Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

Blake nearly ran out of Professor Port's classroom as the bell rang. It looked as if she had been itching to go the entire time, and not in the usual way that everyone was begging to be released from another of Professor Port's classes but like she actually had somewhere to be. Today's lecture had even been far more interesting than the Professor's usual stories of his own past. Today Professor Port had actually managed to lecture on Grimm Biology and Pyrrha had found it amazingly informative. She was always one to prepare before hand and liked having as much intel as possible going into her fights. She didn't appear invincible because she was so much more talented than everyone else but because she went at every fight with the same attitude and fought to win. She was gifted with incredible abilities as well, but, that alone could only have carried her so far.

She had slipped up once, against Yang in the forest. Pyrrha had assumed from watching her fight that Yang's fighting style was all flash and no substance and had been completely unprepared for the skilled close quarters combatant that the cheerful blonde girl presented on the battlefield. Add that to her incredibly powerful semblance and penchant for anger and Pyrrha had miscalculated in a dangerous way. So, not willing to take any chances Pyrrha had gone in full force this morning. She turned and saw the big blonde laughing, apparently at Weiss's expense, and smiled to herself. Yang had no idea that she never had a chance this morning, Pyrrha had won before the match had even started.

"Hey, ready to go?" Nora's voice pulled Pyrrha out of her thoughts, "It's lunch time Pyrrha come on." Nora physically pulled Pyrrha out of her seat and drug her off towards the classroom's entryway.

Pyrrha allowed herself to be pulled along up the stairs of the auditorium style classroom and listened in on the remaining half of Team RWBY. She didn't have to do much to hear them other than toon out Nora's overly loud voice as she went on and on about wanting to try riding an Alpha Nevermore. Weiss and Yang had been arguing more frequently lately, there was never much heat to their disputes and they didn't seem to end on bad terms. But still, it worried Pyrrha that two friends and teammates should disagree so often.

"She's always been like this. She'll be fine." Yang crossed her arms defiantly, "I know because I'm her big sister."

"Well maybe you haven't noticed how much she's changed. As her partner I don't get confused by who she was as a little girl. I can tell that Ruby is taking this all quite hard." Weiss levelled an accusatory finger at the big blonde who completely ignored it, "You don't want to admit that she's growing up."

"Of course she's growing up. I let her have a boyfriend at all, didn't I?" Yang uncrossed her arms and bared down on Weiss with a motherly fury, "But everything that happened just proves my point doesn't it?"

"Oh no, just because her first relationship didn't work out doesn't mean she isn't ready for them at all." Weiss wagged her finger in Yang's face, "How many relationships have you had exactly?"

"Hey you two." Nora called out as Team JNPR reached the top of the stairs to leave the classroom. Yang and Weiss had been arguing so loudly, Pyrrha wouldn't be surprised if everyone on campus had heard them discussing Ruby's rather personal matters. Weiss and Yang jumped a little at the sound of Nora's voice and lowered their hands, attempting to strike somewhat more natural poses and appear as if they hadn't just been screaming at one another.

"Hello Nora." Weiss regained her composure much more quickly than Yang. She applied a smile that Pyrrha knew all too well, that mask of indifference used to cover real emotions in front of others. Pyrrha felt a pang of sadness that Weiss still thought that look was necessary around them. Then she looked over to Jaune and realized she often wore the same mask around her own partner and team leader to hide her own affections. Pyrrha sighed to herself and turned back to the other two girls.

"Where are Ruby and Blake?" Pyrrha asked in her high sing songy voice, hoping that by asking such a straightforward question she would have them believe that their entire team, and most likely the entire class, had not overheard their argument.

"Oh Rubes wasn't feeling great this morning. Blake just went to check on her." Yang seemed to be fully recovered now and back in control of herself. She was smiling her usual huge smile and Pyrrha felt that it was genuine. Yang was just able to push her worries aside and allow herself to be happy when there was nothing she could do about whatever it was that was bothering her. That was definitely a talent that Pyrrha envied, as her natural proclivity was to worry and tire herself out over matters in which she had absolutely zero control.

"I see," Pyrrha nodded her head politely and checked herself as she felt that familiar false smile spreading across her lips. She wanted to be herself around her friends but had to constantly remind herself that she trusted them and didn't need to put up any walls.

