Chapter 16: A New Promise

"Jaune?" the words were weak, barely above a whisper, but it was like the force of a yell in Weiss's ears.

Her heart was beating so loud. She couldn't tear her eyes from him. Could she even breathe? Everything seemed to have a faint tinge of unreality stared at the first person she had called friend.

"Weiss," the tall teen boy murmured softly but her ears caught it. His hair was like gold glinting under the sun. His eyes were that warm, sunny blue that always seemed to burn into her with their determination. He had said her name. Was it him? What if it wasn't?

Weiss took a few steps forward, her eyes tracing over him, searching him over before her eyes landed on his sword. Specifically, the sheath where the golden double arc was proudly emblazoned. That was the Arc symbol. He had told her that so long ago as they whiled away hours she said were studying in her room.

Her legs carried her without her knowledge in a dead sprint, brushing past her sister, who was opening her mouth to say something that didn't matter because nothing else mattered right now.

A promise.

Her fist planted into the side of his cheek harder than she had ever thrown any punch.

Familiar golden aura deflected the hit, the color of Jaune's soul just as she remembered it.

The girl next to him had reacted and was saying something unimportant, looking frantically between the two of them, her green eyes wide in seeming horror.

Jaune had not reacted. In fact, the punch had seemingly not affected him in the slightest as he continued to look down on her. He had never been short, but this was ridiculous. Her head was at his chest, and she craned her head upward to glare defiantly at her best friend.

"Jaune," she repeated unable to form any other words, what other words were there to say?

Jaune looked down at her, his eyes swirling. What was he thinking? What thoughts could possibly be going through this boy who had haunted her for years?

"I'm sorry." The first words from his lips were simple, but sometimes simple was fine; they continued, "Weiss, I'm so sorry."

She couldn't have torn her eyes away from him even if she wanted to. Nothing mattered more than this moment.

"I-" Jaune hesitated, seeming to choke slightly, his eyes gleaming brightly with something liquid, "I didn't want to leave. I- I don't know where to start."

Those were words, but even as Jaune said them to her, Weiss realized how little she cared about what word vomit was going to stumble free of Jaune's mouth; there were only two things she needed to know.

"I don't care," she said quietly, still drinking in his eyes, "You're going to fulfill your promise to tell me everything. You're not going to leave me again."

She said them like commands. Her words needed to be authoritative. When a Schnee told someone to do something, it happened. She needed Jaune not to leave again. She needed her best friend again.

Jaune blinked, seemingly stunned for a moment, before his lips twisted into a soft smile, a small dimple forming on his right cheek.

"I can do that."

The world around them began to intrude.

"Weiss! What do you think you're doing?"

"Jaune! Are you okay?"

Winter looked irate beyond belief, her eyes wide as she stormed up to them. Pyrrha looked horrified and was gazing at Weiss like she was a crazed Grimm.

Weiss blinked, then blinked again, then cheeks flushed bright red as she realized what she had done.

"It's okay," Jaune raised his hands calmingly, "I deserved that."

Twice, he had been punched, but weirdly enough, he felt a little bit better. It was kind of cathartic in a strange way. People he had hurt being as honest to him in the moment as they could be.

Though he hoped it wouldn't be happening a whole ton in the future. He was reasonably certain from his studying of the 'Ninjas of Love' that it wasn't really his thing.

"You did?!" "You did?!"

The words were in complete sync as Pyrrha and Winter gazed at him in shock, and despite himself, Jaune grinned, feeling a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time as he looked at them.

"Hi," Jaune waved a bit at Winter, "This is a bit awkward; my name is Jaune Arc, I'm," he hesitated, glancing at Weiss, "I was your sister's best friend."

Weiss stomped her foot before turning to her sister, "This is Jaune Arc, my best friend."

Ah, well, at least he still had that.

He gazed awkwardly at Winter, and she looked at him, a somewhat complicated look on her face as she seemed to examine him.

"Jaune Arc? You're my sister's best friend?" Winter seemed completely nonplussed as she looked at Jaune and then at her sister as if waiting for her to say this was some strange practical joke.

"Right, uh, yes," Jaune nodded somewhat dumbly, "Nice to meet you?"

He awkwardly extended a hand to shake slowly, still seeming somewhat bemused. Winter replied with her own hand, and gingerly, they shook.

"Do you also go to her combat school?" she asked.

