Weiss Schnee
"Yes, yes. Come on, there's no need to be so picky." It was impossible for her to pinpoint the exact moment... but at some point her son had become better at bartering then her. "I bet you'd do what you were told if Ruby were here..." She grumbled her words and sighed, resting Argus back in her lap and readjusting her top. "If you're not hungry, what do you want?"
Staring into those eyes was a sure-fire way to get lost, she was confident he was trying to tell her something... he was just too young to properly communicate, leaving him with only one method of complaint. Weiss let out a sigh as his cries started again, holding him closer and gently bouncing him to try and get him to calm down. "Maybe at this rate you'll wake her..." Another grumble.
Honestly, if his cries were enough to wake Yang up, she would have woken hours ago... and that would have meant Weiss wouldn't have to be sitting in a hospital room with only her infant child to keep her company. Not that the couch was uncomfortable, rather it was just boring waiting there.
"I suppose this is my punishment for putting Ruby on house arrest..."
She was stuck here until Blake got some rest... or more accurately until Sun and Celica had gotten some rest. Weiss was sure that if Ruby was in that bed instead of Yang there was no way she would be able to sleep... and Blake was probably feeling the same. Currently it was late afternoon, the sun was dipping enough in the sky to change the terribly bright day into a softer light seeping through the window behind the Queen.
"Hey... mind closing the window...?"
"Can't you close it yourself-" Weiss paused, stopping her words and looking up awkwardly at the bed, stunned for a moment at seeing Yangs open eyes and turned head. "Yang!?"
"Yo..." Weiss was up immediately, resting Argus in his pram and moving to the bedside. Yang's voice was weak, but that was likely due to a dry throat rather then her injuries... she had been hit with so much healing magic over the last day that it was unlikely that anything but her arm had issues at the moment.
"I... I can't believe you're awake." She quickly moved to get her some water, but while she looked pretty calm on the outside... Weiss was freaking out on the inside. Why did her luck have to be this horrible?? Of course she had to be the one to tell Yang about her arm... Finally getting Yang some water, she helped her take a drink with a straw, not wanting the girl to move much yet. "How are you feeling?"
"Welp... my body feels pretty shit... well, besides my arm." Yang lightly chuckled as she spoke, and Weiss screamed in her thoughts, unsure still of how to break the news. "So umm... speaking of which... why is my arm still uhh... not an arm?" The usually calm and composed woman showed a bit of uncertainty in her expression... and Weiss had to use all of her willpower to keep from cracking.
"Her body probably just feels weaker then usual, rather then it actually being hurt..."
"Yang... I... I'm sorry. Your arm... it's... the attack that was used on it... it... damaged your soul... it..." She took a deep breath. "It destroyed part of your body's print. Your arm... it... can't be healed." Yang didn't even look angry... or upset, nothing... just... understanding. She slowly nodded and averted her eyes a little, as if still processing all of that. "But, I want to assure you that you'll be fitted with the best prosthetic Lien can buy... and likely better if your sister has anything to say about it."
Prosthetics weren't very common, only being made for people born without limbs rather then usually being needed for people who had lost them... as... well that usually never happened. Or rather, never stuck.
"Its fine, Weiss. I'm... to be honest, I'm more concerned about everyone else... W-where is-"
"Blake is fine. Sun, Celica, and Jasper are all with her as well. I sent them home a few hours ago to get some rest... Ruby would be here, but-"
"House arrest." They nodded at the same time.
"It was a challenge to get her to stay home... she's in her workshop right now... already trying to cook some things up to help you."
Yang chuckled. "She would."
"I... have to admit... I... expected more of a reaction-" Weiss stopped as Yang shrugged.
"I... guess I just... I'm more disappointed then angry..." Her remaining hand clenched into a fist, and she let out a tired sigh. "I... I couldn't do anything to him. I didn't even get to attack him..."
"You were facing a Harbinger, Yang... not to mention someone else interrupted the fight."
"Oh... right... umm... about Illia-"
"Don't, Yang. I don't care about that. I'm worried about you right now." She rested her hand over Yangs own, and met her eyes with a gentle smile. "There's... more."
"Can it get much worse?" Yang laughed a little, but Weiss wasn't sure how to respond at first.
"The knife that hit you... it... contained a functioning Abaddon Curse... You're. .. Human now..." Yang nodded along, she didnt seem too upset about that... which surprised Weiss.
