23

I'm dying.

It was the thought that was going through her head as she rushed through the halls of Beacon, racing for her quarters and to put as much distance between herself and Blake as possible. Carmine felt like she was unable to breath, her heart beating like a drummer for a metal band. Even as she gulped down lungfuls of air it felt like it wasn't enough. Something was wrong with her, she was sure of it. She needed to get outside.

It felt like she was going to lose everything again. Everyone was going to die. The faces of her team flashed to mind, bloody and mangled. She vividly remembered the look of Weiss' burnt corpse. They had never retrieved Yang or Blake.

She made it to the grass just outside, beneath the evening shade of a tree that gently swayed in the breeze. It was late enough in the day that no one should be around, which was unfortunate. Carmine cursed herself for leaving her scroll in her room, she had thought it would distract her. Now that might kill her. Her chest was starting to hurt but she couldn't tell if it was her heart or if she was imagining it. A sound like an impact came from nearby and she turned her head towards the sound of running steps.

The familiar, and worried, face of Pyrrha Nikos swam into view. It took up her entire vision as the young woman leaned in close to her.

"Professor?" Asked Pyrrha Nikos, "Are you okay?!"

Leave it to Pyrrha to be so concerned for a teacher. The redhead rushed over to her, kneeling down and checking her over. If she could get a breath in, she would have laughed. Instead it came out as a hacking cough.

"Hold on Professor Rose! I'll get help!" She turned to run but stopped when Carmine reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"No. Don't leave."

Pyrrha looked back, unsure what to do but then Jaune ran out of the nearby door, sprinting across the grass.

"Pyrrha! What did you- Professor!" He skidded to a halt, nearly tripping into them.

"Get to the infirmary! I'll stay with her."

With a nod, he took one look at her and took off again. Pyrrha hovered, unsure of how to help and Carmine unsure how to be helped. Instead she tried to take her mind off of her situation, focusing instead on her old friend. The brilliant green eyes and vivid red hair. It was strange how it seemed brighter than she remembered it. The polite smile that always seemed to be on her face was gone now, replaced by worry. She reached out her trembling hand and grasped Pyrrha's shoulder, it was warm despite the cool breeze.

"Professor? Are you okay?"

"It's good to see you Pyrrha. Have you told Jaune how you feel yet?"

The question threw the redhead through a loop, her face contorting in confusion and then turning crimson, "No."

Carmine latched onto the topic like a life preserver, "You should. Ask him to the dance, he's too stupid to ask you."

"But-"

"No buts, Nikos." Carmine interrupted sternly, "If you want something you need to pursue it. Within reason, no one likes a stalker. But if you like him, make a move. You don't march to someone else's pace in combat, do you?"

Pyrrha's emerald eyes skated away from her gaze, "Do we have to talk about this." She whined.

It made Carmine chuckle and decide to throw the girl a lifeline, "How did you find me?"

"Jaune and I were training on the rooftop." Pyrrha said, more than a little relieved for the easier topic, "I saw you from there and it looked like you were in trouble."

"Good ol' Pyr." She patted her old friend's cheek, "I'm sorry for interrupting your Jaune time."

"Professor!" She sounded scandalized, "I was only helping him improve. As his partner!"

"That's a shame."

"Rose!" Came the shout and an unexpected figure was barreling towards them. Jaune, her own Jaune, was in Beacon.

"The fuck are you doing here?" She blurted out.

"I should be asking you that, Craterface." He snapped back as he skidded to his knees, "Some idiot ran into the infirmary yelling his head off about how 'Professor Rose collapsed.'"

His hands started glowing as he activated his semblance and she felt the warm tingle of his aura flowing into and amplifying hers. She pushed his hand away but kept hold of it.

"I'm fine. I'm not low on aura. And you didn't explain why you're here in Beacon."

Jaune sighed, "I was getting a checkup from Doctor Violet."

"You?" She felt a lopsided smile come to her face, "Come down with a cold?"

"More like a nasty blow to the head."

