What Defines Us - Chapter 26 (Patreon)

“Do you need anything from the garage??”  

Without waiting for a response, Ruby blasted out of the kitchen and flew through the open garage door.  Grabbing an empty glass from on top of the workbench, she then zoomed back into the kitchen and looked at Yang for an answer.  Her sister, however, was busy watching the trail of rose petals drifting slowly to the floor.

“It was kinda nice not cleaning those up for a few days…” Yang mused with a shake of her head.

“It was starting to smell a little weird in here though,” Blake added, brushing a petal off of Yang’s shoulder.

“But it’s so great!” Ruby chimed in.  Her semblance laid petals in every direction as she ran several rapid laps around the kitchen table.  A layer of red covered almost every inch of the house right now, but she didn't care if she had to spend hours cleaning later.

“No more going slow!” she shouted while racing in a tight circle.  “No more wasting time walking like a slowpoke!”

Today was awesome!  She’d been looking forward to it for like forever!  It had been circled on her calendar - the calendar in her head since she didn’t own a real calendar.  But the day had been circled, because it was the day she was released from her speed restrictions. She got to use her semblance - she got to run and jump and cartwheel whenever she wanted!

It was a monumentous day!

Skidding to a stop by her sister’s side, she giggled when a wave of petals flew past her and knocked into Yang.  

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.”  Not really annoyed with the petals, Yang brushed another one off of her shoulder and failed to hide a smile.

“That makes it sound like I wasn’t feeling fine!” Ruby quipped before shooting around her sister and Blake as fast as she could, creating a whirlwind of petals that kept swirling even after she screeched to a halt.  “I felt fine all along! Besides that one little bit where I passed out. But other than that I’ve been completely fine!”

It was about a million years ago that she’d gone to the hospital for her itty-bitty near head explosion incident.  The time had doubled because she’d been practically forced into a coma by the mandatory walking ever since then. Seriously, why didn’t more people run everywhere?  They’d save so much time!

But Ruby followed the doctor’s recommendation and took it easy (because Yang made her).  She also took all of the pills and added the empty bottle to her tower. A small bout of clumsiness might have resulted in her accidentally knocking over all the bottles, but she rebuilt it - this time more structurally sound, in case she tripped over her feet again. 

“Do you need anything from the living room?” she asked before zipping away and returning within a second with one of Yang’s magazines.  “How ‘bout a magazine?” Pressing it into Yang’s hands, Ruby instantly disappeared and grabbed another.

“Oh, sorry!  Was that the wrong one?” she joked before flashing away to grab another - and another, and another.  

As the stack of magazines in Yang’s arms grew, she started to laugh - her sparkling purple eyes only encouraging Ruby to dash back and forth some more.  Seeing Ruby happy made Yang happy - and seeing Yang happy made Ruby happy! It was a big ol’ circle of happiness that never stopped.

“Are any of these what you wanted?” Ruby finally asked while setting the fifteenth or so magazine on top of the pile.  Shifting the stack and holding it in the crook of one arm, Yang picked up the top one and looked at it with a frown.

“Hmmm...nope!”

As soon as she said the word, Yang tossed the magazine towards the living room.  Squealing in surprise, Ruby dashed after it and managed to snag it out of the air before it hit the TV.

“This one’s wrong, too -” Yang said, throwing the second magazine over her shoulder towards the kitchen sink.  “And this one. And this one.”

Using short bursts of speed, Ruby zipped to each corner of the room while frantically grabbing the flying magazines before they hit the ground.  

“Yup, all wrong,” Yang finally said, grinning as she tossed the rest of the stack towards the sofa.

“Yang!” Ruby yelped in surprise before leaping after the quickly dispersing cloud of paper.  But she was fast - too fast! Flying through the air, she snatched each one out of the air before nearly sticking the landing on the other side of the sofa.  Nearly. 

Instead, her foot came down on another magazine half-hidden underneath the sofa, and her balance instantly disappeared.  As she fell to the ground, her arms raised up - scattering all of the dutifully-collected magazines to the wind.

Landing on her bum, but instantly shooting to her feet as if nothing had happened, Ruby consciously avoided looking at the huge mess she’d just made and jogged back to the kitchen instead.

“See?  Fit as a fiddle!” she proclaimed, ignoring Yang and Blake’s laughter at the spectacle she’d just created.  There was even more to clean up now, but that was fine - she had more than enough energy to do that and more.  Being cooped up for a couple days hadn’t helped with her hyperactivity. Her energy level was through the roof now!  Through the roof and to the moon!

“Blake, can you please take her out for a walk or something?” Yang teased.

“Me?  She’s your sister.”

“Oh!  Can we race through the woods??” Ruby asked.  

That was a brilliant idea!  They could race! That would help her get out some energy.  They could run miles and miles and miles through the woods - dodging trees and branches and bees until they were too tired to stand any more.  That would be fun!

