The (Late) Second Weiss Reacts Valentine's Day Special!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to the next chapter of Weiss Reacts! Man, Volume 3's finale was a doozy. Enough of a doozy that I just HAVE to write comedy and fluff to keep the mood up! After all, I'm not really one for sad stuff. Just go read the Cockerel Festival for proof.

For those of you looking to recover from a…..certain event in Volume 3's finale, if you haven't yet, go check out my oneshot This is the Part Where Pyrrha Dies and rejoice in the sheer inanity of yet another deathfic! Anyway, enough about dead redheaded waifus, it's time for more Arkos fluff!

….I really am the worst.

Also, as an apology for me being late, have an extra long chapter thrice as big as a normal chapter!

DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, otherwise we'd have more maid cosplay in canon.

All mentioned characters and franchises belong to their respective owners.

Pyrrha and Weiss, JNPR Dorm

"You can come out of the bathroom now." Weiss remarked, her arms crossed as she checked her watch. "I've got to get ready for a date in a few minutes, Pyrrha. You don't exactly have a lot of time."

"J-just a moment! I want to make sure these fit right!" The spearmaiden sounded panicked.
"How could they not fit right?! You have the literal figure of a goddess! At least you don't have to deal with some idiot constantly poking fun at your chest!" Weiss snapped irritably. "Now, for the love of Dust, Pyrrha, get out of there before I wrench that door open!"

"S-sorry…." She sighed from within the bathroom, as some shuffling could be heard from behind the door.

Weiss sighed, huffing. "What could you possibly be agonising about that you think might look bad on you? Besides, that pervert Jaune will probably like it anyway."

"He's not that perverted…." The spearmaiden responded weakly.

"…and isn't he supposed to be here in five minutes?" The heiress pointed out, causing Pyrrha to squeak in shock. Weiss nearly dropped her scroll in shock at hearing the normally composed Huntress squeak. "W-what was that?!"

"H-he's nearly here?! I have to make myself look presentable! T-tell him I-I'm-"

"Making yourself look presentable?!" Weiss cried, exasperatedly. "What have you been doing for the last two minutes while I've been talking, then?!"

"I-I'll tell you in a minute!" Pyrrha yelled through the door as the shuffling sounds increased in volume. "J-Just let me get changed!"

'Pyrrha Nikos. Four time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament. Best Huntress in the whole year, possibly the whole school. The only person on this good planet patient enough to train Jaune to become something halfway decent.' Weiss grumbled, facepalming. 'And an absolute fool who reduces herself to a gibbering mess around Jaune. And to think I thought she was some sort of serious expert when I first met her…'

"He's heeeere!" Nora called from the front door of the dorm. Weiss clapped, relieved.

"Finally!" The heiress cried, standing up and dusting her jacket off. "Listen, Nora, go tell Pyrrha I left. Her boyfriend can deal with her sudden freak-out. I've got to get ready for my day out with Ruby, thanks."

"Alright!" Nora gave her a thumbs up. "I'll tell her that you abandoned her when you needed her most!
Weiss glared at her irritably. "…..that's not what I-"

Suddenly, Jaune walked in, and what the heiress saw impressed her. He was wearing a rather nice looking white polo shirt over dark blue jeans. His messy hair was smoothed up and he smelled faintly of cologne. A small messenger bag was slung on his shoulder, and he was carrying a bouquet of roses and a card in his left hand, his right carrying his scroll.

Weiss lifted an eyebrow curiously. "Wow, Arc. You clean up well. I'm impressed."

"Thanks." The knight chuckled. "I dress to impress and all that. Hey, you know where Pyrrha is?"
"Your girlfriend's been stuck in the bathroom trying on clothes for the last ten minutes." The heiress remarked irritably. Jaune blushed slightly.

"H-hey, this is just a friend's dinner, Pyrrha's not my-"
"Save it, Jaune. Yang told me what you two did." Weiss raised a finger to hush him. "I swear, you're an idiot for delaying it. One day, you just might lose her and you'll regret never actually being a couple.

Anyway, I've got to go. Ruby's going to kill me if I delay any longer; she wants to go check out that nice bakery on the edge of town again. The one with the nice cookies."

"Huh. That's cool. Hope you two have fun." Jaune nodded to them. "Maybe I should swing around and check it out with Pyr-"
"There, you see? Why don't you just admit you're a couple and go with it instead of all this 'worthy' nonsense?" Weiss grumbled, before shaking her head. "Bah. Not my problem. You'll get over it eventually.

I'll leave now. Hope you and your 'not-girlfriend' have fun on your 'not-date' on 'not-Lover's Day'. Next thing you know, you'll all be at the fireworks display tonight, still pretending to the world you two aren't just a couple already- oh wait, you are going. Together!"

"Oh, right!" Jaune snapped his fingers. "You guys are ready for tonight, right? You're meeting us there, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Weiss nodded. "We'll be there. Just….get your girlfriend out of the bathroom."

With that, the heiress left the knight and berserker alone, shutting the door behind her. Jaune sighed, shaking his head.

"The more people do that, the more I think I made a big mistake…." Jaune muttered, before looking to Nora. "Hey, where's Pyrrha?"
"She's been panicking in the bathroom for the last ten minutes!" Nora responded cheerily. "She thinks her clothes make her look fat."
"I-I didn't say that, Nora! Honestly, I didn't!" Pyrrha protested from behind the bathroom door, before she pushed her way out of the door, letting Jaune see what she was wearing.

"…..h-how do I look?" The spearmaiden blushed slightly, looking embarrassed.

Jaune's eyes widened, staring at her in shock. His mouth was agape as he took in the vision of his not-girlfriend and he tried to suppress the rather indecent thoughts running through his head.

"…whoa."

"Steady there, Jaune." Ren caught the boy as he nearly slumped. "She doesn't look that amazing. And quit thinking weird thoughts."

"T-thanks."

"D-don't stare so much, Jaune. Do you….like it? Y-Yang told me that b-boys liked this kind of clothing…."

"I…..I….I…." He was speechless.

Blake and Norn, RWBY Dorm

"Do I look sufficiently ready for my meeting with Miss Polendina?" Norn inquired, tilting her head at Blake. The catgirl had to prevent herself from snorting in amusement.

The robotic maid had decked herself out in a bright neon green shirt with an even brighter neon pink graffiti label saying 'MONEYZ' on the chest, garish orange pants and a graffiti-pattern cap, perched perilously upon her grey hair with a faux-gold necklace with a Lien sign on it. Finally, she wore a pair of hot pink shuttered sunglasses, despite her optics being capable of shutting out sun rays.

"Heh…..you look…..alright, but you could wear better than that." Blake responded, trying not to laugh. Norn looked down at her shirt, pinching a bit of the material with her fingers.

