A/N: Here we are. The unveiling of wife number two. I was pleasently surprised that most people got it wrong. But not everyone, and those people can enjoy a hearty pat on the back. Good on you. Hopefully, people will enjoy this unexpected turn. We're also getting a closer look at just how Jaune is empowered by his semblance. Please enjoy.
Chapter 4
Tag(s): N/A
Girl(s): ?
Words: 11,321
"I…I did it?" Jaune wondered out loud, trying and failing to make sense of what he'd just witnessed. All around him, his aura pulsed. Thicker and nearly viscus in a way he didn't remember from the forest.
The class had started normally enough. After introductions and yet another explanation of the arena's rules and safety features, Professor Goodwitch called down the first two combatants of the day. Each were young women that Jaune didn't know, but after a few seconds of battle, it wasn't hard to understand their different styles. One relied on a razer whip to tangle and decapitate. At the same time, the other depended on a bladed assault rifle and did their best to battle from a distance, cutting her opponent's aura in a hailstone of dust-infused rounds.
The resulting clashes were equal parts climactic and underwhelming. Jaune thought it was incredible to watch as the women jumped and dodged, and he'd said as much to his own detriment. His friends were more than happy to correct him. And while they were not bad by any means, their weaknesses stood out enough that he could see them once they were pointed out.
The gun users' aim was incredible. Each shot served a purpose: chipping away at her opponent's aura or pinning her at a distance. But that distance was her only advantage, and every step she took backward placed her closer to the arena's edge. Her hesitance to engage in hand-to-hand combat proved she likely wasn't as competent and created an opening for the other woman to take advantage of.
Likewise, the woman with the whip appeared equally proficient with her weapon, controlling the chain of razer sharp metal like it was an extension of her body. But her fighting style clearly relied on her opponents coming to her, opening themselves to her superior range and angle of attack. It was a good strategy, especially against Grimm that usually charged without a thought. But after a few minutes, it became clear that she had no back up plan, leaving her to constantly dodge around the arena trying to close the distance and failing.
In the end, the whip user won, but only because she managed to force a forfeit once the woman with the rifle got cocky. But everyone could see the melee specialist's aura was a fraction from the boundary Professor Goodwitch had set in the system. In short, the blonde teacher had gifted both women with a list of corrections and improvements she expected to see in the coming months, sparring neither of their feelings with her chilling tone.
If Jaune hadn't been intimidated by the older woman before, that did the trick. It had been bad enough when he'd been afraid of making a fool of himself in front of everyone. Now he had to worry about a professional huntress pointing out all the ways he messed up?
It wasn't a surprise that some of his earlier confidence took a critical hit. Part of him began to hope that his fight would be postponed until later in the week. There were far too many students to get to everyone in one afternoon. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he'd found his prayers dashed by the sound of his name falling from the chilly teacher's pale lips. And his opponent? The biggest guy in their year.
Jaune was aware of Carden in the same way an elk was aware of a bear. Yeah, he didn't know him on a personal level, but that wasn't necessary to understand that he was dangerous in and out of the ring. The few times he'd caught the redhead in the halls, it was almost always when he was looming over shorter first years, throwing his strength around like it was a performance.
He'd brought the same attitude into the ring, lazily throwing his wrecking ball of a mace over his shoulder to let his muscles flex with rippling power. If this had been an attempt at intimidating Jaune, he'd succeeded. By the time Professor Goodwitch called for their match to begin, Jaune was literally shaking behind his shield.
There was no question. Jaune didn't stand a chance. But that didn't mean he was helpless! He hadn't spent the last two weeks sitting around reading comics. He'd been training every morning before classes and training hard. Say what you will about Pyrrha, she did not hold back. Which was what he needed.
She'd taught him how to survive. He just needed to remember all the nights she'd left him sweating and gasping, and not in the awesome way. Unfortunately, as soon as the buzzer rang and the ginger haired boy charged him, Jaune had found any memories fleeing with the rest of his senses.
As it turned out, even with the hardest training, two weeks wasn't nearly enough to get a civilian on par with a huntsman—in training or not. Who knew?
Jaune, that's who. Jaune knew. Hopefully, he would be able to remember that after Carden finished replacing his brain with sand.
He didn't have to wait long. One second Jaune was standing with his feet braced against the sand like Pyrrha showed him, and the next, gravity felt like it had been reversed as he was sent flying through the air. He found the ground again eventually, laying in a crumpled heap and waiting for the waves of agony to assault him.
Except…they didn't. And the longer Jaune laid there, the worse he began to fear for his body. He'd heard about shock after an accident and how adrenalin could trick your brain. Eyes clenched shut, he half expected to see his arm twisted at the wrong angle or for his bone to have pierced through his skin. But a peek showed that…he was fine. And a cursory wiggle of his fingers and toes proved that all his limbs were still intact.
Jaune had no choice but to get back on his feet. And while Carden looked slightly surprised, no one was more shocked than Jaune himself.
He wasn't given time to ponder on it for long. Insulted by Jaune's lack of immediate death, Carden had wasted no time charging in for a second attack. And without the crippling fear locking his joints, Jaune managed to raise his shield at an angle like Pyrrha had showed him, defecting some of the force to the side.
The weight of the attack still should have broken his arm. At the very least, Jaune knew it should have hurt to block a weapon made for crushing shields. However, while he felt the vibration and power, he seemed to resist it well enough to shrug the force to the side. And with muscle memory that he'd only just begun etching into his body, his sword arm struck before he could think about it, slashing the young man across the chest.
It was a shallow blow. And worse, Jaune's humble strength made it less effective than it could have been. But it was still a hit. He'd landed a hit on a real huntsman in training. And the lucky blow was enough to draw a wide smile across his face. Unfortunately for him, the middle of a match was not the time to celebrate and Carden saw no issue with capitalizing on his mistake.
Before Jaune could blink, the full strength of Carden's mace found his face, bolstered by a triumphant war cry. Jaune knew he was finished and would be lucky to have any teeth when he woke up. Would Pyrrha be as happy to kiss him then? However, the strange phenomena from before persisted, and when Jaune's eyes opened, he found himself virtually unharmed by the giant weapon.
No matter how hard Carden tried to hit him for the rest of the duel, Jaune's seeming invulnerability never changed. The blond could feel the attacks. He could feel the power slamming against him with every heavy blow. But it was almost like all of that momentum stopped mere inches from his skin, halted by some invisible force. Aura, he remembered. However, even that failed to completely explain the strength of his defense.
Yes, Pyrrha had taught him that aura could be used to defend yourself from attacks. But to this extent? There were a lot of ways that aura could be spent, and making it absorb damage was the most costly. Even if he had more than was normal, surely he should expect it to run out.
Carden didn't give him time to check the monitor displaying their aura level, doing everything he could to ensure that Jaune stayed down. The constant pressure forced Jaune to trust that every hit would be the one that shattered his aura, pushing him to keep dodging and deflecting for fear of his life.
