Chapter 75
"Hey, mom."
The wind whistled softly around her, the damp grass wetting the knees of her coveralls. It was a nice day to be here, the view over the cliff edge in the early evening din was certainly breathtaking as always. But the view over the four hundred foot drop would never not be breathtaking, no matter the time of year, weather, mood. She sighed, leaning back on her heels and closing her eyes, letting the cool air comfort her as if someone was touching her cheeks.
"It's been a while, I know. I'm sorry. I've been away in Atlas," she sniffled, and rubbed her nose on the sleeve of her coat. It smelled like machine oil and pollen. "I've been trying to come back and see you, but I just haven't had the opportunity. Or the willpower."
She paused, looking away for a moment.
"Until now. I'm sorry. I should have come back at least once. Just to see Yang and Dad, even. Maybe I've been a little disconnected recently."
The wind whipped a few leaves from around behind her, carrying them over and off the cliff. She chuckled.
"I know, I know. They love me anyways, even if all the contact I had was by text and a phone call on Father's day and Yang's birthday. I really tried, mom. But sometimes it's hard to talk."
She adjusted her position, sitting down cross-legged in the grass and pulling her knees up a little so they rested on the sides of her boots. The red leather jacket hugged her tightly, but more so than just because it was a little too small for her chest and shoulders. It was warm like a gentle hug, even.
"I wanted to, mom. I was scared. Scared of here, scared of Yang, scared of people in general. I thought running away to the north would be enough to get me away from it all, but I don't know if that really worked. I spent all that time and money moving away, that I thought it would get rid of my demons and let me live a normal life..."
The wind blew her hair around her face, making her blink it away and grab at her bangs so they didn't whip her in the eyes. She shook it out, brushing the long locks back behind her ears and out of the way.
"But I don't know if I even know what normal is anymore. Atlas certainly isn't. It's cold, it's far away, it's alienation from my friends. From my family. I thought owning my own house, working a nine-to-five, paying my taxes... that it would all be good for me. And let me finally be me again. So I didn't have to worry about the bad dreams and the memories."
Somewhere, off in the valley, a bird called out. It sounded like an eagle, with the piercing cry.
"But I didn't get away from it, it happened all the same. Moving away wasn't good for me. It was necessary because of my job, but that's now sucking the life out of me. How'd you do it, mom? How did you get up every day and go out on missions and fight monsters so easily? How did you find joy in it?"
She sighed.
"Because I can't find joy in it. I hate it. Every time I leave the barracks and get in the back of a truck or in a plane or helicopter I think 'this will be the last mission I ever go on'. I can't enjoy it anymore. I can't do what you do, mom. What you did."
A butterfly fluttered by, and landed in the grass just in front of her right knee. She smiled, and reached out for it with her index finger. It didn't fly away like the thought it would.
"I couldn't get rid of him. He stayed up in there, fighting me every night. There was nothing I could do about it that I wouldn't have regretted."
She huffed out her breath.
"So I stayed. Tried to make sense of it all, tried to keep myself safe. I wasn't very good at it, I'll be honest. But I know that it was the wrong choice to try to do it alone. I should have stayed here, with you. And with dad. And Yang. Then you could all have helped me. I wouldn't have had to wait. I wouldn't have felt isolated. But I did that to myself."
The trees in behind her rustled extra loud, the reddening leaves singing their dry melody as the air moved through and around them.
"I'm glad I was able to tell Yang. I'm glad she promised to not go on a murderous rampage. And I'm glad that I no longer feel this... this... weight on my chest. And in my head. I can only hope that tonight I don't have those dreams again. I don't think I will. Thanks to Yang."
The softness of the air made her smile. The sun had started to set, and was lighting up the sky in a pale orange.
"I may have got off track. My point is, I'm home, I feel safe with Yang, and I've decided that I need to figure out what I want from my life, and learn to grow up. And I think I have help from the right people. I love Yang very much, and I appreciate what she does for me."
She paused again, flicking a dandelion that was just in front of her toe.
"Actually, speaking of... do you remember that girl I introduced you to?"
The wind seemed to whistle in time with her.
"You remember her, of course you do. Her name was Weiss, she was really pretty. Like, really really, really pretty? With the ivory hair and fancy scar over her eye, and kind of a smartass? Yeah, well..." she fidgeted, colour flushing her cheeks. "...I may have sorta fallen in love with her, and I don't know what to do with that information. I thought I did, but..."
The mild chill of the air had gone away in a moment.
"...I... overreacted. I dove head-first into that because I thought it would help me, but all it did was make me feel confused. I know she loves me, like, properly loves me, that's a pretty obvious fact. And I reacted like a child and ran away from her when she wanted to help me. I know it was wrong, and I want to apologize to her. And I will."
The trees sighed as the wind lifted from them, sagging again on their bows.
"But... I think I feel the same way. I don't think I've ever been in love before, mom. But if this is what it feels like, this... this... aching feeling that I want to see her again, that I want to kiss her again, that I..." she struggled for words, clenching her fist. "She's so understanding of me, so accommodating, so trusting. So... kind-hearted, so selfless. The most beautiful person in the world, that you'd never have to look at to know that that was true. She believed in me at school on such a fundamental level, and more so than just because I was her partner. But because she took genuine interest in my success."
She sniffled again, trying to not tear up.
"Not to say Yang didn't, or Blake didn't, or my teachers didn't, but nobody did it quite like she did. I was always afraid that people would see through the bubbly, childish me to the depressed recluse that I made myself into, but I never noticed that Weiss would look through that and loved me unconditionally. That's I think why I feel safe with her. Because she puts that above all else. She'd risk life and limb for me. When no one else would."
