Chapter 11

Now free of her guilt, Nora was back to being her old perky self. She ate dinner, rocking back and forth in her chair with barely contained glee. After that it was already late. During her days of depression Nora had let her hygiene slip and she was in need of a good shower before bed. She took Pyrrha's hand and led her towards the bathroom. "Come on!" Nora exclaimed as Pyrrha resisted, pulling back as they reached the bathroom door. "You wash my back, I'll wash your butt…"

"N-Nora...n-not tonight, okay?" Pyrrha stammered. "It's been a rough couple days. I just need some rest."

"Are you okay?" Nora asked. "Do you need anything? I can totally do it."

Pyrrha stepped forward and kissed Nora. "I'll be fine." Pyrrha assured her. "I'm just tired. Now go, I'm not sleeping in the same room with you, let alone sharing a bed, if you still smell like this."

"Yes ma'am!" Nora said with a salute before heading into the bathroom.

The next day Nora and Pyrrha did some gardening before going out to dinner. After watching TV for a while they settled in for bed. They lie side by side, smiling at each other. Nora could resist no longer. She pulled Pyrrha into a kiss, one Pyrrha was only too happy to join in. It began to get a bit heated, at least as passionate as their first. Nora slid a hand down Pyrrha's side, slipping between her panties and skin. Suddenly Pyrrha jerked back.

"Pyrrha?" Nora gasped. "What's wrong?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "Nothing Nora, I'm just…" She said. "I have a headache. Come on." She rolled onto her back, pulled Nora's head onto her chest and started stroking her hair.

"I love you." Nora said.

"I love you too." Pyrrha said. "Sweet dreams."

Nora put on her usual happy face but inside she was screaming. She could not understand it. Every time she tried to get intimate with Pyrrha she would pull back at the last second. Aside from being pent up she was worried. Was there something wrong with Pyrrha? Had she done something wrong to make Pyrrha mad? Was she misreading the situation or something? Did Pyrrha not really love her? Was it only a matter of time before she lost Pyrrha too?

The next day was much like the last, and Nora was her usually bubbly self. But all was not well. In her mind Nora's doubts and fears ate at her. She tried to think of something she might have done to anger Pyrrha but could come up with nothing. When it came right down to it, all she could think was that she was somehow at fault, somehow the reason. Was Pyrrha finding the constant hyperactivity to be too much? Was Nora's personality just too much to deal with full-time? Pyrrha seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it was something different. Maybe it was physical. Was Nora not physically attractive?

Nora kept herself together and kept up her happy facade all day, but when Pyrrha stepped into the bathroom to shower she could hold on no longer. She sat on the end of the bed, staring down at the hands folded in her lap, drowning in her thoughts. Frustration and self-doubt were smothering her. Despite her perky exterior, Nora had always been deeply insecure. With the exception of Ren she had had no one for most of her life, and she was always waiting for those who did enter her life to leave, driven away by her insanity. For a time she had had some of those fears with Ren, but after years together the worries faded, only for him to be ripped away from her. Now those same fears were surfacing with Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was not one to walk around even partially nude and put on her sleeping clothes - an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants - before leaving the bathroom. When she reached the bedroom she saw Nora sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down. Nora did not look up. Alarm bells went off in her head. It was suddenly as if Winter's apology had never happened. "Nora?" Pyrrha said, rushing to her side.

"Am I ugly?" Nora asked.

Pyrrha knelt on the floor in front of Nora, forcing her to meet her gaze. "What?" Pyrrha gasped, taking Nora's hands in her own. "No, God no. Why would you think that?"

"I love you Pyrrha." Nora wept. "I love you so much. I want to show you how much I love you...but you keep pushing me away and I don't know how to feel."

"It's just I...it's not you." Pyrrha sighed. "It's me. I'm just...scared."

"What are you afraid of?" Nora asked.

"I...well...uh...growing up…" Pyrrha struggled. "Talking about it...about sex...was always off limits...and I've...I've never…"

Nora pulled Pyrrha into a hug. "It's okay." Nora said. "I understand now. I'm sorry I didn't before."

