Rising Phoenix

Chapter 7

Late

Jaune paced the halls of the hospital as he waited for new of his wife. There were complications with the birth of their son – Arthur. The name was picked out months before and it just felt right. Jaune was nervous as all of the horrible possibilities ran, uninvited through his head. As he turned on his heel to continue his pacing, he noticed the doctor that was delivering his son walking toward him. Dear god, I hope what he has to say is good news or I'm going to lose my mind. Jaune could not think of the damage that would be done to Pyrrha if she lost their first child, and to him if he had lost both his wife and his unborn son. Jaune stopped pacing and watched the doctor come toward him, with piercing eyes.

It has only been 18 months since our lovers graduated from Beacon academy, with honors. Pyrrha had taken part in the Vytal festival with Jaune just before that, and had won both the single dueling competitions and the dual face off competition awards. Something that had never been done in the history of the festival. The result of this had been a hefty reward- just enough to get them comfortably into a wonderful home in Mistral that resembled the ancient palaces of Sparta.

"It's absolutely perfect…so are you." Pyrrha sighed into Jaune's arms as he had surprised her with the home.

"I hope so, I spoke to your dad yesterday, by the way. Your parents want to stop by and see us. Is that ok?" Jaune had forgotten to tell her about the phone call they had received, and chided himself for his clumsiness for the millionth time in his life. Jaune had only briefly met Leo in person at the wedding, and they had hit it off. Both had the same carefree humor that made for easy conversation. Her mother on the other hand was much more like Pyrrha. Reserved, save for the occasional jest.

"Hey…. What do you think of children?" Jaune felt Pyrrha freeze with her head tucked into his chest, a habit of hers whenever she asked a question that she was nervous to hear the answer to. Jaune grabbed his wife by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"What brings this up?

"This is a big house, and I love you so much. I just feel like we have so much more that we have to do. I think a family is a good next step?" Pyrrha's last statement sounded more like a question as she searched her husband for any sign of an answer.

"I like the idea, Pyrrha, but I also think that we should give it a few months. We only just took off in our careers and we have no idea what kind of dangerous missions we may go on." Jaune spoke softly with a reverence for his wife as he guided her to the master bedroom, feeling her melt under his hands as he massaged her neck and shoulders. He wanted to enjoy being newlyweds for just a while longer, but in honesty, Jaune felt the same way. While he was the happiest he had been in his entire life, he felt like now there was a piece to their puzzle that just wasn't there yet.

"Okay, but let's not wait too long. I want us to have a wonderful family." Pyrrha sighed as Jaune felt every part of her body and made her forget every thought aside from him.

That conversation took place almost 2 months ago. In that time the two had begun successful careers as Hunstmen, and had settled into a wonderful life in their home in Mistral. Pyrrha had just returned home from a mission while Jaune was resting from his last. Pyrrha walked into the common area, dressed in a simple white dress, her usual attire when she was home, and lied down on the couch with her head in Jaune's lap. He was currently looking at the mission boards locally and found something that would be a fair challenge for just himself.

He held the screen to show Pyrrha, "What do you think?" The question was simple, but it had become common practice for them to consult each other on the missions they were considering, mostly out of courtesy, but also for an honest analysis of each other's skills. They still trained every night just like they had at Beacon Academy. In the time that Jaune had gotten into the real world and had some real experience, he had almost surpassed his wife in terms of sword skill. This left him hapless when it came to close quarters combat.

"I think that it would be a challenge, and certainly dangerous if you go alone. If you think that you have the skills to do so, then I believe in you." Pyrrha traced a line along his jaw as she softly spoke, Enjoying the closeness with her lover.

"Thanks honey, I'm taking it. I leave tonight, and I won't be back until…" Jaune did the math to account for travel time before continuing. "Most likely 4 days from now. I'm going to pack." With that, Jaune gave his wife a quick kiss and stood, letting her head rest on the couch so that she could rest while he readied himself with some supplies. The preparation did not take very long, only needing some food, his weapon cleaning supplies and a change of clothes.

Jaune paused at the door, looking to his sleeping wife on the couch. "Pyrrha," he called out. "I'm on my way, I love you so much. See you soon." With no response. Jaune returned to the couch and kissed her gently, and scribbled a note on some paper before setting off. Jaune began his trek to the abandoned town of Kuroyuri with a full heart, knowing that he was prepared for this and that when all was said and done, that he could come home to his red-haired warrior.

Pyrrha busied herself with housework, not wanting to become too idle as she rested before leaving for another mission a few days after Jaune returned. She stood in front of the calendar as she thought of her brave husband. I hope he is okay, that mission was a bit treacherous to say the least. Jaune had been gone 3 days, which meant that he should be on his way back to his home. Pyrrha grabbed an apple on her way out of the kitchen and munched on it as she set about cleaning the training area. It regularly became a mess as they dropped equipment to enjoy some "time" together.

Jaune swung wildly, knicking the Horseman's right arm. This was no Grimm. It's a damn demon! Jaune's mind raced as he thought of the different ways that he could take the thing down. Seeing a tree nearby, he formed a plan in his head to trap it there. Jaune raced there as fast as his legs could take him, feeling something warm in his side as he did. Jaune's vision began to blur. He looked down to see a pool of his own blood. The warmth in his side had been a gash that the Horseman had ripped in him as he had run to spring his trap. Dammit! It's at least an 18 hour hike non-stop home. I have no chance on making it out of here alive. Unless…

Jaune absentmindedly sprung his trap and decapitated the Horseman as he attempted to stitch himself up. There were no towns this far out into the country and the only one that was nearer than home was in the opposite direction. Jaune activated his SOS function on his scroll and sat down to rest.

