Beacon – Ozpin's Office

"This is outrageous!" Alabaster Winchester roared. "That boy should be thrown out into the streets for what he's done or at the very least expelled and yet from what I've been told you're choosing to do nothing!"

"Please, Alabaster, there's no need to yell," Ozpin replied in his typically calm manor. "I can assure you you're overreacting to the situation."

"Overreacting? My son was brutally beaten by that little punk and you think I'm overreacting?"

"Your son agreed to a spar, in which he knew he would receive injury. The bruises he sustained afterwards were superficial at best with the worst thing he walked away with being a broken nose, something that Tsune is able to mend in her sleep. Not only that but Mr. Arc turned himself over to Doctor Oobleck and confessed to everything afterwards, claiming responsibility for everything that has happened."

"Then why hasn't he been punished?" Alabaster snarled.

"A couple reasons the foremost of which being that his actions, while undesirable of a Huntsman, were the result of psychological trauma he suffered a short year prior to being admitted into Beacon."

"So you're saying you allowed some nutcase into your school and around my son?"

"I would ask that you not refer to Mr. Arc's condition in such a crass manor, Mr. Winchester," Ozpin replied, putting considerable heat into the man's name as he spoke. "The young man witnessed his entire family's deaths, not to mention his entire village, and still found the strength to bring himself and his sister Jade here to Beacon, maintain excellent grades, and lead his own team before the stress of what he witnessed finally became too much for him to handle on his own."

"That doesn't excuse his actions."

"No, it does not, though I doubt there's a Huntsman in this school or currently active who could not say they haven't been a witness to some traumatic experience during their career that changed them considerably. I know for a fact that you yourself witnessed some rather disturbing things during the Faunus rebellion," he pointed out, earning a glare from the man, "and by humanity's hands no less."

"What happened during the war has no precedence here or with my son."

"I'd disagree. From what I've heard your son is a regular chip off the old block, especially when it comes to his treatment of the faunus currently seeking an education here."

"What should it matter if my son takes it upon himself to remind those animals of their place?" Alabaster snorted

"Those animals are my students, aspiring Huntsman and Huntresses who have just as much right to be here as your son. Furthermore, it has a great deal of precedence, especially given the fact that his actions are putting his place here at Beacon in jeopardy."

"What!?"

"It has been brought to my attention that your son, Cardin Winchester, has been caught and reprimanded on several occasions for either voicing racist views, making racist gestures, or flat out accosting faunus students, including Mr. Arc's younger sister Jade. While he has been disciplined for his actions, we can only issue him detention so many times before we must consider escalating his punishment."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am very serious, Mr. Winchester. If your son's actions continue he could be looking at suspension or even expulsion from our institution and, while he could continue his education at one of the other academies, rest assured he'd find it quite difficult to convince them to allow him in given his records here being something any one of them could access."

"How dare you threaten my family in such a manor."

"I'm not making threats against your family, Mr. Winchester. I am merely informing you of the possible consequences your son will be made to face for his actions."

"I dare you to, Ozpin. Follow through with this and you can expect me to sue!"

"By all means, go right ahead. I'm sure the courts will be eager to hear how your son both verbally and physically accosted Mr. Arc to the point that he'd had enough, challenged him to a school sanctioned spar, and defeated him before admitting himself to our resident Psychologist to be treated for past trauma. I'm curious to see how quickly that news will spread to the media and if there won't be some who pose the question that some of the trauma Mr. Arc was made to experience was not, in fact, caused by your son."

Alabaster was fuming by that point, his hands shaking at his side as he glared daggers at Ozpin from across his desk. The murderous atmosphere was palpable to the point that it would have taken little more than a cup falling on the floor to set Alabaster off and have him lunging at Ozpin. As it was the man could do nothing aside from fume at the Headmaster. Before long, however, the man accepted defeat and began making his way towards the elevator.

"Alabaster," Ozpin called out, waiting until the man turned to look at him before saying, "I'll be sure to keep you appraised of your son's condition."

With a final snarl Alabaster Winchester stepped into the elevator and disappeared as Ozpin smiled victoriously to himself.

/-/

Beacon – Team RWBY's room

Jaune sat at the windowsill, the afternoon sun streaming in from outside and warming his back. All around him sat the members of his team as well as team RWBY with his partner Pyrrha sitting closest to him. Jade was sitting on Yang's lap, looking at her brother wearily as if she didn't know if it was safe for her to approach him or not. While he didn't say anything, the fact that Jade was hesitant to approach him cut him deeply and he honestly couldn't blame her for it. His actions during the spar which he was able to witness thanks to some of the onlookers having recorded it on their scrolls showed him a sight that was hard to watch. He found himself stopping the video at the exact moment it happened, unable to force himself to continue watching.

"So," he began, hoping the right words would come to him but finding only silence. "I guess you're all pretty curious about what happened."

"You could say that," Yang proffered.

"We're just… concerned about you Jaune," Pyrrha said, her tone guarded, a tell that told him she was trying to be cautious of what she said.

"What happened during the fight was very unlike you," Weiss continued. "I know for a fact we're all wondering what caused it but I think we can all agree that it's something we can't force out of you."

"But if there's some way we can do to help then please, tell us," Ruby finished.

"I know and I'm grateful to you all," he replied, a tired smile finding its way on his face. "It's just not that easy a subject to talk about."

"Just take your time. We're here for you. We're a team, after all," Ren assured him.

Jaune nodded back, giving him a grateful smile before taking a deep breath. While he'd spoken with Doctor Oobleck about informing his teammates of his past, he'd been counseled not to force himself in the beginning. By giving a voice to his thoughts and feelings he was, in fact, making them that much more real. In a way it was a method of facing his problems though he was told it should only be done at a point when he felt comfortable talking about it. While Jaune wasn't over eager to share this dark chapter in his life with his team or their friends, he knew he had to do it now. If he waited it would simply be that much more difficult for him and he might never let them in completely.

