Disclaimer: Still don't own it.
Road to the End
By: athrunzala
08: Jaune
In the cold, evening air, Jaune stood on the balcony overlooking the gardens of the Schnee Estate. Even though it had been over a year since the problems at Beacon, he still felt it. The blonde looked up into the cloudless sky, the broken moon of Remnant providing far more illumination than he wanted at that moment. The memories of all the times it had been obvious came flooding into his head.
He would drop his sword, and she would show him how to better grip the hilt, so it wouldn't happen again.
He would trip, and she would ask if he was alright.
He would tell a terrible joke, and she would laugh, no matter how bad it was.
All those late night sessions training on the roof.
With each memory, he hated himself more and more. He cursed his inability to wake up to the truth before it was too late. He must have screamed, because the footsteps behind him showed a sense of worry.
"Jaune?"
Ruby approached her friend, not wanting to startle him, but wanting to make sure he was okay.
"Not now."
"Jaune, are you okay?"
"I said not now!"
He turned around, his face set in rage, but his eyes giving away his pain far more than he wished to.
"Jaune... I..."
"Ruby, please. I just... I just want to be alone right now."
"If you say so..."
The younger girl turned and left, still concerned for the blonde, but not wanting to make a bigger mistake.
And the pattern continued for several days like that. Jaune would go out on the balcony, and Ruby would try to talk to him, only to be shunned.
"I just... I'm supposed to be a natural born leader. Why can't I help him?"
"Kiddo, you can't lead or help somebody who doesn't want to be led or helped."
Qrow was trying to help his confused niece through the difficulty she was having.
"Additionally, Ruby," Winter interjected, "he is in a tough spot right now. He doesn't feel that he is adequate as a leader or Huntsman."
"But..."
Tears were forming in the young Huntress's eyes, her wanting to help her friend out and being told that she couldn't hurting her more than she would like.
"Listen: You may not be able to help him, as you, personally, aren't feeling the same sense of loss. Sure. Your team was scattered to the four corners of the globe. But he lost someone he swore he would protect. Someone he is just now realizing he loved. So the pain is far worse than he would like to let on."
Winter put a hand on Qrow's shoulder after his statement.
"But, we can go talk to him. Provide some neutral council, perhaps."
The alcoholic sighed at this. "She's right. We'll go talk to him. Pancake child and Captain silence need their team leader back."
The older pair got up and left the room, just as Weiss was entering.
"What was that all about?"
All she could do was head over to where her partner, their friendship reforged, sat, and hold the younger girl while she cried, unable to bring much to the bundle of emotions.
Out on the balcony, Jaune was moping again, his thoughts always going back to her. Back to that solitary kiss. The only one they had ever shared. It haunted him. He looked up into the sky again, and punched the stone railing, the unyielding material sending pain shooting up his arm, which he ignored.
The more he thought about it, the more he had come to realize it: He had really been in love with Pyrrha Nikos. And he had never told her. He had always hidden his feelings behind his chasing after Weiss, not wanting to jeopardize their partnership or even their friendship by asking her to go on a date with him.
"I'm so sorry..."
As he fell to his knees, his hands gripping the railing, he began to cry. His tears shifted from sadness to anger as a second face popped into his head.
"I'll kill her," he muttered to no one in particular.
"Who will you be killing, exactly?"
"That woman from Haven. I'll kill her."
"What woman?"
"The one who was in the tournament. Her teammates hurt my friends, and she killed Pyrrha. I know it."
"Mr. Arc, revenge is not the solution here."
"And who told you what was, huh? Pyrrha is gone! She isn't going to come back! And now... And now..."
"Listen to Winter, kid. Revenge may make sense right now, but it consumes you. Kills you inside. Makes you rely on... other things to feel whole again."
"What would you know about wanting revenge?"
"Plenty. Listen. Jaune. When my sister left Yang with Tai as a baby, I was appalled. Here was my own sister, who had wanted to be a mother, abandoning her child. I wanted to take revenge for Yang that day. And then Tai stopped me. Said he'd need help. And then... Then Ruby's mom stepped in. Summer filled the emptiness in his heart. She helped him get through things.
Then... one day... she went on a mission and..."
Qrow's voice trailed off as he remembered that day. The day Ruby and Yang lost not one, but two mothers.
"And?"
"And she never came back. We searched. We really did. All we could find were a few pieces of her cloak, and some fragments of her weapon. Nothing more. It killed Taiyang inside. He changed. And I went on a search for revenge. I must have killed thousands of Grimm. All hoping that one of them was the one that killed her. And it killed me."
"Well... almost killed you."
The older human stepped forward, putting an arm around Winter's waist.
"True. She saved me. In a sense. She gave me a reason to not be hunting for revenge. Told me to go teach future generations. All so that our mistakes wouldn't be made again."
"And then you taught Ruby."
"You betcha. And Yang."
"She is a damn good fighter. Better than me..."
The older couple sensed the change in his voice and made the right move.
"From what Ruby tells me, you are a damn good tactician. You can analyze the terrain, as well as enemy attack patterns and make a snap decision that results in victory with very few losses. That is a rare skill."
"But what if I..."
"Kid, I'm not telling you to forget about her. Just not to become obsessed with avenging her."
"So... there are other ways?"
"You got it. Now, you might want to go talk to my niece. She is pretty worried about you.