Everyone has to grow up sometime, and the hardest cages to escape are the ones you make yourself.

For warproduct.

Ruby jumped to her feet. “Oh, that’s right! I had a much better entrance planned. Wait a second.” She dramatically threw her cape over one shoulder and pulled out a rose from where it was tucked in the back of her belt, presenting it to Weiss with a flourish. “I’m here to rescue you,” she said, proudly. “From what?”

Weiss had to admit the wedding dress looked simply stunning. The designer crouched at her side, making minute alterations to the drape of the fabric, checking the alignment of the dozens of pale blue Dust crystal beads that frosted the bodice. She was one of the few designers willing to work with the material, a rising star in the fashion industry eager to associate her creations with the Schnee name.

Weiss turned this way and that in front of the mirror, admiring how the beads glittered in the light. It was a dress fit for a princess, and after the wedding she would be royalty in everything but name. The ink was already drying on the papers authorizing the merger between Schnee Dust and their only viable competitor, sealed with her father’s signature and a ring on Weiss’ finger.

With this deal, Schnee Dust would finally be a true monopoly, nearly equal in power to any government. They would be able to do as they pleased, no more fuss over price-fixing and working conditions. As the only supplier of the world’s most vital commodity, the Schnee word would be the last one.

But Weiss couldn’t keep herself focused on the wedding plans, her thoughts constantly straying back to Beacon. No doubt Yang, Blake, and Ruby had already managed to get themselves into one mess or another. A week was far too long to for them to go without her supervision.

A flicker of color caught Weiss’ eye and she reached out, snatching it from the air. Instead of an insect or a scrap of cloth, a single rose petal lay in the center of her palm, slowly fading into red light.

“That will be all for now,” said Weiss, gaze focused on her palm.

“With all due respect, Miss Schnee,” the designer began, “there’s a lot left to finish before the wedding. The hemming alone will take the rest of the day and you have to factor in time for the final fitting, and-”

“I’m certain a slight delay is nothing to a dressmaker of your caliber,” Weiss said, curtly. “Just as I’m sure my family will gladly compensate you for any inconvenience.”

For a moment, the designer looked as if she would refuse. The wedding was only four days away, and with the amount her father had paid for the the dress, he expected nothing less than timely perfection, he always did. But, as always, the promise of money and the weight of the Schnee name won out over any other consideration.

The designer nodded slowly. “Very good, Miss Schnee.”

Weiss waited until the door closed behind her before she called out, “Does the word ‘subtlety’ mean anything to you?”

Ruby hauled herself over the windowsill, landing in a heap on the floor. Groaning, she rubbed her shoulders. “Ow, ow, ow. You couldn’t have made her leave any sooner? I was about to fall.” She blinked, looking up at Weiss. “Whoa, you look beautiful.”

“Dolt.” Weiss nudged Ruby with a bare foot, provoking another whine. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

“Don’t you-” Ruby’s forehead creased in confusion. “I mean, you know.”

“Clearly I don’t.”

Ruby jumped to her feet. “Oh, that’s right! I had a much better entrance planned. Wait a second.” She dramatically threw her cape over one shoulder and pulled out a rose from where it was tucked in the back of her belt, presenting it to Weiss with a flourish. “I’m here to rescue you,” she said, proudly.

“From what?”

“Uh, this?” Ruby waved her free hand, gesturing at the dress.

“You’re going to save me from my clothing? My hero,” Weiss said. “What’s next? Attacking my shower because the water pressure is a little too strong? Perhaps you’ll gallantly rescue me from an empty room.”

“No, not that, you know,” Ruby lowered her voice to a whisper, “the marriage.”

The expression of fond exasperation that Weiss usually found herself wearing around Ruby slowly faded off her face. “That information doesn’t go public for another week. Who told you?” she asked. “No, actually it doesn’t matter. Just leave. Now.”

“I thought-”

“Somehow I doubt that, otherwise you’d have respected my wishes for privacy and not pried into my personal affairs. Really, was there anything unclear about 'I’m going home for a week, don’t bother me,’ anything at all?”

“But I’m here to save you,” Ruby said, shaking the rose like she was trying to remind Weiss it was still there. “C'mon, we should go. Yang and Blake won’t be able to keep everyone distracted for much longer.”

“Yang and Blake are here too?” Weiss rubbed her temples. A Faunus and a walking fire hazard, her father was going to be absolutely furious.

“Well, yeah. Your family has really good security.” Ruby grinned with excitement. “There were a bunch of cool robots hidden in the ground behind the fence and they popped up like whoosh-” she flailed her arms “-Yang punched one and it exploded, and Blake tripped another up so I could chop off its head-”

Weiss ground her teeth, hardly listening as Ruby continued describing the property damage as if she expected it to send Weiss swooning into her arms.

“-and there’s a pretty big crater there now,” she finished. “We need to leave, though.” She grabbed Weiss’ wrist and tugged her towards the window.

“Idiot,” Weiss hissed, yanking free of Ruby’s hold.

“Weiss,” Ruby said, confused, “don’t you want to go?”

