'Sup everybody? I've recently tried writing using storm sounds for ambience. I usually like having something to listen to, but sometimes I get so distracted trying to find the 'perfect song' that I end up not getting anything done! I still switch back to music every now and then, but it's been pretty helpful to have background sounds that can draw me into my own little world without being too engrossing. Weird thought, I know, but I felt like sharing haha.

This chapter has a few extra scenes thrown in that didn't happen in the actual show, but I felt justified in adding them because: 1: It was fun, and 2: Pyrrha really does jump around in her emotions quite a bit in the span of few minutes. Seriously, she goes from seething mad in the dorm room to just disappointed in Forever Fall. I wanted to fill in those gaps a little bit and make the story a little more mine. So with that in mind, take everything you see with a grain of salt!

On that note, I want to take this moment to remind everyone that everyone's favorite spartan isn't necessarily a reliable narrator. She cares a lot about Jaune and the rest of her friends, but her life experiences and preconceptions can get in the way of seeing things clearly. For example: I was actually writing a whole segment that I had to scrap because I realized I was letting my own views on Jaune's character bleed in, views that Pyrrha wouldn't necessarily think were accurate. I personally like the idea that Jaune is very selfish in a selfless way, an idea I shamelessly stole from Coeur. I like to think that Jaune is often so selfless because he's genuinely more scared of losing or disappointing someone than he is of dying (Don't know if you can tell, but precious baby-boi Jaune's conversation with Raven in Coeur's 'Relic of The Future' about why cowardice is strength is legit one of my favorite moments in media). When everything goes sideways, I think you could count on Jaune out of everyone to keep going because he's a coward. He's more scared of standing by and doing nothing while people he loves dies than he is of dying himself; You can't break what's already broken. I'm not sure Pyrrha would agree with me, however, so I ended up reworking that segment to be a little more accurate to how I think Pyrrha would view him.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to dump on Jaune or anything. I very much think that he's intrinsically kind and brave, I just think that his courage comes from a different place then most traditional heroes; If anything, I think it makes him a better one. Many heroes would be crushed if they failed, unable to stand back up again and keep fighting when their worst nightmares come to pass. Jaune wasn't. He was broken sure, he was hurt, but he kept going. Jaune's a hero in my eyes, but even more importantly he's one I feel like I could count on because his motivations are intrinsically human.

Anyway, sorry for the long soliloquy! I ended up splitting this chapter again (It's no longer synched with the actual episodes, REEEEEEE), so you'll have one more chapter before we get out of Jaundice. I've got about four pages of it as of right now, and hope to have it out by next Sunday.

I think I'm going to start updating on Sunday afternoons so swing by if ya see me, yeah?

Next week will hopefully be Jaundice part 3, then Life's Grays Part 2, and finally Wizard Things Chapter 2.

As always, thank you so much for giving my story a read, you all have no idea what the time you've given me means to me; I may or may not still squeal like a child whenever I get a review, I ADMIT NOTHING!

Stay healthy and happy.

-Amaratsu


It wasn't supposed to turn out like this…

She regretted it. She regretted it more than she could put into words, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to him. He tried a few times as the days slipped by, but she just… she couldn't. Not yet. Not until she sorted through whatever was going on in her mind; In her heart.

What were you supposed to feel when the person you cared for the most turned out to be a fraud?

It was… confusing, something she'd come to associate with Jaune. Intellectually she knew any lying had been more on her part than his—it wasn't as if he'd ever really pretended to have been a capable warrior—but she couldn't shake the sense of betrayal. He hadn't lied to her per-se, and it wasn't like he'd kept his secret from her for long, but it still hurt.

Pyrrha was angry. Angry with him, angry with the world, angry with herself; That was the crux of the issue, after all, she'd made him her problem and she knew it. She also knew she'd forgive him for the transcripts, she'd seen how hard he was willing to work to make his dream a reality. He'd said this was what he'd always wanted… how far would he have gone if he'd just been given the help he needed? Pyrrha was selfish, she was coming to accept that, she didn't want to lose him just because he'd lied.

It didn't make it hurt any less.

