RWBY: A Thorn in My Heart

Chapter 25: Those We Leave Behind

Ren took deep breaths as he saw his wife lay on a sheet, getting fanned by a handkerchief by Ruby as she panted. He saw her clench her stomach and give painful winces, which filled him with an intense amount of distress.

"W-What do you mean she's pregnant Ruby?" he asked her, it seemed crazy right now, his wife being with child but never telling him. It was extremely difficult for him to wrap his head around this; even for a mission Nora wouldn't ever risk children's lives.

"Vertigo, Nausea, she's less hyper, I experienced those myself believe me she's pregnant!" Ruby sternly told him. She knew all too well Nora's symptoms from her own experience last year. She looked down on Nora solemnly, pity escaping her gaze. She honestly felt happy Nora would get to be a mother with a man she loved, unlike herself, but knew this meant she had to be taken off the mission. That feeling of helplessness to watch your friends take off without you and risk their lives, it was a horrible reality she knew Nora would have to go through now. She could still remember the day Pyrrah called her and told her about her pregnancy.

"Oh man! I can't believe a whole year I have to sit at home, I'm gonna get super fat!" she groaned, though with a joking tongue.

Ruby had her scroll to her cheek back then giving Thorn his bath, which the dog Faunus boy absolutely hated getting. He kept squirming as she rubbed shampoo across his black hair and puppy ears. He hated the sensation so much wanted to get out of the bath and start running through mud just to get his mom mad. Nonetheless, the hyperactive child was powerless to escape his mother's firm grasp on him with single hand, no doubt from her years of handling the much heavier Crescent Rose. As she was getting him out the bath, she finished listing to Pyrrah gripe about her weight gain, she spat a little in laughter to the latters mild offense.

"Hey Ruby this is serious! I can already see stretch marks on my waist, now I gotta buy jeans and sweatpants, I am gonna look so aweful!" Pyrrah groaned.

"Sorry! It's just like my mom told me a while back. How she hated how fat she was gonna be with me in her stomach!" she laughed.

She felt so relieved whenever she got to see her mother's spirit, just like the night she first comforted her when she was unsure whether to keep Thorn or abort him. Her guidance gave her the strength and confidence to give birth to him and she knew she had to give Pyrrah that too.

"Trust me girlfriend, it's a pain in the butt though the end results are worth it." She said as she dried off her pouting son with a bright smile. Pyrrah could make out a deep sigh with a hint of sadness from the other end of the line

Pyrrah sighed herself as she pondered her friend's words.

"Sorry, I was being selfish. I get you went through this… and a lot worse than I." She said sadly, recalling Ruby's ordeal during the war.

Ruby held her son by the tail as he vainly struggled to run out the bathroom butt naked as she heard these words.

"It was hard true, not being able to help people while taking care of a little rascal in your belly!"she said, yelling the rascal part as she grew annoyed with her son's behavior. She then fixed a towel around his waist and hugged him to her chest.

"But it's the best mission in the world caring for them once their finally out and you can snuggle with them." She said sweetly as she hugged him, bringing relief to Pyrrah as well as herself.

As Ruby regained her senses after zoning out, she saw Ren kneel next to her as he clasped Nora's hand. She was sweating rapidly and breathing heavy, which made everyone worry she might suffer a miscarriage. After all, she had been under a lot of physical stress, what with her body emitting lightning and being suffocated. Nora could see what they were thinking by the looks of despair in their eyes.

"I guess… I really screwed up huh?" she said while panting.

"No! It's my fault, I should have known you were pregnant and kept you away from here!" Ren said, his tone filled with shame. He kicked himself for not noticing the signs like Ruby did, it made him feel like a failure as a husband.

Nora, however, couldn't hear anything as her ears began bleeding, no doubt damaged from the typhoon. Nonetheless, she fought her exhaustion to gaze intensely at her friends worried face. She was more concerned for them than her feelings of exhaustion and pain in her gut.

"Don't worry honey, I'll be pounded Grimm in no..." Nora weakly said as her consciousness sank. Team RWBY and Ren stood up as they started to breath rapidly, Blake grabbing her cat ears in frustration at the situation.

