It should be raining.

Jaune's thoughts had taken a strange turn as he stood in front of the empty grave. He believed with all his heart that it should be raining, in the stories that he used to be told, the weather always reflected the hero's inner turmoil whenever someone he cared for passed on.

However, this was no fairy tale, and Jaune now knew that he was no hero.

Jaune had thought he was going to be someone from the fairy tales, someone that his family could be proud of, but all of his plans, everything that he had been working toward this past year had vanished. And instead of having Mother Nature reflect his inner turmoil, the weather was a cool autumn day. An irony considering what he had learned his partner had been slated for.

His partner.

Pyrrha.

Jaune clenched his fists so hard that he was sure his nails had begun to draw blood from his palms. He felt the familiar burn of unshed tears behind his eyes as he thought of his partner.

She had been the best of them, the Invincible Girl, someone that any aspiring Huntress or Huntsman should be aspiring to, and now she was gone. Returned to the Dust, like so many others before her.

Jaune knew, knew, that he should have done something to stop his ever independent partner from going alone to the tower to confront Cinder. If he had maybe the outcome might have been different, if he had just trained a bit harder, been a bit more dependable, maybe Pyrrha wouldn't have felt that he was more of a hindrance than a boon in a fight.

He now knew what it meant to be a hero, and Jaune Arc, whose dream it had been to be a hero, felt a sting that he was not expecting. Ever since he was a child he had wanted to be a hero, and his parents, his sisters, anyone who came into contact with him tried to dissuade him. He had though they just didn't understand, that they were looking down on his dream. He now knew that they had understood all too well.

Jaune closed his eyes, and there in his mind's eye was his partner. A beautiful young woman who had had so much more promise than himself. She had trained him to the warrior he was today, but it obviously was not enough. Whenever he thought of that fateful day, he knew that his emotions had been a rollercoaster. He had felt fear at fighting the Grimm, slight horror of finding the girl beneath the school, surprise at Pyrrha's kiss. And if he was being honest with himself, a small part of him, somewhere in his heart of hearts, had been excited.

In hindsight, he was disgusted with himself, but he could not deny that a small part of him was thrilled with the action of defending Vale against the creatures of darkness that were the Grimm, that Ozpin had deemed him worthy to watch his back as he performed the transfer to Pyrrha. Unfortunately for everyone involved, like so many things up until that point in his life, he failed. And this time, his failure had cost his partner's, the person who knew him best, the person who had proclaimed her love for him through a kiss, the person who could make him feel comfortable even as he felt crushing self-doubt and fear at not being worthy of the title of hero, life.

And now he knew, he knew what the stories didn't tell you, being a hero sucked.

He had had dreams of grandeur, had wanted to help as many people as possible, but he had forgotten that in those stories, whoever was mentoring the hero would often not make it to the end of the story. However, Jaune knew he was weak, and even though he wanted to be a hero, had thought that Pyrrha would be by his side, sharing in his triumphs and losses, helping him become a better person, a better hero. Now the only thing he felt was a cold numbness.

Reality had finally asserted itself over Jaune's dreams, showing him why everyone, every single person he knew before he came to Beacon, had tried to stop him. True heroes weren't glorious, in the tales they had many friends, but by the end they had quite a few less. He had thought he would be prepared to eventually lose some of his friends, but his naivety had struck once more and all he felt was the numbness.

When it had first happened, he had been angry. Angry at Ruby for failing, angry at Pyrrha for going, but greatest anger had been towards himself and his own uselessness. He had failed. He had failed at being a hero, how could he call himself a hero when he couldn't even save one person who was close to him. The closest person. Instead he had ben brushed aside like the weak kid he was and the true hero had stepped forth, to burn brightly before the spark of life had been snuffed out.

It's not fair.

His mind raged at him in the beginning. He had thought he could do something, but all he could see now was that he was someone who needed to be saved, not someone who did the saving. He had been saved and he was now miserable.

"Jaune."

His name was being called, by another close friend, perhaps he would be the next victim in his quest to be a hero? Would he have to do this, over and over and over again until he was alone. That thought scared him, it scared him more than anything that his morose turn of thoughts had become had so far. However, before he could sink back down into his despair, the voice of his friend broke through once more.

"Jaune."

This time the voice was much more insistent. With a jolt Jaune looked away from his best friend's grave. Standing near him were the remaining two members of team JNPR. They were looking at him expectantly, once more waiting for his decision. How many times had he questioned himself, only to have Pyrrha bring him back to the ground, to let him know that what he was deciding was important and that his team would follow his orders. He would never have that again.

Sighing, Jaune ran a hand through his blond hair.

"I just need another moment, Ren."

Ren nodded, his own black hair with the pink highlight swaying slightly in the breeze. Standing next to him was his ever present shadow in the form of one Nora Valkyrie. The orange haired girl was being quiet as she gazed at their former teammate's grave. She merely gave a small smile towards her leader as he briefly glanced at her.

The NR of Team JNPR had been moving tenderly the past few days, their wounds from the battle still not entirely healed. It had been strange to see Nora so subdued, it was in great contrast to the normally bubbly and exuberant pancake lover. However, the doctors had said they would make a full recovery from their wounds, and Jaune intended to keep his now broken team close, to keep an eye on them. He never wanted to feel the way he did now again.

