Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY and do not financially profit from this work of fanfiction.

AN: A little one-shot idea I had not long ago, decided to finally put it to text. I really hope you all enjoy my Whiterose here! Also note this is done without a beta-reader (anyone familiar with my recent-ish works know I tend to have one to catch grammar and punctuation mostly, just not this time), so hopefully there's not too many errors!

A Hundred-Dozen White Roses!

"BLAKEINEEDYOURHELPWITHWEISS!"

This was how Blake was interrupted from her really good totally-for-the-plot novel this Friday afternoon. Classes done and with plenty of free time, usually this was the time when Blake took to reading some of the more 'private' tomes in her own collection. This was largely because this was also Yang's partying time, Weiss' 'family-related correspondence' time, and Ruby's 'quality time' with her favorite lady who was tall, strong, and chambered for custom-tooled high-power .50 BMG hand-loaded rounds. It would go without saying then that to find the latter having rushed into their dorm where the cat Faunus was reading and spewing something vaguely resembling words was… off-putting.

"...what?"

"Ineedyourhelpwith-"

"Ruby, slow down. Breath, then speak."

The younger girl did as requested, though the breath she sucked in was anything but controlled or calm. Did slow her down as she finally stated:

"I need your help with Weiss!"

A moment's pause, Blake's eyes blinked a few times while her 'bow' twitched slightly. This was… not a normal request for Ruby to be so worked up about.

"...is this mad Weiss, sad Weiss, happy-"

"Nonono! It's almost her birthday!" Ruby cut in, still as flustered as before and it clearly showed. "It's in two days and I have tried everything I could to find her the perfect gift but it's really hard to find something for her because she can get anything she wishes for and Myrtenaster as cool as it is doesn't really require upgrades which would have made things really easy for me to just machine a new part for it or something but as it stands I have no idea-EEP!"

The sound of Blake snapping her book shut seemed enough to stop Ruby in her tracks, finally ending the tirade of rambling nonsense that had been assaulting Blake's sensitive ears. It was Blake's turn to take a deep breath and compose herself as the headache sought to kick in.

"You want to get Weiss a gift for her birthday, but you don't know what to get a girl who can literally have anything that costs money?" she queried, to an exaggerated nod towards the Faunus in response. "You want it to be special, right? And you're coming to me because it's something you can't talk to Yang about… right?"

Two nods, and another sigh from Blake as she put her book down and sat up, moving to the edge of her bed and looking nearly eye-to-eye with Ruby.

"It's because of what you talked to me about before, isn't it?" Another nod, though this time Ruby had the decency to look sheepish, her cheeks turning closer to her name in color as her body shifted and fidgeted nervously. "Smart idea then, not going to Yang for this…"

"I've been trying to think of something, anything! I just…" Ruby trailed off as her eyes cast themselves downward towards her combat boots. "There's nothing she needs, I can't afford the stuff she wants… and I honestly just… suck at this whole 'romance' thing so-"

"Get her something that has meaning," Blake interrupted, shrugging as as Ruby shot her a confused look. "Weiss has money, she can get any 'thing' she desires. She grew up wanting nothing of value, but I really think what she wants has no value that can be bought with money."

A pause, a blink from the crimson-cloaked girl, and Blake sighed again.

"Get her something symbolic, something simple that stands for how you feel, or what you want for the two of you," she explained, a tad drier than she'd intended originally. "Weiss is not going to be impressed by money, but she will be by emotion, thoughtfulness, symbolism, and displays of love and affection… even if it flusters her at first."

There was an audible silence as Ruby's mind seemed to process this information, and for a moment Blake wasn't sure if the younger girl's social awkwardness had been overcome. Then, like a bolt of lightning:

"OH! Oh Blake I have the best idea ever!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, once again unable to sit still, dashing madly up to her bunk faster than Blake figured even her semblance could carry her. "Where is it whereisit-YES! Oh Blake you've been great you're so smart but I gottagonowbye!"

And like a hurricane of impulse fueled by milk and cookies, Ruby was out the door with a loud slam that made Blake cringe slightly. Truth be told, the Faunus wasn't really sure what had happened, but ultimately Ruby seemed to have an idea, was motivated for it, and now she could go back to reading the latest installment of 'Ninjas of Love' in relative peace…

Two Days Later…

The scream that echoed through the long-distance communication room of Beacon could easily be mistaken for the horrific cries of a Grimm, but luckily that was not the case. The sound of bitter anguish was instead from a white-haired woman clad in colors complimenting her hair and wintery complexion: Weiss Schnee. Her pained cry of frustration followed a vid-call from Atlas, specifically the headquarters of the Schnee Dust Company, and from none other than the company's President.

That is to say, she'd just spoken with her father for the first time in the better part of a year, and it had not gone well. Not at all, not in the slightest.

"That man! He… he….!" another growl of frustration as she shot up from her seat, back straight and posture rigid. "Couldn't even be bothered to stop working long enough to focus on the call he requested in the first place, hmph!"

A few deep breaths and Weiss' composure was back, a well-honed mask of calm and control. The 'Ice Queen' image had served her well long before Beacon, even with her moments of rebelliousness being a thing. A 'tolerable infraction' as she'd heard it described, a notion that somehow infuriated the young heiress to no end. Whatever, she shan't dwell further upon it, not today when for the first time she might get to enjoy a birthday with actual friends, or simply with people whom seemed to actually care… that weren't her militant sister, that is.

She was 18 now, so Weiss had been preparing long and hard to deal with Yang likely dragging her to a bar to legally get trashed. Or as it'd been described before by the blonde: crunk, wasted, smashed, loaded, lit, blasted, wrecked, loosened up, and defrosted. The last one, of course, involved 'melting the ice queen' naturally, and went over about as well as one would expect from the snowy heiress in regards to the self-declared queen of puns' poor proclamations.

Yang's bad influence on her health and wellbeing aside, Weiss was determined to attempt to enjoy her birthday, if for no other reason than to spite her father. That and because… well, much like the bunk-beds… a birthday with real friends, something more than a show of wealth and power, more than Schnee-branded pomp and circumstance was something she'd always wanted.