Ren and Nora heard fighting coming from the direction of their hometown. They were on their way there to see if there was anything left that could give them some clue into Nora's past. They had just finished tracking down an uncle of Ren's this week. They stopped to rest at the crossroads with a sign that read Kuroyuri, Left, 0.8k. They were close but the sounds of fighting sounded like they were coming from the abandoned town.

"You don't think that it's that thing do you?" Nora clutched Ren's hand hard as they looked toward the smoke rising from their hometown. Before Ren could respond, they received an SOS on their scrolls.

JAUNE ARC: IN NEED OF IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE. LOCATION: KUROYURI.

Ren stared at his scroll in disbelief. There was no way that Jaune could be on a mission in his ruined hometown. The wandering pair took off into Kuroyuri like the wind. They would assist Jaune in any way they possibly could. A few minutes later, the pair entered the town, weapons ready for anything. The sight that greeted was a gruesome one. The body of the monster that destroyed their home all those years ago lay in a heap a few feet from the unconscious body of Jaune, who lay in a pool of his own blood.

"Oh my god…" was all that Nora could say, the normally vebose woman was reduced to a stunned silence.

"Nora! We need to help Jaune. You have the most training in medicine." Ren brought Nora back down to earth as they rushed to his side. Nora assessed Jaune and saw that he was otherwise fine, considering his fight. A large gash was gushing blood. With a heated blade, she cauterized it. Jaune had come to with the pain of the burning.

"AAAGGHHH! Ren? Nora? I need to get home." Jaune coughed up blood as he spoke. He would find out how they got to him so quickly later on.

"Ren I need my supplies. Will you grab my pack and we will carry him home." Nora was calm, she had seen worse in the villages she had come across on missions. He would make it, she was sure of that. The group made slow progress with Jaune on Nora's back.

Pyrrha woke early and trained as she did every day. Her form was off, the pit in her stomach was getting bigger by the minute. Jaune should have been home two days ago. She had tried to call him, but his scroll was off or out of the service area. When she could take no more of the training, Pyrrha made a small breakfast and cleaned. Anything to take her mind off of the fact that every second that Jaune wasn't there, the chances of him never coming home grew exponentially.

There was a knock on the door, prompting Pyrrha to stand and hurry to it. Maybe there's some news about him Pyrrha answered the door to the most horrific sight she had seen since the invasion of vale. Ren stood in front of her for the first time in a long time, covered in mud, and in general looking like he had walked through hell and back, with Jaune on his back. Nora stood next to him, on the phone with her contacts at the hospital, letting them know what had happened and asking for medical supplies ASAP. Jaune lay limp across Ren's back, a massive wound on his side. He looked pale, he's lost so much blood. I knew something wasn't right.

"What the hell happened?!" Pyrrha invited them in, and Jaune was set down on the table. Nora went to work on stitching the ruined muscle and organs that were nearing necrosis. Ren answered her so as not to distract her.

"We got an SOS from my hometown, and we found Jaune like this next to the Grimm that destroyed it when we were kids. Nora started to patch him up but she needs more supplies than we brought with us. We had to bring him home. He was talking for a while, but the only thing that I could make out was your name." Ren looked at the floor as he finished speaking. Jaune groaned as he found consciousness again.

"Pyrrha… I love you." Blood came up with the last word, dark and warm. In a few hours, Nora had finished working her magic on Jaune. He lay on the couch while the rest of team JNPR sat at the dining room table. Pyrrha was filled in on the details of the grueling trip back and the foe that Jaune had fought single handedly that an entire town had not been able to defeat.

"He is a very strong person, we all know that." Ren let the words hang over the table like a silent wish that Jaune would be okay. Pyrrha spoke next, in a voice so broken that it broke Ren and Nora's heart.

"I should have been there with him. I knew that it was dangerous." There was something in her voice that spoke to the feeling that this little family of Huntsmen had drifted apart and there was no telling when one of them may fall to the Grimm. "Would you guys mind staying here for a week or so? Do you have anything that you need to do? I know it's a lot to ask." Pyrrha asked of her teammates, who responded without thinking, understanding the situation.

"Of course. We could use some training and rest." Nora spoke this time, having cleared her head and rejoined the conversation. "We miss you guys all the time. We all could use it, I think." Nora leaned into Ren as she spoke, obviously wiped out from her work on Jaune.

"Let me show you guys where you're sleeping. You should all get some sleep. I'm going to stay here with Jaune until he wakes up." Pyrrha dried her eyes and showed her teammates to their room. When she returned to the living room, she saw that Jaune had woken and was trying to sit up. "Lay back down you crazy person. You have a nasty gouge in your side that Nora stitched back together not 3 hours ago. They are going to stay here for a while so we can make sure that everyone is okay after this." Pyrrha paused as she saw the evident pain in her Jaune's face. "That was too close Jaune. Take some time off with me?"

Through the pain, Jaune gritted his teeth, "I love you Pyrrha. Sorry I almost died out there." Jaune stopped for a moment when another slice of pain went through his side. "I think we should start a family love. Every time we get hurt, it reminds me that we have nothing to pass down. Not to mention the fact that if one of us does go, the other would be alone in this massive house and that would be horrible." Blue eyes stared into green. Minutes passed as Pyrrha slowly processed what he had said.

"Okay!" For the first time that week, tears of happiness streamed down Pyrrhas face.

Well guys, I usually have a note here at the end of a chapter to my stories, but today I think this one hit me a bit harder than they usually do. Like I always say, I let them write themselves. Looking forward to a similar chapter as my White Rose Chapter 9. I love seeing the teams get back together. See you guys next week with the next chapter! Looking forward to it!