The newly christened Phoenix was in the next room being checked over by the doctor, who was also happy to hear Ruby decided to keep the child. The new mother herself was staring at her scroll. She recalled how she cut short the conversation with Yang yesterday. Her sister would be worried sick, and it had been over a day since then. Flora watched on, worried for the girl. A life-changing decision had been made, one that greatly altered the redhead's plans.
Ruby finally made herself dial Yang's number and held the scroll to her ear.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed into the phone. "What happened!? Are you okay!? What's going on!?"
"Ow, ow! My ear!" Ruby whined.
"Sorry…" Yang apologized in a much quieter tone. "What happened, Ruby? Where did you go yesterday?"
"It was nothing Yang." Ruby told her. "False alarm."
"Oh… Are you sure? Maybe you should tell me where you are… I could come help." Yang pleaded.
"Seriously, Yang, I'm fine." Ruby looked to the door, thinking of Phoenix. She smiled. "I promise."
"Okay… if you say so…" Yang agreed reluctantly.
"Listen, Yang… about the Reunion…" Ruby began, not wanting to say what she had to say.
"Oh… what is it…?" Yang's defeat was evident in her voice. And it killed Ruby. She had promised, and now her sister was hurting because she wouldn't come home.
"It's… um…" Ruby looked around the room and sighed. "I just wanted to know what the exact date was? I didn't get a chance to get it yesterday."
"Oh. Oh! Of course! Hold on, I'll get my calendar!" The blonde had brightened up instantly, and Ruby could hear her rushing around Schnee Manor.
"You have a calendar?" Ruby teased.
"My princess rubs off on me, I guess." Yang answered.
"I'm sure she does." Ruby teased suggestively.
"Since you can't see it, I'm glaring at you." Yang scolded. "Okay, got pen and paper?"
The pair soon hung up and Ruby looked at the date in her hand. "Flora, you've done a lot for me. I don't know how I will ever repay you for what you've already done, but-"
"Yes." Flora cut her off, smiling.
Ruby looked up. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" Flora smiled. "I'll put in for the time off. You go see your family, and I'll watch little Phoenix when you go."
"Thank you, Flora." Ruby smiled. "I'll find a way to repay you, I promise."
"Don't worry about it." Flora waved her off. "Just tell me… will you tell them?"
Ruby looked back down at the date in her hands. "I don't know, Flora. I want to. I want to go back. But what would they think of me? What would they think of Phoenix? I was scared back when my secret wasn't something I chose… But this time it is my choice. And I'm terrified. What if they hate me for it? Hate him…"
"I know you'll do the right thing in the end." The nurse assured her friend. "You've proven today that you're capable of that."
Ruby smiled as the doctor re-entered the room after checking the newborn over. "Perfectly healthy, fit little faunus boy. I guess having a huntress for a mama does wonders." He joked.
The redhead took her child back into her arms. His eyes were closed now, but that's okay. Ruby saw what she needed to see. Even the horns didn't look like Adam anymore. This was her child, and no one else's. In less than an hour, little Phoenix suddenly became the most important thing in her world.
Yang hung up with a smile on her face. When Ruby brought up the reunion, she was so sure she was going to cancel. Whatever the redhead told them, there was something keeping her away. But she was coming home. Over one year after their graduation, one year since the last time she had seen the woman in person.
"Was that Ruby?"
Yang turned to see Blake approaching. "Blake!"
The faunus's face threatened a smile. "Hello, Yang."
"It's been months. Where have you been?" The blonde asked her friend.
Blake shook her head. "I asked you first. Was that Ruby?"
"Yes." Yang nodded. "Has she still not called you…?"
Blake cast her eyes to the ground. "To answer your first question, I've been looking everywhere for her. But no one seems to have seen her, from the top of Anima to the farthest reaches of Vacuo…"
Yang didn't know what to say. She assured her partner nearly five months ago that Ruby's absence from her life should be nearing its end.
"She hasn't even been hunting." Blake continued, taking Yang by surprise. "I looked up her ID number. No bounties have ever been taken by her. How is she surviving? How is she making money? It's like she's dropped off the face of Remnant."
Yang put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Blake, I don't know what's up with Ruby. Maybe she's still affected by what happened to her. but I know one thing."
Blake turned around, looking Yang in the eye. "What?"
"She's coming to the Reunion." Yang smiled. "That's what we were just talking about!"
Amber eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Are you sure!?"
"Positive." Yang nodded, smiling large.
"But… that's almost six months away…" Blake lamented.
"It's also a guarantee." Yang pointed out. "No vague maybe here. Ruby's coming. She promised."
Blake was deep in thought. "Then… I guess you can count this as my RSVP." She announced. "Looks like I'll be there after all."
"I've got to tell Weiss. We might have to prepare our cookie cabinet for Ruby's arrival." Yang joked. "You maybe want to hang out before you go back out?"
Blake's original plan was to catch Yang up then continue searching for Ruby. But if Ruby was going to be in Atlas in six months… "I suppose I can stay in Atlas for another day. Then maybe Menagerie… I haven't seen my parents in a while either."
