Chapter Text
Cinder was not usually one who was nervous. Robbing a bank? As easy as eating ice cream. Committing acts that teetered on the edge of breaking the Vytal Convention? Like taking candy from a blind baby.
Going to her newly adopted daughter's parents-teacher conference and trying not to burn the arrogant, snotty little maths teacher alive? That hadn't been nerve-wracking, that had nearly been an impossible task to do. It was only because of Jaune's firm look and the fact Khione would likely be expelled if she incarcerated the blasted teacher that made her keep a grip on her tenuous control.
No. Cinder was calm, collected and to many she was cruel. To Jaune and Khione she could be different, had to be different, but she welcomed the difference.
She was no housewife, but doing odd jobs like setting the table or distracting Khione whilst Jaune cooked dinner were enough to make her feel content and happy. Doing things like going to the park, going to the cinema…it was a novel experience, especially when people didn't run away from her with fear.
Part of her was still waiting for it to fall apart. For the picturesque lives they had to crack and crumble. For Jaune to turn out like her father. For Cinder to turn out like her mother. For Khione to end up like…her.
Still, she could at least enjoy it whilst it lasted, even if the urge to run away before it fell apart grew stronger and stronger.
"Nervous?" Asked Emerald's naturally caustic voice asked. Cinder shook her head rigorously.
"Never!" She snapped, her former apprentice-cum-fellow villainess merely rolling her eyes as she went to work fixing the neat, braided hair Cinder had just ruined. "I will not be cowed by some priest and altar."
"That's what's worrying you?" Emerald asked rhetorically. "Not the whole 'till death do us part' commitment thing."
Cinder winced at that. She was cruel, but tried not to be necessarily so because Jaune would get upset otherwise. The man made surprisingly good food, and she wasn't going to throw that away so easily. Making her former apprentice who had an incredibly unsubtle crush on her the maid of honour to her wedding was slightly cruel. At the least it earned Emerald some mercy points so she was turned into a crisp for being overly insubordinate.
"No." Cinder replied, though it was unconvincing even to herself. "...Maybe."
"Spill." Emerald sighed, and Cinder frowned before her maid of honour's crimson eyes locked onto hers through the mirror. "Or I'll tell Khione."
Cinder felt her eyes widen and cursed at the smug look that flashed across Emerald's face. She almost missed the days when she had no weakness, no bonds that could be used to blackmail her.
"I worry it will fall apart." Cinder explained as Emerald fussed around her. "I'm not scared, I'm absolutely terrified this marriage will end up like my parents did, and that Khione will end up like me."
"It won't." Emerald answered simply, and Cinder cocked her head curiously, hoping for an explanation. "You won't let it. Besides, Jaune's too much of a softy to be like your dad."
Cinder felt the edges of her lips curl into a smile.
"Hmm. I suppose your right." Cinder felt her smile become a full grown smirk as she stared into Emerald's red eyes through the mirror. "Though I can absolutely confirm he is far from soft in…many, many ways."
Emerald quickly averted her eyes and Cinder cackled upon seeing the faint flush on her partner-in-crime's face. Previously lounging on a couch, Neo leaned up with a salacious grin and began making a number of crude gestures. When Cinder agreed with them, Emerald's blush deepened and Neo began silently laughing at her expense.
Cinder did the same, but she felt herself sizing Emerald up. Part of the reason why Cinder had agreed to take the girl on as an apprentice, apart from her stubborn insistence, was the familiarity she felt with her 'origin story' as Jaune liked to call it.
They had first met when Cinder had been tracking down leads for a new case regarding a very big, pretty gem that she wanted to get as a gift for her first birthday with Khione. One of her leads led her to the Headmistress of a rundown orphanage who had been hiring out her orphans as slave labour for local business. Cinder had wanted to blackmail the woman into giving her information, but she had happened across the old hag trying to punish Emerald for refusing to do a twelve hour shift at the ripe old age of thirteen.
Cinder had done what any sane person had done in that scenario. She burst into the room and slowly…extracted the necessary information from the hag before giving Emerald the chance to enact her revenge and finish the old woman off.
