Ruby wasn’t sure how far she’d run, nor where she’d even gone. All she’d known was that she had to get out of there.
She’d panicked, exploded on her friends, and she felt horrible, but also paradoxically almost better? Or at least for a while. It was like letting some air out of an overinflated balloon.
It helped or felt like it did, but she was quickly feeling overwhelmed again.
She slowed down and stopped, trying to take deep breaths as she looked at her once beloved weapon and the edge of the chasm she’d stopped in front of.
It felt like the earth was shaking, the ground rumbling as she looked at it. Despite how stupid it was with Neo clearly still out there she couldn’t take it anymore.
She hurled the weapon with all her might expecting the rumbling to stop. Only it didn’t.
She did hear an exclamation of pain as well as Little’s big gulp of air as a shadow fell across her.
“Well now youngin it ain’t nice to throw away something without checkin’ to see if yer fixing to hit a person. Why I’d say you’re libel to get someone less sturdy than little old me,” A strong voice with a deep accent said, causing Ruby to flinch.
“Sorry. I was just so angry and I just didn’t mean to hurt you and…” Ruby trailed off as she looked up at the giant tree that used to be in the distance now standing in the giant chasm where she’d thrown her weapon.
“Ain’t never seen a talking tree before missy?” The tree asked humorously, its large voluminous branches parting to reveal a face in the middle with a mustache. It also had a pair of spectacles for some reason.
“You're the tree. The one we’ve been trying to get to get home,” Ruby stated blankly, still not really processing what was happening.
“That’s right Doctor Treezus Deadwood the third, but you can just call me Treezus if you want on account o’ that being my name, but if you do then please do recollect that I earned my title so Doctor Treezus would be the correct way to address me,” The tree said pride in his voice at the mention of his doctorate.
“I’ve never met a tree with a doctorate before,” Ruby admitted before Little piped up.
“Me neither. Hi, I’m Little!”
“Howdy partner. I’m Doctor Treezus,” The tree said softly, for him, as a gentle calming breeze wafted over them and a very tiny branch grew from his massive arm that was small enough for Little to shake, which they did in short order.
“Now that we’re all acquainted, what with the pleasantrees out of the way, what say we get ready to mosey over to my place? So we can talk about how to get you outta here.”
“Wait Mister Treezus, Doctor, I mean. My uh friends they uh want to go back too. Can we get them? I kinda ran away but they still deserve to go home. I can uh sacrifice myself to sate your hunger or something if you’ll get them home!” Ruby yelled at the tree which stared dumbfounded at her.
“Why in the world would you do something like sacrifice yourself to me? Brothers yer a nice kid but you ain't got the sense the brother’s gave a lien,” Treezus said shaking her head, or what appeared to be his head.
“You know what a lien is?” Ruby asked awestruck.
“I’m a bridge between the world's lil miss. That means I get an inkling of stuff on both sides even if I reside here physically if you catch my meaning. If you don’t then don’t bother thinking about it or It'll just leaf yer head hurting ya here?” Treezus joked as Ruby gave a small grin despite the situation.
“Now I assume these friends are about like you? I don’t mean to assume but usually when your kind show up it’s usually together and you all know one another,” Treezus asked and Ruby nodded.
“That should make this easy then. Just sit right tight a spell after you get on,” Treezus said, putting down a comfortable branch that Ruby scrambled onto.
To her delight there was a small hole she could sit in that was hollow and made a perfect seat so she didn’t have to worry about falling.
“I’ve never been this high before!” Little explained as Ruby gave them a small pat on the head and looked around.
“Ah there we go. Is that giant rabbit thing with you?”
“I…they’re with Jaune,” Ruby answered and then when Treezus gave her a quizzical look, and wow she didn’t know trees could do that, she elaborated.
“Blond? Has a beard? Wears shirts? Banana hair?” Ruby tried as Treezus let out a mighty guffaw that blasted over the landscape uprooting lesser anchored rocks and trees.
“I see em now one sec,” the tree said and with an absurd speed Ruby couldn’t even fathom the rest of her team, and Jaune were in branches similar to her own, with Juniper in a small cage although she seemed remarkably unbothered by it.
Then again they’d been with Jaune for years so they were probably used to weird things.
Ruby yelped when she saw that Neo was lunging toward her she was restrained by several quickly growing tree branches.
