Emerald stood in the stands, leaning against a railing in the participant seating area. The match between JNPR and the team from Vacuo had yet to start. Emerald bit into what was left of her funnel cake.

"Emerald, darling." Emerald tensed before she recognized Cinder's voice. The fact that her mistress could so easily sneak up on her was scary.

"Y-yes, my lady?" She stuttered. Cinder smiled.

"Mercury just told me something… interesting, and maybe a bit concerning." Cinder looked out toward to field, half mountain, half forest.

"I want you to watch your little boy toy very closely. I want you to learn what you can before we invade the Beacon tower."

"If Mercury is worried, can't he do it?" Emerald asked trying to hide her irritation. She was trying to stay away from him, and Cinder had known that.

"He doesn't trust our silver haired friend. He does, however, trust you. As do I." Cinder made sure to give a look that she knew Emerald couldn't refuse. As much as she didn't want to agree, it made sense.

"What should I look for?" She resigned, taking another bite of her treat. Cinder thought for a moment.

"Mercury told me that he suddenly felt and acted differently. He was aware of it the whole time, but unable to stop it.

"You know the type of person he is. Mercury is not one to easily become shy or introverted like some sort of weakling, and yet he spoke with the boy and changed into just that."

Emerald listened intently to Cinder's explanation.

"Simply put, this boy may have a powerful passive semblance. We need to know what it is and if he knows how to properly use it. Something able to change a person so drastically, even temporarily might be able to stop our take over."

Emerald understood completely. She vaguely thought about that first day with Jaune. She was normally bold, but that day she was flirty and, to a degree, honest with a stranger. Had he used his semblance on her, and if he did, why?

"I'll do it. You can trust me, Cinder. I won't let anything get in the way of taking down the fall maiden."

"Good." Her mistress gave a wicked grin. She wiped off a bit of powdered sugar from Emerald's face and popped it into her mouth, walking away as she did so.

Emerald blushed, turning her attention back to the field where both teams were being introduced.

"Team JNPR, from our very own Beacon academy!" The loud speaker announced, accompanied by applause.

"Team BRNZ from Shade academy!" More cheers.

Emerald kept a close eye on all the team, but especially it's star and leader. Pyrrha was very capable fighter, parrying and reacting to almost every hit thrown her way.

Jaune wasn't contributing much to the fight, but he was issuing quick and competent orders.

"Spread out! Try to keep moving!"

"Nora, to the mountain!"

"Ren, try and distract the sniper!"

"Pyrrha, up!"

With the last order, he launched Pyrrha from his shield, sending her into the perfect position to deflect the sniper's shot that was aimed at Nora Valkyrie.

Emerald hadn't thought he able to be commanding and quick-witted that way, yet here he was, showing all of Remnant why he was the leader his team.

She leaned in when, mid-battle, Jaune began to argue with his team about their power attacks. She could see the irritation on the other team's face, and Jaune's, as he explained something they clearly weren't getting.

"What are you doing?!" Brawnz, the enemy leader called out to Jaune.

Jaune turned around, frustrated.

Trying to have a team meeting, thank you very little!" The mint colored onlooker rose an eyebrow from the stands.

"We're in the middle of a fight!" Brawnz looked at his teammates for help.

"And we're in the middle of a conversation! What don't you get about that?!" he shouted back. Emerald couldn't help but laugh. She didn't know The blond student could be so… sassy.

It was clear then that he realized he was still in the middle of the Vital tournament. Resigned, he muttered something to Nora. The redhead smiled much like Cinder had earlier and jumped to hit every member of BRNZ into the field of the arena, knocking them out.

Both teams left the battlefield, either by foot or stretcher, to the back area. Emerald made her way there as well. In the fight, there was no sign of this possible semblance of Jaune's, but he also had minimal interaction with the enemy. Regardless, thanks to Cinder's orders, Emerald had to get closer to Jaune and learn what she could. She made a note to hack into his transcript information later, if Mercury hadn't already done so by the time she returned to the dorm room. He did have his occasional use, after all.

Jaune retracted his shield and sheathing Crocea Mors inside of the folded defense weapon. He sighed.

"That could've gone a lot worse!" Nora cheerfully pointed out behind him. Ren silently agreed.

"I just don't get why you don't like the names I picked." Jaune started.

"Ruby and her team have ones like "bumblebee" and "checkmate."" he explained.

