Darkness.

Unending, eternal darkness.

There was nothing here. Nothing... notable, not even the usual sense of gravity. It was like… flying. Or just being underwater? It was hard to decide. She was just… existing.

What a strange feeling.

Not warm or cold, but it was pleasant.

She could get used to this.

Then, like everything good, came to an end.

A constant sound disturbed this lovely realm. At first, it was a deep sound, barely hearable, like… humming. But later it increased into a higher note, it was sharper, more audible. The sound that was once a constant, now became a rhythmic beeping, an annoying one at that.

Then she was cold. Why? This was supposed to be a nice place, she thought at least.

Someone was ruining this place.

This was the only explanation.

Then the endless darkness didn't appear to be endless anymore. Slowly it started to turn brighter, from black into dark grey, from dark grey into a lighter shade, from that into white.

The white started to hurt her eyes as it became brighter and brighter. It was like someone turned on hundreds of reflectors and focused all of it on her.

The light was so strong that she was sure that she wasn't actually seeing it anymore.

After seconds later, the light lost its intensity. Her vision returned, the once empty space was not so empty now. In front of her, there was a… fluorescent lamp. No, it was above her.

She was no longer hovering in a dark place but lying in a bed.

The constant beeping sound was still there, it was coming somewhere from her left side. She would check it but didn't have the energy to look at it, maybe she didn't have the will either. She felt so tired.

She was still cold despite she was under a blanket.

Where was she? Why did she feel weak?

"Oh, you're awake, wonderful!" A brown-haired woman walked in her line of vision. She wore pale blue nurse clothes that allowed her long slender tail freedom. It was covered in short yellow fur with black spots which had a slightly bushy appearance at the tip. It looked like a cheetah's tail. "You gave us quite a fright." Her cheerful tone made Cinder automatically dislike her, in her experience cheerful people, like this woman, were mostly annoying.

"Where am I?" croaked out Cinder.

"Wait dear." said the woman and stepped away, moments later she returned with a glass of water. "Here, this will help." Cinder gladly accepted the water and then repeated her previous questions. "Where am I?"

"In the Hospital of Antlers."

''What happened?'' She remembered that they had stopped in a clearing because of the storm and waited there until it passed but the night was too close to continue their track, so they had stayed there for the night. Then the morning came… roaring… and screaming.

"You had a nasty run-in with a Manticore not far from here in the forest. Maybe with a few others too, judging by your injuries. Anyway, the Manticore managed to sting you during your fight with it, but don't worry, the antidote was administrated in time. You will get better soon." explained the nurse.

"A manticore?" asked Cinder. One couldn't have defeated her, there must have been more Grimm, maybe a whole horde.

"That, along with whatever else were with it. Your injuries were extensive. Three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, concussion, bruised wrist, a broken toe, and of course the manticore venom which led to a strong fever." listed the faunus. "Most of it was easy to deal with and healed fast thanks to your aura but the venom was the one which was giving you a hard time, the fever took you out for a few days."

"How long?"

"Three days." answered the nurse.

Three days. Damn it. She wanted to get to Vale as soon as possible. Three days had been completely wasted.

"How did I get here?" she had no recollection of getting back here, certainly not with these injuries. She had some recollection, flashes of dead Grimms, a few Ursa, but nothing about the manticore.

"Your partner brought you here." she said with a smile.

…

…

"… my partner?"

"Yes. He brought you here in his arms, like a knight with his lady. He was running with you all the way to here, barely able to tell what happened with you."

…What?

"He wouldn't let you out of his sight even after you were stabilised. Most of the time he was here, sitting in that armchair and waiting for you to wake up." The nurse gave her a teasing smile. "You got quite a catch there, don't let him go." she giggled at the end.

What the hell was she talking about? Cinder never had a partner. She took this pitiful job all on her own. Who was she talking about?

"I don't know who you are talking about."

"Oh, you must have hit your head harder than we thought, otherwise you wouldn't forget about your blondie."

"What blonde!?" exclaimed Cinder. She was at the end of her patience. If the faunus didn't start making sense, then she would make her regret it. The beeping from her side was getting louder.

