An Autumn's Tale (New)
An Autumn’s Tale
Dove and Amber were stood close together, bodies pressed up against one another; Dove’s hands were upon her arms, just below her shoulders; Amber’s arms were up, snaking around his shoulders to join her hands together behind his neck; Dove’s forehead was bowed low enough that it was touching Amber’s forehead as the two of them stared into one another’s eyes.
It was all rather dreamy to watch.
Or at least Pyrrha thought so as she did, indeed, watch the two of them. She watched as they stood there, looking only at one another, the rest of the world fallen away from them. There were four other people in the room, all with their eyes fixed on Dove and Amber, but for the two of them, none of that mattered. Sunset, Pyrrha, Ciel, Blake; Beacon, Vale, Remnant, Cinder, Maidens, and magic, none of that mattered in this place and in this moment, because here … they were in a world where only two people existed, and each of them was looking at the other.
Amber’s scars didn’t matter either; they hadn’t mattered to her since Dove had confirmed they did not matter to him, and they didn’t matter to Dove because … because he was in love, and so it was Amber’s true self that he beheld, not what Cinder had made of her face.
Pyrrha smiled to look at them. It … it made her happy to see them happy, if that was not too childish a sentiment to put into words.
Her fears on that score were alleviated by how happy Sunset looked, as Pyrrha noted when she briefly glanced at her friend. Sunset was watching the two of them also, her arms folded as she leaned with one shoulder against the dorm room wall. Her tail swished back and forth behind her as though she were trying to sweep the floor with it, and sometimes, the end of her tail would curl up on itself for a moment as though it were leaping.
Sunset’s smile was not wide, but it was bright, one of the brightest that Pyrrha had seen on Sunset for some little time.
Pyrrha thought she understood why this affected them both so, quite apart from the fact that they were both romantics — a fact which Pyrrha felt she might be more willing to admit than Sunset herself — the world was so complex, so messy, and the victories that they might win in the world were partial, incomplete. They were pitted against an enemy they could not defeat, only prevent from winning, and their more immediate, more human enemies often proved themselves to be less easily hated and dismissed than one might wish were the case.
But this? This was something unambiguous. This was a good thing with no downsides, no buts, no costs to mar it, nothing to fret over or regret. This was a good thing, a joyous thing for Amber and for Dove, something that you could simply look at and say ‘this is wonderful’ without reservation.
They were smiling, they were vicariously happy, because this was something that they could be happy about, and that was something a little too rare in their lives.
Right here and now, love had conquered all, and that was something that they were allowed to be pleased with.
Sunset didn’t look at Pyrrha, at least not that Pyrrha noticed, but she did hold out one fist in Pyrrha’s direction.
Pyrrha bumped it with her own fist. “Hoof bump,” she whispered.
Blake glanced at them but said nothing.
Amber and Dove didn’t appear to notice.
The door into the dorm room opened, and Jaune and Ruby walked in together. Jaune had his arms wrapped around two large paper bags, each so large and so bulging that, together, they practically obscured his face from view, which was perhaps why Ruby, who was bearing a single and much smaller and lighter looking bag, was the one who opened the door for him.
“Hey guys,” Ruby said. “I met Jaune leaving to get food, and he asked me to help him carry some stuff; the cafeteria wasn’t open so we went to tha—aah! Dove!?”
Jaune jumped at the sound of Ruby’s voice becoming louder and higher in pitch; a tomato fell out of one of his brown paper bags, although Sunset caught it telekinetically before it hit the ground.
“Dove?” Jaune said, trying to see. “What’s happening?”
“Let me help you with those,” Pyrrha said, taking a step towards him and relieving him of one of his bags of burden. “Welcome back,” she added as his face came into view, the smile still set upon her face as she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.
Jaune chuckled. “Uh, nice to see you again too, but what is—?”
Dove and Amber’s attention had finally been drawn away from one another and towards the new arrivals in the dorm room.
