Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and places belong to Rooster Teeth.
A/N: This is a piece of crap and I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but take it before this week's episode destroys all my hopes and dreams.
Yang's head jerks to the side when Jaune's scream reverberates through the room. Her eyes widen and she feels like her heart stops beating as she watches the arrow pierce Weiss right through her abdomen. Time seems to stop, as she falls forward onto the ground. Yang's arms fall to her side as she stares in shock at Weiss's limp, unmoving body. Everything else – the fights, the enemy, her mother – fades into the background, and the noise around her becomes a buzzing in her ears, as she tries to understand what has happened.
Her hand starts trembling as the terror starts to rise in her throat. The need to get to her teammate, to protect her, to strangle Cinder for even daring to touch Weiss, grows with the panic. She wants – needs – to get to Weiss, and make sure she's not dead (she's not dead, she repeats the mantra over and over again in her head, as if it will make it true), but her body won't listen to her brain, and she remains rooted to her spot, unable to do much more than stare at the girl in shock.
'Move!' she screams at her body. 'Move! Weiss needs help! I have to – she's going to –! You have to move!'
Jaune rushes past everybody to get to Weiss, and it breaks Yang out of her shell-shocked state.
Her fight with Mercury all but forgotten, Yang turns and runs towards Weiss with unsteady legs. She drops onto her knees next to the unconscious girl and, with trembling hands, gently touches the wound on her stomach. "Weiss, no," she manages to choke out. She feels like she can't breathe, like somebody had sucked all the air from her lungs. "No, no, no. Not you, too!"
The only thing she can focus on is the downed heiress in front of her – in that moment, nothing else matters. Not the fact that her mother is a traitor, not any of the people that could possibly kill her in her distracted state. No, none of that matters – all she cares about is Weiss's life fading away as she bleeds to death. All she cares about is making sure that Weiss makes it out of there alive. So she doesn't notice Cinder approaching them, ready to finish what she started.
But Jaune does, and before she knows what is happening, Jaune drops Weiss's limp body onto her lap, and his shield and sword are up, and he's fighting Cinder. She stares at Weiss's sallow face, contorted in pain, and she panics. Because everybody important to her leaves her – her mother, Summer, Blake, her own sister – and she doesn't think she can handle it if Weiss leaves her too.
She cradles Weiss's head and pulls her close into a fiercely protective hug, her eyes filling with tears. "You told me you would be here for me, Weiss! You promised. You promised that you would be there for me. You can't leave me! Don't you dare leave me too!" She buries her face into Weiss's shoulder and lets out a strangled sob.
The fight picks up right where it left off, but Yang doesn't notice, because she can't think about anything else, not when Weiss could be dying. She doesn't know how long she sits there, unmoving, with Weiss in her arms. She needs to do something, because Weiss is bleeding out in front of her, and she's going to die if she doesn't. But she doesn't know what to do – she never knows what to do. All she can do is stare helplessly at the girl in her arms and watch as her breathing becomes shallower, and her already pale complexion turns whiter.
"Move!" Qrow yells at her. He grabs her by the back of her shirt and pulls her to her feet, Weiss still in her arms. He drags her away from the centre of the room and practically throws her down. "Yang, snap out of it!"
Yang tears her gaze away from Weiss and stares unseeingly at her uncle. "Weiss is – she's – she needs help and –"
"I know," he says through gritted teeth as he blocks the bullets heading towards them. "Stay off the damn battlefield and protect her. You're in no condition to fight right now – we can handle it."
"But I – " I can fight! Cinder is mine, she wants to scream, but the words die in her throat.
"No! How can you fight when you're so distracted by the thought of her dying? Stay out of the way and make sure she doesn't die, okay? We can handle it." He doesn't give her a chance to argue, as he jumps right back into the fray, swinging his scythe at Mercury's head.
The battle lasts far too long, and with each passing second, Yang grows more and more desperate – she's going to die, her mind screams at her. You're letting her die! And by the time the battle ends, by the time reinforcements and medics show up, she can barely think through the panic-induced haze in her mind. All she can think about is Weiss's barely breathing form in her arms, and the people trying to take her away.
