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Jaune Arc pinched the spoon between his thumb and fingers, giving it a couple counterclockwise spins in the mug, the way his second-oldest sister Saphron did. The homemade mocha (half coffee, half hot cocoa, his youngest sister Mauve’s famous epiphany) swirled around in the mug like a whirlpool. He still wasn’t thirsty, but that didn’t matter. It was getting cold, and anyone who says they like microwaved hot chocolate is a dirty liar, at least that’s what his oldest sister Carmen says.
He settled deeper into the admittedly very comfortable couch. It was all starting to hit him at once. Like he didn’t really put the pieces together until his brown beverage hit the bottom of the mug.
This was going to be his first Christmas without his family.
It wasn’t that Beacon Academy was snowed in or anything. Plenty of students had already gone home by now. Ruby and Yang had flown back to Patch to be with their dad, and Pyrrha had left for Argus to visit her mom… and help her forget the divorce. He just…
His thoughts were interrupted by the dorm room’s door bursting open. Nora Valkyrie stepped in, a brownish log triumphantly slung over her shoulder. Jaune found himself puzzled by the theatrics… but as she stepped further inside, the log revealed itself to be attached to a large mass of green. “We found a tree!” Nora declared, holding up her other arm. “We also bought a tree stand in downtown Vale.”
As she stepped further inside, Lie Ren followed, holding up the top of the tree, his coat covered in bright green needles. “It would have been nice,” he said, “if you had remembered that we didn’t have one of those before I started sawing.”
As Jaune watched the two set up the modest pine (and continue to debate when the best time is to buy a tree stand), he began sipping the mocha in his hands. It was at least at a pleasant temperature now. Steam coming off, but in wisps.
He looked down into the mug, wondering if Mauve was having something like it right now. Was she using her favorite mug again? The one with the moon that became full when it was filled with hot water? Oh man, she had yelled at him for an hour the first time he tried to put it in the dishwasher…
“Whatcha thinking about?”
Jaune jumped in his seat, jerking his body to the side. As per usual, Nora had startled him. She was sitting directly to his right, her elbows resting on her knees.
He looked around, to find a glaring absence in the room. “Where’s Ren?”
“He’s in the bathroom. Had to shower off the needles and sap and stuff.” Nora shrugged. “In my defense, he shouldn’t have fallen directly into the tree.”
“When did…” Jaune shook his head. “Never mind. What were you saying?”
“You just seemed… y’know, lost in thought. Staring into your drink.” She leaned in a bit. “So what are you thinking about?”
Jaune looked back down at his mocha. It was gonna get cold in a second… like it usually did, after about ten minutes.
Nora’s curious smile was starting to fade away. “Oh… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry or anything.”
“No, it’s just…” Jaune took a much longer drink, letting the chocolatey liquid fill his taste buds. “I’m just thinking about my family. My sisters especially. This is gonna be my first Christmas I spend without them.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” Nora said, shifting her hands to her lap. “Why don’t you go back? It’s not too late to fly back to… Port Nola, right?”
“It’s not that simple. I can’t look at any of them after… you know,” Jaune muttered, averting his gaze.
“Right…” Nora nodded, folding her hands in front of her. The fact that Jaune stole his grandfather’s weapon, forged qualifications, and cheated his way into Beacon was no more of a secret among Team JNPR and their allies than Blake Belladonna being a Faunus. “Still, Jaune… you’re gonna have to tell them some time. It’ll be better for them to know about that whole mess from you than someone like Glynda.”
“I guess you’re right, but… not around the holidays,” Jaune said, shaking his head. “They don’t deserve that kind of bombshell this time of year.” He set his mug on the table directly in front of the couch, resolving to make a new mocha once this conversation was over. “What about you? No warm welcome waiting up at the Valkyrie home?”
The soft, pleasant look Nora had been building up was blown away like a flash. Her eyes were dark all of a sudden, her posture shrunken. “…Ren didn’t tell you?” she asked, in a softer voice than Jaune had ever heard.
“Tell me what?” Jaune asked back, trying to keep his mannerisms delicate.
Nora took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I never knew my parents. Until I was about six, I lived in an orphanage in Kuroyuri… but then it closed down, and I and all the other kids were forced into the streets.”
Jaune was starting to lean toward her now. Her story had his undivided attention.
“I survived like that for a while… but then the village was… was overrun by Grimm one day… It was a nightmare.” Her breathing was getting more intense. “Ren and I only survived because of his Semblance, and both his parents… were killed in the attack…” Nora let out a single, sharp sob. “He’s the only family I have left…”
Jaune reached out his hand to take hers. “That’s not true.”
Nora looked at the hand he’d grabbed with wide eyes. Her gaze trailed up to his face, stunned.
“Sure, it might have been, but… but now you have every one of your friends here.” Jaune gave what he really hoped was a reassuring smile. “Including me.”
After only a second, Nora gave him a wide smile through her disappearing tears… and with little effort, pulled him into a hug, which elicited a sort-of-surprised grunt from him. “Thanks, Jaune…”
Jaune looked to his side, at the woman hugging him. His own mouth curved into a smile, and he returned her hug with a small squeeze.
Sisters or no sisters… this was going to be a great Christmas for all of them.
No way was he letting Nora anywhere near his coffee, though.