Cold Bodies, Warm Hearts (ch3)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS! THANK YOU!

Hope the few reading are enjoying!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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															Part 3.

When Weiss next reopened her eyes, she found herself in the living room. The main couch had been pulled out into the form of a bed, and she'd been laid upon it.

Winter sat in a chair beside her and murmured softly to her as she woke, informing Weiss of what had happened. After the attempted kidnapper had been apprehended, he'd been forcibly removed from the premises and taken to the police.

Meanwhile, her father had called for James Ironwood himself to take care of Penny, while Weiss had been tended to by a specialist. After half an hour of hard work, she had extracted the drugs from Weiss' system.

"You'll still be weak for a few days," Winter told her. "So you'll need to take it easy. Can I get you some water?"

Weiss nodded and watched as her sister left her.

She then turned to her other side, gasping softly when she found Penny beside her. There were evident signs that repair had been done on her wound, and bandages wrapped around her forehead. Weiss felt tears in her eyes as she looked at her, and she reached up a trembling hand to brush against the sleeping girl's face.

"Penny…"

. . .

Penny's face twitched as she rolled her head to the side into Weiss' touch, eyes closed as she mumbled in her sleep.

"Weiss…" She muttered a few incoherent words before rubbing her face into Weiss' palm and falling quiet again, a peaceful look on her face.

. . .

Despite the fact that Penny seemed relaxed, Weiss' throat constricted. A small, choked sound passed through her lips as she tried to move herself closer to the girl, but other than her arm, her body wouldn't move. She felt like her bones were weighed down, and simply turning her head made her dizzy.

"Penny… are you okay? Please talk to me…" She was scared for her, and the tears started rolling down her cheeks. Guilt washed over her, and her breath hitched. "I'm s-sorry… you got hurt because of me…"

. . .

This time, Penny's eyes slowly fluttered open. Groggily looking around, she spotted Weiss.

"Weiss?" She jolted up, but quickly fell back, head spinning. "Ugh… no I… I am all right, Weiss." She forced a smile, trying to soothe the distraught girl. "Don't say that. It is not your fault. I should have hit him harder." She reached her hand out to Weiss, trying not show the pain from the dull throbbing in the back of her head.

. . .

Weiss whimpered when Penny shot up, only to collapse again. The tears fell faster at the sight of her pain. The heiress' voice was thick and clipped as she blinked the warm wetness away.

"Don't… don't you dare lie to me-" she mumbled, trying to sound angry, but the concern behind it was all too clear. "You're not all right, Penny. Don't lie to me…"

She reached out and found Penny's hand, drawing her closer slowly. Weiss slid her fingers up to the girl's ginger hair, resting them against her temple. She unlocked her aura and let it flow, channeling it onto Penny; after all, she was the first synthetic being capable of harboring an aura of her own.

Weiss followed the path of her agony, pooling her aura at the area where the tension was greatest. And a few minutes later, she sniffled and pulled her hand away, letting it find Penny's again as Weiss panted for breath.

"I'll- I'll take responsibility, okay? I'll take care of you until you're better. Please."

She needed to, or else the guilt would eat her alive.

. . .

Penny wanted to stop Weiss from using her aura; she wanted her to focus on healing herself, but she wasn't in any condition to stop the girl.

The influx of Weiss' healing aura did help, alleviating the pain from jolting herself up, but the wound would take quite a while longer to really heal fully.

Penny looked into those crystal blue eyes brimming with tears as Weiss spoke. It wasn't Weiss' fault - Penny wouldn't let it be her fault. She could also see the anguish behind those eyes; regardless of what Penny thought, Weiss blamed herself. She squeezed Weiss' hand.

"It's not your fault." She spoke clearly, not breaking eye contact. "But you can take care of me until I heal, okay?" She smiled. "Besides, you know I'm a terrible liar."

. . .

Weiss sniffled and tried a small smile of her own.

Winter returned soon afterward, helping her sit up to drink her water. By that time, it was evening, and they skipped supper so they could get some rest. Winter helped her sister get dressed, and then Penny. She guided them back up to Weiss' room where the heiress politely dismissed her.

"Thank you. I'll have Penny stay with me tonight. We'll be all right if the other is with us to help, should we need any."

Her sister nodded. "Very well. But call for someone if anything happens at any point." She wrapped Weiss in a brief hug before vanishing down the hallway.

Weiss then took Penny's hand and led her into the bedroom, one step at a time. It took much longer than it normally would have, but they were content to take their time rather than risk greater injury.

It was a bit of a shaky process, but they made it to the bed before long. Weiss laid her companion down first before slipping beneath the covers beside her.

"Rest now," she murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Would you like to… listen?" she offered, opening her arms.

. . .

