Alright, epilogue time for realzies!
I considered titling these differently, and then got lazy, and didn't. So... that's where we're at right now, if you were curious.
Anyways, turns out there are only going to be 68 chapters of this story, since I finished writing the ending... like thirty minutes ago. Chapter 68 is going to be about eight and a half thousand words, so about twice as long as your usual Cinderella chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! There will also be an Omake at the end that I wrote ages ago but couldn't find a spot to put in. If I forget to put that in there, remind me.
Start Chapter 66
Domremy is one of those towns that never really changes.
Jaune hasn't been by in two years, give or take, and yet, when they land in the middle of a mostly barren field and unload their stuff to a reception of approximately no one, Jaune smells the familiar scent of his family's favorite restaurant wafting through the air.
It's a comforting thing, despite the fact that he's always found Domremy just that little bit stifling. He likes it here, regardless of his hang-ups. Nostalgia, also, is a hell of a drug.
"Mmm…" Yang hums beneath her breath, evidently liking what she's smelling. "Is that… brisket?"
"Freshly cooked, yep." Jaune laughs, even as Yang licks her lips and mimes walking off towards the smell immediately. "It's a family-run place about half a kilometer from here. Or, well, I probably don't need to note that it's family-run in Domremy; just about everything's family run around here. It kind of comes with the territory."
"How many people live here?" Ren questions.
"I'm not entirely sure. I think somewhere along the lines of two or three thousand? It's a small place."
"It seems it." Ren comments without any malice or underlying dislike. "Nora and I often frequented frontier towns and villages in Mistral, so we're quite familiar with places like this one."
Jaune nods his head. "What about you, Pyrrha, your thoughts?"
"It's quaint." Pyrrha says, and Jaune has to hold back a laugh at the way her brow is subconsciously all scrunched up. It's clear that she's likely never been somewhere this tiny in all her life. "A bit… smaller than I'd imagined. But I think it's quite charming."
Frankly, Jaune's fairly certain that the villagers could have all come out with pitchforks and torches and tried to assault them, and Pyrrha still would've said that the place seemed quite charming.
But that's just sort of Pyrrha in general, so Jaune smiles, and then moves on to the other members of their group.
Oscar seems right at home, gazing through the tree line at one of the farms that hovered about the edges of Domremy's land. He smiles at a few of the cattle that roam near the edges of the fence, and laughs under his breath as one brays in his general direction.
Many of the others seem far less used to such an environment, however, not the least of them Cinder, who is looking at the rather quaint village before them like it is some kind of trap; as if enemy combatants are waiting around every corner, poised to strike out at them.
Jaune honestly wishes he could do more about that particular feeling now, but he figures that in the end, the only thing he'll really be able to do is give her the chance to change her feelings naturally; introducing her to the town he'd grown up in, and the people he'd grown up around.
And hopefully, then she'd begin to grow more comfortable here.
He'd do as much as he could in that moment, however.
He reaches down and takes Cinder's hand, delighting in the way that she turns to him and smiles a bit bashfully. She's gotten much better in situations like this one, showing affection around others, but she's still not entirely calm about it.
Jaune won't admit that he enjoys seeing Cinder look embarrassed every once in a while. It's adorable.
But still… well, for now, there's no time like the present, really. Jaune straightens his posture out, dusts off his winter coat – which Weiss had bought for him, on account of him both needing a coat and knowing one of the richest people on the entirety of Remnant – and says, "Alright, everyone, shall we?"
The… he hesitates to say 'children', because aside from Ruby and Oscar – and one, he supposes, could argue that Penny is also a child – they're all adults within this group, but the difference between an adult like Qrow, Raven, or Summer and an adult like he and his friends feels large enough that he's willing to just call them all children for now.
So, yes, the 'children' all follow along behind him as he guides them to his house.
It's cold; not quite bone-chillingly cold, but only a few degrees above it. If it had been windy, then Jaune's fairly certain they'd have all been rushing to get inside as soon as possible. It's scheduled to snow later that evening, so Jaune has no doubt that the temperature will be dropping for the next week or so that they're scheduled to be in Domremy, but for the moment… well, Jaune will take what they can get.
As Jaune had expected, Summer and Raven tell Ruby and Yang that they're going to go off on their own a while and take in the sights of Domremy. Jaune had assumed that they likely wouldn't have any particular interest in Jaune's family home, nor in meeting his family, and so this doesn't shock him. Neither does Qrow saying that he's going to go get something to eat, and Tai going with him. Qrow might not be drinking as much anymore – courtesy of Summer's return – but that also doesn't mean he suddenly wants to be around crowds of others. Jaune's fairly certain that's due to his feelings about his semblance, and how even now, he still doesn't want to force others into contact with it.
In a way, Jaune's flattered that the man doesn't want to put his family at any risk of bad luck. In another, he's a tad disappointed he can't show the man who'd helped break him and Cinder out of Beacon some thanks for his actions, given that at the time, they'd been far too caught up running to really show their gratitude.
