(Ruby: Quick, make a shout out! A/N: Who?! Who!? Ruby: To MichaelStotts2 Of course! A/N: Why? Ruby: Because he's always there to help you and give good feedback about the neat books you're writing! A/N: Oh shit you're right! Ruby: Language! A/N: Oh Crap, you're right! Yeah! I wanted to make a Special shoutout to my boi MichaelStotts2 . He's always been there to help me with feedback when I needed it. He gave me positives and negatives that helped me improve my story to how it is now. So I can dare say that I wouldn't be continuing this story the way I am now, without him. Ruby: Hey! And listen readers, don't hate on people who don't write on Wattpad! A/N: Ruby's right! Even if people don't write, let them enjoy reading and giving feedback. Don't hate them! There is nothing wrong with only being here to read. Ruby: Now without further Ado...! A/N: Let's get this shi- Crap, started!)

Team RNJR+_ and Qrow, after getting to Mistral, started living at a new, three story house. It was a really nice place actually. It had plenty of breathing room.

The front entrance of the house led into the ground floor living room, at the center of which was a rectangular coffee table surrounded by two couches and a chair. In the center of the house was a small, multi-story enclosed garden with glass walls. When facing this glass room from the front door of the house, the kitchen was to the right, and the dining area was behind the glass room. On the right side of the living room, there was a staircase leading up and another leading down.

The second floor of the house had a lounge very similar to the first-floor living room at the top of the stairs, but the furniture consisted of a square coffee table surrounded by two couches and two chairs. A hallway wrapped around the garden windows with bedrooms on the outside. There was a large balcony overlooking the patio.

Downstairs was an indoor training room and weapons storage. Walking out from the indoor training room was a patio and backyard lined with trees overlooking the valley below. The backyard was large enough to act as an outside sparring ring.

The only downside... was that the bedrooms only had 2 Queen-sized beds in each of them, and there weren't that many bedrooms. So, Jaune was stuck with Qrow, Ren was stuck with Nora, and Y/N was stuck with Ruby. Things at the new house were not bad, Mistral was a beautiful city. Everyone, except for Ruby, was down on the first floor, talking in the living room. Ruby was taking a shower upstairs in the bathroom that came with her and Y/N's bedroom. Y/N's ring sat on the nightstand next to his bed.

"I'm telling you... that Grimm really screwed with my head." Y/N explained to the others. He was talking about the bad dream he had due to the Mooncrawler he killed.

"Yeah, I bet. I've heard those things can give multiple nightmares at once to several people. And the nightmares are really bad."

"Things?! So you're telling me... that there are more of them?!" Y/N asked, terrified that he'd have to fight one again.

"Yes, but they're normally found north of Vacuo. That doesn't explain how one got up here though." Qrow thought to himself.

"Do you remember the dream you had?" Jaune asked the boy. Y/N closed his eyes, trying to remember. Until the entire dream came back into his head in perfect view.

"Yeah... I do... unfortunately.." He looked down.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you mind telling us about it? Maybe that will help you get over it." Jaune suggested to Y/N. A long pause came as Y/N closed his eyes silently, thinking and questioning if he should tell them about it.

"If you don't want to tell us, it's alright. We won't force you. We just want to help." Nora said. Y/N sighed.

"I was strapped in a metal chair in Salem's domain. It was dark and dimly lit with candles. The room was like a church hall for demons. I was more confused than scared at the time, until I looked to my right. I saw dismembered corpses... then I realized that they were yours." Y/N turned to Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Their eyes widened, in shock.

"Blood was everywhere, your heads were next to each other."

"Where was I in this dream?" Qrow asked.

"You abandoned everyone and went your own way."

"Shit..."

"Soon, bitch 1 and bitch 2 walked into the room. More candles were lit in the back, revealing Ruby all tied up against the wall. Cinder went over and picked up Jaune's sword, walking with Salem to Ruby. Cinder slapped her awake. She was terrified when she saw her friends, all slaughtered... Then she noticed me... She yelled for help as I tried to say I'd get her out of there... then.. the worse happened...." Everyone went silent.

