Chapter Text
Ilia carefully screwed her face up in concentration as she gingerly set her photos in her new scrapbook. She’d decided to take it up after Yang had shown her Weiss and Ruby had a shared one before they’d all confessed.
She hadn’t expected to like it as much as she had if she were being honest. Typically her experiences with pictures were of horrible past memories she’d rather forget, but she was getting better at that with more good pictures lately.
She wanted to present this to them as a gift and maybe they could add it to theirs and all have one together!
She’d broached the topic of her therapy the day after Sun and Neptune had left not wanting to ruin their stay with it, but it was important so she’d made herself be brave and speak with them about it.
They’d both been understanding as she knew they’d be and Weiss had given her a list of discreet and well-reviewed therapists. The first few while nice hadn’t clicked well with Ilia but the third, another Faunus like herself had worked out very well.
They’d spent the first session merely talking about what she wanted to get out of the sessions, introductions, and the like. He was kind, polite and seemed to know exactly when to push her or rather when she needed a gentle nudge and when it was better to simply move the conversation elsewhere.
He had also had her rate her moods on a scale and while she had days when she felt far worse overall she was able to see a general uptick in her mood, and that had been very refreshing to see that she wasn’t simply spinning her wheels and getting nowhere.
She was doing well enough that instead of every other day they’d moved to once a week over the last few months.
The regular visits and having two very sweet girlfriends had helped her move into a healthier space.
For so long she’d held herself back with stigmas that she’d let have power over her. There was nothing wrong with her that caused her parents to leave, Blake to not return her feelings, or even with her being a Faunus.
She’d always proclaimed as much but had secretly thought that her parents might still be alive if she weren’t. They were things she’d thought and internalized as a child and not even realized until she’d spoken with the doctor.
She’d also spent some time and spoke with him about her decision to almost join the radical white fang and was worried about what it said about her. Her anger, or impulses. That had been several weeks of sessions they still revisited from time to time.
She never wanted to potentially put the other two in that kind of danger from herself and had her first full-blown panic attack at her next session where she’d recounted a nightmare she’d had when she’d been forced to sleep alone due to commitments they’d had with their work.
She’d dreamed she’d taken Adam’s offer and had been sent to kill Weiss and Ruby and they’d both begged her to stop. That they loved her and why was she doing this? That she was better than this.
She’d woken up screaming and spent nearly ten minutes trying to scrub their imaginary blood off her hands while Raven slowly rubbed her back and calmed her down. It had helped but she’d only truly calmed down when Ruby and Weiss had shown up to be there for her and she’d broken down on them. They’d even left their meetings as soon as Raven had called them.
They’d asked and helped her move officially into their bedroom that night and while she couldn’t prove anything conclusively the fact that at least one of them was always with her when she went to sleep was rather telling. She was far too touched by the gesture to be upset by it, however. It was just another in a long list of reasons why she adored them.
The therapist had been helpful in breaking down exactly why she’d thought or rather dreamed such a thing and slowly helped her realize why she had even had it in the first place.
She’d told her therapist about Blake and what she’d done and admitted to, and even her own massive obsession with the girl not caring about how she came across but wanting simply to tell him everything so she could get better for Ruby and Weiss.
She’d expected he’d take sides but he’d simply explained it as neutrally as possible and talked her through her feelings for Ruby and Weiss. Did she think that even if Blake had engineered the meeting her feelings for them, or theirs for her were any less real? That had helped settle that particular fear she’d had in the back of her mind that she hadn’t even realized she had ever since the truth had come to light.
On the subject of Blake, he’d been complimentary of her method of trying to start over, but cautioned her against maintaining the relationship at the cost of her mental health or relationship with her partners and Ilia had agreed.
Her relationship with Ruby and Weiss was far more important to her than her friendship with Blake if it came down to it, but so far it hadn’t had to come to that. Hopefully, it wouldn't ever come to that.
She and Blake had in fact had many more talks and while some of them had been tense with some bouts of yelling overall things were…comfortable she supposed.
They were well on their way back to being actual friends now instead of the one-sided crush Ilia had had on her where she’d ignored all her flaws and how little they’d had in common.
Blake had even given her a “Sorry for manipulating you'' card that she admitted Yang had made her make since they didn’t exactly sell them. She’d appreciated the gesture even if she still found herself occasionally reverifying things Blake told or did for her.
She was getting better at it though and Blake hadn’t made a comment on it likely knowing she’d deserved it, and so far she’d been entirely as good as her word.
She’d have to start trusting her more soon or they’d be stalled at repairing their friendship but she was sure she could do it.
She gave her picture a quick tap to make sure it was in place and smiled at seeing that it was.
