After The Battle (ch5)

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was a little miffed with how Yang accepted her arm in the show. I think it would have been great if she could have just gone on without it and been 'normal' that way. But again, with what she needs to do and how quickly she needs to do it, I guess the prosthetic was the most logical option for her.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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												Chapter 5. Back On Track

It took Yang a while to get used to her new arm.

After she had customized it with a bit of bright yellow paint, and asked Pyrrha to untie the ribbon where her right sleeve hung loose, Tai helped her put it on. He and Pyrrha sat with Yang for a while in the shed as she got used to moving it around.

As soon as it was on her, the mechanisms adapted to the nerves left behind in her arm, and it was almost like her arm had never been lost in the first place.

It was difficult to control at first, but right away, there was just the feeling of something being there at the end of her elbow, and it provided a sense of solace and sensory comfort Yang had been lacking since she'd last been at Beacon.

For the rest of that day, Yang got used to moving her artificial fingers, curling and uncurling them, twisting her wrist and turning her palm over.

It was strange for certain. The nerves on the inside felt like they were real and connected to something that would cooperate with them. But she still couldn't feel things the way she'd used to.

She could still feel them, but just not in exactly the same way. After all, the way a real, flesh arm could feel and take in sensory information was very different from how a prosthetic could.

That was probably the hardest thing for Yang to get used to. She could move her arm and fingers well before long, but the haptic aspect took a bit more time.

She interlocked her warm fingers with her cold ones, trying to get used to the feeling of her hands touching one another again. Once she was as comfortable as she was going to get with her own touch, she reached out to hold Pyrrha's hand as well.

It was very different getting touch from another person, and she needed some time to register those feelings as well.

But when noontime finally hit, Yang felt it was about time they put their workout-ready attire to good use.

With Pyrrha's ankle almost healed by now, she could easily accompany Yang across the yard.

They started off small, playing once again with Zwei. Only this time, Yang threw and Pyrrha crouched.

Once the dog was exhausted, the girls started playing by themselves.

They used one of the cleaner handballs to toss back and forth to one another as they ran across the yard. This allowed Yang to get used to moving her arm, throwing, and catching with it. It allowed Pyrrha to strengthen her healing ankle and get used to running normally again, and it gave them both a bit of exercise overall.

Only when Tai called them for lunch did they take a break to eat together and hydrate themselves. But as soon as they were finished, they went right back to their basic levels of training.


Their first day passed by like that, without much exertion on anyone's part.

Yang was eager to try taking a shower now that she would be able to use two hands. She lathered her hair just as she always had, and when it came time to dry it, she was able to hold the hair dryer with one hand and comb through her hair with the other.

It was still strange for her. She'd lived her whole life with two hands, but had recently started getting use to living life with only one, and now she was back to two.

She knew she could've gotten by with only one arm. But there was an urgency now to find her friends as quickly as possible, and as such, she believed that using the prosthetic was the most efficient option for her. She planned to make the most of it.

When she was ready for bed, Pyrrha was there waiting for her. She offered Yang her hand and helped her have a seat.

That night, Pyrrha relished the feeling of being held in both of Yang's arms.

And Yang was happy to keep her close.

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The following day, they started to make their training a little more intense.

That morning, Yang had tied her ponytail herself, and she'd tied Pyrrha's for her to reciprocate the same favor Pyrrha had done for her the day before.

All morning long, Yang and Pyrrha arm-wrestled one another, both to assess the brute strength behind Yang's new arm, and to strengthen their muscles. They took breaks to lift weights in between matches, helping one another count the reps, raising the requirement number with every round.

Presently, both girls were sitting in the grass, both with a 30-pound weight in each hand. The vigor with which they were training, on top of the heat brought on by the midday sun, caused them both to sweat quite a bit. But they'd almost forgotten what that felt like, and now they were both grateful to have that back.

They'd missed the feeling of exercise, of using their muscles and strength in a healthy, non-strenuous manner. After all that had happened at Beacon, they were thankful to feel like they were back in simpler times now, training together as they'd used to.

Only now, there were six people missing.

Their teammates were constantly in the backs of their minds, which only served to motivate them more and more as they practiced.

Pyrrha was counting Yang's reps for her now, her voice bright and encouraging.

