A/N: This was written as a fluffy one-shot 'Pyrrha lives' AU. I toyed around with a couple of different endings for this fic (and before I caught it in the reviews, one of those endings was still in the published work... which Should Not Have Gotten Out There but hey, these things happen when the author is a massive idiot; regardless, my apologies to those of you who read it in its first hours of having been posted).

I do plan on revisiting this in the future and incorporating this or a scene like it into a longer story I'm creating involving Jaune and his team after Beacon, but I have a lot of planning ahead of me before that is out.

Once again, apologies to the initial readers for any Unplanned Author-Involved Proofreading-Adjacent Misunderstandings(TM). :) The work has been corrected and the proper ending is in place. Hope you enjoy the fluff!

Jaune tiptoed up to the bedroom door to check up on the niece and nephew who ought to be sleeping inside.

"Uncle Jaune, uncle Jaune!" The kids beamed up upon seeing his face in the dim light of their nightlight. "Tell us a bedtime story!"

Jaune chuckled to himself and rolled his eyes. 'I guess that was too much to hope for.'

Not that he minded an excuse to spend more time with the little ones. When his sister had asked him to babysit for her for the week, he jumped at the chance.

"Hmm," he feigned pensive thought. "Have I told you the one about... the Champion and the King?"

The kids shook their heads, eyes wide in anticipation.

A smile beamed on his face and he sat down at their bedside.

He loved to tell this one.

"Well you see," he began.

A long time ago, in a kingdom named Beacon, there was a castle...

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jaune looked out of the window, eyes captivated by the glowing lights of the school's tower against the backdrop of the Valesian night sky.

Pyrrha joined him as he rested his arms on the windowsill.

It really was breathtaking when she stopped to look at it.

"I hadn't noticed it before..." she remarked as a smile lit her face. "But it is beautiful."

"There was an old fairy tale my folks told me," Jaune drifted off in thought, "about a king with a castle... And that castle had a spire with beacon lights just like those." He watched the dancing orbs of light as he recalled the story the hadn't thought about in years. "They said the lights were part of the souls of the king and his champion."

Pyrrha leaned in to lay her elbows on the windowsill next to his. "How does the rest of it go?" She turned to look at him, and saw the faint movement of his eyes flickering in the light as they followed the lights.

"The king was a gifted military commander and his champion was the most skilled warrior in all of Remnant. The two of them watched over the kingdom every night from that spire. One night, though, a Grimm army appeared and the kingdom had to be evacuated."

Pyrrha returned her gaze to the Beacon tower.

"According to the legend, the king and the champion split off a part of their very souls to stay at the top of that tower. And every time they died, they would reincarnate, and their souls would be drawn back to that spire. To try and reforge that kingdom they once shared."

Pyrrha smiled as he told her the story, the dancing lights now captivating her gaze.

"It's funny," Jaune laughed, "that fairy tale was actually what first made me want to be someone." He turned his head and their eyes met again. "To be something important... And now here I am, training to become a huntsman."

In that castle, there was a champion. A woman who no one in the kingdom could defeat in combat. She was strong, beautiful and kind. And she could not be beaten. She was invincible.

The king grew to love her with all his heart. She loved the king as well. They each wanted to be together, but their duty to the kingdom never allowed them to admit it to one another.

The dance floor was empty save for a few of the later arrivees still making up for lost time.

Most of their friends had returned to their rooms, either to sleep or to continue the festivities in a more comfortable setting. In a far corner of the floor, near one of the columns supporting the balcony, Jaune and Pyrrha swayed gently to the meter of a slow ballad.

As they rocked in each other's arms, Jaune noticed her glancing around occasionally. One moment in particular, she didn't look back. Her legs halted and she stopped moving to the beat entirely. On her face, he detected a certain redness that he hadn't noticed a second ago.

Jaune turned his head to see what was happening.

"... Oh."

All of the remaining couples with them wore their affections like they wore their formal attire. Most were kissing as the romantic song was nearing its peak. Others were simply staring lovingly into one another's eyes as they swayed.