Entering her dorm room again, she was a tad… disappointed, perhaps? Yes, that was a good word for what Weiss felt as she saw neither hide nor hair of her teammates therein. It'd been quite early when she'd awoken and left for her scheduled call - a product of respective timezones of course - and while it had been some time that she was gone she still figured at least one of them would be around, if only to wish her a happy birthday. But no, instead she was treated to silence and solitude, and while she initially had her face twisted up in frustration, it didn't hold, instead dropping to a frown with downcast eyes. She'd figured at least that dolt with her determination incessant to befriend her would be there to start her day off on a better note with her adorable awkwardness and probably some amusing, childish gift like a box of special cookies they'd end up sharing… but no, that would not be…

Until the door behind her snapped open and speak of the devil; a red and black figure stumbled through the doorway… was that Blake's arm she'd seen push her into the room?

"Ah Ah! No, wait I-uuuhhh…" Ruby sputtered as she struggled to regain her balance and composure, glancing behind her as the door snapped shut, then slowly bringing her head back around to face Weiss whom looked something between confusion, surprise, and… general Weiss-ness. "Uh… hi Weiss, no, wait, uh, I mean, uh uh uh-"

She coughed, shot to attention, put on a grin and then:

"Happy Birthday Weiss!" she shouted happily, arms held behind her back… like they had been since she was pushed in the room…

...

"What's behind your back?" Weiss queried, crossing her arms across her chest, furrowing her her brow as it seemed Ruby spontaneously began to sweat with nerves. "Ruby-"

"Nothing! Nothing at all, promise!" something was off; Ruby was a complete dolt, a terrible liar, but usually she was not quite this odd when she was trying to hide something. "But yeah, uh, Happy Birthday Weiss, yeah!"

"Ruby Rose, do you think me a fool?" Weiss spat rhetorically, her furrowed brow turning to a glare. "I know you're trying to hide something, what is it?"

Silence, not the correct response for the now (more) frustrated Schnee.

"You dolt I am not in the mood for childish-"

It was a white blur touched with black and red the very next moment, accompanied by some incoherent rambling at a speed that couldn't have been possible. So fast and sudden was the motion that it took Weiss several seconds to register what was now shoved into her face. Truth be told, it was more the smell that got her attention, not the sight.

"Are those… roses?" Weiss pondered aloud, noting now that indeed, yes, she had had a bouquet of a dozen roses pushed into her face, roses that smelled wonderful and were "White… roses?"

Even with her head down, it was obvious as Ruby nodded, since doing so managed to shake her whole body up and down, roses included.

"My present?" more nodding. "You got me… a dozen white roses?"

"Yesithoughtyou'dlikethemBlakesaiditwasagoodideawhenItoldherandalsodoyouwannakindagooutwithmeand-"

"Slow down you dolt!" Weiss' bark had the intended effect of silencing Ruby once more, whom seemed to shrink away despite not actually moving. "What is wrong with you Ruby?"

"Th-They're supposed to mean h-how much I feel about you!"

"...what? What are you-"

"I wanna take you out to dinner, dessert, movies, and… stuff!"

Now it was Weiss' turn to be stricken with silence. Kicking her mental gears into overdrive, the heiress took far too long to process the exact words that had come out of the Rose's mouth. Long enough it seemed for Ruby to get 'spooked,' and after a moment's visible shaking the roses were left to hover in the air, though Weiss was quick enough to catch them before they fell. About that time there was a loud crash at the door, then the next the window to their several-story-up room was thrown open and the wind came billowing in.

To the trained eye - such as Weiss' - the order of events was obvious: Ruby tried to run out the door, for some reason it couldn't open, then decided her only other point of escape was to flee out the window, and considering they'd survived landing from a several hundred yard launch into the sky their first day, what was a few stories to land?

Weiss' mind had caught up with her at that point, her cheeks turning the color of Ruby's cloak, then furrowed brows, then a audible growl as she pulled an about face and marched to the ope window.

"I DIDN'T SAY NO YOU DOLT!" she shouted with as much volume as her small frame would allow, hoping that the shorter girl heard her. "Inconsiderate! Impulsive…"

She glanced down at the roses alabaster within her hands, and without a moment's pause she cradled them, moving to smell them, admire them.

"...I guess she can be sweet when she wants to…" she mumbled, a smile making it's way across her lips, though she'd never admit it if anyone had seen her...

One Year Later…

"So…"

"No,"

"You didn't even let me-"

"Yang, I know what you're going to say; you've been insinuating it nonstop for the last week," Weiss cut in, again, as she shot the taller brawler a glare. "Your sister has more class than you; she'd never dare-"

"Oh hush! You've been together a year now, and 'Ice Queen' you may be, but both of you have urges!" Yang retorted with a roll of her eyes as they walked down the hallway towards their dorm. "Honestly, I'm actually starting to get a little worried, maybe like you really aren't that into her after all."

"Normal older sisters would be threatening me to make sure I don't 'steal her sister's innocence',"

"Normal girlfriends don't take four months to be comfortable holding hands in public, another two for hugging, and three more after that just to kiss her," Yang countered, watching as Weiss bristled in response. "So leave it to Yang to-"

"Shut up!"

"-help you two bang!"

"You know what? That can be my birthday present: you quitting the puns for a day, just a day!" Weiss groaned, before forcing their door open. "They are terrible, and you should quit while you're far behind!"

"Ah, you know you love it, almost as much as-" Yang's tongue caught in her throat it seemed as she made it into the doorway, her eyes snapping wide open. "Oh… OH! Uh, bye Weiss have fun!"

And then the door was slammed, confusing Weiss before she turned to face the center of the room and-

"RUBY ROSE WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!" Weiss spat, nearly leaping backwards in surprise at the… at the…

"YOUWEREN'TSUPPOSEDTOBEBACKYET!" Ruby screeched, moving her hands to cover herself, clad in… very little, frighteningly little for the girl who had grown much into her current 17-year-old form. "DARNIT YANG! Oh no it's ruined I had it all planned out and, and and-"

"Did Yang tell you to get that?!"

"No! I mean, I, uh, asked for suggestions-"

"That blonde-haired barbaric bimbo! I am going to string her up by her-"

"No! I wanted to buy this! I wanted to wear this for you!" Ruby proclaimed, though her hands remained to cover her 'naughty bits' covered in the red with white lace and silk. "Do… do you not like this?"

