AN: We're here. At the end of the road.
Can't exactly say I'm surprised since I'm the one writing it. I'm relieved it's over, but like I sort of didn't want this to end. Even though I hated a lot of things about this story - the lack of good action until the previous chapter, the idiotic drink arc that never panned out and never should have started, that poll that I don't think I ever took down, Penny's nonexistent role, Ozpin, the lab, Ash as a whole - I can't say I'm not proud of most of them.
Thing is, I've had three years to read what I put down, and I feel like it's really bad. Like, "I know three ways of each scenario that I can do things better" bad. I might rewrite this, I might not. I might update the chapters, but that doesn't make sense to me. I'm probably just going to keep it as it is, mess and all. Mostly out of laziness, but I also have some other projects that I have to get started on if I ever want it done within the decade.
Anyways, that's enough of a rant before we even get into it. Might as well let you guys read.
Epilogue: Aftermath
"Ruby, are you going to be okay?" Weiss asked.
Ruby took another step towards the Emerald Forest before she stopped. She wrung her bandaged hands while her eyes laid on the ground. "I'll be fine," she promised.
Weiss was unconvinced by her meek voice. "You sure?" she went on.
Ruby turned around, letting Weiss see her face beneath her hood. A sad smile tried to reassure the girl in white. Even though her breaths were shaky, they came out methodically. "I'm sure," she affirmed.
The concern didn't disappear from Weiss's face, but a soft smile still made its way onto her features as a nice reassurance.
"Just wait for me, 'kay?" Ruby said without waiting for a response. She turned back to the forest and walked away, waving back at Weiss over her shoulder. Weiss stared back, hoping she wouldn't have to go after her partner.
The autumn breeze was crisp and chilling, biting through Ruby's layers of clothing. Grass crunched under her boots as Ruby neared the edge of the tree line. She stepped between two trunks, just a few feet into the forest but away from prying eyes. In the forest reserved for Hunters and aspiring students. In an area that was too calm for the Grimm to accidentally find.
The perfect place to have a grave for someone that no one wanted to see.
"Hey, Farayan," Ruby greeted the grave quietly. In the middle of a tight circle of trees, a large stone sat in a barren patch of dirt, half-buried in the ground while the point tipped up towards the sky. The surface was washed and scrubbed free of moss, although there were still divots and chips in the gray rock.
"I'm back." Ruby sat in front of the small shrine, pulling her knees close to her chest. "Weiss is with me, but she doesn't want to speak with you. Can't blame her, though – you made a lot of people hate you."
Autumn wind came to bite Ruby in the back, but she could barely feel it. "It's still weird, you know? That it's been six months?" Ruby didn't realize she let out a sad laugh. "You don't know how many doctors Dad made me see before they said I got better.
"Yang doesn't understand why I want to keep seeing you. She said it would be a lot easier if I looked at you as Ash instead of Farayan." She looked up at the reddening sky. "She has a point. You did a lot of awful things with your buddy. But I want to remember the guy that helped me. The guy that helped me out of the forest, who tried to make me feel better after I came back.
"The guy that helped me beat Ash."
Ruby's arms trembled against her frame, tears welling up as she kept smiling. "Look what you did to me, huh?" she laughed out with a soft sob. "I haven't cried over anything this much since Mom. And you had to try and break me again, huh?"
The grass rustled behind Ruby as she heard Weiss brandish her weapon. "What are you doing here?" Weiss's voice rang out with a harsh tone.
"Cool it, princess," an unfortunately familiar voice sounded annoyed. "I'm not here for a fight." Metal clinked against metal, not harsh enough for any sort of confrontation. "Since you're here, I'm guessing Little Red is too."
Footsteps sounded, like someone was scurrying away. "There is not a chance you're allowed anywhere near-" Weiss began.
"I'd rather not fight her either." The brush parted behind Ruby as the sound of boots on grass drew near. A tall figure in white stepped next to her, eyes forward at the gravestone and almost unaware of the girl next to him. The two kept their silence, in their own versions of mourning.
"So this is where you put his grave," Roman remarked, the bite in his voice not as noticeable as before. The closest Ruby heard Roman being soft. "Fitting, I guess."
"What do you want?" Ruby asked.
Roman sniffed. "Same thing you want?" he guessed. "Closure, paying respects, telling this guy he's an idiot - the whole package."
Ruby barely peeked over the top of her knees, finally looking at Roman's frowning face. "How'd you find this place?" she asked.
"I followed you," Roman said simply. "You're the only other person that would've liked that freak."
Ruby turned back to the grave. "He's not a freak," she mumbled.
A laugh escaped Roman. "I'm talking about Ash. Your boyfriend was too much of a goody-two-shoes. Ash, though." Roman stared at the sky, lost in thought. "That guy was crazy."
