Yang was restless. She'd grown to used to a routine, used to having something to do with her day. Over the past week, she'd spent most of her time building the robot arm, with Neo's help. Now, with the house to herself, and with nothing to immediately occupy her, she felt herself in danger of getting lost in her thoughts.
Yang supposed her dad had been right, in that respect - it was better to keep herself occupied than to stew in her depression.
She tried to distract herself doing some minor tuneups on the robot arm, but only having one hand made the logistics rather complicated. Still, she was able to do some routine cleaning and maintenance, tightening bolts, greasing hinges and joints, and checking the level on the Dust cartridge.
Despite the work, she wasn't immune to distraction. She found her thoughts, more than once, turning to Neo.
She knew, at a gut level, that Neo could be saved. She just needed something to push her down the path to redemption. Maybe someone else would have decided that after all the horrible things Neo had done, she deserved to die. Yang had thought that herself not too long ago, but since she and Neo had started working together, Yang had come to see Neo as someone scared and alone.
Yang wasn't sure if she would ever be a Hunter. With Beacon destroyed, she wouldn't continue with any formal training. Still, Yang remembered her time in Mountain Glenn. A Hunter's job was to help people, to save them. Neo needed help. She needed understanding and compassion. Maybe, Yang thought, that would be enough to set her down a different path.
But it was more than just Neo's future that Yang focused on. Yang found herself wondering what Neo was really like. The Neo she'd spent time with over the past couple of weeks was pensive, moody, and a little proud. The confident fighter Yang had gone up against on the train was still there - it was where Neo got her pride - but for the most part Neo seemed to be just affected by the Battle of Beacon as Yang was. That was a sobering thought, that there were more people than just Yang and her friends who had suffered because of Cinder.
Once, while cleaning the Dust canister in the arm, she found herself thinking about the way Neo's mismatched eyes switched colors when she was confused. Yang blushed and pushed the thought away.
By noon, Yang found herself in the kitchen, mostly succeeding at making herself a sandwich. She had just finished putting away the ingredients and was about to start eating when she glanced out the window into the front yard.
"What the...?"
Her dad was walking through the ankle-deep snow, Zwei at his heels, several cardboard boxes in his arms. Trailing behind them was Neo, in her usual disguise, a dufflebag clutched to her chest. Shaking her head in confusion, Yang made her way to the front door. She opened it just as her dad stepped on the welcome mat. He paused only to scrape the snow off his boots before entering.
"Thanks, firecracker," he said around the stack of boxes in his hands. Yang saw Neo pause on the doorstep, as if unsure of whether or not she should enter the house.
"Dad? What's this about?" Yang asked.
Taiyang shifted the stack of boxes in his arms so he could see Yang properly.
"Yang, can I talk to you in the kitchen? Florence, have a seat in the living room."
Neo looked at Taiyang in surprise, then gave him a small smile and walked through the front door, closing it behind her. She nodded at Yang and walked into the living room, where Yang saw her sit on the couch, dufflebag held in her lap.
Meanwhile, her father had walked into the kitchen and deposited his stack of boxes on the kitchen table. Yang followed him, making sure to keep her voice even.
"Dad, what's going on?"
Her dad sighed and rested his arm on the topmost box.
"Yang, I think Florence should stay with us for a while."
Yang blinked in surprise, then glanced back towards the doorway that led into the front hall.
Why would she need to stay here?
Then realization struck her.
"Wait, where was she staying before?" she asked, turning back to her dad.
Taiyang shook his head.
"She was staying in the abandoned cabin outside of town. I don't think anybody knew and...well, she didn't have anywhere else to go."
Yang felt a stab of pity. She instantly understood why her father had invited Neo to stay with them. Nobody should have to live like that.
"Hey, of course she can stay here," Yang said. Her dad smiled and gave her a quick hug.
"You've got a good heart, Yang," he said, "You're just like Summer."
He stepped back and grunted as he picked up the boxes again.
"So I was thinking we move you back into your old room and Florence could take the guest bedroom. Is that okay?"
Yang rubbed at her right shoulder.
"Yeah, I don't see why it wouldn't be," she replied. She had only been staying the guest bedroom because she didn't want to disturb Ruby while she recovered, but there was no need to stay there now that Ruby was...gone.
"Great. I'm going to move Florence's things in the guest bedroom and change out the sheets, okay? You make her feel welcome," Taiyang said before walking out into the hall.
"Sure thing, dad," Yang said as she followed him. While he turned left towards the guest bedroom, she walked to through the doorway to the living room across the hall.
She took a deep breath and smiled at Neo as she entered the room. Neo slung the dufflebag off of her shoulder and stood up.
"Hey. So...it looks like you'll be staying here from now on."
Neo's face visibly brightened. She held up her Scroll.
[Really? You don't mind?]
"Of course not. We've got to watch out for each other, right?" Yang asked. Neo gave her a smile and a small nod.
Before Yang could speak Neo had stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Yang's waist, hugging her.
"Thank you."
The voice was quiet, soft and raspy, like metal scraped across a wet stone. Yang felt herself tense up. Did...did Neo just speak to her?
"Neo?" Yang asked. Neo pulled away from the hug, but holding on to Yang's left hand with both of her own. She glanced up at Yang, then quickly and nervously cleared her throat.
