[RWBY] The Great Temporal Step-Sibling War!

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Vale
Eight years after Salem's defeat
- - -

The rain drummed steadily against the roof of the cozy house Jaune had built with his own hands years ago, a sturdy place tucked into the Arc lands inRadian. Warm lamplight spilled across wooden beams, mismatched rugs, and the kind of clutter that only comes from children and love and too many people trying to live full lives under one roof. Yang sat in the big rocking chair Jaune had carved for her, Baby Pyrrha nestled against her chest, tiny fists clutching the front of Yang's oversized sweater. The little girl babbled softly—"Mah… bah… bwam!"—and Yang rocked on, slow and steady, eyes fixed on the front door.

Xia, their eldest, kept peeking around the corner from the hallway, clutching her stuffed Ursa. "Mama… when's Auntie Ruby coming home?"

Yang forced a smile, the kind that didn't quite reach her eyes but was good enough for a four-year-old. "Soon, Firelight. Soon." The last word slipped out quieter, almost lost under the rain.

Xia pouted dramatically. "She's so cool!"

Pyrrha blew a raspberry in agreement.

The front door finally creaked open. Jaune stepped inside, soaked through, blond hair plastered to his forehead—and Ruby cradled in his arms like a bride who'd forgotten how to walk.

Ruby's face was scarlet. "Jaune! I can walk just fine!"

"Yeah," he said, kicking the door shut behind him, "and you're not supposed to be walking at all."

The scars across his neck and chest—bite marks from Yang's dragon form in the worst days, claw gouges from Cinder's final, desperate swing—stood out stark under the lamplight. He still smiled, though, exasperated and fond in equal measure as he set Ruby gently on the couch.

"DADA!" Xia launched herself at him.

Jaune laughed, scooped her up after depositing Ruby, and hugged her tight. "You stay," he told Ruby, pointing one long finger.

"I'm not gonna—"

"You stay."

Ruby pouted harder than Xia ever had.

Xia immediately clambered into Ruby's lap. "Auntie Ruby! Tell me more stories!"

Ruby hesitated, then softened. "Well… I could tell you about this Arachne I fought once…"

Yang caught Jaune's eye over their daughter's head. He gave her the grim little nod they'd developed over years of silent communication: She's doing it again.

Yang clenched her fist until her knuckles whitened. Scales flickered briefly across her forearm—black and shimmering—before she forced a slow breath and watched them fade.

She mouthed, I'll talk to her.

Jaune mouthed back, I know.

He crossed to her, kissed her cheek, ran a gentle hand over Pyrrha's downy head and then over Yang's swollen belly. Yang gripped his fingers hard, leaning into the touch like it was the only solid thing in the room.

Pyrrha nuzzled between her parents.

Yang smiled despite everything. "She almost called me 'mom' again."

Jaune's eyes lit up. "Really?!" He knelt down and held his daughter with a grin.

"Come on, Pyr… Dada! You can say it. Dada!"

"Daaaa… Dwah… Pffft!"

Yang laughed softly. "Yeah. I'd say that counts."

Jaune sighed, mock-tragic. "One day…"

Xia piped up immediately. "Dada! I said it! Can I have ice cream?"

"Sure, sweetie." He lifted Pyrrha into his arms and let Xia take his hand, leading them both toward the kitchen. "Chocolate?"

"Chocolate!"

Ruby watched them go, expression caught somewhere between wistful and guilty.

Yang turned to her sister, channeling every ounce of disappointed-big-sister energy she possessed. "So. Have you got anything to say for yourself, young lady?"

Ruby blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, is that how you wanna play this?"

Ruby tried innocence. "Play what? I don't know what you're talking about."

Yang took a long, slow breath—careful, deliberate, because the baby (babies, her brain corrected smugly) did not need her losing her temper.

"We agreed—after your stitches popped earlier this week—that you were staying in bed until we were sure they wouldn't open again."

Ruby shifted. "I just… heard about a Grimm sighting outside the main wall. Papa Nick's still laid up! I could've—"

"Ruby." Yang's voice dropped. "That's what the town militia is for. They're trained. And if it gets bad, one call and Jaune or Izzy or half a dozen others handle it. You are on medical leave. That means no work. I cannot stress this enough."

Ruby scowled. "I don't want to sit around! There's always something to do! We saved the world—"

Yang's hand slammed down on the armrest. Claws gouged deep furrows into the wood. Her eyes flashed slitted gold. "YES. AND THAT WAS THEN. THIS IS NOW. WE EARNED OUR REST, RUBY. THE WORLD IS SAFE."

Ruby shot to her feet. "NO IT ISN'T! It will never be safe! We learned that the hard way! There's always another battle, another threat—the work is never done! IT WILL NEVER BE DONE!"

Yang's horns began to push through. Her voice deepened, edged with smoke. "AND YOU THINK FACING IT ALONE, HALF-DEAD, WILL FIX ANYTHING? NEWS FLASH, RUBY—IT TOOK ALL OF US TO DO WHAT WE DID, AND THAT WAS WHEN WE WERE AT OUR BEST!"

"Yang! Stop! You're pregnant—you'll hurt the baby!"

Yang gripped the chair until the wood groaned. She forced breath after scalding breath until the scales receded to scattered patches, claws stayed half-extended, eyes still slitted. "Haaa… thanks."

Ruby's voice cracked. "Yang… why are you so angry? I'm doing this for you. For all of you. It's what I have to do."

Yang shook her head, bewildered and hurting. "What could possibly make you think I'd want my sister to die?"

Ruby looked away. "I… what do I have? It's all I have. It's all Mom had in the end. To be a hero…"

"Summer wouldn't have wanted this." Tears slipped down Yang's cheeks.

Ruby's voice broke. "SUMMER ABANDONED US TO BE A HERO! I saw it… in the Ever After…"

Yang stared. "…What?"

"That's what I saw in the Ponderstorm. She ran off to fight Salem alone!"

Yang exhaled slowly. "Ruby. That's not how Mom died."

"IT IS! I SAW IT!"

"The Ponderstorm lies, Ruby. It likes to screw with people. For fuck's sake, it tried to get Blake and Weiss together. Blake and Weiss."

Ruby's tears fell freely. "If I'm not a hero… what am I? What do I have left?"

Yang leaned forward. "You have us. You've always had us. This place has always been your home. But only if you let it—if you let us—be that for you."

Ruby sobbed. "I… I can't."

Yang grimaced. "Then I guess that's it." She lifted her head, tears gone, expression hard and determined. "Plan C it is."

Ruby blinked through tears. "H-huh…?"

Yang raised her voice toward the kitchen. "JAUNE! WE'RE GOING WITH PLAN C!"

Jaune reappeared in the doorway, concern etched deep. "Yang… are you sure?"

Yang nodded, mock-sorrowful. "Absolutely. She won't listen any other way."

Ruby's head whipped between them. "What is this? What's Plan C? And why does it involve Jaune?!"

Jaune took Yang's hand. "You know I love you. More than anything."

Yang squeezed back. "More than sure, my heart. You gave me your word. Arcs don't break promises." Her grin turned teasing. "Besides… don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking glances."

Jaune flushed. "They were only glances… but if this is what you want to save her? I'll do it."

Yang patted his shoulder, then smirked wider. "You're acting like you wouldn't love her just as much as you love me."

"I would. I swear."

Xia wandered back in, leading Pyrrha by the hand. "Mama…? Why were you yelling?"

Yang eased herself up and waddled over. "Nothing you need to worry about, Firelight. Just… last-minute travel arrangements." She glanced between her apprehensive husband and her very confused sister. "Your dad and Auntie Ruby are going on a little trip together."

Ruby blinked. "I am?"

Jaune scooped her up again. "We are."

He carried her upstairs to the bedroom.

Ruby blushed furiously. "W-where are you taking me?"

"The bed room," he stated. He burst in through the door and dropped her on the bed.

"ACK!" Ruby scowled. Jaune closed the door. He turned back to her.

"And we're gonna…?"

"Talk," Jaune said blandly, as he sat down next to her.

Ruby relaxed a fraction. "Oh. So we're just gonna hang out and chat like… like we used to."

"Yes…" Jaune reached out and drew her against his chest, holding her close. Ruby flushed.

"G-Geez Jaune… Do you have to be so… Clingy?"

"You haven't been hugged in a while have you?" Jaune asked. Ruby scowled.

"I… It's not important-"

"Ruby… what's this really about? Why are you so determined to get yourself killed?" He stroked her cheek. "I've been so scared for you. My best friend. Why?"

She melted against him despite herself. "Someone has to, Jaune. The world still needs heroes. And it's not like I'm doing anything else."

"That Ponderstorm really messed you up, huh?" He kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't help you more. Yang and I got so wrapped up in each other… in surviving. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? You were stuck in a fairytale hell for twenty years. Yang was a dragon. I can't even look at dragonfruit the same way."

"Even so. You were our responsibility."

Ruby's eyes filled. "Don't you think I know Summer wasn't perfect? That just means I have to be. I have to be what she couldn't."

"You saved the world, Ruby. We all did. You can let go. You can enjoy it." He kissed her—soft, then deeper.

Ruby's brain short-circuited. She kissed back, hungry, helpless. Rose genes, damn them.

Jaune murmured against her lips, "Yang wanted me to do this…"

He nibbled down her neck, hands roaming, squeezing, claiming. Ruby straddled him, humming at the heat of him. "So… this is Plan C?"

He smacked her ass lightly. "Mmhm."

"EEP! And… And Yang knows?"

"Ruby," Jaune looked hurt, "Do you really think I would ever cheat on my wife?"

"B-But-How do we handle this?!" Ruby demanded. "D-Do you love us both? Marry us both? What if we have a kid or-"

"Ruby," Jaune whispered. He touched his forehead to hers. "We'll figure it out. I love you, you know?"

Ruby went bright red.

"M-Me?"

"Yes… And we can figure it out from there," he murmured. Ruby flushed.

"S-Still… Um… Are you sure-?"

Yang opened the door. She glared at Ruby intensely.

"Ruby? You're banging my husband or I'm beating you up."

Ruby flushed.

"Well… Um… If you're both fine with it-"

"More than fine," Yang growled. "Now get to it before I beat both your asses!"

She shut the door behind her. Ruby gulped. She sucked in a deep breath. She looked into Jaune's eyes.

"Then…"

- - -

One month later…

Isabel raised an eyebrow at the much more relaxed Ruby Rose sitting in front of her on the examination table. Yang, Jaune, and little Xia stood nearby, looking anxious. Despite the tension in the room, Isabel did manage a warm smile at the young savior of Remnant.

"Well… Congratulations, Ruby. You've conceived a child. You're pregnant!"

Ruby gasped, tears filled her eyes… And then she grinned.

"Oh!" She looked over at Yang and Jaune. "Plan "C'! Now I get it!"

Isabel very slowly turned to glare at Jaune and Yang, even as Xia giggled as Ruby pulled her into her lap.

"'Plan C'?"

"Just an… In-joke, Mom," Jaune explained.

"But it's definitely growing," Yang grinned.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Hebei, Mistral


One year, six months after Vytal


- - -



The fire crackled low in the little clearing just outside Hebei. One year and six months after the chaos of the Vytal Festival, the group had fallen into a ragged but determined rhythm. Jaune sat sharpening Crocea Mors, Ruby poked at the embers with a stick, and the others lounged around the flames looking travel-worn and hungry.



"We're officially broke," Yang announced, shaking an empty coin purse. "Like, 'can't even buy stale bread' broke."



Ruby perked up. "Then it's simple! We hunt Grimm! There's probably a bounty board in town. Easy Lien, right?"



Arslan, cross-legged, shook her head. "We don't have licenses for that here. The local guild is strict. They'd fine us before we even drew our weapons."



Nora bounced on her heels. "We could just do odd jobs on the side like we used to! Delivery runs, chopping wood, beating up local thugs—classic stuff!"



"Doesn't give us money fast enough," Yang pointed out.



