No limit in the sky that I won't fly for you no amount of tears in my eyes that I won't cry for you. With every breath that I take I want you to share that air with me. There's no promise that I won't keep: I'll climb a mountain, there's none too steep. When it comes to you let's take both of our souls and intertwine. When it comes to you don't be blind: watch me speak from my heart. Don't miss out on a love and regret yourself on it. Open up your mind, clear your head, ain't gotta wake up to an empty bed. Share my life, it's yours to keep: now that I give to you all of me.
— Against the Current & Alex Goot
Other music here
Adriana Figueroa — Everything is Alright
Adriana Figueroa — Home
Part 5 – Chapter 26
Patch was peaceful.
It was almost as peaceful as his farm. Just that he wasn't allowed to get up with the sun or had any chores to do.
…Was it a chore that he wasn't allowed to do any strenuous activities?
By the week's end, Oscar was about to scream, and he was pretty sure Ruby had broken at least a dozen rules about not using her Semblance, and tuning Crescent Rose when Qrow wasn't looking.
With that Oscar knew the girl was about ready to be mission ready.
But he really did doubt she'd be "mission ready" until he was.
He was taking a tad longer in the recovery section of things then she was.
Not that Ruby had taken that against him.
But he was about to scream, at every time he saw her anxious expression when she got the nerve to talk to him about the "but" she had told him about before she lost it again. He couldn't corner her to talk about it, nor could he bait her with cookies this time around, seeing as baking was seen as an activity he wasn't allowed to yet.
So, he would need to wait for her to get annoyed with herself and blurt it out.
He'd give her another week before she blew up. He knew as well as she did that she hated bottling things up.
./.
She felt it bubbling underneath her skin, and she hated the feeling that she wasn't able to talk about it like she wanted to. There was so much she wanted to talk about, to him, but that all hindered on one question she needed to ask, needed his clarification on.
But to ask him that, with the idea that the answer could be negative, and she was wrong made her stall each time she thought she was ready to ask.
It wasn't a case of would he be mad if she asked. She believed her mother on that side of things.
But there was the whole maybe yes, she was right, that made her wrong, that set everything else she wanted to talk to him about exploding into flames that made her stall.
She grumbled to herself, frustrated that she wasn't able to talk to him. She had never had this problem before.
It was Oscar! Most of the time, he had the issue talking to her!
She must have been stomping in her frustrating because she found Oscar looking to her bewildered.
"Sorry, Oscar, if I woke you." She told him.
Oscar blinked at her and sat up, taking notice of her expression. "Are you okay?" He asked, seeing her pacing.
Ruby continued to grumble before she put up her hands exasperated with herself. "Alright. I'm gonna try and get this out, and don't let me chicken out again." She told him as she stomped over to her bed and sat next to him.
Oscar gave her a perplexed concerned look.
Ruby sighed as she fiddled with her fingers. "It's just… I need to ask…" Ruby stalled.
Oscar regarded her fully in concern. "Can I help?" He asked.
Ruby shook her head. "Just stay until I can get this out. It involves you." She told him.
Oscar settled, and she had his full attention once he nodded at her.
"It's just," She gave out an annoyed sigh. "Ugh. Why can't I…?" She looked annoyed at herself she couldn't even start to say what she wanted.
Oscar waited, she had told him so.
He could gather this was the beginnings of the but conversation.
Whatever it was, it was rattling her hard enough that she couldn't find the words to express it.
Ruby looked at him with determination.
"Alright. Okay. There's something I need to ask you about. Something she said." Ruby started finally.
Oscar blinked, and now her recent loss of words made sense.
She quickly looked away with a stressed hiss.
Oscar took her nearest hand with his own in a hope to ground her. "What was it?" He asked gently.
He felt her fingers twitch in his hands, and her expression hadn't lifted, if anything, he hadn't helped.
He watched as she looked torn, before she looked back to him again, a frown marring her features.
"You'll outlive me," She started in an outburst that startled him along with her words. "You'll outlive me, you'll continue to live once I'm not," She looked at him with a confused desperate expression. "Why are you…here. With me. Why me. What do you see in me." She asked.
Oscar felt his breathing stop the moment her words tumbled out.
Wasn't he ever glad that Witch was dead. Elsewise he'd go after her again.
She was staring at him, needing an answer.
"I think there's an order to answer that barrage of questions, and one thing you are missing that I could have sworn I told you about." Oscar started, his tone gentle, and he raced to keep her fingers in his when she realised she had raced a mile a minute to get her words out once they tumbled out.
Oscar kept her eyes on him. "One, I won't live on after you, since that won't happen because, with Salem gone, the curse on Ozpin broke altogether, alongside magic — don't ask how Qrow can still become a crow, it just hurts my head — but if you were to come across the Maidens, they would be normal Huntress' now. Ozpin won't reincarnate into me, and when I die, I'll die as just me." Oscar told her.
Ruby stared at him.
"Secondly, I'm by your side because it has always been my choice, no one else's, it will continue to be our choice, because it's now no longer just mine, know that I will not willingly abandon you unless you so wish it." Oscar gave pause for that to sink in before continuing.
"Why you? What do I see in you? I could spend an entire eternity for every reason, but I doubt we have that long and just settle on saying it's because of you, and nothing else could tell me otherwise. It was my own influence and not Ozpin's, not Qrow's, that I chose and went along with Qrow's order to have you protect me at the beginning, which slowly became protecting each other and a friendship that traversed over two time-streams." Oscar continued.
"It was my choice to stand by your side, with my knowledge of what you could do to me regardless. I was pulled to you, in no other way anyone else had. None of that was because of anyone else." Oscar explained, holding her gaze as she started to tear up.
