A/N: All of the thanks to actualbampot for absolutely gunning the proofreading and edits on these last few chapters!

As Ruby regained her senses, she steadily became aware of the fact that she was tied down by something that could only be Grimm, and yet, it did not warrant a flicker of her eyes. Instead, her aura buzzed under the strain of razor sharp needles that spilled with a reddish black liquid.

The sight triggered a panicked reach for Crescent Rose that was nowhere in sight. As the loss of the Huntress' weapon dawned upon her, shock and dread drained all colour from face, and Cinder couldn't help but to feel a painful sting of empathy. There was no telling whether they'd be able to recover it. As insignificant as it seemed, all Cinder could offer was words of comfort.

But Ruby's panic beat her to it. "Cinder where are we-"

The vines hissed in turn, constricting and coiling up her torso the more she struggled.

Cinder, straining to keep her tone calm and collected, said, "Calm down. Calm down. It's alright." But what comforted Ruby only served a reminder of her own situation. Turning her attention to the soft glow pulsating through the dark roots. "These vines are… receptive to aura and emotions. Keep a clear head and your aura expanded."

And as Ruby's memories returned with each sweep across the black chasm, following the Tree to the spots of red light above, so did it take her breath away as realisation dawned with an odd mixture of fascination and trepidation. "We're... we're here. This is where all Grimm comes from. We found it, we…" Replaced by a haunting realisation. "How long have we been here?"

And for a moment Cinder felt the same fear of having missed their one chance to return to civilization. But their dire circumstances quickly had her turn to a pragmatic response. "Not more than a few hours." The woman eyed the glow of her extracted magic that was slowly but surely making its way to the base of the tree.

What should have been a glimmer of relief only reminded the woman that time was not on her side, that she'd grow tired and give in eventually. "If we had been unconscious for any longer…" The very thought had Cinder's survival instincts rearing its head with a defiant screech. It clawed for the extracted traces of magic and pulled back.

It seemed such sentience did not take well to being provoked: Vines, roots and branches hissed, leaves shriveling up ever so slightly as it rejected the abyss that clouded around the foliage. A momentary comfort. One moment Cinder couldn't feel the parasite's presence, the next, it yanked at something inside of her with such force that the woman was afraid she was being torn up from the inside. Vertigo and startling phantom pains rang painfully through the chasm with Cinder's cry, that spurred Ruby into action.

"Hold on I'm coming!"

Before Cinder could even think to protest, Ruby slipped out of the thorny grasp in a flurry of rose petals. Re-assembling, the young woman crouched on the branch that connected to the woman's arm. Ruby took in every detail as her gaze followed the glowing trail that grew all the more precarious with poison laced thorns and coils around Cinder's neck. When Ruby's gaze finally met Cinder's, it was with a determined expression that wavered ever so slightly under all the fear and apprehension. Ruby's effort, always commendable, made the woman want to offer some sense of reassurance. "I… don't know how much longer until my aura breaks." But she could not bring herself to do so, for the moment felt much too fragile for well-intended lies. "And if that happens... there would be nothing stopping these things from…"

But Ruby, as stubborn as she was, would have none of such things. She pried the knife free that had previously sat just out of Cinder's reach, and cautiously lowered it to her upper arm, forcing a smile that had Ruby's voice crack under the pressure. "You just focus on maintaining your aura, okay?"

Ruby was scared, not of the possibility of failing, but of hurting her. That whatever she had to do would hurt Cinder more than her eyes ever could. Something else to add to her pile of guilt.

Meeting the other's resolve, Cinder nodded with silent confirmation, deciding then and there that no matter what happened, she would not scream.

Ruby raised the knife in a shaking grasp, then stilled the moment she drove it down, digging into the vines and slashing with the intensity of a wild animal with a noose around its neck. Cinder's noose spat black liquid and flailed at its severed ends, creating an opening that had Cinder pushed her worn aura against, thrumming with every drop of her semblance. Quickly, the heat of her semblance and aura strain grew almost too much to bear.

It was going to be close. Too close.

Heaving, and skin damp with sweat, Ruby lifted the knife once more, ready to finish it, only for a vine to shoot out, sending Ruby crashing into the opposite end of the chasm with a dangerous flicker of red.

"Ruby-

Cinder, cut off by the dark spots swimming in the edge of her vision, slow suffocation that had since been masked by panic. Then, an ear splitting screech was felt at the core of Cinder's being, thrummed through the connective tissue. Vines and bark gushed black liquid that congealed to form the creatures of Grimm.

