A/N: I created this fanfiction to participate in /r/RWBY's monthly contest. Theme: recovery; Character(s): Ren.

I would also like to dedicate this fanfiction to the great Monty Oum, the creater of the awesome show RWBY and its characters, who recently passed away.

Major thanks to the following people:

editor: Falcyon and Durandal

Beta-readers: Falcyon, Durandal, Hymen Tester and Zentics

It was a nice Wednesday afternoon. The luminous sun shone bright; birds were whistling their chirpy songs. Generally, it was a pleasant day. It was a day of peace and tranquility. You could say it was a Wednesday just like any other Wednesday. At least, it started like that; something, however, was about to break the comfort soon.

Team RWBY was sitting in their dorm, playing Remnant: The Game to pass the time. Weiss was about to deploy some of her military in Vacuo. Ruby, however, having learned quite a lot since they last played, was able to cleverly counter Weiss' attack with her tribal warriors of Vacuo card. When Yang was about to make her move, they suddenly heard a lot of commotion down the hallway. They decided they wanted to check it out, because it was disturbing them.

Ruby decided to take the lead: "I don't think it would be a good idea to take a look because they might think we're spying on them. Blake, can you perhaps hear what's going on, what they're doing and saying, with your Faunus ears?"

Blake looked at her brunette team leader, with judging eyes not pleased about using her Faunus hearing for this. "I'm not sure if that's a smart idea. It's still basically spying and I don't want to breach their privacy."

Ruby's face morphed into a sad, worrying one. "But… what if something's wrong? What if something bad happened?"

Ruby's expression made Blake look away from it. "Alright, fine, I can't ignore that face. I will listen to them for a minute or so." While Blake listened attentively, with her eyes closed so she could focus on her hearing, the other three girls were quiet. Not only because it made it easier for Blake to listen to sounds, but also because they had a foreboding feeling, as if they were about to find out about something that was going to make them worried.

After a while, Blake opened her amber eyes again but they were not the same as the ones she has before she started listening. They were filled to the brim with worries. Again, it was Ruby who took the lead. She felt like she needed to, because she was team RWBY's leader after all. "Blake, are you alright? What did you hear?"

"I… I could hear team JNPR. But there were only three voices. Ren wasn't with them."

Weiss was the first one to interrupt Blake. This was classic Weiss. She was always reluctant to jump to conclusions, especially when they involved some very depressing thoughts. "There's no need to worry right now. It's Wednesday and Ren usually takes long walks on Wednesday's."

"No, there is something to worry about. Someone was crying. It was a girl, it sounded like Nora's voice. The other two didn't talk much. When they did, I couldn't hear what they were saying exactly but I could hear they sounded sad."

Yang hadn't said anything about the matter at all. She thought it was finally time to speak up. "Look, we need to get over there. They are our friends. Something seems to be wrong and this when we comfort them, as friends. That's what friends are for. So I say we go to their room and be there for them in case they need it."

What was said, was done. With Ruby upfront, team RWBY left their dorm and went right across the hall, towards JNPR's dorm. When they arrived, Ruby knocked on the door. "Please go away, we're busy right now and have other things on our minds."

Ruby turned to her team whispered to them that that sounded like Pyrrha's voice and that she even sounded nearly depressed. Then she turned back to the door. "Pyrrha…? Jaune….? Nora…? Are you guys alright? Can we come in? We want to talk to you. Something obviously happened and we are worried. We want to comfort you."

After 15 seconds of silence, the door quietly opened. "Please come in." the red-haired warrior of JNPR said quietly.

Blake noticed that Pyrrha had never sounded this sad before. "Can you please tell us what is wrong now?" the Faunus begged.

Jaune did not look in the right state to say anything at all, Nora was still in floods of tears and it didn't seem she was going to stop any time soon, so naturally, it was up to Pyrrha to tell them what was going on. Even the normally brave girl was barely able to speak.

"We…" Pyrrha sniffed, "We were studying in the library, when we got summoned to Professor Ozpin's office. We immediately realised this was strange, as none of us had done anything wrong. It turned out our suspicions were correct. We were told that…"

Pyrrha broke off in sobbing, unable to continue her story. Blake immediately grabbed her and gave her the biggest hug you could imagine. "It's alright, we can see it's too much to continue. You can continue whenever you like. Hey, I love you, okay?" she reassured her girlfriend.

"Oh god, this is not right. We shouldn't be hugging now. The bad news is that, basically, Ren got attacked by Grimm during his Wednesday walk. He's now in Vale's general hospital. We just came here to get some stuff, after which we plan to go there."

