"Hey Nora." A distant but friendly voice spoke in the background, causing Nora to rapidly reach for her weapon. "Calm down Nora, it's just me." The voice spoke again, calming Nora's nerves. She nervously brushed her dangling, ginger hair away from her eyes and cautiously turned to face the distant figure. In an instant, Nora's surprised face started to form a small smirk and a hint of red glimmered on her cheeks. "Ren!" Without warning, Nora threw her weapon to the floor, forgetting all about the surroundings and ran up to the figure, instantly wrapping her arms around him and not leaving any space for movement. Nora's very best friend had proven his trust by returning safely. As Nora heard a bang come from the floor, she was brought back to reality and what she was doing, instantly turning her face away. "I'm sorry!" She called as her natural skin tone on her face was replaced by the brightest shades of red and pink. As Nora looked back towards Ren, she saw the look she was least expecting. Instead of her regular shy face, he showed a slight smile coming from one side, making Nora feel like thousands of butterflies had made a home in her stomach and didn't plan on leaving. To Nora's surprise, Ren stepped towards Nora, making her hands start to shake until he took her in for an embrace. Nora felt like time had frozen. She wanted this moment to last forever, all she wished was for Ren to know how she felt and for him to feel the same. You can do it Nora! Just tell him you love him and see what he says! "Ren.. I.. need to tell you something…" Nora's voice had stuttered more than ever before. She couldn't understand how to stop her nerves or at least calm them down so she could form a full sentence. "Yes Nora?" His voice came out loving yet rough, but Nora didn't mind. She was about to make her dreams come true. She looked deep into Ren's eyes, as if she was searching for something she knew she couldn't find. All down the corridor next to them were waves of sound echoing all around, but Nora tried as much as possible to block it all out. "Ren.. I-" Nora was cut off mid-sentence to the sound of a door being smashed open. There in the door frame stood an innocent blonde-haired male with a surprised face. "I'm sorry, I'll come back later.." His voice somehow sounded guilty as if he knew he ruined the moment. Jaune. Without checking behind him, Jaune started backing out of the room in a hurry. "Can we talk later Nora?" Nora was taken back with the reply Ren had given. She could feel tears forming in her eyes which caused her to dip her head in the direction of the floor. Well that's a disappointment. Ignoring the sadness in her mind, Nora gave Ren a slight nod and with that he left the room. Now that's what I call a failure.
After a long time, Nora finally decided to leave her room in search for something new. She needed to get the past events out of her mind, after all, the past is the past. The loneliness Nora felt caused her to wander around carelessly until she was hit in the face with the most amazing smell ever. Where is that coming from? Nora's wander sped up almost into a jog as she searched for the smell flooding her nostrils. As she tilted her head towards the kitchen, she was overcome by the delicious smell floating around. "Nora! Try some!" It was Ren making his legendary pancakes. He took a few of the steaming pancakes and placed them on a white and pink striped plate. "Here." Nora reached for the plate from Ren's hold and began to gobble down the pancakes. As she did so, a huge smile appeared on Nora's face, along with a few pancake crumbs. "So, what did you want to tell me?" Nora looked at Ren and froze. Oh gosh no! Not now. She started searching around, trying to find something that could help her. Unfortunately, there was nothing, or so she thought. "Hey guys, follow me!" Nora could not have been more thankful for someone to bother them. Ren took Nora by the hand and led her out of the room. Once they went through the door frame, Nora started to search around for what was so important.
"Where are we going?" Nora asked, hoping to find the answers she seeker. "You'll know soon." Answered Ren, not fulfilling the reply Nora wanted. All of a sudden, everything went black, causing Nora to react and shake until she realised it was Ren covering her eyes. The walk seemed to go on forever and to make it worse, the whole way was silent. Nora started to question whether they were actually going somewhere or not. She heard a door open and started gaining hope that they had reached where they were going. Suddenly, they came to a stop and Nora felt Ren release his hold of her. As she opened her eyes, she was surprised. A striped pink and white cloth was thrown over a long dinner table. Right above was the same colour of pink on a banner that spelt out something. Happy birthday Nora! A massive smile took place on Nora's face and a few tears managed to slip down her face. She quickly wiped them away before someone noticed and looked back at the table. It had all sorts of different desserts and party foods with a few misses here and there. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORA!" Was sung all around, causing Nora to realise that all her friends had come and gathered together. That caused Nora to break down in tears of happiness that she couldn't control. Fortunately, Ren came to her side and started hugging her. "I told you, I'd never forget your birthday." Nora turned her head up to face Ren and she looked deep into his pale pink eyes. "Thank you." She giggled as a sign to show she was grateful for what he had set up. Thank you for more than this. Thank you for giving me the world. Nora turned back to face the crowd. "Thank you everyone." Smiles were all around and so was an unexpected guest. "Happy birthday teammate." Nora froze. Without even having to look, she knew who it was. As she scanned the others in the room, she noticed how they were all confused at Nora's expression. However, she couldn't care less because of how happy she was. Nora turned her back on everyone to see the person behind her. Stood in front of her was someone from her past, causing tears to form in her eyes. Oh, my goodness. "Pyrrha!" Nora screamed and everyone gasped. Without any warning, Nora ran to hug the figure but instead fell to the floor, face first. Wait what..?