Juniper
It had started, as most things were on Team JNPR, by Nora.
Jaune and Pyrrha had gone out one night. Nora had been ecstatic. She'd even broken out the sock puppets and started making smooching noises. Ren had done his best to keep focused on his essay.
To be fair, he couldn't entirely blame Nora. Jaune had been off for the last several days and now their leader and Pyrrha were alone. At night.
Then Pyrrha had come back and shut herself in the bathroom. She wouldn't speak about what she and Jaune talked about. The redhead simply got ready for bed and then laid quietly under her sheets.
Jaune had come in a long while later. Just as silent but far more pale. He was jittery and nervous. Both Nora and Ren didn't how what to do. They'd been together for so long they knew what was bothering the other almost instinctually.
But Jaune and Pyrrha were entirely different.
Over the next few days Jaune had almost completely disappeared from the team. He stopped showing up to their team practices and he no longer sat with them at lunch. He was pushed around and laughed at by team CRDL and he just took it. None of JNPR knew what to do or what to say.
Ren and Pyrrha were largely passive people. In a battle they were devastating. Out of it both were content to let things unfold as they would. They didn't like confrontation between friends.
Nora… Nora wasn't that type of person.
She got fed up by day six. It was on day seven when Pyrrha and Ren were out -how convenient- that Nora had pounced. Literally.
She had leapt from her bed to his and tackled him so hard his bed skidded backwards.
"Nora!? What are-"
"Why is Pyrrha upset?" He'd never seen her this serious. He couldn't even properly appreciate –or be flustered by- her bare legs straddling his or how small she seemed while on top of him.
"Nora. Look, I-" Jaune was cut off before he say anything else.
"Why. Is Pyrrha. Upset?" She stared straight at him. Her turquoise eyes bored into his blue.
Jaune's mouth went dry. He struggled for an answer. He hadn't expected to be cornered and confronted like this.
"I'm… working through a few things right now. I think I- no. I did say something wrong to her. I'm… going to apologize. Soon."
Soon. Once he stopped hating himself for pushing away one of the only people who had faith in him. Once he found a way to get out from Cardin's thumb.
Nora wasn't having it.
"You're hanging out with Cardin Winchester. Pyrrha's upset and we don't do our team training anymore and you're being mopey and Ren won't say it but he wants things back to how they were before and don'tyouwanttobeonourteamanymore?"
The last words came out in a jumble. Nora sniffled. She'd gone from stern and imposing to small and vulnerable in moments.
And Jaune hated himself just a little bit more.
"I'm sorry."
He knew he'd hurt Pyrrha when he pushed her away. He'd been caught up in his own selfishness and feelings of inadequacy that he'd pushed away the one person who seemed to believe in him. He wanted to apologize to her.
But he'd barely given thought to the other teammates he was pushing away. He…
He really was a worthless leader.
"I do. Want to be on this team, I mean. It's… it's our team. I'm… I really am trying to figure a few things out. I'm working through them. Everything will get back to normal soon. I promise."
Nora's brow furrowed and she frowned deeply. It was obvious even to a blockhead like him that she wasn't happy. She still got off him. Jaune pulled himself up to a sitting position.
She looked down at the floor and back up to him. Her mouth turned into a thin line and he knew -he knew- she was disappointed in him.
"…Ok." She walked out and closed the door.
It felt like a punch to the gut.
Jaune buried his head in his hands. He had to fix things. Soon. He just wasn't sure how.
It was after the trip to Forever Fall that things started to come together. Jaune had come clean to his teammates. He owed them that. He owed them enough to not lie about who was leading them into battle.
"I lied about my grades. I lied to you about what I was doing with Cardin. I… I don't deserve to be this team's leader. It never should have been me.
"I'm sorry." He repeated. It sounded hollow but he meant it. He'd wronged them all. Pyrrha and Nora and Ren. His friends and teammates and he'd set them aside for himself.
"Cardin isn't going to be a problem anymore?" Ren asked. It was an odd thing for him to be worried about in Jaune's opinion.
"No. We… came to an understanding." It wasn't quite a smile that was on Jaune's face -it was a little too angry for that- but Ren and Nora could accept Pyrrha's look of agreement and approval.
