Jaune stepped out onto the balcony in his lonesome. His sisters were planning for their guests. His father was cooking dinner, and his mother was still at work. He chuckled to himself, "When isn't she at work?" He looked upward, towards the sky above. The sun had set and the beautiful stars were visible in the night sky. Jaune's mind wandered. His family seemed happy, they were either ignoring or forgot the fact that they never said goodbye. Jaune wasn't sure how to take it just yet.

His family was always good at hiding its own flaws. When anyone was upset, they rarely turned to someone within the family. Maybe his sisters relied on each other every now and again, but not him nor his parents. When they were angry or sad, they bottled it up and endured. His mom was rarely around, she had an entire colony to run after all. Dad was always blissfully ignorant to the problems with that or the emotional silence within the family.

Yang walked up to him, "Hey, loner."

Jaune turned, smiling, "Hey, Yang."

She stood next to him, "What's up?"

He faced forward, shrugging, "Nothing. Just… thinking."

"About?"

He shook his head, "Nothing of consequence." He leaned against the railing, turning to her, "How're your lodgings?"

She smiled, "Cozy. It's really nice here."

He chuckled, "I'm sure my dad would be ecstatic to hear that."

There was a moment of silence before Yang asked, "Where's your mom?"

Jaune answered, "Work."

She nodded, "Right, she's running this place, huh?" She chuckled, "Must be pretty busy."

His gaze shifted downward, "Yeah…" He raised his head back up and turned, "So, are you getting along with my sisters?"

Yang chuckled, slowly nodding, "They're… talkative." She shook her head, "I thought I'd be able to handle energetic talkers after meeting Nora, but…"

Jaune finished, "There's seven of them."

She nodded, "There's seven of them, yeah."

He chuckled, "You'll get used to it."

Yang leaned against Jaune, putting her head in the crook between his shoulder and neck, "So, think it's possible to have a bit of a getaway?"

Jaune chuckled, "Maybe, and I have a few ideas of where."

Yang straightened and turned, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Can't wait." They shared a kiss before Yang moved away, "See you inside."

Jaune held a goofy smile, "See you."

Jaune watched her walk back into the house, his eyes slowly being drawn to her swaying hips. It took him a moment to realize she stopped moving and his eyes traveled back up to see hers. His cheeks reddened as he looked away. He could hear Yang's chuckle before she left the balcony.

Jaune took a deep breath, calming his heart, "You know… if it were anyone else, she would break their nose…" He smiled to himself, "Heh-heh…"

They've been dating for nearly over a month now. He still hasn't gotten used to it—still wrapping his mind around it. If he had spoken to himself at the beginning of the year and told himself about everything that happened thus far, he wouldn't believe himself.

Jaune stepped away from the balcony's railing. His family problems weren't that big of a deal while she was here—his own personal sun. She brightened his day simply by being there. "I shouldn't tell her that…" It was an embarrassing thought to him, but a truth nonetheless. He then turned and walked back into the house himself.

XXX

Yang chuckled awkwardly. She had taken a seat on the large sofa and was soon ambushed by Jaune's sister, Rose. His sister's face was an inch before hers, "What-was-your-first-date-like? Where-did-you-go? Was-it-romantic?"

She blinked, "Uh…" Her gaze shifted to Jaune as he reentered the house. She sent him a tired look.

He chuckled quietly, leaning against a wall. "Rose."

She turned to him, "Hmm?"

Jaune pushed off the wall, "Yang just got here and its been a long trip to get here. Give her sometime to gain her bearings."

Rose turned to her, "Oh! Sorry, Yang."

Yang waved the apology off, "No problem."

Jaune walked up to Yang, taking a seat next to her, "Where's Ruby?"

She answered, "Hanging out with one of your sisters, Rouge… I think."

He chuckled, "Already forgetting my sisters' names? Jeez, Yang."

She looked at him incredulously with a smile, "Not my fault, there's seven of them!"

Jaune leaned back, crossing his arms, "Name them."

Yang cocked a brow, "What?"

He explained, "I'm quizzing you, name them."

She considered this before pointing at him, "I'm not doing this for some fake grade. I better get something from you if I get them right."

He crossed his heart and raised his right hand with a smirk on his face, "Arc's word."

Yang sat back, tapping her chin, "Alright…" She crossed her arms, "Rose…"

He chucked, "I would hope you'd remember that one."

She pointed at him, "Shut it, smart-ass."

He just held his hands up, surrendering.

"Um… Then there's Olive, Violet, Rouge..." She trailed off, "Bleu… Sarcelles?"

"Yeah, you got it."

"Then there's…"

"Youngest of the bunch."

She nodded, "Right… Mon… Cher…"

Jaune smirked, "I believe in you."

Yang pointed at him, "Shut up."

He cheered her on, "Come on, baby, you can do it."

She rubbed her chin, "I hate you, shut up." She scratched her head, "Um… Mon… Cheri?" "Mon-Cheri!"

Jaune clapped his hands, "Yay~!" He put grinned as she turned to him, "You did it!"

Yang cupped her hands around his jaw and pulled him in for a kiss on his cheek, "You're a dick."

Sarcelles held a cup of hot coco, sipping from it, "Aw, you two are adorable."

Olive leaned back in her seat, "So, she did it. What're gonna do for her?"

Jaune smiled, "None of your business, sister dearest."

Rouge shouted from the upper floor, "Jaune?"

