18

The Calm

Yang found that she just couldn't sleep.

Her mind swirled with everything she had been told over the last few days culminating in was Osc- Ozpin, had told them just a few hours ago. That was another headache too. Oscar and Ozpin, two people inhabiting one body. She didn't even know what to make of it. The blonde knew she would hate having no choice in the matter though Oscar himself didn't seem to mind it so much. Just thinking of having someone else in her head made her shiver.

And then there was her biggest problem: Weiss. Her first opinion of her sister's partner was a poor one, but that couldn't be helped seeing the way that she had treated Ruby when they had first met. Over time the entire team had grown to love one another, or so she'd thought, but now the ex-heiress was keeping secrets and Blake was gone with the wind.

Letting out a sigh, Yang sat up and looked at her little sister. Her small snores signaled she was fast asleep. Her face looked so peaceful compared to the anguished expression she had been given when Yang had pressed Weiss for answers. Another bubble of anger surged but she suppressed it. It may have been a secret regarding Raven but it wasn't worth it to alienate the ex-heiress.

Yang's bare feet padded on the floor as she got up. She figured if she couldn't sleep she might as well take a walk, maybe get something to drink. She wasn't often sleepless. She passed by Qrow who was passed out on the couch in the living room. Judging from the angle of his neck, he wasn't going to have a good morning when the sun rose.

The grass of the veranda felts slick against her bare feet and she shivered in the chilly night air. Walking up she placed her elbows on the stone railing and looked out over Mistral. This was something she'd done a lot lately, observing the sight from the terrace. She took a deep breath and let it out, watching her breath crystalize.

"Yang?" She turned to see Jaune, hair wet, toweling off his head at the edge of the house. He must have seen her on his way to his room, "What are you doing up? I thought everyone was in bed."

"I could ask the same of you." She turned around and forced a grin at him while leaning on the railing.

"I was just doing some late night training." He let the towel hang around his neck and came to stand next to her., looking at the view like she had just been doing, "You okay?"

"Of course!" Her reply was immediate and he just looked at her, unimpressed, "Okay fine, no. I'm not. Happy?"

"Not really."

She just rolled her eyes at him, "I just. I feel like there are so many secrets being kept from me. What Weiss said to my Mom. And Ozpin and Qrow are keeping us almost in the dark about all of this."

"It feels like we aren't being told the whole story."

"Exactly!" Yang threw her arms up in frustration.

"It's their secret to tell, though, isn't it?"

"What?!" Yang turned to face him and he was already staring at her.

"Lots of people have secrets, Yang. That's life. Pyyrha never told me what was bothering her even though we were partners. Everyone does it. You do it."

"No I don't." She denied immediately and crossed her arms, daring him to say it again.

"Yes. You do." He said it firmly while staring into her eyes. Jaune to a step closer until they were only inches apart. This was a side of him she was seeing more and more, "Your past. Your history with your mother. You keep it from people until they either need to know or you let them in. It's not just you and it's not bad but maybe you should go digging into everything. Maybe we don't know the whole story but to we really need to know?"

She stared at him for a while. It made a lot of sense, except for where Raven was concerned of course, but he didn't need to know that. Instead of arguing she just chuckled at it. He was right but he was wrong too. Still, the advice did make her calm down a little so she was thankful for that.

Yang smirked at him, "We really do keep finding ourselves in these kinds of situations, don't we?"

"The fact that everyone keeps coming to me late at night when I'm training?"

She quirked an eyebrow at that, "No. I meant how you always have great advice for me. All the way back in Patch, it's always been you helping me out."

"Eh. That's nothing, Yang. I have seven sisters so I guess I just have experience settling feuds between them. Being the guy stuck in the sea of estrogen isn't easy, you know."

She couldn't help it and she laughed. Like she hadn't laughed in a long time and she just felt so relieved. Yang couldn't believe how much Jaune helped her relax. Oh the sarcasm was great. She'd always thought of him as Ruby's friend and never realized how cool he was. Not in the Neptune way but rather in that he treated her like another person. A normal person, she hadn't once caught him staring at her chest. At least not when she hadn't intended him to stare.

He was easy to be around and with all of those other traits she found as a positive, like his loyalty to friends and family as well as his dedication to his training, she could see why Pyyrha had fallen so hard for the guy. Why she herself had.

And that was it wasn't it?

She, Yang Xiao-Long, had feelings for him, Jaune Arc. Yang looked him up and down. It was a far cry from how he'd been in Beacon, awkward and uncertain. Now he was more sure of himself, a lot more confident. He may not have been the strongest but it no longer felt like he was holding everyone else back, and he probably knew it too.