"I… it's…" Weiss' face gave the more honest answer than she could likely squeeze out from betwixt her lips, her eyes not leaving what little (lot!) she could see of her girlfriend of nearly a year. "It's different… good different…"

After one trademarked Ruby pout however:

"Oh fine it's… it's hot okay?" she continued with an exasperated sigh. "It… it just feels… weird seeing you look so brazenly sexy…"

"Good weird, right?"

"Yes, good weird,"

Well, that got a smile from Ruby, and that brought one to Weiss' in short order. More than seeing her lover look so 'delicious' - as Yang had described a similar outfit she'd considered purchasing for herself - Weiss loved it when her Ruby was smiling and happy.

"Oh! Turn around, close your eyes!"

"Wait, wha-" Weiss started as her girlfriend stepped forward and physically turned her about, nearly bumping Weiss' nose into the door to the room. "Careful you dolt! Fine, I'm facing away, but don't keep me waiting!"

No response, just… rustling about. Paper crinkling, a small clink of metal against the ground followed by a curse from Ruby's lips - well, a 'curse' by Ruby standards anyway - and after what had to be a longer than necessary time…

"Yes! Okay turn around my Snowy Princess!"

"Ruby, we've discussed this and yet you-" her complaint died in her throat the instant she turned around and saw what was now practically shoved right into her face, deja vu:

A bouquet of a dozen, pristine, perfect, white roses…

"...you… you… I… you..."

"YYYeeeeeessssss?" Ruby's cheeky grin was as audible as it was visible. "You're still cute when you blush and get flustered, my Snowy Princess."

Weiss' mouth snapped shut at that, swallowing before she reached out, gently receiving the bouquet of roses, cradling them carefully as a smile - a genuine, unfiltered, unrestrained, honest smile - spread across her lips.

"They're… just as perfect as before," she managed quietly, moving in closer to her girlfriend, not having to bend down anymore to capture those lips as sweet and as soft as the roses she held in a heart-fluttering kiss.

Ruby of course was eager to return the kiss, and couldn't quite embrace her with the roses between them, but honestly? That mattered little to the couple, as did any other words when the communication was made clear in such a pretty floral package…

As the kiss ended, Weiss' eyes naturally flitted down over her lover's lingerie-clad form, finally able to see her without arms covering her lover's matured body and-

"Hm?" her eyes caught something glinting with the light from above, but it didn't take her nearly as long to process what it was before her eyes were as wide as the serving plates in the cafeteria. "R-Ruby… is… that…?"

The Rose shrunk a little then, laughing nervously again, but not backing away this time.

"Well… maybe? I really wasn't ready yet for you to see all this, I had a WHOLE thing prepared where you'd start undressing me and see it. It was Blake's idea; she has SO many romance ideas, not sure why though. Idea was if you gave it a tug it's attached to the tie in the front keeping my top on so-"

Weiss' hand grabbed the metallic, shining object quickly.

"Yes, yesyesyesyesYES!" Weiss repeated over and over as she held the bit of jewelry in her palm, moving to set the roses on Ruby's top bunk before she pushed a surprised Ruby backwards onto her own bed.

As Ruby fell back with a smile, the ring stayed with Weiss, as did the lacy red string it was attached to, and soon the top she'd been wearing over her milky white bosom that had previously been held together by the tie attached to the ring...

One Year Later

"Happy Birthday Weiss!"

Weiss' eyes fluttered open at the sound, even as she turned away towards the wall in her bed, tugging the covers up over her head. She was cold, what with the heating of their room having been broken for the last week. How Ozpin could let it go unrepaired for so long was unbelievable to the heiress; really, if she still had access to her father's funds, she'd have gotten it fixed long ago!

"Wei-eiss!" the whine caught her attention, but she ignored it, pulling the covers in tighter. "Oh come on, it's not that cold!"

"Ah, too cold for your Ice Queen li'l sis?"

"It's Snow Princess and you're not helping Yang!"

"Quiet!" the muffled voice of Weiss called from her wrapped up cocoon of blankets, stern as ever, if also sleepy. "It is too early and cold for your bickering."

"Come on Weiss, we can't celebrate your birthday if you don't get out of bed!" Ruby pleaded with her lover, grabbing her arm and attempting to roll her back to face her instead of the wall (complicated as the glyph appeared under Weiss to hold her in place). "Wha-really? Come on Wei-eiss; I wanna spend your birthday with you-ou!"

"Ruby, your sister is a walking furnace-"

"Damn straight!"

"-Blake consumes her weight in hot tea and coffee, and you're just weird,"

"Love you too Weiss..."

"Dolt listen! For us normal people it's really cold and it's my birthday and I will spend it being warm and comfortable, even if it means not getting out of bed!" Weiss insisted as she somehow managed to wrap the blankets tighter around herself. "You fix the room's heating and I'll somersault out of this bed Ruby."

"Don't we do backflips mid-combat? I mean, somersaulting out of bed really isn't that impressive when you-"

"Yangshutup! I will beat your ass with Crescent Rose if you keep it up!"

"Ooh, kinky! That what does it for you and Weiss sis?"

The fact that neither the princess nor the scythe-wielder gave a rebuttal immediately spoke volumes.

"Aaand like that I'm done. Really didn't need to know that about you two. Okay, yeah, bye, I'm going to go pick a fight with CRDL and hope they've gotten strong enough to maybe give me a concussion so I'll forget that," Yang continued as it was made clear by the creaking of the bed and the shutting of the door moment's later that she was indeed leaving the room, and thus the two lovers to themselves.

"Wow, Yang's actually getting easier to mess with huh?" Ruby mused as Weiss remained in her spot facing the wall, unable to see her lover's expression of utmost thoughtfulness. "Hey Weiss-"

"No I will not let you spank me with Crescent Rose, dolt!"

"Eh, worth a shot… but really, are you going to get out of bed already or-"

"Ruby, I've been cold all week, and my birthday is on a weekend when by some miracle I don't have projects or homework to worry about, and we're not going to be sent out on a mission anytime soon," Weiss muttered, before sighing a little. "If I want to stay in bed until the sun's warmed things up a little, I think I've got that right…"

A pause…

"Would you at least face me Weiss, please?"

