The front door opened with a bang, and Yang stomped inside to get away from the cold, followed shortly afterwards by Neo. Yang scraped the snow off her running shoes and grabbed the towel she had left hanging from the coat rack before her run.
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and the back of her neck, grateful for the ponytail that kept her hair up and out of the way. She smiled as she caught her reflection in the mirror that hung in the front hall.
I guess it does look good, she thought, remembering Neo's comment from the day she'd started wearing it. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but...
Yang shook her head and looked down to meet Neo's gaze.
"Is it just me, or was it less cold than it was a while ago?" she asked.
Neo typed out a response on her Scroll.
[The days are getting longer. It won't be long until winter is behind us.]
Yang nodded and stretched out her good arm. She'd spent most of Autumn in bed, and it looked like she would be spending most of the winter recovering. She didn't know when Neo intended to set out on the trail of Cinder Fall, but early spring seemed as good a time as any.
"So, shower and then workout?" Yang asked.
Neo picked up her water bottle from its spot on the end table as she typed at her Scroll again.
[Shower, yes. But I want to do something else today.]
Yang raised one eyebrow, but shrugged and set down her water bottle as she made her way towards the bathroom.
"Whatever you say, coach," she called back over her shoulder.
/
Neo was flipping through magazines when Yang returned to the living room from her shower. Neo looked up from her position, curled up in an armchair, as the blonde dried her hair and sat on the edge of the couch closest to Neo.
Neo looked at her outfit - simple winter clothing in plain brown, not at all acceptable. The right sleeve of her hoodie hung limply, showing that she was not wearing the makeshift prosthetic.
"Watcha reading?" Yang asked.
Neo showed Yang the cover of her fashion magazine.
"I...huh. Looking for a new outfit?"
[And for you as well.]
Yang frowned and sat back on the couch.
"I don't know, Neo..." she began, but Neo cut her off.
"Come on!"
She raised her Scroll and quickly typed away at it.
[You seriously want to wear those all the time?]
She pointed at Yang's dull winter clothes. Yang tugged at the hem of her hoodie, staring down at her outfit.
[They're so drab! Plus, it'll be good for your confidence. How are you supposed to feel good about yourself if all you wear is dull brown?]
Yang sighed and ran her hand through her damp hair.
"I mean...I guess. If you think it'll help."
Yang looked like she was still reluctant. Neo smiled and sat up in her chair, typing on her Scroll. Yang had to feel good about herself, otherwise she couldn't fully recover. She'd made some strides, but Neo could tell her self-esteem still hadn't recovered.
[I do. Now we just need to decide on your outfit.]
She set down her magazine and thought about what she had seen Yang wear in the past.
[Do you still have that number you wore the first time we met?]
Yang blinked and sat up.
"My Hunter outfit?" she asked as a brief nostalgic smile spread across her face, the same one Neo had seen her wear when she told Neo stories, "No, I lost it at Beacon. Unless...I think I have an old backup in my closet."
Neo sprang to her feet and grabbed Yang's hand.
[Great! Let's go get it!]
Yang sighed in mock annoyance as Neo dragged her off the couch and down the hall to her bedroom. Yang released Neo's hand, then opened her closet and began rummaging around inside it.
"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" Yang asked.
[Well, I think after two weeks of exercise we deserve to look good. And it should do wonders for your confidence.]
Yang chuckled.
"Two weeks? Yeah, it'll be good to wear some nice clothes...you really think it'll help, though?"
Neo responded with an emphatic nod.
"Definitely. Trust me, if you look good, you feel good."
Yang turned back to Neo, her Hunter outfit on a coat hanger in her hand. Neo walked forwards and took it from her, inspecting it while Yang returned to the closet to fetch the boots.
Neo swept her eyes over the collared cream top, the black stockings, the purple scarf. Though she hadn't thought so the last time she saw it, Neo had to admit it would look good on Yang.
She frowned and held the right sleeve between her fingers. Since it wouldn't be able to fit over Yang's robot arm, it would probably have to go.
