Shattered Dream, Broken Soul

The week Jaune had before he had to return to Beacon had passed quicker than he had anticipated. As soon as he had gotten back to Vale, he made his way back to his uncle's club to tell his family the good news. They were all sitting around in the living room and all turned to him at once as soon as he stepped through the door. And as soon as he told them the good news, he was tackled by his cousins and mother. All three hugging him and shouting their congratulations as he was struggling with trying to breathe properly from their show of affection.

Luckily, it wasn't overly long before he was allowed to get off the ground and to breath again. But he was then given a tight hug by both his uncle and father as they gave him a much more appropriate volume congratulation. His uncle and cousins then left to go pick up a few things for the small party they were now going to have for him. As they did that, Jaune called home to tell his sisters that he had made it. A part of him was glad that the sheer volume of their combine voices didn't break the speaker in his scroll. Along with not being there so they couldn't dogpile him into a group hug.

The next few days were filled with him making sure he had everything he needed for Beacon and spending as much time as he could with Melanie and Miltia. As much as they were happy that he had made it into Beacon after all the time and effort he put into getting back to where he was after his injury, they were going to miss having him living with them. Jaune decided to take them out to hang out or even just order them some pizzas before running through a marathon of movies so he could have more time with them. And the twins appreciated every moment of it.

Until finally, it was the day he needed to get back to Beacon. All six of them were at the airship station. He had his duffle bag and backpack, each one packed with everything he had brought to Hei's place. And the metal case he had with the grenades his uncle had ordered for him. His parents had their own luggage with them as well since they would be heading out back to their home not long after him.

Alexandra was currently hugging her son as tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes, "Good luck, sweetheart. Take care of yourself and be sure to call us when you can. You know how much I'll worry otherwise."

Jaune just smiled before her gave her a brief squeeze, "I know, Mom, and I will. I love you."

"Love you too." She said and let go of her only son a few seconds later and gently pulled him down to kiss his forehead. She took out a tissue and gently dabbed away her unshed tears.

Noah then walked up to him next and hugged him as well. "You've done great so far, Jaune. And I am so proud of you. Don't forget that me and your mother will always be here if you need us. Along with all your sisters. Got it?"

Jaune grinned before he patted his father on the back, "Got it. Thanks, Dad." The two pulled away and the older blonde walked over to his wife and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders, both looking at their son with pride and love. And Jaune was just relieved to know that the rough patch he had gone through with his parents was behind them and they could all move on to better things.

Before he could say anything else, two bodies slammed into his own and getting a grunt from him. He looked down and saw, with little surprise, that it was Melanie and Miltia hugging him tightly. He sighed goodheartedly before wrapping an arm around either of them. "Seriously? You're acting like you'll never see me again."

"We're going to miss you, okay?" Melanie said as she looked up at him. "You've been living with us for months. It's gonna be lonely with you off at Beacon now."

"And don't think you'll get away so easily." Miltia added with her usual tone but didn't look up to him. Deciding to hide her face into his chest. "We've done so much for you since the incident at the club. You owe us, big time."

He chuckled and held them close, "Trust me, I remember. And I'll be sure to stop down on occasions to see you two."

That caused them both to look up at him and ask together, "Promise?"

He kissed them both on the heads before answering, "Promise." The two let him go, regrettably, and they stood off to the side as Hei stood in front of him. The two just looked at each other with a grin on their faces, "I owe you so much, Uncle Hei." Jaune said simply.

Hei just shook his head, "You don't owe me a thing, Jaune. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. And remember. You always have a room at our place if you ever need it."

Jaune just nodded before he hugged his uncle, "Thanks. And really, thank you, Uncle Hei."

Hei just hugged him back with a smile, "Anything for my favorite nephew."

"I'm your only nephew."

"Doesn't stop you from being my favorite." Hei answered immediately. The two separated and that was when the bullhead he was waiting for landed not too far away. Jaune looked from it back to his family with an excited smile. "Looks like that's my ride." He scooped up all three of his bags before he smiled at his family. "I'll call you when I get the chance. Talk to you then."

