Author's Note: I'm sure most of you have seen the first episode of volume three by now. It revealed that Nora and Ren are orphans. I just want to say that I'm not changing my story because of that. My story therefore is an AU instead, where their parents are alive.
Thank you Aceofaces for helping me with the emotions and dialogue.
The young girl was sitting in the living room, humming a merry song to herself while drawing a picture with crayons. As she heard footsteps behind her, she craned her neck around and smiled at the tall, muscular, young man with short orange hair and beard who entered. "Hiii, Daddy!" she said excitedly and ran over to put her arms around her father's waist.
"Hello, pumpkin," the father said and ruffled her short, orange hair, making her giggle. "Did you have fun with your babysitter? Is she treating you well?"
She nodded enthusiastically. She stretched her small arms up into the air, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet before him. "Upsies!"
Her father kneeled down and picked her up from the floor, holding her in a steady and comfortable embrace. "You're getting heavier by the day, Nora. Soon I may not be able to give you any more upsies," he jested. "You'll turn six years old in a few days. What do you want for your birthday?"
Nora's face lit up, a wide smile forming across her cheeks. She really wanted to have a cute puppy to play with and teach tricks, but even that paled in comparison to what she wanted the most. "I want mommy to come back! I've been a really good girl this year, too. I brush my teeth every day, and I never tell any lies. I even eat my yucky greens!" As she said that, she saw her dear father sigh, dropping his shoulders. "Daddy, are you sad?" she asked with apparent, innocent concern.
"Nora, we… we've been through this already. Mommy, she isn't coming back. She left us both."
Those few words caused her happiness to instantly vanish, and be replaced by sadness. "But… why did she do that? Have I been a bad girl?"
"No, dear," he said, smiling reassuringly while patting her back, "You're the best and cutest daughter any parent could ever ask for."
"Then why do all the other kids have their mommies with them? Ren has one too."
"Because… your mommy is sick," her father explained hesitantly.
"Sick?" she echoed, raising her orange eyebrow. "Why doesn't she go to a doctor and get some medicine to make her better again?"
"There's no cure for what she has. She was stricken by a disease created by the Grimm that made her stop loving me."
Nora's eyes widened, fear spreading across her childish face. "Daddy! Are you gonna get sick and leave me, too!?" she said and put her arms around his neck, hugging him as hard as she could, burying her face against his shoulder. "Please don't stop loving me! I promise to be an even better daughter."
"Don't worry, Nora. There's nothing in this world that can make me stop loving you. I promise you that. Hey, do you know what day it is?"
She pulled her head away from his shoulder and beamed. "Oh, I know! Sunday!"
"And you know what means, right?"
"Ice cream!"
Pyrrha sat on the edge of her bed, looking down on Nora, who was still unconscious after having read the letter from her mother. She considered trying to wake her up, but thought it would be best if she woke up naturally on her own. The minutes passed.
Should I call Ren and Jaune and tell them what happened?
As she took out her Scroll to make the call, she suddenly felt a soft squeeze from her fingers that were entwined around Nora's. A wave of relief washed over her as she saw her writhing slowly in bed, gradually opening her eyes.
Pyrrha smiled warmly as those turquoise eyes focused on her. "Thank god you're awake. I was so worried," she said sincerely.
Nora groaned tiredly. "Pyrrha? Ugh…, what happened to me?" she whispered.
"You don't remember? You fainted."
"Huh? Really? How long was I out?" asked Nora, already sounding more awake.
"About fifteen minutes, I guess. How are you feeling?"
Nora rubbed her forehead. "Like I got smacked in the head by Maggy." With a soft grunt, she raised her upper body up and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Pyrrha. A few seconds of silence passed as Nora glanced at the letter lying on top of the nearby nightstand. "It's true then? Mommy dearest finally decided to stop playing hide-and-seek?" she said with a noticeable hint of sarcasm.
Pyrrha felt a small sensation of guilt. "I'm sorry for reading it. I needed to know if it was the letter that caused you to faint, or if you were sick."
"Meh, it's no biggie," assured Nora with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Pyrrha, gently placing a comforting hand on Nora's shoulder. "I'm here for you if you want to."
