Whenever I find myself unable to write for any of my more important projects, a simple oneshot gives me the boost I need. So here we go! Enjoy this short little fic, everyone!
...
If she recalled correctly, this was the very same park where bench she first met him. The man who changed her life and saved her from a cold, harsh death on the streets. She remembered being much younger at the time, and having just ran away from home, she found herself falling asleep on the cold granite the bench was made from.
"You awake, kid?"
"...?"
*sigh* "Yeesh, you look like crap. What happened to you?"
She slowly and gently lowered herself onto the bench, a sense of nostalgia rushing through her as she made contact. She took a short breath, the winter air making short work of freezing the carbon she released.
"R-Roman..." she rasped out, her voice barely there. So faint, so delicate, it might as well have come from a tiny mouse. She felt a tear form out of the corner of her eye as she remembered the man who she met at the very bench. "R-Roman..." she breathed once more, a little louder.
Why...? Why did it have to be him? He didn't deserve it! He was a good person, despite his reputation, she experienced that first hand! A good person who never deserved to die! She sniffled and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them.
'It should have been me,' she thought bitterly. 'I owed him my life after everything that he has done for me, I should've died instead...'
She then began to cry fully, and she buried her face in her knees in a pathetic attempt to hide. Her shoulders shook with every choked sob as more memories of the man she called Father floated among her scattered mind.
'Roman..!' she cried internally. 'Why did it have to be you?! I need you...'
"I-I'm nothing...without you..." she whispered. "Please come back..."
"You lost someone important, didn't you?"
The sudden arrival of the new voice startled her out of her sobs, and she quickly whipped out her parasol out of instinct. However, upon getting a good look at the new visitor, she slowly calmed herself down and sat back down on the bench. After all, the kid seemed harmless enough. Tall, blonde, scraggly...probably couldn't hurt a fly.
The boy didn't seem fazed at her reaction, instead he took the seat next to her and frowned. "I lost someone too," he admitted. "Someone very important to me."
She glanced up at him in confusion, wondering how he knew and why he was willing to admit his lost to a complete stranger.
"She was the first to ever believe in me," he continued. "My own family didn't think I'd become anything special, but she saw my potential. And now, thanks to her I've become strong enough to protect my friends to the very end."
Neo was at a loss for words, not knowing how to compute to all of this. Namely due to her still lingering question about how he was so willing to admit all of this.
"But, she died about a month ago," the boy explained, his voice growing dark. "She was killed by a very evil woman, someone with enough power to destroy Remnant if she wanted to. But we're going to stop her, I'm going to stop her..."
Neo found herself intrigued, scooting closer to the boy. She was surprised when suddenly he started sobbing just as she had a few minutes before. The boy buried his face in his arm, crying in a very similar way as Neo had.
"Pyrrha..." she heard him murmuring. "I'm so sorry... I...wasn't strong eno-enough to protect you..."
"It should have been me..."
Those next words he uttered froze Neo, and she found her own heart aching for the stranger. 'He's just like me,' she realized. 'All he wanted was to protect someone he loved, and now he's living in regret.'
She hesitantly brought her arms around the stranger in a hug, and she felt him soften a bit. Smiling, she closed her eyes and held him closer, enjoying the comfort the two shared.
Finally, after several minutes the boy pulled away. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly as he wiped his eyes. "I came to talk to you because you looked like you were lonely, but instead I'm the one that ended up crying..." He chuckled sadly. "Pretty pathetic, right?"
Neo shook her head, giving the boy a reassuring smile. It wasn't pathetic at all, she decided. After all, he had obviously been holding back his pain for a long time, just like herself.
The boy grinned back, before he slapped his forehead. "Oh, where are my manners?" he lightly scolded himself before extending his hand. "I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."
Neo gladly accepted it, shaking the boy's hand in greeting. "Neo," she introduced.
"Well, Neo, I might as well provide you a shoulder as well, since you did the same for me," Jaune said. He leaned in close. "So what's eating you up?"
Neo glanced down and bit her lip, feeling another wave of tears form at the bottom of her eyes. "He was killed too," she began. "He was the one who saved me from myself so many years before...and...a-and..." Suddenly her hand flew up to her mouth and she felt herself weep once more.
"It should have been me!"
That's right, she thought.
It should have been her...
If she hadn't played it stupid, if she just would've finished the fight, then he would still be here...
It should have been h-
She gasped when the boy's arms pulled her into a deep hug, and she felt his hand slowly rub up and down her back. Still crying, she hugged him as well, and the two stayed like that for another several minutes.
"It shouldn't have been you, Neo," he whispered. "It may sound cruel, but I'm glad it wasn't you."
She swallowed and pulled away from his grasp, tilting her head. "W-Why?" she asked, unsure whether or not she should be offended.
The boy gave her another charming smile. "Because then I never would've met you," he explained. "I never would've met someone going through the same thing as me. So I'm glad you're here, Neo."
"I..." Neo looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks. "I-I'm glad you're here too...Jaune."
Jaune let out what may have been a sigh of relief, and he slowly sat back and gazed up at the night sky. That's right... It was night... Neo was so wrapped up with her thoughts and this new friend that she had completely forgotten the time. She glanced up at the sky as well, admiring the many stars that blanketed over the dark blue. A shooting star passed by them, and Jaune noted, "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Then he chuckled. "I'm glad we got this chance to meet, Neo," he told her. "We really are the same, aren't we?"
Neo nodded in agreement, and she found herself enjoying Jaune's company. The company of a tortured soul like her... Two lost pups finding solace in each other. She slowly reached and took his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She was pleasantly surprised when he returned the squeeze.
Perhaps it was her being selfish, wanting this shared grief to last. But she didn't care. She had found a source of comfort in a time of distress, and right now she wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.
'I miss you, Roman," she thought, before turning to Jaune. 'But... I think I'll be okay.'
...
Just a sweet thing I wrote in my spare time. Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!
(Also I'm kinda hoping there's a scene like this in Volume 4. Obviously it'd be better but whatever.)