What Defines Us - Chapter 44 (Patreon)

This morning, consciousness struck Ruby like lightning.  Or like a snake.  Whichever was faster and more jarring - most likely lightning because that was also electrifying.  

Either way, one of those things hit her over the head and popped her awake like she’d never been sleeping.  Which...she was pretty sure she had been…but now that she was awake, she blinked at the morning sun creeping through the window.  

Not her window, but their window.

It was still a little strange to wake up in a new room in a new house, but it wasn’t as weird as she would’ve thought.  On a scale of ‘I don’t remember eating the last piece of cake’ to ‘I don’t remember having three arms,’ it was probably closer to her short-term cake-eating memory.

Hearing a soft sigh from the bed beside her, Ruby rolled onto her side and smiled when she found that Weiss was still sleeping.  So cute! And so peaceful. With each passing day, it looked like Weiss was sleeping more and more peacefully. Which also meant she was sleeping deeper and was less likely to be accidentally woken up - like when a certain someone happened to place a quick kiss on her lips.

Leaning forward, Ruby held her breath, kissed Weiss, and then quickly moved out of the way.  Still holding her breath, she watched Weiss gently stir in her sleep before growing still once more.  Tickled pink (Weiss pink) that her little ploy worked once again, Ruby laid down on her right arm and watched Weiss sleep.

Yesterday was kind of hectic, so it made sense that Weiss was extra exhausted by the time they made it home.  But yesterday was awesome!  Seeing Beacon through Weiss’ eyes, with all the memories that had once been, was one of the best days Ruby ever had.  Sure, she wished she could have those memories back, but it was good enough to hear them secondhand. Plus, they had a ton of fun reliving the moments while meeting a few new people to boot.

In summary of their awesome day: Beacon was awesome.  And Weiss was awesome. What did Ruby ever do to deserve someone so cool as her partner?  

If only there were something she could do for Weiss...something that said ‘Thanks for being awesome and for taking me back to Beacon.  Oh, and for being my partner and just all around fun to spend time with.’

That was probably too long to fit on top of a cake, but maybe there were other ways she could show her appreciation.  Like making a balloon animal! What was Weiss’ favorite animal? A...snowy fox? Zebra? Chimpanzee? 

Or maybe Ruby could do something bigger - like skywriting!  But it might be expensive to rent a plane...and dangerous to try to steal one…and even more dangerous to try to fly one...

When Weiss let out another soft sigh, Ruby grinned and decided that her appreciation should start small and manageable.  She’d make breakfast! That was thoughtful, right? She watched Yang make breakfast for Blake all the time, and Blake was always super grateful.

Carefully pushing the covers off of her, Ruby slipped out of bed and crept to the bedroom door.  Getting a wave of goosebumps after leaving the warm bed behind, she turned and somewhat regretfully wished that she wasn’t leaving Weiss behind.  But it’d only be for a few minutes! 

Plus, it wasn’t like Ruby could make breakfast in bed...except that was a real thing, right?  She’d heard the term before, but always assumed it meant eating breakfast while sitting in bed.  But what if she was wrong? What if it meant cooking breakfast while...but how would that even work?  She’d look into it later... 

Using the ninja training Blake had taught her, Ruby basically morphed through the bedroom door without opening it and sleuthed downstairs to the kitchen.  She and Weiss went to the grocery store the other day, which had been almost illegally fun, and bought so much food they probably wouldn’t be able to eat it all before it went bad.

Except that sounded like a challenge, and Ruby never said no to a food-related challenge!

“Let’s see…” she mumbled to herself while tapping her chin.  “What would Weiss want for breakfast?”

The answer was almost too easy - a grapefruit!  But...that involved essentially zero effort on Ruby’s part.  She could try to make french toast like Weiss had a few days ago!  She didn’t remember at all how Weiss did it, but she could make something up.  Or she could try to make Yang’s famous pancakes! She also didn’t know how to do that, but how hard could it be?  Just throw some flour and water in a bowl, mix, and fry!

But that’s not what Weiss would want for breakfast, and the point of getting out of bed early was to do something nice for Weiss.  So...Ruby would make the best grapefruit ever eaten for breakfast!  

Technically, a grapefruit tree made the grapefruit, but Ruby would prepare it.  If she could make a grapefruit on her own, she’d certainly try for Weiss’ sake, but...she didn’t have roots or anything... 

Reaching towards the bowl sitting on the middle of the island, she picked up one of the light-orange fruits and tossed it in the air to check its weight.  Yup, it was...heavy-ish and round. After turning on the faucet at the kitchen sink and washing her delicacy-in-the-making, she dried it off with a towel and looked for a cutting board.

Turning cluelessly from one cupboard to the next, she opened one at random and chuckled when she found a set of wooden cutting boards stored inside.

“Score one for Detective Rose,” she muttered while pulling one of the boards out and setting it on top of the island.  Placing the grapefruit in the center, she tapped her fingers on the counter before taking a step back.

“And plates…” she muttered before turning around and opening another cupboard - being immediately greeted by a stack of plates and bowls.  “That’s two in a row!” she cheered while taking one of the plates and setting it on the island.

“And if I were a knife, I’d be...here!”  Pulling open a random drawer, she squealed in delight upon finding a set of knives resting inside.  “Almost like I used to live here,” she said to herself before giggling.

Grabbing a knife that looked like it’d do the trick, she turned away from her task when motion caught her attention.  Glancing up, she grinned when she found Weiss walking into the room - already dressed for the day and looking like an angel.

“Good morning!” Ruby called out, setting the knife on top of the cutting board.  “I wanted to make you breakfast!”

Gesturing towards the grapefruit, Ruby was surprised when Weiss hardly spared it a second glance.  Instead, she walked around the counter and pulled Ruby into a warm hug. 

Ah, yes.  Their good morning hug.  Couldn’t forget that, could they?

Squeezing Weiss tightly, Ruby took the liberty of taking a deep breath of whatever shampoo Weiss used before releasing and moving only slightly away.

“Good morning,” Weiss said, popping up onto her tiptoes to give Ruby a quick kiss.  “I...missed waking up with you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!  I just - I wanted to do something nice for you -”  Gesturing again to the island, Ruby’s growing regret paused when Weiss smiled.

“I know.  And that’s very sweet of you.  Please -” Weiss waved towards the cutting board before pulling out one of the stools and sitting down.

“Ok ok, I’m almost done.”  

Picking up the grapefruit, Ruby furrowed her brow while sizing it up.  Using the knife, she found the exact center and veryyyy carefully cut it so that both halves were exactly the same size.  Or at least, it’d be impossible to disprove her awesome cutting skills without some high tech wizardry such as a...ruler or something that measured things...

