"We just... can't come with you."
As soon as he heard those words come out of Ruby's mouth, Jaune felt his heart sink.
The plan was to have Qrow, Oscar, and Team RWBY split the train cars to stay behind with the Relic of Knowledge and deal with the Grimm, while Jaune and his team stayed with the train and passengers to ensure its safe arrival in Argus. Then they would all hopefully meet up in the city.
He knew it made sense. It was the most logical plan they had. Even if the Manticores and Sphinxes tailing them were killed, more would just keep coming after the train as long as the relic was on board, and that would endanger the passengers.
It made sense, but that didn't stop his unease.
After healing the injured huntsman who had hurt his arm earlier, Jaune turned towards Ruby, walking over to her. She was looking at him too, seemingly waiting for his approval.
They silently locked eyes before Jaune requested one thing.
"Only if you'll promise you'll meet us there."
The determined look on Ruby's face softened before her lips turned up into an assuring smile. "Promise."
———
The ride into Argus had felt long. Way too long.
Ruby's plan had worked. The Grimm had stopped pursuing the train thanks to Ren using his semblance, (amplified by Jaune's), to mask all of the negative emotions, and because of the others staying behind with the relic.
Team JNR had managed to keep all of the passengers safe and helped assist them out of the train once they had arrived in the city. It was something that Jaune eagerly focused on. Not only because it was the right thing to do, but also because it helped to temporarily distract himself from the thoughts plaguing his mind.
Unfortunately, once that task was finished Jaune's worries immediately returned. He had also made the suggestion to his teammates that they stay and wait at the train station for a little while, 'just in case!' the others had somehow managed to make it onto another train.
However, a little while very quickly turned into a long while. Minutes ticked by into hours, noon turned into evening and yet, there was no sign of any other train arriving. Ren and Nora did their best to try and assure Jaune that everything would be alright—
"They're fine, Jaune! They'll be here."
"They're all probably just waiting somewhere for the next train tomorrow."
...but their words did little to soothe his anxiety.
As more and more time passed, the pair finally got up to go get some food, needing to bring it back since Jaune practically refused to get up from his seat.
His foot hit the pavement consistently while he bounced his leg up and down, fingers tapping on his thigh, as he stared down at his scroll attempting to call Ruby's, despite it clearly showing she wasn't in range. He let out a sigh when she didn't pick up. Again.
"It's fine! It's Ruby! She can handle herself! She promised she would come back. I trust her."
Jaune was repeatedly reciting those reassurances in his head when suddenly, his scroll started to ring. Not wasting a second, he answered the call, not bothering to check the caller ID in his haste. "RUBY?!"
"Uhh no, but I dig the excitement you have for whoever Ruby is."
The voice wasn't the one he'd been hoping for, but it was nonetheless an all too familiar voice.
It was the voice of one of his seven sisters, Saphron, who lived in Argus.
Disappointed, Jaune hung his head before responding. "...Hey, Saph."
"Oh no no no! Don't you just 'Hey, Saph' me, little brother." she retorted, a grin audible in her voice. She began to teasingly scold him like she always had many years ago, starting with a warning rib of: "You should have called to say you were in town! Imagine my surprise when I saw you pop up on my contacts list! So! What are you doing here?"
Jaune let out a sigh. The thought of calling his older sister had crossed his mind when he'd arrived, but he had quickly pushed it aside while worrying about Ruby and the others... and he also hadn't exactly been... eager for Saphron to introduce Ren and Nora to stories of his youth.
"I uh... I'm here with my friends for a um, a training mission! Yeah." Jaune lied, improvising quickly since he couldn't exactly go into the real details. "Sorry I didn't call you. I've been waiting up for the rest of our group since they got delayed."
"Oh! Well there won't be another train until tomorrow, so why don't you and your friends come over and stay the night here? Terra, Adrian, and I would love to meet them!" she responded, before pausing for a moment, speaking with a teasing tone once again, "I'd also LOVE to hear more about this Ruby you seem so eager to talk to."