"I understand if you don't want me on the team. I've been such an idiot and-"
"Jaune." Pyrrha put a hand on his arm.
Jaune fell silent. He slumped into a sitting position at the edge of his bed.
"Honestly Jaune? I'm more disappointed that you felt you couldn't tell us after what Cardin did. I understand why, I do." Ren continued as Jaune opened his mouth. "But if we're going to be a team, we need… openness. We can't hide things from each other. Especially if they're as important as something like this."
"I know. If… if you guys don't want me on your-"
Nora stopped him in his tracks. "Don't be silly, silly! Didn't I say the other day that we wanted you on our team?"
"…the other day you didn't know I lied about… everything."
"You didn't lie about everything. You're still Jaune aren't you?" She blinked rapidly before suddenly gasping. "Your name is Jaune, right? You're not actually Juane, the mustached sombrero guitarist?"
Jaune raised his hands helplessly. "I- what? No! I'm still Jaune. I lied about my grades, not my life story."
Then suddenly everything was alright again. Nora brushed it off. "Oh. Well, pfft. Like that matters."
Juane wanted to shout. 'It does matter! It absolutely matters! I lied to you!' He was about to shout.
Then Ren spoke again, cutting off Jaune's self-deprecation.
"I think Professor Ozpin made you team leader for a reason. If you can accept where you need to improve, and I think you're doing that right now, that's a pretty big step in the right direction. It's much harder to admit our personal failings than our physical ones."
Jaune took a deep breath and shook his head ruefully. "Ozpin doesn't know I'm a cheat."
Ren tilted his head side to side. "I'm not so sure about that actually. Even if you did forge your transcripts to the extent they could fool the Academy's admission system and Ozpin himself, I'm pretty sure he talks to the other schools. If you've been mentioned even once…"
"Huh. Maybe." It was an odd thought. Did Ozpin know? Or was it just people talking. No one really seemed to know just how powerful or knowledgeable Ozpin was. There were times Jaune thought that air of mystery was intentional. "I don't think I'm willing to go up and ask him though."
"That might be for the best." Pyrrha joined in. She wasn't going to let him be kicked out on the off-chance Ozpin didn't know about the forged application.
There was several seconds of comfortable silence in the room until Jaune broke it.
"You guys… really don't mind? Even with how I've been these last few weeks? I was ignoring you all because I didn't want to be kicked out. That doesn't make me a good leader and you all know I'm not a good fighter."
"Jaune, if you really want to be the best you can be to lead this team… we can help." Pyrrha offered.
Ren nodded and smiled reassuring from his desk chair.
Nora jumped up excitedly. "Oh! Oh! Team building! I know our first session!"
Everyone looked at her as she stood on the bed with her hands on her hips. Then she struck one hand out and pointed up at the ceiling.
"Let's go break Cardin's legs!"
It had been shortly after their second term had started that Nora had, once again, initiated a thoroughly embarrassing situation.
Truth or Dare Poker. With alcohol.
How Nora had managed to buy and smuggle in a large cooler of beer into the very heart of Beacon was a mystery even years later.
Whenever someone won a hand, they could make a teammate of their choice pick between the punishments.
It was during this game that many things were revealed and just many as ridiculous quests were had. Ren found out that Blake's collection of adult literature was far vaster than anyone expected, Nora went on a quest to put itching powder in all of Cardin Winchester's underwear, and Pyrrha admitted that she was a glutton. She had been 'a little chunky' as a child and her parents had forced to lose the weight, which revealed her considerable athletic talent. Even today, without her brutal exercise regimen, the amount of food she loved to eat would make her horribly overweight.
It was also this same night that Pyrrha got drunk for the very first time. Well and truly drunk. Not a few sips of champagne at some fund raiser or a cup of beer smuggled in by fellow students at Mistral.
Drunk.
It was in response to one of Ren's questions, oddly enough. It was one of the last rounds of the evening and they'd all had a little too much to drink.
"Alright, Jaune. What do you… look for in a girl? What's attractive?" Embarrassing, but not much. Considering the easy smile and the slightly droopy look on Ren's face, the drinks were affecting him as well.