As Ruby used her best ‘pleaseeee’ expression, Blake shot a glare at Yang before reluctantly nodding her head.

“Of course we can.  Right after I kill your sister.”

With a lighthearted laugh, Yang pulled Blake close for a kiss in between her ears.

“You two have fun!” Yang said, walking into the living room and collapsing on the sofa.  “I have some very important TV shows to catch up on.”

“Like more soap operas?”

“There’s no singing and very little soap, so I don’t know why you call them that,” Yang replied to Blake before turning on the television and sending a wave above her head.  “Have funnnn.”

“Now?  Can we go now?” Ruby immediately asked, bouncing up and down in anticipation.

“Sure, let me just - ” Blake began to say, but Ruby didn’t hear the ending because she’d already squealed in happiness and shot back to her room to change.  She should’ve worn her workout gear under her sweats again - why hadn’t she been thinking?? Always be prepared! Wasn’t that her new life motto? It was something like that…she’d come up with a motto and written it down somewhere, but she’d have to find it later.  

Throwing on the first outfit her hands touched, she actually beat Blake outside - that’s how fast she was going right now!  Impatient to get started, she stood near the treeline and swung her arms back and forth in some sort of warm-up exercise.  Should she stretch or something? Blake wasn’t going to take that long, was she?

Thankfully, it was only a few minutes later that the screen door opened and closed, and Blake trekked across the grass at a leisurely pace.  She was sort of taking forever, but that was ok. They’d race soon!

“How many laps do you want to do?” 

“Can we do four?”

The request made Blake’s brow rise before she chuckled and shook her head.

“You were cooped up too long, weren’t you?” she remarked, stepping past Ruby to the very edge of the woods - their unofficial starting line.  “Try not to run into any trees this time. Yang will be upset if you knock yourself out on a tree trunk the first day you’re allowed to use your semblance again.”

Joining Blake at the treeline, Ruby giggled at the memory.  That tree had definitely popped out of nowhere.

“I’ll do my best!” she replied with a mock salute before focusing on the trees in front of her.

The agreement was that they’d run through the woods to the neighborhoods on the far side and then back.  Since Ruby got to use her semblance, it wasn’t fair to expect Blake to complete as many laps, but they’d discovered it was a pretty close race if Ruby ran twice as many.  So four laps - Ruby had to run there and back four times while Blake only had to do it twice.

That didn’t mean Ruby was only twice as fast as Blake - she was way faster than that!  But there was the small added difficulty of picking the right path and dodging tree branches and bushes and stuff.  Blake was really good at that. Ruby...not so much.  Somehow she always managed to trip over something, but not this time!  This would be a perfect run with none of her usual clumsiness.

Had her motto been ‘Don’t lie to yourself?’  That kind of sounded right... 

“Ok, ready…” Blake said, bending her legs in a slight crouch.

Picking a general path through the trees as far as she could see, Ruby leaned down and put one hand on the ground like a sprinter.  She didn’t have to, but she thought it made her look cooler!  Everyone loves a track star, right?

“Set…”  

Focusing on her breathing, Ruby tried to steady her heart rate in preparation of bursting forward as soon as the next word left Blake’s mouth.  Her muscles tensed - coiling like springs on the edge of release.

“G -!”

The full word hadn’t even left Blake’s lips before Ruby shot forward like a cannonball.  Hopefully, Blake actually said ‘go’ this time. Sometimes she’d say ‘gorilla’ or ‘gopher’ just to trick Ruby into a false start.  Of course, she wouldn’t know until she’d run the entire first lap and found Blake still standing at the house. Until then, the race was on!

Blazing onward, trees flew past her - no, she flew past trees - and she swerved this way and that while ducking branches and hurdling bushes.  When she moved this fast, it hardly felt like her feet hit the ground. Maybe they didn’t - but if she tried to think about what her feet were doing, they’d definitely tangle themselves together and make her fall.

Using her semblance was a weird balance of thinking about it, but not too hard.  Most of it was instinctual - somehow her body reacted without her mind really knowing what decision had been made.  Right, left, jump, duck - all determined faster than her brain could process. That was a little alarming to think about, but hey - she’d survived this long!  Although there was that one time...

Seeing the trees thin out in front of her, she hit the brakes early.  Twigs and leaves swept forward in front of her while her feet skidded to a stop - creating a long trail of tracks running perfectly to the opposing tree line.  Nice! This time no one would be upset about her messing up their perfect grass!

No sooner had her body come to a complete stop did she do an abrupt turn and fly in the opposite direction.  More trees, more branches and stuff - it felt so good to run! Not just to run, but to fly.

Passing Blake at a little over the halfway point, Ruby spurred herself even faster.  If she wanted to win, she needed to make up some ground. What Blake lacked in speed, she made up for in super efficiency.  Her route through the trees would be within inches of perfect - no ounce of energy or precious time wasted by jumping too high, too soon, or giving that massive tree trunk too wide a berth.

