As Neo slid the harness over Yang's stump, she felt Yang shift uncomfortably beneath her touch. Her gloved fingers deftly tightened the straps on the belt wrapped around Yang's upper arm, and she checked the straps connecting it to the cap.
It looked secure. Neo slid her finger under the straps, tugging at them, tightened a few, then nodded at Yang as soon as she was sure it was properly secure.
Yang reached up and grabbed the metal cap. The rim was padded, but the rest of it was bare metal against skin, the better to channel her Aura. Her fingers grabbed the cap tightly, and she tugged. When neither it nor the straps budged, she grunted.
"Alright, it feels good," she muttered. Neo moved over to the table and picked up the robot arm. Though they had yet to attach a new shotgun gauntlet, it was otherwise fully functional, in theory anyway.
Yang carefully held out the stump of her right arm as Neo slid the socket over the metal cap, feeling the screw threads line up. She turned the arm once, forty-five degrees, until the metal clicked in a satisfying manner, causing the clasps to line up. She quickly flicked them into place, and stepped back.
Yang reached up and flicked a switch just above the elbow. Neo heard a small hum as the Dust burner started up, and saw Yang focus, presumably extending her Aura to the arm.
Then, slowly, the metal fingers began to curl into a fist.
/
Yang felt her heart jump in her chest as the robot arm responded to her commands. Slowly, and with effort, she clenched the robot hand into a fist. She heard the metal creak as she tightened her grip, then slowly released it and raised her robot hand, turning it over in front of her face and inspecting it.
"It'll get easier with practice, right?" Yang asked, looking up. To her surprise, Neo looked excited, her eyes wide and an honest smile on her face. She quickly pulled out her Scroll and typed out a response.
[Theoretically, yes]
Yang swallowed and began to touch each finger to her thumb, one at a time. She and Neo had discussed exercises to increase her dexterity before.
[How do you feel?]
Yang blinked and looked at the arm. After all the work, the frustration when she had started working with Neo, the continued conflicting emotions, slowly regaining her confidence...she didn't feel much of anything.
The arm didn't feel real. It felt like another weapon, not a proper replacement for her missing arm. If anything, staring at it, she was reminded of her failure again. She felt a phantom pain run up her arm, and she winced and rubbed at her shoulder. The fingers on the robot hand twitched.
"I feel...a little underwhelmed," she said slowly. Neo's face fell, and Yang raised her robot arm, imagining Ember Celica bolted to the wrist, aiming it.
"Not with the arm," she said, "It works great, it's just...I was expecting to feel something. A sense of accomplishment, or something..."
She trailed off into silence, and continued to make small movements with the arm, picking up and putting down tools, trying to spin them between her fingers. She dropped a wrench and it clattered on the workbench. Yang frowned and looked back at Neo.
[It's your first milestone. From here it's all about learning to use it.]
Yang nodded, imagining all the work they had done. All of that was just to get her arm back. From here on out, her real training had to begin. She'd made some progress, but now it was really up to Neo to teach her how to fight smarter.
And every time she looked at the robot arm, she'd be reminded of what would happen if she tried to go back to her old ways.
Neo straightened up and headed for the door of the garage.
[Let's go show your dad!]
/
Neo stepped into the living room, turning her Scroll over nervously in her hands. Taiyang looked up from his newspaper and smiled.
"Hey, Florence. Do you need something?"
For a split second Neo was staggeringly aware of his skilled Hunter's gaze settling on her. Even with her disguise, she could never force herself to relax her guard around him. She cautiously held up her Scroll.
[We wanted to show you something.]
Taiyang raised an eyebrow, but folded up his newspaper and followed Neo into the kitchen. His face lit up when he saw Yang was standing in front of the kitchen table, her mechanical arm held close to her side. She rubbed at her shoulder with her good hand.
"Hey, dad," Yang said hesitantly. Taiyang approached her, looking carefully at the arm.
"Oh, Yang...does it work?" he asked. Neo studied him carefully. He seemed cautious, but hopeful. Neo had to remind herself that he cared more about Yang than Neo herself did.
Yang raised her mechanical arm and wiggled her hand back and forth.
"Sort of..." she said, grinning. As relief washed over him, Taiyang stepped forward and held out his hand, palm facing upwards.
