17Blake sat in her lawn chair, overlooking the sunset as she sipped on lemonade and took the occasional bite of a Tuna sandwich that her husband had personally made for her.
Husband.
A word one might find odd when paired with her name in the same sentence. The fact that Blake was married was surprising enough to most people, but when the majority of them were adamant on thinking she was a lesbian before the news of her engagement?
People were reality checked. Hard.
Not that it bothered Blake, she had been introverted for many years before she met him, and a few years after that as well. The change was tough for her, seeing as her life up until 10 years ago had been riddled with discrimination towards Faunus people as a whole.
Now though? Now she didn't have to hide those "adorable little ears" as her husband always put it. Though, it was nice. Nice knowing you wouldn't be discriminated for something as simple as an extra appendage or two.
It had all started when a certain blond, blue-eyed dork named Jaune had followed her all the way to her home in Menagerie. Said blond then confessed to her when they were in the middle of fighting a Sea Dragon Grimm of all things.
Even though she wasn't interested in him at the time, she had to admit it was romantic in its own sort of way. Two teenagers from the same combat school, one Human, one Faunus. One being naive to the true cruelty of the world's hate, the other a victim of it. Both fighting against the same giant Grimm to protect the lives of civilians.
It was that naive outlook that almost killed him.
Though, it was that outlook that led Blake to fall in love with him. She appreciated his positive outlook for the fact that it contradicted her own.
He held a positive attitude towards everybody, "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" as he claimed. A silly sentiment to have but she couldn't find fault in it.
When they arrived at Menagerie, Blake had hoped to get a reaction out of him by pointing out her giant house in the middle of all the others. To her disappointment, he gave no visible reaction when seeing it, or upon entering it. It was only until later when he talked about his family around the dinner table with her parents that she was presented with the reason why.
Jaune had 7 sisters, and the Arc family had a very big house to compensate for all of their children. Blake was shocked that his mother would go through labor that many times, though the perverted side of her mind was telling her that the sex must have been mind-blowing to even consider having that many kids.
Maybe she would have to see for herself...
From then on the days turned to weeks, and weeks to months as Jaune stuck around to be trained in combat by Blake and unknowingly help with the Faunus' perceptions of Humans. Over the time that Jaune had been on Menagerie, the perceptions of the Humans from the Faunus changed from: "Humans are bad, they will never be nice to the Faunus, they don't deserve our kindness or love" to "If this Human wasn't discriminating them or treating them poorly, then maybe, just maybe all humans weren't as bad as the White Fang has proclaimed them to be."
This did not go unnoticed by the White Fang since Blake had been seen in Menagerie with a Human of all things, they sent Adam Taurus to deal with the both of them, and silence them fast.
What didn't help, was sending Adam. Adam still obsessed over Blake and refused to attack the Human named Jaune while they were in such close proximity to each other.
So, Adam devised a plan. He had a messenger deliver a letter to Blake to meet him and finish things once and for all, a one on one fight to the death. The winner taking over full leadership of the White Fang, it was an opportunity that Blake could not pass up even if it cost her life as the price of failing.
It almost had. Once again, she had severely underestimated Adam's skill with that accursed blade Wilt paired with Blush, Adam was a terrifyingly powerful foe. It also didn't help that she had walked blindly into a trap.
Blake had made her way to the location of the coordinates, a warehouse of all places. Seemed Adam still had a thing for clichés even after all this time. She was partly to blame for that, what with all of her sappy "romance" novels that she kept.
Upon entering the warehouse, she had stayed in the shadows even as Adam's taunted her. She stayed as hidden as possible but it was all for naught as Adam dropped from above in an attempt to finish it quickly.
A kindness, as he had called it at the time. Some kindness, killing others for your own personal sadistic satisfaction. It was sick is what it was.
They bickered back and forth, Adam proclaiming his undying love for her, and his wishes that she would rejoin his cause. Blake, proclaiming his views on the Humans were blinded by rage and madness, and that she would never support something so evil as genocide.