"....."

"...."

"....."

"Salem stabbed her in the eye with a dagger and pulled it out. Blood went everywhere. That painful shriek... I... I can never get it out of my head." Y/N held his temples trying to get rid of the false memory.

"Y/N..." Ren looked at the boy.

"No.. it gets worse. I couldn't do anything about it! I couldn't even move! Afterwards, Cinder went and stabbed her in the stomach... another loud scream... then her wrist was next..... last... her heart.. I personally saw the life, and color fade from her only eye. After that all ended... everything faded to black as everything disappeared except for me and her. I held her lifeless body in my hands and cried. Then, I woke up on the stretcher." Y/N finished the flashback of the nightmare he had. Everyone had horrified looks on their faces.

"Holy crap... have you told Ruby about this?" Jaune asked him.

"No... and I plan on doing it, but I don't know when."

"Qrow, you said that the nightmares that Grimm produces to sleeping people are like, real, right?" Nora asked the older man.

"There isn't much knowledge on the specific Grimm. All I know is that the people who experience the nightmares are in a conscious state and if they take any form of damage in the dreams, it happens to them in real life. It is also said that the nightmare shows your deepest fears." Qrow explained, drinking from his flask afterwards. Y/N hung his head down.

"See... I don't fear death anymore.... I've already died twice and came close a third time due to that scorpion bastard. The thing is... the thing that I fear most... is losing you all again.." Y/N lifted his head, looking at them with teary eyes.

"Y/N..."

"Like I said back at the camp.... ever since I came here and met you guys, I've had the time of my life. I felt like I was making an impact on something by being new. My family back at home...." Y/N realized something he hasn't told them yet.

"What about them, you said your planet was gone, right?" Nora asked him. Y/N then told them about how he died the first time. He talked about his normal life on Earth, and how it all changed.

"I'm.. so sorry."

"No.. I should be the one apologizing. The only people I've told that too were Ruby, Ozpin, and Ironwood."  Everyone hung their heads.

"Y'know... I kinda missed being called the Alien of the school." Y/N raised his head, chuckling, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Everyone smiled.

"I miss those times... I really do. Things were simple.." Ren said.

"Yeah.. all of our friends were together, saving the world..."

"But things.. they've only gotten worse..."

"That May be true, but I think things will get better soon." Y/N smiled. Everyone looked at him.

"How so?"

"Well.. even though we lost some of our friends, that doesn't mean they're gone forever. If I can come back, I believe they can too. Jaune, I wouldn't be surprised to see Pyrrha come back soon." Y/N put his hand on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune started to tear up.

"Thanks... thanks so much." He smiled.

"Alright, that's enough chit chat. I'm going to make some tea, then head upstairs to unwind a bit, maybe take a nap." Y/N stood up and stretched a bit before heading over to the kitchen. He made some green tea and served it to everyone in ceramic teacups. He then went upstairs to go to his room.

"So guys... what's the plan for to—"

"Shhhh." Qrow pointed upstairs.

"What?"

Y/N went up to the door to the bedroom. He heard Ruby, humming to herself happily. Y/N decided to walk on in. He gently opened the door....

Ruby stood there with a towel wrapped around her, her hair still wet and messy. She was looking through the dresser to find clothes. Her head suddenly took a sharp turn towards the boy. Her eyes widened as her face went totally red. Y/N only looked at her eyes.

"I... uh.. h-hey, Ruby! How's it... how's it goin?" Y/N tried to play it cool. His eyes shifted to the ceiling. His face was also red.

"Y-Y-Y/N!?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She screamed, scared that Y/N saw her. She used her semblance and ran back into the bathroom as fast as she could, slamming the door behind her. Y/N screamed at the same time and shut the bedroom door in front of him. He sighed, angry only at himself... until he heard the faint sound of Qrow's laughter.

Suddenly, Jaune, Nora, and Ren came running up.

"What happened?!" Jaune asked.

"Is everything okay?!" Ren followed up.

"Everything is fine!" Y/N tried to calm them down.

