"Check," Yang grinned across the table at Blake who was sitting on the foot of her hospital bed and staring intently at the board between them.
They'd been at this game for a good thirty minutes as they waited for Yang's surgery. Blake had been here, along with Yang's father, through all the pre surgery preparation and discussions on recovery that would come after the arm was attached.
The only thing left now was to wait, and that would be over soon enough. So Yang was thoroughly enjoying kicking Blake's ass in chess.
As Blake continued to ponder her next move, Yang looked up at her dad who was watching with a smirk. "You really should have warned her."
"She wouldn't have believed me," Yang looked to her partner again. "Blake's always considered herself the strategist—probably never thought I'd be better at her in a game like chess."
"That's not true," Blake said as she picked up a knight and moved it, making sure to leave her finger on it and examine the position. "You're much smarter than you give yourself credit for and you are a very determined person." It was ridiculously cute how she looked right now; her eyes thoughtful and her tongue sticking out just a bit. Yang nearly lost it when she looked up and saw those ears pressed down against the top of her head. "I just didn't think you would ever have the patience to sit still and play chess for this long." As she finished, Blake removed her finger from her piece and nodded. "It's a pleasant surprise." She added a smile for good measure.
Yang quickly grabbed her queen and slid it right into the adjacent knight and knocked it over. "Checkmate." Blake's eyes narrowed. "What?! You moved right into it!"
"How are you good at this?!" Blake finally cracked and Yang started laughing. "When we found the chess pieces in the forest you called it a cute little pony!"
To add insult, Yang picked up the knight she'd just taken from Blake. "Well, I mean, they are kind of cute. Yours in particular are the cutest. They look good on my side of the board."
Blake growled. "You're asking for it."
"Oh am I?" Yang pushed, she couldn't help herself. Blake was glaring at her and her ears were somehow pressing even further down on her head. She looked absolutely adorable. "What are you gonna do about it, Belladonna?"
"Yang," the third voice in the room spoke. "Please don't forget that your father, who loves his oldest daughter dearly, is still in the room."
Blake's dangerous gaze vanished and her eyes went wide. The tension that had built between them dissipated, but Yang didn't care—she'd noticed how Blake's breathing increased. How she'd moved closer and closer towards her. She knew that if her father wasn't here, Blake might have jumped over the chess board and right on top of her.
As hesitant as she might have been when Blake first came back into her life, Yang could no longer deny that whatever feelings she'd had for Blake at Beacon were even stronger now. Yang had spent many nights trying to remember what Blake's face looked like or the memory of her voice. None of those compared to the real thing. Blake was even more beautiful now than she had been years ago. She always seemed so in control but at the same time had a disarmingly cute disposition.
When the world managed to slow down enough for Blake to be herself, she was very much a girl who didn't know how to let herself be happy. Even at Beacon, whenever they would actually have fun and do things normal kids did, Blake almost felt guilty for it. Yang noticed, because Yang always noticed things about Blake. How she would step away from the group when things escalated too much or bury herself in a book instead of going out with everyone for ice cream.
Blake wanted to be happy, she just didn't think she deserved it.
If Yang were being honest with herself, and at this point she didn't have much choice, she wanted to be the one to make Blake happy.
It was just scary to admit because Yang wasn't entirely sure she was enough to make anyone happy. Her track record so far wasn't great.
Yang's peace faded and she noticed that Blake had removed the pieces from the board.
"You want to play again?" Yang asked, not wanting Blake to leave her bed.
However, the Faunus shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, your doctor will be here soon and I'm not sure my diminished ego could handle another defeat." She folded up the board and slipped off the bed. Her leg was still a bit tender and Yang knew that she'd been pushing herself in the gym to get stronger.
Yang only hoped this new arm would allow her to return to the gym with Blake and the rest of her team. She wanted back in the fight more than anything—well—almost anything
Something hit her on the side of the head and she hissed before noticing a pen at her side. She turned to where her father was and he mouthed 'I'm right here' with a glare.
