Chapter five: Found, lost, then found again

"Qrow?"

I groggily opened my eyes, my head pounding as I sat up, tossing the flask on my chest to the ground, it clanging against the bottles that laid there. I stood, pressing against my back as I heard it cracking back into place. I yawned, walking towards the door. "The hell do you want!?" I yelled through the door, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my knife, just in case. The voice didn't seem affected by it, speaking with a hint of amusement. "It's me Qrow." "... oh… come on in. Door's not locked." I said, turning around and walking into the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee. When I looked up, I saw the familiar woman walking towards me. The piercing blue eyes were what got me, the white sash around her head blending with the white hair. She was dressed in casual clothing for once, a pair of jeans with a white t-shirt.

She came in and sat down across from me like she owned the place, wading through the bottles and beer cans like she'd seen them a thousand times before. Since she had seen them a thousand times before. "It's been awhile." "It's too early for this shit Winter." I said, glaring at her as I took out the coffee, pouring her a mug of it, while I drank straight from the pot. I'd need a lot more coffee if I was going to sober up fast enough. She smiled slightly as she took the mug, drinking from it the way she usually did. She crossed her legs on the cheer, leaning back slightly before she smiled. "Not happy to see me today? I'd have thought after last time you'd be more than excited to see me again~" "If it wasn't -hold on what time is it?" I asked quickly, mostly to myself as I pulled out my scroll, checking to see that it was, fittingly, 2 am.

"2 am on a Saturday-" "It's Sunday." she said quickly. I did a double take as I checked my scroll. I found that, sure enough, it was Sunday, two in the morning. I'd started drinking at five o'clock… on Friday. "Huh… wonder what I did on Saturday?" "You stumbled downtown, beat up eight white fang grunts that were in the middle of a heist, got drunk at the nearest bar, and I had to help you back home around eight o'clock." she said. I just nodded a few times. Yeah, that sounded like me on a drunk Saturday. Wait… where was Ruby that whole time? Was she staying in a hotel somewhere or… huh. "You think that's unbelievable, check your left pocket." she said, a mischievous look in her eyes. I sighed as I reached in, expecting to find some kind of bottle of alcohol, a ball of dirt, maybe even a dead rat. Wouldn't be the first time. Instead though, I felt something soft and silky.

I pulled it out, looking up towards Winter. "When?" "Friday night, I came to check on you and… well, you get the idea." she said. I tossed the object, a pair of silk white panties with a dark stain on the front of them, towards her. She quickly grabbed them, shoving them in her pocket before she smiled at me. "You don't have to sober up on my account." "It's not on your account, it's on the account that I'm out of booze." I said, sipping my coffee. Whiskey tastes better, but then again, I was completely cleaned out. I knew I was, I was always out on the Sunday after a drunk Saturday. "Here." Winter said, tossing something at me. I grabbed it, smiling down as I saw one of my flasks. I opened it, sniffing it before I smiled. The familiar, gut-wrenching stench of Atlesian Vodka. One of my favorites. "To get you through the day." she said, smiling at me.

I stood, walking towards her as she stood up as well. We stared at each other a beat longer before we both jerked forward, wrapping our arms around each other as we slammed out lips together. I tugged back on her hair as I felt her working with my belt, slipping it out as I did the same with hers. When we pulled back, the need for oxygen separating us, we were both holding each others belts. I wrapped my arms around her, sitting down on the couch as she sat on my lap. "Is there ever going to be a time we meet and we don't end up having sex?" I asked, smirking up at her as I pulled off my shirt, her doing the same. She hadn't worn a bra today it seemed. I leaned up, kissing her neck as she answered. "As long as my father doesn't approve of you, I don't think so. Not that I it still wouldn't happen anyway." she said, running her hands down my back, burying them in my pants pockets.

I pulled back, setting Winter on the couch as I placed my hands over her. I felt her move back, unbuttoning my pants for me as I did the same with her. "Who did this to you anyway?" I asked, gently placing my hand on her wrapped up head. She reached up, moving my hand away, placing it on her breast as she leaned up, kissing me again. I could tell she was trying to distract me, even as I pulled down her pants, her mine. "Two men that are already dead. No need to worry. Now, let's do what I came here to do huh?" she said, smirking as she pulled down my underwear. I did the same thing to her, both of us falling to the couch again in a heated kiss. One thought went through my head before I got caught up in the heat of the moment.

"Let's hope Ruby doesn't find us like this."

"I… can't… do this!"

"Come on Ruby! Think of the juicy strawberry!"

