Chapter 33: Guiding Star

Jaune felt like he was overheating. And that he couldn't breathe. And his skin was itchy and sized wrong around him. All in all, he knew what this was. It was normal for him, after all.

He was nervous. Really nervous, actually. He tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously and glanced over at Yang. She looked really good, to the point where he wasn't sure if looking or turning away would be better. He didn't know how to act on a date with Yang! She made blue jeans and a tight yellow t-shirt look... Jaune turned beet red and finally looked away, hoping that the sudden spike in temperature would go down. Dad, Sora or Nora eating, Ren's cooking... Uh... Kirito! Yang making fun of Kirito's voice... Yang. Crap! He snapped inwardly as he tried to think about anything other than Yang right then and there. "You doing okay, Sunshine?" she asked, arm looping around his shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact. "Look, if this isn't something you wanted to -"

"No! I want to!" Jaune said, readjusting his hoodie to keep his face hidden from anyone that might recognize him. "I just don't want our date to end in me getting arrested. That would be a whole new level of embarrassing, even for me." He laughed weakly.

She smiled. "Okay. Then we'll get seats at the bar for now," she offered, smacking his back. Looking out at the sea of dancers and listening to the beat shaking her bones, she knew she had to get him onto the dance floor somehow. He was too damn good at dancing to not do it, but she could give him a minute. She grabbed his wrist and pulled, taking him through the crowd and forcing their way to the bar. She plopped him down on one chair and jumped onto the one next to him.

Yang threw a hand up and the bartender came over. "A strawberry sunrise, no ice, and..." she glanced at Jaune. "Sex on the beach?"

Jaune coughed violently at that, each movement making Yang laugh harder. "No, how about a strawberry sunrise and, I don't know, a mojito?" she supplied, still laughing through her act of mercy.

"Sure, sure," Jaune said, still recovering from Yang's antics. He glanced over at her smirk and chuckled weakly. He pulled his real-fake id, supplied by Ironwood as a favor to Ozpin, out and handed it to Yang. "That was cruel."

"And hilarious," she said, grinning at him while taking out her ID and handing both of them over to the bartender. "Oh, don't worry, you'll be okay once we get some drinks in you. Oh, and we'll be taking them at that table." She pointed over her shoulder, and a sphere of Reflect energy forced people away from a table. "Keep them coming." She took the ID's back and grabbed Jaune's hand again, dragging him away before he could say anything. She grinned at the people forced away from the table, none of whom had actually been using it, and threw him into one side of the round booth before sliding in beside him.

"You cast that spell from really far away!" he shouted over the music.

"Yeah, we've gotten a lot of practice lately," she explained proudly. "Nothing like your shields, but they're pretty good!"

"Oh, thanks, I..." Jaune chuckled and rubbed his arm. The drinks arrived and he quickly grabbed his, appreciating the mint flavor and the opportunity to use something else to keep his foot firmly out of his mouth.

Yang took a sip of her own drink before taking out the umbrella and twirling it between her fingers. "So..."

Jaune put his drink down and played with the straw. "Y-yeah... So..."

Yang and him sat quietly for a little while, quickly draining their drinks in hopes the liquid courage would make things a bit easier. Another arrived quickly and when they were halfway through those, their Auras keeping them from feeling as much of the effects as others by that point, they finally began to feel more easy going. Well, Jaune felt more easy going. Yang had already been pretty calm. She was starting to feel loud. "You know what?" she asked, prompting a questioning look from Jaune. "Why don't we do some date questions, you know? What's your favorite color?"

"Yellow," Jaune replied simply.

"Good taste. It's the hair, right?" Yang asked, tossing it over her shoulder. "Yours one reason for me, too." She reached out and grabbed his hand... and he nearly spilled his drink. "Oops! Sorry." Her hand retracted quickly and she grinned sheepishly. "But you gotta calm down, Sunshine! It is a date."

Jaune shook his head and took a deep drink, the heat spreading through his chest. "What did you get up to while I was in jail?" he asked. He nudged her with his shoulder. "Other than being hot?" His hand landed on the bench and he slowly let his fingers nudge hers.

"Oh, that's a cool joke," she said, grinning. Yang took a deep breath. "Well, let's see. Spent some time at home, catching up with Rubes and Dad. Making sure Sora didn't do any hanky panky while he lived under our roof." Jaune laughed at that. Both at her doing it, and at the idea of Sora trying. He and Ruby were... kids, despite their age. They were... wow, he hadn't realized they were rounding into their twenties pretty soon. "Yeah, still had to stop some making out and stuff. Only broke his arm once. When I wasn't doing that, I checked in with everybody. Some White Fang hunting in Vacuo with Blake and Sun, bar crawls with Nora and Ren in Mistral, pranking the Specialists to screw with Weiss and Neptune. I had Sora tell me every story he could about every world he went to. I wanted to know what... what our adventure would be like."

Jaune pushed his fingers closer to his and leaned in. "Sounds fun. So, how's it measure up so far?" he wondered.

Yang moved her fingers across his as she leaned in as well and their hands interlocked. "We're out of his league," she replied. Her breath smelled like strawberry and fire. She leaned in the rest of the distance and gave him a fast kiss, distracting him from his hand so she could wrap her hand around his wrist and drag him suddenly into the dance floor. His eyes snapped open and they were out in the dark with the noise and people. "And one reason is your dance moves. Shake your cute moneymaker, Sunshine. Takes two to tango, right?"

