She had finally made it. Almost two days of walking in the cold, hardly stopping to eat or sleep, but she had made it.

Ruby sank to her knees in front of the marker and brushed the snow from the stone.

Her mother's rose was revealed, the same symbol that Ruby had adopted in her mother's memory after she had disappeared. The last Rose of Summer, left blooming alone. And Ruby was truly alone at that moment.

Waves crashed into the white cliffs that the slab was situated on. The winds brought the sea and snow across the flat plateau to buffet the young woman seated before the memorial, but she remained there, undisturbed by the weather for a long time.

Ruby's silent meditation was disturbed by a roaring from the cloudy sky, preceding a Bullhead that pierced through the dark veil and flew in overhead. Ruby ignored the disturbance, content to remain where she was.

The airship hovered behind her for a minute before the faint sound of feet crunching in the snow made their way to her. Soon the Bullhead rose, illuminated by the moon's shattered glow as it sailed overhead before disappeared back into the overcast sky.

A single pair of footsteps approached her, and Yang appeared by her side. Her sister crouched down and pressed her hand to the marker. She hung her head for a long moment, paying her respects to their mother.

"Ruby." Yang turned to her and pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her head close with one hand.

The blonde squeezed her tight before letting go. "Hey, I know it's been a shitty couple days, but you need to come back home."

No.

She pulled her black and cream coat tighter around her, shielding herself from the wind. "Ruby, I know that it's been a lot lately, with Jaune and-" she caught herself before continuing, "-and… that."

That. That was not something she would ever forget.

"Will you at least tell me how you're handling it?"

Silence.

"I'm worried about you. It's been almost two days that you've been gone, we didn't know where you were."

I can take care of myself.

"Can you please talk to me?"

Blake watched as Yang unsuccessfully tried to coax Ruby into speaking to her for another 10 minutes while she and Weiss stood out of earshot, waiting for their leader to come back to them.

"Look, it's getting dark out, and we'll all freeze if this storm picks up any more. We should go try to talk to her."

"Yang said to give her a chance to talk to her alone; I say we respect that."

"It's been 20 minutes! She's not going to do anything to change Ruby's mind." And with that, Weiss started towards the pair.

Blake caught her wrist and pulled her back. "Weiss, maybe you shouldn't be the one to talk to her."

"Why not? I am her partner after all."

"Just… trust me on this one. Let me try first."

Weiss frowned, but acquiesced. "Fine. But 20 minutes. That's it, then I'm going to speak to her."

Blake nodded and headed toward the sisters.

Yang was still pleading with Ruby to say something when Blake approached them. "Yang, maybe you should let me and Ruby talk for a little bit," the Faunus was as gentle as possible with her partner.

A moment of silence. Yang looked up, hesitant to even take her eyes off of Ruby. "Y-yeah. Ok," she nodded slowly before turning back to her sister. "Will you be ok without me?"

Blake grimaced as an almost awkward silence hung between them.

"Ok, I'm just going to be over here, alright?"

Ruby's head dipped almost imperceptibly, but it was enough for Yang, who visibly relaxed at any sign of life from her sister. The blonde made her way back to Weiss, who was somehow impatient enough to be tapping her foot already.

Blake sat down quietly next to Ruby, crossing her legs and pulling her collar up to keep the cold away. She was the only one of her team whose outfit wasn't torn or bloodied from the battle, but nevertheless chose to don her longer sleeved outfit to brave the storm.

Ruby said nothing.

Neither did Blake.

They sat there for a long time in silence.

"I'm sorry."

Blake blinked, surprised at the apology. "For what? You don't have anything to apologize about."

"I blame you, and I know I shouldn't. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. I don't hate you, but I don't know if I can ever forgive you."

What?! "Ruby, what are you talking about? I'm sorry if I did anything-"

"Crescent Rose," she pulled the weapon from her hip and laid it on her lap. "It was broken, and Jaune died protecting me when I tried to fix it."

"I…"

"It must have been damaged when you were fighting, and I didn't check it before we got on the train, and Doctor Oobleck made me stay back, and then when we split up in the city I didn't try to open it up until I was all alone. I tried to do my best without it deploying but there were just so many of them and then Jaune showed up and-"

Blake cut her off with a hug. "It's ok. I know." A few tears from Ruby wet her shirt, but her leader managed to hold it together. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

Ruby clutched her tightly, but said nothing.

They sat there holding each other for a long time before Ruby pulled away. "Are you ready to come home?"

"Not yet."

