Random Encounter (Conti.)

I told them everything.

They were my parents; I was allowed.

I started, of course, with my power, giving them the longer explanation I'd promised Dad. I'd explained the reasons I'd gone on the mission, how things had broken down and eventually escalated, my actions onboard the White Whale and in the mining town—I told them everything I'd considered mine to tell. I was pretty sure they'd been able to make the connect between Tukson and the White Fang, seeing how they'd met him right before I got involved with all this, and from there it wasn't a huge stretch to the rest, but…

But I told them. How my world had changed literally and metaphorically, why I'd associated with a terrorist organization, why I'd caused them so much worry and pain.

They listened silently until I finished, not saying a word but reacting differently. My Dad occasionally nodded, raised his eyebrows, or frowned, depending on the subject, at first standing by the counter as he waited on the coffee machine. When it finished, he poured a cup for himself, one for mom, and brought both over to the table where he sat beside me.

I was aware of this mainly because I was trying not to focus on what my mom was doing; namely, writing something down on a notepad she'd produced from a drawer. I was tempted to use Observe on it, but it was like…I wanted to know, but I didn't want to know.

"You're right," My dad said at last, finally breaking the silence that followed the end of my speech. "Your power is bullshit."

"I know, right?" I nodded quickly, smiling hesitantly for a moment before doing so more fully as he gave me a sure grin.

"Life as a game," He mused. "Not a Semblance I'd have thought of off the top of my head, but if you think about it…"

"It's amazing," I agreed wholeheartedly. "I mean, it took we awhile to figure out how to use it right and all, but once it did…well, I don't mean to boast, but I can throw a pretty mean punch if I need to."

"Pretty good at infiltration, too, sounds like," He said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, fingers wrapped around his mug. "You know, a lot of people don't believe it, but I used to be pretty good at some of that stuff myself."

I took a moment to imagine it and laughed.

"Bars?" I guessed.

"It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it," He shrugged, smirk growing. "A lot of people don't think about that type of thing when it comes to getting information out of people, but—"

"I know," I nodded. "It was almost disappointing when I realized how easy it was."

"A lot of things are like that," He cracked his neck before resting his chin on the palm of a hand. "They seem really amazing and difficult, but it's really just a matter of knowing what you're doing and practicing it. Well, I'm sure the people who make robots probably think that, too…"

I hummed an agreement as he looked at me ponderingly.

"You know," He mused. "And don't take this the wrong way, because I'm not trying to knock your fighting skills or anything—but you would make a pretty amazing doctor. I always thought healers were pretty amazing. I mean, don't get me wrong, being able to slaughter monsters with a stick is pretty awesome, but there's a lot of times…well, I wouldn't have minded having someone there to heal people. Maybe not the most glorious job, but saving lives with a touch…pretty amazing. I'm not trying to sell anything but…"

"Yeah," I said, understanding. "I know. I haven't…well, life's been hectic, but I've thought about it, too. I mean, I definitely want to get as strong as I can at…everything and become a Hunter, but healing the sick and the wounded…I have the power, right? And there's a lot of people I could help, if I keep training the skill."

"Nothing wrong with saving lives," Jacques said. "We could brag about our son the doctor. Right, honey?"

Mom looked up from her writings to give him a glance and shallow nod before returning to her work. I watched her drum her fingers, waiting for her say something, but it never came. After an awkward moment, my Dad continued talking, apparently trying to brush over the lack of response.

"Yeah," He said forcefully. "Really, you've got plenty of options. That Regeneration thing you mentioned was from blue Dust, right? Think you could do it with the other types? If you can heal, empower, and fight, you'd make a great addition to any team."

"I'm pretty sure I could do it with at least red, yellow, and green Dust," I said. "I'll have to test with the other types, but…still, Haste is great and Feather Fall turned out to be surprisingly useful. It's really nice to not get smashed into stuff, you know?"

"Trust me, I know. I've been through some walls in my day. And rocks. And trees. It's not fun." He shook his head. "Healing, supporting, awakening Auras…not bad, son."

"Thanks," I fiddled with my drink absently, not really paying it any attention. "Still need to train them all, especially the Aura one, but…it's cool. Not sure how I could explain any of it, but…"

My dad gestured dismissively.

"Some of it will be hard, but I'm sure Oz will think of something for the basics. Trust me, the guy writes enough fiction to be a novelist and it'd be great to have at least an emergency healer on standby. You know…I could probably get Oz to bend some rules and bring you with me on a few missions, if you want?"

"Yeah?" I asked, eyebrows going up. "Me?"

Dad shrugged like it was nothing.

