Last year today, on my sister's birthday, I was criticised by her and her partner for only including a short message in the birthday card – basically just wishing her well on her birthday and telling her I love her, etc. This despite buying her an expensive coat she'd been pining over for half a year. This year, I was prepared. My card is being delivered today along with my gift and the card is one of those comically BIG ones. Why? Because I needed it so I could squeeze in about 2,500 words of handwritten text. It's written in tiny handwriting all across both inside pages, and across the back of the card as well.
It took me over an hour last night and my hand was killing me after.
But it will be worth it to watch them squirm.
Remember. Pettiness isn't the answer – it's a question. And the answer to that question is: YES!
Cover Art: GWBrex
Chapter 34
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General Ironwood SLAMMED for dismissing petition for Arc to face criminal charges after it reaches 250,000 signatures. Undemocratic.
Atlas Times
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Saving lives in the morning and wooing ladies in the evening – how Jaune Arc finds a work-life balance.
Vale Daily Tribune
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Mistral Council confirms it would shelter Jaune Arc if needed, raising ire of Atlas elite.
The Mistral Review
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Gillian Asturias asks Vacuans travelling to Vale to show "respect" to embattled healer, and not risk lives travelling through dangerous forest.
Vacuo Today
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Adam Taurus calls for action against Vale for harbouring Arc, causing rift with passive Sienna Khan
Kuo Kuana Express
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Jaune lay flat on his back, eyes on the ceiling, mouth dry and tongue heavy. It might as well have been mere minutes since Pyrrha left, but in reality it had been over a day. A day of visiting the hospitals, smiling and shaking hands, and all the while lost and confused because of a moment of madness the night before.
"I'm surprised," said Elm, sat on the corner of his bed. "I didn't think the girl had the balls to go and do that. I mean, I always knew she had it out for you, but I thought for sure she'd given up on it once you and Weiss got together. Guess not."
Elm had known, then. He didn't know if he should be upset that she hadn't told him or not. Probably not. It shouldn't have been his business, and Elm's job was to look after him – not to fight women off. Not unless said women were dangerous fans, or murderous White Fang members looking to end him. No one had suspected Pyrrha.
Or maybe everyone had but he.
"What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say?"
"Honestly? Nothing."
"Nothing? I cheated on Weiss!"
"You were kissed by another woman without any intention on your part, and you didn't let it go any further than that. That can't be called cheating. Would you lash out at Weiss if someone grabbed and kissed her before she could react?"
"No. You're right. But what about Pyrrha? What am I supposed to say to her?"
"At the risk of sounding repetitive: nothing."
Jaune laughed. "I don't think sticking my head in the sand will work here, Elm."
"I'm not saying to ignore it; just to not say anything. She didn't, did she? Pyrrha up and left after it happened. I'm fairly sure she doesn't want to talk about it either." Elm chuckled. "Ah, to be a teenager again. Man, I do not miss those years of pussyfooting around my feelings. Sheesh."
"Elm! Be serious!"
The larger woman looked back at him and sighed. "I am being serious. Things like this happen. Kids like you, Weiss and Pyrrha are young and impulsive. You make bad decisions in the heat of the moment. I'm sure she's hitting herself over the head about what happened as well, and wishing she could take it back. You could quite easily act like nothing happened and I'm sure she'd go along with it. This would be brushed under the rug."
"What if I told Weiss?"
"Then her friendship with Pyrrha is obliterated and you'll also be expected to never spend time with her again outside of Weiss' view. Or maybe not at all, if your fiancée is especially hurt. No more late-night chats with her. That's for sure."
Elm was doing this on purpose. Making it harder for him. Jaune groaned and covered his face with his hands. Why had Pyrrha done it? The answer was both simple and complex; on its simplest it implied she had some feelings for him. It wasn't unbelievable since they'd been friends for ages, and he was one of the few men who didn't see her for being some hotshot athlete. The more complex reasoning came in to why she decided to go ahead and kiss him despite his engagement, the answers to which could have ranged anywhere from a lack of respect for Weiss (unlikely) to a desire to have an affair (also unlikely) to a desperation surrounding his engagement, and her feeling like she had run out of time. That was more likely, but no less complicated, because she had run out of time. He'd agreed to marry Weiss.
