These hands own nothing, especially not RWBY or Fate/Stay Night
A snarling face that mirrored her own. A crackling sound and the smell of ozone as red lightning filled her vision. A sharp pain in her stomach and a deeper one in her heart as she saw that face go slack. It wasn't supposed to be like this, Arturia was supposed to unite and lead Briton into a new golden age with Camelot at the forefront. Instead she lay dying, Excalibur heavy as its weight strained against her weak grip. Where was he? He should be here soon, she needed to return it to the Lake. Nimue had been a staunch ally, and Arturia was not one to offend the fae, even on her deathbed.
A shock of grey hair filled her vision, ah yes, there he was. "Come Bedivere, I need you to throw my sword in the lake."
"Yes my Jaune." Bedivere bowed as he gently took the sword in his hands.
"Wait. Bedivere?" Arturia called out confused.
"Yes my JAUNE?"
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Calling you what my- JAUNE!"
Jaune jolted awake at the shout, shooting up and painfully slamming his head into the bed above his own.
Bleary eyed, Jaune rubbed at the painful bump on his forehead as he stared at his teammate. "What- *yaaaaawn* what's up Weiss?"
Weiss Schnee was tapping her foot impatiently as he looked at her, a barely restrained snarl held on her lips as she face palmed. "Why are you asleep? The dance is in an hour!"
"*Yaaaaaaawn* Because I was sleepy, I doubled down on my training this morning to make sure I got it all in since you won't let me skip the dance." Jaune explained as he continued to rub the sleep from his eyes and stretched. "Don't you know tiredness is the enemy Weiss?"
Weiss groaned in exasperation, "I thought hunger was the enemy?" She asked with as much patience as she could muster and plastered a facsimile of a smile on her face.
"Truly, we are beset on all sides," Jaune snarked at his teammate before getting up and moving to the bathroom as the smile cracked.
"JAUNE DYLAN ARC I WILL-" Weiss started before Jaune cut her off, darting into the bathroom for his shower.
"Sorry Weiss! Need to grab a shower. Don't wanna be late for the party right?" Jaune grinned as he pulled the door shut behind him and stepped into the warm shower. Honestly he was of two minds in regards to the dance. On the one hand a night to relax sounded nice, in between the training, classes, training, weapon maintenance, and training. On the other he still needed the extra training and a dance where he awkwardly tried to make small talk as he sat by the punch bowl and avoided people, did not sound like a great night. He'd skip it if he could but Weiss and Ruby's sister Yang had made it clear that wouldn't be an option.
Of course he could just skip anyway… but that would be unbecoming of a knight… which he wasn't. Really needed to get that under control. Jaune sighed as he turned off the shower and began drying himself. He'd at least show up for a while and then maybe see if he could beg off. As he pulled on his clothes Jaune still couldn't really see the point of the dance, it wasn't like he had a date or anything and going stag was just sad. Weiss was going with Neptune, Pyrrha hadn't mentioned her date but it was obvious that somebody had asked her, she was Pyrrha freaking Nikos. Still though he'd just suck it up, head out there, and be suppor- 'whoa'.
As Jaune opened the door he saw short red hair so dark it may as well be black, framing a pale face and metallic silver eyes. Ruby was wearing a short red dress and her signature stockings, for once leaving her cloak and hood behind. It wasn't that different from her regular clothing but somehow it hit differently. Ok, Jaune should probably stop staring now, he could do this. Just be cool, be smooth, just like Dad had taught him.
"H-hey Ruby! You look pretty girl- PRETTY GOOD! I mean pretty good. Niiiiice dress?" 'I'm sorry for dishonoring your lessons father.'
"Heh, thanks Jaune!" Ruby giggled. 'Laughter yes!' "Can't stand trying to walk around in these stupid lady stilts though, I already rolled my ankle twice just here in the room." Ruby sighed in frustration as she looked down at the heels as if they had personally offended her.
"Why not wear your sneakers?" Jaune asked as he moved to go pull on his own shoes and suit jacket.
"Is that an option!?" Ruby half shouted across the room as she stumbled over to her closet and started looking for said shoes.
Jaune was torn. He wanted to skip the dance but he wanted to spend time with Ruby but he kept sticking his foot in his mouth but she smiled and started giggling and that was good….. Right? 'Aww screw it, a knight is bold and so is Jaune Arc!'