Ah, well, he'll have to do something for him sometime later. At least Tai will be there to keep him company.
He takes the dozen or so others towards his family's home, a large building near the back of Domremy's more residential section. It's… well, large is about the nicest thing to say about it. It's rundown, and has clearly seen many more years than anyone who's ever lived on Remnant – barring Ozma and Salem of course.
The home has been within the Arc family for generations; Jaune's pretty sure his great, great, great – add in a few more greats – Grandfather had built it. It's got history, and it had had more than enough room for his parents and all of his sisters to live within, so that had to count for something, despite the fact that the place also had a basement that was straight out of a horror flick, and a few rooms that were so covered in cobwebs that it was far safer to just say the spiders owned them than anything else.
But… well, Jaune is really only thinking about any of this to stall talking to his mother. Trying to explain why he A). hadn't called her in roughly a year and a half, and B). had probably been mentioned more than a few times on the news as one of the people who'd fought in the battle to save the entire world is probably going to go poorly.
Most of that probably stems from the fact that his mother had had to figure out both that there had been a battle for the fate of the entire world, and that Jaune had been in it, from a news broadcast after the fact.
…Oops?
So yes, as Jaune makes his way towards his family's home, he won't hesitate to admit that he feels the reaper at his back – and not the nice, redheaded, strawberry and cookies loving one, either.
As he knocks on his family's door, he has a moment of utmost clarity right before his mother opens the door.
He's a hunter now. He's a grown man. His mom doesn't scare him anymore! She has no power over him!
The door opens, and Jaune comes face to face with his mother's confused, bewildered, and dare he say it, flabbergasted face, and all of that bravado sort of leaves about as fast as it had come to him.
So, in lieu of any bright things to say, Jaune goes with his original plan.
He does jazz hands.
"Surprise!"
/
After Jaune's mother finishes lambasting him for about fifteen straight minutes, she invites the lot of them inside the Arc family home. Cinder finds herself gazing all about, scanning her environment as she'd always been trained to. It's a bit odd to consider the fact that she may never have need to do such again in her life, but…
Well, old habits.
Only two of the seven Arc siblings are present at the moment – Jaune's younger siblings – and while both peer at her in that way that any child will peer at someone who is obviously missing both an eye and an arm, they don't seem terribly interested in her.
Which is likely due to the fact that Jaune hasn't actually introduced her yet.
And boy, won't that be a thing.
Jaune's mom, luckily, wastes approximately zero time.
"So, Jauney," She begins, and though Jaune sighs at being referred to in a way that he now knows Nora will, too, he nods his head to indicate that she should continue, "Would you mind introducing everyone?"
"Right, I guess that's on me, huh?" He laughs as he turns around, and clears his throat. "Well, I'll do my family first, since they're easier. This is my mom, though you probably figured that part out."
Jaune's mom whacks him on the arm.
"This here is Laguna," Jaune points to the older of the two arc sisters who are still here, although older in this case means a difference of thirteen and ten, "And her sister here is Beige. Say hi, girls."
"Hello." They both echo.
Their group does the same.
"Now, for the hard part," Jaune chuckles, "First off, my teammates; this is Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Pyrrha Nikos."
All three wave, and Pyrrha herself seems to take great pleasure in the fact that the only recognition she seems to get is one of the sisters quietly muttering under her breath, "There's no way that's the cereal girl…"
"Then we have our sister team, Team RWBY, that's Ruby, Weiss – yes, that's Weiss Schnee, no, I will not be answering any follow-up questions – Blake, and Yang. Next is Emerald, Ilia, and Mercury. Then there's Penny and Oscar–"
"Salutations!"
"Penny says that a lot. And finally," Jaune turns towards her, and Cinder feels butterflies writhing within her stomach. "This is Cinder. And she's uhm…"
Cinder steps a bit closer to Jaune, so that they're side by side, and takes his hand. Jaune's mother seems to gather in an instant exactly what it is this must mean, and yet his sisters don't seem to have caught on just yet.
They do the moment after.
"She's my soulmate."
There are tiny smiles on most of their friends faces, like they've secretly been waiting for this, and honestly, if Cinder hadn't been so damned nervous that she felt she might combust, she'd have likely been smiling, too.
As it is, Jaune's mother's expression goes from one of shock to one of quizzical studiousness. She looks over Cinder's body, seems to note the pieces and parts of her that have been ripped away, and been broken. She swallows visibly, her throat distending, before her lips split into a great smile that has Cinder wanting to let loose a sigh of purest relief.
"It's a wonder to finally meet you, Cinder." Jaune's mother speaks, and she can tell where Jaune gets his sunny smile from. "We've been wanting to for such a very long time."
"I… yes." Cinder nods her head a tad awkwardly. "So, I've heard."
