Chapter Ten: Believe

Classes had already been scheduled to be suspended for two weeks to accommodate the first years going out on missions, and after Glynda informed anyone who hadn't set out they were to remain at Beacon and all missions were postponed until after the Vytal Festival, Team JNPR had expected to enjoy the downtime and maybe get a bit of training in before taking part in the upcoming tournament. They hadn't expected to hear anything at all from the faculty, until Jaune received a message from Glynda informing him of a request to see Professor Ozpin.

Jaune had a pretty good idea what this was about, though his mind raced with a lot of possible variants of the same subject: maybe Neo told Torchwick about him and then he talked while in captivity and Ozpin was following up on that, or maybe someone recalled seeing Jaune and Neo at that club on the shady side of town or maybe someone accidentally let slip about Jaune aiding and abetting Neo's escape by giving her resources.

If nothing else, Jaune didn't think Ozpin cared about his forged transcripts anymore.

Jaune prepared himself for the worst as he rode the elevator up to the headmaster's office near the top of the tower. Ruby had briefly described the experience to him as he was heading out, explaining how the constant moving gears overhead made it very hard to concentrate, as though designed to throw people off balance when they stood in Ozpin's presence. The headmaster was quite intimidating enough without the extra advantage, so that would be one more thing to terrify Jaune as he thought about his academic future vanishing in a moment… though Ruby also mentioned Professor Ozpin being strangely mercurial in not doling out punishments, even when she'd been caught dead to rights where she wasn't supposed to be.

He wasn't sure what the punishment was supposed to be for whatever strange things Ruby got up to, but Jaune was pretty sure what he'd done was worse.

"Mister Arc, please, sit down," the headmaster requested, gesturing to the seat in front of his semicircular desk, Ozpin still standing with his back to Jaune and staring out the window of his office.

Jaune approached very slowly, listening to the manic turning of gears over his head with his every step. He tried not to let the noise bother him, but it was so loud as to be distracting. Jaune sat down and tried not to let the noise bother him, staring at Ozpin's back while the headmaster continued to stare out the window.

"I received a very odd police report from Vale about a few of my students causing property damage," Ozpin explained, "and then almost immediately after I'd read the message I received word that the owners of the property weren't pressing charges. Apparently someone reimbursed them for the damage done to their front door and paid for three dinner orders."

Jaune sat quietly, trying not to listen to the moving gears.

"I've been at Beacon for a long time; I'm quite used to having to smooth over issues with the local authorities because a few of my students got… rambunctious," Ozpin went on. "But this particular case caught my attention because usually Beacon pays for any damage done out of funds apportioned for just such an occasion, and then garnishes from the offending student's stipends until the debt is repaid. Instead, the offending student –or one of many- paid for the damages before I was even aware of the issue."

Ozpin turned around at last, walking over and sitting down to face Jaune. "I was naturally curious about the nature of the incident, and the staff reported seeing yourself and your partner Miss Nikos, so that explained her decision to reimburse them… but out of all my students, Miss Nikos has no black marks on her record, and you've improved your study habits enough Doctor Oobleck no longer feels the need to bring you up; at least to me.

"However, the good doctor did mention in another report he'd recently given me some troubling details about the incident at Mountain Glenn, including accounts given by Team RWBY, who acted under his supervision at the time," Ozpin went on. "And after requesting some additional information from the parlor you visited in Vale, I learned that one of their regular customers had a physical description that lined up remarkably well with the one offered by Miss Xiao Long to describe an assailant she encountered on the trip back from Mountain Glenn.

"Shortly after the damage caused to the parlor, there was an additional report of breaking and entering in a nearby apartment complex. When police arrived on the scene to investigate, they discovered a variety of stolen items, and eventually learned the apartment had been rented to Roman Torchwick, the recently apprehended criminal and mastermind of the operation in Mountain Glenn that led to the breach," Ozpin continued. "And it seemed you'd been there yourself sometime prior, based on certain additional evidence found at the scene."

"Professor…" Jaune interjected, his dislike of gears overpowering any fear he had of the administration, "can you just ask me whatever it is you want to ask me?"