"This is a composite of the most worn garments by average adolescents of your age on outings, according to a Dustnet search I conducted." Norn responded coolly. "I allowed for some room of error within my studies. Can you suggest a better form of dress, Blake?"
"…..I suppose you could do with wearing something darker. And less graffiti." Blake rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She looked over to Yang, who was rapidly putting on some jeans and her usual leather jacket, carrying a large duffel bag with her. "Hey. What's your opinion on what Norn should wear?"
"Uh….less 'bright neon', more 'cool colors', that kinda stuff!" The brawler responded hastily, sounding out of breath.

"You going somewhere?"

"Uh….yeah! Just some friending some meets!" Yang responded. "I'm still good for tonight!"
"Tonight?" Norn inquired curiously. "What are you doing with Miss Xiao Long tonight?"
"We're going out to the Lover's Day fireworks with everyone else and Yang's bringing dinner. A-as friends, before you ask."
"Don't be like that, Blakey~" Yang snickered. "Are you afraid to say we're more than friends?"
"D-don't say that!"

Norn raised her eyebrow a fraction of an inch. "This behaviour is most peculiar, Blake. Is it not the characteristic trait of a 'tsundere'?"

"Norn's got a point, kitten~" The brawler chuckled, sighing. "Well, anyway, I'll meet you in a few hours when I'm back from where I'm going, so I'll see you then!"

With that, Yang left the dorm, leaving a rather confused Norn and an embarrassed Blake.

"…..so, am I correct-"
"J-just get changed, N-Norn! We'll talk about it s-sometime!"
"Usually when that is used as a-"
"NORN!"
"I will get changed immediately, Blake."

…..

Ruby and Weiss, Public Bus

Weiss sighed, resting on the back of a bus heading into Vale, leaning into Ruby's side, enjoying the warmth of her girlfriend's arm around her.

"This is going to be a good day." The heiress commented contentedly, a small smile on her face. "I know it."

Ruby giggled. "You can relax for once, Weiss. You're always so angry and irritated. It's nice to see you just….calm for once."
"Well, it's hard not to be." Weiss pointed out. "The other three hundred or so days of the year, I've got to deal with your sister, after all. Not to mention everyone else apparently losing their minds…."

"Well, it's just you and me today." Ruby reassured her, kissing her on the forehead. "And then we can just hang out around the bakery, have delicious cookies…"

The heiress snorted. "You can quit drooling on me, you know. You've been looking forward all week to those."
"I can't help it! I just like cookies!"
"Dust knows why it's cookies you like and not strawberries." Weiss sighed, shaking her head. "Still, I can't understand something."

"Huh? What?"
"I feel like something stupid is going to happen today." Weiss admitted. "Something….stupid."

Ruby exhaled, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it, Weiss. Today….today is our day. Just let everyone else deal with it for once, you know?"
"…..fine." The heiress nodded, swallowing deeply. "I'll…..let everyone else deal with it. Only because you asked."
"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "Then it'll just be us two and nobody else!"
"Nobody else. Just us." Weiss repeated. "…yes. I like the sound of that.

…..I really need a break."
"You sound like it, Weiss." Winter called over from the row in front of them. Weiss nearly jumped out of Ruby's embrace.

"W-Winter! What are you doing here?!" The heiress cried. Winter smiled at her, sighing.

"Well, I was just heading to the city to get some fresh air." The lady explained. "The atmosphere in Beacon is quite charged, of late, and it is…..somewhat suffocating, admittedly, to be in the presence of such public displays of affection."
Weiss picked up on a slightly resentful tone in Winter's voice, but decided to file it away for later. "…..fair enough. You should see how Yang's acting, too."
"I'm aware of Miss Xiao Long's infatuation with Miss Belladonna, yes." Winter answered, chuckling.

"Then you should know about her incessant flirting! It's like she just can't go out and say she loves her." Weiss sighed. "Fancy that being the problem after having to put up with two years of her doing that to me…."
"Yes…..I suppose that would be an issue." Winter sighed. "Well, my stop seems to be here. I hope you enjoy your date with Miss Ruby."

"Hey, you enjoy your day too, Winter!" Ruby replied cheerily. "We'll see you later, yeah?"

The lady nodded at her with a tiny smile, before exiting the bus.

When Winter was out of earshot, Ruby turned to Weiss. "She looked a little depressed. You've got to talk to your sister, Weiss."

"I know." The heiress sighed. "She's seemed like that for a while, ever since the dance. I mean, she's normally fine, but love's not a good thing to mention around her.

You don't think it has something to do with Jaune, do you?"
"I dunno, but she doesn't seem to want to look Pyrrha in the eye, either…." The reaper noted. "Maybe you really should talk to her."

"….I will." Weiss promised. "For now, though, let's just forget about all of that stuff. Yes?"
"Fair enough." Ruby nodded, before tightening her hug on Weiss. "You're so soft to hug~"
The heiress looked away, blushing. "G-gh….can you not do that in public? It makes me sound less like your girlfriend and more like your animated plushie."

Pyrrha and Jaune, Vale Town Centre

Jaune was the first to leave the cab, having left the fare. He opened the door for his partner, who slowly climbed out.

Yang's idea of 'nice dresses' was rather peculiar, to say the least, and most likely based off what she liked in a girl- or guy, really, Yang didn't discriminate.

Pyrrha was dressed in a white blouse, with the top button undone to expose her neckline, and a short black skirt, barely reaching past her hips, over translucent black stockings down to jet-black heels. Somehow, her clothes emphasised her figure, and Jaune felt it difficult not to be reminded of, in his father's words, how much of a "total babe" she was. Her hair was, again, left undone as a single wall of red down the back of her head. Her one concession to her usual appearance was her signature circlet, perched on top of her head as always.

Jaune briefly took a moment to wonder why it seemed to always be Pyrrha dressed in such a complimentary manner and not, for instance, Weiss or Yang, before shaking his head. He took her hand, helping her out.

"Thank you." She smiled at him gratefully before shutting the cab door behind her. "You're such a gentleman."

"I try." Jaune responded modestly, chuckling. "You said Yang made you dress like that?"
"She thought you m-might like this."

"…well, the look fits you." The knight smiled at her. She blushed a little.

"T-thanks…..o-oh right! I'm so sorry! I forgot, I had a reservation for the both of us." Pyrrha snapped her fingers before rooting in her bag. "Excuse me a moment, Jaune. Where did I put it…."
Jaune looked ashamed. "You came prepared. I thought we were just going to try and slip into a nice place for lunch…."
"Let's see…..it was the…." The spearmaiden lifted a piece of paper out with two fingers, reading it carefully. "Ah, yes. The place was called…..A Good Catch! That was the one!"
"Oh, hey! Weiss said she ate there once." Jaune chimed in. "Or tried. She apparently got mugged."
Pyrrha frowned. "That must've been rather annoying."
"Then they ended up getting thrown into jail. Yeah, I don't think they wanna talk about that one…." The knight looked a little surprised as to how Weiss, of all people, ended up in jail for a few hours. "Anyway, so it was right down this way, right?"
"Exactly." Pyrrha nodded, pointing in front of them. "I was rather confused, by the way, why Nora and Ren decided not to accompany us if they were going to the city too."