Nora did not even seem to notice the hand upon her. "I gotta… get myself a little pick-me-up." She stood up and walked over to the mini refrigerator to take out a cold energy drink.
Pyrrha was not sure how good or bad a carbonated soda with a lot of caffeine and sugar would be for someone who had just woken up from a blackout. Still, she let her have her refreshment.
After having popped the metallic tab open, Nora drank deeply, like someone being lost in the desert and stumbling across a lifesaving oasis. She let out a loud sigh of satisfaction and licked away a couple of drops left on her lips. "Aw, yeah. That's better. Just what I needed."
Pyrrha noticed how Nora's limbs were trembling. I doubt it's the sugar rush causing it… "Nora, you should sit down again," she urged.
Nora looked questioningly at her and grinned. "Why? I feel totally fine," she replied, giggling in a strained manner.
"You might faint again."
Nora rolled her eyes and looked away. "Didn't you hear, silly? I'm said I'm fine," she retorted with a less friendly voice, still keeping her thin grin plastered across her face.
Since Nora did not listen to her, Pyrrha instead asked something else. "I know it's not of my concern… but I wonder what you want to do about your mother."
"What do you think I'm gonna do?!" Nora raised her voice while she restlessly paced back and forth across the room, occasionally taking sips from her drink. "Ignore her, of course. She kept me waiting for seventeen years, so I'll let her stay at that hotel for a week, thinking that I'll eventually show up. That'll give my sick and twisted mom a taste of her medicine."
Despite the angry answer, Pyrrha did not want to leave the matter too easily. She stood up from the bed, and chose to press on. "But, what about all those unanswered questions that have been burdening since you were a kid?"
"What about them?" Nora scoffed. "I've lived with them all my life. I'm sure I can manage having them unanswered for another lifetime," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Don't you want to know who she is?"
Nora shook her head, and replied in a sharp tone, growing edgier; "She's a bad parent and a coward! What more is there to know?"
"Well, you can find out exactly why she left you. You can-" Pyrrha was interrupted by the sound of an empty tin can being crushed in Nora's hand. She saw her stop walking, and to her disbelief, glare at her.
"No, Pyrrha! Don't you get it?!" she spat out, and threw the empty, crushed can at Pyrrha, narrowly missing her head. "I don't wanna know what went on in her freaking head the moment she abandoned me!" she screamed with her fists clenched, her entire body tensing up from the anger.
Shocked, Pyrrha took a quick step back as if it was a protective reflex. She could not believe what she just experienced. Nora, a girl with seemingly endless amounts of positivism and bliss, now violently erupting with volcanic rage, barbed words blasting forth from her mouth and exploding against Pyrrha's ears and heart. She recalled Ren mentioning that Nora was no stranger to emotions other than happiness, but she just could not believe how far Nora's spectrum strayed from the perpetual happiness she had come to expect.
Nora blinked, her anger subsiding as quickly as it had detonated. Her eyes, now full of shame instead of ire, faltered. "I didn't mean to snap at you," she whispered apologetically.
"It's okay, really. I can understand why you're angry."
Nora shook her head while rubbing her temple, as if trying to get rid of the residue of her anger. "No, you don't understand. It's just… I don't get you. Why are you trying so hard to convince me to see her?"
I gotta choose my words carefully, or I'll risk making the situation worse.
"You're right. I'll never understand how it feels to have my mother abandon me and then return after nearly two decades." She paused briefly, and then began to retort in a friendly manner, "But, Nora, you on the other hand don't know what it's like to drown, and I hope you never do. You don't know what goes on in my head when I shower, step out into the rain, or into a pool."
Nora raised her gaze to look at her quizzically. "Hmm? What are you getting at?"
"What I'm getting at is that even though you don't know what it's like to have felt what I have felt, you still chose to help me. When I tried to run from my fear instead of facing it, you pursued and confronted me, making me realize what I needed to do. Thanks to you, Nora, I feel I have become a better person. You want to run from your mother, so now I confront and implore you not to ignore this once in a lifetime opportunity to find peace within you. Decide what you feel is best for you. I only ask that you think it through thoroughly. Give it some time."
