"Nora, I want their names to mean something!" Ruby said, partially irritated and partially worried, "I don't want their names to be a joke! Imagine walking around and being laughed at because your name was literally a bird!"

Nora laughed loudly, slapping her hand on her thigh as she did so.

"I know, I know!" she giggled, "But your uncle's name is a bird, isn't it? And Yang's mom? I'm just saying, it could really continue down whatever tradition thingy Qrow and Raven's parents started! What's wrong with Falcon? Falcon Pine sounds fantastic!"

"I mean, it doesn't sound horrible," Ruby replied, scratching her head, "But I don't think I'm going to use it. It's a bit different from being called "crow", or "raven", or even something like wren or robin."

"So you've got something against birds, do you?" Nora said, crossing her arms stubbornly, "Now that's just rude."

"No, it's not that!" Ruby cried, "I'm just not a huge fan of the name. We should come up with something else."

Nora shrugged. "Okay."

The two of them sat in silence, sitting on Nora's bed. Ruby's sheets were being washed, after having been so sweaty and overall just sickly for so long, so her bed was stripped bare and they decided to discuss names on Nora's, which was dry and clean.

"I know!" Nora said excitedly, holding up a finger, "We could name him Obsidian!"

"Obsidian?" Ruby asked, raising a brown. Nora nodded her head vigorously, a twinkle in her sky blue eyes.

"Yeah!" she continued, "It'd be perfect! Just imagine a little boy with Oscar's tanned skin and adorable freckles, and then his hair's all fuzzy and black, and his eyes are a deep, menacing red, like lava!"

"Uhm," Ruby said slowly, "How would he even have red eyes-" But she was immediately cut off again.

"I can see him now," Nora said dreamily, "Obsidian Rose, running around with his mom's scythe and whipping it around while you scold him and tell him not to injure himself. And then, after he accidentally cuts his finer, he runs to Aunt Nora and cries, 'Help me, Aunt Nora!', and then I bandage him up and-"

"Nora," Ruby interrupted, "I wouldn't let Crescent Rose in plain view, I'd make sure she was our of child's reach. Also, he'd run to me, not you. You'd probably be busy attending to you and Ren's children or something, anyway."

Nora's eyes widened and a wide, eager grin stretched across her face.

"What did you just say?" she asked mischievously, leaning over so that her ear was only inches from Ruby's mouth. Ruby raised a brow, only to suddenly realized what she had so carelessly said before.

"I-uh," she stammered, her cheeks immediately coloring bright crimson, "I mean, er...I didn't say anything!"

"Nope, you said it," Nora giggled, "You said that me and Ren would have children! You said it! You said it!" She began laughing uncontrollably while Ruby begged her to keep her voice low and forget about it.

"Nora, please!" Ruby cried, "I wasn't thinking! I should've chose my words more carefully!"

"No, no, it's good, it's fine," Nora assured her quickly, patting her shoulder, "Me and Ren are practically married! Only, we don't get to like, kiss or sleep in the same bed or anything like that...like, EVER."

Ruby felt her whole face flaming with embarrassment as her friend got ready to continue on.

"Too much detail!" Ruby said frantically, "I get it, okay? Can we just get back to names again? This conversation is getting a little off topic..."

Nora snickered. "Okay, okay. Couldn't you just handle a little humor?"

Ruby sighed and looked down at the small piece of paper in her lap. On it were written 2 names, one a girl's name, the other a boy's. The two had been discussing this matter for nearly half an hour now, and only two names had made it onto the paper.

Solstice-girl

Prehnite-boy

"I still think Falcon Pine sounds better than Solstice Rose," Nora said, peering at the paper from behind Ruby's shoulder, "Solstice sounds kinda...salsa-y, if ya get what I mean. Just reminds me too much of chunky red salsa dip."

"Solstice is after my mother," Ruby answered somewhat soberly, "After all, naming a child after a parent is really honorable."

"Then why not just name her Summer?" Nora inquired, pointing at Ruby's bump.

"Because," she answered, "I know it's just my own opinion, but I feel like naming them directly after their parent, like, just the raw name, is a little...uncreative. Like, no offense to anyone who does it, but I want my children to be unique. I want them to have different names, if that makes sense at all."

Nora slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah, I get what you mean," she said, "If me and Ren had a baby and we named her An, or Li, or something, purely after his parents, I wouldn't like it all too much. First, because I don't even know my own parents names, so I don't have a chance to name them after them, and second, those names aren't super pretty."

Ruby giggled.

