Meet the Parents
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Jaune goes into Vale to go shopping. Yang goes along out of boredom- and gets a bit more up close and personal with his parents than she intended.
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Prodigal Son
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In Yang's defense, she didn't start any of it. At least not on purpose.
It's not like Yang woke up intending any of the weekend's events- spending some quality shopping time with Jaune, or hitting on total hottie only to realize he was Jaune's father, or having a life-or-near-death chase with Jaune at her back, or trying to help mediate a reconciliation with Jaune's mother, or fighting a death battle with Jaune's mother over Jaune himself.
It just kinda… happened.
But honestly- totally unplanned. Like she needed Jaune as an excuse to do any of that.
Still, it wasn't a total let down. Even if she'd ended up in the infirmary, she'd helped a friend, and Jaune totally owed her one. More than one, really- but who was counting, besides her? Given how guilty he looked when he visited, she could probably milk this out for weeks.
To think, it all started just a few days earlier…
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"Oh, hey Jaune!" Yang greeted as she walked up towards the airship docks to find her fellow blonde already there. "Didn't see you hiding there by the trashcan. What's up?"
Jaune looked up from where he had indeed been staring intently at the receptacle. "Hey Yang," he greeted in return. "You going in to Vale today too?" he asked, before giving a puzzled expression as he around. "Where's the rest of your team?"
Yang waved her friends' absence aside. "Ah, we decided to take a break from each other today. Absence making the heart fonder, and all that. I'm off to blow off some steam," she admitted. A nice stroll through Vale… or a heart-pounding ride on her precious bumblebee…
"That makes sense," Jaune nodded, agreeable, before letting a silence fall as he stared blankly at the trash can.
Yang frowned, growing bored quickly. "Isn't it a bit too early for that, Vomit Boy?" she teased. "The bullhead isn't even here yet."
Jaune gave a sheepish smile. "I know," he admitted. "But even the thought of flying to Vale…" he trailed off, seeing her lingering disgust at their first encounter. "Look, motion sickness is a more common problem than people admit!"
Yang ignored that and focused on her curiosity. "Then why are you?" Yang asked. "Must be pretty important to take the trip if you don't have to.
"Oh, I just have some business in Vale," Jaune replied evasively. "You know."
Yang frowned, since she didn't, but a thought came to mind. "You picking something up?" she asked.
"Yeah, actually," Jaune admitted, surprised.
"For you or someone else?" Yang asked.
"Not for me," Jaune denied.
Yang smirked. "Girl?" she asked, challenging.
"Yeah," Jaune admitted, shoulder slumping at being found so easily. "I just need to find something good."
Yang nodded to herself, pleased with herself for figuring it out. "Want help?" she offered.
"Huh?" Jaune asked, surprised.
Yang tossed her head and struck a pose that showed off her figure. "Well, I am the expert on girls here," she said. "Offense intended, no offense," she added as they both thought of Jaune's 'style.'
Instead of looking offended, though, Jaune looked hopeful. "You'd do that? For me?" he asked.
"Sure, why not? It could be fun," Yang explained.
If she were in a good mood, she could help Jaune by picking out something that wouldn't embarrass Weiss too much… and if she were in a better mood, she could lead him into picking something that would really embarrass her.
"Thanks Yang!" Jaune exclaimed, looking like an puppy. "I knew this many gifts would clean me out, but-"
That many? "Hold on, Jaune," Yang cautioned. "I don't think Weiss would appreciate that many gifts," she began.
"Not just Weiss," Jaune waved off easily. "All the other girls too. I always have a hard time picking out, and this year was going to be tougher than last-"
"Jaune," Yang interrupted, "how many girls are you buying gifts for, exactly?" she asked, torn between being shocked, disgusted, and grudgingly impressed that Jaune was going to be buying gifts for girls other than Weiss at the same time.
Jaune gave her an odd look. "Fourteen. Why?"
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"Remind me," Jaune asked half an hour later, after the bullhead landed, "why I wanted to go Christmas shopping today?" He looked green to the gills, and stared at the new trashcan with a different sort of consideration than the last one.
"Don't be like that!" Yang said cheerfully. "Seven sisters, a mom, and all of JNPR and RWBY? And not the week before? You're doing good, Jaune!" she praised.
