YOU IN THE BACK, PUT DOWN EXTERMINATOUS RIGHT NOW!

CONTINUATIONS AND THINGS - It's only a few hours earlier from last chapter, and a direct continuation of C9, but this will be part of what you've all been waiting for. The whole reason you're following this story.

WILL THE TRUTH BE REVEALED? FIND OUT NOW!

*eye roll* And I'M the hyperbolic one.

Yea, yea, what ever. You ready to hurt people's emotions?

Fiercest of flames and all that. Gotta burn 'em down to build 'em up.

In all seriousness, this chapter's gonna hurt. A lot.


Chapter 11

Unbelievable truths


BETA: ErenJeager17

CoverArt: KegiSpringfield


Yang was angry.

Frustration and unanswered questions that had piled up over the months had finally wore her down. Little things that she'd wanted to know were never answered, and now this. This was the final straw and she snapped. Snapped at her team leader as she stood in front of him, trapping him in the doorway to the Jazzberry bathroom.

Her teammates, somewhere behind her, were silent as she prepared to tear into their team leader. She could feel her eyes flickering between lilac and red as she glared at him. It was only their first week back together in school and already things had deteriorated. Things that had laid dormant over their 'break' from school were beginning to resurface, Jaune's habit of sneaking out without telling them was the biggest one, but far from the end of her list.

There were so many damned secrets.

Her Dad's team had been torn apart by secrets, she wasn't about to let her own do the same.

She took a deep breath, they were going to get everything out and over with now. Fixing a sharp look on the shirtless teen in front of her, she took a step forward, "What happened to you?" She demanded, keeping her eyes locked onto his.

It was a curious moment that passed in the room. Jaune met her gaze, before his eyes drifted to the others in the room. Whatever he planned to say or do, she was ready. Any smart ass comments, and attempts to get around the question would be shot down and pulverized. No matter what he said, he was going to-

Was he crying?

Confusion swept aside any and all anger as concern replaced her temper. Tears built in her team leader's eyes. She took a tentative step forward, reaching out to touch his arm. "Jaune, are you okay?" He didn't flinch back or try to pull away, instead, he carefully reached out and pulled her closer.

A soft hic'ing sound escaped him as she held her for a few seconds.

Nothing made sense at the moment.

Of course Jaune would - knowingly or by accident - find a way out of the situation. She almost wanted to reprimand him, but as he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her form and holding onto her for dear life, all those thoughts were shoved aside.

She could feel something moist hit her shoulder, any thoughts of her hair were ignored as he took a shuddering breath. One that wracked his whole body.

"I'm sorry…. I'm so sorry." He muttered, voice shaking as he held her there.

"It's ok, Jaune. It's ok." She said, bringing her arms up to rub his back. She'd never seen him like this, and it brought up a rather unpleasant thoughts in her mind.

Her hand touched something warm and sticky.

Blood.

Panic took hold as Yang held her hand up, stained with blood. "Oh my god. You're hurt!" She said, pulling back and subsequently pulling him further into the room. She heard Blake let out a startled gasp as the faunus leap to her feet.

"I'll get the first aid." Blake said as she slipped past into the bathroom.

Her partner was back in a heartbeat with the white box in her hands, moving past Yang as she grabbed the desk chair and brought it over. Yang quickly slipped out of Jaune's hold, making sure to steady him as he almost stumbled and quickly forced him into the chair, not that it took much effort, as he practically fell into it.

Yang knelt down in front of him, placing her unstained hand under his chin and drawing his face up, "Jaune, what happened?"

"Don't worry about it… I don't want you to worry." Jaune said softly, eyes still watering, "I got.. Hic… careless, let one of them get a shot at my back."

"Who shot you?" Blake asked from behind him, carefully cleaning the wound with a towel.

"White Fang."

Yang's eyes widened, as did Blake's. "What!? Where? Why didn't you tell us? When did this happen?" The dark haired girl asked, her voice raised in alarm.

Jaune shrugged, staring down at the floor. "Doesn't matter… It's over."

"Damnit Jaune! You can't keep doing this." Blake hissed, "I thought you said you were done with that kind of crap!"

Jaune just sniffed in response, his head hanging lower. Yang saw more tears beginning to build up as Blake started to clean the wound again. Jaune didn't seem to notice, though his breathing was labored.

Her partner muttered a curse, "I think the bullet's still in there!" she said as she examined the wound.

Yang recoiled, "What?! We gotta get you to the infirmary."

Jaune shook his head violently, "No, no... It's not a big deal, Blake can dig the bullet out, it's not deep."

Yang's mouth fell open, "Are you kidding me right now?! You're shot and have a bullet in you! We have a hospital here!" She said, shooting to her feet and grabbing Jaune by the shoulders.

"It's fine, Yang," Jaune mumbled, refusing to move. He pulled his arm out of her grip with more force than she was expecting. "Blake, it's not as bad...hic... as it looks and you've done this before." He said, "I'd have gotten it myself but I can't reach it."

Yang gaped at him, "Are you freaking kidding me, Jaune!? Weiss!" Yang said, turning to the white haired girl, "Are you gonna help me or what?"

Weiss had moved a little closer, but had yet to say anything about her partner's actions, neither yelling at him for being careless nor demanding he go to the infirmary. The ex-heiress's expression was complicated as she slowly walked over to them.

