Yang just had a bad day, she needs to get the talk and get her mind off her problems. Maybe Weiss could be useful? *wink wink nudge nudge*

Chapter Text

Opening the door slowly, Weiss smiled softly when she saw Yang punching away her anger on a punching bag, a light coat of sweat covering her forehead. Hitting as hard as she could, the punching bag was swaying more than it should have been possible, especially considering the high amount of sand inside of it. But as she had learned after almost a year, Weiss knew that if there was one thing that Yang was unrivaled in, was her monstrous strength and her high level of endurance. Who else, other than that hot-headed blond, could lift a giant speaker, survive being shot through the roof of the cafeteria and land down after an absurd amount of time and being punched through a pillar of solid concrete by a giant mech? She was a tank. She was strong, powerful, confident. She was always there for any of them to unwind and take out some pressure, some stress. She was always smiling, always happy, always supportive. She was always there for all of them, never asking anything in return. But she also never explicitly came for support herself. She always said that she was alright, that nothing was aloof, that everything was perfectly fine. But Weiss, Ruby and Blake, they could always see when something was bothering her, but they never once tried to get it out from her. But now, there was only one last thing to be done.

"Yang, stop it, this instant! " she said firmly, just before the blond brawler hit the punching bag once more with her robotic hand.

"Why Weiss? I don’t have the right to do something? I don’t have the right to tell my father that this woman is dangerous, I don’t have the right to want him safe, I don’t have the right to give my opinion and now I don’t have the right to punch things? I’m an adult Weiss, I’m older than you even, so please, don’t give me that shit! I lost an arm, but I can still take care of…"

Weiss rolled her eyes, before grabbing Yang by her left hand, pulling her towards the maintenance bench, she kept her eyes locked on Yang until they were both sitting down. Taking out the air brush, Weiss slowly made sure that the paint that was removed from Yang’s punching on the bag was replaced with some new one, as well as putting a second layer on the parts that needed it. She went at it in silence for what felt like hours for both of them. She heard the door open, Neon gasp and the door closing quickly, but she never reacted. She ignored everything, taking great care in the task at hand.

"Yang… you have to be more careful with it. Especially when the paint is still not dry"

"Weiss, why are you doing this? I can do it you know"

"I’m doing it, because I’m sick of seeing you help us deal with our problems, but shut us out when you are having some of your own. We all were, back at Beacon. We were all worried that it might blow up one day and that it would be catastrophic. And… the way I see it? It is already catastrophic. "

Looking up from the metal arm, Weiss took a deep breath, locking eyes with the brawler, ice blue in warm lilac. She slowly smiled, before putting down the air brush, moving away from the robotic arm to rest her hands on her knees, which were just a few centimeters away from Yang’s.

"You know, those benches are made so that you can let stuff dry on it. That way you don’t leave paint everywhere. Come on. It’s just us for a few days. It’s almost like the good old time when we were all together in the dorm. "

Smiling softy, Weiss stood up before heading back out of the garage, leaving Yang to look at the arm in silence. Going back to the bedroom, Weiss removed her summer dress, paint stains on it and she groaned when she looked at her hands that were dirty as well. She quickly headed to the bathroom with her towel, a shower being the only thing on her mind at that moment.

For her part, Yang stood silently in the garage, looking at her right arm, at the beautiful arm that she used to had, replaced by this robotic appendage. She took a deep breath and slowly began to remove it, making sure to not touch the paint. When it was finally fixated on the bench, she slowly moved away from it, fearing that something, anything happened to it or her, for the time they were separated. But she knew it would never happen. She was safe right now. Her father had left, but he was coming back. He was going to make it back, he was not leaving forever. Not leaving for good, like her mother had. She smiled softly as she looked at the closed door, thinking of her caring teammate, Weiss, of what she had done in only two days, everything that she had sacrificed just to be beside her friends once more. Slowly Yang stood up, thinking of her little sister, her little ray of sunshine after Summer’s passing. She thought of everything they lived, everything they went through together. She felt happy when she finally opened the door, heading towards the kitchen for something to eat. Maybe she didn’t always lose what mattered to her. Maybe she still had people that weren’t going to leave her. Even if the ones she cared the most about already did.

