Sorry for the delay getting this chapter out, hopefully this chapter contains some worthy pay off to make up for it.


"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled in a mixture of concern and apology as she realised just how hard she had hit him. She whacked him playfully all the time during training sessions, mostly to drive home the message that he needed to keep his guard up, but she had never hit him hard enough to knock him off his feet before. Had she just gone full Yang, letting her anger and frustration do her fighting for her?

Jaune sat up slowly, panting heavily while rolling his shoulder to assess the damage, raising his hand in surrender while he tried to catch his breath. Throwing Milo and Akouo on the grass, she ran over to him, putting her hand on his good shoulder. He let out an exasperated breath, followed by several choice swear words. As his aura kicked in, his breathing slowed back to normal. His face a mask of dismay, she could see he was disappointed in himself as he looked down at the grass not willing to make eye contact.

"Jaune are you ok? I'm sorry I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

He didn't raise his eyes from the grass before him. "Please don't", he muttered bitterly, "don't make me feel even worse by apologising." Pyrrha could see he was already starting to spiral into one of his bouts of self-contempt. "Why do you waste your time with me? I'm hopeless as a fighter, all it takes to defeat me is a tuft of grass. How on earth can I be expected to lead our team? I don't even know why Ozpin lets me stay here at Beacon, he should have kicked me out the second he found out about my fake transcripts..." He trailed off, his eyes burning a hole in the ground beneath him.

Seeing him deride himself like this was always difficult to watch. "You're too hard on yourself Jaune. Seriously you've made such great progress in the last few months, and not just in sparring, but as our leader and tactician too. Sure, your methods are a bit unorthodox sometimes but it's part of your charm. I'm glad you're our leader and I'd happily fight any battle at your side."

Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, he was in deep and she had to find a way to snap him out of it. She moved her hand from his shoulder and placed it on his cheek, at the touch he raised his head slightly and looked up at her. "Jaune I don't consider my time with you a waste. If anything, well spending time with you has been the best thing about coming to Beacon. Whether we're training or studying, or even dancing, being around you is always the highlight of my day." At the word dancing, she could see Jaune's face brighten ever so slightly. "Jaune, about before, in our room, I'm..." Pyrrha started but he cut her off.

"No Pyr, you're not the one who should be apologising here."

Despite the interruption, she decided to continue anyway, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have overreacted before. It's just, when you brought up Weiss earlier, well it just hurts to see you throwing yourself after her again." She paused, knowing she'd just let far too much slip. "I shouldn't have said that, it's just I care about you so much Jaune, and I hate to see you get hurt chasing someone that doesn't deserve your affection." Her voice broke as the last few words left her lips, a lump forming in her throat, she hoped he hadn't noticed.

As they sat there, the silence hung between them like an impenetrable wall, Pyrrha's could feel her heart beating agonisingly slowly in her chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so forward, I'll try to bury my feelings and not mention this again." She looked away so he wouldn't see the tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Wait, you actually thought I was still chasing Weiss? And you were upset by that?" Jaune looked up at her, his melancholy expression slowly replaced by a surprised grin. It spread across his face as a realisation dawned on him. He shook his head in mock disbelief.

"What are you..." she started to say defensively but he put his hand on the side of her face.

"I never would have believed it but Nora was actually right" he was still shaking his head. "Pyr I was only going to see Weiss to give her back a book she lent me for an assignment." He stopped shaking his head and looked directly at her. God, she loved looking into his deep blue eyes, they always had a calming effect on her. It was like starring into a stormy sea, she felt goosebumps rise on her skin as her heart began to speed up.

"You should know..." He paused, his confidence waning slightly, but he continued anyway, "Weiss isn't the girl I'm interested in, I haven't been for a long time and I'm not sure I ever truly was like this. Ever since the night of the dance though, well, I've been crazy about someone else... Someone who's been right in front of me this whole time, someone I've always been afraid to share my true feelings with in case I ruined what we already have."

Jaune trailed off, as he looked into her eyes his face was suddenly mortified as he realised he'd just laid his feelings bare to her. His emotional shield discarded on the grass next to his real one. His face turned a deep scarlet and he quickly looked away.

"Wait... Are you saying, since the dance...?" Pyrrha's mind raced, processing this crucial new information, her heart was beating so fast she worried it might explode. It was as though a light had suddenly come on, all the pieces of a puzzle had clicked into place. "Oh Jaune!" she finally broke the silence with a sob, tears of pure joy welling up in her eyes this time.

She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him close, their faces only just separated. She could smell his signature Jaune scent, the same scent she got from wearing her favourite hoodie, the hoodie that she might have kind of permanently borrowed from him. They were so close now she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face, the tension in the air sizzling like static between them. They sat there for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes, both hesitant to make the next move.

She couldn't believe it, he wanted the same thing, how long had they both been dancing around each other, too afraid of risking what they had to admit that they both felt the same way. Her heart was beating hard in her chest now, the deafening thuds conducting all the way to her ears.

She was Pyrrha Nikos, she had battled countless formidable opponents before without any hint of fear, yet making a move on Jaune had her petrified? No, she fought back against the resistance to act. This was not the time to lose her nerve, this was the time to fight for what she wanted so badly.

She brushed his mess of blonde hair away from his face then moved her hand down to his cheek. He responded by putting his hand on her waist, an excited hum escaped her lips at the contact. "I've wanted to kiss you for so long Jaune" she whispered trying to sound as seductive and confident as possible even though she felt anything but. Jaune was grinning, she wasn't even looking at his mouth now but she could tell from the way his eyes lit up at the corners.

