RWBYond Happily Ever After

AN: So, if you haven't read RWBYond Vale, I highly encourage you read that before you read this. It's not entirely necessary, but there will be a lot of references to events from that story, especially since this is built to be the extended epilogue for that story. Also, this chapter is going to be really long and cover a lot of ground.

Chapter 130+1: This'll Be the Day We Waited For.

Ruby was stirred awake by the smell of pancakes and the sounds of birds chirping in the spring air. It felt weird, waking up in her parents bed. But it was her bed now. Nora and Ren had moved into her and Yang's old room. And Blake had taken over the old guest room.

Really, the bed was just too big, too soft for her liking. She had plenty of good sleeping arrangements these last few years, but they were always in small beds or cots. Even growing up, her bed had been fine for a single person, but this bed was made for two at least. She thought about the person she would eventually share this bed with.

It had been six months. Six months since she had killed Salem. Six months since she had been able to feel Jaune's embrace. He went home. He had his family and hometown to go to. He was welcomed back as a hero. But Ruby had other things she needed to do.

She had spent these last six months traveling the world. The nineteen-year-old hero used her powers to fix broken buildings, grow crops for food, and assure the citizens of Remnant that they would rebuild after the war. In fact, she had just gotten home to Patch last night. It's only occupants had been Blake, Nora and Ren for six months. Yang had been traveling. Her dad had moved to Vale, taking Zwei with him, with uncle Qrow so that they could teach at Beacon. The first semester of Beacon since the tragedy of the fortieth Vytal Festival Tournament would begin in just a week.

One week until a new generation of huntsmen would begin their journey. Her first full day of Patch. Someone, probably Ren, making pancakes. Spring birds chirping outside her window. Wait…that meant…oh crap, she was supposed to call Jaune.

She jumped out of bed and threw her clothes on. She didn't bother showering; she'd do that after her meal. She dashed down the hall and into the kitchen. Ren was at the stove making pancakes. He was wearing his 'Please to nothing to the Cook' apron. Blake was in a chair, eyeing Nora. Nora was eyeing the pancakes waiting to strike. But Blake was holding her back.

"Good morning guys." Ruby said.

"Hey Ruby!" Nora beamed.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" Ruby said.

"We know you've been really busy lately, so we wanted to let you sleep." Ren answered.

"But I promised Jaune I'd call him when I got back. We're supposed to go on a date tonight."

"Oooohooo. What are you guys doing?" Nora asked.

"I don't know…that's pretty much the point." Ruby said. She pulled her scroll out.

"Well I hope you have fun." Blake said. "I'm leaving for a mission later today. Then…I think I'm moving in with Sun pretty soon."

"Awww that sucks." Ruby said. "I mean, I'm glad it's just…I just got back and…"

"You just got back but I've been here for six months." Blake interrupted. "We all knew my staying here was going to be temporary until Sun and I are ready to move in together."

"So how is monkey boy anyway?" Ruby asked.

"He's doing well. He actually had a mission here a few weeks ago so he stayed here…I hope that's ok."

"Of course it is. Sun's welcome here anytime." Ruby said. "Just so long as you guys aren't too loud when I'm trying to sleep."

"Nah, I think they're pretty quiet." Nora said with a grin. "Now Ren and I…"

"Pancakes are finished!" Ren shouted in interruption. Nora dashed forward and swooped up half the available pancakes. Blake, Ren and Ruby divided up the others.

"What was I saying?" Nora said with her mouth full.

"You were saying how much you love Patch." Ren said cautiously.

"Oh yeah…I love it here…I can definitely see that this is where you and Yang grew up. If Ren and I didn't get teaching jobs at Beacon, I'd stay here forever."

"What?" Ruby said.

"Nora." Ren said disappointedly.

"We had to tell her eventually anyway." Nora argued.

"When did you find this out?" Ruby asked.

"We were first approached at Weiss' party." Ren answered. "We didn't give them a definite answer but…there's no one else better suited to these jobs than we are."

"I…I understand." Ruby sunk her head down.

"It's okay Ruby." Nora grabbed her hand. "I'm sure Jaune will be able to move in pretty soon."

"I know." Ruby said. "Last time I called him he said he was aiming for a job at Signal. Which means he would get my dad's old job."

"Did he get it?" Ren asked.

"He's supposed to find out sometime this weekend. It's another reason I'm calling him as soon as my fingers aren't all sticky with syrup."

"I'm sure he will." Nora assured. "There's literally no one better…unless you also applied for the job."

