Oh, you're here... I'm glad you came. Why don't you have a seat? I've been expecting you. It's been a long road, I know, but I hope you enjoyed walking it. This is our final stop, after all. So, please, join me one last time.

11. Home

Ruby woke up, and despite still having her eyes closed, she knew she was in her own bed. She recognized the feel of the straw mattress under her, and the blanket above. As her body started to awake as well, so did the pain. She ached all over, and rustling in her cot only made it worse. Why did she hurt so much? The last thing she remembered was going to look for Penny in the clearing, and then…

The witch.

Her eyes shot wide and she jumped into a sitting position, but a gentle hand pressed against her chest and pushed her back looked to the side and saw a pair of deep green eyes staring back at her worriedly. Penny had been sitting down by the bedside, watching over her as she slept.

"You need to rest, Ruby. You shouldn't get up that fast."

Her ginger friend looked peaceful, yet tired, like she'd seen and done more than a thousand lifetimes ought to. Questions were flying wild inside the huntress' head, uncertainties about where she was and why.

"Weiss, we have to stop her! She's…"

"She's gone. It's over." The former-statue cut her off, soothing her fears with a kind smile on her lips. Ruby considered for a second, before inquiring again.

"Does that mean you're…"

"Free, yes. She can't control me anymore."

The archer closed her eyes, and mirrored her friend's smile. "I'm glad."

Then, she started to recall the events of the fight, the exchange of words between her and the sorceress, her attempts to come up with a peaceful solution, and the fall of her companions.

"How are Yang and Blake?"

"They're…" Penny cringed at the question, which only made her terror surface once more. "…they're going to be fine. It was pretty nasty, but they'll recover, they just need some time."

It was far from a reassuring answer, but Ruby was determined to accept it as a victory. They were all back and in one piece. She asked the girl for a retelling of what had transpired while she was out, and the ginger reluctantly complied. After she was finished, the dark-haired youngster reflected on all she had heard, before speaking.

"First my bow and then my knife, all in the same day. How am I going to hunt now?" Penny raised a brow in astonishment at her carefree remark, so the archer made sure to clear any confusions. "I'm joking, it's really great that we're all safe. Thank you."

The two girls fell into a comfortable silence, a strange aura of quietness inside the room. It seemed like an eternity since they'd last been alone, and away from all the drama and fighting. It was rewarding to be back to normal again, although normal wasn't quite descriptive of any part of their relationship thus far.

"I've been wondering, how did you know I would be in the laboratory?" The sitting girl broke the stillness, her own questions taking form now that the dark-haired girl's were satiated.

"Blake told me that you felt I was pushing you away. So I figured, since you weren't okay here, you would be going back to your home, in the forest. I guess I was wrong, and that's totally not what happened, but it all worked out in the end, right?" She made a foolish grin in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, and scratched the back of her head. As she did, her sleeve rode up, revealing a golden chain wrapped around her wrist, with a small pendant decorated with a small droplet of amber.

"You kept it." Her current roommate sounded surprised by the sight of the trinket, the little item that had been there since the very beginning of their story.

"Yeah, it reminds me of the day we met. Back when things were simpler, and we weren't fighting monster and witches."

Penny couldn't help but giggle at her friend's sweetness and honesty. That's what had drawn her to the huntress since the start, how genuine and simple she was. It was certainly a relief to know all the trouble they'd been through hadn't compromised it.

They were about to go quiet again, but the redhead decided she still had something to point out about the youngster's answers.

"You're wrong, by the way."

"Huh? What about?"

"That place, my father's study, that's the past. Here…" She glanced around at the surrounding walls, and then looked directly into the silver eyes in front of her, reaching her hand for Ruby's and interlacing their fingers. "…is where I belong. This is home."

Sigh.

It's both exciting and sad to be putting this story to rest. It's nearly been a month since I posted the first chapter, and I really enjoyed writing it.

I seriously can't thank you all enough for all your love and support. Even if the fic wasn't that long, I doubt I would've made it till the end without all the reviews and follows, they're what kept me moving forward. As always, feel free to give your opinions, even more so now that it's over. What did you like best? What parts didn't work so well? What would you like to see in the sequel?

Oops, did I say sequel?

Well, yes, I'm planning a volume II. It wasn't my original intention, but after all the fun it was to play with these characters and the setting, I didn't feel like abandoning it. I have a few new characters I wanted to experiment with, I just need to hammer out some of the details, so I can't promise when it'll come out. But considering I've been so high on this that I haven't stopped writing ever since, maybe it won't be too long.

If this fic gets a new "chapter" in the future, you'll know what it is. ;)