"Penny? Is that you?"
The girl in question turned away from Ruby's front door curiously, surprised to be addressed. It had been some time since anyone had done so, after all. To her surprise, she found herself facing the entirety of team JNPR. She was momentarily confused, knowing none of them would be talking to her, until she recalled an important detail she had learned a few months earlier.
"Oh, hello again, Pyrrha Nikos!" the mechanical girl greeted cheerfully, quite happy to see the red-haired warrior.
"I... I didn't expect to see you here," Pyrrha replied uncertainly. She appeared to be nervous about something, but Penny wasn't sure what that might be.
"I could say the same about you," she announced with her ever-present enthusiasm, "but it is great to see you again! Will you be joining me and Ruby on our journey?"
Pyrrha flinched violently. To Penny's confusion, the taller girl seemed to be avoiding eye contact. She seemed almost desperate about it.
"Great to see me?" the warrior mumbled, almost to herself, "How can you say that? Do you not remember what happened?"
The puppeteer crossed her arms, raising one hand to her chin in thought. "Well," she started, "I remember meeting you at the Vytal festival, and we had a wonderful match in the tournament! It was a much fun as I thought it would be!"
Pyrrha stared at the seemingly-oblivious girl in open-mouthed shock.
"Fun?! Penny, I killed you in that fight!"
"I will admit, that part wasn't as much fun. But why let one bad thing ruin the whole experience?"
The taller girl staggered back as if struck.
"You... You're forgiving me for it?"
Penny cocked her head at this, looking perplexed.
"Of course I'm not, that wouldn't make any sense."
"...Oh," Pyrrha said, her shoulders dropping in shame, "You're right, it wouldn't make any sense to forgive me for what I did to you."
"Exactly!" Penny replied brightly, "In order to forgive you, I would have had to blame you for it in the first place! And I obviously never did that!"
Pyrrha jolted upright at this, wide, disbelieving eyes locked on the other girl's smiling face.
"Never- what? You don't... that doesn't make any sense! It was my fault you died!"
"Of course it wasn't!" Penny countered, her smile falling slightly, "Considering everything that happened that night, I am firmly convinced that whoever is responsible for all those terrible things tricked you somehow."
The redhead shuddered, remembering the false image of Penny's blades multiplying by the thousands. "That still doesn't excuse my actions."
"Perhaps not," the shorter girl said thoughtfully, "but I don't think it matters anymore. We're here now, and we have a chance to be friends!"
"Friends?" Pyrrha asked, totally baffled.
"Of course!" Penny replied enthusiastically, "Ruby and her teammates always spoke so kindly of you and your team! I would be very happy to call you a friend!"
A troubled look came over the warrior's face, tears forming in her eyes.
"How could you want to be friends with me?" she demanded, "I killed you. I failed everyone! I don't deserve your friendship!"
"I think you are being awfully silly about this," the puppeteer explained patiently, "since it really is my decision what you deserve from me. And I don't believe you failed anyone. You were very brave to do the things you did that night."
"I was stupid and reckless and I died for nothing! It was all pointl-"
The distraught warrior's rant was cut off when she found a pair of arms wrapped around her. The unexpected embrace weakened the emotional walls she had struggled to maintain since the night of the festival, and she began to sob, burying her face in the other girl's shoulder. Penny held her close, rubbing the warriors back as it shook from the force of her unleashed emotions.
"It wasn't pointless," the mechanical girl whispered, "You fought to protect everyone you love. Your team, Ruby, and all your friends from Beacon are still alive because you chose to fight. You saved them, Pyrrha."
Pyrrha sniffled at that, pulling back slightly. "D-do you really think so?"
Penny nodded confidently. "I do!"
The redhead stared silently for a moment, then returned her head to the smaller girl's shoulder.
"Thank you," she murmured softly.
"Of course!" was the ginger girl's enthusiastic response. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a small, upward tug at her lips at the girl's seemingly unstoppable cheerfulness. After another moment of rest, she removed herself from Penny and stepped back, wiping at her face. She imagined that she looked quite frightful at the moment.
"Goodness," she half-hiccuped, "I'm sorry for all that. I'm not normally so emotional."
"That is fine," Penny replied, "I've heard that everyone needs to vent sometimes. I'm glad I got to help you do so!"
Pyrrha let out a short chuckle at that. She wiped her face once more as the door to the house opened. She, Penny, and the living members of Team Juniper watched as Ruby exited, quietly closing the door behind her.
"Hey," Jaune greeted her softly.
"Hey, Jaune," the young scythe-wielder replied, making her way toward the group, "Haven's a long way to go."
"I know. But it's the only lead we have."
Ruby eyed him carefully. "And you're sure you want to come along?"
"The journey will be perilous," Ren answered for him, drawing the girl's attention, "and whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain."
"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it," Nora finished resolutely. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for her friends. Despite their losses, or perhaps because of them, they were determined to see this through. It brought a somewhat teary smile to her face to see such strength in them. Ruby also responded with a smile, and with a small nod, she gave the command.
"Then let's get started."
Pyrrha watched them go a ways before a gentle touch at her shoulder caught her attention. She turned to find Penny examining her with a smile.
"Shall we follow your friends?" the puppeteer asked.
"No," the warrior replied, taking the girl's hand from her shoulder and holding it in her own, "Let's follow our friends, Penny."
Penny beamed and replied with another enthusiastic nod, and together, the souls of the Invincible Girl and the world's first Aura-generating robot set out to watch over their friends on their new journey.
So, a day after watching the heart-wrenching finale of Volume 3, this little story popped into my head. I feel like Penny and Pyrrha would want to watch over the friends they left behind. Penny mostly had Ruby, so would stick with her, where Pyrrha would undoubtedly want to stay by Jaune's side. And so, they would meet again when JNPR met Ruby to head out for Haven.
Hope you enjoyed it, and that you weren't too torn up by the finale. I know it kicked the CRAP out of a lot of people. Don't let it keep you down, guys. Just keep moving forward.