Jaune had passed out, exhausted, onto his bed at the inn he was staying at. Fighting this evil plaguing Remnant was slowly taking a toll on him. Not only that, the use of his newly discovered semblance was especially draining.
A rather pleasant aroma wafted through the air, causing the armoured blonde to slowly open his eyes. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, surprised at the lack of aching in his bones considering he fell asleep in his battle ware.
"Coffee?" he questioned. "No, that can't be right. I'm the only one using this room."
Jaune rose to investigate, still half asleep. These rooms were quite fancy, coming with their own small kitchen. Everyone else was sharing a room, and when space ran out, Jaune was left literally to himself.
As he arrived to the kitchen, someone else was definitely present. Someone whom couldn't possibly be there.
"Hi, Jaune." said the long haired redhead, pouring the freshly brewed coffee into a cup.
"Pyrrha?!"
Jaune jumped a step back, immediately grabbing the hilt of his sword. This had to be a trap, it had to!
"I know you're here, Emerald, stop playing games and get out here!" he yelled, trying his best to suppress the shaking anxiety in his voice. After all, fighting was still not one of his strong suits.
Pyrrha laughed gently at the spectacle. "It's OK, Jaune; she isn't here. It's just us."
"That can't be possible." Jaune said with his voice getting noticeably more shaky. "You're…"
Pyrrha's expression shifted to a blank, but matter-of-fact look. "Yes. That's right, I am."
"Then…." he paused; it suddenly dawned on him. Putting his hand to his face, he understood. "I get it. It's another dream. Of course it is…"
"No Jaune, it's not a dream."
"That's what all dream people say."
"Jaune, listen!" Pyrrha stood next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's really good to see you. You've improved so much; I'm proud of you, that you've unlocked your semblance."
"Not very helpful in a fight." he muttered to himself. Regenerating others' aura was nice and all, but sometimes he wished he had something neat and flashy to enhance his still-lacking combat skills.
"Your semblance is what everyone really needed in a fight!" she told him. "You fought well, Jaune."
"No, I haven't. I nearly got everyone killed last time! I just…" he sighed. "I can't protect anyone. Couldn't protect you—"
"Weiss lived. You saved Weiss." Pyrrha reminded.
"That one time."
"Not just that one time." Pyrrha said firmly. "You may have depleted every last ounce of your aura, but everyone is alive because of you."
"What are you talking about?" he looked at her. "I blanked out in the middle of the fight, and—"
He paused.
That's weird.
Didn't he fall asleep after returning to the inn when the battle was over? Why was he remembering it differently now?
Salem's minions had found them, again. So did Adam—he nearly kidnapped Blake. All this running and fighting was getting so tiresome, these events were melding together.
"Jaune! Jaune!"
He remembered Ruby's sweet, high-pitched voice crying out to him.
"Come on, kid, not now. We need you!"
That was Qrow. Not drunk, for once. Sober as ever.
"Jaune, I…. I know I haven't treated you with very much respect, but please hang on."
Weiss. Was she crying?
"You saved us. Thank you."
Ren too. He sounded like he had a lump in his throat.
Lastly, there was Oscar….
"Forgive me."
No, those had to be Ozpin's words.
"I'm sorry…"
Those were his own words. Gurgled, struggling, followed by painful coughing.
They echoed the very last words Pyrrha ever said to him.
"I'm sorry."
He could see her face clear as day; her vividly green eyes, sad but glistening. She was always so distant… any trick of the mind or dream had her stand so far away from him.
But she stood right there.
And this time, she was smiling.
"You fought well, Jaune."
Her expression and tone were warm, and she held out her hand to him. "And I'm sorry that I had to leave you like that."
"Pyrrha…" his voice was now uncontrollably shaky.
Shyly, she wrapped her arms around him. "I've waited patiently everyday 'till I could see you again. They'll be OK; Ruby will never give up and is the driving force that will keep their spirits high."
"It's really you then. You're here." Jaune was still in disbelief.
She looked at him, misty-eyed with a nod. "Yes, Jaune. I'm here."
Now he understood.
He pulled her closer in an embrace, not wanting to let go. He leaned near her ear, saying her line. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be." she whispered back. "You fought well, Jaune. Always remember that."
"Thank you, Pyrrha." he then pulled away awkwardly. "Hey, how about some of that coffee?"
"Sure." she smiled, going toward the counter.
"There isn't by any chance—"
She laughed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she turned around with a box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal. "Yes. There is."
