It's been a few days since Jaune had his disagreement with RWBY but things were still strained between him and RWY. There was no hostility between them but a lot of awkwardness. Like neither party knew what to say or do around the other. Blake was trying to be the go between but she was getting sick of it. The only good thing that was coming from this, was that the two now had excuses to sneak off together. Both enjoying their time alone immensely but were still anxious for Jaune to talk to the other four girls. Jaune admitted to Blake that he realized his feelings for Ruby and Weiss recently, so they could figure out what to do next.

Which brings us to why Jaune was standing in front of RWBY's door, extremely worried. Blake had pretty much told him that they really couldn't go on the mission if everyone refused to talk to each other and that he would have to talk to them. Jaune swallowed nervously and raised his hand to knock on the door but stopped before he lowered it again. He sighed, he pretty much had been doing this on repeat for about ten minutes now.

"You need to talk to them, Jaune." Came Blake's voice from behind him. This would usually cause him to jump but he was too nervous to care about his girlfriend popping out of thin air, again.

"I know. I don't even know what to say though. I mean, I have a good idea on what the problem is but still."

He felt Blake hug him from behind, "You know they don't hold a grudge against you. Just go in there and talk like you usually would. Nothing's changed, Jaune."

He smiled and took one of her hands before kissing the back of it. "Thank you, Kitten."

She kissed his cheek before leading him into the room. The other members looked up from their activities: Weiss was studying, Yang was reading a magazine and Ruby was working on Crescent Rose. The four just looked at each other for a while in silence. Until Blake elbowed him and gave him a look. He sighed and started to scratch the back of his head, "Ruby, Weiss, Yang, I want to apologize for losing my temper with all of you. You didn't need me to do that but I was just concerned for you is all."

They were quiet for a while until Ruby got off her bed and stood in front of Jaune with her usual smile, "It's alright, Jaune. You gave us a reality check that we all needed."

"Yeah, we were a little too anxious to do something crazy. Thanks for the save, Hero." Yang said from her bunk.

He then turned to Weiss, who had a small smile, "This isn't the first time you needed to set me straight. It's okay, Jaune."

Jaune smiled slightly, "Thanks guys. I just couldn't imagine what I'd do if I lost any of you."

Ruby took his hand, "Same goes for us. Besides, you did bring up a good point. Doing this may make us get blood on our hands." She looked down sadly. "That wasn't something any of us thought of until you said that and I don't think any of us would've been even slightly ready for that."

Jaune gently squeezed her hand, "I know and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just didn't want it sneaking up on you. That would make things harder." He looked away slightly.

"You sound like you're talking from experience." Weiss stated. "But you told us when you killed for the first time. So what are you referring to?"

Jaune sighed and steeled his nerves before he turned back to them. "The captain of the guard I killed wasn't the first person I killed. He was my second." After he said that, the four girls were shocked.

"What happened?" Ruby asked before she quickly put her hand over her mouth.

"It's fine, Rosebud. I came to terms with it a long time ago. I'll tell you all but you all have to promise me you won't tell anyone on my team. Especially, Nora."

The girls looked at each other before they nodded. Jaune grabbed a chair and sat it down between the two bunks at the end of the beds. He turned it around so that he was leaning his arms on the backrest. Ruby and Weiss sat on the latter's bed while Yang and Blake did the same on Blake's. Jaune took a deep breath and started. "I told you all about my second mother. But what most don't know is that she was once a member of the White Fang, before they turned for the worse, of course. She helped in every way she could but when she took me in, she had to lessen her time with the Fang. Until she took in Ren and Nora a year later and then she had to leave the group to focus on raising and training us. The Fang still contacted her if they desperately needed her help for one thing or another. She'd help if she could."

He sighed. "But that changed five years ago. When the new leader stepped up, the Fang tried to 'recruit' her again. She denied every time but each denial made them more aggressive and dangerous. It finally came to a head about four years ago. We were all home, just enjoying our time together. She heard something and grabbed her weapons. She told us to stay in the house and not come outside. Of course, being us, we didn't listen. We looked out the window with the drapes still drawn. We saw her standing across from about half a dozen White Fang. They weren't wearing masks but I don't know whether that was before they started to do so or some other reason. We couldn't hear what they were saying but we had to guess they were trying to get her to join up again. Eventually, they all pulled their weapons and they started fighting. Gin had the advantage and probably would've been fine." Jaune took a second to collect himself.

"What happened? Ruby asked again.

