Warming Her Heart
Weiss rolled her eyes as she watched Dee and Dudley bolt through the busy Mistrali train station. Those two were complete buffoons. It was nearly comical as the so-called professional huntsman trampled over civilians to get to the caboose.
"You know sometimes the burden of saving the world feels overwhelming." Oscar said, turning to face everyone. "But then people like that come along and make me grateful that it's our jobs and not theirs"
The ex-heiress couldn't help but agree and nod her head, as did most of her companions.
"Uh-huh," Ruby agreed, nodding a little more vigorously then necessary in her opinion.
"Yeah," Jaune sighed.
Qrow shook his head, removing his attention from the two fleeing huntsmen.
"So, you kids ready to go?" He asked before turning to Yang. "Bike all loaded up?"
"Yep!" The blond brawler gave her uncle a quick smirk.
"We're just waiting on Blake." Weiss said, "As usual."
She took a quick look towards where Blake stood on one of the many walkways before returning her focus to the group around her.
As it seemed to become a recent habit, she quickly found herself studying Jaune Arc. He stood with Ren on the other side of the bench she and Oscar sat on with their luggage.
True to her promise, she'd done everything in her power to further their friendship. But with the bulk of the last two weeks since the Battle of Haven spent training and preparing for the journey to Argus, Weiss didn't get the best opportunities to spend time with the blond boy.
Sighing, Jaune sat down behind her and Ren was quick to follow suit. His normally vibrant blue eyes were a little dull again. That meant he was tired or had something on his mind. The ex-heiress had picked that up from being around Jaune the last few weeks. She had also carefully inquired about Jaune's habits with Ruby in a way that wouldn't cause too much suspicion.
Although she had only caught him up late that one time shortly after Haven, Weiss knew Jaune wasn't sleeping well. Over the past two weeks, he was always the first one up in the morning and the last one to bed at night. A far cry from his habits back at Beacon. Back then, the young knight was always the last one to get up, especially on the weekends. Even though she wasn't on his team, it was infamous from the stories his teammates told, the leader of Team JNPR was not a morning person.
She very badly wanted to pull him aside and ask him if everything was alright. But that would be out of nowhere for the poor boy. As much as it pained her to recall, the Ice Queen had never cared about him before, it would be quite the shock if she suddenly did out of the blue.
Their relationship was on much better footing these days. Him saving her life recently definitely helped, as did the time apart beforehand and of course what happened at the dance. True to what she promised herself, Weiss spent more time with Jaune. Which in retrospect wasn't very hard to do considering how little they interacted at Beacons besides his flirting.
But even in the past two weeks, their interactions were few and far between. They were busy people on a quest to save the world. However, Weiss found it hard to approach Jaune at times, even when the opportunity presented itself.
When she had hugged him that one night, he felt… Warm. And it felt wonderful. The brief embrace they shared was eerily similar to the way his Semblance had made her feel.
If his soul was that warm and comforting it shouldn't have come as a surprise that his body would feel that way too.
Feeling a blush rise to her face, Weiss quickly shook her head. She tore her gaze away from the boy who conversed with Ren and looked anywhere else. She had begun to stare again. Thankfully no one had caught on when it happened, but if she continued to be this careless someone would notice eventually. With her luck it would probably be Yang.
"Oh. My. Gods!" Nora suddenly exclaimed. "Guys, look!"
Following the small ginger's finger, Weiss' eyes fell to the walkway above where Blake stood with Sun. Her eyes widened when she saw Blake leaning in to kiss Sun on the cheek.
"Dang Blake," Yang whistled. "I wonder Sun did to earn that. I've never seen Blake so affectionate before."
"Isn't it adorable?" Nora cooed. "I'm not sure, but I can think of a few things a guy could do for a girl to earn that." She added, eyeing Ren out of the corner of her eye.
Unsurprisingly, Ren eyed the display of affection Blake gave to Sun with a very neutral expression, unaware of the look Nora was giving him.
"Good for Sun," Jaune said, causing Weiss to snap her gaze back to him.
There was a hint of sorrow in his voice when he spoke. Weiss was surprised no one else picked up on it. His eyes also held a certain shimmering to them as he watched Blake and Sun separate. It amplified when Jaune turned to look at Ren and Nora. After watching the scene on the balcony, the hammer wielder was now animatedly talking to her partner.
What was he thinking of?
Weiss wasn't exactly sure. But something was clearly troubling him. She was convinced it had to with Blake's show of affection and probably had to do with Ren and Nora considering the way he looked at them. Could it be related to his teammates' strange relationship? Was something going on between Ren and Nora that was causing Jaune's strange behavior?
Those thoughts were quickly dispelled when she saw a genuine smile grace Jaune's face. Nora had brought him into the conversation and said something funny that resulted in him letting out a warm chuckle.
