InsaneJournal

Adjusting to life on the ship wasn’t easy, but Yang had learned the hard way how to adjust to new and difficult situations. And this was definitely not the hardest thing she’d ever gone through.

Since she wasn’t a member of the crew, she couldn’t wear the uniform but she’d tried one on and looked damn cute in a yellow skirt. She’d even found a yellow sun dress for special occasions, but she didn’t think this was one so she’d settled a yellow tank top and a pair of black pants with purple trim.

And of course, she wanted a Strawberry Sunrise and she didn’t really care if it was synthol or not.

Blake didn't even want to be here. Social gatherings had never been her thing, even when the team was at a dance, or partying in the rec room. But this was one of those things where attendance was 'strongly encouraged', and she'd been to enough school to know that that meant she better show up.

Of course, there was the problem of Yang. She knew Yang was aboard. She didn't know what to say or how to deal with that information, and had spent the last few days actively trying to avoid her. One time she'd even snuck out of the mess hall behind a metal platter.

She decided the trench coat felt a little formal for this and ended up showing up in a combination of her new black shirt and the rest of the outfit she'd worn to that Faunus rally that one time. Hopefully she looked okay. In the back corner. With her head behind a data PADD so no one would see her and her cat ears or give her any notice at all.

There were some really nifty people on this ship. Yang was good at making friends, and she had, but she constantly thought about her sister and her team. The last she’d seen Ruby she’d been very harsh with her. She hadn’t even been conscious when Weiss had been taken and Blake…

The last she’d seen of her she was being stabbed. And then she’d been gone. Yang looked down at her drink and sighed. She wasn’t really that mad anymore. Oh, there’d be some words to be had with Blake and Ruby, but she’d just be happy to see them. There’d be bone crunching hugs, stern words, then another bone crushing hug.

But she tried not to think about that. That way led to the edge of depression again and Yang would rather focus on positive things. Like this drink. And the nice, friendly and okay cute people all around her. This ship and her passengers were a bunch of very attractive people. Luckily, Yang fit right in.

She turned, hoping to find a table or mingle with someone, when she spotted ears. Cat ears. Cat ears that twitched.

“No way.”

Shit. Blake would have recognized Yang's voice across a crowded stadium, and this room was far smaller than that. Her ears twitched back and forth, and then sank a little bit as she realised she'd been spotted.

Her heart was in her throat, her stomach was in her feet, there were butterflies everywhere, and... she honestly wanted to just create a clone and then disappear again. But there wasn't a good reason. Aside from the obvious reason that Yang probably hated her - that she'd wanted Yang to hate her, there was no other good reason. Adam wasn't here. This was probably the safest place she'd ever been, even if he was.

She reached out for her teacup, and tried to force her hand to stop shaking. Then she lowered her PADD, and glanced at Yang. "...hi?"

Yang wanted to tug at her hair, but she was holding a drink and she didn't want Strawberry Sunrise to go all over the damn place. Instead, she pushed through the crowd until she reached where Blake was sitting.

Several urges ran through Yang. To touch Blake, shake her, hug her, cry on her, shake her some more. And okay, yell a little when Blake didn’t look like she was going to slink through the nearest window into space. Instead, she pulled a chair out, spun it around and sat on it backwards. "When did you....what are you doing here?"

Crying, hugging, running away, sinking through the floor and out into space, those were all things to do in that moment that were running through Blake's mind. There was still the option to make a clone and run away, but somehow she was certain Yang would catch up with her.

And probably be more angry. Her ears perked a bit and then sunk again as she tried to figure out what to say. "I... Uhm... a few days ago, I think. And I don't know. I was on a ship to Haven and then suddenly, I was here."

“You’ve been here a few days and you… you…” Yang dragged her mechanical arm down her face. “I had no idea you were here. I was driving to Mistral, set up camp and then woke up here. I’ve been here over a week!”

"I've been... that's... I know, I saw your post, but I just..." Blake took a sip of her tea, and tried to calm herself. Yang hadn't hit her yet and wasn't even yelling, and now she realised she never wanted her to be mad at her at all.

She wasn't even sure what she wanted, anymore. "I thought you hated me, so I was trying to stay away."

“I never hated you.” Yang rested both of her hands on the table, so Blake could see them and not be afraid of them coming from no where. “I was mad. I was so mad. But not because of my arm. Because you left!” And maybe that was linked, but that was the thing that she’d focused on more. “Weiss was gone. You left. Ruby took off.”

Yang folded her arms around herself. “Everyone left. So I… stewed for awhile. Moped around. Cried a lot. But dad… he helped me. Gave me space when I needed it. Kicked my butt when I needed it. I kind of started to understand why you might have left. Still didn’t like it. But I think I understood it.”