"It is right. You two love each other, and if that helps you deal with the bad news, so be it." Everyone looked at Nora. She had somehow stopped crying, and looked a little happier. Nobody would have guessed that Pyrrha and Blake's relationship had had that effect on her. Nobody even knew about it until now.

"Thank you Nora." They both said simultaneously and started blushing. Even Blake.

Jaune looked at them as well. Everyone thought he had feelings for Pyrrha but he actually never did, so he was glad for them, however he needed to fix things. "Guys, shouldn't we concentrate on some… more important stuff?" Everyone of team JNPR quickly shot in motion after they realised they had forgotten about Ren. Meanwhile, team RWBY was just standing there, not knowing what to do exactly.

It was at that point that Ruby took her role of leader again. "Ehm… Excuse me, but if there is anything we can do for you guys, anything at all, you know you can come to us, right? We can give you support in many ways."

This made Pyrrha realize that team RWBY was in fact also very close to Ren. Maybe her, Nora and Jaune were not the only one who needed support and wanted to visit Ren. "You know… if you're quick, you could perhaps come with us. Professor Ozpin has arranged a Bullhead for our transport, I'm sure it could fit 4 extra people."

That sounded like a good plan to all 4 of them, so they quickly vanished into their own dorm to get some stuff like their scrolls and minutes later, they were all standing in front of the Bullhead. Its crew were still doing some engine checks and other security measures. They spent the time talking about the various things people usually talk about when they receive news like that. They talked about how he had inspired Jaune to train his aura; how unfair it was that it happened to Ren instead of some douchebag in team CRDL; how his parents would feel when they would receive the news. They also reassured each other that he would survive, because Ren was a tough man.

After a little while, the Bullhead was ready for departure. Everybody got on board and the Bullhead almost instantly left. It wasn't a long trip. It only took ten minutes or so to get to the hospital. Once they arrived, they immediately went for the front desk to ask where they could find Ren. Apparently his room was on the third floor somewhere. Once they got there, they were greeted by an elder doctor.

"You children seem lost; are you perhaps here to see Mr. Lie?"

"Yes, who are you? How did you know?"

"My name is Dr. Gildenstern. I'm Mr. Lie's doctor, and since he's the only person around his age, I assumed you were his friends."

Nora immediately stepped forward. She was determined to ask him as many questions as she could while he was here. "Doctor, how is he at the moment?"

"He's not in a good shape. Those Grimm got to him pretty badly. There aren't many parts of his body untouched. It's a miracle that he's even alive."

"Is he going to recover?"

"Hard to say, he's comatose right now. It could take days, weeks, months for him to recover, if he ever does, and right now, it's not looking promising for him.

Nora was fighting to contain her tears so she could ask more questions. "Can we see him right now?"

"Yes you can, but don't all go in at the same time. I'd suggest groups of two. Keep in mind that he's unconscious. Please excuse me, I have to go now."

"Ok thank you Dr. Gildenstern."

They rushed to Ren's hospital room because they were eager to see him. They only had to make a few more steps and go around a corner. When they arrived, they saw Professor Ozpin sitting in a chair in front of what must have been Ren's room. He left quickly after he told Jaune, Nora and Pyrrha what happened so he could already take care of some administrative stuff like insurance.

Nora was getting all hectic and nervous. You could notice it by the way and speed that she used to talk to Ozpin. "Oh Professor, I'm so glad to see you. Have you been able to look at Ren yet? How did they find him. Do you think he would be fine? I want your opinion because I don't trust that doctor telling us the truth." Nora was trying to catch her breath. Running towards the hospital room and the anticipation of seeing Ren was clearly exhausting her.

"Nora, calm down. There's no use in exhausting yourself. His situation will not improve if you destroy yourself mentally. I have indeed seen Ren. It doesn't look pretty. Some people found him in the forest, very beaten up. The Grimm were nowhere to be seen though. It's a miracle he's still alive because Grimm don't usually keep their victim alive. I'm sure the doctor is telling you the truth, but just in case, you can always ask me to tell you the truth. No matter how hard it might be. Now I suggest you go see him with Jaune and Pyrrha, and team RWBY stays outside until you are done."

Jaune, Nora and Pyrrha left their bags with Ozpin, opened the door, and went inside, expecting Ren to looks his worst. This made them a little bit less surprised, but it didn't make it less horrible. Ren was heavily beaten up by the Grimm. He had stitches and a lot of lesser cuts all over his body. Both his legs were enveloped in plaster, most likely because they were both broken. Their hearts sunk even deeper when they saw Ren laying there, so quiet and peacefully, in his bed.

