Hey guys, there's a bit of an important note at the bottom, but I'll tl;dr it here as well.

I kind of need to take a one week holiday from writing, partly for health reasons, partly for quality reasons. Therefore, the next chapter of this won't come out until two weeks – the 18th May. After that, things will go back to normal, but there's just going to be a week where I'm missing.

As said, there will be notes at the bottom to fully explain. I've made this a slightly larger chapter, however, in order to balance it out.

Note: There's a chance no alerts will be sent for this. It's a problem many authors have had all week! If so, then I do know, but there is nothing I can do until the site is fixed. If there are alerts, however... then never mind.

Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: A Stuck at Home Tome

Chapter 38 - Through the Looking Glass

The three met in a dark and abandoned classroom, like they were out of some dramatic spy thriller. It was Yang's doing, Blake was sure. Her partner loved that kind of thing, though judging from Sun's grin, he wasn't against the idea. She stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Agent Blake returns," Yang said. "Was your mission successful?"

"It was successful," she said, and then, after a pregnant pause added, "I'm not calling you Agent Yang. It's bad enough we have to do this with the lights out, but I'm not playing your silly games."

"Agent Yang thinks Agent Blake is breaking protocol." She turned to the other blonde. "What does Agent Sun believe?"

"Agent Sun-"

"Agent Blake believes," she interrupted, "that if the two of you don't stop speaking in the third person, she is going to walk away and not tell you anything." She crossed her arms and regarded them with a raised eyebrow. Yang gave in with a loud sigh.

"Alright, sheesh, talk about being a buzz kill. Can't we have a little fun around here?"

"This isn't a game."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Yang shot her a withering look, and Blake's ire slowly faded. "I'm not saying we don't take this seriously, but there's no reason we can't try to inject a little levity into what is a messed-up situation."

"Maybe, but I'm not in the mood right now." Blake sighed and pulled out a seat to sit down on. Her eyes met Yang's. "Ozpin caught me breaking into his terminal."

"Wait, you actually did that!? Blake, it was a joke! I didn't mean you should actually try and break into his stuff."

"I know Yang, I know. It's just… asking Jaune would have gotten nowhere. You know what he's like; he would have distracted me or just lied about it. I didn't have a choice. The only way I could think to find out why Jaune was brought here was to learn the headmaster's reason."

"And he caught you at it, great." Yang rubbed a hand down her face and paced about the room. "What's going to happen? Are you in trouble? If you need it, I'll talk to him and say I put you up to it."

She would go that far? Blake felt a smile creep onto her face at Yang's almost immediate offer. "You don't have to," she said. "He caught me, but he said a detention would do. He… it felt like he knew what I wanted there. He played with me, said because I didn't get into his files, there was no crime."

"Breaking into his office and accessing his terminal isn't bad enough?" Sun asked. "Is discipline always that light here?"

"Well, we did get out of that food fight without so much as a slap on the wrist," Yang said. Blake shook her head.

"This is different. He was curious… I think he wanted to know why I did it. Maybe he thought a softer approach would be better." She bit her lip. "A part of me thinks he suspected I was acting as a White Fang traitor, and that was his way of giving me a chance to prove him wrong. He… he does know about what I was before Beacon. It's a sensible concern to have."

"You proved him wrong, right? I don't want to imagine soldiers breaking our door down while I'm in the shower." Blake nodded. "How did you do it?"

Ah… there was the difficult question. She tried to think of a good way to put it, but nothing came to mind. In the end, and in the face of an insistent Yang, she told the truth. "I told him about Jaune."

"You told him? You just… up and told him why you'd broken into his office?"

Blake cringed. "Yeah…"

"Oh, wow…" Yang rolled her eyes. "So let me get this straight, the first time Sun approached you, he got the full story, and now the first time Ozpin catches you, it's the full reveal for him as well. Geez Blake, aren't you meant to be the sneaky one? Is this how things were done in the White Fang as well?"

"To be fair, the main point of terrorism is to be noticed." Blake's point died off as Yang stared at her. "You don't understand, Yang. He just appeared behind me, I was caught off-guard, I didn't know what to do. I also had to convince him I was somehow breaking into his office for a benign reason, and not because I was trying to plant a bomb. Forgive me if I was a little desperate to prove he didn't need to kill me right then and there."

"Alright, fine… this isn't a complete loss. So you got out of it, with a detention, and the headmaster knows what we're doing." She sighed and sat down on the desk. "I guess that's not a big deal. It's not like we're doing anything against the rules. I'm not sure where we go from here if you didn't find anything, though."

Blake's face slowly morphed into a wide grin. It didn't take Yang long to notice, and when she did, her eyes widened.

"You found something, didn't you?"

"I might have."

Yang laughed. She kicked off the desk and dragged a chair across to sit in front of Blake. Her eyes were bright, her teeth even more so. "How?" she asked. "No, forget that – what did you find?"

Blake took a deep breath and settled herself into as comfortable a position as she could. "The how is kind of important too." she said. "When I told him the reason I was trying to find out what information he had, he as good as told me it himself." Blake spared a glance towards Sun and chose her words wisely. "He said he only really pressured Jaune to come to Beacon because he knew it would enable you to." She followed it up with a meaningful glance, but Yang caught it easily enough.

"Huh, not what I expected… not sure I believe it either, to be honest. It seems a little convenient for that to be the only reason."

"Um…?" Sun raised a hand. Blake shook her head.

"Sorry Sun. That one's a little private."

He looked between Yang and her for a moment, but clearly decided not to push when he saw Yang's grimace. Blake appreciated his tact, partly because she didn't expect it of him. Maybe he'd learned more from Jaune than she thought.

"I got onto his terminal either way," she said. "That's what I meant about him playing me… when I told him what I was after, he made up some excuse to leave and gave me ten minutes alone with his files. He even gave me the password to Jaune's."