The blond managed to score a few more hits whenever the larger boy overextended himself, which was often. They never served to do much damage and were often sloppily executed, but every blow was a point in Jaune's book. They also had the added benefit of pushing Carden's already sizable temper to new heights.
Toward the end, the ginger was more beast than trained huntsman. And the calculated rhythm and technique he'd carried at the start was traded for more power. Delivering harder swings that came faster and faster, and draining Carden's stamina more quickly than he could bleed Jaune's aura. And that was how Carden found himself passed out at Jaune's feet. Not because the blond had destroyed him, but because he could simply take more hits than Carden could dish out.
"W-Winner, Jaune Arc."
Professor Goodwitch's voice broke the spell, drawing Jaune back into the present. Covered in sweat and sand, Jaune's lungs burned like they'd been set on fire, struggling to keep up with his gasping breath. Wiping his eyes clear, he finally turned toward the board expecting to see a sliver of aura hanging on by a threat.
Instead? Half his bar stood proudly on the display. It was next to nothing against the splinter of aura that Carden had lost. But in the end, the ginger was the one on the floor and he was left to stand in triumph.
Of course, it hardly looked like a win. Taking another look at the crowd, everyone watched him with the same confusion Jaune felt. Even Ms. Goodwitch didn't appear to fully understand what she had seen, openly fussing with her datapad as if the aura measurement system was at fault. But it was to no avail, and after a handful of minutes spent in tense silence, she was forced to set the device aside to address the rest of her class.
"That was…a very interesting battle." She approached the two young men, showing more expression than Jaune had ever seen on the older woman. She looked confused, concerned, and regarded Jaune with no small amount of curiosity. Given what he'd seen of the woman, that was enough to send a shiver up the young man's spine.
"Mr. Arc," she decided to address the root of the problem. "That is…quite a semblance, I must say. I've never seen anyone bear quite that amount of aura, but you used your ability to take damage to its fullest and were successful in your plan to exhaust your opponent. Very impressive. However, aura alone does not make a huntsman and I suggest you continue to train and build your body until your skillset is more balanced. You may have won today, but any opponent with enough critical thinking can easily outmaneuver you."
Jaune listened with a frown but disguised it quickly. Professor Goodwitch had to make do with what she had, which wasn't a lot. If calling this strange power a semblance helped justify what just happened, then he was more than happy to go along with it, nodding in deference.
Professor Goodwitch met his stare without blinking, eager to move on. "And Mr. Winchester," she turned toward the boy, who had barely managed to catch his breath. Using his mace like a cane, he pulled himself to his feet, seemingly oblivious of the thick cake of sand fixed to half his face as he blinked unsteadily. The older woman frowned, but otherwise continued in the same professional tone.
"Let this be a lesson to you, Mr. Winchester. Physical strength is hardly everything, least of all against an opponent whose goal is clearly attrition. You might have found a solution if you'd changed your tactics even slightly at any point in the fight. But the moment you allowed your temper to control you, you might as well have forfeited the match."
She corrected her glasses with an elegant finger. "My advice to you would include regular meditation and reflection on your loss. Try and imagine different avenues of attack you could have employed instead of charging forward again and again like a raging Ursa. Otherwise, it never hurts to improve your stamina. Regular laps around the training fields are always beneficial."
Immediately, Carden's dazed expression hardened into fury. And it wasn't like he could exactly glare at a professor. No, that was Jaune's to enjoy as he had to stop himself from shrinking back from the full force of the bully's fury. Professor Goodwitch interrupted before the blond found himself fending off another storm of animalistic blows.
"Thank you both. You are free to return to your seats."
Jaune didn't need to be told twice and hurried back toward his team. Unfortunately, he could tell by the looks on their faces that they had questions he had no way of answering. He had to walk forward, watching their eyes follow him until he was close enough to interrogate.
"Jaune!"
"Dude!"
"What was-?"
"I've never seen-."
"Are you even human?"
Jaune weathered the burst of comments from every direction. Thinking fast, he was saved by a pair of deceptively strong arms wrapping around him. Pyrrha's familiar softness and smell swallowed him as they embraced.
"Jaune," she enthused, nearly vibrating with her excitement, "that was incredible!" All of Jaune's exhaustion and anxiety melted away. Looking over his wife's shoulder at his friend's earnest and teasing smiles, he forgot about the strangeness of what had happened and let his victory sink in.
He'd won? He'd won! He'd actually managed to win a spar against a huntsman.
"Thanks, you guys," Jaune grinned, and this time the expression reached his eyes. "I know it's not exactly a conventional way of fighting, but, ah, me and Pyrrha are working to round out my skills a little more. I know having a lot of aura is nice, but I'd still like to contribute more to a fight than being a punching bag."
"It makes sense," Weiss commented, looking at Jaune with a new light. "Pyrrha is clearly an extremely adaptable offensive fighter. Giving her the space and time she needs without getting overwhelmed severely detracts from her main weakness." Crossing her arms in a huff, the pale girl's brow drew together. "As much as I hate to say it, I can see how you two complement each other."
Jaune blinked at the assumption. Much to his surprise, the rest of his friends were nodding along as if his and Pyrrha's compatibility had been a question on all their minds. Well, he wasn't about to correct them. The more lies he told, the more Jaune had learned that saying less benefited him and Pyrrha's situation. Everyone was prone to making their own assumption and not one of them had gotten close.
"What can I say," the blond shrugged, hugging Pyrrha against his side before he placed a lingering kiss against her soft cheek. "We make one hell of a team."
"I can't argue with that," the huntress sighed lovingly, brushing away some of the sand that had gotten in his hair. He'd need a full shower to get rid of most of it, but she couldn't help but fuss at him. The assembled group of teenagers offered a mix of exasperation and fondness they tried to hide.
Down in the sand, Ms. Goodwitch was almost finished resetting the arena for the next bout. Jaune moved to take a seat with the rest of his friends when the professor's voice rang out, "I am ready for the next participants. Would Ms. Schnee and Ms. Nikos please join me?" Pyrrha froze on her way to sit beside her husband, standing up with pleasant anticipation.
Weiss didn't appear half as eager, despite the enthusiastic cheers from her teammates.
"You got this Weiss!
"Better you than me."
"Thanks for taking this one for the team, hehe."
Weiss's paler features narrowed at each of them, hissing a quiet, "I hate all of you," before rising to stomp down the stairs. But for all her hesitation, the small girl resolved herself against going down without a fight. She might not be a champion duelist, but she was still Weiss Schnee, damnit. And that had to count for something.
"Please connect your scroll's aura reading function to the arena display," Ms. Goodwitch instructed once everyone was in place. The girls did so, illuminating Weiss's profile first with a healthy green bar below. Pyrrha's was next, earning a sharp glance once the measurements displayed themselves on the professor's tablet. Looking behind her, the older woman confirmed that Pyrrha's aura was not the healthy glow it should have been. In fact, it was being displayed at half her recorded capacity.