"But why-" Jaune gasped, "-why Vale? Couldn't I have done this online or something?"
"Head up, you're doing better than last time," Yang encouraged with a hearty slap on the back. Jaune's eyes bulged as his cheeks bulged with air. "You haven't actually thrown up yet!" she added.
Jaune shot her a glare, but a gag distracted him as he fought a familiar battle. "Oh dust, why?" he moaned.
"Cheer up, Jaune. You should feel lucky a girl as hot as me is accompanying you," Yang boasted. "People might get the wrong impression about us. What do you think of that?"
Yang frowned at Jaune's back as he bent further over the trashcan and audibly gagged.
"That better have been airsickness," she warned darkly.
Jaune recovered, having won this battle. "And why are you coming along?" he asked, wiping his face.
"I'm just a selfless friend who wants to help ensure the quality of your gifts," Yang claimed.
Jaune gave her a look.
"And I'm bored," Yang admitted.
Jaune waited a little while longer.
"And I want to see what you're getting everyone," Yang admitted. "I won't tell," she promised, miming zipping her lips.
Jaune sighed, either giving up or gathering his resolve. "I could use help carrying bags," he admitted.
Yang laughed. "That's a funny joke, Jaune," she said. "Asking a girl to carry your bags while shopping."
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"I can't believe you asked a girl to carry your bags while shopping," Yang groused darkly hours later.
"Oh, come on, Yang," Jaune whined from behind her. "You've got one! I'm carrying, like, ten of them!"
It was true- while Yang carried a single bags, Jaune was loaded down with nearly a dozen, struggling under the mass and weight. Nearly toppling under the weight- top-heavy from a number of boxes that came up to his nose- Yang sighed and had pity.
"Let's take a break," Yang said, guiding him to a nearby bench at a park. Jaune (carefully) set down the packages with audible relief, grateful for the break even if he wouldn't have asked for it. Before them there were landscaped paths and bushes… and by a fountain, a young woman selling flowers.
Yang paid her no mind and instead considered their haul- reasonably impressed despite herself. Half of it was her influence, she felt- sniffing out the better deal when Jaune would have settled for the first thing he came across- but he'd put some thought into it. At least for his sisters- a pleasant surprise to Yang, who understandably had a soft-spot for sisters everywhere.
"So who do we have left?" she asked, though it was easier for Jaune to count off who they had.
"There's my sisters," Jaune pointed at most of the bags and boxes, which were filled with assorted things. Yang had snuck in a few beauty items on a whim- a little stocking stuffer from a secret santa- which probably was the most normal stuff in the pile. Jaune clearly had put in some thought for them… but Yang didn't know what to make of what he'd chosen. Or what they implied.
Any one of those sisters would be a story in and of itself. Another day, perhaps.
The next stack was a more conventional. "That's for JNPR," Jaune said with pride. His idea was decent enough as a base- a set of digital picture frames and a pre-set image of a nice team photo. Yang had helped pick out a more personal, secondary gift for all three. Some wrist wraps and a gun polish for Ren, to help keep his stormflowers tucked away smoothly. A coupon book for IKOP- International Kingdom of Pancakes- for Nora, and some specialty syrups they found in a country store. And for Pyrrha…
Honestly, Yang had been torn between suggesting something nice, or guiding Jaune to something romantic. Dust knows he'd never do either on his own deliberately. But when he'd come out of a shop with pride- a metallic wire set that would be malleable for Pyrrha to morph in any number of shapes with her semblance, from hairpin to lockpick- she'd given a thumbs up and not worried about it.
Which left… her single bag.
"Well, at least you know Ruby will be happy," Yang said with a touch of a forced smile. A little bit of gun grease and weapon polish, and a whet stone, really, really shouldn't make a little girl so happy.
Jaune laughed, even as they both skirted the lack of any other RWBY gifts. There wasn't anything Weiss needed, per see, that she couldn't buy herself- and Yang's suggestion of 'I won't bother you for a day' coupons hadn't been well received. Blake was probably going to be a book, but while she loved to tease her partner she wasn't sure about leaking her favorite series to the guy beside her. And as for Yang…
Well, obviously Jaune wouldn't buy the gift in front of her. Maybe he'd come back for some of the hints she'd dropped. Though if he actually had the guts to go into a lingerie store, let alone give her some, she'd laugh.