The knight shrugged. "Nora said she wanted to try something new."

Meanwhile…

"Huh. So you wanted to do this." Ren said, barely perturbed by the fact that they were currently riding on top of a rocket-propelled locker several thousand feet above Vale. Indeed, apart from the fact that he was tightly holding on to Nora's waist, he appeared as if he were merely taking a stroll.

Nora rode upon the locker, waving a cowboy hat upon it and whooping.
"YEEEEEHAAAAAAW!" Nora cried. "THIS IS THE BEST LOVER'S DAY EVER!"

"Yeah." Ren smiled. "Alright. Nora, be careful. You might lose the hat."
"Oh! Right!" The berserker put her hat back on and slung its strap underneath her chin, tightening the knot. "Better?"

"Yeah. Better."
Nora cheered. "WOOO! WE'LL MAKE AN AWESOME ENTRY! THEN THEY WILL BOW TO THE TRUE KING AND QUEEN OF VALE! THE ONE AND ONLY SLOTH-SENT NORA VALKYRIE! AND HER HANDSOME CONSORT LIE REN!"
Ren merely chuckled, humouring his partner. "That sounds fun."

Back in Vale….

"Knowing Nora….I highly doubt this 'new' thing she wants to try is safe." Pyrrha sighed, sounding slightly concerned. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. "Wait….is that SMOKE!?"

"Smoke?!" Jaune jumped. "What, there's a fire?!"

The spearmaiden stopped walking, pointing at the place they intended to go. "…that's not good."

Jaune stared at the building, which was currently surrounded with Valean Fire Brigade trucks trying to put out the fire that had started in one of the displays. Most of the people were outside, with one or two stragglers piling out. His mouth was agape.

"What happened?!" He cried, confused. Pyrrha quickly pulled out her scroll, trying to search for the newest news on the event.

"…huh. They don't know, apparently. They thought it might be an electronic malfunction with the lighting." The spearmaiden sighed. "We might need to find a different place to eat. I'm sorry.

For now, though, let's help them get out."

Jaune shook his head as he began to move out to assist the evacuees. "Not your fault, Pyrrha. Although…..that leaves me wondering what did happen….

Twenty minutes ago, Norn, 'A Good Catch' Restaurant….

Norn waited calmly at a seat, her ear ports hidden with a tight black ski hat. Her neon clothes were changed to more subdued clothing, wearing a white coat and blue jeans, although she'd managed to convince Blake to let her keep the graffiti 'MONEYZ' shirt, on the condition she kept it under her coat; her innate temperature control systems meant that it didn't matter to her how hot or cold the surroundings were anyway.

She sat stock still at the table, calmly searching the crowd for Miss Polendina. Her eyes flitted between people, attempting to find the orange hair and bow Penny had said she'd be wearing to their meeting.

'Miss Polendina is, as they say, cutting it very close.' The robotic maid noted. 'It is nearly the allotted time for the meeting, and she is nowhere to be found. This is un-'

"Salutations!"

Norn's head immediately snapped to the source of the voice, to see Penny sitting right in front of her, waving at the robotic maid.
"Salutations!" She repeated cheerily. "Your name's Norn, right?"

"Miss Polendina, I presume?" Norn responded, nodding affirmatively in response to the former's question.

"You still sound so stiff! Come on, we're friends, right?" Penny grabbed Norn's hands, holding them tightly. "You can just call me Penny!"
"It is a habit I am unfortunately unable to shake easily." Norn confessed, unperturbed by her hands being grasped. "Is it alright if I refer to you as Miss Penny instead as a compromise?"
The robot girl nodded. "Of course, friend! Your hands are firm, you know that? They feel so soft and yet so firm!"

"I am designed with the potential of grip strength upwards of four hundred pounds." Norn explained. "The ceramics that comprise my hands are designed for heavy lifting of the parts to giant robots."

Penny stared at her in amazement. "So you make giant robots?"
"I assist my creator in doing so." Norn clarified. "I do not make them myself. I lack the creativity to create such advanced designs myself."
Penny tilted her head. "Huh? Why?"
"…..I do not believe I was built for that." Norn noted, with a slight tone of….something in her voice. "I must inquire. Why did you choose an establishment such as this as our meeting place?"

Penny shrugged at that. "I thought that's what normal friends do! Don't they invite other friends to eat out?"
"In my experience, that is normally done with a group of friends." Norn clarified. "What this would be called, us two alone inside a restaurant and eating together, would be a 'date'."

"Isn't that something you eat?" The bow-wearing girl tilted her head, curious.

"That is also a reference to the occasion between two people with affection for each other spending time together, usually inside culinary establishments such as this one."

Penny stared at her. "Ohhhhh…..so we're on a date! I get it! We're friends, so we have affection for each other, and it's only the two of us!

"….that is not how I would prefer to refer to our meeting, Miss Penny." Norn pointed out. "We are neither in love nor have romantic interest in each other."

Penny blinked at her for a moment, before crossing her arms. "But I thought that's what you needed for a date, just having affection! Stop confusing me!"
"We can discuss something else, if you like, Miss Penny." The maid suggested. "For instance, your choice in meeting place. I was not aware you enjoyed seafood."
"I don't have a sense of taste!" Penny cheerfully admitted. "Dad never gave me one."

Norn paused. "….I see. I have taste sensors of my own, as I can consume food to gain energy through the Spiral Furnace installed in my core. Perhaps I could share the taste data with you, if your systems can take it."

Penny tilted her head for the umpteenth time. " Taste data? You know what food tastes like? How did she make it possible? Can you order fish? Tell me how fish tastes like!"

"I….could." Norn nodded slowly. "…..which dish shall I order? There is Valean tro-"

"Any fish! Any fish!" Penny cheered. "Valean trout sounds nice, yes-wait, is that a trout?"

She pointed towards a fish tank, where the aforementioned trout were swimming in pairs. Norn tilted her head. "Huh. Yes, that is trout."

"I've never seen living fish before…." Penny commented, staring at the tank as the fish swam inside it. "Do you mind if I….take a closer look?"

Norn nodded. "You may. I would like to look closer too."
"They move so weirdly…." Penny noted, creeping closer to the tank before her eyes widened in surprise. "Wah!"

The puppet girl suddenly tripped over an extended foot, being pushed into the water tank, smashing into the tank and splattering water all over the place. Norn immediately located the person who had tripped Penny up, a tall male walking out of the door as soon as she landed on the floor.

'Moving in pursuit.'

"Fire!" The puppet girl warned, pointing at a lighting display that had lit aflame. "Fire! Fire!"

Shrieks of panic rang throughout the restaurant, as people began standing up, staring at the fire before beginning to run out.

If Norn expressed emotion easily, she would be exasperated. 'My fire suppression equipment is being repaired right now. I will need to organise an evacuation for the other patrons.

Firstly….'

