The Song Of Her Heart
Chapter 26
… I still have to say…
Weiss smiled as she saw him, she smiled as he walked towards her with that same silly grin of his, even if she could see that same coolness in those sapphire eyes that had been there ever since that day in the lunchroom. Still, she would not dwell on such terrible thoughts, not now and not ever again! Instead she would do her very utmost best to make his smile truer every time she saw him, she owed him that much at the least.
"Hello, Jaune… how… how are you feeling? You seemed rather sad earlier" she asked him, that familiar nervous tick of his showing as those large fingers scratched at the nape of his neck. "You don't have to tell me, if you would rather not, that is" she quickly added, annoyed with herself for making it seem like she was demanding an answer from him. "I-I know I have no right to dare ask such a thing of you, seeing as I was the one who caused most of the upset you have felt in recent weeks… forgive me, Jaune, forget I said such a stupid thing. What right do I have to even begin to think you would want to tell me?"
His response was for that smile to turn just a little more genuine, a small laugh escaping his lips as he- *ba-thump!*
Weiss froze as his warmth surrounded her for the briefest moment, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening…
Fingers touched black fabric, feeling warm skin beneath… hands clenched into it when she found two large arms had wrapped around her, feeling those same scars he had received in saving her life.
They felt smaller than the ones she'd seen before, a fact that calmed her thundering heart just a fraction as she came to terms with what was happening as she managed to pull her head away from the chest with which she listened to the beat of his heart… it was so calm right now… so gentle and steady that she wondered if he could show her how to do the same because when ice blue met warm sapphire… her heart beat a hundred times quicker.
He smiled down at her, a look in his eyes full of warmth and kindness that she didn't deserve… so why did she yearn to have him look at her for as long as possible?
"Please don't talk about yourself like that, Weiss. Please don't talk about yourself like you're a monster… you aren't, Weiss. Do you hear me? I know… that we both messed up, but I thought we agreed to try and be friends, remember?"
She blinked. Once. Twice… before a laugh broke free, even if it was born from herself not being able to understand just how Jaune could do something like this, could just be this kind and forgiving… but he was right.
Of course, he was. Heh, it was almost comical, how she had immediately blamed herself less than half an hour from when she'd spoken to Blake about such feelings.
"Heh… yes. Forgive me, I suppose you are quite right" She smiled, feeling the tension that she herself had been putting into the situation begin to fade… which left her realising just what was happening right now…
Jaune was holding her close. Very close, in fact. So close that she could feel that his muscles were indeed as toned as they'd appeared in the infirmary room…
With a squeak that annoyed her greatly to even admit that she had in the first place, she gently move out of the hold he had her in. Jaune chuckled with an embarrassed flush, thankfully understanding she held no malice behind her reaction. If anything, he too understood why she had suddenly pulled away if the way he nervously touched his chest where her head been laying.
"W-Well… uh, why don't you tell me what happened between you all while we head back to Beacon? Maybe I can, y'know, help?" she thanked him silently for changing the subject onto something that didn't make her heart race as it had mere moments ago, funny considering the subject at hand.
"Well, it's not like it can get any worse, I won't lie…" she grumbled, sighing as she told him what had occurred one they found Blake, the subsequent fight and the flight back to Beacon.
10 minutes earlier
Once their Bullhead had landed, did a cool headed Ruby manage to stop Yang from continuing to rage her at partner… Blake… heh, Weiss wished she could feel comfortable enough to go up to her, to ask her how she was holding up with the revelation that her former comrades were not the just fighters of oppression she had once believed them to be… but that was not the case. It would be a long time before she would be truly comfortable enough to be alone with Blake, but that would not stop her from at least smiling her way when she met the amber orbs of their teammate.
"Weiss? I, uh… thankyou… for giving me a chance, I mean" said… friend told her with a nervous expression, fingers twitching alongside her bow now that Weiss paid attention to the movements. Weiss very nearly laughed at how the usually monotone and calm girl was acting so out of character, but instead did her best to try and calm her nerves.
"Don't worry, Blake… I… you know things between us will not be the best for a while, but I'm not going to make things unduly stressful between us. I just… need time to process things and come to terms with the revelations that have come about today. I know in my head that you are not with them anymore, the fact you and that boy fought against them earlier is more than enough proof of that… but in my heart? I've spent years being afraid I would be their next victim, their next 'enemy to equality'… speaking of which, where is he? Did he not wish to come back with us to Beacon? I imagine his team will be quite worried about him" she questioned; her inquisitive mind not quite able to stop itself from being curious about the stranger that reminded her so much of someone else. There was also the fact that he was actually rather helpful during their fight against the White Fang, she was not the kind of person to refuse to repay such help… at least she was trying not to be.
Imagine her surprise then, when Blake flushed and turned her head away…
"He, um… He actually doesn't go to Beacon. He's a student of Haven academy in Mistral, apparently he just wanted to arrive early, take in the sights of Vale… and then he met me as I ran… ran away from you all…" She watched Blake's eyes dull, the sadness in her eyes making Weiss' heart ache. So much so that she managed to bring herself to take one step closer and manage eye contact with her.
"Blake… you made a mistake, but you can't let it rule over you… I did and look at what happened to me" a nod of her head was all Weiss received in answer, but at least it was one. "Promise me you won't do what I did, Blake… it's not something I would wish upon anyone…"
Silence reigned for a fee, tense, moments with Weiss doing her very best to keep her hands from shaking as her eyes refused to not focus on each and every minute movement she made. She hated that she did so, hated that her hand made to grip her weapon when Blake's own moved up to rub her arm… and yet she did so.
"Heh… I'll try, Weiss, I just need to make it through dealing with Yang, heh"
As if on cue, said blonde brawler approached, eyes red but her hair was its' natural straw colour instead of the burning gold it had been in the Bullhead… that was a plus, at least. Weiss once more hated herself for feeling more at ease over the fact that there was another person here now, instead of just her and… Blake.
"Weiss? You good?" she asked, Weiss touched that even now, Yang's mother hen nature towards those she was close to shining through her anger.
"Yes… Blake and I were just having a talk, though I assume you will be wanting to speak to her yourself now? I can quite easily excuse myself to find conversation with someone else, mayhaps Jaune is around?" she asked, putting far more emphasis into her formal speech to try and make the blonde brawler laugh at her 'snobby talk'.
"Cool." Heh… but of course she failed… "Blake. We need to talk."
Weiss frowned at the way she flinched, Blake seeming to shrink in on herself at the hostility with which Yang spoke to her. Fear of the White Fang aside, Weiss did not enjoy seeing that look… and apparently neither did Yang who sighed and pulled the shocked Blake into a hug.
"I'm so angry at you, Blake… you abandoned us, abandoned me… Please just talk to me, I need to know. I need to know everything about your past with them…"
With a shaky nod, Blake and Yang walked off into Beacon gardens, Weiss spotting a smiling Ruby who called out that she was going to tell the others that something had happened and they would talk about it tomorrow.
