A Lecture
The library was quiet.
Not the kind of quiet that made you feel alone, but the kind of quiet that let you breathe.
Weiss Schnee lived in that quiet.
It was peaceful. Predictable. A sanctuary where she could focus without distractions.
And today was no different.
She sat at her usual spot, a neat stack of books beside her, a small cup of tea steaming at the edge of the table. The topic?
Huntsmen responsibilities and the laws associated with the role.
Important. Critical. Something every future Huntress should know.
She turned a page, underlining key points, her mind deeply immersed in Beacon’s policies on mission jurisdiction when—
“Pffft, wow, I forgot how boring this stuff was.”
Weiss hummed absentmindedly.
“Seriously, do they expect Huntsmen to actually remember all of this in the middle of fighting for their lives?”
She scribbled a note, half-listening.
“I mean, I get the law stuff is important, but I swear they make it extra long just to mess with us.”
Weiss frowned, flipping to another section.
“You think they do that on purpose? Like, some old dude sits there, making up extra words just to watch Huntsmen suffer?”
“Possibly,” Weiss muttered, turning another page.
“Right? You ever think about how weird some of these rules are?”
Weiss sighed. “Jaune, if you’re going to sit there and whine, at least make yourself useful—”
Weiss’s brain froze.
She glanced at her side.
The man sitting across from her—
That was Jaune Arc.
His hair had grown thicker, pulled back into a short warrior’s wolf tail, a few loose strands framing his face. His jawline was sharper, dusted with a bit of stubble, making him look… rougher. Mature.
There was a quiet weight to him now, something heavy in his eyes, something that hadn’t been there before.
And Weiss… swallowed.
She had been bantering with him naturally, too focused on her work to even glance up.
And now that she had—
She immediately wished she hadn’t.
Her fingers twitched against the book in her lap.
Jaune, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil, scratched his chin. “Huh. You’re actually letting me talk this time. Usually, I get hit by a book by now.”
Weiss inwardly shook herself, gripping the sides of her chair to keep herself grounded.
“You…” she started, then trailed off.
Jaune blinked. “Me?”
“You—ugh!”
She snapped the book shut, stood up, grabbed Jaune’s wrist, and yanked him out of his chair.
“Wha—Weiss? Where are we going?”
Weiss didn’t answer.
She dragged him out of the library, marching with purpose, ignoring the sideways glances from passing students.
Jaune, still half-stumbling, chuckled. “You know, if you wanted to hold hands, you could’ve just asked.”
“Shut up.”
“Rude.”
Weiss kept walking.
Jaune kept grinning.
But deep down, something in her churned.
Because he was here.
He had disappeared for weeks.
And now—now he just waltzes back into Beacon like nothing happened?
No.
Absolutely not.
The moment they reached an empty classroom, Weiss shoved Jaune inside, slammed the door, then turned to him with the full force of a Schnee glare.
Jaune blinked. “Uh.”
“Sit. Knees. Now.”
Jaune blinked again. “Wait, what?”
Weiss crossed her arms. “You heard me. Sit. On your knees.”
Jaune raised his hands defensively. “Look, if this is some Schnee noble punishment thing, I’d like to formally—”
Weiss pointed to the ground.
Jaune sighed dramatically. “Oh my god, fine.”
He lowered himself, sitting properly on his knees, looking up at her like some sort of repentant warrior.
“Alright, Mistress Schnee. Do with me what you will.”
Weiss rolled up her sleeves.
Jaune blinked. “Wait, that sounded bad—”
Then Weiss let him have it.
“Do you have ANY idea how worried you made everyone?!” Weiss snapped, pacing in front of him like a furious general.
Jaune, to his credit, at least had the decency to look sheepish.
“I mean, I figured—”
“No, you DIDN’T figure, Jaune!” Weiss huffed, rubbing her temples. “You just disappeared for weeks! No notes, no messages, no signs of life!”
Jaune scratched the back of his head. “I mean, in my defense—”
“There is NO defense.”
Jaune winced.
“You left us to go—what? Wander? Sulk? Play ‘mysterious lone warrior’?”
“I wasn’t—okay, maybe a little.”
Weiss threw up her hands. “And then you just waltz back in like NOTHING HAPPENED?!”
Jaune chuckled nervously. “I mean, yeah, I kinda did.”
“INFURIATING.”
Weiss glared at him.
Jaune, still kneeling, held his hands together as if in prayer. “Please, Lady Schnee, have mercy upon this humble idiot.”