Another pause, but it seemed that Weiss would relent to the request, turning herself around to face Ruby, her face the only thing visible in the mass of blankets. Glancing up from her bed, Weiss scanned over her now 18-year-old girlfriend, whom aside from being taller (than her even, but not by much) was a lot more… shapely. She was Yang's half-sister after all…

More importantly was the bouquet of white roses in Ruby's hands, perfect and pristine. The pouting Weiss was instantly smiling, expression softening, her frosty exterior melting… metaphorically at least 'cause-

"I'm still not getting out of bed, but they're lovely, Ruby…" she spoke softly, looking up into the eyes of her lover's own so alight with her usual endless energy and happiness. "...I love you, dolt."

"Love you too Snow Princess," came the reply as Ruby sat the roses carefully into the vase nearby, before leaning down to Weiss' level and capturing her lover's lips in a sweet, loving kiss.

Then with sudden force the girl clad in black and red ripped the sheets quickly off of the one in white, eliciting a screech of surprise, shock (at the sudden onrush of cold), and fury barely contained. The next moment Weiss found herself face-to-face with her lover, the two of them pressed to one-another with the blankets wrapped around them. The cold scowl met the warm grin as Ruby pulled Weiss tight against her, their noses practically touching as the rest of their fronts surely were pressed together.

"Hi!"

"Ruby when I can move my arms far enough, I'm smacking you,"

"But this makes staying in bed more fun, right?"

"...shut up, dolt,"

"Love you too, my Snow Princess…"

Four Years Later

The light she was opening her eyes to was… blinding. Weiss felt sick, sore, not a part of her didn't hurt and it was as if someone had taken a very literal hammer to her head and hadn't stopped. Her throat was dry, so dry that the hoarse groan that left her body felt like she was trying to vomit glass. She vaguely registered a beeping, steady and rhythmic, almost like a metronome… that was apparently speeding up.

It soon became clear that one of her eyes was obscurred, her vision that is. It also hurt like hell, not quite as bad as her head, but damn close. She tried to sit up, something that quickly became a painful endeavor, but eventually she was up in her seat as her eyes - no, eye, singular for the moment - began to focus on her surroundings. She sight that came into focus, the smell, the beeping sound…

Yup, she was in a hospital…

...wait, she was in a hospital?!

Images flashed through her head rapidly, barely on the edge of coherency, but it was enough to recall the order of events prior. The mission to an outlying city overrun with Grimm, the swarm that was called down upon professional Team RWBY, Weiss getting separated from Yang and Blake with her wife Ruby, a sniper shot going awry and contacting a tank of volatile dust, the explosion, the red blur as Ruby… as Ruby…

"Ruby!" she gasped out, despite it feeling as if she'd slit her own throat with the hoarseness of her throat, and quickly attempted to jump out of bed after ripping the heart monitor off her body, forcing a flatline that undoubtedly set off alarms on every floor (she was, after all, a Schnee).

Sadly it ended as she landed on the ground, collapsing onto her hands and knees as her body seemed to not to want to hold it's weight for the moment. That didn't stop Weiss though; she was many things, determined was one of them, certainly determined enough to force herself with a scream of pain to her feet, and force herself to keep walking forward to the door of what seemed a private room. Spilling forth into the hallway, Weiss could see the veritable fleet of emergency responders to her 'flatline' rushing her, many just as surprised that she seemed to be walking as they were to note she was not dying.

"Ruby! Where's Ruby!" she gasped painfully, forcing herself to keep standing, the wall as support. "I want to see my wife! Where is she!"

"Miss Schnee, please you shouldn't be up-"

"I will bury you and your entire family if you don't tell me where my Ruby is!" she hissed, venom on her every word as it dripped from her lips, tears pouring from her eyes at the pain of it all. "Where's my Ruby?!"

"Miss Schnee you need-" the orderly didn't even get a hand on her before he was slammed headlong into the wall, out cold.

Turns training with Blake in close quarters unarmed combat had paid off well. In this instance, perhaps too well for the nurses and orderlies; but one person in that hall was a properly trained Huntswoman, and she'd just knocked a man unconscious in an instant.

"I want my Ruby, tell me where she is! I need to know she's safe!" she managed, her words dulling in harshness as the pain and effort was getting to her. "Please! Please tell me she's safe! Th-There was an explosion a-and-please! I need to see her… I need…"

Whether the surge of adrenaline, or simply the sheer pain of it all, Weiss' willpower to keep herself standing couldn't cut it. She fell, forward, hard, set to hit the floor - the emergency responders would not make it the distance in time to catch her - but for a gust of wind the threatened to rip the paint off the walls, and Weiss' face finding itself nuzzled into the crook of a nape she knew by feel alone.

"Ruby…" she cooed, before the tears began to flow unrestrained, her body aching and her mind relieved after the fleeting recollection of the accident, managing to barely get her arms around her lover's waist. "Oh thank you… I love you Ruby, I love you I love you I love you so much…"

"I love you too, my Snow Princess," Ruby responded, an arm wrapping around the shorter Schnee, holding her tight, supporting her as well. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up…"

"How… long?"

"Luckily just two weeks, but it was a two weeks of wondering if you'd ever wake up at all," she responded, pulling her in just a little tighter. "Yang had to drag me away from your bed you know… and Blake… Penny too… I meant to be there when you woke up… I'm sorry…"

Ruby seemed to move them both at this point, gently coercing Weiss to step backward, back towards her room, likely back towards her bed. Now that Weiss knew her wife was alive, she wasn't exactly fighting being put back into bed; she felt worse than she'd ever felt in her entire life. It wasn't until she was finally nearly falling backwards into bed - Ruby's assistance keeping her from doing so - that she finally was able to look at Ruby and-

"Ruby? What happened to your-" her breath stopped, her words, and if she hadn't known better she'd say even her heart had frozen mid-beat at the sight of her lover's wounds.

She'd just seen her face at first, the right half covered almost entirely in gauze, eye included, currently soaking through with blood as a result of freshly re-opened wounds. It was likely the effort required for her semblance had reopened it, but it seemed as if she was bleeding from her eye… or as realization set in, where her right eye was.

