RISING PHOENIX.

Chapter I – Training

Team JNPR is in full swing in their final year at Beacon Academy, and the normal clanging of weapons can be heard from atop the dorms. Pyrrha Nikos swung her Milo – a shortsword that would extend its handle to become a stave should she feel the need – at Jaune Arc's neck, stopping short of killing the boy, she held it there and proclaimed the boy a fighter on par with herself.

"You know, one second faster on your last attack and you would have taken me." Pyrrha said as she helped her partner to his feet. The feeling of his hand in hers, however innocent, always struck the female warrior down to her soul. She repressed a shiver of emotion as Jaune responded.

"That's only because your not using your semblance. If this were a real fight I would stand no chance." Jaune looked at his feet and kicked the dust, embarrassed at the compliment from his trainer. He felt that there was no world in which he could actually best Pyrrha. He was surprised when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Jaune looked up to see that Pyrrha was close – close enough that he could feel her warm breath on his face.

"Jaune, it's not my semblance that gives me the skill I have. Honestly, you could have beaten me tonight, and I have a feeling that if you improve like this going forward, it won't be long before you have me on my back." Pyrrha realized what she had said after she had finished her sentence and blushed a color that matched the armor she wore. She waited for Jaune to respond.

30 seconds passed.

One minute.

At the two minute mark Pyrrha could no longer wait for a response and quickly apologized. " I'm so sorry! That came out so wrong! I mean, I wouldn't mind, if it was you, but-" She cut herself off before she could do more damage than she already had, realizing that she had just unwittingly confessed her feelings to Jaune.

"Pyrrha..." Jaune struggled to find the words to say. His own feelings for Pyrrha were burning him up inside, and he so desperately wished that he was enough of a man to be with her. He could not fight as well as she, he was pretty stupid most of the time, and to top it all off his leadership skills were barely meeting his own standards – and that had taken three years to do. He railed against himself as Pyrrha waited anxiously for him to finish his sentence.

If only you could see the way I see you, Jaune. I LOVE YOU! Pyrrha screamed the words in her head as hard as she could, wishing that he would hear the silent declaration. She peered into the eyes of a man who saw himself as lesser than everyone around him. Maybe at one point that had been true, but he had worked so hard just one more thing that I love about you. Pyrrha added internally as Jaune readied himself. He was about to cause himself immense suffering.

"Look, Pyrrha... I really appreciate all the training and encouragement you have given me over the last few years, and I know that as partners we will always be close, but you can do better than me. There are so many men that would love to have the chance to take you out and make you feel good." the words tasted like acid in his mouth, but Jaune knew in his heart of hearts that Pyrrha was on another level of society and the gap was just to big to cross. Yes, he would treat her the same way he had always treated her. They would go about their lives as they had. "thank you for tonight, but I think I am going to head to bed. See you down there."

Pyrrha's mind reeled at the rejection. She knew that Jaune had fallen in love with her a long time ago, due to one of his many conversational blunders – one that he had gone to great lengths to cover up – so why would he do that to her? Jaune had never given her any special treatment due to her social status before, so why now?

Pyrrha sank to her knees and curled them to her chest. Stupid Jaune, you know that I hate it when people do that. That's when it occurred to her that the only reason he would have said something like that would be because he believed that he didn't feel like he measured up to Pyrrha. He was running away because he believed that she would be happier with someone like herself. He couldn't be farther from the truth. Pyrrha had grown up in the spotlight, and her entire life she had been treated like she was someone who was untouchable. She had spent her entire life in isolation as even her parents put her on a pedestal. Oh Jaune... Tears formed in her eyes as she wished that she could help her leader/crush to see that it was because of his quirks, not in spite of them, that she loved him.

Jaune listed back to the room as he kicked himself for allowing the situation to get that far. She would never stoop to loving a guy like him, despite the fact that he felt like he could fly whenever she was around. He always seemed to be excited when he could spend time alone with Pyrrha. I love you so much Pyrrha, but I'm not the guy for you. You can do so much better than me. Jaune resolved himself to helping Pyrrha find herself a good guy, even if he had to rip his own soul to shreds to do it. He opened the door to see that the couple who were in his team lay in bed, fast asleep. Good, now I don't have to deal with the Nora Inquisition. Jaune let out a quiet sigh as he dropped his armor and weapons in the footlocker by his bed.

As if by supernatural powers, or an intuition that only Nora could have, she poked her head up to see that Jaune was sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. She looked around the room for Pyrrha to find that her teammate had not yet returned. She poked Ren until he woke.

