Work Text:
It wasn’t like Yang to take naps in the middle of the day; however, recent changes to her schedule were increasing their occurrence.
“There simply isn’t enough time to do everything I need to do,” she’d explained to Ruby one evening as the two made their way towards Professor Port’s class. Ever since the incident on the train, Yang had been training more outside of class and team practices. She wanted to get faster, stronger, smarter. She didn’t have a choice. She needed to.
Neither Weiss nor Blake had any feet to stand on when it came to chiding Yang about her late-night sparring sessions. Weiss, ever the studious one on the team, had her fair share of late nights hunched over Grimm textbooks and battle strategies. Blake, though not as much anymore, spent countless hours in the library whenever leads on White Fang movement ran dry. Ruby, however, could stand for the lot of them.
“I just don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Ruby replied, holding the door open to the mostly filled lecture hall.
Yang sighed. “That’s what I’m trying to prevent.”
Despite Ruby’s warnings, Yang continued to train after dinner and would only stop and return to their dorm when the main hall lights switched off around midnight. Midday naps meant skipping lunch—something that Ruby was appalled by—but it was necessary if she wanted to have enough energy for the remainder of the day.
On Thursday, as the rest of her team headed for the dining hall, Yang made her usual excuse of needing to swing by their room first.
“I shouldn’t be long,” she said, not even bothering to put much conviction into the statement.
Ruby glanced back with furrowed brows and a very disapproving motherly look as her and Weiss continued walking, but Blake hung back.
“Just in case it takes you a while,” Blake said, clasping her hands together, “would you prefer the pasta or chicken?”
Yang opened her mouth to protest, but the thought of waking up to a meal sounded pleasing.
“Both.” She looked up at Blake to see her partner fighting back a laugh.
“Both it is,” she replied with a smile, before turning around to catch up with the other two.
It took a few swats at Ruby’s hands to keep the to-go meal safe, but before the end of the lunch hour, Blake and the team were headed back to their room with Yang’s lunch in hand.
“I don’t understand how she can take short naps and still feel energized,” Ruby said, swinging her arms back and forth at her side.
“That’s because you’re physically incapable of taking a cat-nap,” Weiss pointed out. “Remember the time we took the shuttle into town and it was so hard to wake you, we just left you there until we were ready to come back?”
Ruby narrowed her eyes at Weiss.
“No, but I suppose if I were asleep…”
They reached their floor and Blake held the door open for both of them.
“I don’t think this routine of Yang’s will last very long… Or at least I hope it doesn’t,” Blake said, trailing off so the others could barely hear her last few words.
Weiss shot Ruby a worried look. Ruby just shrugged.
“You know if she were here right now, she would’ve made a terrible pun about you and cat naps,” Ruby joked.
Weiss swatted at Ruby’s arm, but Blake didn’t seem fazed by the comment.
“Probably,” she said, looking down the hall.
They reached their dorm room a moment later and filed inside quietly incase Yang was still asleep. The sound of the door closing must’ve jarred her from her sleep though, because as Blake approached Yang with her food, she opened her eyes and squinted.
“Hey Yang,” Blake said, before setting the container down on their bedside table.
Her partner was curled up on top of the covers of her bed, snuggling into Blake’s pillow.
After blinking a few times, she produced a groggy smile and replied, “Good morning Princess.”
Then, she readjusted her head on the pillow and yawned, before closing her eyes. The rest of the room, however, was suddenly very much alert.
“Umm,” Weiss began, rounding her and Ruby’s beds before standing directly in front of Yang and Blake. “What did she just say?”
Weiss held an accusatory finger pointed Blake’s direction, but Blake had no words for her.
“Weiss!” Ruby scolded, before choosing to move towards her gathered teammates by scooching across her partner’s bed. She swung her legs down and jumped to her feet just as Yang turned over, facing away from them.
“Yang’s probably just dreaming,” she continued, before lowering Weiss’ hand with her own. “There’s no need to get all… Weissy about this.”