But it was Ruby's right arm that caught her attention and had her frozen in surprise… rather, it was the complete absence of the limb that had so shocked her into silence and stillness.

"Your arm! Your eye!" she squeaked as Ruby shut off the incessant flatlining sound.

"Weiss-"

"You shielded me! Why did you do that?! Why did you do this for me?!" seemed her emotions had wrapped around back to anger on the rollercoaster she was soaring through at the moment, even as it only served to hurt her more to do so, and it seemed the coaster was not set to stop anytime soon. "I… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… you shouldn't-"

Rather than cut in with words, it seemed Ruby instead grabbed something from nearby and simply thwapped her on the side of her head with it instead. It was relatively soft, but the scent… once Weiss cleared her head with a shake she was able to confirm that the offending bludgeon was in fact-

"White roses…? Ruby-"

"Happy Birthday," Ruby said, moving to set the bouquet of a dozen white roses upon Weiss' lap as she lay in bed, before pulling the nearby chair up to have a seat right next to her. "It's so 'you' to wake up on your birthday, knock some poor orderly out, and get pissy with me for saving your life, you know that?"

This brought a familiar bristling back to the heiress, her eyes narrowing upon the… smiling face of her wife of five years.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Eh, maybe? Not too sure though, 'cause they have me on a lot of pain meds right now. Like a lot, seriously," Ruby responded, and indeed if Weiss looked carefully - which she did - it was clear her pupil was rather unfocused. "I am trying to mock you, at least a little, if that helps."

Growling hurt a little too much to do, so Weiss instead just settled for a piercing stare instead.

"Ah, don't make that face Weiss! I just want you to relax, and I know how hard that can be for you," she cooed, moving to take hold of Weiss' nearest hand, squeezing it gently. "Please… I honestly didn't know if you were going to wake up… I had two arms, and two eye… I only have one of you though…"

It was that goofy smile on Ruby's face, that damn, lazy smile from her wife hopped up on pain meds to deal with what must have been an excruciating amount of real and phantom pain that did it. Weiss tried not to break her composure again, she desperately tried not to cry… but soon enough she found herself buried into her wife's shoulder, fingers wrapped tightly into the back of her gown, the other hand entwined with both Ruby's remaining hand and the lower stems of the bouquet. The cries were loud, unrestrained and unfiltered as Weiss let all her pain physical and psychological out at once.

She wouldn't see it - Ruby made damn sure of that - but down one side of the taller, dark haired Schnee's cheek slid clear, salty tears, and down the other a slight trickle of blood from the reopened wound...

Six Years Later

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you… uh… 'everything' doesn't rhyme with that huh?"

"Really Ruby? You dolt..."

"Hey, it's true! Like, seriously, you're running the largest corporation in the world!" Ruby stated, a wide smile across her face, grinning practically ear to ear. "Our little girl could ask you for a country and you could make it happen!"

"Ruby-"

"I know I know, 'that would not be a responsible and politically-savvy thing to do,' bleh…"

"No, I was going to say that I don't want Summer growing up a spoiled little brat…"

"Like you?"

"...yes, like me… dolt."

"Love you, Snow Princess!"

Weiss sighed, shooting her wife a smile, meeting the crimson-clad woman's good eye with her own eyes, the left of course with the old scar going down it, and the series of several shrapnel scars going across the side of her face near it. The only physical reminder she kept from that accident six years ago, the one that left her lover with the right side of her face covered in a massive eyepatch, and whose right arm was a metallic machination courtesy of Atlas' very own Penny, using much of the same design as her own gynoid body. At least Ruby had adapted well; she treated her arm like a second Crescent Rose, modding it and turning it into 'a thing,' and the eye… well, she'd always used the sniper part of the sniper-scythe as a close-range tool anyway…

More importantly though, held within Weiss' arms was a small little bundle of the couple's utmost joy: a baby girl, pale in skin, rather dark in hair with the Schnee's ice-blue eyes. Unexpectedly to many - lest they read the news of course - were the dark wolf ears peeking out of the top of the child's hair, twitching ever so slightly as the young child slept in the arms of her mother…

"Isn't it cute how her ears twitch like that?" Ruby cooed, reaching down to gently stroke her daughter's ears, somehow managing to grin wider. "My little Summer Schnee… I think I might love her more than you Weiss."

"I'll try and temper my disappointment…" Weiss mumbled with the utmost sarcasm, the smile never leaving her face as she continued to hold her sleeping daughter, rocking her to sleep. "It's been four months and this is the most I've spent with her since the hospital…"

"Hey, don't start that now; we both have a lot on our plates Weiss," Ruby replied, her tone a tad stern as she put her cybernetic hand on the white-clad woman's shoulder. "Once you get Blake and those other guys into their roles, you'll have plenty of time to spend with Summer. Yang is happy to take care of her when we're away until then!"

"You fail to grasp how much that statement scares me,"

"Hey, Yang's great with kids!"

"That's what worries me… I don't want Summer to be disappointed in her own mother…" Weiss admitted, trying to keep a smile on her face as she looked down at her daughter's sleeping frame. "It's stupid I know…"

"...no, it's not… I still worry, and we've talked this all out, you know?" Ruby responded, shifting her gaze from Weiss to Summer. "I've been the 'younger' daughter all my life and haven't dealt with kids ever, I've got an arm that might scare her, and with my job as a Huntress… then there are those assholes calling her all sorts of names 'cause you used a Faunus donor… I swear one of these days I'm going to introduce them to Crescent Rose the hard way if they keep that shit-"

"Ruby!"

"Fine! I'll castrate one of those a-word-holes if they don't knock that s-word off, m'kay?" Ruby grunted, rolling her eye. "Stupid move or no, Summer isn't some political gimmick or sideshow attraction and I'll not have them treat her that way!"

"Relax, dolt! She'll wake up if you keep raising your voice!" Weiss accompanied her chiding comment with a gentle smack to Ruby's real arm, still keeping a smile on her face as she held her sleeping child. "Now let's drop this, please? It's my birthday and I want to spend it with you and Summer, please?