"Keep it up! Just twenty left to go, and then we'll have a water break."

Yang grit her teeth and persevered. It was odd for sure, because while her left arm felt like it was on fire, her right felt almost no strain at all. She could probably lift nonstop all day with that hand, but her human hand had human limitations, and she needed to adhere to those above all else.

Yang stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth as she continued lifting the weights in turn as Pyrrha counted down.

"Three... two... one! Perfect, Yang!"

With a sigh of relief, Yang dropped the weights into the grass and leaned back on her palms.

"Phew! Two-hundred never used to be a problem for me. I've gotten rusty for sure."

"As have I," Pyrrha agreed. "But that's to be expected, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah. You're right. Can't do anything about it now but get back on track."

"Right. But perhaps after a drink?"

"Sounds good."

Pyrrha got to her feet with ease and offered her hand down to her. Yang accepted with her prosthetic and jumped to her feet.

They were both about to head back to the house when a familiar yipping sound caught their attention. Zwei came bolting across the yard with two clean white towels lying across his back, and skidded to a halt in front of the girls. Pyrrha giggled, then bent down to pick them up.

"Oh, why thank you, Zwei! What a good helper!"

She handed one towel to Yang and used the other to dab over her own forehead and neck. Tai appeared in the doorway just then, holding two cold bottles of water.

"Come 'n get it!" he called with a grin.

The girls wiped their sweat and made their way to him. He tossed Yang her water bottle when she was still halfway across the yard, and she reflexively shot out her right hand to grab it.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, hun!" Tai laughed. "Just makin' sure you're paying attention."

Yang rolled her eyes as she uncapped her bottle and started chugging. Pyrrha, on the other hand, accepted her bottle from Tai directly.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

She started drinking, but before she could start making her way back to Yang, Tai stopped her with a grunt.

"Say, Pyrrha?"

She paused, swallowed, and turned back to him.

"Yes?"

The man wore a smile, but he avoided her eyes suddenly, lowering his voice.

"Just wanted to thank you. Y'know for... for supporting Yang through all this. I know it's been tough on all of us, but her in particular. She's... She's always getting left behind, you know? First her mother, then her teammates, now Ruby..."

Pyrrha visibly flinched at the mention of Raven. She hadn't even bothered to remember that woman since everything had ended. It was still a sore spot for her to recall those memories of witnessing Yang's own mother severing her arm.

Tai realized his blunder and apologized right away. "Sorry. Guess Raven's earned herself resentment from even more people now, huh?"

Pyrrha grunted.

"I can't disagree with you on that."

He nodded.

"Anyway, I'm just glad you're still here for Yang. Something tells me I don't have to worry about you leaving her, too."

At that, Pyrrha met his eyes directly, her tone serious.

"No, you don't, sir. Not at all."

Tai laughed.

"Oh geez, how many times do I have to tell ya, you don't have to call me 'sir'? Makes me feel old." He grinned again. "Anyway, thanks, Pyrrha. I'm glad I can trust you with Yang. She doesn't always wanna talk to her old man, y'know? So I'm glad she has you."

Pyrrha dipped her head to him politely.

"Believe me, sir. It's my pleasure to be with her. I'll stay with her no matter what."

The man nodded and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Glad to hear it."

With that, he let her go, and Pyrrha made her way back to Yang.

They put their water bottles and towels in the grass, then engaged in a light-contact sparring match. With Pyrrha's weapons still being repaired in town, she thought it best to practice hand-to-hand combat for her own benefit, as well as Yang's. Pyrrha wasn't used to this sort of fighting, however, so Yang took it slowly with her, and coached her on the basics.

"Y'know what they say: 'keep on your toes.' You can dodge and move a lot more quickly that way," she advised.

"I see."

"Don't take your eyes off me."

To that, Pyrrha smirked.

"Yang, I couldn't even if I wanted to."

And that caused Yang to burst out laughing.

Not Pyrrha, or anyone else, had heard that sound in over a month.

Yang held up a hand, begging Pyrrha to hold off for a moment while Yang composed herself. When she was ready, there was a grin on her face.

"Damn," she whistled. "I gotta step up my game."

Finally, they began their match.

