A Stitch with the Arcs
Chap 2
7:00 P.M.
"That was a good nap." I said, fighting through a yawn. Turning to my left, I saw Stitch waking up as well while rubbing his eyes.
"It sure was." He agreed as he got out of his bed and started to fix it. Deciding to do the same, I also got up and fixed my bed. Grabbing my scroll, I saw that it was already seven at night.
"What should we do-" I began, turning to Stitch, about to ask him what we should do. But before I could ask him, our door was flung open by six of our seven sisters.
"TELL US OF YOUR ADVENTURES!" They shouted as they picked Stitch and me up before carrying us downstairs to the living room. Once in the living room, they tossed us towards an empty couch before sitting on the sofa across from us. Turning to our right, or maybe left as we were upside down, we saw our sister Saphron, her wife Terra, their son Adrian along with our parents. Turning to the opposite direction, we saw Jumba and Pleakley working on one of their new inventions.
"And about your friends and teammates at Beacon." Our mother, Xanthe, told/ordered me with a smile that might seem as innocent to some, but to the Arc family, it meant there was no escape.
"Yeah, little bro. Tell us of your time at Beacon. And if you even managed to get a girlfriend so we can embarrass you in front of her." Saphron added with an evil smirk while Terra merely rolled her eyes.
"Unfortunately for you all, I don't have a girlfriend yet." I countered before chuckling when they pouted a bit.
"Has anyone caught your interest yet, then?" Roux, my only other older sister, asked with a glint in her eyes as she smirked. However, I remember how talented a hacker she was, thanks to Jumba. But before I could say anything, our mother interjected.
"Jaune." She warned in a bone-chilling tone while our father just laughed. Looking towards Stitch, who only shrugged in return, I let out a sigh before turning back to them.
"Alright. But can we get something to eat first?" I asked. They all looked towards each other for a moment before answering.
"Sure."
Forty-Five Minutes Later
"So, Ozpin made you the leader of your team?" Koral asked as she ate her jalapeño tuna salad sandwich. She was the second biggest lover of fish that I know of, with the biggest being Blake. Yet, despite some initial rumors, she was, in fact, not a faunus but just really loved seafood. Currently, after much debating and arguing, we settled on going to Reuben's sandwich shop.
"That's right. I'm the leader of Team Jnpr. Albeit, not a very good one, but still." I answered.
"Have you gone on any adventures?" Stitch asked as he ate his bagel and lox sandwich.
"Yes, but nothing major as we are still only first-year students." I answered as I took a sip of my iced tea drink.
"But you still have to tell us if you are crushing on anyone." Raven, my second youngest sister, demanded as she ate her chicken pesto panini sandwich.
"Or we can simply-" Roux began but stopped when she felt my mother's gaze on her, warning her not to continue with her sentence. "Never mind."
"Are your friends coming to visit?" My mother asked while still glaring at Roux.
"I doubt it. They are visiting their families over the break. Plus, all they know is that I'm visiting you guys, but I never told them where." I answered.
"How long is your break?" Pleakley asked as he ate a cheesesteak grilled cheese sandwich.
"Two weeks. Well, technically, two and a half as the headmaster gives an extra few days in case flights are delayed and to give students time to adjust." I answered.
"AH, HAH! THAT GIVES US PLENTY OF TIME TO WORK ON SOME INVENTIONS!" Jumba shouted, excited that we could work on experiments together again.
"Speaking of which." I said while turning to Pleakely. "Has Jumba been keeping his promise?"
"He has. Well, for the most part. He keeps the base formula in the odd case we need a new experiment to deal with a severe problem. But other than that, he has mainly focused on inventions to make everyday tasks easier. Such as keeping Adrian and other children entertained, so the parents have time to themselves." He answered.
"Which is a real bore." Cerise, the third youngest, complained as she finished her mac and cheese grilled cheese sandwich. She was like Nora in the fact that she liked new, exciting, and possibly dangerous things. This was a big concern for us, so we placed restrictions on what she could and couldn't do with Jumba.
"But back on topic, are you enjoying your time as a huntsman in training?" Terra asked as she helped feed Adrian a peanut butter sandwich.
"And do you plan on becoming a full-time huntsman once you finish your studies?" My father asked. This, however, caused me to sigh.
"At first, yes. I did enjoy my time in Vale and being a huntsman in training. But as the weeks went by, that feeling slowly went away. Honestly, while I enjoy being with my friends at Beacon, I'm thinking of quitting once the semester is over. I don't see myself as a huntsman anymore, nor do I feel the same calling as before. Now, I want to be with you guys here in Arc Town. Helping everyone and simply being part of the family." I answered, causing everyone else to go silent for the next few seconds. But everyone smiled right after, with Stitch even grabbing my arm in comfort.
"Well, whatever your choice is, we will support you one-hundred percent." Mom told me, with everyone else agreeing.
"Thanks." I said happy and thankful that I had such a supporting family, or Ohana as we call it here.
"Well, since you're going to be coming back to Arc Town, I'm going to have to teach you all I know about running this place." My father told me with a smile. "But first things first. Reuben!"
"Yeah. What is it?" He asked, walking over to us.
"Let's have another round of sandwiches." My father answered.
"Alright. It'll be done in a few minutes." Reuben said before running back to the kitchen.
"We need to celebrate your return." My father explained when I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I have only been gone a few months." I reminded him with a chuckle.
"And that's a few months too many without being able to tease you mercilessly." Saphron countered with a mischievous smirk.
"Not looking forward to it." I said while rolling my eyes. But then I remembered something. "Speaking of which, what I am looking forward to is the annual celebration again."
"YES!" All of them shouted in agreement.
