Author's Note (12/11/16): This chapter is being rewritten and thus does not reflect the quality that the final version will produce. Please consider following this fic based on the concept alone until you get to see the rewrite. Also, read the author's note that is after this chapter as it elaborates on some things. Thank you and I hope you continue to follow and support this fanfic regardless of how long the rewrite takes.

"Can't count the years on one hand,
That we've been together.
I need the other one to hold you,
Make you feel, make you feel better."

It's been five years since I graduated from Beacon with my sister, team, and friends. Those five years have been certainly hectic with missions and such. I haven't seen my friends in team JNPR since graduation; they've been busy with their own missions as well. Even if we've had no time to see each other however, we still kept in touch.

Six month ago, Jaune had proposed to Pyrrha and she accepted happily. I admit I did have a tiny crush on Jaune over the years, but I was too busy with my time at Beacon and then missions to deal with those feelings. They got pushed back, but resurfaced when I heard about the engagement. I'm too nice of a person to get in the way though; I had a chance to try to get Jaune's heart, but I chose my career over him. However, even with my wishes to them for a good marriage, their story did not have a happy ending.

Two weeks ago, Pyrrha died on a mission and Jaune was overcome with despair. The funeral was set for today and so me and my sister were clad in black and heading to pick up our other two teammates in Yang's car. No one spoke the whole way there as we had already started to remember things about Pyrrha before the funeral had even begun.

I remembered the way she held herself, strong and determined, yet also modest of people's praise. She was a beautiful woman along with her strength; no wonder she was loved by a lot of people. Pyrrha was also a very good student; she was the only one who had grades at Beacon that rivaled Weiss, but in the end, Weiss was our valedictorian. Along with learning, she was a great teacher, showing Jaune how to fight, use his Aura, and even master his semblance all within those four years while most had more time to learn all those things. Pyrrha was a special woman whom will be missed by everyone that loved her, especially Jaune.

We arrived at the funeral home and went inside to find the three surviving members of team JNPR. Despair was on all three of their faces, but Jaune's was the most heartbreaking; he looked like a little lost puppy, sitting a bit away from his two last teammates. Ren and Nora spoke to my sister and team while I stared at Jaune with a concerned look.

Suddenly, a hand laid on my shoulder and I turned to find Headmaster Ozpin. He looked a bit older from the half a decade since I saw him last, but he looked as intelligent and mysterious as ever. The older man, of course, held a cup of fresh coffee in his hand and it brought a little light into this day, seeing that even when things change, some things do not.

"Maybe you should go talk with him, Miss Rose." Ozpin advised, "Even though he was closest to Pyrrha, the second closest to him was you. You two grew as leaders together at Beacon and taught each other many things about leadership. I'm sure he would appreciate talking with you on this day."

A small smiled creped onto my face, appreciating the headmaster's wisdom. I nodded and turned back towards Jaune who was getting up and heading to the back door of the funeral home. I followed him silently until he leaned onto the wall of the building, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it to have a smoke.

"Jaune?" I called out to him, "When did you start smoking cigarettes?"

The blonde looked up at me with an annoyed look, but once he realized it was me, his expression softened as he looked back down. Pulling the cigarette from his mouth and blowing smoke out, he replied with, "A little bit after Pyrrha died."

I nodded, not wanting to argue him to stop it; he had enough to deal with right now. I leaned against the wall and stared up at the graying sky. "I'm sure she would understand."

"Yeah…" Jaune scoffed, flicking ashes down.

"I'm sorry I haven't talked to you since her death."

"It's okay. You had a big mission around the time of her death."

"I still should have tried to talk to you even briefly. Maybe a cup of coffee at a café or something would have been better than not saying anything until now."

Jaune sighed and hugged me, saying, "Ruby, you're fine. We all have lives. This is mine and yours is yours. You don't need to apologize for living a different life from mine."

I hugged back as tears started to well up in my silver eyes. "I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around!"

