Authors Note: Don't forget to leave a review at the end after you've read and I hope you enjoy.
Yang watched with bated breath as the fighters stood across from each other.
Their sister team had made it to the doubles rounds easily enough, Pyrrha alone probably could have done it but with Nora in the equation it just wasn't fair to the other team.
Once you factored in Ren and Jaune… The other team had never stood a chance.
The doubles rounds were a bit closer however. Pyrrha was still the unstoppable force she always was but the competition was a bit stiffer, having made it through the team portion.
It was still in Pyrrha's element however; she looked unfazed by the crowds standing tall and proud much like the champion fighter she was.
The unknown was Jaune. His stance was a bit more nervous, a little less confident, not having the same experience as his partner.
He could though. She thought to herself. He's stronger than he's ever been and he's worked harder than a lot of other people to get there.
It had been Nora's idea, surprisingly enough, to have Jaune go into the doubles matches' with Pyrrha. It was a way for him to show his parents that he had managed to earn his place in Beacon.
He had denied at first, not wanting to throw their chances of victory aside for his own personal issues. His team had been insulted by that, explaining that winning the tournament was less important than reconnecting with his Family was.
It had been a very wholesome thing, seeing them all put aside the tournament for their friend, but it came as no shock. Despite how much Nora boasted, she did not really seem to care for the tournament, Pyrrha actively despised it; Ren didn't seem to care either way.
In the end it was a no brainer for them, their friend came first.
That being said, they were still going to try; Jaune had every intention of winning.
Jaune's parents took the seats left vacant by the two in the ring, Nora and Ren on one side with team RWBY on the other. Juniper had insisted on Yang sitting next to her.
Yang had looked to her team for help only to find them all intently staring at the screen… a screen that currently displayed nothing since the fight hadn't started yet.
She'd accused them of being the traitors that they were, even as Juniper had started to ask all kinds of questions. Most of which Yang really didn't want to answer. She got the impression, however, that it was all in good fun.
Thankfully her prayers had been answered as Jaune and Pyrrha walked out onto the stage, forcing the woman's attention to something else.
"Awww, they look so cute together!" There was an awkward pause for a moment until her husband coughed. Juniper turned to her, laying a hand on her arm. "Not as cute as you two though dear, don't worry."
Yang blushed and looked away, pretending she couldn't hear the laughter from her supposed friends.
Traitors.
Her irritation only lasted a moment though, before her attention was drawn to the stage as the countdown began.
There wasn't really a moment she noticed it, the shift from nervous wreck to trained fighter. Pyrrha had leaned over and said something and then Jaune was as confident as she had ever seen him. Standing up straight he held quite the intimidating presence… er, well… intimidating to those who didn't know him, she thought it was attractive.
Definitely need to get him to act like that more often
The cameras panned around and zoomed in on the two, neither of them sparing a glance away from their opponents. Jaune's face was stern and unflinching; she could have sworn she heard a number of female's swoon at the sight.
The buzzer went off, shocking Yang out of her thoughts as the fighters lunged towards each other. She felt Juniper tense next to her. As Jaune locked blades with one of the fighters, only to force them back with a subtle movement he had to have stolen from Pyrrha.
Yang grinned as she watched the display below, sparing a glance towards the woman next to her whenever Jaune did something 'risky'.
As the fight went on she slowly stopped wincing every time Jaune blocked or deflected an attack, every time he lunged forward to strike at his opponent, or every time he took a strike in return.
Eventually, she even started to cheer.
Jaune sat back with a sigh that turned into a groan as the aching in his muscles only seemed to grow worse. Despite his pain he still smiled.
Pyrrha and he had actually managed to do it. They'd actually managed to win.
Not that there had ever been any doubt in Pyrrha's ability. A victory was fairly assured, regardless of whether he did well or not. Despite how much she hated to admit it, his partner had earned her title. Fighting was her element and she was very good at it.
He, on the other hand, was not nearly so gifted. He had been forced to play catch up against people who had spent their entire lives dedicated to becoming hunters.
Despite his deficiencies, despite how far he still had to go, he could confidently say he was now strong enough to stand his own; he was strong enough to win.
