Posted on: 2022/03/22

"Why did I get arrested!" Screamed Yang in outrage. She sat in an interrogation room dimly lit by a single light hanging over the table in front of her.

The woman who had rescued then arrested her was pacing in front of her with a threatening glare. While she normally didn't get intimidated by simple glares, something about that teacher-looking one's made her look down at the metalic table obediently.

"Your actions tonight could have endangered yours and the lives of others had anything gone wrong." Finally said the woman.

"They were robbing the place! What? I was supposed to just let a poor old man lose everything?!" Argued Yang, standing up from her seat, glaring back at the teacher with renewed determination.

The woman sighed. "Listen, we have endured plenty of trouble at the hands of Torchwick. He is the top suspect in a series of dust robberies that have plagued Vale as of late. Truth be told, we've been largely unable to prevent these crimes." Her glare changed for a slight, praising smile. "Therefore, it is true that it makes your action particularly heroic and a deed worthy of praise."

Yang was taken aback by the sudden praise. "O-oh, well, thanks I-"

She was quickly interrupted when the blonde adult's glare came back in full force. "If you weren't a student that is. A graduate, yes, but a student nonetheless." One could get whiplash with how quickly this woman could change attitude. "You, a single student from Signal, took up arms against a vicious criminal who gives even huntsmen a run for their money. That's not courage. That's recklessness."

Before Yang could snap out of her stupor, someone chuckled behind the huntress. "That's enough Glynda. I think our friend here understands." Said a man with grey hair. He had a cane in one hand and a mug in the other as he approached the table.

"Oh shit." Muttered Yang which earned a new glare from Glynda.

"I believe you know who I am?" Asked the man.

Yang nodded. "Headmaster Ozpin... Is my application denied then?" She weakly asked.

He sat in front of her with a short laugh. "No, no. This hardly qualifies as something to be refused over. In fact, had you been younger, I would have offered you to skip grades to enroll at Beacon." He chuckled at the young blonde's surprised expression. "No, I'm here because when I received a report from Miss Goodwitch here, that a certain Yang Xiao Long has had an altercation with Roman Torchwick and technically won, I started doing a little bit of research on you. The familiarity of your last name did help sway my curiosity."

"O...kay?" Hesitantly replied Yang.

"You see, five years ago, we received an application for one Ruby Rose. I'm sure that I don't need to explain who she is, especially to you." That last comment made Yang panic slightly. "We were quite impressed with the information we found about her background back then. A top student with prodigy level efficiency in combat. Needless to say that even Glynda here was eager to have her as a student." The mentioned teacher blushed while adjusting her glasses. "Now, imagine how confused we were when miss Rose never turned up for initiation and when we would call her father about it, he would only say that she would be unavailable for a while." Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "Turns out that the surprises didn't stop there since two years later, we learned that Miss Rose is all the way down to Menagerie doing what could be considered, huntsmen jobs without a license. Not only that, but she went ahead and continued to do so to the point where she became a worldwide known celebrity." He leaned forward slightly. "Would you be able to enlighten us on why this all happened?"

Yang had started to feel quite overwhelmed since her sister was brought on. "I... Uh..." In panic, she took out her pendant and held it close to her, trying to think of what to say.

Ozpin's eyes widened as he stood up. "Where did you get that?"

Before she could give any type of answer, a voice was heard from behind the door. "Excuse me, miss. You can't go... in... there..."

The way the man's words trailed off at the end confused them at first, but that suddenly changed when the melodic voice of a woman followed. "Oh my. I'm really sorry. It's just that someone I know was brought here recently and I can't stop worrying, you see?"

" No way... " Thought Yang, glancing at the two adults who seemed to mimic her thoughts.

"Y-You're-" Tried to say the man before a calming hush could be heard.

"I'm not reckless enough to just break her out, so would you be a dear and pretend I never came by?" She sweetly asked.

While no answers came, the sound of leaving steps told them all they needed to know. A moment of silence passed when lighter steps were taken towards them and stopped by the door. A deep breath could be heard as the door opened slowly to reveal none other than Ruby Rose herself.

At some point, the two Beacon staff members had gone on Yang's side of the room and stared at the red woman in surprise. Without a word, she entered the room and slowly made her way towards the brawler before crouching down to her level.