Penny felt slow and sluggish as she hobbled around, constantly leaning on something for support. They finally made it up to Weiss' room, and Penny held onto a desk, concentrating on not falling over while Weiss talked to her sister.

With Weiss' help, Penny made it into bed; the heiress following shortly after instantly made Penny feel better. When she opened her arms, Penny accepted eagerly, carefully snuggling close to the heiress and laying her head over Weiss' heart, allowing the familiar, soothing beat wash over her.

"This is all the medicine I need…" she mumbled, already beginning to slip into sleep, exhausted and injured as she was.

. . .

Weiss pet through her hair for a while, still a bit too agitated from the events of the day to fall asleep. It was clear how enervated Penny was considering how quickly she lost consciousness, even before the heiress herself did.

Weiss simply held her like that until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

When she woke the next morning, the sunlight was soft as always as it slipped through the windows, illuminating Penny's hair to hold a warm hue, like a fireplace on a cold autumn evening.

Weiss found the girl was still asleep, and she ran her fingers carefully over Penny's cheeks, down her neck and over her injury. She let out a bit more of her aura, hoping that using it in intervals could help heal the wound sooner.

She was comfortably warm and wouldn't have minded staying in bed like this all day. But she wanted to take care of Penny and get her better as soon as possible.

And yet… she could let Penny sleep as long as she needed it.

. . .

Penny slowly became aware of her surroundings, eyes gently slipping open to see the soft morning light warming her face as Weiss ran her hand through her hair, the soothing pulse of her aura matched by the steady rhythm of her heart. She was still tired, feeling unusually groggy, and closing her eyes she felt completely content to just lay there for a while longer.

Just being here with Weiss like this for these few moments was worth taking a lamp to the back of the head.

. . .

Weiss felt Penny stir, but continued letting her rest a while longer; however long she needed, Weiss would let her relax. Penny was always doing so much for her, and the heiress took her for granted, sometimes not thinking to thank her or show her appreciation for her presence.

And yesterday, she could've lost her altogether.

The thought terrified Weiss, and a fresh wave of tears rose up behind her eyes. She bit her lip, trying to stifle the sobs as streams of warm wetness slipped down the sides of her face, and her arms subconsciously hugged Penny tighter by the waist.

"Sorry, Penny…" she sniffled between breaths. "I'm sorry…"

. . .

Penny heard Weiss start to cry and felt the girl's arms tighten around her. Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw the tears, heard her mumble out her apology.

Penny pulled herself up and pressed her lips to Weiss', cutting of her sobs with a kiss. When they finally broke apart she tried to reassure the girl.

"That's not necessary, Weiss! You aren't allowed to blame yourself for this. I won't let you." She hugged the girl closer. "Just remember that however you feel, I feel the same way about you. He never should have even gotten that close to you, and that is my fault."

. . .

Weiss did her best to quiet herself; she didn't want Penny feeling more guilt because of her. But Weiss couldn't stop her own guilt from washing over her.

"No… it's not your fault either. You couldn't have known. But I was so helpless, and so he… he hurt you…"

She tried to focus on the here and now, the fact that Penny was holding her warmly, lovingly. Weiss caressed the back of her head, running her fingers over the bandages with almost non-existent touch.

"I'm sorry. I'll… try not to think about it anymore. It's behind us. Let's just… let's just focus on getting better." She tried a smile and pressed her lips to Penny's cheek.

For the next week or so, Weiss would have no tutoring lessons, as her father was dealing with the criminal from last time and searching for someone else credible. But it would be a while before he would trust someone else to teach his daughter. So Weiss would be free for a time now, no lectures and only minimal combat training.

"Let's go eat… then I'll take you to the garden again, okay? Some fresh air could do you good."

. . .

Penny hmphed; she should have seen the attack before it came, but if she wanted Weiss to stop blaming herself, she should probably do the same.

"It takes more than that to bring me down! As long as I'm around, you should never need to fight." Penny held her a little closer as Weiss gently caressed her, holding on and reassuring the heiress that she was there, and this wasn't a dream.

Content with that response, Penny squeezed the heiress. "Yes, getting better. As long as you're with me I'll be back to normal in no time." Penny nodded, disentangling herself from Weiss so she could get up. "Some food and a walk through the gardens sounds perfect," she smiled.

. . .

Weiss slowly sat herself up, wiping away the last of her tears and offering Penny a smile instead. She leaned forward to press one last kiss to the girl's cheek before she slipped her legs off the bed.

She went to her drawer and then retreated to her bathroom to change and freshen up, then came out to help Penny change into a new set of clothes, being wary of her injury.

They made their way slowly to breakfast and ate quietly. Her father and sister asked how they were fairing in terms of physical and emotional damage, but tried not to recount the events of yesterday for too long.

