06/11/2001…
Graduation was here, after a short early morning rehearsal just to make sure everyone knew the motions, the time had finally come at last. The school had rented out a local sporting arena for the event, as it did every year, and had been prepping it for days with the school colors to make sure everything was right for what was to be the culmination of twelve long years of the students lives as they were finally getting their final award for making it through the horrors of public school.
Jaune was, of course, naturally nervous. He had more than walking on a stage, shaking his stepfather's hand, and ending his high school life at long last on his mind. Ruby had texted him last night that she had finally received the last acceptance letter for the final college she applied for.
Today… He would know what their destinies would be.
As Jaune took a needed second to catch his breath and to try and gather his thoughts, he found himself reflecting on how the last few years, everything he and his friends have all gone through, the up's and downs. But more importantly, he thought back on the last few days, and the advice he had received from his friends as to how to handle the very possible separation of Ruby and him.
"It's funny how when I stepped into that old brick building for the first time, I didn't even want to make friends, let alone fall in love with that goofy deaf girl that was upset over being shot down by that jock ass. But here we are. I didn't want to fall in love three years ago, and now I don't want to lose her." He thought to himself.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you have any other talents that could be turned into a career? I mean Ruby is a freaking genius It turns out when it comes to designing things, she has a head for mechanics the likes of which none of us in our group can imagine." The voice of Neptune played in his head from the morning Job a few days ago.
"I mean you don't think I don't know that? I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm a damn good artist. You said that once didn't you Ruby?" Jaune thought to himself.
[You're pretty good, but why are you only in black and white?] singed the memory of Ruby's curious sophomore face the day they met.
[Actually, I'm also colorblind.] Jaune remembers replying in his memories, god it was so long ago, he was so hesitant to back then.
Jaune smiled at the memory, something about today was making him feel very introspective. Maybe it was because everything was moving forward so damn fast that he wanted to hold on to what he was about to leave behind.
"Well yeah of course… that doesn't make me any less scared of the idea of us drifting apart, or the idea that one of us might meet someone else."
"Hey, I'm rooting for you two…" Yang said with a warm smile on her sweat-covered face "but what will be will be you know?"
Jaune smiled and whispered to himself "What will be, will be."
[About… three of four years…] Jaune remembered Ruby signing a few days back when he asked how long they would potentially be apart.
[I mean… It's not like you're going to be out of my life forever right?] Ruby then signed with a forced smile on her face.
"It's going to really suck not having you here to hug and be with you know?" Pyrrha said to him almost three years ago to the day.
'God damn you Pyrrha... We said 3 years and we could be back together. I told you I'd try to be on AIM as much as I could be. I'm sorry my fucking dial-up took so god damn long to set up.' Jaune sees his hands desperately typing into his laptop as he stares at the IM screen of a dead girl, right along with her little White Mage avatar.
"Damn the last time someone told me that, it almost killed me didn't it," Jaune said, staring at the gymnasium roof.
"Ruby can become a doctor anywhere, at any school. Don't let her fuck up and let her fear cost her you." Jaune remembered Weiss saying. "Make her remember what she has and how lucky she is to have it."
Jaune smiled, it was hard to believe it wasn't all that long ago when the pair of them couldn't stand each other over there, entirely too long, breakup. Now Weiss seemed to have become entirely too invested in the pair.
"I just… I don't think I can follow that advice. My god do I want to if it came down to it, but to hold her back. If she's able to make it down her chosen path, I can't even imagine the number of people she's going to help." Jaune thought as he remembered listening to Ruby sign his eyes off in pride at how well those leg braces she made Weiss ended up working out.
Jaune remembered just yesterday as Blake told him "I just think you don't want to admit quite how far you're willing to go to pursue your dream."
"Even at the expense of Losing Ruby?"
"You've faced certain death for us. I know deep inside you're going to want the best for her."
Jaune closed his eyes and signed thinking "It's true, I want the best for her, even if that means it's not with me. I know all of our friends want the best for all of us. I sure as hell want the best for all of them. They all deserve to have wonderful and full lives."
Jaune looked up at the roof as he softly said "You owe us that much at least" To whoever was up there listening.
Jaune stared for a moment at the ceiling before he heard a cough next to him. Jaunes eyes darted to the fact of the person looking at him to only see Alan looking at him. "You okay? You're looking a bit overwhelmed over there."
Jaune smiled as he pushed the train of thought he was having off to the side as he said "Just got a case of the nerves dad."
