The conclusion.

But in other news I have just abandoned my schedule. I'll update twice a week, but the days will change depending on how busy I am. Probably they'll end up being on the weekend more than anything but I can hope. Sorry about the inconvenience.

In all honesty, Ren should had seen this coming. He knew Nora, all her tells and habits. Something had been bothering her, but she had been so subtle about it Ren hadn't been able to discover what it was until Nora had let it all out.

He felt like a fool, but the past wasn't made to dwell on. All Ren could do now was somehow try to fix things.

He wouldn't push though, he was not going to be as arrogant as to think he could force Nora to apologize and that would fix everything. At least Nora understood that Ruby deserved an apology, but then again, Ren knew she would. So instead, Ren came back to their temporary camp, Nora in tow, and simply waited for things to play out.

They mostly sat in thick silence for the rest of the afternoon though, and Ren was surprised they somehow hadn't brought a swarm of grimm on their heads by this point. Jaune was trying to keep some semblance of normalcy, talking awkwardly with the three of them individually. Ruby stayed perched in the small tree she had found, while Nora was stuck staring at the ground, unnaturally quiet.

At one point, Ren had gone over to Ruby, muttering, "If you want to talk, I'll translate."

Ruby just smiled down at him, gratitude shining in her eyes.

Nora was the one that made the first move, something that Ren is proud of.

"Guys." She called out once the sun had long set beneath the horizon. Their fire outlines the determined, if trembling outline of her face. "We need to talk, please."

Jaune came over immediately from where he had been standing by Ruby. Ruby followed, although she more shuffled over than anything, shoulders hunched. Ren gave her a nod, trying to show that he would stand by his earlier statement.

"I'm sorry." Nora says, staring resolutely at Ruby. "All the stuff I said to you, it wasn't cool. I'm just… angry, at everything really, but I took it all out on you and that isn't fair. Still friends?"

Ruby stared at Nora's outstretched hand reaching over the flames, her hands make garbled bits of words, and her mouth was opening and closing as she as if she was trying desperately to force words out of her throat. Something vaguely resembling words came out, but the moment Ruby seemed to realize that they all could hear her, her mouth slams shut once more.

"My fault. It is my fault." Ren translated Ruby's shaky signing, watching as both Jaune and Nora's faces twisted to reflect the horror he was feeling.

"Ruby, Pyrrha- Pyrrha made her own choices that night. Her d- what happened to her isn't anybody's fault." Jaune immediately said, but Ruby shied away from his words, shaking her head.

"Penny. Pyrrha. My fault." Ren duitifully translated, despising what he was saying about as much as he despised that Ruby was the one saying it.

"What happened? At the fall of Beacon?" Nora asked suddenly, her hand coming back to rest on her lap. "You never told us your side of things, and I get that, but I think we need to know."

Ruby froze, a myriad of emotions flashing over her face all at once. They come to a head when Ruby closed her eyes, tensing, only to slump down once more. Painfully slow, she nodded, opening her eyes to look at Ren one last time.

"It's okay if you don't want to." Ren reassured her. "But it might help clear the air a little bit."

Ruby gave a tiny sigh, nodding in agreement.

Ren both appreciated and despised his naturally stoic face as Ruby told her tale. He wished he could put as much emotion into his words as Ruby was putting into her signing, but expression was never his forte. At the same time though, that fact was the only thing keeping him able to tell Ruby's story as she delved deeper.

By the last word, even Ren was shaking. Jaune and Nora were trying in vain to keep back tears. Ruby was sobbing openly, wiping her hands on her cheeks continuously to try and erase the stains they left behind.

It didn't take long for Nora to lunge forward, tackling Ruby in a hug that Jaune and Ren soon joined.

Nora was blabbering out a broken string of apologies, Jaune was doing something similar, but with condolences instead. Ren kept quiet, but made sure that one of his hands was resting on Ruby's shoulder, reminding her that he was still there.

"It's not your fault Ruby." Nora stated after her voice had fully returned. "Penny. Pyrrha. Any of it." When Ruby tried to shake her head once more, Nora was the one to stop her. "I'm serious. You were the only one to even figure Mercury and Emerald out before the match and you tried to do something about it. It sucks now, but the only thing we can really do is keep getting stronger so that we don't lose anyone else. I don't care who we go up against, but I won't stop until all the jerks behind the attack are beaten into a bloody pulp. Deal?"

Ruby took Nora's hand this time, a miniscule grin on her face.

"We can do that together though. As a team." Jaune added, smiling even though his eyes were still red.

Ren nodded, relieved to see that things were resolved at last.

Imagine if none of them knew sign language though