Afternoon Tea ch. 1

"(sigh) I told him 3 o'clock."

the redheaded girl in the bronze armor idly tapped her booted foot on the round base of the table, as she ran a gloved finger across her scroll, casting a quick glance down at the time: 3:23.
a mild annoyance mixed with a mild worry in her jade eyes: Jaune wasn't the most punctual person on good days, but he'd never been this late.
Pyrrha Nikos sipped at the teacup in her hand as she sat in the café in Mistral, basking in the afternoon sun and letting the crowds pass her by. A recent haircut had ensured she wouldn’t be bothered by fans anytime soon. She mildly passed a hand through her shortened locks: she’d adopted a style not unlike Ruby’s, though still long enough to merit her characteristic headband.
as she looked out across the crowd in the marketplace, people going about their everyday lives like nothing in the world had changed, she was struck by how…oddly calm, everything was.
if only these people knew how close they’d come to losing everything…

a year had passed since the Fall of Beacon…while the school was still being rebuilt after the Grimm had been cleared out, the news that it was finally free of its monster infestation had brightened the spirits of many. On top of that,  the latest word was that Professor Ozpin would make a full recovery…it had been a near thing, after pulling his battered and broken body out of the rubble of the underground vault while Huntsmen and Atlas troopers had held off the Grimm swarms. Safely sequestered in Vale, he was awake and alert, to the relief of all his students. The recovery of the tower also meant the CCT, offline since the fall, would soon be restored.

Pyrrha herself had had a very near thing as well…..
idly, Pyrrha fingered the front of her shirt, gracing over the scar that sat just above her breasts... she now wore a sleeveless turtleneck the same color as her sash under her corset…it helped keep people from asking about…that night…
had Ruby been five seconds slower...  had her Uncle Qrow not found them at the top of the tower in time…

That strange, silver light that had enveloped them both….she could still remember the energy coursing over her. And the aftermath...
[=]
“Ruby….Ruby…!”
the armored athlete, her arrow-impaled foot useless, her aura and strength gone, her body covered in cuts and scratches, pulled herself feebly towards the crumpled form of the young girl that lay nearby. Every movement was like someone was poking a white-hot prod into her chest…Cinder’s arrow had disintegrated when Ruby had done…whatever she did, but the hole still wept blood and her body was still wracked with agony. Her hair was loose and scattered about her, her headband having vanished when she was thrown aside by the blast.
Milo’s remains were embedded in the various pieces of rock around her, and Akouo had flown off into the night after her desperate last-ditch attempt at an attack before Cinder had used the Maidens powers she stole to reform her arrow around the flying disc of the shield.

Dragging herself up to Ruby’s fallen form, the girl looking like a discarded rag doll in the remains of her frilly dress, the exposed skin scratched and bleeding, Pyrrha gently took her into her arms. Crescent Rose lay nearby, melted and mangled beyond recognition as its last few rounds cooked off. That was going to hurt Ruby more than the physical wounds, Pyrrha thought as she gazed down at the youth. She cherished the weapon so…

Strangely, despite the pain she must be in and… whatever she had done, Ruby looked…peaceful, almost like she was merely in a deep sleep. To Pyrrha’s relief, she could feel Ruby’s breath on her skin as she held her close. She was alive, thank goodness.

and above them…
Pyrrha looked up, glaring in undisguised hatred at the frozen figure that stood over the pair, sword raised to deliver a final blow, her face set in a mix of surprise and rage.
Cinder stood, frozen in time, the mass of the dragon behind her, equally petrified. Both looked like they had been formed from ice, their bodies perfectly mimicked down to the last detail. Pyrrha still remembered Cinder’s taunting words as she’d formed a bow and arrow from the ashes…even in the face of death, she’d remained defiant…only a single regret holding her back from true peace…

As her mind finally began to give way, her exhaustion overtaking her, Pyrrha idly wondered what they were going to do with them…how the Guardians were going to extract the Fall Maiden’s power from the Witch who had nearly doomed them all.

 as blackness began to fill her failing vision, Pyrrha managed to squeeze Ruby tighter against her, pillowing the girls head on her bosom, as she laid them both down on the shattered floor of Ozpin’s office.
nothing to do now…except let the memory of a familiar face fill her mind, as she weakly spat in the frozen Cinder’s direction.

