Chapter 2: Partners


Pyrrha looked different now. A little less armor now, bound together with fine cloth. Gave her a looser kind of look, a bird free to stretch its wings, though not quite so freely. No longer coated in that heavily armored shell she'd once been in. Her red hair done up in a single long braid that hung over her shoulder, giving her that little touch of maturity that was hard not to appreciate. A flowing red skirt with golden trim, black leggings, armored sandals with high shinguards, a short red cape wrapped around her neck, held in place by a bronze emblem. A perfect blend of old and new, of familiar and alien, of beautiful and yes, terrifying too. She looked good. Very good.

But instead of feeling relieved, he was almost scared of her.

Jaune found it hard not to look at her, even with the others demanding his attention far more than she was. It bothered him a little, he couldn't deny it. Everyone else came up to hug him and she'd just stood there, smiling politely. Would he have hugged her if she offered? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was better that she didn't, even if now it only left him unsure of what to say to her, and how to say it, and why, and all those other questions.

He watched Pyrrha absent-mindedly twist her braid as she smiled at something Ren said and felt his heart lurch. It excited him, it annoyed him, it made him want to be near her, it made him want to stay away. Gods, not even his crush on Weiss had made him feel this weak-kneed. There were times where he wondered if he pursued Weiss because he truly liked her, or he'd convinced himself that being with Pyrrha was simply an impossibility.

Jaune shook his head—internally anyway, since he'd probably look like a nutcase if he did so in front of his friends. Regardless of what feelings his heart had chosen to cling to, he wouldn't let it ruin this reunion. And a good reunion it was. Cake and catching up in the RWBY dorm. Simple, and yet entirely perfect for seeing all his friends again. It had felt like a long time being away, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, training in new climates and regions, learning strange cultures and languages. It was an experience. One that, now that it was over, he found he missed a little. But it was good to be back in Beacon. It was good to be home again.

"Jaaaune! Are you listening!" Ruby demanded his attention.

He turned to her with a smile and a nod. "Yeah, the… uh…?"

Ruby poked her cream covered fork against Jaune's chestplate. "You jerk. You know darn well there's nothing going on in that coconut of yours that's more important than my awesome stories!"

Jaune let out a snort. "The sass on you today. You had too much sugar today, didn't you? Where's the stash?"

"On the end of my boot. Which you're gonna find right up your butt if you keep sassing me back!"

"You're right, I'm sorry. What were you saying before?"

"Oh yeah! So that's when I busted in on Weiss, and she started screaming for like no reason!"

"You barged into my room! Without knocking first!" Weiss squawked.

"—and I was in my jammies, so I'm thinking "oh my god, we're screwed!" That's when the Grimm showed up. So I thought, okay, I'll do the Petal Twister and destroy all the Grimm before they can kill us. Weiss was yelling for me to stop, but I didn't hear her."

"You just admitted that you did, though." said Jaune, ironically going completely unheard as Ruby continued the story.

"And you know what? I forgot we were in Weiss's room. Not only that, there were no Grimm. I was just loopy because Weiss's mom left the decanter out and I thought it was cranberry juice. It wasn't. Long story short, that is how I destroyed Weiss's bedroom and cost the SDC thirty-thousand lien in damages. Wanna know what the moral of the story is?"

"That you're a massive lightweight?"

"No!" Ruby thumbed her chest with the proudest smile on her face. "It means my special technique is gonna clean house against actual Grimm!"

Jaune chose not to elaborate on the irony of Ruby's choice of words. Like everyone else, he was too busy laughing anyway.

"Meanwhile, I babysat her all summer," said Weiss, who deftly dodged a piece of cake Ruby flung at her in response. "It's a good thing you're back, Jaune. Now you can keep her entertained. I've suffered enough."

"You don't look like you're suffering much over there."

Weiss gave a smarmy bow of her head. "All thanks to your noble sacrifice. Just don't bring her into your room."

"You're just jealous cuz I might show him my Petal Twister."

"Can you please change the name of that!?"

"Nope. Anyway, Jaune, I told you what we were up to. How was traveling the world?"

Jaune shrugged. "It was a thing. I learned a lot." More than he'd expected to. The world seemed small long ago, but now he saw there was a lot more to it. "Kinda makes me wonder what they have planned for us this year."

"They'll be doubling down on Grimm studies, that's for certain," said Ren.

"You think so?"

Nora gave an emphatic nod. "That's why Ren's been studying. Actually he was able to take a test that let him skip Grimm Studies Year Two. So now he'll be taking Third Year Grimm Studies."

Ren shrugged as he said, "One of us has to be the expert on Grimm. I figured it may as well be me. It was always the point of interest for me."

Jaune blinked at him. "I had no idea you were that interested in Grimm."

Ren put up a small smile.

