Jaune looked up at the sign above the shop. Dust Til Dawn? Is it open all night? he thought. However, he was quickly dragged out of his reverie and into the shop itself. He lost his footing and collided with the red cloak that had pulled him in. Ruby started, turning around to find Jaune clinging to her cloak to stay upright with his free hand, the other still in her grasp. They shared an awkward moment of silence before separating.

"Sorry!" they both said simultaneously. Jaune stepped back, putting his hands up as though he'd been caught by a cop. Ruby laughed and the sound was like a soothing pool that enticed him to join her in laughter. Even though they'd been dating for a little while now, they still couldn't quite shake their occasional awkward moments. It wasn't real embarrassment, not with each other. It wasn't scary like with other people, but comforting. Each found the other endearing, each faux pas serving as a relaxing reminder that their date was human too. Now they'd laugh it off, and it would be like it never happened.

"Give me one second, my dust supply was getting low and I need to buy more," Ruby said and then was gone in a burst of petals. He blinked. What'd she need dust for?

Looking around the small shop, he marveled at all the different colors and forms the dust was available in. He'd never really looked into it before – his family didn't mess with the stuff, and it's not like he needed it for Crocea Mors. He glanced at the labels and barely recognized half the words. He saw more than a few instances where two or three containers of dust looked the same but had very different effects. How could you keep up with this stuff?

He eventually found Ruby in the back looking at a pair of dust tubes. One was nearly empty, but they were the same color. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to make more rounds for Crescent Rose and I needed dust. She usually takes Black Dust Grade 3, but they don't have enough. I don't know if I should get Grade 4 instead or not. What do you think?" she said, looking to him suddenly.

"I, uh… hmm…" he murmured. This was a mistake – he had no idea what she was talking about. "That's a tough one isn't it?"

She pointed to the empty one. "This is pretty strong and isn't too likely to go boom by accident. It's what I usually use, but there's not enough for me now without having to come back later once they get more," she said suddenly, recognizing his ignorance. She pointed to the other tube. "This is stronger but is more likely to go boom by accident."

"Ah. Well, that one sounds dangerous, and mother always said safety first," he replied. Ruby frowned at the prospect, staring at the nearly empty tube. "I mean, why not mix them so you have enough?"

She turned to him suddenly with her eyes wide. "You can't do that!" she exclaimed worriedly. "You can't mix between different grades of dust! Lower grades are very fine and controlled, but don't have a lot of power. Higher grades are very coarse but prone to premature detonation. When you mix them in firearms, the bullets are really unstable and…"

Jaune was taken aback by the tirade and quickly found himself staring at Ruby as she continued. It was always nice to see her talking about weapons. He didn't get a single bit of it, but she was adorable. Her hands waved through the air in wide gestures, her face changing expressions in a never ending stream. He watched it go from wide eyed with brows raised for an explosion to a cute frown as she questioned herself, her eyes looking off to the side in thought, and then suddenly back to serious with a furrowed brow. Before he knew it, the silver disks were fixed on his own blues with a questioning look.

"Uh…" he said, realizing he had no idea what she'd said.

She gave a nervous laugh with a look at the dust. "Sorry, I got carried away. It just doesn't work, you can't mix them. So, should I get some of the Grade 4 as well or only take what they have of the Grade 3?"

He nodded after a moment of thought. "Grade 3. You can always come back later, right?"

She looked back at the two tubes, nodding suddenly. "You're right; this should get me through the weekend until he gets more." She filled up the canister in her hand and took it up front. The old man rang her up while Jaune went to wait at the door.

"Here, have a discount – I insist! I don't know what I'd have done without you," the shopkeep said. She shook her head.

"Oh no, it was nothing! Really," she said while distractedly brushing her hair aside. Jaune didn't get it – why wouldn't she take a discount? Even so, he wordlessly held the door open for her when she was done.

"Thanks," she said, waiting for him outside.

"My sisters made sure I was a gentleman," he replied with a shrug. He got a smile in response, the sight burned in his mind. He'd been silent, stunned by how lucky he was.

"Come on, let's get to the park before the sun starts to set," she said suddenly, grabbing his hand. With a trail of petals, they were off.

Now he stood in the park, a large tree standing before him. She had wanted to play tag. She always had so much energy, and school yard games were her favorite way to show off her speed. They had been there for no more than five minutes before she'd tagged him and seemingly vanished. Once he found her, he had given chase. After awhile of trying – and failing – to tag her, he had become exhausted and collapsed right here. He had been laying there catching his breath for quite awhile before she came back. She had slowly creeped around the tree, asking if he surrendered. He remembered the dirt rubbing his cheek as he had nodded yes.

"Alright, I guess we can eat then," she had said, producing a picnic basket out of nowhere. They had set the blanket right here at the base, eating in the shade of the tree. He looked at the massive thing, the size of the message bringing a smile. She had insisted on making the classic heart with "J+R 4EVA" on the tree. The difference was that in the classic romances the girl didn't wield a giant sniper scythe. Her handiwork was large and sloppy, but still legible after all these years. They also had happy endings… he thought sadly.

The following weekend, she'd been called on a mission. Their escorting teacher had been taken out by a surprise attack of Grimm in the middle of the night. They'd been surrounded while attempting to hold off wave after wave of the red eyed monsters. Evacuation had come, but not without pushing them to their limits. Blake, Yang and Weiss barely had ammo left when they'd escaped. Ruby on the other hand…

"Should I have told you to use the more risky dust?" he asked the tree. There was no grave – no proper one, anyway. They'd never found her after she disappeared among a throng of beasts. She had a marker outside the kingdom, out by her mother, they said. However, she wasn't there – that place meant nothing to him. If there was going to be an arbitrary marker, why not something he shared with her?

The tree was silent without a breeze to rustle its leaves. They told him he'd done the right thing. They told him it would have been madness for her to use that kind of dust in Crescent Rose. But madness was what Ruby did best, right? She always had the crazy plan, and it'd always worked. Even their plan to get to the evac point had been madness – her team even admitted that.

He sighed. There was no answer, as usual. It'd been many years now and she was by no means alone. With a grim thought, he realized at this point, she had more people from those days to keep her company than he did. It was a risky business, being a huntsman. He had faked his way in and some could say it has given him nothing but trouble. He wasn't even that old to have lost so many. However, it was all worth it. Each one he'd lost had been a treasured friend, like family. He'd join them all one day, but he was in no rush. On the contrary, the longer he was here to protect this kingdom, the better. It would mean more time to meet wonderful strangers like that girl in red.

A/N: Made in part for ~GrimmLocke420 as a Lancaster fic, though I also just wanted to try my hand at an isolated one-shot. Thanks to ~JillianForDays for giving characters and locations when I asked for a prompt and to ~PartFootball who looked it over for me and gave me some suggestions for the clarity and tone of Jaune. As with all my work, all feedback is welcome. ~Shinobi201 out