His blade clashed against the Grimm's claws, and he expertly pivoted and smashed his shield into the Beowulf's back, breaking its spine.

Pyrrha and Wiess were leading a team to attack on the other side and he and Nora were pushing back the scores of grim to keep them from noticing the flanking maneuver. Sure they were mindless beasts but Jaune had discovered since gaining or being cursed with that power that his instinct's were often right and much sharper. He could fight just as well blind as he could with his eyes wide open. Jaune was already tired and at this rate he might have to use his grim abilities if he wanted to keep going (damn Matchitehew, he may have been a crazy bastard but his powers had come in handy every now and then). He slashed through another group of grim and brought his shield to bear against a Beowulf's claws heading for his skull. He pushed the attack off and hung back for a moment to catch his breath. Nora was gleefully laughing as she blasted another group of grim into oblivion, Jaune still was trying to figure out where she got her boundless energy from.

Especially after all the losses...

Blake had never come into the massive battle against the Grimm. Political aspirations to help the Faunus in their rights had taken priority and she only arrived when she heard that her old teammates had gone to fight. She had been too late to prevent the death of Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long. Both of whom had died holding the Grimm off from attacking the retreating squads on that field. Jaune had gone berserk when he heard and transformed, ripping into hordes of Grimm with his agonized shrieks of anguish echoing in the air. Nora had become silent until she pushed on for Jaune and Pyrrha's sakes. She had been the one to calm Jaune down and through her own tear-tracked grief managed to bring Jaune back to his senses.

Blake herself had fallen protecting Ruby from a group of grim that had crashed into the frontlines.

The report had said that her last words were, "I couldn't save her, but by god, I saved her sister."

Ruby nearly had come undone and only Jaune and Weiss' combined effort had managed to keep her from tumbling into a grief-stricken insanity. Even so, she left the war, no one held it against her and even now, Jaune believed she had made the right choice. No one had wanted to stay, they had lost so much, Jaune had tried to lobby behind the rest of his friends backs to get them to be given leave, but the ass-kicking he had received when they found out had changed his mind.

Either they all went home or they wouldn't go at all.

He began to force his way out of the past as he let his body handle the fighting, why the hell they had chosen to fight on the black and craggy cliffs when they should have been pushing the grim out of this area a week ago? They can't have been that numerous!

Well apparently they were and the soldiers couldn't push them back without help.

Just then he noticed the pack of Beowolves heading for Nora's unprotected back.

He knew a warning shout wouldn't be heard, so he had to protect her using his own body.

He flashed with his white aura and roared toward the beowolves, slamming into the pack head and both of them tumbling to the side. Jaune shot up and slashed the Beowulf major down. Nora turned to him with a 'oops sorry!' expression, even though she retained something of her cheerfulness, there was a weight to her shoulders and a depression that lingered around her aura.

He opened his mouth to tell her to be careful and-

Then a Beowulf caught him around the middle. Another slammed into his chest. The entire pack tackled him and not even Jaune with his juggernaut amount of aura could stop from being pushed.

His feet slid off the edge of a cliff.

Nora screamed his name.

He fell and knew he was going to die.

Some undefinable time later, Jaune opened his eyes.

A white light flowed around Jaune and Jaune knew he had died from the impact, or maybe shattered his spine from the fall. Probably why he didn't feel it and why he was surrounded by utter and total darkness.

'Oh well, I guess it's not too bad, I just... I left all of them alone.' he sighed internally, 'I wonder if I am heading to heaven or hell... I hope Ren and Yang won't kick my ass too badly.'

"That may not yet be the case, young hero, you may still live again." a feminine voice echoed.

Jaune whirled (he was floating, weird...) frantically scanning the black vortex he was stuck in, "What?"

"Do you want to go back?" it asked.

Jaune was sure he had died (or something) because there could be no way this was actually happening.

A second chance?

For real?

He could apologize to Nora and beg her not to tell anyone at least (he knew she would but he could try).

"Yes! I want to be with my friends and help them!" he nearly screamed.

"Your wish shall be granted then young hero..."

The white glow became brighter and suddenly there was an intense jolt of pain shooting through every nerve. His body felt like it was melting, then he fainted (or died again, Jaune had no idea).

Jaune jolted and he sat up in the seat he was in. There was the telltale hum of being in a dustplane. He stood up and looked around (he had long since gotten over his motion sickness), he notice people milling around and patted himself. His hand clattered against a set of his old plate armor.

Wait.

He had lost this in a fight to some grim in his third year in Beacon!

He looked outside and saw familiar city and forests. This was the area surrounding Beacon! But how? The Grimm's last rampage had obliterated the surrounding area and school. Jaune had almost died there himself!

Where in the hell was he?!

He heard a sentence he had heard only once before, "I don't want to be the bee's knees! I just want to be the normal girl with normal knees!"

Jaune paled and looked toward the source of the sentence.

Ruby was there with Yang.

They were 15 and 17 (again).