"You shouldn't have to be sorry." Pyrrha said. "I want to...I want to do these things with you, but when I think about it I...I...I just can't see myself the way you do. I feel disgusting...and I'm afraid when you see all of me...you won't like it. You're so beautiful Nora and...I just wish I could see myself the way you see me." Pyrrha began sobbing and hugged Nora more tightly.

Shedding tears of her own, Nora bent over and planted a kiss on top of Pyrrha's head. "Maybe you can." Nora said. "Maybe I can help."

Pyrrha gasped and looked up as Nora smiled down at her. "H-how?" Pyrrha asked.

Nora kissed Pyrrha then stood, walking over to the side of the room before waving Pyrrha over. "Come over here." Nora said. When Pyrrha did Nora grabbed her by the shoulders and positioned her in front of a full-body mirror.

"Nora...what are you…" Pyrrha started.

"Shh." Nora said. "I'm going to tell you exactly how I see you, so you can see it too."

"Nora…" Pyrrha sighed.

"Let's start at the top!" Nora exclaimed. "Your hair. I love that shade of red! And it's all long and soft and shiny, and it even smells nice! And no matter how you wear it, it looks awesome! Then there's your eyes. They're so big and shiny like gems. I could get lost staring into them. And your smile. It always makes me so happy and your teeth are really white! Your whole face is so pretty, like a painting."

"Thank you, Nora, but…" Pyrrha started.

"Undress." Nora ordered.

"Wha?" Pyrrha gasped.

"How can I show you your body if we can't see it?" Nora asked.

"But I'm...not wearing a bra." Pyrrha protested.

"I've seen boobs before." Nora laughed. "Come on, it's not like I'll snap a picture. Don't you trust me?"

"I...okay." Pyrrha sighed. She took off her t-shirt and pajama bottoms, shyly covering her breasts with her arm. She felt tremendously uncomfortable, and it only got worse as Nora closely looked her up and down. "Nora...please…"

"Sorry, you're just a lot to take in!" Nora squealed. "Look at these shoulders!" Nora stood behind Pyrrha and put her hands on Pyrrha's shoulders. "So broad and strong!" She slid her hands down Pyrrha's arms. "Your arms are so smooth, your skin all over is! And your muscles! You do lift!" She walked around in front of Pyrrha and gently put her hands on the arm covering Pyrrha's breasts. Pyrrha resisted as Nora tried to pull it down. "Pyrrha, please."

"Alright." Pyrrha groaned. She let her arm drop.

"Incredible..." Nora gasped. "Your boobs...they're so...beautiful! They're big and round and firm and symmetrical. They're perfect! You should let them out more." Nora winked and laughed. "Moving on!" She crouched down and ran her hand over Pyrrha's abs. "Perfectly chiseled abs...I wish I had a stomach like this!"

"It's not very lady-like." Pyrrha complained.

"Nonsense!" Nora shouted. "It's hot! You should never be ashamed of being in good shape." Nora knelt and ran her hands along Pyrrha's hips. "You've got such powerful hips...and a really cute butt too." She continued further down. "And your calves...it's like they're from a statue! Your feet are really well pedicured and they don't even smell!" Nora stood beside Pyrrha and gestured toward the mirror. "Now can you see what I see? Can you see how incredibly beautiful you are?"

Pyrrha took it all in. Nora's words, her own body, what it all meant. She looked herself over in the mirror. Suddenly she could see what Nora saw. A smile slowly spread across her face. "I'm...beautiful?" Pyrrha asked.

"You're beautiful." Nora confirmed.

"All of me?" Pyrrha asked.

"All of you, every last bit." Nora declared. "You're like a warrior from the old legends! Strong and beautiful!" She hugged Pyrrha from behind.

"Beautiful…" Pyrrha said.

"I see you like this every day." Nora said. She kissed the back of Pyrrha's shoulder. "And it drives me crazy that I can't boop you."

