Nora always showered alone. The redhead made a point of doing her best to get herself washed up in private. The rest of JNPR found it out of character for her, but they never really questioned it. She was always grateful for how understanding the three of them were.
She slipped out of her clothes, and stepped into the shower room. She stayed out of the spray for a few moments- on the first day, she'd learned, much to her shock and displeasure, that the water at Beacon took time to warm up.
The war machine sighed in relief as she stepped under the steaming water, letting it flow over her. She enjoyed her showers. She found they washed her troubles away, at least for a little while.
She ran her hand up her thighs and felt the scars. They were countless, evenly spaced ridges, all roughly the same length. She was proud to say that it had been a long time since the last one had been made- or would be, if she ever spoke of it.
Nora leaned back against the shower wall and closed her eyes. It was only a few weeks into their time at Beacon, and she already felt loved, more than she had in a long, long time. True, Lie Ren had always been by her side, but he'd never been warm enough to make her feel wanted, no matter how much she consciously knew he cared for her.
Still, he'd certainly been better than others. She still couldn't forget the voices of the other children. "Killer. Murderer. Monster."
She'd come to believe them, for a long time. The details of the incident were hazy- she'd been very young at the time. All she really remembered was that she'd been walking home from school, alone since she'd dropped Ren off already, and had decided to cut through an alley. A man had tried to grab her by the arm, and the next thing she remembered, she was staring at her own bloodied hands while a frightened-sounding police officer explained that she'd beaten a man to death.
Nora had always been very strong. Still, it had come as a shock to her mother. That, she remembered, had been the worst of it- her own mother rejected her from that day out. She'd grown to hate herself for so long, but going to Beacon was helping her heal. She could tell, because she felt loved again.
The redhead collapsed against the shower wall in a sudden crying fit, tears indistinguishable from the runoff from her hair, her quiet sobs masked by the drumming of the water on the floor. Some of those tears were guilt, still leftover from that day. Some were anger, over the way people had treated her and the way she'd treated herself. But still more were joy.
She'd never understood why people expressed so many emotions the same way. But she did it as well. She was overjoyed she'd found Beacon. That she'd found Jaune and Pyrrha, and so many others. For the longest time, she'd put on a happy-go-lucky personality, to make people like her. But now she didn't need to put on a mask anymore. There was no need to force what now came naturally.
She stopped her sobbing, but her eyes continued streaming tears. She stood up, shaky. She brought a hand to her face, and wiped her eyes. She could do it. She had the resolve to wipe away her own tears. She wasn't about to let her friends worry about her now, wasn't about to let them hurt themselves because of her feelings and her painful memories. This- everything, all of it- was her burden to bear, and she'd be damned if she didn't do it alone. She could be strong- for them and because of them. She loved them dearly, and they would not suffer on her account.
Nora carried on her shower, and went on her way, stuffing all the bad feelings down. She'd be happy for them. Because of them. Just like every other day. They loved her, she knew, and she loved them. It was something worth living for. As long as she had that, she could bear her burden, and be happy about it.