Ruby woke up sluggishly. Almost as if each part of her was waking separately. First were her hands. Then her feet. Then arms and legs. Then torso. Working all the way up until the last thing that needed to wake up was her eyes. Those seemed to fight her, however, almost as if they were sealed shut. Every bit of strength she put in was met with a numb pain.

"Hey! I think she's waking up!" She heard someone say. They sounded familiar... Yang?

"You go get Oz. I might need to explain some things to her." Another familiar voice said. This time it sounded gravelly, kind of like Qrow's. "Tai. You go with her."

"What!?" The other male voice sounded offended.

"Unless you want to be the one to explain this to her." There was silence for a minute or two before a set of footsteps was heard heading away.

"Uh, I-I'll catch up to him." The female voice said. More hurried footsteps were heard leaving, and after they faded, the room was silent.

Ruby finally mustered the strength to open her eyes. Everything was blurry. She could see a dark figure to her left, but that was it. The rest was a blur of whites and pale blues. She couldn't tell a single thing apart. She hoisted herself up to a sitting position and blinked a couple times. After that didn't work, she tried rubbing her eyes, but when that didn't work either she shook her head and looked downwards into her jumbled mess of a blanket.

"Hey, there kid. You alright?" Qrow asked. Ruby jumped and looked toward him. She didn't expect him to speak right then.

She opened her mouth to mention her eyesight, but all that came out was a croaky mess. Qrow chuckled and grabbed a small glass next to her bed. He held it out to her, and she tried to grab it but missed entirely. "Can you see right?" She shook her head negatively. "Ah, figures. I thought something like this would happen." He paused. "Here." He held her head up and held the glass to her lips so that she could drink it. With a physical connection, Ruby was able to grab it and chugged the whole glass.

She hadn't even realized how thirsty she was. She fumbled the glass back to Qrow and sat in silence for a small while. "So..." Qrow began. "Any questions? I thought I would've been bombarded by now." He chuckled at the end.

"Yeah..." Ruby said without even thinking. "I got a couple."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well, what happened? Where am I, what time is it, how long was I even asleep? Where's my team- SUN! Where's Sun!?" She nearly shot out of her bed when she realized she had no idea where her previously heavily wounded boyfriend was.

Qrow sighed. "If it's not one, it's fifty..." He muttered. "Alright, to answer each question in order, You shot a giant explosion out of your eyes, in the infirmary, it's..." He checked the wall clock. "About half-past three, almost three weeks at this point, in your room, minus Yang who went to get Oz, and last but not least." He paused. "Your boyfriend is alive." He said the word boyfriend like it was a curse. "Close to fully recovered. The medics want him to stay here though since he refuses to stay still and keeps opening his wound back up." Ruby looked down at her bed.

"C-can I go see him?" She asked.

Before Qrow could answer, another voice said, "Unfortunately not Ms. Rose." Said girl looked towards where she assumed the entrance was and saw a figure of green standing there. "We have a lot to discuss." He said.

Qrow got up and walked over to him. They whispered to each other, though Ruby couldn't tell, and the man walked over to her. "So, if you could just please fix them, that'd be great, Oz."

Ozpin chuckled and placed his cane in front of her eyes. All of a sudden, her eyesight was cleared up, and the world looked just as it did before the eye explosion. "Wow, how'd you do that professor!?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"My cane can do many things." He said, trying to sound like a wise old sage. "Diluting an eye is no problem at all. It would have done that on its own anyway."

"You're cane is so cool!" She screamed and hopped out of bed to grab it and inspect it, only to fall on her face.

Ozpin chuckled. "Maybe you should let your body finish waking up before you try any stunts."

"W-will do professor..." She grunted out. He helped her back up and sat her back down on the bed.

"Alright, well, you two have your little chat. I'm gonna go try to talk to Tai. Probably having an ulcer by this point." Qrow said and walked out of the room. There was silence for a couple more minutes.

"Chat?" Ruby asked after a while.

"Yes, Ms. Rose. As I said before, we have much to discuss."

Over an hour later, Ruby shuffled out of her room in the infirmary. She had a lot to think about. So much that she didn't even notice her team waiting for her outside until she bumped into Yang.

"Hey, Rubes!" She leaned down to look at her little sister in the eye. "You okay? You seem... distracted."

Ruby tried to put up her patented million gigawatt smile. "I'm fine. I think I just want some more rest right now, though." She walked past her team, not giving any of them a chance to respond. They were almost fully healed, minus a bandage on Weiss' shoulder, so it's not like they couldn't catch up to her, but they just let her walk on.

The halls were empty and quiet. Everyone must have left for Vale or something like that. That gave her more time to think. Her head was a jumbled mess. Silver eyes, her mom, and some secret power that Ozpin refused to tell her the name of that she was the bane of. It was way too much to consume at once. She arrived at her bed and immediately fell asleep.

She dreamed that she was in the forest from before, but this time there was a translucent image of a woman that seemed to back away from her. Without her consent, her body moved closer to the woman, and then she disappeared.

