It was a quaint cabin; two stories with a porch out front, and a balcony on the roof of a space she knew to be a small workshop, tucked away in a little clearing in the woods a ways off the road. It had been about a month since she'd mostly moved out, yet walking down the well-warn path through the trees, she still felt like she was coming home.

If she were completely honest, the weather was far too warm for the pea coat she wore; she'd come from far cooler climes after all. She wasn't sure why she hadn't just removed it. Maybe it just felt easier to continue wearing it, rather than carry it, despite the heat? Over-warm though she was, she still felt comfortable in the soft fabric. Dealing with that conundrum was also doing wonders for keeping her mind off the impetus of her return.

Approaching the front porch, she saw a bundle of black and white fur lying on the wood floor. Likewise, the little ball of fur perked up, raising his head when he noticed her entering the clearing. A smile broke out across her face when she heard him give a happy bark, quickly bounding down the steps and across the yard to greet her.

"Zwei!" Weiss knelt down to meet him, reaching out to pet and scratch the corgi's ears as he stood up, resting his front paws on her lap, "Did you miss me? I missed you," she cooed happily, leaning down to rub her nose against the small dog's, "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"

She was drawn from her affectionate exchange with the world's most adorable dog by the sound of the cabin's front door opening. Looking up, she saw an all-too familiar figure; short, dark crimson hair framing adorably gentle features, dressed in a matching red hoodie and black sweats, stepping out onto the balcony. She hadn't spotted her yet, looking down at the floor as she came out to see who or what Zwei had barked at, a hand ruffling her hair tiredly.

"Listen, I don't know who came to 'talk some sense into me' or whatever, but I really don't want to tal-" she looked up, silver eyes wide and her jaw slack when she noticed who was playing with her dog, "W-Weiss?"

Weiss smiled at her far more serenely, rubbing Zwei's head once more before moving to stand up.

"Hi Ruby. Sorry I didn't come sooner, but... I was hoping we could talk?"

Weiss Schnee had given up on love.

Romantic love, at least. She still had her sister, her team, her friends. They all loved her, and she loved them, dearly. As far as the idea of a romance went though, she'd come to the conclusion that it simply wasn't for her. She'd entertained the idea of such for a time, in her late adolescence. For a time, she'd thought maybe, but in the end, it just wasn't meant for her.

Growing up, her father had occasionally trotted her out like a prize, letting her be judged and appraised by business clients and their children. She'd always hated her birthdays in those times. She was older now though, and could see the appeal of such an arrangement; solidifying ties with a strong partner. Now she was in charge, and it would be on her terms.

"What?! But don't you... wouldn't you rather... why wouldn't you marry someone you love?"

Weiss remembered the night she'd brought up her thoughts, plans, to Ruby. She'd actually been rather surprised at how against it she seemed to be. Ruby had never seemed like one for romance period, so her seeming so aghast was a bit confusing. She felt a faint bubbling like hope in her chest; quickly smothering it down.

"Like who?" she replied with a shrug; missing the brief disappointment and hurt on her partner's face as she sipped her coffee, "I don't think such a thing is for me. So, why not take the opportunity? Find someone among my associates of a like mind, and work something out to our mutual benefit."

"But... what if... what if someone did? Come along?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

Weiss looked up at her, staring at her from across the table. She looked curious. Probing. What could she be thinking? Again, there was that faint feeling akin to hope. Again she buried it; there wasn't anything there, she told herself, again.

"I don't think I want to leave myself waiting on a 'maybe' or a 'what if', for the rest of my life."

In the end, Ruby had come around, declaring her support for her partner's wishes, as she always did. Yang had actually seemed even more outraged, but Ruby thankfully managed to talk her down and get her on-board too. Good. Business arrangement or not, she couldn't stand the thought of not having her team, her closest friends, together with her for such an occasion.

She found an associate amenable to her plan easily enough; who wouldn't jump at the chance to be inducted into the venerated Schnee family, after all? A date and venue was set, invitations sent out, catering ordered, dresses selected, everything went smooth as could be.

The hardest part, she found, was moving her things out from the cabin she shared with Ruby. It was convenient, for them to share a home from which to plan and embark on hunts. Yet it had quickly become "Home"; one far closer to her heart than she'd ever known before. She still kept some of her things there; a "Part-Time" home as she continued working with Ruby, but it was important to show the unity of the arrangement she was planning. So she told herself, anyway, trying not to think about how much it hurt as she packed most of her things.

"The Big Day" came quickly. Most of the day seem to pass in a blur, blissfully free of the stress and anxieties that she'd been told were generally associated with weddings. Maybe it was because her heart wasn't in it, that she found it all so easy?

She smiled at Klein when she took his arm, complimenting her on her magnificent dress before leading her down the aisle. She could see the wedding parties at the end, but her eyes lingered on one member in particular. Ruby had made a valiant -if perhaps futile- effort at cleaning up her hairstyle somewhat. She'd opted for a suit, which was quite a different look on her given her general preference for skirts and dresses. Different, but she wore it well; the fit was absolutely perfect on her lithe, muscular form, and a silver tie against her preferred red undershirt worked wonderfully with her eyes. For a fleeting moment, she imagined her standing opposite where she was, in place of the groom. She really had to weed out those intrusive thoughts, one of these days...

She found herself rather bored for the majority of the ceremony, tuning most of it out. There were no vows to be exchanged here, simply the "I do"s at the end. So she waited for her turn to read from the script, not expecting any deviances from it. She almost didn't hear when something unexpected did happen.

"-Speak now, or forever hold your peace," a brief pause, and then...

"I-I..."

A hush fell over the hall as someone actually spoke up, the nervous stutter echoing through the large chamber. Weiss' eyes widened slowly as she realized what was happening. More as she turned to look at her side where it had originated, seeing the lead of her party, her best friend [forever], standing there, red-faced.