"Very well," Ozpin agreed. "I want a few simple answers from you; simple answers for admittedly complex questions." He turned to a mug of coffee on his desk and took a long sip before progressing. "Were you aware that it was the home of a wanted criminal?"

"No," Jaune replied.

"Are you aware of the current whereabouts of any associates of Roman Torchwick?" Ozpin inquired.

"No," Jaune replied.

Ozpin was quiet for several seconds. "And did you provide material aid to a wanted criminal?"

Jaune could easily claim he was just getting things for her; that he'd gone to Neo's home to get what she'd asked for, and he hadn't known what he was handing over. Clearly Ozpin –and possibly the police- knew he'd done something, and he was the only one whose criminal activity they had left to punish. But he didn't lie, at least not to defend himself. "I did."

Ozpin sipped his coffee again. "I assume the alternative would've been worse?"

If he hadn't intervened, Neo might've killed Blake, and possibly Yang too. Pyrrha may have been able to disarm Neo, but based on how close her blade was to Blake's neck, Neo could just as easily have reacted first. What Jaune knew for certain, however, was that he couldn't have stopped her, even if he had his weapons on hand at the time. "She was threatening to hurt someone."

"I assume someone in the wrong place at the wrong time," Ozpin noted. Before Jaune could answer, Ozpin continued his musing. "Well, there were no casualties reported, and I'm sure the police are more concerned about reports of violence than they ever have been of a thief escaping with her resources intact.

"One other matter, Mister Arc," Ozpin added. "Miss Nikos posted the funds to repair the damage caused. Did she do so at your behest?"

"I didn't order her to," Jaune answered.

"No, I'm certain you didn't," Ozpin agreed. "And the staff here will have no trouble believing Miss Nikos took it upon herself to pay for the damage done of her own accord. I just needed your assurances to offer the proper authorities. As you can imagine they have a great many questions… and while your answers are satisfactory for me, they are not so indulgent. And now that Atlas has taken over the kingdom's security concerns for the Vytal Festival, there will be increased scrutiny of any criminal activity in the city… and less inclination to follow my recommendations, now that I no longer have jurisdiction over my student's activities."

For a long time they were both quiet. Jaune raised an eyebrow. "So is there… any, I don't know, punishment?"

"Do you feel there should be?" Ozpin inquired.

Jaune fell quiet, his eyes pointing to the floor. If he were honest… he didn't actually want any kind of disciplinary action from Ozpin or any kind of legal consequence from the authorities, but he couldn't deny it was probably merited.

"In lieu of a punishment, let me offer you a warning, Mister Arc," Ozpin suggested. "We will all exercise poor judgment at times in our lives; I know this better than most. You shouldn't be so concerned about the mistakes you make now, while you have the luxury of being supported by friends and teammates; rather try to learn from them for the trials that will await you once you've graduated and become a fully- fledged huntsman. Before that time, you should be aware that you will falter… you will misjudge."

Ozpin turned around in his chair and faced out the window again. "That will be all, Mister Arc."

Jaune cast a curious glance at the back of Ozpin's head before he departed, still deeply troubled by all he'd done, and how little consequence there seemed to be.

But then, the real consequence was returning to his dorm and knowing all his friends in the vicinity undoubtedly now knew of his misadventures with someone who tried to kill one of their own.

Yang wasn't upset with Jaune that he allowed Neo to escape. Well, she had been upset for a while, but she had cooled off considerably once they returned to Beacon. Now she reserved her displeasure for Blake, and Blake suspected that was because of her attempt to resolve matters non-violently. It was one thing for Jaune to screw up a plan he hadn't been aware of. It was another for Blake to go off-script.

Yang had managed to keep her thoughts to herself for a while, mostly out of respect for their other two teammates' justifiable concerns. Yang wasn't one to lose her temper in front of Ruby if it could be helped, and Blake wasn't going to be forthcoming about her thoughts on the matter either. When they finally had a moment to themselves, however… while lying in their beds and musing on earlier events…

"You remember we had a plan, right?" Yang asked from her bunk below Blake's. "We should've captured her right then."

"And risked letting Jaune get caught in the crossfire," Blake argued. "If I hadn't put down my gun, Pyrrha would've broken ranks to protect him from the shots."

