What Defines Us - Chapter 38 (Patreon)

The front door was only closed for a second before Yang bounded into the room.

“There you are!  Thought we were gonna have to put out a missing person’s report on you!” she said, walking over to tap Ruby ‘lightly’ on the shoulder in greeting.  “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Ruby replied while kicking off her shoes, still feeling...something.  “It was fun. She took me to our old house.”

Whatever answer Yang had expected, it wasn’t that one. 

“She...what?”

“Yeah.  We went to our old house,” Ruby repeated.  It was still so strange to think about. That’s where she used to live.  That’s where they used to live.  She’d never even wondered where she’d been living!  As far as her fractured timeline was concerned, she went straight from Beacon to this house with Yang and Blake.  Way to not fill in the dots, Ruby Rose.

“And she told me a bunch of stuff,” she continued, touching the ring around her neck - which she now knew the true meaning of.  “Apparently we were a lot more than just friends.”

You were my first real friend, and I fell in love with you.

Weiss loved her.  Loved. 

It was such a big word, but hearing it made Ruby feel like a million Lien.  

Except...Weiss didn’t say that she was in love with Ruby, only that she had loved her.  And Ruby hadn’t asked for clarification!  Was this love still ongoing? Or was it a thing of the past?

Apparently, Ruby needed to ask more questions.  Because she definitely had strong feelings for Weiss that would make more sense if they were love.  It would also explain why their friendship had taken off like a rocket ship. Maybe subconsciously she remembered?  Maybe there were lingering emotions that hadn’t been knocked out of her head? Or maybe Weiss was just so amazing that Ruby fell for her twice?

It was probably that last one.  

“Are you doing ok?” Yang asked, looking unnerved by Ruby’s momentary silence.  The question brought her back to this moment, where she was still confused and happy and every emotion in between.

“I think so, yeah,” she answered, trying to be as honest as possible.  “It’s, uh, it’s been a lot.”

Smiling at the response, Yang set one warm hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“When it rains, it pours, huh?”

“You can say that again,” Ruby muttered while shaking the never-ending thoughts around in her head.

Life was so much simpler last week.  

Although, not really.  Last week, Ruby was mega-confused by her rapidly-growing feelings for Yang’s friend from school who randomly showed up one night and ate dinner with them.  Now she was confused by her even more intense feelings for Yang’s friend from school who randomly showed up one night and also happened to be Ruby’s partner from Beacon - oh, and girlfriend by the way - that she had absolutely no memories of.

Just thinking it was a mouthful.

But she couldn’t feel too sorry for herself because she asked for this.  She wanted to go to Beacon. She wanted to learn about her past. Well, there ya go.  Wish granted!

Also, she kissed Weiss.  Twice! So yeah, not much to feel sorry about there.

Twice!

“Are you going to be ok with all this?” Yang asked, still looking concerned.  “Maybe we shouldn’t tell you everything at once…it’s just so much. Between Weiss and Beacon -”

Before Yang could go all ‘we have plenty of time,’ ‘take it slow,’ and yadda yadda, Ruby shook her head.

“I’m ok, Yang.  Sure, it’s weird and confusing, but I’ll sort it out eventually.  I have confidence in my brain! We’ve made it this far together - I think we can get through another period of super confusion.”

In the face of Ruby’s smile, Yang only looked partially convinced - most likely thinking that Ruby shouldn’t have any sort of confidence in her brain.  Sure, it was prone to losing memories, but it could do some cool stuff too! Like figure out solutions to super complex situations where there didn’t seem to be any correct answer.  At least, she hoped her brain was smart enough to do that, because that’s kind of what she needed it to do right now.

“Ok…” Yang replied slowly.  “But let me know if you’re not feeling down with it anymore.”

“I will.  Promise!”

The promise worked immediately - and Yang finally relaxed into an easygoing smile.

“And how ‘bout tomorrow we look at some hunts and pick one?  You’ve proven you’re ready to go on another!”

Ruby didn’t need any cheering up, but that sent her spirits into super orbit!

“Really?” she asked, her excitement returning full force.  “I get to pick? Like anything I want?? Can Weiss come?”

“Yes and yes and yes - if you want to invite her.”

“Of course I do!”

The answer made Yang particularly happy as she grinned and said, “Then Weiss will come along too.  It’ll be fun - getting the gang back together!” With one clap on Ruby’s shoulder, Yang walked into the kitchen while Ruby remained in the entryway.

Getting the gang back together - a team hunt!  Technically, they already went on a hunt together, but that was back when Ruby hadn’t known who Weiss was.  This time, they’d head out as teammates and partners. Maybe more, but that was still...a bit up in the air.

Heading to her room, Ruby felt a silly grin appear when she thought about what happened last night.  They’d kissed. The two of them had totally kissed. It was so grown up!

Pausing near the hallway, Ruby turned back to her sister - who filled up a glass of water at the sink before draining half of it in one go.  

Did she want to tell Yang?  It was going to open up the door for a thousand years of teasing, but...Yang was her sister!  They told each other everything! Almost everything.

And maybe she felt like bragging a bit - because she’d kissed Weiss.

“Oh and...I kinda took your advice,” she said shyly, watching Yang look briefly confused before her jaw dropped open in surprise.

“No way.  Did you?”

The memory was already making Ruby blush, but she nodded while Yang set her glass down on the counter.

“I did.”

“Look at you!” Yang cried out, rushing over to hug Ruby and lift her feet right off the ground.  “My little sister - all grown up and kissin’ girls!”

“Yangggg!” 