Very carefully, she took Jaune's hand and held it, kneeling down next to him and whispered something she couldn't hear.

Yang wanted to scream. "What is going on?!" She shouted, partially giving in to that desire as she felt her anger coming back and she threw her arms wide, staring at them in exasperation.

"Yang, calm down." Weiss said sharply, fixing the blonde with a short glare. Yang about fell over, Jaune was hurt and Weiss was telling her to calm down?!

Weiss turned to Blake, who looked equally shocked, standing behind Jaune. "Blake, can you get the bullet out?" She asked, voice even and controlled, even as she squeezed Jaune's hand. Yang could see the smaller girls hand shake slightly in Jaune's.

Golden eyes stared at pale blue for a moment before Blake carefully shook her head in the affirmative. "Good, get it out and douse it with with alcohol, then put a gauze patch over it."


Blake wasn't sure exactly when reality had decided to take a holiday, but it had, and now she was looking at the bloody back of her team leader as he sat in a drunken stupor in their room. Now she being told to pull out the bullet that was lodged in his back instead of taking him to the infirmary.

She nodded when Weiss asked her to remove it - still unable to find any sign of rationality - and just went with it. There had to be a good explanation to all this. In fact, there had better be.

She could see the bullet, nestled just below skin, having barely broken through at all. Gingerly, she reached in, wincing at the thought of how much it had to hurt for him, and plucked it out.

With the other hand, she reached for a bottle of rubbing alcohol and cleaned out the wound. Jaune didn't flinch, didn't even take a deep breath at what must have been a horrible sensation. How can he not react to that? How drunk is he? She thought, just before the memory of his back covered in burns surfaced in her mind's eye.

"I got it," She said to Weiss, holding up the small round for them to see.

"Good, now put some-" Weiss broke off as Jaune rolled his shoulders. A pale, soft glow covered his body as he pushed his aura outwards.

Blake stared slack jawed as she watched his skin stitch itself back together in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat as a feeling of guilt washed over her before she pulled her hand back. Within ten seconds, pink, new skin covered the small hole and the bleeding finally stopped. She stood there for another five seconds before gently wiped off the remaining blood with the towel and retreating to the bathroom to wash her hands.


Yang was sitting down now. She wasn't sure how or when, but she was sat on the end of one of the beds, staring at Jaune as the glow of his aura faded. An uneasy feeling had settled in her stomach a minute ago, and it had yet to leave. The things Weiss had been saying to Qrow didn't make sense, and what she'd said about Jaune relieving the attack… It didn't feel like she was lying.

She swallowed hard, it made no sense. Absolute madness.

Blake came back from the bathroom a moment later, catching Yang's eye with a questioning look. The blonde shrugged helplessly. The faunus moved over to sit down next to her, "Yang, what-"

"I don't know Blake. I really don't." Yang cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "But we're about to find out. Aren't we?" She directed the last part at the other half of their team, Jaune still slumped in the chair with Weiss next to him, one hand in his as she whispered something to him.

Finally, Weiss looked back up at the two girls sat on the bed, as did Jaune. A part of Yang's mind laughed at how much of a 'parent/child talk' their current situation looked like. Another part was chomping at the bit for answers.

Jaune looked drunk and exhausted, while Weiss looked worried as she finally spoke up. "I- I don't know if you'll actually listen…" She paused, "So please, please promise that you'll listen to everything Jaune and I say before you ask anything."

Weiss looked from Yang to Blake, as if she honestly expected them to refuse or leave. Yang threw her hands up, "Of course we're gonna listen, Weiss, we want to help! For the love of-... Just tell us what's going on!"

Weiss glanced at Jaune, who just shrugged, gaze distant. Yang felt her anger mount as the seconds ticked by, "Magic… exists." Weiss finally said softly, "And things- other things that I don't even know if there's a logical, or even illogical answer to it all, but… Gods, magic, all of it…. It's real."

Yang gripped the end post of the bed, incidentally crushing it in her fist. The sound of wood splintering made her wince.

Weiss looked her dead in the eyes, "Jaune has been fighting to stop the fall of Beacon for a very, very long time. He's lived for…. I'm not sure how long, but long than any of us could imaging. Try to stop the attack and constantly failing." Weiss closed her eyes, "He's died, over and over, resetting to a point in time before the attack happens and watching everyone fight, and die, before he's inevitably killed and is forced to do it all again."

Weiss opened her eyes again, looking at the two sat on the bed. No one said anything.

Yang felt Blake shift next to her, though Yang barely noticed as she tried to wrap her head around what was said. She wanted to say they were crazy.

Blake beat her to it.

"That's insane! Weiss, you're talking about time travel and magic and -"

Yang felt the air in the room stir as Weiss stood up.

A soft breeze washed through the room, carrying a hint of chill like the first notes of winter. The soft scent of fall wafted around them as Weiss took a step away from Jaune, slowly bringing her hands before her.

Color seemed to sharpen for a moment.

The breeze grew stronger.

Yang's jaw dropped open

Pale fire seemed to erupt in and around Weiss' eyes, sweeping back and up. Energy crackled as storm clouds built between Weiss's palms. Wind seemed to buffet her for a moment, whipping her night clothes around like she was caught in a violent storm before they slowed, almost frozen in place.

Before their eyes, Weiss began to slowly raise into the air. Floating a solid foot off the ground before them, her hair slowly roiling behind her as crystal blue eyes glowed with power.

