In light of the recent overturning of Roe Vs Wade, I've decided to come back and add a disclaimer to this old story of mine.
That this is a work of fiction, and in no way represents or reflects my real-world beliefs.
As writers, we often explore concepts and characters that we wouldn't associate with in reality. I would never truly condone taking away somebody's right to choose, regardless of what that choice is. The only reasons things go the way they do in this story is because, frankly, there wouldn't be a story otherwise. Flora's heart is in the right place, but she is wrong to insist, and I knew that even while writing her.
I could probably say more, but I feel even this is already too much. Fiction is a place for adventure, exploration, and escapism, not political discourse. Please take this disclaimer for just that and leave any debate at the door.
Mistral was a very different place than Vale. The architecture alone was very exotic. The whole city was built like layers on top of each other. And Ruby's instincts told her to go down. She made her way through the ever-darkening streets, the shadows growing larger. She eventually felt she delved deep enough and pulled out her scroll, looking for the nearest hospital. There wasn't any kind of big emergency center, but there was a small medical clinic a few streets away. Ruby nodded, steeling her resolve.
She walked through the front doors a few minutes later. A nurse at the desk was wearing midnight blue scrubs and had dark blue hair. "Ms. Nightgale?" Ruby called out, reading her name tag.
"How can I help you sweetheart?" The nurse responded, turning and smiling brightly.
"Hello…" Ruby greeted nervously. "I was hoping you could help me with a… problem of mine."
"Well, that's kind of why we're here!" Ms. Nightgale smiled cheerily. "What is your 'problem'?"
"It's… well… I'm…" Ruby rubbed her stomach.
Nightgale had been a nurse for years, long enough to see what was going on. "Oh. I see. May I ask the circumstance?"
"Painful." Was all Ruby gave her.
"I see…" The nurse nodded. "How far along are you?"
"About… ten weeks now…" Ruby told her.
"Oh…" The nurse thought. "Mistral is in the middle of a dispute on the matter of abortion, actually. The law is sort of in the balance, and this clinic has decided not to operate on anyone past two months."
"Oh…" Ruby's face fell. "Well… what about… y'now… off the books?"
Nightgale giggled. "Mistral may be known for its crime, but it's really not as bad as other kingdoms seem to think. It may not be as good as places like Vale or Atlas, but most of Mistral is actually a wonderful place to live."
"And the rest?" Ruby asked.
"Well, Mistral gets its reputation from somewhere." The nurse admitted. "May I suggest something?"
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Carry the baby to term, then if you still don't want it, you can give it up for adoption?" Nightgale suggested.
"I… I can't do that…" Ruby shook her head. "I have friends… family…"
"They don't know, do they?" The nurse assumed.
"I didn't want them to ever have to." Ruby admitted.
Nightgale looked over Ruby with a frown. The nurse herself wasn't fond of abortion, though if this was the result of what she came to assume, she might make the exception… but her better nature told her otherwise. "Like I said, if you carry it to term, you can give it up. And then you can return. I don't know what you told your family to get away, but can it be stretched?"
"You don't like… removal, do you?" Ruby deduced.
"I admit to personal politics in this matter." The nurse nodded. "But you won't find anywhere around here willing to do it. And nowhere else will offer what I can."
"Which is?" Ruby asked.
"Help." The nurse smiled. "As long as you don't mind sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, I could get you hired on as a desk clerk. It's surprisingly simple, would be a load off my hands, and provide a paycheck while we wait."
Ruby considered her options. She really didn't want to have Adam's child, but it sounding like finding a clinic willing to operate would be harder than she thought. Besides, if she had it, then sent it away… perhaps it would go to a loving family. One that would raise it to not be like its father. "Alright. Thank you, Ms. Nightgale."
"Call me Flora." The nurse held out her hand.
"Ruby. Ruby Rose." The young huntress smiled and shook Flora's hand.
The first few weeks were okay, and Ruby was actually settling in very well. Without the need to hide her condition any longer, she was able to better focus on the tasks she was given. Paperwork, scheduling, and sometimes observing smaller medical situations, were all a part of her daily duties. Some days were slow, and some days were exceedingly fast. It was easy for her to get lost in her duties. Before she knew it, two more months had passed, and she had grown very large.
And then she had another issue. She remembered that she hadn't so much as messaged any of her friends or family in that two months. So today, she decided to get it out of the way. She only needed the mental fortitude to go through with it.
"Just do it." Flora urged her at lunch. The pair had started to become genuine friends, and often shared their meal times.
"It's not that easy, Flora." Ruby argued.
"It's only hard to start. You have a plan, right?" The nurse pointed out. "Just call her."
"But… I mean… what if I sound pregnant over the phone?" the redhead told her.
Flora rolled her eyes. "No one 'sounds pregnant'." She deadpanned. "Here, just start the call."
"Wait, where did you-?" Ruby looked at her scroll in Flora's hand. "Give that back!"