Pyrrha seemed very flushed but passed it off as the liquor they'd been having. Nora cackled maniacally while clapping her hands at Ren's 'genius'. Jaune had palmed his face before replying.
The answer was simple.
He liked short, thin girls. It was the very basis of his crush on Weiss Schnee. Had he been more sober, he might have been able to pinpoint it on his desire to be a hero. To save the damsel and the day and carry her off into the sunset. Tall girls had never really appealed to him.
Nora found it immensely amusing to point out that she, more than anyone else in their year, fit Jaune's ideal girl.
Jaune had stared at her slowly and confusedly, in the way that only someone half-drunk can. He scratched his chin before pointing at her. "Hey. Hey. I'm on to you. No taking advantage of a drunk guy."
Nora's response was typical. "You can't be on to me! I'm not on to me!" Then she started laughing. Loudly.
Pyrrha had taken a long, long look in the mirror on the closet door before reaching for another beer.
And then another. And another…
It was Ren, who was now well acquainted with looking after his sick teammates, who stayed with her the next day during her first ever hangover. Jaune had offered but Nora had dragged him to class. Ren remained at her side for most of the morning and afternoon tending to her as he had tended to Jaune weeks before. Jaune had been willing to drink one of Ren's health smoothies. It hadn't ended well.
His comparison of her to Jaune's smoothie-illness was not entirely appreciated. Though she was very interested in learning that they'd both been shirtless at the time.
"Are you doing alright? I know you wanted to go to the village-"
"It's fine Jaune. Really. Team RWBY, and Vale, needed our help." Ren looked at Jaune in gentle amusement.
Jaune didn't entirely believe him. Ren's bright pink eyes were often hard to read but Jaune thought he had a handle on it. There was kindness, compassion, near infinite patience… but there was also some sadness as well.
By the time the breach in Vale had been sealed and the teams withdrawn, the mission to the small village had been taken care of. Without a teacher to supervise the team or a legitimate reason to go…
Jaune was actually somewhat frustrated with Ren. He knew the dark-haired teen wanted to go to the village but his friend was still tightlipped on why.
Both were shirtless as they usually were during their workouts. It was another one of their outdoor training sessions. Jaune was tasked with defending a small object on a raised stone. Ren was meant to get past him and take it.
Not once, not once, had Ren failed.
"If there's anything I can do-"
"Jaune." Ren scolded playfully. "Focus less on my personal issues and more on the task at hand." He held up the empty coffee mug in his hand.
"And if I want to focus on your personal issues? You have so many, you know." Jaune jabbed as he wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel.
Ren lowered his head in thought before locking eyes with Jaune. "To solve a problem you must know the problem. Anything else is just wasted effort."
Jaune took a moment to mull that over. "Nora."
"Of course."
The smile was larger now and Jaune was happy to see it. The pair walked over to their gear and started to pack up for the walk back to the dorm room.
Ren shook his head as he smothered another laugh. "I'll talk about it. Later. I promise. Just… not now."
"I'll hold you to that." Jaune poked Ren's side with one of his fingers.
Ren gave a much larger, openmouthed smile to that. "I'm sure you will."
As they picked up their bags and began the walk over to their room Ren pulled out a very… thick looking drink from one of his pouches. It looked kind of like a reddish sludge.
"Here. It's good for you. I made it as an after-work out boost. It should make you revitalized."
He passed it off to Jaune, who held the bottle of gunk warily. He remembered what happened the last time he had something Ren had made.
Something that Ren had made that wasn't pancakes. Because those were just delicious.
"What's in it?"
"Radishes, mostly." Ren looked at him expectantly. Hopefully.
'For you, Ren.'
He tried to drink it down as fast as he could. That may have been a mistake.
"It's… good." Jaune said. Too late he wanted to ask about what was in the 'mostly' part of the ingredients.
Twenty minutes later Jaune was kneeling over the toilet in their dorm, once more living up to the name of 'vomit-boy'. Ren mumbled apologies as he rubbed Jaune on the back.
"The worst that could happen is we lose! Then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no-one will sit with us in the cafeteria, and Ren and I have no parents so we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team LOSE-iper!"
Team RWBY took the spiel as the overreaction they thought it was. Nora had enough outbursts often enough that that was all it seemed to be.
