Archive of Our Own ^omega

~~~ 1 ~~~

It was a crisp winter morning in the city of Vale. The kind of morning that would make anyone want to bundle up by the fire and enjoy some hot chocolate. Where the fresh blanket of snow outside was the perfect amount of fluffy for making snowmen or having a snowball fight. A great day to spend with those you love.

In the Team RWBY household, though, it was flurry of energy. Well, it is always a flurry of energy there due to all their personalities, but this was specifically festive energy. For it was  the Eve of Nondescript Winter Holiday! (Winter’s Eve for short!) And they had a house to get ready for the Winter’s Eve party they were going to host that very same night.

It was their first year since graduating from Beacon and they had opted to be the ones to host the winter celebration that year for all their friends. They wanted to be the first of their friends to keep the tradition of coming together for a great celebration as well as finally give Weiss the chance to join in too.

Every year there had been a huge party at the dorms for those that opted to stay over the winter break. Ruby, Blake and Yang always choose to stay at the dorms and join in the festivities every year. Weiss on the other hand, never had the chance to join, always forced to return to Atlas every holiday season for the image of the company.

It was only in their fourth and final year at Beacon when Weiss was free from going home to Atlas. An event made possible by the arrest of her father and her taking the helm of the company much earlier than she expected. She had made the choice that year to finally join her friends but a last minute mission had sprung up and prevented them from joining much to the disappointment of the entire team. (The dreaded classic 4th year curse that all their upperclassmen friends told them about.)

But now it was a chance to make up for that.

Ruby was hard at work in the kitchen, baking up a storm of delicious treats to serve that night. Weiss and Yang, ever the event makers, had chosen to work together in getting Christmas decorations set up all throughout the house, especially in their spacious living room. And Blake had left to the store to get last minute drinks to last the whole night.

Festive music filled the air as the three still at home were hard at work.

At some point Yang comes rushing into the kitchen just as Ruby puts another tray of cookies into the oven.

“Rubes! Rubes!”

“Yang! Careful!” She tries to maneuver the tray she just pulled out away from burning her sister that just ran into the kitchen.

“Look!” Yang says. In her metal right palm (which was tastefully painted to look like golden wrapping paper) sat a small green plant with white berries. “I found the mistletoe.”

Ruby places the tray to cool on one of their counters and pulls off her oven mitts in order to grab the tiny plant. “Wait, aren’t the berries supposed to be red?”

“Nope! Apparently the red ones are holly? And I,” she holds up another green plant with red berries this time, “am keeping that in my pocket. I’m pretty sure Weiss would appreciate the real deal more.” Yang finishes with a wink.

Ruby tilts her head curiously to the side before it dawns on her. “She hasn’t gotten to experience kissing under the mistletoe yet!”

Yang grins at her sister. “Exactly! And…”

“And as her girlfriend it’s my job to show her!” Ruby starts to untie the apron around her waist, already getting ready to leave to find Weiss and give her a special holiday kiss.

“So go do it, Ruby! I can take over baking duties while you do,” she catches the apron thrown at her and starts tying it around her waist. “I’m gonna keep the ‘mistletoe’ for when my girlfriend gets back.”

Ruby’s enthusiasm already had her speeding out of the room. “Thanks Yang!”

“No prob!” Yang shouted back. Ruby passes through the open doorway into the living room, which she thinks the top trim would be the perfect place to hang the mistletoe for later. After she gets a quick kiss from Weiss.

“Oh Weiss~” Ruby coos out, looking for her girlfriend.

“I’m upstairs!” Weiss responds.

Ruby grins as she lightly holds the tiny plant in her hand and rushes up quickly. She wished she was allowed to use her semblance in the house to get up there quicker but she knew the rule. No semblances in the house. (Except for emergencies!) Wait…could kissing her partner count as an emergency? It was too late to consider the thought though since she reached the final step.

There at the end of the hall she could see her girlfriend carrying a few boxes towards her. Ruby rushes to meet her.

“Here,” Ruby moves to take the boxes from her, “let me carry those.”

Weiss doesn’t hesitate, already aware that her scythe wielding girlfriend had more than enough strength to spare to carry the boxes. “Thank you.” She breathes in relief. “Yang ran off for some reason leaving me to carry all these downstairs by myself!”

Ruby chuckles at her girlfriend’s annoyance. She knows exactly why Yang abandoned her. The very reason dropped on the floor by her foot when she offered to take the boxes.

Weiss gives one final huff before noticing the same plant on the ground by Ruby’s foot. “Oh!” Ruby starts to get giddy with excitement as Weiss bends down to lift it, puckering her lips in preparation. “I must have dropped this.”

She then places the mistletoe on the very top box that Ruby is carrying, confusing the poor leader. Weiss then turns around to head back down the hallway to the storage room at the end.

“Uhhh, Weiss?” Ruby can’t help but question. Where was her kiss!

“Oh, sorry Ruby. Can you take those downstairs, please? I’m going to grab some of the lighter boxes and I’ll meet you down there.”

“Um, okay, sure.” She then turns around and starts to make her way down the stairs to the living room. Ruby can’t help but be a little disheartened from not getting a kiss under the mistletoe, but it was also on the ground. She just has to shake it off. Ruby knows the tradition is you need to pass under the plant and not on top of it.

So maybe she didn’t get a mistletoe kiss from Weiss right now. They were trying to finish setting up for a party after all.

But she will get one before the end of the night. She’ll make sure of it! 