Now
"-and then I got your message and came to see you… do you think they'll be alright?" it was a silly question really, how one earth would Jaune be able to tell when Weiss herself couldn't? But, then again, she wanted to know it anyway… if only to hear from him that he thought they would be okay, that her worries would be for naught… a more logical part of her would have thought she asked him simply due to him being an outsider looking in, her bias towards the White Fang as well as Blake being her teammate would cloud her judgement. But she was tired of always thinking logically. She was tired of always trying to make it seem like anything and everything in her life could be explained in a logical, clinical way… she knew why she wanted his opinion… and she hated that part of herself.
A warm hand laid on her shoulder, Weiss glad that he hadn't enveloped her in a hug again, if only to spare her poor heart from breaking through her ribs. The song was painful… but it was a different pain. It was almost as if it was the pain you felt as a wound healed, it was pain she was glad to feel as she looked into those pools of sapphire blue once more… they were so warm, so full of kindness that she couldn't understand how she had ever thought him to be a manipulative person.
"Yeah… kinda reminds me of something one of my sisters did and how the rest of us reacted… she hid something from us, kept thinking that we'd hate her just because of something she couldn't control and boy… did one of my other sisters get angry at her for doing that. To the point I'm pretty sure if you ever saw Saphron, the one who kept the secret, you'd still see the pinch marks Vert left on her cheeks… 'you stupid idiot! Why would we hate your moronic ass!?'" he said in a high-pitched tilt, clearly impersonating this 'Vert'. "I'll go see if there's anything I can do to help afterwards, but right now, didn't you say you had something to tell me over the Scroll?"
Weiss smiled at the thought of Jaune and his sisters scolding the one who thought they'd hate her, the idea of having a family so caring and loving as they clearly were was a very foreign concept to her. Choosing to not focus on just how much their families clearly differed, Weiss chose to answer his question.
"Oh! Yes, you are right and-oh my goodness! Jaune I… I also had a breakthrough with my Semblance! I managed to unlock an ability beyond simple Glyphs that affect myself, I managed to summon!" at any other moment, Weiss would have been mortified by her childish outburst, seen acting like a child that had managed to ride a bike for the first time, but right now she wished to have something to be joyful about in her life. She wished to smile and laugh even if it was for but a fleeting moment, she wanted to just feel joy… and Jaune's reaction, if a little confused, showed he felt the same.
"That's great!... whatever the heck summoning is, I bet it's something amazing!" he laughed along with her, a goofy smile on his face that she may have once seen as moronic, now realised was just how he smiled when he was happy, truly happy… a warmth settled through the minor pain at the knowledge that he could be this way around her.
"It's a more advanced version of my Semblance. Whereas usually I can use my Semblance with Dust to create Glyphs to aid in combat and even without it for more basic ones to increase my speed and such. My Summoning ability however… any Grimm I face in combat and defeat, so long as it pushes me to and beyond my limits or changes me fundamentally as a person, I can summon an almost ghostly version of them to fight by my side… what I summoned tonight, I believe, was what is called an Arma Gigas. A Geist Grimm had possessed a massive suit of armour and wielding a sword far taller than myself, I was tasked by my father with defeating it to gain the right to follow my dream to be a Huntress-"
"He what!?" Jaune gasped, drawing Weiss out of her thoughts to see his shocked expression. In all honesty appalled would be a better term for the expression on Jaune's face. Imagine her shock then, when he grabbed her hand and turned her to look directly at him, eyes angry as can be. She was shocked, honestly. Raw unrestrained anger that was not directed at her, but for her was not something she had seen on his face before… she was honestly not sure how she felt about such a furious reaction. "He-he at least made sure you were safe, right? Like, there was an escape plan if you couldn't beat the thing, right!? That thing sounds like an A or even maybe even an S class Grimm!"
"W-Well… I…" she was honestly shocked that he knew about the classes of the Grimm, but… why would he be so truly furious? She could understand some kind of anger, but this utterly enraged reaction?... it made no sense. She felt a flush come over herself as she watched those eyes of his grow stormy, his grip on her hands increasing to the point she could feel his racing pulse, Weiss turning her head away to hide the fact said blush existed. "No… there was a very high chance I would have died had I not been as skilled as I am. It's actually how I got my scar…"
A golden glow began to build to her left, Weiss turning back to see that glow was coming from Jaune himself… but that wasn't what shocked her the most… what did was the feeling that slowly enthused within her.
Emotions... so many emotions.
A burning anger that raged and spat whenever her father crossed her mind. Never at her, however. In fact, it was as if this rage she felt flowing throughout her was angry for her.
A powerful need to protect, almost as if a shield was surrounding her entire being. It was warm, almost akin to the feeling of morning sunlight landing onto your skin as she awoke… she felt a great and terrible guilt within herself when she tried to internally drag this feeling back as the last and most powerful emotion made itself known.
A sadness… a sadness so deep and all consuming that she had to force herself not to cry as she looked at Jaune who in turn was looking right at her with wide eyes and tears falling down his face, a shaky breath leaving his lips as his hands trembled in her grip.
"Wh-what?" she mumbled, mouth agape as she tried to take in just what had happened, was this a facet of his Semblance? Was… had his Semblance just tried to heal her? Had it reacted to Jaune's own worry for her or was it able to pick up on her internal strife at the moment and act independently of him? In either case, why had she just felt such a strong rush of emotions? So many feelings that didn't feel like her own… was this a side effect? Was his Semblance able to form a sort of… empathy link?*
"I-I don't know… That… Weiss what were those emotions? Why did I feel so… sad-wait no… it… lonely… so alone… like I had no one, even though I was sat right next to you…" Weiss' eyes widened as she her brain immediately came to a certain conclusion.
Silence began to reign, a nervous tension stabbing through the air as the two looked at one another, doing their very best to try and come to terms with what had just happened.
Weiss was the first to recover, even if her heart thundered and crashed against the white shores that were her ribs. She pulled her hand from his grip only to gently grab his own in hers, a worried frown crossing her features.
"Jaune… I don't know what happened, but thank you… thank you for caring enough to feel this way about my home life… but please don't get angry or upset… we've both been through too much pain lately to lose ourselves to even more just as we are healing from this horrible mess" She pleaded, looking deep into those misted over sea's with melting ice, smiling when he looked away and nodded. What had just happened could be put aside for later, while she and most definitely Jaune wished to try and decipher what had happened… her mind had already dealt with enough turmoil for tonight. Tonight, she wished to simply enjoy a nice, calm conversation with her… friend. Yes. Her friend…
You already want more, don't you?
Weiss so very nearly shrieked at the sudden thought that she nearly missed what Jaune said next, an apologetic and oblivious smile on his face.