"Weird…"

"Suspicious, more like," Sun said. "I can't think of any teacher in Haven who would do something like that. You'd have been strung up the moment you broke in, not rewarded and then given free reign. That's ridiculous."

"Sun's got a point," Yang said. "I know Ozpin can be pretty lax on the rules, both from the food fight but also letting Ruby in early, but this is a bit much. It's especially weird since he knew you might have had way more dangerous motives." Yang gave her an apologetic smile for that, but Blake didn't feel offended. She was right, after all. Ozpin had good reason to be concerned, not let her through. "Maybe it was a test," Yang added. "I mean, it's not like if you were with the White Fang still, you could have used Jaune's details to cause problems."

Blake sighed. "That's what you think."

"Huh?"

"In his files, there were a number of maps. It turns out Jaune had a tracker of some kind after he got into Beacon, to make sure he didn't run away. Still private, Sun," Blake added, earning a sigh from him. "The point is, it made maps of wherever Jaune travelled, at whatever time. It even tracked the nights when he went out with me to investigate the White Fang."

"And if they get hold of those, it might lead to him being attacked." Yang sighed. "I guess that means Uncle Qrow told the truth about the training. You remember he said Ozpin was worried about us being targeted? Maybe it was over this."

"Maybe," Blake acknowledged, "but I doubt it. You need to remember, it would be a lot of work to find out Jaune's presence there, and pretty unnecessary too. You, me and Weiss were hardly inconspicuous when we busted that warehouse and recovered the Paladins."

"True… but what's he worried about then? Why give you access to Jaune's files?"

"Because he wanted me to find something else," Blake said. It was the knowledge that had bothered her ever since, and continued to leave her in a foul mood. She tried to think of a good way to say it, but instead went for the blunt approach. "Those nights where Jaune and I snuck out," she said. "The maps show that he went to the exact same locations exactly one day before we both did."

"What!?" Yang almost fell out of her seat. "What do you mean? Why would he bother doing that?"

Blake's frustration spilled over. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "He did it to keep me from finding anything of value. It's just another example of him putting everyone else before himself, except that he wasted my time by not telling me the places had been raided." She thumbed her eyes and let out a long breath. "I imagine if they had been dangerous, he would have found some way of delaying or getting us lost."

"It wasn't dangerous though, was it? At least he didn't get into any fights."

"He would have if your uncle hadn't already taken them down. Imagine what might have happened if the White Fang had been there or worse, Torchwick."

That shut Yang up, and sent her smile spiralling into a frown.

"Did he do it each and every time?" Yang asked.

"I don't know. It's not like I remembered the exact dates we went out, and I didn't have long to look at each of the maps. I only checked the first two, but I can't see any other reason for him to spend two days in a row at each warehouse."

"What about the day we raided the warehouse?"

Blake frowned. "What about it? He was here in Beacon."

"Part of me isn't so sure…" Yang mumbled something under her breath and looked away. "Never mind, I'll consider that later. The main point is he's running headfirst into danger again. It looks like the trend is more commonplace than we thought."

Blake nodded. She rose from her seat and moved towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"To confront him, obviously."

"Whoah!" Yang lurched forward, her seat clattering to the ground. She dove forward and snagged Blake by the arm. It was a wonderfully theatrical display, but rather pointless since Blake hadn't moved since Yang's opening word. "You can't just confront him," she said.

"Why not?" Blake pulled her wrist away and scowled. Not at Yang, nor Sun, but that suicidal idiot. What was he thinking, going to those places without her? Did he not imagine what she might have felt like if he'd been killed, if he'd been hurt and she only found out days later that it was her fault? "I'm not going to stand for him doing this, Yang. It's one thing to push me out the way of a falling piece of rubble, or save me from my own mistake, but this is him wilfully endangering himself."

"Was," Sun Said. "I doubt it's happened since."

Like that mattered. Blake threw one hand in the air, her expression more than enough to dismiss his point. Yang caught her hand and brought both together, holding them between their bodies. Her face was sincere.

"I know, Blake. Trust me, I really do. Even if I'm not showing it, I'm as angry – if not more – than you. We can't confront him on it, though."

Those weren't the words she wanted to hear. Her eyes scrunched shut and she took a deep breath before opening them once more. When she did, they were as calm as she could make them. A storm still raged inside her, however. "Why can't we?" she asked.

"Because he'll deny it," Yang said. "He will say he didn't do it, or that you must have read it wrong, or that he went after the event when it was safe. He might even say there must have been a glitch and the dates were wrong." She shrugged one shoulder. "You can't prove any of it."

"Or he could admit it," Sun added, "and that would be it. I doubt it's a crime for him to cut ahead of you and go before you did. It's not like you can get him in any trouble."

"He's right, Blake. Even if Jaune does admit what happened, he can just shrug and ask what the problem is. Technically speaking, wasn't your deal that he'd help you check those places?" Yang waited for her reluctant nod. "Then it's done. He stuck to the promise of helping you… he just checked first to make sure it wouldn't be dangerous."

"At risk to himself," she protested.

"Yeah, and I agree that sucks. Sun's right when he says Jaune hasn't broken any rules, though. Even if we confront him, nothing will come of it. Hell, we even know the reason why he did it, so it's not like we need to ask him." Yang let go of Blake's hands and rubbed her forehead. "Got to say though, now we know he risked himself on his own, it makes him a serious hypocrite for bitching us out for going as a trio." She grinned. "I'll make him pay for that one day. I felt like crap after he told us off."

"How can you be so relaxed about this?" Blake asked, stepping back. She shook her head from side to side, more annoyed than she dared admit. "If we can't confront him, then we've got nothing. All of this was a waste of time and we're back to square one. How are you so blasé about this?"

