July 17th 1999, 7:00 am.

Ruby was drying her hair after her morning shower. Sometimes one needs to take a moment to appreciate what's good in life and at that moment, a nice cool shower after sweating her ass off for half the night in the brutal almost oppressive heat was what the doctor ordered for her. As Ruby started to towel off her short boy cut hair she giggled at the conversation she had with her sister the day after her operation.

[Ruby, your hair… it's… what did they do to it!] Yang signed angrily.

[Relax sis, it's okay, they needed the area they were working hairless so they gave me a haircut in the operating room.] Ruby said to placate them

[I'm going to fucking sue them, they hacked off your hair, that's some bull shit, i'm going to go down there and shove a chair leg right up their-]

Ruby decided to stop that line of thought there as she slipped on her black Bra and reached around her back to hook the straps on.. She then pulled on a pair of red slightly frilly underwear Followed by the pair of daisy duke shorts she got at the mall the other day. For a Top she decided on the plain red tank top she had laying around on of her dresser drawers.

Once that was done she went and checked on the incision sites, she was meticulous in cleaning the area to keep them from becoming infected. The incisions were long since closed up and healed, but she wasn't taking any chances as she was only three days from her implants being activated. Not wanting to even bother with the shirt yet and went in her bra and shorts into her room to check and see if Any one was up yet, She only saw the "RENNORA" account that Ren and Nora shared together online on AIM in "away" mode.

"Weird, Jaune is normally online by now." Ruby thought thinking of their normal ritual of getting up and chatting on AIM while they ate breakfast. Ruby huffed out as she cracked open a breakfast shake and started to drink it as she started to casually pass the time by browsing the web and looking at the small sealed box on her shelf that contained her the other half of her implants. The box contained the microphone and transmitter parts that would go around her ear once they were calibrated for her. Until her activation appointment there were just wires and plastic for all the good they would do her.

After she had finished her breakfast she pulled on her top and got her shoes on. She decided to go see Jaune in person to figure out what was wrong. She "That's not normal for him, I mean he's more of an early bird than I am most days" As she reached her door. "Unless he was up super late again."


After sneaking past her mother before she was given a list of chores for the day, she found herself glancing at the porch of the Nikos household where she saw Ren and Nora cuddling up on a swinging bench staring out in the direction of the rising sun.

Figuring that Jaune wasn't going anywhere she walked over to where they sat to at least say hello. As she approached both of them stopped and waved at Ruby as she walked up. Nora signed first [Hey number 2, how goes it this morning?]

Ruby winced a bit at the comment, she didn't like being reminded that she was not Jaune's first girlfriend. She gritted her teeth to not give Nora the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her and signed [I was just about to walk over to Jaune's and I wanted to see how you two were doing]

Ren and Nora exchanged brief glances before Ren signed out [Well were up late so we decided to skip sleep and just see if we could make it to the sunrise together.]

Nora signed in the sort of not quite right way she did so [Yeah, we couldn't really sleep last night, we had too much on our minds.]

Ruby happened to glance over at a nearby table as Ms Nikos sat with a cup of coffee and a pained look on her face, she was then startled by Nora's hand in her face.

Once Nora had Ruby's attention back on her she signed out [Today's not going to be great for her.]

Ruby must of looked confused because Ren signed out to clarify. [Today is the one year anniversary of Pyrrha's...] Ren paused for a second to mill it over. [Pyrrha's death.]

Ruby gasped out, she didn't even realize the significance of the day. [Oh my God, is there anything I can do to help?]

Nora signed out [No I think we got this one Number 2, I'm not sure how you would be helping right now]

Ruby mentally winced as she noticed a picture sitting next to Ren [Is that a picture of you guys?]

Ren handed her the picture while signing [Group photo we all took at the park one day, I think Jaune has the same picture.] The way Rem signed his words were more relaxed and he didn't seem to have the same level of resentment that Nora did.

Ruby looked at the picture and saw a clearly younger Ren and Nora standing together hand in hand while she saw a young Jaune standing with his arm around the shoulder of the short glasses wearing redheaded girl. Ruby found herself thinking "She was pretty cute, I can see why Jaune would be interested in her".

Then she looked at Jaune and felt a pang of jealousy as she saw just how happy he looked. His eyes were full of a kind of energy that she never saw in him. He also wore a completely unguarded unrestrained smile on face.

