Sorry for having this out two days but school decided this last week to try and kick my ass. So 2 papers and three tests later here this is. It was a little rushed but there are some really important things that happen in this chapter. So let's get this started

POV Ruby

I growled in frustration as I tightened my new prosthetic to my arm one handed. Ozpin had been able to get his hand on a new arm for me that rivaled my old one. Ozpin had tried to get a team of Doctors into install it but I'd been very keen on doing it myself. I'd done all the maintenance on my old arm and I would continue to do so.

With one final grunt, I turned the wrench and heard the sound of the red and black steel locking into place. A pain surged through my arm as the prosthetic reconnected to my nerves allowing me to control it. Letting out a sigh and began to run the prosthetic through a range of motions getting a feel for its capabilities.

Once I was done I grabbed ahold of my trench coat and swung it over my shoulder and pulled it on. I reached down to and pulled a box off the table and pulled out the gift Ozpin had given me. It was a simple leather eye patch made of black leather with a red rose in the middle. I slipped the eye patch on and adjusted it so it fit properly. '

A knock on my door grabbed my attention and I stood up moving across the small room and pulled it open. Outside the door was the man who had been with Ozpin during my interrogation. The man was tall standing over 6 feet tall with a head of spiky black hair with gray growing into it. His eyes burned the same crimson colored that Yang's did when she used her semblance.

"I take you'll be my escort when I move around." One of the demands Ozpin had for me was I was required to have a trained Huntsman with me at all times when I wasn't in my room. The other was I wasn't allowed to carry a weapon and that I would only be given one when it was absolutely necessary.

The man gave a nod and swung his arm out motioning for me to step out of the room. I did as I was instructed and stepped out of the room closing the door behind me. The man stepped ahead of me and led me through the building till we stopped in front of a door. "Weiss Schnee is waiting inside for you. Remember both her and I are armed and will not take any threat lightly."

"Understood, but before I go in I would like to know your name. If you gonna be my escort I would like to be able to say it." The looked at me and his eyes darted to the side for a brief second almost as if he didn't want to answer the question. However the moment passed just as it happened and his eyes locked onto mine. "It's Qrow!" Without another word he opened the door and pushed me through.

POV QROW

30 min earlier

Ozpin you can't be serious about meeting those demands. Do you understand what it means if you do? We put all of Remnant at risk!" Ozpin was sitting as usual at his desk flipping through file after file on his scroll with one hand while the other held his cup of coffee. "Qrow I know more than anybody what these demands mean. However, I also believe in people and what they can become. Ruby is a prime example of this. I believed she could become a great Huntress that many would come to respect. Though her path has changed she is still on it. If she believes Cinder is a pawn just as she was then I must have faith. If not what else can I have?"

I gave a sigh and dropped into the chair in front of Ozpin's desk holding my head. "Ozpin you know that Ruby means the world to me. More than anyone could believe, but if Salem has done something that can't be fixed….we could walk into a trap that could end worse than the Fall." Ozpin gave a nod and closed his scroll giving me his full attention showing he was giving me his full attention something he rarely did for anyone.

"Qrow I am one of the few people who knows your true connection to Ruby. If you can have any faith in the good left in her then please do. She will need your support in this even if she doesn't know who you are. She has a long road ahead and if anything goes wrong she will fall back into the dark. Only family and friends can save her."

I felt my face scrunch into a scowl, what Ozpin said was something rarely mentioned if at all. The only people who knew about it where Ozpin, Tai, and Winter. "Ozpin you may be right but we've talked about this. I can't tell her who I really am. It would destroy everything we have or at least had. She no longer remembers who I am. Salem has destroyed the Ruby we knew and has become something else. It hurts to watch the smiling little girl I knew be turned into this and know I'm powerless to help it. So what can I do?"

Ozpin stood up and placed his coffee mug on his desk and walked over to the large window that overlooked all of Beacon with the help of a cane. "Qrow just like a wound Ruby will take time to heal. It is not something we can rush if we do the damage may become unrepairable. All I want you to do is be there for her, support her and help her get through these struggle. If that is all you can do then that is it but don't stop trying. If you don't stop then neither will she."

