Destiny No More

Chapter 61

It had taken Pyrrha a few days to come up with a plan to help Ruby. Thankfully, little else demanded her time as she spent her days training and waiting for the pieces to fall into place. They couldn't go back to Mistral to talk with Colonel Aurelian until after he had departed Vale, and General Ironwood was busy in Atlas until then. While it may have been nice to handle everything in Vale, the General had been adamant on returning home before the opportunity could present itself.

That left her with plenty of time to brainstorm ideas, run those ideas by Coco, and then come up with new ideas as her friend shot them down. Pyrrha had grown a lot since first setting foot on campus, but one thing that hadn't changed was her lack of social experience. She wasn't as bad as Ruby, but her friend's faults came from being shy and anxious around new people; Pyrrha's issue was simply a lack of trying.

That lack of experience usually left her feeling awkward, but it wasn't the same. Ruby had the best of intentions and would keep trying until she won you over, Weiss being a perfect example of that, but Pyrrha lacked that same initiative. She hesitated, unsure of what to say until the moment had passed and she was left behind.

She wasn't willing to let that continue however, even if it was easier said than done. Her life with Team JNPR had shown her the beauty of capturing the moment, even if she'd failed to do so with Jaune. Having friends and being able to be honest with them was something she knew she'd always wanted, but it was so much more than what she expected. The loss of her Team, if even temporary, had hurt and she had clung to the idea that she had to get them back.

While she still planned to connect with her old friends, Team CFVY had shown her that wasn't entirely practical. They'd stepped in when Pyrrha could so easily have slipped back into her pre Beacon days; her narrow minded focus on defeating Cinder could have so easily undone everything she'd learned. They'd forced her to open up - or maybe that was just Coco - and she was better for it.

Weiss would be better for it as well, she just didn't know it yet. From everything Pyrrha had overheard, the girl had been in a shockingly similar situation to Pyrrha when they first arrived. Perhaps that's why she sought her out before initiation, an attempt at friendship from one lonely girl to another.

Pyrrha sighed, remembering how annoyed she'd been at who she had thought was a spoiled girl used to getting her way. She'd interacted with her fair share of those kinds of people during her tournament days and she hadn't ever enjoyed the experience. She'd judged Weiss based simply off that, and she couldn't have been more off the mark.

On the surface Weiss was that perhaps, but underneath she had a soft side that simply wanted companionship, something Pyrrha could relate to on a deeper level than most. It just took the Heiress longer to find herself than it did for her.

She'd brought her thoughts up with Coco, who failed to see what Pyrrha had in Weiss. That had changed once she'd gotten to explain how Weiss' problems related to her own, which seemed to help Coco view Weiss in a more positive light.

"I didn't know it was that bad."

"It's not something you realize until after it's done." Pyrrha shrugged. "No one truly wants to be alone for the rest of their lives, but it isn't until you reach out that you realize how important friends can be. I was lucky to find Jaune, Ren and Nora when I did. Weiss was lucky as well, it's just..."

"They didn't give her a chance to prove herself." Yatsu said, having sat quickly on his bed until now.

"I didn't give her a chance." Pyrrha's head lowered and she brought a hand up to cover her eyes.

"This Pyrrha isn't you." Coco insisted, the look in her eyes threatening to bring up the familiar argument. For the first few days she'd blamed herself more directly, only for Coco to threaten to knock some sense into her, 'Magic powers be damned'. It had helped her stop hating herself and focus on the issue, even if she wasn't entirely convinced it was accurate.