"...yeah, that's a good idea, sorry," she responded, still gently rubbing her daughter's ear, her smile growing again. "...I love you…"

"I love you too…"

"Hm? I was talking to Summer… guess I love you too Weiss,"

"You dolt!" Weiss laughed at her wife's joke as she swatted her playfully once more, both of them settling in as the night continued on, the bouquet of white roses resting next to the trio upon the side-table, beautiful and pristine as they ever were...

Twelve Years Later

The comm just wouldn't stop! Weiss was sick of it, sick of everything, sick of every goddamn thing! Trapped in her office, the place was a mess; papers were strewn about everywhere, Myrtenaster was driven to the hilt through the comm in her room, her scroll lay shattered into a million tiny pieces across the room from her seat, and Weiss herself sat in the middle of it, her hair a mess, face stricken with streaked makeup and tear stains.

Weiss Schnee was a wreck, truly and purely a complete mess. Rattled and unraveled, and currently more drunk than she'd ever been in her life, the head of Schnee Dust Company had spent the first half of the day attending a funeral, the second half was spent trying to forget… just about everything. She wanted to forget the funeral, the posthumous medals of service, the notification she'd gotten two days prior, and… and…

Tears somehow managed to squeeze themselves out again as her choked sobs continued once more, the CEO desperately clinging to the cloak of red she held in her arms, which hadn't left her arms for two days since they'd brought it back to her. It was the only thing they'd found of her, the only thing that was left; what got put in this day was a empty box, with neither Summer nor she having the chance to say goodbye, no closure, smiles, no anything…

"Damn't Ruby…" she slurred, sobbing some more. "I wan' my dolt back…"

She didn't stop sobbing even as the door to her office opened - she thought she'd locked it - and in strode the black-haired Faunus that was her Chief of Security, hair slicked back and dressed in the formalwear from the funeral earlier that day. Great, now she had to deal with this…

"Goh away!"

"Weiss, you can't keep-" Blake quickly caught the empty liquor bottle that was chucked her way, then the glass that followed it. "Weiss-"

"I shaid go away you fffuhcking cat!" Weiss spat, moving to stand and instantly wavering and falling onto her ass. "I'll fire you if yous dn't get fuckin' out of here!"

"No, you won't," Blake replied, crossing the room swiftly and yanking the Schnee to her feet, an arm over one shoulder to carry her out the door. "You're done drinking; you're going home, and Summer will be coming home tomorrow."

"Summer doesn't need to come home; Summer whan's Ruby! I want Rubes… I wan' my dolt… stupid dolt…" Weiss mumbled, not really able to put up any resistance in such an inebriated state. "...I'm gonna sick…"

Blake sighed and quickly hoisted Weiss up, carrying her quickly to the bathroom. Just in time too as the wretching started up right as she'd gotten her over the toilet, barely getting her hair out of the way before the liquor began to be forcefully expelled the way it'd come in. Neither said a word for quite some time as Weiss heaved what had to be five people's worth of liquor and stomach fluid into the porcelain bowl, and even then she still dry-heaved for several minutes, expelling bile. Blake would have chastised her recklessness if she'd been anyone else in any other situation… but truth be told, if she'd just lost Yang like that…

"All done?" she asked, her voice quiet as she rubbed Weiss' back to soothe her.

"Why did… why did she die?"

Blake had no answer for that, nobody did really…

"Ruby… she saved so many people, doing what she did…" was the best she could manage, even then she couldn't look at Weiss, even if Weiss couldn't see her with her head facing downwards.

"She didn't have to! She could have… have come back home! She could be holding our daughter, an' giving me kisses, an' my f-flowers… i's my birthday dammit, I had to bury her on my birthday! Stupid Ruby… stupid, inconsiderate… I want my Ruby ba-ack!"

Blake swallowed hard as she tried to force her own tears to keep from falling; she was upset, yes, but Weiss needed help, and not just for her either with a family she had to care for an a company to run, though the latter wasn't what Blake was keeping in mind. It would be nearly ten minutes before Weiss was stable and composed enough to get out of the bathroom and into the elevator, the private, personal one that only Weiss, Blake, and a select few could access. Blake was her friend and Chief of Security; Blake couldn't let everyone see her like… this…

As the elevator door opened, it would be a quick walk to Blake's secure vehicle, then it was simply a quick matter of taking her home, getting her into bed, and keeping an eye out until-

"Miss Schnee?"

"Uh oh," Blake grumbled under her breath as her bared ears perked up at the sound, coming from a young man in a courier outfit carrying-

"Whassat?" Weiss perked up, her eyes trying desperately to focus on the man, rather, what he was holding "...no… Blake le'go me! LET GO!"

Blake did as asked as Weiss started putting up an actual fight to get away from her, and by some miracle the CEO managed to stay upright, on her feet, and made her way to the courier to-

"You! Where did you get these?! Talk now!" the poor boy didn't know really what was going on as Weiss grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up into the air and off his feet. "TALK!"

"They're a delivery! Just a delivery! I don't know!" the man managed to get out between choking and fear at the far smaller woman. "They're just flowers-"

"THEY ARE NOT JUST FLOWERS!" Weiss bellowed back louder than her form would suggest she was capable of, before dropping the man to the ground roughly and instead snatching the bouquet of white roses he held from him, cradling them like she used to cradle her child when she was upset. "I-I's my birthday…"

Blake quickly intervened at this point, leaving Weiss alone long enough to ensure the courier - whose mere presence meant that someone wasn't going to have a job tomorrow - made it out quickly and quietly. When she returned, Weiss was… strangely focused, it would seem, and on a card no less. Curious, the cat watched a Weiss read it, slowly but surely in her drunken stupor, then at the very end she watched as Weiss' face twisted up once more, and somehow the floodgates of tears and crying were reopened anew, and with a gusto previously unforeseen. Moving to comfort her, Blake was also able to read the sizable card, and instantly recognized the writing too:

To Weiss (aka. My Snow Princess),

If you're receiving this card, it means that for one reason or another, I'm no longer there. Probably didn't come back from one of my missions, I'd imagine. You're probably wondering then why you're reading this on your birthday then, and the reason? Because a promise is a promise, and I made you one back when we first started dating, right?