Pyrrha tilted her head curiously, confusion drawing her brows together. Professor Goodwitch was less composed, appearing ready to throw her tablet in the nearest trash as she began violently pressing the screen for the second time in as many fights. Jaune frowned in the stands, staring at the stadium display with unexplainable anxiety. He didn't even notice his friends' attention until he turned his head to catch all of them giving him the same impressed stare.
"W-What?" he asked, fearing the answer.
"Not bad," Blake offered simply, one eyebrow raised against an otherwise impassive expression.
"Good for you," Yang chipped in, her head tilted back to examine the other blond. "It's always the quiet ones."
"Good for him?" Nora snorted, shooting narrowed eyes toward the red-haired girl in the pit, no small amount of jealousy eating at her endless joy. "Good for her. Lucky…"
The only exception was Ruby, who looked like she was doing her best to look in any direction except his, blocking his view of her cherry red cheeks.
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Jaune had to ask, looking at them all like they were crazy. In turn, his friends appeared to turn back toward the arena in unison, ignoring his perplexed confusion in favor of feigning innocence. He had no choice but to ignore them and return his attention back to the ring.
Ms. Goodwitch finally gave up on her tablet with an unflattering huff, squaring her shoulders before addressing her students. "Ms. Nikos? Do you have an explanation as to why you've walked into my classroom missing so much aura?" But Pyrrha looked at the screen with as much confusion as the teacher.
"I…" she hedged, "My husband and I were training this morning," she eventually described. Quiet generously at that. Jaune had been training. Under her supervision while she corrected his posture and saw to his physical conditioning. He hadn't so much as taken a swing at her, too busy building the foundation most huntsmen had instilled before puberty. "I suppose I pushed myself too hard?" Pyrrha's face appeared anything but confident.
"That's quite some time to go without regenerating back to full, no matter how hard you pushed yourselves." Ms. Goodwitch frowned, missing the questionable address in her consern. "It might be a better idea to postpone your match until the nurse has looked at you. It's not very fair to grade your spar when you've already been weekend to this extent."
"The nurse?" the room could hear Pyrrha's disappointment. She'd thought all the touring and exhaustion had burned her from organized battle, but with weeks to herself for the first time in much too long, the redhead was surprised to feel an anxiousness in her blood, itching to move her body. Initiation had done a good job to quell that hunger, but she had still been looking forward to this. Especially considering what she had seen of team RWBY's capabilities.
"Well," her green eyes flickered toward Weiss who didn't look like she knew how to feel about the abrupt turn. "If Weiss doesn't mind, I certainly don't. I'll even promise to go straight to the nurse afterward for a checkup."
Ms. Goodwitch's lips pinched at the idea of letting an injured student brawl. But learning their limits was as important a lesson as anything else she taught in this ring. And if it started to look dangerous, she could easily call the match at any time.
"If you insist," the blonde hedged, correcting her glasses as she turned toward the other combatant. "Ms. Schnee, are you amenable?" Standing off to the side with her rapier awkwardly cradled against her front, the much smaller girl couldn't agree fast enough.
"Of course!" Weiss shamelessly enthused. Fighting Pyrrha Nikos at full strength was asking for humiliation. But with almost half her aura missing, suddenly Weiss' odds weren't so depressing. As long as she focused and played this smart, there was no reason she could trade the right number of blows to drain Pyrrha's aura a little faster than her own. And then, she could add beating a national champion to her already lengthy list of awards and achievements.
"Very well," the professor sighed. "Ms. Schnee, Ms. Nikos, if you would take your positions, I'll proceed with the-."
"Mrs. Arc, actually." Pyrrha interrupted. Her smile was still respectful but firm in the way she insisted.
Ms. Goodwitch paused for a moment before frowning. "I'm sorry?"
"You've been calling me Ms. Nikos," Pyrrha explained, taking no offense to her teacher's tone. "That is no longer the case, and I wanted to correct you. I prefer to be addressed by my new surname, Mrs. Arc. Or just Pyrrha if you prefer."
Green eyes stared into green, similar in color but completely opposite in warmth. Not that the teacher was trying to glare, but her face naturally settled toward an aggressive demeanor. "Arc," the blonde repeated, just in case she hadn't heard right. And when Pyrrha nodded gleefully, her gaze inevitably drifted toward the stands.
It was still early enough in the year that Ms. Goodwitch couldn't name her students simply from a glance. But her age hadn't progressed to the point that she could forget the face she'd spoken to minutes prior. A face that now appeared quite frightened when it stared back at her from above. Without missing a beat, the older woman slowly turned her attention to her tablet, only pressing two buttons before returning her attention to the redheaded student.
"I apologize. It appears congratulations are in order," Ms. Goodwitch replied affably. "But I'm afraid your file was never properly updated." Her tone took on a gentler, patronizing tone, which would have warned anyone else, but Pyrrha failed to pick up on the social cue and allowed her brilliant smile to spread another inch.
Pyrrha accepted her teacher's apology gracefully. "Perfectly understandable. You know, all of the other teachers have been making the same mistake. I don't suppose you could fix that for us?"
The professor's alien expression deepened as a small smile graced her lips. "I guarantee I'll look into this as soon as possible. But for now, if Mrs. Arc and Ms. Schnee could take their positions?" And this time, there were no arguments.
Afterward, Pyrrha and Weiss were allowed to start their spar. Fast movements and flashy acrobatics dominated the sandy circle, easily overshadowing both initial fights–Jaune's especially.
Not that the blond minded or was surprised. For all her posturing, Weiss was a prodigy, even if that was off the back of hundreds of hours, if not a lifetime, of private tutoring. And Pyrrha? Well, no one could argue that she wasn't born to fight in the arena. To put on a show and entrance anyone who watched a near mastery of both breath and limb as she danced around her opponent.
Everyone except Jaune, unfortunately. Because as much as he would have loved to watch his wife perform, he hadn't missed her exchange with their professor. Just like he couldn't ignore the older blonde's reaction to their supposed union.
Ever since the fight started, Professor Goodwitch hadn't glanced at the combatants, focused wholly on the slab of electronic glass braced against her forearm. And the longer Jaune watched, the deeper his teacher's furl wrinkled between her eyebrows.
A sixth sense tingled against the nape of Jaune's neck, encouraging a cold sweat that threatened to soak through his hoodie. It was the kind of anxious certainty only the most paranoid were allowed to enjoy. And when his teacher's green eyes finally turned from her screen to stare up into the stands, toward him, into his eyes, Jaune found himself frozen, meeting her inscrutable stare with wide-eyed terror.
Time ceased to exist in the handful of moments that the two blondes maintained eye contact. Jaune expected anger, accusations, or at the very least, suspicion. But Ms. Goodwitch gave nothing away, letting him stew in a fabrication of guilt and uncertainty. Forcing him to wonder if she knew, how much she knew, and what she would do about it. And then it was over. As fast as it happened, Ms. Goodwitch broke their connection to regard the bout flashing in a maelstrom of sigils and rifle ammo.