Year one of teasing...commencing now.  It’s going to be a long millennium, folks!

Finally setting Ruby down, Yang held her out at arm’s length and gave her a little shake.

“So?  How was it?”

It was seemed so simple - it was just a kiss. Ruby had seen Yang and Blake kiss about a million times in the past year.  That was what, like three thousand a day? That seemed about right. Seriously, they probably spent more time kissing than anything else.  

But after experiencing it for herself, with someone she had so many feelings for... 

“It was amazing…” she answered with a sigh.  Was there a word that was better than amazing?  If so, it was that.

Yang’s grin was hugeeee.  Like she just tried to eat a big piece of watermelon but failed and got it stuck in her mouth instead.  

“How did it happen?  Who initiated? Was it you?  Did you catch her off guard?”

“Yang!”  

Each question only succeeded in making Ruby blush more and more profusely.  

“What?  You didn’t think you could drop that bomb and not give me any details, did you?”  Reaching out, Yang playfully tickled Ruby’s sides. “You gotta tell me how it happened!”

“You wouldn’t tell me about your and Blake’s first kiss!” Ruby whined while squirming away.  

“Sure I would!  I set up a whole elaborate thing in the forest and asked her out.  She said yes, finally, and then she kissed me.  More like we kissed each other.  It was like this mutual longing, ya know?  We kissed for so long...because I’d wanted to kiss her for so long.  It actually got a little hot and heavy - she had her hand -”

“Stop!” Ruby cried out, covering her ears.  “I get the picture!”

Dang.  Her bluff had been called on that one, big time.  Yang knew it too - that’s why she was laughing.

“You wanted details - I gave you details.  Now tell me what happened!”

Why had Ruby wanted to tell her sister again??  

“I...um, we were talking…” she began with her cheeks basically on fire.  Literally, they probably couldn’t get any hotter while she tried to describe the scene from last night.  Coughing into one hand, she forced the words out as fast as possible. “She was telling me about the past - how we’d grown close and stuff at school - and then I...I just kinda - asked if I could...”

“You asked??  Awww, you’re so chivalrous!”  Again, Yang wrapped Ruby in a hug and lifted her off the ground.  “Then you kissed? What kind of kiss?”

Thank all the lucky stars in heaven that Blake walked into the room at that moment, and Yang spun around in excitement.

“Blake!  You’ll never guess what happened between Ruby and Weiss!” 

“Yangggg!” Ruby whined again, somehow finding a deeper shade of red when Blake smiled in amusement.

“I heard,” she replied calmly before giving Ruby a small head tilt of acknowledgment.  “Congratulations. I’m glad you two finally talked things out.”

“Thanks, Blake!” 

There was a moment of silence while Yang stared at Blake with an expectant expression, waiting and waiting for something to happen before finally exclaiming, “That’s it??  Come on, Blake! This is a huge deal! Show some emotion!”

“What?  I gave her a meaningful congratulations and smiled.”

When Yang looked at Ruby in utter disbelief, Ruby shrugged.

“She did smile.”

“A smile??  Ok -” Reaching out, Yang snatched Blake in her arms before Blake had the chance to move away.  Firmly caught in the vice grip, Blake had no chance of escaping Yang’s fingers as they tickled up and down her sides.  

Now it was Ruby’s turn to watch in amusement as Blake - the ninja warrior who could stare at something without blinking for about an hour - immediately broke and started giggling and squirming in Yang’s arms.

“How ‘bout some real happiness, Blake??” Yang teased while drawing out another round of girlish laughter.  “Ruby kissed Weiss! Isn’t that a huge deal?? It’s a huge deal, right??”

Maybe Blake wanted to respond to Yang’s questions, but right now she was too busy giggling to do much else.

“See?  You sound so happy!  So let’s hear some happiness, huh?”

Finally ending the tickle war (which Blake firmly lost), Yang received a glare that would’ve turned Ruby into stone.  But, even with the glare, Blake let Yang keep hold of her, arms wrapped around her waist. Blake’s cheeks were red from all the laughing, but she turned back to Ruby and managed a normal expression.

“Getting tickled sucks, doesn’t it?” Ruby joked.  She knew from personal experience. And Yang was so strong, she was impossible to get away from! 

“She’ll get what’s coming to her,” Blake muttered under her breath before smiling.  “But I’m very, very happy for you.”

“Thanks, Blake!  I don’t think you could be any happier, so please don’t try,” Ruby replied with a laugh.

“Now hug!” Yang ordered, nudging Blake forward.  Blake faked a sigh of exasperation before walking over and pulling Ruby into a hug.

“I am happy for you,” Blake whispered in Ruby’s ear before stepping away with another smile.  

“That was better!” Yang interrupted with a grin, kissing Blake’s cheek before focusing on Ruby.  “So are you two like an item now? Getting back together? Are you gonna go out on dates? Makeout during movies?”

“Uh…”  

How was Ruby supposed to answer those questions?  She didn’t know what was going to happen next! 

“They haven’t gotten that far,” Blake answered, her eyes carefully reading Ruby’s reaction.  “There’s still more talking to do, isn’t there?”

“Yeah,” Ruby quickly agreed.  “More talking.”

“Weiss and her talking,” Yang muttered.  “She always wants to talk something out, doesn’t she?  Me, I’m a doer. Just do it! That’s what I say.”

“Really?” Blake asked with one perfectly-arched eyebrow of disbelief.  “That’s funny...because whenever we ask you to organize your shoes, there’s a lot more talking than doing that happens.”