Team JNPR knew Nora a little better.
The battle afterward went in their favor. They didn't lose. They didn't even come close to losing. They laughed and joked and the whole team, even during the match, tried to get Nora's mind off what she said earlier.
In the end Jaune left it to Nora to secure victory. Because that was she needed. Proof that there was no need to fear failure.
It was later that night, in the comfortable quiet of their dorm when Pyrrha 'confronted' Nora.
She was lying down on her bed with a blanket fully covering her. Even with the victory and the banter…
Nora had her head propped up on the pillow as she was laying facedown. She wasn't looking anything, but her eyes were distant and her mouth was tugged into a small frown.
Pyrrha had lifted up the blanket just as Ren and Jaune walked out of the bathroom. Ren had been about to go over to her… when Pyrrha got in the bed with her.
"Eh?"
Nora was wholly unprepared for Pyrrha to manhandle her in her own bed. She blinked confusedly as Pyrrha got in behind her and gave her hug. A Nora one; with both of Pyrrha's arms wrapped around the smaller girl in a bear hug. It was a little strange with the blanket covering both of them.
Nora looked back at the redhead. Pyrrha smiled and said. "I don't think our friends are going to abandon us, Nora. And you have a home."
Then Jaune decided to throw everything to the wind and jumped onto the bed next to them. Nora was sniggering brightly as Pyrrha blushed. Jaune didn't notice. He was too busy throwing the blanket back over the three of them.
Ren blinked several times before walking over and lifting up the edge of the blanket.
He took in the scene. Pyrrha and Jaune were behind Nora, holding her close, with their long legs overlapping as they tried to fit on the small bed. Nora was giggling madly as the other two tried to figure out how to move around and get comfortable without letting go of her.
"That bed is awfully small. I'll just-"
"Ren, get in here." Jaune ordered.
Nora laughed out loud as her smile stretched even further.
Ren exhaled heavily. But he was also smiling.
"The things I do for all of you."
He crawled under the sheets with the rest of them. Nora was laughing even though her eyes were still wet. Pyrrha was giggling softly. Jaune was too busy trying to move around the two girls to make room for Ren.
Of course it turned out that a single dormitory bed was too small. Jaune and Pyrrha had to push one of the other beds over after an awful lot of rearranging, laughing and wiggling.
The good mood from that night… had not lasted for long.
"What would you do if something came along that you... never expected? Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?"
Jaune tilted his head. He didn't like the way conversation was going. "Like… what?"
"What if you could suddenly fulfill your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?" Pyrrha stood suddenly. Jaune was taken by surprise as she started to pace back and forth frantically.
"Pyrrha, you're not making any sense." Jaune slowly got up as well. He wasn't sure how-
"None of it makes sense! This isn't how things were supposed to happen!" She was almost shouting now. Her shoulders shook and she threw her arms out to the side. Then she suddenly stopped and slumped, as if all her energy had left her.
"Pyrrha, please. I-I'm just trying to understand what's wrong. What do you mean 'who you were'? What wasn't supposed to happen?"
Pyrrha closed her eyes. She tried to put into words everything she was feeling. How to explain without explaining. "I've… always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress - to protect the world... and it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right. But... I don't know if I can do it."
It wasn't an answer. It wasn't close to being an answer. Jaune didn't like it.
"Please, Pyrrha. Talk to me. You can. You helped me out when I didn't deserve it. When I didn't want it and I'm grateful for that every day. Whatever is bothering you, you deserve help. So even if you don't want it, I am going to help you. But I can't if I don't know what's happening." He took a few quick steps forward and set his hands on her shoulders. "Ren… Ren says to solve a problem you have to know the problem. I- Just… try to talk. And I'll try to help."
Pyrrha's shoulders shook and she put a hand to her mouth. She shut her eyes and managed to compose herself. She looked back up at him and he realized how wide her eyes were. How scared she was.
He didn't like it. It wasn't the Pyrrha he knew. It wasn't the Pyrrha he wanted.
"I was… given an offer. I would become a fully-fledged Huntress. I would have a chance to fulfill my destiny." She stopped and looked down. She wouldn't meet his eyes.