I fell to the ground, panting, hands on my knees as I looked up, seeing Pyrrha still tauntingly holding the strawberry above the pull up bar, standing on a stool so that she was tall enough. She frowned down at me, "Okay… let's try something else." she said, stepping down and, as if tormenting me, ate the strawberry. I glared at her as she scratched her chin, likely trying to think of something else to do. We'd been doing arm exercises non-stop since the punching bag. She'd said my arms were almost laughably weak, and that we needed… okay really she just said they weren't that strong, but she was thinking they were laughably weak! Maybe… probably? "Let's see… we've tried the dumbbells, all the weights, pull ups…" "Did you try push ups?" I heard Arslan say, holding an ice-pack to her head. She must've still been feeling those dumbbells falling on top of her.

"I… no. I'd thought of it, but how would I reward a pushup? It's not as if she can get something every time she goes up or down." "Look as much as I agree you can't train her normally, you really shouldn't be… wait… ohohohohoho. I've got an idea." Arslan said, a wicked smile crossing her face. Pyrrha's own face paled, I had a feeling she'd had some experience with Arslan's ideas before. Arslan dragged Pyrrha over, whispering in her ear. The longer she whispered, the more and more Pyrrha's face started resembling her hair, to the point it even looked redder than her hair. "Are you… sure it has to be like that?" "You want her to get better right?" Arslan asked, glaring at Pyrrha. I raised an eyebrow, taking a drink of water. I was, naturally, incredibly confused about what was going on. What was Arslan suggesting?

"If that wasn't such a good idea I'd punch you in the face… to hell with it." Arslan was knocked down before she knew what hit her, the red-faced Pyrrha's punch knocking Arslan down beneath a weight rack. Five seconds later, one of the five pound dumbbells landed on the back of her head. "Whyyyyyyyy?" she asked, her voice in pain as she rubbed the back of her head. I looked over at Pyrrha, whose face burned brighter as our eyes met. She looked away from me, taking a breath. "As much as it pains me to say it, Arslan may have a point. Ruby, follow me." she said. I complied, standing up and taking my water bottle towards one of the springboard matts near the back of the gym. We basically had the place to ourselves, everyone else having gone due to the late hours. The gym technically closed about twenty minutes ago, but Arslan was fine with us staying.

Pyrrha reached behind her, grabbing a box of strawberries. When she found I'd liked them, Pyrrha came up with the idea to reward me for every completed exercise. Arslan bought them of course, Pyrrha refused to leave me alone in the gym for… some reason. Pyrrha grabbed one, looking over at me. "Do a plank on the floor right there." "Okie-dokie!" I said, smiling at her as I complied, stretching out as flat as I could. I looked straight down, my eyes widening as I saw Pyrrha lay down beneath me.

My face burned as I realized what she was doing, placing the green tip of the strawberry in her mouth. "P-P-Pyrrha!?" "Listen," she took the strawberry out, "Your job is to reach down low enough to get the whole strawberry and leave the green bit in my mouth, without accidentally kissing me. This is to teach you control as well as strength… I just want to say this is as awkward for me as it is for you." she said, her face still burning. She put the strawberry back in as I gulped, moving my arms around into push-up position.

I moved down, as low as I dared, biting the edge of the strawberry. I pulled back up, seeing I'd left almost half of it. "Try again. Get the whole thing." Pyrrha said, her blush starting to die down, replaced instead with that familiar training determination. I reached down, my eyes hardening as I reached closer. I felt my lips a hair above hers as I pulled back on the strawberry. Pyrrha leaned over, spitting out the green bit and grabbing another one. "Keep going." she said. It went on for awhile as I tried to focus on the taste of the strawberries rather than the fact I was nearly kissing Pyrrha every time I leaned down. "Woah!" "You looked like you were having it too easy." I heard a familiar, snarky voice say. I didn't even need to look back to tell that Arslan was sitting on my back, her legs crossed as she put more pressure on my arms.

I tried to ignore it, but when there was one somewhat heavy woman on top of you, gently stroking her fingers through your hair and along your back, and one woman beneath you that you were almost kissing every few seconds, it was kind of hard to ignore. I felt my arms almost going numb as I pulled back, sweat dripping down off my face, onto Pyrrha's. "I… I don't think I can…" "You a quitter huh Ruby!? You a quitter!? Keep going! Eat those strawberries! Show 'em who's boss!" Arslan yelled, reaching down and wiping at my face with a rag. I gulped as I reached down on shaky arms, grabbing another strawberry. I must've eaten like forty of those things today. I pulled back swallowing it. I tried to lean down again, but this time, my arms seemed to finally say "forget this".

"MMPH!"

