Although Ruby had significantly underestimated the time it would take for Team RNJR to make the journey from Patch to Haven, Nora & Ren, having spent much of their own lives on the road, had worked out that by starting their journey in mid-winter, warmer weather should have started to come around by the time they reached Anima. Unfortunately the freezing period lasted longer than they had expected, and the team had been stuck in the port town for several days until the weather cleared enough for them to move on. But a couple of weeks into their trek, the cold very suddenly returned.
"It's going to snow," Ren announced late one afternoon, his eyes locked on the grey clouds gathering in the darkening sky.
"You sure?" Jaune asked, looking up from the map.
"Yes," Ren answered curtly. "How much further to the next village?"
"At least two days."
"No good. We're going to need to find somewhere to shelter tonight."
With the call made, the team picked up the pace to cover as much ground as possible before they had to stop. Another hour of walking passed before Ren announced it was time to go off-track and find a good location to camp. After a brief search, they discovered some nearby cliffs, the formation of which provided a cave-like overhang which would mostly protect them from the elements. The decision to set up there was made as snowflakes began to slowly swirl down from the sky. Ruby volunteered to gather wood for the fire, and she darted away before the other three could argue against it.
As Jaune laid out his sleeping bag, he overheard Nora chattering away to her partner.
"Reeennnn," she said, drawing out his name. "It's gonna be suuuper cold tonight…"
"Yes, I'm aware," he said, his attention focused on preparing the small ration of food for that night's dinner.
"Soo, I was wondering if you wanna...share a sleeping bag?"
Ren turned around at that, and Jaune was certain his lips quirked every so slightly. "Of course," he said, and Nora latched her arms around him tightly with a giggle. He went back to his work, completely unaffected by the ginger's iron grip.
Ruby returned shortly after, dumping a pile of wood down in the centre of the group. She brushed off her snow-covered shoulders, and wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver coursed across her body.
Jaune, observing this, and figuring it'd be too cold to risk doing his nighttime training, attempted to take a leaf out of Nora' playbook. "Hey, Ruby?" the little reaper glanced over at him. "It's gonna be pretty cold tonight, even with the fire. Do you wanna…" he trailed off as his confidence began to wane. He cleared his throat, and repeated, "Do you wanna share a sleeping bag tonight?"
He thought he saw Ruby flinch, and a frown cross her face, but with the shadows it was impossible to tell for sure. "Err, no thanks Jaune. I'll be alright, and anyway, it'll probably be too tight for both of us in one!"
Of course, what a stupid idea it was anyway. Why would Ruby, the strong and capable leader, everything he wasn't, need to share warmth on a cold night? He forced a smile, and managed to push out a chuckle alongside it. "Oh yeah, I mean, I'm pretty big. I'd probably just crush you in my sleep!"
Ruby laughed at his jibe, the sweet noise stabbing his heart in a way that was equally wonderful and agonising. Jaune shoved down his self-directed anger and loathing for the rest of that evening, as the group lit the fire and ate dinner. When the temperature really began to drop as daylight faded, the four decided that was the point to slip into their sleeping bags, Nora grinning broadly as she squeezed in with Ren. They said their goodnights, and eventually even Jaune, suppressing his mass of dark thoughts, managed to drift off into slumber.
Jaune awoke with a shiver, the temperature well below freezing for sure, even with the fire still flickering away. One of the others must've topped it up with some fire dust. He glanced over towards the forest. It had stopped snowing at least, but not before a fine layer had formed on the ground and on the regrowing tree leaves. If it stayed frozen in the morning, it was gonna make their journey a lot more difficult. He could just make out a crow as it hopped from perch-to-perch in the trees, seeming like it was trying to keep itself warm.
As Jaune closed his eyes again, he heard the quietest sound, a tiny, almost inaudible snuffle, come from the direction of his travelling companions. His eyes snapped back open, and he slowly craned his head around towards them. Ren was facing him, and he was clearly asleep, silent breaths passing in and out of his nose. Nora, her face buried in his shoulder, displayed her own state of sleep with a quiet, recognisable snore. Which left one last person…
Ruby was lying on her side, her back to Jaune. She was utterly still, unnaturally so in his opinion. As he stared, an almost imperceptible tremble seemed to run up her spine, coupled with another, very quiet sniffle.
Jaune was frozen, in more than one sense of the word. On one hand, Ruby was clearly in distress, but on the other, she was obviously attempting to hide it from the others, something he himself had been succeeding in during their journey. It occurred to him that this could be the reason why she didn't want to share a sleeping bag with him. He knew he wouldn't take it well if any of them found him training with Pyrrha's video in the middle of the night.