A biped, a quadruped, a Griffon, a Taiju, ever shifting and changing. A combination of alien and familiar ran a chill down Cinder's spine. The realisation slowly dawned upon Cinder that even if Ruby would be able to defeat them with a pathetic shard of glass, it could never be fast enough.

And yet, she still found the young woman standing at her side, holding the knife in an unwavering grip, her eyes flickering with barely-contained light as it darted across the shifting silhouettes.

When she spoke, it was with determination that left no space for doubt or argument. "You might not have enough aura, but I do. With my semblance I can use my aura to shield you from the Grimm." Ruby's expression strained ever so slightly. "I won't be able to get to your magic. So we'll have to time it as one blast."

Cinder swallowed thickly. If… if this went wrong, if her powers weren't strong enough to overwhelm the Grimm, then it would be ripped out of her. And if her aura broke before that, then she'd be dead before Ruby managed to get her out of this chasm.

Ruby…

Cinder's chest ached at the very thought of something happening to her. But in the midst of the chaos swirling in her mind, Ruby was able to pull her back with a smile.

"We can do it."

A moment of silence.

Cinder nodded.

The Grimm attacked

The closest one lunged at Ruby. The young woman reacted instinctively, slashing at the creature which was merely testing the waters. The gash across pulsating flesh healed in a matter of seconds, covered in a fresh layer of liquid. Then, a horrific screech erupted from the Grimm. Signaling to the others to attack at once, and what was supposed to be the blow to break Cinder's aura bounced off against the flurry of crackling rose petals. Cinder came to the harrowing realisation that Ruby won't last long once those vines turned their attention on her.

Cinder blocked out the thought, closed her eyes.

Searching for the essence of her magic, she did not tug or tapp into it, but simply became aware of its power. Then, she called it forth: the fire, while keeping it inside and out of reach. Blocking out the sounds of crackling aura and roaring Grimm, Cinder furrowed her brows. She poured all her attention into fueling the fire of her magic until the heat spread across her body. The woman could feel the Grimm claw forth, sapping at the expended heat. But she would not make it easy. With a sharp intake, Cinder increased the heat tenfold. The Grimm hissed in pain. Sweat dripped down her skin, mixing with the poison and Grimm liquid that could not yet touch her.

Ruby's aura flickered dangerously in tandem with hers. Time was up. But her power hadn't built nearly enough. Cinder stoked the fire, feeding it until she felt her body burn. She tasted blood on her tongue. Grimm fed on the waves of magic that rolled off of her, but still she did not stop. Cinder turned her magic into a blazing fire that would incinerate her the moment she lost control.

And in that moment, her aura shattered.

The whirlwind of fire and rose petals erupted into a blast of white fire. Contracting, almost disappearing before the carnage of silver and Maiden's eyes engulfed the abyss.

For a split second, the world around Cinder was white. When she broke free of the light, streaking to the red glow above, Cinder felt herself breathe for what felt like the first time. As she glanced down at Ruby's unconscious body held tightly against her chest, marred with soot and cuts left by the explosion, Cinder caught sight of the carnage left behind. Dust and debris, Grimm liquid spattered across the chasm walls. The Tree bled from the blast, its heartbeat slowed to post mortem.

Whatever the Grimm would grow back as, however stronger they would become, it didn't linger in Cinder's thoughts. Mind made up, she tapped into her powers, overused and rearing in pain, and collapsed the entrance behind them. A heap of rock that would hopefully be man's last encounter with Grimm's genesis.

The relief of being on the surface once more was short lived. The next two days passed as a blur, wherein minutes felt like agonizing hours. In a remarkable stroke of luck of finding a broken glass container, Cinder managed to relocate their camp, the plateau a heap of rubble. Their scrolls, crushed to bits. One backpack was salvageable, the other lost in another chasm that Cinder closed with great struggle, and little regret.

Cinder used the last of their bandages and ointment on the lacerations on Ruby's side and leg, and while the woman knew Ruby was likely to be out cold for a day at least, each minute that ticked by without her company felt heavy in Cinder's chest. The emotion became very hard to shove back down, especially upon discovering a chunk of metal, horribly warped out of shape.

Crescent Rose.

