Welcome to ch 29 of TPA.
Time ceased to exist. Or at least, Jaune felt that way. In fact, if the whole world suddenly disappeared, and this one, small hospital room was all that left, he wouldn't have noticed - and probably wouldn't have cared either.
No, even this room was not important. All that mattered was the girl in his arms. Her warmth, her breathing, the scent of her favorite shampoo. Jaune held her tightly, emotions whirling inside him. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but words just wouldn't leave his clenched throat.
She pulled away from him a little, just enough to look him in the eyes. Green meet blue, and Jaune smiled.
Words? Who needed them? Certainly not them. Anything they wanted to convey to each other, they could do with just a glance.
Jaune squeezed her shoulders just a bit tighter.
I'm sorry I was late.
Sam smiled.
It's ok. I'm sorry I got you worried.
He chuckled, his hand moving to push a stray lock of hair out of her face.
It's ok. Just don't do it again.
It met hers halfway through. She took his hand in hers and squeezed lightly.
I won't. But only if you don't leave me.
He squeezed back.
I won't.
She moved they hands up, placing them on her cheek.
Promise?
He smiled, his forehead touching hers.
Promise.
She smiled back, closing her eyes, just enjoying the moment. He was so close, and held her so tightly. It was perfect, nothing could…
"So, you gonna kiss already, or what?" A very annoying, and very familiar voice sounded.
Sam sighed at the same time as Jaune. They looked each other in the eyes, and giggled.
"Seriously, just do it already. I can leave and guard the doors. How much time you need? Ten minutes? Twenty?"
"Crystal. It's nice to see you again." Sam said, with a small smile.
The oldest of the Arc siblings grinned and closed her scroll.
"You too, Sammy." Crystal walked towards the younger girl and hugged her briefly.
"We all missed you." She pulled back, fixing Sam's hair.
"How are you feeling?"
"Good. I'm a bit dizzy, and it's hard to move around. Doctors said they should be able to sign me out tomorrow, unless something unexpected happens."
"That's great. Will you be coming back home? Or stop by Hunter's Rest?"
Sam rolled her eyes.
"You're asking as if I had any choice in the matter. Mei called two hours ago and made it clear she will kidnap me if my parents don't bring me there."
Crystal chuckled, shaking her head.
"I guess you're right. Anyway, I would love to stay and talk more, but I gotta go. See ya later Sammy. Oh, and don't try anything funny, Jaune's friends are still outside."
"Oh, right! I almost forgot." Jaune smiled. "My friends from Beacon came with me. You have to meet them. They are amazing people. I'm sure you will…" He was interrupted when the doors opened and a middle aged woman in a white coat walked into the room. She looked over the people in the room, and fixed her glasses.
"I'm sorry to interrupt." She said, with a tone suggesting wasn't really. "But I need to perform some check ups on Miss Samantha. Besides, visiting hours are already over."
Jaune slumped, and shot a pleading look towards the younger girl. Samantha just sighed.
"Just go. We can talk more tomorrow. Besides. " She yawned theatrically. " I'm getting tired."
"Oh…" Jaune looked lost for a moment, but eventually got up. "So… when will they sign you out? I could come over and…"
"I don't know."
"So…"
"Just go already."
Jaune hanged his head low, muttered a goodbye and left. Crystal watched him go, then smirked.
"That was pretty mean, Sammy. I wonder if I should show him something nice to cheer him up."
Sam tensed.
"Something nice?"
Crystal nodded.
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe this recording of you calling his name in your sleep. With this goofy grin on your face…"
Sam stared at the older woman for a few moments. Then sighed.
"What do you want?"
Crystal blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"What do I..." she said pointing to herself, "...give you..." she pointed at Crystal, "...so that you delete that video."
"I'm afraid you have nothing valuable enough to offer, my dear. But if it's just to prevent me from showing it to him, I think we can come to an arrangement." She said with a wink.
Samantha just sighed again. She had a feeling the price would be high, but what choice did she have? That recording could never see the light of day.
