As her chartered air ship sped over the water that separated Atlas from Vale, Ruby glanced at her scroll. The numbers flashed back at her touch, indicating it was shortly before four in the afternoon. Well good. She'll be out from her meetings soon, Ruby thought to herself. Pausing in her thoughts for a second, she pulled up the messaging function of her scroll. Swiping down to W, Ruby sent off a quick message to Weiss.

"I'm on my way to Atlas now. I will be arriving in about ten minutes. Meet me at the coffee shop near your office? –Ruby"

After making sure her message was sent, Ruby pocketed her scroll, in turn focusing her attention to her weapon at her side. The young huntress gave her prized sniper scythe another look over. The hour she spent in the workshop in Yang's basement allowed Ruby to give Crescent Rose a much needed tune up. The chambering mechanism was sticking ever so slightly and it seemed like the magazine seemed to catch every once in a while. Ruby sighed, disappointed she had let Crescent Rose fall into such a disarray. Making promises to herself to take better care of her weapon, Ruby's scroll buzzed. The redhead pulled her scroll out again, glancing at the screen.

"Of course. I just have a few things to take care of and I'll be right there. I will see you then."

Ruby looked out the window of the airship, remembering how the tall Atlesian business skyscrapers were so vastly different than the villages she was helping protect out in Mistral. As the airship made its drop down to the landing pad, Ruby secured her scroll and stood up. Making sure Crescent Rose was secure on her back; Ruby braced herself as the airship touched down.

"Well, might as well get this over with," Ruby said quietly to herself, stepping out into the cool sunlight of Atlas, setting out for the coffee shop.

Weiss hit 'send' for her response to Ruby's message. In truth, she didn't have anything super important to deal with at the moment. Sure, there's some important investors waiting on the results of the newest Dust particle accelerator, but they've waited a few years already, what's an extra day? Weiss thought to herself. Resolving to respond to a few pressing emails, Weiss sat at her large mahogany desk. Giving the mouse to her computer a shake, the large screen that sat to her side woke up. The screensaver of the SDC logo bouncing from border to border gave way to a picture of Weiss and the rest of team RWBY.

It was the night of the engagement party, after all the guests had gone home. The four girls were gathered around one side of the table, Yang holding the camera at arm's length, capturing everyone's happy faces. Blake giving her new fiancée a kiss on the cheek, Ruby up next to Weiss, squeezing up closely to fit within the picture's small frame. Something within Weiss fluttered as she remembered the feeling of Ruby right at her side, the slight smell of strawberries flooding her memories. White hair fluttered about her face as Weiss shook her head, bringing herself back to the present.

"Now is not the time to be reminiscing. There's business at hand," Weiss announced to no one in particular. Collecting her scroll and coat, Weiss left her office, closing the door and locking it behind her. Stepping outside of the SDC headquarters brought on a chill even worse than the morning. Weiss simply pulled the coat around her shoulders a little tighter as she watched people shiver, running to and fro to stay warm. If her semblance gave her anything, Weiss was glad it was the tolerance for cold. It wasn't always this cold in Atlas around this time of year, but then again, when did the weather ever cooperate for Weiss.

Weiss walked down the sidewalk towards the coffee house. It was only a couple of blocks from her office, so she told her security team at the front door to stay behind. She didn't think anyone would come after her in the middle of the street at this time of the day. There would be far too many witnesses and soon, she'd have one of the strongest huntresses backing her up. Not to mention the comfort that Myrtenaster gave her at her side.

But even with all this in mind, Weiss still took the occasional look over her shoulder as she walked down the sidewalk. She'd have been lying to herself if she said that the attack didn't bother her. On her way back to Atlas that morning, she had been going over the last couple of months trying to figure out what she might have done that would have provoked such a reaction.

Sure, there's always my family name, that's always been cause for such actions, Weiss thought, passing by a young couple sitting on a bench, holding hands. Maybe someone's unhappy with the new precedent I've set for the Faunus. No… I don't think that would be it. People seemed pretty happy once that took effect. Weiss let out a small sigh in frustration, looking up at the sign hanging over her head.

Jasmine's Coffee House

Serving Atlas with the a Bright Smile

OPEN

Weiss smiled a little. She often frequented the small store on the long nights she spent at the office. It might not have the fancy names as those other chain coffee shops, but it certainly had the family-friendly environment Weiss longed for since she was a small child. Pushing the door open, Weiss stepped inside the small building, the scent of coffee beans hitting her like a wall.