She was avoiding him; She wasn't proud of it, but she was. Pyrrha wasn't sure how she was supposed to face him when everything inside her such a tangled mess. He had a habit of making her feel things she'd never felt before; She couldn't even deny it anymore. Just like the lies she'd told herself to avoid thinking about Jaune's lack of skill, the ones she told to hide her feelings had crumbled down around her.

He'd tried to talk to her once or twice, his face haggard and tired, but she… she hadn't been ready.

She regretted that.

She'd thought at first that he was just giving her space. It was only when Ren and Nora started asking subtle questions that she realized he'd started to avoid them too. She told herself it was nothing, but when Ruby pulled her aside to ask why Jaune was avoiding meals, she truly began to fear.

Then she saw Jaune with him.

He was trying to play it cool, trying to pretend that everything wasn't terrible.

He'd always been a terrible actor.

She could read his resignation in the droop of his shoulders, his despair in the watery smile that wobbled across his lips. Cardin slapped him on the back with a hearty laugh as he sent the smaller boy staggering forward, gesturing towards his seated friends with a look that was as expectant as it was threatening. She saw Jaune's fists clench, hands shaking, but he simply nodded miserably and walked towards the lunch line with slumped shoulders. She felt like she was going to be ill.

He knew. She didn't know how Cardin knew, but he did. Jaune had never ingratiated himself to the boy before, he'd just taken the abuse with an air of resigned expectation. There was only one reason why he'd be doing the bully's bidding now.

Pyrrha saw red.

She vaguely heard the concerned words of her friends and teammates before her hands slammed down on the table and she rose to her feet. She was certain they said something about that, but their voices faded into indistinct chatter as she marched across the cafeteria towards her target. Said target gave her a grin that was far too satisfied as she stopped in front of him, "Why, if it isn't Beacon's favorite little Miss Perfect. How can me and my team help ya?"

Pyrrha wasn't in the mood for games, "What did you say to him Cardin?" She asked, her voice deceptively calm.

Cardin gave his team a look of exaggerated confusion, "I'm not sure what you're referring to?" He said in a saccharine voice practically dripping with disdain.

Pyrrha ground her teeth, her hands balling into fists. Outwardly, she fought to keep her expression calm, but something must have leaked through because Cardin's cronies were looking more and more nervous by the second. "You know what I mean." She said shortly, her voice dangerously low.

"Do I, now?" Cardin growled, starting to push his way out of his seat before pausing. Pyrrha felt a satisfied smirk play its way across her face as the bully glanced around them, making a few of the onlookers look away. They had attracted the attention of a good portion of the lunch room, most of which seemed to be waiting with baited breath for the armored boy to finally get what was coming to him, and she could tell that he knew it too. It wasn't a good situation for him. They were both perfectly aware of exactly how any physical altercation between them would pan out, meaning he couldn't go with his normal approach of throwing his weight around. She had him.

Jaune threw an arm over her shoulder, "Hey Pyrrha!" He said loudly, his voice turbocharged with false cheer.

No. He wouldn't, he couldn't actually—

"Sorry Cardin, buddy, pal," Jaune said, keeping that forced cheer going even as his smile turned into more of a grimace, "I forgot to tell my partner about how we've been getting to know each other. I hope you understand that this is entirely my fault."

Pyrrha twitched—shooting him a disbelieving look as she opened her mouth to rebuke him—only to go silent when his fingers dug into her shoulder desperately. "Please." He whispered; She could feel his hand shaking.

Cardin looked around the lunchroom again and this time everyone went back to their lunches, the show evidently cancelled. "You know what? Sure thing Jauney-boy." He said, his voice neutral even as his eyes burned with barely repressed anger, "Why don't you tell me all about it later, we can keep… 'getting to know each other', as you put it." Without another word, the bully pushed himself up from his seat and skulked away, his cronies scrambling to follow.

Jaune let out a quiet breath only to freeze when Pyrrha knocked his hand off her shoulder and stepped back to stare at him, her expression betrayed. He couldn't meet her eyes, but she wasn't having it. "Follow." She said shortly, turning on her heel and marching away. For a moment she worried that he wouldn't listen, but the she heard him shuffle after her with an exhausted sigh.