“Hey, Ruby, Jaune,” Dove said. “I was wondering where you were. Well, no, I admit I wasn’t actually wondering that, but I probably would have at some point. Nice to see you again.”
“How…?” Ruby began. “How are you… what are you… and Amber—?”
“Ruby, Jaune, you know Dove; he’s our fellow student, but he is also Amber’s boyfriend,” Sunset said, gesturing at Dove with one gloved hand. “Hi, Dove, you know us; we’re Team Sapphire, but we’re also secret agents.”
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the rustling of brown paper as Jaune and Pyrrha put down the large bags of groceries.
“I … think I’d like that promised explanation now,” Dove said, glancing from Amber to the other students in the room. “If that’s all right with everyone.”
“I should leave you to get on with things,” Ciel said, moving to pack up her makeup bag. “I am certain you can provide all the necessary details without my assistance. Amber, call on me any time if you require my help.”
“You don’t have to go,” Amber said. “I mean, not if you don’t want to.”
“I should inform my teammates so that they are not as surprised as Ruby and Jaune by Dove’s presence,” Ciel said, “and besides, one would not wish the room to become too crowded. Blake, are you coming?”
Blake hesitated for a moment, before she said, “I … sure, I’ll come with you. It was nice to meet you, Amber.”
“It was nice to meet you too, Blake,” Amber said softly.
Ciel strode towards the door, Blake following behind her. The members of Team SAPR made way for them, and Ciel opened the door and stepped through it, pausing in the doorway.
She turned back, looking beyond Blake to Dove. “Mister Bronzewing?”
“Yes?” Dove asked, a little uncertainly.
The corner of Ciel’s lip turned upwards. “Congratulations,” she said. “Make the most of your good fortune.”
Dove put one hand around Amber’s waist. “I intend to, believe me.”
Ciel nodded and turned away again, walking out of the room without another word. Blake followed and closed the door behind her.
Once more, a silence fell in the dorm room.
“So,” Dove said, to break said silence, “where … I don’t know where to start, so I’m going to have to trust you on this.”
“Why don’t we all sit down first?” Sunset suggested. “You might feel like sitting down anyway by the time we’re done, so make yourself comfortable.”
Dove and Amber sat down on Sunset’s bed, side by side. Amber picked up Sunset’s stuffed unicorn and put it down in her lap, running the fingers of one hand over the plush coat.
Dove smiled at her — and it. “Another new friend you’ve made since I met you last?”
Amber chuckled. “Sunset gave it to me.”
Pyrrha glanced at Sunset, eyebrows rising slightly beneath her circlet.
Sunset shrugged gently as she sat down on her own bed next to Dove and Amber, facing the two of them, one leg turned sideways and resting on the bed, crumpling the duvet beneath her.
Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ruby sat down on Jaune’s bed, facing Amber and Dove — and Sunset too.
“You always loved your stuffed animals,” Dove said softly, reaching out for Amber’s wrists. “I’ve still got Bramwell Brown. I brought it with me; I … I was going to give it to you.”
Amber frowned. “Bramwell who?”
“Bramwell Brown,” Dove repeated. “You know, the bear, the brown bear that I had when I was a kid. My mom kept him, and … when you came to my house, you seemed to really like him. I offered him to you, but you said that your mother would find out about us if he showed up, so…
“I … I met your mother?” Amber asked. “I don’t remember that.”
Dove frowned. “You … don’t remember. But she loved you! She kicked me out of the house and spent three hours talking to you; I went out to chop some wood and when I came back, you’d made apple pie together and were setting the world to rights over tea and homemade scones.”
Sunset cleared her throat. “Amber … Amber has been through a lot, and … some of what she’s been through may have caused her to lose … some of her memories.”
Dove looked at Sunset, but although he turned his body somewhat to do so, he did not relinquish his grip on Amber; rather, he seemed to hold her tighter than before as if he feared that she might slip from his grasp again.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, and it was a demand for all that it was softly spoken; it was clear that only a full explanation would satisfy him.