Jaune laughed nervously. "Well... I can't disappoint, can I?" And then the two danced. Jaune began to get looser and looser as they danced together, sometimes even taking the lead for the two of them. The night drifted on, more drinks and music filling the moments. The flirting and teasing came more freely, from both sides, and was more openly accepted.

And when too many drinks had been bought, Yang got too loud. Flames began to sprout from her head as they danced, at first just embers drifting behind her and around her face that made the slightly drunk Jaune blush. The two drifted closer and closer while they danced, brushing against each other. They distracted each other so much that neither of them didn't even noticed she was about to explode until the flames on her head blossomed upward and blew open the ceiling. Yang and Jaune glanced up at the roof, smoking, and the two looked down at the scared partiers and the fully enraged club owner. "Get... OUT!" the man screamed, and two bolted, stumbling and tripping over nothing as they hurried away.

When they were far enough away, the two couldn't help but laugh, doubling over in the street. "Cansh we go anywhere without destroying it?" Yang asked, eyes shut and head down.

"We?" Jaune asked, driving the both of them into drunken giggles once more. The both of them slowed their laughter down and reached out, grabbing onto each other to keep from falling down. They looked up and Jaune swallowed, staring into each other's eyes. "Hi..."

"Hi," Yang replied. They both swallowed anxiously and leaned closer towards each other. "Wait!" She stood up straight and wobbled side to side.

"Wha?" Jaune asked in confusion. "Whash wrong?"

"Naw here," Yang said simply. "Lesh go..."

She didn't get a chance to finish her thought, as a scream echoed out from down the street. The two didn't even think, just sprinting towards the source of the noise as fast as their drunk bodies could carry them. It was a stumbling, rolling sprint that involved sliding along the sides of buildings, but they made it to their destination eventually and no worse for wear. The pair turned into the alleyway and crashed to a stop in some garbage cans, sending tin flying everywhere with loud clangs. The entire alley stared at them in surprise, watching the tangled mess of limbs, blonde hair, and – now – trash spring upwards with flushed faces. "Ish okay!" Jaune shouted, hands straight up. The Keyblade flashed into existence and he wobbled to his ready stance, blinking at the pair of Yangs beside him. "Wow. Twice as hot."

"Huh?" Yang asked as she shook Ember Celica into a ready position.

"Drunk Huntsmen?" one of the criminals asked, dropping the woman he'd been getting ready to kill. The woman shrieked and scrambled back to her husband and child in the alley, clutching at them in terror and shrinking away from the dead men in suits – bodyguards, Jaune vaguely realized – on the ground. The guns and swords aimed at the family turned towards Jaune and Yang. All... Jaune wasn't sure. It was either eight or twenty four. Or sixteen? It was switching pretty fast between those numbers. Oh, there was the vomit. He fought it down.

"I sh- I think," Yang began to tell the criminals, "you should really shurr – uh, give up. I might hurtsh you. Lotsh."

The criminals looked at one another, then back at the pair. Then they began laughing. "Thatsh not nishe!" Jaune shouted indignantly. "We're shrying to be nishe!"

Yang's hair exploded with flames. "Bad move!" She rushed forward, fist raised and –

Slammed her fist into the wall, taking a chunk of the metal out and warping it with the flames in her fist. The man who she'd been aiming for, standing maybe two feet away from her now, glanced at the wall. "You were going to do that to me!?" He turned his sword at her and slashed, but she leaned away and watched the three that she saw soar past her.

"Whoa." She brought her fist around and slammed it into his head, hoping it was the right one this time. Luckily, the fist collided with the right one this time and he was sent flying, a dying orange glow surrounding him before sputtering out as he fell unconscious. His body hit the ground beside the terrified family and they shrieked. This was what sent all of them into activity, four of the remaining group rushing Yang while the others charged Jaune.

Jaune watched six figures charging him and gaped. "Thash not fair!" he shouted as they got close. He stumbled out of the way of what he now realized was one and not two wild swings and attacked with his left hand. "Um... Auro-uh..." His unarmored hand slammed into the guy's cheek and sent him wheeling, but not knocking him out. The other two fired their guns at him and Jaune lurched to bring his Keyblade up, the weapon's reflect wall naturally appeared and protected him, sending the Dust bullets into the ground.

"What the hell!?"

"Just attack him!"

The criminals charged Jaune, three swords slashing at his head. The first glanced off his aura, nearly bottomless when faced with something as simple as a normal criminal after everything he'd been through, but he managed to stumbled between the other attacks. He slashed upward and a drunkenly cast thunder spell exploded upward, singeing two of the criminals shoulders. "What the hell!?"

"Enough with that question, Peat!"

Jaune heard that one from his left and he swung wildly, glancing one of the men he'd singed and aiming his weapon at the leader. "Ish a good quesshin," Jaune said before hiccuping and sending a bolt of Lightning out of his Keyblade and into the man's chest. The man yelped and was blown backwards, Aura half depleted before he crashed into the wall and the other half vanished. "Oopsh..."

"What the hell!?" Peat screamed again. His gun turned to Jaune's head.

"Hey!" Jaune turned and slashed at Peat with a Gravity enhanced blow, aiming for the gun to send it flying out of his hand. "Oops. Mished." Instead his Keyblade caught the man in the arm, the sudden excess force cutting through his aura and snapping his forearm. He screamed and dropped the gun. Jaune stumbled towards the other guy and accidentally kneed Peat in the face, knocking him out.

