Author's Notes: Hey guys! So sorry for the delay. So, I'm afraid I can no longer update weekly, so what we're gonna do is guaranteed fortnightly updates. It gives me more time to work on them and tweak them. The last few I've not been totally pleased with, but uploaded them anyway simply because the clock ran out.
So I will also be exploring the villains and how they cope after that night too which'll be interesting. For example, next chapter is a Neo orientated one, which will take creative liberties on her childhood and past, not to mention the introduction of the next Acts primary Antagonist.
Enjoy the fluff and stuff! - Dave
Act One: Chapter Seven: Learning To Walk Again.
...
"Oof! Hey!" Yang grumbled, frowning up at the red haired warrior responsible for her current seat in the dust. Pyrrha quirked a plucked brow, placing both hands atop her hips.
"I'm sorry, but your stance is all wrong." Pyrrha challenged, offering a hand out to the blonde. Yang rolled her lilac eyes, before accepting the hand. "Your feet need to be at least shoulders width apart, and one foot needs to be further back than the other. You won't fall over if-"
"Yeah yeah, let's go again." Yang scoffed, spreading her feet, drawing swirls in the dirt with her boots. She raised her fists, both mechanical and flesh. Pyrrha bit her lip and nodded, raising her own. Red and Yellow paced in a circle around one another, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Yang swung first, her impatience getting the better of her.
Pyrrha blocked with her wrists, staggering back at the sheer harsh weight of the metal limb. Her bones flexed, before swinging around to the side and sweeping her leg across the dirt, knocking Yang's legs out from under her. The blonde fell on her back with a thud, panting and staring up at the blue sky.
The arcing cloud of dust settled at the heel of Pyrrha's shoe, before she stood up straight, patting the wisps of sand out of her vest. Yang thumped her fist into the earth and growled, rolling over and getting up.
"This is pointless!" Yang threw her fists down by her sides, stamping off towards the house. Pyrrha sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, when a voice spoke out.
"Man, that thing packs a punch!" Tai smiled hopefully, standing from his seat besides Zwei in the baking afternoon sun. Yang stopped in her tracks, sighing heavily and straightening the warp in her downtrodden spine. Her lilac eyes flit back over her shoulder to her rising Dad and her red haired sparring partner.
"We've been at this for hours! I get it, you wanna know I can still fight. Obviously I can't." Yang murmured, grasping the door handle.
"Giving up already, huh?" Tai huffed, Yang letting go of the knob to face him. "That's not like you."
"Dad..." Yang huffed, studying her cybernetic arm with a grimace. "I've tried."
"You're still strong, Yang. Almost broke my wrists." Pyrrha smirked, Yang scoffing. "Yes, you're still slightly sluggish, but you haven't fought in... just over two months."
"I guess..." Yang looked at her arms, the thin biceps not as thick as the brawler was used to.
"You cant give up, hon." Tai looped an arm over her shoulder. "Tell you what, how bout you and I go a few rounds, huh? I'm old and slow, so we should be evenly matched." Tai smirked. Yang grinned lightly.
"Ha ha, very funny." Yang blew out a calming breath, rolling her shoulders. "Okay, you're on, old man."
"Hey!" Tai chuckled, raising his fists. Yang paced back into the circle of disturbed dirt and boot prints. Pyrrha smiled as the pair began to lightly spar, her Father going slow enough for Yang to get a slight upper hand, helping her self esteem greatly. With a grin, her fighting became more aggressive, as she pushed through the lactic acid and fatigue.
Pyrrha looked over her shoulder to the porch of the house. Sat in the shade, Jaune smiled brightly at her, trading a toothy grin with the red head. Pyrrha looked back to the fight as Yang and Tai locked fists, sweat dripping off their straining faces. Content to take a moment of leave, she paced over to the front of the house, to take some solace in the shade... and Jaune.
Her once pale porcelain skinned shoulders were now dusted red with a tinge of sunburn. She stepped up the steps and sat on the cool wood beside Jaune, hands wringing atop her knees.
"You're doing great work with her." Jaune commented, biting a tag of hard skin from his calloused hand. Pyrrha smiled to him, looking back to the sparring as Tai swung a boot around to drive down onto Yang, the blonde Brawler quick to block with her wrists. "He's pretty spry, for an older fellow."
"He's not that old, Jaune." Pyrrha chuckled. "But yes, he is a terrific fighter."
"And look at Yang. Really didn't think we'd get her to this point. There's almost a... sense of normality again." Jaune chuckled. He looked at Pyrrha and smiled brightly, gingerly reaching into her lap and gently gripping her hand, molding the rigid flesh into soft and warm digits. Pyrrha smiled back to him and lightly squeezed his hand. "I hope you're starting to feel a sense of normality again, I mean... i-if not, is there anything I can do to help it along?"
