Pyrrha hummed happily as she practically skipped down the side the of street. It had been three weeks since the incident in the forest. She had been messaging with Jaune back and forth while he recovered, and even gone to visit him once more that first week while he was recovering, but she hadn't seen him in almost two weeks. The hospital released him to home care after two weeks in the hospital, and he had spent the last week resting up at home. Aura did wonders for recovery, but it still took some good ol' fashion R&R to recover.

Late last night Pyrrha had received a message from Jaune, asking her to bring all of her friends with her and visit tomorrow after classes, as both him and his parents wanted to say thanks to them properly now that he was finally up and about again. Pyrrha, and her friends were more than happy to accept the offer. So now they made their way to Arc's Metalworks again with a joyful spirit in the air.

They were all in a particularly good mood as they chatted happily, walking down the streets in a bit of a mob.

As they approached the shop, Pyrrha noticed a sign on the door. Irrationally, Pyrrha felt a fear grip her heart. Jaune wouldn't do anything stupid again right? Pyrrha tried to keep her cool, but after a moment ran towards the door to read the sign. She stared at it a bit confused.

We'll be closing early tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Pyrrha just stared at it blankly. They had been told to come over around this time, but they were closed? Everything was fine right?

She was about to turn back to her friends when the door opened.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice rang out.

Pyrrha's head snapped back to the door, a massive grin bursting onto her face.

Jaune offered her his usual goofy smile. "Good to see you again Pyrrha."

A flood of relief washed over Pyrrha. The last time she had seen him he was still stuck in a hospital bed, and here he stood in front of her, albeit looking a little worse for wear. Pyrrha stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug, taking a deep breath. "I'm so glad you're okay." She said, before stepping back. Both Pyrrha and Jaune wore matching blushes as Yang approached, slapping Pyrrha on the shoulder.

"Maybe we should leave you two alone tonight?"

"Yang!" Pyrrha protested as she shook her head. She was just glad to see her friend okay and on his feet again. Totally.

Nora snickered as Blake hit Yang in the side. "Be nice." She scolded, fighting back a smirk.

Jaune just scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad to be back on my feet."

The door to the shop opened more as Jaune's mother walked through the door. "You're all here! Welcome! Jaune, stop blocking the door, come in come in!" She said in a warm voice as she rested a hand on Jaune's shoulder, gently pulling him out of the way so the two teams could enter the shop.

Everyone was floored by the smell inside the shop. The usual smell of dust, a forge, and hard labor was replaced by a heavenly mixture of different foods.

"I hope you guys have room for dinner! We wanted to surprise you and we hoped this would be early enough." His mom explained.

The 8 students nodded their head vigorously. They hadn't had dinner yet, and even if they had judging by the smells from the kitchen they would find a way to try that food.

In the center of the shop the chairs had been pushed to the side, and two massive tables were set up with chairs around them and a 10 sets of plates had been set up.

"Feel free to take a seat! The food will be here any moment. The kitchen in the shop is very basic, mostly here for snacks and simple meals during long work days, so we prepared most of the food at home. My husband and daughter will be here any moment with it. I think you're in for a treat." She explained in a singsong voice as she fluttered around, adjusting the table slightly, offering people drinks.

"Here, let me help." Ren offered as both Ren and Jane began assisting Jaune's mother in setting the table. Blake and Yang warmed themselves by the fire as Ruby and Nora started gushing about how well the food smelled. Weiss thanked the mother again before sitting down properly, as Pyrrha hung around Jaune, watching him as he did some finishing touches on some food in the back.

"This all smells very nice." She offered as he worked.

Jaune smiled. "Well dinner time has always been a bit of an event with a family as big as ours was. We've gotten pretty good at it over the years. Besides, this is the best way my parents know how to show gratitude."

"I'm looking forward to it." Pyrrha said with a smile. Her stomach growled slightly and she blushed a little. "Really looking forward to it."

Jaune just laughed. "Soon!"

"They're here!" Jaune's mother said as she saw her husband walking with Alice as they carefully balanced boxes and plates of food."

"Jaune, take this." Alice said offering him a plate.

Jaune nodded, quickly taking it from her grasp as she began to set the boxes and plates down. "Is this the fish?" He asked curiously. Blake's head snapped to attention at word fish as she hunched down a little, stalking towards it.