Pyrrha sighed. "The CCT network is still down. Weiss and I can't access our accounts."



Weiss crossed her arms. "Even if we could, most of my assets are frozen anyway."



Ren offered quietly, "We can always do honest chores. Dishwashing. Stable work. It's slow, but reliable."



"Boring!" Nora and Yang said at the exact same time.



Jaune stared into the fire for a long moment, then spoke.



"…We could do scams."



The entire camp went dead silent. Eight pairs of eyes turned toward him in shock.



Ren was the first to recover. He shrugged. "We've done it plenty of times before."



Nora's face lit up like the sun. "Yes! I'm in!"



Arslan's expression darkened. "Jaune. Theft is against the Commandments."



Jaune winced but held firm. "I know. But we need to reach Haven. We need to save the world. Sometimes… the greater good requires bending the rules a little."



Arslan sighed deeply, rubbing her temples. "Aslan forgive us. Fine. We could try asking for donations first. Honestly. Like pilgrims."



The streets of Hebei were busy but not generous.



Ruby planted herself in front of a middle-aged merchant. "Excuse me, sir! We're trying to save the world! Could you spare some Lien?"



The man snorted and kept walking.



Nora popped up next, waving enthusiastically. "Fund to save the world! Donations welcome!"



The woman didn't even slow down.



Pyrrha approached the third man with perfect poise and her warmest smile. "Good day. We're on a vital mission to protect Remnant. Any assistance would be deeply appreciated."



The guy grunted.



"I've heard that one before, kid." He walked off.



Ruby looked back at the group, crestfallen. Nora stood proudly beside her, holding up a handmade sign that read HELP US SAVE THE WORLD! Ruby's own sign was slightly crooked but enthusiastic.



Arslan facepalmed. Weiss did the same a second later.



Arslan sighed and looked over at Jaune. "We will do penance later."



"Totally!" Jaune agreed, already looking guilty.



Later that afternoon…



Ruby stepped boldly into the road in front of a slow-moving cart. She timed it perfectly—dramatic gasp, theatrical fall, dramatic cry of pain as the driver slammed on the brakes.



The driver leaped down, horrified. "Oh no! Are you all right, child?!"



Arslan appeared from around the corner like a vision of mercy, robes fluttering. "Good sir! You have struck this poor innocent girl! But fear not—I am a healer. I can mend her… for a small donation to cover medical supplies, of course."



The driver, pale and panicking, thrust a handful of Lien into her hands. Arslan scooped Ruby up with surprising gentleness and carried her into the nearest alley.



Once safely out of sight, Arslan set Ruby down. Ruby dusted herself off with a sheepish grin.



"Thanks. I feel kinda bad about that one."



Arslan sighed heavily. "I don't like this. Not at all."



Ruby nodded. "Yeah, but… we're trying to save the world."



From deeper in the alley came the sound of running feet. Pyrrha, Jaune, Yang, Weiss, Ren, and Nora skidded around the corner, breathless.



Arslan raised an eyebrow. "Jaune?"



Jaune held up a jingling pouch, grinning nervously. "Good news! We have the money we need. Bad news? We need to run. Right now."



From the street behind them came the angry roar of a mob.



"CHEATERS!"



Arslan closed her eyes and muttered a quick prayer. "Aslan forgive us…"



Weiss pointed an accusatory finger. "It was all Pyrrha's fault!"



Pyrrha, already sprinting ahead with the rest of them, called back over her shoulder, "Sorrryyyy!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

New Atlas, Atlas

Six Years After Salem's Defeat

- - -

New Atlas sparkled under clear skies on Victory Day. The central square—once a crater of war—now gleamed with fresh stone and banners of every Kingdom. At its heart stood the new memorial: a towering statue of intertwined figures, heroes and ordinary souls frozen in defiance. Pyrrha's likeness held her spear high beside Nick Arc's, among many others who hadn't made it home.

Weiss Schnee-Arc stood at the edge of the stage area, elegant in white and pale blue, one hand resting protectively on the small of her back where their son's handprint still lingered from that morning's goodbye hug. She watched Jaune with quiet concern. Six years had healed many wounds, but some scars ran deeper than anything could reach.

"Jaune," she said softly as they waited for their cue, squeezing his hand. "You've been through so much. Suffered so much. You don't have to—"

He squeezed back, thumb brushing over her wedding ring. "I'm all right, Weiss. I can do this." His smile was tired but genuine. "I have to do this. For them. For us."

High Councillor Henry Marigold—once an empty-headed dandy, now a steadier man tempered by war—smiled warmly as he stepped aside from the podium. The crowd roared as Jaune and Weiss ascended the steps together, her hand never leaving his.

"Atlasians… People of Remnant…" Jaune began, voice carrying across the square.

He glanced at his Scroll—and paled. Weiss looked over his shoulder and her eyes minutely widened.

The speech was gone. Deleted, corrupted, vanished into the digital ether.

Weiss moved instantly, ready to step forward and take over, but Jaune shook his head. He cleared his throat, looked out at the sea of faces, and spoke from memory and heart instead.

"Throughout the events of human and Faunus history, we have always dealt with the Darkness that threatened to engulf us all. A Darkness of the Grimm… and a darkness in ourselves. We had to fight that—inside and out—to end this war. It cost us… It cost us all dearly. Some more than others."

It was like he could feel Nick and Pyrrha's gazes on him.

His hand trembled in Weiss's grasp. She held it tighter, steady and warm. Jaune kept going, voice thickening but never breaking.

"It's easy to say that sacrifices are necessary to secure victory. To survive. To live. And that… that is true. It is easy to say. It is harder to go through it. That doesn't change that the sacrifice has to be made. It is easy to fall into darkness, into despair, as the losses pile up and you lose so much…"

He bowed his head for a moment, the weight of Pyrrha, his father, and countless others pressing down. Weiss's thumb stroked the back of his hand. He lifted his gaze again, found her eyes, and drew strength from the quiet love there. She smiled. He smiled back.

"I was alone for a very, very long time," he continued, voice growing stronger, "only the faint hope of seeing my friends keeping me going. Only the hope of victory. And that is what we won… A victory. And victories need to be celebrated!"

A cheer erupted from the crowd.

"And this… This is a victory! Every day I wake up with my wife. Every day I see my beautiful little boy… Every day the sun rises… I know it was worth it. The pain… The pain may not go away… But it doesn't change the fact that you've saved others from worse pains. For that reason did me, my friends, and everyone who fought in that war—whether they were on the front lines or behind them, shooting, swinging a sword, praying, or anything else… We fought together. We bled together… And the sun rose again. We made that happen… So don't forget that. Through all the pain and loss… That sun is still rising. And where there's life? There's hope."

The square fell silent for a heartbeat—then exploded into thunderous applause and cheers that rolled like waves across New Atlas.

Jaune nodded once, humble and exhausted, as Weiss guided him gently off the stage behind the curtains. The moment they were out of sight he let out a long breath and chuckled shakily.

"Phew… That was tough."

Weiss looked up at him, eyes shining with pride and worry. "I could have handled that, you know."

"I know, sweetie… I know." He cupped her cheek, thumb brushing away a tear she hadn't realized had fallen. "But I want to inspire hope, Weiss. Like you do for me… every single day."

Weiss's cheeks flushed that familiar, beautiful Schnee pink. Without another word she rose on her toes and kissed him soundly—fierce, grateful, full of everything she couldn't say in front of the crowd. Jaune melted into it, arms wrapping around her as the roar of the celebration continued just beyond the curtain.

For a moment, in the quiet space behind the stage, the weight of the world lifted. There was only the two of them, their son waiting at home, and the sun still rising on a future they had fought to keep.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

In the vicinity of Vacuo City, Western Sanus.

1 year and 8 months after the Vytal Festival Tournament.
- - -

The transition from the surreal Ever After back to Remnant felt like stepping through a dream and waking into noise and heat. Vacuo's streets were alive with movement—soldiers from Atlas, Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo itself gathered in every square and rooftop, banners fluttering, voices overlapping in a dozen languages. The city was crowded beyond belief, yet somehow still standing.

Jaune walked beside Winter, Ruby and Yang flanking them, Weiss close on her sister's other side. Blake moved a little more quietly beside them, while Nora and Ren brought up the rear after their long talk with Ozpin. The weight of everything they'd seen and lost still pressed on them, but they were home.

Then Jaune froze mid-step.

Through the press of bodies, a tall figure in full, battle-worn armor strode forward, a massive sword slung across his back. Beside him walked a smaller, curvy woman in elegant white and blue, a shawl draped over her distinctive white hair. The knight escorted her protectively through the crowd.

Winter and Weiss gasped at the same time.

"Mother!" Winter cried.

"Mother!" Weiss echoed.

Both Schnee sisters broke into a run, propriety forgotten in the dust and noise of Vacuo. Willow Schnee held out her arms and caught them both, pulling her daughters into a fierce, weeping embrace. For once, the Schnee name meant nothing—only family, only relief, only joy after so much loss.

Jaune couldn't move. His eyes locked with the knight's. The man stopped, staring back. With the helmet on, even with polished armor, the resemblance to the Rusted Knight was uncanny. Ruby and Yang stepped closer, each squeezing one of Jaune's arms in silent support. Blake gave him a small, encouraging smile from the side.

Jaune took a shaky breath and walked forward. Nick watched him approach, then slowly reached up and removed his helmet. His face—older, scarred, but unmistakably his father's—filled with emotion. Tears already glistened in his eyes.

"Dad… I…" Jaune's voice cracked. He clutched at his chest where the artificial heart his mother had built still beat steadily inside him. "Mom… she saved me, but… she…" His head bowed. "She died… because of me… I'm so sorry, Dad…"

Winter moved to his side without hesitation, slipping her hand into his and holding it tight. She looked up at Nick with quiet strength.

Nick stared at his son for a long moment, then pulled him into a crushing hug. His broad shoulders shook as soft sobs broke free.

"Son…" Nick whispered, voice thick. "Son… I am so glad you are alive… I missed you so much…"

"But—but I—" Jaune tried.

Nick held him tighter. "Your mother died saving you because she loved you. I would have done the same thing. Don't ever think any different, son."

Jaune broke. He pressed his face into his father's armored chest and cried—deep, wrenching sobs that had waited years to be released. Winter, Ruby, and Yang wrapped around him from behind, holding the family together in the middle of the crowded street. Weiss stood with her mother, Willow's arm around her shoulders, while Blake, Nora, and Ren watched with quiet, understanding eyes.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the weight of loss didn't feel quite so impossible to carry.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Arc-En-Ciel Hospital, Radian, Gallia

Six years after Salem's defeat

- - -

Jaune kicked the emergency room doors open with one foot, Ruby cradled carefully in his arms. Her face was flushed, silver eyes squeezed shut, one hand clamped around the front of his shirt as another contraction hit.

Isabel and Nick were already waiting just inside.

"All right… Let's get you the painkillers and you'll be—" Isabel began, already reaching for a chart.

"N-No! No… I'm fine!" Ruby gasped. "I-I want to do this naturally!"

Jaune adjusted his grip, looking down at her with equal parts love and alarm. "Uh, Ruby, there's no reason you need to."

Isabel shook her head. "I used painkilling techniques for all my births. There's no need to—"

"No, no! I-I'm fine!" Ruby insisted through gritted teeth. "I want… I want to welcome the baby in the old-fashioned way!"

Jaune looked helplessly between his wife and his mother. "Um…"

Isabel sighed the long-suffering sigh of a woman who had seen this exact brand of stubbornness before.

Nick clapped his son on the shoulder, laughing. "Hahaha! Sometimes you have to learn the hard way!"

Ruby cracked one eye open at him. "What do you mean by—?"

- - -

Two hours later the "old-fashioned way" was in full swing.

Ruby was flat on her back in the delivery room, face red, silver eyes blazing, both hands locked around Jaune's in a grip that could have crushed steel. She screamed through another contraction, voice echoing off the walls.

