A/N: Merry (early) Christmas! Sorry for the lack of progress on Black Dragon, as school's been killing me. Plus, I've been working on this, as requested by my friend Sakurabythesea. Final chapter should be done and uploaded on Christmas Eve, for your enjoyment.

Luce Solus means Only Light.

Disclaimer: RWBY and all characters represented are owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. Christmas Lights is owned by Coldplay.

Luce Solus

"Just walk away from those window sills/But I can't believe she's gone/When you're still waiting for the snow to fall/Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all…"

Him

They say that Christmas is a time for loving, a time when friends and family get together to enjoy themselves and each other's company. They say that giving is better than receiving; that showing your love for someone is more important than them showing their love for you. They say that the only true gift is friendship and love, and that presents only symbolize that love, nothing more.

And maybe they're right. After all, most of Remnant is enjoying this holiday on this chilly night. Some of them are at home with family, others have gone out with friends to go skating or just enjoy the lights. They're all so happy, caught up in their own little worlds of contentment and cheer.

Not that I would know, anyways. Tonight, I'm spending my time cooped up in my team's room. Oh sure, team RWBY is certainly having fun. The four girls have gone out, Yang saying something about taking them out for drinks and a party. Ren and Nora have already gone home for the holidays, and won't be back for another two weeks or so. Velvet's working with a toy drive for Faunus children, alongside Sun and surprisingly team CRDL.

And me? I'm just sitting on my bed, wondering what made me think that faking my way into Beacon was a good idea. Everyone by now knows, of course, but they've mostly taken it in stride and good humour. I'm not depressed I faked my transcripts, but because I honestly haven't really made good friends with many people here.

Well sure, my teammates are definitely friendly to me, but there isn't much interaction between us. I guess I'm kinda-friends with Ruby, but given her hyperactive personality she's eventually made friends with just about everyone here in this academy. As for the rest of her crazy team…don't even get me started.

And so I find myself lonely on Christmas Eve, cursing myself and everything around me. Nobody cares about me, anyways. I mean, just look around! Everybody's given gifts to each other; even Blake and Weiss have made up and swapped presents. Despite it all, though, they've somehow accidentally 'forgotten' poor little Jaune Arc. The underside of Nora's bed is stuffed full of wrapped boxes, our team's little tree standing guard over a dozen presents in the corner.

I don't even bother going over there to check the names, though. I know mine isn't going to be on any one of them.

You know, I grew up in a small village with almost nobody to care for me. I was all alone for much of my life, my only company being a small rabbit that I had adopted when I was five. My father had died early during a hunt gone wrong, a flock of Nevermores he was stalking ripping him to shreds. My mother was an emotional wreck, saying little and doing even less. So I honestly was left to fend for myself, and a simple gift-giving holiday was the least of my priorities.

But when I came here to Beacon, I thought that things would change. I thought that I would finally meet people who would be proud to stand beside me and call me their friend and comrade, people who would actually care about me for who I am, not by my actions. And perhaps I did, but not in the way I'd hoped for.

Instead, what I've gotten is a beautiful partner who I don't deserve, and a pair of equally skilled warriors that could trounce me in a fight blindfolded and with a hand tied behind their backs. So perhaps it's no surprise at all that I haven't gotten anything, no surprise that I have nobody to come wish me a merry Christmas and spend some time with me.

What's the point, anyways? Why should the others waste their time on a failure like me? There's no reason for them to want to spend their Christmas with me, after all. We're not even that close, anyways.

My eyes stray back to the pile of presents under the tree, my mind focusing more on the symbolism of the thing rather than the objects themselves. I sigh, but nothing more.

I'm not jealous of them. I'm not jealous that they have people who love them; that they have loved ones that care about them. I'm not jealous that they have people to share their love and joy with; that they can enjoy their night in the company of others. I'm not jealous that Ren and Nora can get together so easily, that she actually reciprocates his feelings.

No, I'm not jealous. That feeling pooling in my gut is most definitely not anger at myself and the world, and I do not have the urge to severely maim something right now. No, I am not jealous of everyone else here in Beacon.

So why do I feel like ending it all?

I'm brought back to that moment on the rooftop, when I destroyed the heart of the woman I love and my own at the very same time. I had pushed her away, brushing aside her attempts at helping me without a second thought. When she left, I had honestly contemplated jumping.

Just a small step, and everything would have been over. All my problems would have been solved, and nobody would have had to waste their time with me any longer. So what stopped me?

Perhaps it was the hope that I still had the chance to stop everything from spiralling out of control, that I could still fix the mess before it escalated. But I screwed up. While Pyrrha and I had mended our friendship, any chance that I would have had of turning it into something more had died that night. It was a test, of sorts, and I had failed her.

She's so smart, so beautiful, so skilled. And she deserves better than me, whether she realizes it or not. So I started to push her away.