Weiss folded her arms across her chest. “No, and you would have realized that if you listened instead of running your mouth like a complete buffoon.”

“But isn’t your dad gonna make you get married if you stay here?”

“Make me?” Weiss asked, practically spitting the word. “What exactly do you think is happening here, Ruby? That my father had me locked away in a tower, chained and guarded until he could hand me over to my future in-laws? Is that it?”

Ruby’s refusal to meet her gaze was answer enough.

“You really did think that, didn’t you? You’re so childish. My father simply made me a business proposition and I accepted.”

She had sat across from him, the carved expanse of his hardwood desk between them, and quietly signed over hand. And after, he smiled at her, proud of the deal, the future of Schnee Dust, and perhaps even proud of Weiss.

“There’s nothing to be done about it now,” Weiss finished.

“So you’re giving up? What about Beacon? What about Team RWBY? What about m-” Ruby swallowed, unwilling or unable to finish the thought. “You’re just gonna turn your back on all that? And you call me childish.”

Weiss could feel her cheeks turning pink with rage. How dare Ruby presume to stumble in like some fairytale hero and save her when Weiss couldn’t even save herself. She had no idea of the difficulties Weiss faced, of how unthinkable it was to openly defy her father.

She could have her small victories with him, her hair or combat training, but Ruby was blithely telling her to ruin a deal that was years in the making, that would define the future of Schnee Dust, for nothing more than her own selfish conception of Weiss’ happiness.

“You think I’m thrilled about this?” Weiss asked, voice tight with frustration. Though without her heels she was a few inches shorter than Ruby, Weiss’ intensity had Ruby shrinking back. “This isn’t exactly the way I hoped my life would turn out, but life isn’t fair sometimes, Ruby. Grow up.”

“You’re the one who needs to grow up, you – uh - you dummy. If you don’t want to get married, then leave.”

“And get disowned by my family? I’d rather not.” She dismissively waved Ruby toward the window. “Feel free to see yourself out. Or would you rather blow a few more holes in my estate before you go?”

“Fine! Stay here and let your dad push you around like a big, stupid jerk.” Ruby shook the rose in her direction, violently enough that a few of the petals broke off. “Here, it can be a wedding present. I picked it for you anyway.”

Weiss sneered. “No thank you, I have enough useless clutter in my life. Why don’t you toss that on a compost heap where it belongs?”

“I picked it for you,” Ruby repeated, incredulous. “It’s a gift.”

“One that I neither need nor want.”

“You’re being ridiculous! Just take it already and stop acting like this, like we don’t mean anything to you.” Ruby grabbed her wrist and shoved the rose into her hand, squeezing her fingers closed so she couldn’t toss it back in Ruby’s face.

A sharp pain stabbed through Weiss’ palm, sudden enough that she couldn’t stop herself from letting out a small gasp. Startled, Ruby didn’t fight back when Weiss pulled her hand free and let the rose fall to the ground. Her palm was studded with a half-dozen bloody punctures; Ruby had forgotten to remove all the thorns from the rose.

“Oh no…” Ruby whispered, staring horrified at the blood welling up between Weiss’ fingers. “I- I didn’t mean to- I’m so sorry.” She took Weiss’ hand in her own and dabbed at the punctures with the corner of her cape.

“It’s nothing,” Weiss said, softly. Her Aura was already healing the cuts, but she couldn’t bring herself to push Ruby away.

Ruby didn’t look up from her work, her voice trembling, “Weiss, please. Please don’t do this. Your family will understand, and- and if they still want to make you, then they don’t deserve you.”

“Ruby,” Weiss said, “no.”

Part of growing up was knowing which dreams could be held onto and which had to be excised before they could rot unfulfilled, tainting every moment with thoughts of what might have been. This was kinder to them both. The only thing more painful than having a dream was desperately clinging to the bones of one that had already died.

“You have a choice,” Ruby mumbled, numbly.

“Of course I do. I always have.”

“Then why? Why are you going through with it?” Ruby’s voice broke, a few tears dripping down her cheeks to land in Weiss’ palm, mingling with the drying blood.

It was a struggle to keep her voice firm. “Who am I supposed to be if I can’t be Weiss Schnee? Tell me that, Ruby.”

Ruby looked up, a brief ember of hope in her eyes. “You can be Weiss Ro-”

“Stop it,” Weiss said, sharply. “So what? You make a huge fuss about me not belonging to my father just so I can belong to you?”

“That’s not what I meant-”

“It is, and that’s fine. It’s perfectly natural to want to posses things you think will make you happy, but I don’t belong to anyone.” She took a deep breath. “This is my choice and I choose my family.”

Ruby reached up and Weiss instinctively braced for a punch or a slap. Instead her fingers brushed lightly over Weiss’ cheek, coming away damp with tears. Stunned, Weiss could only stare. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying.

“I love you,” Ruby said, her voice like rose petals, soft and fragile. “You don’t have to be Weiss Rose, you don’t have to be a part of Team RWBY, you don’t even have to be my friend. I’d never try to force you to do something you don’t want to, but this is making you so sad. I can see it in your face. Leave with me, Weiss. Even if you don’t want to stay with me, don’t stay here.”

