SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Treat Her Right (New)

Treat Her Right

The common room was on the first floor of the dorm room, not far from the kitchenette; it was spacious enough for several teams at once to mingle and would have made a much better space for everyone to gather last night if it weren’t for the fact that they had needed seclusion and security to share their secrets.

The furniture was red, as per Beacon standard, and the floors were plain, uncarpeted wood. A projector that students could use as a TV was set on a metallic stand at the back of the room, in front of the windows.

Sun was lying on one of the sofas, trying to use one of the cushions as a pillow.

Judging by the way that he was turning over and over, it didn’t seem to be working very well.

Sunset, who had just come in carrying the books that Twilight had given her underneath her arm, saw him lying there, still dressed – or as close to dressed as Sun could be said to ever be, given his penchant for wandering around with his chest bared – with only his removed shoes a concession to what he was doing.

She stared down at him for a moment and seriously considered going back to her dorm room before curiosity got the better of her. “Sun?”

Sun looked up, bleary-eyed. “Wh- Sunset?”

“Good morning,” Sunset said.

“Hey,” Sun groaned. “These cushions aren’t very soft, are they?”

“I’m surprised that a tough Vacuan like yourself needs a snuggly pillow to lay his head,” Sunset remarked. “Shouldn’t you be able to make do with a rock?”

“Hey, don’t lump me in with Nebula and the rest of those jerks,” Sun replied. “I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with wanting to be comfortable if we can be.”

“One of the smartest things you’ve said since I met you,” Sunset observed. “So, if you’re not practicing masochism to prove that you are, indeed, a Hard Man from a Hard Land who is so much Harder than all of us soft, decadent city folk, what are you doing sleeping on the couch?”

“Oh, uh, you see… my team kicked me out.”

Sunset blinked. “Come again?”

“Scarlet said that if I wasn’t going to stick with my team, then I could find somewhere else to sleep,” Sun explained. “They really weren’t happy about me going off with Blake and the Atlesians.”

“Well, I can’t say I don’t see why,” Sunset murmured as she sat down on the arm of the sofa, her back half-turned away from Sun so that she had to twist her whole body around to look at him. “You do have a habit of ditching them for Blake.”

“She’s important to me,” Sun said, stating the obvious.

“Somehow, I suspect that that doesn’t mollify your team very much,” Sunset replied.

“No, I guess not,” Sun moaned. “But what am I supposed to do? Blake matters to me, like a lot. Like… more than anything in the world. How am I supposed to ignore it when she needs me?”

Sunset was of the opinion that Blake didn’t really need Sun’s help – not when she had Team RSPT backing her up, anyway – but at the same time, she couldn’t deny that hearing him say those words was… it touched something in her heart in a way that her heart had not been touched for quite some time. It might be stupid, it might have gotten Sun into trouble with his team, it might be unnecessary, but that was what a good boyfriend was supposed to say, damn it! This was what Flash should have said, instead of ditching Sunset the moment their relationship became inconvenient for his reputation.

Sun was an idiot in some ways, but he was also a very good boy. Blake was lucky to have him. Sunset wondered if she understood just how lucky she was.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Don’t turn away,” Sunset instructed him. “Don’t ignore it. Go to her, every single time, and to hell with Team Sun. Be a man. Be Blake’s man. Stand by her side, no matter what, because that’s what a good man does when he loves a woman.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Sunset said with absolute conviction. “Don’t you agree that Blake deserves to be treated like a queen?”

“Of course she does.”

“Then be her good servant: loyal and faithful and true,” Sunset instructed him. She got up. “Now, come on, follow me.”

“Where?”

“Back to the dorm room; you can sleep on my camp bed for as long as you like until I need it.”

“You mean it?”

“Yes, I mean it; my heart’s not made of stone, you know,” Sunset snapped, and snapped her fingers at the same time. “Come on, lover boy, let’s go.”

He followed her, the softer padding of his footsteps a counterpoint to the heavier tread of Sunset’s boots as she led him back the way that she had come, down the corridor, past the dorm room doors, until at last, they stood once again – once again for Sunset, anyway – before the door into the Team SAPR dorm room.

Sunset tucked the books that she had hoped to read – not that there wouldn’t be plenty of time to go back to the common room once she’d tucked Sun in and seen him settled – while she fished her scroll out of her jacket pocket and used it to open the door.

The latch clicked, and Sunset pushed it open.

Jaune was the sole occupant of the dorm room, sitting on his bed and reading one of the history textbooks with an intense frown upon his face. Ruby was with Yang, while Pyrrha was… Sunset wasn’t entirely sure where Pyrrha was, or Blake, for that matter. But they weren’t here; Jaune was the sole other presence in the room.

