The morning rush never failed to be boring. It seemed that the people of Vale had a never-ending addiction to overpriced bean water in order to help them get their days going. It was a shame that it didn't seem to have the same effect on her.

Trifa yawned as the first wave of customers finally died down. Waking up in the early hours of the morning for the first shift of the day was painful. It was especially bad when she didn't have a set schedule. Mornings here, mids there, and closings too. As such she was never able to get a consistent sleep schedule going.

Then again, there were certain nights, the weekends in particular, where she wouldn't be going to bed at a reasonable hour anyway. Those were the days that Jaune was free to come over and spend the night. Those were the days that she was able to work off all of the anger and stress that came from dealing with the general public. Those were the days where they both put their Auras to the test so that they wouldn't have any lingering injuries from their amorous activities.

She sighed forlornly at the thought. For the next little while at least there wouldn't be any nights with Jaune. No one to warm her bed with her. No one to have any fun with. No, Jaune would be going on some sort of class trip out of the city with his huntsmen team. She didn't know all the details, only that he would be leaving soon and that he wouldn't be back for a few days. It would be a long week for Trifa. One where she would have to deal with the likes of Coco by herself and have no way to relieve all of that stress later on. At least not in a way where she wouldn't have to do all the work herself. Trifa had grown accustomed to having someone there to help her out with that.

These were the kinds of thoughts that came to her mind when she was at work with little to do. As much as she despised the customers, at least they helped keep her mind occupied. At least they helped the time pass by. Now, however, between the morning and lunchtime rushes, there was little to do but small tasks like menial cleaning. She could easily go and grab a rag in order to wipe down the counters, or clean the smears and fingerprints off of the glass display cases, but right now she just didn't care enough to do so.

Pressing a hand over her mouth as she yawned, Trifa stared down at the empty counter before her. "I need a new job," she murmured to herself.

There was nothing wrong with being a barista. For an ex-terrorist like Trifa, it was more than enough to start off with. However, now that she had gained some work experience and was able to put something on a resume, she needed to start thinking of the future. The only question was, what was a former White Fang member like herself qualified for?

Trudging slowly to the backroom, Trifa pulled her scroll out and started typing away at the keyboard. "I wonder if it's too late to try and be a huntress," she said softly to herself. She wondered if the internet would be able to provide her with an answer.

Trifa frowned when she learned that most people started attending places like Beacon Academy at age seventeen. She was already older than that. Most people also attended junior academies first, but not all of them. After all, Blake Belladonna of all people was at Beacon, and she'd been in the same boat as Trifa had, once upon a time. Maybe there was still time. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe, just maybe, when next year rolled around she would submit an application to Beacon in hopes of being accepted. Sure she would be a year behind Jaune if she were to be accepted, and probably a couple of years older than her peers, but... it was something, wasn't it?

Then I could see him every day, at least, she thought. Not just weekends. Plus I'd get to wear a school girl uniform. I bet he'd like that...

Once more her thoughts turned dirty. Her idle ones often did. Who knew that having a boyfriend would lead to her being a total perv most of the time?

Jaune had said she'd looked good wearing the Beacon Academy skirt way back when. Back before they'd been a thing. Back when she'd come to him in her darkest hour in need of aid, and the only clean and dry clothes available had been the school uniform.

Well, it was an idea at least. Trifa had never had an interest in becoming a huntress, with most of her time and energy being dedicated to the White Fang. She'd been fighting a misguided war for vengeance rather than trying to protect people. However, now that she had someone worth protecting in her life, and now that she had a life that she wanted to grow and build, maybe becoming a protector of both faunus and humans alike wouldn't be so bad...

What kind of weapon would she even use? The only thing she'd ever had, which she still kept on her at all times, was a simple long-bladed knife. Then there were Semblances, or in her case, a lack of a Semblance. Yeah she had her spiderwebs that she was able to shoot from her hands, but that was merely her faunus trait. She didn't have a Semblance. Then again Jaune didn't either, and he was doing just fine.

A loud bang sounded outside, snapping Trifa from her thoughts. She was getting way ahead of herself. She hadn't even applied to Beacon Academy, much less been accepted. The next school year was still months away.