“Ahhh...that’s a funny story.  You see, I was totally gonna do that the other day, but then something really important happened - a little something called The Beacon Invite?  And then the whole thing with Ruby and Weiss...”

Shaking her head, Blake laughed while Yang tried to talk her way out of the task she would never, ever do.  

“And I would do it tonight, but it’s already kinda late, don’t you think?  I mean, that’s a half-day project easy. And…” Yang’s voice trailed off when Ruby also shook her head at the list of excuses.  

Finally, Yang gave up and laughed.

“Maybe I’m a talker too,” she admitted before shrugging and scooping Blake right off the ground to hold in her arms.  “But can I carry you around for a little bit? That’s doing something, right? You’re so cute!”

Blake sighed but wrapped both arms around Yang’s neck.

“Somehow you always talk yourself out of trouble, but one of these days I will get you back for the tickling,” Blake grumbled.  If it was a threat, it only succeeded in making Yang laugh.

“I know you will.  And I can’t wait. Really.  Oh!” Pausing, Yang turned back to Ruby.  “There’s leftovers in the fridge for you. And don’t think I’ve forgotten my other questions - you’ll tell me eventually!  Or Weiss will.”

“What??” Ruby asked, surprised by that last sentence.  “Would she really tell you?”

Again, Yang laughed and shifted Blake easily in her arms.  “You’d be surprised how much she’ll talk about you. I nearly had to have my ears amputated the first time.”

After staring at Yang, Ruby looked at Blake for confirmation - which she received in a few nods.

“Well maybe this time she’ll be successful!” Ruby teased back.  

Chuckling, Yang headed towards her room with Blake still held in her arms.

“I doubt you’ve made it that far yet,” her sister commented before disappearing down the hall.  

“What’s that supposed to mean??” 

Receiving no response to the question, Ruby let it slide and grabbed the leftovers from the fridge instead.  Salmon with some veggies - which meant Blake had been in charge of dinner again. At least she found lots of different ways to season the salmon. Otherwise, Ruby would be sick of it by now.

Tossing the food onto a plate and into the microwave, she stared off into space while waiting for it to heat up.  

She’d always thought that Yang and Blake’s relationship was kind of weird.  They were both pretty quirky people, right? But Ruby wouldn’t mind tickling Weiss.  Or teasing her. Or carrying her around the house. 

Although, Ruby didn’t know if she was strong enough to do that.  She should work out more just in case the opportunity ever presented itself!  She knew she could lift Weiss off the ground briefly, but that wasn’t the same as holding her…

Hearing a soft ding announcing that her food was ready, she quickly pulled it out and sat down at the table to eat.  The quiet in the kitchen gave her plenty of silence to think in. One guess who she was thinking about!

She’d eaten at this table about a hundred times before, but this time...she missed Weiss.  They hadn’t even been apart for that long, but Ruby could almost feel Weiss’ absence.  They’d just spent a ton of time together, but it hadn’t been enough.  Ruby still had loads and loads of questions she wanted to ask!

Like how did Weiss feel about salmon?  Did she like it?

Briefly ignoring her food while pulling her scroll from her pocket, Ruby decided that she should ask.  What was she waiting for? ‘Do you like salmon?’ was a simple enough question.

‘Did Blake make it?’

Grinning at the response, Ruby typed a quick ‘yes.’

‘Then yes.’

It was strange to realize that Weiss actually knew Blake better than Ruby did.  They’d known each other for years.  Meanwhile, Ruby had only known Blake for like a year and Weiss for...a lot less than a year.  But at one point in time, Ruby had known them both really well. And, theoretically, she’d known Weiss super well.

Super well as in...had she known everything there was to know?  Had she been a walking Weiss encyclopedia? Could she rattle of Weiss’ likes and dislikes like she could name weaknesses in different species of Grimm?

She’d never known anyone that well before.  Except for Yang, but Yang was her sister! She’d been forced to spend years and years learning Yang’s habits.  

But with Weiss...Ruby didn’t have to learn everything, but she wanted to.  She wanted to know everything she used to know and then some.  She wanted to know Weiss better than anyone else in the world. That’s right, better than anyone else in the entire world.  

It might take a long time, but she could be really determined when she wanted to be.  And the best way to set out achieving this new goal was to ask questions. She could start doing that right now!  Operation Know Weiss Better Than Anyone - AKA OKWBTA - begins now.

Her favorite ice cream flavor was blueberry frozen yogurt - which wasn’t technically ice cream, but Ruby let the answer slide.  

Her favorite color was red - which just so happened to be Ruby’s favorite color too!  Although a particular shade of ice blue was starting to grow on her... 

Her favorite breakfast food was a grapefruit - so at least there was someone in the world willing to eat it!  Otherwise, there’d be an oversupply of grapefruits.

It took Ruby longer than usual to finish dinner because of all the random questions she was sending to Weiss - who was such a good sport about it!  She never asked why Ruby wanted to know, she just answered. 

By the time Ruby finished eating, cleaned her dishes, and walked into her room, she felt like she knew Weiss better than before.  And that was a pretty fantastic feeling.

Dropping her bag and scroll onto her bed, she flopped down on the covers and sighed.  It had been a long day. Who would’ve thought that learning about yourself could be so exhausting?  

When Weiss admitted being tired too, Ruby said ‘goodnight’ and set her scroll on her nightstand before lying down and staring at the ceiling.  

The past few days her brain had flipped between feeling like it wanted to explode or melt at any second.  Right now, it was at the melting point. 

