Somewhere in between, Ruby meets somebody very important.

Ruby Rose was dying. She was laid down on the snowy forest floor, her blood staining it red. She'd gotten careless. She'd gotten sloppy. She didn't see the Ursa major burst through the trees. She didn't anticipate how quickly it slashed at her, sending her flying to the other side of the of the forest clearing. Ruby collided with a tree and finally fell to earth, bleeding out and in shock. Snuck up on by a Grimm the size of an elephant. That seemed like a very 'Ruby' way to die. Kind of 'Jaune'ish actually, but hey, she could live with that. Not that she would for very long at least.

Ruby could hear her team fighting, taking down the Ursa major, making quick work of it. She felt pride well up in her chest at the thought of them. She'd never seen Yang this angry before. It was kind of frightening. Ruby couldn't think straight, but made an attempt to move, to get up. The pain in her everywhere stopped her. Ruby could only grit her teeth and wait, staring up at the cloudy sky. It was cold.

Ruby's vision started to blur. Her mind was hazy and her thoughts were all over the place. Was this what dying did to you? She thought. Suddenly Ruby was filled with an overwhelming amount of regret. She was going to leave her team behind. She was going to do the one thing she'd promised never to do. Ruby didn't want to go.

And then, Yang came into view, clutching her shoulders and crying out her name repeatedly. Weiss angrily pushed her hysterical sister out of the way and retrieved a green dust crystal from her pouch. And Blake was, as usual, in the background, silent. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight of her three most favourite people in the world.

Ruby slowly closed her eyes, suddenly feeling tired. Too tired to care. More tired than she had ever felt in her entire life. The last thing she saw was Weiss dropping her crystal and dropping to her knees.

Ruby Rose was dead. She died in front of her teammates. She would be remembered for all her heroic deeds during her years as a huntress. She was 22 when she died. She was most definitely dead and she wasn't coming back.

So why didn't Ruby feel dead?

Okay, so maybe she didn't know what dead would feel like, but she was almost certain it wasn't this. She was still concious and she could still think. Was this what dead was like? Oh, she must have made a mistake somewhere, this didn't feel like heaven. Where were all the cookies?

"Ruby, honey, time to wake up."

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, mind and vision still hazy. She yawned, stretched and rubbed her eyes, clearing her vision. A soft giggle caught her ears. Ruby looked up to see a woman sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling serenely at her.

"What's so funny?" Ruby mock-frowned, scrunching her nose. But she couldn't stop the wide smile from tugging at her lips. Ruby sat up and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, laughing.

"You're back!" Ruby pulled away. "Didja kill lots of monsters?"

Summer laughed. "I sure did, honey."

"Cool!"

"Come, Ruby. Your sister and friends are outside in the garden. Happy birthday, dear." Summer kissed her daughter on the forehead and ruffled her hair.

"Friends?" Ruby furrowed her brows. Who were 'friends'? She struggled to remember, her mind hazy. In fact, who was her sister? Ruby couldn't remember ever having siblings. She pulled up her knees to her chest and laid her face in her hands. She was forgetting someone. Someone important. It was just out of reach, frustrating her.

"Ruby?"

Ruby looked up at her mother. Something was wrong. This was definitely not the way things were supposed to go.

"Honey, is something wrong?"

No, no, no. She was forgetting something important. Something dear to her. More important than her mother.

"Mom, who's waiting for me?"

"Your sister, Yang. And your friends."

Ruby's eyes widened. Yang. How could she forget Yang?

"Friends?" Ruby quietly asked.

Summer cocked her head to the side. "Your friends, dear. Weiss, Blake and that tall fellow... Jaune and his friends? Don't you remember, Ruby?"

Remember. Remember. Ruby thumped her head. Friends. She remembered! Weiss and Blake and Yang and Jaune and Pyrrha and Nora and Ren. They were her best friends! How did she forget?

"This... isn't right, mom." Ruby threw her covers off and stood up.

Summer smiled serenely. "Well of course not, dear. Don't you remember?"

Ruby opened and closed her mouth several times. Her throat constricted and her stomach was flip-flopping around. She clutched the hem of her skirt. What was she talking about?