Norn wrenched Penny onto her feet, dusting her off. "Here you go."
"Thanks…." Penny sighed. "I don't know what happened there, honest! I-I thought I was stepping on something and-"
"Do not apologise, Miss Penny. Someone attempted to trip you." The robotic maid responded. "Help me evacuate everyone."

"I will help with the evacuatening!"

"Evacuation."

"Yup!" Penny nodded, before standing between the flaming display and the rest of the patrons, herding them towards the exit. Norn thought briefly.

'…..I will need to track down the miscreant who attempted to trip Miss Penny. This is wrong.' The robotic maid mentally noted. 'Evacuation must be my first priority, however.'

"This way, ladies and gentlemen." Norn directed everyone, pushing some children back onto the path to the ending. "Do not go near the fire. It burns."

The present, Pyrrha, 'A Good Catch' Restaurant….

"So someone tried to trip Penny up?" Pyrrha inquired, frowning as Norn recounted the events outside, having managed to assist the evacuation. The robotic maid nodded in the affirmative.

Jaune looked disgusted. "Why would someone do that? That's messed up."
"I think he was doing something they call a prank!" Penny suggested hopefully. "Although why they thought tripping me into a water tank would be funny…."

The spearmaiden brushed a stray strand of red hair from her eyes. "I don't think that could be classed as a prank….."

"Well, regardless, Miss Nikos and Mister Arc, you will need to find a different restaurant to eat at." Norn replied. "The owner said it will take him some time to repair the fire damage and the lighting displays."

Jaune sighed. "Well, there goes that plan."

One of the firefighters approached the four; a tall, muscular deer Faunus with a smile on his face and tanned skin.

"On behalf of the Valean Fire Brigade, I'd like to thank you four for assisting in the evacuation of the area. The fire's out now, and it should be under control." He said gratefully, turning to Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, I-"

"Please, don't thank me." The spearmaiden shook her head, gesturing to Norn and Penny. "These two were the ones who were responsible for the swift exit of everyone in there. My partner and I simply happened to pass by afterwards."

"Oh!" He seemed surprised, turning to the other pair. "My apologies. Thank you."
"No problem, officer." Norn responded with no visible change in emotion.

Jaune rubbed his chin. "Well, we should go find somewhere else to eat. It's a shame. This place really did seem nice..."
"…hm." Pyrrha quickly searched the nearby facades of shops, looking for somewhere else they could go. Something caught her eye.

"…..that place looks nice. Jaune, this way." She gestured towards a sign marked 'Pleasure Paradise'. Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Pyrrha….I don't think that's particularly…..safe….

"The sign looks reputable, and we're in a hurry." The spearmaiden explained. "Come on, Jaune, we should at least check it out."
"I suppose….." The knight nodded, still looking suspicious about the restaurant as he followed Pyrrha through the crowd. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt…."

…..

"…..oh my." Pyrrha blushed as she walked into Pleasure Paradise.

Thankfully, the place was indeed a restaurant- a café, to be precise, and not the sort of establishment that would cause her to faint immediately out of embarrassment. That was the good news, and judging by Jaune's relieved sigh, it seemed he shared her relief.

The bad news was that the restaurant seemed to be staffed by people in maid outfits.

Yes, girls- and some men- were stuffed into maid outfits, taking orders, cleaning desks, and delivering food. The whole place was a surreal scene straight out of an Antic Order prank. Pyrrha even swore she saw a girl looking exactly like her, right down to the vivid green eyes and red hair in her ponytail, delivering a plate of pasta to one of the nearby tables.

Jaune blinked, taking her hand. "Pyrrha, I don't think we should be here….."
"T-this is…..very, very odd." The spearmaiden nodded in agreement. "I think we should go-"
"Heeeello, may I seat you at a table?"

The couple froze, staring at the person in front of them. She stared back, looking them up and down, her gaze lingering on the spearmaiden for far longer than it really should have, before she realised exactly who she was talking to.

"…..oh, you have got to be kidding me." Yang remarked with her right hand slapping her forehead, her rather generous figure squeezed into a very tight maid costume. She held a notepad in her left hand, as she looked over at the two.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow inquisitorially. "Yang. You…work here?"
"…yes. I work at a maid café." Yang sighed. "Look, the pay's good and I like wearing maid costumes! They're kinda comfy."

Jaune snorted. "Seriously? This is ridiculously ironic…."

"W-well…." Pyrrha suppressed a chuckle. "I suppose….y-you look….good in that-"
"Weiss will never let me live this down." The brawler sighed. "…..for the love of all that is good and holy, never tell Weiss I work at a maid café. Not because I'm ashamed of working here- I love it here- but because she will never let me hear the end of it.

But feel free to tell Blake. I'd love if she saw me in this~"

"I won't." Jaune promised, snickering slightly. "Alright. We'll….sit by a table closest to the window."
"Alright! You're table three, which is empty. A lot of singles come here on Lover's Day, apparently, to see all the cute girls and some of the guys in maid suits." Yang noted as she guided her friends to the aforementioned table. "Hey, you guys were gonna eat over at that place that caught fire a few minutes ago, right?"

"Apparently someone tripped Penny into a water tank and that caused the fire." Pyrrha explained, frowning. Yang mirrored her expression.

"That's seriously messed up. Are Norn and Penny okay? I heard Norn was going out to meet her there."
"They helped get everyone out." Jaune responded. "They're fine."

The brawler sighed in relief. "Good to hear. Alright. You guys just sit tight, just holler if you've decided what you want to order. I'll be over there." Pointing over to another table with her thumb, Yang ambled over to them, leaving them alone once more.

Pyrrha studied all the maid costume-wearing girls, frowning. "….I wonder how I would look in something like that…."
"Well, you'd look exactly like you always do." Jaune shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Stunning."
"Y-you're just saying that…" The spearmaiden blushed slightly, placing a hand on her cheek.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm serious. You could probably pull off a chicken suit if you wanted!"

"A chicken suit?" Pyrrha giggled. "I honestly don't think even I could pull that off. Now I know you're just saying that."

Jaune shook his head, rubbing the back of it casually. "Well, I'm just telling the truth. I dunno, really.

It's kinda strange to be around a girl who actually….you know….likes me back and doesn't find me all weird."
"Why would I find you weird? You're you. I'd never trade you for anyone else." Pyrrha pointed out, smiling softly at him. "Like you said, it's a 'good' weird."

Now it was the knight's turn to blush. "Now you're just saying that….."

She chuckled light-heartedly. "Touché, Jaune. Fair enough-"

Suddenly, Jaune's scroll rang, marking a message. He raised an eyebrow.

"Hm?" He looked at it after fishing it out of his pocket. "…..huh. Winter wishes us both a happy Lover's Day and hopes that we're both enjoying it."

"I hope she enjoys hers too…." Pyrrha responded, frowning slightly. "She seems as if she wants to avoid us, lately….I think we might've done something to her. When we can, we should talk to her."
"…yeah…." Jaune nodded, looking slightly guilty. "We should.

