A/N I don't usually write one-shots but this idea got a hold of me and wouldn't let go until I wrote it all down. Inspired by the RWBY song "All That Matters" and Episode 1 of Volume 6.
Things seemed normal. They fought together. They made small talk. Yang smiled at her.
But then there were other things Blake noticed as they journeyed to Atlas.
She remembered the first time she saw Yang's tremor. It was after they had beaten a small group of White Fang thugs. It was child's play. They had barely broken a sweat but after the fight, Yang clutched her wrist as her left hand shook imperceptibly in her grip.
It was subtle, Blake only noticed because she had been watching Yang so closely. And once she saw it, she saw it every time it happened. Fighting Grimm never triggered it, but fighting people did.
"Are you okay?" Blake asked after the third time she witnessed it.
"I'm fine!" There was a wild edge in her voice, her eyes blazed red.
Yang stood in place for a long moment, holding her wrist
"I'm fine…" she repeated in a much quieter voice.
Then the nightmares happened. The team was housed together in one dorm room. Blake chose the bed next to Yang's bed which was at the end of the row.
It wasn't the first nightmare that Blake knew of. There were other times Yang tossed and turned her sleep, uttering quiet sounds of distress, but tonight was different.
A quiet whimper from Yang's direction woke her up. She had trained her ears to the sound of her partner's voice, ready to aid her at a moment's notice.
Yang lay stiff as a board on her bed, teeth gritted, fist balled at her side, her entire body shaking. Hard lines of muscle stood rigidly out from her arms and the thick veins in her neck jutted out like snakes. It was like she was locked into place, a prisoner trying to escape the confines of her body.
Blake touched her shoulder and immediately pulled her hand back. Yang's skin felt feverish and burning hot, her golden yellow bangs clung limply to her sweaty forehead.
"Yang, wake up!" Blake cried in a whisper shout.
Yang opened her eyes with a sharp inhale gasp, frightened danger-red irises fading quickly to cool lavender when she realized it was Blake in front of her.
Blake handed Yang a glass of cold water wordlessly in the empty Atlas student common room. It was the middle of the night and they were still in their sleep clothes.
Yang took a big gulp from her glass but said nothing.
"Yang please, tell me what's wrong." There were unresolved issues and Blake was determined to meet them head-on that night.
"Nothing's wrong," Yang said, not meeting her eyes.
"Ever since I've been back, you haven't said a word about what happened."
Blake had learned bits and pieces from Ruby and Weiss, how Yang had spent months recovering, alone in Patch with her father. She never imagined that she would be alone when she left. She thought her sister would be with her.
"Aren't you angry with me?"
"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Yang asked in a puzzled tone.
Part of Blake wanted Yang to be angry, to yell and scream at her, but the only thing she felt from Yang was cold, hollow, resignation and it hurt more than anything else.
"I'm really happy you're here, Blake. Really, I am. I'm so happy that we can all be together right now even if it… Even if it won't last forever…"
"What do you mean?"
Yang smiled at her. "You and I both know… That one day you'll move on to something better, something bigger... And it's okay. I'm just happy I get to have you by my side, even if it's temporary."
"It's…" Blake rasped. "It's not okay."
"It's fine. I'm fine. We're fine."
"Stop saying everything's fine!" Blake said, her eyes welling up with tears.
"What do you want me to say, huh!?" Yang said, finally showing a brief flash of anger. "Like, I know I'm not enough. I get it."
"Not enough…?"
"Not enough to make you… Stay."
Pain like Blake had never experienced before assailed her, like her beating heart was getting drawn through broken glass and salt. She hurt Yang. Damaged her so thoroughly and completely that she actually believed what she was saying, that she actually believed she was less-than.
"And that's okay!" Yang added quickly. "It's not like you owe me anything... I always knew you were meant for something more, Blake. All you needed to do was spread your wings and fly, and look at you. Look at what you've accomplished. You're a hero. And me?" she chuckled emptily, a hollow sound. "I'm just getting tired… I don't think I can keep up with you."
"No, that's not true. How could you possibly-"
"I don't mind," Yang said. She lifted her head and smiled, a small pained thing.
It was okay. She had replayed every possible scenario of Blake leaving over and over in her head so she wouldn't be surprised, so it wouldn't hurt as much when she actually left.
"Because the way I feel…" she shrugged her shoulders lightly. "It's no big deal."
Blake stretched her fingers through the empty air towards her. She swallowed a sob and walked up to Yang, carefully wrapping her arms around her in an awkward side hug.
Blake wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that the way she felt was everything to her, but she also knew that words could be empty, remembering all the times Yang said she was fine.
Yang kept her arm at her side, chin hanging down on her chest as she looked at the floor. She was sad but she didn't weep or sob. She had no more tears left to cry.
"Let me show you," Blake whispered through the tears. "Let me show you, okay? I'll prove it to you." I'll prove you wrong, I promise.
A/N The title of my first fanfic ever for the bees was 'Prove Me Wrong' I never thought in a thousand years that it would mean so much in today's cannon context. For a happier ending, tune into my other fic 'We Might As Well Be Strangers' for the epilogue this week.