"I'LL NEVER LET YOU TOUCH ME AGAIN!"

Jaune, kneeling beside the bed, nodded solemnly while his fingers slowly turned white. "I know, I know…"

"I'LL MURDER YOU WITH THE BLENDER!"

"We got that for our wedding," he reminded her gently.

"I HATE IT!"

"Good to know…" Jaune winced as her grip tightened further. "Nnngh…! Mom, she's crushing my hand!"

Isabel, calmly monitoring the monitors, didn't even look up. "It's okay. She'll be fine…"

Nick, leaning against the wall with a grin, added, "Ha! Izzy said worse things when she was in labor!"

Ruby's head snapped toward him. "I'LL MURDER YOU ALL!"

"Owww… My hand…!" Jaune whimpered.

The door to the delivery room suddenly slammed open.

A Grimm cultist in tattered robes burst in, wild-eyed, raising a handgun. "FOR QUEEN SALEM I WILL KILL YOU—!"

Ruby, still mid-contraction, somehow found the strength to snatch the bedside lamp and hurl it with perfect accuracy. The cultist took the lamp full in the face, flew backward, and slammed headfirst through the wall into the hallway beyond in a shower of plaster and drywall.

Ruby sat half-upright, chest heaving, silver eyes glowing faintly with residual Aura. "NOBODY TOUCHES MY FAMILY YOU BASTARD!"

Jaune stared at the hole in the wall, then at his wife, awestruck. "Wow, Ruby! That was amazing!"

"FUCK OFF GODDAMNIT MOTHERFUCKER AARRRRGH!" Ruby screamed as the next contraction hit.

Nick was already out the door, tackling the dazed cultist with two hospital security guards who had finally caught up. The three of them dragged the man away while Isabel simply shook her head and returned her attention to the monitors.

A few minutes later, after one final, ear-splitting push, the room filled with the thin, furious cry of a newborn.

Isabel moved with practiced speed—injecting Ruby with a carefully measured dose of painkillers the moment the baby was clear, cleaning him, clamping and cutting the umbilical cord, wrapping the tiny form in a soft blanket. She turned and placed the child carefully into Ruby's waiting arms, Jaune leaning in close on the other side of the bed.

"Congratulations," Isabel said, smiling. "It's a boy."

Ruby stared down at the red-faced, silver-eyed infant nestled against her chest. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks. "Oh… Oh Jaune… Look… He's so beautiful…!"

Jaune was crying too, one big hand carefully cupping the baby's head. "Y-yeah…"

Ruby sniffled, then beamed through the tears. "Name him Julian! July! Like Summer…"

"That's a great name," Jaune whispered.

Ruby hugged the baby closer, eyes shining with a slightly manic post-delivery glow. "My clone has been born! My heroic legacy is assured!"

Jaune looked from his wife to his mother, still holding Ruby's (now slightly less crushing) hand. "That's our son." He glanced at Isabel. "How many drugs did you give her?"

Isabel checked the empty syringe with a thoughtful expression. "…Maybe a little too much."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Atlas, Solitas

One year, three months after Vytal Festival

---

The battleship Dominatrix, General Jinjur Hardy's flagship, hung in the cold Atlesian sky like a steel threat. Inside its main hangar bay, a squad of Hardy's personal guards stood ready as the unmarked transport airship requested landing clearance. The controllers granted it. The craft settled onto the deck with a soft hiss of thrusters.

"Still can't believe she named her flagship the Dominatrix," the first guard muttered as they approached the craft. His partner shrugged.

"Maybe she did it to improve morale. I sure wouldn't mind being her good little doggy."

"Don't talk like that, she'll have you courtmartialed!" The first guard muttered, "especially with the rebellion going on!"

The security systems in the bay flickered and died the moment the landing struts locked.

The first guard frowned at his Scroll. "That's weird… Why did the security go down?"

His colleague shrugged. "Maybe the rebels are trying to infiltrate the ship?"

The first guard laughed. "Ha! Like anyone would be crazy enough to try—"

The rear hatch of the airship slammed open.

Winter Schnee, Jaune Arc, and Qrow Branwen burst out in a coordinated blur of white, gold, and black. Swords flashed. Winter's glyph-assisted strikes dropped two guards before they could fully raise their weapons. Qrow's scythe carved a clean arc through the next pair. Jaune's shield took a spray of bullets and answered with a precise thrust that put a third man on the deck.

One remaining guard scrambled for the alarm panel. Jaune spun, Aura flaring, and unleashed a golden Aura slash that slammed the man into the bulkhead hard enough to leave a dent. The guard slid down in a heap, unconscious.

Silence fell over the hangar, broken only by the soft crackle of cooling metal and the distant hum of the ship's engines.

Qrow rested his scythe on his shoulder and grinned. "Another happy landing."

Winter shot him a sharp look as she wiped her blade. "Please take this seriously."

"You know," Qrow continued, voice full of lazy amusement, "we wouldn't have been able to mount this rescue if you and your boytoy weren't on a date—"

Winter cleared her throat with deliberate force. Jaune's face turned a deep red.

"That is irrelevant," Winter said coolly. "Let's get to the brig and—"

A rocket launcher fired from the side entrance.

The projectile slammed into their empty transport. The explosion tore the airship apart in a fireball of metal and Dust. Winter, Jaune, and Qrow threw themselves behind a row of cargo crates as shrapnel and flame washed over the hangar.

They rose cautiously, weapons ready.

General Jinjur Hardy strode into the bay at the head of a fresh squad of soldiers, a satisfied smirk on her face. Her uniform was immaculate, her posture regal, and the rocket launcher still smoked faintly in one of her troopers' hands.

"Oh, Winter," Hardy said, voice dripping with mock sympathy. "So predictable. The renegade Schnee daughter, bravely trying to save her sister and her boyfriend's idiot friends… Also you're here, Qrow."

Qrow gave her a once-over and smirked. "Hey Jinjur. Had some more work done on your tits, I see."

Hardy's expression soured.

Jaune stepped forward, shield raised, blue eyes burning. "You're going to destroy us all, General! The Grimm are our enemy! Don't you care about Atlas?! You're just going to make things harder for all of humanity, yourself included!"

Hardy regarded him with mild pity. "Foolish boy… Still the optimistic hero. Unaware of the real world's complexities."

"I didn't sell out mankind for a crown!" Jaune shot back.

"I just joined the winning side," Hardy replied smoothly. "All creatures adhere to their natures—"

"Yes," Winter cut in coldly, "just like a snake!"

Hardy tilted her head, almost amused. "You insist on clinging to ideals that will destroy us all… I intend to allow us to survive… And this…" She raised a sleek sidearm. "Is a gun."

She fired.

Winter's sword flashed, deflecting the bullet in a spark of steel.

From the floor, the cynical guard stirred and pushed himself halfway up, one hand pressed to his ribs. "Hey, I'm all right General—"

The richochet hit him cleanly through the throat.

"HURK!"

The man collapsed, blood spurting from his neck.

Hardy spun toward the body, face contorting into pure theatrical agony. She dropped to her knees, arms outstretched toward the ceiling of the hangar as if appealing to the Emperor Above Himself.

"STEVE?! NO! WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG?!"

Her voice cracked with grief. She clutched at her chest.

"IT'S SO TERRIBLE!"

Winter stared at the performance, unimpressed.

"So's your acting."

Hardy's head snapped toward them, all pretense gone. Her eyes burned with cold fury.

"KILL THEM ALL!"

---

Much like her inspiration, General Jinjur Hardy is meant to be both menacing and slightly comedic in how over the top she can be.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Vale

Six Years after Salem's Defeat

---

The farmhouse kitchen smelled of warm bread and the faint scent of lavender from the window boxes. Afternoon sunlight spilled across the wooden table and the worn floorboards. In the middle of it all, Arslan paced slowly, rocking the small bundle in her arms with the same steady rhythm she once used to steady her breathing before a tournament match.

Petra was having none of it.

The baby's face was red, tiny fists waving, and the continuous, high-pitched cries filled every corner of the room. Arslan's usual serene expression had developed the slightest crease between her brows. Her voice remained soft, but there was a note of weary determination underneath.

"Hush, little one… hush…"

The back door opened. Jaune stepped inside, wiping his hands on a rag, and stopped short at the sound. His expression immediately shifted to concern.

"What's wrong with her?"

Arslan looked up, still rocking. "I am unsure… She's so cranky. I've changed her, fed her, cuddled her, sang her hymns…"

Jaune crossed the kitchen in a few long strides and held out his arms. "Let me handle her for a while. Give you a break."

Arslan hesitated only a moment before carefully transferring the red-faced, still-crying infant into his waiting hands. The moment Petra settled against her father's chest, the crying stopped as if someone had flipped a switch. A tiny, wet giggle bubbled up instead. Petra blinked up at Jaune with wide, content eyes and made a soft, happy noise.

Arslan's eyes narrowed.

She looked from the suddenly peaceful baby to her husband's carefully neutral face.

Jaune shrugged and coughed lightly. "I mean… babies are fickle."

"I am aware," Arslan said, voice even but dry.

"Don't take it personally."

Arslan folded her arms, watching as Petra waved one tiny hand against Jaune's shirt and cooed. The corner of her mouth twitched downward in the closest thing to a pout her composed features ever allowed.

"I shall try not to."

Jaune chuckled and leaned in, kissing her cheek.

"Don't pout."

"Stonebreakers do not pout."

"Sure, sure..."

"Hmph."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Atlas, Solitas

One year, three months after Vytal Festival

---

Jacques Schnee paced the length of his study like a caged animal, one hand gripping a sleek pistol, the other repeatedly checking his Scroll for word on the escape airship. Outside the heavy doors, the sounds of combat echoed through the mansion—gunfire, shouted orders, the clash of weapons. RWBY and JNOR were tearing through his security with ruthless efficiency.

Weiss sat rigid in a high-backed chair near the desk, the cold metal of an Aura Suppression Collar locked around her neck. Her hands were bound, but her eyes burned with pure, undiluted hatred as she tracked her father's every step.

"I did everything for you," she said, voice low and cutting. "And you only ever saw me as a tool."

Jacques didn't stop pacing. "A disobedient tool, to be sure. But you'll learn. So help me, you will."

Weiss's jaw tightened. "…I loved you once. Did you ever love me? Or was it all just nonsense?"

He finally turned, expression cold. "Love doesn't build an empire!"

"And if you'd loved me," Weiss shot back, "Maybe you could have had it without destroying us! Destroying everything!"

Jacques, enraged, pulled back his hand.

"Now listen you-!"

The study doors exploded inward.

Jaune Arc stood in the doorway, Crocea Mors drawn, shield already raised. Dust and plaster drifted down around him. His blue eyes locked on Jacques, then flicked briefly to Weiss before hardening again.

"Weiss!"

"Jaune!" she breathed, relief and fear colliding in her voice.

Jacques swung the pistol toward the intruder.

"You really want a fight, Jacques?" Jaune asked, stepping fully into the room.

"I'm more formidable than I appear, boy," Jacques sneered. "You're trespassing. The law is on my side. Surrender, or you'll be cut down the moment my guards arrive."

Jaune's grip on his sword tightened. "Then I suppose I have to fight you."

Jacques gave a disdainful laugh. "What, to the death? Typical of a barbarian—"

"No," Jaune said, voice suddenly calm and precise. "To the pain."

Jacques blinked. "I… I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase."

Jaune took another step forward, eyes never leaving him. "I'll explain. And I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog-faced buffoon."

"You dare insult me—?!"

"It won't be the last," Jaune continued, voice dropping into something colder. "'To the pain' means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next, your nose."

Jacques forced a thin smile. "And then my tongue, I suppose."

"I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye, followed by your right."

"And then my ears, I understand. Let's get on with it."

"Wrong." Jaune's voice was pure steel now. "Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God, what is that thing?' will echo in your perfect ears. That is what 'to the pain' means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever. All the riches in the world won't mean a damn thing when you're a hideous, misshapen monster—an object of pity and horror."