"Pssh…me…a teacher? Fat chance! It'll never happen. I'd rather go on a million Grimm hunting missions than be stuck in a classroom with a bunch of bratty hormonal teenagers, day in and day out. I don't have that kind of patience that Ren and Jaune do. And you Nora, you can at least be intimidating. I mean, remember when you made us all work out?"

"Don't remind me." Ren said.

"That was a fun time." Nora said. "What else, what else…I feel like I'm forgetting something…oh yeah…Ren and I…we…well…"

"They're dating." Blake said briskly.

"It's about time." Ruby said. "What brought about this change?"

"I guess it was when we were fighting Fury." Ren said. "After that…when we were talking to Jaune he said…better to try and fail than not try at all."

Ruby congratulated them. She was glad that, despite the official-ness of their relationship, it didn't change anything except now they could kiss every once and awhile. Also, other things. Which reminded Ruby to wash the bed sheets when she got a chance.

She finished eating and washed up. She quickly dialed Jaune's number into her scroll. He answered, a live video of his handsome face popped up, as well as a pair of blonde girls. One of them had glasses and the other one had a blue ribbon in her hair. She recognized them from pictures Jaune had showed her, Verta and Amery.

"Hey Ruby!" Jaune said.

"Hey Jaune. I'm back on Patch."

"Awesome!" Jaune said.

"So this is Ruby." Verta said.

"You must be Verta…and I take it the other is Amery." Ruby said.

"Yep." Amery chirped. She left the screen with Verta to give Jaune some alone time.

"So are we still seeing each other tonight?" Jaune said.

"That's the plan." Ruby smiled.

"Cool, I'll be by around…7:00 to pick you up. Then if you don't mind, I'll spend the night."

"Sounds like fun." Ruby said. "So…how have you been?"

"A little better than the last dozen times you've called and asked me that." He laughed.

"Great, I…I miss you." She blushed.

"Miss you too, but we got a date tonight. So, how are Ren and Nora?"

"They're doing just fine. Did you know they're together-together now?"

"Actually yes." He said.

"How long did you know?"

"Pretty much from the start."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Figured they'd want to tell you themselves."

"Did they also tell you they're moving out?"

"Yes." Jaune said solemnly. "It's okay Rubes. Just a few more dates and your dad will let me move in."

"Wait…I thought it was your parents who weren't letting you move in."

"Oh um…yeah…none of them would but…my parents are fine now…yeah that's it." Jaune was clearly fibbing, at least a little but that would be a conversation Ruby would need to have with her dad.

"Oh, any word on that teaching job?"

"No word yet. But I'm confident I'll get it."

"That's what Nora said."

"Even if I don't, I can get plenty of work as a huntsman."

"That's true."

"I still hope I get it." He lamented. A silence fell between them.

"Anyway I got to go take a shower. See you tonight. Love you."

"Love you too." He hung up.

Ruby took a nice long hot shower, clearing her mind of the last six months of stress. It had been too long since she's had a real break. She hasn't had a chance to kick back and relax since Weiss' party. Thus were the responsibilities of the Spring Maiden in a time of reconstruction.

After toweling herself off and picking out a dress for tonight, she got in a comfortable set of clothes. She sat on her couch with plenty of cookies, forcing Nora to scoot to the middle, and watched them play video games. She didn't know what game it was but it was some kind of shooting game. A Grimm came around the corner of the screen and Ren shot it.

"There's Grimm in this game?" Ren said.

"There's always Grimm." Nora said. "It's so cliché and as someone who fights them for a living, these video game copies just aren't any fun."

Ruby enjoyed her cookies and watched them play. She even got a few turns in whenever one of them died. After a little while she made her housemates lunch. She made Blake a tuna sandwich and helped her pack provisions for her mission. Nora made a couple peanut butter and cheerios sandwich. Ren made himself a pair of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Ruby made herself a turkey sandwich with all sorts of stuff on it.

After wishing Blake luck for her mission she went upstairs to get ready. Nora and Ren accompanied her and dolled her all up for her date. She never liked wearing makeup, it would always run as she got sweaty. Plus, it offered absolutely no advantages in the fight against Grimm. But as she learned the hard way, can't live your whole life on the battlefield.

"We want you to look your best tonight." Nora beamed as she lightly laid on some blush.

"But wouldn't he like me the way I am?" Ruby asked.

"It's not about how you look, it's about how much effort you put in to it." Nora said.

