Serenade
Author's Note: I own all of exactly nothing, okay?
Weiss was restless, and in more than one way.
Four days had passed since the so-called "Battle of Haven," and the aspiring huntress hadn't slept at all. She had failed to defend herself, first being thrashed by a single opponent in a duel, and then suffering impalement at the hands of an enemy she foolishly had her back to. By all rights, that should have spelled the end of Weiss Schnee, but somehow, impossibly, Jaune Arc, of all people, had miraculously unlocked the perfect Semblance at the perfect time to save her. That… that dunce, that dolt, that doofus, that dork, the lovesick puppy of a boy that had followed her around Beacon and made an absolute fool of himself, had come out of nowhere and straight-up saved her life.
Weiss didn't know how to feel about that.
What she did know was that whatever new lease on life that the gods had granted her meant that she had to make the most of it, and she had thrown herself into her group's quest to safeguard the Relics, with everything she had. Weiss had organized the team's transport to Atlas, scheduling train trips, putting together itineraries, and leveraging the Schnee name for everything it was worth obtain provisions, Dust, ammunition, and transport. When she wasn't preparing for the journey, she was training herself, drilling her sword forms into perfection and beyond, vowing that she would never again come up short in a duel.
"Weiss… Weiss?"
She had… she had… wait, was someone calling her name?
"Remnant to Weiss, come in Ice Queen."
Weiss looked up, bleary vision eventually focusing in on her teammate Yang, who was sitting across from her at the dinner table in the Mistrali house that the team had called home for the last few weeks. The blonde huntress narrowed lilac eyes at Weiss, taking in the dark circles under the former heiress's bloodshot eyes, her unusually unkempt hair, and the general haggard appearance of her fellow huntress. A quick glance showed Weiss that her other two teammates, Ruby and Blake, were regarding her with similar concern.
"Wow, you look awful. Are you feeling okay?" asked Yang.
Somewhere in poor Weiss's sleep-deprived mind, she knew that she needed the perfect retort to both allay her teammate's worries and simultaneously put her in her place.
"Well, your boobs are big and dumb," she slurred. Slightly.
Perfect.
The other girls glanced at each other, before Ruby finally spoke. "Weiss, when was the last time you got some sleep?"
"Before the fight."
"The fight? You mean the one at Haven?"
"Yes."
"Why aren't you sleeping?!" Yang burst, unable to hold her frustration.
"Because I'm not dead," Weiss explained, speaking slowly, as if to a small child. "I'm not dead when I should be dead, and that means that I need to do all the things to make it worth the effort."
"Weiss, that doesn't make any sense," said Blake, frowning at her.
"Oh, I see what she's doing," Yang said with a small sigh. "She's pulling a Blake."
"Hey, I'm still here!" objected Weiss.
"No, well, I mean, pulling another Blake move," corrected Yang, ignoring the frustrated huff from her partner. Really, it was the girl's own fault for being so much trouble. "Remember before the dance, when she ran herself ragged for no good reason? Yeah, looks like we're dealing with that again."
The other girls nodded in agreement, no doubt forming some kind of diabolical anti-Weiss conspiracy. Traitors, all of them. Weiss was about to say so when Ruby quietly asked, "Weiss, what did you mean when you said the effort had to be worth it?"
The white-haired huntress sighed. "Ruby, I should have died, but I didn't. Whatever I do from here has to be important. It has to justify bringing me back."
"That doesn't make any sense! You're not making any sense! You just being here, alive and with us, is all the reason we need! And I'm sure Jaune would say the same!"
"Damn right I would," a male voice carried from the kitchen. A second later, Jaune entered the dining room, a bowl of noodles in his hands. Frowning at Weiss, he put his food down on the table and peered at her face. Weiss felt blood rush to her cheeks at the blatant inspection, before Jaune turned to her teammates with an obvious question in his expression. Since unlocking his Semblance, the blonde knight had taken to studying first aid and field medicine, partially in an effort to see if he could use that knowledge to focus and direct the aura boost that his power could grant to heal wounds, and partially so that, in case one of his friends went down again, he could have a bit more knowledge at hand than Ren's sage words of "This is bad." He had surprised everyone, including himself, by demonstrating a true talent for healing, and so had become the team's de facto medic.
In response to his silent questioning, Yang opted to explain. "She hasn't been sleeping because she thinks she needs to make every second alive count. Probably trauma from her injury at Haven."
Jaune nodded. "Okay, so let's try and make her comfortable, emotionally as well as physically." He looked back to Weiss, a warm smile on his face. "Weiss, let's get you to bed, okay?"
Weiss pouted.
"Do it for the team? We all love you, Weiss, and we want you to be healthy." That warm, simple and sincere smile never left his face, and Weiss soon found herself meeting it with a soft, demure smile of her own. "Okay," she whispered. "Also, you have really pretty eyes."
"Thank you Weiss," Jaune said, in a neutral tone. To the others, he said "Don't read into that, okay? The way she is now, it's like she's high or drunk. She'll be back normal in no time."
Yang took Weiss by the hand and guided her to her bedroom while Jaune conferred with his fellow team leader. "She's in a delicate state right now. You and your teammates should try and make her feel secure and comfortable. I'll go get Ren, since his Semblance can help if she can't calm down, and I'll meet with you in her room."
"Okay," Ruby agreed. "Jaune?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"Ah, no need to thank me," Jaune gave a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "We look after each other, you know? That's the only way we'll make it through this; as a team."
"As a team," echoed Ruby before she entered Weiss's room.