Ozpin turned around and returned to his desk and reopened his scroll. "Now if you would be so kind I've run out of time and thanks to what has happened I need to speak with the World Council." I gave Ozpin a nod and stood up from my chair and walked over to the elevator at the far end of the large office and hit the call button. When the elevator arrived I stepped in and hit the ground floor button and turned to face Ozpin. Just as the doors began to close shut he shouted at me. "By the way from now on you will be Ruby's escort I will send details to your scroll." Just as Ozpin finished the doors closed and I was left speechless at the sudden information. It looked like I would have to stand by Ruby's side, literally."

POV RUBY

After being pushed into the room I stumbled as I was still getting used to my new prosthetic leg and almost hit the ground face first. I stretch my arm out and was lucky enough to catch myself on the edge of a couch keeping my face from meeting the floor. I quickly stood up and was embarrassed to see Weiss Schnee sitting in a chair across from the couch. "Looks like you're still the clumsy fool from when we first started at Beacon."

I quickly walked around the couch and pulled off my trench coat laying it down on the couch and took a seat. "Hello Weiss, it's also good to see you can still be cold as ice." Weiss laughed and for a second her cheeks flushed a light red color bringing some completion to her flawless pale skin. "Yes, well time changes a lot of things but not everything."

I gave Weiss a quick smile but dropped my gaze quickly as the anxiety inside me built. I had wanted to meet with everybody from my team to ask about what exactly happened and to apologize. This was something I only had to do to Salem when I messed up over the past three years and that was a rare occurrence. "Weiss I wanted to meet with you for two reasons. The first is because I want to know what happened, why was I left behind, I want to hear from you."

Weiss seemed to freeze at the question and hesitated but she seemed to relax as I showed no hostile threat to her. "Ruby, I feel ashamed because of what happened to you. I was your partner and failed to protect you like I should have and I'm sorry. That day in the tunnels I was running with Yang ahead of you and Blake. We had no idea what had happened until Blake caught up with us and said what had happened. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

At this point, Weiss began to break down and started to cry. I felt uncomfortable watching her cry seeing as she was stood as the leader of one of the Remnants largest dust distributors. "Weiss you don't have to say you're sorry. Right now all I want is the truth I've been lied to for so long that everything I thought was wrong was right. I accepted the truth Salem gave me and turned my anger to you, Yang and Blake. I shot you only two weeks ago and here you are saying sorry. I should be the one apologizing."

Weiss began shaking her head as she dabbed away the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief. "No Ruby, you don't have to apologize for that. You had everything torn away from you and no memory of what happened. If somebody came to me and said they had the truth I would believe them too. I'm just happy that we have you back." Weiss and I shared a smile one that was real and equal from both of us. It didn't last long as Weiss's scroll began to ring and she quickly answered it listening closely. After a few seconds, she placed the scroll on her lap and gave me a sad look. "I'm sorry Ruby but that is the SDC calling me I've put off a lot of work and need to speak with them. I'll call Yang and ask her to meet with you early. Is that ok?"

I gave Weiss a nod knowing trying to guess at how stressful things were for her right now dealing with me and the SDC simultaneously. "It's fine Weiss I understand just as long as we can talk again." Weiss nodded and knocked on the door which Qrow opened letting Weiss leave. I remained in my spot for some time waiting for Yang.

After some time passed I began to grow bored and pulled the glove off of my left hand and pulled a small tool kit from my coat. I began to fiddle with the prosthetics controls trying to fine tune as much as I could.

Ever since I'd woken up in the castle one of my favorite things had been working on anything mechanical. I'd spent months working on anything I could from simple machines to building my rifle. My rifle had been my favorite project I'd worked on from beginning to end. On one of my first missions, it had become clear that the simple rifle I'd been given was not going to cut it and I need to design my own. I need something that had range but could also be used in a wide variety of situations.

At first, I'd tried to design the weapon to be able to shift between different types of rounds by transferring the type of receiver is used. The idea had worked but wasn't practical since the gun weighed almost eighty pounds making it better to hit someone with. Finally, my idea's came together and I figured out that by collapsing the barrel of the rifle I could change the size of the gun's chamber to fit different rounds.