"Ok... is there... anything else?" Another nod from the Queen, and Weiss grabbed a small mirror from nearby to show Yang her face.
"You lost an Affinity due to being turned into a Human... usually, you would have lost the one granted by being a Hellhound but... due to your Berserker eyes affecting that Affinity... and them being fully activated when you... were hit... you... lost your Water Affinity instead." Yang stared into the mirror as Weiss spoke, she seemed more shocked about this then her arm or even being a Human... Weiss wasn't sure on the full story about her and Raven... but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Yang didn't particularly like her now permanently Red eyes.
Blake Xiao Long
Deep breaths. That was the only way she was getting through this door. Deep breaths... a clear mind... and hands clutching her baby tight enough to draw strength from him... luckily her other children were standing at each of her sides, holding onto her clothing and silently asking to go in already without actually saying the words.
"Ok..." She wasn't ready... but that didn't matter. The door opened slowly, and she was greeted with a sight that equally relieved her and crushed her heart. Yang was looking out the window, the afternoon sun lighting up her hair in a lovely golden glow... just seeing her awake was all Blake needed to push into the room with slow steps, unlike Sun and Celica who bolted in to throw themselves at their mother. Yang turned just in time to see them, and her face lit up with a bright smile... though Blake could tell that both kids were surprised by the colour of her eyes.
"Hey, don't worry kiddos... I'm not angry. I'm just kinda... stuck with these." She flashed them a big toothy grin, and without anymore encouragement the twins pounced onto the bed and hugged her as tight as they could. Blake shambled behind them, shooting Weiss a small smile as she did, but took her spot waiting in line to greet her wife after their kids.
There was a lot of crying rather then coherent words. The twins had been really strong since Yang had gone to the hospital, but now that they could see her again... well the flood gates had opened and Yang was the main recipient of all of their pent up emotions. Blake had been smart enough to warn them ahead of time to be careful with Yang... telling them about her being Human now. Luckily they both still remembered their practice from when Ruby was Human, so all went well and no further injuries were made. Eventually all that emotion was too much for them, and they tired themselves out again. Honestly, Blake was relived that they had fallen asleep again... neither of them had rested much since Yang was put here. Weiss was kind enough to stand so that Blake could put the sleeping children on the couch, but that left it as her own turn to confront the woman... the love of her life.
"Hey." Yang greeted her with that same smile as always... the one that melted her heart and filled her stomach with more then just butterflies.
"Hi..." Her own response was much more lacklustre, her voice sounded tired and too soft... and Yang could tell instantly.
"You alright?"
"W-what...?" That question was like a punch to the gut... even after everything that had happened, Yang still wanted to make sure she was ok. "Yang... are you alright...?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." A lie. She could see through it without much effort... but getting Yang to open up about her emotions when she didn't want to was a challenge that had long since proven too much for Blake.
"Yang... I'm sorry... I-"
"Hey, none of that. This isn't your fault-"
"It is! I... I invited her into our home! I put our kids in danger... I put you in danger." The only thing that kept the twins asleep through the yelling was just how tired they truly were.
"Blake... I don't care about any of that. I let her stay too... I'm the one that charged that guy... trust me, I'm just as much at fault as you are-"
"No! No you're not!" Blake collapsed against the bed and held Yang as tightly as she could... well, as tightly as she allowed herself to, even emotional she wasn't about to crush her. "Why can't you see that...? Why can't you blame me...?"
"I love you, Blake. You're one of the most important people in the world to me. I get to choose who to blame... and I don't blame you."
Blake didn't have words to properly respond to that. She wanted to call it a lie, or just plain stupid... but all she could do was wear a weak smile... and whisper into her ear. "You idiot..."
Weiss Schnee
"Another day, another letter pile, huh?" A friendly voice sounded from the door to her office, and Weiss let out a groan in response.
"I'm going to figure out a way to automatically sort these one day... I swear..." Her grumbles were filled with rage directed straight at the annoying pile of paper on her desk.
"Well, maybe after Ruby's done with her current list of projects." They shared a smile and Weiss tilted her head.
"How is that going anyway?"
"Well, her first Scythe's done-"
"Ooh! I can't wait to-"
"Yeah, she called it a failure."
Weiss slumped. "What."