Pyrrha squeezed his hand and shuffled over, her hip nudging his, holding his hand in her lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You're already doing it." she smiled contently, stroking her thumb over his knuckles.
"Mmm. Good." Jaune rested his head on hers. Both of them reveled in the warmth of the other, in their scent, in their heartbeat, in their very aura. The front door to the house opened sharply and both Pyrrha and Jaune jumped, quickly letting go of the other, clearing their throats and blushing feverishly. Nora babbled in Ren's ear as they both stepped out of the house, before silence quickly replaced her rapid words.
"Err...what's up with you two?" Nora raised a brow, bouncing on her toes. Ren's usually unreadable expressions were null, replaced with a warm smile.
"Nora and I are going into town. Do you two need anything?"
"Yeah! Watcha need?!" Nora grinned, hands on her hips. Pyrrha shrugged, kneading her thighs, Jaune bobbing his shoulders too.
"We're fine thank you." Pyrrha smiled to them, Jaune nodding rapidly. Nora was skeptical, but decided to simply plead innocence, and skip down the steps of the porch. Ren smiled at the pair.
"I see you're figuring things out."
"Ah w-well-"
"You see-"
"Guys. Stop. It's... It's great. I'm happy for you. Don't worry, I won't breath a word to Nora." Ren smiled to them, giving a brief nod and stepping down the porch. Pyrrha and Jaune smiled at each other and shuffled closer again, hands held in Pyrrha's lap.
"We are, aren't we?" Jaune spoke, Pyrrha lifting her head from his shoulder to meet his eyes. "Figuring things out I mean."
"I believe so. There was a time not even a week ago we were too afraid to be this... close." Pyrrha gestured to their current arrangement. Jaune nodded and sighed contently, the tension in his frame melting away like butter. "This is nice. Perfect even. Little steps."
"Yeah...little steps." Jaune hummed, resting his head on top of hers. The front door blew open again, startling the soothed pair once again.
"ZWEI! ZWEI?!" Ruby yelled as she paced out onto the porch, Pyrrha's eye twitching and her teeth audibly grating. "Oh! Hey guys! How's my sister doing?"
"She's doing great! Just look at her." Jaune chuckled, gesturing to Tai receiving a hard punch from Yang, both of them laughing joyfully. Ruby beamed brightly and looked at the leash in her hand.
"Have you guys seen Zwei?" Ruby asked. Pyrrha blew out a breath and her emerald eyes flit up to the young leader.
"Yes, I have. He's just over there, by Tai." Pyrrha pointed ahead to the folded out deck chair, the two white towels atop it, and the happily panting dog beside it.
"Zwei! C'mere boy! Walkies!"
Weiss stepped out next, tapping away intently on her scroll. Jaune looked up over Pyrrha's head to the Schnee.
"Hey Weiss!"
"Hello Jaune." She beamed back. "How are you two?"
"Good thank you. How about you? Have you been speaking to Team SSSN at all?" Pyrrha asked. Weiss nodded and bent over to show Pyrrha her scroll. The Invincible Girl snorted into her palm as she read the string of messages.
"What's that?" Jaune asked. Weiss shrugged and stood up.
"We've started a group chat between our three teams. In fact, I was just about to invite JNPR riiiight now." She clicked a button and both Jaune and Pyrrha's scrolls buzzed. They both took out said devices and instantly accepted the invite, the conversation now visible to them.
Jaune chuckled as he read them, looking up at Weiss. "So how're you and Neptune doing? You talked at all? You know, one on one?"
Weiss huffed and put her scroll in her pocket, shrugging her shoulders.
"Kinda? Oooh, I don't know. I don't know what goes on in his head!"
"Tell me about it." Pyrrha smirked at Jaune, the blonde boy scratching the back of his head bashfully. Ruby soon rejoined the conversation as she clipped the leash to Zwei's collar, standing up and facing the three teens.
"C'mon Weiss, If Zwei doesn't get his walk soon, we'll have a tantrum on our hands."
"Okay okay, Ruby, I'm coming." Weiss smiled to the Arkos pair, before turning and trotting down the steps. "We won't be long."
"See ya later!" Jaune called, mirth leaving his lips in light chuckles. He sobered and faced Pyrrha, their faces inching closer as Pyrrha happily closed that distance between themselves again. "Hey."
"Hello." She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder contently. Jaune found her hand and the two stayed in comfortable silence as they watched Yang and Tai. The Xiao Long's continued to spar, trading hits back and forth, until Yang ended the round with a firm punch of her metal fist to his arm, knocking her Father back a few staggered steps.