Fear gripped Yang's heart as the sheer power that roiled from her teammate's body was… unbearable.

Floating before them, fire in her eyes, defying them to deny what she'd said, Weiss looked like something from Ruby's comic books. Except she was here. In their room. Staring them in the face.

Even Jaune turned to look a Weiss, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes watered even more as he ran a hand down his face.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the power vanished. Weiss landed daintily back on the floor, taking a deep breath as she stood before them, her friend, her teammate.

Yang closed her mouth with a click.

"I am the current bearer of the Fall Maiden's power, a power that was created to help humanity fight against the grimm." Weiss said calmly, clasping her hands before her, eyes boring into first Yang's, then Blake's, "A power that has been fought over for centuries. A power that was fought over once again, during the attack last year."

That was important, Yang felt, very important.

Her eyes fell to Jaune, looking at the teen, no…. Not a teen. Something else. He stared off into the distance. Yang wasn't even sure if he was fully aware of what was going on.

I-if Weiss is telling the truth, then that means… Oh god. That meant that he had… She wanted to rush over and hug him as hard as she could, for as long as he needed. She couldn't move though, her muscles refused to respond, her mind reeling at what she'd just been shown.

It broke everything she knew and understood, ripped up the foundations of reality and threw it in her face.

She took a slow breath, trying to calm herself.

"It's over now… No more resets." Jaune broke the silence, looking between them all, "When Weiss… hic... brought me back, she ended the cycle. When I die this time, I'm free." A small smile ghosted across his face as a soft chuckle escaped him.

The simply way he spoke of dieing, of leaving them froze her heart.

Weiss rounded on him, rapping a fist against his head. "That's something that won't be happening anytime soon." She said fiercely, a brief flash of her normal temperament showing.

"Yes dear." He said, still grinning, though the look in his eyes was a little less morbid. He turned back to them, "So, hic... I've… known you guys for longer than you'd believe. I've been fighting, killing… Trying to save everyone for a long, long time."

No one spoke for a long, long moment.

Yang didn't know which way was up. What they were saying should be impossible. But...

"Is that why…. you were trying to escape?" The quiet question came from Blake, who was sitting rigidly next to her. Yang saw a flicker of fear cross her partner's face for a moment. The dark haired girl looked like she was ready to bolt if anyone spoke in more than a whisper.

Yang felt panic, cold, cold panic tear though her. He… he'd been trying to escape. Try to get away. He … he wouldn't have been there to save me and Blake. He…. No. No, she was not going to start thinking like that. Jaune wouldn't abandon her. He hadn't! He'd stayed.

He'd stayed.

Gods, did that mean he'd known it was going to happen?

Yang wrapped her arms around herself, trying to drive away the dark, hopeless thoughts that were tearing at the corners of her mind. She felt a shoulder bump gently against hers and a slender hand wrap around hers.

It apparently felt worse for Jaune, if the fresh tears that were running down his face were any indication. He wouldn't meet their eyes now, just staring at the floor.

Weiss placed a hand on his shoulder. "Blake, I… I had to try something different, I…" Jaune's voice hic'd again, "I was just so tired, hundreds of years… over and over…. Constantly hic failure…" tears were flowing freely now, "I watched you hic all suffer, dieing... over and over…" His voice trailed off. Very slowly, he looked them in the eyes.

The sheer hopelessness in them. Yang wished he wouldn't look at her like that.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Blake asked, voice tight.

"I… I tried. Gods I tried. No one believed me..."

No one had to question why.

"J-Jaune, swear to me. Swear to me that you're telling the truth." It took a moment for Yang to realize it was her who spoke.

Tired, deep, painfully deep, blue eyes met wide, frightened lilac, "Yang, I swear on everything I can."

"Then…" She didn't want to. She didn't want to believe that anyone could, or would have to, suffer like that. "I believe you."

It was too cruel. If she'd….

Weiss gave a soft sigh and Jaune…. Jaune blinked, then his shoulders sagged, then more tears. Yang could see his body shudder as his shoulders hitched. If the room had not been so silent, she'd have missed the near inaudible 'thank you'.

Weiss turned her gaze to Blake, as did Yang. Jaune just slumped forward, elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

Blake's ears were pinned back, eyes wide as she stared at Jaune. Yang didn't even want to know what was going through her partner's mind right now.

There were questions, probably hundreds, that she wanted answered. Yang wanted answers too, but she didn't know where to start.

"How- How do… How did you- we.." Blake shook her head, "Did…" She broke off, shaking her head violently, fighting against what they were being told was the truth. "Prove it…"

"I… I can't, Blake. Everything I could say, you've only tried to find another way to disprove it." Jaune slumped forwards, "If I say I knew Yang's mom was a Bandit queen named Raven… You'd accuse me of hacking medical records or learning it from Qrow. If I told you her weapon was a multiple bladed dust katana, you say I must have seen the old school records."

Yang felt her heart bottom out for the upteenth time tonight as Jaune kept talking.

"She is a proud, arrogant bitch of a Bandit, capable of making portals to those she has connections with. And she killed me at least twice. It's why I never went back to Anima."

Blake shook her head, before turning to her. Yang could only nod miserably as she felt herself begin to shake. Blake turned back to Jaune, "J-jaune, how…. No, there has to be some other answer! There has to be-"

Blake may have missed the deeper look in Jaune's eyes, but Yang didn't, and she was suddenly even more afraid of what he was going to say when he opened his mouth.