The other guy raised his sword and slashed at Jaune, the weapon crashing into Jaune's Keyblade. The weapons clanged loudly as the sword was cut in half, Jaune failing to roll his punches in his drunken state and slamming his block into the man, sending him soaring across the alley to hit the ground.

Yang was faring just as well as her partner, taking occasional blows and stumbling around but giving way better than she had been given. She crushed one of the guns in her hand and tore it away from one of the four coming at her, over dodging his sword attack when she saw three of them. This tore her balance away and her arms spun to keep balance. One of her wild hands grabbed hold of one of the men's throat, steadying her and strangling him. She pulled herself up and she stumbled forward, tossing him to the ground and stepping on his throat. "Oh! Thangsh! No! Yang-sh!" She grinned and turned, her foot dragging until it slammed into the side of his head and knocked him out. Her fists came up and she slapped one sword away and she spun around the one who attacked her and her head spun upside down. Bright lights and a half upside down world and she could feel her lunch coming up. "Oh, thash what Jaune complainsh about... Ugh..." She brought her prosthesis up and clutched at her head. When a bullet landed next to her, she remembered where she was ans she turned – slower this time – to throw a punch. The attack slammed into one of the criminals and sent him flying into another, the both of them tumbling out of the alley and leaving Yang alone with the last guy.

"Lesh do thish!" Yang shouted, hair floating upward and flames intensifying.

The man dropped his sword and gun. "No way, crazy lady!" He dropped to the ground next and put his hands behind his head. "I ain't dying for this!"

"Aw..." She lowered her hands. Then she grinned evilly and lashed out, her heel hitting his head and turning out his lights. "Better..."

Yang and Jaune looked at each other, standing over unconscious bodies. "Nice."

Then the family spoke. "Huntsmen are weird," the kid said.

"Lesh deal with thish firsht," Jaune suggested, to which Yang nodded in agreement.

R W B Y

OJ watched the family go one way, the mother complaining about missing jewelry, and Jaune and Yang head towards Beacon. He felt nothing but rage in his Heart, a desire to claim justified vengeance on Jaune and Yang for spitting on Pyrrha's memory like this. Oh, the flirting and the feelings were bad enough, but they were limited. But a date? A date!? It was as if Jaune was actually trying to forget Pyrrha. No, no, this wouldn't do. This wasn't right. It was a tragedy, a crime...

He forced himself to take a deep breath. But it was also according to plan. He hated it, he wanted nothing more than to kill everyone involved, but... He needed this relationship. It wasn't true love, though. It wasn't meant to be. He could get rid of it, he could save Jaune from this disgusting mistake soon enough. It would be fine.

He jumped over to the roof overlooking the alley and summoned a wall preventing anyone from entering. The police didn't notice, as they were still talking with the family, but all of the criminals were in the alleyway once more, handcuffed and laying on the ground. OJ swung his Keyblade again and a Silence spell rolled over the alley that would keep him from being noticed. That would do. He dismissed the Keyblade and jumped from the building. He landed with a thud behind the bound criminals, drawing one's attention. "What the hell!?"

"Peat!" one shouted. He turned around, too. "Enou – Oh, shit! The blonde's back!"

"Which one!?" the others cried as they turned around too, seeing OJ. "Oh, the guy. That's less worrisome."

"Besides, you just let us get arrested, what are you here for now?" Peat asked as he struggled to get up to his knees. The others weren't far behind.

"Why would he leave you alive?" OJ wondered aloud, confusing the criminals. He scratched his chin and glared at the eight criminals one by one. Eventually he grinned and raised his hand above his head. "Aha! Of course. It's obvious. He still thinks you're real people! That this world is real!"

"Look, I know you're drunk, but you're also crazy?" the one who'd shouted at Peat said mockingly. "Oi! Cops! Come over here and get this crazy guy away from us!" The police outside the alleyway didn't respond. They didn't even hear.

OJ summoned his Keyblade back to his right hand and aimed it at the criminals. "But you're not!" And he shot a bolt of lightning through the man's chest, blowing it open. The others immediately screamed and began to scramble away, some on their knees and others on their feet. Jaune turned towards Peat, who was running towards the wall and began to slowly advance after him.

Peat hit the barrier and yelped as he bounced off it, landing on his back on the ground. "What the hell!?" He turned and saw OJ advancing on him with a smile. "H-hey! Hey! Come on, d-don't – don't –!" OJ brought the Keyblade down, burying it in Peat's chest. The weapon glowed with Dark energy that swirled throughout Peat's body, and he fell apart, a Soldier appearing a few feet away. OJ grabbed the Soldier by its head and forced his will upon it, then tossed it at the others.

"P-Peat?" one of the guys cowering on the ground asked the Soldier as it clanked over to him. The yellow, glowing eyes of the monster just glared silently before it tore him to shreds, ignoring the screaming before it devoured his Heart and created another. The remaining five were screaming and pounding on the invisible wall nearby, trying to get the police to save them from the monsters. "What the hell!?"

OJ ignored them and summoned a Corridor to leave through. He began to wander towards it when something caught his eye, a glint on the ground nearby. He stopped and walked over to it, crouching and picking up the source. He smiled and lifted the small, bronze necklace upward, looping it around his hand. It must have fallen off that rich woman when they were mugging her. A bronze star, not unlike those Wayfinders that Sora had created. Ones that connected people's destinies forever. "I've been looking for a good gift for you, Pyrrha," OJ said with a soft smile. He pocketed the necklace and began moving towards the Corridor. "Maybe I should pick up another one of these for Jaune. After all, he can't meet up with Pyrrha empty handed!"