The two breathed out breathlessly, Tai managing to chuckle between gasps.
"Yeah...that really does pack a punch!" He winced, rolling his arm experimentally. Yang stood up tall, smirking smugly.
"Yeah... okay, okay you were right." Yang rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm glad I didn't give up earlier." Her expression turned to a smirk. "Y'know, for someone who's been out of it for a while, I think I'm doing fine." She punched her fists together, metal meeting skin with a thump.
"Yeah..." Tai stood up straight, his panting now quelled. "You're close."
"Oh really? I just wiped the floor with you!" Yang grinned, Tai circling her with his own smirk, enjoying every second of their playful banter returning between them.
"You're still off balance." Tai off handed the comment, Yang's eyes bolstering wide.
"What?! No I'm not! Pyrrha, you saw, right?!" Yang called out to the porch. Pyrrha lifted her head from Jaune's shoulder, nervously prodding the tips of her index fingers together.
"Uuuum..."
"Urgh, okay... so maybe I'm still a bit outta shape. But, honestly..." She looked down at her robotic appendage. "I'm kinda surprised. I thought it'd just be this huge weight, but it feels... natural." Yang smiled brightly as she flexed her cybernetic digits back and forth. "They did a great job with this thing."
She didn't hear the quick dusty shuffle of impeding boots, as Tai jabbed across her jaw, Yang startling from her daze to quickly throw herself back into the fray, blocking his swings. She jabbed back, lifting her leg to offer a few swift kicks to his shoulder and stomach. He blocked them all, and eventually the pair became locked in the other's grip, her cybernetic arm in his grasp and her flesh hand stopping his elbow from meeting her neck.
"I wasn't talking about your actual balance." Tai sighed. With that, he kicked her leg out from under her, once again letting Yang fall flat on her back. Pyrrha noticed and gave Jaune's hand a squeeze, before standing and trotting down the steps.
Yang sat up on her elbows, frowning at her Dad.
"Um, her actual balance could use some work too." Pyrrha added, Yang rolling her eyes and sitting up with a groan. "Perhaps I should work on that now, Tai."
"Jeez, what is this, 'kick a Yang while she's down' day?" Yang huffed, swiping the grime from her pale shoulder. Tai held a hand out towards Pyrrha, instantly stilling her.
"I saw your tournament fights, during the Vytal festival?" Tai shrugged, offering a hand to Yang. She frowned and looked at her knees.
"Let me guess... I was sloppy?" Yang mimicked his voice, rolling her lilac eyes. Tai chuckled and hoisted her up to her feet.
"No. You were predictable."
"And stubborn!" Jaune added from the porch. Yang growled in his direction.
"And bone headed."
"Perhaps a little on the-
"Urgh I get it!" Yang crossed her arms. "Can we be done for today?"
"No. Not yet." Tai huffed, gently gripping her shoulder to turn the teen to face him. He sobered and hollered over his shoulder. "Hey! Pyrrha! C'mere a sec!"
"Okay." Pyrrha paced over. "What is it, Taiyang?"
"Yang, do you realize you used your semblance to win every match after the qualifiers?" Tai said to his daughter. Yang turned away and paced over to the deckchair, picking up a towel to swipe the dirt and sweat from her brow. The once white towel was now very much brown with grime.
"So what? How's me using my semblance any different from someone else using theirs?" Yang grumbled, unscrewing her cybernetic arm with a hiss and setting it on the chair to clean the collected grit and dust out from where her stump met metal. Tai looked at Pyrrha and smiled.
"Yang. I want you to look at Pyrrha."
"Why?" Yang asked, staring at the green eyed warrior. "What am I looking for?"
"I saw her rounds in the Tournament too." He turned to Pyrrha with a somber sigh. "I'm... sorry. About what happened in the end."
"It's... It's okay." Pyrrha smiled meekly.
"Pyrrha only ever used her semblance if the chips were down. If she had no other choice. She very rarely relied on it at all."
"So? Everyone's semblances are different." Yang shrugged, picking up the prosthetic and blowing a plume of dust out from the pistons. Tai huffed and placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.
"Yeah, they are different. But not everyone else's is basically a temper tantrum." Tai stepped over to his daughter as she locked the arm back into place and rolled the limb back and forth experimentally.
"I didn't choose my semblance, Dad." Yang's eyes watered ever so slightly. "Besides. It can't be that great... " she looked at her arm. "Didn't help me when it came to saving Blake, did it?"
"No, that's true. In fact, that's my point. You can take damage and dish it back twice as hard, but that doesn't make you invincible." Tai placed both hands on Yang's shoulders, her eyes meeting his somberly. "It's great if you're in a bind, but what if you miss?"
"This." Yang held up her whirring arm, titanium skin gleaming in the light. "This is what happens when I miss."