"You're all aware of the fact that Jade and I are orphans and that our village was burned to the ground."

"Yes, I believe you told us something like that a while back," Pyrrha confirmed.

"Well, that's only part of the story and part of the reason I've been having… problems."

Before anyone could interject or give him a convenient excuse to procrastinate, he started by explaining how he and Jade had first begun their lives. He recalled the relationships she'd formed with his younger sisters, how living in their village meant that most, if not all of the children, often interacted with one another and saw each other as extensions of their own families. With that mindset the older children often acted as older brothers and sisters for the younger kids, breaking up fights and arguments between the younger ones or simply watching out for them while the adults worked. It had been a good life, a pleasant life, one which they seldom if ever expected to end. Then the fires started.

It was at this point that Jaune paused. In his previous retellings to Oobleck he'd had trouble with this part. It wasn't so much the retelling of the events as it was forcing himself to remember everything that had happened, especially when he didn't want to. He'd hoped it would become easier as time went on. It hadn't, not in the way he'd wanted or expected it to. Then again his previous expectations had all been based on the belief that if he ignored the pain it would eventually dull and go away naturally. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that wasn't the case. He had to confront it, to acknowledge it. Admitting to himself that it this pain existed gave him power over it. Still, it wasn't easy, certainly not now.

It didn't take much for his mind to conjure up the images of his family. Already he could recall the choking taste of the smoke, the screams of his family, the fear that drove him to find any way out of the inferno he was trapped in. He could feel his body trembling and for a moment he thought he might break down right then and there in front of everyone. He didn't. Instead, he felt the soft, warm touch of a person's hand as they grasped his own shaking limb. Almost on instinct he looked over and saw his partner, Pyrrha, giving him a gentle smile as she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Jaune, you don't have to do this. You don't need to force yourself," she said.

"No," he blurted out, a little too forcefully, causing her to flinch. He took a breath to steady his nerves before he continued, "I appreciate the gesture but I have to do this. If I don't do it now, I doubt I'll be able to later on."

She gave him a worried look before nodding slightly. Her hand remained attached to his, however, something he appreciated. Focusing on their connection helped him to steady his nerves as he spoke once more.

Looking at the expression of his friends and teammates it was obvious all of them were prepared for a serious and heavy story. None of them were prepared for what Jaune actually divulged to them, however, if their expressions were anything to go by. Unlike his sessions with Oobleck, Jaune kept the details sparse for their benefit. He stuck to the facts, recalling what had happened, how he had managed to escape, and his discovery that Jade had managed to survive as well. Things didn't get easier from there, though. Returning to the burned wreckage of their homes, it had been difficult for him to accept that everything they'd known up to that point had been reduced to ashes with only the two of them left to pick up the pieces.

From there he filled them in on the journey they'd taken to Vale and Beacon, the year he'd spent working and training with other Huntsmen in an effort to prepare for his new future, the occasional moments where he was forced to confront the racist views of other people while having to reevaluate his own personal standards and beliefs before deciding to never again be a bystander to such abhorrent behavior, and the moment when he was confronted with the decision to leave Jade at a local orphanage where she might have a chance to start life over with a new family while he continued on alone towards Vale or stay together. Obviously they knew what he had decided.

"And you all know the rest from there," he concluded, taking a deep breath as he finally allowed himself the opportunity to relax.

"Wow that was…" Yang started, trying and failing to find the right words to describe her feelings.

"Deep," Blake finished for her.

"Yea, what she said."

"We had no idea you were holding all of that in," Pyrrha said, giving his hand another comforting squeeze. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he said. "None of you had any idea and I wasn't exactly forthcoming with the details early on either."

"Still, we appreciate the fact that you trust us enough to tell us all of this," Ren replied.

"Yea, it's not healthy for you to keep all of that bottled up inside," Nora added.

"It does go a long way to explaining a few things," Weiss mussed.

"Speaking of," Jaune said, shifting in his seat to look over at his sister. "Jade?"

The young girl, who up until that moment had remained quiet and perfectly still, locked eyes with her brother. Her ears stood straight up at attention and her gaze, while somewhat relaxed, still held a little hesitation in it as she waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier," he said. "I know I must have looked really scary and that seeing me like that must have frightened you. I don't like scaring you, not like that, and the fact that I ignored all the warning signs leading up to that moment doesn't make it any better. I never want you to be scared of me or of what I might do so I'm getting help to make myself better. I hope you'll understand and be willing to forgive me for acting so foolishly."

The girl's collectively coed, moved by his words. Jade didn't miss a moment either, quickly slipping off of Yang's lap and racing over to her brother. Jaune reacted immediately, dropping down to his knees just as she ran up and wrapped her arms around his neck in a big hug. The girl's coo's intensified as they watched the scene play out with Yang having grabbed her scroll and taking pictures the entire time.

"It's okay," Jade said softly.

"No, it's not okay," he said, "but I'm working on making it okay," he said, softly rubbing her back.

"You know, moments like this call for a celebration," Yang announced.

"For once Yang I'm inclined to agree," Weiss replied.

"Let's go down to the cafeteria and make celebratory cookies," Ruby suggested.

"And pancakes," Nora added.

That was all the encouragement anyone needed before they began making their way towards the school cafeteria. Jade happily led the way, excited to be able to gorge herself on both cookies and pancakes all at once. While Jaune would usually have been more cautious about how much sugar she had, given everything that had transpired he felt this was a good enough excuse to let his hair down so to speak. Bringing up the rear he watched fondly as his teammates and friends made their way down the hall. Thinking back to how much apprehension he'd felt when considering revealing everything to his friends, he felt rather stupid when their reactions were anything but what he had pictured. Granted, he'd put a lot more stress on himself beforehand which had only made things worse in the long run, but seeing how willing they all were to listen and understand his plight was comforting to know.