Come on, like you'd ever even stand a chance of getting in anyway, the darker, more doubtful part of her brain told her. There are people who have been training for years for this, and you think just because you're ex-White Fang that you stand a chance?

She was sure that if Jaune was here he'd chase those doubts from her mind immediately and tell her that she could do anything if she put her mind to it. He would even offer to help train her in preparation for next year. He was always such a positive and optimistic influence in her life. A golden ray of sunshine she needed in her gray, dreary life. Even in their appearances he was bright and vibrant in comparison to the drab and dull shades of black and gray she covered herself in.

Sirens sounded, once more snapping Trifa from her thoughts. Put immediately on alert, she came out from the backstock room of the Schneebucks to check if she could see if anything was happening outside from behind the counter. What she saw sent chills down her spine, freezing her very core.

People. People were running. Fleeing in terror. She didn't know from what, but whatever it was had been enough to cause outright panic in the streets. Some of them were even rushing inside of the coffee shop itself, and Trifa knew it wasn't for the overpriced drinks that they sold. Rushing from behind the counter she moved to the large glass windows at the front of the store to try and get a better look.

Then she saw it. She saw them. On the heels of those who were running for their lives she saw the savage and shadowy figures of nightmares themselves. Beasts which existed only to kill and destroy humans and faunus alike and everything they held dear.

Grimm.

Panic gripped Trifa at first. What would she do? What could she do? She wasn't a huntress. She'd never faced a Grimm before. Even in her time in Menagerie there had been adequate defenses so that she'd never had to face a situation like this before. Here and now though? In the middle of work, in a place which was hardly considered safe and defensible, what would she do?

"Crap," she breathed, looking around. More and more people were streaming inside, and the tide of Grimm was getting closer.

There was no one who could help them. No one who could help her. She didn't want to die. Not when her life was finally turning around. Not when she suddenly had so much to live for. Damn it, why couldn't Jaune be with her right now? Why couldn't she be safe at home with her huntsman boyfriend?

She shook her head. No, wishing for things to be different wouldn't solve anything. If she didn't want to die she would have to take action. She would have to take control. Out of all the people who were sheltering in this Schneebucks, she was likely the only one with any kind of combat experience period. She was a trained assassin who had sparred with her compatriots in the White Fang many times. She'd taken a bullet to the gut in he escape from the organization. Most importantly though, she had Aura. If anyone was suited to fight and defend this place against the Grimm, it was her.

"Everyone stay away from the windows!" she ordered. Assuming command, despite not being the manager on duty, Trifa went to work. An incredulous smile crossed her face as her arms came up and her palms faced outward. As if being a manager mattered at a time like this.

Webbing shot from her hands, coating the windows with powerful and sticky clusters of web. It was just in time too, as a Beowolf charged headfirst into the glass, perhaps not realizing that an invisible barrier separated it from the prey it had sighted. People screamed as it made impact, fracturing the glass but not breaking it. Certainly not breaking through her webs. Being a spider faunus meant more than just having the veins which ran up and down her body. It meant that the webs she was able to produce were incredibly strong. Like real spiders, the tensile strength was as strong as steel. No Grimm would be breaking through her barriers anytime soon.

Trifa coated the huge windows that lined the storefront in the substance until only the door remained unprotected. She raced over there to see if anyone was still outside trying to seek shelter in the shop. When she saw only Grimm in the streets she closed the door and prepared to seal the final entrance.

Until a second Beowolf came charging at her. In a panic she raised a hand and shot out a web, but her body had run nearly dry of the webbing. Only a small amount came out, and the Grimm slammed into the glass door just as the first had the window. Trifa instinctively turned her head as the glass broke once more, but thankfully didn't shatter. Only the tiny amount of webbing she'd been able to shoot out prevented the Grimm from breaking through completely, but its vicious jaws chomped away at the air, trying desperately to break through in order to maul the spider faunus.

Screams sounded from behind her as people witnessed the Beowolf struggling to fit through the entrance. With no more webs to protect them she turned to the last remaining weapon in her arsenal. She always kept it with her as a personal defense weapon. Taking the bus alone, sometimes early in the morning, and other times late at night, meant that having something to protect herself with was important. There was also the lingering fear in the back of her mind that the White Fang might come back for her someday. As such she kept her old and trusted knife in a sheath concealed beneath her pants near her ankle.

