AN: For those of you who are like me and can't take a sad ending to such a happy story... this is for you.

This was wrong. Everything was wrong. Beacon was supposed to be a bright light shining against the darkness of the world, right? That was the whole point of the name, wasn't it?

The night was black and suffocating. The air was filled with snarls and roars, Grimm everywhere he looked.

Whatever light Beacon was supposed to represent was getting snuffed out.

Some kind of monstrous dragon Grimm had taken to the sky above the academy, raining droplets of inky black that morphed into even more of the creatures, feeding the already massive stream of them.

There was fire and rubble and ruin and chaos and so much else that it was making his head spin.

Jaune Arc had no idea how it had come to this. Things had been so crazy lately. Everything was just one after another, spiraling out of control.

First the fight with Mercury. Then Pyrrha and Penny. Then that woman stole the broadcast, somehow turned the Atlesian robots against them, and of course the White Fang had joined the party too because why not? At this point Jaune actually had to wonder what else could go wrong, just out of a morbid kind of curiosity.

It was a mess, all of it was just a mess.

But they had to fight, they had to win. Somehow. The other option was to lay down and die, and not a single person here was going to be taking that path.

Everyone around him, from his own team JNPR to the others competing in the Vytal tournament, had picked up their weapons and taken the fight straight to the enemy.

The Grimm were dying, that was for sure, but there just wasn't any limit to the monsters. More just kept on coming.

Still, they readied their weapons again as more Grimm came charging towards them. It was going to be a hard fight, but with all of them working together surely they could hold out.

They weren't going to be giving up so easily.

But then Pyrrha had seen Professor Ozpin standing in the entrance to the tower, and something changed.

Jaune didn't get it. What were they doing? Ozpin was the Headmaster, he had to be an amazing fighter. Why was he standing there instead of helping?

And why was Pyrrha going to him? Why did she seem to be so out of it all of a sudden? He'd noticed her acting strange, lately, like something was weighing on her shoulders... but she'd thrown him into a wall and Jaune figured it was a topic he couldn't afford to push her on.

Was that what this was about? What the heck was going on?

"Where is she going?" Nora asked, confusion and concern clear in her voice. Hammer slung over her shoulder, the ginger girl looked to him for advice.

"I'll go find out." Jaune answered immediately, looking towards her and his other teammate in Ren. He tried to stay steady, keep what little authority he actually had intact as he addressed his team. His leader voice, as Nora called it. "You two stay here and keep fighting." He should be out here with them, fighting with them, but Pyrrha was his partner and something was going on.

They seemed unsure, and Jaune couldn't blame them. Pyrrha was the best fighter of them all, the Invincible girl. She should be out here fighting too, but something had come over her.

Whatever it was, Jaune had to make sure she got a hold of herself before it was too late.

He wasn't about to abandon Nora and Ren out here, not in a million years. But Jaune was the least dangerous person on their team and he knew it. Losing him wasn't as bad as losing one of the others on the surface.

Losing him and Pyrrha, though...

This had better be something good, Jaune thought to himself as he made after his read headed teammate and the headmaster.

He caught up to them quickly, falling into step as their pace quickened. Ozpin spared him a glance from behind those spectacles of his, but said nothing to object him coming along.

As if he had a choice. Jaune was not going to let Pyrrha walk away from an active battlefield on her own, following their Headmaster who should also be out there fighting.

He wasn't stupid. Pyrrha wasn't a coward and neither was Ozpin. They weren't running away, they were running towards something. He just didn't know what.

That scared Jaune more than he would like to admit. But he carried on. He had to, not just for his sake, but for his team and everyone else. If whatever they were heading towards was the key to turning the fight around, then he would make damn sure they got to it.

Their path led them to an elevator, and that took them below Beacon's tower, down to a level Jaune didn't even know existed.

Nothing but the sound of footsteps echoed around them, neither Ozpin nor Pyrrha wanted to speak up. For his part, Jaune just didn't know what to say.

Until they came to the door, and came to what lied behind it. "What is this place?" He asked dazedly, running after Pyrrha and the headmaster as they made for whatever their destination was. Polished tiled floors, walls lined with stone columns and lit torches. The whole place had a green tint to it, and it felt... eerie. There was something that just felt wrong about this place, to him. It was ominous, imposing, and it felt like the world was pushing down on his shoulders.

What was this? Why was it under the school?

Jaune expected the Headmaster to either ignore him or explain, either or really.

He didn't expect Pyrrha to be the one who piped up. "It's... a type of vault." She said, her voice sounding choked as though the words were hard to get out, guilty like she'd kept a terrible secret from him.

Jaune almost paused in his step, but managed to keep up. "You've been here before?" That didn't add up. Why would Pyrrha know about this place, this vault? "What would the school need to... hide." He trailed off, coming to a stop before the machine at the end of this lengthy hallway.

It was like something straight out of a sci-fi film. Two strange pods, one standing open and the other closed. A console between them with too many buttons for him to even remotely understand what it was, connecting the two through a whole bunch of other machinery he couldn't even begin to grasp. It looked like Atlas tech, maybe?

Ozpin had gone right to the console on the right, looking over the display for just a moment.

"What?" Jaune mumbled, looking the whole thing over bemusedly. What was this? And who was in that other pod? "Who..?" He trailed off as he caught site of the other person down here, finally getting a good look at who was inside.

Amber. He would recognize her anywhere, he couldn't ever have forgotten her.

He hadn't mentioned her to anyone. Didn't even really know how to bring the topic up. No one really asked about his trip to Beacon, just about his time at home or the present day. And somehow, he just didn't feel like he should mention her. She always seemed cautious, always kept on the move, so surely she wouldn't appreciate him blabbing about her.

But Jaune still thought about Amber every day. How could he not? Seeing her again, the promise they had made? That was something he lived for, something he fought for. She was the whole reason he had even made it here in the first place, and he meant that literally now that he realized Aura was a thing. Without her, his Auraless self would probably be Grimm chow from the trip.

