Jaune awoke to the sound of banging on the hotel room door and the midday sun shining through the window. He turned his head to the side and was rewarded with a mouthful of golden hair for his efforts.
"Make it stop," came the muffled voice from underneath the pillow next to him. Slowly sitting up with a long, pained groan, Jaune rubbed small circles into his forehead in an attempt to alleviate his pounding head. The pounding at the door came again, louder this time. His legs swung over the side of the bed, sending a shiver up his body as his bare feet made contact with the cold floor. Sliding out of bed, he shut the blinds over the window, once again descending the room into darkness, and picked his black dress pants out of a crumpled pile on the floor. After tripping several times trying to slide his legs into the pants and forgoing attempting to latch his belt buckle he slowly stumbled his way towards the banging on the door.
Jaune swung the door open with a quiet groan.
"Finally! We've been trying to get a hold of you guy for three hours!" yelled the wide eyed, giddy brunette, bouncing around on the balls of her feet in the hallway.
"What is it Ruby," Jaune groaned through gritted teeth, rubbing his forehead to alleviate his growing migraine .
"What is it?! It's noon already! Graduation is in six hours! We have to get back to Beacon and get ready!" Ruby screamed. "Wake Yang up and let's go! We have be at the bullhead docks in an hour!"
The door slammed in her face. "Don't be late," Ruby yelled, pounding on the door again before she bolted off. "And put a shirt on!"
A lone, frustrated, groan of acknowledgement emanated from Jaune as he slowly stumbled his way back across the room, coming to a stop next to the bed. His eyes slowly roved over the light bronze skin of the golden haired beauty still lying in his bed. Her body moved slightly and a glint of sunlight caused his hungry gaze to shift from the flawless skin of her bare back to the black and yellow metallic arm holding the pillow in place.
A lone lilac eye peaked out from underneath. "You're staring again."
The angelic voice caused a wide grin to split Jaune's face. He hopped into bed with a grunt, landing beside her. She removed the pillow and rolled on her side to face him, her hair glowing in the sunlight making her seem even more angelic. "I can't help it you're so beautiful," he said coyly as he placed several light kisses on her shoulder.
Yang's eyes narrowed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."
"I don't know, it seemed to get me pretty far last night," he chuckled with a raised eyebrow.
Yang's jaw dropped. "You pig," she laughed as she shoved him onto the floor.
--
"There, there, just let it out, Vomit Boy." A yellow and black hand rubbed small circles into his back. "Don't worry, I don't think Ren is too mad you threw up on his shoes. Hey, at least it wasn't my shoes this time." Yang grimaced at the memory of their first encounter.
Jaune was bent over, expelling the contents of his stomach onto the grass. "I told you not to let me drink so much last night," he moaned. Standing up straight, he wiped his face with his sleeve.
Yang's face twisted in disgust and pulled her body away as he attempted to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe you should go brush your teeth. Soon. Your breath stinks." She patted his back lightly.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, wiping the last remnants of vomit off his mouth. "I probably need to hurry before Nora uses all the hot water." Placing a quick kiss onto the top of her head, he turned and rushed towards the Beacon dorms.
"You guys act like you're never going to see each other again," came a quiet voice from behind her. Yang turned around and noticed the smug grin on her raven haired partner. "You disappeared pretty early last night. I take it Jaune wasn't in a partying mood."
Blake walked up to before they both started their stroll towards the campus grounds. Yang ran her fingers through her golden hair and let out a satisfied sigh. "I'm not exactly sure what was up with him last night but whatever it was, it was amazing. He treated me like I was the only person in the world. It was…" A wide, toothy smile graced her face, affection shining in her lilac eyes.
A quiet laugh cut off her train of thought. "I get it, it was nice." Blake's grin turned into a coy smile. "Now how about some of the more juicy details?"