They both stared into each other's eyes letting their emotions communicate. The blonde was angry that her sister dared to just appear after so long without ever calling or contacting her in any way. She was saddened that their reunion was in a place like this; afraid that she would be disappointed in her for being arrested. Yet, she was also overjoyed that she was finally reunited with her big sister and a little bit stunned at how gorgeous she was. The man on the radio was right, cameras don't do her justice.

Ruby, on the other hand, was moved by how well her sister had grown up, amused that her younger sibling was afraid of being caught here of all places, overjoyed for the same reason as the brawler and glad that she could finally be here for the young adult from now on. However, Yang could also see something else in her sister's eyes. Something she didn't quite understand. Ruby was terrified.

The older sibling's hands slowly raised as she hesitantly placed one on the brawler's cheek and combed some hair behind her ears with the other. Every movement was meticulous as if the blonde could break apart at any moment. Her action gained in confidence once Yang leaned into her touch, even laying her hand on top of the silver-eyed woman's.

Tears accumulated in Ruby's eyes while her voice wavered. "I'm so sorr-"

The woman's sentence was interrupted by Yang who jumped onto her older sister and hugged her so very close, her head into the older woman's neck while she cried. "I missed you so much! Don't ever leave me again!" This made the celebrity break down and cry in turn. Both sisters hugged each other as if one would eventually disappear should they let go.

It took a while, but they both managed to calm down and stand up. As they did so, Ruby held Yang's face in both of her hands and titled it upwards so she could take a proper look at her face. "Look at how much you've grown..." She muttered with a sad smile. "and I wasn't there for any of it..."

The brawler hugged her sister once more, gentler this time. "You're here now. That's all I ever wanted." She replied reassuringly.

"Oh, my little sunflower." Joyfully said Ruby, hugging her back.

A small chuckle accompanied with a sniff made Yang remember that they weren't alone. Her face turned entirely red as she struggled to separate herself from her sister, to no success. "I thought I told you to only say things like that when we're alone!"

The celebrity gazed at the two other people in the room with a curious look on her face. "Since when have they been here?" She whispered into Yang's ear which caused the blonde to unwillingly shiver in pleasure.

"Since the beginning I'm afraid, miss Rose." Replied Ozpin, having heard everything. Meanwhile, Glynda was busy wiping her tears which spilled over the sister's touching reunion. They had both sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Ruby finally allowed Yang to separate from her, yet grabbed her hand which the blonde was very eager to hold. The raven-haired woman then went to take a seat and forcefully sat her sister on her lap. Creating quite the humorous image and causing the brawler's blush to come back once more.

Once confident that the graduate was comfortable, she addressed the headmaster. "I was worried when I saw that she had been taken in earlier, but if the headmaster of Beacon himself is here, then I guess I had nothing to worry about."

Yang perked up. "You were there? Why didn't you help me?!"

Her answer came accompanied with some cuddles to her back, which had the blonde blush harder. Her thoughts leading towards the less than appropriate. "Your future teacher here already had that covered when I got there. Plus, I had to take care of damage control."

Ozpin decided to bring order back to the conversation. "No need to worry indeed, Miss Rose. In fact, we were talking about you."

This caught Ruby's attention. "Oh? I didn't think Beacon would resort to blackmail." She asked with a threatening tone. The room had suddenly started to build some unknown pressure which would have had Yang on the floor had her sister not been holding her. Glynda on the other hand, didn't have that luxury while Ozpin seemed unaffected.

"You are misunderstanding the situation, Miss Rose. We were just asking why such a promising student decided to leave for five years so suddenly after being accepted into Beacon." He replied, trying to defuse the situation. With all of his years of experience, he could tell that whatever happened to the celebrity in those five years led her to become overwhelmingly powerful for even him to fight alone.

The pressure immediately left, leaving Yang and Glynda to pant in exhaustion as they tried to recover. "I'm sorry my little dragon." Reassured Ruby, leaning the brawler on her while petting her hair. "I had my reason." Her silver eyes flashed briefly. "A very personal reason."

He raised his free hand in surrender. "That is very understandable, Miss Rose. However, I was wondering what you were planning to do about that application?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Has it not been canceled? It has been five years..."

Glynda, having recovered, intervened. "While it conventionally would be the case. We couldn't pass the opportunity of having a gifted student such as yourself. Therefore, we decided to keep it in case you were to come back. It wouldn't be the first time that Beacon accepted adults as new students if you're worried about that."

