Disclaimer:I dont not own RWBY or any of the characters portrayed.
Pyrrha looked out over the dance floor and smiled.
The second Beacon dance was going well so far. Weiss and Yang had been put in charge of the preparations once again after how well they had handled the dance last year, and surprisingly they seemed to have outdone themselves this year.
Beautiful decorations lined the walls of the ballroom, and the music was well planned it had the students dancing the night away. It helped to calm their minds, letting them forget whatever issues they had in their lives, and drove away the nervousness many felt for the upcoming annual Vytal Festival tournament.
Pyrrha had been surprised that the Tournament was being held in Vale once again, rarely was the Tournament held in the same kingdom two years in a row. Even more surprising, given the events that had occurred last year.
Ozpin had told her of the strings he had to pull to get the Tournament brought back to Vale, of the numerous favors he had performed. He had also told of her the monumental task it had been to convince the other Kingdoms to allow Atlas back into the tournament. The footage of Atlas mechs attacking the innocent civilians had spurred quite a bit of public outrage, and a sense of fear of the Northern Kingdom had settled over Remnant.
Even with the testimonies of the captured Emerald, and the re-captured Roman Torchwick, even with the proof that it had all been the plot of a madwoman hell-bent on power, people were afraid of Atlas, and had cried out for them to be barred from the Tournament this year. Yet it seemed that Ozpin and General Ironwood had been able to pull through in the end, and the students of Atlas Academy were once again here in Vale to try and claim glory for their school and kingdom.
Pyrrha let out a long sigh. The bright, body length crimson dress she had decided to wear to this dance had suddenly started to feel constricting, and she could feel her face flush red with heat. She needed a place to cool off. So she turned away from the dance floor, and walked up the short flight of stairs that led to the balcony overlooking the campus.
Pyrrha walked out into the nice cool air of the night. The first signs of Autumn had finally started to show. She took in a deep breath and began to study the surrounding campus.
She knew it like the back of her hand, or at least, she had. But Beacon's campus bore a few new scars from the fights that had taken place here just a year prior to these festivities. It was still as beautiful as ever though, even more so with the damage that had yet to be restored.
Glynda had done a fantastic job repairing the school from all the destruction that had taken place that day, but there were just some things that even she was not able to fix with a wave of a wand. Like the CCT Tower.
Pyrrha looked up at the Tower, noticing that the repairs were almost fully complete. There were only a few windows left to replace, and a few pillars needing to be put back into place. If she tried really hard to forget, it almost looked like the top of the tower had never fallen in the first place.
Strangely enough, even with all the damage to the school and the city, even with everything that had happened that night. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the memory of what had occurred during those horrific, desperate hours. Of the events that had led her to where she currently was. As the cool air of Autumn Vale washed over her, she was drawn into those memories.
Pyrrha and Jaune ran out of the bottom of the CCT tower, skidding to a stop after their mad dash from the basement of the school. Ozpin had told them to leave, he had all but demanded it after that woman had received the powers of the Fall Maiden.
Pyrrha looked out over the school yard, and toward the city of Vale. She could see the smoke rising high into the sky from the fires that were sure to be raging in the city. In the distance she could hear the sounds of gunfire and fighting, from what she could only assume was her fellow huntsmen in training. It was all still a shock to her. How a simple tournament had come to this?
She was pulled from her daze when she heard Jaune speak.
"I think I have Glynda's number here somewhere, let me look."
She couldn't help the small smile that formed on her face when she looked at Jaune, and the even in all the chaos, even when he had no real idea what had just happened down in the basement, he was still thinking like a true leader. He wasn't freezing up or in shock. He was taking actions that he knew needed to be taken. He truly had come a long way.
But then she noticed the look on his face, the fear that had slowly dawned over his handsome features. "Pyrrha... What was that? What was going on down there? Who was that women?" She hesitated to answer him, wondering what she could possibly say in a situation like this that would explain all that was necessary, that would calm him when she herself was filled with fear.
"I-" A low rumble below their feet cut off her words, and they both turned back to look at the tower they had just fled from. The roar of a fireball grew closer until they caught a glimpse of the woman rocketing up the elevator shaft.
"But…Ozpin." Jaune seemed dejected in his observation, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of Crocea Mors had simply become too much.
Pyrrha shared in that hopelessness, knowing that things had gone from bad to a whole other degree of worse. Neither of them had ever thought for a second that Ozpin, the headmaster they had come to know in their time at Beacon, would fall in battle. But if the woman who had killed a maiden was strong enough to defeat him, then the tower was sure to fall to her hands. And the one thing that Ozpin had told her, had taken the time to be sure that she understood before fleeing from the vault, was that the tower must not be destroyed.
She knew that she had to do something, anything, to prevent that from happening. But a glance over at her partner, at the way his sky blue eyes were watching her, confirmed what she feared. Jaune would follow her into that battle without hesitation.
He had improved quite a bit in the past few months, in their training sessions. But he was still a far cry away from holding his own in a fight against an enemy as strong as that woman. Pyrrha doubted that even she would be able to stop her by herself. There was no chance that he would willingly leave her to face that alone, she knew, and so she had to think of a way to get him out of here.
That was when she noticed the rocket locker not ten feet away from where they stood.
"There isn't any time." Pyrrha spoke somberly, knowing what she had to do. Drawing up some measure of resolve, her expression hardened and she turned back to look at Jaune. "Go, get to Vale and call for help!"
Jaune's expression quickly turned to one of confusion as he spoke. "Huh? What are you gonna do?" Pyrrha let out a long sigh as she looked towards the tower, steeling her resolve and focusing her gaze on the structure. Jaune noticed the change, and immediately knew what it was she was planning. He wasted no time beginning to protest. "No… No Pyrrha you can't, you saw how powerful she is. If you go up there you will die!"