"Kali used to call you her, 'little shadow ninja kitten'. You'd follow her around the house, trying to be as sneaky as you could."

Blake bolted. Or would have, if she hadn't been still holding Yang's hand, which had turned into an iron hard grip over the last few minutes.

She still almost pulled Yang off the bed, "How the Hell do you know that?!" Blake demanded, the curse and shout showed just how far all of their nerves had been stripped. Just how much having their secrets, their own history thrown in their faces hurt.

"You told me." Came the sorrowful response, "in the middle of a Vacuan tavern, drunk off your ass."

"I've never been drinking with you in Vacuo."

A haunted, empty look crossed deep blue eyes as Jaune stared Blake down, "No, not this time."

Blake flinched back and away from him as the weight of those words slammed into her, and this time it was Yang's turn to offer a comforting touch as Blake's legs gave out and she fell back to the bed.

She couldn't take her eyes off Jaune. She could finally place the look in his eyes.

The same, hollow look her Dad had worn - still wore every now and then - when he was remembering a mission that had gone badly. The one that Uncle Qrow constantly hid behind jokes and booze. When they were remembering people they'd lost.

His nightmares, his protectiveness over them…. It made sense, a twisted, cruel, horrifying sense. It was the only thing that could explain everything he'd done, and said, and Gods...

Gods he looked so tired.

"I didn't want to tell you guys…" He said rubbing his face as he broke eye contact, "Gave up on that a long time ago….. I-I didn't want to keep hurting you…"

Weiss looked over at him with a sad smile. "Well, we're all listening now, Jaune." She glanced to Yang, "We're here, and we'll help. Actually help."


Qrow slammed back his another drink, the alcoholic concoction hitting his stomach like a lead weight. It was crazy, right? Insane even. Time travel. Bullshit. Immortal wizards and witches that controlled the Grimm. That look in Schnee's eyes had been way to honest.

A thousand years? Fuck.

He stalked around his little apartment Beacon offered to their professors, his was now fully stocked with booze.

How much had the kid learned about everything? Did he know about Salem? The relics? Dammit, he felt like an ass thinking like that. Automatically classifying the kid as a threat felt wrong. The ingrained urge to find and tell Ozpin had been subverted at the last minute, a strange question popping into Qrow's head when he'd left the kid's room.

The fact that I'm actually considering that the kid was telling the truth worries me less than it probably should.

If the kid had been going back like that. If he was telling the truth and this wasn't the first time that he'd seen the battle… but this was the first time everyone was alive. That cold feeling settled back in Qrow's stomach again, wiping out the warmth of the alcohol. He wouldn't believe for a moment that the kid hadn't tried to tell everyone at least once. Hell, he'd said he'd tried to tell Qrow before.

So if he'd told Ozpin, and it had failed?

Shit.

That's what this entire thing was.

He paced back and forth across his small kitchenette. The kid had stolen Ruby's scroll. Knew the passcode and what it would take to set Qrow off.

He was using me as his clean up crew. Leading me around by the nose for WEEKS! He was manipulating Ice Queen, Ozpin, me. His thoughts raced as another shot slammed down.

"I am sick. And tired. Of being used by BULLSHIT, Magical motherFUCKERS!" Qrow shouted at the empty room, swinging the almost empty bottle around. The fact that he stumbled and shattered it against the cabinet only threw salt in the wound.

The Docks, the Breach and the Attack. For someone with 'no training', the kid sure came out on top of a lot of fights.

Hell, Qrow had fought him first hand, had actually been pushed hard in what was just a friendly spar. He had lost to a 17 year old kid.

The kid could fly a freaking Bullhead, knew how to disable the flipping fail safe codes, and use the weapons for the Love of the Gods, How did we miss this shit?!

Qrow was beginning to feel like his was in a red flag manufacturing plant.

Drawing out a new bottle, he cracked the seal and refilled his glass. Another shot went down and he stormed out of the room. If he was going to get played with again, he was going to be negotiating the terms this time.


Ozpin sat in his dimly lit office, the glare of the holo screen in front of him as it cast shadows behind him. Glynda was doing better, having taking a few hours to collect herself and process things. She'd told him what Mr Arc had said, how he'd reacted to her - admittedly rash - accusations.

It seemed Mr Arc was… far more experienced than any of them could have guessed.

The question was, how much damage had been done? Could he be recruited? And if not, how much would he be capable of jeopardizing? What was his end goals in this twisted game?

The possibility that Mr Arc had experienced something like the Attack before certainly explained the young man's actions, though they didn't justify his attitude towards Ozpin himself. The question that stood out was: Where and when? That was a disquieting thought in and of itself.

With a sigh and a quick click of the keyboard, he brought up Mr Arc's medical records from before joining Beacon.

It felt like he was grasping at straws at this point, but at this point he was running out of leads.

Standard vaccinations and check ups, minor medical care that fell into the norm for a growing boy. It was the rather abrupt series of doctor visits around the time he turned fourteen that drew Ozpin's attention.

All were fairly routine blood tests and basic psychological evaluations, and every one of them passed it off as puberty and hormones. Something that the old wizard couldn't reasonably call into question.

He pulled up folders he'd created for all of his students and accessed Mr Arc's.