When the Darkness vanished, OJ was standing in front of the newly finished Keyblade Academy. It really was impressive, all things considered. Hopefully one day the Sora in the final timeline, with Pyrrha there, would make something like that. If he hadn't already. Thankfully without Sora or Ruby here, it was unlikely that anyone would be able to detect him. The children inside the building were just that: children. They couldn't feel or smell the Darkness like Sora or Jaune could. And given the state he was in right then, Jaune wouldn't have been much help either.

OJ shut his eyes and thought hard, tracing the dragon shaped island in his head until he put together where he was, and where it had happened. In his world, and in this one, it appeared that Salem had enacted her plan in the same location on the island. And, in a decision of symbolism that was so on the nose as to be stupid, the academy had been built atop that very spot. But OJ wasn't here for that symbolism. No, no he was there for what it had been before. For who had ruled this land before.

OJ walked over to a small park at the end of a series of restaurants and stores that would open when the island was unveiled to the public. At the tournament. That one had to be Ozpin's idea. "I am very happy that you lost here," OJ told the air as he sat down on a bench. "And that you didn't where I'm from. When I'm from? Doesn't matter. It's because of you that I was able to start this journey, and I want to thank you for that. Casting me into the Darkness so I could move on." He shifted his weight and rubbed his face with his palms. "I owe you quite a lot, don't I?"

OJ turned his gaze up to the Academy and the giant Keyblade engraved upon it. "But what would you say if you knew that, even after all of this, I would be the one who succeeded where you failed. In a world where Sora survived, you just couldn't cut it. I guess this Sora managed to summon his Keyblade and destroy the DISC before it could ignite the Dust deposits. When I defeat him anyways, we'll know that the student has truly surpassed the master." OJ pulled out his Scroll and checked the time. "Well, I suppose that I should go. I'm not quite as good at manipulating Hearts as you are. I haven't had twelve hundred years to practice, after all. I'm getting better, and I hope you take a teacher's pride in that. But I need to check in on my project. Emerald isn't going to be 'perfect' until I have all the pieces I need. Next time around, I won't miss out on the Genie. I could have saved so much time with a few wishes."

He stood up and waved at the academy. "Maybe I'll find another version of you on my travels. Or if I'm lucky, another Cinder. Me and Jaune killing her would be so good. I bet the second time is better than the first, and I'm sure he'll agree."

OJ waved his arm and summoned another Corridor then turned back to the Academy. "Get the Hogyoku, Sora. I'm tired of waiting." Then he moved backwards through his door, and vanished from the island. There were preparations to be made, and he'd wasted enough time on this little walkabout.

R W B Y

"Shh!" Yang giggled when Jaune stumbled over one of the many stuffed animals on the floor of Ruby's office. He'd nearly taken down a tower of coffee mugs in the dark. "You'll wake her!"

"I'm trying!" Jaune whispered back. He slowly, carefully extricated himself from Ruby's desk, breath hitching when a pair of Sora and Ruby action figures positioned to hold hands – he decided not to read into that too much – began to wobble, and only began to breath again when they finally stopped moving. He turned to Yang at the other corner of the room and grinned sheepishly. He glanced down and stepped backwards, over the stuffed animal he'd tripped on, and moved around the table towards Yang.

Yang rolled her eyes and changed her grip on their surprise. Quietly, she admonished, "You're still drunk."

"Buzzed," he corrected. After all, his Aura had healed the worst of the damage. He rolled his eyes. "And you aren't?"

Yang shrugged. "... Point," she admitted. "But it doesn't matter. We need to set this up before she wakes up! With her being a teacher, she's got to wake up early. We have until dawn, maybe!"

Her voice got a little loud and a loud snore echoed from the nearby bedroom, so Jaune tossed his hand up to his face and hissed, "Shhhhh!"

Yang tossed a mocking face at him before she moved towards Ruby's desk chair and placed their surprise in front of it. "Ruby can't resist cookies," Yang said, an evil grin spreading across her face.

Jaune tented his hands and stared at the box. "So of course she'll open it without thinking."

"And when she does..." Yang's grin seemed to glow with the flames of Hell itself. "Everything will happen just as I have foreseen."

"I came up with the plan," Jaune pointed out dryly.

Yang's grin widened. "Exactly as I have foreseen."

Jaune shook his head. "Well, we're all set, so... what now?"

"The only way to end this night," Yang said, the evil grin immediately disappearing. She winked at Jaune and hopped over to the window, pulling it open.

Jaune walked over, narrowly avoiding tripping over more of the mess. "And what's that?" he asked when he got close.

"Do you trust me?" Yang asked.

Jaune grimaced. "Uh..."

Yang rolled her eyes again and grabbed his wrist, tearing him out of the window and bringing both of them up to the roof of Ruby's cabin, the middle of a baker's dozen of droplets on Beacon's main spire. There were seven high speed elevator shafts built into the spire with lifts capable of moving between them, allowing the faculty to quickly ascend and descend the building. Not that it had helped them. Jaune had not been happy climbing the shaft via service ladders. And now they were climbing again, except now they were getting hit by wind a hundred feet in the air. It didn't matter much, because Yang got them there eventually.

"W-what are we d-doing out h-h-here?" Jaune shivered as the wind buffeted them.

"Oh, don't be a baby," Yang said before her hair ignited, the warm blaze blanketing them both and protecting them from the cold. She leaned over and pulled him in so they could use each other to block the wind a little. "Better?"

