Done With You
Ruby awoke to the sound of knocking on her door, looking over to the window to find that the sun had barely crested the horizon. With a yawn she rolled over and looked to the door, "who is it?"
"It's...it's me Ruby," she heard, recognizing the voice immediately. Ruby sighed and gathered her will. She stood from the bed and crossed the room in her pj's to the door and quietly drew the door open, trying not to make too much noise and wake anyone else up.
On the other side of the door she found exactly what she expected, Weiss staring down at the floor with her hands held behind her back nervously. Ruby could tell she hadn't slept at all, the area around her eyes darkened and gray. "What is it Weiss," Ruby let out with a sigh as she leaned against her door frame with a hand on her hip.
Weiss was quiet for a moment before quietly answering her partner, "I...can I talk to you?"
"Isn't it a little early for this..."
"I'm sorry I just...I haven't been sleeping...five minutes," she asked as she looked up into the younger girl's eyes.
"...Fine," Ruby sighed again as she rolled her eyes and turned around and walked back to her bed.
"Thank you," Weiss let out firmly as she stepped into her room and gently closed the door behind her. Ruby flopped down onto her mattress and folded her arms over her chest, looking back at Weiss.
"What is it."
"I...look I know you're mad at me and...you deserve to be..." Weiss began before Ruby cut her off.
"I'm not mad at you Weiss. Just disappointed."
Weiss looked back to the floor and struggled to find the words she was looking for. "I know I...I shouldn't have left I-"
"I don't care that you left," Ruby said as she too held her emotions back. "I care that you didn't say goodbye, or even leave me so much as a note. You didn't even write to me the entire time you were gone!" Ruby began to get worked up but then covered her own mouth as she finished speaking, remembering how early it was.
"I know okay!" Weiss blurted out loudly as she looked back at Ruby, her own emotions beginning to take over as her frustration with herself boiled over, a tear running down her cheek. "I know I suck! I know I'm the worst! I know that you deserve better!," she began to yell as more tears fell from her ice blue eyes, her cheeks turning red. "All I've ever done is treat you like crap from the moment I met you and I made you cry all the damn time when we were dating and now I don't have you and I don't know what to do!"
Ruby's jaw dropped as Weiss stood before her and cried, her last words piercing Ruby's heart deeply. Ruby froze up as Weiss lowered her tone but continued to cry.
"From the moment you met me all you wanted to do was be my friend and I fucked everything up because I'm a heartless bitch...I get it...I know why you don't want to be with me anymore okay? But I..." she sobbed, "I don't want to lose you Ruby...you're my partner...you're the first friend I ever had in my entire life...I don't deserve you as a girlfriend but please...please don't cut me off completely."
Ruby was stunned. She never thought she would hear Weiss speak that way or even cry in front of her. She was silent in shock for so long in fact that Weiss began to think that Ruby didn't want anything to do with her. She took a step back from her partner towards the door before speaking again. "I'm sorry...I'll just...leave you alone," she cried out before turning to leave, only to immediately feel Ruby grab her hand, having sped across the room to stop her from leaving. Weiss turned back to see Ruby's gentle smile looking back at her. Ruby opened her arms to Weiss and Weiss nearly tripped as she fell forward into Ruby's grasp, crying into her leader's shoulder with no shame to be found. "Thank you Ruby," she sobbed, breath hitching in the heiress' throat.
"Thank you for apologizing..." Ruby said softly as she held her crying ex in her arms. "I'm not ready to get back together with you but...I'll always be your first friend Weiss. Is that why you've been sleeping bad?"
Weiss pulled away from her partner with a smile on her face, wiping tears from her eyes. "I got so used to sleeping in the same room as you...and your obnoxious snoring that...I can't fall asleep without you there..."
"Well, Ruby said thoughtfully as she walked to her closet and pulled her bed roll out of her back pack, unrolling it on the ground. "You can sleep in here if you want."
"...Re..really?" Weiss said as surprise took over her face. "Are you really okay with that?"
"Ya," the young Rose beamed, "friends have sleepovers Weiss," Ruby giggled out.
Hours later Ruby had gathered all of the younger students into the living room at the request of Professor Ozpin and her uncle so they could all discuss the plan of action for the next day.
"Wait so...you think he was lying?" Ruby asked as she sat down.
"Safe bet," Qrow grunted out as he rubs his neck, still feeling the pain from the previous night.
