Petals from a White Rose

A Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee Valentine

The night was cold and silent, the gentle overtones of Yang's snoring coming from the bed she was occupying with Blake the way they had done since being relocated to the dorm after the Battle of Vale. Ruby was clutching at a clump of her blanket with the red hood of her cape drawn over her little head to keep her ears warm as she had done most nights since the wave of cold weather came rushing in from the back end of winter enough for her feel it's vicious bite. Blake and Yang were lucky; they had each other for the warmth in the night, sharing their body heat and using other methods to spread the warmth around each other, Ruby had her spare pillow to embrace but the one thing she really wanted to hold was simply sleeping underneath her: Weiss Schnee, the snow white dust heiress. Ruby Rose had been falling head over heels in love with her since they ran into each other in the forest of their second day at Beacon, when they first became friends and partners and since then they had been through so much; the train, the Incursion of Vale, the Tourney and then the subsequent Battle of Vale. Given, they certainly hadn't been through as much as Blake and Yang had, and her half sister had a cybernetic limb to prove it but nevertheless Ruby had fallen over backwards with her fondness and infatuation with Weiss and even after the hell unleashed on Vale she had not developed the courage to confess her feelings to anyone, she was too small and shy inside. She could dual against Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan but not simply tell Weiss Schnee that she loved her. She felt like a little girl whenever she thought about it, about how she was containing a smoldering ember of passion and being unable to unleash her burning love. She was a child by many standards too but it didn't change anything.

She was positively freezing alone in her bed suspended in the air where the warm air was supposed to be; the extreme drop in temperature had seen fit to nullify that for her and thus left her dithering almost every night as of late. It was near impossible to sleep with absolutely no warmth around her and she began to mutter into the cold open space in search of a companion to help her drift off. "W..Weiss?" She asked into the room quietly, testing the waters to see if the ice princess was awake with her. Her words were stuttered by the tight grip the cold had over her lips, making her teeth chatter and forcing a shake all over her.

There was no response from the silent room, only more of her half sister's snoring from across the room and a slight squeak from Blake it sounded, like something catlike. Ruby had to silence an awh from her high pitched voice and took a breath, shivering again as the cold crept around her and embraced her unwillingly. She wanted it gone, to be replaced by the warm and protective embrace of Weiss below her. She tried again to wake her, maybe start a conversation to trigger a sleeping program just to keep her warm for the night. Maybe Weiss was just as cold as Ruby was, an instant angle to get into her sheets and wrap her thin arms around the heiress to share her space as Ruby had fantasised about sometimes in the night or in lectures when she would ogle at the girl from across the classroom. Nothing would happen, Ruby Rose didn't even know that relationships extended beyond cuddling in the night and kissing in the day time, she was still only fifteen and all she wanted to do was slot in with Weiss and nuzzle her head into the heiress's neck and listen to her heartbeat tenderly so that she could drift off to it, the sweet sound of life and loveliness.

"Weiss?" She asked from the shivering of her shoulders and the chattering of her pure white teeth. Again no response came yet Yang stirred a little from her bed with Blake, mumbling something to her faunus girlfriend. Ruby wondered what to do next; Yang was somewhat of a heavy sleeper, more so than Weiss so even if she was asleep Ruby would have certainly woken her by now before causing her elder sister to stir in her sleep. There was only thing left to do, since she was no closer to falling asleep by being kept up by the constant violation of the cold. Ruby peered over the edge of her bed, the red hood still draped over her raven and crimson tipped hair to look for Weiss under her blanket asleep or not, shivering or completely content with her temperature and looking as flawless as she always regardless of day or night. Ruby always found her beautiful.

There was no one there. Not Weiss and not even Zwei which struck the younger huntress as more than odd. Where would Weiss go at one in the morning with Zwei? He wasn't even really her dog; his last owner had been Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby and Yang's father. Yet Weiss and the Corgi were gone, leaving a tossed about sheet and an out of place pillow in their wake. Ruby was a little disappointed, seeing no sign of snuggling in next to the white haired girl which was the only reason she was so bold in getting up to check if she was even there in the first place. There was absolutely nowhere Weiss would go, she never got up in the middle of night on any occasion, she hadn't even been acting different as the rest of the team had been; it had seemed that the past two months had only forced the heiress to step up in the team, doting on everyone to check if they were okay, especially Blake and Yang after their encounter with Adam Taurus, the monster who took Yang's right arm.

Ruby dismounted her raised bed and made her way to the window, pulling the curtains a little to peek outside into the moonlit grounds of Beacon Academy, seeing if anything out of ordinary was transpiring in the courtyard, she knew Weiss often liked to gaze at the moon when it was fully lit up like a lighthouse and with the immense amount of stress on her straight shoulders a late night walk in its light seemed like something Weiss Schnee would do. Ruby spotted her target instantly, in the center of the courtyard on a field of ice she had most probably summoned with Myrtenaster since she never ventured anywhere without the weapon; Weiss was the always prepared kind of teammate. It was clear to Ruby now why she wasn't in the dorm. It was still winter and in the hectic months that had passed since the battle Weiss had been relatively quiet despite Ruby remembering before the tourney she was hyped for the dropping temperatures and the changing weather. It meant ice skating season was vastly approaching and Weiss Schnee was a fanatic for the artform, owning at least two pairs of skates that Ruby had seen her polishing before. Tragically due to Yang's arm and Blake needing to stay in hospital with her, and then the rebuilding of Vale and recuperating the robotic ranks of the Atlesian Military, Weiss was left alone with no hope of skating with anyone. She must have thought with winter coming to a close at the end of the month soon would be her final chance to enjoy floating over the ice, even if she had to make it herself. It would be easy to skate during the warmer months if the ice was summoned with a glyph but the feeling of skating in winter only appealed to Weiss and Ruby understood, it was also the cold air rushing through her silver hair that made the dance come alive for the heiress.