She had to wipe one away before it came down her face and ruined Yang's makeup job.
"And I hope to go back to that soon. Back to something I can welcome into my life. Back to someone who'll welcome me into theirs. And I just need a little bit more time to find out exactly what kind of person I want to bring back to them. I think I'm almost ready. And I have the best support team who ever lived, mom."
She reached her hand out and placed it on the polished marble. Even with work gloves on, she could feel the coldness of the rock and the smoothness of the surface. It was all too welcoming.
"And that includes you. No matter where you are... I know you care. And you'd want me to go back when I was ready. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to build myself up again, and then go back home to love someone who loves me. I promise."
The wind went quiet, the leaves around her on the ground settled gently around her feet and bum, and the whole world seemed to relax. She smiled, rubbing the tall stone as if to comfort herself.
"Well, that was romantic, Ru."
She turned her head to look backwards at her sister, leaning against the bike with her arms crossed. "Think so? Didn't sound like pandering?"
"Li'l bit. But you're on the right track, I think. You've got a way with words, babe."
She pushed off and sauntered over, coming to sit down in the grass next to her. She had to flip her hair out and tie it back so the mess of curls that came courtesy of a fifty mile-per-hour blow dryer didn't get in her face as she settled herself into the grass and into a seated position.
"Yeah..."
"No, I'm serious. I believe that you really will do what you just promised mom, and I'm glad you want to come to me for help."
"Well, of course I'm gonna come to you now, Yang."
"Why, 'cause you know now that you can trust me?" she taunted, bunting her in the shoulder.
"No, it's..." she chuckled, bunting back. "Now I know it's the right thing to do. So yeah I'm gonna get your help. You've done nothing but help me for the last few weeks since I came home, Yang. I feel bad that I didn't notice that."
"Honey, it's fine."
"It's not, though." her voice took a serious turn for a moment. "D'you know what my earliest memory is?"
Yang shrugged. "Something to do with Francis?"
"No, not quite." she paused. "I remember a conversation I had with mom. It was stupid. I must have been three."
"It's not stupid, sweetie. You remember our mother. Something I can barely say as well."
"I remember telling her that I wanted to protect everybody, and most specifically you."
Yang straightened. "Me?"
"Yeah, I was three. Spouting toddler gibberish about wanting to protect my older sister because I loved her and that I would do anything to do so, and I remember mom kneeling down in the kitchen and giving me a strawberry to eat and saying how adorable I was and how brave I was gonna grow up to be."
Yang put her right arm around her shoulders and pulled her in. Ruby let her neck go limp and rest against the bottom of her cheek.
"Well, I'm certainly appreciative of you, honey."
"I realize now that you didn't need protecting, at least, not in the same way I do. Did. You were strong physically more than I ever was until very recently, and you were always doing the protecting and the nurturing. And I never did and sometimes I feel selfish for that."
Yang kissed her softly on the top of the head, matting her hair down.
"I don't need protecting, sweetie. I just need you. To be around me. In whatever form that takes."
"Can I at least try to protect you? Like, once?" she said, with a sad smile crossing her mouth.
"You can always try, Ruby. And you'll always succeed, just by being my little sister. I'm not gonna be more proud of you the more Grimm you kill, and I won't be less proud if you retire and stop being a Huntress. You..."
Yang paused, looking over the cliff and across the valley.
"...You always will be there for me, even if you don't mean to. I know you're a mess, and I'm a mess, and dad's a mess, and Weiss is a mess... gosh, the only person we know who has their life figured out must be Ren, rolling in stacks of cash and a successful tech corporation. I mean... maybe Sun and the boys, but really, that's not important. Their messes aren't my problem. Your mess is my problem. And I like problems. Because I like you."
Ruby sniffled.
"Thanks, Yang. I like you too."
"Our lives will never really be alright, babe. Not with the Grimm still out there, terrorists, and political corruption... but in truth, the big picture doesn't matter to us, does it?"
"I guess not..."
"It's only an issue if you're a Huntsman, and have to deal with that kind of thing as your job, but us regular citizens don't have to. I'm not saying quit your job because it's easier to be normal, of course."
"I know what you mean."
"Like, as much as the government wants to blame everything and all of the country's problems on Menagerie, there's like, not any chance that a war is gonna break out. There's no military force at our borders threatening to invade. We're not on any cusp of nuclear winter..."
"You're saying as a species, we're doing alright?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. It's just... one individual, and you dealt with that, and I am more than proud of you for that."
"I... kinda hoped you would be."
Yang gave her shoulder a squeeze with her mechanical strength.
"And I am! More than anything. You're the strongest person I know, including me. Life will always be a bumpy road, remember that. It's just a lot smoother if you've got your hands on the steering wheel."
Ruby smiled. "Thanks for including my interests in your anecdote."
"Little known fact, sometimes I listen to your radio show. Look, my point is, I love you, and I think you've just gotten back into the proverbial car, and are now in control of it. It's up to you know, kiddo. Just remember, your sister's always gonna be in the passenger seat, offering directions."
"Thank you, Yang. You're a better sister than me."
"Well, you're a cuter sister than me."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are!" she said, pushing her face into Ruby's cheek, smooching her with a wet pop and leaving a defined lipstick imprint on her rosy skin.
"Blech, Yang, gross! No, I'm not!"
