Title: No Need For Goodbyes

Characters: Jaune Arc (+ the Arc sisters; Kiera and Bianca)

Summary: Jaune makes a very important phone call.

Breathe.

There were many things in life he figured he had taken for granted. His home, nestled in a small village in southern Anima. The unwavering support of his parents, despite their reservations about him wanting to be a Huntsman. The quiet beauty of the forest bordering his backyard. His time at Beacon. His team.

Her.

His sisters, however, were not included in that list. The Arc siblings were as thick as thieves and twice as fierce, and that was something Jaune had always known. And when the CCT fell, when he was certain the last thing they saw was Beacon and Vale being decimated, all he wanted was to reassure them that he was safe.

It was months before he got that chance, and he sprang upon it the moment it arose.

Breathe. They'll pick up. Just... breathe.

Jaune's foot bounced anxiously, skittering almost violently against the hardwood floor of the Mistral homestead. His door was open, but he knew Ruby would keep the others from bothering him for a while.

'Do... do your sisters know you're alive, Jaune?' she had asked that morning, silver eyes full of worry. He supposed it was to be expected - she had her sister back now, and it made sense that it could cross her mind. He couldn't remember what he had told her, but her eventual advice had been to give them a call.

So, he there was. Scroll in one hand, resting his forehead on the other, listening to the droning dial tone. Please, pick up...

At length, the line clicked. "Hello?" came a familiar voice, distorted by slight static as the local area connection strained to hold a steady signal.

For all his reminding himself to breathe, in an instant, Jaune forgot how to.

"Hello, who is this?"

Fingers curled in his hair, and the slight pain brought him back to himself, if only just. "Bianca," he said unevenly, struggling past the lump in his throat.

"Speaking," she replied, voice clipped and distinctly impatient. The words had been there a moment ago, he was sure of it. Now there was nothing; a blank, empty void. What could he say to her? Could anything make up for his months of silence? Did they truly think he was...

"Look, if this is anoth-"

"Bianca, it's Jaune," he interrupted. A stunned silence followed. Gathering his courage, he straightened and forced his tone to be a bit lighter. "Hey, lil' sis."

Her stifled sob was as unexpected as it wasn't, but it made Jaune wince all the same. Leaning back, he lowered his hand from his head, crumpling the sheets of the bed into a tight fist instead, and closed his eyes.

"Oh my gods," Bianca breathed. It was almost a wheeze. "Jaune? Jaune? T-That's really- Oh my gods, you're alive! You're alive! I-I... I- we didn't... we couldn't..."

I was right, Jaune realized. They thought I was dead.

"Bianca? Who is it?"

Another voice filtered in from the background, barely audible over Bianca's sniffles. Scratchy, echoing white noise came through - he assumed his sister was moving.

"It's Jaune!" she shouted, voice breaking, but it sounded distant; muffled, and a little deep. She likely had her hand over the speaker. Jaune took the brief few seconds to level his breathing and clear his throat or, at least, try to. He shifted backward until his unarmored back hit the wall, and sagged against it. His head hit with a dull thud.

"Kiera! Kiera, Jaune's on the phone!"

More movement, before Bianca came through again, clearly this time.

"Jaune, are you okay?!" she said loudly amidst sniffles. "We saw what happened to Beacon on the TV, and then we didn't hear from you, and-"

"Yeah. I'm-" he began, though his voice caught. Giving his head a shake, he pushed a sharp exhale out his nose. After everything, he wouldn't pile more worry on his family. Not if he could help it.

"I'm alright. I'm, uh," he said, "actually in Mistral right now. I tried to call sooner, but with the... with the CCT down..." His posture sagged, shoulders dropping as if beset by some sudden weight. "I'm sorry it took so long. I called as soon as I got a signal."

"Gods, Jaune, don't..." she broke off with another sob. It took her a little longer to collect herself this time, and by the sound of it, she was crying properly when she continued. "Don't apologize. You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice..." The idea of a smile flickered across his lips at that. He opened his mouth to speak again, but a ruckus on the other end made him pause.

