I don't own anything from RWBY, that honor belongs to Rooster Teeth.

Memories of Childhood

Ruby didn't have many friends in her home/school. She didn't really have much of anything. Just a couple of clothes, a place to sleep and not much else. All in all, life in an orphanage… felt safe but boring and lonely. There wasn't much else to do after school came to an end and she never really fit in with any of the other kids. Eventually, she accepted that she probably was going to be alone for well… as long as it took for her to find a family that was willing to adopt her.

It wasn't a happy thing to think about it. In fact, it crushed her heart whenever she thought about it. But what else could she do? It wasn't like she had any choice in the matter. At least, that was the case until someone new came. One day a short girl, about her age, ended up quite literally crash landing in front of her while she was off sulking in the courtyard.

After the initial shock wore off, she immediately rushed the girl to infirmary where she found out that the girl was in fact… a robot? But she was unlike anything she had seen in the movies or in the stories all the kids used to make up with all their big scary guns and terrifying eyes. This one looked so much like a girl her age, so much so that if it hadn't been for her well confusing the nurse in the infirmary, she would've never known that this girl was a robot.

Luckily for her, she was pretty good with fixing things. In fact, it seemed to be one of the few things she enjoyed. So, it wasn't too hard for her to help fix up her systems and after rewiring some of her circuits, the girl came to life. Helping her up, Ruby was surprised when the girl woke up to give her a huge hug and called her 'friend'.

From that day onwards she and 'Penny' as her friend liked to call herself became fast friends, sharing many memories with each other. Some of them pretty, some of them depressing but through all of it, they always had each other and that was something they both cherished. Whether it was sharking cookies, giggling uncontrollably at the latest teacher goof up, playing tag in the courtyard, blowing bubbles into each other's faces or just spending time laying down or sitting down together, holding hands, everything felt all that more meaningful with her around.

Penny really was Ruby's first true friend and, in the end, just having her around made all the difference in making her life feel all the more special. She was content with just that for a long time. Just to have someone she can be herself and know she would be accepted, just like Penny was with her.

They were inseparable. At least until someone new came along.

"Catch me if you can!"

"Don't you think you can escape me friend Ruby! I have already deduced every logical move you will make!" Penny replied, almost looking like a goalkeeper as she stayed at the bottom of the slide that she was on.

They had been playing tag ever since school ended and as unfortunately for her, it seemed that Penny always knew how to beat her. But sometimes, she knew she could beat her if she decided not to use logic all the time.

"Ha! Then what about this move?!" She said, jumping into the slide and slamming into Penny's arms tackling her to the ground. Rolling on the ground hugging each other the two of them came to a stop and merely laughed at their antics.

"Oh! I believe I should say… Tag! You're it!"

"Aw darn it Penny, can't we agree that that one was a freebie."

"Nope!" Penny said, giving her a smile that just melted her heart.

"Fine then, I'll give you thirty seconds! Better find a good place to hide!" She said, closing her eyes and turning around. It was time for round two and she would be more than ready this time!

But as the count hit fifteen, she heard someone singing, so melodically, so beautifully that she found herself in a trance. Slowly, she made her way towards the sound, before accidentally falling over to the floor as she fell on something. Shaking her head as she woke up, she found a girl with blue eyes and a bitter gaze looking at her.

"Oh great. Have you come to pester me too?" The girl said, but at the moment, Ruby was more interested in knowing why the girl was so familiar. And then it hit her. She was the newest arrival! Unfortunately, she didn't really speak much or talk much to anybody, so nobody really knew what she was like.

"No! No! I was, just trying to find out where the singing was coming from."

"Why? So that you could come and ask me to shut up, to be quiet and hold my tongue?" The girl replied sharply, making Ruby even more perplexed.

"What?! No! I really liked the music, I thought it was beautiful, not something I would've asked you to stop."

"Friend Ruby?" Penny said, then setting down in front of her with a slam making both her and the girl jump in surprise.

