Hello, all, and welcome to my first RWBY fic - a renora one, of course, as they are my RWBY otp. Please enjoy this while keeping in mind that 1) I have never written for these characters before and 2) they belong to Roosterteeth.
R.I.P. Monty. We're sending good wishes to your soul.
Beware the angst, enjoy the fluff.
He knew - he'd always known - how she'd felt about him, and he about her. He also knew that he couldn't bear to be with her like that again. Not after what had happened - not after that attack had stolen everything from both of them. Their families, their homes, their town - her sanity, her memories. Everything was... gone. She'd reverted, in grief, to a time when they'd not yet been aware of the other's feelings. The time before anything had defiled either of them… the time when they were happy without being complete. He knew that it was all for the best to not attempt to recapture the happiness from that cruelly brief time. Oh, how he knew.
But that could not stop him from wanting to be near her. Even if her proximity meant that he'd be driven insane by his own longing, it also meant that he could make sure that no one ever went near her again, that no one brought harm to her - especially not herself. She was the reckless reason that he slept little if ever, that he could breathe, and that his breath left his body. To be with her was torture, but to be without her was death - of that much he was certain, that much he had known since that day. Yes, he knew that he would spend the rest of his life at her side, but at what cost? At what cost would he be able to continue breathing? How much longer could he refrain from revealing to her all that she had forgotten when they had come?
How much longer could he protect what was left of her sanity without losing his own?
"Good morning, my sleepy, sleepy sloth!"
"What time is it, Nora?" he mumbled, pulling himself out of his half-dream stupor.
"Sixish? I dunno. The clock kind of spontaneously combusted about an hour ago. I think." She plopped down on top of his blanketed form, hugging him with her arms and legs. "Jaune and Pyrrha went off somewhere to 'train' awhile ago. I'm bored and lonely."
"Even with me here?"
"Well, you were sleeping! You don't even talk in your sleep like I do, so you're not really fabulous company. And it feels…wrong… to go around without you, 'cause we're always together and all." She gave a slight gasp, realizing her mistake. "But not together-together, of course! That's a silly thought, right? That you and me would ever be, y'know, together-together."
He could read the pain in her voice, the pain he knew that she tried to hide, the pain he knew he caused by trying to protect her from remembering. Sometimes he wondered if it would be kinder just to let her know, to try again. Perhaps this time it wouldn't result in their near-deaths and the death of everyone around them… but should he risk it? A chuckle forced itself between his lips, to calm her. "Well, I'm up now. What do you want to do?"
"Pancakes!" she declared, scrambling off of him and ridding him of his covers.
He nearly winced; this scene seemed all too familiar. Hadn't that morning started out something like this? But then, hadn't they all?
With a sigh, he heaved himself out of bed and began to get dressed. She didn't move to cover her eyes, nor did he turn to cover himself. They'd always had this dynamic of trust; they knew everything about each other - at least, he knew everything about her. She'd known everything before the attack had stolen her memories from them. Once he was properly robed and Nora had grabbed his arm - he never felt right without Nora at his side - they went to fetch some pancakes from the cafeteria, just as usual.
She chattered to him on their way down there as she always did, about dreams and buttons and firecrackers. He smiled when she began skipping and humming one of her songs - she had several in her mind at any given moment - and only startled slightly when she launched herself at him. His arms came up to catch her.
"Boop!" She beamed, rubbing noses with him.
A grin flickered onto his face for just a moment, but it was enough to satisfy her. She linked their arms and resumed walking. He knew what "boop" meant - it was from when they were together-together, before the attack. It was their code back then, since they weren't technically allowed to date at that age. She'd stopped saying it for a little while after the attack - for about a year, actually. The day that she had hugged him from behind with a cry of "Boop!" had been the day that his heart had first known what it was like to simultaneously soar and shatter. The sensation continued even now, with each of her utterances of the word.
He wondered as they walked how she would respond if he were ever to reply in kind again, as he had back then. The selfish part of him that wanted to find out was overruled by his fear of her remembering those times, of remembering the pain… of remembering the tragedy, the news that had pushed her over the edge, the scenes that haunted her nightmares even now - the nightmares that he stayed up to talk her through, to change to happy scenes at the price of his sleep. But it was worth it. Anything was worth it for her, for Nora, for the only girl he ever had and ever would love.
He'd even attempted to give up his life for her, only to have her save him at the last moment - resulting in the one pink streak in his hair, from the mixing of their auras. That was how it had always been for them, though - he'd take care of her during the peaceful times, but she would always manage to save him when he couldn't hold out any longer. She'd told him back then that it was because she couldn't do without him; he'd returned that he couldn't live without her by his side. That was before that final attack, before life as they knew it had disappeared… before everything had been stolen from them.
"Ren, d'you want syrup? Otherwise I'll drink it."
"Just a bit, please."
"Alright - the usual amount, right?" After his nod, syrup found its way onto his pancakes and then down her throat, thus permitting him the rare and unsettling treat of a quiet Nora. He was more comfortable when she was talking; that way, he knew that she was at least well enough to speak. With a sigh, he leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder.