Ruby's beloved weapon, an extension to the young woman's warrior spirit. Cinder knew they had to leave it behind. She would not be able to carry Ruby, their remaining supplies and the scythe with one arm, much less with the Maiden powers that had been run ragged. The woman wasn't sure which hurt more. Regardless, Cinder unfolded the weapon with a metallic screech that made her wince. With a heavy and shaking arm, she lodged the blade into the ground. Once a weapon, now a warning that Huntsmen and Huntresses knew too well.

Had it been any weapon but Ruby's, Cinder might have found it amusing. The thought of leaving behind a sign of their demise, only for those to see it, to likely meet such a fate.

Stepping back and turning to the huntress lying soundly under the grey promise of a thunderstorm, Cinder could only hope that Ruby would forgive her. With a better handle on their surroundings and recollection of how far they strayed from their initial path, the woman had a vague direction to go by. But it was not the possibility of missing their flight that drove Cinder to shoot across the Grimmlands, as much as it was the lightning bolts flashing by.

As a stroke of blinding light missed Cinder by mere inches, the woman realised that no airship would descend past the clouds and risk being shot down. Breaking past the protective barrier and into the crimson void of the night sky was of little comfort. The lack of distinguishable landmarks and clear direction meant that Cinder was flying blind. And keeping her eye open, burning with fatigue, was another battle entirely.

But then she saw it.

A blurry white and blue dot amongst a sea of red.

Using all that was left of her energy and adrenaline, Cinder spurred them forth, as if the airship might turn into a mirage, or figment of the woman's delusion. But no, the doors opened, wind battered the inside of the ship that looked just like when they'd left it.

Four days. They were here four days ago, but Cinder felt like she had been gone for years, as if in some minuscule way the person she left as was not the person she was now. And as the woman thought back to what felt like an eternity ago, everything came rushing back.

Ruby slipped from her grasp, taken by the questioning medic that dissolved into the background static. The woman opened her mouth to reply. Cinder thought she did. She didn't even feel in control of her body. Left to stare at her shifting surroundings, blurry.

Turning.

Spinning.

Before she could feel her legs give out from under her…

...Unconscious.

Cinder found herself gently drifting between the darkness of her dreams and the luminescent blue of her surroundings. The colour tugged at the distant memory of being chained to a hospital bed, caught in a world of pain from which the woman was sure she'd never escape.

Only this time, it was not as cold, the blinding lights not as harsh, and half obscured by a blurry figure whose name came to mind before her vision cleared.

Ruby.

In the split second that it took for the name to cross her mind, Cinder exhaled in relief. Her heartbeat spiked, flooding her dull, aching body with a warmth that was difficult to describe, spurring her to want to sit up, to open her mouth and spill thoughts that were still a muddled cloud in her mind. And yet, merely tensing her muscles had them crying out. For now, Cinder was content in staring at the woman, who was yet to realise she was awake.

Sitting at her bedside Ruby stared down at Cinder's body as if caught in a trance; Her eyes unblinking and not quite focused as she gently traced circles over the back of Cinder's right hand. The gesture was simple and oddly comforting, helping ground Cinder in the moment as the blurry edges around Ruby's features disappeared. They were replaced with an odd sharpness that could only be an amalgamation of exhaustion and the light filtering through thick grey clouds. But even now, Cinder was able to see past the surface, a mixture of calm and concern. Ruby's posture and half-lidded gaze, relaxed. Her tightly drawn lips and upward slant of her eyebrows, worried. There was no doubt that both emotions were whirring in the young woman's head, one trying to overcome the other.

Despite how slow everything seemed, Cinder decided quickly that she would have none of that. Straining against her muscles' defiance, the woman squeezed Ruby's hand in comfort. A touch so light, and yet…

"….C-Cinder?"

Ruby's eyes went wide with disbelief and glistening with tears. She was unsure of what to do until Cinder re-assured her with the upward twitch of her lips.

In the blink of an eye, Cinder found herself wrapped in Ruby's embrace, clutching onto her as if she could slip away at any second. The young woman buried her face in the crook of Cinder's neck where Cinder could feel her choked gasps and sobs against her skin, followed by the crack of her voice.

"I-I was so worried. I'm s-so sorry I… I thought- shouldn't have brought us there… I didn't mean-"

"Shhh." Cinder whispered, lifting her shaking arm to return the gesture, her hand finding its way into Ruby's messy hair and gently combing through it. "Enough of that now." She said, a gentle reprimand that only wanted to soothe the young woman's worry. Cinder's hand slid to Ruby's cheek, prompting her to look up. "All that matters… is that we're here. We're safe." Cinder felt a twinge in her chest, released by a relieved exhale that barely carried the softness in her voice. "You're safe."

