Hello everyone! So sorry that this chapter is a day late, but I did make sure it was a long one. I'm sorry if there is a lot of errors this chapter, my usual editor is busy studying for a test. Thank you so much to all of you who commented, when I saw the comments and read them I ended up crying at of happiness. Thank you all! I hope you all like this chapter, I'll make sure to update on time next week. Please comment! You have no idea how happy that makes me!
Disclaimer: *sigh* I would love it, but I do not own RWBY
Ren fell easily into his role in kitchen duty. Cooking for Nora and himself since they were kids made him comfortable with the work he was provided there. The work was easy, chopping, stirring, and cooking. He worked to make their rations into at least somewhat appetizing meals. The job kept him busy and kept his mind occupied, it kept him moving through his grief.
Slowly though his peace that he felt started to fall away.
He knew that Jaune had chosen to take up security because of his own grief. Jaune needed to keep moving and keep fighting, he couldn't stand still or he would be consumed. Ren wasn't to worried about Jaune, he had seen that Fox and Coco from team CFVY were with Jaune, and he trusted the older students to watch after his team leader. Ren himself just tried his best to just keep moving himself, using his semblance to help quell some of the grief at first. But after the first couple of weeks he felt himself get a firm hold on his mourning as he kept moving forward.
Soon though he felt like the grief over losing Pyrrha was small in comparison to the worry that started to naw at him. He told himself that at least Pyrrha could be in a better place, at least she never had to worry, feel pain, or feel fear ever again, the same could not be said for Nora.
Ren was reminded of when they had first met. Nora had been so quiet and shy. Ren at one point had been the talkative one in comparison, always approaching people first and making sure they had enough. Nora used to have days where she would shut down, she would refuse to eat or talk at all, it was Ren's job on these days to put food in front of Nora and make sure she ate it.
It wasn't till they were 12 that their roles became what they were. It was after their first year of training at Anima's specialized school for young future hunters and huntresses. They had been very lucky to find that anyone could go if they could get there. The school had provided them two hot meals a day, free medical attention when they needed it and clean uniforms, along with education and training. It was the summer after that the real struggle came. While they had had to fend for themselves, it hadn't been long term, but now they had to survive over 2 months on their own again. They had been fine for the first month, living off the street and begging for food and scavenging for what little they could find.
It was after a month that Ren ended up falling ill. For the first few days he tried to shake it off, if only for the sake of a worried Nora. Eventually though his fever grew too much and Ren's memory blanked out for about a month. He found out later that he had been out for most of that month, occasionally waking up for a few minutes, enough to be fed or to utter something before going back to sleep. When he finally was able to retain consciousness and any memory he found that he was in a home for homeless and orphaned children. Nora had been curled up right next to him. Feeling him stirring he remembered Nora's head popping up from the pillows where her head had been buried. He had been shocked to see tear tracks down Nora's cheeks. But the part that always stuck out to him was the smile that had lit up her faced when he said her name in a hoarse voice while looking up at his best friend. Tears had streamed down her face as a bubbly laugh escaped her lips. She had flung her arms around him, her hug had been so tight that he had worried that he may black out again. He was worried as he heard her muffled sobs as she whispered his name. It was after he asked her if she was okay that she just started to babble on and on about seemingly nothing. At first he thought that the changes would be temporary, caused by her worry for him. It soon became clear that this was not the case. The changes had stayed, and after a little while he had gotten used to the changes. He became accustomed to her new bubbly persona, after a little while he was able to see past it. It took months of watching her, but eventually he saw past her constant babbling and was able to interpret it into coherent thoughts and meanings. She was still his best friend and his family, and he would never leave her. But after that day he always wondered as to what happened to Nora in that month to make her change so drastically?
But now he had another reason to worry. At first he had simply hoped that Nora would go back to how she had been the past 5 years of their lives. But that seemed like it had been years ago instead of just a few weeks. When he looked at her, he couldn't help but remember the skinny little girl who had been scavenging to survive. As time went on that even that memory seemed to fall to the side as his worry for her grew.