Cinder's own father had been too drunk to dole out much punishment after his divorce to her mother. Her stepmother on the other hand shared many qualities that the Headmistress had. It was a cathartic experience for Cinder, as if she was reliving the moment when she had slowly murdered her stepmother not long after her father perished from liver failure.
Good times.
Unfortunately Emerald had idolised her and chased her down for months until Cinder agreed to teach her how to be a good villainess. But if Cinder liked Emerald because Emerald was like Cinder then did that mean Emerald liked the same people Cinder liked?
Cinder didn't know. She wasn't really good with romance. Still, she'd keep an eye on Emerald from now on. No-one, not even a god, could take what was Cinder's.
Then the door knocked.
"Is it Jaune?" Emerald called out, eager to move onto some new topic of conversation rather than being continuously embarrassed and humiliated.
"Jaune's messenger." Grumbled a voice from behind the door. Cinder raised a brow upon hearing it. "I need to speak to Cinder."
Emerald gave her a look that practically begged Cinder to let her throw out the unwanted trash. Neo's previously teasing smile had turned into one that screamed of savagery, and likely the one her victims saw before their slow demise.
"Come in but make it quick." Cinder called out. "My maids of honour want to kill you."
The door opened and a smaller girl in a red dress and heels entered, raising a brow as she surveyed the room critically.
"What are you doing?" Cinder sighed, feeling a migraine coming.
"Looking for the so-called 'maids of honour' you were just talking about." Replied the impertinent girl, smiling at Emerald's scowl and Neo's murderous look. "Yup. I don't see anyone with honour in here."
"What the hell do you want girl?" Cinder snapped, stepping forward from the small dais she had been standing on. Neo and Emerald quickly flanked alongside her, and the girl shifted into a defensive combative stance. Cinder shook her head.
"No fighting." She ordered, glaring at everyone. "Not on my wedding day. We all know the conventions."
Ruby and Emerald reluctantly nodded. Neo huffed and folded her arms over her chest, which was about as close to a 'yes' as Cinder would get from her.
"What does Jaune want?" Cinder asked, and Ruby forced herself to relax.
"There's a woman claiming to be your mother." Ruby explained, and Cinder felt her blood run cold. "She wants to be able to attend the wedding. He says it's your decision."
It took less than a second for Cinder to decide.
"Tell that egg donor." She spat. "That she should leave now before I incinerate her alive!"
"Got it." Ruby replied, rolling her eyes before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.
No-one said anything, Neo because she couldn't, Emerald because she wasn't sure what to say and Cinder because she was too busy trying to calm down before she burned the wedding dress Jaune's kind mother had given to her.
Her relationship with Jaune had revealed many things to her, one of which being that the woman who birthed her had long ago forfeited the right to call herself Cinder's mother.
"Let's finish dressing me up like I'm one of Khione's dolls." Cinder huffed finally, stomping back to the dais. "Otherwise I'm going to…to…"
"Kill a bunch of people?" Emerald offered, and Cinder just sighed as Neo nodded vigorously.
"Just make me look more beautiful than I already am." Cinder replied, thinking of a way to get back at Emerald. "I intend to provoke Jaune today. By the time we go halfway to the bedroom I want my clothes ripped off and-"
"We get it!" Emerald exclaimed, hurrying over to her. "Help me out here Neo so it goes faster!"
The smaller woman shrugged and sauntered over, making Cinder eye her with both curiosity and caution. Neo merely shrugged again and did a surprisingly good job at applying make-up to Cinder's face.
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"We have a problem." Ruby said as she entered the room, making Jaune startle and ending his conversation with his father about the honeymoon. Khione would be coming for a few days to enjoy the Vacuoan sunshine but after that he and Cinder would have a blessed week to themselves whilst Khione stayed with her grandparents.
"What now?" Jaune asked, feeling another headache coming at the conflicted look on his best woman's face.
"It's Weiss." Ruby replied, and Jaune felt his blood turn as ice cold as Atlas' weather. "There's an SDC Bullhead approaching. The Dragon investigated."
"You don't need to use superhero names at a wedding Rubes." Jaune smiled, though it felt like a weak attempt to change the conversation, which it was. "We all know it's Yang you're talking about."
"I know what you're trying to do son." His father rumbled quietly. "It isn't working."