There was no way for Blake to know that from Menagerie, especially without the operational communications tower in Vale. And it wasn't like she'd left an address behind, because that had been the entire point. She didn't know what to say. She set her hands down on her lap and dug her fingernails into her legs. "I... didn't know. I'm sorry. I just... You didn't hear what he said. I was trying to protect you, only..."

She knew that was wrong, now. Sun had taught her that. "I made the choice for you, because I was so afraid. You lost an arm because of me, and that wasn't even going to be enough for him. If I was nowhere near you, I thought you'd be... better off."

“I remember seeing you there, then everything went red.” Yang played with the straw in her drink, not quite able to meet Blake’s eyes. “Somehow if he really wanted to hurt me, he would have found me with or without you. I’ve had nightmares about it. Still do sometimes.”

She wanted to reach across the table, but she didn’t move. It really was like dealing with a nervous cat, only both of them were the nervous cats. “I was supposed to protect you. I was supposed to protect all of you. And I couldn’t. So when you left it just...”

Sighing, Yang picked up her drink and sipped at it. “So where did you go?”

The little sun-dragon, subdued but still there.

Blake bit back the words 'and it was my fault', even though she felt the sting of all of that guilt quite a bit. It'd been months since they'd seen each other but for her it felt like the wound was still fresh. Yang had lost an entire arm and she'd come back from that, at least healed a little bit. She still shined like the sun, and Blake didn’t know how to tell her how proud she was of her. But while the hole in Blake's side had closed, nothing about that night was over for her.

Her eyes got a bit teary, and her ears drooped even further, but she was determined to see this talk through. At least they were talking, and not yelling. She blinked the tears back and her ears straightened up a bit. "I went... home. To Menagerie. I was trying to figure some things out, and get... as far away from all of you as possible. See my parents again. Sun invited himself along for the trip."

She added that last bit with a bit of a dry amusement, "He stowed away on my ship. I almost threw him overboard."

“You've never talked about your home.” Yang had always loved how expressive Blake's ears were, except she'd never seen them droop quite like this, or seen Blake quite this emotional. She closed her hands around her glass to give them something to do.

At the mention of Sun, she could have gotten jealous. "I'm glad you weren't alone."

"I wanted to be alone, and then that idiot went and got himself hurt!" Blake said, her voice raising just a bit. She reminded herself that Yang hadn't done any yelling, and tried to reel herself back. It wasn't her right to be upset, not after everything that had happened. "They followed me there, the White Fang. But... he was... right. He wanted to help me, it was his choice to be there. I just wish he'd given me a little more space."

Blake picked up her teacup again, and shook her head, "My parents were starting to get the wrong impression about us, and he wasn't exactly helping with that."

“Sun can get a little overbearing, but that’s just because he cares. You should see it when I manage to get Ruby feeling smothered. But that’s what friends do, Blake. We look after each other.” Yang flexed her fingers, then pointed at Blake. “You hurt me by leaving. You didn’t even say good bye. But I forgive you. I forgave you like three months ago.”

If wouldn’t change that she’d been hurt, physically or emotionally, but it meant she could move forward. Besides, there was a nice benefit. Yang twisted her arm off and held it out. “Let me lend you a hand next time, okay?”

"I didn't say goodbye because-" Blake started, then stopped and stared at Yang's arm. Of course. Of course she could make a joke about all of this, remove her cybernetic arm and just hold it across the table. And the pun, that was just awful. It was terrible, and beautiful, and Blake just shook her head while tears welled up in her eyes again.

"You're still you, I guess." She said, while tears ran down her cheeks.

Then Blake reached out a finger and poked it. "Please never literally lend me a hand again, though."

Yang smiled, though her eyes were also starting to water. “I’m still me. A new me. A new normal. But still me where it counts.” She pressed the artificial hand against her chest, then reattached it.

She moved to the seat next to Blake. “Can I get a hug, Blakey?”

This wasn't okay for any number of reasons and Blake wasn't sure she believed that Yang had really forgiven her. Maybe that's because she still couldn't forgive herself, and seeing her friend in person didn't really... fix it. Not as much as anyone would have hoped.

But she flopped against Yang, not unlike a cat, and closed her eyes. Before the fall of Beacon, before Adam, Yang had been her safe space. Even when the tournament had gotten a little out of hand, she’d decided to trust her. She felt like a skittish animal, and all she really wanted was to feel that safeness again. "We'll have to get up to hug, how about a cuddle?"

Arm sliding around Blake, Yang hugged her lightly. Not a full featured rib cracking bear of a hug, but still something. Who’d say no to a cuddle? Suddenly, Yang felt like she was damn close to crying. Sure, she’d had her dad. And the Professors for a day. But that wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same as her sister, or as her friends. Or Blake. She squeezed her again, and leaned her cheek on Blake’s head. “I missed you.”

It was hard to get an arm around Yang from that position, but Blake somehow managed it. She squeezed back, before making herself comfortable all snuggled up next to her... person. Maybe more than a friend, if she was honest.