Although the two were recovering from their wounds still, they had forced themselves from the hospital, making sure they had come to the grave. They had to slip past some of the hospital security to do so, and Jaune was going to send them right back as soon as they were done here, but the gesture was appreciated.

Although this was the grave the JNPR had decided on for their fallen comrade, they were the only ones who really knew of its existence. This was something for them, to remember their fearless Invincible Girl, who turned out to be not so invincible after all.

"As soon as you're done Jaune, meet us back at the hospital, we need to figure out where to go from here."

Ren's voice was a soothing balm in the crisp autumn day that was laughing at Jaune's senses. However, before the two left Nora made sure to say her own piece.

"Yeah, fearless leader, we need you there to help with our next move, otherwise who knows what might happen."

Jaune gave a small smile at his remaining teammates, these two people whom he had bonded with throughout his time at Beacon.

"You got it guys, I'll be there in a bit, make sure to get some rest and recover, I'm already coming up with a plan."

The two nodded and made began to make their way towards the hospital. One final slightly more energetic wave from Nora, who immediately grabbed her side afterwards in pain and a head shake and lazy wave from Ren later and the two were gone from his sight, leaving him alone with Pyrrha once more.

Jaune turned to her grave and gazed to the clear blue sky, watching as a few red leaves floated around the air near the grave. Jaune closed his eyes once more and thought of his partner.

Her smile. Her green eyes. Her red hair. Her skills in combat. The way she made him feel. The way she helped others with no regard for herself. Her penchant for seeing the best in people. The feeling of her lips on his. Her expressive green eyes as she locked him into that locker.

Jaune had grown from the time he had met the quirky red head. She had brought out the best in him and had been one of the only people to believe that he could become the hero that he so desperately wanted to be. However, he had never wanted it to be at the cost that he had given. All of his experiences thus far in his Hunter's life had been with his trusty partner by his side, guarding his back and keeping the Nightmare that were Grimm away from him. He was truly grateful; she had been the best partner that he could have hoped to have.

The experiences that he had had with Pyrrha would never truly fade. He would make sure to burn her memory into his mind, never forgetting that the young woman had taken a chance on the goofy boy who had worn a onesie to his initiation, who hadn't even had his Aura unlocked, who should have just been someone that she knew in passing, who had the ridiculous dream of becoming a hero without ever really understanding what it meant.

Well he understood now.

Slowly, Jaune opened his eyes and looked once more upon the crisp autumn day that was so at odds with his inner turmoil, a small breeze rustling the leaves around him. At last Jaune felt something other than numbness, but it was something he hoped he would never feel again. This feeling, he would ascribe the word loss to it.

Although he would never forget his partner and knew that she had given it her all and then some for her fight, she would never again be with him. For the time being she was lost to him. Gone to a place he couldn't follow and it ate away at him.

It felt like only yesterday that his partner had unlocked his Aura, that she had spoken the words to give him a fighting chance, she had bared her soul that day and he had accepted. Even though they were mismatched, even though she could have done better, even though he had been so ignorant of everything, the Invincible Girl had taken him on as her partner.

Jaune walked over to the small grave that Pyrrha's remaining teammates had made and brushed his hand lightly against the stones that were set there. He once more closed his eyes, but this time it was to find that spark that Pyrrha had given him all those months ago. Once he felt that he opened his eyes and was now glowing.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Jaune stepped back from the grave, his Aura once more diminishing, he supposed that that was a fitting way to send his partner off. Now he had work to do.

"Goodbye, Pyhrra Nikos. I'll see you again in the next life."

Hello everyone and welcome to this new small fic of mine. This is going to be a much smaller fic than any of the others that I have written so far and will be dealing with more emotions and inner turmoil than fast paced action. This is something of an exercise for me to get my writing juices flowing, so most of the chapters are going to be self-contained one shots. None of the chapters will be more than 3,000 words.

I've had this idea for a little bit now, ever since I finally got caught up on RWBY. I had been a fan of Monty Oum for a very, very long time, ever since his Haloid and Dead Fantasy days and was excited for RWBY. Unfortunately, real life got in the way and I put the series on hold, before coming back to it briefly and putting it on hold again. However, I've finally caught up and I can say that I really enjoyed the series.

Now as I said this fic is going to be a series of one shots, each chapter will be about the death of a partner within the RWBYverse. Why? Mostly because I'm trying my hand at something a bit more emotional, hopefully someone will like this little fic of mine, if even one person favs, follows, r reviews, than it has been a success. I decided to go with Pyrrha first cuz that's now cannon (spoilers!), but there will be others who are still alive and there is no set way. There might even be a point down the line where it's Pyrrha to Jaune, but we'll see.

A few final thoughts, this chapter is un-betaed so any typos, grammar, all that jazz, it's due to that. Questions, comments, concerns? PM me! If you're feeling kind hit a fav/follow or review. If you have a suggested partner go for a review as well. Welp I think that's gonna be all for this, onto the disclaimer, cuz at the bottom is how I roll.

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Roster Teeth and Mounty Oum! Please support the official release!