"I'm not!" Yang shouted. Her eyes flashed red for an instant. It took a visible force of will for the girl to calm herself down, and she looked away as she did. When she turned back, her irises were lilac once more, but the faint twist to her lips was still present. "I'm not relaxed about this, Blake. Not one bit. I'm just being realistic. I'm looking at the situation and thinking that we want results, not satisfaction."

"What do you mean?"

"Confronting Jaune," Yang said. "That'll make us feel better about ourselves, let us vent and yell at him for being an idiot, but it's not going to change anything." She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back against the classroom door. "Do you think for even a minute he'd not do it again, just because we told him off for it?"

Blake knew he would. That was just the kind of stubborn idiot he was. "No…" she said.

"Exactly. He'd do it again in a flash, the only difference being that he'd take care about it. He'd know we were watching and find a way to do it without us finding out. We'd blow our only advantage, and for what – to make us feel good about catching him?" She shook her head. "That's why we can't confront him, Blake. All it's going to do is tip him off."

Shame welled up inside of her. Had she really wanted to throw the knowledge in his face just for her own satisfaction? She was supposed to be trying to help him, not herself. Her shoulders sagged. She couldn't meet Yang's eyes. "I didn't mean… I…" She broke off when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hey, I know," her partner said. "I got angry too, Blake. I just figured it out a little earlier. You're the one who found this info out, so you just had longer to get worked up over it. I'm not blaming you or something."

"Yang's got a point," Sun said. He stepped forward with a wide smile. "Besides, doesn't getting emotional about it just show how much you care? I doubt you'd be this angry if it were someone not important to you."

"He's right, Blake. Heh, for once."

"Hey!"

Sun's dismay made her smile, not to mention Yang's teasing. She took a deep breath and let it go, feeling her anger drain away with it. "You're right," she said. "Both of you. There's not much point going to him over it. So… what do we do?"

Yang grinned. "We use what we have. We know Jaune visited those places before you went there, and we're pretty sure we know why, but not the full story. I'll try and talk with my Uncle Qrow about it, but for the most part we just need to watch him and make sure if anything White Fang or criminal-related comes up, we can step in to keep an eye on him."

"I'll help," Sun said. "I'm the only one here that everyone knows is a faunus. You'd be surprised how many faunus out in Vale openly talk about the White Fang when they don't think any humans are nearby."

Blake nodded. It was something Adam had tried to drill into new recruits, but it was always the staunch racists that caused the most trouble. They came in as fanatics, convinced that humans were the enemy and that every faunus was an ally. It was always a tricky thing, especially since the White Fang needed the fanatical idiots more than they did the desperate ones.

"One thing is bothering me, though," Sun went on. "Yang… I don't think you should talk to your Uncle about this."

"Huh? Why not? Uncle Qrow is cool. He wouldn't tell Jaune."

"But he would tell Ozpin," Blake filled in. She looked over to Sun with sudden realisation. "Sun has a point, Yang. Remember that Qrow started to train us when Ozpin asked him to. He was also put onto our mission by the headmaster, when he just so happens to be the huntsman most involved in fighting against the White Fang right now. Don't you think that's a little convenient?"

To Yang's credit, it didn't take her long to figure it out.

"You think Ozpin put Qrow in charge of Mountain Glenn because he was suspicious about Jaune?" She looked like she wanted to argue it, but couldn't. "That would explain why he spends so much time talking to Jaune whenever he trains us."

"Yeah, it just sounds a little too much," Sun said. "It sounds like Ozpin has an interest in him. Didn't you say earlier you didn't believe what he said about recruiting Jaune?"

"I did…" Yang sighed. "Okay, I guess we'll keep Uncle Qrow out of it for now. If things get dangerous though, I think it'll be worth asking him. I wonder what Ozpin wants with Jaune, though?"

A flicker of memory came back to her mind.

"Wild card…"

"Hm? Blake?" Yang asked.

"Wild card," she repeated, louder this time. "That's the password that he had for Jaune's file on his terminal."

"Only Jaune's was protected?"

"I… I don't know," she admitted. "I didn't think to check anyone else's." An oversight for sure. If she could have determined whether it was everyone or just Jaune's, then it would have brought a lot of answers. "Even so, the password is unique enough, isn't it?"

"I'll say," Yang nodded and crossed her arms. "What counts as a wild card anyway?"

"Someone unpredictable," Blake answered. "A person who doesn't follow the rules…"

"Or a playing card that can have any value, suit, colour or other property in a game," Sun replied.

"Curiously specific definition, Sun."

He held up his scroll with a guilty smile. Ah, so he'd searched the definition. Still, it was an interesting addition. Someone who could be any value, suit or colour? In a card game, that would provide incredible flexibility. In fact, it would be overpowered.

"Game breaking…" she whispered.

"Blake?"

"That's what he means," she said. "A wild card is something that can break rules, expectations and the game itself."

"But what game is the headmaster playing, and with who?"

"Considering he's had a Huntsman close to him attack three White Fang warehouses and shut down an operation in Mountain Glenn," Sun pointed out. "I'd say the who ought to be obvious."

"As for what kind of game," Blake filled in with a sigh. "I'd say a very dangerous one…"

Sun sighed. "This just got even more complicated, didn't it?"

"That's Jaune for you," Yang laughed. "You can still back out if you want. Blake and I can do this on our own. He's our team leader, and it was the two of us that formed the Daughterly Duo."

"I'd feel bad if I folded now." Sun sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "One thing, though. If I'm going to be a part of this, can we please change the name?"

"Nope. You're a daughter now. Deal with it."

"Sorry, Sun," Blake said. "I tried to make her change it when this all started but…" She looked at Yang as though that explained everything. It really did.

"Ugh… just my luck. Any rules?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded. "Don't tell Weiss. We're worried she'll-"

"Freak out, confront him, tie him to a bed, hire a team of crack snipers to watch his every move, completely overreact?" Sun listed, expression flat. Yang grinned.