"Hah. I wonder if Jaune has told you half the stories we could–"
"Uh, perhaps we shouldn't–"
"Oh, nonsense, Jaune. You have to know that when your children bring their partners home, the first thing a parent must do is actively work to embarrass them as much as possible."
Cinder smirks, even as Jaune argues that he's pretty sure that's not at all true.
Still, they're invited in. Cinder sort of gets the feeling that she and Jaune are going to be sectioned off to speak with Jaune's parents at some point – and she does mean parents, given that Jaune's mother has called his father back to their village as well – but in that moment, they're each assigned one of Jaune's sisters old rooms.
The groupings are RWBY, JNPR, – minus Jaune – Emerald, Ilia, and Penny, and then Mercury and Oscar. Finally, she and Jaune have been given their own room, which is… well, it's Jaune's room, actually.
Cinder supposes that tracks.
As they make their way into Jaune's room, and shut the door behind them, Cinder finds herself subconsciously letting out a strained breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. In that instant, jaune turns towards her with a worried look, and before he can say anything at all, she's shaking her head.
"I'm fine. Really." He seems to want to argue, but before he can, she sets about explaining herself. "I just… this is simply all a lot to take in. It's quite a few more people than I'd initially thought would be present here."
"You seemed amused at the prospect while we were leaving Atlas."
"Yes, well, the reality of the situation hadn't truly dawned on me at that time, I believe. Now it's beginning to set in a bit more. That there are a good twenty people in this household and out in Domremy, and that now that your mother has contacted some of the rest of your family, there may very well be more on the way."
Jaune steps off of his bed and reaches out towards her. She takes his hand and basks in the warmth of it. It's odd, really, the way that she's the woman of flame, and fire, and ash, and yet he's the one who seems to be able to warm her whenever he's present.
An odd skill of his, but one she will not complain about.
"If you want, I can get us a room at the hotel, the same place that Summer and Raven are staying at–"
"No, no." Cinder shakes her head. "I'm… I told you. I'm fine. Really. I just… need a minute's peace is all."
Jaune nods his head, even as he pulls Cinder back towards his bed, and gently sits her down. He plops down beside her, and leans her so that she's against his shoulder. In the end, Cinder wraps her arms around Jaune's body, and gently pulls him down onto the mattress. It's cold, so Cinder takes Jaune's comforter – which is, rather amusingly, patterned with characters from some old comic that he'd apparently been into – and slings it on top of the both of them.
Jaune smiles, and ruffles under the covers a bit to get comfortable. She does the same a moment later, before leaning forward and touching her forehead to his.
The two of them do this quite a lot, Cinder finds; just laying together. There's nothing sexual about it, despite how inherently so it might seem. It is… it's a comforting thing, she believes, for the both of them. Cinder has always liked being held. Perhaps it's the fact that she'd never experienced such things when she'd been younger. Never once.
Touch starvation. She'd heard the term, but it had seemed like such an alien concept to concern oneself with. Cinder had been able to diagnose herself with such a thing long before she'd had any interest in solving it. In her life, after all, there had been no hope of ever having what she has now; someone to lean on, and to love.
She'd been a murderer; an assassin, working for the wicked witch of the Grimm. None would lie with her, and she would never have done something so foolish as to pay someone to do so, or seduce and then spend a night with someone for a singular time.
No. That had never been how she'd operated.
And yet now… now she had become so very… soft. So very… different.
Dare she say kind.
Jaune had rubbed off on her almost entirely more than she had on him; if she'd had any effect whatsoever on him at all. He'd started as a magnanimous idiot, and ended up as a slightly smarter, slightly more magnanimous idiot.
She wouldn't have traded him for the world.
It is, of course, around this time that one of Jaune's sisters – Cinder's pretty sure it's Laguna? – knocks a singular time on Jaune's door before barging straight in with a question on her tongue.
"Hey, Jaune, does your girlfriend want pancak–"
Laguna freezes.
Cinder and Jaune both freeze, with their arms around each other, and their foreheads resting against each other's, and their bodies obscured beneath Jaune's blanket, because frankly, it's cold in Domremy, and this place had clearly been created before central heating had been a thing, and Cinder processes what this all must look like to what can't be any older than a fourteen-year-old about a second too late to stop her from turning on a dime, slamming the door behind her, and yelling out…
"Mom! Jaune and his girlfriend are having sex!"
And Cinder just sort of has to accept that the next week or so of her life is going to be a lot of…
This.
End Chapter 66
No one likes a snitch, Laguna.
In all seriousness, the remaining chapters are pretty much just going to be this; domestic fluff. No plot. No happenings. Just this.
I hope you like it! It's weird technically being done with this story. I could just post it all tonight, but eh, I like making you all suffer and forcing you to wait.
...I don't actually, I just kind of want to release these on a schedule, like they're supposed to come out.
Anyways, I'll see you all on... maybe Sunday? Monday? We'll see. Til then, have a great day/night!