"Just let me…" Flora quickly cycled the contacts list and hit 'big sis'. "There you go!" She threw it back.
Ruby barely caught it and held it to her ear, hoping she would just get voicemail. "Ruby!" Was the shout she heard instead.
"Ow, my ear…" Ruby whined into the phone.
"Sorry, sis… I just miss you. How are you?" Yang asked excitedly.
"I'm… doing better, Yang. I really am." Ruby smiled.
"So… does that mean you're coming home soon?" Yang sounded hopeful.
Ruby was quiet for a few moments. "Uhh… I actually kind of fell into the middle of some stuff… hehe, you know how I am. Things get crazy out here in the real world. I thought our life at Beacon was crazy…"
"To be fair, I don't think most students take the charge against an extremist terrorist group." Yang pointed out. "What's going on? Maybe we can help?"
"We?" Ruby asked.
"Weiss, of course." Yang said as if it were obvious.
"You're hanging out with Weiss? You hate each other." Ruby was confused.
"Umm… Sis, didn't you send Blake and Ren after us that day you exploded at us?" Yang asked her.
"Send who? No… I thought you guys just thought things over and decided to play nice for those last few days…" Ruby answered. "What are you saying?"
"Weiss and I are dating." Yang confessed.
Ruby smiled. "It's about time. I'm glad." Ruby's smile faltered. "So… have you heard from Blake?"
"Not yet… she went back home for a while." Yang answered. "So… about you coming home…?"
"It… will still be a while." Ruby told her. "Like I said, I kinda fell in the middle of something. But I can handle it! You and Weiss enjoy yourselves! I'll talk to you again soon. I promise."
Ruby could almost hear Yang smile. "I look forward to it sis. You take care."
"I will." Ruby's smile held as she hung up.
"Told you~" Flora teased.
"Shush."
Back in Atlas, Yang put her scroll away, smiling. "What's got you grinning like the sunshine?" Weiss teased her.
"You took a while in the bathroom." Yang teased right back. "Don't tell me you're nervous about our… what date is this?"
"Twelfth." Weiss told her. "And why would I be nervous?"
"Oh please. Two months is way more than I needed to wait in my last relationship." Yang said suggestively.
"Did the relationship itself even last two months?" Weiss scolded. "How many have you been in anyway?"
"Umm… I never counted… How about you?" Yang quickly tried to turn it around.
Weiss blushed. "I've been in a few." She said, though Yang noted her voice was a couple of octaves higher. "But only one is important, right?"
Yang saw through it in an instant. First, Weiss had clearly never been in a relationship. Second, Weiss was worried. Even after two months, she was worried Yang was going to just end things. But the blonde knew she wouldn't. When she looked at Weiss, she felt things she never knew existed, let alone knew she could feel. Yang smiled.
"Weiss, I'm going to say something I have never said in any of my other relationships." Yang reached out and grabbed Weiss's hand. Soft leather wrapped around icy flesh. "I… I love you, Weiss. You never have to worry about me leaving."
Weiss blushed even harder. She smiled slowly. "I… Love you too, Yang."
The blondes smile could have set the world on fire.
"In fact…" The heiress continued. "I wanted to ask you something… Having a date whenever you're back from a hunt is nice, but I'd like to know the second your home safe… so…"
"Weiss…?" Yang's eyes went wide. "Are you…?"
"I'm asking… if you would do me that kindness by sharing a home." Weiss barreled through.
Yang smiled. "So you were in the bathroom for nerves."
Weiss started growing frustrated, and blushed even harder. "Damn it you blonde brute! Just answer the question."
Yang giggled. "But you're soooo cute when your flustered."
"Urrrrrgh…."
"In fact, you're cute all the time." Yang flirted. "And I would love your cute face to be the first thing I see in the mornings."
Weiss looked back up. "So is that a…?"
"Yes."
Weiss's smile now rivaled Yang's. "So… when can you move in?"
"Like you don't have people on standby to move me in within the hour." Yang deduced.
Weiss sighed. The blonde always saw right through her. "Let me just call them up, then."
"Congratulations." A voice approached that they both knew. The pair turned and saw…
"Blake!" Yang called out. "You're here! How did you find us?"
"People in Atlas start watching when Weiss Schnee walks by." Blake pointed out. "I hope you know what you're getting into, Yang."
"Trust me, I know. But it's worth the risk." Yang smiled.
"Must you turn everything into a joke?" Weiss lightly scolded.
"Your smile tells me 'yes'." Yang teased some more.
"God, you two should have gotten together ages ago." Blake smiled. "Anyway, I came because I wanted to ask… Have either of you heard from Ruby?"
"Not yet." Weiss answered.
"Actually…" Yang confessed. "While you were in the bathroom, I got a call from her."
"What? And you wait until now to tell me!?" Weiss shouted. "How is she?"
