Authors Note: I was planning on writing Blake's massage chapter today, but I couldn't bring myself to do it after this morning. I learned that my grandmother passed away in the middle of the night, and I needed an outlet, hence this story. Sorry for those that are not-so patiently awaiting the new chapter of massage, I will work on it whenever I can.
Teams JNPR and RWBY were in the cafeteria, enjoying a rarely quiet dinner after a long day of training and combat classes when Ozpin approached the table, and for the first time in the two months both teams had been at Beacon, he was without his trademarked coffee cup.
"Mr. Arc, please come with me for a moment."
More than a few strange looks were directed to the young man in question, but he shrugged his shoulders towards them and stood up. Ozpin didn't give him any time to speak and simply began walking towards the large doors. Jaune followed in worried silence, looking over his last few classes and training sessions in his head, had he done anything wrong? He didn't think so, but you could never really know what was going on when it came to Ozpin.
"Here should be good enough Mr. Arc."
They had stopped in a hall a ways away from the cafeteria, Jaune wanted to ask what was going on but decided it would be better to wait for the headmaster to speak.
"I apologize, it wasn't my plan to be the bearer of bad news but circumstances arose and I was the only one available to tell you."
Now Jaune was worried.
Bearer of bad news? Even when Ozpin had given announcements that were more serious than others he still had his coffee mug, whatever he had to say must be bad if he left it in his office.
"I received word from your mother this morning."
In the space of that sentence Jaune had gone from worried to very, very scared. His mother was really overprotective, had she received word of Jaune's bullying from Cardin and was planning some sort of drastic action? Whatever it was, he wasn't too sure he wanted to hear it, but before he could say anything Ozpin spoke again.
"According to her, your estranged father was killed by the forces of Roman Torchwick in a mass shooting."
Pyrrha was getting worried. No, scratch that. She was terrified. After Ozpin pulled Jaune from the table, he came back, saying Jaune had run off and needed some time to think. He didn't tell them what he had told Jaune, he said it wasn't his place to say.
That had been two days ago.
Jaune was nowhere to be found.
Both teams, minus one of course, went back to their respective dorm rooms on the first day. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora had waited in their room, but Jaune had not come back. So, eventually they went back to sleep with some encouragement from Ren.
"If Ozpin says he needs time to think, then we should let him. Whatever the news was it must have been bad, but we should wait for him to work out how he feels on his own."
So, grudgingly, they had gone to sleep only to wake up minus a member still.
They had gone through their classes that day, hoping that Jaune would be there waiting for them. He wasn't. When their last class was over and Jaune was still gone Pyrrha had gathered up team RWBY and the rest of her own team and organized a search of sorts. They looked in empty class rooms, across campus, closets, other dorm rooms even. It was like he had vanished off of the face of Vytal. After a day of no luck, they went to sleep once again, hoping still that he would slip in the room during the middle of the night. No such luck.
By now even Nora was starting to be worried, Ren was concerned and Pyrrha was practically tearing up the school looking for her partner. They checked with teachers, other students, and even asked Ozpin for permission to search off of school grounds. He denied them, much to Pyrrha's displeasure, but he did reassure them. "While I can't pinpoint his location, I do know he is somewhere here in Beacon."
Eventually, Pyrrha's feet took her to one of the tallest spires of beacon, and much too her relief, and horror, there he was. Standing at the edge of the roof.
"Jaune!" she said, concern and fear lacing her voice.
"Hello Pyrrha."
She could tell he was trying to sound calm, but there was a noticeable crack in his voice when he spoke. She stepped forward slowly, trying to keep from being pushed over by the strong winds blowing at this height. How he was managing to stand still was beyond her, especially since he was right on the edge of the tower.
"H-How are you?" she asked, internally kicking herself at the stupidity of the question, but it was all she could think of at the time.
He sighed, "Bad. Really bad." He said, the crack more prominent this time. And for just a moment his stance wavered and he nearly tumbled off of the edge.
She started forward, but stopped when he started talking.
"It's a funny thing, we humans can become so strong, and because of that we start to think of ourselves as invulnerable. But events like this truly remind us of just how fragile we really are."
She opened her mouth to ask what event he spoke of, but he started again before she could.
