It was the cold that woke her – an unfamiliar circumstance but a catalyst nonetheless.

Weiss swallowed, her throat dry and scratchy. It was enough to drew her eyes open and feel for the consistent presence next to her. However, that presence was gone and Weiss suddenly started to re- familiarize with her surroundings.

They'd been here, in the middle of nowhere, for four days and had spent the entire time fighting. Only now, when they stumbled across a fleet of Atlesian soldiers, did Weiss and Ruby finally have time to rest.

Their bodies were a mess – aura having been drained multiple times as they battled bandits and monsters.

The end of this war was close. They both knew it. It was only a matter of time before they would rejoin with the rest of their team – with Winter and Ironwood. Then they would push into the desolate mountains and find Salem.

It was horrifying and yet Weiss had said over and over again that she just wanted it to be over. No matter what happened, she was tired of this war. Of the things they'd lost in this fight. If they survived, then they could rest and rebuild.

If not, then they would still be able to rest.

Still, that didn't excuse the fact that Weiss had woken up in this horribly thin sleeping bag alone. The soldiers had all been very good to them – not that Weiss expected any less considering her sister was the one in charge of them all. They'd given she and Ruby a nice spot in their safe house. They'd fed them and offered them the showers for any amount of time and warm water they needed.

Of course, they'd agreed it would be polite to shower together, lest they waste these poor soldier's clean water.

Everything was as good as it had been in weeks – yet Ruby was suddenly not beside her and Weiss had no other choice but to find her.

So she sat up and winced as the sleep in her eyes lingered. Her back cracked as she stretched and felt the cold air strike the bare skin of her legs that her shorts didn't cover. White hair fell all across her face and the tiny flickers of light from the small window to her left shone through just enough to help Weiss find purchase on an end table to stand up.

Her shoulder was still sore from the fighting – she'd taken a nasty hit against a very unforgiving tree. It would heal in time, most likely by tomorrow night. For now, it was a hindrance as she pushed up to her feet and stumbled in the dark

Weiss wasn't sure what the layout of this place was like at this hour. Who was on patrol or where anyone slept. All she knew was that she didn't feel like seeing or speaking with anyone that wasn't named Ruby Rose.

She respected every soldier here and the fight they were fighting. But Weiss' only priority was her partner. As selfish as it sounded – Ruby's well being came before everyone else. Her family and herself included.

Finding that the door was nothing more than a cloth strung over and opening, Weiss pushed it aside and poked her head out. From where she stood, she could only see more shacks set up along the hard dirt. This safe house was clearly meant to be portable. Just dividers and items that could be stowed away and moved. There were dozens of small setups just like the one Weiss stood in now. She could see few lights and some soldiers pacing in trained patterns as they stayed alert for any dangers.

She narrowed her eyes to try and see through the darkness – wishing Blake were here to find Ruby for her.

Worry started to set in and Weiss was prepared to set out when she was suddenly touched on the shoulder. She jumped, ready to strike, when another hand held her steady and she suddenly stared deep into a pair of tired, silver eyes.

"Ruby," Weiss sighed and quickly pulled Ruby through the makeshift door. "You scared me half to death."

Ruby let out a soft chuckle. "Sorry – I didn't plan to be gone so long."

Weiss nodded, watching as Ruby gestured for them to return to the blankets. It was very cold, through Ruby was still in nothing but her shorts and tank top. Not that Ruby cared much for modesty – certainly not over comfort.

As they climbed back in, Ruby let Weiss in first and Weiss moved against the wall as Ruby climbed in after. It was customary for Weiss to be against the wall wherever they slept. Ruby liked to hold her and Weiss liked to be pressed in on both sides. It was comforting and something she could never explain.

What made it work was that she never had to explain it to Ruby – it just…happened.

Still filled with questions and concern and the overall anxiety that they'd carried for days on this mission, Weiss pressed her head into Ruby's chest the moment Ruby settled in next to her. She wrapped her arms around Ruby's back and held on tight.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked, clearly concerned.

Pulling back a bit, Weiss stared up at Ruby through the cover of darkness. "Where'd you go?"

There was a slight hesitation. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh," Weiss frowned. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed rest for your shoulder and I didn't want to take that from you."

Weiss shook her head. "Unacceptable," she whispered. "Next time you wake me up – shoulder be damned."