That's when Yang realized she'd been staring at Blake's butt right in front of him.
She offered him an awkward shrug before burying her red face in her hands when Blake turned back to her.
"You okay?" Blake's concerned voice caused Yang to improvise and she faked a yawn.
"I'm fine, just tired of waiting."
Blake smiled and all was right with the world. "See, I knew the chess thing was a fluke - you never were one for patience. I wish I could stick around but I should go check on the other two."
"How's Ruby been?" Yang asked both of them. "With all this going on, I haven't had much time to see her the last couple of days."
Both Taiyang and Blake shared a look that spoke volumes. Yang felt the rot in her stomach bubble—she knew the truth.
"Weiss is doing what she can. Ruby was better the last time I spoke to her," that was a lie and Yang knew it. They didn't want Yang to stress before her surgery. "When we get you all squared away, we'll pick Ruby back up. That's what we do, right? Take care of each other."
Yang exhaled slowly and forced herself to nod. She wanted to believe that—to believe that teamwork and friendship would be enough. But it was so hard to see Ruby void of emotion like she had been a few days earlier. Yang tried every old trick in her arsenal to draw her out. Ruby had zero response and when she finally came around a few hours later, it was like she hadn't noticed any time had passed.
It was scary and Ruby needed help, but Yang knew she had to help herself first.
Suddenly, Blake was right in Yang's comfort zone and had her arms around her. "I'll see you when the surgery is over, okay? You'll be knocked out, but I'll be there keeping an eye on you."
Breathing in the wonderful aroma of all things Blake Belladonna, Yang put her arm around her partner and nodded.
"I'm sorry I kicked your ass at chess," Yang teased and smiled even more when Blake groaned into her ear.
However, she was not prepared for Blake's lips to suddenly be right next to her ear. "You know," her hot breath tickled Yang's skin and lit every nerve in her body on fire. "I've killed people for less than that."
As shaken as she was, Yang was not about to go quietly. "Then I guess I'm lucky you like me."
"Guys," Taiyang sighed. "I'm still right here."
Blake jumped back like Yang had set her on fire and blushed profusely as she backpedaled to the door. "I…uh…I'll see you after the thing, okay? It's um…it'll go great and…" Blake hastily left the room and Yang laughed softly.
When she finally chanced a look at her father, he was shaking his head. "What?" She asked with a brow quirked.
"Nothing," he shrugged. "Just wondering if this is the same song and dance you two used to do at Beacon."
"What song and dance?"
"Oh come on, Yang. If I hadn't been here, who knows what your doctor would have walked in on."
Yang grinned at him. "Yeah, how tragic that would have been."
"Then again, that would require you actually, you know, telling her how you feel."
"Okay," her smile fell and she glowered. "That was a cheap shot."
"I'm just saying—and it's going to sound cliché but it's still true—time is short, kiddo. If you care about that girl as much as it looks…you should take the leap."
Every crushing bit of self doubt came tumbling down on Yang in that moment. "It's not that simple."
"Why not? She clearly feels the same way."
Yang knew it was true—Blake had been at her side almost exclusively since they came to this base. It was so wonderful to have her back but at the same time, she couldn't depend on that need to last.
Fortunately, (or unfortunately), her father seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. "You're afraid she's going to leave again."
She closed her eyes and put her hand on the stump of her arm. "People always leave."
"I didn't," he said and Yang only realized there were tears in her eyes when she looked up at him through blurred vision. "I know I haven't always been father of year material and…I kind of fell apart after Summer passed away." He took a deep breath. "But I'll never leave you, Yang. I'll never not be here for you. As long as I'm still around, you'll always have me." He rose up from his seat and pulled it closer to the bed. Once he could reach, he took her hand between his own and squeezed. "Which means you can take a chance on a once in a lifetime girl like that and if, for some reason, it does fall apart—I'll be there to pick you back up."
Reaching up, Yang pulled him in with her arm and hugged him. He was quick to respond and wrapped his arms around her.