“I know we’ve just met but I’ve already got my chlorophyll of you,” Treezus said sternly looking at Neo who appeared terrified at the giant tree speaking to her.
“Oh my brothers,” Weiss said upon hearing the pun.
“I love them,” Yang declared with a large grin nearly vibrating in place.
“Ruby!” Weiss cried out having noticed her, face sad and eyes watery with unshed tears.
“Now for those that don’t know me. I am Dr. Treezus Deadwood, but Doctor Treezus will do fine, and I hear you folks are lookin fer a way home is that right?” Treezus asked, raising a brow above his face…somehow.
“Y..yeah,” Blake said looking nervous about being held by a giant tree as she looked around, concentrated and looked terrified.
“That’s right. None ‘o yer fancy powers will work while yer touching any part of me. Now if you want to go back home I have ta give that approval,” Treezus said as he settled back down on his original plot of land.
“Oh good to rest my roots back home,” Treezus said as the ground shuddered a bit as he re-acclimated himself.
“How do we get that approval?” Jaune asked silently, clearly still upset at the loss of the paper pleasers.
“That’s easy. Ye see, like I said, I am Doctor Treezus. I got a fancy degree and everything. I’m a therapist. We can’t let you go back to your world all messed up so until I deem you ready we’ll be having therapy sessions. Ain’t that a grand old thing?”
Treezus then glared at Neo. “I can still hear yer thoughts. A young lady like you shouldn’t be thinkin’ bout stuff like that.”
“She’s a killer,” Yang offered her own two lien as she glared at the mute girl who responded with a glare of her own.
“I can see we’re gonna have a long session on our hands,” Treezus said with a sigh.
“Just so you know young man, what you were doing to the paper pleasures wasn’t helping. I can appreciate your attempts but you were interfering with their natural life cycles.”
“But I could help them, save them! They didn’t have to die! No one else had to die!” Jaune begged the tree to understand.
“I know ye had a hard life. Goodness me you had seven older sisters ‘ain’t no one gonna say you didn’t!” Treezus laughed at his own joke as the others looked a bit awkward.
“Ah right. I reckon this is more of a one on one session so if ye’d be so kind as to take a nap,” Treezus said as the others felt their eyes closing against their wills as Treezus began speaking with Jaune once more.
“Why do you have suspenders?” Jaune asked rudely as though the thought just occurred to him.
“Why to hold up my mighty fine pants of course!” Treezus replied, and sure enough in addition to the suspenders he had the brightest pair of golf shorts held up with suspenders Jaune had ever seen.
Coco would consider it a crime against humanity and Faunus he was sure.
Jaune put it out of his mind and vented, raved, screamed, cried, and through it all Treezus stood there and listened.
“Seems a might egotistical of you don’t ya think?” Treezus interrupted at long last.
Jaune blinked, dumbfounded, so Treezus elaborated.
“Yer taking responsibility for almost every terrible thing that’s happened in your whole life even if ye weren’t around for it. A lot like that lass over there,” Treezus said, nodding toward Ruby.
Jaune hadn’t noticed but Weiss had ended up sitting next to her somehow but he hadn’t seen her move.
“Seems you have to think quite highly of yourself to think you could have done or were the cause of most of it,” Treezus said as Jaune blinked, having never actually thought of that before.
“Now I won’t say you did things perfectly, but yer a good kid, age notwithstanding. The one who killed yer girl, this Cinder Fall, and this Neo who caused the flood are two examples of things you didn’t really have much control over. You did yer best, and really that’s all anyone can ask of you.”
“But Cinder tried to kill Weiss because she thought I cared about her like Pyrrha!” Jaune argued.
“And I said,” Treezus said harshly as a fierce wind blew over Jaune’s face, cowing him in an instant. “That you weren’t perfect. That was a big old screw up on your part, taunting some gal like that and not expecting her to retaliate in some way because you got mad she ‘ain’t remember you.”
“Yeah. I guess it was,” Jaune said, agreeing as the tree boomed with laughter.
“See! We’re making progress already. Now you sit right here a spell while I have another one on one treetment session eh?” Treezus said and Jaune groaned, already hating the puns.
“No respect I tell ya. Get ta bed now,” Treezus commanded and so Jaune slumbered.
“I feel like you not laughing at my puns is almost treeson,” Treezus said as Neo glared as best she could at the large tree.