"Yeah, uh, I did," Jaune said slowly.

"You did…" Winter frowned, "You dropped out?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Jaune chuckled, trying to put some lightness into the air, but Winter's expression was just as flat, "I uh, due to some developments, I ended up continuing my education elsewhere."

"Didn't you just say that you hunt Grimm in the wild as your education?" Pyrrha asked, and Jaune instantly wanted to turn invisible as Weiss's glare focused on him at full force, and Winter looked suitably shocked.

"You hunt Grimm by yourself?" Winter asked slowly, "Who on earth would be okay with that as an education plan?

Jaune really considered not throwing Ozpin to the wolves on this one, but he was the one who had signed off on his idea years ago.

"Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy," Jaune replied nonchalantly.

Winter looked at him, and if disbelief had a face, it was definitely the one she was making, "I don't believe you."

Jaune sighed, rubbing his forehead, "You can ask him yourself, or don't and take my word for it. Or just accept the fact I hunt Grimm by myself and am not dead as proof enough that I have a bit of an idea of what I'm doing. I'm nearly fifteen, not a child."

Winter gazed at him before sighing, "This is above my paygrade. I can't disprove you right now, but if I find out you lied…" she trailed off, looking at Jaune meaningfully.

Jaune wasn't quite sure what exactly that meant, but he figured he could at least dutifully nod to assuage the concerned-looking Winter. He didn't need to give Weiss's sister an aneurysm.

He turned back to look at Weiss, drinking at her appearance. There hadn't been really time to examine his best friend when he had last been in Atlas.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss asked, her brow furrowed at him.

"Uh, well, I'm actually here with my family," Jaune shrugged, "I haven't seen them in a while."

To say the least.

Weiss eyed him, seemingly breaking apart his statement to its base components. He hadn't talked much about his family with Weiss. Merely that they hadn't exactly been approving of his wanting to become a Hunter.

"I want to meet them."

Oh shit.

Jaune walked with his impromptu group desperately trying to figure out damage control. Specifically how he was going to introduce the three women with him to his family. This wasn't the best situation given the isolated parts of his life each person knew. Really, the only thing needed to complete this chaotic reunion was a pair of red and yellow sisters and a certain black-eared cat faunus.

Thankfully for his sanity, such a thing would have stretched the bounds of coincidence far too much and so reality seemed content to let him sit with the situation as it was.

He arrived at his sister's house with no plan and dwindling hope, but he entered anyway, finding his family chatting with each other.

They looked up at his arrival, awkward smiles that froze as they saw his compatriots.

His dad began, "Uh, hey, Jaune, what's going on, who are your friends?"

"Hi, right these are Weiss, Pyrrha and Winter," Jaune gestured at each of them individually, then gestured at his family, "This is my family."

Both sides looked at each other part confused and part wary and Jaune realized he hadn't really explained anything

"Right, uh, well, Weiss is my best friend from Atlas. Winter is her sister. I met Pyrrha on a Hunter training mission. So yeah…"

Jaune trailed off; why did this feel super awkward?

Luckily, Weiss took control of the situation; she bobbed herself in a true blue-blooded curtsey and spoke, "Weiss Schnee. Your son is my best friend."

Jaune's dad coughed, "Schnee, as in the Schnee dust company?" he asked, looking bewildered.

"Yes," Weiss nodded.

"Um, right, well, it's nice to meet you, Ms. Schnee; you as well, Ms. Nikos, and uh, well, Ms. Schnee." His dad looked like he had been punched in the gut from how much he had paled. In a way, it was kind of amusing, Jaune thought.

Weiss's face was frozen in her polite mask as was Winter's. Pyrrha had an awkward smile and gave a partial wave.

Slowly, the awkward air broke down, and while Weiss and Winter were overly stiff, the ice had broken enough for a polite discussion that stayed away from the hot-button topics. His twin, thankfully, broke most of the ice and found a way for things to get less awkward.

Jaune found himself with little to do other than the occasional comment. His rusted social skills, combined with already being socially awkward, could only do so much here.

Still it was a strange feeling watching everyone interact. Almost like looking through the window of a strangers house yet these people weren't strangers.

It only felt that way.

"It was incredible," Rogue was laughing, "He looked so cute in that dress."

Weiss's eyes were wide and a hand was raised in front of her mouth to stifle her own giggles.

"Jaune?"