They didn't walk far, just far enough to find a hallway that was empty. Pyrrha stared out the window, not willing to look him in the eyes as his steps finally stopped several feet away. She wouldn't lie: the distance hurt. "Why?" She asked quietly, carefully keeping her expression neutral, it was all that needed to be said.

"He knows about my transcripts, I—"

"No," Pyrrha interrupted, "Why did you stop me?"

She watched from the corner of her eye as Jaune looked away, "Pyrrha… I—I don't think you understand…"

"Then explain." Pyrrha said shortly.

Jaune was trying to catch her eye, she knew he was, but she wasn't ready to see him yet. He let out a frustrated breath, "Look, Pyrrha," He started hesitantly, "This isn't exactly my first time being bullied. I told you I had seven sisters, right? It's kinda inevitable that some idiot's gonna get turned down get pissy about it."

He hadn't told her about his sisters, but she didn't really see how that was relevant. She said as much.

"It's relevant," Jaune said slowly, clearly trying to keep a lid on his frustration, "Because my sisters always tried to step in too, and you know what? It always got worse." He blew out a breath, and she watched from the corner of her eye as he paced irritably, roughly rubbing a hand through his hair. "Look, I appreciate it, really I do, but what do you think antagonizing them is going to do? Now Cardin's just angry at almost getting humiliated and I'm the one who's going to pay for it."

Pyrrha opened her mouth, a hot retort on her tongue, but he beat her to it. "You can't always be there to step in." He snapped, "I have seven sisters, Pyrrha, and not even they could manage it."

"So you expect me to sit back and do nothing?" She tried so very hard to keep her voice level, but even she could hear the incredulity in it.

"Can't you just trust me?!" Jaune was practically pleading now, "Pyrrha, I've lived with this before, I can do this."

Was that supposed to convince her? Pyrrha didn't say anything, but she knew he'd read it on her face anyway when his expression dropped.

"Fine." He said. There was something in his tone that hurt just to listen to, some dark mix of crushing disappointment and anger, "Just—just stay out of it." He swallowed, something like fear flitting across his expression before his features hardened in determination, "That's an order from your team leader."

Pyrrha's jaw dropped, "Jaune, you can't—"

"I know what I'm doing." He interrupted, but he didn't meet her eyes, "I can do this."

There was real anger in her voice now, she knew there was, and she meant to hold it in but she just— "You can't just ask me to do nothing!"

"I can handle this. I—I know I'm not—" He seemed to choke on the words for a moment, "Enough." He finished lamely. "Trust me, I know; But my family has always been more than that, been heroes, and I know that if I just had a chance—" He cut himself off again and shook his head angrily, "I know what I'm doing. they—you keep saying you want to help, and I know you do, but you guys—you won't always be around to protect me! I know you don't think I'm good enough, or smart enough, or skilled enough, but I never will be if everyone keeps saying I'm not ready and refusing to give me a chance!"

Once again, Pyrrha had the strong suspicion (pretty much confirmation at this point really) that Jaune wasn't directing all of this at her. It was the only reason she managed to bite back the angry words at the tip of her tongue and modulate her tone into something more reasonable. "Fine." She said, her voice tight, "If you feel so strongly about it then I won't intervene, but you should still just talk to us. We're your team, we'd understand."

"You guys already have enough on your plates, I'm dragging you all down enough as it is."

Something hot and angry flashed through her gut, but she bit the inside of her cheek hard to stop it from erupting past her lips. Jaune must have seen it in her eyes though, because he couldn't meet her gaze. "I know what I'm doing." He repeated again, his voice quiet and hollow, "You guys'll be fine, you're incredible, you don't need to get weighed down by my problems.

Pyrrha's mind flashed back to the growing silences that pervaded their room, to the way Ren and Nora seemed to retreat further and further into their own little bubble of two as Jaune's absences grew more common. Your team needs you she almost screamed. But she didn't, damn her weakness. It was too close to what she really wanted to say (I need you) and she wasn't ready for that. Not—Not yet. Not now.