"What do we do, she needs a doctor and we don't even have a ship anymore!" she yelled.

Ruby soon took out Penny's sword as it glowed, indicating Penny wanted to say something.

"The ship has a distress beacon, even if it goes down the Atlas military will arrive to rescue any potential survivors or recover equipment." Penny explained.

Ruby sighed with relief; she soon took a glance at Nora and got an idea.

"Great, helps on the way, once they get here we can get her looked at. In the meantime Weiss, summon some ice so we can cool Nora down." She ordered her partner, who shrugged her arm nervously.

"I can't, I ran out of aura." She solemnly admitted, shame infecting her voice. Now of all times she had to feel useless. It was one of the reasons she left her team for a year to train in Atlas, well that and another thing. But Weiss didn't feel like discussing that, not that she would get the chance to. Suddenly, Ruby rolled her eyes and grabbed her partner by her dress's collar and pulled her towards her face. She shocked everyone as she engaged in a make out session with Weiss. Weiss tried to push Ruby away, seeing the rage in Blake's red eyes at this sight and sensing death from the black aura she was emitting (comically). Soon she felt a surge of energy from her mouth as she looked to see Ruby, who had a serious expression despite the kiss. Soon her aura flashed red as it seeped into Weiss, melding with her white aura and turning pink. As Ruby pulled her root looking tongue away, Weiss and everyone gasped as they realized what she did. She had given Weiss her aura.

"Now make some ice already." Ruby said as she collapsed to the floor exhausted. Blake and Yang ran to catch her head, wanting to avoid her suffering a head injury.

"I know you did the right thing honey, but I am so gonna smack you for that later." Blake said annoyed. She hated her wife locking lips with anyone but her, even Penny during their "sessions" together.

Weiss glanced at her leaders unconscious body and felt her heart flutter. She had abandoned her desire for her long ago when Blake and her married, but still always secretly wished she could have their life. Selfish as she knew it was, it was hard to let this feeling go. She then looked at Nora and decided she was at least going to put Ruby's power to good use then sort her feelings out again later. Grabbing her saber, Weiss enchanted it with Ruby and her aura to summon some ice shards, which plopped to the ground gently beside Nora to cool her down. She then took a handkerchief and placed some of the ice in it. She dabbed Nora's forehead to add some more relief.

"Thanks Weiss, I can always count on your girls." Ren said, grateful to have friends help his wife always. He felt even more shame from saying this. Nora was his wife and his responsibility, and he felt like he failed every time he couldn't help her and others could. As he looked at her, he felt the weight in his chest leave as an idea ran through his head.

Meanwhile…

At Vale Hospital, Thorn suckled on his lollipop he got from the Doctor as his tail wagged with excitement. His cheeks puffed up and blushed as he enjoyed the flavor thoroughly.

Velvet watched this scene unfold from her chair as she processed the paperwork for his visit. She felt joy and pride being a children's doctor and seeing them leave her office with a smile like his. She formed a big one herself as she fought the urge to laugh seeing Raven's expression.

Raven was clawing her face in frustration, struggling to keep herself from going gaga from seeing her grandson's cute face, it would be too damn embarrassing. Velvet and Tai's teasing looks didn't ease the struggle for her.

"God I want to kill those two just as much as I want to hug him!" she screamed in her head. The final straw for her struggle was when Thorn heard her grunting and turned around. His silver eyes meeting her red ones as he tilted his head slightly to the right like a puppy would when confused.

"Gwandma" he muffled as he continued sucking on his big lollipop. It was no use; those cute words broke any sense of restraint left in the prideful former bandit.

"So cute!" she hollered as she snatched him up and cradled him, pressing his cheeks against hers as she snuggled him to his irritation. The 5 year old hated these hugs grandma Raven would give him in private, it was the reason he didn't like being away from his mothers or Uncle Qrow as they showed excessive affection like this less often.

