RWBY: Parabellum - Male Reader x Harem (Complete)

Part 70

She stepped to the side to give them privacy, something that felt appropriate when the hardened woman broke down in tears as she was embraced by the old couple.

Sangria clutched to the arms wrapped around her shoulders while her vision was consumed with brown and dark red hair.

Their presence gave warmth in the cold morning, while the rising sun finally cast light on faces locked away deep within her mind.

"Something's still bothering you."

Sangria stood at the edge of a small hill. Her eyes were cast down below where ashes were piled and eventually cast in the wind.

"Yeah." Her lips were pursed when looking at her old friend. "I'm trying to—think about what to do."

"What do you mean?"

April joined her at her side to stow her rifle and remove her helmet. It gave her a good whiff of the spent casings at their feet, but also the smell of the nearby ocean.

"My folks, they..." Sangria shook her head with a sigh. "What do you think about Raven?"

"Raven." April let the name roll off her tongue before huffing. "I always trusted Y/N's instincts... so when he said she was good, I was—hesitant. Mad. But she was there for that whole Guard bit and nearly died."

Readjusting the strap of her massive weapon, she continued. "I think that was sort of her mission... She kinda just—put herself in front of danger. Even yesterday she fought like she wanted to die... Took me all this time to realize that she did it for me."

She recalled all the times Raven was there, wedging herself in between her and the slightest possibility of death. It first started at the castle in Anima, then happened just recently at Krüger's estate.

"I'll never understand why she did what she did... but I sure as hell can't be the one judging her for it."

April shook her head with empathy leaking through her voice. "I wanted to, you know? Some part of me wanted to shoot her, it really did... But all I could really think of was Y/N and all those times he practically begged people to not be him. And I see that now. If I did shoot her, I'd be—explaining it all to someone down the road and... eventually dealing with May."

She kicked a stray rock down the hill and watched as it bounced and rolled to an eventual stop.

"I can't be that kinda person. I can't live with all that hate... It's better to just—let it be. No point in dwelling on it when she's done all that..."

Taking a deep breath, she gave a heavy exhale just as her shoulders began to sag.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is I came to understand her... Y/N says she was burned, and I believe him. And if there wasn't anything to blame her for, then... there's no point in carrying all that hate."

April's words continued to ring true through Sangria's mind. However, it wasn't just her that she relied on for guidance or help.

No, there were others, people who had come to peace with what had happened to them. And even if it wasn't related to what happened, it still carried her forward.

With their words and metaphorical hands pushing her, Sangria stood in the wide open land of her home, both with reluctance and anxiety at her side.

"You wanted to talk."

Sangria cleared her throat and replied to Raven's quiet voice. "Yeah."

Reluctance pushed hard, trying its damndest to keep her from seeing Raven's face and looking her in the eyes. Yet when she powered through, the anxiety was there attempting to keep her lips sealed.

"I..." Sangria let the single letter draw out until she suddenly and quietly gasped for air.

Reaching up, she removed her hat for it to hang loosely between pinched fingers, giving her the slightest bit of an edge when their eyes locked.

"Be straight with me." She told her demandingly. "Y/N trusts you, so I feel like I should give what you say a listen."

"Okay." Raven replied meekly and with a weak nod.

"That day..." Sangria's lips pursed in anger she knew she shouldn't convey. "You said nobody was supposed to die. That right...?"

Raven nodded again, this time with their stare beginning to waver.

"Now I'm not..." The ex-Ranger paused to swallow the knot forming in her throat. "I'm not gonna stand here and try to understand why you did it. If I did that I'd be pretending I'm—above you. But I'm not... I trust Y/N and he trusts you..."

Hooking a loose thumb in the pocket of her jeans, Sangria took a deep, shaky breath, and said. "I learned to let it all go... to forget instead of forgive—"

"I don't want you to." Raven immediately shook her head with her gaze finally turning to the dirt between them.

"Let me finish." Sangria demanded shakily. "I thought I never could forgive you, 'cause... 'cause I blamed you for everything that happened. But now I'm realizing that—it wasn't your fault."

Even Raven couldn't believe what she was saying, yet it didn't sway her from speaking her mind.

"I wanted to kill you for so long. Just so I could find something or someone to blame for all those people... That's not you, is it?"

The dark recesses of Raven's mind wanted to say yes. It wanted to admit to something she didn't do just to calm the guilt that ate away at her every moment she saw Sangria or April. But the more logical side said no, knowing she didn't give the order. Whoever it was that wronged her was ash.

"No." She replied near a whisper.

"Swear it." Sangria practically ordered while tears trailed down her cheek. She wanted to forgive and forget so bad it began to hurt the part wanting to kill her.

"Swear it and it's all water under the bridge..."

Raven gave a curt nod and with the most honest reply of her life, she said with conviction.

"I swear."

The ex-Ranger exhaled, releasing all the anger and hate she clung to. And with a deep inhale, she got a breath of fresh air with a new beginning.

"Okay..."

As her hand trembled she squeezed it into a fist, ceasing the tremors before relaxing and reaching out to Raven.

The Huntress was hesitant but finally came to terms with it all. So with a weak grip, she closed her hand around Sangria's forearm just as she did the same.

The older woman gave her arm a good pull and shake to find a bit of humor in such a somber moment.

A ghost of a smile was on her lips when Raven nearly fell forward. It was an emotion she never thought she'd express to someone so new in terms of a relationship. But after everything was buried and gone, she figured it wasn't all that bad.

Within the span of just a few seconds, Raven came to realize that redemption was no longer attainable. But with it and forgiveness off the table, she breathed free knowing she could live with understanding.