"High five?" he asked. Yang smiled broadly and, a bit jerkily Neo thought, brought her mechanical hand down to meet her dad's. They both laughed, and her dad pulled her into a hug.
"How does it feel?" he asked tenderly. Yang's smile softened and she pressed herself against him. She raised her metal arm to rub his broad back.
"I don't know. I think it'll help, though," she said softly.
"That's good," Taiyang said, pulling away, "I'm so glad to see you back on your feet after…"
Yang squeezed his arm.
"I know. I'm glad too," she said quietly. Neo thought it almost sounded like an apology, like she regretted not being stronger. Taiyang sounded like he felt the same.
Yang's father looked at Neo, who had been standing forgotten to the side, silently observing. She was a bit saddened - the exchange reminded her of some of the times she and Roman had joked around between jobs, how they had supported each other. She realized just how much she missed him.
"And you too! I can't thank you enough for this," he said to her. Neo gave him a shrug and a small grin as she raised her Scroll.
[Just...helping a friend]
"Well, I don't know what we would have done without you. Get in here!"
He held out his arm, welcoming Neo into the hug. Neo stood there apprehensively, not sure if she wanted to share in an affectionate moment like that. It looked like Yang felt the same way, but Taiyang clapped a hand on Neo's shoulder and pulled her in.
She stiffened for a moment as she felt Taiyang's arm wrap around her. Glancing up, she saw Yang blush and hesitantly put her good arm on Neo's shoulder. Neo, also hesitantly, wrapped one arm around Yang's waist.
Though the hug only lasted half a minute, it seemed to stretch on forever. Initially uncomfortable, Neo soon realized that it was...warm, and comforting. She'd missed affection, physical contact like this. Yang's skin was smooth under her own...
Taiyang pulled away from the two, smiling.
"Sorry, I'm a hugger," he said by way of apology to Neo. He looked at his daughter.
"So, Yang, what's next?."
Yang shrugged and looked down at her arm.
"I think next I learn how to use this thing...and then I start training with it."
Her dad clapped her on the shoulder.
"Well, let me know if there's anything you need. I want to help you, Yang."
"I know. I love you, dad," she replied, wiping away a tear with her good hand.
"I love you too Yang."
Neo sat in a chair as Yang and her father continued to talk about the arm, about her future training...listening, and feeling out of place.
/
Yang picked up a glass of water in her robot hand and carefully sipped from it. The robot arm was steady, the only problem was getting it to move fluidly like she wanted it to. Each action took place individually, without flowing into each other like a normal arm's movement. It was frustrating, and a little unnerving. She wasn't used to parts of her body not responding like she wanted.
That's the cost of losing an arm, I guess...
She sighed in disgust and set down the glass, a little roughly, as water sloshed over the rim and onto the kitchen table. She frowned and reached for a napkin. Across the table, Neo held up her Scroll.
[I think you're getting the hang of it pretty quickly]
Yang gave her a half-smile and cleaned up her mess. The arm still felt unwieldy, and oddly unreal - there was no sensation, no way she could tell what she was touching or feeling except by sight. Even if she learned to accept the robot arm as part of her, to use it like she'd used her real hand, there were some things she could never regain.
She glanced up at Neo. Ever since she'd attached the arm, Neo had seemed excited. At first Yang had just assumed that she was merely excited that Yang had an arm, and her plan for them to team up against Cinder was moving forward. But the more Neo asked questions and gave her words of encouragement, the more Yang became unsure of that.
"Neo, can I ask you a question?"
Neo paused. Every time Yang had opened with that, they'd ended up arguing, about Neo's past or her actions or her sense of morality. Still, Neo gave Yang a cautious nod.
"Do you...care about me?"
For a moment, Neo was completely still and silent, eyes fixed on the table. She was like that for so long Yang wondered if she was okay.
Just before she asked another question, though, Neo typed out a response on her Scroll.
[What do you mean?]
"Well...I know we started this as an...alliance of convenience. And, you know, because we were rivals and I wanted a rematch..."
She waited for Neo to show any reaction, but she seemed to be managing to remain expressionless.