She was magnificent, gorgeous as she flew across the small patch she had made for herself with the small corgi going silently crazy for her moves off to the side, Ruby doing the same in the window and unintentionally fogging it up as she breathed heavily seeing the dancer glide across the frozen patch like water. She rubbed her sleeve over the fogged up patch and continued to watch, gasping whenever her teammate performed a twirl or a daring leap from one side to the other, landing gracefully as if she had angel wings of the most attractive feathers. Weiss wasn't even there she was so in trance and in the moment of the skating, flowing all over her private rink in the courtyard, a silent violinist playing a piece to her movements and with a smile on her face that hadn't been there in so long; barely any of the girls had had a reason to smile in so long, particularly Weiss who was so busy making everyone else cope with what had happened. She looked more like a professional the way she leaped and spun and twirled, her updo tail of snow white hair flicking up into the air and flowing back down as she continued to fly. She was indeed flying, gracefully too, purely mesmerising Ruby from their dorm like she had a front row seat to the show of the year, making all the months and weeks and days of worry melt with all of their troubles as Weiss flowed over the frozen earth. Just looking at Weiss glide around without a care on her mind made her feel safe, secure and happy for the first real time in a long while. Her half sister was fine, a little changed and updated than a few months ago and Blake was more Blake than she had been since arriving at Beacon, no longer the shy and contained faunus in hiding with a book constantly in her hands. Everything was good in the world and with the team again and it really showed in the way Weiss moved along her ice, not dancing for herself but for all the girls. Ruby was blown away, suddenly the most warm she had felt all night, warmed by the way her sweetheart from afar moved to herself.

It didn't last however. Yang soon stirred from the spooning with her Blakey and spotted Ruby at the curtains with her hood still pulled over her head and the rest of the cape draping down the back of her winter pyjamas. "Ruby?" Yang spoke out into the darkness save the one slit of moonlight coming from the crack in the curtains Ruby had made with herself.

"Oh!" She was startled by the sudden turn of her sister and closed the curtains quickly and quietly, save waking Blake also. "Sorry Yang" she excused, placing her smallish hands behind her back, peeking through the tiny slit in the curtains to see more of the mesmerising ice dancer in the perpetual moonlight.

Her blond and almost cranky elder sister let out a long winded yawn and a stretch of her remaining organic arm, leaving the skinned over cybernetic one under her faunus partner. They had both been sleeping together in the same bed ever since they decided to screw the rules at the hospital and since Blake piled in with her Yang for comfort and peace of mind considering Adam was still alive and out in Remnant, forever being hunted by James Ironwood and Winter Schnee. It was a comforting sight considering Ruby was lucky to have even one of them still alive, never mind the pair together never to be split apart again; whoever tried would meet the most ultimate of ends knowing Yang and how her semblance had tripled in its effectiveness since that night. Adam had taken her arm completely off and yet she was still kicking, better than ever with a metal replacement and a more deadly semblance than before. "What are you doing up Ruby?" Yang asked in a sleepy and hazy tone that told her younger sister that all she wanted was to simply return to spooning her girlfriend until the morning and then some. The morrow was Love Day too; the one day in Remnant when everyone celebrated their love for one another and Yang had gotten Blake simply the best gift. Ruby too had splashed out with her creativity, making had made cards for all her teammates, intentionally making the one she would give to Weiss a little bigger than the other two. She had also gotten a small gift for the ice princess, a small silver locket with a picture of the two of them together in one door and another of Yang and Blake for the other, Team RWBY completely together to remind Weiss of how important she was and how important the girls really were to her.

Ruby blushed, not wanting to tell anyone of the stunning spectacle she had just witnessed. "Uh, just admiring the moon" she lied, awkwardly and fidgeting with her small hands before climbing back up into her own bed as Yang just collapsed into sleep again with her real arm falling over Blake's chest. The faunus reacted cutely by taking the organic arm in her hands and cuddling it closely like a stuffed toy, keeping her Yang close by and safe as she vowed she would forever.

"Go back to sleep..." Yang mumbled and flubbed as she nuzzled into Blake's raven hair. Ruby had already done just that, her hood still over her short bob of hair to keep her ears warm and the blanket completely covering her up to her neck while she beamed a massive grin from ear to ear, the memory of admiring Weiss skating like an angel over the ice from the window, a lover from afar. It was magical and tomorrow, on Love Day, Ruby would entice the young heiress into another dance, only with herself. She knew just the spot, in the gardens, where no one would find them or interrupt them. She was suddenly so excited at the thought of waking, the cold had disappeared and she was now so warm with the feelings she bore for Weiss and the cuddly feelings she had seeded in the young huntress.