"I suppose," she said, "But Summer is a really pretty name. I just...feel like I should name them something else. Solstice would be after her, going off the summer solstice, and to be honest, I think it's a cool name. Cool names are fun."

"Yeah, but Solstice Pine sounds a little weird," Nora protested, "Like, what if you decide to call them Pines instead of Roses, and their first names are incoherent with their last ones. That's just annoying. Like, if I married Ren, my last name would be Ren, and that'd be hard to get used to saying. 'Nora Ren'...ugh."

She paused and thought for a moment, tapping her finger with her chin as she looked up at the ceiling. "What are their last names gonna be?"

Ruby hesitated.

"Uh..," she began, unsure of what to say, "I guess I had just assumed they'd take Oscar's last name. Really just because they are his babies in the first place, but also because...well...he's not exactly going to around after they're b-born."

She swallowed hard, feeling the bitter, aching sensation in her throat that arose nearly every time she brought up the topic of how much longer she'd have Oscar for. It was getting very hard to control, knowing that in only five months, Oscar would be basically gone from her forever. Forever was a long time.

Nora saw the emotion beginning to show itself on her friend's face, and her own face sobered. She scooted closer to her and lightly put her arm around her, sighing when Ruby bowed her head and started softly crying. Two teardrops hit the sheet they were sitting on as she cried, and her shoulders shook as she sniffed.

"Don't worry, Ruby," Nora said quietly, "You'll be fine."

"B-but I want us to be parents together!" Ruby cried, "I want to be curled up with him on a couch while our two little kids play with each other close by! I want him to read the kids a story before bed and give them their good night's kiss!"

She sniffed and wiped wildly at her wet eyes. "I want us to get married and live together forever, and be the best mommy and daddy in Remnant!" She broke down in sobs again, this time receiving a full hug from Nora, who also began patting her back as well.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," Nora sighed, "I really am."

Ruby pulled away from her, streaking tears all over her face as she wiped them again. She looked at Nora, blinking rapidly, and seemed to begging her for something as she stared into her eyes. But no question of favor was asked with that pleading look.

Instead, she just stared at Nora while she calmed herself, taking slow, deep breaths and blinking over and over again. Sniffing deeply, she swiped her arm across her nose and cleared her throat, recovering from her large mood swing and reminder of the coming day she dreaded.

"B-back to names, please," she said quietly.

Nora looked somewhat confused, seeing how Ruby had went from cheerfully discussing names to sobbing about the horrible truth to wanting to discuss baby names again. The whole ordeal had literally lasted only two minutes.

"If you feel ready to," Nora answered, raising a brow. Ruby nodded, sniffing again and then giving her a quick, soft smile. Nora shrugged and then sat back on her rear, bouncing in the bed ever so slightly.

"Well, how does Pinyon sound?" she asked after a few moments of silence. Ruby looked up at her, considering the name for a moment before nodding her head slowly.

"That sounds pretty cute," she murmured, "What does it mean exactly?"

"It's a kind of pine tree!" Nora laughed, "It'd be kinda like naming him after Oscar, but 'uniquely'. Plus, it's absolutely adorable!" She clapped her hands together and smiled brightly, moving her shoulders left and right and causing the bed to bounce a little more.

Ruby smiled.

"I think we should add that one to the list," she said, looking down at the sheet of paper and neatly writing the name down below the others.

Pinyon-boy

"I think that beats Prehnite, don't you think so?" Nora said, staring at the tiny list of names. Ruby shrugged, setting the pencil down on the paper and yawning. It was getting close to bed time for her, and she was felling tired.

"I guess," she said, "Both start with a p, and the last name does, too." She giggled and shook her head, yawning again. "Pinyon does sound cuter, to be honest. Thanks for that name, Nora."

Nora eagerly nodded her head. "You bet, Ruby!"

Another long moment of silence followed as Nora's mind began to run and mull over the many, many names she had been coming up with over the past week, throwing a large portion of them into her mental "trashcan" after deeming them unfit. Ruby just let herself fall backwards and flop onto her back, yawning once more.

Nora glanced at her, breaking out of her swiftly moving train of thought, and turned herself to face her a little better. "You tired?"

Ruby nodded her head, her eyes half closed and heavy with tiredness.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I usually go to sleep at this time. I'm always so swamped at the end of the day, even if I haven't even done a whole lot physically. Eating a lot of food does make me tired, though."

"Okay," she said simply, "You want me to leave?"

Ruby's eyes opened all the way and she looked directly into her friend's eyes.

