"Hey Weiss?" Her soft voice from the bunk above me caused me to slowly open my eyes, only to see nothing but darkness. My gaze into the emptiness shifted over to the alarm clock on the bedside table- it read three in the morning. I did my absolute best to suppress the annoyed breath that would have surely been emitted for talking to me at such a time in the morning, but it was a struggle.

"What Ruby?"

I could tell from the way the beds were slightly shifted to the left that she was looking over the side at me, but again, I saw nothing but the black of the night. "I had a lot of fun today."

"Ruby, it's three am- why are you telling me this now?"

"You weren't asleep," she responded quietly, obviously trying not to wake Blake or Yang from the other side of the room.

I felt my brow furrow in confusion. "How would you possibly know that?"

"You weren't snoring." I heard Ruby's unmistakable giggle following the statement.

"I do not snore!"

"Yes you do- I listen to it when I can't sleep... It's soothing."

I could feel my face burn slightly at her words- she was right, I hadn't been asleep. "Ruby... Go to sleep."

There wasn't even a pause. "Did you have fun today, Weiss?"

"Why, of all times, is this the appropriate moment to ask me if I had fun?" I internally winced at how harsh my words sounded- I was tired, yes, but I didn't intend to sound so irritated with her.

"Because I can't sleep, and you're not snoring so I don't have anything to listen to," Ruby replied. I could tell that her voice had slightly shrunk after my previous response, and I let out a sigh. Sometimes I really regretted the way I spoke to her.

"... Yes, I did have fun today." It was the truthful answer. Sure, shopping with the rest of team RWBY was a much different experience to doing so alone or with my parents, but I wouldn't deny Ruby the face of knowing that it was rather enjoyable.

Her voice sounded more upbeat with the answer, and I knew that she was now smiling. "It was so awesome! Getting to see all of those weapons mods and accessories, eating lunch in the food court and seeing you and Yang trying all those clothes- it was all so much fun! And we got to do it as a team, which made it even better!"

I knew that I was sporting a slight grin at her words, and was thankful that the room was dark so she couldn't see it. "Well... I'm glad that you think so."

"I hope you do too..."

"... Yeah."

There wasn't an immediate reply after the awkward responses, and I momentarily thought that Ruby was going to sleep, but it came eventually. "... Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?" Again, I was tired, but I shoved the irritation away as best I could- it wasn't something that she deserved.

"I'm not a bad leader, am I?"

I was caught off guard by the question. "What gave you the idea that you were?"

There was another pause as I stared into the darkness, awaiting an answer. "Well... It's been a few months since we got to Beacon... And some people didn't think I was cut out for leader. I've been trying to be better, but... I don't know if I am."

My heart sunk at her words. I knew that the "some people" Ruby was talking about was me, but she was too kind of a person to say so. Truthfully, I felt terrible about my initial reaction to her being appointed leader of our team. It was immature and selfish, and I knew that I hurt Ruby more than she'd admit. Even after apologizing, I figured she still harboured some ill feelings towards me- and this looked to confirm my guess. Moving my arm, I slowly grasped my quilt and pulled it off of me. The room felt significantly colder without it, but that was never something that bothered me anyways. Without saying a word, I stood up from my bed and turned to look at Ruby. I still couldn't see her, but I was able to make out the faint glow of moonlight in her silver eyes, which were locked on mine.

"Ruby, you don't need to question your skills as a leader- you're an absolutely great one."

The silver moved to look towards the floor. "I don't know... I'm so young compared to everyone else, and..." She trailed off for a moment. "I just don't know if Ozpin was right about me."

"I think that he was."

"Why?"

Shuffling my foot in front of me, I brushed a hand across my bangs while trying to think of something to say that wouldn't upset her further or make things awkward. "Well, you're a great fighter, and smart... And you convinced us that shopping would be fun today."

Ruby's sigh was audible, indicating to me that my compliments weren't helping her feel better. "That's just being friendly though- that isn't what it means to be a leader, right? I mean, a leader is brave and courageous and saves the day and is the hero... I just don't feel like that's me."