There were just so many thoughts burning through her mind - memories of The Invite, everything Weiss had said.  Not just about the two of them, but about Beacon, the classes they’d taken, the training they’d done, the teams they’d been friends with - people and places and lessons Ruby didn’t remember.

As her brain gained steam like a charged locomotive, she gave up on the idea of trying to sleep and sat up in bed.  She was tired but too wired to sleep - how was that for irony? 

After tapping her fingers on her knee for several moments while trying to figure out what she wanted to do, she suddenly remembered the device Weiss had given her to play with.  Sensing the beginning of a brilliant idea that would occupy her sleepless night, Ruby pulled it out of her bag and set it across her lap.

It was like an oversized scroll, but with only one program.  Clicking the icon, Ruby watched the device load some rather intense menus.  An empty, white square took up a majority of the screen, while side menus offered her way too many options to choose from.  

It was like going to an ice cream shop that had a thousand different flavors and just as many toppings.  Oh, and the flavors could be swirled together, so there were...an indeterminable amount of combinations that could be made.  Plus they had flavored whipped cream.  How cool would that be? More places should have flavored whipped cream...she’d definitely order chocolate whipped cream on top of vanilla ice cream.  Or vanilla whipped cream on top of chocolate ice cream. 

Right!  But the scroll/device thingy.  Fortunately, most of the defaults were already set up, so it didn’t take very long for her to get a good grasp of how to use it.  Add stuff to the white space - simple enough!

The terrain was hers to alter.  She could build hills and ponds and mounta - oh, she could only make partial mountains because the physical room was only so tall.  That was kind of a bummer...but! If she clustered some ‘tall’ trees near the base and stretched the upper branches to crowd towards the peak, she could create the illusion that the mountain continued much higher than it did.  Ha. Take that physics. Or logistics. Or...whatever.  Take that, program. She’d outsmarted its limitations!

With her pseudo-mountain created, she found a tool that let her dig into the rock and create caves.  Again, space was limited, but she dug out a series of caves that stretched nearly the entire base of the mountain before continuing upward through some pretty claustrophobic tunnels.  By the time she finished, she’d added so many caves the mountain was basically swiss cheese on the inside! Structurally, a small earthquake would collapse the entire thing in on itself, but as long as no bombs went off in the area, it should be fine.

In the space she had left around the base of the mountain, she added trees, bushes, random rocks, and other ‘foresty’ stuff.  There were about a million different species of trees she could choose from, but she had no clue which ones grew in this type of environment, so she decided randomly.  

It took her forever, but by the time she finished, it looked like a real forest!  Except some smart person would probably say something like ‘this species of tree doesn’t belong here.’  Spoilsports. Regular people would think it was a real forest!

...but regular people wouldn’t be out in the forest, huntsmen would be.  And they wouldn’t be able to fight here. Well, they could, but that’d really suck because of the dense foliage.  First, they’d need to knock down trees to make space for combat. Luckily, they had Grand Overseer Ruby looking out for them!

Swiping her finger in a small circle, she cut down the trees to make a space for a fight.  Tada! Easy peasy. And what were they going to fight? Grimm, of course!

The best menu let her add Grimm ‘encounters.’  That word made it sound a lot less scary than a monster appearing out of nowhere and trying to eat you.  An ‘encounter’ was what little kids experienced at the zoo with the llamas or goats. There were no ‘encounters’ with Grimm at any zoos.  Although, if there were, she and Yang probably would’ve tried to go every weekend when they were little...

“This is so cool,” she muttered to herself while placing a full-size Death Stalker in the middle of the clearing she’d just built.  Once the Grimm was set, she could choose the exact time it spawned, or make it more fun and leave it set to random. Random was always best.  Who wanted to be prepared for a Grimm attack?

...most people did.  But that wasn’t the point of a combat room!

Satisfied with what she’d created, she cleared the entire map and started from scratch.  This time a desert map. Sand dunes! 

It only took her a few minutes to figure out that the desert was boring.  Sand, sand, and more sand. It got old real quick! So she shrunk the sand, surrounded it with water, and made an island.  Now it was a tropical paradise.  Inhabited by Grimm, but nothing was perfect.

She could have Grimm spawn in the water!  Wait, could they even swim?

This map she decided to save.  She wanted to fight against the creepy water Grimm on a little island with pretty palm trees.  It’d be like going on a vacation, but with Grimm!

Clicking the save button, she named the map ‘Grimm Isle’ and pressed save.  Next, the program took her to a screen with all the other saved maps - and there were a lot of them.

Curious, she scrolled through the list to see what else was there.  What had past Ruby Rose created with this thing? 

Apparently, a ton of really, really cool maps - at least, she guessed they were cool by the titles.  Grimm Theater. Under the Grimm-y Sun. Boarba-what? Random Random Random. Where the Grimm At?

She wanted to try them all!  

Scrolling back to the top of the list, she noticed two other tabs titled ‘Recent Simulations’ and ‘Saved Simulations.’  Clicking on one to see what they were, she felt her jaw drop open.

There were videos!  

The room must have cameras that recorded the action and saved it to these files!  It made sense - if they recorded battles, the videos could be used to hone specific skills.  But that meant that these were videos of her.  Her and Weiss.  Before she got hurt. 

Did Weiss know these were on here?  She had to, right? It was her combat room too!

But...Weiss hadn’t mentioned anything about any videos when she gave Ruby this device-thing.  And that reallyyyy seemed like something Weiss would bring up, so Ruby was prepared to find them.

She shouldn’t watch them.  Well, she could...but she shouldn’t.  