"Don't you want to discuss more names with me or something?" she asked, a bit surprised at Nora's quickness to drop such a long awaited discussion just for her to get some sleep, "I mean, we could talk about it more if you really wanted to."

Nora shook her head with a short laugh.

"Nah," she said, waving a hand dismissively, "If you're tired, you get some sleep. I want my future niece and nephew to be healthy and strong when they come to meet me, and I want their mother to be healthy and strong too." She poked Ruby on the nose. "Seriously, if anything happens to you, I'll break whoever did it's legs."

Nora's sober face, despite her somewhat humorous phrase, implied that she wasn't joking. There was even the slightest sheen of fear in the girl's eyes, something Ruby had seldom ever seen in them. Man, was Nora awesome.

"Thanks, Nora," Ruby said gratefully, giving her a soft look of appreciation, "You've been treating me so kindly, even after you found out about my babies. I can never thank you enough."

"Oh, please," Nora said, waving her other hand, "What are best friends for? Plus, anyone Oscar cares about, I care about. Sure, I was a little shocked when we found out, but...well, I know it'll all turn out eventually."

"You seemed pretty freaked out to me," Ruby mumbled, rolling over onto her stomach and laying her head to the side, squishing her cheek up against the blankets. Nora rolled her eyes.

"Well, it was a shocking thing, okay?" she argued, craning her neck froward to make eye contact with Ruby, "It's not every day that you find out your best friend's pregnant. It was even weirder to realize that you of all people were."

Ruby rolled her head to the other side.

"Gee, thanks," she muttered, half humorously. Nora sat up straight, moving her head from the other side to face Ruby's new position.

"Look, I forgave you like, the day after we found out," she said, "I'm all over it now."

Ruby sighed and nodded her head the best she could manage with her head on the bed. "I know."

"I have to say, though," Nora said, putting a hand on her hip, "I'm a little sad you felt like you could't tell even me after YOU found out. Sure, it must've been scary for you, but I kinda wish you could've felt comfortable telling me about it..."

Ruby felt a pang of guilt go through her. Yes, she had considered telling someone other than Oscar about her pregnancy before everyone found out, but she had never gotten around to it. Every time she thought about it, it sounded worse and worse, and the longer she kept the secret, the more guilty she felt.

Nora and Ren had been her most reasonable options, and twice she had almost told them before she had told Oscar, but every time, she could never do it. Just telling Oscar had taken her a monstrous amount of guts.

"I-I wanted to tell you and Ren," Ruby began slowly, "I was planning on telling you two before I even told Oscar. But...but I just couldn't do it. I didn't have the courage or trust to do it, so I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Ruby," Nora said, shaking her head, "We know now anyway, and I understand. I'd be pretty scared myself if I were in your shoes." She gained a cocky look and a sly grin. "Only, if that ever happened, it'd be with my Ren. Ha! I almost wish it were true!"

Ruby groaned while Nora giggled, and the two of them ended up wrapping up their name discussion, promising to resume it later. Ruby curled up in Nora's bed, snuggling down underneath the blankets, and Nora skipped to the door, flicking off the light.

"Talk to ya later, Ruby!" she called, opening it and slipping through, "Have a good night!"

"You too," Ruby murmured, just before the door shut and she was left alone in the dark to fall asleep, "I wonder where Nora'll sleep tonight..."

"Goodnight, Maria," Oscar said as he saw the old woman off to bed, "I'll see you in the morning. Thanks again for that delicious dinner; I really needed tonight."

Maria smiled and nodded her head, her hand holding the doorknob.

"Of course, Oscar," she said warmly, "I know you did, and it was my pleasure. Now, it's off to bed with you before I bring my cane down on your noggin!" She shook her cane threateningly at him, earning a few laughs from him as he backed away. Smiling, she bid him goodnight before she entered her room and closed the door softly behind her.

Oscar stood in the hallway, a feeling of warm satisfaction hovering inside him. His stomach was full of good, hearty foot, his mind felt refreshed after the positive, heart lifting conversations at the dinner table, he felt well rested from the past week of good sleep, and a nice portion of his ever-present tension had been lifted now that Ruby seemed to be doing much better.

Ah, Ruby...I'm so happy you're feeling better now. You had be terrified after that river accident, and then having to watch you suffer everyday and be so sick...It makes my heart smile to see you laugh again.

He smiled and sighed, turned around walking through the hall, past the kitchen, past the living room where Ren, Nora, Yang, and Blake were all sitting, talking and drinking mugs of tea by the fire, past the front door, and then found himself standing in front of Nora and Ruby's door. The hallway was very dim, the outline of the door hardly visible.