"Hey Ruby?" Jaune tentatively called out to his teammate as she continued to dig through her closet.
"Yeah Jaune?" She called not looking back.
"Do you even really want to go to the dance?" Jaune asked and if anyone pointed at the nervous tremor in his voice he'd call them a damned liar.
"Ehhh not really," Ruby admitted, still not facing him. "I'm not much of a dancer so I'll probably just end up hanging out by the punchbowl all night. Don't really have anything better to do though and Yang and Weiss worked hard on it though soooo…. Success!" Ruby cheered at the end as she lifted a pair of beat up sneakers triumphantly over her head.
A knight is bold. "Do you want to skip the dance then? W-with me? We could go out to Vale and do something." Jaune managed to choke out the statement as he held his hands at his sides and very pointedly did not cross them in front of him or start rubbing the back of his head from nerves.
Ruby stilled as she turned to look at him and nervously began to fidget with her hands after reaching for a hood that wasn't there. "Jaune?" She asked quietly as she fiddled with the edge of her dress. "Are you asking me on a date?"
"I think so,no, yeah. Yes I am Ruby," Jaune responded with a small smile, oddly calm now. He had done his part of this and the ball wasn't in his court anymore. In a way it helped to see Ruby was as nervous as he was.
"Then…," Ruby responded slowly. "I think I would say yes. Where do you wanna go?" Ruby finished with a bright, nervous smile on her face as she met his eyes.
"Eh, we'll figure it out." Jaune grinned. "I'm cool with whatever as long as I'm hanging out with you."
"Dork," Ruby grinned bashfully as red blossomed across her cheeks. "Come on, let's get to the bullhead docks handsome. You clean up nice too by the way." And with that they were off.
-When The Search Ends-
Ruby couldn't believe it. She was actually on a date! With Jaune! Oh Yang and Weiss were gonna be pissed later both for the date and skipping the dance but that was a problem for later. For now Ruby was having the time of her life!
Dinner at that new Mistrali place she had been eyeing, wandering the shops together and he had even gotten her not just the new weapon catalog she had been interested in but that new knife and frying pan she had been wanting as well! Now they were at the arcade and Jaune was being a perfect gentleman. More importantly Ruby had never seen Arturia smile this much before. N-No, that wasn't right. This wasn't Arturia. This was Jaune Arc, her partner, teammate, best friend, and possibly boyfriend. He was dorky, kind, a bit of a goofball, respectful, had a noble demeanor, the tendencies of a natural leader even if she was in charge, blonde hair, and a simple, beautiful, double-edged sword.
Ruby sighed internally, as she felt her mood drop even as she maintained the smile on her face. The dreams were nice but they were just dreams, Jaune wasn't Arturia and she wasn't Shirou. The urge to search had fallen to the wayside after that moment in the Emerald Forest, but there was still a sense of something missing. It didn't help that every so often there was an unmistakable sense of something being missing and flashes of deja vu like she had lived these moments before…
No! None of that! She was out here with Jaune and she was gonna have a wonderful time! Ruby scolded herself as she reached up to wrap her arm around Jaune's and promptly felt her face burn as a blush spread across it. Those uh, those training sessions with Pyrrha were certainly helping weren't they?
Jaune looked down at the unexpected contact and she could still feel her face burning up from the blush. Why hadn't she let go of his arm yet?
"You okay Rubes?" Jaune questioned as he looked down at her with his stupid nice smile, and stupid messy hair, and stupid stupid kind eyes.
"I'm fine," Ruby assured him as she quickly let go of his arm and pulled her hands behind her back. "Just having a really good time." She smiled back up at him. Ruby felt her grin widen as it was Jaune's turn to blush before he looked away for just a moment.
"I-I'm glad," he stammered as he went back to trying to win tickets on the skeeball machine with mixed success.
Smirking at her perceived victory, Ruby took her spot next to Jaune and began playing as well. With a keen eye, proper muscle control, spacial awareness, deft hands, and the power of a dork that loved playing skeeball just a bit too much, Ruby soon found herself with a pile of tickets roughly the same size and weight as Zwei. Two shooting games and one matching game later and Ruby's pile of tickets was roughly the size of her entire upper body, she couldn't see over it, and much of it was dragging on the ground.
