Jaune lay against the broken remnants of Beacon tower, his gaze looking out onto the sun setting over the kingdom of Vale. Fitting how their battle would end where it had all begun. This school, this tower, held so many memories for him. He'd lied and cheated his way to get in, convincing himself that he had what it took to pass himself off as a potential hero. All too quickly life had countered by forcing the reality of his situation on him, giving him an ultimatum time and again that would either allow him to return to the life he once knew or forge ahead, uncertain of what trials and challenges that lay in wait to see if the scrawny boy had the tenacity to push through the pain, guilt and heartache. He'd continued forward, partly out of stubbornness, partly out of spite, never knowing what lay ahead of him.

He could never have predicted what would transpire. He'd watched his partner Pyrrha, the invincible girl, being brought to her knees. He'd seen Beacon, a force of good that had faced down the evils of the Grimm for generations, reduced to a ruin. He'd witnessed the city of Vale, a once proud kingdom, become lost to the darkness. Yet again he was given the ultimatum and yet again he chose to forge ahead.

He thought he was doing it out of a sense of righteousness, or heroism. The moment he set out on the path towards Mistral he told himself he was doing this for all the right reasons. He would find Cinder, he would avenge Pyrrha, and he would return, the hero who had slain the villain. How wrong he had been. He had begun his journey as a child and ended it as a veteran, changed in ways that words could not describe and that no human eye could detect. Yet, the boy who had lied his way into Beacon was no longer the man who now lay watching the sun set.

How difficult it had been for him to face the truth, to look himself in the mirror and realize that he had done something far worse than any act Cinder or Salem could inflict on him. He'd lied to himself. He had fooled the fool and it nearly cost him everything.

He told himself he was avenging Pyrrha but in reality he was simply looking for revenge. There had been nothing noble about his desires. He was hurting. He was in pain. His guilt tore at his soul and it cried out for a reprieve. He could only think of one thing that might assuage his suffering. He would find Cinder and make her suffer. He would bring her to her knees, leave her helpless, powerless. She would know how he had felt that night the moment Pyrrha forced her lips upon his, distracting him with a momentary sensation of pleasure before throwing him into a locker and shooting him off to safety. What had hurt most about that wasn't her actions but her reasons behind them. She knew he was too weak to fight alongside her, to support her. She knew he was useless in the fight to come. He hated himself for that. He hated himself for being weak and he hated Cinder for forcing him to acknowledge that.

That hatred had festered within him, keeping him awake at night, taunting him as he pushed himself through the aches and pains of his muscles in his training. It hung over him, like a cloud of disease. It whispered in his ear as he watched his teammates takedown the Grimm with ease while he supported them from the sidelines. It haunted him in his dreams, leaving him unable to sleep or rest. It echoed in her voice as Pyrrha's final recording played over and over on his scroll, motivating him to become stronger, to never again allow someone he cared about be taken from him.

Then Cinder impaled Weiss with a spear and reality came crashing down around him.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been so foolish? Even with all his training and the damage Cinder had received at Ruby's retaliation, he'd still been too weak to pose a threat to her and it had nearly cost him another friend. It had been a wake up call, a much needed one, though he was loath to admit it. He knew then that things had to change, his motivations had to change. He could no longer fight for revenge. He would fight to protect everything he held dear to him. He would fight to preserve those most precious to him. He would fight to never again know the feeling of lose at the hands of their foes.

"Hey there, Vomit boy. What're you doing?" a familiar feminine voice spoke.

Jaune glanced up from his spot, gazing up at the form of Yang Xio Long as she stood against the backdrop of the setting sun. With her hands set squarely on her hips and her usual confident grin plastered on her face, she was a vision of beauty that most men dreamed of and many had been seen drooling over. Simply being in her presence could cause a man's heart to race. For Jaune, however, she did much more to him than that.

"Just relaxing," he said, "I'm a bit worn out from the battle. Figured I'd take a rest somewhere quiet."

"I saw. You really gave Cinder a run for her money. Not sure how many people have been able to wipe that damn smirk off her face."

"Not many, I'd wager," he agreed, thinking back to the duel which had ensued between the two of them. It was all a blur to him, really. He hadn't really been focused on defeating her. He'd only been focused on protecting his friends, of ensuring their future. Somehow that had been enough to undermine Cinder's own motivations. She come into the battle with the same arrogant smirk she'd worn all throughout their various encounters but she left this world with an expression that showed she hadn't expected to lose, let alone to someone like him.

"Everyone's celebrating downstairs. All that's missing is you."

"I'll come down later. I'm not really great with parties. That's always been your thing," he said.

"Well, if we're being honest, I really only came up here because I was getting lonely," she admitted, dropping her smile to adopt a more vulnerable expression. "Mind if I stay up here with you for a while?"

Jaune didn't answer but instead smiled as he held out a hand to her. She took it, settling herself down beside him as she wrapped her arm around his torso and laid her head against his chest. He long golden hair tickled his chin, the lose strands rubbing against him as her head rose and fell with his chest. He could feel her warm body against his, a welcoming presence that had become so very precious to him in a short amount of time.

He wasn't quite sure when it happened. Honestly, he didn't really think it mattered all that much. Life has a way of bringing people together and hardships have a knack for forging bonds that never break. The same could be said for them. Yang had begun her journey simply out of a desire to keep her sister safe. Jaune had begun his out of a desire for revenge but quickly found himself fighting for something greater than himself. At some point these desires intersected and the end result spoke for itself.

"You know, moments like these are some of my favorites."

"Hmm?" Yang asked, her head remaining firmly on her boyfriend's chest as it rose and fell, her mind half asleep as a result.

"I know it sounds corny but I've always liked the simple pleasures. I enjoy moments that are more subtle, more patient, that don't require a great deal of effort for a small reward. Moments like these always feel like they last longer, y'know?"