Nora scratched the back of her head and looked away as she took in Pyrrha's words. She let out a simple sigh, and dropped her shoulders slightly. "Okay… I… I get what you're saying. Seriously," she said and backed away toward the door. "Sorry, but I gotta be alone for a little while. Nothing personal."
Pyrrha was about to protest and ask her to stay, when she realized that a bit of solitude might be helpful for Nora's stressed mind. "I understand. I won't stop you. I'll be here if you want to talk."
"Thanks, Pyrrha. I really mean it. I'll try not to be gone for long."
As Pyrrha waved good-bye to her, she wondered once again if she should call Ren and Jaune and ask them to come over to the dorm. She feared she may not be able to comfort and advise Nora on her own.
Nora's shameful retreat from the dorm brought her to Beacon Academy's garden. Stopping within a grove, she neither saw nor heard any other students, believing that the small, yet lush group of trees and bushes isolated her from the rest of the academy.
A strong wave of regret and shamed rolled over her. I shouldn't have snapped and yelled at Pyrrha. She just wanted to help me.
It was not like her at all to give in to anger, even for a split second. Pyrrha had been her typical, caring self and had offered a helping hand, only to have it burned by Nora's rage. Then, she had scurried away like a coward.
She had not been honest during her emotional outburst at Pyrrha. She wanted to know why her mother had left her, but she was scared for an unknown reason. It could not be that she feared her mother as a person, for she had never met her before. Maybe it was because she was scared of what Jorda might tell her, that her answers, or lack thereof, would do little to nothing to ease all that uncertainty and the void Nora had lived with for so many years. At worst, the meeting would make Nora feel even more miserable.
She had once told Pyrrha that a fear should not be avoided or co-existed with. It should be confronted directly, like bashing in the skull of a Grimm with her hammer. No matter how far one may run from their fears, or how deep they may bury them in their consciousness, those fears would continue to exist and grow over time like a festering disease, eating away from within. Ugh, I'm a stupid hypocrite.
Nora sat down on a park bench, looking down at the open, holographic display of her Scroll. She browsed through a digital folder containing multiple photos of a baby with skyblue eyes and orange, messy hair. She was not sure long it had been since she had last looked at her baby photos, or why she was keeping them in her Scroll at all. She had found them in an old photo album in the attic back home, before her disposition toward her mother had soured with age.
She skimmed through most of the photos, looking at some of them a bit longer. In some of them, she was together with a fair-skinned, baby boy with short, dark hair.
She smiled. Hah, even back then, me and Ren looked so adorkably cute and silly. I hope we can grow old and die together.
Her mother had written in her letter that she hoped that Nora would one day have kids of her own. Nora wanted to have kids, sometime, but that 'sometime' needed to wait several more years.
She wondered, if or when that happens, will I look at my newborn kid with pride or despair? What if I run away like my mom did, and let my son or daughter grow up without knowing me?
She stopped scrolling through the gallery as she came to a photo of a girl in her late teens. It was Jorda, her mother from a time shortly before she was had inherited parts of her mother's face, including the color of her eyes. The main difference was Jorda's shoulder length, brown hair. She recalled how her father had once admitted that looking at Nora sometimes filled him with bittersweet nostalgia due to the fact how physically similar she looked like her mother.
She clicked the Scroll's display again, and saw a photo that she loved as much as she hated. It was Jorda holding her as a baby in her arms. Her mother was smiling warmly at her, looking happy and proud to be a parent to a healthy and beautiful daughter.
This is how I wanna remember her. The photo was a sad reminder how different things could have been. If she looked so happy back then, why did she leave everything? Why did she leave me? That was a question that had been on her mind for many years. She now had a chance to have it answered.
As Nora returned to the dorm a couple of hours later, she saw that Pyrrha was still there. She was not alone; Jaune and Ren were with her, too. All three of them looked at her as if they had been expecting her.
"Welcome back, Nora." Her childhood friend, Ren, was the first to greet her.
"We were starting to grow worried about you," said Pyrrha.
Nora looked into the eyes of her friends and teammates. She focused on Pyrrha, and asked her in a calm manner, "Did you tell them?"
