But You Are Not Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. If I did I would have been that guy who gave Ruby a rival named Sapphire.

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Ruby's POV

Ozpin walks over to me and places his hand on my shoulder.

"He is not dead or in critical condition, so do not worry yourself." I feel myself relax from his words and I hear the others let out a breath of relief. "What I want to know is if you are alright Miss Rose."

"Ptss, I'm fine. Just a broken arm, that's all." I spin in a circle to show him I am fine. "See all good!" My smile fades when the sad look does not leave his face.

"I mean how do you feel. Have you been having strange memories or feel as if you have injuries where there are none?" I tilt my head at his question. Does Professor Ozpin think I have a concussion?

"I don't think I understand you, professor. I'm fine really." Yang then steps up next to me.

"She should be fine. I mean both docs came in and gave her the "okay". Well, Dr. Pipit wanted to do surgery just so he could see exactly what was broken." I shudder a bit at the memory. Weiss then comes up and stands to my other side.

"Is something wrong Professor? Should we be concerned about Ruby?" Professor Ozpin looks me over again and sighs.

"I will let (Y/N) explain that to you. I will ask you, however, to not push the topic beyond what he is comfortable with. Will you do that please?" The look in his eyes tells me just how serious he is. I nod and he turns to walk out the door. "Come with me then."

We make our way down the hallway in silence with the only sound coming from the occasional tap of Ozpin's cane on the ground. Ozpin slows down and stops in front of a door with a number four on a plaque next to the door's frame.

"He is right in there." Ozpin then steps aside. I look at my teammates.

"Could I do this alone? I think it might be a little overwhelming if we all go in at once."

"Fine." Came from Weiss. Blake nodded.

"Aww look at my little sister being the mature one in the situation!" She tries to ruffle my hair while I try to stop her. Once all that is settled I walk into the dark room and close the door behind me. The only sound in the room is soft breathing coming from the bed. (Y/N) must be sleeping. The only light in the room comes from the window that is next to (Y/N)'s bed. He looks quite peaceful all things considered. The sheet covers from his feet all the way to his chest exposing the bandages around his chest. Looking further up I see that he is indeed sleeping. His eyes are closed and his mouth is slightly open. Every now and again he lets out a quiet snore. He's so cute like that! What am I thinking? Get it together Ruby. You can stare at him later.... Okay, that sounded worse than what I meant. Regaining focus I see that his arm has fallen from the bed. He must have shifted while I was thinking about staring at him- Oh stop it, Ruby! I should just go before I start shouting at myself out loud. But I should put his arm back before I go. Just as I about to grab hold of his arm the (F/C) spark from earlier jumps from his hand to mine. When the (F/C) spark touches my arm a sudden explosion of pain erupts in my chest. Screaming out I fall back and land on the floor while clutching my chest with my good arm. It feels like someone just stabbed me in the heart. As I sit there clutching my chest and crying I feel two arms wrap around my body and pull me close. My head rests on their chest and I clutch tightly to them. We just stay there for an unknown amount of time me crying into this person's chest and them gently rubbing my head or back to try and soothe me. Then suddenly I feel the safety of this person's embrace loosen and them moving away from me. Before they can get too far away I latch back onto them and pull them back to me. Looking up from their chest I see that it's (Y/N) who was helping me. He looks down at me with those (E/C) eyes full of concern and I can't help but smile a little knowing that he cares about me. I tear my eyes away from him and look around the room to see that everyone from the hall is now present. Weiss and Blake are currently behind (Y/N) with their arms on his shoulder. From the looks of it, they are the reason he was letting me go. Turning my head I also see Yang trying to pull me away from (Y/N) as well. Her eyes are red so she might not listen to how (Y/N) was trying to help me. Over behind Yang's right shoulder is Professor Ozpin trying to defuse the situation. I feel Yang tug at me again and I tighten my grip on (Y/N). When she lets go I finally realize that they are talking. Well more like shouting for Yang.

"If YOU don't let my sister go I will make you wish that robot killed you!" She then pulls her left arm back and readies a bullet.

"Yang stop it!" Everyone but Yang looks at me after that as I let go of (Y/N). "He was trying to help me." Yang then turns to me with her eyes still red.

"What are you talking about? We leave you alone with him for a few minutes and then you start screaming bloody murder! Then when we come rushing in you are on the floor with (Y/N) clinging to you! What exactly am I to assume then?!"

"Miss Xiao Long please refrain from shouting so much. People are already worried given the current screams." Ozpin then steps between all of us and Yang. She stands there and for a little bit I think my older sister is about to hit the headmaster but she finally relents and attempts to calm down.

"Fine!" Yang says as Ember Celica fold back into their bracelet forms and then crosses her arms with a huff.

"Thank you." Ozpin then turns towards (Y/N). "Now Mr. (L/N) would you kindly explain what exactly happened." (Y/N) gets up from the floor and sits on the bed.

"I r-really don't know what was h-happening. I w-was j-just woken up by Ruby screaming. I thought I could h-help so I..." He trails off leaving the sentence unfinished.

