With two weeks between then and the Tournament, teams RWBY and JNPRS decided to use their first free day after the qualifiers to relax. Saber in especial was excited to visit the city as she had few chances to do so since she was summoned. She was wearing a beautiful new blue dress Weiss acquired for her and a straw hat, and she starry eyed every new thing she saw.

Jaune and Pyrrha kept from their friends they were finally properly together, a bit because after so long they just wanted to enjoy themselves without all the teasing and nagging they expected to receive. Jaune only told Saber because the Servant bluntly stated she could read his mind, a lie, but one she used to discover why his Master was unusually nervous. Pyrrha told no one, though both Blake and Nora noticed her attitude changed and that she was way more relaxed, and that she and Jaune were more eager to do things like hugging and hand holding.

Everyone else was clueless, even Yang, and they just assumed that Jaune was reassuring his partner after the Emerald debacle, something that Jaune was still being teased about, and he decided that he could withstand that just so he could enjoy his love with Pyrrha. But at that moment they where inside a small cake shop, and Saber was drooling over all the variety of cakes they had.

"Master, I want one of each!" Her childish claim made everyone laugh for a bit.

"I think that is not healthy… Can you even get sick to begin with?" Jaune honestly wondered but Saber ignored him as she drooled on the cakes once again.

"Let her indulge today, Arc. She certain deserves it." Weiss said, since she offered to pay the bill anyway, happy she qualified to the tournament and a happy Weiss was a very generous Weiss.

"Oh, they have so many different strawberry cakes! I want one of each!" Ruby said doing the same face Saber was. Weiss sighed, but indulged on her partners wish, just hoping she would not regret it.

"You can become sick, Ruby." Weiss spoke, but she also had a few slices of different cakes.

"Which cake do you want, Blakey?" Yang asked her partner, that looked very absent minded at that moment. Yang noticed that Blake was like that since the day before. "Blake, please tell me we won't have to deal with all the shit we had to deal with that time before the dance?"

"What? Oh, no sorry. I swear it is nothing like that." Blake tried her best to reassure Yang, but the blonde girl kept looking at her doubtfully. Blake sighed and smiled. "Yang, I am not overdoing myself. It is just I found something interesting that I will show you all when the time is right."

"Oh hoho, that sounded like you found that special someone! So, who is it?"

"Yang, cut it! It has nothing to do with my love life. All I can say it is… a new fighting technique I am developing." Blake felt terrible guilty for hiding it, but she convinced herself that was the right thing to do. She didn't want to create a commotion before she could be sure that the book about Servants she found was true.

They sat and talked freely about small things, while both Ruby and Saber stuffed their faces with cake, to the admiration of the onlookers. Nora started telling one of her dreams and they laughed when she tried to mimic one of the maneuvers she used on it just to send cake flying all over Jaune's face. Pyrrha happily helped him to clean up.

After the cake, they did a shopping trip, and this became very interesting to the girls as they chose a target. Before she could protest, Saber was dragged to a clothes store where each girl started dressing Saber on the outfits of their preference, while Ren and Jaune laughed at the flustered knight girl.

Weiss and Ruby insisted that the gothic lolita style fit Saber as a glove. Yang chose the smallest mini-dress she could find with a pair of white stockings, for which Saber vehemently protested against. Pyrrha choose some casual clothes, a combination of t-shirt, shorts and a jacket, to which Saber took a liking. Nora put Saber in the girliest dress she could find, and despite protesting openly, Saber also liked that dress. In the end Weiss presented the girl with all the clothes they chose, and now was fending off everyone from her team wanting something.

"Well, it seems Saber will have clothes for a lifetime now." Pyrrha commented with Jaune, which laughed at that.

"You talk like women ever have enough clothes." He joked and she puffed her cheeks in fake indignation.

"I will let you know that not all women are fond of clothes that much." Jaune then showed her a beautiful golden and red ribbon he bought for her.

"So, I think I should return this…" Pyrrha immediately snapped the ribbon from his hands.

"I didn't say that. Thanks." She mouthed a silent 'I love you' and put the ribbon on her ponytail. Jaune could only return a sheepishly smile.

Their next stop was the arcade, where they discovered Saber sucked at games despite her great skill with a sword. Her pride was the only thing that kept her playing. On the other hand, Ren proved to be undefeatable on the dancing machines, while Jaune was a master on racing games.

"So, what is our next stop? I suggest that new café near the port." Ruby said as they left the arcades.

"Really? You ate enough cake to last a week, Ruby. Could we at least choose a place without food?" Weiss complained, and Ruby pouted.

"I would not mind more cake. What do thou think, Master? Master?" They looked around and discovered Jaune was nowhere to be seeing. And then they looked at Pyrrha giving the most threatening smile they never knew she could do.