Jaune hesitated. "That's… good?" He shook his head in confusion. "So what's wrong with it?" Because there was something wrong with it. There had to be.
"If I accepted-" Pyrrha licked her lips. "If I accepted… I would have to… go away. Maybe for a long time. Maybe forever."
Jaune couldn't describe the ache he felt at that. It was fear, it sadness, it was loss. His throat felt tight and suddenly everything seemed a little more dim. Without meaning to he tightened his grip on Pyrrha's shoulders.
"Pyrrha, you are… you are the strongest, smartest, most amazing person I know. If you put your mind to something there is nothing you can't do. But- but if you have to leave for this- this destiny… do you want to? Do you want to leave… us?"
Us. The Team. Nora and Ren. Him.
"I-" She still wasn't looking at him.
"Pyrrha, do you want to leave?" He asked more forcefully. He took a half step closer.
She looked up. She wasn't crying, but she was close. "…no." The words came out as a broken whisper.
"Then, no." Jaune tried to smile but the sick feeling in his gut hadn't gone away. "You can protect the world with us. We can fulfill your destiny… together."
They tried to console Pyrrha after- after. After what happened with Penny. But the battle was already underway and there was little time for anything. A crushing hug from Nora, a soft conversation with Ren, and a tender moment with Jaune were all they had time to offer.
Then the battle truly began. The Grimm came in droves. The White Fang proved themselves to be far worse than anyone expected. Atlas' drones were turned against the very people they were meant to defend.
Even long before battle was over… everyone could tell there would be no victory. They weren't strong enough to fight odds like this.
When the festival ground was finished being evacuated and the students from every school stood together to buy time, Ren and Nora refused to leave Jaune and Pyrrha.
It was in those dark moments that Pyrrha made her choice. She cried silently the whole way to the vault. Because there was no way to know what would come after.
None of JNPR could stop her. They didn't know what was happening but they were all afraid of what could make Pyrrha crumble.
The only thing Team JNPR could do was be there for her. As they had always tried to be there for each other.
Pyrrha tried to explain to Ozpin why her team was present, but there was no time. He didn't scold or shout. He simply helped her into the pod.
Seconds later, Ozpin was proven right.
There was no time. Their enemy was there. Among them.
The pod -whatever it was meant to do- had failed.
As Ozpin held off the woman, the cause of all this pain and loss, Team JNPR followed his order to retreat.
It was only when the woman ascended, wreathed in fire and rocketing to the top of the tower, did they dare stop running.
The Tower. Ozpin. That woman. She had… won? No. No.
There was a long moment of silence. There was a single rocket locker nearby.
Pyrrha stared at it for a long moment. An instant before she could say a word Jaune and Ren flanked her and Nora wrapped them all in a hug. It was a typical JNPR moment.
In her mind Pyrrha knew the hug was pointless. It wasted time and that woman was free to do whatever she wanted while they were down here.
She savored the closeness anyways. Ren and Jaune's sweat mingled with hers while Nora, beautiful Nora who was so much wiser than any of them, held them all together.
They knew there wasn't much chance for victory. That there may not be a chance at all. But they were team JNPR and if they could not leave together they would stay together.
To the very end.
They failed.
It wasn't surprising. Not really.
Team JNPR, no matter how united their souls, how fluid their combined attacks, how strong they were alone and together, was not enough to match Cinder's powers.
They were saved only due to Ruby's arrival, her shock and horror awakening powers no one -not even the girl herself- knew she had.
By the end of the battle Cinder had grown irritated with them. Killing them would not be enough. She had wanted them to suffer. Ruby had arrived just as Cinder held up Pyrrha, a blade of glass pierced through the shoulder, laughing and mocking. "I do believe in Destiny". Vicious words whispered as the monster let her burning hatred consume Pyrrha's back.
If Ruby had arrived just a minute later, there would have been nothing left but bones and ash.
The thought makes Jaune cling to her more tightly. His fingers trace the tangled scar tissue across her neck and shoulders down to her thighs.