Even just waking up in the morning reminded him of her, because he'd felt complete that morning when he woke up with her by his side, and every day after felt like he was missing something important.

Jaune had wanted to see her again. Some days he'd daydreamed about her surprising him at Beacon, but not like this. This wasn't any kind of daydream.

It was a nightmare.

Something in him shattered in the moment he realized it was her, seeing Amber unmoving in that bizarre contraption. Why was she there, hidden away under Beacon? Why wasn't she moving? Why were her eyes closed? What happened to her?

Her face.

Oh Gods what had happened to her? It was a spiderweb scar, almost burned onto her face, it reminded him of the few times he had seen electrical burns.

Just looking at it, Jaune realized that she had to have been attacked by someone.

Someone had hurt Amber, hurt her badly, and now she was here, under Beacon and locked away in some kind of vault that the Headmaster had access to?

"Pyrrha!" Ozpin called out, breaking Jaune out of his momentary stupor. "Get to the pod!"

He sounded so harsh. Not at all calm like Ozpin usually was. Normally, that authority might have cowed him, made him give up questioning things and just let events take their course. If the situation was enough that Ozpin couldn't keep his cool, then this was definitely something important.

Yeah. Not today, though. That wasn't going to happen, because as it turned out Jaune wasn't going to be able to keep his cool either. "Don't you fucking dare!" He shouted, teeth bared and eyes narrowed in rage as he stared down the surprised Headmaster. "Before anyone does a godsdamn thing, someone is going to tell me what happened to Amber!"

He didn't curse often. A damn here, a hell there. Shit once or twice. Maybe if things were really bad he'd drop the f-bomb.

Things were pretty fucking bad today though. Penny was dead, Vale and Beacon both were under attack from the biggest swarm of Grimm he'd ever seen, a gigantic dragon Grimm that spawned more Grimm was in the air, Atlas robots were attacking their own side, and the girl he had fallen in love with was stuck in some weird machine underneath Beacon and she wasn't moving.

If he wasn't so angry and confused, maybe seeing Ozpin with a doe in the headlights look on his face would have been really satisfying. His outburst had stopped the man in his tracks for a moment.

Pyrrha also stopped abruptly, her pause both from his knowledge of the Fall Maiden and the ferocious tone he used. Her leader was typically a bit soft-spoken, even if he could come together quite well to give orders.

Never like this, though. She found her heels glued to the spot, a shiver running down her back as she turned her eyes to meet his. "Jaune..?" She asked, pushing for an explanation.

"I'm not about to just let you guys do whatever you want with the girl I love!" Jaune shouted, his gaze hard and hand grasping tightly on his weapon. "So what the hell is going on here!?"

Ozpin had recovered from the initial shock, able to get over the revelation that the Fall Maiden had somehow come into contact with the Arc teen. The revelation that came next paused him only for an additional second before he was able to carry on. "We do not have time to debate, Mr. Arc. Amber was attacked and has been rendered comatose. Her abilities are too valuable to fall into enemy hands, and must be transferred to a new host. This technology will allow us to do so." He cut straight to the heart of the matter, there was simply no time to play word games.

That was not at all the right thing to say if he wanted cooperation, though. Jaune felt like his vision tinted redder and redder as the Headmaster spoke. "Don't talk about her like she's some kind of resource for you to use! Amber is a person!" Seeing the machine, the two pods, the interface linking them, a sudden sickness came over him. Ozpin said something about transferring her powers.

Jaune only knew about two kinds of "powers" that people had. Semblances, a unique ability that some people could unlock, and then Aura that protected and empowered their bodies.

Aura was something like the energy of a soul, or something? He didn't quite know. But Jaune did know that it was important. You couldn't just take that away without expecting it so cause problems. And transferring that from Amber, who was already unconscious, to someone else?

He didn't need to know the specifics to know that he was more likely to run Ozpin through than let him go through with that.

Suddenly, that eerie feeling in the air made a lot more sense.

Pyrrha heard the Headmaster and Jaune speaking, her team leader more angry than she had ever seen him and Ozpin growing more and more impatient and frantic as time went on and she made no move from her spot.

She knew this was important. Without the power of the Fall Maiden, she couldn't protect everyone. This was the best way to do things. Amber would be killed, but she was already comatose with no sign of recovery. Her condition was stable, but there was no sign of her waking up. For all intents and purposes, she may as well have been dead.

That was how she was able to justify claiming her power. How she could stomach killing an innocent young woman to steal these Maiden powers from her, to claim them for herself.

It had worked. For the greater good, she could stomach the loss of one innocent.

And then Jaune had shattered that illusion.

Pyrrha realized in that moment that, loathe as she was to admit it, the only reason she could stomach the thought of killing Amber to take her power was because the girl wasn't anyone she knew or cared about. She wasn't sacrificing a member of her team, or any of the friends she had made at Beacon. She was doing this to protect them, that had never changed. Amber was just an unfortunate bystander, someone whose death Pyrrha could live with because it meant she could protect the people she did care about.

But just realizing Jaune knew this girl had taken the wind out of her sails entirely. How could she agree to this, sign the death warrant on someone that Jaune was close to? How could she even consider agreeing to something that would hurt him?

She felt pathetic all of a sudden, realizing in an instant how shallow her resolve had been.

And then he'd used that word. Love.

It had paralyzed her. Not only was this a girl he knew, this was someone who had claimed his heart.

That hurt even more than realizing she had only been able to pursue the greater good when it was a stranger at risk.

Pyrrha stood stock still, watching as Jaune shouted at Ozpin, who was just as frantic but for different reasons, glancing between her, Jaune, and the long hallway they had taken to reach this point.

She knew that, objectively, she should get into that pod and let Ozpin kill the Fall Maiden to transfer her powers. That was the best choice. There wasn't any other choice at all, really, except to stand around like a waste of space.

