A/N: Setting the stage for my final JNPR arc of Vol. 1. Only a few chapters left till this part is all over, and Beacon's second semester begins! Let me know if you enjoyed it!
Laws of Attraction
As she crossed the threshold of Team JNPR's room, the first thing she heard was a low whimpering sound, accompanied by a repetitive, light thud. Uncomfortable, Pyrrha poked her head in, peering by the door sneakily just as she had done by Cardin's windowsill. And yet, in a few moments of examining the scene, the girl walked in, laughing aloud as she took in the sight of Nora beating Jaune over the head repetitively with one of her pillows.
"Oh- hey- Nora, cut it out!" Jaune cried, desperately trying to protect himself with his arms.
"Nuh-uh, mister," Nora yelled, increasing her attack speed tenfold. "This is what you deserve for the last few weeks, you butt!"
Rather than interrupting the one-sided struggle, Pyrrha simply sat next to Ren on his bed, the quieter boy just reading a book in silence. "How long has this been happening?" she asked, wiping a mirthful tear from her eye when she finally calmed down enough to speak.
Ren shrugged, eyes focussed on his novel. "Maybe ten minutes. She'll get bored soon."
Pyrrha giggled, watching the helpless blond attempt to grab his own pillow to fight back- but Nora stepped on his arm, continuing to pummel him relentlessly while the blond slowly lost all hope of retaliation.
Eventually, Nora dropped her pillow and wiped her brow. "Well, Jaune? What do you have to say to that?" She crossed her arms and glared at him down her snub nose.
He groaned as he was finally allowed to sit upright, blinking bleary eyes at the orange-haired girl. "About what?"
She stomped her foot. "About leaving us! You're not going to do that ever again, right?" She paused, casting a glance back at Pyrrha. "You better be sorry about it."
Jaune's face fell, shame filling his expression. He quickly clambered up to his feet and approached Nora, looking between her and Ren awkwardly.
Pyrrha watched his trepidation with a soft smile, nodded at him when he made frantic eye contact with her as he struggled to find the right words to say. You can do it, she mouthed to him.
Jaune sighed heavily. "Nora, Ren- I'm really, really sorry for being such a jerk. I probably deserve to be hit by a lot more than just a pillow."
Nora nodded vigorously while Ren, having finished his chapter, stood up and walked over to the blond. Clasping his shoulder as he passed, Ren said evenly, "We won't ask for details, but- did you get Cardin off your back now?"
The blond's face melted into relief. "Yeah," he said brightly. "So, Nora- I won't be leaving again. I promise to be a better leader."
The short girl walked over to Ren's bed where Pyrrha was still seated. Grabbing her arm, Nora called, "I'll hold you to that!" And without another word, she hoisted Pyrrha to her feet and dragged the redhead out of the room.
"Nora, what are you doing?" Pyrrha cried, tripping as she tried to keep up with the excitable girl's pace.
Nora didn't answer, simply pulling her down the hallway at a near-sprint until they had reached the girl's washroom. Yanking her through the door, Pyrrha let out a quiet breath when Nora tossed her into the corner and, just like the previous time they had spoken in that room, she checked all the stalls and locked the front door to make sure that the place was empty before collapsing in an excited puddle in front of the taller girl.
Pyrrha chuckled awkwardly once she caught her breath. "Nora, what's gotten into you?" she asked, unsure of what was going on.
Nora pouted at her, crossing her arms. "Don't ask that, missy. You know what's up!" She pointed an accusing finger at Pyrrha, jabbing it against the other girl's shoulder. "You disappeared after Jaune for like, two hours, and Jaune comes back before bedtime for the first time in forever, and you come in afterwards and don't even react to him being there, and now he's saying that he took care of Cardin all on his own and you're accepting that?" She sat cross-legged upon the tiled floor and shook her head in disbelief. "Nope. I refuse to accept it."
"Refuse to accept… what, exactly?" Pyrrha laughed.
The orange-haired girl groaned. "Tell me what happened when you found Jaune," she whined at last.
Pyrrha felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. "Nothing," she brushed off, looking at the pleats in her skirt. "He apologized, and I accepted."
"After being such a jerk to you?!" she spluttered.
The redhead sighed. "It's… it's complicated, Nora. He had his reasons."
"That doesn't make it okay!" Nora insisted.
Pyrrha's mind flashed back to her conversation with Cardin. "Yeah, you're right," she said quietly, remembering the bully's fear of rejection from his own family. "It doesn't excuse his actions."
