This story has now got 56 Favorites and 102 Followers. It's amazing to see this many people having an interest in the story. Because of getting a 100 follows, I want to do something for this as I've started to get stuck in some of the set-up for the main chapter and could use a break to just all out on a little one-shot.

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Voting shall be stopped at Sunday the 28th of February. So please, put in your vote before then!

Ego-caressing "oh my god people read my stuff" out of the way. I had quite some troubles with this chapter. I am still not 100% satisfied with it, so I might retouch this one sooner than others. I also tried to incorporate 's feedback about the fragmenting of the speech of characters. Let me know if it works or doesn't, it's always awesome to see the reviews.

Anyway, here is Chapter 7 : Moving Forward.


Chapter 7: Moving Forward

When Ruby woke up, it was the most peaceful she had been in years, the warmth embracing her whole as Jaune had covered them with the blanket. Ruby nuzzled once more into Jaune's chest and looked up at him, taking in every feature of his sleeping face. Satisfied with the picture in her head, she got up from the bed. After a brief moment, she found her scroll and opened it up. Ruby chuckled a little when she saw they had slept way past noon. So much for grabbing breakfast together.

Ruby walked towards the window of the room and opened the curtains, letting the sun in. She smiled as she looked down on the street, the people happily making their way through it. A groan alerted Ruby of her partner. She turned around to walk to Jaune, finding him having pulled in the blanket and turning away from the light.

"Five more minutes." he sighed, his eyes still closed. Ruby smiled before pulling the blanket away off of him.

"It's already midday. As much as I'd like to just lay in bed all day, you wanted to meet up with Ren and Nora. This our last day of 'leave', remember?" Ruby said, still holding the blanket. Jaune sighed in defeat and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah. You're right." he said, pushing himself off of the bed.

"I'll see you in a couple of minutes okay?" Ruby said, giving Jaune a soft kiss before making her way across the hallway again to her own room. After freshening herself up, Ruby put on her usual attire and slid Crescent Rose into the rack on her waist. As she went to finish her attire by donning the red cloak she always wore, she couldn't help but grasp it and smile at it for a moment. Mom. she thought, memories of her mother returning to her. But for once, the memories it evoked in her didn't make her sad. Instead, a warmth filled her and caused her to smile.

I hope that wherever you are Mom, you're proud. Ruby thought and donned the cloak, pinning it to her outfit with the small crosses. A beeping noise caught her attention and reactionally she took the scroll out of her pocket. An unknown sender had sent her a message. Curiously, Ruby opened the message.

'Ruby.

Some new information about Disturbances, got go ahead to lend you and Jaune for mission. Talk tomorrow morning, at 6.

Q'

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes at the last line of the message and put the scroll away. She'd tell Jaune about it later. For now, they'd need to talk with Ren and Nora. Ruby stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her tightly. As she turned around, Ruby was startled as was Jaune leaning against the wall next to her door with a smug grin on his face. Playfully Ruby hit his shoulder causing the both of them to laugh.

"Scared the heck out of me. So. You ready to go?" Ruby asked.

"Yep." Jaune replied, "I just got a message from Ren with the address, so now we know where to actually go.".

Ruby smiled at him. "Well then, let's go."


After a short walk, the both of them had made their way to Ren and Nora's house. Jaune grinned as he walked towards the door and rang the doorbell. A stumbling could be heard from beyond the door and slowly the door opened. Ren stood in the doorway, smiling at Jaune. He mostly still wore the traditional outfit he still had, but his hair had become significantly longer.

"Hey Jaune, it's good to see you again." Ren said and held his arms open.

Jaune quickly hugged Ren and smiled as he let go. "Good to see you again as well, Ren.".

Jaune stepped inside and put Crocea Mors against the wall. Ruby hugged Ren tight as well. "Hello Ren. Long time no see." she said and let go of him.

"Same to you Ruby. It's been quite a while hasn't it?" Ren said and laughed a little.

Ruby looked at Ren's face and saw a type of exhaustion in him. "Ren, you okay? You look kind of tired." Ruby inquired and raised an eyebrow at him.