“Voila!” she exclaimed, setting both halves onto a plate and pushing it towards Weiss.  “Breakfast is served. Who said I can’t cook??”

While Weiss accepted the plate with a light laugh, Ruby opened another drawer at random and found a set of silverware resting inside.  Picking out a spoon, she handed it over to Weiss.

“You know...you used to be able to spin the grapefruit on the cutting board and cut it in half while it was still spinning,” Weiss remarked.  When Ruby’s jaw dropped open, Weiss quickly added, “I mean, not that you need to try -”

“What’re you talking about?  I have to try that now!”

Taking another bite of her breakfast, Weiss shrugged her shoulders and pointed her spoon towards the stack of grapefruits sitting in the bowl on the island.  With permission granted, Ruby grabbed another and set it on the middle of the cutting board. Using both hands, she lined up her fingers on opposite sides and spun the fruit as fast as she could - it flew right off the cutting board, off the island, and onto the floor.

Hearing Weiss’ delighted laugh, Ruby’s cheeks heated up in both embarrassment and happiness.

“Ok…” she mumbled while ducking around the counter to catch her runaway grapefruit.  “Apparently it’s harder than you’d think.” 

“I’m pretty sure you practiced when I wasn’t around,” Weiss commented, her eyes only slightly amused by Ruby’s epic failure.  “But I’d prefer to watch you figure this out.”

“Heh...well...maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.”  Returning the grapefruit to its friends, Ruby pulled out a seat and sat next to Weiss.  “Soooo how is it?”

Taking another bite, Weiss chewed and swallowed before saying, “It’s fantastic.  You might just become a full-fledged chef yet.” 

The joke made Ruby beam proudly.  Sure, she couldn’t make anything else without burning it, or burning the pan, or burning the house down, but she could cut a grapefruit in half dammit!

“But what are you having for breakfast?” Weiss asked after taking another bite.

“Oh, uh...I dunno.  I was only thinking about you!”

Setting her spoon down, Weiss stood and headed over to the cupboards before pulling out a mixing bowl and set of measuring spoons.

“Well that won’t do...you need to eat,” she mumbled while moving purposefully around the kitchen.  “How about more french toast?”

“That sounds amazing!” 

Ruby’s response earned a satisfied nod from Weiss before she quickly went about making breakfast.  And Ruby got to watch Weiss masterfully prepare an actual breakfast - not just a piece of fruit cut in half.  

Watching Weiss cook was really relaxing.  Something about her assured motions put Ruby at ease.  It was like, for whatever reason, knowing that Weiss knew exactly what she was doing was reassuring.  Why would that be? Was food just that important to Ruby?

But it was a remarkable transformation!  There was no uncertainty. There was no hesitation.  There was no second-guessing to be found anywhere in Weiss’ expression right now.  She was making french toast, and she knew exactly how to make french toast.

Ruby couldn’t wait to see this version of Weiss in their practices.  It was already peeking through - surely it would keep growing the closer they grew to each other.  Like two grapefruit trees that were planted incredibly close together or...two other things that grew closer over time.  The only things that came to mind right now were different types of fruit trees...

“What would you like to do today?” Weiss asked while flipping several pieces of french toast out of the pan and into a neat stack on a plate.

“Uh...would you hate me if I said I want to train more?” Ruby asked, smiling when Weiss laughed and walked over to her.

“We had one day off, so I’d expect nothing less.  You aren’t tired or sore?”

Lifting her arms above her head, Ruby stretched them as high as they would go.  There was a bit of tightness in her muscles, but it was nothing she couldn’t work through.  

“Not too bad.  It feels like a normal day, actually!”

“This is a normal day?” Weiss asked while placing an open container of syrup by Ruby’s plate and finally sitting down with her grapefruit once more.

“Yeah!  You and me - totally normal.”

Like anyone would believe that.   Between their lives as huntsmen and their sporadic brain injuries, the two of them might be the least normal people in existence.  Except for Weiss - Weiss was holding down the ‘normal’ fort all on her own. The normal, one-of-a-kind, most beautiful girl in the entire world fort.

Yeah, neither of them were normal, but Ruby didn’t care!  Drenching her wonderful breakfast in syrup, she stuck a huge forkful in her mouth and gave Weiss a thumbs up.  How lucky was she that her partner/ kind of girlfriend/ex-was fiancée was a fantastic cook??

“Do you want to try The Horde again?” Weiss asked while cleaning out one half of her grapefruit and moving on to the other.  Her eyes widening at the idea, Ruby quickly swallowed the bite in her mouth.

“Yes!  We need to try again with our new strategy stuff!”

“My thoughts exactly.  With our new ‘strategy stuff.’”

From the way Weiss’ eyes sparkled at the phrase, Ruby knew that she was being lightly teased.  Was there a better term for all of the battle questions they went over last night and the night before?  ‘Stuff’ was an all-encompassing word - that’s why Ruby used it! Why think of better words when she could use ‘stuff’ instead?

“I really wanna try that one you showed me -”  Using one finger, she traced a pattern in the air.  “The diamond one.”

“That would be a good start.  It should give us more breathing room when the Grimm start showing up faster than we can clear them out.”

Nodding and happily demolishing what had to be the best french toast in all of Remnant, Ruby drummed her fingers on the counter and then said, “Oh!  But I need to go back to the house this morning to adjust Thorn.”

“You do?” Weiss asked curiously.  “What do you need to adjust?”

“Nothing much, but when we were fighting the other day I felt that the delay was a little off.  Wanna fix that before we try again.”

“I see…”  When Weiss’ brow creased in thought, Ruby waited for whatever that supercharged brain was going to come up with next.

“You do have a workshop downstairs...maybe you can fix it here?”

The suggestion made Ruby’s eyes widen in realization.  “Oh! That’s right!” she exclaimed when remembering that she did have a huge, super high tech workshop right downstairs.  “Let’s check that out first.”

Nodding, Weiss snuck several more pieces out of her grapefruit before tilting the half up and shrugging.  When Ruby leaned over to see what was so interesting, she found that Weiss had finished the entire thing. Wait - was that interesting?  Ruby could eat five of those for breakfast! Although, they were so sour...she probably didn’t want to do that. 

But she did polish off her plate that was once piled with delectable french toast.  The last piece she swirled around in the pool of syrup to collect as much as possible before sticking it in her mouth.  

“Mm!” she said in delight before hopping out of her seat and taking her plate to the sink to wash it.  After setting it in the rack to dry, she used a tiny bit of her semblance to blast back to Weiss and place a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you for breakfast!” 

“Thank you for breakfast,” Weiss repeated while standing.  But before Weiss could pick up her plate, Ruby grabbed it and took it over to the sink herself.  She then collected the rest of the dishes in one big stack that she could whiz through. 