They were right there though, literally at her fingertips!  Staring at the top entry, she knew that all she had to do was tap it with one little finger and it would start playing.  One itty, bitty, little tap - or even just an accidental bump Like maybe a sneeze or something made her hand unexpectedly jump forward a few millimeters -

Two knocks on the door nearly gave her a heart attack as she dropped the device face down on the bed beside her.  “Come in!” she called out while pulling the covers over top of it. Her door opened a second later, and Yang poked her head in.

“Hey, just came to say goodnight.”

“Goodnight!” Ruby said, way too cheerfully.  Yang didn’t leave though.  Instead, she stepped through the door and walked over.

“And I thought I should give this back to you.”

When Yang extended a small square of paper towards Ruby, she felt her curiosity increase as she reached out to take it.  

“Uh, thanks?” she said, turning the paper around so she could see it - and instantly wishing she’d expressed more gratitude.

It wasn’t just a random piece of paper.  It was a slightly crumpled photograph of her and Weiss.  It must’ve been taken a while ago because they were much younger...and laughing about something.

“That’s from our first year,” Yang explained while Ruby stared at the treasure in her hands.  “I guess you carried it with you, cuz I found it pinned inside your gear when I went through it at the hospital.  I didn’t want it to get destroyed or something, so I kept it…”

While Yang spoke, Ruby stared at the small image so intently her eyes might bore holes right through it.   Weiss looked so happy though. And young. They both looked young and...close.

“I figured you’d want it back now,” Yang said quietly before patting Ruby on the shoulder and kissing the top of her head.  “Sleep well.”

Yang was already halfway out the door when Ruby finally tore her eyes away from the photograph.

“Thank you!” she called out, receiving a wave in return before her door snapped shut.

Her eyes immediately fell back to the picture and remained there for a long, long time - memorizing every little detail, down to what they were wearing and what time of day it might be.  It was winter from their clothing and the piles of snow. The snow was a dead giveaway. But why were they laughing? 

Did it matter?  Look at how happy they were!  And when Weiss was happy, she radiated beauty.  It was...wow, yeah.  No wonder Ruby kept this picture close. Merely looking at it was enough to make her feel lucky.  This version of Weiss was difficult to find, but here it was, captured forever.

Could there be more moments like these hidden throughout their past?  Could there be, maybe, another glimpse of this Weiss residing in the device laying on Ruby’s bed?  

Finally setting the photo down, she picked up the device and clicked on the most recent video without hesitation.  It was her...from today. 

Skipping a few entries down the list, she found the most recent recording that wasn’t from today.  The date told her that it was from over a year ago. Her finger hovered over the single entry in a long list of videos, unsure of what she might find if she clicked on it.

A part of her said that she shouldn’t watch it - that Weiss probably hadn’t meant to give these to her - but...

But, she wanted to see more of this past version of Weiss.  She wanted to see more of that pure, unspoiled happiness. She wanted to see more of how they’d been - how they talked to each other, and if they teased each other.  She wanted to see how they were, together.

The most recent videos held none of those answers because they were only of her running through the mazes.  But the ones further down the list...those were of her!  Pre-injury.  Pre-everything.  This was what she’d been like.

Clicking on the video, she held her breath and watched raptly - her nose practically pressed to the screen.  

It was another maze, but not from today.  Ruby was still there, but she was...different.  As she flew through the maze of trees and other obstacles, it looked like she knew exactly what she was doing - exactly where she was going.  Exactly when to brake or accelerate. Exactly when to jump or slide. Exactly what angle to take around a turn. 

She was pretty dang skilled!

The next video on the list was another maze.  So was the one underneath that, and the one underneath that.  After watching a few more time trials, she finally clicked on the tab of saved videos.  Watching herself run around was great and all, but she wanted to see Weiss.  

The top entry of the saved section was titled ‘The Horde,’ with additional tags of ‘Beowolves,’ ‘Forest,’ and ‘We’re Awesome.’  Sounded promising.

Her heart beat rapidly as the clip began and the two of them appeared on the screen - standing in the middle of a clearing in a cold, snowy forest.  The timer on the screen read minus thirty - that must be the buffer before the simulation started.

But look at them.  It was Weiss and her.  Only a different her. The same Weiss, only...different too.

“Are you ready?” Ruby heard her voice ask.  It sounded so strange on video! Was her voice always so high pitched??

“Yes,” Weiss answered while shaking Myrtenaster like she was trying to get jitters out.

“This’ll be a piece of cake!” Ruby said before gasping.  “Do we have cake left??”

“There’s one slice in the fridge.”

“Yes!  I totally call it.  Unless you want it?”

“It’s all yours.”  

Weiss’ words were short while her eyes scanned the trees - everything about her showing that she was anxious about something.  The video version of Ruby seemed to sense the same thing because she reached over and grabbed Weiss’ free hand.

“Weiss,” Ruby said in a slightly stern tone before brightening.  “Time to have fun, remember? Just you, me, and a lot of Beowolves!”

“How are you always so confident?”

“Because I have the best partner in Remnant!”

The comment seemed to help Weiss relax, and she finally turned towards Ruby.

“Is this your idea of a good date?”

“It is!  But with cake after.”

Shaking her head, Weiss laughed - the same laugh that made Ruby’s heart to thunder in her chest.  “You’re so strange sometimes.”

“But that’s why you love me!”

The camera panned out as howls broke free, expanding the view to show the Grimm spawning at the edges of the room.

“More than anything,” Ruby heard Weiss say before the battle began in earnest.