"Ha! I am the queen of the arcade!" Ruby crowed to Jaune, blindly stumbling her way towards the ticket booth as Jaune guided her. His own hands holding his own comparatively humble supply of tickets and Ruby's bags from the kitchenware store.
"Yeah?" She heard Jaune question as she felt him gently pull her to the side to avoid some obstacle or other. "Well what will the queen be buying with her spoils of war?"
"Not sure yet," Ruby responded as she dropped her tickets on the counter before turning to Jaune and did her best to hide her small twitch of guilt at the gobsmacked look on one ticket counter's face as the other one began counting and… were those tears? It hadn't been that many tickets had it? Ok maybe using Focus to reinforce her senses and nerves hadn't been the best thing but it wasn't like she had actually cheated was it? "What are you thinking about getting Jaune?"
"Not sure," Jaune said as he looked at the wall of prizes across from him as the clerk gratefully counted his much more reasonable pile of tickets while, oh huh, when did the other two employees join the first one in counting Ruby's tickets? Eh, probably wasn't important. "I think I'll haaaaave that!" Jaune pointed at something across the way that Ruby couldn't quite make out. The clerk quickly nodded and grabbed it for Jaune before sighing and joining the other three as they worked at a fever pitch to count her tickets, they seemed to be about a quarter of the way through.
"Here you go Ruby." What was that? Ruby turned from the sad spectacle of watching four teenagers trying to count her tickets, it was like watching a trainwreck, and looked to see what Jaune was holding out to her. A ring. Not anything big or grandiose of course, it came from an arcade after all, but a small plastic ring all one piece and shaped to look as if the entire thing was a cut gemstone. The gesture enough would've been enough to make Ruby smile if it wasn't for the fact that Jaune had made sure to pick one in her colors. Marbled, opaque black and translucent red all the way through the toy piece of jewelry, that actually made her heart flutter a bit.
Cheeks once again burning red, Ruby accepted the token with an embarrassed smile corresponding to Jaune's wide grin. "Th-thank you Jaune." What was that? She was turning into a stuttering mess for a cheap plastic ring. 'A cheap plastic ring from Jaune,' a traitorous part of her mind whispered. None of that! She was a strong independent huntress and a warrior and he was smiling at her again. You know what? She was ok with this. Relenting Ruby slipped the plastic ring on her finger before holding it up and showing it off to Jaune as a brilliant smile lit up her face.
Jaune blushed and widened his smile in turn and the moment between the two stretched on for what felt like forever, until Ruby heard a quiet cough coming from next to her. Ruby turned to see the desk clerk looking at her expectantly as the other three counters sat exhausted on the ground. "Thanks to your ticket volume ma'am we will not be able to count them in an expedient manner and we are prepared to offer you any one of our top shelf items of your choice." The clerk explained with dead eyes and a polite tone.
"Heh-heh, thanks, sorry." Ruby mumbled as she looked up to take in her choices. What to pick? What to pick? Then Ruby saw it and the decision was practically made for her.
The two left the arcade soon after to go find dessert. Ruby proudly sporting her toy ring as Jaune carried a large stuffed lion. It had been a wonderful evening, maybe a bit expensive even with them splitting the bill, but wonderful nonetheless. No need for stupid lady stilts as she walked around town with her man, enjoyed herself, and best of all no memories getting in the way from- "Shirou."
Ruby heard an actual record scratch in her mind as she came to a sudden stop. "What did you say Jaune?"
Jaune turned to her an embarrassed grimace on his face as he responded. "Sorry about that Rubes. The lion just reminded me of a dream I had a couple of nights ago. They always show two people. Shirou and Arturia, or Saber is the name she uses part of the time actually. Anyway sometimes they fight and Arturia like, time travels but there was a time they went on a date and he bought her a stuffed lion just like this." Jaune explained as he jostled the items in his arms.
"Anyway it's just some silly dreams. I'm sorry for interrupting our da-," Jaune was cut off though as Ruby jumped into the conversation.
"They were in Fuyuki City right? Shirou was a magus and the master of Saber. Saber was Arturia the King of Knights. They had a friend named Rin right!?" Ruby plowed through the conversation desperation leaking into her voice as emotions not entirely her own filled her. The sense of longing and need to search overwhelmed her to the point that there was nothing else. Green eyes overlaid blue in her vision as Jaune's messy hair was replaced by a tight and elegant bun suddenly she was taller and looking down at her but Jaune was taller and should be looking down at him and why weren't Ruby's arms tanned and strong and built and why even with the one she had searched for right in front of her why did his hands still hold nothing?
