I don't own anything

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"Pancakes!" I watched, almost transfixed as Nora dove for the plate of pancakes, piled high with syrup running down the sides of the stack. She grabbed the first of the pancakes quickly, before shoving it into her mouth in its entirety. It was like looking at a trainwreck, I thought, feeling vaguely ill as the girl gorged herself on the treats. I couldn't look away.

"This is really nice." Ruby came up behind me, a big smile on her face as she looked over at our teams, which were assembled in team VLYR's dorm. The beds had been moved to the walls and in the centre stood a single table laden with snacks. We had pilfered it from the kitchens, and while I was sure that the teachers knew, no one had said anything.

It was an odd feeling, I thought, knowing that this was the end of the year for us. Almost unbelievable. Sometimes, I hadn't even thought we'd make it at all. The fighting at the docks, the raid at the warehouse, the mountain. Sometimes it had felt like we wouldn't make it. Then the tournament. We had won. It was what I had been aiming for all along, but the victory wasn't as sweet as I thought. It was what came with it that had made it all worth it.

I had my family again, my friends, my team. Weiss sat with Blake, eating a piece of cake while the other girl read a book. Nora, I looked back at her for a moment, was still stuffing herself with pancakes while Ren did his best to calm her down. Yang and Pyrrha were talking, too, the blonde waving her arms around as she told a story that evidently involved lots of punching and fighting, as Yang's stories were wont to do.

"Yeah, it is." I grabbed myself a snack, a cookie, only for it to vanish before I could bring it to my mouth. I frowned and looked back. Ruby stood next to me, still, trying her best to look innocent, even as she very obviously chewed with little crumbs at the corner of her mouth. "Oh, that's how you want to play it?" It was a challenge, plain and simple.

"Play what?" She said, but I saw the glint in her mirror-like eyes. I grabbed a cookie, brought it to my mouth, but I knew it would never reach. I wasn't surprised when it vanished like the last. Only, Ruby never saw my other hand, which carried another cookie that I munched on with a big grin before she could take it from me. Ruby looked at me with narrowed eyes, even as she continued to chew her own treat.

We laughed, and joked, and played around. It was carefree, fun, more than anything had been in a while. It was for moments like these, I thought, that we fought the Grimm, and the people who might be just as bad.

"So, what are you guys doing this summer?" Yang was sat right in front of me, in the little circle we had formed, but she wasn't looking at me, not really. It was late now, moonlight streaming through the window, lighting up the dorm.

"I'm going home. Might participate in another tournament," Pyrrha told us.

"Ever the champion, right?" I bumped her shoulder and smiled. She smiled back. Something was off, though. Maybe it was the tilt of her lips or something in her eyes, but I knew that something was bothering her. Was it the separation? Was it something else? I couldn't tell. I turned away.

"That's really cool! We're probably just going to train with dad and Uncle Qrow," Ruby said it as if the prospect was boring, but I'd seen the way she'd interacted with her dad and uncle. The tall, blonde mountain of muscle and the slimmer, shorter man that had felt sharp, dangerous in a way that I couldn't put into words. I had only met the men briefly, but they'd left an impression I wouldn't soon forget.

"It will be nice to have a little more space," Ren spoke in his usual, calm voice. If I hadn't known him, I would have thought his blunt observation was simply that. I did know him, though, and I caught the teasing undercurrent. Ruby didn't miss it either. "Meanie!" She tossed a strawberry at her teammate, only for him to catch it and take a bite.

"I'm going home as well." Blake still held her book, but she looked over top of it as she spoke. Her voice was a little hesitant, and whether it was the going back or just admitting it that made her uneasy, I couldn't tell. I met her eyes, held her gaze a moment, and felt that she would be okay. I smiled. She smiled back.

"Same," I said, popping another red vine into my mouth. If Weiss didn't say anything about her plans, no one mentioned it. All of us simply talked the night away, only breaking off to go to bed in the early hours of the morning.

For all the fighting, and arguing, and near-death experiences, I couldn't help but feel like it'd all been worth it.

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I through the halls of Beacon, following a familiar path. The hall was empty, most of the students having left early, eager to go home for the summer. Those that were staying around, like Nora and Ren, were mostly still sleeping in.

The walk wasn't a long one. The last time I'd been here, I had taken a long, looping walk through the school. The direct route, on the other hand, took me there in little more than five minutes.

P. Port

I stood at the door for a moment, wondering if the man would even be here. After all, I doubted the man would have much paperwork at the end of the year. Then again, maybe he did, it was hard to tell if the schoolyear ended at the same time for the teachers as it did for us. I shook my head and knocked.

"Come in!" The loud baritone that filtered through the door made me smile. I pushed the door open and walked inside. The office was still bare, spartan but for the weapon that hung behind the simple desk at which the professor sat. The man made up for the lack of decoration with an abundance of presence, though. If there was one way to describe the professor, larger than life would be entirely accurate.