"What happened?"

"Well... I was about to come in my room and lie down for a bit, and I didn't realize Ruby just finished taking a shower... " Qrow's laughter got louder.

"YEAH YEAH! VERY FUNNY! Asshole." Y/N yelled to him. His laughter just kept going as the sounds of banging joined in. Qrow was banging his hand against the coffee table, laughing his ass off.

"So you're telling me that you walked in on Ruby changing?"

"Fortunately, yet unfortunately."

"Did you know she was in there before?"

"No. No one told me. I honestly thought she was up here just chilling out."

"I see. Well, good luck!" Ren and everyone else went back downstairs.

"Hey!! Ugh..." Y/N sat against the wall in the hallway, next to the door. After a while, the door opened. Ruby had some casual clothes on. Y/N looked up at her.

"Ruby!" She turned around to see Y/N on the ground next to the door.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in there taking a shower. Nobody told me."

"You still could have knocked!" Ruby said, crossing her arms.

"I know... I know..."

"And I swear I told everyone downstairs about me taking a shower. I knew you were in the bathroom when I told them, did they not warn you?"

"Nope. No one told me a thing." The sound of Qrow's laughter came again. Ruby held the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, closing her eyes.

"Just, remember to knock, okay?" Ruby smiled, holding her hand down to Y/N.

"Alright." He did the same, taking her hand.

"Wanna come down? Ren is making dinner."

"Sure, I'll even help." Y/N held Ruby's hand as he went down the stairs with her. Qrow sat on the couch with the most innocent of faces as he whistled to himself. Y/N went into the kitchen with Ren, ignoring the funny dispute between Qrow and Ruby.

"Hey Ren, can I help you with dinner?" The boy asked him.

"Sure, mind cutting the vegetables?" He asked him.

"Alright." Y/N smiled, taking a knife and cutting up some tomatoes. Soon, dinner was ready and it was placed on the table. The entire situation that came earlier was gone out of the mind and everything was sound.

"Okay, guys! Dinner's ready, Ren and I.... mostly Ren made Pasta!"

"Not true, I only did the noodles. Y/N did the sauce."

"Hehe.. I made it like my mother did. I hope you guys enjoy." Y/N winked as everyone took a seat at the dining room table. Qrow had his Usual to drink. Ren had tea. Nora and Jaune had cola. And of course, Ruby and Y/N had milk. Y/N stood up, holding his glass.

"Now... before we start eating... I'd like to make a toast to a couple things." Everyone looked up at Y/N.

"I... I'd like to make a toast to a successful return to Remnant... To good health... And To friendship." Y/N looked down at Ruby, who smiled back at him cheerfully. He then looked at everyone as they smiled back as well. He raised his glass up. Everybody raised their glasses and they all said "cheers" and drank. Y/N sat back down.

"Dig in everyone." The boy smiled as everyone started eating. Qrow was the first to take a bite.

"Hey... this isn't half bad, kid." Qrow cracked a smirk.

"Yeah, this is really good, Y/N." Ruby was surprised by her boyfriend's ability to cook. Nora's plate was already cleaned.

"Jeez, Ren. When we cook together, we have the power to make even Gordon Ramsay cry in tears for how good our food is."

"Ehhhh.... who's Gordon Ramsay?" Ren asked, unaware of who Y/N was talking about.

"He was a master chef from Earth. He was basically like a really mean guy on TV, but a really nice guy in person. He was REALLY good at cooking and critiquing food." Y/N laughed.

"I don't think we're that good."

"Ahh, don't settle yourself short, Ren."

"Thanks..." He smiled a bit and continued to eat. Everyone kept eating until the entire pot of pasta was gone, due mostly to Nora's infinite appetite.

"That was amazing. Thanks Y/N, Ren." Jaune said cheerfully patting his stomach. Qrow burped loudly and fell backwards in the chair. Everyone laughed. Y/N got up and started collecting dishes.

"Oh! I'll help you." Ruby insisted as she helped Y/N get the dishes. Ruby washed them on the left as Y/N dried them on the right.

