Chapter Text
Yang was grinning as she wove in and out of downtown Vale's streets. She loved the feeling of speed, of being able to pull off complex, unbelievable turns; Bumblebee was surprisingly good at maneuvering for such a large bike—at least when Yang was the one behind the handlebars.
She pulled a hard turn and came to an abrupt stop in front of a flower shop. Walking in, she began looking over the florist’s products. Thankfully, since she was arriving just as the store opened it hadn't been raided by other last-minute shoppers yet. She knew she should have planned out what to get her family, friends, and teammates, and in some instances she had. Yellow roses for Teams JNPR and CVFY to honor their friendship. Some people might say it was a little early to be giving Hearts’ Day gifts to the other freshman team—and they’d definitely say that about CVFY—but Yang had always been the type to go all in when it came to relationships. She smiled, thinking of Ruby. Her little Sister was was no different; for all that Rubes was shy, she held back even less of her feelings than Yang did. Her partnership with the Ice Queen was proof of that. Yang sighed.
She was so proud of the leader Ruby was becoming. Her baby sister was strong and brave and smart enough to lead her big Sis and a couple of strangers to victory against a giant Nevermore. That was pretty badass. But Ruby hadn’t lost any of her kindness either; she really did just want everyone to be safe and happy. When Blake has accidentally outed herself as Faunus, Ruby had been the only one trying to defend both her and Weiss and trying to keep the team together. Yang had more or less the opposite. First she’d come down on Weiss for being a loud-mouthed racist, but she hadn’t exactly come running to Blake’s defense when her partner admitted that she was a terrorist.
Yang had failed teammates. So in addition to telling the two how much they meant to her, this was a chance to apologize for her previous shortcomings and show that he’s meant to be better. Once she figured out how to do that.
Yang toyed with getting white roses for Weiss and black roses for Blake—fitting their color schemes, but that felt boring. White and dark chocolate, maybe?
“Need help?”
Yang jumped. A man was smiling at her right next to her. He was brown-haired, a little pale, and was smiling shyly. He was a little older than Yang herself.
She laughed. “Dang! How’d you do that?”
The man shuffled a little. “Sorry. I’ve been told I’m too quiet.”
”You remind me of my partner!” Yang laughed. She considered asking if he was a Cat Faunus, but suddenly realized how bad that sounded. She could be taught.
He eyed her. “Oh, are you in Beacon?” he asked.
Yang grinned and nodded. “Yeah. I’m looking for a Hearts’ Day’s gift for my teammates. How bout you?”
The man smiled. “I’m looking for a gift for my teammates, too.”
Yang eyes him. He didn’t look like a huntsman.
The man smiled. “My spouses,” he explained. “My wives and my husband.” He stuck his hand out to her. “My name is Shinji,” he offered.
”Mine’s Yang,” the blonde replied. She shook his hand, smiling at the fact that neither of them looked even slightly Mistrali, despite their names. "Y'know, I'm pretty sure Vale still hasn't legalized group marriages yet."
"They haven't," the man sighed. "But there are legal loopholes that let you get spousal privileges if you're a veteran."
The blonde nodded. By the time it finally wrapped up, the Great War had left many people in complicated situations. Psychological damage, physical damage, orphaned civilians. Plus the inevitable economic issues that came when a nation had to switch from a war economy to a peaceful one. As a result of this, the Vale council had been forced to pass a number of laws in a short time frame to try to deal with everything at once. For example, former comrades could file to have familial privileges for legal and medical emergencies. A side effect of this, was that it was now (sort of) possible for poly couples (was it still a couple if it was more than two people? She'd have to ask Blake) to marry and have that marriage somewhat recognized.
The most enthusiastic adopters of this practice were hunters. One of the quirks that was quickly discovered in the new profession was the habit of teammates falling for each other. Sometimes, though, it went even further, and the entire team decided they wanted to be more than friends and siblings-in-arms; Yang was pretty sure her own family was proof enough of that given how quick Taiyang seemed to have shacked up with Summer after Raven's disappearance. It wasn't something that happened all the time, but it was far from unheard of. Every hunter knew a team or knew a team that knew a team that did it. Get a random dozen teams together and odds were that at least one of them saw their teammates as more than just friends.
"I didn't take you for a huntsman," she admitted. He seemed kind of scrawny, and she didn't feel an active aura emitting from him.
Shinji laughed. "I'm not, but not too far off."
"Military?" Yang asked, eyeing him.
He nodded. "I was. We were all in the same lance, and after we got out we decided to make it legal. Or as close as we could."
"Wow, that isn’t far off," Yang declared. Lances were similar hunter teams. Elite, four-person units who worked and fought in tandem. There was only one type of soldier who used that unit, however. "So you were a mechwarrior, huh? What'd you drive?"
