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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 6, 2017 14:21:44 GMT
Yang was quiet for a moment. She hadn't thought about that before. Spirit wasn't exactly something that was addressed too much when it came to recovering from the loss of her arm. Anything she did these tends was to try and help her mind get over it, or get her body a bit stronger so she could do things with one hand more easily. But she wondered if her spirit was as strong as Ralph thought it was. She remembered her conversation with Pitch, and how he had asked her if she really thought the fire inside her was gone. At the time, it seemed like it was. She had been trudging along from one day to the next, just trying to get through without getting hurt too much. But ever since she and Adrien had hooked up, and she had decided to get a little more involved in her friends' lives, the fire inside her wasn't quite as gone as before. It wasn't a raging inferno, but maybe there was a spark here and there. She just didn't know how to kindle it so the flame could get bigger. "Maybe," she said. "I guess it's still there, even though it's not as strong as it used to be."
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 7, 2017 2:40:47 GMT
Suddenly, Ralph let out a short chuckle before quickly stifling it. He might find the situation rather ironic but that didn't mean it wasn't very serious for Yang.
"Yang, I don't think you're getting it. The kind of strength I'm talking about is the ability to be hit hard, to fall flat on the ground but still find it within yourself to get back onto your feet. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you rise back up, the fact that you're doing it is a powerful strength in and of itself."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 7, 2017 3:02:26 GMT
Yang could see where Ralph was going. Most people would have probably stayed on the ground after getting knocked down as hard as she had. She'd almost thought about staying down at one point. Losing her arm, the blame she felt for herself, it had been too much to bare for a while. How could anyone go on after that? She'd just wanted to stay in her house all the time, because that was the safest place. Outside of it, anything could happen. She could get hurt, she could mess up again, she could lose another limb. But, she was making her way back up, slowly. She was out without being too afraid, she was trusting people again, her pride wasn't getting in the way so much when people helped her. For some, it looked like she had come a long way. Yang just wished she could come along a little farther. She knew she'd never be the same, could never go back to how things were. But she could get close. "I guess that's one way of looking at it," she said, giving a little smile.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 8, 2017 8:48:29 GMT
Ralph watched Yang in silence, reading the expressions that slowly crept across her face as she thought over his words. The Giant had never really seen himself as the kind of person to bolster people up, to help them recover from past hurts and see their true worth and potential when they had been blinded to it. However, more and more of lately he found himself doing just that. First with Namine and now with Yang.
When he saw the small smile pull up the young woman's lips he could only offer his own grin back in turn.
"Hey, sometimes a new perspective can help us see things we were missing before. I'm certain you have things you could point out to me that I've missed myself."
He took another bite of the apple in his hand. Despite only having taken two bites, half of the fruit was already gone and the core could be clearly seen.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 8, 2017 15:11:32 GMT
"Yeah, I guess," Yang replied. "I still wish I was getting better faster, though. I've made a lot of progress in some areas. Others...not so much." Most of what she'd accomplished so far had to do with her physical recovery. Her left hand had gotten a lot of strength in it over the months, and she'd learned to do many things with just one hand. So far, she felt like the only mental recovery she'd done was not shutting people out so much and not hating the water. She still had days where her paranoia got pretty bad. And nightmares were still a problem. Those seemed to pop up at random and they made her feel so bad afterwards. She hated it.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 9, 2017 19:07:16 GMT
"Hey, don't push yourself too hard. Everyone needs time to just relax and heal and there certainly isn't any one right answer to how long that takes."
Ralph was speaking from his own personal experience. True, he hadn't suffered such a devastating wound like Yang had but he understood about wanting to get better faster then was realistic. Heck, he had wanted to do that very badly after the fiasco with Elsa on that first date, but it had taken him a long time to finally recover enough to give it another try.
And yet to his surprise and great pleasure, things had indeed improved since the time when Frollo had insulted the two of them and caused such a huge split to run between them.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 9, 2017 19:43:14 GMT
"But it just kind of feels like...life is passing me by, you know?" Yang said. "Everyone is doing great things and helping out the city and I'm just...here." Her frustration over that never seemed to end. She had gotten over her fear of getting involved in things and messing up, but now that she actually wanted to help, she felt like there wasn't much she could do. Sure, she could provide some emotional support, but everyone she knew seemed to have someone who could do it better. Riku had done a far better job of comforting Sunshine than she had when they had been with her at this hospital. Adrien always assured her that her just being there was enough for him, but Yang felt like she wanted to do more. She just didn't know what or how.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 9, 2017 19:55:32 GMT
"Maybe you're just trying too hard, Yang."
Ralph's words were spoken softly and he gave the woman a moment to think over what he had said by finishing the last of his apple. Chewing slowly on the fruit, he tossed the empty core towards a waste bin standing over a dozen feet away but easily managed to get it into the trash.
