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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"I'm thinking of quitting being a Huntress."

Ruby is shocked. Yang explains.

"I'm the only one left, even though I was the leader. I was responsible for them, and I- I failed. It's just… it's hard to believe they're all gone."

"Blake was first, disappeared after that stupid fight. We tried looking for her, we really did, but then-" she rubbed her red eyes, refusing to cry again. "I promised myself I wouldn't quit, wouldn't give up on her until I found her, dead or alive. But we couldn't find her at all. And that's worse, in a way- not knowing how it ends, not sure if it's stupid to hope or not."

Yang sighed, dispirited. "In the end, it didn't matter. I still couldn't find her, and so I'm a liar as well as a bad friend and a terrible leader, and I almost failed as a sister too."

"Yang…" Ruby comforted, squeezing her softly.

Ruby tried to reject that, tried to refute so many things with a single compassionate assurance. That it wasn't the end, wasn't too late to keep on trying, that just because friends were lost didn't mean she was a bad leader, or a bad friend, and that Yang was an amazing sister. She wanted to say all that, but could only manage one word that couldn't begin to encompass all that.

Yang gave her a grateful smile none the less.

"When you had disappeared, I was terrified. I felt so bad for asking Uncle Qrow to help, for letting you come along when he suggested it. I knew you were strong, but when you disappeared- I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something had happened to you." She gave Ruby a squeeze, glad she was there and unharmed. Glad to have been there when Ruby made the call, showing herself better than alive and warning them of what was to come.

"But then, the train- I don't think I can take that again. Deal with that sort of fear and worry again. Not after a total party wipe because I wasn't good enough."

(One KIA, soon to be officially and publicly buried with tributes and honors. One still MIA, which everyone knows really means dead but no one can find the body. One WIA, badly enough that her body would be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Even if she'd vowed that she wouldn't let it stop her ambitions, how could she keep on being a Huntress? She couldn't. It was the same form letter for all of them- The Kingdoms of Remnant can only thank….)

"At least you lived," Ruby said. "Someone saved you." Uncle Qrow had refused to speak on the fate of her sister until they found the blond girl sleeping in the bullhead. She wouldn't wake up until well after they'd returned to Vale, and when she had it had been with no memory of how she got there or who had moved her.

"Yeah. Someone did," Yang said softly, but there was no gratitude in her voice. "And I'm going to spend my new free time trying to find them, thank them, and then ask why they didn't choose to save anyone else if they had that much power and the chance to save me. And if I don't like the answer-"

She clenched a fist, eyes not red from tears anymore. If she didn't like the answer- and she couldn't think of an answer she would like- they'd burn.

Ruby was concerned, but trusted Yang. "If you say so. It's just… I'd like it if there was someone I knew here when I come to Beacon," she admitted.

Yang froze. "You… still intend to become a Huntress?" she asked. "After all this?"

After everything that had gone wrong? After everything that had changed? After her own failed promise?

"Ruby," Yang said, utterly serious and grabbing her tiny sister by the arms as if to shake some sense into her. "If you've ever loved me- if you've ever loved Mom- if you've ever cared for your friend, and if you ever believed any of us cared for you- don't."

Yang looked at her sister, desperate and afraid.

"Yang, I-"

"Please, Ruby," Yang begged. "Give me your word. You can do anything else- be a cop, a doctor, make weapons for a living. Just not this."

"Yang-"

"Promise me you won't become a Huntress."

"I-"

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this bedtime story ends with misery ever after
the pages are torn and there's no final chapter
i didn't have a choice I did what I had to do
i made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you

i know you've lived a nightmare
i caused you so much pain
but baby please don't do what i did
i don't want you to waste your life in vain

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Author Notes:

1 Common Criminal Jaune = 1 Team PWBY = 4 Huntresses = Countless innocent lives saved.

By the math, I'd say this story has a happier end than not, wouldn't you?

Speaking of happier things, I've more or less decided on my next project. No timeline or date expected- probably next year if ever- but it's passed the Outline phase, and the beta-to-be likes. I believe the exact words were 'i think it was beautiful, dark too... perefeeeeect.'

Keep an eye for something special this evening.