"You're not alone big bro. Everyone is looking forward to Friday when the celebration begins." Viridian, my younger sister, by five minutes which I love to remind her of constantly, much to her chagrin, said excitedly as she was one of the main coordinators of the celebration.
"And this year, we're not holding anything back. We're pulling out all the stops and bringing back everything." Koral added.
"And unlike previous times, it will last the whole weekend." Saphron said excitedly.
"But our fun won't end on Sunday." Mom interjected.
"What do you mean?" Stitch and I asked, confused.
"Let's just say that your father and I have some plans that involve the whole family." She answered with a smile. But before anyone could ask any further questions, we were stopped when we heard the kitchen doors open.
"ORDER UP!" Reuben shouted as he returned with all our food. "Enjoy."
"Takka." Adrian said, surprising everyone, especially Saphron and Terra.
"ADRIAN'S FIRST TANTALOG WORD!" Saphron shouted in joy and excitement.
"And not bad pronunciation either. It seems like the kid might be a natural in the future." Reuben commented before leaving.
"We should probably look into tutoring for him when he's older." Terra said as she was already looking through her scroll.
"But now, let's enjoy our meals and then head home. We still need to make final preparations for the celebration as it does start the day after tomorrow." Mom reminded us.
"Not to mention, we also need to make sure all the experiments are staying in line. And that there a few inventions that still need fixing." Jumba added. We all nodded in agreement at this before going back to our food.
'It's good to be back.' I thought as I watched my family talk and eat with each other. Something that I sorely missed while I was at Beacon.
Midnight
"Bootifa." Stitch and I said as we admired the calm night sky.
After we had finished eating at Reuben's sandwich shop, we went back home to get some sleep as it was getting late. However, while the rest of our family went to sleep, Stitch and I snuck out of the house, used the hovercrafts that Jumba made for us, and made our way to the nearby shore cliffs. Despite mom saying that we needed to head to sleep as we do have a busy day tomorrow, this was a tradition Stitch and I have done every month since we first met.
"Nothing like laying down on the grass, watching the night sky. Right Stitch?" I asked, turning to face him.
"Graazi." He answered while letting out a chuckle.
'Crazy adventures.' I thought, recalling all the adventures Stitch and I had along with the rest of the family. Adventures that no one else would believe, such as going to space, dealing with Gantu, learning that there is a United Galactic Federation council, defeating Hämsterviel and Leroy, and finding a true place for every experiment that Jumba has created. Yet, as with everything in life, we knew that for the experiments to remain safe, we could not let anyone else outside of Arc Town know about them. So far, we have been lucky, and hopefully, it stays that way.
'Wonder what my friends would think?' I thought with a chuckle as I imagined their awestruck expressions. But quickly remembered that none of them could actually keep a secret for long aside from Ren.
"How's Angel doing?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Fine. She will be visiting Friday." He answered.
"You two do make a cute couple." I teased, which caused Stitch to roll his eyes before letting out a chuckle of his own.
"Do you have a love interest?" He asked.
"Not sure. Maybe. While at Beacon, I was more focused on my studies and feeling homesick that entering a relationship was the last thing on my mind." I explained.
"Don't worry. It will come one day." He assured me before moving to lay on my chest. For the next couple of minutes, we simply stayed like that, enjoying each other's company and letting the sound of the waves below calm us. Taking out my scroll, I saw that it was nearing twelve forty.
"Since it's getting late, how about we go surfing for a bit before heading back home?" I suggested.
"Accata." He answered while quickly getting up.
Chuckling, I got up as well before we hopped back into our hovercrafts and made our way down to the beach. Getting there, we grabbed a surfboard along with some diving gear from the nearby shed that our family owns. Once changed, we started swimming into the ocean to surf. Although, I did make sure that Stitch wore the floaties that were custom made for him whenever he had to go near water. While he may be shockproof, fireproof, and bulletproof, he is a very poor swimmer due to his denser molecular structure. Luckily, thanks to his ability to stick to surfaces and the surfboard also being custom-built, we did not need to worry too much about him landing in the water.
Once in the water, we waited for a few moments before the perfect wave came. One great part about Arc Town was the fantastic, beautiful beaches it had and the great waves that were a surfer's wet dream. And as we surfed around and performed tricks, we smiled at the freedom and joy we felt at that moment. Something that one can only feel when you're having fun with those you call family, or Ohana as we call it here. Sadly, as much as we wanted to continue, we knew we had to stop and head back home as t was getting exceptionally late. And we didn't want to risk my mother's anger further. Getting back to shore, we put away the gear before getting in the hovercrafts and made our way back home. Although, once we got back, we did have to sneak in as not to wake up the rest of the family. Fortunately, we were successful and made it back to our room.
"Good night, Stitch." I said as I changed into my pajamas before getting into bed.
"Good night, Jaune." He said while letting out a yawn as he hugged his plush sea turtle tighter. Smiling, I turned off the lights before closing my eyes and falling asleep.
Notes:
In this story, Jaune never had a crush on Weiss.
With that in mind, while it may be a little early, should there be a pairing for Jaune? And if so, with who? It can be anyone from his friends, to lesser-known characters or an oc.
X3runner: Reuben owns the sandwich shop actually. In future chapters, he will appear more often outside of it though. In the show, he converted Gantu's deserted ship into the sandwich shop. Here, while he did so in the beginning, he eventually upgraded, thanks to the Arc Family to a bigger place.
Guest: Sadly, 627 won't make an appearance as he has been dealt with like in the show.
The next chapter will be them preparing for the celebration and showing what goes on in Arc Town on a daily basis.
Eventually, other characters will make an appearance such as Gantu, Team Rwby, and Team Jnpr, and possibly Ironwood or Ozpin.