It was then Adam had laughed and told her no matter how hard she tried, she would never beat him in a fight, and that once he was done with her, he would find Jaune. Capture him, and force him to watch as he took Blake by force while he could do nothing about it, killing him slowly as Blake watched after she had been defiled.
Both enraged and terrified, Blake held the upper-hand in the fight initially with her sheer speed and agility, beating his sheer power and size. She managed to get in multiple strikes, cutting his legs, chest, and arms. She had even managed to get blunt attacks in on his head and back. One particular hit to his head knocking him to the ground.
It was at this moment that Blake had made a huge mistake, instead of assessing the situation and considering more than one outcome, she went straight for the kill. Taking Gambol Shroud's sheath, she swung it vertically downward towards Adam's neck with as much force as she could muster. Only for it to be stopped by Wilt, supercharging it in the process.
The tides of the battle turned on Blake like a tidal wave, the power behind each of Adam's strikes was much greater than they were before. Strikes which Blake could previously parry became impossibly sturdy, and strikes which she could easily dodge before because close enough to nick her from time to time.
It was when Adam managed to parry Blake that things started to go downhill. Her form slowly crumbling after each of his attacks, the footing she once held slowly became weaker and weaker to his attacks. Swing after swing, strike and after strike, and cut after cut, Adam's hold on the fight grew stronger every passing second.
Until he took full control of it by completely knocking Blake's weapons out of her hands and depleting her aura to 0%, causing Blake to collapse on the ground. Blake feared the inevitable as Adam pulled her up to her knees and forced her head to face downward, tears cascading down her cheeks and falling to the cold ground as she feared to die alone. All because of a foolish decision to fight him alone.
Blake shut her eyes at the same time as Adam raised his sword. What would Jaune think when he found out she ran off without him to try and achieve something impossible to do by herself? Would he be angry? Would he be sad? Her parents. Oh god her parents, they would be devastated to find out that she had died because of her own foolishness.
She heard Adam bring down Wilt, which was without a doubt on its way to sever her head from her neck.
It was in that moment, that two things happened. The first thing was the clear sound of metal rebounding off of metal. The second was a male voice talking to her.
"Hey Kitten, did you miss me?"
Blake opened her eyes and looked up in front of her where she had heard the voice to find Jaune of all people standing in front of her. Tears came to her eyes, both tears of happiness and tears of dread. Jaune may have improved ten-fold the past few months, but so had she, and that still wasn't good enough to beat Adam.
"Jaune," she sobbed. "It's no use, save yourself. He's too strong, you can't beat him!"
"Maybe I can't beat him." Jaune chuckled, a wide grin on his face. "But I'm not like you Blake, I don't run away just because things get too tough. Maybe if we live through this I'll have to stick around and drill some common sense into that head of yours while we make out."
If they hadn't been in a life threatening situation, she would have rolled her eyes in amusement. Now, though, a blush found its way onto her cheeks. Kissing Jaune? After he saved her life? She found herself not minding that, but that wasn't what she focused on. She focused on what Jaune had before that. He was willing to stay with her, even after all she had done, even with all her faults. he was willing to stay. It made her heart beat faster, made her body temperature rise and her blush to get fiercer.
She decided that if she were to show courage, something she had a hard time showing when in situations like these, she would show a little now. Even if it was just speaking, and not actions. Everybody had to start somewhere.
"If you get us out of this J-Jaune, I-I'll let you k-k-kiss me whenever you w-want." Blake stammered out.
There, she had said it. She knew what she just implied and she didn't care, spending these last few months with Jaune had admittedly been some of the best times of her life. He made her smile, he made her feel special, he made her feel that with him at her side, she could achieve even the craziest of her dreams.
"Well!" Jaune suddenly declared. "I don't think I have a choice but to live and save us both now so I can take you up on that offer."
Officially, they had declared that they were dating now. Unofficially they had just agreed to marry each other.
With a greater amount of morale than he had before, Jaune raised and pointed Crocea Mors towards where Adam stood.
