Hello everyone! This is my first RWBY and specifically Renora fanfiction (Yeah! OTP!). I plan for this to be a story that follows Ren and Nora from the end of Volume 3 on, I will be focusing on the progression of their relationship from friends to the newly canon couple that they are now (Hell Yes!) The rating of this story may be taken up to an M eventually, but we will see. Sorry if any of the characters seem OOC, I'm still getting used to writing them. Thank you so much for reading! Now Read and enjoy and please comment what you think when you are done or if there is anything you would like to see.

The battle was over, the smoke had settled. The medics had just taken Blake and Yang away and Nora and Ren were trying their best to support each other as they waited for more medics to come. Ren had finally been able to get to his feet, and although he felt as if he had been hit by a truck, he was at least able to move. Nora was a different story; she had been hit harder by the robot. She had allowed Ren to look her over, and he had found that along with a few minor bruises and cuts along her arms and legs, it almost looked like her torso was covered in a giant bruise (Ren could guess that there were probably a few broken ribs, but at her small gasp of pain when she tried to hide it convinced him not to panic), along with a sprained ankle. Nora's injures weren't grave, but she would need medical attention eventually.

They sat together on the tarmac. As Ren knelt next to Nora, they were watching the dragon Grimm circle the tower, as Nora was squeezing Ren's hand in her's as they watched. Sun was standing not far from them, along with others who didn't require medical attention, nobody spoke as they watched. Gasps could be heard when the dragon came closer to the tower. Nora clutched his hand tighter and he turned to look at her.

There was so much fear in her eyes. It always broke his heart whenever he saw his best friend this way, but he understood what she was thinking, he was thinking the same thing. They still didn't know where the other half of their team was. Jaune and Pyrrha were still missing, and last they had seen them was when they were heading to the tower, followed by Ruby and Weiss only a few minutes ago.

Ren felt the knot in his stomach tighten as the dragon came closer to the tower yet again and he heard a small whimper come from Nora. He shifted in order to put his arm around her to pull her closer when the dragon crashed into the tower, knocking the top part off.

"No!" Nora's screams mixed in the with the other outbursts of fear that came from around them.

Ren felt shocked, but they still watched. They could now make out small flashes of light coming from the top of the tower. Ren closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity was out there that the flashes meant that it was a friend who was winning. It was only a few seconds after the flashes stopped that someone let out a cry and Ren noticed a white light that seemed to be growing at fast from the top of the tower.

Without thinking he jumped in front of Nora, clenching her to his chest and blocking her as everyone else blocked their faces from the burning light.

Nora let out a small sob into his chest. She grabbed onto his shirt, as he buried his head into her hair and inhaled the sweet scent that was Nora. He closed his eyes from the light and felt the heat on his back.

Just as quickly as it came, the light dimmed, and chaos began. People were rushing around, yelling. The medics had apparently returned and were trying to find who needed medical attention, but were struggling to make their way through the panicked crowds.

People were running around when Ren pulled away slightly to look down at Nora. Her face was covered in tears that he hadn't noticed were soaking his shirt. Her wide, sky blue eyes looked up at him and he felt transported.

All of a sudden it was the night of his parents' deaths again and he was under the building with Nora as chaos went on all around them. He saw her as the little girl again, in dirty clothes that were ripped and about two or three sizes too small for her, her vibrant orangish red hair matted and knotted. She was shaking in his arms with the tears falling down her cheeks, showing the fear of someone who knew what it was like to have your family torn away was present once again in her eyes.

He lifted his hand and used his thumb to wipe away her tears as she looked into his eyes. He saw her lips form the names of their teammates.

"They're going to be okay." Ren answered, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself.

His words seemed to have an affect as Nora nodded and gave him a weak smile. It was small, but it was an improvement.

He looked up and saw Sun talking to some of the medics and pointing towards where they were. It was moments later that he felt someone trying to wrench Nora from his grasp. On instinct he tightened his grasp on her before he felt people prying on his arms.

As they managed to released her from his grasp he saw the fear return with even more strength to her eyes.

"Ren!" Her frantic cry rose above the chaos. He felt as if the knot was going to tear through his body; his blood ran cold and adrenaline pumped through him, making his pain seem like nothing compared to the pain in his heart caused by the panicking Nora and the fact that they were trying to separate her from him.

He struggled against the hands that held him back as someone lifted Nora and started to drag the flailing girl in the opposite direction. He felt the panic blossom in his chest as they managed to pick the injured Nora up.

Suddenly the rational side of him kicked in and knew what he had to do. He forced himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath as he heard Nora's yells pierce through him. He forced himself to take a deep breath and relax his muscles against the grips on him as much as he could.

"Let go of me." He growled dangerously low, "She's my partner."