"'sigh…' I… yeah, yeah you're right… sorry, Weiss…"
"Don't be, Jaune. You have every single right to truly despise and hate me, and yet you care enough about me react the way you did. Just… please, for your own piece of mind, let's at least for tonight try and be happy"
Jaune turned from her, eyes facing towards the shattered moon with a far away look in his eyes as he smiled. "Happy… yeah, I think you're right… I'm… I'm done making others unhappy, I just want everyone to smile tonight" he stood with Weiss following suit as he made to walk away, glad to hear his apparent goal for tonight. "Any chance we can just ignore what happened for tonight? I uh… my brain is kinda kapoot for deep inner thoughts right now, gonna have to put pretty much all what I got left into helping Yang and Blake, heh"
"Yes, actually, I was thinking much the same, believe it or not" she agreed, hearing him chuckle and shoot her an appreciative smile.
"So… What else do you 'reckon you can summon?" he asked, he and Weiss falling into a rather enjoyable conversation that had Weiss realise more than a few things about Jaune's way of holding a conversation and his sense of humour that she was rather fond of…
Yang slammed her hand into the wall beside her, doing her very best to keep her damn emotions under control… even if that was so hard to do right now as Blake looked so god damned pathetic with those sad little eyes and frown!
"Talk." She growled out, even if she didn't mean to sound aggressive. "Please, just… talk"
"… What do you want to know?" was all she said, an almost happy look on her face for the briefest moment, almost like she was glad this was finally fucking happening… Yang wasn't able to say she wasn't as well. There was always this thing about Blake that she couldn't quite place, something about her that got her wondering what she was hiding… well she could say she'd never expected this.
"I want you to tell me everything, Blake, your past with them… I need to know everything… I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you again if you aren't honest with me" she admitted, rubbing her arm as she felt an ache run through it and to her heart, much as she damn well hated the feeling.
"I… Yang, there's so much to tell, thou-"
"I have time, Blake." She said with an edge in her tone as lilac met amber.
"… Okay then. My name is Blake Belladonna… daughter of Kali and Ghira Belladonna… the leaders of Kuo Kuana in the Kingdom of Menagerie. My father was also the former leader of the White Fang, back when they were a peaceful organisation-"
Yang listened for a long time, leaning down against the fountain of Beacon's courtyard as the darkness of night was kept away by the light of the lamps and shattered moons glow. She wanted to ask so many questions, so many things she wanted to scream and shout at her as she learned more and more about her past. How she'd been 'born' into the White Fang, how she'd grown up thinking her parents way was ineffective and got dragged into thinking this prick 'Adam' had the right idea in being more violent… how he had a clear obsession with Blake even when she was a kid. She had very nearly punched her when she'd found out she'd abandoned her family to follow him, her own case of abandonment making the news sting like fuck. How Blake had finally come to realise what a monster he was before deciding to come to Beacon…
She sighed as Blake finally finished, watching as her shoulders tensed as she waited for Yang to start yelling at her, to treat her like scum for being a part of a terrorist group… don't get her wrong, she wanted to do that. But not for most of the reasons Yang bet she thought.
"Thank you for telling me, Blake… too bad it took me having to pretty much force you to tell me, it took you running away after accidently telling me and Weiss that you're a Faunus and then us tracking you down and bring you back after we had to fight your old 'friends'… I… How can I… Blake, I honestly don't know how you expect me to ever trust you again after this… it hurts, don't you see that? It hurts so much to know you clearly didn't plan on ever telling me about this-don't deny it!" She growled, seeing how Blake made to object. "I Just… I… heh…"
"Yang… I'm sorry, I really am… I-I wish things were-"
"'Wishing' things were different, means jack, Blake! If it made a damn difference, my mom wouldn't have abandoned me! I wouldn't be left with all this pain and a fear of letting people really close! Look what happened when I finally decide to start letting you in! You left me, just like she did!" she roared, angry tears forming in her eyes as all Blake did was stare at her. Just stare at her, like she was some damn sideshow attraction! She- heh… she was too tired to get angry… "I… What am I supposed to do, Blake? What am I supposed to do now? How can I ever trust you again, how am I even supposed to believe that you still aren't hiding things from me?"
Blake actually looked insulted when she said that. An angry expression on her face as she stood up with a start and stared Yang right in the eye. "How can you say that!? I just told you, I told you everything about my past with the White Fang!"
"And how the hell am I supposed to believe that, Blake!?" Yang let out an incredulous laugh, how could she not? The fact that Blake dared to try and act like she had any right to try and be insulted right now. "This morning, if you'd told me even a tenth of what you just said, I would have believed that was all there was to tell. I would have trusted you, because I thought you could at least trust me enough to tell me you were a Faunus. That you'd bothered to learn enough about me to know I would never treat you any differently for it!"
Blake stumbled back as if Yang had hit her, eyes wide and a hand covering her mouth… Yang hated that look, she wanted nothing more than to hold her and take away the pain… but she couldn't… it hurt herself just too much.
"I... I… I never wanted to hurt you…"
"Well, you did, Blake… How can we move on from this? How? Because right now, I can't think of anything…" silence hung in the air, Blake clearly not having an idea either, not that she could blame her… heh, this was too much, she couldn't deal with this tonight.
"Why don't you just tell each other the rest of your secrets?"
The sudden voice made them both jump, Yang turning her head to find the last person she expected to see.
"Wh-What the hell? Jaune!?" she gasped, she'd known he was awake and all, but… how was he walking around right now? His body looked like crap when she'd last seen him!
"Hey Yang, guess you didn't expect to see my sorry face here, huh?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head like nothing was wrong, literally walking right past her and standing in front of a frozen Blake. "Blake, how are you? I uh… Gotta be honest when I say that I um… I know about your past, at least a little. Kinda explains why I'm not freaking out about the cat ears, heh"
That seemed to snap Blake out of her trance, even if Yang was still too shocked to even move… or realise what Jaune had more than likely just heard.
"Y-You know? You know about…" She backed up a little, Yang's eyes snapping open in worry, fearing she would run again. This worry went as Jaune gently grabbed her hand. "It's alright, I'm not gonna say anything to anyone, I'm like Yang when I say I won't judge you for being a Faunus"
She watched Blake's guilty expression grow as her gaze flickered to her before it snapped away again when Jaune began to pull her back, leading her to the fountain and it took Yang a second to realise that she was also being led by her hand.
It was only when she was fully sat down next to her partner, that Yang fully managed to regain control of herself, pulling Jaune's hand off of her as she stared at him in shock, eyes growing even wider when he looked at her confusedly.
"What's wrong, Yang?"
"What's wrong!? What's wrong!? How the hell are you even standing!? Dude, you looked like hell when you were in that bed, aren't you taking a pretty big risk right now by being out? Why are you even out here? I thought you'd be seeing Weiss or your team"
His eyes dulled for a second, that happy smile of his turning just a little sad before it was wiped away when he took her hand again.
"I actually managed to uh, kinda use my Semblance to heal my scars a little, believe it or not, look" He pulled down the front of his shirt a little and sure enough those nasty as hell scars from before were actually looking a little smaller, still pretty bad they looked like they had been healing for over a week solid with aura which shouldn't have been possible… but there they were. "And to why I'm here… Well, I actually already spoke to Weiss and my team… and she told me you two were having a little trouble so I decided I'd see if I could come help"
The way he said it so casually, that smile on his lips as he looked at the two of them, told her he was serious…
"Jaune… I uh… this is kind of a private thing, dude" She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, the guy was the only reason Weiss was alive after all and he had been through a lot, but who was he to try and act like he was the one who should butt in and 'help'?