The maps from the tracking device, the video surveillance from the forest, the medical records after his continuous fights with criminals…. Ozpin paused. Fight's that Mr Arc had almost exclusively sought out. A slow breath escaped the Headmaster as something finally clicked for him.

Mr Arc had not simply been in the right place at the right time.

Ozpin absently clicked on the video of a blue rocket locker and a smiling young man. He'd watched the video a handful of times, something never quite sitting right as he watched a Hunter in Training, with no official training cut through a large pack of Beowolves. No. Slaughter was a more fitting word.

Ozpin's jaw tightened as he watched the video once more with a new perspective.

It took a few moments before he realised exactly why the video bothered him. He wasn't watching a student cut down a few grimm, nor even a seasoned Hunter. He was watching someone who was far older. Who never had to question something that came as naturally as walking. There were no wasted moves, no second guessing in the actions. No hesitation as to where to step or swing next, no trace of worry that the opponents might be any threat whatsoever.

There was experience in the movements. Experience that could not be taught or learned even within a decade of training.

And the smile on Mr Arc's face.

Ozpin rubbed his eyes, there were too many questions, as always, and far to few answers. On top of everything else, there was still the matter of his summonings to the Council in two days.

There were too many people demanding answers from him that he couldn't answer. Not truthfully at least. They wouldn't accept it, and he'd seen how the people had reacted before. He wasn't prepared to lose everything he'd worked for up to this point.

Closing out the of the video, the old man pulled up his prepared speech for the counsel on Saturday. Mr Arc would have to wait for now.


Weiss felt a mixture of relief and trepidation as she stood opposite Yang and Blake, with Jaune sat slumped in the chair. She'd have said something about his posture, but after everything that had been said so far, and the sheer emotional drain Jaune was showing, she wasn't about to say anything.

She sighed, bringing one hand up to massage the bridge of her nose.

On the upside of the disaster of a night, it looked like Yang and Blake were at least willing to believe them for now. Even if out of pure terror only.

Speaking of the duo, neither of them had said anything for the past couple of minutes, probably trying to rationalize everything they'd been told and shown. Much like Weiss had when Jaune had told her. They were probably trying to work through the panic, the bottomless pit in their stomachs, the icy, unrelenting fear that came with the knowledge she and Jaune were sharing with them.

A small, mirthless grin threatened to break across her face as she realized she'd used a page from Jaune's book to get the point across.

Shock and Awe.

Even if it wasn't working quite as well.

They were both terrified.

"S-so…" Yang broke off her sentence, chest rising and falling rapidly, her brows drawing down, "What happened last time? Why.. why did it fail...How did we… you… die." She finished the sentence quietly, though everyone heard it.

Jaune blinked, then grimaced and looked away. Weiss spoke up, "Yang, that's not-"

"It's fine." Jaune cut her off, his hands clenched for a moment. Weiss pulled one of his hands into her own and gave him a gentle squeeze. Jaune drew a deep breath.

"Cinder attacked, as always… I did my best to derail her plans, got a warning off to Ozpin about the Breach… Torchwick survived though… and CCT before she could get full control and tip Ironwood off, not that it really helped." He sighed, "I hacked Amity, then shut down one of the engines, forced it to land. Cinder used that to her advantage though…."

Jaune paused, closing his eyes and stared at the floor. Weiss knew what was coming next and gave his hand another comforting squeeze. "Pyrrha died on the Tower… Cinder murdered her." Jaune swallowed hard, "There was never, ever, ever anything I could do about that…. It would have been Weiss, this time… If you two hadn't saved her."

Weiss watched the wide eyed other half of their team, who were barely holding themselves together, who'd both stood over the body of Cinder Fall on that very tower. They were working though the shock now.

It was one of the things she wished she could forget herself; knowing she was marching to her death, and that no one was coming to save her. One thing she would remember forever was the beautiful faces of her friends, her 'daughters', charging in against a Maiden to save her life.

"I drove Adam out of the fight," Jaune continued, "by leveling the cafeteria with demolition charges, kept him away from you two." He said, looking at the Blonde and Raven haired girls, "he didn't have a chance to hurt you."

"We cut out for Vacuo, before Cinder…. She ambushed us… Adam and the White Fang shot down our bullheads. She must have known where we were headed…."

Blake took a shaky breath, her hands trembling. "Did we all…" She trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish that thought.

"I'm sorry... Yang." Jaune shook his head, refusing to meet her eyes and Weiss rubbed a small pattern on the palm of his hand. She could feel him calm down a little, "Yang, you saved Qrow's life… but took a piece of shrapnel."

It was Yang's turn to have trouble breathing. "What… what about Ruby?"

Silence ruled the room.

"Jaune?" Yang almost whimpered his name.

When Jaune finally looked up, Weiss could see his despair, could almost feel it rolling off him in waves, even if his voice was even. "Cinder killed her… right before she burned me to death."

Weiss tightened her hold for a moment and she felt him lean into it. Looking up, she saw Yang turn deathly pale, the blonde's mouth opening and closing several times. Blake slowly squeeze her partner's hand, doing as much for Yang as Weiss was doing for Jaune.

Weiss didn't want to know what Yang was thinking, didn't want to relive her own panic attacks when she'd first learned the truth.

