"Talk"

'Thought'
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"Um, Ruby was it?"

Jay Walker poked his head into the room, looking anxious and worried as he watched the teenager, unable not to feel like he was intruding on someone's grief and lowest moment.

It wasn't helped by the fact that Ruby Rose was lying in her bed with a look that suggested she had given up on life.

However, if he knew one thing, it was than you should never let someone 'deal with their issues' alone, and Ruby having her sister with her was no excuse not to help.

"Yes... That's me..."

Though Ruby didn't notice, or cared at the moment, as she simply laid there, doing nothing, and acted as if there wasn't much reason to do anything.

"Are you by yourself? Where's Yang?"

He hoped he didn't mess up by asking that, the last thing he wanted was to get on either of the sisters' bad side.

"She's punching something... It helps her control her emotions..."

Ruby wanted to ignore the guy, going so far as to cover her head with the blanket, but she was too nice to say or do anything mean, even at her lowest point.

"And what about you?"

Jay was worried about what Yang Xiao Long (he still couldn't understand why their family names were different) was doing, but the last thing he wanted was to risk getting the blond angry against him, at least her sister was smaller and looked less scary.

"I'm just gonna cry myself to sleep again... Maybe yell if I feel angry..."

Though before Ruby could do just that, the ninja in training decided that it was time to push a little harder, as he suddenly entered the room fully, carrying a gaming setup in his arms

"... Would playing video games make you feel better?"

A few moments later, instead of the young Huntress crying herself to sleep, she instead found herself sitting up and holding a game controller in her hand, as she unenthusiastically watched Jay set the gaming stuff to the TV, all the while explaining what type of game they would be playing

"- And then you do this and that, for this thing and some stuff, while also fighting plus racing and some puzzles and even a dancing mode, then after that you win this winner things to beat the game, understand?"

Jay sat next to Rose as he finished explaining, and he wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into in the game.

"... Nope..." Ruby said numbly, causing Jay to shrug.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it, just press start and we can get started."

The silver-eyed girl just sighed, not really having the energy to say no, so she did what Jay said and pressed "start".

"Ok, this is a quick time event, don't let your guard down at this part!~"

"Mhm..."

10 minutes had passed since the game started, Jay seemed engrossed in it, mashing and pressing the controller buttons frantically, though as for Ruby, she was barely making an effort in the game, boredly moving the joystick while slowly pushing some of the buttons, it was evident that she wasn't really into it at the moment.

"Wow, that's so much loot, you can upgrade your character to be cooler!~"

"Hmm..."

30 minutes passed, Jay praised Ruby for all the loot she had just found, maybe even expressing a little jealousy as well for what she had, but Rose's disinterest remained clear on her face, yet she seemed to be paying more attention now, rather than just barely looking at what she was doing.

"Dang it, I always hate mazes, how did we even get separated, we were just together a second ago?!"

"Oh?"

1 hour went by, they seemed to be in some kind of maze puzzle level, and Jay was currently in the middle of getting frustrated at getting lost. So much so that he pulled his hair a bit. Though as for Ruby, she actually seemed to be more interested in what she was doing. So much so that she was sitting up more, narrowing her eyes to focus on the TV screen, and was actually putting in some real effort when messing with her gaming controller. It was a real improvement. Though the ninja in training was too busy getting lost in the game to notice

"I'm thinking of using these lightning nunchucks for my character, what do you think?

"Hey, how do I do this part, I wanna get the scythe weapon?"

Two hours passed, and it seemed that Jay and Ruby had started to actually talk to each other. No longer was Walker forced to make conversation, and no longer did simple responses come from Rose. Of course, she still spoke softly and maybe a little hesitantly, but she was actually asking questions about what to do next, instead of being told. Slowly, they started to work together in the game instead of just following one another.

"RUBY! RUBY! I'M LOW HP!"

"THAT'S OK, JUST KEEP BUFFING ME, I'M SO CLOSE IN DEFEATING THE BOSS!"

5 hours passed, at this point, even if Ruby still had a sad heart, it was very obvious that it was overshadowed by her excitement yet panic when she and Jay were dealing with the final boss together; their working together had turned into a full-on team effort as friends, helping and even sacrificing for each other; interest became full-on motivation and determination to defeat the boss of the game; the two expressed so much passion and emotion that if it was made of fire, they would have burned the whole room by now

"WE WON!~"

"YAAAAAAAY! I DID IT! I DID IT!~"

After so much metaphorical and literal blood, sweat, and tears, both Jay and Ruby managed to finally beat the final boss and win the entire game. They jumped up happily and started cheering, dancing, some more cheering, and then ended it with Rose suddenly hugging Walker, which startled and surprised him a bit

"Thank you, Jay..."

