At first she thought she'd been dreaming.
The sounds were distant, muffled, and somehow familiar, but Yang couldn't quite make out where she'd heard them before. She tried to move toward them, but her body was stiff, unrelenting, her mind foggy as she tried to force herself to wake up.
Why… can't I… move?! She tried to shout, but her mouth wouldn't form the words. The quiet sounds she'd heard were becoming louder, now, closer, but still just as foggy, as unclear as they had been before. What are they?
She tried again to reach out, to open her eyes, and her hand passed in front of her vision, stretching up into what seemed like a vacuum of darkness. The sounds were starting to become a little clearer, now; sharper. They were unsteady, uneven, hollow, each one hitting Yang like an arrow through her heart… And then she realized why they sounded so familiar. Someone was sobbing.
Yang's eyes finally shot open, her limbs moving for real this time as she forced herself up in bed, and tried to adjust her blurred sight to the dark walls and distorted furniture around her. It wasn't the first time she'd experienced sleep paralysis. It seemed to be happening more often than not lately, especially when she fell asleep on her back or somehow lost her pillow during the night. She always woke up feeling stiff and disoriented, taking much longer to stir than usual because her brain was still half a step behind the rest of her body.
But she had help waking up this time.
As soon as she heard the sobbing again, Yang's mind caught up to the rest of her, and her gaze immediately found the source of the muffled cries coming from the other side of the room.
In the bed opposite hers, a dark figure sat hunched at the head of the mattress, comforter pulled tightly around her quivering body as heavy, painful sobs escaped her lungs. Yang listened for a moment, unsure of what to do, afraid of startling her teammate. The sound was so… so haunting, and just seeing her friend in so much pain, so much turmoil for… for Yang honestly didn't know what, made Yang's heart ache, made her want to do anything to bring the broken girl before her just the smallest semblance of peace.
She waited a few minutes, hoping that her teammate would eventually stop. But though the sobs started to quiet, dying down until they were nothing but raspy whimpers, the tears didn't stop. She didn't raise her head, didn't even seem to notice that Yang was awake, or even in the same room. And Yang couldn't help but wonder what had been the cause of such a fractured soul.
Yang thought back to just the morning before, to when she had been the one who was crying, who was practically inconsolable as she shouted and seethed and wept about losing Blake. Weiss had been the one to comfort her, to offer her words of reassurance, of the utmost love and care as Yang found strength in her voice, in her kind eyes. She had spoken a little about her own family, about how her father had practically stolen her family's name, had driven her mother to alcoholism, and how both her parents had emotionally neglected to be there for her at all. Weiss had said she barely thought of her father and brother as family anymore; they had left her all alone while Winter was away following General Ironwood's orders and leaving Weiss to pick up the pieces herself. Was all of this, all of her loneliness, the reason Weiss had finally crumbled?
It didn't matter the reason. All that mattered was that Weiss had been there for Yang when she needed her despite all of her own pain she'd been bottling up inside. It was Yang's turn to be there for her. Weiss definitely looked like she needed it right now.
Finally, Yang moved. Slowly and quietly, she pushed her blankets aside, and picked up the jacket she'd folded neatly on her nightstand. She carried it over to Weiss's bed, her heart beginning to pound a little faster as she started to extend it to the girl. Weiss stopped weeping for a moment to catch her breath, breaking into a series of rough coughs, but still she kept her face buried, her arms seeming to tighten around her knees as Yang's presence loomed over her.
Yang drew in a deep breath, and carefully lowered herself to the mattress beside Weiss. She gently draped her jacket over the smaller girl's trembling shoulders, and rested her cybernetic hand on the small of Weiss's back.
"Weiss," she said softly, the sudden noise causing her teammate to flinch. "Hey. It's okay… I'm right here…"
Weiss sniffled once, and then again, finally releasing one of her arms and swiping it across her hidden face. She tried to take a deep breath, but it came out choppy and strained. She tried again, continuing to inhale and exhale until she was finally breathing at a normal pace again, and Yang could practically feel the weight of each one, Weiss's shoulder blades contracting underneath Yang's touch with every painful breath.
"I–I…" she started to choke, cutting herself off with a forced cough. "I'm s–sor…"
"It's okay," Yang whispered, moving her hand down Weiss's back and to her waist. She scooched closer, until their hips were touching, and she wrapped her arm gently around her friend's thin waist. "You don't have to talk."
Weiss lifted her head, just enough to give Yang the slightest of nods. Then, she turned, curving her head so fast that Yang didn't even get a look at her face before she buried it into the brawler's strong shoulders, her entire body curling into Yang's embrace.
And Yang held her tightly, resting her chin atop Weiss's smooth, ivory-haired crown, and whispered reassurances into her ear until the girl in her arms finally started to drift off to sleep. She didn't need to know what kind of monster had broken her friend's heart. All she needed was for Weiss to know that she wasn't alone. That just as Weiss had promised to be there for Yang, Yang was going to be there for her. It was a promise she didn't have to speak, but one she intended to forever keep. Weiss was just as much her family now, too, and Yang would do everything in her power to keep her safe.
I've got you.
A/N: I headcanon Yang in this very specific drabble/fic as nonbinary. She doesn't care about pronouns so I'm using her default ones. Just know that I'm picturing Yang this way right now as a coping mechanism for my own dysphoria. This doesn't have to change the way any of you guys see Yang in this fic since it's supposed to line up somewhat with canon, which is why I'm adding this note to the end rather than the beginning, so it doesn't interfere with your reading experience. I just felt like saying it because it's important to me, is all.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. Please leave some kind words!