"I love you, Dad."
He kissed the side of her head. "I love you too, Little Dragon."
There was a knock on the door and they pulled apart to see a pair of nurses step inside.
"Ms. Xiao Long? Are you ready?"
Taking a deep breath, Yang grinned as widely as she could. "Let's do it."
"Wow, it's thicker than I expected."
"Nonsense, it suits her perfectly."
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just meant it was different than I imagined. It looks really good actually. Heavy though."
"The metal is dust infused magnesium based alloy and it's almost feather light but as tough as any metal in all of Remnant. It is a revolutionary technology developed by some of the top researches in Atlas."
"So it will protect her?"
A sigh. "Yes, Blake…it will protect her."
"Good."
Yang had been alert for a few minutes, just listening to the conversation between her two teammates. Despite the fact that Ruby wasn't there, it was comforting to hear their voices. Her mind had still not registered anything new—the arm was there, attached now. She could feel the extra weight and a tingling at her side, but she'd yet to actually attempt moving anything.
When she finally opened her eyes, she saw the two of them seated in chairs on the right side of her. Weiss was tapping away at her scroll—her tongue sticking out rather cutely as she seemed intently focused on the task at her.
As she turned to Blake, all she saw was a pair of amber eyes staring at her.
"Yang!" She cried out and Weiss jumped—nearly dropping her phone.
A laugh bubbled in her throat and she ended up coughing at how dry and scratchy it felt.
"I'll go find the doctor." Weiss said as she stood up and stepped to the bed momentarily to touch Yang's knee. "Ruby sends her love." Weiss' voice betrayed her and Yang nodded slightly before Weiss turned quickly on her heel to exit.
"Alright," Blake said and suddenly a hand was scooping up the back of her head. "Water?" Blake asked with a cup in hand and Yang again nodded.
The moment it touched her lips was borderline orgasmic. It felt so refreshing and seemed to soak up the desert that had formed in her mouth. She greedily swallowed and tilted her head back for more.
Blake pulled the cup away with a chuckle. "Easy now, you just got out of surgery, we don't need you choking to death."
"It's…so good though." Yang couldn't help but notice that even after Blake put the cup down, her hand was still cradling Yang's head. "You're here."
"Of course I'm here—your dad would be too but we told him to go be with Ruby for a bit. Weiss was very insistent that we could handle you for a while."
Yang shook her head. "Nobody can handle…all of this…sexiness." She winked and Blake let out a beautifully soft laugh that made Yang's heart swell.
"So," Blake pulled her chair up and sat down. Taking her hand from under Yang's head and resting it alongside the bed. "How does it feel?"
"Heavy," Yang closed her eyes, trying to fully understand the sensation. From her shoulder all the way down to her fingertips, she was connected to this - she could feel it.
"Do you think you can move it?"
Even though she was scared to try, Yang nodded. "I can," her voice cracked as she spoke and suddenly her jaw was trembling. "I can feel my arm."
When she opened her eyes again, Blake was smiling at her with tear streaks on her cheeks. "It suits you."
Taking a deep breath, Yang slowly moved muscles she'd long since lost and felt a sudden control of the weight of her new arm. She watched in awe as the thick, black and yellow plated metal forearm rose up from the bed and hold itself up.
Her index finger moved first, just a slight twitch—a test and it felt amazing. From there, she closed her hand into a fist and then opened it back up again. The movements were clumsy and a bit unnatural. She wasn't used to this and each movement she made was much too fast. She had control, but it would take time to master it. When she tried to put her arm back down, it was too sudden and too strong. She smashed against the bar of the hospital bed and bent it.
"Oh shit!" She cursed and raised her arm straight into the air. "Well, it's really powerful, huh?"
Yang seized up when she saw Blake reach out and wrap both her hands around Yang's new, metal hand. The contact sent a shockwave of sensation up her arm and into her shoulder. Each touch did the same thing and she held as steady as she could while Blake pried her fingers open gently and held her hand.
