A/N: I don't know why, but soul patch makes me giggle just a little whenever I think of the word. So, uh, yeah, not using that in this chapter. Gods, I got so sick over the weekends and now I still feel like urgh and just. Ugh. Whatever. On that note, my other two stories have been delayed to next week. Hope y'all don't mind too much. Other than that though, I'm not too unhappy about how things are going. Hope y'all enjoy XD

Oh! BTW, my guesties and anonymous reviews, while I very much appreciate your feedback, replying to y'all is… tiresome. And as the reviews grow (which I'm super happy about don't get me wrong) I spend more and more space on just replying to you guys. Which makes my A/N's pretty long. This one pretty much took a whole page. No one wants that. Try and make an effort to make an account! It's free!

Guest 1: Well, not really. I meant for it to be happy, it just... didn't. XD

Guest 2: Sigh. Neptune and his dumbass. XD

Bring sex back 242: Hahaha XD Thanks!

That guy: Oh boy indeed. And did you just review three times to me? Thanks XD Maybe make an account and PM instead next time?

Stuka: Uh... huh. Okay then. XD

guest: :)

End Bringer: Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?

A stranger without an account: Surprise! Not all that angsty! Yet.

Thekingofthegods: I have many things I'd like to point out! One!

Who said I wasn't going to be addressing the issue of aura? Patience my dear friend, that topic will be broached… eventually. And as I've said to many already, there's something I need to show to you guys. ALCOHOLISM ISN'T EASY. Sure, he has support, and wants to get over it, but Jaune is stubborn, and has a hard time accepting help from other people. Last chapter is something to show y'all that one simple talk with Professor Goodwitch isn't going to be enough for Jaune.

And who says this is a secondary plotline? Who says this isn't tied into "my family is dead and nobody knows"? Who says I'm not pulling things out of my ass and turning it into plot? Again, patience mate, I do have something planned out. :)

Jaune is strong. But he is very, very human, and makes mistakes because of that. Don't worry, I'm sure fighting Jaune'll come out sooner or later. Thanks for the review though!

That night he dreamt of his family.

It wasn't a wish fulfillment type of thing and there weren't any happy vibes to go along with it. It was just… his family. Nicholas and Violetta, his father and mother, standing in front of him, their arms wrapped around his seven sisters. They didn't do anything. They didn't move, they didn't talk, they just… smiled. There were no words exchanged, but as he felt himself waking up, he could feel the message that was being sent from his parents.

We're proud of you Jaune.

He woke up when a finger tapped his shoulder, making him blink blearily as he squinted to see who would be in his bedroom at this time. For a second he thought that he was still dreaming when he noticed that the person standing in front of him was blonde. Words choked him for a second, and his mind went back to the days he spent sleeping in, his dad having to wake him up with a gentle shake.

Then he realized that it was a complete stranger waking him up, and that he wasn't at home, it wasn't nighttime, and he wasn't in his bed.

As he took in that information, the hangover that he had been nursing since the morning came back, making him wince at the pain. Straightening himself up, he smiled at the blonde man.

"I didn't realize I was walking in on nap time." A smile on the blonde man's face as he said the words. Jaune chuckled sheepishly and apologized.

"Sorry. It's been… pretty slow today, what with it being the Beacon dance and all." The bartender explained, getting a sympathetic nod from the man. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Jaune, the bartender." He held out a hand, waiting for the man to take it, which the blonde man did.

"Taiyang. A pleasure."

An eyebrow raised in realization at who had just introduced himself to Jaune. "You're Yang's dad." Taiyang laughed and bowed grandly.

"The very same. What gave it away? The same dashing good looks? The blonde hair? The fountain of flowing charisma?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at the man, feeling his amusement rising in him. "Your bad sense of humor." Taiyang stopped talking, mouth open as he froze for a second, before slumping down into a defeated pose, crossing his arms.

"I'm pretty sure my sense of humor is amazing."

"Your daughter would say the same thing," Jaune said dryly. "That doesn't really change anyone's opinion." A man of that age should not have been able to pout so effectively. Guess Ruby had to get that from somewhere, didn't she?