The red draped woman frowned. "That sounds a bit unfair towards other students."

They both nodded. "We are not ashamed to admit that." Replied Ozpin.

She sighed. "Can't I just take a licensing exam instead? No offense, but I don't think I could patiently sit down in classes after five years of outdoor work."

Glynda gazed at Ozpin, who seemed to be thinking. "That is certainly a possibility. However, we also teach theoretical knowledge. You would have to take the written tests for those too, should you wish to get your license." She told the silver-eyed woman.

"Damn it..." Muttered Ruby. "I doubt that I could pass them all..."

"I... believe we could come to an arrangement." Started Ozpin, making everyone in the room pay attention. "You mentioned not being able to pass them all, implying that you could pass some. How about this? You will have to attend the classes of the tests that you do not pass."

"What?" Asked both sisters.

"However, should Miss Rose accept, we will need to have a serious discussion on many subjects beforehand." He added as his expression turned serious.

Ruby could feel Yang's hand tighten around hers. She squeezed back and continued to pet her hair, calming her down instantly. "I... accept." She hesitantly confirmed.

Both Beacon staff members stood up. "Very well, we will have our discussion at the academy."

Yang looked at her sister. "Does that mean that you'll be a student at Beacon with me?"

The older sibling chuckled. "I guess it kinda does now doesn't it?" Her smile then turned into a mischievous grin. "But for now..."

The brawler felt a cold sweat come down her forehead. She knew that grin. "Y-yeah?"

"I think my little sister needs a punishment for getting in trouble the day I come back, wouldn't you agree?" She asked her sister, however, the last part was aimed at the standing pair.

Amused grins appeared on their faces, yet they remained silent while Yang tried to wriggle away from her sister's grasp. "W-wait, seriously? Can't I get a pass since it was for a good cause?"

"Nope~" Lilted Ruby before she lifted the blonde onto the table and started tickling her sides.

To her credit, her little sister was doing a great job at holding her laughter back. However, the compromising position that they were in right now made both adults blush and gaze away before taking their leave. Yang thanked the gods for this blessing yet loathed that Ruby decided to stop only after they were gone. "Couldn't you have waited that they left before doing that?!"

It was then that she noticed a very specific fact. They were both alone, in a secluded room with their bodies pressed tightly against one another. Memories of her countless teenaged fantasies came flooding into her mind as her heartbeat accelerated.

"I really missed you a lot..." Mumbled Ruby into her neck which didn't help her current predicament.

"I... I missed you a lot too." She replied, suppressing a moan.

The raven-haired woman propped herself up with her arms and kissed her on the forehead. "Come on, let's see if they'll let you out now."

With that, Ruby left the room while Yang laid still, breathing heavily to calm herself down.

" Oh fuck. I can't do this. " Thought the blonde, sitting up. " I really love Ruby and I don't think any amount of self-loathing is gonna fix that. "

She fixed her clothes before following her sister out the room.

Heading back to Patch had been quite troublesome when they reached Vale's airport. Then again, what did they expect with Ruby being the most recognizable person on Remnant. While the fans were distracted with the red and black dressed woman, Yang purchased the tickets for their flight and pleaded with the sellers to keep their destination secret from the others. While she was surprised at how quick the employee had been to brush off her worries, she decided against questioning this fortunate circumstance — for the moment at least.

When they boarded the bullhead, they were once more lucky to find that the other passengers were all Patch residents. While they still all swarmed Ruby with questions and requests, they were more manageable than her usual fans since she actually knew them before.

On their walk home, Yang had asked her older sibling if she would come to her graduation ceremony which was met with great enthusiasm. As they neared their home, Ruby had a cuddle filled reunion with their dog, Zwei who refused to leave her arms for a while.

As soon as they entered, Ruby's steps had considerably slowed down while she looked around, her gaze lingering on every single detail of each room. Hoisting the dog onto one arm, she ran a hand on the kitchen table's surface. "I remember those burn marks." She reminisced.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah... didn't get much better at cooking by the way. At least I don't burn stuff anymore."

Ruby lowered Zwei back on the ground, gave one last look around and headed for the stairs. "It's late enough already. We should probably go to bed. Come, I'll tuck you in."