As they were cleaning the dishes, Y/N looked at Ruby. He randomly blinked once and suddenly, everything around him looked different. It looked like a normal house on Earth. Ruby was wearing modern, casual clothing. He looked backwards to see everyone in the living room with the same look. It was like... He was living with her and those were his friends.. He smiled a bit. He then looked back at Ruby, who was holding out another plate for him to dry. She noticed that he was kind of... out of it.

"Are.. you alright?" She asked him. He quickly closed his eyes and shook his head, and upon opening them again, everything came back to normal.

"Yeah... I'm fine.. sorry." Y/N took the plate and dried it off quickly. It took them a bit to wash everything else.

"Hey Ruby..."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Wanna go out and walk around the city together?" Y/N asked her. She smiled happily.

"Sure, I'd love to."

"You know, I heard that there was a good cookie place nearby." He chuckled.

"Guy's we are gonna head out for a bit, we'll be back soon." Ruby told everyone, walking to the door with Y/N.

"Stay safe." Qrow waved them off. They both went out and hit up the town.

"Well... I got a bit of a surprise for you..." Y/N said.

"Huh? For me? Why?" She asked.

"Well.. you'll see." He giggled. They walked around, Y/N mostly leading her throughout the town, until he stopped at a store. The sign read: 'Cookies by the Dozen'.

"So this is the place?" She asked, looking around it.

"Yep." Y/N opened the door and held it open for Ruby. She walked in only for her to stop at the first step inside. The man, the myth, the legend, Ignis stood there in front of the counter with a smile on his face.

"I-Ignis?!" Ruby was surprised to see him in Mistral. She ran and hugged him, tearing up a bit.

"Glad to see you're alright, Miss Rose." He hugged back.

"But.. how?"

"When I came back from dying, I ended up in Vale and I saw a sign in the front of his abandoned store it said he moved to mistral to be safe. Iwai should be around here too as a matter of fact." Y/N shrugged with a smile. Ignis went back to the kitchen and started making several batches of cookies.

"Really??"

"Mhm! And.. I kinda wanted to take you here because.. I missed your birthday.. and I feel bad that I wasn't able to get you anything, so... I thought maybe a couple bags of cookies would do." Y/N kicked the ground. Ruby's eyes lit up. She ran up and hugged Y/N immediately.

"Thanks so much! You being back is the best birthday present I could ask for.." She looked up at him.

"I'm glad, Ruby. Hey Ignis! Mind if we check on Iwai while the cookies are baking?" Y/N yelled so Ignis could hear him from the kitchen.

"Certainly!!" He yelled back.

"Come on! Let's go!" Y/N grabbed Ruby's hand as they both ran out of the door and down the walkways until they found Iwai's new shop. Y/N walked in with Ruby to find the dusty man lounging in his normal pose.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Y/N said, alerting Iwai. He looked up and much to his surprise, there stood Y/N and Ruby in the flesh. He only smirked and chuckled a bit.

"Well, Well, Well. Look who decided to show up after a year. I thought you two died on me."

"....."

"...."

"Kid, did you actually end up dying?"

"Uhh..... yeah."

"How am I supposed to believe that?"

"It's true.. he actually died."

"Kid, you never cease to surprise me."

"Well, that's what I'm good at, I guess." Y/N said as Ruby giggled.

"So why're you here? Need something?"

"Nah, just wanted to stop by and see you. We have a house not too far from here that we stay at for now." Ruby said.

"Alright... where's your sword Y/N? Did you leave it at your house?" Iwai asked, looking around Y/N.

"Heheh... ahhhhh about that... the sword is kinda gone...."

"Gone?"

"But! I got cool other weapons." Y/N then summoned some of the weapons that he's gained throughout the time's he's had the ring.

"Interesting..."

"Look, I'll show you them more in detail another time, we gotta head back to the bakery, we got some cookies waiting for 'Miss Rose'."

"Yeah.. I won't keep you waiting. It's good to see that you guys are good. Make sure you don't die again."