"It's like you read my mind..." He closed his eyes, leaning closer, she did the same. There was a slight pause as their noses brushed together ever so lightly. No turning back now she thought, rallying the remains of her willpower and closing the last of the distance.

As their lips touched, Pyrrha felt as if a surge of electricity was racing through her body, straight into her heart. The energy was interacting with her aura, the sensation gave her goosebumps on the back of her neck as she felt her hair stand on end. Her lips tingled at the point of contact with his, she had to fight to contain a gasp of delight at the sensation.

There was no time to enjoy the sensation, her mind was racing. This was finally happening she cheered internally, she was kissing Jaune, and more importantly he was just as enthusiastically kissing her back! She wanted to run around in circles dancing, to scream in happiness to anyone who was listening.

Not realising how far her concentration had lapsed, she slipped forwards, bumping their heads together quite unflatteringly. Jaune pulled back slightly, looking dazed. 'Oh no' she thought, 'No no no, please don't tell me I've ruined the moment.' She tried to give him a sheepish smile, but her worries were quickly elated as Jaune began chuckling mirthfully.

He grabbed her by the waist tightly, playfully pulling her on top of himself as they rolled together on the grass. She ended up on top, she could get used to this position and the power it afforded her over him. He leaned up and kissed her again, a playful peck this time, before laying back down on the grass with a look of smug satisfaction. She lent down, pinning his arms to the ground and retaliating with a much deeper kiss. He responded enthusiastically by pulling her even closer to him, both letting out small giggles and sighs between kisses. This exchange of affection continued for quite a while until they were both in need of a break for air.

Pyrrha lay on Jaune's chest, letting out a contented sigh as she idly ran her fingers along his chest plate. He gently caressed her spine, in response she ran her hands through the back of his hair playfully. Despite the slightly cumbersome nature of hugging in their armour, neither wanted to let go. Neither could believe the luck of their current situation but neither dared question it either.

Finally separating, they lay together in silence on the grass, basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun in pure bliss. Neither wanting to be the first to speak, to sour the mood with reality. Jaune's face was smattered with a look of warmth, happiness and affection, and there was a glimmer in his eyes as he starred at her that melted what was left of her heart.

"I'm not sure I have the words to describe how happy I am right now." Pyrrha began tentatively. "I've been crazy about you for so long but I was too afraid to let you know how I felt in case you didn't feel the same way." There was a long pause, Jaune just sat there, smiling at her inquisitively, waiting for her to continue. The smug bugger Pyrrha thought, he was enjoying this and he wasn't going to let her off easy.

"You've been my best friend and partner since we started here together and I've felt guilty this whole time for wanting more than that." She stared into his eyes, pleading for him to say something, to let her off the hook.

Mercifully Jaune finally obliged, leaning against her he put his hand on her thigh, and again she felt a slight jolt of energy as their skin touched. "I never in a million years thought I had an actual shot with you Pyr... If I'd known... well I should have made a move much sooner" he said with an audacious smile. She batted her eyelids back at him in mock playful innocence, hoping to hide the fact that she was dying inside knowing they could have been doing this all year.

"I've never met a girl like you. You're easily the best Huntress I've ever fought alongside, yet somehow you're so modest about it. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met, not to mention the most beautiful." She could feel the heat in her face and knew she must be visibly blushing at this point, he continued anyway, he appeared to be enjoying the effect he was having on her. "But to me, you're so much more than that, you're smart, funny, kind and caring. Yet you can kick my butt in battle with ease, as you just so kindly demonstrated" he chuckled gesturing to the ground beneath him.

She felt like she was melting from the inside out. She had never been good at taking compliments, and now Jaune, the boy whose affection she had fought so hard for all year, was pouring his heart out to her. She wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time, but settled for hugging his arm tightly instead, smiling as she looked up at him. Jaune was shaking his head in disbelief again. "I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have by my side, if this is what you want too, then I'm all in, but I just, never... Wow..." He trailed off, she felt like her face might rival her hair for its red hue.

His smile was so radiant now it brought Pyrrha more warmth than the afternoon sun on her back. "You are everything I want Jaune" there wasn't even a hint of doubt in her voice.

"That feeling is mutual" he interjected, "So how do we handle this?"

She paused for a minute thinking. "I think it's probably a good idea that we take things slow. You mean too much to me and I've waited this long, I couldn't bear the thought of rushing things and ruining it now."

"Ha! If this is what you mean by taking it slow I think I can deal with that" he shot back with a wink, nodding in agreement. He still appeared to be in too much shock as to his current luck to properly process any new information. "What do we tell Ren, Nora and the others then? I'm concerned Nora might actually explode when she finds out?" His face grew serious at the idea of telling their friends.

"Well we certainly don't want any of our friends exploding" she giggled, using the pause to think about it for a moment, "maybe we hold off telling anyone till we've worked it out ourselves? For now, it can be our happily little secret" she shot him a not too cheesy wink. Jaune did his best not to laugh, he failed miserably.

As they stood up Jaune looked back up at Beacon, "So, should we head back to the tower?" he asked.

"What, you think I'm done kicking your butt for the day?" She teased, picking up Milo and Akouo and pointing them at him tauntingly.

Jaune feigned a wounded look, then sighed as he picked up Crocea Mors and Shielthy, it had been too much to wish for that this day would end on such a happy note. Both taking up their battle stances, they began sparring again. Only now there was a lot more smiling and laughing involved.