Pyrrha gave her an apologetic look while she nodded. "I'm sorry. I grew so worried after you left, and called them over."
Nora was not offended. Everyone in the team already knew what her mother had done to her. She had told Jaune, too, after he had curiously asked about her upbringing, but she did not mention as many details to him as she had said to Pyrrha. "Like I said before, it's no biggie. I was gonna tell them myself," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
The blonde-haired team leader took a step toward her. "Nora, no matter what happens between you and your mother, and your father, too, for that matter, I want you to know that team JNPR will always be part of your family." He paused briefly, a hesitant look appearing on his youthful face. "Did that sound too corny?" Jaune asked as he looked at Ren and Pyrrha.
"Not at all, Jaune," said Ren before he shifted his gaze back to Nora. "My uncle taught me that it's better to regret something you have done rather than something you haven't done."
Pyrrha was the last of the three to step forth and voice her opinion on the matter. "What we're all saying is that, whatever you decide, we'll support you through it."
Nora beamed in response to all the compassion she was receiving. It was heartwarming to know that she had such dependable and caring friends. "Awww, you guys are the best!" She stepped up in front of Ren and hooked her arms around Pyrrha's and Jaune's waists, bringing them all close together. "Group hug!"
As she stood surrounded by people who cared for her, she looked up at them and announced, "I've decided to go see her."
The others exchanged happy glances with each other. "We're glad to hear that," said Pyrrha and smiled.
"Do you mind if I ask what made you decide?" asked Jaune with apparent curiosity.
Nora paused to think. She knew the answer to his question, but was not sure how to express it in words. "If I don't go, then I'd be no better than her. If she wants a chance to do what's right, like she should have from the beginning, then it'd be wrong of me to deny her that chance."
"When do you want to see her then?" asked Ren. "She said she would stay in Vale City for a week."
"Tomorrow," Nora answered. She preferred to go right away and get the whole ordeal over with, but she felt she needed more time to prepare mentally. Tomorrow may be a life-changing day for her.
The next day, Nora was riding the transport ship across the strait to Vale City, alone. Pyrrha, Ren and Jaune, had all asked her if she wanted them to go with her. Pyrrha had even asked twice. It had been very tempting to say yes. She was happy for their offer, but she had decided to go alone. She hoped she would not regret it.
After arriving in Vale City, Nora took a bus that brought her to Bifrost hotel, the place mentioned in her mother's letter. She stepped into the hotel's reception. She walked up to a man sitting behind the reception desk and asked, "Hey. I'm here to see someone; a woman named Jorda. I'm not sure about her last name. Can you see if she's here?"
"One moment, please," said the man and checked his computer. "Ah, yes, Jorda Jotunn. She's in room 84, fifth floor. Do you want me to inform her that she's got a visitor?"
So that's her last name, huh? Nora shook her head. "No. That's not needed. Thanks." Nora walked away from the reception desk and entered an elevator that took her to the fifth floor.
Hesitation was a feeling that she had little experience with. Normally, she was the first of her team to leap recklessly into combat, laughing heartily while taking on multiple Grimm. Now, however, with each step she took down along the corridor, the more the hesitation swelled within her. Every thought and instinct yelled at her to turn her heels around and forget the whole thing. With just the last of her willpower, she managed to push on.
She stopped in front of the door with the number 84 on it, gazing at it for what felt like an eternity. A wooden door was the only thing that kept mother and daughter from meeting each other. Nora stood at a symbolical crossroad, to either walk away or knock on the door. No matter which path she would take, she knew it would forever change her life. Taking a deep breath, Nora slowly raised her hand and knocked weakly on the door a couple of times. As she waited for any kind of response, she fidgeted on her feet, bouncing up and down on her toes. She heard no voice or footsteps in response. Perhaps her mother was not inside after all.
Nora turned around and let out a drawn out sigh, not feeling sure whether she was doing so out of relief or disappointment. She was just about to walk away, not knowing if she would come back later, when suddenly, she heard the door open behind her.
"Nora?"
Nora froze up. For the first time in her life, she heard the voice of her mother, speaking directly to her. Slowly, she turned around and looked at Jorda. It's like… I'm staring at a future version of myself… Even after seventeen years, her mother still looked quite similar to her.