"And whatever she had to say on the matter that caused your pain, to lock up your words…" Oscar trailed off because he wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling over the matter. But whatever it was, wasn't needed to be directed at Ruby, who wasn't at fault.
Seeing the tears spill over, he reached up and wipe them away, before holding her cheek.
"So, unless she said that, whatever she said was wrongful." Oscar told her.
Ruby ended up nodding.
Oscar regarded her. "And don't think that you could ever be beneath me in any way shape or form." Oscar stated, guessing slightly at what Salem had said.
He could guess he was right somehow because she sobbed and nuzzled into his palm.
"'Kay…" She gasped out.
He gazed at her fondly before bringing her closer to him, so he could rest their foreheads together. He nuzzled into hers to give her comfort as her tension released as she grasped his arms.
Oscar regarded her as she cried, knowing she must have kept it to herself since she woke up, perhaps ever since Salem had spoken those words to her.
Her breathing finally returned to normal, and she was able to stop crying once she looked at him regarding her fondly.
"…Can we go see my mother? Her gravestone isn't far." She questioned.
Oscar blinked but nodded. "Sure. We'll have to see if I can walk there, though." Oscar reminded her.
Ruby smiled. "If not, I'll carry you!" She insisted again.
"…Don't let Qrow catch you, if you need to." Oscar muttered causing her to giggle.
"Promise." She told him.
/
/
By the time that Oscar was able to walk between the bedroom and the downstairs kitchen was when Qrow allowed him outside since he could retain his breathing going up and down the stairs without passing out.
It had only been another week, in which Ruby was trying hard to stay still by that point. The girl was used to being able to rush everywhere, being still for so long wasn't a norm for her. But Oscar felt honoured she was attempting it for him.
With Qrow saying so, Ruby immediately bounded outside.
"Is she allowed to use her Semblance?" Oscar questioned curiously.
Qrow looked to the open door. "She's able to maintain her aura, so I suppose so if it doesn't tire her." Qrow summed up, then eyed him. "And don't let her take that as permission to having you get dragged everywhere. If anything, she should use it if you come across Grimm to get the hell away." Qrow told him.
Oscar just shrugged, they both knew that if Ruby wanted to, Oscar wouldn't tell her no.
Qrow just grumbled at that and headed back into the kitchen where his Scroll worked best.
Oscar headed outside and stood next to Ruby, who was looking up at the sky peacefully.
"Ruby?" He questioned, making her look to him.
He smiled. "I know you could probably get us there faster, but I do kinda wanna see how long I can last before you need to help me." Oscar told her.
Ruby grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
There was nothing about not holding hands.
Oscar was incredibly proud that he was able to make it all the way without getting out of breath or becoming exhausted.
Once they arrived, Ruby turned to him and hugged him. "You did it!" She applauded, not the only one proud he had made it by himself.
Oscar chuckled, and hugged her back.
"I'll be a second, 'kay?" She told him, he nodded, and she bounded off to talk to her mother.
As soon as she stood at the foot of the grave, Oscar noted the wind picking up, and the sudden birdsong wafting on the breeze that caused him to look around curiously since he hadn't heard the bird previously.
He stalled when at the corner of his eye he noted the fiery red songbird flying to its owner's shoulder shrouded in contrasting white.
He knew that hood, she met his gaze and smiled, and wound her hand around to place it on her heart and bowed, almost as if passing approval to him, or that he had passed some test.
Oscar turned, and the glimpse faded, as did the birdsong that made him wonder if he had seen her at all.
But he would take her grace.
Oscar turned back to Ruby. He would definitely take her approval on the matter if that was what she came to tell him because he wouldn't ever go far from her side.
It wasn't long before Ruby turned back to him, smiling brightly and bounded back to him.
"Okay, so assume I'm not crazy when I say I swear I legit kinda just maybe saw your mother." Oscar told her.
Her eyes blew wide.
"I remember how she looked, she had a bird with her, which was new, but it was definitely her." Oscar tried to explain.
He stalled when she smiled. "I saw her too. She helped me find my way back." She told him warmly.
Oscar sighed in relief. "Oh good. I'm not crazy." He said.
Ruby laughed happily. "While we're out, I'll show you around!" She told him.
He looked at her fondly. "You might have to carry me if we're out longer." He warned her.
Ruby bounded on her feet, not perturbed by this at all as she took his hand and led the way.
Ruby showed him the port where they first arrived from Vale from. Oscar had quickly glimpsed it before they left.
"Here we can buy things!" Ruby told him.
With all the places she introduced him to, he noted she hadn't taken him into Signal Academy, where her father was most likely teaching, she took him as far as the shopping strip there but that was as far as she took him before going to roundabout way to the gardens.
He wasn't about to ask her why, he was just glad he wasn't about to keel over with the walking pace she set, and the amount of detail she seemed to have on the buildings she chose to talk about.
Aside from the Signal Academy gardens and nearby shops and its residential area, the port and its carts, Ruby noted the Hunter bar where Beacon posted its missions for hire if there were Hunts / Huntsmen available, provided that Beacon Tower was in function (which it wasn't).
Outside of that, Patch didn't offer much outside of its dense forest that sometimes Grimm crawled out of, but for the most part, kept to themselves. Oscar noted happily that he was only tired by the time they returned to the house by near sundown.
Qrow regarded them both. "Good. You're not dead. Dinner's on." He told them gesturing to the kitchen, before collapsing onto the lounge causing Zwei to bark at him. "Yeah, yeah, fleabag." He grumbled tiredly.