"Jaune, could I have a quick word?"

He was surprised then to only just now realize that he wasn't the only one hanging back. Weiss had allowed her team to press on without her, somehow going unnoticed by him. Then again, he'd been more focused on his teammates so it wasn't at all difficult to think that he might not have noticed she was standing nearby the entire time.

"Yea, sure," he said, a little confused but willing to hear her out all the same.

"Jaune?"

He glanced up, seeing Pyrrha standing a few feet away with a perplexed expression on her face.

"Weiss just wanted to ask me something real quick. We'll catch up soon," he said reassuringly. "Make sure Ruby and Nora don't gorge themselves on everything before we get there."

Pyrrha glanced over at Weiss, giving her a quizzical look, before returning her gaze to Jaune. "Don't take too long," she said before heading off after their friends.

"So, you wanted to talk?" he asked once Pyrrha was out of earshot.

"Yes, I was wondering how Jade's training was coming along?" she said.

Jaune gazed down at her, a little confused by her question. It didn't sound like something that had warranted them hanging back for a private chat. Honestly, it was something she could have asked him about back in their dorm. Still, he figured she had a decent enough reason for why she did and decided to go along with it.

"It's been coming along. Jade's been picking up the basics fairly well. I'd planned on moving on to some of the more intermediate lessons once I was confident she had the basic's down but I've had to put her training on hold since I began my sessions with Dr. Oobleck."

"I see," she said, glancing away before she asked, "have you given any thought as to whether you'll have someone else instruct her in your absence?"

"I was considering asking Pyrrha if she would," he replied. "I'm not sure for how long I'll be meeting with Dr. Oobleck and, given that she was a fairly accomplished tournament fighter, I figured she'd be more than capable of teaching Jade while I'm preoccupied. Why, did you have someone else in mind?"

"Yes, well no, I mean- "she stopped, taking a breath as she struggled to regain her composure. Jaune watched her curiously, unsure of what to make of this new version of Weiss he was witnessing. It was certainly different from the prim and proper girl he was used to seeing and, if he was being honest with himself, was a rather cute side of her. "I was wondering if perhaps you'd allow me to instruct her instead."

Jaune starred at her in surprise, his mouth working in an attempt to reply but somehow failing. It took him a moment to finally regain his composure and even then he was still taken aback by her offer. "You want to train Jade?"

She glanced away, slightly pouting at his response as she said, "I understand if you'd rather Pyrrha or someone else train her instead."

"N-no no, that's not what I meant," he said quickly. "I'm just surprised that you would volunteer. I honestly hadn't considered you at first. Can I ask why, though?"

Weiss closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves before replying, "Do you remember my… abhorrent behavior when we first met?"

Hard not to the traitorous words sprang to the forefront of his mind and almost out of his mouth. Thankfully he had the good conscience to bit his tongue before that could happen and instead opted for "I remember, though, as I recall, you've already apologized for that."

"I know I did but I've been thinking about it more and more and I've come to the conclusion that my simple apology to Jade wasn't enough of an effort on my part."

She turned, gazing out through the nearby window into the courtyard outside. Jaune knew her mind wasn't on the view. No doubt the events they had all borne witness to had stirred something in them. Try as he might his actions still had repercussions, whether he liked it or not.

"You know I wasn't always the heiress to the SDC? My older sister Winter was the previous heiress. When my sister Winter joined the military, she forfeited her ability to inherit our Grandfather's company. As a result, the mantle was passed onto me, along with all the responsibilities and expectations that came with it. Before we had been raised under a very strict set of rules. After, though, what little freedom I enjoyed was quickly monopolized by lessons, public events and appearances, and a long, arduous parade of two-faced suitors, each one presenting themselves to me while wearing their best painted masks in the hopes that one of them might prove satisfactory enough to fool me into believing that they might actually care about me rather than the vast legacy and inheritance that came attached to my name.

My choice to come to Beacon was something I had to fight tooth and nail to achieve. My father certainly didn't make it easy on me. I'm sure he had expected me to fail, ensuring I would remain firmly under his thumb and influence. Yet, when I did succeed, I realize now that the euphoria of that victory blinded me to the fact that not everyone here was the same as the people I'd had to learn to tolerate back home. Not everyone was as impressed by my name or my skills and many of them had their own reasons for coming to Beacon, none of which revolved around me. It was a surprisingly difficult pill for me to swallow when I finally accepted that."

She turned, finding Jaune starring at her with a very confused expression on his face.

"When we first met, the way I acted, the way I treated your sister, there's no excuse for my actions. I came here believing I had broken free of my father's influence but I have slowly begun to realize that just because I'm no longer in Atlas, and no longer in his presence, doesn't mean his influence doesn't hold some power over me. I realize now that I have a long way to go before I can be the woman, the Huntress, I desire to be and I believe that by helping you help Jade I can begin to achieve that goal."

"I think I get what you're saying but could you clarify for me because there's obviously a lot of baggage to unpack there," he said cautiously.

She smiled, the action managing to put Jaune on edge though that may have been due to the fact that their relationship up till this point had been rocky at best. "When I came to Beacon I assumed that the trials and obstacles I've had to overcome were something no one was capable of understanding. How could anyone here know what it felt like to be used as a pawn by their own father all because of a name and the influence that came with it? After what you just told us, however, I've come to realize you've done more for Jade in a year than I have throughout my entire life. You've taken on so much responsibility and even after being pushed to the breaking point you still had the wisdom to seek out help. I honestly wish I had done the same, though I'm not sure I would have been able to distinguish those offering their aid from those seeking to take advantage of me.