Jaune blushed a deep red. "I, uh... yeah. Lots." He fidgeted and placed his hands on the roof, which was already growing warm from her flames. "so, you never told me what we're doing up here."

"Just watch," she said, pointing out. "We're looking east, right?" She glanced up at the sky and nodded. "Yep. See the stars? Any good adventurer needs to know how to navigate with the stars, so my dad taught me how to do it when I was a little kid. I'm lucky the new stars line up with the old ones. With a guiding star, you can never get lost."

"Lucky?" Jaune asked. The two glanced at each other before chuckling.

"Yeah, that's probably true," she agreed. She looked over at the horizon and sighed happily. "This was a pretty good night. Thanks."

"You kidding me? It wouldn't have been a tenth as good without you here," Jaune replied. He smiled wide. "If I was lucky."

"You'd have to be pretty damn lucky for that," Yang agreed. She leaned closer to him as the sun began to crest over the horizon, and both of them gasped.

The world lit up with a bright purple, golds, oranges, and blues streaking across the sky. The few clouds in the sky were bathed in the colors, painted in them. The Emerald Forest below began to... glow, the trees shining like their namesake as the sun hit them and the dew covered pines reflected the light upward. The mountains, including the one ruined by the escape of the Dragon Grimm, cast massive and sharp shadows over the scenery. The two of them turned to the side and caught sight of the city, reflecting the sunlight in a million tiny embers off of its windows.

"Wow..." Jaune said, eyes wide like he was catching all the Light in the world with them.

The sun eventually peaked over the mountains completely, the top of its arc finally visible. "Who better to share a sunrise with than a man with one for his emblem?" Yang asked when the shape of the sun became so similar to the Arc Crest.

Yang and Jaune were quiet, before Yang broke the silence. "So, who are you most scared to fight in the tournament?"

Jaune laughed and grimaced. "Oh, uh... there's a lot of those to worry about," Jaune said. He scratched his cheek. "I mean, that Zaraki guy is actually insane. I wouldn't want to fight him. On the other side, I think it'd be hard not to kill Kirito if I faced him, so probably not him."

"Yeah, Kirito wouldn't be any fun. I could easily take him down," Yang said proudly. "But that Zaraki guy would be fun. I mean, if you and Ichigo were scared of him, I might be able to stretch my legs against him. Or Tifa! I get the feeling that'd be a good fight. A real no holds barred, bare knuckle brawl! I mean, I'd win, but still..."

"Oh, that reminds me of another I don't want to go up against."

"And who would that be, Sunshine?" she asked, curiously.

Jaune glanced at her like it was obvious. "You. I mean, come on! You're scary!" he said. He shoved her with his shoulder. "You're on fire, literally and figuratively, Yang. You'd take me down, easy."

"Flattery will get you somewhere," Yang said, batting her eyelashes. "Not far, but somewhere."

"I'm being serious, Yang. We've been fighting together a while now, and I know when someone's better than me."

"And here I was going to say you," Yang replied. Jaune scoffed and she shook her head. "I'm being serious, Sunshine."

"Yeah, right. I'm good, but I'm not that good." Jaune smiled at the horizon. "I'm happy you'll be there if I ever fight OJ. I couldn't do it without you."

"No, you're a lot stronger than him. You keep making the right decisions, Jaune, even when it's hard. Even when you don't want to." Yang leaned her head on his shoulder, pushing a hand through her hair to make sure it wasn't in a place it would burn him. "I've had some good partners, Jaune. But you take the cake."

Jaune was quiet for a moment, staring upward to keep the tears from falling down his face. "This was the best night," he finally said, his voice cracking from sheer happiness. "I can't imagine... It... Where would I be without you, in life or in this fight? You said a guiding star keeps you from getting lost, then you're mine, Yang." He shut his mouth and shook his head. He couldn't let this night, this chance go past him. He felt a hand on his back, or maybe that was just the alcohol still pulsing through his brain, but he finally decided to go for it. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Yang turned to him in surprise, then ginned flirtatiously. "Bit chaste, don't you think?" Then she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought his face to hers, her hair burning brighter when the heat of him and the heat of her mixed, breath flowing between them. She rolled over and pushed him to the roof, straddling him and kissing him harder. His hands came up to her back and rubbed across, trailing lower and -

And then Ruby opened the trap. There was a loud boom, and colorful smoke and confetti began to drift up from the open window. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!"

The two looked up as a tornado of red exploded upward, landing beside them. Ruby Rose, Keyblade wielder, was standing above them. She was currently a bright, vibrant pink on her face with neon green splashed across her chest. One arm was bright orange, the other purple. Her legs were brown and green, like she'd been stained by grass. And all over her was rainbow confetti and cat shaped sparkles. "You ruined my pajamas!" She snapped at her sister. "And you betrayed me. With cookies! Cookies, Yang! The most good and true things in the world, and you made them betray -" Ruby stopped in her tracks and glanced between her sister and Jaune, between Jaune and her sister. Her silver eyes narrowed, then widened... then narrowed.

And so, Ruby asked the second most important question she would ask all morning, in typical Ruby fashion. "Were you guys wrestling?"

Yang felt something in her shatter at that question. "NO! Don't be such a kid, Rubes!"

Ruby's eyes widened and began to glow. And so, she asked the most important question she would ask that morning. "Were you... you knowing?!"

"Uh..." Jaune said, still dazed from making out with Yang.