Ozpin would have to restrain Jaune, but that would take seconds at most. Her leader had improved, but Ozpin was someone Pyrrha knew to be out of her league, and she herself could still handle Jaune quickly and without issue.

The thought of how much Jaune would hate her was painful, heart wrenchingly painful, but if she didn't do it... it wouldn't just be Beacon, or him, or Ren and Nora. It would be everyone. Could she really stomach the thought of that better than the thought of killing the girl Jaune claimed to love? Was the life of this one girl really worth the lives of everyone else she cared for?

Unfortunately, though, she couldn't move. Honestly, Pyrrha couldn't even tell if she was breathing right now. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, or maybe her thoughts were just racing so fast it seemed that way.

Ozpin was facing Jaune, Jaune facing Ozpin. They were shouting, even the Headmaster no longer able to keep cool. She didn't know what they were saying. It was all gibberish to her, just as their motions were a blur. She was fairly certain the Headmaster had ordered her into the pod again, but it didn't matter. She wasn't able to move, after all. It was like something had stolen away her ability to.

Suddenly, though, something gleaming caught her eye. The world came back to her in an instant, her green eyes shooting wide and her arm moving of its own accord.

She wasn't quick enough. Standing just feet away from the pod meant for her, Pyrrha wasn't able to close the distance between herself and the gleaming black arrow.

It caught on the edge of her shield, and for a desperate moment Pyrrha Nikos hoped that she had done enough, that she had knocked the arrow off course and prevented it from striking the helpless Fall Maiden.

That hope was shattered as surely as the glass on the pod containing Amber, and the choking gasp that came from the defenseless Maiden only served to let reality sink its claws further into her.

She spared just a moment to inspect the damage, the quickest glance before she returned her attention to the new arrival.

Upper torso, a lung was struck for certain. Not instantly fatal. Treatable maybe. Especially with Aura.

Too bad there wasn't anywhere to treat her seeing as how Beacon was a warzone. And her Aura had already been weaker than it should be.

The Fall Maiden, Amber, was going to die. It wasn't a question of if any longer, that decision had been taken out of their hands.

Her grip on Miló tightened painfully as she tried to drown out the anguished cry that tore from her leader, her knuckles surely going white as she clutched the spear.

The woman in red seemed to smile wider seeing Jaune suffer.

It made Pyrrha want to hurt her.

"Ms. Nikos!" Ozpin shouted, his cane in hand. "We have minutes at most, we must strike her down now!" Without even another moment to explain himself, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy shot forward and began to do battle with the woman in red.

Jaune rushed by her, and her heart ached for him as he ran for the pod, wide blue eyes beginning to fill with desperate tears.

She couldn't console him now. But she would be sure to wipe that damned smirk from the woman who had hurt him.

Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl. Her teeth grit and her eyes narrowed as fury seeped into her.

It was time to make good on that claim.

Jaune didn't know how to open the pod Amber had been trapped inside, but that didn't matter too much because he had decided to smash it open.

The situation honestly could not get any worse, so why the hell not right?

As if he actually had the presence of mind to even think that through.

No, right now Jaune wasn't really thinking. He had been arguing with Ozpin, had seen Pyrrha move, and had a front row seat as she tried to save Amber from the arrow that had flown right by his head.

Tried. It struck her anyway.

It wasn't clean, but she wasn't dead yet.

Yet.

Jaune reached out and pulled her into his arms, careful to avoid the broken glass and brushing any of it off of her. The arrow, it was gone now. All that was left was some black powder that had apparently been what it was made of.

That was actually worse, because now she was bleeding out and nothing was stopping it.

Pulling her close to him, Jaune knelt and covered the wound with his hands. You were supposed to apply pressure to cuts, right? He didn't know what else to do, it wasn't like they had bandages or convenient medical supplies on hand, but he had to do something damn it!

She felt wrong in his arms. She was limp, her eyes fluttering between open and closed, ragged gasps of breath tearing from her lips as though each one was agony.

Jaune didn't want to face the reality that she was going to die. He just couldn't. "A-Amber..." He practically whimpered her name, never feeling more like a beaten dog than this very moment.

Things had been looking up. He'd made it to Beacon, made friends with his team and team RWBY. He'd gotten through initiation, had his Aura unlocked, and had been getting better and better as time went on. Before he wouldn't have lasted against even a Beowolf, but now Jaune would pick a fight with an Ursa pretty confidently.

It was progress. He could keep improving. Jaune had thought that would be all the better for when he finally got to see Amber again.

Instead he was here crying over her, helpless to do anything except watch her die.

"Jaune..?" He heard his name, and his eyes snapped towards her face.

Amber smiled at him weakly. "I'm glad..." She managed to wheeze out, wincing from the pain. "I didn't... think I'd see you again..."

His tears fell harder. He tried to speak, to say anything, but he just couldn't. The words just wouldn't leave his lips. What was he supposed to say to that? He wanted to be happy to see her, but how could he when he knew it would be the last time?

"I'm sorry." She mumbled again, shifting ever so slightly to meet his eyes. "N-Not even a day... and I broke my promise."

"No!" Jaune finally bit out, shaking his head frantically and trying to speak through his sobs. "This... it isn't your fault. Y-You promised we'd s-see each other again. T-That's all." They'd promised that, but he knew both of them wanted more than just to see each other again. They had wanted to overcome the obstacles in their way and be together. They wanted to try, and succeed.

Instead, they'd ended up here. They'd failed. But Jaune couldn't bear the thought of her blaming herself.

Amber smiled again. "C-Can you hold me? Like... that night. I... don't... wanna..." She hesitated to say she was dying, even though they both knew it. "Please... just one last time?"

Somehow, his leaden body found the strength to lift her into his arms. His hands abandoned their place over her wound, because both of them knew it didn't matter.