That's why I want to do this. I want to help Jade grow as a means of improving myself and perhaps even bettering myself by helping her get better."

"Wow," he said, legitimately impressed, "that was profoundly deep."

"Thank you," Weiss said, preening at the praise.

"You're wrong, by the way," he added.

"Wha- huh!?" she blurted, his comment taking her by surprise.

"Well, to be specific, you're right and you're wrong," he clarified.

"And what exactly am I right and wrong about, Jaune Arc?" she challenged.

"You're right in that there's no one here who could understand what you've had to overcome while under your father's influence," he said, quickly diminishing much of the ire Weiss had begun to build up. "Obviously, you and I come from very different backgrounds and while the Arcs were once a part of the same circles your family frequents, we left that life behind a long time ago. From an outsider's perspective, growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth, being able to go to charity balls and galas, not to mention having extravagant amounts of money to spend on whatever you want would be a dream come true. I doubt any of them would have the foresight to ask someone who's lived in that world what it's truly like, to know just how much of their freedom and agency they'd have to sacrifice as a result, not to mention what they'd have to do to keep up appearances."

"That's true, you aren't wrong about that," she mussed. "What was I wrong about, though?"

"You said that what I did for Jade overshadows anything you've accomplished. You're wrong. I don't know the specifics about what you've been put through but, from what I understand, you've obviously accomplished a great deal and on top of that found a way to regain some measure of control over your own life despite your father's attempts to maintain his control over you. Believing that all of that pales in comparison to what Jade and I have been through would be foolish. We've each overcome our fair share of monsters and have the scars to prove it, some physical and other's a bit easier to conceal," he said. "And, if you'll forgive me saying this, your dad sounds like a real prick."

Weiss covered her mouth in order to conceal the smile that had quickly spread across her face. No one had ever been so bold as to insult her father like that. Even her older sister Winter was more professional when speaking about him, even if her words were dripping with venom. "I suppose I can forgive you, just this once."

"Alright then," he said, smiling as he put out his hand towards her, "I accept your offer. I'm sure Jade will be very excited to have you as her new teacher."

"Substitute. I expect that she'll be pining to have you instruct her once again before long," she said, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

"Perhaps. A word of warning, though. Don't talk down to her or treat her like a kid and most certainly don't underestimate her. She may not look it but she can be pretty vicious when she wants to be."

"Given that you had seven sisters I would have thought you knew that already," she replied.

"Yea but I've never been on the receiving end of their ire before."

Weiss chuckled, surprised to find how much she was enjoying their little banter. "I suppose we better get going. If we linger any longer Yang is going to start making outrageous assumptions, none of which she'll let me forget."

"Or me, for that matter," he agreed. "You know, I have to admit, I'm glad to see that not everything they said about you is true."

"Yes, I suppo- wait, what?" she asked, glaring up at Jaune as the words finally began to sink in. "What are you talking about? Who's been saying things about me?"

"Uh, oh, I think I hear Nora calling me," he said with an obvious smirk.

"Jaune," she spoke his name in a warning tone.

"Coming Nora," he said, completely ignoring her as he began lightly jogging down the hallway.

"Jaune Arc, you get back her this instant and explain to me what you meant by that comment!"

Jaune didn't waste a moment, tearing off down the halls with Weiss hot on his heels. For a girl as short as herself and wearing heels no less, she could be surprisingly quick on her feet. It wasn't long before her reasons for chasing him were forgotten as they descended into laughter, Jaune managing to stay just out of reach and Weiss making a considerable effort to catch him before they reached the cafeteria.

/-/

Ozpin sat calmly at his desk, sipping from his cup while in the midst of signing some paperwork. Well, to be fair he was giving off the appearance that he was in fact signing paperwork. Truth of the matter was he hadn't signed any of his own paperwork in a number of years and collective lifetimes. He'd perfected a system to allow him to circumvent that problem. Her name was Glynda.

As he sifted through each piece that flew across his terminal he stopped at a particular one he'd been working on for quite some time and was preparing to forward to the council. It was a proposal for a small, tasteful memorial that was to be erected at a recently demolished village just a few days out from Vale. He'd learned not long ago that a notable Huntsman along with his family had been killed recently with very few survivors to speak of. With the ending of the semester nearly upon them he hoped to have it ready by the time their current semester ended. While the Council was known to drag their feet when it came to such matters, especially when they were being built somewhere outside the protection of the walls and therefore not within ready reach of their citizens, it could be anywhere from a period of months to even years before such a project had broken ground with some falling into obscurity altogether. The fact of the matter was that villages outside the walls rose and fell almost overnight so the thought of erecting memorials for each of them was a bit outlandish. Still, he was certain he could see this one made a reality and, once he was satisfied it was up to his standards, he sent the proposal on its way.

Not a moment later a light tapping could be heard from the window that encompassed his office. Ozpin didn't even need to glance over to know who or what it was that was tapping at his window. A large black crow clung to the windowsill outside, looking rather impatient as Ozpin made his way over and unlocked the window. He'd barely made it back to his desk when the bird pushed its way inside, fluttering down to the floor before morphing into a man before his very eyes. The person in question groaned, popping his neck and shoulders before unhooking a flask from his hip and taking a long swig of its contents.

"You know, it doesn't matter how often I do that, I'll never really get used to shifting between one form and another. My muscles always feel so stiff afterwards," he complained.

"Perhaps you merely need to stretch before and after, get your muscles used to the idea of shifting sizes so quickly," Ozpin suggested. "Now that you're here, were you able to find anything?"