Jaune turned to see Pyrrha had sidled up beside him and was looking at him questioningly, "Are you alright?"

Jaune shrugged but nodded regardless, "It's just a little strange. I didn't expect Weiss to meet my family so fast."

Pyrrha smiled a small smile that looked a little strange as she looked at the talking group, "She handles it well. I'm not sure I could, to be honest. Crowds are one thing, meeting the whole family of a friend…"

Her lips quirked downward at that, and she looked a little sad.

Jaune's own lips turned down at that. He didn't really know Pyrrha not truly, yet there was a familiar feeling of someone who was also lonely about her.

He gave Pyrrha a grin, "You are also meeting the family of the friend and I think you're doing just fine."

Pyrrha's eyes widened for a moment, and something soft was in her eyes as she looked at him before she nodded slowly. "We're friends then?"

Jaune cocked his head rusted social skills trying to do the basic social addition, "Uh, I think so? We hung out together, right? That's at least the basics of friendship, right?"

Pyrrha, for some reason, looked just as clueless as him before she shrugged helplessly, "I guess we're friends then," her tone still had a faint note of disbelief, but she didn't look unhappy about the words.

Jaune, despite himself, chuckled and then nodded, looking back at his family, where things seemed to be winding down as goodbyes started to be made.

"It was my pleasure to meet all of you." Weiss was saying, looking at his family, "If I might, though, your son and I have some other matters to discuss."

Jaune's Father looked overwhelmed and glanced at his Mother, who shrugged helplessly, "Well, if Jaune doesn't mind…" he tossed the conversation bomb directly into Jaune's hands.

Not that Jaune was going to avoid this, "I don't, want to go for a walk?" he asked Weiss.

Weiss nodded solemnly and he saw Winter rise to her feet, "That is rather improper, Weiss-" she had turned to her sister but Weiss shook her head at her sister.

Winter looked between them before she sighed, "Okay," she murmured.

They exited his sister's home as a group, and awkwardly they split off from Winter and Pyrrha. Winter looked conflicted and didn't say anything else before walking away.

Pyrrha locked eyes with Jaune and, with a soft "Goodbye," turned and left.

This left Weiss and Jaune alone, walking the streets of Argus in silence for a couple of minutes.

Weiss looked at him before she looked back at the street.

Jaune realized he had to be the one to start talking, so he did, "I didn't want to leave. After I escaped the Grimm, I intended to come back."

Weiss nodded slowly, "So why didn't you?" she asked softly her eyes glistening slightly in the night lights.

Jaune's tongue froze as he thought about what exactly Ozpin had told him, "Without a doubt she would target you and if she didn't get you, she would be more than willing to target anyone around you."

"I want to tell you," he said quietly, looking her directly in the eyes, "I was told it would be dangerous for me and potentially everyone around me if they knew."

Weiss frowned at him, "By who?"

"Professor Ozpin," I said, speaking the man's name again, but it still felt like a flawed excuse.

Weiss grimaced and seemed to be torn, "So you won't tell me."

I frowned and turned to the sky, unable to meet her gaze.

Any moment Jaune expected her to walk away in anger, maybe slap him again. He would deserve it. Yet he couldn't bring himself to cross that barrier. He had already almost lost her to a terrorist. Could he justify putting her in more danger, especially against something he didn't know if he had the strength to protect her against?

Something soft and warm encircled him and embedded in his chest. He looked down and saw Weiss hugging him tightly.

"It's okay," she mumbled into his chest, "I don't need to know right now. You've told me enough. Maybe someday…" she trailed off and then spoke again in a stronger voice, "All I need is that you don't leave me again. These past years without you-" she choked and I felt something hot and wet sinking into my shirt.

"Weiss," I murmured, my heart clenching as I brought my arms about her, holding her tightly against me.

"Promise you're not going to leave me again," she said softly.

'Promise' he had already broken a promise before. Yet, as he looked down at Weiss, he realized that he couldn't afford to be broken by it. He still had to be Jaune Arc, even if not for himself but for the people who cared about him.

"I promise Weiss," he said quietly.

And an Arc never goes back on their word.

Authors Note:

Well there you have it! Sorry for the long break been working on my other original writing projects (spacebattles Shirate or RoyalRoad nfkipp) that I would love if anyone wanted to check out. The White Mage of the Fist, in particular, is a passion project of mine.

I hope everyone is having a good summer!