The crack of Crescent Rose echoed through the woods. The Ursa's head exploded, and the body faded into black smoke before it hit the ground. Ruby slid the action on her scythe rifle and chambered another round, but quiet had settled back on the forest.

Ruby sighed. This mission was the worst in a long line of missions. Guarding a caravan that spent every night in a town, a village that made Patch look dangerous, a pack of beowulves that had its alpha die before she even landed, and now patrolling a village that had maybe one sighting of a grimm each year. Maybe she had a form of her uncle Qrow's semblance. Not bad luck, but boring luck.

Checking over the place the ursa died, she let out a resigned sigh. This mission was just as boring as the last one, and the one before that. Hunting down stray Grimm, playing watchdog over a funeral. It was just so boring. Maybe she should have taken Weiss up on that job with Schnee Dust Company. They had spilt on good terms a year after graduation, Weiss taking over after her father and Whitley died in that just so horrible airship accident. Ruby was not a fan of the cold or joining the military, Mantle using only Atlas approved huntsmen and huntresses.

Collapsing Crescent Rose and slinging it onto her back, Ruby started walking towards the village. Yang might know of a good place to go once Ruby finished up here, her sister managing to find that answer she craved. Having a grand old time with Coco, Velvet, and Neon. Or maybe not. The last time Ruby had called her sister, she and Coco were both nude, and she had insisting on keeping the phone call going. The memory made Ruby blush, cause she was sure she knew were the other two members of their team had been.

A deep breath to clear her mind, Ruby oriented herself towards the village and started walking back. A single Ursa was all she had claimed today, and that seemed to the only physical threat in the area.

Entering the cottage she had for this mission, Ruby unslung her weapon belt from her hips. It landed on the hook next to the door, her red cloak on the coat rack on the other side. Attempting to unbuckle her boots as she walked into the living room, Ruby missed the smirk on the person sitting in the easy chair.

"Do you need some help?" A soft voice called to her. Ruby's head snapped up at the voice. Pyrrha stood up from the chair, barely catching Ruby as the younger redhead launched herself into her old lover's arms.

Pyrrha pulled Ruby up, and their lips meet. Ruby wrapped her unbuckled boots around Pyrrha's waist, Pyrrha pushing her against the fall wall. Ruby broke the kiss first, panting, face flushed to match her clothes. Pyrrha took a few deep breaths as well, her face down to cover the blush across her sun kissed cheeks.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to say something again, but Ruby cuts her off with another kiss, the small woman's hands moving down from Pyrrha's hair to her back, pulling at the laces of the armor there. Pyrrha slides a hand up Ruby's thigh, under her skirt, over the bare skin. Her hand moves over the hard muscles of Ruby's ass, squeezing it.

Ruby moans, kissing down Pyrrha's neck as she attempts to remove the armor, resting her head in the crook of Pyrrha's shoulder. Ruby lets out a grumble at the collar that keeps her mouth off sensual skin, growling at it. Her hands find the edges of her armor, tugging hard at them before the laces stop her.

Pyrrha slide a hand under Ruby's panties, warm fingers on the skin, stroking the underside of Ruby's slit.

Ruby whimpered, her hands tugging at the cords on Pyrrha's back. "Noooo, I can't focus when you do that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, her fingers moving back over the wet panties, Ruby letting out another whimper.

"I don't remember you always being this much of a tease," Ruby said, biting on Pyrrha's exposed shoulder as she finds the knot holding the armor closed. Tugging at it, she realizes her earlier attempts had tightened it. She made a frustrated sound as she realized she could not remove it.

"What's wrong, hun?" Pyrrha leaned back, frowning at Ruby. The smaller woman unwrapped her legs from Pyrrha's waist, her fingers pushing into the knot.

"I got too eager, the knot is stuck," Ruby grumbled, trying to work it out.

Letting out a breathless laugh, Pyrrha nipped Ruby's ear, whispering into it. "How about you cut me out of it? I remember you liking ripping me out of my clothes back at Beacon"

The heat that rushes through Ruby froze her hands. Both of them had hid what they had done at Beacon, Ruby shy of her budding sexuilty, Pyrrha not wanting to disappoint her family and fans. It takes a moment for it to dawn on Ruby that they are in a cottage in the forest, away from any eyes, and Ruby was out of dust for her toy.

