Work Text:
Partners
"Congratulations, Beacon graduates. It is now your world- defend it with everything you have. But, don't forget why you are fighting. The bonds you have forged here will last you a lifetime. Ensure that you never let them fade away, and you will ensure that our world's peace carries on for many years to come."
And with that, Professor Ozpin stepped back from the spotlight, confetti bursting into the air, proud, blaring fanfares playing on the speaker systems through the amphitheatre. The holo-screens showed the photographs of every single graduating team- one large screen was dedicated to their first year photos, while the other was dedicated to their newly updated professional Huntsman and Huntress IDs. The faces which had once looked so fresh and young had grown visibly older, more mature- more than ready to take on the shadows that haunted their world.
They were Huntsmen and Huntresses at last.
"We did it!" Nora squealed, throwing her arms around Ren's neck. The boy staggered back, but he smiled warmly anyways, adjusting their graduation robes so that he could hold the girl properly, nodding into her hair.
Ruby and Yang were immediately accosted by their father and uncle, the former taking picture after picture through rivers of tears streaming down his face, the latter sneakily pulling out little gift bags and handing them to his nieces. When the two girls pulled out matching flasks from the bags, however, their father immediately blazed with anger. Pyrrha had to stifle down a giggle as she watched Qrow defend himself from the angry blond, pointing to a label on Ruby's that read 'For milk only' since the girl was still too young to drink, unlike Yang.
Shrieking and cheering from her other side caught her attention. There was a flash of yellow, and then, seven individual blondes leapt forward, crushing her partner to the ground. "Little Jaune did it!" "He's all grown up!" "What a hero!" "Look at you go!" "Congratulations!" "Pipsqueak, I can't believe you did this!" "What're you gonna do now, huh? Huh?" And then, the eldest Arc sister stood up, brushed her dress off, and helped shoo her other sisters off of the rumpled boy. Pyrrha flashed her a grateful smile, then helped Jaune rise to his feet.
"So," Saphron asked, crossing her arms expectantly, "what's the plan, little bro?"
Jaune straightened his robes and sighed. "Saph, I don't-"
But his words were cut off as one of the twins, Citrine, stepped forward. "Who cares about Jaune- what about you, Pyrrha?"
The redhead chuckled, glancing over the sea of beaming blonde faces. She had grown unexpectedly close with the Arc sisters ever since they had met during their first summer vacation at Beacon, when Jaune had dragged her to the Arc family cottage to meet the insanity which was his family. They were all the sisters she never had, and she adored the warmth and pride she could feel from their gazes, from Lemmy's gentle finger smoothing over the valedictorian sash which was draped around Pyrrha's neck. "Well, I'm not so sure," Pyrrha murmured amiably. "There are a lot of different places around Remnant which could use a Huntress, so I was planning on checking out some remote postings, and, well… letting the chips fall where they may."
"Ugh. That's Pyrrha Nikos, for you," Marron, the oldest Arc sister, scoffed. "Always ignoring the fact she could do anything she wanted, and instead doing the one thing no one wants to do."
Saph slung an arm around Jaune's neck and squeezed, chuckling when he gasped a little, only releasing him when her wife Terra raised an amused, but warning, brow. "So Jaune, Pyrrha's got a plan. What's yours?"
"Well… I don't really have a specific one," the blond admitted at last.
All of the girls scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?!" his youngest sister Jasmine cried.
Jaune backed up defensively. "I- I dunno, I was just gonna go wherever Pyrrha went-" And then, he froze, realizing what had just slipped out of his mouth. Pyrrha gasped, the implications of his words sinking into her heart in the blink of an eye, and a surge of warmth and fear and hope rushed through her.
After leaving Huntsmen Academies, teams rarely stayed together. In fact, the only times former teammates would continue to work together were when they:
1. Were best friends, like Sun or Neptune, the boys starting up a detective agency in downtown Vale for fun;
2. Complemented each other's fighting styles and Semblances so perfectly that no one else could possibly replace them; or
3. Essentially got married, or at least vowed themselves to one another.
And, since Pyrrha and Jaune's Semblances were not complimentary (especially since Pyrrha relied on not showing her Semblance off in battle to throw off opponents, and Jaune's powers were all about augmenting the Aura of others) and, while they were close friends, Nora was undoubtedly Pyrrha's closest ally, and Ren was Jaune's, leaving only one real option.
Pyrrha felt her entire body flush from head to toe, her body collapsing in on itself a little. Amidst the immediate hollers and cheers from the seven Arc girls, she spluttered, staring at the ground, hands instantly weaving through the golden tassel fringe embellishing her valedictory sash. "Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean-"
But then, Jaune's hand reached out and grabbed hers, and suddenly he was pulling her through the crowd, leaving behind the cameras and music and other graduates and their friends and, most importantly, the excited squeals of his sisters.
Once they had finally left behind all of the commotion, Jaune suddenly spun on his heel. His eyes were apologetic, and he immediately cried, "Oh my god, Pyrrha, I'm so sorry for making you run, I know you're in heels, god what did I even-"
"Jaune," she giggled breathlessly, placing her hands on his shoulders, "it's okay." Taking a seat on a nearby bench, she folded her hands on her lap, crossing her ankles demurely. She pulled the sash off her shoulders, examining the embroidery in order to avoid his gaze. "I don't mind. I wear them in battle, after all. A little warning might be nice next time, though," she added with a chuckle.