It was a picture of Ruby and Sun embracing and dramatically crying like the drama queens they both could be while they waited on their flight to take them back home. She remembered that they’d simply hugged and yelled “MOOD KINDRED” over and over for a few minutes. It was entirely endearing if Ilia was being honest.
There was another of Weiss and Ruby gifting Neptune a set of Cold Creeps themed floaties as Sun was clutching his stomach laughing hysterically and Neptune had a good-natured smile on his face.
Weiss had told her that she’d made a job offer for Neptune as she could always use more morally upstanding detectives and she’d said his background check and grades had been up to par.
From Sun’s last phone call she knew they were in the process of finishing up their lease to move up here. Other than Blake’s parents Sun and Neptune didn’t truly have much tying them down and they’d rather live closer to everyone up here anyway or so Neptune had said.
That and Sun was enamored with their pool. Still, she was happy that she’d get to see more of her friends, and that Ruby and her “mood kindred” would get to hang out more.
She’d finally let go of her old home at the same time. Ruby and Weiss had both taken a week off work and despite the increased risk had gone with her to her old home. They’d taken some photos but it had felt cold and empty to her. Nothing like the home she’d grown up in.
They’d gone through and slowly collected everything of value that she hadn’t taken and wanted as she regaled them with a wide variety of stories that she could remember. Little anecdotes, somber honestly about how cold the house felt to her now, and as many of the good times that she could remember she shared with her parents.
She’d felt oddly better after recounting everything but they’d left without spending the night. Weiss had offered to have it sold for her with the proceeds going to her card but Ilia had told her to donate it to the hospital she’d named after her in her parents' names.
She felt her parents would approve of that, and she would rather have that than an empty and cold home she wouldn’t live in as their final legacy.
Ruby had with her permission taken the photo of her parents and put it with the picture of her mother, father, and uncle. She’d even spoken to the picture and thanked them for looking out for Ilia and helping bring her to Weiss and herself and that they both loved their daughter very much, and would do their best to make her happy. Weiss had then promised the same and informed them they should be proud of raising such a wonderful daughter.
Needless to say, Ilia hadn’t held her composure through the speech but she’d still been incredibly touched as she cried a strange mix of happy and sad tears.
Ilia herself had gotten a part-time job at a local bookstore. She’d tried to refuse a guard but they’d been insistent on her at least having one going to and from work and she’d acquiesced when she realized they only cared about her well-being.
Especially when several more articles had been published that toed the line of outright libel and good taste. Ruby hadn’t paid them any mind after making sure they called Ilia and Weiss pretty and Weiss had much been the same.
As long as they didn’t outright lie or insult one of the others she ignored it although Ruby told her she cut out some of the funnier ones like the one that said Weiss was making a harem of pretty ladies to slake her insatiable lust and they were both helping her.
She and Ruby had followed Weiss around wearing fake glasses, lab coats, and clipboards as they loudly talked about scores for various women Weiss interacted with for the day.
Of course, Weiss found them both instantly giving Yang zero to be highly amusing as once Yang understood the score began to argue that she totally deserved higher points.
Weiss had gleefully pointed out that she’d take her application under advisement but that she’d be in the harem with her actual sister and Ilia who she treated as another younger sister.
Yang’s face had turned a green even Ilia had been impressed by before she’d left with Blake behind her although Blake had struck a pin-up pose for the two first. Ruby had looked toward Ilia unimpressed and Ilia had returned the look before they awarded her a unanimous three.
Blake had seemed pleased by that as had the others.
She’d realized later that they were likely pleased that she truly did seem to be over Blake, and she herself was pleased to realize that while she could say Blake was objectively pretty she was no longer someone she wanted to share her life with like she was with Ruby and Weiss.
That thought had helped her and spurred her on to help increase the casual level of affection she was able to show the two of them and she could tell they were pleased.
She’d been beyond pleased by Ruby’s book being finished and published. As had become a habit Ruby took the first handful of copies and gave them to friends and family. She’d even included an extra set for Sun and Neptune they’d give the couple when they were finally moved up here.
Tukson had even given her the day off when he kept seeing her glance at the book in the store instead of stocking the shelves.
It wasn’t her fault! She was too distracted by seeing her name under the special thanks right next to Weiss and at the fact that the Faunus princess in the book bore a striking resemblance to Ilia herself that Ruby had somehow managed to hide from her! And of course, the fact that the young princess had a pair of lovers who also seemed rather similar to her own was to blame for her condition.
How was she supposed to react to that? By kissing the woman for as long as she physically could of course! Weiss had helped and between the two of them had made sure Ruby understood exactly how pleased they were with her.
It turned out that Tukson himself was an ex-member of the fang so he’d been understanding and very patient with her. Especially when her girlfriends came by to spoil her for lunch.
The children’s hospital that bore her name was now officially ready for patients, and Weiss had taken her on a tour through it and to meet the first pair of patients. A young Faunus girl and her “boyfriend”, a normal human boy who seemed to have been assigned to the same room.