Though when Ruby looked up at him, with a small yet thankful gentle smile, the ninja in training couldn't help but smile back and return the hug to her

"Just doing my job as a gentleman~"

After a moment of becoming real friends, Jay let go of the silver eyes and patted her shoulder as if they were old buddies.

"Now then, I think Zane should be done cooking dinner, wanna join us? Not forcing you, I understand if you still need some space."

Once Jay made the offer, Ruby actually took a moment to think about it instead of immediately refusing it, and after careful consideration, she looked back at Walker with a very big innocent smile.

"Will there be any cookies?~"

Meanwhile, an hour earlier, more or less, a certain blonde who goes by the name of Yang Xiao Long was currently seen outside and away from her sister, no doubt wanting a moment alone so that she may properly process everything that has just happened... And she does this by punching a punching bag with all of her might, each time she punches the bag, a wave of emotions was both built and released deep within her heart, and from how she was currently feeling at the moment, it won't be stopping anytime soon.

'Dad...'

As Yang was punching the bag, the memories of her father popped into her mind.

'Uncle...'

Then Yang's uncle.

'Zwei...'

As well as Yang's dog.

'I will never see them again...'

Everyone that Yang could think of, her family, friends, even a certain club owner that she beat up once, the mere thought of never seeing them again just increases the speed and force of her punch, which was slowly starting the damage the bag.

"And my mom..."

Though, despite all that, a specific person that kept invading Yang's mind, something that caused her so much anguish and regret, was the idea of her mother.

'Raven...'

Yang's mother, also known as Raven Branwen.

'I NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO FIND YOU AND TELL YOU HOW I FELT AFTER YOU LEFT ME!'

The idea that Yang has forever lost the chance to talk to her mother, let alone find her, all of these overwhelming emotions could barely be controlled, as in a flash, her eyes turned red, hair sparked up a bit, and she was suddenly given enough strength to completely obliterate the bag with a single punch to it.

"Hey, are you o-"

Though after the destruction of a training tool, a certain ninja in black, known as Coleman Brookstone Blacksmith-Hence, or just Cole Hence for short, suddenly came by and walked up to the blonde, he was about to greet her and see if she was alright, only to be stopped when a fist came at his face and only stopped an inch away from hitting him.

"WOAH! Talk About A One In Punch!"

This no doubt startled Cole, as he fell onto his butt and looked at the blonde with wide eyes, who just suddenly realized what she just did, she shook her head and forced herself to calm down while keeping her emotions in check.

"... Sorry..."

Yang then leans down to Hence and offers a hand to him, to which he accepts as he was then pulled up by her.

"I get it, you're not exactly in the greatest mood to be in, especially in your, um, "Situation", to put it mildly."

Cole wasn't angry or upset for nearly getting his head knocked out of his shoulders, in fact, he was very understanding with Yang, and clearly wanted her to know that it was fine to be unhappy about all this.

"Was there something you needed, is it about my Sis?"

Yang, after helping the ninja up to his feet, started to clean up the mess she made, because it would be rude to leave it as it is, and she was trying to find ways to distract herself with anything that wasn't her memories that brought her nothing but depression, which Hence noticed and couldn't help but think on how he should handle this situation.

"... Look, I won't pretend to know how you feel, nor will I give you a speech on how to deal with your situation and move on and all that."

But after a moment of consideration, Cole only knew one way to get through and speak to someone with the blonde in front of her.

"Instead, I'm just gonna talk to you in a language that only we know."

And language that Cole was talking about involves him getting into a fighting stance, which definitely caught the girl's attention.

"... You wish to fight me?"

Yang, after disposing of the destroyed punching bag, looked at the ninja with a raised eyebrow, not really understanding his intentions.

"I like to call it a friendly exchange between acquaintances."

It was clear that Cole wasn't doing this in malice or hate, he genuinely wants to help the blonde, and thinks a fight would be a perfect way to do so.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not really in the mood."

Yang sighs and decides to decline the offer, as she then turns away to walk back inside, either to relax after her emotional exercises or maybe see how her sister was doing.

"You sure you're not just chicken?~"

However, before she could do any of that, Cole managed to say something that not only made her pause in her walk, but look back at him with those red eyes from earlier.

"I hope you're hungry for a knuckle sandwich..."

Yang fully faced back at Hence and cracked her knuckles, which did make him tense, but still wore a smirk that still challenged the one who now has fire blonde hair.

"Starving...~"

An hour later, more or less, we see Jay and Ruby in the dinner table room, both seemingly had gotten along with one another and just spoke with each other as if they've became great friends, though before they could continue to speak with one another, they both stopped and noticed when they heard laughter and saw Cole and Xiao Long walking in.

