YES I FINALLY MANAGED TO FINISH THIS!

Oh god this took positively forever, but I'm happy to finally finish this little side-project!

Please enjoy!

A broken wasteland lay underneath a blood red sky, and set all was silent below. The area was pockmarked by craters and swathes in the landscape as though a large blade had come down and slashed the very ground itself, the jagged edges of rock formations jutting out of the landscape had been mostly pulverized in the wild and titanic battle between the two forces, one fighting for the survival of humanity and the other for its destruction. In the end, after a long and hard-fought battle, it finally came down to its final moments.

"Look at you…" The pale witch cooed mockingly as she stood over the fallen reaper, Crescent Rose lay at one side, its large, curved blade shattered into pieces with the rest of its body twisted and broken beyond recognition. It's wielder lay on her stomach, crawling her way forward with teeth bared and gnashing in frustration and fury as the witch followed her slowly as the reaper left a bloody trail on the ground.

"Still struggling all this while…" Salem smirked mockingly as Ruby continued her futile struggle to reach her broken weapon, "and still so powerless." Ruby did her best to ignore the witch as she strolled easily and gently, as if she were out on a simply morning walk as opposed to getting ready to finish off another one of humanity's protectors.

Ruby could feel the metallic taste of blood well up in her mouth.

"So much like your mother…" And then she laughed a hollow, mocking laugh, "Oh wait, if I remember correctly, Summer Rose died even more pathetically." Ruby forced the words out of her head as she tried to continue pulling herself forward; her body was practically numb with pain.

"Shall I tell you how she died? Hmm…" Salem continued strolling along as Ruby made one last grab for her weapon, "Well she died pitifully, begging for me to let her go, desperate to see the family that she would be leaving behind, her poor daughters…that foolish blonde man…that useless bird and his sister…" Ruby gripped the handle of Crescent Rose as Salem put her foot down on it.

"Futile, pathetic, worthless, she lived for nothing and died for nothing…and you can join her in oblivion." Her last words were hissed out with brutal malevolence as she seized Ruby by her collar and held her up so that they were face to face.

"What does it feel like I wonder…?" A ghastly grin crossed Salem's face as she reared one arm back, "Knowing that you have failed everyone, and doomed humanity to extinction?" A loud cackle sounded from her as Ruby grabbed desperately at the arm holding her up in the air, "Well…you may rest easy now little rose, for soon nothing of this world will remain… but my laughter."

"No…" Ruby gasped out as Salem's eyes went wide with anticipation as she snapped her hand forward and straight for Ruby's throat.

To her shock, the reaper snatched her wrist with one of her own hands as it was barely inches away from her throat, holding it off to one side as she glared right back at Salem who in turn narrowed her eyes a little. Using her strength, she slowly pressed her hand forward against Ruby's steadily weakening hold.

"There there little reaper," She sneered, "No need to struggle, it will all be over soon."

Mustering all of her strength, Ruby gave one last cry as she drew deep from within herself to summon up every last ounce of power she could find, much to the shock of the witch she pulled Salem's hand away and thrust her other hand forward to grip the witch's face tightly.

"Gah! What're you doing?!" She shrieked and clawed at the hand desperately as Ruby's eyes glowed brightly, welling all of her available power for one last strike. She screamed, Salem screamed, Ruby's eyes lit up in one last flare of might and power, the glow expanding and covering her entire body, spreading onto the witch as it did so and engulfing both of them in a tremendous light that lit up the area like the sun itself had come into being, purging away the eerie, glowing landscape.

Ruby pressed on as she felt herself slip away, every ounce of her being going into burning the witch away permanently from existence amid horrified screaming, burning away the last obstacle preventing humanity from being truly free of the dark. The reaper felt her entire world go bright white as she finally overwhelmed Salem and the witch disintegrated into nothing before her very eyes.

And then everything went dark.

She felt a familiar feeling again, one that she had felt many times before; she was falling in the seemingly endless, all-encompassing darkness again. She knew however where she would end up, that she would eventually come to a slow stop right where he would be, at that place where they could see each other, touch each other and speak to each other for as long as they could. Very soon, she felt herself slow down until she felt herself lie flat on the ground, warm sunlight bathed her face.

She slowly opened her eyes and sat up straight.

It was a familiar scene to her.

The endless meadow of green grass and bright flowers, a calm wind sweeping over the flat and empty plain with a gentle whisper, and in the distance, she could just make out through squinted eyes a tall hill on which stood a large tree where a figure could be seen sitting with its knees to its chest in the dark shade. The figure seemed to rock back and forth at times as if it were just trying to distract itself while it waited for something to happen.

She glanced down and held her hands out in front of her, Crescent Rose was no longer there as it usually was, and just as well that the weapon that she had so long considered not just a part of her, but an extension of her very being had slipped through her grasp and disappeared from her side for where she was going, she would not ever be needing such a thing ever again.

A smile graced Ruby's face as she took one step forward and began walking towards the hill with the figure on it, never once looking back over her shoulder, focusing all of her attention in front of her as she strode with confidence, her red cloak wafting gently in the wind as she made her way towards the hill in the distance. She stepped over the soft grass, her mind thinking of the journey that had led her all the way up to this one moment, the horrors of war, the feeling of death around every corner, the knowledge that failure spelt doom for the human race. All of that seemed to fall away with every step she took; every burden seemed to get lighter and lighter as she walked forward and onwards to the end of the dream.