According to Weiss, the young girl had seen the boy and instantly become enamored with him, and they spent their time playing games and make believe when they weren’t undergoing treatment or spending time with visiting family.
And of course Weiss had a giant plaque near the entrances explaining how the hospital was named in honor of a wonderful chameleon Faunus whose passion was the inspiration for the building.
That time Ruby had helped her educate Weiss on how she was feeling.
She and Yang had even hung out a few times and Ilia was pleased to say she enjoyed having an older sister she could confide in or spend time around. It was easy to see why Ruby looked up to her so much. Ilia was sure she’d made another steadfast friend for life in Yang.
Raven and Yang were reconciling and overall things seemed to be moving in a good direction. They were polite and sometimes even teasing with one another and Raven seemed beyond thrilled.
The cherry on top had been when Yang and Blake had been leaving for the evening after they’d finally all worked together to beat the mystery game, it had been the grey-haired guy after all, and they’d said goodbye at the door.
Yang had looked back as Raven had given her a goodbye and after a long second hugged the woman and had whispered a “good night mom” before she’d all but run from their home.
Raven's watery smile had been one of the nicest things Ilia had ever seen.
Ilia was pleased with how easy it was to treat her as a stand-in parental figure and Raven seemed thrilled at having another child to spend time with.
She gave her excellent advice or sometimes even helped her with make-up when she wanted to truly knock the socks off the other two when they were going to go out on dates.
The fact that Ruby understood what Ilia wanted to do and obligingly removed her socks before replacing her shoes had the other two in giggles at how silly and sweet it was before Weiss rolled her eyes and followed suit, after folding her socks of course.
While the fancy restaurants that Ilia had never dreamed she’d even see the inside of were nice she also very much enjoyed the simple dates they had.
Whether that was bowling with everyone or even Weiss reading a book to herself and Ruby or even Ruby trying to teach them to cook. She’d even gotten Weiss of all people into cloud watching.
She set the final picture of herself and Weiss on their backs looking at clouds that Ruby had taken of the two of them into place and jotted down a quick note in the scrapbook, left the kitchen, and went to find her two wayward partners.
They’d been rather absent and off today but she didn’t know why. Raven had admitted she’d known the reason but it wasn’t her place to say although she’d helpfully pointed Ilia upstairs and wished her luck.
She found them in their shared bedroom talking rather seriously although they'd both looked at her when she came in.
“Are you two alright? You’ve been a little…off?” Ilia ventured not wanting to upset them but also not wanting to ignore a potential problem. The relationship would only work with absolute openness between them after all.
“Yes. We, or that is Ruby and I were having a small disagreement before we came to a potential solution,” Weiss offered as an answer and Ilia tilted her head wanting to know if she could help.
“We’re getting married,” Ruby blurted out before she fidgeted in place.
“Oh…congratulations!” Ilia said feeling a slight pang at the news even as she felt happy for them. She knew them well enough to know they weren’t going to demand she leave them at this point. “What was the disagreement about? Not getting married?”
“Thank you and no. We love each other a great deal. As silly as it is, it was about the name,” Weiss explained as Ilia blinked not having expected that.
“The Schnee name is important to me, or I’d just take hers. I want to make it mean something good again.” Weiss said as she stood up and walked to the window.
“And the Roses gotta live on Ilia! They gotta! So we thought about hyphenating it!” Ruby said excitedly as Weiss nodded indulgently at her.
“Which brought us to Rose-Schnee or Schnee-Rose of course but we couldn’t figure out a good compromise until of course we happened upon a solution to our problems,” Weiss said as she and Ruby stood next to each other for a moment before they dropped to their knees and faced Ilia while they each held one of the others hands.
“We were thinking that Amitola-Rose-Schnee sounded best, and were wondering if you might want to marry us?” Weiss said nervously as Ruby brought up a box that was hidden in her other hand, opened it toward Ilia and revealed a violet ring. Ilia’s eyes were wide as saucers as she remained speechless.
She’d wanted this moment. Been waiting for it for so long and dreamed of it but somehow now that it was here she had no idea how to react so she stood there until she heard Ruby whisper to Weiss.
“I told you I should have worn my lucky socks!”
Weiss’s giggle had broken her spell and she’d thrown her arms around both of them while crying, chanting, almost screaming, the word “Yes” over and over.
She was so glad she’d taken the chance and followed her heart one last time. That she’d moved on from her childhood obsession, and discovered the real love both Ruby and Weiss offered her so freely and without reservation.
She was ready to spend the rest of her life showing them exactly how much they meant to her.
She couldn’t wait to see what this new chapter in her life would bring, and she couldn’t wait to find out with these two wonderful women by her side for the rest of their lives.