She handed the picture back to Ren [You all looked so happy then]

Ren nodded [Yeah, things were good back then.] He paused for a second [Ignoring Nora for a second.]

Nora elbowed Ren in the side interrupting him [Like I said, just walk on eggshells with Jaune today, I know he's going to take it as hard as the rest of us okay?]

Ruby nodded and signed out [I'll see what I can do, I've been keeping him moving for this long, I'll get him through today.]

Ren and Nora nodded as Ruby waved and got back to her walk over to Jaune's house. As she started to walk, her mood turned sour as she thought "Am I actually doing enough for Jaune? I mean, I have to admit that it hurts to know how much happier he was when he was with Pyrrha than he was with me… Am I not good enough? Am I really just a 'Number two?'"

She couldn't find a comfortable answer by the time she got to Jaune's place.


Ruby managed to make it to Jaune's just a bit before 8:30 in the morning as she knocked on the door. Mina was quick to answer the door and shot ruby a small smile as she signed out [Your here early today Ruby. What's up?]

[Jaune wasn't on IM this morning… and well… I know what today is.] Ruby signed with a slight Frown [I just wanted to check on him.]

Mina smiled and signed to her [Yeah, he's still in bed, he didn't go to sleep till four, I'm going to wake him up in a couple hours if he's not up on his own.] Mina rubbed Ruby's head before signing [Your more than welcome to wake him for me.]

Ruby blushed at the affection Mina was giving her, it was still weird being shown anything beyond a passing complement by someone's mom. She still took a deep breath and signed [Actually, before I do that, can I ask you something?]

Mina smiled and replied [Yeah go nuts kid.]

Ruby sighed and signed [Do you think Jaune is as happy with me as he was with Pyrrha?]

Mina was taken back by the question [What brought this on?]

Ruby sighed [I saw an old picture of Jaune with his old friends, he had an arm around Pyrrha, and he looked a lot happier than I've ever seen him.]

Mina signed back [My son was happier in general before what happened to Pyrrha, I won't lie that part of me still misses her too.]

Ruby looked off to the side before Mina pulled her into a hug for a moment before stepping back and signing [Everyday, my son is a little happier, and his eyes shine a bit more like how the used to.]

Ruby sighed and rubbed her head. Mina reach over and lifted up her right and and ran a thumb over the scar on her wrist before signing with one arm. [I know my son loves you Ruby Long, and I know my son would be dead if you didn't save him.] Mina hugged her again [And god damn if I don't love you like a daughter for that one Kid]

Ruby started to blush hard as she found her eyes looking down at Mina's belly with a smile.

Mina chuckled and rubbed her pregnant stomach [Don't get any ideas! At the bare minimum I want you both financially secure first.]

[Your baby is coming soon right?] Ruby signed to Mina.

[Mid to late October I'd say, I can't wait to finally meet him or her.] Mina signed with a smile. [Go ahead and pester my boy for me okay?]

Ruby smiled as her spirits felt lifted and she walked down to where Jaune's room. She knocked a couple times to see if he was up and rested her hand on the wall to feel for vibrations. When none came she walked into the room.

She wasn't too shocked to see him laying on his bed. she was surprised however to see him awake staring at her when she came in. he was laying in bed shirtless and only wearing a pair of shorts.

[Your mom said you'd be sleeping right now.] Ruby signed before she shook her head and signed [Oh and, hi by the way.]

Jaune sat up and made a spot for her before signing [Hey hon. What brought you over this early?]

Ruby sat down on his bed crossed legged in front of him, but not before giving him a toe curling kiss. Ruby signed out [You did stupid. You didn't get on IM and I wanted to make sure you were okay.]

Jaune barely contained his blush and signed [Yeah… Sorry about that.]

[I know what today is.] Ruby signed. [I talked to Ren and Nora a bit before I came over.]

Jaune sighed out [You don't have to do this. Piss a whole day away on me while I'm being miserable.]

Ruby shook her head and signed [Dumb ass, I want to be here, otherwise I'm going to be stuck at home with my mother.]

Jaune shrugged [Well when you put it that way I suppose I can't argue with you.]

Ruby saw an old picture book on his nightstand. She picked it up and sat it in her lap [Let me guess, pictures of your ex?]