He felt the hands on him relax their grip just enough for him to break free, he ran in the direction that he had seen the medics take Nora. He didn't hesitate to shove anyone in his path out of his way as his legs carried him as fast as they could, his pain all but forgotten. He finally caught up to Nora, where the medics had finally been able to load Nora onto a stretcher. Several medics were trying to hold down a struggling Nora, in order to to keep her from further injuring herself.

"Nora!" At his yell Nora's head turned towards him allowing him to see the tears in her eyes.

He didn't hesitate to rush towards the stretcher, pushing the medics holding Nora down to the side and grasping her hand in his.

"Ren!" She cried, smiling up at him like he was her whole world. He felt like his heart skipped a beat, a feeling rose up in him that he couldn't name, that made him feel a warm buzz. The feeling had only grown stronger in the last few years, coming back up almost everytime he saw Nora. It was a pleasant feeling, in fact he found that he enjoyed it most of the time, but he couldn't focus on it right now, so he tried to put it at the back of his mind and focus on Nora right now.

"Everything is going to be fine." He whispered to her as he wiped away her tears, there was nothing he hated more than seeing his best friend cry.

"Promise?" the hammer-wielder sniffled.

"I swear," Just then he felt the medics trying to pull him away again. "I'm her partner!" He growled at the medics and felt them back off of him.

"Please don't leave me Ren! Please never leave me again!"

"I swear, there is nothing that could make me leave you."

Ren was rewarded with a genuine smile from the small Valkyrie, which he returned with a smile of his own that made Nora's grow even brighter. The warm feeling returned as they were taken to the airship that would take them to one of the medic stations. Ren kept a hold of Nora's hand as she went on, talking about the battle they had just fought.

When they finally got to the medic post, Ren refused a bed of his own in the crowded tent. Instead he sat on the edge of Nora's as the doctor came to look at both of them a few minutes later.

Ren had a good bit of bruising and a few minor cuts, but nothing extensive or anything that would need any stitching. Nora was worse off. Ren had been right, the doctor said she had three cracked ribs, (thankfully none had pierced anything important) and she had a twisted ankle. The doctor worked quickly to set her ribs and ankle before telling them that a nurse would be around with some new clothes, food, and water, and that he would come back to check on Nora in the morning. After that he closed a curtain to block them off from everyone else before he moved on to the next person.

Nora and Ren sat in silence for a few minutes, both were lost in their thoughts as Ren sat on the edge of her bed and she held onto his hand. After a few minutes Nora broke the silence.

"Have you heard anything from Jaune and Pyrrha?"

"Not yet." Ren had messaged the both of them multiple times, but neither had answered yet.

"Do you think they are okay?"

"I'm sure they are."

Truthfully, Ren had no idea, but he knew that was what Nora needed to hear.

"What if they aren't?"

"They will be."

They sat there for another few minutes wondering about the fate of their teammates,who, in the last few months, had became like an adopted family to the two orphans.

The nurse came by and left them two rations along with two water bottles and changes of clothes.

Ren quickly picked up his change and was quick to undress and redress himself as he directed Nora to look away for a minute. He sighed once he was dressed in the change of issued black sweats and white shirt. His old outfit was so messy and torn that there would be no way to scavenge it; he would have to get his change from the dorms when they were allowed back. Nora would probably have to do the same.

When he turned around however, he found that Nora was still just sitting in bed and hadn't moved much. She was staring at her hands and biting her bottom lip with her brow furrowed. He walked over to her, gently putting a finger under her chin and lifting her head to look at him.

"It hurts," she whimpered, placing a hand on her stomach that was covered in bandages.

Ren picked up the change of clothes from the end of the bed before walking up to her.

"Are you okay if I..." Ren gestured to the clothes in his hand as a way of asking permission.

"Not like you haven't seen me in my bathing suit before. How different is it really Ren?"

"Right." Ren nodded.

The next few minutes were spent with them working together to get Nora undressed. The first thing was to get her out of her vest and armor. Nora had already unbuttoned it, so Ren just had to slip it off. After that was tossed to the side, Ren had to deal with his friend's tight fitting turtleneck, which was soaked with blood and sweat, already pushed up for the bandages. Ren grabbed both sides and instructed Nora to lift her arms as he lifted it over her head. He tried his best to avoid looking at her bra, but did catch a few glances of the pink lacy article she was wearing. He quickly took the thick white shirt and pulled it on over Nora's head and smoothed out the baggy shirt. When he looked at Nora he saw a light blush on her face as she was looking away from him. Next, he helped her readjust herself so he could help her take off her skirt. He quickly undid her skirt and helped her slide it off. He took note with a slight fascination that unlike her bra, Nora's panties were a shade of green close to the one he prefered, when he realized that he was looking he quickly looked away, his cheeks growing as red as Pyrrha's hair as he grabbed the black sweatpants and helped Nora slip them on.