Stopping in front of the sink, she sighed and rested her hand against the tap. Weiss had come back yes, but Ruby had left and Blake had fled. They weren’t coming back, or at least weren’t coming back soon. Same for Qrow, even if it was to take care of Ruby. And her mother had abandoned her when she was a toddler. But the worst thing is that she even managed to be angry at her mom, at Summer, for dying. Why did she have to die on that mission? She had promised them cookies and a new story. But she never came back, they never had those cookies and…

Taking a deep breath, Yang’s gaze was suddenly filled with resolve and she clenched her fist, before beginning to rummage through the cupboards. She had things to do, things that should have been made long ago.

After a scolding hot shower, something she had disregarded the previous day, Weiss slowly walked back to her room, the towel around her body, hiding everything. Not that it really mattered as no one other than Yang was in the house and, after a full year in living in close proximity with her teammates, it was something that didn’t bother her as much as it used to. She smiled when she remembered how things were different in the beginning. When she and Blake were always hiding when changing clothes, while the sisters seemed to have almost no shame. Of course, after one year of training, life threatening missions and bonding, things tend to change quite drastically. Trust was the biggest thing that had changed in their relationship as a team. They cared about each other, they didn’t have someone else that they had that kind of relationship outside of their team. It was something that…

Suddenly Weiss stopped in her tracks as she took a deep breath, taking in the smell that was assailing her senses. She quickly got to her room, putting up another change of clothes, a light blue blouse with a pair of black pants, the Schnee crest emblazoned on both clothing pieces. She quickly headed to the kitchen and stared at the lightly humming Yang who was taking out a batch of cookies from the oven, while a bowl of dough was still on the side, ready to be portioned and cooked. Moving closer with a smile, Weiss looked at the mess that was the kitchen, flour on the floor when a bag a dropped, a broken egg on the counter top and a bag of chocolate chips empty while a second one, with a note written "Reserved for Ruby, eat at your own risks" with a drawing of what Weiss assumed was Ruby with Crescent Rose. Rolling her eyes, Weiss laughed softly.

"She’s such a dunce…"

Jumping in surprised, Yang almost dropped the cookies, but quickly got her balance back and left the hot cookies to cool on top of the oven, with her eyes, darting to the Heiress who simply looked at her in disbelief. "Holy shit, you scared me! Don’t do that again! "

"I’m sorry, I didn’t… I don’t… Sorry? "

"It’s okay, it’s just… Damn, I thought that you were still in your shower, that’s all. "

"Oh, yeah, I finished about ten minutes ago. But, seriously Yang, what are you doing? "

"Well… cookies? "

Weiss took a deep breath to calm her anger and simply looked back at Yang with her infamous death glare, which only made the blond woman laugh. Crossing her arms to emphasize on her point, Weiss slowly walked to the grinning woman and, with a simple smile, hit her as hard as she could on the arm.

"You know that’s not what I meant! Why are you making those cookies? "

"Because… because someone had to do them at some point. When our mom left for her last mission we were supposed to have cookies when she came back and… well you know. So, I finally did them. The cookies that Summer Rose was supposed to have made 12 years ago. "

"Yang…"

"Don’t worry, it’s just that… I was thinking about stuff and it clicked in my head. They were never done. Of course, we did a lot of cookies since, but they were never… Summer’s cookies you know? Well, now they’re finally done. Maybe that’ll help her rest more in peace. "

Slowly Weiss moved to the brawler and took her into her arms, hugging her softly as the taller woman just ran her hand on the back of the heiress. They stood still for a few minutes, before Weiss slowly moved away from the hug, smiling softly at Yang.