The Keyblade angled at Jaune's face and he snapped out of it. "Oh... oh, no."

"RUN!" Yang shouted, jumping up and pulling him to his feet. "I'll hold her off!" She dove and tried to tackle her sister, who simply shrugged it off. She took a step forward, dragging Yang behind her on her shoulders. "Fly, you fool!"

Jaune didn't have to hear it twice. He turned and bolted. "I'm going to kill you!" Ruby screamed, the noise echoing and waking up students, teachers, and dogs all over the school. She took increasingly fast steps forward, getting closer to Jaune, who was busy trying to climb down the side of the building. She twirled her Keyblade and it flashed, turning into a glowing scythe, and she let its tip drag against the roof behind her. Sparks began to fly from the point of contact, and Jaune yelped in terror that made hims scramble even faster.

"Rubes! Ruuuuubes!" Yang pulled vainly on her sister. She sighed and added, under her breath, "Maybe I shouldn't have done this to Sora so many times. Have I been a bad influence?"

"Had a great time!" Jaune shouted at Yang. "Let's continue this at the academy!"

That was evidently the wrong thing to say, as Ruby suddenly began to move even faster. "RUN!" Yang screamed. And then Ruby finally broke out of her sister's grip and rocketed towards him, scythe ignited with flames.

R W B Y

October 26

One month later

Jaune and Yang almost couldn't believe it when Qrow and Ruby had shown up that morning, a massive, floating arena in the sky. It made the old Vytal Festival look... small, by comparison. Ruby, still overly hyper from her teacher's habit of replacing half her sleep with coffee, had sped them around in a tour they could barely remember. And given how little she could answer their questions, she'd probably been led around recently herself. Even with the blind leading the blind, there was a lot of cool stuff to see. So many fields and arenas, ranging from the usual duel arena, to one for sharpshooting, an interesting track for vehicular battle, some kind of aerial arena. Each one had its own stands that could fit tons of people, and Scrolls all over to view the battles. There were stands for food built into the outer walkway ring of the arena for all kinds of stuff. Jaune even thought he saw one shop with a toy Keyblade in the window.

The design of the entire thing was the same eclectic combination of a dozen cultures that the old arena had been so long ago. The walkways were adorned with imagery from the four Kingdoms, the image of a simplified Keyblade, and the symbol on the chain of the Kingdom Key. The outer walls were gleaming white metal, obviously an Atlesian design choice, but there were alcoves with marble statues of great Huntsmen placed in them. That would be Mistral. Vale's artistic representation came inside, with the many flowers, trees, and greenery lining the walkways between arenas, as well as in the spires arranged along the outer edge of the coliseum, where the contestants would stay through the end of the tournament. Ruby had shouted rather quickly that Vacuo had forced the open air design and the setup of the arenas as their input, and Jaune had to agree it was a good decision to show openness, and one Sora had probably signed off on immediately.

Of course, the biggest surprise was the dock. Not the main dock, where ships built on Remnant would ferry people in to watch the fights. No, this was the dock where the fighters would arrive, brought to Remnant by Sora in a larger, transport type Gummi Ship designed for the occasion. Jaune was sure that, somehow, Kirito would be there. Maybe Asuna too, if he'd found her Nobody yet. And Ichigo would be there, despite the fact he had lost his powers last they saw him. He couldn't picture Rukia letting anyone get sleep until that got figured out. And given how weird time was between different worlds, he'd be more surprised if it didn't turn out that way.

Jaune and Yang stood side by side, her arm over his shoulders and his arm around her waist. Given Qrow and Ruby's death glares, Jaune was disturbed to learn this was apparently pushing it when it came to affection. And that was even with the month of trying to get Yang's family used to the idea they were dating. Tai had, surprisingly enough, been okay with it. He'd looked into Jaune's eyes and simply said, "Like I said. Dating's okay if they're scared of her." Which, to be fair, Jaune was. Yang terrified him, both in that he was certain she could kill him and that he was terrified of screwing the relationship up at all. So the issue must have been that Sora wasn't scared of dying, even if he was scared of the second thing when it came to Ruby.

"Could you two tone it down?" Mercury asked from beside them. "You guys are acting like you're on the verge of making out."

"You're not Jaune," Jaune quipped, earning a snort from Yang.

Mercury sighed. "That didn't even sound like the word wrong," he grumbled, disgusted by the pun. "It's just... why? Why?"

Yang and Jaune stared at him in false confusion. "Why not?" Yang retorted simply. "If you don't have a sense of humor, we could always say, 'Xiao Long.'"

"Don't. It just encourages them," Qrow growled at Mercury when he opened his mouth to snap at her for that one.

"Yang it," she grumbled.

"And they don't need the encouragement," Qrow said, pointing at her when she said that. "Take it from me, ignoring it is your best bet. I learned that with Tai, and you'll need to learn it with them."

"It doesn't get better," Ruby confirmed, sobered from her caffeine high by a lifetime of her sister and father's humor.

Thankfully, her funk was eliminated when a loud 'boom' echoed out over the arena, and everyone glanced up with excitement. A swirling void of black and gold had opened above them, faraway worlds made visible through the warp portal created by the transport Gummi Ship, a massive ship of red and gold shaped like a stereotypical giant space ship designed to carry dozens of warriors to meet with and duel the strongest warriors of Remnant. Most people would think they were privately trained apprentices or warriors they were trying to bring into the fold. And that was partially true. Sora was looking for faculty, and he hoped that at least one of them would come to work for him eventually. He'd been taught by people from a smorgasbord of different worlds, after all. He thought it offered a unique perspective they could otherwise miss out on.

