Yang sighed softly as she knelt next to the heiress, placing her hand on the girl's sweaty and burning forehead. The brawler flinched at the soft whimper and groan of pain Weiss let out as she shifted slightly in her fever induced sleep. On instinct she brushed some of the heiress's hair from her face, softly rubbing the girl's forehead, her concern growing as Weiss shivered under her blanket, contrasting worryingly with the sweat the girl already had on her.
The blonde searched around quickly for the nearest cloth or rag she could find, snagging her orange scarf from her old uniform. Yang quickly pops some ice cubes from the tray, thankful that Ruby had fetched it for her while she watched over the ice queen, wrapping them in the scarf and placing it on her forehead as a makeshift ice pack.
She sighed with slight relief as she gazed at Weiss's flushed face, her mind conjuring up all of the previous nights that the heiress had helped her with her own nightmares, a smile pulling to her lips as she realized she could repay at least some of that here. The blonde absentmindedly placed her hand back on top of the heiress head, stroking her fingers through those fluffy snowy locks, blushing slightly as she realized just how beautiful Weiss's hair was.
Yang perked her head up as the sound of several footsteps reached her ears, looking to the door as her little sister dashed in panting heavily with Ren trailing behind, the shorter ginger bouncing in behind him as always. The blonde smiled with relief at the group of three, Ruby having run off to fetch Ren from outside for help with the heiress's fever.
"I… hah… I got him sis!" Ruby panted out between gasps of air, clearly having overexerted herself to get back faster.
"Thanks Rubes, you okay? I told you you didn't need to rush." The blonde looked to her sister with concern before her eyes switched over to Ren, continuing.
"She's burning up really bad, I think a fever? I probably could have handled it but I just wanted some extra help since you guys were already close by..."
Yang felt some of her worry bleeding into her explanation and took a slow breath to try and calm herself. The blonde's fingers still casually stroking and running through the heiress's hair with worry as she tried to console the ailing girl.
She felt some relief as the boy nodded to her, kneeling down beside her and beginning to look over Weiss, Yang finding herself immediately distracted as the heiress let out another soft and pained whimper. On instinct she leaned in, her hand softly holding the side of Weiss's flushed face.
"Yang…"
The blonde felt her spine go rigid as the heiress's unconscious and desperate plea hit her ears. A slight pink hue colored Yang's cheeks at the somewhat adorable thought of the ice queen dreaming about her, a realization Yang very quickly had to toss away with a shake of her head before she put any more thought into it. The brawler cupped Weiss's cheek further, keeping the makeshift ice pack in place with her thumb. She couldn't help but guiltily whisper to the girl, hoping some of her words made it through to the unconscious ice queen's mind.
"It's okay Weiss, I'm here. I won't be going anywhere, I promise."
Yang felt herself snap back to focus at the sound of giggling, turning around to see Nora and Ruby whispering and looking in her direction, Nora wearing a particularly teasing grin and Ruby nodding along with her. She narrowed her eyes at the two, flinging an annoyed "And just what's so funny?" In their direction.
Ruby let out a shy and embarrassed "meep!", shrinking back slightly, but Nora just kept her grin, almost standing her ground and replying in a sing-song voice.
"Oh nothing!~ I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually though." Before looking over knowingly at her partner and letting out a follow up giggle.
The blonde felt even more heat rush to her face as she realized her hand was still caressing the ice queen's face, begrudgingly removing her palm from the girl's cheek. She feels a pang of immediate regret shoot through her chest as Weiss whimpers in her comatose state at the sudden lack of contact, and briefly debates with herself if she should return her hand.
Regretfully tearing her lilac eyes from her friend she glanced to Ren questioningly, arching an anxious eyebrow. The boy turned to the blonde, offering a quick nod as he placed the covers back over the heiress's body.
"It's like you said, a high fever. She should be fine, let her sweat it out and make sure she eats something light when she comes to."
He replied calmly, his voice as steady as ever as Yang breathed a sigh of relief, glad her theory had been confirmed.
"Thanks for coming Ren, I know you guys had other plans with Rubes today."
The boy shrugged, shaking his head in reply.
"It's no trouble, if you like I can whip up one of my healthy nutrition drinks for her."
Yang grimaced slightly, her eyes wandering over his shoulder at Nora who was exaggeratedly crossing her arms and desperately mouthing "No!" at her, the ginger girl mock gagging and slicing her own neck. She returned her attention to Ren, offering a pained smile as she declined.
"No need, you've done plenty!"
She scratched the back of her head slightly, opting to change the topic by looking over at her sister.
"Did you guys come to talk about your plans to leave?"
She watched Ruby's body go rigid in surprise, the smaller girl stammering quickly over herself frantically trying to explain. Her eyes darted around while she tried to speak with her hands.