Jaune turned, shouting back, "Yeah, Rouge?"

She asked, "Can I see the new Crocea Mors?"

He answered, "In my room, leaning against my bed!" He then shouted, "Ruby!"

She replied, "Yeah?"

Jaune asked, "Unload it for her, okay?"

Ruby replied, "No problem!"

He smiled, "Thanks!"

Thaddeus walked up, "I hope you don't mind if don't have dinner until my wife comes home?"

Yang shrugged, "I don't mind."

Sarcelles rubbed her chin, "Well, what will we do with the time?"

Jaune stood, "Well, I'll take Yang into town for a bit." He patted his leg to get her to stand as well.

Bleu waved, "Well, have fun."

Jaune smiled, "Thanks."

XXX

The couple left the room and got dressed in cold-fighting attire before leaving the house. Jaune and Yang walked forward with their arms linked. They were walking through the woods and towards the town. The distance itself wasn't that long so neither of them asked for a ride.

Yang shivered, "It's pretty cold." She chuckled, "Is it always this cold here?"

Jaune nodded, "Yeah. It's not that cold in Vale. I'm sure I could walk around in a sleeveless shirt and I wouldn't even shiver."

She purred, "I'd like to see that."

He chuckled at that before asking, "You like everybody?"

She nodded, "Yeah, your family is real charming."

He smiled, "That's good."

Yang smiled as well, "This entire colony is charming, actually." She elaborated, "Big enough for everyone to live comfortably but small enough so that everyone knows each other by name. I may retire here if I build up a resistance to the cold."

Jaune hesitated before saying, "Idyllic, huh?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

He nodded slowly, "Well, mom did work hard for it to be this way…" He mentally sighed, "Rarely gave time to her own family for this colony… Better have been worth it…" He then shook his head, "I can't blame her… She gave me everything I could've wanted…" Another, quiet voice spoke up in the back of his head, "Not everything…"

Yang spoke up, "Jaune."

Jaune snapped out of his train of thought, "I'm sorry?"

She explained, "I asked if you were gonna kick it here when it's all over and done."

He pondered for a moment before shaking his head, "No…"

She raised a brow, "Really? Why?"

Jaune shook his head, "I'd rather not talk about it." He then smiled, "Let's just enjoy the town, yeah?"

Yang nodded, "Sure." He looked forward and she stared at his face worryingly.

While the couple lovingly each other's company and openly spoke about certain stories of each other's past, they kept secrets from one another. Yang never brought up her mother. She never talked about her search for her mother, nor about her near-death experience trying to find her mother. She never had a reason to. Jaune only brought up the issues with his family once and did not aim on explaining them to Yang. He never talked about the emotional issues of himself and his family. He never wanted to.

This bothered Yang in a sense that she still didn't truly understand her boyfriend. She wanted the relationship to last and believed that understanding one another is the best way to see if the two were willing to be together for as long as possible, baggage and all.

She didn't want to egg him on so that he would talk about everything. She's been on the other end of that and understands the annoyance of someone trying to pick, or even rip, you open to peek at what's inside.

The golden question now was: how long was she willing to wait?

The couple finally made it into town and Yang noticed the red force field that surrounded the city. She was in the limo earlier so she had not seen it then. As they walked through it, there was a temperature change. She walked into a surprisingly warm atmosphere.

Yang's eyes went wide, "What the…"

Jaune chuckled, "That would be a Red-Dust Field. It's used in could places like here. Makes it livable, especially during the winter."

She raised a brow, "Does the cabin have one?"

He nodded, "Yeah. But it's not active. We only use it during when it hits really cold temperatures."

She looked at it and turned back to Jaune, "That's useful."

He nodded, "Yeah, only places with a surmount of Dust or have a lot of money can afford to use it."

Yang hummed, "Wow... It's so warm~."

Jaune chuckled, "Glad to see that you're happy."

Yang smiled about the warmth, "Hmm…"

Jaune chuckled once again, "So, where do you wanna go?" He listed away, "There's a sweet little diner. A quaint café. An arcade," he mumbled underneath his breath, "I will destroy you." He reverted to his normal tone, "And there's a pond that's probably frozen over by now, so we can just ice skate."

Yang pondered for a moment, "How about…" She clapped her hands together, "All of the above?"

Jaune simply raised a brow.

She grinned, "I want the full Orléans experience."

He nodded, "Okay…" He tapped his chin, "Let's go skating first. Then hit the café for a warm drink. Play at that arcade," he mumbled, "That's gonna be so much fun." He bounced back, "Then we will have lunch at the diner but we'll grab something small because when we get back we'll probably have dinner." He turned to her, "That sound good?"

She nodded, clapping her hands together, "Great. Let's go." The couple then went on with their plans, walking deeper into the colony.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain raven was watching from above.

XXX

AN: Howdy! So, a hint for what's to come, the plan for the following chapter, and a little test when it comes to how I write. There are three perspective shifts in this chapter. In all of them, it is third person limited. In the first section, this perspective from Jaune's point of view without going into first person. Second one, this one is from a watcher. (Can't read minds, everything is at face value.) And the final perspective is basically my perspective. Knowing everything about these characters, what they're thinking, and what is to come. So, sorry for the inactivity. I had trouble figuring out this chapter. We are about to hit the finisher of this story before the epilogue chapters. So, criticize away and leave any words of wisdom in a review. Thanks for reading!

(Also, please check out my profile page for activity updates and possible story premises for the future.)