The only silver lining was that Crystal couldn't read minds, and thus didn't know what Sam was dreaming about back then.
Sam fixed her dress for the hundredth time. It was simple, white, and reached just below her knees. Was it a good choice? It didn't make her look like a kid, right? She sighed, and glanced at one of the many windows in Hunter's Rest main room. She could just barely make her reflection out - dark red hair, worn tied in a single ponytail. She didn't wear any accessories besides a necklace made of green stone that a certain blond brought her from Mistral. She didn't have any makeup - not like she needed it.
And fact that a certain dork-knight once said he didn't like girls who put on too much makeup certainly had nothing to do with it.
Sam sighed, and fixed her dress for the one hundredth and first time, once again wondering if it was a good choice. Was it too formal? Maybe she should get changed? Then again, Jaune would be bringing his friends with him. She had to make a good impression! No way in hell she would let it be a repeat of Atlas.
She sighed, and attempted to fix her dress again, but the voices from outside stopped her.
The doors opened, and eight people entered the Hunter's Rest. Sam's first thought was 'oh, he's on time for once'.
Her second one was 'why are there so many girls with him?!' Seriously, what was that about? He was surrounded by six, six gorgeous girls! All of them beautiful and mature, expect for the short one that looked a lot like Rubin, and they were all so close to him!
Sam took a deep breath and put on her best smile. It wouldn't do to be mean to Jaune's friends. Afterall, just because they were girls didn't mean they were after him!
Her eyes scanned the group approaching her table once again, until they stopped on another familiar figure. Her smile instantly became a bit more relaxed. She tried to get up and greet them properly, but didn't get the chance.
Weiss Schnee walked up to her as quickly as she could without actually running, and hugged her lightly.
"It's good to see you again, Sam."
The younger girl hesitated for a moment, and then returned the hug.
"You too, Mi.." White haired girl's grip tightened a bit.
"Weiss." Sam amended quickly. They pulled back, Weiss sitting in the chair to her left.
"Ok, I think I need some context for this one." Samantha looked up at the speaker, and instantly felt worse. The girl was beautiful. Long, blonde hair make her look like one of Jaune sisters. She was currently holding her Jaune in a headlock, with his head very close to her…assets.
Sam narrowed her eyes. This one was a threat, that was for sure.
"Yang, stop strangling Jaune." The shorter girl whined.
Ok, that one is a potential ally.
"Ok, so, everyone, this is my childhood friend, Samantha Birger. Sam, these are my friends from Beacon. This is Ruby, leader of team RWBY"
He said, pointing at short, dark haired girl who waved with a broad smile. Sam waved back.
"Her sister, and master of terrible puns, Yang."
"They're not bad, they're great, and you know it. You're just jealous." Said the blonde bombshell, turning towards the younger girl. "Hi there. Jaune couldn't stop talking about you." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you have plenty of interesting stories about him, huh?"
Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Yang looked like big tease. Not the type of girl Jaune would take interest in.
"One or two." She said aloud, nodding politely.
"And finally, Blake." he said pointing towards the black haired girl. She just nodded in greeting, which Sam returned. This one…might be tricky. She looked like the cool, collected type. Jaune could act like a dork sometimes… well, most of the time. There was a good chance she wouldn't be interested in someone like that.
Better to keep an eye on her…
"And now my team. Lie Ren, and his childhood friend Nora Valkyrie." Sam nodded with a smile. This Nora girl, she was definitely an ally.
"And last but not least, my partner, Pyrrha Nikos." The red haired girl waved at her happily, a friendly smile on her lips.
Sam waved back, and did her best to smile back. What the hell was Pyrrha freaking Nikos was doing in Vale? Why wasn't she studying in Mistral? They had a Hunter academy there too.
Sam eyed the older woman and winced. They both had red hair and green eyes, but the older girl was just… more. Longer, more red hair, eyes a deeper shade, and other…
Sam spared a brief glance at her chest.
…assets. It was like looking at an older, more mature and more beautiful version of herself.
