Forever Fall

[Disclaimer, this is a RWBY AU and RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and the dearly departed Monty Oum. This is inspired by artwork on Dishwasher1910s Deviantart Page, IE the Team PJRP, Future Ruby, Future Jaune, Penny Persephone, and Pyrrha the Fall Maiden.]

"Well, that's why we're here, to make it better!"- Ruby Rose

Chapter 06: Making it Better

Jaune

Every nerve in my body cries out to end it, to give up and let the beating win, to let Salem have everything, because no matter what nothing could be as bad as this. No! Arc's are made of tougher stuff than this! I cry out as another wave of pain wracks my body with spasms and leaves me gasping for air.

"Hey… I'm right here Jaune, focus on my voice alright. You'll be fine okay, nearly done only a couple more minutes to go Jaune," Nora whispers to me. I fight to stay conscious; I can see the tears in Nora's eyes as Ren keeps a tight grip on her so she doesn't start destroying the room. Once more pain induced spasms wrack my body before the torture lets up and my muscles once again relax.

"Here let us help you up Jaune," Ren states as he lets go of Nora and carefully places an arm to pull me up into a sitting position.

"Well done Mr. Arc, it should only take another week's worth of sessions for you to be completely healed. We'll need another two days to detox you of the Dust though, unless of course you've reconsidered the offer to infuse yourself with Dust?" the doctor questions with hesitancy. I shake my head as I hold up my robotic left hand and curl the fingers in and out of a fist before lightly beginning to massage my sore muscles on the right side of my body. Dust how much that hurts, at least Aaron doesn't have to see it. Speaking of which I need to get a move on, he'll be done with Ruby soon and I should be there otherwise he'll get worried. Groaning I stand up and gingerly pull on the white dress shirt and button it up. Ren leans over and hands me the yellow tie that'd been discarded so I'd avoid soaking my nicer clothes with sweat. Today was the day after all, couldn't have myself looking like a mess for the Schnee-Rose annual dinner get together. I reach over and pull on the black suit jacket last before pulling on the single black glove over my left hand.

"No… unlike Mr. Spade my semblance does not involve Dust and while there is much to gain from such an infusion I find it too risky an operation to allow, especially for such a low grade Huntsman as myself," I say with a smirk before letting Ren and Nora lead me out of the room and to the repulsor car waiting at the parking lot. Thank Dust for Weiss Schnee-Rose! No cameras or anything to deal with when leaving unlike after I'd originally been discharged so many years ago after the surgery. They nicely set me in the car and Nora climbs in next to me while Ren takes the driver's seat.

"Any better?" Nora asks quietly, her eyes still teary from watching me. I smile at her, albeit weakly.

"Of course Nora, you know that nothing like that could get me. I mean if I survived a Grimm Dragon, an entire flock of Griffons and a Minotaur I'm sure as Hell not going to bite it on some table because of a bit of Dust," I tell her trying to pull of suave and confident, and completely failing because of how sore my body already was. Nora giggles like she did in school and just nods at me sarcastically. "How long until we reach Schnee-Rose Manor?"

"It'll take a bit longer, sorry Jaune, we got caught in traffic," Ren states nonchalantly from the driver's seat as I look out ahead of him and see the cars in front of us trapped in deadlock.

"Aaron will start to worry if we're too late…" I groan, once more rubbing my sore muscles from the spasms of pain.

"Don't worry Jaune I think he'll understand a bit of traffic," Nora said happily. I nod in agreement but can't keep the thought from my head about what could be causing such traffic, Vale isn't normally like this.

Fifteen Minutes Later

"Dad!" Aaron yells running out of one of the many rooms in the manor to jump tackle me. I grunt in slight pain as I catch him, my human side spiking in pain. I smile through the pain and set him down.

"How was being here with Aunty Ruby and Aunty Weiss?" I question still smiling at him.

"Aunty Ruby gave me cookies and then I got to watch Aunty Weiss yell at her. It was great! And then they started kissing and I went 'uck!' and they just laughed and took me outside to show me Aunty Ruby's workshop. Do you know how many things she has in there? There's so many! I saw your sword Dad! I saw it, it looked so awesome!" Aaron joyfully explains to me.