“Alright, fine. Think it on me little one,” Treezus said and ignored how she glared harder at that comment on her height.
“Why in the afterlife are you blaming it all on the red girl?” Treezus asked after Neo, reluctantly complied with his requests.
“Well there’s no need for a fine lady like you to use such foul language! Besides are you really fixin' to tell me that you think what you and that Roman fella were doing was right?
That killing all them innocent folks indirectly isn’t somehow gonna catch up to you? Or did ye think you were special? That only your pain mattered?” Treezus asked, seeming far less welcoming than mere moments ago as the sky began to darken.
His faced loomed over Neo who started to shake even as she tried to escape the grip her had on her.
“Did you?”
Neo shook her head frantically at that even as the branches constricting her tightened just a bit more making her stop moving.
“Young lady, I rather don’t like liars. Especially when I can tell yer true feelings about things. Perhaps you can start being honest with me, and yerself. I’m afraid that’s rather…mandatree,” Treezus said, slipping back into a more laid back tone of voice.
Neo sighed. This was gonna be a long day.
“Please no. Just put me back to sleep,” Weiss whimpered as she heard yet another pun.
“Well I was thinking we’d have a bit o’ fun before we started talking about your failures, and what you hope to get from these therapy sessions.”
“A way home, and I don’t feel like telling patients how they failed is a good idea,” Weiss said unable to resist offering her own opinion.
“Young lady, I have been a therapist for longer than your entire world has existed, since before humans were first destroyed. I’m well aware of what you’re tryin’ to do, and how stubborn you think you are, but me?” Treezus said, pointing to himself with a large branch. “I got all the time in the world, literally,” Treezus’s smile seemed a bit more menacing this time.
“But if you like we can mix it up. Talk about good and go to something bad, and so on,” Treezus offered magnanimously.
“I think I might prefer that,” Weiss answered, although she seemed uncertain.
“Very well then,” Treezus said, settling down. “We can talk about how you think you did as a partner all the way til now. I’m sure your actions recently will definitely match up with your ones on the way to ‘yer home.”
Weiss gulped as the tree loomed over her before she cut her eyes over to Ruby who remained asleep and peaceful for the first time in a long time Weiss was just now realizing.
“Don’t you worry, it’s not time for couple’s therapy yet,” Treezus assured her as he hummed and ignored her deeply red face.
“But we’re not!” Weiss squeaked as Treezus shushed her and reached a hand up and put a branch seemingly into the sky and smacked his lips.
“Interesting. So old Salem is still around. New look though, and what’s this?…Fas-cin-ating,” Treezus mumbled which meant it was basically being screamed at Weiss who winced.
“Pardon me for being so rude. Now as I was saying, were you really going to lie to me and tell me you don’t have any feeling outside of friendship for that sleeping one over there?”
“It’s…complicated,” Weiss admitted, the best she could do for now.
“It always is with you types,” Treezus sighed as two branches sprouted and cleaned his glasses before setting them back on his 'face' once more.
“Well I certainly can’t make you love someone, but everyone, almost everyone does deserve to be loved so gimmie one second here,” Treezus said, putting his branches back into the air and Weiss watched the sky ripple as he went through it.
“That’ll do then,” Treezus said.
“What was that?” Weiss asked beyond curious.
“Just a little insurance in case, or reward I guess you could say. Depends how you wanna look at it. It’ll be funny either way. You do have two hands right?” Treezus asked as Weiss shot him a deadpan look and held up her hands.
“Most humans or Faunus do.”
In response Treezus raised an eyebrow and gently dangled Yang by her metal hand.
“She lost it, but she was born with two, you piece of overgrown driftwood!”
Weiss tensed when Treezus leaned awfully close to her.
“I’m sorry?”
“Now just so you know I don’t accept any Treechery in my sessions!” Treezus wiggled his eyebrows and chortled as Weiss sighed in relief that she wasn’t about to become splinters.
“Can I ask what your powers are by the way? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to them,” Weiss asked.
“I’m basically god on this side. Not even the brother gods would try to countermand me in my own realm. I’m pretty limited in your realm though,” Treezus admitted.
“Is that how you got your degree?”
“Nah I went to Afteran U. Home of the Jabberwalkers! GO AU!” Treezus cheered which rattled Weiss’s bones.
“I…see,” Weiss said even though she really didn’t.