Training with Pyrrha and Yang had helped him in ways he couldn't express. He was far from refined, his style, if one could call it that, was a mix of basic techniques practiced a hundred times over.
He didn't have the experiences his friends had, nor did he have so many tricks up his sleeve, but simple worked. It had been simple moves that allowed him to fight back his own opponent long enough for Pyrrha to defeat hers.
He heard them approach long before he saw them, taking the moment to stand from the bench and brace himself. Three people ran/fell down the stairs.
"Nora…" Ren's sigh was one of practiced calm.
She didn't seem to hear him speak however, popping up off the ground a second later. Ignoring the cries of pain as she scrambled over the other two people still on the ground.
He felt Pyrrha shift to stand behind him. It was a subtle movement Jaune might not have noticed had he not been fully aware it was going to happen. He chose his moment carefully.
Nora focused her attention on the only available target, her eyes lighting up a bit too much as she launched herself off the ground. A second later Jaune reached down to pick something up.
That was his story and he was going to stick to it..
He couldn't actually see his partner's face, but he could fully imagine the look of shock and betrayal as Nora collided with her. He waited until he heard the telltale sign of Nora's hugs, a soft crackling sound one might recognize as Pyrrha's armor cracking, before giving up searching for whatever he dropped.
He could feel the dirty look his partner was giving him despite how he didn't look back, instead he stepped forward and offered a hand to the other two still on the floor.
Yang took his, pulling herself up before drawing him down into a kiss. Ruby ignored his outstretched hand, standing up with semblance-enhanced speed before stepping away with a blush.
He heard the sound of a picture being taken before Yang stepped away slightly.
"Too cute~" His mother cooed. "Don't stop on my account."
Yang turned her head hiding her blush in the act of coughing; Jaune was given no such escape as his face went a few shades darker than Ruby's cape. She stepped away from him towards Pyrrha, helping to separate his partner from death-by-Nora.
Juniper stepped over a moment later, at first to compliment Pyrrha on their victory, much to his partners embarrassment, but quickly changed the subject to gushing over her newly acquired photo.
Jaune felt a hand settle on his shoulder from the side. Turning he saw his father looking on with a subtle grin. "You have no idea how happy you've just made her." He chuckled softly. "She already told Saphire to show it to your sisters."
Jaune groaned, dipping his head down some. Nicholas' soft chuckle dragged on a few more seconds due to his misery. Slowly it died however, being replaced with an awkward silence.
"Your mother wanted me to…" Nicholas sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about something, if you had a moment." Jaune looked back to his friends gushing over the photos Juniper had on her scroll. Judging by the grin on Yang's face they were of the childhood photo variety.
He nodded frantically and allowed Nicholas to lead him away a bit, if only to avoid the impending black mail for a moment.
"It's about your choice in career." The older man turned to him, speaking with an eerie calm that made it difficult to decipher his opinion. "About being a huntsmen."
Jaune's eyes narrowed, already knowing where this talk was about to go. "I won't quit, I've more than proved my right to be here. I'm not-"
"I want to apologise for trying to stop you." His look of confusion must have been clear, for the man before him smiled. "Your mother and I talked and we… I didn't think you had it in you when you asked me to train you, I thought you wouldn't have what it takes." The words hurt, especially coming from the man who raised him, but they were also true. He was useless before coming to Beacon. "I was wrong. You had more potential in you than I ever could have hoped."
Jaune tried to speak but found himself unable.
"I'm proud of you." His father reached forward to pull him into a hug.
After a moment of uncertainty, Jaune hugged him back.
Yang watched as Jaune and his father walked back from wherever it was they had disappeared off to. She hadn't missed the two separating off but Juniper had given her a look that seemed to scream let it happen; so she had.
She watched him carefully as he walked back. He had that dopey smile on his face that she had become so accustomed to, and she was glad that she had not interfered. She didn't know exactly what words were exchanged, and she didn't care. Whatever divide had been between him and his family was… well, not gone, nor even healed per say, but it seemed he was willing to talk with them again.
