Here's a Valentine Day's treat for y'all! And yes, it's more YinxYuck because of course it is.
(Takes place after the show, and somehow Yuck's now studying at the dojo. Don't ask how it happened, just roll with it).
"...Has he really been there all day?"
"Yup." Yang doesn't even look at her even as she levitates next to him, shoveling another fistful of popcorn into his mouth while staring out to the yard where Yuck is sitting. "Already cleaned the bathroom, watched TV, played videogames, beat up Carl at the supermarket and I'm pretty sure he hasn't moved an inch since this morning."
He sticks the popcorn bucket out, and Yin grabs a fistful of her own, her eyes fixated on their newest training partner. Even from all the way back at the dojo, she can still make out the way his face is all scrunched up - he's trying to focus, she assumes, but the expression he wears makes it seem more like the way he's pressing his thumbs and index fingers together in a circle is hurting him.
Pity is not a word she would use towards Yuck of all people, but after seeing him sitting there like he did the day before - and the day before that, and many more days prior - she can't help but feel just that. "And he hasn't made it work even a little?"
"Are you seeing his face? He looks like he ate five of Master Yo's breakfast burritos in a row, so I'm gonna have to say no." Yang shakes the popcorn bag and throws it over his shoulder with a face once it's clear that it's empty, despite the side glare his sister gives him. "And as fun as it was watching Yuck sit there like he's got bowel movement problems, I still got videogame bosses begging for a butt-whooping."
Yin watches the crumpled-up bag with a critical eye, and with a snap of her fingers and a flash of blue light it becomes a butterfly. By the time she turns to lecture her brother, he's already retreated to the TV and out of her sight.
Typical.
She forgets about Yang soon enough, making her way out of the dojo and towards Yuck. Levitation doesn't - shouldn't - make any sound, but she can tell he knows she's there if the twitching of his ears are any indication.
"Wanted to get a close up of the show, huh?"
"I'd hardly call you sitting and looking constipated a 'show'." In the few weeks Yuck had stayed at the dojo as an official student, Yin had learned how to throw his snarky comments right back at him; better that than literally being at each other's throats, at least. She hoped her next words wouldn't change that, however; "Yuck, you DO know how to channel your Woo Foo Aura, right?"
That does get a reaction from him; a glare that could curdle milk from a single, amber eye; "No Yin, I've been sitting here for five hours under the sun because I like it."
"You're still clearly doing something wrong." She hears him growl loudly this time, but that still doesn't stop her from floating down until she's sitting right in front of him. His glare is more suspicious than angry, but she chooses to ignore it. "Channeling your Aura requires having a strong connection to your emotions-"
"I already know that."
"...Anger doesn't count."
"Well it should! Anger's what driven me so far!" Yuck crosses his arms; "How can that not count as a powerful emotion!?"
"Because it's not how Woo Foo is meant to be used! Using it in anger always leads to bad things!" And she knows Yuck would interject with something like 'I'm bad anyways, duh', so she keeps talking before he can say anything; "You're supposed to channel your Aura through love and passion."
She expects Yuck to laugh, or to roll his eyes, or dismiss her in some other way. Which is why she's surprised when he instead stares at her in...confusion? "Love and passion? Are you serious?"
"Well...yeah. But mostly the first one." She hesitates for a second about telling him more about that...incident, but she figures it's all said and done anyways. "The first time I summoned my Aura, I did it because I wanted to keep nature clean. It spit me out five seconds later to do its own thing."
A raised eyebrow.
"I almost died that day! At least I would have if Yang hadn't saved me." And usually, the very thought of being saved by her brother for the millionth time like some damsel in distress would leave a bitter taste in Yin's mouth...but that particular incident was still close to her heart, because it proved how much he really cared for her.
She realizes she's let her mind wander, and focuses back to the present. "Which proves my point that you need to use Woo Foo with love, because if Yang could do it-" But the rest of her sentence is cut off as she realizes Yuck's already heading back to the dojo, no longer listening to her lecture.
"HEY!" Even without Fooportation, she still reaches him with levitation before he can go in. "I wasn't done explaining back there!"
"Too bad, cuz I'm definitely done training."
