I have been writing this thing on and off for months haven't had a lot of time. Originally this was intended as a one shot, but as I got more into it it kind of just kept growing. Kinda of late on the Post volume 3 bandwagon here, but I didn't want the story to rot on my computer forever. So here's part 1.

Also if you want to read a way better Jaune post season 3 story that deals with basically the same stuff (stages of grief etc) go read Denial by College fool, a fantastic story by an amazing writer who writes better asleep than I do on my best day.

If you're still here, enjoy the story!

"Pyrrha you can't win! You know how powerful she is!" Jaune said, begging Pyrrha to not do something so stereotypically Pyrrha. He looked into her deep green eyes, denying what he saw there. His heart already knew what she would do but his head screamed to stop her.

Pyrrha hesitated, her gazing glancing between the clock tower and Jaune. Jaune knew that logic wasn't about to reach her He only had a few moments. An idea popped into his head almost immediately the very thought of it was absurd.

"You're the kind of person I wish I came to the dance with" He of course, still hadn't quite wrapped his head around the idea that Pyrrha liked him. That she wanted to be, as Nora would say, together-together. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl chose him. As the idea fell into place in his head, he decided it was possibly the only way to stop her. He needed to convince her there was something more important than destiny. Destiny could wait, this whole damn thing could wait Pyrrha can't-

The idea that he had formed in his head shattered as Pyrrha brought him into a passionate kiss. He barely registered the fact that her lips were against his for a few moments.

Wait this is the perfect time! A part of his brain said. All he needed to do was hold her, wrap his arms around her, make it last long enough for her to forget about Cinder for only a few moments. He raised his arms and started to reach behind her back.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said. For a moment Jaune thought he had succeeded, that she was apologizing for being reckless. He relaxed for a fraction of a second. It was all Pyrrha needed.

A part of Jaune shattered when he felt himself be shoved backwards into a rocket locker. His heart sank even deeper as he looked into her eyes. She was beautiful, even as Jaune could almost see the resignation in her eyes. The fact that she might die obviously clear to her.

"Pyrrha don't do this no!" Jaune begged. He grasped the grates on the front of the locker. His voice was desperate. Pyrrha don't do this! You'll die! Jaune thought as he continued his pleas. Pyrrha's eyes had hardened she had all the resolution she needed to face the monster who had defeated Ozpin.

"I'm sorry Jaune." She whispered so quietly that Jaune wondered if she actually said it. Pyrrha dialed in the coordinates. She looked at Jaune one more time. Her eyes were heavy, full of resolution but also regret. Jaune felt all his strength leave him as unspoken words passed between them. The conflict of love against duty clearly passing between their gazes. Jaune hardly noticed the rocket inside the locker ignite and fire him and the locker skywards. He had failed; he was a failure, it was all he could think.

For Pyrrha, she felt she had betrayed a part of herself. She had wanted to kiss Jaune for so long she had imagined the moment so many times in so many situations. She had thought of kissing him at the dance, after their training sessions after one of their talks. It had never happened. Jaune was, in his own words a lovable idiot. He was dense and couldn't take a hint but he was so much more than that He was strong in ways that you couldn't train, strong where she was weak. In the end she had always believed that one day a hint would get through, something would happen and he would react. It never had.

For a moment Pyrrha grinned, she had finally kissed the man she loved so much. For once she had taken Nora's advice of practicing what she preached. The girl inside her wanted to jump for joy. The Huntress squashed that feeling. There would be a time for that later. If there is a later a voice in her head whispered. Pyrrha turned and ran toward the tower, she was ready she could face the Fall Maiden.

Pyrrha ran into the elevator and willed it to move. The voices kept plaguing her.

"don't disobey Ozpin, he was the best and he lost" the voice said

"But she'll be weak because of it. I can beat her in that weakened state." Pyrrha thought back.

"Do you really think so? You are but one girl Jaune was right, you can't win."

"This isn't about winning this is about Duty."

"You're not fooling anyone. You're running away. You chose Duty over Love. Worse yet you did it for yourself. You kissed Jaune and now you are going to rip out his heart."

"He's stronger than you think."

"He begged you not to, you were his partner and you abandoned him."

"I was protecting him!"

"By locking him in a locker and sending him away? You were protecting yourself."

"He would die if he stayed."

"So will you." the voice said with a finality that shook Pyrrha to the core. She could not think up a fair rebuttal. She heard the ding of the elevator bell. The doors slide open and the battle of her life commenced.

The locker bent and buckled as it slammed into the pavement, Jarring Jaune into an alert state. He turned quickly trying to uncover any way to get himself sent back. He had failed again and this time was worse than the all his other failures combined. He started to kick at the locker door gritting his teeth as it finally gave way with a screech. He didn't know where he was and he couldn't help Pyrrha even if he could find his way back.

But Ruby could.

He scrambled for his scroll and quickly dialed her number. The scroll rang briefly before ruby picked up.

"Jaune!" the voice on the other end said.