The first thing Weiss noticed was how packed the place was. It's never this busy, even during the rush hours in the morning, Weiss thought, walking to the small line at the register. Weiss watched as the owner Jasmine, a rabbit Faunus, took the orders, calling them out to a clearly stressed out teenager running back and forth, filling them as fast as she could. After a few minutes of waiting in line, Weiss stepped up to the counter, a small smile on face.

Without looking up from the cash drawer as she sorted a few Lien, Jasmine recited the greeting Weiss had already heard several times since coming in. "Welcome to Jasmine's Coffee House, where we serve every custo- Oh! Hello Weiss!" Jasmine exclaimed, finally looking up and recognizing one of her favorite customers. Weiss gave her a bigger smile, "Hello Jasmine. You seem awfully busy today."

"Yes, there was a huge crowd that came in about twenty, no, thirty minutes ago," the owner responded, glancing at the clock. "What can I get for you Weiss?"

"Two coffees, please," Weiss paused for a moment, "One with five sugars and one cream." Weiss handed over the Lien as Jasmine called out her order to the teenager working the machines behind the counter, nearly at wit's end. Weiss frowned a little, before reaching into her bag again.

"Here, you both are working hard. The two of you deserve something for it," Weiss said, handing Jasmine the Lien, designated as a tip. Jasmine quickly counted the money, eyes going wide.

"Weiss! This isn't necessary, it's far more than even the cost of the coffee," Jasmine said, hands shaking slightly at the generous amount of Lien.

Weiss simply smiled as the teen brought up two cups of coffee, "Just make sure to keep up the good work and to split that evenly." Weiss nodded her thanks to the young girl who handed her the order, making her way to a small table in the back of the store by a window. She watched quietly as Jasmine gave the teen half the tip, who lit up with big eyes. The two women behind the counter smiled to each other, spirits rejuvenated as another crowd made its way into the store.

Weiss pulled out her scroll as she took a sip of coffee. Pulling up a local news article on a website, Weiss read silently for a little while, always looking up every so often for a glimpse of red. After a few minutes of reading, the small bell of the front door rang out, pulling Weiss' attention from the screen. "Ruby," Weiss said quietly, her heart fluttering a little. Ruby gave the store a quick scan, finding Weiss at the back. Weiss swallowed hard, setting her scroll down as Ruby walked to her.

As Ruby took her seat opposite Weiss, she spoke up quietly. "It's nice to see you again, Weiss. You know, when it's not two in the morning." She picked up her coffee, taking a long drink.

"Five sugars and one cream, right? I hope your coffee tastes haven't changed too much," Weiss said. Ruby gave a small nod as she set the cup down.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've had a cup of coffee this good. I don't always get time out in the field," the redhead responded, taking a glance around the room. "How've you been Weiss?"

"Well other than being attacked in my own house, fairly well. The company has been quite busy lately which means I've been busy. I've already apologized to Blake and Yang since they decided to postpone their wedding due to these… circumstances," Weiss said, frowning a little. "And I'm sorry that I drug you away from helping those people."

Ruby waved her hand, dismissing Weiss' concerns. "Don't worry about them. I talked to Yang on my way home. She said they completely understand and were more than willing to help you," Ruby said. "Do you have somewhere private we can discuss what happened? I don't want anyone listening in on what happened."

Weiss nodded, "Sure, we can go back to my office or my house. It should be cleaned up by now."

"Why don't we go to your house? I'd like to look around if it's ok with you," the huntress said, knocking back the last of her coffee. Weiss followed suit, standing with scroll in hand, calling for a driver. "I'll have someone come pick us up."

Ruby stood up, readjusting the weapon at her back. The two made their way toward the front door when a voice shouted after them, "Wait!"

Weiss and Ruby both stopped, looking back towards the source of the shout. Weiss smiled a little as the young teen stepped out from behind the counter, running up to her.

The young girl held out her hand, shaking Weiss' hand when she held up her own. "I just wanted to thank you myself for what you did before," the teen said, a huge grin on her face. "That was very generous of you."

Weiss' smile grew, nodding, "What's your name again?"

"Carmine."

Weiss shook her hand, "Well Carmine, thank you for the coffee. You and Jasmine keep up the hard work. I do enjoy this place," the white haired woman said.