Jaune said nothing, instead fiddling nervously with his ring finger, that would be adorned with a golden band in just under an hour.
"It wasn't her fault." Ruby said, almost pleadingly. "You know that right."
"Of course I do damnit!" Jaune snapped, feeling shame wash away his anger as Ruby blinked and took a step back like a scolded child. "It…I…Look I'm sorry for snapping, but I'm really not in the mood to talk to her right now."
"Can you tell me why?" Ruby asked, and Jaune felt his father put his hand on his shoulder and squeeze gently. "At least give me an explanation so I can tell her to go without yelling at her for no reason."
"She…I…" Jaune shook his head, closing his eyes to force away the tears he felt building. "She looks too much like…her…I can't. I just can't."
"That's fine!" Ruby said, hurrying forward with a tortured, guilty smile on her face. "It's not your fault! It's perfectly understandable if she reminds you of that…that…bitch!"
Jaune snorted and let out a soft 'oomph' as Ruby hugged him quickly, her strength showing as his bones creaked.
"I'll sort it out, don't you worry." Ruby said, shifting so she stood straight and saluted with a smile. "I'm going to be the bestest best woman you've ever had! Promise! A-Again! Berightbackbyeee!"
Jaune felt his hair poof and his clothes rippled as Ruby disappeared in a swirling vortex of roses. Before he could do anything, he felt his father pull him into a strong, comforting hug.
"Cinder's a good lass, but if she tries to do anything like the last one did, just tell me." His father promised, voice a deep rumble and a hard look in his flinty blue eyes. "I'll sort her out."
"T-Thanks dad." Jaune swallowed, all sorts of emotions bubbling inside him. "But Cinder's a better woman than she could ever dream of being."
"I agree." His father smiled. "Just don't tell your mother I said that. You know what she can get like."
Jaune snorted and imagined his mother flitting about his significantly larger, taller, stronger father and thoroughly scolding him until he looked like a baby bear being shouted at by its mother or something.
"No promises." Jaune teased cheekily as his father let him go and he darted away.
"Your joking right? Right Jaune? Wait…Jaune no!"
Jaune just cackled as he ran towards the reception where he knew his mother was waiting. He was going to make up some good stuff he'd say his father said obviously, but his father didn't need to know that.
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"I see." Weiss said, and although her face remained stoic the disappointment showed in her eyes. "I was hoping I could see my niece for once."
"You will." Ruby promised, like she always did and intended to do. Jaune would mellow out. He just needed a little more time. "I promise."
"Right." Weiss replied, a small smile curling on the corners of her mouth as she rolled her eyes. The moment quickly faded however, as she shifted nervously and pulled out two letters and small wrapped present from her handbag.
"What are these?" Ruby asked, taking them carefully. The letter's were both addressed to Jaune, and were written in a neat, unreadably elegant cursive writing.
"Letters. One is from me, the other from…" Weiss trailed off, and Ruby felt her eyes widen as she put one and one together. "I don't know what it says. Considering that state she was in the last time I saw her I'd recommend not giving it to him. It's likely to be unpleasant."
Ruby nodded, shifting again before pocketing the letters in her belt before sighing.
"I'll let him know." Ruby said, rushing over suddenly to give Weiss a hug before she could see and invariably try pushing her away. "It's good to see you bestie-better-than-the-restie."
"Likewise Ruby." Weiss mumbled into her shoulder, before gently pushing out of her embrace. "I best get going. I don't want to cause more of a disturbance than I already have."
Ruby followed her gaze to see Cinder glaring at their direction, look one of murderous intent.
"I take it she hasn't forgiven you for locking up Torchwick?" Weiss asked, and Ruby shrugged.
"Probably. Who even cares? She's a baddie."
"Jaune cares."
The retort made Ruby shut her mouth so fast it was like it had been glued shut.
"At least…try and get along with her Ruby." Weiss sighed. "She won't be going away, at least not unless she does something to Khione. Jaune isn't the type to just divorce someone because of an argument or something."
"I know that." Ruby replied quietly, though her discomfort with the idea was obvious. "But someone needs to keep an eye on him in case she turns out like..erm…"
"I know Ruby." Weiss sighed. "I know. Have fun for me will you?"