"Ruby! It's Pyrrha she's fighting that girl! You have to go help her! She doesn't have a chance!" Jaune begged, his voice cracking.

"Don't worry we'll get Pyrrha! Are you okay?"

Jaune screamed and threw the phone. They didn't understand how serious this was! Pyrrha was going to die! She was getting into a fight with a super-powered criminal who had beaten and probably killed Ozpin. How the hell did she think she had even a sliver of a chance?

"And it's my fault, if I weren't so week I could have stopped her or helped her with this fight." Jaune felt the tears flow freely from his face. He was angry at himself, angry at Pyrrha angry and frustrated at the teachers that they hadn't acted sooner. He was Angry at the hellhole beacon had become but most of him was angry at himself for being so weak, for being a liability that Pyrrha felt she had to send away to stop from dragging her down.

He dropped to the ground on his knees. He felt frustrated and even worse, useless. There was nothing he could do to help his friends, nothing he could do to help his partner, nothing he could do to help his team.

A growl behind him caused him turn, he instinctively drew his sword as the red eyes glowed in the darkness. He grimaced. He couldn't help his friends but he could help the people around here.

"It's a start." He muttered

Don't die Pyrrha. He thought as he charged towards the Grimm.

Pyrrha drove her shield into Cinder. Grinning internally as she saw the woman slam into the ground. She used he semblance to fire the large gears surrounding the ruins of the office at Cinder. Each struck with a satisfying grunt from the Fall Maiden.

It had been a tough battle, Pyrrha had lost her sword and was not pleased about that. It was time for revenge for that and for making her send Jaune away after kissing him. She slammed her arms together, causing the floating gears to crash into each other, with any luck, Cinder's aura couldn't withstand it, she would have more broken bones than anyone Pyrrha had ever met. Her thoughts gently drifted towards Jaune again.

She hadn't wanted to send him away but whatever her opinion on Jaune, she knew that to defend the tower, they would need Ruby's uncle and Professor Goodwitch. It would keep Jaune occupied and doing something useful, and it would keep him out of danger, at least relatively speaking.

She smiled when she thought of him. She could already imagine the conversation they would have when she got back.

"Pyrrha why would you do that! You scared me half to death!"

"I'm sorry Jaune."

"Never do that to me again!" Jaune would say before getting close.

"I will make no such promises to my team leader." Pyrrha would respond flirtatiously as she closed the distance between them even further "My boyfriend however…" She would begin before pulling him into another kiss. Deep and passionate, exactly what she hoped there first one would have been.

It would be a little embarrassing, she could imagine Yang teasing her for weeks over it, but it would be worth it. She was sick of dropping hints.

"I should have just kissed him in the first place." She thought, "Well at least I'll have time to learn from my mistakes".

Her mind snapped back to the present when she heard the creak of gears, mere moments had passed, but Pyrrha felt her heart sink at her carelessness. She pulled her shield up to defend her as a fiery inferno burst from the pile of gears, sending them flying in all directions. One gear struck her shield head on. It sent Pyrrha sprawling. She felt her back slam against something hard. She grunted at the blunt pain. It slowly faded, as too, did the feeling of her aura protecting her.

"No, this is bad. Time to get out of here." She thought briefly.

At this point, a strategic retreat was her best option. Immobilize the enemy for a few moments and then retreat. Pyrrha slowly pushed herself up and crawled over to where her shield had fallen when she lost her grip on it. She quickly stood and prepared to throw her Shield. She noticed Cinder notching an arrow. She didn't have time to dodge. She threw her shield as Cinder released her hold on the arrow.

The next few moments happened in slow motion for Pyrrha. For a moment there was nothing.

Her heart sank.

She heard a crinkling sound, likely the arrow breaking against Akouo. Her heart soared "Wait for me Jaune, I'll be there soon." she thought a faint smiling appearing on her lips. The smile vanished as she felt the arrow pierce her leg

"Agh!" She gasped as her leg buckled. She felt to the ground. Her heart sank once again. "Please no not now! not now! not now!" She thought quickly. This wasn't how she wanted things to end.

She yanked the arrow from her leg and sat up gritting her teeth in pain.

"It's a shame you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder said walking past her. She knelt and cupped Pyrrha's chin in her hand. Pyrrha looked into those blazing eyes. They were full of negative emotions, rage and hate. They were eyes that would consume the world. "Rest assured I will use this power in ways you could never dream of." Cinder promised, grinning wolfishly. Pyrrha was not shocked, in fact she felt very little at this moment. She felt numb.

She had failed. She had failed herself, she had failed the world, she had failed Ozpin but worst of all She had failed Jaune.

"I failed him I should have listened." She thought, regretting her choice, but more regretting the way she had left things, regretting sending him away without an explanation without telling him it wasn't his fault.

"Do you believe in Destiny?" She asked.

Cinder stared at he rfor a few moments before answering. "Yes, I do." She said with a finality that indicated what she would do next.

Pyrrha could only watch as the bow formed. She could do nothing but stared as Cinder notched an arrow and pulled back a drawstring.