Ruby laughed softly into her hair. "Okay, it wasn't so bad though. I just needed some air."

Still clinging to Ruby, Weiss contemplated pushing it further. She wasn't sure this was the right time to have any sort of conversation like this, but she was curious and wanted to help if she could.

The longer she waited, the more she worried Ruby would fall asleep and take the chance to ask away from her.

Closing her eyes, Weiss let the words fall out. "What was your nightmare about?"

Time passed with silence and Weiss was fairly certain that Ruby had, in fact, fallen asleep. She was ready to give in and drift away as well when Ruby suddenly spoke.

"My mom."

Oh…

Summer Rose terrified Weiss. The thought of her, the memory, the fact that Weiss knew absolutely nothing about her. It was terrifying. For a girl like Ruby, who was so open and outspoken about everything – she almost never spoke of her mother.

Weiss knew there were factors behind it. She hadn't known her mother very long and it was probably not that easy to bring up. Yang was always more apt to bring up Summer in conversation, but Ruby never did. Not that Ruby would run from the mention of her name or break down at a memory. It was just…an unspoken understanding that Ruby didn't bring up her mother.

So for that to come up now almost made Weiss regret asking in the first place.

"I'm sorry," she said and felt like an idiot.

Ruby again chuckled. "It's okay – I have dreams about her from time to time."

"I thought you said this was a nightmare?" She unhooked her grip on Ruby's shoulders and found her hand under the blanket to hold. It was silly, but she wanted to offer at least a little physical comfort since she was so certain she'd fail to say anything that would make Ruby feel better.

Ruby shrugged. "Any dream about her leaves me feeling pretty rotten – so I just call them nightmares. Mostly it's just me wondering how she died."

"Ruby…" Weiss knew better than to bring this up.

"It's fine, Weiss. I've dealt with it my whole life."

"It's not fine." She said and then again felt regret. She was so bad at this. It wasn't her place to tell Ruby how to feel about any of this.

To her credit, Ruby didn't bite back at all. Instead, she squeezed Weiss' hand and inched just a bit closer to her. "I accepted the fact that my mom was gone years ago and it sucks big time, but that's never been what really bothered me. It's just that I don't know how it happened, you know?" She spoke so softly, but so steadily that Weiss genuinely believed that Ruby was the strongest person in the world. There was no way she could handle this the way Ruby did – the way Ruby always handled everything.

"Nobody ever told you?"

"No, I don't think anybody really knows. I mean if they do, they've never mentioned it to me and I…I'm always too scared to ask. My dad might know, or Qrow, but neither of them really like to talk about her."

Weiss suddenly understood. "So you're left to wonder?"

"Yeah," Ruby sighed and Weiss instinctively pressed her face into Ruby's neck. Only in the middle of the night like this, did Weiss let herself be this affectionate. Only Ruby Rose had ever earned this side of Weiss Schnee. "I like to hope it was more peaceful than the ways I usually imagine it." The way she said it, Ruby didn't believe for a second that it was. "I guess I'd just like to know so I could stop imagining all the different ways it could have happened."

So many different emotions coursed through Weiss as she listened to Ruby speak. Almost all of them were fueled by love. She knew it was the situation – it was the war and the fighting and the impending unknown that was driving her. She just wanted to pick Ruby up and carry her away. Take her to a remote island, one she could buy with her family's money and the two of them could grow old together and not worry another day.

But she couldn't, she wouldn't – so she had tonight and this safe house with hundreds of soldiers all around them.

"I could ask them for you if you want." She said, knowing full well Ruby would never let her.

The words did, in fact, make Ruby laugh and kiss her forehead. "Weiss, don't be silly."

"I would," Weiss said as her eyes started to well up. She was tired and feeling every emotion amplified times ten. "I would do anything for you. Absolutely anything you asked me, I would do for you."

"Weiss," Ruby's voice was soft and breath brushed against her skin. She felt a fingertip touch her chin and her head was drawn up to a pair of lips that suddenly met her own. The kiss was gentle and easy – not meant to do anything but give much needed contact. When they broke apart, Ruby's hand was stroking her face. "I love you."

Weiss didn't want to sleep anymore. She wanted to lay here in the dark forever, holding Ruby. "I love you." She returned and settled into Ruby's arms.