The two thought it best not to antagonise him further and left to go eat dinner.
./.
Both Ruby and Oscar woke to a crash somewhere downstairs, looking to each other, they bolted out of the room.
"What happened!?" Ruby screeched as soon as she rushed down the stairs, Oscar not far behind her.
Both stood dumbfounded when they saw Yang looking at them in surprise while holding Zwei.
"Uh. Hey, guys! Totally nothing to worry about! Nope!" Yang persisted.
Both Ruby and Oscar looked at each other. "Uh-huh, sure." Oscar muttered as Yang let Zwei down, seeing so Ruby rushed over to hug her sister.
Oscar went in search of Qrow, who most likely was the reason something had smashed in the first place.
"Hey, Qrow?" Oscar questioned, coming into the kitchen before he was suddenly taken by his shoulders, twirled around and shoved back into the living room.
"Nope!" Qrow yelled as he slammed the door shut behind him.
Oscar blinked. "Okay…then…" He said, perplexed.
Shrugging, he went to sit on the couch.
Zwei seeing someone who could give him attention jumped into Oscar's lap to demand it.
"How long can you stay?" Ruby was asking as Oscar gave in and starting pat Zwei.
"Long enough to trounce you in Combat Forces." Yang crowed.
"No way!" Ruby yelled, running over to the remote and switching the TV on. "We can so beat you!" She announced.
Oscar blinked when Ruby shoved a Scroll into his hands, and the TV turned over to what looked like a game. "Uh, Ruby?" He called as the girl sat next to him while Yang yelled for her uncle.
Ruby looked at him. "Yes?" She asked.
"What are we doing?" He asked, holding up the Scroll.
"We're gonna play Combat Forces against Yang and Qrow." Ruby reiterated as Yang came back into the room with an unwilling Qrow.
Oscar blinked in confusion. "…And we need to win?" He asked.
Ruby nodded. "Kinda the ideal outcome there, kiddo." Qrow told him.
"…I've never played before…" Oscar muttered much to Ruby's horror and Yang's howling laughter.
"You're so dead, sis!" Yang yelled as she was teamed up with Qrow.
Ruby wasn't outraged about their sudden chances of losing increasing, but the fact Oscar had never played a video game before.
She quickly snapped out of it and gave him a quick tutorial on how the game worked, and what buttons did what, until she was happy he had the hang of it.
"You're going down!" Yang yelled.
Ruby huffed. "You have the power of fire and brimstone on your side!" Ruby yelled back.
It did seem that by the end of round four that even with Oscar's inexperience they won against Qrow and Yang.
No one questioned how.
"So you do have an actual reason for being here, right?" Oscar asked as Ruby put away the Scrolls.
Yang nodded. "Yep! I'm bringing the festival to you guys since you can't come to it!" She said brightly.
Ruby came back over and sat next to Oscar feeling the same confusion written all over Oscar's face. "…Festival?" Ruby asked.
"Well, we can't exactly celebrate the downfall outright, since no one outside us knew about that. But! We can still put on a show for the first year's induction, and the upper year's exams! It's an excellent cover." Yang insisted.
Oscar cocked his head. "As long as Ozpin says its fine?" He questioned.
Yang nodded. "Duh. It's how I'm here. The rest of RWBY is with JNPR fixing up the Vale's Zones for the celebration since they saw the dragon fade away, they want to celebrate that too." Yang informed.
Ruby looked to Oscar, who shrugged.
"We don't need to dress up, do we?" Ruby suddenly whined.
Yang burst out laughing. "No, sis, you can be spared this time 'round." Yang told her.
Ruby sank against the couch in relief that Oscar chuckled at.
Oscar looked back to Yang. "Where will most of the celebrations take place?" He asked curiously.
"For Patch? We organised it to take place from Signal's gardens to the residential area around it, for tomorrow." Yang told them. "So…you'll be able to go?" She asked, exuberantly.
Oscar looked to Qrow, who just groaned, so he looked back to Ruby, both shrugged and turned back to Yang.
"Sure!" Ruby told her.
Yang squealed and launched herself to hug her sister, Oscar nudged himself over, so they wouldn't land onto him.
"Take it easy, kiddo." Qrow told him.
Oscar nodded, he knew the rules still applied to him since he wasn't cleared yet.
Since Ruby had been cleared back to mission readiness Qrow had let up on watching them knowing that Ruby policed Oscar better than he could, but that didn't mean he wasn't needed, since they were still children under age. Mission readiness, regardless.
They all needed to have a good conversation about what they were going to do once Oscar was cleared, because Qrow knew not to have that conversation until then, knowing his niece would stall until then anyway.
Qrow was curious as to what the boy wanted to do with his life now he really had nothing planned.
Again, not something he could talk about until the boy was mission ready when Oscar could demonstrate how much ability he had in controlling his aura and Semblance.
And he doubted he would willingly go too far from Ruby, not without reason, anyway.
"Hey, Qrow?" Oscar questioned as the girl moved off to talk about if Yang was staying the night.
Qrow looked back him. "Yeah?" He prompted.
"Am I alright to bake again?" Oscar asked.
Qrow blinked. "You're not planning on a Hunt, are you?" He questioned, paling a little.
Oscar shook his head. "No, just to give Ruby some tomorrow." Oscar told him.
Qrow eyed him but eventually nodded. "Sure, as long as it's not a Hunt, and you don't decide to hide them all around the Festival grounds, you can make them." Qrow told him.
Oscar nodded. "They'll stay in a box." He promised.