"Tha-thank you Ren." Nora was looking back at her lap with her cheeks blushing the color of her skirt.

Ren gave her a small smile of reassurance as he went to put her clothes with his. He looked down at the clothes in his hand and saw their ripped and stained state, they would need to be replaced along with his when they got back to the dorms.

After he had put them in a pile with his own ruined clothes and promised himself he would throw them away later, he went back over to Nora. She shifted slightly to one side of the bed before patting the bed beside her. He sat down on the bed next to her. As soon as he was settled, Nora shifted so she was cuddled into his chest and he drew the blankets up around them both. Once the were settled in, Nora began to speak.

"Hey, Ren?"

"Yes Nora?" he said with her back to his chest, his hand running through her hair.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For saving me when we were kids. For always making pancakes for me. For holding me when I'm scared or have nightmares. For taking care of me. For being my best friend since we were little. For being the one person I can always call my family. Just thank you Ren, for everything."

"Where is this coming from?"

"I know I talk a lot, but I don't tell you how much you mean to me a lot."

"Nora..."

"You mean the world to me, and I don't know what I would do without you. And if something were to happen and you didn't know that, then I don't know what I would do."

"Nora…"

"I mean it! There are so many times that we could have lost each other, and I'm not sure if I would have been able to move on if you were gone." Ren felt Nora's body give a shudder and heard a small sob that Nora tried to cover. "You're my family Ren." He felt her body shudder again, and made a decision of what had to be done.

He sat up and shifted the two of them so he was facing her, he could see that tears were once again trailing down her face. He slowly wiped them away with his thumb.

"You have saved me, just as many, if not more times than I have saved you Nora. You are my world Nora. You keep me going, I would be completely lost without you. We are family." He felt the feeling he had before rise up even stronger, he wanted to name it so bad, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Please don't ever doubt yourself Nora." He finished and allowed her to pull him into a hug.

It was a little while later. Nora had ended up just talking for a while on whatever came to her mind, she seemed to be in better mood after their talk. Nora had ended up falling asleep, talking about a new movie that was coming out in a month that she wanted to see, slowly trailing off and ended up falling asleep with her head rested on Ren's chest and his arms wrapped around her. It reminded him of before they began to go to school to train to be hunters, when they used to just try and find a safe place to sleep for the night and curl up together for warmth or provide a sense of safety, then later at the orphanage when they would curl up in a bed together and hide from the other children.

He sat there listening to Nora's breathing and watching her chest rise and fall. He felt himself nodding off when he heard the curtains separating them rustle. A second later he saw a familiar figure walk in through the curtains in the dim light.

"Jaune?" Ren whispered, trying to not wake up Nora.

"There you are Ren," Jaune's words were slurred, he was drunk. Ren watched as his eyes went to an unconscious Nora and a look of horror took over his face. "Is she?"

"Nora's fine, just a few broken ribs and a twisted ankle. She'll be fine." Ren rose out of bed, doing his best to gently move Nora so she didn't wake up. Once he was out from under his partner he glanced at Jaune to see that Jaune was swaying on his feet; he looked tired and beaten down. Ren quickly made his way over to the curtains, quietly pushing one open and gesturing for Jaune to follow him out.

"I don't want to wake up Nora," he explained once they were outside. In the harsher light Ren saw just how much of a wreck his leader was. "Jaune, are you drunk?"

Jaune just nodded as he tried to block the light from his eyes, tear tracks were evident on his face under the harsh light.

"You look like a wreck. I've been trying to contact you for hours Jaune, where have you been."

"Broke my scroll" Jaune mumbled looking at his feet.

Ren sighed, "What happened Jaune? Where's Pyrrha?"

At his words, the blonde huntsman started to cry, his shoulders shaking as tears poured down his face.

"Jaune?"

"She's gone Ren. She went to fight Cinder and she is gone! They can't even find a body! She killed her! Cinder killed Pyrrha!"

"What?" The magenta eyed huntsman felt shock take over his body. It couldn't be. There was no way Pyrrha, the noble fighter with a heart of gold, was dead.

"She's dead Ren! How many times do I have to say it! She is dead!"

Ren felt himself sink down to the floor as the realization washed over him, his heart stung as he realised he had lost someone who Nora and he and very much considered a sister. Jaune continued going off as Ren allowed his head to hit one of the poles of the curtains behind him.

Eventually Jaune's drunk hysterical rant faded out and Ren watched as his friend sunk down next to him. Looking so defeated, as if his whole world had just been ripped out from under him.

"What happens now, Ren?" Jaune looked at the smaller boy who sat next to him, looking for any sign of what was supposed to happen next.

Ren's mind was a swimming. He had no idea what to think, the grief was the only thing his mind was stuck on. Then he heard a noise come from behind the curtains in front of them, where Nora was.