He couldn't bring himself to fight her, to deny the truth. Not when she was begging him to comfort her in her last moments.

But he just couldn't stop crying. It was so unfair. He'd been told the world wasn't a nice place so many times, but Jaune hadn't ever really understood. Even as his friends and teammates fought on the surface, against impossible odds, it hadn't really sunk in. The odds were impossible, but they were all ready to fight. It hadn't seemed so bad, because they could still fight.

Right now though, with Amber limp in his arms, Jaune was starting to see it. There wasn't anything for him to do here. No amount of training or improvement would help her now. She was dying and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

The world really wasn't a nice place, and he was finally starting to really understand that.

"... Love you, Jaune." She mumbled, gathering up what strength she had left and offering him her best smile. "I... wish it could... have lasted longer... but you made me happy." Amber leaned her head into his shoulder, eyes fluttering again. "So happy."

"I love you too." Jaune answered her softly, choking down his sobs. They'd traveled for almost a month and a half. It was such a short time, but he'd spent all of it with her and with no one else for company. She was there for every meal he ate, ever night when he slept he knew she was nearby and that he'd wake up and see her. Days spent doing nothing but walking along with her, just talking and joking with each other.

Jaune couldn't have been more confident that what he felt for her was love, even if he'd never felt anything like it before.

It had to be love. He didn't think anything else could ever hurt him this much.

Amber stilled in his arms, but he could still feel her breathing. She didn't say anything else, but life hadn't left her.

Yet. It was only a matter of time.

She was left alone with her thoughts, the rest of the world falling away, and only the warmth of him let Amber know she hadn't passed on yet.

It was such a shame. Amber really had thought she finally got a chance to be happy again. Those carefree days of her childhood were over, and she'd never get them back, but who said the future couldn't hold some joy for her?

The thought was almost enough to make her laugh, but she didn't have the energy for that. Joy, of course, was denied to her.

Amber hated to think that the world was unfair. She knew, objectively, that it was. The world didn't care about you or your problems. Why would it? People were just one among millions. No one got special treatment, no matter how good or bad it seemed. Even this wasn't a product of the world, the constant denial of happiness she put up with. It was just as much good luck as it was bad luck that had put her here.

Cursing the world was immature.

That didn't stop her, though. Amber wanted to live and be happy. She didn't care if that wasn't in line with the great cosmic plan. It was what she wanted.

But, well, she wasn't going to get either of those things. As much as it had to hurt for Jaune, and as much as she hated that she was hurting him, Amber couldn't help but be happy, even if it was just a little bit.

She had thought she'd died unable to fulfill her promise to him. She thought her eyes wouldn't ever open again. Instead, she got one last chance to be with Jaune.

It wasn't much time. It never was. But she would take what she could get, just like she always had.

She'd heard dying was supposed to be cold, but Amber felt warm in his arms. And the pain had started to fade away too, a sure sign that she was finally out of time. Everything would start to go black soon. She closed her eyes, nuzzled closer to Jaune and savored the contact, before finally letting herself fade.

...

...

...

Any second now...

She opened her eyes, suddenly aware that she could open her eyes. She didn't feel so tired anymore, like she had to struggle to stay awake. Amber blinked the unshed tears from her eyes, but narrowed them after a moment when all she could see was white. It was so bright all of a sudden, was she in the afterlife? Was there an afterlife?

But she wasn't dead, was she? She could still feel Jaune holding her, still feel him shaking as he cried.

If this was anything but Hell, Jaune wouldn't be crying with her in his arms.

Her own arms were around him in a second, pulling him closer to her when she realized she had the strength to do it. He shouldn't be crying. She hated the thought that he was crying over her. It hurt her more than the arrows or that Grimm bug ever could.

"A-Amber?" He asked, breath catching in his throat for a moment. "W-What..?"

"I'm..." She paused for a second to catch her breath, realizing belatedly that she could catch her breath now. It still kind of stung when she did breath, but she could put up with that. "Feeling a lot better. What did you do?" It had to be him. There wasn't anything she knew about the Maiden powers that could do this.

If it wasn't her, then it had to be Jaune.

"I don't know." He replied, slowly pulling back from her to meet her eyes. His eyes were red from crying, but there was something like hope sparkling behind them. From his body, there were ripples like the surface of water. Aura, it had to be, and it was going from him and... into her.

"You're glowing, you dork. It has to be you." She giggled a bit, feeling more and more of the pain just leave her but her mind remained. Was this real? Or was this just some convincing dream she was having in her last minutes?

Well, only one way to find out really. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled the surprised teen down to her waiting lips, ignoring his squawk of surprise.

Pulling away with an audible pop, Amber almost broke into fits of laughter.

This was real, wasn't it? Somehow, some way, this adorable blonde dork had managed to bring her back.

Jaune seemed to notice the glow himself, now, eyes widening even more as he realized that he was the source of whatever something was healing her. "Me? You're the one glowing!" He replied, tone almost indignant as he pointed out her own glow.

Almost. He couldn't contain the sheer glee he felt enough to come off as anything other than ecstatic.

Amber laughed a little bit, her smile growing wider and wider as she looked herself almost disbelievingly. "Your Semblance, Jaune, it has to be." She announced with all the confidence and certainty that he had missed seeing from her.

His eyes followed hers, and he saw the wound. Or what was left of it.

There was still a good amount of blood, but none was flowing. Heck, the wound itself was closing up visibly. It was amazing, watching the flesh seemingly grow back together under the soft caramel of her Aura.

Jaune felt a little tug on his own Aura, like what he felt when he took a glancing blow from a claw or weapon. And he realized that she was right, and of course she was. This had to be his Semblance. Some special power that used his Aura, something unique just to him. Whatever it was, he was healing her.

He had never felt more grateful for anything in his entire life.

Cinder Fall had never been more aggravated in her entire life.

Here she was, just inches away from the prize she had been denied once before. The Fall Maiden was helpless in that pod and her shot had been true as ever.

