A few days had passed since Neo's unexpected visit. Yang wasn't sure exactly how many, since they all seemed to blur together. In the intervening time, Yang had continued to be alone with her thoughts.
For one, she couldn't stop thinking about Neo's offer. Her one-time rival, the girl who had tried to kill her, who had cooperated with terrorists to destroy Vale, who had helped the people who took her arm and killed Pyrrha and Penny and hurt Blake...offering to help her? True, they both had Cinder to blame for their misfortune, but Yang had been surprised at just how attached Neo seemed to be to Roman, to be that focused on revenge. Yang had never expected Neo to feel anything for another person. She'd always thought of her as some sort of psychopathic killer. Pure evil.
There's no such thing as pure evil.
That was what Blake had said. Yang still felt a pang of sadness, even just thinking about her.
And then there was another unexpected moment from her meeting with Neo. For the first time in what was probably months, she had felt something. She had felt anger, sure, but it had been something. When Neo had asked if she'd wanted revenge, she felt herself beginning to flare up, seen red creeping into the edge of her vision. Yes, she very much wanted revenge. She wanted to see Adam suffer for what he did, for hurting Blake most of all. But then the cold reality of her situation had quenched the fires of her anger, and she had given up.
She'd been doing a lot of that lately.
"Hey, firecracker."
Yang turned to face the doorway. Her father was standing there, arms folded, giving her a half-hearted smile.
"How're you doing?"
Yang broke eye contact quickly, staring down at her blankets dully.
"Fine," she lied. Her dad's smile faded.
"So...a friend of yours stopped by," he said hesitantly. Yang raised her eyes again. For a second, her heart quickened.
"Who is it?" she asked, not daring to hope that one of her teammates had found her.
"It's Florence. The girl with the twintails? She said you met at the Vytal Festival. Well, she typed it out..." her father said. Yang felt her heart sink. Of course it wasn't one of her teammates. Why would they want to come back to her?
The realization struck her.
Florence? That was the girl with...oh.
She stared at her dad closely. When he showed no sign of recognition. Yang decided he must have bought Neo's disguise.
Right, he was on a mission, he wasn't watching the tournament. He doesn't know that's Neo.
Yang found herself wondering why Neo had come back. Once again she felt anger surge up inside her, this time tempered with curiosity. Why was Neo so intent on helping her? Yang decided to at least find out before taking any course of action. She wouldn't be in any danger with her dad home.
"Tell her I'll be out in a minute," Yang said. This time her dad gave her a big, honest grin and turned to leave.
"I will! You're lucky to have a friend that cares so much about you, Yang," he said as he started off towards the kitchen.
"Sure. Some friend," she said through gritted teeth.
She threw off the blankets and swung her legs out over the edge of the bed. Bracing herself against the nightstand, she rose shakily to her feet. Aside from trips to the bathroom, she'd hardly left her bed in the last few months. She took a step and almost stumbled, then righted herself, cursing her own weakness. She straightened up and set out for the kitchen.
"Let's see what the little pint-sized killer wants," she grumbled to herself.
/
Neo drummed her fingers on top of one of the two cardboard boxes resting on the Xiao-Long's kitchen table. She looked around the kitchen. It was quaint, homey. Nothing like the safehouse she'd been staying in recently...
For a moment she had been afraid Taiyang had seen through the disguise she'd worn at the tournament, but when he showed no sign of recognition she relaxed. She was playing a dangerous game, coming back like this, but she needed Yang. She needed help, as much as she hated to admit it to herself.
The heavy tread of Yang's feet warned Neo of the blonde's arrival. The brawler entered the kitchen, wearing a dull brown shirt and matching shorts. Now that Neo could see her in full, she realized just how much her depression had eaten away at her. Her once beautiful hair was now matted and dirty, and her strong limbs looked thinner. No doubt she had been eating less since losing her arm.
"What do you want?" Yang asked, looking at the two boxes Neo and brought with her. Collecting their contents had taken almost a week, and carrying them alone to the Xiao-Long house hadn't been easy.
"What's in the boxes?"
Neo brightened somewhat and opened one. She pulled out a book and handed it to Yang, who took it with her remaining arm and read the cover.
"Aura-Integrated Mechanics for Beginners? What's this for?"
Neo mimed slapping something onto her wrist, then aimed a punch at thin air. Yang cocked her head at the smaller girl in confusion, then blinked.
"Ember Celica?"
Neo nodded and produced a wrench from her box, waving it in Yang's direction with a questioning look on her face. Yang sighed.
"Yeah, I built them. But I lost the right one when..." she trailed off, and Neo moved around the table. Yang flinched back reflexively, but relaxed when Neo pointed at the stump of Yang's right arm. This time Yang looked angry.
"What are you getting at?"
Neo sighed. She almost wished she could talk to the blonde, just to make things easier. But even if she thought Yang was worth the wasted breath, her mental block would only let fer force out a hoarse rasp at best. She didn't want anyone to hear that, to break the illusion Neo had carefully crafted of a bold and confident fighter.