"I’m pretty sure your mom is proud of Ruby, your father and you. And I’m certain that she is happy where she is, even if you never did those cookies just because she was supposed to do them. "

"Yeah… probably. But I felt like I had to do it. "

"Well, now you’ve done it, so how about we test them? After that, I want to practice my summoning, I feel like I’m so close to do a breakthrough. "

"How comes? " asked Yang, a cookie already in her mouth, making sure to hide her mouth with her hand, preventing Weiss from being utterly disgusted at the sight of half eaten food.

Sighing, the heiress simply stood up, straightening her combat skirt, before closing her eyes, making a glyph appear next to her. After a few seconds, a flash of light was emitted and a blue and white beowolf stood next to Weiss, snuggling against her hand. Mouth hanging open, Yang simply looked at the creature in amazement.

“So, yes, that’s a thing my semblance can do. I can summon defeated enemies. However, I can’t… I can’t understand how to summon completely my first real challenge. A gigantic suit of armor, a knight, that I had to fight to gain the right to go to Beacon. I managed to summon part of it during the fall, but now, I can’t! and it‘s driving me crazy!”

Grinning, Yang quickly ate the last bit of her cookie, before dragging Weiss by the hand through the front door. The heiress for her part, followed the brawler, knowing that she could never manage to fight back against her when Yang got an idea in her head. Out in the clearing surrounding the house, a small circle of dirt had been made, a little sparring arena made especially for the needs of a duel between a student and a teacher. Smiling softly, Weiss looked at the blond woman that was leading her with a fond smile. It amazed her how resilient she was, even if she still had her moments of doubt. She lost an arm, a sister and her friends, but she was still smiling, still being active. She was still a force to be reckoned with. Well, at least, that was what the heiress thought. It might have been wrong, but she had the right to hope.

"Alright then, let’s do this! "said the blond, grinning as she got into a fighting stance, even without her right arm. "You come at me as best as you can with your summons and glyphs and I, will go without my right arm. "

"Yang, we… don’t have to do this, you know? You can go take the…"

"No, I wont. What happens if the arm breaks during a fight? Or if I can’t use it for some reason? And what if you’re out of dust or something and you can’t cast elemental glyphs? We have flaws and we need to work on those. So, use your body as a weapon or any of your non-elemental glyphs or summons and I… I will not use my right arm or semblance. You know what they say, what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. So, come on Weiss, just like old times! "

Rolling her eyes, Weiss smiled and got in position as well. It is true that they all had flaws. Everybody has at least one, nobody is perfect. But Weiss never had the courage to face her flaws and tackle them head on. She wasn’t strong like Yang, she never was. But she could at least try to be like her. Readying her gaze, she slowly circled at the same pace Yang did. Weiss wasn’t an offensive fighter, she always knew that it was never be her way of shining. She could, however, be a force to be reckoned with to support her team or even go on the defensive. Her glyphs could be used in a thousand of different ways, as much as the user could find for them. Her weapon was good for one on one, but it heavily centered around a mix of blocks, parry and counter attack, thus making it good in a defensive style. With her agility and her many glyphs, she could easily change the momentum of a fight to her favor, but it was harder to gain the offensive first hand. Now without a weapon, without something to keep her grounded, she had to rely on her wits and her capacity to improvise. She smiled when she saw Yang finally attacking, and quickly a glyph appeared in front of Weiss, acting as a wall to prevent the hit to connect. Each and every punch or kick that followed were promptly blocked in a similar way, making the brawler grunt in exasperation.

"Oh, you’re really building a wall of glyph? I’m going to make you pay for this! "

"Says the girl who can’t hit a still target. "

The banter followed suit, just like the fight. After half an hour, multiple rounds of practice and both girls being out of breath, they collapsed on the ground, one next to the other, gasping for air as they laid still, a smile on their faces, even if Weiss had her arms crossed. Grinning, Yang poked her in the ribs, making the heiress groan when her body remembered that she also had muscles there that were hurting her.

