It's 9 days of Lancaster! For the second prompt, I chose "Apology", and I'm very happy with what I made in the end. At first, I was afraid it would be another rough read, but I managed to find something more fluff driven then the last one. I hope you'll all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Argus was different than Ruby had expected, not that she exactly minded that fact. Maybe that wasn't the best way to put it, though, she didn't really know what to expect, but after traveling through all of Central Anima, she was getting kind of used to lower Mistrali architecture, so coming across somewhere that was so different was a little jarring. That didn't really matter, though, what mattered now was who they were staying with! Jaune had mentioned having seven sisters before, but she hadn't expected to meet one all the way out here!

Things had gotten a little… heated, this evening, but it was okay, now. Oscar was back, and they had a plan to get to Atlas! Sure, said plan might be stealing from the most powerful military on Remnant, but, hey, no plan is without any downsides! Yes, she might be silently panicking, but so long as no one knew, everything would go off without a hitch. Now if only she could stop shaking. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Huh?" A voice drew her out of her stupor, and she turned to find Jaune looking through the doorway, a nervous wince already on his face. Oh Brothers, she didn't look that bad did she? No! Stop that! She wasn't allowed to think that way about him! He didn't like her, she was positive that was the case. He had Pyrrha. He'd always have Pyrrha. Not her. Oh no she needed to respond, before she kept gaping at him like a dummy! "Um, wh-what's up, Jaune? Did you need something?"

"Ah, well, um, yeah. Sort of, but also something you might need?" Wow that was awkwardly worded, even for Jaune! Ruby tilted her head to the left slightly as she tried to understand what he meant, a perplexed frown on her face. "Ah, sorry. Right! Would you like to go on a walk with me, really quickly?"

"A walk?" What? That's what he wanted? Why did he look so nervous then? Ruby didn't frown, but she didn't exactly have a smile on her face as he offered only a sheepish nod. Giving an uncertain shrug, she straightened out her skirt and sat up from her place on the bed she'd be using. "Sure, I guess. Where to?"

"It's… it's an important place. I think you need to see it." Ruby looked a bit worried at the cryptic explanation, but she trusted Jaune. He wouldn't see any harm come to her, he had ensured that over the past ten months. No, instead, he'd often see harm come to himself, and that made Ruby frown as she followed him out the door, her friend and sometimes partner offering his sister a brief "I have somewhere I have to bring Ruby quickly," when asked where they were going. Why was Saphron wagging her eyebrows like that?

"So, um, can you tell me anything about where we're going?" Ruby piped up, leaning a little forward as she tried to get a look at Jaune's face. He had a fairly peaceful expression on his face, sort of like the one he'd had since they all arrived at Saphron's house and Oscar was there. Did something happen? "It's, um, it's okay you can't."

"I just, I think that it's better you don't know until we get there." He offered, which Ruby didn't really enjoy as an answer, but whatever, they were out of the house already. "I know it's probably annoying that I'm being so cryptic, it's just that when I found it, I think not knowing it was there made it all the more important."

"What are you talking about, Jaune?" She kept her eyes mostly on Jaune as she followed him, noticing that his posture had changed from how he walked when they traveled across Anima. There was something more about him, now, and it wasn't just the broadness of his shoulders- DARN IT BRAIN STOP THAT! It wasn't right to think of him that way, not when he was still brokenhearted about- "Pyrrha?"

Whatever thoughts had been in her mind quickly died as Ruby looked up at the statue standing before them. "In honor of Pyrrha Nikos, one of many students who fought valiantly at the Fall of Beacon." The stone plaque at the base stated, and Ruby felt her throat dry up as she looked at it, "You know, I think she would've hated this." Jaune said, drawing her attention away from the growing guilt weighing down her mind. "If there was one thing I knew about Pyrrha, it's that she never wanted to be singled out like this. She was just one person, she never wanted to be the legend people made her out to be."

"Jaune…" Ruby could barely speak, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked to the older boy, who only offered a solemn smile in return.

"I'm sorry, Ruby." What? She barely registered as he reached out to her, cupping her cheek in his hand as he brushed a tear away with his thumb. Why was he apologizing? Why would he ever apologize for something that was her fault? "I've been such an idiot, for so long. I was so broken by Pyrrha's death, that I never managed to consider what she would want for me. Just like the people who made this never really thought about what she would want here instead."

"J-Jaune, I…" Why was it so hard to speak, to say the words she'd thought of so many times as they'd traveled, about how she cared about him, how she hated seeing him so willing to risk his life recklessly. How she couldn't stand losing another friend. How she couldn't stand losing him.

"Pyrrha loved me, Ruby. But she would never want me to lose myself like I have." Though still pained, his smile grew a little, and there was a light in his eyes she could recognize from the first day they'd met, over a year and a half ago. A joy she had almost forgotten. "I'm sorry for being so willing to let myself die, without thinking about what I meant to everyone. To you." Why did he have to say that? To acknowledge what he meant to her, without her ever having the chance to say it? "I'm sorry that I've been so dense, just like I was with Pyrrha."

"Jaune?" He pulled her into a hug, like the one they'd had when reunited, but she could tell there was a new intimacy to it that he had previously lacked, like a weight was absent from his shoulders. A soft smile graced her face as she rested her head against his chest, a hand gently rubbing her back as a grateful sob escaped her. "I was so scared, th-that you would die. That I'd never get to see you again."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Looking up, she saw tears in his eyes, a warm smile on his lips. "I'll never do that to you again, Ruby. I promise."