She held a large, white, rectangular box with a familiar sigil strewn across its lid. Red eyes met with a pair of horrified lavender ones. "This was on your doorstep." Raven handed over the box to Yang who quickly grabbed it, and shoved it underneath her arm, replacing the wallet that was there as she has tossed it aside toward the coffee table.
From behind Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Ruby all eyed the door; they knew exactly who was here, and yet they did not dare make a peep. Blake eyed Ruby, nudging her as she had walked past her to avoid the confrontation that was clearly about to take place. Ruby took the hint, quietly making her way to one of the rooms. Weiss watched them leave, but she knew she couldn't leave Yang. She would never leave Yang.
"What are you doing here?" Yang's look of worry didn't seem to falter as she asked the question. Weiss held a baited breath as she quietly listened on. Tai wasn't here to save them, having just left for work hours before.
Raven sighed. "I heard about what happened." She glanced Yang over, her red eyes falling on Yang's obvious stub. "I just came… to check on you."
Yang's concern and worry quickly hardened into anger. "You came to what?"
"I came to—" Raven began, only to be interrupted.
"No, I heard what you said. It's just that I can't believe you think that I want to see you of all people," Yang began to growl, her tone becoming harsher with each new word.
Weiss flinched at the tone as she watched from behind; she had only seen Yang this angry once… and that was toward Cardin. Though, she had known parts of the history between Yang and her mother. It had seemed that Yang was not over that type of poison, or maybe it had to be expelled a different way.
Through words.
Through a broken and hurting voice.
Weiss was just here for support.
Raven? She was here to hopefully finally listen to her own daughter's voice, lost and broken in its own way. Yang had been strong for way too long, she had conquered many heartbreaks and disappointments. Only to have the main one rear its ugly head at her front door.
"I am your mother, Yang!" Raven confidently stated.
"You were my mother, Raven," she spat out. "That's a title only Summer deserves."
"And yet you still call me Mom," Raven reminded her. "But I didn't come here to argue you with you, Yang. I came to… apologize." A sudden change in tone that both Yang and Weiss caught seemed to hint at genuine feelings.
Yang's emotions seemed to waver between anger and sadness, her words catching in her throat as she began to sputter. "Y-You think you deserve to be forgiven?" She sounded as if she was in disbelief.
Weiss caught wind of what Yang was finally doing, what Yang had needed to do as she quickly ran off to Yang's room, grabbing the one thing she thought might help with the process.
"You really, really think I want you to apologize for all that you've done and haven't done now?" Yang seemed to reiterate, however, Raven didn't even so much as flinch. Yang continued to speak, not even knowing if anyone but Raven was around to hear her as they still stood at the foot of the door.
"Can we not do this out in the open, Yang?" Raven asked, now stepping forward.
Yang backed up, not wanting Raven to get too close to her, and she ended up letting the woman inside the house. Raven gently shut the door behind her and looked up at Yang. Yang's emotions were still written all over her face, one part anger, the other part sadness.
Weiss had returned with the box that held the necklace from before. She stood at the entrance to the hallway, a little shocked to see Raven had entered the house. Weiss couldn't deny the similarities between the two, there was no challenging that Yang was the daughter of this sturdy of a woman.
Raven eyed Weiss and the box she had in her hand. "Seems like privacy is a long forgotten thing. Though, it does seem like the lack of privacy offers a lot more than I bargained for." She gave the smallest of smiles as she nodded toward Weiss. "You look awfully familiar, what's your name?" Raven asked.
Yang looked behind her, finally realizing Weiss was there, and with the box that Yang now considered poison.
"You don't deserve to talk to her," Yang growled out. "You don't deserve to talk to me, either."
Raven sighed and looked back toward her daughter. "You're not even going to give us a chance to talk this out, Yang?" she questioned, her tone was getting slightly higher as she did.
"Talk this out? Talk this out?" Yang parroted the words. "You didn't even talk it out with dad when you just left him. You didn't talk it out with me or Ruby when you left us. Why would you think I would want to hear you now? What? You didn't think a five-year-old would understand why her mother would want to leave for 'better' things?" she trembled as she spoke, her words harsh and bitter.
She had every right to be so.
"I gave you a chance to come with me. Several times. Yang, you could've lived with me and maybe none of this would've happened!" The conversation was nearing a yelling match as both of them stood a foot away while trying to out-speak the other.
Weiss wanted to move in, to help, but this wasn't her battle to fight. So she kept quiet as she always had. Yang didn't need another person to speak for her, her own voice was slowly being found after all these years of being hurt and not being able to do a thing about it. Now was the day to do something about it.