“I…” Amber began, taking a pause and a deep breath almost ere she began. “I am…” Her breathing was coming deeper now, her bosom heaving. “I am…” She was gasping for breath, a wheezing tone entering her voice, a raggedness.
“Amber, stop,” Sunset and Pyrrha said together, or near enough. It was clear that she was not up to the burden of this.
“Stop,” Sunset repeated. “It’s alright. We can tell the story.”
Amber blinked rapidly. There were tears forming in her eyes. She tried to speak, but seemed to lack the breath for it. As Dove put one arm around her shoulders, she leaned into him, laying her head upon his chest, clinging to him.
“It’s alright,” he murmured. “It’s alright, you're safe.”
Amber opened her eyes, her wet and tear-filled eyes, and glanced at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha nodded and smiled encouragingly. “Dove,” she said, “what is your favourite fairytale?”
Dove frowned. “My favourite—”
“Come, Pyrrha, let us not trespass upon Dove’s patience further,” Sunset said. And yet, having said so, she took pause a moment, gathering up her thoughts. “Amber is … Amber is what is called the Fall Maiden. What that means is that she has magic at her command.”
Dove’s blue eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. “'Magic'?” he repeated. “You … magic? As in … as in…”
“As in magic,” Sunset said. “As in power, as in no dust necessary nor expenditure of aura neither.”
“You’re joking,” Dove said.
“Do you think so little of us that you think we would jest in such circumstances as these?” Pyrrha asked. “With Amber in such a state as this?”
“Well, no, I don’t, and I meant no offence, but—”
“Amber is here, is she not?” Sunset asked. “And that is not a joke.”
Dove hesitated. “But … there’s no such thing as magic.”
“That is what you are supposed to believe,” Sunset murmured.
“You know the Story of the Seasons, yes?” Pyrrha asked. “That is why I asked about fairytales. You must know the story.”
Dove nodded. “I do.”
“Except it’s not a story,” said Jaune.
Dove swallowed. “In … in what way?”
“Untold years ago,” Pyrrha said, “an old man really did bestow upon four worthy sisters immense power, the power to … to protect themselves and others, the power to inspire and awe, the power to change the world. And then he bid the four sisters go out and share their gifts with all of Remnant. Four maidens: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. That power, bestowed upon the worthy, has been passed down through the generations between then and now, and Amber stands in that line the latest to hold the power and bear the honour of being the Fall Maiden.”
Dove frowned. He looked at Amber, away from all the others. With the hand that held her, he stroked her arm down from her shoulder. “The Fall Maiden,” he murmured. “For … since when?”
That was a question that only Amber could really answer, and so, the others held their peace and waited to see if she would be able to answer it.
When her voice came, it was almost a sob. “Since my mother died,” she whispered. “She passed the powers onto me.”
“And that was why you had to go,” Dove murmured. “You had to go to Beacon, had to come here because … that was why, wasn’t it?”
Amber nodded silently.
“But … why didn’t you tell me?” Dove asked. “You didn’t say anything; even as you were leaving, you told me you were going to stay with your uncle.”
Amber made a sort of whimpering noise and pressed even closer to Dove as though she were trying to burrow into him for warmth or protection.
“You remember how I just said that you weren’t supposed to know that magic existed?” Sunset asked.
“Nobody is supposed to know, or as few as possible,” Ruby added. “About the Maidens, magic, any of it.”
“But why?” Dove asked. “You just said that the powers were given originally so that those four sisters, those Maidens, could inspire the people of Remnant, so—”
“Because there are people who would use those powers for evil,” Ruby said. “People who would kill to get them, and they have. Keeping everything a secret is for the good of everyone.”
“And for Amber’s protection,” Sunset murmured.
Dove let out a small gasp. “The scars…”
“Amber was attacked,” Sunset went on. “Sometime before the school year began. She’s been … in a coma ever since. She just woke up today.”
