Aftermath On The Other Side Ch 1: Scattered Rose
Nothing. Ruby had seen or heard nothing since that final battle. All she felt was the relief of no longer bearing the weight of the mission and the stress of fighting and losing those around her.
"You have fought a brilliant fight, Ruby Rose. Though you can no longer live to see the world you and Ozma have saved, your families will. It is time to rest, and be at peace." Those were the words the God of Light said to her. Ruby did indeed help Ozma defeat Salem and save the world. However, it came at the cost of her own life, which she had taken herself to prove a point to Salem. That there was no life without death, and vice versa. Salem was immortal before, but she wasn't alive, nor was she dead. This was how Salem had understood, and in her understanding, she was finally mortal again, and she was as fast as Ruby to kill herself to stop the destruction she caused and to atone for her eternity's worth of crimes and sins against humanity and the gods.
Now Ruby was drifting in a pitch black void she can't open her eyes in to perceive her surroundings. The gods also promised her that Oscar could live a free life now that Ozma had succeeded in his mission to unite the people of Earth, formerly called by the gods a Remnant of its former self. Ruby had the hope and confidence that Oscar could carry on, same can be said about her thoughts of her teammates, her family.
"I blame myself for her death more than I ever will you," she said to Jaune shortly after he tearfully told her what happened to Penny on that supernatural island. "It may have been your idea to use the relic, but I'm the one who carried it out, and put you and Penny into that tragic situation… Cinder was right, I should never have been born, then you wouldn't be suffering this guilt…" Ruby was inconsolable for some time on that island, but she never resented her blond friend for what he did to the girl she thought they could save. In her current post mortal state, she wished for him to stay strong and make the world better like she did. Not just for her, but for Penny, Pyrrha, and all the loved ones they lost.
Her thoughts of Jaune then shifted to Weiss.
"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you will ever have!" Weiss was more to her than the best teammate. She fell in love with her ever since reuniting after the downhill turn of events in Atlas. Weiss wasn't there to stop her fall, but she was there to comfort Ruby after she broke down hearing about Penny's fate. Ruby was sure that she wouldn't have been able to carry on if Weiss didn't help her through her grief, her stress of being good enough to save the world, and her guilt. And to think that the pair were more of enemies than friends when they first met at Beacon. In hindsight, Ruby would've earned the name "Crater Face" again if it meant that she would have Weiss in another life like she did. She did feel bad that the former heiress would outlive her, understanding the pain and helplessness of being alone, but she knew that Blake, Yang, Jaune, and Oscar could put the broken snow angel back together.
"I've always looked up to you, Ruby." She could still feel the tears in her own eyes of Blake's comforting words, but she was also fearful at the time that she would end up ruining the beautiful trust Blake had in her. She was the reason Blake fell into the void, after all. She blamed herself for so many things that went wrong in Atlas, but Blake didn't. She was understanding, as she blamed herself for the longest time after running away from Yang and hurting them all more after the latter lost her arm.
"Remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Ruby didn't think much of her sister's words at that moment, but as she grew up, she realized how true those wise words were. She had grown because she had Weiss and Blake as her teammates, and she led Team RNJR throughout Anima on their adventure to Haven Academy, where she met Oscar for the first time. Haven was also where she reunited with the scattered team she had lost after Beacon's destruction. And she felt remorseful for her own action of leaving Yang the moment she saw her there.
"Yang, I- I'm so sorry! I should've stayed, and I should've talked to you more! I'd- I just… I wasn't sure if you wanted me around and-" Ruby was breaking down as she was frantically apologizing when Yang suddenly hugged her.
"I love you…" Yang said, the same words Ruby last told her before leaving for the fateful journey to fight Cinder and Salem. Sobbing into her big sister's arms, Ruby uttered, "I love you too…" and reciprocated the embrace.
Ruby knew that Yang could regress back to her post-Beacon self now that she was gone, but Ruby also knows that Yang still had their beloved friends and partners to help her recover what she can, especially Blake. It was no secret that Ruby's sister was in love with Blake, a love that festered after their reunion in Haven. For all the ups and downs the mission did with their sisterly bond, Ruby would be forever grateful that Yang was a part of her family, a family that wasn't meant to be whole in life, as their parents and Uncle Qrow had perished in the war before the final battle, with Summer, her own mother, dying as Ruby put her out of her misery of being Salem's slave. It turns out that she was right about Salem giving her mother the same treatment as the hound's Faunus host.
But in the end, Ruby was now wondering if the pain mattered anymore now that she was dead. She did feel the peace that the God of Light had promised, but is it only isolation? Is it temporary and she'll wake up in a happier realm beyond Earth? Is it eternity with lost family and friends?
She soon found her answer, as she finally found the ability to perceive herself, and opened her eyes… to see that she was back to the very young age she was when her mother had left and never returned.
"I'm so proud of you, my little champion," and like the fairy tales with happy endings, there she was. Summer held the reborn baby Ruby in her arms, "I promise you that we can now have all the time together we lost when we were alive for so long." Ruby tearfully smiled, hugging her mother.
"I love you so much, mommy,"
"I love you, and I missed you too."/div
Ruby once said to Yang that she wanted to be a normal girl. But because of her silver eyes and all of the trauma she lived through, that was a life impossible for her to have. Now she truly can be a normal girl here in the afterlife with her long lost mom, as well as her father Taiyang, Uncle Qrow, and even Raven, who had been redeemed by the time she died and gave the Spring Maiden powers to Yang.
"I know we'll all reunite," Ruby thought, "but for now, I just want to be with my lost family." And she went back to sleep in the comforting embrace of her mother.