Qrow waved him to the kitchen. "Place is yours, stuff is in the pantry." Qrow told him, walking towards the stairs, where the girls and fled up long ago.
Oscar smiled at the peace he gained and shut the kitchen door on himself as he got started with finding everything he needed.
They would serve as a peace treaty, should things go south the next day.
/
/
The day of the Festival was the only day Oscar could count as a day Ruby willingly woke before he did and shook him awake at dawn.
"Come on! Come on!" Ruby urged trying to get him up.
"Ruby…?" Oscar asked tiredly as he sat up, leaning against the pillows behind him. "They don't start 'til later." Oscar reminded.
"But there'll be fireworks! We need to scope out the best place for it!" Ruby continued to urge.
Oscar yawned and noted that Ruby had woken him up once she gotten dressed since she was putting her cloak over her head, and fetching Crescent Rose, which was given back to her previously.
She then sat down on the bed in excitement, bouncing it, Oscar raced to get purchase, so the girl wouldn't send him flying again.
Ruby looked at him. "Do you think we can find wood for your staff at one of the stalls? Or do you want to walk around the woods?" She asked.
Oscar tiredly understood how she could now safely bring the topic up since she had her scythe back, and she felt she could protect them both from harm.
"The woods here should be fine, we just need to use the rest of the varnish we still have from Mistral." Oscar told her.
Ruby nodded. "…So…wanna do that until we can go to the festival?" She asked, twitching with the need to do something.
Oscar gave out a chuckle. "We'll need a big enough knife." Oscar noted.
"On it!" She yelled as she saluted then she exploded into rose petals and raced out the door, effectively allowing him to find his clothes and find the kettle while hopefully waking up before she returned.
./.
Wandering the woods had been as boring as usual.
"Hey, Oscar?" Ruby questioned as they tried to find the right branch that would work.
"What's wrong?" Oscar questioned.
"Before, you said that magic was gone, yeah?" Ruby asked.
Oscar nodded. "What of it?" He asked.
Ruby stopped walking and looked at him. "Can I still light up my eyes?" She asked.
Oscar cocked his head. "Your abilities are not bound to magic, Ruby. Though they may seem it, they are not. You'll still be able to send out bouts of light that the Grimm are still afraid of." Oscar told her.
Ruby looked thoughtful. "…Can I still hurt you?" She continued to ask.
Oscar nodded. "As you can hurt anyone else if your intent was such, Ruby. You don't need your eye abilities for that." Oscar reminded.
Ruby looked suddenly contrite. "Well, what about the Grimm, wasn't Salem controlling them?" She asked.
Oscar turned his eyes from regarding a nearby tree. "Yes, she was controlling them, but they are their own natural force, they will continue to exist long after we're gone." Oscar told her, causing her to nod, then he pointed to a nearby tree. "That one should do." He told her.
Ruby grinned seeing the branch in question and rushed up the tree to start cutting it down.
Felling took most of the morning, trying to figure out how to get back to her house took the rest.
But one tall tree later, they were back on track, and back home in time for lunch.
Ruby raced towards a window to slam open to gain entry.
Everyone inside jumped a mile hearing the window slam open.
"RUBY!" Weiss' voice yelled.
"And here I actually forgot she could do that." Jaune muttered.
Ruby reformed to let Oscar off her back along with the branch before she raced over to her angry teammate.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, suddenly hugging the annoyed heiress. "When did you get here?! Why are you guys here?!" She asked, looking from her teammates to team JNPR.
Nora looked offended. "And here I thought we were friends." The girl pouted.
Ren glanced at his girlfriend in scold. "Nora, I doubt that's what she meant." He told her.
Nora raised her arms in surrender.
Ruby gave off a whine at seeing them.
Yang was a step back watching it all unfold with a proud smile as Ruby interacted with more people, with more friends than the redhead had ever had while at Signal.
While Ruby was pile-drived by Nora, Oscar walked over to Pyrrha.
"Miss Nikos?" He asked, coming up to her and Jaune.
Both looked at him curiously.
"Hey, Oscar," Jaune greeted, causing the boy to smile. "What's up?" He added.
"I wanted to thank you for picking up my weapon, even though it was broken." Oscar told Pyrrha.
Pyrrha noted the branch in his arms. "I rightly assumed you'd be able to repair it." She told him warmly.
Oscar grinned and nodded. "Are you guys here for the festival, or did Miss Yang rope you into helping her in some way?" He asked, gesturing to both teams.
Both shrugged. "A bit of both, really." Jaune said.
"We get to enjoy the festival on our breaks, and Nora gets to set off fireworks." Pyrrha stated, a little warily at that last point.
"Ah," Oscar noted. "A win-win then." Oscar laughed.
Most knew that Ren wouldn't be getting an ounce of slack until all the fireworks were set off, and, no, Nora, we can't set them all off at once, was repeated like an old record.
./.
Oscar put the branch out the way until such a time he could work on it, which would most likely be after the festival ended.
He noted that both teams seemed to be regarding both him and Ruby suspiciously, which laid him out confused as to what they were whispering about, and why lien was a factor in them. But he paid it no mind, if he was meant to know, he'd find out.
And hopefully, no glass would break courtesy of Qrow Branwen, who once seeing the nine children gathered at the home, had made himself scarce since.
"Oscar!" Ruby's voice called as she raced over to him and grasped his hand warmly. "Come on! Let's go! We still need to find a good spot for the fireworks! Jaune told me where they were firing them from!" She said in excitement.
Oscar blinked and regarded her fondly. "Alright, alright. I'll pack something, so we don't need to buy a lot of things, I'll meet you at the door when I'm ready." He told her happily.
