"Pyrrha?"

Ruby leaned into Pyrrha's room, seeing the near-still form of her girlfriend curled up, as usual, in bed. Her normally shining crimson hair had lost its luster, and the only sign that the girl was even really alive was the slight rise and fall of her side as she laid otherwise motionless.

Pyrrha gave no response to her call. Stepping into the room, Ruby treaded quietly over the floorboards of the Xiao Long/Rose household's guest room, which had become more or less Pyrrha's room after the Fall. She stopped just short of the bed, reaching out a hand to lay on Pyrrha's side, before a weary voice stopped her.

"What is it, Ruby?"

The shorter redhead flinched at the dead tone of Pyrrha's voice. It was absent of any emotion, laden with the pure exhaustion of someone who hadn't had a peaceful night's sleep in months. Ruby had thought her own nightmares of the Fall terrifying; they were nothing compared to whatever induced the shrieking, sobbing fits that Pyrrha seemed to go into after just five minutes of being asleep. She had stayed with Ren and Nora at first, but her remaining teammates, unable to console the girl, had asked Ruby to take care of her in their stead. Gladly accepting, Ruby had had no idea what she was in for. There had been so many sleepless nights, spent hugging the other girl fiercely, crying along with her, or just simply being a hand on her shoulder.

"I…" Swallowing, Ruby stopped herself. She truly had no idea what to say; she had let her feet carry her here, away from her brooding sister and her father who was so desperately trying to hold his family together. She just wanted her girlfriend back. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Pyrrha… I… I miss you."

Moving at last, there was the sound of cracking joints as Pyrrha uncurled from the ball she was in, her head turning just enough to look Ruby in the eyes.

In that instant, Ruby wished Pyrrha would've stayed still.

Her eyes were the worst part of Pyrrha now; what had once been shining twin pools the same color as the leaves, full of hope and love, were now just deadened circles of green.

"I'm sorry," whispered the Mistralian girl, and Ruby flinched.

The phrase had once been something Ruby found endearing, something that made Pyrrha who she was, an adorable quirk that never lost its charm. Now, it was a not-so-gentle reminder of the woman's ongoing torment.

Ruby steeled herself. She had to push forward. She couldn't let Pyrrha continue like this.

Sitting down on the bed, she rested her hand on Pyrrha's back, rubbing it gently. Pyrrha stiffened at first, then relaxed into the touch with a sigh, more resigned than grateful. Ruby's gaze drifted out the window, where snow was just beginning to cover the ground. "No… I'm sorry. Pyrrha, you're… you're not okay. I know you probably just want to be left alone, but-I just can't. I can't stand seeing you like this anymore. I know you're hurting, and Jaune's death-" here, Pyrrha visibly locked up, even her breathing ceasing as her eyes widened. "-hurt me too; it hurt all of us, but you have to get up. You can't just stay here. Things are bad out there, and Ren, Nora, and I leave for Haven in a week. I need you-we need you to come with us."

There was a silence.

"Is that it?"

Ruby flinched as Pyrrha sat up, the thinness of the Mistralian's form showing just how poorly she'd been eating recently. She was almost gaunt, her gaze on Ruby turned from empty to smoldering.

"Is that it?" she repeated lowly, her voice growing in volume as she talked. "You want me to get better, so I can accompany you-protect you-while you travel to Mistral? You want me to stop feeling sad and go back to Pyrrha 'Invincible Girl' Nikos, the girl no one can touch? You want me to forget tearing Penny to shreds, forget all those people who died, forget when Cinder..."

Pyrrha's voice broke, her form all but folding back in on itself as she slumped back down onto the bed. "When Cinder shot Jaune through the heart? When I held him in my arms as he died, with nothing to help him or even ease his pain? When he grabbed me and kissed me and tried to tell me to calm down, that everything was going to be fine, and he…" The redhead swallowed, tears that she had thought long exhausted coming to her eyes. "And he just crumbled…"

Ruby could stand it no longer; she dove down, her small arms circling around Pyrrha's larger frame, the older redhead immediately reciprocating the gesture with twice as much force as she broke down sobbing. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" was all Pyrrha could repeat over and over, and Ruby sighed, her hands rubbing circles in Pyrrha's back.

"I know," she whispered back.

"I know."