"I swear to heavens, if I found out that Emerald has anything to do with this, I will kill her." She said in a low tone as she grabbed her spear. Ruby gently held her back.

"Maybe he is just in the bathroom?" the younger girl suggested, trying to avoid her friend to turn into a murderer.

"Master is this way." Saber spoke and started walk as the rest of the group followed her.

"How do you even know?" Weiss asked as they rushed beside the knight girl.

"A Servant shares a bond with his Master, so I know where Master is all the time."

"I am pretty sure P-money here wants one of those, eh?" Yang was ignored, but Pyrrha certainly thought to herself she wanted it.

…

Jaune never considered himself a ladies' man, in reality. Sure he tried to play the role when he started at Beacon, but he only ever chased Weiss before giving up after the dance. And now that he was with Pyrrha, the last thing he wanted was girls all over him. So he wasn't very happy with his current predicament.

Emerald grabbed him from the arcade when they were leaving and took him to an alley. She was incredible strong for a girl as small and thin as her, Jaune thought, but then, all girls he know fit that type except for Yang. She was being very grab-happy, while Jaune tried his hardest to keep her hands off him. It made harder because of how revealing her battle clothes were.

"Come on, Jauney, I want to play!" Emerald said in a very seductive tone, her lips very close to his face, making him blush.

"Emerald, you are really beautiful and attractive, but I am in love with another girl and we can't do this." He said, looking up so she couldn't reach his face easily. Emerald laughed at that.

"This has nothing to do with love, honey. I just want fun."

That made Jaune sighs hard and he grabbed her wrists with more strength, but not enough to hurt her. Emerald saw herself surprised at the grip, and Jaune put her hands down and gave her a very concerned look, one that made her blush slightly.

"Emerald, please, don't do this. Not only for me but for you. I don't know why you are doing this, but I know you have no feelings for me. I can see you aren't a bad person, but I have someone I deeply care about and I will not betray her trust." Emerald looked at his serious face and backed away before cracking up a laugh, making Jaune look at her surprised.

"Me, a good girl? You really are naïve." She said as she rested her back on the opposite wall. "If you keep being like that, you will end up getting hurt, blondie."

"Maybe, but better me getting hurt than the people I care about."

"Wow, that was so cheesy! The world is not made of unicorns and fairies, blondie." She teased as she stopped laughing. Jaune smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, it is not. You had a really rough childhood, don't you?" Emerald smile disappeared completely, now a scowl and a disapproving glare against Jaune.

"You know nothing, Jaune Arc."

"Yep, I don't. I know almost nothing about you, Emerald, one of the reasons I won't 'play' with you." Jaune approached her and grabbed her left arm, pushing the accessory she used there down a little, revealing an old burn mark, clearly made by a cigarette. "But I had to deal with bullies my whole life, and many of them came from less than ideal homes."

Emerald got away from him and hid the mark, feeling angry with herself for allowing Jaune to see that. Yes, she had a rough childhood, but Cinder gave her a place away from her abusive uncle and aunt, from a life of petty crime just to have something to eat. She didn't need that boy's compassion. She didn't want it.

"Look, I will not even pretend I know what you have gone through, but everyone could use a friend if you want one."

"A knight in shiny armor to the end, eh, blondie? One day someone will use your kindness against you."

"Probably, but I won't regret my kindness, nor I see it as a weakness." Jaune confidently said, and Emerald started walking away. Then she stopped and sighed, tossing something to Jaune, the knight grabbing it in the air. To his surprise it was his wallet.

"No good actions go unrewarded, blondie." She said finally walking away. Soon Jaune's friends appeared, and he looked as Pyrrha gave him an angry stare very unusual for her. He sighed and smiled at them.

"Jaune, why are you here?" Ruby asked looking at the empty alley.

"I got lost." He lied, something that both Saber and Pyrrha noticed. He looked at them and signaled he would explain later.

"Why I am not surprised. Come on, you dunce! We have all the day to enjoy somewhere that isn't a dump!" Weiss spun on her heels and walked away, soon followed by the rest of them, Pyrrha and Saber now holding Jaune by his arms. Jaune just left a defeated sigh.

…

"I will kill her." Pyrrha told Jaune as they were apart from their friends in a big department store. Jaune told the truth to both her and Saber, and now he learned Pyrrha was able to give a murderous look as threatening as his sisters.

"We are murdering no one. Pyr, please, let it go. I think she might stop now that we talked." Jaune pleaded while holding her hands, but Pyrrha's face remained unchanged.

