"So," Yang says gently, her eyes never leaving Ruby's face. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Ruby replies quietly, wincing at how hoarse her voice sounds. She takes a long sip from the mug set in front of her (when did that get there?), letting the tea's warmth soothe her as she sits at the kitchen table. She has no memory of how she got down here from her room. Her eyes feel puffy and swollen from crying, and she's sure that she looks like a total disaster. And, she realizes with a sharp pang of guilt, she's probably got her sister totally freaked out. "Sorry about all that."

She'll need to apologize to her dad, too. Nothing like starting the day off by scaring the living daylights out of both members of her family. They certainly weren't expecting the morning to go anything like this.

"Don't worry about it," Yang insists, waving it off dismissively as if the whole thing truly is no big deal. Ruby blinks at her in surprise. "Do you really have a younger sibling if they don't try to scare you half to death every once in a while?" her sister teases lightly, before turning more serious. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Oh. The realization suddenly hits Ruby that this is pre-Beacon Yang: the cheerful, boisterous, happy-go-lucky sister that she'd grown up with. Sure, she'd had her share of issues and trauma, but she'd hidden them well. Ruby is used to the Yang she knows now: the more mature, subdued, serious version who's world has lost its shine. These days, she finds herself hesitating to confide in her sister, even when she feels like she'll explode if she doesn't talk to someone, not wanting to add to all the burdens that the older girl already carries.

This Yang could never understand the series of events that brought Ruby here, even if she tried her best to explain it all from start to finish. She hasn't seen all the things that Ruby has seen, hasn't had the experiences that the future team RWBY has gone through. She hasn't learned all of the secrets that Remnant holds. And Ruby isn't going to put those traumas on her sister all over again.

"No," Ruby says quickly, shaking her head firmly. "It was just a really weird dream, that's all. Sorry for making such a fuss."

For the first time since waking up inexplicably back here in Patch, Ruby feels a surge of hope. If this is some kind of bizarre second chance, maybe she's been given the chance to change things. To fix what will happen. To make sure that Yang—and everyone else she cares about—doesn't have to go through all the awful things that Ruby knows await them. There's so many people she could help: her dad, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Jaune, Penny . . .

Pyrrha.

How she can help them, and stop the terrible things that are going to happen—well, that part she's not too sure of yet. But she's got time to figure that out, to come up with a plan. To make sure that Salem, and the people who are helping her, don't get to hurt anyone else.

Not on her watch.

"Are you sure?" Yang doesn't seem very reassured by Ruby's response. Her smile dips into a frown. "Was it about mom again? I thought it'd been a while since you had a nightmare about her."

Her sister is trying to help, but Ruby really doesn't want to talk about Summer right now. With everything she's learned about her mother's disappearance, there's no way she'll be able to keep it together. She glances desperately around the kitchen, looking for any sort of distraction.

Her eyes fall on the clock hanging on the wall, ticking away the morning, second by second. "Oh, no, we're going to be late!" she blurts out.

To her surprise, Yang hardly seems phased by the interruption. "Don't worry about that right now. Like I care about being late to school when my sister is this shaken up? Please."

"But—" Ruby gapes at her, completely taken aback. "But going to Beacon is all you've talked about for ages!" she points out. "It's your dream!"

"Dreams aren't as important as making sure that my family is okay." Yang shrugs dismissively. "I know I come off as a bit self-absorbed sometimes, but I'm not that selfish."

Wow. Ruby can't remember the last time her sister looked at her like that—like Ruby is the center of her whole world, and nothing else matters so long as the two of them are together and safe. It's been a long time since her sister's fierce loyalty was directed solely onto Ruby.

Ruby swallows hard around the sudden lump in her throat. Her eyes are stinging again. What is she supposed to say now? Yang needs to go to Beacon. They both do. Ruby refuses to be the one who's holding them both back.

"Really, Yang, I'm okay," she says softly, trying to reassure her sister. "It was just a bad dream. It's over now. I'm fine. Besides," she points out. "I'll be going with you, remember? It's not like you're leaving me behind."

"But—" Ruby can see Yang's resistance crumbling. Her sister softens. "Okay, fine. So long as you promise that you're up for this."

"I am," she assures her sister.

Truthfully, there's a part of Ruby—a large part of her, she's ashamed to admit—that absolutely does not want to go anywhere near Beacon Academy. Going there after everything that's happened—or will happen, now, and knowing all the things that she needs to change to fix is overwhelming. It's tempting to try to run away from it all, to go hide under the covers of her bed and let someone else take care of it.

But she can't. She's the only one who can do this. And the lives of everyone she loves are at stake. The whole world is at stake.

"Okay," Yang says again with a sigh, before suddenly pulling Ruby in for a tight hug. Upon releasing her, she ruffles her hair. "My little sister, a prodigy. Do you need any help getting packed up?"

"No thanks," Ruby says with a smile, trying to ignore how nervous she feels. "I just need to throw in a few more things and I'll be ready." She makes her way towards the stairs, passing by her sister, before pausing in the doorway. "I guess I didn't need those hand-to-hand lessons after all."

As she heads for the stairs she can hear her sister's outraged huff. "Don't think that you're getting out of those once we're at school!" her sister calls after her. "With the two of us there, Beacon won't know what hit it!"

And neither will Salem, Ruby hopes.

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