~~~ 2 ~~~

With Ruby now joined in decorating duties, she was rushing all around their living room and entryway to make it more festive than it was before (which was already a lot). Most of the orders coming from her very detail oriented partner.

She finds herself setting up all sorts of tinsel and garland in different places. Weiss has her help move the holiday tree twice in order to find the perfect space for it to not be in the way of the party. (Even though when they set it up the first time as just the four of them had agreed that the corner near the front window would be perfect for when they had the party. They eventually settle on its original spot.) And now she was starting to hang things up high around the living room.

Which would be made easier if they could use Weiss’ glyphs to make platforms, but no, they were stuck with their step ladder. (Stupid no semblances in the house rule.)

Right now though, she finally got to the doorway connecting their living room and kitchen. The exact same spot that she thought would be perfect to hang the mistletoe. Which was exactly what she was doing.

She hammers in the small nail that was going to be used to hold the mistletoe. As soon as it's in place, hanging down from the trim that was covered in lines of tinsel, an idea dawns on her. 

“Hey Weiss, can you come here for a sec?” Ruby calls out.

“Of course. Do you need help?”

“Yeah, can you come here and see if this looks good hanging from within the doorway?” It was the perfect plan. Once Weiss was under the doorway, Ruby could lean down from the ladder to get her holiday kiss!

Weiss gave Ruby a small tap from behind, letting her know that she was behind her.

Now! She started to lean over the side of the ladder, puckering her lips so Weiss would just have to turn in order to give Ruby what she so desired.

One thing that Ruby forgot, though, was that their step ladder had slightly uneven legs.

The second Weiss was perfectly standing in the doorway, Ruby was a dazed heap on the ground.

“Ruby!” Weiss immediately crouched down, great concern in her face at her girlfriend getting hurt.

Both Blake and Yang come running from the kitchen at the noise.

“What happened?” Blake asked before noticing their leader sitting up on the ground. “Ruby, are you ok?”

“No, she fell over while trying to hang something,” Weiss answered. She looks up at the other couple. “Yang, can you help me take Ruby to the couch? I think she needs to rest for a bit.”

“Yeah, of course.” Yang crouches down to Ruby’s other side, throwing Ruby’s arm over her shoulder. Weiss takes the other one and they walk her to the couch, sitting her down gently.

By this point, she has already gathered her thoughts again from the tumble but can already see the look in Weiss’ eyes.

“Blake,” Weiss begins, “since you’re here now, can you help me finish setting up the last of the decorations? I don’t want Ruby to push herself and believe it’s best for her to rest while we finish up.”

Ruby leans forward, ready to argue, when Yang steps next to Weiss in solidarity. She goes back to sinking in the couch.

“Yes, I can help.” Blake calmly responds, patting Ruby on the shoulder to offer her support. “Might as well give our leader a little break.”

Weiss and Yang both nod, heading back to do their tasks while Blake gives Ruby one final, gentle tap on the head.

Ruby doesn’t even really feel that hurt unless you count the blow to her pride. She gives a low sigh at being benched from finishing their holiday party prep, knowing better than to go against both Weiss and Yang insisting she takes it easy. So she sits grumpily on the couch, just watching her girlfriend and other best friend finish up their living room.

She didn’t even get her kiss.

She leans her head back and looks over to where the mistletoe now hangs. Well at least I was right about that being a good spot to hang it. 

She’ll just have to get her kiss a little later.

~~~ 3 ~~~

Ruby was eventually allowed to help again. Which was great! Except it wasn’t back with her girlfriend, instead she was sent back to the kitchen for frosting duty.

Which she didn’t mind. She loved frosting duty. It was one of her and Yang’s traditions from back when they were little kids on Patch and getting to continue it again for a party they were hosting was awesome.

What wasn’t fun was how her older sister kept teasing her for not getting her mistletoe kiss yet.

“I already got my mistletoe kiss from Blake and I don’t even have a real mistletoe!” Yang laughed.

“Yeah, yeah. You laugh it up now, Yang, but I will get my mistletoe kiss before Christmas eve is over.”

“Of course you will,” Yang cheered for her, making Ruby smile. She started to draw a big smile on her next gingerbread man to match her own. “ If your girlfriend ever notices.”

Yang laughed loudly while Ruby sent her a glare taught to her by her partner. She knew it had no effect on Yang since the entire team was already used to the Weiss brand glares, but she had to do it anyway. It was the principle.

Oh if only Ruby had her beloved Crescent Rose, she could challenge Yang to a duel to stop her teasing.

Wait! She looks down at the frosting bag in her hand. She does have a weapon…

Besides, Yang will have enough time to get ready for the party in time.

With a devious smile, Ruby raises up her bag of frosting, perfectly aiming it at Yang and squeezes with all her might. And thanks to her amazingly sharp sniper shot, she hits her mark.

“HEY!”

Ruby only has seconds to laugh before a glob of green frosting is launched back her way. Not nearly as accurate as her shot, but most of it still gets on her face.

“Yeah! Not so funny when the icings in the other ha–” Yang is promptly cut off by another shot of frosting hitting her smack in the face. She quickly swipes it off with her hand, a sharp, annoyed frown on her face. “I didn’t even get to finish talking!”

“All’s fair in love and war, sis,” Ruby says smugly, squeezing the frosting bag one more time. It would be the final free shot she would have. Just before the Xiao Long-Rose sisters' kitchen war would begin.

The final shot hits the mark of Yang’s left shoulder. She slowly looks down at it before raising her now blazing red eyes to sharpen at her sister. “Oh that’s it.”

The two of them continuing shooting their frosting tubes at one another until they run out. They are left with only the burnt patches of cookies to use as their weapons. (They don’t want to waste all the effort on their good cookies just to mess with each other.) The pieces fly across the room as they both try to keep their eyes on one another. Taunts are thrown at the same pace as the cookies are. Shouts goading one another more.

The only time they pause is when they hear Blake shout to them from the living room. “You two alright over there?”

Yang, hearing the lovely voice of her partner, snaps to respond. “We’re fine!”

But that was a lie. Only one of them was fine! That person being Ruby because Yang had turned away for a second. Now it was time to teach her a lesson about taking your eyes off the target.

“Rahhhh!” Ruby launches herself on her older sister.

“Hey! No fair!” She fights to not get in one of the wrestling locks that she taught her annoyance of a little sister. “You little cheater!”

“Never look away from your prey!” Ruby says as she clings harder. If she loses her grip now, she’ll be done for! She knows she’s not a match against the brawler in hand to hand combat.

In the middle of all their wrestling, they don’t hear the loud sighs coming from the other half of their team. Nor the footsteps that followed.

“You two realize the frosting is supposed to go on the cookies and not each other right?” Chuckles the voice of their part-feline teammate.

“Uhh, it’s mostly on the cookies,” Yang answered, tossing Ruby off of her and onto the ground.

“Oof.”

“Besides, it’s tradition, y'know. The annual frosting battle!” Yang exclaims, taking off the messy apron and tossing it on the counter. She starts moving towards Blake, who also starts walking to the blonde brawler to meet her halfway.

Blake smiles, swipes a bit of frosting off Yang’s cheek before kissing it. 

“You two are such messes!” Weiss groans as she leans in the doorway. “You shouldn’t encourage this, Blake.”

Ruby jumps up at the sound of her girlfriend. “Weiss!”

“There’s no stopping them Weiss. Trust me, I’ve tried just best to let it happen.”

“Yup! And since it was Rubes to start it this time,” Yang then dashes out of the kitchen, making a beeline for the stairs, “she has to clean up the mess!”

“Hey!” Weiss shouts as Yang barrels past her.

“No fair!” Ruby looks around at the mess that surrounds her. Luckily, both of their shots were extremely accurate this year so most of the frosting was stuck to them and their aprons, almost none getting on the floor. There was some on the countertops but at least it wasn’t the floor. No last minute mopping for her! “Would my lovely girlfriend care to he–”

Ruby cuts herself off at the unamused look her partner was giving you. It was the most familiar expression to grace her face so Ruby knew it was a fruitless endeavor. Not unless she brought out the puppy dog eyes. As if she could read Ruby’s mind, Weiss narrowed her eyes daring her not to. 

Blake’s laugh is the only thing to get them out of their silent conversation. “Don’t worry Ruby, I’ll help you clean up so you can have time to change since Yang deserted you.”

“Thank you, Blake! The only member of Team RWBY to not betray its leader!” She overdramatically cries.

It was enough to make Weiss laugh, shaking her head good naturedly in the doorway. The sight makes Ruby’s chest feel warm. She loved making Weiss laugh, she found it to be the prettiest sound to ever exist. Pairing that with adorable festive wear she had on and the decorations framing her, it made Ruby want to sweep her up in her arms for a kiss.

Then it dawned on her.

Her chance! It was right in front of her. Sure, she was covered in frosting but it would be so cute. She had to seize the opportunity. Weiss was pretty much under that mistletoe from where she stood in the doorway. When would be the next time be for her to have a mistletoe kiss with Weiss before the guests start showing up.

She starts to rush over to Weiss, ready to wrap her up in her arms. Weiss’ eyes widen though, looking at all the frosting on her apron and starts to step back to not get it on herself. Perfectly getting more and more under where the mistletoe was.

Only for it all to be ruined by the sound of their doorbell.

“Oh! Our first guests! I got it,” Weiss yells excitedly immediately pivoting on her foot to head to the front door.

Ruby feels her large grin drop along with her outstretched arms as Weiss rushes away to answer the door. She would be lying if she said her hopes weren’t a little crushed.

“JNPR! Welcome in! You four are the first to show up.” Ruby heard from the front door, telling her exactly who rung the doorbell at the worst possible moment. (Was it possible for some of her Uncle’s semblance to rub off on her? Was that a thing? It sure felt like it at this point.)

She just sighs. She had just finished wiping down the counters, tossing her apron off so the frosting wouldn’t follow her through the house while she went to change. She stands under the plant, glaring up at it. She almost wonders if it was bad luck using real mistletoe instead of the ‘fake’ one. She never had these problems with holly!

Blake comes up beside her, patting her on the back and kissing the top of her head as she mopes. “Don’t worry Ruby, I’m sure the two of you will get your mistletoe kiss once the party starts to settle in more. She’s just stressed trying to make it perfect.”

Ruby sighs. “Yeah, I know…it just feels like I keep missing out on making it happen.”

Blake squeezes her to her side. “You still got the rest of the night. Besides, if you need help making it happen, I’m sure the rest of us will help.”

“Yeah, you’re right!” Ruby grins, returning the side hug. “The party’s just starting.”

“There’s my leader!” Blake finally releases her from the hug. “You should really go change now. I can take care of the counters,” she winks.

Ruby nods and rushes past her, taking the stairs two at a time. She can hear her wonderful girlfriend’s lovely voice continue to greet the first of their guests. We can still have a mistletoe kiss, Weiss. It’ll just have to be a little later.

~~~ 4 ~~~

Ruby was happy to have all her friends arriving for the party. From their sister team that was Team JNPR to the upperclassmen that was Team CFVY that they used to get the most advice from.

Not to mention that this was the first time in a while where all their friends from the Vytal Festivals were able to meet with them again.

And as far as she could tell, everyone was happy for the chance to catch up with each other as well.

But the party was still just getting started as people continued to filter into the spacious living room. A consistent cadence of knocks and chimes of a doorbell would ring through the house as more and more of their friends arrived. Team RWBY was in a constant rotation of welcoming people into their home and introducing them to the other guests. Always making fanfare thanks to all the explosive personalities that made up quite a few of their friends.

Honestly, it was a little exhausting. And if there’s one thing that can always fill Ruby with energy, it's a sweet little kiss from her girlfriend. Preferably one of the holiday tradition kind.

The only thing was that she had designated herself as the one to introduce some of their friends from their missions in southern Vale to their friends from Haven. Which meant that it could be some time before she could get even a private conversation started with her partner. But it was nice to see Weiss so lively.

“This party is great, Ruby!” Nora shouted while slinging her arm around Ruby’s shoulder. The rest of team JNPR were quick to follow.

“Yeah! The whole place looks like something from a holiday movie!” Jaune exclaimed. 

“Heh, thanks guys.” Ruby bashfully says to them. Before letting out a small sigh, looking over to where Weiss was, hugging some of the newest guests that just entered. “Too bad it can’t play out like one too…” She mumbles.

“What do you mean?” Jaune questioned, not quite connecting the dots yet.

“You could always ask her,” Ren suggests. 

Ruby just sighs and nods at Ren’s advice. (Curse him and his emotional wisdom forced upon him by his semblance.) “I could but look at her, she’s having fun talking to everyone, I don’t want to stop that early.”

A small “who? Weiss?” goes ignored. Ren nods.

“Well clearly it's bugging you. Was it an argument before the party? Or was she just stressed?”

“Communicating with her would be for the best, Ruby. You wouldn’t want these feelings to fester for the whole party.” Pyrrha adds.

“No, I know that. But it’s not even that big of a deal,” Ruby tries to brush off their concern.

“And yet you’re this upset,” reasons Pyrrha.

Ruby can’t help but squirm under their concerned gazes and breaks. “I’m serious guys, it’s nothing that serious. It wasn’t an argument or her feeling stressed. Actually it might be a little bit of that but I know it’s not entirely that. It’s just something kinda silly the more I think about it.”

Nora pulls her into a hug, trying her best to reassure her friend. “Nuh uh. Can’t be that silly if it makes one of Beacon’s brightest this upset. So c’mon, you can tell us. We won’t laugh.”

Ruby nods. She knows that's true. Outside of her teammates, Team JNPR are the best friends she could ever ask for. She clears her throat before bashfully telling them. “Well, it’s just that I hung the mistletoe hoping to get a holiday kiss with Weiss and well…she just keeps ignoring it or something. And I don’t want to make her do it if she’s not noticing.”

“Aww,” three of them coo, only Ren being able to hold the sentiment in. But Ruby can see it in his eyes. He was basically doing it too.

“That’s cute. I think you should just bring it up to her then, Ruby.”

“That would be the wisest thing to do…”

“I know, I just wanted it to happen in a cuter way than me asking for it. But yeah, I’ll do something soon.”

“Well I would do something fast then, she’s about to pass under it with Aero.” Jaune points out.

“She hwuh?!” Ruby shouts, thankfully not arousing any looks from any one else at the party. (They were all already used to the chaos of team RWBY thankfully.) Her head snaps around where her girlfriend was just at only to see her missing. She repeats the breakneck action to look the other way to see that the observation was true. Weiss was walking with Aero to kitchen, the two of them wrapped up in a conversation. Now Ruby didn’t dislike Aero, not at all, but she will say that she doesn’t quite like the idea of them being the one to pass under the mistletoe with Weiss. That should be her spot. (Not to mention the fact that the first time Team RWBY met Aero and their team that they kept flirting with Weiss. Sure they weren’t together then and Aero backed off after they did but it still made Ruby’s blood boil just a little.) “We need to stop them.”

Which may have been the worst thing to say since Nora’s eyes seemed to crackle with more energy than usual. “I got this.”

Now Team JNPR knew the rule about no semblances in Team RWBY’s home, it was just easy for them to forget about it since they weren’t living there all the time. So with a crack of electricity, Nora zoomed off. Straight to where Aero and Weiss were, mere steps from under the mistletoe.

She crashes into them with her whole force, her small body that was practically all muscle hitting them with the force of a cannonball sends them into a heap on the floor. There hadn’t even been enough time for Weiss to make any sounds of shock from the initial impact.

Nora gives them all a thumbs up from the heap of limbs. The action being the last thing confirming she’s fine before Weiss gathers herself and starts scolding her.

“Maybe we should just make a plan,” Jaune offers weakly. Ruby, Pyrrha and Ren all nod in agreement.

~~~ 5 ~~~

It was finally time. Finally her best chance to get her mistletoe kiss from her girlfriend!

The perfect plan made by the best Remnant had to offer had come together to craft the act of genius. 

There were now many guests mingling in the RWBY living room. All sharing drinks and stories of their first few years as proper Huntresses and Huntsmen. Many catching up on how the final years of their schooling went after the last time they all met, many of those meetings being from the last Vytal festival from two years before. 

And it’s nowhere near as fun to tell these kinds of stories on empty bellies so snacks were a definite need. A definite need that the living room was slowly dwindling out of. A need that would soon need to be replenished by the hosts of such festivities. And the location of such snacks being in the very kitchen where the mistletoe was hung in the entryway of.

All that would need to be done was for one of her friends to request for more snacks from Weiss. And ever the hostess that she was, she would rush to the kitchen right away. Maybe even grab one of her teammates to assist too. The most likely option being her girlfriend and partner. And if she chose to get them by herself then Ruby would rush to offer her help.

Either way, the two of them would pass under that mistletoe. Together. With no one else to walk that way at the same time. No other distraction to pull her attention away other than trays of cookies and her oh so helpful girlfriend.

It was perfect.

“...and then I shouted ‘Junior Senior Detective! Stand down!’ But these dudes totally didn’t listen. They laughed at us and–hey wait, Nep, that’s the last cookie! I wanted that!” Sun exclaimed, setting the plan into motion. 

“But dude,” Neptune mumbled through his bite of snickerdoodle, “you were busy telling a story.”

“Yeah, but that was gonna be my treat for when I finished.” The pout on Sun’s face was extremely realistic and it made Ruby giddy to see the plan going smoothly.

Weiss, who was listening along to the story, sighed. “You two do know that we have more in the kitchen right?”

“Yeah but that’s so faarrrr away.” “Yeah! Super far away!”

The two grown men then start to pout at the heiress. She just sighs and rolls her eyes. “Fine,” she smirks, “I suppose I can go grab them and bring them over. I’m sure some of the other trays are dwindling as well.”

She gets up from her seat, leaving Neptune and Sun to do a giddy little dance in their seats. She walks over to where Ruby was standing, which was with Nora and Jaune, all which were also listening to the story. “Love, would you mind coming to help?”

Ruby immediately jumps up from her seat. Her golden opportunity was here! “Of course Weiss!”

As she walked away with her lovely partner, being sure to slip her hand into one of hers, she turned around to toss her other friends a thumbs up for their foolproof plan. Jaune and Nora gave her silent cheers while Sun and Neptune just looked excited for more cookies. (We’re they even aware of the plan?)

Soon, they were just a couple of steps from being in the opening and that would be the time to strike. The small plant hovering mockingly just above it. Don’t worry you little plant, you’ll spread some holiday magic soon enough.

What she didn’t expect was for Weiss to be shocked when Ruby stopped perfectly within the doorway. She raises a curious eyebrow, wondering what kinds of shenanigans her girlfriend was up to. Ruby, meanwhile, puckered her lips and kept glancing up to the plant. Minor irritation began to bloom on Weiss’ face as she tried to tug Ruby along into the kitchen to no avail.

Finally, she decided to ask. “Ruby, what is it?”

Ruby says nothing as she just points up to the mistletoe, an expectant grin on her face.

Weiss just gives her a very confused smile and nods. “Yes, you did a very good job hanging that plant. Now come on, we have to get those delicious cookies of yours.”

And Ruby could swear that it felt like she took on the full bite of a Beowolf. Did…did Weiss not want to kiss her under the mistletoe?

She just meekly decided to let herself be dragged along, heartbreak in her heart. Did Weiss not care for that tradition? Did she find it childish or immature? Or maybe inappropriate? Well, she had seen some instances of confusion when two people walked under it on accident and didn’t want to share a kiss with a stranger. Or maybe it was the fact that it would be in front of all their friends from over the years and Weiss was still shy about PDA. (Ruby immediately ignored that after remembering the times that Weiss would throw herself in Ruby’s arms over the past year no matter where they were. She definitely was not afraid of a little PDA.)

So she just followed. Grabbed a tray of cookies. Brought it to the living room. Sat back in her seat with Weiss by her side. But it all felt a little muffled. She just couldn’t wrap her mind over Weiss leaving her high and dry under the mistletoe.

The only thing that managed to draw her out of her stupor was when Weiss started to receive a call on her scroll. Bringing it out, it clearly showed the image of her brother being the one to dial her. She quickly excused herself, being sure to leave a kiss on the top of Ruby’s head. ( Now she gives her a kiss?!)

With Weiss gone, it seemed to be the invite for her best friends to swarm around her to ask why she was in such a confused and kinda sad state.

“She didn’t give me a kiss under the mistletoe…We stood right under it and…nothing.”

It was a mishmash of voices. Comfort and words of encouragement rang out around her. That Weiss was probably just shy. That she was clearly preoccupied with the late arrival of her family. That she maybe wasn’t big on the tradition. Any and every reasoning was given to her but it was all just noise. Well at least until one voice cut through it all with a question.

“What’s so important about a parasitic plant and sharing affection under it?”

Ruby’s head snaps up to Penny, her head curiously tilted to the side. “Huh?”

“I’m just curious about what is the correlation of the plant and a kiss?” Penny asks once more. 

“...because it's a tradition?” Ruby answers softly. Now she had been friends with Penny for years and their conversations flowed as smooth as water by this point, but it felt like she was sent back in time. Back to when they were first becoming friends and having stilted conversations.

“Oh!” Penny grins brightly. “So the tradition is to kiss while under the mistletoe? Am I correct on that, Ruby?”

Ruby hesitantly nods her head. “Yeah…Have you never heard of it before?”

Penny shakes her head in return. “No! This is the first time I’ve heard of this tradition.”

Now this could just be a Penny thing. She was still learning new things every day despite being around for quite some time now. They all were but Ruby had the strange feeling that this teaching moment would be going both ways.

Ruby wanted to ask. To see if it was just a Penny thing, or an Atlesian thing in general, but Penny beat her to the punch.

“Is it possible that it is a Vale tradition? I don’t recall ever hearing about it back home, much less witnessing such a cute tradition.”

Before Ruby could even think to answer, to debate if it was just a Vale thing, a couple of more people butted into the conversation. 

“Oh yeah, it’s totes not an Atlas thing,” Neon said, snatching one of the cookies in front of Ruby to toss in her mouth.

“Yeah, I remember seeing it in this one club we visited last year and seeing tons of people share kisses under one hanging by the bar. Thought it was just the drinks until I passed under it at the same time as this one girl and she gave me a peck on the cheek,” added Flynt. “Bartender saw my shock and explained it to us, so I can definitely say that Schnee never heard about it before, especially not when she was a caged bird.”

And it all made sense. Not one, not two but three Atlesians gave her the facts. The mistletoe tradition didn’t happen in Atlas. Which means Weiss wasn’t ignoring it on purpose, she just didn’t know what it meant. Didn’t know what it was for.

“Oh my gods, she doesn’t know what a mistletoe kiss is,” Ruby says before flinging herself out of the chair and off to search for where her girlfriend went.

Of course Weiss wouldn’t know, she had never stayed in Vale for Nondescript Winter Holiday before. This was meant to teach her how it was celebrated in Vale and Ruby forgot to give her the full lessons.

Well time to fix that mistake.

~~~ *1* ~~~

Ruby now had a new addition to her mission. The objective was very much the same. Find Weiss and give her a kiss under the mistletoe. She just now had a few new steps to that plan. Now she had to find Weiss, explain the humble Vale tradition to her and finally share her Winter’s Eve kiss with the woman she loves.

Ruby can’t help but continue shaking her head as she heads out to the back porch of the house where Weiss had excused herself to make a call to her brother. How could she forget that Weiss still doesn’t know all the Vale traditions, especially the wintertime ones. She never had the chance to celebrate them!

Well she had no time to dwell on that now. She had a piece of ‘mistletoe’ clutched gently in her hand that needed to be used right away. It was a good thing that Yang still had the spare piece in her pocket to lend her for this very moment. (There was no way Ruby was going to pull the one she painstakingly hung off the wall, even with Nora’s offers to ‘help’.)

She finally made it to the door to their back porch and peaked out the tiny window. There she saw her angel, standing with her scroll to her ear and looking out at the snowy woods behind their home. Ruby’s grin only grew at such a beautiful sight.

She pushes through the door as quietly as possible, but it does nothing to keep Weiss from carefully glancing over her shoulder to see who came out. Ruby feels enthralled by the small wisps of air that curl off the smiling lips of her partner. Lips that will be soon hers to capture.

The door closes behind her with a click as Weiss turns back to look at the landscape.

“Yes Whitely…I already told you it’s fine that the flight arrived late, the party is still just starting…I promise my friends would love to share their traditions…Well then I hope you brought some things with you for us to share then…No, it will be fine that you don’t have something for everyone. You only personally know a handful of them anyways…Well, I can’t guarantee you protection from Nora’s hugs…Hey! I already got mine, so yes you need to be crushed too…Fine…Love you too, Whit. I’ll see you, mother, Winter and Klein soon then.”

While Weiss had been wrapping up the conversation with her younger brother, Ruby had been busy taking in the sight of her girlfriend, more relaxed now that the party was in swing. She waited patiently for Weiss to put the scroll away in the pocket of her skirt.

“So, how’s things going with little Whitley?” Ruby asked to break the ice, slipping her hand into Weiss’.

Weiss sighs happily. “He’s fine. He’s just stressed about showing up late to the party. They had some delay in their flight over here. They just finished dropping their stuff off at the hotel and should be here soon though.”

Ruby giggled. “Oh you Schnees and your need for timeliness.”

Weiss turns to give her a playful glare. “Being punctual is important, Ruby.”

“Says the one that loves sleeping in,” Ruby can’t help but tease slyly.