"It is a rather sudden change in attitude from Lionheart," Liv added before the front door opened, taking the whole group by surprise, only to find Mydnight and Ambur staring back at them. The pair walked inside, everyone taking notice of the fact that Ambur's shoulder length hair was unusually pulled up into a ponytail, exposing her right eye, most of them having never seen it before. As they shut the door Ozpin speaks up.
"...You came back?" He remarked, genuinely surprised.
"Not that you deserve it," Ambur retorted up as she felt Mydnight squeezing her hand, finding him staring intently at Qrow.
"I am...sorry for lying to yo-"
"Ya ya," Ambur cut him off, "Don't wanna hear it Oz. Tell us the plan."
The room was silent for several seconds before Ozpin sighed in defeat, going back to what he was talking about. Mydnight and Ambur walked around the room and stopped behind Ruby who was sitting between Weiss and Liv. As Oz continued to talk, Mydnight leaned down and whispered into his sister's ear.
"We'll talk later kiddo," he breathed out quietly before she looked up at him and gave a small smile and a nod.
As they tuned back into the group's conversation they found Ozpin looking at the two of them, about to address them.
"It is very likely that Rosaria and the hooded man you described will be with them. We expect them to ambush us at the school shortly after arrival."
"We will be ready," Ambur said firmly, folding her arms over her chest. "Mydnight will be fighting the hooded guy one on one, the rest of us are to stay as far away from the fight as possible," she said as she looked around the room to the younger students. "Unfortunately if Emerald is there he won't be able to fight the both of them for us so you all will have to struggle to deal with her illusions."
"What about Rosa?" Olivier asked, her teeth gritted, holding her anger in.
"You and I can handle her," Ambur smiled down to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "We got this."
"Well," Oz began again, "That settles that then I suppose. The rest of you can concentrate on everyone else that shows up. Oscar is ready to fight Leonardo on his own but I can step in if necessary. Everyone should get plenty of rest today and calm their nerves."
As he finished his statement his eyes began to glow and shortly Oscar had rejoined them. All the teens let out a nervous sigh, most of them lowering their heads to the floor in thought. Ruby however immediately stood and turned to face her brother, her eyes saying a thousand words. "Come on Ruby," Mydnight sighed as he nodded toward his and Ambur's bedroom, leading her away from the crowd, Qrow watching them the entire time.
Once the siblings had disappeared from sight he stood up and addressed Ambur. "Ambur," he grabbed her attention.
"Don't expect an apology Qrow," she rolled her eyes.
"I don't...neither does Oz. We didn't tell you because we didn't want Mydnight running off to find his friend."
Ambur sighed and walked toward the staircase heading down toward the back yard to blow off steam. "That wasn't your call. Mydnight's not your kid and you don't get to decide what he does with his life," she huffed before disappearing from sight. Qrow sighed in disappointment before Yang stood from the couch and quickly walked over to the staircase and chased Ambur out to the back yard.
Mydnight shut the door behind him as Ruby forced her way into his arms, breathing heavily. "I was so worried about you," she said as she rubbed her cheeks into his t-shirt.
"Sorry...about that...my emotions are really hard to control...sorry for cutting you off last night."
"It's okay I'm just glad you're safe." She let go of her brother and he walked over to the bed, sitting down and wiping his face in his hands.
"Thanks to Ambur I am..."
"I was going to go after you too but Olivier convinced me not to..."
"Good," he said, almost too loudly. "I would've hurt you."
"I don't believe yo-"
"Well you should," he said shooting her a stern glance and cutting her off. "I almost killed Ambur last night...again..."
Ruby was quiet for a moment before she walked over and sat beside him, "Liv said...you hurt her before...I've never seen her with her hair up before now...did she mean her eye?"
"Ya...that was me."
"What happened?"
"We were trying to train me in my wolf form one day when I just got a little too excited. It was all fun and games until I accidentally dragged a claw down her face, and by the time I got control of myself the damage was already done..." He said quietly as he looked to the floor. "The only reason I didn't kill her last night is because I saw the scar I left on her and it helped me focus and calm down. If it had been you...I don't wanna think about it," he whispered as he shook the thoughts from his head. "The fact is that these powers are dangerous. Qrow's and Raven's aren't as volatile as mine. There are pros and cons to each of our powers. It's why Ambur rushed you and Weiss away from me the night Rosaria crashed the dance. She didn't want you to be between me and her...because if I attacked...I would've gone right through you to get to her."
Ruby watched her brother's face as he spoke, watching his lips stretch around his pronounced k-nine teeth, finding herself lost in his speech. As he finished she finally snapped too and took his hand in her much daintier one. "You may not think you're strong enough but...I do," she smiled out as he looked down at her. He then put his arm around her and pulled her in close.
