24
{THIRD-PERSON POV}
'Shit... I'm confused. Am I supposed to be happy?' Mordred thought to herself as she comforted Jaune by rubbing his back.
"Hey, don't cry..." She hugged him. "There's nothing to cry about, so don't cry."
Mordred was confused about whether she was supposed to be angry at her dad for making Jaune cry, or happy about her dad's words and actions.
On the other hand, what her dad did for Jaune was something Jaune really needed, considering it had been like... fucking years since he'd ever done that for Jaune again.
Hell, it would've been really weird if Jaune didn't cry.
He was starved for affection from his father, so of course he would cry.
Saphron then put Olivia down on the ground and let her stand on her own before she walked up to Jaune and Mordred and hugged them both.
"Come on, Jaune... let's get you inside." Saphron nodded to her mother to tell her that she'd take care of Jaune while she took care of the rest of the siblings, because Jaune needed her more right now.
Saphron knew she hadn't been in Jaune's life as much as she used to be, considering she was busy with her studies, but she was his big sister for Oum's sake. If she didn't help him now, then when else would she help him?
Mordred might be the closest to him now, but Saphron was the one Jaune used to go to for comfort, and she was the one who taught Jaune how to dance for the first time.
It hurt her a little that Jaune confided in Mordred more than he confided in her, but what choice did he have? Artoria, as much as she loved Jaune, was simply too strict. She tried her best to comfort Jaune and be there for him, but she was a little too emotionally unavailable.
And from what Saphron had gathered, Artoria was the first person who knew about their dad's plan to stop Jaune's training, so she likely felt guilty for supporting their father.
Jeanne was training with their father, which meant she wouldn't have as much time to be there for Jaune as she wanted. It also wasn't a secret that Jeanne felt guilty too, but this time it wasn't because she supported their father. It was because one of the main reasons their father stopped Jaune's training was to focus on her training.
And the others were simply too young for Jaune to confide in, so if Saphron were in Jaune's shoes, she would've picked Mordred too.
Why? Because Mordred was the loudest in her disagreement about their father's decision. Hell, it had been an ongoing fight between her and their father, and Miles obviously didn't try to fight back because he wasn't a child abuser. Mordred also actively sought Jaune out, from what Saphron knew, and the two of them went out every day just to hang out.
"Come on, Jaune. Let's get you another shirt or some shit. There's snot all over this one." Mordred told Jaune before she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside, with Saphron following close behind.
'Jaune...' Jeanne thought to herself, because she wanted to go with him too, before she sighed, shook her head, and looked at her mother.
"Mom," Jeanne called out to her mom. "Is Jaune going to be okay?"
"Yeah! Is he going to be okay? I don't like seeing him cry!" Noir chimed in, while Blancheur nodded beside her like a bobblehead.
Luna let out a tired sigh before she answered her children. "He's going to be okay... your brother... he... your brother is just shocked. That's all..." Luna put a hand to her cheek before she sighed again.
"He's just not used to your father doing that to him since the..." The words 'stopped his training' came to Jeanne's mind.
Luna sighed again. "He... he really needed this. No child should have been deprived of his father's love like that..." She then crouched down, picked up Olivia, and carried her before looking at the rest of her children.
"Come on. Let's get you all a change of clothes. We're going to the park, remember?"
Luna thought that hopefully this could mend the relationship between father and son.
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"I... I didn't expect him to do that..." Jaune sobbed into Mordred's shirt while they sat on his bed.
"It's okay, Jaune. Let it all out." Saphron rubbed his back and looked into Mordred's eyes.
'This is bad,' her eyes communicated to Mordred's, and Mordred replied by rolling her eyes as if to say, 'Of course it's bad. Are you stupid?'
"Hey, we didn't expect him to do that either... but I guess the cold bastard finally grew a heart, huh?" Mordred tried to bring some of her usual levity into the conversation, but even to her, it didn't sound very good.
"I don't even remember the last time he hugged me, Mordred! Let alone said that he loved me!" Jaune cried harder into her shirt, and his body started to shake.
'Shit... I really want to punch that bastard for making him cry, but what can I do? That fucker probably doesn't even think about how this would affect Jaune...' Mordred hugged Jaune tighter.
"Hey, listen to me, Jaune. It's that man's fault for not giving you all of that, okay? He's a stupid bastard who feels too guilty to properly give you the love you need, okay?" Mordred whispered to him, but it was loud enough that Saphron could hear.
"Listen to her, Jaune. Dad doesn't know any better... and maybe from now on he'll stop being so..." Saphron's lips thinned before she continued. "Distant... so distant with you, Jaune..."
'Distant is one way to put it,' Saphron thought to herself. 'If Jaune didn't start conversations or try to interact with him, I don't think Dad would even talk to him. Well, not unless short answers count as talking.'
Some days, Saphron agreed with Mordred about punching their father or even slapping him, but Mordred had hit him enough for Saphron to be satisfied.
Saphron knew their father felt guilty, but he couldn't ignore his son for years. And it wasn't like Jaune was still angry at him or anything; from what she and the others knew, Jaune had already forgiven him.
"I know! I know! I just... I just didn't expect it..." Jaune sniffled and rubbed his face on Mordred's shirt, and Mordred sighed as she thought to herself.
'...Next time I'm going to vomit on you again, because this is my shirt, god dammit, not a fucking tissue for your snot.' A tick mark appeared on Mordred's forehead, but she sighed and calmed down.
"I-I expected him to just... you know... nod at me like usual..." Jaune pulled away, and both Mordred's and Saphron's hearts broke a little when they saw his face.
"Hey, don't cry anymore, okay? It's an order from the great Mordred Arc." Mordred grabbed the end of her shirt and wiped his face with it.
As much as she didn't like having snot on her shirt, she liked seeing Jaune cry even less.
"The great Mordred Arc? Is that what you're calling yourself?" Saphron raised an eyebrow at Mordred.
Mordred's eyebrows twitched before she glared at her. "You got a problem with that, book face?"
"That's a creative insult, coming from an angry Pomeranian."
"The fuck did you just call me, you stu-" Mordred stopped herself when she heard a soft laugh.
Mordred and Saphron looked at Jaune and saw him chuckling while rubbing his eyes with his arm.
It looked like they'd managed to get Jaune to stop crying, at least for now, and Mordred's shirt was still dirty from it.
[You could read up to 10 chapter ahead if you support me on patr30n. At patreon.com/Zaneninjacat]
[Well... you guys almost managed to get to 120 powerstones.. as a congrats for your effort, tomorrow i'll upload a triple chapter.. but be sure to keep those power stones pumping! 120 powerstones for a 5+ chapter update day!]