The Queens of Remnant - Chapter 40 (Patreon)

It was cold.

Not ‘regular winter day’ type of cold either.  A bone-chilling, all-encompassing cold centered in Yang’s chest and spread throughout her body.  Her legs felt frozen.  Her arms, equally so.  Her fingers and toes ached from the deeply rooted chill, making her want to burrow into a mountain of blankets and never come out.  The only thing she could manage, however, was to hunch over and wrap her arms around herself.

“S-shit that’s c-cold,” she stuttered, shivering uncontrollably as frost puffed from her lips.  When laughter reached her ears, she finally looked over and noticed Blake, Ruby, and Winter standing around her.

“W-what?”

The word hardly left her mouth before Ruby leapt onto the bed and practically tackled her in a hug.  While Yang cautiously attempted to move her frozen arms, Ruby pulled away and said, “You know how to scare the life out of someone!” before diving back in for another hug.  Confused, Yang hugged Ruby with one arm and looked at Blake and Winter.

“W-what?”

Her teeth chattered.  Every exhale sent a small cloud of frost in front of her.  But only when a fierce round of shivers racked through her did it finally strike her - she was cold.  She was beyond cold, actually; she was on the verge of freezing.

She wasn’t burning up.  There was no fire at all.  It was as if her spark, which the Phage had torn from her control and turned against her, had been extinguished.  It was a strange, unsettling, relieving feeling.

“H-how?” she asked, still sputtering but having too many questions to remain silent.  “W-what happened?  Why’s it s-so c-cold?”

“Let’s find some blankets,” Blake said rather than answer.  Winter immediately set about the task while Ruby finally released Yang to help.  Blake looked like she would help, too, then she caught Yang’s eyes, smiled, and leaned over to kiss her instead.

Unlike the most recent kisses they’d shared, this one wasn’t cut short by her burning skin.  Blake pressed forward and deepened it, running her tongue across Yang’s lips before correctly interpreting Yang’s soft gasp as permission to move inside.  A small squeal of surprise slipped through Yang’s lips, but she had no complaints about trying to respond in kind…which would be easier to do if she wasn’t shaking like a leaf.

Noticing the tremors, Blake pulled away - a trail of frozen air leaving her lips as she did so - and rubbed her hands up and down Yang’s arms.

“You’re freezing.”

“Y-you can s-say that again.”

“These should help.”

Returning to Blake’s side, Winter held out several folded blankets.  Blake quickly unfolded one while Ruby took another, and the two of them worked together to wrap Yang in a bundle of blankets that removed the chill’s edge.  Still, her teeth chattered while she pulled the covers closer.  At least, she tried to pull the covers closer, but her hands felt like blocks of ice rather than usable appendages.

“Here.”

Gently tugging the blankets from Yang’s weak grasp, Blake sat on the bed, pressed close to Yang’s side, and wrapped the blankets around both of them.  If Yang’s skin was as cold as she felt, Blake must be freezing being so close.  But, as usual, Blake didn’t complain.  If anything, she seemed happy to be rid of her element and still capable of being by Yang’s side.  Yang wouldn’t complain either - she could actually feel Blake’s soft, delightfully warm skin.

“Better?” Blake asked, sliding her arm behind Yang’s back and pulling them even closer together.  Yang was still freezing, but the combination of blankets and Blake’s warmth was working its way through her frozen skin.

“Y-yeah,” she answered, her jaw still clanging together.  “D-damn.  I’ve never b-been this cold.  What’d you do?”

Yang turned to Blake for an answer, but Blake looked up at Winter, who clasped her hands behind her back and softly cleared her throat.

“I...far exceeded what anyone would deem an acceptable amount of ice to apply to your heart.”

“W-what?”

“She froze your heart, Yang,” Blake clarified, squeezing Yang’s side.  “If that’s where the Phage was...she froze it.”

“And you, uh...kind of died there for a little bit…” Ruby added, tapping her fingers together and hesitantly smiling.  Only then did Yang notice how red and puffy Ruby’s eyes were.  When she glanced at Blake, she found more of the same and finally understood their abundant relief.

