(Kept you waiting, huh? IM FINALLY BACK WITH THE FIRST CHAPTER OF VOLUME 3!!! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL EXCITED. Now, without further ado, LETS GET GOIN!)

(I don't know how long the time skip is between volume 2 and 3, so I'm just going to assume it's a month after the events of the end of volume 2.)

It's been around a month or so since the fight in the city against the giant horde of the creatures of Grimm. Classes went on as they were scheduled. All was well.

It was in the evening. The wind was blowing, the sun was getting closer to the horizon, and it was reasonably warm. Ruby stood at the edge of a cliff beyond a forest. Rose petals flew from behind her while her hood was on as Y/N watched from the trees curiously, wondering why she went off by herself. Before she came here, she had a sad expression in the dorm before talking to Yang, and leaving. Taking off her hood, Y/N saw that she had a sad look on her face. She looked down to see some kind of cement block at the edge while the boy questioned in his head about what it was.

"Hey, Mom. Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been... Well, Things have been pretty busy..." Y/N frowned, realizing that Ruby was talking to her late Mother. The Cement block must be the gravestone.

"OH! Dad's here too. He's, you know... Dad... He's still teaching at Signal, but he told me that he's going to be out on some missions soon. I think he misses adventuring with you... I miss you too. Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet, so that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. I keep her in line... That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter. You can tell she's really learned a lot from Dad. So are Weiss, Blake, Y/N. They're my teammates. Together, we form team RWBY.... +_. Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends. I made one great friend in particular... Y/N... He uh.. He's not from this world. It's crazy, I know, but he's probably one of the greatest friends I have. He looks out for me and helps me out whenever I need it. I am starting to feel kinda weird around him though, I don't know what that's all about, but, either way. Oh! we also stopped some bad guys too. I guess it's just like they say, like Mother like Daughter." There was a long pause of silence before Y/N decided to come out of the trees to see Ruby. He wanted to greet her, but he ended up stepping on a twig, alarming the girl. She turned around, surprised to see him there.

"Y/N!! What are you doing here?! How long have you been here?" She asked. She was curious how he knew of this spot and trailed her here. He came closer to her, standing by her side.

"I was worried. You looked sad when you talked to Yang and left. I asked her where you were going so I could see if you were alright. She gave me directions, and now I'm here." Y/N explained.

"I'm just... Talking to Mom..."

"Ruby, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Yeah."

"If you ever need someone to grieve with, I'm here for you. I'll grieve with you. If you need a shoulder to cry on, use mine." Y/N smiled at her. The sun was just behind her head, as she looked into Y/N's eyes. Her eyes started to fill with tears and her lips started to quiver. Y/N hugged Ruby at that instant, knowing what was about to happen. She started sobbing heavily, hugging him back, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I MISS HER SO MUCH!!!!!!" She cried into his left shoulder as he rubbed her back to try and calm her.

"I know... I know how you feel... It's okay... Let it all out. I'll stay right here until you feel better." He said in a soothing tone. She hugged him tighter and cried even harder. It lasted several minutes. Then finally, she calmed down a bit. She slowly let go of Y/N, looking in his eyes with tear streaks down her blushing cheeks. He pulled out a clean napkin that he kept with him from lunch earlier that day.

"Here, stand still." He used the napkin to wipe away the tears on her red-tinted cheeks and around her eyes. He put the napkin back in his pocket.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah... Thanks... C-Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Come sit with me." Ruby walked over to the edge of the cliff, sitting down, dangling her legs back and forth. Y/N joined her by sitting next to her, doing the same thing.

"What's up?"

"You... Are my closest friend, Y/N. You've always been there for me when I needed it. You've saved my butt, twice even. It's just, I can't even explain how good of a friend you are to me. It means so much to me, to have a friend like you in my life, Y/N. I'm very thankful for that." She smiled brightly, looking downwards into the abyss of trees from the cliff's edge.

"Ruby, I can say those exact same words about you as well. You mean a lot to me, being my first friend here on Remnant. You're funny, smart, sweet, and amazing at fighting, not to mention, cute as a button." He said that without even thinking about it. Ruby's head quickly turned to look at Y/N's. Her face had a red tint to it.

"Wha-What? You, you think I'm cute?" She turned to look down in embarrassment. Y/N even blushed hearing her repeat his words, realizing he said that. He had confidence on his side.

"Yeah, I do."

"Th-Thanks.. No one has ever called me cute before. Well, besides my family..."

There was a long pause between the two as they both stared downwards into the sea of trees. A singular bark of a small doggo alarmed the two, making them look backwards. There sat Zwei and an older looking man. He seemed to be in his 30's maybe.

"Oh! Look's like Dad's back. Wanna come with us? He's dropping me off at Beacon. It'll save you the walk."

"I'd be glad too. I'd also like to meet him. This is the hip Dad, right?" Ruby chuckled at his remark.

"Yep. That's definitely him." She said as Y/N chuckled along with her. They both got up and walked over to Taiyang.

"Hey, Dad. I was just talking to Mom, before the tournament, and to my surprise, Y/N showed up." Everyone started walking to a parked bullhead with a pilot inside, waiting. They all went inside and the bullhead went up.

"So, Y/N, was it?" Taiyang looked at the young boy.

"Yes sir. Y/N L/N is my name."

"Nice to meet you, Name's Taiyang. I'm Ruby's Father. Ruby came from the island of Patch to go to Beacon. Where did you come from?" Ruby and Y/N looked at each other.

"This is going to be a long story..." Y/N said. He proceeded to explain his story to Ruby's Father. It took several minutes. After it was over, Taiyang looked at Ruby, baffled.

"Is this guy for real? I don't believe it."

"Believe it or not, Dad, he's not making this up." Ruby put her hand on her Dad's shoulder. A couple minutes of silence became short as they arrived at Amity Colosseum. They got out of the bullhead as Taiyang gave Ruby one last hug, before going off back into the bullhead, heading to a mission.

"Okay, I gotta go. I have the first fight. Wish me luck, Y/N!" She yelled, running inside. Y/N smiled as he watched her. She seemed so happy to be here. That on its own made him happy.

(First chapter I suppose. I feel like this one was heartwarming in every way. I hope you all enjoy. See you next time!)