Jaune and Pyrrha, still holding one another but no longer dancing, were now watching the love in the air play out on the dance floor.

Suddenly, he felt Pyrrha's arms on his shoulders recede slightly.

More quickly than he meant, his head whipped around to her to see if everything was okay. The last thing he wanted to see was her uncomfortable.

"Jaune, we don't have to keep dancing," she offered, her eyes still down on the ground.

"Oh! Are you getting tired?"

"No."

"Oh. Well... do you wanna stop?"

Pyrrha drew in a deep breath and sighed it out softly, still keeping her eyes off of his.

"... No."

Jaune smiled in relief and nudged her arms back into place with his hands before returning them to his partner's waist.

Pyrrha finally turned to look back at him and her face lit up in a smile once more as he led her back out onto the open dance floor.

As yet another song reached its peak, Jaune felt a hand slide over to sit on his cheek.

Pyrrha gently craned her neck and left a soft kiss on his other cheek before returning her head and her hand to their previous places.

She felt Jaune's grip on her waist strengthen slightly and his thumb began rubbing a gentle pattern into her side. His breathing had picked up and when he exhaled now, she could feel warm air cascading down her exposed back.

More songs had passed and more pairs left the dance floor as the event rolled to a close.

Jaune and Pyrrha stood still now, having given up the appearance of dancing a couple of numbers ago.

"I guess the party is wrapping up soon," she pointed out.

"It is getting late..." Jaune conceded.

"Nora and Ren are probably waiting for us back in the dorm," she remarked with a giggle.

"I know," he whispered, resting his head against hers. As his lips angled to her ear, her cheek slid against his and the touch of her skin made his breath hitch. A chill ran down his spine and his shoulders flexed back slightly to shake it off.

"Just... stay with me a little while longer?"

Her arms slowly coiled around his chest in a firm and warm embrace.

"I'd like that, Jaune."

She protected the castle, and looked after everyone's safety, while the king drew strategy, made laws and tried to be the best king he could be.

There were times when he doubted himself. Times when he thought he would fail... times when he did fail.

But every time he fell, she was right there to pick him up. Every time he doubted himself, or caved under the pressure of running his kingdom, she reminded him that he was truly a great king, and he had it in him to beat any obstacle.

She believed in him so strongly that even his own self-doubt faded away. With her by his side, he felt like he could do anything. He felt like he was also invincible.

"I can't do it, Pyrrha!" Jaune wailed, throwing his shield to the ground in frustration. "The match is tomorrow! And I still can't do it!"

The shield collided with one of the nearby practice dummies they had been using to train Jaune's strikes.

While his melee skill in general had been improving quite a lot, he was still unable to project his aura with his Crocea Mors swipes, leaving his effective range lacking.

"Jaune, you-"

"I can't." He turned to sit on the low concrete wall of the practice arena. "I'm holding you guys back," he said soberly.

Pyrrha frowned and sat down next to him.

"I'm the weak link. I'm the one who still doesn't have a semblance. I'm the one who can't hold my own." He sighed before continuing in a more defeated voice. "I'm the one who shouldn't have gotten the chance to compete in the tournament in the first place."

Her hand moved over his as he aired his frustration. When he was done, the two just looked into each other's eyes for several empty seconds. She smiled to him and his mouth simply hung slack, the last of his concerns hanging in the air between them.

"Jaune," Pyrrha began, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's one technique. It's hardly going to disqualify you from the tournament. You're more than strong enough to get by without it."

He moved to face her, knowing that if anything could lift him out of his current state, it had to be another one of her sincere, encouraging pep talks

"Don't worry about the festival so much. If you don't get it tonight, then you'll get it some other night. You're our leader. Our strategist. Without you, we could be easily outmaneuvered by any of the other teams. We need your tactical expertise."

The corners of a reluctant grin crept back to his lips and the weight on his heart seemed to have evaporated. His self-doubt was, once again, vanquished by Pyrrha's faith in him.

