Cold - Jeff Williams
"It looks so small now" was Jaune's first thought.
It had been several years since he had stepped into this recording studio, back when he was still a musician. Back when Pyrrha was still alive.
Nora and Ren stood behind at the door. Jaune had asked them to join him and they had said yes. How could they refuse him? He was family.
It didn't take long before Jaune made his way to the large cloth that sat in the corner. Pulling it off with a single stroke and a cloud of dust, it revealed the piano underneath. For something that had laid untouched for ten years, it still looked as good as new.
Jaune pulled up an old stool, slightly more weathered than the piano, and with a tentative hand he began to play the keys. A faint riff that Pyrrha had taught him oh so long ago.
"I never felt that it was wise to wish too much, to dream too big would only lead to being crushed"
Jaune could still remember those early days at Beacon. He wasn't exceptionally talented. He couldn't play any instruments, but he could sing. To some, that meant he deserved to be mocked and bullied. They called him a "choir boy", called him gay and made his everyday life a living hell.
"Then I met you, you weren't afraid of anything. You taught how to leave the ground, to use my wings"
Then came Pyrrha Nikos, daughter of one of the biggest record companies in the world. A musical prodigy. Of course he didn't know that, to him she was just another student. A really cute one, but just another student. She helped him with his bullies (turns out she knew a few martial arts), his homework and taught him the basics of a couple instruments, piano being the first.
"I never thought a hero would ever come my way"
Despite all her local fame, Pyrrha was an incredibly humble and down-to-earth girl. She told Jaune that one of he reasons she came to fall for him was that he never treated her like a celebrity. Apparently she had lived a lonely childhood or something. Jaune, for all his supposed talent, never picked up on her feelings. It wasn't until graduation, where she cornered him in a stairwell and made her feelings known with a kiss (and about twenty more).
They dated for years, then they married, and then it all ended.
"But more than that, I never thought you'd be taken away"
Cancer. That hated word. That single, filthy word that cost him his entire world. They had missed the signs. By the time they had noticed it was too late, it had become terminal. Those remaining months had been the some of the worst, watching Pyrrha, that beautiful amazon of a woman flicker and fade like a candle until finally...nothing. She was gone.
"Now it's cold without you here. It's like winter lasts all year"
Jaune couldn't bear it in the days after. The house, the bed, it all felt too empty without her. Too quiet, too dark.
He would have completely fallen apart if it hadn't been for the others. Nora was there when he needed to smile and Ren was there for a listening ear and sage advice. The best friends he could ever ask for. It was them who had suggested that he return to their old recording studio. To find some semblance of closure, they said.
"But moving forward never felt as hard as today"
His melody complete, Jaune closed the piano again. He wiped his cheek, his fingertips coming away wet with tears he didn't think he could shed anymore. He thought his eyes would have ran dry after all these years.
On stiff limbs he returned to the door, his friends awaiting.
"You okay?" came Nora's question. Jaune didn't really have an answer to that. Nora must have realised that, because she hugged him, Ren joining her not soon after.
The drive home was done in silence. The walk up his driveway too. He opened his door as quietly as he could.
"I'm home" he called.
"Shh!" came a voice from around the corner. It was Ruby, clad in that red hoodie like always, shoes off and a comic book in hand.
"She's asleep?" Jaune asked her.
Ruby nodded "Got her to bed about an hour ago"
"Thanks again. How much do I owe you?"
Ruby barked a little laugh "Not a cent. You know I love kids" She went back around the corner "I'll grab my shoes and get out of your hair". So she did. She hugged him and left, and Jaune was left alone once again.
No. Not alone. Not really.
"But your star's still in the sky, so I won't say goodbye"
Jaune crept up the stairs to her room. He found her in bed like Ruby had said. Red hair, like her mothers, strewn across the pillows. A subtle smile decorated her face. There were times when Jaune wondered what that child dreamed about. With a gentle kiss on her head, he left her and went to bed himself.
Jaune didn't he'd ever truly get over Pyrrha, but at the same time he didn't want to. Pyrrha once told him that everything that happened to a person only helped to further define them into a greater person, even their most tragic moments improved them.
So there he was: Jaune Arc. Once a boyfriend, once a husband, now a widower. But most importantly, he was a father, and a friend to many people.
"I don't have to say goodbye"