Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY it's owned by Rooster Teeth and I make no profit from this.

Well here I am back again after a long hiatus in a few fandom. Took me some time to get inspired again but I want to give this story a shot. Yes this is a Yang x Jaune story, there will also be some Sun x Blake going on. Not sure if there will be others but we'll see how the story goes. This starts off right after the end of Season Five.

Also please excuse any spelling/grammar errors I do my best but the sneaky buggers tend to slip through at times and I don't have time for a beta.

Heart to Heart

Chapter 1: The Broken

Yang Xiao Long was walking the halls of Haven Academy in Mistral. It had been a hell of a long day, the fight with Cinder and her people, dealing with her mom, the things that were said, getting that Relic (which they had no idea what it actually did) plus all the other things that had happened. Blake was back and her team was reunited since Beacon's fall. It felt good to have everyone back together again, like pieces of their lives had been returned to them.

Yang smiled at the memory of just them hugging each other, no words were needed between them in that moment. They were together and that was all they needed. Of course things still hadn't calmed down even after the battle. The White Fang had to be rounded up and dealt with, the authorities wanted to know just what in the hell was going on. It didn't help that the school's head master Leonardo Lionheart was a traitor but was later found dead in his office.

Yang didn't hear how but from what she did overhear it hadn't been a pretty death.

So with everything they were going to have to stay here until both the authorities were satisfied that things were settled and everyone needed a break. Qrow also needed to help plan for a way for them to get to Atlas, since the whole country was now on lock down it wasn't as easy as just getting a boat or flight there. Qrow said he had some contacts he wanted to try out so they were all pretty much waiting to see what happened with that.

Although it was getting late, Yang just didn't feel like sleeping just yet. She was too wound up with everything, her mind was just full of things that wouldn't quiet down. So she had decided to head to the training room that was close to the dorms and blow off some steam.

Looking around the place was so different from Beacon, while Beacon had this modern style to it with all the stone and artistic style to everything. This place felt older with all the wooden structures and the design of it all. She came to the door that would slide open when she heard sounds coming from the other side.

"Apparently I'm not the only one that thought to burn the midnight oil." She reached for the door but froze.

"Alright Jaune, just liked we practiced…"

"Pyrrha!?" Yang whispered feeling like Weiss had just sent a shard of ice into her chest. It couldn't be, she was gone!

She pulled open the door and there stood Jaune Arc swinging his sword.

"…Shield up, keep your grip tight, don't forget to keep your right foot forward…"

Yang's eyes widened seen the voice come from Jaune's scroll as on it was a video of Pyrrha. Yang felt a pang in her heart for her friend. Yang hadn't heard that she had died until a few days after she had woken up in the hospital.

She stood there watching as Jaune completed the instructions from the video but then Pyrrha paused. She looked like she wanted to say something but that was when Jaune came over and paused the video and sighed.

Jaune looked at the frozen image on the screen, he had lost count of how many times he had seen this. He had memorized it by now but mainly he just played it because he wanted to hear her voice again. It hurt so much that she was gone, like someone had ripped a part of him away. He missed her so much plus he didn't want to hear that last part again.

He knew what she had wanted to say, looking back on their relationship he felt so stupid for not seeing it. He never thought that someone like his friend Pyrrha had those kinds of feelings for him but in that moment when she kissed him his eyes had been opened. It was also the last moment he saw her alive. He wasn't sure what hurt more, all the time they could have had together or all that was taken from them before they had even gotten started with a relationship.

Yang could see Jaune's slumped shoulders and could see the boy was in pain. Pain was something Yang was all too familiar with lately. Plus Jaune had always been the bright spot of team JNPR seeing him like this didn't seem right. So she stepped into the room to make her presence known.

"Seems like you and me had the same idea." She spoke up and had to admit, it was kind of funny seeing Jaune jump in surprise and looked at her startled.

"Y-Yang?"

"That's my name," she smiled at him and then looked at the scroll before her face took on a slightly more somber tone. "It was nice of her to give you something to help you with training."

Jaune looked at the scroll and nodded. "Yeah, it helped."

"I'll say," Yang grinned. "I didn't catch it all since we were all kind of fighting but you really did get better last time I saw you."

"You think?" Jaune looked at her surprised and actually kind of flattered. Yang was one of the strongest people he knew and her saying that had some weight to it.

"Yep," she grinned as she stretched out he shoulders, "So let's just see how much."

"What?"

"Come on, I came to get in a workout and you're already here." Yang went into the center of the room and got into her fighting stance. "Plus you can only get so good practicing the same thing. If you really want to get better it's best to train with someone else."

