Anniversary Gift

Tap tap... click click...

"Ohh..."

Tink tink...

"D'ohhhhh..."

Blake casted a cursory glance at their groaning yet frustratingly concentrated team leader from above the pages of the book on top of her bed, turning and raising a brow at her blonde partner who lay sprawled on top of the same bed as she usually did when too lazy to climb onto her own bunk.

"She's still at it, isn't she."

"All day," Yang replied groggily, her arm over her eyes as she rested after a long day of sparring classes.

The catgirl, sitting cross-legged to give the blonde brawler space to lay on her bed, daintily lowered her book until the top rested on Yang's face with a small smirk, earning an annoyed groan from the girl but otherwise no action. Blake did enjoy messing with her partner, but in her own way.

"It's a sweet gesture, you know. Giving that thing to her when you did. I'm sure it means a lot to her."

Lazily reaching up her other arm to move the book away, lifting her first to reveal a lilac eye and a small smile, Yang nodded slowly as she spoke up.

"It does. It's one of Summer's few possessions that was kept here... it was too bulky and fragile to transport and Ozpin figured it'd be better if it stayed here. It was totally by chance that I spotted it in his office."

"Yes, when you were sent there after punching Nora in the breast during a sparring match," Blake deadpanned at her partner.

Yang idly raised a hand as she defended, "She had threatened to break my legs! What else was I supposed to do!?"

"Shush you two," Weiss interrupted faintly from the bed across Blake's as she wrapped herself tighter in her blankets, only her lengthy snow-white undone hair falling over the sheets, "It's nighttime and some people are trying to get some rest."

"Yeah yeah," Yang waved the comment away as Blake turned her attention once more to her partner but in more of a whisper.

"You know she wouldn't have done that."

"Do I?" she asked pointedly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, "Do I?"

Blake pouted in thought, looking up idly and suddenly rationalizing that maybe Yang's response to the threat wasn't so irrational. Could've been worse.

"Fair enough."

After all, Nora will be Nora... even if she doesn't mean to be.

But turning back to Ruby at her work underneath the dim lamplight, Blake sighed as she tried to empathize with the young girl.

"It looks very old."

"It kinda is," Yang continued, propping herself up on an elbow to look at her younger sister as well, "When I asked Oz about it before leaving the office, he told me Summer had built it herself while she was in Beacon. Figures... Ruby has her weapons tinkering thing, and Summer had her electronics tinkering thing."

Blake cocked her head as she surveyed the large device laid out over the entirety of the desk table Ruby was working at, "But that thing looks like an electronic dinosaur of a device..."

"Really old radios tended to look that way back in the day," Yang commented as Ruby took out another one of many tubes and lightbulbs on the contraption to clean it, "Heck, it was an antique even in her day, but Ozpin said that she loved that thing and was able to get it working again before... you know..."

Blake nodded sullenly as Yang trailed off, placing a hand on her bare shoulder reassuringly with an understanding sigh. No one should have to go through losing a parent so early in life. And Yang had already experienced it twice.

"I know."

Yang ran a hand through her hair as she remarked blankly, trying to detach herself from the emotions her words entailed, "And to think that in just two days it'll be the anniversary of her passing... and Ruby never takes it very well. I figured asking Oz to let me give it to her would make these next few days easier."

"Hey guys," Ruby suddenly mentioned as she got up from her seat and stretched out with a yawn, "I think I'm gonna call it a night."

"Must be a lot of work," Blake stated as lightly as possible with her usual sympathetic smile, "It looks like quite the undertaking in its current state."

Ruby shrugged as she switched off the light and began to walk over, "Yeah, that old radio seriously needs some love and care, but once I get the last few parts, I think I should have it back up and running by tomorr..." her voice trails off as her eyes widen to something outside the window, "Whoa. Now that's something you don't see everyday."

The two girls quickly turn to look out the window to see a dazzling display of dancing lights across the night sky. Vivid greens, violets and blues fluctuate and even tinge the room in their colors now that all artificial light is off, the entranced students gaping at the spectacle in awe.