"How did-? No it's- Um, I was gonna tell-"
Yang let out a low and ragged sigh, pulling her sister into a quick but gentle embrace, letting her hand slowly run through her hair.
"It's alright Rubes, I overheard you guys a couple days ago. I'm not mad."
The blonde felt a small twist of guilt from the tiny lie at the end, she was still quite annoyed that her sister was leaving so quickly. She swallowed the feeling, understanding why she had to do what she was doing, Weiss's previous words ringing in her ears as she clutched her sister slightly tighter.
She was thankful as Ruby clung back, returning the hug with a smile.
"Thanks Yang, I love you. I promise I'll be careful, oh and uh, don't tell dad please."
The brawler let out a playful eye roll, teasingly ruffling her sister's hair.
"Love you too… and you don't have to tell me twice, we both know he'd freak out. Make sure you spend some time with him before ya leave though okay?"
Yang let out a small sigh of relief as Ruby nodded in response, deciding to let go of her sister and kneel back down next to Weiss's bedside. The three quickly said their goodbyes and shuffled down the stairs, the sound of her little sister's plans for their journey slowly fading.
The blonde's attention was drawn back to Weiss as the smaller girl whimpered and shifted in her sleep. The brawler heard a few words mumble from the girl, causing her to lean closer and try to listen, her hand softly resting on the heiress's head.
"Father… please… I'm sorry…"
Yang's brow furrowed in concern, a feeling of guilt welling up in her gut as she suddenly felt she had invaded the girl's privacy in some way. Though the thought died and her concern was deepened when a single tear rolled down the heiress's face. On instinct the brawler let her thumb gently drift across her warm cheek, taking the tear with it. As Yang gazed down at the sleeping girl's face she felt heat rise to her cheeks once more, her mind clouding with worry for the girl as she caressed her cheek softly.
She settled down next to the heiress by pulling up a chair, her hand gently pressed to the girl's flushed face, checking the makeshift ice pack whenever she could, determined to stay until Weiss awoke.
Weiss let out a small pained groan, her head thumping and pounding against her skull. She tried to will her eyes to open, only to feel as if she might hurl from the nausea she felt building up in her gut. As more of her senses started to return to her, she realized that not only was she extremely hot, but gods she felt disgusting and sweaty.
Though every muscle in her body screamed at her not to do so, she turned onto her side, eyes finally cooperating enough to open. She blinked multiple times, trying to clear the blurriness from her vision as she reached a shaky hand up to her forehead. The heiress was confused to feel a strange cold and damp wet cloth against her, and as she pulled it down realized it was a familiar article of clothing from her blonde teammate, some half melted ice cubes tumbling out of it and onto the damp sheet beneath her.
As her eyes slowly started to focus, she became very aware of an odd warmth on her cheek. She grimaced slightly and angled her head to find the source, only to stop dead as she was mere inches from Yang's sleeping face. She had to struggle not to yelp in surprise, and though her face already felt hot and flushed, a different and much lighter heat lifted to her cheeks. She stared forward in confusion, extremely aware of just how close the blonde's soft looking lips were to her own, had she not already been sweating she absolutely would be now.
Slowly, Weiss began to piece together that she must've caught some kind of fever, and judging by Yang's scarf pressed to her forehead, and the blonde's face asleep directly next to her own, assumed the brawler had taken care of her. While the thought did fill the ice queen with a certain unapologetic happiness, she did feel guilty having made the girl worry enough to pass out in a chair at her bedside.
Still, the heiress was tired, she felt as if she had been battered and beaten the previous day, every muscle in her body sapped of energy and screaming at each little movement she made. She couldn't stop herself from nuzzling slightly into that warm palm of Yang's that cupped her cheek. Aside from the scent of her own sweat, the heiress was content to take in the familiar scent of sweet lavender that the blonde always exuded, finding an odd comfort in it. Weiss's blush grew darker as she enjoyed the warm feeling of the brawler's rough hand against her face, breathing a slight sigh of relief, as this was the only comfort she could currently feel despite the ailing state of her body.
Somewhere in her head she knew she shouldn't be feeling this, she'd already had this argument with herself plenty of times. Yang's feelings were clearly far out of reach for the ice queen, yet she was far too tired to stop herself at the moment, her sickness creating a strange light fog in her brain that she just couldn't seem to fight her way out of. She felt her breathing catch in her throat as Yang's lips parted, a long gentle yawn escaping the girl's sleeping face. Weiss paused for a beat, deciding that as much as she'd love to stay like this, she should probably wake the sleeping brawler.
"Yang…?" Though she whispered, she was very aware of how sickly she sounded, recoiling at how her voice wavered and cracked somewhat.