He laughed awkwardly, and she could only smile. Even after all these years- four years of late-night training sessions, of exams and stressful studying leading up to them, of missions and fighting Grimm and growing stronger and pancake nights and illicit camping on their dorm roof and Sunday cereal days and noodle nights, and Jaune was still just as socially inept as ever. She didn't mind though- she wouldn't trade his clumsiness for the world.
"Your sisters are probably going to ask for an explanation," she murmured wryly, looking up at the sky. It was a clear, beautiful spring evening. Summer was just around the corner. Although they had run off, she could still see a long line of attendees of the graduation ceremony filing down Main Avenue in the distance, heading into Vale in order to celebrate the occasion properly. "We have dinner reservations, don't we?"
"Yeah," Jaune breathed. He still stood far away from her, catching his breath.
She finally dared to look at him. In her ideal world, Jaune's little slipup would've been genuine, his feelings real. He would've meant it when he said he'd go with her. She needed to know where his heart lay. The signals he had been sending for years had been so mixed, or maybe it was just his awkwardness? She just didn't know, and she had never had the courage to really find out- but god, did she want to know, more than anything.
But as she looked at him, she wondered whether his answer really mattered. Silhouetted by the setting sun, she couldn't deny it- Jaune looked like a true Huntsman, proud and strong and every bit as powerful as she had always known he could become. She was so deeply happy to have been a part of his journey, no matter what he said.
"So… what are you going to tell them?"
Suddenly, Jaune wasn't standing up anymore. Instead, he knelt down before her, wrapping his large, callused hands around hers as she clutched onto the sash. Carefully extricating the material from her nervous fingers, he wrapped the sash properly around her neck, smoothing her bangs out of her eyes and away from the chains of her circlet. "I…"
"You…?" She hated how her voice hitched upwards, hopeful, shy.
"I don't think there's anything I need to clarify. They've figured it out." He scratched the back of his head, nervous again. "At least, if you'll have me."
Her heart practically exploded with warmth, and she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Jaune," she whispered, squeezing him tight.
He hugged her back with just as much fervour. "I- I mean, what would fighting the Grimm be like without you, Pyrrha?" He laughed, running his hand down her back lovingly. "I can't even imagine it. So why bother?"
She pulled away, punching him lightly on the arm. "So you're saying you only want my help as a Huntress? That's so cold," she groaned.
Unlike how he had in their first year, he didn't budge, didn't crumble under the impact. He simply chuckled, "Hey, you know I don't mean that. I mean, who else is good at making pancakes other than Ren?"
With that, she pulled away completely. "Wow. Glad to know how you value me, Jaune. Guess who's getting locked out whenever we get to… wherever we're going."
"You can't lock me out, it'll be our room, so-"
And she blushed even harder, burying her face in her hands. He sputtered at his bold words, too, realizing too late how transparent he was. Yet, Pyrrha didn't mind- he had all but confirmed it.
He wanted to stay with her. Together. As Nora would say, together-together.
And he reached up to cup her cheek gently, stroking the skin under her eyes with a tender touch. "I know you don't really need help, but… everything's more fun with a partner-in-crime, right?" he breathed. His blue eyes sparkled in the evening's light, wide and clear and innocent and true, and Pyrrha melted into his touch, nuzzling his hand.
"Of course," she whispered, voice catching in her throat. She didn't trust herself to speak loudly. "I'm on your team, always."
"Always." So, he leaned up, pressed his lips against hers for just one brief, chaste moment, then pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers. The warmth of his skin, his lips, his breath mingling with hers sent sparks shooting down her spine, and she shuddered, then relaxed, a blanket of safety and warmth and home settling over her.
He would stay with her.
Ten minutes later, when they finally began the walk back to the amphitheatre, Pyrrha murmured, "We'll check out the boards when we head home today."
Jaune immediately groaned, "Do we have to? Can't we like, wait a day? Relax a bit?"
"It'll be a lot nicer to relax after we've unpacked wherever we're going," she insisted, laughing brightly. "I'm sure wherever we go, it'll be a good place to spend the summer."
"Well, that's a given," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "Anywhere's good with you, Pyrrha."
And she beamed, swinging their hands lightly between them, fingers interlaced as they walked back to their friends and loved ones- and he squeezed her fingers back, and she knew that she'd be alright, wherever she went. She had a helping hand, forever and always.
"…You know Nora's going to scream when she finds out about this, right?"
He sighed, slapping a hand on his face exasperatedly. "Maybe we'll tell her tomorrow? I mean, if we tell her tonight…"
"She'll probably explode."
"Or set half of Vale on fire out of joy."
"No, that's Ruby and Yang's job."
"Oh yeah. Well, she'll certainly break something."
They both laughed, and Jaune's sisters and Nora and Ren came into view once more, and it ended up just how they imagined- wild, and zany, and full of champagne and celebrations and sparks. It was the perfect way to conclude the night. And with that, their chapter at Beacon was finally over, and their next chapter could finally begin- together.
-fin-