A/N: Wow, the first episode of season 4... I don't wanna spoil anything for the ones who haven't watched it yet, so I won't talk about the plot. But the animation though. Quite a step up from last season. Can't wait to see what next week's episode entails. But enough about that, have this chapter and... well, I hope y'all enjoy :)
Guest: Thanks! I hope this chapter'll live up to your expectations!
"Ouch, that hurts!"
Jaune winced as Pyrrha continued to dab at the cuts on his face, cleaning up the wounds that had occurred during the fight with Yang. Said girl was on a chair next to him, wincing while Blake applied the medicine to her face, but not yelling every time her face came into contact with the medical solution.
"You're such a baby." Yang teased, smiling as she did so. Jaune rolled his eyes, turning his body slightly to face her, making Pyrrha frown and press down particularly hard on a bruise on his cheek.
"Ouch! Gah, I wouldn't be complaining if someone didn't decide to put their fists on my face." Yang scoffed at that, crossing her arms.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been getting all clumsy like that, repeatedly slamming your face onto my fists."
"You should've at least had the decency to take your gauntlets off when I fell on them though."
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," Yang said, waving her arms around mockingly. "Next time I'll be considerate and ask you if you're ready to lose a few teeth, and then I'll take my time beforehand to get rid of my weapons. Sorry!"
Jaune pouted a little and crossed his arms as well. The only thing preventing him from tossing his head like a brat was Pyrrha and her cotton swab, which was probably coated with molten lava.
"Well, that's all I ask for." Jaune said in a faux-haughty tone of voice. The two of them held their positions like that for a second before grinning at the other one, a few chuckles slipping through their facades.
"Well, now that you two have gotten all of that out of your systems," Blake said quietly, standing up from her attentions to Yang. She held out a roll of bandages and placed it in Yang's hands. "I'm going to go clean up. You do know how to use those, right?" Yang looked a little offended at the question, and demonstrated a little childishly that yes, she did know how to put on a bandage.
Pyrrha also finished up on Jaune, taking out some bandages as well. Her fingers twitched a little as she fought the urge to bandage his face for him, instead placing it gingerly into his hands and standing up, leaving the tent in a hurry. Jaune's eyes followed her, a pained frown on his face. Blake and Yang saw the whole thing, and while Blake wasn't one to intrude, Yang certainly was.
"You should probably get to apologizing to her." Yang quipped helpfully, nodding at the exit. Jaune turned to look at her, a conflicted expression visible on his face. He nodded with her, murmuring something before standing up and following his partner.
Yang smiled contently, leaning over to rest her head on Blake's arm. "They grow up so fast." Blake only rolled her eyes at the fake-tears Yang had in her eyes. With her other hand, Blake pat Yang's head, something that she only allowed because she was her partner, and her hands had been dipped in rubbing alcohol a few moments ago, so there was no worry about dirtying Yang's hair.
"There, there." Blake intoned, smiling wanly at the display.
"Pyrrha. Pyrrha wait." Jaune called out, causing the Amazon to stop in her hurried retreat away from Jaune, arms clasped. She turned around, guarded expression on her face. Jaune stopped a few feet away from her, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to think of something to say. An apology would probably be a good way to start, he supposed.
"I'm sorry. For yelling at you." Pyrrha nodded stiffly, not answering back. Jaune continued. "I… when I- we, kill a dragon, when I absorb the… the soul of it. Apparently I become more… animalistic." Jaune shrugged, blocking the assault that Vedrahgol tried to place on his mind, taking offense at calling the Dov 'animals'. Pyrrha's cold expression defrosted a little, but there was still a visible frown marring her face.
"I know this doesn't really excuse me from acting like—like an asshole, I know." Jaune said hurriedly, holding out his hands, recalling the word that Yang had used when they had talked. "I know you're angry at me, and I know I deserve it. I just. I just wanted you to know that I'm really sorry, and I won't do that to you again. I promise." Jaune nodded with that, knowing that he would do anything in his power not to break his word. It was the Arc name on the line, after all.
When he fell silent, Pyrrha's eyes rose up, looking at the vulnerable boy. Jaune fidgeted uncomfortably, not sure if there was anything else that he needed to say, and so opted to stay quiet, sure that Pyrrha would talk to him sooner or later. Which she did, drawing a breath to do so.
"I'm not mad at you, Jaune." Pyrrha said softly, fingers wrapping around themselves in a nervous tic. "I'm a little… hurt. But not mad at you." Pyrrha shook her head a little. "I know that I've been babying you for a while now. I can't help it." Pyrrha gave a smile that seemed more grimace than anything else. "It's hard to remind myself that you aren't the same guy you were when we first joined Beacon. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if you've been replaced." Pyrrha confessed, her head and gaze looking away from him, aimed to his left. "Because when I look at you fighting a… a dragon, with that determined and confident look, it's hard to think of you as my partner. The one who has his shoes labeled." Pyrrha said with a small smile, something that Jaune returned back, knowing that she wasn't trying to insult him.
Pyrrha sighed, a hand rubbing her arm.
"And when you fought those Grimm, the expression you had on your face was so… so empty. Like you weren't even there. I couldn't help but try to find a way to bring you back, and I thought that pulling you to us would bring you back." Pyrrha looked towards the ground. "I didn't realize that it just set you off."
