Chapter 1: Rest, Brave Knight

It could have been so much worse.

It was bad enough as it was.

Through some impossible chain of miracles, the combined Grimm, White Fang, and Hacked Atlas Robot attack had been repelled with a minimum loss of life.

It still didn't feel like a victory, how could it?

Ozpin stood among the ruins of his office, holding the circlet that had once belonged to Pyrrha Nikos.

Those that knew his secrets would assume that he had closed off his emotions and was cursing the loss of the candidate to be the next Fall Maiden.

They would've missed the single tear that fell.

He took out his scroll, and called Glynda Goodwitch.

"Hello, Glynda... Yes, I'm alive... No... no she didn't... Cinder killed her..."

Both professors stood in silence at the respective ends of the call. Ozpin spoke next.

"At least Beacon survived... give the students two weeks off of classes. They'll need it when they find out what happened to Ms. Nikos."

The call ended. Ozpin stood in silence once more, contemplating what to do next.

(One week later)

When there is crisis, leaders will arise, this is a fact that can be proven time and time again through Remnant's history.

The leaders this time were the functional members of team RWBY, (as Ruby was still unconscious) the surviving members of team JNPR, team CFVY, and in a twist of fate that was surprising to just about everyone, team CRDL.

Sitting around a table in the library, Weiss, Coco, Ren, and Cardin were discussing what to do about the Ursa in the room.

Most of the students were "fine". There was one student however, who was definitely not fine.

Jaune Arc.

Coco broke the silence, "Ren, do you have an update on Jaune's... ah... emotional health?" No one wanted to say it, they all knew why he was in so much more pain than everyone else.

"More of the same, unfortunately. He doesn't sleep much. Maybe 4 hours a night at most. He goes to meals, doesn't talk to anyone, then trains until he drops."

Cardin gave them a sad smile, "I don't suppose that this is something I can knock out of him?"

They all laughed at that. Cardin and Jaune's history was well known to them, but seemed so trivial now, to the point where it was a punchline.

Cardin continued, "Someone needs to talk to him. Someone he trusts."

Ren hung his head, "Me and Nora have tried. We haven't been able to get through to him. I'd say maybe, Ruby, but she's still..."

Then, yet another miracle happened.

"I'll do it," Weiss declared, "After Ruby, I'm probably the person he trusts the most outside of his team."

Without waiting for any protests, she left to go find Jaune.

She had a broken heart to mend.

She found him sitting with his back to a tree in the courtyard, eyes closed, and head comically leaning to one side.

As much as she wanted to let him sleep, Weiss knew that he needed to be comforted. She reached out to shake his shoulder.

"Jaune?"

He woke easily enough, "Who... oh, hi."

Weiss sat down next to him. "Jaune, everyone is worried about you."

He sighed. "I know. Cardin asked me how I was holding up a couple days ago."

"Jaune-"

"I'm scared, Weiss."

Well that didn't take long. Maybe he just needed... me? Of course he would.

The heiress regarded him. "Why?"

"Because I'm not strong enough. If I had been strong enough to go with Pyrrha to fight that bitch, Cinder, then Pyrrha would still be alive. What if the next time it's you? Or Ruby? Or Ren and Nora? What if I'm still not strong enough then?"

Weiss noticed the tears in his eyes. She also noticed that Jaune was doing everything in his power to not cry. She cupped the sides of his face with her hands.

"Jaune, you need to let it out. Cry. It's okay, I've got you."

The tears started slowly at first, then came faster and faster. He started sobbing into Weiss's shoulder, all semblance of dignity forgotten. Weiss gently rocked him back and forth, emulating as best she could how Yang comforted Ruby after a nightmare. Eventually, he stopped crying, but made no effort to move from Weiss's embrace. She didn't make any effort to pull away. If this is what he needed, then so be it.

Jaune broke the silence first. "Weiss, will you start training me?"

Weiss frowned. It was public knowledge that Pyrrha had been training Jaune from basically day one. "If that's what you want, I'll do it, but I must warn you. I know only one way to train, and that way is extremely taxing-"

Jaune's interjection chilled Weiss to her core. "Good, that means I'll get stronger."

"Don't interrupt."

Jaune winced, "Sorry, Weiss."

"Now, as I was saying," Weiss explained, "If you want me to train you, I have a few requirements. First, you must start talking to us again. Everyone misses you Jaune."

Jaune pulled away from her, "I can't face them, it's my fault that Pyrrha is dead."