"Yeah, I know. But you yourself just said that you couldn't think of something, unless you actually did have an idea, Blake?" His gaze turned to her and Yang frowned at the look in his eyes, like he already knew the answer but wanted to hear it.
"I… Maybe we could…" She shuffled uncomfortably, Yang diverting her gaze at the guilt she felt from staring at her hopefully, silently begging for her answer to be anything but- "Maybe we could… leave it be for tonight? We could talk about it when we've cooled off?"
Heh… anything but that…
"Oh. Okay then, so what, you two will walk to your room tonight, completely ignoring each other until one of you plucks up the courage to speak to the other? How long will that take? Days? Weeks? Months?" he sighed, shaking his head and muttering about someone named 'Saph'?
Yang's eyes flickered red while Blake's ears flattened against her scalp as Jaune looked at them disapprovingly. Tonight had been so full of pain and anger and she was not about to be lectured by someone who had no idea what the hell they were going through!
"Oh, and you have some great idea as to what the hell we should do? Why should I even listen to you? You've never had to deal with the crap I went through!" she stomped onto her feet and looked him dead in the eye, expecting him to realise he had messed up by trying to pry into her life and would back off… instead that smile of his only got a little wider.
"Yep! Simple really. Just sit down, facing each other, and talk. Tell each other a secret each, until there aren't any left to tell. Yang, you say you want to know everything about Blake, otherwise you don't think you can trust her again, right?"
"I mean, ye-wait. How long were you listening to us?"
"Long enough" he answered coolly, eyes never leaving Yang's. "By the way, you said that I don't know what you've been through, being abandoned by someone I trusted. Well… you're wrong. My own big sister abandoned me"
All of Yang's anger disappeared as the words left his mouth, watching his eyes grow dull as a sad smile crossed his lips. He… he… what?
"Growing up, I had a big sister named Saphron, one of the horde of sisters to be honest but I was always closer to Saph than any of the others. She always helped me, always made me smile when I was down and was like a second mom to me at times. She literally made me breakfast whenever mom was out and dad was Hunting, always with this big smile on her face and a skip in her step… she was the only one of my family to not doubt my dream to want to become a Huntsman, the only one who told me that if I trained hard enough, I could do it. She was always there for me… until she wasn't." he sighed, running a hand through his hair with a shaky breath. "It was small at first, she would smile less and maybe not come out of her room as much, but no one really noticed it… not even me. Then she started having these quiet little phone calls that would end the second anyone came into the room, she would start staying out late and sometimes would stay out the entire night, saying she slept over at a friends' house to do some studying but would never give us a name or they didn't add up. It got worse and worse to the point that my mom and dad actually started getting into fights with her over it. Wanting to know why she was doing all these things, they'd literally caught her trying to sneak out one night when they told her they wanted her to stay home as there was a Grimm migration nearby. Her answer was to just scream and shout at them, telling them it was nothing and that it's was none of their business. She even stopped talking to me, literally pushed me aside when I tried to talk to her in the hallway with barely a glance at me"
"Jaune…" She heard Blake whisper, a worried expression on her face that Yang was certain she was mirroring, his hands were shaking and more than once she caught a glimmer of what looked like tears in his eyes.
"Then it all came to a head one day. I woke up, determined to speak to her, to make her speak to me… but… she wasn't there. When I came down to breakfast, I found my mom and dad crying at the counter, holding what looked like a letter in their hands. She'd… She'd…"
"She ran away…" Blake finished, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.
"Yeah… for days I just cried, wondering if it was my fault, if somehow I was the reason she'd left us… I know it doesn't really make sense but, well, guilt can make someone think these things, even if they have no reason to feel guilty. Though, I guess she wasn't really good at hiding her tracks, by the end of the week, my dad had found out where she was. Apparently she'd gone to the Mistral/Atlas border on the earliest possible Bullhead and then took the train to the Argus. None of us understood why she'd done it but apparently that was where she still was. My dad ordered us all to pack our things while my mom called in some favours to get a Private shuttle so we didn't have to wait for the train. From there, we spent the day searching through the city, asking anyone and everyone we saw if they'd seen a girl with the same blonde hair and eyes as us. A few pointed us in the right direction, but we had no luck in finding her… until we decided to take a break to grab some dinner. Imagine our surprise when we headed to a nearby diner, to find none other than my sister… kissing a woman"
Yang's breath caught in her throat when those stormy blue eyes met hers, a knowing look in his eyes that scared her… scared her far more than she ever expected a look from Jaune ever would.
"I don't know why, but the next thing I knew, I had buried my head into her shoulder and was just sobbing into her shirt. Begging her to never leave again, to never leave me so alone again. She apparently froze, not even able to push me away before the rest of my family had caught up, all with their own questions and, frankly, a lot of anger at her for abandoning us. Cue us finding a nearby part with all these pretty flowers in, Mom literally clamping her arm around Saph and this mystery girls' shoulders to stop them from running away again. My dad eventually forced an answer out of her, she'd never seen him cry before and I remember this broken look in his eyes, just this want to know what he'd done so wrong to warrant he running away like that… I'm sure you can both guess why now, huh? I bet Saphron expected many things when she told us. Hatred, anger, disgust… us disowning her. But funnily enough, I bet she never expected another one of my sisters, Vert, to stomp up to her and pinch her cheeks so hard I swear you can still see the bruises in the right light, calling her the stupidest idiot she'd ever met for thinking we'd hate her. Follow this with Vert shouting out so many swears at her that I swear anyone in a ten block radius went pink in shock, and Saphron was in a pretty big daze when Mom and Dad finally yanked her away and pulled Saph into a hug… heh… she was so shocked at first, not quite really able to come to terms with what they were doing… then she began to cry… she'd spent so long being afraid we'd hate her liking girls that she was never prepared to deal with all this acceptance. Never prepared to deal with all of us coming in to join the hug" Jaune smiled warmly again, that dullness in his eyes fading a little as he seemed to remember the scene.
"After that… well, things weren't good for a while, I'll be honest. My parents forgave Saph pretty quickly, mom's only real problem was with whether or not Terra, the girl she was dating, had been the one to convince her we'd hate her for being who she is. It turned out that it was the opposite, Terra was against her just leaving us but had chosen to stick by Saphron in the hope she'd convince her to come back to us. That, and the fact she had said she'd sooner die than hurt her when Mom gave her the 'rules for dating my daughter' speech and all was good between them... but the rest of us? Not so much… she'd hurt all of us when she'd run away, abandoned us because she was too scared to think that maybe just maybe we wouldn't hate her… we weren't anywhere near as close to her as we used to be. I remember her coming into my room one day to talk to me, this big hopeful smile on her face that I… I just couldn't give to her, she kept trying to act like nothing was wrong, like she'd done nothing wrong by treating us like we were like we were monsters who'd hate her. I know she was scared but she never actually told me to my face that she was sorry for abandoning me. It made me so angry. I ended up telling her to leave, telling her to just leave me alone because… because that was all she was good for. I felt terrible as soon as I'd said it, but when I turned around… she was gone, a small tear stain on the floor was the only way you'd have known she was ever there. Then, one day, Rouge the eldest calls us into a meeting, with a nervous Saphron sat on a seat next to her with six others making a circle for the rest of us to sit in. Can you guess what we did?"