Meanwhile, Ruby just kind of...winged it.  Faster, faster, faster.  Trust her brain to think, without thinking.  Trust her feet to do the running -

Suddenly tripping over something (hopefully not her own foot again), she flew through the air like a flying squirrel before landing on her forearms and correcting into a tumble.  Rolling seamlessly back to her feet, she skidded to stop at the edge of their lawn before turning around and racing back the other way.

Ok, that had been unexpected, but awesome!  She’d hardly lost any time at all! Better than the last few times, when she got a face full of leaves and dirt.

Pleased with her rather skillful tumble, her feet led her through the trees while her mind hardly thought about it.  This time she passed Blake a little closer to halfway - Ruby was making up ground! 

Only two and a half laps to go, and she wasn’t even tired!  It felt like she was just getting started! If there weren’t all these pesky trees in the way, she’d push her semblance even harder, but running into a tree at this speed was not all it was cracked up to be.  But it did make a really loud cracking sound.

The next couple legs of the race went smooth as cucumbers.  Ruby stopped on point, leaving long skid marks in her dust. She didn’t fall, which was always a bonus.  And when she pulled out of the last turn, Blake was nowhere to be seen - but Ruby had to believe her competitor was at least half the forest ahead.

Time to turn on the afterburners!!  

Would it be lame to make ‘vroom’ noises for herself?  Ah who cared.

Vrooooom.  Vrooooooom.  

The trees whizzed past - er, she whizzed past the trees - flying back to base for a perfect landing.  Something tugged at her arm, but she passed it so fast, she didn’t even know what it had been. Up ahead, she could barely make out Blake doing her aerial acrobats - well, hopefully it was Blake and not some crazy shadow person. 

The gap between them closed quickly, but Blake was nearly out of the woods.  It was going to be close! Ruby just needed a little more oomph. Just a little...more…

With Blake mere feet from the finish line, Ruby blasted forward with as much of her unused semblance as she could find.  It was ill-advised, definitely! Especially when she didn’t lift her feet up high enough and something reached out and grabbed her ankle.  At normal speeds, it wouldn’t do much of anything, but at the speed Ruby was going - it sent her flying forward.

Flying forward fast though!  Closing the gap and stretching her arms out in front of her, both she and Blake crossed into the backyard at nearly the exact time.  

Of course, Blake only needed to slow to a stop - while Ruby flew past and landed on the ground with a loud oomph as the air left her lungs in a single blow.  This time her tumble only flipped her onto her back and slid her several feet across the grass before she finally stopped somewhere in the middle of the yard, staring up at the sky.

Definitely not classy, but hey, whatever worked!

Groaning as she pushed herself to her feet, Ruby dusted off her clothes and noted several new grass stains while Blake walked over.

“You ok?” Blake asked, resting both hands on her hips while taking measured breaths to slow her heart rate back to normal as quickly as possible.  After checking her limbs for functionality and finding all systems go, Ruby nodded - and Blake nodded once. “Good. How do you feel?”

“I feel great!” Ruby replied, her heart already slowing to a more normal pace.  “Feels good to run again!”

“Looked like it.  You were blazing.”

“I can go faster!  But the trees - I only fell twice though!”

Nodding again, Blake lifted her arms from her hips and rested them atop her head.  “Are you any less hyper now?”

“Uhh…”  Briefly pausing, Ruby did a mental stock of her energy level.  Was she less energetic? “Maybe?”

“As long as you’re not bouncing off the walls, I guess…or else I’m calling Weiss over to entertain you.”

The mention of Weiss’ name immediately lit a smile on Ruby’s face.

“That’d be great!  I’d love for Weiss to come over!”  Bubbly energy instantly returned to Ruby’s chest as Blake chuckled.

“If she did come over, would you be able to sit still for longer than a few minutes?”

“Yeah!  I did last night, didn’t I?”

Thinking about the question, Blake smiled and nodded.  “You managed to sit through an entire movie without getting up…so I’m guessing you had fun?”

“It was tons of fun!” Ruby replied with a grin, which seemed to make Blake even more pleased.

It was the truth though!  And Ruby had managed to sit through an entire movie without getting up to do something else.  That was hard to do because movies were so long!  She normally got bored halfway through and decided she’d rather do something else, unless it was a movie about weapons or Grimm or - even better - weapons and Grimm.

Last night’s movie was about neither, so Ruby stopped paying attention only a few minutes in - but she never got bored.  It was impossible to be bored with Weiss sitting right there! Even if the movie was boring, Weiss was not.  Just watching her breathe was interesting!  Not that Ruby had been watching Weiss breathe in a creepy way or anything.  Only in a normal, curious way. 

And Ruby hadn’t noticed before, but Weiss smelled really good - a subtle flowery yet clean scent.  Whatever it was, it was amazing - amazing enough that Ruby had leaned a smidge closer to get a better smell.  

