Author's Note: New chapter is probably being uploaded a fair bit later than usual because at the time of writing this I am getting ready to play some DnD with some friends that will probably go late into the night and my editors still need to take a look. Apologies for the delay.

"Ugh, I didn't know she was changing!" Coco cried. "I was angry, and it happened so fast!"

Velvet blushed brightly but, seeing her chance to fluster Coco for a change, she forced her embarrassment aside and jumped on the chance. "You just kept staring…"

Coco groaned, glaring at Velvet for a second before hiding her face in her hands. "You were standing there in your underwear… that's like everyone's wet dream. Cute, toned, bunny faunus looking back at you desp-" She was cut off as something crashed into her face.

"Ok, that's enough of that." Fox, now devoid of the pillow that had been on his bed, worked to defuse the situation. "You'll scar Velvet for the rest of her life if you continue that line of thinking."

"Besides, isn't there someone else you'd rather se-"

"How did training go?" Coco desperately asked Pyrrha and, though the change in subject didn't go unnoticed, she figured that the fashionista had suffered enough for now. To force any more would be to invite retribution, of which Pyrrha knew would be thoroughly embarrassing.

"Penny is a quick learner… I think."

"You think?" Velvet asked curiously, causing Pyrrha to wince slightly.

"I didn't exactly learn the normal way." Pyrrha held her hand out, summoning a small flame between her fingers. "Before I never had the time to, and when I came back in Amber's body there was… muscle memory attached."

Coco eyed her cautiously for a moment. "You can't exactly blame yourself for that."

"I know." Pyrrha held up her hands in an attempt to make it clear she relented the point. Coco had already made her opinion on the matter of her return clear. Amber was gone, both now and in Pyrrha's time, nothing she did or could do would change that. "It's the truth though. I've picked all of this up far quicker than a normal Maiden would have, so I'm not sure if Penny's progress is normal or not."

"I doubt it is anything that can be compared to." Yatsuhashi added. "She will learn. The fact she is not completely human will only aid her, I suspect."

"Penny is as human as the rest of us where it counts." Pyrrha defended. She realized her mistake the moment Coco's eyes seemed to glow.

"Already going over protective girlfriend on her, huh?"

It was Pyrrha's turn to groan now, a steady heat rising to her face as Coco continued to move her eyebrows suggestively. "You're the worst."

"Don't start what you can't finish, babe." Coco shrugged. "Though, speaking of relationships, what's the word with you and your boy toy?"

Pyrrha didn't fail to notice how the other three remained unusually silent. Rolling her eyes, she could only shrug.

"He's supposed to be planning our… our-"

"Date." Coco smirked. "The word you're looking for is date."

"-He hasn't told me anything yet though."

Coco winced softly. "You might wanna… message him about that."

Pyrrha stared back at her friend in suspicion, her eyes narrowed as the usually confident girl faltered under her gaze.

"Coco…"

"He uh… may have asked when you would be available." That alone wasn't reason for Pyrrha to be concerned. The fact he knew who to ask was a good sign, that maybe he wasn't quite as distant as she had feared, but the fact that Coco couldn't meet her eyes was beyond worrying.

"And what did you tell him?"

Coco muttered a response quietly in a desperate attempt to not be heard. Despite that, and mostly due to the fact the other three had remained silent, Pyrrha heard it as clearly as day.

"Tomorrow?!" Pyrrha launched herself from her seat on the chair sitting in front of her bed. "B-but he hasn't even told me-"

"He does look like the inexperienced type." Fox sent. "You said you would be free when you got back… he must have taken that as meaning any day after you got back."

"I-I mean I am free, it's just…" Pyrrha started pacing. "I-I'm not ready. I need to prepare myself. I need a new dress, o-or casual clothes if we aren't going any place fancy-"

"Schnee was helping him plan it." Coco unhelpfully added. "She was actually the one to ask me when you would be free. If she's involved, I would expect high end."

Pyrrha's panic continued to grow. "W-we don't know for certain that its tomorrow, do -"

At that moment, Pyrrha was certain of a higher power. Her scroll - still sitting on her bed a few feet away - beeped, cutting her off with a familiar chirp that she had heard countless times before and yet she knew without even looking at it who was messaging her.

"It's Jaune." Velvet looked down at the device. "He wants to know if you are free tomorrow night."

Pyrrha whimpered softly.

"Is that a… no?"

"No!" Pyrrha quickly shouted. "Or, Yes. I mean, I-I'll make it work."