I fell down, Arslan falling off to the side as my eyes widen, face burning as I tasted two things this time. One was the sweetness of the strawberry. The other? Pyrrha's lips. I saw a flash as I pulled off to the side, biting off and quickly chewing the strawberry as I laid my head on Pyrrha's chest, my tired arms unwilling to move me any farther. My face burned to the point of near passing out when I saw that Arslan was holding a scroll, and was positively dying laughing at what had just happened. "OH MY GOD! AHAHAHA! THE LOOKS ON YOUR FACES! OH THAT WAS SO WORTH THE TWENTY BUCKS OF STRAWBERRIES!" she said, falling flat on her back. Pyrrha jerked up, her face burning red as she moved me onto the ground, walking over to Arslan. Arslan stopped laughing, looking up at Pyrrha. "Uh… no hard feelings? Right?" "Right… no hard feelings…"

SLAM!

"But you have a very hard floor."

Pyrrha said, her fist almost shaking as I saw blood gushing from Arslan's nose, her face planted firmly into the concrete. She leaned down, scooping up Arslan's scroll and, presumably, deleting any and all photos of me and her kissing. Pyrrha walked over, holding out a hand to me. I reached up, shakily laying my hand in hers as I let her pull me up. I leaned over, my arms numb as I she practically pulled me forward. "That never happened." "Agreed." I said quickly, leaning my head on her shoulder as I felt the cold, night air hitting me head on. I smiled, letting out a small sigh. It was nice against my sweat covered and burning body. "Where are you staying Ruby… Ruby?" Pyrrha asked. I tried to look up at her, but felt my exhaustion kicking in. The last thing I saw was Pyrrha's face before I let my eyes close, falling into oblivion.

"Great… she's asleep."

I muttered, hearing the soft, cute snores coming from the girl. I sighed as I hoisted her up, grabbing her thighs as I felt her arms drape over my shoulders, her head falling on my right on. "Well… I can't just leave you here. Otherwise Arslan… just in case you can hear me, I'm not going to say what." I said. It was probably unnecessary, being as Ruby was clearly down for the count, but I just wanted to be sure. Without knowing where she was staying at, and with night fast encroaching, I started walking towards my apartment. It wasn't far from the gym, only a few blocks, but in that short distance, I had plenty of time to relive the moment Ruby kissed me. She was drenched in sweat, her tired eyes turning wide. It was like everything was in slow motion. "Are… girl's lips normally that soft or… is that a Ruby thing? GAH! WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THAT!?" I thought, feeling my face burn.

"More importantly, why am I getting so embarrassed? It was an accident." I thought. I mean, it would be different if it was my first kiss. It wasn't, far from it actually, not even my first kiss with another girl for crying out loud! Though… something about innocent little Ruby doing it, Arslan getting a photograph (that I deleted seconds later) of it. It made the whole thing so embarrassing. After a few seconds I looked up, finding that my feet had carried me through to the familiar apartment building. I walked inside, looking over to see the sleeping man at the reception desk. I turned towards the elevator, since I was not climbing up to the fifth floor with Ruby on my back. I stepped in and pressed the button, waiting for us to reach the fifth floor. "Mmm…" I heard Ruby stirring on my back, she must've been dreaming.

I stepped out of the elevator as I heard her speak, "Daddy… when's mommy coming home?" I felt a stab in my heart as I remembered those words. I remember saying that same thing to my mother, about my father, when I was little. I grabbed my keys, opening the door to my apartment before walking in. It was a modest place. A one bedroom apartment with a bathroom and small kitchen. I walked in, shutting the door as Ruby spoke again. "Better place? When can I see her? When can I see mommy!" Ruby said. I looked back, her face twisting in confusion and sadness. Her voice was higher than usual, it must've been an old memory. I frowned at her as I walked towards the bed. I could tell she was having a nightmare. I heard her sniffling as I set her down on the bed. She started tossing and turning. "Daddy!? Where's Yang!? Where's Yang!? What's wrong with Yang!? Where are they taking her!? Daddy!" she yelled, tears flowing from her eyes as she reached around in the bed, looking for something.

I took off my bra, stripping down and grabbing my nightgown before I heard Ruby speak again. "Yang? Yang please… please Yang, I need you… please don't go… please… don't leave me too… Yang? Yang!? Yang please! Answer me! Yang!" she shouted, sobbing into the pillow. I dropped the nightgown, unable to watch anymore. I sat on the bed, grabbing Ruby and pulling her over to me, against my chest. "Shh shh… it's okay… it's okay…" I said, gently stroking her hair as I pulled her up, her nuzzling against my chest as I saw her smile. She looked up, bright silver eyes made brighter by the tears in them. "Mommy?" she asked, her eyes dazed with sleep. I leaned down, not even thinking as I pecked her forehead.