"Yeeeesss, you are," she said, extending the 's' sound for far too long and pulling her in. There was no escape from the arm, not with the amount of lithium-powered, alternating-current torque it produced. "There's no escape!"
"I must escape!"
"I shan't let you, because I adore you!"
"My freedom!"
"My baby sister!"
They struggled for a moment, but not in any malicious way, poking each other in the face and sides, Ruby trying desperately to slip away and gain any kind of advantage, to no avail. Not that she really wanted to, of course. This was Yang. She loved Yang. So she allowed the part-time farmer and full-time sister to continue her attacks, almost unheeded. After a few more fairly tickly jabs in the sides, Yang stopped, pulling her in against her side and sighing contentedly down into the top of her head.
"You're sweet, Ru. Please never change that."
"I won't."
"Good."
Ruby rubbed her nose.
"You wanna know something I figured out yesterday?"
"Whassat?"
Ruby paused. "Do you know what tomorrow is?"
"The..." Yang flipped her wrist out to check her watch. "...Thirty-first of October."
"Do you know what that is?"
"It's your birthday."
"Yeah, my birthday." she nodded. "You know what, Yang?"
"What?"
"I'm turning twenty-four years old."
"Yeah, eh? Finally an adult, kiddo."
She smiled bleakly, leaning her weight over into Yang.
"No, it's not that. It mean I..." the thought stopped in the throat. It took effort to force it out. "It means I'll have outlived our mother. She was only twenty-three."
She reached out, rubbing the rock again, tracing her fingers down the letters on the front.
Summer Eloise Rose
September 1st, 1973 – May 18th, 1996
Beloved mother and wife
'Thus kindly I scatter...'
She sniffled again, retracting her hand and wiping her face on her sleeve.
"And tomorrow I officially am older than mom."
"You will be, yeah. And you've survived a lot worse than she ever did. Or, didn't."
"I used to think sometimes that it would be better if I hadn't. But now I think 'no, that's stupid to think like that, too many people care about you' and I think it's better that way."
"It's absolutely better this way, honey. You're not allowed to not survive. You're Ruby Rose, and you're my sister, so you have to be here so I can dote on you and make you smile."
Ruby sighed.
"What if... and this is just a thought... what if I finally start using dad's last name?"
"Ruby Xiao-Long? I dunno, it's doesn't have the same ring to it."
"Yeah, but you guys are my family. Dad raised me, you raised me. You are more a part of my life than my childhood dreams of becoming a world-class huntress, which by the way I am. I've always kinda felt left out by you guys because I'm so different. You guys are blond, tall, beautiful-"
"You're beautiful too, silly."
"Yang, don't interrupt me when I'm monologuing."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, as I was saying, I feel like I'm not a part of my own family. And I want to change that. I know mom always wanted me to be my own person, but I'm not sure I was supposed to ever feel this isolated."
"I thought you took mom's last name to honour her memory."
I did, you're right. But I have so many other ways to honour her. For one, I look exactly like her-"
"Except for all these," Yang squeezed her around the bicep.
"Okay, sure except for that-"
"And these." she poked her in the boob.
Ruby looked up at her and glared.
"That wasn't my point, Yang. Also, how would you know that, and why would you care?"
"There's a picture in one of the albums of mom and dad at the beach when we were infants. I think we get our chesticles from dad."
"You didn't just say chesticles."
"I did, I have a list I pull from."
Ruby put her face in her hands. "Why are you like this?"
"Because it makes you smile."
"May I please finish my point?"
"You may."
She leaned her head back into Yang's elbow.
"Huhhhhh I want to change my name, because I feel like my identity is with you guys, because you are my family. Mom's still my family, but she's also yours. Our parents were never married, but if they were, I know that mom would have taken dad's name because that's the kind of person that she was."
"Yeah..."
"And we have this whole cliff! This is Rose Peak, for darn sake!"
"You can choose to do whatever you feel is right, babe. You'll always be a part of our family because you are a part of our family, last name or not. You're my sister, blood related. You don't have to change your name just to be a part of your own family, Ruby."
"Yeah, I know, but I would feel better if I did. I don't want to be the only Rose left."
Yang nodded slowly.
"Then you make that decision. For you. Not for me."
"Okay."
Yang rubbed her hair, messing it up and pulling one of the little curls next to her face gently straight. It was true that Ruby had always imagined herself changing her name, even if it was only ornamental. She'd technically always been a Xiao-Long, it was written on her birth certificate. She'd chosen to use Rose as a tribute, signing all school and business documents using that name. Even her driver's license had her new last name on it. The Vale Motor Authority understood her predicament and accepted the use of Rose as her last name. Even if it was wrong.
"Hey, Ru."
"Yeah?"
"You feeling hungry yet?"
"A little. Isn't it like, seven o'clock?"
"Yeah, close to it. I'll buy you dinner at Junior's if you want."
"I think I want. It's too late in the day to be making life decisions, anyways. Maybe tomorrow."
Yang chuckled and stood up again. "Smart thinking, kiddo. C'mon."
"Alright." she said, pushing herself to her feet. She put her hand on the headstone to steady herself, leaving it there for a moment longer before finally turning and stepping away. Sitting in the grass just a few long steps away was her mom's bike, a little dirty from the hour long ride, but plenty willing to stretch its legs for the hour back into town. "Junior's it is."
Halfway back over to the bike, she turned around, and smiled at her mom.
"I'll see you around."
The wind whistled back.
