Yang cursed angrily, resisting the urge to slam her first through a nearby tree as she stormed through the forest. Tears stung the blonde's burning red eyes as she tried to control the flickers of fire that lit through her golden hair. She didn't know how long she walked, just that she had grown tired and found herself slumped against a thick trunk by the time her mind cleared enough to think about more than just being upset. The brawler rested her forehead against her knees, curling in on herself as her ragged and harsh breaths shuddered through her body. Her chest burned and stung as she inhaled heavy gasps of biting cold air with each choking sob, her fist shaking violently and tightened to the point of pain.
Yang found herself diving through the murky water that was everything in her head, trying desperately to parse through it all. Her head already hurt from the anger and confusion swimming around in her heart, trying to calm herself and parse things did not seem to be helping.
"Weiss is right."
She grit her teeth, shaking her head back and forth at her own thoughts. The blonde felt like her own brain was fighting her as she opened her tensed fist, staring down into her shaking palm. Yang continued to clash with her own emotions, wanting to scream in anger and cry in defeat at the same time.
"Of course she's right… Just thinking about Blake right now pisses me off… Weiss just wanted to help obviously."
She wiped her eyes along her hand, blinking rapidly and shaking her head once more. The brawler slowly felt guilt creep in from her abdomen and up to her chest as she thought back to the argument. She still felt sick when her mind wandered to the faunus, that familiar betrayal and feeling of being abandoned dragging all of the swarming dark thoughts back into her mind. She immediately felt her energy sapped away by it, and desperately wanted to just curl up and sleep like usual when she felt this way, but Weiss was right, Yang knew she had to face this at some point. She knew she couldn't just lay around forever and wallow in the feeling.
"Weiss just wanted to help… cool off and go apologize. Talk to her."
Yang breathed a long deep sigh, her body shaking as she tried to dissipate her anger. She let her shaking hand slowly reach into her pocket, feeling the cool smooth crystalline charm in her fingers and taking it out. The brawler's dark red glowing eyes gazed across the icy blue surface, watching her own reflection be repeated and distorted several times over through the crystal. She couldn't help but think of the heiress, aside from it being her gift, it just reminded Yang all too much of the girl. Fragile and beautiful in appearance, but determined and unbreakable inside. As her thumb slowly stroked across it, she felt the embers waft off of her, the shaking in her hand slowing to a stop. She closed her eyes for a beat, before exhaling, the tension in her shoulders disappearing with the glow in her eyes as they opened.
Yang's mind wandered once more, drifting back to her thoughts of Weiss's pleas, and of course Blake. She sighed softly, focusing on letting her rough fingers run across the crystal surface, staying as calm as she could. Yang knew she didn't hate Blake, how could she after everything they've been through? Very quickly the bitter taste of betrayal bubbled up like bile in her throat, but as she swallowed she came to an understanding.
"Blake did what she thought was right, I can't hate her for that. But she could've easily talked to me, even if I disagreed she could have…"
She stopped that train of thought, breathing out a ragged sigh, fingers tightening around the snowflake.
"That doesn't matter, what's done is done. There's nothing you can do unless you can talk to her in the future…"
Yang nodded to herself, a small ember of confidence igniting in her chest as she slowly pushed herself upright, quickly dusting off a multitude of red and brown leaves that clung to her. Yang trudged through the crunchy forest floor, fingers still wrapped around the charm in her hand.
It didn't take long for the blonde to find herself in front of her own door, she hesitated for a moment, bracing herself before wrapping her knuckles gently against the wood. After a brief pause she slowly creaked open the door, leaning to peak inside.
Yang felt her heart drop like an anchor, a gasp escaping her as she took in the sight. Weiss was exactly where she remembered, openly sobbing into the same scarf Yang had used as the girl's ice pack previously. Weiss's shoulders softly rising and falling as she cried, soft muffled sounds coming from her. The blonde was not used to seeing Weiss like this at all, she wasn't even entirely sure if it was all her fault or partially the fever's. Yang almost wanted to run to the girl and throw her arm around her, but the thought was caught as the sound seemed to catch the heiress's attention. Weiss's red puffy eyes came to meet her own, streaks slowly rolling down her cheeks as the brawler took on those hurt looking icy blue orbs.