"You're not the weak link, Jaune. You're Team JNPR's greatest strength."

Now, Jaune felt invincible.

"And when you do get it," she moved her loose hand to rest over his heart, "with how much aura you've got, Jaune... it's going to be incredible." Her smile beamed at him and his shoulders seemed to lift on their own. His face shown a hint of pride brought on by her words and her eyes drank in the sight of a Jaune who believed in himself again.

He sighed and his head flopped down onto her shoulder. She let out a small laugh and pulled him into a hug.

"What if I don't have a plan?" He muffled into her torso.

"You will," she reassured him. "You always do. You'll think of something, I know you will."

He let out a soft, low groan of acquiescence, and the vibrations of his voice caused her arms to tighten around him slightly.

But soon, the kingdom fell under attack.

An evil greater than anything anyone alive had ever seen before was approaching. A force that was large enough to threaten his entire kingdom.

He knew there was nothing he could do. Even the champion's strength might have been no match for it.

Still, she insisted on defending his claim of the land. The people had all run away to safety. She urged him to go after them so he could lead them and forge a new kingdom while she fended off the attackers for as long as she could.

He could listen to her pleas and retain his power, or he try to could convince her to let the castle fall, let the land be conquered and follow him to safety.

Then the kingdom's walls came crumbling down. The king had a choice to make.

Jaune's eyes peeled forward, using all of the focus he had left in him to dodge the debris of shattered columns and the rubble of the ruptured stone walkways. After the more difficult terrain was past them, his attention was quickly called to his footsteps, now unaccompanied by Pyrrha's heeled boots. He turned around.

Pyrrha had stopped in her tracks and turned back to face the tower. The glowing orbs of the citadel had been snuffed and the courtyard was dark. A fearsome Grimm wyvern circled ominously in the sky above them and its shrieks sent a chill down her spine.

Jaune could see the few feet of distance between them, but it like miles. All of a sudden, it was as if a force of nature was ripping them apart, and if he did nothing, he felt he would lose her.

"Pyrrha, no!" He barked, horrified of the dawning realization before him. "I won't let you!"

She turned back to him, her face grim but unyielding.

He was already losing her.

The sadness in her eyes, the thin frown of her lips and that heart-wrenchingly pained furrow of her eyebrows- they were all telling him exactly what he feared most.

I'm sorry.

He could hear it without her voice needing to say it.

She backed up slowly as if she were fighting every muscle in her body to leave him.

"Jaune, I need to do this."

"You'll lose!" He reached out for her. His voice was shrill but pleading.

"Probably..." she replied in little more than a whisper. Her voice was weak and scared.

Suddenly, she tore her eyes away. If she looked at him any longer, she would likely lose the will to fight.

A sense of duty and pride took over and she turned to run. Doubt could come later; this was a fight she had to take. A huntress would do no less.

And if she lost, then it was a fight she needed to lose.

She needed to lose.

Her steps faltered as those words echoed in her head. Doubt quickly closed the distance and overtook her face.

Needed to lose? That didn't make any sense. For the first time, she could feel her faith in her destiny wavering and the gravity of the threat she was running towards caught up to her. Then she felt a hand grip tightly onto her arm.

Jaune raced to her and grabbed her like she was going to fall through the ground right before him.

She had no time to ask why before he spun her around and pulled her into a deep kiss. Her arms reached for his shoulders and she all but collapsed into the warmth of his body.

As she deepened the kiss, tears streamed freely down her cheeks. Her heart was tossed around in her chest as she was pulled between her command to fight Cinder and the blossoming fruition of her love for Jaune.

As their long kiss waned, Jaune held his forehead against hers and searched for affirmation in her eyes. They slowly widened and peered back into his, the deep seas of emerald glistening as they danced about his face.

The air of their panting breaths mingled between their lips and he brought his hand up to brush some of her tears off of her cheek.

"Pyrrha, don't do this." He tilted his head and his lips encircled hers in another tender kiss. "We're gonna make it out of this... okay?" he begged.

