Ruby Rose | Team RWBY (eyesofsilver) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-04-02 17:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ruby rose, yang xiao long |
Who: Ruby and Yang
What: Yang has something she needs to tell Ruby
When: 2 April 2018, afternoon
Where: Random park
Warnings: FEELS
Status: Log | Complete
Ruby had spent the better part of the previous week locked in her work room. Part of it had dealt with the last Dream she’d had and her talk with Uncle Qrow before he and Yang had headed to Nevada, but most of it was just because she’d had no actual obligations to worry about for the week since it was Spring Break and there were projects that had been left half done because she’d been dealing with school and then finals and she wanted to finish them up while she had the time.
But Spring Break was over, Yang was back (there had been weird issues with Peeps but… Orange County), and so after her class it was getting ice cream with her sister for a belated birthday thing since Yang had been in Nevada on the actual day. Of course, she had no idea what she was going to be told. No. Ruby was just content to spend the afternoon with her sister, ice cream in hand (that she had managed to convince Yang to let her pay for since birthday thing instead of how Yang initially offered) and to the nearby park.
Ruby wasn’t oblivious though. Even when people thought they were keeping things from her, she could still tell something was wrong. And it was different, new, so undoubtedly tied to the trip to find Raven.
“Is everything okay?”
Yang supposed she couldn’t keep it to herself forever, even if she did want to try to protect Ruby. It was a strong urge, but Ruby was an adult now, as scary as that was. And more importantly, Ruby deserved to know. Yang knew she’d want to know. Summer was their mother. Way more than Raven ever was.
She stretched, taking a lick of her ice cream as she tried to figure out how to say it. “Not really. There was a whole lot last week that happened.”
Yang spotted a bench and walked towards it. There was an enclosed jungle gym nearby which was tempting. She and Blake had had a lot of deep conversations in that thing.
“So we found Raven. I spent a couple of days with her. She wasn’t what I expected, but she kind of was, too.” Yang sank onto the bench. “She’s honestly kind of a bitch.”
Well, if Yang wanted to go to the enclosed jungle gym, Ruby would follow. She had no preference for where they ate their ice cream. Just as she had no preference on where they talked. All she knew was that there was another thing weighing on her sister and if she could get her to talk, that would be good. Of course, she also had no idea what was in store but it wouldn’t scare her away from listening.
Yang saying that it had to do with the previous week while she’d been on the road with Qrow wasn’t surprising, Ruby had surmised at least that much. But for now, she was content with eating her ice cream and giving Yang the space to talk.
And bench it was. So sitting down, Ruby turned her attention to her sister.
“I’m sorry.” After so long of wanting to know why Raven left, well… There was no way that could have been easy. Especially with the way Yang was wording things, “Did you get any of the answers you were hoping for?”
“Some answers, mostly questions. She never really answered why she left to begin with. Only that she was happy to see me find her. As if she’d been expecting me.”
Yang furrowed her brow, “You’d think she’d have made that clear at some point. Like send a birthday card or something. I don’t think she was surprised at my arm, though.”
Maybe Raven had been keeping tabs. Somehow that made it all worse.
“She didn’t even want to hug me,” Yang added. As if somehow in the moment that was one of the worst crimes imaginable. “And… Ruby, there’s something you need to know.”
Ruby knew things about Raven from the Dreams, of course. They had gotten some of that when they were all together and after. But this wasn’t the Dreams, so it was hard to say what exactly Raven was meaning when she said that.
“I don’t know….” Because it was Ruby, it would take a lot for her to say anything negative about a person. She certainly didn’t like Raven from what she knew but not to the point she’d say things about her, especially when she didn’t know her.
“Well I’ll hug you.” As if that solved everything. It didn’t and she knew that. But still, just because Raven didn’t want to hug Yang, didn’t answer why she left but acted as if it were natural that Yang would show up…. As if she were trying to manipulate things… that was the opposite of Ruby. Though the fact that Yang said there was something she needed to know did confuse her. After all, it wasn’t like there was anything in the trip that remotely tied to her. “What do you mean?”
“A Ruby hug makes everything feel better,” Yang assured her, and it wasn’t even an exaggeration. Then again, she’d been craving hugs in general lately, so that probably helped with that feeling.
Rubbing her palm with one thumb, Yang nimbly pulled out her phone without losing any ice cream. “..Before I show you this, I need you to promise not to do or say anything until I explain.”
She was pretty sure taking off to Nevada might be one of Ruby’s first instincts. But it wasn’t as simple as she’d like it to be. Honestly, seeing Summer and not being recognized had hurt more than Raven’s rejection.
And with that, Ruby hugged Yang - somehow managing not to spill either of their ice creams and rested her head on her shoulder briefly. At least until Yang went to pull out her phone which was her cue to let go and sit back, going back to her ice cream. At least, that was the plan given what Yang was saying was definitely kind of making Ruby worry. A lot.
“Um….. okay. I promise not to do or say anything until you explain….”