"I've had time to grieve; hell, I'm still grieving. You haven't had time to grieve, so you can now."

I started to cry and cry and cry. "I really looked up to her. She was a strong Huntress, a strong woman. She had some traits that I don't and I admired her for that."

Jaune rubbed my back and said, "I know, Ruby. I looked up to her, too. Her strength is one of the reasons I fell in love with her."

I looked up at the JNPR leader with red, teary eyes and said, "What happens now?"

"We give her a beautiful funeral and then live to honor her memory." he said plainly. I could tell he was trying not to crack and start crying with me.

"She was too young to die…" I sobbed, "You two had such a beautiful relationship… Sure, I was a bit jealous of her, but I wanted you two to have a happy marriage!"

"What?" the blonde man said, looking at me in confusion.

I blinked and suddenly realized what I had said. I started to cry more and pushed away from him, apologizing before going inside the funeral home again to reunite with my team.

"Ruby?" Yang said, hugging me, "We haven't even started the funeral and you're already crying. We all loved Pyrrha, so it's okay to cry."

"Yea…" I said mostly to myself, staring at the ground, "It's okay to cry…"

During the ceremony, we went out into the funeral home's field to the spot where Pyrrha would be laid to rest. Her casket was already there and was open for us to see her one last time. She was absolutely beautiful. She was clothed in a red dress that reminded me of the dress she wore at the first dance we attended at Beacon. Her hair was up and laid by her side as her hands were crossed over her stomach. Her green eyes would be forever closed, but there seemed to be a small smile on her face. I felt as though the smile meant she was at peace in the afterlife, watching over the rest of us like she did in her short life.

Her parents, all three surviving members of team JNPR, all four of us on team RWBY, Headmaster Ozpin, and Professor Goodwitch all were the ones who were going to speak about Pyrrha during the ceremony. Her parents spoke together and talked about how they would miss their daughter dearly and was happy that she had great friends in team JNPR and RWBY as well as an amazing fiancée, Jaune. Her mother ended up crying near the end and her father escorted her back to the crowd.

Jaune spoke next and said how much he loved and cared for his late fiancée. He talked about the time he first met Pyrrha with Weiss and how she would always give him good advice whether it be for fights or his personal life. He commented on how beautiful she looked on and off the battle field and how even in death, she was still so beautiful. His last words were directed at Pyrrha herself, "I love you, Pyrrha Nikos. I'll never forget you."

Ren and Nora went up together like Pyrrha's parents had. They spoke of how her advice had ended up getting them to admit their feelings to each other and begin to be "together together". The couple was grateful of her for that; they'd never been happier, but her death has never made them sadder in their entire lives due to it as well.

It was my turn to go up and speak. I took a deep breath and clenched my shaking hands into fist for a brief moment. Walking up to where everyone else stood to speak was more terrifying than any Grimm or villain I've faced. I looked out into the crowd and squirmed a bit in place, so I took a different approach and pretended to stare at everyone while I focused on one sole point, a tree not too far from the grave site. I began to speak of about how Pyrrha's strength inspired me to work harder as a Huntress and how even though I was a leader of a team and she was not the leader of her team, I admired her greatly. I elaborated it all into a good three or four minutes before stepping down.

Yang put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me as Weiss went up next. I smiled a bit back and stared at the ground. I don't remember what Weiss said or when Blake, Yang, Headmaster Ozpin, or Professor Goodwitch even went up to speak and what they even said. All I could remember of that time span is me thinking of the past. Team RWBY and JNPR got into quite the adventures at Beacon together even though they were two separate teams. It was hard to imagine one of us had died so young, especially someone as strong as Pyrrha. In fact, it was hard to imagine that any of us could go. We'd been so close even though we went our separate ways after graduation; we were like a family and it hurt so bad to see another one of my family die. First, my mom and now Pyrrha; sure, Pyrrha wasn't blood-related to me, but she and the others might as well have been.