Ruby saluted with a giggle and rushed out the room.
Oscar ended up chuckling and dug out his backpack once more and headed downstairs to the kitchen for the cookies he had baked without her knowledge. He placed them in a container underneath the other snacks and bottles of drink before he found Ruby by the door waving her arm at him.
Ruby had rushed them over to the gardens that formed the Signal Academy grounds where the Festival was taking place.
Oscar noted her thoughtful look. "Ruby…?" He questioned.
She looked at him and smiled. "We need the best spot." She told him.
Oscar cocked his head. "For the fireworks?" He asked and she nodded. "Wouldn't it be a distance away from where they're being shot from?" Oscar added, not that he had seen fireworks before, but he knew of them from Ozpin and the books he personally had back in Mistral.
Ruby nodded. "Jaune said they'd be setting up the cannons on Signal's towers…" Ruby trailed off thoughtfully.
Oscar waited for her decision as he looked around at the varying stalls they set up for the festival, ranging from baked goods, materialistic items, clothing and dust materials.
So, a typical Festival.
Just with the added fireworks and the added Huntsmen enforcements around the forest to make sure the Grimm didn't end people's day badly.
"Ah!" Ruby suddenly said, making Oscar look to her. "I got it! The beach! Would be perfect!" She told him.
Oscar nodded along with her. "Okay. And they don't start until sundown. What shall we do in the meantime?" He asked, seeing the sun still up in the sky.
Ruby grinned. "You're allowed some activity, yeah?" She asked.
Oscar nodded, he was cleared the previous day.
Ruby took his hand and started walking. "Then let's enjoy the festival!" She said with a laugh.
Oscar let her, seeing as the last festival she attended ended poorly, and he wasn't exactly sure how many she had actually been to.
He hoped the conversation he wanted to lead up to wouldn't go sourly either.
Ruby still had her pins in her hair, how they survived everything he wasn't sure, but he was rather proud they did. He could see the little green ribbons flying around as she ran around to each stall, and animatedly move when she talked the head off the man who ran the weapons stall.
Oscar was rather glad she liked them as much as she did, and that they were useful.
Though, he did need to drag her away from the games section in fear the civilians there would ban her when she won too many times but gave away each and every toy to children who hadn't been as lucky as she was with a gun. As much as it made Oscar swell with pride, he noted the civilians looking angry their games were being cheated on. And he wasn't about to have them get into a fight, because he knew Ruby would go to town on all of them for their behaviour.
"So…!" Ruby said joyfully as she plopped down on a low wall in the gardens. "You're having fun?" She asked curiously.
Oscar chuckled as he rested his bag against the wall where he sat. "Technically my first, so its pretty fun!" He told her.
Ruby looked at him abhorrently. "How is it—?! Right. Farm." Ruby corrected herself making him laugh.
"Farm." He echoed her as he laughed.
He noted her pout when he fetched his bag, her expression changed when he offered her a drink.
"Thanks!" She told him happily taking it from him.
"So, what's next?" Oscar asked after they ate.
"Hmm…" Ruby voiced in thought. "We've done the games, and the stalls…" She added.
Oscar nodded. "We have. What's next?" He asked.
She looked at him. "There's the rides. If you like that kind of thing?" She questioned.
Oscar shrugged. "Never been on rides, Ruby. I have no clue." He reminded her.
Ruby grinned as she shot off the wall and twirled around.
"You'll love it! I'll take you to them!" She said joyfully.
"As long as it's not Ozpin's idea of hurling children off a cliff fun, I'll be good." Oscar told her.
Ruby stalled before she laughed loudly. "Nothing like that!" She cried.
Oscar grinned as he put things back in his bag and put it back on his back. "Ready when you are!" He told her.
With that Ruby retook his hand and ran happily laughing.
The rides were for civilians, seeing as having an active aura and Huntsmen senses kinda made it look as if they were cheating. They also weren't allowed their own weapons, should the game require fake ones.
But it didn't stop them from having fun or teaming up against each other or the civilians who wanted to try and take them down, regardless.
Sometimes, depending on the age, Ruby let them win, and that they had conquered a "mighty Huntress" with their might, made Oscar laugh until he had to curl over and hold his stomach from a stitch as the children slayed her to the ground. She had children climbing all over her with their fake toys and weapons in their act to slay her.
She made all the right animated actions to entice the children into peels of joy and laughter that most children forgot the rules of the game they were playing and made up their own to take her down.
But she didn't seem to mind the take-over. She wasn't in it for the prizes, she was there to make their fun louder.
It was backed up that should she happen to win a prize, she'd give it to the nearest pouty child.
Oscar found that everything she did to be endearing to him.
They both helped children who needed adults when their parents weren't about to go into mazes or nightmare attractions. Neither were scared by them, but it was refreshing to find that children could be scared by such means that they didn't know that there had been much worse things to be afraid of.
They were able to finish the rides section closer to sunset.
"Should we make our way to the beach?" Oscar asked her, having not forgotten that was where she wanted to end up for the fireworks display.
Ruby who had been giving away her last toy to a child fondly looked up at him and nodded as she got back up. "Sure!" She told him happily. "We'll get there a little early, but that's fine." She added.
Oscar nodded and took her hand. "Lead the way!" He told her warmly.
As they left the fairgrounds, towards the beach, there were fewer people. Bustling noise of the festival become quiet peaceful natural sounds from the waves crashing onto the beach. That for a while, both Oscar and Ruby stood there staring out at the waves and the sunset to enjoy the peace it brought them both.