"In Ansel?" he asked, taking another swig before continuing. "Nothing much. Fire burned away anything that might be considered evidence. The bodies have already been taken away. Some will be undergoing autopsies to see if there was any fowl play involved but, as far as I can tell, it was all by accident."

"An accident that took out an entire village and nearly all of its inhabitants," Ozpin pointed out. "No, there's more to this than we realize. If it were nothing more than a fire, there would have been more survivors than just the two."

"You suspect she might have something to do with it?" Qrow asked.

"I'm not sure. Nicholas and I were never really close. We respected one another, that's for certain, but he never trusted me enough to allow his children to follow in his footsteps. Ironic that his passing would push his only son to do just that," he mused. "If she is involved then she had every intent of leaving everyone and everything little more than a pile of ash. There was something there she wanted to get rid of but what that may be I'm not quite sure, not yet anyway."

"Speaking of which, how's the kid been doing?" Qrow asked.

"Which kid are you referring to? As I recall I have you two nieces under my care, both of which you fondly refer to as kids."

"The one who went apeshit in the spar," Qrow clarified, rolling his eyes. "I have to admit I've seen some really messed up things in my day but when Yang showed me that video even I was a little on edge."

"Indeed," Ozpin mussed. "The young man has been put through a great deal and has shouldered an even greater burden on himself, all of his own accord. While I suspected that sooner or later the stress that was mounting on him would eventually force its way to the surface, I must admit I never expected it to happen in such a public manner."

"Speak for yourself. After seeing this I realized that his outburst made Yang's semblance look like a tantrum. I'm guessing the fallout from this wasn't pretty either."

"Truth be told I did just have a rather heated exchange with Alabaster Winchester, the father of Jaune's opponent, this morning. Thankfully the boy walked away with a slight concussion, a few bruises, and a broken nose for his trouble."

"Sure doesn't look like he got off easy," Qrow said, rewatching the fight on his scroll and wincing at some of the more brutal moments.

"Thankfully both combatants had agreed to the spar so the most I'm required to do is ensure Mr. Winchester didn't receive any major trauma as well as see to Mr. Arc receiving some mandatory counseling sessions."

"And how did that go?" Qrow asked with a smirk.

"Surprisingly well, all things considered," Ozpin replied, taking some satisfaction at how quickly his friend's smile faded, "he voluntarily started the sessions not long after the spar was concluded. I had confirmation from both Dr. Oobleck and Miss Coco Adel in regards to that."

"Well that's… surprising," Qrow said as he took a swig from his flask.

Not all of us are prone to drowning our demons in alcohol Ozpin wanted to say but kept his thoughts to himself. He would be spouting hypocrisy as in more than lifetime he'd found the stress and depression brought about from his mission weighing heavily on him and the escape provided by booze and other distractions had been more than welcoming. The fact that Qrow chose alcohol as his particular crutch was no concern of his, though he couldn't help comparing the man before him to the young man currently attending his academy, both having faced similar situations yet, when one was forced to come face to face with his demons, he sought help in overcoming them and mastering them rather than running from them.

"I have to wonder, though. If this is what happens when he pushed to the edge, just how bad was he?"

"I'm afraid I can't divulge any of that information. HIPA requirements and all that. At best I can tell you that he was in a bad place and he is doing better."

"Yea, I understand," Qrow replied. "You sure know how to pick them, though. Whole family's dead, takes on the role of guardian for a four-year-old, then travels to Beacon to become a Huntsman and is made the leader of his own team. I'm surprised he didn't snap sooner."

"Some people are better at handling stress than others. Mr. Arc has shown considerable aptitude when it comes thinking on his feet and adapting to an ever changing situation. During initiation for instance he managed to rally his teammates together to fight off and kill a Death stalker without any of them receiving serious injury."

"Not bad," Qrow admitted, genuinely surprised. "Though, in all fairness, it doesn't measure up to my niece decapitating a Nevermore all by herself," he bragged.

"As I recall she had considerable help in the endeavor and I have evidence to back it up," Ozpin replied with a smirk.

"Yea, yea, whatever," Qrow grumbled.

"While we're on the subject, aside from the wreckage you found at the village were you able to look into the other matter I requested?"

"Of course. It took some doing but I managed to get what you asked for," Qrow said.

Holding his flask in one hand he reached into his vest pocket with the other and extracted a small bundled of carefully folded papers. Ozpin took them, gingerly unfolding the papers before scanning the words printed on them. His expression remained neutral but the low hum he gave was enough evidence for Qrow to understand that they didn't contain the answers he was hoping to find. All things considered neither of them had expected there to be much in the way of information but they had hoped for some sort of clue at the very least.

"Not much, though, given that it was a small village I'm surprised they even had the girl's birth certificate."

Ozpin couldn't help but agree. With how far out the villages tended to be they often maintained their own records. How accurate they tended to be depended solely on the village itself. Quite often with these places the records tended to be oral with relations, birthdays and so on being something family members and close friends kept track of along with any gravestones. Some people even tended to keep track of them in their journals and other personal belongings just incase the worst happened. Unfortunately, not everything survived the Grimm and as such those records were often lost to time. Thankfully Ansel seemed to have their records kept at a larger town hall at a neighboring village, one often frequented by Huntsmen. Unfortunately, the records on Jaune and his family were sparse and even more so on his adopted sister Jade.

"Jade Fenrir, born about five years ago. Mother, Jasmine Fenrir. Seems she kept her mother's name."

"Not her father's? Bit strange, though not uncommon," Qrow mussed.

"I doubt the man abandoned her the moment she found out she was pregnant," Ozpin replied.

"What makes you say that?"