“I was dead?”

“Your heart stopped beating,” Winter explained while Ruby turned away and Blake nuzzled into Yang’s neck.  “For a while, we assumed the worst.”

The recap put a funny feeling in Yang’s chest.  First, her spark was burning her from the inside out.  Everything was painful, all the time.  Then, the next thing she knew, she woke up feeling colder than she had ever been in her life with no spark to be found.  Apparently, she died and scared the living daylights out of everyone in between.

“I’m s-sorry -”

Ruby shook her head and Blake hugged her closer.

“Don’t be sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ruby added.  “Just scared us half to death, but we’d much rather this ending than the other one.”

Yang preferred this ending too, as she took a deep, pain-free breath and exhaled with a smile.  She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this good.  Looking up at Winter - the very vision of Atlas, the kingdom she’d not-so-silently cursed so many times - gratitude swelled in her very cold chest.

“S-sounds like I owe you.”

Yang owed Winter her life.  Winter, however, shook her head.

“I consider it a debt repaid.”

Offering shelter versus literally saving someone from the brink of death wasn’t comparable in Yang’s mind, but she wouldn’t argue technicalities if it made Winter uncomfortable.  As far as she was concerned though, Winter would be welcome in Vale as an esteemed guest for the rest of her life.

“How do you feel?” Ruby asked, sitting beside the bed and pulling up her feet in that little-kid way she’d never outgrown.  “Besides cold.”

“I feel…”

When Yang paused and searched through her emotions, another smile tugged at her lips.  The cold was more tolerable than the fire.  Plus, it didn’t seem intent upon her destruction.  It was just...there.  Everywhere, but not growing worse.  Actually, the blankets and Blake’s warmth were chipping small bits of it from her veins.

“I feel fantastic,” she sighed.

Besides physically feeling better, having Blake and Ruby in the same room worked wonders in lifting her spirit.  Her two favorite people in the world, with Winter quickly becoming her third, and no Phage rampaging through her chest - what more could she ask for?

“You should get some sleep now,” Ruby told Winter, who responded with a tired smile.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.  Unless you think I’ll be needed?”

Even though dark circles sat under Winter’s eyes, she looked willing to stay if Yang needed her to.  Fortunately, Yang didn’t need her to.  That answer became even more apparent when she laughed and more puffs of frost slipped through her lips.

“I don’t think I’m thawing out anytime soon.”

Winter nodded and backed toward the door.

“You know where to find me if needed.”

Yang actually didn’t know where to find Winter, but Blake and Ruby nodded.  Winter softly opened and closed the door as she left.  Her quiet footsteps crossed the room beyond before fading entirely, leaving Yang alone with two of her favorite people in the world.

It felt like a lifetime ago when the three of them last inhabited the same space.  Blake had been an unknown at that time, the war only tentatively paused, and Yang dealing with an inescapable death sentence.  So much had changed since then, with the most noticeable change being the lack of heat in the room.

“S-so, you froze my spark?  Whose idea was that?”

No one needed to answer.  The way Ruby glanced at Blake and Blake nuzzled closer said everything Yang needed to know.

“How’d you think of that?”

When Yang gently nudged Blake’s side, Blake blew a breath through her lips.

“I don’t know, really.  Ruby and I were talking about your spark being in your heart and I just thought...what if we...put it out…”

“B-by having the Princess of Atlas shove an icicle into my chest?”  As soon as Yang saw the glances they shared, she realized it was too soon for jokes.  She cleared her throat and took the matter seriously instead.  “Well, h-however you came up with it, it worked.”

“For now.  We don’t know what happens if it wears off…”

“But that’s a problem for the future,” Yang concluded before kissing Blake’s cheek.  “Right now, I feel good as new.  Well, good as new but also very cold.”

