He was quiet.

He had been too quiet lately.

Ruby was on their couch, dreaming. Probably not good dreams though. Probably nightmares, from all the shuffling and whimpering that flitted into her ears from the hall.

Pyrrha stood in the doorway, hesitant. There he sat, on the edge of the bed. He smelled of whisky and port for the first time since they had wed, years ago. A pit was beginning to grow in her stomach, sucking away the joy and light that normally filled her days, especially so close to her husband.

There was a question on her pursed lips, the kind that everyone feared to ask and few ever found the courage to voice. It was one that crossed the minds of all who loved, at some point. It was not a reasonable question; she hadn't even a single fact to support the feeling of emptiness and aloneness that had inhabited her as of late, and yet she felt it. It was beyond quantification, it went beyond her place rooted in reality, and it was felt in the deepest corners of her heart. And that drove the question to her lips.

"Are we alright?" Softly spoken, as if treading on broken glass or hot stones. Too much pressure and she would bleed, and in this, she may never recover.

Ocean eyes turned to meet her own emerald crystals. His face was a mask, the stone carving an artist makes of the anonymous; no identity, no feeling. That man was not Jaune.

And then the stone crumbled, his face fell, his fists clenched in unvoiced pain, and Pyrrha's heart cried out for the man she loved. Her question forgotten, she made her way to the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around him. He leaned his head against her shoulder, and though the stench of the alcohol offended her, Pyrrha bore the burden well. Anything to help him now, of all times.

"I'm sorry," He whispers quietly. "I love you." In those words were all the reassurance she needed. It was not her that was causing him such pain. It was something beyond both of their controls, and all she could do was be with him now.

"What is it then?" She asked, and he jolted away from her as if her words had struck him.

"I don't know how to feel about… Everything. She's back, and I'm so happy. But every time I see her, it's like she's a reflection. Like she's not there. And then I remember what it's like when she went, and never came back."

"There's no reason to think that that's going to happen again." Pyrrha soothed, putting her hand on his shoulder. She wanted him to know she was there.

He stood, and she withdrew her hand, feeling as though he had just slapped her. He didn't want her to be there.

"There's no reason to think it won't though. None of us know what's happening. I tried to get a hold of Weiss - she's always been the smartest, but she hasn't even answered. No one gets what's happening. For all we know, we could wake up tomorrow and she could be gone. When she was out with Blake today, I went to check on her - I just forgot she was out - and when she wasn't there it felt like it was happening all over." He looked up at her, his eyes as deep as the sea. "Do you remember what it was like?"

The look in his eyes… It tore at Pyrrha's heart in a way she had never known, it wrenched in sympathy… And hurt. She ignored it.

"It was horrible," She conceded. "But we can make sure it doesn't happen again."

"You don't get it," He murmured with a sad huff, turning away so she could only see the outline of his back in the darkness of the room. "And how could we make sure it doesn't happen?"

"I…" Pyrrha paused. Was now a good time to bring this up? Was there a good time? But it would happen tomorrow anyways. She would be blindsiding him either way. "Blake and I were talking today. We're taking Ruby on a hunt tomorrow."

Jaune stilled, became rigid. Then he collapsed, sat down heavily on the opposite side of the bed.

"There's nothing I can say to change that, is there?" His voice was like granite. Hard, edged, and terrifying. It made Pyrrha's heart tremble.

"No, Blake is set on this." Her eyes found the floor, the only constant in this whirlwind of incomprehensible maelstrom of emotions. "And I agree with her." He was mad, he was sad, he was hurt, he was scared. She was compassionate, afraid, guarded, alone. He didn't want anything to do with her right now. He didn't want to look at her. "Jaune…" She pleaded, the silent request heavy in her voice.

He just lay down and pulled the sheets over him, never looking at her. He was not asleep, but he would say no more. He would not let her touch him.

It felt like someone had skewered Pyrrha's heart with a barbed stake. It beat, and she almost collapsed. A tear fell down her cheek as she reached for him hesitantly. But she couldn't touch him now. She wanted to be sick, she wanted to leave, she wanted to talk, she wanted him to hug her and tell her it would be alright.

It could never happen. Not now.

So she walked out of the room. She would not be sleeping tonight.

The kitchen was dark, and she didn't bother to turn on the lights. Pyrrha flicked the switch on the coffee maker and listened silently as the grumbling of the machine began, signaling that time was indeed still passing, for the world could have fooled Pyrrha about that.

Everything was silent and still here. The deepest hours of the night were a purgatory. The evils slunk and curled around, but could do nothing until the morning when movement began again. The pieces were set, but it would not be until Jaune left their room in the morning that anything would happen. Not until their eyes met again. Then, the words she new were coming would be spoken. The ones that would hurt. That would shred her into a million pieces. But it was only fair, Pyrrha had gone behind his back today. She had hurt him.

Why was this happening?

They hadn't a perfect marriage. No one did. They had argued before, about where to live mostly. He had wanted to move away from Vale, she had wanted to stay and continue the life they had built with so many around them. Yang had gone first, and Blake had followed her. Jaune had wanted to go too, a few years later. Whether to get away or because the job he had been offered there was better, she had not known. She had urged him to stay though. Eventually, he had conceded. They traveled plenty though, so they were both happy.

When they had fought then, every night they would put aside the argument. They would hold each other tenderly as the waves of time slowly lulled them to sleep. Then, the night had been a purgatory of a different sort, a reprieve from the reluctant conversations they both knew they had to have, but neither wanted. Not of the judgement to come.

Now, they were divided.

Pyrrha knew she was strong. She had spent so much of her life alone already, it didn't seem like one night of solitude in the kitchen with nothing but a coffee in her hand for company should have been an issue. The greatest fear she should have was boredom.