Ren only laughed a little. "Just follow me." he said and turned to walk to the living room. Ruby quickly unhooked Crescent Rose from her back and placed it next to Crocea Mors.

As they entered the living room, they could a pair of legs dangling over the edge of an overturned sofa. "Who's Mommy's awesome little boy? You are! Yes you are!" Nora excitedly said. A child's laugh could be heard, confusing Jaune and Ruby.

"Nora, Nemory. Jaune and Ruby are here." Ren calmly spoke, looking at Jaune and Ruby with a knowing smile.

With a push off the ground, Nora put the sofa upright and smiled as she came up holding a small boy. His hair was black but had Nora's eyes and face. The boy ran out of Nora's arms to Jaune and hugged his legs.

"Hello uncle Jaune!" he said, shooting a bright smile up at Jaune.

Jaune smiled back and pet his hair. "Hello there little guy, what did your dad say your name was?" Jaune said and kneeled down to Nemory's level.

"Nemory!" he excitedly replied.

Must have Nora's personality. Jaune thought and smiled. "Well, good to finally meet you, Nemory."

Ruby was taken aback by the fact that Ren and Nora had a child. Then all of a sudden she was tackled against the ground by Nora whom hugged her tightly.

"Hey there Ruby!" Nora said, a large grin plastered on her face.

"Uhm.. Hey Nora." Ruby awkwardly said, patting the redhead's back.

Ruby 'oomphed' as another weight was put on her, Nemory's head popping up in view just alongside his mother's. "Hello!" he said, grinning at Ruby.

Ren laughed a little as he picked up Nemory when Nora moved to stand up. Ruby pushed herself up onto her knees and ruffled the boy's hair. "Hello there, Nemory. My name is Ruby." Ruby said, smiling warmly at the boy.

"Your name is pretty! Do you fight monsters too?" Nemory asked, a spark of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Ruby.

"Yes, I do. Me and Jaune have fought a whole bunch of monsters." Ruby said, chuckling lightly.

"Like, Ten?!" the boy said, awestruck at the heroes before him.

Ruby placed her hand over her mouth to not break out into full laughter. He's just simply adorable. She thought before finally fighting off her laugh. "Yes. Like ten. Even more than that!" Ruby said, trying to mirror his excitement.

Nemory looked at Ruby with his mouth agape in amazement. "Awesome!" he shouted, running to Nora who had made her way to stand beside Ren, the enormous grin still on her face.

"Yep! Although she's even more awesome because she went to Atlas, as did Jaune! Atlas is like a super-duper-awesome-cool place!" Nora said. Again, admiration shone in Nemory's eyes as he switched his gaze between Ruby and Jaune.

Ren cleared his throat a bit before looking at Nora. "I still have to get groceries for dinner, so I'm going to be out for those." he said. Instantly, Nemory turned to look at Ren.

"Can I come daddy?" he said, attempting his best to look with pleading eyes at his father. Ren laughed a little at that.

"Well, you'll have to ask mommy as well." he said and winked at Nora. Nora giggled as she immediately understood Ren. Nemory looked at Nora with the same gaze.

"Please, Mommy?" he begged, Nora giving him a skeptical look with a hum.

"You can go.. If you can put on your shoes and coat by yourself!" Nora said. Nemory smiled at her and turned to run to the hallway again, causing all of them to laugh.

"Jaune, mind coming with?" Ren asked.

"Sure thing." Jaune quickly replied, giving a small wave to Ruby as he was leaving the living room. Ruby mouthed 'I love you' to him, hoping he would notice it. A wink confirmed Jaune had and made her all warm inside.

Nemory once again came running back into the room, his summer coat and shoes on. "See mommy, I didn't need any help!" he said, grinning at Nora in pride.

"Aw yeah! Give me a high five, Nemory!" Nora said, crouching down and holding up her hand. Nemory gave a quick high-five, after which Nora hugged him tightly.

"I love you. Now don't be too mean to Daddy and uncle Jaune okay?" Nora said and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay Mommy, bye bye!" Nemory quickly said, before making his way back to the hallway.

