Rosa Alio Nomine

The blessed gift of Spring Break had finally arrived, and for that Weiss was immeasurably grateful. The last two weeks had been a roller coaster of emotions and stress. Ruby came out as gay and confessed to the Heiress in the same breath, and the Heiress's heart still ached for the poor girl for that. Add to that stress all of the end of term tests and frantic study sessions, the white haired huntress in training was, in a word, exhausted.

Beacon's Spring Break lasted two weeks, and team RWBY had plans to take a brief trip to a beach at some point to properly relax, but before they could even get started on that Weiss had decided to wake up early on the day before they were to leave to just enjoy some quite time to herself. It was Sunday, technically the day before Spring Break, at about nine in the morning. The rest of team RWBY had decided to sleep in a few extra hours, grateful that even Ruby had opted to put away the whistle in favor of rest. Weiss dressed herself quietly in sweat pants, a track jacket, and a pair of running shoes upon her feet; it was a beautiful day for a run. Pocketing her wallet and scroll, she paused at the door to turn back and have a glance at the sleeping Ruby.

"Hnn...ahhhh," the adorably leader muttered in her sleep as she rolled over, finding a new comfortable position. Weiss couldn't help but smile. Rest well, BFF, she thought to herself before turning and leaving the room as quietly as she could.

Retrieving her scroll from her pocket, she donned a pair of wireless ear buds and began sliding through a collection of music. As an aside, it is worth noting that because each of the four girls' scrolls were connected together wirelessly, one could share their music library to anyone on that connection. As such, Weiss stared curiously at the four playlists that were listed. Her selection was embedded into her memory, but it also mostly consisted of classical compositions. She chuckled to herself upon looking over Blake's music, which was almost identical to her own but with the inclusion of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Yang's music was a loud and obnoxious mix of excessive bass lines and electronica, much to the heiress's displeasure.

Weiss almost ignored Ruby's playlist outright, fearing her sister's influence may have been too strong, but opted to at least glance at it out of curiosity. "Hmm," the heiress said aloud unintentionally as she scrolled through the music. Alot of it was various styles of rock; classic, hard, contemporary and the like. Shrugging, she made a bold move; she hit random and shuffle on Ruby's collection. The Missing Frame by a band called AFI started playing. The build up from the drums and eventual inclusion of the distorted guitar and excellent vocals caught Weiss's attention, and she decided it wasn't so bad. She smiled and began to bob her head to the beat. I could get used to this, she thought.

All while she was making her decision she'd been walking through the dorm. She finally made it to the front lobby as she pocketed her scroll. She made sure her track jacket was properly zipped and that her ponytail was tied up tightly before inhaling deeply, preparing for her morning exercise. She glanced over at the lounge area, where she and Yang had held their conversation those two weeks ago, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why are there so many people standing by the windows? she thought. With her ear buds in and AFI playing she couldn't hear them, but simply thought it must have been a prank and something similar being performed in the courtyard outside. Ignoring it, she stepped through the doors.

What she saw made her sick to her stomach.

Poster boards and signs had been posted all around her dorm building. Each one had a crude and insulting image of Ruby painted on it, and no two shared the same image. Some showed Ruby as some hideous caricature, some had Ruby wearing a rainbow colored cloak, and worst still were the ones depicting Ruby performing sexual acts with other, non descript female individuals. Someone was responsible for this, and Weiss wasn't going to allow Ruby to see any of it. She needed to find out who, and she needed to dispose of the signs as quickly as she could.

Then she heard the laughter. It was barely audible through her ear buds, but it was a unique laugh, one that could belong to only a single person. She turned to see Cardin Winchester and his team standing nearby, carrying small hammers and their clothes stained with various paint colors. Good, she thought. Cardin spotted her and stood defiantly, speaking to her with confidence. Weiss couldn't hear a word of it though. She was too pissed. She retrieved her scroll from her pocket and sent a message to Yang; About to kill Cardin. Keep Ruby in the dorm. -W.

She didn't wait for the response. She tossed her scroll to the ground in anger, causing the music app to randomly shuffle the music playing in her ears.

BEEP~!

"HE~~~Y MISS MURDER CAN I?"

Weiss charged at the four boys, screaming incoherently as she went, and clocked Cardin in the jaw with a wild punch. The students from the dorm's lobby started cheering and chanting Weiss's name as she drew blood, breaking a nose here, a finger there. At one point she even kicked Cardin in the manhood. She lost track of the time, and didn't pay attention to her surroundings as she went, her rage overpowering her sense of reason.

It took three instructors, including Mrs. Goodwitch, to pry the white haired heiress off of Cardin and his friends.