When Yang smiled, Ruby and Blake exchanged relieved glances.  Their visible exhaustion made Yang feel guilty for everything she put them through, but hopefully the worst was over.  Hopefully, things only got better from here.

“Y-you know what this means though?” she asked before looking at Ruby.  “T-there’s a cure.  We c-can save people.  F-firespitters, at least.”

Ruby immediately nodded, but Blake wrapped her hand around Yang’s beneath the blankets and said, “We need to get you two home first.”

Reminded of that lingering problem, Yang sighed.  She’d been too focused on dying to put much thought into retaking Vale.  Now that she’d died and Ruby had returned from Atlas, they needed a solution.  Before she could ask for Ruby’s thoughts, however, a nearby door slammed open and footsteps raced to the room. Two rapid knocks preceded the door opening and Sun poking his head inside.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt,” he said before his attention locked onto Blake.  “Blake, we kinda...need you for a second...”

When Blake sighed in her ear, Yang smiled.

“How urgent is it?”

“Um...pretty urgent?”

From the way Sun’s eyes darted around the room, he didn’t want to be more specific with Yang and Ruby around.  Under ordinary circumstances, Yang might protest being left out, but this was Blake’s realm.

“Duty calls,” Yang said, lightly nudging Blake’s side.

With a heavy sigh, Blake untangled herself from Yang and stood up.  Yang’s shivers returned following the loss of warmth, but Blake quickly turned around and placed a long, loving kiss on Yang’s lips.  Once the kiss ended, Blake stared deep into Yang’s eyes and gently squeezed her shoulder.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Yang answered with a quick laugh followed by a shiver.

Satisfied, Blake followed Sun out of the room.  Their quick footsteps crossed the room on the other side of the bedroom wall before an outer door closed and the sound disappeared.  Left alone with Ruby, Yang pulled the blankets tightly around her and smiled at her sister.

“I’m s-so glad you’re back.  Even though...you know…”

Even though they weren’t in Vale, and couldn’t even get into Vale, being back in each other’s company was a relief.

“I’m glad to be back, too.”  Smiling, Ruby wrapped her arms around her knees and drew them closer to her chest.  “I’m sorry I didn’t make it sooner…”

“Don’t be.  You did what you had to do.  And...we’ll figure it out.”

“Like we always do,” Ruby replied, not at all discouraged by the circumstances.  The situation might be one of the toughest they’d ever faced, but they still had each other.  At the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

“H-how’d things go in Atlas?”

Now that they had a chance to talk in person rather than converse through messengers, Yang wanted all the details Ruby left out of her letters.  Apparently, things went well - Ruby was quick to smile.

“Good!  Really good.  Signed the treaty, and Atlas pledged to help the Badlands just like we wanted.”  After briefly pausing, Ruby sent Yang an apologetic look.  “It took too long though...”

“I t-thought it’d take longer,” Yang admitted.  “B-bet the Queen was a pain to work with.”

“Weiss was actually the easiest one to work with.  But that Council of theirs…so much slimy politics.  She didn’t know how to handle it.”

“Did you help her with that while you were there?” Yang asked, knowing that Ruby couldn’t resist helping someone in need.  Ruby confirmed as much when she glanced at her hands.

“I helped as much as I could…” she admitted before looking up.  “Once she gets a handle on how to run things, I think we have a lifetime friend in Atlas.”

“Oh yeah?”  That was better news than Yang could have expected.  A treaty was great, but making friends with their closest neighbors was even better.  “You like her then?”

“Yeah...she’s pretty great.”

Spotting a soft blush on Ruby’s cheeks, Yang tilted her head and tried to figure out why that felt like such a strange response.  The version of Weiss that Yang met was reserved, uncertain, and not exactly much else to talk about.  That seemed like the opposite of ‘great,’ but she didn’t know Weiss the way Ruby did.

That blush though…

“It s-sounds like...we owe the Princesses a lot.  Kinda feel bad about...all the times we made fun of them.”