"Thank you so much for coming here," said Jorda with a nervous smile. She too seemed a bit shocked to see her daughter.
Nora averted her eyes from her, scratching her arm awkwardly. She was not sure what to say or how to react. As a child, she had dreamed of this moment. Had she still been one, she would have thrown herself at her mother and hugged her while shedding tears of joy, wanting her to never leave again. Now, however, Nora felt it would be awkward and inappropriate to hug her.
"Would you like to come in?" asked her mother, and gestured with her hand toward the hotel room. Nora hesitated for a moment before she walked in. As the door was closed behind her, Jorda looked long and hard at her. It made her feel uncomfortable. "I can't believe how much you've grown. I still remember how small you were when I held you in my arms."
The memory of the baby photos Nora had looked at yesterday flashed within her mind. She emitted a muffled grunt, breaking her silence. "I didn't come here to listen to your nostalgia. I'm here for answers. No idea what I'll do after that," she said, trying her best to speak in a calm and neutral manner.
Jorda initially looked surprised at her daughter's passive aggression, and then nodded slowly. "I… I understand. I shall do my best to give them to you then. I pray that you will be able to forgive me."
"That depends a lot on what you'll say, right?"
Jorda walked over to sit down on a sofa. She gestured questioningly if Nora wanted to sit down too, but Nora shook her head and remained standing. "I'm not sure where to begin exactly. Is there something in particular you want to know first?" asked Jorda.
Nora knew she could start right away with the main question about why Jorda had decided to abandon her and her father. There were, however, other, less important questions that she wanted to get out of her system first. "How about you start with answering if I have any half-siblings I should know about?" she asked. Did you abandon them, too? She only barely held back a snide follow-up question.
"No, you're my only child."
She was both disappointed and relieved to hear that. Guess I'll never have any siblings after all.
Having grown up as the only child with a single parent, she had wished for a brother or sister to play with, to look up to or take care of, to share secrets with, and to comfort each other. Instead, it was her childhood friend, Ren, who had ended up filling up that role in her life. Her time as an innocent and naive child was long gone. She was now nearly an adult, and did not feel the same wish for siblings anymore.
With that question settled, Nora moved on to the second one. "What have you been doing all these years? Where have you been hiding?"
"The first few years, I traveled the world together with Viola, my girlfriend back then. We took on simple and brief jobs along the way, never staying at one spot for too long."
Nora reacted to the name her mother mentioned, narrowing her eyes into slits. "Viola? The same woman that you cheated and ran away with?" she said with traces of contempt.
Jorda nodded. "The same. After some time, I began to mature, feeling that I needed to change my life. I didn't want to move around anymore. I wanted to settle down. So, Viola and I broke up, on pretty bad terms, I might add. I had enough saved up cash to move back to Vale City and finish my studies. After that, I managed to get a steady job. Since then, I have lived a relatively simple and peaceful life."
The answer did not sit well with Nora, like insult to injury. "If you wanted a simple, peaceful life, why couldn't you have had that with me?!" she spat out accusingly, her voice on the verge of breaking. As she felt her eyes tear up, she quickly wiped them with the back of her hand.
I didn't come here to cry. Seventeen years' worth of crying is more than enough.
Jorda sighed sadly as she looked down on her twiddling fingers. "I have no good excuse, Nora. I've wanted to come back for a long time. It took an eternity before I could watch myself in the mirror for the way I failed you. I was so horribly ashamed of my mistake to leave you that I didn't want to return and face the consequences. I was scared, too."
"What could you possibly be scared of?" scoffed Nora, crossing her arms.
Jorda looked at her daughter again, her own, turquoise eyes glistening with unshed tears. "That you and your father wouldn't want to see me again. After having been away from you for so long, I wasn't sure how I would fit back in, if at all. What I feared the most, however, was that I might leave you again."
Nora bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something bad to her mother. Instead, she focused on getting as many answers as possible. "Okay then, time for the million Lien question, I guess," she began, tilting head her and furrowing her eyebrows. "Why did you do it? How could you abandon me?! I'm your daughter!"