He then quickly made his way to the bullhead. He quickly showed his ID to the pilot and he motioned him to get on. As he sat down, he looked out to see his family wave to him. He just smiled and waved back. Feeling sad for leaving them again but also excited to start the next trek of obtaining his dream.

It didn't take long for the bullhead to arrive at Beacon. Jaune smiled in excitement as he got up from his seat and grabbed his three bags and wait by the door for it to open. It eventually opened and he could now see Beacon not too far away from the airfield. He took a deep breath before walking off the bullhead and into the sunlight. The pilot got out of the bullhead around the same time, Jaune thanked him for the ride and he just nodded his head before walking off to talk to his superior.

Jaune looked around for Miss Goodwitch since she was supposed to be waiting for him to show up. That way she could show him to his dorm room and to his locker to store his weapons. When he didn't see her, he pulled out his scroll to be sure he had the right time or if he had to meet her somewhere on campus. As he did that, he quickly heard someone shouting not too far away, "Jaune!" He quickly turned to where he had heard the voice and quickly jumped back when Nora stopped just within his personal space, "You're here!"

He took a second before he smiled at his possible teammate, "I am. And so are you it looks like." He then looked over her head to see Ren and Pyrrha walking over to him as well. "You're all here? I thought I was supposed to meet with Miss Goodwitch?"

"You were." Pyrrha said with a small smile. "But we had run into her on her way here. When she told us what she was doing, we offered to show you around instead."

"Yeah!" Nora added excitedly. "Who would be better to show our new teammate around than us?"

"Possible teammate, Nora." Ren added.

"Ren…" She whined at her partner.

"I mean, that's fair." Jaune defended him making Nora look back at him with a raised eyebrow. "All things considered; I may not fit well with your team dynamic. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends if this arrangement doesn't work out." He said with an easy grin.

"But you would be such a good addition…" she whined and that caused him to chuckle.

"Anyways, should we get going?" Jaune asked. They nodded and Nora started to lead the way with Ren behind her in case she decided to do something crazy. Meanwhile, Pyrrha stepped in line besides her could-be partner. As they were walking, Pyrrha asked him why he decided to be a Huntsman and he explained about his family legacy and wanting to be just like his ancestors.

As they were walking, Jaune noticed a few of the students had seen them walking through the campus and would watch them for a bit before going back to what they were doing. He didn't bother to ask about it since he just assumed that they were simply curious about him after his fights with team RWBY. If not, well, he'd find out eventually and deal with it accordingly.

They soon brought him to the first year's dorm building and lead them to their team's dorm, "This is our room." Pyrrha said when they arrived. "And our sister team, Team RWBY, is just across the hall."

Jaune smiled with a nod, "Good to know." He said out loud before he thought to himself. 'That may complicate things. I mean, it'll be cool to see Blake more often but… That also means I could run into Yang more. Is this more of Ozpin's scheming?'

He was pulled from his thoughts when Nora threw open their door and threw her arms out in a grandiose fashion, "And here we are!" He looked in and saw four beds pressed against one wall with a few desk and an attached bathroom. "The free bed is the one closest to the bathroom." Nora added after he stepped in.

Jaune walked in and placed his duffle bag, backpack, and the metal case on his bed before he turned back to the other three. "So any rules I should know about before settling in?"

The three looked at each other before Pyrrha spoke up, "Not really. We just ask for you to knock or message us when you come back to the dorm. Just in case Nora or I are changing."

Jaune raised an eyebrow and grinned, "That all? Well, no problem here. I've already been raised to do that anyways." When he received confused expressions from the three of them he continued, "I grew up with seven sisters, so I fully know about the knocking rule." That earned him three varying shocked expressions that caused him to chuckle.

"Seven?" Pyrrha asked in shock.

Still grinning, he nodded. "Yup. And while I was staying in Vale, I was living with my uncle and two cousins. Both of which are also women. Twins in fact."

Nora just stared at him, "Wow. That must've been something to live through."