Yang pulled over a chair and sat down, putting the boots down by her feet.
"I do like that outfit. What do you think?"
Neo looked from the outfit to Yang, remembering what she had looked like that night under the freeway. And as she looked at the gaps between the miniskirt and the stockings, and between the cream jacket and the black collar...
I definitely wouldn't mind her wearing this more often, she thought.
"It needs some adjustments. This sleeve? Has to go."
Yang frowned and rubbed at her right shoulder.
"The arm, right. I don't know if..."
She trailed off. Neo set the outfit down on Yang's bed and sat down so that she could look Yang in the eye.
"Still feel uncomfortable about the arm?"
Yang gave her a dull nod.
"I'm...I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable walking around, letting people see it...I don't know..."
Neo put a gentle hand on her right shoulder.
"Hey, it's fine. What if we...? Hmmm..." Neo trailed off as she glanced from Yang's stub back to her outfit.
Yang raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"What if we added, say, a half-cape?" she explained, tracing the air around Yang's right shoulder, "It could be attached by a clasp around your neck, and cover just your right side. So it could hide the arm, but wouldn't get in the way during fights."
Yang brightened somewhat at that.
"I mean...capes are pretty cool."
Neo smiled and straightened up.
"There we go!"
She turned and gathered up the Hunter outfit.
"Now, come on, let's get walking."
Yang looked at her in confusion.
"Wait, where are we going?"
Neo giggled at her.
"Well, I need a new outfit too! And we need to get this tailored. So, we're going into town!"
Yang seemed to hesitate again. Neo walked over to the bookshelf where Yang's arm was resting and picked it up.
"Hey, with your sweater on, nobody will notice."
Yang gave her a shaky grin and unzipped her hoodie, revealing a plain white tank top beneath it. She slid it off her right shoulder, revealing her stub with its lump of scar tissue.
"Okay. Can you help me out?"
Neo slid the harness onto Yang's stub, quick fingers tightening the straps and double-checking them. As Yang fastened the arm on, Neo found her hands lingering on Yang's arm and shoulder, feeling the muscles shift beneath her skin as the arm powered up and Yang flexed...
"Neo? I think I've got it."
Neo blushed and stepped back as Yang slid the metal arm into the sleeve of her hoodie and zipped it up. For a moment Yang sat in her chair, feeling the mechanical arm through the fabric. Had she embarrassed Yang? Or made her feel angry, or uncomfortable? Neo felt like she'd crossed a line, and now she was worried that Yang would call her out on it.
"We should get going," Neo said to break the silence, as well as forestall any condemnation from Yang. The blonde nodded and stood up, and closed her eyes for a moment, as if mentally preparing herself.
"I guess we should," she said finally.
/
Yang held her good hand to her right shoulder as she walked through the streets of the village of Patch. It was a fair-sized town, home to a few thousand people, and the largest settlement on the island. It was also home to the ferry that took people and goods to and from Vale, the main connection between Patch and the outside world.
Neo practically skipped along next to her, black twintails swaying with every step. In one hand was a bag containing Yang's Hunter outfit.
Yang sighed as she thought about wearing it again. It was true, her tracksuit and workout clothes were functional, if a bit dull...as were the drab brown sweats and hoodie she was wearing now. But whenever she tried to imagine herself wearing that outfit again, standing confidently with Ember Celica at the ready...she just couldn't do it.
Meanwhile, being out in public for the first time since losing her arm was unnerving her. The whole town seemed on edge, people hurrying about their business rather than going about it leisurely as she remembered, casting glances at the billboards and newsstands that had sprung up since the CCT had gone down. For the first time in living memory, the militia was out, grim men and women wearing uniforms and with regulation weapons slung on their backs.
This was not the town she had grown up with.
More than that, people shot her glances. While her sweater and a wool glove covered her robot arm, she couldn't help but feel like their gazes bored right through her clothes to the metal arm and the lump of scar tissue...