She sucked in a breath as the blonde stirred in response, those gentle lilac eyes slowly opening as the girl's body tensed and stretched. She let out a half lucid groan as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. As Yang's eyes finally focused, Weiss felt herself lost for a beat in them, their gazes locked for a few moments. Though the distance between their faces hasn't changed, Weiss became all the more aware of it as a slight tinge of pink spread to the brawler's cheeks, almost certainly matching the tone she wore on her own face.
Neither moved for several beats, the ice queen somewhat content to hold the blonde's gaze, but soon had to stifle a pout as Yang's hand shakily pulled away, much to the ailing heiress's dismay.
"O-oh… morning Weiss, how are you feeling?"
Yang's voice was quite raspy and deep from having just been awoken, something Weiss found she enjoyed far more than she should. The blonde's question mumbled out in a flustered manner, lilac eyes quickly shifting away to avoid a more direct stare.
Weiss smiled in response, finding her usual walls and reservations surprisingly lowered in her slightly delirious fever fueled haze. Acting almost on autopilot, the girl leaned forwards, wrapping her arms around the blonde's shoulders. She almost giggled in response to the brawler's body stiffening for a few moments before relaxing into the embrace.
"I feel awful… but waking up to you being here has helped immensely."
The heiress found herself amused at the blonde's sharp inhale of breath against her ear, relaxing herself against the brawler happily. She swatted away at the lingering ill thoughts that crawled back into her head, hating how they chipped away at her happy feelings. She knew Yang would never reciprocate, Weiss just… wanted at least a moment of happiness.
"Um, Weiss, are you sure you're fine? I can go get you some water-"
The heiress simply squeezed the blonde in response, burying her face into Yang's shoulder. She happily breathed in the lavender scent of the brawler, trying her best to enjoy this moment while she could. Though quickly her previous happiness began to twist in her gut, dark clouds forming in her mind and making her head pound. She felt the brawler release a long shaky breath, feeling those rough fingers slowly running through her hair letting her breathe a small but reluctant happy sigh.
"I am… I'm sorry, Yang."
She felt the blonde pause against her, reluctantly letting the brawler move her away. She couldn't help but waver as those captivating lilac eyes came up to meet her own, showing a mixture of worry and confusion. She hardly even realized that tears had begun to well up in the corners of her own eyes and her head felt horribly fuzzy. A violent flurry of conflicting thoughts and feelings welled up inside the heiress, her body hurt from the guilt she felt about everything that had happened to Yang. Her heart felt like it was on fire from being bound and desperate to be free as she held in the feelings she had slowly felt blossoming within herself. Worst of all, her head pounded and screamed at her, berating her for her actions, feelings, her everything. She was Weiss Schnee, she's supposed to be perfect, unwavering, confident, and yet she felt absolutely none of those in this moment. She should be able to hold strong, and yet here she was, unable to stop herself from falling in… falling in love with someone she knew could never return those feelings.
"What for Weiss? You've done nothing wrong..."
The heiress choked back a sob, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. Her body wracking as her chest heaved slightly, buried emotions slowly began to choke out, and she tried desperately to disguise them. Deciding she'd do what she could to help rather than try and spill her feelings on to what she knew was a lost cause.
"You're wrong Yang, you're so so wrong…"
Weiss finally opened her eyes, meeting the blonde's once more. She felt such reprieve in those eyes, filled with nothing but warmth and kindness. That strength that always drew the ice queen to her.
"I'm sorry about everything, Yang. About so many things I…"
She paused, her mind racing like a raging storm cloud, throwing every worry she had pushed away back into her face. Her bleeding feelings forced her thoughts towards their teammate who left. She hated that her mind lingered on her feelings for Yang, and the fact that Blake thoroughly stood in the way, but also desperately wanted to help Yang work through her own betrayal. The thoughts whipped her painfully, only pushing the girl to choke back her sobs further as she fought with the conflicted emotions she felt.
Weiss gasped softly as the warmth of Yang's palm wrapped around her own hands, for a moment a ray of sun pierced the black clouds that drifted through her head. Warmth spreads through her fingers and into her chest, it was always a familiar warmth she felt from Yang, it was comforting, somehow she felt confident whenever the blonde was near.
"Weiss… there's something specific on your mind right?"
Sometimes the ice queen hated just how well Yang could read her, it felt like no matter what she did the blonde always seemed to see right through her, perhaps they had grown to know each other too well? Weiss exhaled slowly, bracing herself somewhat as she let the worst of her thoughts bubble to the surface. She grimaced slightly, taking in those concerned lilac eyes one final time, knowing that she had to do this to help Yang, tossing her own personal and deep feelings for the brawler to the wayside.
"Blake…"
The heiress felt a needle stab her heart as Yang's eyes flickered with pain, Weiss opting to gently squeeze the brawler's hand in her own. She watched the blonde inhale slowly and shakily, exhaling as her expression hardened somewhat.