Ruby could only keep up her smile at what she had just witnessed. Who knew that Nora would be such an excellent mother? Yang won't believe it, that's for certain. She thought. With a small sigh, Ruby sat down on the sofa.

"See you in a bit Nora, Ruby." Ren said from the doorway from the hallway. The door shut with a thud that could be heard from the living room. Nora sighed happily before letting herself fall down in a chair. Instantly, she shot a mischievous look at Ruby.

Ruby noticed quite quickly. "What's up Nora?" she quickly asked, her voice shaking a bit under the unnerving gaze of Nora.

"Oh nothing.. except for you and Jaune being totes in love." Nora said, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

Ruby could only respond with a sigh. "Yes. Me and Jaune have a thing…".

"You didn't pass the Nora-certified-vote-for-confidence-to-date-Jaune test yet." Nora said, the grin growing wider and wider.

"I .. uhh.. didn't know I needed to do that." Ruby said, clearly confused at Nora's mention of such a test.

"Ruby Esmeralda Rose!" Nora started and stood up, pointing her finger down at Ruby.

"I don't have a middle name.. And I'm fairly certain if I did, it wouldn't be Esmeralda." Ruby quickly interjected, her confusion only growing more.

"Shhh. Not important." Nora continued, "I need to know only one thing of you for you to pass the test!".

Ruby raised an eyebrow at the quirky redhead but laughed a little. "Well, what do you need to know?" she asked.

"Do you love Jaune?" Nora asked. Ruby honestly felt slightly let down at the question, the whole buildup dramatic enough to warrant something more.

"Yes." Ruby said, smiling at Nora.

"Okay. Cool. You passed." Nora said and fell down in the chair again.

"That.. that was it?" Ruby asked, still surprised.

"Yup. Just needed to look you in the eye when you said it to know if it was true. I'm happy for you two." Nora said, flashing a genuine smile at Ruby.

"I'm happy for you two - well, three, I guess - too. When did you and Ren..?" Ruby said, letting her last words trail off, hoping for Nora to fill in the blanks.

"Do the dirty deed? Baked a potato? Did the hanky-panky? Bumped uglies?" Nora filled in, a smirk on her lips as she spoke. Ruby's face flushed red as she did not expect the euphemisms Nora used.

"Not.. what I was thinking of." Ruby said, shaking her head in attempt to get her head straight again. "I meant more like, started a family.".

"Ooooh.. when I became Mrs. Lie? And when we had Nemory?" Nora asked. Ruby nodded at her and Nora continued, "Well. Mrs. Lie was like.. sheesh, four years after you guys left? Things were looking good and Ren came up to me and was like 'Yeah we've been together forever, I love you, marry me.'. It was amazingly awesome I tell you." Nora smiled as she remembered the things that had happened through the years. "Nemory was a bit of a surprise at first. I think that was about two years after our marriage. But it's all been great. We were ready and you know, it's amazing to have like a .. mini-me. I love him to death." Nora said, looking at Ruby again and smiled genuinely.

"What about you and Jaune?" Nora asked. Ruby sighed and gave Nora an apologetic look.

"Last night. We went to Beacon so Jaune could put Pyrrha's circlet on the statue. After he climbed down, he kissed me." Ruby said. Nora was sitting on the edge of her seat listening to her talk and grinning the whole time, the grin broadening even more."I do think I've been feeling it longer though. I just never paid any attention to it." Ruby continued.

"Oh yeah. You just won me fifty lien, Ruby!" Nora said excitedly, kicking her legs out as she let herself fall into the chair again.

"What, you and Ren were betting on me and Jaune becoming a thing?" Ruby asked disbelievingly. When she received no word from Nora, Ruby's expression turned to disbelief. "Wait, you did?"

Nora laughed awkwardly. "Oops?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.


"Nemory's grown quite a lot since last time I got a photo from you." Jaune said, smiling as Ren and Jaune made their way through the park towards the market, Nemory walking a short distance ahead of them on the paved paths.

"Yes he did.. It's like having two Nora's at home now." Ren joked, the empty shopping bag around his shoulder and his hands in his pockets. His eyes constantly followed Nemory, making sure his son was okay.