What Ruby had told her after the events at Kutsuri came back to her, "Hey Jaune, I don't think I've properly thanked you for what you did for me. At Kutsuri." She added when he looked confused.

"Oh that. I…." He trailed off and struggled for the words he wanted to say, "I didn't want to lose you. I've lost Pyyrha. Never again. Those were the thoughts going through my head. I would've tried to do that for anyone."

Yang's heart started racing. He didn't want to lose me? Idiot don't get bent out of shape you know what he meant. Even still she felt the heat creep up her neck and a devilish thought entered her mind.

"I still want to thank you Jaune, because you did save my life." Before she lost the courage Yang stood on her toes and leaned forward. She felts his lips mash against hers, her hands rested on his chest for balance. She felt him stiffen in surprise under her hands until he relaxed. His arms came up instinctively around her hips and she enjoyed the sensation of his large hands enveloping her but she pushed away mere seconds later, cheeks aflame.

Yang turned and strode off, back to the house, before turning around an affixing him with just one lilac orb, "Remember this, lover boy. Yang Xiao-Long doesn't pussy-foot around. I go after what I want. Right now, that's you."

The blonde made it all the way to her room before collapsing onto her bed. Ruby was still slumbering and she was glad for that. There would be no end to the questions and excitement if her sister had found out what she had done.

She'd kissed him and she could still feel it on her lips. It wasn't quite like the other times she had been kissed, back in Signal. Those had been clumsy and rushed on the other person's part. This one was different. She had initiated it and judging from his reaction, instinctual or not, he had not been against it, either.

She bit her lip, remembering the way his hands had curled around her hips. That had felt good, way too good. As she laid in bed she could feel the weight of his hands could still be felt. Her mind imagined what it would be like to feel those hands all over and her legs started rubbing together.

For once she cursed sharing a room with her little sister.

"What. Just. Happened?" Jaune said aloud to himself. He'd been standing there like a statue for around a minute after Yang's golden mane had disappeared back into the house. He felt like his bafflement could be justified considering what had, in fact, just happened.

Yang had kissed him.

To his surprise it had tasted of peaches. Why he was surprised, he didn't really know, but he was. Jaune's first kiss had been from Pyyrha, cherry he remembered, and that had been rushed. The school was under siege and there had been chaos all around them. The two moments were similar in their own ways.

Both had been a surprise to him, leaving him unable to react. This one, however, wasn't going to leave to something terrible. He grimaced and pushed the thought away. It was what had happened, he accepted that. But that didn't mean he liked to dwell on it, not that Yang had reminded him of that.

And speaking of which, what the hell was he going to do about this? She had basically come out and said she liked him, right? Just thinking back on what she said to him caused the embarrassment to return and heat to suffuse his cheeks. That was one way to tell someone how you felt. Now the only problem he had was what was he going to do about it?

He liked Yang, he really did. But he didn't know if that extended into feelings for the woman. She was a joy to be around, that was for sure. Despite the constant teasing she was cheerful and a rock for the group. She treasured her family and that was something that he admired. Being a big brother he found he could understand her very well. Her feelings towards Ruby as well as the feelings the younger sister had herself.

His own family was full of chaos and he could imagine Yang fitting right in. Her blonde hair would have blended right into the family. Jaune could just see the kind of trouble she and Emeraude, his second oldest sister, would get into.

He shivered at the thought. Maybe he shouldn't let them meet.

But when he actually considered it, she seemed like she would be at home with his family. Em would be over the moon at having someone to make trouble with. His father would probably double take at another blonde woman but ultimately would accept her.

Jaune's mind flashed back to the moment she walked away, when one eye stared at him and a smirk could just barely be made out. I go after what I want she had said. He didn't doubt her either. The kiss still lingered and he put his fingers to his lips, the tingling sensation remained. He could still feel her body pressed against his and now he realized how much he wanted to feel that again.

The blond had to shake his head vigorously to dispel the imagination. He needed to get to bed and try to stop thinking about this. He could try and talk to Yang tomorrow, right now he needed sleep though his lower have reminded him that maybe he shouldn't sleep quite yet.

He growled under his breath as he went into the house towards his own room.

The black feathered bird watched as the last blond went inside the house, fixing it with one of its red eyes. With a rustle the bird took off and flew in the direction of Haven Academy.

Blake stood on the deck of the ship, the churning of the waves as they slipped through them in the dark matching the churning of her stomach. There was going to be a battle. People were going to die. She'd never liked the violence they had sought when she was a member of the White Fang and she still didn't like it it. But this was for a good cause, and not like the 'good causes' of the past. They were genuinely going to save people, non-violently if they could, and she could rest assured that the people going with her wanted the same.

