I was originally gonna post this chapter in the anthology, but given the time it takes place in, I thought it was better to just make it the second chapter to this story. Takes place shortly after Jaune and Neo leave Saphron's house. It's a topic I've been wanting to explore for a while with this ship.
Cover art - Seshirukun
Papa Arc always warned him, 'Jaune, there comes a time when a man is forced to make the most important decision of his life, and no amount of planning could ever prepare you for it.'
Jaune had been a fool for never taking the warnings seriously. Back then he had been a naive little spurt, ignorant to the cruel reality of the world. He never had to make choices where people would suffer if he chose the wrong one. But now he understood the full weight of his father's wise words.
And it was too late to ask for help.
"Excuse me, sir, do you need help?" asked one of the store assistants. "You've been standing there for a while."
It was supposed to be simple. He had gone into the shop expecting to buy a bag of chocolate buttons. But when he saw the entire sweet aisle, his mind went blank. Too many choices. How was anyone supposed to know exactly what they wanted with this much selection? His stomach was in the mood for everything.
"I'm fine," he mumbled. His hand reached out for the chocolate buttons. "I think I'll have…" he pulled it back. "No, not that. Maybe…" He reached out for a different bag, only to pull it back again. Everything was calling his name, but none could make their voice loud enough.
"I don't mean to rush you, sir, but we close in three minutes," the assistant reminded him.
"Oh Gods," Jaune groaned. There was never enough time. And he had a train to catch too. But what could he choose that he and Neo would both like for the journey? When it came to sweets, she was an extraordinarily fussy eater. Her sweet tooth's desires changed almost every second. She was less predictable than the weather.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. He did the breathing technique Ren taught him. Inner peace soothed his mind, giving him focus and direction. When he opened them again, he looked at the assistant with a gaze of fiery purpose.
"I think I'll buy…"
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"Don't judge me for this," Jaune said as he walked out of the shop. "There were too many to choose from and I couldn't decide. You'd've done the same thing." In his arms was one of every bag from the sweet aisle. He made lots of mistakes when he wasn't thinking, but he tended to make more when he was. His teeth would suffer along with his bank account.
Jaune shuffled the bags around. It was like trying to carry water. It was only a matter of time before they all came spilling out of his arms. "What do you want most?" he said. "Whatever you want, you carry. Oh, and please don't pick the buttons. I want those."
He didn't hear an answer from her, not that he expected to. But he didn't expect to look around and realise he was talking to himself.
"Neo?" he called out. She wasn't where he left her when he went inside. "Neo?" he tried again, a little louder. He walked down the street and turned the corner. No one was there either. He thought about calling her name out again, only to stop. "You'd be better off waiting for the buildings to answer you, Jaune," he grumbled to himself.
Neo was gone. He had left her alone for five minutes and she had disappeared.
At night.
In the cold.
And they had a train to catch.
He didn't blame her. Vanishing acts were totally in her character. He should've known better than to expect her to stay put. He was making a lot of stupid decisions today.
"I don't have time for this," he growled. He let all the bags drop as he fished out his scroll and texted her. His fingers were already turning red with numbness, and made pressing the buttons difficult. He stared at the screen and waited, mist hissing from his mouth from every annoyed breath he took.
He wasn't worried about her safety - quite the opposite. This was Neo. He'd feel less irresponsible losing sight of a pack of Beowolves in the city. There was no telling what mischief she could get up to on her own, and he had no idea where to start looking.
Relief gave him little warmth when his scroll buzzed and showed a message from her. Gellingway Square it read.
Jaune frowned and began typing. What are you doing there?
No response.
"Figures," Jaune sighed and made his way to the square. He was too grumpy to care about all the sweets he had left behind. If Neo was sightseeing, she had chosen a bad time to do it. He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes before the train arrived. That gave him enough time to find her, providing she didn't use her semblance to disguise herself as a lamppost, or something annoyingly stupid like that.
A brisk breeze that felt like winter's bitchslap blew past his face. An angry shiver ran up his body. He forgot how cold Argus got at night. Being closer to Atlas than Vale or the rest of Mistral, the frigid kingdom shared some of its climate with the city. It was a special kind of cold. 'Asshole cold' he dubbed it. The kind of cold that felt alive. The kind that purposefully turned your blood to ice because yes, it knew what it was doing, and yes, it was an asshole.
"Alright fine, Saph, you win," Jaune shuddered. "The hoodie was a bad idea." He felt the top of his head tickle and saw the first drops of snow begin to fall. The streets were deserted. Everyone smart had gone inside where it was nice and toasty. How great for them.