From Ruby’s soft laughter, Yang knew that her sister agreed.  Who would’ve thought that the Mad King, whose sole purpose was terrorizing everyone he came across, would raise two daughters who would greatly impact Yang and Ruby’s lives?  If Weiss hadn’t traveled to Vale, the treaty wouldn’t exist.  The war would wage on until one of the kingdoms collapsed.  And if Blake hadn’t brought Winter to Vale, Yang would be dead - an all-around bad thing.

“It’s amazing how the most unexpected people can change your life the most,” Ruby mused, her eyes gazing off into the distance while dwelling on the truth in that statement.  Yang’s thoughts went straight to Blake, who’d changed her life in the short time they’d known each other.

“It’s p-pretty incredible,” she agreed before shivering again.  When she resituated the blankets, however, she noticed the state of her clothing. “D-damn.”

She immediately regretted lowering the blankets, but she had to take a better look at her clothes.  They didn’t belong to her, so she owed an apology to whoever’s they were.  Burn marks marred the front of the shirt.  Flames had seared all the way through in several spots, leaving behind charred holes.

“Yeah…”  Ruby wrung her hands while Yang assessed the damage.  “You were...pretty hot.  We thought about changing you again, but it was just...too hot.”

Left out of Ruby’s explanation was that Yang hadn’t had much time left.  Why waste another perfectly good shirt only for her to fry it to pieces on the way out?

The Phage hadn’t killed her, but embarrassment at her current appearance might.

“C-can you help me up?” she asked, dropping the blankets entirely.

“What?  Why?”

“Because I have to change.”

She pushed the blankets aside and pressed both hands to the bed, but pushing herself to her feet was a bridge too far.  Plus, her feet felt like blocks of ice - she probably couldn’t keep her balance even if she managed to stand.

“No one cares what you look like...” Ruby muttered, but she helped anyway.  As soon as she wrapped an arm around Yang’s waist, she squealed and then started giggling.  “You’re like an icicle!”

“F-feel like one too,” Yang got out through chattering teeth while Ruby lifted her up.  She was right about her feet - blocks of ice didn’t offer much balance.  “Any extra clothes in here?” she asked while glancing around the room, careful not to move too fast.  With how cold she felt, she was afraid of shattering if she fell.

“I think Blake put extras in that drawer.”

When Ruby nodded at a set of drawers across the room, Yang took a deep breath and prepared to walk over to it.  Ruby had other plans.

“I’ll get them.”  After carefully releasing her grip on Yang, Ruby backed away while holding her hands out as if Yang would tip over at any second.  “Just...stay upright.”

Yang set one hand on the bed to keep herself steady, so Ruby flashed over to the dresser, opened the drawer, and pulled out a stack of neatly folded clothes.  She was back at Yang’s side in a heartbeat, offering her shoulder for support while dropping the pile on the bed and sorting through what she found.

“What about this?”

Ruby held up a plain, white shirt and a pair of plain, black pants.

“When’s the last time we dressed so informally?” Yang replied while motioning for the outfit.

“Nuh uh uh.”  Ruby pulled the clothing out of Yang’s reach, nearly making her fall over in the process.  Fortunately, Ruby quickly caught her and set her back upright.  “You can hardly stand!”

“I don’t need you to dress me,” Yang protested.

“How do you think you got into those clothes?”  When Yang’s brow shot up, Ruby waved her hands and shook her head.  “Alright, Blake did that, but I almost had to help!”

Learning that Blake had changed her when she’d been too far gone to notice, Yang blushed and grabbed the clothes from Ruby’s hands.

“I can do this,” she repeated, convincing herself as much as Ruby.  “I still have s-some dignity left.”

“Do you though…?”

“Yes!”  Laughing, Yang tried to swipe Ruby’s shoulder but missed when Ruby disappeared and reappeared on her other side.  The motion threw her off balance, but Ruby calmly steadied her before she was in any danger of falling.

“You’re still slow,” Ruby said before sticking out her tongue.

“S-some things never change, huh?”

After nodding and smiling, Ruby glanced out the window and sighed.

