Chapter 21

…

Nora couldn't fall asleep.

She twisted and turned and adjusted her pillow in this way and that, but nothing seemed to work. She even counted sheep, grimm and broken legs but to no avail. With a heavy sigh escaping her lips, she had to accept that this would be one of those nights. Oh well. She wasn't terribly bothered by it, or at least so she tried to tell herself, but whatever the case, when she was about to try and play some games on her scroll, she noticed something quite peculiar.

"Jaune?" She whispered his name, and noted he seemingly froze for a second.

"…Hey."

"What'cha up to?" She was genuinely curious.

There was a moment of hesitation palpable in the air, before he slowly and carefully parted his lips to say, "Just going to run for a bit."

She blinked, and then had a look at her scroll. "It's 04:53 am." She pointed out.

He snorted. "Please remind me, who's bright idea it was to force me into a boxing fight at like 2 frikkin am?"

She quietly giggled. "Yea, I think it might have been me, huh."

His lips folded into a wry smile. Before he sighed, and his look went astray. "I just…I've been thinking a lot. I need to cool off my head."

"I see," She said, and truth be told, he was quite surprised she didn't say any more than that. Not that he wanted her to, but he expected as much, but it seemed his intuition was wrong. Before she glanced away for a second, and then back to him. "Mind if I join you? I just can't fall asleep and, I dunno, maybe some exercise could actually help. Please?" She asked in a gentle voice, and he in turn pursed his lips.

He wanted to be alone. Just him and the streets of city of Vale, nothing else. But…there was just something to Nora's voice which made his will waver. Perhaps it was the gentle tone which he'd never heard from her, so soft and maybe, just maybe pleading even. Whatever the case, he sighed before answering, "Sure."

"Thanks." Her voice remained gentle, her lips an appreciative smile, and she knew he wouldn't know just how much it meant for her.

He smiled back. "Then get ready. I'll be waiting outside by the entrance," He said, and then, with quiet footsteps, he exited the room. Shortly thereafter, she did as well.

…

The city of Vale was beautiful at night.

Simple, but still very much beautiful. An abundance of streetlights, shiny, colorful signs and towering buildings of different shapes and sizes. And shadows. Shadows everywhere, but they weren't intimidating, scary or dreadful. They were just there, part of the scenery, part of the beauty of the night. It was also, naturally so, much quieter at this hour, which was a contrast that only added to that feeling of solace and peace. No masses of people, vehicles mulling about, great assortment of sounds made by the bustling life. No. Just endless night sky above and some odd sound here or there.

Nora liked this atmosphere. In fact, at times she loved it. And running with Jaune also felt great. The two of them moving forward, feeling the chilly air on their skin, and letting their minds focus on present. One thing though, he wasn't going easy, and that, admittedly, did make things difficult for her to some extent. However, even that didn't really bother her. If anything, the fact that she really needed to focus her mind on running itself was actually welcome. Her mind didn't wander to things that she'd rather not think about. Especially so once he started mix in some sprints, then she really had no other choice but to give it her absolute best, and hope that she wouldn't be left in his dust.

And so, she continued to push herself forward with iron will and purpose.

…

She was dying.

Well, not really, but she could swear seeing her life flash before her eyes a couple of times as she continued to console her shaky knees for support.

DripDropDripDropDripDrop.

Sweat was coming down hard, she was wheezing like crazy, and the exhaustion she felt was quite something special. Giving him a look, she could tell that Jaune was in a slightly better shape than she was, but even he himself was a sweaty mess.

"…"

And so, at least couple of minutes went by with the two of them simply recovering from the great running they did.

"…"

Few more passed, and the pair was rested enough to breath evenly.

"You're a monster Jaune. I lost count of how many times I wanted to give up," She said as she gently shook her head.

He chuckled, and she noted that he looked like he was at peace with himself. "We ran pretty hard, that's for sure. But you always kept pace with me, so good job. You're a bit of monster yourself, Nora."

"Aww, that's very nice of you," She said with a playful tone, and then craned her heavy head backwards, her eyes meeting with the night-sky. "I think I nearly kicked the bucket at the end though," She remarked dryly, and then tried to stretch her legs for a bit. He did the same, and once again, temporary silence fell upon them. Once they were done, they both agreed that setting their asses down on a bench sounded like a great idea, and with a bit of searching involved, the pair found themselves just what they needed.