"Aurora Borealis."

They turn to see Weiss now propped on her bed, casting an almost longing look out the window as she whispered the name of the celestial phenomenon.

"Aurora Who-what-now?" Ruby asked adorably with a confused expression.

But not even bothering to turn and berate her leader as she usually would, Weiss simply continued watching the heavenly display with a small smile as she explained, "You can simply call it an Aurora if you'd like - an event that occurs when solar energy interacts with the planet's magnetic field, causing a shower of radiating lights as the charged particles are absorbed by our atmosphere. We used to get these all the time in Northern Atlas when I was younger... I'm surprised they're happening this far south, actually..."

Humming in satisfaction with her partner's explanation, Ruby climbed up to her bunk as Yang slowly got up and did the same... after turning a few pages of Blake's book to throw off where she had left off reading in retaliation, much to the ravenette's chagrin.

"Alright guys, well I'll be catching some Zs if you mind... g'night, team."

And trading a few good nights between each other, the four members of team Ruby watched the aurora for a few more minutes until finally dozing off.

The next day passed rather normally, classes starting and ending as the school buzzed in the way it always did the day before the weekend began. This of course didn't bug Ruby one bit, who as soon as the last bell rang sped over to the school's electronics department and raced back to her dorm to finish her work.

It may not have looked like much - an old two-way Zenith radio that was missing its outer cover, leaving its many tubes and diodes exposed - but to Ruby, it was a stunningly beautiful vintage radio that if it was something her mother had valued, then it automatically deserved as much love as Crescent Rose herself.

"Heeere we go," Ruby sighed to herself as she emptied out the numerous parts she had been carrying in a makeshift pouch she made with her cloak onto the desk, "Momma's here to make you all new again!"

And so she got to work, cleaning out the remaining tubes and replacing a few parts here and there as evening set in, during which the rest of her team had already returned and gotten dressed to go out.

Finally screwing in the last part, the crimsonette exhaled sharply as she nervously reached for the power dial and her teammates watched curiously over her shoulder.

"Here goes nuthin..."

Skreeeeeee!

The feedback caused the girls to cover their ears, especially Blake, until Ruby quickly reached for the volume dial to turn it down and then turned the Seek dial to the nearest available station.

'Aaand welcome back to Vale News Network Radio, or VNNR, as we bring you the latest news and events going on in Vale!' an electronic voice finally began coming through from the other side.

"Alright Rubes!" Yang exclaimed, giving her sister an overly tight hug in her seat that caused the flailing girl to gasp for air.

"Good job on getting it to work again," Blake commented with a small smile as Weiss nodded jovially in agreement behind her.

"So hey," Yang began as she finally pulled back, her little sister a little dizzy and flustered from the forceful love, "Jaune and his team have invited us across the hall for some pancakes and stuff and Neptune and Sun will be joining, wanna come?"

"Sun was adamant about bringing bananas to make banana pancakes with Ren," Blake added flatly but unable to hide her amused smile at the anticipation of seeing those two interact.

"And Neptune will be there!" Weiss added excitedly, to which Blake and Yang simultaneously rolled their eyes overtly.

Yang quickly turned her attention back to her sister.

"So anyway, wanna come?"

Ruby glanced at her smiling expectant teammates, to the radio, and back to her sister.

"Umm... there were a couple more things I wanted to test out on the radio first. Maybe I'll join you guys later?"

Yang sighed, thinking it over for a second before shrugging, "If you say so, Rubes. We'll be across the hall if you need anything!"

And tussling her hair, which Ruby had always hated, before making her way to the door, Yang along with Blake and Weiss waved goodbye as one by one they exited, Blake being the last and closing the door behind her as the news report continued.

