Weiss took a deep breath. Even after a week of waiting, these final seconds were threatening to make her panic. Even as she was waiting to speak with Ruby she couldn’t help fearing the worst for her health, despite her uncle’s insistence that she was fine, only a little tired. Weiss could only imagine what happened to Ruby during the battle, or… whatever it was that happened on top of the tower. To create such powerful blast of energy, to go from an excess of Aura to totally empty in an instant…

Weiss was considerate enough to let Ruby rest for a day, and so on the second of the three days, she waited for Qrow outside the dorm to ask if Ruby was in any pain.

“How should I know? She’s definitely under the weather though.”

Weiss detested his persistent sarcasm - she knew that much. What she didn’t realize was how severe Ruby’s condition was. She at least expected her to be awake by now. Qrow noticed her concern, however, and went on to say she would definitely be sore for a while, if nothing else.

“Listen, Weiss. Go get some rest. You’re not gonna do anyone any good by waiting out here when she’s not in any condition to talk.” His tone was crass, but Weiss knew he meant well. He was just trying to take care his niece the same way Weiss wanted to take care of her girlfriend.

That was yesterday. Weiss knew that what he had asked her to do was impossible. Since classes were out until further notice, Weiss distracted herself with training. She tried to focus on her fights in the tournament, because thinking of her struggles during the attack only led her back to the moment she saw the burst of light from the tower, and eventually, led her wandering back to her dorm room where Ruby was resting. After constantly pestering the Huntsman to let her in, Weiss finally found herself standing outside the dorm today.

Qrow emerged from their room to reluctantly give Weiss the OK, but smiled as he nodded at the door.

“She’s all yours. Try not to get her too riled up, alright?”

Weiss thanked him and quickly stepped inside her old dorm room, gently shutting the door behind her. It felt ominously foreign. Dismal, even, compared to the usual fun that thrived in the room. Ruby was lying down in Weiss’ bunk, since it was closer to the floor. She weakly waved at Weiss as she entered.

“Hey Weiss. Sorry I stole your bunk. Will you be able to relax in mine, given how uh… unstable it is?”

Weiss could only nod. She didn’t care in the slightest about that rickety bunk, wanting nothing more in that moment than to keep Ruby company. Of course, that meant she first needed to say something, but there were so many things to say. So many questions to ask and feelings to share. She pulled a chair up next to Ruby, examining all of her, every inch, even though her body from her shoulders down was underneath the blanket. The redhead was wearing a gray, long-sleeve shirt with a high and tight collar. Her skin was even paler than usual.

“Weiss? Are you okay?”

Weiss just balled her fists in her lap. Even when Ruby had been in mortal danger and only recently awoken from a coma, Weiss was still first thing on her mind. Compared to that, of course Weiss was okay. She had to be, and had to put on a brave face for Ruby so she would know everything was alright, but it had weakened over the days of worrying and waiting. She was helpless, powerless, only able to pathetically wait for Ruby to wake up. Weiss told herself that she would be brave for Ruby, but now that she was speaking to her, it felt much more like an empty crutch to help her face her lonely fears.

“Of course I’m not okay,” she pouted, her voice crumbling more easily than she expected it to. “I’ve been worried sick about you. How could you possibly ask me something like that after everything that’s happened to you?”

Ruby’s stare softened, and she smiled.

“Because I’ve been worried sick about you too Weiss. Literally. I mean, look at me, I’m stuck in bed. And I haven’t seen you since the battle. Are you okay? Did you get hurt at all?”

“I wasn’t injured that badly. Like I said, I’ve just been worrying about you.”

“That’s a relief,” Ruby sighed. “Well worry no more Weiss! I’ll be up and at ‘em again soon, after I get some more rest. So cheer up, okay? I don’t like seeing you this sad.”

Weiss tried matching Ruby’s brave face, but she couldn’t force a smile that big. She was still worried, for some reason. She knew she should be happy, and she was, but she still felt so scared.

“Will a hug make you feel better?”

She nodded, and Ruby held out her arms. Weiss stood from her chair and nuzzled her head next to Ruby’s, into her shoulder, holding onto her petite frame and this feeling of being close to her. The warmth spreading up her back, through her heart and into her face. She exhaled, finally opening her eyes. But, could she relax? A hug seemed too easy a solution.

Then she noticed something on Ruby’s skin hiding beneath her shirt, just in front of Weiss’ eyes. A bandage? Ruby flinched as Weiss’ fingers rubbed the coarse surface so she jerked her hand back, fearing she had hurt her. It was more than just that streak though: the discolored skin crept back under her shirt and out of sight. Its jagged edges marred her skin too deeply to be a bandage.

Weiss let go of Ruby’s arm and pulled the sleeve down. The scar stretched from the top of her shoulder to below her clavicle, widening as it went, turning from a bright pink to a vulnerable red flame at the core of the mark.