He looked up as Sunset came in, Sun following behind her.

“You’re back early,” Jaune said. “And, oh hey, Sun, what are you doing here?”

“I found him crashing on the couch in the common room and invited him to use my bed for a little bit,” Sunset declared. “I hope you don’t mind if I take my unicorn,” she added, summoning it into her free hand with telekinesis. “I don’t like strangers getting their hands on him.”

“I don’t need a cuddly toy; I just need a bed I can lie on,” Sun declared.

“Uh, what’s the matter with the bed in your own room?” Jaune asked.

“Don’t worry, man. I’ll be cool,” Sun assured him. “I don’t snore or anything; you won’t even know that I’m here.”

“Good to know,” Jaune admitted, “but all the same, what’s the matter with the bed in your dorm room?”

“The fact that it’s behind a locked door,” Sun groaned.

“His teammates have kicked him out,” Sunset explained.

Jaune frowned. “How did they manage to lock you out of your own dorm room?”

“Neptune’s a genius nerd,” Sun moaned as he climbed into Sunset’s bed.

“Hey!” Sunset snapped. “Take your shoes off first; this is a civilised dorm room.” And I don’t want mud or whatever else is on your shoes on my bed.

“Right, sorry,” Sun muttered, as he kicked off his shoes. “I really do appreciate this.”

“Someone can really do that?” Jaune demanded. “Lock a team member out of their dorm room?”

“It’s actually not that difficult,” Sunset said. “All you have to do is either disable the recognition on the door’s sensors of that particular scroll – which is also the way that you’d allow access to anyone outside the team – or you could hack into the scroll itself and disable the subcommand that enabled it to respond to the door sensor.”

“Do I want to know how you know that?” Jaune said, a trace of a whimper in his voice.

“I considered using access as a way to motivate you,” Sunset informed him bluntly, “but you didn’t need that kind of… stern encouragement.” Not to mention, it would have been hard to get it past Ruby and Pyrrha.

“Right,” Jaune murmured. “So… your teammates have locked you out, huh?”

“Yep,” Sun sighed as he pulled the blanket over him.

“Because of Blake?”

“Because I kept ditching them.”

“Right,” Jaune said. “Have you told them you’re sorry?”

Sun looked up and pushed himself up on his elbows. “Huh?”

“You know, maybe if you apologised they’d, let you back in?”

Sun shrugged. “They probably would,” he admitted. “Well, Neptune would. I don’t know about Scarlet; he’s had it in for me from Initiation; he thinks I took his spot as team leader.”

“What about…?” Sunset began, before she realised that she didn’t know the name of the fourth member of Team SSSN.

“Sage?” Sun suggested. “I never really know what he’s thinking; he’s kind of the strong, silent type.”

“Are you sure it’s not just the fact that you’re never around?” Jaune suggested.

“Heh, yeah, there’s probably some of that in there, too,” Sun acknowledged without a trace of shame in his voice. “But, anyway, maybe apologising would work, but it wouldn’t feel right to apologise if I didn’t mean it.”

Jaune blinked rapidly. “If you… you’re not the slightest bit ashamed of what you did, are you?”

“And he shouldn’t be,” Sunset declared.

“You’re on his side?” Jaune squawked in astonishment.

Sunset shrugged. “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be on his side?”

“Because you’re you!” Jaune exclaimed.

“And Sun’s gallantry has touched my romantic sensibilities,” Sunset asserted magisterially.

“Come on, Sunset, we both know that if I was dating Weiss and I had ditched the rest of this team to join Wisteria on a field mission, you’d have hung my guts from the curtain rail by now.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Would you rather be dating Weiss?”

“No, of course not!” Jaune yelled. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it!”

“What I know,” Sunset said, “is that you could learn a thing or two from this young man.” She gestured at Sun with her stuffed unicorn.

“If you guys are going to have a fight, could you do it outside?” Sun asked, as he laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. “I’m trying to sleep here.”

“This is our dorm room!” Jaune exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long,” Sunset assured him as she walked towards Jaune, who scrambled to his feet as she approached.

Sunset looked up at him and into his eyes. He was a nice boy… he seemed like a nice boy… but then, Flash had seemed like a nice boy too, which was one of the reasons why Sunset had made the mistake of making him her rock. And Pyrrha… Pyrrha wasn’t as emotionally resilient as Sunset was.

Hesitation robbed her of the power of speech. Was this even necessary? Did she really need to give Jaune the talk? Was he really going to treat Pyrrha like trash?