"And we all know missions'll be a thing." Yang crowed. "My question is, how are they going to balance those with our classes?"

"I found that out from my sister." Weiss said. "There won't be any written tests." And she managed a frown at that. "In fact, all written tests were done last year, so there won't be any for the rest of our tenure."

"Awesome!" Ruby, Yang, and Nora cheered together.

"Why, though?" Jaune asked. Not that he cared for written assignments himself.

"Because missions will take up a lot of our time. Some missions could only take a few days, while some may have us out of class for weeks. The missions, and therefore our successes and failures, are ultimately the highest contributing factors toward our final grade. You could say the missions are the tests, while our classes are our actual study time."

"So our first year was about proving we have the knowledge to advance, while this year our ability to be real Huntsmen is being tested." Pyrrha mused.

"That's why our successes matter so much as second years. More than even third or fourth. This year we have to prove we're capable in the field."

Jaune thought about that. He'd done some field missions on his extended trips around the world, though they were often rookie missions accompanied by professionals. He fought Grimm he'd never seen before, but that was kind of it. Now, they were being treated as adults and the missions decided their potential in unfamiliar situations. There would be no adults guiding their hand this time.

"I hope you know what that means, Ruby!" Weiss chided. "You're the leader so you have the last say on what missions we take. I expect you to take good ones! Team RWBY will not fail a single mission! Not one!"

"Yeah yeah, heard ya." said Ruby.

"I'm expecting a lot from you too, Jaune."

Jaune turned to look at Pyrrha, who, for the first time since they'd met again, had actually addressed him. That sickly sweet smile bothered him. And he didn't know if what she said she actually meant or not. "I like to think that with the Champion on our side. We can do anything."

Was that sarcasm? No, no, he was just overthinking. Right? "Well, I'm not planning on letting anyone down, so you know."

She blinked. "I know… what?"

"Forget it. Nevermind."

Well that had been awkward. Jaune wanted to hide his face in his hands but saw no opportunity that wouldn't make everyone give him weird looks. This was going to be a long year, no doubt. The missions, the lessons, the new things to learn, he was ready for those.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to have Pyrrha in his life again. His old feelings still had a hold on him, as well as the remnants of the tournament, still haunting at the back of his mind. He still had three years with her. Maybe the time had come to reconcile with her, talk things out, let out everything he truly felt. But for all his training, he did not feel strong enough for that.

Just because he cared about her didn't mean this partnership would work out.


With the party coming quickly to an end, Jaune and Ren opted to be the first to retire. Jaune wanted to get his things unpacked, anyway. Naturally, when he walked into his old dorm, he got that rush of nostalgia. It hadn't changed at all.

Actually, that was wrong, it had changed in one very significant way.

"Renovations." explained Ren. "They had to tear down that wall to make another room, but it ended up getting rescinded, so instead of patching it back up, they built a thinner wall between them and let us keep it. A double dorm, basically."

And no kidding on that front. Jaune recognized his old bed though, or at least where it had once been. Now the space was replaced with a dresser and mirror, and from the contents it was Nora's. And maybe Ren's too. In fact, none of Jaune's or Pyrrha's things were in this side of the dorm.

Jaune looked at Ren, who seemed like he'd already guessed what he might say. "It was Nora's idea."

"You didn't fight her on it?"

"That's the last thing any sane person should do."

Jaune hung his head. "Right…"

"And I agreed with her. You and Pyrrha have a lot to overcome together. Sleeping in the same space will get the both of you used to each other again."

"I can't."

"You can." Ren put a hand on his shoulder. "You must. I expect a lot from you, Jaune. You're my friend… but you're also my leader. Like you said, we can't be children anymore. And a leader must swallow his pride and do what's right for the team, even at his own discomfort."

Suddenly Jaune wished he hadn't made that damn speech at all. "I guess for all the things that changed, you being right isn't one of them."

"Quite. And I have to admit, there is a selfish reason too. It's hard to have alone time with my girlfriend when you and Pyrrha are in the same room."

"Girlfriend?" Jaune asked. "Who?"

Ren raised his eyebrows at him with a half-smile.

"No way. It finally happened with you and Nora?"

"Sorry for not telling you sooner. We wanted to surprise you. The world hasn't stayed still while you were gone, Mister Champion."

"Apparently." Jaune smiled. "When's the wedding? Do I get to be the flower girl?"

"Sorry, Nora needs you to be one of the bridesmaids."

"You couldn't have convinced her against that?"

"The last thing any sane man should do." Ren patted his shoulder. "Go unpack. We won't be using our dorms much this year."


What better way to commemorate her return than to see the rooftop again? Pyrrha had to admit to being a little excited as she climbed that familiar staircase. Her hand hissing across the dusty railing, like it did every time she came up there. It always felt like her place. Her own little world on this giant campus.