"Ah, Mr. Arc, sit down! Sit down!" The man waved at the simple chairs in front of his desks. I dropped myself down into the oddly comfortable chair. "What can I do for you today?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." It didn't feel like enough. Like the words couldn't show how grateful I really was.

"Whatever for, my boy?" His voice dropped lower, still loud, still filling the room, but there was a more serious quality to it now.

"I…" I started but wasn't sure how to finish it. "Everything, really," I said. I couldn't describe it. Was I thanking him for believing in me, or giving me the tools to continue training, for saving my life, for all his help, the advice he'd given me? I had a lump in my throat. It was all of that and more, but I didn't, couldn't, say it.

Port, for his part, looked a little odd. The frown was gone, a smile curving his lips and moustache instead. There was something… off about it though. An uncertainty in the man's eyes that I'd never seen before. "Thank you, my boy. Think nothing of it," Port said, leaning back into his chair.

"No." It was quiet, but the older man still reeled back. Surprised.

"No?"

"No," I said again, louder this time. "I couldn't thank you enough. Really." Port sank into his chair, almost deflating. It was a strange look on the man. He usually looked so sure of himself, so large that it was hard to doubt him. Even the students who mocked him inside of class, and out of it, admitted that the man belonged here.

"I…" Port didn't seem to know what to say. "Thank you, Mr. Arc." Was what he settled for. "It does an old man good to hear that," Port said it quietly, a stark contrast to his usual tone. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

"I should, uhm, I should get going." I got up after a moment. The sound of the chair scraping the ground echoed through the office, breaking the silence.

"Mr. Arc?" I stopped at the door and turned back to the professor, who seemed to have regained some of his earlier energy. "If you feel up for it," he said, "I allow some of the upper years to join me while I purge the forest for initiation." It wasn't a question, not really, but I answered it regardless.

"I'd love to."

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"There you are!" The voice came from my left, and I turned to face it. There, by one of the airships ferrying students into the city, Weiss stood. Next to her was an assortment of bags. Large, white suitcases filled with all manner of clothing, personal items, and Dust.

I stared.

"You know we're walking home, right?"

She stared back.

"We're what?" Her tone was cold, glacial really. Her eyes, pale and blue had turned to chips of ice as they bore into my own. I laughed, though a hint of my nervousness must have shown as Weiss' eyes narrowed further. It was like she could smell it. "And why," she said, her tone matching her eyes, "did you not mention this sooner?"

"I forgot?" I rubbed the back of my head.

"You forgot?" she all but hissed. Weiss took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. She released it slowly, and I watched, fascinated, as the tension seemed to visibly leave her. She smiled, then, though it was not a very nice one. "That's okay," she told me, "you are just going to have to help me carry these back to the dorm."

It was like this that I found myself hauling bag after bag of luggage back to the dorm, garnering more than a couple of strange looks from the students that had opted to stay at the school during summer. Nora and Ren, though, only gave me sympathetic looks as I passed them for what felt like the tenth time.

Meanwhile, Weiss was going through her bags to make sure she had all the essentials she would need.

"Why are we walking anyways?" She folded another garment bag into the single, large bag she planned on taking.

"Not a lot of transport to Ansel, mostly," I told her, "so it's a bit expensive. Didn't want to ask mom and dad for money either." She paused for a moment as she zipped the bag up.

"I see." It was clear that she didn't, but I didn't rush to explain, and she didn't ask.

"Ready?" I asked instead, getting a single, quiet nod in return. "Great."

The bullhead ride from Beacon down to Vale wasn't a long one, and we touched down in the city not long after. From there, we walked to the outskirts Emerald Forest. The familiar verdant backdrop quickly turned to the constant red and black of Forever Fall.

9478 Dust

I grinned as I turned an Ursa's head to dust and shattered bone. Now that we were walking back home, though, it hit me just how different I was. The last time I had been here, I had cowered, avoiding large Grimm, or even groups of smaller ones. I had been so weak that even a single Ursa Major might have meant the end. My family's mindset had never been clearer. I hadn't known what I was walking into.

I shook my head. Those days were over now. I had made it through.

Jaune Arc

Level:74 - 75

HP:100/100

AP:640/640

Vigor:10

Mind:32

Endurance:22

Strength:35

Dexterity:22

Intelligence:11

Dust: 87361 – 3287

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Finally, the end of Year 1 proper. Sorry for the delay on this chapter, it took much, much longer than it should have. Was also super busy with life in general, but that isn't really an excuse here. Simply couldn't get the words onto the page, not ones that I was proud of anyways.

Regardless, Year 1 is done now. I'm going to be taking a small 1 week break to work on the outline for Year 2, to hopefully make it into something I can be prouder of than what I ended up doing here. I've learned a whole lot since I started this story, and I'm hoping to show that in the next part. Anyhow, I want to thank you all for reading, have a good one!