At first it was subtle, small signs that were hints of things to come. Perhaps I would sit next to someone else in class, or go do some combat practice on my own. Maybe I would eat my lunch up on the roof, or just sit on my bed studying instead of socializing with the team.

I'm a terrible leader, and my team already knows that. Nobody cares about me, after all. So why should I bother trying?

There's a ridiculously cheery Christmas song playing on the radio, going on about silver bells and a white holiday. It's a load of lies anyways. There's no snow on the ground, even this late in December. And if you're still waiting for a sign, a chance, or even for the bloody snow to fall, it's not really Christmas, is it?

I sit up from my bed as I sigh, turning my gaze onto a picture taken of my team right after Initiation. We looked so happy back then, so innocent and full of hope. It's hard to believe that that was just a few months ago, how much we had changed in the span of mere weeks.

My eyes are drawn away from Ren and Nora, the two of them hand-in-hand like the partners-not-partners they are. Instead, I settle upon me and Pyrrha, our eyes sparkling and wide shining smiles on either of our faces. My arm is on her shoulder, in the biggest show of confidence that I've had since I was two. There's a deep red blush on her face, but her grin of happiness is clear for all to see.

Perhaps a short while ago, I would have considered that a sign of a possibility. Now, I see it as a hint of what could have been. If, perhaps, I hadn't ruined our tenuous relationship, then maybe it might have been something more. Instead, I'm reminded of my momentous failure and yet another reason why I don't deserve her.

I doubt she likes me, anyways. Picking me as her partner was just her taking pity on a helpless kid, her training just an attempt to help the team as a whole. But she shouldn't waste her time and effort on me. I'm not good enough for her, for the team.

I love her. But sometimes, if you love something, you have to let it go.

And so I let her go, hoping that she would know why I did it. After all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she's way out of my league.

But she didn't take the hint, so I started getting more serious about it. At first she took it roughly, which was sad but just about what I expected. She was more depressed than ever during those few days, but nothing compared to what I was feeling. If anything, I felt like a total jerk for doing this to her. It was like a stab in the back to treat her like this, but I consoled myself with the fact that everything would eventually get better.

Oh, was I ever wrong.

A week or so in, the worst happened: She accepted it.

My heart shattered like the moon at the realization, but she simply acted indifferently. The sad part was that all through the while, I guess I harboured one last, tiny hope that she cared. Now, that final light at last flickered and died. And with it, my dreams.

So here I am, at the end of it all, sitting on my bed and staring out the window on Christmas Eve, just waiting for the snow to fall. I'm simply waiting for a chance to restart anew, to create a new beginning in this chapter of my life.

This Christmas, some people are wishing for snow. Others are wishing for presents.

Me? I'm just wishing for a chance to make it all up to the woman that I love.

Her

Christmas is about spending time with the people you love, about celebrating life and good cheer. At least, that's what it's supposed to be about.

How am I to be spending time with the man I love if he doesn't love me back? How am I to celebrate life if mine is a catastrophe? How am I to be in good cheer if I am in perpetual sorrow?

Jaune hates me, I realize, and nothing I can do can change that cold hard fact.

I'm in Vale, in a coffee shop, trying and failing to drown my sorrows in sickly-sweet caffeine. I was looking forward to tomorrow, for once, but the argument just a few hours ago changed all that.

It started simple, just a minor misunderstanding between Jaune and me. I don't even know how it escalated so quickly. At first it was just me asking what he was doing for Christmas, planning to maybe ask him to spend it with me. He started getting all defensive though, and stupidly I didn't get the hint.

Before I knew it, voices were raised. I kept pleading with him, stammering apologies, but he wouldn't have any of it. I tried to reason with him, doing my best to repair the damage that we both had caused, but he just pushed me away with tears in his eyes.

I had left the dorm sobbing, trying to understand why he had done such a thing. I love him. Why couldn't he just love me back?

I take a sip of my latte, blinking back salty tears with my head down. The radio's playing some cheery song, the exact opposite of my current mood. Outside, the skies are grey and gloomy. Not a speck of snow is falling, not like it'd make much difference to me.

I don't understand. What did I do wrong? What did I do to make him hate me so much? Was it me? Was it my training? Was it…someone else? No. It couldn't be…could it?

Perhaps I'm overcomplicating things. Perhaps he just isn't what I thought he was. Perhaps I had just put him up on a pedestal, blind to his true being. But the Jaune I know isn't a thoughtless, heartless jerk.

So it's Christmas night. Another fight, and I cried a flood of tears. After all, when you're alone and waiting for the snow to fall, it doesn't really feel like Christmas at all.

The bells adorning the café's doors jingle, but I ignore them. Probably just someone else wasting their lonely Christmas Eve.

I sink my face lower to the table, not willing to look outside the window to see the bright, cheery lights. They remind me of happier times, of times long gone. Instead, my eyes slowly close, a single tear dripping down my cheek.

Why, Jaune? Why?

Light footsteps approaching me shake me out of my misery, though I refuse to turn to see who it is. With luck, they can tell that I'm not exactly in the mood to talk.