Weiss smelled good, adorably flinched whenever a bad guy crashed into a scene, and absentmindedly spun the ring around her finger whenever she was anxious about what was going to happen next.  For the longest time, Ruby had been overjoyed just watching Weiss fiddle with the ring - the ring that Ruby made from scratch! Honestly, Ruby never thought that Weiss would wear it, so it was awesome that she not only wore it but used it as a method to ease worry.

“Do you think we can invite Weiss over for more movie nights?” Ruby asked, giving Blake a hopeful glance.

A new word needed to be invented for how amazingggg it had been when Weiss had suddenly reached over and grabbed Ruby’s hand.  Ruby couldn’t even remember what was happening in the movie at the time - someone had been about to die, most likely - but holding Weiss’ soft, delicate hand was like heaven.  Every time it happened, Ruby loved it more and more.

Yang’s scary movies didn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore!  

“I don’t see why not,” Blake replied with a shrug.

“Well, because...you know, Yang isn’t always happy with Weiss?” Ruby asked, but her concern faded away when Blake gave her a reassuring smile.

“I think they’re fine now.”

“Really?”  

“Yes.  So feel free to invite her over - maybe you’ll get some more dates out of it,” Blake teased, making Ruby’s cheeks immediately flush.

“It’s not a date…”

“But she asked you out to dinner.”

“Yeah, but she asked you and Yang too!”

“But who did she ask first?”

Pursing her lips, Ruby didn’t answer.  Mostly because answering would only prove Blake’s point.  Was it a date? Weiss asked if she could take Ruby out to dinner tonight.  It was only Ruby’s question that made Weiss open up the invitation to anyone else, and then Yang declined.  

It was going to be just the two of them.  Going out to dinner. But it could only be a date if someone called it a date, right?  Otherwise, it was just two friends hanging out and eating food.

Why was this stuff so confusing??  Why couldn’t it be like putting together a weapon?  There were entire manuals written about that. Most of them were broken down in very detailed and clearly labeled steps too!

If there was no instruction manual, Ruby had to go to one of her other sources of advice...

“Even though it’s not a date…” she said slowly.  “What should I wear?”

One of the nice things about asking Blake for advice was that she took questions seriously from the get-go.  Yang’s initial response was almost always a joke - like ‘a clown suit’ or something silly like that. Blake actually took a few seconds to think of a good answer.

“What about those dark jeans you have and that nice, dark-red shirt in the back of your closet.”

“That one?” Ruby asked in surprise.  “But that’s like - so fancy!”

Shrugging again, Blake smiled.

“I think it’ll look nice,” was her simple reply.

Pondering the suggestion, Ruby glanced at the house.  When she wasn’t wearing her combat or training gear, she was in her pajamas or sweatpants...which meant she should probably take Blake’s advice.  Especially if she was going outside the house with Weiss. Weiss always looked so put together and pretty. If this was even kind of a date, Ruby didn’t want to look like a slob in comparison!

Did she want it to be a date though?  Kind of. Yeah, she did - but why?  That was one of the most confusing parts.  Almost more confusing than trying to figure out if it was a date or not!  

They hadn’t known each other for very long, but that didn’t seem to matter.  Every time they saw each other, it felt like they grew leaps and bounds closer.  

Ruby loved when they spent time together, but anything beyond that...she was too inexperienced to have any idea what she was talking about!  For all she knew, this was what it felt like to have a best friend.

“Uh, Blake?” she asked hesitantly.  “I, uh, have another question... ” 

“Sure - what is it?”

With Blake’s attention now fully on her, Ruby bit her lip and tried to phrase this as best she could.  She didn’t want to raise too much suspicion, but her cheeks were already trying to blush and give her away.  She could ask Blake though - Blake gave the best advice. 

“How did you know that you...like liked Yang?”

For several seconds, Blake’s ears spun this way and that while she thought about the question before finally smiling as if the answer was a pleasant one.

“Well...the first thought I had when I saw your sister was that she was gorgeous -” Blake began.

“Of course!” Ruby remarked with a chuckle and shake of her head.  That was the opinion shared by everyone who’d ever met Yang. That’s why she was always so popular!

“And my second thought was ‘oh no, she’s a flirt,’” Blake continued with a smile.  “But when we became partners, I got to see that there was so much more to her than that.  I saw how kind she is. How caring. How protective she is of the people most important to her.  How she looked after you.” 

Blake nodded towards Ruby before glancing towards the house, where Yang was currently watching her drama-filled TV shows.

“At first, I considered myself lucky to have a partner who was so easy to get along with, but then I started looking for reasons to spend time with her.  We would study together for hours when I already knew the material perfectly.  I’d ask her for extra help training on moves I’d already mastered. I’d conveniently ‘forget’ my books in class because I knew she’d walk back with me to get them.”