"I think we were talking about important stuff there, Weissy. And she said she's doing fine." Yang told them.
"So she'll be home soon?" Blake asked, hopeful.
It's hard to kill a smile on Yang Xiao Long. But she didn't like seeing her friends hurting either, and she knew how Blake would react to the answer. "She said… she got in the middle of something that's keeping her out."
"Where is she? Maybe we can help?" Blake reached out.
"She didn't tell me. She said not to worry, she could handle it." Yang passed along. "Look, Blake, she told me she's doing better, and I believe her. She said she'd call again. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she calls you."
"I hope…." Blake lamented. "I really do…. So, you need any help moving Yang in?"
"I've already hired a moving company, though they'll just send the stuff in boxes to the front door of Schnee Manor." Weiss told her. "I highly doubt they're good enough to decorate to both of our tastes. We need to put stuff up ourselves."
"Which could get kinda rough with us two, huh?" Yang admitted.
"Then you need a mediator?" Blake asked.
"If you wouldn't mind of course." Weiss nodded.
"I don't. Hm, I wonder if it will be the first time a free faunus has stepped foot in Schnee Manor?" Blake wondered aloud.
"Father must be furious already, even if he doesn't know why yet." Weiss joked. She looked over to Yang, her good eye catching both of her lover's lilac ones. "Let's go home."
The months passed quickly. Before Ruby knew it, that fated day had arrived. She was walking through her house, on the phone with Yang, when it happened.
"So, Weiss and I are going to be holding a 'reunion' in a few months. JNPR, SSSN, even team CVFY is slated to show up. Qrow and dad too." Yang told her little sister. "I was hoping… it's nearly been a year after all."
Ruby thought. The baby would definitely be born by then. She smiled. "Sure!"
"That's great news! I can't wait to see Blake's face!" The blonde paused. "Speaking of, have you spoken to her yet?"
Ruby was about to answer when she felt something trickle down her leg.
"Rubes?"
Ruby stared the stained carpet in horror.
"Hello?"
"IHAVETOGO!" Ruby screamed.
Click
Beep beep beep.
At the clinic, Flora's scroll went off. "Hello?" She answered.
"EMERGENCY!"
"Ruby?"
"EMERGENCYYYYY!"
"Ruby, what is- oh god! I'll be right there!" Flora hung up and turned to see her boss giving her a look.
"Going somewhere?" He asked.
She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Ruby's going into labor!"
His tone changed immediately. "I'll get a room prepped! You go get her!"
Flora rushed back to her house where Ruby had been staying for the last few months. She rushed in to see the redhead lying on the couch, practically screaming. "Oh god, I think that's the horns!"
"Horns?" Flora asked, startled.
"Faunus! Faunus!" Ruby was reduced to single word answers.
"Let's get you out of here!"
Hours passed. When it was all over, Ruby had passed out. She woke up in the clinic the next day, looking around the room with eyes fogged be anesthetics. "Ugghh…"
"Ruby?" Flora asked by her bedside, a bundle in her arms.
"Flora…? Is that…?" Ruby asked, eying the bundle with fear of what was inside.
"A healthy baby boy…" Flora answered, almost sad. This child was fated for adoption before it was born, and that was never a good thing. Especially since she grew to be close friends with Ruby.
Ruby continued to eye the bundle, and a different feeling came over her. "Can… I see him?"
Flora looked up in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to… that's why you didn't want ultrasound?"
"I guess you can't carry something in you for nine months without becoming curious." Ruby joked.
Flora smiled and walked over to Ruby's bedside. Slowly the blanket's folds gave way to a tiny sleeping figure. The first thing Ruby noticed was the horns. Not as sharp as they felt, just two little black nubs on top of his head. The fuzz on his head was definitely Ruby's hair, but the horns were distracting. All she saw was Adam.
Then it opened its eyes.
Ruby's breath caught in her throat. Deep silver pools stared up at her, a soft hand reaching up as if it knew. And Ruby saw something there, deep in these eyes. Her eyes, in her child. She saw innocence. She saw purity, a light beyond comparison. She fell in love, and she realized something in that moment. There was only one way to ensure this child wouldn't grow up to be Adam. But there was one issue…
"The adoption papers…" Ruby thought aloud. "They're already-"
"They're not filed." Flora revealed. "I never turned them in."
"What?" Ruby asked, looking at her kind friend. "This was your plan, wasn't it?"
"Not from the start." Flora told her. "But the more I got to know you, the more I realized you would be the perfect mother for this child, regardless of the circumstances of his birth. he's still yours, if you want him."
Ruby looked at him again. This decision was huge, and would affect her entire future. But there was another future here that mattered even more. "I will. I'll raise him, to not be his father. This, is my son. And not his."
Flora smiled brightly. "There's only one thing left to do. What is his name?"
Ruby thought it over carefully. Rising from my ashes. My bright light, My-
"Phoenix." Ruby decided. "Phoenix Rose."