Raven couldn't help it, it was so wonderful to get to experience the joys of cuddling a child and letting loose her stress. She couldn't do it for years, battling Salem and leading a tribe of bandits. She still remembered the day she left the tribe to Vernal her lieutenant to command after she married Tai. She felt after Yang's birth she would be able to lead a healthy life instead of having to constantly steal and take it from others like she used to. How naïve she was. She slowed down her hugs for Thorn as she remembered the day she saw on the news the tribes destruction. Salem had gone their with Cinder to decimate them as payback for Raven and Ozpin's group constantly interfering with her plans.

"She wanted to hurt me and she knew exactly how." She bitterly said in her head as a tear started to fall from her eye. It was just the same pain Qrow experienced when he lost Summer on that last mission. It was the reason she left Tai after Yang was born, she had to fight Salem more aggressively, to avenge her clan and to keep Salem's mind on her rather than hurting him. Suddenly, she released her grip on the annoyed Thorn who squirmed annoyed before resuming his eating. She gave her husband a worried look, ceasing his cocky smile towards her as fear invaded him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"How do you think Ruby and Yang are doing?" She asked nervously. Ruby did seem off during her call, almost like she was shaking. That 2 minutes of pausing in the video that they didn't know was a trauma flash for her was also a cause for worry. Tai frowned as this realization dawned on him. He wanted to believe they were okay, that they were strong enough to handle things on their own. Then again, he told himself that same thing before they went to Beacon and look what happened to Ruby. This painful memory brought a sense of worry and dread to him as he pulled out his scroll.

"Well, I'm going call them now to find out." He said.

But as he dialed Ruby's number back, it gave him no response, increasing his panic. He breathed heavily as he called Yang, only to receive no reply from her as well.

"What the hell happened to them?!" he thought to himself.

Kuroyuri

"I'm WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Nora screamed at the top of her lungs in shock. She couldn't believe now of all times she was pregnant.

Ren had just broken the news to Nora, who laid in bed inside one of the towns old houses.

"Ruby says its very likely Nora. Just to be sure, how long has it been since… uh…. your last?" he awkwardly stated as he looked down at Nora's pants.

Nora was a bit perplexed and raised an eyebrow, obviously not understanding he meant her period. Seeing this, he sighed and shook his head, embarrassed and exhausted he had to explain this to his dense wife.

"Your monthly" he said deadpan as he pointed down there. Team RWBY, who were fanning their lightheaded leader all looked at him with bright white eyes (comedic anime effect) as he blurted out such a sensitive topic. Even without turning towards them he could feel their awkward gazes. He blushed a little as he began feeling like he would die from the embarrassment.

"Wow uh…. I guess it's been a couple weeks I just didn't really think about it, this mission and all." She awkwardly replied.

"So what do we do now? We can't fight another battle with everyone exhausted and you pregnant." Weiss said as she walked over with an ice cloth and placed it on Nora's head. Though her fever was gone, it was important to keep Nora's body relaxed for her baby's sake. Nora smiled as she appreciated her friends thoughtfulness, then frowned as she remembered what was more important.

"I guess this is the end of the line for me? No more missions for Nora Valkyrie" she said with a fake smile.

"Nope, no more missions for Nora Valkyrie and Ren Valkyrie" her husband sternly said.

"What? Come on Ren, they still need your help." Nora said as she pointed to Team RWBY, who awkwardly rubbed their heads. Not only did they not like the fact they were dragged into a marital conflict, they silently agreed that Ren and Nora should go home and care for their unborn child.

"They are grown-ups. Once Atlas reinforcements arrive to pick us up, they can take you to the hospital and I am going to be by your side every second until our kid is out." He said. He refused to ever abandon his wife during her ordeals. Her image changed to that of her child self as he imagined that day he ignored her bullying. Never again would he make that same mistake, his gaze upon her making her realize he was adamant about this decision.

Nora took a heavy sigh,

"Okay Ren, but as soon as she's out I am so gonna smash some Nevermores!" she said ectatic while clutching her hammer, which she was glad the others kept by her bed. Like Ruby, she always felt more comfortable having her trademark weapon to caress like a baby. As she was doing just that, her eyes teared up at a thought.

"I honestly can't decide if I want to radle my hammer or my baby girl more!" she said.

"What makes you think it's going to be a girl?" Ren said confused.