Jorda tried to look at Nora's accusing glare, but faltered. She wiped one of her eyes before she began to explain. "Only a day after I gave birth to you, I began to feel that something wasn't right with me, but I couldn't tell what it was. It only got worse as the days passed. I couldn't sleep, I lost my appetite, and I became irritable for the smallest of reasons. Sometimes I could cry over nothing. I grew paranoid and began to fear that I would be a bad parent to you. Your father tried to comfort me the best way he could. Sadly, his efforts were limited, because he needed to spend a lot of time at work."
Nora slowly nodded, and went to sit down on the sofa with Jorda, as far away from her as possible. "Daddy mentioned that you felt all down after I was born," she said. Her father had explained to her that the girl he had met and fallen in love with was a caring and happy one, similar to Nora. Shortly after Jorda had given birth, however, she had become severely depressed, and difficult to be with.
"He was right. He took me to a doctor, who diagnosed with PPD, or postpartum depression."
Nora did not know the details of that name, but she knew it was something that happened to very few parents, especially mothers after childbirth. Still, she did not want to believe that a clinical depression was the main reason that she had grown up without a mother.
Jorda continued. "I was supposed to receive treatment for my depression in the form of therapy, group counseling, and medications. The day before the treatment was to begin, however, I ran away and ended up at a bar. That's where I met Viola. I'm not sure what it was that I felt for her. Maybe it was love, or maybe I just fooled myself to think so. She made me see and think of things I had never thought of before. She somehow filled a void in me, for I wasn't sure how much, or even if I ever truly loved your father. Viola became the catalyst."
The way Nora saw it, the woman known as Viola had been largely responsible for making her mother leave her. She had filled her mother's vulnerable and depressed mind with negligence and selfish thoughts. Viola… if I ever see you…I'll break your legs, twice!
"Viola and I began to see each other for a few days in secret. She even came to our house when your dad was away. She came from a dysfunctional family and was planning to run away. She offered me an opening to run away and put everything behind me and come with her. So, I packed a few things, and left." A single tear ran down Jorda's cheek. With a croaked voice, she said, "The last thing I did before leaving the house for good... was watching you sleep peacefully in your cradle."
Nora sat still and listened without interrupting. She was not sure what she felt exactly, for so many emotions churned around within her. She clenched her trembling fists so tightly that her nails dug into the skin of her palms. So many things had gone wrong for her parents while she had been an innocent baby. Even though she did not want to, Nora felt her heartstrings being pulled by her mother's emotional explanation. She could tell that she was not simply making up excuses. Many things that Jorda said and described had been mentioned by her father as well. She felt devastated, yet, she believed she could begin to understand. To her chagrin, she felt a small amount of empathy for her mother.
Jorda took out a tissue to wipe away the tears from her eyes. "I truly tried to love you, Nora, but at that time I was an emotional wreck, a teenager who had not yet found herself. I felt I had lost control of my life. I wasn't ready to become a mother. I hated myself for it, but I wasn't able to bond with a daughter who had been conceived out of hollow lust. I was-"
"Woahwoahwoah, say what?" Nora suddenly interjected, reacting to what she had just heard. "What do you mean by the last part?"
Jorda blinked, looking at her daughter with a surprised expression. "Did… didn't your father tell you how you were conceived?" she asked cautiously.
"I know that story already. He said to me that you two dated for a year before you decided to have a family." Nora paused briefly as she noticed her mother's hesitant look. "Is… isn't that the truth?"
"I'm sorry... Nora. But it wasn't like that," said Jorda apologetically.
"Then tell me the truth, right here, right now."
"B-but, if I do that, you'll only end up hating me even more."
"Tell me!" insisted Nora, raising her voice a bit. "You owe it to me!" I got a bad feeling I'm not gonna like what I'm about to hear next…
"Nora… before you were born, your father and I never were in a real relationship. We were lovers, but only on a physical level. We sometimes met to express that love. We were always sure to use birth control. But, one night, we think your father's condom broke…," Jorda explained, her voice trailing off.
Nora was stunned silent as the answer she had asked for struck her. She needed a few seconds before she could talk again. "What… was your reaction when you discovered you were pregnant? Your real reaction," she asked, her voice being a mere whisper.