"Sure. Let me tell you, if you know the guy, it's really not hard to get Oz to bend the rules. Nothing major," He said, seeing my look. "No offense, but I wouldn't bring you along on the type of Search and Destroy missions I get sent on—but there's some Village Security stuff and such that could work. A lot of places like that have their fair share of sick and wounded. My team could deal with the actual security while you healed them. Might not be the most glamourous or exciting mission, but it could save some lives and I'm sure there's some way of making it fly as extra credit or something. You could make some friends along the way, some connections…I mean, if you want."

"Please," I said immediately, just…imagining it. Going on a mission with my father, if as the medic. "I'd love to."

He smiled.

"I'll talk to him, then," The Arc Patriarch said. "Maybe it'll even count as one of your Quest things?"

"Maybe," I nodded, not even sure I cared. He seemed satisfied with the answer regardless.

"Any thoughts on what you're gonna do next, then?"

"Uh…" I tilted my head to the side. "Probably just keep training. Working out for my physical states, reading books for my Intelligence, that type of thing. I want to hone some of my new skills, too, like awakening Aura's. I figured I'd start small, though, in the hopes nothing goes wrong."

"Oh?" He asked. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I was thinking about starting a garden, honestly," I admitted. "I don't know how well it'll work, but maybe awaken some flowers or trees to start with. I figure the odds of things going catastrophically wrong will be lower than if I start with animals. After I know what's liable to happen and am confident I can handle it, I'll upgrade to some goldfish or something, and then advance up to stuff like dogs. I can probably get a skill to train them, too, so…"

"Could work," He agreed. "It takes a fair amount of training to bring out their full potential, but good Hunting dogs are invaluable. There's plenty of stuff you can work on if you're interested. Let's see…I saw one guy who'd trained a falcon like that awhile back and a few other animals. Plants…there've always been a fair number of experiments along that vein for crops and such, but I don't really know much about it. They never really implemented anything that I know of, but I don't know if they had problems or if the issue of awakening enough crops to actually matter just made it unfeasible. For something we grow just to eat…I don't know. You can probably find something on that, though."

"Huh," I said. "I'll look into that. I hadn't heard anything about that."

"Like I said, I don't know how that's worked out for them; never really thought about it until now." He paused. "Well, there was this one time, but it turned out to just be a guy who could make plant minions with his Semblance."

"What was that like?" I asked, somewhat surprised I'd never heard this story. Dad's brow furrowed.

"Surprisingly horrifying. It's easy to make fun of a cabbage until it unfolds into layers and layers of teeth," He shook his head. "Naturally, we ended up fighting the guy in the middle of a forest, too, and at night. It was…"

He exhaled loudly.

"…Something." He took a sip of his coffee, blowing away the last remnants of steam. "It shouldn't be an issue for you though. I know a few people down in the Agricultural District if you're looking for anything in particular, though."

"I'll have to look into it," I said. "I never even considered the idea until today. I could just start with the trees and plants around here but…it's something to look into. Maybe see if I can awaken seeds and test them against normal versions of the plants, see if different breeds react in specific ways…it's neat to think about. I'll look into it."

My dad chuckled.

"My son the botanist," He said. "And the doctor and the captain."

He was silent for a moment.

"I'm proud of you, you know," He murmured. "Despite the danger and what happened…I won't say everything you did was flawless and you scared a lot of people, but I know why you did it. And despite the risks, you saw it through, even when you were alone and no one could have blamed you for turning back. I wish you'd called, that you'd told us, that…I wish a lot of things. But I get why, even as scary as it had been, and I'm proud that you saved those people, Jaune. You did good, son."

I ducked my head but was pretty sure it didn't fully hide my smile. For someone who was probably an internationally wanted supervillain, I couldn't keep from lighting up at my father's praise. He shifted slightly to bump me with a shoulder and I laughed a bit before sobering and looking up.

"Mom's been quiet," I whispered.

Dad sighed slowly and nodded.

"You about done, dear?" He asked. She flipped a page in the notebook to scrawl something and then clicked her pen.

"More or less," She said, pushing her chair back and rising. "Come with me, Jaune."

I rose and came around the table with a nod.

"Where are we going?" I asked. After a moment's pause, I continued. "Did you decide on my punishment?"

"I'm not going to punish you, Jaune, I'm going to teach you something," She answered calmly. "Which is why we're going into the forest to train. Follow me."

I nodded wordlessly, casting a glance back at my father, who saluted me with his coffee mug. I knew she wasn't really mad—or not mad about the things I feared, at least—and given everything I'd done…

This was fine. I'd take my medicine like a man.

It's not like I feared pain or effort anymore.

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