But the Nikos girl had of course come to her senses just in time to delay the inevitable by minutes more.

Patience was a virtue. She could easily hold off Ozpin and the girl for the minutes needed to let Amber bleed out, the damage that had been done to her Aura was extensive enough that she would not be healing from that wound. Even deflected as it was, the arrow had punctured a lung for certain.

She had let it fall into dust, of course, to expedite the process. Amber would bleed out and the power of the Fall Maiden would belong to Cinder, as it should.

It was quite entertaining to see the blonde one disregard everything and run towards her, though. That did help lighten her mood somewhat. "You know, now that I'm here I do recall that she said something about a "Jaune" before I began to claim what was mine." Cinder announced, dodging away from yet another strike with a gout of fire to cover her retreat. "I heard his name again when I first came to this academy, but hardly suspected that simpleton was the one she was whimpering for."

This enraged the Invincible Girl, as she was so misleadingly called, and there was a tad of caution Cinder had to exercise against her. While she was not a serious threat on her own, Ozpin proved to be just as capable as expected and one didn't become a four time champion of any tournament without knowing how to capitalize on openings.

With half of the Fall Maiden's powers, she was able to hold him off with some effort. It was almost easy to do so, even. Perhaps the old wizard regretted his decision to bestow those powers upon the Maidens now that it was coming back to haunt him. So long as she simply had to defend herself, Cinder estimated she could keep this performance up for another several minutes without tiring herself out at all. Which meant that victory was hers, as it should be.

Watching Ozpin struggle against her, trying to overpower her in hopes of slaying her before she could claim the remainder of the Fall Maiden's powers, was intoxicating. That she was able to thwart him so easily, it was a rush like no other, but Cinder made certain to keep a level head. A single mistake could spell her downfall, so she would simply refrain from making any.

As was the norm, of course.

Still, though, even if she could do this as long as she needed to, it was rather irksome that Amber was still clinging on to life. As the minutes ticked by, Cinder felt her confidence shake for just a moment before she reigned herself in.

She had struck true. Without immediate medical treatment, treatment which they could not possibly provide, Amber would die. That was simply fact. She was not anywhere near pressed at the moment, able to continually hold back her foes with the use of her skill and power. This was a waiting game, and one that she would win.

Cinder couldn't afford to doubt herself, because that would imply she had made a mistake.

Another cane-thrust from Ozpin, multiplying into numerous strikes as he pressed ever harder against her defense.

She almost scoffed as another flaming lash forced him to back away, maintaining her defense. The champion girl fired her rifle, but those bullets were even less threatening than a single thrust of that cane. Cinder simply swatted them away like the annoying insects they were, fire consuming the attack entirely.

Her follow-up attack was made with speed that would have impressed most. It was nothing to Cinder, though, as she again dodged away, leaving a torrent of flames in her wake to maintain distance.

They knew this was their only option, and were fighting with desperation. Even Ozpin was getting sloppy, leaving openings in his haste.

She refused to fall for that sweet temptation, though. To open herself to attack for even a moment was to invite failure upon her.

All Cinder Fall needed was to stall for time. She smiled darkly at the two facing her, anticipating their charge and deterring them with another wall of glorious flame, so wide that it walled the two of them off from her entirely for just a moment, just enough to make them worry. If they lost track of her, after all, she could pick off one of them unexpectedly. That hesitation was all the better for Cinder, it bought her more and more time.

Her wall of flames would die out in just a second.

It didn't matter, though, because a furious bolt of lightning screamed through it regardless.

Cinder was caught completely flat-footed, eyes shooting wide as the flash of yellow pierced her wall of flame. The attack struck her directly and forced her backwards down the hallway, taking a noticeable amount of her Aura with it.

As her wall of flames dissipated entirely, Cinder Fall felt her blood run cold.

"How?" She asked aloud, shaking her head in disbelief. "I killed you! I know I did!" No, no, no, this could not be happening.

Amber was not dead.

Worse, she was walking.

And even worse than that, were her eyes.

Chocolate brown, but they were alight with flame and fury.

"I got better." Amber replied, a vindictive glee lining her features as she stared down the woman that had ambushed her on the road. Lightning crackled down her arms, dancing a vicious dance as Amber let her power flow through her.

The sensation felt better right now than it ever had before. She hadn't been comforted by her powers in ages, instead cursing them.

Right now, though, she couldn't even describe how much she appreciated being the Fall Maiden. The real Fall Maiden.

"Amber?" Ozpin questioned, unable to hide his surprise at seeing her up and about, let alone fighting. "How are you..?" He trailed off, noticing the other form standing along with the Fall Maiden.

"Jaune is the absolute best boyfriend ever." Amber said simply, as if that explained everything, before exploding into motion. She wasn't going to waste any time, because there were too many things she didn't know about Jaune's Semblance. Was there a time limit to this power? Would she go back to her comatose state after he ran out of Aura to maintain it? Or was she already back to normal?

Amber didn't know, but she wasn't going to hesitate long enough for it to matter anyway. The sooner this woman was dead the better.

What followed was hardly even a fight.

Anything Cinder did, Amber could do better. She had years of experience not just in battle, but using the abilities of the Fall Maiden, and it showed.

While Cinder seemed to mostly focus on fire, Amber wasn't anywhere near that limited... except by the location, that is. She couldn't exactly pelt her with razor-sharp frozen leaves seeing as how they were underground. But that was fine, because ice, lightning, wind, and fire were all hers to do with as she pleased.

It wasn't three against one in her favor this time, either. No, now Amber got to experience being on the right side of a three man beat-down.

And her partners in said beat-down were The Invincible Girl, who even Amber had caught wind of in her travels, and Headmaster Ozpin himself. The two of them had hesitated only for a second in their surprise before they shot into the fray.