"Jaune, look at me," As he turned to look at Weiss, she stared into his eyes, knowing from previous experience that her gaze had a mild paralytic effect on him, "It is not your fault. It was Cinder's. No one else. Do you understand?" He nodded.

Just a nod wasn't going to be good enough for her, though. not for this.

"Say it, Jaune."

Jaune was confused, or pretending to be at least, "Say what?"

Weiss's eyes narrowed, "Say that you understand that Pyrrha's death is not your fault."

He took a deep breath and spoke, "I understand, Weiss. Really, I do." That would have to be good enough it seemed.

"Very well, Second, you will start getting at least eight hours of sleep a night or-"

He cut her off, forcefully, "NO!" Weiss could only stare at him dumbfounded, waiting for an explanation,

"I can't. If I sleep for more than four hours, I start having nightmares... well, other people would call them pleasant dreams, but in my case..."

Other people would call them pleasant dreams. That phrase stuck in Weiss's head and refused to leave. If that was true then that meant that he was having dreams about Pyrrha, dreams that under any other circumstance would be good dreams.

She had to ask. "Jaune what have-"

The pain in his eyes intensified and her words died in her throat. "Last night... it was what would've been our wedding."

Jaune continued, "The only way I could possibly make it through the whole night is if I didn't dream of Pyrrha, and I don't know how likely that is any time soon."

Weiss had an idea. An insane idea. An idea that she never would've considered a week ago.

She was going to sleep with Jaune Arc.

She stood up, and took his hand. "Well, in that case, I'll just have to make it so that you dream about me again."

"Weiss, what-"

"Shh, don't talk. Just listen," Weiss explained. "Here is what's going to happen. We are going to go back to my dorm room, we are going to cuddle until you fall asleep, and I promise you that I will be there when you wake up."

Weiss watched in wonder as multiple emotions passed over Jaune's face in the space of a few seconds, after a few seconds more, the knight spoke.

"I'd have to be more of an idiot than I am to say no."

For the first time since Pyrrha's death, a genuine smile graced Jaune's face.

Ever since they had met, Weiss had never thought that they would be here, not with him. She fondly gazed at the sleeping form of the blond knight. She was content to let him think that this change of heart had come about naturally. Having her here would help him heal. Her change of heart was more of a result of a video message delivered to her scroll after Pyrrha had died. The message had been from Pyrrha, set to deliver in case she died. Weiss had committed it to memory.

"Weiss, if you are watching this message. I have died. I... need to ask you for a favor. I understand that we never got along as well as we could've, that's partially my fault. I'm sorry. I was just so jealous of how you had Jaune wrapped around your finger, not that you were trying to. Now, the favor. I understand if you need to pass the responsibility for it off to someone else, maybe Ruby, but someone needs to do it."

"Please watch out for Jaune. He's going to be a wreck. He will blame himself, He'll isolate himself from all of us like he did during the Cardin debacle. Please, I beg you, do not let him. He's all the family that Ren and Nora have left. This may require you getting... close to him. If you cannot do this, I understand. But someone must. Someone who can give him direction. Without that, he'll wander aimlessly until it is too late. Regardless of whether you do this or someone else does, I must ask you to do something else for me."

"Please pick up his training where I left off. Your combat style is the closest to his after mine. Honestly I've been thinking that having him add Atlesian Fencing to his fighting style would vastly improve his chances against other people. I would've asked you earlier, but I was being petty and jealous."

"I hope that someday, you'll see the potential in him that I see, the potential for him to become a hero."

Weiss roused herself from her memories, and gazed at Jaune once more. There was a smile on his face as he slept. She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Jaune, I know that things seem terrible right now, that your entire world seems overcast, and that you'll never see the sun again. But I promise you that things will be better one day, and I will be by your side. I'm not ready to tell you this face to face yet, for several reasons. Chief among them our... history. Despite that, I will be here for you, however you need me to be. Sleep well, Jaune. Dream of me." She punctuated her declaration by giving him a brief kiss on his forehead.

A/N: So... yeah. I had this idea pop into my head at work last week, and it refused to leave, so I wrote it down. I've got one more chapter planned, the thing is, it involves Jacques Schnee, and he'll be a little bit OOC. I think I'll still be able to capture the character correctly enough to make it seem plausible though, so I'm going to roll with it. Please leave a review if you enjoyed, or if you didn't. It'll help me know how to improve in the future.