Alice nodded. "Yeah, you seemed to have nailed the seasoning this time to from the smell of it. Here, hand it back."

Jaune took a step forward, when his foot caught on crescent rose, which had been resting near the door when the teams deposited their weapons they had brought with them out of habit.

The fish began to fall out of his hand as he braced for impact.

There were two blurs of movement, almost faster than the eye could see as Jaune felt a little choked, but found himself being held up by the hood on his hoodie as Alice had caught it with her free hand, still balancing two boxes of food. "You never change." She mumbled with a small smile. She had been catching him after he tripped for years now, she had a sort of sixth sense for when it was going to happen.

"Thanks Alice. The fish..." He started off, realizing his hands were empty.

"It's safe." Came a determined voice next to him. Blake was standing next to him, cradling the plate gently, a wild determined look in her eyes.

Ruby leaned over to Weiss. "I've never seen her move like that. She kicked off the ceiling..."

Weiss shook her head. "She used her semblance twice to cover more ground I think..." She countered.

Jaune's mother just smiled and clapped once. "You're very fast!" She said appreciatively. "I remember when I was young and full of energy like that too. It was so fun to chase down Grimm and destroy every part of them. They always tried to flee after a while and it never worked." She reminisced in a sickly sweet voice.

"You made our missions looking after you more than looking out for Grimm." The husband said with a hearty laugh.

Pyrrha looked over the woman, a pleasant woman in a sundress and an apron that said "Home is where the heart is." She seemed like the kind of mother that could ease any child's worry with a few words and a plate of cookies, and Pyrrha realized she might be the scariest one of the family. Clearly Alice didn't far too far from the tree. Suddenly, Pyrrha felt extremely grateful that she had the mother's approval.

Alice helped Jaune back to his feet, ruffling his hair up before finishing setting up the plates of food.

Blake set down the fish gently, though Jaune swore he heard her mumble "Soon."

Soon enough the plates were all set, the smell of heavenly bliss was dancing through the air and all the students were sitting eagerly in their seats, ready to the try the food that had been teasing them for a while now.

When they were all seated, they realized they were missing two seats, leaving Jane and Ren standing next to the parents, as they gestured for the parents to sit down.

Jaune's parents just laughed. "Well aren't you two just the sweetest things?" His mother said with a smile as his father dropped a massive hand on Ren's shoulder, making his knee's buckle a bit.

"This here feast is for you. We figure you guys will have more fun on your own so we're going to head on out for the night." The dad explained.

"You just want an excuse to have a date night since you don't have to worry about your kids for once." Alice muttered, leaning back in her chair and sipping her drink.

Jaune's mom ignored her and smiled at the students. "Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts. The entire Arc family owes you a massive debt for saving our son. You went so far out of your way for him and I don't think I can properly express my gratitude."

Jaune just looked down, a bit ashamed at having been the cause of such trouble in the first place.

"It's no problem!" Ruby said after a moment, grinning. "We're friends after all."

"Grimm are no problem when we're all working together." Yang added, confidently.

"We know how dangerous it can be to encounter grimm when not properly prepared." Ren added after a moment, glancing at Nora who nodded.

Pyrrha nodded her head, resting her hand on Jaune's shoulder reassuringly. "We all need help sometimes. We were just glad to be there for you when you needed us. We didn't do it for food."

"But we'll take it!" Blake added quickly, her hands inching towards the massive fish that was on the table in front of her, that she hadn't broken eye contact with for a few minutes now.

"Thank you all. Eat now! Eat up! We'll be going now. If you would like any repairs done leave them here and Jaune will get that all sorted. I'll have them looking better than new in no time." He said with a prideful grin.

Moments later Mr. and Mrs. Arc were out of the store, off on their own for a date night.

"You aren't going with them?" Jaune asked Alice as he started to eat a piece of garlic bread.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "I'm not tagging along with mom and dad, and I'm not baby sitting our sisters either. That's the job of the second oldest. Are you saying you don't want me here? You got new friends and suddenly you're too good for your closest sister?" She asked challenging.

Jaune's eyes widened as he shook his hands back and forth. "No! That's not what I meant! I was just wondering." He said in a panic.

Alice just laughed, flicking an olive at him. "I know, I know. I'm just giving you a hard time."

Pyrrha and Yang were laughing at the exchange, watching Jaune get flustered.