There were so, so many Beowolves.  They swarmed through the trees to the clearing, a stream of black running through dark green and white.  From this viewpoint, Ruby could see that the clearing was in the center of the room, which allowed the Grimm to surround on every side.  The actual space for a battle was small, which would only add to the difficulty of this situation.

But when the first group of Beowolves burst through the treeline, they instantly disappeared - taken away in a burst of red.  The next group died in a flurry of white.

Goosebumps raised along Ruby’s arms as she watched the fight progress, more and more Beowolves spawning, fighting, and dying in rapid succession.  The Grimm burst into the clearing in random numbers - in some instances, their giant bodies taking up nearly half of the available space before being taken care of.

From afar, Ruby could see how the past version of herself and Weiss worked together - the orchestrated movements, seamlessly executed.  The pinpoint precision, impeccable awareness - it was flawless.

The Beowolves fell methodically, even though they generated at random positions and in random groupings.  A small counter on the bottom of the screen clicked quickly upward. Three hundred. Three hundred and fifty. Four hundred.

Flashes of red and flurries of petals interspersed with glyphs and lines of white.  The Grimm disappeared in waves of destruction that were hardly traceable to her untrained eye, and yet the streams of black kept flowing.

Growing lightheaded, Ruby realized that she needed to breathe while watching the rest of the battle.  But it didn’t feel like there was a chance for air when the Beowolves sprinted towards what was certain doom.

Eight hundred.  Eight hundred and fifty.

When the end of spawning was reached, the camera automatically zoomed in towards the only beings left on the combat floor.  Ruby watched herself take out a group of three Grimm with a single blow - a single blow! - before catapulting to the opposite side of the clearing using a glyph she couldn’t have possibly seen before jumping onto it.

Four more Grimm fell - five.  Weiss shot through several more before they both converged on the last Beowolf together.  Whatever they did was so fast Ruby didn’t even see what happened, but the creature disintegrated into thin air, and the clearing was suddenly empty.

“We...did it?”

Past Ruby laughed at Weiss’ disbelief.

“Of course we did!” she exclaimed before hugging Weiss, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning her in a circle.  Weiss laughed too - a mixture of relief and delight before Ruby set her back on the ground. Both hands still on Weiss’ waist, Ruby stepped forward and leaned in for a kiss.

The recording ended then, but Ruby could feel butterflies flying around her stomach in force.  Tossing the device onto her covers, she stood up and paced her room.

“Wow,” she whispered, running both hands through her hair and then shaking them by her side.  “Wow, wow, wow.”

They were good.  No, they were great.  She’d never seen anything so...breathtaking.  How had they gotten so good? It seemed impossible.  Unreal.

One thousand.  One thousand Beowolves.  And they made it look easy.  There wasn’t a single mistake.

That’s what Ruby had lost?  Now only Weiss, but...that?  That closeness.  Working together without even speaking.  Comradery. A partner. This whole time she’d been trying to become a huntress by herself, but that?  She could never do that on her own.  She hadn’t even known something like that was possible until right now.

It felt like her room shrank the more she walked back and forth.  It was collapsing in on her while a feeling grew inside of her - a feeling she couldn’t escape.  

She wanted that life back.  The house. The big yard. The awesome combat room.  Weiss. 

She was jealous of past her.  Was it possible to be jealous of herself?

Grabbing the device off the bed, she stood in the middle of her room and watched the video again.  The second time through she caught more of their strategies and motions. It was enough to give her chills.

If only she could remember.  If she remembered, then they could pick up where they’d left off, right?  It probably wasn’t that simple, but if it was, she’d pretend to remember! 

That probably wouldn’t work for very long though…she was a horrible liar.

But...wow.

When the feeling inside of her grew too big, she decided that she needed some fresh air.  Even though it was the middle of the night, she grabbed a jacket from her closet and the picture off her bed and snuck outside.  

But that’s why you love me!

More than anything.

Creeping across the back porch before jogging into the middle of the yard, Ruby sat down on the grass and wrapped her hands around her knees.  It was chilly out, but the cold air was refreshing - tiny blasts of chill that sent trembles of energy through her limbs.

Closing her eyes, she saw the video again.  There were patterns everywhere, some of them too fast for her to see during the first or second playthrough.  If she watched a third time, at a slower speed, she was sure she’d find even more. Switches, reverses, rotations, repeats, and cycles.  But nothing was called out. The two of them responded to cues Ruby had been too mesmerized to search for.

She’d spent the past year teaching herself how to fight and survive on her own.  She hadn’t even begun to think about what it might be like to have a partner. 

That was what it was like.

The possibilities were endless - so endless her head was already swimming with ideas.  Weiss’ glyphs meant that the battle could take place in a small space with longer lines of attack.  The angles became sharper. They could pivot on a dime if they got the timing right.

And their timing had been perfect.

Ruby had a lot more learning to do.  A lot more reading too. There had to be books on team strategies she could find.  And Weiss! Maybe Weiss would be willing to teach her.

Ruby already knew this, but Weiss was an extremely talented huntress.  Her relaxed fighting style was even better than anything Ruby had seen so far - poised, crisp, and clean.  There was no hesitation. Every motion was assertive.

Sighing, Ruby opened her eyes and looked down at the photograph in her hand, tilting it back and forth in the moonlight so she could see it clearly.  

How could they get back what they’d had?  Even just a little bit of it…

How could they move forward from here?

Dropping her hand, she looked up at the moon - big and bright tonight.  

If only her mom was here.  She’d have some great words of wisdom or something.