Ruby was afraid to ask, but with Roman here, the question bit at her heart. "Do you… do you hate me?"
"Hmm?" Roman looked over at the crouched girl. "For what?"
"I killed him," Ruby whispered in her softest voice. She'd come to terms with it over the past few months, but that didn't mean the throb in her heart faded away. "He's dead because of me."
Roman reached up and grasped his hat, holding it against his chest in a sign of respect. A minute passed before Roman found the words he needed to say. "I absolutely detest you," he started. "The most arduous and insanely annoying person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And I'm including Cinder. You've been a thorn in my side for so long - you know what an Atlesian cell is like?"
Ruby held herself tighter.
"But killing Ash had little to do with it." He went on. Ruby's sniffling stopped. "You know what Ash was always going on?" Roman asked.
Ruby nodded into her knees. "Always improving, survival of the fittest."
Roman grunted. "That's the one. The fact he died to you means he wasn't strong enough. That's all." A scoff escaped the man as he smiled to himself. "Well, he did ask that I don't take revenge on you if he did die, but that wasn't really an issue."
Ruby's grip lessened as she finally relaxed at Roman's words. "So you aren't mad," she said to herself.
"Nope," Roman popped.
A moment passed, then Ruby let out a laugh. A happy, dark laugh. Roman raised an eyebrow at the noise, taking his eyes off the grave for once. "Even you can forgive me," Ruby looked up with tear-stained eyes. "Why can't I?"
He wished he could say the look of despair on her face made him happy, but Roman had some morals. He was a criminal, not psychotic. He looked away, distracting the image of Ruby with a cigar and a lighter. "Because you lived it," he said, voice muffled by the tobacco in his mouth. "You're the one he tried to break – I was just an accomplice." The red-haired man took a puff, staring at the smoke that blew upwards. "The fact that you can ask that means he didn't."
Roman turned back to the grave, his cigar ready and waiting to be smoked. "If you break, He wins." No doubt who He was. "Simple as that."
Ruby considered his words. "Why are you trying to help me?" she wondered aloud.
A smirk danced on Roman's lips. "I'm proving a point to a friend that doesn't believe in 'us humans'."
For a moment, Ruby said nothing. Then, she took a deep breath, wiping her nose with a sleeve. She sniffed. "Thanks." The words sounded weird directed at a crime boss.
Roman focused back on the grave, his smirk deepening to Cheshire levels. "Nice to have you back, Little Red, as much of a pest as you are."
Ruby got to her feet as she wiped away the last of the tears with the back of a bandaged hand. She put on a sterner face. A few deep breaths through the nose and Ruby turned around. It was the first time she realized the lingering hot air after the cold breeze. One last breath of reassurance, and the girl pushed her way back out the tree line.
Weiss was waiting just behind the brush, evidently keeping an eye on Ruby as she stepped away, trying to act like there was no eavesdropping going on. When the girl in red emerged, though, the stoic expression on the heiress was instantly replaced with concern. "You alright?" she asked.
No, she wasn't. She hadn't been for a while. Ruby smiled as she took Weiss's hand, surprising them both. "I've been better," she quipped.
The hand shocked Weiss, but a pleasant warmth traveled up her arm. One that was even warmer when Ruby started to lean against her partner, resting her black mop of a head on her shoulder. Weiss giggled at Ruby's boldness as she leaned back into her.
Maybe Ruby wasn't okay. Maybe Ash did break her. Maybe she wasn't truly over the death and the killing.
But she could get better. And she had friends that would make sure she would.
"Let's go home," Weiss offered, half-pulling and half-leaning on the girl.
AN: And that's a wrap.
Yeah, at the end of the day I gave Ruby a good ending. Considering how my initial planned ending consisted of Ruby literally drinking blood as an addiction, I think I did pretty well at wrapping up the story.
Also, I had to give a little bit of a nod to the ship I support the most. Always wanted White Rose to be a thing, never really thought about making my own until three chapters ago.
Thank you to everyone who is still reading this. Thank you for staying with me until the end of this painful, fun, sad journey. To the people that kept reviewing, the ones that PM'd me about this story, the ones that followed and favorited. To GreenDooredBookshop for being my unofficial partner in this story, to the people in that dumb, fun Discord that inspired me not to give up so easily on this story. Thank you all for all of this.
I think I'm starting to get the hang of this "writing" thing.
I'm making another story soon - Silver-Eyed Curse. And I'm going to absolutely hate loving this next one. Instead of going from Volume 1 or 2, I'm starting over. New world, new laws. Probably won't start until 2021, so something to look forward to in the new year at the least.
All in all, goodbye to a nice story. Retrospect hate it, but it's a very nice story in the moment. Last time I'm also going to say what I'm about to: it's pretty corny anyway.
Signing out,
Flames of Fire.