LJNT

Lyra's Apology

Team CFVY...you are declared the winners.

That phrase wouldn't leave Lyra's head as she laid restlessly in her bed. After the battle, Team LJNT had been dejected, and immediately headed back to the dorm. None of them spoke, only continuing with their schoolwork before heading to bed.

Lyra had checked in on Pyrrha to make sure her sister was alright. So far, it seemed that Team JNPR had settled in much better. After some encouragement from Pyrrha, Lyra had spilled everything that had been troubling her.

"...Pyrrha, is it okay to associate myself to a Grimm?" Lyra asked softly, an unsure look in her golden eyes. They were positioned on Pyrrha's bed, alone since the other members of Team JNPR were out for dinner. "I mean, I know she's not a real Grimm, it's just...it doesn't feel right. The dead would be ashamed of me for even thinking about it."

"Lyra...I don't think anyone would hold it against you based off of looks alone," Pyrrha said sincerely, sympathy written all over her features. "Nico is human, and she won't hurt anyone else. But I think you knew that already...."

"I just think that... Kyra would be furious about me associating with someone who looks like those monsters," Lyra mumbled, running one hand through her platinum blonde hair. The voice continued to whisper venomous words of death into her mind. "I promised them all vengeance..."

"Lyra, you cant kill every Grimm in this world," Pyrrha frowned, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Besides, Nico is entirely different than those monsters. I'm sure she already feels outcasted because of her appearance...I think having a team leader who sticks up for her would be nice."

"Yeah...It would be," Lyra nodded slowly. "But how can I do it? How can I accept her when I can't even look at her without feeling distressed..?"

"Well, it's not going to be instantaneous, Lyra...But I think within time, you'll learn to see her as just another human."

Lyra grimaced and turned over in her bed once more. See her as just another human.... Lyra opened her eyes, resting her head on her hands.

"Are you all awake?"

Everyone mumbled some form of agreeing acknowledgement from where they laid. Lyra sighed, opening her eyes to stare at the ceiling.

"I know that we can fight so much better than how we performed earlier," Lyra frowned before standing up. She paused, taking a deep breath. It was difficult for her to admit this, but...it had to be said. They needed to know that she was trying to amend things. "I'm aware that...this is at least partially...because of my refusal to accept our...unique circumstances."

Everyone stayed quiet at this, but they all knew exactly who Lyra was referencing. It wasn't difficult to understand, after all. Lyra hesitated, and Tanya nodded encouragingly at her.

"I think it's only fair if I tell you why I hate the Grimm so much. My village was slaughtered by them," Lyra paused, taking a moment to collect herself as the thought of her deceased family made her heart ache. Why did you let us die? "My mother, my father, my sister...To my knowledge, I am the only survivor. Because of this, I must avenge all those who were lost to me. I must destroy every last one of those Grimm...and so, that is what I thought I was doing when I attacked our teammate."

Lyra took a deep breath to collect herself, feeling the obvious sense of solemness in the room. She exhaled softly before gathering all of her mental strength to turn toward Nico.

The Grimm girl looked surprised to see Lyra even glancing in her direction. Lyra let her eyes scan over the Grimm markings, the fuzzy Grimm ears atop the girl's head, and her red eyes. Lyra forced herself to remain calm. After all, Nico was a person. Not a Grimm. Despite her remarkable physical similarities to one, she was a person. A human who had been ripped from her home, turned into a Grimm against her will...No, that's a Grimm! The voice inside of her head tried to protest...but Lyra wouldn't listen anymore.

"Nico, I owe you an apology," Lyra nodded, a grimace on her face. No, things weren't going to be this easy..it wasn't as if Lyra could just talk with Nico easily after this. It was still difficult for Lyra to look at Nico...but she was working on it. "I couldn't see your human side. I'm sorry for how I've treated you, and I'm sorry that it's still going to take me awhile to adjust."

"O-Oh," Nico looked surprised and flustered with the apology, but her ears perked up from hearing that. "U-Um...T-Thank you.."

"It's not your fault that you look like that," Lyra said, walking over to place a hand on Nico's shoulder. Her hand was trembling as she lifted it onto Nico, and the shorter girl tilted her head to the side in confusion at the contact. "I'm sorry for not accepting you as my partner."

"I-It's al-alright..I um...u-u-understand why you didn't like me..." Nico mumbled, her eyes locked onto where Lyra's hand was.

"Aw, yeah!" Tanya pumped her fist into the air, excited to see her team leader finally become the person Tanya always thought she'd be. "See, Nico? I knew she'd come around."

"I suppose I should follow our leader's example," Janelle nodded, sitting up in her bed. "My apologies as well, Nico. If Headmaster Ozpin and Miss Ng-Nikos see you as a valued teammate, then I will as well."

"R-Really?" Nico had given up on anyone ever considering her as a human. Having her whole team address her as a person was just mind blowing. "W-Wow...I- u-uh, yah...t-thanks..."

"...That being said, our poor performance was mostly due to our terrible synergy," Lyra frowned. "I know we could have beat Team CFVY if I had gotten our team together earlier...but we're going to take this time to get in shape now. We're not going to let us get beat that easily ever again!"

"You really think so?" Janelle questioned, suspicious. "I thought it was mostly due to Tanya's poor form."

"Hey! I don't have poor form!" Tanya defended herself, a cross look on her face. "My grandpa Alm taught me everything I know!"

"Your movements were sloppy."

"Maybe so, but we lost mostly because we kept getting in the way of each other," Lyra reminded them all of their loss. "My apprehensiveness led to us failing to understand each other as teammates...and I'm sorry. So, starting tomorrow...we're gonna train!"

"Yeah, that sounds awesome!"

"U-U-Um, sure..." Nico stuttered before stifling a yawn with her hand. Upon noticing Nico's tiredness, Lyra blushed in embarrassment before walking back to her bed.

"Uh, sorry for keeping you all awake," Lyra apologized, settling herself under her covers once more. Let her go to bed. Then you could kill her in her sleep...No, stop. Lyra ignored the voice. "...I just thought that...you know. Something had to be done."

"Yeah, well...I'm happy you reached out to us," Tanya grinned from her bed, even though no one could see her smile anyway. "I really think you'll make a great leader after all."

Lyra smiled.

"I think so, too."