"The blonde with white streaks in his hair, gorgeous blue eyes, tall, around 20, handsome, wearing armor like a knight. Still nothing?"

Cinder still had no idea who was the nurse talking about. Blonde with white streaks, wearing armor. She had no associate who fit this description. The only person who came remotely close was…

"Do you know his name?" asked Cinder calmly, like she was asking about the weather. She dreaded her answer. No, this person was not him, absolutely not! She tried to convince herself. What would he do here anyway?

"I don't." Cinder let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "I didn't catch his full name. John? Jon? Hm, something like that." said the brown-haired faunus uncaringly. Meanwhile, Cinder froze up in realization.

In that moment the room's door began to open.

"And here he is, the very topic of conversation. I'll leave you two alone a little and tell the doctor that you have woken up." said the nurse as she and the newcomer exchanged their place in the room and the door closed with a click.

The only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. The tension in the air was practically touchable.

It a steady pace, he slowly moved to the armchair that the faunus nurse mentioned at the window, the one where he had spent most of his time, guarding her like a warden. The attire was the same as last time, white armor trimmed with gold, underneath high collar black shirt, dark navy jeans and dark brown boots, and that red sash. The only difference that she could detect on him now was the snow-white streaks in his blonde hair. Where did those come from? Stress? A fashion statement?

As he took his steps, his eyes never left hers, not even when he took his place in the armchair. This made her uneasy.

Something was not right about him.

He was different than the last time she had seen him, not in appearance of course but in demeanour. He was calm. He was never calm when they met. Their encounters were always intense, full of righteous hate and murder intent on his part. At least these were the most prominent patterns that she noticed in their last two meetings.

Now he just sat there and calmly watched her. Where was the rage? Where was the shouting? Why didn't he kill her while she was unconscious? Instead, he saved her and spent the last three days here, watching her.

"How are you?" he asked as if she was not his greatest enemy.

"You tell me… partner."

"They only let family members stay in the patient's rooms, but for Huntsman and Huntresses this is expanded to their partners." he explained.

"And how did you prove that we are partners?"

"Didn't need to, they haven't asked for proof. Guess when a Huntsman brings in a Huntress, they just assume that they're partners or at least they know each other."

"Sloppy work from them, but lucky for you."

"Indeed."

Silence again.

She hated this. She hated this entire situation. She hated how calm he was.

"Nikos must be spinning in her grave." she didn't know why she wanted to anger him. "Well, I'm not sure she has a grave. There wasn't much left from her to be buried." She thought this would work on him, that girl was important to him.

"If you're trying to anger me, then it isn't working." She had to agree with him, he didn't appear even agitated, just unimpressed. Why?

She remained silent.

"If you are finished then I have some questions for you. First of all, why do you lead the Grimms to attack settlements?" he asked with an even face. The question was unexpected for Cinder.

"I don't. They're Grimm, destroying and killing is what they do, and they do that on their own. They don't teach this stuff in those academies for you or are you just a moron?" he didn't answer. He just continued watching her like a hawk, probably looking for a sign of lies.

"Why did you try to escort those people to Vale?"

"Why should I answer to you? I don't need to explain myself to the likes of you!" she stated heatedly.

"You will answer to me because what do you think will happen when I tell them who you are? You gave them a fake name when you took the mission. I wonder what will happen when I inform them: Cinder Fall is here and injured, you know, the woman who had killed thousands of people."

They would kill her right here without warning if they had any senses. Minimal casualties on their side but she would be damned if she made it easy for them. She may be injured but she could bring down this building and kill most of the people here. But she had no desire to die here, not now when she decided that she had enough.

"I needed the money… to restart." she admitted hesitantly.

That made the fool to froze. He did not expect this. He obviously tried to control his face, but Cinder could see the slightly widened eyes, how his eyebrows moved up a little, how he started to stare with a blank look. He had to be deep in his shallow mind. How amusing. She could practically hear how the few gears in his head were turning, trying to connect the dots, figuring out whether she was lying or not. What's going to be?

"Where is your arm?"

"I needed the money… to restart."

… What?

Restarting?

Did she want to restart? She? Cinder Fall?

Impossible!

He must have heard it wrong.

