Hey there everyone! This Jaune/Velvet idea hit my mind while I was at work, and I wanted to share it. For now I'm just going to keep it as a one-shot, but if it generates enough interest I'll keep it going.

I mean, really, look at how cute they are together. So please leave a review and tell me what you think.

For the setup, this starts just before the Beacon dance. Team CFVY managed to make it back in time to attend, although RWBY still had to put it all together.

'Apostrophe sentences in italics are thoughts.'

Disclaimer: I own... my clothes, but I don't own RWBY.

xXxXx

"Jaune, do we have to practice today? I kinda still need to buy a dress."

"It's only for the morning, Nora, so you can go shopping afterwards... Wait, shouldn't you have got that done a while ago?"

"Phyrra invited me, yeah, but I had to take care of something."

Team JNPR was leaving their dorm room on their way to the Emerald Forest so they could train. The Vytal Prom was going to be held the following day, so Professor Port had had spontaneously cancelled his class to allow the students to prepare. According to the heavyset man, 'This is the one of the most important events of your youth! How could I possibly interfere with that? Please, be merry and rested so that you may enjoy your time together.'

Jaune decided that they should get one good Grimm-slaying practice session in since many first-year teams would be sent on missions almost right after the dance. Armed and ready, they walked out into the early morning sun.

Their chatting continued until Jaune, not paying attention, almost walked into a rabbit faunus with a camera. The only thing that stopped the collision was Ren grabbing him by the shoulder and yanking him backwards. Velvet herself didn't pay them any mind, snapping photographs of some other students as they passed. Her teammate and leader Coco was leaning against a nearby tree, a bemused smile on her face.

Jaune called out, "Sorry about that, Velvet. I wasn't paying attention."

Hearing her name, she turned and looked at team JNPR with a quizzical tilt. "Huh?" She glanced down. "Oh, sorry, am I in the way?"

"Nah, it was my bad. Welcome back to Beacon, by the way. How did your mission go?"

The rabbit frowned. "Very hectic. The concentration of Grimm was way beyond our initial scope. We only just got back last night."

Coco chipped in, "I heard that team RWBY took things over for the dance since we took so long. Any idea how that's going?"

"It seems to be going well," offered Phyrra. "Though I did overhear Yang and Weiss arguing over a few of the song choices."

Nora suddenly jumped towards Coco. "Hey, you always have great fashion. Any chance you could help me dress shop later, maybe after lunch?"

"Sure thing, but wouldn't it have been better to get that done earlier?" Jaune had to hold back a snicker. "Who are you all going with?"

"Well, oh Savior of Valkyries, Ren and I are going together... I mean, not together-together, but with each other, and Jaune has been trying to ask Weiss."

Velvet turned to the blonde. "'Trying' meaning it hasn't gone well?"

"Weeeell... No. But I have the perfect strategy that I'm putting into action later today! I borrowed a friend's guitar so that I can serenade her into going."

The rest of JNPR looked away awkwardly, clearly not wanting to speak their mind. Coco caught the vibe and asked with trepidation, "Can we get a preview?"

Jaune put a finger to his lips in thought. "I could demonstrate the vocals I came up with, though it loses the effect without the guitar." He cleared his throat and belted out his song, "Weiss Schnee~ Will you accompany me? To the dance~ Ooon Saturdaaaay?"

Velvet and Coco simply stared at him in morbid awe. It wasn't as if he had a bad singing voice, but how in Remnant did he think that was a good song? They met each other's eyes and silently urged the other to break the news now. Velvet lost the exchange and slowly said, "Um, Jaune? Have you... maybe thought about going simple? You know, giving her a rose and saying 'I like you, please go to the dance with me?'"

His shoulders drooped. "Was it not good?"

"I'm sorry... But you're a pretty good guy, and she has to know that. Just avoid pick-up lines and the... gimmicks, and it'll be alright." She put her hand on his shoulder in comfort, which seemed to work as he visibly cheered up.