Nothing made her more relieved than seeing Ruby smile, eyes crinkling with glee as she turned her cheek into the warmth of Cinder's touch. "Thanks to you."

Cinder, always one to cover any feeling of pride behind a veil of self-imposed indignation. "What sort of partner would I be… if I relied on you to save us once again? I can't… have you do all the work… now can I?"

Ruby perked up with interest, speaking hesitantly, but unable to hide the excitement in her voice: "Partners?" Only for her smile to break out into an amused grin. "Not just 'unfortunately stuck together'? Or what was it that you used to call me?" Teasing as she spoke, she leant forward to wiggle her eyebrows in a way that made Cinder want to roll her eyes.

"So…infuriatingly annoying."

Her trying-to-sound-grouchy-voice, as Ruby called it, earned herself a giggle that revebarted against Cinder's chest. It tugged at her healing wounds with aches that were oddly pleasant. Such pleasantries gave way to a lighter silence.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked, mindful of such silence with her delicate murmur.

Cinder, always willing to voice her aggravations, responded with a deadpan reply.

"Dreadful."

Ruby, chuckled against the strain in her tone, ever trying to be the optimist. "Y-yeah. It was really close. But the medics say everything is going to be okay. You just have really bad aura strain. The worst they've ever seen, actually." Now that Cinder could believe.

Aura strain usually meant feeling uncomfortable, mild aches here and there, and a slower recovery rate. Only, the woman was caught on the opposite end of the spectrum, still trying to so much as feel or move her legs. A symptom like that was more likely attributed to the use of her Maiden powers, which she was relieved to feel intact, if not tender in some way. "So it's gonna take awhile for your aura to recover and heal everything." As much as her current state made Cinder feel much too vulnerable, she would readily accept it over the alternative.

"And your injuries?" Cinder asked with a raised brow, only then realizing how Ruby had disregarded her corset for the comfort of the shirt underneath, her cape draped over her shoulders like a blanket. They had left an extra pair of clothes in the airship for their return, and Cinder was itching for a clean pair before the feeling would become literal: What she wouldn't give for a warm shower...

"My aura is still recovering but everything else is healed up." Ruby gestured to her legs and abdomen as to assure the other. "My eyes took the most of it." Cinder didn't miss how Ruby's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "I was actually glad for the overcast weather. Before that, everything was too bright and blurry at the same time. Even now things are still a little fuzzy." As if on cue, Ruby rubbed her eye, blinking rapidly as her eyes struggled to focus. "Wh-when I woke up in the ship I almost thought everything was a dream. But then my head started hurting and it felt like the morning after one of Yang's parties." An amused chuckle slipped past the young woman's lips. "Luckily I was not nearly as sway-ey."

Ruby, drunk? Swaying on her feet, cheeks pink and babbling incoherently more so than usual?

Now that was something Cinder would like to see.

"Hand over some disinfectant and we might be able to forget this endeavor."

Surprisingly however, when Ruby did slide out of Cinder's field of vision, she returned seconds later, smiling, but instead with a metal flask. "How about some electrolytes instead?" And as Ruby swirled the liquid inside Cinder realised how dry her mouth was. She licked her lips giving a slight nod. But even that little gesture had taken more effort than the woman would like to admit. Gritting her teeth, and with her arm trembling, Cinder pushed herself upright, almost slipping in the absence of her left. Ruby was quickly on her feet to help her sit up while the woman hissed through the pain of forcing stiff and overworked muscles into motion. Back leaning against the cool metal wall, Cinder took a moment for the pain to subdue, her attention drifting over her surroundings.

Ruby's bed, an adjustable row of seats like Cinder's, were on the opposite wall, the covers strewn on the floor. The room was locked in by two metal and glass doors that led down both hallways to the crew's quarters and weapon storage at the back. In the cockpit to the front, the grey sky outside the windows made the time impossible to tell.

"How… long had I been asleep?" The woman rasped before taking a drink. The liquid, ice cold against her throat ran to quell her suddenly-empty stomach.

"About twelve hours." Cinder's eyes widened in slight alarm. "I was still out. Apparently we got caught in a bad storm and had some minor damages. We're taking a detour to Anima to get it fixed and to refuel." Her sated thirst was only able to placate so much as Cinder turned an annoyed glare back at Ruby.