“Ruby…”

“Oh. That?” Ruby glanced at it, and moved her shoulder around before smiling at Weiss. “Still moves around just fine! See?”

“That’s great, but…” Weiss stepped away and fell back into her chair, wondering how it happened. Why? Who? When?

Weiss questioned every circumstance of how this could have happened and hated herself for not being there. She could have taken it instead or stopped it from happening altogether, but what she questioned even more than that was how Ruby’s silver eyes seemed totally unconcerned with it.

Her silver eyes. The same color of the light that expanded from the tower.

It was Weiss. She was the reason that scar existed.

“Weiss? Wait, why are you crying? I know it looks bad, but I’m fine, really!”

She knew why and when it happened too. On their way to the tower Weiss noticed a few bruises on Ruby, sure, but not an injury as severe as that. That meant that she received it while she was up there, alone and without her partner to back her up, and as Weiss realized this an incredibly sense of guilt revived her anxiety and her heart sank like a stone. She thought of her own scar and how, of all the possible things she could have done, she had cursed Ruby to live with one of her own.

“I knew I shouldn’t have let you go up there by yourself,” Weiss said, looking solemnly into Ruby’s eyes but unable to help noticing the pink scrape darker than the rest of her fair skin. “I should have been there to help you, like a real partner or girlfriend would have been.”

“What? Weiss… I know you don’t want to hear this, but nothing would have changed. Cinder was up there, about to fire an arrow at Pyrrha, so I jumped in the way with my Semblance… my shoulder, a-and then my whole body started burning, and it hurt, but then everything turned really bright and cold. And the next thing I knew I woke up in bed. So it wasn’t your fault. Even still, you did help me Weiss. Qrow said he told you, that if you weren’t there to catch me when I fell, there was a really possible chance I could have died. I was totally drained of my Aura, so it’s thanks to you I’m even here.”

“But… Ruby.”

“I get that you’re worried Weiss, but please, try to stop crying. Before I do.”

Weiss felt the warm wetness rolling down her cheeks. She bitterly sobbed, wanting to stop, wanting to stay strong for Ruby, but couldn’t halt her own tears for her, much less put on a brave face. If she couldn’t even do that… what business did she have pretending to be her partner?

Ruby’s hand touched her cheek. Weiss stared at Ruby’s shining, splendid silver eyes, and saw her thumb wiping the tears from under her own, sweeping across her thin, tinier scar.

“But… I’m a failure,” Weiss blubbered. “You have that scar because of me. If I had been up there with you, maybe then you wouldn’t have been hurt or you wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.”

“No, you’re not a failure Weiss, and no, I don’t have this scar because of you. You were down there fighting off the rest of the Grimm and saving other people. That’s way more heroic and important than leaving them all behind to come help me. Besides, if you were up there with me you could have gotten injured in that big explosion that Qrow keeps talking about, and there’s no way I would ever want that to happen. You could have ended up getting another scar too, or something bad like that. And if you weren’t there waiting for me I would have fallen.”

“But-!”

“Weiss.” Ruby whimpered her name, and Weiss could see the tears just beginning to well in her eyes.

“Sorry Ruby.”

“Don’t be sorry-”

“I mean for almost making you cry. I’m just worried because-”

“I know you’re worried Weiss, which is why-”

“No Ruby! I’m worried because I don’t want you to think of me every time you see your scar.”

Ruby felt her scrunching the blanket up into her palms. She felt the weight Weiss was carrying in her voice. She hated that Weiss was taking this harder than she was, but loved her for caring so much. She couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend.

“Weiss, thanks to you helping me up the tower I was able to save our friend, of course I’m going to think of you when I see it.”

Weiss squeezed the blanket tighter, but her fingers were pulled free and in between Ruby’s.

“But not as a mark of my ‘failure’ of a girlfriend who ‘left me on my own.’ As a mark of you, Weiss Schnee, my awesome girlfriend who rocks a scar like nobody’s business and is loved despite having it, and who was there when I needed her. Now I have one to match,” Ruby fondly said while placing Weiss’ hand on it. “I’m just hoping it looks as pretty and as cool as yours, Weiss.”

Ruby ran her thumb over Weiss’ scar again and smiled at it. At her.

“I love you Weiss, and your scar, so as long as you can love me and mine I’ll be happy. I don’t want to hear any more apologies, okay?”

Weiss kissed her. She didn’t know what else to do, other than hold onto Ruby’s hands and her lips. She was too relieved to say anything. In that moment, Ruby’s scar seemed familiar to her, like she had always had it, and Weiss was happy that Ruby thought of her when she saw it. She was overjoyed and proud of Ruby for putting such a positive connotation on her scar, and honored to be considered a physical part of her. Even if Weiss could have prevented her from receiving it in the first place, she was proud to be her girlfriend.

“You still look beautiful Ruby.”

Weiss couldn’t yet bring herself to say she loved it. But she loved Ruby and the way she smiled back more than anything, which by extension meant that she loved her scar too.