Honeycomb Hearts

Seeing is Bee-lieving

Quickly the sunshine overhead turned to shade, with what little bits of light that remained shimmering between the heavy foliage. The walk to the farm house was fairly straightforward, in fact Yang could swear she already could see the clearing up ahead. She took a deep breath, remembering how good nature felt as opposed to her old busy urban life. Her smile turned down as she remembered her old house, and how she basically left her old co-workers and job behind in an instant.

"Yang, you okay?" Ruby's head peeked from beside the blonde, her silver eyes always quizzical. "We're gonna have tons of fun here and make so many new friends, don't worry! We've already made two, Kali and Perry!"

Yang sighed, her smile now returning to her face. "Yeah, you're right." Just as soon as it returned, her smile left again. "I just can't shake the feeling of losing everything, you know? Especially because I'm always gonna be reminded of it." She didn't need to gesture for Ruby to know she was talking about her arm.

"Yang..." Ruby was silent, but soon gasped. "Remember that time in seventh grade when you broke your arm on the playground?"

"Yeah, it got messed up pretty bad. Dad was pretty angry at first, but when he realized for once I didn't start a fight, he got a lot more mellow."

"No silly, not that part! Not even a minute after you broke it, you got right back up and walked straight to the nurse's office! I remember being so worried, but you kept reassuring me that you'd be fine, and you were!" Ruby grinned, "That's not the only time you got back up after getting hit hard, remember all those times at softball games where you'd get a softball to the face?"

Yang couldn't help but chuckle, "I think I still have a mark from one of those. It was definitely worth it though to see all the boys awestruck at me still catching some of those pop flies."

"See Yang? You're never one to stay down – you always get back up after getting hit, and sometimes I swear you get more and more motivated after each one! This time, it's just kinda more serious, but I know with time you'll grow accustomed to it. You're strong, Yang, and that's just one of the reasons I look up to you." Ruby's smile reflected off of Yang's purple eyes, which soon became wet with tears.

"Can you believe this girl?" Yang asked Kali, her voice slightly squeaking. "All she can think about is happiness and positivity. Remind me not to let her use magnets, she'll get stuck to the north pole one-hundred-percent."

"What if I want to see Santa though?" Ruby pouted, earning a playful push from Yang. "See Yang? You're smiling again! I know for a fact that only one thing can keep you down, and it's never for long!"

"And what would that be?" Kali mused, "If you don't mind me interjecting."

"Oh not at all Kali, you're our tour guide after all. The only thing in this world that I absolutely cannot stand are bees. I've never been stung, but my dad's deathly allergic, he's been put in the hospital several times because of 'em." Yang sighed, "I'm just scared I have the same allergy, so I try to stay away from-"

Yang's sentence and step were cut short as she froze in place. Not ten feet in front of them, on the side of the road, was a bee hive hanging from a tree. Little bees flew around, bumping into each other and either flying off in search of flowers or coming back from a successful trip. As Yang began to backpedal, Kali grabbed her hand.

"Yang, there's no need to worry. The bees around here don't actually have stingers, it's quite peculiar. I know because my daughter used to play near them all the time, and one landed on my hand one day. I've never heard of anybody being hurt by the bees in this area ever before, so I promise you there's no need to worry." Kali tried to soothe Yang's nerves, but Yang wouldn't budge.