I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.
Saying Goodbye
"You are going to sit there and be quiet!" Winter snapped at her father.
"Where's Fox?" Blake asked suddenly, everyone looking around, Blake starting to panic. "Fox!?"
"Don't worry," Ava said. "We'll find him."
"We have to hurry!" Blake said, only for Ava to pull her into a tight hug.
"It's going to be okay," Ava said. "But only if you think things through carefully. Where would he go?"
She began to pull away, taking care to brush the paper, making the inside of her coat's pocket brush against it. Blake glanced down and froze, eyes widening slowly as she slowly reached into her pocket. There it was. A piece of folded paper. A letter. She pulled it out, unfolding it and staring. Tears flooded down her cheeks instantly and her hands trembled. Yang stepped up beside her, reading it silently over her shoulder.
"Blake, there are so many things I want to say. There are so many memories I wanted to tell you about. Not all of my episodes have been bad things. Not all of them have been different incarnations either. The memories are all jumbling together. But I remembered that first time you and me went to get tea without Sun. I remembered seeing you the first time. You were moody, and you wanted to be left alone, but you were so beautiful. I knew right away that I was going to make a fool of myself by falling for you, but I just couldn't help it. And yet, never in my wildest dreams, would I have ever thought you would actually feel the same.
"I have so many happy memories of my time with you swirling through my head. I wish we had more time. I wanted to be able to have a family with you. I wanted to marry you, and watch you grow old and still be the most beautiful woman on the planet. I wanted to talk you out of being a Huntress, hide you away from Salem. I wanted to spend my life with you in happiness and peace. I wanted more time. But fate is cruel.
"By the time you read this letter, I'll already be long gone. The Generals have all assembled. They're all here. As I write this, I can feel their summons. They've come for me, and if I don't go to them, they'll come to me. And then they'll wipe out anyone and everyone who gets in their way to do it. No one will survive that. So I'll stall as long as I can, but I'll have to go to them eventually. Please don't come after me. They're going to bring an army with them. You have to stop it. You have to defend the city. And you have to let me go. I'm begging you. Please. Let me go. Be with Yang. Or Sun. Or Ilia. Someone. Let them in. Let them put your heart back together after I break it. Just please, don't come after me. There will be nothing for you but pain and an army of Grimm. Never forget that I love you. I have always love you, and I always will."
Just as Yang reached the end, the paper slipped from Blake's hands and she began to sob and scream. Yang pulled her into a hug but Blake shoved her away.
"We have to save him!" Blake shrieked. "We have to find him before he fights the Generals!"
Just then, a bloody light shone through the window, everyone staring at it.
"Oh my God," Ironwood breathed as sirens began to scream through the city.
"It's begun," Yang said.
"Fox!" Blake screamed, fighting to break free of Yang's arms.
"Stop!" Yang said. "LISTEN TO ME! ! ! Fox wanted you to stay AWAY! ! ! He left without you because he wanted to protect you! If you go now, he'll have died for nothing! Is that what you want!?"
"I can't live without him!" Blake sobbed. "I'm sorry! But I can't live without him!"
Yang sighed. "Okay. Then you and I are going to go together. I have to get my bracers from the school. Come with me, and once we're there, we can head straight for him."
"I'll fly you there," Ava said. "I'm faster than running."
Yang nodded and looked to Blake, who also nodded. The three of them ran outside, Ava ditching her boots on the way, and as soon as there was room, she spread her wings, picking up the two girls and flying them to the school. Yang sprinted through it to her, Ruby, and Weiss's room while Blake headed to her and Fox's to grab extra Dust. Yang stopped, seeing the letter under her bracers. She picked them up, pulling them on, then read the note, sitting down hard.
"Yang, if you're reading this, you probably already know what's going on. If not, I'll make it brief. I'm going to fight the Generals. I won't be coming back. I want you to look after Blake. She's going to be hurting, and she's going to try to push everyone away, but she loves you. Aside from me, you're the only person she could ever be happy with. No matter what else happens, please don't let her near the Generals. I know you, and I know that if she asks you to, you'll sacrifice yourself to try and save me so I can be with her. But I'm going to die whether I fight the Generals or not. Blake can't hold back the episodes anymore. It's too late for me. So please, just this once, be a selfish bitch. Keep her away from me. Let the Generals kill me and use the pain of my death to win Blake's heart. Do whatever it takes. Steal her from me. Please. Mend Blake's heart. Protect her, love her, and don't ever let her feel alone once I'm gone. This will be the last thing I ever ask of you, so please, just this once, be completely selfish. For once, what you want to do is the best option."
She crumpled the note, holding it to her head as tears fell down her face. It wasn't fair. He couldn't ask her to do that. He was her friend too. And he was everything to Blake. If she stole him like that, she'd never be able to forgive herself. She could never live with herself if she had Blake only because of something like that.
"Yang?" Blake asked, stepping into the room, staring at the letter. "What is that?"
Yang let out a shaky laugh. "He asked me to steal you. He wanted me to let him die and steal you for myself so that I could make you happy in his place." She ripped up the paper and dropped the pieces in the trash. "Come on. We have to save your fiancé."
Blake smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Yang smiled. "I'll have plenty of time to steal you fairly after we save his ass."
Blake forced a smile and nodded, the two of them running out to Ava. Ava picked them up instantly and flew them down to the city. Grimm were already flooding the streets. Goliaths, Sabyrs, Manticores, Chimeras. It was an army. And there, in the distance, she could sense Fox battling the generals.