Doesn't matter. I won't lose. She thought.
"It's nice to meet all of you. Please, sit down."
"Ok, so, I really need to know. How you and Ice Princess here know each other? I've never, ever, seen her hug someone like that."
Both Weiss and Sam blushed slightly. Jaune laughed.
"It's a funny story actually."
"Jaune, don't." Sam growled.
"You see, Sam was always a big fan of Weiss, when she was still singing."
"Oh?" Yang drawled, grinning.
"Yeah. So, when I was going to Atlas to gather Dust for Eclipse, I learned that Sam and her parents were there. So I figured, I'll ask Weiss if she wouldn't mind sparing a moment and meeting with my friend. She graciously agreed to grant her an audience."
"Jaune, stop." Weiss growled.
"So, I brought Sam to Weiss' place.." Jaune continued, seemingly obvious to the glares the two girls were sending him.
"Wait, you brought her to Schnee mansion? Just like that?" Asked Pyrrha, surprised.
"Yeah."
"Her father agreed? I heard he is…" she trailed off, shooting a wary glance towards Weiss.
Jaune sighed.
"I believe word you are looking for is 'an asshole'. And yes he is, but you are greatly overestimating his concern for his family, if you think he gives damn about what Weiss is doing, as long as it don't get in the way of his plans."
Everyone looked at Weiss, who just shrugged.
"Anyway, I bring Sam to Weiss room, and she is all excited to meet her idol…"
"I was not!" She shouted, then shot wary look at the girl next to her. "I mean, I was happy to meet you, but…"
"And Weiss is freaking out, because she has no idea how to talk with someone who isn't a Very Important Business Partner."
"I wasn't!" The heiress protested.
"So, we sit together, and this is like, the most awkward and stiff conversation ever. Like, it's so terrible that even Weiss' butler is trying to ease the atmosphere by telling some jokes. Spoiler alert - it didn't work." He laughed.
"So, I sit there, and there is this awkward silence, and I think to myself, if I don't do something, this will end terribly. So, I did only thing I could think of to fix it." Jaune signed, pausing for a moment.
"What did you do?" Yang asked, excited.
"I took out my guitar, and did my best cover of one of Weiss' songs."
"Wait, you can play? And sing?"
"No, he can't!" Weiss growled.
"This was horrible! It was musical murder!" Sam whined.
"It shouldn't even be possible to produce such terrible sounds!" Weiss lamented.
Jaune grinned.
"Of course, it was on purpose. I'm pretty good with guitar when I try." He ignored the snort from both girls. "But back on topic - my plan worked, and both of them relaxed."
"If by 'relaxed,' you mean 'worked together to kill you,' then yes, let's go with that." Said Weiss with a sigh. Then her eyebrows furrowed, before her eyes widened in realization. She glanced at Sam, who nodded. Both girls moved a bit closer to Jaune, muscle tensed.
"So, after a bit of tussle, we got back to talking, and this time it went much smoother. I think so anyway, because I had to leave."
"Why?" Asked Ruby.
Jaune opened his mouth to answer, and noticed Weiss and Sam glaring at him, and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Well… stuff happened."
"Stuff?" Ruby asked slowly.
"Stuff." Jaune confirmed.
The young Huntress stared at him for a moment, then looked at Sam, Weiss, and finally back to Jaune, who for some reason was starting to sweat.
"If you say so…" she said with shrug. It didn't sound too important anyway.
"Anyway, when I went back, the two of them acted like best friends." Jaune hummed. "They kinda reminded me of my sisters when they played together. It was kinda cute."
Pyrrha, Ruby and Nora smiled. Yang grinned.
"You have pictures?" She asked.
"No, he doesn't." Said Weiss, with a slight blush.
"Yes, I do." Jaune countered.
"HOW?!" Both Sam and Weiss shouted at the same time.
"We stopped you!" Weiss whined.
"We even broke your scroll!" Sam added.
Jaune raised a single eyebrow.
"Oh, so it was you two afterall. Heh, good to know."