Gellingway Square was as silent and empty as the rest of the city. Jaune's only company was the sound of his chattering teeth. "Neo?" he tried again, hoping she would hear him and come running. He had no idea what she was doing here. The square was nothing special. It was just a garden with a couple of benches and hedgerows. A nature spot. Nothing to get her attention.
"Neo?" The snow was starting to wrap the flowers and bushes in a white blanket for the night. It flickered and danced in the glow of the street lights. Had he been in a better mood, he would've found it pretty. But there was nothing pretty about how numb his fingers and ears felt. All he wanted was to find Neo and go home.
He took a left and finally saw her standing beyond an archway near him.
"There you are," he sighed. "What are you doing out here?"
She didn't acknowledge him. Her eyes were distant and focusing on something else.
"Hey, I'm talking to you," he said. Something was wrong. Neo never ignored him, not even when she was grumpy. As he made his way over to her, he noticed the flowers looked especially rich and colourful compared to the others in the square, as if they had been planted recently. "What's going on? Why did you run off back at the shop?"
She still wouldn't look at him, even when he was right next to her. He followed her gaze to see what she was looking at.
His heart stopped. A new chill spread through him, crueller than anything Argus could blow his way. For it brought with it the deceptive warmth of something familiar.
"Oh," he croaked. The last thought his mind could dribble out before it turned itself off. He hadn't been ready for this. He never could be.
Standing before him was a statue, a tall bronze marvel surrounded by a beautiful audience of flowers, and just as fabulous as them. Free of any bruising from rust, it was a masterpiece, the result of many hard hours of love and care. A new and fabulous addition to the square, but Jaune wasn't fooled. This was no mere attraction. There was only one reason for this statue to exist.
The statue was of a girl, as marvellous as the bronze she was carved from. Strong and towering, equipped with a rifle and a shield. She was made to be a mighty figure. A brave warrior. Many people would be intimidated by such an imposing individual. Many stupid people anyway. The people who only knew her by name and reputation. The people that would only look at the statue, then leave without giving it a second thought. Jaune knew that if you looked at the way she was holding her shield, you'd know she was a warrior who sought to defend, not destroy. That was always the true source of her strength.
A plaque rested by the platform on which the girl stood. The snow had covered most of the words, not that it mattered to Jaune. He didn't need to read it to know who it was.
Pyrrha.
This was Pyrrha's statue.
Jaune felt a lump the size of a fist in his throat. The cold hadn't frozen everything out of him yet, he still had some emotions left in him to be exploited. A rush of memories bombarded him, from their first meeting all the way up to their last. So many unspoken words tried to burst free; apologies most of all. He had rehearsed the words in his head for so long, pleading for her forgiveness. But they died on his tongue. He practised them in silence, and in silence they would remain.
She was smiling. Curse the artist, they had done too good a job. It was exactly how she used to smile at him. Any minute now and it would widen, he could feel it. She'd say hello and ask where he had been all this time. There was so much to talk about. How he wished she could see him through those unblinking eyes. But it was like the video he had saved of her. She was there, and yet she wasn't. She was right in front of him, and yet she seemed so far away.
It was only another memory. That's all he had of her now.
He took a step forward and his shoulder brushed against Neo's. He looked at her, having nearly forgotten she was with him. She wasn't looking all sunshine and rainbows either. Misery loved company it seemed, and he didn't love being miserable. Seeing as there were now two people standing in silence looking sad, he did best to break the ice.
He looked at the statue again. "It's bronze?" he said. "That isn't right. Pyrrha never came bronze in anything. But I guess a gold statue would've eaten the city's budget up. Either way, she would've hated this. She was always embarrassed by all the merchandise made of her. We used to tease her by buying some and filling our room with it." He chuckled at the memory. "Of course, it was never a good idea to tease a champion fighter who could kick your ass into tomorrow. But that's not who she was. She always took it in stride."
It stung remembering the good times, perhaps even worse than the bad ones. They were wonderful moments he knew he could never relive with her. But for now, anything was better than focusing on how it all ended.
"You would've liked her," Jaune said. "She was one of those types you just couldn't hate, even if you tried."
Neo, without taking her eyes off the statue, pursed her lips and nodded slowly.
"Is this why you came here? You knew this was here, didn't you?"
Neo held her hand out flat and shook it slightly. He clearly wasn't the only one feeling troubled. Neo was a naturally small girl, but she had never looked tiny before. Body language was her way of talking, and he could almost hear the whimpers through her shrunken demeanour.
He could guess why.
"You haven't had to feel guilty about anything in a long time, have you?" Jaune asked. The honest question carried almost the weight of a full accusation.
Neo shook her head. Even if she wasn't looking at the statue, it was unlikely she could meet his eyes.
