Yang eagerly waits by the front door. Like a puppy waiting for their master to return and unable to stop their tail from wagging, Yang's paces back and forth by the door. It has been so long since she last saw her mother. Summer has been gone for a couple of weeks now. Today is the day she returns. Yang can barely contain her excitement.
Every now and then, Yang peers out the window, hoping to see her mother stroll down the dirt path road. She only sees some birds and squirrels moving above. Yang pouts every time she sees movement that is not her mother. Where is she? She thinks.
As more time passes, the more agitated Yang gets. She is about to give up and go back to her room and read when something catches her eyes. Yang presses her face up against the cold, hard glass. Through the thicket of trees, she sees something white moving. Yang holds her breath has she watches the white figure turn the corner, into the clearing. Summer.
Yang bolts to the door, swigging it open, and running as fast as her tiny legs can take her down the path. "MOMMY!" Yang shouts.
Summer, who had been lost in her thoughts, snaps her head up and looks towards her daughter. She stops in her tracks and kneels down on the ground, arms wide open. Yang throws herself into her mother, hugging her tightly.
"I missed you so much, Mommy!" Yang shouts, her lilac eyes bright as she looks up at her mother.
Summer gives her eldest daughter a long kiss on the forehead before tightening her hug and standing up. "I missed you too, my little Sun Dragon. Have you've been good while I was away?"
Yang nods. "Yep! I helped Daddy and Qrow with Ruby. I helped cleaned and cook and made my bed and there is so much I want to tell you and—"
Summer places a finger on Yang's mouth. "Take a breath, Yang. You can tell me everything once I am settled and while we are cooking dinner, okay?"
Yang inhales a large amount of oxygen, listening to her mother. Exhaling, she nods. There is so much that she wants to tell her mother but cooking with her is there time to talk about everything. It's one of their special things they do together as mother and daughter.
Before carrying in Yang, Summer uses one of her hands to reach behind her. She snakes it into the opening of her bag, shifting it around until she makes a face, signaling to Yang she found whatever it is she is looking for. Curiously, Yang tries looking behind her mother but Summer stops her.
"Close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."
Yang places her hands over her eyes, leaving small cracks in between.
"Yang."
Yang closes the gaps, turning her world black. After a few moments, Summer tells Yang to open her eyes. When she pulls her hands down, a large piece of light, purple fabric hangs in front of her face. Yang blinks. Slowly she touches it with one hand. Its soft.
"It matches your eyes. I thought you'd like it." Summer manages to wrap the fabric around Yang's neck, making a lopsided bandana. "It's big but you'll grow into it. Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Yang wraps her arms around Summer's neck, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Mommy!"
"You're welcome. Come on now, let's go cook some dinner."
Lighting sends bright, white light into Yang's room, blinding her for a moment. Quickly, the lighting is followed by loud, roaring, and crackling thunder that rings in her ears, causing them to ache. Even with her hands covering them, Yang can still hear the thunder. It scares her, causing her to shake under her sheets. She wonders how her little sister could sleep through all this. Ruby must have inherited their father's heavy sleepiness.
One bang of thunder sounds like bomb going off, sending shockwaves throughout Yang's body. She bolts out of her bed and runs down the hall as fast as she can. Her parents room is not that far away. Just as another bolt of lightning hits the earth, Yang swings open the door.
Summer snaps up at the sound of the door opening—having already been awake from the storm—just in time for Yang to throw herself onto her body as thunder shakes the house. Yang holds her mother tightly, weeping as she buries her face in Summer's shirt.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, Yang," Summer softly says. She starts to rub Yang's back. "It's not going to hurt you. Your safe in the house and I got you."
"But it's so scary! How…How are you not afraid Mommy? How can I be a huntress like you…if…if I am afraid of a storm?"
Summer gently lifts Yang's head up off her chest, making her daughter look her in the eyes. Tears are streaming from them. Unbeknownst to the young girl, Yang's eyes have shifted into a red color in her fright. Summer wipes up some of her daughter's tears.
"Yang, it's okay to be afraid. Everyone is afraid of something. I'm fear losing you, Ruby, Tai, or Qrow. I am afraid of needles and speaking in front of others. I am especially afraid of something going wrong during a mission and not being able to come back to you all. Do you want to know how I overcome it?" Yang nods, listening closely to her mother.
"It's easy to be afraid Yang but when you are like that, take a deep breath. I think of all the people who need me, who look up to me, and I tell myself that I can do it. That I can take that first step. All the while I am still scared but I don't let it get to me. It's hard to do that at first but if you try, little by little, you'll be able to do the same."
Yang sniffs a little and nods again. Another lightning bolt explodes. Yang jumps and clutches her mother again. Taking a moment to think, Summer stands up and carries her daughter out of the room, down the hall, and out onto the patio. Shielded by an overhang roof, Summer stops at the edge of the deck. Yang is shaking, not knowing why her mother as brought her out.