Reaching for the knife on her belt, Ruby spins it in her hand before sliding it under the knot on Pyrrha's back. Feeling the rush, Ruby slides the knife up the back of the armor, cutting through the cord that kept the armor together. The chest piece falls open, then off, clattering to the floor.

A nic at the edge of the top lets Ruby rip the top off Pyrrha, exposing her chest and stomach. Ruby, not having grown much since Beacon, dived face first into the taller woman's breasts. The warmth of Pyrrha's skin was just as good as she remembered, a calm coming over Ruby before her own heat settled between her legs and she needed Pyrrha.

Lips and teeth find a nipple, and Pyrrha's breathing hastens. The taller woman tries to pull Ruby up for a kiss, but she ignores the hands, the sounds, her own need making her want to just taste Pyrrha. The knife cuts away skirt and thong, the knife joining them on the floor. Hands around Pyrrha's neck removes the collar before pulling her down, kneeling in front of Ruby. The smaller woman kisses Pyrrha's lips, cheeks, before finding her neck and sinking her teeth into it.

Pyrrha lets out a moan when Ruby reaches her neck, grabbing her tunic and pulling it down. Exposing Ruby, her hands kneel and twist the freed breasts. She is able to undo the buckles and buttons of Ruby's clothes, and removes skirt and top. Grabbing Ruby's discarded knife, she cuts off the boy shorts that Ruby wore under her skirt, lifting them to her nose and sniffing them as Ruby knelt in front of her, teeth moving down to her chest.

Ruby's first bite on her nipple draws a gasp from Pyrrha, the second a moan. The fingers between Pyrrha's legs draw out the moan, Ruby enjoying her freshly shaven sex, unlike her own fiery crotch. This far out in the boonies, and the men hated Ruby for being more masculine than them, and the women afraid to admit their own choices, Ruby had given up on having to worry about pleasing others. Pyrrha, however, seemed to like it. Not long after Ruby's fingers found her slit, Pyrrha's fingers stroked the bush covering Ruby's sex, playing with the fur above it.

"Hmm, I bet this feels great on a face?" Pyrrha said, blushing as Ruby looked up at her.

Strong hands pushed Pyrrha onto her back, and the red hair descended upon her mouth, the sex under it dripping wet. As Pyrrha rubs her lips against Ruby lower ones, she can feel her doing the same to her bald sex, fingers pushing them apart and letting Ruby's tongue enter her.

Both their tongues explore each other, remembering the times at Beacon. Times in closets, in the locker room, those fleeting moments alone, those times that both could drop the mantles thrust upon them and just be girls with needs.

Pyrrha breaks first, dropping her head from Ruby's sex as the orgasm builds too much. Ruby, the benevolent leader, does not stop, pushing a finger into Pyrrha, drawing a sharp gasp right before Pyrrha has the first orgasm she's had in years. Her hands find Ruby's head and push it against her spasming sex, the younger woman's tongue drawing out Pyrrha's pleasure.

The second one is more instence than the first, Pyrrha arching under Ruby, her knees squeezing Pyrrha's head to hold on. Pyrrha flails her hands around, clawing Ruby's back, pulling at the carpet, twisting her own nipple, tugging at Ruby's darker hair. Oum help her, she missed the leader of Team RWBY and not just for the skill of her tongue.

Muffled by the younger redhead's thighs, it takes a moment for Ruby to hear Pyrrha's cry, moans of Ruby's own name as nails rake down her back, Pyrrha lost in the throes of sex. It spurs Ruby into pulling forth a third, a fourth, Pyrrha writhing under her as Ruby uses everything she learned after Beacon on Pyrrha.

Pyrrha woke up a few minutes later. Ruby nuzzled into her neck, nipping her ear. Pyrrha just felt...good. She missed Ruby, she missed having orgasms, and she missed having good sex. Rolling onto her side, she kissed Ruby. Arms wrapped around each other, legs intertwined, Pyrrha kissed Ruby till they were both breathless. It reminded both of them of the first time they snuck away, the first time they found themselves like this.

"Oum, I've missed you," Ruby said, breaking the kiss.

"I've missed you too," Pyrrha said, pecking Ruby on the lips. Her hands moved from Ruby's hips down to between her legs. "Can I repay you for what you've given me?" Pyrrha's face flushed as Ruby's eyes closed and she moaned.