"Y-you think just because I didn't move in with you that this wouldn't have happened? I can't believe you! You think that being with you would make me happy? Nothing could've made me happier than all that has happened in my life up until this point." Yang took a deep breath, her brows furrowing as she could feel her front continue to slip.
"I've suffered through loss, through heartbreak, through losing parts of myself! And you know what? I realized I am stronger than I have ever been for it." Yang had lost herself in her emotions, sobbing as she spoke — her words remaining clear and enunciated even through the tears. "Being with you, I would've learned nothing! I wouldn't have grown and I would've ended up like you! A coward who can't even admit to her family that she's afraid of learning how to really love someone! Who can't admit when she's really wrong! Who runs away when things don't go in her favor!"
Weiss was momentarily baffled at the event and words unfolding before her. She had no place in this, but she couldn't help but feel proud of Yang in this very moment. Showing a display of emotions before someone was always tough, especially if that someone was the person whom the emotions were directed at. Moments like these were never easy, and one day Weiss knew she'd have to fight a battle just like this. She could only hope to learn from Yang.
Yang turned towards Weiss, and Raven stood there quietly, hints of shame and regret written on her face. Yang handed the box to Weiss that was kept underneath her own arm. They exchanged boxes. Though, Weiss seemed to gawk at the box in her hand, now, as it held a specific symbol. Her symbol. Winter had clearly sent this.
Yang turned back to Raven. "Here. This is yours." She shoved the box into Raven's arms.
"My necklace? You're giving it back?" Raven seemed a little saddened and dumbfounded.
"I don't need it. Like I don't need you." Yang held a rather intense look and tone about her. "I realized the longer that I held onto it, the more it continued to hurt me as you had. I thought having it would give me some sort of hope to hold onto that maybe you'd come here, and that maybe I could forgive you. But then I realized…" She looked over to Weiss and then back toward Raven. "You shouldn't keep things in your life that have done nothing but poison you. And for that, I'm not ready to forgive you. You haven't earned my forgiveness…" Yang trailed off, her voice growing sadder.
There was something Yang had to do, another talk. But not with Raven. There was one more person in her life that she had needed to talk to. To forgive.
"You don't want to try even one last time? For me? Your family?" Raven asked, she seemed persistent to get to know Yang. But Yang had made her decision. Raven had lost.
Yang was past her anger, past her sadness, all she felt was pity for her birth mother. "You stopped being family when you decided to walk out on all of us for your 'other family.' Besides, I've got all the family I need here in this house."
Raven sighed, turning her back to Yang and toward the front door. "I see…" She reached the handle and opened the door. "Yang, I'm sorry." She seemed to stop at the foot of the door.
"Yeah, me too," Yang replied in a somber tone. She held onto the stub of her lost limb.
Raven walked forward, shutting the door behind her.
As soon as she had, Yang turned toward Weiss and pulled her in for an unexpected and sudden embrace. Weiss dropped the box she held, making a loud thud as it hit the ground. She returned the embrace, letting herself just be there in whatever way possible for Yang. Yang squeezed her tighter than she ever had. "S-sorry," Yang sniffled as she pulled back, silent tears running down her face.
"I didn't think I had the strength to just… tell her off like that. But, she's no longer a part of me. Of who I am. I realized I've got everything I need… here." She stared at Weiss as she wiped her face, her arm still wrapped around her.
Weiss and Yang stared at each other, silent as they looked over each other's faces. Yang's eyes were heavy with fallen tears. Weiss in this very moment could feel her heart beating wildly. Yang's eyes glanced down to Weiss's lips, it was obvious what they both wanted to do, and they had slowly begun to close the gap—
"Are you guys okay?" a voice behind them interrupted. Ruby. Blake appeared behind her.
Weiss and Yang nearly flew apart. "Y-yeah! Yeah!" Yang stuttered out. "I'm okay, really. I'm glad that I could do that. Honestly, I don't think I could've done it without you all." Yang awkwardly scratched at the back of her head, light sniffles escaping her.
"You know we're here for you, Yang." Blake nodded, then glanced toward the floor. "What's that?" She pointed at the box that had fallen out of Weiss's hands.
Both Weiss and Yang looked at the box splayed out before them. Yang picked it up and shook it. "A little heavy," she muttered. Yang looked up at Blake, there was more to say today, but for once, Yang didn't fear what was to come.
"Let's go to my room, we'll see what's in the box there." Yang led the way with Weiss, Blake, and Ruby following behind.