"Yes sweetie. I'm right here. Now shh, it's time to sleep now." I said, smiling at her as I moved around, pulling both of us under the covers. She wrapped her arms around my, nuzzling into my chest before she frowned at me, "You're… you're not mommy. You smell too good to be mommy… can I… can I still snuggles with you like mommy?" she asked, holding up her hands. I had to stop myself from squealing at how adorable the girl was when she talked like that as I nodded, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer, nuzzling my own face into her hair. "Thanks big booby lady…" "I… uh…" I felt my face burn as I just wrapped my arms tighter around her. I decided to ignore it. She was asleep anyway. I just shut my eyes, letting myself drift off to sleep with her, chasing away any nightmares she might have.

"Ms. Nikos?"

I groggily opened my eyes, smiling down at Ruby as I saw her still sleeping there, with a small smile on her face, completely content. I raised my head up, looking around for a moment before I noticed the source of the voice. It wasn't hard to spot them, the spiky green hair being the most obvious sign of who it was. The eyes, hidden behind the opaque glasses, were another. "Dr. Oobleck… what're you doing here?" "You asked me to come here last week, remember? Something about being unable to attend your monthly physical?" he asked. I nodded a few times. Now I remembered what he was talking about. He stood, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at me. "Well, I suppose it's just as well you're already naked. Shall we get started?" "Naked? Wha… oh…" I muttered, feeling my face suddenly burn as I realized that, in the midst of comforting Ruby, I'd forgotten to put on my nightgown. Sure enough, it was right there on the ground next to the bedpost. Forgotten. Until now that is.

I stood, Ruby frowning and reaching for me as I did so. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to meet with the adorable girls demands of more 'snuggles' as she called them. Oobleck walked into my living room as I followed, shutting the door behind me. Considering it was only me and Oobleck, I wasn't all that concerned. When it came to me, him and my body, there were no secrets. No need of them. I pressed my back flat against the nearby wall as Oobleck grabbed out a measuring tape, holding it up to the top of my hair. "Hmm, you've grown an inch since last time." he took it around my waist, "You've added half an inch to your waistline," he moved it around my butt, "An inch to your hips," and at last he moved it around my breasts. "And you've gone up almost half a cup size… you haven't gone and gotten pregnant now have you?" he joked, the two of us sharing a laugh.

"Regardless," he moved a small scale over to me, one which I immediately stepped on. He nodded a few times, writing something down. I couldn't actually see the scale, being as my breasts (which had apparently grown) were in the way. "It's official Ms. Nikos. You're overweight." "By how much?" I asked, raising an eyebrow towards him. I was overweight? Well… then again, I had been rather lax about the training lately, more along the lines of helping people that were injured rather than causing the injuries. "You gained fifteen pounds over the course of three weeks, making you 190 lbs today. It's not by an incredibly large amount, your BMI is only 0.9 points above being average, but you are borderline. You've also gained quite a bit more… what have you been eating recently?" he asked.

"Well… I guess I have been eating a bit more than usual. I mean I can't even count the number of strawberries I ate yesterday…" I muttered. Everytime Ruby couldn't do an exercise, and to teach her some form of discipline, I'd eaten the strawberry she would've gotten as a reward. I must've eaten at least twenty of them… Ruby wasn't all that great with her arms. Safe to say. Oobleck nodded, "Well, while it isn't terribly unhealthy at this stage, I would highly recommend getting back to exercising on a daily basis. I know you haven't been since… well, since young Mr. Arc…" "Stop. I know. You're right, I haven't. I think I'll be starting that routine back up again soon enough." I said, giving him a small smile. Oobleck returned the smile, standing up and piling his tool back into his bag.

"Well, I'll let you get back to dealing with your house guest… though, I'd suggest putting on some actual clothes before you do so." he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking out the door, shutting it behind him, leaving me a blushing mess. I walked back into the bedroom, doing as Oobleck suggested and quickly grabbing a pair of underwear, as well as my nightgown, walking towards the bathroom. Once I got there I just set everything on the toilet, flicking on the water as I started running a bath, letting my mind start to drift as it usually seemed to when I was doing such menial tasks.

"Ooooww… my aaaarms…"

I moaned as I moved around, looking down as my arms hung uselessly at my sides. Both were red and sore, unable to be moved. I looked around, raising an eyebrow. This… this wasn't the hotel I was staying at. I would've stayed with my uncle but, I'd rather not be around him when he's drunk. I'd rather not pick up his habits. The hotel I was staying at was one of those dirt cheap places that I could actually afford to spend more than two nights in. Granted… well, tonight was my last night there anyway. I didn't really have enough money to keep staying there. I looked around, finding that the whole room was decorated in boxer memorabilia, with large posters of female boxers covering the walls… and then, something in the corner of the room.