Her laughter was nervous. "Aw, Ren, are you still tired? I guess that I should've let you sleep a little longer, 'cause the sun's just coming up - well, not Sun, the guy, but sun the giant burning ball of flame. Hey, do you think that we could visit the sun someday without burning up? Maybe if we captured pieces of the moon when it's all shattered…."
He smiled against her neck; her voice hitched as her ramblings continued. He knew that he shouldn't do this; he knew that it was wrong, that it could only lead to more death and destruction - that their being together was some sort of curse, because of what had happened before - but some days he just couldn't help himself. For that first year, before she'd started saying boop again, it had been easier to restrain himself; he knew better than to proceed if his feelings were not reciprocated. But now… now it was obvious even to him - especially to him, who knew her so well. He needed to be near her at all times, and knew that she required the same.
She beamed at him. "Boop!"
His fingers twined into her hair for a moment, rubbing in the way that she liked, before he sat up to eat his breakfast. Silence settled over them for a moment before she continued speaking, this time more rapidly.
Maybe it would have been easier if they'd never been "together-together" in the first place - if she hadn't given up the memories.
The sheet was stained with a mixture of blood and bile. He had done his best, but he hadn't been able to heal her completely - in what had been their little village, harnessing aura had ranked below harvesting crops. Now he wished that he had rebelled against the code, followed his late cousin's path. Maybe if he had, then Nora wouldn't be….
"It hurts, Ren," she whimpered, clutching her stomach. "It hurts so much. Make it stop."
"I-I don't know how. I don't know anything!" He was crying - openly crying - but could not for the life of either of them figure out what to do. The doctor had yet to arrive; he lived two villages away, with only his horses for transportation. The nurse had done what she could for the pair of them, but Nora's injuries were beyond what she was capable of healing. Ren, much to Nora's relief, had been brought back to consciousness - she had feared that he wouldn't ever look at her again. If she had lost him on top of everything, everyone else….
"Please… it hurts…."
"Um… um…." Ren looked around, eyes wild. The nurse had left the pair of them to go check on the doctor's arrival time. Ren climbed onto Nora's hospital bed, knelt next to her, and tapped her nose. "Boop."
"Help me sit up, please."
He complied, holding her to him. "Is that any better?"
"Not really." She coughed; blood came up. "But now I can boop you, too."
He handed her a tissue. "You really should rest."
"I feel safer like this." She snuggled against him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "Boop." Her lips were cold against his skin.
He was terrified. "You're going to be alright, right, love?"
"Of course I am!" She coughed again; he helped stabilize her. "I won't leave you all alone. I can't do without you."
"Yeah, you've got to stay with me. I need you, Nora. Please."
"I told you, I'm not going anywh-" her newest coughing fit cut her off and covered his shoulder in her blood. "Sorry."
He bit his lip and cleaned the blood off of her chin while she tried to scrape it out of his tattered shirt. "Don't worry about it. We can get new stuff once you've been healed." He glanced towards the door. What if the doctor didn't arrive in time? Should he try to heal her again? What would happen if he did it wrong, though?
"I'm getting really tired, Ren. Will you sing me to sleep?"
"NO!" His sudden jolt startled her, making her cough again. "I'm sorry, Nora, I'm so sorry! But you can't sleep now, you can't! I don't want to risk you not waking up again!" His panic heightened with the increasing paleness of her skin. "Nora, Nora please - please! You've got to stay with me… just hold on for me! If the doctor says you can sleep, then I'll sing for you then! But… please…" his voice broke; his fingers twisted into her hair, trying to calm both of them. "Please stay awake a little longer. Please, Nora."
"I will if you'll smile for me, Ren. I like seeing your smile. Or will you tell me one of your jokes? The one about the bicycle."
"Why can't a bicycle stand on its own?" he inquired, attempting to force a smile for her through his tears.
"Why?" she asked, one hand resting against his chest, her head on his shoulder.
"Because it's always too tired." In response, she gave a weak giggle and tilted her head to look up at him. He smiled for her, glad that she could still laugh, but his eyes were wet with tears and dark with worry beyond his years.
She yawned. "My mouth tastes bad and my stomach still hurts."
A series of shouts sounded down the hallway; the door to the infirmary burst open, revealing a rather disheveled doctor. He swooped over to the pair of them. "This is the young lady, yes?"
Ren nodded and shifted Nora so that the doctor could see her; her breaths were shallow. "She's been coughing up blood for a while now. I tried to heal her, but my aura's not strong enough… and she used most of hers helping me." He ducked his head as the doctor examined Nora. "Can you… can you heal her? Please?"
"Coughing up blood… and abdominal pain… can you tell me what exactly happened? I understand that Grimm destroyed your town, but…."
"It was a giant black snake thing. Nora pulled me out, but then it wrapped around her. I heard something snap, but we managed to get away. Then the white head came from behind and - and -" He ducked his head again, unable to go on. The doctor nodded and put his hand on Nora's stomach. The vibrant orange glow of the doctor's aura filled the room, dancing around the trio. Nora convulsed in Ren's arms, but her color returned and her breathing went back to normal.
"Let her sleep for a little while. She'll live."
