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Everything went wrong so fast.
When Cinder found them she thought she had a chance, to make everything right for once, to even out her failings, she had the power to save everyone, but as the battle dragged on she soon realized that everything was slipping from her control, that her chances of winning were slimmer and slimmer as time went on.
Every second that passed made her heartbeat fasten, because she knew, oh she knew, that everything was seconds away from disaster.
She risked a quick glance at her teammates, her friends, her family , and felt so scared, because what if she does fail? The pressure just kept on building and building, because she couldn't afford to fail, too many people counted on her to make the right choice, but her plan failed the moment Cinder found them, so now she was scrambling around in the hopes of winning against all odds.
And then she hears The Witch shout and even inside another dimension her scream echoes with terrifying power, mocking them, calling her , as if knowing her worst fears, confirming to the world that, yes Ruby Rose failed to save it, just like her mother did before her, just like everyone else will.
She was running out of time, so now more than ever the clock in her mind ticks, mixing with The Witch’s call, producing a macabre symphony.
Ignoring the pit in her stomach, she kept on fighting, even when she’s left with no aura and her body screams at her to stop, even when countless people fall to their death, even when Penny dies at the hands of Jaune because of Cinder and it tears open her from inside, she ignores it all, because if she let it get to her then she wouldn’t have the strength to stand.
But moments away from Cinder’s grasp, amidst all the chaos, she hears another call, one that overpowers even the The Witch’s, it’s warm and it’s kind, and so she knows, because even in crisis, she was always kind. Penny in a last loving embrace gives her one last gift.
“I’m sorry,” that’s all you can say, repeating it again and again, as tears stream down your cheeks.
“Don’t be, I love you,” she replies. “It was worth it, all of it, I wouldn’t change a thing,” she continues, smiling.
And despite everything, in that moment, they looked happy, because even if it was over, even if they had regrets, they still had each other, they still laughed and cried together, it was over, but what they did have was theirs, it was worth cherishing. And so they laughed one last time together.
“Yes, yes it was,” Ruby willed herself to reply through the laughter. “I’ll always love you, Penny. Thank you,” she finishes with one last smile, through the tears, the pain, the love, the regret, she still finds the strength to smile, because the world can be harsh but it can also be kind , and it's the job of the ones that remain to make it so.
Ruby awakens once more, still seconds away from Cinder, but this time as her eyes open they shine not with hatred, not with fear, nor resignation, but with love .
The battlefield in seconds is engulfed with radiant light imbued with power and flames , as Ruby no longer clouded in her doubts and fears, lets out the power sealed within her, the power of the Silver-Eyed Warriors, along with the newly found power of the Winter Maiden.
Cinder recoils in pain, failing to resist, she burns, leaving nothing behind.
The fight was over, she could see Yang in the corner of her eye rushing to get to her. Ruby felt her legs buckle, without any energy left she fell on her knees, saved only by her sister supporting her.
“W–We did it, I–I… We need to get out of here as fast as possible,” panting Ruby looked at her sister.
“I can walk, I just need to g—” as Ruby tried to stand, she felt a sharp pain in her chest, she didn’t have the time to register it, because looking at Yang her face paled in recognition.
As Neo was in front of her.
Yang felt herself die, because she was holding Ruby, and she wasn’t moving, she wasn’t breathing .
And she didn’t believe it to be possible to feel what she was feeling right now, because she could take anything the world thrown at her, she could take her mother’s death, her father depression, raising a children when she wasn’t much older herself, finding out that her birth mother left her at birth, losing an arm and her team, traveling alone across a region. So she really thought she was strong enough, strong enough to protect her family, strong enough to help the world and maybe live to tell the story.
Gods, how wrong she was, because now? Now she felt powerless, she felt dread like she never felt in her life, because her baby sister wasn’t moving and she was scared, and despite herself she couldn’t move, she couldn’t even scream, she thought that she would scream, curse the Gods that damned them to fight a battle they never sign in for, shout about how unfair life was, plead, cry, sob, anything. But no, all she could do was watch her sister's limp body in her arms.
All that was coming from Yang was a silent wail of pain, because life finally broke her, because she could shoulder everything life thrown at her but this, never this.
She couldn’t fathom a life without Ruby in it.
Looking at her sister her mind replays moments of their life together, and she begs it not to, she implores it to have some mercy, because she can’t think about those memories being the only thing left of her.
She expects her mind to show her big moments of their life, moments where they’ve grown closer, times where they only had each other, but no, all she can recall in this instant are little things, like looking at Ruby as she trains under her wing, them looking at the night sky every week, getting up early to make Ruby’s breakfast, going to school to take her back home, asking about how the day was at school, all minor things in hindsight, but those moments… Are the ones that made them happy, and it’s then that it dawns on her.
That her baby is dead.
That she won’t be able to ask about her day anymore.
That she won’t come to her to ask for silly little things anymore.
That she’ll never see the stars again with her.
And so she cries, she cries like nothing else matters, because her world died now in her arms, because a part of her died and she can’t get it back.
She cries because she mourns what could have been.