"But you're still okay with this?" When Pyrrha nodded, Nora scooted up next to her to lean against her shoulder. "Okay," she said doubtfully, "but I still don't believe that Jaune took care of Cardin on his own. Like, he tries really hard, and yeah he took down that Ursa somehow, but… it's Jaune, y'know?"
Pyrrha giggled, "I know what you mean."
Nora leaned her head back against the wall. "So… does this mean you forgive Jaune for what he did?"
The words caught in her throat, taking their sweet time to come out. What he did this time, or what he did from the start? She didn't know the answer. Finally, Pyrrha managed to murmur, "Yes… and no."
"It'll take time," Nora hummed in response.
They sat there, in silence, for a few minutes. Sobering up, Pyrrha eventually said, "Look… I took care of Cardin."
"Took care of him?"
She fixed her bangs, trying to distract herself from the intense stare Nora was subjecting her to. "I wasn't sure whether Jaune's words would have an impact on him, so… I spoke to him, and told him to back off. He did try to target me specifically, after all. I'm pretty sure he'll steer clear of us from now on." Suddenly, Nora shrieked, startling the redhead. "What's wrong?" she asked. Nora simply glared at her, crossing her arms, pout even more prominent.
"I'm mad at you," the smaller girl mumbled.
Pyrrha frowned. "For what?"
"For doing it all yourself!" she cried. "Pyrrha, Jaune is our leader too. If Cardin was doing something bad to Jaune, if that's why Jaune was being so mean, then… then Ren and I should've helped solve it!"
"It's alright, Nora. I handled it myself-"
"No, it's not alright!" she cried. Grabbing Pyrrha's hands, she pleaded, "Pyrrha, look. You always take everything on yourself. I know you're really good at everything and I know you'll always find a way to solve things, but… but we're a team." Her eyes were misting over slightly, and the sight broke Pyrrha's heart. "I really want you to rely on me and Ren."
Pyrrha wrapped Nora's hands with her own, smiling gently. "Nora, it's alright," she insisted quietly. "I know you guys are there for me if I need it. But, this was about protecting people- and if nothing else, I know I can protect people." And she meant it. After all, what else were her skills as a Huntress-to-be for?
"I don't mean how strong of a fighter you are, Pyrrha." She paused, biting her lip. "I told you. I've always wanted a sister."
"And we are sisters," Pyrrha stressed. When Nora didn't respond, she added, "After all, I told Cardin that we'd team up to break some bones if need be."
At that, Nora perked up, a goofy grin on her lips. "No way," she said.
Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "Am I a liar, Nora?"
The smaller girl's face lit up, and with an excited giggle, Nora launched herself forward to wrap Pyrrha in a hug. "Ooh, I can't wait till he's done his suspension!" she exclaimed. "I'm gonna watch him like a hawk! Let's see if we can break him."
Pulling the other girl off of her, Pyrrha got to her feet. "That seems a little too cruel," she chuckled mildly, walking to the door. "Also, do we really have to keep having our conversations in the bathroom?"
"Where else are we supposed to have girl talk?" Nora cried, throwing her arms up in the air.
A bang on the door caught their attention as someone outside began jiggling the doorknob. "Maybe somewhere that won't stop people from being able to… do their business," she ventured, flicking open the lock. A scowling Weiss stormed in past her, followed by Blake, who still had her nose in a book with a toiletry bag in her other hand.
As she left, however, Pyrrha quickly realized that Nora wasn't following her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Nora staring at the wall where Pyrrha had been leaning against, a forlorn expression on her face. "Nora?"
Pale blue eyes looked up at her, a hint of sadness playing within them as they took in Pyrrha's figure. "Coming," she whispered. In a moment, her regular smile was back on her face, and Nora grabbed her hand and led her back to their room to hang out with Ren and Jaune for the first time in forever.
Pyrrha didn't know what that sadness was, but by the time she thought to ask Nora about it, it was already long past, and she quickly forgot about it.
Having the four of them be together again was something Pyrrha had sorely missed. The light atmosphere of the group had always ebbed and flowed together so cohesively, but without Jaune, it was like there had been a gap. With that piece of the puzzle finally in place, everything in Team JNPR just seemed to… work.
With Cardin out of the picture due to his suspension, there were no more troubles to be had. Jaune was smiling by their side at every meal, in every lecture, and Pyrrha felt whole. During the day, she no longer had to follow behind Nora and Ren alone- with Jaune back by her side, she no longer was the awkward third wheel. Now, whenever Nora and Ren drifted off into their own little world, she had her partner back with whom she could share a knowing smile, to keep her company.