Pyrrha noted that Sunset didn’t mention that Amber had had some of her magic — and her aura besides — stolen by her attacker; honestly, she could hardly blame Sunset for her reticence; not only was this already a lot to drop on an unsuspecting Dove, but at the same time … what if he became nervous of what he heard? What if he thought that Amber was broken somehow? Yes, he loved her, as dear and true as she loved him, but nevertheless, they were talking about aura and souls; he might not take the news well.
To rob Amber of her comfort and support was the last thing any of them wanted.
“Sunset saved me,” Amber whispered. “She woke me up.”
Dove looked at her. “Truly?”
Sunset shrugged, as though the part she had played had been of no consequence, an incidental role only.
“Thank you,” Dove said. “I have more to thank you for than merely bringing us together. Or rather, I have you to thank for bringing us together in every sense. Although I … how?”
“Leave that for now,” Sunset urged. “It’s not important. Suffice to say that that’s why you couldn’t find her. It wasn’t that she didn’t come here, it wasn’t that she abandoned you, she has been asleep all this time, under the care of Professor Ozpin—”
“Professor Ozpin!” Dove repeated. “But I asked Professor Ozpin about Amber! After the first two weeks of looking, I went to him and asked about her, and he told me that he didn’t know anything about her!”
Oh dear, Pyrrha thought. Professor, did you really have to be so cold? Could you not have told him something?
She understood that Professor Ozpin had wanted to keep Amber’s location a secret in case Cinder came back for another attempt on Amber’s life — something she might well have attempted before her cover was blown; if she had known that Amber was beneath the tower, would she not have headed down to the vault on the night of the dance instead of up to meddle with the computers? — but could he not have said something? Since it seemed that he had given up Amber for dead — or at least, he had become resolved to kill her body, if not her soul — then could he not have told Dove that she had died? It would have been hard news, no doubt, and heartbreaking, but better that than to leave him wondering, mired in ignorance, torn between hope and despair.
Professor Ozpin — whatever his wisdom, his virtues, or the nobility of his intentions — had not covered himself in glory during this business, at least not in Pyrrha’s eyes.
“He’s a liar,” Amber said, her voice soft but sharp at the same time, and filled with anger.
“Now, hang on—” began Sunset.
“He lies, Sunset!” Amber insisted. “He lies all the time, he lied to Dove, you heard!” She sat up a little straighter, pulling away from Dove’s chest a little to look at Sunset better. “He didn’t tell Dove where I was, he pretended that he didn’t know, he did know! He forced these powers on me, he made me this! He made me hunted. I hate him.”
“I don’t feel so well disposed to him myself,” Dove muttered.
“It sounds harsh, I know,” Sunset said.
“It may sound harsh because it is,” Pyrrha murmured.
Sunset looked at her.
Pyrrha held out her hands. “This … is hard to defend, Sunset; I am surprised that you would try to defend it.”
Sunset ran one hand through her fiery hair. “I…”
“If Cinder had known where Amber was—” Ruby began.
“'Cinder'?” Dove repeated. “The girl who fled? Your—”
“Yes,” Sunset said quickly, before Dove could reveal that she and Cinder had been friends. “Yes, the girl who fled. She is the one who attacked Amber, and as Ruby says, if she’d known where Amber was—”
“She would have tried again,” Ruby said. “I understand why you don’t like it, but there are good reasons for not telling people about this, even people who might think they have a right to know.”
“But you know,” Dove pointed out. “The four of you, why is that? Who are you?”
“We are Professor Ozpin’s servants,” Sunset said. “Though it might not seem that way from the attitudes of some.”
“I make no apologies in this, Sunset,” Pyrrha replied. “There were other ways, things that Professor Ozpin could have said, other than he did.”