The ship slowed down and came in to dock, pulling up and coming to a stop so the workers could extend the ramp and the lock to hold the ship in place. A moment later, the bay of the ship slowly slid open, revealing a large crowd exiting the ship. At the head were Sora, grinning wide, and Ozpin, who was not. They came down, talking to the people right behind them, the leaders who would be part of the trap set for OJ. Jaune, Yang, and Merc recognized two of them; Urahara in his bucket hat and the cat on his shoulder, Yoruichi. He grinned and waved at the three of them upon catching their gazes before returning his attention to Sora. Beside them were a couple people that they didn't know. The first was a man in a blue suit with long black hair pulled back behind his ears. There was a dot in the center of his forehead, just above and between his creased eyebrows, and he looked like someone whose patience was getting low with Sora's wild and excited behavior. The other person was – "Wait, why does Tiffany have fairy wings?" Jaune asked suddenly, finally recognizing the dark skinned man despite the huge change in his species and style.

"Guys!" A pair of people dressed in black appeared, almost out of thin air, beside them. One was absurdly short and pale, the other tall with bright orange hair.

Jaune laughed. "I knew Rukia'd figure it out." Then he jumped forward and hugged the two Shinigami, followed by Yang. Mercury laughed before Yang reached out and forced him into the hug.

"Yeah, Short-Stuff here was lost without me," Ichigo shouted from the hug.

Rukia punched him in the kidney and he let go of everyone, falling to the ground. "You were the lost one. Don't lie to our friends!" she commanded, jabbing her finger at her prone friend.

The two of them looked... different, now. Older, but there was more to it than that. Ichigo's entire look had been revamped. His hair was longer and shaggier now, and he had some kind of crisscrossing black straps underneath his shirt, attached to a black, armored collar of black and white on both sides of his throat. He looked like he'd gotten worn down, and had only recently come back into being himself. Meanwhile, Rukia was the more serious departure. Her hair was shorter now, the flaring ends cut out. She looked more serious, almost like she'd been taking lessons in glaring from her brother. She wore white, fingerless gloves that reached to her middle finger on the back of her hand, and she now had a badge on her left bicep. "Lieutenant Kuchiki," Yang bowed, tossing in a posh accent for good measure. "It is our pleasure to have you here, M'Lady."

"Congratulations on the promotion, Ice Queen," Mercury said. He punched her shoulder. "Seems like just yesterday you were on trial with your own brother, and now look at ya. You can put people on trial now."

She turned and glared at him. "I missed you too, Mercury." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's been too long."

"It's been a month," Mercury said dryly.

"It's been eighteen months," Ichigo replied, confused.

Jaune and Yang laughed. "Yeah, time's a little weird sometimes," Jaune explained sheepishly. "Still, seems to get you where you need to be when you need to be there, so I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oh look, Yui. It's Dumb and Dumber – remember to use small words with them." Yang and Jaune turned to the new voice. Kirito, complete with spiky hair, a too large sword, a weird crop top jacket version of his old outfit and...

"I thought you said something about wanting to die instead of being a fairy," Jaune said dryly, gesturing at the sharp, long ears "Why'd you disappoint me?"

"Ha ha," Kirito said, stomping up to glare at Jaune.

"Hey, back off," Ichigo said, stepping up and pushing Kirito away.

Kirito began to draw his sword. "Hey, don't touch me, Weasley," he snapped.

Ichigo moved his hand to his sword. "I don't know what that means!"

"Hey, calm down!" Jaune shouted. He jumped between them. "He's my friend."

"Him!?" Kirito and Ichigo shouted while pointing at one another.

"Daddy, you're a dummy. Way worse than Dumb or Dumber," the tiny pixie in white snapped from beside him. "Still... touch my Daddy again and I will rip your entrails from your throat."

"Uh..." Ichigo droned, unsure what to say to the child like entity that had just threatened him.

Jaune sighed. "Ichigo, this is Kirito. He's a friend of mine who was not a fairy last time I saw him," he explained, stepping back to gesture at Kirito. "Try not to mention that his body now fits his voice."

Kirito's eye twitched as Ichigo snickered. "You're a guy?" he asked between guffaws. "You're so short and your voice is so high!"

Rukia slapped him in the back of his head. "And what's wrong with short people with girly voices, huh!?" she snapped angrily.

"You have a monster's voice!" Ichigo retorted, earning another smack to the head. "I mean, you don't have a girly voice!" Another punch, even harder, came after that one.

Kirito and Yui began laughing at Ichigo's pain. Well, his personality hadn't changed, Jaune supposed. Laughing at pain was Kirito's favorite past time. "Kirito, this is Ichigo and the one wearing the pants is Rukia," Yang explained through her own laughter.

"Sounds about right," Mercury said form where he stood.

"Oh, like you're one to talk," Kirito pointed out. His smirk slowly disappeared. "Or me, I guess."

Ichigo, finally given mercy from Rukia's assault, moved towards Kirito. "Sorry if I over reacted. Any friend of Jaune and Yang is a friend of mine, right?" He extended his right hand to Kirito.

"Well, no accounting for taste," Kirito muttered before taking the hand. "For you or me." He looked over at the tiny pixie and his voice became kinder and almost fatherly. "Say hello, Yui."

"Hello, Victim," the pixie growled threateningly.