"Fine." She said instead, the word slipping through her lips like vitriol, "Do what you want."

"Pyrrha, I…" There was regret in his voice, pain. It wouldn't be enough; she could tell that his mind had long since been made up.

"It's fine." She said, her voice shaking slightly, "You'll be fine after all, right?"

She fled; She wasn't proud of it. He reached out after her, she felt the metal on him grow near, but he stopped before he could make contact. Damn his weakness.

Damn her too for her own.

/*/

Pyrrha used to love Beacon at night. Looking over the school, seeing the soft glow of lights and life. It helped center her after a long day, helped her remember that there was more to the path she'd chosen than the rush of blood that came with challenging her limits.

Now though, it just felt like just another reminder of her isolation, of being trapped outside as life and love happened just on the other side of a thin plane of glass.

The silence in their dorm room was penetrating, broken only by the creak of bedsprings as Nora bounced away. Very early on in the year Ren had tried to quietly discourage Nora from her habit, not wanting to break a piece of Beacon furniture. He'd eventually surrendered when Jaune pointed out that the beds were made for growing Huntsmen and Huntresses, and could likely take the abuse. At the time, Pyrrha had been little more than quietly amused. Now she was thankful for her team leader's intervention, at least it filled the silence.

"How come Juane gets home so late?" Nora finally queried between bounces, her bed creaking and groaning dangerously under the abuse.

"He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin." Ren said, calmly fitting his weapon back together and checking the sights. Pyrrha tried to ignore the way his eyes flicked to her on that last word, gauging her reaction.

If her silence dissuaded her partners, they didn't show it, keeping up the conversation so naturally that anyone who didn't know them would assume it was exactly that.

"That's weird, doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow?" Nora said, a quiet sadness lurking at the edge of her voice as she twisted impressively through the air with one last huge bounce, "We need our… REST!"

Pyrrha tracked her descent out of the corner of her eye, more an instinct than anything else, just making sure the excitable girl didn't hurt herself; That was why she was the only one in the room to see the sliver of blond peeking through their doorway.

She turned away, eyes narrowing furiously. "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." She said, the pain and anger she felt dripping from her every syllable.

She saw the concerned look Ren and Nora shot each other, heard Nora's hesitant agreement, but couldn't find it in herself to worry. The door closed with a soft click, and she knew the recipient of her message had gotten it loud and clear.

The silence that had hung heavy over their dorm room returned, like a shroud that separated her from what remained of the team. It wasn't hard for her to see how this would go. Ren and Nora were undeniably wonderful, but she could see the writing on the wall. When Jaune had grown distant the pair had retreated into the safety of one another, there wasn't room in their duo for her.

"You can talk to us…" Nora said quietly, so quietly Pyrrha had to do a double take to be certain those soft words had truly come from the bubbly bomber.

"I—What?"

"We're concerned as well, but not just about Jaune." Ren said with a sigh, giving Nora a look she returned with a defiant glint in her eye, "I'd been hoping not to pry excessively, but we do want you to know that you can rely upon us."

"I…"

"You're angry with him." Nora observed sadly, "It's messing you guys up."

"He—!"

"He did something, something to do with Cardin. You don't have to tell us the details if you don't want to." Ren said calmly, his penetrating pink eyes flicking between her and Nora before returning to his weapon, "We just wanted you to know that the rest of JNPR is here if you need support."

Pyrrha blinked, the anger she'd been feeling cutting off like water from a spout. "I'm sorry?"

Ren shifted, a slight motion that belied his nerves, something Nora picked up on immediately. "We never had a lot of friends growing up." She said with a shrug, "Renny's just trying to let you know in his own awkward way that we're not great at this, but we are here for you two."

Something in Pyrrha's gut twisted, and she looked away before her teammates could see the confliction brewing behind her emerald eyes.

Jaune's transcripts, the reason Cardin enslaved their leader to his every whim… They weren't her story to tell. She was angry, furious even, but she still couldn't bring herself to betray her leader like that. He'd told her the truth, despite knowing exactly what it meant, despite knowing the strain it would put on their relationship. That courage meant something to her; That trust meant more.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, the words tasting bitter in her mouth even as she said them, "I'm thankful, truly I am, but I believe this is something I must work through on my own."

