Summary: The Flock are in New Mexico looking for food when they see an old antique shop. They go inside and look around. What will happen? FAX! I got this idea in history class. Bear with me, it's my first fanfic! :P -Buttercup

AN Buttercup: Oh em gee! My first fanfic. Wow. Well, to be honest, this is just a test run to see if I can get it up on the website before I put my first REAL fanfic which my friend Medusa is helping me co-write. We're sharing this account so don't be surprised to see an occasional AN Medusa. Well, more on that later and why we have weird nicknames and a little background info about us. Ya know, just to make sure we're not from Itex! ;)

Anyway, I would just like to thank Mr. Vega, my history teacher who will probably never read this, for making the class study Daoism in social studies. I now appreciate history a little bit more. :P

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the MR characters or the Yin and Yang symbol.

The Yin and the Yang

We (the Flock) were walking down a street in some random town in New Mexico, looking for food. I was in the front with Angel holding my hand. Nudge was behind us with Iggy and Gazzy quietly talking behind her (probably about the latest bomb) and Fang quietly following at the end. Total was trotting along next to Nudge. We were on our way to Arizona for a little quality time with Mom (Dr. Martinez) and Ella. We had just stopped for a quick lunch and bathroom break, when all of a sudden..."Oooo, Max! Look, it's an antique store! Can we go in? Please, please, please, please, please-"

"Alright, Nudge! We're going into the antique store. Calm down!" I said slowly. I could practically hear Iggy roll his sightless eyes and Fang smirk at my back for giving in so easily. Whatever to keep Nudge quiet, or as quiet as Nudge can get. We filed into the shop. There was an old white-haired man behind the counter reading a book. He seemed like the nice grandfatherly type. He looked up at us through thick glasses.

"Hello, kids. Feel free to take a look around." He smiled at us in a friendly way then turned back to his book. Still…he could be a potential threat… Hey, don't roll your eyes at me! If you were me, you'd be pretty paranoid, too! I just nodded at him and said to the Flock, "We're just here to look, ok guys?" They all nodded and I hoped they knew the difference between browsing and buying.

Angel let go of my hand after giving me a reassuring smile and went to go look at whatever Nudge was squealing about. Iggy and Gazzy went to look at some old computer parts and what-not, probably looking for bomb parts. (*mentally rolls eyes*) That left me and Fang. Whatever. We were used to this. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. In Fang-inese, it meant, "Well? Are you going to look around or just stand there looking dumb?" I just rolled my eyes at him and walked away, looking at random stuff. I figured Fang had left to go look at, uh, whatever Fang looks at in antique stores. (Is it just me, or did that sound weird?) The store wasn't that big. It had a lot of stuff, though. I passed by old rusty guns (scary), creepy porcelain dolls (scarier), and cheesy worn-out romance novels (scariest).

I eventually found myself in front of a jewelry display case. I don't own any jewelry. Never have. For one, it's not really my style. And plus, when did I ever have the time or money to get some? Well, I guess right now. I looked into the case curiously and found all types of shiny, sparkling, silver and gold rings, bracelets, and necklaces. To be honest, they were all really pretty. But like I said, not my style. Then I saw a necklace that was unlike the others. It didn't have any jems or anything sparkly like that. It was just a plain black leather cord with a yin and yang charm on it. I picked it up out of the display case (it was open,) and I looked at it in awe. It was beautiful. Just something about it was so compelling.

"Whatcha looking at?" I nearly jump 3 feet in the air and turned my head to see a smirking, yet curious Fang, looking back at me. I glared at him then turned back to the necklace, holding it out. Fang followed my gaze and saw it. I glanced back to see his reaction. He smiled a rare smile and said, "Yin and Yang. Do you know what it means?" I turned back to the necklace and shook my head no.

He was still behind me as he looked over my shoulder and said, "The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies. The black is Yin, and it stands for all that is dark, mysterious, and cold. The white is Yang, and stands for all the light, warm, and bright things in life. As you can see, Yin is not completely black and Yang is not completely white," Fang said referring to the little circles, "just like things in life are not completely black or white. In other words, they need each other to exist." He finished, sounding a bit wistful.

I turned to stare at him shocked. "How do you know so much about it?" he shrugged in a way only Fang can. I just shook my head, wondering what other things he knows that I didn't know he knew. He then chuckled. "What?" I asked him a bit irritated that I didn't know what he was chuckling about when he so clearly knew what I was thinking about (all the time, might I add). He just smiled at me (wow he's been doing that a lot lately in the last few minutes. I wonder if antique stores have that affect on him?) and said, "Don't you think that the Yin and Yang make a good analogy about me and you?" I thought about that for a moment and realized he was right. "Yeah, I guess you're right…" I said thoughtfully. Yin was so obviously Fang, and I was Yang and we couldn't exist without each other. It was as simple as that.