"Yang... " Tai whimpered almost. "... You have always been one to burn brighter than everyone else." He lifted her chin with his thumb. "Whether it was with your smile, or..." He grinned and touched her hair. "Well, I remember your first haircut." He chuckled, Yang shoving his hand away with a light smile. Pyrrha lightly stepped into the conversation.
"Yang... I say this as your friend... I know what your Father is saying. You need to keep your emotions in check. Keep a level head. That's the key to any fight." Pyrrha added. "I was an infant when I first held a spear. I wasn't much older when I had my first fight. As you can imagine I messed up. Made mistakes. Got hurt. Because I was young. I was naive. And I wore my heart on my sleeve. Emotions in a fight can be our undoing." Pyrrha looked down at the dirt with a somber sigh. "Look at what happened with Penny. My emotions were toyed with. My mind was... warped too. I lost. In a different way than I'm most certainly used to."
Tai squeezed Pyrrha's shoulder affectionately and fatherly, turning to face Yang. "Your semblance is a great fall back, but..." Tai sighed heavily. "What we are trying to say is that it won't always save you... Obviously." He closed his eyes with a tired and weighted sigh. He let a dry chuckle leave his throat though. "You definitely have your Mom's stubbornness."
Yang looked up at him with a raised brow. "Oh? So now we can talk about her?"
"Well, as you're always reminding me, you're an adult now." Tai shrugged and smiled. "... I see so much of Raven in you."
"Well, I'm sorry I remind you of her so much." Yang deflected, crossing her arms.
"Don't be." Tai softly spoke, pulling Yang into a hug. "Raven was great in so many ways! Her strength, her ambition. Her dedication to whatever cause she thought was worth fighting for." He reeled out of the embrace to look deep into her lilac eyes. "I'm proud of how much of her I see in you."
Pyrrha smiled from the sidelines, looking at Jaune over her shoulder. "I'll leave you two to talk."
"Oh! Sorry, Pyrrha." Tai chuckled, Pyrrha shaking her head with a beaming smile.
"Don't be. Family is the most important thing in the world." And with that the emerald eyed warrior turned away.
"Hey, Pyrrha?" Yang called, Pyrrha looking back over her shoulder. "Thanks. For... helping and... you know, not giving up on me when I gave up on you."
"You never gave up on us Yang. Whatever feelings you had were definitely warranted. It's nice to see you up and about." Pyrrha gleamed, pacing back to the porch. Tai smiled at the red head.
"You have a great band of friends supporting you." He commented affectionately, both the Xiao Long's watching Pyrrha sit beside Jaune and rest her head on his shoulder, both content.
"Yeah. I do." Yang had a biting thought niggling at the back of her mind, and her lips moved with the words pouring forth. "If you saw so much of Mom in me, if it made you proud... then why wouldn't you tell me more about her?" Yang asked with a pained inflection to her voice. Tai's smile fell and he exhaled heavily.
"Because while I'm proud to see so much of her in you, I'm glad I don't see all of her in you."
"Why?" Yang asked softly. Tai sat on the floor, cross legged, gesturing to the spot before him. Yang sat opposite, hugging her knees with both flesh and robotic arms.
"Your mother was a... complicated woman... " Tai shrugged. "Like everybody, she had her faults, but those faults are what tore out team apart. And it did a real number on our family..."
"Did she..." Yang closed her eyes. "H-Hate me?"
"No. No, no hon." Tai leaned over, gripping her knee and kneading it affectionately. "No, she didn't. But, like I said... she was complicated. Your Uncle's the same." Tai chuckled dryly. Yang raised a brow.
"Uncle Qrow?"
"You have any other Uncles I don't know about?" Tai chuckled.
"Where is he? Ruby said he isn't at Beacon." Yang shrugged, itching her shoulder.
"He's... got some personal errands he's running, if you could call it that." Tai huffed. "Whatever it is he's looking for, I hope he finds it soon. Gods know the school could use him right now."
"If I... had some more questions about Mom..." Yang gulped, Tai furrowing his brow as he listened to her plea. "Would you... answer them?"
Tai sighed heavily, but let a lop sided smile grace his face. "If you promise to work on your fighting style, to realize that - like your Mother - strength isn't all that matters in a fight. That if you look at a situation a little bit harder, you can see that there's often another way around as well." He walked his fingers through the dirt to pace the digits around a stone, as apposed to through it. "You promise to work on that?" Yang bit her lip and nodded.
"Yeah. I promise."
Tai smiled and nodded. "Okay. Well, what do you wanna know?"
...
Nora paced beside Ren, the pair content in one another's space, gravel crunching under boot. The usually chipper Valkyrie wrung her fingers and flit her eyes along the path.