Ruby Rose slammed down three pieces of thick and folded paper onto the lunch table, brightly red and pinkly coloured frilly cards with pictures and calligraphy all over each of them. She was beaming with pride and happiness with her goofy and blissfully ignorant grin she always had when she was overly happy about something; the first time she had been really happy in two months, save the previous night upon watching Weiss with her skates. She was so proud of her handiwork at breakfast and thus Weiss was annoyed by it. The snow white heiress could take one guess as to what Ruby had done.

Before the hooded teen could make an ecstatic squeal Weiss placed her finger in the air, an unamused look slapped across her face. "Don't. You. Dar-"

"Happy L-Day!" Ruby yelled to her teammates and sisters in the most high pitched all of them had ever heard from her. The folded slices of pink and frilly paper were all cards of affection and love for her girls, not romantically but just plain love that she bore for all three of them, well, not romantic save for one. It was the day that Weiss was dreading, mostly because she would be sent cards from complete strangers proclaiming their love for her and the last thing she wanted was another equally pointless one from Ruby Rose, no matter how secretly fond of her she was; she was already angered over the one that was bound to be delivered to the dorm later with a bundle of white roses from Jaune Arc.

Weiss scoffed, taking a small polite bite out of the pancakes she had ordered for the brunch, the meal times had become more relaxed and plus Weiss was craving pancakes for some reason, trying ignore Ruby as she leaped up and down with her hands on the wooden table. She had been planning this day for weeks, hand making the cards to look perfect and convey her feelings for all three of her teammates. All were pink and red, the colours of love with each of the girls' own symbols depending on whom the card was being sent to. Blake's was a rather contained yet still a cute card of pink with her black smoldering symbol in the center of the sheet of card. The one for her somewhat flat and cyborg half sister was the same size, although a deeper red and her yellow burning heart in the center. Both her's and Blake's cards had the words 'Happy L-Day Bumblebees!' on the top of the front, an obvious nod to their relationship that had blossomed. Ruby loved calling them bumblebees, referring to the yellow of Yang mixing with the black of her Blake. It made them blush slightly as they looked at the other's card only to see the same words and cute faces Ruby had drawn with a purple and yellow marker. She shook her fists just under her chin in a giddy frenzy when she saw their facial expressions and cheeks blush with a faint red and then deep crimson at the word 'bumblebees', knowing she had done a good job there. Weiss was suddenly less than impressed once she saw the one remaining sheet of folded card by Ruby's stomach at the foot of the table. It was much larger than the ones she had slid along to Blake and Yang and Weiss was shocked, furious even all of a sudden, her own embarrassment flaring up.

The odd thing was that deep down she did feel a spark for Ruby Rose, the way she fought without mercy and filled with determination during training or battle, how she cared for Crescent Rose and devoted time to it, the way she loved Beacon and liked the dynamics that made it work like the teams, and, although she'd never tell her; Weiss Schnee found that Ruby Rose was an exceptional leader and had been since they took down the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest while Team JNPR fended off the Death Stalker. The only problem was, Weiss didn't feel the same way for Ruby on a more personal level or at least she had convinced herself, not when they were just the girls. In many respects she found her annoying and over exaggerated, a polar opposite of herself; but that was why Ruby loved her. It was such a silent muddle contained in both of their minds that neither would ever tell the other.

Yang knew. Of course she knew, she was Ruby's sister and she knew everything just by looking at her silver innocent eyes, seeing the pain whenever Weiss spoke to Neptune, or whenever Jaune attempted terribly to woo the snowy heiress. She could see that Ruby was burning to just take Weiss in her arms for a hug, about as much as she knew to do to show affection. She had told Blake in bed one night since returning from the hospital as Vale and Beacon were being repaired around them. She remembered the faunus had laughed a little and asked if she was being serious. Once Yang explained it all it began to look true, Ruby and Weiss, a white rose the pair of them innocently in the eyes of the more comfortable and proclaimed couple.

"Ruby you dolt!" Weiss was shouting at the team leader, standing up and slamming her knife and fork on the table in clenched fists. "Why is my card larger than Yang's or Blake's" She interrogated the young rose, invading her personal space with a strong frame that was more angry over the embarrassment of what people might say. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were all sitting behind them feasting on a barrage of brunch foods and exchanging gifts themselves. Ruby could make out in the corner of her eye that Nora had gotten Ren a massive gift and he was somewhat flat and sore about it, giving her a smaller box in exchange. Even Pyrrha had mustered the courage to get Jaune something and in return he had arranged a bouquet of red roses to present to her wrapped in an darker red sheet of paper to match her hair; she was practically crying at the gesture, kissing him on the cheek gingerly and still reserved. Everyone at Beacon, even the damn teachers saw the Pyrrha Nikos was madly in love with Jaune Arc and had been certainly since the dance last semester, she just did not have the courage to tell the bumbling teen that she did.

Ruby herself was still flustered, fumbling her fingers trying to come up with an excuse beside proclaiming her uncontested love of the heiress. She looked to Yang as she scooped up her plate of uneaten food and the present Blake had presented to her before she left, taking the only escape robe Ruby could think of with her as she left for the plate rack and then the large double doors to head back to the dorm most likely. Ruby was in simmering water and would have drowned if not for Blake stepping up, tucking a small piece of card with black graphite scribbled on the back into her pocket. "She cut the sheet of card she had wrong, she only had that length left for your card Weiss" Blake lied for her, rescuing Ruby from an all out offensive of Weiss's blisteringly cold temper. The girl was like ice at the best of times when she was annoyed.