/.../
She wasn't quite if it was the fact that everyone in town could hear them coming, or if it was just a slow night at the bar, but it seemed to her like Millie had been waiting for them, leaned against the front of Junior's next to the door. She waved at them as Yang rolled the bike down through the gears, popping up onto the sidewalk and slowing to a loud, rumbling stop under the Bar's dim floodlights. They dismounted, pulling their helmets off and hanging them off the bike's tall handlebars. Ruby scratched her head where the helmet had been rubbing her scalp, leaning forward and pulling her hair elastic out and fluffing her hair so it would sit right. As she came back up, she let the wavy brown mess settle forward, over her shoulders.
"Ahh, that's better."
"Helmet bothering you?"
"I think my head's smaller than mom's. This is loose on my noggin."
"I can buy you a better fit if you like."
Ruby smiled at her sister. "Nah, it's alright. I don't really have a use for a bike helmet since I don't know how to ride. I'll stick with this one."
"Whatever you say, babe. Let's hope we can get a table."
They approached the door with a skip almost, hungry and ready for terrible pub food and a seat to sit on that wasn't the tight leather saddle of the motorcycle.
"Hey, Millie," Yang started. "Got space for us today?"
"Yeah, head on in, guys. We're pretty dead." the girl in the black t-shirt and jeans chimed, smiling gently.
Yang pushed through the door and into the Bar, leaving Ruby and Millie outside. She took a moment to speak with the girl currently not inside and on shift.
"Why're you out here, Mil?" Ruby asked, not noticing a cigarette or anything else that would normally be a reason to be standing around outside a bar. "Just taking a break?"
"Dad said he saw some unfavourable characters selling drugs down that alley," she said, pointing across the street and down the alley between the two adjacent buildings. "He said he wants me to catch them and report it to the cops."
Ruby squinted. "Your dad working with the cops?"
"I know right? Super weird. But there's literally nothing to do in there, and I like people watching, it's fun."
"I suppose you're right. Good to see you, Mil."
"You too, Red."
Ruby tried not to flush at Millie's soft smile as she too pushed her way into the bar, pulling up behind her sister who was stood behind the 'please wait to be seated' sign on the podium just inside the doorway. Seeing as the last time they were in there, Yang just jumped at the barstools and yelled for Junior, having her stationary and waiting politely was almost confusing. After a beat, Melanie came power-walking out from around a corner, her best customer service look on her face and dressed in the same bar uniform as her sister outside, wearing a low apron over her jeans.
"Sorry for the wait, for- oh, it's you guys!" her voice changing to a more cheerful attitude. "You here to see dad?"
"Nah," Yang waved her question off. "We're actually here for dinner, but if you could send him out to see us, that'd be great!"
Mel smiled. "Follow me, then."
She turned, two leather-bound menus in her arms, and led the two of them around to the brick-sided wall on the right side of the small room. She placed the two menus onto the top of a booth table, lit by wide and low incandescent green glass chandelier. Ruby slid herself into one side, her sister sliding into the other.
"D'you want me to get you guys drinks now, or wait 'till dad comes around?"
Yang shrugged. "Was kinda hoping he'd bring a cocktail menu along-"
"Yang, you have to drive us back, no." she slapped her sister on the hand. "Wait until Junior shows up. Sorry, Mel, she's an idiot."
"Believe me, I know." she pointed to her ribs with a wink. "I'll go get him."
"Thanks."
The girl departed. Ruby sank into the deep bench fabric and sighed. The day had taken so much out of her at this point, she almost had nothing left to give. She'd injured herself in the junkyard in the morning, had a soul-changing life lesson with Ren and Yang in the afternoon, and had a visit with her mother no more than an hour ago. She was drained. She just wanted some crappy food and drink, and then to go home and get in bed and sleep for twelve hours. So when the unique sound of size seventeen boondockers and the sudden colossal shadow cast across her table, she was excited. But not enough to sit up straight like her father was always lecturing her to do.
She glanced up at the huge man. "Hey, Junior."
"Ladies," his voice boomed back down at them. "How are we this evening?"
"Tired. Hungry. The usual, I guess."
He smiled. For once, he was clean-shaven, which almost made him unrecognizable, but still very handsome for a man with as much grey in his hair as him.
"I can help you with one of those things, for sure. Drinks to start, ladies?"
"Virgin Cuba Libre, for me." Yang smirked.
Junior paused, frowning. "That's a rum and cola without the rum..."
"Ruby said I couldn't drink, but I still want a cocktail, so..."
"Don't be obtuse. Ruby, do you approve of this?"
Junior turned to her. Ruby shrugged. "If you couldn't tell, we rode in on something I don't know how to operate, so she has to stay sober."
"You mean that thundering noise ripping through my town was you two?"
"Yeah, on mom's old bike."
His eyes went wide. He made a point to the door. "That's... Summer's Hog out there?"
"Yeah."
"Jeez, bring that thing inside, I don't want it getting tampered with out there! Mel! Get your sister, roll that chopper in here!" he called, watching his daughter swing around from behind the bar and go outside. They watched apprehensively as the twins struggled to get the bike's wide handlebars through the doorway that was about two inches too narrow to fit it, trying their hardest to not snag the clutch and front brake handles on the skinny frame. "Just put it in the middle of the room, guys."
It settled to a stop, just in front of the bar, sagging on it's kickstand as Millie and Mel disappeared into the kitchen with a swing of the saloon door. The sound of the grill firing up and the deep fryer boiling was muted by the noise of the door hinges squeaking loudly.