"So she'll be okay?" Ren gasped, Nora still burrowed against him.
"Well… there may be complications in the future. This doesn't affect her right now, but there was some damage to her… well, to some of her insides." The doctor glanced at the nurse. "This will require further testing once she's completed puberty, but she may be unable to have children in the future."
Ren stared blankly at the doctor; a wet sensation on his neck alerted him to the fact that Nora was still awake and had understood what had been said. The doctor left instructions with the nurse; the two medical professionals left the young pair to get some rest.
"Are you feeling better, Nora?"
She nodded against his shoulder, still sticky with her blood, and then shook her head.
"I know that the doctor said that… but it might not be true, right? It'll be a while before it's certain, so there's a chance that he's wrong." He swallowed. "And even if it is… well, I know that we were talking about our futures before - before that, but… plans can change. It'll be okay." We can figure something out, together.
Plans can change.
Plans have changed.
Our plans have changed.
No, not now… please, not now… don't leave me now…!
Nora buried her face in his shoulder, her tears making the blood run. "I-I don't want to remember anything! Make it go away! Make it all go away!"
"Huh?"
"I don't want to remember any of it!" Maybe if we can go back to before this, before boop….
"There's… nothing that you want to remember? Nothing at all?" Not even me? Not even us? We're all the we have….
"Nothing, nothing at all," she sobbed, her face streaked with tears and her own rubbed-off blood. "Nothing…." Darkness enveloped her vision.
When she woke up, her actions confirmed in his mind that her subconscious had granted her wish. She didn't remember the attack, the hospital news, or even boop. She only seemed to understand that all they had left in the world was each other, and that they had always been together. She had forgotten everything - she had forgotten them because she wanted to be rid of those memories. Now only he knew of the time they had spent using boop as a way to say "I love you" - all because they'd been too young to properly date.
Maybe we can try again when we're older. Maybe… if she'll fall in love with me again after she's healed. For now we've got to learn how to protect ourselves… how to get revenge.
"Hey, Ren," Jaune groaned, plopping down onto the bench opposite him and snapping Ren out of his rather dark memories.
"Oh. Morning, Jaune." He continued eating his pancakes, expecting Nora to pick up the conversation. When she did not, his head snapped up. His childhood friend and love was nowhere in sight.
"Uh, you are aware that Nora and Pyrrha went back to the room a while ago, right?"
Ren attempted to slam his forehead onto the table, but instead wound up with a faceful of pancakes. He should know better than to remember things before Nora was asleep… just in case the emotions showed, like they had back then. He could usually stay stoic now, both because of their training and because of his constant heartbreak. He had found that being constantly caught between wanting to smile and needing to cry often resulted in his having no expression. That was also why Nora was the only person who could make him smile, and why she was the only person still living who had ever seen him cry. I love you, and it's killing me… but if I tell you, it might kill both of us.
"Did Nora wake you up early again? Or are you practicing the zen of pancakes?"
"Mmm."
Jaune shrugged, rubbed his stiff muscles (he detested early-morning runs, but these were with Pyrrha), and began eating. If Ren wanted to talk, he'd probably talk to Nora, Jaune figured - not knowing that Ren's unwillingness to talk about this to Nora was the precise root of his dilemma.
Meanwhile, Nora chattered to Pyrrha as the taller girl dragged her back to their room. After talking of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, of why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings (well, technically she recited that bit of a poem, but that's beside the point), she inquired as to why she had been forcefully removed from Ren's vicinity.
Pyrrha did not answer until the door of their room had been locked behind them. "I have a question for you that I need you to take seriously, if at all possible."
"Of course! I can be as serious as a snake...bite…." Her expression dropped for a moment; of course she had been able to read the change of emotions on Ren's face during breakfast… of course she knew. "So yes!" she declared, forcing her smile back onto her face. "Your question, please!"
"Well… you've always been...close...with Ren, right?" Pyrrha shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"Yup! We've always been together! Even after everything that happened, we still have each other!" Her smile fell; she wasn't usually this close to breaking. Maybe it was because Ren had been thinking about it, or was it because of her nightmare last night, the one made of memories that he didn't know she still knew, had known - "...always."
"Are you alright, Nora?" Pyrrha inquired, distracted from her round-about and unanswered question.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine! Fine-fine!" She hitched a smile back onto her face. "You wanted to ask something?"
"Just… do you have any suggestions for making things move forward with Jaune? Any at all? I'm getting tired of waiting… I thought that something might have happened, but nothing did. So I was wondering what else I could try."
"Maybe you could just be blunt about it, instead of dancing around the topic like usual. That gets kind of painful after a while." She tilted her head to one side, her eyes adopting a strange gaze. "So tell him everything while you can. You'll regret it otherwise."
"Nora…" Pyrrha bit her lip and took a step towards her friend. "Did something happen with Ren? Are you guys fighting?"
Nora shook her head. "No, we're like we always are! We're the best of friends, just… like… always." Her shoulders slumped.
"Nora…?" She took another step towards the girl, arm outstretched.
