Chapter 24

…

It was late into the night. A night very similar, almost identical to the previous one.

He was standing in the same spot he did yesterday, just outside her house with his back pressed to the wooden wall behind him. He was staring at the same night sky, and even reminiscing the same memory he did the night before this one.

"I didn't know you loved star-gazing."

However, unlike the night before this one, he wasn't alone. She was right next to him, with their hands linked together. Their eyes wandering about the infinite stars high above their heads.

"I do. Even back then when I was just a kid, I loved watching them. Alone, with my ma, my dad, my sisters, it just didn't matter. I just wanted to look at the stars."

She wondered why, and asked him.

"Because..." He started, paused for a moment, and then continued. "To put it simply, stars remind me of my family's great ancestors I used to hear about from my dad. He never shied away from telling me the great tales about our family's heroes. And I never got tired of hearing about them. They inspired me immensely, and in my childish mind, I always pictured the heroes to shine brightly just like the stars…I mean, I still do," He said, a tangible spark in his blue.

"…I see," She said after a brief pause. Her lilac locked onto his face momentarily, but then she turned her look back to the night sky.

He gave her a brief glance as well. Merely looked at her for a few seconds, before he too, would turn his gaze back to the night sky.

"Yang, would you believe me if I told you there used to be someone who viewed me a hero? Or rather, she still probably does."

And moments later, he remembered what he once asked her a couple of months ago.

"Yang?"

"Yea?"

He wouldn't ask her exactly the same, but he was plenty more curious to know her answer now than he was back then. "Do you…do you think that someone like me could ever be a hero?"

She quickly remembered something. "You once asked me something similar, didn't you?"

"I did."

She thought for a moment. Her lilac now gazing at him, and he gazed back, and their eyes locked together.

"What exactly makes someone a hero?" She first asked.

"When someone…" He started slowly, but quickly thereafter made up his mind. "When someone does heroic deeds, of course. Something great and remarkable. Stuff that most simply can't do," He said.

"So, one must absolutely do something great and remarkable to be a hero?" She asked, and he was quick to seemingly know where she was going with that.

"Let me guess. Little deeds matter too. One doesn't have to do something great or remarkable to be a hero. Is that it?"

She nodded sideways. "Not at all. I was just asking. Merely curious to know what you thought a hero was," She said simply, and he only doubted her for a very brief moment.

"In that case, yea. A hero is someone who does something great and remarkable. Heroic deeds that most simply can't do."

"That sounds about right," She started, and then her lips curved into an empty smile. "My answer is no, then. I don't think you'll ever be a hero."

He let out an exaggerated, exasperated breath. "Well that just sucks. So much for my childhood dreams I suppose…Can't say I'm surprised though."

"Neither am I," She said, and then he gently nudged her side with his elbow.

She parted her lips and let out a sound akin to a laugh, and he nudged her again. A little bit harder this time around, but thereafter relented, and even showed a minuscule smile.

"…Jerk." He also added after a pause.

"I know." She answered, and then they shared a good smile. Moments later, him asking her if she was totally honest about her answer.

"I was," She said, her genuine tone impossible to fake. "Sorry Jaune, but I just can't picture you a hero. I mean, I can totally imagine you pulling off awesome, heroic stuff on rarest occasions, but that wouldn't make you a hero. It would merely be an exception. A true hero is someone who can do heroic stuff time after time, and you, well, I don't think that you can," She said, and didn't look apologetic at all while doing so. Of course, she wasn't mean or rude in the slightest either, she just…she was honest. And he liked it very much about her.

"I think you're right," He said, and she was rather surprised he didn't seem upset in the slightest. Or rather, instead of getting upset, it was resignation she saw in his blue. As if her words were merely an agreement to something, he knew better than anyone else.

And I'm sure he does know better than anyone else.

She thought to herself, and soon after found herself staring at their linked hands. And as she did, she was immediately reminded of something she was aware of for quite some time at this point. Something, which turned out to be the true answer to the question he asked.

"You're not a hero, Jaune, and you'll probably never be one. There's nothing great or remarkable about the things you can do," She said, paused for a second, and then continued. "Even right now. The most you can do is make me feel just a little bit safer. A little bit braver, and a little bit hopeful about our future. There's nothing heroic about that, is there?" She asked, and he nodded sideways.

She continued. "See? You're not someone great out in the world doing great things. Heroic things. Instead, you're just the right person at the right time. For me. Doing little things which to the rest of the world mean absolutely nothing," She said, and paused once again. And then continued, but not until after she was enveloped by warmth and a feeling, she didn't quite know yet. Just knew that this feeling was lovely and pure, beautiful in its entirety.

"Only to me those things matter because Jaune… you're a bundle of tiny, good things I absolutely adore about you." She finished, and then followed a moment of silence.

"…"

That moment of silence lasted a little longer still. Before he took a shuddering breath, and his eyes glazed over with tears.

"That's…t-that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. I truly mean that." His voice a mere whisper, he somehow managed to finish his speech without breaking down into tears.

She warmly smiled to him.

He hugged her.

She hugged him back.

He fully indulged himself into her embrace, her warmth and started to wonder.

Did it really matter that much if he ever was a hero?

To him, it probably did. But so, did this moment.

So, did being her bundle of tiny, good things.