Pyrrha giggled and put a hand on Nora's. "I...I don't know what to do." Pyrrha admitted.

"I can teach you." Nora said. She gently nibbled on Pyrrha's shoulder, getting a shudder in response. "By example."

"Nora…" Pyrrha gasped.

"Yes?" Nora asked.

Pyrrha smiled, doing her best to turn her head to look Nora in the eyes. "Do that again."

Yang and Winter walked into the week's meeting on time for once. Still, they were the last to arrive. As they pulled up their chairs there was a noticeable difference in the demeanors of both Pyrrha and Nora. Pyrrha was sitting there with an uncharacteristic smile on her face, not the usual friendly one, but one of proper happiness. Nora seemed to have even more energy than usual, practically vibrating as she rocked back and forth in her chair. "You two banged, didn't you?" Yang asked.

"Someone finally had the courage to ask!" Blake exclaimed.

"Yep!" Nora squealed.

"We did." Pyrrha confirmed.

"Nice!" Sun said. "Air high-five!" He and Nora raised their hands and mimed a high-five across the circle.

"It was her first time!" Nora laughed.

"Really?" Yang asked. "Didn't you have a boyfriend in college, for, like, months?"

"Well, whenever we started to get intimate I would get nervous and that would make him nervous and we never got anywhere." Pyrrha admitted.

"It was her first orgasm too!" Nora continued. Pyrrha turned bright red. "Crazy right? It hit her so hard she passed out!"

"Okay Nora, I think that's…" Glynda started.

"So, does the carpet match the drapes?" Yang asked with a smirk, struggling to hold back her laughter.

"No idea." Nora shrugged. "Clean shaven."

Yang could contain it no longer and burst out laughing. Blake and Sun could barely contain themselves as well while Velvet seemed almost as embarrassed as Pyrrha. Winter just shook her head in disbelief. "Yang, Nora!" Glynda shouted. "Enough!"

"Sorry." Yang giggled.

"Oh...whoops." Nora said.

"Maybe it would be helpful if we moved on." Winter suggested. Glynda let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "I'd like to publicly apologize to Nora for how I handled things in the wake of her husband's passing. I've made my share of mistakes, but none I regret quite so much."

"And I have to apologize for my outburst last week." Nora sighed. "I took out all my anger and frustration on you and it wasn't even really your fault. No one should have to feel the way I made you feel."

"Apology accepted." Winter said with a smile.

"Same." Nora said. The group clapped respectfully.

"I feel I should explain the situation from my point of view, for clarity if nothing else." Winter sighed. "I had been working for Schnee Development Corporation for a few years, mostly in middle-management. When the...incident...happened, the division of the company involved was gutted, with everyone involved fired. That was basically the whole of the management. My father placed me in charge, expecting me to repair the situation. The first order of business was making the scandal go away.

"Putting a price on someone's life...it's just despicable to think about it...but our lawyers seemed to have an easy enough time with it. They planned out a settlement for the victims' families. I doubled the amount and signed off on it. I signed the checks and the form letters of condolence sent to the families. I also saw to it that the legal situation was settled as quietly as possible. I never gave it a second thought. I didn't have time. I had a research division with no managers and very few researchers left in it, and I had to rebuild as quickly as possible. So I immersed myself in that task. I should have given more consideration to Nora and the others who lost their loved ones, but I didn't, and for that, I'm truly sorry."

"You don't have to apologize anymore." Nora said. "You just did what you thought was right. You were put in a bad situation and you did your best."

"Th-thank you Nora." Winter stammered. "Th-that...means a lot coming from you."

"You're very welcome!" Nora said with her usual good cheer. "I'm glad we could get past this and become friends."

"So...enough with the boring stuff." Yang said. "Back to Pyrrha's…"

"Yang and I have an announcement to make." Winter cut her off before she could say anything else to embarrass Pyrrha. Yang just rolled her eyes. "It's pretty safe to say the two of us are officially dating."

"We've been at it since over a week ago." Yang added. "But all the recent chaos has really shown how much we care about one another."