He gasped in shock. He hadn't had any type of cereal in forever. Jaune literally ripped the box out of Pyrrha's hands, stealing a bowl from the cupboards, and pouring it down at record speed.
Such speed almost challenged Ruby's own semblance.
Right, Ruby. The others. Jaune set down the box as reality had finally set in. "What about them?" he asked solemnly.
"They'll continue to move forward." Pyrrha replied. "Yes, we might see some of them again very soon, but I have faith that they will defeat Salem."
"Hm." A small smile curved on Jaune's lips. "Betcha Ruby will be the last one to get here, huh?"
"I have no doubt."
He held up his bowl of cereal. "You want some of this?"
Pyrrha nervously put both her hands up, shaking her head. "N-No, thank you. It's all yours."
Jaune shrugged, shoveling the sweet crunchiness into his mouth.
Pyrrha pulled up a chair beside him, intertwining her fingers with his. "I know this sounds selfish, but… I've really missed you, Jaune. And I'm happy that you're here."
"You know what… me too." he stared off in the distance. "I did fight well. But I couldn't have done it without you. Your lessons, they stayed with me, even…" he hung his head, then shook the thought away. That didn't matter anymore. "I believe in them, too."
Pyrrha wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against it. Jaune accepted what had happened and let go of the final strings binding him to the world before, allowing the voices of his friends to fade away…
"He's gone…"
"He can't be gone! We can save him!"
"Ruby!"
Qrow raised his voice sharply to embed reality into his niece's being. "He's dead. There's nothing we can do."
Ruby's hands were unable to keep her body steady as she supported herself on the ground on all fours, looming over Jaune's body that was wrapped with her red cloak in an effort to keep him warm.
Tears dripped warmly, melting the thin layer of snow on the ground as they fell.
"Why…?" she choked. "Penny, Pyrrha, now Jaune…"
"It isn't your fault!" Yang shouted, holding a freezing Blake in her arms. "He fought well. He saved us. Even if it cost him his life, we can't let that go to waste!"
"Maybe… maybe everyone was right…" Ruby sobbed. "It's impossible."
"You can't say it's impossible just because you feel guilty." Blake chimed in. "I know it's hard, and it's not going to get easier. But you can't move forward thinking everything is your fault." she sighed, thinking of her own troubles. "You solve nothing by running away."
"Yeah, if we just kept running, humanity and the faunus would have been looooong dead by now." Nora added.
"I second that statement." Ren nodded.
"But it hurts…" Ruby sniffled. "I was right there, each time. And I wasn't fast enough—"
"Well, neither was I!" Blake snapped.
"Blake…" Yang knew where this was going.
"I failed, too." Blake clutched Yang's mechanical arm, remembering the moment Adam had sliced it off. "And I let the guilt drive me away from you all. I almost gave up. I didn't want to fight anymore. And you know what? It made things worse. Yang hated me for it."
"Pfft, I didn't hate you." she put her free hand on her hip. "Just mad. I got over it."
"That's only because I talked you out of it." Weiss reminded.
"The point is…" Blake continued. "Jaune fought well. So did Penny, so did Pyrrha, and regardless if you were there or not, the result could've been the same."
"She's right." Oscar finally spoke up after some time, as Oscar. But Ozpin was listening. He knelt beside Ruby and looked directly into her eyes. "Ruby. We may not all make it when this fight is done. That doesn't mean we should give up. You taught me that." his eyes drifted downward and he took her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "For the people we've lost, let's fight harder."
Ruby tried to smile through her tears. She couldn't hold back anymore. She leaned forward, wrapping Oscar in a tight hug. He was only repeating what she's said, what she's held to the core of her own beliefs. "You're right." she pulled away from Oscar, but still kept her arms wrapped around him as she turned to look at Jaune's body one last time. "You fought well, Jaune."
She stood up, strapping Crescent Rose to her back. "We're going to move on now. And don't worry, I'll try not to break down again. It's cold here, so you can keep my cloak."
And with that, everyone pressed onward…
After breakfast with Pyrrha, Jaune returned to his room and saw a red sheet laid out on his bed. "Huh?" he picked it up to analyze it.
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked, standing in the door frame.
"It's Ruby's cloak. How did it get here?"
"Don't worry, she isn't here." Pyrrha assured him. "She must've left you a gift."
"I see." he nodded. "Take care, Ruby."
Pyrrha took the cloak and wrapped it around Jaune. "You really did fight well."
"Yeah, I did." he nodded, feeling warm. "And they will too."