Neo glanced up at her and gently touched her mechanical arm, holding up her Scroll.
[Are you okay?]
Yang bit her lip and looked around. One militiaman who had been staring at her turned and said something to his comrade, who shook his head in what Yang thought was dismissal. She felt a surge of shame and turned her back to them.
"I want to go home," she mumbled. She wanted to go home and lie under the covers and forget about the whole world.
Then Neo smiled up at her with bright green eyes.
[Hey, don't worry about them. You're fine, okay?]
Yang swallowed and gave her a shaky grin.
"As long as we get this over quick, yeah."
[Great! You can drop off Hunter for the adjustments, I'll pick out my new look!]
Yang smiled and took the bag from Neo, then watched as she hurried down the street and into a tailor's shop. She gave the people around her one final glance and followed.
The tailor's shop was warm inside. Racks of clothing pressed in close together, giving the place a snug atmosphere. Clothing stores were one of the most common businesses in Vale - when individuality was so highly regarded, and the easiest way to stand out was with clothing, how could it be otherwise?
As Neo made her way between the racks of clothes, Yang walked up to the counter and set the bag down. After explaining to the tailor exactly what adjustments she needed, he nodded and disappeared into the back of the store.
Yang allowed herself a smile as she imagined herself in her Hunter outfit again. Maybe Neo was right, she did need some more striking clothes…
Yang saw Neo moving up one of the aisles. She had just picked out a high-collared pink shirt and was inspecting a dark chocolate-colored peacoat with a long coattail. Maybe it would be nice to see Neo in something new as well...
Yang's thoughts were interrupted by muttered voices from further back in the store.
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man and a woman, perhaps middle-aged, speaking to each other in not-particularly quiet voice. Yang swallowed as she realized they were talking about her.
"Yes, that's the girl who broke that poor Haven boy's leg."
"I don't know how she can show her face in public! She assaulted him!"
Instantly it was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her.
Of course. Of course everyone had remembered that incident. The brief moment of deep uncertainty Yang had felt, as well as the fear that Blake wouldn't believe her...that had all been forgotten after the much bigger the events of the Battle of Beacon. Now, it all came flooding back, made worse as she realized that all of Remnant must have thought her a monster.
Yang couldn't bear to stand there and listen any further. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she stormed outside, only to find the street filled with what she imagined were more judgemental stares. She ducked into a nearby alleyway and slumped back against a wall, her good hand covering her face as she held back tears.
"Yang?" came a whispered voice, cutting through her halted sobs.
"I...I can't believe this! I can't believe I forgot how much everyone must hate me!" Yang sobbed.
Then she felt Neo's hand on her arm, pulling it gently downwards. Yang blinked away her tears and looked down at Neo's hardened expression.
"No. Those people don't know what happened. They can't judge you."
"Neo, I don't know what happened! I'm still not sure what really caused me to attack Mercury..."
She shook her head and pulled away from Neo's grip.
"Not that it matters," she spat, "Whatever happened, Cinder and her minions got away with it."
Yang felt so many emotions raging inside of her - shame, doubt, anger - anger at herself, at Mercury, at those people.
"It was Emerald," Neo whispered. Yang stopped and turned around, staring straight into Neo's mismatched eyes.
"What?" she asked, her voice flat. Neo closed her eyes and sighed.
"You wouldn't know, would you? Emerald's Semblance causes hallucinations. She made you think Mercury attacked you so you'd hit him."
Yang's mouth opened and closed until she finally managed to form words.
"She what?"
Emerald had tricked her in front of the entire world, made her look like a monster - and of course Yang had fallen for it. Her first instinct had been to attack, to use lethal force, just as they planned. Yet again, her anger had gotten the best of her.
But that didn't change the new wave of fury welling up inside her.
"I knew she was with Cinder, but this?"
Neo shrugged.
"Yeah, and she tricked Pyrrha Nikos into killing the robot girl, too."
"She did what?" Yang hissed. Neo's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Wow, you didn't know? Yeah, that was Cinder's idea too."