It was a reminder of where they had left off before they met back up in this timeline. She felt better for just having him near and the reminder she wasn't alone anymore calmed her down quite a bit, though she was still shaking. Pyrrha, though, was staring holes into the side of Jaune's face and it was then that she realized the situation they were in. The younger woman didn't look angry, but rather thoughtful. Like she was trying to place a face she may have seen before.

Before she could distract Pyrrha, young Jaune returned with Doctor Violet, dark purple hair disheveled from her jog through the halls.

"Jack, I told you not to run off!" The older woman chastised, though it looked like it went right over the blond man's head.

"It's not my fault you're slow, Doc." Came Jaune's reply and even she could tell it was the wrong one by the way Doctor Violet bristled.

"I will overlook that as a complication of your brain injury. For now." She turned her attention to Carmine, "And you, Rose. Tell me how you ended up like this."

She did her best to describe the situation, all the while careful to avoid mentioning exactly who she was with before she had this 'episode.' It took a few minutes and some pointed questions from the doctor while she took measurements with her scroll. It wasn't able to capture much more than aura levels and basic vitals but it was enough to see she had had an elevated heart rate.

Carmine felt embarrassed that they were going through so much trouble just for her. She was fine, or felt fine, now. Shaky, but able to stand and tired enough that all she wanted to do was collapse into her bed though it seemed the doctor had other ideas. That was how their small entourage found itself navigating towards the infirmary, with her being supported by her Jaune. Pyrrha kept an intent eye on Jaune, with the occasional glance at her partner.

That was probably going to be a problem.

They were left at the entrance to the infirmary and only Jaune and Carmine were allowed in, to protect their privacy.

"So what happened?" Jaune asked in a low whisper as she was settled onto a bed by the doctor.

Carmine chewed on her lip as she eyed him. He was her best friend. If anyone on the face of Remnant could understand, it was him. It wasn't easy to bring up, however. Embarrassing as it was to admit, it was her blunder. She had slipped up, grown complacent. There was not telling what would happen at that point.

"I may have said something wrong to Blake."

She could see his confusion, "What do you mean? How does that leave you collapsed?"

It was Doctor Violet who answered that question, "That's because it was a panic attack. Or so I believe."

"There must be some kind of mistake. I don't get panic attacks."

The doctor leveled a very unimpressed glare at her, "No one is immune to their own mind, especially those under extreme stress. Now I'm not going to pry into what may have happened but I will be running more tests just to be sure."

With that the woman walked off after hooking her up to a few machines, a cuff around her arm and a monitor clipped to her finger.

"What happened between you and Blake?" Jaune asked once the Doctor was out of earchot.

"I may have accidentally said I loved her."

"Really?" It was a credit to him being such a good friend that he did not shout or show much surprise beyond a widening of the eye, "Do you?"

Carmine planted her face into her palm, "It's complicated."

"Because she's a student?"

"Well, yes, but also because… you know why."

Jaune made an understanding hum, "It wasn't her you were talking about."

She nodded, feeling the heat creep into her cheeks, "This is going to mess everything up."

"As if we haven't already done that."

"Yeah but this is different!" She protested, "Blake was never interested in me."

"Our Blake never was but things change and so do feelings."

"But she belongs with Yang."

"The only person who can make that decision is her, Ruby."

Carmine rolled her eye at him, "I know that but what if I've influenced her somehow? I don't want her going through what I did."

Jaune smirked at her and she just knew he was thinking he had caught onto something, "So you like them both."

"What?!" She sputtered, "Absolutely not. Who could like some head strong, guilt-ridden, angsty, stubborn brat like her?"

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Oh shut up. Don't make me give you more brain damage." She scowled as he started laughing at her, "Like you're one to talk, you act like you didn't even see your partner out there."

That wiped the smirk of his face and his laughter died an ugly death, "It's not the same. My partner is dead. That's his partner and has nothing to do with me."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay I see your point." He crossed his arms, "So what are you planning to do? It must have been pretty serious if you had a panic attack over it."

"I have no idea." She rubbed her forehead, "I'll think of something. You gonna say hi to them? You could say something to JNPR, maybe give Jaune a few tips."

"I don't know…"

"Just think about it."

