Goodbye, Dear Friend

The room was white. It wasn't a pure white, or a blank white, but a sterile white that was made to be because of mere necessity.

Such a disgusting color.

Besides, everybody knew that Ren preferred green. It was just one of those things about him that you could guess right off the bat.

Then, there were the other things that only Nora knew, like how he secretly was allergic to cats. Blake didn't count, though her presence did cause Ren to sneeze a few times.

"Hey Ren," she said as she entered the room.

Nora's best friend, and for a long time, her only friend, lay unresponsive in bed. His left arm had a few tubes sticking out of it and some cables hooked up to several monitors were connected to him.

"I just wanted to catch up, ya know?" said Nora, "you remember how we kicked ass when the city was overrun with Grimm? Well, professor Ozpin just finished signing the commendations! He asked me to give yours to you."

At that, she pulled out an envelope sealed with wax and layer it on the bedside table. She then took a seat on the side of the bed.

"Also, Jaune and Pyrrha started dating! Jaune says thanks for the advice, by the way."

Ren still said nothing. Nora curled into a ball beside him, hoping he would ask her what she was doing, like before.

"I-I just wish you told me that he was asking you about that kinda stuff, you know?" said Nora, her voice cracking a bit, "we could've done a lot of things, like locking them in a closet!"

Again, Ren was unresponsive. By this point, tears had started falling down Nora's face.

"A-a-and the doctor who accidentally gave you those meds you were allergic to, well, he resigned. He said he was soooo sorry, a-and he even g-got down on his knees when he apologized."

Just staring at Ren like this, Ren, who could land from a free fall without a scratch, who could single-handedly take on a King Taiju unarmed with nothing but his aura. It just made no sense to see him so vulnerable because of an allergy to medicine.

"I-I-I hope you get b-b-better... Th-Things just aren't fun anymore."

She then felt something. A familiar warmth. Ren's arms enveloped her, and Nora smiled...

...Until she heard the heart monitor flatline.

Her heart broke. Her best friend, her super-strong best friend who questioned the awesomeness of sloth-sound signals... Was gone...

"G-G-Goodbye, Ren... I-I-I'll miss you..."

For the first time in a while, Nora cried.

The only consolation she had was that Ren died smiling.

"REN!"

Nora awoke with a start. She was sweating profusely, and she was in her bed within team JNPR's dorm. She relaxed, until she noticed Ren's empty bed.

"Ren?"

Could it be? No... It was a dream, right? It had to be a dream! There's not way Ren would die that way... Right?

"Nora? Why are you crying?"

Eyes widening, Nora whipped around to see Ren standing under the open door, two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands, which he set down on a table when he went to Nora.

"REN!" Nora then flung herself at him, and tackled Ren into a rough-yet sweet embrace. "Don't die... Please?" she pleaded.

Ren, despite looking surprised for a moment, returned Nora's hug.

"I can't promise you that Nora, not when we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but as long as you remember me, I promise I'll never leave you."

Despite her fears, nightmares, and her tears, Nora smiled.

After all, Ren will still be Ren.

E~N~D