"You feel it now though," Jaune said. "Well, that's good. It's what decent people feel. The more it hurts, the more you care. Sucks, I know, but that's how it is. It's gonna stick with you for a while."
Neo's hands fumbled out a message. "We never wanted to get involved. We didn't have a choice. It was either them or us, and I was always gonna choose us. It wasn't personal."
Jaune could only offer a hum. Even if Neo meant everything to him, he wasn't in the mood for answers like that.
"When Roman died, it was like half of me died with him. I was less of the person I was. I blamed Cinder because it was her fault we were even at Beacon. Then I met you, and you helped take away the pain, because you could relate to it. But you wouldn't be feeling the same thing if it hadn't been for me. I care about you. I hurt you. This is my fault."
"How long have you been thinking about this?" Jaune asked.
Her hands hung low like a head ready for the chopping block.
Jaune sighed. "Well, there's no denying it. If you hadn't attacked Beacon, Pyrrha would still be alive. If you were hoping I'd say you did nothing wrong because you feel bad about it… sorry. Can't do it."
Neo nodded again.
"I don't blame you for her death though. I blame Cinder... and I blame me. Cinder because she killed her, and me for being the result of it. I know she shoved me in that locker to save me, but she wouldn't have had to if I was stronger. I should've been there for her, but I was so useless. I was her leader. I'm not supposed to be a goddamn liability!"
And on the darker days, he blamed her for not thinking him strong enough to help. Toxic thoughts. Grief was a poison that went straight to the brain. The only cure was facing the next day. Again and again. Always the next day.
His little outburst finally had Neo looking up. Concern for him had overridden her feelings of shame. Jaune grimaced. "Like I said, it's gonna stick with you a while."
He sucked in the crisp air and took a moment to appreciate the statue. It was nice to see Pyrrha smiling again. She smiled a lot in the video, but it was clear there was something on her mind when she recorded it. Here, she was frozen in a state of happiness, sharing it with all who passed by her. She always spread good vibes. As in life, so too in passing.
Jaune felt his own mouth twitch into a smile. He walked over to the snow-covered plaque and wiped it clean, revealing her name. Invigorated, he no longer felt the icy bite of the snow. "You know those transcripts you sold me?" he said. "I nearly screwed it up the second week I was at Beacon. I told her straight up that I was a fraud. Everyone was gonna find out sooner or later, and I was having such a crappy week that I thought, 'Screw it. Might as well get it over with.' She could've easily gone straight to the teachers about it. I wouldn't have blamed her. It's not like I deserved to be there."
He stood back. Her statue and her name shone proudly for everyone to see. Ever the champion, ever the idol.
"But she didn't do that," he said. "Instead, she stuck with me, trained me to be not just a better huntsman, but a better person too. She saw something in me that was worth fighting for. She believed in me. A whiny, awkward, self-absorbed cheat, and she - a genius huntress with fame and respect - never gave up on me." His voice gave a little croak. "I never had that before, not even really from my parents. That was who Pyrrha Nikos was. She always saw the good in people."
He put his hand on Neo's shoulder. "And that's why if she were still here, she'd see what I see in you. She'd understand why I'm not giving up on you either."
Neo looked at him in disbelief, like he was an illusion of hers that had come to life.
"Whoever you were back then, it's not the same person I see in front of me. The old Neo wouldn't have stopped to look back, to regret. She wouldn't have tried to be better. You're already better than her."
"You're stupid."
"You're only figuring that out now?" Jaune laughed. "I'm a guy with zero fighting skills, who tried to sneak into an elite school of hunters. Of course, I'm stupid. I'm the biggest idiot on Remnant. Maybe that's why I believe in you so much. But I know what I've seen, and what I've seen is someone make the effort to do good. It makes me proud, and I know Pyrrha would be too."
Neo's hands were trembling from everything but the cold. "I don't deserve you."
"No, you don't. You made me come all this way in the freezing cold, because you wanted to feel sorry for yourself. But it's okay, you're way too hot to be in my league, so I guess we're even now."
Even she had to snicker at that.
He went over to her and kissed her warm cheek. "Come on. The only thing Pyrrha couldn't tolerate was a pity party," he said. "We should go before we miss our train."
Neo nodded and took her arm in his, resting her head on his shoulder. As they walked, Jaune took one last look at the square. His thumb rubbed the red sash tied around his waist. They were leaving the statue behind, but Pyrrha was still with him. They were partners after all. They always had each other's backs.
He still didn't know what she saw in him back then. He searched for it every day, but could never find it. Whatever it was, it was something she felt deserved to live. That was enough motivation to make him meet the next day head-on. Maybe he'd eventually discover it on one of those days. If it was anything like what he saw in Neo, it had to be good.
"Oh, by the way, all the sweets are gone. Just thought you should know."