This had to be a lie. Had to be! In past couple of days, he had been thinking why she was here and why she was trying to help those people. The most logical conclusion that had come up was that she was attempting to get into Vale or near Beacon. While it was the most reasonable, it didn't explain everything. She could have easily sneaked into the city without too much trouble with her abilities, Vale didn't have the same kind of defences as Atlas had which she had bypassed somehow. Flying there was faster, easier, and more comfortable than shepherding a bunch of civilians there for weeks while protecting them from Grimm.

And the Grimm.

This was maybe the most puzzling for Jaune. The Grimm attack in the forest. If she tried to sneak into Vale by pretending to be a Huntress, then why the Grimm attacked them or her? He had thought this was maybe a planned attack to build some credibility for herself in the eyes of the group. But this was unlikely, she would have won that easily, she should have. No, this was not planned.

This whole thing was too strange.

One piece was missing from this puzzle before. But now he had it:

Restarting.

This implied that she was no longer in Salem's employment. This also explains another thing that would have been problematic when he showed up with her in the hospital. Something that was missing since the last time they had met.

"Where is your arm?"

She stiffed at that, her eye widened slightly, almost impossible to notice if he wasn't watching her reaction closely.

Then her head turned until she could glance at her left arm, at least what was left of it. There was nothing under her elbow.

Jaune had almost forgotten about her Grimm arm when he had arrived back at Antlers with her. He had to stop for a moment to figure out how to hide it, wrapping her own travel cloak around would have been his choice, but when he was about to do it, he noticed that it had been missing.

The end of her association with the Grimm Queen was probably the reason.

She stared at her slightly reddish stump, maybe it was an after-effect of the Grimm flesh, then her face became hard and looked at him with an angered eye.

"Where are your friends?" Her voice was soaked with hatred.

She clearly didn't want to answer for him and chose to attack back with her own uncomfortable question.

But knowing this didn't make it less hurtful for Jaune.

"Where they need to be." She continued to watch him, her anger slowly evaporating from her face and her gaze to her other arm where the IV and the heart monitor were connected. He could tell that she was thinking about something, she wasn't the kind of person who held back whatever she wanted to say.

"How many?" she asked eventually.

"How many what?"

"The refugees. How many survived?"

This talking was becoming stranger by the minute. Cinder was concerned about others, that's definitely new. Jaune didn't know where to put that. "Why do you care?" Indeed, why

"Just answer!"

"… One."

There was a passing emotion on her face, barely noticeable and it disappeared as fast as it appeared, but it was there. Almost looked like… sorrow.

"Who was it?" her voice sounded small.

"A little girl. She said her name is Thana. She got only a few scratches." She nodded at his answer and looked somewhat relieved.

What happened to her that changed her so much? The Cinder Fall that Jaune knew was cruel, ruthless, someone who would never help others unless she had something to gain. Yet here they were, she visibly unhappy from the news that only one person survived from the group that she should have protected until they reached Vale.

"Why did you save me?" she asked. Her question knocked him out of his thoughts. He assumed that at some point this question would be asked.

"Because I chose to." his answer was curt, but he had no desire to explain himself to her at the moment. His answer must have left her unsatisfied because she gave him an intense glare.

She was about to retort when the door opened. The nurse returned with the doctor.

"We're back! I hope we didn't interrupt anything." said cheerily the faunus nurse, wiggling her brows at them.

"No, you didn't." assured her Jaune. "We're just… catching up about the happenings of the past couple of days."

"Well, in that case, I introduce myself to my patient. Hello Ms. Ella, I'm Doctor Oakheart and I will be your doctor for the duration of your stay." introduced himself to the doctor. Jaune had met with the doctor when they stabilised Cinder, he was the one who gave him information about her condition on the first day. He appeared to be a nice fellow to Jaune. He was in his late forties, cleaned shaved, his once brown hair had started to turn grey in a few places. "I wish to do a few examines to see how your healing is going, if that's okay with you Ms. Ella."

After a moment Cinder gave him a careful nod.

"Excellent!" then he turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc would you step out for a bit, until we are finished?"

"Of course." Jaine said and stood up. "I go and get us some food; you must be hungry after three days." he said to Cinder. "I won't go far." Jaune gave her one final glance which carried an unsaid message and left.

