did Ruby even know about Weiss?
Though that was the problem in its entirety. Without reaching an understanding. Without a mutual, honest understanding, nothing would change.
With a deep breath, Weiss finally admitted what it was she wanted.
"I think it's time for Ruby and I to have a chat."
AN: Hello! Its is I. Firstly, this is my first foray into this kind of story. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it comes across all right. This is kind of a side project as I work on The Grimm Lands. That chapter is coming sooner than later. I finished writing it, now it's on to editing. I hope I can start to bounce between this and that to keep myself consistently writing and cut down on the hiatuses.
I hope you all enjoy this story. It's more focused on Volume 1 Ruby Weiss and Weiss as they learn the connections of being partners.