He looked at them, a hopeful smile on his lips, Yang letting out a sigh as she hung her head in defeat, knowing where this was going. "You guys talked, didn't you? You did the same crap you're telling us to do?"
"Yep! There was plenty of shouting, don't get me wrong… we were still all angry at her, but we all made a promise that we would listen to each other, not interrupt and wouldn't judge her or each other for voicing our feelings. Things still weren't perfect for a long time… but Saphron told us why she'd been so afraid. It turned out that Terra's family actually had thrown her out when she'd come out as a lesbian. Her mother told her that she was dead to her and her dad actually hit her. Those nights that Saphron kept running out was to keep Terra from being thrown out of the hotel she was forced to live in by using her own wages from her part-time job along with Terra's to pay the terrible fee's… At the end of it all… well, Vert and yet another sister of mine, Bleu, decided to uh.. heh, they decided to clear the air. They openly admitted to the entire room that Vert was bi-sexual and was part of a polyamorous relationship between a guy and girl while Bleu was asexual and aromantic, literally saying she'd rather build tech than find a partner as it just didn't interest her. Vert takes over again with a big cheesy grin and tells us that if we each share a secret until there are none left then things can go back to normal and we can move on… so we did. I proudly admitted that I was obsessed with anime and often wrote fan-fiction of my favourite series to post online… and no one laughed at me, we did laugh but it was with each other, we told every dirty secret we had and in the end the only one that really shocked me was what the twins got up to, but… well, I'm not gonna repeat that here, heh"
He took their hands again with a gentle smile and slowly pulled them until Blake's hand was in her own.
"Blake… I know this is scary, I know you're afraid of what if's and I know you don't know me all that well… but please, trust me when I say that the alternative is only ever gonna end in pain. My sister let her fear control her, let it control every part of her until she eventually left when it became too much. It was only luck that brought us back together, don't take the same risk, even if I know Yang here will drag you back by the ankle if you pull this again, heh" While Blake didn't respond at first, she did smile slightly and nod her head, showing a surprising amount of care when she briefly hugged him.
"Thank you… I… You're right, we don't know each other very well… but I think I want to" Jaune smiled at that, before turning his head to Yang.
"Yang? I know you and me aren't really on the best of terms on the minute, but I want you to know that I don't blame you for doing what you did. You were trying to help, even if it was kinda a dumb way of going about it, and only had the best intentions at heart… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I forgive you and hope you can forgive me for doing a dumb idiot who caused this all in the first place. Trust will come slow, believe me when I say I know, but don't close yourself off to it forever" Yang blinked, once. Twice. Before a snort of laughter left her and she pulled the idiot into a hug that he happily returned.
"I… Hah! Only you could pull crap like this and it actually make sense, VB" She grinned, though she pulled him a little tighter as she felt a wetness trickle down her cheeks. "Hey… I… I dunno how much you heard but could you keep what I said about my mom under wraps for me? I'll tell Blake, don't worry… but I'd rather it stay between us"
"Of course, Yang, I swear I'll never tell a soul about what I heard tonight… besides… I'm done hurting people" With that, he stood up and made to leave, shooting them one last smile as Yang turned to Blake who fiddled with the bow she'd worn on her head until tonight.
"So… do you want me to go first or shall I? I mean… he was right, much as the prying fuck should learn to not spy on people!" she said the last bit a little louder so Jaune's retreating form could hear, his hand raising in the air in apology that had Yang laughing. "I… I can't trust you right now, Blake. But I'm willing to give this a shot, might be worth it at the end of the day, if you want to"
Blake contemplatively looked ahead for a little while, before an altogether more embarrassed smile broke out across her face.
"Mahi-Mahi" Yang blinked at her, confused beyond believe at the random mashup of letters. "It's… It's a bit of an obsession of mine, it's a kind of fish found along the coast of Mistral but is native to Menagerie and is… honestly the most delicious food on the planet. I honestly nearly broke down in tears when I found out they don't serve it here…" Blake blushed cutely, going even redder when Yang snickered and gently gripped her hand.
"Heh, well, if we're talking food… then I gotta be honest. I… I often get Ruby to go to the bakery for me to get my own stash of cookies. I mean, who would blink an eye at Ruby upping her cookie habit by getting two bags instead of one every few days? I'm always the cool sister, the big star of Signal who started drinking at 15!... it'd be so embarrassing if people saw me squealing in delight every time I see a bakery, but they're so good! Especially the chocolate macadamia nut cookies… I mean, I literally go full Ruby mode whenever I bite down on one!"
Now it was Blake's turn to laugh, hiding it behind her hand as the two of them started to share more and more stories.
Ruby smiled as she walked with Ren and Nora, she hadn't been able to speak to Pyrrha… apparently she wanted to be alone for some reason? Anyway, she'd told them that they'd be needing to talk to them all tomorrow about something that had happened tonight, both looking confused as heck at her giggling. Why shouldn't she be happy? Things were finally turning nice again! Yang would fix things with Blake somehow, Jaune was okay, he and Weiss were smiling again and even looked like they'd be friends… even if Ruby still held out hope they'd be even more eventually.
She was kinda worried about Ren and Nora, they were… acting a little weird but no more weird than usual when it came to her bubbly bomber of a friend.
"So… It's uh, been a while since we got a chance to talk, Rubes! How've ya been?" Nora asked, bouncing in front of her, a curious expression on her face.
"Oh! Yeah, it really has, huh… I uh.. I really missed you guys!" she squeed, wrapping her arms around them with a happy expression, Nora squishing her into a bearhug and even Ren patted her back gently. "I… You guys were always a big part of our lives here at Beacon and I… I just.. heh… I missed you both so much"
"We missed you too, Ruby" Ren laughed, looking at Nora with a quirked eyebrow and an almost mischievous look. "You're the only one who can keep up with Nora when she's on a sugar high after all"
"Hey!" Nora pouted, Ruby having to hide a giggle as best she could, the betrayed look Nora sent her said that she hadn't done a very good job. "Just for that, I'm drinking coffee and you can't stop me~!" She laughed, Ren's eyes growing wide in terror as he grabbed her hand.
"Wait! Please, for the love of the…" Ruby cocked her head to the side in confusion as Ren trailed off, eyes wide and staring at his hand where Nora's was clenching his tightly with her own cheeks red as can be… what the heck? "I… Umm…"
"R-Right…" She murmured, pulling her hand away and looking awkwardly at Ruby who still didn't quite get it… There was no way, right?