I'll just tell her to have a happy Lover's Day back, then I'll call Yang over. You're right, Pyrrha. We should talk to her, if only to find out what's up-"
"Hello. You're friends of Yang, right?" A dark-skinned girl with her hair hidden in a small maid's cap stood at their table with a notepad in hand, smiling at them. "I'd like to say, it's an honor to finally meet the Pyrrha Nikos in person, and Jaune- Yang talks about you two all the time!"
"She does?" Jaune raised an eyebrow. "What about?"
"Oh, how you two are a couple or something. She loves showing me all the fanart she draws of you two." The waitress sighed. Pyrrha's cheeks flared red, as did Jaune's.

"T-that's not entirely true!" They cried in unison. The waitress chuckled.

"Sure it isn't, although you're together on Lover's Day, eating out together and doing couple stuff. Anyway, I'm sorry about that, I should really be taking your order.

By the way, my name's Copal. Sorry about not introducing myself first. What would you guys like to order?"

Winter, Food Court, Vale Shopping Centre….

Winter sighed, sitting alone in the food court of the biggest shopping centre in the kingdom as she fingered her scroll's screen, Jaune's response currently scrolling across the screen. She smiled a little at the knight's consideration.

To be honest, she was happy for him. Pyrrha was the perfect girl for him; patient, kind, understanding and loyal. She was happy that he was spending this day with the girl he loved. Rivals though they were, Winter couldn't bring herself to hate Pyrrha for being the one he chose; in part because she and her were so similar, and part because it wasn't in Winter's psyche to hate.

Regardless, a twinge of jealousy still quivered in her heart when she thought of Jaune spending the day with a girl who wasn't her.

"…I hope your day is going better than mine, Jaune." Winter whispered, trying not to look around at all the couples who stood as reminders of her loneliness. The atmosphere was rife with love; couples were hugging, holding hands and kissing all around her, with two Faunus boys kissing behind her and a Faunus-human couple on the seats ahead of her giggling with each other and telling jokes.

'In hindsight, spending my lunchtime at a foodcourt full of other couples in my state was unwise.'

"Hey. You mind if I sit here?"

Winter looked up, tilting her head.

The boy looking down at her was wearing a white cowboy hat, with bright golden eyes staring down into Winter's cool grey. His chin was covered with a layer of thin stubble, giving him a rough appearance and making him look somewhat tired, and his once white clothing was dusty from travel, now somewhat grey and brown. A small, equally dusty poncho was held in place with a small, pristine silver crow brooch at his chest, and his voice had some sort of twang or drawl to it, an accent she had never heard before. A bag of Schnee Chimichanga Company food was in his left hand as he pointed with his right to the empty seat in front of Winter. He looked about her age, give or take a few months, and he had a lost look around his eyes, as if he had almost no idea what he was doing around here.

"Don' mind me, I just thought you'd be wantin' company." The cowboy explained. "You know, on account of all these couples and all."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to do what?"
"Keep you company." He repeated slowly. "Dust knows what a pretty lady like you's doing on a day like this with nobody for company."

The lady blushed slightly at being called 'pretty', before huffing. "It is hardly your business as to why I am currently alone, good sir."

"If it's all the same to you, I kinda want someone to talk to too. I'm new around these here parts, you see. You just looked nice and I thought you'd be okay…."

Winter closed her eyes, thinking carefully. "…well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm. Come on, take a seat."
"Thanks very much, ma'am." He tipped his hat to her before sitting down in front of her. "Sorry about this. I'm just tryin' to get used to all this city life."

"You're not from the city?"

"Nah, I used to live like those nomads outside the kingdoms." He explained. "I came over from Vacuo, you see. One of them Huntsmen from here, he decided to take me back with him. Thought I had potential. I tagged along- 'sides, nothing left for me back there.

He trained me for a couple a' months, said I had one of the best shots he'd ever seen, and wanted me to get better at it, so he sent me here."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Oh my. That is rather interesting."

"Yeah. I've been trying to figure my way around here, but I'm more lost than a man up a creek with no paddle." The boy confessed, chuckling. "And that's how I got here. I wanted to try one of them chimichanga things, so I got some and looked for an empty seat, but all these couples have just taken them up.

And that's why I'm up here with you, ma'am."
"I've never heard of a 'chimichanga' before, but they sound delicious." Winter admitted, smiling. "I assume you have no idea who I am?"
"Apart from a pretty lady alone on Lover's Day, no clue." The boy admitted, taking his hat off to reveal a head of messy black hair as he rubbed it. "You some sort of big shot Huntress around here?"
Winter giggled. "I would not call myself a 'big shot'. That would be my esteemed comrade Miss Nikos. I am just like anyone else, learning to be a Huntress.

My name is Winter. Winter Schnee."
"Winter, huh?" He looked her up and down, before extending his hand. "Mine's Rook, Rook Leblanc. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"And the same to you, Mister Leblanc." Winter shook his hand firmly.

"You're learning to be a Huntress, huh? You must be studying at that academy up nearby, Beacon."
"Correct." The lady nodded. "Why?"
Rook looked thoughtfully down at his hat. "Well, the Huntsman who took me up, he said he wanted me to go to this Beacon place, said he'd pay for it and all that. Said he knew a few people there, wanted me to get better at fighting Grimm. He thought it'd be nice way, y'know, to get to know the people around here."
"Well." Winter nodded. "I would be honored to guide you around the academy, when you arrive."

"Thanks, ma'am. And I'd be honoured to be guided around by you. If that doesn't sound unreasonable."
"It does not."

"So. What's the story?" Rook inquired. "What is a pretty girl like you doing all alone on Lover's Day?"

"I…..decided to be alone today." Winter responded with a firm tone. Rook frowned, rubbing his stubbly chin.

"You know, deciding to be alone and being alone because you want someone you can't have ain't the same, ma'am."

Winter stared at him with wide eyes. "How did you know?"

"Jus' my intuition, ma'am. It ain't my first ride around the rodeo."

The lady sighed. "You would be…..correct, I suppose."
"Who's the lucky boy, then? He nice?"

"Nice as anyone I've met, I would say." The lady explained, frowning. "…are you sure I'm not….bothering you?"
"No way." Rook smiled at her. "You ain't bothering me."

Winter released a relieved chuckle. "Okay, okay. I would not like to have bothered you with my problems.

He…well, I suppose, like you, he…..barely even cares about my reputation. Or anyone else's. He just….befriends people. He made me feel…..normal and I….liked the feeling, I guess, just feeling like a normal girl. His will is also indomitable, plowing through barricades like they weren't there, and he'll always stand up for you no matter what. He's one of the sweetest boys you'd ever meet, and…..the girl with him should feel lucky she has someone like him. "

"He sounds like a keeper." Rook whistled. "Shame he missed out on you, Miss Winter. You seem like one yourself."
Winter turned instantaneously red, hiding her face. "Oh, don't say such things! You're talking as if we knew each other better."

"I only say what I think's the truth, Miss Winter. I don't know about that, honestly." The cowboy responded, chuckling. "Listen. The kind of girl you are, you'll find someone new."