Ren had a small amused smile on his face as Nora continued to talk and Jaune continued to chuckle. Weiss found herself smiling when she noticed Jaune's blue eyes were brighter than they were earlier.
What a ridiculous thought. Jaune was incredibly close with his team. There was no way Ren and Nora were part of the problem.
"Oh wow, is that Neptune?" Ruby borderline shouted.
Saying Weiss was surprised to see Neptune was an understatement. But true to Ruby's word, the blue-haired boy was walking down a staircase with Sun away from Blake.
Seeing him again brought back so many emotions and memories.
How she was infatuated with him. Her disappointment when he turned her down to the dance. Her joy when he joined her at the dance after Jaune talked to him. The anger when he continued to flirt with other girls despite the fact they had went on a few dates.
"Who?" Oscar asked.
"That guy with the blue hair next to Sun," Yang said as she plopped herself down on the bench between Weiss and the farm boy. "We met him when he was staying in Vale for the Vytal Festival. So far, he's only the boy the melt the Ice Queen's heart."
"Hey!"
"What?" Yang slung an arm around Weiss' shoulder at her outburst. "Come on Weiss-cream, you had a huge crush on Neptune."
The key word that was said was had.
Truth be told, she hadn't thought much about Neptune since the Fall of the Beacon. Frankly, ever since the dance, Weiss was able to see him for what he was. A skirt chaser. A playboy just looking to flirt with pretty girls. It didn't matter that they went to the dance together or had a couple dates afterwards. He just kept flirting with other girls. Sometimes even when she was present.
In fact, Neptune wouldn't have even spent time with her at the dance without Jaune having talked to him! That in itself said a lot about Neptune. Considering Jaune's feeling for her at the time, it said a lot about Jaune!
"Uh, I'm sorry I asked?"
Oscar's word brought Weiss back to reality. It was then she realized she was glaring at the blue head of hair that walked out of view with Sun.
"I would say you should go say hi, but it looks like he did something to cause your heart to freeze over again." The blonde brawler joked.
"Uh," Ruby waved a hand in front of her face. "You okay Weiss?"
"I'm fine Ruby."
Her team leader looked like she wanted to say more. But thankfully, Blake re-joined the group at that moment.
"So, Blake, is there something you want to tell us about you and Sun?" Yang asked.
Idly following a few steps behind Ren and Nora, Jaune took in the sights of people going about their business while travelling on the Argus Limited.
It was nice to see people doing normal people things after all the chaos at Haven Academy. It was especially nice after all the destruction they'd seen on their trek through Anima.
As a family was settling into their seats, Jaune couldn't help but smile and think about his own family. They'd often ride trains to go on family trips when he was younger. It was a nice reminder of a simpler time.
After his team dropped off their stuff in their room, Nora had insisted that they explore the train. While Jaune had been on many trains like this before, he was happy to accompany them as Nora excitedly checked out every part of the train while Ren also observed the different cars, although with much less enthusiasm.
He was lucky to have been able to experience travelling the rails with his family during his childhood. That was sadly something he knew his teammates never got to experience.
Because of it, he did feel bad when his mind wandered as he followed them. He was supposed to be a team leader hanging out with his friend while they experienced something new. But all he was doing was quietly following them a few steps behind thinking about… well a lot.
He couldn't help but wonder, even with his newfound Semblance, if he was holding the group back. Even with all of his late-night training sessions he wasn't on par with anyone from their group combat-wise.
And after seeing Blake kiss Sun at the train station, he began thinking about Pyrrha again. Even though Blake's was only on Sun's cheek, it reminded him of the goodbye kiss Pyrrha gave him the night Beacon fell.
That kiss was a huge eye opener. After it, he was able to see all the hints Pyrrha had sent his way. He was able to truly understand the meaning of what she had said to him at the dance.
His partner, Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl, had fallen for him.
How? He had no idea. But he now knew how Pyrrha truly felt about him and it hurt. It hurt because he knew he hurt Pyrrha by being so oblivious to her feelings.
Jaune loved Pyrrha like he loved any of his teammates and friends. He wasn't sure if it was romantic love or if it could've grown into that in time. But it didn't matter, he'd come to peace with the fact he'd never find out.
It just hurt that his first and only kiss had been with his best friend as a goodbye before she pushed him away and marched to her death.
So of course, Blake giving Sun a goodbye kiss made him think about that awful night.
And of course, that wasn't the end of it either.
Neptune just had to show up and re-open another old wound.
After the second or third rejection, he had a sinking feeling that he didn't have a chance with Weiss. But darn it, he was going to try to warm her heart and show her what a stand-up guy he was! Jaune was nothing if not persistent. He liked to think his unwavering attempts at improving himself showed that to others.