When they'd finished, Weiss had Penny hold onto her arm as they made for the back exit of the mansion that lead to the gardens. She kept her eyes trained on the ginger-haired girl, and every time she so much as winced, Weiss paused them to emit some of her aura onto the girl before pressing a kiss to her head.

Presently, she stopped them just before the door to do just that.

"Does it still hurt? If so, how badly?"

. . .

Having Weiss help her so much was strange; she was so used to being the one to help her that the sudden reversal of roles felt unnatural.

On the other hand, she needed the help - her injury throbbed painfully at even the slightest jarring, balancing was also difficult and she had to hold onto something, usually Weiss, constantly.

After breakfast, the long walk out to the garden seemed even longer due to her injury and the slow pace she was forced to take, but at least Weiss was there with her.

"It's not too bad. It's still sore, but I'll manage." She smiled, although it came out a little pained.

. . .

Weiss said nothing, but was thankful Penny wasn't lying to her at the very least. She continued sharing her aura for another minute or so before releasing a heavy sigh.

"All right then. Let's go find someplace to sit."

She led Penny outside and into the gardens again. The day was warm and calm, the usual quiet hanging about them, save for the birds. But they weren't here to parade around looking at all of the flowers this time. Weiss brought them directly to one of the benches and had Penny sit down.

"Or better yet…"

An idea popped into her mind, and Weiss sat down on the bench and leaned back. She helped Penny lie down on her back across it so that her head rested in the heiress' lap. Weiss smiled fondly down at her before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her nose.

"Now try to rest. Rest is best for replenishing your aura, and I'll give you some as well," she promised, fingertips already shining blue as she began to emit it.

. . .

Penny shuffled along next to Weiss. The day was beautiful but she couldn't pay too much attention to it, focused as she was on not collapsing on top of Weiss.

Before too long, they made it to the bench and Weiss gently pulled her down and rested Penny's head in her lap.

"Hmmm this is nice," Penny mumbled. "Just be careful with your own aura use. You've been giving me a lot and I don't want you getting sick, too."

. . .

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," Weiss said. She caressed Penny's hair with cajoling motions, twirling her fingers through soft, ginger curls.

The atmosphere was perfect, and the heiress began to sing. Not just the usual, timid hums when she was trying not to wake others up in the later hours of the evening, but her true, full singing voice. The breeze carried her words effortlessly, and her voice trembled expertly up and down every note of the octaves.

After a few moments, she fell silent again, leaning down to pepper Penny's face with light kisses. She giggled almost impishly, pressing her lips over the girl's cheeks, the bridge of her nose, then down to her lips.

. . .

Weiss' voice was beautiful; it reached deep down inside of Penny, pulled at the strings of her being, and reminded her that she had a soul.

Penny didn't get to hear Weiss really truly sing very often, because you couldn't ask her to do it - only she could decide when she would really sing with all her soul.

It made Penny immensely happy that she was a reason for Weiss to do so.

As her voice gently faded away, the heiress leaned over to place gentle kisses across her face, eventually leading to her lips. She eagerly accepted Weiss' invitation and kissed her back.

. . .

Weiss breathed a sweet breath into Penny's lungs before pulling away, leaning back against the support of the bench again. She brushed the backs of her fingers through the girl's bangs, still emitting a faint flow of her aura.

She liked to believe the garden was a place of healing, as it was entirely natural, resting in the colder months and coming back to life on its own accord to blossom when the sun's warmth returned. She hoped the magics about this place, her aura, and her love could help Penny, even if it was just a bit.

They stayed there for a time, Weiss continuing her ministrations all the while as Penny napped. The heiress pressed kisses to her lips on occasion to take her mind off the pain in her head that was hopefully lessening.

After a while, when the sun had started to shift overhead, Weiss bent down and hugged Penny's shoulders loosely.

"How are you feeling? I hate to say it… but we should probably go back inside soon."

. . .

Gently napping in the garden with Weiss was perfect, the calm weather and beauty of the garden along with Weiss' gentle ministrations kept her mind off the dull pain in the back of her head. Penny could tell the day was starting to fade and so she agreed, gently lifting herself off of Weiss so she could get up.

"I feel much better thanks to you." She smiled fondly. "Yes, I'm ready to go back!"

. . .

"All right then." Weiss got to her feet and helped Penny stand, satisfied that she was a bit less wobbly now. Weiss kept hold of one of her hands and led her back to the mansion.

It was about time for supper, but rather than wait for the meal to be prepared for her, she had Penny take a seat at the table and gave an offer.

"I'm going to help prepare your supper tonight," she declared. "I've been shirking my cooking lately, and I'll be certain to make something that will heal you right up."

With a kiss to Penny's nose, Weiss headed off to the kitchen.

. . .

Penny sat and watched after Weiss as she left for the kitchens; she wondered what Weiss had planned. Looking around at the empty room, she also wondered how she was going to preoccupy herself while Weiss was cooking. Frowning, she turned and lay down, deciding to rest while Weiss was gone.