Instead, she walked over to the second box and pulled out something that had taken quite a bit of effort to acquire. Yang stared at it, then at Neo, as the point finally got through her thick skull.
"That's an Atlesian Knight's arm..." she said quietly. To be exact, it was an Atlesian Knight's arm in perfect condition, detached from the owner's body with mechanical precision. Every wire and circuit was in perfect working condition, Neo had made sure of it.
"You want to build me a new arm...with that?"
Neo shook her head and pointed at herself, then Yang. We're going to build it, went the unspoken statement. Yang shook her head. She didn't want to deal with this.
"Not happening. Look, even if I wanted to...in order to control a mechanical part like that with my Aura...do you know how much Dust we'd need to power it?"
This time Neo grinned triumphantly. She pushed the second box over to Yang, who looked down inside it. Vial upon vial of fire and electric Dust filled it almost to the brim. Yang's jaw dropped.
"Oh...right. You've been robbing Dust shops all year."
Neo gave Yang a smug grin. She and Roman had stashed a bit of their haul away in a few safe houses, just in case. And now it would be put to good use.
/
Yang pushed the box of Dust back across the table.
"I'm not interested," she growled.
Part of Yang wanted to force Neo out of her house right now, but she knew that even at full strength she couldn't hope to beat Neo. Now...
Besides, her dad was home. If Neo tried anything, he could probably handle her. Which was why she had come disguised as Yang's friend. Yang sighed and leaned against the table. Whatever happened, she wasn't in too much danger. So she could tell Neo off like a normal person.
"You're serious about helping me?" she asked, "No hard feelings?"
Neo smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Yang sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.
Too bad I can't say the same, she thought bitterly.
"Look. I know what you're trying to do. But I'm not helping you. Even if I wanted to get out there and find Cinder, or Blake, or Adam..."
She paused. She hated Neo. She really did. She was one of the people who helped tear down Beacon. And for her to paint herself as just as much of a victim as Yang was...disgusting.
Neo, though, didn't seem to see it that way. She held the robot arm in her hands, quietly moving the fingers, making sure all the joints worked. She occasionally glanced up at Yang, a disinterested look on her face.
"I don't want a new arm," Yang said flatly.
I'm not worth the effort, she thought.
"I think you should give it a try," said a voice from behind her. Yang spun around and saw her dad, again leaning against the doorway, arms folded.
"I mean...even if you don't want to use it...it'd be good to have a project to work on. You know, just to have something to do," he said kindly. Yang looked at him, then at the ground.
She could unveil Neo's disguise right now. Her dad could get rid of her, and Yang would never have to worry about her rival again. But Neo was her rival. She wanted to beat her. The only thing she wanted more was to defeat Adam, and stop Cinder, and find her team again. She just thought that it was impossible. That she was to weak to do it, even if she tried. If only she had her arm back...
And looking back at her father, Yang knew she didn't want to disappoint him. She couldn't imagine how he felt, having to watch her waste away in bed all day. Maybe working on something would give him peace of mind. She looked back at Neo.
Why do you care so much? Why do you need a weakling like me?
The girl was looking at her expectantly. If this really was an honest attempt to get Yang's help, and not some elaborate plan to get Yang to let her guard down...
"Give me that," she snapped, snatching the arm away. She held it, turning it over in her left hand. Now that she looked at it, she thought that maybe her dad was right. It would give her something to focus on. Even if she had to work on it with Neo...the girl did seem earnest about wanting to team up, but Yang still couldn't forgive her for what she'd done.
"I'll do it," she said hesitantly. Her dad smiled and walked over to her.
"That's great, firecracker," he said, pulling her into a warm hug. Her frown melted away and she returned the hug.
"Thanks, dad," she said softly.
"You're going to be okay, Yang," he said. He pulled away from the hug, ruffled her hair, and stepped away.
"And thanks for your help. I'm glad Yang has a friend like you," he said. The smaller girl looked up from the tools she was laying out and smiled sweetly. As her dad left, Yang and Neo looked at each other, Yang's frown met by Neo's smug grin. The girl blinked, and her eyes turned from bright green to pink and brown.
"I'm still not going to forgive you."
Neo pulled out her Scroll and tapped away at it.
[I don't need your forgiveness. Just your help.]
Yang looked down at table, strewn with tools and equipment. She looked at the robot arm, lying in her hands. She imagined herself, whole again. Her old self. She wanted that. She'd tried to convince herself that she didn't, to save herself the pain of failure. But she didn't want to give up anymore. She didn't want to let Neo or Adam or Cinder or anyone else keep her down.
"You really think we can fix...me?" she asked, voice hoarse with emotion. Neo stepped forward and gently placed one gloved hand on her remaining arm.
[There's only one way to find out, Yang]
Yang blinked back tears and pulled away from Neo's touch. She hefted the robot arm in her hands.
"We'll need some way to attach it," she said sharply, "And I'll need help with the gauntlet."
Neo smirked and help up her Scroll.
[Would you say you'll need a...hand?]
Yang stared at Neo for a moment, then let out a bitter snort of laughter. Then a chuckle. And then, for the first time in months, she was laughing.