"Yeah. I didn't want to waste any of the card so I just made you a bigger card Weiss" Ruby developed, spinning herself an even bigger white lie to escape Weiss's wrath. The ice princess scowled a little and returned to her meal, taking a sip of her orange juice.

Everyone sat down, a short curtain of silence casting overhead while Blake examined her gift from Yang; a new bow that was black with the blonde's yellow symbol over the dark. She loved it completely. It was the perfect thing to give at the time since the faunus needed a new one and the plain black she used to wear simply would not do anymore, partly because it had been used to stop the bleeding for Yang's stub of an arm the night Adam had removed it flawlessly. She pulled it from the box and decided that its place should not be to cover her feline ears anymore, she was done with that; instead the ribbon went around her neck, tied around the back to look like a choker that would clash with her white blouse and accompany the rest of her black outfit and her hair.

Ruby thought it best to break the silence. "So does anyone have plans beside walking the dog today?" She giggled to herself awkwardly; Blake had asked her and Weiss to take Zwei out for the day around four, giving her and Yang a chance at some quality alone time they desperately needed.

Weiss stopped munching on her pancakes at once as soon as she heard the word 'dog'. Her fork dropped and Ruby sensed something terrible on the tip of her tongue. She looked guilty at Ruby and not Blake. "Actually," she began, her usual dominant ice fire gone and the girl looking like she had been caught stealing something from both the other girls at the table. Blake got a call on her scroll and stood up to take it. "Neptune has asked me to take a walk with him around the park in Vale. It's recently reopened" Weiss reported, almost too shy to tell Ruby.

Neptune Vasilias was Weiss Schnee's usual answer of a date whenever she felt Jaune Arc was advancing on her too much, like the dance last semester, or whenever she felt she was actually getting attached to Ruby Rose a little too much, just like now in her flurry of mixed emotions she shrouded with frustration and annoyance. The mention of her and him simply crushed Ruby and now she would be flattened the entire day. There now be no ice skating, no drawing Weiss in close, no nothing for sake of Neptune stealing it away from her. Ruby suddenly reeled in jealous competition.

"Why Neptune?" She asked, shaking off her intense disdain for the whole encounter which had now trampled on her plans to woo Weiss. She clenched her tiny fist under the table and gritted her teeth behind closed lips as Weiss picked up her fork again and continued to demolish her pancakes gradually. Ruby decided she would be rude to sweep away her annoyance at how casual Weiss was acting. With a defiant lean over the table she forked a lump from the stack of four syrup drizzled pancakes, scoffing the bite down and lusting at the taste. "I mean you don't like him do you?" She mumbled with her mouth full, which Weiss usually disliked being raised to always uphold her table manners.

Unlike herself though, she said nothing about the bad table manners and simply looked into the grooves of the wood slowly eating her pancakes almost sadly. "He's a gentleman. It's better than walking Zwei for three hours so Yang and Blake can play 'hide the zucchini'." Ruby had no idea what she meant by the jab at the couple but she was still hurt by Weiss choosing a date with a boy she didn't know if she liked rather than walk the corgi with her teammate.

Blake sat down with a smile on her face and her scroll away in her pocket. Weiss looked at her inquisitively with an eyebrow above the other, another fork of pancakes into her mouth. "What was that?" The snowy heiress asked her in a deeper tone, wondering if it was Yang being more and more inappropriate, at least she would be returning to her old self after two months of adjusting to the new arm and life with it.

She smiled politely, moving the box her bow was in to the side and placing her elbows on the table. "That was Jaune" she divulged. Both Ruby and Weiss instantly looked behind them to see both he and Pyrrha Nikos were gone, only Nora and Ren remained feeding each other bacon and laughing a little; Ren becoming more and more casual with Nora's advances than he was months ago, maybe the Battle of Vale had changed Team JNPR almost as much as it had changed RWBY. The two girls looked back to Blake confused, Weiss more grossed out than Ruby looking into the allusions of the pair no longer being in the hall. "I think he's going to make a move on Pyrrha tonight" Blake informed them, a little happy and giddy, she wouldn't be the only one having an 'enlightening' and different L-Day.

It was as if Nora and Ren had the ears of hawks the way they shot to either side of Weiss with their jaws almost removed in unison with both members of RWBY. It was unbelievable. The last thing all four of them knew was that Jaune didn't even know for himself if he even felt anything for Pyrrha, as least she knew she was head over heels in love with him. This was the best development in ages and Nora and Ren could not believe that they themselves hadn't been responsible for the sudden explosion in development between the two, they had been so focused on other things and caring for others after the battle they had though Jaune and Pyrrha simply would not happen. The only reason Weiss could find why he would call Blake to either inform of ask her for advice would be because she and Yang were the only real couple now at Beacon. L-Day had certainly already shaken things up all over the academy; and yet Ruby was already looking defeated at the hands of Neptune Vasilias. How depressing she thought.

She was feeling even worse at four, in the park with Zwei leashed up and the cold with the gentle wind blowing her cape to the side. She had shamefully followed Weiss and Neptune as they took their walk around the winter wonderland; ice sculptures all around the park to celebrate the revival of Vale from the hands of the Grimm. Of course Weiss would fall in love with them, she was a winter girl and adored ice of all kinds, but Neptune had no idea that Weiss adored ice skating more than simply walking as Ruby did. It wasn't fair that she would be with him on a mundane outing and not alone with the red huntress at a makeshift ice rink with their skates on creating the most attractive of patterns and moves over the frozen ground. Ruby was burning for her teammate in the cold weather as the breeze came in again making her cold. She looked to the corgi leaping at her heels with his tongue out and his breathing heavy and staggered. He was trying to get her attention and so she took a knee to talk to him, rubbing his sides with her small hands in her state of sadness and defeat.