"Hang on. Kiera's yelling at me. I'm handing the phone over to her, okay?"

The phone had switched hands before he could say anything more to his younger sibling, and her voice was replaced by an older one,

"Jaune? Jaune, you there? It's-"

"Kiera." He did smile this time. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed them, and if hearing Bianca's voice lessened the ache in his chest, his eldest sister's warm lilt had it evaporating entirely. "Hey."

"Oh my god, it is you..." she said. She was quiet for a moment, in which Jaune barely caught her much softer sniffle. Then, she burst out into relieved laughter. "H-hey, lil bro. How... How've you been?"

Jaune's smile faded. "Not great. But I'm alive."

"Gods. Beacon. Jaune, I'm so sorry, I-" she paused. Sighed. "Jaune, what happened?"

It was Jaune's turn to laugh this time - a rough, humorless bark that sounded far too much like Ruby's uncle for his liking.

"A lot. A lot happened," he said, hand returning to his forehead. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter against the pinpricks that assaulted them. "I don't know where to start."

"I-I called you guys, the night before... before," he stressed the word, and Kiera gave a small hum of acknowledgment, "didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. But, then..." she trailed off. Jaune nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it. She drew a long breath, then started anew. "Your team... Jaune, are th-"

He shut his eyes tighter; saw red.

"My partner," he ground out through gritted teeth. The burn of tears intensified as his chest constricted, and he once again found it impossible to breathe. Her name came as a whisper, "Pyrrha. She's gone, Kee."

"Oh," Kiera's voice was small and soft. She knew about his team, probably more than any of his other sisters. She had been the only one he could rely on not to tease him incessantly about it all. "Oh, Jaune..."

"It's fine. I'm... I'm fine."

It was a blatant lie, and Kiera caught on the moment he had finished speaking.

"You're still a horrible liar, Jaune," she said gently. He bit down hard on his lip to hold back the sharp retort that leapt to his tongue, and the coppery tang of blood flooded his mouth. He knew she was right. She was always right.

Thankfully, tact was also one of her better traits.

"How are Ren and Nora?" she asked after a minute of silence. Jaune licked the stinging pain from his lip before answering as honestly as he could.

"They're okay," he said, on a breath that was far calmer than he actually felt. "We're okay, Kee. We're alive. I told Bianca - we're in Mistral."

"You're what?!" Kiera demanded, and Jaune was smiling again, unable to help the chuckle that rumbled in his chest at her utterly baffled tone. "What- why- How did you manage that?"

"We walked," he shrugged, his grin twitching into a smirk.

"You- who's 'we'?!"

"Kiera, please," he said, shifting into a more relaxed position as he set his elbows on his knees. "Ren, Nora and I. Plus..." He frowned and cast a glance at the open door. "You remember our friends, right? Team RWBY? I told you about them."

"Yes, I remember," she said slowly, uncertainly.

"Their leader's with us. Ruby. Her team... got hit pretty hard too," he replied.

"Jaune, I-..." She sighed softly. "I wish there was something I could say."

There wasn't; they both knew that. He had known that even before picking up the phone; even before leaving for Mistral. There was nothing that could make this hurt less, but Jaune had already accepted that.

"I know. It's alright. Just being able to hear from you guys again is... more than enough," he said. "How are mom and dad?"

"Worried sick. They were beginning to think..." she didn't finish, and Jaune didn't need her to. His parents were wonderful, and he loved them, but it didn't surprise him that after what happened to Vale, they doubted his ability to keep himself alive long enough to see, much less speak with them again.

"They're not home right now, but... we'll put them on when they get in, okay? You won't go anywhere, right?"

"No," he assured, settling back into his previous position against the wall in physical confirmation. "I'm staying right here. I promise."

For once, it felt like a promise he'd be able to keep.

"Good. Now. Start from the beginning, Jaune. Tell me everything."