The aging, rusted knight lay on the ground of somewhere unfamiliar, he failed at protecting his friends. regret swept his mind as he stayed on the ground. He couldn't save anyone.

"I'm sorry everyone." He cried out as tears fell from his eyes. He contemplated staying there until he heard a familiar voice call for him, one he hadn't heard in a very long time.

"Jaune!" the voice shouted as he barely could make out a silhouette running towards him. Was he just hallucinating this? Did he really have a chance to see his partner again? Would he be able to see Pyrrha Nikos one last time?

The figure came to his side and helped him up "Jaune can you hear me?" it asked.

He couldn't believe himself. Was it really her? "I think." He replied shakily "Is that really you?"

The red-haired spartan hugged Jaune "Don't worry, this isn't a dream." She cried.

The Knight returned the hug and wept "I'm so sorry Pyrrha. I couldn't save anyone." All his regrets came crashing down upon him. the guilt of Penny's murder, the fact that everyone around him suffered while he was around and he couldn't do anything, and him being unable to rescue Pyrrha from death.

"You tried your best, and that's all that matters." She assured him.

It really was her. She was so kind and forgiving. It couldn't be anyone other than the real Pyrrha. He smiled and held onto her as the kept flowing, though he eventually let go.

Pyrrha gazed upon his old, wrinkled face and held one hand up to it and another to his corroded armour, "Oh Jaune, time has been cruel to you, hasn't it?" she said.

"It really has." He replied back. "But I'm really glad to see you again. I have some things to confess actually. After all this time, I still held on to your sash, or what's left of it anyway" he untied his hair and let it fall, he held up a small piece of red cloth and showed it to her.

"That's really sweet of you, Jaune. I'm surprised it lasted that long." Pyrrha smiled to break up the tension for a while.

"And there's something else too. The reason I kept it actually. It's because after so long, I couldn't let go of my feelings for you, I-I still love you. Pyrrha, and I'm sorry I never got to tell you." He hugged his partner again and rested his head against her.

"Jaune. I love you too, and I always will." The warrior moved her face closer to the blond and they shared a gentle kiss together. This felt different to the one they last had back at beacon, it was more tender and warmer.

The two let go of each other's lips and smiled. Before Pyrrha's smile turned into a frown. "As much as I want you to stay here. You can't. you have to go back to RWBY."

Jaune's happiness instantly left him as he was shocked by what he heard. "What do you mean? I just died."

"Deaths in the Ever After aren't permanent. You saw this with the villagers, they were reborn, just like Ruby was. You have to go help the others save this place and go back to Remnant." The redhead explained sadly.

The paladin was briefly relieved Ruby was alright, but even still. He couldn't bear the thought of never seeing his partner after all he has been through. "But-but I-I can't lose you again." The rusted Knight cried. "Not after all this time, please. I'm done fighting Ozpin's war of lies."

"I'm sorry. But there's no other option. Otherwise, this place will fall."

The knight rejected "No, I'm not going back." He couldn't believe this. He could never handle saying goodbye to Pyrrha again.

Pyrrha sighed. "If you can't do it for Ozpin, do it for me, do it for Ren, Nora and your family. You can't risk them being lost to Salem. Besides, our team needs their leader back. I believe in you."

The blond was taken back by her words. After all this time. She still believed he could fight. And she was right. He had to do this for those that were still left alive. He stopped crying, took a deep breath, then smiled. "You're right. Sorry for being so selfish. I thought I had gotten over this back at the ball, but some things never change, do they?" He chuckled to himself then grabbed her hands "Come with me. We can do it together."

"As much as I want to go. I can't. I don't have a body to return to." She spoke. However, she could twist the rules just a bit. "But I might be able to go to the Ever After with you." She smirked.

"You can? But how do we get back then?

"Follow me and I'll take you to a fruit that should restore you to how you were before you entered." Pyrrha told him. She dragged him to a tree where they could find it.

When they arrived at the tree, they could feel earthquakes. There wasn't much time left before the curious cat uprooted the large tree at the center of the dream world. Pyrrha held up a golden apple "If we both take a bite, we can stop this. Hurry."

Jaune gulped before nodding his head. "Right, let's do this." The two of them ate the apple and felt themselves being whisked away. Jaune's younger body had returned to him, he saw his armour being shined up with all the enhancements he had made to it as well as his sword and shield being reforged, although the scarlet sash had not returned to him, but he didn't need it right now. Pyrrha was right beside him again, and he felt like they could do anything.

The two had arrived at the root of the tree, where they saw team RWBY facing off against a Neo-controlled curious cat in the distance, whose powers were on full display with various clones of their allies and enemies. There was also an onslaught of Grimm ripping at the tree's roots. The rejuvenated knight and brave spartan raced towards them, hoping to even the odds if even by a little.

This fanfic was inspired by (and borrowed a quote from) The wonderful DavidEllis on twitter, go follow them. You can find the artwork this was based off here: twitterdotcom/DavidEllisArt/status/1644334775157530624 (swap out the dot.) chapter 2 should be ready in about a week or a bit more