“I … I do not excuse,” Sunset murmured. “But…” She paused. “Anyway, the point is that we are trusted by Professor Ozpin to know some of his secrets and do some of his business—”
“Like going to Mountain Glenn,” Dove said.
Sunset closed her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, that was … Sky is dead because we failed.”
“Who is Sky?” asked Amber.
“A friend,” Dove said. “What secrets? What secrets does Ozpin have, that he needs to trust you with some of them?”
For a moment, none of them said anything.
“The Maidens,” Sunset said. “And the need to protect them.”
Now was the moment at which things could go badly wrong. Amber, of course, knew that there was much, much more to it than that, and she might choose to reveal that to Dove. She might question why Sunset wasn’t revealing more than that to Dove, and if she did … things could go badly wrong.
But Amber said nothing. She did not dispute what Sunset had just said.
“I … see,” Dove said. “But then why attack Vale, why the Breach?”
“Everyone who wants power wants to do something with it,” Jaune said. “Even if that something is just causing destruction and devastation.”
“Mmm,” Dove murmured. “And so … you fight to prevent that, too?”
“We are huntsmen,” Ruby said. “It’s kind of the point, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Dove admitted. “Yes, you’re right.” He paused a moment. “So Amber … Amber isn’t safe?”
“Not yet, unfortunately,” Pyrrha said. “We will protect her, of course, but … I think there will have to be precautions taken.”
“Professor Ozpin will set them out tomorrow,” Sunset said. “You … perhaps you should come with us, to speak to him.”
"Yes," Amber said. "Yes, you should come. I want you there. I want you to stay with me."
"I will be there," Dove said, in a voice that was almost a growl. "There is a lot I want to say to Professor Ozpin." His jaw tightened for a moment, before he looked down at Amber, the sight of her seeming visibly to soften him, to gentle him. Certainly, his voice became gentle once more as he said, "Where are you staying?"
"Here," Amber replied. "Sunset has let me have her bed."
"If anyone asks, Amber is Professor Ozpin's niece," Sunset said, "staying with us as a favour to him while her affairs are straightened out with her uncle's help."
Dove's brow furrowed. "Couldn't she stay with me? There is a spare bed in my room—"
"Perhaps you should talk to your teammates before you offer up Sky's bed," Jaune pointed out.
Dove winced. "You make a good point, but still, I'm sure that they would not refuse; they've both heard all about Amber — although not as much as there is to tell — and I'm sure that they'd … can I tell them? About … about what you are, about what you … is it what you have, what you can do?"
"What I am," Amber murmured. "It is a part of me, whether I wish it or not."
"It depends," Ruby said. "Professor Ozpin will decide what you can tell to who, but … probably not. It is supposed to be a secret, after all."
"In any case," Sunset added, "it wouldn't be a good idea for Amber to stay with you and Team Bluebell, spare bed or no."
"Why not?" Dove demanded.
"Because…" Sunset hesitated for a moment. "Well, leaving aside the fact that it's easier for Amber to room with a full team of people who know her secret, there's also the fact that…" She licked her lips. "Lyra and Bon Bon…" She squirmed on the bed and looked at Pyrrha for help.
Pyrrha, who was equally at a loss for a way to put the relative weakness of Team BLBL without giving offence or seeming unduly proud of their own prowess, said nothing.
"Lyra," Sunset repeated, "and Bon Bon—"
"Aren't good enough?" Dove asked. "Is that what you're dancing around saying?"
Sunset exhaled loudly. "They lack skill somewhat, yes, especially by comparison."
"I can protect Amber," Dove declared. "She'll be safe enough with me, regardless of who else is with us."
"You don't know that," Sunset replied. "You only just found out about all of this moments ago; you have no idea—"
"Sunset," Jaune said, before she could work up a head of steam. "Calm down, Dove was just…" He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees as she shuffled his bottom towards the edge of the bed, so that he was perched almost precariously upon the edge of it, the mattress buckling beneath him, creating a depression that made Pyrrha and Ruby lean in a little.