Jaune shrugged [It was in the box. It's mostly pictures of our old gang hanging out or going places.]

[I'm sorry I'm not her Jaune.] Ruby signed out.

Jaune picked up the photo album and tossed it next to the box. [I don't want you to be her Ruby.]

Ruby sighed and looked at him [Help me out of my shirt]

Jaune's eyes shot wide with a blush as he frantically signed [Wait what? Like now?]

Ruby signed out looking at him with a slight blush [Jaune, we've dated for seven months and the most risky thing we've done was that one time I had you draw me in my underwear.]

Jaune broke eye contact [Yeah I know….]

Ruby sighed and shrugged [You never went that far with her?]

[God Ruby I was barely 14 when I started dating her.] Jaune signed out. [Like I was 14 for maybe a week]

[We both just turned 16 in the last two months, it's not weird for 16 year olds to mess around.] Ruby signed out.

[Yeah I know, today is just a weird day for it.] Jaune signed out as he leaned back against the wall.

[It's just a Saturday Jaune, the only thing that would be weird about it is that your mom is home] Ruby signed as she slid into his lap [I'm not going to make you do this if your really that uncomfortable with it, but were stagnating as a couple]

Jaune blushed and looked like he was struggling with the idea of what Ruby is asking. Jaune finally signed out [I guess I'm a bit nervous is all.]

Ruby gave him a small kiss, that led to a longer deeper kiss before she pulled away. Jaune meekly signed [I uh, don't have protection]

It was Ruby's turn to turn red as she signed [I mean… I do…]

The pair stared at each other in silence for a few awkward moments with Ruby sitting In Jaune's lap before Jaune started to lightly Grip the Bottom of Ruby's tank top. Ruby felt her heart pounding in her chest as she felt her tank being lifted up. Jaune then stopped unexpectedly and looked at the direction of his door. Ruby sighed a bit realizing his mother must of shouted something to him from somewhere else in the house. She looked at Jaune and signed [What was that about?]

Jaune blushed and signed back [My mom said she'd be back in an hour, she had a few things to get from the store.] Jaune rubbed his neck [So uh, yeah house to ourselves.]

Ruby's heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest as Jaune went back to helping her out of her Tank top.


What would follow would be mostly described as approximately 25 minutes of fumbling about as neither of them knew what the hell they were doing. The next ten were spent in mutual shock at what they just did. Followed by a bit more making out and then getting dressed.

Now Ruby, who was feeling slightly sore sore but was also feeling a combination of awkward embarrassment and general satisfaction in equal measure watched her boyfriend making them both breakfast. As ruby sipped her coffee she quietly watched her boyfriend, taking in the moment. Jaune's hair was pulled back and tied back to keep it out of his face while he cooked them both Scrambled eggs and Bacon. Ruby also looked with some satisfaction at the content look in his eyes. A Look she rarely saw on his face.

A few minutes later Jaune set the plate in front or Ruby and sat down smiling and signing [Here you go, I see you found the coffee already.]

Ruby smiled [Yeah, I did.] she signed back as Jaune say down.

As Jaune took a couple bites from his breakfast she tapped him on the shoulder getting him to look up at him. He signed out a quick [What's up] while he swallowed his eggs.

Ruby smiled and signed out [Thank you.]

Jaune wore a dopey grin [What for breakfast]

Ruby shook her head and giggled [No, I mean yeah thank you for breakfast, but I was more wanting to say thank you for trusting me.]

Jaune smiled as he took another bite and looked like he was gathering his thoughts before signing [You were right, by the way. I guess I was holding myself back because of her.]

Ruby smiled sympathetically [Maybe it's time you got a bit of closure after everything.]

Jaune quietly finished his eggs and bacon and signed [Yeah, I mean] Jaune paused looking like he was gathering his thoughts [I think.] Jaune hesitated [I think it might be time to go pay my respects.]

Ruby quietly finished her breakfast as she signed out to him. [Do you want me to go with you?]

[I don't think I could do it without you there.] Jaune signed back with one hand as he sipped his coffee.

Ruby smiled and nodded [Okay, let's take some time for you to mentally prepare and we'll both go over.]

Jaune nodded as he took a sip of his coffee.


By 11:15 in the morning, Jaune and Ruby stood outside of the Nikos residence. Ruby watched her boyfriends hesitation for a moment before he knocked on the door. Ruby saw Sam Nikos open the door a few moments. it was clear she was not in the best shape and that she had been recent crying.