“At any rate I can’t influence much from this side. I can’t raise the dead on your side or anything, or just get rid of Salem. Maybe if she fell into this side I could do that, but I can make some…minor changes to your benefit. You’ll find out if you get back there,” Treezus dismissed.
“I assure you I am more than capable of passing whatever test you have for me!” Weiss said her old competitive streak rearing back up.
“Ain’t that right? Oh good I was so glad we could talk all about things between you and the flower girl, and then all about your family. Won’t that be fun?”
“I’ve made a mistake…”
“Treegic. Now you best get ready cause it’s not time for couple or group therapy just yet so let’s get to gettin or I’ll never leaf you alone! I guarantree you’ll feel better afterward or my name isn’t Doctor Treezus!”
Weiss’s horrified whimpering was ignored.
“So what’s it like being a giant tree?” Yang asked as she alternated looking between Blake, the massive tree and the various signs hung all over him.
So far she had seen leaf, laugh, love, and Happileaf Ever After.
“I imagine it’s like being a human except for all the ways it’s different,” Treezus said and Yang nodded as if that made perfect sense to her.
Shockingly to Treezus it seemed to.
“So are you gonna punish me?” Yang asked with a grin.
“Oh young lady, I can already tell we’re gonna have great chemistree!”
“Hell yeah!” Yang said, putting out her hand for a high-five Treezus granted with a smaller branch he caused to grow on the fly.
“I hope the rest of the session is this fun!”
“I can assure you they won’t be arboring, as long as yer honest with little old me,” Treezus assured her.
“Alright so lay it on me I guess. I’ve never really had a therapy session with a tree before to be honest with you,” Yang confided.
“That’s all right. We’ll get through this. Now we need to talk about a lot of things including your brand new relationship!”
“What’s wrong with Blake?” Yang asked with narrowed eyes.
“Why nothing, but it also ain’t normal to feel the need to write songs when they go take out the trash because you miss them so much. That’s approaching some unhealthy levels of dependency. Now we’ll cover it more in couples therapy and when I do my one on one with her, but for now let’s talk about you Miss Yang Xiao Long,” Treezus said.
“You can just call me Yang by the way. My full name is way too…Xiao Long to say every time,” Yang said as Treezus chortled, unleashing a pleasant summer breeze over her.
“Where’s Yang?” Blake asked her eyes darting around, “Ruby? Weiss? Jaune? Little?”
“Hold yer horses and don’t fall to pieces young one they’re fine. See here?” Treezus asked, holding up a branch containing all her friends, and Neo who were slumbering inside the hollows of the branch.
“Now what should we talk about?” Treezus pondered for a moment as Blake looked at him, her eyes a mix of awe and worry.
“Do you have a book I can get your autograph in?” Blake asked as Treezus somehow managed to tilt his head, or near enough.
“I just…like fairy tales, and maybe when she’s feeling better Ruby will like it too,” Blake said, shooting a glance toward her sleeping team leader.
“I have my prescription pad I could use I suppose, but first we need to talk all about you miss Bell-o-donna. From your early life,” Treezus said as an image of her parents and Ilia appeared, “to your early adult life,” an image of Adam, Sienna, and still Ilia, “to now,” an image of her team and Salem beyond them.
“Can I…sit next to Yang while we talk?” Blake asked timidly.
“Course you can, but she won’t be waking up for this,” Treezus said as he placed her beside her partner once Blake nodded that she understood.
“Now let’s get started shall we?”
Ruby blinked as she came to, her mind struggling to catch up to what had happened before. She’d run off, tried to throw away her weapon…the TREE!
Ruby gasped at the tree silently observed her.
“I see your back among the living!” Treezus joked as Ruby awkwardly tried to shift a bit.
“Now, now no reason to give me such a wide birch is there?” Treezus said slyly.
“It’s like an even bigger Yang, or dad,” Ruby bemoaned her lot in life as let her head drop to the side and winced as she slammed her head into a sheet of white she hadn’t noticed.
“Weiss!” Ruby cried out ignoring her aching head.
“Now, now, she’s fine, little flower. I just thought partners should be next to each other. Make everything easier for couples therapy,” Treezus said, heedless of Ruby’s flush.
“But we don’t. Weiss is…the thing with Jaune and Pyrrha and…” Ruby trailed off.
