A/N: Apparently the muse and Pyrrha are conspiring tonight.
Her head was spinning, eyes refusing to focus on any of the details of the room she was in. Despite the headache and the dull ache in her chest she felt relatively okay. The room felt familiar, warm and comforting, the feel of the fabric she had come to rest on was soft and lush. Disoriented as she may be, she knew she was somehow home, raising a shaky hand to her chest she prodded for the wound she was sure was there. She had certainly died, of that she was certain, but there seemed to be no wound, just a small patch of raised smooth skin, a scar. She didn't have time to contemplate a her body felt heavy, her eyelids heavier still. She drifted off to sleep the voices of her family filtered through the closed door of her bedroom. Heaven felt like home, was the last thought she had before falling fast asleep was that she was grateful to have made it to heaven.
She wasn't sure how long she had slept for, nor did it register for her that if she had passed on she wouldn't need sleep. No, the only thing on her mind was the smell of her fathers homemade waffles wafting in the air. Her stomach growled in anticipation of her favorite food, stretching and yawning she rose to her feet, padded across her room and opened the door. The hall and stairs leading down to the first floor greeted her as more sounds from her family circled around her ears. Smiling she couldn't help but think again how lucky she was, heaven so far was the safety and security of her loving family. She really couldn't have asked for more. She descended the stairs and lingered at the kitchen door for a moment taking it all in her father pouring the batter for another waffle into the machine. Her mother flipping bacon at the stove. This was her favorite sight in all the world.
"Alright dear, that's the last waffle in, do you want more coffee?" Her father asks, already grabbing the mug to refill. He knew his wife and the woman loved her coffee.
"Yes please, love." She answered pulling the last bit of bacon from the pan.
Pyrrha's heart was so full she thought it might burst. It had been months since she had seen them. "Good morning, breakfast smells great, as usual!" She sing songed, smile splitting her face. The smile was soon replaced by confusion as her parents both froze. The two looked at each other before turning around, so very slowly. Their jaws both dropped, tears instantly filling their eyes, her father dropped the full coffee cup he was holding. The mug shattering on the ground serving to break the stunned silence. Faster than she could imagine Pyrrha was wrapped in the arms of her sobbing parents. The three stayed like that for what felt like eternity, in the best way possible. The shattered coffee cup and breakfast forgotten until Pyrrha's stomach protested loudly at being ignored.
She learned she was in fact not in heaven, she was home.. it made no sense but she was alive and well at home. The family ate and though they tried to avoid the subject she was eventually filled in on the state of the world after the fall of Beacon. Vale was off limits to anyone who wasn't a pro huntsman or huntress. Atlas seemed as if they were expecting war any day, borders were closed, grimm were attacking far more frequently. The most concerning thing was however the fact that just a few weeks ago Haven's headmaster had died defending his school from the White Fang. Had it not been for a group of travelling students and their teaher happening to be in the area things would have been far worse. The students ha managed to fend off the fang, disarm the explosives and saved Haven from becoming another Beacon. A lot had happened in the little over a year Pyrrha was dead.
The talk of Beacon naturally brought up talk of her team and her friends. It was disheartening learning that contact between her teammates and parents had been non existent. There wasn't any way to know how they were doing, or even where they were. That would have been the case if not for the fact that Pyrrha's mom had just spoken to Jaune the night before. It was awkward to learn there was a memorial statue of her in Argus, but it was what it was now, she supposed. The fact that Jaune was in Argus caused the redhead quite a bit of internal conflict. Her mother smiled, a knowing smile and soon the family were out the door headed to her memorial. They figured there was a small chance her partner may well make another visit. Their excursion was interrupted by panic brought upon by a mech fight, followed shortly after by a leviathan attack.
Weaponless though she was Pyrrha found herself running headlong towards the beasts. She wasn't very happy to be stopped by the armed guards at the head of the crowd. There were grimm everywhere and Pyrrha was searching for anything she could use to protect the citizens when a roar from the leviathan caught her attention. Looking out to sea she caught a flash of red atop a glowing blue queen lancer. It couldn't be, could it? Moments later a silver white light flilled her vision, leaving no doubt. When the light died down thousands of grimm had vanished and the leviathan was frozen. There was more cheering than Pyrrha had ever heard, it somehow doubled when the mech took the beast out. She kept her eyes on Ruby, watching as the lancer carried her to her airship, which disappeared in the direction of Atlas.
A year passes faster than Pyrrha feels is even possible. The borders were closed still so despite her best efforts she had not been able to follow her friends across another continent. She had eventually given up and resumed schooling at Haven. It was finally winter break she was home in Argus for the next month. She was really quite glad for a little down time. She was mindlessly wandering the city, her mind full of the images from the newscast earlier. Atlas was in an all out war with the grimm, they had been for months. The news today came stating the all out assault had been stopped and while the news of resolution of the conflict was a few weeks old due to any video, letters, or any information needing mailed across the ocean what had caught Pyrrha's attention was a short clip. Ruby, Jaune, Ren, Nora and the others were all being awarded medals from Ironwood for their heroism. It did her heart some good to know they were all okay but seeing them all again made her feel very lonely.
Seeing Jaune in particular made her heart ache, she missed him so very much. Her feelings for the blonde haired goof had never subsided. She loved him, but what would he think if he saw her now? She had kissed him, shoved him into a locker and died on him. She knew he wouldn't hate her, that's not the kind of guy her partner was after all. It was pretty surreal for HER suddenly being back among the living after all. Her musings had somehow brought her to a little park, one that happened to have a giant bronze likeness of her on display. She hated the thing.. it felt…weird to look up at..herself. How had she ended up here of all places. Still, she stared up at her own face recalling the last year of her life. She was drawn out of her own little world when a familiar voice echoed around her.
"Hurry Jaune! I cant wait to give these presents to your sister!"
Pyrrha's heart raced and she audibly gasped. That's was Ruby's voice, Jaune's followed shortly after! "Ruby! Slow down! You know the rest of us can't keep up!" He called after. Pyrrha's legs moved on their own as she raced to the park entrance just as a flash of red breezed by.
"Ruby?" She spoke quietly at the grinning young woman with mischief on her face.
"Hi Pyrrha!" Ruby shoots back automatically. Three steps is all, it takes for her brain to catch up with her, she stops dead in her tracks, her eyes widened and her mouth agape. She was frozen in place and stopped so quickly that Jaune collided into her with an oof, knocking her down. He had apparently been running after her, the only one in their group willing to run after the woman with boundless energy, not even Nora was up to chasing Ruby right now, though with a baby on the way Jaune could understand.
"Geez Ruby, you gotta callout when making sudden stops! This is exactly why we got Blake and Ren to carry the presents ya big goof!" Jaune extended his hand to Ruby, the young woman still staring in shock and completely oblivious to his presence. He quickly became worried. "Ruby, honey, are you okay?" She still didn't acknowledge him, he finally follows her gaze.. Blue eyes meet green Jaune blinks several times, rubs his eyes and slaps his cheeks. Pyrrha for her part waves silently. She lets a moment go by before she can talk. "Hello" she greets with a smile. Jaune falls to his knees, silently. "We're hallucinating." He whispers, Ruby still too shocked to speak just nods.
Pyrrha reaches down and ruffles Jaune's hair. "I'm the real thing, partner!" She grins.
A/N: This little story refused to let any other story progress until it got written. Also, I have purposely had Pyrrha not hear "honey" She was in shock herself, after all.