"Have I ever told you about my father?"
"No…?"
"He was an incredibly strong man; continuing the line of grand warriors that started when the Arc family got its name from my great grandfather, Vincent Arc in the Great War. But he also was sexist, a quality that only showed after my mother, Juniper married him."
Internally, some part of Pyrrha catalogued the irony of his mother's name and their team's name being the same, but was shaken out of her pondering when he spoke again.
"He believed that some tasks were left to the women and some to the men. The men would fight the battles, make Lien and support the family while women would stay at home and care for the house and kids. He was always busy with fighting Grimm and never had time to spend with us, so my mother raised me as best she could in his absence. But she had not yet realized how he felt about certain things, so she taught me how to sing. One day he heard me practicing and flew into a rage."
Jaune's voice choked for a moment, but then he gathered himself and continued.
"He beat me."
Pyrrha stifled a gasp at the revelation.
"He told me to hide my bruises from my mother, or he would kill me. He didn't love me, and I never loved him from then on. So that's why I am confused."
"Confused about what Jaune?" Pyrrha said tentatively.
He turned then, letting Pyrrha see his face. He was crying, tears streaming down his face without end in sight.
"I am confused because ever since I learned he died two days ago"
Pyrrha's face filled with understanding and grief for the young man.
"I can't stop crying." He finished with a choked sob.
She took a step forward, but drew back when he shouted suddenly.
"Why!? Why am I crying Pyrrha? I didn't love him, I hated him! So why wont the tears stop?"
And with that, she could hold herself back no longer. She ran too him, throwing her arms around him and letting him sob into her exposed shoulder. She didn't have an answer, and she wouldn't pretend like she did. But she would stand there and let him cry on her, because even though she couldn't answer his question there was no way in hell she was leaving him to deal with this on his own. She hugged him and murmured into his ear, not even quite knowing what she was saying but just letting him fixate on her voice.
It was a long time before his sobs began to die down, and at some point she had sat him down and continued to hold him on the ground. They both stopped speaking at some point, and as much as she wanted to stay up on the roof she knew he would have to get back to the room and get some sleep.
She helped him stand up and slung one of his arms around her now wet shoulder, brushing aside his murmured apology for getting her arm wet. She led him downstairs towards their team room, but while they were passing through the dorm common room the came across team RWBY, Ren and Nora talking amongst themselves. Ruby prepared herself to shout a scolding to the boy for making them worry but was silenced by a shake of the head from Pyrrha. 'Later' she mouthed, before leading the silent young man towards their dorm room. The gathered six watched them leave before Nora leapt up, taking a surprised Ren by the arm and dragging him after the pair.
Pyrrha was about to close the door before Nora's foot caught it and she pushed her way inside, passed a surprised Jaune and dragging a disheveled Ren alongside her. Pyrrha gave Jaune an unsure look, but a nod from him caused her to relax and not try to force the two out of the room.
"I'm sorry for making you worry" he began, seeing their curious and slightly impatient looks. "When Ozpin pulled me aside it was because he had a message for me from my mother." After seeing the two in front of him were not going to speak he went on. "I was told that my father had passed away a couple of days before." Ren's eyes filled with understanding and sympathy while Nora remained silent. "I never had a good relationship with my father, he beat me when he was angry, but even so his death did affect me. I needed some time on my own to think and come to terms with what I had learned."
"I understand" said Ren softly, Nora nodding beside him. "We won't pry if you don't want to talk."
Jaune smiled weakly at the two. "Thank you" he said.
The four readied themselves for bed soon after that. Jaune lay in bed as the lights went out, thinking about himself and his team. He had always known his team was strong and he was grateful for them being his friends, but now he truly began to appreciate them. They were less a team and more like a family, and that was just what he needed right now.
"Hey guys?" he said softly.
"Hm?/Yes Jaune?/Yeah?" were the responses he got.
"Thank you."
"For what Jaune?" asked Pyrrha.
But by then Jaune was already asleep, a genuine smile on his face for the first time in several days.
Life is a fickle, fleeting thing. And while that may be very disheartening, it merely means that you should treasure the moments you have, keep them close to your heart and never, in your grief, lose sight of what you have by focusing on what you have lost.