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose so hard she might leave a dent.
Then, taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly.
“…Jaune.”
Jaune paused, looking up at her.
And for the first time, Weiss’s voice wasn’t angry.
It was… quiet.
Tired.
“We thought you were dead.”
Jaune froze.
The joking stopped.
His face fell.
Weiss crossed her arms, looking at the floor. “Ren, Nora, Pyrrha… they looked everywhere. Ruby wouldn’t stop searching. Headmaster Ozpin said its was okay. We all wanted to believe you were okay.”
She met his eyes. “But every day you weren’t here was another day we thought we might never see you again.”
Jaune swallowed.
The weight of her words settled into his bones.
A long silence stretched between them.
“…I didn’t mean to do that,” Jaune muttered, voice low.
Weiss sighed. “I know.”
Another pause.
Then—
Jaune, being Jaune, gave a nervous grin.
“So, uh. Do I get up now or…?”
Weiss snapped back to reality.
She cleared her throat, regaining her usual haughty composure. “No. You stay down there. I’m not done being mad.”
Jaune sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”
Jaune Arc, still on his knees, back straight, hands resting on his thighs, as Weiss continued her righteous tirade.
He had faced Grimm, endured training under battle-hardened Huntsmen, and survived near-death experiences more times than he could count.
But this?
This was true suffering.
Weiss paced back and forth, arms crossed, her tone sharp and unwavering.
“Do you have any idea what you put us through?” she snapped, her heels clicking against the floor as she spun on him.
Jaune held back a flinch.
“I mean—”
“No! You don’t!” Weiss cut him off, pointing at him. “You just vanished without so much as a note! A simple, ‘Hey guys, don’t freak out, I’ll be back eventually’ would have SUFFICED!”
Jaune opened his mouth.
Weiss immediately glared.
He closed his mouth.
“Ruby thought you were captured by bandits! Pyrrha couldn’t sleep, and Ren and Nora—ugh, don’t even get me started on them! And me?” Weiss huffed, throwing up her hands. “I had to file a missing person’s report because they kept annoying me! Do you know how humiliating it was to explain to the administration that one of our fellow Huntsmen-in-training had simply walked off the face of Remnant, only to be told by the Headmaster that he actually know?”
Jaune winced. “Yeah, that… doesn’t sound great.”
Weiss whipped back around, finger raised.
“And do you know what the worst part was?”
Jaune braced himself. “Uh… the part where you thought I was dead?”
Weiss scoffed. “No! Well—yes, but also—no!”
Jaune blinked. “I… I’m lost.”
Weiss, in full Schnee fashion, dramatically rubbed her temples before letting out a sharp sigh.
“You were gone for weeks, Jaune! Do you even realize how many theories we came up with trying to figure out what happened to you?!”
Jaune, at this point, was half-expecting something ridiculous. “Oh, I’m sure they were very reasonable theories.”
Weiss ignored his sarcasm.
“Ren thought you went on another secret training arc!”
Jaune snorted. “Well, I mean, technically—”
Weiss kept going.
“Nora thought you got lost in the Emerald Forest and just forgot how to return to civilization!”
Jaune blinked. “Okay, that one’s just insulting.”
Weiss, without missing a beat, pointed accusingly.
“And I thought you got attacked by some Grimm-controlling woman and were being manipulated into some tragic, mind-controlled knight situation and I have to punch you out of it!”
Jaune froze.
Weiss froze.
A long silence stretched between them.
Weiss’s face turned blank.
Jaune stared.
“…I’m sorry, what?”
Weiss crossed her arms, face narrowed. “Forget I said anything.”
Jaune grinned.
“Oh no, no, no. We are absolutely circling back to that.”
Weiss refused to meet his gaze. “We are not.”
Jaune leaned forward. “You seriously thought I got seduced by a Grimm lady?”
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. “I did not say seduced—”
“But you meant seduced.”
Weiss snapped at his attempt at humor.
“Jaune, I SWEAR, if you say ONE MORE WORD—”
Jaune, grinning like an absolute menace, held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay! I’ll be good!”
Weiss took a deep breath, regaining what little dignity she had left.
Then she pointed to the floor.
Jaune blinked. “Uh. What?”
“You’re still not allowed to move,” Weiss said, haughty as ever. “You haven’t suffered enough.”
Jaune groaned.
Weiss had not stopped talking.
For at least two hours.
