Chapter 19

…

Jaune was alone.

Yang was downstairs talking to her dad, or at least that's what she said she would do, but he didn't have a reason to doubt her.

He was sitting on a bed. His empty knapsack left laying close to his feet. Two items firmly held in his two hands. One was a dagger, still sharp and dangerous, the other a wooden hammer. Obviously much less threatening than a blade. Two items which to the rest of the world meant absolutely nothing, but in his two hands, they were immensely valuable and precious. And felt awfully lot heavier than they actually were.

Looking at them with an attentive eye, Jaune's blue slowly started to lose focus. His mind drifting away from the present, various images coming together before him. Plethora of feelings following suit.

"I don't want to leave you behind! I can't!"

He remembered her desperate, pained cries. Her large, sorrowful tears, and her expression which made his heart clench.

…

"Don't leave us too, Jaune!"

She wailed, and he could barely muster enough will to not look away.

"Jaune-"

"Nora." Ren cupped her shoulder, but she ignored him at first. Only eventually did he manage to get her attention. With puffy, red and watery eyes, she spared him a glance, but wouldn't allow her embrace around Jaune loosen at all. "Even if it is so sudden, the least we can do is to respect and accept his decision. After all, this journey to Haven, no one should take it with half-hearted feelings. It would be utmost dangerous to do so." A somewhat sound reasoning, but Jaune did wonder if his friend, perhaps, trusted him a tad bit too much. Though at the same time, it was also a relief that he did. "And above all else, Jaune is our leader. I'm sure he made this decision considering it would be best for all of us," He finished with a perfectly even voice, but no one knew, saw the worry buried behind his pink eyes.

"No!" Nora, unsurprisingly, didn't relent right away. She continued to cry, protest, say that this was stupid and unreasonable, but in the end she slowly, utterly, utterly slowly let go of him. And only after she did, did Jaune realize how incredibly warm her embrace was.

"This isn't us saying good-bye forever. We'll see each other again, I promise," He said, and then hugged her.

Her tears grew just a little less painful.

"Make it an Arc promise. Otherwise I won't agree."

He softly kissed the top of her head. "It's an Arc promise," He gave an honest word, and she savored it for all the comfort it had to offer. Stayed in his arms as long as she could until eventually, he let go of her. And she then let go of him too.

"There's something I want to give you," She said, and he had no idea what it could be. Moments later, her offering him a wooden hammer. "Take this. And just know that this is something important to me," She said, and soon after, Ren gave him something as well.

"Take this too," He gave him a dagger, and Jaune reluctantly accepted.

"But guys, if these things are important to you, then why give them to me?"

Nora smacked him upside the head. "That's exactly why we give them to you, you hopeless dork!...Because they're important to us. And so are you. Besides, if we leave something behind. Something for you to take care of, it'll be one more reason for us to see each other again, someday."

He heard her say, and after a brief pause, a brief moment of consideration, he nodded. "Okay, you guys. I'll take good care of these, I promise."

"We wouldn't expect anything less from you," Ren said, and as they exchanged silent looks with one another, Ruby stepped closer to Jaune.

He locked his eyes into hers as she did.

She parted her lips, but then closed them shut. A moment later, her lips parting again, and this time, she actually managed a few words.

"…I don't have anything to give you."

"It's alright."

"But…will you remember me if I'll leave nothing behind?"

"Of course, I will. I'll remember all of you. No matter what."

She blinked. And the following moment realized just how uncertain she was. Uncertain about aplenty of things, and with each passing second, her uncertainty only grew stronger. However, one thing she was certain of was that she wanted to do something. Make a farewell gesture which would be special.

"…"

She was certain now. Certain just how clueless she was, but instead of cursing herself for it, she buried herself into his chest, and embraced him.

"Jaune." A quiet whisper, and he then hugged her back. "Jaune." She didn't care for him to respond, she just wanted to say his name. "Jaune."

He voicelessly responded.

"Jaune." Her voice trembled, and her body did too. Fear was clawing inside of her, and coldness unlike any she knew began to engulf her. Before he tightened his arms around her frame, and then softly whispered her name. Actually, her nickname.

"Rubs?"

And instead of it feeling awkward and out of place, the horrific coldness relented completely, and so did her trembling.

"You're my friend, Jaune. The very first one I made at Beacon. And nothing could change or take away that fact," She said, and then realized just how right these words felt.

"You were my first friend too, you know. And that is something I could never ever forget," He said, and for a very, very brief moment he saw her quirky smile. Her lips pursed to an almost comical degree, and her eyes widening a little.

There's no way he could forget that. Forget her, or them.

"…"

He stared at their faces, while they stared at his. And all of them still exchanged words, but simply didn't voice them. Said their good-bye's, unvoiced and then voiced them, and all framed an identical wish in their hearts. No. A promise.

That they would see each other again, someday.

Thereafter, him staring at their fading backs for a long time.

…

Jaune rose to his feet, and after some paces, he stopped next to a window. Peering outside, he didn't really try to find anything. He just looked at the ever so changing scenery. Moments later, him realizing his feelings, his inner world itself was changing as well. Expanding, even.

"Because it'd be incredibly hard for you to track them down at this point. It's been about a month since they left. There's no telling if they're already at Haven, or some place else. Therefore, the more time you'd spend on road and searching for them, the more dangerous it could get with grimm and whatnot lurking about. You could even lose your life."

"…And?"

Letting out a quiet breath, he now focused his eyes on that road which disappeared only after far into the horizon.

Ruby, Ren and Nora, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I almost broke our promise, but I swear that from on, I'm going to hold onto it for as long as I have to. And I know you will too.

He was certain, but until then, he wanted to be a better person than he was when they parted.