"She's dangerous, Jaune..." Pyrrha protested meekly. "I have to stop her..."

"I know." His cheek brushed against hers and he whispered into her ear. "And you will."

"Just please," he begged, "stay with me a little while longer."

Pyrrha's arms wrapped around him like she was hanging on to him for dear life. She couldn't break the embrace - her arms wouldn't loosen if she wanted them to - but her mind was still embattled with the fate she believed had been carved out for her.

"We'll get stronger. We'll take her on together- everyone. We'll beat her as a team. But we need you, Pyrrha," he cried. "I need you..."

She knew she wanted more than anything to stay with him, now moreso than ever, but the conflicting pulls of destiny and desire paralyzed her.

Though she could tell that her heart had already made its choice, she felt she needed to protest, if only to make sure he heard her reservations. If only to make sure she wasn't being selfish by choosing to follow him.

Now a waver, her voice trembled out her last meager arguments as she grasped for reinforcement. She only prayed he would somehow shatter every objection she voiced. She needed him to. This was a fight she absolutely needed to lose.

"What if we lose Beacon?"

"Pyrrha, we already have..."

"What if the other maidens can't stop her?"

"They will. They're stronger than her."

"Nobody knows where they are, Jaune! Cinder has allies and connections! What if nobody has a plan to-?"

"Then I'll come up with something." He answered simply, casting away the question without a second thought.

"... I always do, right?"

And just like that, she was broken free of her inner conflict. She surrendered to her own happiness and chose to follow her heart.

If she had ever had any faith in him, now is when she needed to trust in it the most. And trust she did.

He chose to try. He chose her.

The kids stared with awe at their uncle's story. "And then what happened...?" One of them asked.

"And then, they lived happily ever after." He smiled.

"The castle fell... and the people of the kingdom fled," he elaborated, "but castles can be rebuilt. New towns and villages can be settled. What can't be replaced is the people you love."

The children smiled and shifted in their covers.

"He couldn't really be a king anymore- he didn't have a kingdom. But he had her." He smiled. "And she meant more to him than the entire world."

He knelt down and kissed their heads, then turned to shut their bedroom door.

"Uncle Jaune?" One of the children asked before he went out of sight. "Is that how you feel about Aunt Pyrrha?"

Jaune chuckled under his breath and pushed the door back open just enough to poke his head in.

"Absolutely," he nodded.

A playful grin soon overtook his face. He accented his movements in jest as his eyes darted to the side and his head spun around, as if making sure his wife couldn't overhear them talking about her.

"But don't tell her," he joked in a comic whisper, bringing a finger up to his lips. "I don't know if she likes me back yet!"

Pyrrha laid in the single bed of her sister-in-law's guest room, reading by the dim lamp on the nightstand. Jaune rested his head on the pillow next to her, his arms lazily spooled around her.

As she wrapped up the chapter she was reading, she let out a yawn and a stretch. She set her glasses and book on the nightstand and began letting her hair down, some of the strands accidentally falling into her husband's face.

Jaune hummed a low, soft groan into her side.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she giggled.

Jaune slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her.

Pyrrha swept the extra red strands out of his face and she felt his arms tighten their hug on her.

"Pyr...?"

She hummed and tilted her head in question, smiling gently down at him.

"I'm really happy you're here with me." He peered honestly into her eyes.

She laughed and kissed his forehead. "Of course I would be! I haven't seen Flaxen in so long, and her kids have grown so much-"

"That's not what I..." He sighed and threw his eyes down to her stomach.

"I..." he hesitated. "I told them the story. The one I told to Ren and Nora's kids."

Pyrrha looked down at him as she slid her arm around his head, cradling it to her body. "The Champion and the King"?

"Mm..." he confirmed.

She smiled and gently stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I like how that one ends."

"The king convinced her to leave with him. He picked her over all of his land and his wealth..."

"And then," Pyrrha smiled, looking down to the bulge in her belly. "They started a kingdom of their own."