Really feels like it's been a while since I updated, probably because of the holiday and the week I took off. I probably should have given notice of my absence but unfortunately I've been pretty busy with giving presents and working myself to exhaustion to think about it. Still I would like to apologize to you all nonetheless and will strive to do better next for what's to come with the new year. I can't say I'm planning anything special for it but if anything changes you all will be the first to know. Now then, on to the story.
Cinder returned to the living room long before jaune finished cooking and did as she said she would. The tv flickered on and she sat in the rooms recliner while the vales city news reported on more dust robberies that occurred within the week so far. It was nice to know that the plan they had been working on was close to boring fruit.
Cinders moment was interrupted when a pleasant smell she recognized came from the kitchen. She quickly got to her feet and followed her nose until she came to a table set neatly for two. "I should have guessed you'd remember how long it took to cook your favorite food" jaune said as he placed her plate of food on the table in front of her.
Truthfully cinder only came because her stomach and nose guided her here without her own input but she wasn't going to let jaune know that. The blonde moved with practiced ease next to her chair and pulled it out for cinder to take a seat. Jaune was acting like a butler serving his mistress, funny that this behavior was born because of cinder herself and all the demands she expected of him when they were kids.
The raven haired woman was a bit surprised at how fast jaune had completed her meal before she realized that she probably spent more time looking around then she thought. A subtle shake of her head later and a smile spread across her face at the familiar gesture. Cinder took her seat and allowed jaune to push her forward gently until she was at the table.
Jaune stepped away for less then a minute before returning with a thin flute of red wine just for her. Cinder took the glass and sipped a small amount to wet her throat before placing her glass next to her plate. "If I didn't know any better I would have accused you of trying to make this a date" she said with a small smile.
Jaune brought his own food to the table and emptied a can of Dr piper soda into his empty glass "I think you said you'd stab me with a burning sword if I ever tried something like that" he countered. Cinder smiled knowingly "and the fact you haven't been stabbed yet means you took my words to heart. How nice". Jaune chuckled lightly before the two fell into a comfortable silence while they ate.
Only the sound cutlery gently scrapping together was heard until cinder finished her food and took her glass of wine in hand before leaning back in her chair. She gently swirled the red liquid for a moment before taking a small sip. A small smile graced her lips a she took a moment to fully enjoy the pleasant feeling of a full belly and the peaceful evening she'd been granted.
After what felt like a long moment, cinder looked across the table to the blonde to see him doing just the same as she. Jaune was supposed to be her enemy and yet here they were eating, drinking and relaxing with each other just like when they were kids. Cinders eye's looked down at her glass as her mind remembered the third person who shared in their childhood.
Vernal would more than likely want to rip out and choke her with her own intestines at this point for what she did. But did she feel bad for what she did? The pit in her stomach was answer enough.
Cinder finished the rest of her wine off before putting her glass back on the table "tell me what you want" she asked as she leaned back in her chair. Jaune didn't respond for a few seconds before he met her eyes with his own. There was determination behind his blue eyes but also a deep sadness "what I want is for this to be over with" he answered with a sigh.
Jaune pushed his hand through his hair before pulling it downward along his neck as he closed his eyes. "What I want is to go back to the days when we had each others back and didn't want to stick in a knife in it". Cinder winced at his words. "There's a lot of things I want but the fact that you and Alec stand before me as my enemies makes that all but impossible".
Cinder watched as her foe smiled at her weakly "so let me ask you, what do you want? And if you think all this is really worth it"? Cinder knew her answer but the moment she tried to speak nothing came out. First her voice died, then doubt wormed it's way into her decision.
Jaune waited patiently for her answer but judging from the myriad of emotions flashing across her face, he was sure she didn't even know. "Cinder" the raven haired woman met his gaze "we are both working on the same side, towards the same objective so why fight me"? Cinder sighed deeply before fixing a stern glare "we aren't on the same side, not since your loyalty has shifted to these friends you've made here".
"Just because I'm friends with other people doesn't mean I've turned my back on what needs to be done".
"And what happens when your so called friends begin helping Ozpin? Do you think you can kill them? That you can push your feelings for them aside when the time comes" cinder pointed out. Jaunes face twisted at the unpleasant thought "they don't know the truth. I can use that to turn them away from Ozpin".
Cinder through her head back and laughed "that may help with the old wizard but what about the family that supports him? What of Qrow Branwen? Even if you told the truth to his offspring do think she will side with you over her own father"?
Jaune glared at his old friend but couldn't deny her words. It was true that if ruby had a choice she'd choose her family over him just like he was sure yang would as well. "I concede your point cin" jaune admitted reluctantly.
Cinder placed both her hands on the table "some sacrifices have to be made jaune and I'm not sure your willing to to pay them when the time comes". Jaune didn't refute her words and sat silently. "Maybe if you were still the boy I knew I'd have been willing to trust you but seeing how sentimentality as dulled you conviction, I just can't take that chance".
The blonde watched as his friend turned away from him and spared a few parting words before she left. It wasn't how he thought the conversation would end but she did have him doubting his own resolve.
Jaune slammed his fist on the table in a brief moment of anger before taking a breath to calm himself. His hand opened and he stared at his palm for a moment while he thought back on cinders words. For the most part she was right and he had become compromised due to his feelings for his friends.