"There, that's better," he said with a smile, turning back to them. "Now can I get you guys any drinks?"
"What have you got on tap?" Ruby asked, sitting forward and putting her elbows on the table.
Junior cocked an eyebrow at her. "Well, we have a dark brew from the distillery across the street from the post office-"
"Hey, we supply the barley to them, don't we?" Yang interjected.
Ruby shrugged. "I 'unno, do we? I just drive the tractor, I don't know where it goes."
"That's Hopps's, right?"
The bartender nodded. "Indeed, it is. Babs and Gav Hopps still own it, sixty-two years later. Those two old rabbits are still at it to this day."
"Guess I'll try it, see if we make anything good." she said, grinning sideways at him.
Junior pulled a notebook from his apron. "Pint of dark for you, and for the Yang?"
Yang sighed, defeated. "Vodka martini, I guess."
"Apple juice, it is!" He tapped the pad with his pencil, and spun around back to the bar. He returned a moment later, with three pint glasses filled with drink, including one pint of dark for himself. They hit the table with three meaty thuds as the heavy, thick glass was set down on the wood surface.
Yang grabbed hers, filled with yellow liquid. "What's this, a lager?"
She took a sip, her face twisting like she'd been force fed a lemon.
"Nope, it's apple juice. Like I told you."
"Always gotta ruin my fun, Hei."
He poked her in the nose. "You're not going to disrespect that beautiful motorcycle with your drunk ass on my watch, Xaio-Long."
"Aw, man."
Ruby giggled as she brought her mug up to her mouth, having to suck back the tall inch of foam to get to the cold, caramel-sweet brew. The moment it touched her tongue, she almost gagged, not having expected the punch in the mouth from the strong flavour. It was good, but it was a little rich for her tastes, having only ever bought the cheap, highly advertised canned crap.
"Holy hell, that's smooth." she said, having to squint and wipe the foam from her upper lip. "It's so thick."
"Is it good?" he asked, politely.
"Fuck yeah, it is!" she said, taking another sip. The alcohol content in the drink wasn't enough to get her blitzed on a single pint, but three or four, maybe. She'd limit herself to the one.
"I'm glad it is, I'd have chucked all four barrels of it if you didn't like it." he pulled out his notepad again. "Right, settled on anything to eat?"
Ruby put her glass down on the table and flipped her menu open. She gave the pages a quick, cursory glance before looking back up at him.
"How's the chicken curry?"
"Well, terrible, but it does classify as 'food' so we can legally have it on the menu."
"Then I'll have the chicken curry." she said, closing her menu with a smirk.
"How hot?"
"Regret."
He winked at her. "Gotcha. Yang?"
"Lasagna, extra cheese and extra mushrooms."
"Uh huh. I'll pass this along to the girls, and I'll be right back."
He turned to leave, stuffing his notepad down his apron again, and disappeared back behind the bar and into the kitchen. Ruby sunk back down in her seat, stretching out her legs and kicking off her work boots under the table, flinging them at her sister's legs, missing completely. Yang just smirked at her and kicked the boots back. After a beat, Junior came waltzing back around the bar to their booth, a large cardboard box in his arms.
"Package arrived for you." he said, dropping the box onto the table. It made a hard enough whump to vibrate the glasses of drink on the surface. He quickly folded himself into Yang's side of the booth and bunted her sideways with his truck-sized hips. "Just remembered it as I got back there."
"Ooh." she cheered, her eyes lighting up as she grabbed the brown, unlabelled box. "Methinks I'll enjoy this, Hei."
"Not too much, please."
She winked at him, pulling out a knife from inside her coat, flicking it open and stabbing into the tape at the ends of the box. She was like a kid on their birthday, ripping into her present like it owed her money. Well, like a well-funded kid on her birthday, since the heavy aluminum and carbon-fibre that she lifted out of the packing peanuts was worth as much as a brand new car. She held it up above the table in awe.
"Man! It's finally here! This thing is sweet!"
She flipped it over a few times in her fingers, running her eyes up and down the polished chrome and ivory white anodized surface. It actually appeared to be a newer model of arm than her old one, but that was probably only because it was in much better condition and didn't have a year and a half of hard farm work and part time fire-fighting duties dug into the surface. Ruby observed her sister fawn wordlessly over the robotic appendage, completely ignorant of the fact it was an illegally obtained piece of secretive military hardware that had been obtained for her by the former head of the Vale Mafia.
"I had my guys modify it so it would work with your comms collar like last time, and I opened it when it came in to verify the functionality and state of repair. I was gonna call you but I got distracted by work."
"Oh, it's amazing, Hei. I can't believe it."
"Well, you gonna try it on?" he asked, leaning his elbows onto the table. "Or are you just gonna keep staring at it?"
She placed it down in her lap and made quick work of shedding her sweater, exposing the old prosthetic and the heavy leather straps that held it in place on her shoulders. With three loud clicks from the buckles, the weight of the old arm dropped and bounced off the thick table and onto the bench between her and Junior, to be forgotten. She reached for the new arm and tried to slip it onto the end of her arm. It didn't take. In fact, the old arm was still wiggling on the bench.
"What the-"
"Jeez, Yang, calibrate it first!" Ruby chided, sipping her beer. "Even I knew that, and I have all my limbs!"
Yang frowned and flushed red. "Shut up, I knew that."
She grabbed the old arm again and quickly pulled the power pack out, taking all the life it had left away from it and leaving it uncomfortably limp. She placed it down again with a little more caution back into the box the new one had come in, and set about trying to put the battery into the fancy new one. Ruby was already holding out a six millimetre Torx driver when Yang looked up to ask if she had one, making her roll her eyes and snag it from her hand.
