A/N So here is my follow up to A Mother's Lament. While this is a sequel, this story will focus more on Ruby and Yang. This first chapter will be mostly family stuff showing how Raven being around is changing the girls. So let's get to it!
Six months can be a long time.
When you are grieving, six months can seem like an eternity.
Six months since Summer Rose died and her family was still trying to pick up the pieces.
Raven stayed around to help look after everyone, just like she promised. However she was just as much a wreck as Tai and Qrow, she was just better at hiding it.
Tai took comfort in Raven's presence, at their team being together to grieve the loss of their leader. Late at night the two would just sit together in silence. When the pain and sorrow was too great to let them sleep they took comfort in simply knowing they were not alone.
Qrow did something he had not done in a long time and hugged Raven upon seeing her. The two siblings embraced and held on to each other. For so long they were all they had in the world. With Qrow around the surviving member so team STRQ would reminisce and tell stories about Summer. Thinking of happier times. They slowly started to heal.
But for the younger members of the family it was not that simple.
For Yang her entire world had been thrown for a loop, turned upside down. She learned that she had a different mother who ran away just after she was born. But she was back now and that made her happy, despite the loss of Summer.
But it was all so confusing. She was sad, angry, scared, and happy all at once. For a six-year-old girl this was very overwhelming. There was one thing that was still the same and she held onto it for dear life.
She was still a big sister. She threw herself into being the best big sister to Ruby she could be. No matter how much pain she was feeling or how confusing the world became she had to be there for her little sister.
Yang would tell Ruby bedtime stories and hold her after a nightmare. Those happened a lot.
On most days Ruby would spend hours at Summer's grave just staring at the monument. In the past six months Ruby had barely said anything. She usually was so energetic and talkative. To see here so dejected and quiet broke the hearts of everyone around her.
"Yang?" Ruby said getting her sister's attention before looking out the window.
Yang instantly knew what her sister wanted and got up out of her chair and grabbed their jackets.
The two sisters made a walk that had become increasingly familiar as they made their way up to Summer's gave. Neither saying a word and they walked in silence. Ruby would occasionally lean into Yang for support and warmth from the cold.
As the two slowly made their way up the hill they noticed that someone else was already at the grave.
The mane of black hair had become recognizable to both sisters.
Raven.
The two slowed the walk and quietly listened.
She was kneeling in front of her best friend's grave dressed in black jeans and a black coat with a red under shirt.
"Hey Summer." She said before shaking her head. "I don't know how I let Tai and Qrow talk me into this" she muttered.
She took a deep breath. "Everyone is well…. We are dealing I guess. Qrow is drinking more than usual. But the two of us have started to reconcile I guess, so that's good news at least."
"Tai," She sighed "He is keeping it together through sheer force of will. I think having to take care of the girls gives him something to focus on." She smiles softly. "He really is a great father."
"The girls…" She pauses thinking what to say. "Yang is showing more strength than any six-year-old I have ever seen. More than even me at that age."
Reven smiled at the thought of her daughter. "You would be so proud of her. I know I am. She is trying to be the best big sister she can be and helping take care of Ruby….." Raven trailed off at the mention of Summer's daughter.
"Ruby…." Raven choked out trying not to cry. "She really is your daughter. Everytime I look at her I see your face and… and… Oh Summer I am so sorry, I don't know what to do. I don't want her to feel like I am taking your place. I… I know that no matter what I do I could never..." She starts quietly sobbing till she feels two small arms wrap around her in a hug.
Ruby saw how much Raven was hurting. She saw the pain and the sorrow coursing through the older woman. So she did the only thing a little four-year-old can in this situation and gave her a hug. An offer what what little support she could give.
Yang hadn't even noticed her sister leaving her side until Raven stopped speaking. So consumed with what her mother was saying, and thrown for a loop by this strong stoic woman breaking down at Summer's grave. Once Ruby was at Raven's right, Yang took the spot on her left and hugged her mother for the first time.