Her once bubbly personality seemed to have fallen to the side. She had once walked with a little bounce in her step, head held high, now she seemed to drag with her shoulders hunched over. Her smiles had fallen, you could see that she was struggling to keep any semblance of a smile on her face.
He got back to the tent before her every night due to the hours at the kitchen. He would clean himself up in the public washrooms that had been set up a few tents down from them. He would come back and relax on his bed with a book he had found. Nora would walk in, he always would hear her tired footsteps. He would set his book down as she made her way to the beds they had pushed together so they could sleep together. She would walk over to him before collapsing on the bed and curling into his side. He wrapped his arms around her. You would think this would be one of the best parts of his day, but after the first few days he saw that the light in Nora's eyes had died, whenever Ren looked at her he felt fear grip him that something may be wrong. His mind would race as he worried that he may have missed something. So he held her in his arms.
He would feel her body relax into his as they sat there. He started reading to her during these times, he wasn't sure if she actually heard what he was saying, but she seemed to relax with his voice.
When Jaune showed up Ren and Nora would listen to his stories. Ren was able to relax some whenever Jaune brought food and he saw Nora eating what was put in front of her.
When they did get some sleep, Ren would hold Nora to try his best to protect her against what he knew was coming. He would be woken up a few hours later to Nora thrashing and trying to break his hold on him. Her screams seemed to echo as she screamed his name. Her cries would dissolve into sobs as he shook her trying to wake her. When she wake up there were tears streaming down her face as he hugged her close till she fell back to sleep. Sometimes there would only be one of these incidents, other times he would be woken up every hour to her cries.
What Nora didn't know was that her screams didn't just wake him up. Every night Jaune would shuffle past the curtain and take the chair next to Ren after Nora had fallen had fallen back to sleep to reassure Ren that Nora would be back to normal soon. But after a while Ren wasn't sure if he should believe him.
Another cause for concern for Ren was he started noticing when he held Nora her body was growing smaller. Her once custom fitted skirt and blouse started to not quite fit her, looking like it was just a little too big on her. He started to pay attention to Nora. As the weeks went on he noticed that her clothes began to hang off her. Nora's once fit body seemed to be melting away. Her face grew thin, her eyes hollow, and all the color seemed to have drained from her.
Due to the worry Ren had for Nora and since it looked like she wasn't eating he made sure he was moved from the kitchen to serving the next week. Ren was quick to pick up his duty so he didn't have to think about it. Instead he focused on all the people who came by for food, looking for his little orange haired best friend to come get lunch or dinner. After his first two days he felt the worry like a small animal in his guts, gnawing at him and trying to get out. He found himself not being able to meet Nora's eyes. He felt guilty for going through this complex way to see if she was eating, instead of just asking her. But he wasn't sure if she would answer.
It was the third day of his new work that he finally snapped.
That morning he walked with Nora since her clean up group had moved closer to the cafeteria. When he hugged her goodbye he realised how much harder it was to leave her everyday. He tried his best to shake it off as he walked in to help prepare the cafeteria and serve breakfast for those whose jobs didn't provide it, or who worked the night shifts. It was as he was setting up his station that he was snapped out of the trance he had fallen in in preparation for looking everywhere for Nora in vain.
"Ren?" Ren felt his muscles tense as a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned on his heels to see a certain bunny Faunus looking at him with her hands up like she was trying to calm him.
"Velvet." He felt himself relax a bit the sight of the older student.
"Yeah, are you alright?" Velvet cocked her head, her ears drooping slightly with a look of worry on his face.
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm good, my team's in a tent right by your's." Velvet gave a small pause while biting her lip like she was wondering if she should say anything. "We heard about Pyrrha. Team CFVY would like to extend their condolences. If you, or the others, need anything just come to us."
