Hello! This is actually just a minor rewrite of Chapter 9 of another fic of mine, named 'Children and Soldiers', also featuring RWBY. If you've read that, then you can skip this as it's pretty much the same.
However, I'm editing it a little and posting it here because it was originally a one-shot that ended up being written into the story, so I figured I might as well post it for those who didn't read Children and Soldiers (please do, though).
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY; all rights go to their respective owners.
She stood at a place he could not even see, no matter how much he strained his eyes to. She was somewhere he simply could not reach, no matter how far he stretched his hands. She was at a place where his feet could not go, simply because of how extraordinary she was, and how extraordinarily ordinary he was.
But it was precisely because of that reason that Jaune Arc started to run.
Pyrrha Nikos was a Huntress in training. She had faced countless foes, be they human, Faunus or monster. She had always emerged victorious. She knew not the meaning of defeat when she was on the battlefield.
But when that battlefield was her own heart and the war waged was one of emotions, she faltered.
She had been dating Jaune Arc for a few months now, but they had already hit a snag in their relationship. Not that Pyrrha had not expected it, but it still bothered her to no end.
Heaving a sigh, the woman whose smile was pasted on every box of Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes trudged towards her supplementary class with a gloomy mood.
While trying to distract herself by wondering why Professor Ozpin decided to hold a compulsory supplementary class at this time, Pyrrha spotted a familiar face in the courtyard, no doubt making her way to the same location.
"Hey, Blake," Pyrrha called out. "Heading to the supplementary class now?"
"Yeah," Blake replied, walking with her. "You too?"
"Well, I was never one for being late," Pyrrha said. "Guess that makes two of us, huh?"
Before Blake could reply, a blue-haired blur zipped past them at incredible speed. Following closely behind it was a blond streak, yelling something like "COMEONITISN'TFUNNY".
"Was that Neptune and Sun?" Pyrrha asked after a brief moment of stunned silence. She could never get used to boys and their endless energy when it came to messing around. Then she remembered Jaune dancing in the dress during Prom night. Maybe it was not so bad after all.
"… Yes. Yes it was," Blake replied with equal parts embarrassment and surprise.
"WOOHOO~!"
As if the ruckus quota had not yet been reached, a weapons locker tore across the skies towards the direction of the Emerald Forest. Goodwitch had told them that the lockers could be set to go to any location, but she never said anything about it being a mode of transport.
"Was that Nora?" Blake asked, concern in her voice as she narrowed her eyes. "And Ren holding on to her waist?"
"… Yes. Yes it was." It was now Pyrrha's turned to be exasperated and embarrassed. Then again, there were some girls who could match if not exceed boys when it came to being rambunctious.
"Nora sure has a lot of energy, doesn't she?" Blake asked. "I think the only one who can match her is Yang."
"She's a free bird," Pyrrha replied. "But she can be very… tactful when she wants to be."
As she thought about the times Nora had helped her and supported her over her feelings for Jaune, Pyrrha could not help but smile. Nora – being the straightforward, goofy girl that she was – was also a good friend as well as a reliable teammate. For Pyrrha, who had led the life of an elite, having someone who treated her like a friend, an equal, was priceless.
"I see," Blake said, looking at the smile that blossomed on Pyrrha's face. "How's it going with Jaune? I noticed you two have been frequenting the roof of the dorms at night."
"H-how did you know that?" Pyrrha asked, her face turning pink.
Blake was about to reply with an action that seemed to involve pointing at her nose, but quickly pulled those hands to her sides.
"I-I overheard Jaune talking about it," she said hastily, causing Pyrrha to bury her face in her hands. "Are you two getting along?"
"W-we're getting along," Pyrrha replied, shaking the redness out of her cheeks. "I-it's just that Jaune… he still doesn't see the qualities he has, that's all."
"What's wrong?"
"He… doesn't think he's that capable," Pyrrha replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. "He has so much potential, and he's a competent leader; he can give us the commands that no one else could, and it's because of them that we can emerge victorious.
"I may be strong, but I can't lead," Pyrrha continued, the grief now more obvious. "I can only win my own battles. The last time I led a team back in Sanctum, everyone else got eliminated and I alone passed the test by defeating the opposing team by myself. Truly a Pyrrhic victory befitting my name, right?"