Yang leaned against the brick wall of the alley and pressed her mechanical hand against it, digging her fingers into it until the mortar cracked. She took a few deep, slow breaths, but she could feel the edges of her vision going red.
"We're going to make her pay for that...along with all the rest."
Neo moved closer, her eyes switching colors.
"Yang it's okay. You didn't know-"
Yang punched the wall, hard enough to send a lance of pain up the stub of her right arm and send chips of shattered brick crumbling to the ground.
"No! I fell for it, Neo! Your team picked me for a reason! Because you knew I would attack as my first instinct!"
All the rage drained out of her suddenly, and she slumped against the wall. She felt a rush of cold air, and she shivered and pulled her hoodie tighter around her.
"I just...is this how I'm always going to be?" she said, a sob creeping into her voice.
Neo was beside her almost instantly, a soft gloved hand slipping into her own.
"It wasn't my team, Yang. It certainly isn't now. And you are going to change, for the better."
Yang felt calm wash over her. Neo's soft voice, her gentle touch...it pulled her back. The fact that Neo had been on Cinder's team didn't escape her...but she really did believe that Neo was on her side now.
Yang sighed and straightened up, inspecting her robot hand for damage.
"Okay. Let's...let's just get the outfit and go home, okay?"
Neo smiled and nodded.
"I'll be in and out before you know it!" she said, then turned and made her way back onto the street and up the sidewalk towards the store. Yang followed, then watched her enter the store. She sighed, watching her breath smoke in the winter air, and scanned the street.
People still cast looks her way, and while they still stung somewhat, Yang couldn't forget what Neo had said. Yang still couldn't believe that under all that fear and pain, Neo could be so...loving.
And as Yang's eyes settled on an ice cream shop, she knew exactly how to thank her.
/
Neo smiled as she walked from her bedroom, down the hall, and into the living room. As she stepped through the doorway she saw the breath catch in Yang's throat, and she gave the blonde a smirk.
"Better, no?" she asked. Yang nodded in appreciation. The two had come home as soon as possible so that they could try on their new clothes, and Neo had to admit she was having fun showing off a bit. Yang's eyes moved over Neo's body, and Neo couldn't help a small thrill running through her at the thought.
Take a good look, sunshine.
"It looks...wow..." the blonde gasped.
Neo looked down at her knee-high, high-heeled black boots and white pants, and tugged at the collar of the pink shirt that peeked out over her rich brown peacoat. The whole thing had the air of a military uniform, or maybe a nobleman's attire. Neo had chosen it specifically for that reason - it was elegant and refined, like her old outfit, but this one would be more functional. She couldn't help but grin as she turned on her heel.
"I was thinking of doing something with my hair, though," she said, "Not a ponytail, but...a braid?"
She imagined herself with her hair in a single braid, pink and brown alternating, and she grinned in satisfaction. Yang smiled and paced forwards, and Neo couldn't help but appreciate the way the modified Hunter outfit looked on her. The halfcape Neo had chosen, black with white trim, was hanging on the back of the couch, but as for the rest of it...yes, Neo could especially appreciate the thigh-highs and miniskirt, though she was careful not to let herself stare.
Yang's too pretty to be wearing drab brown all the time, she thought with a touch of self-consciousness.
"Hmmm. Yeah, it would look nice...maybe I could braid it for you?"
Neo blinked and turned again for Yang, letting her particolored hair trail behind her. She flashed Yang a grin and fluttered her eyelashes.
"If you think the arm can handle it," she quipped.
"Is that a challenge?" Yang asked, eyebrow raised. Neo's only response was to smirk.
Then she thought about that - sitting between Yang's legs as she ran her fingers through Neo's hair - and cleared her throat.
"We can do that later, though. How about we have that ice cream and relax?"
/
"Okay, wait," Yang said with a stifled laugh as Neo ate another spoonful of caramel ice cream, "You like ice cream..."