The Valkyrie's knees buckled under the pressure of the secret she had held in her mind for far too long; the dams behind her tear ducts burst. "I ruined everything, it's all my fault - if I hadn't suggested that we go out exploring in the forest, they'd all be alive - I ruined everything, they're dead, they're all dead…. He doesn't know I remember, doesn't know I know what I did and what I am and what happened because of it, he'd hate me if I knew, shun me and never talk to me again - Pyrrha, what am I going to do? He's all that I have left, and it's all my fault!"
Pyrrha knelt down in front of her friend. "Why don't you explain from the beginning… to get it off your chest and so I can help you figure out what to do?"
Nora gave a hiccuping sob before starting to explain, to tell of how the pair of them, at her insistence, had chased a swarm of butterflies into the forest. They had, in their excitement, not heard the warning calls to stay away from the forest; those same calls had stirred the beasts from the other side of the forest, bringing them around to their tiny village, their precious hometown. The pair of them - too small to do anything - had watched in terror as their homes, families, and neighbors were ripped to shreds before their eyes. She told of how she and Ren had been practicing aura with his older brother, and how that was the only reason they had survived; his brother had fallen to a Death Stalker but managed to kill it as he went down. The other Grimm - the King Taijitu - had continued to destroy and devour all in its path… and then had attempted to slither back into the forest - only to find the pair - "We were actually together-together at that point" - huddled in a bush.
"Ren and I thought that we were going to die, and we almost did. The King Taijitu was going to crush Ren at one point, but we managed to escape it - it bit him, though, so I had to heal him… then when he tried to heal me, later, after I got crushed a little before we escaped, he used up too much energy and passed out… I was so scared that he wasn't going to wake up again! What would I have done if he died? He's the only stable thing I've ever known - he means more to me than I do, and he tried to die for me, he was willing to! I had to heal him, even if it tinted his aura - I had to use mine to heal him, or he would've died! But then I didn't have enough left to fix - to fix what that thing did to me! And Ren had to carry me to the next village over, where there was a hospital, and I kept getting blood all over him and he was about to pass out when the nurse found us and - and-!"
"Nora!" Pyrrha cut in, clapping her hands onto both of Nora's shoulders. "Breathe! You're going to pass out! You're both fine, you survived. Those Grimm would've attacked anyway - a single shout like that would not have brought them. It's not your fault. From the sounds of it, you two survived by a combination of luck and love. So calm down before you continue, okay?"
Nora crumpled against Pyrrha, sobbing somewhat hysterically. "Th-The doctor came and tried to fix me, but he-he said that I might not be able to have babies and I'm too scared to go get it checked again because we'd talked about having a family, Ren and me, I mean, but that can't happen if I can't! And he said - he said that plans change so what if that includes me not being in his plan and what am I going to do, Pyrrha, I've never known life without Ren - he's all my earliest memories! He's the only family I've ever really had, even if he doesn't want to be together-together like we were then! If he knew that I know what he knows about what happened and why, he might not want to have anything to do with me anymore - much less if he found out that I know that he knows what boop means and that I still mean it! So I pretended to forget everything including boop when I woke up - I tried to start again a year later, but he didn't respond - I don't think he wanted to, so I just kept pretending not to know that he knew! It's just… it's safer this way! I can stand not being together-together with him even if it's killing me inside as long as I can still be near him because I've always needed him! It's just… he used to need me, too. I don't think-" she hiccupped, sobbing harder than before, "I don't think that he needs me anymore, so I know it's selfish of me but I just need to pretend that it's all not in my memory so I have an excuse to stay with him, like before… it's the only way I can cope, 'cause…."
"Because?" came the gentle prompt.
Her voice was muffled by Pyrrha's shoulder; tears were sliding behind the redhead's armor. "I know that he loved me once. I just don't think he still would, if he knew that I knew."
"Nora, I'm pretty sure that Ren still loves you. I don't think that he blames you for anything, either."
"Then why doesn't he smile anymore?" Nora demanded, pushing back from her friend and glaring at her, teary-eyed.
"Huh?"
"He used to smile so much more, Pyrrha!" The words ripped themselves from her as if by force. "He used to be so - so happy. His jokes were worse than Yang's, and he told them all the time!" The words lowered to a whisper, as if trying to hide from their own truth. "I just wish he would smile again. He almost never smiles anymore. That's why I have to hide from him that I know - I want him to think it's okay to forget what happened, what hurt was inflicted. I just want him to be happy again! Is that so wrong, Pyrrha? Tell me, IS THAT SO WRONG?"
"Nora - Nora, calm down! You're not in your right mind!"
"Pyrrha, are you okay?" The door clicked open to reveal a frantic, sword-wielding Jaune Arc. "I heard shouting - Nora? Are-Are you crying?"
"...it's so wrong…" the Valkyrie whimpered to the ground.
"Should Jaune go get Ren?"
"No!" Her head snapped up; her eyes were frightened, wild - gushing. "No, I can't face him like this. I need to smile for him. I-I can't bring back those memories again. Not...not again."
"Nora…?"
"I hate snakes," she mumbled. "They all deserve to die. They stole everything, squeezed and bit and thrashed it all away." She swayed to her feet and snatched Magnhild from the foot of her bed. "They all deserve to die. All of them."