"It's not that we don't like them… we just were confused." Pyrrha tried to be nice, but Jaune already knew she didn't like the name "Arkos."

"You guys never let me do leader stuff." Jaune muttered, walking towards the exit. He wasn't really mad, just a but dissapointed that his team wasn't in-sync like RWBY was.

"Maybe we should do more team exercises." he wondered.

"Well, that's be a little weird, don't ya think?" Jaune turned around to find Emerald looking directly at him.

"You know, since I'm not on your team and all." She finished, giving him a bright, and this time fairly genuine, smile. Her joke lightened his mood.

"In that case, how about a one on one training session?" He tried to lower his voice and lean in like his dad told him to when flirting. Emerald glanced to the side.

"Maybe?" She didn't seem too thrilled at the idea. At least he tried.

"Maybe I can just get you ice-cream again?" He offered. She shook her head, mentioning a funnel cake from earlier.

You've failed again. Jaune thought, his mood sour once more. He still couldn't tell if this girl, with her beautiful red eyes, was interested in him.

After he'd seen her fight, he felt like he knew a little more about her. She was obviously very close to her leader and the Mercury guy. Maybe she knew them from her childhood. He also could tell that she was a bit sloppy, probably from training herself with little help. Jaune thought she was strong before, but her fighting style only adding to his opinion of her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Even with her medium skin tone, he could see a faint blush.

"Oh, sorry, I was, uh, thinking about strategies." He lied, scratching his nodded in understanding.

"Can we take a walk?" She asked, stepping closer. Jaune inward praised himself. Maybe he hadn't done so badly after all. He sent a silent thanks to his father as they began their walk around the grounds.

"You did pretty well out there. I thought the only ending part was kind of funny." She admitted. Jaune wasn't exactly thrilled about her laughing, but I guess he was pretty sarcastic toward Brawnz.

"I mean, I did help take down all those grimm before." Jaune boasted a little shyly. emerald raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I was there, too, Jaune." she commented. Jaune thought for a second, trying to remember if her team was there. He remembered CFVY and Ruby's-

"Oh yeah! I think I saw you guys talking with Ruby after they caught Torchwick." Emerald nodded, giving an uncomfortable laugh.

"Yeah, Ruby."

The two continued around the grounds, Jaune occasionally waving at other Beacon students. He didn't know she was leading him somewhere or if it mattered. She suddenly cleared her throat.

"So… I didn't know Nora had that kind of semblance. It's kind of like that Yang girl's, only more specific."

"Yeah, I never thought about that." Nora did have kinetic energy, but only with electricity, whereas Yang had it with any type if damage. Jaune's began to wonder if he could make a new strategy based on the information.

"Jaune? Hellooo." Emerald was waving her hand in his face, the beads on her wrist and arms clacking together.

"Sorry, I kind of spaced out there."

"It's okay." She said, even though Jaune could sense a bit of irritation.

"I was saying how her semblance was nothing like mine. My semblance is not really useful. I have a really strong empathy type of thing." Emerald knew she was lying, but it wasn't like she could tell him the truth. She hoped he was say how his was similar, if Cinder was on the right track, that is.

"That's pretty cool," he started. "I wish I knew what my semblance was." He chuckled nervously at Emerald's surprised reaction.

"I know, I'm a the leader, I should at least have a semblance, right? I guess nothing has happened that was important enough for me to get it.

"I thought not too long ago I felt something when… well, never mind. I guess I just have to wait. At least, that's what Pyrrha and Ren keep saying."

His red eyed companion played with a ornate ring on her right index finger. She was silent and Jaune felt a little disappointed. He had hoped she wouldn't look down on him for his sitiation, but it was clear she thought it was important.

Emerald's mind was racing. He hasn't unlocked his semblance? If he had some kind of emotional manipulation, he would have to know he had in order to use it.

What could she do now? Would Cinder just accept a shrug and an indefinite answer?

"Of course not!" Emerald shouted, frustrated. She hadn't realized she said it out loud until she looked at Jaune's shocked face.

"I- what?" Emerald blushed, caught in his confused blue eyes. She had no good save for her outburst.

"Th-thinking to myself?" She tried. Jaune said nothing for a minute, then burst out laughing. Emerald pouted, crossing her arms. She felt like he was making fun of her.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" He laughed again. "It was cute." He smiled genuinely. Jaune couldn't help it, he didn't really expect her to do something to embarrassing; something he would do.