"I won more than you did. "

"Shut up dolt, that was not the objective of that training session! "

"But I still won~ "

Groaning, Weiss stood up, before looking back at Yang with a little bit of mischief in her eyes. She rolled over the blond, sat on her stomach while running her hands on the brawler’s shoulders and smiled when she saw the woman turn redder than Ruby’s cloak.

"Oh, congratulation Yang, would you like to be rewarded with a prize of some sort? "

Uttering multiple sounds of incomprehension, Yang was left gawking at the heiress who simply stood up, heading back towards the house with – allegedly – a bit more sway to her than usual. Smiling, she quickly got back to her room, took a new set of clothes and dashed to the bathroom, in a dire to get rid of all her sweat.

Their training continued for the following days, the first one training with their weapons without semblance, the second day they trained in a situation in which they were outmatched, one with a weapon the other without. On the third day, they took the time to meditate and work on Weiss’ summoning, managing to summon the sword, which Yang had fun swinging around. On the fourth day, they recalled Neon and Flynt from their mission, for a revenge match that ended in a win from the party team, due to both girls lack of training in the last months. They decided to take a break from training on the fifth day, to make some maintenance on and around the house, tending to the garden and doing laundry. Training was not a reason to let the house get dirty and Yang knew that her father and the heiress would both had her head if she ever was the cause of such a thing.

On the sixth day following everybody’s departure, Yang woke up with a light pain in her neck. Groaning as she stood up on her bed, she yawned and rubbed the back of her head as she looked around. Weiss was still asleep next to her and it suddenly occurred to Yang that they had multiple beds and couches that the heiress could use but neither of them had thought about it. Facepalming with her robot arm, Yang groaned in pain as she almost hit her head through the headboard of her bed. But this didn’t deter her amazement at the situation. She had, for the first time in a long time, used her right arm as her go-to arm for something, rather than her left. She was adjusting quickly to her new arm, she was slowly getting back to her normal self... "No… This is normal now. Nothing else. I’m just adjusting, that’s all! " she said under her breath, trying not to wake up Weiss. Getting out of bed, Yang giggled softly as she heard Weiss whimpered from the loss of her personal heater in bed. Giggling, Yang undressed and got into a pair of jean shorts, red t-shirt and black jacket, removing her arm to leave it on night stand. Even if she had got her arm back, she didn’t have the luxury to always rely on it and she still had to sometime practice to live without it. It hurt her so much, regressing from two arms to only one so regularly, but she had to do it. She couldn’t become an hindrance every time she was without an arm. Thus, every few days she made sure to remove her arm and live the day without it.

She quickly got through her morning routine and, while eating a bowl of cereal, she sat outside to eat on the porch. She felt happy, she felt at peace. Weiss was here, Ruby was saving the world but Qrow was taking care of her, her father was trying to rid her life from her older demons she couldn’t beat. It was perfect for her. For the first time in months, she didn’t have nightmares, she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat after having relived her dismemberment for the hundredth time. She closed her eyes and smiled, resting her head against the wall. Maybe she could take a quick nap and go to the town with Weiss today to buy some food. Maybe that way they’ll be able to know if her disappearance had made big news or not. They had a bet, that Yang was hoping to win. After all, having one of the richest person on Remnant owing you one, could only lead to greatness. She giggled softly, imagining everything she could do with a literally limitless credit card but her laughter died in her throat when she heard voices coming from her left. Tensing, she stood up and slowly walked towards the voices, the people to whom they belonged to still hidden by the forest. Nobody came around here without having called, especially groups. At least, Yang thought, they aren’t trying to hide themselves, which makes it less possible that they’re Schnee agents coming to take back Weiss.

Finally, four figures came out of the wood, making Yan stop dead in her tracks a she looked at them intensely. But her gaze was quickly captured by someone else, a dark-haired woman that was following the group a few meters back, staying silent but freezing as well when their eyes met. Everybody stood still for a good minute, before a brown-haired diva grinned while crossing her arms.

"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? "