Trifa lifted a leg of her black pants and unsheathed the knife. With no hesitation she plunged it into the skull of the Beowolf trying its hardest to push through the webbed up door she'd put in its way. The beast howled as the blade hit where a brain would normally be, though Trifa had no clue whether or not Grimm possessed brains in a typical sense. Seconds later she saw the thing begin to crumble into black dust, until soon all that remained was a hole in the glass door where it had once been.

Knife still in hand she took a step away, looking in horror and awe at what she'd just achieved. She'd killed a Grimm. She'd actually killed a Grimm. Yeah maybe it hadn't been a fair fight in the open, but it wasn't like she was a trained huntress with a badass weapon. She was a barista with a knife, and she'd just protected an entire store filled with people from a rampaging Grimm which would have been able to kill them all.

She wasted no time getting back to work in order to defend the breach. "Grab some tables!" she ordered to no one in particular. "Put them up against the door!"

Coworkers and random people alike listened and obeyed, and soon all the tables in the dining area were pushed to the front and flipped on their sides. Enough were moved in order to form a more protective temporary barrier for the vulnerable door. It would just have to do. It would take probably a couple of hours until her body produced more webbing.

The minutes that ticked by seemed like hours as Trifa stood on the front line with her knife ready to defend her store once more. Yet more Grimm never came. Outside she heard the roars and howls of them, but there weren't any people screaming. Those who had been in the immediate area had either already fled, or, sadly, had already died. The only sounds which accompanied the Grimm were those of gunfire. At least someone had arrived. At least someone was taking charge of the situation and doing something to stop the Grimm menace.

Stacey, one of her coworkers, tentatively crept beside her near the door. "Trifa you were amazing," she whispered in awe. "Like, you killed a Grimm. You actually killed a Grimm."

Trifa would be able to process what had happened later on when this was all over. If she survived it. Right now thankfully that seemed more and more likely thanks to whatever was happening outside.

She shot Stacey a weak smile, not knowing exactly how to respond to the compliment. "Yeah. I did."

"Are you secretly a huntress or something? Are you a secret badass? Did you go to huntress school before you were here?"

She shook her head. Of course she couldn't tell Stacey the actual truth about why she carried a knife and was able to keep her cool under pressure. "No. I'm just a normal girl."

Stacey laughed incredulously. "Damn, I couldn't have done that. You definitely deserve a raise."

Trifa found herself laughing as well. As if things like raises or promotions were even on her mind right now. "Yeah," she agreed nonetheless. "I totally do."

The gunshots were louder and more frequent now. Were they getting closer? Moving slowly to get closer to the door, Trifa peered outside and glanced around. A car... a real car, weighing however many tons a car did, flew down the street as if it was nothing more than a crumpled up piece of paper being tossed in the trash. Something else was happening out there, and it definitely wasn't just Grimm.

She saw her answer in the form of a familiar quartet of Beacon Academy students fighting in the street, or in the case of the first one, flying high above it.

Riding a massive hammer like a gravity-defying pogo stick, the girl who thought that Trifa was Jaune's hooker flew in from the horizon before turning her weapon upright and slamming its head down onto the skull of a massive King Taijitu. The monster wailed its death cry before crashing onto the street below where it laid before turning to ash.

The quiet black-haired boy was there as well. As was the world-famous Pyrrha Nikos. However it was one, and only one, who stole her entire attention.

"Jaune..." she whispered, not believing that he was here. He was so close and yet so far. In the street mere yards away from where she stood, and yet impossible to reach without putting herself and the rest of the people in the Schneebucks in danger. She would just have to watch and hope that that unthinkable wouldn't happen.

They went to work quickly, fighting with all the strength and grace Trifa would have expected from even a team of huntsmen in training. Raw power flashed. Agile leaps and kicks sent Grimm flying. Blades sliced and skewered the dark beasts where they stood.

Jaune broke into a sprint to aid his teammates. At least he did until a massive Ursa suddenly landed behind him.