"Are you okay?" Ren asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Bright orange bangs lifted up to face him, turquoise eyes meeting his warm magenta concern. She quirked her lips into a wry smile.
"Not really. You?"
"I'm better. Being around our friends has certainly helped. And you." Ren smiled warmly. Nora beamed back, skipping forward a few steps before returning to a walk. "So, what did you want to do in town?"
"Hmm? Oh nothin, silly! I just needed to get out for a bit." Nora huffed, waving off his comment. The two walked in a silence tinged with slight awkwardness, a weight hanging in the air between them, like something was going unsaid, something needed to be said. "Pinky promise me."
"Huh?" Ren startled at her, eyes focusing on the little finger held up before him. "Promise you what?"
"Keep a secret, Renny. Pleeaase?" Nora pouted. Ren smiled softly and wrapped his smallest finger around hers.
"Of course. Now what's bothering you?" Ren let go of her hand, Nora clapping her hands together as she bounced with her steps. She popped her lips and looked at him.
"A lotta things. How all our friends are feeling. Their injuries. I guess...I feel lucky? That I'm not in as bad of a place, but I always feel all yucky."
"Yucky?" Ren raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"Well... not physically yucky, but like..." She huffed and shook her head. "I just feel sad all the time, okay? I smile and it hurts my cheeks and jaw. Like I'm forcing it."
"Oh. Yes, well that's natural. The pain we all endured will linger over us for some time."
"Yeah, but I don't want it to! I wanna do something nice!" Nora threw her fist into her palm with a clap, determination in her eyes. Ren smiled fondly to his best friend, feeling that constant covet for something more out of their relationship. Maybe the feelings started the night he could have lost her. Maybe they started when he first ever met her. He didn't like to think he was that oblivious to his own heart. He prided himself on being more in tune with himself than Jaune was, the boy who failed to see Pyrrha Nikos practically drooling over him.
"Okay, Nora. Soooo, what did you have in mind?"
"Well, I just had an idea!" She held her hand over her head, gesticulating like the flickering light of a bulb. "Ding! And I think while we're in town, we should get them all something."
"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Ren beamed fondly. Nora grinned and rubbed her hands together.
"Well, I thought we could do a little shopping, find something cool for each one of em!" Nora bounced. "Ooooh it's the best idea ever! Of all time!"
"It is a good idea, actually." Ren chuckled lightly, the woodland path giving way to the wide open expanse of the town square. "So, what sort of gifts did you think of?"
"Well..." Nora took a deep inhale. "Ruby likes cookies so I think we should get her some of those, Weiss likes jewelry - though between you and me that stuff is suuuuper expensive - so maybe a little necklace or something, Blake likes books so how about the new copy of Ninjas of love? Yang loves - and I mean loooooves - games, so let's grab a copy of that new racing game! Pyrrha and Jaune? Hmm, well Pyrrha likes chocolate - though she'll deny it to the death - so we'll get her some of dat, Jaune likes sentimental stuff, so I'm gonna get him an engraved statue made from the finest Boarbatusk ivory!" Nora panted from her quickly spoken eruption. "And you? Well... I've got something special in mind for you... it's secret though."
"Nora... " Ren sighed. "That all sounds very expensive."
"But they're worth it." Nora said softly, with the most determined yet pleading look in her big round eyes. Ren smiled at her.
"You're amazing, Nora." He pulled her into a one armed hug, Nora humming and wrapping her arm around his back as they walked together. "So... which shop first?"
"Weeeeeell..." Nora scanned the array of shops in the high street, eyes snapping to the Jewelers, then the bakery, then the video store, then the book store, her lip being worried by her teeth harder and harder. "Ooooh! I dunno, Ren!"
"Maybe the sculptors should be our first inquiry. See if they actually have Boarbatusk ivory in stock." Ren chuckled with a roll of his eyes.
"Well they should have! How hard is it to get a hold of?!"
"Not everyone can one hit kill a Boarbatusk, Nora." He smirked at her, the pair enjoying some alone time... just the two of them.
...
"Zwei, okay okay, I'll let you off your leash now." Ruby giggled at the whiny dog pawing at his collar uncomfortably. "Just... don't go running off anywhere, okay?"
The little dog whined and whimpered at her, the silver eyed girl huffing and clicking the leash off of his collar. Instantly the Corgi perked up, bounding and frolicking in the long grass around Ruby's feet, panting eagerly. Weiss smiled and fanned her face with her hand, looking up at the almost rainforest-like canopy overhead.
"Ruby, can we please get out of this humid... jungle!" Weiss whined, swiping her glossy brow with the back of her hand, gagging at the accumulated sweat on her knuckles. "Ew."