It was heartwarming to see and she knew that she wasn't the only one to have noticed. Pyrrha and Ren looked on with a content smile while Nora practically beamed at the change in her leader. The good mood was infectious enough to bring her own spirits up.
After a few more minutes of looking at photos on Juniper's scroll, a number of which she had graciously sent to their own scrolls, Yang broke off from the group to stand with Jaune. He smiled warmly at her and her heart fluttered.
Juniper spoke a moment later. "Why don't we all go out to celebrate? Our treat." The group looked a little unsure, not wanting to take advantage of their generosity or their lien. "It'll give me the time to tell you all about how his sisters used to dress him up when he was little. Oh he was just the cutest little princess!" She cooed.
"Y-you mean prince, right?"
Juniper only smiled.
"I'm in!" Yang couldn't pass it up, she pretended to not notice the look of utter betrayal on his face.
"Oh, count me in!" It only grew as everyone else joined in.
Jaune looked to his partner in hope of rescue.
"I… would like to hear it as well." Pyrrha had the decency to look mildly ashamed of herself as she said it.
Juniper's smile turned just the right amount of vicious to show she knew what she was doing. "Great, we can catch one of the bullheads back to Beacon and go to one of the restaurants at the CCT Mall."
Jaune groaned but she didn't miss the small smile there.
Yang hugged herself into Juane's side, attempting to fight back the mild exhaustion from the night before. Were it not for the noise of the crowd she might have tried to sleep bundled up against him.
She heard Juniper take another photo but couldn't bring herself to care. With the stories she now had of him, Jaune wouldn't be able to do anything with them if he had his mother send them to his scroll anyways.
Blake looked especially awkward sitting next to her, attempting to be as far away from the two as possible while only being able to move a grand total of maybe three inches due to the small seats.
She was tempted to mention how the girl's books depicted scenes of far more… awkward affairs, but she refrained. Blake was already on edge enough as it was, there being a very high chance she would be called down to fight in the next couple minutes.
Team RWBY had the utmost confidence in her abilities however, and once the fighting started she knew her partner would perform as good as ever. Still, Ruby seemed to notice Blake's nerves and did what she could to distract her. Chatting with her constantly.
Yang had no intention of rescuing her from that.
The crowd fell silent as the screen display came to life, displaying a roulette wheel. A second later it was cycling the names of the teams still in the tournament.
After what felt like an eternity it began to slow. Before the names popped up for the stadium to see. The crowds cheered, not that she had expected anything different. Any name could have appeared and they would have gone mad, but even she was excited to see the next fight.
It was a promising one indeed.
"Break some legs!" Nora cried.
"Fight well." Ren spoke softly, in stark contrast to his partner.
Ruby and Weiss gave their own variations. Yang, not sure of what to say, gave a simple thumbs up.
"Good luck Pyr." Jaune smiled brightly as his partner waved at them before disappearing into the crowd, making her way down to the staging area.
"We've taken every precaution we can. Torchwick has been surprisingly forthcoming save for names." James said. Ozpin hummed but said nothing, simply leaning back in his chair and savouring the remnants of his coffee. "All there is to do now is wait."
Ozpin attempted to smile but failed, giving up he settled for a determined gaze. Looking out over the crowd as The next bout was set to begin.
Waiting was always the hardest part. Say what you would about actual combat, strategy, and planning, but the waiting. Waiting for your opponent to make their next move, waiting for your trap to be sprung, waiting for the battle you knew was coming and yet could do nothing to prevent.
Ozpin sighed, in a rare moment feeling all his years settle on his shoulders. How he despised the game of deceit they played. For not the first time he wished things could go back to the way they were when he could take to the field against Salem, leading armies into battle against the forces that wished to do nothing less than destroy mankind.
How he missed his youth.
But times had changed, the war had changed, and so he would wait.
He could hear James' teeth grinding together as they watched their charges take the arena.
Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina… The Headmaster wanted to look away but forced himself to watch. He would not do them the dishonour of such an action. I'm sorry.
How he hated the game they were forced to play.
Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always I encourage you to review and let me know your thoughts.
Sincerely SE