Me? Combining several of my ideas into one fic so that I don't have to write as much? It's more likely than you'd think. This is set after the finale, in an AU where only Ruby and Yang fell, so spoilers ahead. Enjoy!

When she finds Crescent Rose abandoned on the beach, Yang's heart stops. For a moment, her body is seized with fear, her heart pounding while her thoughts race frantically.

Did Ruby fall as well? It seems too cruel of an idea, for her sister to have fallen anyway after Yang had tried so hard to protect her. But if Ruby hadn't been knocked into the void with her Crescent Rose, then that means her sister is up there fighting against Cinder and Neo without a weapon to defend herself with.

She honestly can't decide which option is worse.

Yang doesn't realize that she'd started crying until she feels tears dripping off her chin onto the sandy ground below. She wipes furiously at her face, but she can't stop the sob that forces its way out of her mouth. For a moment, she's seized by terror and despair. She's alone. She has no idea where her teammates or her sister are. She has no idea where she is, or how to get out of here. And Ruby might be in danger.

What is she supposed to do?

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" A voice coming from somewhere nearby jolts Yang out of her thoughts. She turns around, trying to locate where it's coming from. That voice sounds awfully familiar—

"Yang!" She jumps at the sound of her name. That's definitely Ruby's voice. But how—

"Oof!" She grunts in surprise when her sister suddenly slams into her, wrapping her arms around her in one of her infamous supersonic hugs, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. Yang spits out the ones that end up in her mouth.

"Yang! I'm so glad I found you! I thought I was all alone in this weird place!" her sister exclaims. After a long moment, Ruby finally pulls back, allowing Yang to catch her breath. "Where are we, anyway?"

"I have no idea," Yang admits, before frowning suspiciously at her sister. "How did you end up down here, anyway?"

"Ah, well." Ruby immediately looks sheepish. "I was kind of—really mad after Neo knocked you off, since I thought you were dead. I might have—lost control for a minute there."

"Ruby." Yang runs a hand through her hair in frustration. Her sister's anger is touching, but she never wanted this to happen. "I never wanted you to end up here with me."

"I know," Ruby says in a small voice. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, sis." Yang wraps an arm around her sister's shoulders, ruffling her hair. "It's not like you can do anything about it now, anyway."

"Yeah." Ruby scuffs one of her boots in the sand. "Where are we, anyway? When Ambrosius warned us not to fall, he didn't say anything about this. How do we get out of here? Weiss and Blake and Penny and everyone could be in danger!"

"I have no idea," Yang shrugs, trying to seem less afraid than she feels. "Knowing Ambrosius, there's probably no easy way out of this."

"Yeah," Ruby says again, sighing loudly. "At least we're not dead, right? At least, I don't feel dead, anyway."

"Yeah," Yang agrees, biting her lip. She can tell that Ruby is being overly cheerful in an attempt not to panic. "Why don't we take a look around, try to figure out where we are? Maybe we can find a way to get back to the others."

"Sounds like a plan!" Ruby chirps.

Ruby is going to lose it at any moment, Yang can tell. Her sister's breathing is harsh as she stumbles through the trees behind her, sounding increasingly close to a panic attack. But every time Yang asks her how she's doing or if she wants to take a break, Ruby insists that she's fine.

So, they keep on walking.

But eventually, Ruby trips over an exposed root and is sent sprawling face-first into the dirt, and the dam holding back her emotions finally breaks. She sniffles harshly, trying and failing to stifle a sob. Yang sighs quietly before crouching down next to her sister.

"It's okay, Ruby. You can let go now."

"I don't—" Ruby tries to insist, before she's cut off by another sob, her face crumpling. She hastily buries her face in her arms, as if she's still trying to hide her emotions from the world. Even though it's just the two of them here, alone together.

Enough is enough.

Yang sighs again before tugging her sister up into her lap and wrapping her arms around her. "You're too stubborn for you own good sometimes, you know that?"

Ruby just sobs in response, burying her face in Yang's shoulder. Her shirt quickly becomes soaked with tears and snot, but Yang doesn't even notice, too busy carding her hand through Ruby's hair and rubbing her sister's back and murmuring soothing words.

Ruby has needed this for a long time.

Finally, her sister sits up and pulls away, scrubbing furiously at her face. "Sorry," she mumbles hoarsely, an ashamed expression on her face. "I didn't mean to freak out on you like that."

"No need to apologize." Yang quickly waves her off. "It sounds like you've been needing that for a while."

"Yeah, maybe," Ruby admits reluctantly, letting out a watery chuckle. "It's just—it's all been so much lately, you know? With Ironwood and Salem and the Hound Penny and what was happening in Mantle and what might have happened to Mom. And now this. I just—sometimes I'm not sure how much longer I can keep going."

"That's totally understandable, sis," Yang reassures her. "You try to be so strong for everyone all the time, but you can't keep going like that forever. It's okay to let yourself fall apart every now and then, you know?"

"I know," Ruby replies. "It just—it feels so selfish, when there's so much riding on the decisions I make, taking time for my silly emotions."

"Well, tough," Yang scolds her gently. "If you keep bottling everything up until you explode, you're not going to be able to help anyone, least of all yourself. Cut yourself some slack already, okay?"

"I'll try," Ruby says quietly, wiping the last of the tears from her face. "Thanks, Yang."

"No problem, sis." Yang gives her a few more minutes to catch her breath. "You ready to keep going, or do you want to rest here a little bit longer?"

"I can keep going," Ruby insists immediately, pushing herself to her feet. She seems much lighter on her feet than before, the tension in her shoulders and the lines in her face gone. "Let's go!"

But they don't make it more than a few steps forward before they hear what sounds like something metal slicing through the air. Both girls whirl around, expecting an attack—

Instead, what they see is a red and black portal swirling in the air. As they watch, a tall woman with dark hair steps out, gazing at them imperiously.

It's Raven Branwen.

For a moment, the three women stare at each other in silence, eying each other in disbelief.

Ruby and Yang are the ones to break the quiet that has fallen over them. "Raven," they say in unison.

"Hello, girls," Raven says tonelessly, as unruffled and unconcerned as if the three of them had simply encountered each other while out shopping. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to find the pair of you here."

"Trust me, we weren't either," Yang mutters under her breath.

"Well, it's not like I was planning on checking in with you or anything, but I did receive your sister's little message," Raven replies archly. "And Tai insisted that I help with the fight in Atlas." She rolls her eyes. "But the two of you aren't in Atlas, now, are you."

"Hopefully, nobody is," Ruby says quietly. "When we left, the city was falling."

"The city was falling?" Despite her efforts to seem unaffected, Raven's eyes widen at that. "Well, I'm sure it's a long story, but I'd rather not hang around here for long. Are you two coming or not?"

Yang and Ruby glance at each other before nodding in agreement. "We'll come with you," Ruby says.

"Well then," Raven says, gesturing to the portal she came through, still swirling in midair beside her. "After you."

Side by side, the sisters step into the portal. The peaceful greens and browns of the forest are quickly replaced by the stormy mass of black and red cutting through the air.

Whatever is waiting for them on the other side, at least they made it out of here together.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it.

Just a reminder that I do take requests for fics, so if there's an idea that you'd like to see me write, feel free to message me and if I like it, I might end up writing something for it. Also, if you like one of my ideas and want to write your own fic for it, feel free! I'm not possessive with my ideas, and most of my writing is self-indulgent anyway, so all that I ask is that you let me know so I can read it.