Jaune took a breath and went to meet her, honestly he wasn't sure how long he could last against Yang. Back at Beacon he had only fought her a few times in the combat classes and all those times she had laid him out flat in a few seconds. But he wasn't the same person he was back then, he had grown, he just wasn't sure by how much.

Getting his sword and shield up he faced off against her. He knew that Yang liked to start off a fight he would wait to see what she did and then counter. He took a few measured breaths as he watched the blonde in front of him watching him.

He paused as he realized that Yang was sizing him up instead of just charging in, that was different. It didn't last long as with the familiar 'bang' of her weapons launched her forward.

Yang launched herself with her right arm cocked back for a punch. Jaune raised his shield but instead of taking the full force like she thought he would he deflected her fist. She saw him twist around as he spun and came at her with his sword. Internally she smirked, he had learned a few things since Beacon.

Well so had she.

She lowered her body and rolled foreword as she could feel the blade pass over her head. She twisted with the roll and kicked forward. She Jaune making another swing at her as she raised her metal arm to take the blow. Before she lost her arm, she would use the Ember Celica that would have been there to block but now with her artificial arm she had a couple of new options.

Jaune's eyes widened as Yang caught his blade with her hand, holding on to it. He wasn't used to fighting someone that didn't have to worry about being cut but he couldn't worry about that now. Yang's other hand came in as she was getting ready to fire at point blank. Jaune twisted his body so that the blast just grazed the armor of his back.

He planted his feet and with all his strength slammed himself and his shield of his left arm into Yang's body. She was rocked back letting go of his blade as the two paused for a moment. Yang had on a smile on her face as she rolled her shoulders.

"Nice, back in Beacon you would have been out flat by now." She raised her arms getting ready for the next round.

Jaune got himself prepared, "Thanks."

He knew however, he couldn't keep this up. Against someone like Yang, he would have to give a solid blow with everything he had but the problem was landing it and making it stick. While his endurance and aura were both higher than normal, Yang could take a beating and send it back with force. The longer this fight went the more it would eventually go in her favor.

Yang came foreword with the flurry of punches and it took Jaune everything he had to dodge and deflect them, she was pushing him back with every blow and he knew she was trying to get him to the outside of the training ring.

He could have to do something crazy and unexpected as he needed a few seconds to pull off what he had planned.

Yang cocked her weapon on her left arm and charged forward, Jaune was putting up a pretty decent fight. She had better but given how she remembered how he used to be this was a pleasant surprise. Although if he stayed on defense she knew she was going to blow through it eventually. She threw out a left hand straight and fired but noticed too late he wasn't dodging it. He ran forward towards her, it was too late to pull back or stop herself from firing.

He angled his shield up as he ducked his head behind it, most of the force of her blast was sent up blinding Yang for a moment. That was when Jaune put as much effort into a side kick that he could into her stomach. Yang felt the blow as she jumped back, that had been a solid hit on her as she looked up to see Jaune's shield fold in.

He placed his sword into it as he came forward and in and wide over headed arc the blade transformed in the middle of the swing. She had seen him use this 'great sword' mode in the battle. She was pretty sure her new arm could take the blow, after all it was supposed to be top of the line military unit but she didn't want to take the chance.

Getting spare parts with Atlas' borders closed would be a pain in the ass.

So she went with option B, she knew that in the past she would charge in but not this time. She fired her gauntlet in front of her making her go back as the large blade buried itself into the ground.

"Oh no," Jaune looked as where Yang had been with his sword down and looked up just in time to see the blonde coming at him like a missile. The sword while stronger in this form was also slower because of the size and weight. He tried to bring it up but he wasn't fast enough as Yang's fist slammed into his chest.

His aura flared as he landed five feet away onto his back.

"Ow." He said lamely looking up at the ceiling.

Yang walked over to him looking down at Jaune. "Not bad."

"Really?" He asked looking up at her.

"Yeah," she smiled as she offered him a hand. He took it as she helped him to his feet. "You really did get stronger while I wasn't looking."

"It's been a long trip," He said going to the side with the benches and sat down. He had left a water bottle there and he eagerly took a few gulps.

"From what I hear, yeah it was," Yang sat down next to him remembering all the stories they had told each other when everyone was catching up. "Still can't believe you guys fought a Grimm that was half horse and half humanoid."

"Yeah it wasn't easy," Jaune told her. "Qrow said it was called a, uh…Nuckle-something. I can't remember, he said it was really rare type of Grimm and pretty nasty. I can attest to the nasty part."