Ren felt his body stiffen again at the mention of his now deceased team mate. "Thank you, I will make sure to pass it along to Jaune and Nora." Ren gave her a nod before turning back to his station.
"Are you sure you are okay Ren?"
"Yeah, I'm alright."
"It's just," Velvet's ear gave a nervous twitch. "You seem like you aren't really here. Coco says that Jaune seems like he's doing okay, but he seems more violent and on edge. Then there's Nora…"
Velvet trailed off as Ren twirled around, looking at Velvet who now had her head cast down. If she knew something he didn't about Nora, he needed to find out about it.
"What about Nora?"
Velvet looked up at him and he could see the sadness in her eyes. "Ren, we hear her screams at night. Jaune told Coco and Fox about her nightmares. And Yatsuhashi…"
"Velvet, what about Yatsuhashi?"
"He works on the cleanup crew with her. He said that he can barely recognize her. That she doesn't smile, that she seems quiet and worn done. He says that he doesn't see her eat anymore, that she looks like a skeleton. We're really worried about her Ren."
Ren felt like his energy had been zapped as he slumped against the wall behind him as he slid to the ground, closing his eyes as Velvet crouched in front of him.
"Me too. I'm so worried about her Velvet. I don't know what I would do without her." Ren felt himself falling apart as he rested his head on his knees.
He felt Velvet's small hand touch his shoulder. "We are here for you."
He looked up and gave Velvet the best smile he could. "Thank you."
The rest of the day passed in a blurr. His mind was solely on Nora, and how he was going to fix her. One thing was clear, Nora was starving and suffering, and he just wanted it to end.
When he got back to the tent all he could do is collapse on the bed as he waited for Nora. Nora got home later that night. Ren watched her as she kicked off her shoes and walked over to him. He tried to imagine what she had looked like just month ago. Pulling up that image made him want to puke. In comparison, his current Nora looked sick ghost haunting the tent.
He tried to push it out of his mind as Nora sat next to him. He couldn't help himself from pulling her close to him. She happily curled into him. He hoped that she didn't feel him stiffen when he felt her ribs digging into him from below her shirt. He reluctantly loosened his grip in fear that he would crush her.
It was only a few minutes later that Jaune came to the tent. Ren was careful to prop himself and Nora up as Jaune shoved one of the desks in front of him next to where the other two were sitting. He placed a small cloth bag on the table before pulling up a chair and opening the small bag to reveal a small roll of bread, placing it in front of Nora. Ren and Jaune had long since stopped having any of these late night snacks, instead trying to get Nora to eat something. Of course, it was never much, but at least it was something.
Nora's hand reached out to take the bread taking a small bite out of it before looking at Ren and seeing he didn't have anything.
"Ren?" Her voice had became hoarse from lack of use.
"Ren and I already ate our rolls" Jaune quickly piped up.
Nora simply nodded and gave them both a small smile before continuing to nibble on her roll. Jaune told them about his day, but Ren could barely pay attention as he watched Nora.
When Jaune finished he bid them both goodnight. Nora went to get changed on the other side of their area. Ren felt the curiosity and worry build up in him as he slowly turned to look towards where Nora was changing.
He felt bile rise up in his throat. Her skin looked like it was paper thin, stretched over over her skeleton. He could make out way too many bones. She looked like a starved and beaten dog as opposed to an actual human. She looked like the pictures they had seen of people who had been tortured and starved.
He quickly turned away without Nora having seen him. He felt shame and guilt for betraying his long time friend's trust. But that was overpowered by the anger of seeing her like this. He felt himself shaking as the fear hit him along with the anger. It was at that moment that he decided that something had to happen as soon as possible.
He managed to calm himself down enough that Nora wouldn't notice. He didn't want to take any chances of scaring her away.
He laid there that night, holding Nora, but he couldn't sleep. He felt sick with worry and fear for the small girl that laid in his arms.