Jaune bolted toward the bathroom (the ships had been reformatted into troop dropships once the war had kicked up, so he had made it a point to memorize the format) and clattered against the door sliding it closed behind him. He rubbed a hand over his face and stared in the mirror.

Blue ocean eyes and his youth-filled face stared back.

THIS WAS THE SECOND CHANCE?!

He thought he would be pushed back to the top of the cliff or something!

Clearly he had misunderstood.

Jaune hyper-ventilated as he slumped to the ground. He was a teenager again.

Holy shit.

Holy Shit.

HOLY SHIT.

'Calm the hell down!' he screamed at himself mentally, 'CALM DOWN AND THINK!'

"Okay...okay." he huffed.

He drew his blade and Crocea Mors gleamed in the light of the bathroom. Jaune began to draw out his aura and to his infinite relief it responded. He tentatively felt for his grimm power and his hand sprouted the draconic bone plates cover in white signs and sigils. He flexed his hand relishing the feeling of the power running though his body.

"Okay, calm down." he whispered.

He tested his strength and was appalled at the overall lack of muscle and power in his gangly teenage form. He had forgotten how utterly abysmal his physicality was back when he was a teen. He already began to plan and draw up times when he would need to work on his endurance and strength. It had been a habit to keep his exercise and training schedule to the absolute most when he had free time. His reflexes were still as sharp as ever, but he would have to change his fighting style for now, he would have to rely on speed over power.

He sighed, at least he had his aura to fall back on if push came to shove.

'No.' he reminded himself, 'You don't want to have to rely wholly on your aura, make sure that you train hard. You can't ever be satisfied with your progress or else you stagnate.'

He took a deep breath and dusted himself off.

'Don't hesitate.' he reminded himself.

He opened the door and ran straight into a old face.

Cardin Winchester.

Jaune mused even as the boy drew away from the door as he exited, in the future, Cardin was a good and strong leader (at least after he got his head out of his ass). He had even married a deer faunus and had a son. He stood by his troops and led them to countless victories and slight losses until his fateful end at the forever fall forests. It was ironic, the place where he began to change for the better was the place where he had found death. His last words had been a small prayer for the rest of the soldiers and a whispered goodbye for his family.

That wasn't the Cardin that stood before Jaune now.

This Cardin had the underlying sneer he always wore until it had been knocked out of him. Jaune almost scowled back instinctively. This Cardin was still a bully and a racist.

"Out of the way!" He grumbled, shoving past Jaune.

Jaune shifted away and walked to the windows, looking over his old school.

A unbidden smirk raised at the corner of his lips, at least the classes wouldn't be as hard as they were before. Jaune was pretty sure he could make Weiss jealous.

A small frown made its presence known as he realized he would have to make his old friends all over again.

He glanced at the news report and scowled darkly at Roman Torchwick's face which was displayed on the screen. Jaune was tempted to hunt him down and rip in half. That petty criminal and his cronies had caused endless death and misery for his troops and by God, Jaune wasn't going to let that happen.

NEVER AGAIN.

Glynda's hologram shimmered into existence and Jaune choked back a pained growl or sob. Glynda had been a surprisingly good person to confide in when he had begun to freak out. Growing to be something of a surrogate aunt to him as well as many of the troubled. She had died along with Ozpin in the Battle for Beacon. He hadn't ever fully recovered from losing his two mentors that day.

Seeing her stern and healthy had been like being punched in the gut. He hadn't even run across Ren yet. Yang had been there but he was too freaked out to actually respond to her presence. Realizing he had this chance to fix things was something he was going to take full advantage of. Jaune closed his eyes and sat in an open seat, just closing his eyes and absorbing the fact he was really here. It wasn't helping.

He had rushed out of the ship before anyone and hid in the shadows (something he had learned to do from Blake), breathing in the fresh air and stomping down on the nauseous feeling rising in his throat. Beacon was intact and in full operating capacity, a far cry from the dull and damaged building that had remained after the Grimm had been pushed out of the area. He clenched his hands into white knuckled fists and felt his nails dig into his skin through his gloves. He pried his hands open (and his hands were already leaking blood from his nails cutting into his skin) and calmed down. He was already having a mental breakdown and he had barely been here for fifteen minutes.

Fucking hell, what was he thinking when he accepted?

Then again he hadn't known THIS would be the result.

He walked forwards when he heard the explosion and turning his head, Jaune saw his past.

Ruby and Weiss were covered in ash and dust, and Jaune was torn between hysterical laughter or sobbing as Blake (healthy and stoic as ever, but most importantly ALIVE) walked over and mentioned the Schnee company's working practices. Weiss stormed off and Blake had walked away leaving Ruby to sulk after slumping to her knees. Taking a deep breath, he walked forward and offered his hand.

"Hey that looked rough. You okay?" He asked.

