Honeycomb Hearts

Bridging the Gap

The two girls walked on, so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't realize that they were already at the bus stop. They walked across the road, Yang trailing ever so slightly behind Blake, and into the crossroads in the woods. They paused, as if they'd walked this route millions of times before, and continued to talk. However, Yang's stomach had more to say than her mouth at this point.

"Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have skipped breakfast," Yang said. She leaned back against the fence, letting her elbows scratch themselves against the patterned wood. "And I think I ran out of my backup lunches yesterday, so I gotta find a way to cook some more."

"I can make us some if you'd like – I was going to put this book back in my room anyways, so if you'd like I could come back with some sandwiches. I can even make one for Ruby."

"That actually sounds amazing – want me to come with or do you wanna just come over for lunch?"

"I'll meet you guys at your house – you should get changed before you catch a cold." Blake said, eyes locked onto Yang's waterlogged leather jacket – and the shirt underneath, which was clinging to her stomach – giving Blake another, different image of Yang's abs. Albeit difficult, she managed to pull her eyes away and look at Yang's. "I'll be back."

While Blake rushed off, Yang turned and walked leisurely back to her house. "Dang," Yang thought, "She really must be in a rush to get her book back. Maybe she doesn't want it getting wet? Was it supposed to rain today?" In reality, Blake was trying to shake the memory of the day at Velvet's house out of her memory.

Yang jumped up the side of the porch once again, as if she had some sort of vendetta against using the front stairs. Stripping off her jacket and letting her knuckles rap against the door several times, she pushed it open and walked in with a spring in her step. Ruby was still watching the same show, but the volume was noticeably quieter. Still, she didn't notice her sister coming in and standing right behind her, poised to strike. Yang leapt and grabbed Ruby's waist, surprising her with the one thing she knew Ruby couldn't stand no matter how old she got – a tickle attack.

"Yang! No!" Ruby cried, trying to desperately wrestle her way out of Yang's grasp while not getting tangled in her headphone wire. She gasped for breath and let loose a kick that went wide, sending her sprawling over the side of the bed. She looked up at Yang's upside-down face, and promptly got splashed with a drop of water from Yang's hair. "Yang, why are you all wet?"

"Fell in a lake," Yang said, "Nothin' much."

"W- You fell in a lake?" Ruby's eyes went wide. "Are you okay? How did you manage to fall into a LAKE of all things? A puddle I'd get but a lake?"

"Well when you think about it a lake is just a big puddle." Yang shot Ruby a grin. She swiped some dry clothes from atop her dresser and stepped into the bathroom to change. She left the door open just a crack and continued the conversation. "To answer your question, I thought the lake would have a shallow part. Turns out at the water's edge it just drops."

"But why did you walk into a lake in the first place?"

"To prove Blake wrong – turns out, once again, she knew better than me."

Ruby sighed and planted her hand firmly on her forehead. "Yang, when will you learn to have impulse control?"

Yang poked her head out of the bathroom. "Hey, remember when that creep was hitting on you back in Malleus?"

"Yeah, if he hadn't peed himself on the spot and ran, I'm sure you would have broken his nose," Ruby said, "Not that I don't appreciate it still."