"Will do, thank you again Weiss," Carmine said, before hurrying back to her post behind the counter. Weiss turned to walk out the door, pulling it open to allow Ruby to exit. Following her, Weiss stepped out onto the sidewalk, watching as her company's car pulled up the curb. The driver came to a stop, quickly stepping out of the car to open the back door for Weiss. Weiss stepped inside and Ruby followed behind her. Door shut and back behind the wheel, the driver looked back.

"Where to ma'am?"

"Back to my house, thank you Edward."

The driver gave a brief nod before turning his attention back forward. Ruby looked over at Weiss, a look of confusion on her face. "What was that back in the coffeehouse?"

Weiss looked past Ruby at the front door of the coffee shop, following it with her eyes as it slowly disappeared behind the window, pulling her to look at Ruby. "Oh, just someone who was grateful I suppose."

On their way out of the bustling city, the two made idle small talk, neither really wanting to say much until they arrived at the house. When they finally arrived, Weiss led Ruby through the house. Starting from the front door and leading into the kitchen, Weiss recounted the attack on her life. Ruby was mostly quiet, listening intently, taking in details. She's become so much more serious since I last saw her, Weiss thought as they moved upstairs to the bedroom.

After they had finished the short tour, Ruby excused herself to scout out the rest of the house. She had wanted to make sure nothing was left behind that the police might have missed. This left Weiss by herself in the kitchen, sitting at the table. She would have been lying if she had said the meetings all afternoon weren't exhausting and the one cup of coffee she had wasn't helping any.

Eventually giving up, she got up and set out to make herself more coffee. As the machine worked at making her drink, Weiss listened quietly as she noted Ruby's footsteps move from room to room. After several minutes, Ruby made her way back downstairs and sat opposite Weiss.

"I didn't find anything so I'd say the house is safe," Ruby said, looking at Weiss as she sipped from her mug, "But I wouldn't stay here if I were you."

Setting down the mug, Weiss responded, "Well the only other place I'd feel safe would be at Yang's and I don't want to intrude on them anymore than I have to."

Ruby nodded, thinking for a minute. "Well, then I guess I could stay here while we figure out who these people are. It'll be just like old times." Ruby gave a small laugh that seemed a little too forced for Weiss' taste.

"I suppose it is. Feel free to take any of the guest rooms upstairs." Ruby gave her a small nod, not moving to take her bag upstairs. Weiss spoke up again, "I do want to thank you Ruby. I don't know that I could do this by myself."

"It's okay, Weiss. I'd do the same if it were anyone else," the redhead said, a small smile on her face. "I guess this gives a chance to catch up, huh? How've you been?"

"Well, I've been pretty busy with some Dust technology that has a lot of people excited. But it comes with the job after all. Have you made much progress with that village in Mistral?"

Ruby sighed, "Not much. For some reason, the Grimm there seems to replenish whatever we take out. Lately there's been fewer, but not nearly enough for my tastes." Ruby was quiet for a while before talking again, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I almost forgot what it's like to just be able to relax. It's been a long time."

Weiss frowned, the thought on Ruby's mind the same as hers. She knew the last time Ruby had left the field was for Blake and Yang's engagement party. She had talked about losing a hunter in the field. She hadn't said anything at the time, but Weiss knew it weighed heavily on her mind.

The two sat in silence for a while, both unsure of what to say. Finally, Weiss spoke up. "How have you been doing yourself Ruby? I'm sure that much responsibility can be tough. And we haven't really talked since, well…" Weiss trailed off, not wanting to bring up what had happened between the two.

Ruby's eyes snapped up from where they were looking at the table. Silver eyes glared into light blue eyes. "I've been fine."

Weiss recoiled a bit at the sudden change in demeanor from the younger girl. "I'm sorry, I just got so busy after you left, I didn't have much time to myself."

Ruby only shook her head, "Blake and Yang made time to call. Even JNPR had made it out once to visit and help out. You were the only one from school who hadn't tried to contact me while I was out in Mistral."

Weiss looked down at her mug, on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry. I just- I couldn't bring myself to call you after our last talk. It was just… Too hard."

"Too hard? What do you mean 'too hard'? You've been here in Atlas, living the fancy CEO life! Fancy clothes and fancy food, all while I was sleeping in tents and fighting the Grimm?!" Ruby was yelling at this point. Ruby could hear quiet cries across from her, so she lowered her voice. "You don't think it was hard hearing about how successful and happy you were when I still love you?"