"…..y-you think s-so?" Winter stared at him. Rook nodded. "Well, you seem pretty nice. Could be wrong, and I'm probably jumpin' the gun, but I had you pegged as the nice girl kinda person."

"Thank you. You…..are pretty kind yourself, Mister Leblanc." The lady responded, regaining her composure.

"It's what I do, I guess." The cowboy responded. "And if it means I can help out someone down in the dumps, who am I to say no?"

Winter simply smiled at him, nodding in understanding. "Of course. So….weren't you going to eat?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Rook remembered his food, laughing. "Hey. You wanna share the chimichangas? Not like a date, because that'd be kinda weird…..but I figured, I might as well."
"If it's not a problem for you." Winter nodded gratefully. "I'd be happy to. I wonder what they taste like?"

'…..it's a lot less lonely than it was a few minutes before, somehow, though I'm not with the one I want to be with.' The lady mused as she watched her new conversational partner fish out some food for her. '…..thank you, Mister Leblanc.'

Weiss and Ruby, just outside the bakery…

"Aaaaaahhh." Ruby patted her belly, letting out a loud burp. "Those were the best cookies ever!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's disgusting, Ruby."

"Yang says it's showing your appreciation to the chef if you do that."

"You certainly appreciated those cookies well enough." The heiress remarked drily. "…..how are we doing for time? It felt like we spent days in that bakery."

"Um…." Ruby checked her scroll quickly. "We should be good…..the fireworks don't start for another half hour."

Weiss nodded. "Alright. You look out for the bus, I'll see if Pyrrha and Yang are ready to meet us over there with everyone else."

Whipping out her scroll, she scrolled through her messages, seeing a news article marked 'Beacon Students Help Pull People Out Of Fire'.

"Oh, for the love of-"

"Huh?" The reaper tilted her head. "What's going on?"

Weiss showed her the article, with the image of Pyrrha, Jaune and Norn standing in front of 'A Good Catch', which had one window broken with smoke coming out of it. "…see what I meant when I thought something stupid was going on?"

"Wait, wait, Pyrrha got caught in a fire?!" Ruby stared at her in shock. She grabbed the scroll, looking at the article. "What!? Is she okay? Call her!"

"Alright, alright!" Weiss cried. "She should be fine, anyway, the article said she passed by after the fire broke out! Dust, Ruby. It's Pyrrha, what could possibly happen that could hurt her?"

She quickly dialled her number on it, raising it to her and Ruby's faces so they could both speak.

"Pyrrha? Where are you? Are you alright?"

"Hey! Weiss! Uh…..I didn't expect you to call this early." The spearmaiden sounded slightly disappointed. "What is-"

"OH DUST PYRRHA ARE YOU OKAY IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT WE HEARD ABOUT THE FIRE-ow!" Ruby squeaked as Weiss flicked her in the ear, looking irritated. "Weeeeiss!"

"Ruby wanted to ask if you and Jaune are alright. We heard about the fire." Weiss explained, sounding somewhat irritated.

"Oh, we're fine! We were just passing by, is all. Don't worry about us!"

The reaper sighed in relief. "That's good to hear! So, you guys still up for fireworks?"
"Uh….yeah, we're just finishing up our lunch here." Jaune called from the scroll. "Don't hold up for us. We'll meet you there."

"Alright." Weiss nodded, before holding her hand up. "Wait, wait, did you see if Norn and Penny were alright? They were meeting at the place the fire broke out at, last I heard."

"They're fine! They just went off to the zoo." Pyrrha responded. "Really, everything's okay back in Vale. You two just enjoy yourselves."
"…..alright." Weiss sounded a bit suspicious. "…..well, you two enjoy yourselves on your date-"
"I-it's not a date!"
"…sure it isn't coming from the girl who already said she loved the guy with her. Anyway, I'll see you there." Weiss hung up, shutting off her scroll.

"Weiss! Bus! Bus!" Ruby pointed at the quickly approaching bus. Weiss jumped up, nearly dropping her scroll.

"What?! Ruby! Hail it down! Quickly!"

"Y-yes!"

…..

Jaune and Pyrrha, Pleasure Paradise

"That was quite good food." Pyrrha carefully wiped her mouth with a napkin as she put away the scroll. "A pleasant surprise."
"Yeah." Jaune patted his belly, smiling. "I'll get the bill-"
"Actually, we're doing a lover's discount." Yang and Copal showed up, smiling at them both. "Meal's on the house."

Jaune blushed embarrassedly, before common sense took place over indignation and his composure prevailed. "I-is that so? T-that's cool!"

"Oh, thank you!" Pyrrha sighed in relief. "That means we don't have to pay, right?"
"Oh, you do have to pay. Just not money." Copal explained, before raising her scroll up. Just then, Pyrrha noticed the rather prominent 'Number One Arkos Fan' badge on her lapel.

'Arkos fan? That means-Oh. Oh no.' The realisation dawned upon the unfortunate spearmaiden's face that her lunch was now at the mercy of a bunch of rabid shippers.

"You just have to kiss for the camera!" Yang held up a Polaroid camera, her thumb up as she pointed it at the couple. "Publicity purposes, you see."
"W-what kind of extortion and blackmail is this?!" Jaune cried, blushing profusely. "T-this isn't Beacon, Yang! You can't just do Antic Order stuff!"

Copal pointed her thumb towards the rather prominent Antic Order logo on the front door. "You're in Antic Order territory now, dear~"

"T-this was a trap all along!" Pyrrha cried in horror, her hands on her face as she tried to cover her burning cheeks. "I-I'm sorry, Jaune…."

"Now, kiss for the camera!" Yang called, still holding the camera up.

The knight and the spearmaiden looked between each other in embarrassment as the two waitresses awaited their public display of affection.

'T-this is too much!' Pyrrha thought, her normally calm mind now flying into panic. 'I-I would like to….I mean I would kiss him…b-but not like this! I-I want something more private i-if I were to do something like that! T-this is-'

'- too much!' Jaune mentally panicked, looking around for something to escape with. 'I-I mean…..y-yeah, I would totally do it…..b-but this is blackmail! Gah! Bad thoughts, Jaune! Bad thoughts! You do not need to be thinking about doing that to Pyrrha right now!

Right, how can we get out of here….'

'This is the Antic Order!' Pyrrha snapped her fingers in realisation. 'There's got to be some form of distraction! They always have some sort of distraction!'

"Come on, the shippers can't be kept waiting!" Yang declared, the anticipation palpable in her voice. "Come on, Pyrrha, you've been waiting three years for this, just do it! Kiss him! You know you want to!"

"I-I…." The spearmaiden paused, still looking around for an escape. Suddenly, Jaune rapped his knuckles underneath the table, and she turned towards him.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha, I have a plan!" He whispered harshly. "Trust me."

"…d-do it. Please."