The beach had one a one-way entry from the grounds of Signal that met the gardens to sandy beach, with a little wooden fencing that runs along the grass to where it met the rocky cliffs: There the beach continued underneath in the shadow of the school's buildings and towers. The beach itself was secluded and quiet, even if it was a stone throw away from most noise of Signal, the waves overtook it.
The spell broke and Ruby took a few steps and twirled around trying to find the better spot.
Oscar let her go and watched fondly as she lit up thoughtfully.
"Under the cliffs, maybe?" She was muttering as she looked towards the cliff.
"It would be directly under the academy." Oscar put forth.
Ruby nodded. "To the cliff it is!" She said and bounded a little off in the sand.
Oscar happily walked after her.
Where the sandy beach met the cliff, there was enough sand between that and the ocean levels that didn't breach even in the higher tides.
Ruby made sure she was directly under the shadow of Signal's highest tower before she plopped down in the sand.
"Fireworks should start soon," Ruby noted seeing the sun nearly touching the ocean.
Oscar hummed out thoughtfully as he sat next to her comfortably while he took his bag off and settled it near him. "The sunset is pretty." He mentioned.
"Then the stars will be out!" Ruby added happily. "Could you teach me to find the Twins and the Elder sister from here?" She asked.
Oscar grinned. "Sure. We might need to wait until after the fireworks, though." He told her.
"I can wait for that!" She told him, making him nod.
He'd show her.
"…Ruby, can I talk to you?" He asked.
Ruby looked at him with a questioning frown. "Are…we not already?" She asked.
Her response made him give out a small laugh before he shrugged. "Sorry? I wanted to ask you something…" Oscar started, and she moved around to give him her attention.
"Sure, what is it?" She asked.
"I haven't exactly been quiet about it, but I do need to ask you directly, since your opinion matters," Oscar started, looking to her, and seeing her confusion and her siding her head. "Just so we're clear, do you…actually, understand what I mean when I say I want to stay by your side? When I said I chose you? You've never reacted to my saying them." He questioned, nervous for her response.
Ruby blinked at him dumbfoundedly.
He never really had been quiet. And because of that… she got used to it and had thought it was just how he was.
…But he was only like that with her.
She moved about to kneel in the sand to gaze at him, and he let her, letting his emotions show through his eyes.
Did he get those butterfly feelings too? They were back. She still needed to talk to him about that.
If so, where did that put them? What would change, really?
Everyone already suspected they were a couple. Since they apparently did couple-y things already.
Yang told her that couples shared beds. So … that wouldn't change.
Ruby gave out a sigh when her thoughts became overbearing, and she noted the nervous concern.
"When I saw you go down after taking that hit," Ruby breathed, and Oscar regarded her. "All I thought about was that she had taken you away and that I wanted you back. I got so mad that I used my eyes that not only took her out but those who were tied to her." Ruby looked back to the sun.
"When darkness took me, all I could do is run, because I wanted to find you, I wanted to be at your side. Even when I met my mother, all I could ask for was you, to go to where you were, that you had been taken away and that I wanted you back." Ruby told him, looking back to him.
"Initially I was afraid that you'd be angry with me for breaking our promise," Ruby watched as he urgently shook his head. He wasn't angry at her, and it made her smile.
"I did think it wouldn't be like you once I wasn't afraid. So, I think I understand what you mean when you say you want to be by my side, and why you chose me," She held his gaze. "Because I feel that too." She admitted.
Oscar stared at her.
She felt the same?
That was so far down his list of things he thought she would say, he hadn't come up with a response.
"You do?" He ended up blurting out.
Ruby giggled and nodded. "I do. I mean, we do act like a couple already, and I kinda already kissed you." Ruby said.
She watched as he turned incredulous. "Since when?! When did this happen!? Why don't I remember this?!" He near yelled, making her laugh. "Ruby!" He pouted. "No fair! I can't remember!" He told her, making her laugh harder.
She stopped pretty fast when he surged forward to stop her by kissing her into silence.
Ruby blinked in amazement when he pulled back.
"There! Now I can!" Oscar told her, smug in his tone.
Ruby shook her head when she heard his tone. "Oscar!" She yelled before launching at him, causing him to fall backwards, she ignored his surprised exclamation as she towered over him, but she couldn't ignore the fondness in his expression as he looked up at her, mirth clinging to his smile.
She couldn't help but giggle at him before claiming a kiss again.
"There, and make sure you remember that one too." Ruby told him in his ear.
"Uh-huh…" He voiced back faintly in a daze.
Ruby picked herself off him, to note his dazed expression with her nose scrunching up at him in adoration.
She would legit kick anyone who said they were too young, not with what they had been through.
Naturally, there would be age restrictions for most things, and he was younger then she was, technically.
…Why did she get the feeling she would be using technicalities in their lives a lot?
She was brought out of her mind when she felt him caress her cheek. "I'm glad I didn't lose you." He muttered to her.
Ruby gazed down at him. "I don't think you had anything to worry about there, I'll always find my way back to you." She told him.
At her words, he suddenly moved and wrapped his arms around her bringing her back down on him, she barely had time to brace her arms in the sand around him, so she wouldn't crush him as she gave out a surprised yelp at his actions.
"Ruby…" He muttered softly into her hair.
She looked to where he buried himself into her hair and nuzzled her nose into him.
"I'm here," She told him, bringing up one hand to run her fingers through his hair. "Always. I promise." She added.
She felt him nod. "Me too. I promise. Always." He replied, bringing up his head to lock his gaze with hers.
Whatever they were going to say, abruptly stopped when there was a loud bang above them that tore them apart to look up to see colour burst into the darkened sky to light it up. Both moved to sit up next to each other when they realised the fireworks had started.
