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It's the first time they've settled for the night since landing in the Ever After. And though they try to rest, their nerves are wired and sleep won't come to them in their frazzled state.
Blake can tell when her teammates are asleep—Little's snores come from within Ruby's cloak, Ruby's is tossing and turning and Weiss' is fitful—but Yang is still clearly awake.
Getting Yang to come join her further away from the others—never out of sight, not after what happened on the platforms—isn't hard. She trails behind her, eager for a distraction from the sleep alluding her.
The unspoken topic hangs in the air heavily. They still haven't talked about Yang's actions back in the Central Location. And after running into the Jabberwalker again, they almost had a repeat. One good swipe and Yang's aura shattered, the others only barely able to reach in her time before it striked again.
"Blake," Yang says. As if it was so simple. It sounds almost like a plea, urging her not to continue.
But this had gone on long enough.
"This has to stop."
"What does?"
Blake sees red. Not Adam-red, so often followed with violence and yelling. But of spilled blood, of what could happen the next time Yang throws herself into danger.
"You know what I'm talking about," Blake whispers, and she hates the way that her voice wobbles. But she needs to say this.
Yang sighs—whether from reservation in defeat or afraid at what was being brought up—but an angry (fearful) tone fills her voice.
"My semblance is the best for close combat. Ruby still doesn't have Crescent Rose and you and Weiss are both low in dust and ammo. I can at least fight without—"
Blake's had enough with the deflecting.
"What is it gonna take for you to take care of yourself?"
Yang's mouth closes with a clatter, lilac eyes flickering to the side to avoid staring at intense amber.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Blake remembers feeling exhaustion seep into every essence of her body. She remembers that it took one specific person to get her out of that funk.
Yang is gonna need more than just one talk from her. But she can at least start.
"You can't keep throwing your life away like this."
Yang visibly recoils as if struck, and rubs her arm uneasily—the uncertainty so foreign on Yang—as her eyes still avoid hers.
Blake sees the way Yang steels herself, the firelight glinting off her eyes as she turns to her smiling.
"I…I don't want to die," Blake's ear flickers at how resigned she sounds, the unspoken now out in the open. "But I can take the hardest hits out of everyone here. If I didn't take that hit from Neo, Ruby would've died."
"We thought you were dead."
Yang makes a wounded sound in the back of her throat but reaches out, "Listen—"
"No, Yang, you listen." Blake's eyes become blurry with tears but she needs to press on. "You can't keep doing this. Your life is just as valuable as the rest of us. When you—" Blake shudders but she continues (hating how quiet Yang has become). "When you fell, I tried to jump after you."
The silence was deafening. Insect cries and the fire crackling being their only audience.
"Weiss had to stop me. I know you saved Ruby—I'm not denying that—but when you keep taking these blows… Yang, the pain we felt was. It was—I can't even describe it! But if we worked together. If you just let us—"
"I don't know how!" Yang blurts out.
The outburst surely woke up the others, but with the two of them breathing heavily, they couldn't stop.
"I don't know how. Raven left and then Summer died. Everything was falling apart and I had to be the anchor. I was always there for Ruby and I meant it. People always left me, but I could always be there for others."
Yang reaches out again and this time Blake grabs her hands. Both her hand and prosthetic are shaking violently, and Yang is choking underneath her tears but it's the first time in a long time that she's truly opened up like this.
"I… I love you guys all so much. I'd do anything for you guys and I know it's the same with you as well."
Yang slowly gets her breathing under control, uneven breaths lessening.
"You said it before. My semblance let's me take hits that others can't. If I can take something that I know others can't, of course I'm going to do it."
"But you're not alone! You're acting like the rest of us can't help and with the way you're going, it's only a matter of time before it leads you to an early grave!"
Blake can’t help it. Her breathing is erratic and tears are freely falling down her face now but Yang still doesn’t get it.
“Blake—" Yang starts, still too stubborn to see.
“I don’t know how to tell you that you shouldn’t throw your life away.”
Blake pulls Yang into a hug. It's desperate and full of pain but Yang needs to know she's not alone.
"We're protecting each other. Not one over the other. And I don't care how long it's going to take, but I'm going to make sure you see that."
"You're not replaceable. And no matter what noble sacrifice you think you're making, we're always going to suffer more from the fact that we lost you."
Yang hides her face into Blake's neck. Her wounded whimpers reach her ears and Blake can't stop her sobs from joining her.