"Oh. Sure Weiss. C'mon Zwei!" Ruby called as the perky dog's ears flit up from behind a moss smothered log. Ruby stepped back onto the crumbled and cracked tarmac path, Weiss following suit, as Zwei quickly caught up to them with a few echoing barks. Weiss exhaled heavily.
"Oh. Much better." she hummed as a whipping of refreshingly cool air poured down the path. She flicked her slightly matted white fringe aside and swat at a few buzzing flies, welkin eyes falling on Ruby. They softened at her searching gaze, watching the path disappearing under the front of her shoes. "Ruby? Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Ruby looked up with a start. "Oh. Yeah, I guess."
"You wouldn't be lying to your partner now, would you?" Weiss stopped walking with a final clack of her heels, crossing her arms with a smirk. Ruby too paused her walk and smiled weakly, shrugging.
"Eh. I've just got some things on my mind."
"Well... " Weiss blew out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm trying to be better at listening to people and-"
"Being an overall nicer person?" Ruby tilted her head. Weiss grated her teeth.
"Yes. That."
"It's okay, Weiss."
"Ruby!" Weiss grabbed her shoulders firmly, eyes wide and lips snarling. "Share with me!"
"Wah?"
"I mean..." Weiss shook her head, calming down. "I'm here to help and listen. So... what's bothering you?" Weiss sighed softly. Ruby bit her lip and sagged her shoulders with a huff.
"I just... haven't been sleeping well. Nightmares and stuff." Ruby blushed, fist rubbing her eye. "It's embarrassing."
"No it isn't, Ruby." Weiss shook her head. "I have them too. Blake does. Yang certainly does. We're all struggling. This is the first time I've heard you voice your own, though."
"Yeah. I figured keep it to myself." Ruby shrugged, going to walk on when Weiss grabbed her forearm, stopping her. Their eyes met, Weiss' swimming with concern.
"What do you mean, keep it to yourself? Why would you do that to yourself, Ruby?"
"I just... people are struggling enough. They don't need my problems on top of theirs. Besides... I have to be strong... I-I'm a leader, and my team needs me."
"While that's admirable... it's stupid too." Weiss snapped. "We help each other, Ruby! Leader and all. Like you said, we're a team."
Ruby sniffed and her eyes watered, an icy guilt pooling in her gut, mixing with the crushing weight of all that transpired. She hiccuped and kicked a pebble.
"I killed..."
"Huh?" Weiss tilted her head. Ruby shrugged, sniffling.
"Torchwick. Neo. Just two of the lives I took. Not to mention White Fang soldiers..." Her bottom lip wobbled, teeth digging into the flesh to stabilize it. "I know they were bad, but... a life's a life! I wanted to be a Huntress, to fight Grimm, kill Grimm, stop bad guys. I just never knew how I'd feel when I took a life."
"Ruby..." Weiss breathed, hand held atop her heart.
"It hurts, Weiss." Ruby welled up, her throat clogged and thick. Her watery silver eyes met soft icy blues. "I know they were bad, but it hurts."
"That's what makes you a good person, Ruby." Weiss gently gripped her shoulder. "You feel. They don't. Do you think they'd think twice about killing you?"
"No." Ruby sniffed. "But isn't that your point? That we're different? Are we?" Ruby sobbed into her hand, closing her eyes and bouncing on the spot as she fought to get the strangled words out. "... or am I just a monster too?"
"Come here." Weiss sighed, pulling Ruby into a hug as the young leader with such weight on her shoulders broke, sobbing her heart out into Weiss' shoulder. The two of them shared the quiet moment between partners, letting a wounded leader finally release the emotion she fought to hide from her heavily wounded team. A single crow watched from a high branch, ruby red eyes flitting over the scene, before flapping it's jet black wings into the woodland canopy.
"Better?" Weiss murmured as Ruby nodded, wiping her eyes. "Good." The Schnee smiled and looked up at the dusty gold columns of light pouring through the cracks in the woodland canopy above. "We should probably get back, hmm?"
"Wait! N-Not yet." Ruby shook her head. "I... I wanna see my Mom... j-just quickly!" Ruby whimpered. Weiss sighed and smiled softly.
"Of course, Ruby."
...
The midday sun beating overhead had a way of draining the strength out of you, leaving your mouth dusty dry. Jaune clapped his lips as he set an array of glasses down on the kitchen counter, humming to himself as he went about making some drinks. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of orange juice.
"Ah, orange juice. Perfect choice. Vitamins and the sugar content are a much needed boost after a workout." Pyrrha smiled, shutting the door with a click. Jaune nodded with a hum and poured the bright liquid into each glass. Pyrrha watched him fondly, bouncing on her toes with her hands wrung behind her back. She tilted her head and stepped closer to him.