"Ruby, you died."

The room faded, leaving only herself and her mother in nothingness. Ruby backed up several steps. Summer changed, too. She wore her white cloak with the hood up, obscuring her face from Ruby. Right now, she looked more ghost than flesh. This was not Summer Rose, Ruby thought. She walked and talked like her, but the thing in front of her wasn't her. It couldn't have been her.

"What's happening?"

Summer reached out and cupped Ruby's face in her hand. It felt unnaturally cold, and Ruby recoiled, tears welling up in her eyes. Summer frowned, bowing her head.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry."

Ruby didn't know what to do. She stood, rooted to the spot as a flood of memories released into her mind. She remembered her friends, her time at Beacon. Becoming a huntress. She remembered Weiss blushing as she gave Ruby a kiss under a strategically placed mistletoe one christmas. She remembered buying Blake a cute little gray bow for her birthday. She remembered Yang making fun of her silly obsession of buffing and tuning Crescent Rose after almost every mission.

She remembered the Ursa. She remembered her team standing over her as she faded away.

"I... died."

Tears began to flow freely down Ruby's face.

"Yes, honey."

Ruby looked up at the figure in the white cloak. She remembered Summer Rose. Her life and her death were permanently etched into her memories. How could she forget?

"You're... not my mother. You're not Summer Rose."

Sumner looked on sadly.

"You can't be!"

Ruby took a step forward. She had grown up honouring her memory and now that she was supposedly face to face with her she couldn't help but feel angry and betrayed all over again.

"Honey..."

"You have a lot to answer for!"

Summer didn't respond.

Ruby was furious. She didn't want to be here any more. She wanted to go back to her life. Her team and her friends. Her job as a huntress. Weiss. She didn't want to die.

"Where are my friends? I want to go back!"

"There's no going back, Ruby," Summer said softly, her voice almost a whisper, but it seemed to fill every inch of space in the nothingness. Ruby clutched her head, choking back her sobs.

"You left!" she shrieked at the ghost. "You left me when I needed you the most and I always knew you would and you did!"

"Why?! Why did you leave us- leave me?!" Summer was silent.

After a long pause, she spoke. "I'm sorry Ruby. You weren't the only one who needed me. I thought you understood." Another long pause. "I'm sorry."

Ruby dropped to her knees.

"I... need to go back. I need to go back to them. I can't put them through what you put me through. My team mates, my friends... Weiss," Ruby looked up at Summer, desperation seeping through her voice. "I'm not done yet. I need to go back."

Summer moved in closer, a small sigh escaping her lips. "What a strong young woman you've grown up to be," she knelt down to look at Ruby. "Far stronger than I was."

Summer looked up as a faint green glow began to light up the world. She sighed again and smiled at her daughter.

"I love you Ruby, and I am so very proud of you. Never forget that," she placed a hand on Ruby's shoulders. "You're right. You're not done. Your friends seem to think so to."

Ruby perked up, perplexed. The green glow was getting brighter.

"You and your sister... are everything to me. Please believe me when I say that. I would have never parted from the two of you willingly. I love you both."

Summer smiled sadly. "It's time for you to go. Goodbye, Ruby."

The world seemed to fade and grow darker. Ruby reached out to Summer. "Wait-"

Ruby sucked in a deep breath, feeling cold air infiltrate her lungs and body, and feeling unbearable pain. Faintly she could hear a number of voices all speak out at the same time. Her vision was blurry, and she had a hard time even opening her eyes. Through small slits she could make out a familiar face with a pair of striking pale blue eyes stare at her, full of worry.

"Weiss," she breathed, barely any strength left in her. Weiss' eyes overflowed with tears as she smiled.

"Be quiet and save your strength, you dolt. The transport will be here any second," Weiss grabbed Ruby's cold, limp hand. "Stay with us. I'm so glad you're back."

Ruby couldn't help the smile from forming, even if she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Weiss planted a kiss on her forehead and Ruby fell asleep to the sound of jets.

Of course it happened in her head, but why on earth should that mean it's not real?