"Thanks, I kinda needed to hear that. Well, we should probably get the practice going. The sooner we do, the faster Nora can go dress shopping. Good luck with your photography, and I hope we see you two at the dance."

That reminded the brunette of something. "Oh! Before you go," she held up the camera for all to see, "do you mind if I take a few pictures?"

-Later-

Jaune felt confident that evening. He had gone to a flower shop and picked out the best white rose he could find. It was the color of choice since not only was it Weiss's primary color for her outfits, it also signifies a 'pure or innocent love' in the language of the flowers (at least according to the store owner.)

He was approaching the dorms as he saw his snow angel walking by. Jaune raised his hand and made to call out to her when the girl herself said, "Neptune!" Instinct led to him planting himself to the wall as she moved beyond the corner to approach the blue-haired boy she had called out.

As he peeked around the corner of the wall his heart began to drop. Weiss, who tended to avoid overt displays of sweetness, had her hands behind her back and was almost meekly looking into Neptune's eyes.

'...I never had a chance, did I?'

Jaune's thought was confirmed when she asked, "I know this is a little unorthodox, but would you... like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?" The blonde couldn't stand there for another second; he promptly walked away, dropping the rose he was holding onto the ground.

The bulk of Saturday passed in a blur. Without classes to distract him, all he could do was inwardly mope. His team was still going so he couldn't not go to the prom, but he wasn't particularly looking forward to watching Weiss and Neptune together on the dance floor.

Thankfully, by six o' clock he had made his peace. Yeah, he had wanted to go with her, but what mattered is that she enjoyed herself.

With that resolve he put on his tux and walked to the dance with his team, every one of them looking good. According to Nora, Coco had expensive taste and it apparently took them a while to settle on her pink one-piece dress. Phyrra had on a beautiful, long red dress on, and Jaune had to fight the urge to gawk.

The boys were fitted in black tuxes with colored trim. Ren had once said that guys have a much easier time with clothes than women do; after all, they don't have to wear high heels, and sizes aren't variables that change depending on the brand. But after all is said and done, well dressed girls look exponentially better than guys do, with the case in point being his friend and partner Phyrra.

Just as anyone could have expected, heads immediately began to turn as they walked into the hall the dance was taking place in. The blonde leader made a beeline to the punch bowl, determined to avoid embarrassing the others as much as possible. When he got there two people were already manning the table: Ruby, in a red and gray dress that looked odd without her signature hood, and Velvet, who was taking photos of everybody present. She was wearing an elegant but modest brown dress, pretty close in color from her daily wear. Instead of her usual box camera, she was using a considerably more modern digital camera.

Jaune started talking as he grabbed a cup of juice, "Hello there, my fellow socially awkward folk. How's the view from here?"

"Pretty good," chimed the rabbit. "I've always been too shy to actually dance, so I use times like these to sell pictures. Photography is an expensive hobby, after all."

Ruby followed with, "I have no excuse to fall back on; I just really hate these lady stilts."

"I consider myself to be a decent dancer," quipped Jaune, "but I make up for that by having terrible luck with women." He raised his cup into the air as a mock cheer. "To the three musketeers." Both of the ladies clicked their glasses to his and they all took a drink.

After a moment passed and she had snapped a few more pictures, Velvet said, "I'm sorry my advice didn't help you, Jaune. You should be on the dance floor having fun instead of being stuck with the wallflowers."

He shook his head. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I caught Weiss asking that Neptune guy to the dance, and I didn't want to be 'That Guy' that causes a big fuss about things he shouldn't. At least she came with somebody she liked."

Red's head tilted to the side. "What are you talking about, Jaune? Weiss didn't bring anybody here." She pointed to a row of chairs, where the heiress sat looking rather solemn. "She said something about being too busy to worry about having a date."

To Velvet's eyes, the look on Jaune's face was that of somebody who had been slapped. The boy quickly peered around the room and, finding the person he was looking for, set his cup down and made his way through the crowd.

