Author's Notes: So this is kind of my take on something that could have happened after the end of Volume Three.

I've never written White Knight/Yellow Snow before but this barely qualifies as shipping, anyways. Just a one-shot, but you never know. The idea itself came out of nowhere so maybe I might come up with a way to continue it.

I had no clue what to title it and ended up just going with a line I used at one point in the chapter.

So... if you finish it, let me know what you think. Or don't. Whatever works best for you.

A Lonely Duet is an Oxymoron

She had never felt so alone.

Weiss thought she was long since used to dealing with the feeling of loneliness. Only to discover now of all times that was not the case at all.

Growing up, she had always been surrounded by servants and staff of the Schnee Dust Company. Not that they ever really counted, those people just being a rotating door of faces that only looked after her because they were paid to. Meanwhile, her family was always too busy to spend any real time with her.

Sure, Winter tried whenever she could. The number of instances they actually got to just sit down and chat with one another were few and far between, however. This wasn't her fault. Winter was simply trying to meet the demands of their father in the same way Weiss was. He was the real reason they never got to spend time together.

She didn't resent him for this at first. As she got older, though, she began to see her father as the symbol of her isolation.

What she hadn't realized is that you really didn't know how alone you were until after you had friends to lose to begin with.

Beacon had fallen… and all the people she had grown close to had been separated because of it. Ruby was unconscious, having performed some kind of miracle that froze the Grimm Dragon right where it was, atop Beacon's tower. It was now drawing Grimm to it en masse, forcing everyone to evacuate from the academy. Ruby and her sister Yang - who had been incapacitated after losing an arm - were rushed back to Patch by their uncle.

Even so, Weiss still expected to have Blake with her. Only to have their last teammate just vanish on them, without so much as a word or a trace. And that… hurt. They may not have always gotten along well, but Weiss liked to think they had become better friends than that.

All the students from the other schools had been evacuated, meaning Neptune and his team were gone. Weiss… actually wasn't as sad about that as she expected to be. She and Neptune hadn't exactly gotten on very well after the dance and even then he had only come to sit with her thanks to the assistance of another.

That other person having been Jaune Arc.

She hadn't talked to him since that last Scroll call. What was it she could even say to him? After what happened to Pyrrha…

Ren and Nora were usually close by him and the three of them seemed to be holding up okay, if only by throwing themselves into their work. The heavy air around them made them unapproachable. Ironic, they were the closest people to her that she knew yet they felt the furthest away.

In the end, throwing herself into her work was about all Weiss could do too. Grimm were being drawn to Beacon, but on the way many stragglers continued to invade Vale city. It was up to her, the other students and what experienced Hunters there were to set up barricades and fend off what Grimm they could.

It was tireless, thankless work. More often than not they would fortify an area only to be overrun not much later. Very quickly they had begun to lose territory, surrendering more and more of it to the Grimm. Each time, Weiss thought this was it. This was the battle she was going to die. Each time, she somehow survived.

It was after one of such losses she found herself now. Sitting alone on the stoop of some abandoned apartment. Boarded up windows and kicked in doors lined the street as far as her eye could see. Garbage and crashed vehicles littered the roads. Very few other people came this way, which was why she was here to begin with.

A majority of the refugees were at a nearby warehouse where they had set up their new, temporary safe-haven. Food was being distributed now, but Weiss had already gotten hers, as priority was given to those who could fight. It wasn't much, a simple hunk of bread and a bottle of water. A far cry from what she used to be served, but her stomach had no complaint, desperate for any nourishment.

She stuffed her face, manners long since forgotten, not that there was anyone around to scold her for eating with such unladylike conduct anyways. Besides, her appearance matched the way she ate. She was covered in dirt and grime, her once immaculate white dress splattered with numerous repulsive colors, earrings long since missing and hair a disheveled mess.

Even the hands which held her food were beyond reproach, filth building below her fingernails and palms covered in muck. If clean water hadn't turned into such a precious commodity within the city, she might have spared some from her bottle to at least wash them.

