Interlude 4.
POV: Yang Xião-Long.
"Oh, you look so beautiful!" I exclaimed as I saw my little sister enter through the ballroom door.
It wasn't an empty compliment; Ruby truly looked stunning.
She wore a ruby red dress that matched her red hair, accentuating the silver in her eyes and contrasting with the pale white of her smooth skin.
Even the gray stockings she wore made her look more slender, with an innocent yet elegant air.
I won't admit it if you ask me, but I was a bit jealous of how effortlessly beautiful Ruby could be. She was just there, in a simple dress, stockings, no makeup, and high heels, walking awkwardly, but somehow still managing to look magnificent.
"Um..." I heard her murmur. "Can we talk about how Weiss manages to fight in these things?" She said hesitantly as she tried to walk straight, failing to keep her body upright due to the lack of practice in high heels.
I couldn't help but start laughing.
"Come on, my dear Rubaby, let's take a picture; your current look is too precious for me not to have any kind of blackmail material."
"Yang!"
"What? I promise I won't show it to anyone... unless Deva asks, of course."
"YANG!"
It was a good night!
[…]
POV: Ruby Rose
It was a terrible night!
Why did I have to be in this dress, wearing these stupid heels? What was wrong with my cape? Why couldn't I just wear it normally?!
"I told you she would come," I heard Yang proudly say as she looked at Blake having fun, dancing with Sun.
"Mission accomplished," Weiss stated with a calm voice.
At least they were having fun, but...
"So... What do we do now?" I asked hesitantly. Why did I feel like I was going to be left here?
Confirming my fears, Weiss just turned without saying anything, with a slight smile on her face, and Yang did the same, leaving me without any cool instructions on what I should do.
"Just have fun!"
I turned, looking at them, but they were already gone, each heading to a different side of the dance floor.
"How magnificent!" The sarcasm was strong, so strong that I was surprised I hadn't created a new type of Grimm that was attracted to sarcasm.
But...
"Does that mean I can take off these stupid things and put on my cape now?" I wanted my cape back!
"Stupid high heels!" I muttered, lightly kicking the floor.
I wouldn't even be able to fight properly in these things; if something happened, I would have to fight barefoot! And of course, something would happen. Everyone could call Devas paranoid, but I knew he was right!
"Aren't you enjoying yourself?" I heard a voice coming from behind me. Professor Ozpin?
I turned only to see him beside me, looking at the dance floor.
"Oh, no... It's fine!" It was not fine! Devas, at this time of night, should be fixing the Humvee with Stark, and I wanted to help!
"I'm just not a party-goer... and a dancer." I knew how to bake cookies, kill Grimm, and create beautiful works of art like Crescent Rose; being a party-goer and a dancer were not on my list of talents!
"Well, you can't spend your entire life on a battlefield, even if you wanted to," Professor Ozpin said calmly.
"Yeah," I commented, turning to look at the dance floor. "Those lessons have been coming in abundance lately." Almost everyone in the stream told Devas to relax, but he always found more things to do, never relaxing, never stopping...
I wished I could help him, fight alongside him... Take at least a bit of the burden he seemed to carry, but not telling anyone what it was...
Funny that these thoughts, months ago, would probably be "Protect him," but in just under five months, he had already become strong enough to be compared to a Huntsman...
I needed to train more...
"If you think about it that way..." Professor Ozpin's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Fighting and dancing aren't so different." He continued, looking at the dance floor.
"Two partners connected, at the same time, one wrong move in the process, and it ends with a swollen foot." He explained.
I would have agreed if it were before I met Devas, before getting to know the people from the stream. I probably would have said something like, "Or a twisted ankle."
But I had a different opinion at this moment.
"I know how fighting and dancing are alike..." Devas had shown this to the stream with the Hinokami Kagura and the modified version he had created.
One was a dance to praise the gods, the sun, something beautiful and eye-catching that could be used as a weapon in battle.
The other was something created exclusively to fight against the night, against something bigger, against something more... But as fierce as it seemed, as efficient and without wasted movements as it was, it was still as beautiful as a dance.
"... But a dance, just like a fight, doesn't have to be between two people, two partners..." I had my team more united than ever. We were four, two pairs, two partners forming a single unit.
And I knew that even if I made a wrong move, if Yang, Weiss, Blake made a wrong move, it wouldn't end with a swollen foot or a twisted ankle; it would just end with us helping each other.
That's how the "dance" of Team RWBY was, our fight...
"Hmm..." Professor Ozpin hummed lightly before nodding, as if he agreed. "I believe you're talking about your team, Miss Rose." He commented, looking at me.
"Glynda told me how you've improved your coordination and teamwork, probably the strongest team in the entire first year." He said, turning his gaze back to the dance floor.
"It's not every time that a team can be so united like that." He said before pointing with his cane to the dance floor. "It's not every day that friends can come together like this."
I looked at Blake dancing while listening to Professor Ozpin's words; she seemed happy, much better than her worried expression when the White Fang or Torchwick was mentioned.
"... Time likes to test our bonds, but it's on nights like this that they become stronger than ever..." This time, I shifted my gaze to Weiss, who seemed sulky for some reason... I'll ask her what happened later...
"... Nights like this are nights we'll never forget..." Professor Ozpin finished explaining at the same time he looked at the door, where Yang was greeting the guests.
"But with that said, may I ask you a question, Miss Rose?" I heard Professor Ozpin's voice. With a slight nod from me, he continued.
Like a fight, a dance is sometimes a lonely thing. After all, not everyone has a partner, friends, a team to rely on..." He had a vacant look in his eyes as he said this. A distant look.
"What would someone like that do in this situation then? What would you, Miss Rose, do in this situation?" He finally asked.
What would I do if I were alone, without a partner, friends, or a team?...
I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face, my lips lifting unconsciously.
The answer came to me instantly; after all, it was something I saw every day for more than five months, someone I saw in a situation so close to this that they could very well be the same...
"Him..." I quickly corrected. "I..." I corrected myself again. "We, move forward, always forward..."
A memory flashed in my mind, the memory of a man in the body of a child, who, even facing an invincible monster, stood up to fight...
"... After all, every night comes to an end, and after it, there's always tomorrow. We just need to... have hope..." I hummed while smiling, looking at the window, at the moon.
Devas would love Remnant, I was sure of that...
"... That's what makes us who we are in the end, humans, faunus, people..." All we needed was to have hope...
I concluded my explanation as I walked away, glancing momentarily at the shocked face of the Professor.
"... That's what I would do, Professor Ozpin, just move forward, have hope." That's what Devas would do...
After all, this night wasn't so bad...
Now, where was the punch?... Talking so much made me thirsty...
I need to go get Crescent Rose too; I felt defenseless without her... The problem is... how could I smuggle her into the ballroom?