"H-h…" Yang stood up quickly, breaking Blake's hold. "E-excuse me." She said as she stood and left the room. Weiss leaned over to watch through the open doorway as Yang knocked on RRNN's door. A moment later, a chipper Ruby opened it, only to be drawn into a desperate, bone crushing hug from her sister.

Ruby's mood went from her normal, happy attitude to worry and concern in an instant. "Yang! What's going on? Are you ok? Talk to me?!" Fear and worry thick in her voice as she patted Yang's back, trying to calm the blonde brawler down, all as Weiss watched her shoulders heaving.

"It's… it's fine…. Just…" Yang pulled Ruby back to arms length for a moment and just looked at her before hugging her again.

The rest of Ruby's team appeared a moment later, crowding around the sisters, but not interrupting them.

Pyrrha broke off first and hurried into JWBY's room, emerald green eyes filled with a worried look, "Weiss? What's going on, are you all okay?"

The crushing atmosphere in the room must have been apparent, because Pyrrha immediately quieted.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha gasped as her eyes fell to the shirtless teen. The sound drew everyone else's attention to the redhead, who was now standing with one hand over her mouth.

Ren stiffened, before gently guiding Yang, who was still holding on to Ruby, back into the room before Nora, very gently closed the door behind them.

Jaune let out a sigh and climbed to his feet, swaying once before making his way over to half sit, half collapse onto Weiss' bed.

Ren and Nora both stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Jaune as well. It wasn't until Ruby drew a sharp breath, having finally been able to turn around in Yang's arms, that Weiss realized what they were looking at. She closed her eyes and let her head bow down for a moment before she stood and moved over next to him.

None of RRNN had seen Jaune without his shirt. They'd heard about the scars, but they'd never seen them.

Jaune figured it out as well, for he moved one arm across his stomach, for all the good it did.

"All right…. alright... Fine. Everyone might as well know too." He muttered under his breath. Drunk as he was, he took a steading breath, sealing up some of the raw emotion he'd shown not ten minutes before. He ran a hand over his eyes to wipe away the tear tracks.

No one said anything for fear of breaking the silent spell. Instead, the teens moved to find available seats.

Moments later, everyone was settled; Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Pyrrha taking up Jaune's bed while Ren quietly scooted the chair over next to them and Nora stood behind him.

Weiss waited patiently for him to be ready, knowing she was going to have to help convince Ruby and the others, and gave him a small smile of support. Jaune let a small laugh and opened his mouth to speak.

Right as the door kicked open again and Mr Branwen stumbled in, a bottle in hand and much drunker than he'd been when he left. "Ok, wonder boy." The grizzled hunter slurred, "I want some answers."

Everyone stared as the sister's Uncle stumbled across the room, forcing Pyrrha to move from next to the window and squeeze closer to Ruby. Those who'd not been present for the first round of world shattering truth were busy glancing between those who had been. Jaune groaned and put his head in his hands. Weiss let her shoulder bump up against his, "It'll be ok. I promise."

"D-did something happen?" Ruby asked nervously and softly, her voice drawing a flinch from Jaune. "And why is Uncle Qrow here? What's going on?"

Weiss sighed and looked and the little red reaper. "No, Ruby. It's just that, some truths have finally been brought to light, and they're not exactly nice."

"Everyone buckle in for the craziest shit you've ever heard." The older man growled, taking a deep drink from his bottle, "And keep your questions till the end, cause I need answers first."

Ruby's face contorted in confusion, but Qrow shook his head in her direction, "Let's hear the kid out before we ask any more, squirt." With that, he turned back to Jaune and held out the bottle, "You ready to tell us, kid?"

Jaune took the liquor and stared at it for a moment before throwing it back.

"Fine."


Silver eyes stared out the window as the first rays of morning sun broke over the distant horizon. While she had never been much of a morning person - at least before her morning shower - Ruby could at least appreciate the beauty of it.

It really was really pretty.

The way the horizon slowly shifted from pitch black to light grey, the first hinting of the coming dawn, before the grey gave way to light pink with hues of blue, as the sun's first light filtered through the hazy mountain clouds.

Not long after that, a bird began to sing, quickly joined by others in a disjointed symphony. As the sun slowly rose higher, driving away the twilight stars with its edge, breaking over the mountain range to reveal the dark green valleys and gently rolling forests down below.

It looked so peaceful.

Ruby watched with a strange, disconnected feeling. She could describe it, if someone asked, but she felt she was missing something… something important. Her tired mind wished she could feel something other than the numbing cold that ran through her.

Slowly disentangling herself from the mess of blonde hair that had passed out on her shoulder, she offered a soft smile to her sister. Yang was snoring softly on the bed next to several other slumbering figures. Her face was far cry more peaceful from the one she wore a few hours before. Gone were the tears that had built up, threatening to spill down her cheeks, the fearful look in her eyes and the desperate way she held only Ruby.

Now she was lost in a peaceful dream, free from the scary and hopeless fight they had learned of last night.

Being extra careful not to wake anyone, she made her way over to the door to JWBY's room and slipped outside. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but her feet carried her passed the dorm rooms, through the halls and up a set of stairs.

She cracked the access door open, taking in the full light of the morning sun. It was breathtaking. Sunshine washed through the mountain valleys, glimmering off snow capped peaks, washing through the clean forest air and lighting the world with the promise of another day.

It was beautiful. A new morning, another chance.