Jorda squirmed in her heat, twiddling her fingers nervously. "I... I panicked when I saw the positive pregnancy test, and ran to the abortion clinic in Vale City. Your father found the test, and managed to stop me before I could go through with it. We talked for a long time before we decided that we would keep you."
The final pieces of the puzzle began to come together, forming into the harsh truth that Nora had searched for her entire life. She now knew who, and what she was. "A-are… are you saying… that I'm a mistake?" she asked, her whisper being laced with traces of sadness and confusion.
Jorda tried to quickly amend the damage she had caused with her explanation. "No, Nora. You have to understand. I didn't think rationally. I was barely an adult back then. My life was messy even before I became pregnant with you."
Nora could not believe what she had just heard. Her whole life felt like a lie, a lie that had now shattered and left her in ruins. The two reasons she existed was because of a faulty contraception, and a well-timed intervention from her father. The man who had raised and protected her was a liar.
She felt anger and sadness waging war within her, each emotion trying to become the dominant one.
"I'm sorry that you needed to hear this, dear," said Jorda sincerely.
The response caused one of the warring emotions to win, and explode out of her. "You're sorry?!" Nora spat out and stood up, shooting daggers down at her mother. She detested anger, but this time, she allowed it to take over her and do its dirty work. "You return after abandoning me seventeen years ago to tell me that I exist only because of a broken rubber?! That I was only moments away from being aborted?! And you say you're sorry?!" Nora palmed her face and groaned loudly. "Ugh! This was a mistake! I should've never come here!" She stormed toward the door.
"Nora! Please wait! I didn't mean to-" urged and protested Jorda behind her.
"You should've stayed away from me! It's what you do best anyway!" retorted Nora sharply without looking back. She stepped out of the room and slammed the door behind her. As she marched down the hallway toward the exit, she noticed her vision getting blurry, and her eyes feeling unusually moist.
Time passed slowly for Pyrrha as she sat by a table within the library, staring down on a schoolbook lying in front of her. Finding the necessary peace and focus to study was proving difficult. While reading, part of her mind was thinking about her next step in how to fight her fear of drowning.
Should I visit the pool again? If so, should I go alone or bring Nora with me? Her therapist, Tawny, had recommended that she should continue to receive support from Nora, but she must also learn how to support herself without Nora.
How am I supposed to find the right balance? She feared going the pool alone, in case she would panic, and no one would be around to calm and comfort her.
A certain friend was on her mind. She was excited that Nora had decided to meet her mother. However, she was also worried. As much as the meeting was a chance to make Nora laugh and smile again, it was also a risk that she would become even more upset. She looked at her Scroll lying next to her book. The Scroll's very presence silently tempted her to give Nora a call and ask her how she was doing, but Pyrrha ultimately felt it was best not to disturb the tenuous reunion between a mother and her daughter.
As another hour passed with very little progress made, Pyrrha decided to give up and head back to the dorm to rest her mind. As she entered the dorm, she was surprised to see Nora had already returned, standing by the open window. She was resting her elbows on the edge and leaning out slightly.
"Oh, hello, Nora. I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Pyrrha said and closed the door behind her.
Nora said or did nothing in response, as if she did not even hear her friend behind her. This does not bode well… It never does when you're quiet like that. "Did the meeting with your mother go well? Did you two manage to reconcile with each other?" Pyrrha asked carefully.
Nora finally broke her stillness by shifting her feet slightly. "A broken rubber…," she said dryly.
"Excuse me?"
Nora craned her neck until Pyrrha saw one of her turquoise eyes just past those orange bangs. "You know why I'm here? Why I'm chatting to you? Why I'm even breathing in the first place? It's all because of a slip up that was made seventeen years ago by a pair of horny teens."
Pyrrha blinked, thinking hard to understand what Nora was referring to. "I'm… I'm sorry. I don't understand. Did something bad happen earlier?"
Slowly, Nora turned around and leaned back against the window edge, keeping her arms crossed. To Pyrrha's surprise, she did not look happy, sad, or angry. Her expression was blank, void of emotions. She could barely read her, but she assumed she was not feeling well.
