AN: So, this was going to be for a prompt which never happened. So I'm going to see if I can actually write a short-ish story on the side.
Song Theme:
Summer: God Knows (English Variant) performed by AmaLee
RWBY
Summer bit back a curse as the plate slipped from her fingers and shattered on the kitchen floor. Kneeling down she began to pick up the pieces, depositing them in the waste bin before she noticed a pair of lilac eyes peering around one of the cupboards.
"You're hurt, Mom." Before Summer could reply Yang was gone in a flash of blonde hair, her feet pattering in the distance.
Glancing down Summer was surprised to see a trail of blood winding down her arm, and turning her hand over she discovered a gash that went from one side of her palm to the other, "I didn't even feel it."
Though she hadn't felt much of anything since Tai had passed.
Tiny footsteps signalled the return of Yang, though this time she was accompanied by her younger sister. Yang set the kit down next to her, and gestured for Summer's hand which was granted with a small smile forming on the older woman's lips.
"Nurse Ruby, peroxide." A few beats passed as the smaller girl starred at the box in confusion before Yang added, "The brown bottle, Rubes."
Ruby dutifully supplied the bottle, as Yang swiped a cotton swab which she used to dab around the cut, "Bandages, Ruby."
This one Ruby had no trouble with, though Summer was still sad to see that Ruby still wasn't speaking. Sometime between them finding out that Tai was gone, and shortly before they had placed his marker down by the cove it had sunk in for Ruby that he wasn't coming back. Summer had been no stranger to tragedy when she was younger, but she had hoped to spare her children the same fate.
It tore her apart to know that she had failed so miserably at that task.
Yang finished tightening the bandage, and securely clipped it together before she turned to Ruby, "Think you can be a big girl and put it back where it goes?"
Ruby's silent response was a determined grin as she quickly packed up the kit and headed off down the hallway leaving Summer and her oldest child alone. Summer was about to ask Yang what was wrong when the girl threw herself around Summer, the girl's body trembling from her sobs, "You need to be more careful, Momma, no more letting yourself get hurt."
Summer could only wrap her hands tightly around Yang, who was being forced to grow up far too fast for her liking, "I promise, I'll be extra careful from now on."
RWBY
It was only a few days after what Summer had termed in her head the 'plate incident' that she contacted Signal Academy, inquiring if she would be able to take on the teaching position that they had been considering granting to Tai.
The school's headmaster had been ecstatic at her offer, which was understandable as Summer had by far been the most prolific of her teammates following their graduation, as he had never imagined she would have been happy to accept a teaching position.
Then again neither had she, but life had a way of changing one's perspectives. That, and Summer would do anything for her girls, anything.
As soon as that was confirmed, she had removed herself form the active roster of hunters. The job at Signal would pay for their living easily, and the fact that Signal would enroll both Yang and Ruby into their programs immediately instead of waiting for the next school year meant that she would always be close to the girls just in case.
Glancing into the living room she peeked into the room, Yang was teaching Ruby how to play 'Remnant' her favorite board game. The deeper tactics were somewhat lost on the younger girl, but from the sheer look of concentration on her face it was obvious that she wasn't letting that slow her down.
A knock on the door startled Summer from her reverie, and she felt a sudden unease at the back of her mind. A feeling she had long ago learned to trust, which was why she called out to Yang who had been getting up to answer the door, "Go back to your game, sweetheart, I'll get the door."
As she traversed her way down the hall of their cozy home she grabbed both of her revolvers, Wither and Decay, from their storage space, slipping them into the holsters on her sides. Keeping one hand on Whither, she reached out and opened the door with the other. Finding herself confronted with the unmistakable form of her raven haired partner Summer could only stare dumbstruck for several moments.
"Raven?"
The other woman's head shifted slightly, and her voice, the same as it had been eight years ago when she last heard it, came out somewhat muffled thanks to the mask, "I heard about Tai-"
Whatever else she might have said was lost as Summer opened fire, her cloak billowing from the force of the dust enhanced rounds she was firing.
Raven of course had intercepted the projectiles flying towards her, the blade in her hands carving a delicate dance of precision as she both defended herself and worked to put distance between herself and Summer.
The former STRQ leader though had noticed something crucial, Raven was fighting with her left hand which meant she must have hurt her right arm prior to arriving here.
