I blinked and almost went to rub my eyes, just to make sure Ironwood was actually there. Then I remembered the facepalming accident. I was not doing that again, so I'd just trust my eyes for now. I wasn't sure if I should expect a scolding, a medal of honor, a list of all my friends who had died. Sure, pile on that Pyrrha and Nora were dead. Jaune and Ren too. Coco? Fun stuff. Oh, maybe Velvet too. Instead, he smiled. I'd…never seen Ironwood smile before that day.

"I'll give you two a bit." Blake said with a smile, but I held her hand as best I could in my weakened state. I didn't want her to leave me with him. Honestly it'd just piss me off. Ironwood must have known that much, maybe he wasn't all bad. "No Ms. Belladonna. That's not necessary. As her teammate you are just as involved in her recovery as she is, and more so than I. You should stay." I gave her one of my flirty looks and smiled. "Yeah, you're stuck with me kitty cat." That got a blush out of her. Yang Xiao Long is back, baby.

Ironwood chuckled, and noted the arm. "A rather elegant design, if I do say so myself." He laughed a bit louder, and I looked where he was pointing. Was that…the Ember Celica? Blake noticed my expression and smiled, giving me a quick hug. "I picked up your uh…your arm before we left. Just in case. We built your weapon into your new arm."

I smiled just a bit. It was a nice gesture, and something I never would have thought of if Blake were in the position I'd been in. Reattaching the arm? I would have just dragged Blake by the head screaming "OH SHIT" the entire way. Funny how differently the two of us work. And yet…it was comforting to see just a small piece of metal I was accustomed to on the otherwise foreign object. I tried to activate the gauntlet the same way I'd been used to, with my aura. That was how I usually triggered it, but nothing happened.

My brow furrowed and my frustration was evident as I closed my eyes. I tried my damnedest to do this, just like back when Dad and Qrow taught me in Signal. Then I heard a click and the familiar morphing sound. I opened my eyes and there it was. Nice. And apparently I wasn't the only one who had noticed, because I heard Ironwood whistle. Holy shit I'd totally forgotten he was there.

"Not bad, Yang." He said with a smile. "Took me months to learn to channel my aura like that. Even longer to figure out how much force to put into things." I blinked and looked at him, completely confused. "Do you mind if I call you Yang?" He looked worried that he may have actually offended me. Me, the most informal person this side of Remnant. "Uhm...no, that's fine." Ironwood almost looked relieved. "Good, when I was in your position about 6 years ago, I just wanted to remind people that I had a name, you know?"

I didn't know until just a second later when he rolled up his sleeve. "Care for a little wager?" I'd never seen him with such a bright look on his face, with such a bright outlook on the world. "Let's arm wrestle to see who gets to decide on the paint job." His smile was so genuine; it was as if he didn't even notice the cybernetic implant. Then I realized he wasn't looking at an injured student. He was looking at the one person in the world he fully understood. The one person in the world who was in the same exact boat. I grabbed his hand with the new arm and gave him my hot headed smile as my eyes turned red. "You are so on, but if I win I'm painting yours pink."

He chuckled and we started. "I don't think I'll take that one, but nice effort." The two of us went for a good hour or so, Blake sitting next to me and cheering me on for the first 20 minutes, then she settled for laying her torso on my legs and watching. It was a bizarre feeling; my arm wasn't getting tired like it normally would. I felt like I could take on the world, especially Adam Taurus. That set me over the edge though, Adam Taurus. I slammed Ironwood's arm straight through the table with a scream of pain. Those phantom pains were back, and I clutched that new arm so tight.

Blake jumped at the sudden change, and Ironwood nodded. He had expected this. "Yang, I don't think this is something you can just power through. Your teammates are here for you, and if all else fails I'm here for you. Okay?" I nodded slowly, not sure what to think. He nodded to Blake and started toward the door. "I'll be back in tomorrow to check on you, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and walked out, no doubt to deal with the Vale issue. Oh shit! Beacon!

I turned to Blake, eyes wide with fear. "What happened to Beacon?" Blake looking up at mine with her soft yellow eyes. She looked like a cowering kitten, and I realized I was losing control of my semblance again. I blinked my eyes back to their violet shade, blushing in apology. "Well…Emerald and Mercury helped bring us to our knees. We're just lucky Ironwood got us all out alive."

My breathing slowed. All of us. So that meant Weiss and Ruby were okay at the very least. Hopefully SSSN, JNPR, CFVY, and the others were all okay as well. "So everyone is alive?" I asked quietly, and Blake nodded. "You took the worst of us, and I was second. So…yeah, everyone's alive. A little mental trauma here and there and a few injuries, but we'll survive."

I nodded and looked deep into her eyes. I could see glimpses of worry, regret, guilt, and fear. Evidently the mental trauma she spoke of was affecting her as well. "Yeah…we'll survive. We both will." I said, holding her even tighter.