I was only vaguely aware that I was sort of admitting feeling more than brotherly-feelings about Fang. I decided now was not the time to be thinking those things (especially with Angel around) and that I would revisit them when I was alone on watch tonight. I looked up to see Fang staring at me, watching me gaze at the necklace. He then said, "Turn around." I gave him a confused look, but turned around trusting him not to do anything stupid ('cuz that's what best friends do... (let me rephrase that, trust each other not do stupid things!)). He then reached around me to where the necklace was in my hands and took it. He brought it up to my neck and fastened the little clutch.

I turned to look at him bewildered, only to see his impassive face looking back. "Fits perfectly…," he murmured. I nodded in agreement. We continued to stand there for a little bit looking at the necklace that was now around my neck, in comfortable, yet slightly weird silence. "I'll be right back." He said suddenly. "Ok," was my simple reply. I then continued to look throughout the store, still wearing the necklace. It felt right wearing it. I saw some more cheesy romance novels (shudder) and this really cool looking archery set. I wandered back the display case and saw Fang waiting there for me.

I sighed. We should probably get going soon. I was starving. "Ok guys, lets go!" I was about to take off the necklace when Fang asked, "What are you doing?" I looked at him like surprised. "Um, taking off the necklace?" I said stating the obvious. He looked at me impassively for a second, and then said, "You don't have to, I just bought it for you." I looked at him surprised (once again! He'd been surprising me so much in the last 15 minutes) and said the only coherent thought that I could think at the moment. "I thought I said not to get anything." I was trying to scold him for disobeying orders, but it sounded pointless, stupid, and a little bit shaky. Not what I was going for. He just shrugged and looked away, passing if off as no big deal. It probably wasn't to him. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to decipher what he was thinking or feeling.

I knew him better than anyone else, and vice versa, but even though I was his best friend, he barely (and rarely) opened up to me. I could be wrong, but I thought he looked kinda nervous and was blushing slightly. He looked back at me and raised an eyebrow in question as to why I was staring at him. And just as fast as I'd seen it, his blush had gone away. I frowned. I must have been imagining it.

Suddenly the Flock was there staring as us back and forth between me, Fang, and the necklace. Well, everyone but Iggy. He was staring in our general direction. How long had they been there? I'm guessing a little while.

"Aaaaawww, Fang that's so sweet! It is a great comparison!" Angel said grinning at Fang and then at me. "What?" asked Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Total who were all confused. "Fang bought Max this necklace that has a Yin and Yang symbol on it 'cuz he says it's a great analogy of them, and he wants Max to have something to remind her of him." "Aaaawwwww! That is so adorable. Just like a real couple!" Nudge squealed. I thought I was going to gag at that last part. Iggy was smiling and saying, "Nice man." Total said, "Great idea, Fang! I should get Akila something!" Gazzy was nodding and said, "Perfect comparison. The only thing missing is a symbol for how stubborn and bossy they both are." As you can imagine, that earned a glare from me and Fang and some giggles from the rest of the Flock. Iggy high-fived Gazzy with creepy accurate precision.

"Come on, guys. Let's go find something to eat." I said blushing really badly from all the attention. "Oooo, yeah, I'm STARVING!" Nudge piped up and then the rest Flock (minus Fang) threw themselves into a conversation about food. Thank god! I sighed in relief and as we walked out the door. "Thank you for stopping by!" I turned and smiled at the old guy behind the counter. Guess he wasn't dangerous after all…

We were back on the street where things went back to normal. Or, as normal as our lives can ever get. I was up front once again with Fang next to me. Nudge and Angel were talking with Total about the pros and cons of having a designer rain jacket for every season, with Iggy and Gazzy once again talking about bombs behind them. I walked with Fang in comfortable silence.

I then felt his right arm snake around my waist. I looked up at him in surprise to see him smirking playfully down at me. I just blushed and continued looking ahead for possible eating places, trying to distract myself. As I was looking, I started playing with my new necklace. I really liked it. I smiled thinking about what Angel had told the Flock. Had Fang really bought the necklace to remind me of him? He was already in my every thought. Realizing this, I blushed and before Angel could make a comment I quickly thought of some random song I heard on the radio. I would wait until later to go further down that train of thought. I had a lot to think through tonight. For example, why I wasn't pushing Fang's arm away? And why wasn't the Flock surprised about me and Fang's sudden closeness? I mean hellooooo, his arm was around my waist! And he bought me a necklace!

Just then a random thought popped in my head. How did Fang pay for the necklace? My Max Ride card was in the back pocket of my jeans. I shook my head of all those crazy thoughts that were driving me mad. Too much thinking about non-work related stuff. Fang looked down at me curiously. Some things, and people, were just meant to be mysteries. I smiled up at him to show that it was nothing, and continued to look for somewhere to eat. We eventually chose Shakey's and had a delicious big meal of fried chicken, mo-jos, and pizza without people looking at us funny.

Well? Whatda think? Please review, 'cuz I need to know if it sucked or not, so I can become a better writer. I won't get mad at any mean comments, I just want constructive criticism or whatever. I'm not planning to do anything more with this, so yeah. Bye! :D

-Buttercup