Pyrrha's stance and speed were barely affected by her ankle now, and she moved with ease and grace just as she always had. Though she wasn't all that familiar with hand-to-hand combat, she put up a rather good fight, even with Yang as her opponent. She successfully blocked punch after punch Yang threw her way, but was also certain to keep an eye on her legs to side-step kicks.

And even though Yang was still getting used to her new arm, the rest of her body instantly recognized this routine. It felt good to put her old skills to the test again, if only casually.

She threw another punch, which Pyrrha dodged. But Yang followed up right away and grabbed her by the shoulder, clutching her shirt to get a grip. She tried to hold Pyrrha in place to land a kick, but Pyrrha twisted herself out of range and landed a jab to Yang's gut.

Yang got her revenge a moment later. She ducked down to avoid a swing, then tried to knock Pyrrha's legs from under her. When Pyrrha jumped to dodge it, Yang popped back up and threw out her right arm, which was substantially stronger than her left, and landed a hit on Pyrrha's shoulder. Even with the shield of her aura activated, Pyrrha was still knocked back a few steps by the hit. Yang reached out to grab her wrist so she wouldn't fall, and pulled her back into balance.

"Wow!" Pyrrha gasped. "Yang, that was excellent!"

"Aw, you flatterer."

"No, really!"

Yang pulled her in for a quick kiss.

The rest of their afternoon consisted of such sparring matches, interspersed with various compliments and words of advice for one another. They kept the contact light enough not to bruise one another when the hits landed, but hard enough to still strengthen their muscles.

By the end of the day, both girls were panting and covered in sweat. But they were grinning, enthralled by the ignition of this familiar flame. It felt good to practice like this again, to the point of healthy exhaustion.

At last, they decided to call it quits for the day. Yang checked to make sure her father wasn't watching before she pulled Pyrrha in for another kiss. Pyrrha looped her arms around Yang's neck and leaned in, panting against her mouth.

When they parted, they were more breathless from the kiss than they were from the hours of sparring.

Yang wiped her forehead and patted Pyrrha on the back.

"All right. Good match. How about we get some supper?"

"That sounds grand."

Together, they walked into the house, where the smell of dinner was already floating about the kitchen. Yang plopped down in her chair at the kitchen table and started wiping her face off with a towel, while Pyrrha excused herself to the bathroom.

Tai sauntered over to his daughter once they were alone, and placed a dish of meat and vegetables in front of her. Yang put her towel down.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Don't mention it." He then lowered his voice a bit. "So, uh, you like her, huh?"

Yang nearly choked on her food.

"W-What?! Dad-!"

"Oh, c'mon, you can't hide it from me, Yang. I see how you look at her," he winked. "She's a good kid. Dad approves. So, when are you gonna make a move?"

"Uh..."

Yang was thinking over how to break the news to him when Pyrrha came back into the room, gratefully accepting dinner. Tai and Yang dropped their conversation. But when her father winked at her again, Yang kicked his shin under the table.

The eventful day wrapped up rather quietly after that.

Yang and Pyrrha took turns in the shower, and afterward, Yang shooed her father into his own bedroom before he could see Pyrrha come into hers. Yang flopped down onto her bed, sighing heavily.

"Man... I'm beat."

Pyrrha sat beside her a little more gracefully.

"That means we had a successful day of training."

"You bet'cha." She rolled over onto her back and opened her arms. "C'mere."

Pyrrha smiled and happily lowered herself down into Yang's embrace. She kissed her deeply while Yang ran her fingers up through her red hair. When they parted, Yang sighed into Pyrrha's shoulder.

"We're on the right track though," she mumbled. "Just gotta keep this up, figure out a plan, and then we can start looking for them."

Pyrrha nodded.

"Yes. We've rested plenty. It's time to get back to work."

They shifted onto their sides, keeping their arms around one another. Yang lowered her tone just a little.

"Hey... Pyrrha?"

"...Yes?"

"...Thanks."

And Pyrrha didn't need to ask her what she was referring to.

She was grateful to Yang as well, but rather than say it with words, she showed it through another soft kiss.

They fell asleep in each other's arms once again that night, knowing it would be one of the last nights they'd spend in this room, but far from one of the last nights they'd spend together.

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A/N: We're almost finished here. Stay tuned for the epilogue!