"Might not wanna word it like that." Fox sent.

Pyrrha walked over to her scroll in a way she could easily imagine an inmate sentenced to death might approach their final meal. Picking it up, she read the details out loud.

Coco whistles softly. "Le' Monquie. I heard their waiting list is pretty exclusive. Wonder how he managed to pull that off."

"Well, Weiss is a Schnee after all, and she did say she would help him, no?" Yatsuhashi reminded them. "For all that she tries not to use her name's influence, there are perks."

"Huh." Coco seemed genuinely surprised. "Didn't know the girl had it in her."

"Weiss is only cold to those she doesn't know." Pyrrha assured her. "She care's more than she likes to seem."

"You've said that before." Coco replied, though it notably lacked the telling smirk she would usually rely on. "I just didn't expect her to go so far and above. Not for this anyways."

"Weiss is a good person." Pyrrha stated.

"Yeah… she really is." There was something about the way Coco spoke that drew Pyrrha's attention but, just as quickly as she had spotted it, it was gone once more. "Still, kudos to her for being the bigger person. Now, back to you, what are you wearing?"

Pyrrha froze in place. "I-I don't kno-"

"She still has that dress from the ceremony." Velvet helpfully reminded her, moving to stand next to Coco. "Twenty four hours isn't really enough to get anything specially made."

"True." Coco nodded. "And unfortunately she can't wear any of mine. No offense girl, but we don't have the same dimensions."

"She might fit some of mine." Velvet shrugged. "Though that doesn't offer much."

"It's more than she has already." Coco said. "She owns maybe four proper outfits, most of which we made her buy. We'll make it work."

"I might have a dress or two stowed away that Coco made me buy but that I never planned on wearing." Velvet somehow managed to ignore the pointed look from Coco as she said it. "Depends on what kind of look we are going for."

"She went fairly conservative last time." Coco replied, referencing the dress Pyrrha had worn to the award ceremony for the city. "I'm assuming that's the plan again?"

They both looked towards Pyrrha. Taking a deep breath, and forcing past the heat rising up her neck, she shook her head. "I… I want to impress."

The words weren't easy to say, but what made it worse was the grin that overtook Coco's face. To call it evil would have been an exaggeration, but there was no doubt an edge to it that unerved the former champion.

"Oh, I think we can work with that." Coco turned towards Velvet. "Do you still have that red dress I said you should buy for that date in the first year?"

Velvet's face turned a dark red as she nodded before turning towards Pyrrha. "Are you sure you're up for it? I know you were worried about your scars last time…"

Pyrrha smiled as best she could, finding herself surprised by how easily it seemed to feel genuine. "Huntress' get scars, I'll manage."

"Besides, if she wears the dress like I have in mind, he won't be looking at her scars." Coco's smile grew predatory. "You might have to take Allos just to pry him off you."

Pyrrha blushed brightly once more, but smiled nonetheless. This was what she had always wanted, an actual date with Jaune. She had tried to grab his attention subtly before, and it had failed. When that had happened she should have just confused how she felt and gotten it over with. That chance had come and gone however, and she had been too much of a coward to seize it. Not any more. She was going to make her intention clear even if she died from embarrassment along the way.

"Velvet and I will deal with the outfit, we can look through some of it tonight and get to work tomorrow." Coco began to rattle off orders as sternly as any Atlesian military officer. "Yatsu and Fox, since they are trying to edge for the door anyways-" The two boys stopped, mere inches away from the door handle. "Go get some products from the CCT mall, I'll send you a list." They breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded. Opening the door and stepping out into the halls. "Oh!" Coco moved over before they could get far. "And get a condom, we don't need her getting pregnant!"

Velvet seemed to choke on her tongue, sputtering and yelling at Coco for a solid five minutes before she seemed to calm down. Pyrrha for all her effort only stood there silently, her face likely as red as Ruby's cape. This was her chance, and she would be damned if she was going to throw it away by sending mixed signals. She wasn't ready to go that far yet, but knowing Jaune… Well, even he couldn't ignore the implications such would bring.

Right?

"Hand me that pin."

Pyrrha tried not to fidget as Coco reached over her to hand something to Velvet, even though it had the unwanted effect of pulling her hair just a bit more than she would have liked. That didn't last though, as Velvet pined whatever she had been working on in place before moving to another portion of her hair.

