Annnnddddd now for the finale... excluding the epilogue of course... Now time to have a bit of Blake... she has been too quiet.

Chapter 25:

"How can you be so dumb Jaune!" Blake yelled punching the man hard. She had thought resorting to violence was a dumb call, but had finally made up her mind and decided it would actually work off a lot of anger she had.

"Don't you think I feel like a total ass for believing her!? Because of me Ruby may die! I've gone through every single conversation I've had with her and I can see the warning signs! I just ignored them because she was a long time friend!" Jaune yelled as he picked himself up, he knew it was best let the other guys loosen him up, considering how screwed he was going to be the second Yang, Tai or Coco could pry themselves away from her bedside.

"I've lost all credibility because I was trusting. She did gods knows what with four people for the entire time she was there. And I'm feeling nothing but guilt because I played into whatever Pyrrha has been planning. And Ruby may die because of it! It fills me with such regret and this is all my fault!" Jaune continued to yell as Velvet walked out.

"Velv where are you going?" Jaune asked as Velvet turned around to glare. "Don't you dare call me that. I quit. I don't want anything to do with you. You are just as accountable for what happened as Pyrrha and those slim balls. You may not have done anything, but you defended her. You defended her until Qrow had Ruby's blood on his hands, and are still clearly in denial. And I can't work for anyone like that. So I quit." Velvet spoke as she turned to face Blake.

"You are not staying here. Not because I want Jaune to be alone, it is because I would rather not see someone killing him. I may hate him something fierce right now... but he doesn't deserve death. I know he will do worse to himself than we ever could." Velvet spoke as she pointed to the door behind Blake.

Blake tensed her fists, she looked down into Velvet's eyes and quickly turned around and stormed out of the bakery closely followed by the brunette. "Blake! Wait up!" Velvet yelled as she caught up with the raven haired woman.

"I do actually worry about you if you are by yourself." Velvet spoke quickly as Blake tried to walk off. "I know you're going to try and get in again and it is going to fail. So can we cut out the middle man and I'm going to walk you over to Sun's." Velvet spoke as Blake spared her a glance,

"You know I don't really blame Jaune." Blake spoke stopping mid stride. Her voice soft. So fragile. Like the simple confession would cause her to break.

"I blame myself..." Blake began as she began to cry. Velvet wrapped her in a hug pulling her down as she rubbed her back. "How could I not blame myself. I keep thinking maybe if I walked with her this would have been avoided. Or she wouldn't have gone through it by herself... I'm the one who is really to blame." Blake cried as Velvet just continued to rub her back.

"Don't say such things Blake. Ruby wouldn't blame you. If she blames anyone it best be those monsters. If not I don't care, I'll bitch some sense into her. Along with her family." Velvet spoke being sure Blake heard by nearly yelling it into her ears just to make sure her message was clear.

"How can you say that so calmly!? How can you even look at me without contempt!?" Blake asked already hysterical. She felt pure agony in her heart about what happened how could she not. She was the last person to see her before it all happened. She wanted Velvet to get mad. She needed some else to be mad at her.

"Because you weren't the one to do it. YOU just saw her to the door knowing she made that trip easily hundreds of times. Something those monsters knew. If you were there they would have killed you or worse used you to harm Ruby." Velvet spoke as she began to force Blake to look at her. She wanted to be clear with her intent from her message.

"Now we are going to go to Sun's, I'm going to make you some of Yatsu's special tea blend if Sun has the stuff... and you are going to drink it and have a nap. Ruby is going to hate that you haven't slept in how long?" Velvet asked as she began to wipe the tears from Blake's face.

"Not since Yang called me looking for Ruby the second time." Blake whispered... she wanted to just wallow in self pity, something Velvet seemed to refuse to let her do but was fine forcing Jaune into it. "That was nearly a full three days, and I just know you've been running over everything in your mind. Don't you dare say you haven't."

"It is because I just know I'm at fault. No matter how you try and cut it." Blake whispered again. Velvet smacked Blake over the side of the head.

"Blake, you're a smart person. You know a lot about laws and some mental problems for whatever reason... do you know what Survivor's Guilt is?" Velvet asked as Blake rubbed her nose onto her sleeve. "This isn't quite survivor's guilt yet... she can still pull through." Blake whispered as Velvet smiled a small smile.

"But I get what you mean... but how can I not... what would you do if you were in my shoes?" Blake asked... she wasn't sure how she was meant to deal with it. "The exact same thing you are, and Yatsu, the loveable giant he is would be trying to get me to calm down and actually sleep, even if it was a little." Velvet began as she began to walk Blake towards Sun's apartment.