“No, I…”

Sensing her weakness, Ruby pressed forward. “A-and if you choose to stay with us you’ll never be alone, I promise. You have me, Yang, and Blake, and we’ll all love you. We can be your family.”

“It isn’t enough!” Weiss was taken back by the force of her outburst, the tremor in her hands, her jaw. “You are a dolt and and idiot and an utter imbecile, and you’ve been nothing but perfect. All of you have. I can’t- Ruby, I can’t ask any more from you- you’ve given me everything.”

“I don’t understand.” She sounded so lost, so small.

“All of your love, their love, it just doesn’t- I- when I’m with you, I still feel lonely,” she said, all of it ugly, painful truth, “I don’t know why, but it isn’t enough for me. And- and maybe this is what I need. To make my father proud. I’ve tried so hard to be perfect, Ruby, for him and for you, but I’m not. I’ll never be perfect.”

“Weiss…”

“No, let me finish. I’ll never be able to earn his love on my own, but I can do this. I can be a good daughter and expand the Schnee empire beyond anything we even dreamed a decade ago.” Her shoulders slumped, the last traces of desperate intensity leaving her frame. “My life won’t be like I hoped it might, but maybe it’ll be enough.”

Ruby was quiet for a long moment, the full meaning sinking in. “This will make you happy?” she asked finally, her tone begging Weiss to say it was all a lie even if her words would never put that burden on Weiss.

“Yes.” Lie, truth, she couldn’t tell, but had to give Ruby as clean a break as possible. They both deserved that much.

“Okay,” she said, more tired than Weiss had ever heard her, “all I want is for you to be happy.” She tried to smile for Weiss.

That broken, quivering smile did more to weaken Weiss’ resolve than all her other pleas and arguments. It was easy to lash out when she was being ordered around, if only to prove that she could, that she was her own. But there was no command in that smile, just a prayer for her happiness though the thought of it must have been agonizing for Ruby.

“I didn’t mean for you to find out this way,” Weiss said. It was as close to an apology as either of them could stand right now.

Ruby nodded weakly. “Y-yeah, I know. I’ll just… I should go.” She tugged her hood up, hiding her face in its shadow, and hopped on the windowsill.

Ruby looked back as if to ask one final time, but only shook her head and jumped down, her cape trailing behind her.

A breeze blew in from the window, ruffling Weiss’ bangs and carrying with it the faint scent of smoke and leaves. If she left now, she could still catch up to Ruby before she made it to the fence. Weiss let out a little huff of laughter, soft and bitter. It had been too late long before Ruby stumbled in, a few minutes changed nothing. She closed the window and latched it firmly.

It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. For weeks she’d lain awake at night, listening to the creak of Ruby’s bed over hers and quietly dreading the morning. The sleepless seconds piling up like snowflakes in an avalanche, suffocating and inescapable. There was nothing she wouldn’t have given for just a little more time with them, with her.

But now it was done. The stitches had been ripped open, the wound left raw and gaping, and the patient still lived. She was fine.

Blood had dried in the creases of her palm, and Weiss absentmindedly traced her thumb over the fading marks. There wouldn’t even be a scar. She clenched her fist, trying to remember the way it stung when the thorns dug into the meat of her hand, but the punctures had healed enough she only felt the slightest ache, more the memory of pain than anything.

The rose was still lying on the floor where it had fallen, but one of them must have stepped on it during the argument. Its petals were bruised, the red gone purple-brown with the imprint of a heel, the stem crooked and broken. Weiss picked it up, gently cradling it in her hands and fondly brushed the petals back into place with the tip of a finger.

All she had to do was make an offhand remark at the dinner table and her father would have several gardens worth of roses delivered to her room the next morning, but Ruby’s gifts were always infinitely more valuable, ragged and cheap as they tended to be. Next time she would have to make sure that Ruby removed all the thorns before taking it. Honestly, the girl could be so scatterbrained sometimes.

Weiss’ breath caught in her throat. Ruby would never give her another flower. She would never hold Weiss’ hand or kiss her goodnight or eagerly glance back after she made a kill, checking to see if Weiss was watching, if she was impressed. Cold, sharp and bitter like acid, spread through Weiss’ chest.

Her laugh. Her smile. Her love. Never again.

“No, no, no, it doesn’t hurt,” she whispered, the words running together, barely coherent, “I’m okay. I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

Weiss caught a flash of herself in the mirror, the rose falling from her reflection’s nerveless fingers, and looked down, almost surprised to see that she had also dropped the flower. The numbness in her chest made it difficult to draw breath, and she fell to her knees, yanking on the neck of her dress until the threads popped and tore, Dust beads scattering across the floor.

Her reflection glared back at her, mouth twisting, eyes damp and rimmed with red, pale and shaking in the ruins of her pretty dress. She pressed her hand to the mirror, hoping for an instant that perhaps her reflection would reach back, but her palm only met unyielding glass.

She had nothing left.

Weiss crumpled in on herself, slumping forward until her cheek pressed against the cool surface of the mirror, and let the tears come.