Blake was devouring the fish at such a rate, it made the rest of them feel a little scared to attempt to take any.

As the time passed, they were all chatting idly again, learning more about the Arc family and getting to know their two new friends.

"Jaune sure has bad luck though. First we meet him getting robbed at gun point, then we have to rescue him from some Grimm."

Alice's fork dropped from her hand to the plate, the clatter causing all the conversation in the room to grind to a halt as everyone stared at Yang accusingly.

"What was that?" Alice asked dangerously.

Yang started to sweat a bit, realizing that apparently Jaune hadn't told his sister about the accident. Also that she was now the sole focus of a very angry, and very protective older sister. "I uhh... there may have been an incident when we first met him."

Alice slowly turned to look at Jaune.

"What is she talking about?" She asked in a eerily calm voice.

"It's no big deal. It's just something that happens in big cities..."

"Jaune Arc. What happened." Her voice was cold and dangerous.

Pyrrha could see Jaune's body tense and begin to sweat under the glare. Clearly this wasn't the first time his sister had taken a cold tone to him.

"A few guys tried to rob us back when Dad first visited you to prepare the move. Pyrrha and them happened to be coming by when it was happening. I was going to just give them what they wanted but I didn't have access to the vault and they were getting angry..." He spilled immediately.

"Who. Were. They." Alice asked.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know! I'd never seen them before. Not customers or anything."

"Those goons all look the same anyway." She remarked, before clasping her hand over her mouth. That might have been too much information.

Alice didn't miss that though. "Yang. Care to share with the class what you know?"

Ruby threw a roll at her sister's head. "Why can't you just shut up!"

"They were arrested." Yang said with a nervous smile, trying to brush it off.

"Yang!" Alice said suddenly, slamming her hand down on the table. Plates shifted as those sitting near her grabbed their drinks to prevent spilling.

"We need this table..." Jaune muttered, eying a crack in the wood.

Alice stood up. "Last chance."

Yang stared at her for a moment, and realized this was a game of chicken she did not feel like playing. Partially because she knew what she would do if she found out her sister had been held at gun point. Especially before she learned to fight. "They work at a nightclub downtown." She said, explaining which one a little better.

Alice smiled. "Thanks hun." She moved to the back of the store, pulling out her scroll.

Jaune's head dropped to his hands. "Well there she goes."

Pyrrha patted Jaune's back reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Jaune shook his head. "I'm not worried about her."

Alice walked back to the front of the store a few minutes later, in full combat gear with her weapon strapped to her back. "... Yeah. Demi, that's the one. Meet me there in a few? Perfect."

Jaune groaned. "You told Demi?"

Alice shrugged. "She'd be angry if I didn't. Third oldest is in charge now."

Jaune sighed.

Pyrrha leaned over. "Demi's the second oldest right?"

Jaune nodded his head. "Yeah. She's a lot calmer than Alice but she really enjoys fighting. She loves the thrill of it. She'll take any excuse, and she's fought for a lot less than this."

"Dad's going to be mad." Jaune offered to Alice.

Alice pulled out her scroll dialing one more number. "Dad? Yeah, everything is fine. Did you know Jaune was robbed while you wer- Yeah I know. Stop yelling. Already on it. It might cause some troubl- You'll take care of it? Good. I'll call you after. Sorry to interrupt your date." She said, hanging up the call. She stuck her tongue out at Jaune.

Jaune just sighed. "Be safe? Please?"

Alice just nodded. "Of course. Have fun with the rest of dinner. Make sure to clean up afterward, we don't need ants or rats in here." She turned to Yang, winking at her with a dangerous smirk. "Thanks for the tip."

With that she was gone as she took off running.

"Will she be okay?"

Jaune just smiled wryly to Pyrrha. "Alice is the strongest person I know. Demi is backing her up, I seriously doubt there a group in Vale that can take them. Short of my parents in their prime, they're the best the Arc family has to offer. They definitely live up to our legacy." He said, a slight longing in his tone. His eyes widened after a moment. "Not that the rest of my sisters aren't amazing, even the ones who aren't fighters."

Pyrrha just smiled and nodded. "I understand. It seems good that you have such strong role models. Though Alice is a bit..."

"Rash? Dangerous? Scary?" Jaune offered with a slight laugh. "She's a good person, even if a bit intense. I know she can be a bit aggressive but she really does care for everyone. Just not those who are an enemy..." Jaune said with a bit of a nervous laughter.