"All of the above and a few more to boot." Yang held a hand out between them, palm down.

"Yeah, I figured." Sun laughed and placed his hand above Yang's. Both their eyes flicked to her. "You in, Blake?"

Hmph, did they even need to ask?

She placed her hand above theirs.

/-/

Jaune rubbed his forehead.

He could feel the dull headache forming, though for once it was less to do with soul-crushing despair and more the heavy books before him. Several thick tomes were stretched out over the library table, most of them already read through – several times in fact. Each was a study into aura, its manipulation and how it worked.

One would have thought with the onset of scrolls and technology, the use for books would be a thing of the past, but all he'd come across on medical forums was idiot huntsmen and huntresses asking why their aura hadn't protected them from STD's, the common cold or a range of other pointless maladies.

Not for the first time, he wished Oobleck was around. The man was a walking dictionary in his own right, and just loved to find the answer to any question he didn't know the answer to. Unfortunately, he was still on leave, and from what Jaune heard it was something grief-related. Perhaps a loss in the family; he wasn't sure. Hell, maybe it happened every repeat and he just hadn't noticed. My attention tends to be on a certain raven-haired woman around this time of my lives. Not in the good way, either.

With a sigh and a mental reprimand for trying to escape the task at hand, Jaune leaned back over the book and began to read. While aura's protective properties shield individuals from physical harm, its protection does not extend to ailments of a biological, psychological or toxicological nature. This can be tested and seen in everyday life, as even those with prodigious auras suffer from illness, stress and the effects of alcohol.

"Huh, I guess that explains why I could still be drugged." Then again, if aura didn't work that way, there would be no medical treatment beyond bandaging a wound and hoping for the best.

While those with aura can contract illness, it's worth noting that even in the most extreme and life-endangering cases, a person's aura does not suffer. In the same way aura offers no protection against illness, illness does not drain aura in turn. Naturally, this is of little benefit to those about to die, but does work to remind huntsmen that even when badly ill or suffering an infection, they can still rely on their aura in the event of a Grimm attack. There were a few annotations and citations to follow that up, all related to research he made a small note to check out if he got desperate.

The results themselves were interesting enough, however. If illness and aura were unrelated – and Qrow's perpetual inebriation was proof of that – then surely it stood to reason, his aura couldn't have been impacted or blocked by some kind of condition.

"That doesn't answer any questions, though." He sighed and massaged his temples, eyes scrunched shut. It only eliminated one possibility, that he was sick and it was blocking his aura. That was a problem, since he'd been sort of hoping for that.

If it was a physical problem, it would go away when I start the next repeat and get a new body. If this is something else… can I say the same?

What would happen if it didn't go away? What would happen if his aura failed him – forever onwards from this point?

That was simple… he would die.

In the short term, anyway. The bigger picture was a little more nightmarish. Without aura, there would be no amount of bullshitting or outsmarting his way through his enemies. He would die and repeat, and however long he survived after the point of initiation would determine how far back he went. Without aura, and with fate conspiring to place him in Beacon, that was sure to be a short period. It might get shorter and shorter, drawing him back until he died only a day after initiation.

He would then wake up in the auditorium, the night before the test. If he then died in the test, he would wake up only a few minutes or hours before the launch.

Eventually, it might be cut down to the launch.

That was where things started to resemble a horror movie. Without the time to escape, he would be launched into the forest, where Pyrrha would pin him to a tree as she had in his original lifetime. She would then attempt to unlock his aura, which would activate – for he still had aura, his scroll said so. It just wouldn't protect him from the Grimm that infested the Emerald Forest. He would die to one of them, perhaps the Nevermore or Deathstalker, perhaps something lesser. He would die… and he would repeat. Launch, die… and do it again.

Over and over… and over…

Would my mind shatter from the strain, or would it be worse…? What if I got a new mind each time, never able to escape the endless cycle of being thrown to my death before a forest filled with Grimm I could never hope to defeat?

It sounded, if one would pardon his Yang, rather grim.

"It won't happen," he whispered. "I won't let it happen. I need to find out what's causing this. If it keeps on happening and I repeat, I might not have the time or resources to research it. If that happens and I get killed early, the repeats begin and I'm trapped for eternity." A part of him thought that should have terrified him more, but he was strangely calm about it.

Oh no, wait, that was probably just the shock numbing him. His right hand was shaking, a clear sign of… well, something. He didn't know what, but it never normally shook, so it was either rain, fear or some kind of disease. Given the topic, he'd go with gut-wrenching terror at what promised to be the most horrific fate imaginable.

Okay, let's consider what I know. My aura was fine when everything started. It helped me against the Grimm that attacked Mom, not to mention Yang in the nightclub. I know I started to take small wounds around that time, though… things that wouldn't normally cause problems. So, his aura had begun to weaken… but when had that started? It still held true against Cardin in his spar. I did cut my finger while half-swording… I remember using it as an excuse to leave when Glynda was too shocked at my fighting style. Heh, good times.

Only a few months back, however, it seemed to fail completely. There was the fight against the Malachites, where Melanie scored a deep cut on his side. There was also the time he'd traipsed about as Silver and Weiss gave him a lovely scar to the right of his breastbone. By then, it stopped protecting him.

Which didn't add up…

I fell into the subways to save Blake in Mountain Glenn. I was knocked out when I hit the bottom, but with all that rubble, I should have died. That's nothing compared to the train, though. Those White Fang may have been untrained, but they had numbers enough to swam a drugged-up guy with no aura. I was practically uninjured at the end – my aura `had` to be working!

His eyes widened. The fire too – when he'd stepped before an attack from Cinder to protect Weiss. He could remember his aura flaring to shield him from that. Did it have something to do with who he was against?

No, that didn't make sense… aura didn't pick and choose, and if it did, it surely wouldn't have let Melanie Malachite of all people cut him. She wasn't quite the same level of pure evil as Cinder, not even close, but she was still a bitch. More than that, an SDC droid? Unless those were going through some pretty Penny-like changes, he doubted they have enough sentience for his aura to balk.

