Jaune woke up to the sun shining straight into his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was back in his old room; where he returned after the meeting with Ozpin, long after his teammates were asleep. There was something familiar about the soft mattress and linen sheets that made Jaune feel like he was back home. Hearing the soft snoring and mutters of his teammates lulled him to sleep soon after he lied down.
As much as Jaune wanted to, he had more important things to do then to wait until the others woke up. Ozpin told him to meet him in his office as soon as he woke up; but that could wait, Jaune had more important things to take care of.
Quietly, he shuffled around the room, the rising sun providing enough light for Jaune to find his shoes that he kicked off last night, and slid them on. Making his way over to the door as quietly as he could, Jaune opened the door and slipped out, not wanting to wake up anyone and have to explain why he was back. Or why he was in such a rush to leave.
The halls were empty, which Jaune was thankful for. He was in constant fear that he would run into someone who recognized him as the guy that did, well, some pretty unspeakable things. But Jaune had some good luck, or at least, that's what it seemed to look like, as he walked quickly down the halls to that one certain door.
There, right there, that door had behind it the one thing Jaune was waiting to see ever since they put him asleep the second time, Ruby.
He opened the door as quietly as he could; cringing as it squeaked on its hinges, but it didn't seem to stir any of the sleeping girls in the room. Jaune looked around the room and landed on sleeping Ruby, snoring lightly. The sunlight, slipping through the blinds, reflected off her black hair, making it seem to glow. He slipped in the room, taking care to walk as silently as he could, because, like his roommates, Jaune didn't want to wake any of Ruby's friends.
Kneeling down, Jaune, softly, placed a hand onto her shoulder. Ruby half-opened her eyes, taking a second to wake up before her eyes land on Jaune. Then they widen and she bolted straight up.
"Jaune!" she practically shouted. Jaune placed a finger to his lips.
"Right, sorry," she whispered, but she didn't seem to be all that sorry. She then put on a goofy grin and hugged the living daylights out of Jaune.
"I can't believe you're back," she said into his ear. Jaune nodded against her shoulder.
"I can't stay, or at least right now," he replied. "I have to go back to Ozpin." That made her pull away. It didn't surprise Jaune; he probably shouldn't even have mentioned him.
"Jaune," her whisper took on a harsh tone. "Think of what he put you through." Jaune got up and sat next to her on the bed, taking her hand into his.
"I know, and trust me, I wouldn't go back to him if I didn't want to go back to him if I didn't have to," Jaune then launched into the story about what happened to him since he last time he saw her.
After he was done with his whole thing, Ruby looked a little wide-eyed, and then chuckled.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's just, I thought we got into some crazy adventures together," she said, the laughed again. At that moment, Jaune could care less if one of Ruby's roommates woke up.
Jaune never really wanted to leave Ruby's room, if it were up to him, he wouldn't. Ozpin expected him to be back at his office as soon as Jaune woke up, and was wondering where he possibly was.
With a quick kiss with Ruby that Jaune wished had been long, and no doubt she wished for the same thing. He slipped out the room and softly closed the door, mindful of the squeaking hinges this time.
As soon as he shut the door, he heard a voice behind the door ask, "Who was that?" Jaune smiled to himself. His arrival back was safe.
That happiness didn't last long, though. People were now starting to pour into the halls, getting ready for the day. Jaune kept his head down and hoped with all of his being that they wouldn't recognize him. Hoping didn't do much though. People looked at him, whispered about him. Jaune knew what they were saying; he knew what they were talking about. Scenes replayed over and over in his head, things that he wished that he could take back, or better yet, forget.
Jaune was practically running down the hall, he suddenly couldn't wait to get to the new found safety of Ozpin's room. It came to Jaune then that he couldn't go back to school, or at least he couldn't go back without ridicule from his classmates for what he did to that girl. In the end, he probably would have to run away again, which he really didn't want to do. Jaune found a sort of home in Beacon, something he didn't mean to do. After all, he seemed to lose every home he ever had.
Jaune approached Ozpin's office, taking a deep breath in. He had to give Ozpin an answer, there was no more stalling. The problem was, he still didn't know what that answer was. One, he could finally use his powers to save people, to redeem himself, to stay with Ruby and his friends. But, and there was always a but, he would have to hurt, maybe even kill people and he wasn't sure that he would be able live with himself if he did.
The other, less desirable option meant he left, for good. Though if he did that, he probably could sneak to see Ruby; just not anyone else, which didn't sound all that great. He would be hunted for the rest of his life, no rest, no chance to just be normal… whatever that meant.
Taking a deep breath in, Jaune raised his hand and knocked, the sound ringing through the empty hall, the students having yet to come down here.
¨Come in, ¨ Ozpin said. Jaune opened the heavy wood door to see Ozpin sitting behind his desk in almost the same position as last night, sitting straight backed and shuffling though no doubt the most boring papers on the planet. Jaune reluctantly went over and sat down, running his hands through his sandy hair.
¨No need to be nervous, unless of course, you are not sure of your answer," Ozpin said, smirking. Jaune narrowed his eyes.
¨It's not like either option it that great¨ Jaune replied, his voice betraying how annoyed, maybe even angry he was about the current deal.
¨Oh, explain. One choice is you get to be a hero, to save everyone. You even get to stay here at Beacon; something we weren't even considering letting you do. On the other hand, you could go into hiding again, like you did before.¨ Jaune's eyes widened. How did Ozpin now about his past? Nobody did.
Ozpin chuckled. ¨Jaune, do you really think that I wouldn't find out? There isn't really anything that my students can keep from me. For example, did you really like you could hide from me the fact that you snuck into here. Though you have proved to me that you could have easily gotten in with talents alone.¨
Jaune felt as if he was being suffocated. Nobody was supposed to find out about that. Nobody. Yet here Ozpin was, spouting off all of Jaune's secrets. He clenched the arm chair so hard that it started to crack.
¨Jaune¨ Ozpin pointedly said. Jaune looked down and removed his hands, nervously rubbing them against his jeans.
¨Sorry sir¨ Jaune looked down.
¨Enough of this, what is your answer? ¨ Ozpin was now getting quite impatient and Jaune didn't want to tick him off anymore. After all, he might just kick him out without hearing his answer.
¨I-I¨ Jaune sputtered, his mind arguing back and forth. Choose this one. No choose this one, it's better. It was giving Jaune a splitting headache.
¨Spit it out, boy¨ Ozpin growled.
¨The first one¨ he rushed out.
¨Which one is that? ¨ Okay, now he was just screwing with him.
¨The one where I get to stay here¨ Jaune wished that there was a third option, or he just went with the other one. He was already starting to regret his decision and it hadn't even been a minute.
¨Good¨ Ozpin practically purred, which was creepy all by itself, but Jaune wondered what he meant by that. ¨You start tomorrow. You made the right choice, Jaune.¨
Yep, that settled it. This was the worse choice Jaune had ever made.
And that is another chapter beta'd by the greatest mo-fo in the universe, Spartan117qz! Yeah, new chapter and stuff…
Haha, new computer, which means, more writing time! Hope you enjoyed. In other news, I'm finally going to watch season 2 of RWBY, only took me, like, four months.
Remember to review. Seriously, if you do, I would love you forever!