"You jerk! I'm trying to help you for once!" He still refuses to look at her, so against her own judgement she grabs his shoulder and tries to get him to turn around. "You're not even gonna try, just because, i don't know, love is gonna ruin your evil, uncaring reputation or something?!"
His hand stops just as he's about to open the door, and Yin freezes in place. She realizes too late she doesn't even know how he's going to react. Is he gonna snap at her? Or maybe she's actually gotten through him?
She gets her answer when he laughs instead. The way there's no joy behind it makes her fur stand on edge.
"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." He pushes her hand away from his shoulder, and she would've complained if the sheer bitterness in his voice hadn't made her swallow her words. "Made completely of bad traits, remember? And you think love is one of them?"
His question rings inside her head, and she can't help but wonder: does she?
Yuck seems to take her silence as her answer, since he heads into the dojo again. "I could've done more training in five hours. What a waste of my time."
He's already slammed the door in the her face by the time she gets her words back.
"For the last time, I DON'T LOVE YOU!"
Yin can barely see before her with all the dust and smoke, but a wave of her hands and a gust of wind clears the area just in time for her to catch Yang in a beam of light just as he's about to crash into her. Releasing him, he lands safely next to her instead as they both glare at the one responsible.
"You don't - bawk - mean that!" Coop refuses to look at her, shaking his head between his hands as black smoke comes out of his body. The rest of the Woo Foo Army surrounds him in a circle - at least the ones he didn't knock out of commission already. "You g-gotta give - bawk - me another chance! I-"
"Dude, I thought you said you had your powers under control!"
"I DO!" Yang doesn't jump in time to dodge the blast Coop aimed his way, and even Yin needs to summon a Foo Field to shield herself from the debris he leaves behind. Once the dust clears, she struggles to see where her brother landed, but instead she sees Lena and Roger Jr. struggle to restrain Coop as he thrashes wildly, hands glowing red. "I'm in control! I can - bawk - prove it!"
"She doesn't like you that way! Get over it!" Lena growls.
"C'mon man, you need to move on!" Roger Jr. begs.
But what both of them do is make him angrier, and Yin watches in horror as he literally throws both of her friends off his back and towards the others, knocking them out all at once. She tries to remind herself in that moment that, despite everything he's done - stalking her, harassing her, joining the Nightmaster, trying to kiss her when she least expected it, forcing her to date him by corrupting her, making her almost kill her brother and best friend - she doesn't want to hate him.
Although, on second thought...
"Coop!" Hands alight with magic, she stands before him if only to keep his attention from the others. She can at least try to give him one more chance; "The Nightmaster's power is making you go out of control! You need to stop before you do something you'll regret!"
"B-but it's not fair!" The dark energy around Coop intensifies, forcing Yin to step back. He's pressing his hands on the sides of his head, shaking it like he's trying to block out her words. "I did - bawk - it for you! I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU!"
"I NEVER ASKED YOU TO!" Even with his power pushing her back, Yin fights against it and pushes forward. Inwardly she keeps telling herself that she doesn't hate him - that punching his beak into his skull would just make things worse - but his words make something snap in her. "I kept telling you to stop! I kept telling you to leave me alone! I didn't force you to do all those things; YOU chose to do them!"
"B-but-"
"And yeah, you know what? I messed up by enabling you and your stupid, hot, evil looks!" She's already up in his face, and even though he's nearly twice her size he still cowers before her. "But if you really loved me, you would've left me alone like I asked you since Day 1 and none of this would've happened!"
For a moment, he just stares back, black eyes shrunk in terror behind his sunglasses (and she tells herself that no, she doesn't enjoy it even though he deserves it). But suddenly the anger is back and it's him who's towering over her, hand raised high and glowing red. She's ready for him, a Foo Orb materializing in her hand-
There's a flash of orange light, and Coop's hand is encase in a Foo Field. He only has time to stare at it in confusion before the magic he had been building up goes off inside the shield, filling its inside with smoke.
As he screams and flails his arm, fight momentarily forgotten, Yin sees another flash of orange light beside her and turns to see Yuck, an arm wrapped around Yang's shoulders as he helps him rest on the floor. Gasping, Yin is already by her brother's side and checking his wounds (they look worse than they probably are, but he'll still be sore in the morning).
She wants to say something to Yuck, but he's already walking past her without so much a glance. Since their fight back at the dojo, he refused to even look her way; she had gladly returned the gesture, but now...