Weiss looked up suddenly, tears streaking down her face. "Y-you what?"

"Weiss, I still love you. Well, at least part of me does. But I still haven't forgiven you, not after the last time." Ruby stood up, making her way to the front door, grabbing her belongings on the way. "I'll make sure someone is sent here to guard the place. Just in case someone decides to try something." Weiss called out something to Ruby; she thought she asked her to stay. Being on the verge of tears told the young huntress that she had better leave now. Closing the door behind her as Weiss yelled out a desperate plea for Ruby to stay and talk, Ruby took off back towards Atlas, as fast her semblance and legs could carry her.

(the night of the engagement party, three months after graduation)

It was after everyone had left and the movie the two women were watching had long since finished. Ruby was sleeping, curled into Weiss' side. Not that Weiss minded any bit. She knew that Ruby had to have been exhausted. She had been on week long missions while at Beacon for tests. She could only imagine what a couple months would do to someone.

Weiss looked down to the sleeping huntress as she slept with a small smile on her face. Of course the day was all about Blake and Yang, but Weiss had to tell someone that she was going to be taking the CEO position soon. She debated long and hard about waking the redhead, to tell her the good news but decided that the poor girl needed some good rest. Instead, Weiss opted to join her. Resting her own head a top Ruby's, Weiss closed her eyes and nodded off to sleep.

The next morning, Weiss awoke in a bed and not the couch she remembered falling asleep on. The sun was filtering through the blinds covering the windows, illuminating the bedroom. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could just make out the form of Ruby gathering up her things. Looking to her side, Weiss saw that the covers had been pulled aside on the opposite side of the bed.

"How exactly did we get to this bed? I'm pretty sure we were on the couch last night."

Ruby looked back at Weiss, smiling. "Yeah, you looked a little uncomfortable when I woke up in the middle of the night. So I picked you up and took you in here." Ruby shouldered the small satchel bag that she carried since becoming a full-fledged huntress. It held a few personal items as well as some special ammo magazines gifted to her from Weiss.

Weiss sighed, watching Ruby as she finished collecting her stuff. "Ruby, are you absolutely sure you can't stay? I uh, I'm taking the CEO position." Ruby looked over at her and smiled. Weiss continued, "You wouldn't have to keep working, you could stay with me and do whatever you wanted! You could work on all the weapons you wanted. Stay with me Ruby."

Ruby frowned, "That's great and all Weiss, but you know I've wanted to do this since before Beacon. I want to help people; it's all I've ever wanted to do."

"Ruby, I love you. All I want to do is protect you," Weiss said.

Ruby let out a short laugh, "Weiss, I'm a licensed huntress! What could possibly happen?"

"I just, I just don't want to see what happened to your mother happen to you. She was a huntress too, far longer than you have been."

The redhead's jaw dropped, "H-how dare you bring her up like that? Weiss, I can't believe you would do that." Tears were building at the edge of her eyes.

Weiss stood up out of the bed, moving towards Ruby to embrace her. "I'm sorry Ruby, I'm sorry."

"Don't bother, Weiss," holding up a hand to stop the white haired girl, clearly upset with herself. "Just... Don't." Ruby turned and walked out the bedroom, Weiss quickly following, begging her to stay. As Ruby grabbed the knob on the front door, Weiss reached out for Ruby's other hand.

"Please Ruby, please stay. I'm sorry!" Ruby pulled her hand out of her grip.

"No Weiss, you crossed a line you can't just walk back over," she said quietly, then turned and opened the door. Walking out the door, Ruby called back over her shoulder, "Goodbye Weiss," and shut the door.

Weiss fell to her knees, crying freely now. A single rose petal lay on the ground in front of her. Weiss picked it up and held it close. A noise behind her made Weiss turn and see Blake and Yang in their pajamas standing in the room. Blake kept her calm and collected demeanor while Yang had one that struck fear into Weiss' heart.

Yang spoke first, "What did you do?!"

A/N: Hey everyone! I finally wrote a longer chapter for those who requested it. So Ruby and Weiss finally had a real conversation. I know people wanted it so I thought I'd get it out sooner than later. Leave a review on what you think! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up some time this week. I should also make note, thanks to my roommate for editing chapter 4. My regular editor AWriter93 is back for this one.