"…Yang?"
The blonde's chest felt tight like a vice as she guiltily averted the girl's gaze on instinct, hearing Weiss say her name through a choked sob almost broke her then and there. She felt a thick sludge of guilt almost choke her knowing that it was her fault she was in this state. Yang grit her teeth in determination, forcing herself to meet Weiss's eyes, and instantly feeling her chest fill with hurt.
Yang slowly stumbled into the room, the two's eyes never breaking from each other's as she quickly knelt down in front of the girl. The brawler's heart thundered in her chest as she leaned closer, Weiss's body shivering as she wavered, uncertainty and hurt evident in her icy gaze. The blonde gently wrapped her arm around the ice queen, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry Weiss. I just… lost it, you didn't deserve that."
As Yang whispered her apology, she felt a sense of relief when Weiss's arms wrapped tightly around her in response. She placed her hand on the back of the ice queen's head, softly stroking through her hair, Weiss resting her forehead against Yang's shoulder, sniffling softly and choking out her own.
"It's okay Yang, I probably shouldn't of even brought it up I just worry-"
The brawler exhaled, deciding to cut Weiss off with a gentle squeeze. The warmth on her face only intensified as the smaller girl seemed to nuzzle into her shoulder in response, another small sniffle escaping the girl. Yang could still feel the lingering guilt for making the princess cry clinging to her heart like a thorny vine, firmly stuck to her.
"No Weiss. I… I need to deal with this eventually… and Blake is definitely a part of it. I just have a lot of emotions tied up with that and it might take me a while... but you got me thinking, and that's probably a good thing…"
She felt Weiss nod into her shoulder, the girl squeezing her tightly with both arms in response. Yang settled happily into the comfortable silence that built between the two as they embraced, only to be abruptly broken as Weiss turned away and sneezed with a squeak almost adorable enough to melt the blonde into a puddle then and there, the heiress letting out a small curse after.
Yang couldn't help but laugh, earning an all too cute pout from the ice queen in response as the smaller girl sniffled and wiped her eyes again. She found her gaze wandering to the scarf still tightly clutched in the ice queen's hands, and questioningly raised an eyebrow, teasingly asking.
"I'm not getting that back am I?"
Which only earned another adorable "hmph" from the girl as she turned away from Yang, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Absolutely not any more you aren't."
Yang grinned, letting a chuckle escape her lips as her teasing tone continued.
"Awww, I think you just want something to remember me by.~"
It wasn't particularly hard for the brawler to catch the flushed red cheeks that the heiress now wore, smirking at her ability to get the girl increasingly flustered nowadays. It was always relatively easy, but she felt like she hadn't earned quite such genuine reactions back then, which was strange to her.
"Hmph! And so what if I do?"
Yang was surprised by the almost venomous glare she was shot over the ice queen's shoulder, though very quickly saw through the facade as the girl's cheeks were about as red as a Ruby's cape.
The blonde grinned, putting her hand to her chin and making a long exaggerated thinking pose.
"Hmmmm, I guess I can oblige the princess with this one request."
The speed with which the pillow Weiss had hurled smacked into Yang's face forced the loudest laugh she had produced in weeks out of her. Her chest felt oddly light at that, savoring the moment as it came since these small pieces of happy warmth seemed to be few and far between. She slowly began pulling the pillow off her face and held it threateningly towards the ice queen, shooting the girl a mock glare.
"Watch yourself princess, I don't want to sofacate you with this."
She smirked as she watched the heiress pinch the bridge of her nose, letting out a long and droning groan.