It took some time for me to figure out exactly what rounds I could use but I ended up settling on only three. The sniper used a 7.62 x51mm and the assault rifle form used a 5.56mm and the last form was a clip fed shotgun that used 12 gauge shells. Once my rifle was completed it was an unstoppable force that could take on any situation. I even went as far as to create dust rounds to amplify my destructive powers. In the end, the name Reaper was the perfect match for this deadly weapon.

"Ruby are you ok?" I instantly jumped at the voice to my left and reached for a knife on my belt that wasn't there. I acted on instinct and grabbed the hand reaching out for me. I instantly regretted the action and quickly let go after seeing Yang's lilac eyes. I stumbled back to the side of the room and tried my best to utter an apology but it came out more as a sputter of incoherent noises.

"Ruby it's Ok I'm the one who scared you." Yang was surprisingly calm compared to what few memories I had of her. I remembered her as a hothead with a short trigger. She used to full of so much life but now something was missing. "No, I should be apologizing...I let myself act on instinct. I ..just need time to adjust."

"Don't worry Ruby I understand ...this is kinda weird...we all need time to adjust." Yang paused for a moment and pulled off her own coat and laid it on the back of the chair Weiss had been sitting in and sat down. "So what was it you wanted to talk about. I knew we were going to but Weiss made it sound important."

"I wanted to talk to all of you for various reason because I wanted to know what happened to me. I need to know the truth if I'm going to help you stop Salem. I can't be lied to again." Yang stayed quiet and looked almost angry because of what I said. It was clear as her eye refused to meet mine that is was an anger derived from disappointment.

"Ruby you're my sister and I have no intention of lying to you, but there are things I've done and am not proud of that I don't like to talk about. I thought you died and it destroyed me, I hurt everyone around me and I'm not proud of myself for it. I hate myself because of it." I could see the hurt radiating from Yang as she stared down at the ground keeping them stuck to a single spot unmoving.

"Yang I don't know what happened to you but I can say I feel the same. I'm still angry at...everything and everybody. But I'm trying to keep myself by being blinded by it. I did things that would make you see me as more of a monster than the Grimm." Yang looked up to me in disbelief at what I said not understanding how much evil I created in this world.

"Ruby...you don't understand I've killed people...I destroyed the White Fang almost single handedly. I did that because of the pain of losing you, it was stupid and I could have died myself." Yang was crying and wiped her sleeve across her face trying to get rid of the tears. She was hurt by this but she didn't understand she did not destroy the White Fang. She merely got rid of the few small groups left after I was done with them.

"Yang….You didn't destroy the White Fang…." Yang looked up and looked at me with a confused. "Ruby I took out almost a dozen bases. What do you mean?" I sucked in a breath of air feeling as if the room around me was closing in. "You only destroyed the few bases left. One of my main missions was to remove all remains of anything tied to Cinder or Salem. I've killed hundreds of people if not thousands for Salem. Anything you are ashamed of I've done worse. I've tortured people I've killed Mother, Father, Sons, and Daughters. I've pulled beating hearts out of chests and bitten into people. I have only done one redeemable thing in all the time I was gone. So please do not feel sorry for yourself because if you do then I don't know what I should think of myself."

Yang was terrified of what I said I was her sister and I just told her I killed people in brutally disturbing ways and that I was a demon from hell itself. "Ruby I don't care what you've done. You'll always be my sister and I will never leave because of the things you've done. We both have done terrible things even if the amount is different. We need to move on and look forward….together."

It was m turn to burst into tears after what Yang said. She forgave me for what I did, I always thought it would be something that would drive everyone I knew away. It was one of the reasons I felt so comfortable with Cinder. Yang jumped up from her chair and grabbed my shoulder pulling my head into her shoulder. We stayed like for some time as I cried and sobbed until I couldn't and I simply ran out of tears to cry. "Ruby, can I ask you something?"

I slowly pulled myself out from Yang's shoulder and slowly looked about at her in fear of her question. I gave a slow nod. "What was is the one redeemable thing you've done that you mentioned….that is if you want to tell me?" Relief rushed over my body relaxing as the fear of the question disappeared. It didn't last long as the fear flung back twice as strong under the realization I had to tell Yang about my daughters.