Weiss gasps in mock offense and playfully smacks Ruby’s shoulder. “Well sleep is important too!”

Ruby bursts out laughing at the flimsy excuse. She watches her girlfriend pout as she tries to hide the smile slowly taking over her face. An easy silence fills the air though. But Ruby can still feel the mistletoe waiting in her hand that wasn’t holding Weiss’. She had a mission to complete. Thankfully, Whitley gave her the perfect transition. 

“Soooo, I heard you tell him that whatever he’s bringing would be fine. Something traditional?”

Weiss lights up immediately and Ruby feels like her heart would melt right then and there. “Yes! He wanted to bring an old tradition Atlesian drink that is traditionally lit on fire for a toast. I’m excited to do it with people I actually care about.”

“Ooh that sounds fun,” Ruby shared in the enthusiasm. Until she remembered some of their guests and the flammable decorations everywhere. She chuckles nervously. “We just might need to be careful with some of the others getting their hands on those.”

Weiss’ smile dropped like she also remembered who some of their guests were. She sighs before grumbling, “I might have to use my semblance in the house later then.”

Ruby laughs at the deadpan warning which also gets Weiss to smile again. After reigning in her giggles is when she decides to finally introduce Weiss to a Vale tradition. “Hey, so speaking of traditions…”

“Yes?” Her girlfriend could easily pick up on the tone Ruby was using. Something she got to doing when she felt like trying to be ‘mysterious’. Weiss finds it adorable every time.

“I’ve got a Vale tradition of my own to show you,” she says as she raises her hand above them, opening the palm so the small plant clutched between her fingers can hang.

Weiss stares up curiously at the little plant, slight confusion on her face. “Ok…? I don’t know why you keep having us pass under these little plants with berries on them?” The slight annoyance in her voice is obvious to Ruby. She can recognize it so easily as the specific annoyed tone that she used when there was a puzzle in front of her but the solution escapes her.

Ruby decides to save her from her pondering. “Well, that’s because it’s supposed to be mistletoe.” Weiss raises a curious eyebrow, prompting her to continue with her explanation. “And in Vale, when two people pass under mistletoe, they’re supposed to…share a holiday kiss.”

Realization dawns in icey blue eyes. She stares up at the dangling little plant then down at silver eyes then up to the plant again. A beautiful red blush blooms across her cheeks. Whether its from embarrassment at not knowing or just the natural blush that paints her cheeks every time she’s about to kiss her partner, Ruby can’t be sure. (Though if she had to say, she would say it was mostly from the embarrassment.)

“Oh…” she squeaks out. “So all those times inside…?”

Ruby just enthusiastically nods.

“So you were trying to…”

“Yup!”

She covers part of her face with her free hand. “So I’ve been missing out on free kisses from you?”

“We’ve both been missing out on them.”

Weiss moves her hand off her face and instead uses it to cup Ruby’s, a brilliant blush highlighting her cheeks. “Well, now that I know the tradition, I have some kisses to make up for,” she says before leaning in.

Rosy lips meet some lightly chapped ones in a moment. (Ruby curses the cold for making hers chapped instead of nice and smooth for her girlfriend.) But like every time they kiss, it feels like most comforting worth fills Ruby up. Enough to starve off the cold. Enough to keep Ruby motivated day by day when the going gets tough for their team. Enough to let her know how safe and loved she is by the strong Huntress with blinding white hair and a passionate, kind soul. It felt like the sweetest treat and the most soothing balm. It felt like love.

Before she could press even more into the all consuming warmth that was constant in every one of their kisses, Weiss pulls away. Ruby hazily opens her eyes, just to know why Weiss would stop after promising to make up for all the missed mistletoe kisses they could have had.

What she sees is Weiss staring up at the plant though and beginning to reach up to it.

“There is just one thing though,” she says, plucking the ‘mistletoe’ from her beloved leader’s hand.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry Ruby but I do have to make one minor correction.” Weiss brings the plant down between them. “This is actually holly, not mistletoe.”

Ruby can’t help the groan escaping her, the sound shifting into knowing chuckles. Of course her nerdy girlfriend would correct her during such a sweet moment. It’s another thing that she loves about her after all. “I had to work with what I had!”

Weiss laughs before letting the plant drop between them at her feet. She uses both hands to cup Ruby’s face, bringing it close to her own. “I appreciate it nonetheless,” is all she whispers before closing the final distance between them once more, returning to the well earned holiday kiss.

Because ‘tis the season. And Ruby was always one to enjoy celebrating the holidays.