Jaune stepped forward, closing the distance between them as he wrapped her in a hug, almost crushing her if it wasn't for the armor that the two of them were wearing. Pyrrha was quick to return the hug, burying her head into Jaune's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I haven't really talked to anyone all that recently, have I?" Jaune asked, his mind whirling back to the past few weeks, which had been constantly occupied by Vedrahgol and his training. "I don't mean to do it."
Pyrrha sniffled a little, before nodding into Jaune's neck and pulling back, giving him a watery smile. Jaune gave a grin, giving her a thumbs up.
"I'll be better. Promise." Pyrrha gave a little laugh at that, nodding.
Feeling as though he had resolved at least one problem today, Jaune nodded at Pyrrha. "I'm going to go back in, alright? I've got something I need to talk to with Yang." Pyrrha nodded, giving a strained smile that Jaune didn't take note of, only having it turn into a frown after he turned toward the tent, heading back in.
"Ow, ow, Ouch! Blake, sheesh, please, stop tearing my bandages off!"
"I wouldn't have to if you had put them on correctly." Blake chided her, tearing off another bandage, making Yang howl.
"I knew it was all just a tough girl act."
Yang whirled around to look at the smirking Jaune, who had just lifted a flap to enter into the tent. She didn't account for the fact that Blake had a hand on one of her bandages still, and the quick movement allowed the bandage to be completely torn off in one clean go. Yang didn't even try to hide how painful that was.
Jaune kept his lips sealed, trying not to laugh at the comical display.
"I'll take over." Jaune said to Blake, who nodded at him gratefully before retreating, making sure not to linger when Yang's head rose, eyes glowing red.
"Stop being such a baby." Jaune repeated, grinning at the girl who wanted to rip his lips off of his face.
"I'll stop being such a baby when people stop tearing stuff off of my face." Yang said grumpily, her eyes slowly fading back to the purple color they usually were. Jaune shrugged, sitting down next to her.
"Stop putting stuff on your face then."
Yang rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Gee, thanks for the suggestion." Jaune grinned, nudging her with an elbow.
"Hey, let's face it, I'm a genius when it comes to this kind of stuff." A weak pun, but a pun nonetheless, causing Yang to have to fight a smile that threatened to rise onto her face.
"Stop it. I'm supposed to be mad at you." Jaune just laughed at her, bumping shoulders with the girl as the two of them fell silent and contemplative.
"I'm sorry, you know." Jaune said suddenly, turning to Yang. "For taking control of your body like that. I'm sure you didn't like that feeling at all." Yang nodded, looking over at him.
"Heck yeah I didn't like that feeling." Yang shuddered, remembering what Jaune had done to her. "You don't know what it's like, being someone who's supposed to be in control of her body, to just lose all control of it like that. You made me panic." Yang admitted, blushing at the fact that she was telling him of a moment of weakness. "I don't like looking helpless." She said forcefully, glaring at Jaune.
The blonde knight raised his hands, holding them out in surrender. "I'm sorry. It was the only thing I could think of that would help. I wasn't really thinking things through." Yang snorted, shaking her head, letting her hair fly around loosely.
"No kidding. But…" Yang sighed, shoulders slumping. "I wasn't all that great at thinking it through either." Jaune nodded, giving a playful grin.
"Yeah. I mean, what were we going to do if you had killed Cardin? We would've lost our best hand to hand combat specialist and someone to use as a meat shield." Yang burst out laughing, rocking the bed at how boisterous she was doing so.
"I thought that was your job, Mr. Shield." Jaune looked up to the ceiling of the tent, pretending to be in deep thought before shrugging.
"I guess having someone else pick up the slack isn't all that bad either."
An eyebrow raised on Yang's forehead. "Yeah, someone needs to cover for you, Mr. Lazypants."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jaune waved a hand, the smile still visible on his face as he did so. Yang fell silent, her brow furrowed a little before she decided to speak.
"We're… friends, aren't we?" She asked, sounding a lot more like Ruby then Yang at the moment. It was an obvious question, but Jaune could read the mood (for the first time ever) and nodded solemnly, deciding not to tease her about it. Yang nodded as well.
"It's just. We've been through a lot in such a short time." Yang said, her hands gesturing while she talked. "For the first year in Beacon, we didn't really talk all that much. I thought of you as Ruby's friend, not mine." Jaune nodded, understanding.
"Yeah, same here. I always thought of you as Ruby's big sis." Yang hummed in agreement, crossing her legs.
"It's… different now, isn't it? Fighting the dragons, fighting each other… We're close, don't you think?"
Jaune didn't say anything, just nodding once. Yang nodded again, a habit that she seemed to be picking up from the boy sitting next to her.
"I think that… we're a little alike." Yang continued, "And you know, we've got some things that we like about each other. And we get along pretty well so…" Yang hesitated, eyes showing that she was uncertain of where this was going. Jaune decided to prod her a little.
"What do you want to say Yang?" Jaune asked softly, his body facing hers.
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life." Came the serious, no-nonsense answer. With another moment to think, Yang let out a breath that she had been holding.
"Close your eyes."
Without another word needed, Jaune closed his eyes, patiently waiting for Yang to do… whatever she needed.
But deep down, Jaune wasn't really surprised when he felt her lips on his, tilting his head slightly to keep them in contact with each other. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, before the two of them parted, eyes connected. There was something unspoken that was passed between the two of them, and they met in the middle again, lips touching. Yang's arms slowly circled around Jaune's neck as she pulled him in, and Jaune's hands found her back, doing the same.
It was a good moment.
So good that Jaune was even able to block the dragon-soul inside of his mind who had rolled his eyes, smiling.
It was about damn time.