Thirty minutes passed, and Weiss found herself sitting in the waiting room outside of Ozpin's office. Cardin and his team were already inside being lectured. Weiss was still angry, to the point of fighting back tears. Her right eye was black and her lip was bloodied, but she didn't feel the pain of the bruises. Even the blisters and bloodied scabs on her knuckles didn't hurt. As she sat there thinking, the reality of what had transpired began to sink in. What if I get expelled? she thought. The dread of that possibility set in. How would I explain that to father? Oh, hey dad, I got kicked out of school for beating up my friend's bullies. Oh, they just made fun of her for being gay is all! She shook her head.

"Weiss!" came the frantic voice of her best friend as she ran into the lobby. The smaller girl practically leapt into Weiss's torso, and that's precisely when the heiress felt her bruises for the first time.

"Oof! Ruby, you dolt, that hurt!" she cried.

"Ah! Sorry! I'm so sorry! What happened?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it."

Ruby frowned. "Yang saw you from our window. She shut the blinds and wouldn't tell me why. Please, Weiss, what happened?"

Weiss shook her head. "I...might be going home." She smiled a sad smile. "Maybe it was worth it, though. I beat some sense into Cardin. Or, at the very least, I beat on Cardin. I'm okay with either."

"I don't understand, though. Yeah, he's a jerk and definitely deserves to be brought down a few pegs, but I've never seen you do something like this. Technically, I still haven't. What did he do?"

Weiss placed a hand onto Ruby's cheek with a smile. "All you need to know, is that I'm your best friend, and I will do anything to protect you. Anything."

The door to Ozpin's office opened, and the four memebers of CRDL exited slowly. If Weiss was a mess, then these boys looked like hell. Black eyes, bloodied noses, missing clumps of hair where Weiss had pulled on it, and Cardin walked with a noticeable limp as he covered his crotch with a hand in pain. At that, Weiss couldn't help but smile. "Wow," Ruby said. "I don't know if I should be impressed or terrified."

Weiss giggled quietly so as to not let Ozpin hear her through the open door. "It can be both," she said teasingly.

Ozpin appeared in the doorway. There wasn't a trace of jovialness in his manner. "Miss Schnee, you may enter now." He caught sight of Ruby. "Ah, Miss Rose. Would you please join us? Since this incident concerns a member of your team, it would be imperative that you do."

Ruby, nervous, simply said, "Uh, sure."

"Professor," Weiss interupted as she stood. "I'm sorry, but I insist that we leave Ruby out of this."

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Ozpin shook his head sternly. "I know what this is about, Miss Schnee. You can't coddle her, and you can't protect her from everything. She will join us in our discussion. Do I make myself clear?"

"But I..."

"Do I make myself clear?"

Weiss hung her had. "Yes, sir." The two girls made their way to the headmaster's office, though Weiss felt more dread now than she did a moment ago. "I guess you're going to find out what happened after all," she said as tears began to stream down her cheek. "Ruby, I'm sorry."

"Weiss," Ruby said sadly. The younger girl placed an arm around the heiress. "It's okay. I'm here for you. We're besties, remember?"

They entered the office, with Ozpin waiting by the door as they passed. "Please, have a seat," he said as he closed and locked the door. The two girls obliged, but Ozpin continued to stand. Instead of walking around his desk to sit in his chair he stood in front of the two of them, crossing his arms. "Miss Schnee," he began sternly. "If this had been any other student, this might have been a different discussion. But not you. I'd never have expected this from you."

Weiss nodded. "I know, sir."

"Which is why I spent so much time questioning Cardin and his team. I simply couldn't fathom why a student as diligent and exemplary as you would attack the four of them unprovoked."

"They didn't threaten me, Professor. So, they're technically correct. It was unprovoked."

Weiss wasn't looking, but Ruby was curious as to why Ozpin was so clearly holding back a smile. "You realize that if you were on trial right now for criminal assault you'd have incriminated yourself, right?"

Weiss nodded. "I have no reason to lie, Professor. I did what I did because I felt I needed to for my friends. I understand that it's against school policy, and I will accept any punishment that you deem neccesary."

Ozpin reached over and grabbed a copy of the student handbook. "Unprovoked, unauthorized, and unsponsored combat between students that results in personal injury or damage of property can be punished by expulsion," he said as he read, and Ruby panicked.

"No, you can't expel her, Professor! I'm sure there was just a misunderstanding, right, Weiss?" Weiss, tears in her eyes, simply shook her head. "Weiss, please, just say something!"