"Nora? Please don't drink any coffee, I don't think Beacon will survive" They all snapped their attention to in front of them again to find…
"Jaune!?" Ruby squeaked, racing up to him in shock as he looked at her cheerfully, though before she could get to him he was steamrolled by Nora.
"Jaune! Are you alright!?" she gasped, Jaune looking like he was in pain but still returned the hug from his position on the ground. "Are you okay? You looked so sad earlier when you… um… when you spoke to us" Jaune released her from the extra tight squeeze he'd pulled her into, sitting up as Nora sat on her haunches while Ren joined her, Ruby trailing in the background confused as heck.
"Yeah, I'm good Nora, just been catching up with everyone since Team RWBY got back. Oh, Ren? I sent you a reply to your scroll about what we talked about earlier, did you manage to sort it out for me?"
Nora watched Ren freeze with a curious eye, turning her head back to Jaune who smiled happily at him, raising an eyebrow while all Ren did was gulp.
"Renny? What's wrong? Is… Is it bad?" She questioned, standing up and walking towards him with a nervous smile. He seemed to come back to himself all of a sudden, turning to her with a weirdly nervous expression, one Nora hadn't seen for a long time…
Everything went silent for a little while, Nora feeling more and more nervous as Ren shuffled his feet and wouldn't meet her gaze. Ruby was also looking nervous, darting around them with a worried look as she looked between them all, the only one who didn't look worried was Jaune.
In fact, all he did was stand up himself and put a hand on her shoulder, a cheerful smile on his lips.
"Heh, I warned you…" he muttered, shooting Ren a look as his Pink eyes widened. "Nora? Ren's-"
"Wait!" He yelled suddenly, grabbing Nora's hand and pulling her close as her cheeks flushed red at the way his eyes stared intensely into her own… was… was he always so tall? "I… Nora? Come with me, please. I need to speak to you" She squeaked a little as he gently led her away, the emotions that were going on tonight and what had happened earlier making all sorts of thoughts shoot through her brain.
Ruby continued to stare as she watched Ren lead Nora away, both of them near steaming as they went, her jaw nearly hitting the floor as what had just happened seemed to click in her head… they… they…
"WHAT!?" She squeaked, looking to a positively beaming Jaune who turned to her with a big old grin that looked a little cocky. This-wha-how… She looked to Jaune once more with an innocent look on his face that Ruby knew all too well from all the times she'd gotten away with stealing cookies from the kitchen and her dad had walked in. "You…"
"Me?"
"You!"
"Uh, yep! Still me, Jaune Arc"
"YOU! You did this, didn't you!?" she shouted, climbing up his body and placing her feet on his thighs while she gripped his shirt with her balled up fists, a scowl so terrifying on her lips she bet he was reeling in terror internally right now!
"Huh. Never realised you were that short, Rubes" he grinned, picking her up by the waist and placing her back down onto the ground where she looked at him with a flabbergasted expression. How was he so cool about this!?
"You got them together didn't you!?" she yelled, definitely not squeaked this time, with her body near buzzing on the spot.
"Don't know what you're talking about Rubes" he grinned, ruffling her hair and laughing again when she smacked those evil hands away! How dare he ruffle her hair!
"EEEEEEEEE!" Came Nora's squeal from somewhere in the gardens of Beacon, Ruby turning back to Jaune with a deadpan look to her.
"No idea at all…"
"JAUNE ARC!" before either could react, Jaune was once again bowled over by Nora who's face was red as can be, pinning a dazed looking Jaune by his arms to the ground. "YOU! YOU'RE BEHIND THIS, AREN'T YOU!?"
"Huh, do I look different? People keep acting like they don't recognise me… also, Nora? Still uh… still in a not so good shape right now" he mentioned, a pained look on his face as Nora eaped and jumped to her feet, dragging him up with her as he gingerly touched at his chest, clearly in worry he was hurt or bleeding. Then, he turned to Nora with an absolutely poo eating grin. "Oh. Yep, by the way"
Nora froze mid fuss. Her eyes growing wide before a small and gentle smile crossed her face as she gently pulled Jaune into a hug as Ren walked onto the scene where Ruby was happily bouncing on her heels now knowing what was happening! Oh! Things were looking so great! Yay! Things were getting better and better!
Nora held him close as she smiled into her friends… no, her brothers' shirt, his gentle hand stroking through her hair as happy tears pricked at her eyes.
"I… Thank you, Jaune…"
"No problem, Nora… I don't want anyone hurting anymore, not because of… of…" she increased her grip on him holding him close as she felt his heartrate spike.
"Jaune… I don't really understand why you told Pyrrha the way you felt, the way you did… but I don't blame you. I know you just didn't want to let her keep thinking she had a chance with you and we all know you would hurt her no matter how you did it… I know she'll move on some day, you just need to give her time. Please… Please don't blame yourself, Jaune. Promise me you won't blame yourself for this?" her voice trembled as she pulled away, looking into his eyes as he smiled warmly at her. The only answer she needed was when he pulled her back into the hug and squeezed her extra tight against him, a giggle escaping her lips as she skipped away with an excited look in her eyes and back to Ren.
"See ya later, Fearless Leader! Renny! We're going on a date tomorrow!" she called out, watching her boyfriend EEE! blanch at her.
"Nora… it's… heh, fine" he smiled, his scroll pinging which made him look down with a worried expression. "I… It may be best if we don't tell Pyrrha though to be honest"
Nora paused, a sad frown crossing her face before she kept on skipping and took his hand gently, kissing his cheek and doing her best to keep her face from catching fire even as Ren was clearly trying to do the same. "I understand… it's okay, she kinda needs us right now anyway. See ya later guys!"
Ruby watched with a grin as they left, turning to a proud looking Jaune, rolling her eyes and nudging him as he led her somewhere.
"Heh, you're a really good friend, you know that, Jaune?" She told him, Jaune bashfully scratching the back of his head, not meeting her eye as she giggled at his awkwardness at not being able to handle a compliment.
They walked in comfortable silence for a little while, Ruby just glad to have Jaune back in her life… glad she could speak to him without worry for Weiss showing up and the two of them fighting or ignoring each other… in fact she may just do her best to make sure she got those two together as often as she could. "I've… I've really missed you, Jaune, you're the first friend I made at Beacon after all"
"Well, don't worry Rubes, I'm back… and I think I have something that'll make that smile of yours just a little bit bigger" he grinned as he led her to the communal kitchens? What the heck was he… he… what was that delicious smell?
She almost floated as she followed Jaune into the kitchen, eyes zeroing in on a plate. A plate covered in "Cookies…"
"Eyup!" he grinned, picking up the plate and holding it out to her, to which she reverently took it like she was holding a holy artifact… which they may as well have been… because what was in front of her wasn't any regular cookie. No… These were… "One batch of Red Velvet Cookies, with cream cheese icing swirled on the top!"
"But… But I thought these were hard to make!? How the heck did you have time do make this!?" she gasped, her shock not stopping her as she stuffed the heavenly food into her mouth, not bothering to be embarrassed at the moan which escaped her lips. "Sho good!"