“Really?” Ruby asked in surprise.  The idea of Blake creating ways to spend time with Yang was funny because now the two were surgically attached at the hip.  

“Oh, yes,” Blake replied with a quick laugh.  “It got pretty bad. I started daydreaming about her.  Then, when I wasn’t doing that, I was dreaming about her.  When she’d accidentally bump into me, I got goosebumps. When I made her laugh, my heart did this embarrassing jump in my chest.”

Smiling fondly at the memories, Blake shook her head.

“It took me longer than it should have, but eventually I realized all of those little things meant I had a huge crush.  So I could join the rest of the boys at school - hopelessly head-over-heels for Yang Xiao Long, the blonde beauty of Beacon Academy.”

“But she liked you back!” Ruby pointed out, making Blake smile again.

“Yes, she did.  Fortunately.”

They stood there for a few seconds in a content silence while Ruby thought about what Blake had just said.  Wanting to spend time together...daydreaming...heart doing weird things…

Check, check, and check.

Ok, so that meant that what Ruby was feeling was almost the same as how Blake had felt about Yang.  So that meant this was also a crush. That meant...Ruby liked Weiss. Liked her.

Oh wow.  Ok, Ruby needed to not freak out in front of Blake.  She could totally play it cool - Blake would never know what Ruby had just realized.  She could be un-suspicious!

“But how did you go from ‘just friends’ to more than that?” she blurted out before she could help herself.  As expected, the question raised both Blake’s brow and suspicions in a heartbeat.

“You mean, how did she ask me out?”

“Yeah!  I mean, I guess.  She asked you?”

Fortunately, this looked like another question Blake wanted to answer - which fortunately meant she gave Ruby a pass on the highly fishy line of questioning.  

“Yes, she did.  She never told you that story?”

More like Ruby never thought to ask, but she shook her head anyway.  In her mind, Blake and Yang had basically always been together. One day, no Blake - the next, Blake was already living with Yang.  The two of them being together was a fact of life, so Ruby had thought about how they’d come to be. 

“Well...it was the end of the weekend, and Yang interrupted my reading to ask for help finishing a project due the next day.  We’d had months to work on it, so I kind of let her have it for procrastinating and waiting until the very last minute.  She apologized but asked if I would help her this once. Of course I agreed, but I wasn’t happy about being dragged out of bed for the day.”

“This doesn’t sound like a good start…” Ruby mused, making Blake laugh far more joyfully than the story suggested.

“It wasn’t.  We had to go into the forest to collect leaf samples from different species of trees and brushes.  It wasn’t in a dangerous section of woods, but we still had to get permission before leaving school grounds and…” Blake shook her head but still smiled at the memory.  “By the time we were walking into the forest, I was in a bad mood. While we’re picking up random leaves, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why did this have to wait until the last minute?’ ‘How come you didn’t mention anything sooner?’  Yang was quiet the whole time - I thought because she knew I was annoyed, but it turns out she was nervous…”

Again Blake’s eyes slipped towards the house while Ruby waited intently for the story to continue - eager to learn how one of the most perfect couples she knew had come to be.

“Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and said, ‘Hey, come with me.’  She pulled me through some random trees - I remember worrying that she was going to get us lost in the woods - but it wasn’t long until we came to this clearing.  The moment I saw through the break in the trees, I swear my heart stopped beating.”

“Why?  What was in the clearing?” Ruby asked, drawn into the story and dying to know the ending.

“It was covered in rose petals,” Blake answered lovingly, smiling at Ruby.  “An ankle-deep layer of petals covering the entire clearing.  She must’ve had you running around for days to get that many...but it was unbelievable.  Like something out of a love story. When the wind passed through the trees, it would blow the petals into the air and swirl them around so it almost looked like it was raining roses.  At that moment...I probably couldn’t even tell you why I’d been irritated only a minute earlier.”

Ruby helped Yang put this together...but now she couldn’t even remember her role.  It was a strange feeling, but she easily wrote it off for more important questions.  Like how long would it take to make that many petals?  Most likely not that long. If it was a round clearing, she could run around in circles for a few hours.  That was a small price to pay for Yang’s happiness!

“Yang led me into the clearing, wading us both through the petals,” Blake continued, her eyes glazing over as if she could see the clearing right now.  “It smelled heavenly and looked like a fairytale…more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before. When we reached the center, she stopped and took both of my hands and gave me this shy grin - one of the ones we hardly ever see.  ‘Do you like it?’ I don’t even know why she asked - of course I loved it, but why? Why go through all of the effort for me?”

Taking a deep breath, Blake continued with a smile refusing to leave her lips.

“She was nervous.  Have you ever seen your sister nervous?  Well, I hadn’t until right then. She rubbed her hands together and kind of sighed, kind of laughed.  Then she finally said - and I remember this part perfectly - ‘You know, there are a lot of things I’ve been searching for my whole life - adventure, my mom, a purpose - and someone to share my heart with.’”

Pausing, Blake touched one palm to her chest where her heart was.  She was very clearly moved by this memory...so much so that she was displaying her emotions more openly than Ruby had ever seen before.

“‘And I finally found one of those things,’” Blake repeated softly, her eyes still gazing off into some distant place from years ago.  “‘I’m just hoping you feel the same way.’”

Ruby waited in the silence that followed - a few more seconds than she was comfortable with - but she forced herself to wait that long before asking, “And you did?”

Her question broke Blake out of the spell.  Dropping her hand, she smiled modestly at Ruby.

“Yes, I did.  I do. And I said so right away.  I don't think I’ve ever seen Yang so relieved or happy.  And to be the cause of that happiness...that’s all I’ve wanted to be ever since.”

Smiling to herself, Ruby watched as Blake glanced fondly towards the back of the house one more time.  It was easy to see that the two of them made each other happy - and that made Ruby happy. She loved seeing everyone happy!

“So that’s the story of how Yang asked me out,” Blake concluded before chuckling.  “Also the story of our first kiss. But why do you ask?”

“I was just curious.  I realized I never asked!” Ruby fudged.  The look Blake gave in return suggested that she hadn’t quite fallen for the little lie, but thankfully she didn’t pry.  This time.

“Well, that’s how it happened.  It’s amazing how long ago that was because when I’m around her I still…”  Blushing, Blake stopped talking and looked off to one side.

“You still what?” Ruby asked curiously.  She didn’t mind hearing about her sister, especially not when Blake cared about her so much.  It was great to know that Yang had found someone so special!

Even with a blush, Blake turned back to Ruby.

“I still get goosebumps when she accidentally brushes against me,” Blake whispered.  “And my heart still does that embarrassing jump when she smiles at me. I always thought those things would fade away with time, but they never have...”

After Blake’s words trailed off, the two of them remained in a semi-content silence for a few moments before Blake finally spoke again.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go tell your sister how incredibly lucky I am,” she said with a shy grin, receiving Ruby’s nod before hurrying back into the house to find Yang.  

After watching Blake disappear inside, Ruby turned back to the forest with her brow wrinkled together in thought.

If what Blake said was right - and Blake was almost always right - then Ruby had a crush on Weiss.  Was it really so simple? That seemed like such a light word to describe how Ruby felt whenever Weiss was around.  Shouldn’t there be a different word…a bigger word for these feelings?  Why use a word that implied Ruby was being smashed down when that was the exact opposite of what was happening?  She wasn’t feeling crushed; she was feeling elated - rejuvenated - larger than life.

Crush would have to do for now.  And, if that was true, then the next logical step was...a grand romantic gesture?  

That was totally Yang’s style - big and flashy.  What could Ruby fill with rose petals? No, she couldn’t do the same thing.  Dammit, Yang! Stole Ruby’s semblance for her own good. And fire wasn’t romantic in any way.  Look at this giant bonfire!  It used to be a house, but now it’s the symbol of my feelings for you!  Don’t worry, I already called the fire department.

Ruby knew next to nothing about romance, but she knew that that wouldn't be romantic.

Ok, it didn’t need to be some elaborate plan like what Yang had done, but Ruby needed to be able to put it into words.  Words to Weiss.  

The mere thought made Ruby’s cheeks flush.  Someone to share her heart with - that seemed like a really big step.  But was it? When her heart was already thinking of one person all the time, maybe it wasn’t that big a deal.

That was a lie.  It’s a huge deal!  If it was enough to make Yang nervous, Ruby probably wasn’t even physically capable of doing the same thing.  But she wanted to find a way to...like...grow closer to Weiss. Again, an instruction manual would sure be nice right about now!  A step-by-step guide to asking someone out. Step one - find someone to ask. Step two - ask? 

Oh!  If Ruby could find out more about how Weiss felt, maybe it would take some of the nerves away!  Maybe step 1.5 was figuring out who the person you like likes.  Ruby could ask at dinner tonight. ‘Hey Weiss, do you happen to like anyone?’  Yeah, that would work. That would totally work!

Satisfied with her pseudo-plan and expanding checklist, she raced into the house.  She wasn’t going to walk anywhere for a long time - walking sucked!

The door to Yang and Blake’s room was closed, and they must be in there because Ruby had the entire living room to herself for once - meaning she could watch whatever she wanted on TV!  More Vale’s Top Weaponsmith! Yang refused to let Ruby watch that whenever she was around. Something about how it was like watching paint dry…

Yang couldn’t be more wrong.  It was watching weapons gradually fuse together.  Completely different.

Not that Ruby planned to watch the show fully - she planned on somewhat freaking out about having a crush instead.  Was this what crushes felt like? All heart-fluttery and soul-lifting? Ruby had never experienced this before, but it was...pretty awesome.  And nerve-wracking. But also awesome.

Grabbing the remote, she almost flopped down on the sofa when she noticed a jumbled stack of mail on her seat.  Apparently, this had become the new mail station without anyone bothering to tell her. But if the mail went here, where was she supposed to sit??  

Tossing the remote onto the sofa, she gathered up the envelopes and flipped through the stack.  Garbage, garbage, junk, junk, junk, magazines galore for Yang, oh! There was something addressed to Ruby!  

“I never get mail!” she exclaimed to herself, tossing everything else back onto the sofa before tearing the envelope open.  Her ears picked up a door opening and Yang and Blake talking quietly amongst themselves in the hallway, but she ignored them and pulled out the card to read it.

Dear Miss Rose,

As you may well be aware, this weekend Beacon Academy will host our annual alumni festival - The Beacon Invitational.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’re in need of one more team - of at least three registered huntsmen - to complete our tournament field.  With your proximity and status as a Beacon graduate, we sincerely hope you’ll be willing to reconsider participation in this event. If you are available to attend, please respond as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

Professor Goodwitch

Following the letter were details on the date and time of the tournament, and information on how to respond.  

As Ruby read the invitation a second time - because the first was clearly a joke - her jaw dropped open.  She’d watched the Beacon Invite ever since she was a kid! And they wanted her to fight in it??  Yang and Blake too, but Ruby??  They invited her personally! This was the Beacon Invite!  Only one of the coolest tournaments in existence on Remnant!

“What’s up?” Yang asked while walking into the kitchen with Blake, the two of them hand-in-hand.

“I got an invitation to Beacon!” Ruby exclaimed, holding the paper up in the air and waving it around.  

“What?”

“Yeah!  Here, read it!”  Dashing over, Ruby pressed the page into her sister’s hands.  Watching intently while Yang read with Blake reading over her shoulder, Ruby waited for a few seconds before finally asking, “Can we go?”

“You want to fight in the Invite?” Yang asked, tearing her eyes from the invitation.  “You realize that some of the best huntsmen in Vale will be competing. The enemies are no joke either - the biggest and baddest Grimm and Atlesians you’ll ever see.  They’re worse than normal because they’re controlled by this crazy weapon tech. They make mincemeat of team after team every year.”

Yang was probably trying to convince Ruby not to go, but she wanted to go even more now!

“That sounds so awesome!!” she cried out, her fists punching the air in excitement before she folded them in front of her to beg.  “Please, please, please can we go??”

Yang exchanged a surprised look with Blake before slowly shaking her head.

“I don’t know, Ruby…going back to Beacon?”

“But they need us to go!” Ruby replied, racing over and pointing out the word on the page.  “See? They’re ‘in need of one more team!’”

“Yes, I see that…”

“It’ll be fun!  And we can compete!  Don’t you and Blake want to fight in the tournament?”

The question made Yang bite her bottom lip - an expression Ruby had learned meant a great deal of hesitation.  But she wanted to go. She really, really wanted to go! It hadn’t even been on her radar until like a few seconds ago, but now it was everything she wanted and more!  All she had to do was convince Yang that it was no big deal.

“Ruby…” Yang began in her extra motherly voice.  “There will be a lot of people there who recognize you, and you’re not going to remember them.”

“So?” Ruby asked defiantly, causing Yang to raise one eyebrow in surprise.  

Would it really be so bad if a stranger walked up to Ruby and said ‘hello’?  It’s not like that would send her into some crazy tailspin of memories. The memories were gone.  There was nothing she could do about that but move on! 

Which meant her sister needed to move on too.

“Enough with the kid gloves, Yang,” Ruby said.  “It’ll be fine - I already know who I am.”

“Do you?”

“I mean, mostly!  I know I can make friends and have a life.  I have goals and I think I can reach them.” Pausing, Ruby looked Yang in the eyes.  “I appreciate what you’ve done all this time. I know it was for the best since I was so...out of it...but you don’t need to worry anymore.  I know who I am. Now I want to know who I was. I can handle this.”

It was time, wasn’t it?  It was a little scary, but it was time.  She couldn’t ignore her past forever. And she could definitely handle it!  

“It won’t phase me - if anything, it’ll be like a weird history lesson!  History of Ruby,” she added with a grin. “And I want to go to Beacon! I’ve never been - that I remember!”

“You really want to go.”  The way Yang asked wasn’t much of a question - more like a statement of disbelief - but Ruby answered with a firm nod.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!  It’ll be fun!”

For basically an eternity, Yang stared back at Ruby, never breaking eye contact.  For once, Yang didn’t turn to Blake, which meant the decision was staying between the two of them.  So Ruby made sure to look extra sincere - because she was. She wanted to go! And if this was a horrible mistake, well...she’d made worse mistakes.

Finally, after eternity was over, Yang nodded. 

“Ok,” she said with a small smile.  “Then we’ll go.”

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, jumping in celebration before freezing when a thought shot through her like a lightning bolt.  “Do you think that maybe we could invite...the full team?”

No elaboration was needed for Yang to know what Ruby was asking.  And this time Yang did turn to Blake for support while Ruby waited for an answer - trying not to seem too eager for a response.  But Yang would tell her now...if there was something she needed to know.

Brow furrowed, Yang searched for words before finally sighing.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

A huge weight Ruby hadn’t even known she’d been carrying lifted from her shoulders.  Yang would’ve told her. Yang definitely would’ve told her if their fourth teammate was...no longer alive.  But she hadn’t. Meaning that whoever she was, she was still alive and out there somewhere. And maybe Ruby would finally get to meet her!

“This is so awesome!!” Ruby exclaimed, hopping up and down in excitement.  “Please, please invite her! Even if she can’t make it - I mean, I kinda thought she was dead, so that’s such a relief!”

“What??” Yang asked, her eyes widening in surprise.  “Why would you think she’s dead??”

“Because you never talk about her!” Ruby replied, watching Yang exchange a shocked glance with Blake.

“I guess...we kinda didn’t…”

“But this is so much better!  Wow, I should’ve asked a long time ago,” Ruby continued before more questions popped into her mind.  “What’s her name??”

She hadn’t thought about her partner because she’d been afraid to learn the tragic truth.  But the truth wasn’t tragic! 

“Well -”

“What’s she like?” Ruby asked before Yang could answer.  “Do you have a photo? Why has she been gone so long? Was she trying not to overload my brain too?  Oh! Or has she been on some crazy undercover mission??”

“What?  Ruby, we’re not spies.”

“You know what I mean!”  Brushing off Yang’s stunned expression, Ruby grinned.  “But what’s her name, Yang? For real! If I’m going to meet her, I at least need her name!  And what’s her weapon’s name? And her semblance? And favorite Grimm!”

“Woah there,” Yang finally said, waving her arms to stop Ruby’s questions.  “Slow down, turbo. Let’s see if she can even make it first.”

“And if she does, I think she’ll want to do her own introduction,” Blake added seamlessly, earning Yang’s nod of approval.

“She’ll definitely want to do that herself.”

Waiting wasn’t as good as having the answers now, but Ruby could wait.  She’d already waited this long, hadn’t she?  Plus, the Invite was soon - this weekend! If anything, this just made her even more excited.

“Ok,” she agreed with one last nod before giving her sister a serious look.  “But ask nicely - you promise to ask nicely?”

“Of course I will.”

Squealing in happiness, Ruby could swear that someone just dumped an entire jar of spinning warbeetles down her collar from how jittery she was.  Beacon! The Beacon Invite! Her partner! So much had just happened!! All from one plain little envelope! She was definitely checking the mail more often because that had been more than worth it.

“But shouldn’t you be getting ready to go somewhere?  I thought you had a hot date!” Yang teased, making Ruby yelp in surprise when she realized Weiss would be there any minute.  Weiss was going to be here! This was the best day ever. 

“It’s not a date!” Ruby called out as she raced towards her room to change, but she glanced over her shoulder before turning the corner.  Still standing in the kitchen, Yang put her hand on the back of a dining room chair - leaning over it and looking at Blake as if asking Blake to tell her what to do next.

Yang was the best sister anyone could ask for, but maybe it was time for a bit of Ruby’s past to come back.  For the first time, she felt strong enough to learn about the years she lost. Maybe it would be confusing. Maybe it would make her sad or even upset.  But maybe it would help her understand some things, learn, and grow even more.

When Blake moved towards the front door, Ruby started running again.

“Tell her I’ll be five minutes!” she shouted into the kitchen before flying into her room and closing the door.  In the sudden silence, she leaned against the solid wood and briefly closed her eyes. Her heart was pounding, and not from the short distance she’d just run.

They were going to Beacon.  They were going to fight in the tournament.  And maybe, just maybe, she was going to meet her partner.

So much was changing.  And it was all good - no, it was great!  It made her nervous as heck, but also more excited than she could remember being in her entire life.  It hadn’t been that long ago when she’d spent days wondering if she could ever be ‘normal’ again, but recent events had proved that - well, that there was no such thing as normal.  But also that being injured wasn’t the defining moment of her life - there was still so much more to come!

Like dinner.  With Weiss. Ruby needed to figure out who Weiss liked!  Because there was that whole crush thing too...which was more exciting than everything else combined.

Ruby’s heartbeat had only moderately slowed down, but she pushed off the door and went to the closet for the outfit Blake had suggested.  It was a complete accident that she sniffed and realized she really needed a shower. She’d just run like twenty miles and fallen in the dirt a couple of times...Weiss would be ok hanging with Blake and Yang for a few minutes.  Ruby would be fast!