'And in recent happenings in Vale, I'm sure you've all noticed the gorgeous lights dancing about last night, and if you guessed Aurora Borealis, then your darn tootin' right! This extremely rare event is expected to last a day or two more, and as with all electrical storms from space, you can expect the occasional interference with those electrical devices you kids are carrying around these days, so watch out! This is Cyril Ian of VNNR signing off and saying 'So long, and thanks for all the fish'!'

Ruby chuckled at the reference in the radiocaster's final statement and turned to look out at the setting sun out the window, the darkening sky already giving way to the faint dancing lights that were still flittering above.

"Hello, Aurora Borealis~" Ruby cooed cheerily, watching the lights for a moment more before turning and reaching underneath the desk for a final piece of equipment, "Now to test this thing's other function."

And pulling out an old RCA mic, Ruby placed it on the table and stood up to hook up the jack to the back, switching the radio's main function into two-way mode.

Settling back down in her seat, Ruby grinned to herself as she reached over to the seek dial and began to search for an open frequency.

"Hmm," she hummed to herself dejectedly as all she heard was static on all channels, the budding hope in her chest beginning to whither, "Maybe this function doesn't work anymore?"

SSSssssskkkkkkkkrrrrrrssssss...

She huffed as she leaned back in her seat, her arms dangling uselessly at her sides in frustration before she stood up again and began reaching over to unplug the mic. But in doing so, she accidentally brushed the raised Seek dial one more time, the static giving way to the hum of a working open frequency.

"Eh, what?" Ruby mumbled as she stopped her motion of unplugging the mic, straightening out as she noticed the radio was working completely fine and that it had in fact found an open frequency.

So taking a seat once more, Ruby slowly smacked her lips and cleared her throat before hesitantly leaning forward to the mic and pushing the Talk button.

"Um... hello? Can anyone hear me?"

She released the button only to hear the open hum once more. After another moment, she leaned forward and pressed it again.

"Is anyone there? I'm transmitting on an open frequency, can anybody read me?"

Releasing the button, she sat back and waited for another minute or so without any response, her shoulders slumping a bit more with every few passing seconds.

"Well," she finally began in concession, "At least I can't say I didn't tr-"

KKKrrrrssKKKrrrt-

'H-Hello? Hello? I read you loud and clear, transmitting on a dedicated frequency to lessen any interference, over...'

Ruby jumped at the feminine voice, a wide grin springing onto her face as she realized her work had payed off. Nearly tripping out of her chair to get to the Talk button, Ruby leaned over and pushed it down once more.

"Ohmygosh wow! I didn't actually think this would work! It's been a real pain trying to find an open frequency on this thing!"

After another moment, a lively chuckle came through the line, something about it causing the crimsonette to tilt her head in curiosity before the voice continued, 'You and me both. I'm working with a real antique here!'

Lauging at the coincidence, Ruby pressed the button again, "I sure know what that's like, but at least it's definitely paying off!"

'That's right. They say with a little love and care, these things can last forever!'

"You said it!" Ruby agreed with a smile, the momentary flicker of the green hue from the aurora outside dancing across the radio and catching her attention, "Say, you wouldn't be happening to be seeing the auroras right now too, would you?"

'Ohmygosh yes!' the voice quickly came through the other line, 'It's really stunning; they say it's super rare coming this far south and that it only happens once or twice a century.'

"Yeah, that's what my teammate was telling me the other night," Ruby recalled as she got comfortable in front of the mic, "I guess we should count ourselves as lucky, right?"

Theres a slight pause before the voice came back through, a hint of curiosity in its question.

'Teammate?'

"Yeah," Ruby explained casually, "My teammate here in Beacon. I go to Beacon Academy studying to be a Huntress!"

Another slight pause.

'No. Way! I went to Beacon too! Is old man Ozpin still Headmaster at that place?'

Ruby's elation grew exponentially at the mention of that fact.

"Ohmygosh that is so cool! And he is haha! So you're like a Huntress now!?"