Circles of colours exploded out across the water, that reflected the colours marring the stars and lighting up the night.
There were explosions of red, yellow, green and orange in fits of circles and sparkles that reflected in the waves below them as they shot off from the rooves of the academy above them.
The waves crashing around them were dulled against the loud noise of the fireworks climbing up in the darkened sky to explode triumphantly in vibrant colours.
Both Ruby and Oscar ended up lying down, nearest hands clasped together as they watched the display explode in colours above them into the night sky.
"Pretty…" Oscar heard Ruby said in awe in a quiet bout between fireworks.
He agreed, but he felt she was prettier with the explosion of lights lighting up her expressions of awe.
The last load of fireworks went up with a bang and out with a sparkle.
Ruby giggled. "Well, that's that." She said, gripping Oscar's hand a little more.
"Hmm," Oscar agreed looking up at the slowly reappearing stars.
"Oh, yeah!" Ruby said pointing up with her free hand. "Where are they?!" She questioned.
Oscar chuckled as the haze of the fireworks died out, and the stars returned to their brightness. Before pointing outwards. "Found them!" He said.
Ruby nearly squealed in gratitude being able to find the three stars that had helped her back to his side.
Ruby felt Oscar nuzzle into her shoulder when he came in closer as she looked up at the stars after a moment or two had passed.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Ruby nodded. "I needed to thank them." She told him, looking from the stars to Oscar, only to be stunned silent when those three stars were reflected back to her from his eyes.
"Did they lead you home?" He asked.
Ruby nodded. "They lead me back to you." She told him.
Oscar smiled at her and lent forward to nuzzle his nose against hers. "Then I'm grateful to them." He muttered to her. "But, as much as I love them, we should probably head home." Oscar told her, feeling the chill in the air.
Ruby nodded as she unwillingly retracted herself from his embrace and closeness to get up and hold her hand out to help him up.
"Oh yeah!" Oscar said as if he remembered something as he picked his bag up.
"What is it?" She questioned.
"I forgot I made you cookies." Oscar told her.
He ended up laughing at her indignant scream at how he could have forgotten them.
./.
They were the last pair to return back to her house, but they didn't exactly mind.
Ruby had already eaten the batch of cookies and Oscar had promised to make her more.
Oscar slammed the door shut with his foot and noted that Ruby was piledrived by her sister, who was squealing in joy, for whatever reason.
"I told you!" Nora was yelling from by the staircase.
Why was lien being tossed around?
"I am not telling your father!" Qrow was yelling from the kitchen door.
Oscar groaned when he realised that they had been betting on them.
"Nope." He muttered.
He wanted no part in that. He made sure that Ruby wasn't being smothered by Yang, they were actually fine, and giggling, while Weiss and Blake were by a disapproving Pyrrha and Ren, and Jaune who had his hands up in surrender when he noticed Oscar looking at him apologetically.
Oscar could guess who and where it started, and it rhymed with Nora Valkyrie.
She looked like she had gotten the most return for her bet anyway.
./.
./.
There was a large group conversation that involved both teams RWBY and JNPR about where they went from there, since their previous standing of not returning to school because of Salem, didn't stand anymore.
With how long it had taken everything, officially RWBY and JNPR would be finishing up their third year at Beacon, should nothing had gone wrong. Qrow tossed around that that with their current ability they were beyond their third-year peers. They would need to talk to Ozpin about it in either case.
The fourth year at Beacon was pretty much what they were doing already, with only some class time for report writing.
If so, it would mean that Ruby would be the youngest to graduate in any case. Ruby still grumbled at that because she knew the world wasn't as kind against "children" taking on Hunts.
But the major question was what Oscar would be doing with himself that concerned Ruby the most. While she consented to return to school, she doubted the rules could bend for Oscar.
And Oscar knew this more than anyone else. And he knew that to have a life that would coincide with Ruby as much as possible: he needed to be an official Huntsmen. Something of which his age hindered at. No technicality would help him there.
"…Ruby…?" Oscar questioned knocking on her door, before pushing it open.
"Hey, Oscar." She greeted warmly from her workstation.
Seeing her, he walked over to her and sat on the nearby chest. "Are you okay?" He asked, seeing that she was working on something.
She turned to him and regarded him. "Can I ask you something?" She asked.
Oscar blinked but nodded. "Sure. Is it about what we talked about this morning?" He prompted.
Ruby nodded. "What do you want to do now?" She continued to ask.
Oscar looked thoughtful. "Well, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to stay with you." He reminded. It caused Ruby to frown in confusion because she wasn't able to see how he would be able to. "To do that, I will officially need to go through the schools to be a Huntsmen, even if technically I already am, my age is a factor." Oscar told her.
There was that technicality again.
Ruby understood that. "So, where will you start?" She questioned.
He gave her a look. "Signal, naturally." He told her in mirth.
He would need to go through the years at Signal that corresponded to his age, then onto Beacon. Sure, it would be annoying, and it would take a long time, but he'd be able to stand by her side without ridicule or cause of her embarrassment from others who didn't understand.
Ruby sided her head. "You can't just do a performance test?" She asked.
Oscar gave her a chuckle. "I remember making that test, Ruby. It would be called cheating." Oscar reminded.
"Oh, right. Yeah…" She muttered awkwardly.
Oscar gave a sigh and rubbed his neck in uncertainty. "It'll take a few years, because I'm still younger than you until I leave Beacon, will you…?" Oscar trailed off.
He would start Beacon when he turned eighteen since he knew Ruby's experience starting younger, as well as Ozpin's thoughts about that to make his conclusion to keep to the age limit. That was five years, give or take.