Jaune leaned back in his chair and remembered the kind of person Alec trained him to be and wondered if going back to that way was better for him. He shook his head and let a sigh escape his lips "I doubt I could if I wanted to" he said aloud. Sure he could still kill as easily as cinder but just thinking about treating his friends like they meant nothing to him hurt.
The blonde stood up and began cleaning off the table. He'd have to think of another way of doing things because going back to what he was would probably break something he couldn't fix. It went without saying that the outcome of such a change scared him more then he wanted to admit.
A sudden ping alerted jaune to a message his scroll received. The blonde fished his scroll out and read through the message before sending a message of his own to a certain individual who could help him.
"Looks like it's time" he said as he looked over the message Alec sent him once more. The time of their meeting was only one hour from now and the location was at the docks, the same docks juniors spies said Roman would be at for his dust heist. It could have been a coincidence but knowing the people he was up against would suggest otherwise.
A trap made sense, one he'd probably have walked into had it not been for the change in leadership. Alec taking command was probably the reason cinder was in a bad mood before they sat down to eat. Jaune smiled at how hard cinder tried to hide her emotions during their time together, it was to bad she failed so badly.
After cleaning the dishes and locking the door before he left, jaune headed back to Beacon to prepare for the meeting with his former master.
/
Hanging out with saph helped lift yangs spirit more then she thought it would and that gave her the courage to wait for her partner at the landing platforms for the bullheads. Unfortunately for her, she didn't expect him to arrive so quickly. Jaune obviously didn't expect to run into his partner and froze in place at seeing her.
"Yang" the look on his face as he said her name had her heart beating twice as fast. Jaune couldn't help but remember the feel of her lips and turned away in a attempt to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. The show of emotions gave yang hope that had her pushing forward "jaune...I was hoping we could talk".
"Talk...right".
The two headed away from the bullheads to a spot where they could talk privately. Neither knew what to say or what to do. Eventually it was yang who broached the subject they were both embarrassed to talk about. "Jaune I care about you more then a normal friend" she blurted out.
It wasn't her proudest moment and truthfully she wished she could turn back time to smack herself for it. Although blunt as it was, it did get the point across, so she steeled herself for the rejection she was sure to get. Time ticked by but the soul crushing response she expected never came, in fact her fellow blonde seemed lost for words for a good moment.
"I...see" he said slowly. He wasn't sure of how to respond at times like this because he'd never experienced such confusion and conflicting emotion before. On one hand there was blake and how he felt about her but also what she said about their relationship. On the other was yang and the sudden kiss she pushed on him.
The fact that she kissed him wasn't the problem, it was that he returned her kiss with one of his own that made it so confusing. Jaune met yangs eye's with his own and felt something far different then what he felt for blake. For blake it was a sense of peace he'd never known but with yang it was butterflies that made him want to smile just by seeing her face.
"I can't" he finally forced out. Yangs face fell slightly and she felt her eyes water but instead of leaving she asked just one question "why"? When he didn't answer, yang asked again "why can't you"?
Again jaune failed to answer her question which only sparked anger in his fellow blonde. Yang blinked back the tears that threatened to break free and stepped into jaunes personal space. Her hands took hold of his collar and brought him down so they were face to face.
"Just tell me why" the hurt in her voice brought a frown to his face. "Because I have feelings for blake as well and I don't want to hurt you by being indecisive so mmph-" jaune didn't get to finish because yang began to kiss him. Jaune tried to pull back but yang wouldn't let go of his shirt.
Jaune tried to speak but the second he opened his mouth, yang deepened their kiss. Eventually his resistance came to a end and the next thing he did was pull her closer into himself. Yangs fingers loosened around his collar before her hands snaked their way around her fellow blondes neck.
After what felt like hours (which was probably only a minute or two at most) the two blondes broke from their mauling to catch their breaths. In yangs mind she couldn't stop replaying the fact that her crush admitted to having feelings for her but did her best to block out the part with blake. For jaune, his mind was completely blank as he rested his forehead against the woman who stole his breath away.
"You...don't...play fair " he said In between pants. A large smile formed on yangs lips as she pushed her lower half against jaune "fairness is overrated" she said proudly before going in for round two. Their battle of tongues resumed once more, neither of them realizing that just a little ways off a pair of amber eyes watched them with jealous fury.
/
It was a shame jaune had to leave but thankfully she was granted some time to cool off otherwise yang wasn't sure what would have happened. Just the thought of doing that with him brought a large smile to her face. "You know spying isn't something you should be doing to people trying to share a moment" yang announced to the shadows.
Stepping out of the shadow of a nearby tree was blake. She didn't say anything but the death glare she was giving the blonde was more then telling. Yang crossed her arms under her breasts and gave the cat faunus a satisfied smirk that drew a scowl from blake.
No other words were said but it was clear to the two of them that they were rivals and that only one was going to win. Blake backed into the shadows once again and fled from view. She was going to need another talk with ruby if she was planning to beat her cousin. Although blake was gone, yang spared a few words for the shadows surrounding her "a xiao long always wins, remember that" she said before returning to her dorm for the night.
I'll say this ahead of time since I don't know how this will turn out until after I post this but do to a problem with the site I've had to change how I write this chapter a little.
Relationships will always be a confusing process, especially those with romantic interests since your pretty much fumbling along half the time. yang and blake going head to head for the boy they like is something I didn't really plan but seeing as i wasn't exactly sure who jaune should ended up with so I decided to go with this. I know it's late and early but Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!