Come to think of it, had he even introduced Penny to Ruby? Did it even matter? Actually, I don't even think she was at the dance. I guess since Ruby didn't join in to look for Blake, she didn't meet Penny… and since Penny didn't find a friend, she didn't bother to ask Ironwood if she could attend the Beacon dance. He felt a little bit of guilt at that, but there were bigger things to focus on.

"Hey Jaune." Ruby appeared at his side, as if by magic, but more likely her Semblance. There was a small flutter of rose petals behind her to give it away. "You know Weiss is looking for you, right?"

"No, but it's an easy guess."

Ruby frowned, "You're not supposed to be wandering around on your own. She's really worried, Jaune. You shouldn't have snuck off like that. What if you got hurt and there was no one around?"

"Then I'd ask what could have hurt me," he said, but relented when he saw the look in her eyes. "Ruby, it's fine. I'm just reading in the library. I think I can do that without Weiss having to give up four hours of her life as well. She deserves to have a rest instead of looking after my convalescent ass all day."

"Conva…?"

"Recovering from an illness," he explained. "What I mean is that she should have some time for herself and not stick to me like I'll explode if she isn't within five metres at all times."

"Hmm…" Ruby's stern face became a little weaker. She tried to hold it, but he doubted even she could say Weiss hadn't waited on him hand and foot. Eventually, she sighed and plopped down in a seat beside him. "I'll send her a message and tell her it's okay and I'll keep an eye on you," she said. "At least she'll not worry then."

"Thanks, Ruby."

"That doesn't mean you're out of trouble, mister!" Ruby poked his chest and scowled with all the fierceness of a ruffled kitten. "You need to look after yourself more. That way, Weiss wouldn't need to worry or spend her time looking after you."

"Yeah well, I'm doing my best." It wasn't like he'd intended to be captured, beaten up and drugged. His eyes fell back to the books before him, but he couldn't bring himself to dive back into them right now. He turned to Ruby instead. "How are you guys doing anyway? I've not had a chance to see you all as a group. Only you and Nora when you're babysitting me." He made sure to glare at her for that.

"Heh heh, well, you needed it? A-Anyway, we're all doing awesome. I asked Pyrrha if she could put us through some of the training she went through, and that went really well, but then Nora decided to put us through fitness training and that was insane!" Ruby's cheeks puffed out and her face turned red. "She was like a demon, Jaune! Even Pyrrha nearly died, and I thought Ren had – his chest stopped moving."

"Did Nora give him mouth to mouth?"

Ruby giggled. "She tried, but Ren heard her coming and woke up. She looked disappointed."

"Those two…" Jaune shook his head fondly. It was impossible not to know the people who'd been his teammates for so long in and out. He would – and had many times – trusted them with his life. Sometimes they let him down and he died, but had never once been for lack of trying. They would, and had, fought to the last. "I wonder when they'll give in and ravage one another. Hell, I wonder who'll be the first to snap."

Ruby's cheeks darkened, but she smiled nonetheless. "I think it will be Nora," she said. "Pyrrha thinks it will be Ren, though. She says Nora is confident in everything but him, and that she won't ever make the first move."

"Heh, despite that they both are practically together already."

"Yeah, and definitely together-together," she said. The two of them shared a quick look and then descended into laughter.

No matter the time, no matter the circumstances, Ruby's easy friendship had never been absent in his lives. Even on the ones he'd worked for Roman in, he still ended up somehow befriending her. Back then, he'd just been a common criminal, but she saw something in him, as she always did.

"Hey Jaune," she asked, voice sounding a little nervous.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Ruby fiddled with her fingers, eyes on the desk before her. "It's just… Nora and Ren act like they fit together, you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty obvious."

"Yeah… like you and Weiss."

His smile fell.

"Forget I mentioned it!" Ruby waved her hands, no doubt having seen his expression. "So, uh… looking forward to the festival?"

Not really, and with good reason. He still smiled for her, if only because she deserved it for not pushing on the other issue. "It should be interesting," he said. "What about you? Can't wait to fight, I guess?"

"Y-Yeah… maybe…" She didn't sound confident.

"Ruby, is something wrong?" She'd never had issues with the competition before, not in the hundreds of times he'd watched her go through it. If anything, she seemed to relish the chance to put her skills to the test. Now, however, she looked incredibly nervous.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said. "It's just… I'm worried."

"About what?"

"About how I'll do." Ruby let out a little sigh and leaned back in her seat, kicking her legs. "Pyrrha's a champion, Nora and Ren are really strong, and I'm just fifteen. Wouldn't you be worried in my place?"

Funnily enough, he didn't think he had been – but he should have. Maybe he'd just been more self-centred back then. Still, he'd never thought Ruby suffered such doubts. She always seemed so excited about the fights.

"You're their team leader, Ruby. I doubt anyone has more of a right to stand by their side than you do."

"That just makes it worse. I'm expected to lead them, to tell them how to fight." She laughed. "Tell Pyrrha how to fight? She's better than I am. Ren and Nora are their own little thing too, and they fight better with each other than they do if I give them orders."

"Then don't give them orders," he said. She was right about those two, and it was a lesson he'd learned himself in time. Nora trusted Ren more than she did anyone else, even him. Ren, on the other hand, knew both their capabilities down to a tee. "A leader doesn't always have to lead. Sometimes the job is just about bringing them together, about being a point they can rally around. It's not that you're worried about though, is it?"

"Ugh… it's weird how you always seem to see through me. You do it to everyone… it's like you know us inside and out."

"Maybe I'm just that awesome."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at him for that.

"Educated guess," he amended. "Are you nervous because of your age? Don't be. You're as good as half the people here in Beacon."