"I-"
"Don't say anything." she mumbled, pulling the sideplate of the new arm off and gently strapping the battery into place. "Don't be an annoying little sister for five minutes."
Ruby put her hands up exasperatedly. "The heck am I supposed to do, then? Sit here and watch in silence?"
"Preferably."
"I don't think so."
As soon as she had the sideplate back on, the arm powered up, coiling its fingers into a fist and straightening the elbow joint with the kind of silent whirring she'd certainly expect from the MagLev drives and silica-carbide 'tendons' that the robots the arm came from were made with. From her memory of the Atlesian armoury, these robots were weight-rated for a three-thousand pound lift capacity, so the internal components of their arms had always been up to snuff for Yang and the heavy abuse she put them through. She placed the arm gently down on the table, and reached up around the back of her neck to the back of her collar, fishing out the back of her choker.
"Can you get the..."
Ruby had already reached forward and stuck her finger into the calibration button inside the upper sleeve of the arm. "Press it."
Yang squeezed the button on the back of the choker, and for a second, a red light came on on the back of the new arm's hand, flashing twice before turning green and shutting off. The arm suddenly flexed upwards and the hand tensed up, the fingers forming a tight fist. Yang released the choker and tucked it back beneath her collar and out of sight, grabbing the arm and deftly slipping the end of her own arm into the gripping cups inside the prosthetic limb. It latched on, taking a firm but solid hold on what remained of her bicep, and she gave the arm a few quick tests, in and out on the elbow joint and rolling her fingers fancifully.
"Aw, it's beautiful."
"I'm glad you think so, it was very expensive." Junior mused, watching Yang play with her new arm.
"Hei, I could kiss you."
"And you'd be thrown out onto the street for doing so."
Ruby giggled. "You should try it, I think watching you get ejected would be hilarious."
"Ruby, my dear, please don't encourage your sister."
Before anyone had a chance to interject, Millie stuck her head out from the kitchen doors and yelled across the empty bar with a mix of sarcasm and annoyance in her voice.
"Da-aaad! We've run into a problem!"
Hei sat up straight and focused his attention back to the kitchen. "What's the matter?"
"We can't find the curry sauce and Melanie can't find the recipe book with how to make homemade curry sauce in it."
"Did you check above the sink?"
"Duh."
He frowned. "The curry sauce should be in the walk-in, then."
"It's not, I checked."
"Did you guy-check or did you me-check?"
"I moved things!" she said, with an offended tone.
He chuckled and stood up, groaning painfully as the benches were not exactly made for someone of his stature. "I'll come back there, give me a second." he turned to Yang for a second. "D'you want me to take the box, or did you want to put the old arm back in it?"
She waved him away. "I don't need it. Thanks"
He picked up the remnants of the shredded cardboard and the spewn packing peanuts, and trudged back to the kitchen, disappearing through the doorway once more with his offended and annoyed chef in tow. Ruby sighed as they were once again left alone again, the only sounds being the muffled din of Hei rooting through cupboard in the back and Yang playing with her arm.
"Man, I love this thing."
Ruby held back a tiny burp. "You gonna paint it?"
"Dunno. I kinda like the exposed carbon-fibre look. It's very sci-fi."
"Very true."
"Besides, for once I could co-ordinate an outfit instead of having to always wear yellow."
Ruby gasped, placing a hand to her chest. "Blasphemy!"
"It's hard to get up in the morning and say 'I wonder what I should wear today? Oh yeah, yellow.' Every damn day."
"I never pegged you as someone who really cares about fashion."
"I don't really. I mean, not nearly as much as Weiss does."
"Tsk-yeah."
Yang stuck her tongue between her teeth and started fiddling with the array of buttons that sat in the most opportune of places inside the forearm, reserved usually for tuning the various features of the robot the arm was from. Ruby watched as she fiddled with speed and strength settings and made the arm perform acrobatic feats of movement just for her own amusement. Right up until the moment she found the setting for the 'Sonic Amplification' component, used for rock crushing when the robots would be out in the field. Yang's face lit up as the arm started to vibrate. Violently.
"Woah, they still can do this!?"
"Oh, god."
"This is gonna be great." she said with a devious and far too excited smile on her face.
"Yang, you promised you'd never misuse your arm like that again."
"That was like, two arms ago, lighten up."
Ruby took a big drink from her pint, frowning at her sister.
"That's fuckin' gross."
"Says you."
Ruby rolled her eyes, putting her glass down and crossing her arms, distracted by somewhere off in the distance. She rubbed the edge of the table, right in the scuff where someone had clearly introduced their bread knife to the wood surface for probably ten minutes at least. A thought came to her. She looked back to Yang, and patiently waited for a moment until she picked up her apple juice and took a sip.
"Hey, you know, I came really close to having sex with Weiss."
Yang visibly choked a little on her drink, blinking rapidly to clear her sinuses of juice. She put it down with a chuckle, and a tiny smile, only mildly affected by the sudden comment.
"Oh yeah? How close is close?"
Ruby smiled slyly, bringing her hand up to her face, splaying out her digits and looking down at them. Yang went to take another sip of her drink. Ruby grinned deviously.
"I dunno, how long do you think Weiss's fingers are?"
Yang properly choked, spitting her drink out onto the floor next to their booth, coughing and grabbing at her throat and trying to regain the ability to breathe. She pounded the table twice, rasping her lungs and having to hold her own torso upright. She coughed, glaring over the table at her.