The last day had been a hectic one, the preparations and planning for what she would wear had been simple enough; mostly due to their limited options. They had gone with the red dress Coco had insisted Velvet buy the year prior. Apparently, it had never been worn despite the fashionista's insistence that it was perfect for a date. The fabric was soft but remarkably thin and, despite her lack of expertise in the field of fashion, Pyrrha could tell it had been expensive. It was often easy to forget that Coco, while not as rich as Weiss or even herself at one point, was at least well off when it came to lien. She also spared no expense when it came to things like this.

The dress was held up by two thin straps that went over her shoulders, before traveling some distance to connect with the fabric on either her back or font; leaving a rather large portion of her upper torso bare. The section that covered her chest was also minimal, serving to keep her decent but also tempting as there was more visible than hidden. Below that her stomach was covered however, the fabric going just past her waist before splitting to expose her thighs and toned legs. The fabric then stopped only a few inches above the floor when she stood with her back straight.

It wasn't difficult to realize why the dress had gone unused. Velvet wasn't exactly a shut in as people might have assumed, but she was nowhere near as outgoing as Coco was. How she had even been convinced to own the dress, Pyrrha didn't know. In a desperate attempt to work past her own nervousness at wearing the revealing dress, she asked.

"Velvet had a massive crush on this second year guy last year." Coco informed her with a smile, earning a glare and a swat from Velvet but little else as she struggled to make Pyrrha's brown hair presentable. "Lucky for her, he fancied her too and eventually asked her out. Aww-" Coco cooed. "You should have seen it. Velvet was so adorable and embarrassed she couldn't even speak. She just nodded when he asked and he took care of the rest. Turned to me the second he left to ask for help."

"I'd never been on a date before." Velvet sighed. "And I made the mistake of trusting Coco's idea of how to grab his attention."

Coco rolled her eyes dramatically. "You didn't even end up wearing it. Such a tease." She leaned down towards Pyrrha. "He decided on a movie, not exactly the right venue for something like this. Practically a crime if you ask me. I wanted to see her in it. She definitely has the legs to pull it of-"

"Coco!" Velvet swatted at her team leader once more, earning a light hearted chuckle from Pyrrha as the two glared back and forth for a moment.

"How did the date go?"

Velvet shrugged. "It was all right, but it was clear we didn't really have very much in common aside from attending Beacon-"

"And finding each other attractive." Coco's addition went ignored.

"-We tried a few more dates but it never went anywhere. We both agreed to call it off."

"Naturally, people thought it was because I was stealing you away from him." Rather than seem offended Coco seemed amused. "His team was pissed for a little while, but they got over it when they realized that wasn't the case."

"We still talk on occasion, but third years spend a lot of time out of Beacon." Velvet said. "Not a lot of opportunities to hang out. He was a fun enough guy though."

"And the rumors of you two died down with it?" Pyrrha asked.

Velvet groaned, even as Coco let out a single bark of laughter. "As if. People still think we're together. At least a few do anyway. She's cute, sure, but not my type."

"Oh?"

It was Velvet's turn to smirk as she stepped forward a little bit so that Pyrrha could see her. "Strong willed, stoic, courageous, dark s-"

"And a nice ass." Coco replied. "Don't forget that part."

Velvet glared at her team leader for a moment, something passing unsaid between them before the short girl sighed and muttered softly under her breath. "Guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"What about you?" Coco nodded up towards Pyrrha as she pulled up an extra chair to sit beside her, taking one hand in hers as she started applying some nail polish. "What's your type?"

Her first response was Jaune, but that wasn't an actual answer to the question so she thought for a long moment about what she really liked about him. "Someone kind, and who can treat me like anyone else. I hated the attention that came with my fame, so anyone who could look past that was better in my book."

"Hmm," Coco hummed. "No preference for appearance? Here I expected you to say tall, blonde, and lean." Pyrrha blushed, eliciting another laugh from the girl doing her nails. "I'm gay, not blind. He might not be the peak of Huntsmen physique, but he's hiding some pretty good stuff under that hoodie of his. I can tell."

Pyrrha blushed, but shook her head. "I saw a lot of people during my tournament days who were fit. All different kinds of body types and appearances. Most were attractive, I'll admit, but…" Pyrrha shrugged. "That starts to lose its appeal when everyone you're surrounded by looks like that."

"You start to want more." Coco nodded. "I get it."

"So you don't care about his appearance? Face, chest…" Velvet hesitated for a moment. "Other parts."

"It's his personality I like." Pyrrha tried to force down the heat in her face. Talking about him like this was something she had never really been able to do, in this life or the one before. It was awkward and difficult to explain exactly what she liked.