Leaned forwards as he was, Jaune was very close to Dove — and Amber too, but Dove especially.
Jaune clasped his hands together. "Listen," he said. "Dove, I get it. You grew up in a small village right? Out in the country kind of place?"
Dove looked at him as though Jaune's point was in the woods some way ahead of him, and he could not quite make it out through all the trees. "That's right," he said carefully, cautiously, quietly. "That's how Amber and I met."
Jaune nodded, smiling slightly. "Me too," he said. "So like I said, I get it. I really get it. You love Amber, you want to protect her, but you also know what's expected of a guy right now. You've always known that." He paused. "But what matters is Amber, not how it makes you feel or what your father or your grandpa or the guys at the bar back home would think. Amber, and keeping her safe, that's all that matters, and I know that you get that, because you love her, right?" He smiled encouragingly. "This is for the best, at least for now."
Dove did not reply for a moment or two, staring at Jaune without speaking. He looked at Amber. "Amber…"
"I … I want to stay here, with Sunset and Pyrrha," Amber said softly. "I … I feel safe with them."
Dove looked hurt by that, a pained look passing across his face. Amber must have noted it as plainly as Pyrrha did, for she went on quickly to say, "But I will see you every day! Every single day." She reached up and, with one hand, stroked his round face. "From when the lark sings in the morning to when the nightingale sings at night, I'll be with you."
Dove put his arms around her. "I just found you again," he said. "I don't want to let you go so soon."
Amber leaned forwards to kiss him. "And you will find me," she said. "I will never go where you can't find me."
"The … the danger is so great, then?" Dove asked.
"I fear so, yes," Pyrrha murmured.
"But … but Amber has magic!" Dove cried. "Amber has magic, you say, possessed of ancient powers passed down to her. What has she to fear?"
"Too much," Pyrrha said quietly. "It is not fair, but it is so; magic does not make Amber invincible. It never has." Such is our hope, but such is Amber's curse and fear also.
"All right," Dove said, closing his eyes a moment. "Alright. Amber will stay with you. She will stay with you and be protected."
Jaune found Dove that evening in the courtyard, standing in front of the statue of the huntsman and huntress.
Night had fallen. Darkness blanketed the school, and the lights of the Emerald Tower burned in the darkness, the main light aside from the moon.
The lights of Ozpin at the top of his tower, looking down on the rest of them, plotting and scheming.
Okay, maybe that was just a little harsh, but after what he’d done — or at least after what he’d been willing to do — to Pyrrha, Jaune found that he wasn’t prepared to cut the headmaster much slack.
Certainly, he wasn’t as inclined to be as forgiving as Sunset; it surprised him that she didn’t hold much of a grudge against him for everything that had happened; he wouldn’t have expected her to get over it so easily; she cared as much about Pyrrha as he did, but… but she’d found something that encouraged her to not take Ozpin’s side, but to be charitable towards him.
Jaune couldn’t do likewise. When he looked up at the tower now, when he looked at those lights burning in the darkness, when he thought about what it meant, who was up there, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Some choices just shouldn’t be made, even in a hard place.
Jaune looked away from the tower and turned his thoughts away just as much as his eyes, focusing his attention on Dove where he stood before the statue, looking up at the huntsman who stood so heroically, sword raised up into the air.
The little shrine for Sky was still there too; someone had just laid fresh flowers there by the looks of it, but Dove’s attention wasn’t on the flowers, or on the picture of his teammate, but on the statue itself, on the heroic figure who dominated the courtyard, who stood over the beowolf, who cast his gaze across the school.
Dove’s back was straight, and his head was raised up to look at the statue that loomed over him, but Jaune thought that he noticed a slight slump in the other boy’s shoulders, a posture that he knew well himself.
“It’s a lot to take in, huh?” Jaune asked, as he came up behind Dove to stand by his side.
Dove sighed. “Yeah, yeah, you could say that. Is it that obvious?”