A click signified that her cylinder was dry, and so Summer advanced as her she reached into one of the pockets sewn into her cloak to pull out a spare. Raven in the meantime had used the delay to infuse her blade with a coating of fire dust, granting the weapon an almost blood red blade along with other more flammable capabilities.
"Summer, we can talk about this."
Silver eyes narrowed at that statement, "You had eight years to talk, Raven, eight years! I had to step up to clean up the mess you left behind, just like when we were in Beacon! Tai was shattered, Yang had no one!" Her hands trembled with rage as she starred down her former best friend, "You don't get to just show up one day and expect to be welcomed. This is our home, not yours!"
With a scream that was nearly primal Summer seemed to blur and multiply, as suddenly Raven found herself being assaulted from all directions by the Summer clones that faded into nothingness the moment her sword, or the trail of flame it left in its wake, touched them.
That ended abruptly though, as the real Summer blocked the blade from her position in Raven's compromised zone of defence. Bringing her pistol to bear Summer aimed at point blank range, and shifted her finger back to pull Whither's secondary trigger causing the highly concentrated dust cartridge in the gun's second barrel to fire.
The blast blew both women apart, and as Summer scrambled to her feet she found herself confronted with an unmasked Raven.
What she hadn't expected though, were the tears that were running down the crimson eyed woman's face.
Letting Whither fall to the grass below she made her way to her sobbing teammate, "Raven," Summer's voice was barely a whisper but it only seemed to make the woman cry harder. Letting compassion overrule both her anger and her caution, Summer fell to her knees as wrapped her arms around the taller woman, "Its okay, I'm here."
Raven was motionless for a few moments before her hands wrapped around Summer, so tightly that it felt like the normally taciturn woman thought Summer might disappear if she let go. Raven buried her face into Summer's shoulder, though her next statement was still clear enough to hear, "They were supposed to be safe."
STRQ's former leader had a feeling about who Raven was talking about, but she needed answers as to what had happened to her old teammate, "Who, Raven? Tai and Yang?"
No answer came right away, instead Raven merely nodded into her shoulder, but soon more words emerged from her, "Ozpin gave me a mission, it was important, but it meant that I would have to leave them behind." Raven's grip seemed to tighten further, "Summer, I can't remember the last six years, the last thing I recall was getting on a boat in Vacuo and that's it. Nothing else but bits and pieces."
Summer nodded, and a sigh escaped her lips as her inner Mom/Team leader kicked in, "Let's get you inside, you look exhausted."
As she helped Raven to her feet she noticed two pairs of eyes suddenly blink away in the windows of the house, though honestly she was just thankful that they hadn't come outside during the fight.
Shifting more of Raven's weight on to her, Summer half walked, half dragged, the other woman through the front door. Before depositing her on top of her bed, "I'll see about getting a guest bedroom setup for you if you stay, but for now just try and get some rest, Amsel."
A small smile played on Raven's lips at the old nickname her partner had given her, but she was only able to murmur out a quiet, "Thank you, Summer," before the bed lulled her to sleep.
Summer didn't say anything as she softly made her way out of the room, and as she closed her room's door shut she could feel the presence of her blonde daughter behind her.
"Mom, who was that and why were you fighting?" A firm, but small, hand tugged on Summer's own, "You promised that you wouldn't do anything dangerous!"
A ragged sigh escaped the older woman's lips, but she kept her composure as she took Yang's hand into her own, "I'll explain everything in a moment, dear." Gently pulling the smaller girl away from her room Summer led the pair into the small living room. Yang plopped down on to the couch while Summer perched on the edge of one of the chairs, the girl's board game sitting between them after it had been abandoned by the children, "Yang, this is going to be hard for you to hear."
Lilac eyes blinked in confusion as Summer continued, "That woman, Raven, she was on my team back in Beacon like your Father and Uncle Qrow." Summer's fingers intertwined themselves as she tried to hide her panicking emotions, worry bubbling inside of her about what would happen if Yang blamed her for not telling her about Raven, "Raven and your Father were romantically together, until Raven just disappeared one day. Tai was devastated, and he needed help pulling his life back together, so I came out to Patch to help him."