He tried desperately to bring her back to her senses, but Pyrrha had other plans. She couldn't listen to him plead for her to go with him, she knew that she would eventually break and follow him away from the danger to get help. She knew that she had to stop him from continuing.
The first choice was, admittedly, an unorthodox approach to silencing someone. "Look, I am not gonna let you go up there and throw your li-" Her fingers closed about the edges of his chestplate and pulled him towards her, their lips meeting in a crash as she initiated a sloppy kiss that spoke of his inexperience in such issues. At first there was only the shocked lack of reaction, but then he began to kiss her back, and the flutter in her stomach surprised her.
She had been kissed before this, merely dalliances that had been more interested in her achievements than herself. But this was different. It was not the kiss of a fairytale or from a romance novel. There were no sparks that traveled up her spine, there was no awakening of magic between them. It was simple and clumsy, the way they fumbled into each other and shared in this moment, but it was their moment. It was their goodbye.
Sadly she had to break the kiss much sooner than she wanted to, and she looked into Jaune's eyes.
His bright beautiful blue eyes were wide with shock as he processed what had just happened. this was her chance. If she was going to get him out of here it had to be now.
"I'm sorry Jaune" she said as she activated her semblance on his breastplate to shove him back into the locker.
Jaune recovered from his shock faster than she anticipated, and he quickly figured out what she was planning, and he was not at all surprised when he felt himself flying backwards toward the locker he noticed when they first arrived at this spot.
As soon as his back hit the locker he took action, quickly putting his foot out, just in time to catch the locker door before it closed.
Pyrrha was surprised that Jaune was able to stop the locker from closing, yet his shocked expression quickly turned to one of anger as she tried to shut the door again using her semblance, stepping close until she was holding the door closed with her hands.
"Jaune, stop it, and let me close the door. You need to get out of here." she yelled at the boy trying to push the locker door open against her.
"No, I'm not leaving here without you, and there isn't anything you can say, or do, that is going to make me leave here without you, and if you think there is then you are out of your damn mind." he shouted at her with a rage that she was surprised to hear from him.
"Jaune please, I'm not going to leave here. This is…..this is just something that I have to do. You need to go….go and get help, bring them back here to the tower" The anger in Pyrrha's voice was gone now, replaced with sad resignation at what she had to do.
"Pyrrha please, we both know by the time I am able to find help and bring them back here that you will be seriously hurt…. Or worse" He whispered the last part, not wanting to even think about the possibility.
"I know that….." She whispered. Of course she knew. She was most likely going to die from this fight, but damn it this was her destiny, and she was going to fulfill it.
"Then let me help you." He pleaded with her. Hitting the locker
Blinking in surprise she stopped trying to close the door on Jaune, and looked at him through the bars of the locker.
"What?" she asked, still not sure she heard correctly.
"If you know that I won't be able to go get help in time, then at least let me help you." He pleaded not looking away from her eyes the entire time.
That is when she began to once again push on the locker. though with much less vigor than before.
"No Jaune. You can't, you will only get in the way. She is too strong. I know that you have improved so much in combat, but you are just not ready for this. You will just be in danger." She stated as she once agains pushed against Jaune's attempts at escaping the metal locker.
"In Danger? I came to this school to be a hunter, my life is supposed to involve danger, and you want me to run from that? No, please Pyrrha let me help you. You don't stand a chance alone." Jaune grunted as he pushed back against Pyrrha trying his hardest to keep the locker from closing shut.
"No Jaune, this is my destiny, and mine alone. I need to do this. Now please stop struggling" Pyrrha was getting tired of this. She had to resolve the situation fast before that woman caused anymore damage to the tower.
She began to use her semblance on the locker door to try and gain an advantage on Jaune. It seemed to be working,until he spoke again.
"Well what about my Destiny?" He asked.
"What? What destiny are you talking about?" Pyrrha was confused, Jaune had never mentioned this before, even during their conversation about destiny he hadn't mentioned thinking he had one of his own.
"You said Destiny is a goal you work towards your entire life right? Well mine has to be protecting the people I love, and if you send me off now, how am i gonna help protect you?" He pleaded hoping that she would stop pushing on the locker for even a second.
His wish came true, because as soon as he said it Pyrrha faltered, and stop pushing just long enough for for him to overpower her and send both of them collapsed to the group on top of one another.
"What….what did you just say?" Pyrrha could not really comprehend what she had just heard.
"You heard me, how am I going to help protect someone I love if you send me away right now, so you can go off on some suicide quest?" He asked looking at her with his piercing blue eyes.
"Well….I mean-" she was at a loss for words, and couldn't think straight. There was only one question on her mind at the moment.
"You lov-" she was quickly cut off with another question as Jaune got up off of her. The air suddenly began to feel cold around her as the warmth of Jaune pressing against her left her skin.
"You believe in destiny right Pyrrha? Well then are you really gonna stop me from completing my destiny to help protect someone by sending me away?" He asked, reaching out a hand to help her up.
That was when she finally thought about it.
Her idea was stupid… She knew she couldn't beat that woman, she didn't stand a chance. Sure she could probably hold herself better than anyone else, but in the end, she would die. Then the tower would be destroyed regardless. She would die for nothing.
Maybe, just maybe Jaune could help. Maybe together they could fight her, and win. She wasn't sure if that was possible, but it they had a much better chance against her if they fought together than if she had gone off on her own.
She looked up at Jaune, and smiled taking the hand that he offered her.
"I do Jaune, and you are right. It wouldn't be fair to you if I got in the way of your destiny." she said as she was being helped back up off the ground, once she was face to face with Jaune again she locked eyes with him.
He smiled at her.
A smile that she happily returned.
