Sorry this chapter is late. I forgot.
Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.
Today is Saturday, January 16th.
It is hard for me to describe how perfect today has been.
To start with, I got the first good night's sleep I've had since before the accident. I'm not entirely sure what time I fell asleep last night, but I slept until after 10:30 today, which is surprising because the latest I've ever woken up was nine and also the windows in the living room let in a lot of sunlight and also if I'm ever in easy reach of the floor Zwei likes to lick my face when he gets hungry around six in the morning.
Anyway, Dad woke me up at like 10:36 and asked if I wanted some breakfast and I was like "Yes, absolutely!" because I was starving and then he helped me stand up and hobble over to the table. Yang brought out some pancakes and sausages and syrup and the three of us ate together. I could tell something was weird though because Dad normally reads the news parts of the newspaper and Yang reads the comics but today they just kept glancing at each other and then at me so finally I asked "What are you guys up to?" and Yang said "Ruby, do you feel up to meeting all your friends again?" and I said "Yeah of course, duh," and then she said "Great! Because they're going to be here in an hour!"
I was like "What?!" because I was still in my pajamas and I hadn't showered in like three weeks and I still had to do my morning PT and I totally wasn't ready for everyone to see me like that.
I finished breakfast at super speed and then did my PT really quick (I probably did it all wrong) and then tried to climb the stairs to shower but I got stuck and Dad said I would just have to use the downstairs shower and he'd get me some clothes to wear, so I had to wait while he got my towel and my shampoo and conditioner and soap and a change of clothes and then I had to use the shower that he uses which I don't like because it has two knobs (one for temperature and one for water) when the upstairs one only has one knob so it's not like it's hard it's just weird. It also feels smaller, but luckily the one time I almost fell down I caught myself. I swear, if Yang or Dad heard that I'd fallen in the shower I wouldn't be able to shower by myself for the rest of the year.
When I was trying to brush my oddball hair (scar is almost completely hidden!) into something that looked half-decent it finally occurred to me that I didn't know why all my friends were coming over. I thought at first that it was just to say 'hi' and celebrate me coming home and stuff, but when I got out of the shower I saw Yang and Dad trying to sneakily bring down my Christmas presents from my room and I was like "What's going on?"
Yang said "Well, we all could tell how bummed you were that you missed Christmas – it's no secret that it's your favorite holiday – so I talked to everyone at school and asked Dad if it would be okay if we had an extra-late Christmas celebration when you came home!" and then when I went back to the living room there was a huge pile of presents and letters and pillows that looked like dogs stacked in the corner and I could even see that they'd found my presents even though I hid them behind Mom's stuff in my closet. I knew what some things were because people had written about it in the diary, but there was still a bunch of stuff that was wrapped and everything.
Less than thirty seconds later the doorbell rang and Dad and Yang were still busy getting stuff ready so I had to 'rush' over to the door to let people in and my stupid crutch got caught in the door frame (I hate these things!) but I finally got there and opened the door and Weiss and Blake and Jaune and Pyrrha and Ren and Nora and even Sun were all there and they all screamed "Merry Christmas, Ruby!" at me and I was so happy I started to cry a little and I hugged everyone as they came in and then Blake helped me get back to the couch so I wasn't standing on my leg for too long.
Dad brought out chairs for everyone to sit on then went to make coffee while we all chatted about what was going on at school and Blake sat next to me and I snuggled with her and she held my hand and I was really excited to see her open my present. Yang made cinnamon rolls and gave one to everybody and then when we finished eating she said it was time to start opening presents.
Everyone wanted me to go first but I was like "No, that's not fair" but Weiss said "Ruby, we're all here to celebrate Christmas with you, so it's only natural that you go first. Trust me, we don't mind waiting. We've already waited a long time just for this." and then she tossed me a gift. I looked at everyone and they all nodded at me and smiled and I was like "Okay!" I'm not going to complain about getting a whole bunch of stuff.