Nora said, "Daddy told me a long time ago that when he and mom met, it was true love at first sight. It was like a cheesy scene taken from one of those typical, romantic comedy movies. I believed in it, like a little girl believing in fairy tales and monsters under the bed." Her gaze slowly roamed all over the room, stopping only briefly to fixate upon an object, the floor or a wall. She sometimes looked at Pyrrha's legs or arms, but never directly into her eyes. "Turned out my parents never really dated. They were loose buddies who met occasionally to cuddle. One night, daddy cuddled mommy so hard that his condom broke."
Oh, Nora… I understand now. No child should ever have to learn that they were conceived under such circumstances.
She was just about to step up and comfort her, when Nora suddenly broke her emotionless visage by stomping her foot and crying out, "I'm a mistake!" Her tone was on a fine line between sadness and anger. "I was never supposed to happen in the first place! I was never meant to live and to grow up! I was-"
Her outburst stopped mid-sentence as Pyrrha gently put her fingers beneath her delicate chin. She tilted Nora's head backward, making her look into her eyes. "You are a lot of things, Nora, but you are definitely not a mistake," she said softly. Nora's jaw trembled, as if trying to speak, but nothing but unintelligible mumbles came. Her eyes teared up.
Pyrrha continued. "Think of how different life would have been for your friends if you had never been born. Ren wouldn't have his childhood friend to boop him and demand pancakes. Jaune wouldn't have someone who can both tease and help him. Your teammates, and the girls from team RWBY wouldn't have someone who's always radiating joy and spreading laughter around them."
She paused for a couple of seconds as she wiped away a tear rolling down Nora's cheek with her thumb. "I… wouldn't have someone help me fight my inner demons, and comfort me every time I get sad or scared." As Pyrrha finished, she watched how the fragile facade Nora had built up began to crumble. It was painful, yet necessary to watch.
"P-Pyrrha, I d-dunno… what to do about my mom," whined Nora, her lower lip quivering. More tears fell from her eyes.
"Don't decide anything. Not yet. Just… stop trying to hold back your tears, and let them all out."
As the crumbling facade fully collapsed, the sadness that Nora had bottled for many years up was exposed. With nothing to contain and keep it in check anymore, it erupted out of her in the form of a heartbreaking wail. She threw her arms around Pyrrha and hugged her so hard as if her life depended on it.
Pyrrha silently watched as Nora buried her face against her bosom and cried her eyes out, her wailing being partially muffled. Pyrrha did her best to comfort her upset friend by returning her embrace, bringing her fingers through the silky and orange hair. She had once wondered if Nora had ever cried, and now she received more of an answer than she had asked for.
She was not sure how long the two of them remained like that, as Nora had many tears to shed. Eventually, her friend's crying turned into a stifled sobbing. She pulled her face away from Pyrrha and sniffled, wiping away tears from her puffy eyes. Nora eventually spoke, "Sorry for crying like a little girl," she said with a croaked voice, her vocal cords strained from all the crying. "I got your top all wet with my tears," she jested, as if trying to raise the mood for them both.
"No need to thank me, or apologize. That's what friends are for," said Pyrrha with a smile. She felt her own eyes were on the verge of shedding tears, but managed to hold them back, barely.
Nora took another moment to recover. "I… I'm still not sure what to do my mom. I think… maybe…I should contact her and apologize for yelling at her and storming off. We… we should talk again. I dunno… I just… don't know."
Pyrrha nodded and smiled. "I think that sounds like a good idea. But, after everything you've been through today, I think both of you need the rest of the day off to think. Contact her tomorrow."
Nora looked up at Pyrrha, and asked, "Pyrrha, do you mind if… we sit here for a while longer, like this?"
"Of course not. I'll stay with you as long as you want."
End of chapter 12
Author's Note: I hope you found this chapter to be touching. You can expect a lot more of that in the next chapter as well. I also hope that you at least to some degree felt empathy for Jorda's explanation about why she left.
Jorda's last name is based on Thor's mother being a jotunn, a giantess. But, Jorda is pretty short. She's only a couple of inches taller than Nora.
Viola is Latin for violet flower, or violet color.