When Jaune opened his eyes again, he was back in his body. A familiar white ceiling stretched above him, and turning his head showed the blonde the medical equipment lined up alongside the bed he occupied. The infirmary. Not really surprising - he hadn't exactly been in the best state. He was still dressed in his hunting garb, though his armour had been piled on a nearby chair, with Crocea Mors propped up against the same piece of furniture.
Swinging his legs out from over the bed, Jaune experimented with putting his weight onto them. They seemed steady, so he climbed to his feet. His vision began to spin almost immediately, and he was forced to press his hands against his face as his sense of balance tried to re-assert itself. It took what felt like minutes, with Jaune bracing himself against some kind of monitoring equipment, but eventually he could see straight.
As he went through the familiar ritual of donning his armour and weapon, he ran a mental checklist of his well-being. Physically; throat feels raw, otherwise no pains, no signs of fatigue. Mentally; probably not a reliable judge at the moment, I'll just have to make do. Jaune felt oddly sure that his checklist shouldn't be ending there, however. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was a general sense of something being...off.
He tried to find a feeling he could compare it to, but failed. Maybe it's connected to my aura? he surmised, and he closed his eyes, focussing on manifesting the familiar white light. A searing line of pain flashed behind his eyes and echoed throughout his body in one massive throb, and Jaune felt the air leave his lungs at the sudden assault. He wheezed as he tried to regain his oxygen, only remaining standing by bracing his arms on the bed and chair. The pain had vanished as quickly as it had come, but Jaune resolved not to do that again.
The curtains had been drawn around his bed, and the lack of light told him that the infirmary was most likely closed for the evening. That made it after ten o'clock. The team must be worried... Jaune set off with that thought, passing through the curtain. Most of the infirmary's beds were empty, and there was no sign of anyone being awake.
Okay, probably early in the morning then. the blonde decided, as he slowly walked over to the door. He pulled it open quietly, and slipped out into the corridor beyond. The infirmary was a part of the main building, and he walked the familiar corridors with a practiced ease until he got into the courtyard. Another few minutes' walking and he had reached the JNPR dorm room. Sliding his hand into his hoodie, Jaune was grateful to discover that his scroll was still there. Pressing it to the door panel, Jaune very slowly opened the door.
The room beyond was dark, the only light emanating from the doorway. That vanished quickly as Jaune closed the door behind him, moving slowly so as to ensure he didn't wake the others. He was so focussed on closing the door quietly, in fact, that when the lights suddenly clicked on, he jumped in shock. Turning around, Jaune found that his team were all, in fact, awake – and staring at him. He looked back, noting Nora's glistening eyes, Pyrrha's overtly anxious expression, and that Ren wasn't meeting his eyes.
The silence remained for a moment, before the blonde sighed. "Well, it's not going to be any better in the morning." He unbuckled his armour pieces, laying them down on his bed, before putting Crocea Mors down beside them. Taking a seat beside them, he faced his team.
"Jaune...are you okay to be out of the infirmary?" asked Pyrrha, whose eyes were roaming all across his face, looking for anything wrong. Jaune couldn't really bring himself to smile, so he just stuck to answering the question.
"I did a self-assessment. Apart from my mental state, which I'm apparently not fit to judge, my body is perfectly fine. My aura isn't on speaking terms with me, though." As he spoke, Nora got up from her bed and crossed the room in a flash, settling right beside Jaune and pulling him into a side-hug. Jaune leaned into her a little, the contact simultaneously stabilizing and rejuvenating him. This wasn't Nora flirting, this was her trying to help a friend, and it worked just as it always had. Ren nodded from his bed, his dark eyes still not meeting Jaune's.
"With how large your aura became, you must have really toed the line on doing yourself permanent harm. Your aura will probably not be combat-ready for a couple of days, so you should keep that in mind." The blonde nodded.
"Gotcha." He sighed again, slumping forward. A couple of days without aura and they were going to Forever Fall tomorrow, which he knew contained its fair share of Ursa. That could turn in to a real pain...
First, however, there was another kind of pain to deal with. Jaune pulled in a large breath, held it for a moment, and then began to speak. "What happened earlier...it obviously needs to be addressed. Ren was perfectly right to challenge me; the three of you are meant to rely on me as your leader for as long as our team lasts, but I was keeping things from you. I wouldn't have fully trusted me, so I just wanted you all to understand that you aren't at fault. I am, for hiding the truth and still trying to earn your trust. So I apologise for that." Jaune bowed his head as he spoke the words, until it was parallel to the floor. It was a gesture that Ren used from time to time, when something really big had happened and he wanted to punctuate it.
