Yang finished up her last order of the night at 11:40pm. The moment she was ready, she slipped the pizza bag off the back of her bike and brought it inside as she clocked out. She moved fast, deliberately trying to avoid the sight of the boss.
She'd fought for weeks to end her shift early tonight. Normally, she wouldn't finish up until 2am or later, but she wanted to be there at midnight for Ruby's birthday. It had been a huge point of stress for her for weeks, and she didn't want it to turn into a huge argument right as she left.
Luckily for Yang, the door to the boss's office was closed. Unluckily for whichever poor soul was inside, as the shiny nameplate of Cardin Winchester could only be seen on the closed door whenever he was reprimanding an employee.
Reprimand was far too kind of a word. Yang decided that screaming at was a better description of what usually happened behind that closed door as she slid back over her bike, fastening her helmet on for the last time that night.
Within a few minutes, Yang found herself in her parking spot in the apartment parking lot, right next to Ruby's car. She smiled at the sight. For once, she was going to come home on a Friday night to a still-awake Ruby, or at least she hoped so.
Once she entered apartment number 636, Yang found her little sister fast asleep on the couch, TV still running.
"Wakey, wakey," Yang said, closing the door behind her and hanging up her helmet and coat.
Ruby did not stir. Yang smiled, creeping over closer to her little sister. She glanced up at the clock. 11:55 pm. Oh, she was totally going to wait this out.
She waited, sitting on the ground next to the futon, bouncing her eyes back and forth between the clock and the sleeping face of her little sister.
11:56 pm.
11:57 pm.
11:58 pm.
11:59 pm.
Yang smirked, readjusting so she was now crouching on the ground next to Ruby.
12:00 am.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!" she yelled at the moment the clock changed.
"WAH!" Ruby screamed, tumbling off the futon… and directly into a laughing Yang.
"Happy birthday Ruby!" Yang repeated, hugging her still-startled sister close.
"Yaaaaang!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to push away. "Why'd you scare me like that?"
"It was just too easy," Yang replied, ruffling her little sister's hair before finally loosening her grip.
Ruby huffed before looking at the clock. "Oh wow, it really is my birthday."
Yang laughed again. "You really thought I just screamed happy birthday at you for no reason?"
"I fell asleep like… three hours ago, maybe?" Ruby blinked, her eyes suddenly growing wide. "Penny! I never replied!" She scrambled back onto the futon, fumbling for her scroll in the messy blanket.
"I'm sure Penny will understand that you just dozed off," Yang replied, giving Ruby a small smile before standing up from the ground. "Speaking of, do you want to open your present from her now, or in the morning?"
Ruby tossed her scroll back aside after finishing her message to Penny. "Now!" she exclaimed excitedly, jumping off the futon and bouncing up and down.
"Easy there, squirt. Let me go get the package and the cards." Yang wandered towards the kitchen area, where Penny's package and Qrow's card had sat since their arrival last week. Yang's card had been added to the small pile, but there was no sign of Yang's real present. She scooped them up in her arms, carrying them back over to the futon. "Sit, sit," Yang instructed, taking her own seat on the futon as Ruby sat down next to her.
"Oh, I didn't see you added your card!" Ruby commented, noticing the familiar handwriting of Rubes on the card on the top.
"Your real present won't be here till morning, but you can still open the card now if you want," Yang explained with a soft smile.
"Aw, really? I have to wait till morning?"
"Trust me, it'll be worth it. Go on, open them up," she said, offering the box and cards to Ruby.
She began with Yang's card. She laughed the moment her eyes saw the front of the card.
"You're turning 2?" Ruby read aloud, trying not to keep laughing.
"I drew in a zero!"
Ruby shook her head with a smile. She opened it up, reading the inside before letting out another laugh. "I don't know what I expected."
"You're welcome, squirt." Yang ruffled Ruby's hair before the younger sister gave her a hug.
"Thank you, Yang. I can't wait to see my present tomorrow."
"Oh, trust me, it's a good one."
Ruby put the card down, her eyes settling on the next one. Qrow. "Is it bad I don't want to open it?"
"No," Yang replied softly. "But you still should."
"I know." Her fingers rested on the writing on the front. "I just wish he was here. I wish he hadn't gone away."
"Me too. He'll be back soon though, within the next year."
"I know. But it would have been different if he'd never left."
"I don't know that it would have."
The two sisters stared at each other for a few moments. Ruby shook her head, opening up the envelope. An actual 20th birthday card. She stared at the front for far longer than it took her to read the cover.
Yang closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as Ruby opened the card. Ruby let out a small gasp, causing Yang's eyes to shoot open.
"What?" Yang asked, her eyes settling on the inside of the card at the same moment she had both asked and answered her own question.
Two hundred lien.
"There's only ever been fifty," Ruby whispered, her eyes not even reading the words behind the money.
"Did he… make a mistake?"
"I don't know." Ruby picked it up, still staring at it in disbelief. "That's a month's worth of pay for me."
Yang's eyes read the words on the card as her sister still stared at the money. "Ruby, look."
Hey there kiddo,
If you're getting this card, and it's contents, that means my mission has run for far longer than I would have liked. Missing three whole birthdays was not something I ever planned on doing. I promised your dad I'd make it up if I got stuck out here for this long, so I hope that this helps in the meantime. I promise I'll make up the rest in quality time and actual presents when I get back. You can show him the lien and this as me sticking to that promise.