He poured the last glass and screwed the cap back onto the freshly squeezed juice. He paused his motions and looked at Pyrrha as she smiled softly to him.
"You okay?"
"Mmm... just thinking." She bobbed her shoulders. Jaune raised a yellow brow.
"About?"
"Our date. That even though I'm slightly nervous to be in a romantic environment with you... I'm excited." Pyrrha blushed. Jaune smiled sheepishly and nodded, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah... so am I."
"Nervous or excited?" Pyrrha quirked a brow, tugging the corner of her lips up into a lopsided smile. Jaune snorted.
"Both, definitely both."
"Well... what's making you nervous?" Pyrrha leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. Jaune raised a brow at her as she shrugged nonchalantly. "Humor me."
"Okay... " Jaune nodded to himself. He opened the fridge and set the bottle back into it's frosty shelf. Shutting the fridge, he turned to face her and huffed, leaning against the breakfast island. "Well, I guess I'm just nervous I'll say something wrong, or we'll find it weird and any feelings between us will just ruin our friendship."
"Oh Jaune, my silly partner." Pyrrha stepped closer, cupping his cheeks softly, thumbs smoothing over the bags under his eyes. "Do you really believe it could end that way?"
"I dunno. It's a fear, I suppose." Jaune shrugged.
"Last night... when I kissed you. Did anything feel weird between us?" She asked gently.
"Besides me running away?" Jaune rolled his eyes. Pyrrha's hands firmed on his face and his eyes snapped to hers again. "No. It felt... it felt right. Like coming home, you know?"
"Mmm. I felt the same way. You don't have to worry about anything feeling weird on my part, Jaune. I care about you, very deeply."
"I care about you too, Pyrrha. To me, you went from being my cool partner - and super badass fighting champion and Pumpkin Pete's mascot - to the girl I want to be with more than anything in the world." Jaune whined, pressing his forehead to hers. "I want this to work, so badly. And even if we couldn't make a relationship work, I don't wanna lose you as my best friend. I just... I need you to be a part of my life."
"Jaune. I'll always be here for you." She stroked his face, eyes darting as she pondered if she should. "I want to do something for you."
"What?" Jaune asked softly in the gap between them. Pyrrha shrugged.
"I want to show you that you have nothing to worry about."
"Huh?" Jaune looked up into her warm green eyes. Pyrrha leaned forward and softly pecked his lips, peeling back and reopening her eyes on his slightly pursed lips. With a soft giggle, she stepped back from him and blushed, scratching the back of her head.
"So... tell me. Would I do that if I didn't think we could work? If I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of your life in that way?"
"I guess not." Jaune chuckled with a grin. "Okay... so... We'll have dinner. Next weekend, yeah?"
"Sounds perfect. You still haven't told me where though." She snickered. Jaune nodded.
"Surprise." He winked. Pyrrha went to retort, just as the door opened sharply, Yang panting and glistening with sweat. Her towel draped over her shoulders, orange vest soaked a darker shade, she swallowed to catch her breath.
"Whew! Kicked his butt on that last round!" She chuckled, pacing over to the fridge and opening the door, bending over to examine the shelves. Jaune smiled knowingly to Pyrrha and took one of the glasses of orange juice off of the counter.
"Hey Yang?" Jaune said, not breaking eye contact with Pyrrha. Yang shut the fridge and turned, seeing the held out glass of marigold liquid.
"Thanks Jaune." She lightly punched his arm after accepting the glass into her cybernetic hand.
SMASH!
Shards of glass exploded across the tiling admix splashes of orange juice. Yang's closed cybernetic fist slowly opened, dripping with juice. Jaune and Pyrrha were wide eyed, Yang blushing and shrinking her head down, ears touching her shoulders.
"Oops. Heh. Still gotta work on applying pressure." Yang scratched the base of her neck. "Can I err... maybe get another?"
Jaune nodded and handed her another glass, into her other hand this time. Pyrrha looped a vermilion lock behind her ear and grabbed the dustpan and brush from the closet, bending over to sweep up the reflective glitter of broken glass. Yang finished a swig.
"Mmm, thanks Pyrrha. It's okay, I can do it."
"I don't mind."
"But... You've already done so much for me. All of you have." Yang sighed, hopping up to perch her rear on the kitchen counter. Cradling her glass in her lap, her metal fingertips drummed a gentle rhythm into the cup. "I don't how to thank you."
"Come back to Beacon." Jaune said with finality, hands pressing into the counter either side of her legs, looking into her lilac eyes with a plea. Yang looked down at her glass and sighed.
"I don't think I can, Jaune."
