We Need to Talk
A Yang/Blake Tale
"Nora has been asking some questions lately."
Yang looked at the girl sitting next to her. Blake had short black hair, cut into a bob. She had the cutest cat ears and amber eyes. She was her friend and her team mate. Blake was the kind of girl who always followed what she believed was right. As a child, she had been part of a protest for faunus rights. Later, when the group became violent, she began to rethink her commitment to the group. When she left them and joined Beacon, the local hunter's academy, she wore a black bow in her hair to hide her ears that marked her as a faunus. She didn't want to face more discrimination. Yang loved how Blake seemed driven to do the right thing.
They were sitting on a bench, in a park, in the floating city of Atlas. Blake looked away and frowned. Nora was a red-haired, electrifying part of Team JNPR, and she had a tendency to be rather frank.
"What is she asking about this time?"
Yang smiled, "She's been asking about us." Blake looked startled. What did that mean? She cared deeply about Yang. Yang had golden hair that seemed to flow on forever. Her eyes were violet, but they turned red when she was angry. Yang had saved her life, multiple times. She even lost her arm defending Blake from Adam. She thought back to the day they killed Adam together. She shivered. She reached for Yang's arm and felt the cold metal of her hand. She rubbed her fingers across it, wishing she had been able to save more than Yang's life that day. She knew that like her, Yang was still haunted by it. She knew that Yang still felt the confidence loss that she had earned had gained before.
Yang wished she knew what Blake was thinking.
"You know, we never did talk about what happened at Beacon," Yang said, looking away. Blake blanched.
"I swear Yang, I'll never run like that again! I'll always be here. I'm…sorry about your arm. It's my fault."
Yang's eyes flashed red. "That's not what I was talking about! How could you think that was your fault? I'm your friend!" She looked away, hands shaking. "I just wanted to make sure you knew you could talk to me about what happened. Forget about my arm! I would lose it 100 times if it meant saving your life. Don't you need to talk about Adam? What he did to us? I don't know about you, but you and I have never talked about it. It happened to us both. Stop apologizing to me, and just let me be there for you."
Blake closed her eyes. It was hard for her to even think about. How could she convey all the feelings she had about it? It was the reason she left, the reason she felt responsible for all the harm Adam had done to those she loved.
"Adam talked to me before you arrived. He said I betrayed him by leaving. He said he was going to destroy everything I loved, to punish me for hurting him. Then you walked by. He stabbed me knowing you'd hear and come to my defense. And you did. When I saw you lying there, your arm gone, Beacon in ruins, all I could think about was protecting you from Adam. Maybe if I left he would leave you all alone. So I ran. But I never stopped thinking about you. I just didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of me ever again." She sighed and paused for a moment before continuing, "It was actually Sun who convinced me to accept help. He said that I was being selfish for taking the choice to help me away from you. When I saw the three of you at Haven, I was so scared that you hated me. And then you held out your arms, and everything was ok. I was with my team again."
Yang grabbed Blake's hand. "You just left. You didn't think about our needs, even though you said you left for us. I needed you! I just lost a piece of myself, and you too. I didn't feel safer with you gone. I saw Adam around every corner. When I looked in the mirror, he was the one who stared back at me. I wanted you there so we could protect each other. I don't need you to apologize for my arm. You didn't do that, Adam did. But it still hurt when you left. I needed you to face what came next with me. I wanted you here by my side. I still do. I will always want you by my side."
Blake hesitated. "I want you by my side, too. Always."
Yang pulled Blake's other hand into her own. She smiled her big, bright as the sun smile at Blake. Then she leaned in closer, looking Blake straight in the eyes. Blake felt herself drawn in, leaning forward.
"Do you want me by your side as a friend or as your girlfriend?" Yang smiled again, but this time a little shyly. Blake smiled back. She leaned in closer, stopping inches from Yang's mouth.
"I'm in love with you. I want you as my girlfriend." Yang closed the distance between them, taking Blake's mouth onto her own. Yang saw sparks, marveling at the idea of finally kissing this girl who meant so much to her in so many ways. Blake finally pulled away, grinning and blinking as if she'd just been blinded by fireworks. "Oh my," was all she managed to say.
Oh my, indeed thought Yang, as she grabbed Blake's hand, privately vowing to never let her go again.