Another sleepless night for Ruby.
She woke up, carefully took Crescent Rose and left the camp site without waking up any of her teammates. Walking far enough to not disturb them yet still able to the the camp fire, she used a bullet to propel her up a sturdy branch of a tall tree in the forest.
Sitting alone in the cold, dark night, Ruby swept her silver eyes across the demolished Vale. Black smoke rising from every direction, a Grimm's roar could be hear now and then, while endless sound of metal clashing and bullet firing rang in the distance.
Remnant was a mess, especially here in Vale, where Grimms were now crawling the streets, killing off the remaining of its population which was shrinking miserably after the big evacuation and the fall of Beacon.
Faces of her friends who had sacrificed in the fight showed up, alongside of the lifeless bodies of the citizen in the cities and villages after a Grimm raid she went through tormented her mind. Ruby clenched her fists tight, teeth gritted together, trying not to scream out in frustration.
But before more negativity could swallow her up, a figure silently appeared beside her, sitting right next to her on the branch.
"You alright?" Qrow asked as he pulled Ruby into his arms, stroking her soft hair lightly.
She shook her head, buried herself in his warm embrace while the muffled cries of her sobbing began to flow out constantly.
Qrow didn't say anything, nor did he have to. He knew how much pressure she had to endure, being the last heir to the silver-eyed line warrior and carrying the weight of the world as the only one who could potentially defeat Salem and free the world from her darkness.
He had opposed to this idea instantly when James and Glynda talked Ruby into this, even angrier when Taiyang didn't back him up. Even if all hope was lost, Qrow didn't want Ruby to be the one suffering for others' sake. Call him selfish if they want, but that was the same way he lost his friend and Ruby lost her mother; Summer Rose – the best Huntress of all time that Beacon, or the world to be precise, could have trained.
Ruby was finally able to stop her tears, her eyes red and puffy as she watched the man sitting in front of her gently wiped away the remaining drops on her face. His sight melted her heart. Qrow was the only one she could rely on and show her weak side. To others, she was a Huntress and a leader, but to him, she was his one and only, and a little girl who fell in love for the first time.
But to lose him, the thought struck her with the most fear she had felt in days, would be unbearable.
"I don't want this anymore. Please make it stop." Her words came out as a breather. Ruby was finally at her breaking point, and it devastated Qrow to see her this way.
"Ruby…" He called her name, struggling to find the right words to say to her.
"What if I'm not strong enough to stop Salem? What if I'm too weak to even fight Cinder and Adam? What if somebody else I know die? Weiss? Blake? Yang? You…" Her last word was almost audible, but Qrow caught on anyway, "I… I… I don't know what to do anymore."
"Shh… Shh… It's alright, I'm here for you Ruby. Calm down, just take a deep breath and calm down." Qrow quickly pulled her in again and tried his best to sooth her. He hated seeing his beautiful girl break like this, and attracting more Grimms was the last thing they needed for that night.
She followed his order and calmed herself down, feeling dizzy and nauseas as the same time; the sickening feeling of losing everything sinking deeper in her stomach.
Unable to see Ruby like this any longer, Qrow did the only thing he could come up with at that point. He cut the little distance between them even more, cupping her cheek with one hand while the other pulling her head closer until their lips met in a passionate kiss.
In a split second, Qrow felt like maybe it wasn't the best idea, but the softness of her lips slowly swept away any common sense left in him. Their kiss was slow, salty with Ruby's tears at first, but it became something much more, reassuring and filled with love for each other.
As he pulled out, watching Ruby gasping for air, her rosy lips a bit swell, Qrow couldn't help but thinking he wished he had done this sooner, not when war was raging on and humanity was on the brink of extinction.
Ruby was shocked, happy, confused, yet satisfied, all those emotions swirl inside until her cheeks were dyed pink. She turned her gaze away from him, bit her swollen lips and avoided eye contact with Qrow.
But he turned her around, looked straight in her eyes and said in the strongest tone she had ever heard from him:
"Ruby, I know you're under a lot of pressure right now. You get the feeling you have to save the world, and everyone else will pay if you don't succeed, I get that. But letting it get the best of you is not the Ruby I love. The Ruby I love, she's always positive and never let anything get in her way once her mind is set. She puts faith on people around her more, and she definitely doesn't run away from her true feelings."
Ruby furrowed her brows in agony, finding herself at a loss for words.
"But what if I'm not strong enough?"
"I'll be there for you. We'll all be there for you. Together, we'll take down Salem and whatever army she had waiting for us, and we will succeed." Qrow said in a matter-of-factly tone.
"What if I fail from stopping her?"
"This is you we're talking about, THE Ruby Rose, and you know what?" She looked up at him, "She is the strongest Huntress in this whole damn planet. And if you do fail," he continued, "I'll be there to deal with the rest."
Ruby couldn't help but feeling the way Qrow said make it almost sound like a wedding vow, but quickly snapped herself out of it.
"What if my friends, or father, or you…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word, not now, not ever after watching Penny and Pyrrha helplessly from far away, unable to do anything for them.
"We'll be fine Ruby. We're all Huntsmen and Huntresses now, nothing can take us down that easily. But if I…" Qrow stopped after Ruby's deathly glare at him with her sorrowful eyes, fixing his wording slightly, "can't be there for you, I want you to promise me you'll live, stronger and happier for the rest of your life for the both of us."
"I've done my fill Ruby, and I am ready to risk it all to protect you, even if it means costing me my own life." He said in a serious tone, too serious for Ruby to even rebut. So she just nodded, even though she was reluctant to do so, vowing silently to protect him instead in her heart.
"That's my good girl." Qrow patted Ruby softly on the head before wrapping her in his body, engulfed her in his warmth on the cold night.
Together, they gazed into the night sky, watching the giant crescent moon illuminating the wretched world with its pale light. They stayed until the first ray of sun broke through the darkness of night, bringing hope and signifying a new start as another day began.