Six more months. And then, no more waiting…
"So you have everything?" Ruby asked for the millionth time.
"Yes, Ruby." Flora responded patiently.
"Daipers? His food? His bottle? You know when to feed him? Burb him?" Ruby continued interrogating.
"Check, Check, Check, Yes, and Yes." Flora responded with a smile. "For someone who wanted to give him up, you care an awful lot."
"Shush." Ruby scolded. "I just… This is going to be weird. Maybe I shouldn't go… Atlas is a long way away…"
"Ruby." Flora deadpanned, catching the girl's undivided attention. "I'm a registered nurse. I know a thing or two about baby care. Don't worry, Phoenix is fine with me. Besides, you need to see your family."
"Right. Right, I know." Ruby nodded. "His bedtime is-"
"I know." Flora giggled. "And I know he gets cranky without Beo in his crib." She assured, referring to Phoenix's stuffed Beowulf doll.
"Right…" Ruby took a deep breath, looking at her child. "I'm sorry… After six months… it's strange to be away from him. I can't help but worry."
"I understand." The nurse nodded. "And you have my scroll number. I have yours, but it won't matter, because everything will be fine."
"Right…" Ruby shook off her nerves and smiled. "Mommy will only be gone for a day, 'kay Nix!? She'll be back before you know it, and she'll miss you every second she's away!"
Phoenix looked up at his mother and smiled a big open mouth smile. Ruby could see one little tooth that had nipped her last night. "Gotta watch out for that dagger in the future… I'm still sore…"
"Don't forget your locket!" Flora reminded her.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby rushed to her room and grabbed the necklace locket she had made. Phoenix's newborn picture was safely concealed inside, and the locket would only open for Ruby's aura. "Thank you, Flora. For everything."
"As always, of course dear. Now hurry along, you don't want to miss your flight!"
"Right!" Ruby picked up her bag and headed to the door. Inside the threshold, she stopped and turned.
"And turn off the mobile once he's asleep, or the bells will wake him up in the middle of the night." Flora cut her off. "Go!"
"Right, sorry! Thank you, Flora! I'll miss you, Phoenix!"
With that, Ruby was finally out the door and on her way to Atlas
The Reunion was starting to get into full swing. Everybody had arrived and were mingling, some who hadn't seen each other since graduation. Everybody except for one person. Blake looked longingly to the door.
"You okay?" Sun walked up and asked her.
"Hm? Oh, yeah… just waiting." Blake answered.
"Who else is coming?" Sun asked, looking around the room.
"Ruby." Blake smiled.
Sun was stunned. "I thought she was gone-gone?"
"Not anymore." Blake told him.
Outside, Ruby was walking up the steps. After living with Flora in an apartment in Mistral for almost a year, the magnitude of Schnee Manor was intimidating. One of my friends owns this place? Ruby thought for a moment that she was in the wrong line of business. She looked around and felt her nerves rise again. She pulled out her locket and looked at the picture. It turned out to be a mistake, because that only made her want to go home and see the real Phoenix. She shook it off and forced herself up the last few steps.
The crowd inside was chattering pleasantly, but things paused when there was a knock at the door. Those who knew Ruby was coming got excited, while the rest just stared in confusion. Yang ran up to the door and opened it. The first thing that struck her was that Ruby had changed. Not really physically, but she seemed to glow in a way she hadn't before…
The blonde broke into a huge smile. "Rubes!" She drew her into a crushing hug. "Oh my god, Ruby! I missed you sooooooo much! I'm so glad you're home!"
Ruby inhaled her sister's scent and smiled. "I missed you too Yang…"
Next was Weiss to walk up. She looked Ruby over. The redhead seemed somehow more mature and less put together at the same time. "I believe we asked you to come back soon." Weiss pointed out. "A whole year is not 'soon'."
"Sorry…" Ruby looked to the ground.
Weiss smiled. "Never mind that, though. It's good to have you back."
Ruby looked up and grinned.
By now the shock had worn off and the entire room was bombarding Ruby with questions, many she couldn't really answer. Team JNPR were all there, and even team CFVY had shown up as promised. Taiyang and Qrow had their pieces, but there was one person that the others all stepped away to let her have her own moment with Ruby.
Blake smiled brightly, nearly unable to believe her own eyes after a whole year. "I missed you, Ruby."
Ruby smiled, but Blake's faunus eyes saw something else behind the smile. A sadness of a kind. "I missed you too, Blake." Ruby told her.
I'll ask her later. Blake decided, drawing the girl into a deep hug. Ruby hugged back, feeling the warmth of the woman she still loved. "How have you been?"
"I've been getting better Blake." Ruby told her. "I think I might be 'better'."
"Good." Blake smiled brightly.
"What have you been up too?" Ruby asked.
"Hunting. I have a job to do, after all." Blake told her. "I visited my family once or twice. They miss you, too. They wanted to be here, but they didn't like the idea of coming to Atlas."