Jacques's face had gone pale. "…Y-You're bluffing."

Jaune's next words came out in a deadly whisper. "My mother is the finest surgeon in Remnant. She taught me how to ensure you will live through anything… no matter how much you want to die. So tell me… which of us is bluffing?"

He raised Crocea Mors slightly. "Drop the gun."

Jacques's hand trembled. For a long moment the only sound in the study was the distant chaos of the ongoing fight. Then, with a strangled noise, he threw the pistol to the floor and raised both hands.

Jaune moved carefully around the desk, never fully turning his back, and reached Weiss. With a sharp twist he tore the Aura Suppression Collar free. The metal clattered to the floor. Weiss rose immediately, yanking her hands free of her bonds, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"…Did you really quote The Royal Bride?" she murmured.

Jaune's expression softened just a fraction. "First movie we watched together. Of course I did."

Weiss let out a quiet, loving sigh. "You're a dolt."

He smiled. "Your dolt."

From the other side of the desk, Jacques made a disgusted noise. "Oh, for pity's sake…"

Weiss turned her head just enough to fix her father with a look of pure contempt. "Consider yourself lucky we're not conceiving our first child on your desk right now, bastard."

Jaune flushed.

"Weiss!"

"I may still do it!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Beacon Academy, Vale

Twenty-one years after Salem's Defeat

---

Beacon Academy looked exactly as Xia remembered it from a lifetime of visits—except this time the gates were open for her.

She should have been thrilled. Aunt Glynda was Headmistress. She was going to have a blast. Instead she was trailing behind her father as he pushed a loaded luggage cart across the courtyard, looking every inch the proud, overprotective dad.

"Dad, I'm perfectly capable of finding my way around!" Xia said, tugging her jacket straight. "Especially since I've been coming here since I was a baby!"

Jaune smiled that same easy, slightly weathered smile that had only gotten more unfair with age. Scars traced his jaw and the back of one hand. His shoulders were still broad, his posture still that of a man who had once carried the world and decided to keep doing it part-time.

"Now now, sweetie, it's okay… I'm just making sure you get where you need to, that's all."

A flash of gold cut across the courtyard.

Shu Wukong—Blake and Sun's daughter, golden tail swaying, cat ears bright in the sun—came running up with a grin.

"Xia! Great to see you!"

Xia waved back, already in her new Beacon uniform. "Hey Shu!"

Serena Winchester arrived a second later, rabbit ears twitching as she threw an arm around Xia's other side. "We thought you'd never get here!"

Quinn Katt, daughter of Flynt Coal and Neon Katt, launched herself into the pile with zero warning.

"WOO! Finally! Why are you late?"

Xia groaned. "Ugh… My dad just wanted me to be 'extra prepared.'"

Jaune chuckled, setting the last of her bags onto the cart. "Heheh… Don't mind her, she's just in a mood."

All three young women turned to look at him.

Then they kept looking.

Shu's ears flicked. Serena's cheeks went pink. Quinn's tail gave an involuntary little curl. They took in the rugged lines of his face, the chiseled jaw, the breadth of his shoulders, the visible muscle under his simple shirt, and the collection of old scars that somehow only made the whole picture worse.

Quinn recovered first, voice a little too bright. "I-I'd never be in a mood if you were my dad, Mister Arc!"

Shu made a low, appreciative sound. "Mmm… Definitely~…"

Serena nodded solemnly. "Except a good mood."

Jaune, blessedly oblivious, just laughed. "Heheh… You're such sweet girls." He gave the cart a final check. "Well, I gotta go see Glynda and Ruby. You know the way to the auditorium, right sweetie? Right, left—"

"—Down the main thoroughfare and follow the signs, ugh! Yes Dad! I do! You don't have to baby me!"

Jaune's expression softened. He sniffled once, then pulled her into a hug before she could dodge.

"I know… But I'm just so proud of you, sweetie. Your mom and I… we're both so proud of you."

Xia went still. After a moment she bowed her head and hugged him back, voice smaller.

"…I know. I just… you know, I wanna be cool…"

"You'll always be cool to me, sweetie." He kissed the top of her head. "Now, Aunt Ruby is teaching, and your mother and I will be dropping in as trainers—"

"I know, I know!"

"So yeah… we'll see you later, okay? I love you."

Xia mumbled into his shirt. "Love you too, Dad."

Jaune finally let go, gave the girls a friendly wave, and headed off toward the faculty buildings.

The second he was out of earshot, Shu, Serena, and Quinn all turned to watch him leave.

Shu exhaled. "I am signing up for every class he has."

Serena's ears were still pink. "I'm gonna get sooo much detention with him."

Quinn pumped a fist. "I'll double it!"

Xia stared at them, scandalized. "…Okay seriously?! He's my dad! Stop—stop eye-raping him!"

Shu didn't even look ashamed. "We'll only do it when you're not around from now on."

"UGH!"

Xia grabbed her cart and started marching toward the auditorium, friends trailing after her in a chorus of poorly hidden giggles. Beacon stretched out ahead of her—new classes, new teammates, Aunt Glynda's rules, Aunt Ruby's lectures, and the terrible knowledge that her father was going to be on campus as a trainer.

She was going to have a blast.

She was also never introducing him to anyone ever again.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Kuo Kuana, Menagerie

Eighteen Years After Salem's Defeat

---

The sitting room in Blake and Jaune's house in Kuo Kuana was warm with late-afternoon light and the smell of strong tea. Sea air drifted in through the open balcony doors. Blake sat with one hand resting on the generous curve of her belly, looking unfairly serene for a woman carrying another set of twins.

Ruby was the first to break the comfortable quiet, bouncing a little in her chair. "Beacon's good. I mean, exhausting. Glynda still runs the place like a warship, but the first-years this year are so cute. One of them tried to smuggle Crescent Rose's old maintenance manual into class like it was contraband."

Weiss sniffed, but there was fondness under it. "Whitley has the company well in hand. I stepped back last spring. I still sit on the board, of course, but I am no longer required to live inside the office. It has been… strangely pleasant."

Yang stretched her legs out and tipped her chair onto its back two legs. "Freelance suits me. Show up, punch Grimm, get paid, leave before anyone asks me to fill out forms."

Emerald, slouched in the corner with a cup she was not actually drinking, smirked. "I'm living off the book. Turns out 'reformed thief writes about not stealing things and helping to save the world' still sells. Residuals are a beautiful racket."

Blake sipped her tea. Four pairs of eyes drifted, almost against their owners' will, to her stomach.

Ruby's smile went a little wistful. Weiss's gaze lingered a second too long. Yang looked away first and then looked back anyway. Emerald made a face like she was annoyed at herself for noticing.

Blake set her cup down. "And your love lives?"

The room deflated.

Ruby's ears went pink. "Whitley and I… didn't work. He's with Penny and Vernal now. They're good together. I'm happy for him. I am. I just—" She shrugged, small and sad. "Yeah."

Weiss's mouth tightened. "I attempted to date Neptune. I was too busy. Reese scooped him up." A pause. "I am still irritated about that."

Yang laughed, too loud. "I dated around. Nothing stuck. I'm fine. Totally fine. Living the dream. Punch Grimm, sleep, repeat." She was not fine. Everyone in the room knew it. Yang knew they knew it. She kept smiling anyway.

Emerald stared into her tea. "Tried Mercury. He hooked up with one of the Arc sisters. Which, honestly, tracks."

Silence settled again, heavier this time.

Blake looked at each of them in turn—her old teammates, her friend, four women who had helped save the world and then ended up sitting in her living room looking lonely. She took another sip of tea.

"It's Jaune's birthday," she said mildly. "Would you like to make it an extra happy one?"

Four heads lifted at once.

---

Jaune came through the front door tired, sun-warmed, and in a good mood. He toed off his boots and called toward the stairs.

"Blake? I dropped the kids off in Radian, like you asked!"

"That's wonderful," Blake called back, voice bright. "Come upstairs."

He climbed the steps two at a time, already loosening his collar, and pushed open the bedroom door.

Blake was sitting on the edge of the bed in dark, elegant lingerie, looking extremely pleased with herself.

Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Emerald were arranged around her in their own equally revealing outfits.

Jaune blinked.

"…Uh. Sweetie?"

Blake beamed. "Happy birthday, Jaune."

Ruby waved, scarlet from her cheeks to her ears. "Y-Yeah!"

Yang grinned, a little shaky and a little daring. "Can you… conceive of it?"

Weiss groaned at the pun, then blushed and offered Jaune a shy, reluctant smile that was not actually reluctant at all.

Emerald lifted one eyebrow. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Jaune Arc knew he was a dolt. But he wasn't that big a dolt.

---

Downstairs, Leander and Leandra popped into existence in the front hall, mid-argument.

"Can't believe you forgot your Scroll," Leander said.

"Oh like you never forget anything!" Leandra shot back.

A loud, unmistakable scream came from upstairs.

Both twins froze. Then they teleported again.

They kicked open the bedroom door, their weapons ready. Their eyes went wide.

There was a long, horrified silence.

Then Leander and Leandra turned as one, screamed, and vanished.

The door drifted slowly back toward closed.

Jaune, a bit out of breath, cleared his throat.

"Um… maybe one of us should track them down."

Blake did not sound particularly hurried. "I'll handle it. You just keep on, sweetie."

"Yes dear."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Gallia

Twenty Years After Salem's Defeat

---

The Arc-Rose farmhouse in Radian was, for once, almost peaceful.

Several of the younger kids were outside, their shouts drifting in through the open windows. Baby Posey slept in the bassinet near the couch, one tiny fist curled against her cheek. Ruby sat tucked against Jaune's side with a mug of cocoa, watching the rise and fall of their youngest daughter's breathing like it was the most important thing in the world.

"Julian's packing already," she said. "Beacon. First year. He's so excited."

Jaune smiled. "He should be. He earned it."

Ruby's mouth pulled to one side. "He's going early. I just… I want him to enjoy life a little first. Be a kid."

"You went early too," Jaune pointed out gently.

Ruby pouted. "I got thrust into it early because of various things! I didn't have a choice. He does. I want him to have dances and dumb dates and time to just… be Julian."

Jaune kissed her hair. "He will. We'll make sure of it."

The front door slammed open hard enough to rattle the frames on the wall.

Cardin Winchester filled the doorway.

Time had not made him smaller. If anything he had grown taller, broader, craggier. A scar cut across one cheek, disappearing into a thick beard. His striped polo was stretched tight across his chest, jeans dusty from the road. In one massive hand he held Julian Arc-Rose by the hood of his jacket, exactly like a man carrying an extremely offended kitten.

Ruby blinked. "Can we help you, Cardin?"

Julian dangled, only mildly concerned. "Um. Hey Mom and Dad."

Cardin shook him once for emphasis. "Your son is trying to date my daughter!"

Julian snorted. "No, trying implies I failed! I totally am—!"

He squeaked as Cardin snarled.

Jaune and Ruby were both on their feet at once.

"Cardin!" Jaune said. "Just because they're dating doesn't mean you should be unhappy!"

"Yes!" Ruby added, pointing. "Julian is a perfect gentleman!"

"A good young man!"

Cardin jabbed a finger at Jaune. "Says the guy with eleven kids!"

Velvet Scarlatina walked in behind him.

She was still fit, still graceful, her long hair loose down her back—and very pregnant. In each arm she carried a toddler with little bunny ears. Serena Winchester followed at her shoulder: Velvet's face and figure, Cardin's hair and eyes, and the expression of a young woman who had already decided this was going to be embarrassing.

Velvet looked Cardin up and down. "Says the man with over twenty?"

Cardin coughed. "Oh, sweetie. Honeybuns. I—I'm just saying! He shouldn't be getting so close to Serena!"

Serena stepped forward, ears pink but chin up. "Daddy, I love him! He's been nothing but a gentleman to me!"

Julian beamed.

Serena glanced at him. "I mean… sometimes he's an idiot."