Jaune shrugged, "Sometimes but then again, that's family." He was silent for a bit before he sighed to himself. "Well, there is one last thing you need to know about and I'd rather just address the goliath in the room now than later." With that, he reached up with his left hand to slide his jacket off his right arm.

"Jaune, what are you talk-" Pyrrha stopped what she was saying and gasped once he slid the jacket off his entire right arm, showing off the shining metal of his brace. Jaune looked back to see all three staring at his arm, processing what they were seeing. "You have a prosthetic?" Pyrrha asked quietly.

Jaune just shook his head, "No, this is an Atlesian Brace. A few weeks before Beacon's last term started, I got into an… accident that shattered my arm. It took a few weeks with my aura to heal it and a few months of physical therapy to get me back into shape. But my arm isn't the same. I couldn't raise it above my head or hold my sword properly."

His eyes lowered as he raised his arm and slowly made a fist, "This brace not only protects my arm from worsening but supports it so I have full maneuverability and usage of it. And it does give it a decent strength boost. It took me a while to actually make it feel natural and to make sure I got it completely under my control." He sighed again as he looked away, "I wear it almost constantly now. I just wanted you all to know and I get it if you're a bit unnerved by it."

He turned back when he felt something grab his hand. He looked to see that one of them was holding his metal covered hand. He then looked up and was met with the emerald green eyes of Pyrrha. She gave him a reassuring smile, "I for one am not uncomfortable with this, Jaune. You had something terrible happen to you and you did everything you could to move past it." She then raised the conjoined hands, "I don't see this as something taboo but as a badge of honor."

Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ren, "Everyone has scars. Physical or emotional. But they are what define us. They push us to overcome what has happened to us. Take pride in how far you've come."

"Yeah." Nora said as she stood beside her team, "In one semester, you got to be back at the level needed to be at Bacon. Maybe now you're even stronger than back then!" She cheered with a big grin. "Besides, I think it looks awesome."

Jaune slowly looked at all three, just stunned by how accepting they were. He then gave them an honest smile, "Thanks. That… really means a lot to me." He then looked to his arm, which Nora was still staring at. "And I kinda agree with you, Nora. It is pretty badass." That made them all chuckle a bit before they eventually calmed down.

They spent the next hour or so just talking and getting to know each other more. Along with that, Jaune started to unpack his duffle bag and backpack before storing both under his new bed. The only thing left was the metal case of grenades on his bed, which had garnered Nora's attention halfway through his unpacking. "Hey, Jaune, what's in here?" she asked as she picked the case up and was shaking it to see if she could hear anything from it.

That made Jaune wince and almost sprint over to her, "Uh, Nora. Please don't to do that." He quickly reached out and but his braced hand on it to stop her from shaking it. "This holds quite a few of the grenades I used in my fight with Team RWBY. So, please stop shaking it before they go off." He said nervously before he gently pulled it from her grasp. He saw that Ren and Pyrrha went wide eyed but sighed after the case of explosives were no longer in the redhead's possession.

"Grenades!?" she shouted as she leant forward and into his personals pace again. She clasped her hands in front of her as she looked up at him with big eyes. "Can I have a few?"

He quickly looked past her to seeing Pyrrha wave her hands in front of herself while Ren just shook his head in a stern manner. Jaune got the message loud and clear. He looked back down at her, "Sorry, Nora, but I don't think so." That made her pout and he continued, "I can only get these through special ordering and it is expensive. So, I would like to hold off on ordering more for as long as possible."

That seemed to appease the shorter woman and she nodded slightly, "I get it. It's fine." Jaune still did feel a bit bad about how downtrodden she sounded.

"Why don't we bring you down to the locker rooms now?" Pyrrha said, saving him from crumbling. She walked over to them with a smile. "We can find your locker and you can store your weapons."

"That sounds like a good idea." Jaune nodded to his potential partner. And the three teammates escorted Jaune to his destination for the second time that day. It didn't take them long to get from the dorms to the locker rooms. While they were making their way there, Jaune had received a message from Goodwitch that told him which of the rocket lockers was his own and giving his scroll access to unlock it.