Pyrrha glanced at Jaune; he nodded and ran out of the room. She returned her gaze to her unstable friend, who was stroking her weapon while staring unseeingly at the painting on their wall. Her eyes were now hollow and dry; her voice echoed a battlefield after the dust has settled.
"All of them."
Pyrrha stood, keeping her movements slow and deliberate, and shifted her balance into a defensive stance in case the other girl snapped. "Nora, sweets, it's alright… I mean, it's blatantly obvious that Ren still loves you… you don't need to go on a killing rampage right now…."
"He doesn't, and I do."
"What are we going to kill this time?" A panting Jaune had returned, bringing a rather calm Ren with him.
"Snakes. All the snakes. Every. Single. One."
Ren's eyes betrayed panic for a moment before hardening. "Let me get StormFlower."
"Wait, you're okay with this?" Jaune yelped. "I thought you were going to stop her!"
"When are we going to that village?" The weapons disappeared into his sleeves.
"Um… soon?"
Ren did not say anything, instead merely looking at Jaune.
"Uh… do you want us to come with you?"
The childhood pair exchanged a deadened glance. "This isn't a team thing," Nora whispered. "It's personal."
"G-Good luck, then. Call for us if you need help."
Nora linked her arm through Ren's in a gesture reminiscent of more cheerful times. "Vamos, mi amigo."
He nodded in response, and the pair left for the forest. Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged nervous glances and began debating whether or not they ought to go after them.
Once they were out of earshot, Ren asked, "Nora… why snakes in particular?" Has she remembered? Is that...possible?
She shook her head in response. "Later. I'll tell you later." If you'll smile for me one last time before I go.
"How far are we going?" Ren asked, glancing sideways at Nora.
"As far as we need to." She tightened her grip on his arm and on Magnhild.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nora, don't lie to me."
"I told you that I'd tell you later, Ren. Please just trust me on this… please? Even… even if you don't trust me on anything after this, just… trust me one last time." Her hand slipped from his arm down to his wrist; he recognized the motion as one from before that time, and responded - somewhat unconsciously - to it as he had then. His palm opened and slid against hers, permitting stray bits of aura to mingle. She sighed and threaded their fingers without comment. Shadows danced around them, mocking the foolish pair for entering the forest.
"You know that I have and will always trust you with my life."
But will you still, once you find out what I've kept hidden from you?
I wish I could tell you everything. "So, snakes?"
She nodded. "I… I need them to die. I need to destroy them, now that I can, so that they won't be able to hurt anyone anymore. I need you, though," she glanced up at him, before adding, "to help me! We fight better together than alone, though of course you're more than capable and I'm, well, me. But I'd rather have you at my back, y'know?"
He smiled at her, wondering how she would react if he ever told her his real reason for all the training they had done after that time. "And you at mine."
Nora looked up at him for a moment, pausing in her walking. He stopped next to her, questioning her with a gaze. She hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth, something he had seen her do only upon the scarcest of occasions. "Hey, Ren, if we were to get-"
Snap.
Crash.
Hisssssssssssssss….
Nora's eyes widened; she released his hand and they moved to be back-to-back. "Is that a…?"
"Nest."
"Fight or flee?" King Taijitus began slithering out of the earth, double-heads rearing up all around them. Nora unleashed Magnhild; StormFlower slipped out of Ren's sleeves. "That answers that."
"Yup. Fight until it's possible to flee, if necessary."
"Gotcha… HYAH!" Magnhild connected with the head of the nearest hideous white head of a snake; the other end attempted to sneak up behind the girl, but was met by a round of shots from StormFlower. That particular snake dove back into the nest; the next one surfaced between the two hunters, forcing them apart. Ren caught it with a kick in the fangs while Nora remedied the one sneaking up on her partner with a series of grenades. This process of dual-head destruction worked quite well for a time, resulting in several dead Grimms. Once all of the ones on the surface were dead and no more seemed to be arriving, the pair clasped hands again, grinning at each other. Vengeance was sweet, indeed… but how did she know that?
"Snakes, Nora?" he panted, wiping sweat from his eyes with his free hand.
She nodded, keeping her eyes on their joined hands. "Snakes."
"Why?"
Her gaze shifted to the ground; she released his hand. "If you found out that I'd lied to you, Ren, what would you do?"
"It depends on what it is, and why." After all, I've been lying to you by omission for five or six years, now, so you won't have to remember that.
"Well, let's say that it was something kind of big, because I was scared."
No…. "Scared?"
She nodded. "I don't want you to hate me."
Nora… don't tell me…. "That's not possible."
"Really?" Her gaze shot back up to his face, hope gleaming at him amidst the doubt.
"Yeah, especially if it is what I think it is, because if so…" He paused, noting how pale she had gone. "Nora…?"
"Ren, RUN!" The panic in her eyes terrified him; she had Magnhild aimed at something behind his head, but was having problems with her weapon; he turned, StormFlower back in his hands - he saw fangs and a forked tongue - felt a harsh pain at his side -
And then he was on the ground, watching for the second time in his life as a King Taijitu attempted to crush the life out of his best friend. Now, however, he knew what to do as she attempted to stun it with Magnhild; he summoned his aura to its fullest power, aimed for the snake's cruel head - fired. The snake's head exploded, as it had before, but Nora was still trapped, struggling to get free.
