Like in the Great Stories

"Do you think we'll be a story someday?"

Weiss's eyes flicked open at the quiet question, turning her head to look at her partner.

Ruby didn't look at her, her gaze held solemnly on the moon above them.

Weiss sighed and straightened from where she'd been leaning on Ruby's shoulder. "I think that's what everyone ends up being at the end...nothing more than stories that we hope someone will pass on." A smile tugged at Weiss's lips as she saw Ruby's brow furrow at her words. "But I get the feeling that's not what you meant."

Ruby huffed. "Not exactly…"

"Then what did you mean?"

Ruby was silent for a few minutes, and then she finally turned to look at Weiss. "Have you ever thought about how so many of the stories that we thought were just fairy tales turned out to be true?" Ruby lifted her right hand and began to count them off. "Basically anything with The Two Brothers. The Girl in the Tower. The Story of the Seasons. The Infinite Man. The Silver-Eyed Warriors. And even more." Her hand dropped back down. "All of them were true."

Weiss hummed. "Not quite true. The way we heard the stories wasn't quite what happened, but they were based on real things. They certainly had a kernel of truth in their center, just like all of the best stories and lies."

"Do you think after…" Ruby heaved a deep breath and looked away. "Do you think after everything we'll be nothing more than that? A fairy tale that kids will listen to and never think that it could've actually happened?"

Weiss studied her partner, trying to gauge what she was actually looking for. "Isn't that what you wanted once? To live a life like a fairy tale? To have adventures just like the ones you read about?"

Ruby barked out a laugh. "Yeah…" Her smile was wistful and Weiss knew that she too was thinking back to those innocent days when becoming Huntresses was their biggest worry. "I guess back then, I never really thought what it might be like to live through such a story."

Weiss nodded, but still took a moment before she answered. "With everything we've done, with everything we've seen…" She pursed her lips. "I don't think we could be a simple fairy tale, easily wrapped up with a vague moral just in time for bed.

"No, Ruby, we are an epic. A series of small stories building up and adding to a larger narrative. The kind of stories that takes days to tell, and each night, when it comes time to stop, someone is sure to ask, 'What happens next?' Because with each twist and turn, as things become darker and darker, they just have to know what happens next."

Ruby was quiet at that, before she took a shuddering breath. "And then? What happens next?"

"Haven't you read these types of stories before?" Weiss didn't wait for a response, continuing with barely a pause. "If you did, you'd know that it's always darkest before the light returns. It passes, as all things do. It may not seem like it at times, but there is a balance to these things."

"So you think we'll win?" Ruby looked her right in the eye. There was a desperate edge to her voice, a plea that Weiss couldn't ignore.

It was understandable given all they'd been through already.

Weiss reached out with her left hand and brushed Ruby's hair away from her eyes. Her hand then trailed down her cheek, cradling Ruby's face.

She knew what Ruby wanted her to say, but she could only be honest with her partner, just like always.

"Before I met you, I never believed in happy endings." Weiss softly said. "It was a childish fantasy, one my entire life had made clear was an impossibility.

"But you make me think that they're a possibility. That even through the danger and darkness, if we keep going, keep fighting, keep cherishing the moments of light we do find, we can find happiness someday. We can win in the end, even if we do not win every single battle before that.

"I know you struggle with believing that now, but I've read the epics and stories." Weiss glanced down at her and Ruby's entwined hands laying between them. "And I know that the best ones have a happy ending. To show that everything has been worth it.

"So I don't know if we can win, but I do think that we have a good shot."

Ruby's eyes were wet, making the silver color shimmer, but no tears fell as Ruby tucked her head in the crook of Weiss's shoulder. "You do?"

"I do." Weiss squeezed Ruby's hand while her free hand drifted up to comb through Ruby's hair. "I really do."

She spoke no more words even as Ruby slowly calmed down. She let the silence wrap around them as they both took comfort in the other's presence. Instead, her eyes lifted to study the moon herself.

Weiss knew why Ruby was asking her this now.

One final mission, one more battle.

In the morning, their ending would begin.

Weiss knew what she hoped for, but even then, she knew it was no guarantee. Still, she would do her best to remain by Ruby's side and fight with her friends. They were all as ready as they would ever be.

Happy or not, it was finally time for this story to draw to a close.


AN: Wasn't even planning on writing this before today, but then I was thinking about how many of Remnant's fairy tales turned out to be based on true stories and then I was thinking about Samwise Gamgee, so this is the result. This is the sort of thing that comes to mind when you're about to go into your final battle. So Ruby and Weiss were just sitting, holding hands, before Ruby wanted some reassurance, which Weiss gives as best she can. (Given how Ruby seems to be losing more and more of her optimism as the show goes on, especially in this last volume, I'd find it funny if Weiss ends up being the more optimistic, if more practical, one between them.) Left it open-ended (because who knows how exactly this series is going to end), but personally I'm hoping they take a page out of Sam's book and find a way to give them a happy ending.