--
"Ladies and gentlemen, our newest generation of huntsmen and huntresses!" Applause roared across the gardens as the headmaster gestured towards the no longer Beacon students. The graduates were ushered out of the designated seating and split into their own groups. Teams RWBY and JNPR found their own spot to excitedly converse. Nora flailed her arms about, greatly over exaggerating their adventures over the years to no one in particular and never once considering or caring for the fact they all had experienced those stories themselves. No one was willing to correct the overly excited ginger, preferring her embellished recollections to what, mostly, were boring encounters.
Jaune planted a kiss on the top of Yang's golden mane as his eyes scanned the swarming gardens. "I need to go find the headmaster real quick," he whispered into her ear. "I won't take long, I promise."
She turned to face him. He was instantly mesmerized by her bright face, her cheeks rosy from mirth, her wide smile revealing pearly white teeth, eyes watery from so much laughing. The young huntress lifted her face to him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips which lasted several seconds before he reluctantly pulled away. Ocean blue eyes stared into lilac. "I'll be right back."
"You better hurry. My dad's over there talking to your parents. I might have to join him and dig up a little dirt." She gestured over his shoulder. "Hurry back. You won't be able to miss us. Just look for the most attractive person here."
Jaune let out a quick chuckle before kissing her again and rushing off. "Professor Ozpin," he called as he jogged towards the man. "I've thought about your proposal and you're right, we need to stop this before it gets any worse. I'm in."
"Ah, Mister Arc, " The headmaster turned to acknowledge the young man. "I'm glad to hear you've accepted my offer."
"We have to stop the White Fang before they can attack Vacuo like they did Vale. I'll be ready to go in a couple days, I just need to pack up a few things."
"There's no need Mister Arc, all you require is yourself and your weapon. You will leave tonight at midnight."
Jaune's eyes widened, his face paled and his voice coming as a hoarse whisper. "Tonight? I won't have any time to say goodbye."
Ozpin's weathered face remained stoic as ever. "There will be no goodbyes, I am afraid. They mustn't be aware of your leave until you are gone. We cannot let them sway your decision, this is too important. We would have given you another week to finish whatever you needed to complete but unfortunately we lost contact with yet another settlement this morning. We need you in Vacuo as soon as possible."
The blonde's head dropped as the realization of his decision came crashing down upon him. "What am I supposed to do?"
The headmaster placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort the young man. "Meet me at the bullhead docks this evening at midnight. From there you will take a bullhead to Vacuo and meet up with a designated contact. You mustn't be late Mister Arc. This transport is vital to the relief efforts."
Jaune's head lifted and he turned to look towards his girlfriend, standing next to his mother, a whole head taller, laughing at something one of their fathers had said. The summer sun dipped behind the Beacon cliffs, casting an orange glow over the world. She turned his way, no doubt feeling his eyes settling on her, sending a quick wave his way. The sunset glowed behind her, perfectly silhouetting her in oranges and yellows. Those were always were her colors, he thought to himself glumly. His right hand subconsciously waved back in response. "She's going to hate me for the rest of my life."
"She may or she may not. If the White Fang can cause enough damage in Vacuo, what is to say they won't try attacking Vale again. If the Vale faction were to become active again, Team RWBY would most likely be their first targets. Tell yourself you're doing this for her if you must."
A pit opened in Jaune's stomach, dread and regret pouring over him as he forced himself to nod his head in agreement. "I'll see you at midnight then, professor." With that said, he plastered a smile on his face and made his way back towards his friends and family.
x
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the input. It actually had a bigger response than I had expected, so thanks.
Secondly, I apologize for how long it's taken for Ch. 2 to arrive. Life has been EXTREMELY hectic for me lately and when I do have down time I find it hard to either find motivation to write or to put my ideas into words. There's absolutely no shortage of ideas, quite the opposite actually. Sometimes my ideas conflict and it throws me off and sometimes I come up with ideas for stories I haven't even started work on yet (I came up with two different story ideas in the last month). I will continue to work on this story, I assure you. I really like where my ideas are taking this and I hope you all will too. Once again, input is greatly appreciated and who knows, I might have a couple new stories out before too long.