Jaune looked down for a second before he offered Sam a hug which she quickly accepted. Ruby focused on trying to read Ms Nikos Lips as she pulled back to say "It's good to see you Jaune, you here for Ren and Nora?"

Jaune wrote something down on a notepad for her to read. Sam looked up and said with a smile "Ah your coming to see how were doing and check up on us, well come inside Jaune" Sam turned to Ruby and for a moment Ruby could see the clear resemblance between Sam and the pictures of her late daughter that she's seen. "Ms Long your welcome to come inside as well, I know I have you to thank for Jaune even being here after all."

Ruby felt a goofy smile creep on her face as she followed Sam and Jaune inside.


"This this idiot comes in holding an ice pack over his eye" Ren said pointing at Jaune "I mean we all saw him a couple hours ago at lunch and he didn't have a black eye then, so it was a bit of a surprise that he somehow managed to pick one up in that short amount of time."

The group were all sitting around Ms Niko's kitchen table swapping stories over pizza and soda's as Ren kept talking Jaune was signing it out for Ruby's sake. "So of course were all wondering what the hell happened. Pyrrha just reaches over for the biggest book she could find and was practically shouting 'Who did this!' At Jaune. I mean picture this 5 foot nothing puff ball of a girl holding a Webster's dictionary like a club demanding who gave her 6 foot tall boyfriend a black eye with vengeance on her mind."

Sam was cracking up, Nora was laughing her ass off, even Ruby was feeling an amused chuckle at Jaune's embarrassed looking face. "So of course, we all wanted to know who did it, I mean it wouldn't have been the first fight Jaune had picked since we met him. And what did he say?" Ren said looking at Jaune.

[The girls volleyball team.] Jaune signed back giving into his giggle fit.

[Wait what?] Ruby signed back and Ren interpreted for her.

"You see it turns out this guy here was taking a shortcut through the school Gym to meet up with us, while the Volleyball team was practicing and one of them spiked a ball weird just as Jaune walked by." Ren said with a big grin and an obvious sign that he was chuckling out his words.

Jaune signed out [I got hit right in the eye by it and had to swing by the nurses office, hence why I was late that day]

Ren with a smirk said "Now, Pyrrha, knowing Jaune way to well didn't believe this for a second, and asked 'No seriously, who did this, I'm going to show them the definition of pain after I whack them with this a few times'"

Sam chuckled and squinted her eyes "How come I never heard about this before now?"

"I have no idea Sam, I mean it was pretty damn funny at the time" Nora said as she was holding her sides from laughing.

Jaune signed out with his typical dopey Grin [I don't think she ever believed me at all.]

"Oh she didn't, she told me later she didn't believe you." Ren said to Jaune with a grin.

Jaune just shook his head and signed out. [That sounded like her.]

After the chuckles died down Nora tilted her head "Did you uh… want to say hi to her?"

Jaune's smile faded a little bit but was there as he signed to Nora and the others [Yeah, I guess it would be a bit rude if I didn't]

Ms Nikos pointed and spoke "I know you'll want a bit of privacy, So she's on the bookshelf in the spare bedroom over there. The girl loved to read so I decided to put her where she'd feel at home."

Jaune nodded and slightly chuckled [Yeah, Sounds about right to be honest.] before he stood up. Ruby having just lost her interpreter got up and pointed at Jaune. Sam just said "Go ahead dear…"

Ruby nodded and followed Jaune. By the time Ruby got to where Jaune was she saw him standing in front of a book shelf that held the simple ceramic urn on it, it was surrounded by several books that she assumed was Pyrrha's…

She watched Jaune pull out a small red and black twenty sided die and sat down next to her urn before he signed [You got that mixed up with my old dice bag.] Jaune rubbed his neck before he signed out to Pyrrha [So uh, here you are… I guess the original plan was to meet back up after three years right? Of course the plan also included you being alive.]

Ruby watched Jaune wince for a second but he kept signing. [I… I moved on. I guess that's normal enough after a year.] Jaune paused and rubbed like he was thinking of what to say. [I guess I'm still trying to resolve that I'm a big part of why you did what you did. I can also say, that I'm angry that you did it.]