She braced herself, waiting for the disappointment and hurt to flash through her teammate's eyes, waiting for the silence to descend once more.

"That's fair." Ren accepted without batting an eye, "Just remember that we're here to support you with anything you need."

"Even if it's just a smile or a laugh." Nora added, manifesting in Pyrrha's personal space before the champion could react and catching her in a rib-creaking hug.

Pyrrha spluttered for a moment, not an uncommon reaction to Nora's sudden bursts of physical affection, only catching her breath a few moments after she was finally released. "Just like that?" She wheezed disbelievingly.

"Yup." Nora said proudly, popping the 'P'.

"Sometimes you need to do things yourself." Ren agreed with a sage nod, "We never grow if someone fights all our battles for us."

You won't always be around to protect me!

Pyrrha felt her throat lock up, her veins turning to ice at Ren's warm words.

I was just never good enough.

She'd never been told she wasn't good enough, she'd been unstoppable, but it wasn't like she'd gotten there on her own!

If I can't do this on my own… then what good am I?

Ridiculous, she'd had a plethora of coaches and trainers behind her.

'Not in the ring, you didn't.' A treasonous voice whispered somewhere in her mind, 'They trained you, encouraged you, but it was you who ultimately claimed victory; They just gave you the tools you needed, and the chance to seize it.'

I never will be if everyone keeps saying I'm not ready and refusing to give me a chance.

"What if it doesn't work out…?" Pyrrha whispered, "What if we fail?"

Ren gave her a long look, but it was Nora who spoke up, "Then we'll be here to help pick up the pieces." The energetic girl said with uncharacteristic solemnness. The raven-haired boy beside her nodded, rock solid and sure.

Pyrrha's throat felt like it was closing up, "Jaune can't stand up to Cardin." she found herself confessing haltingly, voice thick, "When I tried to interfere he told me to leave it to him." She couldn't bring herself to look at Ren's eyes, to see whether her half-truth had been seen through.

Ren let out a long breath, "I can… see why you would want to get involved." he admitted, pink eyes narrowing dangerously while Nora growled menacingly in the background.

"I don't understand why he won't let me help." Pyrrha admitted softly.

Ren was silent for a time, and when Pyrrha looked over at him he was giving Nora a thoughtful look. He only spoke when his partner gave him a hesitant nod. "When we were younger," The stoic boy started with uncharacteristic hesitance, "Nora and I really only had each other to rely on. I won't bore you with the details, but we weren't the people we are today."

He paused, and the look he gave his partner was conflicted. Nora just rolled her eyes and picked up the story where he'd left off. "Don't mind Renny, he means to say that I wasn't the bundle of laughs I am today."

"Nora! That's not true, I can hardly claim to—!"

Nora waved her partner off with a giggle, but her eyes lacked their usual electric spark when she turned back to continue. "Long story short: I was a quiet little Nora. I let Renny make all the decisions, didn't speak much, I was afraid of people if you can believe it."

Pyrrha's lips felt dry, she wasn't really sure how to respond, "Nora… I—"

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about!" Nora giggled, "I'm hardly the same scared little girl I was back then. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could out-bench just about anybody in this school, maybe you all should be afraid of me!"

Despite herself, Pyrrha found herself giggling softly at that last remark. Something Nora seemed to savor with a gentle smile. Still though… "What changed?" Pyrrha had to ask.

"She did." Ren answered, "All on her own."

Nora rolled her eyes affectionately, "Renny exaggerates." She said throwing a pillow at her partner (and coincidently knocking him off his bed with a startled 'oomph!' amongst a burst of feathers), "He likes to pretend he had nothing to do with it."

"That's because I had very little to do with it." Ren argued, climbing back onto his bed and pulling feathers out of his hair like it was a regular occurrence (to be fair, it was). He turned to Pyrrha, "All I really did was ask her opinion more, try and offer her a chance to speak up when the adults asked us questions. I gave her a chance to change, and she took care of the rest on her own."