No way in hell is that going to happen again.
Ren charged at the part of the snake still holding Nora and hacked it apart with StormFlower's blades, desperate to get to her.
Not again.
She coughed; he was too afraid to look to see if red painted the snake's scales.
No.
He hacked away the rest of the snake and heaved her free. He caught her before she landed on the ground and carried her away from the nest, back to the edge of the forest. There he dropped to his knees, still holding her to him as if afraid she would vanish. She was as pale as she had been that time, and the same pattern of blood was on her chin. Her eyelids were flickering madly as she attempted to focus on him.
"Ren…?"
"Nora!" Okay, she's not dead, thank Oum.
"I'm sorry, Ren…" I did it again. I'm so sorry…. "I wanted to tell you before, but I was scared of you leaving me. Kind of ironic, right?"
"No." He stood on wobbly legs, trying to regain his balance well enough to walk. "You're not leaving, either. You're going to be fine."
She leaned her head against his chest. "Your heart is going mad, luv. I don't remember if it did this last time."
He froze and looked down at her. Tears welled in her eyes as the emotions played across his face. He continued half-walking, half-sprinting.
"I'm so sorry, Ren… I was just scared, and I didn't want you to leave me if I knew and thought you wouldn't want me anymore since I'm damaged and -" her coughing cut her off, just as it had then. Her vision began to blur. "I… I remember, Ren. I always have. Will you smile for me one last time?"
His stamina failed him, as did his legs; the pair of them wound up on the ground, Nora still in his arms, coughing up blood. She smiled at him, eyes only partially focused, and tapped his nose.
"Boop."
Her arm went limp.
"NORA!"
His hands found her shoulders, a mixture of rough panic and gentle horror….
No… nonononononononono!
He felt at her throat for a pulse, but in his panic could not find one….
Nora. Nora.
"Come on… come on, Nora… open your eyes… look at me…."
Aura. Focus.
She gave no response.
There's some left somewhere. Find it.
"C'mon, luv… wake up. Please."
Heal her like she always does you.
"Nora… Nora, don't leave me! I need you here with me!"
Find some aura.
"Please… I'm… I'm so sorry, Nora…."
Somewhere.
"Boop…."
Somehow.
Tears streamed down his face as they had then, but this time he truly shattered. The faintest pink glow began to build at his fingertips, sparks hopping from one digit to another.
Nora.
His hands found their way to her; his aura slipped, with a glow, to mix with hers, aura-bonded as they had been since that earliest time in their lives. He did not see whether or not he had managed to heal her before he passed out… footsteps pounded in his brain as the darkness swallowed him.
A light, sweet scent wafted under his nostrils, carried on a stray breeze. The ground was slightly cold and damp where he lay; he could feel little twigs and sticks poking into his back. He moaned and rolled over, only to bump into something soft. With a sigh, he opened his eyes.
A pond filled with lotus blossoms lay before him; he was on its shore. Sitting up, he blinked; he knew this pond. He and Nora had spent many springtimes playing there together.
"Come on, come on, come onnnnn! You've gotta see what I fouuunnnnd!"
His head snapped to his right; a young Nora - perhaps four years old - was dragging a much younger version of himself by the hand, obviously intent on showing him something. Ren glanced down and noted that his current self was transparent; he was reliving a memory.
Did that mean that he had died? Was Nora here, too, or had she survived?
"See, see! I found a froggy here yesterday, and I knewwww that you'd wanna see it too, 'cause it was all green like you!"
His younger self grinned. "Then maybe I should find you a kitty, to be orange like you."
She giggled. "But I thought that you didn't like kitties."
"I think they're paw-some, actually." He winked, making the four-year-old Nora shriek with laughter.
The older Ren gaped. Had he actually acted like that? No wonder Yang's puns seemed so familiar.
"So where's the froggy?"
"Um-um! I left him over by the flower over there, so he'd be all pretty while he waited for us and could pretend that he was a king of the fairy kingdom instead of a fat old frog."
"Which one? There are lots of lotuses."
"Uh-!" She blinked, staring out at the flowers. "Ummmm, it's hide and go seek! We have to find him again!" His younger self laughed as the pair splashed out into the water.
Much later, when the two had given up the search and were resting on the bank, Nora asked, "What didja say those flowers were called?"
"They're lotuses. And do you wanna know something neat?"
"Yeah!"
"My name - Ren - means lotus in a language from a far-off country. So you did find me, after all."
Nora squealed and launched herself at him for a hug. The current Ren laughed as the young pair rolled into the water again and came up sputtering and laughing.
"I like lotuses! They're pretty!"
"Then sit for a sec. I have an idea."
"Ooh, what, what? I wanna help!"
"No, sit that way and cover your eyes! It's a surprise!"
She let out a dramatic gasp as she obeyed. "It is gonna be pancakes?"