His talk with Cinder was interesting. If she told the truth, then many things changed in this war.

Salem lost one of her most dangerous assets. From killing the previous Fall Maiden to the fight in the Central Location, Cinder proved that she was a force to reckon with. She was one of the most powerful Huntress-level fighter Jaune had ever met, and the Maiden powers were only an addition to this. She incorporated these powers into her fighting style heavily, creating weapons and projectiles, flying and throwing fireballs. She was able to kill Ozma in his prior reincarnation who had millennia worth of battle experience, laid low two great kingdoms, and the list went on.

Losing Cinder hindered Salem's side capabilities. They had to find a new candidate for the Summer Maiden power if the current one didn't want to join on their quest to destroy the world which he was willing to bet was harder since the whole world knew about the Maidens, Salem, and the Relics. This would be a time-consuming effort, but he and everyone else would welcome this greatly, especially him. Getting to Vale on foot and then searching for the crown were not easy or fast tasks, and for the others in Vacuo and Vale gave time to muster up stronger defence.

The burden on Jaune's shoulder seemed to ease a bit.

There was a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

But what should he do with Cinder?

She said she wanted to restart. How someone like her could do that, after all that she had done? Was it even the whole truth or just a part of it? The missing arm, the Grimm attack, the fact that she was here in an unimportant town supported her claims so far. But these didn't help Jaune to decide.

Should he choose the easy way or the right way?

The easy way would be to kill her while she was weak. Logical. In the past, he would have chosen that, he would have danced at this chance. But now, not so much. He just didn't feel that anger anymore, he just felt tired.

And the right way? He wasn't sure what was it.

He was willing to believe to her.

Her reaction to his question about her missing Grimm arm was what tipped the scale. She had attacked back. If it was a trick, she would have given him some form of answer or half-truths. There was no prepared answer because she didn't expect to meet someone who knew her or about the arm. And he believed that she had nothing to do with the recent attack in the area. The opposite just didn't click into the picture.

He wondered why now she changed her mind about this whole thing. Undoubtedly, they were winning the war, there was little that anyone could do to stop Salem, especially after losing at Atlas.

However, his pondering came to an end when he reached his destination.

A food truck at the hospital's parking lot.

It was a relatively good place and most importantly, it was cheap. He discovered this place after he had eaten out all the sandwiches from the hospital's automata.

They sold burgers, fries, hotdogs, and a few other fast foods. He was usually able to get here before the crowd, but he arrived a bit later than usual because of his talk with Cinder. The line was too long for his liking, he didn't want to leave Cinder alone for too long now she was awake. He didn't think that she would do something stupid, but he didn't want to try his luck.

"Excuse me, are you Jaune Arc?" asked someone behind him.

Jaune turned around and met a woman in her late thirties who was carrying two pizza boxes with her. She had brown hair which was in a neatly done bun. She wore an outfit that Jaune would have associated with a teacher, a brownish long skirt and white blouse.

"Uh, yes." said Jaune confused.

"Hello, my name is Judy Hill. I work in the temporary refugee camp; I help out with the children there." Jaune gave an affirmative nod to her. "Yes, uh and there was someone there who wanted to see you." she gave him a tiny smile and looked behind her. "Come out, dear. Don't be this shy."

From behind Judy Hill, a familiar face appeared who had been hiding behind the older woman's skirt.

"Hello Thana." greeted Jaune. He hadn't seen her since he took her back to the camp a few days ago, it seemed the best option to him since he didn't know where he should take her.

Thana gave him a little wave with her hand, still hiding behind the woman's long skirt. She looked better than last time. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her blue eyes seemed to be a bit brighter than the last time.

"She wanted to come here to see you two." said Ms. Hill.

"Two?"

"You and that Huntress who you saved. I don't know if she woke up yet, but I know the hospital food isn't so great, so we brought you and her something definitely better." she raised the two pizza boxes a bit higher.

"Uh yes, thank you very much. She just woke up an hour ago, but I'm sure she will be glad for a few slices." said Jaune while he took the boxes. "And I'm sure she'll be happy to see you, Thana." Thana smiled a bit at this. He wasn't very sure about this, but he didn't want to cause any unwanted attention for them.

