RWBY - Of Roses
Author's note: A small additional scene, after Qrow stirs and wakes up. Ruby feels guilty, but Qrow's not having it.
...
"Hey. Aren't I normally the one saving you?" Qrow asked her, his voice still a little rough. Ruby wiped a tear away, as she smiled at him, glad that he was through the ordeal Tyrian's poison put him through. All he needed was a few more hours of sleep to feel and be good as new. Ruby suddenly turned sad, having a look of guilt about her.
"I'm sorry!" she started saying. "This was all my fault. If I'd listened to you and stayed back, you wouldn't've been hurt." She buried her head in the sheets at his side. "I'm so sorry, Uncle Qrow!" she sobbed. "I could've...I could've lost you." Qrow hated to see her so miserable and he could not stand letting her blame herself for what happened in their fight. Sure, she was hot-headed. But, she did take after him. And his own semblance certainly did not help the situation. He gently put his hand on her head.
"It's okay, kiddo." he soothed her. "It ain't yer fault. Don't go thinkin' it is, alright." Ruby lifted her head to look at him.
"But-..." she started.
"No buts." Qrow playfully swatted the tip of her nose with his index-finger and placed his hand back on top of her head. "Okay?" Ruby reluctantly stopped trying to say more and put her head back down. Both closed their eyes.
"Okay." she whispered. A few seconds of silence passed and Qrow smiled to himself.
"Heh. You're just like your mom." he said, regretting it, instantly and opened his eyes, as he felt Ruby perk up and raise her head at the rare mention of her mother. She gave him an inquiring look that also had something else - Qrow did not like seeing - behind it. Desperation. From her, to know more about the past. A chance to finally hear more about what happened to her mother, something both her father and her uncle had to know.
"Whaddayou mean?" Was all she asked and Qrow hoped it was all she would. It was something he could answer. Something he could remember without immediately feeling an ache in his heart.
"Well..." Qrow slowly sat, propping himself up with his palms and Ruby pulled back to intently listen. "She was a little madcap, too. As I liked to call 'er. Always quick t'get in a fight, even when it was already goin' on. Then she'd keep apologizing every time she did it." He laughed. "Yer dad and I thought it was cute. My sister didn't. No surprise there." he said to the side. "Yer mom was definitely fight-happy. No one could ever tell just by lookin' at 'er." He was likely referring to Summer's short stature that Ruby inherited, along with her eyes and innocent look. He waited to see if Ruby had anything more to ask, then lied back down, when she did not. She could have asked him what he was saying on the make-shift stretcher, when they got to the fork in the road between Kuroyuri and Mistral. He was talking to her father, saying someone was not coming. Coming back, maybe. A woman. His words echoed in her head, but she decided to ask later, when her uncle had completely recovered. Hearing more about the kind of person her mother was, besides what Yang would tell her, had to be enough, for now. Ruby stood and walked around his bed to her own and plopped down. She took Crescent Rose off of it, propping it up against the wall and lied down. She faced Qrow and gave him a small, reassuring smile, before she closed her eyes to get some much-needed rest. Qrow waited a little while and did the same, after he could hear she was fast asleep, knowing things would only get tougher for them from that point on. With more enemies to fight. More answers and more questions. Some he would have to answer.