Jaune did his best to do the same. If their teacher didn't know anything, then blatantly staring at her wouldn't help him blend in. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself the exchange hadn't meant anything, he had too many secrets to comfortably exist beneath that woman's scrutiny.
After all, how hard would anyone have to look to see that he and Pyrrha weren't legally married? They'd been lucky so far in that none of their friends or the other students had bothered looking deeper. When Pyrrha told them they were married, there was some surprise, but it wasn't something people tended to lie about.
Would the professor be as happy to brush it off? Something told him he wouldn't be so fortunate, turning his stomach into a broiling pit of fear. Enough that he almost failed to notice the notifications pinging from his scroll until the constant buzzing pulled him back from the deepest part of his brain.
Reaching into his pocket, he absentmindedly intended to silence it when the warning caught his attention. Specifically, the built-in safety programmed as a part of the application that monitored his aura. He must have left it connected after his spar. And gripped by curiosity, Jaune opened the app and felt his eyes widen.
The spar with Carden had taken a lot out of him, but he was startled to find his aura lower than after the fight had ended. If anything, he should have recovered with a few minutes to sit down and rest. Unfortunately, there was no denying that the bar displaying his reserves had lost a noticeable chunk, appearing much more orange than the sickly yellow it had been.
Had Carden done more damage than Jaune had thought? Considering the terrifying weapon, it wasn't hard to believe that something inside of him had snapped without his knowledge. What if he was bleeding internally or broke a rib and he ran out of aura before he could finish healing?
He really should have taken a few hours to learn more about this stuff. Pyrrha had provided a quick summary of what it could do, but that was a poor substitute for fully understanding the thing responsible for keeping him alive.
Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. Jaune wasn't given much time to worry before another fraction of his bar suddenly vanished in a startling jump. Jaune tensed as soon as his eyes registered, almost like he was expecting a sharp pain to explain the loss. But no pain came, and then Ruby's whispered voice invaded his ear.
"That looked like it hurt."
Jaune's wide-eyed attention strayed toward her, half convinced she was talking about him when he noticed her attention was still trained on the fight. Jaune mirrored her gaze, finding his wife standing in the remnants of a fire sigil that had gone off directly beneath her feet. The redhead looked fine despite the residual smoke snaking around her, much to Weiss' frustration if her sudden snarl was any indication.
"That was Weiss' secret attack," Ruby went on like an overly eager announcer. "She told me she was working on trapping before Beacon and keeping control of her opponents. So cool!" The younger girl bounced in her seat, oblivious to Jaune's confusion as he watched the two girls resume their bout. Weiss was fast with Myrtenaster, but Pyrrha was faster. And as another pale sigil appeared over the white-haired girl's head, his wife was able to jump out of the way in time for a hailstorm of icicles to stab two inches into the sandy floor where she had been standing.
That's what Jaune thought until part of the wider spray happened to catch Pyrrha's foot mid-jump. The black color of her aura flashed, deflecting the sharp edge. But the hit had been solid enough to carve another inch from the large billboard displaying the two students' aura for the class.
In his hand, Jaune felt his scroll buzz once again.
His eyes flickered down to a familiar picture. Too familiar, as he began connecting the pieces. And the longer the two girls fought, the more he began to understand what was happening. Why his aura was draining even though he felt fine. Why Pyrrha's aura had been drained before she'd so much as stepped foot into the ring.
They were connected. His semblance was the only explanation, and Jaune didn't shy from it, staring at the emerald stone still glittering on his ring finger.
What was the old saying? What's mine is yours, and yours is mine. Except in their case, his semblance must have fused their aura, sharing the damage they took between them and protecting each other from the world's dangers.
He'd certainly benefited. Enough to survive five minutes in a spar with Carden Winchester. He'd had twice as much aura to protect him. It was almost like Pyrrha had been shielding him the whole time. And while that should have detracted from the excitement he'd enjoyed from the unexpected victory, all Jaune could feel was awe.
There was still so much he didn't know about his semblance, the least of which included an explanation for why it brainwashed women into loving him. But part of him couldn't help but celebrate that it wasn't all bad. If semblances really reflected the soul, he'd been worried about what this power said about him. But this new context added so much to how he saw his ability.
At the very least, this proved that he could protect Pyrrha. And the evidence continued to present throughout his wife's spar, displayed by every glancing blow his incredible champion suffered despite Weiss' best attempts. It was a lesson in frustration that the white-haired girl couldn't have expected, pushing her to forgo her calculated attacks for something more frantic.
It wasn't Weiss' fault, of course. She'd gone into the battle assuming she would fight someone already weakened. Which might not be the most honorable mindset, but those assumptions had molded her strategy. Unfortunately for her, she had no way of knowing that Jaune was boosting his wife's aura the entire time. So that even at half strength, that was two people's halves, equaling a whole. Or close enough to it.
Every thrust of her rapier felt like it was trying to pierce stone. And what damage she did shave off the redhead was usually half of what Weiss had been expecting. That alone was enough to leave psychological harm, if only to make the shorter girl believe she couldn't win. That Pyrrha was that far ahead of everyone else, and that nothing she did could close that distance.
In the end, it was her will that buckled before her body. Leaping away from yet another clash that cost her far more than she'd earned, Weiss made the mistake of looking at the overhead board to see that her aura had fallen far enough to nearly match her opponent, who had started with far less. Grimacing, the crowd could see the moment she gave up, shoulders slumping and posture falling limp. Raising her hand, she called out, "I surrender."
She wasn't happy about it. The crowd could see that too. The competitive urge to fight until the last second burned in her otherwise glacial blue eyes. But she'd lost the fight as soon as she'd let her emotions get the best of her, and she wasn't about to reduce herself to the same bullheaded mentality shared by the likes of Winchester.
The iron in Pyrrha's gaze vanished like someone had flipped a switch, and suddenly she was back to the delightful girl filled with bright light and cheer. Their teacher picked that moment to come forward and address her students.
Thankfully, her critiques for the two girls were far more complimentary than the first two bouts. Weiss, she recommended, to try and work on conditioning her body a little harder. Speed and precision were wonderful, but they wouldn't matter if she couldn't harm her opponents. While Pyrrha was merely offered a complimentary "no notes at this time," which may as well have been a standing ovation as far as the blonde teacher was concerned. Suffice to say, the redhead was practically bouncing by the time she made it back to her husband, as opposed to the resigned death march Weiss suffered dragging herself back to her team.
"Jaune," The redhead greeted her husband with a wide smile, clearly expecting praise for her performance.
"You were incredible," the blond didn't disappoint, wrapping his arm around her to pull her against his side. The workout in the sand had encouraged the leathery musk that almost always clung to his wife, but he didn't shrink from her sweat. If anything, it reminded him of softer moments lost in darkness and moonlight, urging him to pull her closer.
