Date written: October 1, 2016 – October 2, 2016 (1,998 words)
Posted on FanFiction: October 4, 2016
A/N: Not an update per se. Let's call this an omake. Something I'm rewarding myself to write after all the seriousness these last few chapters. Seriously, I got a whole page of these "Tiny Interludes," many of 'em cute and a good exploration of the development between Tiny Yang and Teeny Yang. Hopefully I'll get to make more of 'em, because there's just so much untold tidbits between the two Yangs.
/ — — A TINY INTERLUDE 1 — — \
Inspiration
This occurred between Chapter 3 and 4
Yang observed as her father beat his cousin black and blue.
"You still up for it?" Dad asked.
They were in the backyard, about thirty minutes into their spar. Yang and her little sister, Ruby, were perched at the lowest porch step, watching the bout intently with a now emptied bowl of popcorn set on the step above them. Despite the length of the fight, it never once turned boring. Ruby's continued fixation proved that.
"What, are you kiddin'?" Auntie Yang asked back, putting her hand up in a boxer's stance while her legs wobbled below her. She offered a smug grin, but her voice sounded both tired and quiet when she added, "I could do this all day."
Yang didn't think so. Her father, too, but instead of calling her out on the bluff, he decided to just continue the training. He took up a stance—a kickboxer stance, if she remembered it correctly—and went on the offensive, delivering kick after kick as Auntie Yang did her best to dodge and counter when the opportunity presented itself. Except it rarely ever did. She saw how Dad fought, and with how fast he could go from one fighting stance to another, how easily he could go from fighting with legs to dealing punches as if it were a machine gun barrage, Auntie Yang had a formidable foe to beat.
That didn't mean Auntie was no slouch. Yang had seen how she fought, bringing out the pain to those Grimm wolves without at all flinching. The dodges, the kicks, the deafening punches. It was like watching an Aura Rangers battle in real life, dozens of Grimm minions against one lone Yellow Ranger. But then things had turned for the worse and Auntie was… forced to relearn her techniques, to climb back up to the level she used to be in.
Looking at the bandaged stump, Yang felt like her heart sank into a tub filled with needles.
Dad cared little about the handicap. His fighting was thorough, with no intentions of holding back. Auntie had insisted on it before their match, so her right side was undoubtedly her weakest point, and Dad was using every opportunity to hit that side. One particular kick had connected close to Auntie's stump. Auntie flinched, left hand automatically moving over to clutch at the opposite arm, and Dad immediately delivered two kicks to her unguarded left side. Auntie moved with the kicks, turning and swerving, as she used those precious seconds of reprieve to regain her balance. That moving with the blow was so that she wouldn't get hurt, though Yang couldn't get how that worked. You get hit, you get hurt, right?
Beside her, Ruby let out a small squeal. Both her hands were in front of her mouth, trying to mimic a guarded boxer's stance, and her wide silver eyes looked to be twinkling. Her little sister loved watching Aura Rangers as much as she did, maybe more so, and whenever the Rangers began fighting with the evil people, she'd squee just as much, refusing to look away from the holovision at all costs.
Yang smiled. And glad her sister was still here, alive. That day in the woods… it was by far the most terrifying (and the stupidest) moment of her entire life. She never expected Grimm would be there, although she should have; the teachers at school had covered the places one should avoid if they don't wish to run into said creatures of darkness, but when she saw that photo and the old house in the background, nothing else mattered. Because of her utter stupidity, Ruby and she almost got killed, and Auntie had her arm—
Ruby squealed again. She was jumping in place, silver eyes now sparkling with uncontainable glee.
Yang blinked and reverted her eyes to the fight. Her jaw dropped when Auntie was going back into the offensive, delivering blow after blow after blow. Dad defended as best he could, blocking pulverizing kicks that resounded like thunder, dodging sweeps that disturbed the grass up to five yards away, and trying to pull back the fear as Auntie's complete visage had been set ablaze. Long fiery hair, eyes red like Ruby's mini-cape, and whole body seeming to have been rejuvenated with unequaled strength, Auntie Yang returned to the fight like an Aura Ranger given a power-up.
But it wasn't enough to beat Dad. He wore her out quickly, going for defense all the way, and like a firework, the sparks came to a close, fading again into darkness. Dad switched to the offensive, then, going right into Auntie's guard and shot a devastating uppercut. Auntie flew in the air as the fire faded, the brightness of her hair dimmed, and the strength she exuded had been extinguished.
When Auntie hit the ground, she and Ruby gasped. She lay to one side, clutching her chin, her mouth, facing her and Ruby but not seeing them. The hand whipped away from her face to slap its palm onto the soft dirt and help lift Auntie to her knees, where she then spit a mouthful of red into the grass.
Yang looked away, disgusted, and she had half a mind to cover Ruby's eyes, which were still as unwavering as they were from the start of the match.
Their spar drew blood. Yang was certain Dad would end it here, not the least of which because the forcefield keeping their punches and kicks from severely injuring each other was depleted. Dad still had his, but Auntie's hadn't protected her chin from that uppercut. To continue this fight further would be dreadful.
Ruby squealed again.
Yang's eyes widened.