Symbol of appreciation number two - clean up so Weiss didn’t have to!  

“Wow.  First breakfast, now the dishes - what’s the occasion?” Weiss asked, walking over and reaching out for one of the plates.  And she might have picked it up if Ruby hadn’t swatted her hand away!

“Just wanted to do something nice for you!” Ruby replied, quickly washing everything then drying everything just as fast so Weiss wouldn’t start helping.  “As a ‘thank you’ for going to Beacon with me yesterday. And...everything, really.”

For being awesome and showing Ruby so many new things - opening her eyes to the magical world of having more friends and someone to love in that way.

“You don’t have to thank me.”  Weiss’ gaze was serious for only a moment before her eyes sparkled playfully - giving away her intent to tease even though her expression said otherwise.  “But I’ll accept it regardless - and the spoils that come with it.”

“Like me doing the dishes?” Ruby asked while drying her hands and hanging the towel back in place.  “I didn’t do the dishes before or something?”

Weiss laughed at the question while pushing gently off of the counter and moving towards the entryway.

“Let’s just say that speed and easily-breakable objects don’t always go together,” she commented, waving for Ruby to follow her.  “Let’s see if we can get Thorn fixed up.”

“Yeah!  And check out my new-old workshop!”

When Ruby caught up to Weiss, the two of them headed to the door leading down to the very best part of the house.  Although...Ruby was really fond of their bedroom too - it was super cozy and extra comfortable to sleep in. And the kitchen was also amazing.  They hadn’t spent much time in the living room yet, but she couldn’t wait to spend hours in there going through simulation videos and coming up with new names for their new moves.  Plus, the backyard looked like an awesome place to run around and practice with Weiss’ glyphs.

Basically, the entire place was awesome.  But the basement…

Today, Weiss unlocked the door and the two of them made their way downstairs - neither of them using the railing even though Ruby still really wanted to try.  But there was a fine line between trying something new and trying something new with a potential audience to embarrass herself in front of. After the great grapefruit snafu of this morning, the last thing she wanted to do was faceplant on the stairs with Weiss watching.  Although...if it made Weiss laugh, it might be worth it.

It was incredible what Ruby was willing to do to make Weiss smile or laugh or just be happy in general.  Embarrassing herself was just the tip of the iceberg!

“I can’t believe I asked you out from the rooftop!” Ruby remarked while dropping down to the next step.  Talk about embarrassing herself in front of an audience. From the rooftop too! Where everyone could see and hear! 

“I can’t believe you got back up on the roof yesterday,” Weiss replied from several steps ahead, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Yeah...that was awesome…”

Sure, Ruby didn’t know any of the people who saw her, but she didn’t care who they were.  She’d tell anyone and everyone how she felt about Weiss. Plus, it was super cute how embarrassed Weiss got...

When Weiss reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, Ruby was right on her heels - which meant she got to watch the lights of the combat room spring to life once again.  It was still one of the coolest things ever, but this time instead of heading to the podium, she raced over to the lockers in the wall and reached into hers to retrieve Thorn.

“How ya doing, buddy?” she asked, holding the glove in one hand and looking him over.  “We’re gonna get you all checked out today!”

“Like going to see the doctor?” Weiss asked in amusement while walking towards the door to the workshop.  

“Exactly like that!”  Racing over, Ruby grinned when Weiss held the door for her.

“After you, Dr. Rose.”

Giggling at the name, Ruby walked through the doorway and immediately stopped while her eyes and ears and nose - while all of her senses boggled at the room in front of her.

This workshop was incredible.  

The lights automatically clicked on the moment she entered and filled the space in bright light - but the light seemed to be perfect from every location, with hardly any shadow spots. The machines placed strategically around the room were clean and shiny.  There were drawers upon drawers, and cabinets upon cabinets - so many nooks and crannies that were probably bursting with cool trinkets Ruby couldn’t wait to find.  And the bench space - she took a few extra seconds to appreciate the workbenches lining every available bit of wall space, and the two long workbenches occupying the center of the room.

It was probably one of the coolest places she’d ever seen - and it was hers! 

Taking a deep breath of vaguely metallic air, she walked over to the workspaces in the center of the room, which seemed to be the best place to set Thorn down.  A pile of random odds and ends already cluttered up the space, but she moved everything out of the way to make room for what she needed to do. Picking up a dagger that was mid-completion, she set it hastily aside when she realized that the small weapon must be what she’d been working on right before her injury.

Wasn’t that weird?  She left all this stuff out because she expected to come right back to it.  But here she was - a year later with no idea what she’d been trying to accomplish.  Because instead of coming right back, she’d...taken a rather long detour.

Weird was probably the best word for that.

“Ok, I need…” she muttered while searching around for tools.  Her luck from the kitchen, unfortunately, didn’t transfer over, and she opened several drawers before finding the proper screwdrivers to remove Thorn’s housing.  Now that she had the screwdrivers, she needed...

“Do you know if I had a chip reader or something?” she asked while lifting several pieces of old metal in search of one.  She had to have one somewhere.  It was pretty standard to put a chip of some kind into any hyper-intelligent weapon, but the problem was that there were so many different ways to access that information...

“Do you mean this?” 

When Weiss pointed to a small machine sitting on another counter, Ruby walked over and bent down to look at it closely.

“Uh…”  

Whatever it was, it was fancy.  She’d never seen anything like it before, but it did look like it had a small compartment inside that would hold a processing chip.  The only problem was it looked too big for the chip she wanted to put into it.  Was it adjustable? Were there other attachments she needed to use?

Scouring every side of the machine, she read the labels on the buttons and struggled to figure out what their short abbreviations stood for.  ‘ON’ probably meant ‘on.’ And ‘ST’ probably meant ‘start’...or ‘stop.’ And ‘LB’ meant…

Up until this very second in her life, Ruby prided herself on being a weapon guru of sorts.  She built Crescent Rose! And she was always able to fix Ember Celica! But she normally worked with pretty basic tools and machinery.  She knew what the Dust Recirculator and Aura Generator machines did, but the rest of this stuff was...expensive.

“I...I don’t know how to use this,” she finally admitted.  Turning to the side, she caught the brief moment of surprise in Weiss’ eyes before a warm, reassuring smile appeared.

“That’s alright,” Weiss said softly, taking Ruby’s hand and picking up Thorn in her other.  “Why don’t we go back to your house so you can fix Thorn? And later we can find the manuals for all of this.  I know we stored them somewhere...and I’m pretty sure you made notes in them before we put them away.” 