Pyrrha was about to reply when she heard a loud belch.

Everyone's eyes snapped to Blake, who was leaning back in her chair, covering her mouth with a wide eyed expression. Remains of half of the massive fish were piled up on her plate. "Excuse me."

Yang just burst out laughing, which caused the rest of the group to follow suit as the tension in the air dissolved.

A little later everyone was pushing their plates forward, done with their meal. "That was delicious." Pyrrha offered.

"That was sooooo good." Nora said enthusiastically, despite feeling lethargic from all the food in her system.

Everyone agreed, and soon Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha were picking up and washing the dishes, while yang Blake and Jane were collapsing the tables and slowly returning the store to it's normal state.

"Thanks for helping me clean up, you know you don't need to."

"It's no trouble." Pyrrha said.

"Dad would kill us if we let you do all the work." Ruby said as she moved the trash bag to the back of the store to the dumpster.

Before long the store was back to it's original state, as they all sat around in chairs chatting amongst themselves. They were glad their homework load was light because it meant they could afford to spend time relaxing instead of being in a rush to get back.

"I don't think I could eat another bite." Yang said as all the food settled.

Jaune looked disappointed. "Oh, so you guys don't want this pie?" He said, fetching a pie out of the oven.

"We'll have it!" Nora and Ruby said suddenly, standing up as they went to get the clean plates and forks.

"I suppose I can find room for it." Yang said, realizing she had to try that pie whatever the cost.

"I'm glad to hear it! I finally got to try baking with fresh Sap from Forever Fall." He said idly.

Everyone stopped at stared at him.

Jaune looked shocked. "What?"

"You went back there?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "I mean yeah, it was a bit weird but Grimm attacks happen. I've seen them happen most of my life, even if I wasn't directly involved. I cant live in fear of beyond the walls, otherwise the Grimm really did win." He said honestly.

Pyrrha just stared at him, lost in thought.

"Besides, this time Alice was with me. And Demi. And my parents. I haven't seen them with their weapons in a while. We didn't even see a Grimm the entire time." He explained.

Everyone else glanced at someone else. They had a feeling there had been plenty of Grimm in the area before the Arc family showed up. Forever fall was probably going to be relatively safe for a while.

Jaune just smiled unknowingly. "Anyway, enough with the serious stuff. I don't want all this work to go to waste!" He said with a smile.

Before long, they were all finishing up their deserts.

"We need to do an extra workout after this." Yang said, patting her stomach. "Your family isn't good for staying in top shape, Jaune." She teased.

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, we get that a lot. There's a reason my parents always encouraged us to properly exercise."

Pyrrha just smiled. "That'll be good for when we start up your training."

Jaune's eyes widened. "We're still doing that?"

Pyrrha looked at him confused. "Did you not want to? I assumed you did..."

Jaune nodded vigorously. "Of course I do! I just thought you might have called it off after the incident."

Pyrrha shook her head. "Of course not! We just need to make sure you're properly recovered before we begin."

Jaune was grinning like a kid. "Yes!" He cheered excitedly, making Pyrrha giggle.

"Jaune! You got a message." Ruby said, offering Jaune his scroll which had buzzed on the counter near where she was chatting to Weiss.

Jaune opened it up, noticing it was from Alice. He just stared blankly at the screen, before sighing.

"What?" Pyrrha asked curiously, as Jaune showed her his scroll.

On the screen was a picture of Alice and Demi posing with the peace sign. Looking behind them, Pyrrha could vaguely make out the shapes of unconscious bodies that looked like the men who had robbed Jaune. It seemed to have been taken in some sort of club.

"Oooo is that a picture?" Yang said, butting and looking at the scroll. She whistled appreciatively. "And I thought I trashed the place..." She thought for a moment. "Here, let's send her one back. Everyone, get over here!" Yang ordered as she began pulling everyone close together. "Jaune, set the timer." She said, as she glanced at Pyrrha and got a wicked idea.

As Jaune set the timer and everyone, albeit some slightly unwillingly, posed together she pulled Jaune back into the frame. Weiss was reluctant as Nora was practically spilling over Ren. Blake was going to flee but Yang held her firmly in place, not letting her escape as Ruby threw up a peace sign.