"Personal experience as well as intuition," Ozpin said, his eyes hovering over the space that should have occupied the man's name. He couldn't be sure but, from the stray ink smudges it seemed there had once been a name but it was redacted sometime later though for what reason he wasn't quite sure.

"Did it answer any questions you had?" Qrow asked.

"I'm afraid it merely brought up more questions than it answered," he admitted.

"Great," Qrow drawled, taking a swig of his flask.

"Still, it's given us something to work with. We'll just have to wait and see what Bart is able to gleam from his sessions with Jaune."

"Hey, I thought you said you couldn't reveal anything because of HIPA?" Qrow pointed out.

"Under normal circumstances yes but, considering that I'm his headmaster, I'm legally obligated to be kept appraised of my student's wellbeing both physical and mental," Ozpin replied with a smirk.

"You know Oz, you scare me sometimes and not in a good way."

/-/

"Tell me, Jaune, anything interesting happen since our last session together?" Dr. Oobleck inquired.

Jaune sat in his usual spot on the couch across from the Doctor. Due to a mission her team was currently on Coco was absent, something Jaune secretly appreciated at the moment. While he did feel grateful to her for acting as a friend and emotional support, her personality often had her coming across as rather intense sometimes. The small moments when he didn't have her prodding into his life or making terrible sexual innuendos were heaven sent as far as he was concerned. It wasn't that her jokes were bad, though. He just never felt comfortable when someone made sexual jokes, especially with how many sisters and female friends he had. The fact that the person making the jokes, however, was a girl somehow made it that much worse. You can't really call it sexist or perverted when they're making jokes about their own sex, right?

"Well, recently I sat my team down and disclosed to them what's been going on."

"A wise decision, I'm sure. Keeping your friends and teammates in the loop will go a long way to helping your condition improve. Having people you can trust and rely on is but a small step in the long journey towards healing your mind."

"I also decided to tell them about the events that lead to my condition," he admitted.

The man's reaction to his statement was something he'd come to expect from him and had in part somewhat predicted. Oobleck had stopped in the middle of drinking his tea, his expression never wavering as his freehand moved to his pen and pad of paper. From behind his thick glasses Jaune could feel the man's eyes on him, studying him. It was strange as, before he would have found the action a bit creepy but now he was almost used to it. Almost.

"So you decided to tell them everything," Oobleck said, carefully setting his cup down as he repositioned himself.

"Yep," Jaune replied, nodding his head in unison with his answer.

"Might I ask what it was that motivated you to reveal such sensitive information?"

Despite the man's caution in the way he asked the question, Jaune knew what he was getting at. He was curious as to why Jaune would have revealed something so personal to himself that he'd kept it bottled up, hidden, to the point that it had burst forth in a rather violent display. He'd kept that information so guarded that he'd been rather hesitant to it reveal to Oobleck when they first began their sessions. Hell, he'd even had an outburst when his own partner had attempted to learn more about it at one point. What really stuck out to him at this point, however, was the fact that he too felt somewhat curious as to why he'd so willingly offered to share his past with so many people.

At the time he'd told himself it was due to his nerves. Having only just begun his sessions with Oobleck, he was riding a high at the time. His confidence and thereby his willingness to open up to his friends was at a point where he felt it was a now or never situation. That was what he'd told himself at the time, at least. Now, though, with the benefit of hindsight, he wasn't quite sure that was the real reason at all. A number of answers came to mind, among which were things such as having faith that they would understand or would be willing to work with him once they knew what was happening. Still, a more cynical part of him had expected and almost even wanted them to reject to him, to be repulsed by what he told them, as if to give himself an excuse to say he had been right to keep this all to himself from the start.

He decided to reveal all of this to the Doctor. He expected the man had wanted only one answer but he was curious as well to know the why behind his actions himself. For a long time he'd thought he'd known himself better than anyone else. Now, however, he was quickly becoming aware that there were things about himself, about his mind, that he was quite unsure about. The more he knew the better off he would be or so he hoped.

"What do you think? Which one is the actual reason?" Jaune asked.

"I don't think I can safely say that it was anyone reason at all Mr. Arc. On the contrary, I'm more certain that your reasons for revealing this to your friends was all of those reasons combined."

"I'm not quite sure I understand," Jaune said confused.

"Jaune, if there's one thing you should know, when it comes to understanding the human psyche and thereby our own psyche by extension, you'll seldom if ever find that there is only one explanation related to the outcome of what makes our minds so special.

You stated that you had assumed your initial reasoning for sharing your past with them was because you were afraid you would loose your nerve and that with the passing of time your confidence and willingness to share would slowly diminish."

"Initially, yes," Jaune admitted. "I'm guessing you think otherwise?"

"Yes and no. To be fair I must admit that I agree with your initial assessment. However, I also believe that your intentions were a mixture of all of your feelings. I don't think you would have been able to go through with your plan had you not had faith in your friends to listen and try to understand the pain you've been keeping hidden from them all this time. I'm also certain that part of you wanted or even hoped one or more of them would react poorly as a means of giving yourself an excuse to recede back into yourself. The truth of the matter is your decision to reveal your past to your friends was something of a checkpoint in terms of your development. The results of which would undoubtedly determine whether or not you continued to move forward with this treatment or regressed."

"So what you're saying is that I used my friends as a means of subconsciously determining if I wanted to continue my therapy?" Jaune asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Oobleck replied. "I highly doubt that you intended or planned to use your friends in such a manner. This is, after all, uncharted territory for you. Your willingness to push forward and the fear you no doubt have of having to face down the specters of your past are all hurtles your having to face. It's not uncommon for our subconscious minds to find reasons to avoid what it perceives as a present danger to your overall health and ability to function."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at doc," Jaune confessed.

"Have you ever heard of the fight or flight instinct?"