"You love me right boy?" She asked him and he barked affirmatively in response. She rubbed him more affectionately, allowing him to lick at her mouth and nose. He was barking more, trying to tell her something. "What it is boy?" She asked him curiously. He was gesturing toward Weiss and Neptune off in the distance and barking for his mistress to understand what he was getting at. She had an idea at what Zwei was trying to tell her but it seemed a little ridiculous, but then again she was quite ridiculous at heart, a mere child at times. "You think I should go after Weiss huh?" She double checked with the dog and he barked enthusiastically. She still felt mopey and flat, like Neptune had ruined any chance for happiness she would receive today. "But how? She's with Neptune now boy" Ruby reminded him. He made a small growling noise and went around her, biting a little at Crescent Rose which was strapped to the back of her belt. He meant a challenge and it hit her. "You think I should challenge Neptune to go on a date with Weiss?" She asked the adorable pup. He shook his head. "Challenge Weiss?" Ruby asked incredulously. She had never fought Weiss before and a small part of her doubted she could even do it. But then she thought about the dog's insane plan of chivalry; Weiss admired strength and talent, Ruby knew that and maybe during the battle even if she lost the red huntress would convince the white beauty that she deserved the day with her. It was worth an attempt.

She stepped up, moving forward and took a determined stance; the dog mirroring her. "Weiss!" She called out into the park drawing the couple's attention. The heiress surprisingly was not furious, only surprised that Ruby would be here or call her out.

"Ruby?" She asked as she and Neptune both stood still and looked at the determined looking girl with her fists clenched.

Ruby relaxed a little feeling possibly too embarrassed swallowing a breath. The dog barked to make her say what she wanted to say. She stammered a little and retook her stance. She stuck out her index finger right at the heiress. "I challenge you to a bout!" She shouted in her high pitched voice, again determination and defiance in her tones.

Weiss was somewhat shellshocked at the challenge. Why would Ruby need to fight her now? "Why now Ruby?" She asked across the park.

"Because I do. You have a problem Schnee?" She called her out again.

Now Weiss was embarrassed, not being a girl to decline a challenge especially in front of people, in front of a member of Team SSSN, who they all knew very well. She had no choice, she had to accept and unravel the mysterious reasoning later when they were finished and after Weiss had mopped the floor with Ruby Rose. "The Training Arena at the school; fifteen minutes" she put to her.

Ruby was proud of herself: phase one of her poorly and swiftly put together plan was complete, now all she had to do was defeat Weiss without annoying or hurting her and then she would be able to sweep her off her feet on the ice. Simple and near impossible in her mind.

The training room was completely empty still being a holiday and by the time Weiss and Neptune arrived Ruby was already looking like she could use Crescent Rose simply to separate them, a small passionate flame in her swimming silver eyes. Zwei was in the rafters as an audience with Sun, who had miraculously appeared out of nowhere to see the fight, knowing that Neptune was bound to show up with Weiss. He must had ran into Ruby as she wandered the halls to the armoury; at least if Weiss lost and went with Ruby per her impending request Neptune would have his bro to keep him company. Neptune couldn't even remember if the faunus had plans with anyone since Blake was by now wrapped up with the partly cybernetic and blond bombshell somewhere around Beacon or the rebuilding Vale; no one had seen them since lunch. Neptune himself looked confused about the whole thing but Weiss was starting to catch on and was conflicted on a huge scale. On one side she was already off her feet with a burst of infatuation and affection for Ruby for challenging her and on the other she was peeved at the huntress for ruining a good walk, even if the company was a little lackluster and there were other more exciting things to do on Love Day now that Jaune was also nowhere to be seen. In her mind she had already made the choice; if she lost to Ruby she would instantly submit to whatever the rose had planned but if she triumphed over and won the bout she would expect Ruby to honour whatever she chose.

"Are you ready Schnee?" Ruby asked a little dramatically and over exaggerated with her fist clenched heroically close to her chest with Crescent Rose held firmly in the other hand and balanced off the floor. Weiss had stopped off at the armoury for Myrtenaster and had completely refilled it with dust. She wouldn't go easy on Ruby just because she admired her nerve or because she was the team leader; Weiss wanted to win if only to prove she was superior in fighting skill than Ruby. It would be a welcome fight since they hadn't really done any of it since the Battle.

Weiss took out Myrtenaster from her belt and walked into the arena, sending Neptune to either leave or join Sun and the dog in the tiered seating at the back of the room; he chose the latter. Reaching the center still some distance away from her now opponent Weiss took a stance ready for defense; she expected Ruby to be on the attack more than her, going for a swift end to the fight before she did harm to the heiress. "Game on" she called and the match was on.