Jaune/Arturia/Saber looked down at Ruby/Shirou in confusion before wincing as he grabbed his head dropping their spoils of the evening and Shirou/Ruby watched as a myriad of emotions washed over his/her/the king's face: realization, fear, longing, hope, desperation, confusion, JOY. Eventually she/he looked down at Ruby/Shirou with eyes full of wonder, "Shirou? No, Ruby? No… my Cook? Is that you?"
"It is Saber," Ruby whispered with tears in her eyes as she leapt forward with a bone crushing hug as she held as tightly as she could for as long as she could for fear that her king would be taken from her again. She sank to her knees as she held on tight and Jaune followed her. She felt herself wrapped in warmth as long, strong arms embraced her and held her. In that moment something missing in Ruby filled in, a bone deep sense of longing, of something missing, was filled and something in her snapped as she wept. Tears of sorrow and tiredness, tears of relief, and most of all tears of sheer unrelenting joy as she understood that now for the first time in billions of years her empty heart and hands were full, because now she held her world.
Ruby wasn't sure when she came back to herself. Jaune's shirt and suit jacket were soaked across the front and the dampness in her hair told her he had cried too. It had to have been some time but she didn't care. All she knew was that she had finally found her… him… this was complicated but it didn't matter! Jaune really was the one! Blonde hair and a sword.
"Ruby?" Jaune tentatively asked from his position curled over and around her still wrapping her in the hug.
"Yeah Jaune?" Ruby asked tired yet happy, with a smile that could light a thousand suns.
"I think we have a lot to talk about." Jaune asserted as he started laughing to himself.
"Yeah, I think so too," Ruby giggled in response, pulling herself deeper into the hug before letting go. "For now though Jaune, I think it's time for us to head home."
Nodding Jaune stood before reaching a hand out to help her up. Jaune gathered the items he bought Ruby in his right hand. Ruby held the lion she had won for Jaune in her left arm. They held hands the entire way home.
Soon enough they were outside the door of their dorm and it seemed like the dance was winding down too from the sound of it and Ruby was as happy as she had ever been. Things were confusing and she had a hard time telling where she stopped and Shirou began but she would figure it out. For now she would just be happy. She had finally found the one she was waiting for and it was her best friend! What more could she ask for? Well… there was one more thing. "Jaune?"
"Yeah Ruby?" Jaune asked, his face still covered by that same goofy smile he had held the entire way home.
"I had a really good time tonight." Ruby smiled back up at him bashfully as she batted her eyelashes.
"So did I, my very dear cook." Jaune smiled teasingly at her as he gripped her hand tighter.
"You know what would make it even better?"
"What?" Jaune questioned playfully.
"A kiss goodnight." Ruby answered honestly as she stared up at him into eyes so blue the sky seemed fake in comparison.
After a gulp and a look of trepidation Jaune leaned down and captured Ruby's lips with his own. Soon after they both sank into the feeling leaning into each other. It wasn't hot and heavy or a sloppy make out session it was a sincere, loving kiss that neither wanted to end.
'heh,' Ruby thought, 'at least this time there's no blonde asshole with red eyes to ruin the end of the date.'
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Ruby and Jaune both broke off the kiss as they turned to see the crimson eyed figure of Yang Xiao Long stalking towards them.
'Oh Root dammit.'
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Hey everybody hope you enjoyed the new chapter! The two have finally realized both who they are and who the other is and I couldn't be happier about it lol. For those who don't follow my other stories to know what's going on I am sorry for the wait but life up to this point had been more than a little bit crazy and I quite simply did not have time to write.
Little housekeeping point the next chapter up will be for Huntsman of the Digital Hazard but there might be a short hiatus of sorts. For those that have checked it out you can probably tell that my early chapters for HoH don't really reflect my current skill level and standard of quality so I'm taking some time to heavily edit and partially rewrite the first four chapters of HoH before reuploading them. Think of it as an extended edition or director's cut lol. It shouldn't eat too much time but I wanted to give fair warning in case of any more delays.
Alright that's about it. I hope you all have a wonderful day, don't forget to love each other, and if you have someone in your life you can't do without go out, give them a hug or kiss, and let them know. Take care guys and gals!