"You'll see!" His younger self grinned as he pulled up some lotuses with the stems still attached. He tied the ends together (just as she had taught him to do with daisies), snuck up behind her, and put the lotus crown on her head.
"Can I look now?"
"Yeah!"
"Ooooh! A crown!"
"Yes! I, Ren, king of the lotus blossoms, have crowned you my queen."
"I'm queen of the castle!" she squealed. "I'm queen of the castle, with Ren as my king!"
Before the current Ren could have the proper time to laugh at this, the scene changed again. It was now the same pond, a few years later….
A seven-year-old Ren came running down the bank, his bare feet slipping and sliding in the mud. Today was Nora's birthday, and he'd not been able to get her a present to match the one she'd given him on his birthday (a copy of his favorite book; she'd been the library's errand girl for several weeks in order to pay for it). He hoped that his idea - a stack of pancakes and an extra little something - would make her happy. His balance failed him; he slipped and fell face-first into the water, upsetting several frogs. A shrieking laugh landed on his ears, alerting him to the fact that he'd been caught.
"Whatcha doing, Ren?"
"Shhh! I'm looking for something!"
"Really? What is it? Did you lose your favorite bookmark again? Or did you drop your shoe in here the other day? But I didn't see you hopping around on one foot. So whatcha lose?"
He shook his head. "I lost a smile."
She recoiled in terror. "Your smile? Oh no, oh no! This is awful! Absolutely awful! I'll help you look!"
"Umm… it likes songs! Why don't you try luring it in with a song - no, face the other way! That way it can hear you!"
"Righty-o, my king! A queen shall do all to be observance!"
"I think you mean of service, but thanks." He fought to suppress his grin as Nora began singing; he quickly gathered up the special item and hurried over to where she was standing on the shore. "Okay!"
"Didja find - oooh, how pretty!"
"Happy birthday." He grinned, holding up the bouquet of lotus blossoms. "C'mon, I made pancakes for you. They're in the house."
She let out a squeal and planted a kiss on his cheek. He grinned at her, took her hand, and ran with her back to his kitchen.
The current Ren watched them go, remembering all the "girlfriend" comments his brother had made after that day, and every birthday after that - for he'd always given her flowers on her birthday, every year, even after the attack… because his lotus blossoms were one of the few things that she remembered about them. As the scene changed again, Ren half-expected the next one that formed to be… yes.
The two of them - now somewhere around eleven, about a year before the attack - were rolling around in the mud on the shore of the pond. They'd been practice-sparring before then (his brother had recently had them unlock each other's auras - of course, at the time, Ren hadn't realized the implications of mixing auras - thus making them literal soul mates), but had given up on that rather quickly, instead opting to just play. Eventually, they wore themselves out, and Nora rolled on top of Ren to rest.
"Wanna hear something I heard at school?"
"Yeah."
"Some of the kids are saying that we're together."
"Well, we are, aren't we?" His younger self grinned. "We don't really play with anyone else."
"No, no - like together-together!"
"Ohhhh."
"But that's not allowed, 'cause we're still little, right? I mean, your parents wouldn't like it much, would they?"
"I dunno. I never asked."
"Boo."
"Why?"
"Well, I was just thinking that we might as well, y'know, be together-together, since we're together all the time already, so it's probably not all that different to be together-together, so-"
She was cut off by him poking her nose. "Boop."
She blinked. "Boop?"
"Well, yeah. We need a code word, don't we? 'Cause mom and dad might not like it 'cause we're so young. So instead of 'I love you,' we can say 'boop'!"
"So when I wanna say 'I love you," I say 'boop'!" She giggled. "I like that!"
"Boop." He poked her nose.
"Boop!" She bumped their noses together.
"Boo-" He attempted to retaliate in a similar manner, but their noses slipped. They broke apart, red-faced and giggling. "How much syrup did you drink this morning?"
"Only a bottle or two or three or seven."
"You didn't count?"
"Nope! I was starin' at you!" She beamed at him; he chuckled.
The current Ren stared at the scene, a realization forming in his mind. Nora had said that she remembered everything, that she always had… so that meant that she'd known what 'boop' meant all this time.
He could hope.
I need to get to Nora, he told the scene, and it was agreeable; the lotus blossom pond dissolved into a hazy red, just as it had all those years ago when the pair of them were hiding in the bushes, hiding from death….
"Nora, I think he's waking up - no, don't move, you'll split your insides open again!"
"But I need to make sure he's okay! He's been out for so long and he tried to heal me and-"
"For Oum's sake… c'mere."
"Thank you!" Ren heard more than felt the creaking of his bedsprings as Nora was lowered down next to him - by Yang, if his voice recognition was working. "Reeeeennnn…."
"Normph."
She giggled, glad to hear even a barely conscious response. "C'mon, wakey-wakey. I've been waiting for you."
"And by waiting, she means spazzing out and trying to get out of bed every three seconds to try to check on you," Jaune translated.
"Almost resulting in her splitting open her innards again," Yang muttered. Ren, upon hearing this, worked one of his arms around Nora's waist to keep her still. She snuggled against him and rested her head on his chest, not particularly caring that nearly all of their friends were observing this scene with varying levels of amusement and relief.