"I get that." Ruby nodded.
"What have you been doing?" Blake asked. "You haven't been hunting…"
"This and that… odds and ends… it started as just getting away from my life, even hunting. Things kinda snowballed." Ruby told her, not entirely a lie. "How did you know I haven't been hunting?"
"I…" Blake blushed, totally busted. "May have looked up your ID on the Hunter Network… I was worried, and you never so much as messaged me."
Ruby's face fell. "I'm sorry… I just never knew what to say…"
"You're here now." Blake assured her. "That's what matters."
Ruby smiled and turned to the rest, catching up with everyone else. Blake smiled, watching her old girlfriend settle back in to the old groups. For as anti-social as she was, she was a natural in a crowd, as long as she wasn't thinking about being in a crowd.
Nearly everyone had stayed the night, and were given separate rooms. Blake was one of those people. But she realized sleep would be futile when she woke up after a heated dream. It recalled the first time Ruby and Blake held each other intimately, in the second semester of their third year in RWBY dorm back at Beacon. Somehow, they had gotten the room to themselves for a night, and it was the start of their sexual relationship.
And the dream was vivid as all hell, too. It was getting Blake flustered, and she was really wishing she and Ruby had gotten the same room to begin with. Ruby… she stayed the night too. Blake smiled seductively and came up with a plan. She got up, took off everything under her yukata, and made her way through the halls, following Ruby's scent. She was soon standing in front of Ruby's room wearing nothing but her yukata.
She was going to pick the lock with a bobby pin in her hair, but her faunus ears heard movement inside. A lot of movement, too much for someone who was asleep. She smiled a little bigger. This would be easier than she thought. She knocked on the door and struck a pose. All movement stopped inside. For a while, all Blake heard was her heartbeat. She was beginning to think she made a mistake. She broke her pose as the door began cracking open.
A silver eye poked out of the crack, and settled on the faunus. Blake heard a sigh and the door opened the rest of the way. "Hello, Blake." Ruby greeted, though she didn't sound too happy.
And Blake saw why. "Ruby, are you packing?"
"Yes, I am." Ruby confessed.
"Why?" Blake asked, drawing her sleep wear close around her. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so horny.
"Because I wanted to avoid this." Ruby told her.
"Avoid what?" Blake kept questioning.
"Questions I can't answer." Ruby answered.
"Can't answer… You're leaving." Blake realized. "You leaving right now. You weren't going to be here when any of us woke up, were you?"
"That was the plan." Ruby nodded, fiddling with a necklace Blake didn't recognize.
"Why? Ruby, I thought you were here to stay?" Blake frowned.
"I never said I would stay. I only said I would come to the Reunion." Ruby pointed out. "Everyone jumped to that conclusion on their own."
Blake was quiet for a moment. "Why?" She eventually asked.
Not quite the question Ruby was expecting. But she was still able to use the response she had planned. "It's been a year. Things have happened, Blake. I have a life that's been growing in the past year, and I need to get back to it. Without starting an argument with everybody."
Blake thought for a few moments. "Can't I go with you?"
Ruby had two visions at that moment. Two pictures of her future. One was a fantasy, where she had a full and loving family. Her, Phoenix, and Blake. But the other one was a nightmare… One where Blake hated the sight of Phoenix, and shunned Ruby. The young mother had similar visions of all her friends and families, giving form to her fears. She didn't want to lose them forever… but she knew she could never give up Phoenix. Not now.
Ruby sighed. "I wish I could Blake. Out of everyone… I wish I could. But I can't."
"Why not?" Blake asked, tears flowing freely. She had chased this woman, saved herself for this woman, continued loving this woman, for an entire year!
Ruby was on the verge of confessing. But she was also afraid of losing what little friendship could remain between the two of them should Blake take it badly. "I… I can't say." Ruby settled.
"Ruby… Please…" Blake began to beg. "All I want… All I've wanted… Just stay here… or take me with you…"
"I'm sorry, Blake… but I can't." Ruby turned away so Blake wouldn't see her own tears. It was futile. Her faunus senses noticed the change is Ruby's mood, the subtle scent of tears that were not her own. But there was nothing else to say. Ruby quietly gathered her things and made her way to the door.
Hours passed, and Yang bounded out of bed, excited to start a new day with her sister. She practically ran all the way to the door, and threw it open. When she saw an empty room, she worried. When she saw a note, Ruby's goodbye, she was panicking. And when she noticed Blake, who had curled into the covers of Ruby's bed and cried herself to sleep, she suddenly felt just as depressed. Yang walked back to the note and read…
Yang
I'm sorry I'm not here. You were all expecting me to stay, and that just makes this harder… I have to go. I have things I have to do, important things. Don't worry, I'm fine. I just have my own things going on now, my own life. I only left like I did because I didn't want to start an argument. If you're mad at me regardless, I understand. All I can tell you is, I'll be in touch soon. And that I'm sorry I couldn't stay.
I love you all,
Ruby
