Dedicated to my friend Angelofmusic1992.

And this is why I'm not allowed to write for friends. Because I had meant this to be some cutesy fluff filled lovey dovey story. Instead, my brain went 110% angst.

It had been so long since he had been up there. But between the whole… fall of Beacon, Salem, immortality, chaos thing he had been rather preoccupied. Also, after Pyrrha's death, her parents needed to come to terms with the loss of their child. There was no body to bury. Nothing to remember the honest and good woman the youth was but a gravestone. That was probably the worst part. Her parents couldn't take her armor without crying so they insisted that the rest of Team JNPR take it.

Each of them wove different parts to remember Pyrrha into their clothing. Jaune added her armor to his. Merging the two and carrying her torch on. He would fight to be the warrior she always knew he was. Ren added a small braided red chain around his hip in remembrance of his good friend. Nora had been more drastic. Her coats were now all lined red. As if to say Pyrrha would always be close to her heart. And they carried her with them until they defeated Salem.

Now, they were all a drift. No one quite knew what to do now that Salem had been defeated. Jaune especially. Everything he had done during the war was to honor Pyrrha. Now that her murder had been dealt with, the world no longer in danger and Grimm attacks becoming fewer and less frequent, he felt rather helpless.

He believed seeing Pyrrha again – or at least her marker – would help him so he hiked up to the plot where her parents buried her. He took a seat across from the stone. In loving memory – Pyrrha Nikos – gone too soon – beloved daughter and brave Huntress. Jaune couldn't very well have told the Nikos family that Pyrrha was also the love of his life. It seemed poorly timed. But they seemed to understand when he asked permission to see her grave.

"Hey Pyrrha… Been a while…"

He sighed. It seemed the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. She was gone and he still didn't know what to say to her. His voice was raw and overly emotional. No matter how much time had passed, this still hurt. For too long he beat himself up over his strength or lack thereof. It took losing the most important person in his life to make him realize he needed to be stronger in order to protect the ones that were important to him. Or he would keep losing them again and again and again.

"I hope… I hope you're proud of what we've done," he said, "We saved the world."

As if it were that simple. As if any of it were that simple. He missed the days in Beacon. Where things he had to panic over were as inconsequential as an exam or combat practice. Just thinking back made him feel aged. He and the others had been robbed of their childhood. They should have had a few more years before they had to undertake such big tasks. They should have had more field trips, more experience and more time before being thrown in with the sharks. There could have been more food fights and school dances…

There should have been more time for him and Pyrrha. Their first kiss was their last. He had been helpless to stop her from pushing him into the locker and poor Ruby had been witness to Pyrrha's demise. He hated that feeling of helplessness. It drove him to do all he could to never feel that way again. However, it wouldn't fix the ache he felt as he sat before the grave of the young woman who would never get to accomplish any of her dreams. All because she had fought for what she thought was right but was hopelessly underprepared for the power of a Maiden.

"I wish you could have seen it…" he lamented. "I wish…"

He wished a great many things. But he knew deep down wishing wouldn't change anything. If anything, without Pyrrha's death, Team JNPR never would have gone to Mistral. They never would have helped Ruby with the attack on Haven or gotten the relic before Cinder. He also found his semblance. Granted they had a great headache afterwards with the whole reincarnation of Oz and everything behind that. Plus Salem herself, but they had made it through.

They had good times and a lot of bad times. Grimm never made it easy. Salem and Cinder were relentless but through it all they had each other. Pyrrha's death had been the stepping stone for the rest of their lives. All of them, even Team RWBY, tried to honor her the best they knew how. It seemed that Pyrrha had managed to live on in all of them. Her good will and kind heart had managed to persist even after death.

He sighed again, this time more of relief than of pain. Pyrrha may have been gone and dead, but talking was somewhat cathartic. There was so much that she had missed out on. It only felt right his onetime partner should know all that had happened. He took a deep breath, calming himself and easing his heart before looking up at the sky. A crisp Fall day. The leaves were gold and ruby all around him. Fall was never the same for him. It never would be.

"Where to start?" he mused, "I supposed the beginning? Ren, Nora and I went to Patch when we got Ruby's letter and…"

He launched into a lengthy explanation of what happened after her death. He was vomit boy once more because the word vomit that was issued from him. He couldn't stop talking once he started. Once he finished he felt weary, emotionally raw but like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He gave a helpless laugh and closed his eyes. But had he been paying attention, he might have seen the faint outline of his one love smiling at him adoringly before vanishing.