One Night In Atlas

"There you are!"

Jaune didn't look up; he didn't need to. Somehow he knew Weiss would have found him eventually, especially after he'd hung up on her earlier. Her stubbornness wouldn't have let such a slight against her slide. Perhaps on a different night, under different circumstances he would have cowed immediately to her harsh tone, knowing no doubt she was upset. Tonight though, tonight was different. A combination of alcohol, self-loathing, confusion and anger had him feeling particularly surly.

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you?! The nerve of you hanging up on me like that!"

His gaze never left the lightless river, the night sky above reflected in the waters below, making it appear as though it weren't water flowing under the beautiful Atlas bridge, but shadow instead. His hands gripped the railing tightly. "I thought I said I wanted to be left alone." His words were measured, even if his tone was strained between clenched teeth.

He heard her huff, which only served to put an edge to his mounting irritation. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's not like the last time we left you alone, you went and almost got yourself killed!" He could hear the sneer in her voice, and hear the crunching of snow under her boots.

Jaune drew his lips into a thin line. He still didn't turn to face Weiss, despite his other senses alerting him to Weiss drawing closer. One hand remained on the railing, still gripping onto the wrought iron design, his other hand clenched into a white knuckled fist at his side. He just wanted to be alone, was that too much to ask? Just one night where he could drink himself into a stupor and forget everything that had occured? "What does it matter?" He muttered bitterly.

"What does it-" Weiss began to repeat, sounding shocked or astonished at the audacity of the statement, but then suddenly fell silent.

For a moment, all Jaune could hear was the sound of the Atlas wind, piercing and cold, whistling through the city and he drew his coat around him tighter, eyes closed. Then, the sound of footfalls crunching on the snow. He must have angered her something fierce and she was storming off. Maybe later, he'd feel terrible about it, but at the moment, he couldn't be bothered. A part of him even wanted to simply just fall off the bridge into the icy waters below and perhaps end it all.

"Did it hurt?"

He froze. Weiss hadn't left, but instead had come closer to him, if her voice was any indication. Jaune moved his head slightly, glaring at her out of the corner of his eyes. Her expression was oddly impassive; he'd expected her to have that sharp glare she had when she was pushed or challenged, but instead there was an almost serene look in her eyes. "Did what hurt?"

"When she died?"

Jaune stiffened entirely, and the bridge became almost deathly silent. "Excuse me?" Jaune's voice was colder than the wind that swept through the city.

"Did it hurt when Pyrrha died?" Weiss simply repeated, her expression betraying no other emotion other than complete calm.

The tall, blond man turned on his heel to affix Weiss with a fierce glare, brimming with rage and disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? Why the hell would you ask me that?!" Jaune all but screamed at her, face growing redder.

"Did it hurt?" Weiss repeated once more, seemingly unphased by Jaune's fury.

"Of course it hurt!" Jaune screamed, his voice carrying far in the wind.

"I see." Weiss murmured, as though Jaune had simply stated a common fact. "So it stands to reason that you understand just how utterly painful it is to lose someone you care about, someone close to you."

Jaune's hands clenched at his sides, and perhaps to an onlooker, might have looked like he were moments away from striking Weiss. "What the hell do you think?!"

"Then why?"

"What?!"

Weiss' expression suddenly matched Jaune's in fury as she glared up at him. "Then why do you insist on putting us through that same pain?!"

Jaune recoiled as if struck, the anger draining from his face and being replaced with a sudden fear. "I-"

He'd only uttered a syllable before Weiss advanced upon him, gesturing wildly. "Do you think we don't care?! That we want to see you die?!"

"N-no, I-" Jaune fell backwards onto his rear in the snow as Weiss seemingly towered over him, icy blue eyes narrowed.

"You're the only family that Ren and Nora have! You're Ruby's best friend! A friend to Blake and Yang! You saved my life!" Weiss continued to yell at him, walking closer to him with each sentence until Jaune was pressed up against the metal railing, recoiling from her as his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

"I-I-" He began to stammer, but was quickly cut off once more.

"So then why? Why do you insist on putting us through that same pain? Do you not care? Are you so selfish that you think nothing of what you'll put us through if you're the next to die, just throwing your life away on a whim? Why?!"

"Because I'm afraid!" Jaune screamed back, his eyes starting to water. Weiss stopped her advance, her own anger slowly draining from her expression.

"What?"

Jaune's gaze fell from Weiss' face, and he drew his legs up to his chest. He shivered, although whether from the cold that continued to pervade the Atlas climate or from his own emotions was unclear. "Losing Pyrrha," Jaune stared, voice shaking, "was the most painful thing I've ever felt. I still remember the days after the Fall of Beacon. Waking up each morning, and realizing I'd never get to talk to her again. I'd never get to hold her again, never get to see her again. She was gone, just like that. All I've got of her is that video, that's it." He sniffed, tears starting to fall more freely now, glittering in the lamps that lined the bridge. "She's gone and nothing, no pleading or begging or raging will ever bring her back."

Weiss hadn't said anything, instead letting him speak, staring down at him as he wiped his eyes and he continued. "Then I stop and realize that people like Cinder, and Hazel, and Watts, and Tyrian and all of them wouldn't hesitate to kill any of you. That I could lose any of you all in the blink of an eye…" Tears fell more freely, small sobs interrupting his speech as he continued, pouring his heart out to Weiss, not once meeting her eyes. "I'd have to go through that all over again, waking up each morning, knowing I'd never see them again and I...I…" He brought his gaze up to meet Weiss' face, his expression weak and broken. "...I can't do it, Weiss. I can't…" He slowly lowered his gaze again to the ground, shaking gently.