“I see we have much to talk about, but trust me. I read minds. Say you have two hands right?” Treezus asked as Ruby blinked at the apparent non-sequitur.
“Uh yeah, why?”
“Just wanted to check was all,” Treezus brushed the question off.
“Now where would you like to start? We can start with your mother, your father, your partner, your horrible habit of thinking you have to do everything when you don’t, or any other number of things,” Treezus offered.
“Uh Mister…” Ruby started and then at his glare corrected herself. “Doctor Treezus can I ask a question first?”
“Absolutely! These sessions are for you to feel safe, comfortable, and help you work through everything so ask away!”
“You said we’re doing….couple’s therapy right? Which is why Yang and Blake are next to each other right?” Ruby asked softly and Treezus nodded.
“Why are Neo and Jaune next to each other then?”
“Confidential,” Treezus said quickly. “Now let’s start shall we?”
“I just worry you know? After my…Raven left, and Summer vanished I guess I just sometimes well,” Yang said as she squeezed Blake’s hand with her own.
“I know, and what I did didn’t help matters either, but we’re so much stronger now. I’m so happy you’re with me,” Blake confided in her with a small smile as her ears flicked in joy. “But Treezus-”
“Doctor Treezus,” the tree interrupted.
“Doctor Treezus is right. We should probably still make sure we have some time to ourselves to hang out with our friends. Goodness knows I haven’t spent nearly enough time with Ruby considering we might be proper family soon,” Blake teased.
“Yeah I’d hate for my little sister to fight with you. You said you two had a good talk earlier?” Yang confirmed.
“We did. We both admitted we hadn’t spent as much time together as we needed to, and we’re going to have a book club and some other activities ready when we have time. How did yours and Ruby’s go?”
“Really great actually…well once we got passed the screaming, and crying. I…was kinda not focusing on her as much as I should, and she admitted she hadn’t come to me, or any of us like she needed to. The Doc said she need to leaf all her baggage here,” Yang said with a wink and Blake could almost swear she heard Weiss groan even though she was asleep.
“Yer sister was nearly stumped when she had to let it all out and had things explained to her. Yer headmaster is someone I’d certainly like to have another word with. Ornery fella,” Treezus said.
“How’d yours with Neo go?” Yang asked Blake as she did her best to ignore the tree for now.
“Weird, but we never really hated each other so I guess it wasn’t that bad, you and Jaune?”
“Eh it was fine. I did punch him once though,” Yang admitted as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Yang,” Blake said although her twitch at the corner of her lips gave away her amusement.
“Percussive Therapy. Useful in the right circumstances,” Treezus added his input from the side.
“Why did you put Jaune with Neo on the same branch by the way?” Yang asked.
“Confidential.”
“Figured.”
Neo signed angrily at the idiot she was being partnered with. Ok he wasn’t that bad, but sometimes he could be.
He’d swing from being wildly agreeable and easy to get along with to getting on her nerves almost as much as Ruby did.
Thinking about the red caped girl got her another light smack in the back of her head from the giant tree.
She flipped him off in her mind which he snorted at and continued thinking. She had no idea how long they’d actually been talking to the tree since she was continually put in and out of sleep, and the one time she’d asked he’d just told her not to bother.
“And I stand by that. We gotta get to the root of the problem!”
It was a good thing she didn’t have her weapon or she’d have used it to kill herself by this point.
“And that’s reason three hundred and forty one why you should stop trying to kill Ruby, and join our team to try and stop Salem,” Jaune continued to read his list that Neo wasn’t paying much if any attention to, and wondered why she had to be paired with him of all people.
“Confidential.”
That figured.
Neo signed and then remembered he had no idea what she was saying and started thinking at the tree.
“She wants to know how and why you had a list like that,” Treezus translated for her.
“Oh this was actually Weiss’s but she dropped it so I just figured I’d use it. The white-haired girl,” Jaune clarified and Neo rolled her eyes.
Just because she hate…she cut herself off as the branch rustled and amended her thoughts, strongly disliked and disagreed with Ruby, the branch lowered and she sighed. Just because she was focused on Ruby didn’t mean she didn’t know who the others were.
She had to know her targets after all.
“She said she thinks you have complimentary accessories and color pallets,” Treezus said to Jaune and Neo gaped at him
SHE CERTAINLY DID NOT THINK THAT!
“Oh, well thanks I think you’re rather pretty too,” Jaune complimented her sincerely.