"I guess my only option is to let you help me with my destiny then, isn't it?" She inquired.
"Yep," Was the only reply she got before he kissed her.
The kiss came as a surprise to her, and it was much quicker than their first kiss, not moments ago. It was short, sweet, and held the promise of more to come.
"Now come on, we have to get to the top of this tower before it is too late." Jaune's face suddenly became serious. His voice matched the look he now wore.
Pyrrha recovered from her shock, and quickly nodded, her expression changing back to neutral as she looked to the top of the tower.
They both ran back into the CCT Tower, and made their way to the elevator.
Pyrrha quickly noticed the hole in the floor of the elevator. Seeing that the electrical wires moved where the elevator had been cut she quickly, she told Jaune to hop onto the elevator as she activated her semblance and used it to shoot them quickly to the top floor. To where the Mysterious woman would no doubt be waiting.
Pyrrha looked at Jaune as the elevator quickly began approaching the top floor. He was busy checking to make sure everything was alright with his equipment, once finished he quickly took a battle stance.
Pyrrha smiled. She was thankful that Jaune had talked her into letting him come along, she was much more relaxed now than she had been the entire night prior. There were no pre-fight nerves to calm here.
"Maybe, just maybe we are strong enough together to beat this woman, I guess this is the only way we are gonna find out" With the top of the tower quickly approaching Pyrrha readied Milo and Akuo. This was about to be the fight her life. She was glad there was someone here to share it with her.
Pyrrha was scared out from her memories as she heard a voice call for her from behind.
"Salutations Pyrrha Nikos" Called an enthusiastically happy sounding voice.
Pyrrha did a quick hundred-and-eighty degree jump in surprise to see who had snuck up on her while she was lost in her thoughts.
Turning she quickly identified the person who had called her name.
It was hard not. After all it isn't everyday you are greeted by the person you literally tore apart in a fight a year ago. Then again not everyone you tear in half will always be a robot with a soul.
Standing before her was Penny Polendina. A girl who looked completely the same as she did the day her and Pyrrha fought one year ago.
After Penny had been torn in half by the strings attached to her swords, her power had apparently only shut down, her "mind" was still intact. Making repairs to Penny was quite easy, and once a new body was created, Penny was back, Like nothing had ever happened.
This had come as a relief to Pyrrha. She had been thankful when she heard the news from Ruby that Penny was ok. It was something she was glad was taken off of her chest. She sadly had not seen Penny since the tournament last year so she never got a chance to apologize for the mishap that had happened during their fight. Even though she now knew Emerald had used her semblance to manipulate her mind, she still felt guilty over what happened to Penny and wanted to apologize to the girl.
Turning her attention back to the red headed girl she smiled. "Hello Penny, what brings you here?"
The girl seemed to ponder the question for a moment before responding.
"I am here for the festivities, as I was invited to the dance here, by one of my teammates." the girl responded smiling. seeming to be happy with her response.
Pyrrha couldn't help the chuckle a little. The other girl didn't seem to understand what she meant, and took the question a little too literally.
"No, I mean what are you doing up here talking to me, why are you not out there dancing with your teammate who brought you here." she stated knowing the girl would understand.
Penny, seeming to understand the question, nodded. This time her answer was almost instant.
"Oh, I am here looking for you. I wish to talk to you." She chirped in a happy tone.
Pyrrha was surprised. This girl, who she had almost killed was looking for her...To talk.
If she had been Penny, she wasn't sure she would ever want to see the person that did that to her again. Let alone talk to them.
"You… Want to talk to me? What about?" Pyrrha was hoping this conversation was not going to be about what happened to them last year.
"Well." A smile spreading across her face as she spoke "I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" Pyrrha said surprised "what for?" She was confused, she couldn't think of a single reason that Penny would have to thank her.
"I wanted to thank you what you did a year ago during the tournament." Penny declared.
Pyrrha could feel her jaw go slack, and hang open. She couldn't comprehend what she was hearing. This girl was thanking her for the events that took place a year ago. She was thanking her for killing her.
"You…..you are thanking me for basically killing you. You are not mad at that?" Pyrrha gasped.
Penny's face turned from a smile to an expression of apology. "Oh no, no no, I am not mad about that. I completely understand the situation. You were tricked into seeing something that wasn't there. I do not blame you for that mishap." Penny said with a smile.
Pyrrha let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Happy to know what happened was not being held against her by the smaller girls.
"No what I wanted to thank you for was for doing the thing I was supposed to do. Thank you for protecting the World." Penny said.
Pyrrha smiled "Oh I was just doing what any huntress in training would do." She tried to play down what she had done. "Besides I didn't do it alone, I had my teammate with me to help." She said thinking back to the blond haired boy who had captured her heart.
"Oh, you mean your boyfriend?" Penny said looking like she just realised something obvious. "The tall blond one on your team correct?"
Pyrrha blushed at the mention of the fact her and Jaune were dating. It had almost been a full year since they had started dating, but it still was something that was hard to get through her head.
"Well yes that would be the one." Pyrrha said with a slight chuckle, trying to keep the flush on her face from showing.
"Oh there is one more thing I wanted to say to you." penny stated
"Hmm what is that?"
"I wanted to wish you good luck in the tournament this year." Penny said with a bright smile on her face "And I hope that we will be able to have a rematch in the singles round this year. Although hopefully with a lot less magnetism." She paused for a bit "Might be hard to get there this year though, seeing as how they are making me enter alone."
Pyrrha laughed nervously at Penny's attempt at humor. "Yes, well thank you, I hope that we can have a much cleaner match this year. If we do I'll be sure to keep the polarity down to a minimum." She said while rubbing the back of her head.
Penny's smiled seem to bright ever more. "Well I have to get going, General Ironwood will probably find out that I am missing soon. I was not supposed to sneak off." With that Pyrrha said good and skipped back inside.