"Well, sorry if you don't have the right sense of humor then." Taiyang said, his nose pointing upwards.

"I'm pretty sure humor is subjective." Jaune replied back, not sure what to make of the man in front of him. On one hand, he had the aura of a Hunter. On the other hand... he was the father of Ruby and Yang, and that made it real difficult for Jaune not to think of how similar the father and the children acted. Said father rolled his eyes, pointing to himself.

"And I'm pretty sure I'm subjectively awesome." Taiyang said with a grin. Jaune nodded doubtfully, crossing his arms.

"Uh huh." Taiyang and Jaune continued to trade snippets of sarcasm and attempted humor before the man settled down, ready to order a drink.

"So, what'll you have?" Jaune asked, a little bit of excitement coursing through his body. He was always a little excited to make new drinks for new customers, and it was always fun to watch their reactions to his creations. Taiyang tapped his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. Finally he leaned back, shrugging.

"Surprise me." He said, his hands placed on the back of his head. Jaune felt a brief flare of disappointment, but his excitement rose quickly to replace it, glad to be given a chance to try something new.

"Alright then, but don't blame me if you hate it." Jaune warned, causing the man to laugh and wave his hands dismissively.

"From what I hear, I'm sure that won't be a problem."

Jaune frowned, not sure if that was actually a compliment or not, but decided it didn't matter, crouching down to shuffle through some of his drinks, his mind cataloguing his stock to see which drink would suit the customer in front of him the best.

"So, Yang's dad," Jaune said, pulling out a bottle of sherry, before shaking his head and putting it back. "What brings you here instead of to Beacon? I don't mean to intrude of course, I was just wondering." Wondering why a father wasn't going to visit his daughters, Jaune thought to himself. The blonde Hunter laughed, a hint of sheepishness creeping into his tone.

"That's a fair question, I guess." Taiyang admitted. "And there's a lot of reasons why I'm not. For one, that's a student dance." The man shrugged, fingers twirling. "I'm pretty sure neither of my kids want to see their dad embarrass them in front of their friends." Jaune's fingers twitched at the words, nearly dropping an inexpensive bottle of vermouth, his heart jumping into his throat as he fumbled with the drink, sighing in relief as he was able to prevent it from shattering on the ground. The bartender ignored his customer's amused chortles and made sure the bottle was put back in place, safe from his clumsy fingers.

"I think I'd be pretty happy seeing my parents before the dance." Jaune mumbled to himself. No he wouldn't. He remembered the last dance he went to back when he was attending a regular school, blushing and insisting that he didn't need his dad's help tying a tie or his mother's help combing his hair. The two of them did it anyways, which Jaune thanked them for now, sure that he would've looked like a mess at that dance.

He could almost feel the ghostly touch on his hair, the tie on his neck briefly tightening up the way it's supposed to be.

Remember Jaune, we're here to help you through life, whether you like it or not.

A hand shot out and grabbed a half empty bottle of cheap whiskey, placing it on the table. Taiyang read the label, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know what to tell you, but I'm not really a huge fan of whiskey."

Jaune nodded, laughing. "Right, sorry." The bartender pushed the bottle to the side but didn't put it away before going back to finding a suitable drink for the dad in front of him. He continued his search, crouching low to find a better bottle of cognac and take the time to try and hide his feelings of frustration. He needed to stop. hearing. voices. He was getting real tired of them at this point, and the fact that he hadn't had a drink since last night meant that the voices were getting too loud to ignore.

Stop hurting yourself Jaune.

The boy jumped up as he felt phantom arms wrap around him, as if trying to hug him, and he banged his head against the top of the bar counter, eliciting a curse from his mouth.

"Oh Dust, are you alright down there?" Taiyang stood up from out of his chair, peering over the counter to see if everything was fine.

"Yeah, I'm good." Jaune said shakily, blinking away tears of pain. "Thanks for asking." He pulled away, dusting his vest a little before standing up completely, still empty handed.

"You know, I wanted a good drink, but if you have to kill yourself to make it, I'll be fine with something crap." Taiyang said, voice filled with humor. Jaune chuckled along, trying not to sound too hollow.