“It’s … a little obvious,” Jaune replied. “But especially to me, since I come out here to think too. Or at least, when I come out to think, I sometimes end up here.”
Dove nodded. “There’s something about it that … draws you, doesn’t it?”
“I guess that’s the point,” Jaune murmured. “Wouldn’t be much of a statue if it didn’t.”
Dove snorted. “True,” he acknowledged, “but I meant more—”
“Yeah, I know what you meant,” Jaune said. “It does have a certain … something. If he was alive, you’d call it charisma I guess, magnetism. He makes you want to look up at him, and not just because he’s tall.” He paused. “I hope you don’t mind the company, by the way; it’s just … I know it’s a lot to process by yourself.”
“How long?” Dove asked. “How long have you known all this?”
“Not that long,” Jaune said. “Just … since just before we went to Mountain Glenn.”
“Ozpin … what?” asked Dove. “He called you up to his office and told you that magic was real?”
“Told Sunset and Pyrrha that he needed someone to fight his battles,” Jaune said. “Then they told us.”
“Sunset and Pyrrha,” Dove murmured. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Jaune chuckled softly. He looked down at his feet, scuffing his toes on the stone of the courtyard for a second, then looked back up at the statue, the black stone huntsman cast in a green glow by the light from the tower above.
“You know, it’s kind of funny,” he said, “or … ironic, maybe; if that statue was true to the reality around here, it would be the huntress standing up there on the rock with her sword up.”
Dove did not laugh, nor did he smile. “I guess … I guess you’re right about that.” He paused for a moment. “Jaune … what’s it like?”
Jaune furrowed his brow. “What’s what like? I’m afraid you’ll have to be a little more specific.”
“What’s it like, not being the hero?” asked Dove. “What’s it like, not being able to be the hero, even though you want to be.” He turned away from the statue, turning to face Jaune head on. “All I want is to protect Amber, to be her hero even if I can’t be anyone else’s; I’m not sure that I’d even want to be anyone else’s hero anymore; Amber is the only … I want to protect her. I want to be able to protect her, I want to be her knight, but … but I can’t, can I? I’m not strong enough.”
“Not on your own, no,” admitted Jaune softly.
“Just like you’re not strong enough.”
“Not on my own.”
“How do you stand it?” demanded Dove. “How is it that that doesn’t eat you up from the inside out? What do you do with … what do you do?”
“I do what I can,” Jaune replied. “I do the best I can. I … like you said, I’m not the hero. I know that, and I’ve had long enough, I’ve been through enough to make my peace with it. Yeah, when I came here, I wanted to be the guy with the sword standing on top of the rock, everyone looking up at me, but … why? What would have been the point of it, what would I have gotten out of it? Would it have made me happy? No, probably not; certainly not the way that she makes me happy. Just seeing her smile, the way her eyes light up, it … it brings me more joy in my heart than hearing a hundred people cheer out my name ever could. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
Dove smiled bashfully. He clasped his hands behind his back as it was his turn to look down at the ground for a second. “Yeah. Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about.”
Jaune grinned. He nodded. “I can’t save the world. I can’t be the hero, I can’t win the battle single-handedly … but maybe, when the battle hangs in the balance, then perhaps I can tip the scale. I can’t be anyone’s shield or protector, but maybe, because I’m there, standing with them, with her, maybe … maybe I can still make the difference whether they win or lose, live or die. And that’s okay with me, that’s enough for me … because they’re the ones who matter. She’s the one who matters.
“Just because you can’t protect her all by yourself doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need you, or want you, what’s more. Just being there for her, doing what you can, that’s all you can do, and that … that’s enough.
“And if the only reward is to see her smile, to hold her in your arms, to … to feel her lips against yours … then that’s enough too.” Jaune paused a second. “Because we’re both really lucky guys. You know that, right?”
“Of course I know it,” Dove said quickly. “I’m well aware, believe me.” He hesitated. “It’s really that easy?”