The worst part of all this was she really didn't have to be here. Her father had insisted on coming to pick her up. She could be at home right now, relaxing in a warm bath and eating food to her heart's desire. She remained adamant to stay, however, at the very least until all the civilians were evacuated into safe districts, which was turning into a much slower process than she initially expected.

Slower and horribly exhausting. It was to the point that Weiss could fall asleep just about anywhere, including here. Which was actually very tempting. After scarfing down the rest of her bread and taking a sparing sip of her water, she leaned back on the hard concrete of the porch beneath her, eyes drifting shut.

If only her sister and friends could see her now. Would they laugh… be horrified… maybe if any of them had actually stuck around they would join her instead?

She regretted having that thought almost immediately, because that just brought the reality of the situation crashing into her all over again, hitting with the force of a tidal wave.

She was alone.

The side of her face began to itch and despite herself she brought up the hem of her sleeve to it. When it made contact with her skin, she was surprised to feel it turn damp. Was she… crying? That wasn't possible. As she brought her other hand up, fingers undoubtedly dabbed at tears.

How pathetic was this… crying, all because she was tired, dirty, and alone? She just wanted someone to talk to, anyone would do right about now. That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

The answer she received to her unasked question wasn't a word, but instead the gentle, low strum of an acoustic guitar.

She remained still, straining her ears for any other sign of the music. Again she heard it and this time it continued in a song. What's more, it was coming from the thought abandoned building she had been sitting in front of. Picking up Myrtenaster, the rapier long since out of Dust, she stepped over the broken door and into the old apartment complex.

With the music as her guide, she navigated the tattered and broken stairway up several floors before tiptoeing down the hallway. Every creak of wood she feared would alert the one playing to her presence. Now that she was close enough, she could better hear and understand the music.

It was a familiar song… The playing was rough around the edges, but it conveyed with terrible accuracy the pain and suffering felt by one who was hurt and alone. Unconsciously, she quickened her pace. She had to see who it was playing.

That was her excuse, anyway. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she already knew who it was. Something about the way the guitar was played was enough for her to know. It brought up a memory of a simpler time, a time she would give anything to go back to. She turned the last corner and like she had known, there he sat.

Jaune Arc was on the wooden floor of a room that had been half-destroyed, almost like a Goliath had brushed against this side of the building, tearing away the windows and walls like they had been made of paper. He was on the ledge, legs dangling precariously over into open space.

His back was to her, blond hair waving gently in the subtle wind and looking out over the vacant city. The setting sun dyed it all a beautiful if not slightly harrowing orange. She wasn't even aware she was walking towards him again until her heel split a broken piece of glass, resulting in a loud crack.

The playing stopped, Jaune's hand moving for the sword at his side with reflexes she didn't even know he was capable of. The moment his head spun around and saw her white dress and not the black fur of some Grimm, his body relaxed.

"Weiss…" He let out a deep breath, shoulders untensing and face rearranging itself into a half-hearted smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you playing." She gestured to the guitar in his hand, her own voice stronger than she imagined it would be after having no one to talk to for so long.

"Ah…" Jaune rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and started to shift in order to stand up. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"No!" She said this with more urgency than intended and shocking him so badly he froze in place. With a small cough, she reiterated. "What I meant was… it's fine. You can uh- you can keep playing." Jaune's brow furrowed, blue eyes scanning her wearily. She supposed she couldn't blame him for being guarded, after everything that had happened.

"It would probably just be best if I go." Once again he made to stand up and Weiss' mind raced for any kind of reason to make him stay. She finally, finally had someone to talk to and free her from this horrid isolation. No matter what, she didn't want to let this chance to be by someone pass.

"I can sing." Her eyes landed on the guitar and those words tumbled out of her mouth before her brain even truly registered that she was going to say them. Face began to heat up at the embarrassing proclamation but there was no taking it back now.

"What…?" He again failed to rise to his feet, this time giving her a stupefied expression.

"I can sing." She repeated, taking several more steps until she was next to him and looking down over the ledge. It was a long drop, but with Aura likely not a deadly one. "You play the guitar and I'll sing."