"Look how low the Nightmaster's favorite has fallen." Yuck grins mockingly at Coop, who's resorted to punching the ground to break the smoking shield. "You get all that power and call yourself the top bully in the playground, and you don't even know how to use it? Pathetic."
"YOU!" The next punch actually breaks the Foo Field, and Coop points a furious, very singed finger at Yuck. "This is all your - bawk - fault! Everything was fine with me and - bawk - Yin until YOU showed up!"
"Please, like she needed me around to see what a loser you are."
"Don't act innocent with me!" There's a flurry of red bolts in the air, and just as quickly Yuck summons his bamboo sword and deflects them all. Furious, Coop fires an energy sphere, but the rabbit cuts through it without batting an eye. "I always knew you'd - bawk - get between me and my Yin! Her first kiss was - bawk - supposed to be MINE!"
Just the mention of that kiss makes Yin flinch, and Yuck seems to have a similar reaction - the red all over his face can't be anything else beside anger - as he lowers his guard. "You're still hung over that!? How many times do I have to tell you that I do NOT like her-!"
Another red bolt, and this time Yuck doesn't move quick enough to parry it. The sword is knocked several feet away, and now weaponless he can only stare back at Coop, who is breathing more heavily as more, darker smoke comes out of him.
"Still making me look like a - bawk - idiot, huh!? Just like you did back when we worked for the Nightmaster!?" Yuck's hands light up in orange magic and Yin's in blue; she doesn't like the way Coop is walking towards them. She doesn't like the way he's glaring at them. She doesn't like anything about this. "If you're not gonna - bawk - admit it, then..."
Suddenly, his glare is focused entire on her. And even though it's hard to make out his expression behind those sunglasses, she already knows something terrible is about to happen.
"THEN I'LL MAKE YOU!"
In that moment, time flows too fast and not at all. She hears Yang yell her name but it sounds too far away. She sees Coop's Aura reach out to her, but she can't move. She wants to scream, but her voice is stuck in her throat.
The last thing she sees is Yuck's rage turn to horror from the corner of her vision before she closes her eyes.
.
.
.
She expects there to be pain, but instead, she feels...warm? And it's a kind of warmth she recognizes, a blanket of light she's summoned more than enough times; enough times to know it's not hers.
She expects to see Coop's yellow, Yang's blue or even Master Yo's aquamarine.
But when Yin opens her eyes, all she sees is green.
A giant rabbit Aura she's never seen before, the color of fresh mint leaves, hunched over as it holds her in its clawed paws against its chest for dear life - and from there she has a perfect view of Yuck floating inside it, hunched in the same position and face twisted in pain from Coop's fist digging into his back.
"Yuck." She's trying to process the sight before her, and one thought sticks right out in her mind. "You summoned your Aura."
Yuck opens his eyes, and looks around like he's just realized where he is. If this had been any situation she would've marveled at his childlike confusion and even awe; "I...I did?"
"But how? You couldn't do it all those other times, and the only way to do it is through-"
Oh.
Her eyes meet his, and in that moment she knows.
Oh.
The complete silence between them is cut by Yang's distant voice, in pain but very much awake; "Don't like her, huh?"
It's already past midnight, and Yin can't sleep.
Usually, this wouldn't even be a problem; Yin is used to barely sleeping some nights - if at all. It's the way she's always been, while Yang was always known for oversleeping. It's the reason she's awake that's the problem.
Yuck loves her.
Her sworn enemy. The person who promised to destroy her and my family. The one who broke her heart, the one she shrunk out of existence, the one who corrupted her with mischievous energy, the one she beat the tar out of even when he never fought back-
From every possible angle, it just doesn't make any sense.
And to make it worse, he had avoided her all day, ever since Coop was taken down and the Nightmaster's energy finally removed from him. After that, her mind had been busy with helping her friends get back home, watching over Yang, explaining everything to Master Yo; by the time she was done, she still hadn't seen any sign of Yuck.
But she wants answers.
She levitates out of her bed, careful not to wake Yang from the bed across. Usually that's never a problem since he sleeps like a log, but with the injuries he took in battle earlier he really needs the rest. Quietly, she makes her way through the dojo and towards the infirmary, where he's supposed to be resting - 'supposed' being the key word.