Pyrrha stared, "How did you know that would work?"

Ren just shrugged, "I didn't." He said simply. "I wanted Nora to be happy, and I didn't like how everyone just turned to me when they should have been asking her what she wanted. So I tried to give her a chance to have her voice heard." Those pink eyes bored into Pyrrha's soul for just a moment before he looked away, "I was worried that one day we might get separated; If something like that should have come to pass, I wanted to be sure Nora would be okay without me."

Jaune had… said something a lot like that, hadn't he…

Pyrrha looked away, her hands fisted in her lap. "She didn't ever have to worry about that." She said quietly, almost rebelliously.

"We didn't." Ren acknowledged with a nod, "But I don't regret it. I much prefer having a happy Nora with confidence in herself than a quiet one."

Pyrrha transferred her gaze to the floor, shame pooling in her gut, "And what if… What if she couldn't do it?" She finally asked, "What if she never got any better?"

She saw the soft look Ren gave his partner out of the corner of her eye, "Then I would have kept supporting her, and waited until she did." He said simply.

Pyrrha was silent for a time. Finally, perhaps inevitably, it was Nora who broke the quiet. "Thing is," She said quietly, "Changing is hard. It takes time; It takes practice. I mean, there was always a chance I wouldn't get better, but if Ren had never given me the chance… I'm not sure I'd be who I am today." She shrugged, giving Pyrrha a crooked smile, "If I'd just let Ren handle everything, If I'd been too afraid to fail… Wouldn't that have been the same as if I'd chosen to do nothing at all?"

Would it?

Pyrrha bit her lip, Jaune's words flashing through her mind on repeat until she felt nauseous. "But he's not making that choice…" She said slowly, hesitantly, "He is too afraid to fail…"

"True." Ren said plainly, but Pyrrha could hear the deep sadness lurking around the edges of his voice, "But that is his decision to make. If he is to change, it must be his choice; If he doesn't want our help and we handle it anyway, he will be ill-prepared for the struggles he'll face down the line."

"We can prepare him in the meantime, make him ready!" Pyrrha argued, an edge of desperation coloring her tone.

Ren just smiled sadly, "No amount of training can prepare you for a battle you're not allowed to face." He said gently, "And Jaune may not thank us for interfering."

Pyrrha looked away, fighting to keep the swirling mix of emotions raging in her breast off her face, "How then, should we proceed?" She asked tightly.

"We wait." Nora piped up, "Boring, I know, but we still 'gotta! We haven't lost Jaune-Jaune yet, ya know!"

Pyrrha turned to fix Nora with shocked eyes, but it was Ren who spoke next and answered the question on the tip of her tongue: "We know Cardin's type. So far he's not asked Jaune for anything outside his comfort zone, but sooner or later he will."

"Jaune-Jaune will have to chose then!" Nora cheered, as if she already knew his answer, as if it was that easy. How could she know he'd make the right choice?

Ren must have read the look on her face, an impressive task; Not even she knew what emotion was displayed there. "This school is a place to train Remnant's best defense against the Grimm. It's not like a civilian school." He said calmly, his tone brooking no argument, "If Jaune can't stand up to a bully like Cardin, he won't be able to stand between the innocent and those who'd seek to harm them."

His words made sense, his argument solid and well thought out.

I can always be a… farmer, or something.

He was still horribly, pathetically, disgustingly wrong.

Pyrrha's vision flashed red, and—and. There were no words. She saw the look of determination on her partner's face as he caught the Deathstalker's claw on his shield, swallowing his own fear to do what needed to be done. She saw the concern in his eyes as he called for his newfound friends to move off a crumbling bridge, the relief when they'd made it to safety. She saw him laugh off a stupid mistake, endlessly forgiving and yet so hard on himself for every little failure. She saw the man she'd seen he'd grow into.

More than anything, Jaune Arc wanted to be a hero.

He didn't know it, but he already was one. At least to her.

Pyrrha found her tongue. "You," She said, her voice cutting across the room like the rasp of naked steel, "Are mistaken."

Ren smiled. "There's your answer." He said calmly.