"I think what everyone actually means," Pyrrha chimed in, "is that we're glad you're okay, and we will now leave you two to heal, now that we have all seen that you are both indeed alive."
"You gave us a scare, though, seriously. Your bars on our screens went from green to red like that," Jaune said, snapping his fingers, "so we grabbed everyone we could find and came running."
"Yeah, and it's good that you thought to use your aura. Nora was almost dead by the time we got there," Ruby commented.
"She would have died if he hadn't," Weiss chimed in, purely for the sake of saying something in this story.
"Okay, c'mon, guys. Out." Blake stood and pointed to the door; Ren heard the shuffling of feet and the slamming of the door.
"They're gone, Ren. You can open your eyes."
"Promise?"
"Yup."
His eyelids flickered open, bringing Nora's face into focus in front of him. "Well, we're alive."
She nodded. "I'm sorry about what happened… I just…."
"You already explained it, luv." The use of this old endearment startled her, causing her to jolt. He stayed her with his arm. "You thought I wouldn't want you anymore if you were 'damaged'?"
She nodded against his chest.
"So you decided to not remember anything, to save both of us from awkward pain and a severance of any relationship between us?"
She nodded again. "I… I was scared. Almost all my memories have you in them. I don't really know how to function without you. I can't remember a time when I didn't know you."
"Same. I had a breakdown back there."
"Huh?"
"When I thought you were dead - you passed out, but I was panicking too much to find a pulse. So I kind of freaked out and tried to transfer aura to you."
"I'm glad you did, though, 'cause otherwise I wouldn't really be here right now, y'know. I'd probably be haunting you as a ghost, though! I could be your own personal ghost!" She glanced up at him. "Well… um… what does this mean for us now?"
"Depends on what you want it to mean, luv. I just didn't want you to remember the pain you were in, so…we could continue as before or we could go back to way before. It's up to you."
Nora let out a strangled groan. "But this whole mess is why nothing should be left up to me! I decided to hide it all because I was scared that everything would get all messed up! I didn't want our relationship to be a pink towel!"
"A what now?"
"YOU KNOW! That-that one time when I did the laundry wrong and mixed up your red towels with my white ones and made everything pink! I thought that they were all towels, so they would go together! But no, no! THEY TURNED PINK! ALL OF THEM!" Her forehead thumped against his chest. "I always mess stuff up like that and then stuff blows up! I-I-I d-didn't want to mess things up between us! You're… You've always been the only constant in my life! You know that! I don't want you to blow up like everything else has!"
He chuckled and tangled his fingers into her hair. "Y'know, I never really minded the pink towels. It just meant that I didn't have to worry about what was mine and what was yours." He shrugged. "I kind of like the unity from it, so I wouldn't really mind if our relationship were to become a pink towel again. And I promise that I won't blow up."
She stared at him, open-mouthed, for a few moments, processing the double meaning and verifying it with her mental Ren-logue. He was then forced to tighten his grip around her waist so that she would not react as she was wont to in most situations - or as he expected her to, in this case. However, his guess was incorrect for one of the very few times in his life. Nora simply stared at him for a little while longer, silent, and then spoke.
"So…you wouldn't mind going back to the lotus blossoms?"
"Think about what I got you for your last birthday."
"Lotus blossoms and pancakes."
"Therefore…"
"...yes-yes?"
He smiled at her as he had not in years and helped her roll on top of him more fully. "Lean in, luv. I've got a secret for you."
She complied, offering him her ear.
"Boop."
"ABOUT TIME!" Yang yelled, yanking the door open and spilling the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR onto the floor. "It's about freaking time that you said you love her back! I've been getting really sick of dancing on eggshells around your team! Eggshells! My boots are not made for walking on eggshells, they're made for grinding Grimm into dust! So enough with the freaking eggshells! Now that you two are FINALLY taken care of, we can move on to the next pair!" She turned on Pyrrha and Jaune, a demonic glint in her eye. Ruby's grin had a similar gleam. Weiss and Blake, for their parts, merely looked fearful. Thus, the six actually left.
"Ren, I've got a secret for you."
"Oh?" He smiled at her, half-guessing what was to come and being more than happy about it.
She nodded and tapped his nose. "I love you, too."
AND IT'S DONE!
We love you, Monty. Everyone, please follow his wishes and do something creative in his memory!
ClaraOwls Sempai: Clara and I had this conversation over pinterest about how we ship Ren and Nora which led to wanting to know about their past which led to me saying that Nora was actually crazy because of something that had happen which led us to diagnose her with a form of PTSD which led to Clara being mad at me because her brain made up such a sad story which led to this fanfic. We stayed up practically all night writing this story (basically because I didn't want to have to wait to know what happened). I love the way we ended it (especially because during the writing process Clara suggested killing Ren or Nora or making Ren blind, to which I told her "If they die, you die").
Today I saw the news that Monty Oum, the creator of RWBY, had passed away. It is so creepy to think that He passed at the same time we were writing this story. We therefore dedicate this story to Monty's memory and to the hope that RWBY will continue forever and always. 3