"Well from our little spar I can see that you must have held your own." Yang nudged him with her shoulder.

"Thanks," he had a small smile but Yang noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Jaune seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders lately as Yang took a close look at him. He wasn't the clumsy goofball he had been, well okay, he still was but he had matured since she last saw him.

"Hey what's up? You seem kind of down or something." She asked him nudging his shoulder with her own.

Jaune glanced at her and slumped his shoulders. "You know sometimes I wish I was more like you."

"What, a girl?" She teased him.

"W-what!? No," He shifted a little uncomfortably. "I mean, you're always so confident and you're strong too. I just wish I was more like that, then maybe…never mind."

Yang was silent a moment, she and Jaune were never really the closest of friends but looking at him now she could see he was hurting. She knew this because despite everything, she was still hurting herself. "I'm not as strong as you might think Jaune."

He looked over at her as Yang stared at her artificial hand.

"You're right, I was fearless but I was also arrogant. I thought I was invisible that nothing could touch me or hurt me. I charged ahead without a care in the world and was ready to beat down anything that got in my way."

Yang sighed, "But I paid for it. I lost more than my arm Jaune. You said I'm fearless but the truth is after that day I'm not. I'm scared Jaune, I'm scared a lot but I hide it because I don't want Ruby and the others to worry. I get so scared that I sometimes I have to nearly grit my teeth and force it down, I have to keep my legs from wanting to run away. I get nightmares too."

"Yang…I had no idea," Jaune said softly.

"That's kind of the point," Yang looked up at the ceiling. "I didn't want anyone to worry but I feel…broken inside sometimes."

"Yeah." Jaune looked down at the ground. "I know how that feels too."

Yang had a sad little smile on her face when she looked at him. "That's why I'm telling you and you better not tell anyone else or so help me."

"I won't, you have my word." Jaune said quickly. "And an Arc never goes back on their word."

"So I hear," Yang gave a small laugh. "Still feels kind of nice getting that off my shoulders, even just a little."

Jaune wondered about that, he had been keeping a lot of things lately. Looking at the bottle in his hands he was wondering to voice something that had been nagging him since the battle. Maybe he needed someone to ask, if only he could get some kind of answer.

"Yang, am I a good person?" Jaune asked her.

She was surprised by that, "Well yeah, you're Jaune. Mr. Nice Guy is kind of your thing."

"I'm not so sure," He paused thinking he had come this far. "I wanted to kill Cinder you know. Not hurt her, or take her in for what she did. I actually wanted to kill another person Yang and I don't know how to feel about it. I can't see myself just killing another human being but with her, with her I can and it kind of scares me."

Yang wasn't sure how to answer that, "She did kill your partner…if that Adam jerk had killed Blake or if Weiss or Ruby were killed…I think I would feel the same."

Jaune felt a bit better about that but he wasn't sure Yang knew the full reason. "I actually had this whole thing planned out you know. I wanted to avenge Pyrrha, I wanted to face Cinder and make her pay for what she did. You remember what she said when I faced with her?"

Yang nodded her head. Thinking back on that moment Jaune had tears in his eyes facing that woman and she hadn't even known who he was. All that pain she had caused him and she didn't even bother to remember those that she hurt.

"I was still too weak to stop her," Jaune signed taking a moment to try and not get too emotional but it was hard. All the pain was still inside of him even after Cinder was gone. At least everyone thought she was, only Yang came back up from below and had said only Raven had been standing when she got there.

"I always feel weak and helpless Yang," His voice cracked a bit. "Weiss nearly died because I was too weak to stop Cinder, hell she got hurt because Cinder wanted to make me feel more pain."

She took his hand in hers, "Jaune you saved her. Weiss is still alive with us because of you."

"I know," Jaune still stared down at the ground. "Thankfully I finally unlocked my semblance but I still can't help wondering. If I was stronger she might not have been in danger, maybe if I was stronger back then I could have saved Pyrrha, maybe she wouldn't have sent me away to face Cinder on her own."

"Jaune, I don't know exactly what happened to you on that night but I know Pyrrha." She said. "She was the type to carry the entire world on her shoulders if she felt it would save those she cared about. You were her partner and she didn't want to see you get hurt."

He figured that Yang didn't know just how Pyrrha felt, hell he hadn't until it was too late. He was wondering if anyone did.

"Pyrrha was in love with me you know," Jaune said softly.

"What?" Yang's eyes widened. She always felt that the red headed woman cared for Jaune but loved him?