"Ah!" Both of them said as she surprisingly jumped right into Ruby and was holding her.

"Oh, thank god it's you Penny."

"What is going on?"

"Oh, I'm just saying hello toooo-"

"Weiss." The girl said, revealing her name to Ruby.

"Weiss!"

"Ah, that's a very pretty name, friend Weiss!" Penny said, with a smile

"What? Friend?" Weiss said, choking a little bit on the water she was drinking.

"Of course! It seems like you and Ruby are associates and any friend of Ruby's is my friend as well!" Penny said with a smile, that seemed to stun Weiss.

"Uhhh, Penny, we kinda just met?" Ruby said, scratching her head

"Oh! So, you must have been fast friends!" Penny replied

"Uhh, we aren't friends."

"Yet." Ruby said, sitting back down on the grass, and placing a reassuring hand on Weiss's shoulder. One that was almost immediately rejected.

"Don't touch me!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think about that! It's just me and Penny like to do that a lot with each other." Ruby apologized, while gesturing for Penny to sit down as well

"Why?"

"Because physical affection can help us feel safe and even accepted. I find it very comforting whenever Ruby does so and so she must have felt that you would be the same."

"Oh. I'm sorry for my tone earlier. It's just… it's hard trusting anyone here. After it's not like anyone's going to bother to know me or even come on by to say hello." Weiss admitted, making her feel sad. Why was Weiss left alone? Didn't she deserve to have friends too? Or people in her life that matter to her?

"Weiss? Do you want to be our friend?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"No one deserves to feel alone or unloved. You deserve friends just as much as anyone here. We want to know more about you, we want to be the ones to whom you can always feel safe around. We want to be your friend." Penny said.

"And plus, you sing amazingly."

"T-Thank you." Weiss said, with a soft sigh.

"Friends?" she asked.

"Friends."

And so. they became the closest of friends. While Weiss was a little much to handle at times, her and Penny quickly became Ruby's closest friends, while they were living out in the hostel. Despite not knowing where she came from, in the end she felt safe with Weiss and Penny.

The two of them were her safe space, her happy home. The place where she knew she could be who she was and would be accepted fully for it. They made funny jokes, played pranks on each other relentlessly (She was the best prankster no doubt) and even made a painting with them all. It was a very simple painting, just a tiny recreation of them hugging each other. And yet it was everything to them.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.

One day, after waking up from a long night of partying, Ruby was excited to see Penny and Weiss again, today was going to be movie night and it was going to be a film they all wanted to watch. However, for some reason, she couldn't find Weiss or Penny anywhere when she came in class.

She looked around everywhere, trying to find her friends, only to find… nothing. There was no one. Eventually looking around her bed, she saw a note. And what she read… broke her heart. Both Penny and Weiss had been found by their blood parents and that they were to go back to their original homes the very next day.

The letter was very hastily written with teardrops all over the ink splattering it. In a way, Ruby was happy for both of them. Hopefully they would find a better life with their family. But her? Ruby never even knew her last name. All she had was this school and her friends. And now, they were gone.

All those memories, all those days spent relaxing, playing all gone. All of them lost to the clutches of her mind, never to be felt again. Now, everything felt empty and devoid of life. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. How could it?

The two people that gave her life meaning were gone. And there was nothing she could do about. She cried that entire day, not eating anything, not drinking anything, just laying down into a bed and crying out her sorrows for the entire day.

Maybe, everything she believed in, was just another delusion, made by her mind to make her think like she was worthy of friends. Maybe in the end, she really didn't deserve family.

Maybe she was destined to be forever alone.

Hollow seemed to be the theme that defined Ruby's life.

At least ever since that day. 15 years had passed since that day. Despite all this time, even finding a family that loved her as they would any child nothing ever filled that void. How could it?