Pyrrha sighed and turned around. She felt bad for lying to Penny, but she didn't have the heart to tell the android that she wasn't allowed to take part in the singles portion of the Tournament this year. Ozpin, Ironwood, and the other headmasters had barely come to an agreement to allow her to participate in the full team portion of it, and that was only due to using the same restrictions she had while participating in ranked combat practices at school. She was in no way allowed to use her new "gifts", or her team would be given a swift disqualification.
Pyrrha let out one last long sigh as she walked back into the ballroom, hoping to see if Jaune had arrived yet.
Thinking of the blond haired boy made her smile. She could not wait to get to dance with him tonight, she had been looking forward to this day for the past month. As much as she didn't like to admit it she was a sucker for romance, and an evening dance in a ballroom at a school sanctioned party was the perfect place for a romantic date night with Jaune.
As pyrrha began to walk back inside to look for her boyfriend she began to think about all the things that had changed in the past year, and as she began to look out at the dance floor she could clearly seem some of the things that had crossed her mind.
Dancing wildly in the middle of the floor was her good friend Nora. While her boyfriend, Lie Ren, was unenthusiastically dancing with her. Although he seemed annoyed, the smile on his face would tell you other wise.
Pyrrha had been so happy when Nora had finally decided to ask out Ren after the Battle of Beacon. Ren had almost gotten seriously hurt while protecting Nora from a paladen. The girl didn't stop crying for hours, even with Ren telling her he was fine. Somehow ever since then the two had become even more inseparable.
Pyrrha smiled as she saw Nora, and Ren say something to each other before she saw Nora get a mischievous grin on her face and forcefully began pulling Ren away from the dance floor.
As her eyes followed her teammates she noticed Team SSSN, and Weiss, Yang, and Blake all sitting at a table together. It had been almost a full year since Team SSSN had visited beacon so pyrrha wasn't surprised to see the friends chatting up. She made a mental note to herself to go talk to them later personally to see how they had all been.
Yang grabbed her attention as she began to wave her arms in the air, probably to exaggerate something in the story she was telling. Everyone around her began laughing as Blake began to pick up the conversation. Probably trying to correct whatever lie Yang just told. Weiss just continued to laugh.
All of team RWBY had seemed to change a lot over the past year, at least in Pyrrha's eyes.
Blake had become a lot more open, and trusting to other people, especially to her teammates, and especially to her own team leader. For the past year it had been a rare site for Pyrrha to see Ruby without Blake somewhere nearby, and vice versa.
Yang claimed it was because Blake was grateful to Ruby for her help against Blake's former partner, Adam, during the battle of Beacon.
According to Ruby she just did what any good leader would do. After she helped to Capture both Roman, and his accomplice Neapolitan, who had taken over General Ironwoods airship, she had made her way to Beacon, and arrived just in time to stop her sister from charing into an attack from Blake's former partner. With her help they pushed him back, and were able to get Blake to safety.
Pyrrha later heard Blake say that if Ruby had not shown up, she was sure her and Yang would have been seriously hurt, if not killed, by the White Fang member.
Ever since that day Yang had changed as well. She was much less rash about certain things. Especially in combat situations. Where before Yang would charge Blindly into battle, Pyrrha had seen on many occasions that now the girl would take a step back and consider her opponent's abilities, as well as their habits before charging. Doing so had allowed her to be right up near Pyrrha in one-on-one combat training. Pyrrha was sure Yang could best her in a straight up fair fight.
Weiss had become a lot less mean to everyone, even Jaune. After Weiss had learned to use her glyphs for summoning a year ago, her confidence has skyrocketed, and she seemed to be all around happier. Pyrrha saw Weiss smile more often, and whenever she talked to Weiss she could tell that the girl had a much brighter attitude about things. Ruby would always mention the Weiss's negative attitude had just suddenly vanished as well.
Suddenly her thoughts went back to Jaune, and just how much he had changed in the last year.
During their fight with Cinder, Jaune had discovered his Semblance of making his body an impenetrable shield. An ability that had not only saved her life, but gave her enough time to defeat Cinder during the women's surprised ranting at the unexpected interference from Jaune.
The women never saw the Shattered tip of Milo coming before it pierced her heart.
He had become much better in his combat and leadership abilities. With Pyrrha's help Jaune was now much more proficient with his swordsmanship, even being able to match her in straight up sword play. His confidence while leading his team was also much improved. Never once did he hesitate when giving orders to his team, and he had a solution to almost any situation. Even if his team attack names he kept making up could still use some work. With his new skills Jaune had slowly started climbing the ranks in their singles combat rankings. Making it into the top 15 within their class.
And together they were in the top 3 of doubles rankings. His confidence had done a complete one-eighty in the past year, and he walked around with an air of confidence very few possessed. He had finally accepted that he could actually become the hero he had always wanted to be.
The mere thought of that brought a huge grin to her face.
Being lost in her thoughts she failed to notice the person walking up behind her.
"Enjoying your evening I see, Miss Nikos." A familiar smooth voice called from behind her.
Turning around Pyrrha came face to face with the headmaster of the Academy Professor Ozpin.
"Oh, good evening headmaster." Pyrrha stammered in surprise. She hadn't expected to see Ozpin tonight. Remembering he had just asked her a question she quickly answered "Yeah, I am enjoying my evening so far."
"Mister Arc is not with you, I would have expected you two to be here together." He replied before taking a sip from his mug.
"Oh Jaune is running a little late, he said he would be here in a little while." Pyrrha responded taking this time to ask her own question. "So what are you doing Professor?"