"This really isn't as complicated as you're making it out to be," said Elm. Oh, she made it sound so easy, and it must have been from her point of view. She wasn't the one caught between two people. "Let's go over the facts, shall we? Weiss and Pyrrha both like you."
"We don't know that."
"You're right. We have no idea if Weiss really loves you."
"Elm!" barked Jaune. He sat up, hands falling. "Don't say that! And aren't you supposed to be unbiased here?"
"When did I ever say I was that? I'm on the side of whomever I think is better for you." And she'd made her thoughts abundantly clear on who that was. "Anyway, they like you. You're engaged to Weiss. Pyrrha wanted to express her feelings and chose to do it physically – maybe because she couldn't muster the nerve to use her words. That sound about right?"
"Yes…"
"Cool. Now let's go over your options and their consequences. Option one: You have a torrid affair with Pyrrha. Consequences: destroyed reputation, Weiss in tatters, friendships completely and utterly ruined."
Jaune made a cross with his arms. "No. Never. Not even in the media's wildest dreams."
"Good. That's by far the dumbest option. Option two: you formally end things with Weiss and get with Pyrrha. Pretty much the same set of consequences except your reputation isn't in jeopardy because nothing you've done involves cheating."
"I was trying to decide on how to handle this, Elm. And I mean how to handle Weiss and Pyrrha – not how to pick between them."
"Fine. Fine. That boils down to two options as well. Option one is to tell Weiss the truth. The result is that she and Pyrrha hate one another, Pyrrha and you have to stop hanging out together, and there's a chance any arguments are overheard and this hits the media and goes supernova. Headlines will all be about you cheating on Weiss even though we both know you didn't."
He'd be damned if Elm wasn't spot on there. Even if Weiss was totally reasonable, which he felt she would be, the cold shoulder between her and Pyrrha would be noticed by people, and there had already been rumours of a relationship between him and Pyrrha. It wouldn't be hard to make that jump. If Weiss so much as flinched on hearing that, people would jump on it. I could tell her and ask her to keep it secret but she'd still want to confront Pyrrha over it. This is such a mess.
"A-And option two?"
"Option two is that you keep what happened a secret. You don't lie, but you don't go and tell her what happened either. Does she need to know? Pyrrha confessed her feelings to you, and you've decided not to accept them. You're staying loyal to your fiancée so it's not like she has any reason to complain. The consequences of this are that you have a secret to keep, and that things between you and Pyrrha might be awkward until you can both find a way around this." Elm shrugged. "But there are no big fights, no broken friendship, and no tears. No media explosion either."
The choice was obvious. "And what do I do about Pyrrha?"
"That's up to you. You don't have to do anything. Trust me, when a girl kisses you and doesn't say a word she's giving you a really easy out. If you don't reference it, and don't kiss back, then she knows you're not interested. It's like a code; a way for you to both navigate this without hurt feelings. You don't have to reject her and she can pretend she was never in love with you in the first place. It's convoluted as fuck, but that's what I meant about teenagers being teenagers."
"But," she said, poking a finger into his chest. "You should think carefully about what you do want. Because, and I know you don't want to hear this, you've always been at your happiest after a call with Pyrrha. Meanwhile, you actively dread calls from Weiss."
Jaune winced. "That's only because we're in a complicated period. This scandal has made our relationship all weird, and Weiss keeps turning our dates into committee meetings to try and navigate it."
"Against your will, I might add. That girl runs roughshod over you."
"It's not like she's wrong, though. And I'm probably at fault for letting her walk all over me."
"I won't disagree with that. You could afford to stand up for yourself more. Also, just because she thinks something is for the best doesn't mean it is. You're meant to be equal partners. Sometimes, she looks more like your agent or manager than your fiancée."
Sometimes she felt more like his manager, too. Elm wasn't the only one to notice it, and Jaune wasn't so blind that he hadn't caught on. He'd just accepted that Weiss was the kind of person who wanted to be in control of all the little things, and it wasn't like the recent scandals hadn't proved such was needed. Before he could reply, his scroll began to buzz angrily.