Pyrrha burrows her face deeper into the crook of his neck and stares up at him. Nora grips his arm lightly as a simple reminder that 'yes, we're here'. Behind Nora is Ren, one arm curled around her waist and the other resting on his shoulder. His eyes, bright and intense, are smiling as gently as always. Jaune lets himself smile softly as he reclines rest against the mound of pillows at the head of the bed. He feels Pyrrha's hand slip towards his shoulder and entwine with Nora's. He doesn't have to look down to know they are smiling at each other.
They're happy. Content that they managed to reassure him.
There's a moment of rustling as Nora reaches down and pulls up one of the blankets. She throws it over all of them and Jaune is reminded of when they had all shared a bed for the first time.
It had only been a few months ago. It seemed like a lifetime.
The first day of the Festival, when Nora had let the memories of the past overwhelm her. When they had all climbed into a tiny dorm bed and held each other close. There had been nothing romantic then. Just comforting each other. But then, was this so different?
There was comfort in this as well.
They are all alive. They are all here.
Their brush with death changed everything. Perhaps it sped things up. Perhaps it changed their course to something else.
They had slid so easily into family. It was not too hard for them to slide into… something else.
Pyrrha and her desire for connection. To step down off the pedestal and be accepted for who she was, and not how strong she was. Jaune and his need to be needed. To stand apart from expectations that he couldn't live up to, no more disappointment from those who should have helped him stand. Nora's desperate want of a home. To have a place and people that she could return to each night with waiting arms. Ren was the same but different. He sought stability, familiarity, family. A family that would not slip away and disappear to fire and fangs.
They had come too close to that end. Far, far too close.
It had been Ren, so reserved, so calm, so composed, who had wept first. In the aftermath, they had all had. Each had broken down at a different time and been supported by the rest.
Days had turned to weeks and to months as they slowly recovered from the Battle of Beacon. They shared a flat in Vale now. None of JNPR wanted to be alone. There were two beds but one was barely ever used. They lived together, ate together, slept together and healed together.
It had been in that healing that things had started to truly shift.
They had needed to heal. Needed each other's constant presence. Nora couldn't even walk from one room to other without her chair or being carried for weeks. Ren or Jaune had always been there. Pyrrha's bandages needed to be changed every day. There had always been someone there to peel them off and gently place new ones. With Ren's arm in a sling he had needed the help of another when doing tasks that had once been so easy. There had always been someone with him.
In time, carrying Nora had led to holding her. As the red blisters on Pyrrha's skin faded to twisted scars, the bandage changes had taken a little longer. The gentle touches on her back lingered. After a while Ren didn't need to speak to give instructions or ask for help, because they knew what he needed and when without words. Helping him hold utensils and ingredients became second nature. There was no hesitation when hands touched or crossed.
In the end...
It had ended with this.
No one was really sure who had initiated it. This. Their first time together. Together.
Pyrrha and Jaune had gotten back from another checkup at the doctor's. Nora had been looking up pancakes recipes in a bath towel for the next morning. Then Ren had come back from groceries… and…
Jaune's lips twitch upward.
It was probably Nora.
None of them had been sure of what they doing. Who should kiss who, who should caress what, were Jaune and Ren supposed to kiss, was one girl supposed to spend more time with one man over another?
It was confusing and messy and awkward. And they would not have traded it for anything.
The bedsheets are rustled and damp with sweat and sex. Their clothes are discarded across the floor of the whole apartment. Aside from the one sheet covering them, the blankets and quilt are bundled up and shoved halfway off the bed.
Their first time. It will not be their last.
None of them really care about things like 'expectations' and 'proper'. Not anymore.
They're past such trivial things now.
Friends. Family. Lovers.
They didn't have a word for what they were now. They were together. That was enough.
AN: I wanted to try my hand at some polyamory. It definitely feels like I moved too fast to sex at the end. But I wasn't entirely comfortably in including guesses at where the show will go so I was limited in terms of 'plot'. I also admit I wanted to wrap it up with a physical aspect. So it was short on plot and high in fluff. I didn't want to become explicit on the sex because, well, that's wasn't the point of the piece.
There was some discussion on a RWBY forum that discussed polyamory and how to make it 'realistic.'
I wanted to see if I could hit the emotions, respect and desire that might be necessary for a relationship like this to work.
Anyway, I hope this is enjoyable. Please read and review.