Ruby darted forward first, colliding with a parrying stroke of the rapier from Weiss that instantly set the huntress in red off balance. She followed up by signalling a white glyph of speed behind her and charged in for her opponent. Ruby shot a round from her scythe to send her away and then another to propel her up into a leap and a cutting down motion as Weiss stopped in the center of the arena. Weiss simply backstepped, setting a blue glyph on the ground to ensnare Crescent Rose in a crust of ice, taping it to the metal ground. Before Weiss could move in to force Ruby to yield she shot another round from her rifle and let loose her scythe, bringing it behind her and around to parry off Weiss's incoming attack. She cut up and across, encroaching on Weiss's space and forcing her back more and more.

Weiss was losing ground and strength to Ruby as she continued to block her attacks. Flicking a glyph quickly at her feet she leapt into the air, setting another one on the ceiling to catch her. Ruby saw her plan and formulated a solution however it would have to be timed and executed just right.

"Are you ready Ruby?" Weiss asked, a smile on her face from the adrenaline coursing through her and the affection that was burning so strongly for Ruby. She was really beginning to yearn for her, seeing her not as an opponent but as a partner as they had been for so long and someone more than a girl she listened to talk and watched her go about her life with a smile on her face at the stupider things. She could suddenly imagine hold her closely, wrapping her arms around her neck or waist and holding her tenderly. It was exactly how she had thought at lunch. She was loving Ruby in battle but once she really thought about it, waiting to unleash another attack on her leader Weiss could feel what Ruby felt. She suddenly realised why she had challenged her and her feelings of annoyance and frustration for the huntress melted away into warm and tingly vibrations all over her poised arms and feet. She liked Ruby and it had only just dawned on her that she could really like her and even tell her because Ruby adored her so much, she actually challenged her to a bout rather than let her walk away with Neptune on L-Day.

Ruby was smiling too on the ground, wanting Weiss to propel herself downward and attack, so that she could play her counter and win the match. "Bring it Weiss" she suggested, glee in her voice and a feeling of a flare in her chest ready to burst.

Schnee did as Ruby wanted, knowing what was to come. She knew what Ruby would do when she launched herself down but looking at the grin on her dumb face and feeling the swell in her own heart Weiss knew she simply could not win the match on purpose. Ruby should be the victor.

Pulling back Myrtenaster she fully activated the glyph holding her to the ceiling and launched herself at the ground. Instead of her intention to land on her feet and allow Ruby to pull the scythe out from under her knees, taking her legs out from under her and winning she let go of her weapon to allow it to fall to the ground ahead of her so she could fall for Ruby with no intentions of harming her, holding her hands out and causing Ruby's smile to change to a gasp as it looked like Weiss was going to hit the ground badly. Ruby held out her own hands and together the couple caught each other, Ruby grabbing Weiss at her hips and the latter wrapping her arms around Ruby's neck. In the heat of the moment their lips parted and caught the other's in an electric and adrenaline fueled kiss in the middle of the arena; an explosion of passion that rippled throughout the room and shocking both Sun and Neptune in their seats. Ruby swung Weiss around in her arms and set her down on her feet, the kiss continuing while Sun began to clap from the crowd.

Neptune was surprisingly not furious. "At least I knew she didn't like me" he muttered to his team leader. Sun chuckled a little an rubbed his bright blue hair.

Weiss kept her arms around Ruby's neck as she gazed into her silver eyes with a feeling she never thought she'd have out of battle. Ruby was positively beaming, hardly confused just still swallowed up by the moment the two were sharing; in her mind the three audience members had disappeared and it was just Ruby and Weiss, a white rose together. "I concede, which means you've won Ruby. What's your prize?" Weiss asked in an almost stuck up tone; she knew exactly what Ruby wanted she only wanted now to tease her into saying it.

The young girl mustered all the courage she had that hadn't been taken up in the fight and the park. "I want to take you on a date Weiss" she confessed, earning a soft but brief kiss on her cheek as Weiss melted in her arms, their hands holding each other's.

The ice princess ran her index finger down the length of Ruby's fluid and soft jawline with a smile on her face of enjoyment; she learned she liked tracing her finger down Ruby's face. She planted another soft peck on the cheek and giggled a little at how much it had taken for the red huntress to simply ask the most innocent of requests. "Next time just ask me you dunce" Weiss Schnee whispered in Ruby's ear before planting another kiss on her cheek.

Not even fifteen minutes later they were holding hands together with Zwei approaching the spot in the gardens near the park where no one ever went, between a wall of shrub and a shroud of mighty evergreens that locked in the small section Ruby had labelled ripe for skating. She had a basket in her hand she had brought to the arena in case she won and inside were two pairs of ice skates and a thermos full of warm cocoa she knew Weiss enjoyed once in a blue moon. It had to be perfect, the best session of skating the heiress had ever experienced because now she had a partner. Zwei was barking and wagging his tail merrily once they stopped and Ruby put down the basket near him, the dog invading for a biscuit that were tucked in and hidden from but he could smell them regardless.

Weiss was looking a little confused, unsure why Ruby had seemed so bold in the arena to only take her back to the park to some secluded section where nothing looked so extraordinary or appealing to her. She was doubtful that the cute and small huntress would want to spend the entire day with their lips making sweet contact in the sweet seclusion of the spot, no matter hard she might try now that she had weiss completely interested in her romantically. "What are we doing here?" She asked, the confusion in her face.