Feeling both Ruby and Yang embrace her was all it took for the dam to break and the tears to start flowing. Raven cried as she wrapped her arms around the two girls.
They were he family now and she would take care of them as best as she could.
Perhaps it was a trick of the light.
Perhaps it was the snow and wind and tears.
But for a moment Raven swore she saw a figure with a white hood and cloak smiling at her from the other side of the grave.
'Summer, still watching over us' Raven thought as she tightened her hug around the girls.
(Line Break)
After that moment the three women of the house would spend lots of time together. Months passed and Raven would share stories of her and Summer when they were in school, Tai had to tell her to leave out some of the more "adult" parts.
Occasionally Yang would ask about what Raven was like as a kid and about her tribe. Raven was at a loss of what to do. She wanted her daughter to be better than her and how she grew up.
She would tell Yang and Ruby that the Branwen Tribe was a bandit tribe in Mistral. That they were not good people and it was a harsh way to grow up. Of course the curious girls wanted to to know more, especially Yang, but Raven shook her head. "I will tell you more about them when you are older."
Then the day Raven dreaded came. The question she was most terrified to answer.
"Mom?" Yang looked up to her mother as she was brushing her golden hair.
"Yes little dragon?" Raven smiled softly at her daughter who was finally starting to call her mom.
"Why did you go away?" Yang asks hesitantly fearing the answer to the question would destroy the budding relationship they were just starting to build.
Raven's hands froze mid stroke as she was running a brush through her daughter's golden mane. Taking a moment to steady herself she took the brush and set it down on the bedside table. Gently she turns her daughter around to look her in the eyes.
"Yang, sweetie." Raven paused as her daughter looked up to her. She found her resolve and refused to put this off any longer. "I was scared."
"Scared?" Yang tilted her head in the cute confused way that children do. "But.. But you tell us all those stories about you and dad and mom and uncle qrow fighting monster. How could you be scared?" she was still getting used to having two moms and would refer to Summer as mom as well. Raven never got upset for any of the mix ups.
Raven shook her head and took a deep breath. "You remember what I told you about the Branwen Tribe right?" This earned a nod from Yang. "Well, they taught me how to fight and to be a great fighter. But they never taught me how to be a mother. I didn't know what to do so I ran away." Raven kept her voice even as she tired to explain it to Yang.
"But why?" Yang asked, still not understanding what could scare her mom.
"All my life has been about fighting. Even my relationship with Summer and your dad came from us fighting, sometimes against the Grimm and sometimes against each other. But this was something I couldn't solve with fighting. You were so beautiful as a baby. So pure and innocent." She smiled at her daughter. "You still are beautiful." she said giving Yang a pat on the head earning a small smile from the girl.
"But that was the first time I didn't know what to do and that I couldn't just fight my way out of. I am sorry for leaving you little dragon, but I promise you if you ever need me I will be there for you." Raven finished pulling Yang into a hug her daughter happily returned.
"I love you mommy." Yang whispered to her mother for the first time.
"And I love you too sweetie," Rave smiled and whispered to her little girl.
(Line Break)
After that day it seemed as if a great weight had been lifted off the mother and daughter. Months slowly turned into years and soon Yang was in her first year at Signal.
As part of her first semester at Signal, Yang had to design and build her own weapon. Yang had two designs she had come up with. One was a set of shotgun gauntlets that she came up with herself, the other was a dust blade katana modeled after he mother's sword "Omen".
The 13-year-old girl had no idea which to choose. Having just unlocked her semblance a couple years earlier she found that up-close fighting with her fists worked best with her semblance. But during all the training with her mom she would sometimes use a sword and felt she was pretty good with it.
On the night before she was scheduled to use the forge she brought up her quandary at the dinner table.
At the table Yang took out two drawing she had made. In her spare time Yang liked to draw and paint. She even painted a mural of a sunrise in Ruby's room, at her sister's insistence. On one sheet of paper were two golden gauntlets, with views of them from multiple angles. The name at the bottom "Ember Celica"
On the other, a black katana with golden wrappings around the handle and a dark black sheath with a rotating compartment for dust blades inside. In the top right corner was the weapon's name, "Eclipse."