"Oh god, it's even worse than I imagined!" Nora cried out. She went closer to his bed, kneeled down, and started crying on his chest. "I can't believe this is happening. Why must it be Ren? I had so much to tell him and now I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to. I never told him that I actually wanted to be 'together together' with him."

Pyrrha kneeled down next to Nora and embraced her tightly, in an effort to ease her pain, by letting her know she's there for her. "Oh Nora, we have to believe Ren is going to be OK. If we don't, we're just going to assume bad things and it will not benefit Ren. On the contrary even. He may be unconscious but he might still hear us. Right now, we need to be there for him, give him our support."

Nora appeared to cheer up a slight bit after those inspiring words. They stayed in there for another half an hour. Talking about the funny things Ren has done or said, the great things he accomplished... basically, all kinds of memories of him. Afterwards, it was RWBY's turn. Their visit developed almost completely the same way as the other team's. They also recollected some of the nicest memories they experienced with him and, although they didn't know him as well, their support wasn't any smaller than the other's.

Ren's parents arrived the next day. Jaune and Pyrrha were afraid they would not like them being there. Fortunately, Nora knew a lot about them. She had known them since she was only little. Her and Ren had been friends for a very very long time. Ren's parents knew that their son's friends were very important to him, and they didn't mind them being there. Team RWBY really wanted to meet Ren's parents as well but, in contrary to team JNPR, they were not excused from classes. Dealing with the pain was getting increasingly easier, although experiencing what Ren's parents were going through was far from easy, but JNP sort of had to make things easier for themselves, since they were supposed to go back to class the next day. They expected the next day was going to be hard.

It turned out their suspicions were right. Focussing on classes felt like being nearly impossible to them, because they knew that Ren was fighting to hold on to life, in his hospital bed. The only thing that made classes bearable was the anticipation of seeing Ren in the weekend.

That weekend was not actually that noteworthy. RWBY and JNP were there all weekend, despite their homework. They just brought it with them to the hospital. They even taught some things to Ren, as if he was conscious and alive. His medical condition, however, did not improve in the slightest. His life was still in danger, he was still fighting for it. Such was still the case when they left the hospital that sunday night.

Classes during that next week were getting more and more bearable every day. Their daily schedule pretty much consisted of waking up, going to class, and visiting Ren after class. Those visits were the best part of the day. They were glad to see him every day and they teached him a lot of what they learned, in the hope that he was able to hear them. However, those daily visits to Ren were the only thing that made them able to follow the classes properly. Of course, they were gutted when they received news of a school trip they had to go on this weekend, and since they had a test about it, they couldn't stay home for Ren. Even team RWBY was not looking forward of going on that school trip.

And indeed, that class trip was just pure horror. None of them could take their mind of Ren. They were afraid something would happen to him while they were gone. They struck up a deal with Ozpin on Saturday, who also participated in the trip. They would be allowed to skip class on Monday, even team RWBY since they weren't able to see Ren that weekend, much to their joy. After this discussion, they actually enjoyed the remainder of their class trip. In anticipation of visiting Ren the next day, time flew by on Sunday. When they got back home, it was too late to visit Ren so they went to bed as fast as they could. Actual sleeping wasn't really involved that night, since they kept thinking about seeing Ren tomorrow.

In the morning, Nora was getting super-excited. It looked like she ate 6 pounds of sugar. Jaune and Pyrrha were having a hard time calming her down. She even made pancakes, which Jaune and Pyrrha couldn't refuse to eat, although they were not good at all. After brushing their teeth, they met up with team RWBY in the hall.

After seeing how hyperactive Nora was, Yang said, "Wait, what's wrong with her?"

"She's just very very excited to see Ren. I hope for Cardin's sake we don't run into him. I'm not sure what she's capable of in this state." Jaune made sure to keep some distance between him and Nora when he said that. He was obviously afraid of her too.

"Wait, did you say Cardin? I'll break his legs!" Nora even pulled out Magnhild and swung it around, almost hitting Pyrrha in the process.

Pyrrha masterfully dodged the swing of hammer and made Nora put it away. "Easy there, Cardin is nowhere to be seen. He's in class right now."

The 7 of them successfully made it to the Bullhead and even into the hospital without any further incidents. They entered and followed the now known route to Ren's room on floor 3. As they neared Ren's room, they heard a lot of commotion originating from it's general direction. This had the 7 of them worried that something had indeed happened that weekend while they were gone. Right at that moment, Dr. Gildenstern, Ren's doctor passed teams RWBY and JNP.

Nora almost tackled the poor man when she tried to hail him. Her eyes near tears as she was expecting the worst to have happened. "Dr. Gildenstern, Dr. Gildenstern, Did something happen to Ren? Did he die? Please..." Nora sniffed. "Please don't say he died. But if he did, you have to tell me the truth."