"I'm here to make sure that all of my students, and the visiting students, are enjoying themselves." He said, pausing to look out at the the group of happily dancing students. "Many of them forget to have a good time at events like these. Nerves, and sometimes a lack of social skills, can cause unwanted stress, even at peaceful events like these. Some students just don't realise that they need to have a good time here, and that they can't always live their lives on the battlefield. " He finished his statement turning back to Pyrrha and smiling.
"Well there is no real benefit from stressing over things all the time, everyone needs time to relax." Pyrrha said, thankful that she was normally very well composed when it came to upcoming events such as a the tournament. "We may all be hunters, and huntresses in training, but we are still kids after all."
Ozpin chuckled at her words. "True. I'm glad you can see it that way… After all, it is not a role you will all have forever. Especially with what is to be coming up soon." Ozpin said his mood suddenly becoming serious.
"Yes, well I guess we will be having to cross that bridge eventually. Hopefully it is not too soon." Pyrrha sighed, knowing exactly what Ozpin was referring too.
After defeating Cinder, Pyrrha had become the Fall maiden, naturally, and as such she had officially become part of Ozpin's inner circle. Doing so had let her gain access to information almost no one outside of those select few knew.
Information such as Cinder not being the real threat. She was merely a pawn controlled by a much greater evil. One which Ozpin said he could no longer ignore.
After a year of planning and information gathering,they would soon have what they needed to make their first move against their true enemy. A women that Ozpin referred to as "Salem."
She felt bad, she didn't want to get her friends involved, but just by being associated with her -being her teammates and friends - they were going to inevitably end up in the thick of things.
"We shall, as soon as Qrow returns with the information we need. For now I am glad you are able to find a way to not let the stress get to you." Ozpin stated as he turned back to the dance floor. "Now if only miss Rose could do the same."
Pyrrha followed Ozpin's eyes over toward the punch table located at the edge of the ballroom, and standing there looking around awkwardly was the small black, and red haired leader of team RWBY, in a bright, mid length red dress. It looked to Pyrrha like something was bothering the young girl.
Ruby was another person like Jaune who had changed considerably in the past year.
She and the rest of her team had defeated that Dragon grimm, and she had found out her "Silver eyed warrior" abilities - as Qrow had dubbed them - a power she had not called upon since her team had almost died fighting that monster. The girl had vastly improved in many aspects of being a huntress. Having found many new ways to use her semblance effectively, she was now in the top 3 of the single combat class, and with her flawless ability to know her teammates abilities and how to use them best, her team was the top rated in team Combat ranking. She had even been invited to be part of Ozpin's inner circle, like Pyrrha had.
The young girl had taken to calling it the Ozluminati as a joke. One that only seemed funny to the young girl herself.
Pyrrha was surprised she hadn't noticed her not being with her team earlier. The girl was rarely not around at least one of her teammates. She noticed that Ruby looked like she was bothered by something. Maybe she should go ask her what was up. Ruby had been socially awkward at last year's dance, but she had come out of her shell a lot since then. It was weird seeing here be so reclusive. Especially with her team all together.
Ozpin broke the sudden silence that had captured their conversation for the past few seconds. "I must be going, General Ironwood had something that he wished to discuss tonight, and Glynda can only keep stalling for me for so long." He said with a smile as he began to walk away.
"Do enjoy your your carefree night while you can, miss Nikos. For your story is not over yet, and pretty soon the next chapter will begin." Ozpin's words echoed in her ears as he walked out of sight.
Pyrrha sighed. Trying her best to keep the thoughts of the upcoming conflict with Salem from her mind. Tonight was going to be a happy care free one, she was going to make sure of that. With that thought in mind she decided she would go see what was wrong with Ruby, so she began to make her way down the stairs. She got slightly distracted by the bright white ornate decorations, and even the beautiful way the smoke gave the room a slightly mysterious look as she made her way toward the smaller girl.
As she approached Ruby she noticed the younger girl looking at the table where her team was sitting.
Looking over, Pyrrha saw that almost everyone had left the table except for Blake and Sun, who were sitting there chatting.
Sun must have said something humorous, because Blake had her hand over her face to cover up laughter.
Pyrrha saw Ruby's face fall just a little bit more at the scene before her. That is when it suddenly dawned on Pyrrha. She had seen that look before. It was the same face she herself had worn many times when Jaune had been trying to ask Weiss out last year. A look of hurt, and jealousy.
Pyrrha laughed to herself. "So that is the problem," she thought.
Her and Ozpin had both assumed Ruby was stressed about the same things they were, Yet here this 16 year old prodigy was only worried about relationship problems.
"Pyrrha, looks like it is time for you to try playing matchmaker," even as she got up close to Ruby the young girl still hadn't noticed her presence, seeing to be far too deep in her own thoughts.
"Good evening Ruby," Pyrrha said to no effect, as it didn't seem to catch her attention.
"Hello! Earth to Ruby!" She shook her hand in front of Ruby's face, and spoke louder to be heard over the music.
This seemed to finally catch the small girl's attention as she jumped in surprise and quickly turned around to face the taller redhead.
"Oh…..hey Pyrrha" ruby said recovering from her thoughts. "Where's Jaune?" She asked looking behind Pyrrha as if expecting the blond haired boy to pop out from a hiding place.
"Oh Jaune said he was going to be here late. It shouldn't be too long until he gets here." Pyrrha said. "So Ruby how is your night going? Are you enjoying the dance?"
Ruby's face settled to into a frown for a second before she spoke. "Eh, the night could be going better. The dance is nice though, it is very beautiful in here, and the music is just as good as last year, Weiss and Yang did a great job." She stated.
"That they did." Pyrrha nodded in agreement with Ruby, taking in her surroundings once again.