She grits her teeth when she sees the empty bed. At least she has an idea on where he could be.
Closing the door gently behind her, she levitates instead towards the training shed. Sure enough, she can hear someone inside; the door shows her Yuck beating a training dummy even though there's no more stuffing in it to beat anymore. Under his torn gi, bandages wrapped around his arms and chest are still visible, but if they bother him he doesn't let it show.
"Do you ever sleep?"
He freezes at the sound of her voice, fist raised hesitantly in the air, before he keeps punching the dummy like nothing happened. Frustrated, Yin uses her magic to throw the dummy across the shed and away from him, and it's still not enough to make him look at her.
"We need to talk about what happened today."
No answer, but she doesn't let it stop her. Carefully, she floats closer to him; "Yuck, I know what I saw today. We all saw it! And you've done nothing but ignore me, so could you please-"
"Nothing happened."
She stops midsentence. His voice has no anger, no joy, no emotion whatsoever, and he still refuses to look at her. She hates it. "What do you mean nothing happened!?"
"I don't know what you think you saw, what you think happened," A second dummy glows orange and lands in front of Yuck, and he starts whaling on it like Yin isn't even there; "but it doesn't matter, so just drop it already."
"But your Aura-"
"Lucky shot."
"Are you serious right now?!" She lands between him and the dummy, just narrowly avoiding getting punched as Yuck dodges her at the last second. She swears she sees panic and worry in his eyes, but it's replaced with a scowl so quickly she can't know for sure, and she's too riled up to care. "You can't just... fall in love with me and then act like it doesn't matter! That's not fair!"
"How many times do I have to repeat myself!? I DON'T like you!"
"I know what I saw! You couldn't even summon sparks before!"
"It was just a coincidence, alright!? I told you, it was luck-"
"For Foo's sake, could you stop being so proud for once and be straight with me!?"
"FINE!" His yell is so loud it makes her flinch, ears pressed to her head. "Let's say that I do love you! That I was actually stupid enough to fall head over heels for someone I tried to waste multiple times, even though I knew just fine how dumb that'd be!"
"...That...sounded very specific-"
"But do you even love me back!?"
That question throws Yin off completely, like the wind has been knocked out of her. The silence that falls over them is deafening, and she desperately thinks of something to break but all she can think of is how loud her heart is hammering in her chest.
Does she love him back? After everything he did before? After everything he did today?
She opens her mouth but the words won't come out. Just like that day in the backyard.
She doesn't know.
And she sees the same realization dawn on Yuck's face, and he just...crumples. Suddenly, he looks so tired and defeated like he's never seen him before, yet she can't force herself to stop him as he walks silently past her towards the shed's exit. It's not until he opens the door that the words finally come out.
"Why me?"
She doesn't hear anything for what feels like an eternity, and she's too afraid to turn around. She's convinced he left her, but his uncharacteristically quiet voice is deafening in the silence of the shed; "You were nice to me."
She was? She can't remember of a single time she was nice to Yuck; every encounter before he came to the dojo has always ended in a fight for their lives, and even after there was little kindness between them. Unless..."You mean...Brett?"
"Pathetic, right? You weren't actually nice to me." And Yuck laughs, but it's an empty sound and it cuts deeply throughout the shed and into her heart. "But you still made it so easy."
"...Made what easy?"
She still can't turn around, but in that moment she's grateful for it because she can tell he's crying.
"Forgetting there was a disguise in the first place."
Everything is chaos downtown.
Between the ruined buildings, civilians screaming their heads off and the red-armored soldiers of Ferocitus' Army chasing after them, Yin has trouble gathering her bearings. She sees a soldier raising a hammer to a cowering couple beside her, and just barely manages to fire a beam that knocks him out.
However, she doesn't notice a second soldier ready to strike behind her. At least, not until a Paw of Pain flattens him like a pancake against a wall.
"This is insane!" Yang - fully recovered from his fight with Coop, yet already sporting fresh injuries - presses his back against his sister's as more soldiers surround them in a circle. Foo Orbs and Yangarangs are enough to keep the first wave away, but more of them keep coming. "If I had known Ferocitus would be more than just a throwaway season finale villain, I would've kicked his butt WAY harder!"