"C-Cole? What the heck happened to you?!"

But much to both Jay and Rose's shock and surprise, even though ninja and blonde were acting like good friends, one of said friends looked like they've been recently beaten up, not super badly, but definitely bruised up and needed the other support to walk in the room.

"Yang! What Did I Tell You About Beating Up Strangers!"

Ruby immediately knew who was responsible for Hence hurting self, and quickly got mad at her older sibling for what she had done.

"It's ok, I literally asked for this, hehe, ouch..."

Cole quickly tried to defend Xiao Long, though it was difficult to believe from how hurt he was.

"I might've stronger people in my life."

Yang, after putting the ninja on his seat, sat next to him and gave him a relaxed smile, her face no longer expressing frustration or depression.

"You're most definitely the only one who can stay standing after only one of my punches."

Yang gave a teasing punch to Hence, which did hurt his sore body a bit, but it ultimately proves the type of tough guy he really was.

"I aim to impress."

Cole has a dashing smile and acts like the strong hero ninja guy man he was.

"Thank you Cole, I mean it."

Whatever the type of "Conversation" that they both had not to long ago, it was clear that it was enough to make Yang feel much more better about herself, of course her sadness could never be truly remove from her heart, but it was clear that she was very thankful for what Hence has done for her, she could not be anymore grateful than she was now.

"Just doing what I can to make an acquaintance happy about their situation."

Cole gave the blonde a comforting smile, which she returned with her own smile and with a hand stretched out to him.

"Call me your friend."

The ninja chuckles at this, as he then grabs onto Yang's and gave a very firm shake, symbolizing that the two has been promoted from strangers into friends, something that even made Walker and Rose happy to see, however before anyone could say anything more, Zane Julien has entered the dinner room and bringing in multiple big plates and bowls of food, which immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Ohhhh Boy!~"

Jay did not hesitate to express his excitement and joy as reached for the food that was given to them.

"Zane You Did It Again!~"

Cole was already eating with the same amount of joy as his fellow ninja, which definitely surprised the sisters as they didn't expect them to react in such a way.

"Its... IT'S SO YUMMY!~"

However once they actually tried the food, they instantly understood the excitement, specifically Ruby as she wasted no time stuffing her mouth with as much of the food as possible.

"This definitely hits the spot after kicking Cole's butt~"

Yang also felt the same way, however as the older sibling, she tried to set an example, but being faster than her sister and eating more before Rose could, which she obviously saw and refused to be beaten.

"Ruby, Yang."

But before their childish rivalry could continue, Zane decided to walk up and speak with them, which did stop what they were doing so that they could look and listen to what he was about to say.

"I know what it is like to lose a home."

What Zane definitely surprised everyone, not only from the two sisters, but also from his fellow ninja brothers as well.

"Either from not being able to go back to it."

Rose and Xiao Long couldn't help but flinch when Zane said this.

"Or never having one in the first place."

But Zane still wanted to let them know that they weren't alone in feeling this way, which surprised them to hear this about himself and how he could relate.

"But I will try my best to make you both feel welcome and as if you never left your place of comfort."

In the end, whether they didn't or did share a similar past with one another, Zane would still do his best to make the sisters feel like they belong and could call this place home like he does, his words were enough to touch both of their hearts.

"You're the best Zane."

Ruby did not hesitate to hug him, very much appreciating what he just said and wanted to let him know how much his words meant to them.

"Yeah, thank you."

Yang couldn't help but feel so lucky to meet such wonderful people, and while both her and her sister still desired to go back where they belong, they could at least call this place their new home.

"Now then, who wants dessert?"

Once all was said and done, Zane immediately pulled out a couple pies for everyone, which made all of them excited to see, as Ruby and Yang continue to eat dinner and warm up to Zane, Cole and Jay, everyone talking with one another and getting to know each other, Sensei Wu, who was watching all of this from the sidelines, couldn't help but smile and be proud of his ninja students in what they were able to accomplish with their new guest.

'I guess every brother needs a sister, hm?...'
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I think Jay and Ruby/Yang would be very close with one another, not in a romantic way, but I can see them becoming great friends, maybe even BFF, as for Zane, I'm not sure, like BFF for sure, but I feel like it would be different, now as for Cole, he would be like another Yang to Ruby, but more chill with the puns, so maybe a brother figure maybe? I'm not sure, what do you guys think?

(Though if you are interested in shipping, my maybe ideas are Cole x Yang, obvious reasons, and then Lloyd x Ruby, though after aging him up)