“Jaune…”

[=]

She shivered at the memory...Cinder's flaming eyes...the redhead still had nightmares that woke her in a cold sweat on many nights, collapsing in uncharacteristic trembling into Jaune's arms.
thankfully, Qrow Branwen had managed to make his way to the top of the tower with a Bullhead to recover the pair of them. She had vague memories of being lifted onto a stretcher, carried away from Cinder’s frozen gaze…

She’d woken up in a cozy bedroom in what she discovered was Ruby’s home. Nora and Ren had been there to greet her, the former’s excited babbling expected, and the latter’s tears…not so much.
Nora had made her promise on the spot to NEVER keep the two of them in the dark about serious stuff like this ever again, to which Pyrrha was more than happy to agree to.
She’d then noticed Jaune wasn’t present, and a brief moment of fear had filled her…what if she’d dropped him into a swarm of Grimm, or-?
but no, thankfully, Jaune hadn’t been trapped in the locker to be swallowed by a Nevermore. But as to what HAD become of him…
Nora and Ren had looked at each other hesitantly before telling her he was…quite upset with her.

Her recovery had been long and more painful than she'd expected. It was months before her bad leg was fully up to spec: no one noticed the slight limp she had before rainfall these days. Aura was a truly wonderful thing.

But the emotional wounds…those…mmm…

[=]

Jaune, upon being informed she was awake, had, according to Qrow, said “good” then promptly announced he was going into Vale to help clear out the last of the Grimm. Pyrrha had immediately tried to stand up and follow him, only to collapse to the floor.
Told under no uncertain terms by the Huntsman that she was to stay in bed and rest, she’d caught a glimpse of her team leader stalking away in the autumnal evening, and had been…surprised, by the tears that came to her eyes.

The next few days had passed like a dream for her. Ruby had awakened, which lifted her spirits somewhat, and the two had hugged for what felt like hours. Pyrrha thought it prudent that someone tell her about Cresent Rose…but Qrow had saved the awkwardness from happening, as he and Ruby’s father Taiyang  produced the weapon in perfect condition, to her surprise.  A conspiratorial wink from the alcoholic told her to keep her mouth shut, and she’d smiled happily as Ruby danced around the room, fussing over the crimson weapon like it was a child. Nora and Ren had appeared with a new headband, which they’d had forged by one of the weapon smiths at the Signal School, and made a fuss about helping her put her hair back up. Even Yang, who seemed to be in a deep depression, managed to crawl out of her room to say hello.  Despite Ruby’s warning, seeing the blonde’s truncated arm had caused her to gasp in shock.
but ask her to recall any specifics of those days, and she’d have to shake her head in regret…all she could remember was an emptiness, a longing….and silent tears in the dead of night. The thought of Jaune being out there, fighting, and here she was, stuck in bed, barely able to lift her arms, gnawed at her like the fangs of a Grimm.
it had vaguely occurred to her that maybe THAT was what Jaune felt like when he talked about being stuck in a tree while his friends fought for their lives….and her despair had deepened as she realized how terrible it felt…

almost two weeks after she’d regained consciousness, she’d been awoken to be told by an excited Ruby that the Vale council had announced that the City was free of Grimm. Casualties were high and the inner city was in ruins, but at least the immediate threat was past. Pyrrha’s initial excitement that Jaune could return was dulled by the recollection that he was clearly not happy with her, and she’d awaited his return with anticipation mixed with dread.

Her team leader hadn’t come back to Ruby’s house for another day. She’d sat in bed, forlornly waiting, all throughout the morning as Ren and Nora had uncomfortably fidgeted as they sat with her. It wasn’t until the late afternoon when they’d heard footsteps coming up the path to the house.

When Jaune finally came in, looking a bit worse for wear but otherwise unharmed, she’d smiled in relief…which had vanished when she saw his expression.
[=]
She’d been most shocked not by his tears, but by his anger....which she supposed she deserved, in hindsight....
Nora and Ren had all but fled the room as Jaune had sucked in a deep breath…and unlimbered the festering anger he’d been holding onto ever since she’d thrown him into the rocket locker.
[=]
"I just...I can't believe you! why did you do that?! WHY?!"
Pyrrha stared, wide-eyed, at Jaune, where he stood at the foot of her bed. His shoulders were heaving, tears threatening at the corners of his eyes, but there was no mistaking the fury in his blue gaze.
"Ozpin told you that you didn't have a chance! I told you that you didn't have a chance! and what do you do?! you send me off to hide while all my friends are fighting for their lives! how...HOW COULD YOU?!"
Pyrrha could feel her lower lip trembling, and the unfamiliar wetness of tears tickled at the corners of her own eyes. She’d been suspecting that Jaune's avoiding her so soon after what happened might have had to do with her sending him away...but nothing like this. He continued his tirade as he stepped closer to the bed.

