Ruby still had her doubts, but Weiss had expressed multiple times they were ready, and so the princess decided to defer to her. If the endlessly picky Schnee said they were ready, then by god, they were ready. "Did you say something?" she said, gesturing at her ears and then the crowd just beyond the curtain, indicating she hadn't heard her.
It forced Weiss to repeat herself, and though this time Ruby heard her clearly, she still didn't understand.
Clearing her throat, Weiss stood at attention before her, costume covered by the thick, rippling layers of her military cape. "Would you dance with me, Ruby?" she asked, her face an solemn mask.
Somehow tearing her eyes away from Blake and Yang, Ruby glanced over at her partner with a nervous smile. Piles of rose petals gathered at her feet, her whole body vibrating from excitement. Their dance was up next, and it was arguably the most important. Once her helpers were done clearing the ballroom floor of ash, Weiss and Ruby would waltz, and how well they displayed their aura would determine if the Kata Faunus would join their cause.
She didn’t share Weiss’ cool confidence. "What?" she said, teeth chattering, and bouncing on her heels. Her flats, as comfortable as steel socks, kept pinching in all the soft spots and she wasn't sure if she could make it through the whole night. With her luck, she'd pinch herself so bad she'd leave bloody footprints wherever she went. "Yes! Of course I'm dancing with you, Ser Schnee. You're my partner."
Weiss caught her shoulder, arms emerging from her cape as Ruby tried to turn back to the dance floor, bouncing in place with her readiness to tackle their next assignment. "No," she said, letting go of her quickly once she was sure she had her attention. "I mean, would you choose me if that weren't the case? Would you dance with me?"
For the first time, her facade cracked. Just enough to let Ruby see the concern glittering in her eyes, the doubt. "If everything hadn't gone the way it did," she continued, "if there were no Grimm. If we didn't need to do this. If you were just the queen and I was just your... just another knight, from a foreign plane. Would you have still picked me, over everyone else?" Chest rising with a sharp, frightened breath, she reached down and took Ruby's hands, squeezing them between her own. Nerves, or something else, made her pulse quicken, the faintest blush rising in her cheeks. "Me. Would you choose me?"
Now?
After all the careful flirtations, the cautious opening up, the gentle break down of her barriers one by one, Weiss chose now to do this?
"Uh," Ruby said, heart pounding in her head. Adrenaline, and Weiss' bare skin touching hers for the longest period she could recall, made it hard to think. "Uh, no," she said. "No, I don't think so."
Weiss cracked again, shock plain on her face.
Shaking her head, Ruby returned Weiss' tight grip on her hand, quickly trying to clarify. "I mean, yes? I mean. Oh, no, that came out wrong, Weiss, please, just listen for two seconds." Taking a deep breath, she stilled her mind, counted to three, and then let it go. Weiss waited patiently, but her hands still held on tight. "If we didn't meet the way we did," Ruby continued, "I wouldn't have ever had the chance to meet you. We come from different planes, different worlds. I wouldn't have needed to understand you, because our survival wouldn't have depended on us trusting each other. I wouldn't have found out how kind you really are--"
Her knight scoffed.
"You really are," she insisted, scowling at her. "And I wouldn't have ever understood how much it means for you to be touching me right now."
She squirmed one hand free to rest it on top of Weiss' now, ducking her head low from embarrassment. Her words sounded strange out of context, but the reticent nature of her knight meant that even simple contact like this spoke volumes. Ruby didn't need a big, swooping love confession from her. Weiss had put down her feelings, put her heart on the line.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she stroked the length of Weiss' fingers, unsure of what to say next. “And, um,” she mumbled, twisting their hands together and feeling a wonderful thrill when Weiss reciprocated, fingers lacing with hers. “I…”
Weiss saved her by giving her one last squeeze and then letting go. "We're up next," she said. “Remember your cues. Princess, excuse me.”
Just like that, Weiss brushed past her and made her way to the center of the ball room. Mage light sparkled and danced on the bits of polished, formal armor that snuck out from underneath her cape as she strode with purpose, head held high. If Ruby didn’t know any better, she would have said that Weiss was the princess.
When she reached the right spot, Weiss whipped around to where Ruby was concealed, behind the curtains, and extended out her hand.
A bolt of light rippled out from the center of her chest, dissolving her cape into a storm of snowflakes. Her armor and military uniform revealed at last, she stood like a true knight straight from the stories Ruby had read as a child. The snowflakes swept up to the ceiling, hovering over the dance floor and collecting at her feet in a solid, reflective plane of ice.
It felt solid as a regular dance floor, and shone clearer than any mirror. The covered ceiling and the drifting snow made it seem like she stood in another world, and Ruby was only viewing her from somewhere else, through a portal that might close at any second.
“Princess,” Weiss said, voice ringing clear in the stunned silence. “Can I have this final dance?”
That was her cue. Breathing deeply, Ruby took a step forward-- and then one more, but with the aid of her semblance. It zipped her from her spot behind the curtain to the floor just in front of Weiss, her hand also extended. Rose petals flew around them, dancing with the snowflakes. They stood there, regarding each other for half a beat before Weiss gently pulled her close and began the waltz.
They had practiced this millions of times. But now she heard the gasp of the crowd, saw a glimpse of her own reflection on the floor. They both looked like storybook characters, two figures in a field of magic, of rippling red flowers and white snow.
She finally knew what she needed to say.
“I love you,” she whispered, and felt Weiss’ hand pressed firmer against her waist.
One, two, three.
Weiss smiled, broader than she had ever allowed herself to before.
“Now, Princess,” Weiss said, and they began to dance.