“She says thank you, and that you’re rather handsome but you should probably clean your armor more often.”
This was hell. She took it all back. She would give up on avenging Roman, and getting back at Ruby just let her out of this hellhole.
Not even Salem would inflict this level of punishment on her, and WHY WAS SHE BLUSHING?
“She says she’s over it now,” Treezus translated for Neo actually correctly at this point.
“Oh cool. Friends?” Ruby asked, stretching her hand out.
“She says not to push your luck,” Treezus translated and Neo thanked whatever deity existed that he did it properly this time.
“You’re welcome,” Treezus said simply.
God damn it.
Treezus chuckled heartily causing them to be pushed to the side as the near gale force winds pushed them down for a moment.
Still at least Ruby was easier to deal with than the others all threatening her various harm if she tried anything again, and Weiss, she would just not stop prattling on and on until she had the tree relay that she wouldn’t touch her little girlfriend at which point she’d gone red and began stammering like you wouldn’t believe.
“Don’t you worry they’re the last to go,” Treezus assured her as if she actually cared before it suddenly pulled her next to his face, and horrifically sharp looking teeth.
“That’s about enough sassafras out of you I think,” Treezus said mildly although Neo was fairly sure she’d just been insulted.
“You have been.”
GOD DAMN IT! What did she have to do to get out of this?
She felt her body twisted until she was looking at Ruby’s outstretched arm.
Why did she have to change for this? She wasn’t going to try and kill her anymore so why did she have to be friends with her?
“It’ll be easier on account o' certain circumstances,” Treezus said shaking Jaune lightly.
She didn’t have a choice did she?
“Of course you do!” Treezus said, managing to sound offended somehow as he snapped his suspenders which of course he had.
Suggestions you couldn’t ignore were basically orders.
“Huh, well that’s true enough. If you’d rather stay here then by all means lemme know and I’ll find a right nice spot to put you in.”
Ugh fine whatever she’d shake her hand or something.
“Splendid.”
She hated it here. She felt the smack on the back of her head and grumbled.
“I guess I was just…taking you for granted. I was scared,” Weiss admitted to Ruby who was clearly in tears as she tightly grabbed Weiss’s hands.
“Of what? Did I make you scared? I never meant to,” Ruby said tearfully.
“You did but not in the way you think. I’ve almost never really felt the way I do about you about anyone before. I was…scared. Terrified. My mother thought she loved my father, and spent ten years married to him before he revealed his true colors.
I know you’re not like that, but I was so scared that something would happen, and it would tear us apart. That we’d never have that happy ending because of it, and so I did what I shouldn’t have done and distanced myself.
I didn’t help take on your burdens, didn’t even ask, and took you for granted. I was…such a brat," Weiss admitted, head low.
“Weiss I didn’t ask for help either even though I should have. I took so much on my shoulders by my own choice and it made me angry, spiteful at my family and the one person I should never be mad at…Zwei,” Ruby joked before she giggled and Weiss followed suit.
“There’s something else that made me realize what my heart felt long ago,” Weiss said only to stop at a loud crunching as she turned to see the Doctor was consuming large quantities of acorns that made a deafening sound.
She glared and the Doctor sighed. “Elm putting them down,” Treezus said as he lowered the next branch full of nuts.
“My summons are perhaps the most true version of myself. No layers, no pretenses. There’s almost no one my summons adore like they do you,” Weiss informed her honestly.
“Is that why Baconator always wants tummy rubs? And Larry let’s me fly around?” Ruby asked.
“It’s also why Baconator doesn’t try to gore you for the name. Larry is pretty pleased with his though,” Weiss said, sounding confused about that.
“Weiss I just…you’ve always been there for me, and,” Ruby trailed off for a moment. “I just thought that thing with Jaune earlier…”
Weiss flushed a moment. “If I may be…truthful with you,” Weiss said and Ruby nodded. “I’m actually more attracted to maturity than Jaune. I was just surprised it seemed to come out of nowhere with him. Between the two of you there’s no choice. I chose you once already didn’t I?” Weiss asked.
“You mean in the forest,” Ruby said.
“Yes, exactly. I left, but then I went and saw Jaune, and Pyrrha’s spear. It would have been easy for me to find a way to get Pyrrha to make eye contact with me and make her my partner then, but Ruby,” Weiss said gently pressing her fingers into her partners chest to make her point.