She offered her partner a weak smile until the hard lines on Weiss’ face fell away and she visibly relaxed.
“You’re probably right… It’s just strange.” Weiss eyed Blake and the back of Yang’s head once more, before moving back to the desk to pick up her discarded book bag.
Blake still hadn’t said a word. But what was there to be said anyway? So Yang had called her Princess—that wasn’t even a pet name that made sense for them. There were far more logical pet names that Yang would have chosen if she were indeed cognitive at that moment and well… had a reason to use one.
Blake cleared her throat and turned away from her partner.
“You should probably wake her up now, though,” Ruby said, completely moved on from the event.
“Yes. Port’s class starts in less than five minutes,” Weiss added.
Blake nodded, but her body didn’t move. The image of Yang’s eyes locked onto hers as her mouth produced that three-word greeting had Blake reeling.
With a jolt, Blake was brought back from her musings as the door to their room closed once again. This time, it was just her and her partner that remained. Realizing Ruby and Weiss had left her no choice, Blake approached Yang’s bed and leaned over the side.
“Yang,” she whispered hoarsely.
Since when did her voice sound like that?
Instead of waking, Yang only moaned, before turning back towards Blake, eyelids still closed shut.
“Yang,” Blake said louder this time.
When there was no response, she raised her hand to Yang’s shoulder and shook it hesitantly.
Still nothing. Blake breathed out a forceful sigh, before she reached back over and shook Yang’s shoulders, not stopping until she was sure Yang was fully awake.
“What? What? What!” Yang groaned with increasing volume.
Her eyes shots open to see Blake hovering above her, long dark hair bunching up on the covers of her bed.
“It’s time for class,” Blake said as she stood back up to full height.
Yang scanned the space around them, before landing on the container of food on the table.
“You brought me food,” she said with a growing grin on her face.
Blake averted her eyes. Yang had that same sleepy smile on her face. It was simply too much for Blake to handle right now.
“I did,” she said, before turning to search for her own school bag. After finding it leaning against Yang’s bedframe, she picked it up and said over her shoulder, “But if you don’t get moving now, it will probably be cold by the time we get to class.”
“If you say so,” Yang replied, before complying.
No one mentioned the Princess incident to Yang until it was just her and Ruby lounging outside the following weekend.
“I’m glad you’re getting more sleep at a proper time,” Ruby said, picking at the blades of grass under her fingers.
Yang watched her sister for a second, before shrugging.
“Sort of. I think my body’s just adjusting to less now.”
Ruby turned back to where Yang was leaning against a tree stump and scowled.
“Yang!” She threw the blade of grass currently in her hand at her sister and watched as it fell short in Yang’s lap.
“What?” Yang whined, drawing her legs into her chest.
“You need. To get. More sleep,” Ruby said between smacks at Yang’s ankles.
“I’m getting at least five every night and I only feel the need to nap like every other day,” Yang reasoned. “I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure, though?” Ruby rebutted.
Yang narrowed her eyes and searched her sister’s face.
“Why wouldn’t I, Ruby?”
The younger sister looked away, pointedly admiring the field and trees around them.
“Ruby,” Yang pressed again.
“Oh, no reas—” she tried to reply, before Yang was careening forward, fingers darting towards Ruby’s neck where she was extra ticklish.
Her resolve was no match for Yang’s insistence, and she gave in after only a few seconds.
“Okay, okay.” She panted and squirmed, before distancing herself from Yang. “There may have been an incident last Thursday near the end of your nap.”
“What kind of incident?” Yang asked as she sat down on top of the tree stump.
“Remember when we were little, I’d get scared in the middle of the night and move to your room to sleep?”
Yang nodded.
“And I started doing it so often that dad just moved my bed into your room, because I was constantly waking you up and throwing off your sleeping pattern?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, sometimes you’d talk in your sleep and I’d think you were awake and say something back and we’d have these really weird conversations until you went quiet. And then I’d realize you were actually asleep the whole time, because you didn’t remember it the next day.”