"My night would definitely be better if I could be wearing my hood… and if I didn't have to be wearing these dumb lady stilts right now." Ruby said gesturing to the 3-inch red heels that matched her dress. "Can we talk about how you and Weiss fight in these? I'm about to fall and break a bone just walking in them." Annoyance at the atformenitoned shoes was clearly written on the girl's face.
Pyrrha chuckled "Well they are not so bad after you get used to wearing them for awhile."
Ruby blew some of her hair out of her face with an annoyed huff "Yea tell that to the aching in my feet…"
Pyrrha looked at Ruby. Decided that she needed to get the real conversation going. "Oh come on now, you look cute. I'm sure your date is really happy that you came all dressed up and looking nice."
Ruby's face dimmed at the mention of a date. "Oh….well i'm sure they would….If i had actually come with anyone." She muttered somberly, quickly looking back over to the table where Blake and Sun were sitting before looking back at Pyrrha.
"No one asked you?" Pyrrha asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well I am still a year younger than anyone here, Even the freshmen. No one seems to want to ask the youngest girl in the school." She answered trying not to sound like she was bothered.
"Then why didn't you ask anyone?" Pyrrha asked
Ruby looked up at pyrrha with a surprised expression on her face, her mouth slightly ajar. "What?
"Why didn't you just ask someone if they wanted to go?" Pyrrha asked with a knowing smirk on her face. She hoped that Ruby would just come right out, and talk about the issue.
Ruby face suddenly became flustered. " Well….Well you see." She stammered obviously trying to find the right words. "I uhh, I didn't have anyone I was interested in going with." She started, gaining confidence halfway through her obvious lie.
Pyrrha looked at Ruby with a face the clearly called her bluff on the subject. Seeing as dropping hints was not getting anywhere Pyrrha decided it best to just breach the subject. "You are not very good at lying, you know that Ruby. If you wanted to ask Blake, why didn't you?"
Ruby looked away from Pyrrha, suddenly becoming interested in the "Lady stilts" that she wanted simply to forget about just a few seconds ago.
"Is it really that obvious?" Ruby asked her voice quieter that she meant for it to be.
"What was that?" Pyrrha asked, not able to hear the shorter girl over the loud dance music blasting through the ballroom.
Ruby looked up. He face flushed with embarrassment, she still couldn't look Pyrrha in the eyes. "Is it really that obvious?" Asking the question as she finally looked back up at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha smiled at the younger girl. "Well you have been staring at her all night, and you haven't made any attempt to interact with anyone all night. So yea, you are pretty obvious about it."
"That isn't true." The young girl said quick to defend herself. "I talked to Penny about ten minutes ago." Ruby said quickly turning to try and find the android girl as if to prove her point.
Pyrrha just gave Ruby a stern look. "You can't just be anti-social and expect anything to happen Ruby."
"I know….I just wish I had the confidence to go and ask her out. Put me in front of a giant monster, and I can fight it with no problems. Yet put me in front of her to try and ask her to a dance, and it is like my knees become jelly." Ruby sighed "It is so frustrating, I'm just so scared she is gonna reject me. I mean why wouldn't she? She has Sun who seems plenty interested in her. What should I do Pyrrha?" Ruby asked, looking over to the table for the third time within their short conversation, her face drooping a bit more as she saw Blake laughing at something Sun said again.
Pyrrha knew the feeling Ruby was describing all too well. It was the same feeling she had about Jaune many times last year.
"Just ask her." Pyrrha looked straight into Ruby's eyes as she gave the silver haired girl her advice.
"What…..Pyrrha it isn't that simple...I don't even know if she likes gi….." Ruby started her rebuttal before she was cut off.
"Look Ruby, I know it doesn't sound like the best advice, but it is really just that simple." Pyrrha began, "I thought the same thing as you with Jaune last year. So I didn't say anything to him, even as I saw him to try and go after Weiss, and that hurt. Yet I couldn't get myself to just come out and tell him how I felt. It wasn't until I thought I was going into a fight where I would die against Cinder last year that I finally told him." Pyrrha sighed before she continued. "I almost only told him cause I didn't think I would be around to hear him return or deny those feelings. I got lucky that he did, but it shouldn't have taken me until it did for me to tell him. Waiting almost made me lose him. Don't make the same mistake I did Ruby." She finished as she rested her hand on the younger girl's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze to emphasize her point.
Ruby sat there and listened to Pyrrha's story, after it was over she once again looked at Blake, and Sun, and then back to Pyrrha. "Is it really that simple, just go ask her?"
"Well….there is only one way to find out. Go up and ask her to dance, and then talk to her about it." Pyrrha finished with a wide smile.
The younger girl seemed to consider this for a moment before she looked at Pyrrha with that normal wide Ruby smirk that she was known for. "You know what you are right. I'm gonna go ask her to dance right now." Ruby said excitedly as she began walking towards Balke, and Sun at a brisk pace before she stopped, and turned back towards Pyrrha. "Thanks for the advice Pyrrha." With that she turned around and continued on her way toward Blake.
Pyrrha smiled to herself as she watched the young girl make her way towards her crush. "No problem Ruby, hope the advice helps you."
"Trying to play matchmaker I see." Pyrrha heard a voice call from behind her, and her smile became much wider as she recognized the voice immediately.
Turning around she came face to face with her boyfriend who had seemingly just arrived to the dance.
"I guess you could say that" Pyrrha said as she quickly walked up and gave Jaune a hug. Pulling back, she looked into his blue eyes, couldn't help but get lost in them. Even a year after of dating, she had not tired of just simply looking into his eyes. They consistently would make her heart flutter, and give her butterflies in her stomach. A feeling she hoped wouldn't leave anytime soon. "She looked like she was having trouble. I just decided to give her a slight push in the right direction."
Jaune chuckled as he returned her hug, and looked past her at Ruby. "It definitely looks like she is taking that push, and running with it." He said gesturing toward the smaller girl with his head.
