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“Thanks for everything, guys. I love it all; it really means a lot to me.”
It was a happy pile of friends and family all stuffed into team RWBY’s dorm room, for Ruby’s sixteenth birthday party. It was made up of Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Qrow, with Ruby smack dab in the middle of the group. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth and relaxation of the mood, Zwei curled up in her arms.
Ruby didn’t think such a calm day could ever happen again… not after the past few months. The losses had been few in terms of numbers, but absolutely devastating. She willed herself not to think back on those horrible memories.
“Of course, little sis,” Yang replied, hugging her tightly. Ruby leaned into her sister’s embrace, small tears forming in her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m just really happy,” she said, her voice wavering. “You all have been here for me, all this time. And this has been one of the happiest days of my life, I think.” Ruby wiped her eyes quickly, and glanced around at everyone, trying to make sure her meaning was clear. “I’m so glad I met each and every one of you. …I love you all. Thank you.”
“For Pete’s sake Ruby, you don’t have to be so dramatic!” Weiss exclaimed, but it was obvious she didn’t really mean it. “It’s only natural; you’re our friend. And friends help each other.”
“She’s right,” Blake said, her visible cat ears twitching. “This is the least we… the least I, could do for you, and anyone else here.” Team JNPR nodded in agreement as well.
“Alright, Weiss is right, enough with the sappy stuff,” Qrow interrupted good-naturedly. “Tell us what your favorite gift is, eh?” He grinned, obviously waiting for Ruby to say his.
“Yes, I do love your upgrades and new paint on Crescent Rose, Uncle Qrow,” Ruby rolled her eyes and smirked, all traces of emotion gone now. “…But I can’t just pick a favorite. Like I said, everything is great.” She fondly snuggled into the scarf around her neck from Blake, and looked around at everything else happily. Some new combat skirts from Weiss (“You can never have too many of those, as we both know!”), a scrapbook from Yang filled with pictures of their happy school memories (“Velvet was so awesome to share all of these with us!”), some roses from Jaune (she had laughed at his gentlemanly attitude when he presented them to her) as well as a novel, and a… picture frame crudely made out of macaroni from Nora. Ruby had still loved it though, thinking just how “Nora” it was (“I meticulously worked on getting every piece in the right place!”). Finally, Ren had baked her some delicious cookies that were adorably shaped like roses, that they were all munching on after having the cake. All in all, everything was perfect.
…Except, Pyrrha hadn’t shown up. Ruby didn’t mind not receiving anything from her, of course not, but she was worried about her friend. The rest of team JNPR had apologized for her absence, saying she had something very important to do today, but that she wished Ruby a happy birthday and would give her her present personally later. Ruby was glad it sounded like she was okay, at least. …Pyrrha had for the most part recovered from her trauma, but she still occasionally had bad days, and nightmares. She had come a long way though, with the help of her friends.
“Well, I appreciate that,” Qrow replied back, feigning hurt. Ruby giggled, and the room lapsed into quiet again. After a moment, however, Yang spoke up.
“Actually, I almost forgot, we have one more present we’ve yet to give!” she exclaimed, slapping her palm with her fist in realization. Everyone murmured in assent, their tiny grins unmistakable.
“W-We do?” Ruby asked, confused. She watched as everyone around her stood up from the floor, so she proceeded to as well.
“Yep!” Yang said, putting her arm around Ruby’s shoulder. “But we’ve gotta go outside for this one.” She waggled her eyebrows teasingly, which only made Ruby even more confused.
“I’ve been waiting for thiiii-“ Jaune started in excitement, before Nora punched him in the side to interrupt him. “Don’t spoil the surprise!” she scolded him, as Jaune gave hurried replies of “okay, okay!” while rubbing his hip painfully.
“Guys, why are you all acting so suspicious?” Ruby laughed awkwardly. “…Should I be nervous?”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Ruby; you’ll love it~!” Yang sang, practically shoving Ruby out the door. Ruby shrugged, willing to believe her sister if anyone.
The birthday posse made their way through the hallways, Qrow playfully ruffling Ruby’s hair at one point. When they finally reached the front doors of the academy, Yang quickly turned around to face Ruby.
“Alright sis, I’m going to cover your eyes, okay?” she said excitedly. “Don’t want you to see the present until you’re right in front of it.”
“Are you serious, Yang?” Ruby asked, but she was grinning. “That’s so cliché.”
“Too bad, we’re doing it!”
Ruby sighed in defeat, and let Yang come around behind her and cover up her eyes. She heard someone else open the school doors with a groan.
“No trying to peek, okay?” Yang said firmly.
“I won’t, I won’t, don’t worry!” Ruby chuckled, mentally rolling her eyes. She felt Weiss and Blake grab her hands, and she let them lead her forward to where they wanted her to go.
Walking in the dark like this wasn’t exactly ideal, but she let them have their fun, believing that it would be worth the surprise. They turned quite a few corners, and just when she was about to ask if they were almost at their destination, she heard a few gasps from the people around her. It sounded like Jaune gave a relieved sigh, and Qrow did a satisfied “heh.”
“…A-Are we here?” Ruby asked uncertainly.
“Yep! You can open your eyes now!” Yang replied, removing her hands from Ruby’s face.
As she did, Ruby immediately heard a voice to her right. “Happy birthday, Ruby.”
“Pyrrha!” Ruby exclaimed, turning to see the girl sitting in one of the garden patio chairs.