Raven and Tai looked at each other. Each weapon was somewhat connected to each of them. Yang's semblance was very similar to Tai's and her fighting style when punching was also like his. But learning to fight with a sword had allowed Raven and Yang to bond over the years. It was one of the things the two of them shared. Neither wanted to say which weapon they thought she should use.
"Why not use both?" Ruby said looking up from the two drawings.
Tai looked to his youngest daughter opening his mouth to say that you are allowed only one weapon. Then he stopped and thought for a moment. "Well it is unusual but there is nothing saying that a huntsman can only have one weapon." He trailed off.
Raven smirked. "My little dragon is going to be armed to the teeth. The Grimm won't know what hit them." she said rubbing Yang's head, messing with her hair.
The show of affection was something that only happened between mother and daughter. If anyone else tried to mess with her hair Yang would punch them into a wall.
"Yeah!" Ruby shouts excitedly. "That means I can use Crescent Rose and Silver Thorn."
Raven and Tai gave Ruby a look. Raven had been showing Ruby how Summer used to fight with Silver Thorn, her favorite knife. Thorn is a long slightly curved dagger, the blade polished to such a degree it shone brightly in the light. Combined with her speed semblance it made Ruby a terror up close getting in a cutting an opponent up with quick slashes and stabs.
Though she was still getting used to moving so fast and would trip occasionally.
Raven also taught the girl knife throwing, a skill Summer taught her when they were in their first year. It was not uncommon to see Ruby watching TV as she tossed a knife in the air and caught it without looking. The juggling helped hone her dexterity and reflexes. Though she still only used dulled practice knives.
"Crescent Rose?" Tai questioned at his youngest daughter.
Ruby went into her own backpack and pulled out a notebook with a drawing of a massive scythe / sniper rifle combination weapon. Where as Yang's drawings looked like artist renderings, this looked more like an engineer's schematics. Tai turned the page and then another. Each page was a detailed drawing of the mechanisms and different portions and forms of the weapon. All of it with notes and measurements down to the millimeter.
"Yeah I got the inspiration to make her from Uncle Qrow." Ruby says with a happy smile.
Raven sighs and shakes her head. "Well at least that would give you short, medium and long range options I guess." She then looks over the weapon design. "You are going to have to do a lot of strength training if you want to swing this thing around."
Ruby froze for a second. While training was a good way her and Auntie Raven bonded, the older woman would be really serious at times. Slave driver was muttered under her and Yang's breath a number of times over the course of their training.
And so the family trained together. Yang with Ember Celica and Eclipse and her sister with Crescent Rose and Silver Thorn as well as her multitude of exotic throwing knives. It turned out Summer had quite the collection, many of them given to her by Raven as gifts at various points of their friendship.
And so the girls would train together, eventually Ruby made it into Signal and the sisters ruled the school more or less. Yang even took Third place in a global tournament for up and coming huntsmen and huntresses. Ruby took first place in her division that year.
Then one night after Yang got her acceptance letter into Beacon, Ruby decided to head into Vale to pick up some parts to fine tune Crescent Rose. It was getting late and she stopped at an all night shop called "From Dust till Dawn."
As she read a magazine listening to some of her favorite music she didn't hear several armed men enter the store demanding dust from the old proprietor.
She didn't notice one of the goons approach her from behind. She turns when he tapped her on the shoulder and she takes off her headphones. "Yes?"
"I said put your hands in the air. Now." The goon says sternly.
"Are you robbing me?" Ruby asks tilting her head to one side.
"Yes." The good says as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ohhhhh. You're an idiot." she says with a smirk reaching behind her back for Crescent Rose.
(END PROLOGUE / CHAPTER 1)
A/N So what did you think? Let me know in the reviews. Also I have my own Discord now! Send me a DM and I will send you a link if you are interested. Catch you guys next time!