Trifa's hands came over her mouth. "Oh no. Oh gods no..."

What would she do? What could she do? Despite the fact that she'd just killed a Beowolf herself, it had been in a very protected and controlled environment. To burst through the door now, to create a bigger hole in the protection her webbing was providing, could doom those who had taken refuge inside the store. As much as she wanted to... she couldn't risk rushing outside to help him.

Jaune turned around, sword and shield in hand, and peered up at the Ursa who stood up to its full height on its hind legs and roared a bestial challenge at him. Jaune took a few uneasy steps back as his foe stalked toward him.

Trifa's hands squeezed into fists. "Come on, Jaune... come on..."

Then he raised his sword.

He lashed out, hacking and slashing at the beast which roared in sudden pain. Jaune was relentless, swinging again and again without any sense of hesitation or fear. Trifa's eyes were wide as she witnessed her boyfriend, her man, stand toe to toe with a Grimm which stood at least ten feet tall and took it head on. A dozen slashes must have hit home on the Ursa, which for a few long and agonizing seconds stood completely still, before falling backwards with a thunderous impact that Trifa felt even from inside the store.

Fear became elation as Trifa's face broke into a massive grin. Her fists pumped as she watched Jaune stand over his fallen foe. "Fuck yeah!" she cheered.

She barely heard herself, however, as the sounds of battle outside only intensified. As if a sudden storm had rolled in, the sun's rays were banished from the streets below, and the sounds of thunder filled the sky above.

He'd done it again. This time, however, he felt more of a sense of achievement. More confidence. And if he was being honest, more fire in his belly.

Jaune stood before the corpse of the Ursa as its body faded into dust. There were still too many foes around him to truly celebrate, but the tide was beginning to turn. All around he saw the mechanized forms of Atlesian Knights landing from massive battleships above him. The forces of Atlas had come to Vale's rescue and the numbers were beginning to show.

Team RWBY fought on, as did a handful of exchange students. Some of them like Sun and Neptune he knew, others he couldn't name. And then Team CFVY arrived. His senior peers tore through the hordes of Grimm as if they were nothing more than a mild nuisance, making it look easy. Coco in particular shredded a Deathstalker and a trio of Nevermores in mere seconds with her handbag-turned-minigun. It was almost unfair how little effort it had taken her to completely overshadow his own accomplishment. However, that didn't matter much to him. The city was being saved, and regardless of who did it, that was a good thing.

It took only minutes for the Grimm to be defeated and for the breach in the underground subway tunnel to be sealed. It was over. The city was safe. Jaune took the opportunity to take a seat upon a pile of rubble and take a deep breath.

"Nice work, everyone," he told his teammates, who'd gathered around him after the fighting had died down. "We did it." He gestured around to the many huntsmen and battle droids which patrolled the city streets. "We all did."

Pyrrha nodded, smiling as she placed a hand upon his shoulder. "You did well," she commended. "You've come a long way since the beginning of the year."

He absolutely had. While he'd taken on an Ursa in Forever Fall a few months back, there had always been the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that it had been a lucky shot. A single swing of his blade had decapitated the beast. If his blade had been off by only a few inches, or maybe his shield, then maybe it would have been him who'd lost his head.

Here and now, however, he felt more proud of his achievement. This hadn't been a single stroke of either luck or blade. This had been a repeated and focused attack. Slash after slash had landed on the Grimm, and Jaune knew without a shadow of a doubt that it had been his own skill and courage which had allowed him to prevail.

"Thanks," he smiled back. "Couldn't have done it without you."

Pyrrha beamed with pride as she looked down on him. Maybe she'd been about to say something, but whatever it may have been died before it even left her throat when a familiar voice called out his name.

"Jaune!"

His eyes widened. It couldn't be, could it? How? Why? And here of all places.

Then it hit him right as she did. As his girlfriend leapt at him, crashing against him and wrapping her arms around his body, Jaune realized where he was. Where this part of Vale was. It may have been a little worse for wear, but the unmistakable storefront and sign of one of the nearby stores showed the logo of Schneebucks coffee.

Jaune was nearly knocked back off his seat of rubble by the force Trifa hit him with. It took a moment to steady himself, but as soon as he had his arms instinctively wrapped around her body just as hers clung to him.