Eventually he couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he may try. He gently pulled away from Nora as he stood up slowly, standing still for a few seconds to make sure she wouldn't wake up. She just shifted a bit and never came out of the deep sleep she was in.
Ren was quick to make his way out of the tent. As soon as he was out he sat down outside the tent and took a deep breath as he looked up at the stars. He began to mediate in an effort to calm himself and get himself back together before he went back in in order to sleep. After a few minutes he heard soft footsteps coming out of the tent and stopping next to him. He looked up, half expecting to see Nora, but instead Jaune stood above him.
"May I sit here?" The blonde haired boy asked. Ren gave a small nod as the other boy sat down next to him. Neither looked at each other for a few long minutes. "What do we do now?"
Ren looked over at Jaune as he broke the silence.
"Pyrrha... Pyrrha is… Pyrrha is not coming back." The blue eyed boy said with a noticeable lump in his throat that he cleared before continuing."But there is nothing any of us can do about that. No matter how much we want to. But now with Nora…" The boy trailed off before looking towards Ren. "Has she told you anything? Do you know if she is even eating other then when I bring stuff? I mean I know why she is like this. Everyone grieves differently and all that. But I don't understand how she changed so completely over night."
"No" Ren kept his voice calm ashe spoke. The blonde looked down at him in confusion.
"No?"
"No. Nora has not told me anything. No. Nora is not eating. Yes. I understand why she is like this. At least I know that this isn't as out of character as you would think."
"What do you mean by that?"
Ren let out a small sigh as he began. "Do you remember how Nora and I met?" Jaune gave a small nod as Ren continued. "Well, Nora was a lot different back then than she was when you first met her. Though she wasn't as extreme as this, Nora was really shy. She would often have a hard time talking to others, I had to take care of most of our interactions for the first four years of our friendship. There were times in there where something would happen that would put either Nora or I in danger, I mean, what more can you expect, we were two little kids on the street. After these events, Nora would often go into "Zombie Mode", which is basically what she is in now." Ren paused as he looked at Jaune who was intently listening. "What worries me is that it has never lasted this long before."
Ren looked down at his lap as they sat there in mutual silence, just thinking for a few minutes.
"We need to do something."
"You don't think I don't know that!" Ren snapped, causing Jaune to jump as he looked at the normally calm boy. "Nora is all I have Jaune. She is my family and my home. She is my everything! If I were to lose her, I'm not sure what would happen to me at this point."
Ren felt the other boy's hand on his shoulder. "I know Ren. I know. Nora's going to be okay, she's strong. Do you have any idea of what to do?"
Ren took a few deep breathes as he calmed himself to the best of his abilities. "Tomorrow I'm going to talk to the people in the kitchen about Nora taking on work with me. With any luck she should be working with me by the day after. At least then I can keep an eye on her."
Jaune nodded his head. "That sounds like a good start. We can figure out where to go from there." Jaune stood up and started to head to the door. "We should both at least try to get some sleep."
Ren just nodded as he began to stand up. "I'm sorry Jaune." Jaune looked back at the smaller man and gave him a lopsided smile.
"It's fine Ren. I get it. For you two, losing the other would be a fate worse than death." He let out a dark chuckle. "I think I figured that out pretty early on to be honest. That's just how your relationship works. Even if you two aren't "together-together" like Nora always claims, you are still about as close as two people can get. And don't worry, I'm not going to ask you if you have feelings for Nora. If you two do have feelings for each other I feel like it will come out eventually. But just know, you two aren't alone anymore. You have me. I'm always going to be here for you two now. Whether you like it or not." Ren looked up at the taller boy had couldn't help giving him a small smile back.
It was at that moment that a blood curdling scream came from the tent.
"Ren! Ren! Ren! No!"
Ren's blood turned cold as Jaune stepped out of his way and he dashed inside to find Nora violently thrashing in bed.
"Ren! Don't leave me! Come back Ren! Ren!"