She imagined being able to touch him once again; her head nestled under his own, arms wrapped around each other tightly, both holding onto the other as tightly as though their un-lives depended on it. The words that they would say to each other after such a long time spent apart in different lives…

And then it just became too much for Ruby to bear any longer.

She ran, ran and ran one footstep after the other, running onwards and through the dream which she had had an uncountable number of times since he had passed away in her arms. She had to see him again no matter what, that dream of the blonde knight sitting on a lonely hill in the shade of a tall tree high above a meadow of green grass filled with flowers with a cool, gentle breeze blowing all over it. Oh how many times had she chased that dream she could not remember, never once being able to reach the summit of the hill, always waking up the moment that she placed one foot on its slope. She felt light, she felt like she would never run out of breath as she ran ever closer to the hill on which the figure sat quietly all by himself.

As she neared the foot of the hill, something made her slow, made her come slowly to a halt at the very foot of the hill. She looked up, looking at the figure that sat quietly in the shade of the tall tree; she could see him more clearly now that she was closer, make out some of the distinctive features that she remembered so clearly about him.

His messy blonde hair

That black hoodie of his

The blue jeans

He did not wear the armour that he used to wear though, gone was the chest-plate and gauntlet and greaves that he used to wear. He seemed to notice her, and rose to his feet.

A smile crept onto her face as she began slowly walking up the hill, feeling just as light as she did before but with a renewed sense of belonging and finality. Her heart thumped in her chest as she walked towards him. She wondered if he still felt for her after all this time, wondered if all of her chasing of that endless dream of him was worth it, hoped in her heart as she ascended to the top of the hill that they could still be together once again.

She reached the top of the hill, standing just a short distance away from him such that she could fully take in all of his features now.

Those blue eyes that she had often found herself lost in

The smile that warmed her heart and encouraged her onward

The face that she had fallen in love with

And of course…

"Hey crater face," Jaune grinned as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Hey vomit boy," Ruby did not even notice the tears running down her own face as she returned the smile, and as Jaune took one step forward towards her, she lunged forward and tackled him with her arms around her neck, tears flowing freely from her eyes now. He wrapped his own arms around her as they spun around, both holding the other as tightly as possible, determined never to let go of the other ever again.

"Ruby…I'm-" Jaune tried to start.

"You idiot…" Ruby cut off as she slowly turned her head up to look at him with the last few tears falling from her eyes, "I've…missed you so much."

"…I know." He whispered, "and I'm sorry."

He leaned down slowly and she turned her head up to meet him, their lips met slowly, there was no force or energy in their kiss, just the overwhelming passion between the two for the things that they should have said but could not say until it was too late for either of them. When they separated, neither was gasping for breath, but both were flushed as Ruby tucked her head under his chin, Jaune let them both down gently until they were lying down on the grass with Ruby curled on her side on top of Jaune.

There they lay for an unknown amount of time, just staying in each other's embrace, holding onto each other tightly. Jaune was looking up into the sky, watching the clouds pass by while Ruby closed her eyes, pressing her ear to his chest, listening for his heartbeat.

Finally however, Jaune spoke, "You know everyone is waiting for you now," He said.

"Hmm?" Ruby hummed curiously.

"Yeah, there's your father, your uncle, Pyrrha's here to, and Penny as well, but most important of all…" He trailed off for dramatic effect, "Your mother is waiting to see you."

"Really?!" Ruby got up and looked at Jaune right in the eye, he nodded in response.

"Why don't we go see them now?" He sat up on his hands, to his surprise however, instead of getting off of him, Ruby chose to snuggle back down on her side.

"Wait…" Ruby reached out with one had to press Jaune's shoulder, pushing him back onto the ground.

"Ruby?" He lifted an eyebrow questioningly, "Is something wrong?"

"I think they can wait, just stay here with me for just a little while longer ok?" She closed her eyes as she adjusted herself to lie in the crook of his neck.

Jaune smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, "Of course, we can stay however long you want." He closed his eyes as well, feeling the cool breeze waft over them.

"I love you Jaune."

"I love you too Ruby."

And so it was, that on that little hill in the shade of the tall tree where two souls, bound together for all eternity by their love for each other, who had suffered through great hardships together in life, had finally been rewarded with this peaceful and quiet world just for each other.

A world filled with tranquillity

A world with no troubles

A world of dreams

A world where they had finally met each other again

I see your ghostjobs Arkos and raise you:

Fate/RWBY: Realta Nua Lancaster route ending

Har har har

This one noticeably lacks in the sadness department, this time it's just nothing but WAFF or Warm And Fuzzy Feelings. It's because ultimately, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, I really am, so after you all apparently bawled your eyes out –if your reviews are any indication- let me give you something a little lighter.

So there it is.

You know an idea I had that could really wrap this whole thing up?

The ending narration is Yang Xiao Long telling stories to a new class of students at Signal where she now teaches basic combat skills. She's essentially telling her story one class at a time after regular training, describing from her point of view the development of Jaune and Ruby's relationships and the hardships that they both faced all the way up until they were finally together in death.

Now wouldn't that be a real kicker?

The ending is basically her imagining what her little sister is doing in the hereafter together with Jaune.

In any case, this the conclusive end of the story, do give a moment to review it and tell me what you think yeah? I really enjoyed reading your reviews telling me that it was indeed a rather sad story, so now I want to know what you think of this happier -albeit still bittersweet- ending that I've come up with!