"No!" she yells, panicked, as she pulls the limp girl tighter into her arms, away from the people who might or might not let her die. "You can't have her. Don't touch her. You can't – she's not –"
"Yang, you have to let go of her. Yang, let go," Qrow's gravelly voice interrupts her and he places a hand on her shoulder. "She's dying, Yang. You have to let them take her, or she will die."
"No! No, no. I won't let them have her," she sobs.
"Yang! They just want to help! There's nothing you can do for her. Let the medics do their job." Qrow reaches over to take Weiss. "I don't want to have to take her by force, Yang, but I will if you force my hand. Give me the princess. Unless you want to watch her die in your arms, give her to the damn medics."
"Yang," Ruby says quietly, gently tugging at her sister's arm. "You're not doing her any favours by not letting her go. She needs real medical attention."
Yang looks desperately over at Ruby, who gives her a reassuring smile. "They'll save her, right? They won't let her die?" she asks, hating how her voice cracks on the word die. At her sister's nod, she finally loosens her death grip on Weiss, letting the medics take her, but she clings onto her hand like a lifeline, and refuses to let go.
Qrow lets out a sigh of frustration and he grabs Yang by the shoulder, roughly pulling her back and away from the medics bustling around the unconscious girl.
"No! Let me go!" She struggles against Qrow's hold on her, but he doesn't give. "Qrow, please. I need to make sure she's okay. She has to be okay. She's – I can't – let me go!"
"Yang, stop," Qrow says gruffly. "I know what it's like to see somebody important to you in danger, but getting in the way isn't going to help her get better. You need to take a step back and let them do their job. I know it's hard, Yang. It sucks not being able to do anything while somebody important to you is dying, but you are only going to make things worse if you don't stop."
Yang sags against Qrow and lets out a defeated sigh. "Why?" she asks. "Why her?"
"Sometimes bad things just happen. And it happens to the best people." He gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "She'll be fine. She's too stubborn to let something like this take her down."
She sinks to the ground and pulls her knees to her chest with shaking hands. "I couldn't do anything – I just – I stood there and watched her collapse and I couldn't do anything."
Qrow squats down next to her. "There was nothing you could have done. There wasn't anything any of us could have done. You did everything you could to keep her from bleeding out – now it's the medics' job to make sure that she stays alive."
"But I should have been able to do something – I should have stopped the arrow. I should have – I was supposed to be there for her!" She buries her face into her knees and her shoulders shake with silent sobs.
He's quiet for a brief moment, and then he says, "You must care a lot about her."
She looks up and gives him a questioning look. "Don't be stupid, of course I care about her. She's my friend."
He shakes his head. "But she's not just your friend, is she? The way you froze, the absolute terror on your face – you looked broken, Yang. Anybody looking could see how much she means to you. You might not be sure what she means to you right now, but you have to care about her an awful fucking lot to have that kind of reaction." He pats her on the back before standing up. "It's not something to ponder on now, though. You'll have plenty of time to think about it later, when the battle's won and she's not lying on a stretcher on the brink of death. Come on. They're transporting her to the hospital. We should go too."
"She will be fine," the nurse says as she skims the report. "Fortunately, none of her major organs were damaged, so she only suffered a bit of blood loss. She's stable right now, and she should regain consciousness soon. You're free to go in and spend some time with her if you want. Just try not to overcrowd the hospital room."
For the first time since she watched Weiss collapse, Yang feels like she can breathe again. "Thank you."
"Yang, why don't you go in first?" Qrow gestures towards the hospital room. "Ruby and I will go get us something to eat. I think we all need it."
"What? But I want to see Weiss!"
"You will. But we're going to get food first." He grabs her cape and drags her in the general direction of the hospital's cafeteria.
She eases the door open and steps inside. She pulls a chair up next to the bed where Weiss is laying. She's wearing a hospital gown, and her hair is down, her face a lot paler than she usually is, but Yang doesn't think she's ever been gladder to see anybody in her life. The tension in her stomach starts to unknot as she watches the steady rise and fall of Weiss's chest with each breath she takes, an indication that she's still alive. She reaches over and takes her hand, needing the physical reassurance that Weiss is still here.
