Ruby took her time walking back to Beacon. By the time she returned to the dorm, everyone else was asleep, and she had a plan. She was up until midnight on her scroll, researching for clinics in Vale. Abortion was legal, but everywhere Ruby looked, there were miles of red tape that meant either Yang or her dad would find out before the child was removed. That was something she didn't want. She kept researching until she formed a plan.

First, she would hope she didn't get too big before she left Beacon. Then, once she was safely graduated, she would go to Mistral. The laws were a bit laxer there, plus Mistral was the kind of place where one was likely to find clinics that performed 'off the books'. Then, finally, once everything was taken care of, she would return to her team. And then she would tell them everything. But not before. She still can't handle before, now more than ever…

But before all of that, Ruby decided, she would cry herself to sleep tonight.


The next few weeks Ruby worked harder not to let her condition be obvious. She had already convinced her team she was no longer nauseous, so score one. Now, she had to pay attention to her breakfast and ensure she didn't pick any suspicious foods. She still ended up having more than she usually ate, but no one noticed this time. She looked up other possible symptoms, and planned for how to avoid showing them when they arrived.

The hardest one, as it turned out, was her own body. She stepped out of the shower one morning, and looked into the mirror while she was still undressed. She noticed the bump immediately. It looked like a little pot belly, like she had eaten too much too many days in a row, which one could suppose that was true. But Ruby knew this was different. She was already showing, and she still had three weeks until graduation. When she started dressing for the day, she intentionally 'borrowed' one of Yang's school shirts. The sister was still taller and bigger in the chest, and the extra cloth in her tailored Beacon uniform proved helpful. For her day clothes, Ruby simply stopped wearing her corset.

One thing she scolded herself for not anticipating was Blake. It was only a week until their graduation when Ruby was a little slow leaving class and was cornered by the faunus. "Ruby, Wait!" She heard Blake shout.

The redhead tried to speed up, but a wave of vertigo and the chicken she forced down at lunch threatened to do much worse than slow her down. She felt the hand on her shoulder and turned around. "Oh. Hey Blake."

"Ruby, where have you been?" Blake asked.

"What do you mean? I've been in classes, in the dorm…" Ruby answered.

"No, I mean in your head. You seem to be avoiding your team, and when you are in the dorm, you zone out. You listen to music, or even sleep, but you haven't even spoken to any of us in weeks…" Blake voiced her concerns. "Not even me…"

"Blake, I'm…" Ruby was about to say I'm fine, but she saw another opportunity here. "I'm not quite 100%. And I don't think I will be without a little time off… some time away to not even be me."

"What are you saying?" Blake asked, her ears drooping.

"I'm saying… after we graduate, I'll be taking a little… vacation. Alone." Ruby told her, wincing. She knew what was coming next.

"What about our plan?" Blake reminded her. "To get away together? To run from Weiss and Yang, to run from being huntresses and for a few months, and just be girlfriends?"

"I know…" Ruby teared up. "I'm sorry…. But I can't… I still have stuff to fix about me… and I need to do it alone…"

"I… understand." Blake nodded reluctantly.

The pair stood awkwardly for a few moments. Then Ruby hugged Blake, and Blake returned it tightly.

"Ruby… are we…" Blake voiced the one thing worrying her above all else.

Ruby didn't answer, because she truly didn't know.


Ruby was starting to be glad she had already decided to limit interactions with her team mates. Yang and Weiss stopped shouting at each other through her. Unfortunately, this meant that they had started shouting at each other to their faces. 'Would you tell your oaf of a sister to pick up her nasty towels' and 'let the princess know she should stop shedding in the shower drain' became full-fledged arguments.

"We are only a few days from our graduation, and I will be damned if you get yourself kicked out before then and ruin it for the whole team!" Weiss shouted at Yang.

"It was just one prank! One end of the year prank, and Cardin deserved it! What has you so tied up anyway!?" Yang shouted right back.

"You almost got expelled!" Weiss shouted.

"Why do you care, princess!?"

"You know what? I don't. Why would I care for a big… stinking… blonde brute such as yourself!" Weiss cut deep.

"Why would I care for a stuck up, spoiled, rich bitch such as yourself!" Yang retaliated.

"Would you two shut up for five minutes!" Ruby screamed. She had had enough of this madness, and her pregnant-lady mood swings weren't helping. The two had been dancing around their feelings for months, feelings Ruby and Blake saw were there as early as their second year. "Every little pet peeve explodes into something that shakes the dorm every time you speak lately! Why don't you two wander off, separately, and think about why you are irrationally angry at little things. You might learn something!"

Ruby finished by slamming the door to RWBY dorm after pushing the two into the hallway. Weiss and Yang looked to each other, huffed, and walked off in separate directions.

Why do I let myself get bothered over the brute? Weiss thought as she walked. Well, she is just an infuriating person! I'm not the only one to get bothered… Blake always… well sometimes she… actually, her and Yang talk a lot of stuff out… But Ren!... wait, he ignores her… Pyrrha? Jaune? Sun? Nora? Weiss halted. Nora, Weiss? You really are grasping at straws…

"Hello, Weiss." Lei Ren approached from behind.