"Weiss…" His voice quivered and she could see the hesitation on his face. "I don't know. I just- I kind of want to be alone right now." He finally admitted, eyes drifting outwards to scan the city before them.

"No one wants to be alone." Those words came out as barely a whisper and she wasn't even sure he heard them. However, he made no further move to leave and didn't object when she sat down next to him, so she supposed he must have.

Instead, the next time he moved it was to shift the guitar into position. It was a beaten and worn down instrument, probably once belonging to the family that lived here before they fled for safety. Now it offered them comfort. Holding a small pick between his fingers, he began to strum, once more casting the familiar, lonely melody out into the open streets before them.

This time, it didn't remain alone for long. As promised, Weiss' voice added to its gentle tune. Her voice was hoarse and strained, both from being out of practice and the lack of recent use. Jaune didn't complain, however, and kept right on playing.

As their song continued, his fingers slipped and stumbled but didn't stop. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see tears beginning to roll down his cheeks and he gave a restrained sob. Even so, he did not stop… so neither did she.

How many times she repeated the same lyrics over and over again, she couldn't say. Every time they hit the end they would circle back to the beginning, playing it in an endless loop. Her throat stung and voice cracked more and more frequently the longer they continued. His strumming became more inconsistent, shifting out of tune every other note.

Anyone that could hear them probably thought they sounded like a wreck. Absolute amateurs that had no idea what they were doing.

To Weiss… it was one of the most comforting sounds she ever heard in her life. Which was why she didn't want to stop, no matter how sore her voice became or much it started to hurt. That pain was nothing compared to the overwhelming suffocation she had been feeling before.

Even if this was hard, it was fine… because she no longer felt alone.

They reached the end of the song again, but this time, Jaune didn't branch back into it. Instead, he strummed the last couple notes and allowed them to hang hauntingly in the air. Weiss had sucked in a breath to begin anew but paused when she noticed he wasn't going to continue.

Rather, instead of choosing not to continue… it was that he couldn't anymore. His whole body shook and he curled in on himself, clutching the guitar up against his chest like it was his last line of support. In place of their song, broken sobs filled the air.

"Jaune…" She didn't know what to say or do in this situation, hand held out halfway between the two of them. It was obvious why he was crying even if he didn't say anything. Of all the people who had the right to comfort him, she was probably at the bottom of it. Actually, that was being too generous; placing her on the list at all.

He had no one else, though, and she couldn't stand to see him this way. It was times like this she hated that nickname 'Ice Queen' more than ever. How could anyone expect she not feel anything in situations like this? It was so painful to watch, she felt her own cheeks stain with tears and a big gaping hole form in the very pit of her stomach. Her heart felt so heavy she thought for a minute it might fall into that proverbial hole.

So even if he might not want her too, she reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. At first, it was just a short, barely recognizable touch, fingers brushing against the fabric of his sweatshirt. They both flinched from the contact, her hand jolting up an inch, him recoiling not even that. There wasn't any kind of resentment in his eyes when he looked at her, nor did they ask her to leave. They just wondered why. Why was she here? Being so kind to him?

"No one wants to be alone." She answered his unasked question with the same words she said earlier, still in that same breathless way she had the first time.

When she next touched him it was with her full palm and fingers which glided over his shoulder and down to the middle of his back. He didn't pull away from her again and instead did just the opposite. The guitar slid from his lap and tumbled to the side, teetering dangerously close to falling off the ledge and creating a loud, obnoxious discord. Weiss paid this no mind as Jaune turned towards her, burrowing his head into the nook of her shoulder. He didn't hold her, hands tucked down at the sides as if still trying to curl in on himself.

Even if he didn't hold her, she held him, bringing her other hand up and pressing against his blonde hair while the first one remained on his back to pull him closer. The side of her shirt and sleeve quickly became wet with his tears but she didn't complain, nor really mind. Considering everything else, this was hardly anything.