"And to help raise their child." It took a few moments for understanding to dawn upon Yang's face, and it broke Summer's heart to see the already hurt girl suddenly in more turmoil.
"You're not my Mom?"
Summer had closed the gap between them in seconds, board game pieces scattering in her wake as she swept the girl into a tight embrace, "Of course I'm your Mom, darling, just because I didn't give birth to you doesn't make you any less my daughter." Summer's grip tightened as words spilled out of her, "I, I never thought I would have a family, Yang. I grew up alone in Mantle, and then my team split up when we graduated, but the moment I held you in my arms I knew that I would do anything to make sure you never felt alone."
Yang sniffled into her Mother's shoulder, before shakily asking, "Why did she leave?"
It was a question that Summer had asked herself time and time again, why did her partner leave? That thought though was brushed aside as a frown tugged at Summer's lips at a sudden realization, "Where's your sister?"
RWBY
Raven had collapsed on to Summer's bed, and suddenly surrounded by the familiar lavender scent of her old partner she could feel her tears only increasing. She could still remember that day when she told Summer that she and Tai were moving to Patch, at how devastated it had left her leader, her partner.
Summer had come to view her team as her family, the first family she had ever really gotten a chance to have, and it had all fallen apart so fast that it had taken her over a year to pull herself back together.
But that was Summer, unlike everyone else she always pulled herself back together.
It was one of the things Raven had always loved about her, a lot of things actually. Until she left Summer's heart shattered on a Beacon rooftop after a courageous confession from the smaller woman.
That though was what Raven did, she was devastation in human form, an omen of ill fortune, destroyer of lives.
She shouldn't have come here, her very presence was likely drawing the Grimm as she lay on this bed feeling sorry for herself.
A sudden shift on the bed caused Raven to realize that a small red cloaked figure was starring intently at her, the child was undeniably Summer's as a pair of eyes identical to that of the older woman gazed at Raven. Refusing so show weakness in front of a child Raven turned her head away, but a small voice halted her movement, "Mommy says that crying just shows how much we care."
A flash of a younger Summer's tears falling one autumn evening went through Raven's mind, causing Raven to stare at the child before her brain spat out the most obvious statement in it, "You have silver eyes."
She knew in her heart that that was important, but she couldn't remember how.
The girl shot her a look that just screamed 'duh,' which elicited an unbidden smile from the older woman. That smile was short lived as she noticed the child's trembling hands, "Are you all right, child?"
The girls' eyes glistened with tears that began to fall, as she wrapped her arms, and red cloak, tightly around herself, "Dad's gone."
Raven had never been good at comforting, anyone, but for Summer's child she found herself making the attempt. Shifting upwards she wrapped her far larger form around the girl, who, surprisingly, latched on to her like a drowning man trying to save himself.
"I know it is hard right now, but try to remember the good times. I know that Tai wouldn't want people being sad at his memory, he'd want everyone to remember the times the best moments." Shifting her arms from a less awkward angle to one that was far more natural, she quietly asked the small girl in her arms, "Can you do that for me, child?"
"I can try."
"Good, girl." Before anything further could be said the door burst open, revealing an irate Summer whose eyes burned like two pools of quicksilver. Though a second glance revealed an equally unhappy Yang standing just behind her partner.
"Ruby Rose! What do you think you are doing!"
The girl of course didn't realize why her Mother was angry, and so, like any young child, answered in the simplest manner, "She looked sad, Mommy, and you said no one should be alone and sad."
Summer just blinked at the response, her face flickering between anger, amusement, and shock, "You're talking." That of course just earned a roll of the smaller girl's silver eyes, "Duh, how else would I cheer her up?"
Summer just nodded at Ruby's answer, though Raven could see tears glistening in her partner's eyes, "Ruby, lets get you ready for bed. I think you've had quite enough excitement today."
Scooping the small child up Summer began to leave the room, but she could clearly hear Ruby's animated chatter, "Her eyes are red, really red, does that mean she's been crying a lot a lot, Mommy? Because my eyes were a little red earlier-" the conversation faded into the distance, leaving Raven alone with her biological daughter.
Lilac eyes burned into hers, though Raven swore she could see traces of crimson in those orbs, "You're not my Mother, so if you came to try and take me away forget about it."
