Ruby stared at Pyrrha, uncomprehending. The woman she had once known as her girlfriend was more or less beyond recognition aside from her hair and eyes. Her skin was a deathly white, almost as white as Salem's, and scars from countless battles covered every visible inch of it, including a burn scar over one eye. Rather than her previous showy armour, Pyrrha wore a leather cuirass, heavy work trousers, boots, and a long black cloak. She was gazing back resolutely, her gaze never leaving Ruby's silver eyes despite how much the woman had grown in the past six years.

The silence in the room was heavy; neither was quite sure what to say, as any words that left their mouths would feel weak, insincere. The wind outside stirred the trees, and the rustle of leaves was the only thing that could be heard.

At last, finding her voice, Ruby croaked, "I—I should call Jaune…"

"He already knows." Pyrrha's voice was low, gravelly, a far cry from how smooth and melodic it had been previously. "I visited him first."

Standing up and drawing herself up to her full height, Pyrrha's scarred, discoloured lips curved into a faint smile. "It's good to see you again, Ruby," she said quietly.

"I…" Ruby didn't have a response. How did one respond to their thought-to-be-dead lover showing up in their living room after six years? She wasn't quite sure there was a precedent to follow here. "I… you're… Pyrrha… what happened?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "A lot. Things that..." She trailed off, seemingly catching her words on some memory or another. Her hand parted the folds of her cloak, reaching up, hesitating midair before finding Ruby's cheek. The shorter woman flinched, but didn't move away. The touch was exactly as she remembered; gentle, careful, loving. "You've… become even more beautiful, somehow. You're so full of surprises, Ruby."

Ruby was locked in place as Pyrrha gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I never meant to leave you behind. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I figured I would at least say it."

Her mind raced furiously. Pyrrha's explanation… well, wasn't. Ruby couldn't fathom what it would have taken for Pyrrha to go from… what had happened to her to what she was now. She didn't detect a single trace of Aura from the woman, which was possibly the most concerning part of it all.

Indeed, looking over Pyrrha's form again, Ruby was acutely aware that no one who had an Aura would have sustained the absurd amount of scars Pyrrha had. Whatever had brought her back had taken part of her, quite literally. Her face spoke of pain, of anguish that Ruby somehow doubted even she herself, after everything she'd been put through, could rival.

"You live alone," Pyrrha said, after another silence. It was a statement, not a question. Ruby nodded once. "I figured that you and Weiss would eventually… in my absence…"

"We couldn't," Ruby murmured, eyes downcast. "I… we tried… I could never get over you."

Pyrrha sighed as her hand fell back to her side, closing her eyes. "Yet more pain I've caused you, it seems. I'm sor-"

"I don't blame you!" blurted the shorter Huntress, taking a step forward. Pyrrha's eyes shot open, and she took a step back in surprise. Ruby's face flushed as she realized she'd instinctively grabbed hold of Pyrrha's hand, but couldn't bring herself to let it go. "I could never… it wasn't your fault. Cinder… and Salem… They're the ones to blame."

A lump appeared in Pyrrha's cheek, and a small, almost imperceptible smile graced her features. "Maybe," she said, nodding. "And you, of course, defeated them. I always knew you could."

Ruby blinked, her confusion only intensifying at Pyrrha's words and their implications. "You… knew?"

"After I was… well," Pyrrha paused, undoing one of the straps on her cuirass enough to show a portion of her chest, on which a large black mark was visible. Ruby's throat tightened as she realized the source of the wound. "...After this, I was sent to Salem's fortress. Dr. Watts quite enjoyed my presence. I was experimented on ruthlessly. For three years, as you fought your way through Remnant to her lair, I fought to stay alive on his operating table. Every bit of my humanity was stripped from me. I wasn't allowed to wear clothes, or to speak. When he didn't return, I was eventually freed by one of the other various subjects he'd kept, but only after the man had removed his own hand to get out of his cell. He had starved himself, refusing his meals simply to fit through the bars. I never learned his name…" Pyrrha shook her head. "And I made my escape, through the hellscape of Salem's Mire. I lived on the coast for a year, hunting Grimm and local wildlife to survive, before a passing merchant ship noticed my fire and allowed me passage."