"No! Stop it! Ren!"

The screams of his best friend spurred Ren to his feet and towards the curtains. They had to tell Nora. Jaune seemed to have the same thought.

"Nora." Jaune struggled to get to his feet before Ren held out his hand to signal Jaune to stay where he was. Ren knew that it would be best for him to do this.

When Ren entered the curtained off area Nora was still yelling out his name and was tossing in her cot. Ren ran over to her side, grabbing her hand in his and gently shaking her awake.

"Ren!" When Nora woke up she launched up and grabbed him in a tight hug, pulling him down on the bed next to her.

"I had such a bad dream Renny! Where did you go?"

"Jaune came back."

Nora bolted upright looking at Ren with surprise, joy, and worry.

"Really? Is he okay? Where is he? Why didn't he answer his scroll earlier? Did he get hurt?"

"Jaune's okay, he's standing outside right now," Nora went to get out of bed before Ren put a hand up to block her. "I need to tell you something Nora."

"What is it Ren?" She looked at him with curiosity clouding her crystal blue eyes, and he found himself unable to meet them, instead he looked at his hands as the knot came back, tearing at his insides.

"Pyrrha... Pyrrha's not coming back." He felt her pull even further away. He looked up to her only to be absolutely shocked when he saw her small smile and a slight giggle escape her lips.

"Oh haha, very funny Ren," she rolled her eyes. "You know those sort of jokes are just bad. Now really, where is Pyrrha?" As she said that, Ren heard the curtains rustle and heard someone walk in. "Jaune! I'm so glad you're okay! Did you hear the bad joke Ren told me! He said that Pyrrha wasn't coming back! Can you believe that? Is Pyrrha outside where you were? You can tell her to come in now Jaune, I'm fine, I'm not that injured." Ren watched as Nora's smile faded as she took in Jaune's disheveled and somber look before looking back at him. He didn't know what she saw, but he saw a look of panic and worry cross her face. "This really isn't that funny of a joke guys, I mean really shame on you for trying to pull such a mean prank on me! This isn't funny at all! I bet you Pyrrha is just outside of the curtains waiting to jump in so you can all laugh at me! Here I'll prove it!"

With that Nora jumped out of bed, seeming to have forgotten about her twisted ankle as she went to head to the exit before letting out a small squeak of pain and began to fall before Ren caught her supporting her.

"She's dead Nora!" Jaune seemed furious as Nora struggled against Ren to go look for Pyrrha. Jaune approached the girl, roughly grabbing her arm and yanking her away from Ren to look at her. "Pyrrha is dead, so stop trying to deny it! She is dead and not coming back, so shut up!"

Ren could smell the alcohol from where he was as Nora began to shake.

"No! No! Please no!" Nora cried as Ren rushed up and snatched Nora away from Jaune. Jaune may be his team leader, but no one treated Nora like that.

Ren was able to get Nora away from Jaune, picking her up by her waist and putting her back on the cot before turning back to Jaune and roughly shoving him towards the curtains.

"Go. Go and come back when you are sober." At that Jaune stumbled out of the area as Ren knelt next to the sobbing Valkyrie.

"Please tell me this isn't happening."

"I'm so sorry Nora." Ren felt tears falling from his eyes as he looked up at Nora.

That night they fell asleep holding each other, crying and mourning the loss of a sister and friend.

Ren's dreams started that night with him and Nora under the building in Kuroyuri. He looked at the little Nora, covered in dirt and shaking in fear as he handed her the small wooden hammer he had found. She took it from him eagerly.

"My name is Lie Ren. What's your's?"

"Nora" she whispered as she gave him the first of many smiles he would see her give him.

Suddenly everything changed and he was in the battle of Beacon once again, fighting side by side with Nora against waves of Grimm. When suddenly he saw a beowulf overwhelm Nora, he rushed to her and killed the Grimm, only to see the small girl laying in a puddle of her own blood.

He knelt down beside her and held her in his arms as she opened her eyes and gave him a smile, just like the one under the building in his home village when they first met.

"Stay with me Nora! Please! You have to stay with me!"

"Boop" she gently poked his nose as he watched the life drain from her as her body went limp.

He felt as if he himself had been killed as he screamed out her name over and over again, shaking her limp body as desperately as possible.

"Nora! Nora!"

"Ren!"

With the call of his name Ren woke up, sitting up and looking around he saw Nora sitting next to him with her hand on his shoulder. He gave her a smile to try and reassure her, she gave him back a slight nod, before they both laid back down.

This is what they did, they watched after each other and protected each other, even if it was just against bad dreams.

Nora wrapped her arms around Ren's waist as he wrapped his around hers in response. They would be okay, as long as they had each other.

Thank you for reading! Love you all! I'll be trying to update every Monday so be sure to follow and comment below!