Despite all of the hurtful things she said to him, his feelings never faded. Despite what Weiss would say to him, he'd see her actions towards others and fall for her even more. Her actions showed how much she cared. To him, actions always spoke louder than words.
When Neptune turned her down to the dance, he saw how much it hurt her. It made him angry, very angry. As much as it hurt to see how happy she was with him after he talked to Neptune, all he ever wanted was for her to be happy.
Even it meant with him just being a mutual friend.
After the dance he distanced himself from Weiss. Spent more time with his team and focused on himself. He knew Weiss and Neptune went a couple dates but tried not to think about it. Of course, he still saw her, being so close with Ruby and her team made that inevitable. So, he did his best to be nice to her, but not talk to her when he didn't need to.
He thought he was finally starting to get over her.
Not much thought was given to his feeling towards Weiss after the fall when he joined Ruby on her quest.
It all changed when she and Yang arrived from Raven's camp. Old feelings returned stronger then ever. After saving her at Haven, the feelings grew even more if possible, something he hadn't realized until their late-night conversation when she almost caught him training.
It was the last thing they needed. Their group was on a mission to save the freaking world. Weiss was dealing with the possibility of facing her family again in Atlas. They had a relic to protect. And he? Jaune was a broken mess of person.
Him falling for Weiss again was the last thing they needed right now.
Sighing, Jaune realized he had stopped walking and was staring out a window.
"Come on Jaune! You're falling behind!" Nora exclaimed breaking him out of his stupor. "We're only eight cars away from the caboose!"
Nora was right, he had fallen behind. She and Ren were nearly at the end of the car and he was still in the middle of it.
Quickly jogging to catch up, Jaune noticed Ren eyeing him.
"Are you alright Jaune? You look-"
Before the soft-spoken boy could finish the train suddenly shook violently. Some passengers cried out in fear and distress.
"Come on guys, let's go check that out!" Jaune said, drawing Crocea Mor and turned to the direction they had originally come from.
His teammates looked at each other and nodded before drawing their weapons and following their leader.
After walking with purpose through a couple train cars, Oscar suddenly bumped into Jaune's chest.
"What's going on?" Jaune asked as the farm boy looked up at him.
Oscar tried to answer but was cut off by another violent jolt of the train. More passengers screamed in fear. This time the jolt was accompanied by sounds of Grimm and the unmistakable gunfire of Crescent Rose.
Jaune's expression then turned to one of determination.
"Let's go help em out!"
Weiss took a moment to catch her breath as she watched Qrow struggle with Dudley against the wall. She normally wasn't one for forcing someone into submission through physical means. But, this lunkhead was putting all of the passengers at risk.
"Get off me!" Dudley cried.
"Look, if you bozos had been doing your job instead of shaking down passengers, maybe we wouldn't be in this-" Before Qrow could finish laying into the incompetent huntsman, Ruby suddenly stepped in, stopping her uncle.
"Please just shut off the turrets."
To her surprise, Jaune stepped up too.
"Trust us, we know what we're doing." He added.
Jaune then raised his hands activating his Semblance to heal Dudley's arm. The action causing Dudley to look down at it then back up at their group.
She felt a spike of jealously course through her at Jaune's actions. So now he was just going to give his warmth away to strangers?
Weiss took a deep breath to steady herself. He was only using a small part of it's true power. Jaune was only amplifying the Aura around Dudley's arm, not his whole body like had with her.
Honestly, if that incompetent huntsman could feel even a fraction of the infinite warmth and comfort his Semblance had provided her, he would probably be more likely to listen to them.
Weiss supposed that sharing a small bit of Jaune's warmt- Semblance with a stranger was a worthy price for keeping hundreds of people alive.
"Fine," Dudley huffed.
After Dudley disabled the turrets with his scroll, Nora suddenly spoke up.
"Ren, could you use your Semblance to mask everyone on this train? With the guns off and emotions hidden, they might lose track of us!"
"Hm, I never attempted to affect this many people." Ren raised a hand to his chin as he pondered Nora's idea.
"Well, you've never had Jaune's help before." Ruby said.
That was true.
It made her stomach churn as the thought of Jaune using his Semblance on someone else again brought back the ugly feeling of jealousy. He had unlocked it in her moment of need, for her. Why did everyone else get a piece of it now?
Weiss silently cursed her inability to share.
Thankfully, the rational part of her mind was able to break her out of her stupor. They had people to save and boosting Ren's Semblance with Jaune's was their best bet. A small part of her also wanted to see what he could do with others. But alas it was only a small part.
"He could amplify your Aura!" Weiss said despite her previous thoughts, recalling how strong she felt after he had boosted hers at Haven.