"Alright, alright." He rubbed the back of his head, "Look I should get back to RAven but you should rest up. Call me if you need me."

"Yeah I will." She held out her fist, "Same for you. Don't be a stranger."

She watched her friend leave, the double doors closing behind him, and her good cheer gradually faded. It really was good to have him around but he didn't completely understand her situation. She loved Blake. It was as simple and as complicated as that and she had to face those feelings. For so many years she had watched her sister grow closer to Blake all the while the girl never looked her way.

And she had been fine with that.

Carmine loved her team, all of them and wanted nothing but the best for each and every one of her friends, even if she wasn't in the picture. Maybe if Jaune sat down and talked to Pyrrha he would understand how difficult it was to separate those feelings from their younger versions.

-SY-

Pyrrha was still hanging outside the infirmary when the blonde man exited the infirmary and she was instantly within a respectful distance of him, taking note of the white and gold sheath at his side. It was agonizingly familiar and she could place it immediately. It looked a lot like Crocea Mors. There were differing designs on it, of course. The sheath was a tad bulkier, implying that there was more mechashift than the old weapon that her partner owned. Were it simply that she would have dismissed it as a coincidence but for the fact that he looked so hauntingly familiar, like a face whose name was on the tip of your tongue.

She had let Jaune go ahead so that he could take a shower. Their training was a little harder on him than her. Pyrrha had stayed behind because of pure curiosity. She wasn't blind to her flowering feelings for Jaune, and it looked like others weren't as well. Despite that she rarely took much more than a polite interest in others outside her friends because most tended to form biases before meeting her. Thankfully Beacon was different so far, which was a relief. The staff did not make an exception for her. She especially liked Professor Rose and she wasn't sure if it was the fact she was younger and therefore more relatable or just so friendly.

Oftentimes she treated her more as an old friend than a student she was teaching and it ended up being rather endearing. Not to mention the downright brutal training and she was Pyrrha's favorite much to the despair of everyone else.

And so when the handsome older man had shown up she was stricken with a fascination that was rather unlike her. It had been hard to place, was it just her type? The man had blond hair and blue eyes like the man she was interested in so perhaps she just took particular notice of him. However the more she looked the more the thought that she had seen him before began gnawing at the back of her mind. Pyrrha began tallying up little things, little similarities, as she tried to place him.

Slowly the uncanny feeling grew as she noticed more and more. From his single weapon looking so similar to her partner's while sheathed, mostly white with a pair of yellow stripes on the midsection, and then the same shade of hair and eye color. She started to have a sneaking suspicion.

Though she had stepped forward, the man continued past her, completely ignoring her existence. It was a strange feeling, to be ignored, but not entirely unwelcome even if it ran contrary to her desire in the moment.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man stopped short, a handful of paces ahead of her before turning to her. She could recognize a carefully schooled expression when she saw it, the man was trying to remain neutral, though why, she could not tell.

"Can I help you, Miss….?"

"Pyrrha Nikos." Again she wasn't used to having to introduce herself, "You don't recognize me?"

"Should I?" There was just a hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"No!" She rushed, blushing immediately at how arrogant it had soundend, "I'm sorry but I wanted to ask you some questions."

"I don't do private lessons, Miss Nikos."

"That's not what I wanted to ask." She shook her head, not wanting to be dissuaded, "What's your name?"

"You can call me Jack." He held his rough hand out and she took it, feeling the firm, calloused grip of an experienced swordsman.

"Well, Mr….Jack…. This might be out of nowhere but are you perhaps related to the Arc family?"

She noticed the way the man stiffened. Pyrrha knew this couldn't be a close relative of Jaune's, he would have recognized the man otherwise. Clearly, he knew the name, judging by his reaction.

"Yeah. How could you tell?"

"Just a feeling…" She trailed off, "My partner, our team leader, is an Arc too. Jaune Arc."

He had no reaction and she was a little disappointed, "Small world."

She was forced to stand there in the awkward silence that followed, Jack holding her gaze steadily. He seemed content to let her stew.

"It sounded like you knew the professor for a long time."

He shrugged, "Since we were in the academy together."

"Really? Where did you go?"

"Beacon."