"Ah! Hey!"

"And late a lot—"

"I get distracted!"

"And he talks a lot—"

"I have a lot to say!"

Serena's voice softened. "But I do love him."

Julian made a small, helpless sound. "Hee…" He grinned like he'd just been handed the moon.

Jaune raised both hands, peacemaking. "Well… I mean, it's not like they're sneaking off to get married, Cardin."

Ruby nodded brightly. "Yeah. We'd murder Julian if he did that!" She beamed at her son.

Julian gulped.

Cardin hesitated, then scowled again. "Well… fine. But if you try anything, boy, I swear—"

Jaune tilted his head. "Is there anything you can do to him that wouldn't be scarier than what my wife would do?"

Ruby's smile turned sweet. "What Velvet and I would do?"

Serena threw her arms out. "Hey! Stop threatening my boyfriend! You're being scary!"

Velvet's ears flicked. "That's our job! To make him fear for his life if he tries anything with my sweet little girl!"

"Yes, it is~," Ruby agreed.

Velvet beamed. The temperature in the room did not change, but something in the air did. An ominous, maternal pressure settled over the living room like a held breath.

Cardin, Julian, Serena, and Jaune all looked at one another.

A silent, sort of manly understanding passed between them.

Mothers are terrifying.

Posey chose that moment to make a tiny sleepy noise in her bassinet. Ruby immediately forgot the standoff and drifted over to check on her. Velvet shifted one of the bunny-eared twins to a more comfortable hold. Cardin suddenly seemed to realize he was still holding Julian by the hood and set him down with as much dignity as a man in a striped polo could manage.

Julian straightened his jacket, reached for Serena's hand, and then thought better of it under four parental stares.

Jaune clapped Cardin on the shoulder. "Stay for dinner. We've got extra. And you can glare at him from across the table like a civilized person."

Cardin grumbled. Velvet was already heading for the kitchen. Ruby, satisfied that Posey was still asleep, looked at her son with a love so fierce it could have leveled a Grimm.

"You're still going to Beacon," she said. "You're still going to enjoy your life. And you are absolutely going to be home by curfew. No excuses!"

Julian nodded rapidly. "Yes ma'am."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Beacon

One Week after the Party

---

Emerald found him in his team's common room kitchenette after lights-out, sleeves rolled up, frowning at a pan like it had personally insulted him.

She almost left.

Almost.

Instead she leaned in the doorway, arms folded, voice dry. "You know the cafeteria exists, right?"

Jaune jumped, then grinned when he saw her. "Yeah. It's closed. And I—" He hesitated, then shrugged. "I like to cook. And, you know... I figured you might not have eaten."

She hadn't. Not really. Cinder had been cold since the party. Mercury had been Mercury. Emerald had been surviving on stolen rolls and spite.

Jaune turned back to the stove. "Sit. It's almost done."

Emerald did not sit. She watched.

He wasn't fancy, but he was skilled: chopping without looking, tasting with the end of a spoon, adding salt by instinct. Rice. Vegetables. Thin slices of meat. Something that smelled like garlic.

"What are you trying to get out of this?" she asked.

Jaune paused with the spoon still in his hand.

"Nothing," he said.

Emerald laughed once, sharp. "Everyone wants something."

He plated the food, set it on the little table, and pulled out a chair for her like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I want you to eat. And I want you to be happy. That's it."

She stared at him.

No smirk. No angle. No and then you'll owe me. Just that earnest, stupid, Beacon-first-year face, waiting to see if she would sit.

Emerald sat.

The first bite almost undid her.

It was simple. Warm. Seasoned like someone had actually cared whether she liked it. She ate too fast and then forced herself to slow down, because the old habit of finishing before someone took it away was still in her bones.

Jaune didn't comment. He just sat across from her with his own plate and let the quiet exist.

Halfway through, the pictures started arriving uninvited.

Jaune in a kitchen that was theirs, apron crooked, calling over his shoulder that dinner was ready. A small green-haired kid on a stool stealing peas. Another one hiding under the table. Jaune laughing.

Jaune on a blanket in the grass, passing her a sandwich, their kids chasing each other through sunlight. No Cinder. No missions. No hunger.

Emerald's throat tightened. She set the fork down harder than she meant to.

"You don't even know me."

"I know enough," Jaune said. "You were hungry. You're still waiting for me to ask for something. I'm not going to."

She searched his face for the lie.

She didn't find it.

That was the part that knocked the air out of her. Not the food. Not the chair pulled out. The fact that she believed him.

"…You're an idiot," she muttered.

Jaune smiled, small and tired and kind. "Yeah. People say that a lot."

Emerald picked the fork back up. She finished every bite. When the plate was empty she sat there with her hands in her lap, staring at the smear of sauce like it might explain the world.

"If you tell anyone I—"

"I won't."

She nodded once.

Jaune stood, collected the dishes, and started washing them. Emerald stayed in the chair a minute longer than she needed to, memorizing the sound of running water and the smell of garlic, filing it away next to the other impossible things: a boy who had followed her out of a party just to sit with her, and a meal that hadn't cost her anything at all.

When she finally stood, she hesitated in the doorway.

"Jaune."

He looked over his shoulder.

"…Thanks."

It came out small. Rough. Honest.

"Anytime," he said.

Emerald left before he could see her face.

In the hallway she pressed her back to the wall, closed her eyes, and hated how easy it was to imagine staying.

She opened her eyes.

She did not go back to Cinder right away.

She just enjoyed the feeling of warmth inside her... Just from the food.

Surely.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Vale

Eight Years After Salem's Defeat

---

The front yard of the Arc farmhouse was a chaos of small running feet and late-afternoon light. Petra chased little Neptune through the grass with single minded intensity. Somewhere inside, Jaune's voice rose and fell as he wrangled dinner and their newest baby, Kazuma.

Arslan sat on the porch steps with her hands folded in her lap, watching it all with that same unshakable calm she had carried through war and wedding and every long night since. Pyrrha sat beside her, too still, eyes on the children and not quite on her oldest friend.

"Pyrrha," Arslan said quietly. "You still love my husband, don't you?"

Pyrrha's shoulders tightened.

"It's all right," Arslan continued. "You can admit to it."

Pyrrha was still hesitant to admit such a thing, but she knew when she had been had. She let out a thin breath.

"How long have you known that I was still in love with him?"

"That's not important." Arslan's gaze stayed on the yard. "What is important is that you admit it."

Pyrrha sighed. "Yes. I'm still in love with Jaune. I have never stopped being in love with him… nor will I ever."

Arslan nodded once. "I understand…"

She almost looked amused.

That, more than the words, irritated Pyrrha. She narrowed her eyes.

"You do realize you're not pregnant anymore, right? Which means I'm more than okay with fighting you right now."

"No, no…" Arslan's mouth curved, just slightly. "I mean… Pyrrha. If I made the offer, would you join us?"

Pyrrha answered with zero hesitation.

"Yes. Absolutely."

Arslan studied her for a long moment. "Would you be willing to join the Church of the Tablebreaker? Genuinely. Not live a lie?"

Again, without hesitation. "Yes. Absolutely."

Arslan's eyes warmed with something that might have been triumph. "…So you finally admit I am right about your paganistic gods failing you and being false?"

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. "You realize I only argued with you on that because my publicist told me to, right? I haven't been inside one of those temples since I was eight."

"I know." Arslan's voice was almost fond. "But you are most becoming when you are pouting."

Pyrrha crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm not pouting."

Arslan smiled. "You are."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, the fight going out of her in a playful huff. "Okay, fine then. I was pouting. Now, what else do I have to do?"

"Marry Jaune," Arslan said simply. "With a ceremony involving myself. Then… we are a true family."

Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow. "And you're fine with me moving in as a result of that?"

Arslan turned to look at her fully then, calm and serious and kind in the way that had always made Pyrrha feel comforted and outmaneuvered at the same time.

"Pyrrha… I am all right with expanding our family and sharing so that one of my oldest friends doesn't die alone and miserable."

Pyrrha clicked her tongue. "Tsk. I hate that I can't argue against that. Still…" Her gaze drifted back to the yard, to Petra wrestling Neptune into the grass, to Isabelle and Nick tumbling after them. "What do we tell your—our kids, let alone our family and friends?"

Arslan did not hesitate.

"The truth."

She watched her children laugh, sunlight caught in their hair.

"We did save the world, after all."

Pyrrha shrugged, a small, helpless smile tugging at her mouth. "Fair enough. We are afforded some amount of leeway after all."

"Agreed," Arslan nodded. "But I am still glad we will be in the same afterlife, now that you admit I am right."

Pyrrha scowled.

"Pride and gloating are a sin, you know."

Arslan smiled gently.

"I will do penance later."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Vacuo City, Vacuo

One year, nine months after Vytal

---

The walls of Vacuo shook under another barrage.

Smoke hung over the city walls. Grimm screamed in the dunes beyond. A Hydra reared above the outer line, three throats glowing as it gathered fire.

Jaune stood between Sun and Ren in battered gold and rust-dark plate, the Rusted Knight's cloak snapping in the heat. He was older than the boy who had fallen into the Ever After. But that didn't mean he was wiser.

The first fireball swelled in the Hydra's left mouth. Then the other heads glowed with fireballs. All pointed at the three Huntsman on the wall. The regular troops fled. They stayed put.

Jaune tilted his head. "…Guys? First one to dodge the magic fireball is a chicken."

Sun's grin was immediate. "…You're on."

Ren closed his eyes for half a second, as if privately asking the universe why he was like this... Then said: "…Very well."

Below the wall, Glynda Goodwitch stared up at them.

"What."

They stayed still.

The fireballs came closer.

Closer.

Closer.

All three tensed.

All three leaned back, just a fraction, like men preparing to look cool while dying.

KABOOM.

The blast took the battlement apart. Jaune, Sun, and Ren were launched off the wall in three separate, undignified arcs and slammed into the packed sand at the base of the fortifications. Dust exploded outward. A chunk of battlement followed them down.

Ruby, Glynda, and Blake stared at the three craters in utter disbelief.

"ARE YOU ALL STUPID?!" Ruby shrieked.

Yang's voice carried from further down the line. "YEAH! I WOULD'VE WON THAT!"

"SHUT UP YANG!"

Glynda was already striding toward the impact zone, riding crop in hand, Aura crackling around her like a storm front. "Honestly! What were you thinking?!"

Jaune groaned from the bottom of his crater and lifted one gauntleted hand. "Urgh… Wanted to impress you, Glynda."

Glynda's eye twitched.

"JUST BECAUSE YOU DID IMPRESS ME DOESN'T MEAN I'M NOT STILL ANGRY!"

Sun popped up from his own hole, hair full of sand, triumphant. "DIDN'T DODGE AT ALL! HA!"

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. "Idiot…"

Weiss arrived at a run, took in the scene, and stared in disbelief.

"What happened?!"

"First one to chicken out... And dodge the fireball... Lost," Sun reported as Blake fussed over him.

Weiss gaped.

"WHY?!"

"Just... Felt like acting like a young fool," Jaune chuckled, his Aura going back to full strength and healing the other boys instantly.

Weiss's eye twitched.

"Why is everyone I know insane?"

Ren sat up slowly. "Ow… Why did I do that…?"

Nora vaulted the rubble, eyes shining. "For kisses from me, winner!"

Ren blinked. Considered this. Nodded, faintly beatific.

"Ah."

"Please, I totally won," Sun scoffed.

"I'm the one who healed you," Jaune huffed.

Glynda hauled Jaune to his feet by the front of his breastplate.

"You are never doing that again," she said.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And if you make another bet like that, I will levitate you into the next fireball myself."

"Yes ma'am."

Jaune saluted and went back up to the wall. Sun was already climbing, shouting that he had technically won. Ren followed, because Nora had promised kisses and that, apparently, was enough.

Ruby stared after them, then at Glynda.

"…You're going to marry him, aren't you."

Glynda straightened her glasses, cheeks pink, and refused to look at anyone.