“Ok, if you’re going to change, do you mind if I go run a thousand miles or something?”

When Ruby hopped up and down, Yang laughed.

“How long have you been cooped up in here?”

“Pretty long.  But if you’re feeling better, I just want to stretch my legs.  See the sun.”

“I’m feeling m-much better,” Yang assured her.  “C-cold, but not painful.  It’s p-probably helping my body recover, actually.  B-bet I’ve got some w-wicked internal burns.”

When Ruby winced at the thought, Yang waved her toward the door.

“Go ahead.  This’ll probably take forever anyway.  But be careful!”

Yang added that last part when Ruby already had one foot out the door, but she stopped and gave a thumbs up.

“No one will see me anyway!”

Relieved by the answer, Yang waved and watched Ruby close the door before heading out on her marathon.  Left alone, Yang set out on a monumental task of her own.  Changing clothes - who knew it could be so difficult?  But with her balance unsteady and her fingers as dexterous as icicles, it wouldn’t be easy.

“First thing’s first…” she muttered, grabbing the hem of her shirt and lifting it over her head in short, jerky motions.  The good news was that her frozen arms didn’t break off.  The bad news was that the meager effort left her winded.

Being weak as a baby wouldn’t stop her though.  Next, she slid her pants to the floor and spent far too long figuring out the best way to get them fully off.  Eventually, she decided to just step out of them - two short steps that were far harder than they looked.  Fortunately, her undergarments weren’t in horrible shape.  New ones would be nice, but that could wait for later.

Now for the hardest part: putting the new clothing on.  Preferably quickly since her shivers had returned in force now that she lacked both blankets and appropriate clothing.

The shirt seemed like the lesser of two evils, so she started there.  After rolling up the sides, she dropped it over her head and briefly considered stopping there.  She did stop there for several seconds, regaining her energy before slipping first one, then another arm through the long sleeves.  The shirt was on the thinner side, but any layer combated the cold.

Half dressed, she stared at the pants and considered how to get them on without falling over.  In the midst of her deliberation, however, a door opened and quick footsteps headed toward the room.  With no time to react, she hardly turned around before Blake walked into the bedroom.

Blake froze.  Yang froze too, quite literally caught with her pants down.

“What’re you doing?” Blake finally asked, her gaze roving over Yang in a way that made her body tingle.

“I...w-wanted to change.”

“By yourself?”

“I don’t want my little sister helping me change...”

“You could’ve waited for me,” Blake pointed out before picking up the pair of pants from the bed.

“I...k-kind of thought I could do it on my own…”

Blake’s eyes flashed with something bordering on sympathy before a smile picked up her lips.

“And you can - I’m sure of it.”  After motioning to the shirt Yang already managed to put on, Blake unfolded the pair of pants.  “But I’d like to help you with the rest.  Will you let me?”

The way Blake asked made it clear that Yang shouldn’t decline.  Not that she would ever decline Blake’s help, especially for something like this.

“Uh, w-well, w-when a beautiful girl offers to dress me, I couldn’t p-possibly say no.”

Blake playfully rolled her eyes, but Yang beamed when she noticed the soft pink on Blake’s cheeks.  She didn’t tease Blake about it though.  She just watched Blake roll up each pant leg before kneeling on the floor.  The moment Yang looked down and caught the smirk aimed up at her, excitement flitted through her frozen veins.  Blush or not, Blake wasn’t one to be caught off guard for long.

Unfortunately, the lingering chill chose that moment to make Yang shiver, so Blake looked down and tapped Yang’s left foot.

“Lift.”

When Yang obediently, and carefully, lifted that foot off the ground, Blake slipped the pant leg underneath before repeating the process on the other side.  Once she had both of Yang’s feet in place, she grabbed ahold of the pants and pulled them up.  But, as she did so, she dragged her thumbs along the outsides of Yang’s legs, prompting goosebumps to rise along Yang’s arms. As soon as Blake was standing, her fingers expertly buttoned the pants around Yang’s waist, then she leaned forward and kissed Yang’s ear.

