A/N: That mini heart attack when the tornado sirens go off, but its just Wednesday – Testing day for you folks that don't live in tornado alley. Geez.. The muse is being quite a brat for this chapter. I've been 500 plus words in three times and she shouts "nope, I don't like it" at me. So the entire thing gets deleted. Such is life, I suppose.
Jaune woke the next morning feeling much more content than he had in months. There was still a lot weighing on his mind of course. Looking over towards Ruby's bed he's not really surprised to see it empty. He is of course well aware of her waking often from bad dreams. He slips out of bed quietly so not to wake the still sleeping Ren and Nora. He finds a note on her bed that she's headed to the towns dojo. The blonde boy pulls on his boots and heads out looking for her. He laughs to himself somehow knowing she had just been itching to test Crescent Rose's new handle and barrel. He finds the dojo easily enough and it's no surprise he does indeed find her there in the middle of sparring with another patron.
He stands slack jawed as she is actually managing to keep what looks to be a professional huntress on her toes. Ruby misses a strike and the huntress exploits the opening disarming the small girl. A kick to Ruby's midsection sends her flying and the huntress ends the match with her spear at Ruby's nose. Jaune is taken by surprise when the huntress boops Ruby's nose with the point of her weapon. Ruby rolls her eyes and allows the huntress to help her up.
"You know, I distinctly remember giving you explicit instructions to work on hand to hand combat." The huntress half teases half scolds.
"Yea.. but I'm not made for hand to hand combat! I don't need it as long as I have my baby!" Ruby whines back. Jaune can't help but laugh, it catches both Ruby and the huntresses attention. " Oh, hey Jaune!" The tiny reaper waves him over. "Professor Tanzanite, this is Jaune, he's one of the people travelling with me!"
"You two know each other?" He asks.
"Yep, I was her first year sparring teacher back at Signal." The huntress offers. "She was making pretty good progress until second semester, once she fashioned her weapon..well…" Ruby laughs a bit embarrassed. The professors scroll beeps, pulling it out she frowns. "Sorry kids, gotta go. Be careful out there, and Ruby, I'll let your dad know I ran into you when I get back to Patch." She waves leaving them in a hurry.
"Bye Professor! Be safe!" Ruby calls after the woman. "Never know who you're gonna run into huh? It was good to see her though." She turns looking to Jaune, an odd sort of far away look in her eyes.
Jaune smiles softly at her "Wanna go get some breakfast?"
"Yes!" She cheers with no hesitation. He smiles warmly back at her. They walk down the street Jaune can't even feel guilty at taking the opportunity to have some alone time with Ruby.. not that this was a date or anything he thinks to himself. They find a cozy diner and settle in. The waitress takes their orders. Their breakfast is pleasant as they laugh and talk about random things that cross their minds. The young knight is struck by how natural this feels. He really is unquestionably in love with the little silver eyed girl, and yet there's something holding him back. His scroll rings, Ren and Nora are up. They had planned today as a rest and Relaxation day and were looking for the missing pair. They arrange to meet up and explore the town together.
When they leave the little diner they are nearly trampled by a group of five or six children. Their parents chasing behind them hastily apologizing for their rowdy brood before disappearing down the street.
"Ha! My sisters and I used to do that to our parents too. We'd get grounded for a week or more, but it was so much fun at the time that we didn't care." He laughs looking up at a few passing clouds. Ruby chuckles picturing a little Jaune pouting after getting grounded.
"Yang and I fed Zwei some coffee once… kinda caused the destruction of a wall at Signal. Dad grounded us for two weeks! Ah, good times!" She laughs a little
"How did I know that sign on the academy's fence was because of you?" He smiles down at her.
They talk for a long time about their families as they slowly wind their way back to the lodge. He notices she's gone quiet after a bit and when he looks down she has an odd sad sort of half smile on her face. "Is something on your mind?" The concern in his voice causes her to look up.
"Yea" She breathes out. "Jaune, do you regret coming on this trip with me?" Her eyes meet his and the uncertainty in them takes him aback.
He turns to face her fully. "Ruby, where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
She sighs. "I guess seeing all those kids, and, I dunno.. I thought." She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter, nevermind." There's a sad undertone to her voice.
He thinks for a minute. "Do you regret coming?"
She shakes her head firmly. "No, I still think it's the right thing to do."
"Then so do I. I'm really glad we're the ones you asked. I can't imagine being anywhere else. Ren and Nora feel the same." His smile and tone are gentle and reassuring.
She sighs in relief, almost on instinct he hugs her. She melts into the embrace and he feels the tension leave her body. They stay like that for several minutes. Jaune hears the familiar sound of Nora's voice looking up he can see the excitement on her face. He shakes his head "no" quickly managing to suppress a blush. He releases Ruby from the hug. He thinks he must be seeing things because he swears he catches the barest hint of a pout from Ruby. His heart flutters and the warm feeling he has come to associate with Ruby bubbles in his chest.
"Hey guys!" Ruby greets the two arrivals. "So, what are we gonna do today?"
"Well, we do need to get more dust rounds, food, and supplies since we plan on leaving this place tomorrow morning." Jaune rattles off.
"Uhhh, I thought we were taking the day off." Nora whines.
"Yea, I thought so too. Though I don't mind the dust store, I just don't wanna do the other stuff!" Ruby also whines, making puppy dog eyes up at the blonde.
"Seriously, how did your dad ever tell you no?" Jaune sighs at Ruby who blinks up at him adorably. " Fine, how about a compromise. We get our supplies now, and we'll do whatever you girls want after?"
"Deal!" Nora and Ruby chorus together grinning.
Ren sighs, shaking his head. He looks over to Jaune smiling a bit. "amateur." He whispers when the girls are out of earshot. Jaune can only smile and shrug.
The supplies shopping goes rather smoothly as does the afternoon of fun. Ruby and Nora really didn't have anything specific in mind. A good portion of the day was just spent together reminiscing and laughing. When the time comes to head to the lodge the girls are sent ahead by Ren. He wants to talk to Jaune. Ruby looks to Nora but the redhead just shrugs. Once the girls are safely in the building Ren leads Jaune across the street to be sure they'll be out of earshot if the girls get curious.
A/N: The muse is still being stubborn, so this is where we'll leave it for the night. What kind of questions should Ren be asking? What kind of observations has he made? Feel free to PM suggestions or drop them in a review. There's a good chance they'll be used.