. . .

Weiss had been given cooking lessons before, and with help from a few of the chefs, it didn't take her too long to figure out what she wanted to prepare for Penny.

It was a simple stew, but the ingredients were all fresh vegetables picked from their own garden, a place that was special to the heiress and her bodyguard.

She hummed all the while as she cooked, making sure the proportions of everything were just perfect. She taste-tested a bit before deeming it was ready, and after putting a bowl for herself onto a tray beside Penny's, she hobbled to the doorway where one of the chefs held the door for her.

She reentered to room to find Penny dozing, and set the tray down lightly onto the table.

"It's ready~" she sang. "I hope it's to your liking."

. . .

It wasn't long before Penny started to notice the smells drifting out from the kitchen. Not long after that, she realized just how hungry she was - smelling good food always seemed to exaggerate one's hunger. She just tried to rest and not think about the clawing in her stomach.

When Weiss finally re-entered carrying two bowls of steaming stew, Penny lifted herself up as Weiss placed the bowl in front of her.

"It smells delicious! Thank you, Weiss!"

. . .

The words of gratitude from Penny were all the reward Weiss needed for her efforts in preparing supper. She ate her own food happily, glancing sideways to check on Penny every few minutes or so.

But the heiress found she wasn't hungry enough to finish all of her soup, so she left about half of it to be put away for later before she turned to face Penny.

"Here…" She gently took the girl's spoon from her and held it for her instead, blowing on every spoonful before holding it up to Penny's lips. Her free hand went to Penny's lap and curled around her hands, rubbing lightly.

. . .

It felt a little strange being fed by Weiss, but Penny knew it was because the heiress cared for her so much. So Penny let Weiss feed her, gently squeezing her hand where it rested in her lap and smiling fondly at the heiress between bites.

"You should cook more often, you know." Penny smiled, taking another bite.

. . .

"You flatter me," Weiss chuckled.

She continued to feed Penny until her bowl was drained. Weiss then stood to put the leftovers away. She was glad Penny had eaten everything and hoped she would be better before very much longer.

She returned to Penny and took her hand once more, and they ventured back up to Weiss' room. Like the night before, Weiss carefully helped Penny get changed into her sleepwear before she went off to slip into her own, freshening up in the bathroom and letting down her hair before reemerging.

"Here. Sit." Weiss motioned toward the bed, and when Penny was seated, the heiress stepped in front of her. She caressed the girl's head gently, closing her eyes as she once again started to emit her aura. She pulled Penny close, both by means of comfort and because she wanted to.

She was so focused on trying to quell the last of Penny's pain that she didn't realize a few minutes later when her hands started to shake, her breath coming faster.

. . .

Penny followed Weiss as they went back to Weiss' room for the night, changing before gently sliding into bed, cuddling her close.

Settling in and relaxing into Weiss' comforting grip, she quickly began dozing off.

But after a while, Weiss' heartbeat picked up slightly, and Penny realized Weiss had been using her aura this whole time.

"Weiss, that's too much," she scolded gently. "You're going to exhaust yourself."

. . .

Somewhere along the lines she'd lain down and joined Penny on the bed, pulling her close into their usual positions, letting the girl rest her head on Weiss' chest. The heiress continued to emit her aura even as Penny drifted off into a light slumber. It was a peaceful sleep, and she didn't seem to be in pain any longer, and Weiss was glad for that.

She hadn't even realized the time until she heard Penny's words, and the heiress blinked her eyes open and ceased the flow of her aura.

"It's… fine," she murmured a bit breathlessly. She pulled back slightly and smiled, looking kindly down into Penny's teal eyes. "How… are you feeling?"

. . .

Penny gave the heiress a worried look, but let it drop.

"I feel… pretty good actually. I think I'll be mostly back to normal by tomorrow," she replied with a still-sleepy smile. "Thanks to you, of course!" Penny grinned, pressing a light kiss to Weiss' cheek before snuggling against her again.

She did feel much better - one of the benefits of being an android was that she healed quickly. She knew that she would be pretty much back to normal by tomorrow, but she was now worried about Weiss for exhausting herself; the heiress stubbornly tried to hide the exertion, but Penny had known her long enough to see it. She just wanted Weiss to get some rest now.

"All right, let's get some sleep or we'll both be bedridden." She smiled, holding Weiss close.

. . .

"You worry too much…" Weiss ruffled her hair affectionately, glad to hear that Penny was already feeling so much better. It made Weiss feel like she'd been useful to her, and she loved that feeling.

She kissed Penny's forehead, letting the coolness of her lips linger before the heiress laid her head back and closed her eyes, permitting sleep to take her.

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A/N: Oh look... another chapter where nothing happens but fluff... imagine that from me...