Burden and Blame Chapter 7

Fires burned. An entire section of the grounds had been vaporized. A large chunk of forest now stood as ash. Where the rounds had exploded, a gaping chasm had opened up. Dust hung low to the ground as wind swept it slowly along. Smoke curled up into the night, putting an eerie haze in the sky.

Ruby stood in a trance. The destructive scene laid out before her was of her hand. Heat was still prevalent throughout the atmosphere. Any closer to the explosion and she would have met the same fate as the Grimm, incinerated on the spot. Nothing around her moved, save for a calm breeze. Looking down at her feet, she saw Crescent Rose. It remained in the same spot from when she had dropped to the ground for cover. Slowly bending over, sore from shock, she picked up the cherished weapon. She sat down on the ground slowly and began cleaning the dust off using her sleeve. Manually, she pulled out the expended black magazine from the rifle. With a click, it popped out. Purple smoke wafted outwards and into the air. Crescent Rose automatically folded back into its compact form as Ruby stood up to put it back on her belt rack.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby surveyed the scene. Turning around, she faced Beacon as a group of people rushed across the field headed for her. She looked down at the black cartridge in her hand and slid it back into the special pouch on her back, next her weapon. She looked back to the small crowd and saw Yang, Blake, and Weiss, accompanied by Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. Ruby started walking toward them, meeting them in the middle of the field. Yang opened her mouth, about to begin a tirade before Ozpin spoke, cutting her off.

"Miss Rose," Ozpin spoke. "You have caused, singlehandedly, the most damage this school has seen in years. Several hundred yards of school property has now become a hole, and the forest is on fire. Not to mention the panic you caused the other students when you managed to blow out all of the windows and cause your own miniature earthquake." Ruby looked down in shame at the list of events she had caused. "But," Ozpin said with a smirk, "you have also destroyed the largest recorded Grimm migration in Vytal. You have potentially saved thousands of lives throughout towns that would have been in their path," He paused to let the better information sink in. "And so, I think we may be able to forgive the destruction you have wrought." He finished with a smile as Ruby looked up, expression much lighter.

Yang was becoming fed up with the neglect of how her sister was actually faring. Ruby saw this and quickly improvised, not wanting her to blow up in front of everyone.

"Well, thank you Professor Ozpin, for everything, but we really must get going; lots of training and studying for classes to do!" She said hurriedly as she rushed her team off in the direction of the school.

"But Miss Rose, how are you doing?" Ozpin called.

"Finally you ask!" Yang yelled back before Ruby could put a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up, Yang." Ruby commanded, pushing her further away. "I'm doing fine Professor Ozpin, don't worry about it!" She called back, smiling in a cheesy manor.

"I don't even want to know…" Ozpin thought as he pulled out his scroll.

After reaching the school, Ruby started explaining to her sister what had happened before Yang could start to speak.

"Don't worry Yang, I'm fine. You know I can handle myself in a fight," she said in an exhausted tone.

"If you were fine, why did you use the Dark Dust rounds Qrow gave you for emergencies?" Yang asked, knowing very well Ruby wouldn't use them unless she had to.

"Well, it was getting a bit crowded…" she replied sarcastically. "There must have been a thousand of them!" she added, strengthening her argument.

"Actually," Blake interjected, chuckling a bit, "according to Professor Ozpin, there were six-hundred or so at most. We were impressed though, and a little bit scared."

"Scared?!" Weiss pushed past Yang and Blake harshly. She had been standing behind them, preoccupied with keeping herself under control. "Terrified is more like it!" She got up close to Ruby. "You used the rarest dust my family produces to nearly blow yourself up!" Weiss was more upset than mad, but nobody could tell at this point. She got right up in Ruby's face, jabbing a finger into her chest. "Do you have any idea on how much stress you've caused me in this past hour, let alone the past month?" she asked in an angry whisper.

Ruby slowly shook her head "no," eyes wide with fear.

"Well, she's obviously thought this through well enough…" Yang whispered to Blake at a safe distance, to which Blake nodded.

"Let's start with you putting yourself in harm's way, then me doing whatever I can to get you back, only to be on the brink of an emotional collapse when you go running off and become suicidal."

"B-but I wasn't suicidal… I was just venting," Ruby whispered back.

"I. Don't. Care!" Weiss yelled, punctuating every word and throwing her arms up. She went back to a whisper, saying "You just really don't understand." Weiss turned and walked off, leaving Ruby standing alone with Blake and Yang in the distance. They both walked over to Ruby, who was now on the verge of tears.

"I-I never got to tell her I remembered." Ruby muttered, staring at Weiss' back as she walked off towards a door.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, wrapping an arm around her sister.