"Take a look, Yang." Summer says.
Yang slowly turns her head to face the outside world. She has her hands over ears to block some of the noise. All she sees is heavy rain. Everything is blurry and she cannot see through it. Summer nudges Yang and points up in the sky. Yang looks.
Inside the large, grey clouds filled with rain, light flashes inside. At first Yang is confused why her mother is showing her this, then, she sees it. Inside the clouds, Yang can see the lighting blots. The jagged flashes of light dancing around in the clouds, going every which way. She even sees a few bolts shoot out from the bottom of the clouds and hit something in the forest. Yang's eyes widen in wonder. Slowly, her hands fall from her ears.
"There something else I do so I am not afraid. Sometimes, you have to face your fears Yang and you will realize that what scared you so much, might not be as bad as you thought or can be beautiful."
More thunder does cause Yang to shake but she does not cover her ears again. She just keeps her eyes on the show above her. After some time, however, Yang does look back at Summer. Her eyes are back to their soft shade of lilac.
"Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" Yang asks.
"I do, Yang. I'm sorry but I have to take this mission. But I promise that I will be back in time for your first day of school, okay? You ready for kindergarten?"
"Hm-mh!"
"Good." Summer gives Yang a kiss. The two look back at the storm, watching the lightning above them.
Yang sits by the gravestone of her mother while her uncle watches from afar. No tears fall her face, they are all dried up. Instead she just sits there, legs up against her chest with arms wrapped around them. A mix amount emotions fill Yang's body. Sadness, for her mother's death; Numbness, for not knowing what to do about it; Regret, for not saying more when Summer left. But what fills her the most at the moment is anger. Anger that Summer left her, anger that she did not come back, anger that she did not keep her promise of seeing her off to school.
"Why did you leave me? You promised that you'd come back. You promised to do so much with me. Why did you leave?" Yang says through her teeth. Only the wind answers her. Yang buries her face in her legs. "I miss you so much…Why did you leave me? I thought you said you'd come back. I thought you said everything was going to be okay…Why did you lie to me?"
Still no answer. Yang doesn't know what to do. She feels so alone. All she wants is her mother. But she will never come back.
Yang looks up at the stars shining above her. There are so few here at Beacon but Yang can still see some on the balcony. It's quiet out, something that Yang enjoys. It has been hectic the past few days in school. Getting ready for the tournament, homework, test, quizzes, you name it. Some peace and quiet is much needed.
"Hey Mom, how are you doing?" Yang asks the stars. She waits for a moment to speak again. "I'm doing well. School's been a little insane but what do you expect from going to Beacon, right? It's fun though. I made a lot of friends and gone on a lot of missions. You would love our teammates and friends. Ruby also is doing a pretty good job at being a leader. I'm so proud of her. I'm sure you are too…"
Yang takes a deep sigh and looks away from the stars. "I hope that I am making you proud. I'm sure I am but still. I wish you were here to see everything. You should be, honestly. But of course, you're not. I'm doing what I love, sort of. Seeing new places, getting my blood pumping, it's fun! And…god I wish you were here."
Yang sniffs and wipes away some tears that have started to form in her eyes. She takes a deep breath to recompose herself. "I know you had no control over what happened but I still miss you. You would love everything that I have been doing and I have so much to say that I can see now your eyes lighting up as I tell you all that has happened. You'd be so happy…I hope…
"Anyway!" Yang suddenly says after taking a deep breath. She snaps up and looks at the stars one last time. "I should get going. No use in staying up late since I got a huge test tomorrow. All I wanted to say is that 'I love you' 'I miss you' and 'I hope I'm making you proud'."
Before she is able to leave, however, she notices something. A quick flash of light in the dark sky. A shooting star. Yang chuckles a little, taking it as a happy response from her mother. "Thanks, Mom. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."
Another quicky that I did but this has a huge meaning.
So if you haven't noticed, I love to write about Yang and Summer, a lot. There is a good reason for that. If you don't know, I see myself a lot in Yang so I can easily write her. Because of that, when I write about Summer and Yang a lot of times, they relate back to my grandfather and me. Not to try and get too sappy but I was going to write something like this before but failed to so wrote this now, but my Grandfather meant the world to me. He helped raised me, told me to never let anyone change me, when I was afraid of things he told me it was okay, etc etc. I remember vividly Saturday mornings, having slept over my grandparents house the night before, him buying me bagels and then the three of us, him, my grandmother, and me, watching my TV shows. He also always put on shows about wildlife, something that i love (and i am studying in college). He was a great man.
Sadly after a five year battle with cancer, he died...the day after I graduated high school. It was hard, very hard and I was a bit upset because he was getting better at one point. But now, over two years later, I still miss him dearly and wish he could be here to see me doing what I love. But while i do wonder sometimes, I do know his proud of me. Pretty much what i want to say is that all my summer and yang fics are dedicated in his memory and this one especially.