“Sorry I missed your actual party,” Pyrrha apologized. “…I was just talking with someone here.” She turned to glance in the direction of the fountain at the end of the patio, and Ruby followed her gaze curiously.
What she saw nearly made her heart stop on the spot.
It was a girl, she looked to be a bit older than them, but only because of how she was dressed. She had on a rather fancy-looking green party dress, and her bright orange hair went past her back. In contrast to her mature appearance, however, one strand of her hair stuck up oddly as a cowlick in an almost adorable way. At the sound of the voices, she turned and met Ruby’s eyes.
Despite her different appearance, Ruby immediately knew who she was. No matter how different she looked, as a matter of fact, Ruby thought she would always be able to tell.
“…P-Penny…?”
“Salutations, Ruby!” She grinned a happy smile, her nose crinkling up and her eyes closing. “Or, I guess I should say happy birthday, since I was told it’s a very special day fo-woah!”
Ruby had crossed the distance between them in an instant, practically leaping onto Penny and knocking her to the ground.
“PENNY!!! O-oh my god, Penny….. It’s you!” she sobbed, hugging the robot girl tighter than she had ever hugged anyone before. Before Penny could reply, Ruby realized what she had done, and quickly rose up. “Oh n-no, I’m so sorry, are you okay?! I didn’t mean to knock you down, are you hurt?! I’m so-“
Her frantic cries were interrupted by Penny’s laughter, a beautiful sound that Ruby never thought she would ever hear again. “I’m fine, I’m okay, Ruby!” She made eye contact with Ruby, and smiled softly. “…I am okay.”
Ruby put her hands to her mouth, tears still pouring from her eyes. “…Oh… Oh Penny!” she wailed, hugging her again as soon as Penny had sat up. She held Ruby back, and Ruby leaned into her friend’s embrace, sobbing her heart out.
“I’m so sorry, Ruby,” Penny said after a moment, the sadness apparent in her voice. “I’m so sorry for making you have to see that. I’m so… ashamed. I’ve suffered defeats before, but never one quite like that, I’ll admit.” From far away, Ruby thought she heard Pyrrha let out a little moan.
“No! It’s not your fault; not yours or Pyrrha’s!” Ruby said, her voice cracking as she shook her head frantically. “It’s over now… none of it matters anymore… I’m just so thankful you’re okay… I-I had given up hope, had decided to just accept… that you were gone.”
She pulled away from Penny slowly, wiping her eyes, and turned to glance at all her friends. Jaune had sat down next to Pyrrha, but otherwise everyone was standing in their same positions.
“Did you all… have a hand in this…?”
“Well, obviously we couldn’t do it all on our own, but we first asked Ironwood and Penny’s creator if it was possible,” Yang began, smiling. “We weren’t aware, but they had actually gone back and retrieved… her, from the stadium.”
Ruby’s eyes widened. “R-Really?!”
Blake nodded. “Yes, though they weren’t originally planning to rebuild her in the exact same way. …But we persuaded them.”
“…And Penny’s father even let us help out a bit with the process, although I was extremely skeptical about some of us doing so,” Weiss added, peering at Jaune and Nora in particular, who chuckled nervously.
“…Even you, Weiss?” Ruby asked in an almost child-like voice, tears forming in her eyes again. When Weiss nodded, Ruby slowly turned to Pyrrha, and her voice almost became impossible to hear. “…Even you… Pyrrha?”
“Definitely, Ruby,” Pyrrha said softly, her own eyes shining. “This is my gift to you… though it’s really from all of us.”
“Aw, it’s no big deal, really,” Yang said, embarrassed. “…Plus, Penny was our friend too, you know. It only felt natural.”
“It makes me happy to know how much you all care about me… I’m so happy!” Penny exclaimed, and to Ruby’s surprise, she began to cry a little.
“L-Look Ruby, I’m better than ever now!” she laughed, little tears rolling down her face. “I can cry now… it’s amazing!”
“It is amazing, Penny,” Ruby replied softly, wiping the other girl’s tears. Still crying herself, she turned back to the group.
“It is a big deal. Thank you… thank you SO much, everybody. This is… the best present I ever could have asked for. I… I’m just speechless, really,” she whispered, hardly believing that the person in front of her was real.
Ruby stood up, holding Penny’s hand gently, and lead her towards the others. She hugged Pyrrha tightly first, and soon they were all enveloped in a giant group hug, Qrow grumbling but still joining in.
After Ruby had exhausted her tears and had said thank you more times than she could count, Penny spoke up.
“Hey Ruby… there’s still a part of me that’s missing. And it can’t be replaced… only you have it.”
Ruby cocked her head curiously. “Huh? Something… I have…?” Then it hit her.
She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the pink bow. There hadn’t been enough time or manpower to take Penny out of the stadium… back then, but Ruby had wanted to snag at least something if she was never going to see her friend again. She had kept it with her all this time for good luck, and it had survived every trial she had been through.
“This… is what you meant, right?” she whispered, rubbing her finger over the ribbon fondly. Penny grinned, and turned around. Without a word, Ruby tied it into Penny’s hair again. Her longer hairstyle made her look older, but with the bow, it made her look much more like the Penny she knew. …Not that she needed to look like she did before, though. She just… didn’t feel complete without it.
“There,” Ruby said, smiling at Penny as she turned back around. Unable to stop herself, she hugged her again for what felt like the hundredth time. “…I’m so glad you’re here again, Penny,” she whispered. “I missed you so much.”
Penny laughed, hugging her as well.
“I’m glad to be back, Ruby my friend!”