You never can tell with guys.

Oh, come on, really? When he was sleeping in the same room as Pyrrha, Ruby, and Sunset, was he really going to bring all that down on him by acting like – as an older generation might have put it – like a cad?

What’s the harm in nipping it in the bud before it gets that far?

Well, Jaune might think that she had a low opinion of him, for one?

No, you just have a low opinion of teenage boys.

Yeah, but how likely was it that Jaune was going to do something bad? He was a nice boy-

You thought the same about Flash.

But that was different. Pyrrha was in love with him.

Like you were in love with Flash.

She wasn’t really, though, was she? She’d gotten over it.

Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that.

None of that meant that Jaune was going to turn out anything like the same way.

But what if he does?

“Sunset?” Jaune asked. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know,” Sunset snapped up at him. “I don’t… I’m sorry, I just… I’m trying to work out whether I need to… ugh… just don’t hurt Pyrrha, okay?”

Jaune stared down at her, his blue eyes seeming especially innocent as he blinked down at her. “Huh?”

“You…” Sunset stopped herself from just saying ‘you heard,’ for fear it might sound too surly on her part. “Don’t hurt Pyrrha. She…” Sunset also stopped herself from saying ‘she loves you,’ because if Jaune didn’t realise that – and Pyrrha hadn’t told him – then it wasn’t Sunset’s job to tell him. “She doesn’t deserve it. So if this is some love ‘em and leave ‘em thing where you walk away as soon as you can say you tapped Pyrrha Nikos, or you’re going to get bored in a few weeks and move on, or-“

“Sunset, come on,” Jaune interrupted her. “How can you say stuff like that?”

“It’s nothing personal.”

“Isn’t it? Because it sounds pretty personal to me!”

Sunset groaned. “This is what I was worried about; I’m not telling you this so that you can get offended, okay? I know that you’re a nice guy, but I’ve been let down by nice guys in the past. Badly. And I don’t want that for Pyrrha, because she’s my friend, and I don’t want her to get hurt. She doesn’t deserve it, she’s too-”

“I know what Pyrrha is,” Jaune said. “I know exactly what a wonderful person she is and how little she deserves to get treated like… like that. And I would never do that! You’re not the only person who cares about Pyrrha.”

“I know,” Sunset said, perhaps a little too sharply. She softened her tone. “I know. I just… you’re a boy, and boys can change so suddenly…” She sighed. “Or perhaps I’m just projecting like crazy.” She sighed again and even more deeply this time. “I really didn’t come here to offend you or upset you or… anything, really. I just-”

“Wanted to help Pyrrha,” Jaune said softly. “I get that. And it’s okay. I mean, sure, I was upset at first when you acted like I might… come on, I’ve got seven sisters. I know how to treat girls.”

“Really?” Sunset asked. “How’s that?”

“With a deep respect born out of fear and a knowledge that they know where you sleep,” Jaune said without hesitation.

Sunset couldn’t help but snort with laughter. “Yeah, I’m sure you do.”

Jaune smiled. “I… I don’t know how long this is going to last… but that’s only because I don’t know how long Pyrrha is going to be satisfied with a guy like me when she’s so… you know.”

If only you knew.

“I don’t know if I can make her happy,” Jaune continued. “But I’m going to try, for however long she lets me.

Sunset looked at him for a moment, looking at his earnest face, looking into his eyes. “You… for what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I bruised your pride a little; and for what else it might be worth… I think you are a good guy, and I should have trusted you.”

“It’s okay,” Jaune repeated. “What are friends for except looking out for one another, right?”

“Yeah… right,” Sunset murmured. “Anyway…” Her tail swished uncertainly back from side to side. “So, I’m going to… yeah. You… you think about what I said, okay? Just… think about it. And…” And treat her right.

Sunset didn’t flee the room. She most emphatically did not flee the room. She simply left it, at a very fast and slightly undignified pace.

---

Jaune watched her go, the door closing behind her with a little more firmness than strictly necessary.

He watched her go, and he felt sorry for her. He couldn’t bring himself to feel offended for himself; he didn’t blame her for what she’d said; not because she had reason to say it – she didn’t, and she ought to have known him well enough to know that she didn’t – but because… okay, back up a second. She had no reason to think that he would betray Pyrrha like that, no reason to suspect that his intentions were anything but pure, no reason to think that he wasn’t in this for as long as Pyrrha would have him. And it was a question of how long Pyrrha would have him, because, well, why shouldn’t get bored of a guy like him? Why wouldn’t she wake up and realise that she could do so much better than Jaune Arc? Why wouldn’t the most beautiful, kindest, bravest, strongest girl their age move on from a loser whose only attractive feature was being clueless? But if things ended – as Jaune felt certain, Pyrrha’s protestations of love aside, that they would end – then it wouldn’t be because he had ended them.