Once they reached the training rooms, Jaune noticed a few of the more dedicated students were working out or sparring, both with and without weapons. None of them really paid them any notice but they were all focused on what they were currently doing. The four easily made their way into the locker rooms, which was empty, and they found Jaune's new locker with only a few minutes of looking. Jaune safely deposited his grenade case at the bottom half and attached Crocea Mors to the back of the locker. Jaune closed it and locked it with his scroll before he turned back to his team. "So, now what? I'm pretty sure that is everything I need to get done right now."

"We could show you around the grounds." Ren suggested. "I don't believe you got a good look at them the last time you were here."

Jaune nodded, "That would be pretty cool. As long as you guys don't mind. It is the first day of your break after all and I don't want to monopolize your time."

"We honestly didn't have much planned. Even before you were added to our team." Pyrrha told him. "So, we don't mind showing you around in the slightest."

"Well, if you're all alright with it. Although, I think I'll have to meet up with Goodwitch later. I do have a lot of work to catch up on over the break."

"How much is 'a lot'?" Nora asked.

"I have to catch up on the material I missed out on from the first semester." Jaune said with a slight frown. "So, I have to study up then take some tests before the next semester."

"Ouch, that sucks." Nora whined. "How are we supposed to bond as a team if you have all of that to do?"

"Well, I already have a good grasp on Grimm Studies. My dad taught me as much as he could about them from his own experiences. And even though I don't use Dust, I know at least the basics of it. History though, that I may be in trouble with."

"If that's the case, I could help you out with History." Pyrrha said with the polite smile Jaune had been seeing a lot so far. "I did very well in Doctor Oobleck's class last semester." She said almost bashfully.

"I won't say no to some help there." Jaune chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "I've always had trouble with focusing on schoolwork. I always preferred the physical training and fighting styles, honestly."

He then grunted when he felt someone jump onto his back, feeling legs wrap around his stomach and arms around his chest. He looked over his shoulder to see that it was Nora, who was looking at him with shining eyes. "I'm the same way! See? I knew we'd be great friends." She said with a wide, mega-watt smile.

Jaune slowly turned from her back to Ren and Pyrrha. "Is this a good thing or should I be worried?" he asked with a smirk. That caused them to chuckle and Nora to pout on his back but refusing to get off. So Jaune was stuck giving her a piggyback ride as Ren and Pyrrha started to give him a tour of Beacon. With Nora adding her own unique input when she felt like it.

The tour really made this whole scenario just so much more real to him. He was really here. He was finally at Beacon. His dream school. And now, he would gain the training necessary to become a Huntsman. To be the person he always wanted to be. And even though he had just met these three, he wouldn't mind completing this journey with them if it was an option.

When they were almost done with their tour, Jaune heard a familiar voice shout at him from behind, "Guys, look! It's Jaune!" He turned around with Nora still on his back and saw that Ruby was rushing over to them with Weiss and Blake not too far behind her. She came to a stop in front of him, "You're here! That means you passed, right!?"

He nodded to her with a grin, "Yup. I am now a fully instated student here. And, for the foreseeable future, an interim member of their team." He finished as he motioned to Pyrrha, Ren and Nora.

Ruby looked excitedly at him, "That's amazing! That means you're now on our sister team."

"For now." He nodded. "Although, it isn't finalized yet. If we find that we don't work as well as we could together, I will just continue on as a solo hunter." By that point, Weiss and Blake had walked over to join their leader, "It's nice to see you all again. But aren't you missing a member?"

The three looked between each other, each having an uncomfortable look on their face. It eventually came down to Ruby to answer him, "Yang wasn't really in the mood to go out today. She stayed in the dorm."

He just nodded, not really commenting on what he heard. He asked mostly out of common curtesy but he really still wasn't sure on how to brooch this whole situation. He did look up when he heard someone clear their throat. He looked to Blake and saw she had an annoyed look on her face as she crossed her arms, "So, you knew you had passed and would be coming here since the fight?" Jaune just nodded, not sure what to say just yet. "Would you explain why you didn't tell me about this sooner and I just found out today?"