"On the bright side..." Ruby offered, gently pressing against the woman's shoulder as she sat next to her. "…We get to lounge around in a swanky hotel room, eat all the Mistralian takeout we want while taking a nice bath with all yummy desserts that room service gives you." Her words, sweet and so deceptively soft, had Cinder narrowing her glare in an attempt to suppress a contented hum. By the gods did that sound like what she needed right now.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you planned this."

Ruby looked at her with a glint of mischief that had Cinder leaning close out of interest. Keeping their words in the space between them, Ruby was suddenly riddled with nervous energy.

"You'd like that, won't you?"

Cinder gulped, but her lips slid into a smirk just as quick, knowing that she could fluster Ruby just as easily. All she needed were a few words, sweet, melodic and wrapped in silk and Ruby would-

"We've received the all clear from Anima with regards to the forecast." A crewmember cut in.

They quickly scanned over a chart of Cinder's vitals, as if the woman hadn't been so disoriented by the interruption that it had her blankly staring. "We'll be landing in four hours." But when realisation set in, Cinder's aggravation was quick to follow. "As for your vitals Miss Fall…"

And if not for her aura strain, Cinder's death stare would have burnt the crewmember to a crisp. "E-everything seems to be in order." But her intent wasn't lost as they visibly paled, glancing at Ruby, before stumbling through an apology and scampering off.

And as Cinder turned her attention to Ruby she knew that the moment, whatever it had been, was already gone.

The young woman leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh. Her eyes glazed over in thought as she stared out the window. "That's the bit I'm not looking forward to. Telling the Council that all of this was for nothing. That I'm not the hero they thought I was." The familiarity of Ruby's words reared an ugly feeling in the back of Cinder's mind. Despite the fog obscuring the trauma of the last four days, Cinder had the young woman's morbid confessions etched into her memory. And she would rebuke them without hesitation.

"But that's okay." Ruby beat her to it. "Thinking back, being down there, faced with a Grimm so old that it might not even be Grimm at all. The things it could do. What it made. Those spikes. The poison. Those shapeshifting Grimm." Cinder shuddered at the very mention of those creatures. She could only hope that they never see the light of day. "It only made those things in order to protect the Grimmpools and the Tree itself. But now that I think about it, aren't all Grimm the same? The more we fight them the stronger they'll evolve. Some of them even know not to attack us." Cinder understood that all Grimm were intrinsically the same. But she was hesitant to look at them with Ruby's desire to understand.

Which the woman found odd. Because despite Cinder having seen, experienced and even lived with Grimm so much closer than Ruby, the younger woman would approach them much readier. A mix of her optimism and naivete, Cinder supposed. She pursed her lips at the thought.

"I'm not saying that we should stop fighting." Ruby defended, her tone rising pitch. "But what if we have been going about this all wrong? If there was actually a time when Grimm could have been like the thing that created it: Only attacking when provoked?"

Cinder would admit, the theory was an interesting one. But whether it were true or not, it wouldn't matter. The outcome would always be the same; Because of the appearance of Grimm, those frightened by them would attack and as the beast retaliated, it would become the very thing it was perceived to be. It unsettled Cinder much more than she'd like to admit, perhaps because she could sadly sympathise with it. Her attention was gratefully drawn by the way Ruby shook her head, smiling sheepishly.

"All of this must sound silly, but we have to protect the natural balance of Remnant, even if we don't like the way everything is." Cinder watched Ruby closely. As much as she would claim otherwise, the young woman's ability to see the best in the worst had always been the quality that she admired the most. It was also one she had been the most frustrated by as Cinder struggled to understand it, and still does. But now, after being at the other end for so long, Cinder knew for certain that it was what gave the Huntress that glint in her eyes. Something that was far more powerful than their flash of silver light, not for what they could do, but what they made Cinder feel: Calm, content, and cared for in a way that no one else had. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything I can to tip the scale in our favour. I won't let them send any other Hunter to a war that they won't be able to win. Not me, not others and definitely not you."

Emotions welled up in her chest, her throat, and in her stomach, pushing out the words Cinder held at the tip of her tongue.

"I'm proud of you." She murmured, gaze never straying as her hand searched for Ruby's, wanting to give her that soothing warmth that always had a way of making the other smile.

And she did.