The martial artist finally looked up, and his dark eyes sought blue as the blonde also raised his head. "I think that, at best, we are both at fault. Even if I agree with you thinking you should have been more honest, I most certainly shouldn't have tried to force you in to exposing something so obviously personal to you, especially after you demonstrated your good character time and again. So you may apologise to me, but you must accept my apology also." Ren bowed his head in the exact same manner as Jaune had, and the blonde recognised that the dark mood which his friend had been suffering under was at least partially lifted.
"Thank you, Ren. Since we managed to get that straightened out..." Jaune turned to Nora and gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Nora. How about you go back to your bed? I think I need to try and do this myself." Blue eyes met and searched his own for a moment, before the face in which they rested nodded. Nora retreated, not to her own bed, but to Ren's, where she sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him as Jaune gathered his thoughts.
His red-haired partner shifted a little, and he knew she was considering filling the place Nora had just left. He managed to summon another small smile for her as well, as reassurance, before he directed his attention to include JNPR's other half as well.
"Alright, here goes. I don't want there to be any more secrets, at least on my end, so I'll tell you what I've been hiding.". Jaune could feel his hands trembling. He was nervous - really nervous. It had only been three weeks...if the team couldn't accept his story, then this was going to be where everything fell apart. Dammit Arc, get rid of those nerves! These are your friends, your family; you trusted them with your life time and again, so grow a pair and trust them with the truth!
No more putting it off. The blonde took a deep breath and forged forward. "It's not like I've been lying to you about who I am...I really am Jaune Arc; but I'm not a first year Beacon student with forged transcripts and no training, like the me who you were meant to meet."
"You're a clone..." breathed Nora across the room.
Jaune blinked a few times, before the innocuous comment managed to bring a genuine smile to his face, and drew a chuckle from him that he hadn't been sure was still possible. "Oh, I wish Nora. No, I'm not a clone. I'm a...a..." The blonde really didn't want to say the words. It was all so ridiculous...but Monty dammit, he had to. "I'm from the future."
There. It was out in the open. Jaune slumped back on his bed, a long breath escaping his lips as he seemed to deflate. There was silence from the room in front of him, but the blonde leader didn't have the energy to sit up again. He waited for a small eternity while his teammates processed his admission, waiting on their next words. "That...actually makes a lot of sense, in context." Ren had broken the silence, speaking slowly as his mind raced faster and faster. "If you actually did undergo Beacon's training, then your skill is explained. If, as I must assume, you were our team leader before as well, then the fact that you knew us so well from the beginning is also explained. In fact, the only thing that wouldn't be explained by your having come from the future would be your aura."
Ren's leader managed to slowly pull himself back into a sitting position, like a puppet whose master was trying to continue the show in the middle of a heart attack. "I used to have a normal one. But a reliable source has told me that a side effect of my return to this time was my soul and, consequentially, my aura, being twisted a bit. I don't understand a lot of it, but the basic story is that I no longer produce aura naturally. Instead, I draw it from around me to sustain my soul, which means that my aura is closer to my conscious mind. Makes it easier for me to manipulate it."
"And thus the mystery of your sudden mastery is solved." commented Ren, who was sitting further back on his bed so he could lean against the wall. Nora had ceased the effort required to remain seated, and was instead giving Jaune a smile that warned him to keep an eye on her.
Pyrrha, however, was leaning forward, and was barely seated on her covers any more. "The future...how far?" she asked.
"A year," replied her partner, "not long before the Vytal Festival was due to end." And just like that, he realised, it was accepted. There were no probing looks or pointed questions, there was no disbelief or laughter. They had simply listened, and they had believed him. No matter if they're from now, a year in the future, or even decades on; they'll always be the same. They'll always be my family.
That simple realisation was enough to lay Jaune's final fears to rest, and though he could feel the tears tracing down his cheeks, he didn't move to stop them. I really did find them again; I have my family back. Pyrrha settled down beside him, and he leaned his head on her shoulder, her presence the most grounding thing in the world. I lost her once...but she's here now. She's still here, and if I can help it, she always will be.