I really did feel awful. If it wasn't for me being so arrogant when we had first met, Ruby probably wouldn't feel the way she did now, or at least not as strongly. I didn't really know how I could ever make up for it, but it was something that is wanted to see done. I reached out my left arm, moving slowly towards her face so that I didn't end up hurting her in the dark. Using where her eyes were located, I found where her cheek was and brushed the back of my hand across it gently to let her know I was trying to touch her. She stiffened, and immediately locked her eyes back on mine. I really didn't know at first what I was planning on doing, but I knew that she needed some comfort right now, even if it wasn't my strongest suit. I carefully slid my hand down Ruby's face and neck to her shoulder, and then down to her side. I felt her jump slightly, unprepared for the sudden feeling of hands on her exposed skin (only a crop top and pyjama bottoms to bed- typical Ruby). I let my right hand grab her other side softly before pausing to look back at her eyes. She had a confused sparkle in them, but it disappeared and was replaced with surprise as I picked her up and lifted her down to the floor from her bunk. She let out a small squeak as I did so, and another as her feet touched the ground. It was something that I found rather cute (though, it's not like I'd tell her that). Her eyes once again met mine as she stood up straight in front of me.

"Ruby," I began, my shoulders now moved to her shoulders. "You really don't know what being a good leader is if that's what you think you need to do."

Her eyes dimmed a bit, but with a flick of my hair, I continued before any unintended sadness kicked in. "Those are all good qualities of being a good leader, sure- but you don't need to be a hero, or some legendary warrior if you're not. You're an amazing person, you're kind and capable, you know how to fight, even if your form could use some work. You seem so fearless and up to any task and you're a great teammate and-" I stopped abruptly as I realized that I was rambling. Feeling the blush practically rise to my face, and thanking Dust that Ruby couldn't see, I swallowed and gently shook her shoulders.

"Ozpin wasn't wrong- you have more than enough of what it takes- simply because you're Ruby."

The silver eyes that had been staring at me widely were now gone, closed pretty tightly if Ruby's slight shaking was any sort of indication. I became briefly worried that I had said something to further upset her, but that thoughts diminished as Ruby's small body made contact against mine. Thrown a little off guard for the sudden hug, I froze momentarily to wait for any sort of verbal response. After a few moments, one came.

"Thanks Weiss... That's probably the sweetest thing that you've ever said to me."

"Yeah... Well, don't get used to it!" I playfully nudged her head with mine, feeling myself grin as she giggled. I had never realized before then just how nice it was to hug her- almost like a younger sister that I never had.

"I won't- I'm just glad that you like me."

"You've made me realize that it is very difficult to not like you, Ruby." I allowed a chuckle to escape the lips before hugging her back, sighing softly as her nose rested against my shoulder. It was something, I learned, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A sudden streak of moonlight flooded through the window as a cloud drifted away, letting me finally be able to see the room a little. Pulling back, my gaze fell upon Ruby's face. She was magnificently beautiful, anyone would have been stupid to not noticed that. The childlike gleam in her eyes combined with the white flow across her already pale skin and her powerful aura all made Ruby, well, special. Not only in general, but... I suppose to me as well.

"Ruby..." I began, my hand rubbing her back lightly as she cocked her head at me, causing me to smile a little wider. "... Go to sleep."

She returned the grin, her fingers moving up to ruffle my hair. "Yes ma'am!" I rolled my eyes, deciding not to make any sort of comment. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her back into her bed, causing her to laugh, which in turn made me laugh (it's infectious, alright?). Before I could return to my own bed, I heard a voice tiredly yell across the room.

"Well, it's about damn time!"

"Shut it, Yang! Don't be meaner than Weiss is being!"

I playfully slapped Ruby's arm, to which she just giggled at again. "I'm kidding- you're not being mean. In fact-" Before I could say anything, she leaned over and pecked me on the nose. Feeling my entire face redden, which intensified once I remembered that she could see it because of the moon, I stared at her in a quite speechless fashion.

"You're probably the best teammate ever."

"What about me?!"

"Ugh, fine sis!" Ruby exasperatedly replied, to which I giggled at before she looked back at me with that innocent twinkle in the corner of her vision.

"The best friend ever."