"Well yeah, but I need to be better than all of them if we want to win."

He chuckled. "You think you'll make it all the way to the end?"

"That's what I'm going for." Ruby grinned at him. "Why? You planning to try and stand in my way?"

"I'm not, but Weiss probably will." She was too competitive for her own good, and something like this might as well have been a magnet for her. For him, of course, the whole thing was pointless anyway. There would be no champion.

Only a single winner, and several thousand losers.

"Are you not nervous about it yourself?" Ruby asked.

"Not really. I don't expect to get very far in it."

"You're not even going to try?" Her face was disheartened. "This is a really rare event, Jaune. Are you sure you won't regret missing out on it?"

"Rare…?" He chuckled. For some, maybe. "Is that why you're trying so hard, because it's something new?"

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head. "I'm going to try and win because I don't know if I'll feel bad about not trying later."

Confused, he tilted his head towards her "What do you mean?"

"Well… I know it's not going to be easy. I'm two years younger than everyone else, and there's bound to be loads of people stronger than I am." Ruby smiled weakly down at the floor. Her legs still kicked off the chair ones. "Even with Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, our chances of winning are pretty slim. We're only first years, after all. Pyrrha's a champion, but people with three years more experience will still be stronger than her."

They wouldn't be, but Ruby didn't know what. She thought the best of everyone, that those in the higher years would train even half as hard as she did. They didn't. Ruby was a rare breed. "Why compete, then? The odds are stacked against you, you've said it yourself."

She shrugged. "Because you never know, I guess. We probably won't win, but we definitely won't if we don't try." She smiled up at him. "You can't ever win without trying, Jaune. You know that, right?"

His heart lurched. For a moment, it felt as though the entire library swayed. He feared he might fall, but placed a hand on the table to calm himself. Ruby never seemed to notice.

"I… I know that."

"Hm. So I thought, even if there's no chance, I want to try anyway. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't."

He struggled to breathe once more. Was she doing it on purpose? No, of course not. She didn't know… they were no way she could. It was just Ruby being Ruby; as indomitable as ever. "Maybe that works for you," he said. "But what would you do if it was an impossible task?"

"Impossible? Nothing's impossible, Jaune."

"Some things are." He pushed one of the text books over to the edge of the table. "Stop this from falling without leaving your chair."

"Huh?"

He pushed it. She wasn't even prepared and it fell to the floor with a hefty thump. "You failed."

"Hey, that's not fair. You didn't give me enough of a warning." She glared at him, bottom lip stuck out.

"Would that have made a difference? You're not Glynda, so there's no way you could have actually stopped it. Not without your weapon anyway," he added, just in case she brought it up. "My point is, some things are impossible. You have to give up sooner or later."

"I know that," Ruby whispered. "I used to wish I could bring Mom back, but I know that can't happen." Her lips quivered, but her face soon became strong once more. She looked up at him, eyes flashing silver. "But if something is possible, if there is ever a chance, no matter how small, I'll take it."

He was the first to look away. "Maybe that's the difference between us, then. Not all battles are so simple, Ruby. Sometimes the threat is too much, or sometimes you're just too weak. Isn't knowing when to cut your losses an important part of strategy?"

"Is that why you're not going to try your hardest in the tournament?"

"In a way."

She was closer than she knew.

"Won't you regret it, though?" she asked.

He didn't answer.

"If you try and fail… then you were right." She nodded. "You can look back on it and think, I failed… but I tried my best. No one could have done more. If you don't try, though. Won't you forever look back and wonder if things might have been different?"

His eyes scrunched shut. He couldn't meet her eyes. "Does that change what happens? In both examples, you still lose in the end. Is it really worth investing everything you have into something when you know it won't work?"

Ruby nodded. "I think so."

His hand slammed down onto the table. It made her jump, but he lurched around to face her, eyes wild. "How!?" he asked, no, demanded. "In what way? If you know you'll lose, if you know there's no hope, then isn't it better to save your strength for another chance?" He took several deep breaths, awaiting her answer. It was only when he noticed her frightened expression that he backed away with a mumbled apology. It took her a while to answer, but answer she did.

"M-Maybe…" she admitted. "I don't know. It's just… maybe you're right and maybe it would be best for me to wait until I'm older and we can try again. We'd probably do better. No, we would do better. It's not like we'll become worse fighters. It just wouldn't be as special though, would it?" Her eyes lit up, her face too. "I just ask myself what if we won it this time. What if we made it all the way. I know we probably won't, but if I backed out now, I'd forever wonder if it were possible. I'd look back on this moment and ask myself, if I chose differently, if I'd risked everything, could we have made it?"

"Not even if you could try again another time?"

"We wouldn't be the same people." Ruby giggled, unaware of the slap she'd delivered. "Even if we were older and it was a different tournament, I wouldn't be the same Ruby Rose I am now. I'd be a different one."

Weiss, Blake, Yang… everyone. They were the same people, every time he went back. They were the same… but they weren't. The relationships were different, as were the jokes. In his next life, Blake wouldn't look at him with the same trust. She wouldn't go red when he teased her about the books she read or Sun's attention. Yang wouldn't smile when she saw him working on homework, or call him daddy with a saccharine voice. Weiss wouldn't fit against his side, smile and roll her eyes as though she could read his every thought.

They wouldn't be the same people. Not even close.

"I think I'd look back and wonder if I could have done it," Ruby continued, heedless of the turmoil he felt. "If I tried and failed, at least I wouldn't feel bad. But if I never tried… I don't think I'd ever be able to forget that."

He swallowed. He didn't think he could either.

"Even in twenty years' time, when it doesn't even matter anymore, I'd still remember this – the person I was – the people we were. I'd remember it, and ask why I never took that chance. I'd regret it watching it fly away." She paused, took a deep breath, and then looked towards him. "Wouldn't you, Jaune?" she asked. "Wouldn't you regret choosing to do nothing?"