"You don't call me dad that often," Alan said with a smile as he pulled up a seat next to his stepson.
"Well this is one of those times I kinda need a dad, you know?" Jaune said with a faint smile.
"I know how you feel, I have to be honest, I was a royal mess at my graduation. That was supposed to be the happiest day of my life up to that point." Alan said.
"What happened?" Jaune asked, confused.
"I got drafted the week before. Good old Vietnam." Alan said.
"Well when you put it that way, I don't really have anything that bad to worry about," Jaune said.
"Maybe not, but you're staring down an uncertain future right now as well." Alan said before he paused and chuckled for a second "Well if you ever opened that acceptance letter you'd know for sure, but I get why you're holding out."
"I should go find her and get this over with," Jaune said.
"I think you should, but before you go…" Alan started to say.
Alan shot a sincere smile at his stepson "I just wanted to make sure you knew, exactly how proud of you I am."
Jaune blushed a bit, getting praised. "I guess it's just high school right?"
"Maybe for most of these kids, but for a small group of the brightest souls, I have ever had the pleasure to see pass through the halls of my school. It was never just highschool." Alan said.
"Dad I…" Jaune started to say.
"I think the worst moment of my life was not the day I received that draft letter, it was the day I walked into your kitchen and saw you and Ruby scared shitless on the floor with blood all over the place," Alan said. "You have no actual idea how proud I am of you that you're no longer the scared broken child I saw that night."
"I haven't always done the right thing though, I've made choices I regret now looking back on them," Jaune said.
Alan reached over and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder "Listen to me, I want you to understand this more than anything. I'm not asking you to spill the beans here, but if you take anything I've taught you to heart, take this last bit of advice to heart."
Alan smiled and simply said "Everyone has things they wish they could have done differently. I know I do for sure. But regret is a sign that you're a better person than the person who made those mistakes. you're a better man than the boy you were back then."
Jaune felt a smile and a weight lift off of him for a moment "That helped more than you can imagine dad."
Alan leaned back in his seat and pulled out a small flask and took a small drink "Well get going then, she's waiting for you."
Jaune smiled "Yeah I know, but I'm kinda scared you know?"
Alan nodded and held the flask out to him "Take a sip of this then before you go."
Jaune reached over and took the flask and took a small drink of it. "You know, technically I'm still one of your students for at least a couple more hours right?"
"I won't tell anyone if you don't," Alan said quietly.
Jaune laughed and stood up "See on the stage dad."
Alan smiled "You to… Son."
Jaune wandered for a few moments before he saw her, they were both wearing their graduation gowns and had their hats on. Jaune could see the pride in her face from across the room as he walked over to her.
Jaune caught Ruby's eyes as they instantly lit up seeing him as he walked over to her. In unison, they both pulled out their respective envelopes as Jaune sat at the table next to her.
Ruby signed [I'm not ready for this you know.]
Jaune leaned in and kissed Ruby with a certain level of passion normally saved for first or last kisses.
Ruby smiled and blushed hard when they finally broke away.
[It won't have to mean the end of us you know, you said that a couple days back.] Jaune signed back to her.
[Open yours first please.] Ruby said not commenting on what Jaune had just said, for some reason this bothered Jaune more than anything.
Jaune took a sharp inhale as he carefully opened his letter from the art college and looked at it for a few moments. "Dear Jaune Arc, after careful consideration and a review of the portfolio of your artistic talents…" Jaune started to read out loud before he trailed off and his face turned serious before he sighed and re-read one line out loud "We look forward to seeing you on our campus this fall."
Ruby smiled and hugged Jaune whispering "Congratulations" in his ear.
"I guess I made it," Jaune said hiding his fear deep in him.
Ruby's entire face beamed with pride as she said back "I knew you would."
Jaune smiled, with that in place, it was now time to see if his genius girlfriend would be able to get her pick of schools.
"Well…. It's my turn" Ruby said with hesitation as she reached over to the first of her letters and carefully opened it up pulling the letter out. Jaune watched her face as she carefully read every word of the letter before she looked at him and smiled "Well, at least WSU is on the table."
Jaune fist pumped in the air with a smile. As she considered the next pair of letters. Two schools in Idaho she no longer had an interest in attending as she read the two letters side by side. After she paused and looked at him both carefully she shook her head in disappointment "Damn, Both of these are rejection letters"
"I fail to see how that's possible considering this is you," Jaune said.
Ruby's face scrunched up as she fought back the fear in her heart "I don't know… but it makes me nervous of this last one."