Jaune wondered if this was a new version of his old motion sickness because now he felt like hurling ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Of course that might because of his present company. Ruby's eyes were bright and innocent and still young to the horror of the worlds. Still free of losing her sister. Jaune would blink and for the instant he blinked he wold see Ruby as he had last time in the future, stooped with grief and pain, begging him to come back safe because she had already lost so much and didn't think she could lose him too.

With shattered silver eyes that had turned into a dull grey.

And Ruby herself was glancing with concern at him because he probably looked like he was about to burst out sobbing. He felt like it. She hauled the conversation around to weapons and brought out her scythe. He brought out his shield in sword and lacked no respect in calling them precious family heirlooms. He tried (and probably failed) to keep his voice from shaking.

"Hey by the way, where are we headed?" she asked.

"Ah...got caught up in talking..." he said, waving his hand in the air.

Ruby gasped, "Your hand!"

He looked at his hands and cursed in his head, Jaune had forgotten he had dug his nails into his hands hard enough to cut them open. He let his aura flow into his hands and the cuts sealed up like they were never there.

The bloodstains were still there though.

"I fell and landed awkwardly on my knuckles." He lied quickly, he didn't sound convincing and Ruby always had been good at being a human lie detector, "We need to go over there, and make a right, that's where the hall should be, you can just follow me."

She didn't push but if anything looked even more concerned about him.

The introduction was at least the same (except without dealing with Weiss' insult by talking to her)and later he smiled fondly as he saw his onsie. He had forgotten how amusing him actually wearing the garment had been. Of course he wouldn't be able to sleep in anything comfortable anymore, so he simply stripped off his armor and hoodie and leaned back against the wall, still standing. He knew there would be whispers, but there were a lot more than he expected.

"What's with that guy?"

"He intends to sleep in his jeans?"

"Is gonna sleep standing up?"

"What a weirdo."

It went for a minute before Juane got fed up with it.

Jaune laughed coldly and the several people gossiping leaned away as he smiled staring straight at them.

"What? Lost your nerve? Go ahead." he mocked, he slid down against the wall until it was pressed up against his back, hunched in what would be considered an uncomfortable position.

For Jaune, it was the only way he could sleep now.

Ruby glanced at her first friend in Beacon, his eyelids lowering to hide the ocean blue of his eyes as he hunched against the wall.

He hadn't been able to look at her all that much while talking to her and when he did, the deep pain she had seen shifting and haunting his eyes made her almost gasp.

He was hurting.

Ruby may not have been the best at chatting and preferred slicing into dummies and drones rather than talking, but that didn't matter. She had a friend that needed help, badly, and from everything she had seen, wasn't too keen on getting it. She couldn't tell Yang about it, because Yang would be way too overprotective and try to kill Jaune.

Or give the boy a stern talking-to.

And Jaune was her only friend here so far...

So the job fell to her to make Jaune less...weighed down.

She didn't know how she could do it, but she would.

One because her dream as being a huntress was to help people.

And two, because the crippling amount of sorrow she saw in Jaune was almost overwhelming, and no one could hold that burden without some help.

Then Yang dragged her to meet that black-haired girl and she tore her gaze away.

Jaune woke up about an hour after sleeping, his eyes darting around and a hand poised over his blade.

Then he remembered where he was, he stood up and pulled on his hoodie and armor before padding out of the hall, footsteps as silent as the grave. He walked to the luggage area - dodging around the patrolling teachers using the rafters - and opened his pulled out his old bow, which had been lost when he had been fighting a group of Grimm Primes that broke it beyond repair. He made a mental note to get to work adding the adjustments he had designed that would strengthen the bow and keep it from snapping. He clipped it to his belt and slung on his quiver before he looked around.

He still had a full night to go before making his way back to the hall to make it seem like he had been asleep for that long.

He weaved his way outside and transformed into his grimm form. Bone plates popped out of his arm and covered it making a gauntlet. Bones began erupting all over his body, crackling and shifting to cover him like a extra layer of flexible armor. Bone spikes sprouted from his skull and pushed through his shaggy mane of hair. Finally, two black draconic wings shot out of his back, a shower of black aura splattering the ground and melting into the ground as he straightened. He absently sighed as the plates slid down his face, giving him a bone mask that only left his mouth and chin uncovered.

He rolled his shoulders and let his body loosen. Then he shot into the sky, flying as fast as he could. Jaune smiled as the wind caressed his face and he flew through a cloud, the moon reflected each individual droplet gleaming like a billion flecks of silver. Jaune stopped in front of the moon and looked at the scattered pieces. he often wondered whether or not whether it's beauty was the only thing unmarred in his life. He heard stories of when the moon was a single body. Not scattered and drifting apart and together. Jaune almost laughed, it was an apt analogy for how he felt. He was mostly intact, put parts of him had broken and he would never be whole again.

He didn't know how long he stared at the moon. He only stopped when the first streaks of dawn appeared on the horizon. He flew down and quickly changed back, he needed a cold shower to clear his head.

It sank in.

He was really back.