Ren launched himself over to the bed and crouched over Nora as he grabbed her shoulders and started trying to wake her.
"Nora! Nora, wake up! I'm right here!"
After a few seconds of shaking her and calling her name Nora's body jerked awake. She sat up as her eyes flew open immediately seeking Ren's. As soon as her blue eyes found his pink eyes she threw her arms around him as the tears started to fall.
He sat with her in his arms, rubbing her back as she cried.
"It's okay Nora. It was just a dream. I'm here now."
Jaune watched the scene from the corner of the room before nodding at Ren and crossing over to his own room.
Nora eventually fell back to sleep and stayed asleep. Ren fell asleep a few minutes after her.
The next day Ren made sure to get to work a few minutes early and went to go talk with one of the overseers at the cafeteria. Luckily, after explaining it to them and promising Nora was more than capable to do the job they told him that she could start the next day.
Ren was relieved and was quick to share the new with Velvet.
"That's great!" The excited bunny faunus declared. "It'll be great to get to see and talk to Nora!"
"Yeah, yeah it will be." Ren agreed with a smile.
Ren was in a much better mood than he had been in the last month as he worked that day. The aspect of having his childhood friend with him the next day, and hopefully healing herself, put him in an almost cheerful mood. That is till he felt everything shatter.
It was after lunch, and other than a few stragglers the crew was sent to clean the tables of the moderate sized cafeteria.
It was while Ren was working on sweeping the area by the counter when he heard a crowd come in the opposite side of the cafeteria. He didn't think much of it, just assumed that it was a rowdy crowd who was late for lunch. That is, until he heard Velvet say his name.
"Ren?" Velvet wasn't standing far from him, but was staring at where the crowd was. Her eyes were big, her ears were perked up, and her voice was full of fear. "Look." She pointed to where the crowd was.
Ren whipped his head around. It looked like the group was made up of about 6 people, most of which were students he recognized from Beacon. His eyes were immediately drain to the giant that was Yatsuhashi. But then Ren noticed that Yatsuhashi was holding something, or someone.
Ren felt his stomach drop as he made out a too familiar head of ginger hair and an ill fitting pink skirt. Ren felt his body moving before his brain had even fully comprehended what was happening.
He bolted over chairs and tables that happened to be in his way in his mad dash. When he reached them Yatsuhashi had just laid Nora down on one of the tables near them as he barked orders to the others.
"You, Go get some cool, wet rags! You, go get the medics now! You, go get some sort of cushions and blankets! You, go get some broth and water for when she wake up! And someone please go find Jaune Arc and tell him what happened!"
Ren was next to the small girl who wasn't moving as he felt like all his breath had been taken. She looked so small, so breakable, laying there. She wasn't moving, Ren was to scared to see if she was breathing as Yatsuhashi booming voice never seemed to meet his ears.
"Is she…" Ren finally forced out, not able to complete his thought in pure fear.
"She'll be fine." Yatsuhashi tried to comfort the smaller boy as he put one of his large hand on his shoulder.
Ren let out a breath of relief as he noticed her chest moving up and down with her breaths. He gently cradled her small hand in both of his.
"What happened?" He asked, unable to take his eyes off of Nora's peaceful looking face.
"I'm not sure. One minute she was working, then she started to sway and started to crumple. Luckily I was close enough to catch her before her head hit anything hard. She probably just passed out from lack of nutrition and water."
He looked at Nora's still form. She looked like a gust of wind could have snapped her. He felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
"This is my fault." the whisper didn't even sound like him. Hoarse and gravelly, you could hear the emotions that he was trying his best from clouding himself.
"It's not your fault Ren." Velvet had made her way to beside him and had her small hand on his shoulder in an act to comfort him. "She's going to be alright." Suddenly Nora's eyelids started to flutter as she began to wake. "See"
Ren Didn't hear Velvet as he got closer to Nora. Keeping her hand gripped in his as his other hand reached up to brush her cheek.
"Nora?"
Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name. Ren couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight of her sky blue eyes looking up at him curiously.
"Hey Ren. What's going on?" She had a small frown on her face that was all too familiar. It was the same one she wore in class or when he forced her to study and there was a concept that she didn't quite grasp. The familiar look and the sound of her tired voice made another wave of relief wash over Ren as he pulled her into a hug.
"You passed out. Gave everyone a little bit of a scare." Yatsuhashi deep voice answered, reminding Ren that there were others there. He gently let Nora go, Nora looked at him in confusion and he signalled that he would talk to her later. He really didn't want to do it here in front of everyone.
As he and Velvet were helping Nora sit up, one of the medics came in. The medic was quick to examin Nora, asking how she was feeling and what she remembered. After a couple of minutes the medic concluded that Yatsuhashi had been right.
"Looks like you just passed out. Probably from exhaustion and lack of nutrition. Which should be address." The medic placed her hand on Nora's shoulder and addressed her in a soft voice. "You were lucky this time sweety. It looks like you're not eating like you should, and that can be really dangerous in the long run. Especially with the strenuous work you've been assigned. I'm going to prescribe that you get tomorrow off to rest. The kitchen should supply what you need to eat. You're not going to want to eat anything rich for a few days. I'm also going to need to talk about taking you off clean up duty."
"That's okay miss." Ren interrupted, still sitting next to Nora. Nora had grabbed his hand and wasn't letting go. "I already requested that she be moved to cafeteria and kitchen duty with me."
The medic nodded as Nora sent him a curious look. "Very well. I presume then that you can look after her recovery then?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Very well then, I will talk to the supervisor and get you excused for tomorrow as well."
Ren nodded. "Thank you ma'am."
"It's no problem. Take care of yourselves."
After the medic had left Velvet reassured Ren that she had everything under control in the cafeteria so he could go back to their tent with Nora.
"I'll come and check on you two later. I'll send Yatsuhashi with food in a few minutes."
Ren placed a hand on Velvet's shoulder and gave her a nod and small smile, hoping that she would know how thankful he was.
The walk back to the tent took longer than usually. Nora's earlier fainting spell seemed to have taken it's toll on her as she leaned on Ren to support her weight as they walked. They spent the trek back to their tent in relative silence.
When they reached the tent ren helped Nora down on the bed and propped her up to make her comfortable. He felt himself turned on autopilot as he went to get some water for Nora, and went around cleaning and making sure she was comfortable.
"I'm sorry."
The quiet whisper caused Ren's movements to stop as he turned around to look at Nora.
"I'm so sorry Ren." Nora's eyes were cast on the ground as a tear slipped out.
"Why?" The question echoed through Ren's mind as he asked.
"I'm sorry. I made Jaune and you worry about me. And now you're upset and mad at me. I'm sorry" Nora's voice sounded uncertain as it cracked on the last sorry.
Ren slowly made his way over to the bed where Nora sat. Kneeling down in front of her and clasping her hands.
"I'm not mad. Worried and upset? Yeah. But I'm not mad at you. We all lost Pyrrha. I just wish you would talk to me."
Nora gave him a smile as she wiped away her tears. "I can work on that."
"Good." Ren gave Nora a smile that he saved solely for his best friend. As she gave him a smile back he felt that feeling well up in his chest again. The warmth spread through his body as he looked at her. Despite everything, he couldn't help but think that she was beautiful with her smile lighting up her face. "Tell me about your day." Ren prompted, hoping to just convince her to fill the silence like she always used to.
She started talking as he sat next to her. They laid back on the bed as Nora discussed her work on the cleanup crew and the people she worked with. Her words seemed less sure and her thoughts seemed harder to find as opposed to the long stream of thoughts that would usually blend together during her rants. But it was something, at least she was talking again.
It was during Nora's talk that Yatsuhashi came by and dropped off a big bowl of broth for Nora and a sandwich for Ren.