"Should we go check on her? I think we should go check on her." Nora turned to march off down the hall. Weiss choked on a rebuttal, apparently not able to form a coherent reason as to why Nora should not go check on a sick friend.

"Nora," Ren's voice was flat and even despite the fact that he had grabbed her by the collar and was holding Nora back with a single hand. She flailed against him but his grip held as firm as a Beowulf's lockjaw. "If Ruby was too weak to come to class, she is probably to weak to play as well." Nora ceased her flailing and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Well yeah. I guess. Can we go get lunch then?" Nora turned back to the group, her disappointment lost in the promise of what she alone considered delicious cafeteria food.

"Yeah, I heard they have fried chicken today." Yang appeared just as excited as Pyrrha's teammate, maybe there were others that truly enjoyed the food they served. Ren released Nora's collar and she and Yang went tearing off down the hallway in search of the promised food.

"Honestly, I can't imagine getting so excited over deep fried poultry." Weiss shook her head. It was incredible to Pyrrha that Weiss was able to keep in fighting form when all she appeared to eat were salads, yogurt and the occasional small helping of meat.

"Well it isn't very healthy but it is at least high in protein." Pyrrha herself loved fried chicken, but had to limit how much of it she ate because it really wasn't the healthiest source of protein ever. "I think you would like it if you tried some. Perhaps just a few pieces cut into your salad?" Weiss cocked her head slightly to the side and seemed to consider the option.

"Why would I want my crisp, wonderful salad drenched in grease and oil from that monstrosity they call food?" Weiss turned on her heel and strut out of the classroom after Yang and Nora. Pyrrha watch rather sadly as the clacks of her heels receded down the hallway. Why was Weiss so distant from her entire team today? Was it because of what had happened between Jaune and Ruby? Surely Weiss didn't look down on their entire team just because the relationship between their leaders hadn't worked out.

"Pyrrha," Ren placed his hand gently on Pyrrha's shoulder so softly she barely even noticed, "I think Team RWBY is going through a tough time right now. We should just give them a little space." Pyrrha turned to look at her somber teammate and nodded her head. She supposed he was right. Ruby seemed to be handling the breakup much worse than Jaune and she was the youngest member of her team so the others certainly felt somewhat protective of her. This must be hard for them all, especially for Yang.

"You're right Ren," Pyrrha offered him a warm, genuine smile which he gladly returned. She saw Jaune over his shoulder and her smile dropped a little. Jaune had barely spoken a word today and he hadn't made any moves to drag them towards lunch even though she knew by this time that he must be starving. He was always hungry by lunch time, and he had gone on a run this morning of his own volition, he should be ravenous. "We should head to lunch as well. Perhaps we can still make it before the lines get too long." Pyrrha glanced around the classroom and saw that only Professor Port remained and he was apparently utilizing his lunch break to polish the bust of himself with a rag.

Upon entering Beacon's cafeteria Pyrrha's spirits fell considerably. The lines definitely were long already and she couldn't find either of their friends from Team RWBY anywhere in the hall, not to mention Nora who was never that hard to locate. She stepped into line along with Jaune and Ren, confident that they would hear Nora or some commotion she had caused before long and be rejoined with the other members of their group. They filed in behind some other students and stood patiently, waiting for the people in front of them to file forward.

"So Jaune," Pyrrha turned to her partner hoping to strike up a conversation. Jaune was staring off into the crowd absently, not searching for anyone or watching something, just staring. "Did you…" Pyrrha trailed off, uncertain of herself in front of such a detached person. "Did you enjoy Professor Port's lecture today?"

"Hmm?" Jaune lifted his eyes slightly and turned to her. He regarded her as if he had just noticed that she was with him at all. There was a pause for a moment as he thought before he answered, "It was cool that he actually talked about Grimm today I guess." Jaune sounded disinterested but his response was simply incredible to Pyrrha. Jaune was actually interested in the discussion of Grimm biology? Jaune was always falling asleep in class and complaining if Professor Port's stories weren't funny or exciting enough.

"Yes it was, wasn't it?" Pyrrha's smile grew substantially. Jaune was finally expressing an interest in some of his more serious Huntsman training. "I particularly liked the section on Alpha Nevermores. I never realized an airborne Grimm could be so heavily armored."