"You may look more than well enough throwing on a dress." Ren said. "But the fact that you girls put so much effort in how you look makes us boys feel special."

"Still…" Ruby said.

"Don't worry, I won't make you look gaudy or anything. You already have a pale skin tone, and a darker one wouldn't really do much with your…hmm…I never noticed that your hair is dark red. I thought for the longest time you dyed it."

"Nope, all natural."

"It's just really thick. I bet you can stop bullets with your hair."

"Well you're not exactly wrong…but yeah, my hair is really thick but thins out by the edges. That's where it really shows the redness. The top is just really thick so it looks black." Ruby explained.

Ren put on a finishing touch with a silver rose pendant that he said really brought out her eyes. She wondered if that would have any practical applications. Like if she were to wear it to the hunt, would it make her Grimm Paralysis power more potent. Questions for later.

The time had come and Jaune knocked on the door. He wore a nice three-piece suit that fit him just right. He complimented Ruby's appearance and gave her flowers. Ruby resisted every urge to jump on him and kiss him right there. She set his small briefcase next to the couch in the living room. Jaune always did pack light.

They made cute small talk and walked to a fancy restaurant. Ruby talked more about the shops and stuff on the street. She was relieved that she had talked to Jaune on her scroll frequently enough to not be overwhelmed but not too frequently to where she'd run out of stuff to talk about.

The night was over too fast. The restaurant had brought them their food promptly. Her hunger was easily satisfied by the steak. Jaune ordered desert and paid for the bill. They shared the strawberry syrup filled chocolate cake. They had some nice wine to go with their meals. Neither one of them were much for drinking so they finished that early. Her and Jaune left the restaurant and went to an arcade. They talked about some of their favorite games. Ruby showed off her pin ball skills while Jaune broke the record on the dancing game. Ruby almost didn't want to tell him they reset the machine every week, while archiving high scores on a computer by the prize stand.

After wearing themselves out with the arcade they headed back to Patch. Ruby didn't want the night to end but then remembered Jaune was spending the night. This was her chance to do something really romantic. So as they walked up the porch to her front door, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a deep kiss. While kissing, she planned her facial features to look as, what she would consider, sexy as she could. She probably didn't look anywhere near as cool as she felt.

"I'll make you some coffee." She whispered as she opened the door. She practically sucked him into the house and quickly shut the door. She kicked off her shoes and started the coffee pot.

"I'm actually fine thank you." Jaune insisted.

"More for me then." Ruby chirped.

"I'll have water…or orange juice if you got it." Jaune said.

"No orange juice but how about…lemonade, or milk?"

"Lemonade is fine." Jaune said. Ruby finished setting up the coffee.

"I'm going to slip into something more comfortable." Ruby said. "Did you bring clothes?"

"I bought the usual hoodie and jeans." He answered.

"That's fine." Ruby walked into her room and quickly stripped to nothing but her panties and changed into her pajamas. She wore a spaghetti strap shirt that clung tightly to her skin. To balance it out she wore her favorite pajama pants that hung from her body just the way she liked it. She spotted a note on her nightstand.

"Ruby, Ren and I went ahead to Vale since we have to be there in the morning. Have fun." Sign the best wingman ever. But it was clearly Nora. Ruby's face went red as all the pieces just collided together. So she joined Jaune in the kitchen.

"Where's Nora and Ren?" He asked. Ruby watched his eyes dangle across her body for too long to be considered a formality. She handed him the letter and grabbed herself a cup of freshly made coffee. "Best wingman ever…Nora…I can see that."

"So we have the house to ourselves tonight." Ruby said.

"Yep." Jaune finished his lemonade.

"Alone." Ruby cast out the hint a little more bluntly.

"I thought we already established that." Jaune could be so dense. Or maybe he was doing this on purpose just to get her riled up.

"Well, I'm ready for bed but I'm not ready to sleep." Ruby gave a quick wink.

"I don't know if I follow." Jaune said. His face was neutral. If he was actually lost or not, his face didn't betray anything. So Ruby decided to not use words. She was always a woman of action anyway. Why talk when you can show off your prowess. So she walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the room.

An: Cue that sexy saxophone music. Few things, I think this is the best job I've done at writing Ren and Nora. Their reason for finally getting together was set up in that final arc, when Ren went all Tien on Fury. And I wanted to thematically tie it in with Jaune, namely the last chapter of my RWBYond Sisters story. Speaking of which, there was a scene with Rouge cut out because I think it would fit better with a future chapter (chapter 6 to be precise). Next time, something involving Weiss.