"But… that doesn't make sense," Ruby whispered. "If what you're saying is true, then why didn't you find me sooner? You've had two years…"

Pyrrha inhaled sharply at the bluntness of the question, having forgotten how direct Ruby could be when she wanted to know something. "Ruby… I was afraid."

"Afraid?" persisted the smaller woman. "Afraid of what?"

"Look at me!" Pyrrha cried, stepping back and wrenching her hand from Ruby's grasp and gesturing at her body. "I've got no Aura, no Semblance, and my body… I'm a monster, Ruby! I don't even have a soul anymore! I'm… I…"

There it was. The first sign of weakness Ruby had seen since she'd laid her eyes on her this evening. Pyrrha's knees trembled, then finally gave way as the older woman collapsed the floor in a heap and began to sob. "I'm so sorry…" she cried, hands flat against the floor to hold herself up. "I just… I was so afraid… so afraid of what you'd think of what I've become…"

Ruby stared at the miserable bundle of pale skin and dark clothing on the floor for a few seconds, mind blank, before she regained her senses and dove down after the woman.

Kneeling in front of her, her hands found Pyrrha's cheeks, tilting the woman's head up to look at her.

Pyrrha didn't have any time to speak before warm, familiar lips met her own. Tears continued to slide down her marred cheeks as the kiss went on. Her body wouldn't respond to any command she gave it. She wanted to rejoice, to wrap her arms around the woman in return and kiss her into oblivion. Instead, she simply sat there, letting her eyes fall shut as sobs wracked her frame and Ruby kissed her over and over, whispering, "I forgive you," between each one.

"I missed you…" Ruby breathed, as she pulled away at last, resting her forehead against Pyrrha's. "I don't care about your looks, your scars…" Her thumb traced over Pyrrha's cheek, rubbing circles in it as her other hand took hers again and squeezed it. "What I do care about is… you're back, Pyrrha. And this… whatever this is…" She stroked a gentle finger over one of the scars on Pyrrha's face, a particularly ugly one on her chin. "We'll fix it. Whatever it takes… We'll restore your Aura, or whatever it is that's wrong, and you'll be… You'll be…"

Ruby could no longer speak, she found; Pyrrha was hugging her far too tightly for her to breathe, much less enunciate anything. Making a few choking gasps to emphasise her position, Pyrrha squeaked out an "I'm sorry!" and released her, falling back onto her rump. The two stared at each other for a few moments, before a soft giggle escaped Ruby's lips, followed by Pyrrha's, and soon, the room erupted in peals of laughter. The situation itself wasn't comedic, but it was enough. Enough for years of sadness, anxiety, and loss to be relieved in a single moment, as they laughed until they cried, until they were wheezing for breath, holding onto one another just as they had while at Beacon, so long ago.

At last, they stopped, lying side by side on the hard wooden floor of Ruby's modest living room.

"I have to admit," Pyrrha said, gaze fixed on the ceiling. "I… I thought you would reject me. Cast me out. Tell me to leave and never come back." She raised her hands up, flexing them in front of her. No matter how many times she saw it, she never grew used to the deathly paleness of her skin now, nor how easily it was marred.

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," Ruby replied, taking one of said hands and pressing a kiss to its back. "You may have changed… may look different, but you're still you. Nothing can change that."

Reaching over, she teased a few strands of vivid crimson hair through her fingers. "I just… I need you to promise me something."

"What?" Pyrrha sat up, a fearful look on her face as Ruby did the same. Their eyes met, apprehensive green meeting serious silver. Ruby leaned in until their lips were almost touching again, and each of her next words was almost felt, rather than heard.

"Don't ever," she whispered, never once drifting from Pyrrha's eyes. "Leave me again."

Pyrrha's eyes searched Ruby's, looking for any deeper meaning to that statement, waiting for any additional requests the woman might have. When none were forthcoming, a smile broke out over her weathered face, and she closed her eyes.

"I'll have to speak with my agent," she murmured, echoing a line she'd used to use on Ruby all the time when Ruby would ask her out on dates. "But I'm sure that can be arranged."

"Good." Ruby moved forward, kissing her once more, and Pyrrha's world melted away into a miasma of soft lips and the scent of strawberry, a feeling she'd not known for six years and that she'd never expected to know again.

She was home.