"Jaune, I love and trust you. I know you have no intention of allowing that green haired thief have her way with you. But I waited far too long for us to be together, and I will not allow any girl even think that they can take you from me." She said, and Jaune felt a bit too happy about it. But he would not allow his girlfriend to do anything she could regret later.

"Pyr, I don't want to spend our time together worrying about other people. I want to spend time being with you." He said and immediately Pyrrha's face mellowed. She hugged him and relaxed in his arms.

"Even so, Master, I am worrying about what that Emerald girl might want. This looks like a lot of work just to mess with an opponent before a tournament." She wondered, and Jaune dismissed the thought immediately.

"Emerald colors me as someone that had a rough childhood. She probably believes that everything goes to achieve her objectives. But… You never failed me before, Saber, so I will be grateful if you keep an eye for anything suspicious she or her team might try. She will probably return back to her home after the tournament anyway."

"I am still unhappy, Jaune Arc." Pyrrha said, making a fake angry face. Jaune kissed her quickly.

"So, how about we go on a date, just the two of us tomorrow, Pyrrha Nikos."

"That sounds grand." She couldn't hold her smile back, her first proper date with Jaune.

"Saber, would you mind keeping our friends busy tomorrow. I don't want any of them prying on it, and we all know they will if they can." Saber giggled at the thought, knowing it to be very true.

"Thou can always count on me, Master."

…

Emerald was angry, and she spent the rest of the day pick pocketing people. It was not out of the money, but it was how she used to get the stress out of her. She couldn't believe she let Jaune Arc of all people get to her. He was the exact opposite of her, having grown in a loving family, surrounded by friends, a heart of gold and an optimistic view of life and people.

He had no idea what it felt like to be left behind by your mother into the house of relatives that saw you as less than a dog, to have to steal food because they didn't give you enough, or sometimes at all. Jaune Arc had no idea how it felt to run away from home when you were just nine years old because your uncle burned you with a cigarette and you stabbed his leg with a kitchen knife. He had no idea how awful was living in the streets fighting people trying to hurt you day in and day out.

But that is why Emerald loved Cinder. Cinder found her and gave her a chance, saved her from a miserable life. They trained her to fight, so she would never again have to fear for her life and to punish anyone that dared to wrong her. And Cinder had a plan, a plan that would make sure all the bad people of the world would die. In the end, all that was rotten in the world would disappear.

Including Jaune Arc.

Emerald stopped.

Jaune Arc was a good person. That she knew already. Yes, silly and naïve. But good at heart nonetheless.

He wanted to believe Emerald was a good person too, just someone that got too hurt in the past. But Emerald did many horrible things that she was sure Jaune would despise her for, and he was going to disappear because he wasn't strong enough. He was not in the plans.

Emerald felt a single tear in her eye and used her fingers to remove it.

She walked back to Beacon; she needed to report to Cinder, the person that saved her, the person she owned everything to. Jaune would be a casualty of their plan, something they all knew it was necessary.

"I will never suffer again." Emerald affirmed to herself. She was going to follow Cinder and her plan. She had to.

…

Saber didn't know why she ran away from her group of friends.

They were going back to the bullhead station to fly back to Beacon, when she saw a boy passing in a bike. He looked at her and she felt like she knew him, like she have met him many times before, and that he was dangerous. So she couldn't just leave it be.

She summoned her armor and sword and gave chase, but now she stood in the middle of the road, cars honking at her, no sign of that person. She gripped her sword harder and bit her lip, because she was afraid. Something evil was lurking around and needed to be stopped so the sacrifices made in the past wouldn't be wasted.

"Saber!"

Her Master's voice reached her and she turned around. She saw a red-haired boy for a second, but then she remembered her new Master was blonde, but that both had gentle hearts and a heroic disposition. Together with her Master were his friends, her friends. She would protect them. She would protect those happy days she had. But she would not forget that person.

A person that shared the same blonde hair as her Master, but had red eyes.

…

"Why you revealed yourself to her, Archer?" Kotomine questioned the blonde haired Servant.

"I just paid a visit to an old friend. She changed nothing, as expected. But her power is not the same." Archer answered as he sat in a chair, serving himself some wine.

"Her summoning probably was incomplete. Better. Therefore no one will interfere with our plans." Kotomine showed Archer an old helmet.

"Oh, so we will summon that one for that impatient mongrel?" Archer grabbed the helmet and played with it a little.

"Yes, he will be a good distraction. With lucky, they will kill each other." Kotomine left an evil laughter out, one that didn't impressed Archer. He had plans of his own, after all.

…

A.N. I never really expected to make Emerald a relatively big character on this, but while Cinder have the entire evil look, somehow Emerald seems to me as a good girl in the company of bad people. Maybe it is her big eyes. I am not sure yet what exactly will happen between her and Jaune, but probably not a love triangle.