" Listen to me, Pyrrha, and listen good: the fate of the whole world doesn't have to fall on your shoulders alone! to hell with this "destiny" Bullshit,  if you believe any of what you said, then your destiny is what YOU make it!”
her eyes went wider as he clenched his fists, tears billowing from his eyes as he continued, his voice rising as his emotions boiled out of him.
“ what is it? do you believe your own hype? do you believe those idiots who say you're the "invincible girl?" that lady took down Ozpin, Pyrrha! OZPIN! the HEADMASTER of Beacon! if he couldn't stop her, what chance did YOU have?! Did you honestly believe you were going to “save the world” by getting yourself KILLED?!”
she felt her hands begin to tremble as his rant continued.
“I still don't know WHAT happened in there, all i know is the woman i loved went off to face down some psycho witch and sent me off to...to...!"

"to hide in a tree...." Pyrrha whispered as he had turned away with a frustrated snarl and banged his head into the wall. She bit her lower lip and looked away from him, shame filling her.

He was right to be angry...after everything she'd done to help bolster his self-confidence, in the end, when it really mattered...she'd treated him just like he feared everyone would...the weak link, the liability, the one who needed saving.  And she’d gone off to “save the world…”just like everyone expected her to. Maybe she DID take her own reputation too seriously…

then, just WHAT he had said slammed into her like Cinder's arrow.

 Her eyes went winder still and she whipped her head back around to stare at the blonde, even as her tears flowed unbidden.

"w-wait...what did you just say-?"

he slowly turned back to face her…his anger had dissipated, to be replaced with the most heart-wrenching expression of despair she’d ever had the misfortune of seeing. his eyes...his beautiful blue eyes, wet and helpless, glared at her for what felt like ages.

Then, to her shock, Jaune sobbed aloud, collapsing to his knees and burying his face in the blankets at her feet, his shoulders trembling as his hiccupping sobs echoed in her ears.
"i was....dammit Pyrrha!" he cried as he lifted his head to face her, tears falling from his eyes like a waterfall "do you have any idea how scared i was?! I thought I’d  lost you! the one person who's ever had faith in me! The first person who actually treated me like i was worth something! and you...you-!"
his hands gripped at the blankets in desperation as he subsided, letting his head fall back into the sheets.

Pyrrha could only stare in amazement at his shuddering form. A few quiet sobs escaped her own throat as she reached out, placing a trembling hand in his hair and gently caressing it. He stiffened under her touch, and raised his sobbing gaze to meet her tear-filled eyes. their memories of growing closer over the past year seemed to comingle as they recalled everything they’d done together…their initiations, her unlocking his aura, their training, their missions…the dance…
the warmth as he’d placed his hand on hers…her head resting on his shoulder in the evening sun…

and then, in that moment, Pyrrha remembered that Jaune’s final memories of her were almost of her throwing him into a wall and kissing him once before sending him off to hide and watch her die.

Pain unlike any she’d ever felt before blossomed in her breast…the still-healing wound from Cinder’s arrow was but a scratch compared to this…
Her free hand shot to her mouth as she began to choke on her hiccupping sobs, never taking her eyes off his.
"I'm(hic)I-I'm sorry...oh, Jaune, (sob) I’m so sorry…!"
“Pyrrha-!”
Jaune flew to his feet, pulling the redhead  into his arms, still scorched and smelling of smoke and rubble, as they both broke down, the sound of hopeless sobbing filling the small room. She gripped at his sweater, burying her face in his chest as she wept helplessly, apologizing over and over as she found the breath. Jaune held her close, planting kiss after kiss in her hair and rubbing her back consolingly.
“Pyrrha… I’ve got you and I’m never letting you go…”
“oh... Jaune-!”
“you hear me? I’m never letting you go! I….I Love you Pyrrha Nikos!”
“Jaune-!”
“I won’t ever leave you again! I promise you! I’ll never leave you again!”
“I…I love you too, Jaune!”
“Pyrrha-!”