"Speak of the devil," muttered Elm.
"Actually, it's Ozpin." Jaune eyed the screen and picked it up. "It must be important if he didn't just wait for our next meeting." Jaune pushed the button. "Hello? It's Jaune."
"Mr Arc!" Ozpin's voice was clipped and tense. "I was under the impression we had reached an agreement on how we would be handling your aura problems. You would attend the hospitals twice per week, and we would be trying to solve your issues in Beacon."
"Yeah. I mean, we did. And I'm fine with that. I went to the hospital earlier today."
"I am referring to your aura issues, Mr Arc."
"What about them?"
There was silence for a long moment, and then, "Are you saying you're content to keep the issues surrounding your health and your aura between us?"
"Yes."
"Then you might want to check the headlines," sighed Ozpin, no less tense, but not sounding quite as angry as he had before. "I have to go try and handle the fallout from this. My scroll has been going off every minute for the past half hour!"
The call ended with a beep and Jaune spared a look to Elm, who shrugged back. She'd been with him for the past few hours, ever since the hospital, and if he didn't know what was going on then she sure as hell didn't. An uneasiness spread through Jaune's body – set on fire by the mere mention of headlines. His fingers flew over the screen and Elm came around to look over his shoulder, and probably to support him. He needed it when he read the headlines, splashed across more than a hundred newspapers across Remnant.
"Aura problems curtail Arc's efforts to heal at hospitals." read the first. Beneath that, the opening line read: "According to sources close to the miraculous healer, aura problems – leading to potential health complications – have been identified at Beacon, and are being investigated by a team of doctors. The problems, which affect Jaune Arc's ability to use and control the flow of his aura, have led to medical advice for him to limit aura usage on the belief that continued usage for protracted periods of time in Atlas are what led to the current situation. Those sources state that Jaune Arc is frustrated that he cannot do more at local hospitals in Vale, and that he is being limited to just two instances of healing per week, but that he is abiding by the health advice of his doctors. It is hoped that they will be able to identify the problem and find a solution so that he can perform more shifts at hospitals." Beneath that, "We have reached out to Beacon but have received no reply at the time of publication."
Jaune sagged. Elm caught him.
"Who?" snapped Elm. "There aren't many who even know about this. Doctor Oobleck, Doctor Tsune-"
"It's Weiss," said Jaune, voice a rasp. He knew because she'd talked about this, and because the words she put in his mouth were the words she would have liked to hear. That he wanted to go back to the hospitals. That it wasn't his fault, but Beacon's. No wonder Ozpin was so angry when this had as good as passed the buck onto them. "Weiss did this."
/-/
"I did leak the information."
Weiss didn't hide it. She didn't even try. When he confronted her in Team RWBY's room, with three members of her team watching awkwardly, she had simply raised one eyebrow and confirmed what he'd already known – as if it was both never in doubt, and not anything worth talking about. Weiss didn't say the words, but she might as well have added "what of it?" after her comment. Jaune struggled to even find the right answer.
How were you meant to shout at someone who didn't even believe they'd done anything wrong?
"Why…?"
"Why what?" asked Weiss. "Oh, you mean the nonsense about a source close to you. I thought it would be taken badly if I was the one to say it. They'd say I was covering for you, and act like we were making excuses, but if it came as a leak then they'd be much more willing to believe it." Weiss smirked. "Clever, no? The idea came from how the Schnee family had several leaks among our staff. Those stories were always taken as fact even though the one leaking them might have easily made them up. At least they're true in this case."
"Not that!" groaned Jaune. "I meant why tell them all this? I had an agreement with Beacon that we'd keep it quiet. Ozpin thinks I've spat in his face. Atlas is… I don't even know what they think, but they're probably going to take this as some sort of attack. Like we're saying they caused these aura problems to happen in the first place."
"They're real, then?" asked Yang. Ruby shushed her hurriedly.
Weiss crossed her arms. "You never mentioned there being a deal between you and Ozpin."
"Why would I?"
"Because we're engaged. We're partners."