"Thank you," the redhead flushed prettily. She'd been told as much by hundreds of newspapers and magazines over her lifetime. And had even enjoyed such compliments from professional huntsmen who knew the difference between real talent and flashy showmanship that the youth of their generation tended to cling to. And yet, it never felt better than hearing it from her husband.
"I was a little nervous," she admitted, relaxing against Jaune's shoulder. "I've never had to go so long between fights before. I worried I might have been a little rusty."
"Well, I think you did just fine," Jaune snorted, glancing covertly toward Team RWBY. Thankfully, they were likewise focused on their teammate who was slowly recovering from her bruised ego. It's not as if losing to Pyrrha Nikos was worth any great shame. Still, it looked like neither of the girls had expected it to be quite so one-sided.
"Yes," Pyrrha agreed, frowning for the first time. "I-I don't mean to insult Weiss, of course. Clearly, she's very talented—like everyone who can get into Beacon. But I wasn't expecting it to go quite that easily. The magazines loved to call me the invincible girl, but I could hardly feel her attacks. It's never been like that before."
Jaune didn't answer right away, considering. He wanted to tell her. Hell, telling his wife had been his first instinct as soon as he understood what his semblance was doing. But would Pyrrha be able to understand? His semblance had already proven that it blocked his wife from acknowledging its effects on her mind and this was just another aspect of those abilities.
Disappointment filled his chest when he decided to keep this new information to himself. Pyrrha had proven time and time again that she was his greatest ally in this world, which made her inability to acknowledge his semblance so frustrating. It was unerringly the most stressful part of life since starting Beacon, and he would have loved to have someone to confide in. Instead, it felt like another lie he was forced to hoard, tainting whatever happiness he managed to eke out between panic attacks.
"I guess that makes you more amazing than I already thought," Jaune eventually settled, earning another radiant grin. Too bad he couldn't enjoy it, nor the brief kiss Pyrrha laid against his cheek.
Well, maybe he could enjoy them a little…
The rest of the fights continued with much less fanfare, Jaune was sure their professor was glad to see. Occasionally, a new couple of students were called into the pit and asked to fight. Which they performed, some better than others. Few were as good as his wife and Weiss. Jaune was entertained either way, as of yet uninured to the quick combat and unique weapons.
It was almost enough to distract the young man from his previous anxiety. And Pyrrha's warm body wrapped in her scanty armor handled the rest. He had the chance to just relax for the first time in a week, without the shadow of his spar looming overhead. So when the blonde professor called class for the day and dismissed her students to the changing rooms, Jaune didn't think twice about standing to get out of his hoodie and armor.
That was a mistake. And Ms. Goodwitch's voice called out to stop him and his wife halfway across the room.
"Mr. Arc. Mrs. Arc," They didn't get the chance to approach her. She came to them, appearing at their side as if she'd always been there. Jaune jumped like she was a ghost, while Pyrrha remained much more graceful, turning to greet their teacher with a smile and seeing absolutely nothing wrong with her focused attention. Jaune wasn't nearly as naive.
"Hello, Ms. Goodwitch. Can we help you?"
"I certainly hope so," Ms. Goodwitch nodded. "I've kept an eye on your aura levels since your fight, and so far, I'm pleased to see you're recovering at the expected rate for a first-year student. However, I'm afraid I must insist you still visit the infirmary. I hope you haven't forgotten your promise."
Pyrrha's smile fractured. "Of course not." She had only been hoping that the professor had. The redhead composed herself, resigned to see it through. "Very well. Do you mind writing me a note for Professor Oobleck? History is our last class for the day, and it looks like I'll be missing most of it."
"Of course," Ms. Goodwitch agreed. "I'll write them for you both. It looks like I need to discuss a few things with Mr. Arc here while you're away."
Watching the two women interact, Jaune felt a chisel of ice lodge itself in his lower back at his teacher's prompt. Eyes wide, Jaune felt the cold sweat return when her gentle expression flickered toward his paling features.
"Oh?" Pyrrha asked, merely curious instead of suspicious. "Is everything alright?"
"Perfectly fine," the blonde waved her student's concerns away with a hand. "I just have a few questions about your recent nuptials before I can update that paperwork for you. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to clear this entire mess up."
Pyrrha nodded along like that was a perfectly reasonable request. Meanwhile, Jaune felt like he'd been physically struck by his teacher's words, and this time no amount of aura in the world could have softened the blow. It didn't help that, despite talking to Pyrrha, she hadn't looked away from his blue orbs, forcing the young man to come to the only conclusion available.
She knows.
"Hopefully, I won't be too long. I'll see you in class, okay?" Pyrrha's hand brushed his arm in parting before she started toward the locker rooms to change, leaving Jaune alone with their teacher. He couldn't so much as acknowledge the sliver of warmth, too focused on his teacher's piercing green eyes.
Jaune didn't say anything for the longest time, anxiously waiting for his professor to speak up. But she never bothered, apparently perfectly comfortable waiting as long as Jaune needed to respond. Her calm in the face of his unease only served to unsettle him further until it felt like his heart would beat out of his chest.
"Should I get changed first, or…?" he eventually blurted, just to escape the quiet. All the other students had disappeared by this point, leaving the two of them behind. Finally, the blonde teacher offered the young man a slow blink, the first that Jaune had seen since she'd approached them.
"I think this will all go much faster if you just follow me." Without waiting for an answer, the tall woman turned to start toward the exit. And feeling an overwhelming sense of resignation, Jaune had no choice but to do as she'd asked.
XxX
The walk to Ms. Goodwitch's office didn't take long, but it was quiet. Other students were in the halls talking and walking before their last class of the day, but all Jaune could focus on were the clicks and clacks of his teacher's heels as she marched him toward the faculty building. Even the brief flash of sunlight as they crossed the lawn didn't help his constitution, leaving him feeling like he'd been dunked in an icy river.
Eventually, the two of them made it toward the isolated corner that the blonde called her office, leaving Jaune to sit in thick silence while his professor busily shuffled papers from across her desk. He had no choice but to wait. To sit there like a good boy until the blonde said what she had to say. Except that when those thin lips parted, Jaune found he should have savored the quiet a little longer.
"So then," her prim voice cut him with its monotone, "you don't belong here, Mr. Arc."
Just like that. A simple matter of fact spoken as such. Jaune had been expecting it, but he still experienced a flash of terror hearing the words from his teacher's mouth. Part of him considered denying it, of fighting for his place in Beacon. But as quickly as the initial urge surfaced, it quietly snuffed itself out.
Jaune Arc's acceptance didn't surprise him. The truth was that he'd been expecting this as certainly as the rising sun. He was inevitably going to get caught. It had always just been an "eventually" hanging in the corner of his brain. Except now that "eventually" had become a "right now." And while the young man knew he should be more upset, tearful, or angry, relief lingered in his veins longer than any of the other reactions that had stirred in his chest.