Ren quickly grabbed the other chair from Jaune's side of the tent before pulling out the desk that Jaune always pulled out at night and set it up for their lunch.
To Nora's dismay, Ren insisted on helping her to the makeshift dinner table.
"I'm not a doll Ren. I can walk on my own. I'm not going to break." Nora gave with a huff as she sat down at the table.
"I know. Just let me." For her part Nora didn't try to get away from him or fight him in anyway. Just rolled her eyes and let him help her.
They sat down and Ren watched as Nora ate her first spoonful of broth. He watched a smile appear at the edge of her lips.
"Is it any good?" Ren indicated to the bowl. Nora looked up at him. Her eyes held the smallest of gleams in them he realized.
"It's salty." She smiled at Ren with the small sparkle in her eyes. "Want to taste?"
"Sure." He accepted the spoon and took a small taste. To say it was salty was an understatement. It tasted like someone had just dumped a salt shaker into the pot along with a few other spices. Put then he looked at Nora as she eagerly ate. "Slow down. Don't make yourself sick." Nora looked up, she gave him a shy smile, and started to eat slower.
Ren worked through his sandwich as Nora worked on her bowl of food. After about halfway through the soup Nora put down her spoon and sat back. "I don't think I can eat any more."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I feel stuffed right now."
Ren nodded and stored helped Nora up. After depositing her on the bed he covered the broth and left it on the table.
"Let me know if you want any more later?"
Nora gave him a nod as they relaxed on the bed together. Ren eventually got Nora to start talking about a new movie they had seen during the vytal festival. They talked for a while about stuff that happened before everything went downhill. After a while Nora slowly drifted into sleep as they talked. Once she was in a deep sleep Ren heard hesitant footsteps enter the tent.
"Hey." Jaune's voice was hushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't get the message about what happened till about an hour ago. When I got to the tent I heard you talking. Then I heard Nora. I just couldn't bring myself to stop listening and interrupt." Ren looked up to see the taller boy with his eyes cast down with a soft look towards the girl that was asleep in his arms. "It's just been so long since I've heard her talk like that."
"I know." Ren said knowingly as he looked at Nora's sweet and peaceful face. For once she didn't look like she was haunted in her sleep.
"Is she doing better?"
"She ate a good bit." Ren jestered to the bowl still sitting on the table. "She's talking again. Also, I'm not sure how to describe it, but you can see a difference."
Jaune gave a knowing nod, "It's like she's coming back to life." there was a pause, "Do you think she's going to get back to how she was before?"
Ren shook his head when he looked up at his leader. "I don't think any of us will be. But we are all learning to adapt."
The two boys shared a smile.
An hour later Nora started to stirr. When she woke up she needed to use the restroom. Afterwards she was able to eat most of the rest of the soup.
Jaune had gotten off the rest of the day so they all sat together. Jaune shared some of his stories as he asked Nora little things to get her to join him. They talked till the sky had turned dark.
Around dinner time team CFVY came to their tent with vegetable stew for Nora and some food for the boys. Velvet ran in and enveloped Nora in a big hug as Nora grinned at the faunus girl. Coco was the next one, sitting on the bed beside Nora and giving her a gentle hug as she assured her that team CFVY was beyond happy that she was okay. Fox also sat down next to Coco. The blind boy reached out a hand and stroked Nora's sunken cheeks and gave her a warm smile. Yatsuhashi stood at the edge of her bed giving her his warmest smile.
Team CFVY stayed and talked as JNR ate their meals. Nora wasn't able to get through more than a third of the soup that had been given to her. She reassured Velvet and Coco that she would finish it later as the older team left.
True to her word after a rest Nora was able to eat more, after a few hours she finally finished it. Nora had a nightmare that night, but she didn't scream.