Weiss mumbled something very unladylike under her breath.
"A-anyway, how is Jaune doing at school? I hope he hasn't been too much of trouble?" Asked Sam quickly.
"Nah," Nora waved her hand. "Fearless leader is alright. Right, Renny?".
Sam blinked.
"Wait, he is your team leader?" Pyrrha, Ren and Nora nodded.
Sam sent them a sad smile.
"I'm, sorry. It must have been hard for you…"
"Hey!" Jaune protested, but went ignored.
"He isn't that bad…" Said Pyrrha.
"Thank you, partner!"
"When he isn't running off on dangerous missions alone, without telling us anything."
Jaune laughed nervously.
"It wasn't that bad…"
Sam glared at him.
"Let me guess. This was about the guy, right?" Jaune laughed again, rubbing the back of his head.
Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"You idiot. Haven't you learned anything after Atlas?"
"Wait, what happened in Atlas?" Weiss asked, her eyes narrowed. "I know he was part of the team that was tracking that guy down, but he said he was in reserve."
"Well…" Jaune began, but stopped when Sam glared at him.
"This idiot." She said, pointing at the blond knight. "Went off on his own, and almost got himself killed."
All eyes zeroed in on Jaune, who raised his hands defensively.
"Come on, it wasn't that bad…"
"Oh really?" Sam shook her head. "Because your mom said you ended up in hospital with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, heavy burns, and a broken arm and leg."
"Jaune…" Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha growled at the same time.
The boy in question paled, and laughed nervously.
"Hey, it's all in the past. What was, and wasn't, doesn't matter, am I right? Oh look, food is coming!" He shouted out, desperately pointing at the kitchen doors.
Everyone turned - and gasped. Jaune smiled. Tob had that effect on people.
"Here you are, Hunter's Rest finest cuisine. "
Pyrrha looked at the mountain of a man, then the plate of food placed in front of her, then back at the man.
Thank you, Mr…?"
"Please, just call me Tob." He said with a wink.
"Oi, watch it you old bear. Mei will kick your ass if she will sees you flirt with younger girls. Plus, she is my partner, so hands off."
"Relax there laddie. And I think Mei would be much more interested in the fact you never mentioned that you are friends with six beautiful young girls." He winked at him. "You better watch out. I'm holding her back for now, but if she breaks free…" he shook his head. Jaune snorted.
"Yeah, sure. Like she would leave you alone in the kitchen." The older man laughed, and left.
Blake took a sip of her tea and smiled. It was delicious. She glanced at the rest of her friends, currently listening to one of Tob's stories. The old Hunter proved to be as eager to tell them as Profesor Port - though he was a much better storyteller.
Then again, that wasn't saying much.
She took another sip and smiled. The day had been an…interesting one. When Ruby announced they would be going outside of Vale to meet Jaune's childhood friend, she was skeptical, but it turned out to be a rather pleasant gathering. Samantha turned out to be a very polite girl, and, judging by her reaction to the obviously faunus owner of Hunter's Rest, not a racist.
After the initial introduction, they quickly started into easy conversation. The young girl's crush on Jaune become clear pretty fast, something that Yang was all too happy to exploit for her amusement.
Though, Blake had to admit that it was impressive how adamant Weiss, Jaune and Sam were about not revealing any embarrassing stories about each other.
The faunus girl hummed. It was surprising to find out the heiress knew Samantha already, but an even bigger one to find out they were pretty close. The younger girl obviously looked up to ex-singer, and her teammate didn't even bother to hide how much she cared about the red haired girl. If not for the different hair color, Blake would have thought they were sisters.
"Hey, Blake, you have a moment?"
She turned around and noticed Jaune standing there, shuffling nervously. She raised an eyebrow, and nodded.
"Could we move somewhere, umm, more private? I wanted to ask you something, but…" he trailed off.
Now she was curious. They usually didn't talk much, and Jaune struck her as someone rather shy when it came to interacting with other people, especially girls.
Which begged the question how he managed to befriend Weiss of all people, but she supposed it was a topic for another day.