So Sunset had no reason on that count to say anything like that to him, to grill him, to press him, but for the other reasons that she had to say it, well… those reasons, he couldn’t deny, and it was for those reasons that he felt sorry for her.

The more things went on, the more certain Jaune became that Flash Sentry had done Sunset Shimmer dirty. It wasn’t obvious at first, because Flash was such a genial guy, so affable and good-natured, while Sunset was prickly and hard-edged; not to mention the fact that the venom that Sunset had for Flash sometimes got lost under the noise of her attitude towards other people. Plus, the fact that there were times in Jaune’s school life when he hadn’t been particularly inclined to feel very sorry for Sunset or to look too closely at her problems. Not to mention that he’d had enough of his own problems at other times or even at some of those same times.

But the more he looked, the more he felt as though Flash must have done something to really hurt Sunset, and the more he felt as though he couldn’t just ignore that fact. Sunset could be difficult, and she was proud and stubborn, and she thought she was so smart, even though she was making terrible decisions… but she was also their team leader, and she was a leader who would always have your back, even if she complained about it all the while. She had forced him to get a grip, and even though she had tried to use him as an accessory to bullying as part of a petty revenge scheme, he couldn’t ignore the fact that she had saved his place at Beacon too, and he knew – he knew in his gut – that she would do the same for Ruby or Pyrrha if either of them found themselves in trouble like that.

Sunset… Sunset took care of them, and Jaune felt as though they ought to take care of her as well, since they were a team.

Plus, there was the fact that if Flash really was hiding a dark side, then, well, just because he had lost interest in Weiss didn’t mean that he wanted to see her end up in the arms of someone whose fair face hid a black heart.

He wasn’t sure exactly what he could do, or ought to do to help Sunset with her problem, but he felt increasingly sure that he ought to – had to – do something.

Perhaps Pyrrha would know what to do. He should definitely speak to her about it before he did anything.

In the meantime… Jaune’s eyes were drawn towards Sun, where the nominal leader of Team SSSN was lying in bed with the blanket pulled up so high that it almost hid his face.

“Hey,” Jaune said. “Are you still awake?”

“Unfortunately,” Sun muttered.

“How long have you been sleeping on sofas?”

“Since we got back from the train mission,” Sun grunted. He lifted his head up a little bit so that he could look at Jaune. “How are you doing, by the way?”

“Distance helps,” Jaune said. “So does having stuff to take my mind off it.” He frowned. “How come no one has noticed you sleeping around the common room before?”

“People noticed; they just didn’t care or thought it was funny.”

Jaune winced. “That’s rough,” he said. He paused. “Listen, Sun… when Sunset let you in here, did she say anything to you?”

Sun hesitated. “Uh, yeah, she told me I’d done the right thing and that I shouldn’t feel guilty about it.”

Jaune rolled his eyes. “I meant what I said, by the way; if I pulled a stunt like that, I’d think myself lucky if all she did was lock me out of the room.”

“Yeah, but you’re on the same team as your girlfriend,” Sun protested. “Are you telling me that if you were on a different team from Pyrrha, then would you let anything stop you from heading into danger with her?”

“I might let the three other people who I’m supposed to be facing danger with let it stop me,” Jaune replied. “I mean… sure, I get it, and I’m glad that I’m not in your position… but it would be kind of insulting to Sunset and Ruby and…” – he plucked a name out of the air – “Yang to act like I was the only one who could help Pyrrha and keep her safe, and it would be doubly insulting to Ren and Nora and Dove if I kept ditching them and letting them go into danger without me. Triply so if I was supposed to be leading them into battle. I mean, don’t you care about your teammates at all? Doesn’t it matter to you that they might have to face real danger without you? Without anyone? They’ll be a man down against grimm or bandits or the White Fang, and in the meantime… what? Do you think that Blake can’t take care of herself? Do you think that Team Rosepetal doesn’t have her back? Do you think that we don’t have her back?”

“I know that Blake doesn’t need me!” Sun cried. “I get it, okay. You don’t need to rub it in. I know that Blake is surrounded by great people, and they’re all so much better than I am, trust me.”

Jaune was silent for a moment. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”

Sun nodded. “I want… I need to show Blake that I… that I’m more than just some bum, you know? I know… I know she doesn’t love me. I know she doesn’t feel the same way about me that I feel about her, but maybe… maybe if I show her that I’m the kind of guy who… who understands the things that matter to her and fights for them like she does then… then maybe… I don’t know.”