"A Wasp," he said, naming one of the smaller and more humanoid-looking piloted mechs. He spoke of his battle vehicle with the same kind of reverence and affection a huntsman might use to talk about his well-used weapon. "I called her Eva. She wasn't much but she saw me through a lot of messes. We were a scouting unit, used to find some of the bigger concentrations of Grimm." That explained why he was in a small, lightly armed mech. It wasn't uncommon. Since the world had been at peace for so many years, the military was mostly used to support and supplement hunter teams in fighting Grimm or to fight some of the more giant examples of the monsters. Hunters couldn't be everywhere, after all; the level training required to make the grade meant that there just weren't enough real hunstmen and huntresses to tackle every job. So, the armed forces picked up the slack.
"That's cool. Maybe we should swap stories," Yang offered. "If I could ever figure out what to get my teammates!"
"I know what you mean. I warn you; it never gets any easier. I've been married for seven years, and I still struggle with this every Hearts' Day, and that's ignoring my friends and my foster mother."
"Well you have more experience than me. All I've ever done is give people yellow roses, and that doesn't seem very good anymore."
"Welcome to life as a grown-up,” Shinji replied. “You’ll find your feelings are so much more complicated than they used to be, but it’s worth it. I promise. So, what do you want to say to them?"
“I don’t know!” Yang groaned. She shook her head, thinking hard. Ruby was easy, but for Blake and Weiss . . . “Forgiveness."
Shinji nodded. “All right. Could you be more specific. Are you asking 'Forgive me,’ ‘I forgive you,’ or ‘Forgive yourself?'"
Yang smiled weakly. "All of the above?"
“I’ve been there,” he said, sighing. He was quiet for a moment. “If there’s one thing I learned about relationships—especially when you’re sharing your life with your comrades—is that it takes a team effort. When you have problems, it’ll almost never be just one person’s fault or one person’s job to fix it. You’ll all mess up, and you’ve all got to work together to fix things.” He smiled at her. “I’d say it gets worse when you’re in a relationship, but honestly it got easier when we could make love.”
”I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works,” Yang said.
”It’s not an end-all, fix-all,” he admitted. “But it’s better than yelling at each other. Sometimes you need to tire yourself out before you can have a real discussion instead of a shouting contest, and sometimes you just need to remind the other person how much they mean to you.”
Yang thought about that. She thought about the time she’d nearly gotten herself and Ruby killed walking into the woods on her own. After Uncle Qrow had saved them and dragged them back home, she had expected her father to be furious with them.
The first thing he did was wrap them both in his arms and cry, telling them how much he loved them and how sorry he was for how he’d failed them after Summer’s death. He’d punished her the next day, doubling her chores and not letting her out of his sight for a week, but it was OK. She knew her father still loved her.
”Yeah, I know what you mean she said. “So, what’d the rest of your Lance drive around in?” she asked. Not the smoothest transition ever, but she needed something.
Shinji smiled, and the conversation continued.
Two days later, Yang stood in her dorm room with her teammates.
“Happy Hearts’ Day!” Ruby cried, more exuberant than normal. She had a very large gift to share everyone: a giant fruit bouquet with chocolate-covered strawberries. She also gave each of her teammates two roses—white for Weiss, black for Blake, and yellow for Yang.
”Ruby . . . How much did this cost?” Weiss asked.
Ruby squirmed a little. “Not much. I got a lot of money from my Uncle Qrow last Oumsmas.”
”How much?” Yang asked. “I know you spent some of it on parts for Crescent Rose.”
Ruby scowled. “I used my stipend from the school for that, and I used some of the free parts.”
Weiss frowned further. “Ruby, you shouldn’t waste so much money . . .”
”I didn’t!” Ruby insisted. She blurred forward, taking Weiss’ hands in hers. “I didn’t waste it. You guys are my team! You’re my best friends, and I wanted to do something for you all!”
"Dolt," Weiss said, but it wasn't angry. In fact, the heiress was blushing, and she didn't remove her hands from Ruby's. "But, I suppose I should thank you. It, it is a nice sentiment."
"It is," Blake said. She came up beside the two and placed her hand on their team leader's shoulder. "Thank you, Ruby."
The redhead blushed. "You're welcome," she said, looking down.
"Well, I guess it's my turn," Yang said. She had carried a cooler into the room. Lifting the lid, she brought out a bouquet made of red roses with tulips and sunflowers. "Happy Hearts' Day, Sis," she said, offering the flowers to her baby sister.
"Thank you, Yang!" Ruby cried, zooming over and wrapping her sister in a tight hug. Yang returned it with one arm (the other holding the flowers). They broke apart, and Yang handed the bouquet to Ruby, who happily took it and placed it on her desk. Yang smiled at her sister's appreciation for her gift, but that was the easy part. Turning her attention back to her friends, she smiled again, to hide her nerves. When did she get so anxious about talking to people—that was supposed to Ruby's problem, not hers. She reached into the cooler and pulled out the flowers she'd acquired for her other teammates.
”Happy Hearts’ Day,” Yang said, weaker than normal, despite her best effort to play it cool. She held out the two bouquets. They were filled with yellow roses along with lilies and tulips. Lilies stood for devotion and humility; tulips symbolized peace, forgiveness, and a new beginning. Shinji and the flower shop owner had found what might have been the perfect bouquets. Judging by the way her friends' faces lit up when they saw the flowers, she knew they were.