"Or maybe you just haven't found that one thing that you are truly and singularly great at yet, something that will help the city in its own unique way."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 9, 2017 20:05:25 GMT
"I feel like the only thing I was ever good at was fighting," Yang said. "Who knows if I'll ever be able to do that again." Even if she could get over her mental block regarding that, not many fighters could be successful with just one arm. And who knew how long it'd take to save up and get a prosthetic. Stuff like that could be made more quickly with magic, and they could do a lot more things than prosthetics elsewhere. But they were still expensive. Adrien already knew her reluctance of asking him to pay for it. It cost a lot more money than, say, a lunch date or a trip to his private island. She felt like she was stuck when it came to that issue.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 12, 2017 3:38:37 GMT
Ralph could see that Yang still felt pretty down about what had happened to her and that was natural enough. She would need time to recover and it wasn't fair to expect her to bounce back as if nothing serious had happened to her. Still, he couldn't help but wish he could do something to help the young woman. For a moment he merely looked down at her with sympathetic eyes, adjusting his grip on the bags while his free hand rubbed the back of his neck.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind as he was thinking over what Yang had said.
"You know, if you still feel like you want to fight.... maybe I could help train you."
He paused, waiting to see how the young woman would react. Part of him felt stupid for even asking her if she would want to be trained by someone like him. However, another part felt like it might be just the thing to help Yang get that last boost of confidence she needed to get back firmly on her feet. And he reminded himself that even if she didn't want his help, the worst thing she could say was no.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 12, 2017 18:38:54 GMT
There was a moment of silence between the two, until Ralph suggested that maybe he could train her. Yang just wondered if he would be able to do anything. She'd tried training at home, but she was usually only able to do a few moves before her insides started twisting and her mind started going back to her fight with Thrax. She'd always stopped before things got too hectic, but it never failed to make her feel frustrated. "I don't know. Maybe. I guess I just don't know whether I need a physical trainer or a...mental one, I guess." Her whole block when it came to fighting was mental, she knew that much. Her doctors were probably the only ones who could help out with that. But if relearning how to fight was what she needed to do, then someone more physically inclined might be of better help. She wasn't sure.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 14, 2017 6:31:10 GMT
"Why not both?"
Ralph gave the young woman a smile then, one that was gentle and yet held a certain kind of strength within it. He could tell that Yang had a hard road set before her, that she was doing her best to try and work her way along it without losing heart or giving up her hope. However, the Giant also knew that sometimes the hardest obstacle to overcome was yourself. The flames of Yang's confidence had been reduced to a small flicker of the roaring inferno it had once been.... but it hadn't gone out. All it needed was the right kind of help to rekindle it.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 14, 2017 15:29:16 GMT
"I guess." Really, a mental and physical trainer could be one in the same person. Maybe Ralph was capable of both. He certainly had the physical aspect covered. Shadow had once mentioned that one of his first meetings with Ralph had involved him getting nearly punched through a wall. Even Yang couldn't pull off something like that, although she'd made plenty of dents in walls. She just wondered if she was ready for something as intensive as that. Getting over her fear of the water was one thing. She could take that at an easy pace, and the ocean was very different from the river here. It had been easy to get used to that. Getting over this mental block provided a whole host of challenges, and Yang wasn't sure if she could overcome them all. "I'll...think about it, okay?" she said. She hoped that was a good enough answer.
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Post by neverlandlostgirl on Jul 15, 2017 7:46:55 GMT
"Of course."
Ralph could tell that Yang was indecisive in that moment and more then a bit hesitant to take up his offer, but he wasn't about to push her into taking his offer. This was something she would have to chose for herself, not be pressured into.
"Listen, I gotta get this groceries back home but just think about what I said, ok? And just remember....sometimes the toughest enemy we have to face is ourselves."
He knew it sounded rather cheesy, but the advice was true and came from his heart. After all, he himself had been the biggest obstacle in trying to have a relationship with Elsa again. He had always come up with a million reasons why it wouldn't work, why it was better the two of them remained friends. He had always set himself up for failure without even realizing it. And it hadn't been until Elsa asked him out on a date that he was finally able to overcome his own fears and self-doubt enough to accept her invitation.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 15, 2017 16:14:04 GMT
"Yeah. Thanks." Yang gave a little smile. Whether she accepted Ralph's offer or not, at least he was being genuine. He didn't know her that well, but he was putting himself out there and offering to help anyway he could. And it wasn't because he pitied her, although she was sure everyone she knew felt sorry for her to some degree. They just wanted to help her get better and remind her that she was still a person, whether she had one arm or not. She had to appreciate that much, at least. "I'll see you around." She gave a wave, the apple still clutched in her only hand. She had half forgotten it was there. Still, it was a nice treat to have on the way back to her place. She was already munching on it again before she was out of sight.
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