"I'm not thirteen anymore..." Mumbled Yang, embarrassed since deep down, she knew that she still wouldn't mind.

"Maybe, but you'll always be my cute little sister in the end, so come on." Replied the older sibling as she disappeared up the stairs.

Even during an action as simple as climbing stars, Ruby still managed to look breathtaking in the blonde's eyes. She shook her head, noticing that she had just been standing still for a while, and headed for her room. Once in the hallway, she could see that Ruby's door was slightly ajar, telling her that she had time to put on her sleepwear before her sister would come to her room.

Not taking any chances of getting caught half naked, as exciting as that sounded to her, she quickly changed before laying down in her bed. Not long afterwards did she hear a knock on her door followed by Ruby immediately heading inside.

"I'll make this short. Running to Vale took a lot out of me." Whispered the silver-eyed woman while she sat down next to her.

She laid a hand on Yang's cheek which the blonde leaned into. "I love you so much my little dragon." She said before giving her a kiss on the forehead again. She rubbed her thumb on the brawler's skin before standing up. "I hope you'll never forget that." She said while closing the door.

"Never." She replied, overwhelmed by emotions as the reality of the situation sunk in. Ruby was back home. She was right there, tucking her in like she would have before albeit quicker than usual. Still, as the warm sensation of her sister's lips lingered on her forehead, Yang found herself sinking into her pillow as sleep overtook her.

It didn't take long before the blonde was forcefully woken up by the sound of a woman's scream. Slightly dazed, she fell down her bed as her body started pumping adrenaline through her system.

"Yang! No, please!" She heard, coming from outside her room.

" Ruby! " She thought before sprinting towards her sibling's room.

However, she stopped herself when the voice of her father came from the same room. "Everything's fine, little rose, it's just a bad dream. Yang is perfectly fine. Come on, wake up sweetheart." He gently shushed which seemed to work.

"D-dad? Oh god dad I'm so sorry." Bawled the silver-eyed woman. "I couldn't do anything."

He shushed her again. "It's alright. It was just a nightmare."

By then, Yang had sneaked close enough that she could peek inside. Her eyes widened when she saw the state in which her usually cool and strong willed sister was in. Knees tucked against her chest and eyes staring at some imaginary horizon, the silver-eyed woman sat besides their father, shaking like a leaf as he rubbed a soothing hand onto her back.

"Yang being there was the nightmare. The rest... the rest was real." She buried her head into her knees as she gripped her hair. "I can't stop seeing them. When I fall asleep, they come back to haunt me. I was just nineteen! I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't bring myself to do it!"

Taiyang brought the girl closer, having understood what was going on. His eldest didn't have a simple nightmare, this was a memory.

"What happened?" He softly asked.

Ruby released the grip she had on her hair and leaned into their father. "I don't know. One minute I'm having a chat with the huntsmen escorting us to Vacuo. The next, they're holding me down as a wave of grimm tears through anyone who wouldn't hand over their possessions to them."

Both Xiao Long's expressions hardened. " Monsters. " Bitterly thought Yang, leaning in closer.

"And then?" Taiyang urged on.

"I found out just how special my eyes were." Mumbled the silver-eyed woman. "But it was too late. In the end I couldn't save any of them..." She took a deep breath. "I was... so furious, so enraged. They had loosened their hold, probably out of shock, and I was able to stand up." She tightened her fists. "I killed them. Butchered them to the last. They had taken Crescent Rose from me so I had to improvise with their weapons. Only the people who had complied remained in the end. I cried so much that day, I think that's what made them trust me so fast after seeing me kill so many."

Their dad held her tighter. "It wasn't your fault Ruby."

She made a sound that mixed a chuckle and a sob. "It was. I could see it in their eyes, they had hidden it well, but it was clear when they started asking for our belongings. Bloodlust. They would have killed us themselves had the grimm not showed up. Yet, there I was, arguing, trying to convince them to give up on their wrong doings. I knew that the further you went from Shade academy, the more dangerous things were, but I thought that I could simply deal with it just like in Vale. That if things turned bad, I could have just knocked them out and handed them over to the police." She chuckled menacingly. "Police, that's not a thing over there."

