Jaune relaxed as Reverie handed him a warm mug of coffee, the steam still visible. He used his free hand to accept it and cradled Vanessa with his other arm. He muttered his thanks as Reverie sat down next to him. She was a bit close, but he didn't mind. If anything, he enjoyed the scent of the perfume she wore today and even how she did her hair. Normally she was such a mess with her bangs over her eyes along with some hints of flakes of dandruff.
For once, he was beginning to see her as a woman.
"May I?" she whispered.
He gently handed Vanessa over to her, whom was careful to not disturb Vanessa from her slumber. It was odd to see this. In the back of his mind, from the depths of his heart, he wanted to see Blake holding Vanessa like this with him. On a quiet afternoon in Vale in the comfort of his apartment with nothing to disturb them... And yet, he couldn't have been happier to see Reverie here with him.
"She's so precious..." Reverie said. "I think I understand how my parents felt when they first held me after I was delivered here from Mistral."
"Delivered?" he chuckled.
"Perhaps that wasn't the best way to put it." She offered a cute smile. "I make myself sound like cargo. But hey, my parents were in tears when they first held me after that agent handed me to them at the airport. I even brought the video my parents put together for me if you wish."
"You don't mind if I watch that?"
"Well..." Reverie averted her gaze a bit, her cheeks a bit flushed. "I'm holding your daughter right now and you look content with that. We're only colleagues and yet I'm visiting you almost every day after work. And here we are now on a lovely afternoon during the weekend. I could be out doing just about anything right now and yet I choose to be here..."
Reverie scooted a bit closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder, still holding Vanessa close to her chest.
"It's been a year, hasn't it? Since we first met? Right before this angel was born..." Reverie adjusted her head and looked up, staring at him. "What am I to you, Jaune?"
"Well..." He wanted to play dumb. Act like his old self and try to dismiss the issue like he did when he suspected Pyrrha had feelings for him. Now though? Now he wanted to be a man. "I know what we share isn't orthodox. You involve yourself with my daughter's and my own life despite how we only have to see each other during work hours, yet we're not dating. If I've gathered anything from this... If I may be so bold-"
He was silenced by a soft pair of warm lips gently pressing against his own.
"You talk too much."
"It was our carelessness that led to everything, Vanessa," Jaune assured. "There's no need for you to blame yourself for this. Blake and I made our decision as adults and decided to go our separate ways."
"Answer the question." Vanessa didn't have her usual mischievous smile on her face, she didn't appear to be contemplating a joke... It made him scared. His baby girl clenched her fists and began to tremble. He tried to reach for her, to pull her into a hug, but she backed away. "Answer the question!"
Jaune flinched as Vanessa's gaze burned into him. He looked behind him and saw how horrified Blake was. Just past Vanessa was Revy, Yang, and Sun, trying their best to stay out of this. He knew she would find out about this at some point. Now that Blake was involved in Vanessa's life, she'd get little bits of information and piece things together. She was smart.
"I..." The words died in his throat. What did he do? Lie? He had no idea if Reverie or Yang told her the truth. How would she rely on him after... Hell, how could she trust him with anything if she suspected he was lying to her? He couldn't do that to her... He couldn't hurt his precious daughter. No way...
"Dad...?" she sniffed. He had only seen her cry as an infant. And on one occasion besides now, and that was when he was convinced he was going to die. To see her like this again was too much. "Please..."
"Vanessa..." he started. "Sit down."
He ushered her over to the couch and sat on the one across from her. Blake was beside him and clearly nervous. He tried to give a soft smile as some form of comfort, but he went ignored. Blake was fixated on their daughter on the verge of a breakdown.
"Did Reverie tell you how the two of us got together?"
"Dad-"
"Bear with me, baby girl." He wanted Vanessa and Blake to have a minute to collect themselves. "What do you know?"
"That you and Blake met in Beacon, something happened, then you two started going out. Next thing you know, Blake's pregnant with me and..." Vanessa fought back some more tears. "It got me thinking, you know? You and Blake were aspiring Huntsmen, so having me was the worst thing that could've happened so... I don't know! I wanted to laugh it off and try to get to know her, but it just... I don't know!"
She curled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees. She covered her head with her arms, trying to hide from it all.
"I know I'm here now, and I'm happy with how I've turned out but... Surely you two discussed things with each other. So please... Did you two consider aborting me?"
There was no getting around this. He was emotionally compromised. He couldn't figure out a way to talk their way out of this. He... What could he do?
Be a father, that's all.
"Vanessa? I-"
"I initially didn't tell your father about you," Blake said. Jaune directed his attention to her, shocked. "It was Yang that found out and convinced me to tell him about you. When I delivered the news, he was immediately offering his support, promising to not abandon me. I don't think I've ever seen him look so scared and happy..." Blake sniffed and wiped away a tear. "But I told him I wanted to abort you."