Ruby smiled, opening the basket and pulling the two pairs of skates, earning an instant smile from Weiss. "We're going skating together, right here" she told her snow white princess, who in turn nearly pounced on her like a leopard, planting a deep and grateful kiss on her cheek. She couldn't believe it at all; it was a fragment of her dream come true. Sure it would have been a miracle for the four members of the team to skate together but just her and Ruby Rose would do just fine in her books for a first date. Ruby turned her head, standing up straight and wanting more. She wrapped her arms around Weiss's neck and parted her lips for another sweet embrace. Weiss moved her palms to hold Ruby at her hips and they stood there a moment, their lips intertwined in a bout of passionate, quaint and explorative kisses, Weiss's arms moving along Ruby's back and spine as she drew her in closer. Ruby herself moved her right palm to hold the vibrant and luscious snow white hair at the back of Weiss's head, feeding her fingers through the strands and almost losing herself. It was so different. Weiss was the first girl Ruby had ever loved apart from her mother, Yang and possibly Blake in another sisterly way, this was so much more, and such a change from admiring the heiress from afar. Weiss was also now the first person, nevermind girl, that Ruby Rose had ever kissed and it was the single most exhilarating feeling she had ever experienced, more so than even getting into Beacon. It was electric and fiery and also like the snow that Weiss was to her, crisp and fluffy and all around lovely for the young huntress, and Weiss was feeling the exact same as she continued to lavish Ruby Rose with soft wet kisses while the cold wind brushed her hair back.

Eventually they broke off, save losing themselves completely in each other's lips all afternoon. Ruby handed Weiss her pair of ice skates and, drawing Myrtenaster, the ice princess dropped another ice glyph, freezing a large patch of the ground to skate on while Ruby struggled to tie the long laces of her skates. Having her own skates on in seconds Weiss bent down to aid her partner. She found Ruby so cute in her moment of strife. "So where did this idea come from?" She asked to break the quiet and not look so obvious while she looked deeply into the silver eyes.

"I couldn't sleep last night because of the cold so I looked to see if you were up," Ruby confessed, growing a little shy again while Weiss tied up her laces slowly, a thin layer of bright pink growing in her cheeks. "I peeked out the window and saw you in the courtyard with Zwei." The little dog barked as they both looked to him. Ruby was expecting Weiss to break away from her current blissful mood of affection and suddenly argue with her, stopping the date on its heels; Ruby knew how much Weiss enjoyed privacy about personal matters and watching her skate in the middle of the night as she had done was an outright invasion of that privacy. To her surprise Weiss simply leaned in again and ambushed her with another kiss on the lips, holding it for several seconds.

When she broke away she moved her hand to cup Ruby's cheek, warm and tender flesh as the younger girl blushed in cute embarrassment. "And you remembered me talking about it before the tourney" Weiss deduced. It was the sweetest gesture she had received. She kissed Ruby's nose, making the red in her cheeks bolden. "Thank you Ruby" she breathed.

"You're welcome" Ruby squeaked in her embarrassment.

With their skates on and tied Weiss stood up, her arm out to take Ruby's hand and escort her to the ice where their dance would begin. "Have you skated before?" The winter princess asked her partner. Ruby hadn't and thus shook her head. Weiss smiled as she took her hand. "Just follow my lead Rose" she told her and together they made for the ice, gliding with the momentum. Truth be told Ruby was frightened, nervous of falling and making herself look like a bumbling idiot before Weiss and scared that she couldn't follow her partner. There were a million ways the dance could go horribly wrong yet looking to the white skater beside her, her fingers intertwined with her own Ruby could only feel security, protection and affection no matter if she were the strong team leader Weiss was attracted to or a girl seven shades of wrong. She was in love with Weiss and she could feel that Weiss was rapidly falling in love with all of her.

Kicking her feet Weiss began to build up a little speed around the ice, taking Ruby with her the entire time and looking at her whenever she made a move as a signal for her to do the same, to follow her move for move and never leave her side. They curved around and skated backward, then sideways around the edge with Ruby laughing gaily as the winter breeze flew through her bob of raven hair. She could see just to the right of her that Weiss had the biggest smile on her face as the pair skated around the edge of the ice and then twirling back to the center with their grasp never faltering and their laughs mixing together in perfect harmony while they spun. They met together in the middle, both hands coming together and their lips meeting for only a moment. After their kiss Weiss smiled and let go of Ruby's hands, leaving her to skate alone as she moved herself to skate circled backwards and around her partner. Ruby was like a fish out of water while she found her balance on the threatening ice, again not wanting to look a fool in front of her ice princess.

"What should I do?" She cried out under duress, almost falling with the wind blowing her forward and back.

Weiss let out a laugh and continued to circle her, leaping a little distance and landing gracefully like an angel. In Ruby's eyes she was an angel with wings on the ice, flawless and sharp and mesmerising, more so than she had been the night before. "Either follow me or mirror me," Weiss shouted at her while circling her again. "But move fast or you'll fall. It's like fighting only without Crescent Rose" she assured her partner. Just like fighting except without Crescent Rose, Ruby repeated in her mind. She acted as if she had her weapon in her hands and pushed off against the ice, picking up speed and gliding along the ice to mirror her partner, following her arm and leg movements in perfect rhythm along the ground, as if the two were really dancing at some stadium. Her form was a little sloppy, her arms fluid and not as sharp as Weiss and her red cape flowing as she cut through the breeze coming at her. The pair were still beaming with smiles as they drew in closer again towards the middle, the light blue eyes of Weiss conveying that she wanted to hold Ruby's hand again for a sequence.