“There.”  After smoothing her hands across Yang’s hips, Blake added another kiss on Yang’s cheek.  “Feel better?”

Eyes fluttering open, Yang watched Blake pull away with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“I’m really c-cold, but really turned on.”

Blake smiled and shook her head before doing exactly what Yang wanted: kissing her.  The moment their lips touched, Yang forgot about the cold.  She forgot about everything other than how amazing Blake felt, smelled, tasted -

“Blake?”

When Blake broke away at Ruby’s voice, Yang sighed.  A second later, the door opened and Ruby flew into the room, ending any opportunity to continue that kiss.

“Sun said you needed to talk to us,” Ruby said before beaming at Yang.  “You did it!”

“T-told you I could.”

Yang winked at Blake and gingerly sat on the edge of the bed.  Apparently, the cold had zapped her stamina - the few minutes of standing had drained her.  Hopefully, her energy eventually returned.  Although, living at all was better than not.

“What’s the news?” she asked Blake.

“I have an update on Vale.”  Suddenly business-like, Blake still took the time to tenderly wrap Yang in the blankets before sitting beside her.  Based on the somber expression, however, this update wasn’t great.  “We have a problem.”

“What is it?” Yang asked even though she almost didn’t want to know the answer - Ruby’s furrowed brow suggested that she felt the same.  Blake looked like she didn’t want to tell them either, but she took a deep breath and met Yang’s gaze.

“Vale’s forces are moving,” she explained in an even tone.  “They’re headed back to the city, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if your reserves weren’t coming out to meet them.”

Unsure of what that meant, Yang glanced at Ruby.

“They’re regrouping,” Ruby summed up, and Blake nodded.

“Yes.  The army’s regrouping outside the city walls.”  Pausing for a second, Blake sighed and rubbed her eyes, suddenly looking exhausted.  “My guess is that they’re going to push through the Badlands as a group - one settlement at a time.”

“The entire army??  Through these...these t-tiny collections of houses?”

After Blake’s grim nod, Yang closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Why would she do that?” Ruby asked.  “It’s not like anyone can put up a fight.  They’re outmatched a thousand to one.”

“Because she knows I’m here,” Yang sighed before looking at Blake.  She couldn’t help but feel like this was all her fault.  If she hadn’t brought Cecelia in to help with the war...if she hadn’t gotten sick...none of this would have happened.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself,” Blake said as soon as Yang opened her mouth.  “You didn’t know she would do this.”

“I knew what she was capable of,” Yang argued, but Blake shook her head and covered one of Yang’s hands with her own.

“Trying to see the best in someone isn’t a bad thing.”

The look in Blake’s eyes suggested the response applied to herself just as much as Cecelia.  And Yang would never argue about seeing the best in Blake.

“But we can’t let them destroy everything,” Ruby added.

“We won’t.  I won’t give her what she wants, but I’ll give her the next best thing.”

“Blake...”

“What’s that?” Ruby asked, glancing between Blake and Yang.

“Me.”

“That’s a h-horrible idea,” Yang immediately said.  “You know you can’t win that fight.”

“I don’t have to win,” Blake replied, cutting off Yang’s protest with a firm, determined expression.  “I have a plan, but I’ll need Ruby’s help.”

“No,” Yang said, but Ruby was already nodding.

“Whatever you need me to do,” Ruby added while Yang shook her head.

“You can’t go out there,” Yang pleaded, taking Blake’s hands and squeezing them tightly.  “Blake, listen to me.  You can’t go out there.  After what happened...you can’t fight her.  She’ll kill you.”

“I already sent the message.”

Dismayed by the response, which invited chaos and destruction into their lives, Yang stared at Blake before turning to Ruby for support.

“Yang’s right...” Ruby agreed.  “Cecelia’s dangerous.  If she thinks you wronged her, she’ll stop at nothing until you’re dead.”

While Yang hoped the words would make an impact, Blake’s gaze remained unyielding.