"You should get some sleep. It's gonna get crazy tomorrow." Sun said as he approached. There were two cups of tea in his hands. From the smell of it as he handed it over to her it was calming chamomile tea. It was one of her favorites, her mother must have told him, though she couldn't honestly be mad over such a thing. He had brought her tea after all.

"I keep thinking of what's going to happen. People are going to get hurt, on both sides. And I don't even want to think about what if Adam succeeds."

"We'll stop him Blake. We'll stop the White Fang and bring it back to the right path that it never should have left." His hand was placed comfortingly on her shoulder and she could feel his warmth.

"Thank's Sun. And I don't think I've really said it but thanks for everything. You may not have been the friend I wanted but you're the one I needed."

He chuckled at her words, "Well I've got a promise to your team to keep after all."

"What? You mean you weren't just stalking me?" She had a small smile on her lips to show she didn't mean anything by it. Truth be told he'd been an extraordinary help, she likely wouldn't have made it without him. He had asked for nothing in return.

"Hey now." He held his hands to his chest in mock hurt, "I'll have you know not everything is about impressing you."

She couldn't help it and let out a small laugh. He really was just like a male version of Yang, just without the puns. Maybe he was an improvement then?

"Seriously though, Blake. What I'm doing here. All of it? It's because it's what I feel is right. But if you're impressed along the way well.." He smirked at her and she couldn't help but laugh again. She was very grateful he had followed her, as weird as that sounded. At first she had thought him some lovesick fool who was following her out of some dogged determination to woo her.

That misconception had been dashed rather quickly. While his feelings for her were rather obvious, he never made any kind of move. Nothing to deepen their relationship or try and get closer to her. He had just remained at arms length, determined to support her if need be. And she'd needed it.

She'd been too focused on other things to realize how much she missed her team but miss them she did. Having him here helped her hold herself together. After they wrapped up everything with the White Fang then she would go and find her team, find her partner, and apologize.

But first she needed to prevent the fall of Haven. Adam would be there, like he had the last time, but this time she refused to run. She would face him if necessary but he wasn't why she was going. No, what was truly important was preventing the disaster. She sighed and drained the last of her tea, feeling the fatigue of the day catch up to her.

It really was going to be a big day tomorrow and everyone needed their sleep. She bumped shoulders with Sun, "Thanks for the tea Sun."

She placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and then sauntered away, "One way or another. Everything ends tomorrow. Go get some rest yourself."

"I don't know why we needed to meet this late." An exasperated Leo Lionheart sat down at his desk, glowering at his sudden guest.

She stood there in her red and black outfit, one hand on her weapon. He didn't know how they had gotten someone as strong as her under their thumb but she gave him a bad feeling. Though it wasn't like they all didn't. He hated this.

Every time he saw Salem's face through that abominable Grimm it gave him chills but also reminded him of why exactly he was doing this. Salem was going to win. Ozpin had been fighting her for hundreds if not a thousand or more years and he had never won. Never would.

"I've just got some details we need to work out, Leo." She leaned over the desk to stare into his eyes, a predatory smirk coming over her face, "Qrow is here in Mistral. I want you to bring them to Haven tomorrow night. Do that, and I'll take care of the rest."

After he nodded vigorously she stood up straight and backed up. A red portal opened up behind her and she stepped through it, vanishing like a bad dream though he knew better than to even entertain the thought. Leo slumped forward and hung his head into his hands.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

A/N: And here we having. Moving into the finale of V5. My story is going to extend beyond that, so no worries. It's not gonna be one weird rushed ending or something like that. I know we are on the cusp, with V6 being released next month, but I don't plan on having it influence what I have planned for after Haven content. So this is about to be where the big divergence is going to be.

I really want to take a moment to thank you all for all the positive support you;ve shown me as I struggle and make worthy chapters for you. This foray into extended storytelling has honestly educated me on writing in ways I hadn't even thought of before I started this project. I hope my improvements can be shown in my new story, Old Man Jaune, which had been released for a couple weeks but has a ton of readers already.

I've been over the moon about having anyone read my stuff at all, actually. I always knew I COULD write but all my stuff was written privately with me only submitting a few one-shots on some forums (Like back when I was gearing up to play SWTOR). I've always been somewhat confident in my writing but I also knew what I lacked as well.

Thanks to all of you, however, I'm starting to learn and in turn I hope to entertain you all better. I will also work on improving my writing for LR as well.