Elysium
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
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Missing someone gets easier every day because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are one day closer to the next time you will.
-Various
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Ruby enters the room just as a girl dressed in white leaves, carrying a box stamped with the emblem of a snowflake. The white-haired girl, no older than her, gives a polite nod and walks away, leaving Ruby to see what remains inside.
Yang is the only thing alive in a room big enough for four.
She sits beneath a hanging bed that has been untouched long enough to gather dust. Yang's corner is a slovenly mess- messy at the best of times, utterly unbecoming of a Team Leader, but without even that reason to care now. The other half of the room is immaculately clean and heart-breakingly empty. Nothing remains of the once meticulously ordered boxes and Spartan tidiness and personal effects that had been the hallmark of half of her sister's team. Everything had been taken and reclaimed by their families.
[The Kingdoms of Remnant can only thank our heroes for their moral fortitude and unwavering commitment to upholding the peace and laws of our Kingdoms at such personal cost.]
(The platitudes echo in Ruby's mind like the form letter of official condolences they are.)
Yang is quiet, too quiet, staring off into nothingness. It isn't until Ruby awkwardly coughs that Yang notices her sister is there.
In a flash the old Yang is back, cheer overflowing. "Sis!" Yang greets, (fake) warmth abounding. "You're here!" It's the smile she's worn every time she doesn't want Ruby to worry, which only makes Ruby worry more.
Yang isn't the only one who knows how to fake that she's not hurting. "Yang!" she returns. "You're looking… well," she said with an awkward smile.
"Not a scratch still on me," Yang boasts. "Didn't even get to take help take down the moles here in Beacon. It's a shame about the statue out front, but I missed a totally sweet fight. Just a bit bored. Between being assigned to bed rest and, well," she shrugs helplessly.
Here. An empty room filled with a semester of memories and vanished friends that Ruby was and never would be a part of. Fights and laughter and squabbling and make up until it broke apart and had never quite fixed until it left Yang the sole survivor of a once-promising team of Huntresses.
Ruby can't bear to say anything, can't lie about being alright like Jaune did, can't fake false cheer any longer, and so sits beside her sister and hugs her and tries not to sniffle. Yang returns the hug, thinking she wants comfort, but soon it's Yang who is sniffling and Ruby who is holding her close. Ruby cries first because she knows Yang wants to, and Yang breaks down because Ruby is willing to, and in the end they're both crying and grieving because good friends and better people are gone and the World seems too intent on keeping on moving and spinning to stop and care.
It continues as long as it needs to, but not forever. They settle down, giving each other refuge as only sisters can. "It's alright to cry," Ruby says, a bit late as she wipes tears from her own eyes. "How are you doing, Yang?" she asks, concerned.
"Terrible," he sister says, honestly this time.
"I'm thinking of quitting being a Huntress."
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i know you didn't plan this
you tried to do what's right
but in the middle of this madness
i'm the one you left to win this fight
red like roses
fills my head with dreams and finds me
always closer
to the emptiness and sadness
that has come to take the place of you
i know you're broken down by anger and by sadness
you feel I left you in a world that's full of madness
wish i could talk to you if only for a minute
make you understand the reasons why i did it
i wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered
want you to know that for eternity i'm shattered
i tried so hard just to protect you but i failed to
and in a prison of abandonment i've jailed you
i never planned that i would leave you there alone
i was sure that i would see you when i made it back home
and all the times I swore that it would be okay
now i'm nothing but a liar and you're thrown into the fray
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That's... This sensation.
The feeling she couldn't put a finger on is found. This song. It's not quite the right song- not for Jaune.
He was gone, yes. Part of her still doesn't believe it, yes. She'd wanted a friend for so long, hoped so hard, and been so sure that she would, that there really did feel like there was a Jaune-shaped hole cut in her heart. She misses him, yes.
But he'd never gone back on his word to her. He'd never made her fight. He'd done almost everything he could to keep her out of the fight, until the one time he'd had faith and she'd convinced him to give her a chance. And even though he'd left her behind so many times, he'd never, ever, abandoned her or left her locked away.
He'd given her the key. And then she'd- but then he'd-
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Author Notes:
Fun Fact: this entire story was planned around RWBY music. I'm a fan of the music- I listen to it for background noise during work- but it's especially good how you can use them to reinforce the themes of a story and guide impressions.
"I May Fall" was the the song this fic was built around- so much so that when I used and referenced music in Common Criminal Finale, I was worried I had spoiled the whole story for sharp observers. Fortunately it seems that everyone took them at face value, rather than look up the lyrics for foreshadowing. In fact, no one ever mentioned the song excepts at all, even though they were spread across every arc. I'm not even sure most people recognized them as RWBY songs. Thought it was bad poetry, perhaps?