"Yeah?" shouted Jaune. "Well, it doesn't feel like we're partners sometimes! It feels like you're deciding my life for me!" He threw his hands in the air. "And as for not telling you about Ozpin, that's because I only mentioned this to you last night when we were on a date! Excuse me for not recounting every detail of every conversation I had. I didn't realise I needed to because there's no way I could have expected you to take the things I told you in confidence and run straight to the newspapers with them!"
"Excuse me?" Now, she was upset. Angry, too. As always. "I told you we should go public with this. I made it clear this is what we should be doing."
"Should! Not would! I thought there'd at least be time to talk it over with Ozpin first."
"People would have been asking why you weren't continuing to heal come Monday morning. We had to get on top of this quickly and set the narrative. Leaving things would have just made them worse. That's your problem, Jaune. You're too happy to avoid problems and hope they don't come back to bite you."
Jaune felt a snarl bubble up. "My problem? My problem is that I trusted you to stick to your promises! What happened to us working together? What happened to us being a team? We're supposed to be partners!"
"Don't raise your voice at me."
"Then don't make decisions for me!"
"Don't be silly," scoffed Weiss, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm not making the decisions for you. We literally talked about this over dinner. You're overreacting. Also, you're having this episode in front of my teammates. Can't we save this for later?"
Jaune gaped at her.
"W-Weiss," stammered Ruby. "It kind of sounds like you should have this talk now. We can leave. Right, guys?"
"Yes," said Blake.
"I kind of want to-" Yang was cut off by a pillow striking her face.
"There's no need," said Weiss. "Jaune and I can discuss this later. Once he's calmed down. If the headmaster has problems then I shall apologise to him, but I won't apologise for doing what's best for us. This will neatly sidestep all the questions on why you're not working through the week. And better yet, this might lead to more focus on treating your condition." Weiss was all smiles. "It's in Vale's best interests now to look into the matter alongside Doctors Oobleck and Tsune, so you'll be able to get better even sooner."
There was bile in his throat. "And get back to working at the hospitals, right?"
"Exactly."
Jaune turned and marched out the door. It was childish, but he made sure to slam it behind him. Elm, stood nearby, didn't say a word. He was grateful for that. He didn't need Elm telling him Weiss was in the wrong here. Not when he knew it well enough himself. I've let her walk all over me. Even if Weiss thinks she's acting in my interests, I'm responsible for not standing up to her. He closed his eyes and grimaced.
That was going to change.
/-/
Ozpin listened from behind his desk with a beleaguered look on his face. Glynda Goodwitch wouldn't stop glowering at Jaune as it were all his fault, and he supposed it was his fault for not putting his foot down with Weiss last night.
"I'm sorry," said Jaune. "I've had words with Weiss – I'm still trying to get through to her. I'll make sure something like this doesn't happen again, and I'm prepared to say or do anything you need me to in order to protect Beacon's reputation. I'll go on record saying you've helped me out."
"This is a problem not so easily brushed away, Mr Arc. I have had the Council of Vale on the line to me. I have had General Ironwood. I have had Gillian Asturias of Vacuo, and even representatives from Mistral. My scroll us currently out of battery, but I'm sure I will have several hundred missed calls awaiting me."
Jaune winced. "I'm sorry for making life difficult for you."
"James asked me to look after you as a favour. He assured me it would not interfere with the Vytal Festival. It already has." Jaune opened his mouth but Ozpin beat him to it. "This may not have been your intention but it is what it is. I've had to deal with dead civilians, media demands, and now political pressure. I haven't been able to fend it all off."
"What do I have to do?"
"Miss Schnee may have gotten her wish in some regards. I have been advised that a team of researchers and medical staff have set aside a period of time each day to look over your condition. You will be reporting to them as and when they decide."
For fuck's sake. Jaune wanted to argue but knew he couldn't. Ozpin didn't have any more of a choice in this than he did. "Understood, sir. I'm sorry again for the trouble."
"In addition, the Council will be included in medical reports as to your condition and I must warn you that the results are likely to be fed to the media as a result. The Council wants to show it's on top of the matter. You're a vote winner, or a vote loser. They'll want to publicise the work they're doing with you."