He wanted so badly to knock and see her again, especially since Qrow had been spending the most amount of time with her that past week. It was just so good to see her back on her feet...he really wanted to talk to her again, just when it was the two of them.

He tentatively lifted his fist up to the door, debating weather or not to knock. It was completely silent in the room, and he did not want to disturb her if she was sleeping. But then again, she did say she wanted to spend enough time with him as possible before...

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Just knowing that in five or so months he would no longer be who he was anymore, that he would practically be dead in a sense, was so strange. It felt wrong and unnerving, and he wished so badly that he could change it. But that was impossible. No one could change this.

His soul was going to be completely merged with one that was made up of many more. The only way he could prevent that from happening was if Ozpin were to be no longer present in his body, but you'd have to rip his soul from his own for that to happen, and that was impossible...

"Or is it...?" Oscar murmured to himself, his eyes widening as a massive realization settled in. "It isn't!"

He turned around, suddenly feeling very erratic and excited as his mind tried to figure out what it had just realized. His hands pulled the hair on either sides of his head and he blinked over and over again, pacing back and forth.

Ozpin had attempted to take the previous Fall Maiden's aura out of her and force it into Pyrrha's, and that meant her soul, right? If Atlas technology was that advanced, which it was, then surely it could remove Ozpin's soul from his own and force it into someone else, preferably a willing subject. Yes, that had to be it!

If Ozpin could be separated from him, he would never have to fully and completely merge with him, thus remaining his own person. Then, he and Ruby could get married once eligible, and they could live happily ever after as she had always wanted! As he had always wanted now.

With energy pumping through him at his new resolve, cheeks even a slight tint of red, he burst her door open, forgetting the possibility of her being unpresentable or sleeping, and rushed in, slamming the door loudly behind him.

"Ruby!" he shouted, hurrying to her bedside, only to find that it was empty. An irritated, confused groan from the other side of the dark room confirmed that she was in her friend's bed, and he sprinted to her, skidding to a halt and nearly getting carpet burned on his bare feet.

"Ruby!" he panted, lightly shaking her by her shoulders, "Ruby, wake up!"

Ruby looked very annoyed as she tried to shake herself from sleep, blinking and rubbing her eyes while she yawned and half stretched. She attempted to weakly pry Oscar's hands off of her shoulders while she slowly sat up, her hair a fuzzy mess.

"What?" she asked through a large yawn, "Why'd you w-wake me up? I was sleeping..."

"Ruby, I figured it out!" Oscar exploded, much louder than Ruby appreciated, "I-I've figured it out!" The joyful smile on his face and the bright twinkle in his eyes made Ruby feel less upset and more confused.

"What did you figure out?" she asked.

"We can be together after all!" he laughed, "I don't have to become Ozpin-er, Ozma! I won't have to be gone forever!" His hands remained on her shoulders, lightly shaking her as he shouted his exciting news.

Ruby's eyes widened and she drew in a deep breath.

"W-what?!" she gasped, "But how?!"

Oscar laughed again, tears beginning to build up in his eyes. "We could find General Ironwood and ask him to use his Alas technology to remove Ozpin's soul from my own! Then we would've fully merge and I could be with you forever!"

He took his hands off her shoulders and wrapped her in a deep, loving hug, a tear trickling down his cheek from the joy and relief that filled him. Ruby was still accustoming herself to the sudden outpour of news, but she hugged him back, now very much awake.

"A-are you sure you can just...do that?" Ruby squeaked after Oscar released her and stopped to catch his breath, "Are you sure he would do something like that, just for our sake?"

"Of course he would," Oscar panted, "I mean, he doesn't even know who I am or that Ozpin's inside of me, but if he found out that he's temporarily...gone, then maybe he'd be eager enough to get him back by forcing him into someone else, probably a willing person."

Ruby thought for a moment, mulling it all over in her newly wakened state.

"Um, Oscar?" she asked quietly, her tone not at all as happy and excited as Oscar's. He looked up at her with joyous eyes, slightly confused at her lack of extreme excitement.

"Yes?" he asked. Ruby locked eyes with him.

"Aren't your souls technically merged?" she asked softly, "Partially, anyway?"

Oscar's face fell a little, but a look of hope happiness remained. "In a way, yes, but not completely."

"If your souls are still partially merged, and you're trying to rip them apart from each other," Ruby said slowly, a hint of sorrow in her voice, "W-what would that do to you? What would it do to your soul?"