"Pyrrha literally had Neo in her hand," Yang countered. "We all hit her fast and hard and she would've-"

"Would've what?" Blake interrupted. "Been knocked out? Died?"

Yang was quiet for a long time before she asked: "Would that have been so bad?"

Blake returned that silence before she answered. "We should avoid that if we can. Wherever we can."

"Like we did on the train with the White Fang?" Yang inquired.

Blake hadn't seen everything that happened atop the cars, but more than once she knocked a recruit off the speeding train in the heat of battle. If they hadn't been killed by the fall, they were almost certainly left to the Grimm filling into the tunnels. Yang did something similar, deliberately knocking a recruit into a train with a still-active bomb and leaving him to his fate.

And then when Blake had Roman at her mercy… she'd come very, very close to killing him. She wanted to, and she could easily have justified it to herself as a practical course of action, and not merely a powerful desire for revenge. At the time, she certainly thought about how it might benefit her team and the kingdom to simply be rid of him, and not just her own need to punish him for the evil he'd done to her personally.

And Yang… well, she wasn't wrong to see an upside to getting rid of Neo; as it was a dangerous and unpredictable criminal with some considerable combat ability was out in Vale and they'd lost whatever leads they'd had to track her whereabouts. If Neo was dead and they all conspired to kill her, that may have made them worse people –individually, collectively- but it would've made the kingdom safer.

But every time Blake saw that line crossed it became easier and easier to justify. For herself… and for him.

"There is a line," Blake replied. "I'm not always sure where it is –sometimes it's hard to see when you're in the thick of things- but it's there, and every time we cross it we have a longer trip finding our way back from the other side."

She thought she should call on the personal side of things; frame her argument as being about herself rather than Yang. "I could've been like those kids Torchwick recruited. Or I could've been like Neo, if I was always willing to look the other way when the White Fang got worse and worse. I'm not going to ever risk being that kind of person again. And the best way to avoid that fate is to not cross the line when I know I don't have to."

"And what, just let the bad girl get away?" Yang demanded.

"Remember when you told me to slow down?" Blake reminded her. "We waited, and we picked our spot. And eventually we caught him, after he escaped us a few times. Be patient, Yang: you don't have to be like Neo is in order to beat her."

This seemed to pacify Yang, at least for the moment, as she rolled over onto her side below Blake, staring at the wall of their dorm. Again they were quiet for a long time.

"What did Ladykiller ever see in her anyway?" Yang mused.

Blake had to admit she wondered the same… though she had a pretty good idea based on their talks. Neo had approached him not as a violent and psychotic career criminal, but as a strange, lonely girl who didn't fit in to the comfortable grooves the rest of society tended to occupy. And Jaune had been intrigued, not just because she was a pretty girl but because she'd been in pain and his presence alleviated that.

And more than that, he'd fallen in love. Blake knew better than most how unpredictable that was… and how difficult it was to stop once you'd begun.

She still woke feeling cold, reaching across for a presence that she'd known wasn't waiting for her. Before, she'd been getting used to waking up alone and not sharing her bed with someone she loved. Now… now she was trying to find a person who'd never been there before.

The thought terrified her, because she really hoped it would have passed from her mind by now. If not after her embarrassing misreading before the dance, then at least after she'd known Jaune's heart had been elsewhere.

Well, now his heart was wounded, as Blake's had been. Now they had something new in common.

It'd be so much easier for her to sleep if they didn't.

Jaune was usually very determined to improve and train, but in the week leading up to the Vytal Festival, he'd begun to noticeably slack off. Pyrrha missed the one-on-one training sessions, but she understood Jaune would need time to rise up from the torpor he found himself in. And if she were completely honest, at times it was still difficult for her to meet his eye. Not because she was upset with him over Neo –though that was certainly in the back of her mind more often than she wanted it to be- but at the guilt gnawing away at her, reminding her she'd never told him the truth and he'd apparently been convinced that she acted with his best interests at heart and was grateful to the lengths she went to in order to save him from a bad situation.

Pyrrha had never thought she'd feel so guilty accepting gratitude from him; that she would dread the sight of his smile and that his happiness would make her feel shame. She had repeated her mantra again and again that she'd had his best interests at heart and done only what was necessary for his safety. She still believed that, but it no longer offered much reassurance.