In the end, Jaune's deep sense of care for his friends won out. There was no way he could leave someone he loved to suffer in silence. The blond slowly slipped out of his sleeping bag, instantly being met with the freezing cold air. Suppressing a shiver, he dragged his bag with him as he shuffled the distance over to his fellow leader's side.
"Ruby?" he whispered. She made no movement, nor an audible response. He sighed, and pressed further, "Ruby, I know you're awake."
Jaune heard her inhale deeply, and mutter, "I'm sorry for waking you."
"Don't worry, I was already up. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You should go back to sleep."
"Ruby, look. I heard you..."
"Nothing's wrong!" she hissed. "Just... go back to sleep and leave me alone!"
He flinched backwards a bit. Clearly Ruby was not going to open up without a fight, and he didn't want to push her too hard lest they wake up Nora & Ren. Jaune had one final play come to mind, it was a dirty trick, but she probably wasn't going to let him get closer any other way. "Yeah, you're right, I should probably go back to sleep, it's just that it's real cold out here, and I'm sure all the heat in my sleeping bag has gone by now…"
Ruby didn't move or say anything for a few moments, until she gingerly shifted herself over a little, allowing Jaune enough room to slip inside the bag, though she still kept her back to him. Once he was in, he laid his own bag on top to provide a small bit of extra insulation. After a few moments of further adjustment to make himself comfortable, he hesitantly reached out a hand, placing it on her shoulder, and despite her earlier hostility she didn't protest to the contact.
Several minutes of silence followed, only punctuated with crackling of the fire, the rustle of the trees in the wind and Ruby's laboured breathing. "...I'm sorry," she finally whispered.
Jaune was taken aback. "What?"
"I couldn't save her. I...I was too slow."
"Ruby, no. It wasn't your fault," he tried to assure, but she ploughed on regardless.
"I couldn't get to Pyrrha in time, and I couldn't save Penny, and...and Yang…" she hiccuped, and wrapped her arms tight around herself. "Why aren't you...angry with me? Pyrrha's dead because…" she couldn't finish the sentence as a sob finally escaped her.
"Ruby, look at me," Jaune said. He felt her shake her head. "Look at me. Please," he repeated, this time a lot more firm. She finally turned herself over, but kept her gaze away from Jaune's eyes. He reached out, and gently embraced her. "Nothing that happened at Beacon was your fault. I don't blame you. At all."
Ruby was silent, other than the hiccuping sobs she was still trying to hold back. Then, without warning she mumbled, "Yang's gonna hate me."
That did surprise him. "Wha-what do you mean? Yang loves you! W-why would she-"
Ruby cut him off, her voice increasing in pitch as she spoke, "I left her. Raven left her, Mom left her, Blake left her and she needed me but I left her!"
Jaune cringed as her voice rose again, but with a glance behind him, he could tell Nora & Ren were still asleep. He racked his brains frantically to think of something to say in response. "Ruby. Yang's your sister. Yes, she's angry because of what happened, maybe even at you. But I'm sure, in fact, I can promise, there's no way she'll ever hate you."
He finally closed the remaining distance between them, hugging Ruby tightly to himself. She buried her face into his chest as the dam finally broke. Loud sobs, muffled by the fabric of his hoodie, poured from her as she bled months of pain and despair from her heart. He felt a twinge of guilt, thinking of how many nights she had possibly spent lying awake, crying herself to sleep as quietly as she could. He could at least make it up by being here for her now.
Another set of long minutes passed, during which Ruby's sobs slowly dissipated into little sniffles. She eventually croaked out, "J-Jaune, I-I'm…" she interrupted herself with a swallow as she struggled to speak, and Jaune used the opening to his advantage.
"Please Ruby, don't apologise any more. Nothing was your fault. You did everything you could."
Ruby yawned, utterly spent after venting her emotions. Rather than protest or argue anymore, she instead gave Jaune a tiny smile. "Th-thanks Jaune. For being here," she said, as her eyelids drooped shut, the fatigue of countless sleepless nights finally catching up with her.
"It's no problem Ruby," he smiled back, leaning in to plant a gentle kiss on her temple. "If you ever need to talk to any of us, we'll be here."
As she drifted off to sleep, Jaune resolved to let Nora & Ren know just how much Ruby had been hiding from them. None of the three would try to push her, but if she needed them, they would all be ready to support her.
And besides. It'd stop them from wasting their energy worrying about him.