They met up and took each other's hand, their fingers tightening over the other's while Ruby's footing faltered a little and she staggered but Weiss kept her up and on form, twirling her around like a ballroom dancer until she motioned for Ruby to skate forwards and get closer to her. Her eyes told her that she wanted an embrace, to allow the raven haired girl to take the lead and hold her tenderly in her arms while she took them around the edge of the ice again. "Don't worry and don't let go" Weiss instructed her after she saw the look of nervousness in the silver eyes of her partner. Her voice was hardly her stern, derogatory tone of order but instead a tender caress of heavenly resonance, barely more than a breath to Ruby as she took the lead.

There, as they flew over the ice just as Weiss had done the night before Ruby wasn't scared, wasn't nervous around her partner and was certainly not going to let her go any time soon; she lived for the tight grip Weiss had around her neck but the one thing she didn't expect was for her partner to suddenly lift her feet from the ice at Ruby's tight grip of her waist. "Don't drop me" Weiss breathed; she was nervous now, putting her trust in Ruby to the absolute limit and to her surprise Ruby kept her hold over her waist, picking speed with some harsh kicks against the ice, taking Weiss around all on her own, the fear of falling gone now that she held the heiress strongly in her arms. With a surprise burst of courage and boldness in the moment as she adapted to the weight of Weiss she decided she'd stir the butterflies in their stomachs. With a mighty breath and surge of strength she lifted Weiss high into the air with her arms, having her thighs level with her face and causing the heiress to gasp audibly. She was shocked, stunned but exhilarated and taken completely aback as the crisp winter breeze blew into her hair. It was electric, pure current passing through her before Ruby had to bring her down again to save her strength

As Weiss looked back to her partner she could see almost tears forming in her eyes and a grateful smile on her face. "I would never drop you, Weiss Schnee" Ruby whispered, kissing her partner as she headed back to the center of the ice to put her down again. "I love you" she confessed as her partner's skates hit the ground with a clang and a skid. Weiss was almost tearing up at what they had just experienced; it was magical, like a scene from a movie or a book made real all because of Ruby Rose.

She looked deeply into Ruby's silver eyes and saw that the girl was telling the ultimate truth and one she had been hiding for a while. Weiss grabbed at her waist, pulling her back closer and putting their foreheads together blissfully. "It might have taken me a while," she started, taking a fluttered and hitched breath as the nerves came in to make her hands shake behind her partner. "But I love you too Ruby Rose" she admitted, pouring her heart and realising that she did as well. In the small space of a day she had decided that even though she may be the polar opposite of herself; Ruby Rose was simply too bright in Weiss Schnee's life to not fall in love with, and now she had allowed herself to.

The pair engaged again in a deep, emotional and involving kiss, pouring in the love each felt for the other and more, promising the future and the now. They would be like Yang and Blake, holding each other warm and close in the night, preventing the cold from harming them. They would spring each other with gifts and surprise kisses in the middle of class and lunch and then share the other's hobbies. Damn the rest of them, Ruby and Weiss would be a couple. They would be a white rose together, just as Blake and Yang saw them.

Another hour saw them skate until the two were almost exhausted as well as Zwei and near six they returned to the dorm to see Yang and Blake both stir from the bed, the pair of them under the sheets probably naked. Weiss was offended instantly while Ruby was a little ignorant by accident, not knowing what had transpired while her new girlfriend could take an educated guess and probably hit the mark. Yang let out a little giggle and a wink in her sister's direction as soon as she saw the pair's arms linked as Ruby held Zwei's leash.

"What happened in here?! It smells like a gym!" Weiss roared, spotting a paper bag near the bedside cabinet, again she could make a pretty good guess as to what exactly the pair had gotten up to in the two hours the remaining girls were out skating.

Blake simply laughed, triggering her love to follow suit while Weiss realised they were looking at her arm linked with Ruby's. She yanked it away and stood in closer to her partner, not sure if she wanted to display that they were an item but also wanting to hold her so she simply repositioned her arm around the girl's waist, making her shell shocked with nerves and self consciousness. "I think the real question is what happened to Neptune and the dog?" Blake asked. Ruby checked at her feet to see that Zwei had ditched them somewhere around the school. She knew he'd soon be back, he was simply stealing some sausages from the cafeteria most probably; she didn't want to leave Weiss at all.

Ruby still looked to the bag in confusion and then to her sister with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. "So Blake, Yang. Did you have a good Love Day?" She asked so innocently as the two in the bed were looking rather mischievous, she would never truly know the extent to which their two hours alone went, at least until next year or so.

The two bumblebees looked to each other with smiles a yard long and hearts as big as the world. "Yeah. You could say that" Yang responded. "How about you lil' sis?" She asked, completely back to the Yang that had been before the Battle of Vale now that she had Blake all to herself completely and in every capacity.

Ruby looked at Weiss and smiled, the heiress reciprocating the look. The two revealed their hands and held each other out in front of the two naked girls in the bed, both of them gasping as Ruby took Weiss in for another kiss, showing off how well the day had turned out after all. Once they broke off and looked back to Yang and Blake they both spoke in unison. "Yeah. You could say that" and winked at the other couple as they too shared a kiss. It had taken two months but now Team RWBY had become whole again, finding new meaning in each other. Meaning, and love, just as the day would have them find.

Happy Valentine's Day.

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