"Yeah, she called it a-"
"No I heard you. But, why??" Ruby had been working on that for a few weeks now... honestly Weiss had thought that it would be perfect by now.
"Apparently it just 'didn't feel right' after making Clover's weapon... honestly I think she just rushed it to get to her next project."
"And how are you feeling about that?"
"Well-" Yang sat with a sigh, joining Weiss at the desk. "I guess it would be nice to have another arm again." It had been a few weeks since Yang had gotten out of the hospital, and about a month since she had been put there. Nothing could be done to fix her arm, short of messing with her soul to try and manually repair her print... which was a horrible idea.
All in all, Yang had seemed to be doing fine. Which both Ruby and Blake had warned Weiss about, it was fake. Yang didn't like showing weakness... she wanted to be strong, always. For the people she cared about.
"How are you dealing with... everything else?" Weiss was careful with her words. The Xiao Long family had been staying at the castle since then, mainly due to not trusting their own homes defences anymore... Ruby had personally gone around and completely redone the castles defenses in just two days without sleep, and to say it was a new level of safe now was an understatement. Only keyed individuals could enter, as well as those given special 'guest' privileges.
"Being Human kinda sucks to be honest. I dunno how you and Ruby did it for so long." They shared a small laugh and Weiss shrugged.
"Being a Dragon is certainly an improvement." Weiss's comment caused Yang to pause for a moment... it seemed like she wanted to say something, but whatever it was she decided to keep for herself.
"Yeah... Dad should be here in a few days. Sucks that I never bothered to learn the Hellhound Formula." Unfortunately, Tai had to come all the way to Vale to share it... a Formula wasn't something one spoke over a call.
Yang had been hanging around pretty lazily lately, not that Weiss didn't understand that behaviour... it just felt off. As much as she knew about the woman, she never expected Yang to be one to just sit on a couch for hours without a care.
"Hey, Weiss... I was wondering... n-no nevermind... sorry, im probably interrupting, huh?" She went to stand but Weiss beat her to it.
"Yang, i would rather do anything else in the world then look through these letters. What's up?" She stared the blonde down with eyes almost fully squinted, trying to force her back into sitting down with just her gaze. Weiss was determined to not lose a chance at getting her to open up... Ruby would kill her if she did.
Eventually - being about a minute - she succeeded in glaring Yang back into the seat, to which Weiss celebrated with a small noise of triumph and took her own seat again.
"I'm... I feel like a failure." So far this already wasn't going how Weiss expected, and she immediately swapped out her smirking expression for one of concern. "I couldn't do anything... I've never been able to do anything... for all the power I used to have, what did it matter? I wasn't as strong as you or Ruby... I was no where near the level of a Harbinger... even with all the magic I used to have... I'm just... not enough to protect the people I care about."
"I..." Weiss gulped. "Can i ask why you're telling me this...? Surely if you spoke to Blake or even Ruby-"
"They wouldn't get it..."
"How do you know without proof?"
"If our positions were switched... would you tell Ruby about it?" Weiss wanted to respond with an immediate 'yes'... but she couldn't. "And that's why I told you." Yang's words took on a gloomy air as she spoke. "I feel like I can't protect the people I love... even if dad gives me that power back... what then? If Adam came back... the same thing would happen."
Weiss was avoiding eye contact by now, glancing around her desk as she tried to come up with a solution... anything she could say to offer help or support... but all she found was another letter from Neptune... and worse, a letter from Vacuo... likely directly from Carmine or Gillingham...
"Yang... No one can reach that level without giving up something important... the only exception to that are the Harbingers, it's why we call them the strongest. Sure... maybe it's impossible to match them... but isn't that ok? You don't have to be the strongest in order to protect your family."
"Yes I do. You... Ruby... Blake... all of you are stronger then me... and that's not going to change anytime soon." Yang was falling into a spiral of sorts... but Weiss shook her head.
"What if it could change?"
"...what?" Their eyes met as Yang looked up at her... and Weiss grew nervous, she was unsure if this was the right thing to do or not... but... perhaps the 'right thing' was subjective.
"Ruby and myself are only strong because of what we are... I don't have the time to train and become as strong as I can... Ruby's power is dependant on magic items... but... for you it would be different." Weiss settled her gaze, steeling herself... and locking into this decision.
"Weiss... what are you talking about?" Yang's voice showed that she already knew.
"Instead of becoming a Hellhound again... why not become a Dragon?"