You know me, not really good on all this flowery talky stuff, but I plan to keep my promise to you. The company that breeds the white roses I got I've paid a LOT to keep producing those flowers, and every year you'll get the same bouquet that I'd have given you, and if you don't, well, knowing you that company won't exist anymore, yeah.

I know you'll miss me, you and Summer both, but I trust you Weiss, and I know you'll pull through, and you'll raise Summer right, and you'll both be happy. Just make sure you keep training her, and if they couldn't recover it, well, I left the specs for Crescent Rose on my backup scroll, so Summer can try and build her own version!

Anyway, I know this will sound weird, but I hope I won't see you soon, 'cause you know, that'd mean you didn't live that much longer, but one day I'll see you, that's another promise I intend to keep!

...really not sure how to end this, but I love you, my Snow Princess, always have, always will…

Ruby Rose-Schnee (aka. Your Dolt!)

PS: Happy Birthday! (please be happy, for me?)

Even Blake couldn't keep her eyes dry of tears after reading through the handwritten card… but she at least kept it quiet as she held the elder Schnee tightly...

Twenty Years Later

"RUBY! RUBY SCHNEE! Honestly, that little pup…" Weiss grumbled as she made her way through the backyard of her estate. "I am far too old for searches and this nonsense. Where did that granddaughter of mine run off to…?"

Bundled up and clad in the ruby-red cloak she'd worn more often than not for for the last twenty years, the aging Schnee Matriarch was searching high and low for the young wolf-faunus that was her granddaughter, who'd decided to run off into the hedge-maze behind her estate. She had an idea of course, but she didn't want to assume. Still, her hunch was what led her to the centerpiece of the maze, the middle portion visible from her window…

And wouldn't you know it?

"Ruby Schnee, there you are!" Weiss huffed, sighed, then brought up a smile that really dug into her smile-lines laden upon her face. "You know better than to run off without telling your mother where you're going…"

The young 5-year-old girl didn't really respond however; Ruby had always been rather difficult to 'distract' from something she was really focused on. In this case, it was a statue Weiss had had crafted from marble and laden with ruby gemstones as appropriate…

"Granny Weiss, that's Granny Ruby, right?" Ruby asked, finally turning her head, her short white hair and wolf ears flitting, her eyes wide and blue, just like every Schnee's. "How come she has the same name as me?"

Weiss chuckled; children always amused her with how they were so idiocentric. Why was Ruby Rose-Schnee have the same name as her granddaughter? Ah… it was the little things…

"Because your mother wants you to grow up to be big, strong, and talented, just like Granny Ruby," Weiss told the young wolf, moving up behind her and looking up at the face of Ruby, an image of when the crimson huntress was in her prime, eyepatch, cybernetic arm, and of course her third love of her life: Crescent Rose. "Granny Ruby was a hero a long time ago… you know what a hero is, right?"

Ruby nodded, still looking up at the scythe-wielding statue pensively, then glancing up towards Weiss, curiosity on her face. Weiss sword the girl was far too precocious… reminded her a bit too much of herself.

"Where is Granny Ruby? I haven't seen her ever," she asked, and for a moment Weiss' smile flickered, knowing this question would be asked, but she still didn't like answering it…

"Granny Ruby is… somewhere really far away…" she said, softly, knowing that the Faunus would hear her just fine. "She went out on a mission one day to fight some nasty Grimm, but she never came home."

"Why not? Does she not like home?"

"Oh no sweetie, she loved home, more than anything… but sometimes…" Weiss stopped herself, not sure that telling the young girl that 'sometimes heroes can't come home' was the best idea. "...sometimes heroes have to do things that keep them away from home for a really long."

"And that's what Granny Ruby is doing?" she asked, looking back up at the image of Ruby Rose-Schnee. "She's on a really long mission?"

"Yes… yes she is…"

"Will you have to go on a mission too? Momma said you were a hero too…"

"No… not for a long time, but maybe one day," she said, her smile shrinking slightly. "But your mother is wrong: I'm not a hero Ruby, I'm just an old lady…"

There was a moment's pause, then the young girl was jumping forward, off the statue and right at Weiss. Luckily Weiss caught her, though it wasn't without a groan of effort; sure she kept up with her training best she could, but she was still a woman in her early 60s. Healthy as a horse, but age still got to the best of them…

"Ugh, Ruby Schnee what have I told you about that?"

"But you caught me Granny! Means you saved me, right?" Ruby stated with a smile that truly gave Weiss the greatest sense of deja vu every time she saw it. "If you save someone, that makes you a hero, right? Means you're my hero Granny Weiss!"

Weiss couldn't help but laugh a good, healthy, deep laughter as she moved to muss her granddaughter's hair. Those wolf ears sprang back up the very next moment as Ruby laughed happily with her grandmother, a sight that was rather common when the two were together.

As the rumbling laughter slowed in Weiss' chest, a glance out of the corner of her eye revealed a small bouquet of white roses…

"Ruby Schnee, did you get my roses for me from the mailman?" Weiss asked, carrying the small girl with her over to the bouquet, a small glyph gently lifting them from the ground into her hand, which she held much like she held Ruby. "I have been waiting all day for those!"

"Yeah! He said they were for your happy birthday Granny Weiss!" Ruby answered, pouting a little bit. "I don't want flowers for my birthday; I want one of those things Granny Ruby has in her hands! It looks neat!"

Weiss paused at that, before chuckling again, bouncing the Faunus girl slightly with her hip.

"You are such a dolt, Ruby…" she whispered, this time forgetting that the young girl had exceptional hearing, turning as the girl cocked her head in curiosity.

"What's a 'dolt'?"