"Oh! Hello, Ren. How are you?" The heiress greeted formally.

"I'm well. Though I couldn't help but overhear the… encounter across the hall." Ren told her.

"I'm sorry, she is just so frustrating." Weiss fumed. "I mean, she frustrates the rest of you, right?"

"Yes, but we don't let it get to us like you do." Ren confirmed Weiss's doubts from a moment ago. "And why is that?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"I mean..." Ren smiled and came up with a plan. "What do you like about her?"

"Like? There's nothing to like. She is one hundred percent infuriating." Weiss vented.

"Or… You're in denial."

"Excuse me!"

"Weiss, listen." Ren turned to her. "Is it really so farfetched that someone would take everything they like about someone and subconsciously turn it into things they hate if they cannot believe they are really fond of this person?"

"While that makes some sense, that is not Yang and I." Weiss stood her ground.

"How can you be sure if you're deceiving yourself." Ren shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure if it is. But at least give it real thought."

Ren walked away at that moment, leaving Weiss with her thoughts. "That's not Yang and I… Is it?"

The heiress decided to walk back to the dorm and try to catch her team mate there. It turned out, Yang and her returned at the same time. "Oh… Hey Weiss." Yang greeted, visually nervous.

"Hello, Yang…" Weiss nodded. She took a deep breath. "Yang, I just had a talk with Ren, about denial and things like that…"

"Funny…" Yang smiled. "I had a similar one with Blake just now…"

"How similar?" Weiss asked, her heart beating faster than it had any right to.

"Weiss… I'm sorry." Yang confessed. "I don't mean half the things I say. Well, your hair clogging the drain is annoying, but I'm sure me leaving my towels out is too. But… You're not stuck up, you're proud, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Also, you're not really spoiled, not anymore… And you're not really that much of a bitch… well… anymore, at least… okay, this is bad. I am bad at this."

Weiss found herself giggling at the blonde's fluster. "It's okay. You're not stupid, you're not stinky, though you are a little bit of a brute, but not in a bad way. And I suppose I could do a better job cleaning my hair out of the drain… maybe, part of me wanted the fight. It seems to be the only way we talk since… forever."

Yang smiled. "Maybe… we can give up trying to make each other angry… and try making each other happy instead?"

"What are saying?" Weiss returned the smile.

"I'm saying… what harm can one kiss do?" Yang offered.

It was Weiss's turn to fluster. "You're blunt as always…" She tried to fan herself as she turned bright red. "How about we start with just dinner? Though I don't know if we'll have time before graduation."

Yang thought for a moment. "Sounds good, then. Just nowhere too fancy. Don't need to be getting kicked out of the restaurant."

"Agreed." Weiss smiled and went to enter the dorm.

Yang smirked and set her true plan into action. She grabbed Weiss by the waist, tilted her over, and planted a full kiss on her lips. Weiss was too startled to push off, and ended up returning the kiss instead. After two seconds, she regained herself and shoved the blonde away. "What the hell! I told you to wait…"

Yank didn't lose her smirk. If Weiss can't handle this side of me, we won't work out anyways. "You loved it."

Weiss tried to stay frustrated, but couldn't keep it up. Instead, she smiled. "Maybe I did."

Score one! Yang celebrated internally. "Are we still doing dinner after graduation?"

"Of course." Weiss nodded. "You better be on your best behavior, because after that stunt, I may just want to spoil you."

"My best behavior isn't very good." Yang warned her.

"Trust me, I know. But still try. For me?" Weiss asked.

Yang giggled. "Alright, Weissy. For you."


Ruby finally managed to get through that last week without incident. Even her baby bump had seemed to slow its growth, and she was able to walk on stage with a gown that was curiously enough mis-ordered a few sizes too large. I don't know who messed up, but I'm glad they did. The redhead thought to herself as she climbed the steps onto the stage.

Ozpin gave a short speech to each person as they were handed their Huntress card. It had the ID number they could use to accept missions going into the future. Ruby almost forgot about all the bad in her life, as she finally held the one object she sought after since she was 10 years old. For the first time in a long time, she genuinely smiled. Then, just as quickly as it all started, it was over. There were pictures, smiles, talks of what was next. Ruby took part in the social environment for a while, but there was something else on her mind. She was graduated, and free to carry out her plan.

She began to make her way to the door, but a voice stopped her. "Rubes, wait!" Yang shouted. Ruby stopped and turned slowly. "You're going, aren't you?" The blonde asked as she caught up.

Ruby blinked. "How do you know?"

"Blake told us." Weiss informed the redhead, her and the faunus in question joining the conversation.

"Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye?" Yang lamented.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want you guys to worry about me." Ruby told them.

"Of course we'll worry about you, dolt." Weiss told her. "Stay in touch, okay? We have scrolls for a reason."

"And come back soon." Yang followed up.

"We'll be waiting." Blake promised.

Ruby smiled, tears in her eyes. Even after everything she had done the last two months, her friends still cared. "I'll see you guys soon. I love you, all of you."

Team RWBY shared one large group hug before going their separate ways. Yang and Weiss had a date to catch, Blake decided to go home for at least a month or two, and Ruby… Well, we know where Ruby is going.

But will it turn out how the redhead expects it to?