"No. I don't want this. I want to just be a normal girl!"

She woke up with a start. It was the middle of the night, and she was in her pajamas. Yang must have changed her or something like that. She sighed and hopped down from her bed as quietly as she could, and walked out of her room.

She walked aimlessly for a while until she arrived in the commons area. She looked at the couch Sun and she slept on before all the craziness hit. 'Sun…' She thought to herself as she sat on the couch, just now realizing that she never went to see him. 'My eyes are supposed to be the thing all Grimm fear, but you still got hurt.'

She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, she snapped back to reality. It was light out now, so she must have been there for a long time. She felt a hand softly land on her shoulder and jumped quickly looking to her left. It was Tai.

"Hey there Ruby."

"D-Dad!" Ruby jumped out of the seat. "What are you still doing here?"

Tai scoffed and looked a little offended. "And leave you here in a coma!? No way!" His expression softened a small bit. "Besides, Ozpin offered me a job, and not having you and your sister around has been rough." Tai hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay…" Ruby hugged him back, and Tai sniffled. They stayed like that for a couple minutes.

"Hey, dad?"

"Hm?"

"D-" She stuttered. She wasn't sure if she wanted to ask him this, but she already began, so it was too late. "Did mom have silver eyes too?" Tai froze, and then slowly pushed away from his daughter.

"So Qrow told you?"

"Professor Ozpin did."

Tai sighed, and sat on the couch. Ruby joined him. "Yes, Ruby. Yes, she did." Tai looked out the window, not really focusing on anything. "Your mother was one of the greatest, nicest, most heartwarming women in the world. I know you were young, but you gotta remember her cookies." Ruby nodded and smiled nostalgically. "However, she was also one of the busiest women in the world." Ruby tilted her head. "She felt it was her duty to go out and save people all around the world, simply because her eyes obliterated Grimm." Tai sighed and shook his head, looking down at the floor. "It eventually got her killed." Tai looked at his daughter meaningfully.

"Dad…" She looked down at the floor. "B-but Sun got hurt because I wasn't able to do anything. My eyes that are supposed to be able to kill Grimm, didn't do a thing." She paused and looked into her father's eyes. "Even if I could die, I don't want anyone to go through that. If I can prevent that..." She trailed off and looked back to the floor.

Tai sighed. "You really are just like your mother." He then scooted closer to her and hugged her. "I love that about you. I really do, but you need to understand. Summer was gone for months at a time. She was always off in another continent saving millions." Ruby looked at the side of his head in confusion.

"Are you saying that she shouldn't have saved anyone?"

Tai shook his head. "Of course not. She was a hero through and through. I just wish she spent more time with us." He pulled back and looked right at her, completely serious. "She was rarely home for more than months at a time. I don't want that for you. Your drive to save people is really admirable, but I don't want you to go to every corner of the planet searching for some monsters to kill." He hesitated but continued anyway. "Even if it is what Ozpin will tell you to do."

Ruby thought about it for a moment. On the one hand, she didn't want to worry her dad, and going around the world killing Grimm... while it sounded fun, she didn't want anyone to fear for her safety. On the other hand, if she really had the immense power of complete Grimm annihilation, then she should do everything she can to take all of them down, right?

"Whelp!" Tai ended his hug, and stood up, knocking Ruby out of her musings. "I should probably go tell Yang that I found you. Think about it, okay?" Ruby nodded. "I'm taking up your time anyway. You probably want to go see Sun."

Ruby gasped and hopped to her feet, checking her Scroll. 8:23. Man, she really was sitting their a long time. "You're right. Thanks, dad! I'll think about what you said." Ruby ran up and hugged him, before running down the corridor leading to the infirmary.

"ALMOST FORGOT!" He called after her. She turned around. "You don't have to go to classes until next week." Ruby nodded and then turned to continue her trip. Tai sighed and turned around. "I don't see how Qrow can trust you so much. You're stressing her out." He said to the person behind him.

"She's a strong girl. Do you not trust your own daughter?" Ozpin asked him.

"It's not that. I just don't see why you need to get my children involved in your war."

Ozpin thought about it for a while. "They're strong. They hold the hope for the next generation."

Tai just glared at him. "The generation you'll be apart of when your body bites the dust."

"Well, I don't see a problem with some assurance for until then." He chuckled. Tai grunted and stormed off.

"I'm gonna go find my other daughter now."

"No running! Patients are trying to rest!" A nurse scolded.

"Sorry!" Ruby replied. After getting changed back into her normal outfit, she went to go see Sun. She continued walking until she arrived at a small door. She peered in and smiled when she saw a blond Faunus looking bored laying in bed. She opened the door and walked in.

Sun looked towards the door in a mechanical fashion, but when he saw who was arriving the life was immediately breathed back into him. He tried to get up and run to her, but when he began to, she burst into rose petals and pushed him back down. "Huh?"

"I was told that you keep moving around too much and won't heal."