Pyrrha looked back and could see that Ruby had made her way over to the table, and had gotten Blake's attention. The girl was currently talking to Blake, and it was obvious she had gotten quite nervous, because she was playing with her hands, and constantly looking anywhere but at Blake.
When Ruby was done talking, Blake simply smiled and nodded at her saying something Pyrrha couldn't hear over the music. Yet she was able to see her wave to Sun, and she got up, took Ruby by the hand and walked off with the obviously surprised younger girl behind her.
Pyrrha smiled, glad to see that whatever Ruby had said had worked. "I say that is a mission accomplished wouldn't you?" She asked the man standing next to her. He simply nodded in agreement.
After a few second of silence Jaune spoke "I'm sorry that I am so late. I really didn't mean to miss over half the dance. Please don't be mad." He said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head while laughing.
Pyrrha turned to face him, and decided to play around with him. "Oh it is ok, you'll just have to sleep on your own bed tonight." She couldn't help but laugh as his face turned to one of disappointment and horror. Ever since they started sharing a bed, he hated it when Pyrrha made him sleep in his own. She only ever did it when she was upset with him, granted it had only happened twice since they began sleeping together, but it still was something he would rather avoid.
"Aw come on Pyrrha I was late for a perfectly good reason I promise." He said quickly, trying to defend his actions.
"I guess if you tell me exactly why you were late, and I think it is a reasonable excuse, I can think about forgiving you." She teased, although part of her was curious as to why Jaune was late, all he had said was that he had something to take care of before he came here.
Jaune blushed at her question and started rubbing the back of his head. His face making the worst poker face smile she had ever seen in her life. "Oh well you see…..I umm, I can't tell you yet?"
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh….and why not?"
Jaune laughed nervously, closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head. "You'll see later. That is all I can say." His face getting more and more red by the minute. Pyrrha though that was cute. He often did this whenever he was embarrassed about something when they first started dating, but as he got more comfortable with the idea it began to happen less and less.
If he was doing that now then he was definitely up to something. What it was, she wasn't sure, but she was positive she would find out by the end of the night. "Then until I see it, i'm keeping my judgment on you sleeping in your own bed." She smirked as his face fell into a frown. Satisfied with her teasing she decided he had enough for now, and gave him a quick kiss to try and brighten his mood.
The toothy smile now on his face let her know she had succeeded in her efforts.
Pyrrha turned back toward the dance floor and took a look at all the students, and saw many people were just dancing about without a care in the world. Some people making complete fools of themselves as they attempted to dance, and others showed off their hidden talents. Either way people were cheering them on without a care in the world.
That was when Pyrrha noticed Yang walking up to the large stage that was in the back of the ball room. She was making her way over to the mic that stood in the middle of the stage.
The blond haired girl quickly tapped the mic a few times to make sure it was on before she started speaking.
"Hey! Can I get everyone's attention?" She spoke into the mic. When she did, the music suddenly died down, and all the students quickly stopped what they were doing to face the stage to listen.
"Alright everyone who has been enjoying the dance so far?" She asked, her answer was the resounding yell of approval by almost all the students in the ballroom.
The smile on Yang's face grew, and her face seemed to gain a glow to it as the crowed yelled its praise at her. Almost as if she was feeding off the energy. "Well I am glad that you are all having a good time, but now we are gonna slow things down a bit. So for all you couples out there this is your chance to have a nice slow dance." She finished her statement by placing the mic back on its stand and began walking away. Halfway across the stage she quickly ran back and grabbed ahold of the mic. "Oh, and for anyone interested, I'm available." She winked at somebody in the front row before she once again placed the mic down, and left the stage to the sound of cheering and a few wolf whistles.
After Yang left the stage the music once again started playing, although now, instead of heavy electronic dance music,it was a nice slow classical melody.
"Something Weiss obviously picked out" Pyrrha thought to herself as she looked around at all the couples who had taken to the floor and began dancing.
Looking through the crowed she could clearly make out her friends, all with their dance partners. Each looked to be enjoying their times. She was particularly interested in Ruby, as she saw the young girl dance with Blake near the back of the dance floor.
Ruby looked to be struggling with dancing, her face bright red with embarrassment as Blake tried to show Ruby the steps. Her face only darkening as all she ended up doing was stepping on Blake's feet and apologizing. To that, Blake could only laugh.
Pyrrha smiled at the scene playing out in front of her, glad that Ruby had found the confidence she had needed.
"May I have this dance?" Turning around she saw Jaune with an outstretched hand offered to her, beckoning her silently to take his hand. He was bowing slightly at the waist as if trying to look elegant. The smirk on his face only completed the look.
"How does he make something so dorky look so handsome and dashing?" she took his hand, and gave a slight bow of her own. "I would be honored" She laughed as she spoke.
Gripping her hand tightly Jaune walked Pyrrha into the middle of the dance floor. He turned to face her as he took her other hand into his, as he laid his other hand on her waist, and he began to lead her around the dance floor in an elegant dance.
Throughout their dance Pyrrha's eyes never those of the man in front of her. They both stared at each other as He expertly lead them in a elegant dance around the ballroom. Never once did he miss a step.
It seemed like they spent forever dancing in silence before Jaune spoke up. "You know, a year ago I couldn't have imagined being here with you and now I can't imagine myself not being here with you." Their dancing never slowed down, even as he spoke.
"Really, and why is that?" Pyrrha asked her feet gliding effortlessly along the floor as her and Jaune spun around the dance floor.
"It is just, I'm so clumsy, and awkward, and you are just so perfect. I just never would have pictured us together. I guess that is the reason it took me so long to realise I had feelings for you." Jaune admitted as he looked at her. She could read the emotions in his eyes, and right now he was nervous about something.