"I'll try." Ruby muttered as Weiss turned away and boarded the Bullhead. After a moment of the engine building up it steadily ascended into the air with a large whooshing sound before soaring away.
Turning around, Ruby thought she saw Cinder giving her an approving look from the window. She blinked before shrugging it away and heading back inside to give Jaune his wedding present and letter from Weiss.
She'd keep the other for safe-keeping. Weiss was probably right about its contents, and Jaune didn't need or deserve that cloud hovering over him on his wedding day.
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Cinder's father was dead. She had no living blood relatives. This meant that no-one could walk her down the aisle.
Then Jaune's father had offered to, as the man had already done so for Saphron when the eldest of the Arc brood had married Terra. Considering that Cinder saw the man as an actual father figure, she had no objections to his proposal.
Though it raised some uncomfortable questions inside her. If she saw Jaune's parents as actual good, replacement parents instead of the shoddy pair Cinder had been lugged with at birth, did that mean she was marrying her brother?
"Calm." Jaune's father grinned. "It's only a few steps and then you're there."
"But there's so many people-" Cinder began weakly.
"All of whom either know and love you or know not to break the wedding convention and love Jaune."
"And I look ridiculous-"
"You look stunning. My son is a lucky man."
"And my bridesmaids want to kill his best woman-"
"But they won't because it would mean breaking the wedding convention."
"And-"
"How is it that a super villainess is more scared of getting married than my daughter who let me know she swung for the same sex by telling me of her wedding that was a week away?"
Cinder blushed and Jaune's father chuckled, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"You'll be fine. Besides we both know Jaune's going to need you to be the strong one. I swear the amount of times he started crying with happiness just because he said your name…" The man trailed off and shook his head, and Cinder smiled and felt herself giggle slightly at the imagery the words conjured.
It was clearly a lie, but it was an amusing thought and held a semblance of truth. Jaune was too kind for the world. Cinder would need to be strong to protect him from the reality of it.
"There was chatter of some upstart planning something." Cinder acknowledged, and she heard music beginning to play from the hall ahead of her. "My people looked into it and found nothing."
"Then nothing's going to happen." Jaune's father said as he stepped towards the door, which started to crack open. "Besides, half of Vale's villains and heroes are here, if some newbie tried anything they'd be ripped apart before anything bad actually happened."
Cinder let the words wash over her like a blanket and soothe her worries as the doors opened and she stepped alongside him onto the red carpeted floor towards the distant altar, Jaune smiling warmly at her and pushing away the gaze of the hundreds present.
She smiled back at him, and she knew he saw it through the veil because his own smile grew more happier and wider. Perhaps things would be well after all?
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"Do you, Jaune Miles Arc, take Cinder Fall to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
The words were solemn, happy and slammed into her like a freight train, which once upon a time he had thrown at her during one of their little skirmishes. Now he was sliding a golden wedding ring onto her finger, sealing their fates together.
"And do you, Cinder Jessica Fall, take Jaune Arc to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do." Cinder swallowed, hating at how weak she sounded saying the words compared to Jaune's confidence. He smiled at her and that emboldened her to slide the ring as gently as she could onto his finger.
He was hers. She was his. It was as simple as that now, like taking candy from a blind baby.
"Then by the power invested in me, I pronounce you-"
The words were cut off by a wave of fire, cacophony of screams and the boom of explosives.
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Beep. Beep. Beep.
That was all she heard. All she saw. The little green line going up and down and then up again.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She couldn't look elsewhere. Looking elsewhere meant looking at Jaune. Meant looking at his bruised face and bandaged body.
Someone was going to pay for this. Someone was going to die.
"Khione's at her grandparents."
Cinder turned to see Ruby Rose, goody two-shoes extraordinaire, her husband's former sidekick and now best friend, her face haggard and haunted. The air of disdain and superiority was gone. The innocence had died in the flames of the church alongside Jaune's youngest sister, who Ruby had been unable to save as the church collapsed in on itself.
"Safe?"
"Yang, Blake and Emerald are guarding her." Ruby answered. "Neo's patrolling the area and Weiss has the SDC providing manpower whilst the police lockdown the city."