She winced a little when she noticed how much enthusiasm she had said it with. Thankfully no one called her out on it.
Oscar's eyes then suddenly glowed, signaling Ozpin had taken over.
"I'm afraid there's one complication... The Grimm are also attracted to this" Ozpin spoke through Oscar, gesturing to the Relic of Knowledge.
"What's that?"
"None of your business." Qrow shushed Dudley. "Oz, are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't you tell us that?!" Yang glared at Oscar/Ozpin.
Why wouldn't he indeed.
This was one of the few times Weiss agreed with the blonde brawler. It was very troubling that Ozpin wouldn't have mentioned something that important to them.
What happened to that no more secrets promise.
"I-"
"It doesn't matter right now." Ruby cut him off.
Yang crossed her arms as Weiss found herself joining the taller girl in glaring at Ozpin. Blake too came to stand nearby them, eyes narrowed.
"Every second we're on board this train, we're putting everyone else in danger." Ruby explained before turning to Team JNPR. "Get the passengers to the front cars, you'll still mask the emotions and kill the turrets... We just can't come with you. If we cut the back cars with us and the Relic on them, we can deal with the Grimm. You just make sure the rest of the train makes it safely to Argus."
Upon hearing Ruby's plan, Jaune stopped healing Dudley and walked towards her. His face had a conflicted expression as he eyed his fellow team leader.
"Only if you'll promise you'll meet us there."
"I promise." Ruby replied with a smile.
Without another word, Ruby turned away with Blake and Yang quick to follow her. Qrow shot Oscar an unreadable look before they too followed Ruby.
"Let's start getting the passengers to the front," Ren said to Nora as they began on their way to the front cars.
While his teammates began directing passengers, Jaune continued to stand still, watching Ruby walk away. He still looked conflicted, so much so he almost appeared to be in pain.
Weiss slowly approached him.
"It'll be okay Jaune," she said softly.
He blinked a couple times before tearing his gaze from Ruby's red cloak to Weiss' icy blue orbs.
She lost herself for a moment in his deep blue eyes before he spoke.
"I- uh, it's just we spent so long apart and finally got everyone back together. I don't like us splitting up again so soon."
Her heart went out to him. In truth, Weiss didn't like the idea of splitting up either. But with the relic and people's lives on the line it had to be done.
"I'm not the biggest fan of the plan either." She said, reaching up to gently touch the side of his shoulder. "But with what's at stake, this is our best course of action."
"Yeah…" Jaune sighed, still not seemingly convinced.
"Don't worry about us." Weiss said with more force. It seemed she had to be more assertive to remove his doubts. "We're all more than capable. Nothing's stopped Team RWBY before and nothing will now. With any luck we might even beat you to Argus."
Much to her relief, Jaune gave a small smile at her joke.
"I know Ruby already made you a promise but I'm going to make you one too." She said. "I promise you all of us will meet you in Argus. I won't let my family stay separated for long."
Her promise seemed to relax Jaune.
"Thanks Weiss," he said softly before speaking louder. "I'm holding you to that promise."
The young knight gave her nod before turning towards Ren, Nora and the remaining passengers in the car.
"Alright everyone, let's move towards the front cars!" He proclaimed returning to his usual confident voice that Weiss had recently found very endearing. "We have a plan to lose the Grimm, we just need to group everyone up in the front!"
Unsurprisingly to Weiss, the civilians listened to Jaune and began to follow him. While she had been critical about his placement at team leader back at Beacon much like she was with Ruby's; Weiss had come to see Jaune's natural leadership qualities that Pyrrha would often praise when she voiced her thoughts about him as leader.
The way he exuded confidence in their plan moments after doubting it himself was a tad jarring. But he spoke in such a way that made Weiss understand why people would follow him without questions. It was sadly another way in which she had completely misjudged Jaune back at Beacon.
She took one last look at him as he, Ren and Nora followed the remaining passengers out of the car before heading to return to her team.
They may be splitting up again. But both she and Ruby promised Jaune to meet in Argus. Weiss was certain her partner wouldn't break her promise and she wouldn't break hers either.
As some reviewers have pointed out, yes, this will be a slow burn. But don't fret my dear readers, we'll have some White Knight fluff once we get to Argus and Atlas which is right around the corner. Thank you all again for checking out this chapter and this story, it means a lot to me.
I personally feel this chapter is a little weaker than the last two. I really felt it was necessary to add some more context and Jaune-Weiss moments to the episode Argus Limited but I'm not entirely sure it turned out that great. It still bugs me to this day when they put Neptune back in for the V6 premier that we never got any other mentions of him or something like the Yang teasing Weiss over seeing him at the train station scene I wrote.
Anyways, let me know what you think of this chapter. Next up we'll be in Argus, so stay tuned for that -MTWKing