"I would hope you would," Ruby said, opening her legs to Pyrrha's hand.

Strong fingers parted her slit, a thumb pressing against Ruby's engorged clit. Pushing her shoulder into Ruby, she has her roll onto her back, her mouth kissing across her neck, over her chest, tasting her breasts and stomach before Ruby raises her sex up to Pyrrha's mouth.

Pyrrha fumbled, remembering the old times, the good times. Ruby was not the only one, but Ruby had been the one she tried the most with, the one she felt a deeper connection to, even over Nora. Her tongue slipped into the younger woman, remembering the best way to make Ruby scream her own name. It does not take long to make Ruby feel the same way, Pyrrha's name echoing through the cottage this time.

Pyrrha feels Ruby's strong hands in her hair, pushing her against her furry sex, bucking under the skilled, if rusty, tongue of Pyrrha. A finger draws out a second orgasm from Ruby, two fingers prolonging it into a third. Try as she might, Pyrrha is unable to draw the fourth from Ruby, the older woman's face covered in her juices, Ruby on her back, her breasts raising and falling with the after effects of sexual satistication. The hands in Pyrrha's hair pull her up, letting Ruby taste herself on Pyrrha's lips, letting her clean the face of the woman she loves.

On the floor of the living room of the cottage she is protecting from Grimm, Ruby hugs Pyrrha close to her. Grabbing the discarded cloak, she wrapped both of them in it, pillowing Pyrrha against her chest, listening to the sound of her fall asleep.

The sound of her scroll vibrating across the floor wakes Ruby. Grabbing it, she answers not fully awake.

" 'ello?"

"Hey, Ruby" Jaune's voice pushed Ruby to a more awake state.

"Hey Jaune, do you know what time it is?" Ruby was not use to functioning before her third cup of coffee.

"In Vale, it's eight," he said. "And about twelve hours after Pyrrha said she would be back from Mistral. Have you heard from her?"

Ruby looked up, watching Pyrrha sleep. The older woman lacked the ability to awake at any disturbance, and Ruby was never sure if that was good or bad.

"Uh...no. I've been out in Mistral," Ruby emphasised the name of the continent she was on, "for the last two weeks, in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh, Miles take it all," Jaune cursed. "She has been taking more and more missions. Last month she was in Atlas, doing something with SDC, then she was in Mistral chasing some Goliath. I feel like I barely see her. She said something about missing the old crew at Beacon, and outside of Ren and Nora, you hung out with her the most."

Ruby was glad she had not taken the call as a video, feeling the heat color her cheeks. "No, I haven't seen anybody but villagers and Grimm. If she does stop by, I'll tell her you called." Ruby tried to sound sympathetic, but with a nude Pyrrha resting against her, it was hard.

"If you do see her, tell her I miss her," Jaune whined. "I wish I could join her on those missions, but only having one leg…" He stopped.

That final mission, the one that labeled them all, Team RWBY and JNPR, as true hunters, it had claimed Jaune's left foot and lower leg. The city had been saved, and Jaune had matched Pyrrha as a known name throughout the world. His proposal on live television to Pyrrha, their wedding that was seen by everyone from Atlas to Vacuo. The perfect gladiator and the heartfelt guardian.

Looking down at Pyrrha, Ruby realized that maybe it was more one sided then she had realized. Pyrrha had come from a family full of champions, movers and shakers of Remanent. Jaune had made himself into one of those people. A person was judged just not by themself, but by their legacy. Ruby's legacy would end with her, not choosing to teach, not choosing a male partner. Pyrrha had been forced into her legacy, into choosing to heir the Arc name, the savior of Patch. Even when she would have rathered to spend her evening with the female leader of Team RWBY, when she choose to take the time to learn to cook Ruby's favorite cookies over Jaune's family biscuit recipe. When at her own proposal, she had grabbed Ruby's hand and sought her strength When Pyrrha had chosen the path her family had chosen for her over the path that she had wished to forge for herself, Ruby had stood by her as long as she could.

Looking at Pyrrha asleep in her arms, cheating on the husband that Remnant had heard she would cherish forever, Ruby was conflicted.

Pulling herself from Pyrrha's arms, Ruby walked nude to the kitchen, making coffee. A robe acted as cover for the shame she felt. Grabbing the flour, she started making pancake. She added the cinnamon that she knew Pyrrha loved to them, frying up a small pile before the sounds and smell of it all woke the fiery redhead.