"Why not? It's not like you left on bad terms with the staff or anything, you left for an inj-"
"I don't think I'm cut out to be a Huntress." Yang somberly shrugged. Pyrrha dumped the glass remnants into the bin and set the dustpan back in the closet, looking back to their wounded friend. "You heard my Dad. I rely too much on my semblance. Every fight I've ever had, it's been used in some way or another."
Jaune stepped back as Yang hopped off the counter onto her feet. She gulped back the last of the juice and set the cup on the drainer. "I never really thought about what would happen if I missed... until I did." she lifted her cybernetic hand up to the light, watching the kaleidoscope of color as it seeped through the gaps between plates and pistons. "This thing is amazing, but... it's not me. And I've only got one of my gauntlets! The other is gods only know where. To return to Beacon like this would be... I don't think I could handle it."
Jaune nodded and looked at Pyrrha, flitting his eyes back to Yang and searching her features. "Are you... worried about what people might say? Gossip and stuff?"
"Heh. Nah, people have always spoken about me behind my back..." Yang shrugged the comment off, sobering as she looked at her arm. "This is different though. I guess I'm kinda nervous to go back, cos of this and what people'll think or say. I just don't want pity!" Yang threw her arms down and straight back up to run down her face. "Urgh, you know? I don't want my grades perked up cos 'Ah, she's missing an arm, we've got to allow for that' or 'poor thing, here's some extra credit cos we feel sorry for you!"
Jaune nodded and leaned back against the counter, Pyrrha perching her butt on the worktop beside him.
"I can understand that." Jaune nodded. Yang tilted her head.
"You can?"
"We both can." he gestured to Pyrrha as well as she nodded. "I'm always getting pity, whether it's about bullies or my fighting ability. Constant pity sucks. I've been pitied all my life for being the weakest of a family of great huntsmen. It sucks, I get it."
"And while I am grateful for all the care and support I've received from people at school, the pity does start to wear you down. That's why this has been so lovely, being with friends who don't show pity, but compassion." Pyrrha smiled. Yang looked down at her feet.
"We're not trying to take anything away from what happened to you, sis." Jaune said, gently squeezing Yang's shoulder. She smiled at his soft gesture, and the family orientation to his words. "We just want you to know we understand. I still think you should come back to Beacon."
"Jaune, I... I've only got one weapon."
"So have I. Other's a shield. I use that arm to protect myself, and the other to attack."
"The whole point of today hasn't been to only get you back into fighting shape, but to adapt your fighting style to your current predicament." Pyrrha shrugged, tilting her head. "Adapting is how we survive."
"Your team needs you, Yang." Jaune said, Yang scoffing.
"Low blow, Jaune."
"I'm serious. They're a team of three when they need four. They need you, Yang." Jaune sighed. "We all do."
"I... I'm... " Yang turned away to face the table, pressing both hands into the wooden surface. "Can we just drop it?"
"No, Yan-"
"Yes, of course." Pyrrha added, looking at Jaune's frowning face knowingly. "That's enough for today." She said slowly, her eyes bleeding what she meant into him. He nodded and huffed.
"Yeah. No rush." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. With the desire to clear the dark cloud over the trio, Pyrrha stood and clapped her hands together.
"You did incredibly well today, Yang. Lovely footwork. You've grown accustom to the new appendage very quickly. I'm impressed." Hands on her hips, the red haired tutor grinned. Yang smiled over her shoulder.
"Thanks Pyrrha. I know I've got a ways to go, but... " she looked at her arm with a huff. "It's like learning to walk again. Or forgetting how to ride a bike. Something so ingrained in you vanishes, and you struggle to relearn it when the opportunity comes around." She smiled and closed her metal fist. "I'm trying though."
"Hey, you tried it on for the first time this morning, Yang! Don't sell yourself short. What you've achieved today is incredible!" Jaune beamed. Yang's eyes widened.
"Oh yeah! I forgot! Dad and I were talking, and he said we should have a barbecue tonight! It'll be sweet, the setting sun, group of friends just relaxing and unwinding and eating grilled... everything!"
"Sounds good to me." Pyrrha smiled warmly. Jaune nodded and gave Yang a quick hug, startling the brawler. She softened and smiled, wrapping her arms around his back and burying her face into his neck with a hum.
"Thanks, bro."
"You're welcome, sis." Jaune breathed. Yang opened her eyes and looked over Jaune's shoulder at Pyrrha.
"You two are perfect together. Please... figure it out." Yang mumbled into his neck. Jaune smiled and nodded.
"Yeah... we have."
Author's Notes: Yay, update! So, from now on updates will be guaranteed fortnightly. I'll have longer to work on them, and tweak anything I feel is... well, shit. Stay safe and awesome! See you next chapter!