"Are you okay, Trifa?"

She nodded into his chest, and a second later her head came up so she could look up into his eyes. "I'm fine," she said. "I was in the shop. I saw you fight. I saw everything."

Everything? A momentary spike of panic crept into his mind. So had she seen him back away? That wasn't exactly the coolest thing he'd ever done. Even though he had won his fight against the Ursa, it wasn't as if he'd looked cool doing it like Coco had.

"You were a fucking badass!" she gushed, quickly squashing Jaune's fears.

He blinked, and an involuntary smile crept onto his face. "Oh. Really?"

"Yes, really! You kicked that thing's ass! You're a hero, Jaune!"

A hero. That's what he'd always wanted to be. It was why he'd wanted to become a huntsman. It's why he'd wanted to emulate generations of his family. They'd all been heroes. Was it finally his turn?

Another voice behind him spoke up. "Come on, guys," Nora said. "Let's give them some privacy."

With unspoken agreement his three teammates casually strode away, likely heading over to speak to any of the people who were in charge of the situation to see what they could do to help. It left Jaune and Trifa alone in the middle of the street surrounded by destruction and chaos. Yet somehow it felt incredibly romantic at the same time. Maybe being in the arms of the girl he loved just had that kind of effect on things.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so, as Trifa's hands trailed up his body to lock around the back of his neck. "My big bad huntsman boyfriend," she purred, bringing her lips close to his. She gave him a brief but firm kiss on the lips. "Gods, you looked so hot. Taking a Grimm on like that..."

More and more kisses peppered him on the mouth. On the cheek. On the neck. As much as Jaune was basking in the feeling of being showered with affection from his girlfriend, at the same time...

"Trifa..." he gasped as her mouth found his flesh again. "We're kinda in public here..."

His friends were around. People with power and authority were around. The media might have even been on the scene by now. And here he sat in the middle of the street all but making out with a girl in a barista's apron.

"I don't care," she growled. Intense gray-blue eyes stared into his, as if she was a predator who'd just sighted her prey. "Actually you know what? You're right. Get your sexy ass back to my place so I can show you just how hot you taking an Ursa out was for me."

That sounded like... a wonderful idea. As wonderful as it was, could he even do that? Could he just walk away from an active warzone without some sort of okay from Miss Goodwitch or General Ironwood? Did he have to give some sort of post-battle report? Did he need to be debriefed? He'd never actually done anything like this before, so he had no idea.

"I mean, I'd love to, but..."

"But what?"

Another voice, one all too familiar to both lovebirds, sounded near them.

Coco peered down at them, her hands on her hips and her sunglasses dipped just enough so that her coffee-brown eyes were visible as she took in the sight before her. A shit-eating grin split her face from ear to ear as she must have just heard Trifa demanding intimacy from Jaune, as well as his response.

"Oh. Hey, Coco," Jaune said uneasily.

"Don't tell me you're about to turn my girl down, stud," she continued, taking long and deliberate steps around the seated pair. "You know what they say, nothing gets the blood going and the hormones pumping more than killing some Grimm. And from the rumors I'm hearing, it wasn't just Jaune who did it."

Jaune's brow furrowed in confusion as he stared up at Coco. His gaze fell back onto Trifa next, whose face fell into some sort of blank expression he couldn't read. She'd gone from aggressive and horny to whatever this was. It was more than enough to earn his curiosity.

"Trifa? What does she mean?"

She shrugged. "I may have killed a Beowolf at the coffee shop," she said quietly.

His eyes lit up. "You did?" In an instant all thoughts of bedroom fun fled Jaune's mind, instead focused entirely on Trifa's safety. "Are you okay? Tell me you're okay." He knew that she must have been since she'd come to him with no signs of injuries, but still. The question was just automatic at this point.

"I'm fine, really," she insisted. "It didn't get through the door. I blocked off all the windows with my webs, and when one tried to crash through the door I just... you know. Knifed it."

She'd insisted that he was a badass, but in reality? She was. Trifa may have been a former member of the White Fang, but she wasn't a huntress. To his knowledge she'd never tangled with a creature of Grimm before. And here she was making a huge fuss about him and an Ursa when she'd killed Beowolf only minutes earlier?