Nothing was ever simple, that much was clear. Still, Ruby was going to listen to what her sister had to say and see whatever it was that she was going to be shown. There was still nothing that was connecting on what it might be, why Yang would think that something that happened in Nevada would have a serious impact on her. But only time would tell.
“... We found mom,” Yang said, turning her phone so Ruby could see one of the pictures she’d snapped of Summer Rose. “She was.. She was with Raven, but she didn’t remember anything.” Yang’s voice was shakey, but she tried to keep herself calm for Ruby’s sake, “Not Qrow, or me, or you. Raven tried to keep me away from her but I snuck out to talk to her anyway. There was an accident, when she was coming home to us when we were kids, and she just…lost her memory.”
Well, Yang got her wish. Ruby didn’t say anything. Mostly because words had seemed to run dry and there was both nothing and thoughts running rampant all at once, so all she could do was stare at the photos. It didn’t seem real. It was something that happened in movies or books but not real life. They had a grave for her! Yes, it had been empty but it was still there.
While there had always been unresolved issues for Ruby in regards to Summer’s death, things she never had the words for, things that the temple from the year before brought up… she had still accepted the death. But now…. Now her mom was alive but didn’t remember anything?
The ice cream she’d been holding had dropped the second she saw the first picture and Ruby didn’t even seem to register that fact. It was like the sun had gone dark and the air was oppressive and everything was spinning.
“I wanted to protect you,” Yang whispered, putting her arm around Ruby and kissing her forehead. “But I couldn’t keep this from you. She’s our mom. And I couldn’t even bring her home.”
Somewhere in the fog of everything that was going on in her mind, Ruby heard what Yang was saying and could only nod numbly. She knew that she should say something, anything but there was nothing. Ruby couldn’t find the words. Any words really. She didn’t even know how to feel about this. She just knew that her heart hurt.
Tossing her own ice cream over to the trash bin, Yang flipped to the next picture she had. She’d gotten both when Summer wasn’t looking, but this one was closer, and better quality. Without asking, she sent it to Ruby, then wrapped both her arms around her. Ruby didn’t need to say anything. Yang had had an entire car drive home and a couple nights to sleep on it. And she’d always remembered Summer better, even if it had started to fade. But now she had the memories freshened, especially the sound of Summer’s voice.
“We gotta think positive. She might remember some day. Maybe seeing me and our uncle might… jar something in her head.”
Was she breathing? Had she breathed? Probably if only because she hadn’t fallen over unconscious from a lack of oxygen. She was vaguely aware of Yang hugging her and it was appreciated if only because it was some form of grounding that was sorely needed in that moment but everything was still…. Ruby didn’t know.
“Yeah….”
Well it was something, even if her voice still felt distant. Positive thinking tended to be Ruby’s specialty. Yet after all this time, could she think that maybe one day she would remember? Or would it be crushing when each day passed and she didn’t? It was too much to think about and she could feel the headache coming back. The one that had been there ever since the Grimm invasion. The one that happened whenever she was feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening. It hadn’t been as prevalent in the past couple of months but it was back with a vengeance now.
“Can we go home now? My head hurts.”
Pulling her head back, Yang searched Ruby’s face and her eyes and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll order us some take-out. We’ll… do something distracting. Dad… Uncle Qrow is gonna tell him.”
Yang didn’t think she had it in her to do this again, anyway. She’d gone searching for her birth mom and found the mom she considered her real one instead. And she knew what Summer meant to Ruby on top of it all. “Ruby, I’m sorry I couldn’t bring her home.”
But she was alive, and not dead. Wasn’t that better? It had to be.
“I might just sleep, but okay.” She was getting words out, that was the important thing. She wasn’t completely catatonic. But Uncle Qrow telling their dad definitely made more sense. So instead she just nodded tiredly.
“I know but it wasn’t your job to. She doesn’t remember, it is what it is. You just wanted answers about Raven, no one could have….”
She didn’t blame Yang, of course she didn’t. She just knew that her head really hurt and she wanted to burrow in the dark to make it go away. And it was good that Summer was alive. There was just that worry about constant disappointment for each day she didn’t remember.
“Yeah, of course.” Yang had to fight the urge to pick Ruby up and carry her, like she might have done ten years ago. But she did put on her big-sister-mom-substitute pants on, even if she knew the only thing that might make all this better was time. Depression, she thought, ran in the family.
Sometimes that’s all there was. Time. It was too raw for Ruby since she had only just learned about it and while she was usually a lot better at seeming like things didn’t get to her, better at hiding these feelings… sometimes she wasn’t. Especially right now. Perhaps in a few hours she would be, but not right now. So instead, it was just heading home to try and sleep off the migraine though experience said that it wouldn’t help much.
All Yang could do was get Ruby home, see if she wanted her to stay with her while she slept. If not, she needed to see if there were any doctors who knew dreams. And psychiatrists. The latter mostly for herself, since she didn’t want to see the same one Blake was. And for Ruby, well the migraines worried her. At least it gave Yang something to do rather than dwell on things herself.