Yang was always nice to have, and Taiyang loved them both the same but no one ever made her feel as accepted or as loved as Weiss and Penny did. Nothing she could do would ever replace the hole left in her heart. Eventually she accepted it. That in the end she would always feel like that.

Like a piece of her was always missing. A piece she had willingly given to the people she held closest to her. Something that would never come back to her, not as long as they came back. And so, she continued onwards with her life, knowing that unlike all of her masterpieces, there was always something missing in her, something that she could never find again.

Nowadays, she had taken to painting pictures in Vale Park. The beautiful leaves and the cool wind often helped relax her and gave her some much needed clarity to paint. She often stayed there till sunset, only going back when it was simply too dark to continue.

Today, however, was a little bit more special.

It was the day, her, Weiss and Penny together made the painting of them all hugging each other. Just remembering it made her think back to the good old days. The days where she could be free from everything, days where her only concerns were just making sure to have food and drink water.

Even looking back on it, made her heart pang. But she knew better than to wish for something she knew wasn't there. Instead, she would honor the memory, in the best way she knew. Heading over to the park, she took out her brushes and began painting. The skies were cloudy, and Ruby could feel a slight drizzle as she painted.

But she wasn't going to let anything stop her from remembering her friends. So, she kept on painting. As the brush spread across the canvas, she felt at peace for once. For once things didn't feel as hollow or as broken. And so, she kept on going. Even after she had made them all hugging, she didn't want to stop.

And so, she kept on painting, she painted her first meetings with both of them, some of their greatest pranks on each other and even a picture of Weiss and Penny singing and repairing things together. Every stroke of the brush plucked at her heart, but she was determined to finish what she started.

Eventually, she finished her masterpiece. It was just a collection of some of her, Weiss and Penny's happiest moments together. And yet, it meant everything from her. Looking back at them all, at all those memories, finally put into perspective what was lost. And once she was done admiring it, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

All she could hope for now, was that Weiss and Penny would be honored by her work. And that was all.

Once the tears dried up however, she barely even noticed the two people sitting beside her. Tears blocking her vision, she could barely even recognize their faces. In fact, she didn't even know who it was until one of them spoke.

"Oh Ruby. You never did change." Said the woman in front of her, wiping her face, smiling through tears in her eyes.

That voice was so clear, so melodic, it could only belong to one person, and yet it was only when she saw the color of the woman's eyes, did she know that the woman in front of her was Weiss.

Her voice failed her as Weiss's arm wrapped over her, bringing her close and for that brief moment, it felt like she was a child again being held up by her friends. Blinking away her tears she merely buried herself in Weiss's face, unwilling to let go.

"W-Where's Penny?" She spoke, her voice coming out between sobs.

"Right here friend Ruby." Penny said, her voice like an angel, sandwiching her against Weiss in a hug, much like they used to do to Weiss back when they were kids.

All of a sudden, the sky no longer felt as cloudy, the sun seemed to shine so much brighter and that void. That void that once held her down, the void that made life lose all its meaning was gone. Replaced with the love and affection she had been missing for so long. She never thought she would've seen both of them again.

And yet here they were. Holding her, comforting her, reminding her about everything that she had once thought was lost forever.

"Is… that our old painting?" Penny asked, pointing towards the canvas.

"Yeah, I-I wanted to make it again… j-just so t-that I could remind myself of you. B-But you're here and just how?" Ruby said, still in shock.

"It didn't take a lot of digging. Especially not when you have a living computer by your side." Weiss explained, softly ruffling Ruby's hair, before allowing Penny to grab on to Ruby from the back.

"Once we found your adoptive parents, we were planning on surprising you but then we found you out here and decided to just meet you here." Penny explained, resting her chin on Ruby's head. "It seems like your skill in painting hasn't gone away."

"Neither have your hugs." She said, making them all laugh.

She didn't know what brought them back together nor did she know why. They still had so much more to say but words could wait for another day.

In that moment all that mattered was that she was back with her childhood friends.