"Kinda like what I'm doing with you. You just need to take a step back and trust that Ruby will pull through. She has pulled through a lot from what Yang has told me... and from what I may or may not have eavesdropped on her telling Coco. She hasn't given up yet." Velvet could see Blake smile a little.

"She has told me some of the things. Like how she once needed surgery from accidentally getting hit by a car." Blake spoke again, slightly louder than she had been.

"Wait... I don't know about that one..." Velvet asked turning to Blake wanting her to explain further. "When she was five she was out with her mom and Yang, they took their eyes off her for a few seconds and she got hit by a car. Thankfully it was going slow... but it did break her collar bones and her arm a little. Kinda is what caused her to be left handed according to her." Blake's voice taking on a slight piece of mirth to it.

"You see even when she was five she was a fighter. She is sixteen years older, so I feel she is even more of a fighter." Velvet defended as Blake smile seemed to grow a little as she let out a single yawn. The exhaustion finally hitting. She wasn't sure what was causing it. This was the first instance since the search for Ruby began and the immediate panic after.

"Come on. You need sleep. I promise if Ruby comes to, I'll wake you up." Velvet spoke as Blake nodded. It actually sounded like something nice for once.

"Yang... do you want something. I'll make a cafeteria run." Coco's voice was the only thing that broke the silence beside the heart monitor connected to Ruby. She had given up asking Tai. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Ruby if he could help it. He was still wearing the shirt that had some of Ruby's blood on it after Qrow had stopped him charging in.

Coco wasn't sure if he would change just short of Ruby either waking up, or the more likely option of Ruby passing on. Coco had long since given up thinking such pessimistic thoughts. No matter how realistic it was.

"No thank you..." Yang responded, her voice was still the same frail sound ever since she entered the hospital. It was a shell of what it used to be. Coco was at a lost. The only thing she had considered a win was getting Yang to change her clothes and even that was an uphill battle.

"Are you sure? Coffee, tea, water... a sandwich even. You know she will be furious if you don't look after yourself. I've given up on trying to get Tai to even blink." Coco asked, hoping her concern was getting through. She didn't want Yang to burn herself out. She also didn't want to distract her from her vigil over Ruby.

"Some water if you really feel the need to get me anything. But I don't need anything except Ruby to wake up." Coco would admit, it sounded like Yang only needed Ruby, but she understood. It wouldn't feel right if Ruby was gone from her life. There was something about Ruby's out look that was refreshing.

"I may not be able to get Ruby to wake up... but I can get you the water." Coco spoke as she walked closer to the door. "I'll get you one too Tai." Coco spoke nearly silent. Not wanting to ruin the father and daughter vigil over their fallen family member. Each not wanting to believe in the likely outcome of everything.

But once Tai knew he had to sign off on them medically inducing a coma as to not further strain the injuries because of how much Ruby was fighting the doctors... they knew there was a high possibility of her not making it considering they already needed to help her breathing and keeping her heart rate down. No one wanted to think of the worst possibility.

Yang spared a glance off of her sister to see Coco leave. She looked back down. The multiple casts, bandages, and even the neck brace to go along with the various tubes and wires connecting her to this machine and that. "How long is she meant to be in this coma?" Yang asked.

She had no idea the reason behind it. She didn't want to know. She knew she wouldn't be trying to figure the odds out, which she knew was a dark, dark, dark hole. One she knew she couldn't get out of.

"Another week... and even then... the odds of her waking up is about sixty percent. She received a lot of damages to some vital organs. But her heart rate and breathing are rather steady considering she had damages to her lungs and heart." Tai spoke, forgetting temporarily who he was talking to, but wasn't going to lie to her. Or even sugar coat it. Yang was just like him in that sense. Preferred a bitter truth over a sweet lie.

"Do Granddad and Nana know... about her?" Yang asked, unsure if it was the machines forcing her into that level state. "They know we found her, and that she had emergency surgery... but not about the rape... or that Pyrrha was the cause. They would be kicking themselves non stop then." Tai feared what they would do.

"Good... but are they coming to visit her?" She didn't want them to... at least that was until Ruby was awake. She was barely able to stand seeing Ruby like this. Just the constant thoughts of 'What if she ends up like mom here...?' that was all that she could think besides how thankful she was for Coco. The woman who is forcing Yang to care for herself just as much as she was caring for Ruby's unconscious body.

"Yang... Coco isn't wrong. You need to sleep, even if you just head into the on call room. Your body isn't as used to a lack of sleep as mine is." Tai spoke causing Yang to look up. Shocked he would even demand something like that.