"What's that one for?" Jaune asked.
"I… I kind of applied to the university in Seattle as well." Ruby said. "This was the one I waited so long for since it was so last minute."
Jaune helped his heart race "I thought the idea of going across the state scared the hell out of you?"
Ruby smiled "It really does, but you'd be there so I think I'd be okay. I mean you've moved so many times I'd know not to be worried unless you were."
Jaune smiled before Ruby kept going.
"That being said, I put some thought into this, and I don't think it would be fair if I made you wait four years for me to graduate." Ruby said somberly "I mean if this is a rejection letter as well."
Jaune's eyes shot wide as he stammered "Wait… Y-your breaking up with me if this is a rejection letter?"
"I'm being realistic here, asking you to be part of a long-distance relationship for at least four years while I'm off in Pullman is… it'd be selfish of me, and I know you're not willing to ask me to do the same thing," Ruby said.
"You don't have to ask Ruby, you know I'd do it with a smile on my face," Jaune said. "I mean damn girl, you saved my life. You have been the best part of me for years now."
"I… I know Jaune but… What if you meet someone out west, and I'm not there. What if the two of you start dating and she ends up making you happy, what if it's the other way around, what if I meet someone?" Ruby asked.
Jaune looked off to the side as he pondered it for a moment. "In the incredibly unlikely event that someone enters my life and becomes the kind force for change in it as you have been?" Jaune smiled "Then I'd be willing to have that talk with you."
Ruby blushed and asked, "Have I really been that important to you all this time?"
Jaune took both her hands and smiled "You saved me, and I don't just mean that time in the kitchen, you have always inspired me to be my best. I Mean I was a fucking mess when we broke up."
Jaune thought about it for another moment and smiled at a realization "If you were to tell me three years ago that a goofy deaf girl from one of the most sparsely populated counties in our state, would come to mean more to me than Pyrrha did…"
Ruby smiled as she teared up "Well now I just feel like a total bitch for suggesting it. Of course, you mean the entire world to me to Jaune."
"It'll be okay…" Jaune said, "The world feels smaller today than it did three years ago."
Ruby took her hands back and held on to the letter as she stared at it for a moment, her eyes staring at it before she slid the letter over to Jaune "God you read it, I'm too scared right now."
Jaune took the letter from his girlfriend and he could also feel the weight on his very being pressing down on him as he opened it and gently took the letter out of the envelope. Ruby watched his face carefully as he carefully read every word of the letter. Once he was done he let out a deep sigh and looked up at her.
Ruby practically shook with fear as she asked "W-What does it say Jaune?"
Jaune shook his head "Well we're going to have to get you a raincoat hon." Before a tearful smile forced itself onto his face "It rains a hell of a lot more in Seattle than it does here."
Ruby's breath came out in almost panicked breaths before she stammered in utter shock "Wait, are you saying I was accepted, that we can both go together?"
Jaune said as the entire weight of the last several weeks melted away as he spat out in a relieved sob "Yes, God yes Ruby, You were accepted!"
Ruby leapt from her seat as she threw her arms around Jaune and screamed out in joy at the top of her lungs catching the attention of those around them for a moment.
They stayed like that until it was time for both to split off for their graduation ceremony.
Jaune sat in with a group of people he didn't really know well, all the boys sat on one side, and all the girls sat on the other. There was no rhyme or reason to the order they were placed. But Jaune could feel the energy, the excitement of the group he was in. Everyone had in their own way fought for this exact moment, the payoff to a lifetime of public education.
Jaune tried to look back to see if he could see his mother and sister in the crowd behind them with little luck as he listened to the speech Alan had just started.
"Ladies and Gentlemen in the audience tonight." Alan's voice carried over the crowd "Today is, ostensibly, the day for the men and women of the graduating class of 2001."
"But today is also a day for you, the parents and loved ones who had supported these, well it's silly to call them children now, but these young adults on their long journeys to this day."
"It was a journey fraught with peril and challenges for each and every one person sitting before me today. Some of these soon to be former students had a harder time of it than others, but each, and every student sitting here today, persevered, and was changed into people who are ready to face the future ahead of them, no matter where that future will take them, with heads held high, and with confidence in themselves."
"Today, we say goodbye, to the boys and girls of the graduating class of 2001, and welcome the men and women that have become into the world, as they set off on their journeys. Some of you will travel to faraway lands, and see sights unimaginable to others. Some of you will not travel far, and find your tiny corner of the world far closer to home."