Jaune felt his cheeks warm slightly at the jab and let out a groan, just as Ren and Nora returned, carrying bags of takeout from a restaurant.
"Who are you talking to? Did you get a hold of Ruby?" Ren urgently inquired when he saw Jaune on his scroll.
"No," he sighed, despondent. "...It's my sister."
At the admission Nora's eyes widened excitedly and she grinned. "Your sister is in town!? We have to go meet her."
"I agree." Ren nodded before looking at Jaune, "You've been sitting at this bench for hours now and we all still need to eat and get some rest."
Jaune sighed softly again. He knew there was no getting out of them meeting Saphron now.
———
After the trio had made the trek from the train station to the house, they saw Saphron already waiting outside the door with a big smile.
"Baby brother!" She exclaimed and before Jaune could even make an attempt to reply, she lunged forward, trapping him in a hug with a deathly tight grip.
"Agh!! Nice to... see you too…," he managed to choke out, earning a chuckle from Saphron. He may have experienced her scarily tight hugs all the time as kids, but he still never got used to them.
Once she finally let him go, Jaune gasped for air, coughing sharply. "Saph, these are my friends and teammates. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren."
"Hello!" Nora greeted enthusiastically while Ren politely bowed.
"You can just call me Ren. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Saphron smiled at the two. "Oh yes, I remember seeing you on tv during the Vytal Festival!" She exclaimed happily, pausing before she seemingly realized that the topic might be a sore spot. "A-Anyways! I see you brought food with you, so why don't you all come inside? Terra will be off the phone with her boss soon, and Adrian is going to love seeing his uncle and his friends!"
———
Just as he had feared, Jaune hadn't been spared any mercy by his sister.
As soon as they had all been seated in the living room, Saphron had begun telling embarrassing stories from his youth.
Not only that, but Jaune was also put on Adrian duty while Saphron entertained his teammates, since Terra was in the kitchen portioning the takeout food onto plates, as well as getting snacks and drinks prepared.
Ren, at least, had gone to assist her, so it would be harder for him to listen in on the harrowing tales of Jaune's childhood. Not that it would stop Nora from telling him later on though.
"Adrian, no! That's not a toy!" Jaune yelped out when his young nephew, who was seated on his lap, attempted to snatch the scroll out of his hand.
He had occasionally been pulling it out to check for Ruby's signal, but unfortunately there was still no change.
Adrian simply giggled, stuck out his tongue, and continued to try and grab at it while Jaune held it away.
"What's going on over there? You've been looking at that thing ever since you got here!" His sister's teasing voice turned his attention away from Adrian. "Having some girl trouble with uh, Ruby, was it?"
"What? N-No! I—"
"Yeah, he kinda is." Nora stated, cutting him off. "He's been worried ever since the others got held back, but he's been extra worried about Ruby."
Jaune shot a betrayed glare at Nora and before he could even try to retort to that statement, Saphron's eyes lit up. She started to tease him again. "Oh? So my baby brother finally got a girlfriend, huh? I'm so proud."
Jaune began to feel his cheeks warm from embarrassment again. "She— She's not...w-we're not—"
Why was he getting so flustered? Ruby was just his friend, his best friend, and he was just really worried about her. That was all it was... right?
Thankfully, relief came in the form of Terra who interrupted the conversation with a "Dinner is served!", as both her and Ren walked in carrying trays of the food and drinks.
Jaune let out a relieved sigh as the conversation was derailed, (at least temporarily), and pocketed his scroll before Adrian could make a grab for it again.
———
Jaune couldn't sleep.
He was in one of the house's guest rooms, laying on his back in the bed and staring up at the ceiling. His mind was being way too active for him to get any rest.
Checking for Ruby's signal had yielded no changes yet again and while Jaune kept telling himself that everyone else was right, that the others would arrive on tomorrow's train perfectly fine, he couldn't stop the worry overtaking his mind and he couldn't get rid of the pit he felt in his stomach.