There was silence once more, marred only by his sniffling. Then the crunching of snow underfoot. Jaune glanced up once more, expecting to see Weiss' retreating form, only to suddenly find himself being enveloped in her arms as she dropped to her knees and embraced him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "You idiot," Weiss whispered, and he felt something wet and hot against his neck. "You sweet, wonderful, big-hearted idiot…" Weiss continued, hugging him tightly. She pulled back and grasped his face, forcing him to stare into her eyes which had also been tearing up. "Look at me. We are not going anywhere."

Jaune shook his head, or at least tried to. "You don't know that, our enemies are everywhere, they're strong and-"

Weiss shook her head. "It doesn't matter! We're going to get through this, together. All of us. Listen, I know losing Pyrrha hurt, trust me, I wish I could see her again so badly too. And yes, I'm terrified of losing any of you too!" Weiss once more embraced him tightly, burying her face in his neck again. "Pyrrha put everything above herself though, Jaune. She always put herself last, even to the very end. Ruby is the same way, and I worry about her every single day. It's why Blake, Yang and I are constantly trying to stay by her side to keep her from throwing her own life away out of some foolish attempt at heroism. The rest of us though, we've got too much to live for, too much to fight for to simply give up!"

Jaune had gone still in her arms, tentatively holding her in return. "But...what if-"

"What if? What if a thousand things? Jaune, you can't throw your life away because of something that might happen! If we work together, if we watch out for each other, we'll pull through, I fully believe it. We don't want you to keep throwing yourself in front of every attack, trying to die in some attempt to be a martyr!"

"What other purpose do I have?! I keep failing at everything I do! When will my mistakes hurt someone I care about?"

"You're wrong!" Weiss shouted, hugging him even tighter, causing him to flinch in surprise. "And even if you were right, even if you had failed, then it's on you to make those failures mean something, and dying is only going to make them meaningless! Pyrrha pushed you away because she loved you, because she wanted you to live on, to be happy and to live not just for yourself but for her as well, not to throw yourself away! The fact that you're still here is enough, to show us that even with every disadvantage you've had you're still here with us today! If you can stand, then so can we! So please, Gods above, don't throw yourself away like this!" Weiss pleaded, her figure so frail and yet her arms holding onto him for dear life as though she believed that letting go of him would have him leaping to his death right then and there.

Jaune sat there, frozen, with Weiss clinging to him. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought his arms back around Weiss' figure, feeling her trembling slightly under his grip. "I...I'm so sorry Weiss...I…" He started, pausing as he struggled to find the right words. His embrace tightened on her. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry…"

"I know you're scared Jaune, I understand," Weiss continued, never once letting up on her near death-grip on him, "but we've all got so much to live for. Ren and Nora will never leave you, nor will they leave each other. Yang wants to see her sister life a full life, and to live her own life to the fullest. Blake lives on for her family, for us, and to see a world where Humans and Faunus can live together in harmony. Even Ruby, if she lives, can save more lives than if she were to sacrifice herself. None of us have any intention of throwing our lives away unless there's absolutely no other choice! To see you throwing yours away simply to buy us a few unneeded seconds though?"

Silence followed Weiss' words, with Jaune simply continuing to hold her back. Then, "I...I don't know what else to live for though. I've long since abandoned the excuse of trying to be a hero or even prove my name. Without a dream, what do I keep living for?"

Weiss leaned back, her grip on him loosening, but not quite letting go of him. She shook her head slowly. "I can't tell you that, Jaune, that's for you to determine. Perhaps simply finding that dream to live for is something to live for enough as it is. In the meantime though, aren't we enough?"

Jaune nodded, quietly and a bit thoughtfully. "What about you? What do you live for?"

Weiss' gaze drifted to the side as though she found herself suddenly unable to meet Jaune's eyes. "Well, I want to see my family's good name restored, to make the Schnee name not one of greed and corruption but honor and trust. Of course, if I had someone to love, that would give me even more reason to hold on. I wouldn't want to hurt them by leaving forever."

"Don't worry, Weiss," Jaune started softly. "I'm sure we'll find Neptune again soon."

Weiss expression went almost comically deadpan as she locked eyes with him again and sighed. "I refer to you to my first comment about you being a 'sweet, wonderful, big-hearted idiot.'"

Jaune blinked, confused. "I still don't know if I should be complimented or insulted by that."

Without responding, Weiss disentangled herself from Jaune and got to her feet, brushing snow off of her leggings before extending a single hand to Jaune. "Come on Jaune. It's too cold out right now. We should go home."

Jaune stared at her hand for a moment, the corners of his lips turning upward. It had been the first genuine smile Weiss had seen on his face since Beacon Academy. His gaze continued up to her face. "Thanks, Weiss. And I'm sorry."

Weiss nodded. "Don't apologize, Jaune. Just...stay with us. We need you."

Jaune took her hand and she helped him to his feet. He dusted the snow off of his jeans with one hand. "Well, I'm apologizing for that and for being rude to you earlier."

"Ah, that. Hmph. I'm in a better mood, so consider that your one. I won't be quite so forgiving in the future." Weiss stepped in closer to Jaune, adjusting the collar of his coat in a manner that, for a brief moment, reminded the boy of his former partner's fussing. A warm feeling ran through him. "There. Now, let's go back home."

"Sure." The two proceeded to walk back toward the towering Academy and military base where they'd been staying. It was then when Jaune noticed that Weiss hadn't let go of his hand since she'd helped him to his feet, instead having entwined her fingers with his own. As they walked though, he found he didn't mind it.

And the Atlas night which had seemed so cold before, seemed so much warmer to Jaune.

A/N: Hey folks, I know this is rather short, but this was just a random idea that popped into my head and refused to go away until I wrote it down. Hope you all enjoy some feels, and I'll be trying to update some of my other work soon.

Signing off for now, this is LaughingLefou