"That," she said, "is neither here nor there. We have a war to finish."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, Gallia

One Week After Vytal

---

Radian looked too peaceful for the week they had just survived.

The farmhouse sat in late summer light, the garden table already set for lunch. Jaune's sisters were all away, which Emerald had initially taken as a mercy.

Then she met Isabel Arc's eyes and realized there was no such thing as a mercy where Jaune's mother was concerned.

There was some in Nick Arc's eyes though, which surprised her.

Isabel had fussed over him the moment they came through the door—hands on his face, on his shoulders, checking him for injuries he had already healed. She had been terrified for him. Nick had crushed him in a hug that lifted him off the floor and told him he was proud. Isabel had said it too, quieter, like a vow.

Then Jaune had put a hand on Emerald's back and said, "Mom, Dad. This is Emerald. She's my girlfriend."

Nick had beamed. Isabel had been polite.

Both of them had looked at her the way Huntresses looked at an unknown Grimm: not unkind, just measuring.

They sat in the garden for lunch, which looked so perfect and pristine it felt like mockery of her entire life. Jaune lasted through the first round of questions before he excused himself for the bathroom, pausing just long enough to murmur, "Be nice to her," at his parents.

She loved him for that.

The door closed.

Emerald felt Isabel's scrutiny settle on her like a weight.

"So…" Isabel said. "You are… very serious about Jaune?"

"O-Oh… Um… Yes!"

Nick leaned forward, interested. "Oh?"

"Extremely?" Isabel asked.

Anger flickered first. Then it died. Emerald understood. They cared about him. Deeply. The same way she cared for Jaune—except they had earned the right to ask, and she was still waiting to be thrown out.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, I—I care for him."

"Really? That's great!" Nick grinned.

Isabel only hummed. "Hm…"

Fear took over. Old habits reached for the next paragraph and built a castle out of lies before Emerald could stop them.

"Yes! I—I mean, at first it was just sex sex sex, all the time! Any chance we could! Any room at all! He'd take me all the time and I could never tire him out! And then we formed a deep, spiritual connection of love and trust and he saved me from my former mistress who abandoned me! With more sex forming an even deeper bond!"

Isabel stared.

Nick's eyebrows climbed toward his hairline. His grin shined in the noon day sun.

"…That's my boy!"

Emerald, committed now to the disaster, kept going.

"In fact I'm pregnant and he's going to marry me and I'm very happy about it! Glowing! I'm glowing!"

Isabel's fork had not moved.

"Please accept me as your humble daughter-in-law! I—I bet it's twins!"

The back door opened.

Jaune came back out, drying his hands on his jeans, and sat down between them without a care in the world.

"Hey…" He looked at his parents' faces. Then at Emerald. "…What?"

Emerald stared at her plate. "…I… may have panicked a little…"

Jaune's smile faltered. "…What did you say?"

"Um…"

She explained. Briefly.

Jaune went white.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Emerald's voice cracked. "I'm so used to lying I got carried away!"

Silence sat over the garden table like fog.

Isabel set her fork down with surgical care. "Emerald."

Emerald flinched.

"Are you pregnant?"

"…No."

"Are you getting married?"

"…No. I-I mean... Not now...?"

"Was the rest of that—" Isabel made a small, pained gesture, "—accurate?"

Emerald sank in her chair. "The part about him saving me is. The part about caring about him is. The rest was… my mouth. Running. Without permission."

Nick burst out laughing. It started as a cough and became a full, helpless roar. He slapped the table hard enough to rattle the glasses.

"Oh, I like her," he wheezed. "Izzy. I like her."

Isabel pinched the bridge of her nose. For a long moment she looked like a woman calculating how many years of her life this lunch had just cost her. Then she looked at Emerald again, and some of the ice thawed into something more complicated.

"You were a thief," Isabel said. Not a question.

Emerald's throat worked. "Yes."

"You worked for the woman who tried to burn Beacon down."

"Yes."

"And my son brought you home anyway."

Emerald nodded, miserable.

Isabel exhaled through her nose. "Then we are going to eat lunch. You are going to tell us the true version. And if you ever use the phrase 'sex sex sex' at my table again, I will personally toss you out."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jaune dropped his face into his hands. "I was gone for two minutes."

Nick clapped him on the shoulder, still grinning. "That's my boy."

"Dad."

"What? I'm proud of you. And your… stamina. Allegedly."

"Dad."

Emerald risked a glance at Jaune. He looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him. She looked like she wanted to help it.

Isabel poured more tea, because tea was the only thing still behaving.

"Eat," she said. "Both of you. Then we will discuss what 'girlfriend' means in this house, and what it does not mean."

"Yes ma'am."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

The Ever After

---

The Forest of the Lost did not keep time.

Jaune had stopped counting loops. He fought until the path dissolved. He ran until the trees rearranged themselves. He woke in the same clearing with the same ache behind his eyes and started over. The Mind Trap was exhausting in a way armor could not blunt. It ate effort and gave him nothing back but Salem's laughter, thin and pleased, as if she had all the years in the world and he had already spent his.

He sat with his back against a tree that might have been a wall a moment ago.

The air shifted.

Pyrrha stood in the leaves as if the forest had never mattered. White cloth. Polished bronze at her brow. The same calm she had worn the morning she died.

"Hello, Jaune."

He stared at her for a long time.

"Well… now I know I'm going crazy," he said. "Because you shouldn't be here…"

"I'm here," Pyrrha said. "I just don't have a body. Just my consciousness is here."

"Oh, yeah." A cracked laugh escaped him. "That makes it seem less insane."

He looked her over. "You look good, for a dead woman."

"I was dead… sort of." Her smile was small. "I'm back."

Jaune picked up a rock and threw it.

It passed through her chest and hit the trunk behind her with a dull, useless sound.

"See," he said. "You're not here."

"I am." Pyrrha did not look down at the place the rock had gone. "I'm here in spirit."

"So I'm going crazy."

"You're not crazy."

Jaune leaned his head back against the tree. "Why are you here?"

"To be with you," she said. "So you don't feel alone."

"…I am alone."

"You have Blake."

His throat worked. "…I'm not going to see her again. Not her, not RWBY... Nobody."

"That's no way to think, Jaune."

He sighed. The words came out flat, worn smooth by repetition. "…I just fight… I get lost… I fight… I get lost… I keep going and… I don't know why… And then I see… others. I see Salem… mocking me…"

Pyrrha's voice hardened, just a little. "I know, Jaune."

"She tells me that. All the time. That my love for Blake is… nothing. That there's no hope… I'll never escape."

"You know that's not true, Jaune."

He shut his eyes. "…I'm afraid, Pyr…"

"I know. That's never stopped you."

The next part tore on the way out.

"…Why did you have to leave me? Why did you… I should have died in your place—"

"You know that's not true, Jaune—"

"You would have won this. No problem. Saved the world—"

"And you aren't?" Pyrrha stepped closer. She could not touch him. She stood as if she could. "You will, Jaune. You just have to think about your love for her…"

His hands were shaking. He hid them against his knees.

"…I'm trying, but… every time. Every time I'm in here… when I see Salem… I feel like I lose more of myself, Pyr. I lose a little more…"

Pyrrha knelt in front of him, white against the dark of the trees, eyes bright and impossibly kind.

"You won't. Just hold out… a little longer. And I promise… you will be okay."

Jaune wanted to believe her the way he had believed her at Beacon, when she told him he could be a Huntsman and made it sound like a fact instead of a kindness.

He reached out.

His fingers passed through her cheek.

He left his hand there anyway.

"Don't go," he whispered.

"I won't," Pyrrha said. "Not until you don't need me."

Jaune's voice frayed. "…I needed you. The world needs you."

"It needs you more."

"I'm a punching bag. Medic. They're going to save the world without me… or maybe I can give up my life for it—"

"Don't." Pyrrha's tone left no room. "Don't think your life is so cheap."

"You did. You thought yours was—"

"That had to happen, Jaune. If you'd fought, you would have died. You wouldn't have saved Weiss. Or anyone else."

"You could have still lived… saved her—"

"You did." She held his gaze as if she could pin him to the world with it. "You have to stop torturing yourself. You have to let this go, Jaune."

He sighed. The forest whispered around them, rearranging paths he had already failed.

"…I just don't know how we beat her…"

"You will. You'll figure it out. You just need to hold out a bit longer… I promise…"

Jaune's mouth twisted. "You promised you would be there for me too."

Pyrrha did not flinch.

"And I am."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Vacuo City, Vacuo

Three Days after Salem's defeat

---

Vacuo had not stopped cheering from the moment the military forces had returned from Salem's castle.

The streets outside were a living thing: banners, Dust-sparks, music fighting music, soldiers from four kingdoms drinking like the sun might not come up if they sat still. The little bar on the side street had been mostly ignored. That was why they were in it. Just enough quiet for the people who had saved the world to sit together and remember how to be people.

Jaune stared at the table for a long time before he spoke.

"…It's… done."

Ruby's fingers were laced around her glass. "…Yeah…"

Nora leaned back until her chair creaked. "…It's like… nobody's trying to kill us. Or eat us. Or steal from us. Or anything else."

She frowned at the ceiling, genuinely lost.

"…How do you get used to that?"

Yang tipped her bottle and chuckled. "Oh… I'm sure somebody else will try to kill us eventually."

"You think so?"

Ren's voice was calm, almost fond. "Strength invites challenge."

Weiss exhaled, posture perfect even in a chair that did not deserve it. "Well… I think the world is exhausted after all that. Not much energy for fighting… for a time."

Nora twisted toward the table at large. "So… what's everyone gonna do now?"

Only the sounds of the party outside were heard for a while. Jaune leaned back in his chair, and sighed softly.

"I guess... we rebuild. And we make sure nobody else gets the bright idea to dunk themselves in a Grimm Pool."

"Yeah, silly, that's everyone." Nora pointed between him and Ruby. "But I mean you and Ruby?"

Jaune looked at Ruby. He took her hand. She went pink to her ears.

"Well—"

"Ah ah ah!" Yang waved both hands. "I don't need to know!"

Ruby squeezed his fingers, words tumbling. "I just… I mean… we're heroes and we saved the world and… the stories rarely talk about what happens after and… I don't know what we're gonna do… aside from the obvious…"

Jaune smiled, tired and soft. "Everyone talks about the party. Nobody talks about the cleanup."

He shifted in his seat. "But… you know… seeing as the world is saved… um…"

He searched his pouches.

He pulled out a ring.

Ruby's jaw dropped, as Jaune cleared his throat.

"Um, Ruby... I... I'd been thinking about this for a while but... Well... Would you-?"

Ruby moved in a blur.

The band was on her finger before Jaune had finished lifting it. Her eyes were already wet as she hugged him tightly.

"Yes, I'll marry you, Jaune! But I thought you were holding onto that thing so Ren could propose to Nora!"

Jaune blinked. Then he laughed, helpless. "Well… I have two rings…"

In the background, Nora tackled Ren to the floor with a sound that made the bartender glance over and then wisely decide not to.

Ruby was already spinning about frantically, ring flashing every time she gestured. "We need to start planning! The cake! The location! Tell my dad-! Oh. Crap. Does Yang do the Mother of the Bride thing or the Maid of Honor thing?"

Yang's eyes rolled back.

She went down like a cut tower.

Jaune shot to his feet. "Medic!"

"You are the medic," Blake pointed out dryly with a small smile.

Jaune froze.

"…Oh. Right."

Ruby giggled into both hands.

At the end of the table, Sun cleared his throat. "So… Blake…? Since the subject has come up, would you… marry me? I… I've only got this."

He held out an onion ring.

Blake looked at it. Then at him. Then at the onion ring again.

"Sun… don't propose if you're not ready to."

He opened his mouth.

"It completely ruins the romance," she added.

Sun's tail went flat. "I've been ready for a while but I lost the ring."

"Probably when fighting Tyrian, jerk set us all on fire," Ruby observed.