"Er, yeah, sorry. Just got a little lost in thought there." Jaune said, excusing himself to continue to look for that ever elusive drink. The bar fell silent as Jaune continued searching, Taiyang helping himself to the bar peanuts, before realizing they were bar peanuts, and put them back. The blonde Hunter sat there, his eyes tracing Jaune's movement as the boy went through his stock.

"Where's your family, son?"

Jaune froze at the question, fingers brushing past a bottle of gin that was probably worth more than his rent. Forcing himself into a feeling of calm, Jaune asked, "Why?"

Taiyang chuckled, the sound feeling more insidious to Jaune than it should've. "Just a curious question. I mean, you know quite a bit about my family, so I was just curious."

The boy stood there, body still frozen. Forcing himself to calm down, Jaune took a steadying breath, closing his eyes briefly. "They're… not around anymore." It had been a while since he had to explain that to someone, most of his customers knowing at least that much by now. Turning to face the man in front of him, Jaune forced a smile, shrugging. "They died in a Grimm attack. I was the only one that survived."

Jaune could only describe the look on Taiyang's face as…

Conflicting, to say the least.

There was the ever present pity that showed up on everyone's faces when Jaune described what had happened to his family. It was a little tiresome to see all the time, but he was used to it. There was the feeling of understanding that emanated from most of the older Hunters and Huntresses, knowing the feeling of loss. But there was another emotion, a faintly familiar, that he never saw anyone else express when he talked about his own parents. Anger.

There was true, palatable anger in Taiyang's eyes, as if Grimm had just torn through his family right then and there in front of him. It was stifling, enough to make Jaune take a step back in surprise before Taiyang noticed. And just like that, it was over, the man's anger dimming down, hands, raised and clasped together to obscure the frown on his face.

"I'm sorry about your family." Taiyang said quietly. Jaune stood there, not saying a word as he processed what had just happened. Jaune's mind wrapped around the anger that Taiyang had, and slowly, steadily pieced it together. It wasn't a surprise that Taiyang's rage reminded Jaune of something familiar. After all, Jaune saw the same expression in the mirror every time he thought about the night his family died.

"You've lost some people too." Jaune said quietly, knowing those words were true. It wasn't only the look that gave it away, Jaune remembering the stories that Yang and Ruby told him, about their mothers and what had happened with them. Taiyang sighed, brushing his hair away from his eyes. It didn't take much longer for Jaune to find the right drink for him.

Popping the cork off of the bottle, Jaune sniffed it, nodding to himself before pouring it into the glass, pausing for just a second to ask if the man wanted ice or not.

"No ice." Taiyang said quietly, his expressions morphing back to normal as time went by. Jaune nodded and continued to pour, serving the glass up quietly, letting the man take it from his hands and drink it, savoring the tastes. The blonde Hunter's shoulders slowly lowered themselves, the drink's tastes diffusing through his taste buds at first, with the promise of a good buzz coming after. There wasn't going to be a buzz of course, due to Taiyang's aura, but Aura didn't eliminate the feel good moment when the alcohol loosened you up for just a second. And that was all the man really needed.

"How do you deal with it?" Jaune asked. Taiyang looked up at him, expression unchanging as he continued to sip the drink. "How do you deal with… with the anger?" Just saying that word made his stomach roil, his fists tighten. The man noticed, mainly from the fact that the bartender was visibly shaking.

"You don't."

Jaune looked up in surprise at Taiyang, who had a serious look on his face. He wasn't joking. The man held his look for a little longer before sighing, almost slumping down into his stool. Shaking his head, Taiyang sipped his drink, closing his eyes.

"Anger is hard to control." The man laughed softly. "Trust me, I had a daughter who was pretty much the definition of anger." Jaune nodded, having seen Yang angry a little more often than he would've liked. "Controlling your anger—heck, controlling your emotions in general…" Taiyang shook his head. "It usually doesn't end well."

Jaune didn't understand, and it was evident that he didn't understand. The Hunter could see the confusion on his face as well, and tried to rephrase what he was trying to convey to the boy.