"Good evening, Miss Nikos. Might I ask why you are spending such a delightful Christmas Eve alone?"

My eyelids slowly flutter open as I turn to face the white-haired headmaster of Beacon Academy, his small black spectacles slightly askew as he looks at me with a questioning expression. He takes a sip of his coffee as he appraises my face, a look of understanding quickly overtaking him.

"Oh. Is something the matter, my dear?"

He steps forward, extricating a package of tissues from somewhere in his coat and offering it to me. I shakily take it from his hand, nodding gratitude as I wipe down my tears-stained face.

Ozpin sits down in the armchair across from me, a faux fireplace flickering away a few feet away. He rests his mug on the low table, taking off his glasses to clear away the fog before replacing them on the end of his nose. He does not say anything for a moment, his eyes scanning over my miserable hunched-over form.

Then, as if prompted by an invisible signal, he speaks.

"Generally, Miss Nikos, I wouldn't deem it fit to interfere in what I assume are rather…personal matters. However, I have noticed that the results of team JNPR have been slacking, more specifically yours and Mister Arc's. Now, the two of you are what I like to call some of Beacon's more…gifted students. As such, I take a rather vested interest in your collective wellbeing, more so than that of other students. Don't get me wrong, I am most assuredly not playing favourites. It's just that I'd hate to see your tenure at Beacon go to waste simply because of a little intra-team mishap.

"My job, Miss Nikos, is to ensure that each and every single student in my academy succeeds to the best of their abilities, and fully fulfills their potential. So please, pray tell. What ails you, my dear?"

I am only vaguely aware of what he says, my mind too focused on 'Mister Arc' to think clearly. Stupidly, I say the only thing—or rather, name—that is on my mind.

"It's…Jaune, sir."

Another damned tear streaks a hot path down my cheek, and my face warms up as I start to stutter.

"W-we…we had a fight. I tried to comfort him, but…he pushed me away. I…d-don't know what to do."

To his credit, Ozpin didn't interrupt me, only reaching over to wipe the single teardrop away.

"I…I love him, sir. It's just…I'm not too sure if he loves me back. Whenever I tried to get closer to him, he just backed off. Was it something that I did, or…?"

I'm not ashamed to say that I ranted for a while. My tears had disappeared eventually, even as my words replaced their flow with a torrent of emotion. The headmaster just listened, occasionally nodding or murmuring agreement.

I talked about meeting the blond boy, about enjoying time with him and helping him through his troubles. I talked about that fateful night on the rooftop, and the debacle in Forever Fall. I talked about the aftermath of that, and our nightly training that we used to do. I talked about him gradually drifting away, and how it led to our argument. I talked about my feelings towards him, and how lost I felt.

All the while Ozpin paid rapt attention, looking away only to take the odd sip of his coffee. At the end of it all, I sat back in the armchair, exhausted. I half-expected him to laugh in my face at my immature problems, but instead he merely leaned back.

He takes another sip from his mug before replying, his words spoken in a level and clear measure that had a calming effect to them.

"Well, Miss Nikos. It appears as though you and your leader need to have a little chat or two. Preferably one that isn't as…upsetting to the both of you. Now, I'm no Professor Port, but I have had quite a few relationships in my time. They all had their ups and downs, but the current one seems to be progressing quite well. As such, I can honestly say that he seems to be a bit, ah, insecure about himself. After all, despite your training, it is plain for all to see that he has not yet unlocked his potential at a level to even come close to matching you.

"You're a smart, beautiful young girl with lots of potential, and I have to say that it's nice just to talk to you. I'd guess that Mister Arc needs to realize that you truly do love him, and that he is indeed good enough for you. Only once he figures that out can you and he resolve your troubles in whichever way you see fit, and not a moment before. Best of luck, Pyrrha Nikos, and may you have a Fiery Victory. It's been an education simply speaking with you. Good evening."

He stands up slowly, walking out the door with mug in hand. I'm left sitting there staring at the empty seat before me, thinking and remembering.

I remember when teams RWBY and JNPR used to come here, all eight of us, just enjoying ourselves. That was before the night on the rooftop, before this whole mess happened. Oh, how happy and full of energy we were.

Now, it's just me, slumped in an armchair all alone.

I blink away the depressing thoughts, letting my eyes wander outside to alight upon the shining lights. The streets are painted as a veritable rainbow, asphalt stained red and green and white.

They symbolize love and happiness, hope and contentment, peace and prosperity. But for all that, all they do is just shine away without a care in the world. Come love or heartbreak, they keep shining on.

Perhaps we can all learn from them. No matter what happens, we should just live our lives the way we want to. Forget the bad things that happen; just focus on the good. Maybe then we'd be happy with ourselves.

I'm probably just feeling the caffeine rush, as the thoughts make no sense even within the confines of my mind. I don't know.

What I do know, however, is that I need to make an apology. And maybe, just maybe…there's a chance that this can work.