Suddenly, a shake brought me back to the funeral and I looked over to see Yang, pointing at the gravesite. I looked over and saw Pyrrha's parents and Jaune holding some dirt in their hands and the priest saying a prayer over the coffin. The gravedigger then closed Pyrrha's casket as we got our last few seconds to see her in her everlasting beauty. The coffin was lowered and Pyrrha's parents and Jaune threw in the first piles of dirt into the grave; the gravedigger finishing the job. The priest gave one final prayer and adjourned those at the ceremony. Some people came up to the grave to place flowers of all colors on it while some went up to Jaune and Pyrrha's parents to give them their condolences. Team RWBY along with Ren and Nora stayed away for a bit as everyone cleared out. Once most were gone, we went to put our own flowers on Pyrrha's grave.

"Ruby?" a voice said behind me.

I turned to meet eyes with the blonde fiancée of the girl who had died. I looked away shamefully, remembering what happened earlier.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Su-sure…" I stuttered.

I caught a glance at Yang who gave me a concerned look. I only mouthed to her that I would explain later. She nodded and I followed Jaune away from Pyrrha's grave. After a bit, we finally stopped and I stared awkwardly at the ground.

"What happened earlier?" he questioned.

"Nothing." I lied.

"You said you were jealous of Pyrrha. Why?"

"I was jealous of her strength is all."

"You weren't talking about her ability to fight then. You were talking about me and Pyrrha being together."

"I don't wanna talk about this, Jaune!" I said, getting frustrated that he wouldn't drop it.

"Ruby, tell me what you meant."

"I did."

"Ruby…" the blonde said, reaching out to me.

I swatted his hand away and held myself, glaring up at him, "Drop it." With that, I turned at walked back to my team.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Yang asked, "What did you two talk about?"

"It doesn't matter. Can we please go home?"

Yang looked at me worriedly, but obliged. We went home in silence, dropping off Blake and Weiss at their places. Once we were started off from Blake's place, Yang finally spoke again.

"Ruby, please tell me what's wrong. I'm your sister."

I sighed, giving up hope that no one would drop it. "I said something I shouldn't have and now Jaune is pestering me about it."

"What did you say?"

I was quiet for a minute and then answered truthfully, "That I was jealous that Pyrrha was with him."

Yang slammed the brakes on her car. "What?"

"I had a crush on Jaune!"

"Had?"

"Okay, maybe I still do."

Yang started driving again, taking a breath. "Why didn't you ever tell him?"

"I was too focused on my career as a Huntress to be in a relationship."

My sister nodded and said, "Well, that is a good reason."

"I dunno what to do, Yang."

"Be honest with him."

"I can't! His fiancée just died!" I almost shouted, flailing my arms, "It'd be a dick move to come in and be like, 'Oh, by the way, I like you'."

"I see your point…"

I covered my face and leaned over in my seat. "I don't wanna do anything to hurt him."

"Give it time then. Try to tell him that you're not up for talking about it right now. I'm sure he'll understand."

I sighed again, "I can try…"

"That's all anyone can ask of you, Ruby." she said as she parked in front of our place and patted my back, "Come on. Let's go in, grab some sweets, and watch sappy chick flicks the rest of the day."

I sat up and smiled a bit at Yang and we got out of the car. We were spouting out ideas of movies to watch as we got to the door of our house. Going inside, we called out to Velvet who was dogsitting Zwei while we were at the funeral. The bunny Faunus walked out of the kitchen with a sullen look on her face and red eyes. We blinked at her, silencing our happy conversation.

"What's wrong, Velvet?" Yang asked, "We said you didn't have to watch Zwei if you wanted to go to the funeral."

"It's not that, Yang…" she whimpered, beginning to cry again as she buried her face in her hands, "Something awful happened while you were gone… I don't know why it happened!"

"What happened, Velvet…?" I asked as my stomach dropped.

She sobbed as she tried to speak again, pointing towards the kitchen, "I-in there…"