"Do you hear that Adam?" Jaune taunted. "I'm the one who loves Blake, you're just a lunatic with an obsession! You don't really love her!"
Was Jaune trying to get Adam even angrier than he already was? That was a surprisingly good decision, Adam was easily swayed by anger, rational thought put on the back burner for boiling rage to take front and center.
"You think you can steal My Darling from me? Think again!" Adam shouted as he charged towards Jaune, sword raised high.
The two fighters met each other as Jaune charged towards Adam himself, trying to stay away from Blake at a reasonable so she wouldn't get caught in their fight.
Both swordsmen fought viciously. One staying calm and using his cunning to even the odds against his opponent. The other enraged not caring for anything else but to kill his foe to satisfy his desires.
Jaune fought carefully, not knowing the full extent of any damage the glowing blade of Adam's could do if it connected with him. Dodging wild swings, parrying telegraphed moves, Jaune Arc held his own against his opponent for some time, even though in the end, his victory by a sword was not meant to be.
He had misjudged one of Adam's attacks, which almost proved to be fatal as the blood red sword was stabbed straight through one of his lungs, dispersing the energy held within and hemorrhaging his lung significantly in the process. Crocea Mors and his shield dropping to the floor with a bang.
"JAUNE!" Blake cried in anguish, she couldn't believe this was happening, was she fated to lose friends and loved ones before her own death was finally delivered?
Adam grinned. "You've lost human, you couldn't save Blake and got yourself killed in the process." He went to pull Wilt out of Jaune only to be stopped as Jaune's left arm came up and held his arm in place with sheer strength that had seemed to come out of nowhere.
"How the hell do you have the strength still? YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!" Adam resisted as much as he could, but for some reason, he couldn't break free of Jaune's iron grip.
"I can't die... no, I won't die, not before Blake. Never in this lifetime, or any others that may exist." Blake couldn't help but let a heavy blush rise on her face, not because of what the goofball actually said, but because that was her favorite line of dialogue written in Ninjas of Love.
Essentially, she could kiss the goofball for his idiocy.
Love was funny that way.
Also, how the hell could he even speak that well with those injuries?
Jaune felt a strange energy start building within him. Violent and unpredictable in nature, but indiscriminate to all things, living or not. It had a flow that could only be described as perfection. White strands of Aura started rapidly building density around the hand that held Adam's arm and sword in place.
"What are you doing!? Stop! I demand you stop! STOP IT HUMAN!" As Adam finished shouting, the Aura reached critical mass. It roared as it tore itself from Jaune's hand as it disintegrated both of their arms in a spray of blood as Adam's aura was reduced to 0%, leaving Wilt embedded in Jaune's chest.
It also left Adam stumbling away from Jaune, screaming in agony as the pain hit him like a freight train. Jaune raised his right hand and pointed it at the retreating Faunus in front of him. Aura beginning to build up once more, this time in a much greater fashion. Instead of just condensing like it had just before, it swirled violently around his remaining hand, ready to eat anything in its path of destruction.
"Go to Hell Adam Taurus, the Hell that has been waiting for you for so long now." Jaune quoted another line from Ninjas of Love. He liked the book more than he might have led Blake to believe he did.
The whirling strands of Aura hit its own critical mass before disappearing without a sound. Unnerving silence filled the room, nobody dared move, seconds passed at an agonizingly slow pace. The silence was finally shattering at the sound of Adam Taurus' head exploding into the equivalent of soup, the rest of the corpse dropping to the ground lifelessly, in a state of constant spasms.
Silence would have resumed if not for the pain of losing one's arm finally catching up to Jaune as he cried out, dropping to his knees in both pain and shock. The only reason why he didn't fall to the ground was because Blake had caught him, preventing him from doing so.
When Jaune awoke, he was greeted by bright lights, which blinded his sight momentarily. When his vision returned, he was greeted by the sight of the tan colored walls. His body ached all over, and dull throbs of pain came from his left arm. What remained of it that is. What was left could only be described as a stump of a forearm. Not the worst injury he could have probably sustained, that honor would have to go to the now closed and heavily bandaged hole that had once been in his chest.
