Jaune was happily eating Jello in his hospital bed, the fourth one he had been in, in a two day span. Every time Jaune got in a bed, he felt like he wanted to spring up and do a marathon. He always wanted to get out of a hospital bed, and of course, he kept getting hurt whenever he was able to get out of it. Cinder was dead, it was officially over. They had no competition to retake Beacon, and all it took was killing all of the Grimm and rebuilding the structures. Of course, that would still take decades to complete.
When he finished his food, Jaune decided to set down the empty cup on the bedside table and catch up on some much needed R&R. Of course, right before he dozed off, the hospital room door opened. "He's right in there." A nurse spoke. Jaune decided t keep his eyes squinted to make it look like he was sleeping. He wasn't ready to talk to the cops yet. He was too exhausted. But instead of hearing a scruffy, deep voice calling for him to wake up, there was a simple, light gasp. Jaune opened one eye up enough to see who it was... Nora. Ren was right behind her, both of them in momentary shock.
"Jaune!" Nora cried out quietly, rushing over to his bedside. She grabbed his arm and began to sob into it. "We thought you were dead, you stupid... Ignorant little... Brat!" Nora felt a range of emotions, she hadn't seen the team leader in four years, and had moved on from his passing. But of course, Nora still had the feeling he could be out there. Ren showed up in his vision behind her, simply looking down at Jaune.
"I can't believe it." He spoke softly. Both of their voices were deeper, since they were four years older. Nora seemed to be able to control herself a little better than their time at Beacon. When Jaune finally opened his eyes fully, he had realized that Nora had a short ponytail, and Ren's was gone. They had basically the same outfits as their time at Beacon, but their faces were much for detailed and harder with the look of adults.
"Jaune!" They both cried and enveloped him in a big hug.
"Okay, okay, windpipe, can't... Breathe..." Jaune told them, but they didn't let up. They had a lot to catch up on. When they finally pulled away, Jaune asked a question Nora was expecting. "Where's Pyrrha?" Nora and Ren exchanged glances, before looking back down at Jaune.
"Well... We didn't tell her, because... We didn't want her to see you like this?" Nora made up. "She's, uh, she's been very busy the past couple of years..."
"Well, is she in the city? Can I go see her when I get out?"
"You can... But wouldn't you rather see the pretty flowers by the port?" Nora tried swaying his mind, which threw Jaune off.
"What's wrong, Nora?"
"Nothing, never mind." She sighed. "Yang has been missing ever since the fall of Beacon, as well as Neptune. But the rest of the gang made it here in one piece. I guess we should expect them to show up any day now too." Nora tried perking up a bit. They talked all about how the past few years went by, Jaune explaining his odd situation with his semblance. They seemed surprised at first but quickly adapted to the news.
When Jaune was finally released from the hospital two days later, he immediately sought out Pyrrha. His love interest ever since the ball he had attended five years ago, even though it was only about a week for Jaune. Ren and Nora accompanied him, and they planned to meet Pyrrha at the docks by the sea. It was a new city with new places, and Jaune was completely unfamiliar with it all. According to Ren, Pyrrha had no clue Jaune was back and Blake was the one who brought her along to the docks to meet Jaune with Pyrrha, as well as Sun. The only one who didn't know about this special meeting was Pyrrha and Sun, and for very good reason.
When Jaune got there, Pyrrha had already arrived with Sun and Blake. The faunus was the first to spot them, smiling brightly for the first time to see Jaune, but giving no acknowledgement to the other two, who talked together by the water. Jaune strode with purpose toward his friends, speeding past Ren and Nora, who sat back and waited for the news to drop.
Jaune snuck up behind Pyrrha, a wide grin on his face. Sun saw him and blinked, not believing his eyes and unable to say his name. Sun seemed to be growing a beard, and his shirt was actually buttoned for once. Jaune placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, eager to see his best friend and love interest for the first time in what seemed like forever.