“Hey Mom,” Ruby whispered, finding the small fragment of the moon that held a piece of her heart.  “Long time no talk. Sorry I’ve been so busy...what with the tournament and then...everything else.”

The Beacon Invite felt like it had been ages ago.  It was so important at the time...she’d wanted to prove that her hard work had been worth something.  But the importance of succeeding as a huntress had taken a quick backseat to the importance of Weiss.

“We finished all the rounds of the tournament!  I guess you probably saw that though...I got to split that huge machine thing in half!  That was fun.”

Pausing, Ruby remembered the feeling of standing there while the crowds cheered their success.  Theirs. It had been a team effort through and through. Maybe it was a little sloppy and slower than it should’ve or could’ve been, but they’d done it together.  Ruby. Weiss. Blake. Yang. Their team.

“I thought I knew what I wanted…” she continued with a sigh, looking down at her knees.  “I wanted to be a huntress because that’s what I was.  Because that’s what you were.  I didn’t put more thought into it than that.  Probably should’ve…”

Chuckling to herself, she shoved her hands deeper in her pockets to block out the cold.

“Did you know all of this?” she asked before shaking her head.  “Of course you did...you know everything. You never gave me a warning though - not even a little hint!” 

Closing her eyes, Ruby saw an image of Weiss in her mind, standing on that platform behind them in the arena.  How much courage had it taken to be there? After everything that happened, how much strength had it taken to tell the truth? 

Opening her eyes, she looked back at the moon.  

“Guess you wanted to give her the chance to tell me…”  

Ruby’s mom was smart like that.  There were always opportunities for people to grow stronger, and she was great at finding and encouraging those moments.  If Ruby had found out about the past on her own, Weiss never would’ve had the chance to prove to herself just how strong she was - which was incredibly strong.  

Weiss didn’t need to run from the past anymore - she had the strength to face it.

“Ok, but now that I know, how ‘bout a little help figuring out what to do next?  A hint or sign or something? Just nothing painful! Please.”

Staring up at the bright moon, Ruby waited for a response.  Maybe the clouds or the stars would rearrange themselves into words or something.  That’d be pretty dang cool.

“Can’t sleep?”

Turning around in surprise, Ruby watched Blake step silently off the porch and join her on the grass.  

“I thought it’d be cool to be nocturnal,” Ruby joked.  “Sorry if I woke you guys up.”

“Don’t worry, I was still awake,” Blake replied while sitting next to Ruby on the grass, the two of them now shoulder-to-shoulder.  “And Yang sleeps like a rock unless I wake her.”

“Mm…” Ruby replied before several seconds of silence as they both looked up at the moon.  “Thought I’d talk to Mom,” she explained. “Ask her why she couldn’t give her favorite daughter a heads up.”

Blake chuckled at the comment.  

“I wish I’d had the chance to meet her.  She sounds like an amazing person.”

“Oh, she was.  All wise and smart and wisdomous.  And she would’ve loved you!”

As Blake’s gaze fell to the ground and her ears flattened, she pulled at a few blades of grass. 

“I don’t know about that...being known as ‘that Faunus who used to be a criminal’ isn’t exactly the best way to meet the parents.”

Laughing softly, Ruby wiggled on the ground to get more comfortable.

“Mom never believed in that sorta stuff though.  Everyone has something in their past they wish they could change.  You’re a good person now - that’s what matters.”

“That opinion is why I’m so lucky to have found you and Yang,” Blake whispered before they fell into more silence.  There were crickets out tonight, chirping in the woods. It was a pleasant sound – very soothing.

“How are you doing?” Blake finally asked to break the silence.

“Oh, you know, just found out I used to be partners with the girl I like,” Ruby replied nonchalantly.  “No big deal - we used to live together and were engaged. Had a nice place too! Turns out it’s been about five minutes away this whole time.”

“That good, huh.”

Ruby sighed, knowing it was pointless to try to hide her feelings.

“Now I completely understand why you guys were so careful about not overloading my brain.  I don’t have the memories, but now I’m trying to create them. I want to make it all fit.  Like, put it back together.”

“Does this change anything though?” Blake asked, turning towards Ruby.  “You said yourself it would be like learning about a separate person. That’s not who you are now.”

“Yeah!  But that was before I learned that I had a really awesome life!”  

When Blake tilted her head, Ruby tried to explain her thoughts.  

“I mean, I was the leader of a great team and living with this fantastic, wonderful person.  I was super fast and able to fight pretty well...I had it all.”

“Don’t you still?”

“Eh…” Ruby mumbled with a shrug, pulling out several blades of grass before tossing them in the air.  All she had were fragments. Little pieces of the past that didn’t make much sense.

“We’re still here, Ruby,” Blake said earnestly.  “You still have your team. You’re still an amazing huntress.  And I guarantee Weiss would be thrilled if you put that ring back on your finger.  You can have all of that again.  It’s only a matter of what you feel comfortable with.”

When Ruby was in that house today - her house - she’d never felt more at home.  She hadn’t wanted to leave. She hadn’t wanted to leave Weiss’ side.

“But I haven’t known her that long.”  

“Technically, you’ve known her as long as you’ve known me.  You just don’t remember most of it,” Blake replied with a small grin.  Ruby managed to smile, but internally she was torn.

“I guess…it just seems fast.”

“Don’t worry about fast or slow.  Worry about how you feel and what you want.  Those are the only two feelings you can trust.”