Oscar suddenly made sense of what Ruby was implying, and she was right. What would that do to him? Would it destroy part of it, damaging it and causing him to lose memories? Attributes? Skills? And would it carry some of his soul into Ozpin's? Or would it take some of Ozpin's and put it into his own?

"Oh no..," Oscar breathed, the joy from before now gone, "You're right."

Ruby sighed and lay back, brushing her messy black and red hair out of her face and staring at the now saddened Oscar. She felt bad about shooting his idea down right from the start, but she hated the thought of being filled with false hope. She didn't want to fall into a pit dug for her by a failed plan that made her future loss even more painful.

If an error was to be spotted, she would spot it. She had to accept her future loss, and if Oscar was going to try to prevent it, so be it. She was not going to accept anything he proposed unless it was actually going to work. Listen to and agree to, yes, but actually believe it, no.

"Listen," Oscar said, his voice low, "It may be the only choice we've got. I know it's a bit rash, and could be risky, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep us together. I don't care it Ozpin comes back and begs me not to for some reason; I'd do it anyway."

He made eye contact with her, eyes filled with determination. "I'd do anything for you, and for us to be together with our children means the world to me. Does that make sense?"

A tear ran down her cheek as she nodded, swallowing the aching wave of emotion that went through her throat. He smiled weakly and took hold of her hand, placing the other on her stomach.

"I don't want to have to leave you with the babies all alone," he whispered, gently rubbing her bump, "And I don't want to have to somehow see you suffer from seeing my body with another's soul in it, mine only a shadow in the mix."

Ruby nodded again, sniffing.

"I don't know what the technology would do to me, but I think it's worth a try," he finished, "And if it works...then I can come back from there as my own person. We can get married once you're old enough, and we can raise our children with the love and care you begged me for when you first told me about them."

He slowly lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, both person's cheeks glowing pink as soon as the kiss was planted. He slowly stood up, sniffed, and put one of his hands in his pocket, looking lightly down at her.

"I love you, Ruby," he said quietly.

"I-I love you too, Oscar," Ruby managed to murmured, her voice shaking with emotion. Oscar smiled at her, then turned around and soundlessly left the room, closing the door very quietly behind him.

Ruby lay there for a moment, no longer the slightest bit sleepy, and then rolled over, bursting into tears with her head buried in the pillow.

"I don't want you to leave," she screamed, her voice well muffled by the pillow's insulating properties, "But I don't want to feel ever worse if you end up only being half of who you are to me!"

She sobbed until the pillow was wet and her face was red, and then rolled onto her side and shut her eyes, falling asleep with exhaustion and weariness while a large pillow on the bed was crushed in a hug in her arms. A green pillow with orange and brown polka dots.

Finally, after 3 long months of totally absence, I'M BACK! Yes, I said this story is on hiatus, and yes, I said I had no idea when I was gonna be able to update this. But here, I have been able to add another chapter! :D

No, I'm not back on schedule yet for sure, but don't be surprised if I'm able to add more chapters or if I randomly disappear again. I also apologize if this chapter wasn't as good as any of the previous ones; diving back into writing after not doing it for a while is hard to get back into.

This isn't the only name discussion session you guys'll be getting in this whole story, so if your submitted name wasn't in this chapter, then stay tuned to see it show up a little later. Haha, Ruby and Nora's reactions to the names were a little of MY reaction to them. Seriously, that last boy name was really adorable in my oPINYON. XD (There you go, Combined117. Pun)

Also, if your name doesn't show up until the chapter when the babies are actually born, then CONGRATULATIONS! I probably chose your name. ;P

I know I said "let's have a break from Sadville", but this is a kinda sad story, so...yeah. A special thanks to ArthurSG for the concept I've presented in the second half of this story! (Brilliant author, this guy)

Also, fresh from the Volume 7 finale (listening to Fear as I write this A/N) is anyone else glad Clover died?! Maybe it's just me, but I really didn't like that guy. The death scene was sad though...;-; And...I know I'm weird, but Robyn put her hand on Qrow's shoulder, and I just say to myself, "OH MY GOSH, SHIP BAIT!" But no, I don't really ship them. XD

Story Advertisements: Team CMSN, by Miasushi (OC fans, read this; it's poorly written, but I'll be revising it sometime)

A Silent Connection, by ArthurSG (NeoXJaune fans, read this; I'M NAGGING THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T CHECKED IT OUT YET!)

Emerald and Orange, by TheAngelofFate (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this; I mislabeled it last time I advertised)

Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!