"I'd… rather not talk about her Weiss."
Weiss had to swallow her emotions at the uncharacteristically dead and dull tone Yang used, tormented as she watched the girl's eyes lose their shine.
"I-I know Yang, but I also know you. I know her leaving is what's getting to you the most, if it was anything else, well."
She let her eyes drift to the floor for a moment, heat flushing her cheeks before looking back to Yang with admiration.
"You're strong enough that you already would've dealt with it."
She watched Yang clench her jaw, feeling uneasy as anger flashed through the blonde's features. Weiss desperately wanted to help, maybe even get Yang to go after the girl she loved, as much as that thought pained her.
"Weiss it's hard I… I love her…"
The heiress felt her heart sink into a dark pit, she knew this already, hell she had already been told by Yang. Hearing her say it again, just justified her dark spiraling feelings of doubt.
"well… loved her. After everything, I don't think I can… bring myself to think of her in that way anymore...but I still can't not think about her."
Weiss held her breath, eyes going wide as her world stopped, resisting the urge to shake her head in disbelief. She felt for a moment that maybe she misheard but, the more she tried to convince herself the more the words relayed in her mind like a song, bringing with them an odd lightness in her chest. She felt her icy walls start to melt once more, some small flicker of warmth running through her veins. This was far from what she had intended, truly she had tossed the entire notion away in the hopes of simply helping the blonde come to terms with what happened, and felt somewhat speechless from the unexpected revelation.
Yang's ragged breath drew her out of that fantasy, this was never about her own feelings, it was about helping the girl she has those feelings for. She gently rubbed her thumb across the brawler's knuckles, feeling each scar and imperfection, her other hand resting reassuringly on Yang's shoulder.
"I don't hate her, I just… I don't understand… why."
The heiress felt a wave of hurt wash through her body, touching her heart at the sound of pure pain in Yang's voice. That darkened feeling of betrayal like a black aura around the normally warm radiant girl. She squeezed the brawler's now shaking hand once more, finding herself leaning closer to touch her forehead to Yang's.
"I've thought about it for some time… I'm upset with her too, but maybe I know why?"
Weiss felt Yang's shoulders slump as another pained exhale left the girl, the ice queen feeling her icy walls melt even more. She hated hearing Yang cry, being in pain like this was something she didn't deserve, not to Weiss.
"I don't care why, Weiss."
The tinge of anger that highlighted the edge of the blonde's voice did give the heiress pause, but she felt herself unable to not press on. She knew this was the only way Yang would ever be able to step towards recovery, and was willing to risk the girl's wrath if it meant healing her.
"Yes, yes you do Yang. If you didn't you wouldn't still think she was your friend. You'd just abandon her altogether."
Weiss flinched, begrudgingly letting go as the brawler pulled back from her, anger and hurt bleeding into the tears that were building in her eyes. The heiress felt awful to have brought the blonde to this state as she stared up at her friend.
"And what do you know Weiss?!"
She watched the anger and pain in Yang boil over, that red and awful glow taking hold in her eyes as the brawler's accusatory voice raised. Weiss felt herself shrink under the girl's angry glare, seeing the flickers that began to spark in those blonde locks. The outburst filled her with a bitter dread that dropped a whole weight of emotions on her shoulders, she hated what she was doing, but with a pained swallow and her own tears starting to well in her eyes, she defiantly returned her own glare up at the girl.
"I know that she ran to protect you!"
Weiss felt pain in her throat as she choked out her retort, having had to raise her voice to match the blonde's tone. She breathed heavily, chest hurting from the strain and sickness she was still feeling. She slowly mumbled out her follow up, feeling much of the energy leave her like a wind leaving sails as she looked into Yang's burning gaze.
"She did it to protect all of us… She was scared her past would catch up to not only you but everyone else, Yang."
She saw Yang flicker through several emotions, the girl's fist tightly squeezed shut and shaking violently. Weiss met the glare with her own defiant look, letting a couple of tears fall as she pleaded with her eyes. Yang gritted her teeth, her nose scrunching up into a half snarl as she seemed to try and contain her annoyance, much to the ice queen's worry. She saw the blonde move her glare from Weiss to her own fist before standing up abruptly. The ice queen's heart stung like an infection eating away at her as Yang stomped out of the room wordlessly.
Slowly and painfully, Weiss exhaled. She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath as she openly cried, she'd feel awful normally, but with everything that just happened she couldn't even begin to focus on her sickness. Her chest pounded like a drum, feeling her ears ringing with static as the ice queen's head began to spin. Weiss's heart burned with regret as her eyes found Yang's orange scarf. Her hand shook as she lifted it, thumb running across the cold and damp cloth. As she stared down at it, her thoughts lingered on the blonde, hoping that something she said may have broken through that horrible dark cloak that stuck to and clung around her friend.