Guardian

Chapter Twenty-One

Blake's ears fell flat against her head and her own tears threatened to spill over her eyes as she watched Yang lean on the tree she had just punched and cover her face. It was hard to imagine that this was same woman who nearly ran over a guy with her motorcycle, or punched a Nevermore clear out of the sky, or who danced in her kitchen. Yang always seemed consistently confident and strong and seeing her sobbing against a tree physically hurt Blake. Everyone has a breaking point. She thought to herself. Yang always seemed so mad when her mother was discussed but by now Blake knew it was front. She still loved her mother, still felt a sense of loyalty to her, but her feelings of abandonment and disappointment at Raven's choice of life caused her confliction.

"Come here," Blake gently whispered and pulled Yang to her so she could safely release her feelings. "I-" she paused. Should she really talk about something she really knew nothing about. Her parents were overprotective sure but they were still great and loving towards her. But Yang still needed to talk about it. Even if all she needed was to scream. "I don't think she doesn't want you Yang."

Her grip on Blake's jacket tightened and she hiccuped a few times to try and gather her ability to speak. "Then why did she leave? Why won't she come back?"

"Maybe she's scared."

"You're funny," Yang hiccuped.

"Im serious. Maybe she's scared of love. Scared that something so good could go horribly wrong. Scared that it would make her seem weak. Scared to be a mom."

"She didn't even give it a chance!" Yang sniffed and wiped her eyes as she detached herself from Blake. "Every time. Every time I see her I ask her to come back. Even if she just dropped in for a visit for the holidays or something. But no. She always gives me the same loyalty shpeel."

"So the only time you've ever seen her was when you hunted her down yourself?"

"Well no," Yang grumbled and kicked a rock. "She's found me a few times but only when I was in trouble and once because she heard from my uncle that I quit being a Huntress."

"So she's saved you a few time when you were in a tight spot and came to lecture you when you quit your profession. That doesn't sound like someone who doesn't care."

"You're only half right. She helped me a few times in a tight spot on a job or two but always told me that I needed to toughen up afterwards. That she won't always be around to save me or that maybe next time she would be too late. And she didn't lecture me when I quit she came to try and get me to join to tribe. She's been trying for years."

Blake sighed and took Yang's hand. "I don't know much on this subject. My parents have basically smothered me with love since I was born. And I can see why you feel the way you do. She left you for a life she didn't have to go back to. She made a choice and she chose wrong. But it seems to me that, in own strange way, she's trying to reconnect with you somehow. She just doesn't know how to do it yet," she stood on her toes and kissed Yang's cheek. "Continue to be cautious around her, hell continue to be mad, but I wouldn't give up on her just yet."

Yang let a small grin slip as she kissed between her feline ears. "How'd I get so lucky huh?"

Blake shrugged. "Because I didn't follow my father's rules and you saved me from a drunk asshole at a bar. Twice."

"Wish I could have done it sooner," Yang chuckled.

Blake kept her fingers interlocked with Yang's as the camp came into view. The sound of their footsteps alerted everyone and they quickly made a grab for their weapons before realizing it was them.

"Nice to see you guys too," Blake smirked as she and Yang took a seat on one of the logs they had gathered around and she sniffed the air around the fire that held a small cauldron of some sort of stew.