"I am not cute." She continued her pout. Jaune chose not to fight her on that, even though she was wrong.

Just then, his scroll began to beep, accompanied by his "It's a Big Ursa!" ringtone. He fumbled with it, apologized to his company before answering.

"Y-yes, Pyrrha?"

"Jaune? Where are you? Yang says she wants to celebrate our win." The redhead warrior paused.

"Please hurry, she's tell her, er, jokes." Jaune immediately understood. He hung up and clenched his fist in determination.

"Emerald, I'm sorry. I have to save my team from cheesy jokes. I shall meet you again, my lady." He bowed and took her hand, kissing it and give her a wink.

Emerald stood speechless even after he left.

"What… just happened?"


Emerald sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard in her pajamas. She adjusted a fallen strap on her mint colored tank top. She was currently searching through Jaune's transcripts, which she unfortunately had to hack into herself. She glanced up at Mercury, heading out for a run.

"Do you ever do anything besides exercise?" She asked sarcastically. Mercury threw a small towel over his shoulders.

"Do you do anything besides drool over Jaune anymore?" Emerald blushed.

"Cinder ordered me too, thanks to you. Don't you remember?" She huffed and stuck out her tongue. Mercury just grumbled and walk out the room.

"My, my, our poor boy seems a bit upset." Cinder spoke in her usual smooth tone from the open bathroom. She was wiping off her makeup at the moment. Emerald shrugged.

"Is he really still upset about earlier?" Cinder laughed at the question.

"Yes, but not for the reason you think." Emerald looked at her, waiting for an explanation. When she didn't get one, she returned her attention back to her scroll.

Something wasn't right, his record was just too… perfect.

According to the file, he comes from a long line of capable fighters. He never trained under another academy, but instead under a renowned huntsman, whose name she didn't recognize.

He had high praise and apparently a very large potential. It all looked like any other student's, aside from the experience.

"This is fake." She realized. She heard Cinder start toward her, curious. The amber eyed girl looked over the page for a moment, muttering an agreement.

"Now how on Remnant did someone like him do something like that?"

"There's no way for me to ask without blowing everything." Emerald knew her mistress was already preparing to give the order. Cinder lied on her stomach.

"Then make him tell you without being obvious. I'm sure he's dying to tell someone. Do you really think his friends know about this?" Emerald thought for a moment.

"Pyrrha Nikos might. I followed him for a bit and found out they had scheduled training sessions. That seems like a good way for them to get close enough." She explained, laughing a little to herself, remembering a little surprise she left Jaune during his 'celebrations'. She hoped Pyrrha was there when he found it.

Meanwhile, Jaune took off his armor , setting it on his bed. He slipped his scroll and wallet from his pockets, dropping the latter.

Before he could get it, Pyrrha grabbed it and gasped. Nora looked up, curious.

"Jaune, I'm sorry, I just didn't know that you were so… close with that girl." Pyrrha spoke tensely, yet still composed. Jaune gave a "Huh?" and took the wallet from his mentor's ungloved hands.

He made a surprised noise in his throat. Where his signed picture of Spruce Willis was proudly displayed, sat a picture of Emerald in her Haven uniform, her tongue sticking out flirtatiously, flashing a peace sign.

Jaune nervously slid the picture out, letting out a sigh of relief that his signature was still there.

"Ooo!" Nora snatched the newest photo from his fingers. "Ooo! That's a cute one!" She shouted.

"When did you get this?" Ren asked, a bit proud of his leader. Jaune panicked, he looked to Pyrrha for help, but she was frowning and shaking her head.

"I don't know! I-I swear I don't know how that got there." He said. "Though I'm not really complaining…" He thought.

"Likely story." Pyrrha mutters, going to the bathroom and slamming the door. Jaune looked at Ren.

"Sorry, can't help." He handed Jaune the photo and went to bed.


So, I know that I skipped the dance, but I am going to write it in. I know that makes it out of order, but this is an AU haha. Besides, with all that goes down in the tournament, I think it'd be a nice break lol.

I know a whole lot didn't happen in this chapter. It was more to progress the romance than anything. The fabulous moves of Jauny boy shall be included! And yes, the dress to. He promised, after all. Also, thank you to X3runner for the wallet idea. Poor Pyrrha XD