Pyrrha stopped walking, her eyes fixated on the ground where countless ants scurried about. They moved with such fervor, each doing the same ordinary things as the others. No one stood out, and no one was 'special'; they lived in a world where one of their peers could not be so exceptional they become alienated by the rest. Because no matter how much they repeated the same action, they remained ordinary.
She could remember the cheers from the crowd as she returned victorious. She could remember thinking that if they won, it was fine. When she saw the faces of her teammates, when she listened to their outrage, she did not know what to feel.
She believed that she simply had not been strong enough. Her lack of strength had let her teammates down. And so, she trained. She trained until no one could come close to matching her in combat. The top spot on the podium pretty much had her name permanently stamped on it, and no one else ever stood there. She was at a level where the second place was a mere formality to award whoever was the 'next best'. It was technically true, but in reality their abilities could not be further apart.
The Goddess of Victory. The one Fate smiled upon. The undefeated legend. She could remember those titles that were branded on her name like an ugly mark that would never disappear. When she looked back at her former teammates, they already could not even talk to her anymore. She had become something so far above in her superiority that her identity had fallen so low, to that of a force or an image. It was like she never lived.
Then she met him. The man who did not know her, and did not look at her with contempt, envy or reverence. He was a man who was ordinary, but saw her as a girl. He saw her as a fellow human, a person capable of great feats but a person nonetheless. She believed that if it was him, he could still look her in the eyes no matter how high she stood on the podium. She believed that he could even someday stand on the spot that had been reserved for her all this time, and make her see the world from a different angle.
But even he slowly fell to the curse of mediocrity.
"Jaune is leagues ahead of me at being a competent leader," Pyrrha said, almost lamenting that fact. "But he just can't see it. He thinks he's inferior and that… Sometimes he thinks he doesn't 'deserve' to be with me."
Blake said nothing, letting the red-haired warrior sort out her thoughts.
In the shadows of a nearby pillar, Jaune hid, unmoving as he listened in on the conversation that had become more of a soliloquy.
"He's constantly getting stronger for that purpose, but…" Pyrrha bit back a sob. "I sometimes feel that if he keeps going, he's going to leave me so far behind I won't be able to catch up. If I stop him, he'll end up resenting the fact that he's weaker than me, but if he goes too far ahead I'll be left behind. No matter what happens, I'll go back to being alone. I don't want to be alone again, Blake. I don't want to walk by myself anymore."
Her voice weak and spirit wavering, the unmatched Huntress in training clenched her fists as the corners of her eyes gleamed and burned.
"I knew," Jaune admitted to no one. "I knew that you were feeling that way for a long time. But I- I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to assure you and be there for you, but I didn't have the strength to back up those words."
Those were petty excuses, and Jaune was well aware of that. He had no obligation to be in a hurry to become stronger, as Pyrrha had told him countless times. She had never once told him that she was afraid of him becoming stronger and leaving her behind. She had always kept that same warm smile on her face, reassuring him.
How could he have been so blind that all he saw was himself?
"I'm sorry, Pyrrha," he whispered, letting that apology get washed away by the passing breeze.
He considered just running out to confront her, to set things straight, but he wanted to go beyond words; he wanted to prove his sincerity through his actions. He wanted to – no, he had to show her the results of his determination.
"Please wait just a little longer, Pyrrha," he whispered. "I promise I'll make things right."
The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, but he was sure Pyrrha knew:
An Arc always keeps his promises.
"This looks familiar," Yang commented, standing on a metallic square embedded into the ground.
Team JNPR and Team RWBY stood on a hill overlooking the Emerald Forest, where they had taken part in the initiation test together. Back then, they had formed pairs and retrieved relics that decided their teams. Why they were here again now, in the same position, was anyone's guess.
"I trust you all remember this place," Ozpin began, addressing the group. "This was the place you took your first trial at Beacon. You must be wondering why you're all gathered here again."
He took a sip from his mug. Pyrrha vaguely wondered if it was even coffee in there.
"This is a test to see how much you've all grown," Ozpin announced. "You will now all undergo the exact same test. There are no additional rules. Any questions?"
No one said anything this time. Knowing that they would be unanswered anyway was probably part of the reason, but Jaune had not said anything at all.
"Good luck to you all," Ozpin said.