"No, you're really powerful."
Blake's hand looked smaller compared to Yang's new metal plated fingers. She wanted to hold Blake's hand back, but she was scared of hurting her.
That was the feeling Yang felt the most around Blake lately—fear. She was afraid of how she felt, she was afraid to speak up about how she felt.
If this new arm was a symbol of anything for Yang, it was that she couldn't let fear dictate her life anymore.
"Blake," she very gingerly pulled away from Blake's grip and looked into her eyes. "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Ms. Xiao Long!" The sound of a new voice in the room destroyed the moment and both girls looked to the doorway to see Yang's main surgeon stepping into the room. "I see you have already began to use basic movements. The surgery was a tremendous success and with the proper training and assistance, your new arm should have complete functionality within the next few months!"
"Months?" Yang tried not to sound disappointed. It was such a tremendous gift that had been given to her, but the thought of needing months to adjust was daunting.
"Unfortunately, yes—" the doctor moved to the side of the bed where Blake was and politely asked her to give him some room. She scooted her chair back and the doctor began examining the attachment point. "You're going to be learning an entirely new way of motion and movement. Your new arm is, as your bed can attest to," he glanced at the dented bar with a smirk. "Much sturdier than a normal, human appendage. There will be an adjustment period." When he seemed satisfied with what he saw, he leaned back, jotting a few things down in his notepad. "The process will seem frustrating at first, but it will come to you eventually and, in due time, you should be able to resume whatever tasks or duties you had before your detachment." His smile grew. "The truth is, Ms. Xiao Long—your new prosthetic is of the highest quality and could be seen at some point, as an upgrade to any aspiring huntress such as yourself."
"I'm not—" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence. She wasn't a huntress, not legally anyway. She never finished academy and never got her license. But as she slowly lifted her new arm again, watching as her wrist turned to show her the palm, she couldn't help but imagine fighting again.
Yang was restless as night fell over the military base. The doctor had requested that she stay in the medical wing for just one more night for surveillance since she'd been sedated earlier, but for the most part, her recovery from surgery was fast. Still, doctor's orders were doctor's orders so Yang found herself sitting up in her bed in the middle of the night.
Her fingers couldn't stop tracing over the material of her new arm—it was sleek and sturdy—everything about it seemed top of the line. When she saw Weiss again, she might have to piss off her sister and give the ice queen a kiss for giving her so much. Yang hardly felt like she'd done anything to deserve all of this.
Most of the day had been spent avoiding as much movement as possible with it—she didn't really have a good handle on how strong it was or how to control it. Anytime she did move it the speed was too fast, she nearly knocked her father out when he hugged and she tried to hug him back.
Everyone seemed very upbeat about it though and Yang felt that throughout the day. She fed off of their positivity and hope—it's what she'd done her whole life.
Now though, in the quiet of the night and all by herself; she pondered just how much her life had changed. She was twenty-two years old, would be twenty-three soon. She'd wasted the last five years recovering from the trauma she'd faced and the limb she'd lost. Her sister was a wreck and Yang couldn't figure out what to do for her. She was basically in love with her best friend and now she had a chance to get back the future she thought she'd lost years ago.
So why was she so damn scared?
Knock knock
Yang perked up and stared at the closed door across from her. It was late, well into the wee hours of the morning. Anyone knocking on her door at this time couldn't be anything good.
Still, she climbed out of bed, happy to have something to do, and stumbled through the dark towards the door. What she wouldn't give for Blake's night vision.
She took careful steps but still managed to catch her foot on a misplaced chair and stumble into the nearest wall. Of course, her instinct was to catch herself and she put her arms up to brace for the impact. However, her right arm ended up going straight through the wall and the momentum drove her cheek into it as well.
"Oof!" She cried and slowly drew herself back.
