Hey all! This is a belated birthday gift to my great older sister, who's currently studying in Canada, so if it's too sappy for you, feel free to leave.
Everyone always has a secret place they want to go when they're feeling down. Be it a special corner, a room or the bathroom, there is a place to go to drown one's sorrows or reflect on something. Regardless, such a place exists for everyone, and 19-year-old Ruby Rose was no exception.
For her, her place has also been the cliff where her mother was buried. Maybe because she had never really known her mom—she had been a wee babe when Summer Rose had died—but she found herself at ease here. Here, away from civilization, all alone, she could talk to her mom for ages, sharing her experiences, recent events and the like. It was as if Summer Rose never left, and she was always up on the cliff, waiting for Ruby's visits.
Ruby's usually very bubbly and cheery when she describes her life, even turning negatives to positives, but today, she's subdued, much less cheery and bubbly. The news she has isn't very pleasant, and even she can't find too many positives with it.
"Hey Mom. It's been a while since I talked to you. Things have…well…been really busy." She starts, looking down at the inscription on her mother's gravestone, "Summer Rose—Thus Kindly I Scatter". How apt it was to Ruby, especially today.
"Anyways, we've finally done it. We caught Torchwick, stopped his plans, and even won the Vytal Tournament a while back. I wanted to tell you this earlier, but, well, things just got really heavy and I didn't have time."
"But to cut the story short, we did it. We've graduated from Beacon! Team RWBY is now an official Huntress team. I'm really glad about that, because I can finally live out my dream of becoming a Huntress!" Ruby said excitedly.
"But…" And with this, Ruby became much more subdued, "there's a big problem."
"Because I'm two years younger than the rest of the team, I'm still stuck here at Beacon. I know we're an official team, and we've talked about this with the proper authorities, but the law is the law. Apparently, no person under 20 can take part in missions. They think it's too dangerous. But, since the rest of Team RWBY are 21 years old, they have the right to take part in missions. So…"
Ruby took a huge breath, before announcing, "Team RWBY has been disbanded. According to the authorities, Ozpin didn't have the right to let me join Beacon. Now because of me, my own team is gone."
"Of course, just to make things worse, everyone else on the team got signed to different teams. Lucky for me, Weiss and Blake's teams are going to be based in Vale, but Yang…Yang's team is posted to Atlas."
"You remember, we were inseparable as kids. Even when Yang was posted to Beacon in her first year, I got selected too, though I was younger. I can't imagine a life without her. True, she'll come back to Vale once a year, but it's…weird, y'know?"
At this point, Ruby was on the verge of tears.
"Everything's going wrong, Mom. I'm losing my team, my friends, my sister..."
A single tear drops on the ground.
"The worst thing, though? It's all my fault. Because of me, Team RWBY got disbanded and…"
There comes a point every once in a while where one must exude some vulnerability. Even the toughest of man has some weakness, some pitfalls, that showcase another side to them, a side where one cannot help but feel weak. For Ruby, it was this moment.
The 19-year-old owner of Crescent Rose, the leader of one of Beacon's best teams, the jailor of Roman Torchwick, just knelt down and wept, the torrent of tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping to the hard marble of her mother's gravestone, onto the soft grass around it.
"Ruby…"
She didn't move. She knew who's voice that was, and she didn't know whether she was happy or angry to hear it.
"Ruby…"
A soft hand on her shoulder. Hesitation as the newcomer decided what to do, waited for Ruby to do something. Moving to wrap both arms around the red-hooded girl. A soft embrace, filled with care and emotion.
Ruby finally looked into the face of the newcomer.
"Y…Yang."
The blonde boxer smiled a little, "See? You CAN talk."
Ruby's lip trembled into a little smile, before dropping.
"Ruby…it's not your fault. You're a good Huntress, a great leader and apart from occasional melodrama, you're a great person. You know it's not your fault why things happened like that."
"It is! It's because of me that Team RWBY's gone!"
"It's not you. It's the law."
"Then Ozpin made a mistake letting me join when I did."
"He didn't." Yang's eyes glow slightly red, a sign that she was a little agitated. "Ruby, Ozpin made the right call. It's the city's leaders that didn't. Disbanding Team RWBY was dumb, and it was not your decision. So stop hitting yourself over it."
"And what about us?" Ruby turns to ask. "I might be able to get over Team RWBY's breakup, but you leaving, I can't take it." Tears form in Ruby's eyes again as she says it, threatening to break out again.
"Ruby, you know I can't pass this up."
"I'm not asking you to. I just can't believe we're going separate paths. What if I never see you again?"
"Ruby, I'm coming back every year-"
"What if you die before you can come back? This isn't a game anymore, Yang! I don't want to lose you like we lost mom!" Ruby snaps back angrily, and this time, the reservoir breaks, as the tears run down again.
"…Ruby."
When she turns to look back at her sister, Yang is holding out something. Ruby takes it from her.
"It's a locket."
"Open it." Yang urges.
Inside are two photos side by side, both showing the two sisters laughing and smiling. Ruby places a thumb on the second photo, and instantly, a database of photos appear holographically, each one showing a different moment between the two.
"Ruby…I will always be with you. In spirit or in body, I'm always with you, every step of the way. You see these pictures? They show you that our bond is inseparable. No matter where I am, whether it's a quarter-mile away or halfway around the world, you'll always be with me and you'll always be my sister. Nothing—NOTHING—will change that."
"Yang…" Ruby is speechless, for once, and just embraces her sister tightly. Even if she could speak, how could she bring out her thoughts in words? There were too few words to describe how she felt, the love she had for her sister.
"Every year, we'll meet here. You and I, no one else, just the two of us. Every year, on the 1st day of the Vytal Festival, we'll meet here. We'll watch the matches together, we'll be together. Promise?" Ruby asks.
Yang smiles, "You got it, sis. Now let's go home." And the two walk hand-in-hand back into town, backs to the glow of the bright sunset.
Sometimes, in life, setbacks happen. People will go their separate ways, or things interfere with life. It happens to everyone. Life turns on a dime, sometimes so unexpectedly that one cannot react appropriately. But one thing never changes: the love, support and the relationships between family. Regardless of whatever setbacks faced, whether one is half a continent away, this one constant applies to all, and 19-year-old Ruby Rose is no exception.
I know this might not be the most accurate chapter, and it may seem rather melodramatic, but I hope you guys particularly enjoy this story. To Jie, if you read this, remember that regardless of whatever happens, you have a loving bro who really cares about you. I'm sorry I didn't write this on your birthday, but I didn't have any ideas then. Happy Belated Birthday!