Just as the second, bigger wave of soldiers step closer, a ring of lightning strikes down to fry them all. Master Yo lands right next to them, hands glowing aquamarine as the remaining soldiers step back. "No time to break the fourth wall, Yang! If we find and defeat Ferocitus, his army'll have no choice but to surrender!"
"But we haven't seen him since the fight broke out, and-!" Yin's eyes widen, and she looks behind her master frantically. "Wait, wasn't Yuck supposed to be with you?"
"He ran off!" A soldier gets too close and nearly gets their head punched off by Yo. "But I thought he did it to meet with you two!"
An explosion in the distance catches their attention - Woo Foo Knights and soldiers alike. Through the flames and the rising curtain of smoke, a horned, four-armed silhouette can be seen fighting against a much smaller figure.
It's hard to tell from a distance, but it looks close enough to a rabbit.
"That IDIOT!"
It's all Yin needs to see. A surge of panic-fueled adrenaline courses through her, and before anyone can stop her she's flying in the direction of the fight. Some of the soldiers react quickly enough, but they're all pushed away by bursts of blue magic washing them away like waves. She can hear Yang and Yo call her name, but they're already too far away to stop her.
She can barely see through the smoke and dust, but she refuses to slow down, desperately looking between the buildings for any sign of Yuck. She's not even sure why she's panicking so much; she knows Yuck can defend himself just fine.
She can't explain why the thought of him getting hurt terrifies her like this.
A large noise in front of her snaps her back to the present, just in time to see a pale green blur crash into her. Pain blossoms all over her body from the impact, but even as they spiral out of control through the air, she barely calls enough power to summon a Foo Field.
The landing still hurts, though.
Groaning, she sits upright and sees Yuck lying by her feet, face contorted in pain while holding his right arm (she can't see it clearly, but something about the way it's bending looks wrong). She can't say anything before the earth shakes under their feet, and from all the way across the street she can see Ferocitus' horns cut through the smoke.
"Ah, now there's a familiar face!" He laughs as he watches Yin struggle to get Yuck to his feet. His face is obscured by his helmet and all the dust, but she can still see his beady yellow eyes narrow with glee. "Who's the forgettable season finale villain now, huh?"
"You just had to fight him alone, did you!?" She wraps her arm around him while he leans against her for support; her entire body is screaming out in pain from the crash landing, but at least Ferocitus is taking his sweet time gloating before actually reaching them. "We're supposed to be a team! What were you thinking!?"
She expects him to complain, to jump back into battle - broken arm and all - because at least any of those actions would be familiar. But he doesn't even look at her, and she can barely hear his voice. "Sorry."
The sadness in his voice makes her heart clench, but she can't dwell too much on it as Ferocitus steps into full view. He's much bigger than she remembers (a spell, maybe?), much too big for her and Yuck to fight him head on as they are. At least the size slows him down, but escape isn't an option either.
"We need to summon our Auras."
"Don't." He closes his eyes, the pain showing clear as day on his face - and she knows it's not just because of his injuries. "Don't do that. Please."
"We have to do it."
"I can't. I told you it was a one-time thing." He's struggling to keep his voice level, but she can hear it break- "I can't, I can't, I can't-"
The shaking is getting stronger. Ferocitus is coming closer, one of his four hands reaching out for them.
"I'm sorry." Yin whispers, and realizes too late that her voice is breaking too. "I'm sorry I never reached to you. And I'm sorry I never gave you an answer; I j-just didn't know how to!"
"It doesn't matter." Yuck is looking away from her again, staring at the hulking giant coming at them. "I didn't expect an answer, anyways."
Yin looks at Ferocitus's hand, looming above them. They're both hurt, they're both tired, Yang and Master Yo won't make it in time to save them; it might truly be the end. And finally, she looks back at Yuck, already resigned to the fate that awaited them.
In that moment, as ill-fitting as it seems, she thinks about their first 'date'. About how Brett had the perfect knees and the perfect hair, but the eyes - her favorite part - were always Yuck's. That's when she realizes she has an answer for him.
She holds his hand, gently but tightly. For the first time in days, he looks at her and the smile she gives him lights something familiar in his chest.
Oh.
His eyes meet hers, and in that moment he knows.
Oh.
The world around them bursts with light, pink and green intertwined, warm and bright like the sun.