"Oh so you want a boy instead of a girl? What's wrong with a girl?" as soon as Nora asked this, Team RWBY raised an eyebrow and gave a smug smile to tease Ren, who darted his eyes around obviously getting the danger he was in right now.

"Nothing, nothing, I get you want a girl, that's cool! I just was confused why you thought it'd be one for sure" he panicky stated.

Nora busted into giggles as she saw his flustered face, it was always so amusing for her to see a calm and collected man be embarrassed.

"So, what are you two gonna name it?" Yang asked. The couple perked up at the question, it hadn't been on their minds until then.

"Oh! That's right what should we name it?" Ren asked Nora, who looked over to her friends and smiled warmly. She couldn't help but feel grateful to have them in her life and as teammates after the lonely childhood of abandonment and ridicule she endured.

"Well if it's a girl lets name her after one of them." She said as she pointed to Team RWBY, who clasped their hands and cried a little as they felt honored by this sweet suggestion.

"And if it's a boy…" she started before she and Ren were alerted to the others by groan's of disappointment from the girls. They soon turned around and whistled in embarrassment, though they still secretly hoped it was girl instead because of Nora's flattery. Ren merely chuckled as he decided to pass that one off.

"And how about Montgomery if it's a boy? Monty for short." She finished.

"Monty? You sure that's what you want?" he asked. The name seemed fine honestly; he just was certain Nora would choose a more cute name or name him after Jaune or Sun.

"Yeah! I think it sounds smart and I want him to be smart instead of pretty like me. Plus I am doing all the hard work now!" she yelled, her tone making it clear her word was final. After all, she heard how bad it hurt during Ruby's birth and felt she was owed the right since she was going to go through the same thing.

"I could hit you in the stones and make you get close to that pain if you really want the right to choose his name?" Yang said teasingly as she shook her fist, which gathered flames as she sported a wicked grin and red eyes, making Ren shake nervously, sweat dripping down him rapidly.

"No, no, that's fine, Monty it is!" he quickly said as he formed a fetal position as everyone laughed at him from this joke.

Ren then saw some dirt from the floor rub on his white pants. He took a deep sigh as he looked around the tattered house. Like the town it was run down with erosion in the walls, cobwebs and the stench of death and despair around them. It was a miracle no Grimm were around to take advantage of the chaos, the Knuckelavee must have scared them all off. But now he was wondering what would happen to this town since it was truly abandoned. Would Grimm come again? Or would people move in here to start new lives? Suddenly an idea popped into Ren's head, but he hesitated to declare it, as he took a look at his wife. He was almost certain she would reject it since this place brought nothing but torment to her.

"Nora, what would you think about me fixing up this place?" he asked. Nora looked confused by his statement.

"Were not just going to leave?" she asked.

"It's just… even though this place hurt me a lot, I remember a lot of fond times I spent with mom and dad. Hell, it's still the place I first met you." He explained. Nora felt her heart flutter hearing his reasons, it sounded more romantic than logical to her. Seeing her expression, Ren felt he needed to push more.

"Now that the monster is gone, I just can't stand the thought of more grimm or bandits moving into town and making the place worse. We could spruce it up and make it beautiful like it was before." He said with a bright expression, his hopes growing with each word as he imagined the desolate town as the bright and clean village he once knew.

Before he could continue, Weiss couldn't help but speak up.

"How can 2 people, or really 1 since Nora's pregnant, fix up this entire town? You need more help and supplies for a likely year long project like that!" she explained.

"Weiss! Don't ruin the mood!" Ruby said as she smacked Weiss's back comically.

Nora gave Ren a sad look, as much as she was getting in on the idea, she couldn't help but agree to the logic Weiss argued.

But Ren gave Weiss a cocky grin; he had a plan indeed and was looking forward to having his answer to that problem fixed by the president as payback for her teasing and interruptions.

"Well I am sure the president of the Schnee Dust company could spare some "pocket change" and hands to help solve that problem." He said. His response earning an initial confused look from Weiss before her eyes widen and she glared at him once realizing his intentions.

"You expect me to spend tons of Lien to spruce up this ghost town? She asked, the annoyance in her tone earning frowns from her teammates. Blake tugged at her curly white ponytail.