When Pyrrha turned around at Jaune's touch, Pyrrha's mouth dropped open and she backed away from Jaune slowly. She couldn't muster the words, not believing her eyes. "Hey there, Pyrrha." Jaune grinned like an idiot. Pyrrha's hair was in its usual style, and she hadn't seemed to change her outfit much, but there was one major change; the sash around her waist was gone, only the black skirt and metal bracers on her legs.
"J...Jaune?" Pyrrha breathed after a few moments. Jaune wrapped her in a hug, to which Pyrrha froze at. Why wasn't she hugging him back? She hadn't seen him for four years! She should be happy to see him!
"Is something wrong, Pyrrha? You look like you've seen a ghost." Jaune joked as he pulled away. "There's something I wanted to tell you the night of the ball a couple years ago.. I love you, Pyrrha Nikos. And I can't contain my feelings for you anymore. How about we catch up over some coffee huh?" Jaune suggested confidently. He had prepared that speech for days now. To this, both Sun and Pyrrha exchanged looks, while Nora and Ren winced from the background.
"Uh, Jaune..." Pyrrha exclaimed, not able to meet his eyes. "I-I would love to, but... Jaune, there's no easy way to put this." Pyrrha noticeably began to tear up, which confused Jaune even more. "Sun and I are engaged." The words didn't seem to register with Jaune right away. But when he finally understood, the words hit him like a train.
"Wh-what?" Jaune questioned, in shock. "H-how? Why? When?"
"Jaune," Pyrrha said sternly, with Sun looking down at the ground. "You've been dead, for four years. I cried my eyes out every night for you, praying that you'd show up at my door. But you never came. Eventually, my tears dried up. You weren't coming back and I had to accept that. It was like... I was waiting for my prince charming to save me from my tower, but never came. I moved on, Jaune." She must've thought that she was being too serious, so she added in, "We can still be friends though, Jaune." Her voice was harsh and monotone. She had been waiting for four years for Jaune, who never showed up until after she had gotten over his death. He felt like god was mocking him in some way. This is how your life ends, boy. With everyone wishing you were still dead. Oh, but you still have some of your friends at least! He imagined an imaginary god laughing at him.
Jaune looked over at Sun, who shrugged slowly. "I'm sorry, bro." Jaune took a moment to stare into Pyrrha's eyes, who stared right back at his. There was no way he could've lived from that. Jaune felt the tears coming on, and decided he should leave before he caused any more drama He didn't want them to see him cry, so he turned on his heel and left. He dropped the rose on the ground, no one stopping Jaune. They all felt terrible inside, especially Ren and Nora. Why couldn't things just be happy for everyone? Why did someone always have to get hurt for others to be happy?
But before Jaune got far enough away, he began glowing again. The same bright yellow light shone through his skin, and he began levitating in the air. No one even had time to say anything; in seconds, Jaune flashed and dissipated in an instant. When Jaune opened his eyes again, he was standing in a dress in the ball room, students all around him dancing with their dates. Pyrrha stood in front of him, they were both dancing to a slow song together. She had her head on his chest.
"Tonight has been amazing, Jaune." Pyrrha informed him tiredly, worn out from their dancing earlier. Jaune realized that he was back at the dance, and Pyrrha wasn't with Sun. He quickly recapped on everything that he had found out; Beacon destroyed, the love of his life was over him and in love with someone else, one of his friends was killed, one of his friends was wounded, and two more were missing. Jaune couldn't let that happen again. Jaune knew that if everything he found out was destined to happen, he would be prepared this time. "Jaune?" Pyrrha looked up at him.
"Yeah?" He asked, waking from his daydreaming.
"I never want this night to end."
"I don't want it to either, Pyrrha..." Jaune said, conjuring up exactly how he would save the day, keep his friends alive, save Beacon, and get the girl all at once. "I don't either."
And that was The Aftermath! I hope you enjoyed, even though the ending was pretty sad with the whole Pyrrha doesn't love Jaune anymore theme at the end, but dramatic flare is always good! And hey, now Jaune knows he can save Beacon and all his friends! I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading so far!