"This is gonna sound really strange but the only redeemable things I've done is raising my daughters." Yang nodded at the answer not really take it in until she stopped mid nod and locked her eyes with mine. Yang's eyes focused in and out as she tried to completely process what I was saying while her mind ran at a hundred miles per hour. ""Wait what?...How?...You?...Who's the father?"

" What I don't know." I regretted by response instantly after I blurted it out without a single thought other than to answer one of Yang's many questions. Yang began to grow bright red making my own skin do the same. "That's not what I meant...there...adopted." Yang let out a large sigh of relief and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Damn Rubes you scared me...I thought I was gonna have to hurt someone."

I smiled at Yang over her protectiveness as a memory popped into my head when Yang had beaten a boy up after he'd given me a bouquet of flowers. "So uhm how did that happen?"

"It was during a mission, I was supposed to get rid of a group of that was trafficking large amounts of Faunus. When I got to the location everybody was dead because the dumbasses tried to catch an Alpha Beowulf and sell it. I ended finding the girls hiding in a cabinet almost starved to death and terrified. I couldn't leave them there so I brought them with me."

"I know exactly what that's like well except for the adopting part. While you were gone Jaune and I spent some time breaking apart human trafficking groups led by the White Fang. It was pretty bad." Yang paused for a moment a moment and smiled. "So what do my nieces look like?"

My eyes perked up and I grabbed my coat pulling a picture out from one of the pockets. It was the only physical copy I had of the twins, all the others were on my scroll and had been confiscated along side my weapon. I handed the picture to Yang and watched as she looked at her nieces. "The taller one's name is Ari and the other is Kita." Yang's eyes were filled with pride as she looked at the two girls yearning to learn who they were and what they were like. Then in an instant, Yang smile grew wider and she began to laugh. "Ruby I don't mean to make this weird but do you know who they look like?"

My heart began to beat faster as I thought of the possibilities to Yang's question, Did they look like a serial killer of terrible politician. Would my daughter be made fun of for the rest of their life just because they look like someone else? "I...I don't know...is it someone bad."Yang broke out into a full laughing fit gripping her sides in pain as each laugh grew more powerful. Yang kept laughing until her body couldn't laugh anymore and ran out of oxygen. "Damn Rubes I didn't think that would be how you reacted. You don't need to worry about that, just look at this picture."

Yang pulled out her own scroll and swiped through for almost a minute and showed me of a picture that looked almost identical to the twins. The girl looked to be around 4 or 5 and had long black hair with red tips and a pair of black cat ears. Lastly, she had a pair of bright amber eyes that shined like the sun. "Yang who is that." Yang held up her hand swiped through a few more pictures and pulled up another. This time when she showed me it was a picture of a younger me standing next to Blake and below was the picture of the little girl.

"When you two had your little...well I don't really know what to call it Weiss and I thought it would be funny to see what your kids would look like." I grew bright red and looked between the two pictures and Yang quickly. "We used an app and ended up with that. Who knew they were actually real and look even more like you two!"

My entire face grew red realizing just how right Yang was. Kita and Ari where an almost perfect copy of me and Blake combined. The cat ears, the silver eyes, and black/red hair. "Yang I...I really...I" Someone knocked on the door cut me off from my already failing speech. Yang looked at her scroll and in a panicked rush grabbed her coat and bolted to the door. "Sorry Rubes I need to go I'm late for a meeting and Blake is supposed to be here soon. I'll talk to you later."

Qrow opened the door and I looked worriedly as Yang Ran out in more of a rush than Weiss had. Panic picked up even more as Blake stepped into the room with bags under her eyes. Out of all three, I thought Blake would be the happiest to see me from the memories I had of her. Blake seemed almost afraid to be in the same room as me and almost hugged to the wall as she walked over to the chair everyone else had been using. Blake sat down in silence and it stayed that way until Blake spoke in a frail timid voice. "Hi, Ruby."