Jaune glanced at her, then back at Kirito. "Is this... normal?" he asked, concerned.

"With me and Asuna as 'parents...' Pretty much, yeah," he admitted. He straightened up and gestured at the pixie. "Oh, right! You've never met her! This is my daughter, Yui. She was supposed to be an AI for the game, then one thing led to another and... Pixie daughter."

"Seems more normal than everything else we've done," Yang pointed out after a moment of silence.

"... Point," Jaune admitted with a shrug.

"So how do you know Jaune?" Ichigo asked Kirito.

"Helped me kill monsters and fight a psychopath," Kirito said bluntly.

Rukia laughed. "Us too!"

"Do you guys do anything else? I don't know, for fun?"

"They're dating now, so I can guess a few things," Tifa supplied as she walked up with Cloud. The both of them were in new outfits, as well. She had a white tank top under a black vest and overhauled, black shorts folded at the waist, giving her a cloak like tail to them behind her legs. She had a pink ribbon on her left arm and a pair of short black gloves covering her hands. Cloud's hair had changed, having calmed down significantly. He now had a high collar, sleeveless shirt, a black pauldron with the Fenrir symbol on it and attached to a sleeve covering his left arm. His hands were gloved, the right one visible reaching up to just below his elbow. He had a robe-like black material covering his legs, themselves clad in black up to his combat boots. He also had a new sword strapped across his back that seemed to be made up of many other, smaller swords to form one that looked like the Buster Sword.

"Do all of your friends wear only black?" Kirito asked dryly. Then he blinked and turned to Tifa and Cloud. "What did you say?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure I heard right, either," Ichigo agreed, cleaning out his ear with his pinky.

Cloud gestured at Yang and Jaune in turn. "They're dating," he repeated. "They've had contact with one another this entire time, no matter what they're doing."

Jaune and Yang looked down in surprise to find that his hand was brushing up against her leg and hers was holding that hand close. "Huh, would you look at that."

"I never thought you'd take the leap, Jaune. Nice!" Kirito said, slapping Jaune's back after his surprise had slowly vanished.

"I took the leap!" Yang pointed out indignantly. She flicked Kirito's head and he yelped, stumbling forward and leaving an angry Yui to threaten Yang's descendants with very violent and very graphic deaths. She was promptly ignored.

"Obviously. Jaune couldn't handle the stress of asking her out," Tifa explained with a smirk. "I mean, you've all met the guy. He's a ball of nerves unless he's fighting monsters." She nodded and winked at Jaune and Yang. "Hey, Guys. Long time no see."

Cloud crossed his arms and smirked. "I'm happy to see you both." He glanced over at Sora and the others, now including Ruby and Qrow. "Your home feels familiar."

Mercury bit back some words. Probably best to avoid telling Cloud he's a war crime created at Remnant's North Pole. "Well, it is the first one in the new set," he said instead. He gazed up at the moon, still trying to get used to the reconstructed moon. "Sora and Ruby over there rebooted the universe a couple years ago and everything rocketed forward to catch up."

Rukia gaped. "That's..."

"Insane?" Yang asked. She scoffed. "Yeah, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there. It was insane. Involved my sister's possessed mom and time travel."

"Oh. Time travel, yeah. Yeah, that would make sense. Okay, yeah. Maybe, you know. I guess," came the chorus.

Kirito, however, said, "So now we have to worry about time travel bologna on top of everything else!?"

Jaune froze and turned to Kirito. "Did you just say bologna?"

"Daddy can't curse. ALO has a profanity filter," Yui explained. She sighed and patted his cheek. "It hurts his soul."

"He has a soul?" Mercury wondered.

"Original," Kirito muttered dryly. "Haven't heard that before."

"How about we show you all around?" Jaune asked, a wide grin on his face. All of his friends, together again. "We've got at least a week before the fights, and you've got to be hungry." He looked over at Kirito. "Don't worry, this free food will be good."

Kirito raised his index finger. "I will be the judge of that."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Really? Complaining about free food?"

Mercury laughed. "He can complain about anything. Give him a topic, watch him whine."

The pixie sighed. "He's got your number, Daddy."

"Yui!"

AN: Hey, guys! Happy Halloween! Sorry if it's been a while, it's just been hectic lately. I've been working on figuring out exactly where I want these next chapters to go and how to go there. I know what's happening, but the roadmap and some of the smaller stuff shows up and changes while I write. And now I have to come up with who is fighting who in the next arc, so the next chapter might take a little bit, too.

Now, responses:

To Gamelover41592: About time, right? I hope the date was an entertaining read!

To Chretner: Yeah, I can't imagine even canon Raven saying too much different. Or being the one asked out instead of the one doing the asking. Sadly my D&D ended a while ago; a friend of mine moved to Ireland and another went back to college, so it became too much. Still, it ended well. One lost the ability to lie before entering the city dedicated to the god of lies, the other ate a brain at a hospital and became the servant of a fallen god. You know, JustChaoticThings, right? It ended in, as always, PVP. Evil defeated good, and it seriously screwed the homebrew world up. If we get to play again, it'll be fun to see how much worse they screw it up, now. If you say the -Za magic in this isn't too broken, I'll be happy to believe you. I was worried, honestly. And sorry about the duel. I was trying to do this thing where Jaune was altering the terrain to trap Yang but wasn't quite fast enough. I think it might have been a bit too ambitious for that.

Anyways, I hope you guys all have a Happy Halloween! See you soon!