Cinder Fall was no pushover, but their assault forced her into a desperate corner very quickly. She began fighting to escape rather than to stall or even win. The situation had fallen apart the very instant Amber returned to battle, and Cinder knew that her only option was to retreat and start over from scratch yet again.

As satisfying as it was to see her tormentor with her tail between her legs, Amber wasn't about to let the bitch leave this place alive after all she had been put through.

There was only one way out of this vault, and it was a straight line. In her panic, Amber figured that that the woman just didn't realize what that would mean when she turned and made her break for the door.

Amber was really happy Jaune was behind her right now. Not only was he safely out of the blast radius, he also couldn't see her face.

She didn't ever want Jaune to see her like this, a grin so wide that it almost split her face as vindictive lightning danced through her body and out her fingertips.

It was over in an instant. She had pumped as much power into that bolt as she could in the time she had, and it showed. The entire room lit up in a flash of unadulterated power as she let every last ounce of her anger and indignation out in the form of wonderful electricity, a display of strength that stopped both Pyrrha and Ozpin in their tracks.

At the end of the room, mere feet from the door and salvation, was what remained of Cinder Fall.

There hadn't been time to gloat over their victory, because people were fighting on the surface. They had taken just enough time for Jaune to get his hoodie off and insist Amber put it on.

For her part, Amber honestly hadn't realized that she had been half-naked for that whole fiasco. She was more embarrassed by it than she really should have been, and accepted the offered clothing gratefully.

It didn't hurt that it was his hoodie either. If anything that made things even better.

They had reached the surface quick enough, stopping just long enough to be absolutely certain that their enemy wasn't getting back up.

Amber didn't have to check, though. She could already feel every last bit of the power that woman had stolen come back to her.

That was one hell of a pick-me-up, too. And Jaune had figured out how to call up his Semblance at will, even if he had some trouble maintaining it. He spent their whole trip back topside fretting over her and pumping more power into her. She almost wanted to ask if he really thought she needed this much of a boost, she was walking just fine now, and even that massive bolt of lightning she'd fried the woman in red with hadn't strained her that much. It had become clear enough that she wasn't going to revert, she figured, so why bother continuing to refill her Aura?

Then she saw the godsdamn dragon, and Amber no longer felt the need to tell Jaune to stop. "Can you keep this up?" She asked him instead, hoping for a yes but knowing that he had to be under serious strain. He'd brought her back from the brink of death, surely that had to have taken a toll on him. Not to mention how he'd almost effectively refilled her Aura from nothing.

A Semblance used Aura. That was just a fact. He was depleting his Aura to maintain the enhancement to her own. Even if she needed the extra power to handle that monster, Amber wasn't going to let Jaune hurt himself to give it to her.

Jaune reached into the pocket of his jeans, glancing at a display on his scroll and smiling widely even as they kept moving, Pyrrha and Ozpin lashing out at any Grimm that came within reach. "Yeah. I'm still a little above half." Honestly, he hadn't done that much fighting before he went underground. Just... like, maybe a dozen Grimm tops? And he hadn't been the only one fighting either, so that helped.

Amber almost stopped mid-step at that, but she managed to keep moving with just a slight stumble. "Excuse me? You're over half after that?" That was ludicrous. He couldn't have that much Aura, could he?

Pyrrha couldn't help but chime in, cutting down another Beowolf like it was nothing. "Jaune has a lot of Aura." She'd noted as much when she unlocked it for him. "Where are the others? The surface is deserted." For the time being, Pyrrha was treating this like a routine mission. If she didn't have that to distract her then she would probably have broken down by now.

"Evacuation." Ozpin replied simply, sharp eyes darting towards the Bullhead docks, noting the downed yet still intact forms of the Atlesian robots littering the ground. "The situation has become too dire and the staff are cooperating with Atlas to get those who remain away from Beacon, of that I am certain. A safe zone has likely been established in Vale, James would be sure to prioritize the safety of the civilians and students." He paused, turning to spot the monstrous form of the Grimm dragon in the sky, as well as the Atlesian flagship notably missing from the air. "Amber. I know that what I am asking of you is too much, however..." He trailed off. "That Grimm must be destroyed. As long as it lives, there will be an endless number of the Grimm for us to battle."

It was almost enough to make her laugh, because Ozpin almost seemed to think that she couldn't do it.

With Jaune at her side, his Semblance energizing her like nothing she'd ever felt before, and all of her power back where it belonged?

That dragon was starting to look remarkably like a Boarbatusk right now.

She smiled. "Give me thirty seconds and that Grimm won't be a problem anymore." It was going to take some time to actually build up the power necessary for this one. It wasn't that she didn't have the energy for an attack like that, just that it took too much time to gather. It wasn't practical in a fight.

The dragon didn't know they were there, though. It had no idea, just flying around like it owned the place. All she had to worry about were the Grimm on the ground, but that was being taken care of too, because she had Ozpin and Pyrrha to keep away those distractions. Her eyes caught fire once more as she began to pull on the power of the Fall Maiden, the skies that were once clouded only by Grimm darkening further still as a storm seemed to build from nowhere.

This was going to be a big one.

Ozpin smiled at her, though it was tinged with a fair bit of regret. "I am sorry, Amber. I truly am. You were drawn in to this by forces beyond your control, and were harmed for it."

She couldn't help but nod, almost serenely. "Yeah. But that's fine." Amber did laugh this time, seeing the Headmaster taken aback by her lack of reaction. She continued gathering her power, pulling more and more, certain that she'd gone beyond her normal limit and had to be pulling on Jaune's reserves by this point. "Anything these powers caused me, it doesn't matter. I got to meet Jaune because of them, and that was worth every last bit of trouble these stupid powers brought me."

Her eyes flared even brighter as she felt said stupid powers reaching the limit. This was absolutely the most energy she had ever put into anything in her life.

It wasn't like her first accidental use of the powers, where she had panicked and pulled as much as she could at once. No, this was slow, deliberate, and controlled. She was better now, not some scared little girl.