“Really?  That sounds great!  I just don’t wanna like...accidentally pulverize the processing chip or something, you know?  I spent a lot of time getting it right!”

“I know,” Weiss replied while pulling Ruby towards the stairs - leaving the too high tech workshop behind for now.  “This might be better anyway. I’m sure Yang misses you.”

“Oh...you’re probably right.”

Besides the hunts Yang went on with Blake, the last time Yang and Ruby spent more than a few days apart was...a very long time ago.  Ruby had been so busy with all the memory stuff that she hadn’t really had time to think about it, but now that she did...she missed Yang too!

“But I can use all that stuff to figure out Nora’s flamethrower!” 

The comment actually made Weiss stop walking and turn towards Ruby in surprise.  

“I’m sorry...Nora’s what?”

“Flamethrower!” Ruby repeated with a big grin when remembering the conversation she had with Nora a few days ago.  “She came over the other day and asked if I could build one into her weapon. And I think I can!”

Dumbstruck, Weiss stared at Ruby for a few seconds before letting out a laugh of disbelief.

“I think I speak for the rest of Team JNPR when asking you not to do that,” Weiss said with a shake of her head.

“Why not?  Would she do something crazy with it?”

“Without a doubt.”

When Weiss nodded emphatically, Ruby pursed her lips and thought about the crazy things that could be done with a flamethrower.  Maybe the question was - what crazy things couldn’t be done with a flamethrower?

“Ok, maybe that’s a bad idea,” Ruby concluded, hurrying up the steps to catch up with Weiss.  “But I’ll think of something more useful and less crazy for her!”

“That’s the spirit,” Weiss replied while leading them towards the main floor of the house.  “And now the entire forest won’t go up in flames.”

“Yeah…”  Thinking through it some more, Ruby chuckled at the idea of Nora wielding all that power.  “That’d probably be a bad thing!”

She’d promised Nora something though, and she intended to deliver!  Once they found the manuals, she could figure out what those machines did and then think of something awesome.  Maybe some kind of rocket boost or additional Dust storage? Either of those things would be cool! Just not as...flashy and uncontrollably destructive.  

As soon as they stepped into the entryway, Ruby raced over to get her shoes from where she left them yesterday.  She’d already pulled the left one on when she noticed the amused look Weiss was giving her.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Weiss replied (a lie!) while biting her lip to hide a smile.  “But do you normally go out in your pajamas?”

Glancing down in surprise, Ruby groaned when she realized that she was, in fact, still in her pajamas.

“I’ll be right back!”  

She’d hardly earned a nod from Weiss before throwing off her left shoe and flashing up the stairs to their bedroom.  Heading straight for the closet, she grabbed the first outfit she found that wasn’t clearly Weiss’. Wasn’t that cool though?  They shared a closet! All of their clothes were in there together. All mixed up and mingled together. Together, together, together.

Flying into her new-old clothes, she then blitzed back downstairs and slid to a stop by Weiss - or slid to a stop past Weiss.  The floors were really clean and slippery.

“Ready!” she announced after hopping into her shoes and whizzing through the laces.  

“Not that I would mind seeing you in your pajamas all day,” Weiss commented while motioning towards the front door.  “They’re adorable.”

Blushing at the compliment, Ruby followed Weiss outside so they could head back to Ruby’s old house.  Or current house. It was actually getting a little confusing.

“Maybe if we weren’t leaving the house.”  Following Weiss into the car, Ruby quickly buckled herself in and tapped both of her palms against her knees as Weiss set them on their way.  “This time I’m really going to remember the directions!”

She failed last time because the taxi driver had distracted her by asking about Nevermores!  He was the one who asked, right? Or had she brought the topic up? 

Regardless, she was determined to memorize the way this time.  First, they pulled out of the drive - that was easy. Then they took a right onto the next street, and went straight, then straight, then left - 

“Can we go back to Beacon sometime?” she asked as soon as the question popped into her head.  

When Weiss nodded, Ruby grinned and sat back in her seat.  It was so much fun to walk through the campus and see the places they used to spend time together.  Visiting their old room, meeting some new huntsmen-in-training, meeting one of the professors, re-creating their introduction and their first kiss - it was all so awesome.  And she knew that if they went back, she’d get even more stories and find even more reasons why she and Weiss were meant to be.

“Whenever you want to, we’ll go back.”

“Really?  Then how ‘bout like...well, when do you have to go back to work?”

“I should probably go in tomorrow and make sure everything is progressing as it should.”  Pursing her lips, Weiss sadly shook her head. “I doubt that it is...”

“How about I go with you and whip everyone into shape?” Ruby suggested, to which Weiss let out a startled laugh.

“You’re going to whip them into shape?  I’d love to watch that.”

“Then I can come with you tomorrow?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Yes!”

She was going to see Weiss at work!  Did that mean Weiss would be bossy? Would she raise her voice and shout orders?  Or would she still be just the sweetest person in existence? Ruby would bet Crescent Rose on the last one!

Except she would never bet Crescent Rose on anything.  Ever. And she didn’t say that out loud, so it didn’t count.

Turning her attention back out the window, she sat up in surprise when a familiar house rolled into view.  They were home! Or, at Yang and Blake’s place. Also Ruby’s place, but it wasn’t her place in quite the same - yeah, they were here!

As soon as the vehicle stopped, Ruby popped open the door and raced around to open Weiss’ for her.  When Weiss stepped out of the car, Ruby carefully closed the door behind her and then raced up the walkway to the front door.  It was only when she’d already made it there that she realized she should’ve walked with Weiss.

“You don’t mind that I run ahead, do you?” she asked when Weiss caught up to her.  “Cuz I can try to walk a little slower. I’m just excited!”

“Not at all.  It’s actually quite...normal.”

Grinning at the word that hardly ever applied to her, Ruby shuffled her feet before looking at the door and then back at Weiss.  And then she finally realized that Weiss was waiting for her to open the door.

“Oh!” she exclaimed before checking her pockets.  She had her scroll and Thorn...and that was about it.  

“So...I totally forgot the keys at home.”

Hiding a smile, Weiss turned towards the driveway - where Yang’s car currently sat - and then back to Ruby.

“I guess you’ll have to knock.”

Ugh.  Knocking meant that she’d have to explain why she needed to knock.  And then she’d have to explain how she forgot her keys, and everything and everything back to the beginning of time.  

Maybe this was the universe’s way of teaching her not to forget things.  Which was funny, because the universe also made her forget a whole bunch of things.

“Or I could use Thorn and rip off the doorknob?” she proposed, holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers.  Not that that wouldn’t be totally cool or anything…

Smiling, Weiss shook her head but didn’t say no.  So...it was up to Ruby what she wanted to do.  Yang would think that ripping the doorknob off was cool too, but then they’d need a new one...