"How did you find out?" The voice didn't sound like it belonged to him; too calm for the situation. But there was a newfound lightness to Jaune that he wouldn't deny was pleasurable. There was something freeing about your worst fear coming true. When you couldn't avoid it. When your only choice was acceptance.
Ms. Goodwitch raised an eyebrow at his response but didn't let her attention linger. Flicking her finger a few times across her keyboard, Jaune found images suddenly hanging over her desk between them. The first of which showed his profile, followed by what he recognized as his transcripts. The second was Pyrrha's.
"You should understand that Pyrrha Nikos…and that is her name, legally anyway, is quite renowned. She is still young and has much to learn before taking up the mantle of a true huntress. However, her innate talent has drawn much attention over the years. My and Ozpin's included. And that attention means we've paid close attention to details of her life we might not normally invest in other students. Personal details. Details that would have obviously included any kind of spouse we would have been required to prepare for upon her application. Which is why I can confidently say that, as of initiation, Ms. Nikos was not married."
Ms. Goodwitch gave Jaune a moment to let her information sink in. He'd known that his wife was famous to an extent, but it looks like he'd drastically underestimated how many people were paying attention to her. Swallowing against his throat, he regarded his teacher's cool gaze before nodding for her to continue.
"Which brings us to you, Mr. Arc. At the time, I supposed it was possible we failed to gather such information. Even if you weren't technically married, it isn't uncommon for young adults such as yourself to make decisions and get ahead of yourselves. The chance that you'd known Ms. Nikos beforehand and followed her to Beacon in secret would have explained much.
"However," the teacher's eyes narrowed. And with another flick of her finger, his transcripts swelled until they dominated the hologram. Suddenly, every inch of his lies were visible with shocking clarity. "According to your own documentation, you spent next to your entire youth training in Vacuo. And by a private institution that, by my research, has not existed for the past twenty years."
Professor Goodwitch drew up in her chair, rising to her full seated height. With a gesture, the holograms vanished so there was nothing between them. Nothing between her stare and Jaune's solemn acceptance of his shame.
"Of course, here at Beacon Academy, we don't believe in assumptions nor punishing students without allowing them an opportunity to defend themselves. So if you have an explanation, I would love to hear it." And then she waited.
She didn't have to wait long. And with a silent apology to the poor girl who thought she was his wife, Jaune turned his eyes to his lap. "I don't have one."
"An explanation?" Ms. Goodwitch didn't hesitate. She didn't show an ounce of compassion.
"No," Jaune agreed. "I…you were right. My transcripts are forged. I lied my way into Beacon. I was never formally trained. Or informally. I just…decided I wanted to be a huntsman and thought I could learn after passing initiation." After a pause, exhaustion infected his tone as he admitted, "In hindsight, I probably should have been dead before the first week."
His professor didn't speak up or agree. And after a few moments of quiet, Jaune peeked through his eyelashes to see her watching him, something between suspicion and disbelief pulling at her features.
"I…," she faltered, perhaps for the first time in front of a student. "That was your motivation? Nothing else? No one told you to…."
It was Jaune's turn to feel confused, wondering what his teacher had thought had been his plan. "No?" Jaune shrugged. "I mean, I had to buy the transcripts, obviously. But other than that, it's all been my idea. I even ran away from home, so it's not like my family could be involved. Please don't let anyone else get in trouble for this. I'll accept whatever punishment I deserve, but it should be mine."
Ms. Goodwitch sat on this new information in quiet contemplation. Without giving a single thought away, she nodded as if satisfied. "Thank you for your honesty," she acknowledged. "I'm afraid your tenure at Beacon will need to be terminated, but I understand there were no criminal intentions. That doesn't absolve you, you understand. However, it stands to reason that getting the authorities involved should not be necessary."
Jaune nodded calmly, although it felt like his heart was getting ripped out of his chest. He was getting kicked out of Beacon? But of course he was. What else could Ms. Goodwitch do? But understanding didn't lessen the young man's pain, who had no choice but to accept his crushed dreams without so much as a whimper in defiance.
"There is one more thing that I would like you to explain, if you can," Ms. Goodwitch's attention drifted toward a clipboard, where she began writing in a quick, short scrawl. "I understand that you snuck into Beacon, but I'm afraid I fail to understand how Ms. Nikos became involved. Nor why she appears so insistent on your false relationship."
She didn't technically ask him a question, but Jaune knew what she was getting at. Just like he knew it was in his better judgment to deny any knowledge and try to pass his wife off as an overly eager, if mentally troubled, young woman lost in the throes of passion. But Jaune was tired. Tired of lies. Tired of secrets. And maybe part of him wanted to be punished for his actions, accidental as they were.
"It's…it's my semblance," he faltered. And that one sentence was enough to draw an expression from his teacher's stony features, which looked up to regard him with one eyebrow raised curiously.
Without prompt, Jaune reached into his pocket for the familiar metal weight that had become a constant companion ever since their creation. Rather than leave them where they could be lost or stolen, Jaune had decided early on that keeping his rings on his person at all times was safest. It made this next part much easier when he retrieved them, allowing the four rings made of light to tumble onto the dark oak of Ms. Goodwitch's desk.
"Pyrrha had to unlock my aura during initiation," Jaune's tone picked up, becoming higher as the words started to spill outward. "T-They just appeared, and neither of us knew what they did. I swear! I swear I didn't. But the next thing I knew, Pyrrha picked one up and then put it on her finger. And after that…she thought we were married."
And there it was. The truth. All of it. Jaune looked at his teacher beseechingly, looking for any of the disgust or hatred that he deserved. Instead, he was met with a liberal dose of suspicion. And dare he say, disbelief?
Ms. Goodwitch stared at him with narrowed eyes. And before he could stop her, Jaune watched as she moved to pluck one of the glittering bands from her desk, inspecting it carefully. "You mean to tell me," she muttered, "that this object is responsible for…controlling another student? And that she genuinely believes she's your wife?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Jaune muttered, trying not to react to her tone. To be fair, it did sound a little crazy to anyone who hadn't had time to process it for a while. Heck, he hadn't believed it for the first few hours before he'd been forced to confront the truth. Of course, that didn't make her attitude any less frustrating. He'd spent so much time worried about getting caught, and the first teacher he told didn't believe him?
"Well," the teacher breathed through her nose, "that does change things. If what you said is true," she stressed, "then not only did you lie and cheat your way into our school, but you used the opportunity to take advantage of one of its real students. The confusion might have been forgiven if you had come to the staff immediately. But you allowed her to continue in this state for weeks, which is nothing compared to if you've actually consummated this…manipulation. It appears that the police will need to be called after all."
