"What do you remember about your mother?"
Yang was shaken out of focus as Blake asked the question out of the blue. She was currently planning out the last of the preparations for the ball, while Blake sat at the edge of her bed looking intently at her for a response.
Yang stared blankly at Blake for a few moments. After their conversation in the classroom the previous day Yang had been busy with preparations for the ball, while Blake had finally gotten a long overdue nap. Blake had slept like a rock; unmoving and unconscious, when the rest of team RWBY returned from their daily activities. It wasn't until the next morning that the two partners had found themselves alone in the dorm, an awkward silence hanging over them until Blake spoke.
Yang scoffed at the question, a hint of resentment in her voice as she answered.
"I told you already. My mom left me after I was born." Yang had looked away from Blake's stare as she said this, unwilling to allow her partner to see the emotions that would be revealed in them.
"What do you remember about your mother?" Blake repeated once more, but her tone wasn't the same cautious and gentle timbre she used the first time she asked. Instead it was demanding, and it made Yang look back into those honeyed irises that focused on her with such ferocity.
They were quiet for a few beats, neither one breaking eye contact. Blake felt she needed to push the conversation further, but before she could move her lips Yang sighed tiredly looking at her with a small smile.
"Summer wasn't around all that much, with her work as a Huntress she didn't always have time to stay home." Yang began wistfully, her eyes seeming to cloud over with memories of a distant time.
"Even though she was so busy, the sparse time she spent with us would seem like she was never gone. She would always come to find me and Ruby as soon as she got home. Her shouts of our names would have us scrambling over whatever we were doing and we would run straight for her. Right into her embrace."
Yang chuckled lightly, the small gesture making her hair sway softly.
"I remember one time when Ruby and I had crashed into each other from trying to reach Summer's open arms. We ended up sprawled at her feet, dizzy at the collision. I remember how she laughed and scooped us both into her hold, caressing the sore spot on our heads affectionately to make the pain go away. She then made us a batch of cookies to eat. She would always say the best way to rid of something bad was through sweets."
Blake remained silent, a smirk tugging up on her lips at the tale. She observed carefully how Yang now twirled the ends of her hair while she reminisced.
"When Summer was home, everything felt different. Dad was much happier when she was around, always teasing all of us and humming a small tune to himself as he walked around the house. Ruby would always beg for a story about one of her missions, tales that we both had come to love through her weaving. Summer would always find some time to brush my hair and style it in some new way. It was one of the reasons why I let my hair grow out, the other was because she told me how beautiful she thought my hair was. 'Like a golden waterfall' she would say to me."
"Summer was there to say reassuring words to us when we were frightened by a dream, or scold us when we caused some sort of mischief. She was there to praise us with even the most mundane things, and to guide us when we strayed too far from reason. She was a mentor to us, a protector to all, and a lover for one."
Yang's voice gradually fell into a whisper, the lingering silence floating between them like a protective blanket.
Blake then noticed Yang's body tremble once, then it shuddered again until a hushed sob escaped her mouth in a gasp. She didn't hesitate to cross the space between them and held her partner close; arms wrapped protectively around the blonde's back.
Yang sat there limply, resting her forehead against Blake's shoulder as she let the noiseless sobs shake her body. After a sharp intake of breath she spoke once more, while she still had the strength.
"She may not have been biological, but to me, to me she was my mother."
The two stayed like that for a long time as Blake rubbed circles on Yang's back to soothe her hitching breaths. When Yang finally settled and the two pulled apart, a smile was curled on Yang's mouth.
Blake looked into her eyes and could see so many emotions flickering in those lilac hues; so raw and genuine she couldn't process them all with how swiftly they shifted. One thing that was for certain though was Yang's gratitude towards her mother.
A/N: Ever since writing this it has been one of my favorites pieces, and still remains so.