"I...this means...a lot to me Yang," she said haltingly, her voice thick with emotion. It sounded like every word took an effort to say. Yang was just surprised she had finally spoken. She hadn't even been sure if Neo could speak.
"Hey," Yang said soothingly, "I meant what I said. We need to look out for each other."
"Right. Because...you're all I have," Neo whispered, a little sadly. Yang smiled.
"I'm glad my dad found you. I can't believe you were out there all alone!"
/
Neo was simultaneously scared and relieved. For a while she had been worried that Yang wouldn't be as generous as her father. She was considering apologizing if Yang didn't want her around, but when Yang came through the door with a warm, honest smile on her face, Neo's heart had fluttered.
Speaking to Yang...it took effort. But after accepting her, Neo had felt like thanking her in her own words. She felt like she could trust Yang enough to give her that. To be treated with such kindness twice in one day was more than she had ever hoped for. She didn't even need to apologize, Yang had accepted her as she was!
But...then Neo remembered her dream, and the conversation they had the night before, and she couldn't help but think about where she would be without Yang.
Neo's eyes went from Yang's to the floor.
"I'm sorry," Neo said. Despite what she had expected, the words were hard to say. She felt some part of her protest. It wasn't her fault! She was only on that train because of Cinder. Yang survived, didn't she?
But...that didn't change the fact that she hurt Yang. And a much greater part of Neo felt guilty about that. Right now, in the present, she didn't want to hurt Yang. She wanted to help her grow, and heal, the same way Yang was helping her. Apologizing was Neo's first step in letting Yang know that.
"What?" Yang asked.
"I'm...I'm sorry I almost killed you. I'm glad we're...helping each other now," Neo whispered shakily. The words didn't come easy, but she meant every one of them.
/
As Yang stared at Neo, she felt her heartbeat quicken. That, really, was all she wanted to hear from Neo. She wanted to know that Neo was capable of regret, and that she could express it. Any remaining hesitation melted away.
In that moment, Yang knew that not only could Neo be saved, but that Yang was capable of helping her.
Yang smiled down at her.
"Neo, I forgive you."
Neo looked up at her, her eyes changing colors in the way that made Yang's heart skip a beat.
"You do?" she asked, as if she didn't quite believe it. Yang wasn't quite sure if she did either...but Neo had done so much for her, and she did seem to truly regret it, so Yang couldn't bring herself to hold it against her.
"Yeah..I think I do."
Neo smiled at her again, a genuine, honest grin.
"Could you talk the whole time?" Yang asked. Neo looked out of the corner of her eye and smirked.
"Yeah..."
"What changed?"
Neo stared into Yang's eyes for a moment.
"I trust you now."
Yang blinked, and realized that Neo was still holding her hand. She cleared her throat and stepped back, and Neo folded her arms and smiled nervously.
"So..." Yang began, "Is this how it's going to be now?"
Neo gave her a short, hesitant nod.
"Y-yeah," she whispered, "It's like you said. We've got to watch out for each other."
"Right," Yang said, with a hint of sadness.
Because we don't have anybody else.
She cleared her throat again and jerked her head towards the kitchen.
"So, I was just going to have lunch, then get back to working on the arm. Care to join me?"
Neo smiled and nodded her head.
"I'd love to."
/
"I think it's ready," Yang said in awe. Neo put away the soldering iron and looked out the window of the garage. Outside, it was pitch black, the moon obscured by clouds, so Neo knew that she and Yang had worked long into the night.
She shut the tool cabinet and looked back to the workbench, where the mechanical arm was lying, surrounded by tools and spare parts.
It looked...rough. The base was clearly an Atlesian Knight's arm, repurposed and with heavy modifications - a socket crudely welded to one end, a hatch just above the elbow, and now a shotgun gauntlet essentially bolted to the wrist. But for three weeks of work, it was great, and Yang seemed excited, more excited than Neo had seen her since they started working together.
The gauntlet hadn't been that hard to build. All the key components - the transforming parts, firing mechanism, and ammunition loader - had a few spare parts lying around, so all that needed to be made from scratch was the gauntlets themselves.
"Do you want to try it on?" Neo whispered. Despite finally allowing herself to talk to Yang, she still couldn't push her voice beyond a whisper, and even then a sometimes halting one. But a few days of living in the Xiao Long House had done wonders for her, as far as food and warmth went. She would never have to worry about being woken up by her own growling stomach, and for that she was truly grateful.
"Nah, I'm kind of tired," Yang said, followed by a yawn.
Yang rubbed at her eyes.
"Ugh, what time is it?"
Neo showed Yang her Scroll, and the blonde shook her head.
"Wow, we were up pretty late. I'm just going to bed, do you mind cleaning up?" she asked, standing up. Neo smiled.
"Not at all," she said. Yang waved back at her as she left the garage, and Neo turned to look at the arm. She went over the list she had made in her head, making sure all the steps were complete.
No...something was missing. And Neo knew just what it was.
Neo walked over to a box of supplies she had bought with part of her remaining Lien the day before. She smiled as she pulled out a small paint sprayer, a disposable respirator, and two cans of paint, one black, one yellow.
Bare metal wouldn't do. With the arm completed, Yang's training was due to begin first thing the next day. There was still a lot of progress to be made.
And Neo felt like painting the arm in Yang's colors would be a fine piece of encouragement.
/
End of Act I