"Miss, please calm down. Nothing happened to Ren. In fact, the opposite is true. He woke up yesterday night. He's no longer critical and can even sit upright right now. It's a miracle. I've never seen something like this in my 25 years of being a doctor. I cannot give a medical explanation for this."

"That's because the explanation might not be medical at all." Ozpin was suddenly standing behind them, like he had appeared in a puff of smoke. "I heard about Mr. Ren's remarkable recovery. I came down here as soon as I can. Allow me to explain what I think has happened. I think that Nora's, Jaune's, Pyrrha's and team RWBY's support of Ren when he was unconscious is the medicine that healed him. This is in accordance with one of my main 'Sternlosophies,' if you will. 'There is no better medicine than friendship.' I suggest you go and see him now."

Pyrrha, always way friendlier than she should be, made a stupid suggestion. "Since team RWBY were second when we first got to see him, I suggest they should go first now."

Ruby immediately waved that suggestion away. "We can't accept that offer Pyrrha. You guys are his team, the ones closest to him. You will literally spend almost every day with him until we graduate. And you will probably even stay in close contact with him afterwards. Therefore, you guys should be the first." She sounded much more mature than normal. It was due to the weight of the whole situation weighing down on her. She waved them into the room quickly.

Before entering the room, Nora threw a quick, thankful look in RWBY's direction. When they looked into the room, it looked exactly the same as they remembered. It looked pretty much like any hospital room. White walls and medical equipment. Of course there was also a bed, which, at that moment, was the most special object in the entire room. Because… that bed… it contained who Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha have spent so much time with, who they were so worried about. Ren looked up when he noticed somebody entered the room. He was already eating things, a good sign. "Nora? Jaune? Pyrrha?"

Nora could not contain herself anymore. She almost threw herself onto him when she remembered that Ren had only just recovered and that that was probably not a good idea. Instead, she hugged him very tightly. "Oh Ren, I've missed you so so much, you cannot believe it."

"Oh, Nora, could you please decrease the pressure a little bit? I'm kind of suffocating." This was followed by Nora hugging him a little more gently and a swift apology. "I've missed you as well. Every time you visited. I could still hear you. Every time I heard your voice, I wanted to wake up, but I couldn't. It was so frustrating. But I knew I couldn't give up. I had to keep fighting. For you guys. Oh, and thanks for keeping me up to date with classes by the way."

Nora suddenly started blushing. She realized something when Ren said he could hear anything they said. "Did you really hear every little thing we said? Also some things that I have been wanting to say for a long time to you but never could?"

Ren couldn't hide his smile when he figured out what Nora was talking about. "Oh, I think I know what you mean. Let me tell you something. I have also fallen in love with you recently. I started feeling something more than just friendship. I would say you conquered my heart but you already did so many years ago. Instead, I will say that I guess we are 'together together' now. And…"

Nora didn't let him end his sentence. She cupped both her hands on his cheeks and kissed him gently, so she wouldn't hurt him too much. Ren was able to return it, albeit even more gently. Meanwhile, team RWBY had quietly entered the room because they couldn't wait any longer. When Blake saw Nora and Ren kissing, she also had the urge to do the same with Pyrrha. She tapped Pyrrha's shoulder and when she turned around, Blake touched her arm, looked into her eyes and started kissing her tenderly.

When Ren and Nora ended their kiss, Pyrrha's and Blake's was still going on. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. When did that happen?" Ren exclaimed, eyes wide. Blake and Pyrrha jumped. They had forgotten that they hadn't revealed their relationship around Ren.

Blake sort of ended the kiss so she could answer Ren's question but Pyrrha intervened. "No, Blake, let me handle this question. It had been going on for a while, secretly. But it sorta got known when Blake started kissing me when we heard about you. I guess she kissed me to keep our minds busy with something else."

Ren seemed to be satisfied with that answer. They spent the rest of the day talking about what had happened when Ren was unconscious, some of the funny thing she missed. For the first time in a long time, both teams felt very happy again. Ren still had to stay in the hospital for a day or two. Just to be certain. When the others had to leave, he said something to conclude the visit. "Before you go, I really want to thank you all for supporting me when I was… ill. It really was your support that caused this miracle. Your support is the reason why I'm still alive. Your support is the reason why we can call this a remarkable recovery."

A/N: Thank you all so much for sacrificing some of your time to read this.

If you liked this, you could always consider favoriting the story or me. Also take the time to vote for me on /r/RWBY's Moncon, if you want to.