Smile Again, Please : A Yang Xiao Long Story!

Chapter 3 : The Box

Raiden's eyes lazily opened, revealing the dark wooden room Tai Yang Xiao Long had given him some years ago. He yawned before stretching out on his bed. Memories of the attack suddenly slammed into him, throwing his emotions around in his mind. With the sun having set sometime ago, Raiden was left alone with the shadows. Out of the corner of his eyes, each shadow moved like a creature of Grimm, creeping out slowly then darting away once seen.

He was about to dart out of his bed when he suddenly realized that Yang was sound asleep on the floor beside his bed. She had moved several blankets and pillows against the bottom os his bed, creating a semi-comfortable sleeping place for herself. She was smart to do so. Any sudden movement Raiden made would wake her and alert her of his presence.

Raiden's nerves suddenly disappeared as he watched Yang sleep peacefully. His sudden fright, his fight-or-flight mentality from earlier, his fear of dying evaporated into nothing as his eyes watched and absorbed every detail of the spectacle before him.

Instead of jumping out of his bed, he quickly laid back down, taking his hand and brushing the side of her cheek. Her hair was sprawled out on the pillow, covering the majority of the soft object. Raiden quietly laughed to himself.

She hadn't changed. Deep down, despite her trauma, she was still Yang. Raiden's touch suddenly awoke Yang, the blonde sitting up and yawning. She quickly looked at Raiden.

"You awake yet, Raiden?" Yang asked, as if checking to see if he was in control.

"Erin's still here, she's just waiting. She told me she did something with you but she won't tell me what." Raiden replied in a tired voice. Yang's blush confirmed what he thought. Something did happen.

"N-Nothing happened."

"You stink at lying."

"What? How?" She returned, an angry look suddenly casting it's shadow on her face.

"You always blush when you try lying to me."

---

The next day, Tai was making breakfast for them all when Raiden seated himself on the couch. Raiden was expecting for Tai to ask if it were him in control just like Yang did but no question came.

"What, you're not gonna ask me if it's me?" Raiden asked with his back still facing Tai. The blonde male scoffed.

"Of course it's you. I trained you after all. If you didn't receive control by now, something would be wrong." Tai said, finishing frying the eggs and placing them on plates that already consisted of bacon and French toast.

"In celebration of Raiden's return, I made your favorite breakfast. Yang! Come eat!"

---

Yang had cleaned her plate, leaving the two males alone as she went back to her room.

"So, Raiden." Tai said after finishing his mug of orange juice.

"So, Tai." Raiden jokingly returned.

"Did you.... meet them?" Tai asked, quietly. Raiden shook his head as a sad look suddenly cascaded over his eyes.

"They're all gone already."Raiden replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Raiden suddenly wiped a few tears away from his eyes.

"It's fine. That's not the reason I'm here for." Raiden said as he stood from his chair, having finished his breakfast.

"Thanks for the food. I'll be outside training. Send Yang out whenever she comes down." Raiden said, quickly leaving the room. Tai sighed as he did so.

"That kid..... really has been through a lot."

"Haven't we all?" Asked a female voice behind him. Tai snapped his head around to face her, surprised as Raven Branwen stood in front of him.

"You actually came."

"Hello, Tai. It's been a while, my dear."

----

Raiden made his way from Tai's front door to the lawn, slowing himself as he did so. The small box bounced against his leg, inside his pocket. It took all of his nerves not to take his hand and place it inside his pocket to ensure the small trinket was unharmed inside. He had suddenly reached the middle of the large green lawn, closing his eyes in order to calm himself. He felt the warm wind blow against his face and skin, gently pressuring his clothes against his body. Suddenly, when he opened his eyes again, he was in Vacuo, the city he had been in prior to moving to Atlas on a request from Tai. Broken buildings lined the streets, puddles and drag marks of dried or fresh blood. Here and there, the remains of pets that fought to save their owners. Suddenly, a movement to his right caught his attention.

A Beowulf leapt from the shadows and assaulted him. Raiden quickly leapt out of the way of the beast's claws, swiftly shifting his position to escape the beast. He then landed a devastating punch to the Beowulf's side, knocking the beast off it's feet. Raiden quickly revealed his blue sword and sliced the Beowulf's head off before it could react. Three more suddenly came running at him, all of which fell to his sword in one quick motion as he jumped past them.

He quickly stopped himself before leaping over an Ursa's paw swing, twisting his body in mid air so that he could land several slashes down the beast's back as he landed behind the beast. Raiden then impaled the Ursa in the back before electrifying his sword. This killed the Demonic Bear. Raiden, however, was not allowed to rest as a Beringel, a gorilla-like grimm, suddenly slammed it's fist into the ground where he once stood. Raiden had jumped as soon as he had sensed the beast's presence, finding himself high in the air above the grimm. He suddenly revealed his palm, directing it towards the grimm behemoth below him. Without warning, blue lightning suddenly shot from his palm, shocking the beast to death. As Raiden landed on the ground near the beast's dead body, he suddenly found himself back in the middle of Tai's front yard.

"Nice image training Rai." Yang Xiao Long said as she casually waved at him. Everything he had just witnessed was but an image released from his mind. The exhilaration of the fight, the intensity of the moment, the feeling of death portraying it's ugly face as he battled the grimm was nothing more than image training, a specific method many used to prepare themselves for battle without actually going into battle.

"Thanks." Raiden replied as he looked around, realizing that the lightning attacks he had used in the image training had not affected the terrain surrounding him.

"So, what'd you need? Dad told me to come and talk to you." Yang asked. Raiden suddenly couldn't speak. The words he had prepared himself to say suddenly eluded him, as if running away on purpose. The words came in his mind but would not translate to words that came from his mouth:

"Will you marry me?"

Instead, he shook his head.

"Wanna train?" Raiden asked as he felt the small box that contained his proposal ring jingle in his pocket again.