Her conscience argued that she would be free of this if she just admitted the truth, if she said that she peeked at his Scroll and clarified things for herself… as it was, Jaune believed Pyrrha had simply remembered the address after he showed her his Scroll on the day of the breach, and though she had yet to give voice to the line, her smiles and nods were every bit as damning.

She couldn't bring herself to hurt him. Not now, not ever.

Ren suggested Nora accompany Pyrrha to the doubles round rather than Jaune, and Nora seemed game for it. Pyrrha had hoped to bring Jaune with her into the battle, but understood why now wasn't a good time for him to try and perform under pressure for multiple rounds. Fighting in a tournament would be a much easier burden to carry than trying not to break concentration every time he smiled at her.

He just needed time… and once Jaune was whole again, Pyrrha would be the same. Once he had completely moved on from his misplaced and confusing feelings, Pyrrha would copy his motion. She just needed a little more time.

Perhaps they'd fight together in another tournament in the third year. And perhaps then his heart would not be so heavy, because Pyrrha would be holding part of it herself.

The Vytal Festival Tournament Finals

General Ironwood made the decision in his capacity as head of security to disqualify Yang, knocking Team RWBY from contention in the tournament. Despite Team RWBY's fervent protests and insistence that Yang was not at fault, people all over the world believed they'd seen Yang attack and seriously injure Mercury Black after the fight had already ended. Yang had certainly considered the possibility of winning the tournament, but now that option was rendered moot Yang's top priority became reminding her friends that she was not the monster she'd just been portrayed as.

"You guys believe me, right?" Yang asked almost as soon as Ironwood left their dorm room.

"Duh!" Ruby answered instantaneously.

"You're hotheaded, but not ruthless," Weiss assured her.

Silence hung in the room too long, as Yang realized who hadn't yet offered her opinion. "Blake?"

Blake was averting everyone's eyes, much to the surprise of Weiss and Ruby. "…I want to believe you."

Ruby's response was a gasp of confusion. Weiss indignantly demanded: "What is that supposed to mean?!"

Blake knew Yang was tearing up before Yang herself did. She smelled the salt and heard the water run. It was a preferable sound to the hurt in Yang's voice when she choked out a pained: "Blake…"

Blake looked at Yang for a moment before looking away again. It wasn't any easier to answer after seeing the tears in her eyes.

"How can you say something like that?" Weiss asked. "Yang would never lie to us!"

Blake cast a glance towards Weiss. Then she took a deep breath and began. "I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant; it was gradual… little choices that began to pile up."

She hadn't told them the full story of Adam and herself, not even when she had the perfect opportunity to do so a few weeks prior in Mountain Glenn. Now wasn't the most opportune time to go into detail about that, so she only told them the important parts. And she focused her attention on Yang, who very recently had been willing to cross a line when she'd been particularly angry and frustrated.

But the tears rolling down her cheeks now… the eyes looking back at her… that wasn't the gaze of a monster masquerading in human skin. "But you're not him, and you've never done anything like this before."

And she hadn't. She might've wanted to, but Blake had very nearly done the same herself and managed to avoid taking that step. She certainly hoped the same was true of Yang, and that the reinforcement of her faith might remind Yang of the reasons not to cross the line. "So I want to trust you. I will trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did,"

Yang wiped the tears from her eyes before firmly asserting: "I saw him attack me. So I attacked back."

Blake took another deep breath then smiled at her partner. "Okay. Thank you."

Yang didn't seem as happy with the outcome as Blake. The doubt Blake had cast her way would take time to fade. "I think I'm gonna rest up…"

"We'll get out of your hair," Blake assured her, and Ruby and Weiss joined her in stepping outside.

They'd barely even left their dorm when Jaune poked his head out from across the hall. "She doing okay?"

Blake turned her attention to him. She wasn't sure why it still surprised her to hear such constant sincerity from him, but it could still catch her off guard at times, and she hesitated, if only briefly. "She's doing the best she can."