"You waited until I had drink in my mouth, didn't you?"
"I did, yeah."
"Jerk."
"Mmm, I prefer 'baby sister', thanks."
Yang banged on her chest to clear out any remaining mucus and apple juice from her lungs. Ruby mused with a smile and her chin resting gently on her hands. Yang paused for a moment
"You're serious, though? About Weiss?"
She sat idle, thumbing the edge of her glass.
"Dead serious."
"Wow, you really are in love with her, huh."
"Uh huh. I was a stupid little girl when I ran away. I shouldn't have."
"We all make mistakes, Ruby."
She sighed, deeply, sinking into the bench.
"Yeah... but I feel like I made the worst one."
"That's an acceptable way to feel, honey."
Ruby rubbed her eyes in her hands.
"Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve love."
"But you do, silly."
"No, I know, but it's how I feel. Like I'll never know what it's like to truly be in love."
"But do you?" she goaded.
"I mean, I may have fallen in love with Weiss."
"What do you mean 'may have', Ruby? How long are you going to lie to yourself?"
"I'm not lying!"
"Okay, but you're not admitting the whole truth."
"Fine, I'm in love with her, happy?"
"Why would that make me happy?"
Ruby put her head down on the table, mumbling her frustrations into her arms.
"Why do you always make this stuff so hard for me?"
"Because it makes you stronger. Now tell me, how do you really feel about Weiss?"
"Completely, fascinatingly, utterly, overwhelmingly infatuated. I want to be with her for the rest of my life, and I want to love her more than anything else in the world."
Yang sat back, crossing her arms with a smile.
"See, that's the kind of enthusiasm I expect from you."
"Ughhhh."
"Now, how are you gonna get what you want?"
Ruby shrugged. "Go back to Atlas?"
"Yeah, sure, but are you ready to?"
"I am."
"Are you sure?"
Another sigh.
"Maybe not."
"I'm sure you are, but whether or not I think so doesn't matter. I believe that you love her, no doubt. I still remember when the two of you slept together at school-"
"That wasn't on purpose! Zwei ruined the bed! I was just being friendly!"
"Oh, you were getting friendly, alright." she wiggled her eyebrows at her.
Ruby flushed red. "Y-Yang, stop."
"But I'm right, kiddo. I was there, I watched the two of you cuddling at night."
"Yaa-aaang..."
"It was adorable, honey. You're in love with her. There's no 'might be' about it."
She reached over the table and fluffed her hair, making her want to retract further into the seat and pout.
"Yang, you're embarrassing me."
Yang frowned. "In front of who? We're the only ones in the bar!"
Ruby just rolled her eyes and looked away, sitting up. She grabbed her drink and finished it off as quickly as she could, silencing her sister with a loud bang of the empty pint glass on the table.
"How about this," she woozed, semi-glaring at her across the table. "I love Weiss. I am one hundred percent certain about this. I will go back to Atlas, and fuck the shit out of her as soon as I'm ready."
For the second time, Yang spit her drink out and onto the floor.
"Ahem, can you warn me next time you say something like that?!"
Ruby crossed her arms with a smug smile. "No."
Yang laughed, wiping her mouth and eyes with a napkin. "Alright, lady killer."
She felt pretty high and mighty at this point, as Junior sauntered back over to them from the kitchen, a pleased look on his face and a basket full of steaming corn chips in his arms. A welcome sight to any table, let alone one staffed by her favourite criminal gangster. He slid back into the seat next to her sister, putting the basket down on the table between them and picking one of the chips out, crunching it loudly. Ruby reached for one as well, ending up with two by accident.
"Alright, crisis averted, I found the recipe for the good chicken curry, it was in my office for some reason," he started, settling his huge body into the tiny seat again. "The girls are on it, you should have some dinner in about thirty minutes or so."
"Sounds good to me," she tried, mouth full of corn chip. She had to remember to chew carefully as the hot, fresh chips were still scalding from their trip through the fryer.
Yang looked sideways at her benchmate, with slightly more than her usual cocky seduction on her face. She reached over and jabbed Junior in the ribs.
"Hey, Hei."
He looked down at her. "Yes, Yang?"
"I think it's time we give it to her."
He just shook his head. "I don't..."
"You know, the thing."
"What thing?"
"The old thing. That we said we'd give her when she was ready. The thing you've been saving."
Ruby made a point to crunch a chip extra hard.
"You know, it's not nice to play the pronoun game with me at the table, guys."
Hei kept his eyes on Yang, confused. She did the eyebrow wiggle again. He frowned. It took another five or six wiggles of her brow before he caught on to what she was trying at.
"Oh, that. Do you really think she's ready?"
"I'm certain of it."
"Guys!"
Junior nodded. "Then it's time. And I'll be damned if I'm getting up again. Melanie!"
Ruby just watched this whole scene unfold with a confused look on her face. It felt like she wasn't even in the room as everything was just happening around her. Mel stuck her head out of the kitchen door, spaghetti sauce on her shirt and her nose.
"Yeah?"
"Get the box." he said with an all-knowing grin.
She blinked at him a few times, her face a complete wall.
"Gonna have to be more specific, dad."
His face landed in his palm. "The box in my safe under my desk."
"Oh, that box. Be right back."