Jaune's emotions had been going on a rollercoaster ride for weeks. Bouts of depression triggered by his memories of what he had lost, and joy at rediscovering them...but now, for the first time since Pyrrha's loss, he felt truly balanced. "Everyone has some of both..." he murmured. He hadn't really understood when Pyrrha first spoke to him about aura...but now, he felt that the meaning behind her words had finally made its way to him, even if it wasn't in quite the same context.
He reached out and found her hand, grasping it in his own. Ren watched as a smile spread across the red-haired warrior's face, and even as he struggled with the implications of his leader's revelation, he couldn't help but smile a little himself. Those two might have been different in many regards, but at the core, the two of them were true warriors – and that bond would carry them a long way.
"Okay, Jaune. So you came here from a year in the future. That raises an incredible number of questions in and of itself, but that's for you to talk about when you want to. Instead, I'll ask this. What was your purpose in coming back, and can we help?" It seemed to take his words a moment to reach the blonde, but as they did, his eyes opened and he straightened up.
"Right, my purpose." Jaune's resolve came to the fore as he thought about it, his eyes hardening and his emotions shifted aside for a moment or two. "I came back to stop a plot, a really big one. The White Fang, Roman Torchwick and a Dust user who seemed to be manipulating both of them; they are my purpose here. All of them need to be stopped, and it has to be done before the Vytal Festival begins."
The plans that Jaune had been concocting spun into his mind's eye as his focus shifted to the mission. He appreciated the calm that settled over him at times like this, since he was feeling really worn down from all the emotions that the last few hours had brought on. "I really could use all of your help...in fact, I'd also like to try and get Team RWBY's help, though that might have to go on the back burner...I'm not sure I can handle another confession like that now."
Pyrrha's fingers, entwined with his own, squeezed just a little, a gesture he returned. "That's one hell of a mission to leave to one student; even if we recruit the others, that gives us eight operatives." Ren noted
"Ten." Jaune automatically corrected, before catching himself. "Or I should say, unless there's a major change, there'll be ten of us."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "I stand corrected. Also, it's an obvious question, but I need to ask – why not go to Ozpin with this? Surely the support of Beacon in its entirety would be beneficial to us?"
Jaune waggled his free hand back and forth. "Yes and no; while Beacon's resources would undoubtedly be helpful, they would also be incredibly noticeable. We need to work from the shadows as much as possible and derail the plans before they can get going, instead of opposing them head-on. I've seen the results of th..."
Jaune felt his calm shake a bit, and his body along with it. Pyrrha immediately pulled him over a bit so that he was leaning against her again, and he breathed slowly as he forced the emotional swell down. "I've seen the results of that, and I don't want to again." It cost him a bit to bring it up, but he knew that dealing with these feelings would be a part of his life from now on, so the blonde gritted his teeth and got through it.
Ren accepted that answer more easily than he did the small sacrifice Jaune had made to provide it – this kind of thing was well within his purview. "I understand. If I had to guess, this would be the reason behind your midnight excursion a couple of weeks ago?" His leader nodded; he was getting refocussed on whatever thoughts were passing behind his eyes, and in any case, he wasn't surprised Ren had noticed that. The guy was a freaking ninja.
"I was searching for Torchwick and the White Fang, but I was either unlucky or too unskilled, or maybe even both. I didn't find any evidence of them in the city's warehouse district, but since it was the perfect position for a base, I didn't know where else to look."
"Leave the reconnaissance aspect to me." replied Ren. "I have a few skills in that direction." Jaune nodded wryly.
"I suppose you do at that." The addition of his team changed the tactical models significantly; Ren's information gathering skills, Pyrrha's combat expertise and the extra firepower the entire team offered opened new avenues of approach, and Jaune's mind ran along each one of them as plans unfolded in his mind like plants.
"Well, one way or another, you've certainly levelled with us, Jaune. No number of apologies are going to make me feel that I've truly repaid what I did, so instead, I will do all that is within my power to aid you in your mission." Ren bowed his head again, displaying his sincerity. He'd always been that way, Jaune reflected; courteous, steadfast and, when needed, exceptionally effective.
"I appreciate it, Ren. I'll do my best to be a leader deserving of you." Nora got up from her place on the bed, and the blonde was thankful that her smile from earlier had been replaced with something a bit less terrifying.
"Thanks, for cheering Renny up; I might not be as sneaky as he is, but let me know if there are some legs you need broken." She wrapped her arms around Jaune for another warm hug. Getting used to her touchy-feely nature had never been an issue for him, having as he did six older sisters, all of whom had been rather fond of their younger brother. He returned the hug with one arm.