Right after a blink of surprise that looked a tad comical, her sliver of teeth thereafter made Ruby's eyes crinkle, leaving Cinder with a lump in her throat and with a loss for words. There was so much she wanted to say, feelings she wanted to lay bare with the hope that the woman could tell her what they meant. Cinder knew that such overwhelming confusion could be swept away with three words. And yet, the thought was suddenly far more terrifying than when it grazed her mind on the edge of Remnant.

"Do you…remember it?" Cinder asked. Her throat suddenly dry, laced with dread as her heart pounded a thousand times as second. "What you experienced under the Grimm's influence." And of all reactions Cinder expected, confusion followed by embarrassed melancholy was not one of them.

"Not really." Ruby admitted, not quite able to meet Cinder's eye as she nestled into the comfort of her cape. "I just remember feeling… sad… bitter… hopeless." There was something isolating about it all, watching the small twitches of Ruby's brows and the downward tilt of her mouth as the young woman worked through her emotions. As much as Cinder understood those feelings, the woman hoped that Ruby would never sink far enough for such a dark presence to become familiar as it had been for her. And just as Cinder felt her thoughts slip into those furthest corners, Ruby tugged her out with a calming breath. "I know that no one can be happy all the time but…I didn't even know… that… some part of me felt like that. Not that bad. It was…" Ruby bit her lip. Her eyes, wide and unguarded as they met Cinder's. "It was scary."

"…It is." The woman admitted. Her gaze suddenly half-lidded, vulnerable. She gently squeezed Ruby's hand, her grip firm, as if her voice didn't feel like it was going to crack at any moment and Cinder had to lean in close, right next to the shell of Ruby's ear. "While I can't promise those thoughts will go away, I can promise that they aren't yours to deal with alone."

"Thank you."

Cinder closed her eyes in Ruby's embrace, feeling her heart calmly beating against her chest. A moment of silence settled between them. Ruby's hands slowly moved away from her neck, along her shoulders as if on their own accord. Then they suddenly stopped at her upper arms.

"How… how's your arm feeling?"

Cinder frowned.

"My... arm?"

It was only then that Cinder dared to look.

Her breath hitched.

She… she was so sure that she had gotten rid of it. But there it was, reforming at such a slow rate that one might not have noticed. But the limb had already made it past the bend of her elbow, and ended at the nubs of two twisting strands that would be the forearm.

"It started regrowing once your aura stabilised." Ruby gently offered before perking up with assurance. "But you don't have to worry about that… thing anymore. I made the medics double check and do some quick tests and everything." As well intended and relieved they made Cinder feel, the young woman's words suddenly felt far away. Muddled by whirring thoughts, Ruby prompted her to look at her concerned expression, snapping Cinder out of it. "…Are you feeling okay?"

She did. The pain was a fading memory and the sense of control over the limb was a comforting change. And yet, that didn't stop the sinking feeling in Cinder's stomach, her expression suddenly vacant, murmuring to herself more than to Ruby:

"I… didn't think it would..."

"Does it hurt?"

The quiver in Ruby's tone made Cinder want to assure her, even though she didn't quite understand the new sensation, wrapped around the limb.

"It feels different… lighter somehow."

Ruby watched Cinder flex and bend her arm, somehow finding it easier to do. A promising sign. Cinder's neutral expression had Ruby speaking up with hopeful hesitance.

"That's… good, right? It's good?"

The look in Cinder's eye softened ever so slightly. The last thing she wanted was to drag Ruby into her tangle of conflicting emotions.

"It's better."

"I'm really…" Ruby started, content with her answer, then suddenly cut off with a tired yawn. "…Glad." Blinking rapidly, her eyes managed to focus on the woman once more. "I don't know what I would have done if it was giving you more trouble." She confessed, gently swaying from side to side in what might have been a mixture of relief and drowsiness.

"You would've deprived yourself of more sleep than you are doing right now." Cinder mused, tone so flat that one wouldn't know that it had been hiding a tinge of amusement.

"I'm not." Ruby insisted. Her frown melting into a pout, causing a twitch at the corner of Cinder's lips. She needn't say anything, not with the young woman's fatigue steadily setting after her nonstop vigil. "You just woke up." She protested, only to be assaulted by another yawn. Subconsciously she settled back against the wall. "I wanna stay… with you."

Cinder smiled. "I'm not going anywhere." Gaze half-lidded she brushed strands of hair out of Ruby's face, eyes drifting to a close. "Rest for now."

And as Ruby's rhythmic breathing filled the space between them, Cinder let the gentle hum of the engine drift her off to sleep...