"Hey honey, I think you should talk to Jaune. I'm absolutely positive something happened with Pyrrha. I'm going back to sleep." Having given her instructions, Nora promptly rolled over and fell asleep. Ren sat up quietly, surveying the room before silently getting up to deal with his instructions. Nora knew that the two were close, however one sided the relationship between the two boys may seem sometimes. Ren lowered himself to sit by Jaune's feet.

"Hey man... what's going on with you and Pyrrha." Ren had been forced to listen to Jaune for years quite vividly describe how he felt for the woman, and was fully up to speed on his leader's opinion on the subject.

Without looking up from his hands, Jaune responded, his voice tortured. "Pyrrha told me she loves me. It happened after we got done training tonight." Ren put a hand on Jaune's knee as he processed this. The ninja chose his words carefully, as he always had, while he pieced the situation together in his head.

"...And you shot her down, didn't you?" Jaune just nodded. "You've been waiting for this for almost two years Jaune. Two years to help you feel like you deserve her. Has that not changed?" Jaune shook his head. "I see. What are you going to do now?"

For the first time since the conversation started, Jaune looked down to Ren. "I'm going to help her find someone that is worthy of her." Ren could immediately see that this was already taking it's toll on his leader and friend. The black haired boy scratched his chin while he formed his response.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're going to tear yourself apart if you have to watch her be with someone else." Jaune had already thought about this and just nodded, acknowledging him. "On top of that, if there is one thing I learned, being so close to Nora for all these years, it's that your feelings will only grow as time goes on. Pyrrha loves you man, and you trying to set her up with someone else is going to break her heart. You and I both know that you could never do that to her." With no response coming from his friend, Ren patted Jaune's knee and returned to bed with his love.

Pyrrha couldn't stand sitting anymore and had decided to go for a walk to clear her head, and decide what to do next. She was currently walking through the gardens in the courtyard when an spectacled man with a cane appeared, leaning next to a tree. With the cane leaning against his hip, he held two cups that steamed in the cool night air.

"Professor Ozpin, why are you out here?" Pyrrha asked of the headmaster, as she neared him. This conversation would be a nice respite from the thorns of her thoughts, however conspicuous his timing had been. The old man seemed to know everything was going on at his school whether he had been there or not.

"Well, Ms Nikos, I find that these gardens have a calming atmosphere. I come down here sometimes to clear my head. Tea?" Oz held out one of the cups to the girl. He already knew what had transpired on the roof, and was curious to see if the girl would open up to him. Oz prepared himself to hear the feelings of the girl as they meandered through the trees.

"Professor Ozpin, can I ask you a question?" There it is. Oz thought as the girl took a deep breath. He nodded his silent approval.

"There's someone I know. He is a good guy, and a better person than most people know. He doesn't like to think so, and it seems like he is turning down the person he loves because he feeling like he doesn't deserve to be with her. How can I help him see that he is actually a really great guy?" Pyrrha slowly explained her predicament to her headmaster, who listened intently while she did so. He knew who she spoke of, but wondered why Pyrrha had not seen that the answer was in the question.

Chuckling, Oz asked, "You speak of yourself and Mr. Arc?" He loved to play mind games, and this one was rewarded with a blush from the girl. "Ms. Nikos, there is no way to force people to see the good in themselves. The only thing that others can do is to show them time and time again that they are loved, and that they are worth something, simply for being who they are..." Oz paused as he gave form to the advice he had decided to give the girl in the beginning of the conversation. "If you need an example, imagine a good fighter who constantly loses to a better one. Then one day, during a real battle, this lesser of the two has the chance to prove himself. Because he has done the proving himself, he can say that he feels better about himself, rather than others trying to show him he is – as you put it – a good person."

Pyrrha struggled to understand how perceptive Professor Ozpin was. It was damn near telepathic sometimes, as she had just discovered. The situation that her headmaster had just posed to her was one of the solutions that she had just thought of on her exploration. "Thank you, sir. That really helps me out."

"Oh and one other thing, Ms. Nikos."

"Yes?"

"Make sure that Mr. Arc understands that you did not orchestrate his victory, or he will sink deeper into self doubt." Professor Ozpin's eyes bored into Pyrrha's own. After a moment, he straightened his back and left Pyrrha with her thoughts without a word.

Jaune lay with his eyes closed on his bed when heard the door to the dorm open and close, followed by the metallic tinkling of bronze armor falling into its place at the foot of Pyrrha's bed. Tonight would not be one for words, as the pair made their plans.

/We're off to the races guys! back to Beacon with our next story, were going to follow Arkos. What will happen to our unlikely pairing? even I don"t know right now, but I'm sure that it will be epic\\\\