That meant more interviews, more attention, and more work. Less rest, basically. That was supposed to be the whole point he'd been sent to Vale – to finally have a break, and to let things die down in Atlas. Instead, they were changing to be about the same here. Weiss likely didn't see it that way, seeing as how she had everything under control here. Jaune clenched his eyes shut. "I understand, sir. I'll do whatever I need to."
Ozpin was silent for a long moment.
"I fought hard for what I could, Mr Arc. They wanted a lot more from you. A lot more."
"I appreciate that, sir. Again, I'm sorry for creating so much work for you."
"Instead of apologising to me, Mr Arc, might I suggest you spend your time ensuring that a situation like this not happen again. I have a million other things I really should be focusing on, some of which are integral to the long-term survival of Vale. I can't afford to have to spend my afternoons picking up the pieces of a falling out between you and Miss Schnee." He leaned back, closed his eyes, and sighed. He looked exhausted. "You are dismissed. I will have Glynda forward relevant times and schedules to your scroll."
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir. I apologise again, sir."
Jaune backed up and bowed his head until he was out the room and kept silent until he was in the elevator. Elm didn't say a word and just stared over his head. His body was coiled tight, clenched like a fist, and it bubbled out of control without warning. Spinning, he slammed a fist into the wall of the elevator and screamed.
"Arghhhhhh!"
Elm kept her eyes over his head.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" His knuckles were scraped and had begun to sting. "I thought she understood! I thought- Fuck! How stupid am I? I knew she liked it when I was healing in the hospitals, but I didn't think she'd do this!"
Had he really missed her saying she would last night? He could remember her saying it was a good idea, but she'd made it sound like something they'd decide on together. Not something she'd go behind his back to enact. His head was pounding – a pinching pain in either temple, that he soothed by pressing his forehead to the cool elevator wall. His own reflection stared back at him, eyes bloodshot, in the smudged mirror. He'd even left a little blook on it that he wiped off with his sleeve.
"I can't even talk to Pyrrha about this now, can I? Not without encouraging her or cheating on Weiss."
"It's not-"
"It's no better if I'm complaining about my fiancée to a person we both know has feelings for me, Elm. It may not technically be cheating, but it's still going behind Weiss' back. And it'd send mixed signals to Pyrrha, wouldn't it?"
The woman sighed. "Probably, yes. You can vent to me."
He snorted. "I already do."
"I know what you need," she said suddenly, and clamped a hand on his shoulder. He was about to scoff at that, but Elm beat him to it. "You need a good fight. How about the two of us go out into the Emerald Forest and just murder some Grimm, eh? No holds barred, no mercy, no softness. Just you, some Grimm, and a whole lot of anger to work out."
"I…" Jaune closed his eyes. Laughed. "You know what, that doesn't sound half bad…"
/-/
"Rargh!"
Crocea Mors cleaved down like a battle-axe into the Beowolf's skull and split its head wide open. Though Grimm disappeared on death, they still had blood – which was a little weird, but hey ho, so were the Grimm disappearing at all. The blood was probably the least unusual thing about them. It splattered over his face and chest, before it, too, began to flake off, creating an odd sensation over his skin as the ichor peeled away and floated upward into nothingness.
That didn't mean his clothing was clean, though. Sweat, grime, moss, and dirt coated him – and he revelled in it. He was by no means a huntsman, and couldn't have held a candle to most students in Beacon, but he wasn't a pure civilian either. Training with his father, and then with Winter and Elm, had put him somewhere at the level of someone from a pre-academy like Signal. That was still a whole lot stronger than the average person on the street, and students from Signal could, and regularly did, go out and kill Grimm. Hell, Weiss' partner was fifteen and from one such academy, and already good enough to be at Beacon.
Jaune let the Grimm fade before pulling his sword out; it was easier that way, and Elm wouldn't let any Grimm attack him while he was busy. Not that there were many left. This close to Beacon, the Grimm were sporadic at best. They'd come across about ten in the space of an hour, which wasn't many when you considered the Emerald Forest was meant to be infested with them.