It was all she could manage to say. She was having trouble even meeting Jaune's eye, as she thought on Yang, and the role her partner had played in their deception before… she was completely out of it as Ruby tried to fill Team JNPR in, and faintly heard Ren say something, but her attention was elsewhere until Ruby addressed Pyrrha, their other co-conspirator.

"You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?" Ruby asked.

"It's what Yang would want," Weiss chimed in.

Pyrrha turned her head away to think, before whipping back around with a confident smile. "I'll… do my best."

There was a faint hesitation in her voice now; doubt that Pyrrha was usually quite good at concealing. That shouldn't have been surprising: they were all rattled by what happened to Yang and surely even 'the invincible girl' could be affected by that.

But for some reason, Blake didn't think that was the reason for Pyrrha's lapse. Or at least, not the only reason…

Ruby promised she'd be in the stands to watch in case Pyrrha was selected. Weiss suggested she and Blake go for coffee, though Blake amended the offer to include tea.

Weiss went ahead of her as Blake dragged her feet, though she couldn't decide exactly why… she told Weiss she'd catch up in short order. Something told her things were off with Pyrrha, but unlike Yang, Pyrrha knew exactly what was troubling her and hadn't brought it to the forefront. Blake had heard the same warble in her voice when she felt the same.

When guilt returned to her at the worst possible time.

Afternoon was slowly turning to evening, and Ren and Nora had gone to the fairground when Jaune suggested they get some air. Nora got the implication and left Jaune and Pyrrha alone, though at some point Jaune wandered away to get them food to share, leaving Pyrrha with her troublesome thoughts.

Before she only had her own guilt to worry about. Then Professor Ozpin had turned her world on its head by telling her about a woman lying in a stasis chamber in a vault underground, and the role they had in mind for Pyrrha… how magic was real, how a woman was dying and when she did a dangerous individual would gain an enormous amount of power from her… how she longed for a day before when she'd only felt guilty about lying to a friend, and not felt an even greater weight.

Pyrrha kept thinking about how quickly she'd agreed to Ozpin's request to shoulder this new burden. At the time she hadn't thought it was to take her mind off the conscience plaguing her, but now… well, now it certainly hadn't been much of an improvement. At least her guilt was a single coherent thought. This… whatever all this was assailed her mind from multiple angles, with a lot of incomplete or unfinished thoughts. At least when she felt bad thinking about going behind Jaune's back she knew exactly why she was troubled. With this she wasn't sure where to begin.

Then Jaune reached down to offer her a snack. It helped to focus her thoughts in a single direction. At first Jaune was beaming at her, until he saw the torment plainly written on Pyrrha's face. He sat down beside her outside the dining hall and started talking. "You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?"

How she had wanted to hear him remind her… how she wished that when he showed pride in her Pyrrha could feel like she deserved it. When Jaune pointed out his parents told him not to worry if he washed out of Beacon and he'd been depressed by their lack of faith, Pyrrha was quick to cut in: "I'm sure they didn't mean-"

She stopped herself as her attempt to avert her gaze led to her looking down to where Jaune had placed his hand. It rested –apparently unknown to him- right atop her own.

They'd had similar moments of affection, but there was still something special about this. There was still something about feeling him reach out to her that sharply focused her attention, pushing away her doubt and pain.

"I guess I'm just trying to say that… you've always been there for me, even when I didn't deserve it," Jaune explained. "And I can tell there's something on your mind, so… I don't know. How can I help?"

It helped he wasn't looking at her. His words stung as he again placed his faith in her.

Pyrrha focused on Jaune, and leaned over to nestle her head against his shoulder. Before she might've considered this act too bold, but if it would silence her doubts she'd take it now. She could tell Jaune was surprised by her action –she was very rarely the one to take the initiative- but Jaune didn't move away. And in remaining there beside her… "You're already doing it."

And for a long, beautiful moment it was all she needed. But when she heard Jaune's lips turn into a smile and a leaf floated over to join them and she realized time was passing… when she remembered all that had happened, all that had changed recently…

Pyrrha removed her head from his shoulder and looked at him for a moment, hoping she wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "Jaune…" she stood up, removing her hand from beneath his own. "…I don't know what to do."

"W-what do you mean?" Jaune wondered.