No, she thought, whirling her sight back to the yard, Auntie can't be—
But there she stood, taking up an incomplete boxer's stance, blood dripping down the left side of her mouth and swaying on her feet much like Uncle Qrow whenever he decides to come visit in the middle of the night. And Dad was getting mad at Auntie, like with Uncle Qrow, too.
"You've had enough for today, Yang," he said, and it was difficult to not be personally impacted by the admonishment in his tone. Living with an Auntie who has the same name as you can get confusing at times.
"And I said," Auntie replied, putting great and powerful emphasis on the last word before taking a deep breath, "I can do this all day."
"Well, I don't," Dad said, sauntering over to his cousin with his lion-like presence absent. "I got tests to grade and a lecture to plan. And you, dear cos, have a bed and medkit with your name on it."
Auntie laughed. She laughed enough that tears streamed down her eyes. Hand on one knee, face obscured by her beautiful long lioness mane (though she'd later learn lionesses don't have manes), she spat on the ground again and licked her lips. When she looked back up to Dad, she said with a smile, "Deja vu. My God, it's deja vu!"
Was that an adult word she shouldn't have heard? Because Dad looked startled.
"Uh," he said, at a loss for words, something Yang found unbelievable until now. Wasn't there a similar scene in Aura Rangers between Yellow and Red? A classmate of hers said that it was a hint to them getting together later down the line. It got her thinking about two other such people, though.
Auntie and Dad…
Hmm…
Nah, that can't happen.
No way can it. They're cousins after all!
Dad scratched the back of his neck—just like Red!—and said, "Uh, sure, yeah." He shook his head, wanting to shrug off the awkwardness and leave it behind them. "Come on, Yang," he said, gesturing towards her mouth, "we need to patch that up."
"Patch it up after I beat your ass, old man."
She saw Dad's eye twitch and she couldn't hide the giggle. Ruby merely blinked.
"Beat me, eh?" He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Take a swing at me, then."
Auntie need no other invitation. Once wobbling knees steadied themselves in an instant, and her fist was flying towards Dad's face with a sense of finality, that she was channeling every last bit of her strength into that punch.
Dad easily dodged it. He bowed low and tackled Auntie's stomach. Yang expected him to bring her down to the grass, but he instead did the opposite, hoisting the teen up over his shoulder. Auntie squawked.
"What the hell…?" she said, the red shifting from her eyes to her cheeks, "Put me down! Put me down, Daaaa-mit!"
Dad laughed as loudly as his cousin did earlier.
Auntie responded with wild kicks and punches to his back. Dad took them in stride as he walked towards the house.
"Let me go! Let me go! I can walk fine on my own!"
"I'll believe that once I see improvement," Dad replied.
It was great to see Dad smiling more than usual. Ever since… well, ever since Summer disappeared, he never really had been the same. Though she could somehow feel that the pain of losing her was still etched there in her heart, it had healed a lot faster now after Auntie Yang came into their lives. He smiled more, laughed more (when was the last time she heard him laugh so heartily like that, really?), and talked with them more. Their family had been torn apart, but she could almost feel that the hole Summer left behind was being slowly filled by another. Yang had mixed feelings about that, more so once she included her real mother in the scenario, but despite that, family was family and they were happy all around.
And maybe it was all thanks to Auntie Yang. She just entered their lives and made everything better. She was smart, beautiful, talented, and unconquerable. No matter how many times Dad beat her to the ground, she would always stand back up. She refused to stay down, and Yang loved that about her. An unrelenting warrior, someone who would never kneel, never surrender, never waver at whatever pains and sorrows thrown at her. She wanted to grow up just like that, someone who could be there for Ruby, for her family, when they needed help, someone who wouldn't shy away from danger, someone who would face it head-on instead, no matter the odds.
She didn't want to feel that helpless again.
When Dad came to the porch steps, Yang and Ruby stood up and gave passage, the empty popcorn bowl picked up and now in Yang's hands. At the top step, he turned to them and said, "Show's over, girls. I'll get dinner ready in a bit. Just need to take care of Grumpy here first."
"And you can start by putting me down!"
"Hey, hey, just because you're old enough to drive doesn't mean you're too old to be punished, young lady."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, punish me once my feet are on the ground, old timer."
There was that eye twitch again. For safety's sake, Yang took a step back. So did Ruby. Unrelenting warrior, she aspired to be, yes, but that didn't equate to suicidal. She was five, and she already understood that much.
"Nah," Dad said slowly, raising his unoccupied hand, palm facing the sky, "I think we can punish you right here."
Auntie's eyes widened. "You wouldn't—"
SLAP!
Auntie let out a yelp. And her cheeks got even redder. Both pair of cheeks, she'd imagine, once this was over.
SLAP!
Yang grabbed her own butt in empathy, while doing her very best to keep a straight face on. But then Ruby started giggling and she could hold it no more.
Dad continued walking into the house while delivering another smack to Auntie's butt. He was laughing, too. And Auntie was busy gritting her teeth, eyes set ablaze with a burning crimson fire.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS, YOU HEAR ME!"
SLAP!
"RAAAAAGGGHHH!"