"So it doesn't matter if he's a guy or a g-"

"What do you think?" Coco gestured towards Pyrrha's hand, interrupting Velvet before she could finish her question. "I think I did a pretty good job, if I say so myself."

The nail polish was red, though that came as no surprise. It was almost ironic how her outfit mirrored her former self even if that hadn't been the intention. Had she still had her red hair, the look likely would have been too much, but with her new darker skin and brown hair, it contrasted and made her look less like one solid color. It worked and Pyrrha smiled and nodded for her friend.

"I love them."

"How's the hair coming along, V?" Coco asked.

"I'm almost done."

Coco scoffed, moving over to help her. "You probably would be done if you hadn't kept grilling Pyrrha for questions."

Amber had kept her hair above her shoulders, a practical cut considering the life of a Huntress, but Pyrrha had long since grown used to accounting for longer hair and had let it grow out more over the last few months she had been there. Her hair wasn't nearly as long as it had been before, but it was now down to her shoulders if she left it down. She wasn't sure how long she planned to let it grow out, but as Coco and Velvet worked her hair into a bun she couldn't help but be glad she had let it grow.

"Well, what do you think?" Velvet held up a small mirror nervously.

"I love it." Pyrrha smiled brightly. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, but they had also left a few strands in the front to help draw attention away from her scars. A little bit of makeup had helped downplay them as well, despite how Coco said she shouldn't care. They were still visible, but the rest of her face had been done up to help distract from it and for the first time since coming back she thought the scars might not be the first thing people notice.

"Velvet used to work at a hair salon before coming to Beacon." Coco said proudly. "She knows how to make someone look good."

"Do I?" Pyrrha turned to both of them. "Look good, I mean. I've never… done this sort of thing. I went to the school dance, and I've done events before but… this is different."

Velvet stayed silent, looking towards Coco with a meaningful look.

"You look great." Coco turned towards the closet in their room, a closet filled with mostly her own clothes. The other kept theirs in dressers with little issue or complaint. "Just one final touch." She came back with a small strapless black handbag, something Pyrrha would be able to use to store her scroll in along with her card but little else. "There, perfect. He's one lucky man. You're gorgeous… If he doesn't say so himself, let me know and I'll beat it out of him."

Pyrrha chuckled and smiled brightly, pulling Coco and Velvet in for a hug. "Thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you two."

"What are friends for?" Coco replied, pulling out of the hug as she moved to start cleaning up the mess they had made in the process of her getting ready.

There was a knock at the door, and Pyrrha felt all of her nervousness come rushing back. Taking a deep breath, she moved over to the door and opened it before she could second guess herself. Jaune stood on the other side in a suit far nicer than the one he had worn to the dance. It was tighter, his dark jacket and pants hugging him in a way that could only be achieved by a tailor. The white undershirt and red tie only helped to further the look. It was so at odds with the slack jawed expression he wore and the messy nature of his hair.

"A-Amber?" He obviously wasn't asking her, though the stammer did elicit a small smirk from her and she had to fight the voice in her head that said to tease him. It sounded an awful lot like Coco if she was being honest.

"Jaune." She smiled back at him, trying not to fidget as his eyes clearly fought the urge to dip down past her face. It was embarrassing, and she felt the heat start to work its way back into her cheeks, but it was also the exact response she had been wanting. "Are you… Ready?"

"Ah, R-right.!" He seemed to snap back to his senses, his face also turning red as he ran a hand through his hair. He held out his arm for her to take. "S-shall we?"

The sun had set about an hour ago, but the night was still young, and Pyrrha was determined to make sure it went well. She took his hand and allowed him to slowly guide her out of the dorm. Looking back, she smiled and nodded toward her friends before making their way towards the Bullheads. The trip towards Vale wouldn't be long and, thanks to most students being home on break, there wouldn't even be a line to wait for their arrival. Their date underway, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel giddy at what was to come.

Author's Note: Way more fashion focused than I usually go, I kind try to avoid describing outfits and stick to vague language, but I wanted to go for a certain image here to show just how hard Pyrrha is trying. More initiative than she ever showed in the show in fact.

Plus the reason I write fanfiction is to practice my writing so that one day I can write something original. I can't always rely on people making things up in their own head if I don't give them something to work with.

I hope you've enjoyed it and as always I encourage you to review and let me know what you think. I always love to hear what I'm doing right, wrong, and what I can do better.

Sincerely SE