'Heh, on and off,' the voice drawled contentedly, adopting a mock-scandalous tone as it continued, 'Actually, I ended up dating a guy who was on my team and we eventually ended up getting married and having a kid together after graduating!'

Ruby squealed in delight, pressing the button as she held her other hand at her heart in joy, "That is so romantic! I only have girls on my team, and one of them is my sister, so yeah..."

The chuckle came back through the line again, once more causing Ruby to furrow her brows at its vaguely familiar tone, 'Well tough luck for YOU, young lady, haha! But you'll have plenty of time to find someone after you graduate, and in the meantime you'll be able to enjoy truckloads of Grimm-hunting missions to your heart's content!'

"Yeah," Ruby mused aloud dreamily, contemplating how nice that kind of future would be before another question popped into her mind, "So wait, even with your family and all, you still manage to go on missions and stuff?"

The voice hummed as it seemingly thought of an answer, 'I'll admit it's a tough balance to uphold, but being a Huntress is a job, just like any other. And I don't mean to BRAG, but I'm a pretty good one! As a matter of fact, my team and I were just called to a covert mission by some Atlesian General abroad... but SHH, don't tell anyone I told you that!' the voice finished in a humorously hushed whisper.

"Hah, I won't tell a soul," Ruby promised with a light-hearted smile before pursing her lips at the information provided, "Wait, you talkin' about General Ironwood?"

'That's right!' the voice confirmed, 'I'm surprised anyone outside Atlas even knows his name, he hasn't been around for too long, heh. But yes, I'll be deployed tomorrow, so I'm having my daughter visiting me here before I head out.'

"Oh c'mon, lots of people know who Ironwood is!" Ruby laughed heartily before focusing on the latter half of the voice's statement, "So you have a daughter?"

'Oh yes! And ohmygosh she's a RUNNER, I'll tell you that right now!' the voice exclaimed cheerily, 'All she does is run, run, run! Would you like to meet her?'

Ruby grinned at the mic, "Wow she sounds a lot like me haha! And sure, I'd love to meet her!"

And with another short pause, a much younger voice was heard mumbling on the other line, finally becoming clearer as the young girl in question was placed closer to the mic, 'But mama, who am I tawking tew? Yew say ima not subbosed tah tawk tew stwangers!'

Ruby chuckled at the adorable-sounding girl as the first voice explained the situation.

'No no, she's not a stranger, she's a new friend. Say hi!~'

'Hiiii~'

"D'aww," Ruby replied with a wide smile, "She's adorable!"

'And she's late for bedtime,' the voice added with a mock-stern motherly voice.

'D'aww, c'mon mama. Jus' fie moe minits!'

'No can do. So go on, brush your teeth and get in your jammies and daddy will be here any minute to tuck you in, okay?'

Some movement was heard across the line before the girl protested loudly.

'Gahhhh! Heyyy, don't dew that! I don't wike it when yew wub my head so hawd!'

'And I shall CONTINUE to tussle your hair if you don't do what I say, got it?~' the voice declared playfully.

'Okaaay,' the younger voice conceded dejectedly, 'g'nite, mama.'

A soft kiss was heard before the voice concluded softly.

'Good night, my little Rose.'

Ruby froze at her spot, those last three words piercing right through her ears straight home to her heart.

That... that couldn't have been what she just heard, right? The tone with which it was said, the love in that voice... it... it couldn't be...

'Hello?' the voice began after a long moment of silence, 'Hellooo? Did I lose you? Can you still read me?'

Ruby stared at the mic like it was some kind of ghost, greatly conflicted with whether or not she should just yank the power cord out and never turn that device on again, but despite herself she slowly leaned forward again with her knees tucked tightly into her chest on her seat, her ice-cold fingers shakily pressing the button.

"What... what did you just say?"

'Um... Can you still read me?' the voice continued unsurely.

"N-No. Before that. What you called your daughter," Ruby clarified, her eyes already beginning to get watery.

'Oh, I call her My Little Rose, she's really the most beautiful thing in the world to me and I couldn't think of a better nickname if I tried!'

