All That Matters
AN: As I write this, a few hours ago I found out Stan Lee just died. Perhaps no single man has had more of an impact on how people write characters than him. His influence can't be overstated. RIP and Excelsior Stan Lee.
Chapter 3: Mrs. Ruby
I can be pretty groggy in the mornings. I'm more of a night owl than either of my parents. But my window faces the sun so I rarely get a chance to sleep in. Try as I might, the light of day wins out. I can toss and turn and put my pillow above all I like, all it is is a waste of time.
I stumble into the kitchen. Mom is looking out the window with a paper in her hand and stuffs it in her pocket as I approach the kitchen. I make my way straight to the coffee pot and begin pouring myself a glass.
"Good morning sunshine." Mom says as she turns and smiles.
"Morning." I raise the glass to my lips and blow on it.
"Since when do you drink coffee?" She asks.
"I have for a while now." I shrug.
"Are you excited for Ruby to be here?" Mom asks. I nod my answer. I was always excited when Mrs. Ruby was involved. Though, I tried restraining myself when I was actually around her. "Well I'm sure she'll be here soon." She begins to turn around and comes face to face with a set of silver eyes.
"Boo!" Mrs. Ruby shouts. The Hero of Remnant, who bested great monstrosities and defeated the ultimate villain during the Grimm War, was hanging upside down outside the window. My mom jumps back in surprise.
"Ruby!"
"Did you miss me?" Mrs. Ruby says as she swoops in. A faint cry grows louder and louder as Mrs. Ruby holds her hand out the window. She catches a cluster of orange and pulls it inside. The orange cluster unravels revealing Citrine.
"Eccentric as ever." Mom face palms.
"I'm famished." Ruby pokes Mom on the forehead. Before I even realize it, she's gone. A trail of rose petals lead from the window to the coffee pot. "Ah, cream and five sugars." She slurps the drink down. "How're you kiddo?" She asks as she pats my head.
"Fine." I blush.
"Wait, why were you falling?" Mom asks.
"I wasn't falling." Citrine defends. "I was um….working on my landing strategy. Mom is the one who pulled me in."
"I may have paid the pilot a little extra to fly directly over your house." Mrs. Ruby says.
"That is excessive." Mom argues.
"Oh get the stick out of your bum." Mrs. Ruby says as she disappears in another cloud of rose petals. This time the trail leads to our pantry. "I merely saved myself some time."
"Citrine could have gotten hurt." Mom says.
"Like I'd let anything bad happen to her." Mrs. Ruby rolls her eyes. She pulls out a thing of cookies and opens up the package.
"Where's Jaune at?" Mom asks.
"Getting our hotel room silly." Mrs. Ruby states as if it was the only possibility. "I wasn't about to jump out of a bullhead with all my luggage for this trip and then throw it around your place like I own it."
"No, you'd rather just raid my pantry." Mom replies.
"Nova." Citrine catches my attention. "It's been a while." Citrine has changed a lot since I last saw her. She's gotten taller and her body is starting to fill out and become more mature. I subconsciously feel my own chest, which is still flat, without realizing it. But apparently Citrine did. "Yep, I know." She puts her hands on her hips and huffs her chest out.
"It's not fair." I huff. "You're a year older than me." Citrine took after both her parents. She had her mother's eyes and her dad's face. Her hair was blonde, but darker than her dad's. She actually resembled Yang in a lot of ways. Her hair was wavy and hung over her shoulders. Her cloak was orange but her skirt and top were white.
Mrs. Ruby on the other hand didn't look like she had changed at all since the old days. She still had the same red cloak and corset that accentuated her bust. Crescent Rose hang above the hem of her skirt.
"Now, where is my beloved sister?" Mrs. Ruby asks as she brings her hands together.
"She's doing a little job for the Academy. We didn't figure you'd be here until later." Mom states.
"Well, you know me. If there's a quicker way, I'll probably take it." Mrs. Ruby practically inhales a row of cookies. She bursts into rose petals again and appears behind her old teammate. "So, Blake."
"Ruby, can you please stop doing that!" Mom shouts.
"Oh, simmer down, they'll disappear in a few minutes." Mrs. Ruby says referring to the petals. She rubbed Mom's head and pinched her cat ears. "What have you been up to? I never hear from you anymore. Need my help to knock some skulls?"
"Ruby, not every problem can be solved with brute force." Mom says.
"Well, no problem can be solved by being so secretive." Mrs. Ruby leaned up close to Mom's face.
"I don't want to talk about it right now." Mom's eyes drifted over to me and she stuffs her hands in her pockets. Mrs. Ruby's eyes trace the lengths of her arms as well. She sighs and takes a step back.
"Alright well, I've been having an easy time at work." Mrs. Ruby changed the subject. "Biggest thing I've hunted recently is a basilisk and even that didn't put up much of a fight. This might sound a little morbid but I kinda miss people like Cinder running around. I mean, there's always Levi but nobody has seen or heard anything from him in almost a decade."
"I know. Yang's been trying to track him down since that night." Mom states.
"Wait, who's Levi?" I ask.
"Nobody you need to worry about." Mom replies.
"Supervillain that gave me a run for my money a short time before you were born." Ruby countered.
"Ruby." Mom tried stopping her.
"Hey, it's my accomplishment and I've got nothing to hide." Mrs. Ruby stated. "So, when Citrine was about a month old…."
"Gah, here she goes again." Citrine says as she rolls her eyes. "I've heard this story at least a hundred times." She whispers in my ear. I throw a finger up, hanging on every single word as Mrs. Ruby recounts the crisis Levi brought to Vale and how she triumphed over the villain.
Mrs. Ruby shares her adventures with us and even helps out with dinner. Yang, Dad and Jaune come in a little later after finishing up all of their work. After dinner, Mrs. Ruby leaves for her hotel room with her family. She promises to drop Citrine off in the morning before going to her meeting.
Dad makes sure I get ready for bed at a reasonable time this time. Mom stays eerily quiet throughout the night. I know she's not as expressive as Yang or Mrs. Ruby but I expected her to be a little happier to have her team here. I thought being together was all that mattered to her.
I can hear a thunderstorm approaching. Thunderstorms in Vacuo can be very dangerous. Since I'm awake, might as well make sure my window is closed tight. I roll off my bed and towards my window. I can see the dusty clouds crackling in our direction.
My window is open, so I slam it shut and lock it. On the adjacent rooftop, I thought I saw a shadowy figure in a mask staring up at me. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and the figure was gone. Must have been my imagination. I can feel my throat start to get scratchy, so, while I'm up, I might as well get a drink of water.
I sneak into the kitchen and for a split second I thought I saw Mom with her white coat and a mask. My heart starts racing. Did I have a nightmare and not remember it? Was this all my imagination or did I actually see something.
"Hello?" I say as I look around. My night vision kicks in and allows me to see everything. The apartment is just how it was left after we cleaned up. Yang's missing from the couch but it looks like she was laying here. I even feel the couch, and its still warm. She must have stepped outside. Maybe that's what I saw. Her brown coat would probably look the same as Mom's white coat in the dark. Without anything else to go on, and with sleep overtaking my eyes again, I decide to call it a night.
AN: I wrote this over the course of 2 days and in that time I completely forgot where I was going with Ruby's introduction. Well, next chapter is when the actual plot kicks in.