Anything he might have said in response was cut off as several students rushed past them. Their stampeding footfalls carried them to one edge of the library, and Ruby looked over.

"Whoah! Jaune, look – look!" Her haunted mood was gone. She didn't wait for his response, but shot off in that direction.

He, on the other hand, looked up at a more leisurely pace. Students crowded the windows and nothing could be seen past their silhouettes, but Ruby's red cloak was enough to light the way. He settled his books down and strolled over to her.

"Ruby, what's-"

His breath caught.

"Isn't it amazing?" she asked, unheeding of his complicated expression. Her hands were pressed to the glass, her nose too. She wasn't the only one, and it was a wonder it didn't break. "It's a marvel of engineering, created by specialists and designers from all of the four major Kingdoms. It's beautiful."

"Yeah…" He stared up at it. His eyes hardened. "It sure is."

Amity Colosseum had arrived. Like a shadowed beast, it loomed over Vale, casting its shadow upon the people. They rejoiced, but he didn't.

It loomed over him too.

Cast a shadow over his mind… over his heart.

It felt so soon… surely, he had more time left? Just a few more weeks, a few more days… a few more hours. His mouth was dry and no amount of swallowing changed that. This life… the life he'd come to love more than any other.

It would soon be over.

If that were to happen, and he began anew… could he look back on this life without hating himself? Could he look back at what he lost and condone never having tried?

Could he look back without regret?

Could he accept losing them?

No…

He could not.

"I can't wait to set foot on it," Ruby breathed. "I bet they'll have rides, and stalls – and games! Do you think-" Her voice cut off. She let go of the window and looked around, silver eyes filled with concern. "Jaune…?"

He was nowhere to be seen.

/-/

His mind whirred with the tempting thoughts Ruby had laid there. It was madness, he knew, but it also resonated inside him. Try again. Try to win? How long had it been since he gave up on that? It was before Beacon… almost two years ago now, back in Ansel. He was under-trained, out of shape… out of aura, even. It was hopeless.

But hadn't it always been hopeless?

Hadn't the life before this, and the life before that, and so on and so on for the last five hundred years? He'd never given up there, no matter how difficult it got.

His feet moved a little faster down the corridor.

"There you are," Weiss growled, finally catching sight of him as he rounded the corner. She was awaiting him outside Kitsune's medical room, along with Blake and Yang. The two sent him odd looks, but didn't speak. "I thought you were going to try and escape from this too for a few moments."

"And risk Tsune's wrath? You must be joking."

"Does my wrath not carry the same weight, then? I can increase it if that's a problem."

"You're perfect just how you are, Weiss." He slipped past her with a coy smile, and almost grinned when her cheeks turned the slightest bit pink. On anyone else, it might have been unnoticeable, but her fair complexion gave her away. She clearly knew it too, for she scowled fiercely.

"Someone's in a good mood," Yang said.

"A suspiciously good mood," Blake added.

He rolled his eyes. "My two daughters turning against me, oh woe is me, why does the world present me with such cruel children?"

"Karma, probably." Blake shrugged. "You've certainly done enough to deserve it."

Hm, she seemed a little snappier than usual. Jaune glanced to Yang for an answer.

"Ignore her," she said. "Blake got a detention and isn't happy about it."

"Yang!"

"She did?" He blinked at the suddenly embarrassed girl. He was honestly surprised. "Huh… I'd have expected that of Yang, not you. What did you do?"

"Read her smut in front of a professor," Yang said, not at all upset at what he'd said about her. It was pretty much true, after all. "Isn't that right, Blake?"

"Ugh, yes, that's right."

"Blake…" Weiss sighed and shook her head. "Well, I suppose it's not too bad, but do try and keep your reputation in mind. Not everyone is going be quite so forgiving of your… peculiar tastes."

"Now, now, Weiss," he teased, "We should encourage our daughter in all things. She's seventeen and hormonal. Maybe this is an experimental phase."

Weiss shared a brief look with him and smiled. "True, she is around that age after all. Do you think we should give her the talk, maybe with a banana to try and put some protection on?"

"An apt choice. After all, there is Sun to consider, isn't there?"

"I despise you both so much right now," Blake said, hand on her face. "Weren't we here to make sure Jaune didn't run away from his doctor's appointment? Can't we focus on that?"

"I was hardly going to run away," he said, pushing his way past them and into Tsune's office. It wasn't the med bay she normally used, but a smaller office nearby. She sat behind her desk, one hand on the holographic keyboard of her terminal, the other on a piece of paper before her. Her brown eyes lit up when she saw him, however.

For all the wrong reasons, as usual.

"Hello," she purred. "Time for a few tests~"

"You know, there's a point at which sadism stops being sexy."

"I'll keep that in mind, now sit down." She pointed to the seat on the side of her desk, and then left his teammates to take the others. He was used to the procedure by now, since it was the same one she put him through every three days since the breach. She would wrap something about his bicep, to take his pulse and readings, and then draw blood from his arm with a large needle. Fortunately, she didn't see the need to do anything to make it worse.

Unfortunately, that was because he hated it all anyway. It felt intrusive and nasty, and there was nothing worse than sitting there and accepting the pain without being able to do a single thing to defend himself.

"There you go," she said once it was done, and gave him a light slap on the arm just to watch him wince. She plucked the glass vial out of her syringe and put it into a small machine on her desk. "That'll do its work and analyse your blood, but how are other things going? Have you been sleeping well?"

"I hav-"

"I was asking Miss Schnee," she said with an amused grin. "I think we all know you're incapable of looking after yourself, Jaune~"

Weiss didn't even bat an eyelid. "We've made sure he gets a full night's sleep, and he's even taken a nap or two during the day as well. We've also forced full meals down him at every opportunity."

"And I can't wait for it to be over," he grumbled.