Making her decision and raising her hand, Ruby yelped and jumped off the porch when the door opened without her even touching it.  Someone was laughing now - that would be Weiss - and Blake was looking a little too amused while standing at the door.

“I thought you needed some help,” Blake said innocently before gesturing both of them inside.

“Help doesn’t mean a heart attack!”  

Placing one hand over her heart, which was beating like crazy, Ruby followed Weiss inside and closed the door behind them.  That had scared the bejesus out of her, yet somehow Weiss didn’t seem at all surprised.

“Did you know that was going to happen??” Ruby asked while Weiss leaned against the arm of the sofa.

“It only happens about every time I come over here, so yes.”

When Weiss smiled, Ruby shook her head and attempted to pout.  Attempted, because it was pretty hard to pout when Weiss looked so happy and relaxed.  And casual! Look at her, sitting on the edge of a piece of furniture! That’s what Ruby would call sitting on the edge.  Naw, that was lame.  Yang was much better at making jokes like that.

“If you were trying to test my heart strength,” Ruby told Blake with a triumphant grin.  “I think I passed!”

“Ruby!”

The next second a loud “Oof!” forced through Ruby’s lungs as a set of steel bars wrapped around her and began crushing her rib cage into a much smaller rib cage.

Or, Yang ran into the room and hugged her.

“Hey - Yang -” she wheezed through her rapidly-depleting oxygen.  “Missed you - too!”

When Yang finally dropped her, the first thing Ruby did was suck in a deep breath and take a step away for safety.  Yang managed to reach out and tussle her hair in the process, but that was easily fixable. Not being able to breathe was not easily fixable.

“I haven’t seen you in like forever!” Yang said with a big, happy grin that automatically made Ruby excited.  “What’ve you guys been up to?”

“We went back to Beacon!” Ruby announced, bouncing on her heels while shooting a grin towards Weiss.  “It was so much fun - we reenacted parts of the past!”

“Oh, we should do that,” Yang said, sending Blake a wink.  “Wanna recreate some memories with me?”

“Only the ones that won’t get us escorted out,” Blake replied with a roll of her eyes - which only made Yang laugh.  

“With your ears, no one will catch us!”

“Yes, but what about your mouth?”

“What about my mouth?”

Listening to Yang and Blake banter, Ruby caught Weiss’ eyes and they shared a smile.  They hadn’t been away for that long, but it was nice to be back together again - the four of them.  Spending time alone with Weiss was awesome, but spending time as a team was pretty awesome too. 

“So what’d you come back for?  Did you finally get tired of Weiss?”

Turning back to Yang and catching the wink that was sent Weiss’ way, Ruby shook her head.

“No way!  We only came back so I could fix Thorn!”

“Ouch - what am I then?  Chopped liver?”

“And to spend time with the most awesome sister in the world, of course!” Ruby added, throwing on her ‘duh Yang’ face.  “But that’s so obvious I didn’t think I had to say it!”

When the response made Yang beam, Ruby laughed and used her semblance to hop across the floor and crash into her sister for another hug - a less crushing one this time.

“Let’s watch a movie tonight!” she offered, turning to Weiss and Blake and getting their nods of approval before turning back and reaching up to lightly tussle Yang’s hair.  “It’s Weiss’ turn to choose!”

“Ok, ok, you’ve won me over again,” Yang playfully grumbled, holding Ruby out at arm’s length and nonchalantly fixing her hair.  “But if Weiss is picking the movie, I’d better take a nap so I can stay awake for the entire thing.”

“I have wanted to watch this wonderful documentary on -”

“Nope!”  When Yang raised both hands in the air, Weiss smirked.  “I don’t want you to ruin the entire movie, Weiss!” Yang joked with a light laugh.  “But deal - movie night.”

“That sounds like fun,” Blake added before subtly sliding her hand into Yang’s and tugging away.  “But until then...why don’t we give them some space to work on Thorn.”

“Space?” Yang asked in disbelief while being led away.  “They’ve spent the last two days together! How much space do they need??”

When Blake rolled her eyes, Yang stopped before entering the hall and turned back to Ruby.  “Ok, obviously Blake has some extra special plans for me,” Yang paused when Blake let out a scoff, but grinned and continued anyway.  “But you - don’t leave again without saying goodbye!” 

“Got it!” Ruby answered, throwing in a salute.

Satisfied with that, Blake and Yang disappeared towards the backyard with Yang saying something about ‘training’ and ‘ribbons.’  Once they were gone, Ruby turned to Weiss and held up Thorn in one hand.

“Fixing time?”  

“Fixing time,” Weiss agreed, standing from her super casual seat on the edge of the sofa.  After holding the door to the garage open for Weiss, Ruby let it fall shut and walked into her workshop/garage/extra stuff storage area.  

The space greeted her with familiarity - like it was saying ‘hello’ after she’d been away for so long.  ‘So long’ being like two days, but that was so long when she’d worked in here every day for a super long time now!  Funny how fast things changed, right?

Unlike her new house, or her old house, this was her space and she knew it like the back of her hand.  She didn’t have to guess what was in all of the drawers because she already knew. It was nice to know what was in her drawers, but at one point in time this place had felt just as foreign as her new workshop did.  She found a lizard in one of the drawers when she first came out here! And spiders - there were a whole bunch of spiders.

But she cleaned out the cobwebs, begged Yang to let her keep the lizard, and reorganized everything else.  It was a pretty good metaphor for her own life. Clean out the memories, beg Yang to let her do things she shouldn't do, then set herself back up again.  If she was able to do it once before, she could do it again - and she would. In a hop, snap, and tumble, she’d be whizzing around the new place like she’d designed it herself!

“Do you know any documentaries on weapons?” she asked, finding a screwdriver and quickly removing the metal plate from Thorn before reaching inside to pull out the processing chip that needed to be adjusted.  Carefully unclipping it from the housing, she found her extra special fixing tool and stuck the chip into it. It fit perfectly.

“Of course I do - wait.”  When Weiss abruptly paused, Ruby glanced up from the device and caught a searching expression.  “Does this mean you haven’t seen How to Build a Sun yet?”

The title made Ruby’s eyes widen - not in recognition, but in excitement.

“No!  But it sounds awesome!!  What’s it about?”

Delighted by the news, Weiss shook her head and smiled.  “I’m not going to ruin it for you. Let’s just say that you really enjoyed it the first...hundred or so times you watched it.”

A hundred times?  Ruby watched a movie about the sun a hundred times?

“It must be cool,” she mused while imagining what the movie might be about - besides the sun, obviously.  Would there be explosions? Dust demonstrations? Metallurgy? Aura fusions? “Is that your choice for tonight?”

“Absolutely.”  When Weiss nodded, another pleased grin broke out.  “Yang will complain, but I have it on good authority that she’s a fan of it too.”

Narrowing her eyes in thought, Ruby guessed, “Blake told you?” before chuckling when Weiss nodded.  “Ok, but before that - we fix Thorn and then try The Horde again!”

“Sounds like a good day.”

“You mean sounds like a great day,” Ruby teased before returning her almost-full attention to the small device on the workbench.  Hooking it up to her scroll, several beeps sounded while she fiddled with the settings - tightening the response times by fractions of a second before nodding in approval.  Fitting everything back together, she pulled the glove onto her left hand and tried out the new and improved Thorn. Thorn 2.0!

“Is it fixed?” Weiss asked, watching Ruby open and close her hand.

“It should be better, but running through the simulations is really putting it to the test.  I’m sure I’ll need to make more adjustments eventually. But for now...I’m ready to try it out!”

Clenching her fist, Ruby grinned when the metal curled in turn.

“Oh!  Brilliant idea!”  Scrounging for a piece of paper and pencil, she jotted down the thought before it disappeared.  “I can create a piece of removable plating that doubles as a house key. How cool would that be?  Then I’d always have my key as long as I have Thorn!”

“And if you don’t have Thorn or your keys?” 

“Then I’ll have you!” Ruby quipped before setting both hands down on the workbench - the painted lines of thorns glowing from proximity to Weiss’ equally-glowing ring.  It was cool that they matched, right? Was it a partner-like thing to have matching things? Or like...a partner theme. Could they match outfits too?

“Oh!” she exclaimed when another thought popped into her head.  “Can you take me back to the house sometime so I can get one of those old jackets from the closet?”

“It’s as much your house as it is mine,” Weiss answered earnestly.  “You don’t need my permission. I’ll give you the codes and you can go over whenever you’d like.”

“My very own house!” Ruby cheered.  “Can I like, spend all afternoon there?”

Chuckling, Weiss nodded her head.

“Yes, you can.”

“And all morning?” Ruby added.  

“Absolutely.”

“So basically I can live there!” she concluded with a happy grin that Weiss very hesitantly returned.

“If you want to, yes.”

“Would you live there too?”  

The second the question came out, Weiss froze - and remained completely motionless while thinking long and hard for a response.

“If...you wanted me to…”

Ruby grinned at the answer.  That sounded really great.  If they lived in the same place, they could literally train 24/7!  They shouldn’t actually do that - for health reasons - but it would be an option!  Not only could they train basically nonstop, but they could spend all of their time together.  Wake up, Weiss would be there. Eat lunch, Weiss would be there. Dinner, ditto. Go to sleep, ditto ditto!

It sounded like a dream come true.

“Then maybe we should do that!” Ruby added, but her smile faded when she saw the look of disbelief on Weiss’ face.  “What?”

“You...want to live together?”

“Yeah!  Don’t you think it’d be great?”

To Ruby, this seemed like an easy decision - because spending all their time together would be amazing - but the expression Weiss responded with was pure shock.

“Do...you?”

“Uh, yeah?”

Ruby wasn’t sure if this was a trick question or not.  Was it a trick question? She already said she wanted to do it, but apparently Weiss needed some extra convincing.  

“I love spending time with you, Weiss,” she added, extra convincingly.  “And what better way to spend more time with you than to live with you?”

The more she thought about it, the more she thought it would be so awesome!  They could eat pancakes every day, spaghetti every night, and train all the hours in between.  Plus watch movies together that weren’t dumb and scary. And read all those books on the shelves - again.  And hang out in the big backyard looking up at the stars and moon. 

And she didn’t want them to have to be apart.  This way they wouldn’t have to be.

Blinking several times without saying a word, Weiss looked, for once, completely confused.

“You’re serious?” she finally asked, sounding almost out of breath as she did so.

“Yes.  Wait, do you not want to?”

“What?  No, I absolutely -”  Shutting her mouth, Weiss shook her head and gave Ruby an almost pleading expression.  “Of course I want to live with you.  I just...didn’t think that was an option right now…”

“I’m full of surprises,” Ruby replied with a grin.  “Don’t you want to?”

“Yes, but -”

“Who cares if it’s fast!” Ruby interrupted before Weiss even brought it up.  “I don’t. I mean, my semblance is speed, so I’m kinda used to things moving fast.  But do you think we should wait?”

Weiss looked really befuddled right now, and it was adorable.

“No, of course not -”

“Then why don’t we?  If it’s what we both want to do, then why wait?”

Flabbergasted.  That’s what Weiss was.  Flabbergasted enough to make Ruby giggle.

She understood that it might be soon, but why not?  They’d been spending every night together anyway and being around Weiss simply felt...right.  If it felt right and Ruby loved it, why wouldn’t they keep doing it? What was stopping them besides themselves?

“I’m completely serious,” she added, holding Weiss’ hands across the workbench and squeezing them so Weiss would know it was true.  After staring down at their joined hands, Weiss looked up - and her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh no!  I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to make you cry!”  

Speeding around the workbench, Ruby hugged Weiss - who let out a small gasp for air in Ruby’s ear.

“I’ve missed you so much…” Weiss whispered, the words causing Ruby to hug her closer.

“Well guess what?  You’re not going to miss me anymore because I’ll always be around.  Wanna guess for how long?” Ruby grinned when she heard a muffled laugh and Weiss pulled away, wiping her eyes with one hand and smiling.

“Eternity, perhaps?”

“Multiple eternities,” Ruby answered, picking up the ring at the end of her necklace and holding it between them.  “I know that might not be a thing, but we can make it happen!”

“Ruby Rose…”  Lightly shaking her head, Weiss sighed.  “You continue to make the impossible possible.”

Grinning, Ruby wrapped Weiss in another hug and lifted her feet off the ground to spin her in a quick circle.

“That’s what I gotta do to deserve you!” Ruby commented happily, butterflies of all different shapes and sizes fluttering through her chest.  

They were going to live together.  Her and Weiss. There’d be no more wondering when they’d be together again - every night they would see each other.  And every morning. And most of the moments in between.

“Only one stipulation -” Weiss said, pulling away from the hug but leaving her hands on both of Ruby’s arms.  “You have to tell your sister.”

Ruby burst out laughing at the request.  

“Are you still scared of her?”

“I’ve never been scared of her,” Weiss huffed (and lied).  “But I think she’ll take the news better coming from you.”

“Yang’s like a big teddy bear!” Ruby replied, dropping her arms to Weiss’ sides to hold her comfortably close.  “A big teddy bear with fireballs attached to her fists. Want me to tell her now?”