Say hello to Yang and Tai for me. I love all three of you.
See you soon,
Uncle Qrow
Ruby closed the card, leaning back against the futon, the lien still clenched tightly in her hand. She shut her eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming.
There were no words that needed to be spoken. Just a hug. Yang pulled her close, rubbing her back and not saying another word.
There had already have been plenty of words exchanged over the last two years. There wasn't a single sentence left unsaid, a single piece of support that Yang could give that hadn't been repeated.
They both knew by now. There was nothing left they could do until he got back. There was no real way to prepare for that. No real way to know what would happen. No real way to comprehend the possibilities.
They sat like that for a while. Eventually, Ruby pulled back, putting down the card and setting the money next to it.
"We'll put that in the account tomorrow," Ruby said. "It'll help more than he could have ever imagined."
"Yeah," Yang replied. "We'll be sure to thank him when he gets back."
"Yeah."
Yang nudged her sister in the shoulder, offering a small smile. "You still have Penny's present, and you aren't allowed to go to sleep sad on your birthday, so you better get opening."
Ruby's eyes widened, remembering the colorful box she had been eyeing for the past week. She grabbed it and tore it open.
Yang watched as her younger sister happily tore through the various parts of the present. Trinkets and gadgets seemed to be the theme, as they always were with the gifts exchanged between the two best friends. Both girls loved engineering and making things, and often sent each other half-finished projects to see if the other could improve it in any way. There was, of course, more to the gift than just various odds and ends.
Penny, as per usual, had included a few books on cutting edge prosthetic technology, something that Ruby ate up as much as she could. These books were only available in Atlas, and super expensive to buy online and ship to Vale, but Penny had always sent one or two over whenever new editions came out.
There was a small card at the bottom, which Ruby opened up to find not only a very nice note, but also a rather hefty gift card for the UV bookstore. Ruby smile widened four times at the sight of that.
"She bought a gift card, got it shipped to Atlas, and then shipped it back to us," Ruby said with a laugh. "I can't believe her."
"Oh, I can," Yang replied with a smile. "What's that last thing down there?"
A pure white box that was shockingly unmarked sat at the bottom of the larger box. Ruby pulled it out and opened it up, revealing a very shiny new computer chip, packaged safely inside the box. A small note was attached to the inner part of the top of the box.
The newest chip for the newest model of Yang's arm- instructions on how to properly install it can be found in the books I gave you. I tested the same one on the model I keep up here and it worked perfectly. Figured Yang could use a gift this time too!
"Wow," Ruby whispered, her eyes darting between the note and the chip. "This is…"
"Incredible," Yang murmured, her eyes wide. "A new chip? That will work in my arm?"
"I'll definitely do my research before trying to install it," Ruby said, shutting the top. "And I'd have to do it on a weekend day that you aren't working, so.. Not anytime soon."
Yang still couldn't believe it. "Please thank her for me. That couldn't have been cheap."
"And she bought two, one to test on her copy of the model. That's…"
"Wow," Yang repeated in the same tone her sister had just a minute earlier.
"I'll call her in the morning," Ruby said, placing the smaller box back into the larger box carefully. "It's nearly four in the morning up there."
Yang glanced up at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning. "Speaking of, it's time for you to head to bed. I've got big plans for tomorrow, and you need to be well rested."
Ruby's eyes lit up again. "Yaaaang, you can't tease me right before sleep!"
"Sure I can," Yang replied with a smirk, ruffling Ruby's hair before standing up from the futon. "Come on, it's bedtime, for the both of us."
As if on cue, Ruby let out a huge yawn. "Well, okay. I guess I can try to fall asleep."
"Good." Yang smiled softly as she watched Ruby refill the box and carry it off to her bedroom.
"Goodnight, Yang," Ruby said before shutting the door.
"Goodnight, Rubes. And happy birthday."
Yang sighed as she shut her own bedroom door behind her, staring at the bed that so desperately called her name. A million different thoughts ran through her mind- work, Ruby, Blake, Qrow, Taiyang, Kali, the cat, Ruby, work, Qrow, Blake, Ruby, work, Blake, Ruby, Blake, Taiyang, Qrow, Ruby, Blake, Ruby, Blake, work, Ruby, Blake…
But there was no time for that. There was never time for that.
There was only time to sleep and start again the next day. She'd have to face it all eventually, but right now, it just wasn't possible.
A blissful, heavy sleep hit Yang like a train the moment her head touched the pillow, not even underneath any of her blankets.
There was no time, there were no thoughts. Only exhaustion and a deep, guttural craving to be freed.
AN: A bit of an angsty chapter, I know. I did say there would be at least some angst in this story. It's still primarily fluff, don't worry. I don't think I'd exactly be capable of writing an angst-free fic, but we return to our regularly scheduled fluffy bee programming very, very soon.
If you'd like updates on this work, as well as others, you can follow me on tumblr at SuperbBirbFics , or my main for spicy rwby memes and other various content at PancakesWithKetchup . And, if you'd like to help support me and my writing more, you can buy me a ko-fi ! My username there, as with most places (except for tumblr, because the url is taken rip) is SuperbBirb ! Thank you all so much for your continued support in my works, I endlessly appreciate it and love you all