After the next day Ren and Nora quickly fell into a pattern of work. Nora would help prep everything in the kitchen and Ren would cook. Whenever there was extra for a recipe Ren did his best to slip it to Nora. They would eat together, for the first few days Ren would eat whatever they made in the kitchen for the day and Nora would eat some kind of soup, broth, or porridge. Ren watched as his best friend's sense of taste seemed to slowly return to her. Everyday the spark in Nora's eyes seemed to grow just a little more.
Velvet and Nora were quick friends. Whenever Ren left to do something he would find those two talking or just working together in the kitchen.
It was on their fourth day of work that Nora spoke up to Ren, " Hey, Ren?"
"Yes Nora?" Ren asked as he stirred at the pot he was working at.
"I want pancakes." Ren felt a smile break through at that simple sentence. It had been over a month since Nora brought up her favorite food.
"Is that right?" He turned around a raised his eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, do you think we can get some anytime soon?"
"You know what. When you can stomach a normal meal then I will make my special pancakes. How's that?"
Nora's eyes got a determined look in them as she nodded. "Deal!"
Three days later Nora managed to keep down a regular dinner from the kitchen.
True to his word, after two days to get the ingredients Ren made his special pancakes for teams JNR and CFVY.
Things were getting better. Nora's body slowly started to fill out her clothes once again. Her face gained color back to it. Her mood got better by the day. He could tell it was getting easier for her to smile.
Her nightmares started to become less intense and further apart. There were days where Nora slept completely soundly in his arms. There had only been a couple of nights where he woke up to her screaming his name.
As Nora improved, he felt his mood get better with hers. Which is why he was surprised that he was waken by Nora from a nightmare of his own about two weeks after her fainting incident.
Ren was usually good at blocking any dreams, good or bad. But for some reason this one slipped through.
In his dream Nora was standing in front of him. The ruins of his old village surrounded them. She looked like she did before the battle of Beacon. But her eyes looked dead, all spark was gone. Her face was contorted in fear and sadness.
"Ren!" She called over over the wind that was howling through the buildings.
Ren couldn't move as he saw an all too familiar shadowy figure come through the buildings. The scream shook the earth. Ren reached out to Nora calling her name.
In a split second they were transported onto the roof of Beacon, the place where the final fight of their friend had taken place.
"Ren! Save me!" Nora reached out for Ren as an arrow pierced her chest.
Ren watched in horror as the arrow penetrated Nora's chest.
"No!" Ren ran to his friend, catching her before she could fall. "It's okay Nora. I'm here now." Ren watched in horror as the Nora he held became to melt away as he stared down at a nearly starved girl. He face gaunt, eyes hollow, skin pale and thin.
"Why Ren? Why didn't you save me?" Nora breathed her last rattling breath, but her eyes never closed, still staring up at him as if accusing him.
"No! No! Nora! Nora come back! Don't do this! Please stop this! Nora!"
"Ren!"
He felt someone nudge his shoulder as he woke up to find Nora leaning over him. The pink was already returning to her plumper cheeks. She quickly wrapped her best friend in her arms.
"It's okay. I'm here now." She whispered as she held him.
"Aren't I supposed to be comforting you?"
"Well it's my turn now. So shut up."
Three weeks after Nora started working in the kitchen Ren could tell that she was starting to get antsy. Nora looked a lot better, you almost couldn't tell that she had been starving and weak three weeks ago. But she still didn't have the toned body that she once had.
Jaune decided to transfer Ren and Nora on to guard duty with him. Nora was excited and loved getting to use Magnhild again.
Ren and Jaune started to train Nora, within the next three weeks Nora looked almost like nothing had happened. Six weeks after Nora was brought into the cafeteria completely unconscious, she was fighting Grimm again. The light in her eyes was back. She demanded pancakes from Ren whenever she got the chance. Her energy and good mood were all back. Though she may not have been back 100%, Jaune and Ren were all too happy to have her back with them.
Nora's recovery had helped the other two boys get over their own grief.
It was at the seven week mark that Jaune received a letter from Ruby asking them to help her on her journey. They began to construct a plan.