Jaune sighed. “Listen… I’m not great at this stuff either, so don’t take my word for it, but I think… I think that if you want to show Blake a different side of you, then maybe, instead of chasing her around, you should show her that you’re the kind of person that… not just the kind of person that she can rely on, but the kind of person that everyone can rely on… the kind of person that I think Blake would like to become. I mean, look at Sunset. Look at Rainbow Dash. Blake has a lot of respect for both of them-”

“Are you saying you don’t think Blake respects me?”

Jaune hesitated. “I… don’t really know?”

“Thanks, dude.”

“The point is that Blake doesn’t respect them because they both fall down at her feet and always go running off after her.”

“Both of them have done exactly that,” Sun pointed out.

“Yeah, okay, but they didn’t ditch their… okay, they both did that too, but not in the same way that you did,” Jaune insisted. “You know exactly what I’m talking about: Blake respects both of them because they’re good leaders, because they take their responsibilities seriously, because she knows that… that we can all rely on them if we need to. And maybe that’s what you need to show her.”

“Is that what you show Pyrrha?” Sun asked. “That everyone can rely on you?”

“Pyrrha… I still don’t really get what I did to get so lucky with Pyrrha.”

Sun sighed. “I envy you, man.”

“Hey, don’t put yourself down too much; you’re still with Blake, after all,” Jaune reminded him. “I suppose what I’m really trying to say is, don’t put too much stock in Sunset’s dating advice.”

“Okay,” Sun murmured. “What’s up with her? Is she okay?”

When it comes to guys, I don’t think she is. “I don’t know,” Jaune lied. “I’ve really got no idea.”

---

Pyrrha had texted Dove, asking him to meet her under the shadow of the huntsman statue, but when she got there, she found that he had beaten her to their meeting place: he was sitting in front of the snarling beowolf – with the result that it looked a little as though it was about to pounce on him – reading Fairy Tales of Remnant. He must have heard her footsteps on the courtyard stone, because he looked up as Pyrrha drew near and scrambled to his feet.

"You don't have to get up," Pyrrha told him.

Dove smiled. "I think my grandmother would rise out of her grave and whack me with a broom handle if I didn't," he said. "Good manners were very important to her."

Pyrrha chuckled. "Well, if it means that much to you, then I can't stop you. Thank you for meeting me."

"It's not a problem," Dove assured her. "Plus, I'm a little curious as to why you want to talk to me specifically."

He had reason to be curious; it wasn't as though they interacted a great deal; even when Teams SAPR and YRDN interacted with one another, Dove was very easily drowned out by the more vocal and expressive personalities on his team. It made Pyrrha feel a little guilty about the fact that their first meaningful interaction was to ask him for a favour. She glanced down and fiddled momentarily with her red sash.

"I'm afraid that I would like to ask for something from you, however little right I have to ask it."

"You have the right to ask for whatever you like," Dove said. "Just as I have the right to say no."

"Of course," Pyrrha murmured. "You know… or you might not know… I've been training Jaune in swordplay."

"He has been improving by leaps and bounds," Dove told her. "The general opinion in the dorm room – and in Team Bluebell's dorm room, come to that – is that you've got something to do with it."

"Indeed," Pyrrha said softly; she found that she was not particularly surprised to hear that. It was no slight on Jaune to admit that he had arrived at Beacon in need of some instruction, and it made sense that she would be the one to provide him with that instruction. "Are there any… dissenting opinions?"

"Lyra thinks that Jaune was holding back when he first arrived at Beacon, so as to make himself seem weaker than he was so that his transformation would seem all the more impressive," Dove explained. "Like a sun hidden behind the clouds seems to shine brighter when the clouds disperse than a clear day ever can; her words, not mine."

Pyrrha smiled. "That would be a fine thing, if it was true, but… the general opinion is right; I have been giving Jaune some assistance. And I'm glad to hear you say that Jaune has improved; it shows that my judgement isn't blinded by… by my affection for him." She looked up into Dove's round face. "The trouble is… the trouble is that Jaune can't see the scale of his improvement because… because he's still some way away from beating me."

"Yang aside, we're all a long way from beating you," Dove said.

"I didn't come here to be flattered," Pyrrha said gently. "The point is… I was hoping that you might agree to become Jaune's sparring partner-"

"Because I'm much closer to his level than you are, and he can gauge his progress against me much more effectively?" Dove asked.

"I didn't mean to insult you," Pyrrha said quickly.

