What Remains ~ RWBY

Part 9

Oscar's P.O.V.

After sitting on the roof with Ruby for hours last night, letting her sleep peacefully beside me, the disappearing moon had told me it was time to go back to the apartment. I didn't want to suffer the rage of Yang if she woke up and we were still gone. I considered waking Ruby, but watching her so calm and content, her face buried in my chest as she slept, I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I picked her up silently and gently as not to wake her, and carried her over to the edge of the roof. It had taken me a while to figure out exactly how to get down. If I wanted to let Ruby sleep then I'd have to figure out a solution that didn't involve her semblance. That's when I heard it. Four consecutive blasts, each closer than before, and then a blur of flaming yellow hair.

"You little shit." She growled, somersaulting onto the roof with ease and shaking the smoke from her gauntlets.

"The hell have you two been doing all night-" her voice trailed off as she caught sight of Ruby, asleep in my arms. She shook her head begrudgingly and sighed.

"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook," she mumbled.

Yang was big. Like really big. 6 ft 5 at least and with more muscle than I've ever seen on a person. So when she wrapped both Ruby and I up in her arms and pulled us off the ledge with her, it kind of felt like being a kid again. A few blasts of her gauntlets later and we were safe and sound back in the apartment room. She took a surprisingly still asleep Ruby from my arms without a word and carried her to bed, giving me a glare that warned me I was on rocky ground and leaving me alone with my thoughts again. I spent the rest of the night replaying everything over and over in my head, trying to drain out the silence.

Now it's morning, and Ruby's long gone. So is Yang, Weiss, Blake, Ren and Nora for that matter, and Qrow and Glynda are staying in a hotel not far from here, leaving me alone in the apartment. Well, almost alone.

"Ah, I see you didn't get invited to dress shopping either." Jaune sighed.

"Not inviting me is understandable. But I heard you turned heads in your dress years ago. I can't believe they left you behind." I jab back. Jaune laughs, and the back and forth is natural for us. It wasn't always. There was a time when he hated me, or he hated Ozpin, I've never really been sure. Back then, it seemed like one in the same. But overtime I think we both started to realise Ozpin and I were our own individuals. Our relationship was never as strong as it could've been I think, but we made it work for the sake of the team. Regardless of how far we've come, being stuck alone with Jaune in this apartment is far from ideal.

"You want a coffee?" I ask.

"I'm good, thanks though." He replies. I nod and start making myself a cup as we fade into silence.

"So, you and Ruby hey?"

I almost drop my mug.

"What makes you say that?" I blurt.

"Sorry," he laughs, "I saw you two leave last night so I just assumed-"

"We're just friends." I interject, painfully aware that my desperation to prove it will only suggest otherwise. He simply chuckles in response, and I know he's not convinced.

The truth is, I have no idea what Ruby and I are. Over the years, there have been moments. Silent moments, when I was completely honest with myself, that I thought I might have loved her. And in other moments, moments of laughter, I thought she might have loved me back. But every day I grew up a little more, and I let go of my own childish dreams in favour of Ozpin's. My future on the farm with my aunt, my future as a normal teenager, my future with Ruby Rose. And I replaced it with a mission. So did she. I convinced myself she just didn't see me the way I saw her, have seen her for five years. But then last night happened, and I don't know what to think anymore.

"She's better now that you're home you know." His words slice through my thoughts.

"I'm worried about her. We all are. I don't think any of us realised just how badly she was hurting all this time. But when she's with you, she looks almost happy again. I used to think one day I'd make her happy like that."

I don't know how to reply, so instead I just sit in silence, dumbfounded by it all.

"You care about her a lot. Don't you?" I whisper.

Jaune returns a sad smile, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"She's my best friend." He replies. I know his words go deeper than what I could ever comprehend. The sadness beyond his eyes tells me there's more to his story that he's happy not to tell. So I leave it unquestioned, and sip my coffee in silence.

Ruby's P.O.V.

"Pleasseee can we go get sushi?" Blake whines.

"No," Yang teases, kissing her on the nose.

"But we're hungry!" Weiss cries.

"And I've already told you both that Ren's cooking tonight." Yang chuckles.

"And I hear its tuna," I chime.

Blake shoots upright with a grin and Weiss rolls her eyes.

After raiding almost every boutique in the area, per Yang's request, the sun was finally starting to set and we started the journey home through the concrete jungle.

"But the apartment's so far away!" Blake turns to me pleadingly, "Rubycanyoupleaseflymehome."

I laugh. "Well, we are still a fair walk away from home. You got your gauntlets Yang?"

"Always," she grins, flaunting her shiny yellow rocket launchers proudly.

"Alright, Blake, go hang onto your girlfriend. Weiss you're with me." Blake and Weiss squeal excitedly.

Yang cracks her neck competitively.

"Race you?" She challenges.

I grip onto Weiss with a cocky smile, the dim glow of the streetlights illuminating our faces.

"You're on."

We each catapult into the air, Yang holding Blake around the waist securely as they rocket through the sky while Weiss and I disappear into a swarm of red and white petals.

The air is crisp and cold, the autumn sky tinted orange by the setting sun. My team is screaming with joy around me, whooping like teenagers again. And I feel free. Happy. I've flown home like this a thousand times, but this time, it feels so much higher up here. There's nothing holding me down now. Just me and my team. These three girls who know me better than I know myself. These three girls who I would die for. This life of fear and war hasn't given me much. But right now, I'm surrounded by the one thing it did give me. Family.

We smash into the apartment, the four of us still raging at full speed and barely managing to fit through the door. A bundle of limbs, we collide painfully with Oscar and Jaune, laughing maniacally. Sprawled out on the floor of the lounge room, the two boys cough for breath while we struggle to catch ours through the laughter.

"Well," Jaune chokes, joining in now, "That's one way to make an entrance."

I'm the happiest I've been in years, laughing so hard my ribs ache.

Oscar sits up beside me, rubbing his bruised cheek, and extends his hand to me with a smile. I take it thankfully, groaning as I pull myself up. We hear a gasp behind us, and turn around to see Ren and Nora staring in amusement.

"We, can explain..."Yang giggles as Blake doubles over into her lap.

"Nope, no explanation needed," Nora grins, "I see nothing out of the ordinary here."

The eight of us laugh together, each and every one of us knowing that this happiness is real. It's such a simple thing, these moments with friends. But for us, this is what we'd spent our whole life dreaming of. We lost a lot to this war. Our friends, our childhoods. But in moments like these, I have hope that we can be truly happy with what remains.