Blake hesitated to ask her next question. "Do you want to talk to Weiss?"

Ruby nodded without a word.

A sigh escaped from the Faunus's lips and froze in the air before her. This won't end well…

She rose from the snowy ground, the powder crunching as she regained her feet to bring the news to the anxious duo.

Blake slowly approached the pair, her thoughts running at a mile per minute as she tried to find a way to tell Weiss what was about to happen.

"So? What'd she say?" Yang clutched her jacket to her body as she posed her question.

"She wants to talk to Weiss."

Yang froze in place. "I… don't know if that's the best idea. Maybe I can talk to her again, convince-"

"Why would that be a bad idea? She wants to talk to me, so why shouldn't I? Besides, neither of you have had luck so far in getting her to come home."

Blake and Yang exchanged tortured looks before turning back to the heiress. Yang started. "Weiss, before you go talk to her, there's something you need to know."

"And what is that?"

Blake picked up, "Ruby has always been… a bit attached to you, don't you think?"

"Well, yes, but she's just a bit overeager is all, I don't-"

Yang cut in quickly. "Just listen right now, ok?"

The sharpness of Yang's remark left Weiss speechless, and all she could do was nod.

After a quick glance to her partner, Blake continued. "Like we were saying, Ruby has always liked you. At first we thought she just had a schoolgirl crush on you, but it's developed into something more than that. Do you know why she went alone to the dance?"

Weiss shook her head.

"Because she wanted to dance with you," Yang finished. "Remember when you two were stuck in the elevator that one time?"

"Yes, for three hours," Weiss quietly replied, knowing full well what they were trying to tell her.

"When they finally got you both out of there, you know what she told me? 'Yang,' she said, 'Yang, I wanted to tell her everything, that she was pretty, and smart, and just so perfect, but I couldn't say anything because I knew she liked Neptune.'"

"But…"

"If she wants to talk to you, you have to go, but she's not emotionally stable right now. I wouldn't expect the best judgment from her," Blake continued.

Weiss hesitated before opening her mouth as if to say something, only to then shut it again without a word. She turned stiffly and walked rigidly toward Ruby.

Ruby heard the snow crunch as Weiss approached.

"Ruby, you can't stay out here, you'll freeze."

She didn't even sit down. Ruby looked up to her partner, trying to look into her eyes, but Weiss quickly averted them, determined to not make eye contact it appeared.

"Why won't you look at me?"

"Ruby, I… I'm sorry this happened to you, I really am," Weiss eyes strayed back to her, and Ruby locked onto them immediately. The white haired girl shook her head, sending her ponytail whipping in the building winds.

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

"Alright, then let's go back-"

"No, I've got to tell you something first."

Weiss's jaw clenched, but she said nothing.

Don't be cold. Not now, not when I need you. "Weiss, I need you. I need you to hold me and tell me everything is ok, that we can make it better, that I'm loved. That you're not going to leave me, that this world isn't so dark, that there is some light ahead of us. I need you," tears sprung from Ruby's eyes as she finished, "Please."

Weiss's already pale skin turned even whiter, and the muscles in her jaw tightened even more before she responded. "Ruby, I-I can't. I know what you're asking of me, but I can't give that to you."

"What does that mean?" Ruby's heart was pounding in her chest, desperate to escape the bony prison in which it resided.

"I don't- I can't feel that way about you. We're friends and we're partners. That's it. You're just confused about our relationship, and I'm not interested in other girls anyway."

"You're not going to even give me a chance?" Ruby's heart beat was slamming in her ears, drowning out all thoughts except fear and anger.

"You don't really feel that way, Ruby. You just think that's what-"

"I know how I feel!" Ruby's voice had grown to a shout, but the wind carried it away before it could reach farther than Weiss. She rose and marched toward Weiss, coming to stand toe to toe with the heiress. "This isn't just some crush, I love you!"

"You're too young to know what love is!"

There it is again. Always too young. After everything in the last few days, no one understood that this was something that she needed to handle on her own. But Weiss was the one person that she wanted to stand beside her. But no more. This was too much. Ruby stared daggers at Weiss, her voice dropping dangerously low as she whispered her next words. "Because I'm a child? That's what you said before."

Weiss stood, shocked, as Ruby turned away from her and sped past Blake and Yang, leaving nothing but rose petals and snow in her wake as she left her team behind, intent on making the trip back to Vale on foot.

Blake and Yang hurried over to Weiss to find out what happened while the storm whipped around them all, and the shattered moon hung in the night sky above them.