"Yea, that's where your initial reaction to something you see as a threat is to either fight or run from it, right?"

"Precisely. Ordinarily this response is triggered by something physical like a person attacking you or a large object making its way in your direction. Your mind's initial reaction to this perceived danger is meant as a survival tactic which is based off of past experiences. If your initial reaction is to fight, then your subconscious believes you can defeat or overcome the threat without any danger to yourself. However, if your reaction is to run then either you're incapable or not confident enough in your own strength to face it head on and running is your best option for survival. This response, however, is not limited to physical dangers but can also be equated to psychological dangers as well."

"Wait, wait, are you saying that my reasoning behind telling my friends everything was based off my subconscious firing off the fight or flight response?"

"Exactly," Oobleck concluded. "While it may appear odd, when you take a step back and analyze the situation you'll come to understand it more clearly. Your desire to reveal and analyze your team's response to the tragedy you faced was integral to you deciding if you would press forward or not. If their response was positive, supportive, and empathic then you would push forward or fight in this case. However, if they rejected you in some way or saw you as someone who was broken or damaged then you would undoubtedly have receded in a flight response."

"Huh," Jaune said, mulling the explanation around in his mind for a bit. "That sort of makes sense, though it still sounds a bit odd."

"I don't doubt that it does, Mr. Arc," Oobleck agreed. "The fact of the matter is there's a great deal yet that we don't understand about the mind itself. Even your response to your fight or flight instinct would have been something you could have overwritten entirely. After all, just because we are scarred of something and therefore feel the urge to run from it doesn't mean that we'll run every time. Sometimes we can choose to fight it instead and find that we were in fact able to overcome it. The same can be said here. Regardless of your team's response to what you told them, the decision to continue with our sessions was entirely up to you. Even had their reception been a negative experience, whether or not it impacted your desire to heal and press forward would have been something only you can decide. In a way, while much of what we do may be dictated by instinct, Humans have shown an incredible capacity to override those instincts and choose for ourselves how the situation will unfold."

"I see," Jaune mussed.

"Another thing to consider is the fact that your decision to face your trauma head on may very well help to inspire others to do so later down the line."

"Hmm? How so?"

"You recall how Miss Adel was assigned to you as a sort of mentor figure?"

"Yes, I think she mentioned she'd been to see you for certain events that happened on a previous mission," he said, though in truth he was skimming on the information. In reality Coco had disclosed the details surrounding the events to him. It had been hard to listen to and even harder to imagine having to go through that.

"Having gone through an experience similar to yours, I knew her experience would make her an ideal candidate to act as a confidant and councilor should I be unavailable."

"Ideal?" Jaune questioned. "No offense sir but I think you and I have very different criteria for what makes someone an ideal match for mentorship."

Oobleck chuckled softly at the comment, showing that he wasn't at all offended by Jaune's remark.

"I'll admit she can be somewhat eccentric," he said, ignoring Jaune's raised eyebrow, "however, I find that's part of her charm. Her unwillingness to leave you alone means you'll never find yourself without someone willing to offer you their hand when you find yourself drowning in your depression and regrets. You may not need it now but at some point you might and you'll no doubt be grateful to have her there when you need her most."

/-/

"Welcome back," Pyrrha greeted as he entered their dorm. "How was the session?"

"Are you sure that's an appropriate question to ask?" Ren inquired, "These sessions are confidential so I'm not sure if asking him how it went is something we're allowed to do."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Pyrrha quickly apologized, her face turning red from embarrassment.

"It's fine Ren," Jaune said, giving the man a look that merely had the boy shrug in response. "Given that I'm technically the patient, I'm allowed to reveal however much I want to whomever I want. It's one of the reasons I told you all about my past."

"That's right, there are no secrets between the members of team JNPR," Nora butted in, "at least, not any more, right?"

"That was the only big secret I had, Nora. I've nothing else left to hide from you all," admitted.

"That's good to hear," Pyrrha said, sounding surprisingly relieved.

"By the way, where's Jade?" he asked, only just now realizing his sister wasn't present.

"She's over in team RWBY's dorm," Ren replied.

"Still reading with Blake?"

"No, she's with Weiss actually," Pyrrha informed him. "She apparently had something important to discuss with her."

"Ah, she must be telling her about our decision to have Weiss act as her temporary sword fighting instructor while I'm busy with my sessions."

"You asked Weiss to train Jade for you?"

"She volunteered actually," he replied, registering the surprise on Pyrrha's face when he said it. "It was just after I'd told everyone about what had happened at Ansel. When you all left for the cafeteria, she took me aside and volunteered her services as an instructor. She said she wanted to use it as a means of properly apologizing for how she'd first acted around us in place of her initial apology at Jade's birthday party."

"Oh, I see," Pyrrha said, sounding surprisingly disappointed as she said it. "I had planned on offering my services but I see that she beat me to it."

"So, what does everyone have planned for the break before our second semester?" Ren cut in as he noticed the mood of the room take a noticeable nose dive.

"I'll be returning to Mistral to meet with some of my sponsors as well as see my family. I haven't been with them in quite some time and I'm looking forward to spending time with them again," Pyrrha said, grateful for the escape he'd provided.

"Where in Mistral does your family live?" Jaune asked.

"Argus. It's actually where I trained before coming to Beacon."

"Really? My sister lived there with her wife and son."

"Oh? Maybe I'll look them up when I'm home," she said hopefully.

"Um, you won't need to. They were visiting us in Ansel when… you know."

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- "Pyrrha started, flustered once again.

"It's fine, Pyrrha, it's fine. Just focus on spending some quality time with your family. I know they'll appreciate having you home again."

"R-right," she said. "What about you and Jade? What will you two be doing?" she asked, hoping to divert the subject away from herself.

