Author's Notes

Quick note – this fic originally had six chapters, then eight, and now eleven. It's one of those things were it's never truly done, as I could always stoop even lower and write something dumber. Sporadic updates may continue until the end of time. No one's IQ is safe.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 9 – Her Dying Wish

Jaune didn't so much take off his coat as he did rip the entire thing off, shoving it onto Penny's bloodied chest in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Y-You're gonna be okay, Penny, I promise." It was difficult to not let the terror he was feeling sneak into his voice as he lied to her. "I'll save you with my semblance."

There was no way. Amping her aura or not, it wasn't as though she could naturally heal the damage Cinder had inflicted on her.

We were so proud of ourselves, Jaune lamented. We thought that nothing could go wrong when we used that relic, but people are dying left and right. Cinder's not stopping, and we've already lost Yang, Blake, and Ruby. Damn it. Damn it all!

"It's okay, Friend Jaune," Penny said weakly, looking down at her bloodied chest.

"I'll save you! Just hang on, Penny, I promise that I'll fix this!"

She shook her head, he face clenching in pain. "It's okay, Friend Jaune. What comes next is inevitable. All we can do is make the most of my time."

Jaune brushed tears from his eyes. Not like this – not getting Penny back, and then losing her when she's finally become the human she's always wanted to be. I'll kill Cinder with my own two hands if I ever get the chance, that bitch!

"I'd rather it be your sword than anyone else's."

Jaune looked down at the broken blade of Crocea Mors in his hand as the horrible realization of what Penny was asking him sank in. "P-Penny…Penny, you're asking too much of me."

"Not that sword," she softly said. "I don't want to die a virgin, Friend Jaune."

The maiden power might have been important to the ongoing fight, but to…to…

"…w-wait, what?"

"I've only had this human body for about an hour, and there's so many experiences I'll never be able to live through. But there's still time to tick one last box. I'm not dead yet. We've got maybe five or ten minutes, and that's roughly long enough." Her eyes drifted away from Jaune's own, moving downwards. "I assume."

Jaune swallowed uncomfortably and looked over to Weiss and Winter, who were combatting Cinder in a two-on-one duel, then back to Penny.

"Penny, you're, uh…, you're bleeding out. I can see the insides of your lungs from where I'm crouching. I can't…not while you're…"

Like a missile, Penny's hand shot out and clutched Jaune by the arm before he could lean away. "Please, Friend Jaune. I've already become a real girl today. Now help me become a real woman."

Later, in the Ever After

"Jaune, why are you crying?" asked Ruby. "And why is there blood all over your armor? And your pants?"

"It was her dying wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!"

Author's Notes

I'm not tagging this fic with the stuff happening in this chapter. My parents warned me to never associated with 'that' crowd.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!