CHAPTER 146

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WEISS SCHNEE POV

"I see that Yang has taken my place in the team." She said as she looked at the new posters decorated on her side of the wall.

"She has." Jaune replied as he leaned back in his chair and looked out of the window at the reconstruction work going on in the City. He looked different now. More mature for one. He also needed a shave.

He also had a haunted look on his face.

She had seen that look in a lot of people. And from Pyrrha told her, Jaune had lost all his family on that day. At least he was recovering better than other people who lost their entire families.

She opened her mouth to speak but her throat felt dry. Her gaze once again went to her locker which was now filled with Yang's belongings.

She knew that she should have expected something like this… but being replaced like this still hurt.

"So I don't have any place in this team anymore?" She asked, hating how vulnerable she sounded.

"You're still our friend Weiss." He said in a sympathetic voice but it looked like he didn't believe what he said himself.

'Yeah friends.' She thought derisively.

Only Ruby had ever called her after the Day of Reckoning to see if she was alive.

Then again, she didn't know what kind of response she was expecting after she tried to betray them to their face.

"What about Blake, Ren, and Nora?" She asked.

"Blake was in Menagerie when it happened." Jaune replied and she clenched her fists, not knowing how to feel about Blake's death. She had instinctively disliked Faunus for so long that… there was no point in thinking about it anymore "As for Ren and Nora. They now have a new team of their own."

"I see." She said, noticing how Jaune had not looked at her even once during the entire meeting. She needed to say something. To make it better. 'Come on Weiss, you can do it.' "Sooo…" She said, thinking of a topic he would be interested in. "King Ozpin huh... King of Vale."

He snorted at that "King of Paperwork really. The guy hates his new position but is holding onto it for the sake of the citizens of Vale. Glynda runs the Academy in his absence. He has done well from what I can tell. Has been holding the whole Kingdom together on his own. It's… admirable."

"I suppose." She said, a little skeptical. She had never thought of Jaune as Ozpin's lick-spittle. Maybe being the subject of a King changed that? Or maybe Ozpin was just that good of a ruler.

"Why are you here Weiss?" Jaune asked as he finally turned to look at her "After all this time."

She felt anger bubble in her heart at his question. All this time, he never even bothered to call her. To check if she's fine. And now when she had come to meet him, he had the gall to ask her why she was here.

She had to stop the temptation to just get up and walk out of the room and reminded herself that this was her own mistake. Something that she had to rectify.

"I've joined the Military. I'm now an Atlesian Specialist working directly under General Ironwood." She said sternly "My sister and I have come to Vale on an escort and protection mission for the Ambassador of Atlas to have better relations with the Kingdom of Vale."

Jaune chuckled at her words. He quickly tried to hide his chuckle but she could see the amusement on his face.

"Is there something funny about what I just said?" She asked, her anger flaring at the blatant disrespect he was showing her.

He took a moment to compose himself before he shook his head "Just me and my stupid imagination. But, tell me Weiss. Why are you really here."

"I just told you. I'm here on a mission."

"Yes. You're in Vale on a mission." He said "But why are you here. In this room."

He pinned her with a gaze that seemed to hold the weight of the world behind it and she wondered what has happened to Jaune and her team in the past few months.

She thought about what to tell him and decided to go with the truth.

"I'm sorry." She said in the end "I shouldn't have tried to betray your trust like that."

"I see." He said, reassessing her with his gaze for a long moment. "You're here to ask for forgiveness. To cut off the last few loose ends tying you to Vale before you could move on with your life."

She… she hadn't thought of it like that.

But in hindsight… yes. This is exactly what it was. Tying off the last few loose ends so that she would finally be able to move ahead in this new life of hers without any regrets.

"I suppose I am."

"Then you're forgiven." Jaune replied and she blinked.

"Really? Just like that?"

She had thought of a lot of ways that the talk would go. But being forgiven so easily wasn't something she had even considered.

"Yes. Just like that." He said with a small smile "It is true that you tried to betray us. But I know for a fact that in your own convoluted and messy way, you were probably just trying to do the right thing. Isn't that right?"

She bit her lip and nodded feeling tears build in her eyes.

He looked back out of the window, giving her the chance to wipe her tears without feeling like a teenager with no emotional control.

"What about… others."

"They've forgiven you as well." Jaune replied "Though I don't think either Pyrrha or Yang will put their trust in you anytime soon after what you did."