Blake considered this with the gravity of a woman who had dated him long enough to believe it.

"…Yeah. That makes sense."

"So…?"

"The answer's yes," Blake said, cuddling up to him. "But if anyone asks, I made you find the actual ring before I said so."

Sun's grin came back crooked and bright. "Heh… mum's the word."

Weiss sighed, looking jealously at the two happy couples... And Jaune still checking on the unconscious Yang.

Nora, still sitting on Ren, pointed at her without looking. "There's someone for everyone, Weissy!"

"Yeah!" Ruby grinned, "And you'll be my Maid of Honor!"

"Oh... Thanks," Weiss managed.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Hastinpur, Pandu

Five Years After Salem's Defeat

---

The palace courtyard in Hastinpur was supposed to be the easy part of the day.

May had cleared her schedule. No council. No petitions. No guards hovering closer than she allowed. Just her and August and the shade of the old trees, a pillow on the stone bench, and the rare luxury of being a mother instead of a queen.

August did not care about any of that.

He screamed.

He had been screaming long enough that May's arms ached from rocking him and her eyes were wet. She paced the courtyard in circles, whispering, humming, checking his wrap, offering the bottle he had already refused. Nothing touched it. The cry was thin and furious and endless.

"I've got you," she murmured. "I've got you, I've got you—"

The side door opened.

Jaune stepped into the courtyard still loosening the collar of his uniform, meeting-tired and immediately alert. "Hey, Love! Sorry, my meeting ran late…"

He took in the scene in one look: May near tears, August red-faced and rigid in her arms, the abandoned pillow, toys and bag on the bench.

May's voice broke. "I've been trying everything I can think of to get him to calm down! I… what do I do?!"

Jaune crossed the stones without hurry.

"Here. I've got him."

He set August down on the pillow May had brought, on his back, and put both hands on the small, tight belly. Firm. Gentle. Circles.

August grunted. Gasped. The screaming hiccupped into something less sharp.

"He's just colicky," Jaune said. "His new digestive system isn't sitting well with him… Here, just a gentle massage, then…"

He lifted August's little legs and moved them in slow circles.

"There… just like a bicycle… and then…"

Knees up together. Pull back. Up again.

August farted. Loudly. More than once.

Then he went slack on the pillow, blinked up at the leaves, and smiled happily.

May's whole body sagged. She pressed her fingers to her temples and let out a breath that had been stuck in her lungs for an hour.

"Oh… I—I'm so sorry, Jaune… I just… ugh…" She rubbed her forehead. "I've tried to balance being a queen and a mother and… and I…"

Jaune looked up from their son, still rubbing one last easy circle. "Hey… I only know this because I had to help with my little sisters and all my neighbor's babies. Don't feel bad."

"I just… I did all this at the orphanage when we had babies but… I spaced it. Just it being my baby…"

He stood, crossed to her, and hugged her tightly. May folded into his chest like the crown had finally come off.

"We're both figuring this out, May. It's okay…"

Her voice was small against his shirt. "I just… I managed to get nations to sign off on a treaty but my baby…"

Jaune picked August up—warm, loose, smelling like milk and farts—and set him in May's arms.

"Because it's our baby, May. It's always going to be different."

May chuckled, soft and wrecked, and kissed the top of August's head. He cooed and burrowed into her like he had never been angry in his life.

"Yes," she whispered. "It is…"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

The City of Atlas

Two Years After Salem's Defeat

—

Although it was the height of summer the wind still sent a chill down Jaune's spine. This wasn't unusual when you considered Atlas' usual altitude and his proximity to the city's edge where there were only a few buildings to break up the wind made the windchill worse.

The memorial was empty as he approached, which wasn't surprising when you considered the time of day and the fact that this spot wasn't as well known by the public at large.

The crater below was the obvious place for a pilgrim or tourist to go to pay their respects to Nick Arc. The location of the final impact the Paladin had left upon the world was suitably dramatic for the man who had been larger than life, and so the more intimate location where Nick had chosen to sacrifice himself for his family and the world was frequently overlooked.

Perhaps the fact that only a small handful of people had actually witnessed the man suplex Cinder Fall over the edge of the flying city prevented the place from becoming as iconic in the mind of the public as the crater. In any case Jaune was glad about the relative obscurity the memorial had maintained: the simple statue of his father and the circle of benches where he could be alone with his thoughts was more inviting than the collection of shrines springing up around the crater.

As he entered the circle of benches Jaune zeroed in on the bench directly in front of the statue. He sat down with a heavy sigh, and looked up at his father's face recreated in metal. The familiar reassuring smile was perfectly captured, forever sharing the man's warmth with anyone that wished to seek it out.

Time stretched as Jaune looked upon that face and did his best to recall the laugh that accompanied that smile. It had been a deep thing, coming from the very bottom of the man's chest with a power that could be felt as much as heard. A sad smile crossed Jaune's lips as relieved tears danced on the corners of his eyes at how easily the memory of the sound returned to him at this moment.

After what had happened a few days ago part of him had been afraid the memories would be hard to reach.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there trying to expunge his last hunt from his mind with those more pleasant memories, but it had apparently been long enough for his friends to come looking for him.

Ren sat down on the bench to Jaune's left, and Nora in turn sat on Ren's lap. The two of them joined Jaune in his silent contemplation of Nick's statue. This companionable silence hung in the air until Nora looked towards Jaune and asked:

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Jaune answered, "I don't." He was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I don't, but I should. I should."

More silence hung in the air as Jaune looked for the right place to begin. Eventually he found a suitable spot and the words began to flow:

"We had tracked the thieves to an off the books compound along the border of Midgard and Senda. It didn't take us long to figure out the place had been taken off the books years ago by Doctor Watts for his own personal use, and as it turns out his understudy fled there after the fall of Evernight…"


—--------------------


The sound of aura enhanced steel cutting through metals that didn't benefit from spiritual bolstering echoed through the abandoned factory. This shrieking slicing came in a quartet and was accompanied by the sound of aura enhanced fists denting metal. Old military surplus robots kept flooding in alongside off the shelf civilian security drones and the odd custom model to replace the droids the furious five hunters were mowing down with frightening efficiency.

"These things are definitely using Watt's combat algorithms," Ruby observed from Jaune's right as Crescent Rose decapitated a formation of battle bots.

"How many of these things got squirled away here?" Blake complained as she used a series of shadow clones to trick the more long ranged robots into shooting at everything but her friends.

"Doesn't matter," Yang boasted as she punched one of the bigger robots so hard that it summersaulted through the air and landed on a formation of smaller droids, "So long as Vomit Boy keeps us topped off we can do this all day."

"This better not take all day," Weiss objected as she conjured a small firestorm with her glyphs while skewering the robots that still managed to get close. "We've been away from home long enough!"

"Well, let's see what we can do to wrap this up quickly," Jaune answered as aura blazed around his sword before he unleashed it in a devastating slash that took out dozens of robots as it cut through the air.

And so the quintet worked their way deeper into the facility, blasting and slicing their way through the machines that moved out to oppose them.

Deeper and deeper they went; past fabrication bays, assembly lines, foundry yards, maintenance garages and prototyping cradles. Each layer contained legions and legions of mechanical defenders programmed to fight to the last bot, whose efforts impeded their progress just enough to qualify as a decent warmup when compared to the last days in the war against Salem. Then things changed when they entered a new chamber.

It was a massive space with an open floorplan and a dizzying array of crisscrossing catwalks suspended in the air above them. Unlike the previous chambers they were not immediately met with violence from defending automatons, setting the five of them on edge as they looked for the machines that weren't attacking.

They spread out enough to make all of them getting caught in the same surprise attack unlikely while remaining close enough to still support each other when the inevitable attack arrived. Said attack didn't come when they expected it to, in its place a woman's voice echoed through the room in contemplative disappointment.

"Team RWBY and their Knight," The voice came from above fluttering between the catwalks. They looked up to see a faunus woman only a few years older than them buzzing down to a lower catwalk on a set of insectoid wings. "I had hoped my little stunt would have drawn out the Winter Maiden, but I suppose the lot of you are enough to bring her here sooner or later."

"Fee Clochette," Ruby narrowed her eyes at the malicious mechanic that had served under the Queen of the Grimm only to vanish during the last days of the war. "If this trap was meant for Penny you've been out of the loop for too long: nothing in your arsenal can touch her!"

"Trap?" Fee tilted her head in surprise, "I have no intention of trapping her. My security was programmed to just let her in. The thefts were supposed to be an invitation so we could have a civil face to face discussion about a potential collaborative effort."

"Well if you want to talk, talk," Jaune demanded as he kept his sword in a ready grip. His friends spread out a bit more trying to find better angles on Fee while Jaune tried to keep her attention. "What do you want Penny to do?"

"I suppose telling you won't hurt anything," Fee shrugged before looking to the doorway on the wall the catwalk she stood on led to. "Wanda! Come out here so I can introduce you!"

The door swung open and what appeared to be a woman Fee's age marched out. Appeared to be being the operative term, as the woman moved in a manner that was just off. The way she walked was simultaneously too fluid and too rigid to look right. As this Wanda arrived at Fee's side she turned so they could see her face clearly; her eyes stood out the most. There was a subtle mechanical edge to those eyes they might not have noticed if they weren't so familiar with Penny. Those mechanical eyes were soulless, unlike Penny's.

"Wanda and I go way back," Fee explained as she slung an arm over the gynoid's shoulders. "Me and Piers met her on our first day at Second Star Academy, and Piers fell head over heels for her right away. Of course younger me was jealous, stupid and shortsighted and so I didn't like that at all."

Fee's face became somewhat regretful as she continued, "In my shortsightedness I arranged a little accident for Wanda that thoroughly flatlined her original body, and that hurt Piers to the point that I could never completely soothe his heart while we were together. Then Lillian figured out what I did and I had to leave Piers in her hands."

Fee gave a sad sigh, "It didn't take long after that for me to figure out that I needed to fix my mistake, actually fixing things took longer." A grin replaced her frown, "But now I've done it! I've restored Wanda so I can now be forgiven and the four of us can be together like we could have been if younger me hadn't been so shortsighted and jealous."

"That isn't really Wanda," Blake protested in the hopes of keeping the rogue roboticist talking.

"I understand why you'd think that," Fee admitted before she made her case; "However I can assure you I've accounted for everything. I spent years looking over Wanda's genetic code to figure out all of the potential phenotypes it could produce and compared it to every picture I could find of her adult relatives. This is what she would have looked like if she had grown up."

Pride filled Fee's voice as she continued, "After thousands of hours simulating combat against every opponent I had data on I refined her fighting style into what it would have been if she had finished her education. The language models I possess have analyzed all of her diaries and family home videos, she talks the way she would have talked if she still lived. Wanda here lacks only one thing, and one thing only to be her original self returned: her immortal soul."

"The methods used to give Penny her soul won't help you there," Ruby guessed at the reason Fee had wanted to bring Penny to this place.

"That is true," Fee allowed with a nod, "But I'm not looking to create a new soul. I'm looking to acquire Wanda's soul. As the Winter Maiden Penny has access to magics capable of piercing the veil between the mortal and eternal worlds. With just a little trial and error the two of us will be able to locate Wanda's eternal self and place her within the vessel I've perfected for her."

"Medling in such things is insanely dangerous," Jaune warned as his grip tightened on his sword. "And Penny knows it's dangerous. Why would you think she'd be willing to cooperate with this?"

"If I was just doing this for Wanda I don't know if she would, but I'm not just doing this for Wanda," Fee raised her hands and clapped them together like a conductor signalling the orchestra to come on stage. "I'm doing this for other people the world misses too."

At the sound of her pronouncement more doors opened up granting entrance to a large procession of more androids built to closely resemble the deceased like the Wanda android. Team RWBY and Jaune all tensed as faces they recognized in the crowd stood out to them. A replica of General Ironwood stood at the front, to the General's right stood a replica of Sienna Khan, and on the General's left stood Nick Arc and Pyrrha Nikos amongst many others.