Taiyang sighed. "When you and your sister told me that you wanted to become huntresses. I naively thought that maybe you would always end up with grimm hunting jobs. Now I see the mistake I made." He stood up then kneeled in front of Ruby, making sure that they had eye contact. "What you did, killing for the sake of others, it's not wrong in itself. It becomes wrong when you do it for the sake of taking a life. Back then? You did good Ruby and I'm proud of you."

Yang smiled as the words from both of them sunk in. Being a huntress implied more than they thought and she realized that she might go through what Ruby is experiencing one day, but she believes that when the time comes, her family will support her. Though she did wonder what was special about her sister's eyes. Realizing that she might have eavesdropped a bit too much, she turned around and headed back to her room. At least, she would have had she not heard what her sister said next.

"Would you still say that if you knew everything I've done?"

The brawler's eyes widened and her breath hitched as she froze in place. Turns out that the sound she made was a bit too loud since the next thing she knew, her dad opened Ruby's bedroom door and stared at her. One look into her eyes told him all he needed to know.

He sighed and gazed at Ruby as he closed the door. "Go back to bed. We'll talk tomorrow."

Once closed, he gave his youngest a sad smile. "That goes for you too Yang."

"I-I didn't mean to-" She tried to defend herself but was cut off by a hand sign.

"I know, you're not in trouble. Just go to bed okay? Your ceremony is today and we can't have you looking like a zombie now, right?" He reassured, heading for his own bedroom.

Yang gave one last look at her sister's door before doing as the man said.

When morning came, Yang was woken up to the gentle sound of a pencil on paper along with a melodic hum. As her eyes cracked open, she noticed that Ruby was sitting in the corner of her room where her collage was, writing something. The older sibling stopped humming when she saw her stirring awake.

"You're up. Dad's making waffles." She set down her paper aside revealing an incredible drawing of the sleeping blonde. Ruby then approached her for a second before stopping herself, fear painfully displayed on her face. "I'll be downstairs."

Too groggy to respond. Yang extended an arm, trying to stop her sister to no avail as the raven-haired woman left. " Don't leave me... " She thought as a single tear left her eyes.

Once sleep had left her body, the brawler jumped out of bed and quickly dressed up in her casual clothes before heading downstairs.

As soon as she entered the kitchen, she was met with the gazes of both their father and her sister. The former wished her a good morning while the latter tried to give one of her soothing smiles. Unfortunately, Yang could immediately see the sadness that she attempted to hide. An awkward atmosphere formed once she sat into the living room's couch. None of them uttered a word at first until Ruby sighed.

"Yang, would you mind going outside for a bit? I think dad and I need to have a proper talk... please."

At first, the young adult was shocked. Why would her sister cast her aside like that? She wanted to argue, but having the woman who basically raised her plea; made her do as asked.

"Thank you." She heard the ravenette mumble as she passed by her.

Once outside, the blonde tried to distract herself by answering her friends texts, but ultimately ended up thinking about her sister once more.

"Does she not trust me? Why does dad get to know, but not me? This isn't fair, I waited just as long as he has!"

With those thoughts in mind, Yang stomped back towards their home. However, her pace slowed significantly when she heard her sister cry from inside. She then remembered all of the fond memories that she had with Ruby. How her sister had always been her role model growing up. Cool, wise and mature while still knowing how to have fun or cheer her up. When she saw all those pictures of the raven-haired woman saving lives and smiling in the news, she thought that no matter where she was, Ruby was still her awesome sister.

But the woman who came back; she wasn't exactly her sister. She had secrets, regrets, fears. She has shown weakness that others have never seen. She trusted them with those feelings.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of her scroll. Taiyang texted her, saying that she could come back. This surprised the blonde, who hadn't even noticed that Ruby had stopped crying. When she came back in, she saw her father set their plates down with a pensive look on his face. Her sister was nowhere to be found.

Taiyang noticed his daughter's wandering gaze. "She's refreshing upstairs. Sit."

Before she could do so, Ruby had come back downstairs freezing both sisters in place as their eyes met. No words were exchanged, yet Yang threw herself at her sibling, enveloping her in a hug.

"I don't need to know. You're my sister and I will never hate you." She said which resulted in a bone crushing hug, courtesy of the taller woman.

A chuckle escaped their father. "Alright you two, let's eat these and get ready. We have a ceremony to go to."

They all sat down and had a peaceful breakfast filled with laughter and stories of brave adventures, along with a couple of embarrassing teenage anecdotes.