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The night before the heist, Saphron and Terra's house.
Blake is chilling looking at the moon through a window. Her cat ears, which are lying down, twitch as she notices someone sneaking behind her. It's Yang, looking worried.
“Hey, Blake.” she says. “I wondered where you were. Nervous about tomorrow?”
“Kinda.” the brunette answers. “I expect everything to go according to plan. But in order to perform as best as I can, there's a thing I need to take care first.”
“And what's that?” inquires the other girl.
“You, Yang.” says the brunette, looking serious.
That surprises Yang, making her warily.
“Don't worry!” Blake quickly adds “I only wanted to address what happened at the cottage. Make sure everything is fine between us.”
“Oh, that!” her companion catches.
“I wondered why you reacted like that when I said I'll protect you. I only realized it when you grabbed my arm in the scape.”
“I did that unconsciously I did that short of unconsciously.” the other explains, a bit embarrassed.
“Even better.” continues Blake, smiling a bit, though also embarrassing a bit, “Feeling you protecting me felt good, but also made me realize you may have been offended by the idea of me trying to overcompensate you, since we had just talked about that at the train. Sorry if the apology comes late, we have been kinda busy”.
Yang raises her hands.
“It's fine, Blake.” she nods trying to smile, but failing, “Actually… You're right, it would be better if we wrapped this up. Did you say you'll protect me because you still think you need to overcompensate?”
“No, I got what you said at the train” Her mood, and ears, loosening up, “You wanted me to slow down.”
That reassures the other girl, but she's still wary.
“Then, why? Please, don't tell me you think I need protection because of my arm…”
“Of course not!”
Blake's shout surprises Yang, but her painful expression surprises her even more, from her putting lips to her raised ears. Even Blake's surprised of raising her own voice that much, so she quickly covers her mouth with both hands.
“Sorry.” she apologizes, in a whisper, but she goes on, still looking hurt. “But, no, I would never do that. Yang, you are the one that said to me once that my ears or bow didn't matter to you, that you only saw me. I feel the same. When I came back and saw you the first time since I left I didn't give any attention to your arm. I know you lost it, that you are using a robotic one. But that does not change the way I see you. I only see you, Yang.”
The other girl is visible moved by those words.
“Thanks, Blake.” she says, smiling happily, “I wouldn't have it any other way.”
The brunette looks away, visibly embarrassed.
“But…” adds her companion, “I still want to know why you insist in protecting me”.
Blake's still averting her gaze.
“Well…” she mutters shyly.
“Whatever you're thinking, just say it.” the blonde prompts her, smiling. “After that compliment, I doubt your motives will be something that can hurt me.”
“It's not that.” the other girl keeps muttering, as her shyness becomes anger and her ears go down. “I just cannot see you getting hurt again because I did nothing!”
She does not raise her voice as much as before, but hearing those words are enough to surprise Yang the same way, as so does seeing her making another painful expression, maybe even more painful, as if she was angered with herself.
“I'm sorry, Yang.” she keeps going, almost to the verge of tears. “Adam was there because of me. He lured you because I was so pathetic I cried when he stabbed me. And I was too weak to stop him from cutting your arm. I don't want to feel like that again. So…”
“Powerless.” Yang finishes for her.
Now she's looking as hurt as her companion.
“I understand how you feel, because is the way I felt when I lost my arm and I needed a long time until I got used to the new one and this whole new situation.”
Blake tries to keep going.
“I…”
“Don't say sorry; don’t blame yourself anymore.” she interrupts her, grabbing both of her hands and holding them firmly. The brunette's gaze fixed on her metallic arm. “I don't want to see you hurt either, Blake.”
That makes the other girl calm a bit.
“You cannot blame yourself for what your ex does; you are the one who said he's a psycho. You cannot blame yourself for screaming for being stabbed; I was the one that lost consciousness for losing my arm. And you cannot blame yourself for me losing my arm for helping you; I would jump on your defense again anytime. I am the one to blame for acting so reckless. That's a lesson I already learnt. Now I'm back with a new arm and stronger than ever. You don't need to worry about me getting hurt again.”
She tries to let go her hands, but Blake tries to hold on her, glaring at her, looking calmer but still unsure.
“I got stronger too, you know? And I learned from my mistakes too. You may say I was not guilty of you losing your arm, but I am guilty of leaving you alone.”
The blonde stays silent as she holds her gaze; yellow eyes locked on violet ones.
“But I am here now.” the brunette keeps going, “And even if you are so strong you can fight without any help, I want to be by your side, just in case. Even if you never need me again, I want you to know that I will always stay on your side from now on.”
Yang holds her emotion-filled gaze for a second, before giving her a spontaneous hug.
“That's where I need you to be, Blake” she says, with an ear-to-ear grin, but holding her tears. “And I want to be by your side too.”
That makes the other girl relax from toes to ears, as she smiles in relief and almost starts crying too.
“You only need to stop worrying so much with protecting me of being protected by me. We being together is what matters.”
She frees her form her hug to see her looking happy.
“Yeah.” Blake nods. “I get it.”
So the following day, when something doesn't go according to plan…
“She's not protecting me.” Blake says as she grabs Yang's left hand.
The blonde looks at her surprised and she looks back at her with a sad expression.
“And I am not protecting her.” adds, getting more confident, as so does Yang. “We're protecting each other!”