'I still have that debt to Professor Faust with that shoggoth I never used.' Jaune thought carefully. '…Let's see if I can bring that in somehow…'

Copal looked over to Yang. "They're awfully shy towards kissing for a couple."
"I know, they're working on it." The brawler whispered over. "We've been trying to get them to for years. We think we'll need a Cordelia Protocol to deal with it-"

The knight fingered the summoning stone to invoke a shoggoth in his pocket, waiting for the opportune moment.

"Trust me on this." He whispered. "Pretend to start kissing me."
"W-what?!" Pyrrha cried. "…b-but-"
"Trust me, we need a distraction so I can do this." He nodded. "Now…..let's do this."

The spearmaiden breathed in heavily, before closing her eyes, slowly leaning in towards Jaune's face. Yang gasped happily.

"It's happening! It's happening!" The brawler cheered.

The knight closed his own eyes, hoping Yang was too busy looking at their faces to notice his hand slipping a shoggoth stone from his pocket and onto the floor.

He was shuddering at how close Pyrrha's face was, blushing and trying to resist the urge to fully execute the action.

'Come on, Jaune…..you can't do this, not now! Then you'll be letting Yang win!'

Not to say that his partner was averse to it either. 'S-so close…I can….n-no, Pyrrha, no! This isn't the time!'

"Come on….." Yang was shaking with excitement.

Just as their lips were but a hair's breadth away from each other, Jaune let the shoggoth stone skitter onto the floor.

"On my count, run for the door. I've got the bill." Jaune whispered. The spearmaiden nodded.

"One…."

Copal raised her scroll to take pictures. "I ship this like you have NO idea! And this'll totally be awesome publicity! The great Pyrrha Nikos, taking her boyfriend out for dinner at the-"

"Two…."
"COPAL MOVE OUT THE WAY!" Yang tackled her to the floor as a shoggoth, one of the gelatinous, protoplasmic, tentacle beasts that Professor Faust so loved, sprung into existence at their feet.

"THREE!"

Jaune grabbed Pyrrha's hand and slid out of his seat, pulling her with him. "Quickly! Let's go!"

"I'm sorry about this!" The spearmaiden cried as the shoggoth began flailing about, grabbing Yang in the air.

"Oh, why did it HAVE to be tentacles?!" Yang cried as the creature shook her about. Pyrrha looked a little concerned as they slid out of the door, looking to Jaune.

"A-are you sure they'll be-"
"They'll be fine! It's an Antic Order facility, they'll just get someone to take it out, it's just a normal day for them!" The knight hurriedly explained. "Now, let's get running! They'll be distracted for two minutes before they break out the nets and MAKE us kiss anyway!"

"O-oh, right! And we'll be late for the fireworks display if we don't keep running!"

Yang managed to poke her head out of the door as they ran.

"DAMMIT JAUNE! DAMMIT PYRRHA! I SWEAR, I WILL SEE YOU BOTH KISS BEFORE THE YEAR IS OUT!" She was then whipped back into the café by the shoggoth tentacle wrapped around her leg.

It was not a good day for Yang.

Ruby and Weiss, Fireworks Display Area, Downtown Vale

The heiress and the reaper were currently sitting on a large mat- large enough to hold both team RWBY and JNPR- in one of the open spaces in Vale, where they watched the open field where the fireworks were to be launched from. Other couples and families were surrounding them, all making ready to see the fireworks.

"Those dolts are running late." Weiss sighed, checking her scroll. Ruby sighed, sitting behind her and massaging her shoulders.

"Relax, they're probably on their way." The reaper reassured them. "They probably just got held up by somet-"
Suddenly, Pyrrha and Jaune skidded to a stop next to them, landing on the mat next to them, breathing heavily. Weiss raised an eyebrow, looking at them.

"…..what happened to you two?"

"Yang." Pyrrha managed to gasp out, breathing heavily. However, compared to Jaune, who was lying flat out on the mat, she seemed positively healthy.

Weiss grumbled. "Figures. She probably pranked you two again."

"Huh? Where'd you guys come from?" Ruby inquired. "You two look tired! Even you, Pyrrha!"
"We came….from the…..shopping centre….." The knight forced out. "We….ran…."

"That's halfway across the city!"

"We….know…."

Weiss closed her eyes, breathing in heavily. "Well, we just need that pervert and Blake to show up. And Ren and Nora. Where are the-"

Suddenly, one of the rocket lockers from Beacon landed with a thunk on the ground. Nora was wearing a Pancake Land shirt, a cowgirl hat, and what appeared to be a 'Number One Renora Fan' badge, while Ren was entirely shirtless, showing off his rather toned physique, with what appeared to be two tiny cotton balls on string attached to his head like antennae and a board taped to his left arm with 'MY WAIFU' scrawled on it with black marker and a hastily taped on picture of Velvet underneath the scrawl.

"That was EPIC! AGAIN! AGAIN!" Nora cheered. Ren produced a Pumpkin Pete's cereal box with Pyrrha's face on it from inside the locker.

"Pyrrha, do you mind signing this? Someone wants your autograph."

The spearmaiden took one look at the shirtless Ren, before taking the cereal box and producing a pen, quickly signing her signature on it and handing it back, all without batting an eyelid. "Here you go."

"Thanks. I'll just mail this back to the lucky girl." Ren nodded, putting it back in the locker. "Apparently you inspired her to want to become a Huntress when she grows up. Fancy that."

Weiss facepalmed, exasperated. "Dust knows if I want to know what you two did today."

"It was the greatest story never told!" Nora declared proudly. "Fitting for someone like me!"

Blake strolled up to them. "Hey."

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she turned to her, surveying her.

"Well, Blake, you certainly cleaned up."

Blake was dressed as exactly the kind of girl Yang would drool over. She was essentially wearing the same kind of clothes as Pyrrha was; a black blouse, short grey skirt and black stockings reaching up to her thighs with black heels. She also wore a warm black jacket over her blouse, and her entire attire seemed to hug her figure. Weiss could see why Yang would drool over it, to put it lightly; all the work on the robots she loved making and natural blessings had given her a figure anyone would envy.

"I see you're trying to impress someone." Ren remarked, whistling. Blake's cheeks reddened slightly.

"Well…..I j-just felt like d-dressing well for the occasion, I s-suppose."

Weiss frowned. "I thought you were meeting Yang elsewhere."
"She didn't call yet. I decided to head here first to see if she got here and just forgot about me, but…." The catgirl looked a little disappointed. "Well…."

"Sorry I'm late guys!" Yang called over as she ran near them. She was shoving a maid's cap into her duffel bag hanging off her right shoulder, with her left hand carrying a large box of take-out food from various Schnee franchises. "I just….had to take care of something at work!"

Pyrrha and Jaune looked down guiltily.

Weiss glared at her. "You have no shame."

"Huh?"
"These two just told me how you tried to make them kiss in public!"
"In fairness, everyone here knows they're a couple!"
"NOT YET!" The spearmaiden and knight cried in protest. Weiss smacked Jaune on the back of the head, growling.

"Don't shout in my ear!"
"Owww! Why didn't you hit Pyrrha?! She was next to you! I'm all the way over here!"
"She's more tolerable than you!"