"This "ghost town" is their hometown remember!" Blake muffled while gritting her teeth. While angry at her friend's insensitivity, she was trying to avoid raising her voice to upset Nora.

"Come on, I am sure the SDC will get some great publicity helping a poor village regain their footing." Ren pleaded, trying to appease his friend's ego and status as a company president. But it wasn't reputation that was holding Weiss back; it was money. She was honestly trying to repair the companies poor reputation towards Faunus, and expended much of its monetary resources hiring people from the Menagerie to aid in that cause. She rubbed her arm awkwardly at the thought of another issue.

"It's not just money, my family has been giving me crap lately." Weiss sadly said, her explanation filling the room with sadness. Everyone knew her family had been pressuring her into diverting the companies resources back into dust mining and using more local faunus for labor rather than outsourcing. It was honestly cheaper than plane and boat expenses hiring from the Menagerie, despite the great publicity and the lessened tension between human's and faunus it brought.

"Help others, but make sure to help yourself first." Words that echoed threw Weiss's head, but she couldn't dare utter them, knowing her team's likely violent reaction. Those were Winter's words to her years ago.

Weiss shuddered as her back felt a chill remembering her sister Winter arguing with her over this. Her older sister usually gave her emotional support, but her cold streak was honestly more frightening for her than getting smacked in the face by her father.

"Ignore them Weiss, your in charge and got all the money now. Just disown them like you did with your daddy and help a friend out already!" Yang interjected. It was hard for Weiss to tell if her tone was a joking one or not, but it didn't change the fact she felt good remembering her father's look of despair when she grabbed control over the company from him and was legally emancipated.

"You ungrateful little brat. I made you and this is how you repay me!?" Jacquees Schnee roared as two gruff men in suits carried him out of his… correction, Weiss's office.

"You married into this family for money, "daddy", which I own now so I can spend it however I please. Like, paying this guys to throw you out of MY office." She snickered as she gleefully rolled in a revolving chair in what was formerly her father's workplace as he was escorted forcefully out of it and her mansion by the guards. Ever since he first hit her, ever since she escaped him to Beacon, and ever since she found out his reasons for marrying mom and driving her into alcohol abuse, Weiss dreamed of this moment were she could have her revenge. It felt all too good to be true.

Weiss grinned as she finished recalling this pleasant moment, and decided her friend was right. What more was a few more Lien spent if a friend would be helped. Winter and the board of directors opinions didn't matter to her anymore.

"Okay I'll help, but you owe me one. If it's a girl you definitely have to name her after me, got it?!" she said with a smile, earning a cheer from Ruby and a gleeful hug from Ren, who sheepishly seized it once he saw Nora give a creepy jealous smile while clutching her hammer, which sparked with electricity.

Going Home

An airship touched down outside the house. It wore the logo for Mistral Military, which made sense to Blake. Since Atlas was still a day or so away, it would cost less dust in fuel and Lien in manpower to commission a rescue effort from local military or police. Everyone but Nora gathered outside, eager to thank their rescue party and continue on with the mission in Atlas. As exciting as things had been today, they honestly felt creeped out by the ghost town of Kuroyuri, and wanted to be as far away from it until Ren and the SDC renovated it.

"I wonder who came to pick us up?" Ruby asked. They didn't know many people in mistral. As far as she knew it, the only one they did know was Velvet, but she lived in Vale now as a children's doctor. Ruby's heart sank as she reached into her pocket and eyed her broken scroll. She could imagine her family was worried sick either right now or later if they couldn't call her. She had to get to Atlas soon and get a new scroll to let them know she was okay. She totally was going to omit the details of the crash, since she knew her father would overreact like usual.

As the ship opened its hanger doors, Ruby saw her question answered as she and Blake formed expressions of glee at the sight of their savior. He was a young Faunus man with gold hair like Jaunes, wore a grey suit, and had a smike almost as big as his monkey tail that whipped around with excitement.

"Sun!" They cheered as they ran to see their old friend. They hadn't seen him in years and were thrilled to see a familiar face after what they endured. The others approached the trio hugging at a calm pace to not break up the good mood.