When he attempted to move his legs, he found that there was something heavy preventing him from doing so. Looking at the reason why the answer seemed so obvious. Blake was currently curled up in a ball sleeping on his legs.
"She's been by your side since you made it through surgery for your lung." Jaune nearly jumped out of the bed, he didn't even hear the nurse enter the room! "If it wasn't for Miss Belladonna, we wouldn't have known the severity of the wound as soon as we did, she more than likely saved your life. Now if you just sit still for me, I'm going to check your breathing."
The nurse made her way over to Jaune putting the earpiece of the stethoscope in her ears and put the bell to his chest which raised with each breath. Whatever they had done to fix his lung, it worked wonderfully. It was like his breathing had never been better.
"The artificial lung seems to be working perfectly, just be sure not to overexert yourself for a couple of weeks." The nurse concluded, then smirked in amusement. "That includes bedroom activities with a certain cat faunus that is currently sleeping on your legs."
That damn nurse! She was teasing him! It was working too!
Jaune felt the weight on his legs shift slightly. His attention on the now apparently awake Blake Belladonna. As she got up, she put her arms up in the air, arched her back and mewled the most adorable thing he'd ever heard a girl say in his entire life.
"Nyaa~"
It was then, that Blake froze on the spot. Her memory of where she was must have just kicked in. Her eyes remained closed as she slowly put her arms down and turned her face towards Jaune. Her eyes opened slowly as she took in his features one by one, the most notable being the shit-eating grin he was currently wearing.
Needless to say, Blake blushed. Hard.
"Y-y-y-you didn't hear anything right?" The embarrassment in Blake's voice evident, it was adorable.
"No Blake, I did not hear you mewl 'Nyaa~' as you woke up from a cat nap." Jaune nonchalantly replied.
"Oh good, I was hoping you were... WAIT A SECOND!" Blake screeched, blushing even more than he thought possible as his reply caught up with her still tired brain.
"It's ok Blake, I thought it was absolutely adorable, just like those adorable little ears of yours!"
Blake just sat there staring at him, dumbfounded.
"So, Blake." Jaune's voice shook her out of her stupor. "I seem to recall you telling me that if we got out of that warehouse alive that you'd let me kiss you as much as I wanted." Blake looked away slightly, obviously more embarrassed about the fact that she had said that than by her feline-like display earlier. "I was thinking, I'd like to take you up on that offer for one right now."
Her eyes widened in surprise, that was bold of him to ask in his position. It was time to be a bit bold herself. "What makes you think you think that you get to ask me that? Y-you don't have to ask for these kinds of things."
It was Jaune's turn to have his eyes widen in surprise as Blake leaned towards him and pressed her lips to his.
If both of them could have described the moment at the time. Pure bliss wouldn't have been a nearly accurate enough word to describe their feelings.
The kiss was short and sloppy, neither of them having any experience in that regard. Blake was the first to pull back, staring into Jaune's eyes as she did so.
Suddenly, she smirked. "You just had to quote Ninjas of Love, didn't you? You're such a dork."
Jaune huffed in annoyance. "Thanks, Blake. Real confidence boost right there."
They both laughed heartily.
Blake stood up from her seat as the Sun was no longer peaking over the horizon, her sandwich and drink finished. Jaune had told her to take this much-needed break after she had dealt with their kid's shenanigans all day while he was out. He was currently tucking them into bed.
Those lovable troublemakers. All three of them.
She loved her family, and with the addition of a new one she recently found out about, things were about to get hectic in 8 months.
Fucking Arc curse.
Authors Note: Hey guys, Shad0w here. Been having a serious case of writers block and lack of motivation when it has come to my other fics, so while none of my other fics are cancelled, you may have to wait a little while for me to get my groove back.
I've just been recently getting back into writing though so I wrote this in a few days to de-rust and to see where my current level of writing is at.
Hope you enjoyed the story, see you next time.