Jaune laughed a little and stuffed his hands in his pockets as well. "So. Ruby and me are a thing now." he said, eliciting a groan from Ren. Jaune raised his eyebrow at him before finding out the reason by himself. "Bet?" he asked.

"Bet." Ren answered, the both of them laughing again. "So, I assume you've confronted your feelings about Pyrrha then?" Ren said, shooting his friend a quick glance of concern.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. I've accepted it. I for once took your advice, even though I can't remember it fully." Jaune said.

"Keep Moving Forward." Ren stated. "That's what I told you. That whatever happens and whatever has happened, you have to keep moving forward. And don't let anything stop you from achieving what you want." Ren continued as they entered the market and Nemory joined them again.

"Daddy, let's hurry! The shops are closing soon!" Nemory said, a hint of concern in his excited voice.

"Well, guess we've gotta hurry." Ren said and took a hold of Nemory's hand.


A while later, the five of them had eaten their dinner. Shortly after, as evening approached, Nora had gone upstairs to put Nemory to bed as Ren, Jaune and Ruby still remained in the living room to finish the evening off with a warm drink. "So.. I was wondering.. what is it you two do right now?" Ruby asked Ren before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I'm a history teacher at Beacon. Nora is the combat instructor there for two days each week." Ren said, sipping a bit of his tea. "It's so we can spend optimal time with Nemory while still providing a lot for Beacon."

"Yeah, and kick butt everywhere!" Nora said as she entered the living room again and sat down next to Ren on the sofa and leaned against him. "So, what brings you two 'legends' to Vale anyway? Except for visiting us of course." she continued, using a heavy dose of sarcasm as she spoke.

"It's pretty hush-hush. But we're here for some Grimm and White Fang disturbances. I trust you two to not go around telling everyone that there might be something happening in the shadows." Jaune said.

Ruby was hesitating whether or not to scold Jaune for just leaking something like this, but she figured Nora and Ren deserved to know. Not only as teachers at Beacon, but also as previous teammates. Qrow would have probably told them in time anyway. Ruby rationalized. And it's not like we're saying anything at all. I mean, the walls just prove that they're well aware of the Grimm threat.

"So, basically just general Atlas stuff? Or whatever you do with that?" Ren asked, causing both Ruby and Jaune to nod.

"Today was our last day of official leave. So then we'll have to get back to work." Ruby said, finishing the coffee in her mug. "But I'm sure we'll try and come back soon. It's been really great being back in Vale.".

"Yeah. And it's been great seeing you two do just absolutely awesome. Not to mention that Ren is still an amazing cook." Jaune said, causing Ren to shyly rub his neck.

"But unfortunately, we have to be up at six in the morning tomorrow. It might be best if we just get back to our hotel so we can get some rest." Ruby said.

"Awww.." Nora whined, before perking up again. "Oh well. You'll just have to come back again some other time. Sometime really soon!"

A laugh was shared among them again. "Yeah. We promise we'll come by sometime soon." Jaune said.


After their goodbyes, Ruby and Jaune made their way back to the hotel. Silently, they walked on the streets and alleyways. Holding hands and fingers intertwined, they felt comfort already in each other's presence, no need to speak after the energy Nora had shown to still possess.

When they reached the hotel and got to their rooms, they quickly changed to their pyjamas and Ruby made her way to Jaune's room. Crawling into the bed, Ruby making sure the time was set to make their meeting with Qrow. Small kisses on her head disturbed her as she was still configuring the alarms on her scroll. She looked up to Jaune and smiled, finishing the last alarm and putting her scroll on the nightstand before embracing him and nuzzling her face into his chest again.

As her face touched the fabric of the blue footie pajamas, Ruby couldn't help but laugh. Jaune wiggled his eyebrows at her, only adding more to the laughter.

"What, is this not making your desire for me nearly impossible to control?" Jaune asked and feigning hurt in his voice.

As Ruby's laughter died down she gently held Jaune's cheek before giving him a kiss. "Goodnight, my sweet prince." she said, after letting her lips disconnect from Jaune's.

"Goodnight, my precious Rose." Jaune said and pulled the light on his nightstand, enveloping the room in darkness.