“I think you’re forgetting who I am.”

“You’re nothing like her,” Yang argued.

“An outlaw with a band of fighters.  Living on the fringes of society.  Doing anything to scrape by -”

“With ethics, morals, compassion, a selfless drive to help others - Blake, you’re nothing like her.”

Yang knew that was true.  Blake, however, didn’t look like she believed it.  But to compare herself to Cecelia...they couldn’t be more opposite.  They might come from similar regions that had suffered trying times, but beyond that...they had nothing in common. Glancing at Ruby, whose brow was deeply furrowed, Yang sighed and decided on a more personal approach.

“Ruby, c-can you give us a minute?”

After looking between the two of them, Ruby nodded and left the room.  Once it was only the two of them, Yang tried again.

“Blake...”

“You won’t talk me out of it.”

Yang sighed at the stubborn response, but she couldn’t help the small smile that slipped onto her lips.  She’d learned that Blake could be strong-willed and stubborn, and she was really, really grateful to still be dealing with that obstinance.

“I know.”  Blake’s knit brow suggested that she hadn’t expected a peaceful surrender, but Yang nodded.  “I know,” she repeated.  “I won’t try to stop you, but I want you to listen to me.  Please?”

With Blake’s full attention, she ducked so that their gazes were level and squeezed Blake’s hands.  Her hands still felt like chunks of ice, but Blake’s warmth spread across her skin in a way that made her heart swell with adoration.

“You’re n-nothing like her.”   When disbelief flickered through amber eyes, Yang shook Blake’s hands to erase the doubt.  “You’re not - and I would know, right?  I know both of you.  And I know you f-feel like...like you’ve made bad decisions o-or...done bad things, but we all have, Blake.  But you care about others, and t-that means you’ll never be like her.”

Yang’s plea to Blake’s morality would have been more impactful without the stutters, but Blake didn’t immediately disagree.  She considered the words and, after reaching a conclusion, squeezed Yang’s hands.  Not exactly the enthusiastic agreement that Yang silently hoped for, but it was better than nothing.

“If you think it’d help...I can try to t-talk to her first.”

That was the only pitch Yang would make for an alternate solution, and Blake shot it down with an emphatic headshake.

“The time for negotiation is over, Yang.  It ended when she decided to take over your kingdom.”

Somehow, Yang knew that Blake would say something like that.  Surprisingly, she wasn’t as disappointed or opposed as she expected.  After years of pseudo-friendship, Cecelia finally went too far.  She stepped way out of line, hurting innocent people in the process, and broke the unspoken rules of their relationship.  For that, she’d lost the right to diplomacy.

Still...Blake was the last person Yang wanted to face off with Cecelia.  Before diving too deeply into those growing worries, however, Yang sighed and pulled Blake closer.

“Let’s forget about that for a s-second,” she said before lifting Blake’s chin and leaning in to kiss her. Feeling Blake’s soft lips on hers was the quickest way to erase everything else, especially now that she could kiss Blake the way she’d always wanted to.  Her spark no longer raged out of control.  That dark cloud no longer hung over their heads.

For this brief moment, they were free to enjoy each other.  Free to savor the chemistry they shared as their lips moved in perfect rhythm, and their tongues eagerly explored each other, and their hands roved over skin that was once too hot or hardened for protection.

Yang could feel Blake now - the real Blake.  Her soft, warm skin would quickly become an addiction, and she fed into it by pressing closer, silently encouraging Yang further.  When Yang slid her hands down Blake’s sides and snuck them under Blake’s shirt, however, Blake shuddered and pulled away.

“You’re freezing,” Blake said, rubbing her hands across her stomach where Yang’s fingers just grazed. Having ruined the moment with her ice-cold fingers, Yang held them up to her mouth and blew on them several times before giving up.

“Do you think I’ll like...thaw or s-something?”

“I’m not sure,” Blake admitted.  “But even if you stay like this forever, I’ll be happy.”

