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Ruby peered into her teacup, watching the amber liquid swirl around and around. She smiled at it, enjoying the way the light gave it so many different hues and shades. It was nice, she though, to be able to just sit in peace like this with her friends sometimes.
“What is it, Ruby?” asked Pyrrha, gently, from across the table.
“Hm?” Ruby started, pulling her gaze away from her tea to look at her.
“You were smiling. And you have been awfully quiet all day.” Pyrrha looked at her with a mixture of humor and concern.
“Oh no! Haha, it’s nothing. Just thinking is all,” Ruby laughed, waving her hand erratically through the air. Weiss, sitting just to the right of her, instinctively ducked, used to her leader’s antics.
“Watch it!” Weiss complained, but there was no real malice behind it anymore. Just fond annoyance. Ruby didn’t even bother apologizing. It wasn’t really necessary.
“Are you alright, though, Ruby? We are friends, aren’t we? Friends can tell each other things, isn’t that right?” Penny piped up from the other side, her voice with only a slight lilt that hinted at her robotic origins.
“Yeah, of course we are! I promise, though, I’m all right. It’s just really nice to sit with all of you for a while. I feel like it’s been a while since we got to hang out, you know?” Ruby smiled at everyone, and just like that, any tension disappeared.
The open windows surrounding the group filtered in the light of the setting sun, giving the moment an even more ethereal quality. It really did feel like, in that moment, they were just kids hanging out, instead of warriors with the weight of the world on their shoulders. There was no team RWBY or JNPR, or Atlas or Vale, or robots or faunus or humans or anything else that might divide them. They were just teenagers enjoying each other’s company.
Ruby realized that she had zoned out again when she felt a sugar cube hit her nose. Looking around, she caught the eye of Yang, who had taken her distraction as an opportunity to use her spoon to fling items at her sister. Ruby stuck her tongue out at her, which Yang all too happily returned. This, of course, caused the two to break down into fits of giggles.
And that was all it took for a return of the Great Food Fight. Their arsenal may have been more meager go around, with only tea, cream, and sugar to fight with, but their energy and ferocity was a thousand times more explosive and infectious. Even Penny, who had never had the pleasure of such a battle, found herself flinging food with the best of them, laughing and creating a mess.
It was then that Ruby saw it, though. She watched as a stray cube went flying towards Pyrrha. It seemed to hang in the air for a split second right before it went crashing into her chest. Pyrrha fell, the cube somehow knocking her off her feet. Something within Ruby went cold, and a cold realization swept through her. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as her entire world came to a standstill.
“No,” Ruby whispered to herself.
Everyone stopped their fight, looking over to Ruby in concern.
“Ruby?” came Blake, her eyes scrunched up, looking Ruby over for any injuries. She reached out to touch her, but was shocked as Ruby jerked away.
“No!” Ruby cried, louder this time.
“Ruby, what’s wrong?” asked Yang, her concern for her sister showing all over her face.
“Everything!” Ruby cried. She suddenly broke down into tears. “Everything-all of this- is wrong.”
“What do you mean?” asked Pyrrha, “Did we go too far with that fight? I am so sorry. I thought you were having fun.”
“No,” Ruby sobbed, “this isn’t right because it’s not real. It can’t be real.”
“What?” Pyrrha visibly paled and looked at Ruby in shock. Ruby looked up at her.
“It can’t be real. You can’t be real.”
“What do you mean, Ruby?” Now it was Penny asking, also concerned. Ruby turned on her, something akin to madness in her eyes.
“And you can’t be either! Neither of you! You’re both supposed to be dead!” Ruby shrieked.
And just like that, the illusion shattered. In the blink of an eye, the once full and light room became empty and dark. It was just Ruby, all alone as the sun fell completely behind the horizon.
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When Ruby awoke in the morning, she didn’t tell Jaune, Ren, or Nora about what she had dreamed about. They didn’t even need to ask if she was all right, even though she clearly wasn’t. They already knew. None of them had been all right in a very long time.