And she once again disappeared into the back of the bar, only to reappear a moment later with a shoebox in her arms. Ruby frowned. From the way they were talking about it, she almost expected this mysterious box to be made of jewels and be radiating light and music. Instead, it was a regular FootPalace shoebox, brown and boring, with the white label stuck to one side. With the grace of a ballerina, Mel set the box down on the table in front of her, facing the handwritten lid in her direction.
This was when Ruby noticed the most glaring thing about the box as she reached for it. Her heart briefly palpated, and her voice caught harshly in her throat.
"That's-" she started.
"Mom's handwritting, yeah." Yang finished for her.
"Work in progress, do not open," she read off the top of the box. It was written in black marker, clearly in a hurry. It took a moment to realize that the shoebox was the one her dad's old brown leather shoes had come in, the picture on the top corner of the box almost exactly matching them. This box was old.
"Go ahead, open it." her sister said, waving her fingers to signify that it was okay.
"But it says..." she gingerly pulled up at the weather-cracked clear tape holding the lid down. "I shouldn't..."
"C'mon, hun."
The lid came up, revealing a ream of blue papers, and some loose bits of plastic. To the untrained eye, it was just that. A bunch of loose papers in a box. But to Ruby, a seasoned engineer and draftsman, they were anything but. She reached into the box and pulled out the top paper from its clip and held it up in front of her, the white pencil marks crossing the page almost glowing at her.
"Hahh-"
"Well? What do you think?"
"These are..."
Designs for a weapon. Done by her mother. Neat ruler lines and measurements dotting the page, the note box filled with her mom's uncharacteristic messy handwritting, scribbled messages about spring tensions and tolerances.
"This is intense, Yang..."
"I figured as much. What do you think?"
"I..."
She picked up the next piece of paper, examining the designs with a keen eye. The large curved blade was presented in an isometric view, drawn expertly with the joint mount on one end and a scalpel-like point on the other. She shivered.
"This is... this is..." she tried to make sense of the plans. "There's a lot missing from this."
"Oh?"
"Look..." she put one of the pages down on a dry spot on the table. "There's no latch holding this blade in. It looks like there's supposed to be, but none of the plans have anything resembling it. It would just swing freely and cut your fingers off."
Yang frowned. "It's supposed to swing?"
"Yeah, right here at the blade."
"Yeah, I could never make sense of these. What do you think they are?"
Ruby spread the pile of papers out onto the table in a fan motion. She tilted her head to try and get a better grasp of what she was looking at.
"I'm not sure, but..." she sniffled and picked up what she assumed was the master drawing. "...It looks like some kind of undersized scythe. Hand-held. Easy to manipulate."
"Like a sickle?"
"I think so. I'm not sure what this means, though."
She pointed to a note at the bottom of the master copy, highlighted in pink of all things. A weird contrast on the blue drafting paper.
"Double?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure, but... maybe she means for there to be two of them."
"Two of them?"
"I think so."
"Do you think you could build this?"
Ruby smiled at her sister. "Yang, I can build anything. But this..."
She carefully checked the master copy again.
"This feels special. Like something I'm supposed to do."
"So are you gonna replace Crescent Rose with this?"
"I might just." she said with a soft grin.
Which lifted as soon as she saw Yang's face. Which had a look of pure disgust on it. Ruby was taken aback.
"What?"
"You'd replace your baby just like that?"
"...Yeah?"
"But you love that weapon, don't you?!"
Ruby sighed.
"Yang, that old rifle is the biggest piece of shit I've ever owned."
"Ah!" Yang gasped, placing a hand to her chest, offended.
"I designed it when I was twelve, the hell did I know about weapon design? It's too big, it's too clunky, it's completely unbalanced, all the hinges stick, the latches are mostly all broken..." she paused to think. "... the receiver is jacked up, the bolt doesn't cycle properly anymore, and none of the blades have anything resembling a sharp edge on them. And they all take about thirty minutes to remove because I didn't understand the concept of 'modularity' back then. It's a really sucky weapon."
Yang huffed.
"I think it suits you."
"I think it doesn't. Besides, I have to build these first, before I decide that the scythe isn't good enough anymore. I'm gonna finish what mom started, and I'm gonna do it right."
"Are you gonna change her designs?"
"Only if I need to. Most of this looks good anyways. It'll be up and slicing and dicing in about, uh, probably two weeks."
"That's a long time."
"Yeah, kinda. I hope I can afford all these supplies, too. Have you seen the parts list she made? It's like three grand at least."
"I can chip in, if you want." Junior interjected. "I haven't seen Summer's designs since my days at school with her. I'm just as excited to see this built as you are to build it, Red."
"Thanks, Junior."
"Man, so much forward progress today!" Yang cheered. "I'm so proud of you, honey."
"I'm doing what I can, Yang. Just what I can."
"That's all I can ask for." she reached over the table again and ruffled her hair, messing it up further.
At this moment, Mel and Millie arrived with two plates of food on two large silver platters, the strong smell of curry wafting across the table at them, almost knocking Ruby over. With quick hands, she re-stacked all the paper and placed it gently back into the shoebox, closing the lid and putting it safely out of harm's way as the plates were put in front of her and her sister. Mel had also brought another beer for her, taking her empty glass away.
"Well, Ruby, I propose a toast." Yang picked up her glass of apple juice. "Since you have taken steps towards your goal, you have earned this, I think."
Ruby picked up her new beer, a little wary of what it was going to do to her. "Okay."
"To Ruby! And to making life better!"
"To me!"
They clinked glasses, beer and apple juice splashing onto the table.
"To me." she said a second time, taking a sip.
She was ready.
Life would change.
For the better.