Ryder groans before he opens his eyes and quickly realizes he is in some kind of medical room. He sits up and dangles his legs off the side of the bed he was on. He looked around the room and noticed it was quiet; he got off the bed and stretched a little bit before he heard the door to the room open. He looked towards the door and saw Qrow walking into the room, Ryder guessed to check up on him. Qrow saw that Ryder was up and standing so he let a smile come to his face before crossing his arms.
"Look who decided to wake up." Qrow said.
"How long was I out for?" Ryder asked.
"Three days." Qrow said
This shocked Ryder who didn't think he was out for that long.
"Don't worry you didn't suffer from anything life threatening." Qrow said with a chuckle. "Oz believed that you overused your Semblance and Magic and the combination of the two knocked you out for a while."
"Where am I?" Ryder asked.
"Atlas Academy's medical room." Qrow answered.
"How is everyone?" Ryder asked.
"They're doing alright." Qrow answered. "Weiss was worried sick; she'd constantly visit you while you were out."
This made Ryder smile hearing that.
"Well, best not to keep the others waiting." Qrow said, turning slightly to the door. "Come on, Hero."
"Hero?" Ryder asked humored as he walked to the door.
"You just saved the world, if anyone deserves it, you do." Qrow said.
With that the two leave the medical room and out into the rest of Atlas Academy. As they walked through the Academy, the students of Atlas saw Ryder and they all seemed to be in awe of his presence. Some even cheered seeing him which confused Ryder.
"Why are they cheering?" Ryder asked.
"You saved their home, think of it as a thank you." Qrow answered.
They passed all the students and made their way to Ironwood's office. It took them some time to get there but once they arrived outside of the office door, Ryder was just glad that it was all finally over. Salem. Everything. The two walk into Ironwood's office where Kairos, Oscar, Team RWBY, Team JNPR and the Ace Ops were with Ironwood, Penny and Winter. Ironwood stopped talking as he saw them enter and smiled seeing Ryder up and well. This caused the group to turn to face Qrow and Ryder.
"Missed me?" Ryder asked.
One of them quickly ran towards him, it was Weiss. Both Weiss and Ryder embraced each other with Weiss being grateful that he's okay. After tightly embracing one another, Weiss breaks the hug only to kiss Ryder. He was caught off guard briefly before he went with it.
"Ugh, get a room you two." Harriet said.
"Don't ruin the moment for them, Harriet." Clover said.
The two lovers break their moment of love and stare into each other's eyes with Weiss having tears.
"What's with the tears?" Ryder asked gently.
"I was worried you wouldn't wake up." Weiss admits.
"Hey, I'm standing right before you. So, get rid of those tears. I'm fine." Ryder said.
Weiss wipes away her tears while Ryder looked towards Ironwood.
"So, what happens now?" Ryder asked.
"Now is a time for celebration." Ironwood said while standing up from his desk. "With Salem defeated, Remnant is safe. Grimm will continue to be a problem which is why we as Huntsmen and Huntresses will do everything in our power to uphold the peace you all fought so hard to achieve."
The door to Ironwood's office open as Raven and Summer enter the room. Ryder walks over to Summer and holds a hand out.
"Don't think we had a chance to properly introduce ourselves." Ryder said. "I'm Ryder, Ryder Falcone."
Summer grabs his hand.
"Summer Rose." Summer said. "Ruby and Yang told me a lot about you while you were sleeping."
"Good things I hope." Ryder said jokingly as they ended the handshake.
"If calling you a brother is good, then yes. It was good things." Summer said.
Hearing that brother part shocked Ryder who turned to Yang and Ruby. Before he could speak, Ruby beat him to it.
"With all that's happened, all we've been through. We've always seen you as the brother we never had." Ruby said.
"It's alright if you don't like it-" Yang said but was cut off.
"No, no. It's fine." Ryder assured. "Truth be told, I always seen you guys as the sisters I never had."
This made Yang and Ruby smile as it made them happy to hear. But that was that Salem was no more. The War was over. Remnant is finally free of her influence. While the Grimm still exist, Peace can finally and truly set in. But there is a lot of rebuilding to do, especially in Mantle, and wounds that need healing. Ryder's adventure is finally over. From Patch, to Beacon, to the search for the Dragon Balls, to the War in Atlas. Even he'll admit that it's been one hell of a journey.
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Author's Note: Still got some chapters to go before this story ends.