"I can't dad... what if... what if she ends up... ends up like..." Yang was cut off by Tai. "That is the worst case Yang. When Summer was in the hospital it was different. She was at death's door and fought until she could see you and Ruby one last time. Something that you have no idea how much it meant to her that she could see your faces and hold your hands one last time."

Tears began to well into Tai's eyes, he didn't want to show emotion, but he knew he had been living in that small bubble that Ruby would be fine. He had no choice. He didn't want to cry in front of his children. He had seen constant traumatic things in operating rooms. He had seen people bleed out, and had seen the patient's organs just give out. But he could never see either of his daughters injured let alone one of them being this close to death.

He had no choice but to think inside the bubble. But that one half statement Yang made, it was like a needle to that bubble. It shined the light on the remaining forty percent chance Ruby may not wake up. That forty percent he may have to actually bury one half of his world, just because he couldn't protect them.

Yang saw the impervious man who she could count the number of times she has seen or heard him even shed a tear, on one hand with three fingers remaining. The first time was when Summer had died, and the second was when Ruby furiously signed why they were burying Summer. It tore everyone that was there's hearts. Yang just hid behind Tai's leg after she placed the flower on Summer's coffin.

Yang could even say anything before she felt a slight nudge. She looked up to see Coco holding a few bottles and even a few sandwiches. "I know you said you didn't want anything but water, but you need to eat. I know you haven't eaten in a few days. I got you your favourite, despite how you claim to hate it." Coco spoke as Yang took the items Coco had.

Coco placed some of the items she held onto the chair she had occupied and quickly walked over to Tai, who had gone back into the other zone, where he was just barely able to hold back the tears. Something Coco could notice.

"Tai, don't think about the numbers or statistics. She'll pull through. Now just eat this sandwich... that I'm almost positive is your favourite because you and Yang are so similar, and I got you some water. You don't want Ruby to come to and see you starving yourself." Coco handed the man the remaining items wanting to try and get the man to pull him out of the mental tailspin that he had put himself in.

"Can... can you just take Yang to go get some rest? She'll listen to you more." Tai spoke, softly, fearing that he may actually cry. "Tai, you are more like Yang than you think, and I can't believe I have to say this to you. Nothing is wrong with crying. Trying to be this impervious wall is only going to end bad. If you don't want to cry in front of Yang than say so. Don't try and hide behind some other excuse." Coco put her foot down as she would with Yang.

"Please...?" Tai asked as Coco smiled. "Yang come on, let's give him a little time. You can actually use a some sleep as well." Coco spoke helping Yang up. She had honestly thought it would take longer, but she seemed to just give up fighting.

"I know it is going to be hard Yang, but you know you need some." Coco spoke as she began to lead her out of the small pseudo room. Knowing full well that Yang wasn't going to sleep, but knew she had to at least attempt to get her to sleep.

One whole week Blake had been waiting. Velvet had nearly refused to even leave her side. Saying something about how she feared what Blake would do. She had even been able to convince Blake to go to her and Coco's house that way if she had to go out Yatsu could watch her.

But the simple fact they just knew Blake was beating herself up. Which made the whole thing redundant in her eyes. But wasn't going to fight it. She knew she couldn't even if she wanted to. But right now Velvet sat next to Blake they both had taken to just looking at whatever was on the tv before Yang and Coco had started the looking for Ruby.

Blake had given up trying to figure out why Velvet and her boyfriend were watching the twenty four hour news channel. She had learned a week of minimal sleeping on the couch that Velvet really was trying her hardest when she was around Blake. But as the days passed it became more and more likely that Ruby would pull through.

"You look much better Blake." Yatsu broke the silence as he walked in the room. Hoping that she may have actually slept.

"Yeah... according to what Coco told me, they are going to stop pumping Ruby with chemicals that were keeping her in a coma." Blake spoke as she brought her knees up to her chest. This meant that she could actually see Ruby. She could talk to her, she could be with her girlfriend. She may actually be able to get some decent sleep.

"Well that is good." Yatsu continued smiling at the fact Blake's mood actually having picked up since Velvet brought her here a few days ago. "Yeah... I owe Jaune an apology for hitting him... it was out of anger." Blake whispered as Velvet turned to stare at her.

"But... but... but he stuck up for her... why would you apologise? That doesn't make sense..." Velvet asked as Blake looked at her. "Because he was lead on doesn't mean he was at fault. If Coco did something similar you would stick by her if she claimed to have changed. It was just out of anger that I yelled and hit him." Blake answered standing up from her spot on the couch.

"And you owe him one as well. You don't need to get your job back, but your words were just as harsh." Blake met Velvet's gaze and began to pout. "Fine... but it doesn't make sense to me... Yatsu can you drive us?"