neither of them noticed-or cared-that their assembled friends were listening in the corridor, not a dry eye among them as the two finally admitted to themselves what they had all seen for months…

[=]
in the months since, Pyrrha recalled with a warm glow, they’d more than made up for their two weeks of separation. With Jaune’s help, to say nothing of the morale boost of his affections, she soon recovered from her physical injuries, quickly getting back into the swing of her fighting after weeks in bed. The emotional injuries took a bit more time to heal…besides the nightmares that still plagued her even now (eased only somewhat by the fact that she and Jaune now shared a bed) the lingering guilt of her hand in Penny’s death had weighed on her, despite the propping up from the others. Even Ruby’s revelation that Penny was a robot hadn’t eased her regrets.

it wasn’t until, against all hope, the bubbly redhead had come walking up the path to the house with General Ironwood, her new body ‘stiff’ as she described but no worse for wear, that she’d been able to put the pain to bed at last.
[=]
“P-Penny?” Ruby gasped as the Atlas squad stopped before the house. The redhead waved brightly at Ruby, who had been sparring with Pyrrha in the yard to help the morning pass by.
“Salutations, Ruby Rose!” she said, before opening her arms wide as the 15-year old, with a scream of delight, sprang into them, wrapping her body around Penny’s as she’d sobbed dramatically. Pyrrha herself felt her knees go weak as a hand went to her mouth. The Atlesian turned her bright green eyes towards her as she patted Ruby on the back.
“and Salutations to you as well, Pyrrha Nikos! I am glad to see you are well recovered from your injuries. Though I regret that we were unable to finish our battle, It was most thrilling!”
“a-and you as w-well!” Pyrrha stammered as she managed to walk up to the girl, her shock and awe apparent “b-but how-?!”
“well, umm….I am a fast healer!” Penny said with a wide smile, before a hiccup escaped her mouth. General Ironwood sighed.
“I suppose the cat’s out of the bag, Penny. The whole world saw what happened.”
Turning to regard the three girls, he spoke as Penny released Ruby.
“I have a matter to discuss with Qrow. Have you seen him, Ruby?”
“uuh…I think he’s over at Signal right now, General.” The redhead replied as she scratched her head. Ironwood nodded.
“thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll leave Penny here until I get back. I think you three have some catching up to do.” 
his words were met with fierce nodding from Ruby and Penny, and, motioning to the soldiers he’d brought with him, they marched off down the road towards the combat school over the hill. The girls watched him go.
“he…looks a bit worse for wear.” Ruby said with a concerned tone. Penny’s smile disappeared as she nodded.
“he has been very busy since the attack…between the fallout from the attack itself and those responsible engineering it so Atlas was made the aggressor, he hasn’t had much time to sleep.”
“though” she went on as she turned her full attention back to the two teens “he was most pleased when the body of Cinder Fall was recovered from the top of Beacon tower.”
“so she’s locked up? Good.” Ruby said, as Pyrrha nodded. However, she didn’t take her eyes off of Penny, and Ruby could see her lower lip was trembling slightly.
“Penny, I-“ she began to say, before Penny stepped forward and, to her surprise, wrapped her in a deep hug.
“there is no need to apologize, Pyrrha Nikos” she said “I am clearly no worse for wear-though my new body is a bit stiff in the joints- and it just shows how much I still have to learn!”
Releasing the tall redhead, Penny met her shocked expression with a large smile.
“you are very powerful indeed, Pyrrha Nikos!”
[=]
To say she’d been ecstatic to learn Penny was not only alive, but did not blame her for her…dismantling, had seemed to snap Pyrrha out of the funk she hadn’t realized she was in. the sun had seemed to shine for the first time in weeks, and she’d been able to direct her attention to getting herself back in action…and her relationship with Jaune.