Heh. That sounded familiar.

It was a total non surprise to find that she wasn't the only one who'd opted for a morning walk. Her eyes landed on the figure already sat on the edge of the roof. Padding over, she sat down next to him as she kicked her legs out, letting them swing back and forth over the edge of the roof.

"So. Time travel, huh?" She said, humming slightly as the words drifted between the two souls witnessing a new dawn.

"Yup."

"You must have picked up a lot of cool fighting tricks along the way."

"I did beat Qrow."

"Can you teach me?" Ruby asked, adding a little bit of hopeful inflection to her words.

Silence drifted between them.

"Pff." Jaune said, trying to hide the chuckle. He held a straight face for all of five seconds. "You are such a dork." He said, giving her a shoulder bump as he laughed to himself.

"If you've really known me for so long, did you really expect anything else?" She shot back, smiling as they watched the dawning day, as she sat next to her very first friend of Beacon.

A warm feeling crept through her, he was her first friend in Beacon, and she was his very first friend.

Jaune let out a long breath. It wasn't a sigh exactly, not really. She could tell. A small grin spread across her face as Ruby kept her gaze on the horizon. "So, I'm guessing you've got all sorts of super secret team leader tricks and moves that you're gonna teach me?"

Again, he tried - and failed - to hide a laugh, "I'll teach you, but you're gonna have to learn it the hard way." He said, leaning back on his hands as he watched the morning sun.

The feeling spread as the rays of sun began warming them as it drove off the chill of the night.

Ruby smiled, finally glancing over. Jaune was wearing his white coat, but still hadn't put a shirt on, and that left his bare chest and scars on display. The shock of them had finally worn off, though the guilt of staring at them the first time still lingered.

She couldn't imaging how much they must have hurt, but that didn't matter. Not now, and never again.

He'd earned them, and earned the life he now had.

Jaune was, hands down and no holds barred, the single strongest person she'd ever met. Ever had the privilege of meeting. She made a mental note to get his autograph at some point.

There was still a question that burned in the front of her mind. One that had been sitting there since she chose to believe him. Not that any of them really had a choice not to, what with Weiss being a magical girl, and the little things that Jaune had said, and the fact that Qrow said he believed, and Yang and Blake believed.

She was distracting herself again.

"So…" Ruby let her words trail off as she looked back over the school. It was a question she needed the answer to, if only to put it to rest. She let her trepidation pass, "What am I normally like? The other 'me's?"

Jaune turned his head, a confused look on his face. "The other 'you's?"

"Yea… what was I like before?"

He didn't answer right away, and she held her breath as she waited.

A hard sigh, followed by another long pause was her only answer for a few moments. "You. Are you, Rubes." He said, using Yang's nickname for her, "You're my friend, my first friend in Beacon. You're courageous, always looking out for me." His eyes look out over the Forever Falls, to the distant Emerald Forest. "There has never, ever been a time you've let me down. You've saved my life countless times, beat sense into me even more when I was being stupid… I don't think there has been one single time you have ever disappointed me."

"But I did." It hurt to say, but she knew she had. Maybe not before, but this time. This time she had failed him. Maybe not in a traditional way, but in that she hadn't believed him last year. What kind of a friend did that? If she had just listened a little more. If she hadn't made assumptions, maybe she wouldn't have-

"Eep!"

Something flicked off her nose made her flinch away.

Ruby turned and leveled an evil eye at her friend, who was laughing softly. "What was that for?" She demanded, noticing another piece of rubble in his hand. He wouldn't get her with the same trick twice!

"You were being negative about yourself."

"I was not!"

"Yes you were."

"Is that your time travel knowledge?" She asked, giggling as he dramatically rolled his eyes. And just like that, the tension in her mind fled.

"Yes. Because only a time traveler could pick up on that." He shot back.

"Very funny, Jaune."

"I thought it was."

A comfortable silence stretched between them as they turned back towards the sunrise. It was a relief after last night. The hopeless, sorrowful words that had laid out a twisted reality.

There had been no threats. No anger or promise of violence, but last night had shaken everyone to their core. Ruby's mood took a nosedive as she remembered the feeling of loss and hopelessness that had underscored Jaune's explanation for everything he had done. Everything he had been through.

"It is shocking to see either of you awake at this hour." A new voice, crisp and sarcastic cut through her thoughts.

"Weiss!" Ruby cheered as she whipped around to see the new addition to the rooftop-sunrise-witnesses.

"Hey." Jaune's recognition to his partner's appearance was far less enthusiastic, but just as heartfelt. Ruby noticed a small smile, one that reached his eyes, spread across his face.

"It figures you two would be out here." Weiss said, rolling her eyes as she walked to the edge and sat down on Jaune's other side, her expression softening as she looked at her fiance.

"The morning everyone else is passed out in our room, you are both wide awake and enjoying the day."

"Well if you'd-"

Jaune's sentence was cut of via a raised eyebrow, forcing Ruby to try - and fail - to hide her snickering, "If you'd invite us out to see such a beautiful sight more often?" Jaune tried to amend, only making her giggle more.

"Then perhaps I shall wake you for a morning yoga session from now on." Weiss mock threatened, "Say, five in the morning every day?"

Jaune blanched, "I would get too used to it and not enjoy the view as much?"

Weiss sniffed imperiously, "I suppose I should not spoil your wonderment."