She let the threat hang overhead, as if expecting the young man to take it back. Like it had been a prank or a fanciful story to protect Pyrrha's involvement in his lies. Jaune didn't know why he would have bothered. It wasn't like they would have kicked Pyrrha out even if she had penned his transcripts herself. Probably. She was too valuable. Too talented. And it took everything in Jaune not to use that as an excuse to take back everything he'd admitted.
'No,' he thought, feeling the cold sweat beat along his spine, 'This is what I wanted. What I deserved. Maybe now, Pyrrha can get help, and they'll figure out how to fix her!'
Unfortunately, admitting his crimes hadn't felt as good as Jaune had thought it would, and the idea of gold badges and flashing lights threatened to send his heart into overdrive.
Was he really going to jail? And if they couldn't break his semblance, would they at least let Pyrrha visit him? Somehow, the idea of going without her loving touch and smiling lips hurt the most. She wasn't his to take, but he had claimed her. And now, the idea of being separated was almost unthinkable.
What was he going to say to his parents when they found out? Not to mention his sisters. They would all be so disappointed. Everyone would. No one understood what it had been like! None of them had been there to see…
He wouldn't survive in prison. He couldn't believe this was happening. To think, he'd been enjoying his wife's loving blowjob a little more than an hour ago. Why did everything have to go wrong all at once?
Finally, his resolve began to crumble, and he wondered if it wasn't too late to try and convince his teacher that everything he'd said had been a lie.
Little did Jaune know that Ms. Goodwitch wasn't idle as he drew deeper and deeper within himself, spiraling as panic truly took hold. And as much as she failed to believe his story about an impossible mind-controlling semblance at face value, she couldn't deny the mesmerizing beauty of the rings he'd kept hidden. The more she looked at the faint light radiating from its oddly solid surface, the harder it became to look away. And for the first time in many years, she found her ironclad focus drifting ever so slightly as she idly wondered what it would feel like slipped around her finger.
Her body began to move automatically, heedless of Jaune's warning as the tip of her finger touched the inner band. And the further it traveled up her knuckles, the more at peace she began to feel with its fixture on her skin. Like it was right. Like it belonged there. Like it had been made for her finger and hers alone.
By the time it slid past her last knuckle, snuggly fit at the base of her ring finger, there wasn't enough of Ms. Goodwitch to be surprised at the bright light that followed. And in her place was a being of peace and joy.
The bright light managed to tear Jaune out of himself, only for the young man to experience a different kind of dread. His first reaction was to deny what was happening as he watched the light fade. But there was no confusing the woman still sitting at her desk, nor the simple gold band now wrapped around her finger.
His mouth opened as if to warn her, but it was too late. He was forced to slowly sit back in his chair and watch as her brief expression slowly relaxed into the more familiar monotone that demanded authority from her students.
Seconds ticked from a clock on the far wall behind Glynda's head. Jaune waited, terrified and desperate for his teacher to say something. Anything. Preferably, why she had thought to wear the ring after he'd explicitly told her of the consequences. Surely, she wasn't the reckless type to test it on herself!? But Glynda offered nothing, staring at her hand with hints of incredulity and curiosity that dimmed by the second.
"Interesting," she hummed, like a scientist who had discovered an unexpected result from an experiment. "It's…so warm." Jaune jumped at the word, somewhat curious himself despite the anxiety shredding his insides to pieces.
"Ms. Goodwitch?" he asked. Did she believe him now? Or worse, had she fallen under the same spell? Part of him was still hopeful, failing to recognize the dopy infatuation that Pyrrha had emerged from the light with. But neither did he understand the stoic woman enough to confidently tell anything she could have been feeling.
The blonde startled like she'd forgotten Jaune was still there. And as soon as she saw him, her eyes locked on his thin frame with a scrutiny that had made lesser first-years weep. Jaune managed to hold out a little better, if barely. But only because he was distracted by the band still glittering on her finger before it dipped beneath the desk. And just like that, the woman before him was indistinguishable from when they had entered the room.
"I apologize, Mr. Ar-, Jaune." Ms. Goodwitch sat a little straighter. "I was…momentarily distracted." Her eyes stayed on him, far more relaxed than they had been. All her suspicions seemed to have vanished. "However, I believe I now understand what you were talking about previously. Would you mind standing up for me?"
Blinking to himself, Jaune did as he was asked, if only because it was something to do. That didn't stop his brain from running a mile a minute as he considered her words. "Y-You do?" he asked, surprised that she remembered his explanation at all. Shouldn't that mean it was a good sign? If she was like Pyrrha, then she would have forgotten, right?
Rather than answer immediately, Ms. Goodwitch rose with her student and started the long path around her desk until they shared the same side. At their full heights, the pair were able to meet each other's eyes without looking up or down. And even though she was in heels, that was something to notice. Ms. Goodwitch did, anyway, as she took another moment to regard him before responding.
"I do," she confirmed. And then her lips were on his.
Outwardly, Jaune didn't respond to the unexpected kiss, freezing like a small animal pinned by a predator. His thoughts ran wild as he realized he'd allowed it to happen again. And this time, he hadn't just brainwashed a teammate, but his teacher. A much older woman who had no place kissing any of her students.
But Ms. Goodwitch didn't appear to agree, allowing the soft pressure of her lips to linger far longer than a chaste peck. It wasn't a passionate embrace by any means. Merely the pressing of two mouths against each other. But the pressure behind her lips, the featherlight touch of her hands, and the soft exhale that broke across his cheek all hinted toward the emotions behind the gesture.
And then it was over. As quickly as she'd latched herself against him, Jaune's teacher pulled back, seemingly satisfied with their dispassionate embrace.
Jaune was left with no other option than to stare into her neutral gaze, marveling at the mess he had made. 'How could this get any worse?' he asked himself, taunting the universe as if it hadn't already proven how far it was willing to go to fuck his life. And in this instance, the universe answered.
"I would like a child."
Oh! Well, at least that was a quick way to help him forget everything else he'd been worried about.
"I-I'm sorry?" Jaune stuttered, sure that he'd heard wrong. He had to have misheard, right? But as much as he was looking at her like she was crazy, Ms. Goodwitch had already started back toward her side of her desk. Her unaffected demeanor aggravated her new husband's exasperation as she made herself comfortable, sitting down to pull a stack of papers from a drawer.
"A baby," the woman repeated as her bespeckled gaze began to scan through notes and documents. "You're going to give me one. I am now your wife, and I expect to start our family as soon as possible. That means you'll need to appear at my dorm no later than six tonight. Please do not be late." And then she picked up a pen and began sketching in the margins as if fully expecting Jaune to merely capitulate to her outrageous demands.
Jaune didn't, threatening to pull his hair out as his hands gripped two fistfuls of messy blond locks. He almost screamed but managed to hold back, hoping to avoid drawing more people into this mess. And after several slow, deep breaths, he managed to calmly ask, "You want a baby? Why? Why do you want a baby? I'm not ready for a baby! What happened to calling the police?!"