Was this even any benefit to him? It wasn't like she'd spent much time having to comfort someone before and she certainly never had anyone do this for her when she was younger. So, of course, she didn't know if there was anything she was supposed to say and the only movement she performed was to gently cradle back and forth while soothingly stroking his hair.

"Thank you." As his sobs turned into sniffles, she heard him utter out those simple words. He still didn't pull away from her and if anything leaned a little more heavily into her embrace.

"I haven't really done anything." At least not something he should thank her for. The only reason she was here was to try and cure her own loneliness… in other words, she was here for her own selfish desires.

"That's not true." His head shook, hair tickling at her chin before he finally started to pull away from her. Blue eyes met blue and his mouth twisted in a melancholic smile. The two of them separated and once again sat side by side. "You know… back when I always used to ask you out-" He cut himself off, face contorting in a complicated expression, but somehow she knew what it was he was thinking.

"It's fine. I don't... mind so much anymore." It wasn't wrong to say at one point she resented him for his insistent pursuit. Compared to the brutal, terrifying life on the battlefield, however, those memories were now something she looked back on with fondness. If only because it meant that love and relationships were things they still had time to worry about.

"I see. That's good." It really did look like he took some relief from her words and with that had the courage to continue what he had been saying. "This was kind of a dream I had."

"This?" She quirked an incredulous eyebrow, looking around them again. Destroyed bedroom of some unknown apartment. The two of them covered in dirt and grime, broken far more emotionally than physically. Although, the view was pretty. At least she could say that much, looking back over the empty street which now received the last rays of sunlight.

"I meant our duet." He gave a short chortle, one that contained only the barest trace of any real humor in it. It was such a distinct difference from his earlier sobs, however, it might as well have been full-blown laughter to her ears. "I really wanted to one day play for you… while you sang for me. Sounds really corny, I know."

"No." She shook her head, resting a hand overtop one of his. "I think… it sounds really sweet. You should have said something like that back then." Not that it was likely to have worked, knowing herself as well as she did. The way she was now was much more unlike her than she'd been in a long time. She blamed the vulnerability.

"You can't get it wrong it if it's the truth." He agreed with her, but it sounded like those were words he was just repeating, not anything he had come up with himself. Shaking off whatever thought it was he had, he continued. "I certainly never expected that dream to come true like this. And it was certainly more lonely than I ever pictured it being."

"A lonely duet is an oxymoron." She didn't know why, but for some reason those words brought a small smile to her lips and a near giggle almost brushed past them. "Besides, if we're talking about what was wrong with that duet… we should talk about your tempo. It was all over the place."

"My tempo?" He pointed at himself, voice full of feigned hurt. "What about your pitch? I know it must have been some time since you last sang, but that was the real problem there. And you call me the moron."

"Oxymoron! I did not call you-" She whirled on him, prepared to give him the lecture of his life. Only to stop when she saw the jocular grin on his face now. It looked painfully out of place below his puffy, red eyes and cheeks still stained with dried tears. So out of place, in fact, for some reason it just seemed funny.

This time, it was a giggle that slipped out her mouth and a small laugh of his own joined her. She wished she could say it had gotten louder or that their mood only became more cheerful, but right now that was probably asking too much. The hand that was placed atop his tightened and she felt him squeeze back. As a cool wind blew over them, Weiss inched closer to him, snuggling the side of her body up against his.

"Thank you, Jaune." She said this as her head came up rest on his shoulder.

"I haven't really done anything." He parroted back the same line she had used earlier and she knew now how silly it had sounded. If he had really wanted to, he could have left at any time. There was no reason for him to sit her when she asked him to stay and he probably had more reasons than not to ignore that selfish request.

Yet here he still was. Just knowing that made her heavy heart feel a little bit lighter and a comforting warmth spread through her that was from more than just the physical contact. Without any real thought process behind the action, she turned up towards him, leaning forward and placing a quick peck on his cheek. She didn't wait to see his reaction, once again resting her head on his shoulder and going back to looking out over Vale. "What I meant to say was-" She reiterated, this time knowing what she wanted to convey.

"Thank you, for keeping me company."

END