Pyrrha summoned the courage to look at him again. She was about to ask him something important, and wanted to be able to read him even if it might cause her pain to hear his sincere answer. It helped he'd probably be confused.

She took a deep breath and asked: "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Um… I don't know," Jaune admitted. "I guess that depends on how you view it."

Pyrrha looked away again. The confused look in his eye was hard enough to look upon. At least he wasn't smiling. "When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape… but rather, some sort of final goal; something you work towards your entire life."

"Okay… yeah, I can see that, sure," Jaune agreed.

Pyrrha still couldn't meet his eye. She'd been brave for a moment, and now she couldn't just look at him when she tried to ask him something important… she couldn't do him even that small courtesy. "Well… what if something came along that you never expected?" She finally inclined her head towards him, but only so far. "Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?"

"Like… what?" Jaune asked.

Even that sidelong glance was too much. Pyrrha whipped her head away and raised her hands to grip the air. "Or what if you could suddenly fulfill your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?"

"Pyrrha, you're not making any sense…" she felt the armor plates on his hoodie move. He was reaching out to her, trying to offer reassurance. Pyrrha hastily rose to her feet, fleeing from the thing that for so long she'd most wanted.

"None of it makes sense!" Pyrrha protested, crossing her arms at her chest and trying to will the pain upwards, to join the other words she'd uncontrollably released. "This isn't how things were supposed to happen!"

Jaune scrambled to his feet after her. "I'm sorry! I'm… I'm just trying to understand what's wrong."

Pyrrha stood with her back to him for a long time. "I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress; to protect the world." She sighed to herself. "And it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right." She turned to face him, but almost immediately averted her eyes again. "But… I don't know if I can do it."

"Of course you can," Jaune assured her, and Pyrrha dared to look again. "The Pyrrha Nikos I know would never back down from a challenge. And if you really believe it's your destiny to save the world you can't let anything stand in your way."

He smiled when he finished speaking. And when he smiled at her, and she felt all the guilt well up again…

She was still misleading him. Still not being honest with the person she loved most… still dancing around the truth like the words were toxic. Pyrrha brought her hands up to her mouth to silence herself before she compounded things, before she layered another half-truth or another lie of omission on… she couldn't stop herself. Pyrrha started sobbing as her conscience came back to claw at her from under her skin…

"Pyrrha?" Jaune began to reach towards her.

"Stop," Pyrrha begged, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

Jaune reached a hand towards her shoulder. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Stop!" Pyrrha shouted, pushing out her right hand. She felt the metal in his armor and pushed it away, her Semblance lashing out in a fury and sending Jaune flying into one of the supporting columns outside the dining hall. Jaune impacted so hard against the stone it shattered at his back.

When Pyrrha dared to look again, to see her handiwork, she was horrified. "Jaune…!"

He landed flat on his face when Pyrrha's magnetic pull relaxed its grip on him. She looked down to see the confusion, the pain in his eyes… to know that he was hurt and Pyrrha was the one who hurt him…

All the half-truths, all the moral compromises, all the childish jealousy, all the guilt… it had all been in aid of never resulting in exactly this. Everything she'd done, every poor decision she'd made, it had all been in the name of never hurting Jaune.

And now it had all been for nothing.

All because he'd tried to help her in her time of need, and she'd been so consumed with doubts that she'd hurt him. The tears were falling faster and faster now. "I'm… I'm sorry."

She had to get away. She ran, ignoring Jaune's desperate plea: "Pyrrha, wait!" He was still trying to reach out to her, and all she could do was run.

Sensitive ears heard the cracking of stone and moved to investigate. When they heard Jaune despairingly wonder "What did I say…?" their owner was quick to realize that something quite unexpected had occurred… and that was a recurring theme lately.

A hand reached down to the wounded Jaune on the ground. He looked up to its bearer, still a bit too winded from the blow he'd taken to try and disguise his injury.

Blake reached down and helped Jaune to his feet. "I'd like to know the same."