That was when he realized just how much trouble he was in. Everyone did, since Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha and Ren all took a few steps back from the pair. Even Nora jumped off his back to join her team when she sensed the tension. He then just started to scratch his cheek nervously, "In my defense, I had to deal with my family and get everything in order before coming here. So, I was really busy." He chuckled lamely at the end.

She just glared at him with that, "Wow, Jaune. After everything we've been through, I'd think I would be a bit higher up on your priorities."

"Blake, don't be like that. You are!" Jaune said in a mad panic. "I just got really distracted and I knew I would see you in like a week. I didn't think it would be a big deal. So please, can you forgive me." He held his hand together in front of himself as he said that, almost sounding like he was begging her.

The two just stared at each other before Blake rolled her eyes playfully before a small grin came t o her face. "I guess I can let you off the hook. But I won't be so forgiving next time."

Jaune just smiled at her, "Got it."

Weiss then cleared her throat in a very dainty way to gain their attention, "With you lover's quarrel over, can we get back to our previous discussion?"

That caused both of them to blush, "Lover's quarrel?! Me and Blake aren't a couple!" Jaune said in a higher pitched voice than he usually spoke in. Blake just nodded beside him but didn't trust her own voice enough to speak up.

"Really?" Weiss asked in a tone that just dripped with skepticism. Her eye narrowed slightly before she shrugged, "Fine. If you two aren't ready to have your relationship public, that's fine."

Before Jaune could defend them, Ruby chimed in with her own opinion, "Yeah, I think all of us are fine with you two dating. I think you two look cute together."

"That's besides the point. Ruby, trust me, we are just friends." Blake was the one to speak up this time.

"Then why did you let him hug you? And you even hugged him back. You never do that unless you absolutely have to." Ruby continued on with her reasoning on why they were a couple.

"Yeah! I was sure you two were together." Nora added as she jumped back onto his back, nearly causing him to faceplant into the ground. "I mean, there is no shame if you two aren't together-together. A lot of people are together but not together-together. There's nothing wrong with that." Mostly everyone who knew her was not buying her trying to hide her feelings for her longtime friend and partner.

Jaune looked past her to Ren, who just seemed to want to stay out of this entire situation. He looked over to Pyrrha as his last ally but she just gave him a nervous smile in return, "You two do seem to have a very close relationship, it makes sense why someone would think you two are a couple."

Jaune turned back to Blake who was blushing just as hard as he was. When her eyes met his she looked away in embarrassment. He had enough of that and cleared his throat, "Okay moving on." He said in a stern tone that none of them were expecting. He then cleared his throat, "Anyways, we were just talking about how I need to make up the work I missed last semester over the break."

"An entire semesters worth of material in only a couple of weeks?" Weiss asked, slightly concerned. "Are you going to be able to accomplish that?"

Jaune shrugged, "I think I should be fine. I know a good amount about Grimm and the basics of Dust. History would be my real issue but Pyrrha had just offered to help me out with that."

"Well, if you need help with Dust study, you can ask Weiss." Ruby happily volunteered her partner. "She knows so much and she has been helping me out with some of my studying habits."

Weiss just narrowed her eyes at her partner, "Ruby, please don't offer my assistance without clearing it with me first." She then turned back to Jaune with a more polite smile, "But regardless, my dolt of a leader does have a point. As a favor to Blake, I wouldn't mind giving you a hand with your studying."

Jaune just smiled, "I'm in no position to decline. Thanks, Weiss."

She just gave a prideful smile, "It is no issue. We'll begin tomorrow. Do not be late."

He just nodded, "Wouldn't dream of it. It's getting close to dinner, right? Should be head to the cafeteria?"

"Yes please." Nora whined. "I'm starving! Haven't eaten since lunch."

Everyone just smiled at her antics and they all made their way to the cafeteria. As they were walking, Jaune's eyes slowly panned over to Blake and just lingered on her. He felt his chest tighten a bit and he just sighed to himself. 'I think they are all right. I do have some feelings for Blake. Hopefully, this turns out better than the rest of my relationships. There is just something about her and I don't want to mess up.' With that he steeled himself and was going to be ready to ask her out at the right time.