"I'm trying to be kiddo...I'll get a handle on it eventually."
As Yang reached the back yard she found Ambur pulling her old fingerless gloves on before pulling her great sword from the rack of weapons. Yang watched in silence as the older girl walked out into the yard and began swinging her blade around practicing weaving her heavy attacks into momentum driven combos. Yang walked to the edge of the room and leaned into the door frame before speaking up.
"You okay?"
"I'm ergh!" she grunted out with a strike, "Great Yang. Why?"
"Because you don't seem great," Yang replied, agitated voice to match her former mentor.
"Now why do you say that Blondie?" Ambur asked sarcastically as she turned to meet Yang's looks of annoyance.
"You've been ignoring and avoiding me since I got here. Now all this stuff happens with you and my uncle and what you just expect me to leave it alone?"
"Wouldn't be the first time you left it alone," Ambur bit out quietly, Yang barely able to hear her as Ambur went back to practicing.
Yang's jaw dropped in surprise, unable to believe what Ambur just said. "Uh...ExCUSE ME?!" She blurted out as she stood up straight, her hands now balled into fists.
"You heard me," Ambur said as she faced away from the furious blonde, "You gave up, you quit. You let your little sister walk off with her friends to save the world while you moped in your bed feeling sorry for yourself."
"I LOST MY ARM AMBUR," She yelled out as she took a step toward the older girl.
"Hah, yeah, you lost your fight too," Ambur chuckled out before she heard Yang's footsteps quickly coming toward her. As Ambur turned around she looked down into Yang's neon red eyes staring back at her own piercing red orbs, both women's anger burning hot.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE," Yang growled out.
Ambur dropped her blade to the ground and simultaneously used one hand to shove Yang back from her, the Blonde's boots digging into the ground and leaving a trail behind from the force of Ambur's action. "DON'T TELL ME I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE THINGS," Ambur yelled out as she lost her cool. "I'D LOSE EVERY LIMB I'VE GOT IF IT MEANT I COULD HAVE MY FRIENDS BACK," she shouted out as she held her right fist over her heart.
Yang went silent as her eyes reverted back to their lilac state as her mood shifted.
"Back at Beacon you were so cocky and confident. You came and challenged me every other day and begged me to help you. I put months into trying to train you up and then you lose an arm and just give up? You're little sister, bless her heart, runs away from home with those three and you just lay there and watch her leave? You let your friends die and decided you were done? Then you have THE NERVE, to bad mouth Blake for running away? You did the same damn thing Yang!"
Yang looked to the ground and clenched her fists again in frustration before finally speaking up again. "I know okay!" she yelled back as her eyes shot back up to Ambur's, a tear streaking down her face. "I get it! I screwed up okay?! That doesn't mean you have to pretend I don't exist! I just wanted to go back to the way things were!" She cried hysterically. "You can't tell me that you never wanted to give up!"
Ambur clenched her fists as a tear fell from her right eye, "Of course I didn't!" she shouted back at the younger girl, Yang's eyes opening wide as her mouth hung open. "I spent an entire YEAR in the hospital, in rehab, in fucking therapy! Every single second all I wanted to do was get out and get back to my life. Get back to school and get back to Mydnight! The entire time my legs were broken I never even once thought I was done!"
Yang was silent for a long while, the girls watching each other cry for a moment before Yang stepped forward slowly, closing the gap between the two young women. "I'm...I'm sorry Ambur, I didn't mean to offend you I just...I didn't know what to do..."
Ambur was silent as she looked down in shock, never having seen Yang admit she was wrong before or show any weakness. After a moment Ambur used her free hand to wipe her tears. A small smile creeps across her lips before she starts to laugh.
"What? What's funny?" Yang asked as she too began to wipe her face.
"Nothing...look...I'm sorry I yelled okay...I've had...a REALLY emotional month and I keep blowing up on people..."
"Well...I kinda deserved it...you're right...I did give up...and I got mad at Blake for doing the same thing I did..."
Ambur then dropped Yang's hands and reached down for her sword in the dirt. She picked it up and walked back to the outside wall of the house, leaning it up against the building. "Well," she started as she walked back to her younger counterpart and raised her fists with a smirk. "Wanna let off some steam?"
Yang smiled in surprise before mimicking Ambur's stance as she let out a huge sigh of relief. "That's all I've wanted for a week now Ambur."