Sun's eyes went wide and he looked away guiltily. "Y-yeah, but I'm perfectly fine. You can help me get out of here, right Ruby?"

Ruby smiled her patented smile. "Nope!" Sun grunted and put his head down on his pillow. Ruby giggled at his antics and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "If you just lay like that, then you should heal soon enough."

He sighed. "Alright... as long as your here, I guess I could."

Ruby blushed and looked away. "R-right." She shook her head, trying to clear it of the thoughts she was having. "Anyway, I'm so glad you're okay!" She looked back towards him earnestly. "I was so worried! I thought... I thought you might not make it..." She said the last part really quietly. If the room wasn't silent, then Sun might not have heard her.

"I'm all right Ruby. Besides, you were in a coma for almost three weeks. I feel like I have more reason to worry, you know?" He smiled warmly. "I heard you exploded after I passed out." She began blushing harder, more out of humiliation than anything else. "Guess the name Crater Face is truer than I thought."

"Wha-" She was caught off guard. "When did you start talking with Jaune!?"

He laughed. "About a week ago, when Blake came to see me. We just began talking. Turns out, he's a real cool guy."

"He's a good guy to keep around." She said. "As long as he stops adding more fuel to the Yang with his nicknames."

Sun began laughing again. "A-anyway." He said, catching his breath. "What even happened?"

"Uh..." Ruby hesitated. She didn't want to get Sun mixed up in all this silver eye junk. "I guess my temper just exploded?" She tried. Sun just flatly stared at her. He obviously didn't believe it. 'Guess that would be hard to believe.' "Alright, fine..." It couldn't really hurt to tell him. "Apparently, my eyes are special, and they are a tool to destroy Grimm." She explained. "It's kind of the reason my mom died..."

Sun didn't say anything. He looked down and thought. Eventually, he looked back at Ruby, who was looking at the ground. He smiled and reached out his hand to wrap it around hers. She jumped when he did. He then pulled it closer, until it brought the girl with it. He then released her hand, and wrapped his arm around her body, and brought her into a particularly uncomfortable hug.

"Sun?"

"Sounds like there's a lot going on." Ruby nodded silently. "Well, just know that I'm here. Always will be." The two stayed like that for a little while, until Sun scooted over to the edge of his bed, and grabbed his Scroll that was on the bedside table. He patted next to him, and said, "Here, we'll watch a movie." He browsed around on his Scroll for a little bit as Ruby stood their astonished.

"Y-you aren't gonna ask anything?"

"Nah. I'm sure that if you need to talk, you'll talk." He found the movie he wanted with an 'aha', and then looked up at her. "Ready to start?"

"..." She stared at him for a second, before smiling and nodding. She laid down right next to him, and they watched the opening sequence. It was a cheesy action flick.

He knew exactly what she needed. Maybe she would have to run around the world saving people, not that she expected different. At least for now, however, she could just stay here, with Sun.

She snuggled closer to him as the main hero blew up a building.

'Paradise...' She thought.

BIG SIGH.

So, I guess we're done...

Wow, this feels weird. I, uh... Not sure how to articulate it.

I guess I should start on my thoughts about this fic? Yeah, let's do that.

So, my first topic is: Why this fic?

I chose to do this because I needed something to do to break up the tedium of doing Responsibilities of a Parent. I wasn't really enjoying making that as much as I thought I would after the initial excitement died down, so I decided to start something fresh. I was also in the mood for some Red Sun, but there was nothing on here that I really liked too much. Still isn't. Most of the time, this would have been a 'that was the end of it' situation, but after starting RoaP, I thought about the old saying, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." So I did.

Thoughts on the fic itself:

I'm actually really proud of it. Especially compared to RoaP. I was a bit unmotivated to continue writing after I quit it to be perfectly honest. I wanted to end it, because of how it felt to write that compared to DURS. I do plan to one day come back to RoaP and re-write it, just to help fill the hole it left, but that's down the line. This is supposed to be about DURS damn it!

Will this fic get a sequel?:

Most likely! Definitely on the list to do for the future, but I think I want to take a small break from Red Sun at the moment. Plus I need to hammer out the plot, though I was kind of coming up with something in this last chapter. Speaking of, I hope I did well with this ending. First time writing one and all.

Notice for the future:

I'll be updating a little differently for my future fics. You likely won't see an update from me for a while. Basically, with school back in session, I need a new way of writing to help me get out chapters more consistently, so I'll be building a backlog throughout the year, and once I'm done with my next fic, or have a large number of chapters finished, then I'll start publishing again.

Final words:

Thank you, everyone, for reading Days Under a Red Sun. All the reviews I've gotten have really been wonderful, and I want to seriously thank you all.

There's just one last thing I want to say, that I probably should have mentioned a month and a half ago when it was announced, but...

MICHAEL AND LINDSAY JONES ARE HAVING ANOTHER KID!

Congrats to them, though I have no idea how Lindsay still does the high pitched Ruby squeaking.

The world may never know...