Pyrrha entered the kitchen, wrapping both arms around Ruby's robed torso. "What smells so good, hun?"

"I made cinnamon roll pancakes," Ruby said, flipping the ones in the skillet. Pyrrha responded with a kiss on the neck before retreating to the bar. Ruby tried to keep her eyes on the cooking, but a naked Pyrrha was too much.

A short stack of pancakes was passed in front of the best gladiator of all of Vale. She only took a quarter of the bottle of syrup from the bottle, Ruby making a stack of similar size for herself. She added the remainder of the bottle to her pancakes before sitting next to Pyrrha. She ignored her food, holding just her cup of coffee in both hands.

"Jaune called me this morning," she said, lifting the cup to her lips.

"Oh?" Pyrrha said, shoving a fork full of pancakes into her mouth.

"He said he hadn't seen you in a while," the cup hit the counter, barely touched.

"Well...these are good pancakes," Pyrrha loaded another fork, stopping herself with a mouthful of carbs.

"Pyrrha…are you happy?"

She swallowed. Taking the cup of coffee Ruby made for her, she sipped it before answering. "I'm happy now."

"Because of the sex?"

Pyrrha looked hurt, and Ruby felt guilty of her question. "No. Ruby, I've always loved you. I've always loved you more than…." She shoved another fork of pancakes into her mouth.

"Do you regret marrying Jaune?" The pancakes Ruby made for herself sit untouched. She knew the question was too far, but this was not the first time Jaune had called her. Jaune was many things, but he knew that Ruby and Pyrrha had spent a lot of time together, more time than was necessary for sparring partners, for a young girl trying to figure out how to lead a team of girls older than her.

"Ruby, I…" Pyrrha stopped, the lie caught in her throat. "I loved you, love you. My parents, the world, loved Jaune. The savior of Patch."

The clatter of silverware silence Pyrrha for a second. RWBY had been sent south, away from Ruby's home for their final mission. Yang had been more vocal than Ruby about the mission choices, but everyone knew that Ruby had wanted to protect her home island, the grave of her mother. JNPR had been sent in after Taiyang had called for help, after Goliath had been sighted in Patch proper. Pyrrha had made a name for herself as slaying a Goliath by herself, a feat that was unmatched by anyone but Jaune Arc himself, who had lost a leg to his foe.

"When he went down on one knee, his lower leg just gone," Pyrrha started. "I didn't know what to say. My family had pressured me, suggested marrying a man who would advance the line…"

Ruby stabbed into her pancakes, drowning them in syrup.

"I...I didn't want to say yes. Jaune had chased glory and fame. He was in it for the same reason my family wanted me to be...to be a fighter," Pyrrha put her own shaking silverware down. She reached for her cup, but stopped. "I regret it, to this day. Jaune was a glory hound."

Ruby looked over her cup at Pyrrha.

"I...he proposed at the one point I couldn't say no," Pyrrha said. "Bleeding, him wounded, me at the top of my game. I wanted to throw that ring at his face. I wanted to admit I only loved girls, but how could I?" Pyrrha's face fell into her hands. "The whole time, I thought of you, Ruby. How I wanted to join you, live with you," Pyrrha choked up, tears streaking across her face, "love you. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but that blonde bastard. He took the perfect momentement and turned it against me"

Pyrrha pushed her plate and cup away from her, crying into the bar. "I couldn't say no, I wanted to, but I couldn't. I had planned to ask for your hand during graduation, but suddenly, before that, I was to marry the man who couldn't keep all his limbs during a simple fight."

Ruby watched Pyrrha cry, unsure what to do. She had taken her feelings of Pyrrha and shoved them so far down that she could not identify them. The previous night, she had felt the stirring of those old feelings, but was it lust or love?

Reaching a hand across, patting Pyrrha's back, she wanted to believe it was love. The tall red head swung from the bar and grabbed Ruby, crying into her shoulder.

"I love you Ruby, I love you more than I have ever loved anything else," Pyrrha said, sobbing into Ruby's shoulder. The younger woman just stroked her back, cooing into her ear, keeping the tears from her face as she realized she also loved this woman, that a million boring missions would be worth it if she could come home to Pyrrha's arms every night.

"I love you too, Pyrrha," Ruby said. "I love you."