Part of the Premium Well AU

Reunion

"Blake!"

Ruby's face lit as she jumped onto the dark figure. Slamming into Blake's side, she wrapped her arms around the hooded girl and hugged her as tightly as she could. The black hood slid back, leaving a tired-looking Blake staring down at Ruby. Dark circles ringed her eyes, dirt and mud stained her clothes – she looked like she hadn't slept in days.

Everyone was smiling. Weiss, Nora, Ren ... even Jaune, and that was rare these days. It took them seconds before everyone crowded around their friend, jumping or hugging. With everything else they'd gone through, finding Blake again ... it was worth celebrating. One small bit of good news, despite the rest of Remnant falling to pieces around them. All of them were happy to see her.

All except one.

Yang just stood there, stone-faced, staring blankly at the rest of them. Looking over the top of Ruby's head, Blake met her eyes, and froze. The blonde brawler stood as tall as ever, arms hanging limply at her sides, one still with the yellow gauntlet on her wrist, and the other ...

Blake swallowed and looked away. The other was solid metal. From the elbow on down, Yang's right arm was a solid gunmetal grey, broken by black joints where the armored plates met. Red shotgun shells sat on a new yellow gauntlet, modified and altered to sit properly on her prosthetic arm.

The blonde disengaged her gauntlets with a click, the yellow rings collapsing against her wrists.

"I'm heading back to camp," she said, no emotion at all in her voice. Without another word, she trudged back into the brush, her flesh-and-blood fist clenched in a white-knuckled fist.

The others turned to watch her go, slowly pulling themselves off Blake. The chatter died. All the questions about how she was, where she'd been, all died in everyone's throats.

"You should talk to her," Ruby said quietly, once the silence got too hard to bear.

Blake took a breath and let it out, trying her best to forget the look in those violet eyes. "... she doesn't want to talk to m-"

Someone punched her in the shoulder. Hard. Looking over, she found Weiss scowling at her, ice-blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"That's not a suggestion. Talk to her."

"Weiss, I-"

"Blake, I'm really happy to see you, but if you don't go talk to Yang, I will kick your ass."

Gold eyes met ice-blue, saw the determined stubbornness, and gave.

Yang was sitting by the campfire when Blake stepped into the clearing. A few tents sat behind her, forgotten as the flames flickered and moved, bangs casting shadows on the blonde girl's face.

"Where the hell have you been?" Yang asked quietly, arms still wrapped around her knees, eyes unfocused as she stared into the fire.

Blake paused for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to say. Might as well be the truth, she thought.

"Vale," she said softly. "With all the wreckage, it was an easy place to hide."

"That's not what I meant," Yang snapped, finally looking up from the flames. Red eyes glared daggers at Blake, filled with a fury the Faunus hadn't seen in months. It reminded her of that night, of Yang leaping instinctively to her defense, of ... she shuddered and looked away.

"I want to know. I want to know why you left." The blonde got to her feet, fists still clenched as she glared across the fire. "I want to know why you left me there alone, unconscious and bleeding in the street."

Blake swallowed. I never should have come back, she thought, staring into the ground. She couldn't ... she couldn't stand seeing that look in Yang's eyes. She couldn't ...

"You weren't alone," she said quietly. "You had Sun, and Coco, all our friends-"

"They weren't you!" Yang growled, making Blake flinch. "I didn't jump to Coco's rescue. I didn't need Sun."

Yang's jaw worked as she moved around the fire, her breath coming in short, quick bursts. "I'd lost almost everything that mattered to me. At least if you were safe, then maybe it'd be worth it, but you ... you abandoned me. Like everyone else, you abandoned me."

"Yang-"

"Shut up!" Yang shouted, her hands shaking. "You have any idea what that felt like? Waking up in a hospital bed, listening to my dad and the doctors try to explain why I couldn't feel my arm? I looked down and ..." she stopped, her voice trembling with rage. "Weiss was gone, Ruby was still unconscious from whatever she did up in that tower. And when I asked where you were ..." she trailed off, the muscles in her face twitching as she tried to find the words. "You left."

Blake winced and closed her eyes. "I needed to keep you safe. You needed to heal. You needed time, you needed-"

"You know what I needed? I needed you. I needed to know I didn't lose my arm for nothing. I needed to know my partner didn't see me as some broken has-been who was worthless as a huntress."

"Yang, I'd never-"

"Then why?" the blonde yelled, flames sparking along her hair. "'Cause I've had months to think about it. Why you'd just leave after everything we've been through." Yang's voice was raw and tight, and it was the hurt, not the anger, that drove the knife into Blake's ribs. "I wasn't useful to you anymore? That it? I lost an arm, so what good was I to you?"

"NO! Yang, I-"

"Then tell me why!"

"Because it's my fault!" Blake cried, looking at Yang through the tears running down her face.

"It's all m-my fault, Yang. He did it to hurt me." Something broke in her chest, the old wound from Adam's blade aching in her side. "Adam's insane, and he is never going to stop. He will never stop coming for me. Never stop hunting me."

She tried to breathe, but it wouldn't come. "Anyone near me ... I couldn't let him hurt anyone else. What if next time it was Ruby, or what if he ..." her voice cracked and she broke off. Blake swallowed, trying to talk through the tears running down her face. "I was so scared, Yang. I didn't ... I-I was terrified you wouldn't make it, and after they were ready to get you out, I-I couldn't-"

"Couldn't what?" Yang asked, her voice quiet. "You couldn't stick around? Couldn't even take the time to let me know you were okay?"

"I-I couldn't ... I couldn't live with m-myself if he k-killed you." The sobs came freely now, tears running down her face. She tried to breathe, tried to speak, but the guilt wrapped around her throat. Try as she might, she couldn't stop crying. "I'm s-sorry, Yang. I'm so ... so s-"

She never finished. Arms wrapped around her sides, squeezing her in a back-breaking hug that lifted her off her feet.

Yang was shaking, and Blake couldn't tell if it was pain or rage.

"I am really mad at you right now," Yang growled, squeezing her tighter. "Really, really mad. And we're gonna have a long talk later about why you're never pulling something like this again. But," she took a long shuddering breath. "I never blamed you for this."

"You should," Blake choked out, the guilt tearing away at her, her throat sore and ragged.

"Why?"

Blake swallowed, and forced herself to look up and meet Yang's eyes. "... because I do."

Yang met her eyes, and Blake watched as the red began to fade. The flames licking at her hair flickered, and died, leaving the two of them standing in the abandoned clearing. Yang let out a long sigh, some of her anger ebbing away, and pulled Blake to her.

"Like I said," the blonde held Blake tighter and buried her head in the Faunus' shoulder. "You're okay, so ... I guess it was worth it."

Blake looked up at the blonde and saw the pain in her face. There was still anger, but not the blame she'd been dreading. Not the hate she'd had nightmares about for months. Just pain ... and a sense of betrayal.

Blake gave in then, and collapsed against the taller girl, her throat raw with silent tears and racking sobs.

Writer's Note: So, there we go. I know somewhere around two dozen people have probably done a version of this scene by now, probably because most of us can't wait until July (or later) to find out what happens. Like for Fault and Failure, I needed the catharsis after the finale.

Anyway, please leave a review is you can. Love hearing what people liked or didn't, and constructive criticism is always welcome.