"Yes, and with Yang's support I've decided to start my life anew." Winter declared. "I haven't quite worked out the details on how I'll do that, but I realized that the course my life was on did not lead to happiness. Hopefully, with everyone's help, I'll be able to find the road that takes me where I want to go."

"Maybe some parkour lessons…" Sun started.

"She wants the road to happiness, not the road to shattered bones." Yang laughed.

"I tried." Sun shrugged.

Pyrrha had effectively been living with Nora for a week and felt comfortable continuing to do so. Nora was only too happy to have her. On Saturday Pyrrha stopped at her apartment, packed up all her things, hired movers and made the necessary arrangements. By the next day the lounge room of Nora's house was full of boxes, the entirety of Pyrrha's worldly possessions. "I feel like I have too much stuff." Pyrrha sighed. "Some of it we could probably unload in a yard sale. We don't need the silverware or the furniture."

"You don't have much in the way of clothes." Nora observed. Pyrrha helped her carry the two suitcases containing her wardrobe into the bedroom.

"Yeah, I kind of just wear the same few things." Pyrrha shrugged. "I can unpack it all myself."

"No, let me help." Nora said. She opened a box and started unloading the contents. "Wow, that's a lot of sweaters...all the same style."

Pyrrha started on a box labeled 'pants' that, sure enough, contained several pairs of pants. "I just wear what I've always worn." Pyrrha shrugged. All the pants seemed to be standard jeans or slacks, with a few capris, nothing shorter than calf-length. Nora grabbed a box labeled 'other' and popped it open. "Nora, let me…"

"Oh, your undies!" Nora exclaimed. Her gleeful grin quickly turned to a frown. "They're all so...boring. Granny-panties, comfort bras, sports bras, whatever the hell these are...I'm disappointed."

"You know how I used to feel about my body." Pyrrha said. "I didn't see a point in getting anything sexy."

"Is this your bathing suit?" Nora asked as she lifted the red one-piece out of the box. "Unacceptable! That's it, we're going on a shopping trip! And I'm bringing in help!" Nora stormed out before Pyrrha could protest.

Nora dialed up Yang on her cell. "Hey Nora." Yang answered.

"You're attractive and dress sexy." Nora said. "I need your help. Pyrrha's wardrobe is so lame! We need to correct this injustice! We're going shopping tomorrow."

"I'm in." Yang said. "And I won't be alone. I know just who to call."

After hanging up with Nora, Yang called Blake. "If you're calling to tell me another stupid joke, I don't want to hear it." Blake groaned.

"No jokes this time." Yang said. "We're taking Pyrrha shopping. You're pretty fashionable, so I figured you could help."

"I could." Blake confirmed. "Velvet would be good too."

"Sweet." Yang said. "We're going tomorrow. I'll give you the place and time when Nora tells me."

"Yang, I'm not sure this is a great idea." Winter said once Yang hung up. "I know how you and Nora are going to look at this, but you need to be serious. There's no point in going out just to embarrass Pyrrha with sexy lingerie and innuendos."

"I can understand why you're worried, but I am taking this seriously." Yang said. "Sure, I'm certain there will be a few jokes at her expense, but if Nora says Pyrrha needs a new wardrobe, she needs a new wardrobe. I've known Pyrrha longer than you, and I've only ever seen her wear sweatshirts and jeans. That's probably all she has. She definitely needs some variety."

"I suppose." Winter said.

"Why don't you come too?" Yang suggested. "If Nora and I get a little too rowdy, you can reign us in. I'm sure she could benefit from your advice too."

"That does sound like a good idea." Winter agreed. "Maybe I'll find something for myself while we're out too. I have been meaning to make my wardrobe more casual and less business."

"That's the spirit." Yang said. "And while the others are distracted we can bang in the changing room."

"No." Winter refused.

"Please." Yang beseeched.

"Absolutely not." Winter said. Yang gave Winter her best sad-puppy-dog-eyes. "...I'll consider it."