Emerald Sustrai was an accomplished pickpocket. She was Cinder right hand, the true destined Fall Maiden. She was a hardened criminal who knew the dirtiest part of the world. So why, then, was she currently in the arms of a clumsy blond knight known as Jaune Arc?

"I don't see why it matters to look around this boring city." Mercury called from behind Cinder. She turned to see him, all silver and black, with his hands behind his head, casually as ever. She glared.

"Haven't you learned by now? This is an important mission. We need to know our surroundings at any moment. What if we need to follow a lead? It's good to know the best locations to hide." She lectured. Emerald sighed.

"Honestly, Mercury, I know you're supposed to be a stereotype, but you can't be that dumb." she scolded. "Besides, this city is very interesting. I like it anyway." She added.

He gave her a half-smile. "And what stereotype might that be, Emmy? Devilishly handsome and irresistible?"

"Absolutely not." It irritated her that he constantly tried to keep up this weird tension between them. It had gotten so bad that Cinder sometimes even asked if they were a thing from time to time. Mercury was nothing more than a friend and colleague, and sometimes she hesitated to go that far.

" Look, Mercury, if the White Fang were to burst in here, or some unplanned attack by Roman occurred, we need to know how best to avoid the situation." Emerald explained.

"Or to neutralize it." Cinder said somberly, her usual terrifying tone accompanying the words.

"Fine, whatever ladies. Can we at least grab something to eat?" Mercury complained.

"Grab, or buy?" Emerald mused mischievously.

"I suppose we can buy something." Cinder responded over her shoulder. At that moment however, Emerald noticed a very shiny ring a shop window.

"You guys go ahead, I see something I like." Cinder only waved her hand, allowing the girl freedom to steal. Mercury chuckled.

Emerald walked toward the store, glancing at the two bronze bands on each of her middle fingers. She nodded, deciding that they needed a new friend. The store bell tinkled, announcing her entry. She held her hand innocently in front of her, pretending to pluck a stray string from the olive green scarf she had on.

"Hello and welcome! If you have any questions let me know!" The storekeep greeted warmly.

"Of course." Emerald pretended to be shy. She noticed there was only one other customer in the store. She didn't want to use her semblance for this. To her luck, the boy in the sweatshirt asked for help on something. He must've been buying something for a girl he liked, she could hear his bumbling from the entrance. Emerald rolled her eyes and turned towards a table, seeing the same ring in the window. Much more convenient to take it from here than in front of a large display window. She slipped the ring into her pocket and pretended to look closely at the necklace next to it.

It had a small silver chain and a simple, fake diamond teardrop attached. Nothing like the silver ring she'd just pocketed, carved with ornate designs and center with a real emerald. The mint-haired girl paced the store a while longer to avoid suspicion, focused on an expensive set earrings Cinder might like when the other customer bumped into her.

"H-hey!" she stuttered, taken by surprise. The boy had instinctively grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. He had piercing blue eyes that were broken up on by yellow locks that fell over them.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was looking at a bracelet my oldest sister might like. I wasn't looking at all." He noticed his hand on Emerald and quickly drew away, taking a step back to give her space.

"I didn't mean to grab you, I just didn't want you to fall." Emerald could still feel the heat of his touch, of how close he had been. She cleared her throat, absentmindedly patting her pocket for the ring. "I-it's fine. That was very kind of you."

"Look, I don't have a lot of lien on me, but can I buy you some ice-cream as an apology?" Emerald blushed. This guy was bold. He held his hand out as if to lead her there. If nothing else, this was a natural way to leave the shop, and she had probably missed most of Cinder and Mercury's meal. She took his hand.

"Fine, I suppose." He smiled, leading her out.

"My name is Jaune, Jaune Arc. A pleasure to meet you, my lady." He bowed as he introduced himself outside of store.

"Emerald Sustrai." She responded, hiding her blush. She was used to hearing, and saying, that phrase toward Cinder, hearing it toward herself was a pleasant change. Jaune gave her a goofy grin, walking toward an ice-cream truck alongside the girl.

"So are you a huntress? I don't think I've seen you before at Beacon." He asked.

"N-no, I'm from Haven." she lied. "I'm only here for the festival." Jaune's face became concerned. It looked slightly adorable against his Pumpkin Pete hoodie.

"Emerald, why are you out here alone? It's really easy to get lost in the city. I should know." He muttered that last part, laughing awkwardly and scratching his face. She wondered why he was so concerned when he'd only just met her. She fiddled with a piece of her hair.

"I had some friends with me, but I wanted to look at the shop and well, they got food." Her stomach growled softly at the mention.

Jaune had his arms crossed and was nodding, as if convincing himself of something. "In that case, I'll walk you back to the academy. Tell them your in capable hands, my lady." He gave her a thumbs up before stumbling on a lifted bit of cobblestone. "See? Capable." Emerald giggled, surprising herself.

"Okay." She pulled out her scroll and typed out a message to Cinder.

"A guy bumped into me at the shop. Won't leave me alone. Said he was going to walk me to the academy."

Her response didn't take long.

"Oh? Cheating on Mercury are we? Did you at least get the jewelry?"

"We are Not a thing! Grr. Yes I did."

"Laugh a little Em, guys like that."