 Glancing down at her right wrist, she smiled at the bronze bracelet, inset with a glittering sapphire, that she wore: one of a pair, the other graced with an emerald and wrapped around Jaune’s wrist, that they’d had made upon arriving in Mistral: with Beacon unable to host classes, the students had been broken up amongst the other three academies.
JNPR was lucky…with all four of their team members together, they’d managed to keep their Beacon status as they’d transferred to Haven. RWBY wasn’t so lucky: with Yang incapacitated, Blake missing and Weiss in Atlas, Ruby had briefly been attached to her team, a second ‘R:’ unorthodox, for sure, but in light of what happened…and how many teams had been through far worse, she welcomed the presence of their friend.
The four had quickly incorporated Ruby into their attack structures, and helped her adjust to the new surroundings she found herself in: the technological metropolis of Mistral was a radical departure from the classic architecture and almost fairy-tale forests of Vale, and Ruby had almost collapsed in a panic attack on their first day. Pyrrha and the young Vale native had grown closer since, Ruby opening up and becoming more personable to others and Pyrrha revealing some of her heart-felt secrets to her. She looked on Ruby almost as a little sister, while Ruby looked to her as a surrogate Yang, a source of comfort in this wider world.
To say nothing of what they were able to do when their auras were at max power…that silver energy of Ruby’s had bound them in more ways than they realized, and when they were at a fever pitch in Combat the pair were a force to be reckoned with. Together, they’d proven unstoppable in the dueling rings of the school, sending Sun’s team, amongst others, home with their tails between their legs time and again. Pyrrha’s semblance had become focused and direct enough that she was able to spring out of bed and summon her armor to her body without hesitations, a trick she’d been trying to master for years, never mind what she was capable of doing in battle: where she’s struggled to move large objects before, she could now virtually fly riding her re-forged shield like a magnetized kite, and few could say they’d seen an 18-wheeler dropped on an Ursa before.  Ruby, meanwhile, had not only managed to finally use her semblance with a passenger in her arms, but had picked up greatly on hand-to-hand combat skills, thanks in no small part to Pyrrha’s training. She’d vowed to never be caught helpless without her weapon against an opponent like Mercury or Torchwick again.

this was not to say Pyrrha had neglected her other teammates: she and Jaune had continued their own training, and he was becoming quite the proficient swordsman, even if his semblance continued to be sporadic and flickering. Nora and Ren had likewise expanded their repertoire of abilities, and working in conjunction with Ruby had helped them grow closer to the younger girl as well.

but her time spent with Jaune was always her most valued, and that was what was supposed to be happening today. Ruby, Ren and Nora were off visiting a weapons exhibit at a nearby museum (and stopping for Pancakes afterward) leaving Jaune and Pyrrha with a rare afternoon to themselves.

or, in the case of the immediate moment, an afternoon to HERself.

peering into her teacup, Pyrrha sighed again as she saw the dregs of the amber liquid sloshing about the bottom. She tossed the temptation of ordering another cup around in her mind: on the one hand, she was still thirsty, but on the other, did she want a fresh, hot cup if Jaune was about to come running around the corner, apologizing profusely in his usual dorky manner, likely as he tripped over something?

As if on cue, the sound of someone breathing heavily and feet slamming against the concrete behind her was punctuated with an awkward squawk of alarm, compounded by the sound of two bodies impacting one another and a cacophony of shattering china.

turning, Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow as Jaune peered up at her with a helpless expression from where he was tangled with a waitress on the ground. shattered teacups surrounded them.
"(ouch) uuuh....hey, Pyrrha..." he said sheepishly as he extracted himself from the young faunus he'd run into in his haste. Pyrrha hid a smile as the girl shot Jaune a look that could melt steel as he tried to help her gather the shattered cups.

with an internal sigh, Pyrrha rose from her seat, fingering her purse...wondering how much lien it was going to cost for the broken porcelain.

not that she wouldn't pay...

"uuuh...sorry." he said as, with a final glare from the waitress, she stormed away with the tray of pieces while he came up to his date "I ran into some trouble with my shield."
Pyrrha smiled a casual smile at him.
"just consider yourself lucky we didn't buy the movie tickets online." she replied as she turned to walk over to the cashier "or i'd make YOU pay for those cups."
with a sheepish grin, one that she couldn't help but love, he shoved his hands into her pocket as, after Pyrrha took care of compensating the cafe for their lost cups, he followed her outside into the afternoon sun, the incident left behind them as they reveled in each other's company.

“I love you” Jaune said as he took her hand in his. Squeezing it tightly, she looked up into his blue eyes as their bracelets glinted in the sun.
“I know.”

[=]

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