That stung. But it was also understandable.

They sat in another long and somewhat comfortable silence after that before Jaune finally spoke.

"Are you happy with your new job Weiss?" He asked.

She blinked "Yes."

She hadn't expected him to… care. He probably didn't. But it was nice of him to ask.

"I see. Then I probably don't need to give you this offer." He said and chuckled "But if I don't then Ruby will be cross with me."

"Offer?"

He nodded "Yes. The same offer that I gave to all three of you before you left for Vale."

Her breath hitched as he got up and walked over to her.

"Do you promise to keep this a secret to yourself Weiss?"

She nodded. "I will."

He looked at her eyes, trying to see if she was telling the truth this time or if this was just another lie from her.

In the, he nodded and smile. A warm and caring smile that sent flutters down her heart.

She could see why Pyrrha was head over heels for him. Why Yang still held a crush on him.

"Very well. Would you come with me to that place once again Weiss?" He asked as he offered her a hand.

She took it.

He walked and she felt a moment of disorientation.

When she regained her senses, they were back in the same Clearing where everything had fallen apart.

The trees around this place were destroyed. As if a horde of giant creatures had decided to take a walk down here and…

SCREEECCH!!!

Her weapon was in her hand in an instant as she looked where the sound was coming from and paled.

A Sphinx Grimm. Except that this one was larger, far larger than any Grimm of its kind that she had seen before the Day of Reckoning.

She looked at Jaune, expecting him to have taken out his shield and sword as well.

Except… he just stood there without a care for the world. He was even smiling at the Sphinx.

She jumped away from him and her blade was instantly pointed in his direction.

"Jaune. Why is there a Grimm in this place?" She asked, regretting her decision to come here. "Explain. And be quick about it."

He looked at her and gave a mischievous smile. "If you want answers. Then follow me."

Then he started running away. Fast enough that no ordinary Hunter would've been able to keep but. But not fast enough that she couldn't give a chase.

She looked at the Portal that was still in its place.

She could leave this place.

But she wanted the answers.

She looked at Jaune's fading figure in the distance and cursed in her mind before giving chase.

—————

A few hours later.

In Jaune's mansion.

"So that's it. All of it." Jaune said.

She bit into the biscuit she had been offered and looked at the Wyvern that had joined the Sphinx in the sky.

The Wyvern which has terrorized the City of Vale was now Ruby's ride and protector if his words were to be believed.

"This all is… a little hard to take in." She said.

"I know." He said with a sympathetic smile. But she couldn't get it out of her mind that this was the man behind the Day of Reckoning.

Behind the reason, why about such a great deal of the population of Remnant was wiped out.

"How could you live with yourself?" She asked and instantly regretted doing so because of how he flinched. She and her impulsive stupid mouth.

"One day at a time." He said with a weak and brittle smile.

"Sorry. That was… insensitive of me."

"Perhaps. But you were not wrong either." Jaune replied.

She thought about his words before they came here. How he had said that she was an impulsive idiot who was just trying to do the right thing.

Is that how he saw her?

Is that how she saw him?

"And now you want me to join this… harem of yours?" She asked with some distaste.

He shook his head "No offense Weiss but I… never really liked you that way. I mean sure, you're beautiful and I wouldn't mind sleeping with you. But that's the extent of my feelings on this matter. The reason I'm giving you this offer is that you were still my teammate and since I gave this offer to the others, it would be wrong to not give it to you." He said with a shrug. "If you accept then I'll try my best to learn more about you but… you're not going to accept, are you?"

She shook her head "I cannot leave my sister. And even if you're generous enough to extend this offer to her, she'll never accept it."

It hurt to hear him admit that he didn't like her like how he liked Pyrrha, Ruby, and Yang (and wasn't that a whole can of worms that she never wanted to open). But it was what it was. And she had already made her choice.

"I suppose that this is your response then?" He asked.

She gave a firm nod.

"So, would you like to stay here for a while longer? Or do you want me to escort you back to our room in Beacon?"

"I would like to go back." She said.

"You sure? We offer excellent Grimm rides in the Pocket Dimension." He said with a morose smile and she shuddered.

"No thank you. I would like to return now."

She has had enough of the Grimm for a lifetime and would rather not meet any of them if possible.

"Very well." Jaune said and got up from the chair "Let's go."