"Jaune you have always been so much more than clumsy and awkward. Yes, you were those when you first arrived here, but look how much you have grown." She said as she rested her hand on his cheek. "I'm glad you were that way anyway. You were someone who acted as themselves, and even though you started out with so much less skill than everyone, you tried harder than anyone to become better, and that payed off. That is what I admire about you." She smiled at him. The smile he gave back warmed her heart.
"Being incredibly handsome doesn't hurt either" His joke made Pyrrha laugh, their dancing had come to an abrupt halt, as they stood in the middle of the dance floor.
"Well that certainly did help your case." She pulled his face towards hers as she brought their lips together.
No matter how many times her and Jaune kissed she always got the same feeling. A spark that wasn't when they first kissed. It had arrived after the events of that night, and ever since then the feeling had only gotten stronger.
After what seemed like hours, Pyrrha had to pull away from the kiss for air. Once she did her eyes once again meet with Jaune's deep blue eyes.
"I'm so thankful I listened to you last year, if I hadn't we wouldn't be here right now." She thought to herself as she smiled at her boyfriend.
"I love you Jaune, and I am so happy we are together. Nothing has ever made me happier than being with you." She told him. This man in front of her had ways of bring out the mushy romantic side of her like nothing else.
"Well I am glad you feel that way, cause I feel the exact same way about you" He confessed as he kissed her briefly. "I love you more than anything." After he finished talking he took his hands off of Pyrrha and began reaching into his pocket.
It was then that Pyrrha looked around and noticed that they were not the only ones who had stopped dancing. In fact everyone had stopped dance, and had gathered in a massive circle around the two of them in the center of the dance floor.
Her eyes came to rest on her group of friends standing just off to her left at the front of the massive crowd as they all had differing expression of happiness on their faces.
Team SSSN was standing off to the far left of the group, all with a big smile on their faces.
Weiss, and Yang were standing next to them Weiss had a slight smile on her face as she looked at Pyrrha, and her foot was twitching, almost as if she was holding back her excitement for something. Yang had her arms crossed over her chest, and had a wide toothy grin plastered on her face.
Next to them was their other two teammates. Ruby and Blake were holding hands as Blake was looking at Pyrrha with a calm smile on her face. Ruby was practically bouncing next to her, clearly excited by what she was seeing. She also couldn't help herself from repeating the phrase "Oh my Gosh" as she tugged on Blake's arm.
Finally next to them were Ren and Nora. Ren seemed as passive as ever, yet a small smile could be seen on his face. Somehow Nora seemed to be more excited than Ruby. She was bouncing all around Ren, hugging the boy, and saying things like "IT'S SO CUTE REN!" , and "GET HER JAUNE, YOU GO!" Pyrrha even thought she saw tears in the girl's eyes.
Pyrrha was confused by what Nora was saying, she turned back toward Jaune to ask him what she was talking about. She looked back and was stunned to find that he was not standing next to her, but he was kneeling in front of her, still looking through his pockets.
Pyrrha eyes widened as she realised what was happening. "He can't be, there is just no way that he is going to do that." Contrary to what she was thinking Jaune finally found what her was looking for and brought out a small black box, simple yet elegant in its design.
"Look Pyrrha, I know we have only been dating for a little over a year, but it has been the happiest, and best year of my life." He looked up at her as he began speaking. "And as hunters, well we might not have as many years left as we would hope." He took a deep breath as he continued with what he was saying. "I want to make sure that however many years me and you have left are just as great, if not better than this past one."
Pyrrha's hand covered her mouth to keep from the slight sob that was forming in her throat. She couldn't believe this was happening. Of all the things she could have expect Jaune to do tonight this was not on that list.
Jaune opened the box to reveal a simple diamond ring in the center of the box. It was nothing fancy or ornate, but Pyrrha thought it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. "Pyrrha Nikos. Will you marry me?" The question hung in the air. It was at this moment that Pyrrha fully comprehended what was going on.
This is why Jaune was late. He had been planning this the whole time, and he had gotten the whole dance in on it. She wondered how long this had been on his mind, and how he got it together.
It was a couple of second before she realised that she had yet to answer Jaune, and that everyone was still watching them.
Pyrrha began nodding her head up and down enthusiastically. Unable to form the proper words as her heart beat accelerated, and the butterflies in her stomach began fluttering full force. "Yes… Yes yes yes yes" She was finally able to say the words as tears started flowing down her cheeks. she pulled Jaune into a hug and buried her face into his shoulder as she cried.
Everyone around them started yelling and cheering as she said yes, and she could her Nora tackle Ren behind her. The music had started up again, and everyone started to resume their dancing.
As she pulled back from Jaune she could see the loving look in his shining blue eyes as he took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. Once the ring was on she put her hand on his cheek and brought their lips together in a kiss.
As they kissed Ozpin's statement from earlier tonight entered her head. "Your story is not over yet, and pretty soon the next chapter will begin." Pyrrha broke the kiss and looked at Jaune. "I love you Jaune" she said in a whisper that only he would hear over the cheering crowd. As all her friend surrounded the both of them to congratulate them on their new engagement, Pyrrha looked at them and smiled. She had one final thought before she joined them all in their celebration.
"The story might not be over for us, but at least I can say that this chapter will have a happy ending."
Well there is the end of my story. This is my Moncon entry for the /r/RWBY subreddit monthly competition, and this was the first fanfiction I have ever written, and the only thing I have ever written of this nature so I am sorry if it feels off, or is bad in some areas. I hope to improve with writing in the future.
I might try and create a story about all the event that happened during the Battle of beacon in this AU if people seem interested enough.
Special thanks to my friend /u/Unjax, and /u/ DrowSpectre for helping me edit this story.