“Right now?” Weiss repeated, her eyes widening at the idea.

“Sure!  Why not?”

“Because I’m still here.”

“She’ll be fine with it!”

“You weren’t there the first time.  Well, you were, but you don’t remember -”

“Come on, it’ll be fine!  Here, we’ll tell her together!” 

When Ruby reached out for Weiss’ hand, Weiss took it hesitantly.

“Maybe we can convince Blake to tell her for us…”

“It’ll be quick!  Band-aid approach - ‘Hey Yang, I’m moving out!’ and if she looks mad, we run!”

“Easy for you to say,” Weiss replied, shifting her feet but not moving away.  “We’re not all blessed with your speed, you know.”

“You don’t think you could outrun Yang?” 

“Of course I could,” Weiss said with a scoff.  “The only problem would be if she caught me by surprise.”

“Which would never happen because you’re always so prepared!”

“Of course…” Weiss replied, although there was much less conviction in that response.

Leaning forward, Ruby surprised Weiss with a quick kiss - which was just about the best thing in the entire world.  Was it possible for them to melt together? Because that’s what it felt like - the two of them fusing together like two pieces of molten metal... 

When Ruby finally pulled herself away and Weiss’ eyes fluttered open, her cheeks were pleasantly flushed and there was a little smile on her lips.

“I can’t believe it…” she whispered.

“Believe it!” Ruby countered with a big smile.  “Cuz it’s true!”

Two sharp knocks on the door to the garage drew their attention before it opened a second later.

“Hey guys!” Yang said cheerfully, strolling inside with Blake on her heels.  “Blake and I are running to the store - you want anything special for later?”

“Speak of the devil…” Ruby heard Weiss mutter from behind her.  The pleased smile Blake gave the two of them said that she’d heard everything they were just talking about, but had yet to tell Yang.  Those dang good ears...

“Yes!” Ruby answered, quickly thinking of the best thing she could ask for.  “We need more ice cream! Weiss? Do you want anything?”

“I’m alright, thank you.”

“You sure?” Yang pressed.  “Cuz you know we don’t have any grapefruit.  How will you ever eat breakfast?”

Instead of a snappy comeback, Weiss merely mumbled “A grapefruit would be nice” with her eyes darting to Yang before looking away.  

Awwww - this was nervous Weiss!  So adorable!!

Yang’s eyes narrowed at Weiss - clearly sensing something was off - but eventually, she shrugged.

“‘K, ice cream and grapefruit.  Plus Blake’s tuna. What a freaking weird grocery list.”  Chuckling to herself, Yang turned to walk back into the house, and Blake shot Ruby a look. 

“Hey Yang!” Ruby quickly called out  “We have something to tell you!”

Curious, Yang turned back and looked at both of them with a half smile still sitting on her lips.

“Yeah?”

“We do?” Weiss asked, her eyes wide.  “Right now?”

“Sure, why not!  Band-aid, remember?”  When Ruby silently asked permission, Weiss granted it with a curt nod.  When she tried to step away, however, Ruby stopped her by grabbing one of her hands.

And when Ruby turned back to Yang, she wasn’t nervous.  She was excited! She wanted to practice. She wanted to train.  And more than either of those things, she really, really, really wanted to spend every single second with Weiss.  

“So…” Ruby began, trying to find the right words.  “Weiss and I were talking...and we thought that maybe, you know, it might be kinda cool if I moved back into our old house.  You know, like, together.”

Ruby felt Weiss’ palm get instantly clammy while they watched Yang’s expression turn to one of shock.

“...what?”

“Isn’t that great?” Blake commented, lightly nudging Yang’s shoulder.  “They’re going to move in together - back in together.”

Yang stared at Blake for a long time, her mouth still hanging open in surprise.

“I...guess?” she asked before turning back to Ruby.  “Are you sure?”

“Yup!” Ruby answered with a nod and grin.  “Plus, then you and Blake can have the house to yourselves!”

“Yeah but we don’t need the house to ourselves, so don’t feel like you’ve gotta leave -”

“I don’t!  But this is just...the next step, ya know?”

Yang looked at Ruby for a long time - like she was trying to read Ruby’s thoughts - before finally turning to Weiss.

“Hey Weiss, can you give us a second?”  

Weiss immediately nodded, dropped Ruby’s hand, and stepped inside with Blake.  A little too willingly! If she was worried about what Yang might do, maybe she shouldn’t leave Ruby alone so easily.  Where was the love?

Once the door closed, Yang turned back to Ruby with that big sister expression she’d perfected years and years ago.  It was the one that taught Ruby how to ride a bike, how to tie her shoes, how to deal with bullies...all the things big sisters were supposed to do.

“You know that if you wanted to live here for the rest of your life, you could, right?” Yang asked without a drop of humor in her tone.

“I know, Yang.”  

“Just because you and Weiss used to live together doesn’t mean you have to live together again,” Yang added.  “You don’t have to rush anything.”

“I know,” Ruby answered, meeting Yang’s eyes so she knew that Ruby was taking this seriously.  “I don’t feel like it’s rushed though - I love spending time with her! I want to spend every day with her.  Isn’t that how you feel with Blake?”

The question flustered Yang.

“I, well, I mean, yes.  Of course. But what if things don’t work out?  Sometimes these things don’t work out.”

“Do you think it won’t work out?” Ruby asked curiously.  Brow furrowing, Yang shook her head - but her concerned expression stayed in place.

“Will you be ok though?” she finally asked.

“I’ll be fine!  I think I’ve learned how to take care of myself - kinda,” Ruby chuckled, but then looked at her sister closely.  “Will you be ok?”

“I think so,” Yang whispered, her eyes a little misty.  Seeing the sadness, Ruby immediately threw her arms around Yang’s neck for a hug.  

“I love you, Yang!  You’re the best sister anyone could ever ask for.”

“I love you too, Ruby…” Yang replied, squeezing Ruby tightly before letting go and brushing a hand across her eyes.  “Ok,” she said with a sniff and smile. “Guess we’ll have to celebrate then!”

When Ruby smiled, Yang nodded and took Ruby’s hand.  Leading them over to the door, she threw it open and pulled Ruby inside to join their teammates in the living room.

“Change of plans, Weiss!” Yang called out, drawing Weiss and Blake’s eyes instantly.  “We’re all moving in with you.”

Her eyes widening in shock, Weiss looked at Ruby for confirmation while Yang kept talking.

“Yeah, Ruby decided she can’t live without Blake and me - so we’ll all live with you.  Isn’t that great?” 

When Ruby quickly shook her head behind Yang’s back, Weiss relaxed into a smile.