"I'm afraid, Miss Rose, that there is no misunderstanding," Ozpin said. "And I'm terribly sorry that I have to be the one to tell you why Ms. Schnee did what she did."

"No," Weiss said. "Let me explain."

And Ozpin smiled. "Very well."

Weiss looked up from the floor and into Ruby's eyes. "Ruby, Cardin knows."

"Cardin knows what?" she asked.

"Ruby...he...he knows. About you. He knows about you." Ruby stared in silence for a moment as she slowly realized what Weiss was saying. Shock, anger, and horror all washed across her face in an instant. "And now...now most of the school probably knows. He...he made signs with pictures of you doing...things with others like you. I didn't want you to see them, so I texted Yang to keep you put until I could take care of it." Weiss turned to Ozpin. "Did they say as much, Professor?"

"Glynda was the one to dispose of the signs, so I asked them. It took them a while but they admitted to it."

"Then you know why I did what I did. You know that if I were faced with that exact same dilemma, I'd make the exact same decision." She stood. "So, I will accept my punishment, but I can not, and I will not assure you that I won't do it again. Because if Cardin, or anyone else, ever jeopardizes Ruby's privacy and sanctity like that again I will show them no mercy."

Ozpin nodded. He picked up his coffee mug, taking a sip. "Noted," he said as he reached across his desk to grab a sheet of paper and a pen. "Sign this, please."

"What is it?" Ruby asked, her voice shaky.

"A write up for Weiss's behavior. Stated as a written warning."

The two girls were speechless, and Ozpin just smiled away.

The two girls walked back to the dorm together, but Weiss needed Ruby's help as the pain and stiffness from the morning's fight had finally set in. It was now getting close to noon, and neither of them had eaten breakfast or lunch yet. "When we get back to the dorm," Ruby said with a smile. "I'm going to order delivery. Sound good?"

"As long as it isn't pizza," Weiss said with a chuckle. "Too greasy."

"Hmmm. How about noodles then?"

"Pork ramen does sound pretty good," Weiss smiled.

The two walked in silence for several minutes. Before they rounded the corner to be in their dorm's courtyard, Ruby spoke up. "Hey, Weiss."

"Yeah?"

"I...I know it isn't fair to either of us for me to feel the way that I do. I am sorry about that, but...it's days like today to remind me why I fell in love with you," she said with a blush.

Weiss also blushed, but didn't try to hide it. "You don't have to apologize for anything, Ruby. I wish I could feel what you feel. I truly do. But, I can't." She turned to face her younger friend. "But that I doesn't mean that I can't stand by your side for as long as we're together. Someday you're going to meet the girl that you truly belong with, and she's going to change your world. You'll know what it means to both love and be loved, and I'll still be there. I'll be standing beside you, waiting to knock that bitch out if she ever hurts you."

Ruby and Weiss both laughed, and Weiss squeezed her arm around Ruby even tighter. "I do love you, Ruby. Never forget that I'll always be your best friend."

Ruby nodded, wiping a tear from her eye as she smiled. "Yeah."

Sic ego nec sine te nec tecum vivere possum. [So I can't live either without you or with you.]

Author's Note

Holy Hell, it's been a while since I wrote for this one. I do apologize for the long wait, but as I'm sure I mentioned in an earlier AN for this story, I don't have a plot laid out for it, so I'm writing it as chapters come to me. When I wrote that Cardin found out about Ruby's sexuality I had no idea where that was going to lead. So, I decided to have a BFF centric chapter, where Weiss beats that absolute hell out of the CRDL boys. I tried to make it a little bit longer, but I also don't want to force too much out of the story.

Still, I'm happy I finally wrote the 3rd chapter to this. I'd like to have the free time to write more for my RWBY fics. Free: A Feuding Remnant is still a big thing I'm trying to get back up, and now I have Eternal Heiress that I'm at a complete loss on how to write, but I'll figure it out. I always do. It might take me a few years, but I'm never really gone.

So, I know not if or when the next chapter will come. Maybe we'll go on this little beach vacation with team RWBY. Who knows.

Fun Fact: Chronologically, this takes place about a day or two after Chapter 2.

Fun Fact 2: Chapter 2's AN mentioned that I was looking into getting tattoos. That was back in 2015. I have 4. The sigil of Bahamut from D&D on my right shoulder, the five colors of magic from Magic: The Gathering on the inside of my right arm, Rin's command seal for Archer for Fate Stay Night on my right hand, and the word LUNA on my left knuckles because I love the moon that much.

Auf Wiedersehen (Till Next Time)[roughly. Goodbye would be more accurate, but, eh.]