Ruby loved snow.

It was a deeply engraved feeling; the falling snowflakes meant a time of festivities – a time for the family to be together. To go outside and build snowmen and pick snowball fights. Or walk around the island, watching the glowing holiday lights as Zwei jumped between their footprints.

Naturally, the moment Ruby looked out the window after waking up and saw a thick blanket of white covering the ground and gently falling from the cloudy sky, she was already planning on making a snowman. Or building a fort and challenging Yang, or Nora, to a snowball fight. It was a sentiment that everyone shared – even Weiss.

Ergo, the moment class ended, they were out the door.

Yet, it wasn't until they were picking teams for a rematch fight that Ruby realized where she had erred.

Pyrrha, the woman who had won the Mistral regional tournament four times in a row, the champion who couldn't be defeated, the 'Invincible Girl' herself… could not stand the cold at all. Like at all.

It was something that always struck Ruby as odd, especially given how much Pyrrha's combat gear didn't exactly leave much to the… imagination – not that I'm complaining! One would assume that with that much skin uncovered, said person would be fine with the cold, but then again, the only person Ruby really could compare Pyrrha to in outfit choice was Yang. Who, incidentally, was a walking, talking furnace.

Regardless, despite wearing the school uniform – far warmer than her usual attire, a heavy coat, leg warmers, a hat and a huge scarf that was wrapped around her several times, Ruby could see she was shivering. Which was an accomplishment in its own right, since the only thing really visible was her eyes.

"Are you cold?"

The redhead shook her head rather quickly. "I'm fine."

"Pyrrha, you are shivering."

"No I'm not."

Ruby wrapped herself around her rather stubborn girlfriend in a hug before her eyes widened. Pyrrha wasn't just shivering a little; her whole body was shaking. Emerald eyes shamefully averted, as Pyrrha pulled Ruby against her, tightly.

"Maybe we should go insid-"

"N-no, it's fine! I'm fine!" There was a hint of panic tinging the elder girl's voice as she stayed rooted to her spot.

It was only then that it started to click for Ruby.

There were many, many things that Ruby loved about Pyrrha; just about every facet of her personality, except…

Sometimes Pyrrha had an annoying amount of selflessness to her – she would stay quiet about something if it meant others were happy. That's simply how she is. For instance, if Ren made pancakes and Nora was asking if anyone minded if she ate the last couple, Pyrrha never objected, despite her never getting a second helping like everyone else.

Or, in this case, going inside so she didn't freeze to death and disappoint her girlfriend, who had spent the better part of the day talking about playing in the snow.

"You're cold." Ruby stated flatly.

"N-no I'm-m n-n-n-not!" Pyrrha's hands shot to her mouth.

"Your teeth are chattering…" Concern started to seep into Ruby's tone as Pyrrha shook her head in denial, clearly not trusting herself to deny it verbally.

Despite Pyrrha's face being covered by a scarf, after a few seconds, even Ruby could hear the chattering. "Pyrrha!" Ruby whined as she pulled away, and tried dragging Pyrrha towards the closest door.

"Please, Pyrrha?" Only with Ruby tugging at her and pouting did the taller girl's shoulders slumped in failure and she let herself be led away.

"Do you feel better?"

Worry still coloured Ruby's voice, but considerably less so than a few minutes ago.

Something about seeing Pyrrha, covered in blankets next to a fireplace, sipping hot chocolate while making quiet content noises had alleviated most of her worry.

"Yes… I think so," Pyrrha mumbled, her voice barely audible before taking another sip.

"Yay!" Ruby plopped down next her girlfriend, before sipping on her own mug. "You were shaking a lot, and your teeth kept chattering even after we got inside, and you-looked-like-you-were-turning-blue-"

"I'm sorry." Ruby looked up to find emerald eyes staring into her own, before flitting to the window behind the couch, where they could see their friends flinging snowballs at each other, a deepening frown pulled at Pyrrha's lips. "You were really looking forward to the snow…"

Ruby's smile sagged.