"I think I do," she answered, silently contemplating what Jaune was saying. "What makes this moment so special to you?"

"Because you're in it," he said.

"That's a given," Yang said, turning her head so she could flash him a cocky grin.

"It's deeper than that so bear with me," he replied in retort, rolling his eyes at her joking attitude that, while annoying, was strangely charming in her own way. "Before I came to Beacon, before I meet you, my view of the world and how it worked was something akin to the fantasy genre. I thought I'd join Beacon, become a great hero, get a girlfriend, and live a life of fame and adventure."

"So, exactly what's happened to us?" she asked.

"That's not what I meant," he said with a frown.

"Then what do you mean?" she asked.

"Simply put, I never considered the cost. I never considered what I'd have to sacrifice or what I'd have taken from me. I never thought anything bad would happen to us. I never imagined we'd have to face the possibility of losing those we cared about or putting our lives on the line in a war that no one knew was being fought. I guess you could say that I fantasized about life as an adult without having actually matured. It was nice to imagine but not realistic."

Yang was silent as Jaune spoke. It wasn't that she didn't get what he was saying. On the contrary, she knew better than anyone what he was talking about. It was a reality she'd been forced to face the moment Summer died. It was a moment that left her father a broken man and Ruby without a mother, too young to understand but not yet old enough to take care of herself. It was a moment where she'd chosen to step up and, as a result, forced herself to mature and face the reality of the world at a time when she should be hanging out with friends and deciding which cute boy she had a crush on.

Reality was a bitch.

"Then Beacon fell and Pyrrha sh- "

His words caught in his throat, causing his breath to hitch. Yang glanced up, her eyes filled with concern as she looked to her boyfriend. She could see his gaze had grown distant. Even after all this time he still had trouble with reliving those final moments. He blamed himself, even when he had no reason to. Pyrrha had made her choice. She had chosen to save him at the cost of her own life.

Without hesitating Yang reached up to touch his face and tilt his head down towards her own. She gave him a smile, not one of her signature sunny smirks but a simple one that held her affection for him. It was infectious and he soon smiled one of his own, wiping away imaginary tears before they could start to form.

"I'm alright," he said.

"I know," she replied softly. "So, you were talking about this is your favorite moment?"

"It's this," he said, pulling his arms tightly around her waist, drawing her closer to him. "It's moments where just you and me are together, content to be in each other's arms. It's simple yet fulfilling. It's strange how, just being with you, can make all the difference. I don't need all those extravagant accessories that other people want or have. I don't need money or fame or power to feel complete. I just need you here, with me, and I know that I am loved. When I hold you close like this, the most precious and important person in my life, I feel completely at ease because I know you feel the same way about me and that makes all the difference."

All things considered, Yang wasn't unexperienced when it came to love or dating. She'd dated her fair share of guys at Signal (none worth mentioning) and a few here and there during her time at Beacon. The one thing they had in common was how she felt around them. She was an accessory. She was one of the most popular and attractive girls at both schools. Simply having gone on a date with her could greatly boost your reputation. Still, she didn't sell herself short. If you wanted more than a simply peck on the cheek you had to work for it.

Jaune, on the other hand, was unlike any of the guys she'd dated in the past. In a word he was genuine. He was loyal, almost to a fault. He pushed himself to be better, especially when he saw just how much difference there was between himself and his teammates. He never turned his back on what he believed to be the right course of action, even when it meant facing an unforgiving reality as a result. He never once ogled her or made her feel like an object. He was always kind, respectful, and even a little dorky.

Where most guess looked to her as a sexual object, he treated her like a beautiful flower. When other men would cat call or whistle he would give her a complement from the heart. He brought her flowers when most guys assumed she was too tomboyish to even care about them. He took her on actual dates, putting a great deal of time and effort into each one. He made an effort to make her feel like woman and it showed.

Perhaps that was what had attracted her to him most of all. Everything he said or did was from the heart. He wore his emotions of his sleeves but he was never ashamed of it. It made her heart beat a little faster simply thinking of how, when he looked at her, he saw the real Yang and not the icon most men imagined.

"I have to admit you make a pretty good argument," she said.

Jaune cocked an eyebrow, sensing Yang was up to something but not quite sure what it was.

"So let me offer a rebuttal," she said.

Before he could ask what she meant, Yang leaned forward, reaching her hand up behind his head to pull him closer, before smashing her lips against his. The act took him by surprise but he recovered quickly enough. His lips caressed hers softly, teasing her of what was to come. She pushed forward, pressing her tongue against his teeth in an act to bait him towards something more. He took it, of course, and almost immediately her embrace became more aggressive. Jaune matched her with his own, each of them vying for dominance while being swept away by the pleasure of the moment.

She leaned into him, pressing her chest up against his as one of his hands strayed downwards. She moaned in pleasure, feeling the need to take things further growing within her. She repressed them, for now anyway. Forcing themselves apart, Yang drew back to look into Jaune's eyes as the last few moments slow dissipated from his mind.

"You make a fair point," he said.

"That was just part one," she said, rising to her feet before reaching down to pull Jaune to his own. "Come with me."

"Where? No offense but I think it's a bit late to go back to the party."

"Who said anything about the party. I was thinking we should continue our conversation somewhere a little more private."

"Oh," he said, realizing what she meant. "I see your point."

Perhaps he had spoken too soon when considering what constituted his favorite moments.

Well, it was in the top five at least.

Just a bit of dragonslayer for you all to enjoy. I was inspired to write this piece while at one of my favorite bookstores reading. Typically something like that will happen. Either when I'm out jogging, reading, or watching a movie something will spark my more creative parts of my brain. Hope you all enjoy.