"That's amazing!" he yelled, squeezing her tightly in his arms. "Trifa you're amazing!"

"Yeah she is," Coco agreed. She looked around and saw more people headed their way. The smile on her face deepened. "Looks like someone's gonna try and get one of the hottest stories going around right now."

Another girl in the black uniform and dark green apron of Schneebucks Coffee. Several older men and women, one carrying a microphone and one a large camera. The media was here, and the media was... coming for them?

"Trifa! There you are!" the second barista shouted. "You have to tell them what happened!"

Trifa tensed in his arms. She looked back to Jaune for a moment before responding to her coworker.

"Do I have to?"

The other girl nodded vehemently. "Yes you have to! You're a hero, Trifa! You have to tell them about how you saved an entire store of people from the Grimm!"

Trifa on the other hand seemed less than thrilled, and finally she freed herself from Jaune's embrace and stood up. Jaune did the same, ready to beat a hasty retreat if that's what his girlfriend decided upon.

The news agency men and women were busy setting up their equipment for a shoot. This was the time to leave if they wanted to. He and Trifa could disappear into the chaos and no one would ever have to know. She likely wouldn't be returning to work for several days while all the damage to the store and surrounding area was repaired.

In the end it was Coco who was able to make her stay. "Don't worry, playtime can wait just a little longer. My favorite barista's a hero now. Time to let the whole world know what I already do. You're a pretty cool girl, Trifa."

Jaune smiled. Yeah, his girlfriend was more than just a cutie. She was pretty cool, wasn't she? Trifa was sassy. Snarky. Honest, sometimes to a fault. She had a rough exterior, but a heart of gold. She worked hard at a job she hated in order to pay the bills and give her life a fresh start. He admired the way she was making something out of herself from nothing. Less than nothing, even. Not everyone started their journey in life with no home, no money, and a gunshot wound from her old comrades. Sure, she'd had a little help along the way from Jaune and his friends, but then again Jaune had plenty of help along the way himself.

"I guess I could say something..."

Coco smiled. The other barista jumped up and down excitedly. Trifa frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. She absolutely was not a people person, and now she was going to be giving an impromptu interview over a traumatic experience which had just happened. She was indeed a cool badass.

The reporter, a middle-aged woman with shoulder length brown hair, approached the group with a microphone in hand. Her cameraman followed closely behind. "Excuse me, I'm Sunny Dee from VNN. Would you mind sparing a few minutes for an interview?"

Trifa shrugged. Her body language told the story that her words would not. In the end she went against what she would have preferred to do, and nodded softly. "I guess."

Jaune and the others took a step back away from where she and the reporter stood. It was time for her rightful fifteen minutes of fame. As Jaune watched the reporter talk to his girlfriend about what had happened earlier, he'd never been prouder of her than in this moment.

In a familiar bed with a familiar girl, Jaune watched a familiar TV set on a brand new stand. Slowly but surely new things were filling up Trifa's once empty apartment.

Curled up with Trifa in his arms, it was nearly time for the evening news. The attack on Vale was the only story in town, and Trifa's brief interview with the VNN reporter would surely be featured on the program. Jaune wanted to see her, if for nothing else than to be able to talk about how he was dating a girl that was on TV. It was a stupid and pointless joke, but it would be fun to say.

Trifa, meanwhile, didn't seem all too eager to see herself on TV. Jaune could understand that. After all, if their roles had been reversed and he had been the one being recorded, he could easily see himself not wanting to watch his own interview.

"We could turn it off," Trifa pressed, all the while pressing herself against him. An arm squeezed tighter around his waist as she pulled herself impossibly close to him. "And do other things."

Other things. Oh they'd done plenty of other things already. True to her word, Trifa had absolutely rocked his world once they'd gotten back to her apartment. In fact, they'd spent much of the day doing 'other things' already. The only time they'd stopped was to take a brief nap in the early afternoon due to her working the opening shift at Schneebucks, and being exhausted after all the 'excitement' both in the city and at home.

Clearly her batteries were recharged now and she was ready and eager for more. Jaune on the other hand...