"...you know what, I'm not sure… but if you run along back to your mother, I'm sure she knows exactly what a dolt is," and that was that as the precocious little Faunus broke free of Weiss' grasp and darted back into the maze, which worried Weiss little as it was apparent the 5 year old knew how to navigate the maze easily (apparently). "...sometimes I don't know if you take after myself or your grandmother, little pup…"

Left with just the bouquet of roses and the statue of her former lover, Weiss looked up upon the latter and met the face of the woman she still loved. The red cloak she wore fluttered in the wind as she stared up at her, suddenly feeling even older, what with the lines on her face, the sides of her eyes, and the glasses upon her face…

"...she's definitely smarter than you were, you know. Summer was too, she definitely took after me more, and from your mother, from what you and Yang told me. I think Ruby is going to be a little weapon's nerd like you, Schnee semblance though, so maybe she'll be a little less spastic…

"...guess I am a hero, aren't I? I didn't think I'd make it here without you...but here I am, grandchildren and all… you better be waiting for me Ruby Rose, because if I have to look for you like that time in the hospital when you were twenty-two, I'm going to beat your ass, you dolt…"

"Hmph… but a promise is a promise, so you'll be waiting a while…" Weiss finished, blowing the statue of her love a kiss, then turning to make her way back through the maze to rejoin her birthday celebration with her family...

Fifty-Five Years Later

Ruby Schnee wasn't terribly sure why she figured her grandmother - the oldest woman in all of Remnant - was all the way out here… but she long ago learned to go with her instincts. Sixty years young, Ruby found it funny that she should be going completely grey at this point, and yet she'd been born with the hair of a Arctic Fox, or as it was more easily recognized: the hair of a Schnee. White cloak billowing about the aging woman, Ruby made her way through the trees towards the cliffside.

And wouldn't you know it?

"Granny Weiss…" Ruby called out, seeing her grandmother kneeling before the two tombstones of the Rose family on the cliffside, her cloak fluttering about her as the wind blew…

More interesting however was the mass of flowers behind Weiss: a slew of white roses, all bundled into groupings of a dozen, and with a quick scan… it seemed that there were at least one-hundred of those bouquets. The sight was… it was beautiful, but something about the flowers… as Ruby looked closer, kneeling down to examine them:

"Preserved?" Ruby commented, feeling a waxy texture to the rose petals. "Wow… this is the best preservation I've ever seen…"

And then it clicked with Ruby as she found one right in the center, one bouquet of a dozen roses that was not preserved, and remembered the one present her grandmother had received for every birthday she'd been at…

"Granny Weiss?" she called out again, standing once more and moving up behind her centenarian grandmother and the Schnee Matriarch. "Granny?"

She moved around to the side of her, seeing the form of Weiss Schnee down on one knee, both hands upon her blade Myrtenaster as it was pressed point-down upon a stone, uncracking. Even with the hood of the red cloak up, Ruby could see the smile on Weiss' face…

...but she couldn't see her breathing…

Yet Ruby Schnee didn't feel sad, not really; Ruby had always felt closer to her grandmother than to her own mother in many ways, and they got along famously. Somehow… she understood… she couldn't really put a finger on it, but it was like how she thought to find Weiss here of all places. Kneeling down, Ruby placed a soft kiss on the top of Weiss' cloaked head, smiling for a moment before looking to the tombstone of her other grandmother.

"I hope you were waiting for her; Granny Weiss had a thing about punctuality, but I bet you knew that better than anyone, right Ruby?" Ruby said, standing the next moment and pulling her own cloak-hood over her head. "I hope you found mother too; Weiss always said 'that dolt would find both Summers out there if it killed her twice'...

"Happy Birthday, Granny Weiss," she finally said, turning and heading back towards the forest edge, pulling her scroll out to make the phonecalls necessary to get the funeral planning underway…

...then, with a smirk, she put her scroll away, and in a flourish brandished her sniper-scythe - christened 'White Rose' at her grandmother's suggestion - and in one fell swoop severed the petals from the hundred-dozen bouquets, her glyph catching the petals and carrying them past Weiss and the tombstones, up into the sky where the petals were carried by the wind into a heart-shaped pattern before dispersing into the natural wind, being carried off to heavens-knew-where.

Ruby Schnee turned back once more as she sheathed White Rose at her back, and this time did make her way to the forest's edge to make the necessary arrangements.

Two days later, there would be a third grave upon that cliffside, and the rest of the area would be filled with white roses freshly planted, well over a hundred different plants...

Ninety-Nine Years Earlier

"You dolt!"

"Ahshe'sscreamingagain!"

"Ruby Rose!"

"Okaysorry!"

"Ugh, you are so frustrating! Really, you spew a bunch of… semi-coherent gibberish then rush out of here like that! Didn't even wait for me to give you an answer!"

"Uh-"

"Silence! Where do you plan to take me?"

"...huh?"

"I said: where do you plan to take me?"

"...huh?"

"Oh you-you said you wanted to take me to dinner, dessert, and movies, didn't you? So where did you plan to take me?"

"..."

"Ruby!"

"Sorry! I just… I didn't think you'd say yes! I mean, I couldn't even get you the present I wanted to get you!"

"What are you talking about? The roses were lovely!"

"Y-Yeah I know! But I wanted to get you a hundred-dozen white roses! Like a whole lot! Then I was going to put them all into a little heart shape somewhere and show them to you, ask you out, then we'd go out, you'd be, you know…"

"...that… actually would have been rather… delightful."

"I know! But those white roses are really expensive! Not sure why a flower is expensive but whatever…"

"Well, expensive or no, they are still lovely… I've always preferred white lilies though, for future reference,"

"Yeah, but my name isn't 'Ruby Lily' so…"

"...oh… OH! That… that is surprisingly thoughtful Ruby! You… thought this out quite a bit didn't you?"

"Yes! Everything except how much it would cost, guuuhh…"

"W-Well, nothing says you can't do it some other time, dolt!"

"...does this mean we're girlfriends?"

"No! Girlfriends date… and you haven't taken me on one, dolt!"

"...so… that means-"

"Ruby just take me on a date already!"

"S-Sure! Alright! I'll, uh, think of something! Not cookies either, promise! And I promise that you'll get those hundred-dozen white roses even if I have to buy them one at a time!"

"Hmph, I'll be amazed if you remember to do that, scatterbrained as you are!"

"I promise, girlfriend-to-be!"

"Just go plan out my birthday dinner-date already!"

The End

AN: I hope you liked it… and if you did, I might have some more RWBY work in the future planned. I've always wanted to explore Monochrome, Freezerburn, and Whiterose… also whatever Ruby/Winter is called now… also Velvet/Weiss… we'll see which happens first. Until next time…

A.W.R. II