"We'll be heading back to Ansel."

"You're going home?" Ren asked, curious.

"Yes. I had always planned on returning, not only to see if there was anything else I could salvage from wreckage but also so we could pay our respects. I want to take the time for Jade and I to properly mourn our family's passing. I had also planned on burying them if I could but Professor Ozpin informed me he pulled some strings and managed to call in a few favors. He apparently has a surprise waiting for us when we visit."

"That sounds nice," Ren replied.

"I wish I could go with you," Pyrrha said, "so I could pay my respects as well," she quickly added.

"We'll probably have to plan for that next year," he said. "We could all go as a team, make it a training mission along the way."

"That sounds like a nice idea," Ren agreed.

"I like the way you think fearless leader," Nora piped in.

"Next year? Why not next semester?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, at the end of next semester I'll probably be joining you on your flight back to Argus," he replied.

"W-what?" she stammered. "W-why would you be visiting Argus?" she asked, blushing hard as her mind filled in the blanks with suggestive images. The fact that she could see Nora standing off to the side with a shit eating grin wiggling her eyebrows didn't help matters either.

"Well, when my older sister Saphron, she's the one who lived in Argus with her wife and son, passed I found out later they had a last will and testament. Naturally they'd intended for everything to go to their son when they passed but," he paused, finding it hard to say what they all knew was the reality, "fact is, as their last living relative everything they owned has been passed to me, including their home."

There was a momentary pause as everyone took the time to register what he'd just said. It didn't take long before someone (Nora obviously) broke the silence.

"You mean you guy's already have your own house!" she squealed excitedly.

"Technically, yes, given that they'd already paid for it in full otherwise it would have gone back to the bank along with all of their assets."

"It seems that in spite of terrible events there is a silver lining to this," Ren pointed out.

"Yea, that's what I thought," Jaune said. "Before I had always planned on getting a decent sized apartment for Jade and I when I graduated. Now, though, we have an actual home we can operate out of. It's strange to think about but, in a way, my family is still finding ways to provide for us even though they're no longer here."

"And it's in Argus, where Pyrrha lives," Nora said, slinking up to the redhead, "which means she'll be able to visit you whenever she wants," she continued, her words causing the champion's blush to deepen to the point it matched her hair.

"Oh, that's right, I'd almost forgotten about that. You know, now that I think about it, why don't you all come to stay with us?"

"Huh!?" Pyrrha blurted out.

"Nora, Ren, you two don't have anything permanent outside of Beacon, do you?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no. Being orphans ourselves, our choices for lodging was severally limited. We'd actually been considering staying at Beacon as that's an option for students in our position. I'm guessing this is your way of offering your hospitality."

"Of course," Jaune said excitedly. "We'll have been a team for a year by that point so living together won't be a problem, even if one of us will have alternative accommodations," he said, glancing over at Pyrrha. "The house has plenty of guest rooms so you'll each have your own room to yourselves. Not only that but we could also invite team RWBY to come visit as well."

"Alright, house warming party!" Nora said excitedly.

"That sounds grand," Pyrrha said, her voice sounding anything but excited as she quickly realized she'd soon have more people to contend for Jaune's attention aside from Jade.

"I have to admit, I think this is an excellent idea," Ren agreed.

"Yea- uh, oh crude," Jaune said, his voice quickly registering disappointment as his expression began to register something he'd only just realized.

"What is it?"

"The fridge?"

"The fridge?" Pyrrha echoed.

"At my sister's house," he said with a grimace.

"Oh? OH!" she yelped.

Ren and Nora quickly caught on, their own expressions sympathetic with Jaune's own. The one unfortunate thing they hadn't considered was the fact that, in the time between them being in school and actually traveling to Argus, there would be a refrigerator and pantry stocked with food. A refrigerator and pantry without power, unable to keep heir products fresh. Jaune hazarded a glance at his teammates only to find them averting their own gazes to look at anything else but him.

"Go Team JNPR, eh guys?"

"You know, on second thought, perhaps it would be best if Nora and I stayed at Beacon this year," Ren suggested.

"What Renny said," Nora chimed in.

"My sponsors will no doubt have a lot they want to go over with me which won't leave me with much free time," Pyrrha added.

"YOU DAMN TRAITORS!"

Actually managed to finish this one earlier than expected and make it longer too. Truth be told I had started working on this a while back, not long after I finished the previous chapter, and simply left it where is was until I came around to it again. I had an idea (the opening portion at the beginning) and I wanted to write it down before I forgot.

One of the things I had wanted to have was Weiss acting as Jade's sword instructor. I quickly realized how awkward it would be to have Jaune train her while going to therapy sessions. I considered Pyrrha but figure "she's a championship fighter, that's going to be a little difficult to manage, especially with a five-year-old." That's when I came up with the idea for Weiss to volunteer. Her reasons for volunteering actually came while I was writing it which was perfect as I wanted to make it believable rather than the "Pyrrha's a champion fighter, not a teacher" excuse.

Jaune's reasons for inheriting his sister's home in Argus was something I had planned of saving for later down the line. I figured it would have been funny for team RWBY to show up after JNPR were there for a while only to find out he had a house already. Granted, this will probably be one of the few chapters that I talk about it until we get to the Atlas arc so I may still have that option. We'll just have to wait and see.

Next chapter is going to be something of a time jump. Nothing to big, just the beginning of the new semester. It'll be picking up with volume 2 where I have some interesting interactions and character developments waiting for Jade. I'm having a lot of fun with her character. Still difficult for me to make her not too childish while also not too mature. Writing for kids can be hard sometimes, especially when you don't have a whole lot of interactions with them on a daily basis. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Leave me a review of your thoughts and I'll be sure to answer any question people leave me so long as they don't spoil the story.