The tightness in her chest and the knot in Ruby's throat proved too much to handle... the first tear fell, many more threatening to follow.

"M-My mom... used to call me that," Ruby began through choked breaths, "I-I was her little rose..."

'Huh. Well I'd say that's a heck of a coincidence,' the voice replied, seemingly trying to rationalize the situation.

"No!" the teary-eyed crimsonette exclaimed, all but slamming her fist on the Talk button, "Only my mom used to say it like that, and she always told me that I was the most beautiful thing in the world to her because I was her little Rose! I... was her Ruby Rose..."

Ruby was fighting back sobs at the end, her head held between her knees as the grim irony of the situation stabbed at her like a merciless blade. That is, until the voice came back slowly.

'What... what did you just say your name was?'

The pained crimsonette, angered and hurt with the memories of her mother in mind, reached over and pressed the button as she yelled into the mic.

"Ruby Rose! And my mother's name was Summer Rose!"

A abysmal pause settled into the room before the voice returned, but this time without its previous warmth... the voice of a mother become the voice of a Huntress.

'What kind of a prank is this? Who is this really?'

"I already told you," Ruby replied flatly, no longer willing to support the weight of her growing emotion, "Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and Tei-Yang Xiao Long. Sister of Yang Xiao Long. At this point, I'm the one who should be asking who you are."

'MY name is Summer Rose,' the voice continued coldly, 'And why should I believe a single thing you say.'

Ruby slowly uncurled herself, wiping her eyes in disbelief. Sure, there were plenty of coincidences in life, but something like this? No... every mother's love to her daughter is and always would be a singular feeling, something that no one else could emulate or fake no matter how hard they tried. There was absolutely no way in all of Remnant that a mother could love her daughter the same way that Summer Rose had loved her. So mustering all the strength she had yet to bear, Ruby leaned toward the mic as she readied possibly the most important response she'd ever make.

"Because Summer Rose... my mother... was the best and the only Summer Rose I ever knew... She was the only person I knew was always there for the people of Remnant and was somehow always here for our family too... The only person who could slay a Deathstalker with her bare hands and who with those very hands would come home to us to bake me a batch of my favorite cookies."

The pause was brief, but the reply came back slow and calculated after Ruby had finished speaking.

'And what... was the secret ingredient of this "Summer Rose's" famous batch of cookies?'

Another tear fell as Ruby let out a chocked chuckle, "She'd always say the secret ingredient was Deathstalker venom to scare us... but then she'd come clean and say it was love..."

Ruby sniffled as she tried to wipe the tears that wouldn't stop coming anymore, the memories of her beloved mother racing through her mind and taking her into a small wave of hopelessness before she was startled by a nearly identical sniffle coming through the line.

'R-Ruby? ...M-MY Ruby?'

The crimsonette let let out a sharp breath as an impossible sense of hope now flooded through her. This was supposed to be impossible, it had to be impossible... but somehow... Ruby simply couldn't be sure anymore. And of all times, it had to happen now, merely days before the anniversary of her own mother's passing. Why... why was this happening? But the more Ruby thought about it, and the more she replayed the woman's last words through the line... she knew she had to take the chance. She reached over with shaky hands and pushed the Talk button.

This. This could change everything.

"Mom?"

A/N: Auuughauagggfdfdffg... I hate myself right now. I mean, I'm a grown dude, but when I watched that movie - Frequency - I was crying. As in bawling... like a baby... a hungry, angry baby.

Should I have written this? Maybe not... but once the idea was rooted in my head, there was no way to get it out other than jotting it down. And here it is... my first feels fic that'll likely make me cry with every chapter I write.

Feel free to Fave, Review and Follow to show your support! I'll get back to this in the future by crying my way through a second chapter eventually. Gosh, emotions really suck. Anyway, if you're as done with the feels as I am right now, feel free to check out one of my other stories. Otherwise, take care!

And as always, Happy Reading!