"Okay," Jaune said to himself. "I think we've got this."
A few moments later, Jaune, with Ren and Nora in tow and a small black case at his side, knocked on Weiss's door. Ruby answered in her pajamas, and ushered them inside, sparing a second to smile at the case in Jaune's hand. The room was dimly lit by a single lamp, and then by flickering candlelight as Blake began to light scented candles. Weiss herself sat up in her bed, clad in a light-blue nightgown, and allowing Yang to smoothly comb through her long white hair. The Schnee girl's ice-blue eyes narrowed at the case that Jaune had carried.
"I thank you for your concern, but sedation is hardly necessary."
Jaune smiled indulgently at her. "Oh, this isn't a medicine kit. It's something that team RNJR picked up as a reward on the road to Mistral." He unlatched the case and pulled out some strange wooden box. "See, we rescued this troupe of musicians from bandits, and they refused to let us go without giving us something. I mentioned I played guitar, and they gave me this." With a click of a button, the box mecha-shifted into a full-sized guitar.
Weiss's eyes went wide at the sight and she turned to Ruby. "I'm sorry I made you all worry! I'll be a good girl and go to sleep, just please don't torture me!"
Jaune chuckled at that as he checked to make sure the guitar was still in tune. "It'll be okay," he said, his warm tone of voice putting Weiss somewhat at ease.
"Will it though? Will it really?"
With practiced fingers, Jaune began to softly strum a simple chord, repeating it several times. Weiss felt herself begin to relax as the music and soothing scents began to affect her. Yang stopped brushing Weiss's hair, and began to slowly rock her in her arms, the way that she used to rock her little sister when she had a nightmare.
After repeating the chord, Jaune began to sing in a soft, low voice.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
You look happy to greet us
Small and white
Pure and bright
You look happy to meet us.
Somehow, Weiss found herself lying on her side. She didn't remember laying down. When had that happened? Yang had her in a tight hug, so warm and strong. Blake held her hand, and Ruby stood at the head of her bed, stroking her hair. Meanwhile, Ren and an unusually subdued Nora sat at the foot of the bed, and Jaune stood with his guitar, continuing his little song.
Where had he learned about Atlesian flowers, anyway?
Blossom of snow,
may you bloom and grow.
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless our family forever.
Jaune repeated his little lullaby, with Ruby's clear, high voice joining in. Soon, her sister joined in, and Ren, then Nora, and even Blake. Weiss couldn't remember the last time she had felt so loved, with almost all of her favorite people, and Jaune, coming together to make her feel safe and warm and loved and-
Weiss was out like a light, with a positively beatific smile on her face. Yang was right there with her, beginning her trademark snoring. Ren and Nora sat together against a wall opposite of him, the orange-haired girl resting her head on her partner's shoulder. In fact, as he looked around, Jaune realized that he was the only one still awake, with all of his friends having formed an impromptu slumber party in Weiss's bedroom. He could have made to leave, to go back out, eat those forgotten noodles and get in his nightly training with Pyrrha… or… or he could stay here, with his team, his friends, his family, and be there with them when Weiss woke up.
With a wry grin, Jaune put the guitar away as quietly as he could and made to sleep against a wall for the night. He had to say, this performance went over much better than his first. In retrospect, it was probably because, during his first attempt, he had been trying to get Weiss to notice him, to think well of him, to do what he wanted and feel the way he wanted her to feel. He could admit that he had been selfish. Perhaps not to a terrible degree, but facts were facts. But here, now, tonight, all he was concerned with was how Weiss was feeling, what she needed to heal, and what he could do to help her.
Maybe that was the difference between being a boy and being a man.
It wouldn't make up for all of his mistakes, he knew that. With Weiss, with Pyrrha, with the fight against Cinder… but it was a start. So, Jaune allowed himself to feel just a little bit of pride in his actions that night. With that, he resolved to get the first full night's sleep he had had in months, and let himself relax.
Jaune woke up against the wall in Weiss's bedroom, with a crick in his back and a rueful grin on his face. Looking around, he saw that everyone else had awoken already and left, even his erstwhile patient.
So much for being a familiar face when she woke.
The young knight proceeded to the first part of the glorious routine of a huntsman-in-training; hauling his sorry carcass off the floor and into the nearest restroom. When he emerged, freshly showered and shaved, Jaune was surprised to see Weiss waiting for him in the hallway. A single night's sleep wasn't enough to fully repair the effects of four days worth of sleep deprivation, but it was a good start, and she was clearly in a much better place mentally. The girl glanced down at the floor before meeting his eyes.
"Jaune, I just wanted to thank you. Not just for last night, but… for Haven, too."
"It's all part of the-" Jaune was cut off as Weiss suddenly reached up to grab his face and pulled him into a kiss. When she broke off, she giggled to see him struck completely speechless.
"I have decided," she said, in a mock-exacting tone of voice, "that you are either not as much of a dunce as I once believed you to be, or, failing that, that you have taken steps to curtail your most dunce-like behavior."
Jaune found his voice. "I'm pretty sure it's the second one," he said blandly.
"Or perhaps my experience with would-be Atlesian suitors has made me realize that there are far worse men out there than a dunce knight," Weiss continued as though he hadn't spoken at all. "In any event, I just wanted to say that I find your newfound restraint, demeanor, and competence to be appealing. Do keep it up, would you?"
With that, Weiss released him to fall back against the wall. "Oh, and I meant what I said about your eyes." She then turned crisply with an about-face and strode into the main living room as though nothing had happened.
"Huh. Go figure." Shrugging, Jaune followed her.