Neo rolled her eyes. She and Yang were sitting on the couch in their pajamas, bowls of ice cream in their laps. Neo could tell that Yang was stressed and Yang had bought some ice cream in town, so it seemed like a good idea for the two to change into their pajamas, sit back on the couch, and enjoy themselves. It had been nice, relaxing - then Yang had suddenly started laughing out of nowhere. She could barely keep a straight face as she explained what was so funny, but Neo was willing to, quite literally, humor her.
"Duh," she replied. Hadn't they had this conversation before?
"No, no," Yang continued, "So you like ice cream, your name is Neopolitan..."
"Yang where are you going with this?" Neo asked, followed by a giggle. Yang's sweet laugh could be infectious sometimes.
"And you're really short," Yang said, followed by a snort of laughter. Neo frowned and watched as Yang shovelled a spoonful of caramel ice cream up from her own bowl.
"Yes, but I don't see what-"
"So that makes you pint-sized!"
As Yang fell back against the couch, breathless with laughter, Neo could do nothing more than stare at her - then let out a snort of laughter, then a chuckle, then she had to set her bowl of ice cream in her lap and cover her face with her hands.
"Okay, yes, brilliant," she gasped through her fingers. Somehow, the pun was funnier than she'd expected. Maybe it was just because Yang had insisted on the buildup, or maybe it was just because Neo was enjoying being around Yang so much. She felt strangely light-headed...
As Yang recovered from her bout of self-inflicted laughter, Neo noticed that she had somehow smeared some ice cream on her face, on her cheek right by the corner of her mouth.
Acting on impulse, Neo leaned forward and wiped it off with her thumb, then stared at a wide-eyed Yang as she realized what she'd done. As both of them struggled to formulate sentences, Neo then realized she still had the ice cream on her thumb. Acting again on her first impulse, she licked it off, the salted caramel flavor hitting her tongue as it swirled across her thumb.
I probably shouldn't have been making eye contact, she thought as she saw Yang blush and very pointedly look away..
Why was she acting like this? Why did she feel butterflies in her stomach every time she touched Yang's arm or held her hand? Why did she relish the idea of sitting between Yang's legs as the blonde ran her fingers through Neo's hair? Why the lingering glances whenever she and Yang were working out?
There was no reason for her to have such an interest in Yang unless...she was interested in Yang.
Neo felt her mouth go dry.
She'd never felt romantic attraction for...anyone. She'd simply never thought it was for her. It wasn't exactly easy to form an emotional connection with someone when she was surrounded by thieves and murderers. So, she hadn't bothered.
But Yang...Yang had this pureness that Neo found entrancing. She was selfless, compassionate...she was good. She had been so kind to Neo, so welcoming, and aside from being incredibly attractive, Neo had grown to enjoy helping her, watching her grow stronger, watching her heal. She took joy in seeing Yang happy.
When the two of them had stood on that cliff together and Neo had seen the rising sun bathe Yang in golden light, Neo had known she could never leave Yang behind. Yang was everything to her, more than Roman had ever been.
Is this what love is like? she thought, though whether she was thinking of her own feelings towards Yang or Yang's actions towards her, she wasn't entirely sure.
What would Yang think if she knew? Did she suspect something? Yang wasn't dense, surely she could guess how Neo felt from the way she'd been acting lately. Neo felt a stab of fear as she wondered if Yang would return her feelings..or if Neo's own feelings would push her away. The uncertainty clung to her, eating at her. If Neo's affection drove Yang away...what would happen to the two of them?
Neo remembered all the times Yang had been angry at her. She thought they'd put those arguments behind them, but now she was afraid they were festering beneath the surface...what did Yang really think of her? If Yang still thought Neo was a bad person...
"I...um..."
Neo realized Yang was stammering. She felt herself blush and looked down to realize that her bowl was almost empty.
"I'm going to wash up," she whispered as she got up, and as she left the living room she could hear Yang's confused voice follow her.
"Y-yeah, okay. Goodnight..."