"I missed you too," She whispered. "And I'm... so sorry, Yang."

Pursing her lips, Yang thought about a response to that. She didn’t think that Blake needed to apologize, but maybe Blake needed to apologize for her own piece of mind. “Okay.” She lifted her hand up and pet Blake’s hair. “Have you met anyone else? There’s some really cool people here.”

"I met the liaison officer, she seemed... nice? Kind of stern. She reminded me of Glinda." Blake replied. It was a half-mumble half-purr, and Blake leaned into Yang's hands. Human contact wasn't a thing she usually craved, but at that moment she wanted the comfort. "She gave me our new scrolls and told me my weapon was being locked up, it was a practiced speech. But I... mainly hid in my room after that. I don't have a roommate."

“You’ll get Gambol Shroud back, it’s just kind of a temporary thing. Make sure we’re not the kind of people who like to cause damage.” Yang’s fingers found one of Blake’s ears, but she only brushed it once. If they were alone, she’d have focused more on them, but she didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves. “..do you wanna go to your room? Or like the observation deck? Less people there.”

"Aren't we supposed to be trying to make friends?" Blake asked, still half mumbling. She knew the weapon lock up was supposed to be for safety, but she felt a little naked without it. Not that she'd be able to carry it around with her everywhere anyway. She didn't at Beacon, either. But at least there it was always on speed dial.

Her head shifted so that she could brush her ear against Yang's hand again. It was a movement someone might expect from a sleepy cat who'd just been denied a pet, though she didn't even realise she was doing it.

The lack of speed dial for Ember Celica was going to be a bit of a problem for Yang. Just lacking the comfort of always knowing they were a punch dial away.

She chewed on her lip and moved her fingers back to Blake’s ear, remembering one time after classes, when Blake had been studying against her under a tree. “You always needed a little help with that.”

"I picked you just fine," Blake retorted. It had probably been the best decision ever, though she still didn't understand how Yang and the others could agree. She'd gotten them involved in some of this, after all.

Though maybe the White Fang would have attacked Beacon anyway. And if Yang hadn't shown up, no one would have saved her. That was a bleak thought, and it was among the ones that ate her up inside and made this reunion somewhat bittersweet.

She tried to bury that. This was a good day. She really, really wanted to bury it all. "I'm in D-33. You should stop by sometime. If that's... If you want to. We can steal some tea from the Mess Hall."

Yang grinned, tweaking Blake’s ear between her fingers. “D-33 and stealing some tea. We can make a date of it.”

Blake's ears shot straight up for a moment, and she glanced sideways at Yang, "A date?"

“Or not?”

"No, no!" Blake's ears twitched back and forth and she sat up, waving her hands a bit. "It's... a date. It can be a date."

Imagine if her sister could see her now? Yang worried at her lip, then nuzzled her cheek against Blake’s hair. “Leave it to us to make grand theft tea leaves a date. If you’re really okay with that. I don’t want you feeling like you have to.”

"You're not pressuring me." Blake confirmed, with a nod. She flopped back against Yang, and cuddled in again. "I think... I just spent a very long time running away from you and everyone else, and I'm... a little rusty. But I want to do this."

“Unless you want to go space walking, not many places to run away here anyway,” Yang pointed out. “Even if you make shadow copies of yourself which only work for like three seconds before I notice. That one time in the library not counting.”

"My new clones would surprise you," Blake countered, with a bit of a confident smirk. "I can spawn more than one at a time, use them to give me a leg up. It might take you longer to notice."

But that time in the library had been pretty funny. Blake had no remorse, she'd only wanted a few hours to herself to actually get some reading done.

“More than one at once?” Yang grinned, giving Blake a knowing, slightly teasing look.

Blake rolled her eyes, "That's exactly the way Sun reacted to that, too."

She'd realised then that Yang and Sun were somewhat similar in several ways, and it had been one of those moments where she realised suddenly she had a type. Which was either dark and broody or literally sunshine with a side of snark and puns. Blake liked Sun. There was probably a time when they'd have been dating in a more serious way than just one dance together.

But Yang. Yang was everything. Blake knew it down to her toes, though taking a knife to the gut over it might have been the moment when she fully realised it. And how did she deal with those kinds of emotions, when they were so entangled with the rest of the things that had happened that night?

Slowly, probably. Like a ball of yarn. "Are we going to be okay?"

Yang hadn’t actually expected that question. She really should have, having thought about it off and on for a very long time now. What she’d do if she saw Blake again. How she’d react, what she’d say. Some of her thoughts had ranged from shouting at her to kissing her. But none of it had at all happened as expected.

But she knew the answer right away. “Yeah, I think so. I mean… I guess we’ll both be tiptoeing around each other a bit at first, but I think we’ll be okay.”

And with that answer, Blake let out a breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. She smiled, and nodded her head. “Okay.”