Jaune shrugged. “If you let it be. It’s only a problem if you make it one.”
Dove frowned. “If she were hurt—”
“If Pyrrha got hurt, then yes, I would probably have a hard time living up to these words,” Jaune admitted. “I’d blame myself, hate myself, beat myself up for being too weak, but … but if we work together, that won’t happen. And it won’t happen to Amber either, because it’s not just you who’s going to protect her.”
“I know,” Dove murmured. “But I just wish—”
“I know,” Jaune responded. “And that’s why we keep trying, keep training. But in the meantime, we do what we can. That’s all we can do. That, and remember that—”
“That they’re the ones who matter,” Dove said.
“Exactly.”
Dove glanced away for a second. “You know … for a while this year, I was … kind of jealous of you. Not in the way that everyone else was jealous of you, but … I was jealous of the fact that you had … you reminded me of what I used to have.”
“And now you have it again,” Jaune pointed out.
“Yes,” Dove replied. “Yes, I certainly do.” He scratched the back of his head with one hand. “Who knew that miracles could happen, huh? After a year of wondering and looking and not knowing to just walk into a room, and there she is. Who’d believe it?”
“At this point, I’d believe a lot,” Jaune said.
“Really? It gets like that, huh?”
“You have to admit, it’s a lot to take in,” Jaune replied. And you don’t know the half of it.
Dove nodded. “That’s true. It’s … it is … I don’t know how to describe what it is, mostly because all I can think is that I wish Amber didn’t have these powers. Does that make me a terrible person?”
“No,” Jaune said. “Not at all. If … if she wasn’t the Fall Maiden—”
“Then she wouldn’t have been attacked,” Dove murmured. “Do you mind if I say that I really wish Pyrrha had been able to finish the job against Cinder?”
Jaune laughed nervously. “You’re not the only one,” he admitted. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “I know it’s a lot, and if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here, but I’m also here to say … don’t worry about it too much. Just focus on the small stuff, focus on Amber, because I can almost guarantee that she doesn’t care what you think about her being a Maiden; she just wants you to be there for her right now.”
Dove turned away from the statue, looking up at the dorm rooms that rose up behind them, at the dark windows and the windows that were illuminated with light.
At the window of Team SAPR’s dorm room, where Amber stood at the window, one arm raised and pressed against the glass.
Dove raised his hand and waved to her.
Jaune grinned. “Yeah,” he said. “We are lucky guys, aren’t we?”
Dove glanced at him, a smile of his own on his face. “The luckiest guys in the world.”
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You know the sad thing? If Dove tells his team about Amber, Cinder will be the last of Amber's worries... because Bonbon and Tempest would likely move to secure that power for themselves so they can completely invalidate Cinder's value to the organization.
Namely, I could see Bonbon aiding Tempest to get it. On the one hand breaking Dove's heart would break her heart a bit, but on the other... well, pretty much any other circumstances in which Cinder, Tempest or anyone aligned with Salem goes for Amber, Dove is killed or brutally tortured in the process. One could view it as a mercy to set up a situation in which he is out of the blast radiance.
I really loved this interaction between Jaune and Dove! Just... *chef's kiss* I can't wait to see where this goes for his character, now that he isn't being manipulated by a semblance from the original version.
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Yeah, that's something I've been worried about. Bonbon may not want to betray the confidence of Dove after they lost Sky, but Tempest and Cinder will still find out through her, one way or another. And that's the irony, isn't it? Ozpin's warnings to keep this secret would be validated. And now Dove will have a target on his back, because he is Amber's weakness, her one source of happiness. If Salem gets her hands on him, she can make the Fall Maiden do whatever she wants.
Oh, how the tables have turned. Seems like nearly everyone was bashing Sunset for distrusting Ozpin before, yet here she is now, understanding of a situation not dissimilar to her own once, meanwhile everyone who knows about this is now a bit sceptical and unforgiving.