"Do we have a name?" Cinder asked, and Ruby nodded, an unfamiliarly dark look on her face.
"The Devastator." Ruby sneered, and at any other time Cinder would be marvelling at the fact the girl could do so. "Pyrrha tracked him down to the industrial district but lost him after he ditched his armour."
"He's mine." Cinder growled, hand tightening on Jaune's unburnt one, holding it as fiercely as she dared.
"No." Ruby replied, making Cinder scowl at the girl and prepare to tear her a new one. "Jaune needs you here. What if he wakes up and you aren't here, Khione isn't here and his parents aren't here? Do you really want to put him through that?"
Cinder scowled before slumping and staring at their conjoined hands the wedding bands decorating them.
"I want him dead." Cinder snapped, and Ruby's next words shocked her to the bone.
"He will be." Ruby swore, eyes narrowed and filled with hatred. "This how my mother died when Raven Branwen broke the wedding convention. If he gets arrested like she did it'll encourage others to do the same."
With her piece said Ruby turned to leave, and Cinder just gaped at her as she did so, still processing what Ruby had said. She stopped at the door.
"If anyone asks, you did it." Ruby said, giving her an indescribable look before leaving. Cinder blinked once more and turned to stare at the heart monitor, unsure as to whether she felt proud and smug Ruby was starting to embrace the truth of the world or disappointed she had yet again been proven right about the inherently cruel, violent nature of the world.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
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"Y-You're supposed to be a hero…" The Devastator gasped, merely a weak boy without his precious armour.
"And the wedding convention is supposed to be unbreakable, one of the few laws us supers have for one another." Ruby replied tonelessly. "Cry me a river."
"Don't…Y-You can't!"
"Watch me."
"Please! No! No!"
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"Good job."
Ruby blinked. Everything hurt. She was tired, drained in every way and had fallen asleep in a plastic chair listening to her medically induced comatose friend's heartbeat. She looked up and saw Cinder staring at her, amber eyes practically glowing in the dark, gleaming with sympathy.
"Wha?" Ruby asked, head rolling up as she shifted to try and get comfortable, accidentally knocking off the blanket someone had placed on her.
"Good job with what happened to the so-called Devastator." Cinder said, eyes unblinking and not leaving hers. "You did what was right. Don't let it eat away at you. Not unless you want to end up like me."
Ruby said nothing and Cinder went back to staring at Jaune's heart beat monitor. Ruby stared at her hands, expecting them to still be stained with blood.
Then she shook her head and stared at the monitor, the soft sounds of Jaune's heartbeat keeping her guilty conscience away.
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"You okay?" Jaune asked, startling her. Cinder nodded and offered him her best smile, though her eyes darted down to the fresh scars that raked across his chest for a moment. "I'm okay hun. Don't let what that bastard did ruin our honeymoon now we're finally here."
"I thought I lost you." Cinder swallowed, voice choked as tears she had fought down for so long spilled from her eyes. "I thought you were dead."
Jaune said nothing, instead her rolled over to her and pulled her onto his chest, holding her close and letting her hear his soft, consistent heartbeat through his chest as he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
"I'm alive. I'm okay. We've got decades together to look forward to." Jaune promised, tilting her head up so he could take her breath away with a passionate kiss. "Nothing is going to change that."
Cinder stared up at him, eyes smouldering and core burning. It had been so long since they'd last been together, and since Weiss Schnee had been kind enough to give them a private beach resort for a wedding gift and holiday home she was tempted to take him there and then.
"Daddy! Mommy! There are turtle on the beach!" An excited voice cried out, and Cinder resisted the urge to groan as Khione raced towards them, flowery summer dress whirling around her and eyes alight with joy.
Cinder loved that girl like she was her own, but she would really need to learn about timing in the future.
"That's so cool sweetie!" Jaune called back, though Cinder could see his smile was slightly strained. "Lets-a-go!"
Cinder squealed as he swooped her up in his arms and carried him towards their giggling daughter, her arms quickly wrapping around his shoulders to secure herself.
"I never did get to carry you like this at our wedding." Jaune whispered into her ear, kissing her cheek before grinning at their now gagging daughter. "Let's have some fun eh?"
Better words have never been uttered to her in her life.