A brief image of Pyrrha flashed in front of his eyes. It was the moment she had shoved him into the locker and ran to go face Cinder. The last time he ever saw her.
No. No, this situation wasn't like that.
Ruby was with her uncle, her team, and Oscar. It was just a detour. She wasn't off facing someone or something alone and she would be coming back. She had promised him she would.
Ruby wasn't going to end up like Pyrrha. She wasn't going to...
Jaune winced and turned to lay on his side. He needed to calm down and go to bed, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ruby looking at him like she had when they had separated. Her silver eyes had been full of warmth, fondness, and determination, her smile full of reassurance.
He didn't want to have to go without seeing those beautiful eyes and sweet smiles again.
Almost immediately, he felt his face heat up, just like when Saph had teased him about Ruby being his girlfriend.
"Aghh, what am I thinking??"
He tried telling himself that Ruby was just his best friend, and that that was why he was thinking these things, but the more he thought about her while he laid there, the more he realized it was deeper than that.
Ruby had been by his side for months while travelling together as team RNJR, and while no one could ever replace Pyrrha, he had come to consider Ruby like another partner.
They had already been close before, but all that time together had just strengthened their bond further. Jaune felt like the aching hole in his chest that Pyrrha's death and the Fall of Beacon had left, didn't hurt quite so much when Ruby was around. She was like the light of the moon, showing him the way out of the dark.
But now that they were apart after all that time together, he felt like that light was missing.
"You're being overdramatic. Just go to bed. You can check for her signal again in the morning."
Jaune sighed softly and closed his eyes again. Eventually, he managed to force himself to sleep.
———
The next day, Jaune had been at the mercy of yet another embarrassing childhood story from Saphron. Face burning, he had prayed for respite, absently checking his scroll for the twelfth time that morning. He did a double-take. The signal for Ruby's scroll was displayed as 'In Range'.
"She's nearby!" He had excitedly shouted to Ren and Nora, before immediately pressing the button to call her.
"Uh, hello?"
As soon as he had heard Ruby's voice come out of the speaker, he felt the immense worry he'd been carrying float off his chest. "Ruby! Ohh, thank you! I've been checking my scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!"
After putting the call on speaker so Ren and Nora could join in, they had arranged to meet up at the entrance of the city.
The wait had almost made Jaune just as antsy as before, but once Ruby and the group were in sight, the feeling quickly faded.
They were finally here. Safe and sound. Ruby was safe and sound.
After exchanging words of relief and hugs with everyone else, Jaune locked eyes with Ruby, who was standing off on her own.
He flashed her a smile and she quickly responded with a warm smile of her own, before the two began to approach one another.
As Jaune got closer, he lost himself in her eyes. One look into those bright, silver eyes and the light he had been yearning for, the light that was missing, was back.
The two walked forward into an embrace, gripping each other tightly, as if afraid they would vanish. A pain Jaune wasn't even aware of faded, and the ache inside his heart disappeared. Everything was the way it should be, back to normal. Ruby and him, his friends all safe and together.
They pulled away from each other, but not apart. She looked up at him, eyes warm, and he blinked rapidly, tears springing to his eyes. Why was he crying? Everything was fine! She was safe, here, with him. He glanced away, embarrassed. Ruby caught his eyes.
"Hey. I promised, didn't I?"
The affection in her voice surprised him. He looked up, staring into her eyes, and finding nothing but warmth and kindness. His eyes welled with tears.
"Yeah. You did."
He brushed his tears away, smiling affectionately at her. "It's good to see you guys."
Ruby smiled gently at him, and then they turned to their friends with smiles, moment over. His thoughts lingered, but he knew it was time to discuss and plan. And if the feeling of her in his arms, pressed against him lingered? Well, his sister and his friends didn't have to know. It could be his little secret.