Epilogue 1
Ruby hummed to herself contentedly as she finished folding the load of laundry. She'd never realized what a luxury it was to have a washer and dryer in an apartment until after they had graduated from Beacon. Crowded laundry rooms were definitely not part of the academy that she missed.
With a bounce to her step, she strolled out from the bedroom with its king-sized bed, poking her head into the other bedroom of the medium-sized apartment. It had been converted into a gym for the three of them to use, but a certain redhead was no longer present in there, evidently having decided to skip out on her usual routine for the evening. The brunette closed her eyes briefly, sending out a short pulse of her aura along their bond to locate her missing girlfriend, wondering if perhaps she went out for a jog.
"Not gettin' lazy on me, arya?" she called out humorously, following the aura signature to seek out the toned body of the leggy redhead, hopefully still clad in exercise shorts and sports bra.
"Bite your tongue!" Pyrrha, barefoot but still dressed for exercising much to Ruby's delight, exclaimed from the kitchen as the brunette wandered over into the main part of the apartment. It was an open design, the kitchen separated from the living area and small dining room by only a long counter. "I found a new recipe I wanted to try for yogurt salad, it's supposed to be delicious according to the food vid station."
"Sounds… healthy," Ruby commented disdainfully, sneaking a cookie out of the large jar in the shape of an Ursa head and popping the treat into her mouth.
Pyrrha rolled her eyes as Ruby moved behind her, wrapping her arms around her lover's waist. The redhead smiled and placed a hand over Ruby's where they rested. "It is, very much so. And it would not kill you to try eating healthier yourself."
"Never know, it just might," the brunette laughed.
Just then the door clicked open, and a weary-looking Faunus woman wearing business-casual clothing trudged through.
"Honeys, I'm home," she sighed.
"Oh, no! What happened, kitty cat?" Ruby exclaimed, quickly running over to wrap the raven-haired Cat Faunus up in a hug.
"Long day," Blake sighed again, though with a relieved smile from the contact. Even her Faunus ears looked tired and drooping. She'd stopped wearing her bow around their third year, and now worked tirelessly for Faunus rights within the local chapter of the reinstated White Fang. The organization had changed leadership once more, but for the better this time, returning to their peaceful roots. Though they had a lot of ill-will and history to overcome, largely due to Blake's efforts they were starting to make real strides.
"I believe I know the remedy for this," Pyrrha said warmly as she enveloped Blake as well. "We need a bad movie night."
"Yes!" Ruby cheered. "Haven't done one of those in ages!"
"That sounds wonderful," Blake said softly, her smile widening.
They had a quick dinner, prepared ahead of time by Pyrrha as Ruby was still not allowed to operate anything inside of the kitchen without close supervision, before snuggling up on the couch together. Pyrrha lay against the arm, one leg on the floor while the other, knee upraised, was against the back of the couch. Blake reclined against her chest so that the redhead might slowly scratch between her Faunus ears, and Ruby curled up against Blake's stomach, her arms securely wrapped around her middle.
The purrs from the raven-haired girl could likely be heard by their neighbors.
Ruby squirmed a little bit to get comfortable. She'd grown some before graduating Beacon, shooting up a total of four inches from when she'd first entered the academy to match Blake's height, or at least where she'd been. The Faunus had managed to hit a late growth spurt of her own without anyone noticing and surprisingly gained another two inches by the time she'd turned eighteen.
All three of the girls took humor in the fact that they were still evenly separated, now by only two inches instead of four, and still fit together perfectly to spoon at night.
"Ruby, have you heard from your sister lately?" Pyrrha asked over the sound of Blake's purrs and the truly awful action movie quietly playing on the vid unit.
"Mmm, yep, just today in fact," the brunette murmured. "She's been acting surprisingly domestic. Like, cooking an' cleaning an' decorating… I dunno what's got into her."
"Married life suits her," Blake laughed. "It won't last, she'll get the itch to go hunt again soon enough."
"True, but I think that is also part of her now," Pyrrha mused. "Perhaps she will alternate between the two passions?"
"Her only real passion is Weiss," Ruby snickered. "I swear to OIum, she's got no place to complain anymore about how we all act."
"Indeed," Pyrrha laughed in return.