"But I believe in all of you. I believe that you will rise to the challenges that will come at you after you leave this hall today. I believe you will defeat these challenges and become the people who were always meant to be."
As Alan's speech ended and he started to give instructions to the gathered crowd of proud parents who were clapping over him, to please wait till the end to applaud, Jaune found himself wiping the tears from his eyes.
One by one, they were called up to receive their diplomas or at least the empty sleeve their real diplomas would eventually be placed into.
Yang and Neptune were the first of the gang to walk up. As the pair were called up together, Jaune could see the teary-eyed face of Yang as she walked up hugging Alan and thanking him before she and Neptune both walked down. Neptune threw a fist into the air in triumph as he stepped off the stage.
Blake and Weiss were next. While normally they had boy and girl pairings go up, Alan had made a special exception for the pair as a single booming voice called out for Blake. Jaune already knew that was her father shouting from the stands. He honestly couldn't blame the man. Weiss wiped a single tear from her eye as she and Blake both walked off the stagehand in hand.
Well, it was pretty much an open secret at that point they were an item.
Ren and Nora were next, the pair walked up together. Jaune knew Ren would be shipping off for basic in just a little over a week. But somehow he just knew in his heart of hearts that the pair were going to be just fine.
Finally, almost at the very end, Jaune and Ruby were called up to receive their diplomas. As Jaune walked over to Alan he took his hand and leaned in close to the man and whispered a short "She got into the University of Washington."
Alan smiled as he handed them both their diploma's and Alan said to Ruby "I knew you would Ms. Long."
Ruby just giggled as she gave Alan a hug as well and the pair stepped off the stage.
The second their feet touched down, this era of their lives was officially over.
And a new one was finally ready to begin.
And with this, the Penultimate chapter of this story is done, this chapter, and the graduation, were kind of meant to be the sort of emotional climax, not of the recent arc, but the entire story of these kids highschool lives. I actually found my self getting kind of emotional writing this as this is kind of a big ass deal for me as well, to have something that I started almost two years ago in march reach this point. I'm not going to get all melodramatic and claim that I saw the characters like they were my kids. But writing scenes out that I wasn't sure I'd ever get to the point of writing when I started this fic... Well it's a good feeling.
As for what's coming next once this story is done? Well I have two novel projects that I at least want to take the time to finish one of before the end of the year. I mean I wrote what's going to end up a 95 chapter fic, how hard is one novel going to be by comparison.
I do have other idea's for Fics as well I'm tempted to explore, I doubt I'll return to Dust Eater, But the Universe I kind of created here has more stories that could be told, Even if it's not focusing on the main seven characters here, I had started a STRQ fic as a prequel to this I might pick up, but rather than make it a short five part series like I had planed, maybe a full novel length 20 chapter fic to let it breathe.
The one thing I don't see myself doing, is writing anything that tries to hug canon, I mean I didn't really enjoy that part of writing Dust Eater, and being free to let my mind churn idea's for this story was more satisfyingly to me to say the least.
But I'm getting a bit long winded here and honestly I wrote that entire chapter in one sitting so my hands are cramping from being overused.
Dragonlord: You really have been here since the first chapter, and don't think for a second I forgot that at all. It is nice to see the character's share their thoughts for the future, and there may be a chance to explore that more down the road, Having Blake not really know what she wants to do going forward, is probably the most real thing I could write for someone who's on their way out the doors of school.
ZHSteven: That was a damn way to sum up the story, I'll have to give you that, I recall Jaune's mother talking about helping Jaune put his own demons back on the leash all the way back in chapter 15 or so.
Jayfromthe904: It has been a hell of a ride, and honestly I'm kind of sad to see it come to an end as well, Like I said above i'm not sure i'm done with AQMW yet, I keep thinking about where the cast is going to end up, How penny is doing in New York with her father. I don't know if I want to go out of my way to focus on Jaune and Ruby's college years, but it's not off the table either.
WinterBreath062: Oh hell yeah I've played Dead Space 2, That is still one of my favorite game series out there. and when you mentioned Dead Space I instantly knew what particular moment in chapter 31 you were talking about because I kind of shamelessly ripped off Issac's hallucinations in part for what I call "Pyrrha's Wraith"
I wouldn't expect quite the fast turn around time on the next chapter as you guys got for this one, I actually plan on writing the epilogue and the last chapter at the same time so I can stagger the two of them out, also my hands hurt like hell from the sheer amount of typing I did lately. But as always, Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you next time.