"Everyone that was lost shall be restored through our efforts," Fee boasted as she looked down upon the only other living people in the room. "And the lot of you will help me get Penny onboard one way or another."

"What makes you think that will happen?" Yang challenged as she pointedly didn't look at a quartet of androids fashioned after old friends that had died in the war.

"Well, either you agree to help me persuade her, or I get started on your new bodies," Fee sneered. "Penny might refuse to help me with the restoration of all of these, but she wouldn't refuse if it meant restoring the five of you." Fee pulled her weapon from behind her back, a massive adjustable wrench that could mechashift into a rifle. "So which way are we doing this?"

Silence hung in the air.

The soulless androids adopted combat stances that clearly emulated the styles of the departed they were modeled after.

Fee's eyes narrowed.

Team RWBY and Jaune narrowed their own eyes back.

"So be it," Fee sighed. "EVERYONE ATTACK!"

The androids charged. Team RWBY and Jaune counter charged. They met in the middle and everyone lost track of each other in the scrimmage.

The androids were tough, but they lacked aura. Hits that Penny would have shrugged off were devastating to these machines, and Jaune found himself cutting through dozens of the things whose combat algorithms weren't up to par with his skills. Then the inevitable happened and he found himself facing a pair of androids whose combat algorithms were on par with his own skills, and fate was cruel as the two androids in question were the ones modeled after his father and Pyrrha.

By that point the room had cleared enough for Jaune to catch what his friends were doing in his periphery vision. Blake was grappling with the Sienna android while Yang boxed with the Ironwood android. Weiss with her glyphs and summons were doing an admirable job clearing out the flanks. Ruby had ascended to the catwalks above, doing battle directly with Fee and her Wanda android.

Jaune focused on the facsimiles of his dead father and partner. It galled him to admit it, but Fee had done some impressive work. The facsimile of his father struck with the fury of a giant and moved with the economy of motion that made that strength so lethal. Just like how he remembered training with his father. The facsimile of Pyrrha moved with a certainty of purpose and precision at a level of deadly fury that was a perfect match for his dearly departed partner's style.

With the two of them focused on him Jaune found himself more on the defensive than the offensive. Block, feint, dodge, deflect, dodge, block, block, feint, deflect was the rhythm of his life for the next few moments which was fine as it meant the two most dangerous androids had their attention on him instead of anyone else.

If it was just the way they looked, if it was just the way they fought he would feel less disturbed. Unfortunately they talked too, and Fee had not been lying when she boasted about the language models she had used.

"You've come so far," The false Pyrrha warmly praised as he blocked a strike aimed at his head with lethal intent. If it wasn't her voice it was close enough that he could not tell the difference after all these years. "Nobody in their right mind can object to you being my partner now!"

"It's good to see you're still so light on your toes," The false Nick cheerfully laughed as Jaune jumped over a slash aimed at his legs. "Now let's see if you've been practicing Galahad's Defense!"

And so it went on, with the two androids yammering away as if they were the long lost, showing up out of the blue to train him instead of trying to run him through with their blades. A sickened rage began to build within his chest for a simple reason: nostalgia wasn't supposed to feel so slimy.

Fortunately in spite of how that wrongness soured the familiarity his tempo was not disrupted. In some ways Fee had made her replications too well and the cadence of the fight inevitably reached a beat he knew would arrive, a small flaw in his opponents styles a less faithful imitation wouldn't have had. A flaw Jaune knew he had to capitalize on with no hesitation.

The machine wearing his father's face and speaking with his father's voice pressed the attack with a string of slashes known as the Percival Pattern. His father always overextended by half a step in the third slash; and so Jaune sidestepped and brought his own sword up, removing the android's hands in the process. Knowing how dangerous a machine like this could be even without a weapon Jaune further pressed the attack, splitting the robot in twain from head to groin.

"Fa-fan-fan-tastic wo-o-rk-k son," The android's speakers ground out as it lost all power.

Now it was just him and the machine wearing Pyrrha's face, giving him her smile. Not the one she wore at public events or for the camera. Her real smile. The one only her true friends had ever seen.

Their swords crashed against each other from one bind to the next, their shields bashed against each other in deafening booms. The whole time the machine smiled Pyrrha's secret smile as it did its best to cut off his head and cave in his chest, whispering words of affirmation to him with every strike and blow.

Then the inevitable came. A flaw in her stance only he ever knew about thanks to the long nights they had spent training on Beacon's rooftops. Jaune stepped into her guard and plunged his blade into her sternum pushing an overwhelming amount of aura into his opponent. This overwhelmed and fried circuits unprepared for the energy washing through them, and the artificial spartan fell.

"I-I-I all-al-ways knew-ew-ew you-yew-u-d be ab-ab-le to be-be-eat me some-sum-some-day-ay-ay," The voice too close to Pyrrha's sputtered and skipped. "I'm-I'm-I'm so proud-proud offffff y…"

The light in the android's eyes flickered out.

Jaune dropped his sword. His shield joined it on the ground before he slowly sank to his knees.

The battle around him was wrapping up, and his hands would not stop shaking.


—--------------------


The winds around Atlas slowed for a moment, and footsteps Jaune was intimately familiar with approached from behind. Weiss came around the bench and sat down to his right joining him, Ren and Nora in silent contemplation.

The silence stretched and stretched in a way that was more peaceful than the other stretching silences that had hung in the air between them the last couple of days. Weiss slowly and smoothly took his hand in hers as she turned to gaze upon his face. Jaune appeared peaceful as he looked upon his father's memorial, but his hand subtly trembled within hers.

"I was able to speak with Athena," Weiss began once it felt right to talk. "She's coming to collect what's left of the android… She's decided that Pyrrha's grave shouldn't be left empty, and she's invited us to the burial."

"Right," Jaune managed after taking a deep breath. "We… we should go. Closure will be good. It will be good."

"Did this help?" Weiss vaguely gestured to the statue of Nick.

"Yes… but not as much as I hoped…" Jaune admitted. "I guess the next step would be to bring my sword here. See if I can stop thinking about cutting him in half when I'm holding the sword with his unmarred image in front of me…"

Weiss rotated so she was no longer sitting beside him but rather straddling his lap. She cupped his face in her hands and gazed into his eyes with the most gentle and reassuring look she could muster.

"Jaune…" She began, looking for the right words. "Jaune, the world's been saved. We saved it and it's staying saved. You don't need to pick up your sword again; no one will think less of you if you retire from the hunt."

He looked back into her loving eyes and let her words sink in. He had been moving non stop since the day Pyrrha died, going from one thing to the next again and again with no true rest in between. Now he had been given permission to stop. He could stop. Put away his sword unless the world was ending again…

"...Alright," Jaune relaxed as a tension he didn't know was in his shoulders just vanished. "I can give it a shot. Don't know what I'll do with my time though."

"Well… I might have a good idea…" Weiss ventured. When Jaune raised an interested eyebrow she continued, "Argus is lovely during this time of year, and since I thought you'd agree to go I found this nice little villa with a beach, and I figured…" A faint blush started to grow across her cheeks, "I figured with everything sorted out right now it would be a good opportunity to try and grow our part of the family…"

"I.. I like the sound of that," Jaune whispered to her before gently pulling her into a kiss.

Ren gently squeezed Nora to contain her sudden excitement at their friends' decision, knowing the two of them would probably follow suit in short order.

As Jaune kissed his wife he briefly glanced over her shoulder to his own father's statue, and it wasn't hard to imagine that the sculpted smile looked more approving than it had been a second ago…

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Julian Arc-Rose was three months old, dressed in a fluffy bunny onesie that made him look like a very serious cloud, and he had no interest in language.

Ruby sat cross-legged on the rug with him in her lap, silver eyes bright, leaning in until her nose almost touched his.

"Come on… Mama…"

Julian cooed. It was not a word.

"Say Mama…!"

More coos. Mostly silence. A fist waved at nothing.

Jaune, coming in from the kitchen with two mugs, chuckled. "You know babies don't usually say their first words till about nine months, right? And that's early."

Ruby huffed. "Hmph! I was an early bloomer! I was saying stuff around this time! Come on, sweetie… Mama! Mamaaaa…"

Julian turned his head and gave his father a look of pure, baffled solidarity.

Ruby melted anyway. "Awww…" She pulled him in and cuddled him until the bunny ears flopped against her cheek. "I just… you know… I want him to talk to us. Really talk."

Julian made a small, damp noise against her collar.

"…But I also want him to stay cute and small! Ohhh…!"

She set him down on the rug in the onesie and braced him under the arms, gentle, hopeful, ridiculous.

"Come on, Julian… you can do it… you can sit…!"

Julian managed it. A little sit. A few proud, wobbling seconds.

Then he flopped over.

"AHHH!"

The onesie saved him. He bounced once, face-first into fluff, and giggled like the floor had told a joke.

Jaune set the mugs down and hugged her close as she scooped Julian back to her chest, still half-laughing, half-mortified. "It'll come in due time. Let's just enjoy each day as it comes."

Ruby leaned into him. "Yeah… you're right…"

She smiled. The smile shifted.

"Hnnn… I just… I had a dream and—"

Her eyes glowed.

Her voice changed into something older, warmer, and not hers at all.

"Hello… Hello, Jaune? Oh, there you are."

Jaune blinked. Swallowed. The farmhouse was still a farmhouse. His wife was still holding their son. The woman looking out of her face was not his wife.

"My Lady," he said. "How may I assist you?"

The Blacksmith adjusted Julian's bunny ear with Ruby's hand, perfectly calm. "Oh, it's… nothing too bad. Just checking in on you. Don't worry, I asked your wife in her dreams if I could borrow her body just for a moment."

Jaune's mind went to the usual places. An epic quest. Salem stirring. The Brothers causing trouble. The Rusted Knight and the Red Reaper called back into the dark.

"No… crazy events?" he asked. "No need for the Rusted Knight and the Red Reaper?"

"Oh, there will always be a need for a Rusted Knight," the Blacksmith said. She looked down at Julian. "But that need is currently being fulfilled by this little one right here."

She started pinching his cheeks.

"So cute!"

She coughed, trying to resume some dignity, and failed almost immediately.

"Besides… you're not the only one I can count on."

Jaune frowned. "Hm?"

"How are you, My Rusted Knight?"

He looked at his son, at the rug, at the quiet house that had not been attacked in six years. A smile found him before he meant to let it.

"Oh… I'm… I'm great. I'm happy."

"I am pleased to hear that."

The Blacksmith kept cuddling Julian, Ruby's arms careful around the small weight as if she had done this a thousand times and still found it new.

"Such a wondrous thing," she said. "A new life full of beauty and innocence and grace."

Jaune watched her face—his wife's face, not her eyes. "…Did you ever have children?"

Her countenance softened with grief.

"Once… two beautiful boys. Boys that I loved and raised in Truth and Harmony. Or at least… I tried to."

Jaune had a theory. He did not voice it. "I'm sorry."

"It is no one's fault but their own. They have made their own choices. They will understand the consequences of such one day. But I appreciate the sentiment, My Rusted Knight."

She looked back at Julian, one finger tracing the curve of his cheek.

"There will come a time, Jaune Arc."

Jaune froze. It was the first time she had ever used his name.

"There will come a time where your children will undergo great trials. Trials that you will not be able to guide them through."

He sighed. "I understand. Part of them growing up, right?"

"In a manner of speaking. However, be assured. That I shall watch over all of your children, across Time and Space and all the Eternities."

Jaune's hand found Ruby's shoulder, careful, as if he might startle the guest out of her.

"…Thank you, My Lady."

The glow faded.

Ruby blinked, back all at once, Julian still warm against her chest and very unconcerned about having been inspected by a god.

"Woah," she said. "That was… freaky…"

Julian cooed.

It still was not Mama.

Ruby kissed the top of his head anyway, and Jaune sat down on the rug beside them, and the farmhouse stayed quiet in the way only a saved world ever managed.