"Well, at least she didn't take Weiss' name," Blake smirked. "Yang Schnee just sounds… weird. Oh, hey, before I forget, we got a job offer for this weekend!"
"We did?" Ruby asked excitedly, twisting around so that she could see her girlfriends. "For the three of us?"
Blake nodded with a grin. "Mmhmm. Same village out west. Another pack of Beowolves moved in this week on the outskirts, they would like for us to deal with them before they become a problem."
"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "I get to break my sweetheart out again!"
Pyrrha chuckled lightly. "You are quite lucky we are not the jealous types."
"Aww, don't be that way, Crescent Rose is my first love," Ruby snarked. "But you guys will always be my best loves."
"Now hold on there," Blake admonished with a twinkle in her eyes. "Are you telling me you'd actually rate us higher than your scythe?"
Ruby blinked her silver eyes up at her two lovers. "Well… yeah!"
"Such a romantic," Pyrrha sighed affectionately.
The three of them snickered lightly before turning back to watch the movie, snuggled in tightly together.
"Er, I have some news as well," Pyrrha began hesitantly after some more time had passed. "I spoke with that doctor today."
Ruby sat upright, giving the redhead an eager grin. "Yeah? And?"
"Well, it's certainly doable, but…"
Blake sat up as well, turning so that her back was against Pyrrha's knee. "Is it what I thought?"
"It is, yes," Pyrrha nodded solemnly. "Combining the three of our DNAs would most certainly result in a Faunus child, and the only one able to safely carry her would be you, Blake."
The Cat Faunus shrugged unconcernedly. "And I told the both of you before, I don't have a problem with that."
"Well, it's not like we're planning to do it anytime soon," Ruby murmured. "Still got time to think about it."
"I already have," Blake smiled serenely. "I want to carry your baby, the both of you. It's a done deal."
"Well… alright then," Pyrrha smiled. "Now why don't you lie back down, love?"
"Works for me," Blake replied with a happy sigh.
The three of them resumed their previous positions, though if anything they now held each other a bit tighter.
"You know I love you guys, right?" Ruby murmured.
"And we love you, little rose," Pyrrha smiled.
Blake nodded sleepily. "All our hearts and all our souls."
"You guys ever wanna get married?"
Both Blake and Pyrrha blinked their eyes uncertainly at Ruby's question. "Er… can we, even?" the redhead asked.
"Oh, I bet I could find someone to do it. Nothing says we can't. I just didn't know what you guys thought about it." Ruby kept her head turned away and towards the vid display, her voice casual.
"I would not be opposed," Pyrrha began slowly. "But I'm happy the way we are now. Blake?"
The Cat Faunus shrugged. "Didn't even occur to me it was a possibility, really. But… no, not right now. I'm just happy with the three of us being Mates. Is that okay with you, Ruby?"
The brunette craned her neck up and shot them a cheerful grin. "Yep, works for me. Just so's you know it's a possibility if you wanna sometime."
They settled down one last time, contented smiles on their faces. That night they never even made it back to their large bed, simply remaining cuddled up in each other's arms on the couch.
Safe and secure in their love for one another.
A/N: So I actually had this chapter, and the next, done waaaay back towards the beginning of this story, like around chapter ten I believe. Always knew how I wanted to finish this wonderful little fluffy crack ship. One more to wrap things up, and then we bid these lovely ladies a fond farewell. (And you know what's coming up for the last chapter, right?)
Oh, and the poll is closed for the Weiss x Yang x Neo ship name, and the results sent off to the maintainer of the Ship Sheet over on Reddit. In first place was Weiss Cream Sandwich, while close behind were Strawberry Twist and Weisscream Flambé. Thanks for voting!
Hugs and a box of tissues for my stalwart reviewers: Praetorianwarrior, lkdog, Phoenix Commander, Herofire, carpenter656, DschingisKhan, Jack Inqu, WyattMoore, Boombox94, Dragonsoul1, THB4, Lemonysuperpie, MakaS0ul, The Reader of Fanfiction, Reaper Whisper, Marauderby, Heil96, AD Lewis, ThatOnePsycho, OverDude12. I'm so very happy that everyone enjoyed the Yuletide chapter, and that many saw it for what it was, not an ending but a 'to be continued'.
Stay shiny!