"I see." Professor Ozpin then turns to me. "Then I will have to ask you, Miss Rose, to fill in the blanks for use please." I try to remember what exactly happened but I keep focusing on the pain that was in my chest.

"Um, (Y/N)'s arm was hanging off the bed and I thought I would put his arm back onto the bed. When I did then I felt a horrible pain in my chest. Next thing I know I was laying on the ground and (Y/N) was trying to help me." Professor Ozpin stood there for a little bit musing over my words.

"Was there anything else? Was there something that happened when you grabbed his arm?"

"Um maybe. I think something happened."

"A spark maybe?"

"Yeah, I think that was it." Ozpin nods his head.

"I see. Well, then Weiss, Blake, and Yang if you would mind joining me in the hallway for a minute." Before anyone can protest against him Ozpin gives a look that very plainly tells my team that he wasn't making a request. Weiss and Blake both leave without protest but give me a worried look. Yang, however, stands her ground and glares at Ozpin. For the second time within the hour, I fear that my sister is going to try and assault our headmaster. Yang then lets out a sigh and leans to look around Ozpin and looks at me with concern.

"Are you okay if I leave?" I nod and she sighs again in frustration. "Fine." Yang then turns and joins our teammates in the hallway. Ozpin then looks back at us.

"(Y/N) the choice is yours but please listen to me. You are not alone." Then Ozpin leaves (Y/N) and I in the room. I have no idea what Ozpin meant by that but looking over at (Y/N) he seems to understand the intent of Ozpin's words. For a few minutes, we sit there in awkward silence. Working up the courage I finally talk to him.

"Wh-what did the professor mean?" (Y/N) sits there so still and quiet that I almost think he didn't even hear me. He then takes a deep breath before speaking.

"Y-you may w-want to take a seat."

"What? Why?"

"D-do you w-want an explanation?" Vigorously I nod my head. "Then you m-may want t-to t-take a seat. It's a l-long story." Grabbing one of the chairs I scoot it over to his bedside. "Okay, s-so I guess I should start w-with my s-semblance."

"What?"

"J-just let m-me explain. S-so remember when that robot was attacking and I jumped in and fought it with your scythe? Or how I was able to mimic Y-yang while fighting it too?" Thinking back I do remember how strange that was. He was able to use Crescent Rose to it's fullest when I made her specifically for me. Not even Uncle Qrow is able to use Crescent Rose like that. Thinking back even farther I remember that before he started using Crescent Rose he was blocking the robot's attacks the same way Yang would.

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, d-do you remember what I d-did before fighting it?" I think back to before the fight I remember that Yang was to my... right? Left? Whichever it was she was to my side when (Y/N) jumped in between us and touched our shoulders. Wait...

"That (F/C) spark appeared then too! But why did it not hurt me then?" (Y/N) looked ashamed after I said that.

"Yes, that was the s-same spark. That w-was my semblance and the r-reason it didn't h-hurt was because that time I was actively trying t-to not hurt either of you."

"What?"

"I c-call my semblance linking. B-basically I am able to link" he puts air quotes around the word link "up with another person and we are able to pretty m-much work in synch. That is why I was able to mimic your m-moves and Yang's m-moves."

"So you can make us into a hivemind?!" (Y/N) actually chuckled a little at that.

"N-no it's not like that. W-well it's not like that under normal circumstances. Usually, I j-just get to mimic them really well. I c-can't use their s-semblance or if they are physically stronger I don't gain their strength." I let that set in for a little bit but he continues. "H-however if I strengthen the link further I can start to get some other things. L-like if they are mad I will start to get upset or if they get hurt I will feel their p-pain." As he says the word pain he rubs his arm... The same arm that I have broken. Oh.

"So you linked to me knowing that your arm would break?!" He shakes his hands and head from side to side.

"No no no. M-my arm isn't broken." I relax at those words. "I just feel like it's b-broken." I straighten up at that.

"Then why did you link with me?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"I just n-needed to fight off the robot and you were one of the c-closest people around. Besides, you're worth it." I blush at his words. We sit there in silence for a little bit again before continuing.

"You said that you were actively trying to not hurt me when we linked. Does it normally hurt the other person?" His face darkens.

"N-no, the process is usually not painful. R-remember when I said I can get memories and feelings with linking? Well, the other p-person can also get my memories and... pain." He gets a guilty and pained look on his face.

"What were you remembering?" He sits there for a little bit before answering.

"D-do you know why I left my old school or why I do not have a t-team?"

"No why?"

"I left m-my old school because... because my team died while on a mission."

"Oh..."

"W-we were assigned a mission to go hunt some Grimm that had been acting weird around a town. They had been running around the town instead of attacking it as if they were trying to get away from something. When w-we arrived we made our way into the forest where the Grimm were coming from. We came upon a clearing and s-soon learned what the Grimm were running from." He stops for a little bit.

"What were the Grimm running from? Was it a huntsman?"