Jaune paused as his hands clenched up in anger before he relaxed and let them drop to his side. [I miss you though, and I'm sure all of us wish you were still here.] Jaune glanced over at where Ruby was sanding and smiled at her with his arms folded across his chest. [I moved on with the help of some amazing people over this last year, My friends, Yang, Weiss and Blake, and my girlfriend Ruby.] Jaune took a deep breath [I know part of me will always scream out over your loss. That part of me that died the day you did, but I'm going to silence that part of me, I'm going to put that part of me in your box and let it waste away. I'm going to move forward with the help of my friends here.]

Jaune smiled [Your missing a lot here, I'm going to be a brother soon, my mother is getting married in a couple weeks. Hell, maybe if you were still here, I'd be telling you all of this in person. Or maybe you'd still be out west still and maybe your mother would still be married to that son of a bitch you called a father.]

Ruby watched Jaune shake his head as he faced away from her. She saw the subtle shake in his body as he reached up and wiped his eyes. [If I want to be able to keep doing what I want to do, be the best god damn boyfriend I can to Ruby, and be the best friend I can be to the others, I have to bury you.] Jaune paused [Frankly I don't care if your in heaven looking down at me pissed that I'm doing this. You could have stayed with us, we could have had a great life together, but now I'm going to live that life with someone else.] Jaune clenched his fists and signed [Goodbye] before he turned to Ruby and forced a smile and signed to her [I think I'm good.]

Ruby wiped her eyes and smiled [Good, do you mind if I have a word with her, just me and her?]

Jaune tilted her head and nodded [Yeah I'll be out with the others.] and walked out of the room leaving Ruby alone with the remains of Jaune's first love.

Ruby walked over and looked at the empty doorway before she looked at the Urn. She stared at it for a second and thought out a small prayer before she signed out [So, I've heard a lot about you, you seemed like a nice person, and you looked really pretty in your photos.]

Ruby's smile faded quickly as she continued [But the truth is I think I hate you.] Ruby paused to double check that no one was in the doorway before she kept going [I hate that because of you, My Jaune is a shell of who he was when he was your Jaune. I hate that you almost killed him.]

Ruby felt her own blood boil [I hate that our relationship has been stalling, not because he's not in love with me, but because he's scared of losing me, scared of hurting me. I know he doesn't like to talk about it, that he'd like to pretend that your memories don't haunt him. But I know he puts up a brave supportive face for us while he screams in torment on the inside.]

Ruby signed out in declaration [Well I'm going to fix what you broke, every damn day he's a little stronger, every damn day he smiles a little brighter, and if I have to hold him up till he can stand on his own, so fucking be it.] Ruby wiped her own eyes. [Jaune was there when I needed someone just like him, I was there when he needed someone to pull him back from the abyss.]

[Your a coward that couldn't take the pain of him not being there? Well your pain didn't die with you, it just got rammed into the hearts of everyone around you. I can't fix Ren and Nora or your mother, but I can help Jaune.] Ruby signed out before she clenched her fists and anger. Deciding she didn't have anything else to say she turned and left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind her.

Ruby went back to the others and was all smiles again by the time she sat back down. When she looked at Jaune's eyes, she saw the flicker in them, it may not have been the fire that was in that old picture, but it was getting stronger. She smiled at the thought of one day seeing those eyes full of the life they had, and she declared to herself that she would be there every step of the way to be there for him.


Well this was certainly the longest chapter of this story by far, but it covered a lot of ground. I kinda decided early to tell this chapter complexly from Ruby's perspective as I don't think I do that particularly often in this story. But of course telling this particular chapter, which was a deeply personal chapter from Ruby's perspective helped kinda give the chapter and "Outside looking in" perspective that I felt was better in the long term.

But beyond that, I don't have much else to say about it. As far as Reviews go, Well Calamk, the Urn did in fact come up in this chapter as far as giving Jaune the chance to get some closure on the last year of his life. Dragon Lord Syed 101, I'm actually pretty tempted to have Ruby keep it kinda short, especially in light of of her appearance in the Volume 7 promo arc in which she looks to have a bit more of a tomboy look hair-wise. and Darkvampirekisses, I'm glad your enjoying the story up to this point, I've been having a blast recalling living through this time to write about it as well.

Beyond that, thanks again to everyone for reading, and I hope all of you have a great day.