Of course, she hadn't thought about the fact that one more person used this place too. So by the time she opened the door, and a blonde head spun around, it was too late to turn back.

Jaune and she stared at each other for a moment, felt a lot like she'd walked in on him in the bathroom, only there was no accompanying guilty pleasure of seeing him in the nude. Somehow, catching him sitting on the rooftop alone felt more embarrassing. "I'm sorry, I'll come back later."

Jaune stood. "It's fine. I was just leaving."

He made ready to leave, and only then did Pyrrha realize she wanted him to stay. If she was to make amends, she needed to have the strength to do it. Why not stamp it out here? She doubted there'd be many other chances like this. "Jaune, wait."

Her partner stopped, barely halfway across the rooftop, looking at both times surprised and yet expectant. She wondered if he had learned to read people's minds over his adventures across the world, if he saw her intentions clear on her face. He hadn't walked away though, that had to mean he was at least willing to hear her out. Pyrrha clutched the trim of her skirt with both hands, sucked in a breath, and spoke. "Jaune… for everything I've done, to you and everyone else, I'm sorry."

Jaune looked away. "Let's not talk about this now."

"We have to."

"Not now. Please."

They stood in silence, and she could tell he was trying to restrain himself, maybe it took a lot of strength just to be in her presence. How could she blame him after everything she'd done? In that interim of silence, Pyrrha realized this wasn't going to be as simple as a heart-to-heart, a few tears, and a swift bounce back to the way things were. She thought she knew that already, but that distance between her and Jaune, made apparent by the literal five strides between them, would take a lot more to close the distance than she thought.

"I saw that the dorm got bigger." Pyrrha said.

"Seems that way."

More silence.

"I can talk to Nora, get her to…"

"No, it's fine." Jaune tried to put on a smile, but it didn't last. "For the best that we, you know, get used to each other. Again."

She couldn't help but feel like that was a jab at her. As if he was saying, "Things wouldn't be this way if you hadn't turned into a total monster." Jaune wasn't saying that though, but he could be thinking it. And somehow the plausibility of that was more anxiety-inducing than anything her mind made up.

She looked toward the distance, the long night stretching into forever, barely any stars in that big black blanket. The only lights came from far below, from the streetlamps to the house lights, even the distant flashing green dot from the high perch of the CCT tower. She wouldn't have called the night beautiful. But it was calm, at least. "I've missed being up here."

Jaune was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, me too."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him watching over that spot too. Just existing together on that rooftop.

"I have a balcony back home, and looks over this rock face that lets me look onto the village below. I didn't use it all until I went back home. I look out of it and just… stop thinking. I'm just there."

"Hm. My room had a balcony in Atlas." Jaune hugged his arms and rubbed them a little. "So damn cold that it was always covered in ice. So I never went out on it."

"That's unfortunate."

"It sucked, yeah." Jaune said. "Probably wasn't so bad to be back home, huh?"

Pyrrha shook her head with a little smile. "I spent a lot of time with my parents. I don't think I'd done so in years. It was good. It was… needed."

"I'm happy for you, Pyrrha. Really. You look… good."

Pyrrha had no idea why that made her face warm up. People of all kinds used to remark on her beauty wherever she went. Dazzling, intoxicating, stupefying. Just a few of the many words used to describe the most beautiful creature in the world. At some point, compliments like that rang hollow. It began to matter more who was saying it to her. She felt beautiful every time Jaune looked at her back when they'd still been close. Now she felt, well, the opposite. "Did you visit home?" she asked.

Jaune nodded. "Few weeks back actually. I spent some time with my family too. My sisters, my dad." he paused. "Mom."

Pyrrha noticed Jaune's face had twisted into a frown, like he'd just tasted something very awful, or seen it from a great distance. "Are you alright?"

He seemed to snap out of his trance and said, "Yeah, yeah, fine."

Pyrrha nodded. There were many questions she wanted to ask him, so many, but one niggled at the front of her mind. Petered at the edge of her tongue, demanding to be spoken. At this point, she didn't try to hold anything back. "Jaune, can things get better between us?" Unsaid: Did he want things to be better between them?

He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. "It'd be nice, if they could. But I don't know, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha nodded. "If it's alright with you, I'll try anyway. Even if you might get annoyed with me. Even if you hate me."

"I've never been able to stop you before so… I guess, good luck." Jaune said. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye. You coming?"

"Soon. I just need a little longer."

Jaune nodded and left. She watched him go, as he opened the door, looked back one more time and she saw his face again. The same boy she fell in love with not too long ago, changed but the same. She gave him a tiny wave. "Sleep well… partner."

She saw him swallow, like he'd suddenly been hit with a wave of feeling he hadn't been ready for. "Er, yeah, you too." And he closed the door behind him, leaving her alone on that rooftop.

Pyrrha couldn't help but notice he did not call her partner in return.