It was a large, glass case, a name engraved on the side. I moved around, letting my arms fling around uselessly as I walked closer. My eyes widened as I looked in. I saw a pair of ornate gloves, or maybe they were just hand wrappings? It was kind of hard to tell, but they were still bright red, sparkling in the dim light anyway. Beneath them I saw newspaper clippings, some of them with the pictures still in them. "The Red Maiden wins again!" "The Red Maiden becomes undefeated Mistral Champion!" "The queen has not fallen! Mistral Champion Red Maiden remains undefeated!" "Who is the Red Maiden?" they were all about this Red Maiden character. I looked back, finding there was one clipping that was larger than all the rest, right behind the gloves. I couldn't read the headline, but in the picture it showed Pyrrha holding up her hands, a man standing right next to her, holding up her left hand.

The man had short, blond hair, blue eyes as deep as the oceans. He was shirtless, dressed in boxing attire similar to Pyrrha as he too held up his hands, the two of them standing in the middle of a boxing arena. The boy was dressed in a pair of white shorts and gold and white gloves, similar to Pyrrha's in style. I could read a small, faded caption on the bottom. "'Jaune Arc (pictured left) and Pyrrha Nikos (pictured right) win the 31st Annual Vale Tag-team championship. The duo announced their plans for m…' Huh, somebody ripped off the rest of the article. Wonder why?" I thought. I leaned back, looking down to find that, as I kind of figured, the case belonged to Pyrrha Nikos, the bronze plate engraved with her name on it. I nearly jumped as I heard a voice behind me, "You seem to have made a nice recovery."

I whirled around, about to spout excuses when I stopped, eyes widening at Pyrrha. She was dressed in a red nightgown, one that seemed a fair bit too short for her, being as I could see most of her thighs, as well as a fair amount of cleavage. Her hair flowed down as it usually did, droplets of water sparkling in the light, the aura of someone who'd just had a bath around her. Yet, apparently, she hadn't fully washed her hair. I tried not to think about that as I suddenly remembered something, "Wait a second…" I reached into my bra, fishing around for a second as I saw a small wrapper, one I'd neglected to throw away earlier, with the familiar name of a cookie company on the side. I looked between it and Pyrrha a few times before I nearly squealed. "You're the Red maiden! Oh my gosh I DON'T KNOW HOW I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU!" I yelled, dashing over and latching onto her arm.

"You… know about me?" "ABOUT YOU!? YOU WERE LIKE THE NAME IN BOXING A FEW YEARS AGO! YOU'RE THE REASON ME AND YANG WANTED TO BOX IN THE FIRST PLACE!" I yelled, feeling my heart pounding. I couldn't believe that I was standing with, had trained with, and had even kissed THE Red Maiden herself. I was kind of surprised no one had noticed… then again, she did always where that mask on stage. She smiled down at me, wrapping an arm around me as I felt my face burn. The Red Maiden was me and Yang's hero when she first showed up. She was Yang's age, and yet she was one of Mistral's best fighters? It was so hard to believe. "How did you just now recognize me?" "I saw you on my cookie bar!" I said, holding up the wrapping for her to see. Sure enough, there on the front was a picture of Pyrrha in the Red Maiden outfit, with the red mask that covered her entire face, but not her eyes or her hair… I was surprised I hadn't realized it sooner.

"Oh… Ruby this… this won't change anything will it? Now that you know who I am?" "No… unless you want it too that is." I said, wrapping my arms around her as I held her in a hug, smiling up at her. Pyrrha's eyes widened for a second before she smiled, reaching up and lightly rubbing against my head. I pressed into it, smiling wider as I felt my face flush. I heard Pyrrha giggle, "Almost like a puppy." "Hehe… woof woof!" I said, holding up my hands in little paws, lolling my tongue out of my side as I made my eyes as cute and wide as I could. Pyrrha nearly squealed as she pulled me down to the bed, sitting me in her lap as she nuzzled against me. "Stop stop! I'm going to have a heart attack at this rate!" she said, smiling up at me. I smiled back, dropping the 'look like zwei' act as I leaned back against her shoulder. She seemed content to just sit there. "Hey… could you please do something, now that I know you're the Red Maiden. I'll never ask for anything like this again! I swear!" "Hmm… sure Ruby, what?" Pyrrha asked. I reached into my pocket, pulling out a pen and a book.

"Can I have your autograph!?"