Do note that this takes place after the events of Yang's flashback, on the night where they were saved by Qrow. Ruby's a toddler and Yang is young (is that a pun?) here.
Disclaimer: RWBY does not belong to me. All rights belong to their respective owners.
She hated it when it rained at night. Everyone else said it was really easy to sleep when that happened, but she was not convinced; how anyone could even lie down properly with that frightening noise in the background was an eternal mystery to her.
Cowering under the thin protection offered by her blanket, Ruby forced back her tears as she trembled. Usually on nights like this, she would snuggle with Yang (she would even use her trump card – the koala hug – if necessary), but her sister was still downstairs with Dad, probably being scolded for their little stunt earlier.
Just thinking about it made Ruby want to cry. She had not been awake for most of the ordeal, and when she finally woke up, countless monsters were charging towards her and Yang, fangs bared and claws thirsting for human flesh.
But most frightening of all, they had pairs of scarlet eyes, pulsating with mindless hostility and overwhelming vileness, shimmering like crystalized blood.
Ruby shivered. She had always seen red as a warm, gentle color, not a hue that would instill such fear in her. Once, she had cut herself picking up pieces of a broken plate, and the sight of blood dripping down her finger had made her bawl loudly. When Yang patched it up for her, she told her that red was the color of what was keeping them alive. It was what protected them, and kept them warm in the cold. It let the heroes fight back the evil of this world. It was the color of courage and strength.
When Ruby, young as she was, chose to follow the path of a Huntress and decided on her battle wear, she had chosen the color red. Her uncle approved of that choice, but suggested that she add in the color black. He believed that with those two colors – the most prominent two colors when it came to Grimm – would be able to strike fear in her enemies like how monsters would. When combined with Ruby's idea, it created a powerful image: one of strength to stand against one's foes, but also one of tenderness to care for those who could not fight.
Ruby had not understood the meaning of those words at the time, and even her uncle said he had gotten carried away. She had trusted him back then, but she was starting to hesitate now; the fear that had invaded her body when she saw those monstrosities was so overwhelming it felt like she was would drown in it. She was nowhere near being able to stand against the sheer dread, much less capable of imposing onto her enemies. Would anyone even approach someone that scary for help in the first place?
"Mom…" she whispered, a solitary trail crawling down the side of her face. Did Summer have to face those monstrosities like her uncle did when he saved them? How was that even possible? What if she was already…
Shaking her head violently, Ruby attempted to drive those thoughts away from her mind. Mom was a hero, and she would never lose to some monsters. Thinking that way made her feel a little better, yet at the same time more frustrated.
She had been useless. Her dream was to be a Huntress, a hero like her mother, but she had been completely helpless, rooted by fear as the monsters closed in. If it had not been for their uncle, she and Yang would have been dead. They would have lost their lives because she was simply scared.
The distant thunder rumbled as it closed in, shaking the air with its overbearing presence. It approached, slowly but surely, as though drawn in by the little girl's fears.
"Go away!" Ruby shouted, throwing the covers away just so she could shout at the windows with a myriad of water droplets adorning its surface, towards the storm that shrouded the skies beyond.
As though trying to mock her, a violent flash of light instantly cut off her vision for a split second, before an ear-splitting clap of thunder roared to life almost immediately afterward. With a frightened yelp, fearless Huntress-to-be Ruby Rose scurried under her blankets again swiftly.
Now she was even more miserable. Where was Yang at times like this? More than anything – even more than wanting a pet dog or chocolate chip cookies – Ruby wanted to snuggle with Yang, to have her big sister tell her everything was going to be alright. But Yang was nowhere to be seen.
"Ruby! Why aren't you asleep?!"
Ruby flinched under the covers, refusing to show her face. That tone was definitely her father's, even though his voice sounded weird. It did not sound like him at all, but there was no one else who would be that strict with bedtime.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, young lady!"
With great reluctance, Ruby poked her head out of the safe haven that was her blanket and prepared herself for another dose of misery, this time in the form of a scolding. What she saw, however, was only a very toothy smile and bright golden hair tied into two bushy pigtails at the sides.
"Yang?" she croaked. "W-where's dad?"
"It's just me, silly!" Yang declared, placing her hands on her hips with that smug grin of hers growing wider. Ruby gawked at her for a few seconds before flinging a pillow at her face. "Hey! That's your idea of a 'welcome back'?"
"Go away!" Ruby puffed out her cheeks and turned away from Yang, facing the window as she lay in her bed pretending to be asleep (with little success). She regretted those words immediately after she said them, but she was not about to-
Cutting off all of her train of thought and possibly reading her mind as well, Yang climbed onto her bed and wrapped her strong arms around Ruby's waist. Ruby tried struggling, but it accomplished nothing except making Yang seal her movements by wrapping her legs around Ruby's like a koala.
"No fair, Yang!" Ruby complained. "That's my move!"
"You snooze, you lose, sis!" Yang replied, giggling.
"But I'm not even-" Ruby began, but a sudden flash of lightning made her shut up and cover her ears.
"Wuss," Yang muttered, making sure Ruby could hear it loud and clear. Despite that, she still waited for the following thunder to fade into nothing before continuing. "Couldn't sleep because you were scared? My wittle Wuby can't sleep without her big sis?"
"Quit it, Yang!" Ruby whined. "I-I was up waiting for you because I thought you would want company! And you took so long I almost fell asleep!"
"Aww, you know you can't fall sleep without me," Yang teased. "How would you ever sleep if I'm not cuddling you, reading you a story, promising to sneak you a cookie before dinner the next day-"
"Okay, I get it!" Ruby cut her off abruptly, going a little red in the face. She was glad that Yang could not see it, but she knew her ears would give her away. "S-so… was Dad angry?"