"Yang, I-" but the blonde had already stomped away, leaving Raven alone in the room waiting on Summer's return.
It turned out that she wasn't going to wait for long, as Summer reappeared soon after she had left, "Yang's helping Ruby to bed, guess she decided that we need to talk."
Raven glanced down at the floor, "I'll leave, Summer. I don't even know why I came, I'll just wreck things even further like I always do."
Summer ignored her and just slammed a first air kit down between them, and with an annoyed gesture motioned for Raven to disrobe. When Raven didn't' immediately comply, a pair of silver eyes rolled in annoyance, "Raven you can either strip, or I'll do it for you."
Raven growled at that, but began to comply. Though she didn't miss the muttered, "Not like I haven't seen it all before," comment from her partner.
A gasp emerged from the shorter woman, as Raven arm was a mess of blood and gashes, "Raven, how did this happen?"
Black hair shifted as she could only shake her head, "I don't know, I just remember feeling that something terrible had happened and next thing I know I found myself on the outskirts of Vacuo territory."
Summer let out an annoyed huff as she blew an errant strand of hair away as she cleaned the wounds, "That still doesn't explain what happened here."
Raven grew quiet as she starred out the window, before Summer's free hand roughly grasped the other woman's jaw forcing her to look into those silver eyes that always saw too much, "Raven, what did you do." The command was softly spoken, but it was unmistakably a command not a request.
Crimson eyes shifted downwards, "I, I had been travelling for a few days, mostly flying but sometimes by foot. I came across one of the small village's that mark Vale territory, they even had a local tower that I managed to sync my scroll up with."
Realization dawned upon Summer, "You found out about Tai."
A small nod was the only response she got for a while, until Raven's whisper quiet response came to her, "I just walked into the forest, didn't even take my weapons, just kept walking." Summer could practically hear the bones popping as Raven clenched her fists into balls, "A pack of Beowolves found me, but their Alpha was older and had apparently developed a sadistic streak."
"It toyed with me, refused to end the fight just kept goading me on." A sob erupted from the dark haired woman's throat, "Then I thought of you, and Yang. I know that I had no right to, but it made me want to live." Lifting her wounded arm slightly for illustration, "I morphed, but he caught my wing with his claws. Barely got far enough a way that I made it back to the village to get my gear."
Summer nodded, absentmindedly asking, "You took care of the Grimm, right?"
"Of course."
Satisfied that her handiwork was done Summer took a step back, "Alright, that should suffice until we can get you to see an actual doctor." She slipped over to the wardrobe nearby, and pulled out a pair of pyjamas that she handed to the taller woman, "They might be a little small, but you aren't sleeping in my bed in those clothes."
Raven tried to stutter out an objection, but she was just answered with a roll of silver eyes, "The couch isn't big enough for me, let alone you. We're both adults, Raven, surely we can share a bed this size without it being awkward."
"I'm not the one that's handsy," the comment slipped out of Raven's mouth without thought, but the flush of red that consumed Summer's face was simply priceless.
"That was one time! It's not my fault that they only gave us two beds at the start of third year." The memory caused them both to giggle slightly, Qrow had slept in the tub for three days until they had managed to get their missing furniture back.
The pair suddenly became somber as they thought of Tai's offer to Qrow to share the bed, and with the good mood gone they both went about their nightly rituals.
Soon they were both in bed, and Raven was as far to the edge as she could be without falling off, "Are you sure this is okay, Summer?"
She nearly fell off the bed when her partner's hand grasped her own, "Raven, I, I just need someone to be here for me right now. I can't burden the girl's, but it feels like I'm drowning and no one is there to help."
Obeying the light tugging of the other woman Raven edged closer, her voice a whisper in the night, "What do you need, Summer?"
Silver eyes glimmered in the dim room, "Just, be my partner like the old days."
Resolutely wrapping one arm around her partner, Raven pushed herself close enough that Summer was able to bury her face into the raven haired beauty's shoulder. Soon enough Summer's body began to shake as she began the process of physically excising her emotions, and as Raven did her level best to support her partner she promised both of them something.
She wouldn't make the same mistakes as she had in Beacon.
RWBY
AN: Well, that's the first chapter done. Hope everyone who got to this point enjoyed it.
Also to my S&S readers, I promise there is an update coming next week at the latest.