"I think I could pass on without any regrets now." She remarked jokingly, earning a chuckle from him.

"Feels great, yea," He said, and they both adapted similar poses. Their legs splayed out, upper body supported on their hands, and heads craned backwards and down, their eyes met with the star-lit sky above. They were fine like this. She was glad that he was beside her, and he actually felt the same. She could see in his eyes that he remained as he was just after they finished running, at peace with himself. Still, she was curious anyways.

"Your head's all clear now?"

He blinked, seemingly surprised to hear her voice. Before he collected his thoughts, and gave her an answer. "Yea. Worked like a charm, actually," He said with what seemed like a perfectly fine tone of voice, but-and maybe it really was just her imagination-but she seemed to notice a sliver of sadness, bitterness or maybe even resignation accompanying his words.

"That so, huh." She merely spoke her thoughts out loud. "That's all fine and dandy, but don't ya think you're getting a bit too relaxed?"

He blinked, completely oblivious where she was going with that. "Um, what?"

She locked her eyes into his. "Do I really have to remind ya that just a couple of hours ago, you managed to beat the almighty Pyrrha Nikos, a.k.a. 'The invincible girl' in a ring? And did so with flying colors? That's kinda big deal, wouldn't ya say?"

He stared into her eyes for a moment, but then averted them. "In a boxing ring, Nora." He answered simply.

She straightened her back before saying, "Exactly. In a boxing ring, you were clearly better than her. In other words, in a sport that you love so much. Doesn't that, I dunno, make you want to try boxing again?"

"…"

There was a moment of silent consideration, unspoken truths passing before his blue eyes, dreams which never were realized, and also, terrible things that robbed him of his desire to give boxing another chance. And then he lowly hummed, and gazed at the night-sky. "Not really, no." He answered to both, her and himself.

"…"

Another moment of silent consideration, only now it was her. She wasn't sure how much further she wanted to press the issue, and in the end, she decided to take a different approach altogether.

"Okay, so what's your plan then?"

"My plan?"

"Yea, what do you plan to do?"

"…Finish Beacon and then work as a huntsman."

"Sounds about right, but isn't that going to be an endless uphill battle for ya?"

He forced out a chuckle. "Do you think that I hate being here?"

"I don't think that you hate it, I just think that you don't really care."

"It's…not like that. I'm just still trying to get used to it all," He said, and to be fair, he sounded truthful.

She hummed, and again, had to think for a bit to find the right words she wanted to say. Before her lips curved into a smile. "Fine. But how about this-you enter a boxing gym, train for a bit, and then have a couple of fights?"

He gave her a dubious look. "Why?"

Her smile widened. "Because I wanna see your bad-ass self in a boxing ring again."

He parted his lips, as if to say something, but then closed them shut. Before he smiled himself, and gave her a wry look. "Did you just admit that the only time I've been cool was in a boxing ring?"

She laughed. "No, I did not. But a little extra bad-assary wouldn't hurt is what I'm saying. I mean just think about it, a handsome, young blonde as you with a shiny champions belt around your waist. Girls would go crazy about you."

He chuckled. "With a champions belt around my waist you say. I dunno, Nora. To me that sounds a bit more than just having a couple of fights.

She gently punched him in the shoulder. "Oh shut up, you know what I mean."

He chuckled again. "Sure do," He said, and they then shared a brief smile. Before she planted her elbows on her knees, letting her chin rest in her hands. "Think about it, okay? Or actually, don't think about it, just do it and only then think about it," She said, and didn't get a voiced answer in return. She wasn't surprised, but she definitely knew that he heard her. And for now, that was enough.

He gently inhaled, and then exhaled. "So, mind telling me why couldn't you fall asleep?" He instead asked her.

"Now that's a secret." She answered with the best grin she could feign.

He gave her a wry look, but decided to not press on. "Fine," He said with a dry tone of voice.

She cracked a tiny, genuine smile. "Tell ya what, you make me some nice breakfast, and I just might change my mind. How's that?"

He hummed, amused. "Dunno. We'll see about it," He said, and then both of them shared a smile. Before silence struck true again, and yet they weren't bothered by it.

They were fine like this.