She was the Fall Maiden.

For a second, it seemed like everything stopped. The world got quiet for a moment, almost as though it understood that a great catastrophe was about the be unleashed.

After that second ended, Amber released the catastrophe in full force.

Ruby Rose was a blur of red and black as she cut through the grounds of Beacon Academy, slaughtering any Grimm fool enough to get in her way.

It was empty here, but she had seen Bullheads at the docks. That was where everyone was, they had to be evacuating. She had to get there, now that the robots had been turned off and the White Fang was backing out of the battle.

That Grimm dragon in the sky was a problem, but it wasn't anything she could deal with. Just out of morbid curiosity she'd fired a shot at it with Crescent Rose.

The stupid thing didn't even notice. That made her really mad, because Crescent Rose was objectively the best weapon in the world and anything that ignored her baby needed to be introduced to a few more shots from it.

Sadly she was low on ammunition and common sense won out in the end. Wasting bullets shooting the big dumb dragon that didn't appreciate fine weapons wasn't going to do anyone any good, she needed to regroup with the others.

Ruby noticed the storm clouds gathering in the sky as she darted towards the docks, unsure what was causing that all of a sudden. The sky had been clear all night, except for the clouds of Grimm flying around.

It wouldn't surprise her if there was going to be a storm right now, though. Why not, right? That was exactly what everyone fighting for their lives needed, a big ol' thunderstorm to make things even worse for them. Thanks, nature!

She almost wanted to scream, but that would be more immature than wasting her ammunition on the stupid dragon. So Ruby didn't shout at the sky as she made her way towards the docks, she just picked up the pace and endeavored to get there before the storm got too bad.

And then the sky exploded.

She almost tripped at the suddenness of it. "Ack!" She squawked indignantly, huddling down for a second and covering her eyes as the whole world flashed white. The sound of it, that was insane, it was like thirty bolts of lightning just struck at the same time. Her ears were ringing from it.

Ruby opened her eyes, peering nervously at the sky, hoping desperately that her thoughts of the sudden storm hadn't made her the next target for it.

Her jaw dropped to the floor though as soon as she saw what was falling out of the sky.

The dragon Grimm didn't even make a sound as it fell. Both wings had been destroyed, and it was leaking black smoke at a ridiculous rate.

It didn't even hit the ground before disappearing, the cloud of dark smoke so intense that it almost blocked out the moon.

And there wasn't a single storm cloud in sight now.

Ruby doubled her pace, tapping into her Semblance liberally now, aiming to reach the docks as soon as freaking possible because she had just seen a miracle and she had to find everyone else so they could tell her she wasn't just hallucinating from the stress.

She got to the pathway leading towards the Bullheads, and if she hadn't been in such a rush Ruby would probably have remembered the time she exploded on this same path, but right now that wasn't important. There were people here, and they were all just as amazed as she was.

Good sign that she wasn't crazy, because she heard a lot of people talking about the massive bolt of lightning that had ripped from the sky and taken the dragon out in a single hit.

That wasn't too important, though, because she saw a shock of white that stood out from the crowd and immediately recognized it as Weiss.

Maybe slowing down would have been important, but Ruby was too excited to see her alive and unhurt to let that thought deter her.

Weiss Schnee, for her part, had been marveling over the random Act of God that had just destroyed the most horrifying Grimm she had ever seen. Storm clouds had gathered from nowhere and then the fist of an angry thunder god had come down hard on the beast.

It died mid-fall, dissipating into smoke before even hitting the ground.

When General Ironwood's ship had fallen from the sky, Weiss didn't know how the dragon was going to be dealt with. The frontal cannon on the Atlesian flagship was the only thing that seemed strong enough to take the creature out.

Apparently, Mother Nature had something to say about that.

She didn't know what to say. No one did, even the professors guiding the evacuation seemed speechless.

Professor Port was never speechless.

"WEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS!" A sudden call of her name was the only warning the girl in white received before a red blur crashed into her and sent them both tumbling.

When later questioned, she would insist that she had not let out such an uncouth squawk as many in the area had accused her of.

Once the stars stopped spinning around her head and the sound of cute little birdies chirping wasn't all that filled her ears, Weiss was torn between grabbing her partner by the collar demanding an explanation for the flying-tackle and hugging the girl as tight as she possibly could because she was so happy to see her safe.

In the end she didn't get a chance to do either, because Ruby saw the remainder of their team on the ground. "... W-Weiss? What happened? Yang..." She practically whimpered.

Laying on the ground, her sister and Blake both had been hurt. Badly.

Blake had been stabbed through her stomach. They'd been bandaged, but she still clutched one hand to her wound. Her other hand reached for Yang, tears beginning in her eyes as she whispered apologies to her partner.

Yang, who was missing an arm. The stump was bandaged too, but she wasn't moving. Why wasn't she moving?

Behind them, Nora and Ren, both clutching injuries but not bleeding, seemed unwilling to even look up from the ground.

"Hey." Sun announced himself, stepping forward slowly. Usually a blur of motion, the blonde monkey faunus just couldn't find the energy to be his usual enthusiastic self. "She's gonna be okay." He assured Ruby, kneeling down to look her in the eyes. "The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing." Nora announced, looking towards them and then the school. She winced as even moving that much seemed to cause her pain.

"Look guys!" Everyone was shocked by the harsh tone, eyes locking on to Sun. "Whatever that storm was, it took out that giant Grimm, but we still have to get out of here. There are too many of them left in the school, even the White Fang is pulling out! We all have to go. Now!"

Ren stood. "We're not... leaving!" He tried to stand. It was clear that he wasn't going to be able to do any kind of fighting, not with one hand clutching his ribs. Defeated by his own injuries, the green-clad teen fell back to his knees, a groan of pain tearing from his lips.

It was clear that he wasn't in any shape to keep going, none of them were.