Dove held up one hand. "You didn't. My grandfather used to say that if you were insulted by the truth, then you either had too much pride or too thin a skin. I know that you're set high above me in your skill at arms. I know that I have work to do to climb the mountain that divides us." He fell silent, leaving Pyrrha unsure of whether he would agree to her request or not.

Nevertheless, she did not press him on it. She was, after all, asking him for a favour; impatience would hardly become her in this situation.

Pyrrha waited, as Dove half-turned away from her, his lips moving silently.

"I can do one night a week," he said. "In return for something from you."

"What?" Pyrrha asked.

"While you've been tutoring Jaune, I've been helping Lyra," Dove informed her. "She was a little better than Jaune at the start of the year, but I think he'd beat her now. Consequence of the difference in teachers; Lyra isn't as fortunate in her friends or teammates as Jaune is, so she's stuck with me instead of the Champion of Mistral."

Pyrrha didn't reply to that; there was no need, in her opinion; Dove would probably resent being patronised as much as Jaune did, but on the other hand, there was no need to lord her superior skill over him.

"If I give a night over to Jaune," Dove continued, "will you help Lyra on that night? I'm sure you can show her things I've not even considered."

Pyrrha smiled. "Of course," she said, warmly and readily. "You train every night?"

"No, three nights a week," Dove said. "Do you train every night?"

"Almost every night, unless there's a good reason not to."

"What about having fun?"

"Jaune… is determined to get better," Pyrrha said carefully, hoping that it didn't sound like she was suggesting Lyra was not… even though that was, to an extent, what she was suggesting.

"So does Lyra," Dove replied, a little defensively. "But she couldn't spend all her time practicing. What about homework?"

"I manage," Pyrrha murmured. "And Jaune… is fortunate to have Sunset and myself to assist him. Besides, we train every night but not all night."

"I see," Dove said. "You are truly blessed to have a mind as sharp as the edge of your sword."

"Fortune smiled upon me at my birth, and many other times after," Pyrrha agreed. "Shall I let you speak to Lyra and decide which day suits her best? If she even wants my help; she may not."

"True, in which case, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be able to help Jaune."

"Of course. I understand," Pyrrha said. If that was the case, then her next call would be Blake, who fought with a sword sometimes, even if it was in quite an alien fashion to the style that she had been teaching Jaune. There was always Sunset, who now had a sword – courtesy of Pyrrha's mother – and who fought in a fighting style that could be called static, but Pyrrha thought that Sunset was too inexperienced with the blade; Jaune still needed to be challenged by his opponent. "I don't suppose that you know anything about attacking with your aura? Expelling it out through your blade, I mean."

"You mean like Ren?" Dove asked. "But with a sword? Is that possible?"

Pyrrha nodded. "I've seen it done, but I… I understand the theory, but not having ever trained it in myself, it's not something I could pass on to Jaune."

"And you thought I would know something you would not?"

"My mother – and the tutors she hired – taught me that expending your aura thus in an attack was a blunt instrument," Pyrrha said. "I was taught to be precise, but Jaune has the aura to spare for such attacks, in moderation. I wondered if you might have the skill."

"I'm afraid not," Dove said. "Although you've made me curious about it now. I might ask Ren if it is something he can teach me. In the meantime, I'll speak to Lyra, and let you know what she says."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said. "I appreciate your willingness to help me and Jaune."

Dove shrugged. "We're on different teams, but we all share a common purpose, don't we? We are… the light against the darkness, if that doesn't sound too pompous."

"Not at all. I think it's perfect," Pyrrha said, "and perfectly accurate too. You helping Jaune and I helping Lyra: what benefits one benefits us all."

---

Blake was not blind to the fact that there was a degree of risk involved in walking around the campus with a book written by a faunus political prisoner in her arms, and she was certainly not unaware that she might have been better off reading this in the SAPR dorm room. But she had no intention of spending her entire time at Beacon cooped up in that room, and the book that she was carrying with her wasn’t a White Fang recruiting pamphlet; it didn’t advocate terrorism as a means of advancing political objectives; quite the opposite, if Twilight’s summation of it was correct.

There was no reason on Remnant why she shouldn’t take it to the library this morning and start to read it.

Plus, everyone else was in class by now.

So Blake walked into the library, the door swinging shut behind her, carrying Prison Journals pressed against her chest, title turned away from the world.

“Hey, Blake?”

Blake stopped, her golden eyes widening at the burly figure who had just emerged from out of the stacks in front of her. “Tukson?”

Tukson smiled warmly. “It’s been a little while, hasn’t it?”