Ruby felt something even warmer than the morning sun blossom in her chest. She watched with a fond smile spread across her face as she watched Weiss lean into Jaune's shoulder, and Jaune took her small hand in his much larger one.

Ruby wished she had her scroll with her.

"How are you taking it?" Weiss asked her, leaning around Jaune to look at her.

Ruby took a moment to consider the question, looking back out at the rising sun. "Ok, I guess? It's… weird to think about. But it does make sense."

"Me getting sent back in time over and over makes sense? Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-well, no. I meant, it would explain a few things." Ruby felt a bit of sadness creep back into her chest. "The way you act around us, how you tried to push us away from you… you were trying to protect us."

The sadness grew a little as she thought about it more, "I… I don't know how you managed it. I would have been useless if it had happened to me." She tried for a moment to imaging having to watch her friends die, then wake up and see them all again, only to know that they'd all be gone again.

Another piece of rubble bounced off her nose. Dammit!

"Don't think about it." Jaune said, "It turned out okay." He rubbed his thumb against Weiss's hand, the ex-heiress giving him a small squeeze as she smiled at him.

Ruby smiled too. It felt good to do that, after everything that had happened in the last few months, honest happiness was something of a rare thing. "So what are you going to do today?" She asked, trying to dispel her earlier mood.

Jaune shrugged, "Probably sleep. Get Qrow to call in for us and tell Glynda we had a long night."

"I had planned for a training session today," Weiss added, "but giving the circumstances, I believe everyone deserves some time to come to terms with things." Shifting a little to pull her legs up and sit sideways, leaning into Jaune, who wrapped his arm around the smaller girl.

"Yea, that'd be nice." Ruby agreed.

The sound of footsteps said someone else was joining them. Multiple someones.

"You guys look cute." Yang said as she took a sat down next to Ruby.

"They do, don't they?" Blake added, a smill smile playing on her lips, "And that ring looks really pretty." Dark haired girl sat down next Weiss, while Yang sat next to Ruby. Nora and Ren sat next to Yang as Pyrrha took the spot next to them. Ruby smiled at the new additions, noticing just how tired they looked, but their smiles were honest as they looked between everyone else.

"Hey, Jaune?" Nora asked, leaning out a little.

"Yes, Nora?"

"Thank you."

Jaune looked over at his past teammate, confusion written across his face. "For what?"

"For saving us, dummy. If you hadn't done what you did, all drama aside, we wouldn't be here right now." Nora beamed a bright smile at him, "We'd be off somewhere in Mistral or Vacuo and sleeping on the ground right now."

"What she means to say is, thank you for keeping us safe." Ren clarified, setting a hand on his childhood friends shoulder.

Ruby watched Jaune's smile dim a little, his gaze wandering off a little. "It's the least I could do." He said, "You guys are my family. All of you."

Weiss reached up and touched his chin, pulling his face down, "And you are ours. So don't muck it up this time." She teased.

"Alright, alright, I'll do my best."

"Eeeww. Is mom and dad going to make kissy?" Yang said teasingly. "Awe, kissy kissy." She added a sound effect to her voice that had Ruby trying - and failing, again - to hide her laughter as Jaune and Weiss gave Yang a synchronized glance before rolling their eyes.

Jaune leaned in to give his partner a kiss on the lips.

Ruby cheered with the others, it was an honest one, something that they could all get behind after the emotional whirlwind of last night. Right now, she'd take whatever happiness she get right now.

There were questions. LOTS and lots of questions, but right now, they were happy. They were together, and they were a family.

The bright morning sun shone down on the time traveler, the Maiden, the brawler, the ex-terrorist, the Champion, the green ninja, the hyper bomber, and the girl with the silver eyes. It was the start of a new day.

Ruby couldn't be happier.


Qrow leaned against the stairwell entrance, watching with a distant eye. His mind slowly putting together the pieces, finding patterns, drawing conclusions of what had happened. He took a drink from his flask before placing it back in his pocket.

They're taking it pretty well, he thought, Better than we did when our world was turned upside down. The bitter memories of the fights, the yelling, and the hurt feelings were pushed aside. There were sure to be some of that here, but they'd be better then his team. He hoped they would be.

There was sure to be some conflict in the coming months, Qrow almost pitied the kid, for all the questions he'd have to answer and reasons he'd have to give. But that was for another time.

Qrow turned away and headed back down stairs, there was still work to be done.


Whew. Well now, I hope you're all happy. Just FYI, I skipped the big, final reveal with RRNN for a REASON. I am not omitting it, and it didn't NOT happen. It did. And the consequences of what Jaune told them and DIDN'T tell them are going to come out.

I felt I packed in enough emotions here that adding FOUR more sets would rob all of them of their importance.

I went with the 'happy family ending' here because it fit the scene. Everyone is grasping for something that feels normal, and the thought of 'it's over, we can ignore it' is a pretty tempting thing. So that is where this chapter is ending. Qrow mentions the coming conflicts, because he's had something very similar happen to his team, and it shattered them.

It's one of the things about RWBY that can be hard. There are SO MANY personalities that we love. So with big things like this? It can be hard to make them feel important. There WILL be consequences. (Come heaven or hell). That's a promise. XD

Yup. We are just getting started. I hope this is at least somewhat satisfactory, because I know everyone has been waiting YEARS for this.

Next chapter will probably be mid to late January.