"Well… After Weiss called me and I saw things weren't all that good in your team, well, I wanted to make something for you guys when I saw you all. Well, it turned out I was able to help Yang and Blake, whereas Weiss just seemed happy enough talking to me so I decided if you all didn't need them, who better than to give the entire lot to than our resident cookie monster?"
Ruby paused in her stuffing of the cookies to smile at him, offering him one to which he gratefully took and nibbled on it. "You helped Yang and Blake?"
"Yeah… I shared a story with them about my own experience with what they were going through, I think it helped-oof!" The reason for the 'oof' was Ruby placing down the cookies and pulling him into a hug, a gentle one but she guessed she squeezed a little tight from the noise he made.
"Thank you… Thank you so much, Jaune… I… I don't know what I was gonna do if things got bad again…" she mumbled, feeling him pull her close with a chuckle.
"It's alright, Rubes, I swear to you, by the end of tonight, I'll make as many people happy as I can"
"Bold words, Jaune" came the voice of Weiss, Ruby turning to face her, not expecting the near apocalyptic look in her eyes as she smiled at the two of them… Ooooohhhhh poop.
Jolting away from him, Ruby awkwardly waved a hi to her friend who rolled her eyes with a smile that calmed Ruby's thundering heart. Weiss smiled as she made her to her, though she paused as she reach the cookies.
"Meh, been known to say bolder, even if it can backfire on me" Jaune joked, motioning towards the cookies when Weiss kept staring at them. "You can have one if you want, I made them after all" he smiled, Ruby this making herself not giggle at the flush on Weiss' cheeks as she daintily took one… even if she had to also force herself not to arm herself to protect her delicious treat… she… would allow another to be taken. Jaune had made a batch of twenty after all. They would be enough to last a couple hours of reading if she went slow.
"Mmm!" Weiss mumbled, eyes wide in shock as she stared at the red delicious in her hand.
"That good, huh? To be fair it is a family recipe, my mom would kill me if I made a bad batch and tried to serve it"
Ruby made a promise to herself there and then that she'd meet Jaune's mom some day and learn all her cookie recipes, her taste-buds demanded it!
"Oh, these are indeed incredible, Jaune… you are incredible baker… a-anyway, I need to speak to Ruby, if that's alright?" She asked, Ruby feeling as confused as Jaune looked, but he did seem to understand that whatever she wanted was important.
"No problem, Weiss" He walked by but stopped when he reached her, turning her way and looking at her with a gentle gaze. "I'm still really proud of you by the way for being around Blake for as long as you were... you're a good person and it's obvious to me you'll keep trying your best" he smiled, gently placing his hand on her shoulder as he walked away, only Ruby seeing the way she turned red as a flipping tomato at his words and the contact with a smile so big Ruby honestly worried her face was gonna break in two.
With that, Jaune walked out, leaving Ruby grinning ear to ear at her partner.
"So~ Gonna assume whatever you wanna talk about involves Jaune~?" She grinned when Weiss stuttered and actually flailed at her words, huh. No wonder Yang liked doing this.
"Y-yes! B-b-but not in the way you are thinking! I… I do need to quite seriously need to speak to you, Ruby… I am quite worried" It only took a second for Ruby to stop her teasing smile and immediately rush over to her friend, a worried expression written across her face at Weiss' tortured look. "I... I'm frightened Ruby..."
Ruby pulled her close, gripping tighter when Weiss shook a little, heh... for she knew tonight was going too well, still she'd be here for her friend, no matter what. "Jaune?"
"... Yes..." the mumbled words barely reached Ruby's ears but she knew instantly what she meant.
"Heh... you know there's nothing wrong with coming to like him, you know?" she tried to tell her but Weiss suddenly shoved her away with a scowl.
"OF COURSE THERE IS! RUBY! I SAID UNFORGIVABLE THINGS TO HIM! BY THE GODS I-... Never mind..." Ruby, doing the opposite of what she imagined Weiss expected her to do, stepped into her space again and placed a hand on her shoulder to which she flinched away.
"Weiss... has this got something to do with... with those night terrors you've been having?"
Weiss froze, those eyes of hers looking like they'd seen a ghost and a tremble in her hands that got worse with every second... it... she looked like dad when he'd been bad...
"Ruby..." she whispered. "Are you truly my friend? Truly someone who cares about me as a person?"
"Of course I do! You're my bestie!" she grinned, doing her best to stop herself from shaking in nervousness, this... this seemed bad.
"Even if..." Weiss paused, eyes focusing on her as she evened her breathing, then... "Even if I told you the reason behind them was Myself telling Jaune to kill himself? To throw himself from the tallest tower in Beacon?"
Cold. A freezing ice shooting through her veins to her heart, tearing at it and pushing into her very soul.
What?
Pain. An agonising sensation cutting through to her very core, such a sensation threatening to make her cry out in a sorrowful wail.
Weiss shrunk in on herself, tears trailing down her face as she moved back, falling to the floor as her... her... as she sobbed into her hands.
She...
I hate you! I wish you were dead!
Weiss froze as Ruby pulled her close, her mind not able to comprehend just what was going on. This... this made no sense...
"Ruby... Ruby let go! What are you doing!? Don't you hate me!? I told your best friend to kill himself!" she screeched, trying with all her might to push her away yet all Ruby did was pull her tighter.
"... Do you regret it?"
The words, the way they were spoken... they were calm. They were measured. They were full of hope. They made no sense...
"Weiss" ah... there was the edge she had expected, she must have misheard her before... now she could be hated.
"I do... I regret it every day... I wish I could take it back and yet I can't. It eats away at me, at my very soul. Every night I see him there, covered in blood, dying upon the rocks below after he flings himself from the rooftop! I... I'm a monster, Ruby"
"Then I guess I'm a monster too then, huh?"
Ruby might have laughed at the shocked expression on Weiss' face... she might have... darn it she was gonna cry again, there's been too much of that lately, heh...
"My Uncle Qrow... when my mom died, he was the one who brought back he cloak, he was the one who... who found what was left. They never found her, but the fact her weapon was broken and her bloodied cloak was the only clothing they found... well, it says a lot" oh boy, there's the tears... and Weiss is crying even more now! Just... just great... calm down, Ruby. Be there for your friend. "When I saw him... I just started screaming! I kept telling that I hated him... why didn't he go with her? Why didn't he get there quicker? I... I wished that he was dead..."
"Ruby... no Ruby! Of course you're not a monster! How could you ever think that?" Weiss yelled, clearly angry with her, but all Ruby could do was laugh. How silly could she really be? "You were just a child!"
"And you were someone who was in so much pain that I doubt you even realised what you were saying... what both of us said was wrong, Weiss. What both of us said was the most terrible thing you can ever say to people and neither of us can just take it back. He acts like I never said it. Whenever I bring it up, he says I was just hurt and he knows I didn't mean it... but I know what I said. I know how much what I said hurt him. What we did was unforgivable"
"Then how..." Weiss sniffled, her tears getting worse and worse. "How can you go on without this guilt eating away at you?"