Jaune was insistent that he was fine, but Blake was equally insistent he return to the dorm room for a moment so she could verify that fact. Though he staggered a bit on the way back, Jaune quickly regained his footing, explaining to Blake that he had a bit more Aura than most people, and as a result was quite adept at taking a beating. At first he seemed proud of this fact, but then he became uncharacteristically sullen at the thought. Blake still pushed him to return to the dorms, and Jaune didn't fight her on it, though she opted to follow along with him, sending a text to let Weiss know she'd be a bit longer.

Weiss's reply asked Blake to say hello to Sun on her behalf. She –like the rest of Team RWBY- seemed to reach the conclusion that was where Blake was whenever she disappeared somewhere these days. And while she didn't really enjoy them constantly making assumptions about her personal life, she had to admit it made for a good alibi.

And they weren't too far off the mark. She was with a different blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. At a distance, it'd be an easy mistake to make.

Yang was still alone in the RWBY dorm and Blake was not at all eager to intrude on her isolation, at least at the moment. With Ren and Nora out at the fairgrounds and Pyrrha's destination unclear -and no response to several of Jaune's texts- they figured the JNPR dorm would be empty. Once inside, Blake asked Jaune to show her his back. Jaune, apparently completely used to doing such things, removed his armor plating and pulled off his hoodie, sitting down on his bed and inviting Blake to do the same.

It wasn't the first time Blake had caught a glimpse of Jaune's impressive form before… more than one night had gone by and JNPR had left their door open –usually with Nora, Ruby, and Yang racing between- and Blake had occasionally let her eyes leave whatever book she was reading from her top bunk and look across the hall so she could watch the boys next door. This was the first time she'd actually been close enough to really take in his features… and –more than that- to touch his bare skin.

Ostensibly she was looking for signs of damage, but Blake's hands seemed to spend a bit more time taking in the definition of his muscles, and at some point she wondered if Jaune would catch on. But he was still deep in thought, in that unusually down mood that didn't suit him at all.

He didn't appear to be injured –not that Blake was really still looking for injuries- but the dour mood he was in… Blake could hazard a guess as to why. But she couldn't be the one to broach the subject; it had been something between Jaune and Pyrrha, and much as Blake wished to know it wasn't for her to ask. Jaune had to share of his own volition.

And after a long silence, he did. "She's really feeling the pressure… worse than I ever realized she was," Jaune explained. "I knew she was troubled today but when she tried to explain it I pushed her too hard."

It was an inevitable result of Jaune's eager efforts to help. Eventually he'd overstep, even with someone as patient as Pyrrha. But for Pyrrha to actually lash out at Jaune… that wasn't just unusual, it was entirely unprecedented. This wasn't some small problem, and Jaune seemed aware of that. He also looked like a man knowing he was out of his depth and powerless to act.

"I just can't seem to get things right," Jaune mused. "I keep thinking I'm onto something and then I find out I never had a clue."

Blake wasn't sure if he was still talking about Pyrrha or just lamenting all that had occurred to him. First Weiss and his ill-fated chase, then Neo and their unusual bond, then Blake misreading Jaune's words and their kiss…

Blake shook her head. She was here because her friend –her friend- had been hurt and she wanted to make sure he was okay. And he was opening up to her, despite whatever feelings of apprehension he still had for her after she took part in deceiving him. He could've easily brushed off Blake's offer of help, and with a fair justification for not trusting her.

"Pyrrha… I've just been oblivious to whatever she's going through," Jaune admitted. "I kept thinking everything was fine and my team was okay… but all I've ever done is been away from them. First with that whole thing with Cardin, then with Neo… I don't even know how long this thing with Pyrrha's been going on. I feel like she was keeping this from me so I wouldn't have to deal with it; so I could mope around about…"

He'd stopped himself. He'd been about to say something he didn't want Blake to hear. "About what?" Blake pressed him.

Jaune hung his head. "Neo. I know she was bad news. I know that now…. but I also felt like… she was all alone. When she texted me on the day of the breach, she really was afraid, because she'd lost someone important to her. "

Blake hadn't been privy to those events, only hearing some of the details secondhand. Normally she'd be quite interested in all the specifics, but when it came to Jaune and Neo… "You're not supposed to just instantly get over it," Blake offered. "Even when you know you should. It's not like you just forget that you loved them."