And Jaune, having fully accepted his fate, sat there like a scolded child, nodding at the appropriate moments, pretending he hadn’t mentally checked out ten minutes ago.
“And another thing!” Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. “Even if you were going through something, you could have at least told someone! Communication, Jaune! It’s not that hard!”
Jaune nodded obediently. “Yes, ma’am.”
Weiss narrowed her eyes. “Are you even listening?”
Jaune, perfectly trained in survival at this point, gave the safest answer.
“I am absorbing your wisdom, Lady Schnee.”
Weiss squinted. “I don’t believe you.”
Jaune shrugged. “Can’t prove otherwise.”
Weiss opened her mouth to unleash another Schnee-grade verbal assault—
And then—
The door slammed open.
“THERE YOU ARE!”
Jaune barely had time to process before six very concerned and very pissed off people burst into the room.
The first thing Jaune saw was Ruby sprinting at him at full speed.
The second thing he felt was an explosion of rose petals colliding into his chest.
And the third thing he realized—
He was on the ground, getting Ruby-crushed.
“JAUNE YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!”
Jaune groaned, arms flailing under the weight of one very angry red caped figure. “Ghk—hey, Rubes—”
“YOU WERE GONE FOR WEEKS!” Ruby shouted into his chest, gripping his jacket. “WHAT THE HELL, JAUNE?!”
“I—”
WHAM.
A second impact.
Nora Valkyrie, the human missile, had tackled him next.
“JAUNEY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!”
Jaune felt his ribs scream..
“—c-can’t—breathe—”
“YOU VANISHED WITHOUT A WORD!” Pyrrha’s voice cut through the chaos, sharper than any weapon.
Jaune craned his neck, only to freeze when he met Pyrrha’s glowing emerald glare.
Pyrrha Nikos looked pissed.
The kind of pissed that could crush a man’s soul.
Jaune swallowed.
“H-Hey, Pyrrha,” he said nervously. “You look… really pretty today?”
Pyrrha ignored the weak attempt at flattery.
“Get up.”
Jaune gulped.
“Yes, ma’am.”
By the time Jaune managed to rescue himself from Ruby and Nora attempt to crush his ribs, he found himself standing in front of his entire team and Team RWBY.
And he had never felt more like a criminal in front of a jury.
Weiss crossed her arms. “Oh, good. Now I have witnesses to his crimes.”
Jaune winced.
Blake, standing beside Yang, raised an eyebrow. “What exactly have you been saying to him?”
Weiss huffed. “Everything.”
Ren, arms crossed, nodded approvingly. “Good.”
Jaune felt betrayed. “You’re not supposed to support this.”
Ren shrugged. “You kinda deserve it.”
Jaune turned to Yang, hoping for an ally.
Yang grinned. “Yeah, buddy. We’re all kinda on board with the Weiss-Tirade today.”
Jaune deadpanned. “You just want to watch me suffer.”
Yang gave him finger guns. “Guilty.”
Jaune groaned.
Then, his doom approached.
Pyrrha stepped forward, her expression unreadable.
Jaune straightened. “Uh—hey, Pyrrha, so listen—”
“Where were you?”
The room went silent.
Jaune inwardly sighed.
There was no avoiding this.
So, instead of dodging, he gave the simplest answer.
“…just hanging around?”
Pyrrha’s jaw tightened. “That’s not an answer.”
Jaune sighed, rubbing his face. “I just… I needed time.”
“Time for what?” Ruby demanded, still visibly upset.
Jaune exhaled slowly. “To figure out things.”
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at his team.
“I just… I needed do things,” he admitted. And well, I manage to do what I wanted to… but in a way it also failed..”
Silence.
Then—
Jaune blinked.
“…So you guys are not mad?”
“Oh, I’m furious,” Pyrrha corrected. “But I’d rather be mad at you while you’re here than be worried while you’re gone.”
Jaune laughed weakly. “That’s fair.”
Ruby huffed. “Dude, you’re not disappearing again. Not without telling us.”
Jaune nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I got that memo.”
Weiss crossed her arms. “Good.”
Yang slung an arm around Jaune’s neck. “So, does this mean we’re finally done with the depressing stuff?”
Jaune smirked. “What, you didn’t enjoy Weiss lecturing me for hours?”
“Oh, I’d loved it if I was here and with a popcorn,” Yang admitted. “But I think Weiss might actually pop a blood vessel if she keeps going.”
Weiss rolled her eyes. “I’m right here, you know?”