As a lifelong photographer, she had developed a sixth sense of sorts: the ability to find truly unique moments and capture them through her camera lens. That instinct was screaming at her to follow Jaune, and she obeyed without a doubt in her mind. He tapped the shoulder of a blue-haired boy and spoke in a low tone, inaudible over the music even with her superior hearing.

The guy, Neptune she assumed, nodded his head and both of them walked out onto the balcony. Velvet followed at a distance, and when they made it outside she stuck only her head and camera out. Even with her rabbit ears, the cover of darkness was hiding her well.

"Hey, it's Jaune, right? What's up?" Neptune's voice was casual. He seemed to have no idea that anything was wrong.

Jaune did his best to keep his face neutral. "I just wanna talk, that's all."

Shrug. "Works for me, I guess. So, This party's pretty lame, huh? I mean, ballroom dancing. Pfft." Jaune didn't respond to that. "Cute girls, though, huh?"

Looking through the viewfinder, Velvet had only a heartbeat of warning before Jaune practically growled, "Is that all you think about!?"

"Huh?" Neptune's confusion was palpable. It caught the rabbit off guard, too, because she had never heard Jaune sound so... angry before.

"Do you even care about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?"

Blue boy's hands went up defensively. "Whoa! Where's this coming from!?"

The pressure was rolling off of Jaune in waves. "How could you just turn her down like that?"

"Wait, w-who?"

Jaune's voice ascended to a complete yell. "Weiss!"

"I, uh..." He stammered as he searched for words. "it, uh... it just didn't work out, you know?"

"What? You think that you're too cool, too many other options? Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance. What in the world could possibly keep you from go-"

"I can't dance!"

Neptune was looking at the ground in shame. Both Jaune and Velvet had to take a moment to process the answer, and when the former spoke it was with a much calmer voice than before. "Beg your pardon?"

"I can't dance, man! I never could."

The anger was dissipating from within Jaune as he wrapped his mind around it all. "But... you're so cool!"

Neptune finally looked back up, though he still had a bit of shame in his voice. "Thank you. I try really, really hard."

'This guy that Weiss likes is kind of a putz.' It was at this point that Velvet turned away, tuned out of the conversation, and began to think about all the school activities she had... well, never been invited to.

People often forget that children can be the cruelest people of all. Even the ones that didn't hate faunus were scared to be caught 'hanging out with the freak'. So whenever a large school gathering or activity came around, like the middle school dances, nobody would ever ask her to go. That was the real reason she'd never learned how to ballroom dance: it's incredibly hard to do solo.

With a start, she realized that she had missed quite a bit of the talk and tuned back in. Jaune had his arms crossed and was in the middle of saying, "...just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go."

"Yeah, but then-"

"Hey! You don't have to look cool all the time. In all honesty, if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it."

To his credit, Neptune seemed to really be listening. "Yeah, okay."

Content that he had gotten his point across, Jaune visibly relaxed. "Go talk to her. I guarantee it'll make her night."

"Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune." Neptune approached Jaune, holding his fist out for a bump.

This was it! The picture she had done all this peeping for. Velvet brought her camera up as Jaune said with a laugh, "Alright, don't lie to my face."

The two of them bumped fists and Velvet furiously clicked the button, the shutter making quiet clicks as it recorded the moment for all time. When that brief moment passed, she looked at the pictures with a smile... that slowly faded. It was a good shot, no doubt, but her inner photographer was saying that this wasn't what it had been looking for. But if that's the case, then what really was it?

"Woah, careful there." Velvet jumped as she realized that Neptune, walking away from the balcony, had nearly walked straight into her. This led to Jaune coming over to see what had happened, and he froze when he saw the familiar rabbit.

"Velvet? What are you doing there?"

Her mind was freezing up. The camera was still in her hands with the picture displayed, so she couldn't lie and say she had just arrived. After trying and failing to come up with an excuse, all she could say was, "...Sorry, I followed you out here."

Jaune didn't immediately respond to that; instead, he looked at Neptune and said, "You can go, man. I think she wants to talk to me." The boy responded with a wave. He wasn't about to interrupt whatever this was.