No one knew what to say. There was a long, pregnant silence as everyone ran through their thoughts, trying to find something, anything they could do or say to make the situation better.

Sun was right, and he knew it. They had to leave. Things were out of control.

Ren and Nora were right, and they knew it. Their team was still out there, and they couldn't just abandon them.

Ruby and Weiss both were lost in thought, both considering doing something very unwise for the sake of their friends.

"Guys!" A familiar and very welcome voice cut into their thoughts, drawing everyone towards the source. Everyone who was awake turned almost as one, all of them in varying states of disbelief. For a second, none of them could believe it.

Jaune, Ozpin, and Pyrrha were all okay. They were here, and none of them looked hurt.

There was a girl in Jaune's arms, being held bridal style and wearing his hoodie. None of them had ever seen her before, but they had probably just picked up one of the civilians visiting in their run to the docks.

Her state of dress drew a lot of them to concerning conclusions, not to mention just how exhausted she looked.

"Are you all okay?" Jaune asked, before nearly choking as he saw the four injured on the ground.

Ren and Nora, both kneeling on the ground and clearly in pain. They weren't bleeding, thank goodness, but judging by the way they were cradling themselves he was pretty sure Ren at least had a broken rib and Nora might have the same.

Blake was on the ground, a stab wound visible. It had been bandaged, but he wasn't sure what other kind of treatment could even be given to her right now.

It had to just be basic first aid unless there was a doctor he wasn't seeing around here that wasn't named Oobleck.

And then there was Yang, who was missing an arm and laid unconscious on the ground.

"Jaune..." Amber mumbled in his arms, having seen the injuries herself and knowing exactly what her favorite blonde was thinking. "You can set me down. I'm fine. Just... tired." That lightning storm had taken a lot out of her. She wasn't going to be moving much for a little while, but she wasn't injured anymore.

Jaune did as told, gently setting her to the ground. As he did so, he noticed Ozpin walk by. "Mr. Arc, I will leave Amber in your care for now. I must speak with Port and Oobleck."

And just like that the Headmaster was off, deftly avoiding any explanation he may have been forced to give and letting that fall to Jaune as well.

But he didn't care. Right now he was going to make sure his friends were all going to be okay. He could explain himself later.

With everyone watching him, Jaune Arc let his Semblance flow through him. "Just trust me, you guys will be feeling better in no time."

It had been a few days since the Battle of Beacon, and a lot of things had happened in that time.

Vale had been pretty much cleared of Grimm and declared safe once again, but it was still tense. Repairs were in progress, and lots of visitors and students were either in the hotels that hadn't been hit or in temporary shelters that had been set up. Residents with actual homes in Vale were either in those homes or in the shelters because their houses had been damaged.

Things were going to get better, though. With the Grimm cleared out, Vale was mostly safe again.

Plans were being made to retake Beacon from the remaining Grimm. Nothing concrete yet, but with the dragon gone there was nothing stopping them from retaking the school.

Amber didn't really care about any of that, though. She was happy right where she was, cuddled up against Jaune.

They'd been put up in a hotel like most of the students had been, paid for by the schools themselves. It could probably be seen as favoritism to the huntsmen students, but anyone who complained just had to be reminded that those students were probably the reason any of the surviving civilians did get out of Beacon alive after the Vytal Festival had turned into a slaughter.

After fighting for their lives, some being grievously injured in the process, a little extra comfort in the wake of the catastrophe really wasn't too uncalled for.

Especially for Jaune. After he'd healed those friends of his, the first thing he'd done was march right up to the professors and ask if there were any others injured.

Of course there were others hurt. Some more than others.

By the end of the night, Jaune had nearly collapsed from exhaustion with under ten percent of his Aura left.

But he'd saved lives. He'd been a hero.

They'd been set up in the hotel room that very same night, this being one of the places entirely left alone during the battle. There was a part of her that had wanted to pick up where they had left off before, but it was drowned out by the fact that both of them were dead on their feet by the end of the night.

The two of them had barely had enough energy to wash themselves and each other that night, but it needed to be done because the two of them had still been covered in her blood. They hadn't even bothered to put on the complimentary pajamas before slipping into bed.

The next night, though...

She giggled against him, the two of them covered by nothing but the sheet. "What has you giggling?" Jaune asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.

"How does it feel being a big damn hero?" Amber asked him playfully, basking in the warmth of him in the early morning after their late night.

"Almost as good as waking up to see your face." Jaune smiled widely at her.

Amber blushed red, burying her face into his chest to avoid him seeing. It didn't work to hide much, because Jaune had been looking right at her when he said it.

He didn't even acknowledge the scars, not in the sense that he was ignoring them though. It was just like they didn't matter to him. He'd only stopped to ask if they hurt once, out of genuine concern for her, but outside of that he never mentioned it.

How Jaune could look at her and not even flinch at the sight of those scars, when she had been unable to look in a mirror without his encouragement, Amber would never know. But she was happy, because even if she'd be reminded of her lowest moment every time she saw her face, she had still won in the end.

Completely, too.

Amber was done wandering. It hadn't done anything for her except make her life miserable and leave her alone to die when she was finally found.

Much to her surprise, Ozpin hadn't even protested. She was prepared to actually threaten the man to leave her be, but he'd just wished her and Jaune good luck with their relationship.

She wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. Amber wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

And, as a matter of fact...

Jaune gasped as soft hand made contact with something rather sensitive. He looked down towards the obvious culprit, and saw a pair of devious chocolate eyes staring back at him.

Judging by the look in his eyes, neither of them were going to be going anywhere any time soon.

AN: And that's that, folks. This actually went on a lot longer than I'd expected it to. When I told myself I couldn't leave it off on such a sad ending, I expected a 4-5k second chapter to tie up loose ends.

Then it got to 6k.

Then 7k.

It ended up being like 10k words. I don't even know how. But this is, in fact, the end.