Jaune took a deep breath. "Nora. Gin got pushed into a corner after taking down two of the six. These guys must've been some of their best. They pushed her and Nora couldn't stand to see her new mother to get hurt." Jaune looked up to the ceiling. "She grabbed her practice hammer and ran out the door to help. Ren and I grabbed our weapons and followed her." He looked back to the girls. "When we got out there, Nora had already knocked out one of the weakened White Fang. Gin panicked at the thought of Nora getting hurt and she took out two more but it was already too late. The leader of the little group had disarmed Nora and was holding her by her throat. She was struggling to breathe and Ren lost it and ran forward to try and save her. He had his father's dagger ready to stab into him but the Faunus dodged his strike and punched him to the ground before he stepped on his chest, enough to hurt him but not kill. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Nora who was on the brink of passing out from lack of air. He gave Gin and option, join them or watch the two of them die."

Jaune stopped and placed his hand over his eyes. Even though he made peace with this, reliving it was painful. He felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder and he took his hand away. He saw Blake giving him a concerned look. Jaune gave her a small smile and nod. The smile fell and he continued. "I was standing seven feet away from him with my practice sword drawn and a fire dust crystal in my other hand. I froze. Thinking of losing Ren and Nora, who I was already starting to see as siblings, was too much for me. The fear warped to anger. Rage. I was never so mad in all my life and I snapped. On reflex I absorbed all the energy from the dust crystal and my aura erupted into flames. The flames than started to glow crimson along with my right eye." He brought up his hand and placed it over his eye, remembering the sensation. "That was the first time I pushed my Semblance into 'Stage Two'."

"Stage Two?" Weiss asked. After all the times she helped Jaune with his Semblance, she never heard him mention this.

"Right, never talked about that. Simply put, Stage One is where I absorb the element and allows me to manipulate it. Plus, the element enhances my aura giving my body physical boosts. Stage Two is where I use my aura to increase the power of the element and increase my control over the element. It's what I used at the docks and against that tool Kuro. Although if I'm low on aura or use it for an extended period of time, I'll pass out."

"Sounds risky." Blake said sounding concerned.

Jaune shrugged, "I don't use it often so no harm. Anyways, when I did that, I charged towards him. He quickly dropped Nora and stepped off of Ren while shifting his gun into a sword. We clashed and I pushed him back. He was still in shock and decided to try to hold me off but that was a mistake. The enhanced strength I had combined with the intense flames I was creating broke his sword in half." Jaune looked away, "My momentum carried and I sliced through his throat. I got covered in his blood and he fell to the ground shortly after. And I passed out from the strain of my Semblance."

He looked back to see RWBY just staring at him. "I woke up not long afterwards but remembered every detail. I locked myself in my room for days. All I could remember was that Faunus' dead eyes just staring at me and his blood that covered me. I didn't want to see anyone. I just felt like a monster. Eventually, Gin had enough and came into my room. She sat me down and pulled me into a hug. She then told me that she didn't know if what I did was the right thing to do. But too many good things came from it to be the wrong thing. She explained that if I didn't do that then Nora could've died and I should focus on that. Even though I took a life, I saved the life of someone dear to me." He looked at them with a sad smile. "So, I really don't regret it."

Everyone was quiet for a bit and Yang broke that silence, "So, why don't you want Nora to know?"

"Nora was barely conscious when I killed him. We believe she may have repressed those memories and we don't wanna accidentally make her remember them." Jaune ran his hand through his hair. "She has enough trauma already, I don't wanna add more. Besides, she might not see me as her 'Fearless Leader' if she found out the truth."

"That's stupid." They all heard the voice and Jaune's eyes went wide. He jumped up and turned to see Nora standing in the doorway with Ren and Pyrrha. He forgot to close the door.

"Nora, um, how much did you hear?" he asked nervously.

"All of it." She said with a very serious look on her face. Jaune looked away in shame and to try to think of what to say. Then he felt Nora wrap him in a gently hug. He looked at her in shock. "I never forgot, Jaune. I just didn't want to hurt you more. You hated yourself so much because of me. Because of what you did. I was so afraid that you'd change because of that and that you wouldn't be the Jaune I love." She started shaking slightly. Jaune wrapped her in a hug and she looked up at him with a watery smile and tears running down her face. "I'm so glad you didn't change. I don't know what I'd do without my Big Brother and Fearless Leader."

Jaune kissed her forehead and pulled her close. "You'll never have to find out. I'll always be here for you, Little Sister." With that, she turned her gentle hug into her patented bear hug. RWBY and the PR of JNPR just watched with smiles. After that, the eight spent time together playing games and enjoying their time before they had to get a start on their homework. Jaune got a message from Blake just before bed telling him that their mission would start after class on Friday. Jaune smiled and went to sleep. Both him and Nora were relieved that the secret they had was now out in the open. But Jaune still hoped that he could protect what was left of his friends' innocence for just a bit longer. The world was never the same without it.

A/N- Sorry about the lack of updates and this chapter being so short. I haven't had much time to work on this as much as I'd like. I'll make it up to you all because tomorrow I plan to put out a longer chapter. This one I've been excited to right for a while. Again, thank you all for the support and I hope you all keep enjoying it.