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brokenrealitylooper · 11 days ago

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Another Dream

This goes with the other times I've written Weiss meeting others from outside the world/reality of Tarnished Silver and Regrets and Love.

It borrows from Fruit Loops AU, and thus has some spoilers. It's also long.

(those present blink and find themselves where the story starts)

o0o0o0o

"You know..." Weiss murmurs, glancing up at her Roman before looking across at 'Ruby' and the other 'Roman', "I don't think I'm all that surprised…"

Roman, her Roman—the man who gave her four beautiful children before they found themselves back in time—stands beside her with his arm over her shoulder, supporting her as she leans into his side. She knows his other hand is on his hip, close to his tonfa.

Across from them are Ruby—she thinks it’s Ruby, if an older one than she ever got to see—and another Roman. But a… a harder Roman. Darker, maybe. But not Dark, not like Adam Taurus or Cinder Fall had been. Just… Weiss holds back a frown, watching the two.

‘Ruby’ leans back into ‘Roman’, her arms loosely crossed as she watches with guarded curiosity. This other ‘Roman’ stands just behind her, his hands deep in the pockets of his signature white coat with Melodic Cudgel hanging from his elbow, head tilted down enough so only his right eye and his smirk are visible from under his hat and bangs; a very… predatory smirk, Weiss thinks.

0o0

“You know… I don’t think I’m all that surprised.”

Ruby watched—guarded, cautious—as ‘Weiss’ glanced up at the doppelgänger of Roman before focusing on her, feeling her Roman—Husband/Mate/Solid/AlwaysLoyal—hunch behind her with his hands in his coat pockets. She could tell without looking he was eyeing the other pair with a hint of menace.

Though, if the other two even noticed, it didn’t seem to bother them.

It puzzled her. This other Weiss and Roman. They both looked the right age—early 20s and late 30s respectively—but there was a weight to them she’d only felt from her own team, and Roman behind her; the weight of age.

And she could feel the weave of their Auras, intertwined like-yet-not-like her bond with Roman.

So she reached up and back, her hand finding Roman’s cheek, feeling the edge in their Auras soften at the contact.

“I’m a little surprised.” Ruby smiled, watching the other two focus on her, “More from your presence than the pairing.”

“Ice Queen is a decent conversationalist.” Roman murmurs, voice just loud enough for the other two to hear, earning a matched pair of smirks from the couple.

0o0

Weiss watched the other woman glance around, so she did the same. It was their living room; a sofa and a few large chairs, familiar bookcases along one wall and a window on two of the others. Behind Ruby and the other Roman was the hall that connected to the front door and the kitchen, with the bedrooms down the hall.

“I wonder why we’re in my home, and not Somewhere Else.” Weiss mused, moving to sit on the sofa—Roman joining her and relaxing back beside her—waving for the other couple to sit on the chairs opposite.

“This is your space, I think we’re only visiting.” Ruby mused, sitting in one chair while Roman—she really needed to tell them apart in her mind better—stood behind her and looked around.

“I’m certainly not complaining.” Ro—She’ll think of him by her name for him—grinned as he watched the Others, “The real question is why are you two nuisances here.”

“Red here probably dragged me along,” Roman looked down as Ruby looked up, sad smiles on their faces that put Weiss on edge and made something in her chest ache, “We did die about the same time.”

0o0

The faint gasp from across the low coffee table drew Ruby and her husband’s gazes, watching Weiss bring her hands to her mouth as tears formed in her eyes, the white-haired woman focused on Ruby alone as the other Roman—we’ll go with Torchwick for now, Ruby thought—leaned forward and over against Weiss.

“It’s alright, we’ll just Wake Up in a new timeline.” Ruby tried to sooth, watching as the alternate version of her best friend blinked, “We’re long used to it by now.”

“You too?” Weiss whispered, surprising Ruby, and she could feel Roman’s focus latch onto the pair, “I didn’t know others could suddenly relive their lives. I thought it was just myself and Ro.”

0o0

“And I didn’t know other versions of us could Loop.” Ruby stared, and Weiss blinked again at her words. There were capitals to some of the words she used, like they meant something more.

“It’s only once, for us.” Weiss gestured to her paramour and herself, “One try, to fix the few things that lead to the last time so this time is perfect.”

“But you two-” Ro looked at the Others, frowning in thought, “-You keep repeating, don’t you?”

“Hundreds of times in this bull-marathon,” Roman snorted, finally relaxing as he leaned on the back of Ruby’s chair, “And Nothing. Ever. Sticks!”