“I d-don’t know if I’ll be happy...” Yang muttered.  Blake smiled at the complaint before leaning over and kissing her.  When Blake pulled away, however, a puff of frozen air billowed up between their lips.

“Ok...that’s pretty cool.”

“Something you could get used to?” Blake asked with an arched brow.

As usual, Blake knew how to make Yang laugh at what might otherwise be a disconcerting situation. The coldness in her chest unnerved and saddened her.  Her spark had provided reassurance and comfort for her entire life, like a burning candle reminding her that she was never alone.  Without it, her chest felt devoid and empty.

“If...my spark never comes back...”

Her burgeoning worry deflated when Blake covered her hands.

“That doesn’t matter to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“You realize I’ve only seen you use your spark once?” Blake pointed out.  “Otherwise, it’s just been burning me whenever I get too close.”

“So you’re happy it’s gone?”

“I’m happy you’re ok,” Blake corrected.  “And whatever this future looks like...I’m just happy there’s a future at all.”

The response made Yang feel better.  And Blake was right, of course.  Sparkless was better than dead.  Well, most things were better than dead.  And knowing that Blake would stay by her side made her feel incredibly lucky. Unfortunately, ridding herself of the Phage hadn’t made her life perfect.  Blake reminded her of that by glancing out the window and sighing as reality set back in.

“I should probably go…”

“Not yet,” Yang protested, weaving her fingers through Blake’s soft black tresses and gently dragging her in for another kiss.  Surprisingly, Blake didn’t resist.  She melted into the kiss, actually, though her mind was clearly split between the bedroom and the world outside.

“There isn’t much time...” she fit between kisses.

“You have a few minutes, don’t you?”

“No,” Blake said before pressing another kiss to Yang’s lips.  “I have to organize fighters.”  Another kiss.  “And set up patrols.”  Another kiss.  “And make sure everyone understands what they’re getting into.”

When Blake attempted another quick, unsatisfying kiss, Yang pressed forward to hold onto Blake’s lips.  She didn’t want to worry about anything else right now.  As naive as it was, she wanted to pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.

“Before you go risking your life...” she mumbled while Blake’s hand settled on the back of her neck.  “Can’t we celebrate that I still have one?”

In a last-ditch attempt to convince Blake to stay, Yang pulled away and threw on her best pleading yet enticing smile.  Blake responded with a smile of her own before capturing Yang’s lips in another kiss.

This kiss deepened, and Blake seamlessly slipped into Yang’s lap while running a hand through Yang’s hair.  Her other hand slid under Yang’s chin and tilted it up, to which Yang willingly surrendered the battle for dominance.  That became especially true when Blake gently pushed Yang backward onto the bed and moved forward to straddle Yang’s hips.

Then Blake rolled to the side, stood up, and quickly moved out of Yang’s reach.

“I have planning to do.”  After running the back of her hand across her lips, Blake straightened her slightly ruffled hair.  “Once that’s finished, I’ll be back.”  Staying out of reach, she leaned in and pecked Yang’s cheek. “Don’t get tired,” she whispered, throwing in a wink for good measure.

Blake might as well have taken Yang’s heart with her when she hurried out of the room.  At least, that was how Yang felt as she sat there with a growing knot in her stomach.  Ignoring their current predicament was foolish and naive, but she couldn’t bear to think about what might happen next.

She knew what kind of fighter Cecelia was.  She’d watched Cecelia take on the most monstrous beasts that they could find.  Solo, unarmed, injured…Cecelia had the skill, cunning, and recklessness to survive just about anything.  Pitting Cecelia’s ferocity against Blake’s level-headedness...Yang didn’t like the odds, and that terrified her.

She couldn’t tell Blake not to go.  They helped each other, they relied on each other, but they didn’t control each other.  Blake made her own decisions, and Yang supported her.

But if Yang had a new chance at life, she didn’t want to make the same mistakes.  She wanted to make the most of every day, and she wanted Blake to be there with her.  But how could that ever happen with Cecelia standing in their way...?