"She kissed me that night."

"Like…on the cheek or,"

"On my lips Yang, she kissed me and then pushed me into a locker and sent me away," He felt a tear fall on his face as the image replayed again in his mind. "That was the last I ever saw of her."

Yang was struck speechless, she had no idea this had happened. "Jaune…did you love Pyrrha?"

He was silent for a moment.

"I don't know…" He admitted. "I loved her as my partner, as my friend but I think…I think I could have loved her like she wanted, like she deserved. She was just gone before I could sort out my feelings. That's one of the reasons I hated Cinder so much, she took her away and she took what could have been."

"All those times I was after Weiss, it must have killed her inside," Jaune hated the thought that he had caused her pain even inadvertently.

"You didn't know Jaune."

"I wish I did," he signed wiping his face and took out his scroll. "I really wish I had known…"

He played the video as Yang watched, it was strange seeing her on the screen just like Yang remembered her. It hurt a bit seeing Pyrrha on the screen of his scroll rather in person. Hearing her praise Jaune on the message, about how hard he worked and how far he had come made Yang agree with the girl.

He had come a long way from that first day he had puked on the air ride into Beacon.

"Jaune…I…I…I just want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you Jaune."

"Oh Pyrrha," Yang whispered feeling the sting in her eyes. The girl had tried to confess her feelings, she could see it in the video after what Jaune had told her. All this time Pyrrha had kept her feelings locked up until it was too late.

Jaune stopped the video and looked at her face, he had memorized her face by this point never wanting to forget her. He wiped his eyes as he felt his heart breaking all over again.

"Sorry," he said looking away.

"It's okay," Yang told him softly.

There was a pause between the two of them before Yang broke the silence.

"We're both pretty messed up huh?"

"Yeah, what's that saying about misery loving company?"

Yang got a small smile, "Well at least we got each other to bring us down."

Jaune looked at her now looking into those lilac colored eyes. He could see the pain behind them, the same he saw when he looked into a mirror some days. He reached out and took her robotic hand in his.

"I still think you're one of the strongest people I know Yang." He honestly said as she looked at him in his eyes. "Even after everything you've gone through you're still here. You came after Ruby to help her out, despite all the dangers."

"Not at first," She looked down at her feet. "I was stuck in my bed feeling sorry for myself when my sister needed me."

"After everything no one could blame you Yang."

"I blame myself," Yang signed and looked up at him. "I took me time to work up the nerve to get on my bike and look for her. Jaune, I wanted to thank you for being there for her when I couldn't be. When I struggled to get out of bed despite everything you went through, you were out there for Ruby."

"I couldn't just let her go alone," Jaune felt his face warm up a bit at the praise.

"Still, you said I'm strong but you're strong too Jaune," Yang squeezed his hand slightly. "Don't think you're not strong because you're strong when it counts. You are always there for your friends no matter what the danger. So I don't want to hear any more about you being 'weak' okay?"

He gave a small smile. "Only if you promise the same."

"Okay, so we'll keep each other in check then, deal?"

He nodded his head. "Deal."

"Great," she smiled at him looking at him again. "You know you've come a long way from that guy that threw up on my boots."

Jaune rolled his eyes and signed letting go of her hand. "Am I ever going to live that down? I didn't know I get air sick, it was my first ever flight."

"Nope, the Vomit Boy nickname will live on forever," she joked and nearly laughed seeing him pout at her. It was just so adorable, like a puppy. "Okay well since we're stuck here until, however long it is for things to settle how about I help out with your physical training?"

"Really?" He asked perking up a bit.

"Hell yeah, we can also work on some hand to hand if you want." She paused thinking about it. "We can even get Weiss and Blake to help with your sword skills since I don't know anything about that."

"Thanks Yang that would actually be helpful." Jaune told her.

"Hey we blondes need to stick together," She smiled as she got up and stretched out. "Well after all that emotional baggage and soul searching I'm feeling emotionally drained."

"Yeah same," he got up. "I feel like I could sleep now."

Yang nodded her head. "Yeah the girls will most likely be wondering where I am. Ruby got a room for all four of use picked out so we can sleep together like we used to." It had been so long since the four of them had been together. She knew things couldn't go back to the way they used to be but that didn't mean they couldn't bring back some of the good times with them into the future.

As the two walked back to the dorm rooms they had a comfortable silence between the two of them. They had shared a lot with each other and Yang felt like they had grown closer as friends because of it. Maybe they were both broken inside but maybe tonight a few of the pieces had started to get fixed.

TBC…