“Oh thank grimm,” she breathed in relief before grinning at Yang.  “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

Laughing at the joke, Yang dropped Ruby’s hand and walked over to scoop Weiss up in a big hug.

“Congratulations, Weiss.  You managed to steal my sister’s heart again.”

“Not stolen!” Ruby piped up.  “Given willingly!”

While Yang refused to let Weiss down, Blake walked over to Ruby and smiled.  

“Congratulations,” she whispered, watching Ruby’s eyes intently.  “I hope this is what you wanted?”

Looking at Weiss, who was trying to look disgruntled while Yang teased her, Ruby turned back to Blake and grinned.

“Yeah, this feels right.”

They were following the theme, after all.  Together - now they always would be.

“So when are ya gonna move?” Yang asked, shooting Ruby a hopeful look while Weiss finally squirmed away.  “Like next year?”

“Uh…”  Unsure about that answer, Ruby and Weiss exchanged glances.

“We didn’t really talk about that…” Weiss added.

“But soon?” Ruby asked, more to Weiss than Yang.  Again, Weiss looked surprised but numbly nodded her head.  

“Soon then, I guess.”

“Then we’ll have a party before you go!” Yang proclaimed.

“A party of four?” Blake asked.

“Sure!  Only takes two to party.”  Yang winked and bumped Blake’s elbow, who rolled her eyes.  

“I like parties!” Ruby exclaimed.  “Can we invite Nora?”

The three of them stared at her for a few moments before Yang started laughing.

“Guess we should invite the rest of JNPR too,” Blake murmured.  “They’ll want to see you.”

“Yeah!  I wanna meet them!  Oh, and can we have cake?  Cookies? Ice cream? Ice cream cake?”

“Thank grimm Weiss is here...this is gonna cost a fortune,” Yang teased while Weiss beamed at Ruby.

“You can get whatever you want.”

“Do they make ice cream pies?”

“They will if Weiss pays them enough.”

“A going away party then,” Blake interrupted, getting them back on subject before Yang attempted to throw them off of it.  “We’ll have it the day before you’re set to move - whenever you’re ready.”

“Totally ready!  It’s going to be so much fun!”

“It’s not going to be all fun and games,” Weiss said, attempting a serious expression that failed due to her sparkling eyes.  “If you want to be partners again, we need to train practically nonstop. We’re both out of practice, and I don’t want to be anything less than the best.”

“Weiss is already cracking that whip!”  Chuckling, Yang bumped Ruby’s hip. “Watch out Ruby - she’s gonna work you harder than you worked yourself.”

“I don’t mind,” Ruby replied, sending a big grin Weiss’ way.  “I’ll do everything you say!”

The grin fell right off Yang’s face while Blake laughed.

“I’m sure that’s not at all concerning for your older sister to hear,” Blake replied, placing one reassuring hand on Yang’s shoulder.

“But I will,” Ruby repeated - feeling that warm feeling spread throughout her chest when Weiss smiled back at her.  

“Oh, they totally want to kiss,” Yang cut in, completely ruining the moment.

“It appears that they do,” Blake added with a smirk.

“Yanggg!” Ruby whined when Weiss turned away with a blush.

“What?  You can do it.  Go ahead!”

“But you’re still here!”

“So?  Are you shy or something?  Embarrassed? Blake and I kiss in front of you all the time!”

“That’s different!  You’re weird and have no shame!”

“That’s true,” Blake mumbled, slipping one hand into Yang’s while Yang laughed.

“So you can make out in the back of an airship but not at home?”

“Yang!”  Now Ruby’s cheeks were reaching unfound levels of red.  That had been just a little embarrassing.  Of course Yang brought it up again!

“Fine!  We’ll leave you two alone.  I have more important things to do anyway - like a party to plan!  But we’re still on for a movie night, right?” Yang asked while Blake practically dragged her towards the front door.

When Weiss and Ruby nodded in unison, Yang smiled.  “Cool. Ruby, I’m gonna get you the biggest container of ice cream I can find.  And I’ll find the biggest grapefruit for you, Weiss!”

As her sister and Blake disappeared outside, Ruby pumped one fist in excitement.  A huge carton of ice cream would be the cherry on top of this day!

Her attention was torn away from thoughts of dessert when Weiss gently took both of Ruby’s hands in her own.

“Are you absolutely positive you want to do this?” she asked, her light blue eyes requesting an answer.

“Are you trying to convince me out of it?” Ruby asked in return.  Jeez, if she hadn’t been sure before, she was getting more than enough chances to back out!

“No, of course not.  But if you’re not ready…”

“I’m ready,” Ruby interrupted, squeezing Weiss’ hands.  “For this. I know I am. The other stuff maybe not, but this - yes.”

It wasn’t at all scary, and it didn’t make her nervous.  Most importantly, she was confident that it would work out.  She and Weiss were supposed to be together. Like peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and meatballs, pancakes and ice cream.

“So...we’re going to do it then?”

“Do what?” Ruby asked on instinct, blushing when Weiss blushed too.

“Move in together?”

“Yes!  I want to!”  Suddenly realizing that she was only taking her own feelings into account, Ruby added,  “Would that make you happy?”

“Ruby...that would make me more than happy.”

This was officially the best day ever.

“Then let’s do it!  Move in together. It’s great because I need lots of practice with my partner so we can be the most awesome huntresses in all of Remnant!”

“You’re right.  I need practice with my partner too,” Weiss replied with a whimsical smile.  “She’s learned a few new tricks I need to catch up on.”

Briefly catching sight of the clock in the kitchen, Ruby’s eyes widened and she hopped towards the door.

“Which means we’ve gotta get going, Weiss!  The Horde awaits us!” 

Weiss’ smile made Ruby beam with happiness as they collected their belongings from the entryway and walked - or ran, in Ruby’s case - out into the sunlight.

She was ready to be a member of a team.  To be someone’s partner. But more than any of that, she was ready to start again.  Living.  Not just living to train, but living to enjoy the wonderful life she was given another chance at.

If these experiences with Weiss had taught her anything, it was that being a huntress wasn’t about training and nothing else.  It was about having someone to fight beside that could be trusted no matter what. It was about drawing out the best in herself and those around her - not only in battle, but in life.   And, most importantly, it was about finding the moments that were worth protecting - because they were happening all around her, both big and small.

Did she wish that her injury had never happened?  Of course! But since she couldn’t change the past, she could find the best in the present.  She’d learned so much about herself over the past year and, ultimately, discovered what she was capable of.  Maybe it was cliché, but today she knew - without a shadow of a doubt - that for the people she loved...Yang, Blake, Weiss...she would give it all up again in a heartbeat.

Starting over wasn’t a punishment.  It was an opportunity to find out what she was truly made of.