"After the news?" he suggested with an apologetic smile on his face.

Trifa glowered at him. "Wow, you're turning down sex to watch the news? What, does Lisa Lavender do it for you or something?"

Lisa Lavender? Nah. She was probably more plastic than flesh now, given how many 'enhancements' both her body and face had over her long career in news broadcasting. No, the only girl for him was right next to him.

"I'm not turning it down," he argued. "I'm delaying it. You know how I always try to delay things while we're in bed."

That earned a snorted breath from Trifa. "Dick," she snarled playfully, smacking him lightly in the arm.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll get it soon enough," he quipped.

Trifa's mouth opened in shock. Her arm abandoned his body, and she flipped over to turn away from him. "Well now I'm not in the mood."

Jaune turned with her, casting an arm around her body and pulling himself close to her again. He pressed his face against the back of her head, smelling her freshly-washed hair. "Yeah you are."

He felt her back heave with a sigh. "Yeah, I am..."

Jaune laughed at such an easy surrender, and Trifa turned back around to face him. She silenced his laughter with a kiss on the lips. After holding it for a few seconds she pulled away, her eyes narrowed dangerously as she regarded him.

"So... you wanna..."

"Still the news."

Trifa breathed an exasperated groan and laid flat on her back. Jaune once again chuckled in amusement at his girlfriend being shot down.

It wasn't that he didn't want her. He wanted her all night, every night. However after a few times today alone even his body needed some time to recover. And, of course, he actually really did want to see her on TV. Trifa deserved all of the good things that were bound to come her way thanks to her heroics, and Jaune wanted to be there to witness them all.

"I knew I shouldn't have talked to that stupid reporter..." she lamented softly.

"But I'm glad you did. You saved people's lives today, Trif. People deserve to know. In fact, I think it would do a lot of good because..."

Jaune trailed off, unsure if he should voice the thought which had just come to his mind. Maybe he'd been spending a bit too much time around Blake lately, but the idea that a faunus girl saving a bunch of humans would be good publicity. He knew that Trifa had suffered discrimination in the past. It had probably been what had driven her to join the White Fang in the first place. However, should he really go about saying it so casually? It wasn't like he had any idea what it was like to walk in her or any other faunus' shoes.

"Because?" she pressed.

In the end he decided to bite his tongue. Jaune Arc was known for saying a lot of stupid things and shoving his foot in his mouth frequently. There was no reason to do so here and now.

"Because it would show that baristas can kick some butt too," he lied. A little white lie, but there was no reason to discuss faunus discrimination while in bed.

Trifa hummed, and Jaune felt her shoulders shrug against him. "Anything to keep Coco off my back. Maybe she won't try to tease me so much now. But if nothing else I know her weakness."

Jaune recalled what had happened a few days back when he'd run into Coco when she was leaving the store. "Oh yeah. Her..."

"Fetish," she finished for him. "Don't ask me why she wants me to be a bitchy little barista to her. I don't know. Freaky little masochistic coffee snob..."

He'd certainly learned something new about Coco that day. If that was a side of herself that she kept hidden from her classmates at Beacon, he wondered what kinds of weird interests and quirks his other friends were keeping hidden from the larger world.

"Well I like it when you're happy," he said. "And I like making you happy."

Rolling onto her side toward him, Trifa hummed softly again. She once more flung an arm around his body and pulled herself close to him. "You wanna know what would make me really happy right now?"

Jaune could take a wild guess. He also had to very reluctantly turn her down. It was quite astounding, really. Several weeks ago he could never imagine putting off getting some loving to watch the news of all things, and yet here he was.

The broadcast, which he'd only been half listening to in the background during his conversation with Trifa, suddenly earned his interest. The time had finally come.

"Oh, it's on," he said, denying the amorous advances of his girlfriend.

"I'm standing here with one of the many brave heroes of this momentous day," the reporter, whose name Jaune had learned was Sunny Dee, spoke into the camera. "Trifa is a barista who works at the local Schneebucks coffee shop, but today she was serving up more than just coffee. Trifa, what happened?"

The microphone was put in front of Trifa's face, and the girl who looked clearly uncomfortable and out of place began speaking.