“'It’s been a…'” Blake fought to hold back the cry of irritation that threatened to rise up from her throat. “I went to the hospital to see how you were, and they told me you’d gone!”

“Yeah, I got discharged a few days ago.”

“I couldn’t call you!”

“They took my scroll away for my own protection, or something.”

“You… how long have you been here?” Blake demanded.

“Since I got out of hospital,” Tukson explained. “Professor Ozpin explained that it probably wasn’t safe for me to go back to the bookshop right away, since the White Fang might, you know, try and shut me up again, but he also offered me a job here in the library. It seems there are a lot of books here that need to be catalogued, so that ought to keep me busy until this whole thing blows over.”

Blake stared at him. She was speechless, torn between her joy at seeing him safe and sound and secure in this place, the heart of their fortress, and her anger at the fact that she had found this out by sheer chance of having to walk in here when he had been near the door. If she had stayed away – if she had decided to read in the dorm room, for instance – she would not have found out. She might never have found out.

“When were you going to tell me?” she demanded.

“You were away on a mission when I came here,” Tukson explained. “I didn’t want to distract you when your life, and the lives of those around you, were on the line.”

“I got back from my mission the day before yesterday,” Blake pointed out.

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Tukson admitted. “I figured I’d see you around. And I did.”

Blake sighed. “Yes. Yes, I suppose you did,” she admitted. She bowed her head but then looked back up at him with a slight smile gracing her features. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she added.

Tukson took a couple of steps towards her and reached out to put his strong hands upon her shoulders. “And I’m glad you made it back from your mission in one piece. Are you allowed to talk about it? Do you want to talk about it?”

Blake hesitated. “I think it should be okay.”

“But do you want to talk about it?” Tukson repeated.

“Yes,” Blake said. “I’ve spent… too long hiding how I feel. Hiding parts of my life. I don’t want to hide any more.”

“Then do you want to sit down?” Tukson suggested. “There’s no food or drink allowed in the library, but-”

“I’ll be fine with just a seat,” Blake said. “Are you going to be okay, or will you get in trouble for slacking off?”

“I hope not; who’s around to tell?” Tukson asked as he took her by the shoulder and steered to one of the tables in the open heart of the library.

Blake pulled out one chair, and Tukson another as they both sat down. Blake put Prison Journals down on the table, still facing downwards.

Tukson nodded at the black book. “What’s that?”

“It’s nothing,” Blake replied.

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be trying to hide the title,” Tukson pointed out.

“I suppose not,” Blake admitted. “It’s Rudi Antonio’s Prison Journals.”

Tukson frowned. “Never heard of them.”

“So much for 'every book under the sun.'”

“It was just a stupid marketing slogan,” Tukson muttered. “So, what’s this book?”

“It’s a philosophy, amongst other things,” Blake explained. “About how the faunus can achieve equality non-violently by burrowing into systems and institutions. Apparently, anyway. That’s what I’ve been told; I haven’t actually read it yet.” She decided not to mention the fact that it had an introduction by Sienna Khan.

Tukson nodded slowly. “And that’s where your thinking is at now?”

“I don’t know,” Blake admitted. “Rainbow Dash thinks it’s the way… I’m not entirely sure.”

“'Rainbow Dash'?”

“An Atlas student, and a faunus,” Blake explained. “She… I didn’t trust her, at first. Or rather, I suppose I should say that I didn’t get her. I didn’t understand how a faunus could wear an Atlas uniform and not hate themselves for what they were a part of.”

“And now?”

“Now… now, I kind of admire her,” Blake admitted. “She’s brave and loyal-”

“So are you.”

“And she never hides who she is,” Blake continued. “And she’s comfortable with who she is. With all of who she is.”

“You’ve had a tough life, Blake,” Tukson told her. “The fact that you have some regrets doesn’t make you less, and it doesn’t mean that you have to be ashamed of yourself before some Atlas girl who hasn’t had to make the hard choices that you’ve been faced with.”

“I don’t,” Blake responded. “Well, what I mean is… I like her. And a part of me would like to believe that she’s right about this. It’s not as though anything else we’ve tried has worked out.”

“Hey, show some respect,” Tukson said. “Generations who came before you worked their asses off to get to where we are today. Just because things aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that we accomplished nothing. Do you think that I would have been allowed to own my own business right after the war finished?”

Blake was silent for a moment. “I suppose I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Take it from my grandpa: the answer was no,” Tukson informed her. “It’s fine to be mad at the injustice that you still see in the world, but don’t let it drive you to despair. Things can change for the better.”