Which left…
"Just need something for your parents, right?" Yang asked.
Instead of the thought of them making him happy, Jaune slouched further into the bench.
"Yeah," he said, half-sighing in a way that wasn't simple tiredness.
"Hard to shop for?" Yang asked sympathetically, even though she doubted that was the case.
"More like too easy," Jaune laughed slightly. "I could give them a hand-drawn picture and they'd put it on the wall with pride."
"Can you draw?" Yang asked, curious.
"No, but they'd say it was the thought that counts," Jaune laughed self-deprecatingly. "It's just…" he drew his knees closer to himself, wrapping his arms around them as he stared into the park.
"Yang? How do you give a gift that says "I'm sorry," when you're not really sorry?" Jaune asked.
Yang didn't know- but sensing it was weighing on Jaune, stayed quiet to let him speak.
"You… know how I got into Beacon, right?" Jaune asked.
Yang thinned her lips. "Yeah," she admitted. "Pyrrha didn't tell me or anything, but… I kinda figured."
Jaune didn't mind. He continued. "When I decided to try to get into Beacon, I kept it a secret from them. I knew they'd be worried- they'd be right to worry- but I was afraid they'd try to stop me if they knew. Or go to the faculty if they knew where. So I didn't tell them."
"You ran away from home?" Yang asked, more shocked at that than she'd been when she accepted he'd cheated his way in.
Jaune nodded morosely. "Middle of the night. I'd been saving money for awhile. I waited for when Dad was out on a job, helped Mom put the girls to bed, and when she went to bed…" He hugged his legs tighter.
"Did you at least leave them a letter? Let them know you were alright?" Yang asked.
Jaune shook his head. "I didn't even know if I'd get in. If I didn't, I'd be back within a week. But then there was initiation- then I was in, but trying to keep up…" He shook his head. "I'm sorry how I did it, but I'm not sorry that I did it. I lied, but it was towards something that means a lot to me." He rested his head on his arms. "Yang? Did I run away? Or did I abandon them?" he asked.
"You abandoned them," she said bluntly.
Jaune sunk into himself a little more, and did nothing to refute it.
"But you're fixing that," Yang continued. "That's why you're shopping today, right?" she asked. "To send them something and let them know you're alright. And you want it to be good so they know you're thinking of them."
Jaune didn't respond, not verbally, but seemed to perk up.
Yang nodded, as much to herself as Jaune. "Then I think they'll forgive you. Maybe not right away, but at least you're trying to get back to them." She considered. "Maybe something that shows you know what they think and feel?" she said.
"Think and feel…" Jaune muttered, before sitting up. "Yang, could you watch the bags for a minute?" he asked, stepping forward before Yang could give a response.
Yang looked forward- looked at what he'd been looking at- and only saw the flower girl by the fountain. "I swear, if he just ignored all that just to flirt…" she muttered in disgust.
But if he did, it was the shortest, most transactional flirt ever. The girl looked confused, and then smiled as Jaune pulled out his wallet and handed over a single lien in exchange for a single white flower. Jaune returned, holding the flower carefully, and with a look on his face that didn't suggest amorous success or failure.
Yang softened. "I'd say Weiss might be touched, but you'd buy a white rose for that, wouldn't you?" she asked, only slightly teasing. "I'm sure your mom will appreciate it."
"It's for my Dad, actually," Jaune admitted with a soft smile. "He'll understand."
Yang smiled back. "Well, that's one down, and one to go," she said. "Any brilliant insights for your mom?"
Jaune shook his head. "What would you give an overprotective mom who never wanted to let you out of her sight?"
"I don't think I can answer that," Yang said neutrally, and Jaune felt a need to punch himself, but Yang moved on with a better smile. "But I do have an overprotective Dad who once bear-hugged an Ursa to death, if that helps."
"That sounds like her," Jaune laughed.
"Then let's go," Yang said, standing with good cheer. "I've got an idea."
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Author Note:
Something relatively short, and a lead-in to a project I've had in my mind for some time but decided to start.
There's a real-world time-constraint that's making me start this now- you'll understand why by chapter three- but this short story will be done by the end of the week.