The last response was so like Mercury she had to reread it to make sure. As if to confirm it was Cinder, her scroll beeped again. This time from Mercury.

"Tell him to buzz off."

Emerald huffed, slamming her scroll shut. She looked up at Jaune. "Everything okay?" he asked softly. Emerald's heart fluttered. Even with the childish shirt, she couldn't help but notice he was kind of handsome, in a boyish kind of way. She remembered how firm his grip was on her arm. She may have insisted him.

"Yeah. Just my friends up, teasing me."

"Oh, I know how that is. This girl, Yang, she always has something to tease people about. Just the other day she-" he cut himself off, eyes darting up. He grabbed Emerald and pulled her into his arms just as a loud whoosh passes behind her. "Watch out, jerk!" Jaune shouted at the cyclist.

At this point, Emerald noticed a few things: She never expected to be held like this by a nice guy by accident, this all happened because of a pretty ring, and that he felt very strong and very warm. She gripped his arm a little tighter. Firm, yet still soft.

"Hmm? Are you alright?" he asked. Emerald looked up at him, red eyes to blue.

"Yes?" she answered quietly. She couldn't understand why she was attracted to this guy. Just at a glance she could tell he was the polar opposite of her. If he knew she'd stolen the ring, he'd run back to pay for it even if he didn't have enough. So what was it?

"E-Emerald?" She hadn't moved from his side. He was tall enough that their faces were only inches apart. She looked down and regained her composure, standing away from him. Clearly, he had as little experience with girls as she had with guys. At least, romantically.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm usually not like this. I'm the playful type, you know? Not really shy." she laughed nervously.

"That's okay. I think I'm acting a little different, too." Jaune responded slowly. He walked the last few steps to the ice-cream truck, leaving Emerald to play with the hem of her white tee shirt. "Okay, let me guess… you like Neapolitan flavor?" She perked up at Jaune's unintentional pun. She snorted, trying not to laugh.

"Actually, strawberry with almonds, but I guess you got one of those flavors." she grinned, feeling more like her normal self. Once she got back to Beacon, she could forget all about this weird feeling she had. Jaune shrugged.

"One strawberry with almonds and… hmm, make that two actually. With a cherry on one." He finished the order and paid for the ice-cream. Meanwhile, Emerald cursed herself for not thinking of the cherry. As he came over she looked at his sadly. Something that important couldn't be swiped, even with her semblance. He looked at her and then the ice-cream cone. He smiled and handed her his cone.

"A-are you sure?!" Emerald gratefully took the cone. Jaune just nodded.

"I should've gotten an extra just in case." he muttered apologetically. She looked to the fruit, matching her own eyes. She decided to be bold, after all, once she got to Beacon, things went back to normal. She bit half of the cherry and quickly popped the other into his talkative mouth. His eyes widened, but the surprise was soon replaced with joy.

"Perfection." Emerald laughed.

She was able to finish her cone just as the airship arrived Jaune had already long finished his and taken some chewable pill. Her stomach was grateful for the frozen treat, but she couldn't wait to grab something extra at the academy. The two boarded the airship and sat next to each other.

"You know, I can never get over the view out here. It's a lot different than my hometown." Jaune commented.

"Plus, it was always hard to watch the scenery with seven sisters always bugging me." he chuckled affectionately. Emerald scooted closer to see what he was seeing.

"I wouldn't know. I don't really remember my family." She admitted. "I might've had a brother or sister, but I don't think it really matters. Mercury and Cinder are my family now. Come to think of it, I might know what you mean. Right now Mercury would probably be teasing me or trying, and failing, to be funny. Cinder would just roll her eyes and act like we're annoying, but deep down, I know she's really happy to have us around." Emerald smiled.

"You look really pretty smiling like that." Jaune commented, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. "I can tell you've been through a lot. I don't know what, but I guess that's why I wanted to buy you ice-cream. I felt like you haven't had enough kindness shown to you… or something." He looked around nervously.

Emerald blinked. "Has something happened to you, Jaune?" She saw him stiffen a little.

"I guess you could say that. I'm sure it's nothing compared to you though. I can tell you're strong. Oh, speaking of, I hope I didn't offend you by being all protective earlier." Emerald shook her head, making her hair tickle her face.

"It was kind of nice, actually. I should've been more aware of my surroundings, but I liked that I didn't have to be. Don't tell Cinder that, though, okay?" Not that he'd ever even meet Cinder. Jaune agreed with an adorable grin.

"Also, thank you for, you know," he gestured at his attire. "Not making fun of my clothes."

"It adds charm." Emerald remarked, giggling. This seemed to be exactly what Jaune wanted to hear, as he his eyes lit up. He looked out the window again, this time whistling. Emerald leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes. This was the nice kind of pretend. Where she wasn't acting, but she could pretend this could last forever. Even if she met him again, she knew that he would never agree with what she had to do for Salem, no, for Cinder. He would never forgive her, no matter how nice she was. Emerald knew Jaune couldn't understand that sometimes people, and places, had to fall.

So what do you think? I don't really see a lot of Jaune and Emerald pairings, but she's honestly one of my top favorites. I thought it'd be interesting. I have some plans for how things will be different than canon. I will definitely enjoy writing jealous Pyrrha and Mercury :3