"You know I will Velv. I just need to get changed." He began as Velvet jumped up, "I'll just go help. We... we may be a while." She began as Yatsuhashi smiled.

Blake cringed a little and then began, "Fine, but don't be long. I would like to see him before the sun sets." Blake jokingly jabbed as Velvet smiled and stuck her tongue out. "Please, I can't speed him up any. So that all falls down to him." Velvet continued as Yatsu began to lead her out of the room.

Half an hour later Blake and Velvet got out of the car and walked up to the small one bedroom apartment that was Jaune's. As Blake was about to knock on the door it opened and Jaune stood there. Before he could speak Blake spoke up, "Jaune, I'm sorry about what happened last week. I was just filled with emotions, and you aren't really at fault."

"It is fine Blake, Velvet. Really." He spoke quickly stepping out and locking the door. He grabbed the bag that the women didn't notice until just then. "Velvet, if you've come back looking for your job, you'll need to talk to Yang. I signed all the rights over to her." Jaune continued as he began to step between them.

"Why would you do that? You and Yang built it up from just the two of you... with thoughts of expansions soon." Velvet asked as Jaune smiled, "We were actually close to finishing the paperwork for that. But now the business is Yang's. I realised my gullibility nearly caused Ruby's death, so I signed over the bakery, and decided to go out and explore the world for a while." Jaune spoke taking a deep breath.

"So if you guys can hand Yang this key," Jaune handed his apartment key to Blake, "Tell her all the documents are on the table." Jaune began to walk away as Velvet spoke up, "When will you be back?"

"I don't know Velvet. I'm twenty three and I haven't even seen the world like I wanted to. Could be a month, could be a few years. I may find the girl of my dreams doing this and settle down." Jaune spoke as Velvet rushed up and hugged him. "Wherever you end up, promise you'll call. I don't want to see your face being just another missing person on the news."

"I will Velvet. Don't worry about that. I'll even try and make it back to Yang and Coco's wedding if they'll still have me. If not I'd understand. I did inadvertently nearly kill Ruby. Speaking of which tell her when she is up that I'm sorry. But guys really, I need to get going if I want to actually to leave town. Otherwise I'm going to get stuck here by nostalgia alone." Jaune continued as Blake walked up and hugged him as well.

"Stay safe Jaune. Just remember not everyone is like you and will take advantage of your beliefs at the drop of the hat." Blake whispered as Jaune let out a chuckle. "Pyrrha made that painfully clear. Just keep Ruby happy. Life just seems to want to kick her down. Just help her up when she needs it. Even when she doesn't admit it, she will need it from time to time."

"I already planned on it Jaune."

Jim stood next to his friend, knowing that if everything went according to plan the redhead in the bed should be waking up soon. If everything went planned, she would still be in pain, and require a longer time then she would like to in the hospital, but they knew she would be practically out of the woods as soon as she woke up.

Coco had to practically sit in Yang's lap to try and contain her. It was laughable in it's own way. If Coco compared her attitude to anything it would be like a child on Christmas morning. She wanted her baby sister awake.

The breathing tube was removed a few days ago because they felt she didn't need any help to breathe and thankfully she could. The feeding tube was removed once she had the gruel that was considered breakfast.

Yang had a notepad and pen resting on Coco's lap just in case she wanted to write anything. She had no idea how long or why Pyrrha broke so many bones in her arm and leg as well as all the damage she had caused to her ribs and organs from what Yang could just assume constant kicking. But she had.

The time nearly stood still as Ruby's eyes began to twitch and finally open. Ruby's eyes adjusted to the blinding white light, but the first sensation was pain. Not just localised to an area, but all over. Pain in her chest, pains in her head, pains in her back, pains in her leg and finally in her non dominant arm.

She was about to reach over with her left hand to try and hold her ribs but felt someone bring her arm down. She looked up to see her dad quickly sign, 'Try not to move much. There was a lot of damage to your heart and lungs. You should be able to write if you are careful.'

Jim reached down and began to carefully move Ruby so she was sitting up right. The stinging sensation to Ruby made it feel like it took hours but she knew was probably closer to five maybe ten minutes, Coco moved a table over as Yang placed the notepad and pen onto the table.

Ruby looked down, she wasn't sure why she remembered everything, and had no doubt that they would ask her questions but the first thing she wanted to do was simply apologise. She reached up and took the pen in her hand. And wrote down a simple question, 'Are they still out?'

She looked to see her dad and Yang read the question, but it was Coco to answer. 'They are awaiting trial. Sorry it took so long to find you.'

'It is okay... You guys still found me.'

Author's Note:

Boom, I hope you guys enjoyed this. I'll write the epilogue next weekend but for now this is so long. It was fun, for me. Was it fun for you?