Instead, she finished her tea and stood up. Jaune motioned for her to follow, and led her through the short corridor to a door leading to a small garden behind Hunter's Rest. She shivered when she stepped into the cold night. Winter was fast approaching, and nights weren't as warm as just a few weeks back.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked when they stopped.
"Well…" he began, rubbing the back of his head." The thing is… I mean…".
Blake rolled her eyes.
"Come on Jaune. Just say it, don't fumble like a teen confessing to a girl." He blushed, and Blake felt chill that had nothing to do with cold air. "This is not you confessing to me, right?"
"What? No!"
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank the Gods." It took her a second to realize that what she said was kinda rude. "I mean, it's not that there is something wrong with you, but…"
He smiled.
"I'm not your type?"
Blake shrugged.
"Yeah."
"I get it. And don't worry, I'm not confessing to you. It's just that I wanted to ask something that is almost definitely personal, but I'm not sure how much, and I don't want to offend you, and now I'm just babbling." He sighed. "This is so much easier with my sisters. Or Weiss." He muttered quietly.
Blake wasn't sure how to feel about fact that someone said Weiss Schnee was easier to talk to than her.
"Just ask. I promise I won't get offended. Probably." She added after a second of thought.
"Thanks, that really put my mind at ease." Jaune a took deep breath, and looked her straight in the eye.
"Why are you hiding the fact you're Faunus?"
Blake tensed. Her first thought was to run. Her second to draw her weapon. Her third to run anyway.
She took a deep breath, and let it go slowly.
Calm down. Just calm down.
It took her a few moments to relax. Jaune just watched her the whole time, not moving or saying anything.
"How did you…? She asked finally.
"Back when I took you on that job to exterminate Harrowed. You got affected by the Wraith's scream the most of all of us, despite the fact you covered your ears in time. After that, I just couldn't help but notice how your bow twitches from time to time."
Blake let out a tired sigh. It looked like cat was out of the bag. And now she was making puns. Great, Yang was rubbing off on her. This was bad.
But she was distracting herself. He had asked her a question, she probably should give him an answer.
Too bad that she wasn't sure what it was.
"Look, you don't have to tell me. But if it has something to do with Weiss, don't worry. I can guarantee that she doesn't hate faunus." He sighed, shaking his head.
"It's not my place to tell you what to do. I'm sure you have your reasons to hide it, and it's not like I don't have a few secrets on my own. Just let me tell you this - if you are afraid of racists, you can be sure we won't sit by and let anyone bully you. And if it's something else…" he sighed again. "I don't know. But if it's something serious - I think you should still at very least tell your team. It's better if they find out from you, when it's calm, than it hit them when something dangerous is going on. Big secrets have a habit of doing that."
"You would know something about it, I guess." She said when he paused. Jaune chuckled.
"Yeah, I do. Anyway, let's go back inside. It's cold out here, and if we're missing too long, people might start getting ideas."
And wasn't that the truth? Blake could basically see Yang's shit eating grin.
They returned quickly, but they absence didn't go unnoticed. Thankfully, Yang was too busy talking with Sam about something to tease them. Judging by how much the young girl was blushing, and the occasional glances shot towards Jaune, Blake could guess what the talk was about.
She sighed, and glanced over her friends. She probably should tell them. Maybe not about her past as a part of the White Fang, just that she is Faunus.
Not tonight, but soon. Yeah. Definitely.
Ok, girl, get a grip. You can do it.
Sam took a deep breath, and sat next to a certain blond knight.
"Jaune…" so far so good.
"Yeah?"
Now onto step two.
"... nothing." She whispered.
Damn it.
Jaune looked at her for a few moments, then shrugged and went back to listening to Tob's story.
Samantha sighed. Yang advice was... risky. Scandalous even. But she had to admit it was probably the only way to go through Jaune's thick head. What should she do? She looked up and caught Yang's eyes. The older girl mouthed 'do it'.
She bit her lip. She knew what the blonde Huntress meant, but could she really do it? What if she scared him away?