I stuttered back a quick hello and we continued to sit in an awkward silence as I tried to figure out what to say. I thought Blake would have been excited to see me alive and that Yang and especially Weiss would be upset. It looked like I'd hurt Blake emotional more than I could have thought. Taking a deep breath I summoned all the courage I could and spoke. "So...uh...did they tell you why I...I asked you here?"

Blake shook her head letting her messy hair move around her. "No, they didn't." I gave a slow nod and looked to the ground afraid to look at Blake. "Oh well...I wanted to talk about...things...and what happened."

"Ruby I really don't w…" I cut Blake off causing her to jump in surprise like I shouted at her. "But we need to. Blake, I don't remember a lot of things...Salem.. She messed with my head. I just want the truth I already told everyone else I don't want to be lied to. I'm still piecing things together...I just need to talk if we're gonna ever do anything together. Any of us."

Blake settled down and she relaxed in her chair but only enough to not look terrified she was still extremely nervous. "Ruby, do you remember any of the time we spent together? Because I do and I was stuck on those memories while you were...dead. Seeing you do those things...to our friends...I don't know...I just don't." Blake was not terrified just to speak to me she was terrified of me.

"Blake...I know of done terrible things...but try to understand I thought I was doing the right thing...I thought I was getting revenge on the people who hurt me. Do you know the pain I went through just to get here? I had lies in my head that changed the way I thought...who I was. I woke up without an arm and leg...without memories. I didn't know who I was. I'm sorry for hurting you and putting you through this but I...I'm still not sure what is right and wrong."

Blake looked at me with tears in her own eyes as I broke down completely. I hadn't told anyone how much all of this hurt. Being with Yang and Weiss I put up a shield of fake emotions but with Blake...I couldn't. "Blake you're the last person I wanted to hurt. Even when I couldn't remember you I couldn't hurt you. When we fought I had so many chances to...kill you...and I couldn't...I don't know that we can be whatever we were. I don't know what we were...but please try and understand."

Blake was even more terrified as I broke down more sobbing and crying like a little girl. Yang had comforted me when I cried earlier and now I wanted Blake to do the same. Blake didn't and she stayed in her spot unmoving as she watched me like I was some terrifying monster. She wasn't wrong I was one but I didn't want to be one. "Blake...please."

This was the last straw for Blake and she shakily stood up. "Ruby I can't...what you said about Cinder being family. I was your family so was Yang and Weiss and all of Team JNR. You tried to kill all of us. You turned you back and I don't know if I forgive that. The last person who did that was Adam and look what he did to you. I just…." Blake swiftly got up from her chair and walked towards the door she quickly pulled something out of her coat and placed down next to me before running out the door.

I just stared at the small package Blake had left. I slowly stretched my arm out and wrapped my hand around the package picking it up from the couch. I grabbed the top and pulled it open and reached in pulling out the content. Inside the box was a silver chain with a pair of rings on it. The first was a gold ring with Ruby in it and the other was a silver with a yellow sapphire. Under the two rings was a picture of Blake and I leaning on each other sleeping soundly. I gripped the rings tightly in my hand and began to cry remembering what they meant to me. They were a promise between Blake and me.

This was the final breaking point for me and I shattered into pieces. I held the rings close to my chest and I cried more than I had in my entire life. All the tears I had cried couldn't compare to the pain I was feeling now. I lost the person I loved most in the world. I crumpled into the couch and cried. I let the world around me dissolve and let the pain envelop my body. It was too much.

Time passed and I felt a pair arms grab me and pull me up off the couch cradling me carefully. I buried my head in the person's' shoulder and continued to cry unable to fight even if I wanted to. The person carried my through hall after hall not once coming close to dropping me their grip like iron but still soft. I finally felt myself placed into bed and a hand brush away the hair from my face. "I'm sorry for all this it's my fault. I'm just happy to see my daughter safe." I listened to the words and like a child reached out when the person tried to leave and wrapped my hand around a piece of worn cloth holding them back. The man surrendered and sat next to me stroking my head. "Shhh just relax sleep." I did as the man said and let the pain fade and the embrace of sleep take hold.

If you want to hear a song that goes with this story look up Preserved Roses by Blackbriar