Later that night Mydnight walked out into the backyard as the sun sank behind the horizon. The light from the back room of the house lit the ground near the building, revealing the trails of two pairs of boots all over the dirt yard. He couldn't help but smile as he walked out toward the fence at the back of the property, happy that Ambur and Yang had finally made up.
As he leaned forward, looking over the cliff, he felt a sort of calm that he hadn't felt in weeks. He couldn't put his finger on the reason but for the first time in a while things seemed almost normal to him.
However as he stood there thinking to himself, he was torn from his thoughts, his smile reduced to a scowl as he heard foot steps coming up behind him slowly. He knew who it was immediately by the smell and he turned around, leaning back against the fence. "What do you want Qrow."
The older man stopped in his tracks, looking long and hard at Mydnight before replying. "I wanted to explain myself."
Mydnight rolled his eyes before turning back around and looking out over the cliff again. "Of course. You want to justify your actions instead of apologize for them...as usual."
Qrow again went silent. He hadn't expected to hear that from the wolf. He silently walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, only for Mydnight to immediately raise his hand and brush Qrow's off his shoulder, taking a step away from him along the fence.
"Look I'm!" Qrow blurted out in response, "I'm trying to do the right thing here okay?!"
"Little late in life to start isn't it," Mydnight rolled his eyes as a gentle wind passed by, blowing through their hair and clothing as they both looked back up to the night sky.
"We didn't tell you because we were afraid that you would run off and try to find him on your own."
"And so what if I would have?" Mydnight growled back at him, looking at Qrow with anger flaring in his golden eyes. "You don't get to decide what I do!" He yelled as he stood up straight, his arms coming up to frame his face, clenched in frustration.
"We were your teachers! We were doing what was best for you!" Qrow bit back, raising his voice for the first time in ages.
"That's exactly what you don't get Qrow!" Mydnight yelled back, his voice sounding desperate and pleading. As he said this, A window gently slid open on the side of the house unknown to the both of them, as Ruby leaned against her window frame trying to hear them more clearly. "You don't know what's best for me! Just because you found me doesn't mean you own me! I'm not your kid or some stupid lost dog you took in."
"I know you're not I was just trying to help!"
"Well STOP!" Mydnight yelled, "Every damn time you try to help me you make everything worse! And it's got nothing to do with your fucking semblance!" Mydnight yelled, his voice becoming very raspy. "Stop trying to treat me like I'm your kid! To think I was actually about to apologize and forgive you in that stupid bar. I was ready to let you back in and of course you just had to ruin it!"
This time Qrow looked at the ground, actually seeming to be emotionally hurt for the first time Mydnight has ever seen. "You may not be my kid but I'm the one who brought you into this fight...you're my responsibility."
"You want someone to be your responsibility Qrow?" Mydnight asked indignantly as he turned back toward the house and walked away. "There's a perfectly good sixteen year old girl upstairs that thinks the world of you. Try her...I'm done with you," he said softly as he shrugged his shoulders, walking inside without a second glance.
Qrow turned back around and sighed, looking off into the night as he leaned forward against the fence. "You know that I can't do that..." He muttered to himself.
Ruby slowly closed her window back up and sat back on her bed, losing focus as she began to think on everything she had overheard.
However before she could get too deep into thought she heard Mydnight's heavy boots coming down the hallway, likely heading for his room. She jumped from her bed to her feet and paced to her door quickly. She pushed through it just as quickly and found her older brother looking back at her just passed her door. She closed the door quietly and stood before him as she pressed her pointer fingers together nervously.
"Uhmm," she squeaked, "Are you okay?"
"Huhhh..." he sighed as he pressed his hand into his face, "You were listening weren't you..."
"Uh...yeah..."
"...Ruby I...huhhhh...I tried forgiving Qrow for a long time okay? I don't think we are going to patch it up alright?"
"That's...that's not what I asked," she said softly as she took his hand between her own. "I asked if YOU were okay."
Mydnight stopped and looked down into her soft silver eyes with a small smile, "Ya Red, I'll be fine," he replied as he gently squeezed her hands.
"I know Uncle Qrow is...complicated and that...that we've all been lied to a lot but..."
"But we gotta stick together," he admitted as he ruffled her dark hair. "Try to get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. Don't be nervous, we will be fine," he smiled before leaning down and gently hugging her to his frame.
"Okay," she cheerfully replied as they separated. "Goodnight Mydnight, don't stay up too late!" She giggled as she headed back to her room.
"Sweet dreams Ruby."