"At least we know it makes them slower." Ren commented from her side and Pyrrha jumped a little. Ren was so quiet and she had been so ecstatic to have Jaune interested in their conversation that she had nearly forgotten he was there. She cursed herself for the slip in focus.

"Oh yes, that will certainly make a difference in a battle. Nevermores are already so fast, it's nice to know we'll have a break there at least." Pyrrha turned slightly so that the three of them made a small triangle. She had to be sure that she in no way alienated Ren from the conversation just because he was quieter than most. She noticed over Jaune's shoulder that the line had moved and pointed.

"Jaune," she began but he understood what her hand meant and took a step backwards so their small triangle remained intact as they scooted forward. "I do hope we can have more lessons like that in the future and maybe not quite as many stories of Professor Port's past adventures." Pyrrha continued, hoping they could maintain this talk, which for their group was incredibly professional.

"Reeeenn," The voice came echoing out of the far side of the dining hall and Pyrrha sighed. That had lasted longer than she could have hoped, seeing as it had begun at all. But, of course, there had to be an end. "Oh Renny?" Nora's voice was closer now and Pyrrha assumed that Nora must know where to look for him.

"Yes Nora?" Ren turned as she emerged from a row of tables and a crowd of students to their side. She was bounding along happily with her arms outstretched towards her much calmer boyfriend.

"Ren, we have an idea." Nora grabbed him by both shoulders. Pyrrha looked around to try and see who 'we' indicated and noticed the mane of golden hair bobbing towards them through the crowd. Yang emerged and made her way over, taking a bite from the fried chicken breast she was carrying as she walked. "You have to come with the salon with us this Friday." Pyrrha tried to judge their intentions but Nora just seemed as excited as usual and Yang was unreadable through the chicken she was holding to her face.

"Why?" Ren held his small dyed section of hair out just slightly so he could see it and then dropped it back against his forehead, "My hair is in perfectly acceptable condition." That much was obvious, Ren kept his physical appearance immaculate, almost as much so as Weiss, and that included his hair which Pyrrha had seen him trimming himself on more than one occasion.

"Well duh," Nora laughed boisterously and pushed playfully at Ren's shoulders. "No, it's for Ruby. Yang and I are gonna take her and tell her that everything is gonna be okay and that she needs to come be friends with Jaune again." Nora turned and beamed radiantly at her leader before coming back to Ren. "But, if it's just two girls telling her she might not believe us so we need you Ren." Ren sighed lightly but smiled. "We need you to give her a man's opinion." Nora held Ren's arm up as if he was flexing his bicep.

"Okay, if you think I'm needed." Ren managed to say before Nora lifted him high into the air and spun in a circle, squealing with joy and screaming about the best trip to the hair salon ever.

"I guess that means it will be just you and I on Friday Jaune." Pyrrha regarded Jaune curiously, wondering what his response to alone time with her would be this close to his breakup. She would understand if he wanted some time to himself. She could always busy herself with some personal training or studying for one of their courses.

"We should get some training in then don't you think?" He slid both hands behind his head and glanced up at the ceiling high above them, "We can do the aura stuff in the room instead of the training room." Pyrrha felt like she was going to explode, she was so happy. Jaune wanted to spend their extra time together training? He was running in the mornings, paying attention in class and looking for extra time to train, on his aura no less. When had he become so committed to his Huntsman training? It didn't really matter to Pyrrha, as long as it stuck around.

"That would be splendid Jaune." Pyrrha felt her smile growing and nearly missed that it was finally their turn to grab their food. She would have missed it completely if Yang hadn't slid in front of her and begun loading another cafeteria tray with even more fried chicken.

Jaune turned and began loading his plate up with food as well. Though Pyrrha was happy to see that he had apparently taken some of her and Ren's nutritional advice to heart and was taking a much healthier looking meal than usual. She had been right in her earlier assumption though as he seemed to be taking much larger portions than usual.

"Hurray! Seconds!" Nora lunged forward to Yang's side and simply started eating the chicken directly off the bar. They didn't have to pay for the food so Pyrrha figured it was okay, but it did seem rather unseemly. That was Nora though and the only one who ever really mention her behavior was Weiss.