What did she want?  That was easy - she wanted to be with Weiss.  She wanted to make Weiss happy. How did she feel though?  That was much more difficult to answer. She was confused because she didn’t understand this...relationship stuff.  But also...in addition to the confusion...there was this giant bundle of emotions that burned bright and filled her chest with warmth whenever Weiss smiled.

It was love.  But how could it have happened so fast?

“But...it’s just…”  

Giving up, Ruby threw her hands in the air before letting them fall to her sides.

“You know, Yang and I have talked about the two of you,” Blake replied, undisturbed by Ruby’s response.  “And how you might end up together again.”

“Really?” Ruby asked in surprise, turning to the side as Blake nodded.

“We’ve known for a while that it would never be conventional - how could it be with the past you two share?  I know you want to know how or why, but people are more complex than weapons, Ruby. If you spend all your time trying to figure out why something is the way it is, you’ll miss out on experiencing it altogether.  Sometimes...things just work - even if we don’t understand why.  And if it works, why wouldn’t we accept it?”

As Blake’s words trailed off, a series of shadows swirled in the air in front of them - doing a series of flips and spins before disappearing into the night.  

The analogy was clear.  Maybe Ruby didn’t understand her feelings for Weiss, but she understood even less about her semblance.  Yet she accepted the weird, really fast thread inside of her. She used it daily. She accepted that she didn’t know how it worked, but it was as much a part of her as her hand or her heart.

If she could accept her semblance without question, why couldn’t she do the same with Weiss?  They worked well together. And even if it seemed fast...well, shouldn’t that just make it all the more remarkable?

“You give good advice,” Ruby finally said with a smile, making Blake let out an unexpected laugh.

“Well, I read a lot. But in this case, I’m speaking from personal experience.”

“Yang?”

“Who else?” Blake replied rhetorically.  “I was obsessed with this ideal timeline we were supposed to follow when I should’ve just buckled up and enjoyed the ride.  Thankfully everything turned out ok, but I’ve always regretted making her wait. I’m not going to watch you make the same mistake without at least warning you.”

“I can’t believe you got Yang to wait for anything,” Ruby joked, smiling when Blake laughed again.

“It was a long time ago,” Blake replied before her expression turned more serious.

“In our line of work, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,” she added, looking up at the moon with Ruby following her gaze.  “Our time with loved ones is precious.”

What Blake was saying made a lot of sense.  Look at Ruby’s past - her number had nearly already been called once.  Why would she waste time when they had so little of it to begin with?

“I watched a video,” she admitted, nodding towards the house.  “I don’t think Weiss meant for me to have it, but it was in the scroll thing she gave me to play with.  From the combat room.”

A part of her thought Blake would be surprised, but she only looked curious.

“And?  What did you see?”

The battle, the teamwork, but also...

“Weiss was different.”

Blake smiled sadly at the observation, her ears drooping slightly.  

“She was different.”

“Do you think she’ll ever be like that again?”

This time, the question made Blake sigh.

“Nothing ever stays the same, Ruby.  Every day we change - grow stronger, weaker.  Make decisions that turn into regrets or triumphs.  She has scars she’ll carry for the rest of her life, just like you will.  Maybe they’ll never go away, but they’ll heal. Someday, you might even forget why they’re there to begin with.”

Ruby touched the scar running across her wrist, which she didn’t notice most days anymore.  It was just another part of her arm, like a freckle, only this one had a big story attached to it - a story that kept getting longer.  She knew it would never disappear - scars couldn’t be erased - but it had faded over time.

“Thank you,” Ruby said, smiling when Blake stood and pulled her to her feet.  

“You’re welcome, Ruby.  I hope you can sleep now.”

With a small nod, Blake headed towards the house, moving silently across the grass and porch.  Before she made it to the door, however, a thought popped into Ruby’s head.

“And we’re the lucky ones,” she called out, causing Blake to stop and turn around.  “We’re the lucky ones,” she repeated with a smile. “To have you in our lives.”

Briefly taken aback by the comment, Blake then smiled - quickly touching her hand to her heart before heading inside.  Before following, Ruby looked at the moon one last time.

“You like her, don’t you?” she whispered.  A soft breeze rustling through the trees was the perfect answer - a calm, pleasant ‘yes.’

“I think I know what I’ve gotta do next,” she said with one last smile for her mom.  “Wish me luck!”

Rushing inside, she sat down on her bed and picked up her scroll.  

Blake was right.  If something worked, don’t question it.  Accept that there were parts of life that would never be fully understood.

It was time for her to be honest.  She was jealous watching the video.  She was jealous of how close she’d been with Weiss.  How she’d picked Weiss up. How she’d fearlessly gone for a kiss.  How she’d been so confident that Weiss loved her.

After tapping the edge of her scroll for a few moments, she took a deep breath, unlocked it, and typed out a message.

‘Can you come over?’

It was only after she pressed send that she remembered it was the middle of the night and Weiss was probably fast asleep.  But a response arrived quickly.

‘Are you alright?  Is something wrong?’

Whoops.  Sensing the rising worry, Ruby sent a rapid text back.

‘I’m ok.  Sorry I woke you up!  I couldn’t sleep and thought maybe you could come over.’

‘Right now?’

‘Yeah?  Can you?’

‘I’ll be right over.’

Mission successful!  

Tossing her scroll onto the covers and flopping down, Ruby put her hands behind her head on the pillow.  Her nerves were multiplying already, but she could do this. She just fought in The Beacon Invitational! She could tell Weiss how she felt.  Finally.  If she closed her eyes now, she could imagine saying the words to Weiss out loud.

“I...love...you.  I love you.”