Yang waited at the entrance to the ballroom.

She was welcoming the quests who entered the dance, dressed in her favorite white dress.

The doors opened, and she smiled with glee, jumping with joy as she saw her little sister walk in.

"Ooohh, you look beautiful!" she beamed.

But Ruby, in a red dress and high heels for the first time in her life, was not nearly as excited.

"Can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" she said, struggling to keep her balance on the shoes she wore.

Yang grabbed Ruby's arm, and dragged her further into the dance, stepping beside Weiss and Blake.

Ruby smiled as she saw her. "I'm glad you came, Blake."

She shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "It's still not my thing. But Torchwick is behind bars, and it looks like he'll be there for good. So I might as well take a break."

In truth, Batman truly had saved her that night. If he hadn't been there, she would have been too exhausted to fight back. Whatever Torchwick wanted with her, he would've gone through with it if Batman hadn't rescued her. So here she was, taking a break to spend time at the dance.

Her friends watched as she walked off to find something to do, and smiled with one another as they saw her doing something outside of the investigation. Granted, it wasn't as satisfying since the case was wrapping up, but it was still relieving to see.

"I told you she would come," Yang said.

"Mission accomplished," Weiss exclaimed.

"Soooo, what do we do now?" Ruby asked.

"Just have fun!" Yang said as she and Weiss walked away to do their own thing.

"Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my hood now?!" Ruby shouted to Yang. But she received no answer, and sighed, staring down at her heels. "Stupid lady stilts . . ."

Ruby wasn't used to dances like this. She only ever attended these to spend time with friends. But now that hers were gone, she was left with nothing to do.

"Is that Bruce Wayne?"

Ruby was suddenly confused, and she looked to the entrance of the dance to see the young millionaire himself, Bruce Wayne, walking into the dance, with two women by his side, and a huge smile on his face.

Ruby tilted her head in curiosity. This was a far-cry from the stories Weiss had told her, and the boy she had comforted that night so many years ago.

She made her way over to him to talk.

"Excuse me?" she said.

Bruce smiled at her. "Hello, Miss . . ."

"Ruby Rose," Ruby said.

Of course Bruce knew who she was. He had approached her a few nights ago because of what she had done for him as a kid. As much as he wanted to thank her, he had an alias to stick to.

He nodded. "Miss Rose."

Ruby thought he didn't recognize her. A part of her wanted to remind him of what she did, but Weiss had told her how much his parents' death had hurt him. She wasn't going to break him out of whatever had made him so happy.

"I . . . um . . . It's nice to see you again . . . ?"

Bruce didn't like pretending he didn't remember, but he went on with his act.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

Ruby visibly sunk at that, but she shrugged. "It was a long time. You wouldn't remember."

Bruce nodded. "Well, I'm sure you made some form of impression, so why don't you take this?"

Bruce reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of bills, and placing them in Ruby's hand. He may be in disguise, but that didn't mean he wouldn't give her something for what she did.

"No, no, no," Ruby shook her head. "I can't take this."

"No, please," he said. "It's the least I can do."

"For what?" Ruby asked.

"For everything you do," Bruce said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in the mood for a party."

He walked past Ruby, into the party.

She looked down at the money. She truly didn't want money, but she supposed it would be rude not to accept a gift from a friend of Weiss'.

Bruce soon was chatting with some of the staff from Beacon, who enjoyed his company. Bruce was uncomfortable in the setting, but he had a disguise to stick to. He was telling himself that a lot ever since he came back to Vale, but he was being honest.

One of the girls he brought was arguing with one of the staff, Professor Oobleck Bruce believed, while he drank from the bottle of fake whisky he brought with him, acting as drunk as possible.

"He's done something the police never have," the girl said.

"You can't take the law into your own hands," Oobleck said.

"Well, at least he's getting something done."

Oobleck turned to Bruce. "Mr. Wayne, help me out here."

"Huh?" Bruce swayed his body to face Oobleck, and gave a drunk laugh he'd copied from a bar in Mistral. "Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues." He broke into a fake laugh, pretending to struggle to stay up.

"But he's put Torchwick behind bars," the girl argued.

"And now Professor Ozpin wants him stopped at all costs," Oobleck said. "What does that tell you?"

"He's jealous," the girl said, leading to a roll of the eyes from the professor.

One of the girls grabbed Bruce by the shirt, and tugged him.

"Honey, I'm wasted," he chuckled, letting himself go slightly limp as he was dragged onto the stage to dance with her.

A few hours past, and Bruce left the party with the girls, making his way for the exit.

"Bruce?"

He turned around with another fake smile to greet the feminine voice speaking to him, but it immediately faded as he recognized the woman staring at him.

Those blue eyes, the white hair, the ponytail on the right-hand side of her head. It was Weiss. She was wearing a beautiful white dress, and was even more beautiful than he remembered.

His persona dropped in an instant, and he felt his true self coming out, and he couldn't control it. He stepped up to her, allowing the girls to head for his personal airship.

"Weiss?" he said.

Weiss was shocked to see him with those two girls. The Bruce Wayne she knew would never do that. She wouldn't press it, but she at least wanted to speak to him. Search for the Bruce Wayne she loved.

"I heard you were back," she said.

Bruce smiled, nodding. "Yeah. It's been, what, seven years?"

"Yeah. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just dancing. How are you?"

"The same," Weiss replied. "But things are worse here than ever."