“Do you remember how they changed?” Blake asked. “You say that you accomplished things, but how did you accomplish them? And if my parents’ methods were getting results, then why… why did people older and wiser than me lose faith in them?”

“You ask me these questions like I was in the inner circle.”

“Are you trying to convince me that you weren’t?”

“I wasn’t; I just knew people who were,” Tukson clarified. “Anyway, you don’t need me to tell you what you already knew: whatever might have been happening wasn’t happening fast enough, and it wasn’t happening in a way that your father could point to. What the White Fang was accomplishing, assuming that we were responsible, was changing hearts and minds; attitudes towards the faunus amongst the humans were softening every generation; at least, that’s how it looked to me. Look at your friends; how many racist jackasses are there amongst them?”

Blake raised one eyebrow. “You think I’d be friends with a racist?”

“Okay, not your actual friends, your classmates.”

“Ah, you mean the patronising way that adults refer to everyone a young person’s age as their friend without bothering to find out if they really get along?”

“If you like, yes,” Tukson conceded. “In your class, how many?”

Blake thought about it for a moment. “Only one that I know of for sure.”

“And how is that regarded?”

“In a pretty negative light.”

“Precisely,” Tukson said. “Attitudes like theirs were once common, but now, they’re rare, and not only rare but seen as vulgar and obnoxious; meanwhile, faunus who would have only been allowed into Atlas as janitors can become students now. And so it goes, things change and for the better. But that’s not the kind of thing you can say when you’re the embattled leader of a campaigning organisation. Changing attitudes are hard to prove, especially when it’s the racists that stand out more than the people who aren’t racist but don’t do anything about it. People wanted laws on the books, they wanted signs taken down from shop windows, they wanted police reform. Your parents couldn’t show them any of that; he couldn’t even show that he was being listened to by the Councils in the four kingdoms. Sienna promised real results, to shake the kingdoms until they’d have no choice but to listen.”

“Is that what’s happening in Vale?” Blake asked. “Are things being shaken up?”

“You already know the answer to that, Blake.”

“But I don’t know if this is happening by Sienna’s order or if this is Adam… letting his anger run away with him.” Blake sighed. “It may be stupid, but I’ve already accepted that Adam is… I’ve accepted what Adam is. But I’d like to believe that I wasn’t completely foolish for putting my trust in Sienna.”

“Lots of us put our trust in Sienna at first,” Tukson said. “There’s no shame in it.”

Blake looked into his eyes. “Do you really believe that?”

Tukson was silent for a moment, and even when he spoke, he did not respond. Instead, he said, “Did you bring that book here because you meant to start reading it?”

Blake nodded. “I wanted to see what it was like.”

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Tukson said, rising from his seat. “The old way wasn’t worthless, but it also led to Sienna Khan and Adam and what the White Fang is today and… well, it led to where we are now. So if you can find another way, if you think that it’s in that book or anywhere else you might see it… don’t be afraid to take it.”

Comments

[Lancerguy]

So, it's no longer the SAPR dorm but rather "Mother Sunset's Home for the Wayward Youth" which is fitting. I like how all of the characters are growing not necessarily with each other but in their own understanding of each other and of themselves.

[Mastermind4892]

Second chances are priceless, and now Tukson finally got his.

Thank you Ozpin, for not only giving him that chance with both protection and the opportunity to still do what he loves for the next generation of the world’s protectors. (Take that, Cardin! )

[Scolipede]

Well, I certainly look forward to seeing if Jaune ever finds out what exactly happened with Flash.

[Animatorsnake]

“With a deep respect born out of fear and a knowledge that they know where you sleep,” Jaune said without hesitation.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jaune Arc, a man who knows to respect ya women... or else face their fury.

[Luviere]

Sunset was of the opinion that Blake didn’t really need Sun’s help – not when she had Team RSPT backing her up, anyway – but at the same time, she couldn’t deny that hearing him say those words was… it touched something in her heart in a way that her heart had not been touched for quite some time. It might be stupid, it might have gotten Sun into trouble with his team, it might be unnecessary, but that was what a good boyfriend was supposed to say, damn it! This was what Flash should have said, instead of ditching Sunset the moment their relationship became inconvenient for his reputation.

Ok, real talk. Can we stop with the Flash thing? Nobody, and i mean, Nobody cares for him. Why do you keep pushing it? You are not going anywhere with it, so why not have Sunset make her kind that she does not want to be with him and be done already.
I'm sorry mate, you are a good writer, a very good one at that. But you keep repeating the same things over and over. Get it done already. i can't skip it because i might lose some actual important conversations, so i have to read this again and again.