RWBY Through Worlds

13: Just Another Stranger

[Love Alone is worth the fight]

Pyrrha found Jaune outside in one of the balconies from the study rooms of the school.

He was leaning on the rail overlooking the city, deep in thought.

Pyrrha startled him when she opened the door.

"Oh...hey," Jaune said awkwardly.

"I thought I might find you out here," Pyrrha said quietly. "Jaune, what's wrong?"

"It's..." Jaune started to say nothing and then stopped.

Pyrrha tilted her head. "You know, Jaune, you can tell me.... You could always tell me."

She tugged her ponytail a little awkwardly. "Just because of what happened, it hasn't changed that..."

Of course there was the elephant in the room...but neither of them wanted to talk about that yet.

Jaune could stand it no more...though it was against his better judgment to admit it--at least he thought so.

"That's just it, Pyrrha," he said, upset. "It changed everything."

Pyrrha bit her lip. "I see..."

Jaune turned to look outside again.

"I think all this time I still thought this wasn't real..." he said, like he was thinking out loud. "That I'd wake up and it would be a dream. But it's not... They really brought you back. And I don't know why, or how, or who told them to come here...and I really don't care."

Pyrrha wasn't sure if this was going a good or bad direction, but she let him finish.

"The thing is, you're back...and...I don't know what to do with that," Jaune said. "I mean...I wanted that...but now that I got it, I'm confused."

"Why?" Pyrrha asked slowly.

"Because it...doesn't make sense." Jaune leaned on the rail. His head was spinning. "But...also it does make sense in a way. Like...deep down, I always knew it should be this way, and I was just kidding myself trying to accept it. But how can that be a thing?"

"I don't think anyone knew," Pyrrha said.

She came to stand next to him. "I don't understand it either, if that helps... It's like I've been asleep for months and I woke up, and everything is different--and it's not different at the same time. I can't...pretend to know what you or the others have been through in the the last year. And...I wasn't there for you." She leaned on the railing also. "Like I said I would be."

"That's not your fault," Jaune said.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it's the truth," Pyrrha said. "So, I understand why you feel...unsure about all this. I...hope eventually this can feel like a good thing, because I believe it is. I don't know how, but I feel, deep down, that this isn't...whatever the gods said, an imbalance...a crime against nature. I feel like they are wrong, and this new One, He is right. I've never met Him, or seen Him, or spoken to Him...but then, I never did with the other two either, so He's at least as real as they are. I believe that He is trying to do good. I can't explain all of why it is, but that's my intuition. I just hope...eventually all of you can see it that way."

She turned to walk away sadly.

"Pyrrha, wait," Jaune said. "You don't get it... I'm not saying it's not a good thing... It's...it's the best thing ever. That's why I couldn't..."