"I won't.. see ya later Iwai."

"Bye Iwai!!"

"Bye kids." He waved them off as they walked out. They then ran back to Ignis's shop to collect the cookies.

"We're back!" Ruby called to Ignis.

"And just in time, too! Just got them Into the bags." Ignis said with a smile. There were two large sized bags sitting on the counter.

"Those bags are kinda big." Ruby said.

"24 cookies in each."

"Whoa..... I didn't ask for this much. I only asked for 24."

"Well... I made it double for... keeping my favorite customer safe."

"Y-Yeah...." Y/N looked down a bit, ashamed...

Ruby grabbed a bag as did Y/N.

"Thanks Ignis."

"It's not problem at all. Now I have to close up shop, so you best be on your way."

"Alrighty." Ruby and Y/N left the shop after saying goodbye to the baker. He watched as they left, having a smile on his face.

"Good to see that they've grown a little, but I can't help but see the kids that they were before." He said to himself as he started to close up the shop and head home.

"Hey Ruby, follow me."

"I've been practically following you around town, where to now?" She asked jokingly.

"Just... trust me." He smiled at her. They walked for a bit and found an old wooden bench sitting close to the edge of a small cliff. The sun was perfectly aligned with it. Ruby gasped.

"It's so pretty!" She said, awing at the sunset. Y/N sat on the left side of the bench, sitting his bag of cookies on the ground, next to him. He patted on the seat next to him, signaling Ruby to sit with him. She sat down and felt the breeze go through her hair. She opened her cookies and started eating them happily.

"Man, I missed these so much!"

"Yeah, I bet."

"Do you not want one?"

"Nope. I'm still hung on the pasta."

"More for me!" She giggled, eating more. Y/N slid his arm past Ruby and pulled her close to him. Her head nuzzling in his neck.

"Y-Y/N..."

"Remember... the day we started being a couple? We were just like this in front of the flower bed." Y/N smiled to himself.

"Y-yeah... I do... it was a lot like this, wasn't it?"

"I'm enjoying it as much as I did back then."

"Back... then...." Ruby's head turned downwards.

"I know.... I know... but..."

"I remember what you said to me.. back at Beacon.. Keep moving forward." Ruby lifted her head back up a bit to see the sunset again. Hearing that brought a wider grin to his face.

"I love you... you know that?"

"H-huh?" Her face was flushed.

"I love you, Ruby. Nothing will ever change that."

"Y-Y/N." Ruby lifted her head to match his eyes. They leaned in slowly, closing their eyes before connecting their lips. They kissed for several seconds before breaking apart.

"I love you too, Y/N." She grinned, tilting her head a bit.

"Wanna head back?"

"No.... I.. wanna stay like this till the sun goes all the way down." Ruby said, nuzzling back into his neck. He chuckled and held her close.

"Alright, Ruby."

They sat there for a good hour, until the sun set beyond the horizon. Ruby ended up passing out in his arms, snoring softly. He giggled quietly and picked her up, carrying her back to the house. He walked into the door, being careful to not hit Ruby on the way in. Everyone else was asleep, while Qrow sat in the living room, drinking as he usually was. He saw Y/N carry Ruby in. He lifted a brow as to why. Y/N held a finger to his lips and Qrow nodded, smiling a bit. Y/N then went upstairs and put Ruby in her bed, pulling the covers over her body. He kissed her forehead before going to bed himself. It felt like life was back to the way it should be... but a couple pieces were missing... it's their plan to find the pieces again and put them back in their place.

That started tomorrow.

(A/N: Hey guys. I must say that this chapter was pretty sweet if you ask me, I'd say it's more of a prologue to volume 5 if anything. I really enjoyed making it, honestly I did. It made me realize, after everything Y/N and Everyone has been through, life can still be like it was before shit went down.. and.. I don't know, writing this chapter made me feel inner peace I guess. It made me feel like there was no fighting... no conflict, well, besides what happened in the beginning, but I won't count it! Thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you guys next time! Ruby: A/N, you're so sweet. A/N: awe jeez.... )