"Hiding your hurt isn't going to do anything but make things worse." The man whispered, making Jaune wince.

"I'm not—"

"—Trying to hide anything?" Taiyang interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the boy. Jaune flushed, closing his mouth. "Yes you are. Everyone hides their pain to a certain extent. And it's pretty obvious that you're trying to hide a lot of it. I wouldn't be surprised, seeing as how your whole family's gone. I don't think I know anyone who would be 'fine' after that."

Jaune stayed silent, his eyes tracing the grain of his bar counter. Taiyang took this time to finish his drink, as well as think carefully about his words.

"Death… changes people. I think we can agree with that." Jaune nodded, the motion incredibly jerky. "And usually it takes a while for that change to really be a benefit."

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Jaune finally spoke, his voice anguished. "Am I just supposed to lie there and let my emotions kick me around?"

"You aren't listening to me." Taiyang interrupted, one of his hands touching Juane's forearm to stop him from talking. "I'm not telling you to just roll over and let it happen." Taiyang's eyes flashed, taking Jaune by surprise. "I'm telling you to show the world your anger. Don't let it kick you around."

"W-what're you saying?" Jaune stammered, still unsure of the advice that was being given to him.

"I'm saying," Taiyang said slowly, "is that you need to fight back. Hard." Taiyang's hand gripped Jaune's forearm, shaking him a little bit. "Don't let life put you down. The longer you're on the ground, the more opportunities life has to fuck you over even more." Jaune blinked, startled at Taiyang's harsh language. The man seemed to catch himself, releasing the bartender's arm and sliding back into his seat, sighing.

"When I… lost… my first wife," Taiyang said, seemingly gritting out the word lost. "I was pretty devastated. I kind of fell into this slump, and every day felt… well, pretty crappy." The man shrugged, eyes pointed towards the ceiling. "I moved on with life, but there wasn't much to move on with. Until Summer, my second wife, decided to put the foot down." The Hunter exhaled in amusement, looking at Jaune. "She pretty much cornered me and got really mad at me, telling me that I wasn't 'living' and that I was putting on a bad example for Yang." The man stroked his chin.

"She snapped me out of it pretty good." The was a small smirk, and Jaune didn't have to ask to know what that meant. Or even if he had to really know what that meant. Ew. "She helped me out a lot, Yang helped me out a lot, and when Ruby was born… well, I was way too busy to be moping around by then."

"So have your… uh, friends help you out." Juane stated simply, looking at the man. That wasn't really advice that he hadn't heard before. The man made a face and gestured with his hand, telling the bartender that wasn't exactly it.

"You're getting there. But I know that sometimes you'd prefer not to have help at all. And that's fine. Sometimes." Taiyang added as an afterthought. "But you should keep your friends in mind. Don't get better because they tell you to, that's not gonna happen no matter how hard you try. No," The man shook his head slightly. "Get better because you want to. For them."

Jaune stood there.

"No, I think I'm still confused."

"Right." Taiyang said, muttering something about how having kids should've made him better at this. "I'm sure if you're anything like how my kids have described you to be, you're not the type of person to abandon a friend in need."

"I'm… not." Jaune said uncertainly, unsure of where Taiyang was going with this. The man nodded, waiting a half second.

"So when people are hurt around you, how does that make you feel?"

"…Bad?" Jaune said questioningly. Taiyang nodded, making Jaune sigh in relief, wondering if there was going to be a quiz afterwards about this or something.

"Bad. Right. Now, imagine that you've found someone you want to help, but always hides stuff from you because they think they can brave through it alone. You don't want to be overbearing, but you don't want to see them get hurt either." Taiyang held out his hands, shrugging. "What do you do then?"

Jaune opened his mouth, before thinking about what the father was asking. You wanted to help… but couldn't, because you didn't know everything. You wouldn't know if what you did would help or hurt, and you wouldn't even know if they really wanted or needed the help. Jaune knew exactly how he'd feel.

"That's… a hard question." Jaune admitted, looking back the man. Taiyang had a triumphant look in his eyes as he nodded.

"Exactly. Frustrating isn't it?" The bartender nodded.

"So why put all of your friends through the same thing?"

…

Oh.

Jaune thought back to when he talked with his friends, the frustrated looks on their faces when he laughed away their serious questions, waved off their concerns. The looks they gave him when he purposeful gave a vague answer wasn't hurt, or anger.

It was disappointment.

"Oh." Jaune said quietly, looking at his gloved hands.

"Yeah." Taiyang again touched Jaune's arm, quietly asking the bartender to look at him. "I'm not saying that you have to force yourself to change for your friends. I'm just saying… maybe give them more of a chance. That maybe they're smart enough to know not to pry any further. Especially if your trust them enough to give out that information freely."

Jaune didn't say anything, mulling over Taiyang's words of advice. Why couldn't he trust his friends? They had already proven that they cared about him. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to… maybe…

"Just think about it, alright?"

Jaune nodded, still not saying a word.

He still had a question though.

"What happens," Jaune spoke up. "what happens when that isn't enough? How did you deal with… Summer?"

The man paused, looking at Jaune.

"I got mad." The man straightened up, looking at Jaune. "I got furious. My first wife left me, now my second wife dies on me? How dare the world do this?" Jaune jumped along with the table as Taiyang slammed his fists onto the countertop. "It made me… so angry… when that happened."

Jaune nodded, understanding. He knew this feeling. He felt it time and time again as he thought about how unfair the world was, taking away everyone that he loved in one fell swoop.

"I'll admit, sometimes friends can only do so much." Taiyang said slowly. "Sometimes not even knowing that you still have a family can bring you back from that edge." The man sighed. "How did I deal with the loss of Summer? I raged. I got mad and I went out to take revenge on the world."

Taiyang traced the rim of his empty glass, a faraway look in his eyes. "That night, Patch didn't have a Grimm problem anymore." His gaze slid upwards, looking into Jaune's eyes. "Sometimes it still doesn't."

"So you literally fought back." Jaune whispered, looking at the blonde man.

"I'll admit it wasn't the best idea in the world. I could've died. Left behind two kids without either parent. That didn't really get through in my mind until Yang took Ruby and… made a mistake. That woke me up real quick. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do," Taiyang said hastily. "But for a quick way to get rid of that tension, if only for a little while… fighting isn't a bad way to go."

Jaune nodded. Something that he could get behind. A faint tinkle of ice on glass reminded Jaune of the glass that Taiyang had emptied, and he went to refill the glass. Before he handed it to Taiyang, he pulled out his special drink, topping the rum with just a hint.

"Try this." Jaune said, handing it to the Hunter. Taiyang grabbed the glass and raised an eyebrow, tipping it slightly to take a whiff. Apparently finding a smell that he liked, Taiyang took a long sip, closing his eyes in obvious pleasure.

"Mm. Now that's a drink."

"Think of it as a thanks. For some good advice." Jaune said, grinning.

"I wouldn't really call it good advice." Taiyang objected. "More like, something to offer from my point of view is all. Everyone deals with their problems differently." Jaune nodded.

After finishing that drink, Taiyang asked for the bill, telling Jaune that he needed to go soon.

"I've got a mission a little bit a ways from here. Pretty much the only reason why I could stop by here. I've already told my daughters what I was doing but… give them a hi for me?" Jaune nodded, assuring the father that he would do so. Taiyang paid Jaune neatly before heading off, wrapping himself in a long, yellowed trench coat. The rest of the night was short, with only an hour or so more of service time left, Jaune's mind began to wander while cleaning up his bar.

After the owner popped his head in for a quick check up, Jaune sat in one of the bar chairs, kicking the counter softly. He reached out, grabbing the whiskey bottle that he had yet to put away and popped the top open, pulling a glass out from the dishwasher.

"Fight back, huh?" Jaune said to himself, finishing the glass rather quickly. He refilled the glass again, probably putting in two or three times too much, but it wasn't like that really mattered.

As he finished off the bottle of whiskey, he recalled the old blade that he had taken away from his family home, collecting dust somewhere in his apartment.