Flawlessly breaking her fall and securing a good vantage point up a tall tree, Pyrrha searched the space above the forest for wild flying Jaunes. She tried identifying him via the screaming, but there were oddly no outbursts from the blond-haired man this time.
Then she saw him. Jaune was soaring through the air, his body unnaturally stiff. She quickly brought out Miló, but as she continued to watch, Jaune unsheathed his sword and brought out his shield.
Using the shield to protect him from the incoming branches, Jaune crashed through them while lifting his sword and using it to stab the trunk of a large tree, using the shield to defend from majority of the impact. Even so, that was a lot of force to absorb. Taking a few seconds to recover, Jaune kicked against the tree and jumped down, pulling his weapon with him.
Almost not believing what she saw, Pyrrha jumped down and ran over to the location where he had landed.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice rang through the foliage.
"Oh, Pyrrha," Jaune said, sounding both surprised and delighted. "You sure got here fast. Guess we're a pair again, huh?"
"Y-yeah," Pyrrha replied shyly. "Say, Jaune, that landing…"
"Oh, that?" Jaune fumbled for the right words due to embarrassment. "Yeah… I've been training a bit so I wouldn't end up useless to the team, and I guess the 'landing after being flung by an enemy' part worked out fine at least."
"I-I see," Pyrrha replied, her expression a little downcast. "That's great, Jaune."
An awkward silence descended upon them, with neither of them looking at the other. Pyrrha considered breaking that silence, or at least look away from the ground, and opened her mouth when-
"Pyrrha," Jaune began. "We need to talk."
Reluctantly, Pyrrha looked up, and into the eyes of the man she loved. She could not contain her surprise when she saw the firm determination in them. That gaze alone held more strength than she could ever muster.
"Pyrrha… I know what you're thinking," he said. "I may be dense, but I'm not THAT dense. I just wanted to say that I wanted to be strong for… for you. I didn't want people to look down on you because I was weak. I wanted you to be proud of me."
Pyrrha listened, her expression not changing. She definitely expected such a response already, but hearing it from Jaune made her stay silent in order to hear more. Because regardless of the words being similar or not, the words that came out of Jaune's mouth were worlds apart from those in her head.
"I will always depend on you, Pyrrha," Jaune went on. "I-I know that makes me sound kinda pathetic, but it's true. I won't ever leave you behind, so don't worry. I'm rushing to catch up with you, and I don't want either of us to leave each other behind; I just want us to move forward together. I'm gonna rely on you, so I want you to be able to rely on me too. I-if that's alright with you, of course."
Pyrrha stared at her boyfriend, with a very peculiar expression on her face. For a moment, she looked like she was smiling, but the next moment she looked confused.
"Okay, that sounded a lot cooler in my head," Jaune admitted, hanging his head in shame. "Can I, like, have a do-over or-"
He did not get to finish that sentence, with Pyrrha's lips pressed against his and her arms around his neck. Before he fully registered the kiss, Pyrrha had already pulled away, face slowly becoming red like her hair.
"I don't mind waiting," she said, fidgeting a little. "But you better hurry up, because I'm not going to stop."
"H-hey! That's unfair!" Jaune complained.
"I was under the impression that it was your idea," Pyrrha teased.
"N-no, I meant the- the kiss," Jaune clarified. "That was totally unfair; I was supposed to start it! Y-your sneak attack was cheating!"
The atmosphere had been pretty good up till that point, but now it was lying around in pieces all over the place. Not that Pyrrha minded; that was what made Jaune different from the rest. He was not only able to be cool, but he still managed to retain that ordinary side of him despite all that. A feat Pyrrha was not capable of.
"Well then…" Pyrrha said, as though thinking of something. "Maybe you should be a true gentleman and lead me this time."
"Um… Um…" Jaune stuttered, completely at a loss.
"Just shut up and kiss me," Pyrrha whispered, a faint but powerful smile on her face.
Looking straight into the eyes of the amazing girl who had become a part of his life, Jaune placed his hands gently on Pyrrha's waist, pulling her closer. Closing their eyes at the same time, they let their lips meet to continue the connection their gaze had now lost.
Making sure that he was not looking, Pyrrha let a single tear slide down her cheek.
Thank you, she whispered in her head.
... Wow. That idea sounded a lot better in my head. If I can, I'll have a do-over for this. In the meantime, do check out some of my other works!
And most of all, thank you for reading this story! Hope you enjoyed!