The name has her body going rigid, memories flooding in that she's tried very hard to keep firmly in the past. To look upon fondly every once in awhile but otherwise keep them at an arm's length where they can't hurt her. Where they can't weigh her heart down because there were other people depending on her to shoulder that weight and keep moving on. It was always so much easier to focus on something other than her own grief anyway.
But there's nothing else for her to focus on now.
She hasn't had a "freakout" this bad in a long while, long enough that there's no small element of shame in realizing she's in the middle of one now. She knows how to do the breaths, but the vocal coaching goes a long way to saving her the trouble of trying to work out the counts for herself. And there's no denying Summer's voice has a soothing effect all it's own on her; it always had.
It's a subtle transition, from panicked gasps to broken sobs that slowly grow quieter and quieter as her mind and body calm down. With the calm comes the realization that her lungs and side now feel like they're on fire, from the panicked breathing and crying as much as from her injury but at least physical pain is something she can shoulder like a pro.
The much harder thing is opening her eyes and facing the truth, whatever it may be.
With a resigned whimper, Yang finally opens her eyes, dulled lavender taking in Summer's all-too-familiar silver before tears begin to overtake them again.]
Mom...?
[There's less shock to the question this time, the hesitance and disbelief still there if tempered, but underneath it all there's also...hope.]
no subject
The name has her body going rigid, memories flooding in that she's tried very hard to keep firmly in the past. To look upon fondly every once in awhile but otherwise keep them at an arm's length where they can't hurt her. Where they can't weigh her heart down because there were other people depending on her to shoulder that weight and keep moving on. It was always so much easier to focus on something other than her own grief anyway.
But there's nothing else for her to focus on now.
She hasn't had a "freakout" this bad in a long while, long enough that there's no small element of shame in realizing she's in the middle of one now. She knows how to do the breaths, but the vocal coaching goes a long way to saving her the trouble of trying to work out the counts for herself. And there's no denying Summer's voice has a soothing effect all it's own on her; it always had.
It's a subtle transition, from panicked gasps to broken sobs that slowly grow quieter and quieter as her mind and body calm down. With the calm comes the realization that her lungs and side now feel like they're on fire, from the panicked breathing and crying as much as from her injury but at least physical pain is something she can shoulder like a pro.
The much harder thing is opening her eyes and facing the truth, whatever it may be.
With a resigned whimper, Yang finally opens her eyes, dulled lavender taking in Summer's all-too-familiar silver before tears begin to overtake them again.]
Mom...?
[There's less shock to the question this time, the hesitance and disbelief still there if tempered, but underneath it all there's also...hope.]