Okay, maybe not that calmly. But Jaune couldn't help but wonder if prison might really be better than this nightmare he'd stumbled into. Fortunately, Glynda didn't react to his outburst, the one benefit of working with a man like Ozpin for so many years. If anything, she looked like his reaction had been expected, and she continued accordingly.
"You don't need to worry about anyone finding out about your forged transcripts. I've already started fixing the few mistakes that made it stand out, and I only found those because I was actively searching. It was admittedly very good work." Her hand gestured toward the paper in front of her without a glance upward.
"Likewise, I have absolutely no intention of reporting you for your semblance. Now that we are married, I'm obviously inclined to help you hide your previous crimes. It's not like you can inseminate me from behind bars, nor will I accept an absentee father figure for our children. And as for my sudden request…." The pen in Ms. Goodwitch's hand paused briefly before returning to its consistent pace.
"The truth is that it is not sudden in the least. I've wanted a child for a few years now, but lacked the partner to make those wishes a reality. Until now. You've assumed that role, and since you're my husband, it is your responsibility to put our child in my womb. Promptly, if you can manage it." She swiftly placed the paper she'd been working on to the side before starting on the next, going through the same motions as the first. Meanwhile, Jaune watched on, his expression not unlike that of a man who was drowning.
"But-." he tried to argue, failing spectacularly. His teacher didn't give him time to try again, cutting him off.
"Jaune, Darling. Please, as much as I enjoy your company, I am busy at the moment. If you have further concerns, we may discuss them at my dorm tonight. Until then, you have your next class, and I still need to start an entire roster of student reports if I want enough time to prepare for our evening."
The young man thought about pressing the issue, but some time to think was a blessing Jaune didn't know he needed until he heard the famously stern Professor Goodwitch call him, "Darling." Dazed and confused, he just nodded before turning to escape the stifling confines of his newest wife's office.
Except that, when he reached for the doorknob, an abrupt cough demanded his attention. He turned around and found Ms. Goodwitch looking up at him for the first time since their kiss. And quite unhappily if her glare was any indication. Instincts kicked in as Jaune scrambled to understand how he'd upset her already!
She'd told him to leave, hadn't she? He was about to outright ask her when she took pity on him, offering a clue. But instead of speaking, the older woman pointed toward her mouth, tapping the corner of her mouth twice.
Despite his confusion, Jaune recognized the gesture. But surely his teacher wasn't seriously expecting him to…
Oh, but she was! And his hesitation cost him. Jaune flinched after watching her initial irritation deepen into something scarier, forcing him to jump into action before he could think about what he was about to do. And that was how he suddenly found himself standing beside the older woman, who merely turned her face up to offer access to her lips. Jaune could do little but swallow against his throat before awkwardly bending over to give his teacher what she wanted.
Kissing the older woman felt…strange, once Jaune adjusted to the differences. After two weeks, Jaune had gotten very used to kissing Pyrrha and Pyrrha's mouth. He'd grown to expect the full sensation of her bottom lip, the way her hands always rose to capture his shoulders, and the comforting smell of leather and cinnamon he'd started associating with the warm pressure that always swelled in his chest and pants.
Ms. Goodwitch offered none of these, and the change was staggering. Her lips were thinner by comparison, which admittedly complimented her angular features. And her hands didn't clutch at him, favoring a gentle placement above his heart. And her smell…he'd never been close enough to notice it before, but he now recognized coconut and something fruity that he couldn't place.
No, she wasn't Pyrrha. But after a suitable amount of time, the young man enjoyed the physical sensation all the same. When the older woman leaned back and broke their connection, there was a moment of disappointment before he remembered his situation.
When Jaune opened his eyes, he could see his teacher staring at him. And for the first time, he saw a softness around her green eyes that gave depth to her features. It sapped the edge in her gaze that sent so many other students running and stretched down into the smallest of smiles teasing at the edge of the very lips he'd been kissing.
Unaware of himself, Jaune drank the vision in, seeing Ms. Goodwitch…seeing Glynda as she was for the first time. Something more than a teacher. A staggeringly beautiful woman. And the love in her expression only made that radiance glow.
"I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, Dearest," her smile drew a fraction of an inch while her hand remained on his chest, allowing her to feel how his heart had started to pound erratically. "I'm looking forward to spending more time together tonight."
Jaune failed to shake his daze once Glynda withdrew. One moment she was gazing up at him with a tenderness he hadn't known she could express, and the next, all traces of warmth vanished from her posture, returning her to the detached, professional demeanor reserved for everyone else. But he had seen a fraction of her heart underneath, which somehow felt more intimate than if she'd stripped right in front of him.
Feeling the blush on his cheeks, Jaune took that as his cue to escape before the situation became more confusing. He'd walked into this office fully expecting to be expelled and arrested. Instead, he was walking out with a second wife while still figuring out what to do with the first!
But Glynda wasn't done with him yet.
"Oh, and Jaune?" she called after him. Still somewhat dazed, the blond peered over his shoulder to see his teacher's face turned toward her desk, meeting his gaze through her long lashes. "I'll be cooking for us tonight, so I would appreciate it if you would dress nicely. And…," the word hung between the pair as their gazes lingered, "do arrive hungry."
Jaune didn't trust his voice enough to answer, merely nodding in compliance. Glynda had him pinned beneath her stare, and the young man lost himself in her green eyes, convinced that this was another face his teacher hadn't shown many others. A good thing, too. Or else everyone else might have found themselves as physically affected as Jaune.
When he finally managed to open the door and step outside, the young man was more conflicted than ever. And the iron pole forcing him to hunch for the first five minutes of his walk back to class certainly didn't help.
A/N: Glynda Goodwitch, welcome to the family! I think a lot of people made the assumption that just because I confirmed one of the wives would come from Team RWBY, they would be next. But as you can all see, that is not the case.
One of the first comments I got for this story pointed out how Pyrrha's fame would make it easy to see she was never married, and they were right! Jaune and Pyrrha made it a few weeks, but it was inevitable that they would be found out eventually. Especially by someone as organized as Glynda. But now Jaune's family has someone on the inside to help them set their records straight, and provide a dose of maturity and experience they both dearly lack.
Also, writing Glynda as a wife is just a lot of fun and I'm having a blast. Making her baby crazy was just the cherry on top. One the more important distinctions I'm going to try to make is that whenever a wife puts on a ring, they become a wife by their defenition of what that means, which will reflect how they respond to Jaune and life with him. In Pyrrha's case, she is young and eager for affection and likely saw marriage as the idealic fanatsy many young women mistake for reality when they get married too young. As opposed to Glynda, who…well…I guess you'll have to read to see how she defines matrimony.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one has already been written and will be out in two weeks. I decided I'm going to focus on just updating this story for a while. If you liked what you read, I'd love to hear it. And if that's too much work, Kudos are a nice present as well. As much as you guys love seeing me update, I promise I love hearing from you more. Until next time.