"Hey, Ice Queen," she says, her voice sounding a lot smaller than she's ever heard it. She rubs gentle circles on the back of Weiss's hand. "I'm… I'm glad you're going to be okay. You have no idea how scared I was that I was going to lose you." She lets out a breathy laugh. "You aren't allowed to ever scare me like that again – I don't think I can handle seeing you almost die again. You mean a lot to me, Weiss. More than I would have imagined possible, and I don't think I would be able to take it if you left me. So, please, never do that again." She grips Weiss's hand and leans forward, brushing her bangs aside and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.
She straightens when she hears the door open, and her sister's familiar footsteps as she approaches the bed.
"Here," Ruby says, holding a cup of hot chocolate towards her. She takes a seat in the chair next to Yang.
"Thanks, sis." She accepts the cup and takes a sip, but she never takes her eyes off of Weiss, like she might disappear if she does.
"I'm really glad Weiss is okay. I was really scared she wouldn't make it."
"Me too," Yang replies, her voice hoarse from crying. "I've – I was honestly more scared than I've ever been in my life," she admits. Her hand trembles slightly, and she tightens her grip on Weiss's hand.
Ruby smiles timidly at her sister. "I don't think I've ever seen you freeze up like that before – you looked terrified."
"She almost died," Yang says flatly. "I think we were all terrified."
"But you –"
"You don't get it, Ruby. You don't understand what it's like to be lonely! Everybody leaves me – mom left, Summer left, Blake left. You left. And I know you didn't have a choice and I don't blame you for leaving when you did, but I'm so used to being left behind. But Weiss – she told me that she would be there for me. She's the first person who ever assured me that she wouldn't leave. And then – I just watched her almost die."
"Yang…"
"The one person who says she'll be here for me, the one person who basically tells me that she won't leave me, and she almost does." She laughs bitterly. "And you know what? I think it would have hurt much, much less if left the same way you and mom did – because she chose to, and not – not because somebody decided to rip her away from me, because they didn't think her life mattered."
"She's not going to leave you, Yang. We'll make sure of that – nobody is going to take her, not if we can help it," Ruby says this with so much conviction that she almost believes her.
"…loud. You guys are loud."
They both turn towards the bed at the sound of Weiss's voice, to find her blinking blearily at them as she pushes herself up into a sitting position. Her voice is hoarse and she looks confused and disoriented, but she's awake.
Yang blinks twice and rubs her eyes with her free hand, as if she doesn't believe that Weiss has woken up. Without thinking about what she's doing, she flings herself at Weiss, throwing her arms around the girl and squeezing her into a tight hug. "Weiss! You're awake!"
Weiss's eyes widen with surprise at Yang's overenthusiastic display and hesitantly reaches a hand up to pat her on the back. "I'm okay," she says soothingly. "Yang, really, I'm going to be fine. I – I'm not going to leave you, I promise."
Yang stills at her admission – she doesn't understand how Weiss can understand her without her having to say anything, how she understands why she was so scared. She buries her face into her shoulders. "You almost did, Weiss," she whispers. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
Weiss's eyes soften. "I'm sorry. You know I would never willingly leave – I'll always be here for you, Yang."
Yang relaxes her grip, but doesn't pull away. "Thank you," she mumbles, her words muffled by Weiss's shoulder. For reassuring me, for understanding why you leaving would probably break me – she doesn't voice any of this out loud, but she doesn't think she needs to, because Weiss has a way of understanding her without the need for words.
Weiss presses a kiss to the top of Yang's head. "I'm here for you," she repeats. "Always."
A/N: IDEK what that ending was. Sorry it was so abrupt; this fic just feels rushed because I was trying to crank it out in such a short time. And yea, Ruby can just stand there awkwardly while her sister and partner try to come to terms with their feelings for each other. :) Also Qrow and Ruby totally know that Yang and Weiss are into each other.