Right before the flash was going to go off, Yang suddenly nudged Pyrrha. "Scoot over so we can all fit!" She said, as she intentionally tripped Pyrrha a bit.

Pyrrha stumbled, being forced onto Jaune since they were in the middle of the crowd as she caught herself on his chest, as he reached an arm out to steady her as the flash went off.

Yang was the first to the scroll, cackling at the result as it looked like Pyrrha was being held by Jaune in an embrace.

Jaune and Pyrrha both blushed, but before they could protest Yang had sent the photo. Jaune reached for the scroll, but Yang held up a finger. "Wait... and... there." She said, handing back the scroll.

A moment later everyone's scroll buzzed as they all got a copy of the picture.

"Yang!" Pyrrha scolded her, chasing her slightly around the shop.

Jaune just looked at the picture, smiling. Most of his life he had spent around his sisters, which he loved to death, but he knew he was going to cherish that photo for the rest of his life.

He tilted his head as his scroll buzzed again, a reply from Alice. His face flushed red, making Yang look curiously at him, still holding off Pyrrha. "What did she say?"

"No." Jaune said, quickly hiding his scroll.

"Come on... share!" Yang said teasingly.

"No!" Jaune repeated, glaring at her from behind his blush. His glare had a hint of the danger Alice's always held.

Yang just shook her head. "Fine fine. Be that way." Yang said with a smirk. "You're welcome."

Jaune stared at her for a moment, looking away with a small smile. "Thanks."

A few minutes later and all of them were starting to yawn. "Okay, we should head back soon. It's getting late." Ruby offered.

Jaune nodded. "Thank you all again. I really appreciate it. Are you sure Nora is the only one who wanted a tune up? It's free of course."

They all nodded. "We're still good, we'll take you up on your offer later." Yang answered.

"You should all stop by again." He said a bit nervously.

Ruby and Jane looked at each other, before nodding. "Of course!"

Jaune disappeared for a moment, before handing each of them a box. "Can't let you leave empty handed."

Ruby's and Jane's eyes lit up in sync. "Thank you!" They said, before they waved once more and turned to leave.

Pyrrha lagged behind a bit. "Thanks again Jaune. I'm really glad to see you up and on your feet again."

Smiling nervously, Jaune spoke. "It's only thanks to you guys. I really appreciate it. I'm glad I met you all. I think it makes everything worth it."

Shaking her head, Pyrrha just smiled. "Well, let's try to avoid such dangerous encounters again, okay? At least until you have more training under your belt."

"I agree with that. I think I'll be ready to start training in two weeks." Jaune offered.

"Sounds perfect. We'll start simple anyway so it will be good physical therapy to get you back into top shape before we get to the difficult stuff." Pyrrha explained with a nod.

Jaune beamed. "I can't wait."

Pyrrha nodded, hugging Jaune briefly before stepping back. "I'm glad you're safe. See you later!" She said, waving goodbye and running to catch up with her friends. Jaune was back on his feet, and she had finally had the chance to learn more about him. There was a lot she was still unsure about, but she knew she wanted to know more. As she caught up to her friends, she strayed back a bit, pulling out her scroll and looking at the photo Yang had set up. Smiling down at it, she definitely wanted to know more.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you reading this chapter! I hope you could enjoy this one a little more. A lot of the feedback for the past two chapters has been pretty critical so I'm sorry that I seem to be letting a few of you down. I admit the reason I gave for his lack of Aura was a little weak, and I actually went back and updated it. I normally don't change stuff I've written, aside from typos etc. but I wasn't too happy with it either. To try and explain my problem, was we never actually know the reason Jaune never knew about Aura, if his father and his grandfather all were great warriors. It made perfect sense as a way to explain to viewers what Aura was, and Jaune was a character who was new to the huntsmen world, but since we weren't given one in the show, short of completely ignoring why he didn't have Aura, my hands were tied with guessing at a reason. That said, the reason I changed it to is what I'll stick with, even if it's not the best. I'm trying to be more aware of the pace of the story, and I'm sorry it's not taking the turns, or themes some of you hope for. I merely hope you continue to find it interesting enough to read, and I'll keep writing. I'll try to keep a decent pace of two to three chapters a week, though as we approach the holidays it may slow down a bit. I hope you all have a wonderful day and a wonderful Christmas/holiday season!