By the time Jaune and his companions reached Cinder's room, Dr. Oakheart had already finished his examination and just left the Cinder's room.

"Ah, Mr. Arc, excellent timing. I just finished; your partner will make a swift recovery. I believe we can discharge her within a few days."

"That's… good to hear, doctor." It was strange for Jaune to acknowledge this about her in a positive way. He felt even stranger when the hospital workers referred to her as his partner, an unpleasant feeling ran through his body every time.

The doctor bid his farewell to the group and left them in the corridor. Before they could have entered the room, Ms Hill's scroll started to ring with a catchy tune.

"Excuse me, I have to pick this up. You just go ahead; I will join you later."

Jaune turned to Thana as Ms. Hill left them to answer her scroll. "Alright then, let's see how she is doing."

Jaune opened the door and let the two of them in. Cinder was still in the bed. She just spared him a glance for a second then her attention turned entirely to Thana. She seemed… happy to see the girl. Thana walked past Jaune and went to Cinder's bed.

"Hi Miss Cinder, are you feeling better?" she asked timidly her from the bedside. Jaune noticed she appeared to be a little braver around Cinder, here or at the clearing in the forest when he healed her. He wondered why.

Cinder regarded her and Jaune for a moment, she seemed a bit uncertain, like she didn't know what to say. "Hello, Thana. I'm feeling a bit better, thank you." a moment later, "And how about you?"

Thana smiled shyly. "I'm okay."

"That's good to hear." Cinder replied, her voice warmer than Jaune had ever heard it. It was almost unsettling to see this side of her, a far cry from the ruthless woman he had come to know. He cleared his throat, drawing Cinder's attention back to him.

"Thana and her caretaker brought us some pizza." said Jaune, setting the pizza boxes on the small table beside her bed. "They thought we might be hungry."

"And save you from the hospital food! It's bad." added Thana instantly.

"Thank you." said Cinder as she spared a brief look at the boxes. "Would you… like some? I don't think I could eat that much now."

Thana looked at her for a moment then gave her a quick small nod.

For Jaune, this whole scene felt surreal. What had happened with Cinder? Why she was kind towards Thana? It was kind of some kind of elaborate plan to lower his guard? He didn't feel this confused for a long time.

"Will you stand there and stare for the whole time like a fool or are you going to sit down and eat your part?"

Jaune looked at Cinder. Amber and blue met, both were full of distrust, both of them tried to kill the other a few times. She killed or hurt the people that he cared about, he foiled her chance to get the Winter Maiden power, and he almost killed her at Haven. He might have believed her, but he didn't trust her. He was sure that she would get rid of him as soon as she could. Some kind of conflict between them was inevitable. Thana being here was perhaps the sole reason that they weren't shouting at each other. Both of them were playing nice, for now at least.

He walked to the table where the boxes were and picked up the top one, then sat down in the armchair at the window. Cinder's eye followed his every movement until he took his seat and started to eat his own pepperoni slices. She continued to watch him for a few seconds, then she scooted over a little on the bed to offer a spot for Thana at the edge.

The somewhat tense silence that fell on them while they ate disappeared when Ms. Hill entered the room.

"I see you've all settled in nicely. It's good to see you awake, Miss Ella. I see that we didn't pick something bad for you." said Ms. Hill with a smile.

"No, you didn't. Thank you." said Cinder. Jaune thought that Cinder's kindness that she had shown since he'd returned might be a show for him, a false image from Cinder to show him that she had changed, that she was no longer a threat. She must have thought that he was very gullible, that a few kind words would be enough to his opinion of her.

Or this whole thing was a play for the others. They would be harder to convince about who she was if they only saw her as a nice person.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I have a message for the two of you."

"From whom?" asked Jaune.

"From the mayor, she wishes to see you and your partner when she is discharged." elaborated Ms. Hill

"Why?" asked Cinder.

"I don't know."

Well, I'm not entirely happy with the last scene but I couldn't put my finger why. The chapter was mostly done in the past two weeks but that scene gave a bit of trouble for me, I hope it's okay-ish. And for those who like silentknight: I posted a oneshot about them, check it out if you're interested.

What do you think about the chapter?