Pyrrha felt for a moment as if she'd been dropped into her own feet from a great distance; The room seemed to sway for a moment as the raw, pulsing rage that had overlaid her vision sputtered and died. "I—Buh—?"

Nora giggled, bouncing over take Pyrrha's hands and guide her back to her own bed. "We know what kind of person Jaune-Jaune is." She chirped before her grin became positively bloodthirsty, "Sooner or later Cardin'll push too far, and our fearless leader'll finally let me smash that big bully's legs into sausages…"

Despite her vast training and experience, Pyrrha found herself leaning ever so slightly away from the manic grin spreading across her teammate's face.

Ren sighed, but notably didn't do much else to dissuade his partner from doing irreparable harm to another student. "What Nora's trying to say is that Jaune will only go along with Cardin so long as he thinks only he's the only one who'll get hurt by it. Cardin doesn't realize that, and that'll be his undoing."

Pyrrha wanted to argue, wanted to ask how he could be sure… but…

I forgot to tell my partner about how we've been getting to know each other. I hope you understand that this is entirely my fault.

Ren was right; Painfully so. Jaune was just so—so frustratingly unconcerned about his own wellbeing. She'd suspected when Cardin's bullying had started that Jaune thought he deserved it, that he'd somehow believed himself less than the pitiful bully. Even now, understanding how he might have come to that conclusion, her anger at his idiocy hadn't changed. Jaune had faked his way into Beacon, that couldn't be denied. His efforts to improve though? His drive to push forward and better himself? The remarkable progress he had made, even if he didn't see it? That had to be worth something.

Jaune had come to Beacon without the formal training or education to make it, but he'd persevered none the less. Pyrrha didn't know the circumstances, but she knew in her heart of hearts that motivation had never been the problem. For whatever reason her leader had been denied his dream, but instead of accepting that fate he'd railed against it until he found a way to overturn it. Jaune may have been a fraud, he may have gotten in with falsified papers, but it was clear to Pyrrha that few others deserved this chance so much as he. Jaune may not have been the greatest fighter and he was far from the top of their class, but he was the hardest working student at Beacon.

Nothing would stop Jaune from attaining his dream; Cardin didn't know who he was dealing with, and if the bully tried to get her leader to hurt someone for fear of retribution—Her mind flashed back to a plain white shield holding back the strike of a multi-ton monster—she had the feeling that Cardin would find himself unpleasantly surprised by his victim's stubborn nature.

Looking up, The Champion saw the same understanding reflected back to her in the eyes of her teammates. She wet her lips. "You really believe that?" She said, her voice a hushed whisper.

Nora nodded enthusiastically and Ren just shrugged, a crooked smile crossing his lips. "I do. It may not be what you were hoping to hear, but it's all I have to offer."

Pyrrha frowned, but found herself nodding reluctantly. Her teammates were right, their words weren't what she'd wanted to hear, but she suspected that they were exactly what she'd needed. Before her heart had been confused; In pain. It still hurt even now, but somehow she no longer felt herself drowning under the wild swells of emotion that had threatened to overwhelm her.

Pyrrha's eyes drifted towards the last bed in their room, so terrible in its emptiness, and that sense of security faded slightly. Jaune still hadn't returned, and even if he did, she felt like the distance between them hadn't shrunk by a millimeter. Once again that screaming anxiety rose up and she shivered, turning to look at her team. Ren was checking over his gear one last time, while Nora pestered him about sneaking her snacks since 'The professors were on to her and would totally check her gear this time!'. On the surface, both seemed calm and unworried, but then she'd catch the occasional glances both would send towards the door. Team JNPR no longer felt like it was fragmenting, but as Pyrrha felt that silence close in once more she realized that they were hardly healed. They were friends, she knew that for sure now, but without Jaune there was a hole she wasn't sure they could ever fill.

Team JNPR needed its leader back.

She needed him back.

Still, as the night dragged on The Champion realized there was little she could do. Cardin made for a tempting target, but Ren was right: This wasn't an enemy she could pummel into submission.

The silence made its home in her heart as she waited for the hammer to fall.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this…" She whispered.