"But lately I've noticed that you've been...really helpful. And you stopped stealing when I asked you. I mean, it's not that I'm not grateful for your help, but it's unexpected. And I kind of have to wonder...why?"
Yang thought privately that Neo seemed to be getting attached to her. It made sense - Neo had relied on Roman for so much and for so long, that once he was gone, she'd feel lost and alone. So she would leap at the opportunity to join someone who would care for her. Yang's only problem was that she wasn't sure if she cared about Neo yet. She still couldn't bring herself to trust Neo completely, and she still thought of her as evil. Maybe not pure evil, but devoid of any morals. But she did pity Neo, and she was beginning to wonder if there was some good in her.
She tapped the fingers of her robot hand against the tabletop.
"So I'm asking if, you know...you've started to care about me."
Neo continue to stare at the table, as if deep in thought. Then, after another long silence, she raised her mismatched eyes to look at Yang. Her fingers typed out a short message on her Scroll.
[I think I do]
Yang felt her heartbeat quicken.
"Wh..why?" she swallowed nervously. Neo looked up at her sadly.
[Because I don't have anyone else]
Yang's robot fingers dug into the table. She was worried this might be Neo's answer. She wasn't even sure if she wanted Neo to care about her.
[I don't have anywhere else to go]
"Well..." Yang began hesitantly, "We're working together now. Right?"
[Right]
Yang nodded. If she could accept Neo's presence, and her help, then she could accept that Neo cared about her. But she couldn't begin to forgive Neo for what she had done, not yet anyway. Before she could do that, Neo had to admit her own guilt.
"But you know I can't forgive you yet," she said quietly. Neo tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed.
[What do you mean? After all the help I've been, you still hate me?]
Yang shook her head. She didn't hate Neo, really she pitied her more than anything, and that was why they had to have this conversation.
"Neo, I don't hate you, but...you almost killed me," she said.
Neo glanced down at the table, refusing to make eye contact. She raised her Scroll.
[Almost. You survived.]
"But if you had killed me...I wouldn't be here. You'd be alone," Yang replied, trying to keep her voice calm. Inside, she felt anger as Neo almost brushed aside her attempted murder.
That, Yang thought, was the heart of the problem. Neo was either unable or unwilling to understand that what she had done was hurtful and destructive, and until she did, Yang couldn't forgive her.
Neo opened her mouth, as if to speak, but it quickly snapped shut. Shaking her head, she stood up suddenly.
[I think I should leave]
"Neo…" Yang began as she got to her feet and moved closer to Neo, but the smaller girl rolled her eye.
[Look, you're mad at me, I get it.]
Yang took a deep breath to calm herself. Something told her this was Neo trying to brush away the question, rather than her
"Look...I'm not mad, I just want you to understand what you did.
Neo, think about it. I know at the time we didn't know each other, but...aren't you glad we're helping each other now?" she asked softly.
Neo looked up at her thoughtfully, then after a moment she smiled, a little sadly, Yang thought.
[Of course I'm glad]
Yang let out a sigh of relief.
"Then...just tell me you regret it. Tell me you wish you hadn't tried to kill me," Yang pressed. She wanted to know that somewhere, deep inside, Neo was guilty.
Again, Neo opened her mouth as if to speak, then quickly closed it, swallowing nervously. She typed out her response slowly, carefully.
[I didn't do anything wrong.]
Yang felt her heart sink. She really had hoped that Neo would be willing to admit her guilt, but it appeared Neo was stubborn. There had been too many years of telling herself she was justified for her to easily change her way of thinking.
Are you afraid of being wrong? Is that it?
Yang stepped aside, allowing Neo access to the door from the kitchen out into the yard. Yang leaned against the counter, watching sadly as Neo made her way to the door.
Neo opened the door, and instantly snow was blown inside, catching in Neo's hair and piling up around her ankles. Neo shivered and looked back at Yang for a moment. Her face was expressionless, but for a moment Yang thought she saw profound grief, before Neo mastered herself and turned to leave. Yang watched her sadly, but couldn't help but ask her one final question.
"Neo...you'll come back, right? Tell me you'll come back."
Neo didn't turn back to face Yang, but she nodded, just once, and that was enough for Yang.
But as Neo slammed the door shut behind her, that didn't make Yang feel any better.