"Oh. Ohhhh." Yang looked down at Blake, studying her and taking every inch of her with her eyes. "…..ohohohoho. Blakey, you look beautiful~!"
"T-thanks….hehehe…." Blake rubbed the back of her head, blushing. "Y-you don't look bad yourself…"

"Is that a compliment? Maybe Blake isn't as tsundere as we thought!"

"I-I'm not tsundere!"

"You totally are." Ren chimed in helpfully. Suddenly, Ruby pointed at the sky.

"The fireworks are starting! The fireworks are starting!"

"What?!" Yang yelped, before running across and sitting next to Blake, as everyone's eyes followed Ruby's finger.

The first firework had just exploded in the sky, a spiral of reds, greens and blues swirling outwards into the rapidly fading sunlight. Weiss' eyes widened.

"That's a rather early start! Wait, there's another one!"

Another one exploded in the sky, this time a burst of blues and whites, the sparkles fizzling out over the Vale skyline.

"Woooooo!" Nora produced a bottle of People Like Grapes Grape Flavour Soda, shaking it and launching the cap into the air with the ensuing foam. "Happy Lover's Day, everyone!"

"Happy Lover's Day, Weiss." Ruby smiled, pecking Weiss on the cheek. The heiress smiled back, sighing.

"Happy Lover's Day to you too. Idiot." Smirking, she pulled the reaper into a quick, loving kiss, causing Yang to wolf-whistle.

"Heeeey, getting a little steamy in here!"

The heiress pulled away briefly to glare at Yang. "Shut up." Then, she returned almost instantly to kissing.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Eh. So it is, so it is. Hey, Blake-"
"N-no! I d-don't want to kiss you! I-I'm not read-I mean I-I don't feel like that about you!" The catgirl panicked, flailing. The brawler closed her eyes, sighing.

"Well, well. A nice, friendly platonic hug would fine, right?"

"But-" Before she could protest, Yang hugged her to her side, pressing her body tightly against her side.

"Hug time! Oh, you feel so warm~!"
"D-don't say things like that, Y-Yang!"

Nora looked to Ren, smirking. Ren sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright, Nora. Let's do it."

"WOO!" With that, the berserker gratefully pulled him into a very deep, passionate kiss, pinning him against the locker.

Jaune and Pyrrha, of course, looked rather embarrassed by all of these public displays of affection.

"….erm…." The spearmaiden rubbed her cheek again. "…shall we…."

"Y-yeah…." The knight stood up first, helping Pyrrha up by pulling her up by her hand. "We'll just leave them t-to it…."

The knight and spearmaiden abandoned everyone to their affections, walking around and attempting to locate somewhere more private to sit down.

"Hey, isn't that Norn and Penny down there?" Jaune gestured towards a nearby bench, where the robotic maid and the puppet girl were watching the fireworks. Penny's head was leaning on Norn's arm, and the maid seemed content to leave it there, with a small smile forming on her usually emotionless face. The two seemed to be chatting about something rather excitedly- or, rather, as excitedly as Norn of all people could get.

"Huh. They look happy." Pyrrha noted, smiling. "Guess tonight's really a nice night, huh?"
"Yeah." Jaune nodded, grasping her hand just a little tighter. "It's a nice night."

Eventually, they found a bench with a perfect view of the sky, deciding to sit there instead. They sat there for a few minutes, just appreciating the spectacle of it all, sitting silently with hand in hand, their heads leaning each other's.

"…h-hey." Pyrrha spoke after what seemed to be an eternity. "About…earlier…."

"Y-yeah." Jaune nodded, blushing. "…w-we were close there…..weren't we….."

The spearmaiden twiddled her fingers around, looking away. "Um….."
"Huh?"

"…..i-if you like….w-we could…..y-you know…actually….um…." She shook her head, covering her face in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just…..I don't know how to…."

"Don't worry." Jaune nodded, smiling as he gently turned her face to his. "I know."

Pyrrha sighed deeply, before closing her eyes and slowly pulling in for the kiss. The knight followed suit, closing his own eyes.

She smelled of maple and cherry, and he of pine and oak. Her face felt warmer by the second, and she could feel his heart pounding through his palm.

Their hearts began racing, their faces turning redder as they got closer and closer, until their lips were but a hair's breadth apart-

"SURPRISE PICTURE!"
"WAH!" Pyrrha immediately pulled away, with Jaune tipping over the side of the bench with the force of her push. Yang groaned as she put her camera away.

"Oh come on! You two were so close!" The brawler complained, pouting. "That was just unfair!"

"G-go away, Yang!" Pyrrha snapped irritably, finally losing her temper. "T-this is private!"
"B-but I just want to celebrate two of my best friends getting together!"

"Ow….." Jaune groaned, rubbing his backside from the ground.

'Dammit, Yang…..'

…

Winter chuckled as she watched Pyrrha snap at Yang, with Jaune flailing from the ground next to the bench, breathing deeply.

"Love is something that's bittersweet, simple and clear yet complex." The lady mused. She closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"….congratulations, Miss Nikos. I hope you're….happy with him. I'm happy to let you win, this once.

You know…I don't feel so lonely anymore."

She smiled, looking down at the number on a small piece of paper, labelled 'Rook Leblanc'.

"…..thanks, Mister Leblanc, for keeping me company." The lady whispered into the night, watching the rainbow-coloured swirls of fire in the sky.

"…..tonight really is a good night."

END

A/N: That was overlong, very late, and very terrible! Never again am I doing a chapter THAT long! Nearly ten thousand words! Dust, the things I do in the name of Arkos/Winter/White Rose/Bumblebee/Norn and Penny…..never again! Never! Not even the final chapter will be this long!

I'm really sorry for the terrible quality of this chapter, I'm not used to writing romance or fluff, I promise I'll never do something like this again. *orz*

Well, anyway, next chapter, Jaune Reacts to Beach Party RWBY by He who is AWESOME, and then Volume 3 afterwards! Ohohohoho, Pyrrha and Penny are going to LOVE Volume 3!

So, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, suggestions, criticisms, reviews and thoughts, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!

….

STINGER

Velvet and Vivi finally got out of their cab at the downtown area, looking up at the fireworks themselves before realising something very crucial.

"Pipipi." The plushie pointed below, at the filled green spaces below. Velvet groaned.

"Are you kidding me? There's no space for us anymore!"

"Piiii pipi."

The bunnygirl sighed. "As usual, we lost all our screentime. Dammit, Pyrrha, couldn't you have given us some of your screentime?!"

"Pi pipi." Vivi shrugged, patting her head with her stubby arms. "Piiii…."
"I guess that's just the life of a side character….." The bunnygirl sighed, before looking around for a bench.

"Well….no point petitioning Elf-sama for more screentime, the chapter's nearly over. Let's just try to find a bench, eh?"
"Piii!" Vivi nodded in agreement, and turned herself around so she could watch Velvet's back for benches as she searched for a place to sit.

END (Finally!)