"I can't believe its you! What have you been up to all this time?" Blake said as she broke the hug. She looked closely at him to see his nice new suit, it didn't seem like him to dress formely.

"Well ladies your looking at the new headmaster at Mistral Academy." He said with a smug smile, but given his position, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

"Wow! Well hello "professor" hope my son can attend your glorious academy hahaha!" Ruby joked as she laughed in amazement.
"Yeah, after Professor Lionheart was arrested for smuggling, as I have been told, the academy needed a huntsman for guard duty while they searched for a new one. I applied, then did some teaching part time, and eventually the school board decided they wanted me. Isn't that awesome?" he asked, though his face was in front of Ruby, his gaze soon met Blakes, he smiled warmly seeing his former crush and good friend after so long.

"They hired the best I'd say." She replied, she wanted to show her support even if she felt a bit awkward seeing him stare at her so much. Her friendly behavior brought a smile to his face. It was alleviating to the new headmaster, who felt stiff from being professional around students and faculty for so long.

His smile slightly faded as one other member her team he noticed approach them slowly; it was Weiss.

"Oh hey… Weiss. How's it been?" he asked sheepishly.

"Fine, thanks for picking us up." She said in a professional but cold tone. This surprised everyone, not sure why she was acting so cold to a friend. She wasn't in a good mood right now, so Weiss could tell what they were thinking and decided to press on.

"Can I use your communications systems on the ship? I need to contact my company and Ruby needs to contact her family." She asked with a serious tone and glare. Sun rubbed the back of his head and gave an annoyed sigh.

"Sure, you can do whatever you want… like always." Sun said the last part especially low key to avoid detection, though Blake could hear it well thanks to her cat ears.

"What was that all about?" she asked Weiss who ignored her as she entered the ship. Ruby darted behind her, remembering her partners comment about calling her family.

"Atlas here we come!" Ruby cheered.

As the ship took off, Ren watched his friends depart with a smile. He wanted to keep himself positive, not just from the grimm threat, but because he knew it was the reason he would obtain his goal. He truly felt blessed to have friends as supportive as Team RWBY and felt a desire to make sure they would be honored in his town as he restored it to its former glory.

"Really wish you could have met them Dad, Mom." He said, tears of joy streaming from his face as he said his goodbyes to his friends and remembering his folks.

Weiss groaned as she finished her call, It was annoying taking 2 hours to get all contacts, nit she finally procured Ren the materials and manpower he needed for Kuroyuri that were on their way. She hung up and allowed a twitching Ruby, who was impatient to call her son and father, to make her call. She sighed as she sat down in her seat. She glared out the window as she pondered all that's happened in just one day. Their plane crashed, a spooky ghost town with a hybrid Grimm, and now Ren and Nora were pregnant and left them. Weiss rubbed her stomach at this last thought. It honestly felt like that night to Mt. Glenn again, nothing went right. Anxiety wrapped around her stomach like a python Grimm as she grew worried.

"What if something worse happens in Atlas? what if its already happening?" she thought to herself. She knew how nosy Yang and Sun could be, and she didn't feel like sharing doubts and fears with them now since they had an important assignment to do. She was just not looking forward to seeing her family in Atlas, and secretly hoped the flight would take longer.

But fate was not on her side, as the powerful engines blasted towards the flying fortress country know as Atlas at record speed. Sun sat across from her, ignoring her negative attitude towards him as he looked out the window. Like polar opposites, Sun wanted to get their fast instead, for his friends mission sake and for another purpose entirely.

"Good to be home huh?" he asked Weiss bitterly.

"Yeah, great to be back." She sarcastically said, not even looking at him as she eyed her homeland bitterly. It was going to be a long mission.

Finally, Team RWBY arrives at Atlas to begin their most important mission ever. Ren and Nora getting to settle down and rebuild felt like a heartwarming ending, kind of like a tarzan build tree house scene, except no one dies thank God! Weiss throwing out her father was my favorite part to write today though, screw that faunus hating jerk. Speaking of faunus, why is Weiss so cold to Sun? Find out the answer to her behavior in CH 26: Weiss's secret.