"Well, there was a Grimm, like, a Beowolf that came running at the store. And I, um, you know, had to do something to stop it I guess."

Jaune heard Trifa groan from beside him. He paid her no mind, however. This was his amazing girlfriend recounting her brave and awesome work today.

"And what did you do, Trifa?"

"I used my, you know, my faunus trait to stop it. Um, I stopped it with some webbing. And then when one was trying to break through, I, you know, used a knife and stabbed it in the head."

Another louder groan earned Jaune's attention, and he saw that Trifa had covered her face with her hands. She rolled and squirmed adorably beside him, clearly embarrassed by the interview that was being seen by thousands of people all around Vale right now.

"I sound like a freaking idiot!" she wailed. Trifa stretched for the remote, but Jaune got to it first and snatched it out of her reach. "Hey! Come on, turn it off!"

Jaune grinned as he held the remote away from her. "Nope!"

With a snarl Trifa continued to pursue the remote in Jaune's outstretched hand, covering his body with her own as she sought to gain control of the precious object. All the while the news continued to play in the background where Trifa continued to answer the reporter's questions.

"Were you scared? Just how does a normal person like yourself find the courage to fight a Grimm and save countless lives in the process?"

Her entire weight was on top of him now. Not that this was anything unusual for them, especially lately, but there was a lot more grunting and struggling than he was used to. With one hand she pressed against his chest to pin him down to the bed, while the other grappled with his own hand which possessed the remote control.

"It was just, uh, the right thing to do, you know?. If I didn't do something right then and there, you know, it could have gotten inside and killed all of us. I didn't really think about it, I just acted."

Her legs were straddling his ribcage now, and Trifa used her superior position to ensure that both of her hands could be used to wrest the remote free of Jaune's single hand.

Trifa laughed in triumph and turned to point the device at the TV, but in her moment of distraction Jaune flipped her over and off of him, sending her crashing down to the mattress beside him. He quickly followed up after her, this time being the one to pin her down underneath him. His hands closed around her small and delicate wrists as she pressed them down beside her head on the bed. He stared down into her eyes, both breathing heavily from the struggle which had just taken place.

Her eyes stared up into his. He gazed down intensely into hers. He'd already been in the mood before, but now...

She leaned up with her head and greedily took his lips with her own. Jaune allowed her free access to his mouth, suddenly not caring about the rest of the interview. After all, he'd already gotten to see it live and in person earlier in the day. He'd gotten to see most of it on TV as well. She'd been so awkwardly adorable during it, and she was even cuter right now when she was embarrassed over it.

After breaking free from the kiss Jaune saw how her tongue poked out to lick her lips. To taste the lingering presence of his own. Her hungry eyes peered into his with unspoken want and desire.

"So... you in the mood now?"

Jaune smiled down on her. "Always am."

With nothing holding him back anymore Jaune was free to show Trifa just how much he loved her. Though she wouldn't be going back to work tomorrow due to the damage to both the store and the surrounding area, Jaune was going to make her a very, very happy barista.

Poor Coco would never get another ounce of snark from her favorite barista as long as Jaune had anything to say about it. Though right now, Coco's happiness was the last thing on his list of priorities.

Here and now it was all about Trifa and him. As unexpected and unlikely as their relationship had been, he was determined to show her how much it meant to him, and just how much she did as well.

Author's Note: The first and only Jaune x Trifa story has come to a close. Took a while to get the last chapter out, but since the climax had already happened in a previous chapter all that was left was a little bit of a wrap-up. That, and perhaps a glimpse of Trifa's future. Will she try to become a huntress? Who knows? She has the basic training of a White Fang assassin already, so she's still way ahead of where Jaune was when he decided to attend Beacon. Since she doesn't want to be a barista, or work with the general public period, maybe becoming a huntress would be a good career move for her.

I can't thank you all enough for your enthusiasm and support for such a random and unlikely pairing. It really shows that any ship is possible so long as you put the thought and effort into making it just as deep as one of the big, normal Jaune ships. Minor characters are also super fun to write because you can make them your own more than the more established ones.

Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you all had as much fun reading it. Again, thank you all for your kind words. I truly to appreciate them.

And as always, thanks for reading.