“So, did I talk to you in my sleep or something?” Yang questioned.
Ruby pursed her lips. “Well… yes, but not to me.”
“Okay.” Yang shook her head with a laugh. “Who was I talking to?”
“Blake.”
Another chuckle, this one a little breathier.
“Did I say something weird?”
Ruby sucked in a breath, but could not hold eye contact as she replied, “Blake said hello and you said, good morning, Princess.”
Ruby chanced a glance up at her sister and found her nodding along while her teeth tore into her bottom lip.
“But hey, I explained everything, so like, if it happens again, they’re aware.”
“They?” Yang stated, flatly.
“Yeah. Weiss was there too.”
“Awesome,” Yang replied, before resting her hands on the tree stump behind her and letting her head tip backwards.
“But like I said,” Ruby supplied, “I explained you were probably just dreaming.”
Yang just groaned.
After a few minutes of Yang still collapsed backwards over the stump, Ruby spoke up again.
“So, was it a cool one?”
“Huh?” Yang sprang up and squinted at the setting Sun behind Ruby’s head.
“Your dream? Was it cool? Were their knights and dragons and fire?” Ruby’s eyes glowed with excitement.
“Oh, uh, yeah. All that,” Yang replied, though she chose to look down at her feet this time.
“I wonder what it all means,” Ruby mused.
Yang shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.
Ruby nodded in agreement, but her eyes had already glazed over, lost in thought.
“What do we have planned for the day?” Blake asked as they sat on a long sofa in the middle of a familiar room.
Yang looked down at her clothes to find she was in a pair of light blue sweats and a white top. When she looked back at Blake, she had a mug of tea in her hand and was sipping it cautiously. The sleeves from her sweater had been rolled up to the elbows and her hair was up in a loose bun.
“I don’t know,” Yang replied.
“Maybe we can go gift shopping. I know your sister and Weiss love to exchange gifts this time of year.”
“Right,” Yang said. She turned to look out a window and saw the trees outside were covered in a thin layer of snow.
“I think Ruby would appreciate new boots after she burned the last ones.”
“Then we’ll do that,” Blake replied with a soft smile.
She reached out and ran her fingers down Yang’s arm. When their hands met, she squeezed gently.
“Want some coffee,” she asked.
Yang found herself nodding as Blake stood from the couch, made her way past the coffee table in front of them, and into the adjoining room.
When she returned, hair down and wet against her sweater, she leaned over the back of the couch and rested a hand against Yang’s shoulder.
“Hey. Yang,” she said softly.
“Yeah, Baby?” Yang replied.
“Yeah, Baby?”
Blake’s eyes went wide as she drew her hand away from Yang’s shoulder.
In an instant, Weiss and Ruby were once again standing in front of Yang’s bed as she began to come to.
“What did you say her other dream was about, Ruby?” Weiss whispered.
Ruby just blanched. “Dragons.”
“Yeah. I’m going to take a wild guess here and assume that’s not 100% accurate. What do you think, Blake?” Weiss asked as she turned to her other conscious teammate.
“I—” Blake spluttered as her wet hair dripped against her shirt.
At that moment, Yang turned to the side and noticed the three sets of eyes on her.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?”
Weiss and Blake both avoided meeting Yang’s gaze, while Ruby supplied a weak smile.
“Oh my God,” Yang said after a moment, before letting her forehead sink into the palms of her hands.
Sensing the growing tension in the room, Weiss grabbed Ruby’s hand and started pulling her back towards the door.
“Come on, we’re going down for breakfast,” she said.
“But I’m not ready yet,” Ruby said, looking down at her pajamas.
“Trust me on this one,” Weiss said, before Ruby relented.
As soon as they were gone, Yang pulled her legs up to her chest and turned to Blake.
“So,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “What’d I say this time?”