Ever Happened

Jaune Arc had always been a fool.

At least, that was the image he had built for himself.

The lovable goof and the guy who does stupid shit that made everyone laughed.

And for a while, he had convinced himself that this ridiculous second chance, this impossible return to the past, was just another joke. Some weird dream that he would eventually wake up from.

So he went along with it.

He laughed with his friends. Pulled stupid stunts with Ruby. Trained with Pyrrha. Smirked at Weiss’s insults. Let himself be roped into questionable activities with Yang, Ren, and Nora.

He enjoyed himself.

Made sure to make the most of it.

Because surely, at some point, he would wake up.

And yet…

As time passed, that certainty faded.

It wasn’t a dream.

It wasn’t an illusion.

It was real.

And that realization hurt more than anything else.

Jaune sat alone, away from Beacon’s main campus, staring out at the horizon.

This could have been their life.

Beacon standing tall, unbroken.

No war. No fall. No chaos. No last stands.

He could picture it.

Pyrrha training him in the courtyard, laughing at his mistakes, nudging him playfully when he got something right.

Ruby, still the bright-eyed girl who wanted to be a hero, free from the weight of the world that had crushed her and made her take her life.

Weiss, still haughty and proud, not yet the girl who had learned to wear her scars like armor and be so damn proud of it.

Blake, serene, peaceful, rather than the haunted, battle-worn fighter he had known. Yang, still full of energy, but not desperate to be strong enough to protect everyone and failing.

Nora and Ren, just… being themselves, untouched by the suffering they would one day endure for their friends.

And Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was alive.

That was the part that hurt the most.

She was alive, and happy, and living.

She wasn’t burdened by destiny. Wasn’t chosen to be a Maiden, wasn’t led to believe she had to carry the world on her shoulders. She was here, smiling, laughing, pushing him to be better, not dead because she choose to face her destiny at the top of a tower.

Jaune clenched his fists.

This was never the life they got.

This was just a possibility, one that was ripped from them before they ever had a chance to live it.

It broke him.

Every moment of happiness, every shared joke, every sparring match, every mealtime conversation—

It was a constant reminder of what could have been.

A life that was stolen from them.

A future that never came to be.

And it left him with a question.

Would he trade it all, this happiness, this illusion of peace, if it meant going back to them?

Back to Vacuo?

Back to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Nora, and Ren, the friends who he might have left behind?

Jaune swallowed.

The answer was yes.

Of course he would.

But he couldn’t.

Jaune exhaled, leaning back against a tree, staring up at the sky.

It was complicated.

He missed them. Missed the world he had fought for.

But at the same time…

A bitter part of him didn’t want to leave this place.

Didn’t want to lose this version of his friends, the ones who hadn’t been tested by the world.

Didn’t want to see Pyrrha die again.

And that… that made him feel like the worst kind of person.

“I’m the fucking worst,” he muttered.

The words hung in the air, unheard by anyone but himself.

And yet, despite everything, despite the weight of knowing this life wasn’t his to have—

He still couldn’t bring himself to walk away.

Jaune moved beneath the old tree, fingers absently tracing patterns into the dirt. The evening air was cool, the sky awash in soft purples and fading gold, the kind of peaceful scene that should’ve made him feel something.

But there was just… quiet.

And too much time to think.

It was funny, in a way. He had spent so much of his life chasing a dream—being a Huntsman, being a hero, being someone worth remembering. And now, here he was, in the safest time of his life.

And it felt wrong.

Every day, he woke up expecting something to fall apart.

But nothing did.

Beacon stood tall. His friends were happy. The war was just a whisper of a distant future.

And yet…

The laughter at the lunch table, the way Ruby’s eyes still sparkled with childish excitement, the sound of Pyrrha’s voice, alive and unburdened, it all felt like he was standing in the middle of a dream that wasn’t his.

He should be happy.

He is happy.

But it doesn’t sit right in his chest.

Because this isn’t his life.

This isn’t real.

No… that’s wrong.

It is real. It’s just not his.

This is theirs from a time that was stolen from them, from a past that should have been their future. A life he should’ve never seen. A life that he had no place in.

And yet, here he was.

He let his hand drop from the dirt, curling into a fist. His knuckles ached—like phantom pain from wounds that had never happened.

He should be grateful.

He should enjoy it while it lasts.

But the truth was, he didn’t know how.

How do you keep smiling when every moment reminds you of what was lost?

How do you keep moving forward when you don’t know if you even deserve to?

His eyes traced the horizon, watching the last light slip beneath the trees.

For a moment, just a moment, he let himself wonder.

If he sat here long enough, if he stayed still and silent and let time slip through his fingers…

Would the world just move on without him too?

The next morning, Jaune Arc smiled.

Not the kind of smile that reached his eyes, not the real, warm kind that came effortlessly. No, this one was practiced, pulled together with careful ease, stretched just enough to seem natural, but never too much to be questioned.

He had gotten good at it.

And why shouldn’t he?

Jaune Arc was a fool, after all.

The lovable idiot. The one who tripped over his own feet, the one who made terrible jokes, the one who got flung into trees and stayed there because it made everyone laugh.

And laughter… laughter was good.

Laughter meant they weren’t worried.

Laughter meant they didn’t look too closely.

So Jaune let himself be the fool.

“Jaune, what are you doing up there?” Weiss huffed, hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

Jaune dangled from the branches of a tall oak, limbs caught in an awkward tangle, rocking slightly in the breeze. He gave her an easy, lopsided grin. “Contemplating my life choices.“

Yang snorted. “Dude. You literally just said ‘Watch this!’ and got flung!”

Jaune nodded sagely. “And look where it got me.“

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re an idiot.”

“Ah, but I’m an entertaining idiot.” Jaune waggled his eyebrows.

Nora cackled, leaning on Ren. “He’s got a point, y’know!”

Ruby, covering her mouth to keep from laughing too hard, called up to him. “Do you… uh… need help?”

Jaune stretched his arms, making a dramatic show of his situation. “No, no, I think I’ll just live here now. Become one with the tree. Maybe start a new life as a bird.“

Blake, sitting cross-legged on a nearby rock, smirked over her book. “I give him a week before he starves.“

Jaune gasped. “Et tu, Blake?“

Yang cracked her knuckles. “I dunno, guys. I think we should just leave him there. See what happens.”

Weiss sighed. “Tempting.”

Ren simply sipped his tea. “At least it’s peaceful now.“

Jaune grinned down at them all, watching their laughter, their teasing, the easy joy in their eyes.

And glad that he believed he was just their fool.

Not a man haunted by a past they didn’t know.

Not a man torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay.

Just a friend.

A clown.

A jester, stuck in a tree, making them laugh.

And really… wasn’t that enough?

Jaune exhaled, closing his eyes briefly before pasting the grin back on his face.

“Alright, alright, someone get me down from here before I actually become an Arcorn.”

Yang groaned. “That was awful.”

“And yet, you laughed.“

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Never mind. Leave him there.“

Jaune chuckled, rocking slightly in the branches.

No one questioned why he hadn’t tried to climb down himself.

Like a call for help that didn’t reach them.

Still, it didn't matter.

Jaune would play the jester.