"I object!" Ruby managed to finish after swallowing down her nervousness, "I... I am... I'm in love with Weiss Schnee!" she practically screamed, shutting her eyes tight as though in fear.

Weiss might've caught the absolutely beaming smile Yang was wearing just behind her sister, but her attention was entirely upon Ruby. She stared at her, unable to get a word out, a thousand thoughts running through her mind. Ruby loved her? Ruby Rose, her hunting partner for years, her best friend, who she was closer to than anyone, loved her? The sparks of hope she'd spent so long snuffing out became a roaring flame in an instant; her mind trying its best to reconcile what was happening with how long she'd convinced herself it never could.

She wasn't fast enough, unfortunately. Ruby opened her eyes meekly, seeing Weiss' icy blue eyes staring at her in blank shock. Wincing, she quickly became aware of all the eyes staring at her. Or glaring at her, rather. The groom, his party, the vast majority of the guests as she looked out.

"I... I'm sorry!"

And then she was gone. Weiss turned numbly, watching the flurry of rose petals rush down the aisle and out of the room. And then she turned back to the minister, pausing just briefly to glance at the red petals slowly floating down through the air where Ruby had stood a moment before. She couldn't hear Yang yelling at her, demanding to know why she wasn't going after her, why she was just standing there. Later she'd thank Blake for calming her down, but at the moment, she was too lost in her own thoughts.

The ceremony resumed. It took the minister saying her name three times for her to realize it was time for her to recite her line. A simple 'I do', and it would be over.

Weiss sat down beside Ruby on the cabin steps, Zwei sitting on the ground in front of them, panting as he looked back and forth between them. Weiss was surprisingly relaxed, leaning back, propping herself up against the floor, staring into the sky. Ruby meanwhile was hunched forward, clutching her legs, silence hanging between the two of them.

"So you uh... said you wanted to talk?" Ruby finally asked, hesitantly risking a glance over at her partner.

"Mmm, that's right," Weiss answered, yet didn't elaborate or actually start to talk.

Ruby fidgeted in silence for a moment before speaking up again, "Umm... I'm... I'm really happy to see you Weiss, really, but shouldn't you... I dunno, be on your honeymoon or something?"

Weiss broke out into a smile, lowering her head as she let out a light, breathy laugh, "'Honeymoon'?" she repeated, "Ruby, you know perfectly well it wasn't going to be that kind of marriage. If anything, we would've just spent such time in the office, working out further and future details of our deal."

"Right, right, I knew that," Ruby muttered, looking away again. She looked down at the ground in silence for a moment, before her brow cinched at a thought, "'Would have'?"

She looked up to find Weiss smiling at her softly, looking part amused, part exasperated, "You really haven't watched the news, or talked with anyone these last two weeks?"

Ruby blushed, shrugging meekly as she looked away again, "I... didn't really feel like reading or hearing about what a dummy I made of myself," she mumbled, burying her face in her knees.

Weiss laughed softly again, fishing her scroll out of her coat pocket. Searching up recent news, she eventually found an article with a headline she liked, before prodding Ruby's shoulder with the device.

Raising her head, Ruby groaned in dread as she took Weiss' scroll, glancing at the article she'd loaded up.

Schnee Heiress Absconds From Wedding! Engagement called off!

Ruby stared at the scroll for what felt like hours. Weiss could see her eyes flicking back and forth across the display; reading and re-reading the headline and article repeatedly, as though not believing what she was seeing. Finally, she slid the screen shut, handing it back to Weiss before turning to face her.

"You... cancelled your wedding?"

"Yes."

"...why?"

Weiss blinked now, looking at Ruby incredulously before breaking out into a laugh, "'Why?' You're really asking me 'Why?'" it was too ridiculous for her to be behaving so densely at this point.

Ruby blushed harder, pouting deeply as Weiss laughed at her, "I'm sorry, alright?! Sorry I messed up your wedd-"

"Don't," Weiss cut her off, Ruby's mouth hanging open as she was interrupted, "Don't be sorry for any of that," Ruby calmed a bit, hearing her words, tensing up as she went on though, "I am mad at you though. Honestly, do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?"

"I said I was so-"

"Do you know why it's taken me two weeks to come out to see you? Because I had to settle with all the formalities of apologizing to the comprehensive guest list for wasting their time. Then I had to apologize to my erstwhile groom for wasting his and his company's time and money, and offering a new contract so as not to completely lose their business and support because of this whole debacle. And then there was the fallout with my own board who feel I'm being unreasonably frivolous!"

"Sorry..." Ruby mumbled, burying her face in her legs again.

"You should be," Weiss stated with a huff, shaking her head, "Honestly, you've kept me waiting so long... you couldn't have said it a little sooner? Back when I started planning? Or at least when I'd been moving my things out? At least I haven't really unpacked yet, so it should be easy enough to bring everything back here..."

Ruby flinched, lifting her head to glance up at Weiss, "Back...?"

Weiss looked back at her, quirking a brow, "Is that a problem?"

"No! No, no it's... it's not... you want to move back in with me?"

"Of course I do," Weiss said, sighing wearily, "You kept me waiting so long," she repeated, smiling melancholically, "and yet you couldn't wait five minutes yourself to let me sort out my thoughts and reply?"

"Reply?" Ruby sat up straight now, still sounding confused, but there was more now. A familiar, growing hope.

She thought her heart would burst from her chest when Weiss reached out, cupping her chin before leaning over, capturing her lips with her own. Short, sweet, surprising. Even more surprising was how perfect the fit of their lips against one another's was. It felt like far too soon that Weiss pulled back, smiling warmly as she gazed into Ruby's wide, sparkling eyes.

"I love you too."