"Oh?" Weiss sent him an arch look. "Why? Did you think we would stop just because the danger is over? I think we'll be watching your meals for quite a while yet, mister."

Ugh… just his luck.

"He does look healthier," Tsune said. Her eyes traced up and down his body. "If all this comes back well, he should be back on his feet in a matter of days."

"Good." he said. "It's about time."

"Impatient? The tournament is coming up, but I wouldn't have thought you interested in such things. To hear Glynda, your motivation to fight is about as consistent as one of Port's stories. Is someone feeling a little competitive?"

"Something like that." He spared a glance for his teammates. Weiss looked intrigued, but Blake and Yang? They looked almost suspicious. He shrugged and turned back to the doctor. "It's more that I doubt my team will settle for not taking part."

"You've got that right," Weiss snorted. "An opportunity like the Vytal Festival isn't something to take lightly. There will be so many people watching, including my sister and – and my father…" She shook her head. "I intend to make a good showing, even if no one else does."

Tsune's response was interrupted by a light dinging noise. She flicked open the plastic front of her little machine and pulled the vial out.

Jaune swallowed nervously as she hummed and read the screen. What was only a few seconds felt like an eternity, during which his hands gripped the bottom of his chair.

"Well, it looks like there is still a little bit left in your system, but that should clear up in a few days. There will always be a trace, for several weeks or months, but it shouldn't have an effect on you."

"Can I compete?" he asked. "Can I fight?"

"Can he train," Weiss cut in. "Jaune, you're not going straight into those fights… not without some training to test whether you're still in form."

"I believe he is fit for both." Tsune smiled and slipped his blood vial into a cabinet. "Take it easy for the first few times, if only to avoid pulling a muscle, but he should be fine. His aura readings are coming back strong and his blood tests show that most of the substances are out of his body. Congratulations Jaune, you've made a full recovery. Well, unless there's anything unusual you've noticed or felt?"

Like his aura, and the fact it no longer worked? She might have known a way around it, but that was a risk he wasn't sure he could take. Tsune had already admitted she was an expert in the human body, not in how aura did or didn't work. The most she could do was identify something was wrong and then take steps to mitigate the damage.

She would prevent him from taking part in the tournament… but more than that, she would likely advise he be removed from Beacon. After all, what point was there for him to stay if he couldn't spar, train or fight Grimm. He might be kept in some medical facility down in Vale, but either way, he would have to stay there and watch everyone be killed.

His eyes trailed to Weiss, and then to his daughters of a sort. They all looked worried and they all watched him with concerned gazes.

Jaune smiled.

"I haven't noticed anything," he lied. "I think I'm good to go."

With no aura, the fights would be difficult… suicidal, even. He wasn't afraid though. He would make them work somehow.

He had to.

"Everything is back to normal," Weiss breathed. "Thank goodness."

"Team Jazzberry back in action," Yang cheered. "Are we ready to show them what we're made of or what?"

Jaune felt time slow down. Was he ready? No, of course not. Cinder was prepared, her plan in place, and he knew what was coming – how dangerous it would be. It was frightening… terribly so.

But he wasn't prepared to sit down and let it happen.

He wasn't prepared to look back and regret not doing anything.

"I'm ready," he said.

And despite his fear, he felt he was. There was a sudden thrill… an electricity that ran through his body. He was more than ready. This was the moment. I won't give up, Cinder. Not now, not back then, and never again. Even if the odds were against him, he would keep moving forward. It was all he could do.

"Yang, Blake… Weiss…" He looked them each in the eye, took them in. Arguably, he'd wasted his time in this life… spent it on having fun, rather than training. It wasn't a waste, though. He wouldn't accept that. He'd reconnected with his family, he'd enjoyed himself, he'd come to love his teammates as family. Wasted? This had been a life worth living.

A life worth fighting for.

He grinned.

"Let's kick some ass."

Below is same note as from White Sheep, included in all this week so to hit those who only read certain fics.

A Week without Fanfiction

People who have read my other fics, perhaps know that I've been pretty badly sick since this past weekend. I went to the doctors over it, and he believes it to be mostly stress-related. Now, before panic sets in, I'd like to say that Fanfiction is not stress to me. I genuinely enjoy what I do.

My main job, on the other hand, a little less so. Summer is our biggest period, and since we write a month in advance, I am right now on the hardest part of the year – our June issues. I've had to work outside of normal hours, over weekends, and with Fanfiction taking up the same slots. My sleep got reduced, I missed meals, and ultimately started to feel like crap.

I also think the quality of some of my writing has reflected this the last week… it feels a little flatter than normal, devoid of life or the same dramatic tension. Anyway, my doctor suggested a week of rest and relaxation, which is somewhat weird for me, since I'm not the kind of person who likes to do nothing. On the other hand, my doctor has made a point of it and I kind of do need to follow his advice when I'm sick.

How this will work is fairly simple. I'm going to continue doing each fanfic until they have all had this notice at the bottom, and then there will be a single week of no uploads. After that, things will resume. White Sheep will be the first, and the date at the bottom will reflect two weeks. There will still be NTF, PA, FD and Ent this week, but starting from next Thursday, you won't see any fics for the week.

If in doubt, the dates I put at the bottom of each story will be accurate.

Hopefully, you can all understand why. I'm not abandoning anything. I'm not stopping, nor have I lost the love for what I do… I just need to take a break to sort things out. Honestly, there is a good chance I'll write during that week too, but it will be without deadlines and without the stress of having to have X done by Y, before I have to move onto Z. The break should also give me a chance to recharge, read some books for a change, and improve myself as a writer too.

I'll still be here, both in my forum and by PM, and I'll still be checking reviews, etc… but I won't be uploading anything until the week is over. Once it's over, uploads will go back to normal. I'm not moving to a two-week system or anything.

Thanks for understanding.

Next Chapter: 20th May (Two Weeks)

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur