Yo!
I have to say I was really glad to see the response this story got! Almost 250 followers in a few weeks is pretty damn impressive!
That has, largely, spurred my want to upload and write this more frequently, so that's why this is here now.
Anyways, without further ado...
Chapter 2
Waves lapped against the side of the small passenger liner Jaune was huddled aboard, doing his already uneasy stomach no favors as he desperately attempted to not hurl his lunch into the seas below.
It was going… well, it was going.
There he was, famed member of 'The Seven', veritable hero of Remnant, currently retching his meagre lunch into the ocean.
Well, at the very least, it might help to temper some of the people that were asking him for autographs to back off for a while. He didn't mind it when it was just an occasional thing he dealt with, but when he was stuck on a boat, or an airship, well, there wasn't much escape from prying eyes, other than a trip to the bathroom, or his private quarters.
On a civilian liner, there were no such things. Or, well, there was a bathroom, four to be exact, but they were shared among the entire populace, and no one liked it when someone hogged one for any longer than was necessary.
Y'know, Pyr, I always used to secretly think the whole fame thing wasn't as bad as you made it out to be, Jaune noted to himself as he grimaced and wiped away at the vomit hanging about his lips. I'd like to formally apologize for that now.
He assumed the girl was laughing at him wherever she was, and the thought, at least, brought an infinitesimal smile into existence, before it was wiped away as bile flooded his esophagus once more.
Aw shit…
The two faunus children who'd been walking up to him to ask for his autograph wisely retreated as he hurled yet again over the edge of the boat.
/
The journey honestly wasn't that long, which was a godsend, given that Jaune's stomach never really had adjusted to either the sea or sky. From the southern tip of Mistral, it was only a few days journey to make it to their destination.
He'd originally planned to make his way towards Patch, and go see Ruby, but then, Jaune had realized that, really, his friend wasn't exactly expecting him anytime soon, and he was going to have to walk a long way to the western coast of Mistral to get near Vale, anyways.
But given that Kuroyuri was far closer to the south, and there were some friends of his that he'd visited an awful lot less than most of the others, he decided to hitch a ride not to Patch, or to Vale…
But to the island which was jutting out of the sea in the distance, drawing some excited "Ooh's" and "Aah's" from the children aboard, and even from a few of the adults, most, he imagined, having never seen the Fifth Kingdom in all its wondrous glory.
Or, well, Jaune thought it was wondrous. Blake had never really agreed with his sentiment, saying that even if it was beautiful, what it had initially represented was a gilded cage, a token effort to appeal to the Faunus after a war that they'd won, an effort to get them away from the mainland Kingdoms.
He could understand that. Blake had always cared so deeply about systemic issues, and none of them would ever begrudge her that. In fact, her caring had rubbed off on all of them, to the point that Jaune liked to consider himself a fighter for Faunus rights as well, even if he knew he perhaps wasn't doing as much as he could've been.
Still, he had nowhere near the qualms Blake had with the island they were a mere hour or so from docking at, and so he joined in appreciating it's splendor, the way the tropical trees rustled in the breeze, how the fishing boats ebbed and flowed along the waves, and the midday sun shone across the water.
Menagerie was beautiful. And its current leaders were making sure it would only become more so.
/
It wasn't long before their ship docked at Menagerie's nearest pier, and the ramp to let them off was extended. Jaune was in no real rush, and so he allowed many to go out before him. For some reason, however, there were numerous people crowded around beneath, as if they'd pooled out of the ship, and then immediately seen something of interest.
He found himself curious as he took a few steps down the ramp…
And then found his answer as he let out a beleaguered sigh.
"Menagerie welcomes you," The spokesperson in the center of the crowd hammed with just far too much pomp, and it was all Jaune could do to resist audibly groaning, "Oh honored guest of the Belladonna-Long family, may your stay be as grand as the ocean's waves, may your time be endlessly joyous, and the booty you plunder shapely and–"
"Okay, Yang," He cut the woman off before she could make him blush further. "Please. I surrender."
"Good choice." The blonde said, even as a few of the people behind him who'd ridden on the boat with him laughed at his expense.
The crowd dissipated after that – not entirely by choice, but more due to the faunus guards who escorted them towards the nearby clearance desk – which gave Jaune the much-anticipated chance to continue being mocked by Yang Xiao-Long.
Awesome.
"So! How've you been, vomit boy? Or, I guess it's vomit man, now?"
"One day you'll stop calling me that." He said with a tiny laugh, and the two of them settled into a medium gait, making their way across Menagerie's streets.
As one of the ever-illustrious Seven, Jaune did not need to go through customs. Normally, he would anyways, but…
Well, he was feeling lazy, so he decided to use his faux-diplomatic immunity today.
"You can choose to believe that if you want to." Yang said with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't really."
"That's good. You're learning."
He couldn't help laughing at that, even knowing that Yang would chock that up as a mental point for herself. If she was keeping track, the scorecard would likely read something akin to 'Jaune – four; Yang – several million'.
He was deeply proud of that four, though. He'd worked hard for those.
Their conversation continued like that as the two of them worked their way further into the mainland of Menagerie, deep into the town of Kuo Kuana, where at the center stood a tall and imposing mansion-like structure.
Jaune himself had seen it twice – and only ever the rebuilt version, apparently the first one had burnt down, and Yang liked to give her wife shit by claiming it was her who'd done so – and yet he still found himself rather enamored with the building. The two of them made their way towards the large double doors by the entrance, and Yang knocked.
She then knocked again, and then again, and then she began drumming out a beat on the doors until, finally, with a thunderous wail from inside, the door was wrenched open.
Blake glared at her wife. "You have got to stop doing that."
Yang gave a grin so cattish that he briefly believed their positions had been reversed. "Make me."
Blake just rolled her eyes, before she turned to look at Jaune, and her eyes widened.
"Well, this is a surprise." She said with a small smile, about as expressive as Jaune had ever seen her. "It's been quite a while. How've you been, Jaune?"
"Part of the reason I decided to visit, actually. And good, to answer the second question." He lied without much difficulty. "I was going to visit Ruby in Patch, but felt like I should swing by, since it's been a while. I messaged Yang to let her know I was coming, but I'm taking it she didn't tell you?"
"No, she didn't." Blake said, shaking her head with a small smile as Yang feigned innocence.
"I thought you'd rather be surprised!"
Blake rolled her eyes, before ushering him into her home without any hesitation. Jaune smiled almost subconsciously, stepping into the space with a bit of a curious air. He had, once again, only been here twice, and both times were very briefly, probably a combined day actually spent within the building. He'd be spending – if they'd have him, and in all fairness, he'd yet to ask – perhaps a week or so here this time.
He brought such a plan up with Blake, and was relieved when she smiled and nodded her head. "Feel free." She spoke. "The hallways have always felt a little too quiet for just the two of us."
"Didn't you guys used to have guards?" Jaune asked as they made their way into a sitting room, which seemed to be for the purposes of entertaining guests.
"Back when the White Fang was a militant organization who the Belladonna's were, at best, frenemies with, and the house was frequented by my Mother, who was a civilian, yes." Blake said with an amused smile. "Nowadays, we don't require nearly as much protection, given we're both of us Huntresses."
Left unsaid was that the two of them accounted for an entire force of guards on their own, and combined, they were perhaps the single most fearsome duo on the face of Remnant. Perhaps Ren and Nora could contest them on a good day, and back in the day, he and Weiss had made for quite the pairing, but nowadays it almost didn't seem close.
"Where are your parents, anyways?" Jaune found himself genuinely curious, having heard little of them since he'd very briefly met them in Vacuo. "No longer here, I'm assuming?"
"The both of them found Vacuo quite nice when they came to see us," Blake explained. "They bought a very nice beach house near the coast, and spend almost all their days out on the sands."
"Sounds like quite a life." Jaune says with a laugh.
"Yes," Blake said, shaking her head minutely. "Color me surprised I haven't had another sibling."
Jaune lit up at the implication which earned a snort from Yang following close behind them.
"I knew I was rubbing off on you."
"In a way I am certainly not proud of, yes," Blake said, sighing. "Regardless, that is that. For now, how about we chat? It has, like you said, been a while."
Blake really had changed, it seemed, for her to want to converse with him for an extended period of time. He knew she'd opened up quite a lot during their journey, and from what he'd heard, even more so around Yang, but he still found himself surprised.
And so it was that the three of them sat, discussing things of little issue, importance, or note. Eventually, when he felt he'd waited long enough, Jaune asked the question he'd had on his mind for a good few days now.
"So…" He opened, looking up at the two of them in a serious manner. "I have to ask–"
"If this is about the Valean Gala from three years ago, then you can save your breath." Blake cut him off, her eyes staring off into the middle distance, like a scarred veteran recalling their times on the battlefield. "The only time I'm recounting a single minute of that evening is on my deathbed."
"Damnit." He spat out disappointedly.
There was a moments pause before Blake cut back in.
"…You didn't come to Menagerie just to get one of us to tell that story, did you?"
"…I have no idea what you mean."
Blake just sighed.
Yang, for her part, seemed rather amused.
/
It was a few hours later into the day, with the sun a little lower in the sky, that found the three of them trekking across the warm sands of Kuo Kuana, still chatting amicably. They were journeying with purpose, however, for Jaune had found himself a bit too curious about something he'd very briefly glimpsed while they'd sailed into port.
And he wasn't disappointed as the three of them stepped up to an enormous construction site, being worked upon by at least sixty people, a smattering of humans amongst the largely faunus population.
And Jaune smiled as the two at his sides preened just a bit.
"Wow, guys, it's really coming along!"
"Eh, it's been like this for a few weeks now." Yang said, a bit awkwardly. "Truth is building is kind of stalling due to some… foreseen but very unwelcome efforts."
"It's still being built." Jaune said, smiling from ear to ear. "I mean, you guys have been talking about a Hunter Academy in Menagerie for, what, three or four years now?"
"Five and a half." Blake said with a tiny, satisfied gleam in her eye. "Though behind closed doors for the first little while. Between Yang and myself."
"Then you should be proud!" Jaune reiterated, and the two of them flushed a bit embarrassedly. "Seriously, guys, good on you. You're doing a good thing for Menagerie, and hell, for the Faunus in general."
"Alright, alright," Yang placed a hand over his mouth exasperatedly. "Enough. No more compliments. I don't do compliments well."
Jaune raised an eyebrow, but otherwise acquiesced.
Still, in his heart of hearts, he upped the tally.
Jaune – 5, Yang – several million.
He was catching up.
"Really, it's been going better than I expected initially." Blake said, and that drew an exasperated look onto Yang's face. Jaune imagined that that must've been a common sight. Blake the pessimist, Yang the optimist. "I assumed we'd be in the planning stages for a year or two."
Yang decided to cut her wife off there.
"So, yeah, we're not really sure how we're going to get Menagerie's Academy… well, to exist yet. Y'know, get people to want to come here, hire teachers, hire people who will tell us how to get people to come here and how to hire teachers, but we're damn well going to try!" Yang slammed her fist into her open palm. "And nothing can stop us!"
"Except international politics."
"Except international – Hey, Blake, whose side are you on!?"
Jaune let out a quiet laugh, even as he inquired further. "I'm taking it some of the less than savory elements of some old regimes are…"
"Yes. Yes indeed." Blake said with a sigh. "You'd think people would be able to let grudges go –"
"Actually no, I never thought that."
"Then you're smarter than I." Blake said with a wan smile. "As per usual, a lot of the old money of Atlas are against Menagerie hosting an academy. After all, giving us the title of Kingdom is just for show, at the end of the day. Sure, being able to say we're a Kingdom is nice, but… what does it really give us?"
"A slight uptick in tourism?" Jaune tried.
"Very, very slight. Yes." Blake rolled her eyes. "Still, compared to hosting an Academy? Giving us governmental funds, access to private meetings exclusive to headmasters, a chance to host the Vytal Festival? Yes, there are quite a few people trying to prevent that from happening."
Jaune honestly wished he could be surprised about that, but he wasn't.
"Seems like business as usual for the folks of Menagerie, then?"
"Yep." Yang said, popping the 'p'. "Still, we're making do."
The conversation ticked on from there for a few minutes, the three of them discussing idle things as they walked around the perimeter of Menagerie's soon-to-be academy.
And then, Jaune had a question.
"So, I feel it's only appropriate to ask…"
"Oh, here we go." Blake smarmed.
"What're you calling it?"
The both of them winced slightly at that, evidently having expected the question, and not entirely pleased that Jaune had asked it. That drew a grin from him, one that only grew as Yang cleared her throat a tad bit awkwardly.
"Well, y'know, we waffled a bit. All the other academies, Oz named after things that would provide refuge. For Mantle, it was a bit different." Yang turned to Blake. "What'd they call it? Like Alsius or something?"
"They gave the new Academy the old academies name," Blake explained. "back when Mantle was under the control of–"
"Oh, yeah, right." Yang cleared her throat for the second time in twenty seconds, which drew a snort from Jaune himself that Yang did not look the least bit pleased about. "So yeah, we could've just called ours like 'Kuo Kuana Academy' and said 'Nice' if we wanted. But we decided–"
"Yang decided that the name had to be cooler than that." Blake said with a tiny smile.
"Oi!" Yang complained, rounding on her wife. "You agreed!"
"Because you cared so much."
"I – I, frankly, resent the implication."
"Okay, Weiss. "
"First of all, hurtful. Second of all, rude. Third of all–"
"So, what'd you name it?" He interrupted, earning a laugh from Blake and a scowl from Yang.
"You can't just cut off my bit, Jaune."
"Can and did."
"You will pay for this treachery."
"I'm sure I will." He smiled.
Yang shook her head, before continuing.
"Well, at first we were gonna' go with, like, Oasis, since that's kind of what Kuo Kuana is, an oasis in a vast desert island, but then we thought–"
"That was sort of stealing Vacuo's thing." Blake cut in.
"That, basically. So, we sort of thought a bit more about it, like 'What else does an island need to make it?' and we settled on, well… sustenance."
"Cornucopia." Blake finally said. "That's its name."
Jaune stood there for a moment trying to keep his expression entirely steady. He didn't want to make his friends feel bad, or anything, but that name was…
"It's uh… alright, I guess."
"Ah, see!" Yang rounded on her wife. "I told you it needed to be cooler!"
"Well, it's not like we can't change it later. But for the people on a deserted island, taken here with nothing and promised the world, what they needed most importantly was food. Sustenance. Cornucopia seemed like the best way of putting that, in my opinion." Blake coughed. "Also, Yang totally agreed to it."
"I… I may've," Yang raised a finger. "But it was probably under duress."
"Uh-huh." Blake said with that smug air she sometimes got. "Sure."
"A-Anyways," Yang shook her head, pasting a plastic smile to her face as she tried to move the conversation along. "How about we all relax a little bit? Enjoy the afternoon? It's wonderful out, and we haven't really let ourselves just chill in a while, right, Blakey-poo?"
"Never call me that again." Blake said, glaring at her wife.
Yang leaned towards Jaune, stage-whispering his way. "She says that every time."
He laughed at Blake's expense.
"But," Blake rolled her eyes as she interrupted their private conversation. "I suppose a break wouldn't be entirely unappreciated. It sounds nice, even. I think I could probably get us a canoe, if we wanted to try and sail out a bit."
Jaune and boats – and what was a canoe but a tiny boat? – had never really gotten on all that well, but it seemed that the two of them were already set on whatever it is they were going to do, which meant, unfortunately, that Jaune was along for the ride.
Well, at least it'd probably be a fun time.
/
After about an hour and a half, Jaune decided that fishing was the exact opposite of a fun time.
He was hot and sweaty, under the sweltering midday sun of Menagerie, splashed in various places with seawater, and unable to land a single fish thus far.
Jaune had an excuse, he felt. His hometown of Domremy had been entirely landlocked. A tiny little village a ways into Vale's mainland that housed very little water at all that wasn't made to drink. Vale, as well, had no real access to the ocean, or to a river or stream, unless one wanted to cast their fishing rod off of a shipping dock.
And Beacon was on top of a mountain.
So really, Jaune felt it was both understandable, and forgivable, that he was quite bad at fishing.
Unfortunately, due to the way Yang kept snorting under her breath whenever she hauled in a catch, and turned back to see him with nothing once again, it did not seem like he was going to be let off easy.
Hell, even Blake smirked in that cattish way she did sometimes when he glared back at the both of them.
"You guys suck." He muttered after Yang reeled in a mighty halibut. "You guys suck a lot."
"Oh, you're right." Yang smarmed, shooting her wife a saucy look. "I've been told, however, that my sucking is incredibly–"
"Aaand that's enough of that." Blake cut the woman off with a hand across her mouth. It seemed it was too late, however, with the way her face was glowing. "By everything, I can't take you anywhere."
"You know you love me." Yang said as she gently plied her wife's fingers from her face, a shit-eating grin upon her lips.
"Of course, I do."
"Ooh. Someone want something? Perhaps a little intrigued by talk of my–"
"Alright, you two, that's enough." Jaune interrupted, eyeing them both. "I refuse to play third wheel while trapped in a tiny-ass canoe. My stomach is on the fritz already, and if I have to deal with you two getting handsy, I'm liable to jump into the sea."
Blake rolled her eyes, but Yang put on a faux pout. "Boo. You're no fun."
"My deepest apologies." He shot back.
It was a rather common state of affairs, the two of them putting Jaune on the backfoot. He'd long since got used to Yang doing so, but now even Blake was joining in.
Frankly, Jaune felt like turning the tables.
And he felt he had just the question.
"So, have you guys thought about children?"
It had the intended effect. Yang nearly toppled overboard, flinging herself backwards and losing the fish she'd had on her line, and Blake's eyes widened rather enormously.
"J-Jaune!" Yang complained, glowering at him. "You can't just… ask that!"
"I seem to have done so."
"Grr…" Yang glared his way. "You're lucky I tolerate you."
He smirked.
"Why bring that up, anyways?" Yang asked, and he could tell that line of questioning, at least, was serious. "Just to fuck with us, or…?"
"I was with Ren and Nora a week or so ago." He explained, and he could see that Blake already understood what he was getting at. "Did you guys know Magni's already four?"
"Shit, really?" Yang leaned back, shaking her head as if in shock. "Man, where does the time go?"
"I feel you there." Jaune said, chuckling a bit solemnly. "Feels like yesterday when we were out exploring the world, fighting off the bad guys, saving the day."
"Hah… yeah." Yang said, smiling with a hint of reminiscence hanging about her expression. "Those were the days… well, they weren't at the time, obviously, it was touch and go for a while as to whether or not any of us would survive, but now… now I look back on it all fondly."
"Yeah." Jaune agreed, before his eyes narrowed. "But don't think I'm letting you change the subject," Jaune cut back in, eyeing the pair of women. "Kids?"
"Blergh." Yang sounded out. "Not it."
Blake glared at her, letting out a groan as Yang just shot her a grin.
"If you must know," Blake began, clearing her throat in a way very reminiscent of her wife earlier. "We have… talked about it. It is… well, if we were going to adopt, there are plenty of disenfranchised children, especially here in Menagerie, that we could give a loving home to."
Jaune nodded. That was just like Blake.
"But also, uhm…"
Jaune didn't think he'd ever seen Blake with such a blush.
"There's a new… Atlesian medical procedure… it…"
Jaune's eyebrow rose.
"Basically," Yang cut in for her wife's sake, and she seemed a bit more laid back about it. "It takes some of one woman's… I think it was like bone marrow, or stem cells, or something? Honestly, the whole thing flew over my head, but basically, it lets two women have a baby that's biologically their own."
Blake nodded a bit sheepishly, and Jaune felt like maybe, just maybe, he'd pushed a little too far here.
"Hey, you guys don't have to talk about this, I was really only messing with you."
"Nah, it's fine." Yang shook her head, leaning back and taking her wife's hand. "Honestly, I think talking about it might help. The two of us have just been going in circles on it. Weiss was the one who brought it up to us. It was something some Atlesian doctors have been working on for a while. It's not available to the public, but… well… Weiss said she could get us in to be some of the first to utilize it. The first clinical trials have just finished, it's theoretically very viable, they've bread mice, pigs, sheep, and quite a few other animals with no complications to either the parents or children's health. Their first trials on humans begin in a few months. And we could be a part of them."
Jaune let out a bit of a breath, then. That was… that was a lot.
And he could see from the looks on their faces that they were not entirely sure whether they'd be accepting the chance or not.
"It sounds like quite the opportunity if you're ready for a child, but…"
"Yeah." Yang said, smiling a bit lopsidedly. "We're not entirely sure we are… ready, that is."
Jaune nodded.
"It's a lot. Having a kid. Hah, I should know, I practically raised Ruby myself. And it was…" Yang shook her head. "It was a lot. I had… not a lot of time to myself. I had to teach Ruby how life worked while simultaneously doing so for myself. And even if it might not be that extreme again, well… we've already got a lot on our plates."
Jaune could see that. The Academy – he would mentally refer to it as the academy; cornucopia was, in his eyes, not the best name – wasn't the only thing the two had to focus on. There would be meetings to determine building costs. There would be faunus rights to fight for. Inequality to root out. Corruption to fight against.
And doing all that with a child on the way would be…
"Yeah…" Jaune muttered, feeling like that was all he'd said for the past five minutes.
Blake wasn't much better. She was intensely quiet, staring down into the bottom of the little canoe the three of them had taken out to go fishing in. It had already felt a bit cramped between the three of them when they'd left earlier, and now it felt more so.
"And yet even so, I want it."
Jaune turned back to see Yang staring down at her lap.
"I just… thinking about that… with Blake, it's… I don't think anything would make me happier."
And then, in the tiniest voice, Blake spoke up.
"I want that too."
Jaune's eyes widened as Blake turned towards her wife, and squeezed the hand that was still in her own.
"With you. I really do." Blake smiled bashfully up at Yang. "And I think… even if it's going to make things hectic, and confusing, and a nightmare… maybe that's fine… if it's with you."
Yang blushed. Hell, Jaune blushed.
"That…" Jaune had never seen Yang cry. He'd heard it happened, occasionally, but watching the girl tear up then was… well, he would admit it wet his own lashes just a tad. "I love you."
"I love you too." Blake said, and even if it was sappy, and he'd expressly forbid it…
Well, Jaune didn't complain when their lips locked. He just smiled, and looked away to give them as much privacy as he could.
When they got back to the Belladonna–Long house, though, Jaune was definitely going for a walk.
There were some things he didn't want to hear.
/
It was on the following morning that Jaune found himself walking alongside Blake, this time the two of them on their lonesome – Yang, apparently, slept in until noon on weekends, and frankly, Jaune was a bit jealous – through the streets of Kuo Kuana.
They were not up to anything terribly interesting. Blake simply wanted to stock up on groceries, which Jaune felt was a good enough reason to accompany her. Definitely just to help her carry things.
Frankly, he resented the implication that he was simply very bored.
They did what they'd come to do; obtained groceries and a few other knick-knacks that Jaune himself had found – a souvenir 'Greetings from Kuo Kuana' postcard that he'd probably send back to Ren and Nora – and then made their way back to the household. On their way back, however, Blake decided to take an alternative route, and Jaune could sense that there was something she wished to either discuss, or show him.
He received his answer a good three minutes later, as they stopped in front of a bronze statue, perhaps three meters tall.
"This is…"
"Yeah." Blake said, a bit sadly. "Sienna Khan."
The bronze statue was beautifully, expertly shaped. It came together to picture a regal, imposing woman, garbed in traditional Menagerie clothing. She gazed out towards the sea, as if eternally watchful of Menagerie's isle.
Jaune himself had never met the woman. She'd died by Adam's hand long before he'd run into the White Fang in Mistral, and even longer before he ended up actually interacting with any of them in Vacuo. Still… he could sense from the way that Blake's voice faltered that there was something about this she wasn't entirely satisfied with.
"Did you guys put this up?"
"No." Blake spoke, which confirmed Jaune's earlier feeling. "But… Well, it was brought up by some of the old guard in Menagerie here. We put it to a vote among the people, and… Kuo Kuana wanted it. So here it is."
Jaune nodded a bit absentmindedly, still staring at the proud, stern expression on the face of Sienna, eternally etched into the bronze.
"Are you sure about having her statue up? Didn't she… y'know, take the White Fang from your parents."
"She did." Blake said, before laughing ruefully. "And I followed her. I might as well have helped her to do it."
Jaune stayed silent, deciding to let Blake air whatever grievances she carried on this matter, and he could tell she had a few.
"…I find myself coming here a lot, actually." Blake said after a while. "Not really saying anything. These are honestly the most words I've said here. I just… Sienna was…"
Blake shook her head, evidently struggling to find the words. Finally, she seemed to settle on something as she stared up at the statue above them.
"Sienna wasn't evil. I don't think she was good, either, but… she had our best interests at heart. The Faunus', I mean." Blake spoke, and Jaune could feel the years of her work, of pain and suffering pouring out of her there. "She genuinely wanted to make things better for the Faunus. I think… I don't know. I'd like to think she'd be happy, seeing where we are now."
"Of course, she'd be." Jaune felt the need to chime in there, to reassure his friend. "I mean, Menagerie the fifth Kingdom? Equal rights laws in Mantle, half the saviors of the known world being from the White Fang she helped to create? She'd be more than happy; she'd be damned proud!"
Blake smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was a start.
"Hah. It's almost funny, looking back. For a while, when we wrested control back from Adam, and redeemed the White Fang, I hated Sienna. Genuinely, even though she was dead. I blamed her for making my parents White fang into something different, hypocritically ignoring my own part in the matter." Blake just shook her head. "But now that I'm older, more… knowledgeable, or maybe more cynical, I can see that I don't think my parents were doing what was right, either. Maybe morally it was, but… Only by combining the two, peace with the threat of violence, could change have truly been accepted."
"And you achieved it."
"That we did." Blake said, before her smile gained an edge of mirth, and she turned back to Jaune. "I think that mostly has to do with Weiss, though."
Oh, politicians had done as politicians would do, but when they had Weiss Schnee, leader of the Schnee Dust company, leaning on them to make a certain decision, well… they tended to agree with her judgement.
It turned out that every once in a while, political corruption came in handy.
"Don't tell her that, though," Jaune found himself ribbing their friend. "Gods know her ego doesn't need another boost."
They both laughed a little as the conversation died down slightly, and Jaune found himself walking alongside Blake as they made their way back to the Belladonna-Long house.
Along the way, Jaune found something bubbling up within him. Some random little thought bubble. And before he could stop himself…
"The Faunus rose up by joining together, didn't they?"
"I suppose they did." Blake seemed puzzled. "Why?"
"Why not go with that angle for the academies name?" Jaune tried. "Something like… Phalanx, or like… Legion? Or something else that emphasizes that you were stronger together than alone? I don't know, Ruby kind of always told me I wasn't very good at naming stuff, but–"
"No, actually… I like it." Blake said, a tiny pulling at the edges of her lips. "I'm not entirely sure of the optics of naming our Academy after a battle formation, but… the togetherness angle. I like that."
"I'm glad I could help."
"Yes," Blake eyed him mirthfully. "Especially after you butted in on our conversation yesterday."
Jaune, frankly, felt offended.
"I specifically told you not to get handsy on the boat, and what'd you two go and do!?"
Blake's laughter felt earned as the two of them made their way back towards the house.
/
It was two evenings later that the three of them found themselves on the beach, occasionally shouting out in time to a beat that a very enthusiastic man was pounding out on a drum, next to a massive, crackling bonfire.
This would be ridiculous at any other time. Fortunately, Jaune was far too drunk on the very delicious fruity drink in his hand to care too much about it as he hollered along with the rest of the crowd. The drum-guy flipped his drumsticks around his fingers, before going back to playing.
Clearly, there was a festival of some kind on in Menagerie, and though Jaune himself didn't know the occasion, it was clear everyone else did. When he asked Yang, she said that it was to commemorate the end of the Faunus War, and Jaune let out a "Ah" fairly blankly.
It had been a while since Jaune had attended a party like this one. Initially, he'd thought it'd been since Vacuo, but he remembered that there had been another when Jaune had happened across a Village in the middle of a bandit attack. He'd helped to fend off the horde, and had joined in on the festivities afterwards.
And in Jaune's eyes, no one partied quite as hard as people who thought they'd been about to die like four hours prior.
Still, this was his first raucous party in over two years, and he found his vision swaying just a bit as he took another sip of the juicy goodness in his hand. Unfortunately, said juicy goodness came away empty, and Jaune pouted as he realized he was going to have to make his way back to the drink bar, which was a good fifty paces away.
For his drink-addled brain, this might as well have been a marathon.
Still, he began his trek. Putting one foot in front of the other in a manner that probably didn't sound too hard until one had been really, truly drunk for the first time.
Then one understood.
Still, as Jaune walked alongside the edge of the beach, he spotted a lone figure sat by themselves, staring out at the ocean beyond. Jaune found himself gravitating towards them almost instinctively, because he could very much remember being the lone kid out at parties, and hating it.
Except it seemed he didn't need to worry, given the figure was Blake.
…Or perhaps he did need to worry, given the melancholic look in her eyes as she stared wistfully into the middle distance.
Jaune decided he should probably try and offer some assistance.
"Lien for your thoughts?"
Blake looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, though upon seeing his face she noticeably relaxed.
"I suppose it can't hurt." Blake muttered under her breath, taking a drink of something that Jaune was pretty sure was water. "I've been… kind of out of it all night."
Now that Jaune thought about it, he didn't remember seeing Blake much at all once the sun had set. Yang had taken to playing with a few young faunus children – and if Jaune had any doubt that the woman would be a wonderful mother alongside her wife – which he didn't – it would've been erased hearing the giggling as she chased them all around, playing monster – but Blake herself had been strangely absent.
He supposed seeing her huddled away ten or so meters from the party explained that.
"You okay?" He asked, sitting down beside her.
"I'm okay, yes." Blake said, though it was rather clearly either a lie, or not entirely the truth. "It's just… this is going to sound a bit dumb, but uh…"
"I doubt it." Jaune cut in, and the woman beside him smiled somewhat.
"Well…" Blake took a breath, and then muttered under her breath, barely loud enough to make out over the crackling fire a ways away. "It's… the last time I was at one of these, I was dating Adam."
"Ah." Jaune added rather unhelpfully.
"That must've been… a little over a decade ago now?" Blake reminisced, evidently caught in her own head. "I can remember… that was right after we took full control from my parents. Or, well, it had been a month or so, but it was really starting to set in with the people then. No more… no more signs, or pamphlets, or protests… we'd be making real change."
Blake sighed then, shaking her head.
"Everyone was excited. The entire island was abuzz. And I was among them. There was Ilia, and Sienna, and Adam… so many others too. You've never heard of half of them. A lot of them… died in future operations." Blake sighed out. "A lot of them. A lot of good people who just wanted to change the way that the faunus were treated, and for what?"
Jaune didn't say a thing. He just let Blake vent. He could tell she needed it.
"And now, what?" Blake laughed, though it was without humor. "Suddenly I get on the good side of Weiss Schnee, and that's all it takes to enact change? Seriously? How many people cried, and bled, and died, and all it comes down to is the threat of money being lost to them, and they just…" Blake clenched her jaw hard, shaking her head again. "I just… what was it all for?"
Jaune didn't really know what to say, but he felt he should still try. "They'd all be happy with the way the world is now."
"I guess they would." Blake said, her eyelids drooping. "Even so, I doubt they'd have wanted to throw their lives away if things were this simple. If all it took was winning over one influential family."
"Try the influential family, Blake." Jaune cut in. "And hey, you wouldn't have come to Beacon if not for the White Fang, would you have?"
Blake didn't refute his claim.
"So, in the end, sure, Weiss may've been the final nail in the coffin, but the writing was on the wall for these people already. She just sped it along."
Blake didn't speak for a while after that, perhaps fifteen or twenty seconds. Finally, she let out a tiny little chuckle, and turned to him, holding up her drink in a toast.
Jaune met it with his own.
"Thanks, Jaune." Blake smiled. "Y'know, you're not half bad at that."
"Hey, I'm a healer." Jaune said, taking a swig from his drink, before remembering that it was empty, and that was the entire reason he'd found Blake to begin with. "No one ever specified whether that was mental or physical healing."
Blake grinned. "I suppose they didn't."
A comfortable sort of silence fell over the two of them after that, and though Jaune initially suspected the problem as being solved, he could see some small hesitation hanging about Blake's gaze.
And, well, he was out of drink anyways, so he might as well help out.
"That wasn't the only thing bothering you, was it?"
Blake's eyes widened somewhat, before she let out a tiny laugh. "Am I that obvious?"
"Nah, I'm just pretty good at reading people at this point." He said, elbowing her playfully. "C'mon, you can tell me."
"I know." The woman said, and despite the fact that the two of them had never been overwhelmingly close, Jaune felt a little warmer hearing that from her. "I suppose its… all of a sudden, remembering back to the time I was here… I remember that I danced with Adam around the pyre. I couldn't have been any older than thirteen or fourteen. Adam would've been… sixteen or seventeen, then. He smiled brighter than I'd ever seen him smile that night. He told me he wanted to dance with me forever."
Blake was smiling, but it was perhaps the saddest that Jaune had personally ever seen him.
"I never really did get over what happened with Adam." Blake said, swishing the water in her cup around idly. "You'd never have known it, but… he was a sweet kid, once. Always stood up for others, always. No matter what. But… when it was his mother, it cost him. He had half his face scarred. He… never really recovered after that, and I can't exactly say I blame him. I… the fact that I killed that boy… I can't… I know it might be hard to understand–"
"It's not." He assured her. "It might not be quite the same scenario, but… Penny…"
"Ah… yeah."
"So… I get it." Jaune said, patting Blake's shoulder. "Killing someone you once cared for, no matter why, or what they became is… Hell, it was hard for Weiss to get over the fact that her father died, despite his abuse, his neglect and… everything."
Blake nodded.
"So… it's not your fault, Blake. Don't blame yourself."
"I try not to. Yang tells me similar things. Adam made his choices." Blake shook her head. "It's just… did he? Did the world really give him a choice, or…"
"He had a choice when it came to you." Jaune reminded her. "Being a terrorist… well, it sounds kinda' weird, but I don't really blame him for that. Being an abusive piece of shit to one of my closest friends?" He poked the woman beside him in the shoulder. "That… less so."
Blake laughed. "Hah… I guess you're not wrong."
"Now," Jaune said, sensing the conversation had ended. "I don't know about you, but I can't help feeling that Yang is probably going to set something on fire if she's not attended to,"
"Yeah, you're probably right." Blake agreed amusedly.
"And I," Jaune gestured to his empty drink. "Need to get another round."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you always terrible at managing hangovers?"
"Don't ruin present-me's fun by bringing up future-me's pain, Blake."
His friend snorted.
/
There were few people future-Jaune hated quite as much as past-Jaune.
Awakening the following morning and sitting up was an experience in and of itself. Actually having to perform basic tasks like taking a shower and brushing his teeth were worse.
He made his way out into the kitchen in no real mood to do anything, especially not exist, and yet, as per usual, the universe disappointed him.
"You look…" Yang eyed him, before she snorted below her breath. "Like absolute shit."
"Why thank you." He groaned out, passing by her and tousling her hair, earning a series of complaints from her that he was sure he'd pay for later. "Is there anything for breakfast?"
"Nothing at the moment." Blake said, walking in with a far more modest yukata than the one she'd once worn in Beacon (Jaune had a feeling that was because he was there). "Yang, would you mind cooking?"
Said woman groaned as she rose from the couch, she'd ribbed him from, and eyed him with a playful glare as she shaped her hair back into shape. "I suppose I can. Whaddya' want?"
He remembered Nora's words of advice, and how true they'd proven. "Something solid. Eggs, Bacon, just something with some substance."
"We have fish?"
Jaune nearly gagged at the thought.
"In all seriousness," Blake said, grinning as she sat down on a nearby sofa. "I'm sure Yang could prepare some eggs for you on the side."
"I don't know," Yang said, crossing her arms. "Someone here messed up my hair. Perhaps he should suffer for that indignity?"
Apparently, he would be paying for the hair-tousling sooner than he'd assumed.
He got down on one knee, and held his hands up to her like an ancient knight would've a queen.
"Oh, fair lady Yang," He put all his energy – which was, admittedly, not a lot, into the next few words. "I request that thee cook me three or four scrambled eggs, please and thank you."
Yang snorted. "Your 'gallant knight' schtick could use some work, but you had me at 'fair lady Yang'." The woman leaned in somewhat. "Can you believe Blake won't let me dress up like a knight in the bedr–"
"Oh, enough!" Blake was scarlet as she banished her cackling wife to the kitchen. "By everything, she drives me insane sometimes."
Jaune himself could see the truth in that, and yet…
"I'm happy for you guys." He said, smiling over at Blake as he took a seat beside her. "Seriously."
"Huh?" Blake seemed confused by the very concept of Jaune's words.
"That you found each other." Jaune continued, nudging the woman's arm with his elbow. "You both deserve one another. You're a perfect match."
"Well, she certainly drives me up the wall all the time, and let me tell you she can't help hogging the bathroom, and…" Blake seemed to want to downplay his words at first. Until, finally, she let herself take a breath, and she gave this little expression that Jaune had never seen. He was fairly sure it was reserved only for those closest to Blake. To the likes of Weiss, and Ruby.
Of Yang.
He felt honored to have brought it to the surface.
"I… thank you, Jaune." She said, and she turned to him and hugged him very briefly, which, from someone as touch-averse as Blake was, was an achievement. "Hearing that from you means a lot."
It was so funny. Once again considering that they'd not been all that close at the beginning of their journey. That, at Beacon, the two had not done much more than exchange pleasant greetings in the hallways. Jaune would've called them acquaintances, at best.
And now… things were different.
He could say with all certainty that Blake was one of his closest friends.
"Alright, I won't over-sap you," Jaune said, smiling over at her and watching her roll her eyes. "I think I'm going to go watch my eggs cook, I'm going to die if I have to wait any longer than necessary for them."
Blake nodded his way, closing her eyes and leaning back on the sofa that the two of them had occupied. He made his way towards the kitchen, which wasn't that far, only an open door away, perhaps four or five meters.
He pushed his way into the kitchen and called out to Yang. The two of them exchanged small talk for little while as Jaune leant against a nearby counter, and they talked about nothing in particular. Eventually, however, Yang surprised him.
"I heard what you said to Blake, by the way."
His eyes widened, and he looked away a bit bashfully. "Oh, uh…"
"Thanks." Yang said, giving him a wink out of the corner of her eye as she worked the eggs in the pan in front of her. "Seriously. I'm glad you said it, and that you cheered her up last night. She's too hard on herself. She needs more people to tell her how wonderful she is."
Jaune nodded his head, and a comfortable silence fell over the two of them as the pan sizzled.
But Jaune could tell there was something that had her troubled. Yang's gaze was not entirely focused on the pan in front of her, instead, it wavered from it, and back towards him every few seconds.
Finally, she took a breath, and Jaune could tell she was going to speak.
"I'm sorry."
That… Jaune hadn't expected that.
"What about?"
She turned to look at him now, fully, with a bit of melancholy hanging about her expression.
"That things didn't work out with Weiss."
"Ah…" And really, that about summed it up. "Yeah."
The room was silent but for the sound of the pan sizzling, of the flame beneath it roiling and flickering.
"…Sometimes I'm sorry too, but… I think we just wanted different things." Jaune said, and even it was the truth, it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Yeah." Yang said, beginning to scramble the egg in the pan. "Weiss is, for better or worse, tied to Mantle. Tied to the Schnee name."
Jaune nodded.
"I would've been, too."
"Yeah." Yang said, but it was awkward, and if Jaune had known Yang long enough, he was fairly sure she would try to deflect that awkwardness with humor. "The tabloids reported that you two were engaged."
…Or not. Or, well, perhaps it was humor somewhat, but it was weak from Yang of all people.
Or perhaps she was saying such a thing seriously. Jaune could not entirely tell.
"We never were." He corrected.
"…Was it close?"
That bitterness was worse when his lips parted again.
"…Yeah, it was close."
Neither spoke for a while after that. Eventually, Jaune's eggs were finished, and Yang used her spatula to load the last one onto his plate, along with an unasked-for piece of toast that he was appreciative of.
He knew the conversation wasn't really over, though. He would've just been running away if he fled now. So, he turned back towards Yang – who'd started on what looked to be an omelet, and spoke.
"…Thanks for looking out for me, but I'm fine, Yang."
Yang didn't turn around as she addressed him. "You sure?"
"…"
"You helped Blake. I'm… no, we're willing to help you too, Jaune."
He took a breath, then.
"…I wish I could tell you what's wrong. I just don't know."
"Is that why you're visiting everyone? To try and find out for yourself?"
"…I guess." He shrugged, and that was that. "We'll have to see."
"Mm. Enjoy your breakfast."
He could've probably walked away, then, but… he found himself unwilling to. Not quite yet.
"Thanks…" He said instead, turning away, but staying within earshot. "Really. Thanks."
"No problem, vomit boy."
He smiled as he walked back into the living room, and sat down as Blake stood up, and moved into the kitchen herself, presumably to speak with her wife.
Jaune ate in silence.
/
It wasn't long until the singular week he'd set for staying in Menagerie came to an end.
He'd found himself genuinely enjoying his time, however, and come the end of it, he was smiling and laughing as Yang jokingly held him back, wailing about how she couldn't let him leave.
"How am I ever supposed to survive without an extra person to cook for every morning!?"
"Very funny." He rolled his eyes. "Anything for me to say to Ruby when I see her?"
"Nothing from me." Blake said. "Perhaps that I wish her well, but I assume she knows that."
"You could tell her to visit!" Yang said, placing her hands on her hips. "It's been forever since she's been by!"
Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "I thought she wasn't going to visit again after what happened last time? Wasn't she scarred for life?"
"Oh, c'mon! She was twenty-two, I guarantee you that walking in on her sister having–"
"Okay, we'll cut that off there." Blake rolled her eyes. "Jaune, have a wonderful trip."
"Thanks, Blake." He smirked at Yang's indignance. "See you guys."
They waved as he boarded the passenger liner to Vale, and he went to the railing to wave back. It wasn't quite like in the movies, where they waved at each other until the ship departed, because it was another hour or so before the ship actually left port, but hey, Jaune appreciated the send-off.
It… it felt good. Getting to hang out with everyone was nice. He'd spent so much time in Grimm territory that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to live like a civilian.
Hell, when he thought about it that way, wasn't he the only of their old band to still see active combat?
Ren and Nora had Kuroyuri, Blake and Yang had Menagerie, Weiss had the SDC, Ruby had–
Around here was where Jaune threw up over the rail, and shook his head with a groan.
He never did quite get over that seasickness. Nor the airsickness.
Actually, he often got nauseous while riding horses, so really, he had 'everything-but-walking' sickness.
Which really was a detriment to his image. Not too many children came up to ask for autographs from the guy hurling his breakfast overboard.
…Or, that was what he'd thought, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a little faunus boy, who couldn't have been any older than five or six, plodding up to him, his ears – which seemed to be some form of bat – twitching slightly.
"Uhm… sir… can I…"
Jaune smiled.
"Would you like a picture?"
The boy nodded, and Jaune looked over to the see the boy's mom and dad a way's away, holding a camera up.
Jaune found himself laughing as he kneeled down beside the boy, and smiled at the camera. The boy was practically ecstatic as he bounced up and down the bow of the ship, drawing laughs from many nearby passengers.
Jaune signed the kid's notebook as well, and for a moment, he assumed he'd be off after that, content to have gotten both a picture and an autograph.
Yet he stayed.
"Uhm, s-sir?"
Jaune looked back down. "What's up, buddy?"
"I just, uhm… my name's E-Elijah," His ears twitched. "I… I'm… I wanna' be just like you when I'm older! You're m-my hero!"
Jaune understood that he was supposed to say something in response to that. That he should've pushed something out of his lips, anything, just a simple 'thank you' or 'I hope you do!'. But…
Damn him, he nearly started crying.
"Thank you." He finally managed to squeeze out through the lump in his throat. "I'll remember your name, Elijah. Who knows, maybe someday we'll be hunting the Grimm together?"
Watching the boy's eyes light up then was the most gratifying experience that Jaune had experienced in what felt like… by the gods, it had been a while. Elijah scurried back over towards his parents, excitedly babbling about how he was going to be a Huntsman, and it was then that Jaune knew he needed to retire for a while.
The civilian liner to Vale was a much larger ship than the one from Mistral – lending in large part, Jaune imagined, to larger and more consistent tourism to and from Vale than the latter – which meant that Jaune, this time, had a cabin. It wasn't much, a single bed – more of a cot than anything – along with a night stand, and a few magazines.
It was enough for Jaune to collapse down onto, and for him to allow the few tears in his eyes to fall down his face.
He made no noise. He did not sob, or yell, or scream.
He simply allowed himself a moment to feel. To experience emotions that he often kept bottled up.
It was a good moment.
He found that he was quite a bit more tired than he'd expected, then, and so it was that he found himself turning on his side, not even bothering to strip out of his armor, and lay his head down.
It did not take him long to fall asleep.
And in his dreams, he saw the heroes he'd looked up to when he was a child. Comic book superheroes, protagonists of his favorite games…
And he found himself among them. Fighting alongside them.
It was a happy dream, and despite the rocking of the ship as it headed out into the deep sea…
He slept peacefully.
End Chapter 2
And that was chapter 2! Next chapter: Ruby!
I don't really have a ton to say about this weeks chapter. I enjoyed writing it. It was actually the chapter I had the second-most stuff done for already.
The one I have the most done for is chapter 6, and I'm looking forward to that one, even if I'm not giving you any more hints than that!
Real quick, if you have an idea for a name for the Faunus Academy, feel free to leave a comment or review with it! I definitely don't have one nailed down at all.
Alright, I'll see you all next time I upload a chapter of this!