"N-no a monster. It didn't even g-give us a chance before stabbing my friend Auburn in the chest. He d-died when the thing pulled its arm out ripping Auburn's..." He rubs his chest before continuing. "We all j-jumped into action. Well, I tried to b-but all I could do was get Auburn's body out of the way. My p-partner Jay and Rudi tried to take the thing out but it was just too strong. Then the Grimm showed up and everything w-went to hell. The two had to split up to f-fight the Grimm and that monstrous thing because I was... indisposed at the t-time. Jay j-jumped to my protection and fought off the Grimm." I can't even process all of that because he continues. "Then while trying to protect m-me an Ursa bit Jay's arm off of his body. R-rudi got distracted by Jay's scream and... died." He's starting to violently shake. "I don't know what h-happened next. I leaped up from the ground and s-started to fight that thing. That's where I g-got these." He places his fingers on the scars on his face. "I fought for as l-long as I could but Jay was still dying. I used the Grimm to d-distract the abomination and carried Jay away. I ran as f-far as I could until eventually, I collapsed with him in my arms. He laid there in my arms as I d-desperately tried to stop the bleeding." Tears started to well in his eyes. "He g-gave me this" He grabs a necklace that I didn't notice earlier from off of the nightstand and starts to hold it in both of his hands "before he died in m-my arms. I didn't know how l-long I stayed there but eventually, some people from the local town found us and brought me b-back." He looks away from me. Sitting there I try to focus and understand everything he just told me.

"So you asked to transfer somewhere else and asked to not be placed on a new team?" Without looking at me (Y/N) nods his head. He's still shaking. Wait (Y/N) said that he can feel the pain of those he links with and that was his old team so he probably linked with them so that they could work in sync. Oh. Oh Oum, no.

"Don't tell me you were linked with them when they-" I stop when he nods his head. I don't know what to say to comfort him. How do you comfort someone who not only watched his friends die but felt it too? He lets his head turn forward and I see tears falling down his face. Trying not to cry myself I wrap my arm around him and pull him into a hug. He rests his head on my shoulder and continues to cry. He doesn't sob but I can tell how much this is hurting him. We sit there for a while in this reverse of events that happened just a short time ago. He starts to pull away from and hug and I resist the urge to pull him back in. He puts the necklace around his neck and wipes a couple of tears away.

"S-sorry I d-didn't mean to get s-sappy on you." I shake my head.

"No don't be. Don't ever be."

"B-but that's why I s-said that I tried to not hurt you when w-we linked and why when you linked with m-me earlier you g-got hurt or at l-least felt like you g-got hurt. Y-you were feeling Auburn's pain though from what y-you said you d-didn't f-feel his death." My eyes widen at that statement. "That's also why I d-do some of the things that I d-do.

"What does that mean?"

"S-since the l-links were severed s-so quickly I retained some of my old teammates' h-habits. A-auburn used a whip and t-talked with a st-st-stutter and R-rudi used two p-pistols and really liked to eat steak." Well, that explains some of his behavior. "The only one that I didn't keep their habits was Jay. Ha lucky me." His sarcasm doesn't elude me. He looks down stays quiet.

"So that's why you keep your distance from everyone. You don't want to accidentally hurt them?"

"That and I j-just d-don't want to feel that pain again." He starts to shake again but not nearly as bad as before. "F-for months I felt so hollow and I c-couldn't do anything. N-not that I didn't w-want to. No, I l-literally couldn't do anything. Even n-now I still f-feel their deaths in my nightmares." He looks down at his hands. I put my hand in his and he looks a little shocked.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know how you feel. I've lost my mother so I know that but..." I trail off for a little bit. "But you never should have kept all that to yourself. You should have talked to someone." He smiles sheepishly.

"I j-just didn't want to b-bother anyone." I shake my head.

"No, you wouldn't have bothered anyone with that. At least you wouldn't have bothered anyone with a heart. That's all too much for any one person to bear alone."

"I guess s-so." I make him look at me.

"I know so." He blushes and I realize that I moved to where our faces are inches apart. Quickly I pull away from him. "Okay just from now on when you feel like that again or have one of those nightmares talk to someone alright?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"I d-do not really feel comfortable with anyone to talk about th-that."

"But you told me all this. You could come to me if you want." He thinks a little.

"Okay. If th-that will make you happy." I smile and pull him into another hug.

"It will." He hesitates before hugging me back. I move so that I'm sitting on the bed with him. Now we are just sitting there in a hug. After a few minutes pass, he stops hugging me and I pull away with a questioning look.

"It's g-getting late and we have probably kept your team and the headmaster waiting for a while." No, I don't want to go. He just opened up to me and now he's cutting me off.

"I can stay with you if you want." My heart falls when he shakes his head.

"No, I'm f-fine. Thank y-you though. I think it b-best if we call it quits for the night." Wait he means just for the night?

"So we can talk more later? And you don't want to stop studying together?" He nods his head while talking.

"Yeah, l-later is good. I j-just want to sleep some and b-be alone for a little bit. That's all really." He tries to give me a reassuring smile. With great reluctance, I get off the bed and head to the door. Before I can leave. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Excitedly I run over to him and kiss him on the cheek and then run out the door.

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What the what?!? How does this story have over 1k views? That's awesome! I want to thank you guys and gals for reading this it means a whole lot to me. Just know that I am truly grateful. Anyways I should stop being mushy. Have a great day/evening depending on when/where you are reading this. 

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