Ruby sighed. "There's nothing to say I can't visit you, right?" She asked.
Oscar shook his head vehemently. "You might have some difficulty at Signal, but I doubt Ozpin would mind." Oscar shrugged.
Ruby grinned and took his hands. "We'll work around it!" She insisted.
Oscar smiled back at her before leaning forward to nuzzle his nose into hers. "As long as you're alright in waiting." Oscar murmured to her.
Ruby glared at him. "Five years doesn't seem a lot when you know they couldn't have happened in the first place." Ruby scolded.
Oscar gave out a chuckle.
How right she was.
/
/
There was a time where Beacon students watched as Beacon tower was rebuilt during their semester. It was a time where both RWBY and JNPR had returned and were giving a progression test to see where their skills set lay.
In time, the tower would be fully rebuilt, at such a time the school could officially be reopened to use its classrooms in its entirety and not out of makeshift halls for its students.
There was some debate whether or not when the CCT was rebuilt in the tower if it would actually work since communication with Atlas and Vacuo was still iffy at best. Mistral was fine for the time being because it was still being run by Glynda.
There was also debate over whether or not dust would run out in Vale due to the embargo, which limited the amount students could use and limited their missions to students who didn't rely much on dust or ammo.
There was a time during the semester break that Oscar went back to Mistral to find his aunt, who cried in despair fearing he had died in the year she hadn't seen him.
She did fawn over Ruby when she met her and scolded Oscar for keeping her a secret.
Neither teens told her how true she had been at that point since neither had told her about that time Ruby had stayed at his farm.
His aunt made her promise to take care of him, and Oscar got indignant at that, but Ruby had laughed saying he was protecting her.
Oscar hadn't known what to say to that.
./.
Ruby had found that Qrow needed an endless supply of alcohol because he was the only one to be a guardian at the time to enrol Oscar in to Signal, and "no, kid, you can't do that." was said until the record player broke in response to most things Oscar asked about, ranging from if he could freeze his peers to his professors (after "accidentally" knocking them into the air) to why he needed certain classes when he got annoyed they were being taught wrongly or incorrectly.
Ruby heard from her father that her boyfriend was causing him hell on more than one occasion that she praised Oscar for whenever she saw him next. All Tai wanted to do was teach without Oscar interrupting him based on facts he knew and no one else knew of. It was because Tai finally was told about how Oscar was a little shit about most things that the boy wasn't sent to detention. Tai did, eventually, find the off-switch when he threatened to bar Ruby's visitation rights since Oscar knew, should she be barred she'd find…alternative ways to still come and visit.
./.
There was definitely a time when Ruby stormed into Ozpin's office in such a force that Ozpin feared the reason, and would fear the reasons afterwards whenever she (Or Oscar, for that matter) decided to burst down his door without the other.
It had been Oscar's turn to come to Vale on his semester break, and he had told her when he would arrive. But that had been five hours ago, and Ruby was packing it in a panic because she had no way of contacting him.
Ozpin hadn't exactly known why the girl thought he would be able to locate him, but he assumed she knew that on some level, and needed someone to talk to that knew her.
Not many words could calm her down, but the ascertain that Oscar would return when he could, and perhaps he had been held up somewhere that caused him to miss the boat crossing.
Ruby was determined to sit at the docks at that suggestion, and determined to get her boy a damn Scroll.
It was why when Oscar finally did get into Vale several hours later then he said he would that Ruby chucked a Scroll at his head, with panicked tears in her eyes.
She didn't let him go for a long time afterwards. Not that Oscar minded. He did get a pillow thrown at him when he had the gall to ask how a Scroll worked since it was technically his first time owning one.
./.
There came a time that when teams RWBY and JNPR were going about their fourth year that the CCT tower was rebuilt, and nothing happened to boost Scroll communications, thanks to something on the Atlas end.
But it did mean all of Beacon's students could return to their classes and the dismantling of the makeshift halls they had been using, it meant that with the influx of Huntsmen that both safe zones were no longer needed when they cleared out the residential area for the civilians to move back into.
Ruby, to her surprise, had been able to retrace her steps back to her old dorm room she had shared with her team before the Fall, and found it still unlockable with her Scroll, upon entering the room it was like none of the girls had never left.
Her bed was unmade, from some reason her mind couldn't recall at all, the bunk beds were still as unstable as they were when they made them (seriously, how did they ever think they were safe?!)
It brought back memories of a time when things were unprecedented to chaos, but a time when she hadn't known the peace she knew now because she knew Oscar.
Ruby went through every nook and cranny and was praising her younger self for hoarding dust when in now a time they were scarce, or so high priced that no one could afford them.
…They really should do something about that embargo.
And with the loud ding her Scroll gave out to inform her about the information forwarded to her Scroll, it seemed that was just the thing her last fourth-year mission could be about.
And there was no way in hell she wasn't about to bring Oscar along with her for the ride if it was.
She looked up at the completed tower and grinned.
Atlas, here they come.
./.
Our path's they did cross, though I cannot say just why:
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye.
And who'll hear the echoes of the stories never told?
Let them ring out loud 'till they unfold.
In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me:
I still believe you can call out my name.
See the birds as it flies by, gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky.
I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings:
leave them now and see what tomorrow brings.
If I should leave this lonely world behind:
your voice will still remember our melody.
Now I know we'll carry on, for as long as we remember.
— Melodies of Life
Emiko Shiratori
/
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A/N: Please see previous chapter's A/N for regards to how to access this stories prequel and upcoming sequel on A03.