"Oh, you bet he was," Yang replied, rolling her eyes. "You should've seen him, Ruby; he was more worried than angry, but boy was he pissed."
"What's 'pissed' mean?" Ruby asked, craning her head just in time to see Yang make that face she always made when she forgot something important. She could not see it fully, but it was still an amusing sight.
"It means…" Yang fumbled around for the right words. "It means to be… uh… happy. Yeah, he was really happy to see us safe, that's why."
"Hmm…" Ruby considered that for a few moments, while Yang heaved a sigh of relief behind her. "Okay! I'll impress Dad and uncle with this newly learned-"
"Nonononono," Yang instantly cut across her sister in her idea that would most definitely have spelled their demise. Her sister's innocence was truly worrying sometimes. "It's, um, not something you should be saying, Ruby. It's… er… it's an older sister thing."
"No fair," Ruby pouted.
"Life's unfair, lil' sis," Yang replied with an awkward laugh. It felt even worse when nothing but silence hung in the air after those words.
"Say, Yang…" Ruby said, breaking the silence. Her tone made Yang not want to hear the words that would follow; Ruby had used that tone only once before today, and that was when Summer left and never came back. "I… I wanted you to know… I'm sorry."
Yang had to take a while to process that sentence. She took another eternity to reflect on the meaning of the last two words. Her confused brain stopped counting at the thirty-second digit of pi before she finally spoke up:
"W-why are you apologizing, Ruby?" she had intended for the question to be a little cheeky, but it just ended up as one with genuine surprise. She had expected Ruby to say that she was so scared of the experience, or ask about Yang's wellbeing. Those statements would cause Yang to feel guilty and they were certainly not uplifting, but they were nothing compared to what Ruby actually said.
"When the monsters attacked, I just froze," Ruby admitted. Her back was still turned to Yang, but the blonde girl could hear the shakiness in her voice. "I was so scared that I… I just didn't know what to do. I could've gotten us both killed because of that. So I… I…"
She trailed off, her voice becoming nearly inaudible as she wiped her eyes.
"What're you saying, Ruby?" Yang asked, her voice filled with hurt. "You didn't do anything wrong! I'm the one who should be apologizing; I dragged you out there for hours and into a nest of those things, and I couldn't do anything about it. I should have protected you, but I almost made you lose your life because of my stupidity. You don't have to be sorry for anything, Ruby. I'm the one at fault."
"B-but you just wanted to see your mom again," Ruby managed through her almost-escaping tears. "I didn't stop you from going, either; I-I should have done something but I just… ended up being dead weight."
"Don't say that!" Yang yelled, making her timid little sister jump. Her guilt over the incident had made her very sensitive to the word 'dead' right now. "I-I'm sorry; I shouldn't have raised my voice. But I want you to know that I need you to be with me, Ruby. You're my sister, and I want you to be there for me wherever I go. Don't leave me alone, Ruby. Please."
Her begs were accompanied by a tightening of her hug, pulling Ruby into a stronger squeeze. Ruby herself did not seem to mind, although she was mystified by Yang's behavior. Where had that always smiling, cheerful and boisterous big sis of hers disappeared to?
"Y-Yang?" Ruby asked timidly.
"I was scared too," Yang confessed. "I was utterly terrified when I saw the monsters. I didn't know what to do and I was so sure we were going to die. All I wanted was to find Mom, but everything just ended up spiraling out of control…"
Her words trailed off, in a way much like her sister's, replaced by soft sobbing. Ruby had never seen or heard Yang cry before, and her first experience with it constricted her heart with an icy grip. She put her fingers around Yang's arms, giving them a light but firm squeeze.
"I won't leave," she promised. "I'll become a proper Huntress and then I'll be able to follow you anywhere. I'll be able to protect both of us, so nothing can stop us! Until then, don't rush off alone, okay?"
Yang could feel Ruby trembling in her arms. She may not be able to see her face, but Yang was the big sister after all. Despite all that she said, Ruby was still frightened. She was only a child, but she was trying to put up a tough front for Yang. She was putting aside her own fears because she was worried about her big sister, but what had Yang done? She had put Ruby in harm's way because of her own impatience as well as a childish wish of not wanting to be alone.
She was the big sister, but she only thought about herself in the end. She was older, but it was Ruby who really cared for her sibling. It did not matter to the younger girl one bit that they came from different mothers; Yang was her one and only true sibling, not just some kind of company to have around.
"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Yang whispered, hugging her close. "I promise I won't go anywhere without you, so please don't leave me. Please."
She was Ruby Rose. She was her sister, and someone Yang had to protect. Yang did not want to lose her, not because she hated the idea of losing anyone else around her, but because Ruby was her family.
"I'll wait for you," she said as Ruby wriggled in her arms, turning around so she could return the hug. "I'll slow down for you, so catch up quickly, okay sis?"
Burying her face in Yang's chest, Ruby managed a meek nod instead of saying anything. It was fine for both of them even if Yang did not give up on her search for her mother. If she would just slow down and not be reckless, she would be fine with Ruby by her side.
"Thanks, Ruby," Yang smiled as she stroked her sister's hair. When she pulled away from the hug, her smile only widened when she saw that Ruby was peacefully asleep.
"I told you that you couldn't sleep without me," she giggled, closing her eyes and drifting off into a gentle slumber.
Might do follow ups for this, either with other characters or with this same pairing. We'll see.
If you have a pairing you'd like to see here, you could leave a review or send me a PM, and maybe I'll be able to write it out as a chapter.
And finally, hope you enjoyed the read! Till next… something.