"Hey how about you go and find a game to play while we wait for everyone else? Ren and Nora will join you, I need to talk to Aunty Ruby and Aunty Weiss okay?" I ask Aaron only jumps in excitement before running off into the house. My footsteps ring on tile as I hear choked sobs coming from the kitchen, I move on instinct and run into the room to see Weiss huddled on the floor, her scroll discarded and Ruby holding on to her tightly. Weiss' face has the same look it did when Ruby first got hurt all those years ago. I see the cutting knife she'd been using dropped haphazardly on the floor and her apron covered stains from multitudes of foods. "What happened?"

"Winter's division went silent earlier this evening… We just got the news from Silver that he and his regiment are deploying to try and get a fix on Winter's position. It's not good Jaune, there was an influx of Grimm right as Winter attempted to make her return," Ruby explains as she tries to once more coax Weiss to say something. "Hey… Sweetie… Weiss… Baby you're scaring me. I'm still here, and Winter knows how to take care of herself, this isn't the first time she's lost contact."

"She's right Weiss. If anyone can survive out there it's Winter," I tell Weiss. The older woman looks up her eyes red-rimmed from crying. Her gaze switches between the two of us before she tentatively wraps her arms around Ruby. "I've got an idea! How about you let Ren and Nora finish cooking, I'll help with Aaron, and you and Ruby go upstairs and get ready for tonight. I heard Team CVFY and the rest of RWBY and Pyrrha were coming. You should look nice, right?"

"Y…Yes," she stutters as she lets Ruby pick her up and lead her away. Dust damn this world! We get some little tiny piece of something to hold onto it tears it from us. I turn and go to find the green and pink pair somewhere in the manor, thankfully for me they came around the corner into the primary living room.

"Ren, Nora can you finish cooking? Weiss just heard that Winter's out of contact and she's more than a little torn up to say the least," I explain. Nodding without hesitation Ren procures a cooking apron from nowhere and Nora a chef's hat. "I still don't get how they do that, hey Aaron you found a game yet?"

"Is Aunty Weiss gonna be okay? I heard her crying," Aaron tells me. I smile at his kindness for others. Pyrrha you may not have spent as much time with our son as I have, but you've definitely made him better.

"Yah yah she'll be fine she's just tired and needs to rest for a bit, now let's play that game you got, wouldn't want to run out of time now would we?" I ask as he looks down at Remnant the Game, for kids edition, and takes my left hand and pulls me to one of the tables in a sitting room.

Three Hours Later

I look around, Aaron and I had set the table along with finding Weiss' and Ruby's 'nice' dinnerware, the same ones that we'd used at Beacon. Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang were the first to show up. Yang had gone upstairs to help out her half-sister and sister-in-law while Blake kept Aaron busy so I could have a chat with Pyrrha.

"Are we gonna do this again Pyrrha?" I question. She gives me a sidelong look before sitting down.

"Jaune… I think at this point we've talked the issue to death… I've only got one question… one plea more like it… have you changed your mind?" Pyrrha says softly. I groan and look away trying to think of how to say this.

"Pyrrha… Pyrrha I don't really know. I want to say yes… I want to say Aaron and I will go home with you, but we both know it isn't that simple… As much as I want to how do I tell Aaron he has to live under guard? That his mother can't see him much more than she does now, that his mother is just as even more liable to die than I am? Pyrrha he's already lost one family… I can't ask him to risk another one, it wouldn't be fair to him or either of us. If he really got to know you, to love you as much as I do and then you go off and die? Pyrrha I love you, but I've got to think of him now too and that's not something I can just ignore," I explain to her.

"So you're saying that as long as I'm the Fall Maiden you and Aaron can't be with me?" Pyrrha questions.

"No… no… what I'm saying is that you need to get them to stop sending you on such dangerous assignments, get them to reduce your security because I'll be there with you… I… I just can't ask him to live like that Pyrrha, and I don't think I could live the way you do. If you change it, change them than I'd join you in hearbeat."

"Give me a couple of days to see what I can do, alright?"

"Of course, just please hurry, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Author's Note:

Hey again still deciding if I want to continue this, but I'm posting the prewritten chapters I have from when I started this near the end of volume 3. Hope you like it! Thanks for the support I'll try to have some Guardians & Royalty and a Valentine's day special out soon! Next up after those will be Shambling Shadows! Hope you guys are having a good day night or whatever where you are!