"Thanks, Nora. I'm sure there'll be plenty of smashing to do before this is all over."
The smaller girl moved away to her bed. Ren had already pulled his covers back over himself. Now it felt like it was only Pyrrha and Jaune, sitting hand-in-hand on his bed. Once upon a time, the blonde would have found this somewhat strange, but wouldn't have even considered the possibility that there could be more than a friendship here...but he wasn't nearly so oblivious now, and so even as he felt mostly at peace, some of the old Arc awkwardness burned beneath the surface.
Her proximity to him seemed to expand his senses; a hint of her eucalyptus smell drifted over him, and he could feel that her hand in his was tough, but smooth. Aura tended to stop callouses from building up, both reducing the need for them and healing them as they formed. "Pyrrha...I'm sorry. For keeping things from you. I haven't been a very good partner." Jaune almost whispered the words, not really wanting to disturb the peaceful quiet that had formed.
"No, Jaune – you've been an excellent partner. Secrets or not, you're one of the only people to treat me like more than a statue to be put on display. You even managed to help Ren and I get along, when I'd been afraid that our shared competitiveness was going to ruin the team." Technically, the DDR machine should get more of the credit than me for that. Jaune thought idly, though his full focus was still on his partner. "You've been pushing yourself, too; advancing steadily, getting better and better, but always taking the time to get us, to get me, laughing and happy. I might not have your perspective, what with you being a time traveller, but if I went back to the beginning, I wouldn't choose anyone else to spend the coming years with."
She turned to look at him, their shoulders till touching and their hands still grasping each other. "Besides, you've come clean now haven't you? You already threw away the biggest point you had for you being an unsuitable partner." Jaune snorted quietly. He had, at that.
"I guess I can't even beat you in a duel of words, partner." His tone was light, and he was surprised at how good he felt. "Thank you, Pyrrha. For believing me." The red-haired warrior gently released Jaune's hand, standing up. Before she returned to her bed, however, she placed a hand on the side of his face, looking into his eyes.
"You don't have to thank me for that Jaune - because there was never any other possibility." And with that remark, and a lingering smile, Pyrrha Nikos returned to her bed, her fast-beating heart the only sign of the nerves she'd been burying since the blonde's hand had taken her own. Their faces had been so close...
Jaune sat in place for a moment, before standing to move his armour and weapon onto the chest of drawers. Sorting them could wait until the morning. At that moment, all he could do was grab his sleepwear and take a hot shower before changing into them, part of him thankful that the showers in Beacon were all sound proofed for just this kind of event. The rest of him was mostly asleep and, as soon as he exited the bathroom, his body just turned on the autopilot. His hand reached out without looking, brushing the light switch and throwing the room into darkness. His feet traced a path to his bed, and he sank between the covers, falling into a deep, natural sleep as soon as his face touched the pillow. His last thought was that Pyrrha had never actually stated how many years she meant...
Author's Note
And thus the Arc healing process can begin with a peaceful, relaxing day collecting red sap in Forever Fall...yeah, right. Well, that's in the immediate future...currently, I'm looking at the immediate past. I wonder if, perhaps, I should have had more character development before this (or, at least, more examples of the team interacting – like their weekend in Vale). Perhaps that's something I'll revisit later on...well, one way or another, this is kind of how I saw it playing out in my head:
Ren can tell what's going on in Jaune's head basically all the time, so he would know instantly that Jaune was being straight with him. Then, once he got the truth, he would simply fit it into the puzzle and see how it all came together... and thus, he would find a way to repay the debt he believed he owed. Because such is the way of the freaking ninja.
I imagine that Nora is just as good a judge of character as Ren, even if she does it more on intuition than science, and so she would know he was telling the truth. Of course, since she now knows that Jaune has advanced knowledge of the upcoming year...well, I'm sure she would never attempt to convince her team leader into sharing his knowledge so she could get ahead in homework. Definitely not.
Pyrrha would be the easiest to convince; at this point, they have spent almost three weeks in each other's company, through lessons, down-time and sparring (this is the kind of stuff that I think I want to write more about...though I suppose it'll have to come later now.). Combine that with the mutual attraction that's going on this time around, and she can probably read him even better than Ren can.
I hope you enjoyed reading this even partially as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any criticism or comments, please leave a review to let me know, and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy your day!