"Like that guy you told me about?" Jaune asked, turning to look at her.

Blake only nodded. She wasn't any more eager to talk about him now than she'd been when filling in her teammates. She didn't want to dwell on him, or spare him any more of her thoughts.

"And how long did it take you?" Jaune wondered. His blue eyes were intense when they peered into her.

Blake knew she should lie and say a few months. She should pretend that things were fine, that she'd moved on.

Instead she admitted: "I haven't. I haven't forgotten. I'm not over it." At Jaune's astonished look, Blake quickly clarified: "I know I should be. I don't want to think about him. I don't want to remember the good times, but I can't help it: they're just as real as the bad ones. And he was the first man I loved; I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that."

"And you felt this way all along?" Jaune asked. "Did you tell your teammates?"

Blake shook her head. "I never wanted to worry them; I never wanted it to be their burden."

Jaune's eyes turned softer, the fierceness replaced by quiet concern. "Have you… tried? Have you ever just asked them if they'd listen when you needed to tell them something?"

Usually, Blake went out of her way not to talk. Even when she'd been losing sleep to obsession she'd preferred to deal with it on her own, as though sharing her problems with her team might weaken her… lessen her somehow. Then Yang had taken the time to open up to Blake instead…

"More than anything I wish I just knew what could be done differently," Jaune explained. "So I don't have to feel like I'm always screwing up… so maybe I can finally do something right and help my friends how they need to be helped. And I wish they wouldn't hold back because I had problems of my own… I never want there to be distance between my friends."

"But there is distance," Blake affirmed. "Whether we want to admit it or not."

Jaune glanced at Blake's hand still pressed to his bare back. "Not now there isn't. Right now, in spite of everything that's happened, in spite of all the things we've done… we're here. Together."

Blake looked down at her hand and moved to retract it, before Jaune reached over to take hold of her wrist. "Please, Blake… I've done everything wrong so far. I'd like for a moment to know if there's something I can do right. I'd like to think I can always help somehow."

Blake looked down at his hand holding onto her then back up to his eyes. She smiled and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his, not having to tug his head down with both of them seated on his bed. She rested there, as she had twice before… and each time when he'd needed her help she'd given this small gesture of affection and then-

"I wish you'd just tell me if you need help," Jaune muttered.

Too much noise. "I'm not very good at talking," Blake admitted.

"No," Jaune realized. "Me neither…"

He moved back from her, and Blake lost the warm feeling of his forehead. When she met his eye again he seemed… determined. Fierce. Very unlike she expected of Jaune Arc.

"I want to try and do something right," Jaune explained.

Blake nodded. "Trying is one of those things we can't help but get right… as long as we try."

Jaune moved his head back towards hers', very slowly. Blake recognized the motion. She'd been here before, on the giving end and the receiving end.

He was going to…

Kiss her.

Jaune held the embrace for a very long moment. Blake's eyes were wide at first, but eventually they drifted shut. She reached her free hand up to his cheek and held Jaune in place before her.

Then Jaune withdrew from her, his mind running through the sequence of events. Blake watched him think, before casting him an encouraging smile. She didn't want him to think his first time taking the lead had gone poorly. She hadn't been able to raise an objection at the time.

But then Jaune raised a hand to his forehead and shook his head. "Oh, god, I'm such an idiot… I did it again…"

"Did… what?" Blake asked.

Jaune didn't look at her. He gathered up his hoodie and his armor. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I… I'm sorry." He then headed for the door.

Blake tried to reach after him. "Wait, Jaune, what's-?" Her words never reached him. He was racing down the hall, Blake's hand hanging uselessly in the air behind him.

He'd returned her affection at last. For a moment, he was the one reaching out to her and now…

Blake looked down at her outstretched fingers then placed both hands in her lap, leaning back on this boy's bed… trying to process everything that just happened when…

She finally looked up. At a familiar pair of green eyes staring at her sitting on Jaune's bed.

Blake didn't know how much she'd seen. Only that she'd seen enough.

"Pyrrha…" Blake began, before Pyrrha turned too, darting down the opposite hallway.

And once more Blake reached feebly after her, knowing she had gone and added to her guilt -and Pyrrha's- at the worst possible time.