Pyrrha blinked at him, "You seemed pretty close, are you two… together?"

"We're together but not together together." He laughed, "She's my best friend on the face of Remnant. Why are you so interested in her love life? Planning a confession?"

Her breath caught, eyes widening slightly at the strange but familiar phrase, "No. I was more curious than anything, I'm sorry. Our team is friends with Miss Rose's sisters so I guess I was just sticking my nose in. Again, I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it." He waved her away, "I'm glad that she has people concerned about her."

"Of course! Besides, she's my favorite teacher. I don't want anything bad to happen to her." She pouted.

"Right, right. Well I have to get going." He started walking backwards, raising his hands in a little wave, "Maybe I'll see you around, Miss Nikos."

Pyrrha watched him disappear around the corner and marveled at the conversation she'd just had. The speed at which she had let her guard down surprised her. Was it because he was related to Jaune? Because he was Carmine's friend? She didn't know but his smile was disarming, definitely a relative considering he could very well be her partner's twin.

Would Jaune be that handsome later in life? She felt her heart flutter at the thought.

-SY-

"She's dead, Weiss."

"Shut up, Yang." Weiss slapped her teammate, "Blake? Can you hear me?"

There was no response from the girl in question who lay catatonic in her bed.

"Blake?" Ruby poked her head around her sister, "Do you want a tuna sandwich?"

When there was no reaction to that, they began to grow more concerned.

"Huh, that usually gets a reaction. Has she been like this for a while?" Yang asked her sister.

"Yeah, ever since she came back from the library."

"Wow. Was her smut that good?"

"It's not smut!" Blake finally reacted, glowering at her partner.

"She lives!" The blond threw her arms into the air, "It's a miracle!"

"You are insufferable." Weiss pushed her out of the way, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Yeah I'm fine it's just…" She trailed off, not knowing how to explain the bizarre situation to her team. Her gaze drifted over to Ruby, "Carmine was in the library. It was a weird conversation."

"Weird how?" Her leader asked.

"Well…" She hedged, uncertain of how much to share, "We were talking. She was reading some stuff to help teach Ruby and she let something slip."

Her leader, for the most part, looked touched that Carmine was going through the effort. They had long since stopped thinking of the two of them as the same person. While they knew the truth of who she was, it was too difficult to not separate them in their heads.

"Juicy secret?" Yang perked up.

"Something like that. I know who she was… in love with."

There was a collective gasp from the three of them, unsurprising. Yang loved gossip and gossip about her sister was ten times more provocative for her. Weiss at least had the temerity to try and appear uninterested but Blake knew she was almost as interested as Yang was. It was Ruby's reaction that surprised her for a moment until she thought about it. Of course she would be interested in who she herself would like in the future.

Blake just wished she had a good answer for her.

Truth be told she had never once thought of Ruby like that and even with the reality staring her in the face she couldn't say she felt an ounce of romantic interest in the younger girl. Ruby, bless her heart, was a naive girl who believed the best in people. Blake could not imagine that they would be a good match. She had far too much baggage for the poor girl to handle.

"Who is it? Jaune? I bet it was Jaune!"

"Yang!" Came Ruby's scandalized shriek, but she looked back at Blake, "Is it?"

Blake shook her head, "I don't know if I should say."

"Oh come one!" Yang complained, "You were all for sharing when it came to the White Fang and her past."

That hurt and Blake felt a pang of guilt, "And you're asking me to make the same mistake again?"

Yang clicked her tongue, "It was worth a try."

Ruby still looked interested and it was hard to deny that kicked puppy look in her eyes.

How could I possibly tell you it was me?

She had so many questions, typical of any conversation with Carmine. Had they gotten together at one point? If they did, who asked? How long had she felt that way about her and what did the other lake feel in return? With her firmly refusing to answer, the others were forced to give up. The thoughts would not leave her, hounding her in the back of her mind as she tried to distract herself with Ninjas of Love.

It was a poor choice of reading material, as in her mind's eye, the face of the main love interest kept appearing with silver eyes.

A/N: I'm going to be spending a lot of time with family in the upcoming days so I decided to post this chapter a few days early.