"It's not like the snow is going to leave or anything," she tapped her chin, "well, at least not for a few months!" That did little to convince Pyrrha, as she glumly sipped her hot chocolate, completely set on the notion that she had ruined her girlfriend's fun.

"Plus it's not like it's the only thing we can do; there is plenty of stuff to do inside!" That garnered a somewhat doubtful stare from Pyrrha, which Ruby ignored as she twisted around in her seat so she was facing the window and blew on it. The temperature difference made the window fog up immediately.

With a speed and accuracy that came from doing this far too much, Ruby's pointer traced an outline across the condensation, creating a rather recognizable figure.

"Is… is that a duck?" Pyrrha asked after a moment.

"Yup!" Ruby proudly puffed out her chest, more than a little smug that for once someone had actually been able to figure out what she drew. "Now you try!"

The frown that had been pulling at her lips turned into a compressed line, as Pyrrha focused on the window, her finger making ten sharp lines. "…is it a star?" That compress line turned into a small smile as Pyrrha nodded, before scooching back, giving Ruby room to take her turn.

Unlike Pyrrha's sharp lines, Ruby drew a messy circle, almost looking like a cloud before scattering dots all over it. "A cookie?"

"Mmm-hm!"

This time, none of Pyrrha's lines were straight, all of them curving in different ways. After a few minutes, Pyrrha stopped before expectantly staring at Ruby. "Is it… um…" The problem with trying to guess it, is that Ruby had not the foggiest idea of what it could be. The shape looked like a lumpy oval with four stumpy smaller ovals coming out and a big lumpy shape coming out the other end. "…a robot?"

"…it's supposed to be Zwei…" Pyrrha looked a little hurt, as Ruby took her turn. This, her image was exceedingly simple, something that no one could mistake.

"It's a heart."

Yet when Ruby scooched away, Pyrrha didn't wipe it away, but placed her finger inside of the simple design and wrote something before pulling away.

'Pyrrha & Ruby'

A heat that came from something other than the hot chocolate or fire started to spread throughout Ruby. "Yeah! Well!" Her finger danced across the window.

'I love you!' Complete with a heart dotting the exclamation point.

Pyrrha's retort came just as quickly. 'I love you more!'

Ruby took issue with it. 'No, I do!'

Yet, Pyrrha's response came not as something written on the window, but a kiss. Not a forceful or heated one, but instead gentle. Loving. She pulled away ever so slightly after a moment, until their foreheads were just pressed together, their noses rubbing.

"Is it better now?" Ruby knew it was a dumb question but she couldn't help but to ask… hoping to be reassured by Pyrrha that all was well.

It wasn't a simple 'yes' or even a nod that greeted her in a response, but Pyrrha shaking her head in a definitive 'no'. Ruby barely had time to be confused before she found herself being pulled into her girlfriend's lap – Pyrrha's arms tightly wrapping around her.

"Perfect."

AU: Look at these two, look how cute this is!~

So I thought I was going to write and post this last week, because I've been meaning to write this for the last week and a half, but real life reared its ugly head and I skipped a week. I'm sorry! D:

Anywho, I actually had quite a bit of fun with this one and am quite proud. For once. I also did an omake! Was it cute and fluffy enough for everyone?

Now begins the work of writing the Holiday chapter that I teased so long ago, and I am excited. A little nervous, but excited.

Thank you for reading, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Omake:

Yang stared at her sister and Pyrrha heading inside, shaking her head. "Well, I guess, its just us- Weiss, why are you standing next to Nora?"

"Because if I stand next to you, she'll hit me with a snowball?"

"Traitor!" Lilac sought out Yang's last ally. "I guess it's just you and me, part… Partner…?"

Blake was not standing her ground next to her, as Yang had expected, but was standing next Weiss. Who was standing next to Nora. "Et tu Blakey?"

"...you shouldn't have lost my book." There were no mercy in those amber eyes.

"FIRE!"

"Well, shit."

That was as much Yang was able to get out before she got pelted by snowballs.