Sam took a deep breath, and slowly, carefully leaned on Jaune.
"Sam?" The blond asked.
"I'm tired." She said quietly.
He just smiled and shifted, so that she could lean on him more comfortably.
"This brings back memories. We used to sit like that when we were younger all the time." He said.
Yes, they did. But it wasn't the same for her anymore, and she would make sure it wasn't the same for him too.
Ok girl, step one down. Now don't chicken out, and go for step two.
She mumbled something as answer, and took a deep breath to steady herself. This next part was tricky...
Minutes passed, and finally Tob's tale ended. Jaune smiled - he'd heard it many times, but somehow it never got old.
"Hey, Sam…" he paused when he noticed younger girl had her eyes closed, her breathing even. Jaune smiled, moving a stray lock of her hair out of her face. Then, he got up, carefully picking the sleeping girl up. Tob spared a single glance at them and nodded. Jaune nodded back, and started walking towards Sam's room. If he looked more carefully, he might have noticed Yang watching them carefully.
Or the small smirk on Sam's lips.
Step two - complete.
He knew the way to her room well. Jaune looked at the sleeping girl in his arms and smiled. It was just like old times. They would sit near the fireplace, listening to Tob's tales and drinking tea. Sam would eventually fall asleep, and he would carry her to her room, before retiring to his own, and dreaming of doing all the things he'd just heard about on his own.
He pushed the doors open and walked inside. It was a small room, similar to his own. He carefully placed the girl on her bed. He removed her boots and socks, then he paused. Should he remove dress too?
He looked her over, suddenly noticing how much she'd changed since last time he saw her awake. She was a young lady now. A small smile appeared on his lips. Better to not push his luck.
He made to leave, but a hand grabbing his, stopping him.
"Don't leave me." He looked down. Green eyes stared into his, and there was… something in them that forced him to comply. He turned to pull himself chair, but Sam pulled him back.
"Sam, I just want to…" She pulled him again. He sighed and sat next to her, setting her onto his laps. She tensed, then relaxed.
Jaune chuckled, and started humming some melody, holding her close with one hand, and stroking her hair with the other. After a few moments, Sam's breath evened out, and Jaune stopped his humming. Instead, he just looked at her. Her face, lit by moonlight, looked so serene. So calm. And the way the light danced on her hair…
When did you grow into such a beautiful lady? He shook his head. Now, he probably should leave, but somehow, he didn't want to. After All, Sam wanted him to stay, right?
Crap, I feel asleep!
Samantha cursed internally. It was going so well, and then Jaune had to use his dork magic to make her so comfortable and relaxed that she fallen asleep without even realizing it. Damn it all, and it was going so… well.
It was about then when she realized something was wrong. She wasn't lying, rather sitting. She was covered by a blanket, but her head wasn't resting on a soft pillow, rather on something harder. And warmer. And this something was rising rhythmically, and there was this sound she could hear…
She slowly looked up, only to see Jaune's face only millimeters away from her own.
Ok, first things first. Breath girl, just breath.
She started to do just that.
Good, now say clam. You fallen asleep in Jaune's arms. No big deal, you've done it before.
Except, apparently, it was a big deal, if the way her heart hammered in her chest was any indication.
She swallowed. He was so close. His face was so close. His lips…
She licked her own. So close… if she only moved a little…
His eyes opened, and Sam had to fight to not whine. Her chance was gone.
"Sam…?" He whispered, apparently still half asleep.
"Yeah…" she whispered back.
He stared at her.
She started back.
He leaned a bit towards her.
Her eyes drifted shut, while her lips parted.
The sound of a photo being taken might as well been an explosion. Both Jaune and Sam turned towards source of the sound, only to see several people standing in the door.
"Now, now, now, aren't we bold, huh?" Yang asked, an epic grin on her face, and scroll in hand.
"Please, don't let me get in your way. By all means, do continue."
So, Sam is back, and she is gonan fight for her knight. There is no stopping her now!
Not much to say here, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
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