Silently, they both walked to the edge of the balcony and looked over the school grounds. The air between them was thick and awkward, and all Velvet wanted to do was run. But before she got the chance Jaune asked, "So how much of that did you hear?"

There was no point in fibbing. "All of it. I'm sorry that I eavesdropped like that, Jaune."

He waved a hand dismissively. "It's okay, I'm not mad or anything. I just kind of wanted to take this whole thing to the grave with me."

That line confused her. "If I may ask, why's that?"

"Think about it: here I am giving advice to the person my crush asked out. Not exactly a cool thing to do."

She shook her head. "I disagree. Jaune, just now you showed a level of maturity most people our age lack. You put the feelings of others ahead of your own, and you did so without any kind of ulterior motive. It's not like you wanted anything from him, right?"

"Aside from honesty, not really." He looked up at the fragmented moon. "I just wanted to make sure that Weiss hadn't had her heart broken for a stupid reason."

"That's what I mean. You should be proud of what you did," Velvet turned to face him with a smile, and Jaune looked her right in the eyes as she said, "and if you can't do that, then just know that I'm proud of you." For the briefest of moments he thought she might be saying all of this out of pity, but as he met her gaze he saw only respect in her eyes; and in the light of the moon, those eyes were beautiful.

He broke the eye contact with a full blush on his face. "Thanks...again. You know, you've cheered me up twice in as many days. I get that you're on the shy side, but how does a great girl like you not have a date to this dance?"

"Even if I were to look for a date, you'd be surprised at how hard it is be to be noticed when you're standing beside Coco."

"That's fair. She always makes a big impact with her styles." They shared a laugh and went back to their sky viewing. The awkwardness in the air had disappeared, replaced by a comforting warmth. After a few moments passed like that he slowly said, "So this... may sound weird coming from me, but would you like to dance?"

"I... Would love to dance, but," Velvet raised an eyebrow, "I was never taught how to ballroom dance, although my photography has at least showed me where to put my hands."

His face broke into a smile. "I'll gladly teach you, but you might have to put down the camera first."

"Oh! Right. Um... I don't want to step on it or have it fall down, so where should I...?"

A female voice came from the entryway. "I'll hold onto that for you." Coco stepped into the moonlit night with a small smile, wearing a black dress with two gold necklaces.

Jaune gave a snicker. "Seems like everybody is eavesdropping today."

"Maybe, but it was Ruby who suggested where I could find you two, so let's just blame her this time." As she got close she held up an open palm. "Let me carry that, Velvet. I've danced plenty for now, and it's your turn."

The rabbit had a rather flushed face as she handed over her camera. Coco stepped away and said, "Just pretend I'm not here. Do your thing, kid."

Jaune nodded and said, "Sure thing. I can't hear the music that's playing from here, so let me find a playlist online." His scroll was already set up on the school Wi-Fi, so he brought up his BluTube app and searched for a while. Finding a selection of songs he liked, he hit the play button and set his scroll down on the stone. "The first song that will play isn't your standard ballroom waltz; but it's the first one my sisters had me dance to when I was learning, so it just feels right."

Chopin's 'Nocturne op. 9 No. 2' began to play. The duo brought one hand up to the other's shoulder and extended the other pair of hands out in the proper grasp. Jaune led as the gentle piano whisked them away to a world all of their own. Velvet was nervous for a moment, but her partner's firm confidence convinced her that any mistakes in movement would be forgiven.

To Coco, the scene was mesmerizing. Two people acting as one in motion, a smooth flow carrying them from one corner of the balcony to another. Just as they approached the center, some instinct urged her to take a picture.

Click!

A glance at the picture preview revealed an image straight from a painting: a man and a woman lost in each other, with the beautiful moon just over their heads. This shot had captured the very essence of its subjects, reflecting the serenity with utmost perfection. She gave it a name in her head: 'The Rabbit On The Moon.'

The world would keep spinning tomorrow, with their duties as huntsmen-in-training urging them forward into adulthood; but tonight, only this moment mattered. For throughout history, every great love started with just that...

...a moment.