But it wasn't. The greatest fear was the loneliness. She loved Jaune, and he wasn't here with her. And the question sat heavily in her mind; would they ever be alright?

It was irrational, she told herself. They were a team. He loved her. She loved him. And nothing could overcome that.

But that cold silence as he had lain himself to sleep…

Could they?

Ruby awoke, her icy blue eyes shooting open widely as an excited buzz filled her stomach. For the first time, the hollow pit that had been consuming her lulled, replaced by anticipation for the day to come.

Today, she would hunt.

She threw the covers off her makeshift bed and quickly scrambled to put them away for the day. She grabbed her new grey garments and ducked into the hall quickly, dashing into the washroom. She tore off the nightwear that Pyrrha had leant her off and threw on her clothes with unparalleled fervor.

She stopped briefly then, took a breather, tried to calm down. But the energy would not be contained. It soared through her like a wild bird, flitting around and singing in joy. She looked at herself in the mirror, locking eyes with the cool blue of the gaze that was staring back at her. They were bright and happy, free of the pain and fear that had haunted her since she had returned. Today, she got to do what she loved.

She splashed some cold water on her face, shaking the last clinging vestiges of sleepiness from her mind, and exited the bathroom. She walked into the kitchen, ready to get some breakfast, only to find Pyrrha already there.

The scarlet haired woman was sat at the table, a full cup of coffee devoid of the usually accompanying steam in her hands. She had been there a while. Her eyes were vacant, lost in far off thoughts and fears. Ruby's excitement buckled in concern for her friend.

"Pyrrha?" She called softly from the doorway. The huntress started in her seat, her mouth opening in surprise as she realised Ruby was there, then down at the coffee in her hand. She smiled thinly and lay it down in front of her.

"Hello Ruby," Ruby knew that voice. The kind that was pretending to be okay, even though it was in pain - tried to convince others, if only to convince itself.

"Are you alright?" The other woman rose rather than answer, already dressed in her full combat gear. She looked glamorous, like a goddess ready to strike. She was an imposing figure; tall and slim, but powerful with a build like that of a leopard. Today, it was ruined by the fragility of her smile.

"I'm.. fine," She wasn't, and they both knew it. Ruby glanced at the entrance to Jaune and Pyrrha's room down the hall. It would be locked, she was sure. He was the only one who had ever been able to do this to Pyrrha, for better or worse. It was sad and beautiful, in the way that love was. She imagined another couple, young, bold, and fragile. She knew, deep down, that as much as she missed Weiss, she was also the only person capable of making Ruby look as Pyrrha did now. And it left her wondering, how much pain was love worth?

"Would you like some eggs?" Pyrrha asked, making her way to the fridge. busying herself with the work of a hostess, as though the matters of the mind might be forgotten.

Hollow once more, Ruby nodded her head.

Blake looked at the tangled mass of blonde hair lying next to her in bed, peaceful once the shaking had stopped. As Yang had fallen asleep, she had cried and writhed, but soothing touches and soft whispers stilled her, and now she looked almost as beautiful as those days before she had broken. It was a single frame in time of the woman that Blake had been convinced for so long was still there, but had always feared would never return.

But under all the grief and pain, under the self-loathing and deprecation, she was there. Blake could see it in front of her. And knowing that now, she knew she would never be able to stop fighting for her old partner back. If she had to go to the ends of the world, she knew she would.

She tucked a stray strand of straw-gold hair behind Yang's ear, her stomach turning over itself in nervousness and abject terror. The moment was a glass mosaic. Everything was normal. They were back at Beacon, meeting for the first time. They were training together. They were hunting together. It was all the same. But on the brink of shattering.

"I've missed you," She whispered to the woman she had known so well, that had sheltered her when her darkest days dawned on her doorstep, when the shadows of the past came creeping back and tried to drag her into the darkness.

But it was the same woman who had run.

Slight stirring stilled Blake's tongue. Lilac eyes opened to the earliest rays of the day's light. They washed over her and made her almost glow with a soft tone. She looked peaceful, just for a moment, as she smiled at Blake like old partners, lost in that moment between worlds of peace and chaos, of dreams and life. And then the memories returned. Of why they were where they were. Of why Blake would be getting up to leave. A flicker of something akin to betrayal danced across her eyes, and the other woman was back. The one devoid of the joy and happiness that characterized Yang.

"Morning," Blake said with a forced turning up of her lips, trying to grapple the new visage back to where it had come from so that the real Yang could stay.

"You're going, aren't you?"

"We'll both come back." Blake assured. It was the worst thing she could have said, but perhaps the only thing she could have.

"Yeah…"

Silence. Dead as her joy. For a moment.

"When I go," Blake murmured, nerves brimming in her stomach. "Would you come with me?"

Yang looked away, towards the dresser. She was deciding. Would she stay? Buy a phial of her poison, knock it back, forget the pain, run away, hide…

Or would she go? Would she try to be the sister Ruby needed? Would she try to be the person she should have been? Would she be as she was. The same one Blake had-

"Alright," The voice wobbled, but the resolve was there, weak and fragile as it may be. "I'll go."

And we're back! Sorry the last two chapters have been kind of not Ruby-focused. I'm trying to use the other characters to give some depth and perception into what has happened between Ruby and Weiss, and build on the ideas I want this story to get people thinking about.

I've been trying to focus on prose a lot. The section with Jaune and Pyrrha felt good, the rest alright. I'll try and keep making it better as we go.

For those of you looking for another letter, fear not! It'll be here soon. There was just a lot that had to be shown before the next one came. All I'm saying is that these past few chapters had to happen for the full impact of the letter.

Finally, thank you all so much! HOT DAMN! Over 100 reviews, 150+ favs, 300+ follows! You're all fantastic, and I'll do my best to get these chapters out as quickly as possible for you all! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-Unjax