She heard the rustle of a cape. Turn Away! She wanted to yell as the fifteen year old girl watched her friend meet her end.

Pyrrha watched the arrow slide from the bow

"I think you would make a wonderful leader jaune."

She saw as the arrowhead grew nearer

Any spots left on your team?

You deserve to be here as much as the rest of us!

She saw the feathers graze the side of the bow.

They had Binoculars!

I know I don't deserve it after everything I said, but could you help me? Become a better fighter I mean."

The Arrowhead vanished into her blind spot

Pyrrha what should I do?

You're Pyrrha Nikos! If you don't get a guy to the dance I'll wear a dress!

Pyrrha felt the cold steel touch her flesh

An Arc always keeps his promise!

Good luck out there!

Immense pressure.

The Pyrrha Nikos I know won't let anything hold her back!

Something terrible has happened and we need to stop them, stop anyone else from getting hurt.

She felt the arrow puncture her heart

Pyrrha don't do this!

She felt the arrowhead slide through her back.

Pyrrha let out a gasp. She struggled for air. I don't want to die! I don't want to die like this! She thought. Slowly she felt darkness start to creep around her. Her vision blurred and narrowed. Her skin felt cold, it felt like her very body had become unbearably heavy.

'Jaune I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not listening. I'm sorry for hurting you, I'm just… so… sorry." Pyrrha thought. "I love you Jaune." She let out one final gasp before slipping forward. She felt Cinder's hand on her cheek with the last of her strength she looked up and smiled "You believe in destiny? Good, because Jaune's destiny is to stop you." Pyrrha thought.

Cinder frowned. Pyrrha's vision went black as she felt her body glow with an incredible heat. Her last thoughts were of the loveable goofball, his blond hair, his blue eyes and his big smile. Not the worst way to die she thought gently.

Others would disagree, but they didn't see what Pyrrha saw.

Jaune looked towards the tower. It was more impressive far away. He had stopped trying to watch the pillars of flames ages ago. It would be a fight to the finish. But Pyrrha would win. With Ruby and Weiss with her, she would definitely win.

At least that was his belief.

He hacked through his third Grimm that day. They weren't quite as frequent in this area. He didn't know why, but it seemed luck was on his side. He wrenched his sword free of the limp ursa and started to walk down the abandoned street. Most people were hiding in their houses, it was understandable the Grimm were just about everywhere, and with the CCT tower down, instant communication was near impossible.

Jaune flipped through his scroll, opening the map function. Generally it would triangulate his location and he would work from there. This time however, there was no CCT tower so no triangulation, he had to work out where he was on his own.

"I think I passed this river a while ago, did I get turned around?" He asked himself. Pyrrha would know the answer.

Tragically Pyrrha wasn't there to help him, nobody was. He was on his own, in a part of vale he didn't know, defending strangers and trying to make his way towards a Bullhead. He had seen one heading due east he hoped to get there soon.

"Me, Vomit Boy, actually looking to get on a moving vehicle the absurdity." He thought as he laughed. Pyrrha would have a good joke right now, something to raise my sprits he thought as his mood plummeted once again. He leaned against a building. He sighed. He never realized how much he missed Pyrrha at times like this. She had been his best friend, his partner always there for him. Was there a time he wondered if it could be more? Yeah, but he didn't want to screw with the team dynamic. He was a failure, a wimp. He couldn't even beat Cardin, his partner could beat all of team CRDL without breaking sweat.

Part of him imagined what it would be like if he and Pyrrha actually got together. Did you he love her the way She loved him? He didn't know. He'd be happy, she'd be happy; was that what love was? Where everyone was happy?

He doubted that was it, maybe his sisters were right, maybe he had watched too many chic flicks with them. He laughed at the thought. His sisters would go ballistic if he told them that Pyrrha Nikos kissed him. He could imagine Pyrrha blushing shifting with discomfort. He would make sure that his sisters knew exactly who liked him… if Pyrrha and Jaune got together.

He hadn't really decided how he felt about it. It would clearly affect the team dynamic, not necessarily in a good way either. Pyrrha already looked out for him a lot, would that really change? No probably not. Would she get closer to him, probably a lot closer. Jaune shook his head. He didn't really know what to think. He wasn't head of heels for Pyrrha, but at the same time he didn't want to destroy his best friend's heart.

"There's no easy way out for me is there?" Jaune asked nobody in particular as he continued to walk through the abandoned street.

"Pyrrha!" A high-pitched voice screamed. Jaune turned, he stared as a glowing white light grew from the tower. Jaune covered his eyes as the light became blinding. What the hell is happening? He wondered.

Suddenly, the light vanished and darkness returned. Jaune lowered his hand from his eyes and stared at the tower. A deep sense of foreboding made itself known within him. He shivered. "I hope their okay." He said. He turned back towards the Bulkhead docks, he need to get out, meet up with his team and beat some sense into Pyrrha. Jaune took a deep breath, preparing himself for the challenges to come.

He took the first step towards the hangar.

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