Ruby softly shushed him, leaning back in her chair so her head brushed his arms, “We have some leads, possible reasons we keep starting over that need cleared up before we can make a timeline stick. For more than a handful of years.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through that.” Weiss soft words touched something in Ruby, then. An odd familiarity that reminded her of her mother.

She didn’t really want to touch it, it was still a sore point for her even a few dozen Loops later, but this Weiss across from her… Ruby thought she must’ve been a mother before going back in time. Maybe she could hint at it?

“We don’t lose anything but time, though sometimes one of us will live a life Remembering while the other doesn’t.” Ruby smiled, feeling Roman’s irritation over his Loops without her, “It makes it hard, but we know we’ll find each other again.”

“Your family is always there?” The flicker of hope Ruby felt from Weiss as she spoke made something in her chest ache, and she hated that her next words might burst it.

“My team and a few others are usually Awake in timelines with me-” Feeling the hints of confusion in the two across from her, Ruby’s smile turned apologetic, “-when you remember previous lives, we call it Waking Up.”

The hope Ruby felt from Weiss turned shaky, the other Roman closing off completely in her senses, both Aura and AT-Field, “Just them?”

0o0

Weiss felt something in her break anew when Ruby shook her head as she answered, apologies in her eyes, “None of us had children, before time started resetting every time Weiss—my Weiss—dies.”

“But you did…” Roman spoke, his voice achingly soft just like Ro’s would get when he knew Weiss was hurting.

Ro tugged her into his lap, sheltering her in his arms as she took shaky breaths to settle herself. She knew it was a long shot, the other two spoke like they’d been repeating their lives for ages, like Ro had guessed. She wouldn’t see her children again.

“Four munchkins, though all adults when I… passed.” Ro spoke, his chin atop her head as his low voice carried across the room. From Ruby’s faint, there-and-gone wince, Weiss guessed she must feel things like her Ruby does, “And a grandson starting Signal.”

“I’m sorry.” Ruby said, and Weiss knew in her bones the woman meant it, “I don’t know how I’d handle losing kids. I react badly enough losing Roman, even knowing I’ll see him again.”

“Come on,” Roman suddenly said, standing straight and brushing off his sleeves as Ruby turned to blink at him, “Let’s allow the ladies to share, we can talk outside.”

And without another word, he walked to the front door and stepped out.

“Guess I’ll see what the kid wants.” Ro snarked, stirring a giggle from Weiss as she moved to sit on the sofa so her husband could stand, and startling a laugh from her with his next words, “I promise not to pick any fights.”

Weiss watched him leave, then focused on Ruby.

0o0

Ruby snickered as the two Romans left, settling as she turned back to face Weiss, “Roman is far too old to be a ‘kid’. We’ve lived enough lives to be centuries old now.”

“Anyone younger than we feel after a lifetime and a half is a kid to him.” Weiss chuckled, lacing her fingers together on her lap, “He’s very amused by the reactions he’s gotten from people physically older than either of us.”

“Sounds right.” Ruby sighed, watching the other woman a moment, and Weiss let her with faint amusement on her face and in her Aura, “Neither of you are what I’d expect. He’s so… calm, so mellow, but I can feel the steel in him. And you… I think I knew you’d been a mother, just the way you talk.”

“I’ve been told I come across as either motherly or grandmotherly, depending on what I’m telling my team.” Weiss admitted, still amused, “And Ro and I spent ten years between Beacon and meeting in Riga. He’d nearly been killed by Cinder and Neo, and I’d lost Ruby and Yang to Neo.”

“Bet she went into hiding.” Ruby snorted, then froze at the spike of vengeful Satisfaction that rolled off Weiss.

“Oh no, she made the mistake of running to Ro while Blake and I hunted her,” the smirk on Weiss’ face was eerily similar to Roman’s when he’d finished dealing with a threat, “and he snapped her neck for killing our Ruby.”

“Now that’s something I’d expect from him. Either of them.” Ruby shook her head, smiling softly as she leaned forward, “Tell me about your kids, I bet they were absolute rascals.”

The soft smile that lit Weiss’ face and gentle adoration that filled her Aura instantly told Ruby she’d picked a good topic.

0o0

Ro stepped out the front door and closed it, watching his double lean against the railing that ran around the porch. The other man only tilted his head, shifting his hat and bangs enough to watch him back. Snorting, Ro stepped over and leaned against the pole at the edge of the stairs down to the lawn.