Vanessa drew in a sharp breath and no longer fought back against the tears. She made no noise, but the sight was enough to break his heart. He had never seen his daughter cry so much before. Reverie stepped forward and sat down right beside her. Vanessa immediately latched onto her and began to cry into her chest. Her cries were muffled, but enough to make Jaune begin crying as well.
"Your father begged me to not do it. Adoption, discuss with it our families... When I said I was set on my decision, he then he offered to give up his place in Beacon so that I didn't have to. He convinced me not to do it."
"Why...?" she croaked. "No... No, so that's it. You really hate me, I take it? I don't care if I'm not in the right state of mind, there's no other way to explain it. Why else would you refuse to see me until now?"
"I'm just a coward," Blake admitted. Jaune grew over the years. And along with him, he developed his skills in reading people. He detected traces of all sorts of emotions within Blake right now. And he was worried what she would say next. "If it weren't for Sun and something else, I don't think I'd be here right now either." She turned towards him. "Jaune? I wanted to tell you that I originally wanted to see Vanessa years ago. Over a decade now, but... I've miscarried five times now."
Jaune wasn't sure how to interpret that.
"You mean..." He almost bit his tongue as he forced the words out. "Was this-"
"This was merely a form of closure for me. In case I never could get another of my own." She turned towards Vanessa. "There you have it, Vanessa. If it weren't for your father, you wouldn't be here right now. I didn't want you. And I was too afraid to confront my shortcomings by meeting you. I tried convincing myself that offering you an opportunity for closure was the reason for this, but it's because I'm a failure as a mother. Nothing else."
"...you..." Vanessa muttered.
"Vanessa?"
"Fuck you." she seethed. "Does getting that off your chest make you a saint now? How the fuck can you admit to me that you wanted to get rid of me!? Fuck me for demanding answers but... Damn..." She ruffled her hair and angrily wiped her eyes. "I hate you. Get out."
"Vanessa..." he started.
"Get her out of my sight!" Vanessa broke down. Reverie did what she could as Jaune stood up, unable to maintain his bearing. "GET OUT!"
Jaune escorted Blake outside. Sun opened the door for them and Yang offered a mixed expression. She tugged his shirt a bit to keep him from leaving. He felt sick as Vanessa's wails continued.
"Don't let her leave for good yet. She doesn't get to run again."
Blake was an inconsolable mess. It was a good thing they weren't in the heart of Vale right now or else they'd be attracting so much attention. Sun did what he could for his partner but it didn't appear to do much for her. Blake finally broke down as well.
"Why do that?" he asked. "You twisted things a bit."
"Now she won't blame you or herself..." she blurted. "I know you wanted to tell a white lie, spin things so that she wouldn't get hurt, but what good would that do? It wouldn't be addressing the deeper issue. It'd still plague her, constantly mock her until she got an answer she could settle with. I'd know, Jaune..."
"That was true then? You've miscarried?"
"Yeah... I wasn't sure how to tell you. Maybe a part of me did want to see Vanessa because I wouldn't get a second chance. Maybe it was just that extra push I needed. Either way, it made me realize how shitty of a person I've been to her. I'm not her mother, but you already knew that. I just... Now she won't blame herself. That's all there is to it."
Jaune wasn't sure what to make of this.
So Blake takes all the blame and Vanessa gets some closure in a brutal way. This is pretty much the climax of this particular arc, and I don't intend to have the story end quite yet. I'm thinking after we delve into the aftermath which'll revolve around Reverie and Yang regarding their roles in Vanessa's life, I'll have a few more things to wrap things up if I don't do another arc. I already have an ending in mind along with some little loose ends to tie up.
The poll is still on my profile and I cannot wait to hear your thoughts. Update: As FOUR of you have already eloquently put it, I had the poll up despite having the final pairing confirmed because I wanted to know all of your thoughts up to this point. I'm not sure if it was because of how I wrote Yang and Reverie or for other reasons, which I wanted to ascertain through a poll. Just to get an idea. And the results surprised me. And no, I am not confirming if it is either of the two yet. The whole point of the intro for this chapter was to imply that Jaune and Reverie did discuss with one another their situation. And based on where they are now, you can start putting together how that conversation turned out and what may come of it afterwards.
I refuse to start shipping wars. So if I get another threat about this in a PM, I'm simply going to do everything in my power to keep the toxic ones away from me. I'm not allowing people spoil this for everyone else. This is literally a trivial matter. So it boggles me how two people have had the nerve to include threats.
Until next time.
-Colure
Next chapter: August 22nd