"That's simple... I spend every day doing my very best to be a better person. I do my very best trying to make him smile as much as I can. When I can't be with him, I act the way I know he'd want me to act, I do things a good person does because I want to, because I know if I ever went against who I am as a person again, it would hurt him... the guilt never really goes away, but being a better person, being a good person for the person you hurt and, more importantly, for yourself... it helps. can you do that, Weiss?"
Keep your emotions under check, Ruby... don't cry anymore... you need to help your friend. That's what matters... talk to Yang later... talk... about mom... Ruby needed to be strong for Weiss right now, but she wasn't going to do what she and Jaune did and bury her emotions... there was a difference in being strong in the moment and just trying to be strong forever.
Weiss nodded but she didn't speak, instead she cried all the harder, sobbing into Ruby's chest as the two held each other tightly.
20 minutes later
Weiss sniffled again as Ruby handed her another tissue and a cookie, she smiled at her friend, simply unable to truly comprehend just how Ruby Rose was able to be the way she was... she reminded her of Jaune in a sense, though... though different as well. A truly good person who just wished to help others.
"So. Are you okay now?" she asked and Weiss huffed a laugh.
"No... no I'm not... but I will be. Tonight has just been a little draining is all"
"Huh... yeah I get that, cookies help, dang Jaune is a good Baker!" she giggled, Weiss nodding her head in agreement. They truly were delicious, even if the colour red at the moment brought some less than pleasant thoughts. "... you like him, don't you?"
Aaaand Weiss' cookie was spat upon the ground, turning to Ruby in shock at the knowing smile on her lips.
"WHAT!? I-I-I... heh... gods damn you Ruby Rose..." And gods damn that smile as well! "No... no I do not."
"But you're coming around to the idea of it, ain't ya? You want to like him"
Weiss shot her a glare that could have frozen a Grimm on the spot, yet all she did was munch on her cookie with a wiggle of her eyebrows... gods dammit.
"You already know the answer to that, dolt..." why did she have to blush!? Why now!? The buzzing of her Scroll her attention, Weiss silently thanking her luck so as to not have to deal with Ruby's teasing. Though, she did wonder who it was from. "A call from an unknown number? Oh, it's Coco Adel apparently, gods know how she got my number..."
Velvet cuddled up against Coco, a smile on her lips as the heat from both her and their fire keeping them warm as they relaxed before turning in for the night. They weren't too far out of Vale, in fact they were just within the range of their Scrolls and sheets had been meaning to give Pyrrha a call to ask how she and Jaune were... so imagine her surprise when her Scroll suddenly lit up and guess who it was!
"Jaune!? Oh cheese and crackers! How are you!?" vehemently ignoring the snort of her girlfriend, Velvet grinned at her friend, positively beaming at the sight of him!
"I'm good, Vel! Really good... just wanted to call you is all" he was on his own apparently, Velvet not seeing anyone around him so she guessed he'd gone off on his own to speak to them.
"Yo, Dork Knight! How ya doing?" Coco grinned, leaning forward and smiling at him toothily, Jaune hitting her with a deadpan stare.
"Hardy-har-har, Coco... I'm actually pretty good, I'm... I guess you could say I'm the most at peace I've been for a while... honestly you two are the thing I wanna do tonight"
"Daw... you miss us?" Velvet smiled at the way they chatted, Coco's teasing making Jaune chuckle humorously, the two talking for a few minutes with Velvet chipping in every now and then, just glad to see her friend was awake and happy... though... she was holding her a little tight.
"Honestly? Yeah... I really did... you guys are some of my best friends in the world and... and I guess I really just wanted to see you both" he laughed again, Velvet hearing stones grinding under his feet, he must have been in the gardens somewhere.
"Coco... a little tight there" she whispered to her girlfriend who looked apologetically at her and loosened up a little. "Well, I'm really sorry to say, but we have to be up in a few hours so we need to go to sleep soon. We have a fourth year group leading us on an expedition right now, and they'll kick our butts if we're knackered in the morning-" she tried to joke, even if she did feel bad for doing it, only for Coco to interrupt.
"Hey now~ We can keep chatting! Yep! So, how you and Red doing? How's the sexy Spartan doin'?" She joked, Velvet rolling her eyes and smiling at his flush... before it died and ugly death as a tear trickled down his cheek.
"Oh... yeah I uh... heh... I hurt her... I told her I couldn't return her feelings and i bet she hates me right now, heh..." Velvet watched the pain re-enter his eyes again but before she could try and help, he seemed to sort it out himself, looking at them with a cheery smile. "Anyway! That's fine, I gotta go guys as well to be honest, I uh... I'll see you later!"
He hung up before she could say goodbye, Velvet was as little worried about how things were between those two right now, but she knew she could speak to him in the morn-Coco pushed her away sharply and scrambled for her own Scroll, a near manic look on her face, dropping her Scroll she was shaking so hard, letting out a sharp swear.
"Coco!? What's wrong!?" she cried, Coco fully ignoring her as she snapped her Scroll to her cheek as she called someone.
Jaune sighed as he hung up... of course he'd lose his courage to tell her... but it's not like he imagined many people could do it... oh well... he had one last way to do it.
He smiled as he looked across the surrounding grounds of Beacon with a smile... a small smile, but a smile all the same. How could he not? Everyone was happy, everyone was smiling! He'd kept his word... well, mostly. He still had one last part to do.
He didn't want to hurt anyone again, he didn't want to make anyone cry ever again... all that had happened was his fault and he knew it, this was the truth. So. He had a plan. A plan that would solve everything and ensure no one would cry again because of him.
He stood on the cold stone, the wind whipping at his skin and yet he didn't really feel it right now... instead he just felt kinda numb.
Jaune smiled as he sent a message to Velvet, he had others to send as well, but this one had to be first... for obvious reasons... he turned off his Scroll the second it sent, just about seeing Velvet receive it, his last text to her.
"Goodbye"
*Jaune was always a character that felt others pain powerfully. He was always the person who tried to help and make others happy; Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss and we imagine many more students in Beacon got to see just how caring Jaune was. It's never explicitly stated in the show, but I like to imagine Ren, who has had the most contact with Jaune's Semblance, has been affected by this empathy effect he has… he's taking on Jaune's pain whereas Jaune doesn't really feel much as Ren keeps his emotions deep and locked tight. It's a theory of ours that this is part of the reason he has acted so distant and cold towards Nora as of late, always focused on the mission because he's terrified of what will happen if he allows himself to get close to her and loses her like Jaune did Pyrrha… remember his reaction to Neo taking on her face, people. That terror, that fear that he was about to hurt her. Opinions are welcome.
To anyone suffering from depression, know the world will be a much darker place without you in it. The world needs you. There are people that care about you. Don't lock yourself away and let the fear take hold, even if it seems impossible to do otherwise. Be the great person the world knows you can be, if not for those you love, then for yourself.
If anyone ever needs to just rant at an idiot author and his crazy Beta reader, we're only a PM away.