Bruce shrugged. "Can't change the world on your own."

"I don't really have a choice," Weiss said, crossing her arms, "when you're too busy dancing."

"Bruce, come on!" one of the girls called.

"Bruce, we have hotels for you to buy!"

Weiss didn't like the sound of that. She didn't know what Bruce had turned into during his time away, but he wouldn't make his parents proud.

"I suppose you'd better buy those hotels then," she said, and she turned around to walk back into the hotel.

"Wait!" Bruce pleaded, grabbing her arm. He turned to the girls. "Wait for me in the airship! I'll be back!"

The girls nodded, and turned around to go to the airship, leaving Bruce with Weiss.

He turned to her. "I haven't seen you for a long time. I . . . I want to at least talk one more time."

Weiss avoided eye contact, not wanting to see the person Bruce had turned into.

"Please, Weiss," he said. "I missed you."

That voice . . . it wasn't the voice of the man Weiss had seen on the news. It wasn't the man "buying hotels". But it wasn't Bruce either. It was something else entirely. But something that drew her attention.

Weiss looked into his eyes, and immediately found her defenses lowering as she looked into them. They almost sparkled in the moonlight, leaving her awestruck. She didn't remember them doing that before. The darkness she'd seen in him for years, the darkness that had hurt her just as much as it did him, was gone. Somehow she found herself looking into Bruce's eyes, and yet, she didn't recognize him.

Still, this was someone she wanted to get to know.

"I missed you, too."

The two walked along the campus of the academy, and it was great to catch up with one another.

Weiss told Bruce the stories of her friends, and he listened intently, each story bringing a smile to his face.

The more she spent time with him, the more she didn't recognize him. The Bruce she had loved all those years ago had been turned into a much darker person, who allowed himself to sink into that darkness. This Bruce was someone else entirely. He was . . . happy. And that happiness spread to her. She certainly wasn't complaining, but this was an odd transformation.

"And Ruby said, 'Magnets are cool, too . . .'"

Bruce chuckled. It wasn't much, but it made Weiss happy to see him like this.

"Your friends sound great."

Weiss sighed, and stopped walking. "They probably wouldn't say the same about me."

The Wayne stopped, and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Weiss looked to her feet. "When you left . . . it hurt . . . I thought I'd never get to see you again . . . that the last time we'd talk was when I . . . you know . . ."

Bruce stayed silent, giving her a moment to continue.

"I shut myself off from everyone," she said. "I hated myself for what I did to you. I let myself fall into darkness. I let my ego take over so I could hide my emotions. I was rude to Ruby when we met. I was even more rude to Blake for . . . personal reasons. I became a jerk--"

"Hey." Bruce placed a hand on her chin, pushing away any form of nervousness or flustered feelings to lift Weiss' head up, making eye contact with her.

He searched for the words. He wanted to tell her how much what she said meant to him. How it turned him into what he was now. But he was too cautious. Any form of suspicion of his new life was something he couldn't risk, no matter what. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Don't let what you did affect you," he said. "I was going to shoot a man. I've done much worse."

Weiss smiled, turning away to hide her blush. "Also, you bought hotels."

He rolled his eyes. "Weiss, all of . . . all of this . . ." he gestured to his suit, ". . . it's not me. Inside I am . . . I am more."

She looked back up to him. "Bruce . . . deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it's not who you are underneath . . . it's what you do that defines you."

They stayed silent, gazing into one another's eyes.

Her eyes had always been incredible. They shined in the night, and filled him with emotions he had never felt for anyone else. He felt his heart pounding, afraid of what would happen if he were to kiss her in this moment. But he had learned how to conquer his fear.

His eyes were never this gorgeous. They glistened like the glyphs she formed with her semblance, and filled her with emotions she hadn't felt for so long. She could feel her heart racing, afraid of what would happen if they kissed right here and right now. She had no idea how to hide that fear, or the blush that started to form.

"I-I-I think I sh-sh-should head back to the dance," she stuttered. "My friends are probably waiting for me."

Bruce's smile faded in an instant, and Weiss was immediately saddened by its absence. But he nodded in understanding.

"Of course," he said. "I have a couple of impatient women waiting for me in my personal airship."

Weiss nodded, not happy to be reminded of those other women. But she didn't find herself jealous. After getting to know him after all these years, something told her the "hotel buyer" was just a disguise for the Bruce she was looking at in this moment. Why he was hiding, she didn't know. But, for some reason, she didn't care. She was just happy to have met this side of him.

"Right," she said with a nod, backing away. "Well then, um . . . I'll text you."

"Do you still have my number?"

"Did you change it?"

"No."

"Then yes."

"Nice," Bruce smiled.

She nearly melted as she saw his smile again, but she did her best to hide it. It didn't work.

"Oh, oh, um . . ." she panted. "Goodnight, Bruce!"

"Goodnight, Weiss."

Weiss turned around, walking away as fast as she could. She pushed her hand against her chest, in an attempt to slow her pounding chest. She panted as her emotions took control, but it turned into an uncontrollable giggle as she continued. That wasn't the Bruce she remembered.

But she was happy to see him again regardless . . .

Bruce turned around, walking away slowly. He stayed in complete control of his body, not making any physical attempt to stop the thumping of his heartbeat in his chest. He took deep breaths, allowing his emotions to ease. She was just how he remembered her.

He had missed her so much . . .