“How do you make it work?”

The question caught Ro off-guard, though he only shrugged. He thought he knew what the man wanted, “Communication-” the other man snorted, and Ro flashed him a grin, “-yeah, I know. Easier said than done. Probably helps I had ten years to mellow, and she was the first decent conversation I’d had, depressed as she was at first.”

“She didn’t always listen, at first.” Roman pulled out a cigar, lighting it, and Ro saw the amusement in the other man’s smirk when he frowned—so sue him, he’d dropped the habit decades ago—before he continued, “she’s gotten… better. The Bond helps a lot.”

“A little mind reading goes a long way.” Ro shrugged, “But if she’s anything like the Ruby I know, you still gotta explain. Emotion only gets her so far, points her in a direction.”

“I’m well aware.”

“Don’t get short with me.” Ro drawled, earning a glare he ignored, “You might be older, but sounds like all your time is the same few years around Beacon. I got to actually grow old-” he gave Roman a side-eye the other man snickered at, “-I recommend being nice to your knees. I know Sweetheart has told her Team the same.”

Roman grunted, his amusement fading as his teeth worried at his cigar, “How did… you… handle kids?”

“Amazingly, if you ask Sweetheart. At least after the initial surprise. It’s nothing like dealing with the strays I know you’ve taught.” he watched the other man, sighing, “I’m betting you didn’t know we could have kids, until a minute ago.”

“No, I actually discovered some youthful indiscretions left me four.” Ro blinked, knowing he’d only fooled around with Neo before Weiss, and Roman paused at the reaction, “Something else different between us.”

“Do you talk to any of them?”

“No.” Roman paused again, and Ro suddenly realized this was how Weiss must have sometimes felt early on. Pulling teeth for each word, “Well, only one. She’s pretty feral when I can find her. Takes a lot of effort to get her out of the streets and safe.”

Ro hummed, letting the silence settle, before he watched Roman jerk upright with a smirk.

“Ro, dear!”

Straightening up himself, he followed the other man back into the house at Weiss’ call.

0o0

Grabbing a picture from the bookcase, Weiss handed it to Ruby as their men came back into the room, “This is a family photo from right before Katrina went to Beacon.”

“What’s her weapon?” Ruby grinned, studying the family of six in the frame.

“You would ask that.”

Both Roman’s glanced at each other and snickered, moving to stand beside their respective partners as the women laughed.

“Calicaster, a Dust powered gun-saber.” Weiss grinned, watching Ruby gush over the photo. Ruby was Ruby, in any life, “She based it on Myrternaster, but curved the blade and angled the hilt. She was far better at Summons than I was at her age, but it took almost two years in Beacon to manage spells like I used.”

Ruby chuckled, then glanced at Roman before focusing on Weiss, “Can I keep it?”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think anything here carries over to the waking world.” Weiss shrugged, touched by Ruby’s request, then blinking in surprise as Ruby seemed to slip the photo into mid-air where it simply vanished.

“We’ll see. Inventories are strange things.” Ruby smirked at her, a very familiar smirk, “Anything we put in them carries over to the next life.”

“Handy.” Ro hummed, wrapping his arms around Weiss and letting her lean back into him.

0o0

“Very.” Ruby chuckled, something impossibly warm in her chest as she watched the two so easily slotting into and around each other. Like she and Roman had started to do. Natural as breathing, “I’m so happy for you, Weiss. I hope our final life is something like yours.”

“Be nice to actually learn to settle down.” Roman hummed behind her, Torchwick smirking from above Weiss.

“That’d probably take a few years, knowing us.” Ruby joked, grinning back at him over her shoulder.

“Probably about ten years,” Torchwick quipped, earning a chuckle from Weiss and Roman, “Knowing myself like I do, and knowing you.”

“Ruby is always,” she turned back around to watch Weiss smiling at her, all fond and fondly exasperated, “Always, Ruby.”

“That she is.” Torchwick agreed, and the warmth in her chest overflowed.

o0o0o0o

This version of Weiss and Roman Torchwick is from Regrets and Love, while this version of Ruby and Roman is from rather late in Fruit Loops and well after they'd gotten together--they had a few growing pains, needing to really learn about each other and let the other learn instead of letting hurt and misunderstandings wall them off.

I'm also planning on Weiss from FL meeting Weiss from R&L.

#rwby au #rwby #weiss schnee #ruby rose #regrets and love #fruit loops au

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