"We need to be-" Yang trailed off as Blake released a war cry and charged.
And then, she was Death Incarnate. She flipped and spun, slashed, stabbed, shot, and left behind clones that used both their blades and Dust to slaughter any Grimm that got close to landing a hit. After a moment, Yang charged after Blake, Ava just behind her, currently carrying a pair of scimitar-like broadswords. The two of them fought as hard as they could, Yang using her Semblance whenever it was charged enough to deal a good deal of damage to a bunch of Grimm, and Ava slaughtering Grimm as quickly and effortlessly as she ever did, her weapon never remaining in the same force for more than a half-dozen Grimm, and never using the same form more often than with a dozen different forms in between. And yet, even between the two of them, they were nowhere near catching up with Blake. Blake had seemed to have achieved a whole new level of deadliness. Even Goliaths fell to her in moments.
Yang swore as a Manticore batted her into Ava, both crashing to the ground. However, when the Grimm all flooded toward them, a dozen Wulfe clones surged past them, their claws and lasers slaughtering the Grimm, most of the clones actually already having gone Feral, just for the added power of it. The real Wulfe walked over, kneeling beside them and offering his hands.
"You're falling behind," Wulfe said. "She's going to need us if the Generals are still there."
The others nodded and they stood, the three of them charging again, beginning to once again tear into the Grimm, managing to slowly begin to gain on Blake this time. Wulfe and Ava made a perfect team, as Yang expected. Wulfe handled near targets, fast Grimm, and weaker Grimm with his claws, while Ava slaughtered larger, slower ones, as well as any fast ones, in this case the Sabyrs, that he missed. Then, Wulfe would deal with anything far away or anything big, like the Wyverns or Goliaths, using his laser. his clones just generally wreaked havoc around them, but it still helped. Finally, they caught up with Blake just as they broke out of the back of the Grimm army, stepping out of the city only to stop as the giant armored Grimm General's sword exploded down through Fox's, taking off his left arm just above the shoulder as well, sheering the ribs on his left side, along with his collar bone and shoulder blade. Then, Fox collapsed onto his back, his head falling to the left. The Generals all looked over at them as Ruby and Weiss, Team JNPR, and Qrow all arrived, staring at the scene.
"No," Blake breathed as the Generals began to sink into the ground and the Eclipse ended. "FOX! ! !"
Fox looked over at Blake, smiling weakly as they all sprinted to him, Blake sprinting to his side instantly, Ava on the other side. "You...came."
"Fox!" Blake sobbed, kneeling beside him, taking his hand. "Stay with me! Please! I can't lose you!"
Fox smiled sadly. "I...was...prison."
Blake stared at him, eyes wide and tears flowing from them.
"You're...free...now," Fox smiled.
His smile began to fade, but he focused just enough to look Yang in the eye, Yang nodding once. She would be there for Blake. Of course she would. Because it was her fault. Maybe if she'd had her bracelets already, they could have made it in time.
Fox set his head down, turning his gaze to the stars and smiling slightly again, allowing himself to slip away. Blake began to sob instantly, laying on his chest and begging him not to go, even as his aura began to shimmer, slowly growing brighter. Most of the other girls began to cry too. Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha, Nora. But not Ava. She was smiling sadly, but she didn't cry.
"I guess it boils down to my decision," Ava said, everyone but Blake staring at her. Ava sighed, reaching over and resting a hand on Blake, making her sit up. "I can save him, but I don't have long."
"You can..." Blake stared at her in pure awe and hope.
"How?" Yang asked.
"With my Semblance," Ava said, just as Fox's body broke apart into a cloud of shining white spheres of energy. Ava raised her hand, her aura shining white around it and the sphere halted, floating back down slowly into the clothes they'd left behind, rebuilding Fox's body. Once it had been restored, minus his amputated arm but with the wounds no longer bleeding, Ava set her hands on Fox's chest, shining white waves of aura energy flooding from her and over him, turning green the moment it met his shirt, which shone, the same way it did when Fox used his Semblance. "Or, I suppose, his Semblance."
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.
"I'm not a real person," Ava smiled, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks as his blood vessels sealed themselves. "I've been with Fox for going on fifty incarnations now. I was created from his own lifeforce using his Semblance. I was originally meant to replace you after the first time he met you, Blake."
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.
"Sorry," Ava said. "It's too long a story. You'll have to have him tell you." She sniffed, tears beginning to fall faster. "I love you, Wulfe. You're the first person I've ever loved beside him, in all my centuries of life, all the incarnations he and I have been through. You're so special, and you're so amazing. Even though I was specifically created to be Fox's anchor, specifically created to be in love with Fox, I couldn't help but fall for you. I will always love you. Please remember that."
Wulfe swallowed hard and nodded.
Ava smiled. "And don't think any less of him for this. This really is my choice, not his. After this, he won't be able to reincarnate again. By stopping it, I've ended his cycle. This will be his last life. And he'll be able to live it without any episodes. I'm making sure that the memories themselves are gone, but the knowledge of all he's done stays." She sniffed again, then smiled. "Now all that remains is to give him back the power he used to create me. Goodbye Wulfe. I'll always love you." Then, she leaned down, pressing her lips to Fox's, and suddenly both of them shone a pure, blinding white.
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