“I. Chose. You, and I’ll never stop. Now that I know how much it was hurting you…if you’ll have me I never want to be apart from you again,” Weiss said as Ruby wiped tears from her eyes.
“At first, I kinda thought I hated you. You were such a bratty princess,” Ruby teased as Weiss smiled softly at her. “But you’re the coolest person I know, and I guess what I’m trying to say Weiss is that I-”
Ruby’s confession was cut short as a sob echoed through the land and Treezus began bawling.
“IT’S JUST SO CUTE!”
Weiss turned to Ruby with an annoyed look.
“I like you, and you like me. We’re dating now right?” Weiss asked to hurry the process along.
“Yeppers!” Ruby replied as she gently leaned in against the slightly frigid winds and exchanged a simple and heartfelt kiss.
“Well I’ll be. You did it! I daresay you’re ready to go back now!” Treezus said clearly excited.
The group was held up on Treezus’s hand as he began to stretch his limb out to return them to Remnant.
“Thank you for everything Doctor Treezus," Jaune said sincerely as the others, excluding Neo gave him nods of gratitude before a small branch flicked the back of her head and she followed suit and bowed as well.
“It was my pleasure. You’ve all graduated from your therapy and and ready to return to your lives. Now before you do however I have one small change to make to you, young man,” Treezus said as he poked Jaune who suddenly seemed to reverse in age until he was as he was before they’d fallen as Neo eyed him more appreciatively now that…GOD DAMN TREE!
Neo heard a cackle in her mind and dutifully ignored it by standing slightly closer to him…because she wanted to and of her own free will damn it.
“There you go. Any last questions before I set you off now?”
“Any chance you know any secrets to help against Salem?” Ruby asked hopefully as she took her copy of the autograph Blake had gotten for her earlier.
“I know she’s allergic to sour candy like lemon drops. Horribly actually. Swells right up and explodes. It’s very funny since she keeps doing it over and over until the reaction stops. Might help,” Treezus offered off-hand.
“I’ve never made a sniper that shoots candy before,” Ruby admitted.
“Sounds like a fun project for ye then. Now then you best get to gettin, and if you see old Ozma tell him I don’t appreciate him killing himself to get out o’ his therapy sessions by reincarnating. Very against the spirit of things,” Treezus said with a sigh as he started raising his hand up before Weiss stopped him.
“Wait! Where are we going to come out at? It won’t be in the middle of some Grimm pool or something will it?” Weiss asked worriedly.
“Now you don’t have to worry about that little missy. Don’t underestimate my qualeafications! I’ll bring you right to that little surprise I mentioned I had for you and the flower.”
And with that they were suddenly cast through the looking glass as it were with everything distorting before they were suddenly flung albeit gently through the air to land near what looked like some sort of safe house.
Weapons out they entered the home waiting to see what they would find with Weiss summoning a small Beowolf to enter first.
While they waited they checked and made sure Juniper, now around the size of a normal rabbit, and Little, still small, adorable, and sleeping were fine.
Upon getting the ok from her summon they entered the small safe house.
To their delight Uncle Qrow was there and asleep! And Robyn, and Pietro although they were around a bed with a figure in it that was sleeping.
They looked familiar but Weiss couldn’t say why, which was even stranger as her Beowolf leapt onto the bed and went to bed.
“Should we wake them up?” Yang asked.
“I mean we should probably let them sleep. Brothers know I feel like I could sleep for a week,” Weiss complained.
“Yeah let’s do that. There’s plenty of space here I think,” Ruby said as everyone agreed and went to bed.
No one pointed out Neo ended up sleeping on Jaune’s armor as he slept in said armor, or that Blake and Yang took a room and locked the door.
Ruby and Weiss merely sat on the floor by the bed and Qrow and began fiddling with some paper.
“Did you think about what kind of candy you’re going to fire at her?” Weiss asked amusedly.
“Nah that’s what I got you and the others for. I’ve learned my lesson,” Ruby said as Weiss laid a head on her shoulder and they slowly began to talk about Ruby’s ridiculous candy weapon.
They eventually fell asleep as the figure in the bed turned slightly and curled into them.
“Just as planned,” Treezus said with a smirk before he flicked a Jabberwalker that was too close to his roots in the face obliterating it.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Maybe even live happileaf ever after.”