"Yang?" The door opened on it's own, the light came on and she saw Ruby step through worriedly. "Are you okay?" Her little sister moved slowly, still bandaged up from her own injuries but moving well enough to walk all the way to here. As Yang recoiled and assessed the damage to the wall, she looked at her metal arm and sighed. It was covered in dust and remnants of plaster. With so many metal walls in this place, she managed to find the cheap one and run her arm right through it.
"I'm fine, just…adjusting." She turned to give Ruby the once over and frowned at what she saw. Ruby looked tired, more so than she had been even after nearly dying. Her long hair was disheveled atop her head and she had dark circles under her eyes. "What are you doing up this late?"
Ruby cast her eyes down and shrugged. "I—I couldn't sleep. I mean…I was sleeping and had a nightmare."
Yang made sure to keep her overpowered arm at her side and used her left one to pull Ruby in for a hug. She felt Ruby exhale against her and a pair of arms cling to her. Despite her growth, Yang was still a bit taller than her sister and had the perfect position to kiss top of her head.
"I'm surprised you came to me for this." Yang said with a hint of insecurity in her voice that she tried to mask with sarcasm.
A pair of silver eyes looked up at her. "What? Why? I always used to come to you with nightmares."
"True," Yang shrugged. "But that was before you were dating your partner."
Ruby flushed a deep shade of red and looked down at the floor as if it had set itself on fire. "I—I didn't know…you knew that. She's asleep in the upper quarters and I—you…"
"Relax Ruby," Yang rescued her from a life lost to stammering. "I am, honestly, glad that you and Weiss have found something in each other. I'm not entirely sure I will ever understand what that something is, but Weiss seems to genuinely care about you."
A tamed smile crossed Ruby's lips as she nodded. "I care about her too."
Despite the strangeness of it all, Yang's heart swelled at her sister's admission. "Good, I'm happy for you both." She reached out and tilted Ruby's chin up to look at her. "That still doesn't explain why you're here though. You're not at full strength yet and you need to be resting, keeping your aura strong and healing."
Instead of an answer, Ruby put her head down and stepped back into Yang's body—seeking comfort. Yang couldn't hold back and once again gave her sister a one armed embrace. It was good to see Ruby up and moving around, but that didn't change the fact that everyone had noticed the decline in Ruby's mood the last few days.
In fact, Yang hadn't seen any signs of the Ruby she knew five years ago.
"What's wrong, Rubes?" She felt Ruby shake her head against her. "You know you can tell me, right? I won't judge or get upset or anything. If you need to talk—I'm here for you."
Ruby was quiet for a few long moments and Yang continued to run her hand up and down her sister's back. It was hard to see Ruby like this—so reserved and distant. Ruby was constantly the light of Yang's life—after everything Yang had lost, everything they had both lost, Ruby always needed her and Yang always needed her back.
Now, after all the time apart, Ruby was practically a different person. One that Yang worried didn't need her anymore.
"It's nothing, just me being silly and scared about dumb nightmares." She laughed at herself and pulled away from the hug. Yang watched her eyes fall on the prosthetic arm and stare at it curiously. "You're the one with the fancy new robot arm. How does it feel?"
Yang hesitated on the change of subject. It bothered her how quickly Ruby could switch her mood like that. Still, talking to her sister about her new arm was better than not talking to her at all.
"It's really powerful—I mean look what I did to the wall over there." She shrugged in that direction and Ruby laughed. "I've got therapy sessions all day tomorrow and for the new few weeks to learn everything about it. Plus I'll finally be able to get out of this stupid medical wing."
"You and me both," Ruby said with a grin.
"Really? So soon for you?"
Ruby nodded triumphantly. "Yep! I mean I probably won't be able to run around and train or anything, but Weiss pulled some strings and managed to get me early leave. Though it's probably worse because she's stricter than the nurses."
Seeing the way Ruby's face lit up when she talked about Weiss was kind of awesome, if Yang had to admit. She never really thought about the possibility of Ruby dating anyone before—certainly not a girl like Weiss. The truth was, Ruby had never shown any interest in dating at all. If she could dress up her scythe and take it out for pasta and dessert, she probably would have.