"Where is Weiss?" Jaune scooped a healthy serving of craisins onto his side salad and looked around at their gathered group as if for the first time. Pyrrha glanced around and noticed that the heiress was nowhere in sight which would explain the severe lack of scolding. Surely she was back at the table waiting for Nora and Yang to return. She wasn't the type to go storming around the place at lunch time screaming like they were.

"Well, she tried the chicken." Nora said bashfully, which wasn't an emotion Nora expressed often. That , combined with the thought of Weiss going anywhere near the food she had refused to even acknowledge as food a short while ago made Pyrrha worry, she looked to Yang for some kind of encouragement but found none.

"Hey, it isn't my fault I'm so convincing." Yang held a hand defensively to her chest. Just because the Ice Queen's fragile little stomach can't handle some good old fashioned chicken." Pyrrha began helping herself to some food as Jaune slid forward down the line.

"Wait what?" Jaune gained a sudden energy in his surprise. Ren filed in behind her and didn't appear to take much from their conversation, but she knew that he was listening intently to every word they all said.

"Yeah," Yang laughed nervously and moved her hand to rub abashedly at the back of her head, "She kinda might be in the bathroom." pyrrha jerked her head up from the food and met Yang's eyes in shock.

"Does she need any help? Should someone go in there?" Pyrrha looked around quickly, trying to find the nearest bathroom sign and hopefully the one where Weiss was currently suffering.

"Oh, no no Pyrrha it's not like that." Yang waved her hands dramatically in front of her to ward Pyrrha off. "I really don't think she'd want any 'help' right now." She made air quotes around the word help.

"Yeah, it's more the other end I think." Nora giggled and pointed not so subtly at her rear end, as if her meaning needed further clarification.

"Well, you should apologize to her when she is feeling well enough to join us. Weiss of all people must not handle indigestion well." Pyrrha tried her best to be stern with Yang but found it hard when she was smiling as big as she was.

"It's just chicken though. I think it's all in her head. If she would just loosen up a little." Yang sighed and moved away from the line, her tray now covered in her second round of food.

"I don't think being loose is the issue right now." Nora poked Yang in the ribs playfully and they both burst out laughing. The rest of Team JNPR finished making their plates and headed off after them back to the table.

"I think I will make a smoothie for her. Something to help her digest properly again." Ren said calmly, obviously having considered everything that had happened.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that Ren." Pyrrha smiled, remembering the dark green health smoothies that Ren occasionally made for them. Both Jaune and Nora balked at the thick drinks but Pyrrha was happy for them. They were incredibly nutritious and actually tasted quite good once you got past the texture and the fact that there were still small seeds floating in the mixture even after a substantial amount of time in the blender.

"Do you think she'll be okay for team training tonight? It would be a bummer to be down a person on our first night." Jaune turned and hefted a heavy tray in his hands. It was laden with more food than Pyrrha had ever seen him eat in a single sitting and he had two large water bottles as well. She was so proud of him.

"We're still going forward with the training? You don't think that RWBY may feel uncomfortable?" Pyrrha felt a little uncomfortable forcing Ruby back into that sort of interaction with Jaune so soon. Especially considering the fact that they might have to fight each other. Perhaps the sparring session could serve as some sort of catharsis for her though. It was possible that she could work out her frustrations in that manner.

"Yeah, we gotta keep training. No matter who shows up, we can figure out some kinda rotation or something I'm sure." Jaune nodded to her politely and carried his food off after Yang and Nora. Pyrrha watched him leave and wasn't sure how breaking up with Ruby had done this to him. But the new committed Jaune was something she could get used to, she just hoped his joyful smile returned sometime soon.

A/N - I really enjoy writing Pyrrha's chapters. One part is because her thoughts are fun to go through and I really like the diction I've chosen for her. The other part is because I'm a terribly sappy fanboy and every time I write a Pyrrha chapter it's like she's still alive in some way.

Lots of plans getting made here. We have Salon Day plans expanding, Team Training in the new room from Ozpin and some extended Jaune and Pyrrha time together all coming up. That should also give you a (non sequential) outline of the upcoming chapters so you kind of know what to expect.

Hope you're still enjoying the story and thank you so very much for sticking with it this long. I wanted to also mention one faithful reader zachary2 whom I forgot to mention before because for some reason I do not get email notifications for their reviews. How could I forget though, they have my name. Props to a fellow ZACH.

Thanks so much for reading everyone.

-Zach