The doubts she held about Jaune weren't going away anytime soon, though. Once that trust was broken, Pyrrha knew it would be a long journey back to feeling completely comfortable with the blond; but until she really paused to evaluate it, she had never realized just how much knowing about his entry into Beacon would affect their regular friendship. And yet, as they set up a routine of meeting upon the dormitory rooftop every night for extra, one-on-one sparring practice, and she saw just how hard the boy was willing to work in order to achieve his dreams, Pyrrha found herself faulting him less and less.
She never asked him what circumstances really led to him cheating his way into Beacon. Would it even matter if I knew? It wouldn't change anything, she found herself thinking over and over again whenever her curiosity threatened to bubble to the surface. His reasons didn't really matter, after all. It wouldn't change the fact that he was dishonest.
It also wouldn't change the fact that ever since she saw him take on the Ursa (almost) single-handedly, her dreams of him as a Huntsman had only grown more frequent. But rather than feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she pictured him as a skilled warrior, now, she felt more pride, more excitement. She wanted to be a part of his journey to become that warrior.
That feeling welled up within her by the end of every training session. By Friday night, Jaune had already shown marked improvement in his stance- he wasn't caught off guard as often as before, standing strong when she tried to knock him down. They had come up there straight after dinner, and the fatigue of going so non-stop ever since the morning was evident from the strain on Jaune's face- and yet, the blond insisted on continuing, eyes determined.
Pyrrha smiled, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, let's finish up," she insisted. "You're going to be fine. We can take breaks on the weekends, at least!"
Jaune paused, chest still heaving slightly from the exercise, until finally he let himself relax, hanging his head wearily. "I guess you're right," he chuckled, out of breath.
Grabbing his elbow, she led him to the edge of the rooftop and took a seat, hanging her legs over the ledge. It was more than a little chilly, with winter right around the corner- but after working up a light sweat while training, the breeze was refreshing. She gratefully closed her eyes and let the wind cool her down, leaning back on her open palms.
She heard Jaune scuffle over and join her. To her left, the blond looked starry-eyed at the CCTS tower, glowing a soothing green at the heart of Beacon. "This is nice."
Pyrrha opened her eyes and glanced down at the long, terrifying drop below. Just a few weeks earlier she had felt such fear looking at the distance, the ease of it all, the cold, unfeeling concrete and pavement awaiting her after the fall. But now, she could pick out the small shrubs, the empty flower patches waiting for the inevitable spring, the lines in the beautiful tilework that made the walkways around Beacon. She could look at it, and the little black box didn't stir.
She wasn't alone. "It is," she agreed amicably, the words having more meaning than the blond could ever know.
Jaune cast a glance downwards at the few figures who were out and about that late at night. "Pyrrha, I wanted to thank you again. For everything."
"If you keep thanking me like this every day," she teased, "then you'll run out of stuff to thank me about. I'm happy to help, Jaune. If you really need to thank me, save it for when you see real results."
"But I do need to thank you, Pyrrha," he insisted quietly. "You've been nothing but supportive ever since we came to Beacon."
"Well, other than the Cardin incident, so have you," she laughed. "That's… that's what friends are for, right?"
He ran his fingers through his hair, spiking some of it upwards in disarray. "I suppose." He paused, turning his gaze towards the crumbling moon hovering in the sky. "Pyrrha… have you called home recently?"
Instantly, the girl's blood froze cold. No, she thought. No. I haven't spoken to my mother since…
Since she found out her mother was destroying her father's workshop.
Jaune understood her silence. "Next time you have to make one of those calls, let me know, okay?" he said softly, concern shining in his eyes. "I'll grab Nora and Ren. We'll wait for you."
She tried to brush it off, laughing uncomfortably, "W-why would that be necessary?"
The blond shrugged. "You're always cheering us on, Pyrrha. We want to cheer you on, too." He scooted over a little closer to her until they were bumping shoulders. "If it's hard, let us help."
The lid of the box grumbled, cracked open, just a bit- and she forced it shut, banishing the images of her father, the workshop, her childhood joys, Miló and Akoúo, and her mother's hatred out of her mind. She didn't want to think about that place in her. No, she didn't want to call home. She didn't want to see what else her mother was up to. She didn't want to acknowledge the anger the woman felt towards the man that had left them too early, that had left her mother alone, that had always made Pyrrha so proud even though no one else was.
It was too much.
Yet, she didn't say a word about it, didn't agree, didn't protest. She simply sat there. And as she managed to finally force her mind away from those unwanted thoughts, her attention drifted onto one sole sensation- the juxtaposition of the chilly breeze enveloping her body, sitting upon that rooftop on the cusp of Vale's winter, and the warmth she could feel from the boy seated by her side.