Weiss stayed awake long after Ruby fell asleep. She was almost completely at peace when the siren sounded over them and the world started catching fire.

Weiss woke early, wanting to be up before Ruby so she could do something nice for her.

If there was one thing she knew Ruby couldn't resist, it was food and though Weiss was not the most talented cook in Remnant, she felt as though she could throw together a few things for breakfast.

That, or burn down Ruby's little cabin – in which case Ruby would just have to move in with her back in Atlas.

A win regardless. Weiss thought with a playful smirk as she stared at the stove knobs in front of her. They were rather complex and there were four of them. The symbols next to them seemed to indicate which knob controlled which burner. She expected the usual settings – low, high, medium. Instead, all she saw was numbers and a little fire at the very end.

Putting the pan down on the burner of her choice, she cautiously turned the little dial to five and hoped for the best. It sparked with fire and she jumped a bit before cursing herself and focusing on the packet of sausage she'd found buried in Ruby's freezer and covered with ice.

It seemed like a good idea until she opened it and realized she'd have to…touch it. Weiss was not a spoiled rich girl – not entirely – but that didn't mean she enjoyed getting dirty.

Still, she wanted to do this for Ruby and etiquette be damned. After all, friends regularly went out of their comfort zone on the off chance their friend would maybe smile at them and thank them and perhaps hug them.

Yes, literally all the time.

Pulling out a few of the sausage patties with her index finger and thumb, Weiss laid them on the pan and jumped again when they started to sizzle.

"Get ahold of yourself, Weiss!" She whispered sharply into the air and quickly fished out a spatula to prod the offending meat circles. As they started to cook, Weiss made sure to keep herself close to avoid any kind of catastrophic fire, all the while she drew a few slices of bread out and stuffed them in the toaster.

It was yet another kitchen item with another set of stupid dials that meant nothing to her. Why wasn't there just a toast button? Why so many settings and numbers and dials? She wanted toast – shouldn't she be able to just request toast and have there suddenly be toast? How many different variations of toast were there? And why was there a setting on this toaster for donuts?

Frustrated, Weiss pushed the toast down with the current settings and hoped that Ruby had them set for the kind of toast she wanted.

With that, her attention shifted back to the sausage and Weiss knew what came next and despite the fact that she was one of the most gifted huntresses in the world who could, literally, slice through a dozen Grimm in a matter of seconds – she was seriously doubting her ability to flip these sausages.

Taking a deep breath, Weiss drew up the sleeves of her shirt and nodded before moving the spatula under the first one.

Except she couldn't make the spatula go under the stupid meat circle. Instead, it just stuck there and she pushed harder – only to make the entire pan almost fall off the burner.

"Why you despicable little—" Weiss held the handle of the pan and pushed again, this time she made progress, but the sausage started to break under the pressure. "Don't you dare." She chided before adjusting to try again. When she finally did manage to get under the stupid thing, Weiss lifted it up off the pan and flipped it.

When it landed, the splatter and sizzle made her jump and her spatula fell to the ground with a clank.

Suddenly, a throat cleared above her and Weiss looked up to see Ruby leaning over the balcony with a grin. "What are you doing?"

Weiss sighed before picking up her spatula. "Trying to understand why anyone would want to cook for themselves."

"You're such a dork." Ruby said and Weiss bristled – ready to defend herself. However, she stopped at the admiration in Ruby's face. In this case, dork was a term of endearment and Weiss gripped her spatula a little tighter. "I don't think that sausage is any good." Ruby said and Weiss looked at the offending food.

Had she messed it up? It wasn't even finished cooking yet.

"I did everything I've seen on television, Ruby. I put it on the pan, I turned the knob. I'm certain I haven't had enough time to ruin it just yet."

When she heard Ruby laugh, she looked over to see her coming down the stairs – a hand on the railing as a stark reminder of Ruby's injury. "Not that, it's just really old. You should probably throw it out and…like…wash your hands or something."

Weiss frowned. "Ruby, it was all you had in your freezer that wasn't ice cream. I was going to make eggs because I've seen Klein make those before but you had none. There's no food in this house."

"There's food all over Patch. We can go out; I know a place that makes great pancakes."

"Ruby, this isn't a proper way to live. There's nothing edible in this house besides bread and water and sweets."