"All of the times she was there at my bedside. I could hear her promising to take care of me, and then Blake came in." Ruby took in a deep sigh. "When I got outside, all of the feelings came back at once. I didn't know what to do. What I heard scared me, because I didn't know if I was imagining what I had heard, or if it was real."

"Well, your chance to tell her isn't gone, but it is slipping away," Blake said, smiling.

"Ruby, what do you want from her?" Yang asked.

Ruby stared at her feet, thinking over the question.

"I want to be there for her. Like how she was there for me." Ruby said, coming to a conclusion regarding her own feelings. She looked up at Yang.

"What? Are you waiting for my permission or something?" Yang asked, confused. Ruby nodded. "Well, I've been supporting this from the start, so go; make Snow Angel yours." Yang smiled warmly at her younger sister.

"But, what if she's just being friendly? Well… her version of friendly… Maybe I should just leave her alone…"

"Ruby," Blake began. "If that was true, would she have done so much? Why else would she stay night after night beside your bed, hoping that you would wake up?"

Ruby started bouncing with happiness before she took off in Weiss' direction. It only took a minute with her semblance to catch the heiress, walking up the stairs to go back to the dorm room.

"Weiss!" Ruby called. The heiress paused on the steps and looked back. Ruby took the opportunity to run up the stairs ahead of Weiss, blocking her way.

"What do you want? Come to tell me all about how you remembered I'm not worthy of your time?" Weiss asked snidely.

"No…" Ruby sighed. "I wanted to apologize about that actually. You see, when you started telling me about what I had forgot, all of those memories came back, and so did the feelings. I acted on what I felt," Ruby said, almost pleading. "But I also wanted to tell you, I remembered other things."

"Like what?" The hopefulness in Weiss' tone was not obscured.

"I remembered all the times you were in the infirmary. And the time you were crying next to my bed, with the promise…" Ruby smiled at Weiss' surprisingly shy expression. "You know I also heard what you told Blake you would do."

"Why bother?" Weiss asked, refusing to look at Ruby. "It seems like you already know."

"Well, maybe I want to hear it from you."

Weiss swallowed hard. She took a deep breath and stood straight up. Ruby was only a step above her, bringing them to even height.

"I-I…" Weiss stammered. Ruby's confidence was at an all-time high, and it was clouding her judgment.

"Well, I guess that'll do." Ruby wrapped her arms around the stuttering girl's neck gently.

"R-ruby? W-what are you doing?"

"Calm down already." Ruby whispered as she leaned in and softly kissed Weiss.

Weiss instantly froze up, becoming rigid with the contact of their lips. She had never been in such a position before. Seconds seemed to last for an hour, and the moment passed as they broke apart, looking deep into each other's eyes.

"Why did that make me feel so…Warm?" She thought, as she looked on at Ruby.

"Aww! That's just so cute!" Yang squeaked from just inside the doorway. Ruby and Weiss broke apart, looking back at Yang and Blake who were leaning against a wall. Blake smiled and started clapping. Yang joined in. Suddenly, the whole landing above Ruby and Weiss was filled with the sound of people's applause. Ruby looked up the stairs, only to see Team JNPR standing there, grinning at them.

"Yang! What the hell is going on?!" Weiss asked, shocked.

"Everyone's been waiting for this for a long time now." Yang laughed. "There was no way I was going to let them miss it. But don't mind us, please, go back to what you were doing."

"So, what now?" Ruby asked in a whisper to Weiss.

"We ignore them." Weiss smiled as she pulled Ruby in for another kiss.

Everybody inside was too distracted by the scene inside to notice the pair standing just far back enough to remain out of view.

"What is my assignment, sir?"

"Shadow, you do know the mission was a failure, correct?" Ozpin said.

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Team RWBY knows of your existence. Therefore, I will allow them to work with you to make sure that this time, such failure does not occur. Understood?

"Yes, sir," he replied. "What happens now?"

"We give them the time together they've been working so hard for. They may not survive if they aren't strong enough to withstand it as a team," Ozpin said coldly. "I'll have their courses changed to prepare them for what is to come."

"Shall I monitor their progress?"

"Yes, but don't let them know you're watching." Ozpin shot a sideways glance at his student.

"They won't know a thing," he said as he activated his semblance, dissipating into thin air.

Ozpin took one last glance at Team RWBY.

"Even if they're together, they may not be strong enough." He thought as he turned, walking away. "We may just lose our last chance."

A/N: So this is the final chapter, but B&B will be back in a few months for a sequel. Stay tuned for some end notes from both Proto and I.