Chapter Text
Failure had never really been an option for her before.
Pyrrha Nikos won. Pyrrha Nikos did not fall. Pyrrha…
She had never been taught to take a loss with grace, to find her own shortcomings anything close to acceptable. She had only learned how to win, and how to do so even without joy or comfort.
Losing was an inevitability for every warrior – even those greatest and strongest in their seemingly endless studies at Beacon came to meet their matches from time to time.
It was part of battle – one side always came out short. And sometimes – even if you never expect it – that side could be your own.
Taking the loss was hard. It was in front of the school, in front of her instructors and classmates and friends – it might not have been easier with a loss unwitnessed, but Pyrrha couldn’t imagine it would have been harder.
As untrained as she was to accept losses, she knew how to bow and to walk off with a sprained ankle, her shoulder and chin never higher. She knew how to keep her eyes focused straight ahead, how to walk through concerned teammates and school nurses without hesitation.
She knew how to find the first balcony, breathe unfiltered air, and half collapse on the balcony’s railing, how to breathe uneven and heaving.
Her muscles had never felt tenser, her eyes never blurrier than that moment. Her head felt like it was spinning off without her,
And just as her chest was heaving against her knees, her grip on the railing feeling sweaty and loose, she could feel him come in behind her, drop by her, and in that awkward hesitant way that only Jaune could make endearing, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held onto her.
“It’s… it’s okay to cry,” Jaune mumbled against her shoulder. “I mean… just take it from me. People might make a little fun of it, but who cares about other people, right? Not Team JNPR.”
Watery and generally unpleasant as she felt, Pyrrha couldn’t help but break her tightly closed mouth into a smile, felt a laugh leave her lips.
“It’s such a dumb thing to be upset over,” she sniffed.
“Not really,” Jaune replied. “Not at all.”
And Pyrrha thought that that might have been the nicest thing she had ever heard.