"How's that?" laughed Elm. "Feeling a little better?"
"Y-Yes, actually." He was still quietly furious with Weiss, and still bitter about his new duties, but now he was physically tired as well, which helped a lot more than it ought to have. His arms burned pleasantly, and he'd been able to really show the Grimm how upset he was.
"You're a vicious little bugger when you're angry. Be careful of that temper if you're ever in a life or death situation – anger can keep you moving, but it can be a double edged sword. Nothing wrong with burning off a little like this, though. My advice? Always have someone a little calmer to watch your back."
"Makes sense. I do feel a lot calmer."
"Hmmm. Be careful not to completely hide all your feelings in this, though. This is only a coping mechanism. It won't fix anything."
"I know. I know. I need to talk to Weiss in private and really make sure she listens to what I'm saying." He took a deep breath and released it. "And I need to stand up for myself too. This is never going to work out if she keeps making decisions for me."
"Glad to see you're realising that. I just wish you had sooner."
"In my defence, I was distracted a lot in Atlas. I was usually too exhausted from using my Semblance to think much about what was going on." He wouldn't have minded if another Grimm came out to die. Sadly, they'd cleared this part of the forest and he felt too hot and sweaty to want to trek deeper. "I don't want to say it's all Weiss' fault, though. I'm the one who let it get this bad. Too eager to avoid confrontation and talk to her."
"Hmmm. Well, it's mature of you to realise that."
Mature? Heh. Mature would have been realising it in time to avoid the problem. There wasn't much to celebrate in having everything go wrong and then realising he'd made a mistake. It was just common sense at that point.
The bushes nearby rustled and Jaune turned to face them. Elm did as well, fists up, but it was no Grimm that emerged. Instead, it was a woman with black hair and golden eyes. He almost thought it was Blake before he noticed the lack of ears, and the subtly different uniform. More grey and green than Vale's uniform. Mistral. Haven, specifically. As the woman saw them and paused, he caught sight of two more emerging from the trees – a green-haired girl and a silver-haired boy.
"Oh," said the woman in the lead, eyeing Elm. "Are we interrupting? My team and I thought to get some training outside of class."
"You might want to roam a little further then," said Elm. "We've cleared out this area."
"Do you intend to keep training? My team and I wouldn't say no to a little company."
Elm took a step forward and placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "We're actually done for the day."
"A pity." The woman's eyes roamed over him. "My name is Cinder. This is Mercury and Emerald. We normally train on the weekends in the afternoons. You're welcome to accompany us in the future if you wish."
"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you." The three of them left after a lingering moment, slowly making their way deeper into the forest. Jaune watched them go, and then looked to Elm as the woman let out an explosive sigh. "Adding another one to your list, eh?"
"What do you mean?"
"The way that woman looked at you, I'd say she wanted to get you alone and eat you up." Elm winked, saw him blush, and then burst out laughing. "Ah, you're so innocent. She was definitely interested in you, though. Girl couldn't take her eyes off you."
"Elm, please. I've enough things to worry about without adding some rabid fan to the list."
/-/
"We could have taken her," said Mercury. "Emerald could have had her locked in her Semblance. He would have been too tired to do anything to stop us."
"And we would have been hounded across Vale had we tried, Mercury. Be patient. We will have plenty more opportunities to get to know our famous little friend. He's not going anywhere fast after what happened in Atlas."
"Looks like he's disillusioned enough as it is," said Emerald.
"True. The recent news hasn't been good for him. That might be an avenue worth exploring. As long as it doesn't interfere with current plans." Their Queen wanted him. Wanted him with a desperation that Cinder had never seen before. It was all she could do to convince Salem not to wage an immediate war on Vale, and only then because it might have killed him in the process. "Keep your attention on him but don't make any aggressive moves. Get closer to him if you see an opening but don't draw the ire of his bodyguard. We don't want more personnel dispatched from Atlas to protect him."
"Yes ma'am," said Mercury and Emerald as one.
Weiss deciding she knows best. Jaune being too passive. Pyrrha rocking boats.
Next Chapter: 2nd March
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