Ruby's smile faded and Weiss knew she'd crossed a line. "That's pretty rich coming from you."

"Excuse me?"

"I understand when Yang does this – runs me down about it, but you have no right."

"No right to—Ruby I'm simply pointing out that—"

"What do you know about any of it, Weiss? Your food is made by other people and delivered to your door. Don't act like you're some kind of every day woman when you literally can't drive yourself to and from the store."

It was Weiss' turn to prickle as she crossed her arms in defiance. "I can drive!"

"But you don't! You couldn't even come here by yourself! You brought your assistant all the way to Patch with you!"

"I have a very busy life, Ruby. We're not all freewheeling huntresses who can live our lives any, disgusting way we want." She emphasized her statement by picking up the pan of old meat and tossing it into the sink.

"I do fine on my own, Weiss. I've been fine since the day you left."

"Your wounded hip says otherwise." She barked back just as sharply as Ruby had and they stood in silence, staring at one another. This morning that was supposed to be calm and meant to maintain the closeness they'd shared the night before was falling to pieces. "I'm only trying to help you, Ruby. I—" she sighed in terror at what she was about to say. "As your friend, I can't let this go. You're not okay and I'm going to get you help for your injury – but I won't keep it from your family. It's not fair to them."

She felt it was her responsibility to look after Ruby in this situation. If Ruby was unwilling to take care of herself, then Weiss was going to step in. Ruby may hate her for it, but she loved Ruby enough to be okay with that.

She was ready for a fight – ready for Ruby to yell and scream and maybe even tell her to leave.

Instead she was met with silence. Only when the toaster dinged did either of them even move. Weiss turned, seeing that the toast was, in fact, finished and she looked back to Ruby.

"Is the toast okay?" Somberly, Ruby nodded and Weiss carefully pulled it out and sat it on a plate. "Do you want a piece?"

"I'm not hungry," she said before moving to the living room to sit down.

Weiss picked up the plate and carried it to Ruby instead. "You're always hungry," she said before setting it down in front of her. Ruby remained silent and Weiss slipped onto the couch next to her and curled her knees up. She sat, staring at Ruby and trying to think of the best course of action to approach this.

Taking a chance, she reached up and brushed a bit of hair from Ruby's eyes to get her attention.

It worked, and a pair of silver eyes found her – though the shine in them was seemingly gone.

"I'm not trying to take your life away from you – I'm hoping to make it better and pain free."

Ruby looked away again and Weiss studied her. The way she lowered her head and how her hands were shaking as they clasped together in her lap. She knew Ruby was on the verge of crying again – holding it in with everything she had.

"Yang will never let me stay here once she finds out. I'll ruin the wedding and they'll make me go to Vale and build weapons." She sounded completely defeated and it broke Weiss' heart.

"Ruby I won't let that happen." Weiss said and meant it. She wasn't sure exactly what she could do to deter Yang, but she would try. "Your life is still your life. You just have to let others help you."

She was given a small nod and Weiss took it as a victory. That is, until Ruby spoke again. "Can we just…keep it between us for now? I'll do the doctor thing and I'll get it fixed but…after the wedding? I don't want to be a distraction."

"Your hip—"

"Will survive another two weeks." She smiled, actually smiled and Weiss felt her defenses crumble. "I'll be careful and I've got you to help me now. It's not as big of a secret. Just two weeks and when Yang and Blake are married, I'll tell them and we can plan from there."

Weiss didn't want to strip away Ruby's right to choose. She had agreed to tell Yang, after the wedding and agreed to have her hip fixed. It was all she wanted and she didn't want to push anymore.

"All right," she nodded and took Ruby's hand between her own. "I'll keep your secret, Ruby Rose. For a little while." Ruby squeezed her hand and Weiss was prepared to say something else when her scroll started buzzing on the table.

She jumped and looked to see an alarm going off reminding her of the cake tasting. "Oh that's right," she sighed. "Blake and Yang are probably headed there already." She turned off the alarm and picked up her scroll. "I assume you're coming to the cake tasting?"

"Are you kidding? I plan on cleaning up the scraps while the rest of you nibble on your little bites."

Weiss chuckled. "Well we'd better hurry up and get ready then, before Yang beats you to it."

Love makes fools of us all, even Weiss.

Thanks for reading - feedback is greatly appreciated :)