I decided I wasn't going to make all my friends suffer through me reading every one of the letters I got, so I started with the present Weiss threw at me. It was a beautiful red knit sweater, and Pyrrha cheered and said that it was from her and Ren and Nora. I tried it on and immediately felt like I could go to Antarctica with nothing else and be fine. It was so soft and it fit perfectly – I was amazed. Pyrrha admitted that she got some help from Yang and Blake, but that it was Nora and Ren's idea, she just payed for it. I thought it was great, and made sure to say 'Thank You' to each of them.
The next one was in a small box and when I opened it up there was a sparkly pen inside decorated with roses. Jaune said it was from him, and that he chose it because we share an English class and I'm always doodling so he thought a nice pen would help make my doodles even more impressive. He confessed that he had had to ask Mr. Port for an idea. I'll have to thank him when I get back to class!
Yang threw me hers next, and even though I already knew what it was (a cute little stuffed bear holding a rose!), I still really liked it. It's going to sit right next to me by my bed with my other stuffed animals!
Weiss' was next, and she said she got me another one because she thought the dog pillow wasn't enough even though I said that it totally was. She literally said "Nonsense! You deserve more!". It was so perfectly wrapped I felt bad that I had to rip it open because I couldn't undo the ribbon with only my one hand (Leftie isn't great with small stuff yet). Inside was the softest looking hat I'd ever seen. Weiss said it was alpaca wool, and that it was warmer and softer than sheep wool. Of course she'd know about stuff like that. It matched perfectly with the sweater Pyrrha and Nora and Ren got me, and covered up all my short hair while my long hair would still hang out. I can't wait to wear it every day!
Then I picked up another one and Blake said that it was hers, and that after seeing everyone else's presents she felt a little ashamed of it. I opened it up and it was – surprise – a book. Blake said that it was from the same author of the one she gave me after our date at the arcade which I said I liked, and then she told me to look at the inside of the front cover. IT WAS SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR! I was like "I don't know what you're talking about Blake, this is a fantastic gift! I love it so much!" and then I hugged her and when I pulled away I noticed everyone was looking at me funny, so I was like "What?"
Blake said "Ruby, you... you just said my name."
There was like a full minute of silence, and then I gasped and shouted "I CAN SAY YOUR NAME!" and I hugged her again and she kissed me and everyone cheered. I wonder how long it would have gone on for if Uncle Qrow hadn't chosen right then to arrive and interrupt us by ringing the doorbell. He's always late to everything.
He popped in, asked what all the hub-bub was about, grabbed a cinnamon roll and sat down next to Dad. I guess technically he was perfectly on time, because I opened his present next. I knew it was a camera since he wrote about it in the diary, but I didn't expect how expensive a camera it would be. The one he got me was like three tiers of quality better than the one I had. When I was gushing over it and saying 'Thank You' fifty times a second he just said "Yeah, yeah. Make sure to show me what you can do with it." I'm so excited to use it! The first thing I did was take a picture of everyone sitting around me.
Then Dad stood up and went to his room and came back with a little red box with a bow and an even smaller white box that was all dusty. He gave me the red box first and said that that was his gift. I opened it and inside was a gorgeous silver necklace with a small rose-shaped pendant. I think it's beautiful. Then he handed me the white box and said that it was Mom's gift.
The room got kind of quiet when I opened it, but everyone "Ooooh"-ed when I pulled out the pair of silver rose earrings. Uncle Qrow said "I recognize those! Summer used to wear them all the time!" and Dad nodded and said "Yup. They were her favorites. She would always say she couldn't wait for Ruby to be old enough to wear them too. I'll bet they'll look just as good on you."
I was so shocked I couldn't move, so Blake and Yang picked up the earrings and switched them with the ones I was wearing. Everyone kind of sighed when they were done. I could tell Dad was trying not to cry, and Uncle Qrow couldn't look away from me. I couldn't hold back my tears, and I got up and hobbled my way over to Dad and gave him a big hug. I'm going to wear the earrings as often as I can.
When we all sort-of recovered from that, I said "That's all the gifts for me, everyone else's turn!" but then I felt Blake elbow Sun and he cleared his throat and said "Not quite yet, Rubes." He stood up and said "This one takes a little bit of backstory to understand. I've been friends with Blake for a long time, and recently I've noticed that she seems to really like spending time with short little Ruby over here, so..." and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled-up envelope and handed it to me and told me to open it.