"She worries about you, you know?"
Ruby's expression fell. "I—I know. I'm okay though."
"Are you?" Yang pressed, feeling like she needed to. "The other day you kinda…left us…mentally you were just in another place. That was pretty scary, Ruby."
Hastily, Ruby shook her head and waved Yang off. "Nah, I'm fine! It was just—I was just tired, you know? It's been a really long and stressful few weeks and I…" she seemed to rethink her sentence and shrug. "I'm better now, see? I had a nightmare and I found my big sister to make me feel better and you have. It's good to be able to do that again."
Despite the praise, Yang felt hollow at Ruby's words. The fact was, Yang hadn't done anything, it was Ruby who had come in looking sad and had randomly swapped emotions and was suddenly right as rain. It was unsettling to see her change so quickly—if anything, it made Yang feel worse.
"Are you really okay? Ruby you know it's alright if things are bad. It's okay to need help."
Yang knew she messed up when Ruby took a step away from her. "I don't need help, Yang."
"Ruby, I'm not trying to—"
"No!" Ruby shouted and it was Yang's turn to jump back. "You are trying! Trying to protect me, to shield me and hide me from how awful the world is! Don't you see it, Yang? This…all of this is a nightmare and we're never going to escape it. The more we fight, the worse things become and everyone I—we love is going to die!"
She had never seen this side of Ruby before. Yang didn't even know this side existed—it was terrifying and heartbreaking. "Ruby, you can't think that. We've got our team back together, Dad is here and Uncle Qrow. We can deal with whatever is happening and we'll be okay."
"It won't…you were all safer when I was gone. I—I'm too dangerous, people get hurt because of me. I've seen so many people…get hurt and…and die because of me and I couldn't save them." There was a war going on in Ruby's mind and it was agonizing to watch. She kept shaking her head and staring off at nothing.
Yang took a step forward to comfort her sister but Ruby pulled away. "Ruby, please calm down."
"I…I have to make it better. I have to make sure nobody else gets hurt."
"How are you going to do that? You can't save the world by yourself, Ruby."
Suddenly, a pair of silver eyes stared up at her. "No, but I know what I need to do!" Ruby's smile broadened and Yang was happy to see it.
"What's that?"
Ruby hugged her again. "I just have to put the past behind me. Focus on the future—our team and Weiss. You and dad, Blake. I have a lot of good things in my life, I just need to make sure they're safe. Then we can save the world together!"
Yang pulled back to study her sister. "Okay…so what are you going to do?"
"I need to kill the monster!"
As the words settled over her, Yang took in the bandage on Ruby's stomach and the dark circles under her eyes.
"The one that chased you? The one they captured? Ruby why would you even consider being anywhere near that thing?"
Ruby's smile faded. "Because it ruined my life! It's…awful, Yang. It needs to be killed so I can get past it and start focusing on the future!"
"But it's captured, Weiss has told me that it couldn't possibly escape and there's no reason for you to put yourself in danger."
She saw the shift in Ruby's expression—the distrust in her eyes and the way she took a step backwards. "So you don't think I should do it?"
"Of course not, Ruby. It's not safe and you're not fully healed. Just—" Yang sighed and strode over to her sister, she touched her shoulder and guided her to the bed. "You need to rest, okay? Sleep on it and…in the morning we'll figure everything out." It was a lie, Yang had no idea what the morning would bring. She only knew that she needed to talk to her father and probably Weiss and figure out a way they could help Ruby.
Right now, the way her sister spoke and the way she acted was as terrifying as it was heartbreaking. Ruby had walked out of their childhood home five years ago as a girl full of hope.
Whatever had come back was not the same person.
When Ruby sat down, she looked utterly defeated and was once again staring at the floor. "Hey," Yang tried but Ruby wouldn't look at her. "It'll be okay, Ruby. I promise." She hugged her sister before climbing into the bed with her and lying down.
Ruby slowly laid down next to her, her back to Yang and never said a word.