"Yang Xiao Long you insufferable-"
Yang found the perfect opportunity to strike, hurling the pillow with deadly accuracy, cutting Weiss off just at the end of her sentence. She smirked as the heiress let out a squeak and grunt, falling backwards into her bed. Of course, she knew what fury an angered Schnee could produce, and quickly gave herself an out to avoid the icy wrath of a hundred blizzards.
"Gonna go get you some water! Cause you're sick n stuff!"
Though Yang very quickly realized it would not be that easy as a large white glyph blocked her from the door of the room. With a gulp, she slowly turned to face the heiress, who was slowly sitting back up, pillow sliding off her face to reveal the pure indignant rage of a wild and slighted Schnee.
"I do not remember giving you permission to leave, Xiao Long."
Yang grimaced as the words exited the girl's mouth, oozing in a primordial fury that was probably frozen in a glacier for thousands of years to fester before rising to the surface. She gulped again, sweating slightly as she quickly raised her arm in surrender.
"I surrender, officer! No Schneed for more violence."
In her head, Yang both high-fived herself and cursed herself at her inability to not egg the ice queen on. With no surprise to the blonde, the additional verbal jab did not smooth things over with the girl, not that she expected it to anyways
Yang hardly had time to react as she was swiftly and unceremoniously lifted by an additional glyph, the blonde exclaiming in surprise. "W-whoa! Okay okay I give! Ah!-" Only to be flung straight face to face in front of the seething ice queen. The brawler could swear she could see glaciers in Weiss's eyes, and was watching them crack open to let hellfire unleash from deep in their depths. She closed her eyes, embracing the icy death she was sure to experience, bracing herself in defeat.
"Totally worth it."
Though what she felt to be her final thought before her untimely and swift demise faded, she realized she was in fact not forever sealed in an icy tomb, never to be seen again. Instead she felt herself hitting something soft beneath her, and felt warm arms wrap around her. Bewildered, Yang opened her eyes to see she had been dropped next to Weiss, the ice queen having snuggled her tightly into an embrace.
"You. Are not to go. Anywhere. Until I say otherwise. Understood?"
Though the tone was obviously pointed and threatening, Yang couldn't help but feel some heat rise to her own cheeks as Weiss nuzzled herself up under the brawler's chin, which was now resting directly on top of the heiress's head. The blonde let out a soft sigh, letting her arm lazily drape around the smaller girl's mid section, tugging her in and feeling the blush on her own face darken slightly from the proximity. Her eyes traced down the girl's form, whispering softly in response.
"Your wish is my command, princess."
Which of course, much to Yang's amusement, earned an indignant huff before she felt the ice queen's muscles relax into her. The blonde felt her breathing catch in her throat for a moment as she slowly took in the situation, feeling her heart pound increasingly hard in her ears. For a moment she was worried the ice queen's proximity to her own chest would be enough to hear her increased heart rate. A strange but familiar warmth flooded her chest, feeling her own body relax as she slowly inhaled the sweet scent of vanilla from the ice queen in her arms. This was hardly the first time she'd noticed it, but it was… the first time she felt it.
Yang could feel Weiss, the subtle warmth of the girl pressed against her, the tight but gentle squeeze of the girl's smaller fingers against her own back, the soft slight rise and fall of Weiss's chest against her own. Something about this situation gave her a strange sense of peace, it felt like her body was floating on a soft cloud, warmed by the sun, and she couldn't help but breathe a soft sigh of relief. It didn't take long for the blonde to realize Weiss had completely fallen asleep, and she carefully pulled the haphazardly strewn aside blanket over the two of them. Yang took a brief pause to let her lilac gaze fleet across the form of Weiss against her, thoughts swirling wildly as if someone had just grabbed her brain like a soda can and shook it. She couldn't really parse exactly what she was feeling, but knew from the peace in her heart that she was quite happy with this, and slowly closed her eyes, feeling her breathing match the ice queen's before drifting to sleep with her. For the first in a long time, Yang had no nightmares that night.