Inside were two tickets to the big dance club that's in town that's really hard to get into unless you buy tickets like a month in advance. I heard Blake gasp and then say "Sun, I just said you had to get a card, you didn't have to-" and Sun cut her off and said "Blake, look, I had an idea. Just go with it." and I stood up and hugged Sun and said that I felt really bad because he gave me this awesome gift but I didn't get him anything! He just laughed and told me it's okay, as long as I made sure Blake had fun when we went to the club. Blake gave him a kiss on the cheek for being sweet.
So then, since I had opened all of my presents, everyone got to open the ones from me! Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all went first because their presents were all the same. I got them inscribed wooden friendship necklaces! Jaune's has a P, Pyrrha's has a J, Ren's has an N, and Nora's has an R. They all seemed to like them!
Weiss went next; I got her this pair of silver earrings that are like straight bars, but they're elegant and classy and beautiful all at once and when I saw them in the store I was like "This makes sense for Weiss" so I bought them. I think she liked them.
I made Yang go next, and she screamed when she opened the box. I got her a set of some nice bar-end mirrors for when she gets her bike (I had to do a lot of research) and they came with these cool decals you can put on stuff and then to round it all out I also got her an orange scarf that had this really cool heart symbol embroidered into it. It was advertised as a 'driving scarf' but I thought it would work just as well for when she was riding her motorcycle. She basically tackled me when she hugged me to say thanks.
Blake wanted to go next, but I wanted to save hers for last so I gave Dad his gift. I got him a blue and yellow silk tie (it was so expensive!) and three pairs of funny socks. He's talking all the time about socks so I thought it'd be nice to get him some that are comfortable and long-lasting but also have some fun designs. I saw the tie when I was shopping for everybody and thought "When does Dad not need another tie?" Yang started laughing and when we asked her what was wrong she said "Nothing, it's just... you got a tie for Tai!" and Dad just groaned. Uncle Qrow chuckled though.
Uncle Qrow tried to leave before I could give him his gift. I got him a flask (needed Dad's help to order it) with a hula girl on it. He said he was never going to put it down, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Then finally it was Blake's turn and I personally handed her her present, then rushed to get my new camera ready so I could get a picture of her reaction. I put it down when she opened it though, because watching her through the viewscreen was nothing like watching her in person. Sure, it would have made for a great picture, but this way I'll always remember it.
She started slowly, taking quick glances at me the further through the wrapping she got, until suddenly she was all the way through. I watched her eyes widen when she saw the book (I put that on top), and she smiled as she pulled it out and held it in her hands. She said "Thank you, Ruby, I've been wanting to read this for ages," and I said "There's more." She gave me another little smile and a lift of her eyebrow, then turned back to the box and reached in again. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest when she gasped and put a hand to her mouth. All the tissue paper I packed in there to make sure the frame stayed safe crinkled like popping popcorn as she pulled out the picture. There were tears in her eyes when she looked at me. I said "Look at the back," and she turned it over and I watched her eyes move side to side as she read the poem I wrote. For a second I was scared that she'd read it out loud and I'd be embarrassed, but she kept it to herself; the room was silent as we all watched her. When she finished, she leaped on me and smothered my face with kisses and I couldn't stop laughing.
Then Uncle Qrow ruined the whole mood by saying "So are you gonna show us or what?" He always does stuff like that! Anyway, Blake held the frame up so everyone could see all the pictures of us and Pyrrha and Yang went "Aawwww!" and Nora hugged Ren and Dad grinned at Uncle Qrow and Uncle Qrow grinned at Dad and Jaune and Sun both rolled their eyes. Blake kissed me again.
After that we played some games while Uncle Qrow and Dad talked about stuff in the kitchen until everyone had to go home.
More stuff happened, but none of it was nearly as worth remembering as this January 'Christmas'.
I can say Blake's name, and I'm going to dance with her!
It was a perfect day!
XOXOXO :3
...
P.S. - Dear Mom,
I miss you a lot. Thank you very much for the earrings, they're beautiful. I love you.
Keep moving forward.